In an e-mail processing system with a predetermined limit on the number of destination addresses of a piece of e-mail to be sent, the present invention determines whether the number of destination addresses of a piece of e-mail being viewed to be returned to everyone exceeds the predetermined limit when directed to be returned to everyone for the e-mail being viewed, and generates a piece of return mail creation screen with predetermined addresses in the e-mail being viewed being set as destinations of the piece of return mail when the predetermined limit is determined to be exceeded and generates a piece of return mail creation screen with everyone's address for the piece of e-mail being viewed being set as a destination of the piece of return mail when the predetermined limit is determined not to be exceeded. This configuration improves viewability and operability, for example, when a user directs to create a “Return to Everyone” mail. This configuration can increase the number of users to be provided with the service.

The present invention relates to a process of creating a piece of return mail in an electronic mail processing system under a predetermined limitation on the number of destination addresses of a piece of e-mail to be sent.
As the Internet has become widespread in recent years, electronic mail has become commonplace as a communication tool with an information processor such as a personal computer or a piece of e-mail-specific terminal.
At the same time, there have been problems in such a case that a user who employs e-mail by means of an information processor placed at the user's office cannot manipulate the e-mail away from the office.
To enable a user to employ e-mail away from the user's office or house, a system for forwarding a piece of e-mail to an e-mail address which is available from the user's wireless mobile terminal was devised in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-244556. However, the above-mentioned e-mail forwarding system has a limit on size or the number of characters of a piece of e-mail to be forwarded depending on the type of destined mobile terminal (e.g., a cellular phone). Accordingly, when a piece of e-mail to be sent is too large, only the beginning part is forwarded or the whole piece of mail is forwarded by being divided into many pieces.
Another WWW (World Wide Web) mail system devised employs e-mail from a personal computer through a WWW browser instead of through e-mail specific application. In the WWW mail system, a user employs e-mail through a WWW browser.
Next, a conventional e-mail system will be described.
Conventional E-Mail System
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional e-mail system with a personal computer.
Reference numeral 201 denotes client 1 which is a personal computer connected to an e-mail system over the Internet. Client 1 includes an MUA (Mail User Agent) program for reading/writing a piece of e-mail and an MTA (Message Transfer Agent) program for distributing a piece of e-mail.
Reference numeral 202 denotes client 2 which is a personal computer connected to an e-mail system over the Internet. Client 2 includes an MUA program which is a mailer program for reading/writing a piece of e-mail. A user can create a piece of e-mail by controlling an MUA program on client 2 and request an MTA program running on a mail server 206 of an e-mail system to distribute the piece of e-mail.
A user can also access an e-mail system through POP (Post Office Protocol) or IMAP protocol, capture and view a piece of e-mail for the user existing in the e-mail system by controlling a mailer (MUA program) on client 2.
Client 2 also includes a WWW browser which is represented as Netscape Navigator (trademark) and the like. A user can access a WWW server in an e-mail system and perform a user registration process and an address book process by controlling a WWW browser.
Reference numeral 203 denotes considered to be a network using such communication network as a public telephone line, ISDN, and satellite communication network.
Reference numeral 204 denotes an e-mail system which is composed of a WWW server, a mail server, a database server and a charge server. The system provides a user with an e-mail service. The servers are respectively connected via a Local Area Network (referred to as LAN hereinafter) and can communicate data with each other.
Reference numeral 205 denotes a WWW server, which includes an authentication program, a user registration program, an address book program, and an account generation program. When a user controls a WWW browser and accesses the WWW server, the WWW server generates various WWW screens and sends them to the WWW browser. The user can make respective requests for the WWW server by viewing and manipulating the sent WWW screens.
The WWW server which received the user's request over the WWW starts each program and performs each process.
The authentication program 205a is a program for performing user authentication when a user accesses a WWW server by controlling a WWW browser. The user views a sent authentication screen and enters a user ID and a password which are required for authentication. Then the authentication program performs authentication by referring to user information data in a user information database. If the authentication fails, the authentication program displays an authentication error screen. If the authentication succeeds, the authentication program generates an authentication ID and stores the authentication ID in association with the user ID into an authentication database. At this moment, a timer for the authentication ID is set to a specific time period. When a predetermined time period set for this authentication ID timer elapses, the stored authentication ID is deleted from the database.
When the user accesses the WWW server again by controlling a WWW browser after having an authentication ID generated, the authentication program checks whether the generated authentication ID exists in DB. If the authentication ID exists in the DB, the previous authentication is determined to be valid and the access is permitted without performing any user authentication. If the authentication ID does not exist in the DB, the authentication ID is determined to be invalid and an authentication screen for retrying user authentication is displayed.
The user registration program 205b is a program to generate a user information registration screen for a user to set the start or end of the employment of the e-mail system or to register user information when the user accesses a URL for user registration of the WWW server by controlling a WWW browser.
When the user views an information registration screen and directs to start employing the e-mail system, the user registration program issues and stores a user ID, a password and an e-mail address for employing the e-mail service into a user information database. Then the user registration program starts the account generation program.
When the user views an information registration screen and directs to finish employing the e-mail system, the user registration program starts the account generation program, while deleting a user ID, a password and an e-mail address which has been used by the user from a user information database.
In addition, the user registration program resets an authentication ID timer each time the user controls the system.
The address book program 205c is a program to generate an address book screen for a user to edit or view an address book when the user accesses a URL for address book of the WWW server by controlling a WWW browser.
The address book program stores data on a specific person's name, a telephone number and an e-mail address designated by the user in association with each other into an address book database. The address book data is stored in association with each other for each user ID. The maximum number of address book data pieces allowed for each user to register can be set to a predetermined number.
In addition, the address book program resets an authentication ID timer each time the user controls the system.
The account generation program 205d is a program for causing a mail server to generate an e-mail account for a user when the user accesses a URL for user registration of a WWW server by controlling a WWW browser and directs to start employing the e-mail system. The account generation program is also used for deleting the user's e-mail account in the mail server when the user accesses a URL for user registration of a WWW server by controlling a WWW browser and directs to finish employing the e-mail system.
When generation of an e-mail account completes, the account generation program starts a charge program running on a charge server.
The mail server 206 is composed of an MTA program and a POP/IMAP program.
The MTA program 206a is a program for performing management of a mail account for a user who employs the e-mail system and for processing a piece of e-mail for a user who employs the e-mail system. The MTA program receives a piece of e-mail distributed over a communication network for a user who employs the e-mail system and stores the piece of e-mail into a data storage area on a mail server, which is referred to as "mail spool". At this moment, the MTA program sorts and stores the received piece of e-mail for each user (for each e-mail address).
The maximum capacity for a mail storage area of a mail spool is set for each user. When an amount of storage for a user reaches its maximum capacity, the MTA program stops storing a piece of new e-mail for the user and returns the piece of e-mail to its source.
206b is a POP/IMAP program. When a user accesses the e-mail system through a protocol such as POP (Post Office Protocol) or IMAP (Internet Message Accesses Protocol) by controlling the MUA program, a POP/IMAP program passes a piece of mail stored in a mail spool of a mail server to MUA.
When a user performs a sending process of a piece of e-mail by controlling an MUA program, the MUA program requests the MTA program to distribute the piece of e-mail. The MTA program which received the request distributes the piece of e-mail created by the user through SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol).
A database server 207 is composed of a user information database, an address book database and an authentication database.
The user information database 207a stores a user ID, a password, and an e-mail address of a user who employs the e-mail system.
The address book database 207b stores an address book for each user who employs the e-mail system. The address book stores data such as a specific person's name, a telephone number and an e-mail address, which are designated for registration.
The authentication database 207c stores an authentication ID generated by an authentication program.
The charge server 208 is composed of a charge program and a charge database.
When a user directs to start employing the e-mail system with a user registration program, the charge program 208a stores a set date and time as a date and time for service to start in a charge DB. The charge program 208a is also a program for storing a set date and time as a date and time for service to end in a charge database when a user directs to finish employing the e-mail system with a user registration program. With the charge program, the charge server calculates the number of days from the starting date and time to the ending date and time for each user who employs the e-mail system and calculates a charge of the e-mail system.
The charge database 208b stores the dates and times to start and end the service for a user who employs the e-mail system.

System, method, program and storage medium for processing electronic mail


A chair includes a tablet and a seat. The tablet and seat are configured such that a user may sit forwardly on the seat so that his or her arms may rest on the tablet and a device or paper may be positioned on the tablet such that the person may look at the device or paper. The tablet and seat are also arranged such that the person may sit rearwardly on the seat so that the person's back rests on a bottom portion of the tablet.

