The image recording apparatus comprises: an inkjet head which has a plurality of nozzles discharging ink onto a recording medium; a conveyance device which performs relative conveyance of the recording medium relatively with respect to the inkjet head; and a fixing device which fixes the ink deposited on the recording medium from the plurality of nozzles, wherein the image recording apparatus records an image by discharging the ink onto the recording medium from the inkjet head while the relative conveyance by the conveyance device, and the image recording apparatus further comprises: a conveyance control device which controls a relative conveyance velocity of the recording medium in the relative conveyance with respect to the inkjet head; a discharge amount control device which controls an amount of the ink discharged from the inkjet head; a fixing control device which controls a fixing energy applied by the fixing device to fix the ink deposited on the recording medium; and a bleeding prevention control device which prevents the ink deposited on the recording medium from bleeding by variation-controlling at least one of the conveyance control device, the discharge amount control device, and the fixing control device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, and more particularly to an image recording apparatus that discharges ink from multiple nozzles onto a recording medium to record an image, wherein the ink is prevented from bleeding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, one known example of an image forming apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus (inkjet printer) that has an inkjet head (ink discharge head) with an alignment of multiple nozzles and that forms an image on a recording medium by discharging ink from the nozzles while moving the inkjet head and the recording medium relative to each other.
Various methods are known in conventional practice as ink discharge methods for such an inkjet recording apparatus. Known examples include a piezoelectric system wherein a vibration plate that constitutes part of a pressure chamber (ink chamber) is deformed by the deformation of a piezoelectric element (piezoelectric ceramics), the capacity of the pressure chamber is changed, ink is led into the pressure chamber from an ink supply channel during this increase in pressure chamber capacity, and the ink in the pressure chamber is discharged as droplets during the decrease in pressure chamber capacity. Further, known examples also include a thermal inkjet system wherein ink is heated to create air bubbles for discharging the ink by the expansion energy when the air bubbles grow.
In image recording apparatuses that have ink discharge heads such as an inkjet recording apparatus, ink is supplied from an ink-storing tank to ink discharge heads via an ink supply channel, and the ink is discharged by the various discharge methods described above, but depending on the type of ink or the type of recording medium, the ink dots (ink droplets) may bleed after striking the recording medium, or the dot shapes may break up and cause the image to fade. When a color image is recorded using a plurality of inks with different colors, if an image is recorded by overlapping ink of a different color on previously recorded ink that has not yet dried, then problems are encountered with the colors bleeding or mixing together and adversely affecting the image quality.
In view of this, various methods have been proposed in conventional practice for improving the image quality by preventing the image from fading due to the ink bleeding, or preventing the colors from bleeding or mixing together when an image is recorded by overlapping inks of different colors.
In one known example, during one rotation of the rotating body that holds the recording medium, the ink dots of various colors sprayed from the recording heads of various colors are recorded on the recording medium by pixel skipping in a state of separation by at least one dot in the sub-scanning direction, which is the same as the rotational direction, thus preventing adjacent ink dots from mixing or flowing together and recording a high-quality image (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-71481).
In another known example, an inkjet recording apparatus has a device for estimating the dried state of the recorded ink, and the velocity at which the recording medium is conveyed is varied and the intervals between recording heads are varied according to the results of this estimation, whereby the recording interval between one recording and the next is varied to maintain the throughput of the recording apparatus, which prevents recording discrepancies in sections where different inks overlap and improves the image quality (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-247450).
In another known example, in a color inkjet recording method, a color print free of smearing between colors is obtained by performing a routine in which printing by at least one of a plurality of heads is performed after a time that is sufficiently longer than the print lag time of adjacent heads is allowed to pass before printing is performed by the other heads in the same printed area (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 04-173250).
However, for example, the example described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-71481 is disadvantageous in that during one rotation of the rotating body that holds the recording medium, an image is recorded with single-dot pixel skipping, a plurality of rotations are needed to record an entire image, and the productivity is reduced.
Also, the example described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-247450 has a device for estimating drying and a device for adjusting the dot recording intervals. The device is designed to adjust the intervals at which the next dots are recorded according to the dried state, but this example does not have a fixing device for drying and hardening the ink that strikes the recording medium and relies merely on natural drying. The device is disadvantageous in that mixed color fading and image bleeding cannot necessarily be reliably prevented.
Furthermore, the example described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 04-173250 merely uses a time greater than the print lag between adjacent dots, does not have a device for drying and hardening, and is subject to the same problems as Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-247450.


A module wiper device having a sufficient strength even in a small-size structure and having a lightweight and low-cost structure is provided. Even when a plurality of pivot holders are connected by a frame and a small-size bracket is fixed close to one of the pivot holders, by the bracket and the pivot holder close to the bracket being connected by a connecting member, a space portion surrounded by the bracket, the pivot holder close to the bracket and the connecting member forms a virtual bracket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a module wiper device incorporated into a vehicle together with a wiper motor, a link mechanism, and the like, which are integrated with the module wiper device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a module wiper device which has a wiper motor, a link mechanism, and the like integrated therewith, to facilitate incorporation of the module wiper device into a vehicle body. The wiper device of this kind has an advantage in that not only it can be easily incorporated into the vehicle, but also the strength of the wiper device itself can be improved because the wiper device has an integrated structure using a bracket, and therefore, it has been frequently used recently.
However, since a bracket used in the module wiper device is integrally molded by aluminum die casting, the bracket entirely becomes larger and increases in weight. Further, there is a drawback in that a mold of a die casting machine for forming the bracket also becomes large and expensive.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, there has been proposed a structure in which pivot holders 1a, 1b are connected by a pipe frame 2, a small-size bracket 4 is fixed to an intermediate portion of the pipe frame 2, and a wiper motor 3 is fixed to and supported by the bracket 4, with the result that the bracket itself is made smaller, lightweight and inexpensive (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 1-171767).
With the above structure, when the small-size bracket 4 is fixed to and supported by the pipe frame 2 at a position substantially equally distant from the pivot holders 1a, 1b (L1=L2), the distance between the bracket 4 and each of the pivot holders 1a, 1b is relatively long. For this reason, the pipe frame 2 can bend and stress can be absorbed by the bending of the pipe frame 2 to a certain degree, even if reaction force of an unillustrated wiper blade wiping is transmitted to the wiper motor 3, the small-size bracket 4 and the pipe frame 2 via link rods 5, 6. On the other hand, when the small-size bracket 4 is fixed close to one pivot holder 1a owing to unavoidable circumstances in that an arrangement space within an engine room is small, the distance between the small-size bracket 4 and the pivot holder 1a closer thereto than the other becomes short, so that an amount by which the pipe frame 2 can bend decreases. As a result, stress concentrates in a portion of the pipe frame 2 between the pivot holder 1a and the bracket 4 so that a crack may be formed in the pipe frame 2 or the pivot holder 1a.
In order to solve the above-described problem, conventionally, there has existed a structure shown in FIG. 8. Namely, among pivot holders 1a, 1b fixed to a vehicle body, one pivot holder 1b is connected via the pipe frame 2 to the bracket 10, the bracket 10 is fixed to the vehicle body, another pivot holder 1a and the wiper motor 3 are fixed to and supported by the bracket 10, with the result that the strength of the pipe frame is compensated for by using a relatively large bracket 10 including the pivot holder 1a without using a short pipe frame and the rigidity of the module wiper device is thereby improved.
However, although the above structure shows an improvement in size, cost and weight as compared with the die casting bracket, the bracket 10 becomes relatively large depending upon a position where it is mounted to the frame 2. Accordingly, even in this case, the bracket 10 increases in cost and in weight and there still remains need for improvement.


A blood substitute and plasma expander comprising a cross-linked, substantially endotoxin-free hemoglobin solution and process for preparing same. The process comprises fractionating whole blood, separating out a stromal-free, sterile hemoglobin solution, chromatographically separating endotoxins from said hemoglobin solution and crosslinking the resulting endotoxin-free hemoglobin solution.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing a novel semi-synthetic blood substitute and the novel semi-synthetic blood substitute resulting therefrom. The novel semi-synthetic blood substitute is a hemoglobin preparation characterized by its purity, its exceptionally low levels of endotoxin, the absence of non-hemoglobin proteins, and its molecular cross-linking profile. The semi-synthetic blood substitute has no toxic activity when used in a substitute fashion and possesses the property of reversibly binding gaseous ligands such as oxygen and is useful for transporting and supplying oxygen to vital tissues and organs. Additionally, the blood substitute serves as a blood plasma expander for management of disease and for maintaining circulatory integrity. A further aspect of the invention is the pre-ursor or intermediate, the substantially pure, phospholipid-free, endotoxin-free hemoglobin solution in uncross-linked form.

