A calculation processing apparatus includes a decoder that decodes memory access instructions including a store instruction and a load instruction; a first queue that stores the decoded memory access instructions; a second queue that stores store data related to the store instruction; a storage circuit that stores target address information of the store instruction for which the first queue is reserved but the second queue is not reserved; and an inhibitor that inhibits execution of the load instruction when address information matching target address information of the load instruction is stored in the storage circuit when the load instruction is being processed. This configuration inhibits switching of the order of a store instruction and a load instruction.

A processor serving as a calculation processing apparatus of an information processing apparatus includes one or more processor cores.
A processor core includes an instruction cache, an instruction buffer, a decoder, a reservation station, a calculation executor, and a load/store unit. A processor core performs the following process in executing an instruction.
An instruction is stored in the instruction cache, and the read instruction is stored into the instruction buffer and sequentially sent to the decoder. The decoder performs instruction interpretation and inserts the instruction to the reservation station.
The reservation station includes an RSE (Reservation Station for Execution) to accumulate calculation instructions and an RSA (Reservation Station for Address) to accumulate the load/store instructions.
Each reservation station determines whether to insert an instruction from the reservation station to a calculator. This insertion of an instruction is executed in an out-of-order fashion in which one or more instructions that can be processed are preferentially processed not depending on the order of the arrangement of the instructions, with the intention of improving the efficiency in using the calculator. A load instruction and a store instruction selected by the RSA are executed by the address generating calculator.
The RSA sends the number of the fixed-point register (GPR) to the calculation executor for the data to be used in the address calculation. The data of the fixed-point register referenced on the basis of this register number is sent to the address-generating calculator and used for executing the calculation. The output of the address generation calculator is the address of the memory to be accessed by a load instruction or a store instruction. (See following Patent Document 1).
The RSA issues a request for loading or storing to the load/store unit in agreement with the timing when address calculation is carried out. The load/store unit receives the request and executes the load or store instruction, accumulating the instruction into a Load & Store Queue (LDSTQ) that accumulates load and store instructions. The RSA releases the entry in which the instruction has been stored at the timing of issuing the request to the load/store unit, and notifies the release to the decoder (See following Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Upon completion of the executing load instruction, the load/store unit stores the result of reading from the memory into the fixed-point register, and releases the LDSTQ. If the load instruction is not completed due to, for example, a cache miss, the request is aborted and re-issued from the LDSTQ.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-366538
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. HEI 6-131239
However, in execution of an instruction sequence that stores data in a cache line and then loads data from the same cache line, such a conventional processor has a possibility of executing the loading before the storing due to the out-of-order control.
In this case, since data is read from the cache memory before the storing is executed, wrong data is returned as the result. The LDSTQ does not grasp that a store instruction exists before the load instruction and these instructions refer to the same address unless the instructions are issued from the RSA and the LDSTQ receives the request after the address calculation. The control that the LDSTQ waits for the previous instruction from RSA is almost the same as disabling the out-of-order control, and is not carried out from the viewpoint of performance.
Therefore, the load instruction is released from LDSTQ on the premises that the execution of the load instruction succeeded. Although the load instruction needs to be reexecuted, whether the reexecution is required is revealed when the store instruction reaches the LDSTQ. Consequently, the reexecution will begin with the ensuing instruction by being triggered by the store instruction. Hence, since the instructions that have been released from the RSA or the LDSTQ will be reexecuted, the instructions start with instruction fetching again. The time for this reexecution problematically affects the degradation of the performance.

Inhibiting load instruction execution based on reserving a resource of a load and store queue but failing to reserve a resource of a store data queue


The invention relates to a method for laser remote processing of a component on a fillet, wherein a laser beam is directed by means of a scanner device onto the component and guided over said component. The working range of the laser beam on the workpiece is illuminated with illuminating radiation and is captured by at least one image capturing unit. The illuminating radiation is directed onto the component at an angle of attack which is set depending the fillet geometry of the component. The captured image data are evaluated automatically and, with the aid of the evaluation, if appropriate, an automatic correction of the path of the laser beam is carried out.

