In an electro-magnetic actuator, an objective lens is mounted on a lens holder which is elastically supported by two leaf springs and a focusing coil is wound around the lens holder. The lead springs is fixed on a carriage to which tracking coil is also fixed. Guide roller mechanisms are provided on the both sides of the tracking coil and are slidably mounted on guide rails, respectively. The tracking coil are so arranged as to be extended in magnetic gaps of magnetic circuits disposed between the carrier and the guide rails. In each of the magnetic circuit, first and second yokes are so faced to each other as to defined the magnetic gap, a pair of permanent magnets are interposed between the first and second yokes, a third yoke also so faced to the second yoke as to defined the magnetic gap, a pair of permanent magnets are also interposed between the second and third yokes, and a permanent magnet is provide at the first yoke to apply a magnetic flux to the focusing coil.

1. 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-magnetic actuator and an optical disk apparatus incorporating the same and, more particularly, to a linear actuator for driving an optical head incorporated in an optical disk apparatus for reproducing/recording information from/in an optical recording medium by converging a laser beam onto the optical recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electro-magnetic actuator as an actuator for driving a head is currently widely used in various fields of, e.g., an optical disk apparatus and a magnetic disk apparatus. For example, as an electro-magnetic actuator for driving an optical head used in an optical disk apparatus, a mechanism as shown in FIG. 1 is known. In the mechanism shown in FIG. 1, an objective lens 102 for focusing a light beam from a light source onto an optical disk 101 is mounted on a movable member 103. The objective lens 102 can be finely moved by a short distance along its optical axis toward the optical disk 101 and can be also finely moved by a short distance in the radial direction of the optical disk 101 by a mechanism provided in a cove 104 to move the objective lens. A tracking driving mechanism for driving the objective lens 102 in the radial direction of the optical disk 101 by a comparatively long distance comprises a pair of magnetic circuits 107 each constituted by a yoke 105 and a permanent magnet 106 fixed to the yoke 105, a tracking coil 108 fixed to the movable member 103, linear guides 109 for regulating a moving direction of the movable member 103, and guide rollers 110 which can roll on the linear guides 109. The movable member 103 is roughly driven in the radial direction of the optical disk 101 by a Lorentz force generated by a current flowing through the tracking coil 108 and magnetic fluxes flowing in the magnetic circuits 107, and the objective lens 102 is finely driven by the above objective lens driving mechanism to form a light beam spot at a desired position on the surface of the optical disk 101, thereby recording or reproducing information in or from the optical disk 101.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the magnetic circuit 107 to be incorporated in such a mechanism, a plate-like yoke 105a and a yoke 105b having a substantially U-shaped section are connected to form the yoke 105, and the permanent magnet 106 is fixed on the inner surface of the yoke 105a and arranged in a space between the yokes 105a and 105b.
In the magnetic circuit 107 having the above arrangement, as shown in FIG. 3A, a magnetic path is formed such that not all of magnetic fluxes generated by the N pole of the permanent magnet 106 flow straight to the longitudinal section of the yoke 105b but some magnetic fluxes flow toward two short sides of the yoke 105b. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3B, magnetic fluxes generated by the end portion of the permanent magnet 106 form a magnetic path which returns directly to the yoke 105a through air outside the magnetic circuit. Therefore, a magnetic flux density distribution in a magnetic gap is not uniform along the inner surface of the yoke 105b but a magnetic flux density at the end portion becomes smaller than that at the center of the magnetic gap.
When the size of the magnetic circuit 107 is decreased, it becomes very difficult to maintain a uniform magnetic flux density distribution in the magnetic gap along the inner surface of the yoke 105a due to magnetic characteristics of the permanent magnet 106 or material characteristics such as magnetic saturation of the yoke 105. As a result, a considerably large amount of magnetic fluxes leak into air having a smaller permeability than that of the yoke 105. When a magnetic path is formed in this manner, magnetic fluxes at the center of the magnetic gap largely differ from those at its end portion. Therefore, if such a magnetic circuit is applied to the electro-magnetic actuator shown in FIG. 1, a generated driving force changes in accordance with the position of the movable member 103 and degrades uniformity of moving acceleration of the objective lens 102. As a result, positioning control of the objective lens 102 becomes unstable.
As described above, a magnetic path formed by the conventional magnetic circuit is not uniform along the inner surface of the magnetic gap, and it is very difficult to maintain uniformity of a magnetic flux density distribution in the magnetic gap if the magnetic circuit is made smaller in size. Therefore, if this magnetic circuit is applied to an electro-magnetic actuator, a generated driving force changes in accordance with the position of a movable member, resulting in unstable positioning control of an objective lens.
An optical system of an optical head of the mechanism shown in FIG. 1 generally comprises three systems, i.e., a guiding optical system for guiding a light beam from a light source, an optical pick-up system for focusing the light beam onto an optical disk and picking up the light beam from the optical disk, and a detecting system for detecting the light beam. More specifically, in the guiding optical system, a light beam emitted from a light source, e.g., a semiconductor laser is shaped and collimated. In the optical pick-up system, the optical pick-up system, the light beam transmitted from the guiding optical system is focused on a rotating optical disk by the objective lens 102. In the detecting system, the light beam modulated and reflected by a recording surface of the disk is focused on a photodetector and detected for signal reading and position detection. In the conventional optical head shown in FIG. 1, the guiding optical system and the detecting system having a considerably large total weight (generally 50 g or more) are mounted on the chassis 103 as a movable member. Therefore, in order to drive the optical head at a high speed, the magnetic circuit 107 capable of generating high power, i.e., the magnetic circuit 107 having a comparatively large size is required. In this case, since the size of the movable member is naturally increased, further limitations are imposed if the optical head must be housed and operated in a limited space in the optical disk apparatus.
Recently, a separate type optical head device shown in FIG. 4 in which a guiding optical system and a detecting system are separated from a movable member to reduce the weight of the movable member and realize high-speed driving has been used. In this separate optical head device, a lens bobbin 202 to which an objective lens 102 is connected is elastically supported by parallel leaf springs 204, thereby supporting the objective lens 102 to move parallel to its optical axis direction (Z direction). A flat type focusing coil 206 as a focusing driving system is wound around the side surface of the lens bobbin 202 to have its axis in the Y direction. The focusing coil 206 and a fixed magnetic circuit (not shown) form an electro-magnetic driving system in which a Lorentz force, i.e., a driving force for driving the objective lens 102 in the Z direction is generated in accordance with a Fleming's left-hand rule by the direction (X direction) of a current flowing through the focusing coil 206 and the direction (Y direction) of magnetic fluxes generated by a permanent magnet of the magnetic circuit. The lens bobbin 20 is moved by this driving force while equally curving the two leaf springs. That is, the objective lens 102 is driven in the optical axis direction. A reflecting mirror 240 is arranged below the objective lens 102 to deflect a light beam, emitted from a light source and passed through a fixed guiding optical system, through 90.degree. and radiate the deflected light beam onto a disk 101. A light beam modulated and reflected by the upper surface of the disk 101 is guided to a detecting optical system by the reflecting mirror 240.
Guide rollers 110 such a bearings elastically supported by support pins 210 are arranged at both side surfaces of a carriage 208 as a movable member and roll along linear guides 109 with a circular section fixed on a base (not shown) and elongated in the X direction. Therefore, the carriage 208 is moved in the disk radial direction (X direction) while its two ends are supported by the linear guides 109. A tracking coil 214 is wound around a tracking coil bobbin portion 212 of the carriage 208 to have its axis in the X direction. The tracking coil 214 is inserted in a non-contacting state into a magnetic gap between a yoke and the permanent magnet of the magnetic circuit and forms a voice coil motor together with the magnetic circuit. This voice coil motor generates a Lorentz force, i.e., a driving force for driving the carriage 208 in the X direction by the direction (Y direction) of a current flowing through the tracking coil 214 and the direction (Z direction) of magnetic fluxes in the magnetic gap of the magnetic circuit. The carriage 208 is moved by this driving force while the rollers 110 roll on the linear guides 109. That is, the objective lens 102 is moved in the X direction.
Of the two conventional optical heads described above, in the optical head device shown in FIG. 1 in which both the guiding and detecting optical systems are mounted on the movable member 103, it is difficult to record/reproduce information at a high speed since reduction in weight of the movable member is limited.
In the separate type optical head device, in order to improve response characteristics upon X-direction driving of the movable member 208, it is preferred to sufficiently narrow the magnetic gap, i.e., move the tracking coil 214 inserted in the magnetic gap as close as possible to the yoke surface or the magnet surface opposing each other above and below the tracking coil 214. In order to allow the guide roller 110 to rotate on the linear guide 109 with a low frictional resistance, the rotating shaft of the guide roller and the linear guide direction must be set to be substantially perpendicular to each other. In addition, in order to restrict the optical head in a direction except for the tracking direction by a plurality of guide rollers 110, an inclination and a positional accuracy of each pin 210 for supporting the guide roller 110 must be set within predetermined allowable ranges. Since, however, mounting accuracies of the tracking coil 214 and the movable member 208 are actually not so high, it becomes difficult to maintain a non-contacting state between the tracking coil 214 and the yoke if the magnetic gap is made narrower. Similarly, since mounting accuracies of each pin 210 and the movable member 208 are not so high, it is difficult to set the inclination and positional accuracy of each pin 210 within allowable ranges.
In order to stabilize optical characteristics and Z-direction driving of the objective lens 102, a high mounting accuracy and inclination accuracy are required for the lens bobbin 202 or the focusing coil 206. However, a demand for a high mounting accuracy of the focusing coil 206, the tracking coil 214, the lens bobbin 202, the pin 210, the reflecting mirror 240, and the like, and a complicated shape of the separate optical head cause reduction in productivity in a manufacturing/assembling process of the optical head. The above demand for a high mounting accuracy of the pin 210, the lens bobbin 202, the focusing coil 206, and the like in the separate type optical head device is similarly present for a mounting accuracy between the movable member 103 and the guide roller support pin and between the movable member 103 and the optical pick-up 104 in the standard optical head device described above.
In addition, in order to realize an optical head which can perform recording/reproduction at a high speed in a future, an optical head in which a movable member is arranged so as not to produce an unnecessary vibration in a moving optical element and which can be driven without an inclination or offset of an optical axis by eliminating an unnecessary mass distribution must be developed.