Chairs often include a base that supports a seat. The base may also support a backrest in some chair designs. The backrest may recline. Examples of such chair designs may be appreciated from U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,060.
Some chairs are configured as a tablet chair. Such chairs often include a base that supports both a seat and a tablet. The tablet may be a planar surface that is supported in front of and above a seat so that a person sitting in the seat of the chair may read a document on the tablet, use a device on the tablet, write notes on paper supported by the tablet or perform other types of work on the tablet. Examples of tablet chair designs may be appreciated from U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,059,670, 6,102,475, 5,931,528, 4,529,247, 4,203,624, 3,467,432, 3,156,498, 3,020,086, 1,691,053, 719,338, 411,553, D589,725, D505,022, D170,331, and D170,005 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0230914.
Typically, tablet chair designs fail to permit a user to have multiple different seating options. For example, such chairs are usually designed to require a user to sit facing forwardly by facing the desk or tablet of the chair. Prolonged sitting in such an arrangement, however, may be uncomfortable or undesirable to a user. We have determined that a new chair design is needed that may permit a user to sit in a chair multiple ways so that the chair may be more easily and acceptably used in various different settings and permit multiple different organizational arrangements for purposes of collaboration, participating in meetings, or otherwise performing work.


An optical receiver, for use for instance in an analog optical communications system such as a return path in cable television, operates over a wide range of input power to its photodetector. This is accomplished by providing in the optical receiver a series of RF amplifier stages where at least one of the stages includes a fixed attenuator and a parallel amplifier with switches suitably connected so that, at any one time, only one of the fixed attenuator or the amplifier is in the signal path. The switches are controlled so that the dynamic range of the optical receiver is improved in order to make gain reduction more accurate. Hence by redirecting the RF signal path to either the attenuator or amplifier of the amplifier stage, excessive noise and distortion by the amplifier stage are eliminated or reduced.

The disclosure is directed to extending the dynamic range of analog optical receivers of the type used in Hybrid (optical) Fiber/Coax (HFC) return path systems such as used in cable television. Due to system characteristics, the optical receivers in such systems often face a large variation in the optical input power requirement, that results in an even larger variation in the RF gain requirement. The conventional solution is to add attenuation to reduce the excessive gain. This is a simple and straightforward approach and works well when the needed attenuation is relatively small. However, when the amount of needed attenuation is close to the gain of the amplifier, the added attenuation produces unwanted noise and distortion.
In a HFC system such as a cable television or other communications network, the "forward path" (head end to subscriber) media (optical fiber and coaxial cable) carries modulated video, data, and cable telephony signals. In the return path (subscriber to head end), the media carries mainly data signals in the QPSK or QAM modulation format and frequency division multiplexed within the frequency bandwidth of interest, e.g., 5 to 42 MHz. The return path data signals originate as electrical signals from cable modems at various subscriber locations, are combined at an optical node, and transmitted therefrom by an optical transmitter. The corresponding optical receiver converts the transmitted optical signal into an electrical RF (Radio Frequency) signal and then amplifies the RF signal to the desired output level. The RF signal is then combined with other optical receiver RF output signals and transmitted to a CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System) input and ultimately to the system head end.
Because of the nature of a HFC system, the optical receiver often faces a large variation of optical input power depending on the optical transmitter optical output power, link loss, the number of receivers combining signals at the CMTS input, and the CMTS input power requirement. The optical power received by an optical receiver can be as low as −15 dBm and as high as +2 dBm. For every 1 dB of optical power variation, the corresponding RF signal varies by two dB due to the optical receiver's optical to electrical conversion process in its photodetector. For optical power varying 17 dB (from −15 dBm to +2 dBm) the RF signal will vary by 34 dB. This is a very large gain variation. Therefore the optical receiver must be capable of providing RF signal gain over a broad range. In addition, sometimes a certain degree of optical AGC (Automatic Gain Control) is desirable in order to maintain the signal stability and additional gain must be preserved to allow the AGC to take effect. This adds further gain variations.
In a HFC network return path, a key system performance parameter is the NPR (Noise Power Ratio) dynamic range. NPR is the ratio of carrier magnitude to unwanted noise magnitude. For a return path to operate seamlessly, the system NPR must meet a minimum requirement, otherwise errors occur and system transmission speed slows down. If the NPR is plotted on a y-axis of a graph and the system input or output power is plotted on the graph x-axis, the resulting curve usually has a reverse V shape. The dynamic range is the dB difference between the two input or output power points at which the NPR is identical.
Dynamic range thus is essentially the "headroom" at which the return path operates. The headroom is required because in the return path there are various unpredictable sources of noise interference such as impulse noise and ingress (external) noise. The larger the dynamic range, the better is the system performance in dealing with unpredictable noise interference. The dynamic range defined here is that in which the low end of carrier performance is limited by CNR (carrier to noise ratio) and the high end is limited by second or third order distortion. On NPR plots, the noise contribution to the left side of the reverse V shape curve is thermal noise and the noise contribution to the right side of the curve is distortion noise. The distortion noise is due to system or device non-linearity. If the carrier signal is a CW (continuous wave) tone, the distortions are manifested as second and third order harmonics. Since the return path signal carriers are in the form of QPSK and QAM, their power spectral densities are alike in terms of thermal noise and therefore its harmonics are also alike in terms of thermal noise.
In a typical system, the NPR is predominately the optical transmitter NPR in the middle of the optical power range received by the associated optical receiver. However, at very low and very high optical power, the optical receiver's NPR dominates the system's NPR. At very low input optical power, the optical receiver thermal noise contributes the majority of the noise, and at very high optical input power the optical receiver distortion noise contributes majority of the noise. In the optical receiver, noise contributions in terms of components are from the photo-detector and RF amplifiers. Commercially available analog photodetectors are well behaved in both respects such that additional improvement in this area requires substantial component cost increase with little or no improvement of overall system performance. RF amplifiers, on the other hand, are available with various performance tradeoffs between gain, noise figure, distortion and power consumption. Generally speaking, one skilled in this field will have little difficult choosing the amplifiers having the best tradeoffs. What remains is the gain and attenuation approach to obtain optimum performance for both extreme (high and low) power conditions.
There are known approaches to solve this in the field of digital communications where the signals are base band signals operating between two (digital) logic states. These approaches are not applicable to analog optical receivers as in cable television systems, because many performance requirements critical to analog optical receivers are not critical to digital optical receivers. For example, transimpedance amplifiers used in digital communications inherently have low performance in terms of distortion. Also, impedance matching and frequency response are not critical in digital communications but important in an analog receiver. Therefore in analog systems in order to support large power variations of the gain portions for an optical receiver, matched attenuators are connected between the RF amplifier stages, see FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 shows a receiver the primary optical element of which is photodetector (phototransistor or photodiode) D1 12. This is conventionally arranged so that it receives light, as indicated, from e.g. an optical fiber, via a lens (not shown). Diode 12 is coupled to a voltage source V with filter capacitor C1 14 and the diode 12 output current is coupled to a transformer T1 16. Blocking capacitor C2 18 couples the output RF signal from the transformer T1 (but blocks any D.C. signal) to the first of a series of amplifier stages which in this case includes an RF amplifier A1 20 and a variable attenuator P1 22. Each of the two subsequent stages respectively also includes an amplifier and variable attenuator 24, 26; 28, 30. The attenuators provide a constant impedance (at any one setting). The final stage includes only the amplifier A4 32 providing the RF output signal. The variable attenuators 22, 26, 30 are each controlled, via its control terminal, by a control circuit 36 which senses the level of output power from photo-detector D1 across resistor R1 34.
The number of amplifiers used depends on the gain required and the gain of each amplifier. In this configuration, the noise performance of amplifier A1 makes the most noise contribution while amplifier A4 makes the most distortion contribution. The operating points for amplifiers A1 and A4 are set by the system requirements and after the particular amplifiers are chosen, a base line for the achievable maximum dynamic range is set. The dynamic range performance further degrades when the inter-stage amplifiers' (A2, A3) noise and distortion contribution become significant. Tradeoffs must be considered in order to minimize the contribution by the inter-stage amplifiers. When the RF signals vary in strength as much as 30 dB, the inter-stage amplifier contribution will unavoidably be significant. Generally speaking, more stages allow better thermal noise and distortion performance tradeoffs. In the case of low optical input power, the attenuation is allocated to attenuators P2 and P3 with zero attenuation at attenuator P1 in order to minimize the noise contribution by amplifier A2. In the case of high optical input power, the attenuation is distributed among the three attenuators P1, P2, P3 where attenuator P3 has the lowest attenuation in order to minimize the distortion contribution by amplifier A3.
In order to illustrate this, assume the amplifiers in FIG. 1 are all identical and each has a gain of 15 dB. Further assume that for a given set of conditions, when optical input power is −15 dBm, all attenuators P1, P2, P3 must be set to 0 dB attenuation to achieve required RF output power. If the same RF output power must be maintained when the optical input power is changed to 0 dBm, then 30 dB attenuation is required in the signal path. If the 30 dB attenuation is evenly distributed among attenuators P1 and P3 (that is, 15 dB each) while the attenuation of attenuator P2 is set to zero, then amplifier A2 will make exactly the same thermal noise contribution as does amplifier A1, since the input power to these two amplifiers is identical.
By the same token, amplifier A3 will make exactly the same distortion contribution as amplifier A4, since the output power of these two amplifiers is identical. When this occurs, the thermal noise degradation is 3 dB while second order distortion degradation is 3 dB and third order distortion degradation is 6 dB. These are significant degradations for receiver performance and when the receiver is used in a system, the overall system NPR performance will be degraded. In this example, a 3 dB receiver thermal noise degradation may not be a significant degradation for the system since the transmitter thermal noise is still dominant, but 6 dB receiver distortion degradation can be significant. If the trade off is made to reduce the distortion but increase thermal noise, then the thermal noise contribution by the receiver will take effect. Of course, if the attenuation is distributed among all three attenuators, the degradation will be reduced but this will not be significant, and so this requires a more elaborate attenuation scheme.