The invention relates to a method for laser remote processing of a workpiece on a fillet as well as a device therefor and in particular a method and a device for quality improvement for the remote laser welding of end fillet welds.
Laser remote processing is understood as a processing method which is carried out using the scanner technology or a scanner device. In this regard, a laser beam can be deflected by means of at least one movable mirror and positioned on or guided over the workpiece to be processed, so that very high processing speeds can be achieved. Furthermore the scanner device can have lens systems for focusing of the laser beam and/or further movable or fixed mirrors. The processing with the laser beam may be welding, melting or cutting.
Furthermore, the scanner device can be mounted on a movable mechanism. This may for example be a robot, a portal or the like, so that a movement of the scanner device along and/or around at least two axes is enabled. As a result, the working area of the laser remote system is increased. By simultaneous movement of the scanner device by means of the mechanism and movement of the laser beam by means of the scanner device a so-called "on the fly" processing can be implemented, so that the processing times are further reduced. However, the synchronization of movements, which is necessary in this case, brings with it certain requirements for precision of positioning. The requirement for precision of positioning is increased by the large working distance between the scanner device and the workpiece, which in laser remote systems usually amounts to at least 0.5 meter.
Thus, the requirements for precision of positioning described above result in variations between the desired course and the actual path of the laser on the workpiece. These variations are, in particular, critical when the workpiece is to be processed on a fillet.
In the vicinity of the fillet, the workpiece has a significant change in height. If the laser beam deviates from a predetermined position, then the laser beam can no longer be correctly focused on the workpiece. If the processing is welding, such as for example the formation of a fillet weld in the fillet, then faulty positioning leads to welding errors. In particular, in the welding of two metal sheets positioned in a lap joint for formation of an end fillet weld, positioning on the upper metal sheet leads to defective penetration welding and considerable spatter due to lack of zinc degassing. Likewise, positioning on the lower sheet leads to holes. Furthermore, the quality of the seam drops when a predetermined gap width is not maintained, since the connection width of the weld seam is reduced.
Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for remote laser processing of a workpiece on a fillet as well as a device for carrying out the method, by which the process stability and process quality can be improved.
This object is achieved by a method and a device according to the invention with the features set forth in the independent claims.
In the method according to the invention, the working range of the laser beam on the workpiece is illuminated by illuminating radiation and is detected by at least a first image capturing unit. The captured image data are automatically evaluated and, if appropriate, an automatic correction of the path of the laser beam is carried out on the basis of the evaluation.
The workpiece may be a single component. Alternatively, the workpiece may also consist of two or more components. Metal shaped bodies, such as for example metal profiles, can be used as components. The components may also, for example, be metal sheets, which may be flat metal sheets or three-dimensional shaped metal sheets. These are preferably steel sheets. These may be for example zinc- or aluminum-coated steel sheets which are provided with an anti-corrosion coating based on zinc or aluminum.
Fastening elements, which may for example be cylindrical or in the form of spherical segments, can be fastened on the metal sheets.
A workpiece region in which two adjacent surfaces are inclined at an angle of less than 180° relative to one another is designated as a fillet. The fillet may be designed as an edge, alternatively the fillet may be formed in dish shape between the two surfaces, i.e. the delimiting surfaces merge into one another with a radius in the region of the fillet. The fillet may be formed for example by two adjacent straight areas which are disposed as a lap joint, T joint or angle joint, or for example by a surface which is cylindrical or in the form of spherical segments, which is disposed adjacent to a straight surface. The two areas delimiting the fillet can adjoin one another, but also there may be a gap between the two areas. The fillet may be constructed on a component, for example the component may be L-shaped or a web may project from the component. Alternatively, the fillet can also be formed by a corresponding arrangement of two components. For example, two components can be disposed partially overlapping, so that the fillet is produced for example between the end face of the upper component and the surface of the lower component. Likewise, the fillet can also be formed by two components which are disposed one above the other and partially penetrate one another.
The method according to the invention uses optical monitoring of the working range of the laser, wherein both data regarding the actual position of the laser beam on the workpiece and also data on the position of the fillet are evaluated.
In this case, a range which encompasses both the process zone and the process advance zone is designated as the working range of the laser. In this case the keyhole, i.e. the immediate impact zone of the laser beam, and the adjacent melting zone are designated as the process zone. The process advance zone is located before the melting zone in the processing direction. The immediate process advance zone designates the area which is located less than 2 mm before the melting zone in the processing direction.
The illuminating radiation may be visible light, alternatively UV or infrared radiation can be used. In one embodiment, the illuminating radiation is coupled into the beam path of the processing laser beam and is guided coaxially with respect thereto on the workpiece. In this regard, an additional optical unit and/or mirror can be provided in the scanner device. By way of example, the illuminating radiation and the processing laser beam are simultaneously directed onto the workpiece. In a further embodiment the illuminating radiation can be guided over the workpiece by a second scanner device, i.e. a scanner device other than the one used for the processing laser beam. The illuminating radiation is preferably directed radiation, for example it may be laser radiation. The wavelength of the illuminating radiation is preferably different from the wavelength of the laser beam for processing.
The working range of the (processing) laser beam is located in the field of view of at least a first image capturing unit. In one embodiment, the working range is located in the field of view of a first and a second image capturing unit. The first or second image capturing unit may, for example, have one or more sensors or cameras and may optionally comprise a computer unit. The image capturing unit captures images from the working range of the laser. The capture preferably takes place during the processing. The image capturing unit captures a part of the illuminating radiation which is reflected from the working range of the workpiece. Furthermore the image capturing unit may capture process light. The process light is composed of radiation which is reflected by the processing site and of secondary radiation which, during the processing, results from an interaction between the workpiece and the laser beam.
The recorded image data can be evaluated automatically. The evaluation of the image data takes place, for example, taking into account the illumination data and/or the output data of the processing laser using an image processing algorithm. An evaluation takes place, for example, with regard to the position of the fillet and with regard to the actual position of the processing laser beam. According to the results of the evaluation, the path of the laser beam is adapted for processing in order to correspond as closely as possible to the desired path.
According to the invention, the illuminating radiation is directed onto the workpiece at an angle of attack which is set as a function of the fillet geometry of the workpiece. In this case, the angle of attack is the lateral angle of attack, that is to say the inclination of the beam transversely with respect to the processing direction or weld seam. The angle of attack designates the angle at which the laser beam is inclined relative to the vertical onto the surface of the workpiece facing the scanner device. It has been shown that a reliable and precise edge recognition can also be ensured for difficult fillet geometries by the choice of an angle of attack which is dependent upon the geometry of the fillet. In particular, the angle of attack is set depending upon the fillet angle, i.e. the angle enclosed by the two areas delimiting the fillet. Thus, the process stability is considerably improved by a simple measure. The fillet angle can be determined, for example, by a measurement on the component before the start of processing. Thus, the method is suitable in particular for the processing of sheared metal sheets, for which a shearing angle of approximately 90° frequently cannot be ensured or which have phases or flash on the end face.
In one embodiment, the illuminating radiation which is reflected out of the immediate process advance zone is evaluated in order to determine the location of the fillet or of the edge configuration. In this way, a match can be determined between the actual position of the laser beam and the further edge configuration or fillet configuration. Thus, the quality of the beam correction can be improved by comparison with a determination of the edge configuration at the level of the processing laser.
In a further configuration, the edge recognition takes place in that a second scanner device with a second image capturing unit is directed onto a following processing site. The following processing site may, for example, be a few millimeters or a few centimeters away from the current processing site, i.e. before the processing site in the processing direction. Thus, at the following joining point the actual edge position can already be recognized and fed back to the controller as an adjustment value, whilst the processing is still taking place on the previous processing site.
The evaluation of the image data takes place preferably by determination of a grey scale value. For the data from the process advance zone, for example, the distribution of the grey scale values transversely with respect to the processing direction gives information regarding the component geometry. For example, the position of the fillet or of the edge can be determined from a maximum or minimum of the grey scale values. By a further comparison with the current position of the laser, the further path of the laser can be adapted to the configuration of the fillet and faulty positioning can be avoided in the future.
Further process reliability can be obtained in that the image data with regard to the contrast are evaluated. Increased soiling of the protective glass which protects the image capturing unit against soiling by process gases, such as for example welding fume and spray, is accompanied by a decrease in the contrast of the capture images. The monitoring of a sufficient contrast can prevent the failure of the edge detection in that, for example, when a predetermined threshold value is reached, a signal is emitted to replace the protective glass.
Because of the increase in the process reliability described above with regard to the edge or fillet recognition, the method is suitable in particular for the formation of a fillet weld in the fillet. The fillet weld may be produced as a continuous seam or with interruptions of the seam.
Moreover, ideal degassing conditions are produced by the provision of a fillet weld, and for this reason the method is suitable in particular for connecting to one another two metal sheets disposed in a lap joint by means of an end fillet weld, i.e. a seam between the end face of one metal sheet and the adjacent contact surface of the other metal sheet. Preferably, the metal sheets can be connected without a gap (so-called zero gap). The method is suitable in particular for the welding of metal sheets which have a coating comprising zinc or aluminum. Thus, the method is also suitable for mass production in vehicle bodywork construction.
In a further embodiment, the image data are evaluated in order to determine a gap dimension on the fillet and optionally to correct the position of the laser beam. In this way it is possible in a simple but effective manner to prevent the occurrence of welding errors (for example due to a reduced connection width) due to variations in the gap dimension and resulting in a reduction in the process reliability or quality. Thus, variations in the gap dimensions, which cannot be completely prevented because of component tolerances or faulty clamping of the components, can be compensated for by appropriate adaptation of the path or the focus of the laser beam. For example, by beam oscillation more material can be melted for the joint.
The determination of the gap dimension can, for example, be obtained from the grey scale values of the image data. Thus, a gap in the grey scale representation appears for example as a dark region between two light regions. A conclusion as to the gap width can be drawn from the width of the region. The control device carries out corresponding changes to the beam guiding, for example, changing the position or the focus location.
In a further embodiment, the process reliability is further improved in that additionally the process light is evaluated in order to recognize remediable processing errors. Because of faulty positioning of the laser relative to the fillet, an incorrect processing result may be produced, but can still be remedied. For example, in the case of a fillet seam weld on the lap joint, the laser beam can only be positioned on the upper sheet. The resulting lack of penetration welding can be recognized in the process light, for example, by the fact that in the grey scale representation no black spot can be seen in the process light. However, such a process error can still be corrected, which in the present method can advantageously be carried out immediately after the evaluation in the processing method. In this case, the control device carries out a corresponding correction of the path of the laser beam in order to direct the laser beam, for example, again over an incorrect portion of the path.
Furthermore, the process reliability can be improved in that the image data from the process zone are evaluated in order to recognize errors which can no longer be remedied and if appropriate to generate an error signal. Such errors may occur, for example, if holes have been produced in the workpiece due to faulty positioning. For example, the formation of holes is associated with a collapse of the keyhole and consequently can be recognized by the absence of the process light. An error signal may be emitted, for example, in the form of an electrical signal, resulting in interruption of the processing operation, for example. Alternatively, the error signal may also be an identification of the workpiece by, for example, a marking. For example, the control device may be configured in order to generate the error signal or to adjust and direct the laser beam on the tool for application of the identification. With the aid of the error signal the workpiece can be discarded without a renewed inspection being necessary.
By the use of a second scanner device comprising a second image capturing unit and a second illumination device, an improved quality recognition can be achieved. For example, a greater flexibility in the irradiation of the relevant location, such as for example the weld seam, is possible. As a result, the reliable evaluation of the weld seam is ensured.
For the described evaluations suitable evaluation algorithms are used which are known from the prior art.
The method described above for seam tracking, in combination with the various evaluations described, ensures a process reliability for the laser remote processing of a component with a fillet, in particular for a fillet seam weld, which achieves the necessary dimension for industrial use.
In a further embodiment, an additional processing laser beam is guided over the workpiece. The additional processing laser beam is preferably guided over the structural part by means of a scanner device other than the one guiding the processing laser beam, for example, by means of the second scanner device. This enables seam preparation and/or seam reworking.
The additional processing beam can also be guided coaxially with respect to the processing beam in order to increase the process stability.
In one embodiment, the additional processing laser beam is subsequently positioned on the location processed by the processing laser, for example the welded seam, so that for example a subsequent seam smoothing can be achieved.
Furthermore, in one embodiment the additional processing laser beam can be used for advance component preparation, such as for example for preheating, zinc removal or cleaning, by positioning on the edge/joint position which is not yet welded.
If, with the method, an end fillet weld is to be formed between an end face of an upper metal sheet and an adjacent contact surface of a lower metal sheet, then the regulation of the seam tracking can be further improved in that the upper metal sheet has, on its surface facing away from the lower metal sheet, a convex portion which adjoins the end face. At least a part of the convex portion faces in the direction of the scanner device, so that the reflection of the illuminating light is improved and the edge or fillet recognition can be increased. A corresponding shaping on the upper sheet can be achieved, for example, by a corresponding shaping on the pressing tools to produce the sheet blank.
The device according to the invention for laser remote processing of a component on a fillet comprises at least a first scanner device and at least one laser source, of which the laser beam can be directed over the workpiece by means of the first scanner device. A solid state laser is preferably used as the laser source, but alternatively gas or dye lasers can be used. The laser source preferably generates, for example, a laser beam with a wavelength of more than 1000 nanometers.
Furthermore, the device according to the invention has an illumination device from which the beam of light strikes the workpiece at an angle of attack, wherein the angle of attack is dependent upon a fillet geometry of the workpiece. The illumination device may be a light source which generates light in the visible frequency spectrum or UV or infrared light, for example a laser source. The illumination device preferably generates a directed radiation. The illumination device may preferably be a laser source. For example, it may be a laser source which generates a laser beam with a wavelength of more than 800 nanometers. The illumination device may be mounted on the scanner device or installed therein. Alternatively, the illumination device may be mounted on a second scanner device. The illumination device is preferably mounted so that the illuminating radiation is coupled into the beam path of the processing laser beam and can be directed coaxially with respect thereto by the movable mirror of the scanner device. The adjustment of the angle of attack of the illuminating radiation can take place, for example, by means of movable mirrors, such as for example the movable mirror of the scanner device. If the illuminating radiation is coupled into the beam path of the processing laser, the adjustment of the angle of attack preferably also takes place by means of the same mirror by which the processing laser beam is guided over the workpiece.
Furthermore, the device according to the invention has at least one image capturing unit, as described above, which captures image data from the processing region of the laser beam as well as a control device which, if need be, corrects the path of the (processing) laser beam with the aid of an evaluation of the captured image data.
The evaluation can be carried out by the at least one image capturing unit. Alternatively, the evaluation can also be carried out by the control device. The image capturing unit or the control device are configured appropriately for evaluation, for example they can include an evaluation unit, such as for example a microcontroller.
In order to be able to adjust or reset the path of the laser beam and the setting of the angle of attack of the illuminating radiation, the control device is appropriately configured and, for example, is connected via interfaces to the image capturing unit, the scanner device, the laser source for generation of the processing laser beam and the illumination source.
In one embodiment, the scanner device is mounted on a movable mechanism, such as for example a robot or a portal, so that laser processing "on the fly" is possible. In this case the control device is configured in order to synchronize and to control the necessary synchronization between the movements the movable mechanism and of the laser scanner.
If the method described above is carried out by the device according to the invention, then the same advantages and technical effects described there are achieved.
In one embodiment, the device has a second scanner device. This is mounted for example on the first scanner device. By means of control engineering the second scanner device can be incorporated into the control of the first scanner device, for example as additional axes. Alternatively the second scanner device can have a dedicated control.
Furthermore, the device can have an additional processing laser which can preferably be directed onto the component by means of the second scanner device. The additional processing laser may for example be a solid state laser or also a gas or dye laser. A diode laser is preferably used.
Furthermore, the device may have a second image capture device which is mounted on the second scanner device. The image capture device is preferably disposed coaxially with respect to the beam path of the additional processing laser.
Furthermore, a second illumination device can be provided on the second scanner device. The light from the second illumination device is guided by the second scanner device preferably coaxially with respect to the beam path of the additional processing laser.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are disclosed by the subordinate claims and the embodiments.
The characteristics, features and advantages of this invention which are described above as well as the way in which these are achieved can be understood more clearly in connection with the following description of the embodiments. In so far as the expression "can" is used in this application, this relates both to the technical possibility and to the actual technical implementation.
Embodiments are explained below with reference to the appended drawings.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for laser remote processing of a workpiece on a fillet and device therefor