Linear actuator for driving an optical head incorporated in an optical disk


A phototransistor includes a first-conduction-type lower region, a second-conduction-type upper region disposed on the first region, a second-conduction-type electrode contact region of a high concentration disposed at a surface inside of the upper region and is connected to an electrode so as to transmit a signal, a first-conduction-type first shield region of a high concentration disposed at the surface of the upper region and spaced at an interval from the electrode contact region and connected to a ground potential, and a first-conduction-type second shield region of a low concentration disposed between the electrode contact region and the first shield region at the surface of the upper region so as to surround the electrode contact region, and further, is connected to the ground potential.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photodiode and a phototransistor including the photodiode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A photodiode has been widely used as a pickup for reading information from an image sensor or an optical disk such as a CD or a DVD.
A typical photodiode in the prior art has a structure, in which, for example, an N type impurity region and an electrode contact region of an N+ type (a high concentration N type) having an electrode connected to the inside of the N type impurity region are provided at a surface of a P+ type (a high concentration P type) substrate. In such a photodiode, light incident from the surface of the N type impurity region is optoelectronically transduced at a junction surface between the N type impurity region and the P+ type substrate. The resultant electric charge is transmitted out of the electrode connected to the electrode contact region as a signal representing a light reception intensity.
When a power source, OA equipment, or other electronic component is arranged near the above-described photodiode, the photodiode might not output the signal representing the light reception intensity but instead a noise signal caused by an adverse influence of an electromagnetic wave (i.e., an electromagnetic noise) generated by the peripheral component. When the photodiode outputs the noise signal by the adverse influence of the electromagnetic wave in the case where, for example, the photodiode is incorporated in an image sensor, an undesired image such as a stripe pattern appears on an image reproduced from an output from the image sensor.
In view of this, a P+ type diffused region 94 is provided at an outermost surface of a P+ type substrate 93 having an N type impurity region 91 and an N+ type electrode contact region 92 so as to surround the electrode contact region 92, and further, the P+ type diffused region 94 is connected to a ground potential, as shown in FIG. 5. The impedance of the P+ type diffused region 94 becomes low by connecting the P+ type diffused region 94 to the ground potential so that the P+ type diffused region 94 exhibits a shield effect against an electromagnetic wave. As a consequence, even if the electromagnetic wave intrudes at the surface of the photodiode through an electronic component arranged near the photodiode, the electromagnetic wave can be shielded in the P+ type diffused region 94, thereby preventing any generation of an electric charge caused by the electromagnetic wave.
Since the electrode contact region 92 and the P+ type diffused region 94 are arranged adjacent to each other, a pn junction of a high impurity concentration is formed, and therefore, a tunnel current flows between the electrode contact region 92 and the P+ type diffused region 94 caused by Zener breakdown. In addition, the electric charge is concentrated at the junction between the electrode contact region 92 and the P+ type diffused region 94 thereby raising another problem of a reduced withstand voltage at the junction. Thus, the electrode contact region 92 and the P+ type diffused region 94 must be arranged to have a certain interval therebetween.
However, if the electrode contact region 92 and the P+ type diffused region 94 are separated from each other, the electromagnetic wave cannot be shielded in a region defined between the electrode contact region 92 and the P+ type diffused region 94 from entering into the N type impurity region 91 through the above-described region, thereby raising a possibility that a signal (i.e., an electric charge) caused by the electromagnetic wave may be output from the electrode connected to the electrode contact region 92.


According to one exemplary embodiment, a method for image processing selects at least one image from a plurality of images, and stores the plurality of images into a buffer, until a storage space of the buffer reaches a criterion. When the storage space of the buffer reaches the criterion, a procedure of image processing is performed for a plurality of temporary images stored in the buffer, which includes constructing an image dictionary according to the at least an image selected, and performing an image recovery and reconstruction procedure for the plurality of temporary images in the buffer according to the image dictionary, thereby obtaining a plurality of reconstructed images.

One of key factors impacting the video streaming quality is the bandwidth of the transmission network. When the video streaming is transmitted through the network, a compression method with a lower bit rate is often applied in the limited bandwidth situation, which results in low quality in reconstructed video images. The reasons include, but not limited to, blocking effect images caused during reconstruction, video noise images or raindrop images. Block-based codec is also widely applied to image compression, such as, JPEG, MPEG and H.264. Recently, the sparse representation is used for image reconstruction to improve the reconstructed image quality.
The sparse representation is widely used in image processing, such as, reducing blocking effect, filtering noise or eliminating raindrops. The sparse representation technique prepares a large a large amount of reference images to construct a representative image feature dictionary in advance, and uses a large number of complex matrix computations to reconstruct the image feature dictionary, which is used to recovery the defect images. The sparse representation requires sufficient memory to store the large amount of reference images and also requires sufficient computation power to execute the large amount of complex matrix computations.
The sparse representation using a single reference image does not require preparing a large amount of reference images, and may perform dictionary learning by capturing a meaningful part of a self image. For example, there exists a technique to capture gradient information in different orientations in a single image and use a histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) features to decompose the single image into a raindrop part and a non-raindrop part to perform the dictionary learning according to orientation. The subsequent recovery or reconstruction uses the non-raindrop part dictionary to eliminate the raindrops from the image. Another technique is to divide the HOG features of the reference image into a horizontal part and a vertical part for performing the dictionary learning and for eliminate the image blocking effect.
In the above known image reconstruction or recovery techniques, some techniques collect in advance a large amount of natural images to construct image feature dictionary and use the image feature dictionary to recovery defect images. These techniques are difficult to adapt to different image scenes. Some other techniques avoid collecting large amount of reference images, but each image is recaptured and trained for an image dictionary in a dynamic video. Therefore, an effective approach to reduce image blocking effect and require a small amount of reference memory to obtain good image quality is an important research topic.

Method and apparatus for image processing and computer readable medium

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


Micro-fluid ejection heads and methods for extending the life of micro-fluid ejection heads. One such micro-fluid ejection head includes a substrate having a plurality of thermal ejection actuators. Each of the thermal ejection actuators has a resistive layer and a protective layer thereon. A flow feature member is adjacent the substrate and defines a fluid feed channel, a fluid chamber associated with at least one of the actuators and in flow communication with the fluid feed channel, and a nozzle. The nozzle is offset to a side of the chamber opposite the feed channel. A polymeric layer having a degradation temperature of less than about 400° C. overlaps a portion of the at least one actuator associated with the fluid chamber and positioned less than about five microns from at least an edge of the at least one actuator opposite the fluid feed channel.

