A method for determining the reducing agent concentration (NH3) in the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine, using a zeolitic NH3 gas sensor that supplies a base measuring value, which is initially corrected by an offset value and a correction value that depends on the H2O concentration of the exhaust gas to form an intermediate value. The intermediate value is subsequently corrected by an additional value that depends on the NOx and NH3 concentration of the exhaust gas. In particular at or above the limits for the operating range, the accuracy of the method increases for one of the following conditions: gas compositions with NOx concentrations  greater than 500 ppm, extremely low NH3 concentrations  less than 20 ppm or high NH3 concentrations  greater than 100 ppm.

This application is based on and claims the priority date of German Application No. 101 42 236.9, filed on Aug. 29, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to an improved method for determining the reducing agent concentration (NH3) in the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine.
Nitrogen can be removed from diesel engine exhaust gases by using the selective catalytic reduction (SCR), with ammonia (NH3) as reducing agent. For this purpose, ammonia is carried along in the vehicle either directly or in the form of a compound from which the ammonia is obtained. For the catalytic reduction reaction, ammonia is metered into the engine exhaust gas at a specific ratio to the NOx content that is momentarily present in the exhaust gas. A stoichiometric NH3xe2x80x94NOx ratio must exist in order to achieve the maximum possible NOx conversion. A lower ratio leads to a lower conversion while a higher ratio leads to a so-called xe2x80x9cNH3 breakthrough.xe2x80x9d The optimum use of the nitrogen-removing catalytic converter is achieved with the aid of a zeolitic NH3 gas sensor, which is installed as a control element or as an NH3 breakthrough sensor in the exhaust-gas flow behind the catalytic converter. The NH3xe2x80x94NOx ratio can thus always be adjusted to the maximum possible NOx conversion.
The use of a zeolitic NH3 gas sensor requires that a connection be found between the measuring variable and the NH3 concentration to be determined at the sensor. Besides the scaling, this connection is used to compute the compensation of undesirable lateral effects, in particular those to water (H2O) in the form of water vapor in the exhaust gas.
A method for correcting the influence of H2O on the signal of an NH3 gas sensor is known from German Patent No. DE 199 07 669 C1. The reference suggests determining a so-called zero-value function of the gas sensor, which is then used to correct the measuring values during the continued operation. In order to determine the zero-value function, the gas sensor signal is measured during several different operating phases of the engine while the engine is running, without feeding NH3 to the catalytic converter system. The H2O concentration in the exhaust gas, the so-called moisture equivalent Fxc3x84 (ME), is determined at the same time. The moisture equivalent characterizes the operating state of the engine and is determined from the fuel-mass flow together with the air-mass flow, or from the oxygen partial pressure of the exhaust gasxe2x80x94respectively also in combination with a moisture sensor for determining the H2O concentration in air that is suctioned inxe2x80x94or with a moisture sensor in the exhaust-gas flow. In all cases, the ascending gradient and the axial section of the zero-value function, which is approximated as a straight line, is determined from the measured values. In order to correct the measured values of the NH3 sensor during operation, the respective zero-value function is determined and the measured sensor value is then corrected accordingly.
However, the known method has a number of disadvantages.
The delayed response (response threshold) of the NH3 sensor for low NH3 concentrations is not taken into account. In the same way, the influence of the NOx gas components on the response threshold and the NH3 sensitivity are not taken into account. When determining the zero-value function, a linear approximation of the dependence between measured value (Cp) and NH3 concentration is made, which provides acceptable results only for NH3 concentrations up to approximately 50 ppm. The adsorption and conversion behavior of the NH3 sensor, which leads to a distortion of the gas composition arriving at the sensor, is also not taken into consideration.
Thus, it is the object of the invention to provide a method for correcting the signal from a NH3 sensor, which method provides an exact value for the measured NH3 concentration, even with low NH3 concentrations. At the same time, the method takes into account the adsorption behavior and the conversion behavior of the NH3 sensor.
The above object generally is achieved according to the invention by a method for determining the reducing agent concentration (NH3) in the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine with a (zeolitic) NH3 gas sensor that supplies a base measuring value, wherein the base measuring value is initially corrected by an offset value and by a correction value that depends on the H2O concentration of the exhaust gas to form an intermediate value. Following this, the intermediate value is corrected by an additional value that depends on the NOx concentration of the exhaust gas to obtain a corrected NH3 measuring value.
The values for the dependence of the measured values on the NOx concentration and the NH3 concentration are recorded in a 2-dimensional table.
The two adjacent columns in the table, which best match the given NOx concentration, are selected to determine the NH3 concentration. Following that, the line that best matches the first intermediate value is determined in the first selected column and the final measured value is then determined through interpolation, initially between the columns and then between the lines.

Method for determining the reducing agent concentration (NH3) in the exhaust-gas flow of an internal combustion engine


A method and the apparatus (hereinafter referred to as the environmental monitoring system or EMS") designed to sample, detect, measure, and report, in real time, the presence of contaminants and thereby provide users with the ability to continually monitor conformance of water with established health and safety standards. When integrated with a user operated process control system, the EMS enables users to control the monitored process and to thereby ensure that the sampled water complies with established health and safety standards.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field):
This invention relates to an environmental monitoring system, hereinafter EMS, and more particularly to a method and apparatus to detect and measure contaminants in water.
2. Background Art:
Monitoring and detection of contaminants in the environment has become an important necessity around the world. This is especially true with the increased use of industrial chemicals and toxic materials. Government regulations for compliance with certain quality standards has given birth to a search for methods to comply with these quality standards and to seek methods for detection of certain contaminants, heretofore undetectable, and less costly and cumbersome methods of contaminant monitoring than are presently available.
Under present compliance practices water samples are taken at remote sites, transported to and analyzed in a lab, where the results are subsequently determined and then reported back to the operating entity. By the time all of these activities are completed, the damage, if any, has already been done, and the only alternatives available are to enter into immediate and costly efforts to clean up the polluted sources of water.
The system and process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,992, entitled Water Quality Early Warning System to Greaves, et al., is confined to the detection and identification, via video monitoring techniques of living organisms in sources of water supplies. The system and process of the subject invention is designed to detect the presence of contaminants other than living organisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,136 entitled Digital Computer for Determining Scuba Diving Parameters for a Particular Diver to Lewis describes a device designed to measure ambient water pressure and pressure of the air in a tank. The subject invention is intended to detect and report contaminants in water solutions and is not intended to be restricted to measurements of water and air pressures in a tank.
Of the known field deployable and permanently installable water monitoring systems and processes, the only process and implementing system whereby contaminants are detected and measured down to the parts per billion level is the one described in the subject invention.

Method and apparatus for detecting and classifying contaminants in water


A chromatic aberration correcting lens assembly arranged on the image side of a photographic lens which is used in combination with a prism of a predetermined thickness on the image side thereof to correct the chromatic aberrations of the entire system, is constructed in the form of an assembly of three lens elements made of at least two different materials and cemented together at their adjoining surfaces, each of the cemented surfaces being made concave toward the image side.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to chromatic aberration correcting elements for optical assemblies usable in television (video) cameras. As the photographic lens for a television camera is designed to be used in combination with a prism, (for example, a color separation prism of a specified medium of certain thickness on the image side of the photographic lens 0, when the prism in use has a different thickness or is composed of a different medium from the designed one, the chromatic aberration varies. Hence, the present invention relates to a chromatic aberration correcting element for use in such a photographic lens on the image side thereof to compensate for the variation of the chromatic aberration.
2. Description of the Related Art
The color television camera is conventionally equipped with a plurality of image pickup elements for 2 or 3 primary colors (R, G, B) to which polychromatic light from the photographic lens is conducted through a color separation (image separation) prism for the 2 or 3 primary colors. The photographic lens to be used in the color television camera is, therefore, designed in such a way that good correction of all image aberrations is established only when the color separation prism arranged on the image side of the lens is of a specified medium with a predetermined thickness.
For this reason, if a color separation prism which is different in medium and thickness from the designed one is used, large chromatic aberrations are produced, becoming a cause for lowering the image quality.
Suppose the color separation prism for which the aberration correction of a photographic lens has been attained is made of an optical glass, for example, of BK7 in the Schott catalogue, whose property is nd=1.51633, .upsilon.d=64.1 with a thickness of 65 mm. Then if a color separation prism comprised of a prism element of F5(nd=1.60342, .upsilon.d=38.0) 30 mm thick and another prism element of BK7 20 mm thick is attached instead, the inconsistency in material and prism length will result in the production of large chromatic aberrations, particularly longitudinal chromatic aberration or spherical aberration.
The spherical aberration can be corrected relatively easily by inserting a parallel flat glass to adjust the length of the optical path of the prism to the design value, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No. Sho 57-71313.
The longitudinal chromatic aberration is, on the other hand, difficult to correct when the parallel flat glass only is inserted. In a case where the BK7 correction lens is combined with the F5 prism through a 15 mm thick parallel flat glass of BK7, the blue image is focused as displaced from the position equivalent to the green image in a direction of going away from the lens, while the red image is focused as displaced relative to the green image toward the lens. By representation in terms of Fraunhofer lines, the g-line (436 nm) displaces 107 microns with respect to the d-line (588 nm), and the c-line (656 nm) displaces -22 microns with respect to the d-line.
The photographic lens for a television camera is designed in a form near to the so-called telecentric form with the exit pupil at infinity for the purpose of preventing the occurrence of color shading due to the change of the angle of incidence of light on the dichroic layers of the color separation prism. From this reason, even if the material of the prism in use is different from the designed one, it is only the longitudinal chromatic aberration that suffers a change, but the lateral chromatic aberration scarcely changes.
In the case of using a set of image pickup tubes as the image pickup means, because of their being axially movable, even if the photographic lens is left having some residual longitudinal chromatic aberration, the compensation for this could be accomplished by adjusting the positions of the image pickup tubes for the different colors individually to provide respective sharp focuses.
In recent years, however, an increasing number of color television cameras have employed a set of solid state image pickup elements in fixedly secured relation to the prism. In this case, because the possibility of adjusting the positions of the image pickup elements is no longer available, if a photographic lens of different compensation for the prism is attached, the longitudinal chromatic aberration collapses, giving rise to a problem of the so-called tracking error.
This phenomenon cannot be obviated even if the prism material is the same as the assumed material, since it takes place in a case where the standard wavelengths for the three primary colors R, G and B are different from the designed ones, or where the amount of primary chromatic aberration differs.
For example, a camera A is assumed to have a prism length of 65 mm with the R-channel and B-channel CCDs in different positions respectively by +5 microns and +30 microns relative to the G-channel CCD. Another camera B is assumed to have a prism length of 60 mm with the R-channel and B-channel CCDs in different positions each by +15 microns relative to the G-channel CCD. Suppose the photographic lens corrected for longitudinal chromatic aberration with respect to the camera A is attached to the camera B, then the use of only the 5 mm thick parallel flat glass does not suffice for matching the longitudinal chromatic aberration. For this reason, a tracking error occurs.

