An optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function, includes optical amplifiers for amplifying input signal light directly, and a dummy light output unit for inputting dummy light different from the signal light into the optical amplifiers. The optical amplifiers each include a rare each element doped optical fiber for amplifying input signal light to output the amplified signal light, a pumping light source for outputting pumping light, a first optical wavelength multiplexer for inputting the pumping light to the rare earth element doped optical fiber, an optical branching device for branching part of the amplified signal light to output the branched signal light, and a pumping light control unit for controlling the output of the pumping light based on the output level of the branched light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission system and, more particularly, to an optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function.
2. Description of the Related Art
For medium and long-range optical transmission, an optical amplifier for optically amplifying signal light directly is arranged on a transmission line. As the optical amplifier is widely used an optical fiber amplifier for optically amplifying signal light with an amplifying optical fiber containing a rare earth element.
The amplifying optical fiber containing a rare earth element is connected to a transmission line to receive signal light input thereinto. Pumping light output from a pumping light source is input into the amplifying optical fiber through an optical wavelength division multiplexer (WDM).
Part of the signal light amplified by the amplifying optical fiber is branched by an optical branching device. The branched light is received by a detector to detect the output level of the light. The output of the pumping light is feed-back controlled by the control of an injection current into the pumping light source by a pumping light control circuit in accordance with the detected output level of the light.
The optical amplifier is used in an optical transmission system having operable transmission lines and auxiliary transmission lines, for example, an optical add drop multiplexer ring system (OADM ring system) to which a wavelength multiplex optical transmission is applied, and an optical cross connect transmission system. The optical ADM ring system has auxiliary transmission lines in addition to operable transmission lines in order to ensure the reliability of the optical transmission system. When a failure occurs in part of the system or a transmission line, an optical switch arranged at a node is used to switch between a operable transmission line and an auxiliary transmission line.
In the optical ADM ring transmission system and the optical cross connect transmission system, at the time of switching between the operable transmission line and the auxiliary transmission line at each node, signal light is suddenly input into the optical amplifier arranged on the switched transmission line from an optical input break state.
This sudden input of the signal light may occur also when the transmission path is switched in the optical cross connect transmission system.
When the signal light is suddenly input, the feed-back control of the optical amplifier for the adjustment of the output level of light from the pumping light source cannot follow the sudden rise with the result that the optical amplifier generates an optical surge as an output. The optical surge causes a failure in an optical receiving unit of a node for receiving because the optical surge is further increased by multi-stage linear relay. A definite countermeasure against this optical surge is not taken at the moment.
It is an object of the present invention to prevent an optical surge in an optical direct amplifier arranged on a switched transmission line at the time of switching between operable/auxiliary transmission lines at each node or switching the transmission path in an optical ADM ring transmission system or optical cross connect transmission system.
The optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function of the present invention comprises a dummy light source for inputting dummy light different from signal light into an optical amplifier in addition to optical amplifiers for optically amplifying input signal light directly. The optical amplifier in the above optical transmission system comprises a rare earth element doped optical fiber for amplifying input signal light to output the amplified signal light, a pumping light source for outputting pumping light, a first optical wavelength multiplexer for inputting the pumping light into the rare earth element doped optical fiber, an optical branching device for branching part of the amplified signal light to output the branched signal light, and a pumping light control unit for controlling the output of pumping light based on the output level of the branched light.
The dummy light source comprises a dummy light output source for outputting dummy light and a second optical wavelength multiplexer for inputting the dummy light into the rare earth element doped optical fiber.
Further, in the optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function of the present invention, the dummy light contains a self-oscillating clock. The dummy light output source comprises a signal light identifying unit for identifying whether the input light is dummy light or not and a clock control circuit for including a self-oscillating clock in the dummy light output from the dummy light source when the input light is dummy light and not including the self-oscillating clock in the dummy light output from the dummy light source when the input light is not dummy light.
The optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function of the present invention comprises optical transmission lines including operable transmission lines and auxiliary transmission lines, ADM nodes, a regenerative repeating node and optical amplifiers, arranged on the operable transmission lines and the auxiliary transmission lines, for optically amplifying signal light. Each of the ADM nodes comprises an optical depultiplexing/inserting unit for separating specific signal light from signal light transmitted through the operable transmission lines or the auxiliary transmission lines and inserting the specific signal light and a transmission line switching unit for switching between the operable transmission lines and the auxiliary transmission lines. The regenerative repeating node comprises optical receiving units for receiving signal light transmitted through the operable transmission lines or the auxiliary transmission lines and optical transmitting units for transmitting signal light by regenerative repeating. In the optical transmission system of the present invention, the regenerative repeating unit further comprises a dummy light output unit for transmitting dummy light to the optical transmitting units.
The above regenerative repeating unit of the optical transmission system of the present invention transmits a transmission line clock to an optical transmitting unit connected to a transmission line in operation out of the operable transmission lines and the auxiliary transmission lines. On the other hand, the regenerative repeating unit further comprises the self-oscillating clock sources for synchronizing an optical transmitting unit connected to a transmission line out of operation with a self-oscillating clock to transmit light.
The regenerative repeating node comprises an input break identifying unit and a clock control unit. The input break identifying unit identifies an input break of signal light input from the operable transmission lines and the auxiliary transmission lines. The clock control unit controls the switching of a clock so that input light is synchronized with a transmission line clock extracted from main signal light when it identifies that the input light is main signal light and with a self-oscillating clock source when it identifies that the input light is dummy light.
The optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function of the present invention is an optical transmission system having the above optical surge suppression function and comprises optical transmission lines including two or more operable transmission lines and auxiliary transmission lines and a center node for transmitting a plurality of signal light having different wavelengths to the respective operable transmission lines or auxiliary transmission lines and receiving signal light from the respective operable transmission lines or auxiliary transmission lines.
The optical demultiplexing/inserting unit comprises a wavelength demultiplexinq unit for extracting and demultiplexing signal light having an arbitral wavelength and a wavelength multiplexing unit for multiplexing the wavelength of signal light transmitted from the ADM node. The dummy light output unit of the present invention outputs the dummy light as a false signal or a continuous light having a wavelength different from the wavelength of the transmission line.
The optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function of the present invention can be constituted such that a center node, ADM nodes and a regenerative repeating node are interconnected by optical transmission lines in the configuration of a ring. As a result, the present invention can be applied to an optical ADM ring optical transmission system.
Meanwhile, the optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function of the present invention can be applied to an optical cross connect system that will be described hereinafter as another embodiment of the present invention. This optical transmission system comprises WDM terminal equipment, a plurality of nodes and optical amplifiers arranged between the respective nodes. The WDM terminal equipment includes optical transmitting units for transmitting a plurality of signal light having different wavelengths and optical receiving units for receiving a plurality of signal light having different wavelengths. The plurality of nodes are connected to the WDM terminal equipment through a plurality of transmission lines and switch the path of signal light having a arbitrary wavelength out of the wavelengths of signal light input from the input ports. Each node comprises a dummy light output unit for outputting the dummy light to transmit the dummy light to a transmission line.
The node comprises a wavelength demultiplexing unit for demultiplexing signal light having a specific wavelength out of the wavelengths of input signal light and a regenerative repeating unit for carrying out the regenerative repeating of the signal light demultiplexed by the wavelength demultiplexing unit.
The dummy light is transmitted to a transmission line between unused nodes at the regenerative repeating unit connected to an unused input port.
The dummy light output unit outputs dummy light as a false signal or a continuous light having a wavelength different from the wavelength of the transmission line clock. In the optical ADM ring optical transmission system, light is always transmitted to the operable/auxiliary transmission lines by causing an optical transmitting unit connected to a transmission line out of operation to carry out transmission in synchronism with a self-oscillating clock. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of an optical surge without a break of input into an optical direct amplifier arranged on a path between adjacent nodes.
In the optical cross connect system, dummy light is transmitted to a path between unused nodes in synchronism with a self-oscillating clock of the regenerative repeating unit of each node, thereby making it possible to suppress the occurrence of an optical surge without a break of input into an optical direct amplifier arranged on a path between adjacent nodes.

