A system TLB accepts translation prefetch requests from initiators. Misses generate external translation requests to a walker port. Attributes of the request such as ID, address, and class, as well as the state of the TLB affect the allocation policy of translations within multiple levels of translation tables. Translation tables are implemented with SRAM, and organized in groups.

Memory Management Units (MMUs) are commonly used in microprocessors to provide virtual memory capability. When virtual memory is enabled, software executing on the processor only sees and uses Virtual Addresses (VA). The MMU is tasked to convert a VA into a Physical Address (PA) that can then be used inside and outside the processor. Using virtual memory has a number of advantages including being able to give the illusion of more memory than is actually available, giving access to a physical memory system that has more address bits than are supported by the software, and protection of the physical memory with varying access rights.
Some modern systems that support virtualization have two levels of address translation between VAs and PAs. The first level is similar to that found on non-virtualized system, but the PA is not the final PA. It may be called Intermediate Physical Address (IPA) or Guest Physical Address (GPA). The second level maps that intermediate address into a final PA. In these systems, for any software running on the processor, the first level or the second level or both may be enabled.
In general, the virtual address space is divided into pages. Pages are commonly a few kilobytes, though other page sizes can be used. Systems often support multiple page sizes from a few kilobytes to a few megabytes or even gigabytes to increase translation efficiency. All addresses within a page are translated in the same fashion and all the access right information is the same. The translation between VAs and PAs is done through a (often multi-level) page table. The process of going through the page table to translate a VA into a PA is often called walking as it comprises a sequence of page table lookups.
The MMU often comprises two parts. The first part is called the Translation Look-aside Buffer (TLB). It caches translations so that they are very quickly accessible to the processor, so that for translations that are cached, the processor can execute with little delay. The second part is the walker, which walks the page tables when the TLB does not contain a translation. In some systems, there is more caching between the TLB and the walker. For instance, the TLB has 2 levels of caching. The walker itself can contain a cache.
A System MMU (SMMU) mirrors the functionality of an MMU, but applied to initiators other than microprocessors. Some such initiators are GPUs, DSPs, and DMA engines. With an SMMU, such initiators can take advantage of the benefits of virtual memory and virtualization. Like an MMU, an SMMU operates on pages and uses page tables to calculate translations. In some cases, an SMMU uses the same page table formats as the MMU of a processor to which the SMMU's initiator is connected. In that case, the page table can be shared between the MMU and the SMMU.
As an MMU comprises a TLB and a walker, so an SMMU comprise a System TLB (STLB) and a walker. The STLB acts as a cache for translations to help in keeping peak performance of initiators. In some cases, multiple STLBs can share a single walker for efficiency reasons. In some cases multiple initiators can share a STLB.
In most cases, TLBs inside processors are tightly integrated with the processor because physical addresses are needed inside the processor (e.g. for caches that are visible to cache coherency). In contrast, an STLB does not have to be integrated inside an initiator. It may be placed outside the initiator without any negative impact. In many cases, multiple initiators share a single STLB. An STLB just needs to be between the source and the destination of a request to provide translation services. Most chip designs have an interconnect that provides access by initiators to targets. STLBs may be placed between the initiators and the interconnect, or within the interconnect, close to the initiators.
The addition of virtual memory to an initiator can have severe negative effects on the performance of the initiator. In addition to the latency increase due to the extra logic, anytime the STLB misses (i.e. the translation necessary to process a request from the initiator is not cached) the request must be stalled until that translation has been resolved, either by another level of cache or a walk. This will impact the performance of the request and might also impact following requests. Since a page table walk typically takes between 1 and 20 sequential accesses and each access typically takes between 10 and 100 clock cycles, the initiator request might be stalled for a large amount of time and the performance of the initiator might be drastically reduced.
Reducing the STLB misses can be done by increasing the size of the STLB cache and by reducing the walk delay. However, this is insufficient. Some misses are compulsory misses (e.g. when a page is seen for the first time and the cache has no chance to already contain the translation) and these are not improved by the cache size. In some extreme examples, large amounts of data with poor page locality are requested by the initiator, triggering large numbers of compulsory misses.
Therefore, what is needed is a mechanism to prefetch translations into the STLB so that the probability of a request missing in the STLB is reduced or eliminated. This is particularly applicable to System TLBs because initiators tend to have predictable memory access patterns and in many cases can also be enhanced to generate advanced prefetch patterns that predict future memory access patterns.

System translation look-aside buffer with request-based allocation and prefetching


A driving circuit for driving a diode includes at least one differential pair including a first output node and a second output node and configured to switch an output current, a current source configured to adjust the output current, a dummy load coupled to the second output node, a first termination resistor coupled between the first output node and a termination ground, and a second termination resistor coupled between the second output node and the termination ground. The output current is supplied to the diode through the first output node by at least one differential pair.

With the improvement in a network transmission speed and the increase in a network capacity, optical signals are increasingly used for short-distance communication and medium-distance communication. As a light source for an optical signal, a compact low-power light-emitting element capable of performing direct modulation is employed. Examples of a light-emitting element include a Laser Diode (LD) such as a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL). In order to drive a light-emitting element, a driving circuit is used for performing differential amplification on a driving signal for a light-emitting element and driving the light-emitting element with the amplified signal (see, for example, "120-Gb/s VCSEL-Based Parallel-Optical Interconnect and Custom 120-Gb/s Testing Station", JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 22, NO. 9, September 2004).

Driving circuit having a dummy load connected to one output node of a differential pair


Numerous embodiments of a method to prevent outgassing from a low activation energy photoresist are described. In one embodiment of the present invention, a photoresist material is dispensed over a substrate to form a photoresist layer. The photoresist layer includes branched polymers coupled with acetal or ketal linkages. An exposed portion of the photoresist layer is exposed to a radiation treatment to cleave the acetal or ketal linkages and separate the branched polymers. The photoresist layer is baked at a temperature below about 100° C., and the separated branched polymers are too large to outgass from the photoresist layer.

Manufacture of semiconductor devices typically involves a series of processes in which various layers are deposited and patterned on a substrate to form a device of the desired type. Line and space patterns in photoresist are often created to form microelectronic devices. Smaller critical dimensions (CD) for both lines and spaces allow faster circuitry to be created. Deep-ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography is a standard imaging technique for the production of advanced integrated circuits using chemically amplified (CA) resists. Refinements to the physical and chemical properties of the CA resists are important to take advantage of advanced lithography systems, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a typical photolithography process. In the photolithography process, a layer of photoresist material is deposited over an underlying layer (formed above a substrate or wafer) that is to be etched. Spin coating is a standard method to apply the photoresist material. The substrate is then subjected to a baking process (also referred to as post-apply bake) to relieve stresses caused by the sheer forces encountered in the spinning process, and remove excess solvent. The photoresist layer is then selectively exposed to radiation (e.g., ultraviolet radiation) with certain regions protected by a mask to form a latent image in the resist layer. The substrate is then subjected to a post-expose bake followed by the development process, in which a photoresist developer, a solution that erodes areas of the photoresist layer exposed to the radiation, is applied to the substrate. The substrate is then rinsed to remove the developer solution, and dried, for example by a spin-dry process.
Image formation in a positive-tone CA photoresist requires conversion of the polymer from an insoluble to a soluble form. Initially, irradiation of the resist triggers a photochemical reaction that produces an acidic product. The proton (i.e., acid catalyst) from this acid binds to an ester functional group attached to the polymer. The protonation induces fragmentation of the ester group that causes the ester to be replaced with a carboxylic acid and an unstable, transient carbocation to be formed. The carbocation releases a proton, which then protonates another ester group to repeat the process, resulting in the deprotection of many ester groups in the resist. When in contact with an aqueous developer, the carboxylic acid groups formed during deprotection will ionize, rendering the polymer soluble.
One of the most difficult challenges for chemically amplified resists is meeting the dense line/space resolution targets. For current commercially available high activation energy resists, high bake temperatures are required for deprotection of the resist. Moreover, the acid catalyst will have large diffusion lengths at high temperatures, which limits the resolution of the resist. Alternatively, low activation energy resists are available, which undergo deprotection at lower temperatures relative to high activation energy resists. The diffusion of the acid catalyst may be lower in low activation energy resists, thereby resulting in higher resolution. For example, hydrolysis of acetal protecting groups is a low activation energy reaction and therefore will occur at low temperatures. Acetal/ketal groups will undergo a hydrolysis reaction in the presence of an acid as shown in FIG. 2. However, one problem with typical low activation energy resists is that because the deprotection reaction does not require high temperatures, outgassing of the deprotection groups can occur at temperatures below that of the post-expose bake. For example, outgassing can occur during the radiation exposure process.