The invention provides a valve for regulating fluid flow. The valve having a collar, a plug and a flapper seal. The collar defining an aperture and having a base with an opening therein, with a shaft extending from the base within the aperture. The plug being movably and sealably mounted to the collar within the aperture and defining a passage for fluid flow through the valve. The passage being in fluid communication with the opening in the base of the collar. The plug co-operating with the shaft to retain the plug in the collar. The flapper seal is movably and sealably mounted to the shaft within the passage in the plug. The plug is movable between three positions, wherein the valve can be completely sealed, act as a one-way valve, or act as a two-way valve.

Dunnage bags are used in the transportation industry to brace cargo during transportation. The bags normally comprise an inner bladder of plastic, typically polyethylene, surrounded by several layers of reinforced paper. The bags are kept deflated when not in use so that they occupy relatively little space. When a cargo container is loaded with cargo, the bags are inserted into the voids between cargo, or between the cargo and the walls of the cargo container. The bags are then inflated to the desired size and pressure. The expanded bag exerts an outward pressure on the cargo, forcing the cargo against the walls of the cargo container, against other cargo, or against bulkheads. Consequently, the cargo is held in a relatively immobile state and is ready for safe transport. It is desirable to provide dunnage bags with mechanical valves adapted for quick inflation of the bags to a desired pressure.
Occasionally, dunnage bags are damaged in transit. In which case, it is desirable to have access to the interior of the bag to effect repairs, for example, by spraying sealant on the interior surface of the bag.
Inflation of the bags is typically accomplished through a valve that is attached to the bag surface. A hose is coupled to the valve and conveys pressurized gas, typically compressed air, through the valve and into the bag. When the bag reaches the desired inflation pressure, the hose may be removed, and the valve closed to prevent air from escaping.
Dunnage bag valves may be simple one-way valves. Such valves typically have a flapper seal kept in a shut position by a biasing spring force that allows air into the bag but not out of the bag. A disadvantage of this design is that the valve cannot be locked shut to prevent air from entering or exiting the bag, and cannot be locked open to allow air to enter or exit the bag. Such valves may require manual force to be exerted against the spring to deflate the bag.
Previously, some dunnage bag valves allowed air to flow into and out of the bag, but were not designed to be removed from the bag so that the interior of the bag could be accessed to effect repairs to the bag. Other valve designs have two pieces so that one piece can be removed from the other to allow access to the interior of the bag. A first piece ("plug") threads into a second piece ("collar"). The collar is mounted to the bag. When the plug is unscrewed completely it comes apart from the collar, exposing an orifice through which air can flow into or out of the bag (this is how deflation of the bag is achieved with such valves). In such valves, removing the plug from the collar also allows access to the interior of the bag to perform repairs on the bag. The plugs of such valves are easily lost or stolen because they are removable from the collar. To prevent loss of the plugs, some of the these valves connect the plug to the collar with a chain. However, the chain may become entangled when the valve is in operation. Also, the chain may make it difficult to attach an air hose to the valve to inflate the bag. Further, the plug may be lost or stolen in spite of the connecting chain if the chain is accidentally or deliberately severed. If the plug becomes detached from the collar, the plug may fall into the cargo being transported. In some instances, plugs lost in this way have caused serious damage to machinery that is subsequently used to handle the cargo.


Method and apparatus for accurately measuring charge storage system operating conditions in a vehicle. A measurement circuit produces an electrical response at an output which varies linearly with battery voltage levels. The circuit is calibrated to provide an output only for a voltage range above a specified battery voltage level in order to improve the resolution in detecting these levels using a standard electrical level detector such an ammeter or voltmeter. The measurement circuit is connected to a display circuit for indicating at least one charge storage system operating condition based on the terminal voltage of the battery. The measurement circuit also includes an output damper to limit the large, rapid output variations experienced during vehicle start and circuitry for compensating for variations in circuit performance due to temperature variations.

The operating condition of a charge storage system which is included in a vehicle, such as, for example, an automobile, truck, aircraft or powerboat, may be determined by evaluating the battery percent charge level, the battery health and/or the charging system health. Alternatively, the electrolyte specific gravity of a battery may be measured for purposes of determining the charge level.
The electrolyte specific gravity of an unsealed battery is typically determined by performing measurements directly at the cells of the battery using a conventional hydrometer float. Such measurements are very time consuming and also potentially hazardous due to the highly volatile gases that often escape from the battery cells.
The typical display on a hydrometer provides a specific gravity reading that is accurate to approximately 10 percent. Further, before a specific gravity value can be interpreted for determining operating conditions in a charge storage system, the specific gravity value on the display may need to be adjusted to compensate for variations in temperature. As a result, for safety and accuracy reasons, a conventional hydrometer float is not generally used for testing the charge storage system in a vehicle.
It is most common that testing of a vehicle charge storage system is performed by measuring the potential difference at the terminals of a battery in a vehicle. This measurement is typically performed when the battery is in an open circuit condition. The open circuit terminal voltage (OCTV) of a battery may be converted into a battery percent charge level, which provides an indication of battery operating condition. See, detailed discussion below.
Charge storage system testing devices and, specifically battery testing devices, which perform OCTV measurements often require periodic recalibration and typically do not include electronics and displays for providing highly accurate readings of the battery percent charge level for expected values. The battery testing industry, for example, uses battery testing devices which include a programmed microprocessor unit that models the internal resistance and capacitance of the battery from OCTV measurements for purposes of providing an indication of battery internal resistance and charge level. These testing devices, however, are typically too costly or too large in size to allow for practical use by the public.
A need, therefore, exists for an economical, convenient, safe and accurate method and apparatus for determining the charge level and health of vehicle charging system components.

Method and apparatus for testing a vehicle charge storage system


A photographing lens includes a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, and a fifth lens in order from an object side to an image side along an optical axis. The first lens is a meniscus lens with negative refractive power. The second lens is a lens with negative refractive power, in which an image-side surface of the second lens is concave. The third lens is a lens with positive refractive power, in which an image-side surface of the third lens is convex. The fourth lens is a lens with positive refractive power. The fifth lens is a lens with negative refractive power, in which an object-side surface of the fifth lens is concave. The photographing lens has an excellent image resolving ability.

In recent years, automotive lens sets (e.g., dashboard cameras, rear view cameras, and autopilot car cameras) applied to vehicles are gradually developed. Generally, this type of cameras is used in the environment with a large temperature difference. In order to resist temperature changes, this type of cameras uses glass as the material of the lenses since coefficient of thermal expansion of plastic material is much larger than glass and it is usually difficult to compensate for temperature effects. However, the glass material is more expensive than the plastic material. It is not easy to lower down the cost using the glass material. Other cameras such as surveillance cameras and drone cameras have the same issue.


Disclosed herein are improved electrochemical cell stacks having at least one protective channel on an end of the stack. Redox flow batteries (RFBs) containing the “protected” electrochemical cell stacks, and methods of operating such RFBs, are also provided.