Performance correcting optical assembly for photographic lens for television


Positioning assembly for positioning a sensor in a body having an environment contained therein. The assembly includes generally-annular adapter and fastening members. The adapter member is provided as extending intermediate an upper first end and a lower second end, and further as having an inner surface configured for a threaded engagement with an externally-threaded terminal portion of the sensor, and an outer surface including a bearing portion. The annular fastening member has an inner surface receivable coaxially over the outer surface of the adapter member and an outer surface configured for a threaded engagement an opening formed within a wall of the body. With the fastening member being received over the adapter member and the adapter member being threadably engaged with the sensor terminal portion, the fastening member is threadably engagable with the body wall opening for movement into an abutting, force-transmitting contact with the bearing portion of the adapter member. Such contact urges the second end of the adapter member into a compressive engagement with an axial surface of the body wall opening and thereby positions the sensor at a select angular orientation. Prior to the compressive engagement of the adapter member with the opening axial surface, the sensor is rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof for its positioning at the selected angular orientation.

The present invention relates generally to an assembly for positioning a sensor in a body having an environment contained therein, and more particularly to an assembly for use with a sensor of a variety including an elongate terminal portion receivable through a wall of the body which assembly allows the sensor to be positioned at a select angular orientation.
Sensors are used in a variety of manufacturing and process applications to measure and control such parameters as fluid flow rate, pressure, temperature, displacement or distance, velocity, and acceleration. Within these applications, sensors typically are provided to supply an analog or digital output signal proportional to the parameter being measured. For that purpose, sensors may be constructed as having a signal processor or other electronics contained within one end of a housing, and a transducer or other sensing device contained within the other end which may be configured as an elongate probe. The installation of sensors of such type involves receiving the probe end thereof through an opening provided within a wall of a pipe, manifold, vessel, housing, or other body for the disposition of the sensing device in sensing contact with an environment contained within the body. The sensor processing end is disposed externally of the body for connection via a cable or the like to a data collector or controller, and in this regard is configured as having a threaded pin or other connector.
Sensors and mounting arrangements thereof are further described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,245,815; 4,576,049; 4,858,470; 4,922,754; 4,942,763; 5,015,194; 5,095,517; 5,228,338; 5,253,520; and 5,528,941. A commercial flow sensor of the type herein involved is marketed under the designation FCS-G1/4 by Turck, Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.).
In a conventional mounting arrangement, the opening of the body wall is internally-threaded for a threaded engagement with an externally-threaded portion of the sensor probe end. With such an arrangement, however, the angular orientation of the probe is randomly determined as dependent upon the depth of the threads in the body opening and the extent to which the probe is engaged with those threads. Accordingly, situations arise wherein the orientation of the processing end connector is disposed at an inconvenient angular position which complicates the cable connection and, in the case of a bank of sensor, leads to non-parallel line runs which are disfavored for aesthetic reasons. The random angular positioning of the sensor, moreover, makes it difficult to control both the exposure and orientation of the probe end within the environment and, as a result, can deleteriously affect the sensitivity of the sensor.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that improved sensor mounting arrangements would be well-received by industry. Particularly, there exists a need for an improved mounting arrangement in applications involving flow sensors dictating a preferred probe radial orientation and/or axial exposure extent.
The present invention is directed broadly to a positioning assembly for positioning a sensor in a body having an environment contained therein, and more particularly to a positioning assembly for use with a sensor of a variety including an elongate terminal portion with a probe end receivable through a wall of the body. In accordance with the precepts of the present invention, such assembly allows the sensor to be positioned at select angular orientations facilitating electrical and other connections. When employed, for example, in conjunction with flow sensors having a specified radial orientation and/or axial exposure extent, such assembly, moreover, allows the sensor to be positioned for optimal sensitivity.
In basic construction, the positioning assembly of present invention includes a generally-annular adapter and an associated, generally-angular fastening member. The adapter is provided as extending intermediate an upper first end and a lower second end, and further as having an inner surface configured for a threaded engagement with the externally-threaded terminal portion of the sensor, and an outer surface including a bearing portion. The annular fastening member has an inner surface receivable coaxially over the outer surface of the adapter member and an outer surface configured for a threaded engagement an opening formed within a wall of the body. With the fastening member being received over the adapter and the adapter being threadably engaged with the sensor terminal portion, the fastening member is threadably engagable with the body wall opening for movement into an abutting, force-transmitting contact with the bearing portion of the adapter. Such contact urges the second end of the adapter member into a compressive and, preferably, fluid-tight sealing engagement with an axial surface of the body wall opening and thereby positions the sensor at a select angular orientation. Prior to the compressive engagement of the adapter member with the opening axial surface, however, the sensor is rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof for its positioning at the selected angular orientation. In this way, the sensor may be positioned for reasons of aesthetics or performance at any angular orientation from 0xc2x0 to 360xc2x0 with sealing contact with the body being maintained.
Advantageously, the positioning assembly of the present invention also comprehends that the assembly adapter member may be sized to extend intermediate the first and second ends thereof to define a predetermined length. Such length may be varied for controlling the axial extent of the sensor probe end within the body environment without the need to reconfigure the sensor or body wall opening.
The present invention, accordingly, comprises the apparatus and method possessing the construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts and steps which are exemplified in the detailed disclosure to follow. Advantages of the invention includes a sensor positioning assembly which allows the sensor to be positioned at select angular orientations for facilitating electrical or other connections with a connector of the sensor, and/or for the facing the probe end thereof in any direction which may be specified by the sensor manufacturer. Additional advantages include an adapter which may be dimensioned to control the exposure of the sensor probe end within the working environment as also may be specified by the sensor manufacturer to ensure optimal sensitivity. These and other advantages will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art based upon the disclosure contained herein.


