A software bridge is introduced between a client and a server in a client-server distributed computing environment. The bridge presents the interface of a server to a client and the interface of a client to a server. The bridge is used for monitoring or logging of requests and associated data flowing between the client and the server, useful for example in problem determination. The bridge is also used for workload balancing between servers. It can further be used to reduce network connectivity between clients and servers. All of these advantages can be achieved without any modifications to existing client or server code.

Overview of Object-Oriented programming
Prior to the development of object-oriented programming, a form of programming known as structured programming was in use is still used extensively. In this technique, various functions are first defined, and the program then consists of calling such defined functions at appropriate times to effect the overall objective of the application program. Such functions define the methods that are used to operate on the data, but do not define the data itself. Structured programming provided the opportunity of a modularised approach--a significant improvement over "spaghetti code" which was difficult to debug and maintain. Nevertheless, several drawbacks to structured programming remain, such as the "semantic gap" between the concepts and entities in the world being modelled by the program and the concepts in the programming language, the textual nature of the program code, and limitations on reusability of code modules.
Subsequently, a new programming paradigm was developed, referred to as object-oriented programming. In this technique, instead of defining functions, "classes" are defined. The class definitions define the methods which any instance of that class can perform and the attributes (or data) that an instance of that class contains. An object is a member of a class and can actually perform the methods which are defined in the class definition. An object has values associated with each of the attributes defined by the class. An object has zero or more attributes and it has zero or more methods that can be performed on the object.
The interface to the object is the way in which the attributes can be accessed through the methods. All objects derived from that class share the interface of that class. The implementation of an object is hidden from the application which calls the object. As long as the interface to the object does not change, the implementation may be completely altered without affecting the application.
As a simplistic example of this technique of describing the external "appearance" of an object without the necessity of describing what it "looks like" or "does" inside, and in order to illustrate the significant benefits of such object-oriented programming, one might imagine, by analogy, a common household toaster, which could be modeled by the object-oriented approach. The external "interface" would consist of the knob, which essentially represents a parameter for adjusting the desired lightness or darkness of the toast, the slot into which the bread is inserted, and a lever for effecting the insertion and activating the toaster. The important concept is that the end-user of such an appliance does not need to know the "internals" of the toaster in order to use it, e.g. whether heat is provided by electricity, or by chemical or other means. All the user would have to do is interface properly with these externals.
The beauty of this evolution in programming is that, continuing with the analogy, the designer of the object, which might be a module of programming code modelling a toaster, may focus on improving the internals of the toaster, making it more efficient, for example, without affecting the user's ability to use the object, in as much as the internals are transparent to the user. Thus, more abstractly, object-oriented technology may be seen essentially as providing the advantage of separation of the interface of an object from its implementation. In a software context, the internals of the object may thereby be rewritten and improved without the necessity of rewriting the entire application program, as long as the external "knobs" etc, and their expected behaviour have not changed.
For further general background regarding object technology to facilitate a better understanding of the invention, reference should be made to "Object Oriented Technology--A Manager's Guide", by David A. Taylor, copyright 1990, Servio Corporation.
With the development of object-oriented programming, several "object models" were further refined and developed by various organisations and software companies. These specified the manner in which one was to define objects and their external interfaces, such various object models providing characteristics of encapsulation and inheritance among others. At an appropriately high level, these various object models are very similar. Examples are the System Object Model (SOM), Common Lisp Object System (CLOS), Smalltalk, and C++. In essence, these various object models are simply a body of rules answering the question of what an object is, each offering slightly different answers when examined at lower levels. For example, various object models differ in their language syntax, and in how encapsulation and inheritance work.
As a direct result of these differences, one problem presented by the availability of different object-oriented languages and object models was that interoperability between object programs written in a mixture of such languages could not be achieved. This problem adversely impacted one of the major promises of object technology, namely reusability of code. In an effort to address this problem plaguing the industry, a Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) was arrived at by committee, which included a standardized Interface Definition Language (IDL). There was in essence an agreement in the industry as to how interfaces of an object would be specified, i.e. a standard for defining object interfaces so that objects defined by one vendor could be utilized by another. See "The Common Object Request Broker:Architecture and Specification", OMG Document Number 91.12.1 Revision 1.1.
Object Request Broker (ORB)
The Object Request Broker (ORB) described in the CORBA architecture is analogous to the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) familiar to those working in the UNIX operating system environments (UNIX is a trademark exclusively licensed through X/Open Co. Ltd).
A prior art system is illustrated in FIG. 1, which is a block diagram of a prior art Object Request Broker located in a client/server environment.
The ORB is split into two parts, part 50 of which executes in each of the clients using the ORB and part 52 of which executes in each of the servers supporting the ORB. Like an RPC, an ORB is a mechanism which allows client applications 48 working in one address space 53 to communicate with objects 51 in another address space 54. Objects 51 located in the other address space 54, that is not the same address space 53 as that in which the client application 48 is executing, are referred to as "remote" objects. Objects located in the same address space 53 as the client application 48 are referred to as "local" objects. An ORB 50 intercepts a call from a client application 48 in one address space 53, encapsulates it into a network protocol, decodes the call for the target object 51 in another address space 54 and returns the results back to the calling client application 48. This allows a client application 48 working in one address space (local) to communicate with objects 51 in another address space (remote). ORB is an improvement upon the RPC as it is designed to provide the higher level of flexibility and power offered by object oriented programming. The function of a proxy object 49 will be discussed further below.
"Object models" have been developed by various organisations and software companies. The object models specify the manner in which objects and their external interfaces are to be defined. One of these object models is System Object Model (SOM) from IBM Corporation. In SOM, all applications using objects run in a single address space in which the objects are also located. A development within SOM is a framework of object classes called Distributed System Object Model (DSOM). In DSOM, applications (running in clients) in one address space may access objects in another address space (such as an address space belonging to a server). These address spaces may be in the same or different systems. In fact, the systems need not be running the same platform. For example, a client application running in an address space on an OS/2 system may access an object that is located in an address space on an AIX/6000 system, or vice versa. Both SOM and DSOM are described in "SOMobjects: A Practical Introduction to SOM and DSOM", published by IBM Corporation, Copyright 1994, Order no. GG24-4357-00.
European Patent Application 0 501 610 discloses a mechanism which allows objects in different processes to communicate. Programs are explicitly written to use the communications Application Programming Interface (API).
The aforementioned System Object Model (SOM) is one object model which conforms to CORBA and IDL. Conformance means that SOM objects follow CORBA semantics, and SOM objects are defined in IDL syntax.
The DSOM framework provides object implementations that insulate the client programmer from having to have knowledge of the location or platform type where a target object will be instantiated. The communications facilities used for this inter-process communication are completely hidden from the programmer.
Client-Server architecture
In a client-server architecture, application programs are divided into distinct tasks that execute as individual components. Each of the components are assigned roles as clients or as servers. A single component may perform the role of a server for some purposes and of a client for other purposes. Each of the components operates independently and assumes certain responsibilities. Those components which are assigned the role of client request services from a server by making method calls on an object in a server process. Those components which are assigned the role of server provide services by receiving these method calls, invoking them on the appropriate object and returning the results to the client. The clients and servers exchange messages using a predefined protocol. Servers can service many clients and clients can draw upon the services of many servers.
In such a system, unless the client or the server have specific code within them, it is not possible to monitor or to log the requests which are made by the client of the server, or to monitor or to log data associated with such requests. It may be desired to monitor or to log such requests for the purposes of problem determination.
In the system described above, workload balancing between servers is not possible, unless the client has been designed to include such workload balancing within the client itself. Disadvantages of including such workload balancing within the client itself are the overhead associated with each request within the client and the complexity introduced into each of the clients including such workload balancing. Workload balancing is desirable in order to improve the overall performance for the client by choosing the server which will offer the best performance.
It is necessary to have a communications link between each of the clients and each of the servers for which it is desired for the client to be able to request services from. In a system where there are many clients and many servers, this results in considerable complexity.

