Embodiments of the invention achieve data write in an appending manner by conversion from a logical block address to a physical block address in a HDD that has only one storage device and does not have a large-scale cache memory. In one embodiment, a check is made as to whether or not the size of an address translation table in a cache memory exceeds a threshold value. If the size exceeds the threshold value, entries whose number is specified are selected by the LRU method. The selected entries are added to a WRITE buffer, and the address translation table is saved on the HDD by executing WRITE. Seek time of a head at the time of WRITE is reduced, thereby improving WRITE performance. There is produced an effect of building such a snapshot that while a usual access to a HDD volume is allowed, it is possible to make an access to a volume of the snapshot which is a past state of the HDD. Disabling write after writing to the HDD is disabled. Thus, it possible to roll back to a HDD state at an arbitrary point of time.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a disk drive, and more particularly to a method for controlling a disk drive that is resistant to failure.
The conventional disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) converts a logical block address specified by a host into a physical block address that is unique in the HDD, and thereby accesses a storage medium in the HDD. Usually, the address conversion is performed by use of a conversion formula in which the number of cylinders of the HDD, the number of heads of the HDD, the number of sectors per track, and the like, are used as parameters. Accordingly, even if the HDD is equipped with a low performance processor and a small-capacity memory, the HDD can convert a logical block address into a physical block address or vice versa at sufficiently high speed. However, the address conversion performed by use of such a conversion formula results in a one-to-one correspondence between a logical block address and a physical block address. This means that writing to one and the same logical block address erases the contents written therein before.
Such operation usually produces no problem. However, if an operation error or a computer virus causes data that must not be deleted to be overwritten, data in the HDD is lost. If the data is not backed up to an external HDD, the data is lost forever. This occurs because even if a command is illegal judging from the intention of a user, when the command is acceptable as a command identified by the HDD, the HDD executes the command without recognizing the intention of the user.
As far as large-size disk array devices are concerned, a method for assigning a storage area on a storage device, which is different from the address conversion by use of the conversion formula as described above, is proposed. In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,421 "VIRTUAL STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD", every time a write request is received from a host, a required area is reserved from a plurality of storage devices, and then data is written. As a result, even if a usual block device command is used, it is possible to write data to a new area without erasing an existing area.
In the RAID level 4 or 5 of the RAID system (D. A. Patterson, G. A. Gibson, R. H. Katz, "A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)", Proceedings of the international Conference on Management of Data (SIGMOD), June 1988, PP. 109-116) proposed by Patterson, and others, at every write a parity is read out and updated before the parity is written back. As a result, a write penalty occurs, which produces a problem of the decrease in write performance. As a solution to cope with this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,987 "LOGICAL TRACK WRITE SCHEDULING SYSTEM FOR A PARALLEL DISK DRIVE ARRAY DATA STORAGE SUBSYSTEM" proposes that newly written data and parity data generated on the fly are written in an area in a new storage device.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,467,421 and 5,124,987 require a mapping table for managing the correspondence between a logical block address specified by a host and a physical block device in a storage device. Even if a failure does not occur in the storage device, when a failure occurs in the mapping table, data in the storage device cannot be accessed. Since the mapping table requires high reliability, even if a failure occurs in the mapping table due to some accident, it is necessary to rebuild the mapping table. As a solution to this problem, there is proposed "Information storage device, and management data rebuilding method applied to the information storage device" described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-85589.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-85589 proposes the following mapping table rebuilding method: saving a value of a logical block address specified by a host in an user data storage area; and in the event that a failure occurs in the mapping table, rebuilding a mapping table by reading out values of all logical block addresses written to the user data storage area. In addition to it, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-85589 also proposes the following method: if a write has been made to the same logical block address more than once, generating a sequence number indicating the order of writes; saving this sequence number in the user data storage area together with the value of the logical block address; and in the event that a failure occurs in the mapping table, determining the latest write from the sequence number saved in the user data storage area.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,467,421 and 5,124,987 disclose techniques in which a new area is allocated in the storage subsystem that looks like a simple block device from the host. Another method is the Log-Structured File System proposed by Rosenblum, and others (M. Rosenblum, and J. K. Ousterhout, "The Design and Implementation of a Log-Structured File System", ACM Transactions on Computer System, Vol. 10, No. 1, February 1992, pp. 3-25). In the Log-Structured File System (hereinafter referred to as LFS), blocks are allocated in a manner that appending is performed for a usual block device at a file system level. As compared with the speedup of processors and semiconductor memories, the speedup of HDDs does not progress. The LFS is one of techniques originally devised as a solution to the speedup of HDDs. In a usual file system, at the time of writing to a HDD, a period of time which is allowed to be used for data transfer from a host to the HDD is reduced by seek time of a head. As opposed to this, in the LFS, all processing for the file system including meta information, which is management information of the file system for managing file deletion, and the like, is appended to the HDD as a log. This reduces the head seek time at the time of writing, and sequential writes achieve the speedup of writing.

Method for controlling disk drive using an address translation table

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


In an electronic computing system, an instruction is provided as to whether to cache in a region of a memory of the system an attribute of a context if and when the context is accessed in a permanent storage device. When the context is accessed in the permanent storage, the attribute of the accessed context is cached or not in the memory region according to the instruction.

With reference to FIG. 1 as an example, a hierarchical data store 100 is used to store and retrieve hierarchical data. A node 105-125 in the hierarchy is referred to herein as a context. A context may be accessed by specifying a unique identifier or name, such as identifier "content" assigned to context 105, "roles" assigned to context 110, and "sales person" assigned to context 115.
A context comprises zero or more attributes. In FIG. 1, for example, context 115 has no attributes, while context 120 comprises three attributes 130, 140 and 145. Attributes may contain data—zero, one, or more, values—that may be accessed from a context, for example, by specifying an unique identifier or name associated with the attribute. Attribute 130, for example, has an identifier "application_id" that may be specified to obtain the string value "custxy12" from context 120, whereas attribute 140 has an identifier "title" that may be specified to obtain the string value "My Customers" from context 120. Attributes may store values in the form of numbers, dates, strings, multilingual text strings, binary strings or files, such as Binary Large Objects (BLOBs), or other types of values.
A well-known example of a hierarchical data store is a file system, wherein folders in a directory of the file system represent the contexts, or nodes, in the hierarchy. Each folder is identified by a name, which is unique at least when concatenated with the names of folders in the path from the root folder to the given folder in the hierarchy. Each folder comprises zero or more attributes. For example, a binary data file in a folder constitutes a binary attribute associated with the folder. Additional attributes associated with the folder include data such as owner, date of creation, modification, or last access. Other attributes include but are not limited to, physical or logical location, size, security, encryption, data compression, and archiving, attributes. Another example of a hierarchical data store is the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). FIG. 1 illustrates a portal content directory that may use, for example, a JNDI implementation to store data like user roles, pages and so on.
A persistent data store provides for persistent data, that is, a persistent data store maintains data for subsequent and repeated accesses, even when power is cycled to a device in which the persistent data store is located. The most common example of a persistent device is a permanent storage device such as a hard disk drive. It may be that the persistent device is accessed indirectly via a database. When an application retrieves data, the data are first read from a persistent data store into memory before such data can be passed to the application. This task typically is handled by a database management system and/or a file system. It is appreciated that such a read operation from a persistent device likely is significantly slower compared to a read operation from a volatile memory.
Read operations from persistent devices generally involve significant overhead versus read operations from memory. Take, for example, data read from a remote database accessible via an internetwork such as a large, distributed corporate intranet, or the Internet. In addition to delay associated with network access, query statements such as SQL statements may need to be compiled, and a search for the data performed against the remote database using database indexes. It is well understood that the overhead associated with reading data from persistent devices can be reduced if the persistent device is accessed less frequently, but more data are obtained at each access. For example, if an application accesses a context in a data store, then all attributes of the context could be read immediately from the persistent device and cached in a memory. If the, or another, application later accesses the attributes of the context, such subsequent access is relatively fast because the attribute data are already in memory. This concept may be extended by reading one or more subtrees of the hierarchical data store, that is, by reading one or more hierarchically lower contexts in the data store, further reducing overhead associated with accessing the data store. Indeed, caching the data in the memory is especially beneficial if the attributes are repeatedly accessed by one or more applications.
Optimizing read performance as described above by reading larger data blocks from a database (persistent data store) and caching the data in memory, and expecting the data to be requested by an application at a later point of time is referred to herein as anticipatory reading.
Generally speaking, it is beneficial to read all attributes of a context at one time, but there are also drawbacks. If available memory is limited, anticipatory reading from the persistent data store may affect system or memory performance, or even produce an out of memory error. Additionally, an application(s) may seldom access the attributes stored in memory, in which case, a better approach would be to load such attributes only on an as-needed basis. If an attribute, such as a Binary Large Object (BLOB) file, consumes relatively large amounts of memory when retrieved, then the attribute should be maintained in memory only when actually needed by the application. (If the application needs to access a binary file often, it can cache the binary file, rather than the file system or a database management system). Techniques that aim to reduce memory consumption and prevent unnecessary object instantiations by reading data only when really needed are generally referred to herein a lazy reading techniques.

