A six-legged type piezoelectric vibration gyroscope having a pair of exciting arms extending from a body (2) in a first direction (A1) with a space therebetween, one non-exciting arm (3c) extending in the first direction between the exciting arms from the body, a pair of detecting arms (4a, 4b) extending from the body in a second direction (A2) with a space therebetween, and one non-detecting arm (4c) extending in the second direction between the detecting arms from the body. The exciting arms are coupled with a drive-side electrode. The detecting arms are coupled with a detection-side electrode. The exciting arms, non-exciting arm, detecting arms, and non-detecting arm respectively consist of a piezoelectric. The respective exciting arms differ in width size from the non-exciting arm. The respective exciting arms differ in width size from the respective detecting arms. The respective exciting arms differ in width size from the non-detecting arm.

A six-arm piezoelectric vibratory gyroscope that is capable of detecting angular velocity in a highly accurate manner is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-255152. The six-arm piezoelectric vibratory gyroscope includes a piezoelectric body, and drive-side electrodes and detection-side electrodes coupled with the piezoelectric body. The piezoelectric body includes a flat rectangular body having front and back surfaces as main surfaces, a drive-side arm unit extending from one of two opposing sides of the body, and a detection-side arm unit extending from the other side of the body. The drive-side arm unit includes a pair of exciting arms and a non-exciting arm interposed between the exciting arms. The detection-side arm unit includes a pair of detecting arms and a non-detecting arm interposed between the detecting arms. On each of the exciting arms, the drive-side electrodes for exciting in-plane vibration in a direction parallel to the main surfaces of the body are provided. On each of the detecting arms, the detection-side electrodes for detecting plane-perpendicular vibration in a direction perpendicular to the main surfaces of the body are provided. Usually, the exciting arms, the non-exciting arm, the detecting arms, and the non-detecting arm are all produced with the same width and thickness so that they are suitable for mass-production.
To provide a highly sensitive six-arm piezoelectric vibratory gyroscope, the resonant frequency in a driving vibration mode (i.e., in-plane vibration) of each arm of the drive-side arm unit and the resonant frequency in a detection vibration mode (i.e., plane-perpendicular vibration) of each arm of the detection-side arm unit must be similar values. However, in such a case, the plane-perpendicular vibration and the in-plane vibration of each of the six arms become similar to each other. Therefore, spurious frequencies are generated in the vicinities of the driving vibration mode and the detection vibration mode, and the spurious vibration of the in-plane vibration is excited so as to mechanically couple the arms to a piezoelectric transducer or a piezoelectric body. As a result, the gyro sensitivity, i.e., the detection sensitivity, is significantly reduced. In particular, since the intensity of the spurious vibration of the in-plane vibration is significantly greater than the intensity of the spurious vibration of the plane-perpendicular vibration, the gyro sensitivity is reduced.

Six-legged type piezoelectric vibration gyroscope

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Limited


Secure inter-node communication is disclosed. The hardware of the first node sends a key, identification of the first node, and identification of a second node to hardware of the second node. The hardware of the second node receives the key and the identifications. The hardware of the second node verifies the identifications of the first and the second nodes, and stores the key. The key stored in the hardware of the first and the second nodes allows for a secure transmission channel from the software of the first node to software of the second node.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to inter-node communication, such as communication between processes of different partitions of one or more servers, and more particularly to such communication that is secure in nature.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Servers are used in a wide variety of different computing applications. A server generally is a computer on a network that is accessible by a number of client computers also on the network. Servers are used for Internet web applications, data storage applications, data mining applications, as well as other types of computing applications. As used herein, a node can be a server, but is not limited to a server. For example, a node may refer to a partition of a server.
Because servers may need to be upgraded as their processing requirements grow, some servers are scalable. A scalable server is one that can be upgraded to handle greater amounts of processing. For instance, a scalable server may be able to have its number of processors increased as necessary.
A server, such as a scalable server, may be partitioned into different operating system instances. Each operating system instance is logically a different virtual computer running in a separate partition, or domain, of the server, and is separate from the other operating system instances. The operating system instances may run the same or different operating systems, such as UNIX, LINUX, MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT, as well as other types of operating systems.
Each operating system instance usually can have a number of different processes running on it, such as user processes, kernel processes, and other types of processes. A kernel is a fundamental part of the operating system that provides basic services to the user processes. Each process may be a separate application program, instances of a number of different types of application programs, and so on. The processes run in separate parts of the partition referred to as user spaces. As used herein, the software of a node can be a process running in a partition, but is not limited to a process running in a partition.
Processes in different partitions may find it necessary to communicate with one another, to exchange data, and for other purposes. In some types of servers, each partition has an associated kernel agent that is responsible for allowing user processes of its partition to communicate with user processes of other partitions. Agents are routines that run in the background, and perform actions as needed.
A server may have a number of potential communication end points that allow the processes of its partitions to communicate with the processes of partitions of the same or other servers. The communication end points may be statically or dynamically allocated among the server's different partitions. When a process wishes to communicate with a process of a different partition, it receives temporary use of a communication end point for this purpose, assuming one is available.
A virtual communication channel is therefore established between a communication end point of one partition and a communication end point of another partition. Each communication end point corresponds to a user or kernel process of a partition. A difficulty is that the virtual communication channel is desirably secure. That is, the kernel agents of the various partitions may not a priori trust one another. To ensure the stability and security of the partition, however, a kernel agent should be able to restrict connections to only those end points in other partitions that it has authorized. Furthermore, the kernel agent must ensure that malicious or corrupt kernel agents of other partitions are not able to pretend that they have received authorization to establish a channel.
A limited solution to this difficulty is the use of a hypervisor. A hypervisor is a facility that typically runs in large enterprise servers for providing and managing multiple virtual computers, or operating system instances, running in partitions. The hypervisor is inherently trusted by all user processes and kernel agents. However, where the hypervisor runs on a remote processor or server, having all communications run through the hypervisor results in degraded performance of inter- process communications. Furthermore, many types of computers, such as those using INTEL PENTIUM-class processors, do not have the necessary capability to run a hypervisor.
Another limited solution is to have a single trusted communication channel created among all the partitions when they are first configured. The kernel agents can use this channel to send authorized messages to one another, for the purpose of establishing virtual channels between partitions. However, this solution does not prevent malicious or corrupt agents from pretending that they have received authorization to establish a channel. Furthermore, it forces kernel intervention for all communication calls.
For these described reasons, as well as other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

International Business Machines Corporation


A technique includes introducing an electrical perturbation to a fuel cell system during operation of the fuel cell system. This electrical perturbation does not substantially disrupt the operation of the fuel cell system. In response to the perturbation, an electrical parameter of the fuel cell system is measured.

The invention generally relates to a technique and apparatus to measure a fuel cell parameter.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy produced by a reaction directly into electrical energy. For example, one type of fuel cell includes a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), often called a proton exchange membrane, that permits only protons to pass between an anode and a cathode of the fuel cell. At the anode, diatomic hydrogen (a fuel) is reacted to produce hydrogen protons that pass through the PEM. The electrons produced by this reaction travel through circuitry that is external to the fuel cell to form an electrical current. At the cathode, oxygen is reduced and reacts with the hydrogen protons to form water. The anodic and cathodic reactions are described by the following equations:H2→2H++2e− at the anode of the cell, and  Equation 1O2+4H++4e−→2H2O at the cathode of the cell.  Equation 2
A typical fuel cell has a terminal voltage near one volt DC. For purposes of producing much larger voltages, several fuel cells may be assembled together to form a fuel cell stack, an arrangement in which the fuel cells are electrically coupled together in series to form a larger DC voltage (a voltage near 100 volts DC, for example) and to provide more power.
The fuel cell stack may include flow plates (graphite composite or metal plates, as examples) that are stacked one on top of the other, and each plate may be associated with more than one fuel cell of the stack. The plates may include various surface flow channels and orifices to, as examples, route the reactants and products through the fuel cell stack. Several PEMs (each one being associated with a particular fuel cell) may be dispersed throughout the stack between the anodes and cathodes of the different fuel cells. Electrically conductive gas diffusion layers (GDLs) may be located on each side of each PEM to form the anode and cathodes of each fuel cell. In this manner, reactant gases from each side of the PEM may leave the flow channels and diffuse through the GDLs to reach the PEM.
The fuel cell stack typically is part of a fuel cell system that includes the fuel cell stack; power conditioning circuitry to convert power from the fuel cell stack into the proper form for an AC load; an air blower to furnish an oxidant reactant stream to the fuel cell stack; a fuel processor to furnish a fuel reactant stream to the fuel cell stack; and many other components to control and aid the operation of the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell system typically includes a large number of sensors for purposes of diagnosing conditions in the fuel cell system and controlling the fuel cell system accordingly. For example, these sensors may measure voltages, currents, a humidification level, a carbon monoxide level, etc., for purposes of detecting potential problems with the fuel cell stack, such as problems that are attributable to corrosion, stack assembly (as examples), and for purposes of regulating operation of the stack, such as regulating reactant flow rates to set stoichiometric ratios and regulating the cooling of the stack, (as examples). A potential challenge with the use of many different sensors is that the sensors themselves may complicate the design of the fuel cell system and may significantly contribute to the overall cost of the fuel cell system.
Thus, there is a continuing need for better ways to diagnosis and control a fuel cell system.