Concerns over the environmental consequences of burning fossil fuels have led to an increasing use of renewable energy generated from sources such as solar and wind. The intermittent and varied nature of such renewable energy sources, however, has made it difficult to fully integrate these energy sources into electrical power grids and distribution networks. A solution to this problem has been to employ large-scale electrical energy storage (EES) systems, which systems are widely considered to be an effective approach to improve the reliability, power quality, and economy of renewable energy derived from solar or wind sources.
Among the most promising large-scale EES technologies are redox flow batteries (RFBs). RFBs are special electrochemical systems that can repeatedly store and convert megawatt-hours (MWhs) of electrical energy to chemical energy and chemical energy back to electrical energy when needed.
In simplified terms, an electrochemical cell is a device capable of either deriving electrical energy from chemical reactions, or facilitating chemical reactions through the introduction of electrical energy. An electrochemical cell comprises two half-cells. Each half-cell comprises an electrode and an electrolyte. The two half-cells may use the same electrolyte, or they may use different electrolytes. In a full electrochemical cell, species from one half-cell lose electrons (oxidation) to their electrode while species from the other half-cell gain electrons (reduction) from their electrode. Plural electrochemical cells electrically connected together in series within a common housing are generally referred to as an electrochemical "stack."
A redox (reduction/oxidation) flow battery (RFB) is a special type of electrochemical system in which electrolyte containing one or more dissolved electroactive species flows through electrochemical cells. A common RFB electrochemical cell configuration comprises two opposing electrodes separated by an ion exchange membrane or other separator, and two circulating electrolyte solutions, referred to as the "anolyte" and "catholyte." The energy conversion between electrical energy and chemical potential occurs instantly at the electrodes once the liquid electrolyte begins to flow through the cells. The advantages of RFBs include short response time, low self-discharge, long life-time, and independent tunable power and storage capacity, which make it possible to independently scale up the electricity storage capacity and power generation capacity.
The construction and operation of RFBs may be better understood with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. The illustrated RFB includes an electrochemical cell 100, a catholyte tank 15, filled with liquid catholyte 20, and an anolyte tank 30, filled with liquid anolyte 35. The RFB 10 operates by circulating the catholyte 20 and anolyte 35 into the electrochemical cell 100, which then operates in order to discharge or store as directed by power and control element 50 which is in electrical communication with the electrochemical cell 100.
While a single electrochemical cell 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that multiple electrochemical cells, assembled into a stack, can also be used in an RFB. An example of such a stack is illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B.
In one mode (sometimes referred to as the "charging" mode), the power and control element 50, connected to a power source, operates to store electrical energy as chemical potential in the catholyte 20 and anolyte 35. The power source can be any power source known to generate electrical power, include renewable power sources, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric. Traditional power sources, such as combustion, can also be used.
In a second ("discharge") mode of operation, the RFB 10 is operated to transform the chemical potential stored in the catholyte 20 and anolyte 35 into electrical energy that is then discharged on demand by power and control element 50, which supplies an electrical load. FIG. 1A illustrates the flow of electrons ("e−") through the RFB 10 in discharge mode. The operation of the RFB 10 in charging mode is essentially the opposite of operation in discharge mode.
The operation of RFBs, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1A, are well known to those of skill in the art.
Referring now specifically to FIG. 1B, a close up view of the electrochemical cell 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1A is depicted. The electrochemical cell 100 includes a positive electrode 105, a negative electrode 115, a catholyte channel 110, an anolyte channel 120, and an ion transfer membrane 125 separating the catholyte channel 110 and the anolyte channel 120. The ion transfer membrane 125 separates the electrochemical cell 100 into a positive side 130 and a negative side 135. Selected ions (e.g., H+) are allowed to transport across the ion transfer membrane 125 as part of the electrochemical charge and discharge process. Electrons flow outside the electrochemical cell 100 and through the power and control element 50.
Also illustrated in FIG. 1B are inlets and outlets configured to allow integration of the electrochemical cell 100 into the RFB 10 electrolyte flow systems: a catholyte inlet 107 and a catholyte outlet 109, as well as an anolyte inlet 117 and an analyte outlet 119.
Referring back to FIG. 1A, the electrochemical cell 100 is integrated into the RFB such that during operation, the catholyte 20 flows through the catholyte delivery channel 55, aided by a first pump 25, into the catholyte channel 110 of the electrochemical cell 100. Similarly, the anolyte 35 flows through an anolyte delivery channel 65, with the aid of a second pump 40, and into the anolyte channel 120 of the electrochemical cell.
After operation of the electrochemical cell 100 to either discharge or store electrical energy, the catholyte flows from the catholyte channel 110 through a catholyte return channel 60 back to the catholyte tank 15. Similarly, the anolyte 35 flows from the anolyte channel 120 in the electrochemical cell 100 through the anolyte return channel 70 to the anolyte tank 30.
The operation of the RFB 10 continues as needed to discharge or store electrical energy.
To obtain high voltage/power systems, a plurality of single electrochemical cells may be assembled together in series to form a stack of electrochemical cells (referred to herein as a "stack," a "cell stack," or an "electrochemical cell stack"). Several cell stacks may then be further assembled together to form a battery system. A MW-level RFB system can be created and generally has a plurality of cell stacks, with each cell stack having more than twenty electrochemical cells.
The combination of a plurality of electrochemical cells is illustrated in FIG. 2A, which shows a schematic illustration of the structure of a four-cell stack assembly that could be used in an RFB.
Referring to FIG. 2A, an electrochemical cell stack 200 as can be integrated into an RFB, for example to replace electrochemical cell 100 illustrated in FIG. 1A, is depicted schematically. The cell stack 200 includes a plurality of electrochemical cells, similar to the electrochemical cell 100 illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B; however, the electrochemical cells are arranged fluidically in parallel and electrically in series in order to allow current to pass across the entire stack from a positive electrode 230 to a negative electrode 235.
The cell stack 200 includes end plates 240 and 245 in order to mechanically press the structure together to provide structural integrity between the layers of the cell stack 200. For example, tie rods spanning the stack 200 can be used to connect the end plates 240 and 245 and apply a force between them sufficient to maintain the structure of the cell stack 200.
Each cell of the cell stack 200 includes a catholyte channel 110 and an anolyte channel 120, separated by an ion transfer membrane 125. In between the individual cells is a bipolar plate electrode that is able to hold a positive charge on one side and a negative charge on the opposite side of the material. Bipolar electrodes 205 are also used in between the positive electrode 230 and the cell stack, as well as in between the negative electrode 235 and the cell stack. The bipolar plate electrodes 205 can be the same or different material across the cell stack 200.
The cell stack 200 operates in an RFB by passing catholyte and anolyte through their respective channels (110 and 120). The catholyte is delivered to the cells by a catholyte delivery manifold 250, which provides liquid communication between the catholyte tank (e.g., catholyte tank 30 in FIG. 1A) and the cell stack 200. As depicted in FIG. 2A, the catholyte delivery manifold 250 is in liquid communication with each of the catholyte channels 110 within the cell stack 200. Similarly, an anolyte delivery manifold 255 delivers anolyte to the anolyte channels 120 of the cell stack 200 from the anolyte tank of the RFB (e.g., anolyte tank 30 in FIG. 1A).
On the return side of the cell stack 200 a catholyte return manifold 260 collects catholyte from the catholyte channels 110 and returns them to the catholyte tank (e.g., catholyte tank 30 in FIG. 1A). Similarly, the anolyte return manifold 265 collects anolyte from the anolyte channels 120 and returns the collected anolyte to the anolyte tank (e.g., anolyte tank 30 in FIG. 1A).
The cell stack 200 illustrated in FIG. 2A is referred to herein as a "U-shaped" stack because the anolyte flows to and returns from the cell stack 200 on the same side of the cell stack (the left-hand side of FIG. 2A). An alternative configuration, referred to herein as a "Z-shaped" stack, is illustrated in FIG. 2B, wherein the anolyte and catholyte flow to the cell stack 200 from one side and flow away from the cell stack 200 on the opposite side.
Despite their advantages, one issue associated with RFBs is inhomogeneous electrical performance of individual electrochemical cells within a cell stack. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the reliability of cell stacks to ensure long-term operation of RFBs.

Electrochemical cell stack having a protective flow channel


A through-hole interconnection structure for a semiconductor wafer, in which: the each wafer includes at least a first wafer and a second wafer electrically connected to the first wafer; an electrical signal connecting section of the second wafer is provided to protrude from a bonding surface of the second wafer, the bonding surface being bonded with the first wafer; and the electrical signal connecting section has a cross section with a curved line or two or more straight lines extending in different directions when the second wafer is seen along a cross section parallel to the bonding surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a through-hole interconnection structure for a semiconductor wafer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a through-hole interconnection structure for a semiconductor wafer used in a semiconductor device which includes plural wafers stacked together.
2. Background Art
A three-dimensional semiconductor integrated circuit device has been known which includes two or more wafers stacked together and electrically connected via buried wiring. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-59769 discloses a semiconductor device in which a desired semiconductor circuit is provided by bonding plural substrates together and electrically connecting semiconductor circuit sections formed on each substrate. In the semiconductor device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-59769, a semiconductor circuit section of an upper substrate and a semiconductor circuit section of a lower substrate are bonded and electrically connected to each other with a through-hole interconnecting section exposed from a back surface of the upper substrate and a bump on a principal surface of the lower substrate being in contact.
That is, in a conventional semiconductor device which includes plural wafers bonded together, the wafers are electrically connected to each other via an electrical signal connecting section such as a through-hole interconnecting section and a bump which protrudes from a bonding surface. In particular, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-59769, the upper and lower substrates are electrically connected via a through-hole interconnecting section protruding from the back surface of the upper substrate and a bump protruding from the principal surface of the lower substrate.
In this case, however, in which plural wafers are electrically connected via the electrical signal connecting section protruding from the bonding surface, the electrical signal connecting section may be damaged at the time of wafer bonding. Damages to the electrical signal connecting section may cause deterioration in electrical conduction property and stability in the electrical signal connecting section or may cause deterioration in stability in dynamic characteristics of the semiconductor device. Thus, a semiconductor device with stable performance cannot often be obtained.
In view of the aforementioned, an object of the present invention is to provide a through-hole interconnection structure of a semiconductor wafer which has sufficient rigidity to withstand load it receives at the time of wafer bonding, in which electrical signal connecting section protruding from the bonding surface is less easily damaged, and is excellent in reliability and stability of performance.