Method and apparatus for reading a data store


A display generating system, particularly a computer or mobile client system, in which a system message (by which is meant an unsolicited prompt from a computer system to a user) is displayed to a user in a manner particularly contemplated as attracting the attention of the user. Accommodating such a system message in the small screen area available in a mobile client computer is a particular problem, addressed and solved as here described.

Personal computer systems in general and IBM personal computers in particular have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modern society. Personal computer systems can usually be defined as a desk top, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that consists of a system unit having a single system processor and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, a display monitor, a keyboard, one or more diskette drives, a fixed disk storage, and an optional printer. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is the use of a motherboard or system planar to electrically connect these components together. These systems are designed primarily to give independent computing power to a single user and are inexpensively priced for purchase by individuals or small businesses. Examples of such personal computer systems are the personal computer systems offered by IBM and identified as the PERSONAL COMPUTER AT, PERSONAL SYSTEM/2, PS/1, Aptiva, and the like. Persons of skill in the computer arts will be familiar with these systems.
These systems can be classified into two general families. The first family, usually referred to as Family I Models, use a bus architecture exemplified by the IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER AT and other "IBM compatible" machines. The second family, referred to as Family II Models, use IBM's MICRO CHANNEL bus architecture exemplified by IBM's PERSONAL SYSTEM/2 Models 50 through 95. The Family I models originally used the popular INTEL 8088 or 8086 microprocessor as the system processor. These processors have the ability to address one megabyte of memory. The Family II models typically used the high speed INTEL 80286, 80386, and 80486 microprocessors which can operate in a real mode to emulate the slower speed INTEL 8086 microprocessor or a protected mode which extends the addressing range from 1 megabyte to 4 Gigabytes for some models. In essence, the real mode feature of the 80286, 80386, and 80486 processors provide hardware compatibility with software written for the 8086 and 8088 microprocessors. As the state of the art has progressed, Family I systems have developed toward ever higher capability central processor units, including the Intel PENTIUM brand microprocessor and its competitors, Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) microprocessors such as the IBM and Motorola Power PC processors, and higher capability bus designs such as VESA and PCI bus designs. Again, persons of skill in the computer arts will be familiar with these systems.
The impact of such development on the manner in which computing is done in business and consumer environments has been profound. Prior to the development of personal computer systems, most use of computers was for business purposes only and data processing was done in the "glass house" which housed the computer system. Inquiries were channeled through information managers for handling by computer technicians. With the wide spread use of personal computer systems access to data once maintained on an enterprise wide computer system became important to managers and ultimately line employees. Networks of personal computer systems grew up, with layered access through network servers to the enterprise systems or mainframes on which enterprise data is stored.
As information work has spread to an increasing number of information workers and impacted the work of more wide spread groups of employees within an enterprise, need for mobility of such employees has arisen. Particularly in such "outside" jobs as route salesperson, transport driver, or business consultant, it has become important to have access, while remote from an enterprise site, to enterprise data normally maintained on an enterprise system and accessed through a network of computer systems. Such access has been achieved, in part, through the use of wireline connected personal computer systems such as notebook or laptop computer systems. Typically, such a system may be equipped with a modem and communications software such that, when connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the system may be connected with a supporting server or mainframe and a user may gain access to desired data.
With the development of radio communications such as exemplified by the cellular telephone networks, the possibility arose of eliminating the wireline connection between a personal computer system and a supporting server. Such systems have been developed, particularly for systems used in retail and warehousing businesses, which permit a user to move freely within an area which has radio transceiver service while remaining in intermittent or continuous contact with a data channel through which data may be exchanged with a server or mainframe supporting an enterprise activity. For purposes of discussion here, such systems in the hands of user will be referred to as "mobile client systems". A mobile client system is distinguished by the mobility of the user, who is free of the restraints against movement imposed by a wireline connection, and by the client nature of the system in that enterprise data accessed by the mobile client system is maintained on a server or mainframe computer system with which the mobile client is in communication. Such mobile client systems are also sometimes referred to as personal communications assistants or personal digital assistants. The interested reader is referred to "Wireless: The Revolution in Personal Telecommunications" by Ira Brodsky (Artech House, Boston, 1995) for additional background and information about mobile client systems.
In many systems of the general types described above, users will encounter system messages. A system message is here defined as an unsolicited prompt from a system to a user. Examples include that available memory is becoming filled to capacity, batteries used as a power source are becoming discharged, or incoming data is being received by transmission from some remote source. In many graphical user interfaces, such system messages are implemented with dialog boxes which open over the display of other activity for which the system is being used. Often, such a dialog box must be handled (if only by being dismissed or closed) before other use of the system can continue.
It is apparent that a problem with this approach is that the user is interrupted, often in midstream of another activity. One example is that a system message may disrupt a word processing program, causing data entered by the user to be lost until the dialog box is cleared. In some instances, should a system message arrive as the user is pressing the "Enter" key, the dialog box may be cleared and the user remain unaware that a system message has arrived.
Such urgent interruptions are frequently inappropriate, as the system could appropriately wait for the user to reach a breaking point in work underway before responding to the system message.

Mobile client computer programmed for system message display

International Business Machines Corporation


An ink composition includes a colorant, a co-solvent, and an acid chosen from oleic acid, linoleic acid, undecanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, tridecanoic acid, and combinations thereof. The ink composition further includes lithium and water. An anti-evaporative layer forms, during uncapped non-use, at an interface between air and the ink composition in an orifice of a nozzle, thereby reducing evaporation of the water from the ink composition.

The present disclosure relates generally to ink compositions.
Inkjet printing or recording systems are commonly used as an effective way to produce images on a print medium, such as paper. Generally, ink droplets are ejected from a nozzle at high speed by the inkjet system and onto the print medium to produce an image thereon.
Upon prolonged exposure to air, nozzles may become clogged by a viscous plug that may form in the nozzles as a result of, e.g., water loss, crusting of the ink, and/or crystallization of the colorant in and/or around any of the nozzles. If a nozzle has plugged, ink droplets ejected through the nozzle's orifice may be misdirected, which may adversely affect print quality. The orifice may also become completely blocked, and as a result, the ink droplets may not pass through the affected nozzle.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Disclosed are one or more preferred geometric configurations for a device communicably coupled to a power transmission line and capable of launching transverse electromagnetic waves onto the transmission line. The waves propagate data received from a data source and may include a reflector and a coupler adjacent to each other through a transverse magnetic wave that propagates longitudinally along the surface of the transmission line.

Systems and methods that communicate radio frequency (RF) signals from one location to another have historically used one of two alternative methods of electromagnetic wave propagation. First, RF signals may be propagated over a wired connection, such as a coaxial cable, an optical cable, etc. Such wired systems are used not only to communicate signals over short distances, such as audio or video signals communicated between components of stereo or other electronic equipment in close proximity to each other, but also to communicate over very large distances, such as the delivery of cable television and/or Internet content as well as telephone or other data services to large groups of customers. In this latter instance, telephone or cable television (CATV) networks often provide the architecture for a multitude of wired communications services used by both residential and business customers in the area, e.g. Internet, Voice-over-IP, Video on Demand, etc. Because fiber optical systems are capable of much greater bandwidth than legacy copper coaxial wiring, while also transmitting over longer distances, most wired telecommunications networks today have replaced at least a portion of the historical coaxial copper network with fiber-optic equipment.
Second, electromagnetic waves may be propagated wirelessly from a transmitting antenna to a receiving antenna, and these waves may be modulated to communicate a desired signal. Wireless RF communication is used in many applications, including AM/FM radio broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, television broadcasting, cell phone communication, radar systems, computer and mobile platform networks, remote control of devices, remote metering/monitoring, and many more such applications. While extraordinarily useful in such applications, many impediments exist to further expansion of wireless communications technologies. For example, wireless signals are subject to mutual interference, and as wireless transmission has become more ubiquitous, potential interference must be addressed with a combination of sophisticated signal processing techniques that add to the complexity of wireless communication systems. Moreover, when power is radiated from an antenna, very little of it typically reaches the receiver—a phenomenon known as path loss—which is countered at the expense of increased transmit power, specialized antennas, and other burdensome solutions.
In order to accommodate growing demand for wireless services, where consumers desire mobile access to bandwidth-intensive services such as video and high-speed Internet, wireless network providers have built out small cell networks that are in turn connected to wired RF communications networks that deliver content to and from the Internet over fiber optic/coaxial lines. In this architecture, the mobile client communicates with a network of cell towers, each of which in turn communicate with a wired communications architecture, such as a Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) network of a cable television (CATV) provider. This latter exchange is typically referred to as the "backhaul" portion of a cellular communications network.
Still, consumer data usage is increasing at rates that are overwhelming microcell base stations and existing wireless infrastructures, creating a bottleneck of traffic as it exchanged with the backhaul portion of the network. Though this bottleneck may in some instances be alleviated by expanding wireless infrastructures, in many geographic regions installing communications infrastructure is prohibitive due to low population density and topographical barriers. Thus, improved systems and methods for transmitting data services to consumers is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Geometric configuration of device for launching tranverse magnetic waves


Apparatus and methods are provided for microchannel cooling of electronic devices such as IC chips, which enable efficient and low operating pressure microchannel cooling of high power density electronic devices having a non-uniform power density distribution, which are mounted face down on a package substrate. For example, integrated microchannel cooler devices (or microchannel heat sink devices) for cooling IC chips are designed to provide uniform flow and distribution of coolant fluid and minimize pressure drops along coolant flow paths, as well as provide variable localized cooling capabilities for high power density regions (or “hot spots”) of IC chips with higher than average power densities.