An integrated air conditioner with a fan casing is provided to reduce flowing resistance of air discharged therefrom, and to achieve increase of wind flow rate and reduction of noise owing to air discharged therefrom. The fan casing includes a fan-housing unit having a volute space in which a blower fan is rotatably mounted and an outlet space combined with the volute space. The volute space of the fan-housing unit is provided at an inner top surface of the volute space with a concave recess leading to an upper surface of the outlet space such that the overall inner surface of the volute space takes a shape of Archimedes"" spiral. The fan casing also includes a front panel attached to a front face of the fan-housing unit, which is provided with an air intake opening and a turning plate bent forward. The turning plate defines an outlet duct by combination with the outlet space to direct room air in the volute space to a front air outlet through the outlet space.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-69434, filed Nov. 8, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated air conditioner, and more particularly, to an integrated air conditioner with a fan casing having a blower fan intended to suck room air from a room to thereby cause the room air to be subjected to heat exchange and discharge the heat-exchanged room air back to the room.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, air conditioners are divided into two main kinds: integrated-type air conditioners in which evaporators and condensers constituting refrigerating cycles are housed in one cabinet, and split-type air conditioners in which evaporators and condensers are housed in separate cabinets. In the integrated-type air conditioner, the cabinet is projected from a window toward a room at an evaporator section of the cabinet, and projected to an outside at a remaining condenser section of the cabinet. Accordingly, the integrated-type of air conditioner is also referred to as a window-type air conditioner.
The conventional integrated air conditioner includes a cabinet in which a blower fan and a propeller fan are mounted to be rotated concurrently by one motor. The evaporator is disposed in front of the blower fan, and the condenser is disposed at the rear of the propeller fan. A front face of the cabinet is provided with a front grille having a room air inlet to suck room air, and a room air outlet to discharge heat-exchanged room air. At a rear section, the cabinet is provided with an external air inlet and an external air outlet. The blower fan, which is disposed in a fan casing positioned behind the evaporator, is adapted to suck room air heat exchanged at the evaporator and then discharge the room air back to a room.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show a fan casing of a conventional integrated air conditioner. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional fan casing includes a fan-housing unit 2 and a front panel 3 attached to a front face of the fan-housing unit 2. The front panel 3 has an air intake opening 3a.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front panel 3 is made of a metal plate and is provided with the air intake opening 3a having a circular shape. A side of the front panel 3 has a turning plate 3b, which defines an outlet duct 5 and serves to direct heat exchanged room air to a room air outlet of a front grille (not shown). The turning plate 3b is bent toward the room air outlet of the front grille at a right angle at the side of the front panel 3 of the fan casing 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the fan-housing unit 2 of the fan casing 1 is usually made of a heat insulating material (e.g., expanded polystyrene). A side of the fan-housing unit 2 has a volute space 2a in which a blower fan 4 is installed with a circumferential spacing therearound. An inner surface of the volute space 2a is configured to have an Archimedes"" spiral curved surface, which is also called an involute curved surface. The fan-housing unit 2 also has a side with an outlet space 2b which is combined with an upper portion of the volute space 2a. The outlet space 2b and the turning plate 3b define the outlet duct 5. An uppermost portion (a portion directly above a rotating axis of the blower fan 4) of the volute space 2a combined with the outlet space 2b has a horizontally extended section 2c. The horizontal extended section is intended to prevent a vertical height xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d of the fan-housing unit 2 from being increased. Generally, where the Archimedes"" spiral surface is extended to the uppermost point of the volute space 2a, the vertical height xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d of the fan-housing unit 2 must be increased to strengthen an upper portion of the fan-housing unit 2, thereby causing an overall size of the integrated-type air conditioner to be increased.
When the blower fan 4 is rotated, room air which has been heat exchanged at an evaporator (not shown), is sucked into the volute space 2a through the intake opening 3a, and then flows into the outlet duct 5 while being in contact with an inner surface of the volute space 2a. Subsequently, the heat exchanged room air is discharged into a room through a room air outlet of the front grille to condition air in the room.
However, since the turning plate 3b of the front panel 3 that partly defines the outlet duct 5 of a conventional integrated air conditioner is abruptly bent, room air discharged therethrough is subjected to considerable flow resistance. Furthermore, since the uppermost portion of the volute space 2a has the horizontally extended portion 2c to decrease the vertical height xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d of the fan-housing unit 2, airflow at the horizontal extended portion 2c is not to be smooth.
As a result, the conventional integrated air conditioner has disadvantages in that considerably high noise is generated due to airflow resistance at the uppermost portion of the fan-housing unit 2, thus resulting in a decrease in flow rate during an operation of the air conditioner.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated air conditioner with a fan casing intended to reduce resistance to air flow and to increase flow rate by improving the fan casing. The fan casing is provided with a volute space to receive a blower fan, and includes an outlet duct.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an integrated air conditioner with a fan casing. The fan casing has a fan-housing unit having a volute space in which a blower fan is rotatably mounted and an outlet space combined with the volute space. The volute space of the fan-housing unit is provided at an inner top surface of the volute space with a concave recess leading to an upper surface of the outlet space such that an entire inner surface of the volute space takes a shape of Archimedes"" spiral. The fan casing also has a front panel attached to a front face of the fan-housing unit, which is provided with an air intake opening and a turning plate bent forward. The turning plate defines an outlet duct by combining with the outlet space to direct room air in the volute space to a front air outlet through the outlet space.
According to an aspect of the invention, the fan-housing unit is formed at a top wall of the fan-housing unit with an upper opening of a predetermined area, and is provided with a guide plate covering an upper surface of the fan-housing including the upper opening. The guide plate has a concave recess at a lower surface of the guide plate corresponding to the upper opening.
According to an aspect of the invention, the guide plate includes a first protrusion to be engaged with a side edge of the upper opening and a second protrusion to be engaged with the other side edge of the upper opening such that the concave recess is defined between the first and second protrusion.
According to another aspect of the invention, the fan-housing unit is provided at an upper surface of the fan-housing unit with a stepped portion so that the guide plate is stably seated on the fan-housing unit.
According to another aspect of the invention, the fan-housing unit is shaped by heat insulating material, and the guide plate is injection molded by plastic material.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the turning plate of the front panel is formed at a bent portion of the turning plate with an inclined face such that room air in the volute space is smoothly directed forward.

Integrated air conditioner with a fan casing


Various embodiments are directed to framework versioning for a mobile computing device. The described embodiments may include a web browser, a plurality of application frameworks, one or more applications compatible with one or more of the plurality of application frameworks, and a loader module operative to select and load one of the plurality of application frameworks into the web browser for each of the one or more applications based on an identifier in each of the one or more applications. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Web browsers have become highly capable software packages in recent years. In addition to rendering web pages, a web browser may implement a variety of web applications. Such web applications may be implemented using various web technologies such as HTML, XHTML, XML, and Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax), for example. Some applications may run in a web browser on a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone or smartphone. Utilizing web applications as a platform for developing and distributing applications for mobile devices has several advantages, including simplified application development, decreased application size, increased application responsiveness and increased numbers of qualified application developers leading to a more robust selection of applications.
Although a web application has many advantages, it suffers in a number of areas. For instance, web applications are typically designed to run on a specific application framework. Application frameworks, however, are often updated and revised to improve the user experience. Absent an update from the application developer in response to the updated application framework, the web application may not render properly or even function properly following an application framework update. This places an undue burden on developers to continually update their applications and inconveniences users who expect their applications to function properly. Consequently, there exists a substantial need for improvements to application framework versioning.


A buried stripe semiconductor light emitting device and a method for producing the device in which the buried stripe functions as an internal resonator, and the device has window regions interposed between the resonator and facets on the external surface of the device. A first phase crystal growth is conducted in which a first cladding layer is grown on a doped substrate. Thereafter, a doped stripe of impurities is introduced into the first cladding layer in electrical contact with the doped substrate. The doped stripe extends longitudinally but terminates short of the facets so that later out-diffusion from the doped stripe will form the window regions. A second phase crystal growth is then conducted which buries the doped stripe internal to the semiconductor, i.e., not projecting through any external surface. The second phase crystal growth comprises an active layer, a second cladding layer and a contact layer successively grown on the first cladding layer. Impurities from the buried doped stripe are out-diffused into the active layer to the boundary between the active layer and the second cladding layer to form the resonator, leaving windows interposed between the resonator ends and the facets.

A prior art window structure semiconductor laser is described in "An AlGaAs Window Structure Laser", IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Vol. QE-15, No. 8, August, 1979, pp. 775-781. FIG. 3(a) is a plan view of such a device, while FIGS. 3(b) and 3(c) are cross-sectional views taken along lines 3b--3b and 3c--3c of FIG. 3(a), respectively.
As illustrated in FIGS. 3(a)-3(c), a semiconductor light emitting device using the growth techniques of the prior art starts with an n-type GaAs substrate 1. A first cladding layer 2, of n-type Al.sub.y Ga.sub.1-7 As is grown on the n-type GaAs substrate 1. Thereafter, an active layer 3 is grown on the first cladding layer 2 through conventional growth techniques. As is understood in the art, active layer 3 is either of n-type or undoped Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-xl As (x<y). Similar to the first cladding layer 2, a second cladding layer 4 of the same n-type Al.sub.y Ga.sub.1-y As the first cladding layer 2 is next grown on the active layer 3. The cladding layers 2, 4 have a lower refractive index than the active layer 2, thus confining light generated in the active layer to within that layer. Contact layer 5 is then grown on cladding layer 4 and is of n-type GaAs, completing the growth process of a prior art semiconductor light emitting device. Although not illustrated in FIG. 3, an n side electrode is formed on the substrate 1 and a p side electrode on the contact layer 5 for making electrical connections with the semiconductor device.
In order to create a p-n junction for injecting carriers into a predetermined section of the active layer 3, a first p-type impurity region 6 is diffused from the surface of the contact layer 5 through the second cladding layer 4 to approximately the junction between the second cladding layer 4 and the active layer 3. Thereafter, thermal processing produces a second p-type diffusion region 7 by out-diffusing impurities from the first p-type diffusion region 6 into the active layer 3 to approximately the boundary between the active layer 3 and first cladding layer 2. Thus, there is created a stripe region 8 in the active layer which (a) forms a p-n junction with the adjacent portion of the first cladding layer, and (b) creates a resonator which has a higher index of refraction than the cladding layers or the undoped or n-doped regions of the active layer to confine light within the resonator.
As best shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(c), the first and second diffusion regions 6, 7 are positioned longitudinally of the laser, but terminate short of the facets 10, 10' which are located on either longitudinal end surface of the laser. Thus, a pair of windows 9, 9' are created between the stripe region or resonator 8 and the facets 10, 10'. By virtue of the impurity concentration in the resonator 8 (which it is recalled is created by out-diffusion from the stripe region 7), the energy band gap of the resonator 8 is smaller than that of the undoped or n-type doped region of the active layer 3 at the windows 9, 9'. By virtue of this difference in energy gaps, very little of the light generated in the resonator 8 is absorbed in the windows 9, 9', allowing the laser to be operated at higher power.
Although this prior art light emitting device solves the problem of device failure at high operating power by providing windows interposed between the resonator and the laser facets, in contrast to other prior devices where the resonator intersects the facets, it appears to suffer from the problem of inadequate yield because of manufacturing difficulties. More particularly, the location of the out-diffusion region 7, particularly the portion which forms the resonator 8 must be carefully controlled in order to produce useful laser devices. Preferably, the resonator portion 8 of the out-diffusion region 7 penetrates the active layer 3 and terminates at the boundary between the active layer and first cladding layer 2. However, because of the difficulty of controlling the diffusion depth of the first diffusion region 6, and consequently the difficulty of controlling the location of the significantly smaller out-diffusion region 7, it often happens that the resonator portion 8 of the out-diffusion region 7 does not reach the active layer, or alternatively it penetrates the active layer and protrudes into the first cladding layer 2. Both of these situations produce laser devices which are non-functional, thus reducing the yield of the process. When it is appreciated that the cladding layers are on the order of 2 or more microns whereas the active layer is typically about 0.1 microns, the difficulty of process control will be apparent, first of all, in controlling the depth of the first diffusion region to provide an appropriate starting point for the out-diffusion, and subsequently in controlling the out-diffusion to form the resonator. This problem can be further aggravated by surface irregularities on the grown crystal which can be exacerbated by the multiple levels which are grown before the first diffusion region is formed.