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A method, a codebook, and a Base Station (BS) for precoding are provided. The precoding method includes: obtaining a total uplink power of a User Equipment (UE); if the total uplink power is greater than ¾ of a rated total transmit power of antennas, selecting a codeword from a first codebook with imbalanced power between layers; otherwise, selecting a codeword from the first codebook and a second codebook with balanced power between layers, so as for precoding data to be transmitted according to the selected codeword.

The Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) is a subsequent evolution of the LTE technology. In the LTE-A, the Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) in the LTE continues to be adopted as a coding mode for the uplink data. The LTE-A can at most support four antennas to transmit data at the same time, so precoding of the uplink data by adopting a codebook becomes possible.
In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventors find that the prior art at least has the following problems. In a case of a high signal-to-noise ratio, if data to be transmitted is being precoded by adopting an existing codebook structure, a loss occurs to a transmit performance of the transmit antenna, and if a transmit power of the transmit antenna is restricted, the power amplification of the transmit antenna cannot be completely used for full power transfer.

Method, codebook and base station for precoding


A portable gas stove includes a rectangular housing defined by parallel front and rear panels joined to parallel, opposed side panels. A top opening at an upper end of the housing provides access to at least one burner, and a hinged cover is adapted to pivot to close the upper opening entirely. At the bottom end of the housing, a coffer is formed with a downward opening, and a pair of flanges extending inwardly at the side edges of the coffer are dimensioned to retain the disassembled stove legs disposed therebetween. A clamp is provided to secure the legs in the coffer for travel with the stove. Each leg includes a tubular main portion, and a top end having an L-section. The L-section is dimensioned to fit in complementary fashion over any corner vertex formed by the conjunction of a side and front or rear panel of the housing. Each corner vertex includes a slot extending vertically therein, and a nut is slidably supported by a nut holder for translation along the slot. A mounting screw extends through the apex of the L-section to engage the nut within the slot, whereby the upper end of each leg may be secured to a corner of the housing. Translation of each nut in its respective slot is possible when the mounting screw is engaged but not tightened in the nut, permitting vertical adjustment of each leg before the nut is tightened. Thus the stove may be leveled to obtain stable support on uneven terrain.

The present invention relates to portable gas stoves, and, more particularly, to a portable stove having removable, self-storing legs.
Portable stoves are used primarily for camping activities, as well as food preparation in temporary locations for outdoor events such as weddings and other celebrations, mobile food vendors, emergency food preparation during disaster relief operations, and the like. The use of portable stoves in such circumstances requires primarily that the stoves be capable of easy setup and disassembly for transport, and adaptable to the vagaries of terrain, siting, and other factors. It is recognized that a portable stove should be operated in a leveled condition, to prevent spills from pots and pans heated thereon, and that a portable stove be supported firmly at a height that is convenient for cooking tasks. The combined effect of these requirements is that portable stoves must often be supported on legs or other extendable supports, and that these legs should be removable for easy transport. Although some portable stoves are operatively associated with folding support structures, these assemblies may become unstable or difficult to use effectively under field conditions and repeated use.
It is important that removable legs be transported with the stove, as the stove is far less usable without the legs. However, most portable stoves do not provide any means for securing the legs to the stove in the knockdown condition. Moreover, the means for securing the legs to the stove must be operable easily and quickly, and all fastener means must be secured without risk of loss. These desirable features are not known in any prior art portable stove.


An aircraft engine mount includes an annular casing fixedly disposed in the engine, a mounting platform spaced radially outwardly from the casing and fixedly joinable to an aircraft pylon, and a pair of circumferentially spaced apart links pivotally joined to the platform and the casing at respective radially outer and inner joints. The inner joints are circumferentially spaced closer together than the outer joints so that the intersection point of the longitudinal axes of the two links is disposed radially below the two links themselves for reducing lateral deflection of the casing relative to the engine mount.