In the design and manufacture of semiconductor IC (integrated circuit) chip packages and modules, it is imperative to implement mechanisms that can effectively remove heat generated by IC chip devices (such as microprocessors) to ensure continued reliable operation of such devices. Indeed, heat removal is particularly important for computer processor chips that are disposed in SCM (single chip modules) or MCMs (multichip modules), for example, which can generate significant amounts of heat. The ability to efficiently remove heat becomes increasing problematic as chip geometries are scaled down and operating speeds are increased, resulting in increased power density. Although IC chip modules are being continually designed to operate at higher clock frequencies, increased system performance is becoming limited primarily by the ability to effectively remove heat from such IC chip modules.
There are various heat removal techniques that have been developed for cooling semiconductor IC packages/modules and other electronic devices. For example, microchannel cooling apparatus and methods have been proposed for cooling electronic devices such as IC chips, MCMs, diode laser arrays, and other electro-optic devices under conditions of increased heat flux (power/unit area) or high power densities (e.g., ˜800 W/cm2).
FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams that illustrate a conventional microchannel cooling apparatus, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,067, wherein FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-section view of FIG. 1A along the line 1B. As shown, a semiconductor chip (10) includes circuits that are formed in a front surface region (11) of the semiconductor chip (10). A rear surface of the chip (10) is processed to form a recessed region (12) and a plurality of parallel, microscopic heat conducting fins (14) rising from the recessed region (12), which define a plurality of channels (13). A transparent cover (15) engages the surface of chip (10) and the tops of the fins (14) thereby defining a chamber for the flow of a coolant through the channels (13) between the input and output ports (16) and (17) in the transparent cover (15), wherein heat removal is achieved by thermal contact between the fins (14) and the coolant fluid that flows through the channels (13).
There are a number of disadvantages associated with the cooling apparatus depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B. For instance, such design results in significant pressure drops and non-uniform flow distribution due to, e.g., the use of one heat exchanger zone (with long channel length) between the input port (16) and the output port (17), and having an input port (16) and output port (17) with a cross sectional area that is smaller than the total microchannel cross sectional area. Furthermore, the process of forming the fins (14) and channels (13) directly in the non-active surface of the IC chip (10) can result in reduced yield for the chips (10), which is not desirable especially for expensive chips such as microprocessors. Indeed, if the microchannel cooler fails or leaks, the chip, which is much more expensive than the cooler in the case of a high performance processor, is lost along with the microchannel cooler.
FIGS. 2A˜2C schematically illustrate another conventional microchannel cooling apparatus, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,240. FIG. 2A depicts a silicon chip (20) having a region containing a plurality of microchannels (21) formed therein, which comprise a plurality of close-ended slots or grooves of generally rectangular cross-section. As depicted in FIG. 2B, the chip (20) sits on a ceramic frame (22) that includes three generally rectangular coolant manifolds (23), (24) and (25). The center manifold (24) comprises a coolant input manifold having a coolant inlet port (27) formed at one end, while the two outer manifolds (23) and (25) comprise output manifolds and include coolant outlet ports (26) and (28) at the opposite end from the inlet port (27). The die (20) is oriented with respect to the ceramic substrate (22) such that the microchannels (21) are orthogonal to the manifolds (23), (24) and (25). As depicted in FIG. 2C, the chip (20) and the ceramic substrate (22) are mounted on a ground plane (29) having two coolant output ducts (29a) and a single coolant input duct (29a), wherein the liquid coolant flow direction is shown by the arrows.
There are a number of disadvantages with the conventional microchannel cooling apparatus depicted in FIGS. 2A˜2C. For instance, if the substrate (22) comprising the manifold channels (23, 24, 25) was fabricated using Silicon, the substrate would be weak and likely break during fabrication due to the formation of the multiple channels through the substrate with sharp-edge corners. Moreover, such design results in significant pressure drops and non-uniform flow distribution, which result from (i) the input and output ports (26, 27, 28) having a smaller cross sectional area than the total microchannel cross sectional area, (ii) the manifolds (23, 24, 25) having grooves which are of constant cross section feeding the microchannels (21) and (iii) having the microchannels (21) continue below the inlet manifold groove (24) when two outlet manifold grooves (23, 25) are used.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating other conventional microchannel cooling structures, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,515. FIG. 3A illustrates a cut-away perspective view of an integrated circuit module (30), which includes an IC chip (31) having solder bump bonding sites (32) along a front (active) surface (31a) of the chip (31). A back (non-active) surface (31b) of the chip (31) is thermally bonded to a microchannel structure (33). A plurality of microchannels (33a) are formed in the microchannel structure (33). A cover manifold (34) is bonded to the microchannel structure (33). Input and output coolant delivery channels (34a) and (34b) are cut or formed in the cover manifold (34) as illustrated.
FIG. 3B illustrates a coolant supply manifold (35) which is used to supply coolant for a multi-chip module (MCM) package comprising an array of the microchannel cooled IC modules (30) mounted face down on a common substrate or circuit board. The coolant supply manifold (35) includes a plurality of coolant supply channels (e.g. (36), (37), (38) and (39)), wherein channels (36) and (38) are higher pressure channels while channels (37) and (39) are lower pressure channels. The manifold (35) is adapted for placement over a printed wiring card so that, e.g., the openings (36a) and (37a) in respective coolant supply channels (36) and (37) mate with the openings (34a) and (34b) in the individual integrated circuit modules (30) on the circuit board. Elastomer seals are used to couple the coolant supply manifold (35) with the integrated circuit modules (30).
There are disadvantages associated with the microchannel cooling apparatus depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B. For instance, the microchannel coolers (30) are formed with one heat exchanger zone (between the input and output manifold channels (34a, 34b)), which can result in significant pressure drops of fluid flow along the microchannels (33a). Moreover, if a cover manifold (34) was formed with multiple coolant delivery channels (e.g., 34a) for multiple heat exchanger zones to reduce the pressure drop, the cover manifold (34) would be fragile and likely to break during fabrication, thereby reducing manufacturing yield.
Furthermore, the coolant supply manifold (35) design of FIG. 3B can result in large pressure drops and significant non-uniform flow distribution due to the channels, which feed a given column of four microchannel inlets, having a constant cross-sectional area. For instance, as depicted in FIG. 3B, the supply channel (36) feeds coolant fluid to four coolant delivery manifolds (34a) of module (30) (FIG. 3A) via the four openings (36a). Assume V, ΔP, and Q are the velocity, differential pressure and total flow in the last manifold segment, i.e., between the bottom two microchannel inlets, then the segment above will desirably have velocity 2V, and total flow 2 Q. This higher velocity will result in a segment pressure drop equal to ˜2ΔP if the flow is laminar and ˜4ΔP if the flow is turbulent (given the linear dependency between flow and pressure drop when the flow is laminar, but quadratic dependency when the flow is turbulent). Thus, for a manifold channel with constant cross-section feeding four microchannel inlets, we can expect a total manifold channel pressure drop of ˜10 ΔP if the flow is laminar, and ˜30 ΔP if the flow is turbulent. This large pressure drop will induce flow variations within the different microfin sections that can not be compensated with a return line, also with constant cross-section but with reverse orientation relative to the inlet line. Since the manifold channel has to carry significantly larger water flow than a given microchannel, both velocity and cross-section will be higher, therefore, it is easy to expect (or difficult to avoid) having a 10× increase in the Reynolds number between these two sections. For low cooling capability, like less than 50 W/cm2, the water flow requirements are low, and it is possible to have both manifold channels and microchannels with laminar flow regimes, but at high flows this is not possible since the microchannels will require flow regimes with Reynolds number in the 100–200 range, then, the flow regime in the manifold channel will not be laminar.
Another disadvantage associated with the conventional designs discussed above is that no mechanisms are provided for efficient heat removal for IC chips, such as processors, that have "hot spot" regions, i.e., regions of the chip which can have a heat flux (power/unit area) that is significantly greater than the average heat flux of the chip, which could result in temperatures ˜20° C. hotter than the average chip temperature. Indeed, one thermal solution which is designed for efficiently removing heat that is generated due to average chip power density, may not be adequate for removing heat at "hot spot" regions of the chip, which can result in failure of the chip devices in or near the "hot spot" region.