Method of making a semiconductor light emitting device using out-diffusion from a buried stripe


A current feed-through has a mounting feature, a member accessible from both sides of the mounting feature and an electrical isolator, connecting the mounting feature and the member in respective positions, to ensure mechanical integrity and electrical isolation between the mounting feature and the member.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to current feed-throughs used to provide an electrically conductive path through the wall of a vessel, which path is electrically isolated from the vessel itself.
In particular, the present invention relates to such current feed-throughs which are suitable for providing current to, and removing current from, superconducting structures within a vacuum vessel or a cryogen vessel.
Description of the Prior Art
In the case of modern superconducting magnets for MRI systems, for example, it may be required to provide an electrical current path from a superconducting coil assembly which is contained in one cryogen vessel, and a superconducting switch which may be provided external to the cryogen vessel, or even enclosed within a second cryogen vessel.
While the MRI magnet provides an example of a possible field of use of the present invention, the present invention is not restricted to such field of use, and may be applied in numerous other situations.
Examples of current feed-throughs are described in:
MESSER GRIESHEIM GMBH MESG-S European Patent EP 0 510 397;
Section 6.5 of the MDC Vacuum Ltd catalogue (www.mdcvacuum.co.uk); and
M. Kuchnir "Fabrication of Cryogenic Electrical Feedthroughs" FERMILAB TM-596 Aug. 8, 1975 at http://lss.fnal.gov/archive/tm/TM-0596.pdf.
It is preferred that such feed-throughs should have the minimum possible electrical resistance at the temperature of operation of the superconducting magnet and the superconducting switch. The feed-throughs must be capable of supporting a vacuum on one side, and cryogen pressure on the other.


An LED includes a bowl-like substrate, three posts embedded within the substrate, an LED die bonded to a middle post, a pair of spiral gold wires interconnecting two electrodes of the LED die and two lateral posts, and an encapsulant sealing the LED die and fixed on the substrate. The two wires are further wound around two columns protruded upwardly from the substrate, respectively. The two columns may be made integrally with the substrate, or be employed as upper portions of the two lateral posts in the case of the two lateral posts extending upwardly beyond the substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light emitting diode (LED) and a method for manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to an LED having spiral bonding wires and a method for manufacturing the LED.
2. Description of Related Art
LEDs have been available since the early 1960's. Because of the relatively high light-emitting efficiency of LEDs, nowadays LED usage has been increased in popularity in a variety of applications, e.g., residential, traffic, commercial, industrial settings. A typical LED generally includes a base, an LED die bonded on the base and an encapsulant enveloping the LED die. For supplying power into the LED die, two arced bonding wires are provided to connect two opposite electrodes of the LED die to metal patterns which have been printed on the base, or metal blocks which have been embedded within the base beforehand. The two bonding wires are sealed by the encapsulant in a tight manner, avoiding oxidation or collision.
In order to ensure a good electrical connection between the LED die and the base, the bonding wire is generally made from gold which has an electrical conduction capability better than other metals, such as copper or iron. Due to being made from such a precious material, the bonding wire is often manufactured relatively thin for reducing the cost. Further, a light-extracting efficacy of the LED also requires the bonding wire to be thin enough, since a thick bonding wire may block a large amount of light emitted from the LED die and thus significantly reduce the whole light output of the LED. Accordingly, a diameter of the bonding wire well known in the relevant art is chosen from 1.0˜1.5 mil (one thousandth of an inch).
For allowing as much light out of the LED as possible, the encapsulant is often made of transparent material such as glass, epoxy, silicon or the like, which have an Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) far larger than that of the gold. When the LED is used under a relatively severe environment, for example, a winter having a temperature below −20°, the encapsulant shrink much more dramatically than the bonding wire. Such difference between the shrinking degrees of the encapsulant and the bonding wire causes the bonding wire to be deformed by the encapsulant, resulting in a risk of rupture of the bonding wire due to a poor stress-resisting capability thereof.
In addition, at the instantaneous time when the LED is activated, a current which varies abruptly from zero to a target value, is produced. Such abruptly varied current directly input to the LED die from the bonding wire may cause an undesirable damage to the LED die.
What is needed, therefore, is an LED which can overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.

Light emitting diode and method for manufacturing the same


An electrolytic conductivity detector cell featuring a flow bore for communicating gaseous products of a gas chromatographic system designed to provide electrolytic conductivity supporting compounds, combined with a liquid solvent in which the compounds in question dissolve. Electrodes are provided, in general, in the form of conducting pins which are positioned in bores in the cell block, intersecting the flow bore to expose surfaces of the electrodes to the fluids in the bore.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to methods and apparatus for obtaining conductivity information for fluids. More particularly, the present invention relates to techniques for measuring electric current through fluid containing electrolytes. As disclosed, the present invention is embodied in an electrolytic conductivity detector (ELCD), and particularly in an ELCD cell in which current is passed through the fluid whose conductivity is to be determined, and finds particular application in a detector system for gas chromatography.
2. Description of Prior Art
The application of electrolytic conductivity for the determination of gas chromatographic eluates is generally known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,309,845, 3,934,193 and 4,555,383 disclose ELCD cells for use in gas chromatography.
It is advantageous and desirable to provide an ELCD system, particularly for use in a gas chromatographic system, which is reliable and sensitive, and which provides high resolution and repeatability. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an ELCD cell for use in a detection system, and particularly as part of a gas chromatographic system, which is also readily maintained and provides sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for chromatography.


Multilayer metal materials are selected so that the materials will alloy or intermix under rapid thermal annealing conditions. The individual materials of the multilayers are preferably chosen such that at least one of the materials may be selectively etched with respect to the other material by wet chemical or electrochemical etching. For electroplating applications, the alloyed plating base material will assume some of the etch resistance of the original electrodeposit material such that a selective wet etch of the plating base can be performed without substantial undercutting. Furthermore, the graded composition alloy will exhibit other advantageous physical and chemical properties for electrode formation and use. The alloying or intermixing may be accomplished before or after patterning of the materials, for the instance wherein the materials deposited as blanket layers. Similarly, the alloying or intermixing may be accomplished before or after plating base removal for structures deposited by through-mask plating.