Non-outgassing low activation energy resist


A hook-type fastener product for engaging loop elements is disclosed, having parallel rows of hooks having differently constructed first and second sides. The hooks are arranged such that, when engaged with loops, they resist disengagement from the loops more strongly when pulled in one sideways direction than when pulled in the opposite sideways direction. The product has a common base from which the hooks, which are not limited to J-type hooks, extend. The first sides of the hooks may be flat and the second sides convex. Methods and an apparatus for producing the product are also disclosed.

This invention relates to the arrangement of touch fastener elements on a common base.
In the field of molded touch fasteners, typically a series of adjacent rows of male fastener elements, such as the molded hooks disclosed by Fischer in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,028, engage loops or anchored fibers to form a separable closure. The male fastener elements (i.e., "hooks") extend from a common base, and have overhanging heads formed at the distal ends of elongated stems. The heads of the hooks capture and retain loops.
Molded hook fastener strips formed in a continuous process with a rotating mold roll have hooks arranged in rows running along the length of the strip, in the "machine direction" of the molding process. The heads of such hooks are generally aligned to face in the direction of the row to facilitate removal from the mold cavities of the mold roll. So aligned, molded arrays of hooks can demonstrate loop-retaining performance characteristics that are direction-dependent. For instance, a hook-and-loop closure may withstand, in some instances, a shear load in the machine direction of greater magnitude than a shear load in the cross-machine direction. This effect is partly a function of hook construction.
As used herein, these terms should be interpreted as follows: a "shear load" is a separating load applied between mating sides of a planar closure, acting within the plane of the closure; a "peel load" is a separating load applied between mating components to peel them apart, sequentially disengaging hooks (cross-machine peel typically contains an element of cross-machine shear load at the hook level); a "hook" is a male fastening element constructed to engage loops, and is not limited to a J-type shape; the "machine direction" is along the direction of extent of a row of hooks; and the "cross-machine direction" is perpendicular to the machine direction and within the plane of the closure.


A system for performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures. The system includes a pair of surgical instruments that are coupled to a pair of robotic arms. The instruments have end effectors that can be manipulated to hold and suture tissue. The robotic arms are coupled to a pair of master handles by a controller. The handles can be moved by the surgeon to produce a corresponding movement of the end effectors. The movement of the handles is scaled so that the end effectors have a corresponding movement that is different, typically smaller, than the movement performed by the hands of the surgeon. The scale factor is adjustable so that the surgeon can control the resolution of the end effector movement. The movement of the end effector can be controlled by an input button, so that the end effector only moves when the button is depressed by the surgeon. The input button allows the surgeon to adjust the position of the handles without moving the end effector, so that the handles can be moved to a more comfortable position. The system may also have a robotically controlled endoscope which allows the surgeon to remotely view the surgical site. A cardiac procedure can be performed by making small incisions in the patient's skin and inserting the instruments and endoscope into the patient. The surgeon manipulates the handles and moves the end effectors to perform a cardiac procedure such as a coronary artery bypass graft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures.
2. Description of Related Art
Blockage of a coronary artery may deprive the heart of the blood and oxygen required to sustain life. The blockage may be removed with medication or by an angioplasty. For severe blockage a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is performed to bypass the blocked area of the artery. CABG procedures are typically performed by splitting the sternum and pulling open the chest cavity to provide access to the heart. An incision is made in the artery adjacent to the blocked area. The internal mammary artery (IMA) is then severed and attached to the artery at the point of incision. The IMA bypasses the blocked area of the artery to again provide a full flow of blood to the heart. Splitting the sternum and opening the chest cavity can create a tremendous trauma on the patient. Additionally, the cracked sternum prolongs the recovery period of the patient.
There have been attempts to perform CABG procedures without opening the chest cavity. Minimally invasive procedures are conducted by inserting surgical instruments and an endoscope through small incision in the skin of the patient. Manipulating such instruments can be awkward, particularly when suturing a graft to a artery. It has been found that a high level of dexterity is required to accurately control the instruments. Additionally, human hands typically have at least a minimal amount of tremor. The tremor further increases the difficulty of performing minimal invasive cardiac procedures. It would be desirable to provide a system for effectively performing minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft procedures.

Method and apparatus for performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures


The present invention provides a method for supporting mobility of selected IP traffic offload (SIPTO) by a server undertaking a control plane in a mobile communication network. The method can comprise the following steps: receiving a handover request message for a terminal receiving a SIPTO service by means of a source base station to a target base station; deciding whether to deactivate the SIPTO service; performing a process for disconnecting a public data network connection (PDN) for the SIPTO, based on the decision; and transmitting to the terminal via the source base station a message including information for reactivating the SIPTO after the handover, according to the decision.

A 3GPP that establishes a technology standard of a 3rd generation mobile communication system has started a research into long term evolution/system architecture evolution (LTE/SAE) technology as part of an effort to optimize and improve performance of 3 GPP technologies from the end of 2004 in order to cope with various forums and new technologies associated with 4th generation mobile communication.
SAE that is progressed around 3GPP SA WG2 is a research into network technology to determine a structure of a network with an LTE work of a 3GPP TSG RAN and support mobility between model networks and one of key standardization issues of the 3GPP. This is a work for developing a 3GPP system to a system that supports various wireless access technologies based on an IP and the work has been progressed for the purpose of an optimized packet based system that minimizes a transmission delay with a further improved data transmission capability.
An SAE higher-level reference model defined in the 3GPP SA WG2 includes a non-roaming case and a roaming case of various scenarios, and a detailed content may be referred in TS 23.400a and TS 23.400b which are 3GPP standard documents. A network structure diagram of FIG. 1 shows schematic reconfiguration of the SAE higher-level reference model.
FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of an evolved mobile communication network.
One of largest features of the network structure of FIG. 1 is based on a 2 tier model of eNodeB of an evolved UTRAN and a gateway of a core network and although accurately coincides with each other, the eNodeB 20 has functions of NodeB and RNC of an existing UMTS system and the gateway has an SGSN/GGSN function of the existing system.
Another key feature is that a control plane and a user plane between an access network and the core network are exchanged to different interfaces. In the existing UMTS system, one lu interface exists between an RNC and an SGSN, while a mobility management entity (MME) 51 that undertakes processing of a control signal has a structure separated from a gateway (GW), and as a result, two interfaces of S1-MME and S1-U are respectively used. The GW includes a serving-gateway (hereinafter, referred to as 'S-GW') 52 and a packet data network gateway (hereinafter, referred to as 'PDN-GW' or 'P-GW') 53.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between (e)NodeB and Home (e)NodeB.
In the 3rd or 4th mobile communication system, an attempt to increase a cell capacity is continuously made in order to support a high-capacity service and a bidirectional service such as multimedia contents, streaming, and the like.
That is, as various large-capacity transmission technologies are required with development of communication and spread of multimedia technology, a method for increase a radio capacity includes a method of allocating more frequency resources, but there is a limit in allocating more frequency resources to a plurality of users with limited frequency resources.
An approach to use a high-frequency band and decrease a cell radius has been made in order to increase the cell capacity. When a cell having a small radius, such as a pico cell is adopted, a band higher than a frequency used in the existing cellular system may be used, and as a result, it is possible to transfer more information. However, since more base stations should be installed in the same area, higher cost is required.
In recent years, a Femto base station such as a Home (e)NodeB 30 has been proposed while making the approach to increase the cell capacity by using the small cell.
The Home (e)Node 30 has been researched based on a RAN WG3 of the 3GPP Home (e)NodeB and in recent years, the Home (e)NodeB 30 has been in earnest researched even in an SA WG.
The (e)NodeB 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 corresponds to a macro base station and the Home (e)NodeB 30 illustrated in FIG. 2 may correspond to the Femto base station. In the specification, (e)NodeB intends to be described based on terms of the 3GPP and (e)NodeB is used when NodeB and eNodeB are mentioned together. Further, Home (e)NodeB is used when Home NodeB and Home eNodeB are mentioned together.
Interfaces marked with dotted lines are used to transmit control signals among the (e)NodeB 20, the Home (e)NodeB 30, and an MME 510. In addition, interfaced marked with solid lines are used to transmit data of the user plane.
FIG. 3 illustrates a problem in prior art.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, traffic is overloaded or congested in an interface between the (e)NodeB 20 and the S-GW 52, or traffic is overloaded or congested in an interface between the Home (e)NodeB 30 and the S-GW 52, download data or to a UE 10 or upload data from the UE 10 is not correctly transmitted and is thus failed.
Alternatively, even when an interface between the S-GW 52 and the PDN-GW 53 or an interface between the PDN-GW 53 and an Internet protocol (IP) service network of a mobile communication operator is overloaded or congested, the downlink data to the UE 10 or the uploaded data from the UE 10 is not correctly transmitted and is thus failed.
Further, when the UE is handed over from a present cell in which the UE receive a service to another cell, if the another cell is in an overload state, the service of the UE is dropped.
In order to solve the problem, mobile communication operators have changed the S-GW 52 and the PDN-GW 53 to high-capacity equipment or additionally installed new equipment, but very higher cost therefor is required. Further, the amount of transmitted and received data geometrically increases with each passing day, overload occurs immediately.
Meanwhile, various schemes were presented, which optimize the S-GW 52 and the PDN-GW 53 without additionally installing the mobile communication network. For example, SIPTO, that is, technology was presented, which transmits specific IP traffic (for example, an Internet service) of the UE by selecting an optimal route in a macro access network and offloads the IP traffic to a route through nodes of not the mobile communication network but a public network, that is, a wired network (selected IP traffic offload) without transmitting and receiving the IP traffic to and from the route through the mobile communication network in a Femto access network (for example, Home (e)NB).
FIG. 4 illustrates a concept of selected IP traffic offload (SIPTO).
Referring to FIG. 4, for example, a mobile communication system such as an evolved packet system (EPS) is illustrated. The EPS system includes the (e)NodeB 20, the MME 51, the S-GW 52, and a P-GW 53. In addition, the home (e)NodeB 30 is illustrated.
In this case, as illustrated, the selected IP traffic offload (SIPTO) technology offloads specific IP traffic (for example, an Internet service) of the UE 10 to nodes of a wired network 70 without passing through nodes in an IP service network 60 of a mobile communication operator.
For example, when the UE 10 is allowed to access the (e)NodeB 20, the UE 10 creates a session passing through the wired network 70 such as a public communication network through the (e)NodeB 20 and may perform an IP network service through the session. In this case, a operator policy and subscription information may be considered.
In order to create the session as such, a gateway, that is, a local gateway that undertakes some of functions of a GGSN in a UMTS or a local gateway that undertakes some of functions of a PDN gateway (P-GW) in an EPS may be installed at a location which is close to the (e)NodeB 20.
The local gateway is called a local GGSN or a local P-GW. A function of the local GGSN or local P-GW is similar to the function of the GGSN or P-GW.
As described above, the SIPTO technology has presented a concept of creating a session in order to offload the data of the UE to the wired network such as the public communication network through the (e)NodeB 20, that is, the macro base station.
However, the SIPTO technology in prior art has a problem that mobility is not assured. That is, when the UE performs handover from a source base station to a target base station while receiving an SIPTO service, cut-off of the service occurs.
For example, when the terminal performs handover to the Home (e)NodeB 30 during using the Internet by receiving the SIPTO service through the (e)NodeB 20, that is, the macro base station, data which the UE is transmitting is all lost and an Internet browser of the UE does not respond. Therefore, user's experience deteriorates.
In prior art described above, a scheme is presented, which creates a session for the data in order to offload the data of the UE to the wired network such as the public communication network when the UE stays at a geographically constant location for a long period.
However, the prior art does not consider movement of the UE. That is, the aforementioned prior art considers a situation in which the UE stays at the constant location similarly to wireless LAN technology.
However, the UE as a mobile terminal may frequently move or move long distances. Therefore, based on the aforementioned prior art, it is impossible to provide a service to a UE which is wide in movement range.