International Business Machines Corporation


A new method of producing an anti-reflection coating is described. The reflective metal layer of an integrated circuit is covered with titanium. The titanium layer is oxidized. The resulting titanium oxide layer is the anti-reflection coating (ARC) of the present invention. This ARC layer is covered with photoresist. The photoresist layer is selectively exposed to light by directing light through a patterned mask to form a pattern on the photoresist layer. The metal layer is etched in accordance with the pattern. The remaining resist is stripped off. An inter-metal dielectric layer is deposited over the patterned first metal and titanium oxide layers. A second photoresist layer is deposited and selectively exposed to light through a second photomask. The titanium oxide layer again acts to limit the reflection of light off the first metal layer and through the transparent inter-metal dielectric. The exposed inter-metal layer is etched away to the underlying first metal layer. The remaining photoresist is removed. In-situ sputtering, performed to remove native metal oxide, also removes any of the remaining titanium oxide layer. This results in the desired pattern of openings in the inter-metal dielectric. A subsequent metal layer can be deposited, making contact with the first metal through the openings created in the inter-metal dielectric.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photolithographic techniques in semiconductor manufacturing and, more particularly, to anti-reflection coating for metal photolithography.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In the construction of semiconductor integrated circuits, a photoresist layer covering the metal layer is selectively exposed to actinic light through a photomask resulting in the pattern on the photoresist layer. The exposed metal layer is etched away to the underlying dielectric layer.
The high reflectivity of the metal layer could scatter the light so that the photoresist under the masked areas would be exposed resulting in an incorrect patterning of the metal layer. It is a known practice in the prior art to use an anti-reflection layer between the metal and the photoresist layers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,611 to Arnold, III et al describes the use of a titanium nitride anti-reflection layer over titanium or aluminum. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,615 to Brady et al describes the use of a metal-silicon-nitride anti-reflection layer where the metal in said layer is titanium, chromium, or the like.

TiO.sub.x as an anti-reflection coating for metal lithography

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A folding electronic device includes a first main body having a first housing, an engagement unit, a second main body engaged with the first main body, and a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism includes a hook member, a hook driving member, a first reset driving member, and a latch member. The hook member is fixed to the first main body. The latch member is fixed to the second main body. The hook driving member drives the hook member to protrude from the first housing to latch with the latch member when the electronic device is folded. The reset driving member retracts the hook member into the first housing when the electronic device is unfolded.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to folding electronic devices, and more particular to a folding electronic device with a protected locking mechanism for locking the folding electronic device in a folded state.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices, such as laptop computers, have two main bodies (e.g. a display body and a keyboard body) engaged with each other and a locking mechanism for locking the two main bodies together when the laptop computer is in a folded state. Generally, the locking mechanism includes a hook element and a latch element for the hook element. However, the hook element of the locking mechanism is usually exposed outside when the laptop computer is in an unfolded state, which leaves the hook element of the locking mechanism vulnerable to damage, and the reliability of the locking mechanism is thus reduced.
What is needed is a folding electronic device that can overcome the above-described limitations.

Folding electronic device with retracting locking mechanism

Fu Tai Hua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


A LED lighting device extending substantially along an axis and having a LED light source; a light guide located in front of the light source and extending between a proximal end substantially facing the light source, and a distal end opposite the proximal end; and an optical system associated with the light source to direct the luminous flux emitted by the light source; the light guide being shaped so as to generate at the distal end of the light guide an emissive surface equivalent to the real emitting surface of the light source at a predetermined position with respect to the optical system.

As is known, LEDs were initially only used as indicator lights, but are now also being used more widely for room lighting.
Various configurations of LED lighting devices are known.
However, achieving satisfactory light distribution and intensity, especially in applications such as museum lighting, still poses problems.
Known LED lighting devices therefore still leave room for improvement, especially in terms of performance, efficiency and easy manufacture.

LED lighting device, in particular catadioptric spotlight


A soft-start apparatus for a power supply outputs a compensation signal to a PWM controller as the power supply starts up. Meanwhile, a pulse width of a switching signal outputted from the PWM controller gradually increases from an initial value to a determined value. The pulse width of the switching signal is then timely modulated in response to the load conditions thereat so as to prevent a power switch from over-voltage and over-current damage as the power supply starts up.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a soft-start apparatus for a power supply and, more particularly to a soft-start apparatus featuring an increasing pulse width of a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal as the power supply starts up.
2. Description of Related Art
Various power supplies have been widely used to provide a regulated output voltage. FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a traditional power supply comprising a switching circuit 30, a switching controller 10, an output inductor L, an output capacitor C1, a voltage divider formed by resistors R1 and R2, a compensation network formed by a resistor R3 and a capacitor C2. An output terminal OUT of the switching controller 10 generates a switching signal VPWM to control a power switch of the switching circuit 30. Therefore, an output voltage VO of the power supply can be regulated.
The switching controller 10 includes a comparator 162, an oscillator 168, a D-type flip-flop 166 and an error amplifier 160. The oscillator 168 generates a saw signal VSAW, which determines a switching frequency of the switching signal VPWM. A positive input of the error amplifier 160 is supplied with a reference voltage VREF. A negative input of the error amplifier 160 is connected to a feedback terminal FB of the switching controller 10 for receiving a feedback voltage VFB. The error amplifier 160 generates a compensation signal VCOM in response to the reference voltage VREF and the feedback voltage VFB. The comparator 162 turns off the switching signal VPWM via the D-type flip-flop 166 whenever the saw signal VSAW exceeds the compensation signal VCOM. A pulse width of the switching signal VPWM is then determined by the operation of the comparator 162.
Referring to FIG. 1, various waveforms at a start-up transient of the traditional power supply is illustrated in FIG. 2. Since the feedback voltage VFB is extremely low at the start-up transient of the traditional power supply, the error amplifier 160 outputs a high compensation voltage VCOM. This causes a wide pulse width of the switching signal VPWM. That is to say, the switching signal VPWM retains a maximum pulse width when the output voltage VO is insufficient at the start-up transient of the power supply. When the time to build a normal output voltage extends, voltage and current stress of the power switch of the switching circuit 30 will inevitably increases.


Dormant seeds , e.g., of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions, impatiens and primrose, are produced by soaking non-dormant seeds in a solution of gibberellin synthesis inhibitor, preferably tetcyclacis, preferably in the dark at 25.degree. C. to 350.degree. C. for at least 24 hours, washing to remove the inhibitor and drying to original seed weight. The dormancy can be released by application of a gibberellin, and in some cases by moist chilling, or exposure to light at 25.degree. C. to 35.degree. C.

The seeds of many plants are non-dormant, i.e., they readily germinate in light and/or darkness. This limits the way in which these seeds may be utilized. In other words, they must be planted at certain times of the year or a certain time before the desired maturity date.
Inducing releasable dormancy in these seeds allows the use of different planting strategies than now are used. This is especially important in the bedding plant industry. For example, imparting releasable dormancy to seeds allows planting the seeds in containers which are kept at room temperature and releasing the dormancy upon consumer demands or in accordance with a schedule set up by need. Furthermore, inducing releasable dormancy allows flexibility in field planting and is of importance especially in those areas where conditions are not conducive to spring planting (e.g., soft or muddy soil) since seeds imparted with releasable induced dormancy can be planted in the fall for germination in the spring.


Structures, systems and methods for transistors utilizing oxide nanolaminates are provided. One transistor embodiment includes a first source/drain region, a second source/drain region, and a channel region therebetween. A gate is separated from the channel region by a gate insulator. The gate insulator includes oxide insulator nanolaminate layers with charge trapping in potential wells formed by different electron affinities of the insulator nanolaminate layers.