Ultra pure hemoglobin solutions and blood substitutes


A reading order extrapolation and management system and process for facilitating auditory comprehension of electronic documents. As an example, a user may access contents of an electronic document via an application and request a speech-synthesized recitation of any media in the electronic document. The application may make use of a reading order that has been specifically generated and improved by reference to eye tracking data from users reading the document. A reading order can be assigned to a document and implemented when, for example, a screen reader is engaged for use with the document. Such systems can be of great benefit to users with visually impairments and/or distracted users seeking a meaningful audio presentation of textual content.

Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gained widespread use and are now configured to provide a variety of functions including, for example, instant messaging, teleconference capability, and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions. Media-to-speech synthesis can be used in a number of applications to convert normal language text, pictures, charts, diagrams, and other electronic content into speech, and can be implemented in software or hardware. For example, those who are engaged in an activity that restricts their ability to read text may use text-to-speech systems to have the textual material read to them. The use of media-to-speech synthesis is attractive in portable electronic devices, such as for the reading of email and text messages.
Furthermore, in cases where the user has a visual disability, or is attending to other tasks, such as driving a car, it becomes highly undesirable for such a user to be required to read any document, and so the user may turn to a media-to-speech synthesis application. However, electronic documents typically contain a variety of digital content types such as text, images, slides, and spreadsheets that are arranged across different spatial orientations on the page. The presence of such content elements or units can make the listening experience more challenging for a user. Thus, there remain significant areas for new and improved ideas for the management of speech synthesis of electronic documents, as well as enhancing the ability of a user to follow the content and maintain a sense of continuity of document information that is conveyed through audio.

Reading order system for improving accessibility of electronic content


A method includes: setting a first and a second storage regions; first creating a first compression code of a compression target data in a file using a identifier indicating the data in the first storage region when a predetermined first consistency between the compression target data and the data in the first storage region is detected; comparing the compression target data with data in the second storage region when the predetermined first consistency between the compression target data and the data in the first storage region is not detected, the compression target data being moved to the second storage region after the comparing; and storing the compression target data into the first storage region associated with a identifier indicating the data in the first storage region when a predetermined second consistency between the compression target data and the data in the second storage region is detected.

A compression algorithm called LZ77 is known. LZ77 is adopted in compression file formats such as ZIP.
In LZ77, a compression process for data in a file is executed sequentially from the beginning of a compression target file. In LZ77, a data reference region (referred to as a slide window or the like) is set and data subjected to the compression process in the compression target file is stored sequentially in the slide window. The size of the slide window is set in advance. When the size of the data stored in the slide window exceeds the size of the slide window, the data is stored while the data stored beforehand in the slide window is updated.
In the compression process executed sequentially in LZ77, compressed codes are used which are generated based on a data string (longest matching data string) which matches longest piece of data to be executed in the compression process in the compression target file in the data included in the slide window. The compressed codes are information in which a matching length of the longest matching data string of the slide window and a position in the slide window are combined.
According to LZ77, as the matching length of the longest matching data string is longer, considerable data is expressed by one compressed code (a combination of the matching length and the position), thereby improving a compression ratio. When the longest matching data string of the matching length is considerably extracted from the compression target file, the compression ratio is improved. Therefore, there is a tendency to improve the compression ratio when the size of the slide window increases. This is because a probability of specifying the data string of which the matching length is long is improved since data matching processing target data is found from more data in the compression target file.
In a decompression process, decompression is performed with reference to a slide window for each compressed code that is sequentially read from the head of a compressed file, and data in the slide window is updated based on the decompressed data. Based on the data in the slide window, which is thus sequentially updated, the compressed code is decompressed.
As an example in the related art, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 5-241777 is known.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A uniformity correction system may be used as an actuator for the correction of asymmetry scan-integrated illumination pupil fill that varies in the non-scanning direction of a lithography system. Instead of minimizing asymmetric opaque element insertion, opaque elements are inserted into an illumination beam to introduce an additional pupil asymmetry into the illumination beam. The compensating pupil asymmetry substantially nulls the original pupil asymmetry. To introduce the pupil asymmetry, a first opaque element can be moved into or out of the illumination beam in tandem with a second, opposing opaque element. Iterative feedback of both uniformity and pupil asymmetry ensure that both are substantially simultaneously optimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lithography scanners, specifically correcting pupil asymmetry in the illumination beams of lithography scanners.
2. Background Art
Conventional lithography scanners include, among other things, an illumination system that produces a uniform intensity distribution of illumination, which is produced from a received laser beam. It is desirable that the resulting scan-integrated illumination beam profile be as uniform as possible and that any uniformity errors be kept as small as possible. This is because illumination uniformity influences the ability of a lithography scanner to produce uniform line widths across an entire exposure field. Illumination uniformity errors can significantly impact the quality of devices produced by the lithography system.
One example of a popular conventional lithography system is a step and scan system (sometimes referred to as a scanner). A step and scan system creates an illuminated slot narrower than one exposure field. The system then scans the reticle and wafer synchronously by the slot to expose each field on the wafer. This process is repeated. Because of the nature of the system's operation, radiation energy in the scan direction is integrated, and as a result dose on the photo-active coating on the substrate can be non-uniform. Non-uniformity in the dose causes printing errors and degraded device performance.
Some lithography systems use uniformity correction systems to make the scan-integrated intensity profile uniform. Some of these uniformity correction systems achieve this effect by inserting attenuating or opaque (collectively referred to herein as attenuating) elements into the illumination edge beam at or near a focal plane, located between a pupil and a focus plane. Asymmetrically inserting attenuating elements (opposed attenuating elements inserted non-equal distances) near a focal plane asymmetrically apodizes the illumination pupil, and vignettes the illumination pupil. Varying the asymmetric insertion along the non-scanning direction causes a variation in pupil asymmetry.
Modern lithography scanners typically use intensity measurements and sophisticated algorithms to determine the correct position for the uniformity correction attenuating elements. The attenuating elements are positioned with consideration of illumination uniformity, total scan-integrated intensity, and symmetric insertion (in an attempt to minimize the pupil asymmetry induced by the uniformity correction system). Lithography scanners typically include integrated optical metrology components capable of measuring the light distribution about the illumination pupil, from which pupil asymmetry may be computed. Future scanners may be used for double exposure techniques that create the need for extremely tight overlay specifications because overlay error can cause critical dimension non-uniformity, leading to poor performance and low yield in the manufactured semiconductor devices. Pupil asymmetry may cause a focus-coupled image translation which, combined with typical focus errors, may make the new tight overlay specifications impossible to achieve.
Lithography scanners often use illumination systems that have asymmetric illumination pupils and scan-integrated pupil asymmetry that varies in the non-scanning direction. Normal use of the uniformity correction system (attenuating elements inserted to flatten uniformity) causes further non-zero scan-integrated pupil asymmetry that varies in the non-scanning direction. A uniformity correction system that is misaligned with respect to the illumination beam will tend to insert attenuating elements asymmetrically.
Since the existing attenuating element positioning algorithms consider intensity measurements only and not pupilgrams, the algorithms are forced to assume the illumination pupil fill inherent to the illumination beam is symmetric. The uniformity correction system is only a source of pupil asymmetry, and not an actuator for pupil asymmetry compensation.
Any of the above sources of pupil asymmetry may make tight overlay specifications impossible to achieve. What is needed is a system and method for reducing the scan-integrated pupil asymmetry.