Micro-fluid ejection devices are classified by a mechanism used to eject fluid. Two of the major types of micro-fluid ejection devices include thermal actuators and piezoelectric actuators. Thermal actuators rely on an ability to heat the fluid to a nucleation temperature wherein a gas bubble is formed that expels the fluid through a nozzle. The life of such thermal actuators is dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to, dielectric breakdown, corrosion, fatigue, electromigration, contamination, thermal mismatch, electro static discharge, material compatibility, delamination, and humidity, to name a few. A heater resistor used in a micro-fluid ejection device may be exposed to all of these failure mechanisms.
For example, it is well-known that cavitation pressures are powerful enough to pound thru any solid material, from concrete dams to ship propellers. During each fire cycle, the heater resistor may be exposed to similar cavitation impacts. As the gas bubble collapses, a local pressure is generated on the order of 103 to 104 atmospheres. Such cavitation impacts may be focused on a submicron spot of the heater resistor for several nanoseconds. After 107 to 108 cavitation impacts, the heater resistor may fail due to mechanical erosion. Furthermore, because the heater resistor requires extremely high temperatures to ensure homogeneous bubble nucleation, a distortion energy in the heater due to thermal expansion may be generated of the same order of magnitude as the distortion energy imposed by bubble collapse. A combination of thermal expansion and cavitation impacts may lead to premature heater failure.
In order to protect the fragile heater resistor films, the films may be hermitically sealed to prevent humidity driven corrosion, but the surface of the heater resistor is directly exposed to liquid. In the most critical areas of the heater, a minor surface opening due to defect, wear, step coverage, or delamination may lead to catastrophic failure of the heater resistor.
Accordingly, exotic resistor films and multiple protective layers providing a heater stack are used to provide heater resistors robust enough to withstand the cavitation and thermal expansion abuses described above. However, the overall thickness of the heater stack should be minimized because input energy is a linear function of heater stack thickness. In order to provide competitive actuator devices from a power dissipation and production throughput perspective, the heater stack should not be arbitrarily thickened to mitigate the cavitation effects, overcome step coverage issues, overcome delamination problems, reduce electro static discharge, etc. In other words, improved heater resistor reliability by over-design of the thin film resistive and protective layers may produce a noncompetitive product.
Micro-fluid ejection heads may be classified as permanent, semi-permanent or disposable. The protective films used on the heater resistors of disposable micro-fluid ejection heads need only survive until the fluid in the attached fluid cartridges is exhausted. Installation of a fluid cartridge carries with it the installation of a new micro-fluid ejection head. A more difficult problem of heater resistor life is presented for permanent or semi-permanent micro-fluid ejection heads. There is a need, therefore, for a method and apparatus for improving heater resistor life without sacrificing jetting metrics and power consumption.
With regard to the above, exemplary embodiments of the disclosure provide micro-fluid ejection heads having extended life and relatively low energy consumption and methods of making a micro-fluid ejection heads with extended life and relatively low energy consumption. One such micro-fluid ejection head includes a substrate having a plurality of thermal ejection actuators disposed thereon. Each of the thermal ejection actuators includes a resistive layer and a protective layer for protecting a surface of the resistive layer. The resistive layer and the protective layer together define an actuator stack thickness. A flow feature member is adjacent (e.g., attached to) the substrate and defines a fluid feed channel, a fluid chamber associated with at least one of the thermal ejection actuators and in flow communication with the fluid feed channel, and a nozzle. The nozzle is offset to a side of the fluid chamber opposite the fluid feed channel. A polymeric layer having a degradation temperature of less than about 400° C. overlaps a portion of the at least one thermal ejection actuator, and positioned less than about five microns from at least an edge of the at least one actuator opposite the fluid feed channel.
In another embodiment there is provided a method for extending a life of a thermal ejection actuator for a micro-fluid ejection head. A substrate has a plurality of thermal ejection actuators and a protective layer therefor deposited thereon, and has a flow feature member defining a fluid feed channel, a fluid chamber associated with at least one of the thermal ejection actuators and in flow communication with the fluid feed channel, and a nozzle. The nozzle is offset to a side of the fluid chamber distal from the fluid feed channel. The method comprises depositing a polymeric layer having a degradation temperature of less than about 400° C. in overlapping relationship with at least a portion of the at least one thermal ejection actuator. The polymeric layer overlaps less than about five microns of the at least one actuator adjacent an edge thereof distal from the fluid feed channel.
An advantage of at least some of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure is that heater energy is not increased while the life of the actuators is substantially enhanced. Another potential advantage of at least some of the disclosed embodiments is an ability to vary the life of an ejection actuator without significantly changing the energy requirements for ejecting fluids.

Low energy, long life micro-fluid ejection device


In a synchronous acquisition method of a spread spectrum code, a digital code sequence is generated based on a received radio communication signal. The digital code sequence defines a spread spectrum code which includes a preamble symbol. A plurality of correlation signals are generated based on the spread spectrum code of the digital code sequence. A detection signal is generated in accordance with the correlation signal which corresponds to the preamble symbol. A timing control signal is generated in accordance with the detection signal. A demodulation signal is generated based on the correlation signals and in accordance with the timing control signal. A correction signal is generated based on the demodulation signal. A corrected timing control signal is generated based on the timing control signal and the correction signal, such that the demodulation signal corresponds to the preamble symbol.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synchronous acquisition circuit and a synchronous acquisition method of a spread spectrum code, in particular, to a synchronous acquisition circuit and a synchronous acquisition method of a direct sequence spread spectrum code. This is a counterpart of and claims priority to Japanese-Patent Application No. 2004-289781 filed on Oct. 1, 2004, which is herein incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows an instance of a digital code sequence which includes a plurality of the spread spectrum codes used in a direct sequence spread spectrum communication.
The spread spectrum codes as shown in FIG. 1 are cyclic shift type codes defined by a standard of IEEE 802.15.4 which is applied to an interface of a ZigBee physical layer. The ZigBee is a standard for a close-range radio communication which is executed in a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific Medical bandpass. Also, the digital code sequence is a pseudo random pattern, and the pseudo random pattern provides eight spread spectrum codes which are respectively composed of thirty-two chips, by cyclically shifting a starting location of the pseudo random pattern on 4-chip basis. Hereupon, each of the chips corresponds to a code of "0" or "1" and is equated with a "bit". A plurality of symbols of "0" through "7" are assigned to respective ones of eight kinds of the spread code. As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the symbol "0" is assigned to the spread code which starts with "1101" and ends with "1110. " Also, the symbol "7" is assigned to the spread code which starts with "1001" and ends with "1101."
FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram for describing a synchronous acquisition circuit of the spread spectrum code in the related art. The synchronous acquisition circuit includes a clock extracting circuit 1 and a code generating circuit 2. The clock extracting circuit 1 generates a clock signal CLK based on a signal IN which is output from a detection circuit of a radio receiver. The code generating circuit 2 converts the signal IN into a digital signal of "0" or "1" in accordance with the clock signal CLK, in order to generate the digital code sequence. The digital code sequence which is output from the code generating circuit 2 is provided to respective ones of eight correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7. Each of the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 corresponds to respective ones of the eight spread spectrum codes. The correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 check correlations between the digital code sequence and the spread spectrum codes in accordance with the clock signal CLK, in order to generate a plurality of correlation signals COR0 through COR7. The correlation signals COR0 through COR7 are provided to a demodulation circuit 4. The demodulation circuit 4 selects one of the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 which generates a correlation signal which includes the greatest correlation value which exceeds a predetermined threshold correlation value when the demodulation circuit 4 receives a timing signal TIM, and then outputs one of symbols generated from the selected one of the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 as a demodulation signal OUT.
Furthermore, the synchronous acquisition circuit includes a preamble detection circuit 5 and a set-reset type flip-flop circuit 6 in order to realize synchronization with respect to receiving radio communication signals. In actual radio communication, a specific pattern is prepended to transmit data of the radio communication signal as a preamble symbol. Hereupon, four consecutive spread spectrum codes of the symbol "0" are transmitted as the preamble symbol, prior to the transmit data. The preamble detection circuit 5 receives the correlation signal COR0 which is output from the correlation circuit 3-0. When the correlation signal COR0 has a correlation value which exceeds the predetermined threshold correlation value, the preamble detection circuit 5 generates a detection signal DET for a two-input AND circuit 7. The set-reset flip-flop circuit 6 has a set-terminal S which receives a reception starting signal ST which is indicative of starting a signal reception and has an output terminal coupled to an input terminal of the AND circuit 7. The AND circuit 7 generates an output signal S7 for a reset-terminal R of the set-reset flip-flop circuit 6 and a timing control circuit 8. The timing control circuit 8 counts a pulse number of the clock signal CLK, in order to generate the timing control signal TIM which has a width of one of the clock signal CLK every 32-chips which corresponds to a width of one of the symbols. The timing control circuit 8 starts counting the pulse number of the clock signal CLK when receiving the output signal S7 from the AND circuit 7.
Details of the operations with respect to the above-mentioned synchronous acquisition circuit are described below. When the set-reset flip-flop circuit 6 receives the reception starting signal ST, the set-reset flip-flop circuit 6 is set and then the. AND circuit 7 receives a signal of "1. " On the other hand, the clock extracting circuit 1 and the code generating circuit 2 receives the signal IN from the detection circuit of the radio receiver at this time. The clock extracting circuit 1 generates the clock signal CLK based on the signal IN for the code generating circuit 2, the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 and the timing control circuit 8. The signal IN is converted into the spread code, and then the spread code is provided to the eight correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7. Thereafter, the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 generate the correlation signals COR0 through COR7 for the demodulation circuit 4. The correlation signal COR0 is also provided to the preamble detection circuit 5. The preamble detection circuit 5 watches the correlation signal COR0 which is indicative of correlation between the spread code and the preamble symbol (the symbol "0"). When the correlation value of the correlation signal COR0 exceeds the predetermined threshold correlation value, the preamble detection circuit 5 generates the detection signal DET for the AND circuit 7. The AND circuit 7 generates the output signal S7 for the timing control circuit 8 in accordance with the detection signal DET. Therefore, the timing control circuit 8 generates the timing control signal TIM for the demodulation circuit 4, based on the detection signal DET, every 32-chips. Meanwhile, since the output signal S7 is provided to the reset-terminal R of the set-reset flip-flop circuit 6, the set-reset flip-flop circuit 6 is reset and then the AND circuit 7 receives a signal of "0. " Accordingly, the timing control circuit 8 does not receive other detection signals which follow the above-described detection signal DET. That is, the timing control circuit 8 cyclically generates the timing control signals TIM in accordance with the detection signal DET which is first generated from the preamble detection circuit 5. When the demodulation circuit 4 receives the timing control signal TIM, the demodulation circuit 4 selects one of the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 which generates a correlation signal which includes the greatest correlation value which exceeds the predetermined threshold correlation value. Then, the demodulation circuit 4 generates the symbol which corresponds to the correlation signal generated from the selected correlation circuit, as the demodulation signal OUT. Hereupon, when the greatest correlation value of the correlation signal does not exceed the predetermined threshold correlation value, the received signal IN is invalidated and then another signal IN is requested to be sent to the synchronous acquisition circuit. The synchronous acquisition circuit as mentioned above is described in a Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. Hei 7-131378).
However, in the above-described synchronous acquisition circuit, when noise causes a signal IN which is similar to the preamble symbol (the symbol "0") of the spread code to be input to the code generating circuit 2, the preamble detection circuit 5 may erroneously detect the correlation signal COR0 based on the similar signal IN as the preamble symbol. That is, the detection signal DET may be generated from the preamble detection circuit 5 at an improper timing. As a result, the timing control circuit 8 may cyclically generate the timing control signal TIM in accordance with the improper detection signal DET. On such an occasion as this, the spread code as shown in FIG. 1 causes the demodulation circuit 4 to select one of the correlation circuits 3-0 through 3-7 which generates a correlation signal with the greatest correlation value, which exceeds the predetermined threshold correlation value, in accordance with the improper timing control signal TIM. Therefore, even though the synchronous acquisition is not actually realized, the demodulation circuit 4 may generate the demodulation signal OUT every 32-chips. That is, the demodulation circuit 4 may operate as if the synchronous acquisition is realized and then may generate improper demodulation signals OUT.
In order to suppress the improper demodulation signal OUT from being generated, that is, in order to suppress the preamble detection circuit 5 from detecting the correlation signal COR0 at the improper timing, it has been proposed that a detection threshold of the preamble detection circuit 5 is greater than a demodulation threshold of the demodulation circuit 4. As a result, the chance of the improper detection caused by noise may be decreased. However, under poor surroundings of the radio communication, the above-described countermeasure against the thresholds suppresses the desired preamble symbol from being properly detected. That is, the receiver sensitivity may be decreased. Also, when noise is added to the signal IN so that the correlation signal COR0 exceeds the greater detection threshold of the preamble detection circuit 5, it may be still difficult to suppress the improper detection caused by noise in the preamble detection circuit 5.