Server for undertaking control plane in mobile communication network and method for supporting traffic detour service mobility in same server


A friction stir welding machine is provided that is adapted to perform solid phase welding on a welding portion of materials to be welded, by pressing a welding tool against the welding portion of the materials to be welded while rotating the welding tool, and forcing the welding tool to be advanced into a softened portion which is softened by a frictional heat while stirring the softened portion, wherein a coating made of aluminum nitride is formed on at least a region of the welding tool to be in contact with the materials to be welded.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a friction stir welding machine and a friction stir welding tool, which can be appropriately utilized for welding materials to be welded together, the mater comprising steel materials, such as steel materials to be used for general structures, those for constructional structures and those for steel plates.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical example of the related art is described in JP-A-2004-082144. This related art teaches a welding tool comprising a pin portion adapted to be in contact with a material to be welded is formed integrally on a central axis of a base material consisting of a heat resistive alloy, wherein lowering of hardness in a higher temperature region can be controlled as well as degradation of strength against friction to the material to be welded, such as a steel material, can be reduced by covering the outer periphery including the pin portion with a coating comprising a ceramic of the silicon nitride (Si3N4) type.
In such a related art, the steel material which is provided as SS400 in JIS (the Japanese Industrial Standard) is used as the material to be welded, and the base material of the welding tool comprises a heat resistive alloy mainly consisting of at least one of Fe, Ni, Co and W.
Other related arts are described in JP-A-2000-301363 and JP-A-248583, for example. In these related arts, improvement against insufficient welding is proposed, which comprises spraying an inert gas, such as N2, He or Ar, in the vicinity of a welding portion (i.e., a portion to be welded) of materials to be welded.
Still another related art is described in JP-A-2003-326372. In this related art, lengthening of the life of a welding tool is proposed, wherein a coating comprising diamond is formed on a surface of a base material of the welding tool so as to prevent components of a material to be welded, comprising an aluminum alloy, a magnesium alloy, a copper alloy or the like, from being welded or alloyed together with the welding tool.
In the related art described in JP-A-2004-082144, since a steel material which has a melting point higher than that of aluminum alloys is used as an object to be welded with friction stir, a welding tool on which a coating comprising a silicon nitride or the like is formed should be used. Such a welding tool may tend to generate chemical decomposition of a material constituting the welding tool and/or diffusion of its constructional elements into the material to be welded due to heat generation caused by friction to the material to be welded, thus causing significant wearing at the working site, such as a shoulder portion or pin portion of the welding tool, which is to be used for generating driving force of stir by contacting with the materials to be welded.
In the case of using a hard metal, such as tungsten carbide, as the base material of the welding tool, the standard energy to be produced from the material at 100° C. is relatively high, i.e., approximately −10 kcal/g·atom. Therefore, the material may tend to be decomposed under a higher temperature environment, thus being thermally unstable. In addition, such a material is likely to cause solid solution of tungsten into the steel material. Thus, wearing of the welding tool to be caused by such phenomena deteriorates the mechanical integrity of the region to be used for friction stir, leading to degradation of the strength of welding. Furthermore, since the life of such an expensive welding tool is ended only by a slight use, there is also a problem from the economical view point.
In the friction stir welding operation for a steel material, the rotational speed of the welding tool is often 250 to 1500 rpm. If employing a rotational speed higher than 1500 rpm, the amount of heat generation can be increased and the materials to be welded can be heated more rapidly, thus reducing the time required for welding as well as enhancing the strength of welding. However, wearing of the welding tool is accelerated. Moreover, in view of the life of such an expensive welding tool, there is a significant limit to be considered in increasing the rotational speed. Therefore, the reduction of the time required for welding and enhancement of the strength of welding are restricted in employing the aforementioned welding tool.
In each of the related arts described in JP-A-2000-301363 and JP-A-2002-248583, control of production of oxides is proposed, in which an inert gas is sprayed in the vicinity of a welding portion of a material to be welded to improve insufficient welding. However, in the case where the material to be welded is a steel material, there is a problem similar to that in the related art in JP-A-2004-082144 described above.
In the related art of JP-A-2003-326372 described above, lengthening of the life of a welding tool is proposed, wherein a coating comprising diamond is formed on a surface of a base material of the welding tool so as to prevent components of a material to be welded from being welded or alloyed together with the welding tool. However, also in this related art, when a steel material is used as the material to be welded, carbon which is a constructional element of the coating reacts chemically with the steel material, resulting in a similar problem as that described in each related art of the aforementioned JP-A-2000-301363 and JP-A-2002-248583.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Friction stir welding machine and friction stir welding tool