Residual pupil asymmetry compensator for a lithography scanner


A surface acoustic wave resonator filter has a wide bandwidth, a low insertion loss characteristic and a sharp attenuation characteristic at edges of the passband. The surface acoustic wave resonator filter includes first and second longitudinally coupled resonator filters disposed on a piezoelectric substrate. The first and second longitudinally coupled resonator filters each have first, second, and third resonance modes. The phases of the output signals of the first and second longitudinally coupled resonator filters are opposite to each other for an input signal at frequencies higher than the passband. The difference in frequency between the first resonance mode of the first longitudinally coupled resonator filter and the first resonance mode of the second longitudinally coupled resonator filter is smaller than the difference in frequency between the first resonance mode and any other resonance modes in the first and second longitudinally coupled resonator filters. The difference in frequency between the third resonance mode of the first longitudinally coupled resonator filter and the third resonance mode of the second longitudinally coupled resonator filter is smaller than the difference in frequency between the third resonance mode and any other resonance modes in the first and second longitudinally coupled resonator filters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bandpass filter using a surface acoustic wave resonator, and more particularly, to a surface acoustic wave resonator filter including a plurality of longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filters which are connected in parallel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surface acoustic wave resonator filters are now widely used as bandpass filters in mobile communication devices. In recent years, digital signal transmission techniques have become popular in mobile communication systems. However, unlike analog mobile communication systems, it is strongly required that the filters used in the digital mobile communication systems have not only high temperature stability and a sharp cutoff characteristic at band edges but also a wide bandwidth and a flat group delay time characteristic over the entire passband. In particular, these requirements are critical for an intermediate frequency (IF) filter.
Unlike the analog mobile communication systems in which surface acoustic wave filters consisting of transversely coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filters are usually used, transversal surface acoustic wave filters or longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filters are used in the digital mobile communication systems in order to meet the above requirements.
Although transversal surface acoustic wave filters have the advantage that a wide bandwidth and a flat group delay time characteristic can be easily achieved, they have the disadvantage that they have a large insertion loss and it is difficult to produce such filters to have a relatively small size.
On the other hand, the longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter has a lower insertion loss than the transversal surface acoustic wave filter and can have a wider bandwidth than the transversely coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter. However, the disadvantage of the longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter is that the attenuation at the higher edge of the passband is not sharp, as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the solid line A represents the same characteristic as the solid line B but the attenuation is expressed in an expanded scale denoted on the right of the vertical axis.
To avoid the above problem, it has been proposed to connect in parallel a plurality of longitudinally coupled resonator filters having different passbands thereby realizing a surface acoustic wave resonator filter having a wide bandwidth and having an improved attenuation characteristic at the higher edge of the passband as shown in FIG. 6 (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-334476). In this specific example, a lower-frequency longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter having a relatively wide bandwidth is connected in parallel to a higher-frequency longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter having a relatively narrow bandwidth.
However, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-334476, the attenuation characteristic at the higher band edge of this surface acoustic wave resonator filter is realized merely by the attenuation characteristic of the higher-frequency, narrow-bandwidth longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter, and thus the attenuation characteristic at the higher edge of the passband is not sufficient.
Furthermore, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 334476, the resonance mode of each longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filter is set in such a manner that the resonance modes of higher-frequency and lower-frequency longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filters overlap with each other so that the output signals of these two longitudinally coupled surface acoustic wave resonator filters are always equal in phase thereby defining the overall filter characteristic.
However, in such a surface acoustic wave resonator filter, an inversion in phase occurs at the resonance frequency of each resonance mode. Therefore, if there is a deviation in frequency between the lower-frequency surface acoustic wave resonator filter and the higher-frequency surface acoustic wave resonator filter, a frequency range appears where the output signals of the two surface acoustic wave resonator filters become nearly equal in level but opposite in phase. This means that a slight error in production processing such as a variation in the thickness or a width of an electrode film can cause such a deviation in frequency which produces a range where the output signals become equal in level but opposite in phase. The emergence of such a range can cause a group delay ripple C near the center of the passband, as shown in FIG. 7. Such a group delay ripple C causes great degradation in the characteristics of the IF filter used in the digital communication device.

Surface acoustic wave resonator filter with longitudinally coupled resonators having specific resonance frequency placements


A twin screw extruder type batch mixer that is comprised of two screws parallel to each other with the distance between the two screw center lines being larger or equal than the half of the sum of two screw diameters and the two screws conveying material in the opposite direction during mixing and reacting stage and the same direction during charging and discharging stages; and a barrel casing completely enclosing said screws which can run clockwise and counter-clockwise independently.

The most widely used batch mixer for bulk polymer materials mixing is rotor type mixer called internal mixer which was originally designed by Banbury (Banbury, F. H., U.S. Pat. No. 1,200,070, 1916). Over the years since its inception, numerous modifications in design have been introduced, but the basic principle remains the same. They are all comprised of two parallel kneading rotors, each rotating within the corresponding region of a double trough or W-shaped chamber, but with the walls of the chamber continuing upwards over the rotors to constitute a closed mixing chamber. Although widely used in rubber and plastics compounding, these types of mixers have some shortcomings. One of them is material discharge. In these machines, at the completion of the mixing cycle, the discharge door is opened and the mass was discharged by gravity as shapeless lump or lumps which are difficult to handle for the next operation. This discharge mechanism makes it necessary to interpose at least one more intermediate processing stage before final shaping or next operation. It is also difficult for some materials to discharge and discharge completely. For small laboratory internal mixer machines as produced by C. W. Brabender Inc. and Haake Buchler Instruments Inc., there is no discharge door. The discharge has to be performed by disassembling the mixer and then removing the material manually. Very often, time spent on recovering the final material and cleaning the machine is more than testing time.
Another shortcoming with a internal mixer is in tts use in evaluating materials for an extrusion process. One of the major uses of a laboratory internal mixer is to test the processibility of thermoplastics, thermosets and elastomers, and transfer the information to a continuous production process such as extrusion. As both the geometry of a internal mixer and mixing mechanism are different from those of an extruder, it is often difficult to predict extrusion results from information learnt through a batch internal mixer study. Scott and Macosko (Scott, C. E. and Macosko, C. W., Polymer Engineering and Science, 33, 1065, 1993) developed a batch mixer named the recirculating screw mixer(RSM) based on single screw extrusion technology. The mixing mechanism in RSM is more representative of that in a continuous single screw extruder and thus results obtained are more meaningful in scale up for continuous single screw extrusion operation. However, a single screw extruder and RSM do not have very good mixing capabilities. More polymer mixing and reaction processes are performed in twin screw extruders which have much better mixing capabilities. Thus a twin screw type batch mixer should provide not only a good batch mixer but also a tool with which useful information which can be easily transformed to continuous twin screw extrusion can be learnt.
Thus, it is the objective of this invention:
(a) to provide a design of a batch mixer with a twin screw configuration; PA1 (b) to provide a design of a batch mixer which has a efficient material discharge mechanism and the material can be formed into certain shape per discharge; PA1 (c) to provide a design of a batch mixer which can be used to provide useful information for continuous twin screw extrusion processes.


A method for installing a modular light assembly in a vehicle includes first providing a common printed circuit board base. One of a plurality of different types of illumination sources is then attached onto the printed circuit board base to form a modular light assembly. The modular light assembly is then mounted onto one of a plurality of trim bezels.

Light assemblies for vehicles, such as for overhead lamps and the like, typically employ a housing mounted to the vehicle. A variety of lamps, such as bulbs, lamp sockets, and switching components are typically mounted within the housing. The light assembly also typically includes a trim bezel which can include lenses, diffusers and the like.
The housing and socket of such assemblies are typically first installed in a vehicle component, such as a headliner or an instrument panel. An associated wiring harness is then attached to the light assembly. Subsequently, the vehicle component mounted to the vehicle and an interconnecting wiring harness in the vehicle is connected to one or more of the harnesses associated with the vehicle component. The wiring harness typically includes a bundle of wires having connectors at opposite ends for coupling the lamp housing to the vehicle electrical system as the vehicle component is installed. It would be advantageous if there could be developed an improved modular light assembly for a vehicle.

Modular light assembly and method for installing a modular light assembly in a vehicle


A switchable capacitor including a first electrode, a dielectric layer on the first electrode, a second electrode configured to be suspended in an undeflected position over the dielectric layer in a de-activated state, and to deflect toward the first electrode in an activated state in response to a voltage difference between the two electrodes, a gap between the second electrode and the dielectric layer in the activated state being less than a corresponding gap in the de-activated state, and a capacitor having a first and second end, coupled to one of the electrodes at the first end, and configured to reduce the voltage difference between the electrodes as the second electrode deflects toward the first electrode in the activated state, wherein the voltage difference between the electrodes corresponds to a bias voltage applied across the second end of the capacitor and an other one of the first and second electrodes.

It is sometimes desirable to provide a switch between an input portion and an output portion of a microwave transmission line. One device for performing such a function is a radio frequency (RF) micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) switch. One example is the switchable capacitor disclosed in the U.S. patent application entitled "Switchable Capacitor" (U.S. application Ser. No. 13/556,273), filed on Jul. 24, 2012, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. The RF MEMS switch typically has a substrate with two conductive posts spaced apart on the substrate. The switch includes a switchable capacitor having a conductive part (e.g., a bottom electrode of the switchable capacitor) on the substrate disposed between, but electrically separated from, the bottom portions of the posts. The bottom electrode is covered by a layer of a solid dielectric material. A flexible (e.g., elastic), electrically conductive membrane (e.g., the upper electrode of the switchable capacitor) extends between, and has ends thereof electrically connected to, the tops of the posts, so that a central portion of the flexible, electrically conductive membrane is suspended above the bottom electrode. An input portion of a microwave transmission line is coupled to an end of one of the top and bottom electrodes and an output portion of the transmission line is coupled to the other end of the one of the top and bottom electrodes. In some examples, the input portion of a microwave transmission line may be coupled to one of the top and bottom electrodes and an output portion of the transmission line may be coupled to the other one of the top and bottom electrodes.
The switch includes a switchable voltage source, coupled between the top and bottom electrode for producing a switchable electrostatic force between the two electrodes. The switchable electrostatic force changes the spacing between the two electrodes, and hence switches (e.g., modifies) the capacitance of the switch, selectively in accordance with a voltage produced by the switchable bias voltage source. The actuation of the switch from a low capacitance state (e.g., open state) to a high capacitance state (e.g., closed state) is prompted by a pull down voltage, which produces sufficient attractive electrostatic force to bring the top and bottom electrodes closer to one another.
In some applications, such as high power applications, it is desirable to have a high pull down voltage on the top, flexible electrode because if the pull down voltage is too low, the RF signal can itself activate the switch, which is an undesired effect. If the pull down voltage on a conventional RF MEMS switch is increased, this will increase the electric field strength in the solid dielectric when the MEMS switch is closed (i.e., in the activated state). This can result in solid dielectric breakdown or excessive charging of the solid dielectric which can lead to "stiction" of the second, flexible electrode which can cause the flexible membrane to remain in the down or closed position in the deactivated state.
What is desired is a bias scheme that reduces the electric field strength experienced by the dielectric, thus improving (e.g., increasing) the durability of the RF MEMS switch, without affecting its actuation responsiveness.