A gas turbine engine is typically mounted below an aircraft wing or within an aircraft tail section by a pylon. The engine is typically mounted at its forward end, at an intermediate section, and at its aft end for transmitting loads to the pylon through respective forward, thrust, and aft mounts. The loads typically include vertical loads such as the weight of the engine itself, axial loads due to the thrust generated by the engine, side loads such as those due to wind buffeting, and roll loads or torques in three planes. The mounts must also accommodate both axial and radial thermal expansion and contraction of the engine relative to the supporting pylon.
Both the forward and aft mounts are typically provided for carrying in-plane loads to the pylon, which in-plane loads are those occurring in a single axial plane extending perpendicularly outwardly from the longitudinal axis of the engine and include vertical and horizontal loads and rotary torque or moments. The thrust mount is provided for transferring the axially directed thrust loads from the engine to the pylon which are tension loads during forward propulsion of the aircraft, and compression loads which occur during the use of the engines' thrust reverser during braking of the aircraft upon landing.
The forward mount typically joins either the core engine or the fan frame outer casing to the pylon, with the latter being disposed radially outwardly of the former. A forward mount typically includes a pair of circumferentially spaced apart links pivotally joined at opposite ends thereof to the fan frame outer casing and a mounting platform fixedly joined to the pylon. These links are typically inclined generally tangentially to the outer casing and radially outwardly toward each other so that the intersection point of their respective longitudinal axes is disposed radially outwardly of the outer casing in an inverted V-shaped configuration.
The intersection point acts as a center of rotation, or pendulum pivot point, about which the forward end of the engine tends to pivot in a pendulum fashion during operation which can lead to elastic lateral deflection of the engine at the forward mount relative to the pylon. These lateral deflections must be taken into account in designing interconnections between the engine and the pylon which include, for example, customer bleed piping. A portion of compressor air from the engine is typically bled through pipes to the aircraft for conventional use therein. Since the bleed pipes are connected directly to the engine, any lateral deflection of the engine will in turn cause deflection of the bleed pipes which must be accommodated to prevent excessive stress therein. By locating the forward mount links above the fan frame outer casing, and by having outwardly inclined links with the intersection point thereof being further disposed radially outwardly from the fan frame outer casing, the pendulum-type rotation of the engine is increased which can increase the lateral deflection of the engine which must be accommodated to prevent damage to the bleed pipes.
Since the aft mount is typically located radially above the point at which the side loads act on the engine, the side loads will induce roll moments at the aft mount, and yaw moments on the engine in a horizontal plane. If the center of rotation of the pendulum-type movement of the fan frame is located radially above the support of the engine at its aft mount, then side loads on the engine will effect additional roll moment at the aft mount. Accordingly, side loads acting on the engine will effect both lateral displacement of the fan frame itself as well as induce roll moments at the aft mount which must be suitably accommodated for obtaining acceptable stresses in both the forward and aft mounts and in the bleed pipes.


An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular handle having good characteristics in attachment of a decorative cover and also eliminating the likelihood of the occurrence of a failure in the attachment. Provided is a vehicular handle including: a handle body 1 attached to a vehicle; and a decorative cover 5 including a main body portion 2 which is long in a longitudinal direction of the handle body 1, and lock portions 3, 4 formed on both ends of the main body portion 2, the decorative cover 5 attached to a surface of the handle body 1 with the locking portions 3, 4 locked to the handle body 1, in which the decorative cover 5 is attached by turning the main body portion 2 with one of the locking portions 3, 4 acting as a turning fulcrum, and thereby resiliently locking the other locking portion 3, 4 to the handle body 1.

A handle disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been known as a handle including a decorative cover attached to a surface portion of a handle body. In this conventional example, attachment of an elastic decorative plate (or the decorative cover) to a pull handle body (or a handle body) is accomplished by inserting both ends of the decorative plate into engagement lateral holes of the handle body while largely warping the overall decorative plate.


The present invention relates to a filler head (100) for a liquid tank in a motor vehicle with a housing (103), with a first molded housing part (103-1) having formed therein a tank vent pipe (105) for introducing air into the housing (103); and a second molded housing part (103-2) having formed therein a dip tube (107) for guiding a jet of liquid in the interior of the filler head (100), the dip tube (107) including a vent opening (111) for discharging from the filler head (100) the air that may be introduced through the tank vent pipe (105).

During filling of a liquid tank in a vehicle, liquid may escape from a filler head and contaminate the vehicle exterior or the environment. An escape of liquid should therefore be avoided. During filling of a liquid tank (SCR tank) with an aqueous solution of urea, it is additionally necessary to fill the liquid tank with the filling systems available on site at a filling rate of up to 40 l/min, while avoiding an escape of liquid. In this case, an escape of liquid should also be prevented during refilling, and filling with a screwed-on refill bottle (Kruse bottle) or an adapter for a 51 canister should be possible.
Document DE 10 2011 009 745 A1 describes in this context a filler neck for an auxiliary liquid reservoir for a motor vehicle.
The object underlying the invention is to provide an improved filler head with which an escape of liquid during filling or refilling can be prevented efficiently even at high filling rates.
This object is achieved by the subject matter having the features according to the independent claim. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are subject-matter of the figures, the description and the dependent claims.


A reflector has a plurality of convex/concave portions on a surface of a substrate, Each of the convex/concave portions has a circular or elliptical shape as viewed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. The surface of the substrate includes first and second regions adjacent to each other defining a boundary therebetween. In each of the first and second regions, an ellipticity .alpha. of the shape of the convex/concave portions continuously changes away from a respective predetermined central position. The ellipticity .alpha. is about 1.05+(0.005/3)-.beta. or less, where .beta.=.vertline..theta.-90.vertline., and .theta. denotes an angle between long axes of the elliptical shapes of the convex/concave portions on opposite sides of the boundary.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflector, a method for producing the same, and a reflection type liquid crystal display incorporating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for producing a reflector in which convex/concave portions are formed on a substrate surface over a plurality of exposure steps, a reflector produced by such a method and a reflection type liquid crystal display incorporating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A reflector for use in a reflection type liquid crystal display capable of producing a paper white display includes a large number of convex/concave portions on a surface thereof in order to reflect and scatter light incident thereupon. There are various methods for forming such convex/concave portions, including: forming the convex/concave portions directly on a substrate surface using a sand blast method or an etching method; first forming a thin inorganic oxide film or a metal film on a substrate surface and then partially etching away the thin film; and forming concave portions of an inorganic material on a substrate surface by a plasma CVD method. In order to form the convex/concave portions with high precision and high reproducibility so that the designed reflection characteristic is realized precisely and reproducibly, it is preferable to first form a thin photosensitive organic film on a substrate and then pattern the formed film by a photolithography process. In the exposure step, an exposure machine (projection aligner) is used such as a step and repeat method type exposure (hereinafter referred to as a stepper exposure machine) or a large batch exposure machine.
However, such conventional methods have the following problems. While a large batch exposure machine can expose a large area at once, it has a relatively large variation in irradiation intensity and parallelism of light over a plane to be exposed to the light. A reflector produced by such a large batch exposure machine has a brightness which is not uniform over the screen (e.g., reflection is bright in the vicinity of the exposure center and dark in the peripheral region) and thus has not been in practical use. In view of this, a stepper exposure machine typically has been used in which source light is substantially collimated by a lens system so as to reduce the in-plane variation. However, referring to Figure 1A, the maximum area (indicated by "11") which can be exposed at once by such a stepper exposure machine is only about 6 inches in diameter. Thus, the largest square region 10 on which convex/concave portions can be formed at once has a diagonal line of up to about 6 inches.
In order to expose a larger region such as a rectangle in which a diagonal line connecting opposite corners is about 6 inches or larger with a stepper machine having an exposure area of 6 inches in diameter, for example, a first region 12a can be exposed in the first step (the largest area which can be exposed is denoted by reference numeral 13a, and the exposure center by 14a), and a second region 12b can be exposed in the second step (the largest area which can be exposed is denoted by reference numeral 13b, and the exposure center by 14b), as illustrated in FIG. 1B. However, even when a stepper exposure machine is used, some in-plane light beam variation (or "image distortion", where light beam parallelism is high in the center portion and low in the peripheral region) still exists. Therefore, the obtained reflector causes interference fringes, whereby a "junction (boundary)" 15 between the first and second regions is observed.
In order to reduce the in-plane light beam variation of the stepper exposure machine, the regions 12a and 12b to be exposed during each exposure step can be reduced. However, this solution increases the number of exposure steps required and thus the number of alignment steps associated therewith, thereby considerably decreasing the production efficiency.