A semiconductor acceleration sensor has a silicon detecting body and a glass substrate. The silicon detecting body has a weight, a supporting frame, and beams for coupling the weight to the supporting frame, which are integrally processed from a silicon wafer. At least one semiconductor strain gauge is formed on a surface of a beam. The glass substrate is electrostatically joined with the supporting frame of the silicon detecting body. Furthermore, a gap portion is formed between a surface of the glass substrate and a lower surface of the weight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an acceleration sensor (accelerometer) for sensing the change of velocity with respect to time. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a semiconductor accelerometer of the type using a strain-gauge, utilizing the change in resistance caused by expansion or constriction of a semiconductor, and also to a method for testing the acceleration sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, accelerometers have been used in many industrial fields and are generally grouped into the following types:
(i) a servo type accelerometer that detects a displacement of a weight member or a thin plate from a balanced position when it receives the influence of acceleration; PA1 (ii) a piezoelectric type accelerometer that uses a piezoelectric material which is responsible for generating electric force or charges in relation to a degree of strain that is caused; and PA1 (iii) a strain-gauge type accelerometer that uses the variation in resistance caused by the expansion and contraction of a metal or semiconductor. PA1 In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor acceleration sensor, comprising: PA1 a silicon detecting member having a weight, a supporting frame, and a beam for coupling the weight with the supporting frame, which are integrally processed from a silicon wafer; PA1 at least one semiconductor strain gauge formed on a surface of the beam; PA1 a glass substrate electrostatically joined with the supporting frame of the silicon detecting member; and PA1 a gap portion formed between a surface of the glass substrate and a lower surface of the weight. PA1 (i) providing a semiconductor acceleration sensor as a test device, having: a silicon detecting member having a weight, a supporting frame, and a beam for coupling the weight with the supporting frame, which are integrally processed from a silicon wafer; at least one semiconductor strain gauge formed on an upper surface of the beam; a glass substrate electrostatically jointed with the supporting frame of the silicon detecting member; and a gap portion formed between an upper surface of the glass substrate and a lower surface of the weight, PA1 (ii) applying an alternating current on the conductive film so as to generate a potential difference between the silicon detecting member and the conductive film, and PA1 (iii) generating false acceleration by an effect of electrostatic force between the conductive film and the lower surface of the weight to perform a calibration. PA1 the silicon detecting member has a through-hole or recess for permitting external wiring to be connected to the conductive film, formed at a portion facing the wiring part of the glass substrate. PA1 preparing a silicon detecting member having a weight, a supporting frame, and a beam for coupling the weight with the supporting frame, which are integrally processed from a silicon wafer, where at least one semiconductor strain gauge is formed on an upper surface of the beam; PA1 forming a conductive film and a wiring portion thereof on a surface of a glass substrate; PA1 electrostatically jointing the glass substrate with the supporting frame of the silicon detecting member; and PA1 forming a gap portion between an upper surface of the glass substrate and a lower surface of the weight. PA1 the silicon detecting member has a through-hole or recess for permitting external wiring to be connected to the conductive film, formed at a portion facing the wiring part of the glass substrate.
In the automobile industry, by way of example, accelerometers have been used in so-called airbag systems for ensuring the safety of a passenger on the occasion of a traffic accident. The airbag system is responsible for preventing the driver from bumping against the steering wheel or the like by a sudden expansion of the airbag when an accelerometer therein senses a sudden reduction in velocity as a result of an accident or the like. In this case, the driver's safety is directly depended on the accelerometer's condition, so that the accelerometer of the airbag system must be of high reliability. Therefore, a small-sized semiconductor accelerometer comprising strain-gauges on a semiconductor substrate has been tried out in the above airbag system.
In general, there are two types of semiconductor strain-gauges, a bulk type and a diffusion type. The conventional methods for manufacturing integrated circuits can be used for preparing the diffusion-type strain-gauge, so that it is possible to integrate an amplification circuit, a compensation circuit, and the like on a common substrate. Furthermore, the influence of temperature variation on the strain-gauge can be precisely compensated by integrating a bridge circuit into the strain-gauge.
Usually, the performance of a semiconductor accelerometer can be estimated by performing a vibration test (accelerating test) using a large-sized vibration test machine. For manufacturing an accelerometer that works stably at all times, the accelerometer is subjected to processing which includes the step of compensating for variations in the accelerometer's sensitivity by using the compensation circuit.
In order to perform the above test in large quantities, a plurality of the test machines should be operated simultaneously for testing a plurality of the semiconductor accelerometers at the same time. Thus, the process takes a lot of time and leads to extremely high production costs.
To solve the problems, as shown in FIG. 1, Allen and his coworkers have proposed an accelerometer which is capable of testing and calibrating itself in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,667.
In FIG. 1, the accelerometer comprises a silicon frame 120, a silicon cap 140, a silicon mass 110, and a silicon base 150. In addition, the silicon mass 110 is supported by the silicon frame 120 with the aid of flexures 112, 114 on which piezo-resistors 130, 132 are formed. An opening or recess of the cap 140 is oriented toward the silicon frame 120 so as to form an air gap 142 between these members. As shown in the figure, furthermore, there is a deflection electrode 160 disposed on an inner surface of the cap 140. On the other hand, the mass 110 is arranged so as to look toward the silicon base 150 and form an air gap 152 between these members. The frame 120 has a pad 161 on its surface. The electrode 160 is connected with the pad 161 electrically by means of a metal conductor 180 formed on a surface of the cap 140.
In the conventional example of FIG. 1, the silicon frame 120, the silicon cap 140, and the silicon base 150 are connected or bonded together. If a bonding agent, solder, or other possible means for connecting them together is used to realize the configuration in FIG. 1, there is a possibility of deterioration of the bonding or connecting layers. Therefore, there is a danger that the reliability of the accelerometer may fall. In order to control the air gaps 142 and 152, the thickness of the connecting or bonding layers should be also controlled. However, this is technically hard for one to do.
By the way, electrostatic-bonding (anode-bonding) has been known as a bonding process without using any bonding agent or bonding material. The process includes the steps of contacting the silicon and the glass and applying a voltage of about 600 volts to them at 300-500.degree. C. to cause migration of alkali-ions of the glass toward their interface, resulting in a space-charge layer forming around their interface. The space-charge layer is responsible for generating static electricity to form a chemical bond between the silicon and the glass. The chemical bond may be a result of forming SiO.sub.2 in the interface between the silicon and the glass by binding Si with O.sup.- that migrates through the glass under the electric field.
In the case of using the electrostatic-bonding process for bonding two silicon materials together, as shown in the U.S. patent document described above, a SiO.sub.2 membrane is formed on a bind surface of each silicon material to be attached by means of wet-oxidation, and at the same time a lot of SiOH groups are formed in the SiO2 membrane because of using H.sup.+ as a carrier for the reaction represented as: EQU SiOH.fwdarw.SiO.sup.- +H.sup.+
However, an aluminum material, which is generally provided for electrical wiring, cannot be used in the above process of electrostatic-bonding because the process includes the step of subjecting the material to the high temperature of 900.degree. C. During the process, furthermore, the device on which the circuit is formed can be affected by such a thermal condition. Consequently, it is difficult to use electrostatic-bonding in the process of manufacturing semiconductor accelerometers in a practical manner.
To solve this problem, one can consider using a glass cap instead of the silicon cap 140 in order to perform the step of electrostatic bonding with the silicon frame at the temperature of 300 to 500.degree. C.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show one example of a conventional accelerometer in which a cap layer 200 and a substrate 300 are made of glass while a detector 100 is made of silicon. They are joined together as layers by means of electrostatic-bonding at a relatively low temperature. In these figures, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional overall view of the conventional accelerometer and FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of the part surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 2A.
An inner side hollow 201 of the cap 200 has an electro-conductive membrane 202 which extends toward a bonding surface 400 thereof and provides electrical wiring connected with the silicon detector 100. A plurality of semiconductor strain-gauges 104 on flexures 101 form a Wheatstone bridge circuit having a ground that is connected to both the silicon detector 100 and the mass 102. The silicon detector 100 comprises a frame 103 for supporting the mass 102 by the flexures 101. A surface of the frame 103 is electrostatically connected with the base 300 so as to form a hollow 301.
For realizing the above construction, however, it is necessary to connect the electrode 202 with the silicon detector 100 by passing it from the cap's hollow 201 to the bonding or contacting surface 400. As shown in FIG. 2B, furthermore, the cap's end facing to the base should be formed as an inclined plane to make a space between the cap and the base, so that it is difficult to keep the bonding or connecting surface 400 even. Therefore the bonding or connecting surface 400 would not be reliable with respect to its mechanical strength. Especially in the case of using the accelerometer as a collision-detecting sensor in an automobile's airbag system, the sensor should be constructed to have high reliability in its mechanical strength. Otherwise, the sensor would be inferior and may cause a fatality. For avoiding such problems, one might consider enlarging the contacting and bonding areas. However, this would cause other problems such as an increase of its manufacturing cost as a result of increased chip-size. In general, glass material can be subjected to the process of electrostatic bonding. Comparing glass with silicon, however, it is very difficult to make a small recess (5-15 .mu.m) on a surface of the glass and it costs a great deal.
Furthermore, a chip can in general be sliced into wafers having a three layer structure of different materials (i.e., silicon and glass) by using a dicing cutter. In this case, however, the slicing must be performed at an extremely low speed of 1-5 mm/second because of slicing the chip made of different materials, resulting in high manufacturing cost.

Method for making a semiconductor acceleration sensor


A display component selecting system comprises unit for inputting a screen input/output data item to be inputted and/or outputted on a display screen and use information representing a use for the data item by at least one attribute, unit, which includes a table showing the correspondence between various attributes and various display components, for holding a selection rule used to select a suitable display component in accordance with the inputted use information, and unit for selecting a display component associated with the inputted screen input/output data item in accordance with the selection rule.