Integrated capacitively-coupled bias circuit for RF MEMS switches


There is obtained an ignition apparatus, for an internal combustion engine, that can make a predetermined output current flow in a stable manner so that the combustion state of the internal combustion engine can always be maintained in a good condition, even in the case where the voltage of the power source connected with the energy storing coil fluctuates. There are provided an energy storing coil (3), a switching means (S1) for accumulating energy, an ignition coil (4), and a switching means (S2) that turns on/off an ignition current; the switching means (S1) and (S2) are alternately turned on/off so that a current with a alternating polarity is made to flow continuously in the ignition coil (6); a switching means (S3) is connected both terminals of the energy storing coil (3); and when a current flowing in the energy storing coil (3) reaches a target value, the switching means (S1) is turned off and the switching means (S3) is turned off so that the energy storing coil current circulates through the switching means (S3) so as to keep the current to be approximately the target value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine and particularly to an ignition apparatus, for an internal combustion engine, that makes a pulse current with an alternating polarity recurrently flow so as to increase ignition energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a spark-ignition internal combustion engine, an ignition apparatus configured with an ignition coil and the like produces an ignition discharge between the electrodes of an ignition plug, and due to the ignition discharge, a fuel introduced into a combustion chamber is burned. There is proposed a multiple-discharge ignition apparatus in which, in order to obtain a preferable combustion state of the internal combustion engine, a plurality of ignition discharges is produced between the electrodes of an ignition plug during a single combustion stroke.
For example, an ignition apparatus is configured in such a way that there are provided an energy storing coil connected in series with a DC power source and a first switching means connected in series with the energy storing coil, the energy storing coil and a second switching means are connected with the primary coil of an ignition coil, and an ignition plug is connected with the secondary coil of the ignition coil. Additionally, there is proposed an ignition control apparatus, for an internal combustion engine, in which the first and second switching means are alternately turned on/off so that charging and discharging of the energy storing coil are recurrently carried out, and through the charging and discharging, a current with a positive-negative alternating polarity is recurrently made to flow in the secondary coil of the ignition coil so that multiple discharge is performed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-211631 (claims and FIG. 1).
However, in an ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-211631 (claims and FIG. 1), there has been a problem that a desired current cannot stably flow in the ignition plug, depending on the voltage of a DC power source connected in series with the energy storing coil, whereby erosion on the ignition plug is caused or ignition operation becomes unstable.

Ignition apparatus for internal combustion engine


In one aspect, a method of operating a memory cell includes using different electrodes to change a programmed state of the memory cell than are used to read the programmed state of the memory cell. In one aspect, a memory cell includes first and second opposing electrodes having material received there-between. The material has first and second lateral regions of different composition relative one another. One of the first and second lateral regions is received along one of two laterally opposing edges of the material. Another of the first and second lateral regions is received along the other of said two laterally opposing edges of the material. At least one of the first and second lateral regions is capable of being repeatedly programmed to at least two different resistance states. Other aspects and implementations are disclosed.

Memory is one type of integrated circuitry, and is used in computer systems for storing data. Such is typically fabricated in one or more arrays of individual memory cells. The memory cells might be volatile, semi-volatile, or non-volatile. Non-volatile memory cells can store data for extended periods of time, and in many instances when the computer is turned off. Volatile memory dissipates and therefore is required to be refreshed/rewritten, and in many instances multiple times per second. Regardless, the smallest unit in each array is termed as a memory cell and is configured to retain or store memory in at least two different selectable states. In a binary system, the storage conditions are considered as either a "0" or a "1". Further, some individual memory cells can be configured to store more than two bits of information.
Integrated circuitry fabrication continues to strive to produce smaller and denser integrated circuits. Accordingly, the fewer components an individual circuit device has, the smaller the construction of the finished device can be. Likely the smallest and simplest memory cell will be comprised of two conductive electrodes having a programmable material received there-between. Example materials include metal oxides which may or may not be homogenous, and may or may not contain other materials therewith. Regardless, the collective material received between the two electrodes is selected or designed to be configured in a selected one of at least two different resistance states to enable storing of information by an individual memory cell. When configured in one extreme of the resistance states, the material may have a high resistance to electrical current. In contrast in the other extreme, when configured in another resistance state, the material may have a low resistance to electrical current. Existing and yet-to-be developed memory cells might also be configured to have one or more additional possible stable resistance states in between a highest and a lowest resistance state. Regardless, the resistance state in which the programmable material is configured may be changed using electrical signals. For example if the material is in a high-resistance state, the material may be configured to be in a low resistance state by applying a voltage across the material.
The programmed resistance state is designed to be persistent in non-volatile memory. For example, once configured in a resistance state, the material stays in such resistance state even if neither a current nor a voltage is applied to the material. Further, the configuration of the material may be repeatedly changed from one resistance state to another for programming the memory cell into different of at least two resistance states. Upon such programming, the resistance state of the material can be determined by appropriate signals applied to one or both of the two electrodes between which the material is received.

Memory cells, non-volatile memory arrays, methods of operating memory cells, methods of writing to and writing from a memory cell, and methods of programming a memory cell


A power supply for powering a neon sign assembly includes a ground fault detection circuit having a current sensing circuit that produces a voltage that is proportional to the current that flows from a center tap of an output transformer, a phase-sensitive rectifier that receives output from the current sensing circuit and a reference voltage from the transformer and produces an output voltage that depends on the magnitude of the output from the current sensing circuit and the phase angle between the output from the current sensing circuit and the reference voltage, and an amplitude comparator that produces an output to a latch circuit only when an output voltage from the phase-sensitive rectifier is equal to or greater than a pre-set ground fault current limit.

The present invention relates to power supplies for use with gas-discharge display lamps. More particularly, the present invention relates to power supplies for use with neon lamps for us e in neon signs and other purposes. It should be understood that the term "neon lamp" is used herein to refer to all gas-discharge lamps and is not limited to lamps that contain only neon gas.
In many countries the maximum voltage relative to ground which may be produced by a neon lamp power supply is limited by local regulatory requirements for each of the countries. It is, therefore, common practice to use a power supply that produces a balanced output voltage with respect to ground, in which the balanced output voltage contains two high-voltage AC outputs that differ in phase by 180.degree.. FIG. 1 is a simplified circuit illustrating such a power supply 10, showing an AC current source 12 connected to a transformer 14 for powering a neon lamp or tube 16. The transformer 14 produces a balanced output voltage with respect to ground GND. Power supplies of this type may be used to power longer neon tube lengths than other conventional types of power supplies, without violating local regulatory requirements.
For a power supply that produces voltages above a certain defined minimum voltage, local regulatory requirements may also require that the power supply be provided with ground fault protection. The ground fault protection latches the power supply into an off state when current flowing to a ground return of the power supply exceeds a limit set by the local regulatory requirements.
An objective of having ground fault protection is to prevent an arc from the power supply to ground from igniting flammable materials and starting a fire. Ground fault protection may also be used as a safety measure for protecting humans from accidental injury by setting a ground fault current limit sufficiently low. Generally, such a ground fault current limit is at a level that is below typical current levels that a power supply would deliver to a neon tube.
One concern when using a neon tube power supply that operates at a high frequency in excess of 10 to 20 kHz is the stray capacitance produced in output leads connecting the power supply to the neon tube. Neon signs often include multiple neon tubes formed into a complex assembly of letters or artistic shapes and designs. A particular design of a neon sign may dictate that the output leads from the power supply have significantly different lengths. In addition, the neon sign itself may have significant capacitance between each of the neon tubes forming the neon sign and ground.
For example, FIG. 2 schematically shows a typical power supply 20 with a center-tapped transformer 24 driving a neon tube 26. The capacitors C.sub.s are shown in phantom to represent a sample distribution of stray capacitance to ground from the output leads 28, 30 of the power supply 20 and from the neon tube 26. Different lengths of output leads 28, 30 from the power supply 20 to the neon tube 26 will result in different values for the stray capacitance to ground of each output lead 28, 30, as indicated by a greater number of capacitors C.sub.s on the longer output lead 28 of FIG. 2.
In addition, a neon sign may have a particular layout that results in one end of the neon sign having a higher stray capacitance to ground than the other end of the sign. As shown in FIG. 3, if the neon sign 40 has an inner neon tube design 42 and an outer neon tube border 44, and the outer neon tube border 44 is located in close proximity to a grounded metal enclosure 46, the outer neon tube border 44 will have a higher stray capacitance to ground than the inner neon tube design 42, as indicated by the number of capacitors C.sub.s shown connected at various parts of the neon sign 40.
The effect of an unbalanced stray capacitance distribution, such as that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is to produce a capacitive current from the center tap of the transformer of the power supply to ground. This capacitive current can have a magnitude equal to or greater than the ground fault current limit or "trip point" at which the power supply is designed to automatically latch off in order to comply with local regulatory requirements. Therefore, the capacitive current produced as a result of stray capacitance can lead to "false trip" situations in which the power supply is latched off even though the capacitive current does not present the type of safety hazard as would an external arc.
To quantify the effect of the stray capacitance, values in excess of 50 picofarads have been observed in some commercial neon signs. If a neon sign has an imbalance or a difference in its capacitance to ground between two output leads of 35 picofarads, and the neon sign operates at 22 kHz and a voltage to ground of 3.5 kV RMS, then its ground fault current will be 16.9 mA. This current is above the trip level specified in UnderWriters Laboratories Specification UL2161, for example, which sets a limit for ground fault current of 15 mA.
Such a situation is not acceptable to users of high-frequency power supplies for neon lamps.