Apparatus and methods for microchannel cooling of semiconductor integrated circuit packages

International Business Machines Corporation


A battery pack including a plurality of bare cells electrically connected to one another; and a housing including a bottom portion accommodating the bare cells therein, a middle portion mounted on the bottom portion, and a top portion on the middle portion, the top portion including a first fastening portion, and the middle portion including a second fastening portion facing the first fastening portion, and at least a portion of the first fastening portion or the second fastening portion is spaced apart from the other of the first fastening portion or the second fastening portion.

1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to a battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
A high-power battery module using a non-aqueous electrolyte with high energy density has recently been developed. The high-power battery module is configured as a large-capacity battery module manufactured by connecting a plurality of battery cells in series, and is used, for example, in driving motors of devices requiring high power, e.g., electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and the like.
A battery pack may be formed by accommodating one or more battery modules in a housing. The battery pack may be used as a power source for an external device. In this case, bare cells constituting the battery module may be secondary batteries including a lithium compound, which can be reversibly charged/discharged. In order to stably use a lithium compound having excellent reactivity with moisture, various studies have been conducted to implement the light weight of a housing of a battery pack and to improve the safety of the battery pack.


A first page collection archive of user interface pages of a first software application program and a second page collection archive of user interface pages of a second software application program are stored in a repository of a data processing system. A processor generates a first difference file including user interface pages within a current collection of user interface pages that are not included within the first page collection archive, and further generates a second difference file including user interface pages within a current collection of user interface pages that are not included within the second page collection archive. The processor creates a compound installation image including the first difference file and the second difference file and stores the compound installation image in a data storage device for subsequent installation on a client device.

The present invention relates to data processing, and more particularly, to updating multiple software products.
Over its installed lifetime, a typical software application program will be updated numerous times. The updates can be unscheduled, for example, to apply bug fixes and/or to address security vulnerabilities, or scheduled, for example, to provide enhanced functionality in accordance with a development roadmap or to provide daily, monthly and/or annual updates to data employed by the software application program. Although a computer system typically has a large number of installed software application programs, the update(s) for each software application program are packaged separately.
Because not all computer systems on which software application programs are installed are updated concurrently, it is typical, even within a given enterprise, to have different computer systems at various states of update progress. For example, a first target computer system may have all updates installed for a particular software application program, a second target computer system may have all but the latest update, and a third target computer system may have all by the last two updates installed, etc. Further complicating the update process, the software application program can also be under constant development, meaning that, even for a given target computer system, the update required to bring the target computer system to a current state can be constantly changing.

Migration package for updating multiple software products


The present invention provides a fuel cell system, and the fuel cell system comprises a fuel cell, an after burner, a heat exchanger and a reformer. The after burner connects with the fuel cell to receive rest-bar of the fuel cell and produce a gas with high temperature. The heat exchanger comprises a first heat exchanging unit and a second heat exchanging unit connected with the first heat exchanging unit, and the second heat exchanging unit connects with a fuel input pipe for receiving the fuel. The reformer connects with the after burner, the first heat exchanging unit and the second heat exchanging unit separately.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell system, particularly to a fuel cell system to recover the high temperature gas from the after burner to the reformer for increasing the heat efficiency and the method of heat recovery thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because the energy price soars continuously at present, thus, how to solve the energy problem is become the attention focus of every country, wherein the best way is to raise the energy efficiency.
The fuel cell is an apparatus to convert the chemical energy into the electric energy through the electrochemical reaction. Its working principle is to transport the hydrogen-containing fuel and the oxide (air or oxygen) to the anode and the cathode of cell, separately. The anode decomposes the fuel into the hydrogen ion and the electron. The hydrogen ion passes through the proton exchange membrane from the anode to the cathode, which reacts with the electron transmitted from the outside circuit into water at the cathode. If the fuel is supplied continuously, the fuel cell will be able to generate the power. Because the reaction product of fuel cell is water, thus there is no environmental pollution. The development of this technology has been paid widely attention due to its high efficiency and low pollution.
Please referring to FIG. 1, which shows a structure plot of the conventional fuel cell system 100. The preferred one is the solid oxide fuel cell combined heat and power (SOFC-CHP), but it is not limited to this. The abovementioned system 100 comprises a solid oxide fuel cell 10 to generate the electric energy by chemical reaction, a reformer 11 to reform the fuel to hydrogen rich gas, a first heat exchanging unit 12, a second heat exchanging unit 13 and an after burner 14. In addition, the first heat exchanging unit 12 comprises a methane input part 12a, a methane output part 12b, an exhaust gas input part 12d and an exhaust gas output part 12c connected with the after burner 14. The second heat exchanging unit 13 comprises an exhaust gas input part 13a connected with the exhaust gas output part 12c of the first heat exchanging unit 12, an exhaust gas output part 13b, an air input part 13c and an air output part 13d. The reformer 11 comprises a methane input part 11a. connected with the methane output part 12b of the first heat exchanging unit, a hydrogen rich gas output part 11b connected with the fuel cell and a water input part 11c.
Basically, the electrochemical reaction of fuel cell system 100 is an exothermic reaction. The reforming reaction for generating the hydrogen from methane is an endothermic reaction. Therefore, the main function of the after burner 14 is to convert the unreacted gas and fuel in fuel cell 10 and reformer 11 into heat energy and output it to the first heat exchanging unit 12. The first heat exchanging unit 12 and the second heat exchanging unit 13 can further use the recovered heat energy to orderly heat methane and air. The heated methane is able to assure the reforming reaction at suitable temperature, in order to achieve sufficient efficacy of raising efficiency and conserving energy.
However, there are some limitations in applying the conventional scheme, such as:
(1) The working temperature of reformer 11 is between 400° C. and 700° C. If there is no external energy for the reforming reaction, the energy required by endothermic reaction should be provided by methane and water vapor completely. Thus, it is estimated that the exit gas temperature of after burner 14 should be as high as 1750° C. to assure the reforming reaction in the range of its working temperature. However, the high-temperature heat exchanging unit will be required for the high-temperature gas, which will be unfavorable to the operation life and price of system.
(2) The gas temperature for the anode and gas temperature for the cathode of fuel cell 10 should be close (temperature difference should be less than 150° C.), otherwise the cell pile will break because of heat stress. However, in the abovementioned scheme, because the heat exchanging mechanism is too simple, it is necessary to use accurate systematic parameter and design to close the abovementioned temperature.
(3) In the abovementioned scheme, only a little part of recovered waste heat that used for heating the methane and air, most waste heat is used for other uses, such as providing the hot water or hot gas. However, the demand of hot water/hot gas is not high in the subtropical area, thus the abovementioned scheme is not suitable for the subtropical area.

Fuel cell system and method of heat recovery thereof


An ink composition for publication gravure printing is provided with a colored polyurethane oligomer dissolved in the solvent component of the ink.