Through hole interconnection structure for semiconductor wafer


A positive control fill valve for dispensing fillable materials which eliminates dripping, splashing, sloshing and contamination of fill materials is provided with a fluid activiated fill piston having a substantially cylindrical piston sealing head cooperating with a tapered seat for receiving the piston filling head in combination with a leak detection port for positively detecting potential leaks between the fluid activated fill piston and the product fill chamber. The novel fill valve preferably includes at one end, a pneumatic means for opening and closing the fill valve piston and at the other end, a fill chamber having a tapered seat for positively seating the sealing head of the pneumatically activated piston with a product inlet means disposed therebetween and a two seal arrangement separating the pneumatic chamber at one end from the product dispensing chamber at the other end and a leak detection port disposed intermediate the two seals. The novel fill valve assembly provides rapid and positive control in dispensing fill materials of various viscosities and densities, while at the same time, preventing a contamination of fill materials with fluid activation fluid by employing a leak detection port for immediately detecting and identifying the position of a potentially defective seal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a novel positive control fill valve, particularly suited for application in the dispensing of flowable materials in hygienic or sanitary dispensing operations, such as used in the food, medical and pharmaceutical industries. More particularly, the novel fill valve assembly provides for the positive control over the dispensing of a wide range of liquids having varying degrees of viscosity by utilizing a positive control valve activated by a pneumatically activated piston, having a substantially cylindrical shaped sealing head in combination with a tapered cylinder for providing a positive control over the dispensation of fluids dispensed through the fill assembly.
The novel fill assembly includes at one end, a reservoir for activating the positive controlled product dispensing piston and at the other end, an outlet having a tapered sealing seat for dispensing the product and seating the sealing head of the product dispensing piston. A leak detection port for positively identifying seal failure is disposed between a positive seal means having a first seal disposed between the leak detection port and the reservoir for activating the product dispensing piston and a second seal disposed intermediate the leak detection port and the product dispensing outlet. The novel hygienic and sanitary fill valve assembly further includes flanges for connecting the reservoir which in the best mode is a chamber for activating the product dispensation piston with a corresponding flange around the bottom of the dispensation chamber to allow the novel fill valve assembly to be cleaned or sterilized in place, as is preferred in the pharmaceutical, medical and food processing industries.
The flanges for connecting the product dispensing outlet from the pneumatic activation chamber, as well as for the cleaning in place mechanism, provide a hygienic and sanitary environment, which allows for effective cleaning of the valve, piston and internal components of the novel fill valve assembly to prevent the build up of contaminants in threads, seams, welds, or other surface irregularities in the novel fill valve assembly. The novel fill valve assembly is typically constructed of high quality stainless steel or other material that is compatible with food processing equipment.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
The prior art includes many types of product dispensation valves for dispensing product. Many of these prior art valves do not include a tapered sealing seat in combination with a pneumatically activated piston for providing a positive shut-off of viscous fill materials. Many of the prior art valves result in a dripping or sloshing of a fill material around the filled container. None of the prior art includes a tapered seat in combination with a substantially cylindrical sealing head for positively shutting off the flow of dispensed material by seating the substantially cylindrical head of a product dispensing piston in a tapered seat when the valve is in the closed position and the placement of the sealing head is in the flow path of the dispensed product to circulate the fill material around the sealing head to prevent sloshing of the fill material during dispensation. Further, none of the known prior art dispensing valves includes a novel leak detection port disposed intermediate the ends of the product dispensing piston in combination with a novel positive seal means which includes, at one end, a seal between the piston activation chamber and the leak detection port and a second seal disposed between the product dispensation chamber and the leak detection port so that failure of the seal at either side of the leak detection port results in a positive identification of the exact portion of the seal that is damaged.
The best known prior art fill assembly valves typically employed in the food processing industry are not known to have a leak detection port in combination with a piston with a tapered seat and nozzle combination for positively dispensing liquid products without sloshing or dripping.
The best known fill valve assemblies uncovered in the course of the prior art search is Copas, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,021 which discloses a similar type of flanged fill machine having a product dispensing nozzle with a side inlet. The nozzle includes a tapered nozzle end and product,dispensing piston in the up position does not remain in the flow to prevent sloshing and does not employ a sealing head forming a dual function. Further Copas, et al. does not contain a leak detection port or a pneumatic means to positively control the dispensation of the product or provide a system for assuring that the fluid activation of the product dispensing piston would not contaminate the fill product material to assure the highest quality of product dispensing and handling.
The prior art includes also a variety of leak detection ports for a variety of applications. Leak detection ports have been provided for gas flow applications such as Matthews U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,932, Kurtz, et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,874 and Steeper U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,979. None of these prior art patents teach or suggest the utilization of a leak detection port in a filling machine such as Copas, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,021. Further, none of the known prior art leak detection port devices utilizes a double seal arrangement around a piston to identify the failure of a seal to prevent the contamination of a fill product. The closest of the known leak detection port apparatus is Steeper U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,979, which pertains to leak detection across an O-ring sealing a flanged connection. This leak detection provided in Steeper U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,979 pertains to leak detection radially along the O-ring as opposed to axially as is provided in accordance with the novel fill valve assembly of the invention.
A novel sanitary fill valve assembly providing positive control over dispensed liquids and preventing contamination between the dispensed liquids and the means for activation of the piston is provided by a novel leak detection port for providing the positive identification of seal failure before contamination of a dispensed product. The novel hygienic fill valve assembly includes, at one end, a fluid chamber for providing the positive control over a piston for providing for the dispensation of a fill material through a product outlet chamber to a fill material outlet or nozzle disposed at the other end for dispensing the fill product and a product inlet port disposed intermediate the fluid chamber and the product dispensation outlet or nozzle. A positively controlled fluid activated piston is disposed intermediate the fluid chamber and the product outlet chamber, which includes a substantially cylindrical sealing head, which provides positive sealing by mating with a tapered sealing seat in the product outlet chamber. In the best mode of the invention, the fluid chamber for activating the product dispensing piston is pneumatically controlled.
A first seal is provided intermediate a leak detection port and the fluid chamber and a second seal is provided intermediate the leak detection port and the product outlet chamber to provide positive identification of seal failure and to prevent contamination of the product with air or fluids which activate the fluid control product dispensing piston. The leak detection port in combination with different fluids, i.e., gas and liquid or fluids of different color, serves to positively identify the defective seal and provide a failsafe seal system to prevent contamination. In the preferred application of the invention, the product dispensing piston is activated by air as the fluid activation means and in the preferred application the identification of the defective seal is provided by the release of a fill liquid or a gas from the leak detection port while preventing cross contamination.
The novel positive control fill valve assembly can include an optional nozzle having one or more fluid ports provided in the outlet nozzle. In this embodiment of the invention, the substantially cylindrical seating head is designed to mate with the tapered outlet so that fluids remaining in the channels of the nozzle are positively controlled by the seating of the cylindrical shaped piston head in the tapered nozzle head so that the viscosity of the fluid in combination with the size and number of channels in the nozzle prevent fluids from dripping much in the same manner as trapping liquid in a straw prevents fluid displacement in the straw. The combination of the sealing head together with the tapered seat in proximity to the channels of the nozzle similarly prevents further fluid from displacing the fluid captured in the channels of the nozzle.
In another embodiment of the invention, where fluids having high viscosities and low densities such as alcohol are dispensed, the product outlet chamber, at its upper end, may include an inwardly tapering wall which provides a seat for the upper surface of the substantially cylindrical head of the product dispensing piston. In this embodiment, a nozzle with a single large opening may be utilized to provide for the dispensation of the product. In either embodiment, the substantially cylindrical head of the product dispensing piston is designed to remain in the path of flow in the product dispensation chamber to assist in the dispensation of the product into the container in a manner that prevents sloshing, spilling or dripping into a container disposed below the novel positive control fill valve assembly.
The novel positive control fill valve assembly is preferably made of stainless steel or other material that provides the highest purity and hygienic standards for the sanitary dispensing of flowable materials, particularly medicines and food products. As such, the novel positive control valve assembly is typically made of high grade non-corrosive stainless steel that is without seams, threads, welds or other surface imperfections that would allow accumulation or accretion of any particles that would result in contamination of the dispensed product. Preferably, the novel positive control fill valve assembly includes a flange disposed at the nozzle or dispensation end of the positive control fill valve assembly to allow the entire nozzle, valve, product outlet and product inlet chambers to be cleaned in place (CIP capability) by the backflow circulation of cleaning solutions through and around the tapered valve seat and cylindrical piston head of the product dispensing piston and in and through the product inlet.
The novel leak detection port provides a positive identification of the precise location of a pending seal failure that would result in contamination of the dispensed product or the fluid activation means for activating the product dispensing piston. This positive identification of the breaking down of one of the two seals in the novel positive control fill valve assembly prevents not only contamination of the piston activation fluid, but even more importantly product contamination and prevents costly recall of products packaged in prior art equipment that have been contaminated due to seal failure. This positive identification of the deterioration of the seal, as well as whether the seal is on the pneumatic side of he piston or on the product side of the piston prevents the packaging and possible shipment of contaminated products by employing a failsafe system to prevent the subsequent expensive recall of defectively filled and contaminated packaged products.