In the field of processing semiconductor memory devices, through-mask electroplating is a method for forming the noble metal electrodes expected to be required for devices incorporating high permittivity dielectric or ferroelectric materials. Such electrode plating is done selectively with the plated deposits being grown in defined areas of a conductive plating base layer on a substrate, which areas have been defined by lithography. While, for consistency of description, both the background of the invention and the description of the invention will be detailed with specific reference to through-mask electroplating of electrodes for semiconductor memory devices, it is not intended that the applicability of the invention be limited solely to those processes. It will be apparent to one having skill in the art that the current invention has applicability for multilayer metal deposition for other applications as well.
Through-mask plating of noble metals (and for non-noble metals as applicable), is illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) through 1(e). Reference is made to Assignee's application entitled "Plating of Noble Metal Electrodes for DRAM and FRAM", of Andricacos, et al, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,320 on Aug. 4, 1998, the teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference. Through-mask plating is generally conducted in accordance with a process flow that begins with the deposition of a blanket layer of a conductive plating base, 1 of FIG. 1(a), deposited over the substrate, 2, on which the electrode deposits are to be grown. The plating base layer is typically thin, of the order of 20-100 nm. One or more layers may be deposited on substrate 2 prior to deposition of the plating base, to improve adhesion or to act as barriers to interlayer reactions. After the blanket layer of the plating base has been deposited, a layer of mask material, 3, is deposited on the plating base layer, followed by patterning of the mask material to expose areas of the plating base layer where plating is desired. As shown in FIG. 1(b), the mask material remains over the regions of the surface which are not to be plated. The thickness of the mask material should be greater than or equal to the thickness of the desired electrodeposit. The mask material, such as organic photoresists or diamond-like carbon (DLC), should be insulating and compatible with the plating solution. Next, the entire patterned surface is exposed to a plating step, whereby the chosen electrode plating material, 4, is selectively grown on the exposed conductive regions of the sample, as shown in FIG. 1(c). After electroplating, the mask material is removed from the areas of the plating base layer which have not been plated, leaving the structure illustrated in FIG. 1(d); and, finally the plating base is removed from those areas having no electrodeposited material, yielding the structure of FIG. 1(e).
Plating base removal is typically done by etching. The etchant and etch method may be selective or non-selective with respect to the electrode plating material, with selective etches clearly being preferred, so as to preserve the plated electrode during the plating base removal process. A complication frequently encountered is that the materials chosen for the plating base and the plated electrode are so similar that they respond similarly to a given etchant or etch process.
Furthermore, the etching process may be anisotropic (e.g, including so-called dry etching processes such as reactive ion etching) or isotropic (e.g., including so-called "wet" etching such as a bath of chemical solution). Wet etches are generally not preferred for plating base removal when fine features are present, since the wet isotropic etches do give rise to the aforementioned risk of removal of some or all of the plating base under the electrode. What is typically encountered with isotropic etching for plating base removal is partial removal of the plating base at the edges of the plated electrode feature, an effect known as "undercutting," as illustrated in the structure of FIG. 2(a). The amount of undercutting is dependent upon the duration of the etch process, with the minimum amount of undercut generally about equal to the thickness of the plating base which is being removed. If the lateral dimensions of the plated feature are large compared to the plating base thickness, an undercut of that thickness on each side of the feature may be tolerable. However, wet etching may be problematic for the sub-micron dimension electrode structures of interest for memory device applications, even with plating base thicknesses of 30-50 nm, since plating base undercutting may expose underlying contacts or degrade electrode-to-substrate adhesion.
As a result of the foregoing concerns, anisotropic (typically dry) etch processes are preferred for plating base removal from a device structure having fine-featured electrodeposits. If the dry etch is selective, it will only remove the plating base which had been covered by the mask material. If the dry etch is non-selective, it will remove the plating base and a small amount of the electrodeposit (i.e., the electrode plating material) at the top surface of the plated structure. Since the thickness of the electrodeposit is much greater than the thickness of the plating base layer, the sacrifice of a small amount of the electrodeposit from the top surface is acceptable. A disadvantage of using a physical dry etch process, such as rf-sputtering or ion beam sputtering, is that the surfaces of the plated electrode structures may become contaminated with residue from the etching process, including redeposits of sputtered material comprised of the plating base material and the underlying surface material, as shown in the structure of FIG. 2(b). This results in degradation of the electrical properties of the electrode structure and of a subsequently-deposited cell dielectric.
What is desired, therefore, is a selective etching process which is not subject to any of the foregoing disadvantages.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a selective etching process for the removal of a conductive noble metal plating base material from the regions between patterned electrodeposits of a noble metal material which differs from the noble metal plating base material.
It is another objective of the invention to improve the properties of layered structures comprised of a plurality of layers of two or more different conducting materials.
It is still another objective of the invention to improve the properties of layered electrodeposit-on-plating-base structures intended for microelectronic or micromechanical applications.
Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a method and materials for a through-mask electroplating process which permits the plating base to be removed from the regions between the patterned electrodeposits by a wet chemical etch which is selective and anisotropic.
Still another objective is to provide a multilayer metal structure having improved oxidation resistance.

Method and materials for through-mask electroplating and selective base removal

International Business Machines Corporation


A direct current to direct current (DC/DC) converter includes a resonant converter stage, a buck stage, and a processor apparatus. The resonant converter stage includes a bridge circuit. The buck stage is configured to output an output voltage and an output current, is electrically connected in series with the resonant converter stage, and includes a buck switch. The processor apparatus is configured to sense the output voltage and the output current, and, based on the sensed output voltage and the sensed output current, to perform one of: (a) fixing a switching frequency of the bridge circuit to a predetermined maximum switching frequency and controlling the output voltage by controlling a duty cycle of the buck switch, and (b) fixing the duty cycle of the buck switch to a predetermined duty cycle and controlling the output voltage by controlling the switching frequency of the bridge circuit.

1. Field
The disclosed concept pertains generally to direct current to direct current (DC/DC) converters and, more particularly, to multi-stage DC/DC converters. The disclosed concept also pertains to methods of controlling DC/DC converters.
2. Background Information
A DC/DC converter is configured to receive an input direct current (DC) voltage and convert it into one or more output DC voltages. In many applications, such as electric vehicle chargers, a DC/DC converter must be able to provide a relatively wide output voltage range. For example, the electric vehicle charging voltage range required by the CHAdeMo specification is 50-500 VDC. In other words, the maximum voltage in the range is ten times the minimum voltage in the range.
One type of DC/DC converter is an LLC resonant converter. An LLC resonant converter is a type of resonant converter whose resonant frequency is determined by two inductive components and one capacitive component. LLC resonant converters provide high efficiency, low levels of EMI emissions, high power density, and low cost. However, in prior LLC resonant converter designs, increasing the output voltage range detrimentally affects the efficiency of the LLC resonant converter by causing a larger shunt current in the primary side, thus increasing conduction loss.
Some prior DC/DC converter designs have used a buck stage in conjunction with an LLC resonant converter stage to obtain a wider output range. In one prior configuration, a buck stage is added after the LLC resonant converter stage, thus allowing a wider output voltage range.
In such DC/DC converter designs, the output voltage of the LLC resonant converter stage is controlled by changing its switching frequency and the output voltage of the buck stage is controlled by changing its duty cycle. Two methods have been used to control the output voltage of the DC/DC converter in these designs. For example, if the required output voltage is 50-500 VDC and the maximum current is 30 A, a first method fixes the output voltage of the LLC resonant converter stage to 500 VDC regardless of the load and regulates the output voltage with the buck stage. With this method, the LLC resonant converter stage can be optimized to have a high efficiency. However, the buck stage must have a relatively wide output range of 50-500 VDC and must be able to handle power up to 15 kW. Due to its hard switching, the loss in the buck stage is large. Additionally, the buck stage must be designed for a power of 15 kW, thus increasing its cost.
In a second method, the output voltage of the LLC resonant converter stage has a regulation range of 310-500 VDC at any load from OA to 30 A. If the required output voltage is above 310 VDC, the duty of the buck stage is set to 100% and the output voltage is regulated by the LLC resonant converter stage. If the required output voltage is below 310 VDC, the output voltage of the LLC resonant converter stage is set to 310 VDC or some other value at which the LLC resonant converter stage has a relatively high efficiency and the output voltage is regulated by controlling the duty cycle of the buck stage. In this second method, the efficiency of the LLC resonant converter stage is lower than the efficiency of the LLC resonant converter stage of the first method. However, the buck stage regulates a narrower range of voltages and has a lower power rating. Although the second method is more efficient than the first method, there is room for further improvement in DC/DC converters.

DC/DC converter with resonant converter stage and buck stage and method of controlling the same


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and provides to reduce a contact resistance of a landing plug by forming the landing plug in such a manner that a polysilicon layer is deposited only on the surface of a landing plug contact hole, and a metal layer is buried in the rest of the landing plug contact hole in the process of forming a storage node contact or a bit line contact.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method for forming a contact of a semiconductor device.
Recently, as a semiconductor device is highly integrated, the distance between lines, or Critical Dimension (CD), of device becomes narrow. Accordingly, the size of a contact hole necessary for forming a landing plug or a storage node contact plug also becomes smaller. Narrow CD increases resistance of a device, especially, contact resistance which impairs operational performance.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device


The disclosure provides a match-rule based service message transfer method and system in the IPTV, to address the problems in the IPTV message system of message storing and backlog, low push efficiency and poor usability. In the disclosure, match fields are arranged in a set-top box and a service message to be sent, the service message is sent by means of broadcast or multicast, the set-top box performs matching for the match fields based on the match rule, and filters the message. The disclosure avoids sending a service message by means of unicast, increases the push efficiency and can greatly reduce the storage load of offline messages in a message system. The formed message may be sent according to a single or combined policy which depends on a specific service attribute, thereby greatly facilitating the service operation.