The present invention relates to a display component selecting system and method, and more particularly to a display component selecting system and method that aid in designing and creating an interactive screen between the computer and the user by GUI (Graphical User Interface).
A GUI builder is often used to design and create GUI. One of GUI builders is UIMS (User Interface Management System) commercially available in the United States. Such a GUI builder is realized using a development tool, such as Visual Basic (a trademark of Microsoft Corporation) or X Window System (a trademark of Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
FIG. 1 shows part of a display screen of Visual Basic that realizes a GUI builder. In the case of an ordinary GUI builder, when designing and preparing a GUI interactive screen, the designer selects icons 111 representing various GUI components (including buttons or lists) from a palette 112 using a mouse for each screen input/output data item that the user inputs or outputs on a display screen. Then, the designer puts the corresponding GUI components 114, 115 in the desired positions in the frame of a window 113. The GUI component is called "control" in Visual Basic. In X Window System, it is called "widget". In the figure, the detailed pattern of each icon has been omitted.
The designer considers a use for each screen input/output data item, selects and positions GUI components, and thereby represents a concrete interactive screen between the computer and the user on the display screen. GUI design and creation using such a GUI builder have encountered the following problems.
A first problem is that because the designer considers the meaning of the screen input/output data item, each time selecting and positioning a GUI component, the working efficiency is low. For example, in the case of GUI components for enabling the user to select only one from a plurality of candidates (items) prepared on the display screen, various types of GUI components can be considered. In an example of FIG. 2, various types of GUI components appear inside the frame of each of Matter of Business 211, Position 212, and Length of Stay 213 on the display screen. Specifically, there are various types of GUI components as follows.
(1) With a first type, a plurality of fixed candidates and corresponding option buttons are displayed. The user is allowed to click the option button corresponding to the desired candidate with a mouse (this type corresponds to OptionButton).
(2) With a second type, a ComboBox including a scroll bar is displayed. The user is allowed to click the scroll bar with a mouse so that the desired one of a plurality of candidates may appear in the Box (this type corresponds to ComboBox).
(3) With a third type, the user is allowed to enter the desired values and characters into the input fields from the keyboard (this type corresponds to TextBox).
In the GUI design and creation, the GUI designer has to take all of the user's possible operations into account and then select suitable ones from the various GUI components and arrange them manually. As a result, errors are liable to occur and the work takes more time and labor than expected, which leads to a low working efficiency.
A second problem is that since interactive screens lacking in the consistency of operation are offered to the user, the user is liable to make a mistake in operation or have difficulty learning how to manipulate the screens.
The GUI design and creation using the GUI builder has the advantage of being able to design a GUI interactive screen easily in such a manner that draws pictures. On the contrary, the advantage raises a third problem: the designer may design and prepare GUI without giving careful consideration to a use for the screen input/output data items to be handled by the GUI, which might lead to later minor adjustments.
In the case of GUI components of the type that allows the user to select one of a plurality of candidates and enter it, a new candidate may be added in the future. Specifically, some of the GUI components have fixed candidates for selection and some allow candidates to be added. When the user is using components for selection from the fixed candidates, being under the impression that the candidate is fixed, the user will encounter the problem of having to make the GUI over when the addition of candidates is needed. In the GUI design and creation using only the GUI builder tools, the designer has to work, taking into account a use for each screen input/output data item handled by the GUI, which exerts a high thinking load on the designer and consequently worsens the working efficiency.

Display component selecting system and method


A backup mandrel apparatus to engage the inner surface of a metal tube being welded to support the weld bead and to keep a molten weld puddle from sagging and falling through the tube wall during welding. The apparatus includes a flexible inflatable bladder surrounded by a split expandable mandrel, an expandable band typically surrounding a central portion of the split expandable mandrel, insulation pads surrounding the mandrel adjacent to the expandable band and insulation material covering the inflatable bladder. The insulation pads preferably have a compressed thickness slightly greater than the band thickness. This assembly is inserted within the tubular workpiece to be welded. In use, the inflatable bladder is inflated with low air or water pressure to expand the mandrel to uniformly expand the expandable band to press the insulation pads against the inner side of the tubing workpiece being welded while leaving either no gap or a narrow gap between the band and the inner tube wall surface.

This invention relates in general to the welding of metal tubes or pipes and, more specifically, to an improved backup mandrel for use in such welding.
A fusion welding system is one current type of system used for butt welding metal structures which are in close fitting contact along a weld line or for repairing defects such as cracks in metal structures. In fusion welding, a welding head is placed on one side of the structure to be welded. Then the head is adapted to heat metal along the weld line to fusion temperature. A welding backup apparatus typically engages the side of the structure opposite to the welding head and is also aligned with the welding location. In addition, the apparatus used must resist significant degradation at the temperatures used to fuse the metal.
In butt welding thin sheets, tubes or other thin structures together, a number of problems may be encountered. Welding such structures without support along the weld line opposite the welding head is generally unsatisfactory. Molten metal from the weld zone tends to drop through, leaving voids along the weld line. Also, the underside of the weld tends to be uneven, with droplet-like projections. In an attempt to overcome some of the problems mentioned above, prior art has shown developments in use of backup devices in the form of tapes. One such example is in Roden et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,183, which described a welding backup tape. Attempts have been made to support weld lines with tape-like support means of various kinds, adhesively bonded along the weld line. The surfaces of some backup tapes are intended to fuse during the welding operation, and may include a surface layer of a flux. This type tape is undesirable in high quality aerospace type applications where the weld must be free of contamination. Furthermore, tape-like supports are not usable on weld joints far removed from either end of a tube assembly. Other commercial tapes, while satisfactory for rough work or where the weld bead is to be finish machined, do not provide adequate support to produce highly uniform, smooth weld beads. In some cases, local failure of the tape from thermal weakening or melting will permit drop through of the fused metal, leaving insufficient metal to form a satisfactory bead, especially where no metal is added during welding.
In order to provide sufficient support, many tapes require a rigid backup plate pressing the tape against the weld underbead. In welding complex structures, such as along tubes, it is inconvenient to attempt to hold the tape in place with a solid member. Since the solid backing member must conform to the surface being welded, a special backing member must be built for each structure design being welded. Other backup tapes or strips may include a metal or solid refractory strip to provide rigid support. These tapes are complex, heavy, difficult to install and will only conform to curved weld surfaces of large radii of curvature.
Therefore, with the above noted problems, there is a continuing need for an improved welding backup apparatus for use in welding metals such as stainless steel or aluminum to high quality standards.

Flexible, adjustable welding backup mandrel

General Dynamics Corporation, Space Systems


A bundle discharge roller pair is made to rotate backward in a holding state in which the sheets are held between the bundle discharge roller pair, and, at the same time, the upper bundle discharge roller of the pair is separated from the lower bundle discharge roller of the pair. The released sheets slide down on the inclined processing tray at a return velocity Vb; and are made to run into the rear end stopper for aligning. The return velocity Vb may be controlled according to the reverse-rotational speed of the bundle discharge roller pair and is set at a low velocity, when it is found that, for example, the size of the sheet is large, and the return velocity Vb is increased in the case of coated paper with a large coefficient of friction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer and a multifunction machine, and, moreover, to a sheet stacking device stacking a sheet (recording medium) formed with an image, and a sheet processing device performing post processing of a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
A sheet processing device with the following configuration has been well known as a sheet processing device into which a sheet with an image formed in an image forming apparatus is conveyed. The sheet processing device has a buffer roller through which, when the sheet processing device receives sheets, which have been formed with an image, and have been discharged from an image forming apparatus main body, the received sheets are superimposed for temporary waiting before the sheets are conveyed to a post processing mechanism such as a stapling machine and a saddle stitching machine. That is, while a preceding sheet bundle is processed in a processing tray, first several sheets of the succeeding sheet bundle are on the buffer roller for temporary waiting. When the preceding sheet bundle, which has been processed, is discharged from the processing tray, the succeeding several sheets, which have been delivered from the buffer roller, are conveyed to the processing tray. A brief explanation of a sheet post-processing device with the above-described configuration will be given, referring to FIG. 9A through FIG. 9C.
A plurality of sheets P1, P2, . . . are superimposed one on top of another and wrapped around a buffer roller 5 to form a wrapping path 32. For example, three sheets P1, P2, and P3 are superimposed one on top of another, delivered from the path 32 after temporary waiting, conveyed, and conveyed to a processing tray 101 through a discharge roller 7, bundle discharge rollers 180a, and 180b. When the rear ends of the sheets pass the discharge roller 7, the bundle discharge rollers 180a and 180b rotate in the reverse direction in such a way that the sheet bundle of three sheets P1, P2, and P3 is returned in the direction in which the sheets abut against a rear-end stopper 3 of the processing tray 101. Alignment is performed in such a way that the bundle discharge roller 180b is separated from the bundle discharge roller 180a just before the rear end of the sheet bundle abuts against the rear-end stopper 3 and the sheet bundle abuts against the rear-end stopper 3 by moving inertia. At this time, alignment in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction is performed, using aligning plates.
When all the sheets of the first sheet bundle are aligned on the processing tray 101 in such a manner, a swinging guide 150 is lowered and the bundle discharge roller 180b sits atop the sheet bundle to perform stitching processing of the sheet bundle, and the like, using a processing machine such as a stapling machine indicated by a reference number 4 in FIG. 9A.
According to the above-described procedures, a first plurality of sheets of the succeeding second sheet bundle are wrapped around the buffer roller 5 as a temporary accumulating unit for waiting until processing for the first sheet bundle is completed. Thereby, a high-speed image forming apparatus by which sheets are discharged from the main body of an image forming apparatus at a small interval may be realized. Incidentally, the varieties of the quality and the size of sheets have been further increased in recent years. But the sheet processing device shown in FIG. 9A through FIG. 9C may hardly treat sheets, for example, special paper such as coated paper, the surface of which is treated, thick one, and large-sized one.
Even if these kinds of sheets may be surely aligned one by one, it is difficult to align a plurality of the sheets in a state in which the sheets are superimposed. That is, the rear ends of a plurality of the sheets with a special quality, or with a special sheet size is run into the rear-end stopper 3 on the processing tray 1. In this case, there is generated a state in which all the three sheets P1, P2, and P3 with a large coefficient of friction, such as that of coated paper, are not completely returned to the rear end of the stopper 3. Especially, it is serious that the sheet P2 such as the second sheet of the superimposed ones is incompletely or faultily returned, that is, the quality of the post processing is deteriorated, and, consequently, the productivity is reduced. Moreover, when a plurality of sheets such as a thick one, and a large-sized one are superimposed and moved, there is caused larger inertia than the one caused in a case in which one sheet is moved. Accordingly, there is a case in which non-aligning is caused, because the sheets are vigorously run into the rear-end stopper 3 and bound. Moreover, there is a possibility that the end portion of the sheet buckles, and is damaged.