Ground fault protection of gas lamp power supplies


A set of memory access operations is obtained. The set of memory access operations includes a plurality of memory access operations to be chained, in which the plurality of memory access operations are to be processed as an atomic unit. The plurality of memory access operations are executed in a particular order, and one or more results are provided.

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 10,552,054, entitled "PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT EXPRESS (PCIE) NETWORK WITH INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) CHAINING TO REDUCE COMMUNICATION TIME WITHIN EXECUTION OF I/O CHANNEL OPERATIONS," issued Feb. 4, 2020.
One or more aspects relate, in general, to input/output (I/O) communications, and in particular, to processing of input/output operations transmitted via input/output communication devices.
One example of input/output communication devices are channels. Channels may be implemented in cards that connect to a computing system via one or more I/O links. For instance, IBM Z, offered by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., provide channels that are implemented in cards that connect to an IBM Z Central Electronics Complex (CEC) via a Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) link, as examples. These channels are used to access main memory within the Central Electronics Complex.
The access path to/from main memory for channels providing extended connectivity to storage and local area networks typically crosses many components. Each component crossing results in additional latency for memory accesses flowing to/from these types of devices.
When an I/O operation is performed, it often involves strings of individual single memory accesses which are to be processed in strict sequence relative to one another. In many cases, the external I/O device (e.g., channel) is to wait for the completion of each memory access before initiating the next. When such strings of serialized memory accesses are to be executed for a single I/O operation, the overall latency for the sequence of round trips between the channel and memory can add significant latency to the I/O operation.

Peripheral component interconnect express (PCIE) network with input/output (I/O) operation chaining to reduce communication time within execution of I/O channel operations

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A low cost method for forming an integrated resistor capacitor combination using only three masks and three mask exposure steps is described. A layer of resistor material is formed on a substrate and patterned forming a resistor and a first capacitor plate. A photoresist mask is then formed covering the resistor and a contact region of the first capacitor plate. The substrate is then immersed in an anodization solution and that part of the first capacitor plate not covered by the photoresist mask is anodized forming a capacitor dielectric. The photoresist mask is then stripped. A layer of conductor material is then formed and patterned to form contacts to the resistor, a contact to the first capacitor plate, and a second capacitor plate.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the formation of a low cost integrated resistor capacitor combination and more specifically to the use of anodization to form a capacitor dielectric thereby reducing the number of mask steps required.
(2) Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,802 to Fresia describes the anodization of porous tantalum pellets under various anodization and heat treatment conditions to improve the dielectric oxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,442 to Keil et al. describes a capacitor configuration using FET technology. The diffusion zone of the substrate is used as one plate of the capacitor and the gate electrode of an FET is the other plate the two plates being separated by a conventional thin dielectric gate oxide layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,293 to Konya shows a method for forming resistors and capacitors. Oxide films are formed on the surfaces of the gate line and the capacitor lines by anodization to prevent shorting of these lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,068 to Jones, Jr. et al. describes a method of forming a capacitor with a metal-oxide dielectric layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,326 to Arcidiacono et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,867 to Arcidiacono et al. describe a method of forming a thin film resistor capacitor network. A film of alpha titanium is deposited and anodized to form bottom capacitor plates and a capacitor dielectric. A film of titanium nitride is later deposited to form resistors.
The present invention describes a method of forming an integrated resistor capacitor combination using a layer of resistor material patterned to form resistors and first capacitor plates. A capacitor dielectric is then formed on the first capacitor plates using anodization. An overlaying conductor layer is then patterned to form resistor contacts, contacts to the first capacitor plates, and second capacitor plates.

Method for fabricating low cost integrated resistor capacitor combinations

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A connector includes a body having a tubular cavity connected to two ducts and includes an infusion aperture for infusing a liquid into the line and a sampling aperture for sampling blood. A constriction having a diameter progressively decreasing towards the inlet aperture is disposed in the cavity between the two apertures and produces a Venturi tube effect, preventing the sampled blood from being affected by the infused liquid.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sampling and infusion connector for an extracorporeal blood circulation line.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, lines for circulating blood outside the body, such as those used in a dialysis apparatus, need at least one connector for attachment to a blood line, the connector having a port for sampling blood and/or for infusing liquids into the blood flow. The flow is controlled by a pump, preferably peristaltic, which acts via rollers or the like on a flexible duct portion of the line.
A known connector for an aforementioned line comprises a tubular body having a blood inlet, an infusion opening, and a sampling opening located between the blood inlet and the infusion opening, the sampling opening for permitting test quantities of blood to be withdrawn such as through a syringe. This related art arrangement has the disadvantage that, during sampling, the infusion liquid tends to be sucked back in counter-current by the negative pressure caused by the sampling syringe, thereby mixing with the sampled blood and altering its composition.
Thus, in the related art, in order to prevent the infusion liquid from reaching the sampling aperture at the moment when suction is exerted by the syringe, it is necessary to interrupt the infusion process for a period of time, which can cause adverse effects on the treatment. Alternatively, the connector could be constructed so that the sampling aperture is disposed at an appreciable distance from the infusion aperture, in which case the connector would be bulky and inconvenient to use.

Sampling and infusion connector for an extracorporeal blood circulation line

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This invention is a slotted cylindrical rotary valve assembly for an internal combustion engine, comprising of two sets of gear driven slotted cylindrical tubes in a cradle apparatus. Each set has two tubes located co-axially and rotates co-axially, and each tube is slotted to allow for improved transport of a fuel/air mixture and exhaust. In one embodiment, an intake set of tubes transport fuel/air through apertures on the tubes. The exhaust set of tubes transport exhaust through apertures (slots) on the tubes. The rotation of the tubes brings the apertures in timely alignment to allow fuel/air injection and exhaust in synchronization with the cyclical operation of the pistons in the combustion chambers. Effective sealing in one embodiment is achieved by using a modified piston with an extension wall extending longitudinally from the top of the piston to seal intake and exhaust orifices at the top of the chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an internal combustion engine, and more specifically, to an improved apparatus and method of transporting combustible material transport to, and removing of exhaust from, the cylinder chamber of combustion.
2. Discussion of Related Arts
The operation of the internal combustion engine is organic and complex. The primary combustion occurs in the cylinder/chamber apparatus of the internal combustion engine. This combustion process can be likened to a cyclical process. The cycle first begins with an intake action, with a piston moving down a combustion chamber (cylinder apparatus) and drawing in a fuel/air mixture. Then, the piston compresses the fuel/air mixture as it travels in the combustion chamber that is temporarily sealed. Moreover, the compressed combustible fuel/air mixture is guided towards the ignition component and ignited. Later, at the ignition stage, the combusted gases exert a force on the piston, pushing it downward and thereby transmitting a driving force through a connecting rod to force the crankshaft into a power-generating stroke. Lastly, in a timed and semi-spontaneous action, the burned fuel/air mixture exits the combustion chamber via an exhaust valve.
The major practical flaws of the conventional poppet valve and spring assembly are inherent in the fact that valves are tasked with the process of rapidly pounding and the valve springs are tasked with the job of providing tension to open and close at an alarmingly high rate of speed. Over time, this process can become problematic since the poppet valve functions can sometimes fall slower than the operations of the rest of the engine, especially during a rate of high RPM. This is not to mention the wear and tear to the components caused by repeated pounding and moving in and out of high-tension positions.
Rotary valve assemblies have been proposed as replacements to the conventional poppet valve-based assemblies. Implementing rotary valve assemblies requires adequate cooling functions as well as aptly needed sealing. Some attempts have been made to utilize other components, like inserts, and compounds, like ceramics, to address the issues of sealing and cooling. These alien components, however, are not conducive to the use and production of universally accessible materials and parts. This not only makes such uses cost prohibitive, but does not allow for a universal distribution and acquisition of these parts and components. Other attempts at sealing have not derived a viable and realistic approach with regard to the durability needed in the internal compartments of an engine. The additional components utilized in these attempts for sealing and cooling minimize the advantages of rotary valve assemblies and limit their commercial viability.
Hence, what is needed is a proper implementation of a rotary valve assembly that meets the specific requirements of cooling and sealing, without utilizing components that are susceptible to issues of durability, complexity, cost, and accessibility. The present invention maximizes engine performance by enhancing its efficiency and by addressing the cooling and sealing inadequacies, as well as by eliminating some standard components that will no longer be required as part of an improved design.