At present, in an IPTV system, an application side device generally sends a message to a terminal side device in the traditional way of short message center. However, as the user model of the IPTV system is an offline model, that is, users are not online at most of the time, the message storage load in the message center is greatly increased. The load is increased exponentially with the amount of users, which puts the system operation at risk, and the risk becomes more significant as service of the message type get expanded. Furthermore, issuing messages one by one by using a user list is of low efficiency, and push time becomes longer as the amount of users increases. At the same time, if a message is to be sent to a plurality of users with a specified service attribute, these users have to be imported to a group before the message is sent, which is relatively troublesome to operate.
Therefore, in the message system, message storing and backlog, low push efficiency, poor usability and the like have been greatly concerned.

Match-rule based service message transfer method and system


A detachable eyeglass assembly for a visored headgear includes a clip for removable attachment to the visor. The clip is adopted to extend from one side edge to the other side edge of the visor perpendicular to the wearer's frontal line of vision, and the visor is gripped or frictionally retained at it opposite side edges by the clip. An eyeglass member having a transparent portion connects to the clip by pivot means so as to be able to tilt up out of the user's line of vision. The length of the clips between the ends that grasp the side edges of the visor, is adjustable whereby the distance between the sunglass member and the user's eyes is selectable. The detachable sunglass assembly is useable on a variety of visored headgear.

This invention relates generally to eyeglasses and more particularly to sunglasses that are adjustably and removably attachable to the visor of a person's cap.
The need for sunglasses and disadvantages associated with conventional sunglasses are well known. Most sunglasses are similar to conventional eyeglasses or spectacles. There is generally a main frame, which includes a pair of lenses or a single continuous lens, and a pair of temple bars at opposite sides of the main frame. The temple bars rest on the wearer's ears or partially encircle the ears from above; the center of the main frame is adapted to rest on the user's nose. The temple bars are hinged to the main frame for folding into a position substantially parallel with the main frame or the temple bars may be set at right angles to the main frame for wearing.
Such sunglasses, including a main frame and temple bars are not convenient for use when playing golf. Typically golfers wear caps with visors. The standard sunglasses interfere with proper seating of the golf caps and vice versa. Also, in playing golf the player frequently moves his head up and down, i.e., before, during, and after, a swing. In addition, individual golfers have different facial and eye characteristics and have varying habits. Thus, the optimum position of sunglasses varies from golfer to golfer.
In the prior art, adaptations of conventional sunglasses have been made wherein the temple bars were eliminated and the main frame, with the desired tinted lenses, was attached to the headgear of the user. In many instances, these devices have the disadvantage of permanent attachment to the headgear, such that the sunglasses are always present, even when the need for sunglasses is absent. The sunglasses cannot be readily placed on a new cap when caps are changed. Also, some of the prior art pivotable sunglasses were so heavy and complex in construction that the cost of the pivot device could outweigh usefulness.
In many of the earlier devices, the distance between the sunglass frame and the user's eyes was not adjustable. This is of course disadvantageous as many users have a preference for such positioning of sunglasses.
What is needed is a relatively inexpensive, lightweight mounting for sunglasses that is simple and easily attached to a cap visor. Advantageously, such a device should provide lens tilting, readily adjustable spacing between the sunglass and the user's face, and simple attachment to the cap without need for tools or complex or expensive components.

Detachable eyeglass assembly for visored headgear


Systems, apparatuses and methods may provide for detecting a facial image including generating a spatial convolutional neural network score for one or more detected facial images from a facial image detector, generating a temporal convolutional network score for detected facial video frames from the facial image detector and generating a combined spatial-temporal score to determine whether a detected facial image gains user access to a protected resource.

Face detection may be useful in a variety of computer vision applications such as, for example, biometric verification, surveillance, video analysis, and so forth. Current face detection systems are vulnerable to "spoofing." Spoofing is an attempt by a non-authorized individual to fool a face detection system into believing that the individual is an authorized user. Spoofing may be performed using photographs, videos, or masks of an authorized user. To thwart spoofing attempts, depth information may be added to standard RGB pixels. In other instances, infrared or acoustic sensors may be used in addition to an RGB image. Nonetheless, there remains a need for improved anti-spoofing for RGB input.

Face anti-spoofing using spatial and temporal convolutional neural network analysis


A device and method are disclosed for illuminating an imprinted sheet or an individual page of a book so that it can be read and/or written on under poor light conditions by an individual. The device and method utilize a luminescent sheet disposed under the sheet or page to illuminate the sheet/page from below so that an individual can read the printing on the sheet as well as see his writing on the sheet/page during and after the writing process.

1. Field of the Invention
The device and method of this invention relate to the illumination of a sheet having printed indicia thereon such as on a clipboard or pages of a book and more particularly relate to an electroluminescent sheet or woven fiber-optic fabric which can be disposed under such sheet or book page to be read to provide a light source therethrough for illumination of the printing on such page.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ambiant light provided by an external light source is the usual method by which a sheet or page of a book is illuminated. Applicant's prior invention relates to providing light from an edge of a transparent sheet to illuminate indicia imprinted on such sheet. Further, the inventor has disclosed sheets having electroluminescent polymer indicia thereon which are activated to produce lighted indicia on such sheets. The inventor has also utilized indicia imprinted on electroluminescent film disposed on a base sheet to make such indicia visible when electrical current is provided to such film.


An augmentor screech suppressor for a gas turbine engine includes a screech suppressor liner mounted on a screech housing and an actuator for translating the screech suppressor liner axially forward and aft, with the actuator located outside the outer duct of the engine. In a preferred embodiment in a variable cycle gas turbine engine, a variable area bypass injector (VABI) valve with a circumferentially conical surface slopes into the screech suppressor liner surface and inner and outer crank arms transfer linear motion from the actuator through the outer duct wall, cooperating with idler arms to translate the screech suppressor housing, and thus the VABI valve and screech suppressor linear, axially between open and closed valve position.

A variable cycle gas turbine engine, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,384 to Wagenknecht, et al., and incorporated herein by reference is capable of acting as both a turbojet and a turbofan by varying the bypass ratio of the engine. A conventional variable cycle gas turbine engine will include a fan, a midfan or low pressure compressor, a high pressure compressor, combustor, high pressure turbine, low pressure turbine, and an augmentor in serial flow relationship. A bypass duct supplies bypass air from the fan and the low pressure compressor to the rear VABI where the bypass air can be returned to the core engine gas flow. Conventionally, the rear VABI is located aft of the low pressure turbine and forward of the augmentor. An augmentor conventionally includes a diffuser section, a flameholder and an augmentor screech suppressor. All or a portion of the bypass flow can be diverted to an augmentor cooling plenum where it can be injected through the augmentor cooling liner which includes a screech suppressor liner. This coolant flow protects the augmentor liner, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,229 to Simmons. In order for bypass air to flow through the augmentor liner into the augmentor, it is necessary for the pressure of the bypass air in the cooling plenum to be higher than that of the core airflow through the augmentor. It has also been found that in order to enhance the performance of a variable cycle engine and avoid fan stall or compressor stall, it is necessary that the appropriate pressure ratio between those areas of the engine and the pressure in the augmentor be controlled. For additional information concerning the necessity to maintain the appropriate pressure ratios in a variable cycle engine and the use of a rear VABI for such control, reference can be had to co-pending application Ser. No. 07/504,380, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,624.
It has been found that in order to enhance the turbojet cycle of a variable cycle engine, the rear VABI needs to provide a better seal when in a closed position than has been previously achieved in order to conserve bypass air for coolant flow through the augmentor liner. This is particularly difficult considering manufacturing and assembly tolerance stackup that cause differences in how much travel is necessary for a VABI door or valve mechanism to close at different circumferential locations. It has also been found that to enhance the turbofan cycle of a variable cycle engine, the rear VABI should be configured to preserve momentum of the bypass airflow as it is injected into the core airstream. Preserving the momentum of the bypass airflow is best achieved when the velocity of the bypass airflow approximates the velocity of the core gas flow. It has been found that this velocity matching is usually closest aft of the diffuser. It has also been found that prior VABI configurations injecting relatively cool air forward of the augmentor can create unstable flame and auto ignition problems in the augmentor. Further, there have been problems with hot and cold streaks as cool bypass air is injected into the hot core gas airstream through prior VABI configurations, inducing thermal stresses due to the differing temperature gases flowing past flowpath surfaces aft of the VABI. Attempting to locate the rear VABI aft of the flameholders and diffuser lengthens the distance between the flameholder and screech suppressor, diminishing the suppressor's effectiveness. This also introduces new problems in configuring the VABI to fit within the smaller bypass duct area available aft of the diffuser.

Axially translating screen suppressor for a gas turbine engine augmentor


Apparatus for kneading compounded resinous material includes a cylinder within which there is sequentially arranged a preheating feed zone, a plasticizing kneading zone, a degassing zone and a measuring zone. A screw is rotatably positioned within the cylinder and extends through all of the afore-mentioned zones. The portion of the screw within the plasticizing kneading zone has a plurality of continuous helical flights each of which is given a front wall facing in the direction of screw rotation substantially perpendicular thereto. A rear portion of each flight defines a groove with the next adjacent flight such that the diameter of the screw between flights progressively decreases in the direction opposite to screw rotation. A plurality of axially extending recesses are formed on the interior surface of the cylinder which extend at least through the preheating feed zone and the plasticizing kneading zone. In the preferred forms of the invention, a die or injection nozzle for the material being processed is provided at the downstream end of the measuring zone of the cylinder.