This invention relates generally to an ink composition, and in particular to a publication gravure ink containing a polyurethane bound colorant.
Publication gravure or rotogravure printing is a process in which an engraved metal cylinder is used to transfer ink to paper. The depth of the engraving determines the amount of ink which is picked up by the rotating cylinder, and in turn, determines the depth of shade on the printed sheet. Engraving the metal cylinder is typically accomplished by etching with acid or by mechanical engraving, to produce slight indentations in the surface of the cylinder called cells. The number of cells may range from 22,000 cells per inch for standard quality printing, to 32,000 cells per inch or more for high quality reproductions. Each individual cell is from 20 to 200 microns in width.
The inks used in publication gravure consists of a colorant and a liquid vehicle, in which the colorant, typically a pigment, is dispersed. After the ink is applied, a binder present in the vehicle affixes the colorant to the substrate on which it is printed. The binder may be a drying oil, which oxidizes and is converted from a liquid to a solid film, or a resin dissolved or dispersed in a solvent, which forms a solid film binding the colorant to a substrate after the solvent is evaporated. Combinations of drying oils, resins and organic solvents are also employed.
Gravure inks consist of approximately 30 wt. % of non-volatile components, made up primarily of the binder and colorant. The binder and colorant are typically present in a ratio ranging from about 5:1 to about 1:1 by weight, respectively.
The resolution of gravure printing may be improved by increasing the number of cells per inch. However, as the density of the cells increase, it becomes necessary to make them smaller, which in turn limits the volume of ink which can be picked up and transferred to the paper. Consequently, it becomes increasingly difficult to print darker shades at higher resolutions using the gravure process. Adjusting the color strength, by increasing the solids content of the ink can raise the viscosity of the ink above acceptable levels.
Publication gravure printing, as well as lithographic printing and flexographic printing, require inks with unique performance characteristics. Pigments, and to a much lesser extent dyes, are employed as colorants in the inks. Typically, the pigments are milled to a mean particle size of less than 2 microns and dispersed in the vehicle, often with the aid of specialized dispersants. It has been proposed that colored polymeric resins, such as polyurethane bound colorants, may be substituted for conventional pigments. Meek, U.S. Pat. No. 3,278,486, suggest that colored polymers can be employed in inks, paints and similar materials. Krutak et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,463 disclose polyurethane polymers having difunctional chromophores copolymerized therewith. The colored polymers can be ground to very fine powders and dispersed in inks or coating compositions. Moore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,745 disclose poly(oxyalkylene) substituted colorants reacted with alkenyl succinic anhydrides to provide a water soluble colorant for inks. Despite the availability of such prior art colored polymers, they have not been commercially significant in the field of printing inks, especially not in publication gravure printing.
Polyurethane-bound poly(oxyalkylene) substituted colorants are disclosed in Cross et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,729. The colorants are particularly useful for in situ coloration of polyurethane foam.


Pusher apparatus and a method of using the apparatus inserts a flexible liner into an in-situ pipe. At least a pair of contra-rotating resilient drive assemblies, having a nip therebetween, drive the liner into the pipe. A guide tube can extend between the drive assemblies and the pipe. A pull head can be affixed to a leading end of the liner and adapted for sealing within a bore of the pipe and pressured fluid can be applied to pull a leading end of the liner into the pipe while the pusher pushes. The contra-rotating resilient drive assemblies can be one or more pair of opposing wheels or opposing tracks. Track assemblies can be mounted to a frame which is movable on rails and restrained with a load cell for measuring reactive forces while pushing. The rails can be angled for aligning the nip with the pipe.

Pipelines which carry fluids are susceptible to deterioration, corrosion and other conditions which seriously affect the lifespan of the pipe. Excavation of a pipeline or pipe, to replace sections that have deteriorated, is costly and often detrimental to the environment.
In-situ pipelines of pipe typically build corrosion and scale on an inner surface, over time. The buildup within the pipe bore acts as a barrier to insertion of the liner. Large pipes can be cleared using pigging techniques, however smaller diameter pipes do not lend themselves to this type of cleaning technique. U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,553 to Turpin Sr. et al teaches passing a pipeline scraper into the bore of a pipeline and reciprocating the scraper back and forth on lengths of cable to remove residue from the bore of the pipeline.
It is known to excavate down to a portion of the pipeline from surface, sufficient to gain access to the bore of the pipe, and insert a plastic liner into the bore of the existing, in-situ pipe to prevent leakage as a result of deterioration. Typically, liner is pulled through an existing pipe at the end of a threaded cable or the like, previously installed with conventional steel rods.
Due to the unwieldy lengths of liner that are required, the supply of liner is provided at surface and must be fed into the excavation down into the bore of the pipe. Due to the angle of the minimal excavation and the usual horizontal plane of the in-situ pipe, the orientation and insertion of inflexible liners presents a challenge.
As taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,171 to Florence Jr., conventional malleable liners for underground pipes are often thick and relatively stiff. In order to insert the liner into the pipe, from a point above the pipeline, the liner must first be plastically deformed, using an installation tool comprising deforming rollers, to provide a distal curve in the liner. The liner is also deformed to form a proximal curve to direct the liner downward into the excavation, while the distal curve directs the liner generally toward the pipeline. The deforming rollers are also used as drive rollers to advance the liner into the pipe.
It is known to use a roller assembly coupled directly to an old pipe and aligned in co-linear arrangement thereto so as to insert flexible plastic pipe straight into a pipe, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,276 to Davis. Lower rollers having an annular groove and a gripping surface, such as rubber, act to guide and support a flexible pipe. The lower rollers are connected in driving relation to each other by a drive chain. Upper rubber rollers, having an annular groove, engage the upper surface of the pipe opposite the lower rollers. The rollers are arranged in-line with the pipe to avoid bending of the flexible liner. The apparatus must be placed into close proximity with the pipe to be lined, including in an excavation around the pipe itself. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,890 to Ede teaches use of an apparatus lowered into an excavation adjacent an opening and comprising three rows of motor-driven rollers having pneumatic tires as thrusting means to advance a steel pipe into the opening formed by a mole plough.
More recent development of spoolable, elongated flexible liners, such as continuous composite line pipe, (FIBERSPAR® LinePipe™ from Fiberspar Corporation, West Wareham, Mass., USA) has provided an alternative to the more inflexible varieties of liner. Particularly when a large axial force is required to advance the liner, difficulties in handling are increased due to the flexibility of this type of liner—it is difficult to push a rope. Further, the composite nature of the liner does not permit overly rough handling.
Applicant previously introduced a pusher system, as shown in published Canadian Application 2,452,413 published Mar. 5, 2005, that implements a two or more pairs of contra-rotating and pneumatic drive wheels for driving pipe therebetween. While suited for many applications and installation of composite pipe, the maximum driving force is limited and the wheeled drive interface can impose high loads on the liner.
Further, where the material properties of the pipe are less robust, there is a need for a system for inserting pipe which does not introduce excessive loads into the pipe.

Drive apparatus for installing flexible pipe through in-situ pipe


A pontoon (20) for a boat (22) includes a base member (24) and a closure member (26) which are attached to form a U-shaped performance structure and a cylindrical support structure. A foam (74) filled nose cone (29) is connected to front ends (36,46) of the base member (24) and closure member (26), and an end cap (28) is connected to the back ends (38,48) thereof to form an air tight chamber (66) in the support structure. The pontoon (20) is connected to a deck (30) of the boat (22), so that the pontoon (20) contacts the deck (30) along the entire length of the pontoon (20).

This invention relates to watercraft and, more particularly, to flotation devices for boats.
Boating is one of Americans' favorite recreational activities, and many different types of watercraft have been created for different types of activities on the water. One of the most versatile craft is the pontoon boat which is capable of supporting activities ranging from barbeques to skiing. A typical pontoon boat includes a generally flat deck with a large passenger area surrounded at least in part by a railing. To keep the pontoon boat afloat, several flotation devices known as pontoons or logs are attached to the bottom of the deck.
Of the available pontoon structures, one of the strongest has a cylindrical configuration. Cylindrical pontoons are attached to the deck with brackets that are spaced apart along the length of the pontoon. This attachment leaves openings between the top of the pontoon and the bottom of the deck through which water flows during operation of the boat. Unfortunately, the flow of water over the cylindrical pontoon reduces performance.
Another structure utilizes a U-shaped pontoon contacting the deck over the entire length of the pontoon. This prevents water from flowing over the pontoon thereby enhancing performance. However, the U-shaped structure is not as strong as the cylindrical structure. For example, the U-shaped structure allows flexing in the pontoon walls.
Thus, it is desirable to increase the strength of pontoons while maintaining performance. Increasing strength extends the life of pontoons, and maintaining performance saves fuel and allows higher speeds for skiing and other tow activities.


A thermal cycler (1) includes a holder (11) that holds a biotip (100) filled with a reaction mixture and liquid having a smaller specific gravity than the reaction mixture and being immiscible with the reaction mixture, the biotip (100) including a channel (110) in which the reaction mixture moves, a heating unit (12) that heats a first portion (111) of the channel when the biotip (100) is in the holder (11), and a driving unit (20) that disposes the holder (11) and the heating unit (12) by making a switch between a first disposition and a second disposition, the first disposition being such that the first portion (111) is in a lowest part of the channel (110) with respect to a gravitational force direction when the biotip (100) is in the holder (11), the second disposition being such that a second portion (112) that is a different portion from the first portion (111) relative to a moving direction of the reaction mixture is in the lowest part of the channel (110) with respect to the gravitational force direction when the biotip (100) is in the holder (11).