Slotted cylindrical tube rotary valve assembly


The present invention relates to a device for interior flushing of spaces in tanks or containers. At least one rotatable part (8) of a pipe (6, 8, 11) for the supply of flushing liquid (7) is provided in the space (2) and said rotatable part (8) has at least one flushing nozzle (9) for discharging jets (10) of flushing liquid. A driving or operating device (22) is provided to rotate said rotatable part (8) about a geometric rotation axis (R1A) and the flushing nozzle (9) about another geometric rotation axis (R2A). The driving device (22) is provided to be brought to rotate in opposite rotary directions (R1, R2) by reversing its rotary direction. A switch device (23) is provided to bring either said rotatable part (8) or the flushing nozzle (9) to rotate in dependence of the rotary direction (R1 or R2) of the driving device (22). A control device (48) is provided to control the driving device (22) to rotate in one or the opposite rotary direction (R1 or R2).

Devices for interior flushing of ship's tanks or similar are previously known from the publication EP 0 892 685. At the device according to this publication, one motor is used to rotate the rotatable part of a pipe for the supply of flushing liquid and another motor for rotating the flushing nozzle. Using two motors however, for rotating the rotatable part and the flushing nozzle, is an expensive and energy consuming solution which is sensitive to shutdowns.

Device for interior flushing of tanks or containers


A driving apparatus having an electromechanical transducer which extends and contracts; a first member connected to one end of the electromechanical transducer; a driving frictional member which is formed of a ceramic material and is connected to the other end of the electromechanical transducer; and a second member frictionally coupled with the driving frictional member, whereby either one of the first or second object is fixed and the electromechanical transducer is made to extend and contract, thereby driving in a specified direction the member which is either the first or second member and is not fixed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving apparatus which uses a member for generating an extension/contraction displacement as a driving source. The present invention relates more particularly to a driving apparatus which uses an electromechanical transducer such as a piezoelectric element, and to a driving apparatus for use in accurately driving probes of, for example, an X-Y driving table, an image pickup lens of a camera, and a scan type tunneling electron microscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a variety of types of driving apparatuses which use piezoelectric elements have been proposed.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a prior art linear movement type driving apparatus, while FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the driving apparatus shown in FIG. 1. A driving apparatus 10a is provided with a fixed member 24, a piezoelectric element 22, a driving shaft 26 slidably supported in its axial direction by the fixed member 24 and a driving unit 28 to be connected to a stage which moves with a driven member (not shown) of, for example, a component placed on it. The piezoelectric element 22 is a sort of electromechanical transducer, the length of which is varied by voltage application. The piezoelectric element 22 has one end surface 22a affixed to the fixed member 24 in the direction in which it extends or contracts and has the other end surface 22b affixed to one axial end surface 26a of the driving shaft 26 in the direction in which it extends or contracts. The driving unit 28 is provided with a leaf spring 28a, and the driving unit 28 is frictionally coupled with the driving shaft 26 by the urging force of this leaf spring 28a. In this driving apparatus 10a, the driving unit 28 is moved in a specified direction along the driving shaft 26 when the driving shaft 26 is vibrated in a reciprocating manner in the axial direction by applying to the piezoelectric element 22 a periodic pulse voltage having a sawtooth waveform, for example.
The driving shaft 26 of the driving apparatus 10a is required to have a high modulus of longitudinal elasticity and a high surface hardness on the frictional surface in the extension/contraction direction of the electromechanical transducer, or the piezoelectric element 22. The driving shaft 26 is also required to have a light weight and a smaller specific gravity for sufficient displacement of the piezoelectric element 22. In general, as for the characteristics of the driving frictional member, a modulus of longitudinal elasticity of not smaller than 8000 kg/mm.sup.2 and a surface hardness of not smaller than 300 Hv are required under the practical driving conditions. Conventionally, in order to obtain the characteristics as described above, a carbon fiber composite resin in which carbon fibers are aligned in the extension/contraction direction of the piezoelectric element 22 has been used as the driving frictional member.
However, it is required to optimize the shape of the driving frictional member according to the type of the driving apparatus and the object to be driven. In the case of the carbon fiber composite resin in which carbon fibers are aligned in the extension/contraction direction of the piezoelectric element 22, when its cross-section shape is significantly changed in the middle as in, for example, a driving frictional member 26' shown in FIG. 3, it is difficult to obtain the required characteristic since the carbon fibers are cut or changed in density at the portion in which the cross-section shape is changed or other problems may also occur. That is, the driving frictional member using the carbon fiber composite resin has reduced freedom of shape.
Furthermore, in the driving apparatus 10a, the driving characteristics change depending on the mass of the object to be driven and the frictional force generated on the frictional surface. Therefore, the optimum frictional force has conventionally been obtained by repeating actual driving experiments while appropriately changing the coefficients of friction of the frictional surface, i.e., the surface roughness and the pressure force for each individual driving apparatus.


A computer readable storage medium includes a set of instructions executable by a processor. The instructions are operable to assign a unique identifier to each of a plurality of node subsets of a network, the node subsets being created by damage to the network; assign one or more of the identifiers to each of a plurality of components of the damaged network based on a connectivity to the one or more of the node subsets and corresponding identifiers of the node subsets; assign one or more of the identifiers to each of one or more node types of the plurality of components by assigning each of the node types all of the identifiers of any of the components of the node type; and evaluate a first connectivity between a first one of the components and a second one of the components by determining whether they share at least one of the identifiers.

Modern telecommunications networks typically comprise complicated, interconnected networks of nodes and links. Network providers strive to provide service to their customers both during normal operations and during situations when the network is damaged, either moderately or severely. In order to insure that service can be provided in situations when a network is damaged, providers may use modeling algorithms to analyze various possible failure scenarios. Because networks with large numbers of components may have a significantly larger number of failure scenarios, such modeling algorithms should be as simple as possible in order for them to execute quickly and thus be able to model complicated systems in a reasonable amount of time.

Method and system for evaluating network connectivity in rule-based applications


A method for decorating and/or labelling glass articles and like ceramic ware by screen printing. The present method comprises the steps of (a) treating a glass article or the like with a silane adhesion promoter; and (b) applying a non-ceramic screen ink directly onto the silane-treated glass article by screen printing. The non-ceramic screen ink is preferably a heat-set ink which includes an organic resinous binder, a non-heavy metal colorant and a vaporizable solvent system. Examples of the binder include, but are not limited to, one or more of polyamide, polyester, polyester-vinyl, acrylic, vinyl and acrylic-vinyl resins. Examples of the non-heavy metal colorant include titanium dioxide and organic colorants (e.g., insoluble derivatives of organic dyes). The non-ceramic screen ink may additionally comprise one or more rheology-adjusting agents for making the ink well-suited for screen printing and may additionally include other additives of the type commonly found in screen or other printing inks. Once the ink has been applied to the glass article by screen printing, the printed article is preferably heated, causing the solvent system to be driven off and causing the binder, colorant and other non-volatile components of the ink to be set on the article.