Many electronic products need various amounts of memory to store information, e.g. data. One common type of high speed, low cost memory includes dynamic random access memory (DRAM) comprised of individual DRAM cells arranged in arrays. DRAM cells include an access transistor, e.g a metal oxide semiconducting field effect transistor (MOSFET), coupled to a capacitor cell.
Another type of high speed, low cost memory includes floating gate memory cells. A conventional horizontal floating gate transistor structure includes a source region and a drain region separated by a channel region in a horizontal substrate. A floating gate is separated by a thin tunnel gate oxide. The structure is programmed by storing a charge on the floating gate. A control gate is separated from the floating gate by an intergate dielectric. A charge stored on the floating gate effects the conductivity of the cell when a read voltage potential is applied to the control gate. The state of cell can thus be determined by sensing a change in the device conductivity between the programmed and un-programmed states.
With successive generations of DRAM chips, an emphasis continues to be placed on increasing array density and maximizing chip real estate while minimizing the cost of manufacture. It is further desirable to increase array density with little or no modification of the DRAM optimized process flow.
Multilayer insulators have been previously employed in memory devices. The devices in the above references employed oxide-tungsten oxide-oxide layers. Other previously described structures described have employed charge-trapping layers implanted into graded layer insulator structures.
More recently oxide-nitride-oxide structures have been described for high density nonvolatile memories. All of these are variations on the original MNOS memory structure described by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1969 which was conceptually generalized to include trapping insulators in general for constructing memory arrays.
Studies of charge trapping in MNOS structures have also been conducted by White and others.
Some commercial and military applications utilized non-volatile MNOS memories.
However, these structures did not gain widespread acceptance and use due to their variability in characteristics and unpredictable charge trapping phenomena. They all depended upon the trapping of charge at interface states between the oxide and other insulator layers or poorly characterized charge trapping centers in the insulator layers themselves. Since the layers were deposited by CVD, they are thick, have poorly controlled thickness and large surface state charge-trapping center densities between the layers.
Thus, there is an ongoing need for improved DRAM technology compatible transistor cells. It is desirable that such transistor cells be fabricated on a DRAM chip with little or no modification of the DRAM process flow. It is further desirable that such transistor cells provide increased density and high access and read speeds.    Boulin et al., "Semiconductor Memory Apparatus with a Multi-Layer Insulator Contacting the Semiconductor." U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,054;    Kahng et al., "Method for Fabricating Multilayer Insulator-Semiconductor Memory Apparatus," U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,085;    DiMaria, D. J., "Graded or Stepped Energy Band-Gap-Insulator MIS structures (GI-MIS or SI-MIS), " Journal of Applied Physics, 50(9), 5826–9 (September, 1979);    DeKeersmaecker et al., "Non-Volatile Memory Devices Fabricated From Graded or Stepped Energy Band Gap Insulator MIM or MIS Structure," U.S. Pat. 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An optical scanning device includes a deflecting unit that deflects a laser beam from a light source in a main-scanning direction; a scanning imaging unit that focuses the laser beam deflected by the deflecting unit on a scanning surface and scans the scanning surface with focused laser beam; and a light receiving unit that detects optical intensity of the laser beam and a synchronous timing in the main-scanning direction and that includes a plurality of photodetecting elements arranged on a substrate in the main-scanning direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanning device that scans a scanning surface with a light beam emitted from a light source including a plurality of light-emitting units for an image forming apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tandem-type color image forming apparatus is widely used as a color image forming apparatus such as a color laser printer.
As a color-image forming apparatus such as a color laser printer, a tandem-type color-image forming apparatus is known. The tandem-type color-image forming apparatus typically includes a plurality of optical scanning units each including a plurality of scanning imaging lenses. Each of the optical scanning units scans a corresponding photosensitive element as a scanning surface, which is driven to rotate by a driving unit, with a laser beam to write image data of a corresponding color on the photosensitive element thereby forming an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image of the corresponding color by a developing unit. Then, toner images of different colors are transferred onto a printing sheet in a superimposed manner, thereby forming a full color image on the printing sheet.
Each of the optical scanning units emits laser beams with predetermined intervals therebetween from a semiconductor laser unit that is controlled to drive based on image signals of each color. The laser beams are focused on a uniformly charged surface of the photosensitive element via optical components such as a polygon mirror and a lens and scan the surface of the photosensitive element in a main-scanning direction. Furthermore, the laser beams scan the photosensitive element in a sub-scanning direction based on image signals corresponding to each color along with the rotation of the photosensitive element, to write the image data on the surface of the photosensitive element thereby forming the electrostatic latent images.
In an optical scanning device used in such a tandem-type color-image forming apparatus, structural components are arranged such that each of the laser beams that heads towards a corresponding photosensitive element passes through a different path. Therefore, a sub-scanning position of each of the laser beams that performs scanning is likely to differ for each color (fluctuation in shape of scan lines, so-called bend of a scan line, inclination of a scan line, and a sub-scanning write position (sub-scanning registration position)), thereby causing a color shift.
Specifically, when using a relatively inexpensive plastic scanning imaging lens, a shape of the plastic scanning imaging lens can be changed due to a change in temperature conditions during resin molding or an individual difference in molds at the time of multicavity molding, and the color shift becomes more severe. Moreover, the scanning imaging lens undergoes thermal deformation due to an impact of environmental temperature at a place where the color-image forming apparatus is installed or temperature rise within the color-image forming apparatus. Thus, a position of the optical beam is likely to change.
If a timing to write the electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive elements is not accurately adjusted among respective colors, a registration position shift (sub-scanning registration shift) occurs, thereby causing the color shift.
In existing technologies, such a scanning position shift is periodically detected at the time of apparatus startup or between jobs, etc. by using a registration-position-shift detection pattern that is registered on a transfer body and correction is carried out based on a result of detecting the pattern. However, at the time of continuous print operation, the scanning position further changes due to heat generation of a fixing vessel or a motor that drives the polygon mirror. Thus, if a large number of prints are necessary in a job, the color shift gradually increases.
In a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-298563, for energy saving of a light source system, the color-image forming apparatus includes a splitting unit that splits a light beam FO emitted from the light source into at least a light beam FM and a light beam FS, and a detection optical system that optically guides the split light beam FM to a detecting unit. In a vertical section in a direction of the light beam FO, an optical component proximal to a point that is an intensity peak of the light beam FO is included only in the light beam FS without being included in the light beam FM. Thus, the light beam becomes substantially circular or elliptical and the intensity peak is formed at the substantial center.
The peak portion of the light is supplied to outside and the remaining portion of the light is detected for controlling an optical intensity. Thus, the optical intensity can be controlled and light can be efficiently supplied to outside. Consequently, increase in light use efficiency, energy saving, and reduction in environmental load can be realized.
In an existing technology, to achieve high speed and high density in the optical scanning device, a multibeam writing using a surface-emitting-laser light source is disclosed. However, with this optical scanning device, because the optical intensity is relatively low and the intensity fluctuation is caused by an environmental change, some problems arise such as that an optical-intensity-correction control needs to be performed with high accuracy (for example, instead of a back monitor photodiode (PD) such as the one used in an edge-emitting laser unit, a front monitor PD is required).
As described in the technology mentioned earlier, in the color-image forming apparatus that splits the light beam and detects the optical intensity, detection efficiency is degraded. Specifically, in the surface-emitting laser unit in which sufficient optical intensity is hardly obtained from the light source, accuracy in optical-intensity detection is degraded.

Optical scanning device and image forming apparatus


A battery case includes a first cell accommodating portion that accommodates a first number of battery cells, and a second cell accommodating portion that accommodates a second number of battery cells, smaller than the first number. The second cell accommodating portion is shorter than the first cell accommodating portion in one of three directions parallel to sides of the battery case. The battery case further includes a board accommodating portion, which is adjacent to the second cell accommodating portion in the one of the three directions, and that accommodates a circuit board therein; a first partition wall arranged between the first cell accommodating portion and the board accommodating portion; and a second partition wall arranged between the second cell accommodating portion and the board accommodating portion. Thus, the thickness of the battery is reduced and the circuit board is separated from the battery cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery, a battery case, and an electric vehicle, for example, a straddle type vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-087909, there is disclosed a battery pack constructed such that, together with a printed wiring board, a battery stack including a plurality of stacked unit cells is housed in a housing vessel having a rectangular parallelepiped shape.
Thinning of a battery to be mounted to an electric vehicle or the like may be required. For example, in a straddle type electric vehicle, in general, the battery is arranged below a seat. Accordingly, it is preferred that the battery be thin in a vehicle width direction so as to enable a rider to easily straddle the vehicle.
Further, in a battery to be mounted to the electric vehicle or the like, in addition to battery cells, a circuit board that controls charging and storing of an amount of a remaining charge is sometimes provided. It is desirable to use a configuration capable of preventing the circuit board from being soaked in a leaking electrolyte even if or when electrolyte leaks from the battery cells.

Battery, battery case, and electric vehicle


The present invention provides a method for forming an optical waveguide characterized by applying a paste containing a copper compound to a glass substrate containing an alkali metal as a glass component over the whole surface thereof or in a patterned form, and performing heat treatment at a temperature lower than the softening temperature of the glass substrate.