Technique and apparatus to measure a fuel cell parameter


A method of separating an organic solvent which may easily separate and recover an organic solvent from a mixed solution containing the organic solvent, and an organic solvent separation system capable of performing the same are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method includes introducing a first mixed solution into a first distillation column to recover an organic solvent and discharge a first fraction containing an unrecovered organic solvent and a high boiling point compound A to a bottom of the column, introducing a second mixed solution into a second distillation column to recover organic solvent and discharge a second fraction containing an unrecovered organic solvent and a high boiling point compound B, and introducing the first fraction and the second fraction into a third distillation column to recover an organic solvent-rich fraction and a high boiling point compound-rich fraction.

In line with the recent demand for fuel-efficient cars, a conjugated diene-based polymer having adjustment stability represented by wet road surface resistance as well as low rolling resistance and excellent abrasion resistance and tensile properties is required as a rubber material for a tire.
In order to reduce the rolling resistance of a tire, there is a method of reducing a hysteresis loss of a vulcanized rubber, and rebound resilience at 50° C. to 80° C., tan δ, or Goodrich heat generation is used as an evaluation index of the vulcanized rubber. That is, it is desirable to use a rubber material having high rebound resilience at the above temperature or low tan δ or Goodrich heat generation.
A natural rubber, a polyisoprene rubber, or a polybutadiene rubber is known as a rubber material having a low hysteresis loss, but these rubbers may have low wet road surface resistance. Thus, recently, a conjugated diene-based polymer or copolymer, such as a styrene-butadiene rubber (hereinafter, referred to as "SBR") or a butadiene rubber (hereinafter, referred to as "BR"), is prepared by emulsion polymerization or solution polymerization to be used as a rubber for a tire. Among these polymerizations, the greatest advantage of the solution polymerization in comparison to the emulsion polymerization is that a vinyl structure content and a styrene content, which specify physical properties of the rubber, may be arbitrarily adjusted and its molecular weight and physical properties may be controlled by coupling or modification. Thus, the SBR and BR prepared by the solution polymerization are widely used as a rubber material for a tire because it is easy to change a structure of the finally prepared SBR or BR, and movement of chain ends may be reduced and a coupling force with a filler, such as silica or carbon black, may be increased by coupling or modification of the chain ends.
When the conjugated diene-based polymer or copolymer is prepared by solution polymerization, methods, such as steam stripping and distillation, are used to recover and reuse an unreacted monomer and an organic solvent after a polymerization reaction.
The steam stripping is a process of forming rubber particles by contacting a polymer solution obtained after the polymerization reaction with steam and separating a volatile substance containing an organic solvent except the rubber particles, wherein the separated volatile substance includes a dimer and a trimer of a monomer and an additive, such as a polar additive used in the polymerization reaction, in addition to an unreacted monomer and the organic solvent, and, in order to increase economic efficiency and polymerization stability in preparation processes of the SBR and BR, the unreacted monomer and the organic solvent in the volatile substance are recovered and reused and a remaining high boiling point material including the dimer and trimer of the monomer and the additive must be separated and removed.
Thus, the high boiling point material is usually separated and removed from the volatile substance and the organic solvent is separated and recovered by using a distillation column, but there is a limitation in that a large amount of the organic solvent is contained and removed when the high boiling point material is removed.
Particularly, with respect to the SBR preparation process, an unreacted aromatic vinyl-based monomer is discharged together with other high boiling point material and organic solvent from a bottom of the distillation column, and, thus, in a case in which an amount of the organic solvent discharged is controlled to be 1.5 times or less an amount of the high boiling point material by increasing a temperature of the bottom of the column to 100° C. or more in order to reduce the amount of the organic solvent discharged to the bottom of the column, since a ratio of the unreacted aromatic vinyl-based monomer at the bottom of the column is increased to cause polymerization between these monomers, a plugging phenomenon of a reboiler and a transfer pipe occurs, and, as a result, a shutdown of the entire SBR preparation process is inevitable and productivity may be reduced.
Therefore, in order to secure economic efficiency and stability of the SBR preparation process, there is a need to develop a method capable of easily separating and recovering an organic solvent from a waste solution, as a volatile substance generated after the steam stripping in the preparation process.

Method of separating organic solvent from mixed solution containing the organic solvent


A reader of an RFID system has excitation circuitry for generating a higher voltage excitation signal, receiving circuitry for reading a lower voltage transponder signal and an antenna coupled with the excitation circuitry for transmitting the excitation signal and coupled with the receiving circuitry for receiving the transponder signal. The receiving circuitry includes a low voltage signal stripping circuit coupled with the antenna for isolating the transponder signal from the excitation signal preliminary to the receiving circuitry reading the transponder signal. The bulk of the components of the low voltage signal stripping circuit are low voltage components, which can be included in an application specific integrated circuit.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems generally consist of at least one host reader and a plurality of passive transponders, which are commonly termed credentials, cards, tags, or the like. An essential function of the host reader is to "excite" or power up the transponder. The reader transmits high voltage excitation signals into the surrounding space, which are received by a transponder proximal to the reader and which provide operational electrical power for the internal electronics of the recipient transponder. Once the transponder is powered up, it communicates information to the reader in a contactless manner. In particular, the powered up transponder transmits communication signals in the form of electromagnetic waves into the surrounding space which are received by the reader. Accordingly, all of the transponders and readers each have a transmitting function and a receiving function.
The transmitting and receiving functions may be performed by separately dedicated discrete electronic components, but more commonly at least some of the electronic components are combined into integrated circuits or shared between different functions within the transponder or reader to reduce manufacturing costs. For example, the internal electronics of the transponder may be limited to a single antenna for transmitting transponder signals and receiving excitation signals and to an integrated circuit for performing the remaining necessary operational functions of the transponder.
A low-cost reader may desirably include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which is an integration of low voltage-rated components exclusively, since low voltage-rated components are generally significantly less expensive than high voltage-rated components. Nevertheless, a reader incorporating an ASIC is only cost-effective if the number of additional electronic components needed to complete the internal electronics of the reader are minimized. A low-cost reader may also desirably employ a single antenna to perform both the excitation signal transmitting function and the transponder signal receiving function. However, this results in the superposition of the smaller voltage transponder signal on the higher voltage excitation signal which requires standoff of the high voltage excitation signal from the low voltage-rated components included within the internal electronics of the reader.
Standoff of the high voltage excitation signal is generally the single most difficult function to incorporate into an ASIC of the reader because multiple high voltage-rated components, which are not permitted in an ASIC, are usually required for the standoff function. Accordingly standoff is typically performed by special circuitry upstream of the ASIC, which strips the transponder signal off the excitation signal before the transponder signal is amplified and detected by the reader. Many prior art techniques for stripping the transponder signal utilize special diode detection circuitry, which usually requires several high voltage-rated components (e.g., diodes, resistors and capacitors) to tolerate the relatively high voltage across the reader antenna. Such high voltage-rated components are relatively expensive and cannot be incorporated into an ASIC as noted above.
The present invention recognizes a need for alternate low-cost receiving circuitry in a reader which effectively strips a low voltage transponder signal off of a high voltage excitation signal. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost, effective low voltage signal stripping circuit. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a low voltage signal stripping circuit which requires a minimal number of high voltage components. It is another object of the present invention to provide a low voltage signal stripping circuit having a plurality of low voltage components which are incorporated into an ASIC.
These objects and others are accomplished in accordance with the invention described hereafter.