An imaging lens includes: a first lens having positive refractive power; a second lens having positive refractive power; a third lens having negative refractive power; a fourth lens having positive refractive power; a fifth lens having positive refractive power; and a sixth lens having negative refractive power in vicinity of an optical axis and having positive refractive power in a peripheral portion. The first to sixth lenses are arranged in order from object plane.

The present disclosure relates to an imaging lens that is suitable for a compact imaging apparatus using an imaging device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), and has a large aperture, for example, with an F number of about 2.0. Examples of the compact imaging apparatus may include a digital still camera and a mobile phone with a camera. The present disclosure also relates to an imaging apparatus that uses such an imaging lens.
Imaging apparatuses have been known such as a mobile phone with a camera and a digital still camera that use a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD and a CMOS. In such imaging apparatuses, further reduction in size has been desired. Also in a lens for shooting to be mounted on such imaging apparatuses, reduction in size and reduction in total length have been desired.
Further, in recent years, also in compact imaging apparatus such as a mobile phone with a camera, a size thereof has been reduced and the number of pixels in the imaging device has been increased. For example, a model that includes an imaging device with a large number of pixels that may be thirteen million or more has been in widespread use. Therefore, high lens performance suitable for such a solid-state imaging apparatus with a large number of pixels has been desired also in the imaging lens to be mounted on such a solid-state imaging apparatus.
On the other hand, a brighter lens having a larger aperture has been desired in order to prevent increase of noise and degradation in sensitivity of the imaging device accompanying reduction in cell pitch in such an imaging apparatus. As such a compact and high-performance imaging lens, an imaging lens having a five-lens configuration is mainstream currently. As such an imaging lens having a five-lens configuration, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-257448 (JP2011-257448A) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-008490 (JP2012-008490A) have been known.


A method of numerical-control scraping of a work piece has a preparing step, a scanning step, a flatness-parameter inputting step, a surface-finishing step, a related-parameter inputting step, an auto-scraping step and an analyzing step. The preparing step comprises preparing a multi-axis machine tool, a laser displacement meter, an auto scraping apparatus and a computer. The scanning step comprises scanning the work piece. The flatness-parameter inputting step comprises inputting a flatness-parameter. The surface-finishing step comprises calculating out the to-be-scraped ranges of the work piece and scraping the work piece. The related-parameter inputting step comprises inputting desired PPI and POP in the computer, calculating out the HOP, the DOS and the oil content to obtain the length, the width and the depth of a single scraping process. The auto-scraping step comprises scraping the work piece to meet the requirement. The analyzing step comprises detecting the 3D-appearance drawing of the work piece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of numerical-control scraping of a work piece, and more particularly to a method that can scrape a three-dimensional surface of the work piece accurately.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a conventional hard rail for a machine tool needs to be scraped before assembling, and a scraping process is used to scrape relative high points of a contacting surface of the conventional hard rail. The scraping process can form multiple recesses on the contacting surfaces of the conventional hard rail. The recesses can be used to store lubricant to lubricate movement of a moving element on the conventional hard rail and this can reduce the friction force between the moving element and the conventional hard rail. Therefore, detecting a surface roughness of the scraped surface is very important to maintain functions of the conventional hard rail, since the surface roughness may affect mobility of the moving element on the conventional hard rail.
A conventional method for determining the surface roughness of the scraped surface comprises the following steps: painting ink on the surface of a standard holder, sliding a work piece on the surface of the standard holder so ink will be removed and be found on high points of a scraped surface of the work piece, scraping the high points of the work piece and measuring differences of height of the high points of the work piece with a measuring tool. The above-mentioned steps are repeated until the differences of height of the high points of the work piece reach the requirement. When the differences of height of the high points of the work piece reach the requirement, multiple recesses are averagely formed on the scraped surface of the work piece, sliding the work piece on the surface of the standard holder so ink will be removed and be found on the scraped surface of the work piece and a charge-couple device (CCD) can be used to screen the inked-and-scraped surface of the work piece to analyze the surface roughness of the work piece to detect the uniformity of the high points distribution of the scraped surface of the work piece.
Though the conventional detecting and scraping method can be used on a work piece of the hard rail, the detecting result of the described conventional method is not precise since the results of the conventional method are easily affected by human error and cannot analyze the work piece accurately.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a method of numerical-control scraping of a work piece to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Method of numerical-control scraping of a work piece


An inductor structure including a coil layer and at least a gain lead is disclosed. The coil layer is disposed over a substrate and has a plurality of coil turns, wherein one of the coil turns is grounded. The gain lead is disposed under at least one of the inner side and the outer side of the grounded coil turn and is electrically connected in parallel to the grounded coil turn. The width of the gain lead is less than the width of the grounded coil turn.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an inductor structure, and more particularly, to an inductor structure having gain leads.
2. Description of Related Art
In general speaking, since an inductor has energy storing and releasing functions, the inductor can be used as an element for stabilizing current. In an integrated circuit (IC), an inductor plays a very important and extreme challenging role and serves as a component, and an inductor is broadly applicable in many fields, such as in radio frequency circuit (RF circuit). In terms of the RF application hereof, an inductor with higher quality means the inductor has a higher quality factor represented by Q-factor, which is defined by:Q=ω×L/R where ω is angular frequency, L is inductance of the inductor coil and R is resistance considering inductance loss under specific frequencies.
There are various methods and techniques today available for incorporating an inductor with IC process. However, in an IC, the limitation of the conductor thickness of an inductor and the interference on an inductor by a silicon substrate would degrade the quality of the inductor. To overcome the problem in the prior art, the conductor loss is reduced by disposing a thicker metal element at the uppermost layer of the inductor so as to advance the Q-factor of inductor. When the above-mentioned metal thickness is increased to a certain degree, the Q-factor improvement becomes not notable.
To overcome the above-mentioned difficulty, in the prior art, a gain lead is employed and disposed under the grounded coil turn, where the gain lead is electrically connected to the coil turn, so as to increase the section area of conductor in the inductor structure which is able to effectively lower conductor loss and advance the quality of the inductor.
Note that although the grounded coil produces an electrical field with a weaker intensity, and the parasitic capacitance caused by the coupling between the gain lead and the substrate of the inductor structure is less; however, the parasitic capacitance does negatively affect the inductance quality of the inductor structure.


The application discloses a method of making a balance spring (100) from continuous fibers or ceramic by winding them around a cylindrical former (90), interspaced with a releasing agent (110). Also disclosed is a method of making a balance spring, preferably of a ceramic material (60), by applying it to a rotating former (70) mandrel or plate and subsequently heat treating. Balance wheels (30) having a moment of inertia which decreases with a rise in temperature due to a special arrangement of components (8, 9, 10) having different coefficients of thermal expansion are also disclosed. A mechanical oscillator system comprising a non-magnetic ceramic or continuous fiber balance spring (50) and a non-magnetic balance wheel (30) formed of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion of less than 6×10−6K−1 and having a plurality of non-magnetic poising or timing appendages (5) is also disclosed.