Methods for producing an optical waveguide are roughly classified into thin film deposition methods and ion exchange methods.
The thin film deposition method is a method of depositing an optical waveguide layer having silica as a principal component on a substrate made of silicon, etc. Specifically, sputtering methods, CVD methods, flame deposition methods and the like are known. Disadvantageously, all these methods need high vacuum equipment for the production of waveguides and use complicated production processes, therefore resulting in increased costs. Also, in the CVD methods, flame deposition methods, etc., dangerous gases, such as SiH4, SiCl4 or the like, may be used, entailing high costs. Furthermore, the flame deposition method has disadvantages in that exposure to the high temperatures of about 1200° C. to about 1300° C. in the production process tends to degrade the substrate, and in addition causes internal stress in the substrate, increasing the polarization dependence of guided light, as well as other problems.
The ion exchange method is a method of using a multi-component glass which contains Na+ ions as a substrate and immersing the glass substrate in a molten salt containing K+ ions, Tl+ ions, Ag+ ions, etc. to exchange Na+ ions in the glass for K+ ions, Tl+ ions, Ag+ions or the like in the molten salt. Further, during the ion exchange, an electric field may be applied to increase the ion exchange rate, ion diffusion rate, etc. This method can raise the refractive index of the portion where ion exchange has been carried out, forming an optical waveguide layer. Unlike the thin film deposition method, the ion exchange method does not need a high vacuum, and the temperature of a molten salt is usually in the range of about 250° C. to about 400° C. Thus the production facilities are low-cost. However, it is necessary to strictly control the composition, temperature, etc. of the molten salt, which influence the rate of ion exchange, the rate of ion diffusion in the glass substrate, etc. Moreover, the temperature of ion exchange is influenced by the melting temperature of the molten salt. Therefore, when producing an optical waveguide having a desired refractive index profile by the ion exchange method using a molten salt, a high level of expertise is needed in the determination of ion exchange conditions such as the composition and temperature of the molten salt, processing time, etc.
Furthermore, since the ions introduced by the ion exchange method are monovalent cations, the ions used at present are limited to K+, Tl+, Ag+, etc., in almost all cases. However, these ions only serve to increase the refractive index of a waveguide portion. Therefore, an optical waveguide produced by introducing these ions only confines light in the waveguide layer and propagates the light from one side of the waveguide to the other. It is difficult to provide a waveguide with active optical functions, such as optical amplification, switching, etc.
The production of a waveguide having optically active functionality can be achieved by dispersing the ions, chemical species, etc. which can emit light with high efficiency or have the capability of changing the index of refraction with the intensity of light, that is, a high optical nonlinearity. Then, the emission of light enables optical amplification by induced radiation, and optical nonlinearity enables optical switching. One example of the ion with such characteristics is the copper(I) ion, and chemical species with such characteristics are copper(I) halide fine particles, copper(I) oxide fine particles, copper metal fine particles, etc. These are chemical species formed from monovalent copper ions or metallic copper produced by the reduction of copper ions; therefore, introducing monovalent copper ions into glass for the production of a waveguide makes it possible to provide the above-mentioned optically active waveguide.
In recent years, attempts have been made to produce an optical waveguide by introducing Cu+ ions (F. Gonella, F. Caccavale, L. D. Bogomolova, F. D'Acapito and A. Quaranta, J. Appl. Phys. 83, 1200 (1998); Jarmila Spirkova, Pavlina Nebolova, Ivan Jirka, Karel Mach, Vratislav Perina, Anna Mackova and Gabrila Kuncova, SPIE, Photonics West 2001, Conference 4277-47 (January 2001)). These references disclose that a molten salt of a copper(I) halide, a mixed CuSO4—Na2SO4 molten salt, etc. are used for introducing copper ions by ion exchange. However, when a copper(I) halide molten salt is used, ion exchange needs to be performed in a reducing atmosphere because Cu+ ions tend to be oxidized in air. When a mixed CuSO4—Na2SO4 molten salt is used, ions are exchanged after Cu2+ is reduced to Cu+, so that the rate of ion exchange is slow, and its control is difficult. Further, in a waveguide thus produced, monovalent copper ions and divalent copper ions are mixed, making it difficult to control the refractive index of the waveguide. Furthermore, the great difference in diffusion rate between the coexistent monovalent and divalent copper ions makes it extremely difficult to control the cross-sectional profile of the waveguide. Further problems also arise, including the difficulty of controlling the state of Cu+ present in the waveguide to obtain the desired optical characteristics.

Abstract: The method of the invention can produce an optical waveguide without the need for a high vacuum as in the thin film deposition method and without the use of a molten salt, and is capable of dispersing Cu+ ions selectively in a glass substrate with excellent controllability.

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


A new Bidens plant named ‘Bidori’ particularly distinguished by its trailing plant habit and golden yellow flowers all over the plants.

The present invention relates to a new distinct cultivar of Bidens, botanically known as Bidens ferulifolia, native to South USA and Mexico.
The new cultivar is propagated by cuttings resulting from a seedling from a combination between two unnamed selections from own breeding of Bidens ferulifolia 'B0539-1' and 'A0320.' Seed of this combination was harvested in 2001 and the new variety 'Bidori' was selected in 2002 as one of the plants of this population. This new plant is an annual.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands. The new Bidens is trailing, vigorous, and floriferous. 'Bidori' was asexually reproduced by cuttings over a 4 year period and trialled under different conditions in Europe. The new variety is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A power supply system includes: a switching power supply configured to rectify and smooth an AC voltage of an AC power supply to generate a predetermined DC voltage; a low-capacity power supply circuit that generates a zero-cross detection signal corresponding to zero-cross points of the AC power supply based on a rectified current flowing in a smoothing capacitor; and a controller configured to receive the zero-cross detection signal from the signal generating circuit and perform a determining process of determining whether it is possible to perform detection process of the zero-cross points based on a voltage value of the zero-cross detection signal. If the control unit determines that it is possible to perform the detection process of the zero-cross points, the control unit performs a zero-cross point detecting process of detecting the zero-cross points based on the zero-cross detection signal.

The present invention relates to a power supply system and an image forming apparatus having the power supply system, and particularly, to a technology for detecting the zero-cross points of an AC voltage.
In the related art, as an example of a technology for detecting the zero-cross points (zero-cross timings) of an AC voltage, there is known a technology disclosed in JP2010-239774A. In JP2010-239774A, there is disclosed a technology for using a photocoupler to detect the zero-cross points of an AC voltage.

Power supply system and image forming apparatus having the same


A more uniform plasma process is implemented for treating a treatment object using an inductively coupled plasma source which produces an asymmetric plasma density pattern at the treatment surface using a slotted electrostatic shield having uniformly spaced-apart slots. The slotted electrostatic shield is modified in a way which compensates for the asymmetric plasma density pattern to provide a modified plasma density pattern at the treatment surface. A more uniform radial plasma process is described in which an electrostatic shield arrangement is configured to replace a given electrostatic shield in a way which provides for producing a modified radial variation characteristic across the treatment surface. The inductively coupled plasma source defines an axis of symmetry and the electrostatic shield arrangement is configured to include a shape that extends through a range of radii relative to the axis of symmetry.