Low voltage signal stripping circuit for an RFID reader


A handheld electronic device cradle (300) with heat-dissipating capability is provided. The cradle is used for charging a build-in battery in a handheld electronic device (380) and connecting the handheld electronic device to a host computer so that the handheld electronic device can exchange information with the host computer. The cradle comprises a casing (310), a fan-mounting seat (350) set up in the casing, an electrical fan (351) secured to the seat and a cable (314) for connecting the cradle with the host computer. An insertion slot (311) is provided in the casing. When the handheld electronic device is inserted into the insertion slot, the cradle charges the battery in the handheld electronic device and connects the handheld electronic device with the host computer. Furthermore, the handheld electronic device can communicate with other devices through a wireless network. Heat produced by the handheld electronic device during its insertion in the cradle can be removed by the fan, which generates an air flow blowing on a hot region of the handheld electronic device to take heat away therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cradle for a handheld electronic device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a handheld electronic device cradle with enhanced heat-dissipating capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
In this information conscious society, our reliance on electronic products increases every day. Following our need for a higher communicating speed, better performance, a lighter device and a compact design, a variety of handheld electronic devices are out in the market. At present, the most common handheld electronic devices include cellular phones, smart phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Through these handheld electronic devices, communication is no longer restricted to the office. In fact, people can communicate with each other anywhere and at any time.
Through the increase in processing speed of CPUs (central processing units) and the development of Internet and wireless communication techniques, handheld electronic devices are no longer used mainly for single-purposed information processing. The handheld electronic devices are now often used as a converged device for performing wireless communication, connecting to Internet, playing games and serving as a multi-media unit. Because the handheld electronic device is usually powered by a rechargeable battery, battery capacity is a principal factor determining the duration of operation of the handheld electronic device. When the electrical power of the rechargeable battery runs out, the user usually puts the handheld electronic device on a cradle which is connected with a power supply, whereby the battery can be charged.
It should be noted that, during the charging of the battery, the temperature of the handheld electronic device will increase due to heat generated for charging the battery. The lift of the temperature of the handheld electronic device is exacerbated for a converged handheld electronic device, for example a smart phone, which has a variety of functions combined in a single device. When the smart phone is put on the cradle, it simultaneously executes data exchange with a host computer connected with the cradle, and wireless communication with other mobile phones through a cellular phone network, in addition to the work that the battery in the smart phone is charged by the cradle. Sometimes, the temperature increased may exceed the rated temperature limitation of the smart phone. When this happens, the smart phone is not able to function normally. Moreover, the temperature increased may cause the battery to overheat, which could lead to a disastrous explosion. Therefore, how to effectively remove heat generated by the handheld electronic device from the device when it is put on the cradle for charging its battery becomes an issue to handheld electronic device manufacturers.

Handheld electronic device cradle with enhanced heat-dissipating capability


A square substrate has a pair of opposed major surfaces and peripheral end faces therebetween, wherein a tapered edge portion is disposed between the peripheral end face and each major surface to define an inner boundary with the major surface, and has a width of 0.2–1 mm from the peripheral end face. Both or either one of the major surfaces of the substrate has a flatness of up to 0.5 μm in an outside region of the substrate that extends between a position spaced 3 mm inward from the peripheral end face and the inner boundary of the tapered edge portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to angular substrates for use in the semiconductor technology.
2. Prior Art
As the demand for higher DRAM integration level and smaller microcircuit geometry has continued to increase, so has the demand for chips of larger size. Accordingly, photomasks have a larger exposure region and are thus required to have a higher degree of flatness even to their periphery.
In one example wherein a square substrate is 152 mm×152 mm (6 inches) and a chip has a size of 30 mm, the exposure region of a photomask is 120 mm in the case of 4-fold reduction exposure, and reaches 150 mm in the case of 5-fold reduction exposure. In fact, it rarely happens that the substrate is utilized to the extremity of 150 mm as the exposure region. However, since alignment marks or the like are necessary outside the exposure region, a high degree of flatness is required even to the periphery of the substrate.
In another situation, a substrate is rested on a sample holder of an inspection instrument. For example, a substrate 1 is mounted on a sample holder in the form of spaced blocks 2 as shown in FIG. 8, or a substrate 1 is mounted on a sample holder in the form of pins 3 as shown in FIG. 9. In either case, the sample holder supports the substrate at its periphery. Since the exposure region is enlarged and alignment marks or the like are provided outside as mentioned above, the portion of the substrate which is available for attachment by the sample holder is shifted more outward.
As a result, not only the exposure region and the alignment mark-bearing region of a substrate, but also a peripheral region thereof is now required to have a certain degree of flatness. If the peripheral region of a substrate has a low degree of flatness, there would arise a problem that when the substrate is mounted on a sample holder, the substrate is not kept horizontal, causing a lowering of inspection sensitivity and a failure of reproduction.
Another problem arises when a resist solution is spin coated onto a substrate. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a sample holder 6 is provided along the periphery of a stage 7. While the stage 7 with a substrate 1 mounted on its sample holder 6 is rotated, a resist solution is applied to the substrate 1 at the center. To prevent the substrate 1 from moving aside during the spin coating, the substrate 1 is secured to the stage 7 by vacuum chucking through a suction hole 8 in the stage 7. The sample holder 6 is often made of a synthetic resin such as polyacetal resin. In this case, the sample holder supports the substrate along its periphery as well. If the substrate has a low degree of flatness at its periphery, the predetermined vacuum would not be reached upon vacuum suction and the precision of a resist coating surface would be adversely affected.
Referring to FIG. 1, a method for polishing an angular substrate using a general single-side polishing machine is described. A polishing turntable 13 includes a platen 11 and a polishing pad or cloth 12 attached thereto. An abrasive fluid 14 is fed to the polishing pad 12 at its center via an abrasive supply line 15. A substrate holding head 16 holds a substrate to be polished (not shown) and presses it against the polishing turntable 13. By independently rotating the turntable 13 and the substrate holding head 16 in this state, the substrate is polished.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing only the turntable 13 and the substrate to be polished 1. The substrate 1 is abraded while it rotates about its center. The substrate surface is then polished in a concentric pattern.
However, since corner areas (hatched areas in FIG. 2) 1a of the substrate 1 out of the inscribed circle are readily subject to the rapid removal of material, the corner areas 1a of the substrate 1 tend to undergo excessive polishing. This is due in part to differences across the substrate 1 in its relative velocity with the polishing turntable 13. The main reason why the corner areas 1a of the substrate 1 tend to undergo excessive polishing is explained by referring to FIG. 3 which is a schematic view showing only the polishing pad 12 and the substrate to be polished 1. When the substrate 1 is pressed against the polishing pad 12 during polishing, it sinks into the polishing pad 12 under the pressing force in the manner shown in FIG. 3. At the start of such sinking, the polishing pad 12 exerts an elastic force upon the substrate 1 to increase friction by the polishing pad 12, facilitating material removal in the corner areas 1a. In addition, because the substrate 1 is an angular substrate, the polishing pad 12 which polishes the corner areas 1a alternately undergoes the application and release of pressing forces from the substrate 1. Inversely, the substrate corner areas 1a have repeated chances of incurring the elastic forces of the polishing pad 12. As a result, the corner areas 1a are over-polished, leaving difficulties in achieving flatness across the corner areas 1a. In FIG. 3, the lengths of the arrows indicate the relative magnitude of the forces of restitution acting under the elasticity of the polishing pad 2.


An integrated circuit package system is provided forming a substrate having an integrated circuit die thereon, thermally connecting a heat slug and a resilient thermal structure to the integrated circuit die, and encapsulating the resilient thermal structure.