Synchronous acquisition circuit and a synchronous acquisition method of a spread spectrum code


A combination rake and shovel tool having handles of which are crossed and pivoted to one another. The rake having a straight head and prongs pointing in the direction of the shovel scoop and being a leaf type rake. The shovel is similar to a snow shovel. The rake and shovel close together to pick up leaves and debris. The device may also be singularly used as a shovel or rake or in combination, additionally the present invention can be placed in a standing position when not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand tools and, more specifically, to a combination rake and shovel tool having handles of which are crossed and pivoted to one another. The rake having a straight head and prongs pointing in the direction of the shovel scoop and being a leaf type rake. The shovel is similar to a snow shovel. The rake and shovel close together to pick up leaves and debris. The device may also be singularly used as a shovel or rake or in combination. Additionally the present invention can be placed in a standing position when not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other hand tools designed for yard work. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 125,480 issued to Newman on Apr. 9, 1872.
Another patent was issued to Estlack on Oct. 9, 1900 as U.S. Pat. No. 659,518. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 1,588,927 was issued to Willis on Jun. 15, 1926 and still yet another was issued on Oct. 13, 1959 to Ross as U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,131.
Another patent was issued to Cox on Sep. 5, 1972 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,484. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,386 was issued to Dirksen on Feb. 12, 1991. Another was issued to Glaser on Oct. 24, 1995 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,988 and still yet another was issued on Oct. 15, 1996 to Laughlin as U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,266.
Another patent was issued to Bricker, et al. on Oct. 15, 1996 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,267. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,073 was issued to Jones on Sep. 19, 2000. Another was issued to Vodinh on Jun. 14, 2005 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,743 and still yet another was issued on Nov. 7, 2006 to Caneba as U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,255.
Another patent was issued to Klingler on Feb. 23, 1901 as U.K. Patent No. GB407. Yet another International Patent Application No. WO 96/35322 was issued to Jysky on Nov. 14, 1996. Another was issued to Hsu on Aug. 8, 2001 as U.K. Patent No. GB2358781 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 18, 2003 to Pineyro, et al. as Australia Patent No. AU 2003100904.


An apparatus for rotationally locking a rolling-mill roll in the bearing mount LS in a rolling-mill frame has an axially shiftable housing fitted to the stub (WZ) of the roll, having a planar flange (FA) that in one position of the housing bears on an abutment face of an abutment element fixed in the bearing mount (LS).

When changing such rolls one normally uses rail systems with whose help the rolls are shifted with their bearing mounts through the mount windows of the rolling-mill frame. These rails and the equipment used for such an operation take a great deal of space up at the roll frame and make it difficult to mount or move other equipment needed for rolling.
It has therefore been suggested to change rolls by means of a support beam, a so-called porter bar. To this end the stub of the roll is connected to a porter bar suspended from a crane, and the roll is lifted in this position out of the frame. With this method there is the problem that the bearing mount rotates on the roll as it is being moved.

Apparatus for rotationally locking a roller-mill roll in a bearing mount in a mount window of a rolling-mill frame


The present invention relates to a cooling system (1) of an internal-combustion engine. Cooling system (1) comprises a closed cooling loop and it includes a closed loop in a Rankine cycle allowing part of the coolant heat to be recovered. According to the invention, the cooling loop comprises two thermostats (6; 20) and evaporator (19) of the Rankine loop is arranged between the two thermostats (6; 20).

Internal-combustion engine cooling systems are designed for cooling the internal-combustion engine and possibly its equipments, notably the lubrication system (oil pump), the exhaust gas, the exhaust gas recirculation EGR, etc.
Such systems are generally comprised of a closed loop in which a coolant, notably a mixture of water and ethylene glycol, circulates. Such a closed loop can include a pump, heat exchangers for exchange with the internal-combustion engine and/or its equipments, a thermostat, a radiator and a unit heater. A thermostat is a regulation device comprising at a minimum one inlet and two outlets, the inlet and the outlets are connected according to the opening of an internal valve, whose opening depends on the temperature of the fluid flowing through the thermostat: when the fluid temperature is below a threshold, only one outlet is connected to the inlet, and when the fluid temperature is greater than or equal to this threshold, both outlets are connected to the inlet.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of a simplified cooling system according to the prior art. Cooling system 1 comprises a pump 2. Pump 2 is connected to the crankcase and to the cylinder head of internal-combustion engine 3, to lubrication system 4 and to exhaust gases 5 through a line 10. Cooling of internal-combustion engine 3 and cooling of lubrication system 4 are arranged in parallel in the cooling loop, and this assembly is arranged in series, through a line 11, with the heat exchanger for exchange with exhaust gas 5 or the EGR gas exchanger when there is one. At the outlet of these heat exchangers, line 12 is connected to a thermostat 6.
Outlet 17 of thermostat 6 is connected to a unit heater 8 by means of a line 13. The fluid at the outlet of unit heater 8 circulates towards pump 2. Outlet 17 is the outlet of thermostat 6 always connected to the inlet of thermostat 6.
Outlet 18 of thermostat 6 is connected to a radiator 7 by means of a line 15. The fluid at the outlet of radiator 7 circulates towards pump 2. Outlet 18 is the outlet of thermostat 6 connected to the inlet of thermostat 6 when the fluid temperature at the inlet of thermostat 6 is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.
For such a cooling system, the heat (and therefore the energy) recovered by the coolant is lost.
In order to recover part of this lost energy, it was envisaged to include a closed-loop Rankine cycle into the cooling system.
As is widely known, a Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle wherein heat coming from an external heat source is transmitted to a closed loop containing a fluid (referred to as working fluid or heat carrier fluid).
This type of cycle is generally broken up into a stage where the working fluid used in liquid form is compressed in an isentropic manner, followed by a stage where this compressed liquid fluid is heated and vaporized on contact with a heat source.
This vapour is then expanded, in another stage, in an isentropic manner in an expansion machine, then, in a last stage, this expanded vapour is cooled and condensed on contact with a cold source.
To carry out these various stages, the loop generally comprises a compressor pump for circulating and compressing the fluid in liquid form, an evaporator that is swept by a hot fluid for at least partial vaporization of the compressed fluid, an expansion machine for expanding the vapour, such as a turbine that converts the energy of this vapour into another energy such as mechanical or electrical energy, and a condenser by means of which the heat contained in the vapour is yielded to a cold source, generally outside air that sweeps this condenser, so as to convert this vapour into a fluid in liquid form.
In the field of internal-combustion engines, conventional Rankine cycles consist in inserting a heat carrier fluid loop for recovery of the engine heat losses. In general, this recovery is performed on the exhaust gases/the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) gases, or on the cooling loop, or on both simultaneously.
When this recovery is performed on the cooling system, the Rankine cycle evaporator enables heat exchange between the coolant and the heat carrier fluid of the Rankine cycle. The evaporator can generally be arranged on the recirculation branch of the cooling loop upstream from the thermostat, so as not to disrupt the engine temperature regulation.
Under such conditions, recovery needs to be controlled, notably with a cold internal-combustion engine, in order not to penalize warm-up of the engine, likely to affect the efficiency thereof by degrading consumption and pollutant emissions during this phase. Once the internal-combustion engine warm, the thermostat arranged downstream from the Rankine loop exchanger sends back to the radiator the excess calories of the cooling loop that have not been drawn by the Rankine cycle. By comparison with an operation without a Rankine cycle, the engine thermostat thus allows passage of fewer calories towards the engine radiator.
With this type of cooling loop architecture, the temperature of the engine coolant entering the Rankine exchanger is not regulated, and this temperature may fluctuate significantly, notably if the coolant is heated at the engine outlet by an exchanger on the exhaust. In this case, suitable pressure and temperature conditions are not guaranteed for the heat carrier fluid of the Rankine cycle loop, in particular for transient operation of the internal-combustion engine.
Alternatively, the Rankine cycle evaporator may be arranged downstream from the engine thermostat, on the branch towards the radiator, so as to guarantee stable temperature conditions for the engine coolant entering the Rankine evaporator in order to simplify the regulation of the heat carrier fluid flow rate in the Rankine cycle. Under such conditions, the coolant is excessively cooled by the evaporator and the radiator mounted in series, which causes a drop in the flow rate in the branch towards the radiator and therefore generates a decrease in the energy recovered by the Organic Rankine Cycle ORC (Rankine cycle using an organic fluid).
Patent applications WO-2014/103,820 and EP-3,064,734 describe cooling system embodiments including a closed loop in a Rankine cycle.
Patent application WO-2014/103,820 illustrates a cooling loop wherein, for the Rankine cycle, the evaporator is arranged between a heat exchanger for exchange with the exhaust gas and expansion means. For this cooling loop, the coolant can be excessively cooled by the evaporator and the condenser (radiator), which may lead to a drop in the flow rate in the thermostat-controlled branch and therefore to a decrease in the recovered energy.
Patent application EP-3,064,734 discloses a cooling system wherein a radiator and a sub-radiator are used for cooling the coolant prior to heat exchange in the evaporator. Thus, the amount of heat recovered by the Rankine cycle is limited because part of the heat is previously dissipated in the radiators.
To overcome these drawbacks, the present invention relates to a cooling system for an internal-combustion engine. The cooling system comprises a closed cooling loop and it includes a closed loop in a Rankine cycle, which allows part of the coolant heat to be recovered. According to the invention, the cooling loop comprises two thermostats and the evaporator of the Rankine loop is arranged between the two thermostats. This layout allows the coolant temperature in the evaporator to be regulated, which promotes energy recovery by the Rankine cycle. Furthermore, this layout allows to optimize cooling of the internal-combustion engine and to simplify supervision of the loop in the Rankine cycle. Besides, this cooling system design requires few modifications in relation to a cooling system without a Rankine cycle loop.