This invention pertains generally to manufacturing of semiconductor and/or optoelectronic devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for improving uniformity of etching or deposition of a thin film on a substrate in manufacturing of a semiconductor device.
In manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuit and optoelectronic devices, there are a number processing steps where layers of material are patterned or deposited on the substrate. The rate of etching or deposition of such material is often critical to the success of the process and the proper function of the transistors and interconnects in the integrated circuit or to integrated optical components. To guarantee high die yields, these rates must be tightly controlled and uniform across the entire wafer area. Often, such etching or deposition is done in a reactor where the plasma is generated by an inductively coupled source.
Uniformity of etching, deposition rate or deposited film properties on each wafer in such a reactor depends on maintaining good uniformity of the flux with its reactive constituents, ions and radicals to the wafer. This requires a specific profile of power deposition into the plasma from the induction antenna. This profile, depending on the reactor shape and gas pressure, then makes the generation rates of ions and neutral reactive species nearly constant above the wafer. Both these rates are functions of the gas density and electron energy distribution and they must be reasonably uniform spatially. The energy of plasma electrons in inductively coupled plasma sources is provided by the radio frequency electric field that is generated by the excitation coil or coils. Such coil(s) often provide E-M energy to the plasma in the source in a non-axisymmetric way or distributed radially so that there are azimuthal or radially dependent (respectively) non-uniformities in the plasma adjacent to the wafer. Both non-uniformities need to be eliminated to make the plasma properties and the etching or CVD deposition rate uniform.
Inductive coupling of RF power to the plasma in the source is typically done using an RF coil wound approximately helically around an axi-symmetric vacuum vessel. When powered by an RF power source, this coil produces both RF magnetic and electric fields in the source volume—if there is no electrostatic shield. While the inductive electric field (produced by the changing magnetic flux) is efficient in providing energy to electrons and maintaining the plasma, the electrostatic electric fields (arising from the RF potential on the coil) are not necessary and can cause plasma potential modulation. This electrostatic electric field causes poorly controlled sheath potentials, electrical charge damage to the semiconductor and optical devices, and contributes to the sputtering of vessel material onto the substrate. In order to reduce these problems, a slotted electrostatic shield may be placed between the RF coil and the vacuum vessel (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,231, issued to Savas and which is incorporated herein by reference). Such a shield can significantly reduce the undesirable electrostatic fields from conducting displacement currents from the coil into the plasma—which then causes plasma potential modulation and the other aforementioned undesirable effects. An electrostatic shield of any type may be used with an inductively coupled plasma source, but for RF power to penetrate the shield, a slotted electrostatic shield has been found to be an effective approach.
Electrostatic shields, despite their known benefits for process control and avoidance of metal contamination, have up to this time been seen to have little potential for control of the uniformity of the plasma in inductively coupled plasma sources. Applicants are unaware of any attempt thus far to use electrostatic shields to control the uniformity of a plasma or a process using an inductively coupled plasma.
Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art frustoconical-shaped electrostatic shield 101 is diagrammatically illustrated having a plasma generation coil 102 wound about the shield and having evenly spaced slots 103 distributed about its circumference. Inside shield 101 is a plasma containing vessel 104. Slots 103 extend both above and below the coil turns so as to make magnetic field penetration more efficient. Such shields have virtually always been symmetrical with regularly spaced slots of constant width. Accordingly, such a shield configuration has little or no effect on plasma non-uniformity, either azimuthal or radial. Normally, the most persistent non-uniformity in such plasma sources is the radial non-uniformity. Until this time, the normal way to reduce this type of plasma non-uniformity to low levels has been to use a large plasma source diameter. In order to achieve the few percent uniformity required in etching or CVD systems for semiconductors, plasma sources are normally almost twice the diameter of the wafers processed. Commonly, the plasma source is 14 inches to 16 inches in diameter to provide adequate uniformity for 8 inch wafers, whether shielded or not. Unfortunately, such large sources tend to require proportionally larger wafer transport chambers which makes the etching/CVD system more expensive and requiring proportionally more of the very expensive floor space in a semiconductor fabrication facility (Fab). This appears to be the situation to date, irrespective of the fact that there is an economic reason to make the plasma source of the Etch/CVD chamber as small as possible, consistent with the requisite process uniformity.
Smaller size sources with good radial uniformity have been produced, but only so long as the pressure and power ranges of operation are small. Since the shape of the source has a strong influence on the radial variation in the plasma density, it can be made specifically to optimize uniformity for some narrow source conditions. However, the source cannot then be used for processes with substantially different gas pressures or power levels.
This result obtains since the gas pressure strongly affects the transport of energetic electrons in the source and therefore the ionization rate profile. The ability of a plasma source to be useful at widely different pressure and gas compositions is very valuable for process versatility in the IC Fab. Yet, the economic benefits of the smaller sources are substantial and, therefore, it would be desirable to find a way to make such small sources flexible in the conditions for which uniform plasma density can be achieved.
The azimuthal non-uniformity in the plasma density of a source can be significant for high RF frequency for plasma generation or non-helical excitation coil configurations. In the case of high RF frequency this is due to the variation of the RF current as a function of the position on the coil. Frequencies of 13.56 MHz for a 14-inch plasma source typically result in variations of about 10% to more than 20% variation in the magnitude of the RF current on the excitation coil. Therefore, the azimuthal non-uniformity can be substantial and this will cause there to be an azimuthal variation in the power delivered to the plasma. Such azimuthal variation in power injection will cause a similar type non-uniformity of the plasma density, whose magnitude will depend on the pressure of the gas in the source and its size. Yet, use of such a high frequency for powering the source offers benefits since the generators and matching networks are well understood and it is an ISM standard frequency. Therefore, it would be desirable to have an effective way to compensate for the non-axisymmetry of the power injection from a multi-turn excitation coil.
It is submitted that, in the prior art, the slot density or slot size in electrostatic shields has always been axisymmetric and unable to mitigate or reduce the azimuthal non-uniformity due to the asymmetry of power injection into inductively coupled plasma. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,529, issued to Johnson, uses axially varying slot lengths or locations to adjust the axial location of a plasma formed in a cylindrical source, but assumes axisymmetry, as well as a proper (uniform) radial density of the plasma. In Johnson, the variable length slots, produced by a two-part shield, are used only with a cylindrical shield, that is disposed directly between the RF coil and the plasma chamber. Johnson explicitly teaches that this shield variability may be used for the purpose of adjusting the position of the plasma above the wafer. Specifically, Johnson teaches using the slot shape adjustment only for adjusting the location of the plasma and not at all the shape of the plasma.
Accordingly, there remains an unfulfilled need in the prior art to reduce or eliminate plasma azimuthal non-uniformity for purposes of enhancing the value of high frequency or non-axisymmetric inductively coupled sources in manufacturing processes. Moreover, it would be desirable to provide for uniform, adjustable radial plasma parameters.

Slotted electrostatic shield modification for improved etch and CVD process uniformity


A piston pump with a piston coaxially slidable in a chamber for dispensing fluid out of a discharge tube which extends normal to the axis about which the piston is slidable in the chamber with a stroke stop member rotatably journalled on the discharge tube for pivoting between different positions in which the stroke stop member limits inward sliding of the piston into the chamber to different extents.

Stroke adjustment mechanisms are known to adjust the stroke of a piston pump by limiting the distance a piston may be moved relative to a piston chamber. Known stroke adjustment mechanisms require a separately manufactured element for mounting on the piston chamber and resulting in difficulties in assembly and increased expense.