Consumer electronics requirements demand more integrated circuits in an integrated circuit package while paradoxically providing less physical space in the system for the increased integrated circuits content. Some technologies primarily focus on integrating more functions into each integrated circuit. Other technologies focus on stacking these integrated circuits into a single package. As more functions are packed into the integrated circuits and more integrated circuits into the package, more heat is generated degrading the performance and potentially the reliability of the integrated circuits. While these approaches provide more functions within an integrated circuit, they do not fully address the requirements for lower height, smaller space, heat dissipation, and cost reduction.
Modern consumer electronics, such as smart phones, personal digital assistants, and location based services devices, are packing more integrated circuits into an ever shrinking physical space with expectations for decreasing cost. Contemporary consumer electronics expose integrated circuits and packages to more demanding and sometimes new environmental conditions, such as cold, heat, and humidity requiring integrated circuit packages to provide robust thermal management structures. Numerous technologies have been developed to meet these requirements. Some of the research and development strategies focus on new package technologies while others focus on improving the existing and mature package technologies. Research and development in the existing package technologies may take a myriad of different directions.
Every new generation of integrated circuits with increased operating frequency, performance and the higher level of large scale integration have underscored the need for back-end semiconductor manufacturing to increase the heat management capability within an encapsulated package. It is well acknowledged that when a semiconductor device becomes denser in term of electrical power consumption per unit volume, heat generated is also increases correspondingly. More and more packages are now designed with an external heat sink or heat slug to enhance the ability of heat being dissipated to the package ambient environment. As the state of the art progresses, the ability to adequately dissipate heat is often a constraint on the rising complexity of package architecture design, smaller footprint, higher device operating speed and power consumption.
One proven way to reduce cost is to use mature package technologies with existing manufacturing methods and equipments. Paradoxically, the reuse of existing manufacturing processes does not typically result in the reduction of package dimensions. Existing packaging technologies struggle to cost effectively meet the ever demanding thermal requirements of today's integrated circuits and packages. Most integrated circuit devices use molded plastic epoxy as an epoxy molding compound (EMC) for protecting package. But the poor heat dissipation property of EMC sometimes leads to device malfunctions.
To provide a thermal solution, many kinds of technology have been developed. The most representative technology is a heat slug mounting. But a heat slug by itself provides limited improvements in thermal performance. Current thermally enhanced ball grid array (TEBGA) packages use heat slugs to improve thermal performance, but these packages only provide a 15% improvement in thermal performance over a conventional plastic ball grid array (PBGA) package. However, even a TEBGA package is subject to performance problems because it uses EMC, which is low thermal conductivity material.
Thus, a need still remains for an integrated circuit package system providing low cost manufacturing, improved thermal performance, and reduce the integrated circuit package dimensions. In view of the ever-increasing need to save costs and improve efficiencies, it is more and more critical that answers be found to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Integrated circuit package system with a heat sink


An object is to provide a scroll compressor capable of preventing degradation in performance and the occurrence of abnormal noise due to a torsional moment applied to an orbiting scroll, by utilizing the structural advantages of so-called stepped scroll compressors. In a so-called stepped scroll compressor (1), in a pair of compression chambers (16) arranged in a point-symmetrical configuration among a plurality of compression chambers (16), the volume V1 of the compression chamber (16) formed on the ventral-surface side of the fixed spiral wrap (14B) of the fixed scroll (14) when intake is cut off and the volume V2 of the compression chamber (16) formed on the ventral-surface side of the orbiting spiral wrap (15B) of the orbiting scroll (15) are different from each other.

Conventionally, a scroll compressor in which each of a fixed scroll and an orbiting scroll has step portions provided at arbitrary positions in the spiral direction of the top surfaces and bottom surfaces of spiral wraps, and in which the spiral wraps having a higher wrap height on the outer circumferential side with respect to the step portions than on the inner circumferential side is known (for example, see PTL 1). Since the height of the compression chambers in the axial direction is higher on the outer circumferential side than on the inner circumferential side of the spiral wraps, this scroll compressor constitutes a scroll compressor capable of three-dimensional compression, i.e., compressing gas both in the circumferential direction and the height direction of the spiral wraps. Thus, a high-performance, compact, and light weight scroll compressor is achieved.
On the other hand, a scroll compressor has a pin-ring-type or Oldham's-ring-type rotation preventing mechanism for preventing rotation produced when the orbiting scroll is orbitally revolved. The rotation preventing mechanism, the fixed scroll, and the orbiting scroll inevitably have dimensional tolerances or assembly tolerances because they are components. Accordingly, it is difficult to completely prevent rotation of the orbiting scroll with the rotation preventing mechanism. Therefore, when the orbiting scroll receives a torsional moment in the orbital direction caused by a compression reaction force, a centrifugal force, or the like during operation, it inevitably rotates in a rocking (vibrating) manner by an amount corresponding to the above-mentioned tolerances. As a result, the spiral wrap of the orbiting scroll periodically comes into contact with and is separated from the spiral wrap of the fixed scroll, causing degradation in performance due to gas leakage and abnormal noise due to impacts.
To counter this, PTL 2 discloses a technique in which one or both of the ventral-surface side of the spiral wrap of the fixed scroll and the dorsal-surface side of the spiral wrap of the orbiting scroll are slightly cut. This reduces rocking (vibration) caused by the orbiting scroll coming into contact with and being separated from the spiral wrap of the fixed scroll when it receives a torsional moment in the orbital direction, and prevents degradation in performance due to gas leakage and abnormal noise due to impacts.
PTL 3 discloses a technique in which a pin on a housing side of a pin-ring-type rotation preventing mechanism is fixed at a position shifted in the direction opposite to the orbital direction by an amount corresponding to the tolerance and in which a knock pin for positioning a fixed scroll is disposed at a position satisfying positioning requirements determined such that, when an orbiting scroll is allowed to rotate in the orbital direction or the opposite direction, a gap between spiral wraps of the scrolls is a predetermined gap dimension. This prevents degradation in performance due to gas leakage and abnormal noise due to impacts.

Scroll compressor with stepped spiral wraps


A control system includes at least one part mounter installing parts on a printed circuit board and a control device integrally controlling the operation of the at least one part mounter. The control device controls the part mounter using information about the printed circuit board and information on a production process flow of the printed circuit board. The control device integrally controls the operations of the part mounters, including receiving and storing information on parts that the part mounters install, information on a feeder that supplies the parts, and information on arrangement of the parts on the printed circuit board, receiving and displaying operation information and operation situations from the part mounters, and controlling operations of the part mounters using the stored information and displayed information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system integrally controlling a plurality of chip mounters that are independently operated, and an operating method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surface mount technology (SMT) generally refers to printing solder paste on a printed circuit board (PCB), installing various surface mount devices (SMD) using mounting equipment, and connecting the PCB and leads of the SMDs using a reflow device.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of a general SMT line system. A loader 110 is a device to automatically supply a PCB such as from a magazine. A screen printer 120 is a device to coat solder paste at part installation positions on the surface of the PCB that is supplied by the loader 110. A chip mounter 130 is a device to arrange and fix various parts and chips at a location on the PCB where the solder paste is coated. The chip mounter 130 may include at least one chip mounter, that is, there may be a plurality of chip mounters 131, 132, and 133, according to the structure thereof.
Although it is not shown in the drawing, each of the chip mounters 131, 132, and 133 includes a part feeder, a head unit, a suction nozzle, and a camera. First, the suction nozzle of the head unit sucks and picks up a part from the part feeder. To accurately check the suction state and the center position of a part, the head unit moves over the camera, which checks the suction state and the center position of the part. When the check is complete, the part is rotated at an accurate angle to the correct installation position and installed on the PCB.
The reflow oven 140 heats and melts the solder paste under the parts, which were installed on the PCB by the chip mounter 130, and fixes the parts on the PCB through a cooling process. The unloader 150 unloads and accommodates each complete PCB.
As described above, the PCB is produced through the SMT line system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustrates the detailed configuration of a control module of the chip mounter 130 of the SMT line system. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the chip mounters 131, 132, and 133 includes a mounting driving unit 134, a user interface (I/F) 138 having a database 137 containing part related data, and a display 139. The mounting driving unit 134 includes a mechanical module 135 and a control unit 136 controlling the mechanical module 135.
Each chip mounter 131, 132, or 133 is independently operated according to the types of parts to be installed or according to whether the parts are to be installed on a single side PCB or a double-sided PCB. To operate the chip mounters 131, 132, and 133, while watching the display unit 139, an operator inputs a work order to the control unit 136 through the user interface 138. Then, the control unit 136 operates the mechanical module 135 according to the work order input by the operator.
When the SMT line system includes three chip mounters as shown in FIG. 1, an operator separately operates each chip mounter to perform an individual work order because each chip mounter operates independently. Thus, when an error occurs in any one chip mounter, the other chip mounters cannot recognize the problem.
Furthermore, when a job change situation occurs, e.g., when the present work order is completed and a new work order is to begin, the operations of all three chip mounters are stopped and the operator accesses each chip mounter and inputs individual new work orders to re-operate the three chip mounters. Thus, a lot of work preparation time is needed so that productivity deteriorates.