In recent years, with the advancement in utilization of genetic technology, medical treatment that involves utilization of genes, such as genetic diagnosis or gene therapy, has received attention, and also in the agricultural and livestock industry, a great number of methods involving utilization of genes for breed discrimination and cultivar improvement have been developed. As one kind of technologies utilizing genes, the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method is widely known. The PCR method is now a critical technology to elucidate the information on biological matters.
In the PCR method, a thermal cycle is applied to solution (reaction mixture) that includes a nucleic acid sequence subjected to amplification (target DNA) and a reagent in order to amplify the target DNA. A thermal cycle is a process to apply two or more stages of temperature to the reaction mixture and to repeat the cycle periodically. In the PCR method, usually two or three stages of temperature are applied in a thermal cycle.
In the PCR method, containers, namely tubes or biological sample reaction chips (biotips), for processing biochemical reaction are generally used. However, the known methods have disadvantageously required a large amount of reagent or other liquids for appropriate reaction, complicated the structure of apparatuses to realize thermal cycles necessary for the reaction, and taken a long period of time for the reaction. Thus, biotips or reaction apparatuses that realize PCR that is accurate, requires a shorter period of time, and uses a minimized amount of reagent and sample, have been desired.
To overcome such disadvantages, JP-A-2009-136250 discloses a biological sample reaction chip in which a reaction mixture and liquid that has a smaller specific gravity than the reaction mixture and is immiscible with the reaction mixture (such as mineral oil, hereinafter referred to as "liquid") are filled, and a biological sample reaction apparatus that applies thermal cycles by rotating the biological sample reaction chip around the horizontal rotational axis thereby moving the reaction mixture.


A helmet has an inner liner made of foam material forming a body of the helmet. The inner liner has a convex outer surface and a concave inner surface defining a cavity for receiving the wearer's head. The inner liner has a plurality of beams extending from front to rear of the helmet and spaced apart to form vents therebetween, the vents being free of foam material between adjacent beams. Rigid bridge members are comolded with the inner liner to be partially concealed in the inner liner, the at least one bridge member having at least one bridge projecting out of the foam material of two adjacent beams and extending transversely in at least one of the vents. At least one strap is provided to attach the helmet to a wearer's head.

Bicycle helmets have now become ubiquitous for the bicycling activity. In road and urban riding, one specific helmet construction has become the norm: that consisting of the foam inner liner with an outer shell. The inner liner forms the body of the helmet in terms of volume and structural integrity. The inner liner is typically made of a structural foam material such as expanded polystyrene. An outer shell covers the liner and defines the smooth and decorative exposed outer surface of the helmet. The outer shell and liner are most often co-molded. Other components include the attachment system inside the outer shell, by which the helmet is secured to the user's head.
The above-referred configuration is quite convenient in terms of providing suitable head protection, while being lightweight. Moreover, in some instances, numerous vents may be defined in the helmet to allow air circulation and the exhaust of sweat, which is often necessary in warmer riding weather.
Helmets have been shown to be non-optimal in terms of aerodynamics, notably because of the presence of such vents causing additional drag. Accordingly, helmets used in competitions have recently been designed with fewer vents to limit drag losses. For example, Time trial helmets are often with very few vents. However, such helmets may not be as comfortable in warm weather.


A drive circuit includes a plurality of output drive terminals and a plurality of push-pull circuit stages. Each of the push-pull circuit stages includes a pair of complementary transistors having a common terminal connected to a respective output drive terminal. The drive circuit further includes a plurality of first transistors connected in series with at least one of the pair of complementary transistors of the push-pull circuit stages, respectively, and a common second transistor. The common second transistor is connected with each of the plurality of first transistors to form a current mirror circuit. The drive circuit further includes a mirror current setting circuit for setting a mirror current flowing through the common transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive circuit which may be utilized to drive a plurality of capacitive loads independently from each other.
A claim of priority is made to Japanese patent application number 2008-009206, filed Jan. 18, 2008, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drive circuits including a plurality of capacitive loads, and a load drive circuit for driving each of the plurality of capacitive loads independently from each other are generally known. The drive circuits have been used for driving multi-nozzle heads, for example, and are capable of driving a predetermined load only at a predetermined timing.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H5-301344, discloses a drive circuit including n circuits of totem-pole type load drive circuits consisting of PNP transistors and NPN transistors. In the disclosed drive circuits, resistors for determining charge time constants or discharge time constants are connected to each of output terminals corresponding to each of the loads. Consequently, the charge time constants or the discharge time constants of the above drive circuit can be individualized at each of the output terminals.
The drive circuits disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H5-301 require resistors for determining the charge time constant or the discharge time constant with respect to each of the loads, and therefore a drawback thereof is that is becomes relatively complicated to determine the charge time constant or the discharge time constant in the case where transistors, capacitors, and resistors, etc., for configuring the drive circuit are integrated on the semiconductor substrates.
In addition, a measurement of connecting external resistors to the loads, etc. as resistors for determining the charge time constant or the discharge time constant is possible as a measure to reduce variations in the charge time constant or the discharge time constant. In the measurement, as the number of the loads to be driven increases, the number of the pins for connecting the external resistors to the circuit including the external resistors and the loads increases, and therefore another drawback arises in that cost reductions and/or the circuit miniaturization are difficult to achieve.


An image heating apparatus includes a rotatable heating member configured to heat an image on a recording medium at a nip, driving means configured to drive the heating member, an endless belt configured to form the nip with the heating member, and a driving roller configured to drive the endless belt. In the image heating apparatus, the following expressions are satisfied:μ2<μ10.005<μ2<0.3V1<V2where μ2 is a friction coefficient between the endless belt and the driving roller, μ1 is a friction coefficient between the heating member and the endless belt, V1 is a peripheral speed of the heating member, and V2 is a peripheral speed of the driving roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image heating apparatus for heating an image on a recording medium. Examples of the image heating apparatus include a fixing apparatus for fixing an unfixed image on a recording medium and a gloss application apparatus for increasing gloss level of a fixed image on a recording medium by heating the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electrophotographic image forming devices, various systems for fixing unfixed toner images are known.
In the various systems, a belt fixing apparatus capable of increasing the size of a fixing nip portion in response to demands for high-speed image formation is proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-166734 and 10-319772).
The fixing apparatus has a structure in which a pressure belt is pressed into contact with a fixing roller, and a pressure pad is pressed against the fixing roller from the inner surface of the pressure belt. This structure can provide a long fixing nip portion extending from the pressure pad to a belt suspension roller.
In the fixing apparatus, the fixing roller is rotatably driven by a driving source, and the pressure belt is rotated by following movement of the fixing roller due to sliding friction force produced by sliding on the fixing roller. When a recording medium is present on the fixing nip portion, the pressure belt mainly receives transfer force via the recording medium. Therefore, the peripheral speed of the pressure belt depends on the conveying speed of the recording medium.
However, for a structure in which the pressure belt is rotated by following movement of the fixing roller, the conveying force provided to the pressure belt varies according to the type of the recording medium, environmental conditions, the type of a toner image. This may result in unstable rotation of the pressure belt.
For example, in the case where a large amount of unfixed toner remains over substantially the entire surface of the recording medium, when the recording medium enters the fixing nip portion, the coefficient of kinetic friction between the fixing roller and the recording medium tends to decrease, and the conveying force of the pressure belt decreases. As a result, the recording medium lags behind the fixing roller and the pressure belt slips on the fixing roller, and poor imaging (e.g., displacements of an image) occurs. In this case, the peripheral speed of the pressure belt is substantially the same as that of the conveying speed for the recording medium.
As described above, existing pressure-belt driving systems cannot offer high image quality.
With aim of preventing a recording medium from lagging, an apparatus including an override mechanism used as a driving mechanism is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-222980. However, this mechanism is insufficient for completely solving the problems.
The system using this override mechanism has a structure in which, when a recording medium is not present on the fixing nip portion, the pressure belt is rotated by following movement of the fixing roller due to sliding friction force to the fixing roller, as in the case of the systems disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-166734 and 10-319772 mentioned above. In this structure, the pressure belt receives driving force only when the recording medium (toner image) slips on the fixing roller and the pressure belt lags behind the fixing roller. In other words, it takes time, however small, to change from when the peripheral speed of the pressure belt becomes lower than that of the fixing roller to when the pressure belt receives the driving force.
As a result, the speed of the pressure belt is changed in the course of fixing the toner image on the recording medium, and the speed change causes poor imaging, such as image displacements.