Engine cooling system with two thermostats, including a closed loop in a Rankine cycle


The invention provides mechanically activated metal fuels for energetic material applications. An exemplary embodiment involves mechanically treating micrometer-sized particles of at least one metal with particles of at least one fluorocarbon to form composite particles containing the at least one metal and the at least one fluorocarbon.

Metallic or metalloid fuels powders such as aluminum, boron, magnesium, silicon, lithium and alloys or combinations thereof have found use in various energetics including, for example, propellants, pyrotechnics and explosives. Aluminum has become one of the most frequently used metallic fuels in such energetics, yet its efficient use in these energetics remains challenging for several reasons. For example, in the use of micrometer sized aluminum in propellants, the relatively high ignition temperature of aluminum and related particle agglomeration typically results in lower combustion efficiency and increased two-phase flow losses, e.g., slag formation.
To overcome or combat these drawbacks, micrometer sized aluminum has been replaced with nanosized aluminum (nAl) in experimental propellants and has resulted in improved performance (e.g., shorter particle burning time, reduced metal agglomeration, decreased ignition delay, reduced condensed product size, and anticipated increases in propellant heat feedback).
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,524,355 and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0032064 disclose nano composite energetic powders, such as composed of aluminum and a metal oxide oxidizer, prepared by what is termed "arrested reactive milling" and such as exemplified by high energy milling.
Unfortunately, the utility of nanosized aluminum is significantly reduced as such materials can exhibit a high oxide content and a high surface area (10-50 m2/g) that can lead to various processing issues.
Conventional aluminized solid propellant is a physical mixture of fuel (typically aluminum, boron, magnesium, silicon, or alloys thereof) particles and oxidizer (typically ammonium perchlorate (AP), ammonium nitrate, potassium perchlorate, etc.). These particles are combined in a cured rubber-based binder matrix, or other polymer composite. When the propellant burns, the solid surface composed of these materials regresses. The binder burns with the oxidizer, exposing metal particles, which once exposed, light and burn in the surrounding hot, oxygenated gas environment. Combustion of metal in this way is limited by the rate at which oxidizer gases can be diffused to the metal surface. As such, reaction rates can generally be improved by increasing metal-gas interface surface area. Furthermore, reaction of metal with oxidizer can create a partial metal oxide coating or "cap" on the surface of molten, burning metal, which further hinders the metal-oxygen reaction by forming a diffusive barrier at the surface of the burning particle. A second way in which metal combustion is hindered is related to the melting and agglomeration of conventional metal particles. Melting, which typically occurs at the propellant surface hinders reaction because molten metal particles tend to agglomerate together, reducing metal-oxidizer interfacial surface area. Furthermore, the time delay between when metal particles begin to melt and when they reach the ignition temperature provides molten particles ample time to coalesce and create larger agglomerates with lower specific surface area. These two problems, (1) the formation of a partial oxide layer on reacting particle surfaces and (2) the agglomeration of molten metal particles represent two significant deficiencies regarding metal combustion in a solid rocket motor.
Fluorocarbons are of particular interest for inclusion with aluminum and have been proposed in a variety of applications including reactive liners/fragments, heterogeneous explosives, and infrared (IR) flares. While fluorocarbons such as cause or result in the formation of metal fluorides are of interest, simple addition or coating is not effective. For example, coatings typically boil from the surface of reacting particles at temperatures below the melting point of metal oxides. Attempts have previously been made to introduce fluorine into a propellant. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,342 is directed to a method for improving the combustibility of aluminum metal powders for use in solid rocket propellant formulations and requires exposing aluminum oxide coated aluminum metal powder to hydrogen fluoride gas for a period of time sufficient to effect a reaction therebetween. Thus, the exterior surfaces of aluminum particles react with fluorine (from exposure of Al to HF). While in general, higher theoretical heat release and performance are possible from the formation of metal fluorides rather than metal oxides, such an aluminum fluoride coating on particle surfaces prior to combustion results in a lower overall heat release, as the aluminum particles contain an already reacted form of aluminum. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,843,868 and 3,441,455 detail other attempts to introduce fluorine in the form of a fluorocarbon such as either physically mixed as a powder into the propellant prior to curing of the binder or as a coating, for example.
The success of metal-fluorocarbon reactives can predominantly be attributed to a very high (volumetric and gravimetric) heat release resulting from fluorination instead of oxidation. These benefits have been realized in reactive compositions where higher performance is seen from use of fluorine-based rather than oxygen based oxidizers. For applications where high gas production is desired (such as solid propellants), the about 1000° C. lower boiling/sublimation point of most metal fluorides compared to their respective oxides can decrease formation of condensed phase product. Reaction of Al with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is of particular interest due to PTFE's high fluorine content (67 mol. %) and the composition's high enthalpy of reaction (9 kJ/g).
However, one particular drawback of metal-PTFE reactives (as well as other heterogeneous reactives) is the large diffusion distances present in micron sized mixtures.
The issue of diffusion limited combustion has been addressed by several researchers either by significant reduction of reactant particle size through use of nanoparticle reactants (e.g., nAl-nPTFE) or mechanical activation (MA). The reduced diffusion distance resulting from the use of nanoscale particles dramatically decreases the thermal stimulus required to achieve ignition. Specifically, the heating of nAl-nPTFE (70-30 wt. %) mixtures has been shown to result in an exothermic pre-ignition reaction (PIR) at about 450° C., which is about 150° C. below the primary ignition temperature of micrometer scale Al-PTFE mixtures. In addition, the significantly higher heat release seen from nAl-nPTFE has been attributed to more complete combustion. The use of MA has been successfully applied to many heterogeneous energetics, as such processing provides a top-down approach to decreasing diffusion distances and altering ignition and reaction behavior. With MA (sometimes referred to as arrested reactive milling (ARM)), the milling process is interrupted prior to reaching a critical milling energy dose sufficient to induce self-sustained reaction. The milling yields increased reactant interfacial contact and decreased diffusion distances that can exceed that which is possible with nanoscale physical mixtures, which can lead to reaction at lower temperatures.
Also, the inclusion, by MA, of low levels (10 wt. %) of a secondary metal such as Fe, Zn, or Ni in aluminum has also been shown to reduce the ignition temperature and alter the low temperature oxidation process of aluminum. The addition of secondary metals in composite propellants, however, is not always advantageous and generally results in lower predicted specific impulse (Isp).
Thus, there remains a need and a demand for methods and materials such that can desirably facilitate the incorporation of metal fuels in various applications and uses.