Control system for a plurality of chip mounters and operating method thereof


A system and method of generating at least two distinctive auditory alerts upon receiving a transmission or telephone call at a device is described. Data indicative of a first plurality of sounds corresponding to a user of a device configured to receive the transmission or telephone call is accessed, such as from a memory. The first plurality of sounds is played at the device so as to identify a received transmission or telephone call being directed to the user. A telephone number, subscriber name or identifier associated with a transmitting or calling party of the transmission or telephone call is accessed. Data indicative of a second plurality of sounds designating the transmitting or calling party based on the subscriber name, telephone number or identifier is retrieved, such as from a data structure, and the second plurality of sounds is played at the device so as to identify the transmitting or calling party.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing distinctive audible alerts, and more particularly, to generating particularized audible alerts in response to receiving a telephone call.
Description of the Related Art
During the past few years the usage of electronic means for human communications has expanded rapidly. Numerous end user electronic devices used for such communication emit audible sounds to alert their owners or users of an incoming communication. As electronic communication devices become more commonplace, and as people use these devices more often, two problems have arisen. First, many people find frequent non-urgent communications disruptive because other activities are interrupted. Therefore there is a need to obtain information pertaining to the incoming communication prior to deciding whether or not to respond immediately. The second problem is confusion that often results in situations where two or more people each carrying a portable communication device are in close proximity to each other, and at least one person's device emits an audible alert. Often, at least one person whose communication device has not emitted an alert hears a nearby alert and erroneously attempts to accept a communication that doesn't involve their device. This, again, is a distraction and inconvenience.
Digital displays showing caller ID, in principle, address both of the above problems, but require the user to handle and/or look at the device. Again, this is distracting, disruptive, and/or inconvenient. Personalized ring tones, or audible alerts, help people distinguish an alert from their device from those of other people's devices. However, many people find the available rings/alerts irritating or "silly sounding". Also, some individuals are not inclined to activate this feature or simply never learn how to use their phone's advanced features including personalized ring tones, or audible alerts.
Lastly, many phones today are capable of distinctive ringing, a feature whereby users can assign specific rings or alert sounds to each contact in their phone's contacts list. Many customers like this feature in principle, but don't actually use it because of practical shortcomings. Generally, today's distinctive rings/alerts require a cumbersome and time consuming setup, and they can only be assigned to a person or number after a corresponding contact has been entered (usually manually) into the phone's contacts list. Many people find the available rings/alerts irritating or "silly sounding", and in crowded settings, often miss calls when they fail to recognize the less familiar alerts of infrequent callers. Finally, many customers simply never learn how to use their phone's advanced features including distinctive ringing.

Method for providing particularized audible alerts


A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yoashley’, characterized by its compact, upright and outwardly spreading plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit; uniform and freely flowering habit; decorative-type inflorescences with elongated oblong to obovate-shaped ray florets; dark orange-colored ray florets; and natural season flowering about October 6th in the Northern Hemisphere.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum×morifolium, commercially grown as a garden Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Yoashley'.
The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in February, 2002, in Salinas, Calif. of a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 98-M306, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Chrysanthemum×morifolium cultivar Jessica, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,587, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in November, 2002.
Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Alva, Fla. in January, 2003. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


Provided is a multi-cap for connecting a catheter and the multi-cap includes: a body having an internal hole formed in a longitudinal direction and having an end connected to a catheter; a cover portion disposed on an outer side of the body in the longitudinal direction of the body and spaced from the body such that the catheter is partially inserted between the outer side of the body and the cover portion. Further, a spout is formed at a second end of the body to transmit an injection substance from the outside to the hole and a capping part is connected to a side of the body to selectively close the inlet of the spout.

A catheter, which is a kind of medical tube, is widely used as a general name for tube-shaped instruments. There are catheters comprised of various materials and having various sizes and shapes for the usages. Such catheters may be used to extract retained substances in a body cavity or in various organs, absorb cleansing perfusate, measure the status of cardiac blood flow or central venous pressure, inject medicines or contrast media into a body, etc.
A Levin tube, which is a kind of catheter, is a medical instrument for reducing pressure by removing gas or water in the stomach, supplying medicine or food, remedying closed or bleeding portions, securing specimens for gastrointestinal tract examination, and performing gastric lavage is inserted into the stomach through a nostril, the nasal cavity, and the gullet or is directly connected to the stomach to be used.
As in FIG. 1, a common Levin tube T has a connector at an end and a syringe is connected to the connector T′ of the Levin tube T, so medicine, contrast agents, or food can be injected into the Levin tube T. A cap C is connected to the connector T′ of the connector T to selectively close the connector T′ to prevent foreign substances from entering into the Levin tube T when the Levin tube T is not used.
However, in the related art, the connector T′ of the Levin tube T and the inlets of syringes are different in size, so it was difficult to accurately connect syringes to the Levin tube T. Further, there was a concern that air or the substances in syringes flow into the Levin tube T.


An electrostatic spray gun (10) having an air powered alternator-turbine (14) with a rotating impeller (24) therein mounted in bearings (18) is provided with bearings (18) which are coated with a solvent resistant material. This coating is provided on all surfaces of the bearing (18) except for the inner diameter (18A) which contains the impeller (24). This construction prevents leaching of the oil out of the bearing (18) and into the airstream and also is resistant to paint should the spray gun (10) become immersed in such.

Electrostatic spray guns having self-contained power supplies such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,554,622, 4,462,061, 4,290,091, 4,377,838 and 4,491,276 are well known. Such applicators have an air-powered turbine which drives an alternator which in turn supplies a voltage multiplier to provide the charging voltage.
In such products, the bearings are used to hold and allow a magnet to rotate on its shaft. In normal operation, air is passed over an internal impeller causing the magnet to rotate and such rotation inside a coil of wire provides electrical power for the applicator. This air is then exhausted through a separated air passage to the outside of the applicator. Such placement of the bearings inside the applicator allow the passage of air over and around the bearings to remove slight amounts of lubricant from the bearings. Because of this lubricant, this exhaust air must be separated from the air that is used to atomize the paint in order to prevent contamination with the bearing lubricant.
During cleaning of the applicator with solvents, such liquid solvents can flow into the bearings through the air passages, causing the solvents to remove the lubricant from the bearings subsequently leading to bearing failure. Also, if the air cap was not properly tightened, paint can flow backwards in the applicator filling the alternator air passages and the bearings with paint thereby forcing the alternator to be removed and replaced.

Solvent resistant bearings for self-generating electrostatic spray gun


Systems and methods for processing an off-line stored value card transaction are provided. The store where the gift card transaction is being processed may save stored value card account information for a plurality of stored value cards. For example, the store may maintain stored value card account information for cards that were issued at the store or previously used at the store. When the store is off-line and cannot verify a stored value card using a home office, the store may verify the card using the account information that is locally saved. The store may upload information for stored value card transactions that occurred while the store was off-line to the home office once the store is back online. The home office may update the store's account information at regular intervals when the store is online.

This invention is directed to systems and methods for redeeming or issuing stored value cards and other store issued credit during a communications failure between the store and the centralized location at which records for all stored value card and store credit accounts are kept.
Stores and other point-of-sale locations accept payment for goods or services in a number of forms. One form that has become common is credit issued by the store for exclusive use in the store. If the store is part of a chain or connected or related to other stores (e.g., in a strategic association), the customer may be permitted to use the store credit in any of the related stores. The store credit may be provided to a customer in a number of ways, the most common of which include gift cards, gift certificates, merchandise credits, and stored value cards.
To ensure that a customer's store credit is appropriately reduced each time the customer uses store credit to make a purchase, and to ensure that a customer has sufficient store credit to make a purchase, a home office may be used to record purchases and save current store credit account information for each customer. The term "home office" is used throughout for illustrative purposes and my be any central location. For example, when a customer wishes to use store credit at a store, the store may request authorization from the home office to process the transaction. If the home office determines that the customer has sufficient store credit for the transaction, the home office may send an authorization signal to the store. If the customer has sufficient store credit for a portion of the transaction, the home office may send partial authorization.
When the communications link between the store and the home office is down, however, the store cannot request nor receive authorization from the home office for a store credit transaction. Instead, the store must either request an alternate form of payment, or call the home office and manually request and receive authorization for a transaction. Both of these solutions are burdensome to the store, and susceptible to creating delays and unsatisfactory service for customers. Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for efficiently processing store credit transactions when a store is off-line.