A take-off power package system (TOPPS) designed to allow a number of tool packages to be quickly and positively connected to a prime mover package. The prime mover package comprises an internal combustion engine (ICE) which is mounted to a lightweight, tubular steel or aluminum frame. A flexible, quick-connect coupling is mounted directly to the engine crankshaft for mating with a coupling on the drive shaft of a selected driven tool package. Two clamps, and a plate and pin alignment system are provided on the drive shaft side of the frame for positively securing the selected tool package to the prime mover package. An auxiliary fuel tank may also be mounted to the prime mover package to extend the operating time of the engine. The tool packages house a number of shaft driven implements, including hydraulic pumps, electric generators, air compressors, etc. As with the prime mover package, the tool packages also include a lightweight, tubular steel or aluminum frame for mounting the particular implement. A flexible, quick-connect coupling is mounted on the input shaft of these packages for quick connection to the mating coupling on the engine crankshaft. Two latches and a plate and bore alignment system are provided on the input shaft side of the frame of the tool package for connection to the clamps and plate and pin alignment system of the prime mover package.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable, internal combustion engine powered, take-off power package system (TOPPS) and, more specifically, to a power drive system including a power drive package that is used to drive a plurality of detachable, packaged, driven units such as hydraulic pumps, electric generators, air compressors, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable, self contained tools presently on the market include a prime mover permanently attached to a specific tool. While these devices provide useful features in environments where electrical power is not available, they are limited in versatility due to each tool requiring its own prime mover (usually an internal combustion engine, ICE). To increase the versatility of these tools, systems have been designed that include a prime mover separately mounted to a power drive unit, and a number of modular tools that may be selectively connected to the power drive unit. These systems allow a single prime mover to be used with a plurality of tools, thus reducing the overall cost while providing an extensive range of power tools and associated functions. Unfortunately, these systems have modules that are either both difficult and time consuming to connect, or allow unacceptable freedom of movement between the prime mover and the associated driven module.
Exemplary, related art will now be discussed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,741, issued to Pietro on Sep. 12, 1967, discloses a power take-off connection for the driving shaft of an internal combustion engine. No details concerning other connections to the engine are disclosed, however. U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,353, issued to Streng on Mar. 8, 1988, discloses a fuel container support system for a combustion engine within a support frame. External connections to the drive shaft or other sections of the frame are not discussed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,786, issued to Ellegard on Jul. 19, 1988, discloses a releasable engine coupling arrangement for use between an ICE and a power tool. The coupling arrangement, however, allows a large amount of free movement between the shafts, as well as being suited only for smaller hand-held tools. U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,323, issued to Casper et al. on Feb. 5, 1991, discloses a portable power unit for various power tools. As this device is for smaller tools, there are no frames used for the various tools or the ICE.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,669, issued to Parmley on Feb. 12, 1991, discloses a modular energy system wherein a driving unit that includes a power plant may be selectively connected to driven units via a drive shaft. Due to the large size and weight of the units, there is apparently no need for a solid connection between the units. Canadian Patent No. 447,271, issued on Mar. 16, 1948, discloses portable engines used for powering a variety of power tools via a flexible shaft. No connection to the engine housing is disclosed. British Pat. Application No. 2,072,093, published Sep. 30, 1981, discloses a method of coupling an internal combustion engine (ICE) to an implement using a centering ring, a centering part, and plug-in coupling parts for the drive shaft. As the connection between the engine and the implement is semi-permanent, no quick release mechanism is used.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a take-off power package system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


An imager device includes a pixel array having some pixels providing output signals for automatic light control with other pixels providing image output signals. Multiple pixel cells of the array may be arranged to obtain sample data indicating the amount of light reaching the array, while image pixels in the array provide captured image data. An exemplary device includes a CMOS pixel array having 4T pixels arranged in rows and columns and having two transfer transistor control lines for each row of the array. Operation of the first transfer transistor line controls the pixels used for ALC operation while operation of the second transfer transistor line controls the pixels used for image capture.

CMOS imagers are becoming increasingly popular for imager applications. A CMOS imager circuit includes a focal plane array of pixel cells, each one of the cells including a photosensor, for example, a photogate, photoconductor or a photodiode overlying a substrate for accumulating photo-generated charge in the underlying portion of the substrate. Each pixel cell has a readout circuit that includes at least one output transistor formed in the substrate and a charge storage region formed on the substrate connected to the gate of an output transistor. The charge storage region may be constructed as a floating diffusion region.
In a CMOS imager, the active elements of a pixel cell perform the necessary functions of: (1) photon to charge conversion; (2) accumulation of image charge; (3) transfer of accumulated charge to a storage region, typically operated as a floating diffusion region; (4) resetting the storage region to a known state; (5) selection of a pixel for readout; and (6) output and amplification of one signal representing the reset storage region and other signal representing accumulated pixel charge. The charge at the storage region is typically converted to a pixel output voltage by the capacitance of the storage region and a source follower output transistor which has a gate coupled to a storage region.
CMOS imagers of the type discussed above are generally known as discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,140,630, U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,868, U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,366, U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,652, U.S. Pat. No. 6,204,524 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,205, assigned to Micron Technology, Inc., which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary CMOS imager 10 which includes a pixel array 20 comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in a predetermined number of columns and rows. The pixels of each row in array 20 are all turned on at the same time by a row select line and the pixels of each column are selectively output onto a respective column output line. A plurality of row and column lines are provided for the entire array 20.
The row lines are selectively activated by a row driver 32 in response to row address decoder 30 and the column select lines are selectively activated by a column driver 36 in response to column address decoder 34. Thus, a row and column address is provided for each pixel. The CMOS imager 10 is operated by a timing and control circuit 40, which controls address decoders 30, 34 for selecting the appropriate row and column lines for pixel readout, and row and column driver circuitry 32, 36, which apply driving voltage to the drive transistors of the selected row and column lines.
Each column contains sampling capacitors and switches in a sample and hold (S/H) circuit 38 associated with the column driver 36. In operation, the sample and hold circuit 38 samples and holds a pixel reset signal Vrst and a pixel image signal Vsig for each selected pixel. A differential signal (Vrst−Vsig) is produced by differential amplifier 42 for each pixel. The signal is digitized by analog-to-digital converter 45 (ADC). The analog-to-digital converter 45 supplies the digitized pixel signals to an image processor 50, which forms a digital image output 52.
Typical CMOS imager pixels within array 20 have either a three transistor (3T) or four transistor (4T) design, though pixels having a larger number of transistors are also known. A 4T or higher "T" pixel may include at least one electronic device such as a transistor for transferring charge from a photosensor to the storage region and one device, also typically a transistor, for resetting the storage region to a predetermined charge level prior to charge transference.
A 3T pixel does not typically include a transistor for transferring charge from the photosensor to the storage region. A 3T pixel typically contains a photo-conversion device for supplying photo-generated charge to the storage region; a reset transistor for resetting the storage region; a source follower transistor having a gate connected to the storage region, for producing an output signal; and a row select transistor for selectively connecting the source follower transistor to a column line of a pixel array. In a 3T pixel cell, the charge accumulated by a photo-conversion device may be read out prior to resetting the device to a predetermined voltage. It has been suggested that 3T pixel cells could be utilized to support automatic light control (ALC) operations, also referred to as automatic exposure control. ALC is used to control the amount of light integrated by a pixel cell. ALC operations may determine, among other things, a time for charge readout based on the amount of charge generated by the photo-conversion device and may adjust the image integration time and thus the amount of charge further generated by the photo-conversion device in response to the charge present on the photo-conversion device at a particular time.
Although the 3T design (or 4T pixel operated in a 3T mode) is useful to support ALC operations, the 4T pixel configuration is preferred over the 3T pixel configuration for readout operations because it reduces the number of "hot" pixels in an array (those that experience an unacceptably high dark current), and the 4T configuration diminishes the kTC noise that 3T pixels experience with the readout signals. For example, 4T pixels can be used for correlated double sampling, whereby the storage region, also termed herein as the floating diffusion region, begins at a predetermined reset voltage level by pulsing a reset transistor; thereafter, the reset voltage produced by the source follower transistor is read out through the row select transistor as a pixel reset signal Vrst. Then, integrated photo-generated charge from the photosensor is transferred to the floating diffusion region by operation of a transfer transistor and a pixel image signal Vsig produced by the source follower transistor is read out through the row select transistor. The two values, Vrst and Vsig, are subtracted thereby reducing common mode noise.
Since light conditions may change spatially and over time, automatic light control is an advantageous function, to ensure that the best image is obtained by controlling the image sensor's exposure to the light. In some imager applications, there is a need to use the present illumination during the actual exposure of an image in a current frame to control the exposure because the use of the imager's illumination in a prior frame may not be sufficient for the intended application. Further discussion on ALC and real-time exposure control may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/846,513, filed on May 17, 2004; Ser. No. 11/052,217, filed on Feb. 8, 2005; and Ser. No. 10/806,412, filed on Mar. 22, 2004, each assigned to Micron Technology, Inc., and which are incorporated herein by reference.
Accordingly, there is a desire and need for an imaging device that has accurate exposure control and with low dark current and kT/C noise. Put another way, there is a need and desire for an imaging device that has both automated light control and correlated double sampling functionality.

Method and apparatus providing multiple transfer gate control lines per pixel for automatic exposure control


A method, computer system, and a computer program product for detecting a plurality of influential factors for traffic congestion is provided. The present invention may include identifying one or more influential roads and one or more influential routings associated with an object road in a target road network. The present invention may also include quantifying an impact associated with the identified one or more influential roads and the identified one or more influential routings associated with the object road, wherein at least one Impact Matrix is utilized to determine a road-by-road influence in connection to the target road network.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, and more particularly to traffic management.
Traffic congestion is a major problem for city development, which involves daily transport management and urban planning, and has led to critical issues including energy consumption and air pollution. Currently, traffic control, by utilizing traffic lamps and officers, is used to ease congestion. However, traffic lamps cannot be automatically adjusted by the related road network real-time traffic status, and an officer's ability to control traffic heavily depends on the officer's experience and expertise.