Compounded resins comprising a synthetic resin and a finely divided organic or inorganic material admixed therewith may be subjected to injection molding usually by preparing pellets with a kneader and then feeding the pellets to a separate injection molding machine for melting and injection molding therein to obtain a compounded resin product. Alternatively the materials may be kneaded and injection-molded by a continuous process with use of an injection molding machine having a small kneader attached to the feed inlet of the machine without prior pelletizing of the materials. However, such conventional methods have the following drawbacks. The former method involves the expenditures of of considerable heat energy and requires much labor since the resin is first melted in the kneader with application of heat, and, after cooling, is again heated and remelted for injection molding. On the other hand, the latter method which is adapted for a continuous process effects a savings in energy and labor but requires expensive apparatus. Because of this the former method has found wide use.
Extrusion molding machines have heretofore been proposed in which the shape of the screw is modified in various ways for the kneading operation to simplify the construction of the machine. Many of these proposals, however, are adapted to produce a shearing action only and are, therefore, unsatisfactory for kneading compounded resin compositions. Screws designed for compression in addition to shearing are complex in shape and difficult to make. They also have the drawback of permitting stagnation of the resin.

Nakamiyakita-machi, Hirakata-Shi, Osaka 573


An automated system for performing a Kepner Tregoe analysis provides a graphical user interface having dedicated data entry screens that include i) a first screen for entering criteria to be used in the Kepner Tregoe analysis, ii) a second screen for entering a relative importance value between each of the criteria and all others of the criteria, iii) a third screen for entering candidates to be used in the Kepner Tregoe analysis, and iv) a fourth screen for entering a raw score associated with each of the criteria for each of the candidates. A separate and dedicated score processor calculates the various parameters associated with the Kepner Tregoe analysis. A text file generator arranges the data for use by a spread sheet processor that will then function solely as part of an output device.

The Kepner Tregoe analysis is a well known non-biased numerical analysis tool used to provide a relative ranking of various candidates that are under consideration. To determine a relative rank, the analysis utilizes a plurality of features or criteria associated with each candidate. The criteria are evaluated in terms of their relative importance to one another to yield a relative criteria value. The relative criteria values are then used in conjunction with candidate scores to develop total scores for each candidate. A detail description of the Kepner Tregoe analysis can be found in "The Rational Manager" by C. H. Kepner and B. B. Tregoe, McGraw-Hill Book company, New York, 1965.
In order to provide a user with meaningful results of a Kepner Tregoe analysis, a spread sheet format is typically used to clearly set forth the candidates being evaluated, the criteria being used in the evaluation, and the scores generated by the Kepner Tregoe analysis. A variety of computerized spreadsheet processors such as LOTUS 1-2-3 and MICROSOFT EXCEL are well known in the art. These computerized spread sheets can have the Kepner Tregoe analysis formulas associated with each grid position in the spread sheet. However, if candidates and/or criteria are to be added or deleted, the spread sheet must be re-worked. This process is inefficient and time consuming.

Automated system for performing kepner tregoe analysis for spread sheet output

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Provided herein is a low cost high performance light weight hard drive cover that is injection molded. The hard drive top cover has a flange portion that applies pressure to an elastomeric seal preventing ingress of moisture dust and other contaminants into the sensitive components. The flange portion is reinforced with a plurality of metallic strips that are placed between pressure application locations embedded within the polymer flange. The viscoelastic creep response of the polymer flange does not contribute to relaxation of pressure on the elastomeric seal due to the presence of the metallic reinforcement strips. The metallic reinforcement strips may have a convex curvature between pressure application locations. The metallic reinforcement strip may have apertures for passage of injection molded polymer creating delamination free intimate bond between the polymer in the flange and the metallic reinforcement strip.