Reflector method for producing reflector and reflection type liquid crystal display


The invention provides a lens forming apparatus that can suppress generation of burrs even if gaps between outer walls of an upper die and a lower die and an inner wall of a trunk die is made wide. A lens forming apparatus 11 according to the present invention includes a trunk die 12 having a through-hole 17 therein; first and second dies 13 and 14 that are fitted into the through-hole 17 from both ends thereof, respectively, and have pressing surfaces 20 and 30 for sandwiching and pressing a forming material 24; and induction-heating coils 15 and 16 that heat the first and second dies 13 and 14 to a temperature equal to or higher than a glass transition point, in a state where the trunk die 12 is not heated and the temperature thereof is set to a temperature equal to or lower than the glass transition point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens forming apparatus that presses a material made of glass or resin to form a lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
As methods for manufacturing lenses, a lens manufacturing method using press working and additionally a lens manufacturing method using polishing are known. In the lens manufacturing method using the press working, a material made of glass or resin softened by heating the material made of glass or resin received within a forming die together with the forming die is pressed to form a lens. As a forming die to be used for the press working, there is known a forming die constituted by a trunk die having a through-hole formed therein, a lower die that is fitted into the through-hole from a lower end thereof and allows a material made of glass or resin to be placed thereon, and an upper die that is fitted into the through-hole from an upper end thereof and sandwiches and presses the material made of glass or resin between the upper die and the lower die.
Since the lower die and the upper die move inside the through-hole of the trunk die while at least portions of respective outer walls thereof come into contact with an inner wall of the trunk die, the outer walls of the lower die and the upper die and the inner wall of the trunk die rub each other whereby the forming die is damaged and the lifespan of the forming die becomes short. For this reason, it is preferable to make gaps between the outer walls of the lower die and the upper die and the inner wall of the trunk die wider so that the rubbing between the respective outer walls of the upper die and the lower die and the inner wall of the trunk die does not occur. However, if the gaps are wide, the lower die and the upper die deviate in a lateral direction with respect to a central axis of the through-hole in the vertical direction and move inside the through-hole and the material made of glass or resin is pressed. Thus, an eccentric lens is formed. Additionally, the pressed material made of glass or resin elongates in the direction of the trunk die and flows into the gaps, and thus, burrs are generated.
For example, a lens forming apparatus in which a lower die and an upper die move inside a through-hole of a trunk die while at least portions of respective outer walls thereof come into contact with an inner wall of the trunk die is described in JP2008-273194A. During press forming, a lens is press-formed in a state where all temperatures of the upper die, the lower die, and the trunk die are set to temperatures equal to or higher than a glass transition point.
Additionally, a lens forming apparatus in which a lower die and an upper die move inside a through-hole of a trunk die while at least portions of respective outer walls thereof come into contact with an inner wall of the trunk die is also described in JP2004-351740A. However, during the press forming, a lens is press-formed in a state where one or both of the upper die and the lower die are heated and thereby thermally expand, the trunk die is not heated but is kept from thermally expanding, and the coefficients of linear expansion of the upper die and the lower die are greater than the coefficient of linear expansion of the trunk die. For this reason, during the press forming, gaps between outer walls of the lower die and the upper die and an inner wall of the trunk die can be narrowed.


A removable storm drain cartridge to preserve the ground water quality to improve the environment for separating storm run-off water and removing oil and heavy debris from the storm run-off water, conveniently and inexpensively for use in a conventional storm drain, the cartridge including a heavy duty rectangular box container that is waterproof, an interior passage that is smaller in cross-sectional area that covers the top opening, forcing all storm water to flow through the interior passage first, the interior passage having a shortened length relative to the container length so that water flow will be out of the interior passage up the side walls of the exterior container out through openings in the top of the side walls. An oil trap is strategically located across the opening of the container to catch oil particles and remove them from the water flowing therethrough, while rocks, sand, and other debris will collect in the bottom of the container. The container can be periodically removed from the storm drain and emptied, preventing build-up of debris and oil within the storm drain.

1. Description of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a cartridge for insertion into a storm drain that receives run-off storm water and, in particular, to a removable storm drain cartridge that can separate the run-off water received into the storm drain from oil in the run-off water and heavy debris that is washed into the storm drain, such as stones and rocks and the like. The invention prevents storm drains from becoming periodically clogged along the entire pipeline or drain field, which requires replacement of the drain pipes or drain field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Storm drains are known and are essentially deep holes in the ground which typically are encompassed in a concrete structure having feeder drain pipes that take run-off water away from the particular area and transfer it to other desired locations, often to a sea or ocean or other suitable run-off area. The storm drain system is completely different than the sewer lines and each storm drain is localized often and just has a drain field surrounding the large cement enclosure that is disposed below ground level for receiving run-off water.
Of particular concern these days is the fact that many chemicals, especially oil which floats on water and which may be on the streets and areas around the storm drain, can often be swept down into the storm drain when a rainstorm occurs, as part of the run-off water. The oil then will be continuously transferred into the particular surrounding area around the drain, which is undesirable. Also, the storm water will force, through the force of rushing water, stones, sand and rocks and the like to be received into the storm drain. These materials and other debris will then build up and recede into the drain pipes themselves, which can result ultimately in short periods of time that the drain pipes become clogged with debris. When this happens, it completely requires new drain field and, in effect, makes the storm drain inoperative. It would be extremely difficult for people to go down and try and clean out the drain pipes from the debris that is received into the storm grates. The top of the storm grates are wide enough so that sufficient run-off water can freely flow into the storm drain with no filtering effect. This permits large rocks, sand, and stones to be received into the drain, along with oil and other toxic liquids.
The present invention provides for a removable cartridge made of a strong durable material that can be inserted in existing storm drains because of its size and structural shape, that does not interfere with the flow of the storm drain waters, that acts as a collector for oil which is trapped as it flows into the cartridge and for solids such as rocks, sand, and other debris which collect due to their weight in the bottom of the cartridge, while still allowing the storm drain water to flow through the cartridge and continue into the storm drain and the drain pipes or drain field. Periodically, the size of the device allows it to be conveniently emptied so that the rocks and debris can be collected and removed without entering the storm drain pipes or drain field.


An image forming apparatus includes either one of a process cartridge and a development device. The process cartridge is attachable to and detachable from the image forming apparatus, and integrally includes the development device. The development device includes a developer supplying member and a developer carrying member, at least one of which is formed of an elastic material, and which rotate in contact with each other. The developer supplying member is provided to be displacable in directions of contacting with and separating from the developer carrying member, and is biased toward the developer carrying member by predetermined biasing force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a development device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrying member into a visible image, a process cartridge incorporating the development device, and an image forming apparatus, such as a multifunctional machine including at least one of a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a plotter, which includes either one of the development device and the process cartridge.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
The above type of the development device is configured, for example, such that a development roller functioning as a developer carrying member and a supply roller functioning as a developer supplying member are rotated in contact with each other to supply a one-component developer stored in a development casing from the supply roller to the development roller. The developer supplied onto the development roller is spread into a thin layer and adhered to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor by an electric field generated by a developing bias voltage. The development roller and the supply roller are in contact with each other, with the rotary shaft of each of the rollers set to a predetermined position.
When the supply roller is brought into contact with the development roller, both the supply roller and the development roller compress, that is, deform due to the contact. The amount of such compression varies depending on such factors as the distance separating the shafts of the supply roller and the development roller and the outer diameters of the supply roller or the development roller. As a result, the force of contact between the rollers fluctuates, and an undesirable phenomenon such as an increase in motor torque occurs. That is, excessive pressure contact between the rollers causes the increase in torque and can result in motor failure, while insufficient pressure contact causes insufficient toner supply and a resultant decrease in image density, i.e., poor image quality.
To overcome the above-described problem by providing reliably stable contact between the rollers, the manufacturing precision of the rollers needs to be improved in terms of the shapes and the materials used, and techniques and skills to improve assembly precision are required.