Balance wheels for watches have previously been principally made of metal. A balance spring is arranged to oscillate the balance wheel and to do so with a period of oscillation that should be isochronous.
The metals used have generally high linear expansion coefficients as compared to most ceramics. This has been the norm for example in the systems containing a balance wheel made of metal (Fe—Ni, Cu—Be, Cu—Zn, Cu—Au, Ni or combinations of these) and the balance spring made from an Fe—Ni alloy, or Fe—Mn—C or other steel derivative alloys. The applicant's earlier application PCT/GB03/003000 filed on 10 Jul. 2003 and published 22 Jan. 2004 and hereby incorporated by reference, discloses new balance spring materials to enable the thermal and magnetic influences in this relationship to be improved or overcome, and thus greater precision to be reached.
The effects of thermal influences upon the balance wheel and the balance spring are not the same. The thermal and thermoelastic characteristics within the relationship between the balance wheel and balance spring do not evolve in an identical manner.
The most successful previous attempts (C. E. Guillaume's bimetallic compensating balance wheel and steel balance spring system invented 1912, Hamilton's precision ferro-nickel based spring alloy in conjunction with steel and invar ovalising balance wheel invented 1943) to bring the terms of the associating relationship into constancy have required the use of materials which despite their useful thermal characteristics (the ferro-nickel alloys have an abnormal Young's modulus evolution) are sensitive to magnetism. This latter influence disturbs the Young's modulus stability and causes negative effects to the precision (isochronism) of the timekeeper.
The expression for the period of oscillation T is described as follows:
                    T        =                  2                                                              π                                              I              G                                                          [        1        ]
T: the period of oscillation, I: the moment of inertia of the balance wheel, G: the torque of the balance spring.
The oscillator system is subject to variations of magnetic and thermal nature. When a balance wheel is made of metal it expands with an increase in temperature. The balance spring that is made most generally of a ferro-nickel alloy also expands with an increase in temperature.
The rate of linear expansion is measured in units of 1/1000 of millimetres/degree Kelvin, represented for example in the case of copper, Cu, as +17×10−6K−1 and is known as the α coefficient.
The thermoelastic coefficient describes the tendency of change in elasticity of the material for a rise in temperature.
The ferro-nickel alloy has a positive thermoelastic coefficient which is described as 'abnormal', up to 40° C. when fully de-magnetised. Magnetic accumulation however lowers this threshold which causes the divergence of terms E and r at lower temperature as shown in the graph of FIG. 1 depicting variance of r (radius of gyration of the balance wheel) and √E (square root of the modulus of elasticity of the balance spring) with temperature. This is the cause of the resultant error in the isochronism of the oscillator.
Whereas the balance wheel is in general only affected by thermal variations, which affect its physical dimensions, the balance spring is affected by both thermal and magnetic variations, which affect both its physical dimensions, and its elasticity (Young's modulus).

Balance wheel, balance spring and other components and assemblies for a mechanical oscillator system and methods of manufacture


Disclosed embodiments provide for collaborative access to a distributed data structure. Operations such as inserting, deleting, and annotating are performed by various clients participating in the collaboration. A serialization service enforcing a single order of these operations and ensures the operations and order are communicated to all of the clients participating in the collaboration. Once all clients have acknowledged particular operations, this information is also communicated to all of the clients, such that the clients may perform maintenance activities on the collaboration data structures. The result is a rolling collaboration window shared by all of the clients of the collaboration, with a bottom of the collaboration window defined by a lowest ordered operation not yet acknowledged by all clients of the collaboration, and a highest ordered operation as assigned by the serialization service.

An atomic broadcast or "total order broadcast" may be used in fault tolerant distributed systems to ensure that multiple distributed processes receive operations in an equivalent sequence, regardless of which node in the distributed system initiates each of the operations. The operations may be propagated to each node in the distributed system such that either each operation completes at each node, or the operation is rolled back at each node.

Messaging to enforce operation serialization for consistency of a distributed data structure


An anchor for connecting refractory material to a wall or other support structure for a kiln or other vessel is disclosed. The anchor includes a first member having a section along its length that is selectively configured and has a selective cross-sectional shape. The anchor includes a second member having a complementary engaging section. The complementary engaging section has a cross-sectional shape and dimension complementary to the selected configuration of the length of the first section of the first member. The complementary engaging section of the second member further has a selective configuration along its length complementary to the shape and dimension of the selective cross-sectional shape of the first section of the first member such that the two members complementarily engage to enhance heat transfer, while at the same time permitting relative rocking and rotational movement of the members in use.

The invention relates to wall construction systems for refractory furnaces and kilns, and more specifically, it relates to an improved anchoring system for the inner refractory walls of such refractory furnaces and kilns.
Over the years, numerous systems have been used for anchoring the refractory material used in furnaces and kilns to the outer support structures of the furnaces and kilns. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,376,681, there is disclosed a furnace wall construction having a series of retaining blocks that have embedded therein metallic reinforcing means formed with fastening elements tied to the outer furnace supporting surface. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,446, there is disclosed a suspended roof or wall system that includes blocks formed or provided with hanger bars that extend into the blocks. The hanger bars in turn are connected to the support structure for supporting the blocks.
Still further, in British Patent Specification 1,386,407, there is disclosed an anchor for refractory lining that comprises two separate V-shaped members. One member has two holes and is secured to a structure such as a shell or frame. The second member extends through the holes in the first member and has arms that extend divergently away from the first member and are embedded in the refractory material for holding the refractory material.
While the above anchoring systems may be adequate to secure the refractory material under most applications, it is believed that the above systems do not optimize the ability of such systems to transfer and dissipate heat encountered by the anchor. Additionally, it is believed that such anchoring systems fail to provide the full range of movement that may be necessary due to expansion and contraction of the refractory material in use. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an anchoring system that maximizes heat transfer and dissipation through the anchoring system and also maximizes the flexibility of movement of the anchoring system.


An environmentally-safe, disposable, and combustible charcoal-based heat source includes a first chimney structure and a second wall structure surrounding the chimney structure. An inner chimney flue receives air for igniting and burning the charcoal-based heat source and an outer chimney flue exhausts combustion fumes from the charcoal-based heat source. A bottom wall member secures to the inner chimney flue and the outer chimney flue and forms of a combustible material to be consumed during the ignition and burning of the charcoal-based fuel. A top wall member secures to the inner chimney flue and the outer chimney flue to be consumed during the ignition of the charcoal-based fuel. A plurality of exhaust apertures are arranged within the top wall for exhausting the combustion fumes from the outer chimney flue. An ignition ring establishes a sustained ignition of sufficient duration to ignite uniformly the charcoal-based fuel. A plurality of flaps provide an initial ignition of the ignition ring. The inner chimney flue, the outer chimney flue, the plurality of exhaust apertures, the flaps and the ignition lattice cooperating to provide uniform and rapid burning of the charcoal-based fuel.

Backyard barbequing of meat and other foods provides an excellent way to enjoy the very best of smoked food preparation. One popular way to achieve the smoky flavor that barbequing makes possible uses charcoal or charcoal briquettes as the heat source. These heat sources are ignited and allowed to burn for a period of time after which the cooks uses their embers to smoke cook the food. Unfortunately, traditional methods for igniting charcoal require the use of an igniting fluid or similar aid to burn for a sufficiently long time for the charcoal to light.
The main problems with lighting fluid or similar aids include the likelihood that the lighting fluid or at least fumes from the lighting fluid will penetrate into the cooking food. Also, lighting fluid is itself an environmental pollutant. Still another frustrating aspect of lighting fluid is that the user generally must be carrying the lighting fluid as a separate, dangerously combustible item.
Yet another frustration occurs when the user applies either too much or too little lighting fluid. If too much fluid is used a large, uncontrollable and dangerous fire may result. If too little is used, the charcoal may not begin a self-sustaining burn prior to depleting the applied fluid. Furthermore, if the user applies new fluid to an active fire or smoldering ember, a further uncontrollable combustion may result.
All of these limitations suggest the need for a way to achieve the same igniting of charcoal for barbequing and the like without the need to use a lighting fluid.
Accordingly, there is the need for way to light charcoal or similar substances for barbequing and the like that avoids the use of lighting fluid.
There is the need for a clean or non-polluting way to light charcoal or similar substances that does not affect the cooking food.
Others in the prior art have attempted in various ways to promote the uniform heating of charcoal through orienting the charcoal in a vertical stack within the combustible package. The combustible package in such applications is constructed to be vertically upstanding, thereby orienting the charcoal to be vertically stacked around a central flue. As the combustible package is consumed, combustion gasses flow up through the central flue, providing for the heating of the charcoal from the center. The central flue also promotes the self-feeding of the charcoal into the center as the central flue is consumed by the fire. However, the central flue concentrates the heat of the fire within the center of the charcoal stack only, thus neglecting the outer edges of the charcoal.
Another approach attempts to extend the flue across the width of the combustible package, thereby increasing the quantity of charcoal affected by the centrally concentrated heat. This approach provides a second compartment beneath the stack of charcoal for containing an igniter for igniting the fire. Again, this configuration's use of the combustion gases neglects the outer perimeter of the charcoal.
Yet another approach attempts, but fails to address the charcoal along an outer perimeter. Such a configuration provides a combustible package that includes a generally octagonal platform, a centrally located chimney, a wall attached to the platform's perimeter, and an igniter. Along the platform's base are a number of holes that seek to draw air into the perimeter. While this configuration may provide a modest improvement over prior art devices, it fails to either provide a sustainable or a truly rapid heating of the charcoal. Because the package has no mechanism to assure that the package will sustain a flame for any period of time, the package may burn either completely or to a point where no further igniting combustion occurs. The result is simply hot, but unlit charcoal. In addition, because the holes at the platform base simply draw in ambient air into the charcoal peripheral chamber, the effect may, in fact, be to not provide the sought-after igniting at all.
As can be appreciated from the above, the prior art has not succeeded in providing a self=igniting combustion package which uses the full potential of the heat generated by the incipient flame for purpose s of preheating a quantity of charcoal.
Therefore, what is needed is a simple, combustible package having a built-in igniter and which provides for the uniform heating of a quantity of charcoal by concentrating the combustion heat not only beneath and at the center of the quantity of charcoal, but also along the perimeter of the charcoal.
There is a further need for a way to ignite charcoal or similar substances for heating or cooking that provides for a sustained burning of the heating substance.
A need exists for a way to ignite charcoal or similar substances that avoids the need to also use a lighting fluid.
Still a need exists for a way to ignite and burn charcoal and similar heating substances that provides a truly biodegradable or non-polluting alternative to polluting or contaminating situation which happens with the use of lightning fluid or similar substances.