Systems and methods for off-line stored value card transactions


A step chain is provided for a person conveying device having a first strand, a second strand, a plurality of connecting axles and an attachment apparatus for detachably attaching the connecting axles to the first and second strands.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to people moving devices in general, and more particularly to people moving devices which employ a step chain.
2. Background Art
Escalators are a known method for conveying people from a first elevation to a second elevation. Typically, an escalator includes a frame, a drive, a step chain and a pair of balustrade assemblies. The frame comprises a truss section on both the left and right hand sides of the frame. By convention, the side of the escalator on the left of a person facing the escalator at the lower elevation is called the left hand side of the escalator, and the side to the person's right is called the right hand side. Each truss section has two end sections parallel to one another, connected by an inclined midsection. The end sections form landings at the two elevations connected by the midsection, one on each end. Matching pairs of roller tracks are attached on the inside of each truss section, i.e. the side of the truss section facing the other truss section.
The escalator drive is attached to the frame in the upper landing, between the trusses. The drive typically drives a step chain sprocket assembly consisting of a pair of step chain sprockets, a pair of handrail sprockets, and an axle extending from one side of the frame to the other. The two step chain sprockets power a step chain formed in a loop running from the first elevation to the second elevation.
The step chain consists of a pair of chain strands, having a plurality of rollers, and a plurality of connecting axles for connecting the two chain strands. Each strand is formed from a plurality of chain links. Each link has a pair of side plates, an axle, and a roller. The axle is received in the center of the roller. A side plate of the link and a side plate of the next link in line, are attached to the axle on both sides of the roller, thereby holding the roller and axle together. This link arrangement is repeated as many times as is necessary to arrive at the length strand, and therefore the length chain, desired.
Every "n.sup.th " link in the strand is connected to the aligned strand on the other side of the frame. Connecting the axles together ties the two independent strands into a single step chain. One strand of the step chain rides a roller track on the right side of the frame and the other strand rides the matching roller track on the left hand side of the frame. Each pair of connected rollers provides the support for one tread plate.
The rollers may be connected in a number of different ways. First, it is known in the art for the aligned rollers to share a common axle. The common axle extends through the two aligned links, acting as a single axle for the aligned rollers. Another method incorporates strands having aligned stub axles which extend out a specific distance toward the other strand. In a first embodiment, a tread plate receives each stub axle in a bore on that side of the tread plate, thereby connecting the aligned stub axles. In a second embodiment, a connecting axle independent of the tread plate receives the aligned stub axles. The stub axles are press fit into bores on the ends of the connecting axle and the tread plate is attached to the connecting axle. In a third embodiment, the tread plates are directly attached to the stub axles. A connecting axle, independent of the tread plate, receives the aligned stub axles on the inside of the tread plate. Holes are drilled in the connecting axle and the stub axles to receive pins. The pins fix the connecting axles to the stub axles.
All of these methods of connecting the aligned rollers have distinct disadvantages, however. First, step chains having a common axle between aligned rollers have a fixed width and therefore cannot be readily interchanged between different width escalators. Moreover, if a common axle becomes damaged, both strands must be disassembled to repair the chain.
Second, using stub axles connected by tread plates alone creates an undesirable loading on the roller bearing. The yoke of the tread plate attaches to the unsupported stub axle outside of the centerline of the roller bearing thereby creating a cantilever type arrangement. As a result, the roller bearing experiences not only a load, but a moment as well. The combination of load and moment create an undesirable stress on the roller bearings which negatively effects the B.sup.10 life of the bearings. Increased maintenance frequency on an escalator seriously diminishes the desirability and quality reputation of the escalator.
In the case of the press fit connecting axle, the disadvantage lies in the difficulty of assembling and disassembling the step chain in the factory and especially in the field. To get the proper press fit, the connecting axle and the stub axles must either be forced together or the connecting axles must be heated and sweated onto the stub axles. Either way, the process is time consuming and difficult to disassemble in the field.
Finally, attaching the tread plate to the stub axles and pinning the connecting axle to the stub axle is also disadvantageous. Pinning the connecting axle necessitates holes being drilled either at assembly or during the manufacturing of the separate pieces. In the former case, drilling every connecting axle at assembly is a labor intensive and time consuming function. In the latter case, alignment of the bores must be precise or an interference will occur. The potential for undesirable error, either way, is present during the assembly process.


According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes a liquid crystal panel, an illumination device, and a light reflecting material. The illumination device includes a first light guide having an opening, a first light source configured to irradiate the first light guide with light, a second light guide formed in the opening, and a second light source configured to irradiate the second light guide with light. The light reflecting material is located between the first light guide and the second light guide in the opening.

In recent years, electronic devices such as smartphones including a display unit and a camera on the same surface side have been widely put into practical use. In such an electronic device, a camera is provided outside a display unit, and there is an increasing demand for reducing a frame width outside the display unit while securing a space for installing the camera.
In addition, it is desired to be able to take clear pictures.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic device comprising illumination device including second light guide formed in an opening


The present invention provides a method of recovering a polyamine compound and/or a polyol compound useful for starting materials of polyurethane resin in an industrially advantageous manner by first dissolving the polyurethane resin such as polyurethane foams discharged in a large amount as industrial wastes in a solubilizing agent containing a polyamine compound, a low molecular glycol or an amino alcohol, hydrolyzing the resulting solution with liquid water at 200 to 320xc2x0 C., then recovering the polyamino compound and/or polyol compound thus formed.