Development device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrying member into a visible image


The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser equipped with a novel window structure, thereby realizing higher output, and a method of making the same. The method is a method of making a semiconductor laser having a window structure transparent to emitted laser light. In particular, into a laminate structure comprising a semiconductor substrate, a lower cladding layer, an active layer, and an upper cladding layer, impurity atoms is implanted to a predetermined region of the upper cladding layer by ion implantation method, thereby forming an impurity implanted region above the active layer. Further, in this method, after the laminate structure is heat-treated to such an extent that the impurity atom fails to reach the active layer, the laminate structure is cleaved in the area where the impurity atom is implanted, thus yielding a semiconductor laser. As a result of such a heat treatment, the vacancies generated upon ion implantation diffuse into the active layer, whereas the impurity atoms themselves do not diffuse into the active layer. This vacancy diffusion forms, in the vicinity of the cleavage plane in the active layer, a window structure in which a well layer and barrier layers which constitute the quantum well structure are selectively interdiffused. This window structure suppresses the catastrophic optical damage during high output operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser in which at least one end of a resonator is equipped with a window structure and a method of making the same.
2. Related Background Art
There have been known semiconductor lasers in which, in order to attain higher output, a window structure transparent to laser light is provided near a light exit end of a resonator having a quantum well active layer, thereby preventing catastrophic optical damage (COD) at this light exit end facet.
For example, in the semiconductor laser disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-58402, impurities are introduced in the vicinity of a resonator facet of a Fabry-Perot type semiconductor laser having a quantum well structure, thereby forming a window structure. Namely, GaInP or AlGaInP crystal material is grown under a predetermined condition, thus forming an active layer with spontaneous ordering structure, and then impurities such as Zn are introduced into a light exit end region of the resonator having this active layer, thereby forming a window structure in which the spontaneous ordering structure is disordered. Since the bandgap of thus obtained window structure region becomes greater than that in a region which is not disordered, catastrophic optical damage (COD), which tends to occur during a high output operation of a semiconductor laser, is suppressed, thereby higher output is realized.
In the semiconductor laser having a window structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,725, injected impurities (Si, Zn, and Sn) are diffused to an multiple-quantum well (MQW) active layer, so as to cause interdiffusion between well layers and barrier layers, thereby realizing a window structure having a greater bandgap in this part. Thus obtained window structure also functions as a transparent optical waveguide layer in which the guided mode of light gradually broadens, thereby minimizing the size of a far-field laser light image.
The semiconductor laser disclosed in Japanese Pat. Publication No. 6-48742 is an AlGaAs type semiconductor laser in which Zn is selectively diffused into an AlAs/GaAs superlattice active layer, thereby the superlattice structure is totally disordered. The bandgap of this disordered region becomes greater than that of the active layer without Zn-diffusion and the disordered region can be a window strcture.
Having studied the conventional semiconductor lasers, the inventors have found the following problems. Namely, known as the conventional semiconductor lasers are those of a type in which impurities are introduced so as to disorder a spontaneous ordering structure, thereby forming a window structure (Japanese Pat. Application Laid-Open No. 7-58402); and those of a type in which impurities are introduced so as to cause diffusion between the well layers and barrier layers in a quantum well layers, thereby forming a window structure (U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,725 and Japanese Pat. Publication No. 6-48742). In these semiconductor lasers, however, since impurities introduced in order to form a window structure exist in the window structure, light is absorbed by these impurities, and thereby the performance of the semiconductor lasers may be deteriorated. Also, due to such impurities, leak current tends to increase in the vicinity of the laser facet. Such leak current causes nonradiative recombination of carriers, and the energy caused by the nonradiative recombination accelerates chemical reactions such as oxidation. Consequently, the laser facets may be deteriorated, and COD may be occurred at the deteriorated facets. In the case where impurities are introduced by means of ion implantation, crystals may be damaged by the implantation, which causes reliability of the laser to deteriorate.

Semiconductor laser and method of making the same


A tissue graft product includes at least one collagen layer comprised of submucosa or renal capsule tissue having slits therein to provide a mesh pattern which in turn establishes a graft structure that is highly deformable. The slits and mesh pattern provide for improved characteristics when utilized as a tissue graft and in particular an external wound care. Preferred devices have multiple submucosa, renal capsule or other collagenous extracellular matrix layers, providing a substantial and lasting scaffold for tissue ingrowth during wound treatment.

The present invention relates generally to medical graft devices containing submucosa tissue. In particular, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a medical device comprising a collagen layer including submucosa, wherein the layer has a highly deformable, meshed structure.
As further background, certain extracellular matrix materials, including submucosa tissues, are known tissue graft materials. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,902,508, 4,956,178, 5,281,422, 5,372,821, 5,554,389, 6,099,567, and 6,206,931. As taught in these patents, submucosa tissues from various biological structures such as small intestine, stomach, and the urinary bladder provide predominantly collagenous layers useful in a variety of surgical procedures where tissue support and/or ingrowth are desired. As one example, sheet-form submucosa tissue has been suggested and used as a wound dressing.
Modified tissue graft constructs, including certain perforated forms thereof, are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,755,791 and 5,997,575 teach certain perforated submucosal tissue graft constructs. As taught in these patents, multilaminate submucosal tissue graft constructs may accumulate tissue fluid in cyst-like pockets between adjacent layers after implantation in soft tissue locations. To reduce the occurrence of such pockets, these patents teach that the multi-layer submucosa graft constructs can be perforated.
Despite prior teaching of certain modified forms of submucosa grafts, needs remain for improved modified forms thereof, having particular utility for example in the treatment of open cutaneous wounds, including burns. The present invention is addressed to these needs.

Medical graft device with meshed structure


The present invention provides a self-aligned trench isolation scheme for the MOS select transistors in an alternate metal virtual ground (AMG) EPROM array architecture. The new isolation scheme allows bit line to bit line spacing to be scaled to 0.6 .mu.m and below without compromising either data retention or memory performance characteristics. A new poly stack self-aligned etch scheme is also provided to scale the word line spacing to 0.6 .mu.m and below and, thus, allow a 64 Mbit EPROM array to be realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) arrays and, in particular, to an alternate metal virtual ground (AMG) EPROM array that utilizes self-aligned trench isolation for achieving bit line isolation between select transistors without compromising memory performance.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Both R. Kazerounian et al., "Alternate Metal Virtual Ground EPROM Array Implemented In A 0.8 Micron Process For Very High Density Applications", IEDM, p. 311, 1991, and B. Eitan et al., "Alternate Metal Virtual Ground (AMG)--A New Scaling Concept For Very High-Density EPROMs", IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 12, p. 450, 1991, disclose an AMG EPROM architecture that transfers the layout scaling limitation of the array from the metal pitch to the polysilicon pitch by strapping alternate diffusion bit lines and by employing select transistors. Utilizing this array architecture, an EPROM cell size of 2.56 .mu.m.sup.2 with 0.8 .mu.m layout rules can be realized for high density memory applications, e.g. 4 Mbits and beyond.
A further advantage associated with the AMG array architecture is that, by utilizing MOS select transistors, drain turn-on induced punch-through can be minimized.
The MOS select transistors in a conventional AMG array are isolated utilizing a conventional LOCOS isolation scheme. As shown in FIG. 1, with 0.8 .mu.m layout rules, bit line-to-bit line spacing is only 0.8 .mu.m, which is much less than the isolation spacing of 1.2 .mu.m required to form a minimum-sized field oxide island. Furthermore, as can be seen from the FIG. 2 layout, poly1 to field oxide island misalignment, the field oxide rounding effect at concave corners, and field oxide thinning with reduced nitride spacing prevent simple scaling of an AMG array below 0.8 .mu.m design rules.
Recently, Wolstenholme et al. proposed a scheme that utilizes programmed EPROM cells to achieve bit line isolation. As shown in FIG. 3, to implement the Wolstenholme et al. isolation scheme, the MOS select transistors utilized in the conventional AMG architecture are replaced by EPROM cells which are the same as the EPROM cells used in the memory array. Along each select line Sel and Sel, every other EPROM cell is programmed to a high threshold voltage (V.sub.th) state to achieve bit line to bit line isolation. These programmed EPROM cells are depicted in FIG. 3 with a solid dot between the control gate and the floating gate.