Optical transmission system having an optical surge suppression function


An improved fine positioning mechanism in a magnetic head/disk tester includes a primary position actuator and a primary body that supports a read/write head to be tested, and an auxiliary body and auxiliary actuator. Both actuators operate contemporaneously and in mutually opposite directions. The masses of both bodies and the stiffnesses of both actuators are selected so that a ratio of the stiffness of the actuator to the mass of the body in the primary system is equal to a ratio of the stiffness of the actuator to the mass in the auxiliary system. In addition, the masses of both bodies and the expansion coefficients of both actuators are selected so that a product of the mass of the body with the expansion coefficient of the actuator in the primary system is equal to a product of the mass of the body with the expansion coefficient of the actuator in the auxiliary system. In this manner, forces operating on both bodies are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction and therefore counterbalance each other when the same control voltage is applied to both actuators. This, in turn, eliminates or reduces vibrations in the slide supporting the actuators and therefore the head-positioning settling time is significantly reduced.

A head/disk tester is an instrument that is used for testing the characteristics of magnetic heads and disks such as a signal-to-noise ratio, track profile, etc. The tester should simulate those motions of the head with respect to the disk that occur in an actual hard disk drive during operation. Each tester consists of two components; a mechanical component, commonly referred to as a spinstand, that performs movements of the head with respect to the disk, and an electronic component that is responsible for measurement, calculation, and analysis of the measured signal. Test results depend on the accuracy of both components.
A typical prior art spinstand for a head and disk tester is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,971, issued in 1990 and incorporated herein by reference. It includes a stationary base plate which supports a stepper motor. The stepper motor includes an output shaft which is connected to a coaxially-arranged lead screw. The lead screw rotates in bearings and engages a nut which is rigidly fixed to a linear slide. In this manner, motor rotation is converted into linear movement of the slide. The slide supports an arm upon which a magnetic head is rigidly mounted. The arm can be rotated relative to the slide so as to provide angular movement of the head. In this manner, the tester provides a range of radial movements of the head and variations in skew angle, where skew angle is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the magnetic head and a line extending tangentially from a concentric track of the magnetic disk.
As the density of magnetic recording increases, additional information tracks are compressed into a given disk area. The decrease in track size heightens the demand for improved accuracy in head positioning. This challenge is compounded by a desire for faster operation speed, and low cost for tester manufacture and tester operation.
Attempts have been made to improve accuracy in magnetic head positioning by providing a head and disk tester with separate coarse and fine-positioning mechanisms. Such a tester is disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/813,345 filed on Mar. 7, 1997 by the same applicant and incorporated herein by reference. In this tester, the coarse-positioning mechanism is the same as the conventional positioning mechanism described above. A fragmental side view of the fine-positioning mechanism is shown in Prior Art FIG. 1. This embodiment includes a slide 12 supportive of a nut 14 adapted to engage with lead screw 10, and a deformable body 16, e.g., in the form of a deformable parallelepiped. The lower surface 17 of deformable body 16 is rigidly attached to the aforementioned slide 12. The upper surface 19 of deformable body 16 supports a magnetic read/write head H. A piezo actuator 20 is placed between a first side of the deformable body 16 and a post 18 stationary with respect to slide 12. Piezo actuator 20 is preloaded between post 18 and deformable body by a set of springs 24 which urge the deformable body toward the piezo actuator 16 and the post 18.
The positioning operation consists of two steps. Coarse positioning is achieved by inducing rotating lead screw 10 by stepper motor (not shown), causing linear movement of slide 12, together with deformable body 16 and magnetic head H to the vicinity of a predetermined position. Upon completion of coarse positioning, a fine positioning mechanism is activated by piezo actuator 20 to position deformable body 16 and magnetic read/write head H within the specified accuracy of the tester. The time required for placement of the magnetic read/write head H within a specified tolerance is referred to as the settling time of the tester. Efficient testing procedures require that settling time be as short as possible.
Many critical magnetic head and disk tests, for example measurement of the read-write offset of magneto-resistive (MR) read/write heads, or track profile measurement, require the magnetic read/write head to be repeatedly repositioned at different small positional offsets from its original location. In most cases, these small changes in the position of the head can be achieved using the fine positioning mechanism only, without activation of the coarse positioner. Since it is desirable to minimize test duration, each fine positioning operation should be performed as expeditiously as possible.
It is important to note, however, that lead screw 10, slide 12, piezo actuator 20, post 18, deformable body 16, etc., together form a complex mechanical system having natural resonance frequencies. If the stepper motor of the coarse positioner moves slide 12 too quickly during coarse positioning, or if piezo actuator 20 is driven too fast during fine positioning, the time for head positioning decreases, but excessive oscillations arise in this system, resulting in an increase in settling time.
An optimal response time of the piezo actuator corresponds to the minimum settling time for a given positioning accuracy. This response time is a function of the mass and stiffness of slide 12, the mass of deformable body 16, the stiffness of piezo actuator 20, the stiffness of the post 18, the stiffness of lead-screw nut 14, and the stiffness of the lead screw support unit (not shown). The smaller the respective masses, and the higher the stiffnesses, the faster piezo actuator 20 can be driven to achieve the minimum settling time.
The mass of the slide 12 cannot be decreased below some minimum because certain baseline mechanical configurations are required in order to mount lead-screw nut 14 and piezo actuator 20 on the slide 12 properly, while maintaining slide 12 stiffness. Likewise, the mass of the deformable body 16 can be decreased only to some minimum since certain mechanical configurations are required in order to mount the magnetic read/write head H properly on the deformable body 16. Due to limitations including part size, material stiffness and availability of commercial parts of higher stiffness, increasing stiffness beyond a certain amount is not possible, either. In other words, the conventional fine-positioning mechanisms of head/disk testers have inherent dynamic characteristics that limit further increase in testing speed.
The prior art fine positioning system described above is therefore subject to vibrations, because the reaction R from the force F applied by piezo actuator 20 to deformable body 16 will be transmitted through post 18, slide 12, and nut 14 to lead screw 10. At each positioning operation, the aforementioned system will oscillate, and therefore, measurement cannot be initiated until the system is settled down to a substantially stable condition.

Apparatus and method for improving dynamic characteristics of a fine-positioning mechanism in a magnetic head/disk tester


A process for forming wiring over a migration preventing layer on a semiconductor substrate including forming a contact hole in a an insulation layer of the substrate and then filling the contact hole with an aluminum based alloy. A migration preventing layer is then formed, of a material which resists migration of atoms of the aluminum based alloy, over the surface of the aluminum based alloy. A wiring layer of aluminum is then formed over the migration preventing layer. In another embodiment, the contact hole may be provided with a first layer to prevent electron migration and a second layer which is a nitride of the first layer material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wiring and a method for forming same. Particularly, the present invention relates to minute contact structures in semiconductor wiring which can resist electromigration as well as stress migration and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Formation of circuit structures of aluminum, or aluminum based alloys on a semiconductor substrate is well known in the art. In semiconductor design, size reduction is increasingly desirable. For forming upper and lower strata of wiring, for example, or for realizing electrical resistance of wiring formed on a substrate, contact holes with very small aspect ratios have been developed. With such contact holes, which may have a circumference of 0.5 .mu.m or less, shorting, or disconnection occurrence may result due to stress migration or alternatively, because of electromigration.
Two principle causes of stress migration are
(1) compression stress maintained in a passivation layer of a semiconductor gives rise to variation in flexure and to expansion dependent on a return or `snapback` force of an interior area of an aluminum (Al) (aluminum) wiring portion; PA1 (2) in minute wiring structures, voids become enlarged due to a heat expansion coefficient value in wiring and passivation layers dependent on aluminum contraction.
Referring to FIG. 9, a cross-sectional view of a conventional semiconductor contact hole arrangement is shown. According to this construction, a silicon substrate 1 has a silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2) insulating layer formed thereon wherein a contact hole 2a is defined with the silicon substrate 1 forming the bottom thereof. Subsequently, layered successively over the silicon substrate 1 and the SiO.sub.2 insulating layer 2, a titanium (Ti) layer 3 and a titanium nitride (TiN) layer 4 are formed which also define the contact hole 2a. Thereover, an aluminum (Al) layer 5 Is formed so as to fill the contact hole 2a and over the aluminum layer 5 a SiN layer formed by plasma CVD method is deposited. Flexible variation, that is, expansion and contraction of the aluminum layer (wavy lines in FIG. 9) and, in the interior portion of the contact hole, pullback stress (arrow direction in FIG. 9) causes occurrence of disconnection, or short circuiting in conventional semiconductor structures.
On the other hand, electromigration, is based on a so-called `electron wind` phenomenon, i.e. where aluminum atoms are transported by electron flow. Referring to FIG. 10, a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor arrangement having an aluminum layer 5 is shown in a condition wherein, at the contact hole, the silicon substrate forms a negative pole while the aluminum layer 5 forms a positive pole such that a void is formed. This portion has no aluminum (Al) supply source at the negative pole side. In the drawing, the arrow indicates the direction of current flow and numeral 1a indicates an impurity diffusion region.
In very minute circuitry, such as LSI devices, when reduced circumferences are employed for contact holes, such migration related disconnection problems become more pronounced.

Contact hole structure in a semiconductor and formation method therefor


In one aspect, an internal combustion engine includes a fuel injector for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber to produce an air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, a spark plug for igniting the air-fuel mixture to cause combustion in the combustion chamber and a controller controls the spark plug to cause combustion in the combustion chamber to apply a torque to start the engine from a stopped condition. The controller determines whether the operation of the engine will be stopped, and adjusts an operating condition of the engine if the controller determines the engine operation will be stopped.

A so-called starterless starting system not depending upon a starter is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 02-271073. This starting system, upon starting an engine, identifies a cylinder stopped during the expansion stroke, causes combustion in the cylinder so identified, and causes revolution of the engine with this combustion as momentum, thereby starting the engine.

Starting system for internal combustion engine


A temperature sensing element includes a thermistor composed of Si-base ceramics and a pair of metal electrodes bonded onto the surfaces of the thermistor. The metal electrodes contain Cr and a metal element α having a Si diffusion coefficient higher than that of Cr. A diffusion layer is formed in a bonding interface between the thermistor and each metal electrode, the diffusion layer including a silicide of the metal element α in a crystal grain boundary of the Si-base ceramics. A temperature sensor including the diffusion layers is provided. Owing to the diffusion layers, the temperature sensor ensures heat resistance and bonding reliability and enables temperature detection with high accuracy in a temperature range, in particular, of from −50° C. to 1050° C.

Generally, temperature sensors are used for measuring a temperature of an exhaust gas. Such a temperature sensor may be used for detecting a temperature such as of an exhaust gas that flows through a flow path. For example, such a temperature sensor may be used being arranged in a catalytic converter of an exhaust gas purification system or an exhaust pipe of a vehicle.
An example of such a temperature sensor is shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, a temperature sensor 9 includes a temperature sensing element 90 composed of a thermistor 91 having electrical characteristics that change with temperature and a pair of metal electrodes 92 formed on the surfaces of the thermistor 91, and includes a sheath pin 95 incorporating signal lines 93 which are connected, on a tip-end side, to the temperature sensing element 90 and electrically connected, on a rear-end side, to an external circuit.
In a temperature sensor having such a configuration, the signal lines 93 are bonded, such as by welding, to the respective metal electrodes 92 which are bonded to the respective surfaces of the thermistor 91. Thus, the electrical characteristics of the thermistor 91 are detected by the external circuit.
A temperature sensor used in a high-temperature oxidizing atmosphere, such as in a catalytic converter or an exhaust pipe, has problems to be solved, i.e. of ensuring bonding reliability of the temperature sensing element that is a bonded member composed of the metal electrodes and the thermistor and of ensuring heat resistance of the metal electrodes.
As a measure against these problems, a bonded member composed of ceramic and metal is suggested (see PTL 1). This bonded member includes a metal film bonded to a surface of a ceramic material and a surface layer (oxide layer) formed on a surface of the metal film. PTL 1 also suggests a bonding method that includes diffusion bonding to achieve bonding between the metal film and the ceramic. PTL 1 teaches that the bonded member obtained in this way ensures its heat resistance and bonding reliability.
On the other hand, another bonded member is suggested, which is composed of ceramic and metal electrodes bonded to the surfaces of the ceramic (see PTL 2). The metal electrodes are provided as a continuous body and have a plurality of recesses. Similar to PTL 1, PTL 2 suggests a bonding method that includes diffusion bonding. PTL 2 teaches that the bonded member obtained in this way is able to reduce thermal stress which is ascribed to the difference in linear expansion coefficient between the ceramic and the metal electrodes and thus is able to ensure bonding reliability.
Further, a ceramic sensor is suggested, which includes a ceramics plate and a metal electrode bonded to at least one surface of the ceramics plate (see PTL 3). The metal electrode has an outer periphery which is entirely or partially cut off to entirely or partially expose an end of the ceramics plate. Also, at least a part of the outer periphery of the metal electrode has a thickness smaller than a center portion thereof. PTL 3 teaches that the ceramic sensor configured in this way is able to prevent the metal electrode from being separated.
Still another bonded member is suggested (see PTL 4 or 5). This bonded member is obtained by diffusing components of ceramics and metal into a bonding interface to ensure bonding reliability between the ceramics and the metal.
For example, PTL 4 suggests that, in bonding metal that contains Cr and Fe to nitride-base ceramics, the components contained in the ceramics are partially diffused into the metal to enhance bonding reliability. PTL 5 suggests that, in bonding ceramics, such as silicon nitride or silicon carbide, to metal that contains Cr and Ni, a silicide of Cr is formed in the interface between the ceramics and the metal to enhance bonding reliability.

Temperature sensor element, method for manufacturing same, and temperature sensor


An image processing method is described which makes it possible to obtain an image which has a high quality and resolution without leaving boundaries of adjacent blocks detectable even in the case where the image has already been subjected to a processing of resolution enhancement (enlargement) of the image using a set of fractal parameters. The image processing apparatus 100 includes: an image division unit 114 which divides an input image IN into range blocks using L (L is an integer of 2 or more) numbers of division patterns so that at least one of the boundaries of each region in a division pattern varies from the boundaries of each region in the other division patterns; a parameter calculation unit 103 which calculates a set of fractal parameters of each range block of the input image IN so as to obtain L numbers of fractal parameters; an image transformation unit 107 which generates L numbers of fractal transformed images using, one by one, the modified sets of fractal parameters obtained according to enlargement ratios; and an image synthesis unit 112 which synthesizes the L numbers of transformed images so as to generate a single synthesized image. The image transformation unit 107 and the image synthesis unit 112 repeat the transformation and synthesis using in sequence the respective sets of fractal parameters until this synthesized image satisfies the convergence condition.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method used in resolution enhancement (enlargement) of an image signal.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a method for resolution enhancement (enlargement) of an image signal, a method for using a fractal coding technique has been proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-312294). In this method, a set of fractal parameters of image data of 8×8 pixels in an input image is detected first. After that, the fractal image data of 16×16 pixels is generated using the set of fractal parameters. Further, the 8×8 pixel image data is cut out from the input image, and the 16×16 pixel image data is cut out from the fractal image, and then the respective 8×8 pixel image data and 16×16 pixel image data are subjected to Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). These two DCT coefficient matrixes are synthesized, and subjected to Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform so as to generate a resolution-enhanced (enlarged) image.
However, in the above-described conventional method, the processing of generating an enlarged image of 16×16 pixel block using the set of fractal parameters detected in the 8×8 pixel block is executed independently on a block-by-block basis. This makes it possible to perform high fidelity resolution transformation of each block. However, since the continuity around the boundaries of blocks is not considered in the transformation, it is likely to occur a phenomenon where the boundaries of adjacent blocks are visually detected.


A retractable net device is provided including a housing with at least one segment slidably situated within the housing. A net is coupled to an end of the segment and has a stored orientation within the housing and an extended orientation situated exterior of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing nets and more particularly pertains to a new portable foul ball catcher for providing an easily carried and stored means of catching foul balls at baseball and softball games.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of fishing nets is known in the prior art. More specifically, fishing nets heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art fishing nets include U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,773; U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,790; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 319,681; U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,783; U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,700; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,906.
In these respects, the portable foul ball catcher according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing an easily carried and stored means of catching foul balls at baseball games.


The invention indicates a device and a process for clamping tools in a clamping chuck which possesses a shrinkage segment (14) to receive the tool, with a heating apparatus (26), preferably designed as a gas burner, being associated with the shrinkage segment (14). The tool is clamped in the clamping chuck (20) with a press fit in the shrinkage seat, resulting in especially high clamping force. To prevent local overheating of the clamping chuck (20) and achieve complete insertion of the tool shaft into the thermally expanded shrinkage segment (14) of the clamping chuck (20), a receiving apparatus (40)--by means of which, for clamping purposes, the tool can be elastically pressed in the axial direction against the shrinkage segment (14)--is provided to receive the tool.

The invention concerns a device for clamping tools in a clamping chuck that has a shrinkage segment, with a heating apparatus being associated with the shrinkage segment.
The invention further concerns a process for clamping tools in a shrinkage segment of a clamping chuck, in which in order to clamp the tool the shrinkage segment is heated, the tool is introduced into the shrinkage segment that has been enlarged by heating, and after cooling is frictionally retained in the shrinkage segment.
In tools that are retained by means of mechanical clamping elements, especially by means of a collet chuck or a clamping chuck, disadvantages become evident when, as a result of high rotation speeds and/or large tool radii and/or large tool masses, centrifugal forces that counteract the retaining force of the clamping elements occur during operation of the tool. If these centrifugal forces are too great and entirely or partly exceed the retaining forces, the necessary frictional engagement between the spindle receptacle and the tool is no longer guaranteed, with the result that the tool is no longer able to apply the desired machining forces to remove material.

Process and device for clamping tools in a clamping chuck


The positive electrode active material powder of the present invention is a positive electrode active material powder, including primary particles and aggregated particles of primary particles, wherein an average particle diameter of primary particles and aggregated particles of primary particles in the powder is 0.1 μm or more and 3 μm or less on a volume basis, the percentage of [volumetric sum of particles having a particle diameter of 5 μm or more]/[volumetric sum of entire particles] is 10% or less, and a BET specific surface area of the powder is more than 2 m2/g and 7 m2/g or less. When this positive electrode active material powder is used for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, it becomes possible to exhibit a high discharge capacity and also exhibit a high output at a high current rate.

A positive electrode active material powder is used for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery such as a lithium secondary battery. The nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery is already practically used as a power source for cellular phones and laptop computers, and the attempts are made to apply the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery for middle-sized and large-sized applications such as automobiles and electric power storage units.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-325791 expressly discloses, as a conventional positive electrode active material powder, a powder having an average primary particle diameter of 0.54 μm to 2.02 μm and an average secondary particle diameter of 3.6 μm to 10 μm, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-141983 expressly discloses a powder having an average primary particle diameter of 0.17 μm to 0.7 μm and a median diameter of secondary particles of 6 to 12 μm, respectively.

Positive electrode active material powder


A wall-entry bathtub includes a basin, a shell defining an entryway to allow access into the basin, and an entry wall movable between a lowered position and a raised position, wherein the entry wall is substantially clear of the entryway in the lowered position and at least partially blocks the entryway in the raised position. The bathtub also includes first and second entry wall position sensors configured to sense the position of the entry wall and a controller in electronic communication with the first and second entry wall position sensors, wherein the controller is configured to control components of the bathtub based at least in part on the position of the entry wall.

The present application relates to wall-entry bathtubs, in particular to wall-entry bathtubs incorporating a moveable entry wall and/or improved operational features.
Convenient ingress and egress from a conventional bathtub is of significant concern for those dealing with physical limitations that prevent or complicate use of a conventional, fixed-wall bathtub (e.g., due to age, injury, etc.).
Wall-entry bathtubs are intended to provide improved ease of entry and exit (e.g., ingress and egress) to a bathtub (e.g., by reducing the step-over height required to enter and exit the bathtub.)
These wall-entry bathtubs present unique challenges for those designing and implementing the bathtub, which is often installed in an existing bathroom as a replacement for a conventional, fixed-wall bathtub. For example, bathers using wall-entry bathtubs often remain seated in the wall-entry bathtub until substantially all of the water has drained (e.g., because of physical limitations, to minimize water spillage, etc.). Accordingly, it is desirable to shorten the time it takes to drain or substantially drain water from a bathtub. Further, bathers using wall-entry bathtubs often have limited ability to move and/or seal the entry wall (alternatively, door, etc.). Accordingly, it is desirable to improve the ease of moving and/or sealing the entry wall. Further still, additional devices/features providing functionalities can result in excessive noise. Limiting excessive noise during operation of a wall-entry bathtub can provide an improved user-experience. Further still, improved ease of access may mean there are additional opportunities for water spillage. It is desirable that water spillage be minimized. Further still, designing a reliable and convenient entry wall latch mechanism challenges the practical implementation of a wall-entry bathtub, as actuation of the latch mechanism is preferably a deliberate act by the bather to prevent unintended movement of the entry wall, especially when the bathtub is full. The integration of electronics to control and monitor various features of the bathtub present yet another series of challenges in the design of a wall-entry bathtub, especially when controls are integrated into the moveable entry wall. Further still, the integration and control of the various components and systems for filling, draining, sealing, and monitoring the bathtub present various unique challenges to the design of a wall-entry bathtub, as opposed to a conventional, fixed-wall bathtub.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a wall-entry bathtub that is practical, reliable, and convenient, especially for those bathers living with any number of physical limitations by decreasing drain time, improving the ease of moving and/or sealing the entry wall, limiting excessive noise during operation, minimizing water spillage, and/or improving controls and/or monitoring associated with the operation of the wall-entry bathtub.


A linear motion guide device includes a casing having two beams disposed between two end plates and two side panels of a frame, each beam has a longitudinal slot, two stops are secured to the end plates with latches, and each has a projection engaged with the casing, to anchor the casing in the frame, and each has two indentations communicating with the longitudinal passages of the side panels and the longitudinal slots of the beams of the casing, to form two endless roller-circulation paths, and to receive rotary members. Two pressing members include two ends secured to the stops, and engaged with the rotary members, to retain the stops and the frame together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear motion guide device, and more particularly to a linear motion guide device having improved ball or roller guiding mechanisms for facilitating the sliding movements between objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical bearings are provided and engaged between two rotary members, for facilitating the rotational movements between the two rotary or sliding members.
However, when two objects are slidably engaged or coupled with each other, no suitable linear motion guide devices have been provided for facilitating the sliding movements between the two slidable objects.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,846 to Michioka et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,678 to Shirai, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,146 to Lee disclose three of the typical linear motion guide devices each comprising two endless and sliding type roller connectors slidably received in two endless roller-circulation paths.
However, each of the endless and sliding type roller connectors includes a number of balls or rollers that are required to be coupled or connected together with a complicated connection portion such that the typical linear motion guide devices each comprising a complicated configuration that may not be easily assembled, and that may cost much for manufacturing purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,789 to Chen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,031 to Faulhaber et al., U.S. patent application Publication No. US2002/0021847 to Wu, and U.S. patent application Publication No. US2002/0141667 to Ishihara disclose the other typical linear motion guide devices each also comprising two endless and sliding type roller connectors slidably received in two endless roller-circulation paths.
However, for stably and smoothly retaining the balls or rollers within the endless roller-circulation paths, a number of parts or elements are required to be manufactured and assembled, to allow the balls or rollers to be easily assembled into and retained within the endless roller-circulation paths, and to prevent the balls or rollers from being disengaged from the endless roller-circulation paths, such that the typical linear motion guide devices also comprising a complicated configuration that may not be easily assembled, and that may cost much for manufacturing purposes.
For example, U.S. patent application Publication No. US2002/0021847 to Wu includes two end caps that are required to be secured together with male protuberances and female recesses, and two oil scrapers are required to be secured to the end caps with a number of tenons and positioning flanges. In addition, the sliding block may not be solidly attached to the guide plates.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,031 to Faulhaber et al., two reversing plates are anchored to a carriage member by projections that may not solidly secure the reversing plates and the carriage member together, such that the reversing plates may have good chances to be separated from the carriage member, and such that vibrations may be generated between the reversing plates and the carriage member.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional linear motion guide devices.


A system for passive estimation of throughput in an electronic network is disclosed. The system may include an plurality of mobile devices configured to operate in the network and may further include an electronic data processor. The processor may be configured to access flow records for data flows associated with the mobile devices during a predetermined time interval. Additionally, the processor may be configured to annotate the flow records with an application field and a content provider field. The processor may also be configured to determine a flow type of each data flow based on the application field and the content provider field of the flow records. Furthermore, the processor may be configured to generate a throughput index that only includes non-rate-limited flow types. Moreover, the processor may be configured to estimate maximum throughput for each data flow having non-rate-limited flow types in the throughput index.

An achievable throughput at which users may download or access different types of content at various locations and times is a very important metric to service providers. Being privy to such knowledge enables the services providers to more effectively provision additional capacity in a particular region of a network of the service provider and/or at particular times in the network. Currently, a variety of different methods and systems exist for measuring download rates and/or throughput in a network. For example, current techniques for measuring throughput involve periodically downloading large files from a number of active probes while measuring their achieved throughput. However, such a test places substantial loads on the network being examined, may not necessarily represent the actual experiences that users undergo, and are often expensive to deploy and maintain. Accordingly, such active tests often are not representative of a portion of a network, and in particular, a wireless network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System for estimating download speed from passive measurements


A method and device for cooling and electrically-insulating a high-voltage, heat-generating component, for example, an x-ray tube (1105) for analyzing fluids by means of x-ray fluorescence. The device includes an x-ray source (1100) including an x-ray tube (1105) having improved heat-dissipating properties due to the thermal coupling of the x-ray tube with a thermally-conductive, dielectric material (1150). The device may include a base assembly (1135) mounted to the component for conducting heat away from the component while electrically isolating the component. In one aspect of the invention, the base assembly includes two copper plates (1140, 1145) separated by a dielectric plate (1150). The dielectric plate minimizes or prevents the leakage of current through the base assembly (1135). One aspect of the disclosed invention is most amenable to the analysis of sulfur in petroleum-based fuels.

The implementation of x-ray analysis methods has been one of the most significant developments in twentieth-century science and technology. The use of x-ray diffraction, x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray imaging, and other x-ray analysis techniques has led to a profound increase in knowledge in virtually all scientific fields.
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an analytical technique by which a substance is exposed to a beam of x-rays to determine, for example, the presence of certain chemicals. In the XRF technique, at least some of the chemical constituents of the substance exposed to x-rays can absorb x-ray photons and produce characteristic secondary fluorescence x-rays. These secondary x-rays are characteristic of the chemical constituents in the substance. Upon appropriate detection and analysis these secondary x-rays can be used to characterize one or more of the chemical constituents of the substance. The XRF technique has broad applications in many chemical and material science fields, including medical analysis, semiconductor chip evaluation, and forensics, among others.
XRF methods have often been used for measuring the sulfur content of fuels, for example, petroleum-based fuels, such as gasoline and diesel fuels. Existing XRF systems have been known to detect sulfur in fuels down to as low as 5 parts per million (ppm) by weight; however, this detectability has required stringent control conditions, for example, this detectability is typically achievable only in the laboratory. Under less rigorous conditions, for example, in the field, existing XRF methods, such as ASTM standard method D2622, are limited to detecting sulfur concentrations in fuels only down to about 30 ppm. Among other things, the present invention provides improvements in repeatability and detectability of XRF detection of sulfur in fuels.
In these and many other industries, for example, the analytical industry, x-ray beam generating devices are commonly used. X-ray beam generating devices may typically include x-ray tubes which generate x-rays by impinging electron beams onto metal surfaces. X-ray tubes typically include an electron gun which generates an electron beam and an anode which provides the metal surface upon which the electron beam is directed. Typically, the electron gun and anode are operated in three different modes: 1) with a grounded anode and the electron gun operated at high positive voltage; 2) with a grounded electron gun (that is, a grounded cathode) and the anode operated at high negative voltage; or 3) in a "bi-polar" mode with cathode and anode operated at different voltages. For low power applications, the x-ray tube is typically operated with a "grounded cathode" wherein the electron gun and its adjacent components are operated at essentially ground potential and the anode and its adjacent components, if any, at high electric potential, for example, at 50 kilovolts (kv) or higher.
The impingement of the electron beam on the anode and the operation of the anode at such high voltages generates heat, typically a lot of heat, for example, at least about 50 Watts. In order to dissipate this heat, an x-ray tube is typically immersed in a cooling fluid, that is, a thermally-conductive cooling fluid, such as a cooling oil having a high enough dielectric strength to prevent the cooling oil from breaking down and permitting arcing at high potential. A typical high-dielectric cooling fluid is Diala Ax oil provided by Shell Oil Company.
In the conventional art, the x-ray tube and the cooling oil are typically held inside a sealed container, for example, a cylindrical metal container, wherein the x-ray tube is immersed in oil and electrically isolated from the container. The resulting structure includes an x-ray tube having a high-temperature anode at high potential surrounded by a high dielectric strength oil, all encased inside a sealed metal container. As a result, the oil typically convects inside the container as it is heated by the anode. This heating of the oil through convection also heats the walls of the container and the x-ray tube itself via convection. Conventionally, the outside walls of the sealed container may be cooled directly by, for example, natural convection, forced air convection, or flowing a cooling fluid over the outside of the container. This chain of convective and conductive heat transfer is an inefficient cooling process. Even for a conventional x-ray tube requiring modest power dissipation, the x-ray beam device and its components typically reach high temperatures, for example, as much as 120 degrees C. Such high temperatures are undesirable and can be detrimental to the operation of the x-ray tube.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide simplified methods for cooling an x-ray beam device, or any other high-temperature, high voltage devices.

Method and device for cooling and electrically insulating a high-voltage, heat-generating component such as an x-ray tube for analyzing fluid streams


A flexible antenna apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof are provided for wireless communication devices. The flexible antenna has a metal layer with an adhesive layer pasted onto the back surface of the metal layer, so that it can be directly pasted onto the housing of the wireless communication device. On another side of the metal layer, there is a transparent protective layer and the metal layer reserves a zone without the transparent protective layer for electrically coupling to the electrical substrate of the wireless communication device. The present flexible antenna apparatus reduces the developing time and cost of the device and the manufacturing process more convenient. The flexible antenna apparatus is suitable for all wireless communication devices and increases the flexibility of the manufacturing process by adding a holder having at least one plastic pin, or a pin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible antenna apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof. In particular, this invention provides an antenna for wireless communication devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to the development of wireless communication technology, wireless communication devices, such as Bluetooth systems, mobile phones etc are becoming more and more popular. Because customers desire wireless communication devices that are small, lightweight and have good reception many improvements for the antennas of wireless communication devices have been provided. The types of antennas for wireless communication devices can be divided into two sorts: a built-in type and an external type. The external type exposes the antenna to the outside of the housing of a wireless communication device. Because the wireless communication device has a protruding element, it is inconvenient for users to carry around. Alternatively, the built-in type installs a flat antenna in the housing of a wireless communication device to receive signals.
A built-in antenna of the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. The antenna includes a body 10 that is made of phosphor bronze. The body 10 has a plurality of positioning holes 12, a curved surface 14 that is pasted onto the housing of the mobile phone and a pin 16 for contacting the PCB of the mobile phone. When the antenna is pasted onto the housing of the wireless communication device, the positioning holes 12 are aligned to the positioning point of the housing and fix the built-in antenna onto the housing by a melting and pressing method.
The built-in antenna described above is produced through a stamping process. A mold is needed for the stamping process and the mold needs to be modified in order to make the antenna paste onto the curved-surface of the housing smoothly. It takes a long time to make the mold. The raw material for the antenna is only suitable for a single type of mobile phone, so there is the problem of surplus material that is wasted. The cost of the antenna is high due to the need of developing the mold. Furthermore, the manufacturing process is complex because the melting and pressing process needs to be added the production line of the wireless communication device.

Flexible antenna apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof


A closure (20, 20A) is provided for a container that has an opening to the container interior wherein contents may be stored. The closure (20, 20A) includes the following: (A) a closure body (30, 30A) defining (i) a pour aperture (50) that can communicate-with the container opening and that can accommodate pouring out of the contents through the pour aperture (50), and (ii) at least one vent aperture (60) that can communicate with the container opening and that can accommodate the in-venting of ambient atmosphere through the vent aperture (60) into the container, and (B) a lid (32, 32A) for closing the closure (20, 20A). The pour aperture (50) has an elongate configuration oriented along a central axis line (A) that bisects the pour aperture (50) and closure body (30).

Various flowable substances (including liquids) may be packaged in a rigid, flexible, or collapsible container (e.g., bottle, pouch, etc.) having a closure that can be opened to allow the contents to be poured out. The container with the closure mounted thereon and the contents stored therein may be characterized as a "package."
The inventors of the present invention have invented a novel structure for a container closure wherein the closure includes advantageous features not heretofore taught or contemplated by the prior art.

Container closure for vented pouring through an elongate aperture


A method, an apparatus and computer readable medium for simultaneous communication over a bus in a master/slave agent network topology. Each communication agent on the network is either a master agent or slave agent with an input and an output. In one embodiment, the input and the output are latches. The method permits the number of tokens on the ring to be equal to up to one less than the total number of agents on the ring.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of computer networks comprising a plurality of computers and more particularly to computer networks that communicate information using a token-based protocol while connected on a ring or bus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks allow for the connected devices to communicate with each other. There are three basic types of networks that are defined based on the proximity of the computer to a peripheral device. The smallest is a PAN (Personal Area Network) An example of a PAN is a home computer using the USB (Universal Serial Bus) method for connecting a computer, printer, scanner, and more. This PAN is used to communicate with each other as long as they are in close proximity.
Communication is based on a serial bus and has several limitations one of which being the inability to do simultaneous communications. Accordingly there exist a need for communications, which allow improved simultaneous networks.
In a typical business environment many offices are connected together so that the computers, printers, and associated equipment can communicate together. This configuration is known as a LAN (Local Area Network). There are two widely deployed types of LANs. One type of LAN is Ethernet Net (IEEE 802.3) and the other type of LAN is Token Ring (IEEE 802.5) networks. The Ethernet network is more widely deployed, because it is typically less expensive to deploy. However, if several communication devices contend for communication at the same time, bottlenecks occur during which all devices except one device must "Backoff" or hold-off communicating until the one device completes the communication. Then another device starts communicating until all devices are complete. This is a problem with "simultaneous" communications. In an Ethernet network topology, the aggregated bandwidth of the network cannot approach the incremental bandwidth due to the lack of controlled loading.
In contrast, to an Ethernet network topology, a Token Ring does allow for controlled loading. As the name implies, a Token Ring network is based on token passing, for higher shared bandwidth, and avoids collisions based on the control of the tokens.
These LAN standards of Ethernet network and Token Ring network although both useful are not without their shortcoming. One shortcoming is that both Ethernet and Token Ring networks do not allow for simultaneous communications. Accordingly there exists a need to provide simultaneous communications and to improve communication bandwidth.
As stated above, the cost of network deployment is often a major factor in adoption of a network topology. Other solutions in the prior art for simultaneous communications that require significant additional costs are not desirable because of the high cost of adoption. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus to provided simultaneous communications at a reasonable cost.
A WAN (Wide Area Network), as the name implies, widely separates computers and computer equipment. There are several methods of connecting these computers. The Internet is by far the most popular. Network contention with other computers while using a WAN is controlled by having simultaneous connections of varying connections speed and feed rates. Stated differently a computer typically communicates using a WAN simultaneously with other computers, however the communications can take a long time due to the extended distance between communicating units. Accordingly there exist a need for a method and apparatus that permits simultaneous communications while being part of a LAN.

Method and system for simultaneous management of multiple tokens on a communication ring

International Business Machines Corporation


A ball connecting body for a ball screw or a linear guide-way, comprises spacers, guide linking members, and connecting members. The spacers are interposed between two adjacent balls, thereby preventing the two balls from hitting. The guide linking members are used for linking the two spacers, so that the ball may be maintained in a space formed by the guide linking members and the spacers. The connecting member connects two adjacent spacers. The total width of the connecting member in a direction of a connecting line of the two guide linking members is smaller than the total height of the connecting member in a direction vertical to the connecting line of the two guide linking members, so that the connecting member has an excellent bendable capability in the direction of the connecting line of the two guide linking members.

This application is a continuation of part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/833,662 filed on Apr. 27, 2004 now abandoned, which claims the benefit of the earlier filing date.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ball connecting body for a rolling motion apparatus, and more particularly to a ball connecting body for a ball screw or a linear guide-way, thereby preventing the balls from colliding and rubbing each other. Especially, the ball connecting body of the present invention has a multi-directional bendable function by the special design of the connecting member.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional linear guide-way and ball screw employ rolling members, such as balls or rollers, to function as a force-transmitting medium, and application of the balls is the most popular. During the rotation process of the balls, the balls mutually collide and rub, thereby producing noise and causing inconvenience of operation. For solving this problem, the prior art simulates the method of the rotating ball bearing to make the plastic or rubber material into a belt-shaped ball connecting body for separating two adjacent balls, so that the two adjacent balls will not contact mutually. However, when applied to the rotating ball bearing, the linear guide-way or the ball screw, the ball connecting body cannot be bent in an arbitrary direction of the three-dimensional path due to its belt-shaped design, so that the ball circulation system is only moved along the two-dimensional plane, and cannot move along the three-dimensional path, for example, U.S. Pat. No., 2,366,120, 5,429,439, 5,562,346, and 5,758,975, thereby greatly limiting the circulation design of the linear guide-way and the ball screw. In addition, some designers may bend the conventional belt-shaped ball connecting body by the slight elasticity of the belt-shaped ball connecting body, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,064. However, it is difficult to bend the belt-shaped ball connecting body, while the returning radius is apparently enlarged, thereby increasing the space of the returning path, so that the conventional belt-shaped ball connecting body cannot completely satisfy the requirements of the industry.

Ball connecting body for a rolling motion apparatus


A volumetric modular unit constructed at a modular unit factory and shipped assembled to a modular building project site is disclosed. A modular building constructed from shipped volumetric modular units is also disclosed. Features of a volumetric modular unit and modular building are designed to account for and leverage traditional building practices. Shipping constraints often dictate volumetric modular unit design constraints. The volumetric modular unit and modular constructed building addresses both design needs and shipping constraints to leverage more economical resources available at a volumetric modular unit manufacturing plant.

Modular building construction is used to construct single floor and multi-floor projects. Complications, especially for multi-floor projects, can arise from modular unit height and shipping distance restrictions for highway transport from a modular unit construction plant to a modular building construction site, alignment and elevation issues between both stacked and adjacent modular units, alignment and elevation issues between both stacked and adjacent modular units for running plumbing, electrical, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), moisture ingress issues particularly between the ground and floor of a modular unit, issues sloping and draining water from exterior surfaces such as a roof, and issues spanning large open spaces or unsupported spans with a volumetric modular unit.

Volumetric modular unit for modular building construction


This application provides a resource mapping method, a network device, and a terminal device. The method includes: generating, by a network device, control information, where the control information is used to indicate at least one type of the following information: at least one bandwidth region in which at least one frequency domain resource unit is located, a granularity of the frequency domain resource unit, and a location of the frequency domain resource unit in the bandwidth region; and sending, by the network device, the control information to a terminal device. The frequency domain resource unit is a scheduling unit of a frequency domain resource used when the network device and the terminal device transmit a data channel. The granularity of the resource unit corresponds to a granularity of a resource unit used when the network device and the terminal device transmit a control channel.

In a new radio (NR) standard of a fifth-generation communications system, a downlink transmission resource is divided into a control region and a data region. The control region is used to transmit a control channel, and the data region is used to transmit a data channel. Downlink control information carried on the control channel is used to indicate a frequency domain location, in the data region, of a resource block (RB) used by the data channel, and the data channel is used to carry downlink data.
In the NR standard, the control channel may use one or more control channel elements (CCE) for transmission. One CCE includes a plurality of resource element groups (REG). Therefore, when sending the control channel, a base station needs to perform CCE-to-REG resource mapping on the control channel in the control region of the downlink transmission resource. To be specific, the REG is used as a basic unit of the CCE, and each CCE used by the control channel is mapped to the downlink transmission resource. When resource mapping is performed in this manner, resources that are not occupied by the control channel and that are in the control region of the downlink transmission resource are idle resources in the control region.
Currently, it is proposed in the NR standard that when there are the idle resources in the control region, the data channel may reuse the idle resources for data transmission, to improve resource utilization. Therefore, when the data channel uses resources in the control region, how the base station allocates resources to the data channel to improve resource utilization of the control region is an urgent problem that needs to be resolved.

Resource mapping method, network device, and terminal device


A system for increasing the quantity of a gas, e.g., ozone, dissolved in a liquid, e.g., ultrapure deionized water, is provided. Generally, the system provided by the present invention includes a pressurized vessel and an outlet coupled to the pressurized vessel adapted to dispense a stream of the admixture including the liquid and the dissolved gas under sufficiently gentle conditions such that the dispensed admixture comprises an increased quantity of dissolved gas relative to admixture produced and dispensed by conventional methods. Thus, the system of the present invention is able to provide, e.g., ozonated water, continuously, efficiently and without cooling, and thus provides a simple, cost efficient system capable of producing high concentration ozonated water.

Ozone has long been recognized as a useful chemical commodity valued particularly for its outstanding oxidative activity. In fact, ozone is the fourth strongest oxidizing chemical known, having an oxidation potential of 2.07 volts. Because of this property, ozone and/or fluid mixtures including ozone are capable of removing a wide variety of contaminants, such as cyanides, phenols, iron, manganese, and detergents, from surfaces. Also, ozone and/or fluid mixtures including ozone are capable of oxidizing surfaces. In particular, ozonated water is used to "clean", i.e., oxidize, the surface of silicon wafers in-process in the semiconductor industry. Additionally, ozone is also useful for inhibiting, reducing and/or eliminating the accumulation of biomass, mold, mildew, algae, fungi, bacterial growth and scale deposits in various aqueous solution systems. When used in this manner, ozonation provides the advantage of producing a lesser quantity of potentially harmful residues than, e.g., chlorination, which leaves undesirable chlorinated residues in aqueous systems.
Because of this wide range of activity, ozone finds application in many diverse processes. Ozone, for example, has been used as a biocide for the treatment of drinking water. Additionally, ozone is used for sterilization in the brewing industry, and for odor control purposes in the sewage treatment industry. Finally, ozonated water finds wide utility in the semiconductor industry, where for example, ozone is used to clean and surface condition in-process silicon wafers. Additionally, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,317, ozonated water is used to remove organic materials, such as photoresist, from the surface of silicon wafers. Moreover, ozonated water is used in the semiconductor industry to form a thin, passivating oxide layer on the surface of silicon wafers.
The use of ozonated water provides several advantages in these applications. First of all, because ozonated water is generated at the point of use, it is free of contaminants, i e., particles and metals, that are typically present in chemicals that are stored in barrels or drums. Ozonated water is also less expensive than other oxidizing chemicals and furthermore, since ozonated water naturally decomposes, the use of ozonated water presents no disposal issues. However, the effectiveness of ozone in each of these applications is adversely affected by its low solubility and short-half life (approximately 10 minutes) in aqueous solutions. That is, not only is it difficult to dissolve ozone in an aqueous solution, but also, once dissolved, it is difficult to maintain the ozone in solution.
Although several methods of increasing the quantity of dissolved ozone in aqueous solutions are known, each of these prior art methods has limitations that render them inadequate for certain applications. For example, bubbling ozone directly into water at ambient pressure has been used as a method to dissolve ozone in aqueous solutions. Such a technique, however, does not optimize the quantity of ozone dissolved, since the ozone bubbles effervesce before a substantial amount of ozone can be dissolved into solution and/or before the ozonated water can be applied to the surface to be treated.
Additionally, published European patent application No. EP 0 430 904 A1 discloses a process for producing ozonated water comprising the step of contacting, within a vessel of defined volume, an ozone-containing gas with fine droplets of water. However, this process is less than optimal since it provides limited contact between the ozone-containing gas and water. That is, as the vessel fills with water, the time of contact between the ozone containing gas and the fine water droplets is shortened, resulting in a lesser quantity of ozone being dissolved into solution. Additionally, this application does not teach a method of keeping the ozone in solution until it is delivered to a point of use. Thus, it is possible that, upon delivery, a large quantity of the ozone dissolved in solution will effervesce, and the benefits of the mixing process will be lost.
Finally, several methods utilizing cooling to increase the quantity of dissolved ozone in aqueous solutions have also been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,841 discloses a method of ozonating water comprising injecting ozone through an aqueous stream across a pressure drop of at least 35 psi. The ozonated stream is then combined with a second stream that is preferably a portion of an aqueous solution which is recirculating in a cooling water system. The resultant stream is forced to flow at a velocity of 7 feet per second for a distance sufficient to allow 70% of the ozone to be absorbed. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,786 discloses a process for increasing the quantity of dissolved ozone in an aqueous solution by injecting an ozone containing gas into a side stream conduit which circulates a portion of cooling water. The ozone-injected water is then mixed with the cooling water in a tower basin, thereby ozonating the water. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,480 discloses a process for removing organic materials from semiconductor wafers using ozonated water. Specifically, this patent teaches that high ozone concentration water, suitable for use in the disclosed process may be obtained by mixing ozone and water at a temperature of from about 1.degree. C. to 15.degree. C.
Although the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,841, 4,172,786 and 5,464,480 claim to increase the quantity of dissolved ozone in water, it is more likely that much of the ozone effervesces to the atmosphere and/or is converted to oxygen rather than being dissolved in the water. Thus, these systems would require the use of a large amount of ozone, which would, in turn, render them costly. Additionally, these patents do not disclose methods for optimizing the ozone concentration at the point of use, and as a result, it is possible that the increased ozone, if any, that is dissolved as a result of cooling the solution, will effervesce out of solution at the point of use.
Thus, there is a need for an efficient method of increasing the quantity of ozone that may be dissolved and maintained in aqueous solution to a point of use, not only to minimize the amount of ozone used, but also to provide sufficiently ozonated aqueous solutions for given applications.

System to increase the quantity of dissolved gas in a liquid and to maintain the increased quantity of dissolved gas in the liquid until utilized


A data aggregation system comprises an aggregation server. The aggregation server receives from a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) graphics data comprising a graphical representation of a portion of an industrial automation environment over an enterprise network, receives operation data associated with an operation of the industrial automation environment over the enterprise network, and receives a request for a viewing session from a plurality of communication devices over a communication network. In response to the request, the aggregation server transfers the graphics data over the communication network to the plurality of communication devices. In response to the request, the aggregation server transfers the operation data over the communication network to the plurality of communication devices.

Industrial automation environments include automobile manufacturing factories, food processing plants, and microprocessor fabrication facilities. The typical industrial environment includes various machines, such as pumps, motors, and robots. These machines continually produce data that indicates the current status of the machines, such as the machine's pressure, temperature, or speed.
The typical industrial environment also includes a Human-Machine Interface (HMI). The HMI can display a graphical representation of an industrial automation environment, including graphical representations of machines. The HMI also receives and processes operation data from the machines to generate various graphical displays. The graphical displays indicate the current and historical status of the machines. For example, an HMI graphical display might indicate the pressure of a pump, the speed of a motor, or the output of a robot.
A user may remotely operate a communication device to access a communication network of an industrial automation environment. The communication device functions as a remote HMI and retrieves operation data from the machines and graphics data from the HMI over a communication network. Unfortunately, frequent requests for such data from multiple communication devices puts strain on the HMI, the machines, and the network.

System and method for the automatic aggregation of industrial automation displays


The present invention proposes a carrier substrate (1) for electrical components (13), the carrier substrate (1) having a component side (4) and a cooling side (5) which is opposite the component side (4) and has a cooling structure (30), the carrier substrate (1) comprising a primary layer (10) which faces the component side (4) and is produced from ceramic for electrical insulation, and a secondary layer (20) which faces the cooling side (5) for stiffening the carrier substrate (1), characterized in that a metallic intermediate layer (15) is arranged between the primary layer (10) and the secondary layer (20) for heat transfer from the component side (4) to the cooling side (5), the metallic intermediate layer (15) being thicker than the primary layer (10) and/or the secondary layer (20).

The present invention concerns a carrier substrate for electrical components, in particular electronic components, and a process for producing a carrier substrate.
Carrier substrates, for example, are known as boards or printed circuit boards from DE 10 2004 033 933 A1. Typically, electrical components and conductive paths are arranged on one component side of the carrier substrate, wherein the electrical components and conductive paths can be interconnected to form electrical circuits. For special applications, carrier substrates have proven to be particularly advantageous which have an insulating layer with high electrical insulation strength for the electrical insulation of the individual electrical components and conductive paths, e.g. a primary layer produced from ceramic.
During operation of these carrier substrates, the electrical components are typically stressed in such a way that they heat up and form local heat sources on the component side. In order to avoid damage to the electrical components or the carrier substrate caused by heating, the state of the art therefore knows, for example, from DE 10 2009 022 877 A1, heat sinks or cooling structures that are usually soldered to a cooling side opposite the component side, which is formed, for example, as a copper layer or copper base adjacent to the primary layer. In order to provide sufficient heat capacity by the heat sink or the cooling structure, the heat sinks and/or the cooling structures must be dimensioned appropriately large, which means that a design for the carrier substrate that fills an available space cannot be avoided in a disadvantageous way.
In addition, certain electrical components and their power density increase demands on the cooling performance of the carrier substrate. Further, parasitic inductances can occur on the carrier substrate when the electrical components are used, which have a negative effect on the operation of the carrier substrate. Finally, the electromagnetic compatibility of such carrier substrates have high demands on the conductor structures used or the metallic structures in general.

Carrier substrate with a thick metal interlayer and a cooling structure


A vehicular backing operation assist apparatus is coupled with a movement direction demand unit for demanding a forward or backward movement of the vehicle and a change detection unit for detecting a change of a state of the vehicle taking place in association with a start-up of the vehicle. A reverse departure, which is a backing operation for exiting a parking state, is determined to be performed if a transit period from when the change of the state is detected to when the backward movement is demanded, is within a predetermined period. A reverse parking, which is a backing operation for entering a parking state, is performed, if the transit period is greater than or equal to the predetermined period. An assist control unit then provides an assist item for a backing operation relative to either the reverse departure or the reverse parking, which is determined to be performed.

Patent Document 1 discloses a backing operation assist apparatus for a vehicle. The apparatus assists a driver when the vehicle moves backward. In Patent Document 1, several cameras are mounted in a vehicle to capture images of an area surrounding the vehicle. An operation scene is able to be selected by a driver from among a normal driving scene, a side-by-side parking scene, a parallel parking scene, a vehicle forward monitoring scene, a vehicle rearward monitoring scene, a pull-over-to-a-kerb scene, a narrow load scene etc. In accordance with the operation scene selected, a display unit displays a corresponding composite image including peripheral images of a forward view, rearward view, and a top view. The composite image allows the driver to see and recognize the images in the composite image simultaneously.
According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a driver needs to perform a selection operation for selecting an operation scene from among various scenes. The selection operation naturally costs the driver his/her time or trouble.                Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3803021 (JP-2002-109697 A)

Backing operation assist apparatus for vehicle


Even if a standby time to the measurement becomes long, a sample in a sample container is prevented from deteriorating. A cooling mechanism is provided in a sample tray for holding a sample plate, or in a plate-mounting portion of a table-type auto sampler of a capillary electrophoresis apparatus, so that the sample plate is cooled during the measurement also.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to capillary electrophoresis apparatuses. Particularly, the present invention relates to a capillary electrophoresis apparatus that separates and analyzes samples, such as DNA or proteins, using a plurality of capillaries, and to a sample tray used in the separation analysis by this electrophoresis apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a capillary electrophoresis apparatus has been used widely in which a capillary is filled with an electrophoresis medium (separation medium), such as a polymer gel or a polymer solution.
A capillary electrophoresis apparatus, as described in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent No. 2776208), has a high heat dissipation capacity enabling application of a high voltage to a sample as compared with a conventionally used flat-plate electrophoresis apparatus. Accordingly, the capillary electrophoresis apparatus has the advantage of performing electrophoresis at high speed. Moreover, the capillary electrophoresis apparatus has a lot of advantages, such as that a far less amount of sample is required, and that the automated filling of a separation medium and the automated injection of samples are possible, and therefore, it has been utilized in various separation-analysis measurements, such as DNA and protein analyses.
This DNA sequencer includes a mechanism, using a syringe or a pump, capable of automatically filling the capillary with a polymer (separation medium) and automatically injecting the capillary with a sample, and so on. With this mechanism, the separation-analysis measurement of samples can be carried out continuously even without man power, for example in all-night operation.
Incidentally, a sample to be subjected to electrophoresis analysis is usually dispensed in a container while being dissolved in a solvent. For example, when the separation analysis of DNA is to be carried out, the DNA to be analyzed is amplified in advance using an approach, such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction). For this reason, a sample plate for thermal cycler and a sample tube for PCR which have been used in the amplification reaction of DNA by the PCR apparatus are often used subsequently as the sample container also at the time of the separation-analysis measurement of this purified DNA using the capillary electrophoresis apparatus.
Accordingly, when the sample purified by the amplification reaction with the PCR apparatus is measured using the capillary electrophoresis apparatus, there is no need to take the trouble to transfer the sample to another container for this measurement. Thus, the separation-analysis measurement can be conveniently performed using the capillary electrophoresis apparatus on the sample without transferring the sample. Moreover, the attaching of such a sample plate to an adapter as shown in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-324474 A) facilitates automated transport of samples inside the apparatus.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2776208    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-324474 A    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-29814 A    Patent Document 4: JP Patent Publication (Kohyo) No. 11-502937 A (1999)    Non-Patent Document 1: "Various kinds of plates and electrophoresis buffers", Beckman Coulter, Inc., URL: http://www.beckmancoulter.co.jp/product/product01/CEQ_plate.html, [online] searched on June 16, Heisei 20 (2008)

Electrophoresis apparatus using capillary array and a sample tray


The present invention provides a computer implemented method for communicating a signature in a received email. Initially, a server receives a source email from a source client, the source email comprising a signature index entry, and a body. The server determines for a first recipient that a first associated destination client is capable of rendering a signature of the signature index entry in response to a selection of an indexed signature. The server, responsive to a determination that the destination client is capable of rendering the signature index entry, forwards the source email to the first recipient as a delivered email using the body of the source email such that an indexed signature is present in the body of the delivered email. In addition, a method for generating a signature header is shown that provides a many to one correspondence between indexed signatures and a signature index entry.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to a computer implemented method for handling email content. More specifically, the present invention relates to emails that link header content to one or more indexed signatures.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Modern users of networked computers collaborate with each other through the use of electronic messaging systems, for example, email. Email is an electronic message formed and transported via Internet and/or intranet email systems based on, for example, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and X.400 systems, among others.
Email is typically originated by a user who authors a source email using a source client. The source email is the email as transmitted from the source client. A source client is an email authoring tool, for example, IBM Lotus Notes, Google Gmail, and Microsoft Outlook, among others. Simple emails can be composed using editors such as the popular UNIX editor, vi, and directing a file so-composed to a command-line mail invocation. The command-line invocation can rely upon, for example, qmail or sendmail. Under such a circumstance, the qmail or sendmail program is the source client. An email may exist in several forms. An email may be in draft form while a user authors it. An email may be a source email, forwarded email, or received email.
A draft source email is an email that is incomplete and in the process of being written. The draft source email is a data structure stored by a source client in response to a user-entered command to edit. The draft source email may have placeholders for components usually associated with an email, for example, a to-line field, a subject field, and a body, to name a few.
After completing an email, a user may enter a command to transmit the source email. A data processing system sends the source email to a source server. A source server is a data processing system that receives email from a network and forwards the email as a forwarded email to one or more recipients as defined in the to-line field. The source server may be a store-and-forward email server. The source server may be a mail transfer agent. Typically, the source server forwards a source email as a delivered email to one or more recipients of a domain. The domain is typically assigned to a destination server so that the source server forwards emails of the domain to the destination server. Nevertheless, the source server may also be the destination server, for example, in cases where the email traverses a proprietary intranet. A delivered email is an email that is sent to a destination server, or to a server that supports the destination server. To be a delivered email, the email merely needs to be sent addressed in a manner to reach the destination server, and not necessarily received at the destination server.
The destination server, responsive to receiving the delivered email, looks up a recipient appearing in the to-line field. If the recipient is valid, the destination server may store the email in a repository associated with the recipient. At some time, usually on a set schedule, the destination client may poll the destination server. Consequently, the destination server may download the delivered email to the destination client. In this context, the destination server is the server that receives an email from a source server. However, when a destination client replies to an email, the roles of each server may be reversed such that, for purposes of the reply email, the destination server becomes the source server, and the source server becomes the destination server. A destination client is an email client that can download emails from a server and render such emails to a user. A received email is an email downloaded to a destination client.
Rendering an email comprises a data processing system displaying email content comprising the first few lines of the body of the email. The rendering may include showing text in specified fonts, showing embedded images, and providing MIME transformations of the email, for example. When visible on a computer display, a received email may be a rendered email, having a rendered body. An email displayed to a screen may still be a rendered email even though parts of the email are not displayed in an optimal form. For example, some destination clients are unable to render all fonts, and some destination clients do not in all cases display image content. Moreover, some destination clients compress portions of an email dialog by replacing a prior generation of forwarded email(s) as a graphic image, rather than displaying the text of the body of such forwarded email. Such a graphic image may be accompanied by indicia or text that indicate subject, author and date of the 'replaced' email. Indicia can be a line of text describing such information. Thus, a rendered email is any received email that is presented having at least a few characters of the body visible or a rendered image of the body visible to the display.

Composing, forwarding, and rendering email system