The present invention relates generally to techniques for decorating and/or labelling articles and more particularly to a novel method for screen printing glass articles and like ceramic ware.
The decorating and/or labelling of commercial articles, such as, and without limitation to, containers, clothing materials, construction materials, artwork and the like, is widespread and well-known. One established technique for decorating and/or labelling articles is screen printing. Screen printing typically uses a porous screen of fine silk, stainless steel or a similarly suitable synthetic fiber that is mounted on a frame. A stencil is produced on the screen, either manually or photomechanically, in which the non-printing areas are protected by the stencil. Printing is screen by applying ink with a paint-like consistency to the screen, and then spreading and forcing the ink through the openings of the screen with a rubber squeegee onto the underlying substrate.
One of the desirable aspects of screen printing is that a thick layer of ink can be deposited onto a desired substrate. Another desirable aspect of screen printing is that a variety of different types of materials can be decorated by screen printing; however, heretofore, the type of material being printed upon has, to some extent, limited the type of screen ink that could be used in printing thereon. For example, ceramic materials, including glass articles, have heretofore required the use of ceramic screen inks. Ceramic screen inks typically include a ceramic material, such as silicon dioxide, which is doped with an inorganic pigment (which is often a derivative of a heavy metal). Such inks typically further include a liquid vehicle, said vehicle often comprising a dispersant and a suitable solvent. If necessary, additives for adjusting the rheology of the ink for screen printing, or other desirable additives, are also included. After a glass or other ceramic article has been screen printed with a ceramic screen ink of the foregoing type, the printed article is typically fired to a very high temperature, causing the liquid vehicle to be burned-off and causing the doped ceramic material to become fused to the article.
Examples of ceramics inks suitable for screen printing are disclosed in the following U.S. patents, all of which are herein incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,824, inventor Wagar, issued Aug. 23, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,974, inventor Scheve, issued Nov. 22, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,649, inventors Linke et al., issued Jan. 4, 1994; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,881, inventor Norris, issued Aug. 24, 1993.
One problem with ceramic screen inks is that the colorant/dopant must be an inorganic pigment in order to withstand the high firing temperatures mentioned above. Many inorganic pigments, however, are derivatives of heavy metals (titanium dioxide being a notable exception) and, therefore, pose health and/or environmental risks. Additionally, as can readily be appreciated, the range of different colors afforded by the class of inorganic pigments is limited, due to the constraints of nature, as compared to that afforded by the class of organic colorants.
Still another problem with ceramic screen inks is that one must possess equipment capable of obtaining the very high firing temperatures discussed above in order to cure the ink once printed on the substrate. As can readily be appreciated, the expense of such equipment will, in many instances, preclude all but glass manufacturers from being able to screen print ceramic inks onto glass and the like.
Screen printing is not the only technique presently used to decorate or to label glass articles. One such alternative technique involves the use of heat-transfer labels. One well-known type of heat-transfer label is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,015, inventor Kingston, which issued October, 1971, and which is incorporated herein by reference. In the aforementioned patent, there is disclosed a heat-transfer label comprising a paper sheet or web, a wax release layer affixed to the paper sheet, and an ink design layer printed on the wax release layer. In the heat-transfer labelling process, the label-carrying web is subjected to heat, and the label is pressed onto an article with the ink design layer making direct contact with the article. As the paper sheet is subjected to heat, the wax layer begins to melt so that the paper sheet can be released from the ink design layer, a portion of the wax layer being transferred with the ink design layer and a portion of the wax layer remaining with the paper sheet. After transfer of the design to the article, the paper sheet is immediately removed, leaving the design firmly affixed to the article and the wax transferred therewith exposed to the environment. The wax layer is thus intended to serve two purposes: (1) to provide release of the ink design from the web upon application of heat to the web and (2) to form a protective layer over the transferred ink design. After transfer of the label to the article, the transferred wax release layer is typically subjected to a post-flaming technique which enhances the optical clarity of the wax protective layer (thereby enabling the ink design layer therebeneath to be better observed) and which enhances the protective properties of the transferred wax release.
In some heat-transfer labels, an adhesive layer (e.g., solvent-soluble polyamide, acrylic or polyester) is deposited over the ink design to facilitate adhesion of the label onto a receiving article. An example of a heat-transfer label having an adhesive layer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,857, inventor Galante, which issued Oct. 22, 1985, and which is incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, in some heat-transfer labels, a protective lacquer layer is interposed between the wax release layer and the ink layer. An example of such a label is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,422, inventor Daniels, which issued Jan. 17, 1984, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
Another type of heat-transfer label (i.e., a wax-less, heat-transfer label) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,300, inventors Parker et al., which issued Jun. 19, 1990, and which is incorporated herein by reference. In the aforementioned patent, the label, which is said to be particularly well-suited for use on high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinylchloride and polyethylene terephthalate surfaces or containers, comprises a paper carrier web which is overcoated with a layer of polyethylene. A protective lacquer layer comprising a polyester resin and a relatively small amount of a non-drying oil is printed onto the polyethylene layer. An ink design layer comprising a resinous binder base selected from the group consisting of polyvinylchloride, acrylics, polyamides and nitrocellulose is printed onto the protective lacquer layer. A heat-activatable adhesive layer comprising a thermoplastic polyamide adhesive is printed onto the ink design layer.
In general, the ink design layer of the above-described heat-transfer labels is formed by gravure printing onto the protective lacquer layer (or onto whichever layer it is desired to put the ink design layer) a design using an ink formulation comprising an organic resinous binder, a colorant and a vaporizable solvent system. The printed article is then heated, causing the solvent system to evaporate and causing the remaining non-volatile components to be set on the substrate. The resinous binder is typically selected from the group including polyamide, polyester, polyester-vinyl, acrylic, vinyl and acrylic-vinyl resins. The colorant is typically selected from the group including titanium dioxide and organic colorants (e.g., insoluble derivatives of organic dyes).
In those instances in which a heat-transfer label of the type described above is used to decorate a glass container, the glass container is typically pre-treated with a silane adhesion promoter of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,974, inventor Smith, which issued Sep. 23, 1975, and which is incorporated herein by reference. The reason for silane-treatment is to make the glass container more receptive to the adhesive layer of the heat-transfer label. Glass containers are typically not receptive to heat-transfer labels because they are usually manufactured with a coating of stearate applied to the outside surface thereof, the stearate-coating impairing adhesion between the heat-transfer label and the glass container. The reason why stearate is typically applied to glass containers is to act as a lubricant to reduce scratching of adjacent glass containers following their manufacture. By silane-treating a stearate-coated glass container, it has been found that one can improve the adhesion between the glass container and a heat-transfer label.

Method for screen printing glass articles


The invention relates to a device (1) for producing bakery products (2). It has an oven (4) closed off by a door (5) and a heating device (7) which heats the oven (4). A delivery device (10,31) is also provided for a fluid (11), along with a discharge element (12) arranged in the oven (4), a storage container (22) and a conveyor device (20) for the fluid (11). A sensor (8, 9) is arranged in the oven (4) for detecting at least one actual value for a temperature in the oven (4) and which is connected to a control device (16). The latter is also connected to the heating device (7), the delivery device (10,31) for the fluid (11) and an energy source (21). At least one other sensor (8, 9) is provided in the oven (4) for detecting an actual value of the humidity and is connected, along with a clock timer (30), to the control device (16). The control device (16) is connected to the input units (26, 27) for a desired value for the humidity and/or the temperature, which, as is the case, may depend on a baking or cooking time which can be pre-set by means of the clock timer (30).