Detecting influential factors for traffic congestion


A flexible magnetic disk drive to be USB interfaced with a computer, there being a maximum current limitation of 500 milliamperes to be carried by USB cables. The current consumption of the disk drive maximizes when both disk drive motor and stepper motor are in rotation and when, additionally, a pilot lamp glows to warn that the disk is being accessed. The invention takes advantage of the fact that the stepper motor is driven with a motor current that varies periodically with the stepping pulses, each period of the motor current being notionally divisible into approximately two halves such that the motor current is less in magnitude in the first half than in the second. A pilot lamp control circuit causes the pilot lamp to be energized only during the first half of each motor current period, resulting in the blinking of the pilot lamp. Thus the peak of the sum of the motor current and the lamp current during the first half of the motor current period can be made no more than the peak of the motor current alone during the second half.

This invention relates to an apparatus for data transfer with a rotating data storage disk such as, typically, a flexible magnetic disk commonly known as floppy disk and, more particularly, to a flexible magnetic disk drive suitable for connection as a peripheral to a personal computer via a universal serial bus (USB) interface. Still more particularly, the invention concerns how to reduce the maximum current requirement of such a disk drive, specifically dealing with the reduction of current consumption by a pilot lamp that is customarily affixed to the front face of the disk drive in order to warn the user that the disk is being accessed.
There recently have been introduced to the market the personal computers that have what is called a universal serial bus (USB) port for connection to a set of peripherals via serial USB interfaces. A plurality of peripherals, each with a USB interface, may be connected to what is termed a USB hub via separate USB cables and thence to the USB port of the computer via a single USB cable. USB connections are generally acknowledged to greatly enhance the utility and versatility of computer systems.
There has, however, been a problem left unsolved in connection with the USB interfacing of personal computers and peripherals. USBs are capable of carrying a current of no more than 500 milliamperes, which means that the maximum current requirement of each computer peripheral should not exceed that limit. Difficulties have been experienced in de signing magnetic disk drives, among other peripherals, so as to meet this requirement. The difficulties arise for the most part from the large current consumptions of the disk drive motor and the stepper motor for transducer positioning, both incorporated in a floppy disk drive to enable the transducers to access the individual storage locations on the disk for reading or writing.
Flexible magnetic disk drives have, moreover, a pilot lamp on the front face of their casing that glows continuously when a disk is loaded in the disk drive, being driven by the disk drive motor, and being read or written upon, as well as when the transducers are being transported by the stepper motor for track seeking. This pilot lamp represents another source of current consumption, adding substantially to current consumptions by the disk drive motor and the transducer positioning motor. The total current requirement of the disk drive maximizes when both disk drive motor and transducer positioning motor are in rotation with the concurrent continuous glowing of the pilot lamp. The present invention is based upon the discovery that, although the current consumptions of the motors may not be reducible, or at least not easily so, that of the pilot lamp is.
The present invention seeks therefore to lower the maximum current requirement of a disk drive through reduction of the current consumption of the pilot lamp, or equivalent indicator means, without any substantial impairment of the intended functions of the indicator means.
Briefly, the invention may be summarized as a rotating disk data storage apparatus having a reduced maximum current requirement, comprising a positioning motor for moving a transducer or a pair of transducers across track turns on a disk, and a motor driver circuit for controllably driving the positioning motor by causing energization thereof with a periodically varying motor current, each period of the motor current being notionally divisible into a first and a second part such that the motor current is less in magnitude in the first part than in the second. Also included are an indicator such as a pilot lamp for indicating that the positioning motor is in operation, and an indicator control circuit for permitting the indicator to be energized with an indicator current only during the first part of each period of the motor current energizing the positioning motor.
Thus the indicator lamp blinks, instead of glowing continuously as has been the case heretofore, being lit up only during the first part of each period of the motor current when the motor current is less. Consequently, the peak of the sum of the motor current and the indicator current during the first part of the motor current period can be made no more than the peak of the motor current alone during the second part of the motor current period. The current consumption of the glowing lamp does not increase the total current consumption of the complete apparatus when both positioning motor and disk drive motor are in operation; in other words, the maximum current consumption of the apparatus remains the same whether the lamp is on or off.
In preferred embodiments of the invention to be disclosed herein, the apparatus takes the form of a flexible magnetic disk drive, in which the positioning motor is a stepper motor which rotates by discrete increments in response to stepping pulses generated both externally and internally of the disk drive. The present invention is equally well applicable whether the stepper motor is driven by successively exciting one or two phase windings thereof or by alternately exciting one and two phase windings, both according to the prior art. The lamp control circuit for making the pilot lamp glow intermittently takes different forms depending upon which excitation method is employed.
In cases where the stepper motor is driven by the one-or two-phase excitation method, the lamp control circuit incorporates means such as a timer responsive to each stepping pulse for providing a lamp control signal indicative of two divisions of each stepping pulse period, which are equivalent to the first and second parts of each motor current period. The lamp control signal can therefore be used directly for causing the lamp to be energized during the first division of each stepping pulse period.
If the one-two-phase excitation method is employed, on the other hand, then the successive stepping pulse cycles alternate between the cycle during which one phase of the stepper motor is energized and the cycle during which two phases of the stepper motor are energized simultaneously. The current consumption of the stepper motor is of course less during the one-phase excitation cycles than during the two-phase excitation cycles. The lamp control circuit may therefore discriminate between the one- and two-phase excitation cycles of the stepping pulses, causing the pilot lamp to be energized only during the one-phase excitation cycles.
In either case the invention makes utmost use of preexisting parts of the disk drive. No major alteration of such preexisting parts is needed for reduction of the maximum current requirement of the disk drive according to the invention.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention and the manner of achieving them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will best be understood, from a study of the following description and attached claims, with reference had to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred embodiments of the invention.

Pilot lamp current consumption reduction system for a flexible magnetic disk drive or the like


A fluid transfer system includes a Luer female connector having a main body containing an internal channel for passage of fluids and a collar surrounding at least a part of the end of the main body, and a Luer male connector having a main body with a longitudinal internal opening. The main body of the female connector contains a first threading on at least a part of the external surface of that portion that is surrounded by the collar, located at least in part facing an internal surface of the collar; one of the ends of the main body of the Luer male connector contains a second threading on at least a part of its internal surface delineating the longitudinal internal opening, which engages into and fits in the first threading to ensure joining between the Luer male and female connectors.

1. Domain of the Invention
This invention is in the field of Luer connections, specifically a secure mechanism for the transfer of medical use solutions.
2. Technological Background
It is a well-known practice to use Luer connections to connect for example medical devices to each other for introducing medical solutions from a primary recipient to ducts within human bodies.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show state of the art Luer male and female connectors. A Luer male connector 1 comprises a collar 2 encircling at least a part of the conical male part 3 whose external surface joins to the female conical connecting surface of the Luer female connector 4 when these Luer male 1 and female 4 connectors are joined together.
The collar 2 of the Luer male connector 3 features an internal threading 5 whereas the Luer female connector 4 contains the largest of the rims 6 that fit to the internal threading 5 of the collar 2 of the Luer male connector so that the two parts can join.
Connecting the two Luer connections 1, 4 is accomplished simply by means of a tightening torque. The application of this tightening torque, or twisting movement, gives rise to a rotating movement of the Luer female connection 4 around the internal threading 5 of the male connector collar 2.
When the two Luer connectors 1, 4 are thus engaged and directly attached to each other, abrupt separation and contamination from without of these Luer connectors are prevented as described in ISO standard 594-2 of the International Organization of Standardization.
This standard also prescribes specific dimensions for each of the Luer connections.
While these Luer connectors 1, 4 are easy to use, handling errors by users have been observed during the coupling action in a large number of Luer connectors.
In particular, where handling is required in aphaeresis, there is a risk of inverting the two lines, for example anticoagulants and saline solution, when the lines both have identical Luer connectors.
As such, there is an urgent need to come up with other connectors that are different from state of the art connectors so as to avoid handling errors that could result in a risk to the health of patients.
Moreover, fluids transfer systems recognized as state of the art that prevent improper connections are generally complex structures comprised of a large number of initially distinct parts. It takes a lot of time to assemble these fluid transfer systems and they are costly.
The objective of this invention is to overcome this drawback by providing a fluids transfer system for medical use that is particularly simple in terms of design and operational use, that is aseptic and low cost and that affords a fully secure connection of Luer male and female connectors.

Secure fluids transfer system for medical use