A number of prior art patents relate to hard drive covers. Few of these patents use polymeric hard disk cover. Since polymers are generally viscoelastic bodies, the force applied by screws in clamping the hard disk top cover against a seal on bottom base member thereby applying sealing pressure. However, the seal pressure relaxes between the screws locations due to viscoelastic creep thereby relieving the sealing pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,392 to Kim discloses a hard disk drive cover having improved structural and production characteristics. The hard disk drive cover is constructed using plastic resin that is injection molded to form the cover. A reinforcing frame is inserted inside the injection molded cover. The reinforcing frame has a plurality of stainless steel elongated bands that extend radically outward to engage a plurality of edges of the cover during injection molding of the polymer cover. Each of the elongated bands has a perforation in a distal end to fasten and engage with the base of the hard drive. Thus, the polymeric injection molded top cover is reinforced with radial stainless steel reinforcing bands. The bands do not reinforce the locations between the screws that affix the top cover to the hard drive base and the gasket in these portions will not receive adequate compression to provide an effective seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,879 to Fruge', et al. discloses disk drive cover features for spindle resonance tuning and damping. The disk drive has spindle resonance tuning and damping features for improved disk drive performance. The disk drive has slots in the top cover which reduces rocking resonant frequency of the spindle to allow a previously interacting spindle to no longer interact. A constrained-layer damper can be added over the top cover to dampen existing or interacting frequencies, which can further improve performance. This disk cover is provided with a plurality of circular shaped slots in between the spindle location and the periphery of the disk drive cover and the presence of slots prevents coupling of vibrations between the spindle vibrations and vibrations of the top cover thereby preventing resonance amplification. The disk drive top cover may be selected from the group consisting of plastic, aluminum or stainless steel. There are no stiffeners in the disk drive top cover plate between the bolt retaining locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,864 to Kamezawa, et al. discloses a disk drive having a resin cover improved in electromagnetic protection characteristics. A disk drive includes a housing having a base and a cover fixed to the base. A rotatable disk is mounted in the housing and having a plurality of tracks, a head for reading/writing data on the disk, and an actuator for moving the head across the tracks of the disk. The cover is composed of a molded resin and a metal sheet integrally embedded in the molded resin. The cover is composed of molded resin with a copper or steel metal sheet or mesh integrally embedded within the resin. The metal sheet has a majority of both the upper surface and a lower surface covered by the molded resin of the cover. The cover is secured to the base by a plurality of screws and the metal sheet embedded in the cover is exposed at portions where said screws are located. The screws contact both the metal sheet and the base to providing electromagnetic protection. The metal sheet used is a thin sheet of metal or mesh provided for electromagnetic protection and extends the entire top cover of the hard drive, not just the flange. Being a thin sheet or mesh, it does not provide any significant rigidity to the flange portion of the top cover improving seal performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,263 to Jung et al. discloses a cover structure of hard disk drive with air damping layer. The cover structure of a hard disk drive (HDD) can optimally suppress noises and vibrations generated in the HDD. The top cover of the disk drive has a damper attached there to with an air gap between the top cover and the damper. The air gap is indicated to provide better damping of spindle generated vibrations. The flange of the top cover does not have metallic reinforcement and the top cover is not indicated to be made from injection molded plastic.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,180 to Kang, et al. discloses a hard disk drive cover that contains a Helmholtz resonator which attenuates acoustic energy. A disk drive housing is provided with Helmholtz resonator that can attenuate noise. The housing may include a first layer that is attached to a second layer, and a gap located between the first and second layers. The layers and gap may be configured to attenuate acoustic energy within a relatively broad frequency range. This is a conventional hard drive housing that has its base portion and top portion made as two layers with a gap there between forming a Helmholz attenuator. The top cover or the hard drive is not made from injection molded plastic.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,931 to Yagenji, et al. discloses a cover for a hard disk drive. This cover for the hard drive is a laminated two metal plate structure that entirely contains a vibration absorbing resin. The resin prevented from leaking out by bent edges provided in the laminated metal plate structure. At the screw locations, the hole in the marginal (top) plate has bent edges so as to encase the gel. The sealing member contacts the bottom portion of the laminated top plate. The sealing member has nothing to do with the vibration absorbing gel contained within the laminated plate structure. The laminated plates are made from metal and are not formed from injection molded polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,063 to Keffeler, et al. discloses a top cover for disk drive having stiffening features and gasket clearance enhancements. The top cover for the disk drive has a skirt that protrudes downward perpendicular to the flange providing increased stiffness, The skirt also creates a space between the bottom plate edge and the protrusion. This space is available for expansion of a compressed gasket that is used for sealing the bottom and top portions of the hard disk drive. All the components are made from metal and the top cover is not made from injection molded polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,237 to Iwahara, et al. discloses a sound reducing cover seal for information recording apparatus. The cover seal seals an opening of a housing body and encloses a cover for the opening in cooperation with the housing body. The rigidity of the cover seal is reinforced by a metallic sheet or a multiplayer synthetic resin sheet, so that vibration of the cover seal is prevented even if an air stream between the housing body cover acts on the cover seal from behind. The sound is attenuated by a top cover, which is adhered to the top lid of the hard drive. The hard drive cover is not made from injection molded polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,515 to Unno discloses a monolithically constituted gasket assembly with cover and hard disk drive unit. A hard disk drive unit constituted in the following manner can prevent leaks of gas caused by a deformed gasket assembly. The hard drive gasket assembly can enhance operational performances of the hard disk drive unit and can be assembled more easily. The top cover for the hard drive is indicated to be made from aluminum, plastic and the like and has holes in predetermined locations for inserting a gasket, which seals the cover against the base. No bolt or loading structure is indicated to retain the gasket in sealing compression. A ring projection iron protrudes against the base and the gasket also contacts the seal ring. This '515 patent does not address proper loading of the gasket providing a reliable seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,961 to Butler discloses a disk drive having a head disk assembly enclosure including insert molded components. The disk drive has an injection molded head disk assembly enclosure including insert molded components. A pivot is insert molded into the base. A first portion of a spindle motor is insert molded into the base. A second portion of a spindle motor is attached to the first portion to form the spindle motor. Further, a disk is mounted to the spindle motor and a head stack assembly having a coil portion is pivotally coupled to the pivot. No insert molded reinforcement is provided at the flange.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,950,275 to Ali, et al. discloses a disk drive having cover assembly which compresses a foam member between substantially planar rigid members. The top cover of the disk drive is a planer rigid plate made from stainless steel or aluminum and is not indicated to be made from injection molded polymer. A gasket is placed in between the planar rigid member of the top cover and the planar rigid member of the base and is secured after compressing to a third of its thickness by screws providing vibration absorption. The gasket loading uniformity is not an issue since both the top cover and base are planar rigid members.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,309 to Klassen, et al. discloses a method of assembling a disk drive by electrically grounding a disk drive cover. The method of assembling a disk drive includes providing a disk drive base, providing a disk drive cover having an inside face and an outside face. The inside face is coated with an electrically insulating material. The method further includes contacting, continuously during a period, the outside face with an electrically conductive grounding element that is part of an assembly fixture that is not part of the disk drive being assembled. The disk drive cover is made from a metal or conductive plastic. The '309 patent is concerned with providing insulating layers between conductive plates and grounding the outer portion of the conductive top plate. The '309 patent does not address problems of gasket sealing when a low modulus polymeric material is injection molded to create a low cost top cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,011 to Nakamura discloses a recording medium drive capable of preventing flexure of base and cover. A cover is received on the receiving surface of a base in a recording medium drive. A fastening mechanism serves to couple the cover to the receiving surface. An elastic member is interposed between the receiving surface and the cover. The elastic member is located along the occupied space of the fastening mechanism. The elastic member thus continuously surrounds the occupied space. A compressible gasket material continuously surrounds a screw fastening location thereby exerting uniform forces around the fastening screw preventing bending deformation of the top plate or the bottom base. The deformable gasket also extends between the screws that secure the top cover to the base and the bending of the top cover between the screws will result in leakage. The top cover is not indicated to be an injection molded polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,406 to Huang discloses a disk drive including a spindle motor and a pivot bearing cartridge attached to different layers of a laminated cover. The laminated top cover that carries the spindle and the cartridge is not an injection molded polymeric part.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,301,725 to Kim, et al. discloses a disk drive with cover plate having high stiffness. The disk drive comprises a cover plate with preload tension formed across the cover plate for increasing the stiffness of the cover plate. The preload tension is formed across the cover plate after the cover plate that was warped is secured to a base member of the disk drive to become un-warped. Such a cover plate with increased stiffness is not easily deformed and effectively minimizes propagation of noise generated from operation of the disk drive. The top cover plate is made from a high stiffness metal such as stainless steel and is twisted in the pre-loaded condition. Securing this twisted top cover to a flat base results in pre-defined stresses that are indicated to improve sealing at the gaskets. The top cover is not made from an injection molded plastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,784 to Berding, et al. discloses a disk drive cover with top and bottom layers electrically grounded with first and second flaps and method of manufacturing the same. The top cover has a top metallic plate, a bottom metallic plate and a viscoelastic material sandwiched between the top and bottom metal layers. Each of the top and bottom metallic plates is provided with tabs for grounding the cover plate. The top cover of the disc drive is not made from an injection molded plastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,771 to Hanke, et al. discloses a disk drive with cover including a metal layer and a polymer layer with a polymer layer feature. The top cover of the disk drive has a metal layer and a polymer layer, which may be made from a plurality of individual polymer layers defining cavities. The metallic or polymer layer of the top cover contacts the base of the hard drive. The top cover has continuous metallic sheet and does not provide selective reinforcement of the polymer layers. The top cover is not an injection molded polymeric material with selective reinforcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,428,122 to Kimura, et al. discloses a hermetically sealed disk drive with low height. An assembly structure low in height and suitable for downsizing and for high hermeticity sealing in a micro hard disk drive is provided. Burrings projecting toward a top cover and having an internal thread cut are formed on a base plate where the top cover is screw-fastened to the base plate. The top cover is a flat sheet with burrings that are adopted for insertion into the base and secured by screws. The cover is not indicated to be an injection molded top cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,450,338 to Hur discloses a hard disk drive cover with protruding blades for reducing disk and HGA vibration. The cover of the hard disk drive has a blades protruding from a surface of the base and/or a portion of the cover facing the disk. The blade guides an airflow caused by rotation of the disk toward an outer edge of the disk. The top cover of the hard disc is not an injection molded polymeric component.
Thus, there remains a need for low cost injection molded top cover for hard drives with a reliable leak proof long life seal at top cover flange eliminating viscoelastic relaxation of the polymeric injection molded top cover flange.

Low cost high performance injection molded hard drive top cover


Disclosed are calenderable blends consisting essentially of (A) a heterophasic olefin polymer composition and (B) a broad molecular weight distribution propylene polymer material, and film or sheet materials thereof.

Heterophasic olefin polymer materials have been widely used in various applications, such as film, sheets and other shaped articles, because of their excellent physical and mechanical properties. However, some heterophasic olefin polymer materials when used in calendering processes have been found to be unsuitable for producing products having higher stiffness.
Thus, there is a need in the industry for heterophasic olefin polymer materials which are calenderable, and provide high stiffness.

Calenderable blends containing broad molecular weight distribution propylene polymer material


A pin-barrel extruder suitable for processing rubber and thermoplastic plastics materials having pin adjustment means is disclosed. The extruder comprises a barrel having a screw rotating therein. Pins project radially inwardly into the hollow interior of the barrel. These pins are distributed both uniformly around the periphery of the barrel and in axial alignment with one another. Axially aligned pins are made adjustable, with regard to their depth of penetration into the barrel by being connected to a bar or rail. This bar or rail is disposed radially outwardly of the barrel but extends parallel to the axis thereof. Actuating means are provided for displacing the bar or rail, and hence the pins, relative to the barrel.

Pin-barrel extruders are known and comprise a screw conveyor which is rotatable in the hollow interior of a barrel. Disposed along the length of the barrel and projecting radially into the hollow interior of the barrel are a plurality of pins. These pins project to adjacent the core of the screw, the flight or flights on the screw being discontinuous in the region of the pins.
It is desirable if the depth of penetration of the pins into the barrel is adjustable. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,104. In such arrangement the pins are screw-fitted in holding members and are non-rotatably connected thereto by means of lock nuts. The holding fixtures are radially displaceable in guide members mounted on the extruder cylinder. A gear member is used for adjustment purposes. One face of the gear faces the holding fixture and is provided with a cam track. The track engages corresponding complementary cam-followers on the holding fixtures. The gear member is driven by a pinion, is freely rotatable and is prevented from axial movement by a collar ring.
However, such an arrangement suffers from numerous disadvantages. In setting up such an arrangement, the gear member must firstly be positioned over the extruder barrel. In its end position, it then has to be mounted on a sleeve-like guide means which, in turn, has to be screw-connected to the extruder barrel. Finally, complementary cams and cam tracks have to be provided laterally on the gear member and in the holding fixtures. This is time-consuming and costly.
In addition, an extremely elaborate construction is also required, for the mounting of the drive pinion which engages with the gear on the extruder cylinder. This adds to the costs associated with the production of an extruder having such an adjustment arrangement.
It is also difficult to assemble the adjusting means. Before a barrel flange connecting member, which is usually provided to permit barrel portions to be connected together, is welded to one end of a barrel portion, it is necessary for the sleeve-like guide member to be slid onto the barrel so as to receive the bearings for the gear. The gear is then positioned over the cylinder and brought into its intended position. Only after this has been done can the guide member be screw-connected to the extruder barrel. The holding fixture, which is provided with the lateral cam followers, is then slid onto the extruder barrel into its intended position. The individual pins are screwed radially inwardly through the holding fixture. Only when the assembly of all of these integers has been completed, can the barrel flange be welded to the end of the barrel portion.
After a period of time, it is likely that the cam followers on the holding fixture and the cam track on the gear member will exhibit signs of wear. To replace them, the above-described procedure must be reversed. So much work is involved that it is simpler to replace the entire barrel portion. Moreover, it is also necessary to extract the screw from the extruder, and to remove the barrel flange connection. These measures which need to be taken mean that the extruder is inoperative for long, and therefore costly, periods of time.

Pin-barrel extruder having adjustable pins