Sheet stacking device and sheet processing device, and image forming apparatus provided therewith


The technology provides for an electronic device with gesture detection. In this regard, the device may include a housing, and one or more sensors positioned along an inner periphery of the housing. The sensors may be adapted to detect user interaction with an outer surface of the housing. The device may further include one or more processors in communication with the plurality of sensors. The one or more processors may be configured to determine the user interaction and to determine a type of gesture based on the detected user interaction, determine a type of input command based on the determined gesture, and execute a task corresponding to the determined type of input command.

Small form factor electronic devices, such as mobile phones, wearable electronic devices, etc. typically have one or more types of input. Examples of such conventional inputs include capacitive touch screens, push buttons, rotating scrolling buttons (e.g., a crown of a smartwatch), and capacitive touch edges.
Capacitive touch screens are good for many of the interactions with the electronic device. However the small size of some devices, such as smartwatches, requires a small screen. Content on such a small screen is easily obscured when touching the device, making it difficult to precisely select and scroll because the user cannot see what they are selecting or scrolling.
Rotating scrolling buttons are used to scroll on many smartwatches today, and are reasonably efficient. However, they require a fairly complicated mechanical structure with very small moving parts. They further require waterproofing. Some users may prefer to remove the crown, such as for aesthetic reasons.

Gesture recognition on watch bezel using strain gauges


An additive manufacturing machine includes an energy unit with two energy beam sources, each with a different power level of energy beam. In addition, a build unit receives the energy beams, and a reflecting unit is positioned between the energy unit and the build unit and directs the energy beams. There is also an energy beam detector positioned on or near the build unit.

The present invention relates generally to additive manufacturing machines, and more particularly to an energy beam system for an additive manufacturing machine.
There are several known types of additive manufacturing machines. Some of them employ an energy beam to heat up pulverulent material contained in a build unit in order to fuse or sinter the material together. This sintering occurs selectively such that there are specific areas of pulverulent in the build unit that are sintered and other areas that remain loose. Oftentimes the energy beam is a laser beam originating from a stationary laser, and the build unit is oftentimes stationary as well. In such a machine, the laser beam is moved about the build unit by machine-positioned mirrors that reflect the beam as desired. Like any machine, additive manufacturing machines can develop random or systematic errors in the positioning of the mirrors and/or the emission of the laser, which can cause the location of the sintering to drift with respect to the intended sintering location. Calibration of an additive manufacturing machine traditionally takes a significant amount of time, during which the machine cannot be producing objects. Therefore calibration is only done infrequently, generally about once every six months, and no further measurement of the accuracy of the laser beam occurs in between calibrations.

Scanning mirror navigation apparatus and method


A roll chucking apparatus is disclosed. The roll defines opposed side openings. The roll chucking apparatus includes a platform from supporting the roll. Lift structures vertically adjust the platform. Sensing structures sense an increase or decrease in the platform load upon the attempted initial insertion of opposed chucking pins into the opposed side openings. The lift structures vertically moves the platform and the roll until correct vertical alignment with the chucking pins occurs.

The present invention is directed to a chucking apparatus and more particularly for a roll chucking apparatus directed to, for examples, paper rolls and metal rolls.
Paper and metal are often placed on rolls and shipped to a further processing location. In the case of paper rolls, they are often utilized in newspaper apparatus. Metal rolls, such as rolls of steel or non-ferrous alloys such as copper and brass are shipped to factories or other metal working facilities for further processing.
To move the rolls, it is often necessary to chuck the rolls. During this process, chucking pins are inserted into opposed side openings in the roll. A problem well known in the prior art is that the chucking sometimes results in crushing or otherwise damaging the side edges of the rolled paper or the rolled metal.
To alleviate this problem, computers have been utilized to determine the location of the openings in the paper roll. In response to computer readouts, the chucking pins are moved in a predetermined path. However, it has been found that because of differences in the materials themselves and in the alignment of the rolls, damage still sometimes occurs when the chucking pins engage the paper or metal rather than directly moving into the opposed openings.
The primary object of the roll chucking apparatus, according to the present invention, is to provide an improved chucking apparatus for movement of the chucking pins into the opposed central openings in the side edges of a paper or metal roll, without damaging the rolled material.


An LED lighting fixture, a lens module and a lamp fastener are provided herein. The lamp fastener includes a first clamping lug and a clamp slot configured for fixing a base plate and a lens body of the LED lighting fixture and a second clamping lug configured for clamping an LED light source of the LED lighting fixture onto the lens body. The lens body is connected with the base plate through a first clamping lug and a clamp slot, and the LED light source is clamped on the lens body through a second clamping lug, which, as compared with screwing, consumes less time, and can improve mounting efficiency of the LED lighting fixture, to save time and labor.

With continuous development of Light Emitting Diode (LED) technologies, LED lighting fixtures with advantages such as low power consumption and long service life have emerged.
There are a variety of LED lighting fixtures, and a common LED lighting fixture includes an LED light source and a lens module for mounting the LED light source, wherein, the lens module includes a base plate to be mounted on a roof or the like, and a lens body connected with the base plate and for mounting the LED light source; the LED light source is adopted for illumination and is protected by the lens body. At present, the lens body is connected with the base plate and the LED light source by screws. When the lens body is mounted on the base plate and the LED light source is mounted on the lens body, a plurality of screws need to be screwed successively, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

LED lighting fixture, lens module and lamp fastener


Information processing equipment is so constructed that the power consumption of a disk drive for hard disks, optical disks, or the like can be reliably and sufficiently reduced. The host CPU (120) of an information processing unit (100) forms a command for changing the power consumption mode of a HDD (200) based on the state of control on the HDD (200). The host CPU supplies the command to the HDD (200) through a media controller (106). When the HDD (200) accepts the command, it changes its power consumption mode according to the instruction from the information processing unit. Thus, the information processing unit can control the power consumption mode of the HDD (200) based on the state of control on the HDD (200).