Mechanically activated metal fuels for energetic material applications


A store-and-forward method for a fax mail apparatus for storing mail information being sent from a fax machine and transmitting the mail information to a designated destination in which the fax mail apparatus divides the received mail information by page, or predetermined size if the amount of data in a page exceeds that size, regards receipt of the first division unit as receipt of the entire mail information in the unit of one message, and, when receiving the first division unit, sequentially transmits the mail information by division unit from the fax mail apparatus to a destination fax machine.

This invention relates to a fax mail apparatus and store-and-forward method therefor. More particularly, the invention relates to a fax mail apparatus storing fax mail information sent from a facsimile apparatus (fax apparatus) and forwarding the mail information to a designated destination, and store-and-forward method therefor.
A fax mail store-and-forward method has been proposed and put into practical use in the prior art. According to the fax mail store-and-forward method, a facsimile mail apparatus (fax mail apparatus) is connected to an exchange, a document is transmitted from a facsimile machine (fax machine) to the fax mail apparatus with a destination designated, and the document (mail information) is once stored in the fax mail apparatus, and then transmitted to individual destination or a plurality of destinations (in the case of broadcasting). FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the construction of the communication system with such fax mail store-and-forward feature, and FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing the procedure of mail transmission.
In FIG. 17, there are shown an exchange such as a private branch exchange (PBX) 1, a fax mail apparatus 2 connected to the PBX, a originating fax machine 3 used by an originator, and destination fax machines 4a-4n used by receiving individuals (hereinafter referred to as "receivers").
When the originator 3 desires to transmit a document to the receiver 4a, he or she dials the telephone number of the fax mail apparatus 2, whereupon the PBX 1 connects the originator 3 and the fax mail apparatus 2. When the circuit has been connected, the fax mail apparatus 2 issues audio guidance so that the originator may sequentially enter a subscriber ID, a password, a function code, and a destination number or destination-list number. Functions of the fax mail apparatus include ordinary transmission, express transmission, confidential transmission, and time-specified transmission for each of which individual and broadcast transmissions are provided.
In accordance with the audio guidance, the originator sequentially enters the subscriber ID and the password that have been designated for him or her, a function code indicating the individual or broadcast transmission, and finally a number depending on the destination 4a.
The fax mail apparatus 2 checks to determine whether the entered subscriber ID and password agree with those registered. If agreement is not found, the fax mail apparatus 2 regards this as meaning that the originator is illegal and disconnects the circuit. If agreement is found, however, the fax mail apparatus 2 instructs the originator 3 to transmit the document and then temporarily stores the document (the fax mail information) in an internal memory once the document has been transmitted from the originator. Refer to A in FIGS. 17 and 18. Then, the fax mail apparatus 2 automatically transmits the mail information to the receiver 4a (see B in FIGS. 17 and 18). When the transmission has been completed, the fax mail apparatus 2 notifies the fax machine 3 of the originator of the delivery result by means of a printed message (see C in FIGS. 17 and 18).
In the case of broadcast transmission, the fax mail apparatus 2 temporarily stores the fax mail information in the internal memory once the fax mail information has been transmitted from the originator, and automatically broadcasts the mail information to multiple receivers according to the destination list which has been separately entered. When the broadcast transmission has been completed, the fax mail apparatus 2 notifies the fax machine 3 of the originator of the delivery result by means of a printed message.
In the case of time-specified transmission, the fax mail apparatus 2 temporarily stores the fax mail information in the internal memory once the fax mail information has been transmitted from the originator, and automatically transmits the mail information to the destination at the time of day which has been separately entered.
In the case of confidential transmission, the fax mail apparatus 2 stores the mail information in the memory, and notifies the destination of the fact that it has received fax mail information in confidential. Then, after the user at the destination enters a predetermined ID number, the fax mail apparatus 2 transmits the fax mail information stored in the memory to the fax machine at the destination.
FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the construction of the communication system with the fax mail function when two fax mail apparatuses are connected by a private trunk circuit network. In the figure, there are shown fax machines 11a-11d, public telecommunication networks 12a and 12b, exchanges such as PBXs 13a and 13b, fax mail apparatuses 14a and 14b, and a mail trunk circuit network 15 for connecting the fax mail apparatuses 14a and 14b with leased circuits.
Description is made on a case where a document is transmitted from a fax machine 11a to a remote fax machine 11c. When the telephone number of the originating fax mail apparatus 14a is dialed from the fax machine 11a, the public telecommunication network 12a and the exchange 13a connect the circuit between the fax machine 11a and the fax mail apparatus 14a. Then, a subscriber ID, a function code (for example, ordinary/individual transmission), and the telephone number of the fax machine at the destination are sequentially entered from the fax machine 11a. The fax mail apparatus 14a check to determine whether the entered subscriber ID and password agree with those registered. If agreement is not found, the mail fax apparatus 14a regards this as meaning that the originator is illegal and disconnects the circuit. If agreement is found, however, the fax mail apparatus 14a instructs the originator to transmit the document and temporarily stores it (fax mail information) in an internal memory once it has been transmitted by the originator. Then, the fax mail apparatus 14a automatically transmits the document (mail information) to the destination fax mail apparatus 14b through the trunk circuit network 15 of a leased circuit. The fax mail apparatus 14b temporarily stores the mail information in an internal memory, calls the destination fax machine 11c after all mail information have been received, and automatically transmits the mail information to the destination fax machine 11c through the exchange 13b and the public telecommunication network 12b.
As described above, the communication system of FIG. 19 can perform the fax transmission through a public-leased-public connection (public network-leased circuit-public network), and reduce the communication charge. For example, when the fax mail apparatuses 14a and 14b are installed at Tokyo and Sapporo, respectively, and connected by a leased circuit (mail trunk circuit network), new charge is for the public networks in the Tokyo and Sapporo areas so that the communication charge can be saved. The charge for the leased circuit is separately paid to a communication service provider.
Furthermore, the communication system of FIG. 19 can also reduce the band in the fax information trunk circuit network, and save the labor and time for distributing information through facsimile.
According to the store-and-forward method by the conventional fax mail apparatuses of FIGS. 17 and 19, delivery of the first page of document to the destination fax machine starts after entire document have been entered. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating transmission of the n-th page of the document. After all pages are once transmitted from the originating fax machine to the fax mail apparatus, the fax mail apparatus sequentially transmits the document from the first page to the destination fax machine or the destination fax mail apparatus.
Thus, the store-and-forward method according to the conventional fax mail apparatus has a problem that it takes much time until the destination fax machine outputs the document, and, particularly, the more the number of pages of document is, the longer the time until the output of the document is.

Store-and-forward method for fax mail apparatus


A speed sensor assembly is mounted to a steering knuckle with a threaded fastener. The fastener is initially hand tightened until it is axially obstructed by a spacer provided on the speed sensor assembly. A tool then is used to apply high torque to the fastener so as to deflect or break away the spacer so that the speed sensor assembly may be tightly clamped to the steering knuckle by the fastener. The spacer prevents hand tightened speed sensor assemblies from being properly aligned with a tone wheel. Unless a tool is used to fully seat the speed sensor assembly, the assembly will give a false test signal indicative of improper or incomplete mounting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a mounting arrangement for a wheel speed sensor and in particular to a wheel speed sensor having a frangible or bendable mounting spacer.
2. Description of Prior Developments
Wheel speed sensors are typically mounted to a wheel support, such as a steering knuckle, for providing a pulsed speed signal to an antilock brake system (ABS). The sensors are mounted to the wheel support with threaded fasteners such as bolts. The bolts are initially hand threaded into threaded bores formed in the wheel support and subsequently tightened using a tool such as an air driven socket wrench.
When the bolts are tightened, the wheel speed sensor is locked in alignment with a toothed pulse wheel or tone wheel that rotates with the vehicle wheel. Before leaving the vehicle assembly plant, the sensors are checked for proper alignment and proper mounting with respect to the steering knuckle and tone wheel. If the sensor is properly aligned with the tone wheel, electronic test fixtures will provide a signal indicative of proper alignment and a "closed" circuit. If the sensor is not properly aligned, an open circuit is indicated.
Unfortunately, a situation can arise where a sensor is mounted to the wheel support with a hand tightened bolt that is not fully seated by a tool such as an air wrench. In this case, the sensor can be properly aligned with the tone wheel, provide a positive test signal to a test apparatus, yet when placed in service, fall off the wheel support and generate a fault signal to the driver of the vehicle.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for mounting a speed sensor to a wheel support in such a manner that if the fastener which secures the sensor to the support is tightened by hand only, the sensor will be prevented from being properly aligned with the tone wheel. This in turn will prevent a test apparatus from providing an acceptable or positive indication that the sensor is properly installed. In this manner, the sensor cannot leave the vehicle assembly plant without being tightened by a tool, thereby preventing the subsequent loss or misalignment of the sensor due to insufficient torque applied to its mounting hardware.