A combination torpedo tube test plug and muzzle door for a torpedo tube iudes a circumferential land formed at an extreme muzzle end of the torpedo tube. The circumferential land has an inner peripheral diameter less than an inner peripheral diameter of the torpedo tube, and an inner peripheral transition surface contiguously joining the inner peripheral surface of the torpedo tube. An abutting face is formed on an end of the muzzle door facing the circumferential land. A lip extension extends from the abutting face. The lip extension includes an outer peripheral surface mating with the inner peripheral surface of the circumferential land, and a device for selectively securing the lip extension to the inner peripheral surface of the circumferential land, wherein separation of the muzzle door from the torpedo tube is prevented.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a torpedo tube test plug. More particularly, this invention is intended to eliminate the need for a conventional or known submarine torpedo tube test plug, thereby eliminating the cost for the plug, and to simplify the procedure for pressure testing a torpedo tube.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Existing torpedo tube test plugs are substantially similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 through 8 of the present application by way of example only. In particular, a breech door at a breech end (not shown) of a torpedo tube barrel 10 and all of the torpedo tube mechanisms are subjected to sea pressure from within the torpedo tube 10 under normal operating conditions.
However, as particularly shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a muzzle door 16 at a muzzle end 22 of the torpedo tube 10 is only subjected to pressure when it is closed and an ambient sea pressure is greater than a pressure within the torpedo tube barrel 10. This excessive pressure condition occurs whenever the torpedo tube breech door (not shown) is open, the torpedo tube 10 is not flooded, the torpedo tube 10 is flooded but not pressure equalized, or the ship is diving faster than the pressure equalization system can keep up with the increase in sea pressure. Therefore, the conventional muzzle door 16 is designed to withstand pressure from the sea rather than from inside of the torpedo tube 10.
For this reason, a muzzle door gasket 18 is known to be designed and provided in connection with the muzzle door 16 so that an increase in depth will improve the sealing capabilities of the muzzle door 16; however, the torpedo tube muzzle door mechanism with a hydraulic power cylinder has insufficient power or force to hold the muzzle door 16 closed with high internal pressure.
FIGS. 1 and 2, in particular, reflect an initial known configuration for a torpedo tube test plug 20. The torpedo tube test plug 20 is used to plug the muzzle end 22 of the torpedo tube 10 when it is necessary to pressurize the torpedo tube 10 to validate its strength or tightness.
In operation, the muzzle door 16 of the torpedo tube barrel 10 is opened and the torpedo tube test plug 20 is slid into the muzzle end 22 of the torpedo tube barrel 10. The test plug 20 has a seal 24 which seals against an interior surface of the torpedo tube 10. A circular segmented key 26 having at least four segments 26a, 26b, 26cand 26d is then placed into a keyway 28 in the torpedo tube 10 and each segment 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d is bolted to the test plug 20. As shown, a plurality of bolt apertures 12 are provided through which corresponding bolts 14 are inserted for securing the segments 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d to the test plug 20. Finally, a special guide slot plug 30 is installed to seal a guide stud slot 32.
This configuration has been very effective for its intended purpose and has been used for many years. Some disadvantages do exist, however, including that the test plug 20 can only be installed when a ship is in drydock. Another disadvantage is that the manufacturing, storage, installation and removal, all add considerably to the cost associated with high pressure testing of a torpedo tube 10.
When the SSN 21 Class was being developed, it was decided to overcome the disadvantage associated with the necessity to drydock a ship for installation of a test plug. FIGS. 3 through 6 reflect the testing configurations which were developed thereafter.
In this configuration, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the muzzle door 16 is actually used to seal the muzzle end 22 of the torpedo tube. However, in order to prevent the muzzle door 16 from lifting off its seat when pressure is applied to the inside of the torpedo tube 10, sixteen pie shaped segments 34 are keyed into the torpedo tube barrel 10 and bolted with a plurality of bolts 36 directly into the muzzle door 16. When pressure is applied to the inside of the muzzle door 16, the pie shaped segments 34 pull attachment bolts 36 such that a pointed end 38 of the segments tend to cantilever toward the center 40 of the door 16. This bending of the pie shaped segments 34 at the pointed end 38 thereof, could produce high stresses in the torpedo tube keyway 28. In order to counteract this situation, a center support cylinder 42 is placed in the center 40 of the door 16 to prevent the segments 34 from bending and producing the high stress area.
This fixture eliminates the need for a separate test plug and may be installed while the ship is waterborne. However, some disadvantages remain, including that torpedo tube lands 44 and 46 have to be removed in order to install the sixteen segments 34. These lands 44 and 46 are bolted and pinned to the inside of the torpedo tube barrel 10 and their removal and re-installation is a substantial undertaking. In addition, once the lands 44 and 46 are removed, the installation of the sixteen segments 36 is difficult and time consuming as the installer has to lay in the torpedo tube barrel while lifting, positioning and bolting rather heavy pieces in locations which are awkward to access.
With the development of the New Attack Submarine it was decided that it was still desirable to pressure test a torpedo tube while the ship was waterborne, but a clamping system was desired which would not require the removal of the torpedo tube lands 44 and 46.
The clamping mechanism designed for the New Attack submarine is reflected by FIGS. 5-8. In this configuration, four fixtures 48a, 48b, 48c, and 48d are manufactured so that they fit between the torpedo tube lands 44 and 46 and are keyed into the keyway 28 in the torpedo tube barrel. Each fixture 48a, 48b, 48c, and 48d is held in place by fasteners 50 which hold the respective fixture to the barrel 10. Once the fixtures 48 are held to the barrel 10, four bolts 52 are threaded into the muzzle door 16. The design is a significant improvement over the previous design but it still requires the installation of a plurality of bolts 50 and 52 and four rather large and heavy segments 48 in an extremely cramped working space. In addition, the fasteners and segments must be stored and then carried through the length of the torpedo tube 10 to their installation location.
None of the prior art teaches or suggests a torpedo tube test plug as disclosed in the present application which can be easily installed while the submarine is waterborne.

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


A turbine airfoil includes pressure and suction sidewalls extending along a span from a base to a tip. Spanwise spaced apart trailing edge cooling holes in pressure sidewall end at corresponding spanwise spaced apart trailing edge cooling slots extending chordally substantially to trailing edge. Each cooling hole includes an asymmetric flow cross section through one or more asymmetric intermediate sections leading into slot. Flow cross section is asymmetric with respect to a mid-plane extending axially and spanwise through intermediate sections. Different trailing edge cooling holes may include different asymmetric flow cross sections. Lands may extend between the cooling slots. A raised floor may extend away from at least one of pressure or suction sidewalls at least partially through one or more asymmetric intermediate sections and optionally at least partially through cooling slot. Raised floor may include up and down ramps and a flat transition section between ramps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gas turbine engine turbine airfoil cooling and, more specifically, to turbine airfoil trailing edge cooling holes leading into trailing edge cooling slots.
2. Description of Related Art
In a gas turbine engine, air is pressurized in a compressor and mixed with fuel in a combustor for generating hot combustion gases. The hot gases are channeled through various stages of a turbine which extract energy therefrom for powering the compressor and producing work, such as powering an upstream fan in a typical aircraft turbofan engine application.
The turbine stages include stationary turbine nozzles having a row of hollow vanes which channel the combustion gases into a corresponding row of rotor blades extending radially outwardly from a supporting rotor disk. The vanes and blades have corresponding hollow airfoils with corresponding cooling circuits therein.
The cooling air is typically compressor discharge air which is diverted from the combustion process and, therefore, decreases overall efficiency of the engine. The amount of cooling air must be minimized for maximizing the efficiency of the engine, but sufficient cooling air must nevertheless be used for adequately cooling the turbine airfoils for maximizing their useful life during operation. Each airfoil includes a generally concave pressure sidewall and, an opposite, generally convex suction sidewall extending longitudinally or radially outwardly along a span from an airfoil base to an airfoil tip and axially in chordwise direction between leading and trailing edges. For a turbine blade, the airfoil span extends from a root at the radially inner platform to a radially outer tip spaced from a surrounding turbine shroud. For a turbine vane, the airfoil extends from a root integral with a radially inner band to a radially outer tip integral with an outer band.
Each turbine airfoil also initially increases in thickness aft of the leading edge and then decreases in thickness to a relatively thin or sharp trailing edge where the pressure and suction sidewalls join together. The wider portion of the airfoil has sufficient internal space for accommodating various forms of internal cooling circuits and turbulators for enhancing heat transfer cooling inside the airfoil, whereas, the relatively thin trailing edge has correspondingly limited internal cooling space.
Each airfoil typically includes various rows of film cooling holes extending through the sidewalls thereof which discharge the spent cooling air from the internal circuits. The film cooling holes are typically inclined in the aft direction toward the trailing edge and create a thin film of cooling air over the external surface of the airfoil that provides a thermally insulating air blanket for additional protection against the hot combustion gases which flow over the airfoil surfaces during operation.
The thin trailing edge is typically protected by a row of trailing edge cooling holes which breach the pressure sidewall at a breakout immediately upstream of the trailing edge for discharging film cooling air into trailing edge cooling slots. Each trailing edge cooling hole has an outlet aperture in the pressure side which begins at a breakout and may or may not be bounded in the radial direction by exposed lands at aft ends of axially extending partitions which define the cooling slots.
The axial partitions may be integrally formed with the pressure and suction sides of the airfoil and themselves must be cooled by the air discharged through the cooling slots defined thereby. The partitions typically converge in the aft direction toward the trailing edge so that the cooling slots diverge toward the trailing edge with a shallow divergence angle that promotes diffusion of the discharged cooling air with little if any flow separation along the sides of the partitions.
Aerodynamic and cooling performance of the trailing edge cooling slots is directly related to the specific configuration of the cooling slots and the intervening partitions. The flow area of the cooling slots regulates the flow of cooling air discharged through the cooling slots, and the geometry of the cooling slots affects cooling performance thereof.
The divergence or diffusion angle of the cooling slots can effect undesirable flow separation of the discharged cooling air which would degrade performance and cooling effectiveness of the discharged air. This also increases losses that negatively impact turbine efficiency. Portions of the thin trailing edge directly under the individual cooling slots are effectively cooled by the discharged cooling air, with the discharged air also being distributed over the intervening exposed lands at the aft end of the partitions. The lands are solid portions of the pressure sidewall integrally formed with the suction sidewall and must rely for cooling on the air discharged from the adjacent trailing edge cooling slots.
Notwithstanding, the small size of the these outlet lands and the substantial cooling performance of the trailing edge cooling slots, the thin trailing edges of turbine airfoils nevertheless typically limit the life of those airfoils due to the high operating temperature thereof in the hostile environment of a gas turbine engine.
The pressure ratio of the cooling air to the mainstream gas in the turbine flowpath is typically highest at the trailing edge, so metering the cooling flow to the desired level is often difficult. Film cooling effectiveness must be sufficiently high on the both the slot floor or deck and the lands to maintain acceptable metal temperatures. This is significant challenge on the lands, which must rely on lateral cooling flow migration to reach the top surface.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a turbine airfoil having improved trailing edge cooling and cooling slots for improving airfoil durability and engine performance. It is also desired to minimize the amount of cooling flow used for trailing edge cooling in order to maximize fuel efficiency of the turbine and the engine. It is also desirable to provide cooling air metering so that blowing ratio is minimized the cooling hole exit to the slot to maintain good slot floor film effectiveness, low cooling flow, and cooling film effectiveness over the land with good flow alignment with land edges along with a smaller land surface area.