The invention relates to a device for making bakery products and a method of cooking and/or baking foodstuffs or bakery products.
Various devices for making bakery products, in particular for cooking and/or baking foodstuffs or bakery products, and a corresponding method are known. Document AT 401 707 B stipulates the temperatures and humidity to be applied both during preparation of the dough and during what is referred to as the proving time. In addition, the main proving process is interrupted before it is completed. This prevents a skin from forming prematurely on the baked products so that the steam, generated subsequently when baking previously deep-frozen bakery products and occurring at a relatively late point in the baking or cooking process, does not cause the skin to burst in the region of the top surface of the bakery products. All that is said about conditions pertaining to the bakery goods during baking is that when they have been placed on the baking tray, the bakery products should be sprayed with water and then baked using the most possible steam (steaming), which means that both hot air ovens as will as fan-assisted ovens can be used. The disadvantage of this is that it is not possible to delay or prevent the early formation of a skin on the bakery products during final finishing of the same baking process with any degree of reliability.
The objective of this invention is to provide a device of the type outlined above, as well as a method of cooking and/or baking foodstuffs or bakery products by means of which the cooking or baking process can be universally adapted to different conditions.
This objective is achieved by the characterising features of the invention. The advantage gained is that by constantly monitoring a desired and an actual value of the humidity and/or temperature in the oven in relation to the cooking or baking temperature and/or cooking or baking time, it is possible to prevent either excessive drying or too high a humidity at the surface of the bakery products as well as the formation of a skin in the region of the bakery products which is undesirable or occurs too late. Furthermore, the foodstuffs or bakery products are cooked or baked evenly.
This also makes it easy to control steam or other ingredients released from the foodstuffs or bakery products, which means that the finished cooked or bakery products can be improved, namely the appearance of the foodstuffs or bakery products as well as their conservation and freshness, in particular their crispiness, which can be maintained for a longer period. Another advantage of this solution resides in the fact that the respective humidity and the respective temperature in the oven in which the foodstuffs or bakery products are placed remains constant without any additional intervention, e.g. an extra measuring process.
By means of another embodiment, the actual value of the humidity and/or temperature can be taken into account overall during the subsequent cooking or baking process, which means that it is also possible to adapt changes in temperature and the timing of the cooking or baking process so that the quality produced represents an optimum between the desired cooking or baking result and the cooking or baking time.
Another embodiment offers an advantage since it allows a sensitive adjustment of the temperature in the oven. Accordingly, the difference between the desired and actual value or variance from the desired value relating to the temperature and/or humidity content can be kept low.
Another embodiment is such that the humidity value can be rapidly adapted to different production stages and a cooking or baking process optimised.
There are also advantages to be had from an embodiment in which the entire cooking or baking process can be monitored. This means above all that the entire cooking or baking process can be continuously and constantly monitored so that, depending on the cooking or baking time and depending on the sensitivity of the foodstuff to be cooked or the products to be baked, the timing between the individual points at which the actual value of the humidity and/or temperature and/or cooking time and/or difference is detected can be universally adapted to suit different applications.
With a further embodiment, it is also possible to detect the setting of the temperature and/or the humidity temperature and/or the humidity and the difference between them and a related desired value depending on the duration of the cooking or baking process.
The design of the control device enables sensitive monitoring but also allows the cooking or baking process to be regulated.
The options for selecting how the fluid is introduced have an advantage in that they allow adaptation to the desired change in humidity in the oven.
In accordance with yet another embodiment, the invention provides a simple means of producing an even humidity and/or temperature across the entire volume of the oven.
The objective of the invention is also achieved by constantly monitoring the actual values of the humidity and temperature in the oven and by constantly comparing them in order to establish any variance from the desired values. In this manner the cooking or baking process can be universally adapted to produce a favorable finished result from the cooking or baking process.
The invention can also offer advantages since monitoring the difference between the desired and actual values means that the variance of the actual value from the desired value can be kept to a minimum, so that external conditions such as fluctuations in the input of the power supply to the heating device as well as different quantities loaded in the oven for example, and of course differences in the humidity and/or temperature of the foodstuffs or bakery products being cooked or baked, can be taken into account in a simple, fully automated manner, without the need for extra work processes.


The invention related to a coaxial connection for a printed circuit board comprising an essentially cylindrical adapter (4;104) which, with a first end (5;105), is electrically connected to a first connector element (2;102) and which, with a second end (6;106), is electrically connected to a second connector element (3;103). At least the first connector element (2;102) is fastened to a printed circuit board (A). The adapter (4;104) is connected, with the first end (5;105) thereof, to the first connect element (2;102) via a ball-and-socket joint (22;122) in such a way that the adapter (4;104) can be tilted around the center (Z) of the fixed ball-and-socket joint (22;122) in a limited manner and without the application of forces thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a coaxial connection for a printed circuit board comprising an essentially cylindrical adapter which is electrically connected to a first connector element with its first end and which is electrically connected to a second connector element with its second end whereby at least the first connector element is fastened to a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printed circuit boards are brought into contact with one another under high frequency after assembly of the printed circuit board with SMD components and subsequent soldering. Precision of location and position of the SMD (surface mounted device) components has to be compensated hereby in radial and axial direction so that high-frequency characteristics are maintained. Up to now, cable sections were used for the above-mentioned electrical connection of two printed circuit boards whereby said cable sections were fastened to the printed circuit board with a connector at each end. The flexibility of the coaxial cable sections guaranteed compensation in precision of location and position of the SMD components. However, this type of connection is relatively expensive and has additionally the disadvantage that the space between two connected printed circuit boards is relatively large.
Known are coaxial connections for printed circuit boards which have an essentially cylindrical adapter that mates with a connector element with both of its ends, respectively. Such connectors allow a relatively small space between the two printed circuit boards connected to one another. Based on the elasticity of the adapter and the connector element, there is also a certain compensation possible in axial and radial direction. However, during such compensation there is stress applied onto the respective connector elements, which may lead to a break at the soldering joints. Such a break is especially possible when the printed circuit boards are subject to vibrations or jolts, or other unfavorable influences.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,403 discloses a coaxial connector between two printed circuit boards which are provided with an adapter having an outer and inner conductor. The inner conductor of the adapter is provided with a spring-loaded female connector, which respectively mates with a prong of a conductor of the printed circuit board. Minor lateral displacements of the printed circuit board are possible; however, these (lateral displacements) cause stress in the connection.
The object of the invention is to provide a coaxial connection for a printed circuit board of the above-mentioned type that avoids said disadvantages and which may nevertheless be manufactured relatively cost-effective and which is also operatively sound.
The object of the invention of a coaxial connection for a printed circuit board of this type is achieved according to claim 1. In the connection according to the invention, the adapter may be tilted at a relatively large range without a substantial buildup of stress. It is essential, based on the ball-and-socket joint, that the force of contact remains substantially constant during tilting of the adapter. The soldering joints are thereby stressed to a lesser degree than up to now and even on the inner conductor there are essentially no stress forces applied. The connection, according to the invention, makes possible a very compact design of a printed circuit board with a space (between one another) of five to ten millimeters, for example. Two printed circuit boards may be electrically connected to one another by ten connections, for example, whereby the tolerances that are created especially during soldering may be taken up essentially without application of forces.
Should the adapter be connected to the second connector element with its second end by means of a loose ball-and-socket joint according to a development of the invention, then relatively high axial tolerances may be taken up essentially without application of forces whereby the contact force remains substantially constant at the second end of the adapter as well.
According to a further development of the invention, the fixed ball-and-socket joint has interlocked joint parts that are detachable from each other. During assembly, the adapter may be locked onto the first connector element with its first end in the way of a snap fastener. This pre-assembly may be automated in a relatively simple and reliable manner.
The inner conductor of the adapter does not undergo any application of force especially when, according to a development of the invention, the two ends of the adapter are provided each with an electric contact surface in the shape of a ball section. The two ends of the adapter mate preferably with a sleeve-shaped part of a connection element. Thereby it is guaranteed in a special way that the inner conductor never undergoes any application of force and that the force of contact remains substantially constant.
According to a preferred embodiment, the fixed ball-and-socket joint is formed by the insulator of the adapter and the insulator of the first connector element. This provides for an especially favorable and durable snap-on connection between two joint elements. The connection of the first ball-and-socket joint may be disconnected repeatedly without problems and without damage thereto.
Additional advantageous characteristics can be seen in the subordinate patent claims and the following descriptions and multiple drawings.
Two embodiment examples of the invention are explained below in more detail with the aid of accompanying drawings.

Coaxial connection with a tiltable adapter for a printed circuit board


A method of forming lenses includes providing a lens handler having a plurality of cavities formed into an upper surface thereof. For each of the cavities, the method includes dispensing a first polymer material into the cavity, pressing a non-planar stamp surface onto the first polymer material wherein an upper surface of the first polymer material is conformed to the non-planar stamp surface, and applying UV light to the first polymer material to cure the first polymer material. A dispenser carrier can be used that includes a plurality of liquid polymer dispensers. A stamp carrier can be used that includes a plurality of stamps each having a non-planar stamp surface. Alternately, a stamp handler having a plurality of stamps arranged along a curved surface can be used to roll along the polymer material such that an upper surface thereof conforms to the non-planar stamp surfaces.

CMOS image sensor chips are typically used in mobile devices such as cell phone cameras to capture images (e.g. cell phone camera or video functionality). These image sensors are usually very small and compact, given the limited size and weight requirements for mobile devices. The image sensor chip includes one or more lenses that are used to focus the incoming light onto a light sensor. The light sensor converts the incoming light into electronic signals that represent the image formed by the incoming light.
Lenses are often made of glass or polymer, and are typically made using a molding process. For example, polymer lenses are typically manufactured using molding techniques such as injection molding and transfer molding. Injection molding, for example, involves injecting polymer in a liquid state into a mold cavity. The polymer is then cooled so that it solidifies in the shape of the mold. The polymer is then removed from the mold in the form of a lens.
Molded lenses are easily mass-produced. For example, pluralities of molds are simultaneously injected with the lens material in a fluid state, followed by cooling, resulting in simultaneous formations of lenses. Traditional molding techniques produces lens that are monolithic, such that the optical properties from a single lens are limited. Therefore, for those applications requiring complex optical properties, multiple monolithic lenses of varying configuration can be stacked together. However, stacked monolithic lens configurations can be costly and excessively large in size.
There is a need for an improved lens and manufacturing technique for mass producing the lens that provides diverse optical property performance without adding significant cost or size.

Method of making stamped multi-layer polymer lens