An optimized query processing system and method for a database system. The database system includes a table of data and an index correlated to both the query and to the table. The optimized query processing system includes an index accessing module adapted to access the index to determine if the table contains an entry satisfying a query predicate; and a tablescan module for scanning substantially the entire table and retrieving data satisfying the query. A method is also disclosed for generating database diagnostic data.

In the world of SQL database engines, improving the efficiency of processing SQL queries can be of substantial importance, particularly for large systems processing many thousands of queries a day. For greater clarity, while the term "query" is used throughout this document, it should be understood that this term is also intended to refer to any type of SQL statement, including statements that insert, delete or modify data, based on qualifying criteria. As will be understood by one skilled in the art, such statements are commonly referred to as "SQL statements" or DML (data manipulation language).
Typically most database applications having large tables of data also have corresponding indexes which can be searched in order to locate specific data in the tables. While the database application may search through the index to determine the locations of data in the table satisfying the query and retrieve the indexed data from the table, in certain cases (typically in which the type of data sought has a low distinct cardinality resulting in the retrieval of a significant portion of the table), this approach may be inefficient.
Alternatively, in cases in which a significant portion of the table might have to be retrieved in order to answer a query, the database application may be configured to scan through the entire table to retrieve the data in order to satisfy the query. However, this approach may also prove inefficient, particularly in the event that the table does not contain any data satisfying the query (in which case a negative response is returned).
Accordingly, the applicants have recognized a need for a system and methodology for more efficiently processing certain types of database queries.
The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for index sampled tablescan

International Business Machines Corporation


Process for electrolysis of alkali metal chlorides with oxygen-consuming electrodes having specific operating conditions for startup and shutdown, which prevents damage to constituents of the electrolysis cell.

The invention proceeds from electrolysis processes known per se for electrolysis of aqueous alkali metal chloride solutions using oxygen-consuming electrodes in the form of gas diffusion electrodes which typically comprise an electrically conductive carrier and a gas diffusion layer comprising a catalytically active component.
Various proposals for operation of the oxygen-consuming electrodes in electrolysis cells on the industrial scale are known in principle from the prior art. The basic idea is to replace the hydrogen-evolving cathode in the electrolysis (for example in chloralkali electrolysis) with the oxygen-consuming electrode (cathode). An overview of the possible cell designs and solutions can be found in the publication by Moussallem et al. "Chlor-Alkali Electrolysis with Oxygen Depolarized Cathodes: History, Present Status and Future Prospects", J. Appl. Electrochem. 38 (2008) 1177-1194.
The oxygen-consuming electrode—also called OCE for short hereinafter—has to meet a series of requirements to be usable in industrial electrolyzers. For instance, the catalyst and all other materials used have to be chemically stable against concentrated alkali metal hydroxide solutions and towards pure oxygen at a temperature of typically 80-90° C. Similarly, a high degree of mechanical stability is required, such that the electrodes can be installed and operated in electrolyzers with a size typically more than 2 m2 in area (industrial scale). Further desirable properties are: high electrical conductivity, low layer thickness, high internal surface area and high electrochemical activity of the electrocatalyst. Suitable hydrophobic and hydrophilic pores and an appropriate pore structure for transmission of gas and electrolyte are needed. Long-term stability and low production costs are further particular requirements on an industrially usable oxygen-consuming electrode.
A problem in the case of arrangement of an OCE in a cathode element where an electrolyte gap is present between membrane and OCE arises from the fact that, on the catholyte side, the hydrostatic pressure forms a pressure gradient over the height of the electrode, which is opposed on the gas side by a constant pressure over the height. The effect of this can be that, in the lower region of the electrode, the hydrophobic pores too are flooded and liquid gets onto the gas side. On the other hand, in the case of excessively high gas pressure in the upper part of the OCE, liquid can be displaced from the hydrophilic pores and oxygen can get onto the catholyte side. Both effects reduce the performance of the OCE. In practice, the effect of this is that the construction height of an OCE is limited to about 30 cm unless further measures are taken. In industrial electrolysers, electrodes are typically constructed with a height of 1 m or higher. For the implementation of such construction heights, various technologies have been described.
WO2001/57290 A1 describes a cell in which the liquid is conducted from the top downwards through a flat porous element mounted between OCE and ion exchange membrane, called a percolator, in a kind of free-falling liquid film, called falling film for short, along the OCE (finite gap arrangement). In this arrangement, no liquid column bears on the liquid side of the OCE, and no hydrostatic pressure profile builds up over the construction height of the cell. However, the construction described in WO2001/57290A1 is very complex. In order to ensure a homogeneous alkali flow and homogeneous contact of the OCE with catholyte, percolator, ion exchange membrane and OCE must be positioned very accurately.
In another embodiment, the ion exchange membrane which, in the electrolysis cell, divides the anode space from the cathode space directly adjoins the OCE without an intervening space into which the alkali metal hydroxide solution is introduced and from which it is removed (catholyte gap). This arrangement is also referred to as the zero gap arrangement. The zero gap arrangement is typically also employed in fuel cell technology. A disadvantage here is that the alkali metal hydroxide solution which forms has to be passed through the OCE to the gas side and then flows downwards at the OCE. In the course of this, the pores in the OCE must not be blocked by the alkali metal hydroxide solution, and there must not be any crystallization of alkali metal hydroxide in the pores. It has been found that a very high alkali metal hydroxide solution concentration can arise here, but it is stated that the ion exchange membrane at these high concentrations lacks long-term stability (Lipp et al., J. Appl. Electrochem. 35 (2005)1015—Los Alamos National Laboratory "Peroxide formation during chlor-alkali electrolysis with carbon-based ODC").
A further arrangement, which is occasionally also referred to as "zero gap" but is more accurately formulated as "micro-gap", is described in JP3553775 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,286A1. In this arrangement, a further layer of a porous hydrophilic material which absorbs the aqueous alkali formed due to its absorptivity and from which at least a portion of the alkali can drain away downwards is present between the ion exchange membrane and the OCE. The means of draining of the aqueous alkali is determined by the installation of the OCE and the cell design. The advantage of this arrangement is that the amount of alkali which flows downwards on the reverse side of the OCE becomes smaller. As a result, the side of the OCE facing the gas side (reverse side) becomes more accessible to the oxygen. In addition, the pore system of the OCE is exposed to a smaller amount of liquid, as a result of which more pore volume is available for gas transport. In contrast to above-described finite gap arrangements, no aqueous alkali metal hydroxide solution (alkali) is conducted through the gap between OCE and ion exchange membrane as a result of application and drainage; the porous material present in the micro-gap absorbs the aqueous alkali formed and passes it onwards in horizontal or vertical direction. The arrangement described in JP3553775 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,286A1 is referred to hereinafter as "micro-gap". A high-performance electrolysis cell with a micro-gap configuration is easier to construct and to operate than the an electrolysis cell in finite gap arrangement.
An oxygen-consuming electrode consists typically of a support element, for example a plate of porous metal or a metal wire mesh, and an electrochemically catalytically active coating. The electrochemically active coating is microporous and consists of hydrophilic and hydrophobic constituents. The hydrophobic constituents make it difficult for electrolyte to penetrate through and thus keep the corresponding pores in the OCE unblocked for the transport of the oxygen to the catalytically active sites. The hydrophilic constituents enable the electrolyte to penetrate to the catalytically active sites, and the hydroxide ions to be transported away from the OCE. The hydrophobic component used is generally a fluorinated polymer such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which additionally serves as a polymeric binder for particles of the catalyst. In the case of electrodes with a silver catalyst, for example, the silver serves as a hydrophilic component. A multitude of compounds have been described as electrochemical catalysts for the reduction of oxygen. However, only platinum and silver have gained practical significance as catalysts for the reduction of oxygen in alkaline solutions.
Platinum has a very high catalytic activity for the reduction of oxygen. Due to the high costs of platinum, it is used exclusively in supported form. A preferred support material is carbon. However, stability of carbon-supported, platinum-based electrodes in long-term operation is inadequate, probably because platinum also catalyses the oxidation of the support material. Carbon additionally promotes the unwanted formation of H2O2, which likewise causes oxidation. Silver likewise has a high electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of oxygen.
Silver can be used in carbon-supported form, and also as fine metallic silver. Even though the carbon-supported silver catalysts are more durable than the corresponding platinum catalysts, the long-term stability thereof under the operating conditions in an oxygen-consuming electrode, especially in the case of use for chloralkali electrolysis, is limited.
In the case of production of OCEs comprising unsupported silver catalyst, the silver is preferably introduced at least partly in the form of silver oxides, which are then reduced to metallic silver. The reduction is generally effected when the electrolysis cell is first started up. The reduction of the silver compounds also results in a change in the arrangement of the crystals, more particularly also to bridge formation between individual silver particles. This leads to overall consolidation of the structure.
It has been observed that, when the electrolysis current is switched off, the silver catalyst can be oxidized again. The oxidation is apparently promoted by the oxygen and the moisture in the half-cell. The oxidation can result in rearrangements in the catalyst structure, which have adverse effects on the activity of the catalyst and hence on the performance of the OCE.
It has also been found that the performance, especially the electrolysis voltage required, in an OCE with a silver catalyst depends considerably on the startup conditions. This applies both to the first startup of an OCE and to the further startups after a shutdown. It is one of the objects of the present invention to find specific conditions for the operation and especially the shutdown and startup of an OCE with a silver catalyst, which ensure a high performance of the OCE.
A further central element of the electrolysis cell is the ion exchange membrane. The membrane is pervious to cations and water and substantially impervious to anions. The ion exchange membranes in electrolysis cells are subject to severe stress: They have to be stable towards chlorine on the anode side and to severe alkaline stress on the cathode side at temperatures around 90° C. Perfluorinated polymers such as PTFE typically withstand these stresses. The ions are transported via acidic sulphonate groups and/or carboxylate groups polymerized into these polymers. Carboxylate groups exhibit higher selectivity; the polymers containing carboxylate groups have lower water absorption and have higher electrical resistance than polymers containing sulphonate groups. In general, multilayer membranes are used, with a thicker layer containing sulphonate groups on the anode side and a thinner layer containing carboxylate groups on the cathode side. The membranes are provided with a hydrophilic layer on the cathode side or both sides. To improve the mechanical properties, the membranes are reinforced by the inlaying of wovens or knits; the reinforcement is preferably incorporated into the layer containing sulphonate groups.
Due to the complex structure, the ion exchanger membranes are sensitive to changes in the media surrounding them. Different molar concentrations can result in formation of significant osmotic pressure gradients between the anode and cathode sides. When the electrolyte concentrations decrease, the membrane swells as a result of increased water absorption. When the electrolyte concentrations increase, the membrane releases water and shrinks as a result; in the extreme case, withdrawal of water can cause precipitation of solids in the membrane.
Concentration changes can thus cause disruption and damage at the membrane. The result may be delamination of the layer structure (blister formation), as a result of which the mass transfer or the selectivity of the membrane deteriorates.
In addition, pinholes and, in the extreme case, cracks can occur, which can result in unwanted mixing of anolyte and catholyte.
In production plants, it is desirable for electrolysis cells to be operated over periods of several years, without opening them in the meantime. Due to variation in demand volumes and faults in production sectors upstream and downstream of the electrolysis, electrolysis cells in production plants, however, inevitably have to be repeatedly run down and back up again.
On shutdown and restart of the electrolysis cells, there occur conditions which can lead to damage to the cell elements and considerably reduce the lifetime thereof. More particularly, oxidative damage has been found in the cathode space, as have damage to the OCE and damage to the membrane.
The prior art discloses few modes of operation with which the risk of damage to the electrolysis cells in the course of startup and shutdown can be reduced.
A measure known from conventional membrane electrolysis is the maintenance of a polarization voltage, which means that, when the electrolysis is ended, the potential difference is not downregulated to zero, but maintained at the level of the polarization voltage. In practical terms, a somewhat higher voltage than that required for the polarization is set, so as to result in a constant low current density and a small degree of resultant electrolysis. However, in the case of use of OCEs, this measure alone is insufficient to prevent oxidative damage to OCEs in the course of startup and shutdown.
Published specification JP 2004-300510 A describes an electrolysis process using a micro-gap arrangement, in which corrosion in the cathode space is to be prevented by flooding the gas space with sodium hydroxide solution on shutdown of the cell. The flooding of the gas space with sodium hydroxide solution accordingly protects the cathode space from corrosion, but gives inadequate protection from damage to the electrode and the membrane on shutdown and startup, or during shutdown periods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,159A1 states that, for an electrolysis process using a zero gap arrangement, purging the cathode space with 35% sodium hydroxide solution prior to startup of the cell, or starting up the cell with low current density and gradually increasing the current density, can prevent damage to membrane and electrode. This procedure reduces the risk of damage to membrane and OCE during startup, but does not give any protection from damage during shutdown and shutdown periods.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,806A1 discloses that exchange of the oxygen for nitrogen after downregulating the electrolysis current will prevent corrosion in the cathode space. According to WO2008009661A2, the addition of a small proportion of hydrogen to the nitrogen will give rise to an improvement in protection from corrosion damage. The methods mentioned, however, are complex, especially from a safety point of view, and entail the installation of additional equipment for nitrogen and hydrogen supply. On restart, the pores of the OCE are partly filled with nitrogen and/or hydrogen, which prevents the supply of oxygen to the reactive sites. The process also does not give any protection from damage to the ion exchange membrane and places high safety requirements for avoidance of explosive gas mixtures.
The Final Technical Report "Advanced Chlor-Alkali Technology" by Jerzy Chlistunoff (Los Alamos National Laboratory, DOE Award 03EE-2F/Ed190403, 2004) details conditions for the temporary shutdown and startup of zero gap cells. In the case of shutdown, after the electrolysis current has been stopped, the oxygen supply is stopped and replaced by nitrogen. The moistening of the gas stream is increased in order to wash out the remaining sodium hydroxide solution. On the anode side, the brine is replaced by hot water (90° C.). The procedure is repeated until a stable voltage (open-circuit voltage) has been attained. The cells are then cooled, then the supply of moist nitrogen and the pumped circulation of the water on the anode side are stopped.
For the restart, the anode side is first filled with brine; on the cathode side, water and nitrogen are introduced. The cell is then heated to 80° C. Then the gas supply is switched to oxygen and a polarization voltage with low current flow is applied. Subsequently, the current density is increased and the pressure in the cathode is increased; the temperature rises to 90° C. Brine and water supply are subsequently adjusted such that the desired concentrations on the anode and cathode sides are attained.
The procedure described is very complex; more particularly, for industrial electrolysis processes, a very high level of complexity is required.
It should be stated that the techniques described to date for startup and shutdown of an OCE are disadvantageous and give only inadequate protection from damage.
It is an object of the present invention to provide suitable operating parameters for the startup and shutdown and the intervening shutdown periods of an electrolysis cell for chloralkali electrolysis using an OCE with micro-gap arrangement and a silver catalyst as the electrocatalytic substance, which are simple to perform and where compliance prevents damage to membrane, electrode and/or other components of the electrolysis cell.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for electrolysis of alkali metal chlorides with oxygen-consuming electrodes in micro-gap arrangement