Asymmetrically shaped trailing edge cooling holes


A heat-resistant alloy comprising, as expressed in % by weight, 0.03 to 0.1% of C, 0.2 to 0.7% of Si, 0.2 to 0.7% of Mn, 42 to 60% of Ni, 25 to 35%0 of Cr, 8 to 20% of W, over 0% to not more than 8% Mo, over 0% to not more than 5% of Co, and the balance substantially Fe. The alloy has improved resistance to compressive deformation and oxidation resistance for use in oxidizing atmospheres having a high temperature of 1250.degree. C.

Steel materials such as slabs or billets are placed into a heating furnace prior to hot plastic working (for example, hot rolling or hot forging) and subjected to a specified heat treatment. Heating furnaces of the walking beam conveyor type have skid beams (fixed beams and movable beams) adapted to be internally cooled with water and arranged longitudinally of the furnace. The skid beams have attached thereto heat-resistant alloy blocks (skid buttons) arranged at a predetermined interval and serving as hearth metal members. The steel material placed into the furnace is transported within the furnace as supported by the skid buttons on the fixed beams and those on the movable beams alternately.
The hearth metal members must have oxidation resistance so as to be free of corrosion (oxidation wear) due to the high-temperature oxidizing internal atmosphere of the furnace, and such resistance to compressive deformation that the members will not readily deform even if repeatedly subjected to the compressive load of the heavy steel material to be heated. The materials conventionally used for hearth metal materials include high alloy steels such as high Ni-high Cr alloy steels (JIS G5122 SCH22, etc.) and Co-containing Ni-Cr alloy steels (e.g., 50Co--20Ni--30Cr--Fe). Also proposed as improved hearth alloy materials are 0.3-0.6% C--40-60% Ni--25-35% Cr--8-15% W--Fe alloys (Japanese post-examination publication SHO54-18650), 0.2-1.5% C+N--15-60% Ni--15-40% Cr--3-10% W--Fe alloys (Japanese post-examination publication SHO 63-44814), 1.0% .gtoreq.C--26-38% Cr--10-25% W--Ni alloys (U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,998), etc. Some of these alloys are already in actual use.
The operating temperature of steel material heating furnaces is elevated year after year for the treatment of a wide variety of steel materials, improvements in the quality of treated materials and savings in energy. It is common practice to operate the furnace at a high temperature of 1250.degree. C. or higher, and the internal furnace temperature is likely to exceed 1300.degree. C. Higher oxidation resistance and improved resistance to compressive deformation are required of the hearth metal members in order to carry out the high-temperature operation efficiently and safely.
However, the conventional heat-resistant alloys fail to fully withstand such high-temperature operations. Although it may be attempted to cool the hearth metal members more effectively by the internal water-cooling structure of the skid beams, the attempt leads to an increased heat loss due to the cooling water and uneven heating of the steel material to be treated as supported by the hearth metal members (occurrence of so-called "skid marks") and can not be a substantial countermeasure.
An object of the present invention is to provide a heat-resistant alloy steel having improved high-temperature characteristics in order to solve the above problem encountered with hearth metal members.

Heat-resistant alloy steel for hearth metal members of steel material heating furnaces


Disclosed is a method for preparing high purity biodiesel from crude oils. The method comprises the steps of: pre-treating the crude oil raw material to remove impurities; pre-esterifying the pre-treated crude oil raw material under the effect of a catalyst of concentrated sulfuric acid; and then carrying out an ester exchange reaction in the presence of an alkali catalyst; recycling methanol, and separating glycerol, so as to obtain a crude fatty acid methyl ester; and subjecting the obtained fatty acid methyl ester to purification, distillation and segmentation to obtain a high-purity fatty acid methyl ester.

The energy is a lifeline of the development of a country. With the rapid development of social economy, the shortage of commonly-used fossil resources such as petroleum, natural gas, coal, etc. at present is growing. Meanwhile, the use of large amounts of fossil resources results in many hazards to environment, such as green house effect, acid rain, etc. Furthermore, related industries, such as catering industry, food industry, etc., produce lots of waste animal and plant oils every day. Such waste oils generally contain a large amount of impurities, and part thereof is recycled to manufacture soap, part thereof is directly discharged without recycling and treating, thereby causing an environmental pollution, and part thereof goes back to dinner tables. Therefore, it has been paid more and more attention by people to how to sufficiently and effectively utilize waste animal and plant oils, so as to reduce the pollution of waste animal and plant oils to the environment such as water area, etc. and the harm to human body, and guarantee food safety so as to realize resource recycling.
The biodiesel, i.e. fatty acid methyl ester, has chemical formula of RCOOCH3 (wherein R is C12-17), is prepared mainly from plant oils (rice bran oil, cotton seed oil, sea kale oil, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, etc.) or animal fats, is a diesel substitute obtained from renewable biomass resource and having property similar to diesel, and is a kind of renewable biomass resource. The main ingredients of the biodiesel are ester substances, such as methyl ester or ethyl ester formed of long-chain fatty acid. The biodiesel utilizes alcohols substance (methanol or ethanol) to proceed ester exchange reaction (transesterification) with the main ingredient (triglyceride) in natural plant oils or animal fats, substitutes glyceryl on long-chain fatty acid with methoxyl, and breaks triglyceride into multiple long-chain fatty acid methyl esters, so as to shorten the length of carbon chain, reduce the viscosity of oil material, improve the flowability and vaporability of oil material and thereby achieve the requirement of using as fuel.
Compared with fossil diesel, the biodiesel has similar ignition performance, heat value and dynamic property, far less corrosivity to engine and higher safety, thus it can be directly used as fuel without making any modification to existing diesel engine and does not cause any harmful effect on the engine. Moreover, the biodiesel can be mixed with fossil diesel at any ratio, which can not only reduce the emission of substances in tail gas harmful to the environment, but also effectively lower the use cost and reduce the overdependence on the fossil energy.
The biodiesel is derived from renewable biomass resources, thus not containing the substances such as sulfur, aromatic hydrocarbon, etc. commonly found in the fossil diesel. The biodiesel has a short carbon chain, contains oxygen itself and can be completely combusted, so as not to produce atmospheric pollutants such as SOx, aromatic hydrocarbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, etc., averagely reduce waste gas by above 45%, and effectively reduce the hazard of tail gas to the environment. The use of biodiesel can effectively reduce the concentrations of CO and TPM in tail gas, and the contribution of the biodiesel to green house effect is only 25% or lower of that of fossil diesel. Moreover, the biodiesel also has excellent biodegradability compared with fossil diesel.
The biodiesel has good environmental protection performance. It has a low sulfur content. The amount of sulfur dioxide and sulfide emitted by the biodiesel upon combustion is reduced by about 30% compared to common diesel. The biodiesel has oxygen content up to 11%, and good ignition performance, so that the harmful substances such as HC, CO, etc. discharged during combustion are greatly reduced compared to common diesel. The substances discharged by the biodiesel upon combustion contain no harmful substances such as sulfur dioxide, lead, halogen, etc, which is very favorable to environmental protection. Hence, the biodiesel is renewable environmentally-friendly fuel, and has good application prospect.
At present, the methods for preparing biodiesel mainly include: 1) esterification method for performing esterification reaction using oils and fats and methanol in the presence of acid catalyst; 2) ester exchange method for performing ester exchange reaction using oils and fats and methanol in the presence of alkali catalyst; 3) as to waste oil having many impurities and especially high free fatty acid contents, such as trench oil, generally esterification is performed first, and then alkali catalyzed ester exchange is performed, instead of directly performing ester exchange reaction by adopting alkali catalyst.
Chinese patent application CN 101906355A discloses a method for preparing biodiesel by utilizing food waste recycling oil. The method comprises pre-treating dining waste recycled oil using 1.5 wt % of 98% concentrated sulfuric acid, then esterifying the pre-treated dining waste recycled oil using 5 wt % of concentrated sulfuric acid based on the weight of raw material under the temperature of 65° C. for 2 h, transferring into an acid-catalyzed settlement separator, performing ester exchange using 1 wt % of 95% solid sodium hydroxide based on the weight of raw material under the temperature of 65° C. for 30 min, separating crude biodiesel through an alkali-catalyzed settlement separator, washing the obtained crude biodiesel with 3% of 98% concentrated sulfuric acid based on the volume of the crude biodiesel in a water-washing neutralization tower, then washing with water, and heating to distill the upper-layer biodiesel to obtain the final product. The method performs esterification reaction and ester exchange reaction in different reaction kettles respectively, and separates intermediate products through two settlement separators, thus increasing equipment cost and energy consumption. The method requires water-washing neutralization after ester exchange. The total amount of added concentrated sulfuric acid reaches 9.5% of raw material, so as to produce a large amount of acid water during water washing process, thus a large amount of alkali is required for neutralization in latter sewage treatment, thereby increasing treatment cost. On the other hand, there exists some problems while independently using sodium hydroxide as catalyst in practical application: 1. long dissolving time and low dissolution rate of sodium hydroxide and methanol; 2. incomplete ester exchange reaction; 3. easy agglomeration of sodium salt, which results in serious pipeline blocking during ester exchange reaction when using soybean acid oil as raw material, thus not widely suitable for various raw materials; and 4. low separation speed of glycerol and fatty acid methyl ester produced in the reaction.
CN 101012388A discloses a method of manufacturing biological diesel oil from trench oil. The method comprises using trench oil and 0.2-3% solid acid catalyst (CaO or SiO2) of porous carrier to perform esterification reaction under high temperature of above 95-130° C. for 1-4 h, then separating the solid acid catalyst, performing ester exchange reaction by using 3-5% solid alkaline catalyst (CaO or MgO) at 50-65° C. for 0.2-2 h, separating biological diesel oil in upper layer, separating the solid alkaline catalyst and glycerol from lower layer, and distilling to recover methanol. The method has a high esterification reaction temperature, and utilizes acid catalyst of porous carrier to increase reaction surface area, so as to accelerate esterification reaction speed. Although the method requires no neutralization and washing, it also requires two separation steps to separate the solid acid catalyst and the solid alkaline catalyst respectively. In addition, the method has no distillation, and no matter how thorough the ester exchange reaction is performed, it is impossible to convert all neutral oils and fats (triglyceride) into fatty acid methyl ester. In the patent, the biological diesel oil product is not subjected to distillation, and inevitably contains monoglyceride, diglyceride and triglyceride which are main ingredients of plant pitch, i.e., the patent does not separate plant pitch and biodiesel.
Therefore, there is a need for a method for preparing biodiesel with low equipment requirement, high conversion rates of esterification reaction and ester exchange reaction, low energy consumption and low cost.