Environmentally safe charcoal-based heat source


The frequency chirp modulation response of a directly modulated laser is described using a small signal model that depends on slow chirp amplitude s and slow chirp time constant τs. The small signal model can be used to derive an inverse response for designing slow chirp compensation means. Slow chirp compensation means include electrical compensation, optical compensation, or both. Slow chirp electrical compensation can be implemented with an LR filter or other RF circuit coupled to a direct modulation source (e.g., a laser driver) and the directly modulated laser. Slow chirp optical compensation can be implemented with an optical spectrum reshaper having a rounded top and relatively large slope (e.g., 1.5-3 dB/GHz). The inverse response can be designed to under-compensate, to produce a flat response, or to over-compensate.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to directly modulated lasers. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for compensating slow chirp in the frequency chirp modulation response of directly modulated lasers.
2. The Relevant Technology
Fiber optic communication systems use a variety of transmitters to convert electrical digital bits of information into optical signals that are sent through optical fibers. On the other end of the optical fiber is a receiver that converts the optical signal to an electrical signal. The transmitters modulate the signals to form bits of 1s and 0s so that information or data may be carried through the optical fiber. There are a variety of transmitters that modulate the signal in different ways. For example, there are directly modulated transmitters and indirectly modulated transmitters. Directly modulated transmitters offer a compact system having large response to modulation and are integratable. Directly modulated transmitters are also generally less expensive than externally modulated transmitters, which require an intensity modulator, usually LiNbO3, following the laser.
One of the drawbacks of a directly modulated transmitter is that its output is highly chirped. Chirp is the rapid change in optical frequency or phase that accompanies an intensity modulated signal. Chirped pulses become distorted after propagation through tens of kilometers of dispersive optical fiber, increasing system power penalties to unacceptable levels. There are various types of chirp exhibited by directly modulated transmitters, including transient chirp, adiabatic chirp, and slow chirp. Slow chirp generates a low frequency roll-off in the frequency modulation response of directly modulated transmitters and slows rise and fall time of emitted optical signals in the time domain. Slow chirp is generally attributed to intrinsic physical properties of the transmitter, such as carrier transport and spatial hole burning.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced

Slow chirp compensation for enhanced signal bandwidth and transmission performances in directly modulated lasers


A variable valve apparatus of an internal combustion engine adopts a structure in which, a transmission arm is laid out such that, when a distance from a contact point where a cam contacts a transmission arm to an oscillating fulcrum of the transmission arm is defined as A, and a distance from the oscillating fulcrum of the transmission arm to a point of action of the transmission arm is defined as B to thereby determine a B/A value, θ1 as a B/A value at the time of a high valve lift control for controlling valve lift characteristics, and θ2 as a B/A value at the time of a low valve lift control for controlling valve lift characteristics establish a relation of θ1>θ2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable valve apparatus of an internal combustion engine, which varies the phase of an intake valve or an exhaust valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many reciprocating engines mounted in automobiles include a variable valve apparatus for changing the phases of an intake valve and an exhaust valve, for reasons of engine gas emission countermeasures, fuel consumption reduction and the like.
Many of such variable valve apparatuses employ a structure in which the phase of a cam formed on a camshaft is replaced with an oscillating cam in which a base circular zone and a lift zone are ranging. Specifically, a structure is employed in which an oscillating range of the oscillating cam is changed, whereby a valve opening period and a valve lift amount of the intake valve and the exhaust valve driven via a rocker arm are varied continuously.
In order to improve a pumping loss, a structure is proposed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-239712 in which a transmission arm is interposed between a cam and an oscillating cam, and the transmission arm is oscillatably supported by a control shaft.
Specifically, the transmission arm is moved by the turning displacement of the control shaft. A contact position where the transmission arm contacts the cam is changed by moving the transmission arm. By changing the contact position of the transmission arm and the cam, the valve characteristics, that is, a valve opening period, valve open-close timing and a valve lift volume are continuously varied.
In such a variable valve apparatus, it is desired that a variable range from a high valve lift to a low valve lift is expanded.
However, it is difficult to expand the variable range of the valve characteristics. In particular, in the case of a variable valve apparatus in which a transmission arm is moved, a range to move the transmission arm is limited in terms of the supporting structure of the transmission arm, and further regulated by devices and components arranged around the transmission arm. For this reason, it is difficult to expand the variable range easily.

Variable valve apparatus of internal combustion engine

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A carrier apparatus and method includes a pair of oppositely positioned carriers. At least one pair of steerable wheels is connected to at least one of the oppositely positioned carriers. A movable neck is connected to each of the oppositely positioned carriers and by compressive engagement to an object to be carried such that neither the movable neck, nor the pairs of steerable wheels, nor the pair of oppositely positioned carriers are underneath the object.

The prior art is replete with devices designed to assist individuals in carrying various objects. As the size and weight of a particular object increases, difficulties increase as well. By way of example only, and not by limitation, a difficulty exists in the prior art with attempting to maneuver foundations and, even more particularly, house slabs. The state of art for moving house slabs is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,607 to Eubank. The Eubank device utilizes a trailer unit with axles located beneath the foundation/slab on each end. This requires the slab to be lifted up and over the axles and then down onto the trailer. This results in the slab being carried high off the ground. The top of the slab for example may be as much as fifty to sixty inches off the ground in the loaded position. This causes instability of an already heavy load and limits the height of any structure that might be carried on the slab, such as a mobile home.
Once the slab has been moved to the proper location, the slab must again be raised up and over the axles so that the trailer may be removed and the slab placed on the ground. Eubank's device utilizes jacks on each corner of the slab to raise the slab off the trailer. This is a dangerous proposition since the slab must be raised above the height of the axles and tires in order for the trailer to be removed. Also, four jacks are required to be used in whatever location the slab is to be placed. This may be uneven ground which again adds to the instability, as the entire slab is lifted on only four independent points. That is, a separate jack is mounted to opposite ends of two steel support spreaders and then separately handled by lifting and attaching them by hard attachment, such as bolts, to the ends of the slab. Further, with equipment located underneath the slab, it is inevitable that someone will be required to get underneath the slab in order to position a piece of equipment while it is in the high and dangerously unstable position.
A further difficulty arises when handling pre-stressed and post tensioned concrete slab products. Pre-stressed and post tensioned concrete products are engineered to be lifted, carried, and supported near their ends. The Eubank device positioned the trailer units at the ends of the slab being transported for just this purpose. The support points in Eubank's device had to be within approximately four feet of the ends or the slab would have broken.
Other carriers have been designed to lift and transport essentially rigid, inflexible containers, such as shipping containers. Concha et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,068, discloses such a shipping container transporter designed to connect to a hard attachment on the rigid container. As the term is used herein, a hard attachment is an attachment such as a bolt, screw, weld or the like that serves to prevent any movement of the attachment once made. Such hard attachments have proven to be the source of failure in prior art devices for transporting semi-rigid, flexible objects such as foundations and slabs, for example only and not by limitation. On the other hand, as used herein "compressive engagement" is a connection to the object to be carried that allows some movement while connected. For example only and not by way of limitation, compressive engagement includes attachments to objects by means of compression.
Thus, there is a need in the art for providing a carrier apparatus and method which enables a user to transport a slab at a minimum distance above the ground and in such a manner that the integrity of the slab is not threatened.