The present invention relates to a method of recovering a polyamine compound and/or a polyol compound useful for the starting materials of polyurethane resin in an industrially advantageous manner by chemically decomposing scraps generated in the process of fabricating polyurethane resin products, or from waste generated after the use of the polyurethane products.
The polyurethane resin is used widely in a large amount not only as soft(flexible), semi-rigid and rigid urethane foams in furniture and bedding such as sofas, beds etc., cushioning materials in automobile sheets etc., and thermal insulating materials such as in refrigerators etc., but also as an elastomer in shoe soles, tires, belts etc. Recently, conservation of natural resources and environmental concerns have come to be regarded as important, and methods of recycling and reusing various plastic products including polyurethane resin are separately examined. Methods known so far for recycling polyurethane resin can be roughly divided into (1) material recycling technique, (2) chemical recycling technique, and (3) energy recycling technique.
As the material recycling technique (1), there are examined a method of reusing scrap polyurethane foams as cushioning materials or thermal insulating materials by means of re-bonding or compression molding thereof and a method of grinding foams and elastomer to use the resulting mixture as fillers etc. in new raw materials. The chemical recycling technique (2) is a method of reusing polyurethane resin by decomposing it into its starting materials or chemical materials utilizable as raw materials for chemical products, and there are known a glycol decomposition method, an amine decomposition method and a hydrolysis method. The energy recycling technique (3) is the technique of using polyurethane resin as fuel to recover heat and vapor therefrom.
The technique (1) above has a problem with qualities of the products for cushioning or thermal insulating materials, and its utilities are significantly limited. It is noted that the technique (3) is in danger of causing new pollution problems such as generation of harmful substances resulting from combustion.
The compounds recovered by the chemical recycling technique (2) above have a wide variety of applications once the technique is economically and industrially feasible, and the chemical recycling technique would be one of the ideal recycling techniques.
In the glycol decomposition or the amine decomposition methods, however, urethane and urea linkages, which are relatively easily decomposed among the various linkages in polyurethane resin such as urethane linkages, urea linkages, biuret linkages, allophanate linkages etc., are decomposed with glycol or amine compounds and then subjected to an exchange reaction with the glycol or amine for fluidization.
In these reactions, the glycol or amine used as a decomposer newly forms urethane linkages and urea linkages to be incorporated in the liquid decomposition product and gives new urethane and urea derivatives. Accordingly, this technique does not decompose polyurethane resin into polyol as its starting material or into a polyamine compound as an intermediate of polyisocyanate, so use of the recovered material is also limited.
Further, a method of hydrolyzing polyurethane resin with water as a decomposer has also been proposed.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 70377/1979 discloses a method of hydrolyzing polyurethane foams with heated steam at 300xc2x0 C. and 0.4-10 atmospheric pressure in the presence of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal compound. It is suggested that when such low atmospheric-pressure steam is used, the rate of reaction is low and the presence of a catalyst is essential.
Recently, a method of hydrolizing polyurethane resin to low molecular weight compounds by high-pressure and high-temperature liquid water and recovering them has also been proposed (WO98/34904). When material to be hydrolized consists of only polyurethane resin and does not contain any other foreign materials not to be hydrolyzed, the method might be useful. However, major polyurethane waste material discharged from the industrial fields is shredder dust from automobile sheets, and it usually contains scraps of foreign matter such as fiber, leather, metal, wood and the like which are not hydrolyzed with the liquid water. As a practical matter, it is not possible before use to remove the foreign matter other than polyurethane foams from shredder dust. Therefore, as long as the shredder dust is used as the material to be decomposed, the non-hydrolizable foreign matters will remain in the decomposed mixture as solid. In order to remove the insolubles from the decomposed mixture, the method have to be conducted batch-wise and the high pressure in the reactor should be reduced to normal atmospheric pressure every time for removal of the insolubles by filtration.
Moreover, the polyurethane foam is hydrophobic and therefore, the weight ratio of added water (hydrolysate/water ratio) should be raised in order to treat such bulky foams and it takes a long time for hydrolysis of the foam. Accordingly, the method cannot be economical nor practical because of the necessity for large-scale high-pressure facilities and high energy costs.
As a result of their eager study on a method for continuous decomposition of polyurethane resin and recovery of the decomposed materials, the present inventors have found that the polyurethane resin is first dissolved with a solubilizing agent containing a polyamine compound, a low molecular weight glycol or an amino alcohol, then the insolubles are removed by, for example, filtration if necessary, and the resulting solution is continuously fed to a pressure resistant apparatus at high temperature and high pressure whereby the polyurethane resin can be decomposed rapidly and completely, even at a low ratio of added water, to a polyol compound useful for a starting material of the polyurethane resin and a polyamine compound as an intermediate of polyisocyanate. Further, the inventors also found that a part of the decomposed mixture or hydrolysates can be circulated as such for use as the solubilizing agent and this method was confirmed to be a method that can be realized economically and industrially.
Therefore, one aspect of the present invention encompasses a method for decomposition of polyurethane resin and recovery of the decomposed products, which comprises dissolving polyurethane resin in a solubilizing agent containing a polyamine compound, a low molecular weight glycol or an amino alcohol, then decomposing or hydrolyzing the resulting solution with liquid water at 200 to 320xc2x0 C., and recovering the polyamine compound and/or the polyol compound thus formed. The dissolution may be conducted at 120 to 250xc2x0 C., more particularly, at 150 to 230xc2x0 C. The hydrolysis conducted in liquid water at 200 to 320xc2x0 C., more preferably, at 250 to 300xc2x0 C. Also, a part of the polyamine compound and/or the polyol compound thus formed by hydrolysis may be used for feedback to the dissolving step as the solubilizing agent.
The polyurethane resin to be decomposed in the present invention is a polymer substance obtained generally by reacting a polyisocyanate compound with an active hydrogen compound.
The polyisocyanate compound includes e.g. toluylene diisocyanate (TDI), diphenyl methane diisocyanate (MDI), polymeric MDI (PMDI), hydrogenated MDI, modified MDI, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), xylylene diisocyanate (XDI), hydrogenated XDI etc.
A typical example of the active hydrogen compound is a polyol compound, and the polyol compound includes e.g. polyester polyols, acrylic polyols etc. in addition to 2- to 8-functional polyether polyols derived from an alkylene oxide such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide or the like in the presence of an active hydrogen-containing initiator.
In the method of the present invention, every polyurethane resin containing urethane linkages, allophanate linkages, urea linkages, biuret linkages, amide linkages etc. can be subjected to decomposition regardless of what molecular structure, constitutional units and degree of polymerization the resin has.
From the view point of the yield of the decomposed products, and efficiency of purification and recovering of the products, the polyurethane resin produced by the reaction of the following isocyanate and polyol compound are preferably employed.
Examples of the suitable polyisocyanate include TDI, modified TDI (e.g., modified product having biuret linkage, trimerized product) and the mixture of TDI and PMDI. Preferable examples of the isocyanate are TDIs containing 60 to 100% of 2,4-toluylene diisocyanate, such as TDI having 100% of 2,4-TDI (Takenate-100(copyright), Takeda Chemical), TDI having 80% of 2,4-TDI (Takenate-80(copyright), Takeda Chemical), TDI having 65% of 2,4-TDI (Takenate-65(copyright), Takeda Chemical), TDI having 64% of 2,4-TDI (Takenate-TM20(copyright) (TDI-80/PMDI=80/20), Takeda Chemical), TDI having 40% of 2,4-TDI (Takenate-TM50(copyright) (TDI-80/PMDI=50/50), Takeda Chemical), modified products and prepolymer therefrom. Particularly, TDI having about 80% of 2,4-TDI and the modified products thereof are preferable.
Examples of suitable polyol include one having functionality of 2 to 4, preferably, 3 to 4, and OH value of 10 to 100 mgKOH/g, preferably, 24 to 80 mgKOH/g. Polyoxypropylene glycols containing 0 to 20 weight % of ethylene oxide chain in the molecules (ACTCOL MF-53(copyright), MF-56(copyright), MF-59(copyright), Takeda Chemical) are also preferable.
The polyurethane resin as the material for decomposition in the present invention includes e.g. undesired products and scrap or cut dust generated in the process of fabricating soft, semi-rigid or hard polyurethane foam products used in cushioning materials such as beds, sofas and chairs used generally in homes and offices, automobile sheets, head rests, sun visors, instrument panels, arm rests, or wastes from these products after use, or scraps generated at the time of producing polyurethane resin elastomer products such as tires, tubes, shoe soles etc. and wastes thereof after use.
It is preferable that when the material for decomposition is a foam, it should be cut by a shredder and that when the material is elastomer, it should be ground. It doesn""t matter at all whether or not they contain a certain amount of insoluble fibers, hides, synthetic hides, wood and metals used in their products because the insolubles can be removed easily by, for example, filtration.
The polyamine compound as the solubilizing agent for polyurethane resin in the present invention may be any compound having two or more amino groups in its molecule. The examples of the polyamine compound include those used as a starting material for production of the conventional polyurethane resin. A typical example is toluylene diamine, and it is also possible to use diaminophenylmethane, polymethylpolyphenylpolyamine, isophorone diamine, hexamethylele diamine, xylylene diamine etc. or a mixture thereof.
The low molecular weight glycol as the solubilizing agent used in the present invention is a glycol having a molecular weight of 200 or less, preferably, 150 or less. The example of the glycol includes ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, butane diol, hexane diol and the like.
The amino alcohol used in this invention may be any compound having at least one amino group and at least one hydroxyl group in its molecule and having a molecular weight of 200 or less, preferably, 150 or less. The examples of the amino alcohol include alkanol amine such as methanol amine, ethanol amine, dialkanol amine such as diethanol amine and dipropanol amine, trialkanol amine such as triethanol amine, and these amino alcohols may be used alone or in combination.
Among them, the preferred solublizing agent are toluylene diamine, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and moloethanol amine. These solubilizing agent may be used solely or in combination.
Polyether polyol with 2-8 functionality and 100-2000 hydroxy group equivalency may be incorporated in the solubilizing agent. In addition, alkaline metal hydroxide such as sodium hyroxide and potassium hydroxide and ammonia can be used in a small amount as decomposition catalyst. The mixing ratio by weight of the solubilizing agent to the polyether polyol ranges from 1:0.5-5. A too high mixing ratio of the polyether polyol is not preferable because the amount of polyurethane resin dissolved will be small.
The preferable ratio by weight of the solubilizing agent to the polyurethane resin ranges from 1:0.2-5 and more preferable ratio ranges from 1:0.5-3.
One of the most preferable and practical solubilizing agent, is a hydrolysate of polyurethane resin obtained in the subsequent step of this method.
The dissolution of polyurethane resin with a solubilizing agent proceeds with cleavage of urethane linkage and urea linkage in the polyurethane resin.
The temperature at which the polyurethane resin is dissolved in the solubilizing agent usually is in the range of 120 to 250xc2x0 C. , preferably 150 to 230xc2x0 C. If the temperature is too low, its dissolution requires a long time, while if the temperature is too high, the solubilizing agent is decomposed or polymerized, thus causing a reduction in yield.
The liquid dissolving the polyurethane resin is passed through a filter if necessary to remove insolubles such as fibers and other materials, and then introduced into an apparatus for hydrolysis. Examples of the filter include an automatic fiber press, a rotating disk-type filter and a centrifugal filter, which are provided with a filter cloth made of Teflon, PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) and glass fibers, metal gauze such as SUS metal gauze, ceramic filters etc.
The structure of the apparatus for hydrolysis is not particularly limited, and in a preferable example, the apparatus is designed such that the liquid dissolving polyurethane resin and heated water are mixed in the bottom of the column, then the mixture is pushed up toward the main body of the column, and the =decomposition liquid and the carbon dioxide gas generated are continuously discharged to the outside through a pressure-control valve set at the top of the column. In short, it is possible to use any apparatus structured to secure pressurizing capable of maintaining the high temperature for liquid water as well as a retention time necessary for hydrolysis.
The temperature in the hydrolysis step is in the range of 200 to 320xc2x0 C., preferably 250 to 300xc2x0 C. A too low temperature leads to a low rate of decomposition, while a too high temperature causes side reactions such as cleavage of ether linkages and condensation of the formed polyamine compound. The pressure in this step does not directly influence yield, but is preferably kept at least at the pressure at which the heated water can remain liquid. Although the ratio of the liquid to be hydrolyzed to heated water by weight (ratio of added water) is varied depending on the type of polyurethane resin decomposed, the weight ratio of added water to the liquid is in the range of usually 0.3 to 5.0, preferably 0.5 to 3.0. If the ratio of added water is too low, decomposition or hydrolysis into a polyamine compound and a polyol compound is incomplete. On the other hand, a too high ratio is not economical because large facilities are required and the loss of energy is significant. This reaction proceeds even in the absence of a catalyst, but a small amount of an alkaline metal hydroxide, ammonia or the like also can be used as a catalyst.
The reaction time for the hydrolysis depends on the reaction temperature and the ratio of the added water, and is usually from about 5 minutes to about 2 hours, preferably from about 10 minutes to about 1 hour.
The hydrolysate is then introduced into a dehydrator. Most of the water and the carbon dioxide gas are gasified under reduced pressure by means of a pressure-control valve and recovered as a gas. The water also can be removed by distillation under reduced pressure or bubbling with dry nitrogen etc.
The hydrolysate thus obtained is substantially a mixture of the solubilizing agent and decomposed products of polyurethane resin, i.e. a polyamine compound and a polyol compound. The solubilizing agent and the polyamine compound recovered by, for example, by distillation under reduced pressure from the resulting mixture can be subjected to feedback for use in the dissolving step as the solubilizing agent for polyurethane resin. The remainder of the hydrolysate can be separated into the polyamine compound and the polyol compound by a method known in the art, such as distillation, centrifugation, or solvent extraction. This procedure can be selected suitably depending on the type of polyurethane resin decomposed. Further, the hydrolysate without separating the polyamine compound therefrom can be reacted with an alkylene oxide such as propylene oxide to convert its amino terminal group into a hydroxyl group for use as polyol.
The recovered polyamine compound and polyol compound are substantially the same as those employed in the production of polyurethane resin, and therefore can be reused as the starting materials for polyurethane resin, respectively.