Disk units, such as hard disk drives and DVD drives (Digital Versatile Disk drives), are used for auxiliary information storage devices for personal computers, for example. These disk units have a plurality of power consumption modes and are so constructed that the power consumption mode is changed and controlled on the disk unit side and reduction of power consumption is thereby accomplished.
More specific description will be given. In hard disk drives (hereafter, abbreviated to "HDD") connected with a personal computer through the AT Attachment (hereafter, abbreviated to "ATA") interface, for example, power consumption control (power save control) is carried out through the functions described below: Standby Timer function, Advanced Power Management (hereafter, abbreviated to "APM") function, or the like.
In this case, a plurality of power consumption modes are provided as changeable power consumption modes. Such power consumption modes include, for example, Active mode, Idle mode that is divided into a plurality of stages, Standby mode, and Sleep mode in descending order of power consumption.
The Standby Timer function is for performing the following operation: a time-out value preset by a host device is taken as the initial value; when there is no access from the host device in so-called Idle mode, counting down is started for the time-out value; when the count is zeroed, the mode automatically shifts to Standby mode.
The APM function is for performing the following operation: the HDD itself estimates the pattern of access from the host device to the HDD based on historical information about accessing from the host device; the power consumption mode is changed based on the result of this estimation. In this case, the time taken until the power consumption mode is changed (transition time) is adaptively varied based on the pattern of access from the host device to the HDD.
Various techniques have been disclosed with respect to such power consumption control. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-6465 discloses the following technique: information processing equipment is provided with a power saving timer, and the value on this power saving timer is adaptively varied. Thus, the power consumption is efficiently reduced without degrading the processing efficiency of the information processing equipment.
More specific description will be given. In the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-6465, the following operation is performed: in information processing equipment provided with a power saving timer, the mode is caused to transition to power saving mode when a time set on the power saving timer has passed after the last processing operation. When a task resumption request comes relatively soon after power saving mode is established in this case, the power saving timer is set to a slightly larger value for the next and following operations. Thus, the mode is prevented from unnecessarily transitioning to power saving mode.
If the time from when power saving mode is established to when a task resumption request is made is long, the power saving timer is set to a slightly smaller value for the next and following operations. Thus, the mode is caused to transition to power saving mode as quickly as possible. As mentioned above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-6465 describes a technique for estimating the subsequent access patterns from access history and changing the mode as in the above-mentioned APM function of HDDs.
However, the above-mentioned APM function of HDDs and the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-6465 have their limit on the accuracy of estimation. This is because, in these function and technique, access patterns are estimated based on the history of access to the device itself that estimates access patterns. For this reason, it is suspected that there are cases where the mode may be caused to transition to a mode with low power consumption; nevertheless, the equipment stands by in high-power consumption mode, such as Active mode, in which much power is consumed.
It is suspected that there are converse cases where it is likely that access immediately takes place; nevertheless, the mode transitions from Active mode, in which operation can be immediately started, to Idle mode or Standby mode, which takes longer time to start as compared with Active mode.
In these cases, wasteful power consumption occurs, and further loss can be produced in processing time by an amount equivalent to the time it takes to transition from Idle mode or Standby mode to Active mode.
Recently, consideration has been given to utilization of hard disk or DVD as a recording medium for so-called mobile devices, such as digital video cameras, which are carried about when used. That is, consideration has been given to mounting a HDD or DVD drive in the enclosure of a mobile device, such as a digital video camera.
In case of mobile device, a battery is used as the power source, and the following requirements must be sufficiently met: lengthening the battery duration, suppressing temperature rise in the enclosure of the mobile device, and the like. However, a problem arises when a HDD or a DVD drive is mounted in a mobile device. These drives are higher in power consumption and produces more heat as compared with the other devices and components mounted in the same enclosure. For this reason, it is desirable that the power consumption should be reliably and sufficiently reduced with respect to various drives, such as HDDs and DVD drives.
The present invention has been made in light of the foregoing. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method wherein the power consumption of a disk drive for hard disk and optical disk, for example, can be reliably and sufficiently reduced.

Information processing equipment and power consumption control method


The present invention provides a telephone network apparatus for performing speech recognition services in a telephone system in substantially real time. The apparatus uses a telephone channel signal to determine the echo delay of a telephone channel and then uses this delay to configure an echo cancellation filter for use in performing speech recognition. Use of echo delay in configuring the filter allows the echo cancellation function to be done using much less computational time than would be needed without its use, thereby granting a speech recognition unit greater access to a resident microprocessor to perform its function in substantially real time.

In its simplest form, a telephone network includes a number of user devices connected to a central switching apparatus. When a first user wants to communicate with a second user, he signals the switching apparatus to connect him to the second user, thereby opening a communication channel between the two. Once this channel is open, each user is able to transmit and receive information to and from the other over the network. The communication that takes place between users can include such things as a conversation between two persons, data transfer between two computers, or the supplying of services to a user by an automated service delivery system. The subject invention is concerned primarily with this third type of telephonic communication.
Any number of different services can be delivered over a telephone network. These services can be fairly simple, such as playing a weather recording for a caller, or very complex, such as applications involving speech recognition. The more complex services can require vast amounts of computational time in a resident microprocessor to perform adequately and, therefore, may not be able to perform in substantially real time when computational resources are shared by auxiliary functions.
One auxiliary function which consumes computational time in a telephone subsystem, and therefore limits the systems ability to operate in real time, is echo cancellation. Echo cancellation is the process of suppressing the portion of a received signal which is due to reflections of previously transmitted signals and allowing only the portion containing the desired information to proceed through for processing. Echo cancellation can be very important in an automated service delivery system as echoes can seriously degrade the performance of such systems. For example, in a system which performs speech recognition, the system will prompt a user to supply certain verbal information which the system then processes upon reception. If the user is familiar with the prompt and does not wish to listen to it, the system will allow him to begin his response before the prompt has ended and will terminate the transmission of the prompt upon the detection of the initiation of a user response. There will be a delay between the time the user begins his response and the time the system terminates the transmission of the prompt, and during this period there will be both a response signal and a prompt echo signal being sent to the system through the channel. The system must be capable of cancelling this prompt echo signal if accurate speech recognition is to be performed. Similarly, the system must be capable of cancelling the prompt echo signal even if the user does not initiate his verbal response before the prompt ends to prevent the system from misinterpreting the prompt echo signal as a verbal response.
To overcome the problems created by echo signals, echo cancellation devices are employed. One type of echo cancellation device makes use of a transversal filter, which is essentially a tapped-delay line having weighted coefficients associated with each tap. The coefficients of the filter can be set in such a way that when a transmit signal is simultaneously transmitted on the channel and applied to the input of the filter, the output of the filter will be an estimate of the echo signal received from the channel. This estimate can then be subtracted from the actual echo signal received from the channel, thereby cancelling the echo from the received signal. A transversal filter which has the ability to automatically adapt to changing channel characteristics is commonly referred to as an adaptive filter.
Determination of the proper filter coefficients is an iterative process which is usually done during a training stage before any actual two way communication takes place. A training signal is transmitted over the channel and the resultant echo signal is processed by the adaptive filter using an algorithm. The algorithm determines how the coefficients of the filter should be changed to sufficiently reduce an error signal created by subtracting the echo signal estimate from the actual received echo. Once the error signal has been sufficiently reduced, convergence of the filter is said to have occurred and the tap weights are properly set for echo cancellation during two way communications.
The adaptive filter, in general, must be as long as the longest expected channel delay for which the filter will be required to cancel echoes. The longer the filter, the more filter taps are required for effective cancellation. The more filter taps that are used, the greater the number of mathematical calculations that must be performed during both the training stage and the echo cancellation stage. For example, the filter will require N multiplications and N additions to compute each discrete sample of the echo estimate signal. This large number of required calculations greatly increases the computational time in a resident microprocessor that must be dedicated to echo cancellation and therefore reduces the time available to perform speech recognition functions. Because the computational time available to speech recognition is limited, the system will not be able to operate in substantially real time and undesirable delays will result. A need therefore exists for a method and apparatus for reducing the computational time required to perform the echo cancellation function in a system which performs speech recognition services.

Telephone network apparatus and method using echo delay and attenuation


A copper alloy suitable for an IC lead pin for a pin grid array provided on a plastic substrate, which copper alloy is a Cu—Zn—Mg alloy, a Cu—Sn alloy, a Cu—SN—Ag alloy, a Cu—Fe—Zn—P alloy, or a Cu—Cr alloy, each having a given alloy composition, in which the copper alloy has conductivity of 50% IACS or more and tensile stress of 400 MPa to 650 MPa.

An IC lead pin for PGA is provided by blazing, to be an electric input/output terminal on a back surface of a substrate having a semiconductor element mounted thereon. As the substrate, use has been made of a ceramics material. For the IC lead pin for PGA, mainly use has been made of Kovar (an Fe—Ni—Co alloy) that has a low thermal expansion coefficient equal to that of the ceramics substrate and that is excellent in tensile stress and repeated bending property.
In recent years, there has been a tendency to use a plastic substrate as the above substrate. In the case of such a plastic substrate, there is no need to employ a material with a low thermal expansion coefficient for an IC lead pin for PGA.
On the other hand, in order to improve function of IC, it is desired to ensure speedy transmission in a CPU (central processing unit) and provide a highly dense IC, and a material with high conductivity is required for an IC lead pin for PGA.

Copper alloy suitable for an IC lead pin for a pin grid array provided on a plastic substrate


Heat exhaust holes are provided in a unit frame at positions just above respective imaging units. An exhaust fan causes air heated at developing elements to be exhausted outside an apparatus via heat exhaust ducts and a common duct. The heat exhaust holes are formed in different sizes depending on a position of the imaging unit. The closer the position of the imaging unit is, the larger the heat exhaust hole provided above the imaging unit is.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for exhausting heat from a developing device in an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in an image forming apparatus utilizing an electrophotographic system, apparatuses that can form a color image, such as a color copying machine and a color printer, are increasing to meet a demand from the market. As the color image forming apparatus, there are a one drum type and a tandem type. In the one drum type, plural developing elements are arranged around one image carrier (photosensitive element). In the tandem type, plural imaging units are arranged in parallel.
The one drum type has an advantage in that size and cost can be easily reduced due to the one image carrier constitution. However, it is difficult to achieve speed-up in forming an image because a full color image must be formed through plural (generally four) image formations using only one image carrier. On the other hand, the tandem type tends to be increased in size and cost because of plural imaging units arranged therein. However, speed-up can be facilitated. Since a color image is recently demanded to be formed in a speed as fast as a monochrome image is formed, the tandem type apparatus gains more attention.
As a tandem type image forming apparatus, a color image forming apparatus of a tandem type including an intermediate transfer belt supported by plural supporting rollers and plural photosensitive elements arranged in parallel to be opposed to the intermediate transfer belt is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. S59-192159 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. H8-160839. In the image forming apparatus, a color image can be formed on a transfer member by primarily transferring respective visible images formed on the respective photosensitive elements on the intermediate transfer belt in superimposition and secondarily transferring the visible images on the intermediate transfer belt collectively on the transfer member.
FIG. 21 is a schematic of a tandem type image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 21, the image forming apparatus includes a paper feed table 200, a main unit 100 above the paper feed table 200, and a scanner 300 above the main unit 100. The main unit 100 includes process cartridges 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K, each being unitized in a cartridge including a photosensitive element 40, and at least one of devices used for image forming process, such as a photosensitive element 40, a charger, a cleaning device, and a discharger. An optical writing device 103 that forms latent images on the photosensitive elements is disposed above the process cartridges.
A device that performs main scanning of respective light beams emitted from four light sources (not shown) corresponding to the respective photosensitive elements 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K using a polygon mirror 211 that is a rotary polygonal mirror serving as a deflecting unit, is used as the optical writing device 103. In the optical writing device 103, light beams emitted from the respective light sources are deflected by the polygon mirror rotationally driven by a polygon motor, and are irradiated on optical writing positions on the photosensitive elements, while being repeatedly reflected by predetermined reflecting mirrors. With this configuration, cost can be suppressed compared to a case in which one deflecting unit is provided for each of the photosensitive elements 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K.
Toner particles serving as developer in a developing device are stirred by a stirring screw or the like to be frictionally charged. At this time, toner particles generate heat due to frictional heat among toner particles or between toner particles and the stirring screw. This phenomenon is called "self-heating" of the developer. Heat is also generated by friction between the photosensitive elements 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K and a cleaning blade, or by friction between the photosensitive elements 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K and toner particles during development is generated. The process cartridges 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K are formed compact so that they can be easily taken out from the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the photosensitive element, the developer, the charger, the cleaning devices are densely arranged in each cartridge.
The image forming unit in each of the process cartridges 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K is accommodated in a casing. Therefore, the frictional heat tends to accumulate in the process cartridges 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K, and temperature inside the process cartridges 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K can become high. When the temperature inside the process cartridges 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K becomes high, the toner cannot be sufficiently charged. In sufficient charge of the toner causes toner particle scattering or concentration unevenness. Under a high temperature environment, a resistance value of rubber decreases, and, for example, when a charging roller or a developing roller has a rubber layer, a charging bias or a developing bias fluctuates, which may deteriorate formation of an excellent image. In recent years, a demand for making a apparatus compact, parts inside the apparatus are arranged more densely. As a result, parts in the tandem type color image forming apparatus, therefore, heat exhaustion from the inside of the apparatus is a major issue.
Japanese Patent No. 3121220, JP-A No. 2003-208065, and JP-A No. H10-149067 describe image forming apparatuses including plural image forming units, each having a photosensitive element, a developing device, a charger, and a cleaning device, and including an exhaust unit that exhausts to the outside of the apparatus, nitrogen oxide (NOx), ozone, or the like around the respective image forming units generated in an image forming process. In the image forming apparatuses according to Japanese Patent No. 3121220, JP-A No. 2003-208065, and JP-A No. H10-149067, exhaust ducts are arranged to face the photosensitive elements and extend in a scanning direction, so that discharged substances inside the charger are sucked to the exhaust ducts by an exhaust fan. The discharged substances sucked in the exhaust ducts are exhausted to the outside by the exhaust fan. By using the exhaust unit, heated air inside the process cartridges can be sucked and exhausted to the outside so that temperature inside the process cartridges can be suppressed from rising.
JP-A No. 2004-205999 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a developing device itself has a cooling configuration as measures for heat generation in a developing unit. According to JP-A No. 2004-205999, cooling can be performed by utilizing air flow entering through an opening in a developer restricting member.
As described in JP-U. No. S59-192159 or JP-A No. H8-160839, however, in the image forming apparatus in which writings to respective photosensitive elements are performed by utilizing a single optical writing device 103 as shown in FIG. 21, the optical writing device 103 is arranged above the respective process cartridges over them. Therefore, when exhaust ducts are arranged above the process cartridges, they must be arranged between the process cartridges and the optical writing device. Accordingly, to secure a space for providing the exhaust ducts, it is necessary to move the position of the optical writing device to an upper side. Thus, when the optical writing device is moved upwardly, the image forming apparatus is increased in size in a direction of height. As a result, the apparatus becomes tall and not convenient for all users to use.
A height of the exhaust duct can be reduced, and a position of the optical writing apparatus can be set to be not so high. However, when the height of the exhaust duct is reduced, a sectional area of the exhaust duct is also reduced, which results in reduction of an amount of air sucked to the exhaust duct. As a result, since air heated inside the process cartridge cannot be exhausted efficiently, temperature inside the process cartridge cannot be reduced sufficiently. Although a rotation speed of the exhaust fan can be increased to solve this problem, this increase power consumption.
The heat exhaust duct can be arranged on a side face of the process cartridge to exhaust heated air inside the process cartridge from the side face. However, since heated air rises, the heat exhaust duct disposed on the side face is inferior in suction efficiency compared to the heat exhaust duct disposed above a heat source, which is the process cartridge. Therefore, it is difficult to sufficiently lower the temperature inside the process cartridge.
In Japanese Patent No. 3121220, JP-A No. 2003-208065, and JP-A No. H10-149067, a duct for heat exhaustion is arranged in a space above or around the image forming unit. However, if the optical writing device is arranged just above the imaging unit, a space above the imaging unit is partially closed by a frame plate on which the optical writing device is mounted, so that a space above the imaging unit is limited. In a compact color image forming apparatus adopting the tandem system, since respective imaging units are arranged to be close to one another, spaces cannot be secured around respective sides of the imaging units. When a duct for heat exhaustion is disposed in the limited small space, workability becomes poor for a general method such as a screwing work, and powder dust due to screwing (metal or resin debris) is generated or a distal end of a projecting screw abuts on an attachable and detachable imaging unit.
In JP-A No. 2004-205999, since interior of the apparatus is densely arranged and routes for heat exhaustion are reduced, it is difficult to effectively cool the imaging unit (developing device). Particularly on a back side of the apparatus, effective cooling cannot be performed because heat is more likely to accumulate on the back side.

Heat exhaustion apparatus and image forming apparatus using same


A method for automatically focusing a camera including the steps of (A) recording a first topology and a second topology, where the second topology occurs temporally after the first topology, and (B) comparing the first topology with the second topology. A focus of the camera is automatically adjusted based upon one or more similarities between the first topology and the second topology.

In a video camera, a position of an object lens is varied to image an object, at various distances, onto a sensor. The position of the object lens is referred to as the "focus point." The image on the sensor can be processed to measure contrast. The contrast measurement is referred to as a "focus value." The focus value can be generated by deriving a high pass signal of the image formed on the sensor. The maximum focus value occurs when the object lens is at a position where a clear and sharp image is produced on the sensor. The position where a clear and sharp image is produced on the sensor is called the "correctly-focused point."
Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram of an example focus value curve 10 is shown. The focus value curve 10 illustrates a relationship between focus value and focus point for an object at a predefined distance. The focus value appears as a "mountain-like" curve over the entire range of the focus point. The focus value reaches a maximum value when the position of the object lens corresponds to the correctly-focused point.
Automatic focus (or auto-focus) is a technique for finding and positioning the object lens on the correctly-focused point. A conventional auto-focus technique is referred to as a "full search" method. The full search method searches the entire focus point range (or region) to find the focus point corresponding to the maximum focus value (i.e., the correctly-focused point), and then positions the object lens at that point.
The full search auto-focus method can always find the correctly-focused point. However, the full search auto-focus method has several drawbacks. Firstly, to search the entire focus point range, the full search method consumes a large amount of time before finally settling at the correctly-focused point. Secondly, during the full search, the object lens moves first towards the correctly-focused point, then moves away from the correctly-focused point, and finally moves back to the correctly-focused point after searching the entire focus point region. Visually, the object appears to come into focus, go out of focus and return into focus after a while. The change in object clarity (focus) produces a poor user experience because the user expects the object to not move out of focus (i.e., become blurred) once the object is in focus (i.e., clear).
It would be desirable to have an auto-focus technique that improves focus speed and accuracy.

System for topology based automatic focus