Self-aligned trench isolation scheme for select transistors in an alternate metal virtual ground (AMG) EPROM array


A cleaning device for cleaning an object includes an inner vessel configured to contain a first liquid and the object. The cleaning device also includes an external vessel configured to contain a second liquid and the inner vessel. The second liquid is acoustically coupled to the first liquid. At least one transducer is acoustically coupled to the external vessel and configured to generate acoustical energy which is transferred to the object through the external vessel, a second liquid, the inner vessel and the first liquid. The first liquid has a dissolved gas concentration of a first gas and the second liquid has a dissolved gas concentration of a second gas.

Unwanted particles and contaminants can accumulate on the surfaces of workpieces (or objects), such as semiconductor wafers and component parts, in a variety of industries. Undesirable particles are generally introduced to the objects by the external environment. However, frequently, the undesirable particles are introduced as a result of the fabrication of the objects during manufacture. In the field of data storage systems, fabricated disc drive components have become increasingly sensitive to particles and contaminants deposited on the surfaces of component parts. To increase recording density in data storage systems, it has become desirable to reduce the fly height over the data storage media. After assembly of a data storage system and during data storage system operation, serious damage to the data storage media and a loss of data can result if particles become present at the head and data storage media interface. Particles that are present at this interface can cause performance problems such as media defects, thermal asperities, stiction, head crash or catastrophic drive failure.
Acoustic energy, in the ultrasonic and megasonic frequency ranges, is commonly used to clean undesirable material off of component parts. Typically, a cleaning system includes a cleaning bath that holds a wash fluid in which component parts are immersed for cleaning. The wash fluid can contain various chemical solutions as well as various temperatures and dissolved gas concentrations. The cleaning bath has an array of ultrasonic transducers that are coupled to the bottom and/or sides of the bath. The transducers emit an ultrasonic or megasonic frequency which permeates the bath and the bath's wash fluid and cleans the component parts.
The maximum cleaning efficiency of the cleaning bath, however, can be compromised in a single wash fluid cleaning system. Cleaning variables such as time, temperature, power, chemistry, dissolved gas concentration, cleaning bath design and acoustical energy compete for maximum cleaning efficiency. For example, it is known that a lower dissolved gas concentration in a cleaning system increases particle removal, but it has also been demonstrated that some level of dissolved gas is needed to remove particles. In addition, control and use of the above-identified variables increases the amount of energy, time, chemicals, system size and costs needed to power the cleaning system.

Ultrasonic cleaning device for removing undesirable particles from an object


A large area active matrix array (2) is manufactured by providing four substrates (1) each carrying a sub-array (21) having an active area (11) comprising a matrix of switching elements (30) and associated row and column conductors (41) and (42) for enabling addressing of individual switching elements (30). The row and column conductors (41) and (42) terminate in respective connecting leads (41a and 42a) extending beyond the active area (11). A portion (1a) of each substrate (1) and the connecting leads carried is removed so as to form a new substrate edge (1'a) adjacent each of two adjoining edges of the active area (11) and the substrates (1) are mounted onto a support (12) so that each new substrate edge is adjacent another new substrate edge (1'a) to form the large area array (2), thereby allowing the same pixel pitch to be maintained across the array (2). Each sub-array (2') may be fully tested before completion of the array (2) which should allow higher yields.

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a large area active matrix array for a large area imaging or display device.
Active matrix display devices such as liquid crystal (LCD) displays and matrix addressed image sensors using thin film technology have many applications some of which may require an active matrix array of large area, for example a 20 cm (centimeter) by 20 cm or even a 40 cm by 40 cm array. Such large area arrays may be required where, for example, an image sensor is to be used in medical applications, for example as part of an X-ray detector, or in large document imaging for example in electronic copying or facsimile machines.
It is currently not technically feasible to manufacture such a large area active matrix array on a single substrate because even where machines are available to enable deposition and patterning of layers over such a large area, the possibility of defects occurring increases markedly with area and thus the likelihood of some areas of the array not functioning correctly is very high. The yield of correctly functioning arrays would therefore be extremely low.
JP-A-63-183420 describes an LCD display having a transparent first base plate carrying transparent scanning electrodes. A number of transparent second base plates are provided each carrying an array of pixel electrodes and a matrix of switching elements in the form of electrodes running along the length of the second base plate. The second base plates are bonded to a third base plate so as to be joined together in a direction perpendicular to the scanning electrodes. The liquid crystal is sandwiched between the first and second base plates. In the LCD device described in JP-A-63-183420 each of the second base plates extends across the entire width of the array and accordingly the manufacture of this device requires the deposition and patterning of the materials for forming the thin film diodes and pixel electrodes over an area which still has a width equal to that of the desired array. Thus, the problems of the low yields which are obtainable when depositing and patterning materials over a large area still remain.

Method of manufacturing a large area active matrix array


A dispenser is provided for separately storing and facilitating the mixture of separate components of a two-part composition. The dispenser includes a first container having a chamber for retaining one of the components and a second container having a chamber for retaining the other of the components and for mixing the components together to form the resultant two-part composition. A receptacle sleeve is provided and is mounted on the second container. The receptacle sleeve is adapted to secure the two containers together during periods of storage and transportation as well as to facilitate mixture of the components. The receptacle sleeve further serves to protect the user from exposure to the unmixed components as well as providing a drip-free spout in dispensing the composition. A method is further provided for alternately storing the separate components and admixing them together in one of the containers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a dispenser for a two-part composition and, more particularly, to such a dispenser that is adapted to separately store and mix together the components of a two-part composition. The dispenser of the present invention includes separate, interlocking containers for separately storing the individual components and means for facilitating the mixture thereof prior to use of the composition. Means are provided for protecting the user from contact with the unmixed components. A method is further provided for storing the individual components and facilitating their mixture to form the composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many commercially available chemical products on the market with two separately packaged components that must be mixed together prior to use or application. For example, certain floor finishing products are provided with a separate cross-linking agent that must be added to and mixed with the product immediately prior to use to chemically activate such finishing product. Since such cross-linking agents are not typically compatible with the finishing product, they must be maintained separately from the finishing product prior to final mixture and use. A further complicating problem is that many cross-linking agents are toxic in an undiluted condition and, as such, precautions must be taken to avoid contact with the skin during the mixing process.
Epoxy products are another type of commercial product where the component parts thereof, i.e., the resin and catalyst or hardener, are sold separately with the user being instructed to mix them together prior to use.
To facilitate the storage and mixture of such products, certain twin-container dispensers have heretofore been provided. Examples of such two vessel containers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,007,679 which issued to C. Ellis et al. on Nov. 7, 1911 for Multicontainer Bottle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,437 which issued on Sep. 30, 1986 to J. D. Buehler for Mixing Container and Adapter; U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,991 which issued on Oct. 25, 1988 to M. Kitamura et al. for Bottle For Mixing and Method for Mixing With the Said Bottle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,009 which issued on Jan. 31, 1989 to W. Amos for Two Compartment Container for Mixing; U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,965 which issued on Oct. 6, 1992 to R. Fisk et al. for Two-Piece Reagent Container Assembly; U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,323 which issued on Feb. 16, 1993 to F. W. Pfleger for Dual Compartment Mixing Container; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,565 which issued on May 11, 1993 to A. Goncalves for Assembly Adapted for the Mixing of Two Different Products Stored Separately.
Other patents which disclose similar devices include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,836 which issued on Jan. 1, 1952 to R. R. Rausch for Intravenous Solution Technique and Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,610 which issued on Nov. 3, 1970 to M. Bilon for Device for Closing a Box; U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,153 which issued on Mar. 27, 1979 to W. J. Bailen for Sterile Dispensing Device; U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,264 which issued on Oct. 29, 1991 for Apparatus for Contacting Material Such as a Drug with a Fluid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,011 which issued on May 19, 1992 to E. S. Robbins III for Container Assemblies with Additive Cups; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,980 which issued on Nov. 28, 1995 to J. R. O'Meara et al. for Child Resistant Container Closure Assembly.
While many of these patents disclose dispensers having separate containers or chambers, none are able to achieve the specific objective of the present invention, namely to provide a dispenser that is able to separately store the individual components of a two-part composition and then facilitate the mixture of such components while protecting the user from contact with the unmixed components.
As will be appreciated, none of these prior patents even address the problem faced by applicant let alone offer the solutions proposed herein.