Method for decomposition and recovery of polyurethane resin


The antenna structure is applied for a communication system. The antenna structure has a signal emitting/receiving portion, a flex transmitting line disposed under the signal emitting/receiving portion and electrically connected to the signal emitting/receiving portion, and a connecting portion having a first end and a second end. The first end of the connecting portion is electrically connected to the flex transmitting line, and the second end of the connecting portion is connected to an assembling portion. The antenna structure further includes a bendable piece corresponding to the flex transmitting line. The bendable piece can be bent by a force to change positions, directions, or positions and directions of the signal emitting/receiving portion connected with the flex transmitting line. The bendable piece, the flex transmitting line and the signal emitting/receiving portion are covered by a sheath.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna structure. In particular, the present invention relates to an exterior antenna structure which can be bent.
2. Description of Related Art
Antenna is widely used for improving the signal emitting/receiving in wireless communication system. Antennas can be classified into two categories which include micro built-in antenna and exterior antenna. The advantages of the built-in antenna include smaller size of the antenna and protection of the antenna. However, the built-in antenna cannot be rotated to face a direction which is aligning the direction of the signals. On the contrary, the exterior antenna can be rotated to adjust its position and direction to obtain stable signals. Therefore, the exterior antenna is more used in the wireless communication system.
Please refer to FIG. 1; the exterior antenna 11′ of the wireless router has an antenna pole 12′. The antenna pole 12′ has an antenna module (not shown) thereinside for emitting or receiving signals. The base of the antenna pole 12′ has a connection portion 120′. One end of the connection portion 120′ is connected to the antenna module and the other end of the connection portion 120′ is connected to the wireless router station. The antenna pole 12′ can be rotated on the connection portion 120′. There is a rotating shaft mechanism 13′ between the antenna pole 12′ and the connection portion 120′. The rotating shaft mechanism 13′ has a shaft 130′ and a base 131′. Therefore, the antenna pole 12′ also can be bent depending on the rotating shaft mechanism 13′ so that the exterior antenna 11′ can be adjusted in various positions and directions.
The exterior antenna 11′ is used for radiating signal to define an internet signal coverage Personal computers and laptop computers in the connection area can receive the signals to connect to the network.
The signal strength is usually shown in monitor so that users can know the signal strength. When the signal strength is weak, users can obtain the improved signals by adjusting the position and direction of the antenna. For example, user can rotate the antenna pole 12′ with the connection portion 120′ or bend the exterior antenna 11′ with the rotating shaft mechanism 13′ or the combination of above methods to improve the signal strength.
However, the traditional antenna has following disadvantage. The bending of the exterior antenna 11′ by the shaft 130′ is a one-direction bending because of the rotating shaft mechanism 13′. It's necessary to rotate the antenna pole 12′ with the connection portion 120′ in advance and then the exterior antenna 11′ can be bent in another direction. Therefore, it costs more time and movements to adjust the position and the direction of the exterior antenna 11′.
Moreover, the traditional antenna has more components, such as shaft 130′ and a base 131′, and the components are manufactured and assembled together to achieve the adjustment of the antenna. Thus, it's necessary to reduce the volume and the manufacturing cost of the antenna to meet the requirement of small size and light weight of the wireless equipment.
Therefore, in view of this, the inventor proposes the present invention to overcome the above problems based on his expert experience and deliberate research.

Silitek Electronic (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.


A multi-sensor system (10) for detecting the presence of objects on the surface of the ground or buried just under the surface, such as anti-personnel or anti-tank mines or the like. A remote sensor platform (12) has a plurality of metal detector sensors (22) and a plurality of short pulse radar sensors (24). The remote sensor platform (12) is remotely controlled from a processing and control unit (14) and signals from the remote sensor platform (12) are sent to the processing and control unit (14) where they are individually evaluated in separate data analysis subprocess steps (34, 36) to obtain a probability "score" for each of the pluralities of sensors (22, 24). These probability scores are combined in a fusion subprocess step (38) by comparing score sets to a probability table (130) which is derived based upon the historical incidence of object present conditions given that score set. A decision making rule is applied to provide an output which is optionally provided to a marker subprocess (40) for controlling a marker device (76) to mark the location of found objects.

The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic detection apparatus and more particularly to a system for the detection of objects concealed within and close to the surface of the earth. The predominant current usage of the minefield reconnaissance and detector system of the present invention is as a means for detecting surface and subsurface ordnance and the like concealed in a subject field.
The detection of concealed mines has been a subject of great interest among military personnel. Similarly, practitioners in other fields have found occasion to use technology originally developed for the purpose of mine detection. An example is the detection of buried toxic waste containers during toxic waste cleanup operations. The most widely practiced technology has been conventional "metal detector" devices which are carried by an operator and which provide the operator with an audible and/or visible signal roughly corresponding to the disruption of a magnetic field occasioned by a ferromagnetic object. A disadvantage of this approach has been that the operator is required to make decisions about whether the received signal is truly indicative of a buried mine. This is particularly difficult because the signal strength varies not only with the size of a buried object, but also with the depth at which the object is buried, the material composition of the object, and the characteristics of the soil in which the object is buried. In short, the probability of a wrong decision is appreciable and, given that such conventional prior art devices are usually carried upon the person of the operator, the consequences of a "false negative" decision while searching for buried land mines can indeed be grave.
A possible improvement to conventional methods for mine detection which has been tried has been to remove the operator from the vicinity of the detector apparatus. However, attempts to accomplish this have previously been less than successful. It would seem that this simple expedient must be tied to some improvement in the data gathering and decision making processes in order to be successful, if for no other reason than the fact that the removal of the operator from the area of danger may have some effect on the operator's willingness to commit to decisions.
Attempts to advance the art have involved the use of different technologies, such as radar and infra-red detection devices. To the inventors' knowledge, this approach has not resulted in an improved mine detection apparatus, since these technologies have not proven to be generally superior to conventional metal detector technology for the purpose. Furthermore, attempts to combine technologies have only resulted in an increased likelihood of "false positive" indications, to the extent that such combinations have been impractical to use. All such attempts to supplement one technology with another for this purpose, to the inventors' knowledge, have merely provided alternative sensing means, any one of which might provide an indication that a mine is present. Therefore, such attempts have resulted in a greatly increased number of false positive indications without providing the benefit of a sufficiently decreased number of false negative indications. It is important to note that all such prior attempts to combine technologies for this purpose within the inventors' knowledge have been within the realm of undisclosed experiments within the project which has resulted in the present invention and, thus, are not prior art with respect to the present invention.
All of the prior art mine detection systems within the inventors' knowledge have merely provided data which must be interpreted by a human operator, or else have been subject to an unacceptable rate of false positive or false negative errors.
No prior art mine detection system to the inventors' knowledge has successfully gathered and analyzed data so as to provide a reliable yes/no (mine/no mine) indication to an operator. All successful applications to date have required human decision making and the stress and potential for human error attendant thereto, or else have been subject to an unacceptable error rate.

Minefield reconnaissance and detector system

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy