A fan assembly and impeller thereof. The fan assembly includes a plurality of blades and a hub. The hub includes an upper surface and a center point. The blades have bottom portions arranged in a circle on the upper surface with respect to the center point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions relates to a fan assembly, and in particular, to a fan and an impeller thereof with higher strength and better performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices generally produce heat during operation, and thus, a heat-dissipating device or a fan assembly is required to dissipate the excess heat. Since the demand for heat-dissipation has increased, fans must offer optimal performance. A conventional impeller 10a of a fan is shown in FIG. 1A, including a plurality of blades 21 and a hub 22. The blades 21 encircle the hub 22. The hub 22 contains a motor (not shown) therein. The blades 21 are disposed in a frame 20 and connected to the hub 22 via a connecting portion 24 extending from a bottom of the hub 22. A gap 23 is formed between the hub 22 and the blades 21, above the connecting portion 24.
As shown in FIG. 1B, airflow enters the gap 23 to contact the blades 21 and flows in a direction shown by the arrows and dashed lines. Due to space limitations imposed by the other elements in the fan, a conventional way to increase the rotational speed of the motor is to increase the height H of the motor or the hub to approximately the same height as the blades 21. The motor, however, almost entirely blocks the inlet such that the airflow is unable to smoothly flow through the gap 23 between the blades 21 and the hub 22. Thus, the contact area between the airflow and the blades 21 is insufficient. Because the inlet area is reduced, the performance is also reduced. Furthermore, the conventional fan requires the gap 23, which weakens the strength of the impeller.
As mentioned above, the conventional fan needs to increase the height of the motor in order to increase power and rotational speed, but the length of the blades 21 must also be increased to increase the airflow contact area. The longer the blades 21, however, the weaker the strength of the impeller, that is, the long blades 21 are easily deformed.
Another conventional impeller 10b adds a rib 25 to increase the strength of the blades 21, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Each blade 21 of the impeller 10b is divided into upper and lower partial blades 21a and 21b. The rib 25 is disposed between the upper and lower partial blades 21a and 21b and connected to the hub 22. Thus, the blade structure can be strengthened by the rib 25. The rib 25, however, may interfere with the airflow, which must travel around the rib 25 to enter the gap 23, thus causing turbulence. Furthermore, the amount of inflow is reduced due to insufficient contact area between the airflow and the blade 21. As a result, the motor is unable to increase the rotational speed.
Hence, the above method is still unable to satisfy the demands of both structural stability and fan performance.


A sectional blade for a wind turbine, the blade extending lengthwise between a tip and a root where the blade is attachable to a hub of a wind turbine, crosswise between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and thickness wise between a windward and a leeward outer surface. The sectional blade comprises a first blade portion and a second blade portion. The blade portions are formed as separate components and arranged to extend lengthwise in opposite directions from a junction where the blade portions join. The blade forms, in a cross section perpendicular to the lengthwise direction and through the junction, a maximum thickness location between the leading and trailing edges, the maximum thickness location being where the distance between the windward and leeward outer surfaces is larger than at any other location in this cross section. The sectional blade comprises an assembly board which is adhesively joined to an outer surface of both blade portions between the trailing edge and the maximum thickness location.

Modern wind turbines comprise a plurality of wind turbine rotor blades, typically three blades, each blade having a weight of up to 15 tons and a length of up to 55 meters, or even more.
Traditionally, a blade comprises two shell parts, one defining a windward side shell part and the other one defining a leeward side shell part. Each of the shell parts are traditionally made in one piece. To reinforce such a blade, a beam- or box-shaped, longitudinal and tubular element, i.e. a spar, can act as a reinforcing beam running lengthways, i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the blade. The spar is located in the cavity between the two wind turbine shell parts and extends substantially throughout the shell cavity in order to increase the strength and stiffness of the wind turbine blade. A blade may further be reinforced by two or more spars placed lengthways side by side.
During operation of the wind turbine, each wind turbine blade is exposed to considerable loads and moments both in the lengthwise direction of the blade mainly resulting from flapwise bending of the blade, in the thickness wise direction dominated by flapwise bending moments from aerodynamic thrust loads, and in the crosswise direction dominated by edgewise loads acting on the blade.
As the size of wind turbines and thus wind turbine blades are still growing, the production facilities and the transport means must be increased to handle blades of the required size. This also increases the demand on logistics and increases the associated costs.
Wind turbine blades manufactured as sectional blades, i.e. in blade portions for later joining are known. In practice, it is difficult to obtain the necessary strength of the joints between the connected blade portions and for safely transfer of the loads and moments across the joint. It may also be difficult to make joints with suitable stiffness considering the weight constraints typically given for the blade.


Implementations relate to detecting user touch on a controller handle. In some implementations, a non-controlling mode of a control system is activated, and in the non-controlling mode, one or more actuators are controlled to cause a vibration to be provided on a handle of a controller. The vibration is sensed with one or more sensors, and a difference in the vibration is determined to have occurred relative to a reference vibration using the one or more sensors, where the difference satisfies one or more predetermined thresholds. A controlling mode of the system is activated in response to determining the difference in the vibration, and the vibration is modified on the handle in response to detecting the change in the vibration.

Teleoperated mechanisms allow a user to remotely control various types of mechanisms and instruments. Teleoperated surgical devices, for example, can use various types of medical instruments to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures that minimize damage to healthy tissue of patients. Control of the medical instruments at a slave device can be provided to an operator at one or more master controllers, e.g., at a remote operator terminal or station, where actuators of the slave device are controlled by the master controller to cause motion of an end effector at the slave device that interacts with the patient surgical site. In some examples, the master controller at the operator station can be physically manipulated by the operator in one or more degrees of freedom to control the end effector to be moved in coordination with the manipulation of the controller, e.g., to move in corresponding degrees of freedom at the operating site.
In some teleoperated systems, the controlled slave device is desired to be disconnected from control by the master controller during non-operation of the teleoperated system and other times or modes, e.g., when a medical procedure is not actively being performed by the system or the end effector is otherwise not desired to be controlled. For example, this disconnection can be implemented in a non-controlling mode (e.g., safe mode) that prevents unintentional control and movement of the slave device and end effector during such times. In some implementations, the non-controlling mode is a default mode of the system, and an operator is required to perform particular commands to indicate that he or she is ready to control the end effector with the master controller, e.g., to activate a controlling mode. For example, the operator may be required to perform one or more particular motions or other maneuvers with the master controllers to indicate that the master controllers are being grasped by the operator and that the operator desires the system to enter the controlling mode. However, such master controller manipulations can be time consuming and may distract the operator from the medical procedure being performed, especially if control of the end effector is interrupted multiple times during a procedure.
Some previous implementations have used techniques to detect a touch of an operator's hand on a handle to allow movements of the handle to affect movements of an end effector. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,750 to Intuitive Surgical, Inc. describes inducing a vibration on a handle and sensing a change in vibration to detect the operator's touch on the handle.

Detection of user touch on controller handle


A packer includes a sealing element, a gage and a plurality of foldback rings. The rings are located between the gage and the sealing element.

The invention generally relates to a packer.
A packer is a tool that typically is used in a well for purposes of forming an annular seal between the outer surface of a string (a production tubing, for example) and either the surrounding casing or borehole wall, depending on whether the well is cased. The packer typically includes a ring-like elastomer seal element, which is longitudinally compressed by the thimbles, or gages, of the packer to cause the seal element to radially expand to form the annular seal when the packer is set.
When compressed, the seal element has a tendency to undergo longitudinal extrusion. Because significant longitudinal extrusion may cause a loss of the annular seal (and potentially a catastrophic blowout), the packer typically includes a seal backup system to limit the extent of the longitudinal extrusion. Ideally, a backup system prevents catastrophic blowout of the elastomer seal element at the well pressure; is fully set with a limited setting force; and allows the packer to be unset (for retrievable packers). It may be challenging for a conventional backup system to accomplish these goals, due to ever-increasing well pressure in the environment in which the packer operates.


A circuit and method to clamp a node of a power device connected to a driving node of a polyphase d-c motor to a reference potential during a powering off of the drive includes a current mirror and a comparator. A first input of the comparator is connected to the reference potential, and a second input is connected to the driving node. The reference potential may be a ground potential, or, preferably, the potential at another driving node of the motor. An output of the comparator is connected to a first side of the current mirror. A circuit is connected to apply a current reflecting the output of the comparator to a low side driver connected to the node.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in circuits and methods for operating polyphase d-c motors and the like, and more particularly to improvements in circuits and methods for preventing parasitic effects on a polyphase d-c motor as it is being powered down.
2. Relevant Background
Polyphase d-c motors have wide applications. For example, one of many areas in which polyphase d-c motors are widely used is in the spinning or rotating of disk drives in personal computer (PC) environments. The disk is spun by the polyphase d-c motor at a relatively precise period of rotation. Typically, a PC disk drive, which may be internal or external to the computer, has a magnetic medium on a disk or platter. One or more magnetic heads are selectively moved radially inwardly or outwardly to enable data to be written to or read from selective locations on the magnetic medium.
When power is removed from the motor, for example, on power off of the PC or on a failure of the power to the system, a complex series of events is often initiated. Such events may include, for example, the running of routines to handle any data that may be in the process of being written to the magnetic media at the time of power off, routines to physically move the magnetic heads to a parked or landing position, routines to stop the rotation of the disk rapidly to avoid excessive wear on the landed heads, and so on.
When the power is removed, typically the power is not instantaneously removed, for example, by a step or ramp function shaped wave form, but instead, is ramped down from the operating voltage to zero. In fact, usually special provisions are taken to ensure that even in a power failure situation, the power to the motor and the circuits associated with the disk drive is conditioned to fall in a known predetermined way after the system power has failed.
After the power has failed or has been removed, however, the motor, which has an inertial mass that tends to keep the motor components of the motor in motion, continues to rotate for some time, until frictional losses stop the rotation, or until the motor is deliberately braked. At some point during the falling value of power supply voltage, the back EMF (BEMF) generated by the coils of the motor begins to supply voltage to the system. The BEMF forces the drive terminals of the motor to go below ground potential. Generally, the magnitude of the voltage to which the BEMF can force the driving terminals below ground is limited by an intrinsic diode, which is a part of the driver power transistors. Typically, for example, the BEMF may swing to about 0.6 volts below ground.
This negative voltage can result in the creation of parasitic devices in and around the power device or driving transistors, or in the other integrated circuits that may be associated with the drive circuits. The parasitic devices may turn on and cause unexpected and/or undesired motor functions, voltages, or operations. Thus, what is needed is a circuit and method to prevent parasitic effects on a d-c motor as it is being powered down. Moreover, the negative voltage wastes BEMF power which otherwise could be used in performing the power-down functions, such as moving and parking the heads, or the like. What is needed, furthermore, is a circuit and method to capture additional BEMF power generated by the motor during its power-down that can be used in performing the various shut-down routines, or for other purposes.

BEMF rectification during power off to prevent parasitic effect


The present invention relates to a cost effective and simple apparatus for cleaning surfaces, engines or other machinery parts of environmentally sensitive materials and also containing this material with its cleaning agent for shipment to a permitted recycling facility. Generally the invention comprises a device for cleaning a hazardous material contained on a surface. The device comprises a wash assembly, a vacuum member operatively adapted with said wash assembly, and a delivery member, operatively associated with the wash assembly, for delivering a cleaning agent to the surface. In the preferred embodiment, the wash assembly comprises a hood adapted to engage the surface and a conduit, operatively associated with the hood, for channeling the hazardous material and the cleaning agent into the vacuum member. The vacuum assembly may include a blower member, operatively associated with the conduit, adapted for suctioning the spill and the cleaning agent along with a container associated with the blower member for placing the hazardous material and cleaning agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for cleaning surfaces that have been contaminated with hazardous or regulated types of materials. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this invention relates to a wash and vacuuming device that will clean a surface that has been contaminated with hazardous types of materials, and thereafter, store these hazardous compounds within a safety container for subsequent delivery to a permitted recycling facility.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Discharges of hazardous types of compounds into the environment can cause significant health and safety problems. These types of discharges may ultimately settle on the ground, sea and other surfaces. A major source of pollution is the discharges from automobiles which may leak fuel and/or lubrication oil. Discharges may also occur in fuel spills and accidents.
Generally, the discharges will occur on surfaces such as roads, highways, and parking lots. The amount of hazardous materials contained on these types of surfaces, over a period of time, may become very significant. A particularly harmful effect is the accumulation of the hazardous compounds over a period of time followed by a rain storm. The effect may be to wash some of the hazardous material from the surface; however, the run-off rain water will simply make its way to a stream or drainage system. Obviously, the released hazardous material will cause significant problems to the environment.
Another problem occurs in industrial applications wherein the facility may use hazardous compounds in which to aid in manufacturing. The hazardous materials used by the workers in these facilities will ultimately fall to the surface wherein accumulation may be significant. As is well appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the hazardous materials will require removal. Certainly, the removal of the hazardous materials must be accomplished in a manner that will clean the surface but not allow the transfer of hazardous materials into drains, streams, and gullies. In other words, the cleaning process must not result in transferring the hazardous materials from one site to another site. As a further complicating factor, the cleaning agent employed may also contain hazardous types of compounds that can not be discharged into the environment. Systems presently available may be adequate to clean the surfaces, but also allow runoff to drainage systems not only of the cleaning agent but also the hydrocarbons or other environmentally sensitive material.
Therefore, there is a need for a device that will allow for the removal of hazardous materials from surfaces. There is also a need for an apparatus that will contain the cleaning agent as well as the removed hazardous materials for storage so that the waste may be ultimately disposed in a treatment facility.

Environmental device for cleaning surfaces


A pivot bearing unit consists of at least one support comprising two shell parts for receiving individually insertable steering links. The support includes a section with the shell parts abutting one another and forming a bearing for a damping strut. The shell parts include a further pair of respective abutting surfaces which form a bearing support for a brake caliper. The shell parts also have respective spaced apart sections for supporting a central pin, which in turn accommodates a brake disc and wheel.

This application claims the priority of German application number 196 08 788.0 filed on Mar. 7, 1996, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a pivot bearing unit composed of plural shell parts.
A pivot bearing unit is known from British Patent 20 20 235 A that consists of two shaped shell parts connected together by a weld. A central pin is held in these shell parts, and bearing bores are provided to receive a suspension strut. The shell parts are inserted into one another and have flat supports in the marginal area where a connecting weld is also located.

Pivot bearing unit for a vehicle wheel assembly


An architecture for an information appliance adapted for a specific application supports a variety of appliance personalities, relying on a single core technology. The information appliance comprises an application-optimized hardware platform, including a processor, a display coupled to the processor, an input/output device coupled to an information source and to the processor, a user input device, and working memory coupled to the processor. Non-volatile memory is coupled to the processor and stores appliance operating software and application software. The appliance operating software includes logic executed by the processor, which manages information flow from the information source through the working memory to the display, and the application software includes logic executed by the processor and responsive to the user input to manage selection of information from the information source. The appliance operating software includes an operating system kernel that is adapted for the processor, and a system library that includes logic providing an interface to the application software. An operating system service layer provides an abstraction function between the system library and the appliance operating system kernel and hardware, so that the logic in the system library and above, such as in the application itself, is executable with a development platform operating system which is completely different from the operating system of the appliance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an architecture for development and implementation of easy-to-use, low cost appliances, targeted at connecting average consumers to emerging on-line information services and other information sources.
2. Description of Related Art
Using computers, individuals are able to access a tremendous amount of information. With the emergence of information sources accessible through the Internet, such as web sites in the World Wide Web, and of local information sources, such as CD-ROMS, which are capable of storing entire libraries of information, more and more people are relying on their personal computers as a technique for gathering information. However, personal computers have been designed with general purpose architectures. Therefore, they have a wide variety of resources available in the architecture, which may not be necessary for a given application of the personal computer. The general purpose nature of personal computers keeps the cost of these systems high. Thus, if an individual uses a personal computer only for the purpose of gathering information from a CD-ROM, without taking advantage of a wide variety of other applications for which the personal computer is intended to work, then resources in the personal computer will be wasted.
Thus, it is desirable to provide special purpose platforms for data processing applications, such as retrieving information. However, the development of applications for special purpose platforms is often an intensive design effort. On the other hand, general purpose platforms support mature development tools to make application design efficient.
Thus, it is desirable to provide technology that enables the development and implementation of function-specific software applications that are matched to application optimized hardware platforms.

Information appliance software architecture with replaceable service module providing abstraction function between system library and platform specific OS


A semiconductor amplifier circuit receiving a high frequency signal and amplifying and outputting the signal includes a transistor for receiving the high frequency signal; and a waveform control connected to an input terminal of the transistor and controlling a negative value of the high frequency signal to be less than the gate breakdown voltage of the transistor and not below a negative threshold voltage. Therefore, a low distortion characteristic is available even when a transistor with a large magnitude of the gate breakdown voltage is manufactured. As a result, accuracy in controlling the value of the gate breakdown voltage during manufacturing is not required to be as high as in conventional manufacturing, resulting in a lower processing cost as well as improved yield.

FIG. 8 illustrates a circuit diagram of a prior art semiconductor amplifier. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 1 designates a field effect transistor (FET) such as an HEMT or MESFET. Numeral 2 designates an input matching circuit provided at the input side of the FET 1, and numeral 3 designates an output matching circuit provided at the output side of the FET 1. Numeral 4 designates a gate bias circuit provided at the input side of the FET 1, and numeral 5 designates a drain bias circuit provided at the output side of the FET 1.
In the circuit thus configured, the respective bias circuits 4 and 5 are electrically isolated by means of choke coils or .lambda./4 lines to prevent leakage of high frequency signals of magnitudes higher than several hundreds of megahertz to the bias circuits. Generally, amplifiers used for mobile communications have to maintain low distortion if an input power increases, and such amplifier is therefore designed such an that its input and output matching circuits 2 and 3 have characteristics of high power and high efficiency. To maintain low distortion, the FET 1 has to have a gate breakdown voltage (V.sub.gdo) within a desired range.
More specifically, gate breakdown voltage (hereinafter also referred to as breakdown voltage) is generally preferred to be high, because low breakdown voltage allows a high current to flow through the gate, degrading reliability. In view of distortion, however, an FET having a high gate breakdown voltage, e.g., higher than the quadrature of a source voltage, has an inferior distortion characteristic. As is already known from experiments, a breakdown voltage ranging from double to the quadrature of a source voltage is preferred.
There are two reasons why high breakdown voltage causes inferior distortion.
1. Degradation of Distortion Due to Shifting of the Load Line
As shown in FIG. 9, it is known that when a gate breakdown voltage (V.sub.gdo) is high, the negative amplitude of the waveform of the gate voltage V.sub.g of an FET is much greater than the positive one, which fact is described by Watanabe et al in IEICE Transacrions on Electornics, vol. E79-C, No.5, May, 1996, pp611-613, with detailed calculations.
V.sub.gg in the figure indicates a gate voltage when no signal is input, and is applied as a bias from an exterior source to obtain a constant voltage, as shown in FIG. 8. A dashed line 6 in FIG. 9 shows a waveform of a gate voltage V.sub.g when a small signal is input. This waveform is approximately symmetric, in the negative and positive directions, with respect to the gate voltage V.sub.gg when no signal is input. However, when the input power is increased, due to the nonlinearity of the FET, this waveform becomes asymmetric, in the negative and positive directions, with respect to the gate voltage V.sub.gg when no signal is input, as represented by a solid line 7 in the figure. In an FET having a high breakdown voltage, since the waveform in the negative direction of the gate voltage V.sub.gg when no signal is input is not clipped, the waveform has a negative amplitude greater than the positive one as shown in the figure. At this time, since a constant bias is applied such that average gate voltage/V.sub.g =V.sub.gg, the waveform of the gate voltage V.sub.g is wholly shifted in a positive direction to maintain the average value. Due to the shift, when an input power is high, a load curve at a drain side of the FET (which corresponds to a solid line 7 in FIG. 10) tends to be shifted upward, in comparison with the curve when the input power has a lower value (which corresponds to a dashed line 6 in the figure). That is, as shown in FIG. 10, gate voltage V.sub.g is shifted in the positive direction. Since the mutual conductance g.sub.m of an FET is generally not constant with respect to gate voltage V.sub.g, that is, negative and positive values of a gate voltage V.sub.g are not equal, when the load line shifts with a change in input power as shown in FIG. 10, operations are performed in regions of different mutual conductances g.sub.m, resulting in increased distortion.
On the other hand, since a low gate breakdown voltage of an FET causes waveform clipping for a negative value of a gate voltage, the negative amplitude of the gate waveform is not great as shown in FIG. 11, and the waveform becomes more symmetrical with respect to the gate voltage V.sub.gg when no signal is input. Therefore, a shift of the gate voltage V.sub.g for maintaining the division of an average gate value by gate voltage V.sub.g occurs less in comparison with the case shown in FIG. 9, the load line hardly shifts as shown in FIG. 12, and operations are performed in a region of same mutual conductance, minimizing increased distortion.
Nevertheless, a too low breakdown voltage causes excessive clipping of a gate voltage V.sub.g, affecting symmetry of the waveform, and degrading reliability due to a high gate current as well. This means that there is an optimal range for breakdown voltage.
2. Amendment of Distortion by Changing Input Conductance
This is disclosed in IEEE Transactions On Microwave Theory and Techniques., vol 44, No. 12, December, 1996 by Yamada et al., with detailed calculations. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a nonlinear equivalent circuit of Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT). In this HBT, main nonlinear parameters are a capacitance C.sub.be between the base and the emitter, an input conductance g.sub.be and an output conductance g.sub.ce, and it is considered that the input conductance g.sub.be is has an effect on waveform clipping of an input-side waveform, and the output conductance g.sub.ce has an effect on waveform clipping of an output-side waveform. In the case of an FET, an input conductance g.sub.be, an output conductance g.sub.ce, and a capacitance C.sub.be between the base and the emitter can be regarded as a contribution to the effect of a waveform clipping caused by an input-side breakdown voltage and a resistance component. There is a further contribution from drain conductance obtained from drain-side waveform clipping, and nonlinearity of a capacitance C.sub.gs between gate and source of the FET, respectively. This means that a description of the HBT can be applied to the FET, too, and thus we will hereinafter describe a HBT used in the document quoted.
In the circuit shown in FIG. 13, a change of a phase passing from an input side to an output side .DELTA..PHI. is calculated by following formula (1): ##EQU1##
If gain matching is performed at the input side, the numerator of the second term of the equation, .omega.C.sub.be +B.sub.s, is zero and no contribution of .DELTA.g.sub.be is obtained. A low distortion semiconductor amplifier generally uses a method intending to improve distortion by making a value obtained by the matching at the input side different from the value as a result of gain matching. This corresponds to selecting B.sub.s in such a way that a phase change caused by .DELTA.g.sub.ce .omega. and .DELTA.C.sub.be is canceled by .DELTA.g.sub.be. More specifically, distortion is improved by reducing .DELTA..PHI. using a change of conductance caused by waveform clipping at the input side. In applying this theory to an FET, it is not possible to improve distortion when the FET's breakdown voltage is too high, whereas improvement of distortion is possible when the breakdown voltage is low enough to cause clipping. This corresponds to a fact determined by experiment that, at an input level at which gain is compressed by 1 to 3 dB (about double or the quadrature of an operation source voltage), a breakdown voltage having a magnitude high enough to cause clipping is preferred.
As is known from the above-described two reasons, it does not follow that the higher a gate breakdown voltage (V.sub.gdo) in an FET is, the better it is, rather a gate breakdown voltage within a desired range is required.
However, controlling breakdown voltage of an FET is generally difficult because the voltage depends on a recess geometry and a surface condition of the FET, causing low yield and increasing processing cost of semiconductor amplifiers.
There is another type of semiconductor power amplifier for receiving high frequencies and amplifying and outputting them, which is disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Application Number H8-139542. In this amplifier, to realize low distortion and high efficiency, a current circuit is provided at a gate input part of an amplification FET so as to supply a current of a magnitude corresponding to a power of an input signal to a bias circuit of the amplification FET. According to the techniques described in the patent document, since the current circuit employed comprises a Zener diode and its current-voltage characteristic is set such that a breakdown voltage is equal to a pinch-off voltage of the FET, it is possible to obtain gain in a wide range by moving bias points to new positions parallel to themselves such that they can maintain a sinusoidal waveform. This is, however, intended to obtain gain in a wide range without increasing distortion rather than to reduce distortion. Further, it is not normal for a GaAs type microwave circuit to comprise a Zener diode, and the above-described problems such as high processing cost are unavoidable for this circuit, too. That is, this circuit also cannot realize higher breakdown voltage and low distortion which are the goals for the present invention.
As described above, the conventional semiconductor amplifier circuit has the above configuration and must be designed so that a gate breakdown voltage (V.sub.gdo) of an FET can be set within a desired range. However, manufacturing the FET so that its breakdown voltage is within a desired range is technically difficult, causing inferior yield.


In a multi-blade fan provided with a plurality of notches in a blade edge in an outer side of each impeller blade, it is possible to direct an impeller blade outlet in a portion of the notches to a circumferential direction. Also, it is possible to direct an air flow blown out of the fan to the circumferential direction. Further, it is possible to effectively increase a pressure, by setting a projection protruding along a thickness direction of the impeller blade in a rear portion of each notch, in a pressure surface of the impeller blade receiving air pressure on the basis of rotation of the multi-blade fan.

Multi-blade fans, such as cross flow fans, sirocco fans, and turbo fans, are used as a blower for an air conditioner.
FIG. 26 shows a wall mounted type air conditioner A using a multi-blade fan as the blower.
The air conditioner A is provided with a main body casing 1. The main body casing 1 is provided with an air intake port 4 in an upper surface, and an air blowing port 5 in a front portion of a lower surface. A heat exchanger 2 and a multi-blade fan 3 are provided within the main body casing 1. The multi-blade fan 3 is arranged between the heat exchanger 2 and the air blowing port 5.
The heat exchanger 2 is constituted by a front side heat exchanging portion 2a arranged near a front face of the main body casing 1, and a back side heat exchanging portion 2b arranged near a back face of the main body casing 1. The back side heat exchanging portion 2b is continuously provided in an upper end of the front side heat exchanging portion 2a. An air passage 6 in which the air sucked from the air intake port 4 flows is provided near a front face of the main body casing 1.
Within the main body casing 1, there are provided a first drain pan 8, a second drain pan 9, a guide portion 10, a reverse flow preventing tongue portion 11, a vertical blade 12, and a horizontal blade 13. The vertical blade 12 and the horizontal blade 13 are provided near the air blowing port 5 within the main body casing 1. The first drain pan 8 is provided for receiving a drain generated on the front side heat exchanging portion 2a. The guide portion 10 is provided for guiding the air blown out of the impeller 7 of the multi-blade fan 3 to the air blowing port 5. The reverse flow preventing tongue portion 11 is provided for preventing a reverse flow of the air blown out of the impeller 7.
In the air conditioner A, the air sucked from the air intake port 4 is cooled or heated at a time of passing through the heat exchanger 2. Further, the air flows through in a direction which is orthogonal to a rotary shaft, on the impeller 7 of the multi-blade fan 3, and is thereafter blown out of the air blowing port 5.
The impeller 7 is provided with a plurality of circular support plates and a plurality of impeller blades 15. The impeller 7 has a forward swept structure. The circular support plates are arranged so as to be in parallel to each other at a predetermined interval along the rotary shaft of the impeller 7. Each of the impeller blades 15 is arranged at a predetermined blade angle with respect to the rotary shaft in an outer periphery of each of the circular support plates.
In the multi-blade fan 3 mentioned above, noise is generated at a time when the air passes through the impeller blade 15 of the impeller 7. Main causes of the noise generation are separation of air stream generated near a negative pressure surface of the impeller blade 15, and a trailing vortex generated near a trailing edge of the blade.
In order to reduce the noise, for example, there have been proposed a method of discontinuously forming notches in a blade edge on an outer side of each of the impeller blades 15 and a method of forming the blade edge of each of the impeller blades 15 as a saw tooth shape (for example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2). In accordance with these methods, it is possible to suppress the trailing vortex generated near the trailing edge of the blade at a time when the air blows out, and it is possible to reduce the noise.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-249400    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-141494


According to the invention there is drinking cup having a flat bottom and two large diametrically opposed handles. A removable lid with a drinking spout and an air vent is provided to prevent spillage. A separate weighted convex base is attached to the base of the cup to automatically right the cup under the force of gravity. The bottom of the cup and the top of the base are provided with a circular groove and a mating circular ridge. The ridge and the groove positively engaged to align the base horizontally in place on the bottom of the cup while permitting rotation of the base relative to the cup. Two diametrically opposed generally C-shaped clips are located on the edge of the base and extend upwards from the edge of the base and face in opposite directions in order to engaged the handles on the cup upon rotation of the base.

Known prior art self righting drinking cups are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,601,767, 4,303,170, 4,388,996 and U.S. Pat. No. 216,730. These prior art devices disclose a single piece cup having an integral weighted convex base member for righting the cup. The weighted base on these prior art devices is not removable.
U.S. Pat. No., 4,096,966 teaches a self righting drinking cup having a separate removable convex weighted base so that the cup may be used as a conventional cup. However, the base member is adapted to engage the cup to form a push or screw fit. The objective of the instant invention is to provide positive engagement between the base member and the cup providing a more secure attachment of the base to the cup than a push fit, and to provide a quicker and easier release and attachment than a screw fit.

Self righting drinking cup with twist on base


A track driven vehicle comprises a structural member underneath the vehicle. The structural member includes a plurality of structural member apertures for receiving fasteners inserted therethrough. The vehicle also includes a first track carrier and a first mounting strut attached to the first track carrier. The first mounting strut, which attaches the first track carrier to the structural member, includes a plurality of mounting strut apertures which, when aligned with the structural member apertures, receive the fasteners inserted therethrough. One of the first mounting strut and the structural member includes a fixedly attached dowel pin, and the other of the first mounting strut and the structural member includes a pin receiving aperture. When attaching the first track carrier to the structural member using the first mounting strut, the dowel pin extends into the pin receiving aperture to prevent cross-shearing between the structural member and the first mounting strut. This reduces camber between the structural member and the track carrier and allows fewer fasteners to be used to attach the first track carrier to the structural member.

Loaders and other track driven vehicles typically have a track loader undercarriage (a track carrier or track frame) which is physically coupled to a structural member such as the transmission tub of the vehicle. The track undercarriage is typically mounted to the transmission using a number of fasteners. If these fasteners are not torqued sufficiently, or if the joint slips, they allow for the track carriage to slip out, creating a camber problem with the track carriage. As the weight of the track driven vehicles increases, the number of bolts required to hold the track carriage often increases, driving up costs and assembly time.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Method of retaining structural transmission members


A drilling tool consisting of a drill shank having a drill point and of a transition section which adjoins the drill shank in the axial direction and which merges into a clamping shank, the transition section being heat-treated in such a way that it has higher bending elasticity compared with the clamping shank and/or the drill shank.

The present invention relates to a drilling tool. The drilling tool consists of a drill shank having a drill point and a transition section which adjoins the drill shank in the axial direction which merges into a clamping shank.
Such drilling tools have been disclosed, for example, by German Utility Model G 92 16 228. Disclosed in this document is a twist drill and tap which additionally has a countersinking section in front of the clamping shank.
A tool which is disclosed in EP 0 675 782 B1 and which is not of the generic type, is a torque-transmitting tool which is preferably designed as a screwdriver or screwdriver insert. In this case, the tool consists of a hardened steel body which is produced from a uniform material and whose shank region has subsequently been changed in its hardness or strength by the application of heat. However, the driven region and the driving region have not been changed in their hardness or strength. Such torque-transmitting tools are subjected to torsional stress. Annealing is intended to achieve the effect that the shank region twists elastically during torque application until a limit torque is reached, and can be plastically deformed by at least 30° if the limit torque is exceeded.
In a drilling tool of the generic type, it has been found that, when drilling with a portable drill for example, moment reactions occur when the direction of rotation is reversed. For example, after the countersinking these moment reactions cause the user to experience such a counter-reaction that the drilling tool may fracture.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved drilling tool in which the risk of fracture is considerably reduced.
According to the invention, this is achieved in that the transition section is heat-treated in such a way that it has higher bending and torsional elasticity compared with the clamping shank and/or the drill shank.
When the direction of rotation is reversed, the drilling tool can be jerked suddenly. The invention is based on the knowledge that the drilling tool is stressed in particular, in bending and torsion as a result. The known drilling tool fractures due to this torsional stress. To be precise, the fracture occurs in the vicinity of the tap section in a region which amounts to about 30% of the length of the transition section, starting from the end of the tap section.
The bending and torsional elasticity of the drilling tool is improved by the heat treatment according to the invention so that the drilling tool can largely absorb the bending stresses which occur.
The heat-treated drilling tool heat-treated according to the invention is preferably a combined twist drill and tap having a drill shank which consists of a front twist-drill section and a tap section which adjoins the latter, and merges into the transition section. The clamping shank adjoins the transition section in the axial direction with the countersinking section being arranged between the transition section and the clamping shank.
The heat treatment according to the invention achieves the effect that the transition section is substantially more elastic in bending and torsion than the drill shank and/or the clamping shank with the countersinking section located in front.
According to the invention, provision is made for the drilling tool to have a heat-affected region with a main heat zone. The main heat zone lies approximately in a region which amounts to ⅓ of the length of the transition section, starting from the end of the tap section so that the region subjected to the greatest loading is at least heat-treated. The heat-affected region extends on that side of the transition section which points towards the tap section somewhat into the tap section, and ends on the side pointing towards the clamping shank well in front of the countersinking section. The heat-affected region may end, for example, at about half the length of the transition section in front of the countersinking region. However, the heat-affected region may also end directly in front of the countersinking region. This ensures that the countersinking section has the same material properties as the clamping shank and the drill point.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A self-contained and encapsulated AC to Voltage supplying module containing a complete set of AC circuitry components therein and directly connecting the components to the AC voltage source, an inrush protection circuit, a DC-DC converter and power control circuits which enable the encapsulation of AC and DC components within a module being directly mountable and DC electrically connected to a printed circuit board assembly.

Chassis-mounted power supplies are known to include external power connectors and wiring harnesses to connect them to device components and printed circuit boards (PCBs). These chassis-mounted supplies are generally complete supplies, including inrush limiting circuitry, EMI filtering, etc., but have the unfortunate consequence of requiring a cable or wiring interface to the printed circuit board.
Similarly, PCB mountable power converters are used that include standard pins to connect to input power provided on a printed circuit board. These devices require high-voltage traces on the printed circuit board to conduct power from an independent AC connector. These supplies also provide almost no inrush current limiting functionality, and may or may not have sufficient EMI filtering. As is well understood, the EMI characteristics of the device in which the power supply is used may be negatively impacted by the use of AC traces or wiring, and the characteristics of the power supply employed. As a consequence the user must provide an external power connector and make the necessary high-voltage connections on the printed circuit board. Also, the user is typically required to provide some form of inrush current limiting circuitry to protect internal fusing and minimize stresses on the circuitry in such supplies. The additional circuitry and components required to use such supplies may also impact safety agency approval and certification.
As a solution to the inherent problems with existing power supplies, the present invention incorporates improved packaging and design, along with specific circuits that are essential to optimize the benefits of an integrated and encapsulated power converter, whereby all components are contained within a common enclosure. Consequently, it has been determined that once the power supplying components are contained within a common enclosure it is highly desirable to encapsulate the entire power supply to provide environmental protection and immunity to dirt, moisture and vibration. The encapsulant also preferably provides a thermally conductive pathway to dissipate the generated heat of the power switching transistors, rectifier and the transformer. Furthermore encapsulation with a material having a high dielectric constant allows the components to be placed in closer proximity, while maintaining requirements relating to safety and certification.
Therefore, it is apparent that an integrated, encapsulated power converter (EPC) that is mounted on-board, provides a solution to a long standing problem, as mentioned above. In a preferred embodiment, the power converter also has a direct connection to the AC line voltage, thereby eliminating the need for AC wiring within the device. However, in order to take full advantage of this solution, specific circuitry limitations must be addressed. For example, encapsulation limits the ability to replace or reset a fuse or similar safety component within the power module. Accordingly, the circuit design of the present invention is specifically designed to limit excessive current and avoid premature component failure.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a highly reliable fully integrated power module that controls the in-rush current and associated voltage stress on the bridge rectifier, line fuses and semiconductor switches.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic power converter, comprising: an encapsulated portion including at least high-voltage electronic circuitry; and an integrated connector for receiving a detachable line cord having at least two wires therein, wherein said power converter is suitable for mounting on a printed circuit board.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic encapsulated power converter, comprising: a case; an integrated, multi-pin detachable line cord connector accessible through said case; and threaded mounts extending from said case, wherein the threaded mounts are earth grounded internal to the supply and through a line cord, and allow the converter to be rigidly mounted to a circuit board.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an encapsulated power converter having an inrush current limiting circuit, said inrush current limiting circuit, including: a rectifier with a DC return path; a MOSFET switch connected to the DC return path of the bridge rectifier; a capacitor which is slowly charged via a current limited source; where the charge stored on the capacitor is a source of energy to gate the MOSFET; a voltage level detection circuit to maintain the MOSFET switch in an off state until a line voltage reaches a near zero threshold; a resistive charging path to turn the MOSFET switch to an on state once the line voltage reaches the near zero threshold; and a resistive connection to a housekeeping supply of the power converter which maintains the MOSFET switch in the on state.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device, comprising; at least one circuit board located within the device; a cover enclosing the electronic device; and an electronic power converter including fully encapsulated electronic circuitry; and an integrated connector, accessed through an aperture in said cover, for receiving a detachable line cord having at least two wires therein, wherein said power converted is mounted on said circuit board.
The techniques described above are advantageous because they improve the long term reliability and operational characteristics and simplify the overall design of AC powered electronic equipment. As a result of the invention, it is possible to incorporate integrated power supply componentry into a device without the need to handle AC wiring or switching. Moreover, the life cycle of a discrete, encapsulated power supply with integrated AC components has been improved by adding circuitry to safeguard the high failure power components from excessive electrical stress and at the same time protect the user from exposure to potentially lethal AC line voltage.
The present invention will be described in connection with a preferred embodiment, however, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention to the embodiment described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Encapsulated electronic power converter with embedded AC components


A method for forming a full color image including: forming at least yellow, magenta and cyan color toner images on a receiving material to form a full color image thereon; and fixing the full color image upon application of heat thereto while not contacting the full color image, wherein each of the yellow, magenta and cyan color toner images includes a binder resin and a pigment, wherein the yellow color toner includes a benzimidazolone pigment, the magenta color toner includes at least one of Naphthol Carmine F6B and a combination of Naphthol Carmine F6B and Naphthol Carmine FBB, and the cyan color toner includes β copper phthalocyanine, and wherein the yellow color toner image has a position closer to the receiving material than any other color toner image when two or more of the color toner images including the yellow color toner image are overlaid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to color toners and an image forming method using the color toners. More particularly, the present invention relates to yellow, magenta, and cyan toners which are used for forming color images using electrophotography, and to an image forming method using the color toners and a non-contact heat fixing method.
2. Discussion of the Background
Image forming methods using electrophotography are well known. Various color toners for the image forming methods have been proposed. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-171268 discloses color toners including a cyan toner including β phthalocyanine, a magenta toner including Rhodamine 6G xanthenesilicomolybdate, a yellow toner including a benzidine type pigment, and a black toner including carbon black. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-171269 discloses color toners including a cyan toner including β phthalocyanine, a magenta toner including monoazo Lithol Rubine, a yellow toner including a benzidine type pigment, and a black toner including carbon black. These color toners can produce red images having good tint, i.e., having good color reproducibility, however, the color tone of a bluish violet color image produced by them is not satisfactory.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications Nos. 2-66562 and 3-107869 have disclosed quinacridone type pigments as a colorant for a magenta toner. The tint of bluish violet color images is good, however the toners have a drawback in that the color tone of a red image is not satisfactory.
In addition, a benzidine type yellow pigment, Pigment Yellow 17, is typically used for yellow toners because of having good tint and transparency, however, the light resistance (in particular the resistance to sunlight) of the pigment is not good. Therefore green color images which are a combination of the yellow pigment with a cyan toner are easily changed to bluish green when the green color images are exposed to light.
Thus, it is difficult to form color toner images having good color reproducibility (i.e., to form color toner images whose colors are well balanced). In particular, it is difficult to reproduce color images having a good combination of red color reproducibility and blue color reproducibility. These problems concerning color reproducibility are prominent in the color images which are fixed with a non-contact type heat fixing method using an oven and the like rather than a heat roller fixing method. In addition, the color toner images generally have poor light resistance as mentioned above.
Because of these reasons, a need exists for color toners which can produce color images having good color reproducibility. In particular, a need exists for color toners which can produce color images having a good combination of red color reproducibility and blue color reproducibility, and good light resistance even when used for non-contact heat fixing methods.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Color toners and image forming method using the color toners


A radially sealing valve for preventing free flow from an IV set has an elastomeric cup portion that covers an outlet opening and is normally closed by its resiliency. The valve can be incorporated into a cassette for an IV pump that automatically opens the valve when the cassette is loaded. Axial force on the bottom of the cupped valve provides radial contraction or expansion of the sidewall of the valve to open a fluid path.

Cassette pumps provide a convenient and relatively low cost device for infusing drugs into the body of a patient. These pumps employ intravenous or IV sets that have pump cassettes made of injection molded plastic, which are discarded after use with a patient. A pump designed to operate with a particular configuration of cassette includes a drive mechanism that actuates the cassette to deliver fluids to a patient. Such pumps are typically controlled by a microprocessor that can be programmed to deliver a predefined volume of medicinal fluid, at a predefined rate, and over a predefined time. Cassette pumps are typically more accurate than peristaltic pumps and are able to deliver drugs at a relatively wide range of rates and volumes.
In a cassette pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,584, which is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, the cassette comprises a housing having a front portion that includes openings for valve actuators and a pump plunger, and a rear portion in which passages, valve seats, and a pumping chamber are formed. An elastomeric membrane is sealed between the front and rear portions of the cassette body. The elastomeric membrane seals the passages formed in the rear portion and is displaced by the valve actuators to close valves formed in the housing and by a pump plunger to force fluid through the cassette. Said valves are normally open when outside the pump and are closed by actuators in the pump. The fluid enters the cassette housing through either a primary or a secondary inlet port and is forced through an outlet port under pressure. During an intake stroke, the outlet valve closes, the inlet valve opens, and the pump plunger draws back. The fluid is then drawn through the open inlet valve and into the pumping chamber as the elastomeric membrane covering the pumping chamber pulls back from its prior fully displaced configuration. In a pumping stroke, the inlet valve closes, the outlet valve opens, and the pump plunger forces the elastomeric membrane back into the pumping chamber to force the fluid contained therein through the outlet port.
One problem with the IV set, cassette and pump described in the '584 patent is that free flow of fluid may occur at any time the cassette is not secured in the pump with the outlet valve closed. Free flow is undesirable when the infusion set containing the cassette is fluidly connected to an IV bag containing a drug and the patient because an overdose of the drug can result. If free flow occurs before the cassette is inserted into the pump or connected to the patient, then some of the contents of the IV bag are spilled or lost. This can result in under-delivery of the drug if all of the bag's contents were supposed to be delivered. However, selective free flow of fluid through the cassette would be desirable for manually priming the infusion set with fluid to remove any air before the cassette of the set is inserted into the pump or connected to the patient.
Additionally, in order to avoid causing air embolisms in the patient's blood vessels, conventional procedures require a user of the pump described in the '584 patent to install the cassette in the pump and then perform a special automatic priming procedure using the pumping mechanism to purge the line of air before the set is connected to the patient. It would be advantageous if the user had the flexibility to choose between manual priming, automatic priming or some combination of both to meet their needs, save time or better utilize the pump. A valve or cassette that provides both anti-free flow and priming functions with or without being installed in a pump is needed.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an infusion set with a selectively openable valve that is normally closed and does not have to be closed by a pump mechanism. There is a need for a valve that is always in a closed position until connecting to the pump at which time the valve is automatically opened. Additionally there is a need for an economical cassette with a simplified design compared to the state of the art. Also, improved integrity of a valve that prevents flow through a cassette is desired. Further, elimination of precise control in aligning pieces of the cassette during manufacturing is desired to minimize manufacturing costs.
Thus, a principal object of the present invention is to prevent free-flow when a cassette or IV set is not installed in a pump.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cassette for an intravenous pump, wherein the cassette has a normally closed valve that is automatically opened when the cassette is securely installed in the pump.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve or cassette that provides both anti-free flow and priming functions with or without being installed in a pump.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve or cassette that gives the user the flexibility to choose between manual priming, automatic priming or some combination of both to meet their needs, save time, or better utilize a pump.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve that acts as a pressure actuated check valve.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve that acts as a pressure relief valve.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve that acts as a pressure actuated check valve in one direction of fluid flow and a pressure relief valve in an opposite direction of fluid flow.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a simplified design for a cassette to minimize costs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a simplified design for a valve to minimize costs.
These and other objects, features, or advantages will become apparent from the specification and claims.

Radially sealing vavle for an infusion set


A power conversion circuit has a multilayer transformer and a plurality of rectifying transistors coupled to the secondary windings of the multilayer transformer. The multilayer transformer is formed as multiple layers within a PCB stack, where primary winding conductors and secondary winding conductors are vertically aligned and stacked. The secondary winding conductors are constructed to have one or more secondary winding arms that provide area to which the plurality of rectifying transistors are physically connected. The primary winding conductors are constructed to have a primary winding arm. A footprint of each primary winding conductor is configured to substantially overlap an entire footprint of each of the secondary winding conductors. As such, an entirety of the secondary current flowing through the secondary winding conductors is vertically aligned with the primary winding conductors, and therefore with the primary current flowing through the secondary winding conductors.

The evolution of mainly datacenters has led to an exponential increase in the power density of power converters. This have been enabled by a rapid evolution of mainly MOSFET performance, which has enabled extreme output power in very small form factors. To match this development and to enable increasing the power density, further optimization must be made to the transformer in transformer-based designs used in power converters.
A transformer structure can be integrated as part of a multilayer printed circuit board by having each "coil" in the transformer represented as a coil shaped conductor patterned on a different layer of the PCB, each coil shaped conductor corresponds to a winding, or turn, of either the primary winding or the secondary winding of the transformer. The coil shaped conductors corresponding to windings of the primary winding are interconnected by a first set of vias and the coil shaped conductors corresponding to the secondary winding are interconnected by a second set of vias. The coil shaped conductors are positioned on each layer of the PCB stack so as to be vertically aligned with each other in the stack. The resulting structure is referred to as a multilayer transformer.
In some applications, a circuit board is configured as a power converter and select secondary windings are connected to different voltage rails in the power converter circuit via rectifying transistors, such as MOSFETs. The rectifying transistors are necessary for providing DC power to an attached load. In many applications, a multitude of rectifying transistors are needed to handle the required amount of current. The larger the current, the greater the number of rectifying transistors is needed. The number of rectifying transistors are also dependent on multiple other factors including the output voltage, the MOSFET design and package, and a target application load profile.
When operating at high frequencies, for example greater than or equal to 200 KHz, there are significant skin effects and eddy current effects associated with the conductor windings in the multilayer transformer. Skin effect in this case is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to become distributed within a conductor such that the current density is largest near the outer perimeter edge of the conductor that forms the winding at any layer within the multilayer transformer, and decreases moving inward from the conductor outer perimeter edge. These effects result in current flow concentrating within certain sections of the winding conductor, while less current flows through other sections of the winding conductor.
Typically, these effects are minimized by configuring the power converter circuit to have the primary current flowing in one direction and the secondary current flowing in an opposite direction, which is seen in a typical transformer configuration. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary conventional power converter circuit. The schematic shows four groups of rectifying transistors on the output side of the power converter circuit, each group including four individual transistors. Specifically, the power converter circuit includes rectifying transistors T400, T414, T420, T424, T401, T417, T421, T427 coupled to secondary winding terminal TRMSA of a transformer M300, and rectifying transistors T402, T415, T422, T425, T403, T416, T423, T426 coupled to secondary winding terminal TRMSB of the transformer M300. Rectifying transistors T400, T414, T420, T424 are grouped together as a first group and are configured in parallel between the secondary winding terminal TRMSA and a high voltage rail +OUTB. Rectifying transistors T402, T415, T422, T425 are grouped together as a second group and are configured in parallel between the secondary winding terminal TRMSB and the high voltage rail +OUTB. Rectifying transistors T401, T417, T421, T427 are grouped together as a third group and are configured in parallel between the secondary winding terminal TRMSA and a ground rail. Rectifying transistors T403, T416, T423, T426 are grouped together as a fourth group and are configured in parallel between the secondary winding terminal TRMSB and the ground rail.
The output side of the power converter also includes capacitors C489, C473, C490, C472, C474, C491, C475, C463-470, C476-478, resistors R470, R471, inductor M400, and rectifying transistor drivers N419, N409. The rectifying transistor drivers N419, N409 buffer and increase the drive capability of driving signals provided from a controller (not shown) for the rectifying transistors. The output voltage is provided at terminal +OUT.
An input DC power is supplied at terminals +IN and −IN at an input side of the power converter circuit. The input side includes capacitors C1-C9, C12, C13, C48, C49, inductor Ml, transistors T1-T4, and transistor drivers N420, N421. The transistors T1-T4 can be MOSFETs or other conventional switching devices. The transistor drivers N420, N421 buffer and increase the drive capability of driving signals provided from a controller (not shown) for the transistors T1-T4.
In operation, the power converter circuit receives an input DC voltage. The transistors T1-T4 are pulse width modulated so that a quasi-square voltage waveform is input to the primary winding of the transformer M300. The quasi-square voltage waveform alternates between a positive voltage pulse and a negative voltage pulse and is considered an AC voltage. Different modulation schemes can be applied. In one scheme, the transistors T1 and T4 are turned ON while the transistors T2 and T3 are turned OFF to drive current in one direction, for example negative primary current and positive secondary current, and the transistors T2 and T3 are turned ON while the transistors T1 and T4 are turned OFF when driving current in another direction, for example positive primary current and negative secondary current, which is collectively considered as AC current. When the transistors T1 and T4 are turned ON, and the transistors T2 and T3 are turned OFF, a primary current flows from the positive rail +PWR, through the transistor T1, through the primary winding of transformer M300, through the transistor T4, to the negative rail −IN, as shown in primary current path 1. During the same time period, the rectifying transistors T400, T414, T420, T424, T403, T416, T423, T426 are turned ON, and the rectifying transistors T402, T415, T422, T425, T401, T417, T421, T427 are turned OFF, which results in a secondary current flow induced at the secondary winding of the transformer M300 to flow through the rectifying transistors T400, T414, T420, T424, through the inductor M400, through the capacitors C463, C464, C465, C466, C467, C468, C469, C470, C476, C477, C478 and any connected load, through the rectifying transistors T403, T416, T423, T426, and back to the secondary winding, as shown in the secondary current path 2.
When the transistors T1 and T4 are turned OFF, and the transistors T2 and T3 are turned ON, a primary current flows from the positive rail +PWR, through the transistor T3, through the primary winding of transformer M300, through the transistor T2, to the negative rail −IN, as shown in primary current path 3. During this same time period, the rectifying transistors T400, T414, T420, T424, T403, T416, T423, T426 are turned OFF, and the rectifying transistors T402, T415, T422, T425, T401, T417, T421, T427 are turned ON, which results in a secondary current flow induced at the secondary winding of the transformer M300 to flow through the rectifying transistors T401, T417, T421, T427, through the capacitors C463, C464, C465, C466, C467, C468, C469, C470, C476, C477, C478 and any connected load, through the inductor M400, through the rectifying transistors T402, T415, T422, T425, and back to the secondary winding, as shown in the secondary current path 4.
The physical structure of the power converter circuit is implemented as a multilayer PCB. The capacitors, resistors, controller chips are mounted to a top and/or bottom side of the PCB, and the multilayer transformer is implemented as interleaved primary and secondary winding conductor layers in the PCB stack. The PCB includes patterned conductive interconnects and interconnect vias for appropriately interconnecting the various components and layers. Losses in multilayer transformers can be further reduced by minimizing the interconnect conductor length between the secondary winding conductors and the rectifying transistors. This has been addressed by moving the connection between each rectifying transistor and the secondary winding conductor to the winding conductor itself. In particular, the physical positioning of each rectifying transistor is such that the rectifying transistor is aligned over an outer perimeter edge of the secondary winding conductors in the PCB stack. FIG. 2 illustrates a top down view of one of the layers in the conventional PCB that includes a primary winding conductor. FIG. 3 illustrates a top down view of one of the layers in the conventional PCB that include a secondary winding conductor. The actual number of layers in the PCB that include a secondary winding conductor and the number of layers that include a primary winding conductor are dependent on the turns ratio of the multilayer transformer. As shown in FIG. 2, the primary winding conductor 2 is circularly shaped. The primary winding conductor 2 is discontinuous at a break 4, which substantially forms two ends of the primary winding conductor 2. Each end is connected to another end of another primary winding conductor on another layer of the PCB. The ends of two primary winding conductors on different layers are interconnected by interconnect vias. For example, one end of the primary winding conductor 2 can be connected to next higher primary winding conductor in the PCB stack by interconnect vias 6, and another end of the primary winding conductor 2 can be connected to next lower primary winding conductor in the PCB stack by interconnect vias 8.
As shown in FIG. 3, the secondary winding conductor 12 includes secondary winding conductor arms 14 and 16 that extend from a circularly shaped base. Similar to the primary winding conductor, the secondary winding conductor 12 is discontinuous at a break, which substantially forms two ends of the secondary winding conductor that are connected by interconnect vias to other secondary winding conductors on other layers of the PCB stack. The circularly shaped base of the secondary winding conductor 12 substantially matches the circular shape of the primary winding conductor 2. In the PCB stack, the primary winding conductor 2 shown in FIG. 2 is aligned and stacked with the secondary winding conductor 12 of FIG. 3. The dashed arc 18 shown in FIG. 3 represents the relative position of the outer perimeter edge of the primary winding conductor 2 of FIG. 2. The secondary winding conductor arms 14, 16 expand a physical area to which multiple rectifying transistors can be connected to the secondary winding conductor. The relative physical positions of select rectifying transistor are shown as superimposed boxes in FIG. 3. The rectifying transistors T422, T425, T414, T420, T416, T423, T427, T421 superimposed on FIG. 3 are mounted to one side of the PCB, for example a top side, and the remainder of the rectifying transistors T400, T424, T402, T415, T401, T417, T403, T426 (FIG. 1) are mounted to the other side of the PCB, for example a bottom side. Each rectifying transistor T422, T425, T414, T420, T416, T423, T427, T421 superimposed in FIG. 3 is vertically aligned with a corresponding one of the other rectifying transistors T400, T424, T402, T415, T401, T417, T403, T426. The rectifying transistors T422, T425, T414, T20 are connected to the inductor M400, and the rectifying transistors T416, T423, T427, T421 are connected to ground. Similarly, the rectifying transistors T400, T414, T402, T415 (FIG. 1) are connected to the inductor M400, and the rectifying transistors T401, T417, T403, T426 (FIG. 1) are connected to ground.
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the rectifying transistors is physically positioned relative to the secondary winding conductor such that a first portion of the rectifying transistor (such as portion A of rectifying transistors T416 and T423) overlaps an outer perimeter edge of the secondary winding conductor, and a second portion (such as portion B) overlaps an adjacent conductor element, such as a ground node. The position of each of the rectifying transistors connected to the secondary winding conductor is outside the footprint of the primary winding conductor, which is shown in FIG. 3 as the rectifying transistors T422, T425, T414, T420, T416, T423, T427, T421 being positioned to the right of the outer perimeter edge, such as the dashed arc 18, of the primary winding conductor 2. In such a configuration, the rectifying transistors are considered to be positioned outside of the primary current path within the primary winding conductor. In other words, the rectifying transistors are not aligned over the primary current path, which is the AC current loop.
The primary current is flowing either clockwise, such as shown in FIG. 2, or counter-clockwise around the primary winding conductor depending on the state of the primary side transistors T1-T4. A width of the primary winding conductor is a measure of the distance between the inner perimeter edge and the outer perimeter edge. The primary current flow is distributed across the width of the primary winding conductor, but is concentrated according to magnetic field lines formed by the flow path of the secondary current through the secondary winding conductor. To minimize proximity effects and eddy current loses, it is desired to have the secondary current pathways vertically aligned with the primary current pathways. However, since the rectifying transistors are physically positioned at the edge of the secondary winding conductor arms, as shown in FIG. 3, the actual secondary current paths, such as secondary current paths 20, extend into the secondary winding conductor arms so as to conduct through the rectifying transistors, for example through rectifying transistors T421, T423, T427. The distance between this extended secondary current path and the primary current path results in significant losses. In the exemplary configuration shown in FIG. 3, the portion of the secondary winding conductor outside (to the right of) the primary winding conductor accounts for about 50% of the total secondary current path. Additionally, the magnetic field lines generated by the secondary current flow in the secondary winding conductor arms results in concentrated primary current flow, proximity effect, at the outer perimeter of the primary winding conductor.

Multilayer transformer structure comprising multiple rectification elements


A system and method for reliable peer-to-peer communication is provided. The system and method includes a cluster connection manager that acts as a unified resource for opening, closing and maintaining peer-to-peer communication channels between applications executing on storage systems comprising a storage system cluster. The cluster connection manager communicates with cluster connection manager clients to maintain and manage the communication channels. The cluster connection manager may also be operatively interconnected with a plurality of cluster interconnect devices, thereby enabling failover operation in the event that a cluster interconnect device suffers an error condition.

A storage system is a computer that provides storage service relating to the organization of information on writeable persistent storage devices, such as memories, tapes or disks. The storage system is commonly deployed within a storage area network (SAN) or a network attached storage (NAS) environment. When used within a NAS environment, the storage system may be embodied as a file server including an operating system that implements a file system to logically organize the information as a hierarchical structure of directories and files on, e.g. the disks. Each "on-disk" file may be implemented as a set of data structures, e.g., disk blocks, configured to store information, such as the actual data for the file. A directory, on the other hand, may be implemented as a specially formatted file in which information about other files and directories are stored.
The file server, or filer, may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many client systems (clients) to access shared resources, such as files, stored on the filer. Sharing of files is a hallmark of a NAS system, which is enabled because of semantic level of access to files and file systems. Storage of information on a NAS system is typically deployed over a computer network comprising a geographically distributed collection of interconnected communication links, such as Ethernet, that allow clients to remotely access the information (files) on the file server. The clients typically communicate with the filer by exchanging discrete frames or packets of data according to pre-defined protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
In the client/server model, the client may comprise an application executing on a computer that "connects" to the filer over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network, wide area network or virtual private network implemented over a public network, such as the Internet. NAS systems generally utilize file-based access protocols; therefore, each client may request the services of the filer by issuing file system protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the file system over the network. By supporting a plurality of file system protocols, such as the conventional Common Internet File System (CIFS), the Network File System (NFS) and the Direct Access File System (DAFS) protocols, the utility of the filer may be enhanced for networking clients.
A SAN is a high-speed network that enables establishment of direct connections between a storage system and its storage devices. The SAN may thus be viewed as an extension to a storage bus and, as such, an operating system of the storage system enables access to stored information using block-based access protocols over the "extended bus". In this context, the extended bus is typically embodied as Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet media adapted to operate with block access protocols, such as Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) protocol encapsulation over FC (FCP) or TCP/IP/Ethernet (iSCSI). A SAN arrangement or deployment allows decoupling of storage from the storage system, such as an application server, and some level of storage sharing at the application server level. There are, however, environments wherein a SAN is dedicated to a single server.
It is advantageous for the services and data provided by a storage system to be available for access to the greatest degree possible. Accordingly, some computer systems provide a plurality of storage systems organized in a cluster, with a property that when a first storage system fails, a second storage system is available to take over and provide the services and the data otherwise served by the first storage system. In particular, when the first storage system fails, the second storage system in the cluster assumes the tasks of processing and handling any data access requests normally processed by the first storage system. One such example of a cluster configuration is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/625,234 entitled NEGOTIATING TAKEOVER IN HIGH AVAILABILITY CLUSTER by Samuel M. Cramer, et al., the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In a typical cluster environment, there may be several processes executing on each storage system ("cluster partner") that desire to communicate with corresponding "peer" processes executing on the other storage system partner in the cluster. One exemplary process is a cluster failover (CFO) monitoring process that determines if a cluster partner has failed and whether a takeover operation of the storage (e.g., disks) served by the failed storage system should be initiated. To that end, the CFO monitoring process sends routine "heartbeat" signals to its corresponding CFO monitoring process to alert the cluster partner that its other partner is operating without any serious errors that would necessitate a failover.
Typically, each of these peer processes utilizes its own protocol implementation for opening, closing, and managing network data connections to its corresponding peer process. However, this results in inefficient duplication of protocol or communication management routines. In addition, such duplication may increase the difficulty of coordinating information between peer processes on cluster partners in the event of loss of a communication medium (e.g., a cluster interconnect) coupling the partners. Specifically, in the event of a failure of the cluster interconnect, the various processes lose their capability to provide peer-to-peer communication with their respective cluster partner peer processes. This lack of communication adversely affects the cluster by preventing the cluster partners from coordinating state and other configuration information between them. For example, data loss may occur as synchronization with respect to a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) shadowing process executing on the partner is disrupted.
As noted each peer process typically creates and manages its own peer connection with its corresponding peer process on a cluster partner. The handshaking and capabilities exchange among processes needed to create and manage the peer connection are performed in accordance with a conventional protocol implementation, such as the Virtual Interface (VI) protocol. The VI protocol is typically implemented by a VI layer of a storage operating system executing on each storage system of the cluster. However, a peer process may not begin communicating with its corresponding peer process on the cluster partner until the VI layer has been loaded during a boot sequence of the storage system, which may consume a substantial amount of time. By requiring a peer process, such as the CFO monitoring process, to wait until the VI layer of the storage operating system has been loaded and executed, significant amounts of time may pass and unnecessary failover operations may occur, especially when a storage system suffers a minor transient error condition. Cluster performance requires peer processes to be in communication with their corresponding peer process on the cluster partner as soon as possible during the boot sequence.
Another disadvantage of a conventional cluster environment is the inability to balance communication "loads" among peer processes executing on the cluster partner. In the conventional cluster environment, all peer-to-peer communications typically occur over a single cluster interconnect. Certain peer processes may consume inordinate amounts of bandwidth available over a given cluster interconnection, thereby reducing the bandwidth available for other peer processes. For example, the NVRAM shadowing process may, during periods of heavy loads, consume a substantial amount of the cluster interconnect bandwidth. The present invention is directed, in part, to providing a technique for balancing loads transferred between processes of a cluster environment.

System and method for reliable peer communication in a clustered storage system


This disclosure describes lubricating additives and lubricants including such additives suitable for and/or configured for mixed fleet use and, for instance, additives and lubricants that satisfy performance standards for typical spark ignition passenger car lubricants as well as performance standards for lubricants suitable for typical compression ignition heavy duty engine applications.

Automotive manufacturers continue to the push for improved efficiency and fuel economy, and as such, demands on engines, lubricants, and their components continue to increase. Today's spark-ignition passenger car engines are often smaller, lighter and more efficient with technologies designed to improve fuel economy, performance, and power. Engines for compression ignition heavy duty applications, on the other hand, are often designed for heavier loads, operation at or near peak power output, extreme conditions and/or more cyclic-type operations, but such engines still need to meet strict standards for improved efficiency and fuel economy. These requirements also mean engine oil performance must evolve to meet the higher demands of such modern engines and their corresponding performance criteria tied to their unique use and applications. With such exacting demands for engine oils, lubricant manufacturers often tailor lubricants and their additives to meet certain performance requirements for each unique application, such as fluids configured for compression ignition heavy duty engines or fluids configured for passenger car applications. Typically, each application requires specific performance standards such that a lubricant designed for one application would not satisfy all the performance specifications for a different application.
For example, American Petroleum Institute (API) sets standards for passenger car motor oils designed to meet the needs and performance characteristics of various passenger car automobile manufacturers. Recent updates to API standards include performance testing relating to an undesired phenomenon typically characterized as low-speed pre-ignition (or LSPI), which is believed to be a form of combustion that results with ignition of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber prior to the desired ignition. Often, turbocharged or supercharged engines, may be prone to LSPI, which is a pre-ignition event that may include high pressure spikes, early combustion, and/or knock. A premature ignition in the combustion chamber, generated prior to the spark plug firing, may cause an abnormal combustion and high cylinder pressure. The LSPI event may result in a knocking sound or other abnormal characteristics from the uncontrolled pressure rise in the cylinder. LSPI events are undesired and recent API specifications set LSPI performance standards for passenger car motor oils.
Lubricants designed for compression ignition heavy duty engine applications such as heavy duty diesel engines, on the other hand, tend to be more focused on suitability for truck engines, fleet operators, mining houses, and construction equipment engines to suggest but a few applications. Fluids for such applications, thus, often focus on different performance characteristics than typical passenger cars. Lubricants for heavy duty use, for instance, are often used in diesel engines and configured to maintain friction and viscosity performance with soot and/or sludge control that may be inherent to more heavy duty applications.
However, due to the unique performance requirements for spark ignition passenger car motor oils as compared to compression ignition heavy duty application, fluids designed for one application do not necessarily meet the performance standards for the other. For instance, lubricants designed for spark ignition passenger car standards would not necessary meet the friction requirements for compression ignition heavy duty applications and fluids for compression ignition heavy duty applications would not necessarily meet the LSPI performance standards for spark ignition passenger car applications.

Mixed fleet capable lubricating compositions


This document relates to separation of audio signals into speaker-specific signals. One example obtains features reflecting mixed speech signals captured by multiple microphones. The features can be input a neural network and masks can be obtained from the neural network. The masks can be applied one or more of the mixed speech signals captured by one or more of the microphones to obtain two or more separate speaker-specific speech signals, which can then be output.

When listening to a conversation, human listeners can typically discern the speaker of a given utterance. However, automated techniques for determining which utterances are attributed to specific speakers may have some drawbacks. In addition, there are numerous applications that could benefit from an automated speech separation system that can separate an audio signal with multiple speakers into separate audio signals for individual speakers. In particular, applications could benefit from an automated speech separation system that was robust in more difficult scenarios, e.g., when the number of speakers changes as people enter or leave a conversation, and/or when speech of two different speakers overlaps.