By forming a digital video processor and digital television controller on the same integrated circuit, a number of advantages in improved picture quality can be obtained. The length of the communication connections between these two elements can be reduced, thus reducing television picture distortion caused by electromagnetic interference. Additionally, the elements can be controlled by a single dot clock generator with a single phase locked loop circuit. Also, register banks can be used for intercommunication between the television controller and the video processor rather than the communication between two different ICs over a bus.

The present invention relates to television systems, especially in the architecture of television systems.
Contemporary television processors are complicated and multi-functional. They control the television tuner, video processor, audio processor, deflection parameters, power supply, and video input select. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art television system. In a typical television system, television controllers are used. Television controllers receive input from the user and control other units in the television processor. Typically, the television controller is formed on an integrated circuit (IC). Additionally, a video processor 14 is formed on another integrated chip. The video processor converts a video signal to pixel data, which is sent to the display such as a CRT display 16.
There are disadvantages of having the video processor and the television controller on two different integrated chips. Long wire communication on television chassis with high frequency and sharp signals can cause a lot of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and picture distortions, such as jitter. For this reason, it is desired to have an improved television processor architecture that prevent these problems.


A housing includes a plurality of valve element housing holes rotatably house valve elements therein, and a plurality of fluid passage holes, each of the fluid passage holes having one end connected to a peripheral wall surface of one of the valve element housing holes and the other end open on an outer wall surface of the housing to circulate fluids. Axes of the valve element housing holes are parallel to each other. Axes of the fluid passage holes are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axes of the valve element housing holes. Each of the fluid passage holes is connected to at least two of the valve element housing holes, and has a perpendicular-to-axis cross section partially or entirely overlapping the at least two valve element housing holes in an axial direction of the fluid passage hole.

For example, as this type of conventional switch valve, there is a switch valve described in Patent Literature 1. The switch valve described in Patent Literature 1 includes a plurality of valve units which are basic elements and coupled to each other. The switch valve controls flows of two kinds of fluids to a plurality of external devices by a plurality of valve elements each of which is housed in a valve element housing hole of a housing.
The housing of the switch valve includes a first fluid passage hole, a second fluid passage hole, and a third fluid passage hold. The first fluid passage hole extends in a substantially tangential direction with respect to the valve element housing hole, and is connected to a peripheral wall surface of the valve element housing hole. The second fluid passage hole extends in a direction perpendicular to both an axis of the valve element housing hole and an axis of the first fluid passage hole, and is connected to the peripheral wall surface of the valve element housing hole. The third fluid passage hole is connected to a wall surface of the valve element housing hole on one end in the axial direction.
The axis of the first fluid passage hole is perpendicular to the axis of the valve element housing hole. Further, a perpendicular-to-axis cross section of the first fluid passage hole partially overlaps the valve element housing hole in an axial direction view of the first fluid passage hole.
On the other hand, an axis of the second fluid passage hole is perpendicular to both the axis of the valve element housing hole and the axis of the first fluid passage hole. Thus, a perpendicular-to-axis cross section of the second fluid passage hole entirely overlaps the valve element housing hole in an axial direction view of the second fluid passage hole.


A housing assembly (20) for protecting electronic components. An enclosure (21) is open at one end (22). Electronic components are housed in the enclosure. A bung member (25) is insertable into the open end of the enclosure to seal the enclosure. The member defines a channel (27) and a spreader element (28) is insertable into the channel. The spreader element is formed to cause the bung member to expand upon insertion of the spreader to seal the enclosure against moisture and contaminants.

The present invention is directed to a housing for enclosing electronic or other sensitive equipment, and more particularly to such a housing which effects a waterproof seal for any component positioned within the housing. In addition, the invention includes a novel and unobvious method for effecting the seal.
It has been difficult and expensive to provide enclosures and housings for equipment of the type which includes printed circuit boards and similar delicate, precision equipment. Various attempts have been made to provide effective, economical housings which can readily accommodate such equipment, and into which the equipment may be easily and rapidly inserted, followed by a quick and easy sealing of the housing or enclosure. Also important is the need for such an arrangement which can easily be removed for servicing a component, or resetting of a switch, followed by return of the assembly to its original sealed condition with a minimum of difficulty and expense. All earlier attempts to solve this problem have not attained the requisite ease, effectiveness and economy of operation. For example some producers use a "potting" process, wherein the sensitive components are first inserted into the container, and then a fluid, plastic insulating compound is poured into the container to surround the components. The compound then sets up, or hardens, to prevent the entry of air or moisture which could attack the components. However the hardened compound also prevents removal of the components for servicing, or to change a switch setting, or for any other reason, without destroying the integrity of the potted assembly.
It is, therefore, a principal consideration of the present invention to provide a structure, and a method of assembling and sealing that structure, which overcomes the deficiencies found in the prior art.

Method and apparatus for sealing, on a non-permanent basis, a housing for enclosing electronic equipment


The wheeled work vehicle according to the present invention has a link that links at least either one of the axles and provided at the front and the rear of the vehicle to a body, suspension hydraulic cylinders provided at the left side and the right side of the chassis to link the axle to the body in conjunction with the link and an accumulator that is made to communicate with oil chambers and of the hydraulic cylinders via restrictors.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a wheeled work vehicle that travels on tires.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to improve the comfort of the operator driving a work vehicle travelling on tires such as a wheeled hydraulic excavator, which has come to run at an increasingly high speed in recent years, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.S 62-110509, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H 6-278438, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H 7-125523 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H 7-132723, for instance, each disclose a work vehicle having a suspension mechanism provided between the body and an axle.
In the work vehicle disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. S62-110509 (hereafter referred to as prior art 1), two sets of hydraulic cylinders are provided at the two sides, i.e., on the left side and the right side of the body, the upper ends of the cylinder tubes and the lower ends of the cylinder rods are respectively linked to the body and the beam provided over the axle by using pins, and a long hole extending along the vertical direction is formed at the center of the body to link the upper center of the beam and the center of the body with a pin inserted at the long hole. The head chambers of the left hydraulic cylinder and the right hydraulic cylinder are made to communicate with each other via a restrictor. The head chambers of the left and right hydraulic cylinders are also connected to an accumulator via a pressure control valve. The line between the pressure control valve and the accumulator is connected to a hydraulic pump via a check valve which allows hydraulic oil to flow toward the accumulator. As a result, while the body moves vertically due to the contraction of the hydraulic cylinders when the wheels are subject to strong impact during travelling, the load is damped since the pressure control valve opens to communicate the hydraulic cylinders to the accumulator. If either of the left wheel or the right wheel is subject to an impact, the pressure oil from one of the hydraulic cylinders flows into the other hydraulic cylinder to rock the body.
In the work vehicle disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H 6-278438 or Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H 7-132723 (hereafter referred to as prior art 2), double-acting hydraulic cylinders are mounted at the right side surface and the left side surface of the body with head chambers of the hydraulic cylinders connected with each other via a piping. A restrictor and an accumulator are provided in the middle of the piping and the lower ends of the cylinder rods of the hydraulic cylinders are individually linked to the axle of the work vehicle with pins. Thus, the vibration of the axle occurring during travelling is absorbed and damped to improve the comfort of the operator while travelling the vehicle.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H 7-125523 discloses a work vehicle (hereafter referred to as prior art 3) achieved by linking the upper ends of the cylinder tubes of one set of hydraulic cylinders and the lower ends of the cylinder rods respectively to the center of the body and the center of the axle with pins and linking the center of the axle and either the left side or the right side of the body with a link. In this vehicle, the bottom chamber of the hydraulic cylinder is connected to an accumulator via a restrictor. As a result, while the body moves in the vertical direction due to the contraction of the hydraulic cylinders if the wheels are subject to a strong impact during travelling, the load on the hydraulic cylinder communicating with the accumulator is attenuated.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.