Method for preparing high purity biodiesel

BEIJING QINGYANLIHUA PETROLEUM CHEMISTRY CO., LTD.


An apparatus, system, and method to flash print an image. The apparatus includes an energy source that delivers energy. The apparatus includes an energy pulse width modulator coupled to the energy source. The energy pulse width modulator may receive energy from the energy source and modulate the energy received from the energy source. The energy pulse width modulator may be driven by a logic module. The apparatus also includes a plurality of imaging pixels modulated by the energy pulse width modulator and conveying modulated energy to a host material. The host material may be in close proximity to a receiving medium and the modulated energy may release dye from the host material into the receiving medium.

Field
The subject matter herein relates to printing and more particularly relates to flash printing.
Description of the Related Art
A typical printer forms an image on a printing surface one digital pixel at a time or moving a printing head that prints multiple digital pixels at a time, often in a single row or line. Furthermore, the printing surface, such as a sheet of paper, and/or the printing head is moved so that the printing head may print digital pixels in other locations on the printing surface to form the image.
As a result, a typical printer includes high precision motors and moving parts to effectuate the movement necessary to produce the entire image. Such motors and parts may be costly and may increase the chance of mechanical malfunction.

Apparatus, system, and method for flash printing


Provided are apparatus and methods for tracking a volume of interest in three dimensions in real time, using fewer than 6 DOF tracking information together with an external 6 DOE coordinate system. The apparatus and methods described herein provide more accurate, smaller, and less expensive tracking systems than prior approaches based on full 6 DOF tracking comprising translation and full orientation information. Embodiments may be used in applications such as surgical navigation, gaming, robotics, motion capture, and training.

As accuracy of tracking of objects in three-dimensional (3D) space improves, techniques for implementing the technology in different fields are emerging. A technique [1, 2] based on electromagnetic (EM) tracking that has shown good performance in a surgical application for tracking a tissue volume of interest, such as a tumour, relies on two EM sensors, both reporting position and orientation in six degrees of freedom (6 DOF). According to this technique one 6 DOF sensor is located in or on the tissue volume of interest. In applications such as surgery, the 6 DOF sensor may be attached to a wire or needle that is inserted in the tissue volume of interest. The second 6 DOF sensor is a reference sensor located within the working space, typically on the patient in the vicinity of the surgical procedure.
Potential drawbacks of this technique include the wire or needle spinning in place within the tissue volume of interest, causing the 6 DOF sensor to spin with it, thus reporting inaccurate orientation of the tissue volume of interest. In addition, because a 6 DOF sensor is substantially large, it can be an obstacle in applications such as surgery, because it can obstruct the surgeon's hand motions in the working space, or the sensor may not fit inside the tissue volume of interest, or the sensor may obstruct the surgeon's view. Another drawback is that 6 DOF sensors are more expensive than, e.g., 5 DOF sensors, and there is greater computational complexity when processing the 6 DOF sensor position and orientation.

Apparatus and method for tracking a volume in a three-dimensional space


A quick-release belt buckle which includes a body fastened to a first end of a belt, the body having a I-shaped retainer block supported on a spring in between a bottom plate and a top cover plate, and a plug member fastened to a second end of the belt, the plug member having a hooked retaining portion at a front end thereof which is forced into engagement with a beveled bottom wall of the retainer block when the plug member is inserted into a mouth in an open frame in the body, the plug member being disconnected from the retainer block when the retainer block is pressed down to compress the spring.

The present invention relates to a belt buckle used for joining the ends of a belt, and more particularly to a quick-release belt buckle.
FIG. 1 shows a collar for dog. The collar is comprised of a strap 9, and a quick-release hook 90 used for joining the ends of the strap 9. The quick-release hook 90, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is comprised of a receptacle 91, and a plug member 92. The receptacle 91 comprises a transverse belt slot 99 at the rear side for fastening to one end of the strap, a mouth 93 at the front side for receiving the plug member 92, and two side retaining holes 94 at two opposite lateral sides in communication with the mouth 93. The plug member 92 comprises two transversely disposed parallel belt slots 95 at the rear side for fastening to one end of the strap, a longitudinal middle stop rod 97 at the front side, and two springy hooks 96 bilaterally spaced from the stop rod 97 at the front side. When the springy hooks 96 and the stop rod 97 are inserted into the mouth 93 in the receptacle 91, the springy hooks 96 are squeezed inwards for permitting the plug member 92 to be inserted into position. After the plug member 92 has been inserted into position, the springy hooks 96 immediately return to their former shape and are respectively hooked in the side retaining holes 94, and at the same time a click sound is produced (see FIG. 3). When unfastening the quick-release hook 90, the springy hooks 96 are squeezed inwards and disengaged from the side retaining holes 94 on the receptacle 91, permitting the plug member 92 to be disconnected from the receptacle 91 (see FIG. 4). In order to provide the springy hooks 96 with sufficient springy power, the thickness of the springy hooks 96 is limited. However, the structural strength of the springy hooks 96 become weak when they are made thinner. Further, because only plastics can be used for making this structure of quick-release hook 90, the mechanical properties of the quick-release hook 90 limits its application range.