A holographic image that has been transferred from a conventional polymeric support to a board stock element is described in this invention. A host of images may be envisioned and since this image, on a board stock element, may then be wound up in a roll, it can be used in the manufacture of boxes, containers and the like. The board stock element containing the holographic image may also be used in sheets for advertisements and the like. This element and process permits the wide spread use of such holographic images, such use not being available until now.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to holographic images formed by a unique process for various security and decorative purposes. Also, this invention relates to aluminized roll-stock holographic images formed on a plastic layer. Further, this invention relates to elements and process for transferring holographic images to yet another substrate. Still further, this invention relates to a unique process for transferring holographic images to a relatively inexpensive substrate which permits a wide-spread use of said holographic image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Holographically enhanced materials are well known in the prior art. These are usually made by very proprietary methods which includes passing a layer of plastic, for example, through a machine which imparts a variation (e.g. which can be an image itself) within covering or upper strata of the plastic layer. This step is somewhat similar to, but not exactly the same, as embossing. A powdered metallic element (e.g. aluminum) is then applied thereon by the so-called metallizing process. After this step, the element appears to have a two or three dimensional diffractional grating holographic image imparted on the layer of plastic. This image is extremely pleasing and is widely used within the credit card and security industries, for example, to impart an image particular to that credit card or to provide a security element thereon. The resulting image is difficult to duplicate and thus these elements assist in the prevention of fraud by counterfeiting, for example. The draw-back to the use of these images is the cost since the machines to produce the image are complicated and costly in and of themselves. Additionally, holographic elements produced by this method (the so-called "shim" method") are usually small in size and thus cannot be imprinted with larger images. Thus, this material has not been widely used outside of the credit card and novelty industry.
Within the food packaging industry it is known to use foils and the like for the wrapping of individual food pieces, for example. Sometimes, these foils are embossed with decorative or advertising logos and materials. In addition, it is known in this industry to laminate with glues metallized materials to paper elements for the wrapping of individual food pieces such as candies, gums and the like, for example. There is a long standing need, however, to provide holographic elements on to board stock like material in order to make boxes, containers and other elements that require such heavier cellulosic stocks.
Recently, a process for making large sheets of holographically enhanced material has been developed. Thus, the costs of such holographically enhanced material have been significantly reduced. However, these large sheets of material are usually placed on a plastic surface which is also rather expensive and thus the use of this material is still rather limited. If the holographic image could be further transferred to yet another substrate, one which was less expensive and one which had higher utility (board stocks useful in the fabrication of boxes, containers, advertisement sheets and the like), the use of holographically prepared images would find wider use in the use of these board stocks.

Method for transferring a metallized holographic image

Hampshire Holographic Manufacturing Corp.