An axial bearing device includes an annular electrical sheet arrangement having individual sheets which protrude radially outward. In addition, an electrical coil is provided in the axial bearing device and is inserted into the electrical sheet arrangement to generate a magnetic field in the electrical sheet arrangement. The electric sheet arrangement includes at least two concentric electrical sheet rings. All adjacent electrical sheets of each electrical sheet ring substantially abut at the inner circumference of the respective electrical sheet ring.

The present invention relates to an axial bearing device having an annular electrical sheet arrangement in which the individual sheets protrude radially outward, and an electrical coil which is inserted into the electrical sheet arrangement in order to generate a magnetic field in the electrical sheet arrangement.
Active, magnetic axial bearings are used in order to set defined spacings between two objects in contactless fashion. The basic construction of such an axial bearing can be seen in FIG. 1. In the example a shaft 1 is mounted in axial fashion. A steel disk 2 is attached concentrically on the shaft 1. In addition to the steel disk 2 the axial bearing arrangement here has two annular electromagnets 3, 4 (here also referred to as axial bearing devices) which are arranged on both sides of the steel disk 2 coaxially therewith and with the shaft 1. While the electromagnets 3 and 4 are static and are attached for example on the housing of an electrical machine, the shaft including the steel disk 2 rotates in the interior of the two electromagnets 3, 4.
The electromagnets 3, 4 exert forces on soft magnetic materials such as the steel disk 2. When the electromagnets 3, 4 are suitably controlled, the steel disk 2 can be held in contactless fashion at a defined axial position between the electromagnets 3 and 4.
The electromagnets 3, 4 are as a rule constructed using torroidal cores which are arranged in a groove in an iron support. The iron support is usually of solid construction. In solidly constructed supports field changes result in eddy currents which in turn produce opposing fields. The controllability of the magnetic bearings is thereby degraded.
Eddy currents are reduced in a known manner through lamination of the support iron. The lamination of axial bearing supports is known from the publication DE 691 03 756 T2 where the stator and rotor components of a magnetic thrust bearing are described with each having a laminated design. The lamination sheets are curved such that their tips lie in a common cylindrical plane. In addition, side edges abutting one another of the lamination sheets likewise lie in common planes which are arranged perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

Axial bearing device having increased iron filling


The device has a processor (20) that applies a magnetic field to a measurement subject (2) and after the magnetic field is discontinued, uses an induced electromotive force detector (17) to measure the magnetic fluxes emitted from multiple locations, calculates time constants of transient change of the plurality of magnetic fluxes, and detects the internal structure of the measurement subject (2) from the distribution of the time constants. The processor (20) prompts the induced electromotive force detector (17) to make first measurements at predetermined locations, prompts the induced electromotive force detector (17) to make second measurements at locations rotated by a predetermined angle from the predetermined locations, and based on the internal structure detected by the first measurements and the internal structure detected by the second measurements, estimates the center location of the nugget and/or the diameter of the nugget which has been formed inside the measurement subject (2).

Spot welding has been commonly employed as the welding used in the construction of various thin plate metallic products. Spot welding is a method of welding that interposes a welded region of overlapped metal plates from above and below by electrodes having leading ends molded into a predetermined shape, at a predetermined pressure, and flows a predetermined current between both electrodes for a predetermined time, thereby locally heating the welded region and welding.
In addition, the surface of the welded region welded by way of spot welding is indented compared to outside of the welded part due to the pressure. This concaved part is referred to as an indentation, and the dimension of the concaved part is referred to as indentation diameter.
In addition, inside of the welded region is formed by a nugget (weld) and a crimp at the periphery thereof. The nugget is a portion at which the metal temporary melted and solidified. On the other hand, the crimp is a portion pressure bonded at the surfaces of the metal. The dimension of the nugget is referred to as nugget diameter, the nugget and crimp are collectively referred to as a joint, and the dimension of the joint is referred to as joint diameter. It should be noted that the joint is actually the joined portion.
In addition, since the overlapped metal plates are welded at a point (spot) in spot welding, it is necessary to test whether or not the weld strength is sufficient.
As a method of performing measurement of the weld strength non-destructively, a method of estimating the weld strength by measuring the nugget diameter is effective (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). Conventionally, as a method of measuring the nugget diameter, a method has been known that applies to the welded region a magnetic field generated by coils through which current flows, and then obtains the nugget diameter from the change in inductance of the coils generated as a result thereof. With the conventional method, since there is a property whereby the magnetic permeability (μ) changes between the nugget and portions other than the nugget, the change in magnetic permeability (μ) is detected as the change in inductance using this property, whereby the nugget diameter is obtained.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 3098193

Non-destructive testing device for testing a welded region of a workpiece


A negative pressure type booster 1 includes a housing 2, a movable wall 3 which divides the interior portion of the housing 2 into a constant pressure chamber 4 and a variable pressure chamber 5, a power piston 6 which outputs a brake output toward an output rod 10, an input member 8 which can be moved by a brake actuation, and a control valve 13. The output rod 10 can be divided into a first output rod 101 and a second output rod 102. The output rod 10 includes an auxiliary movable wall 17 which is provided within the constant pressure chamber 4 in such a manner that it can be moved by a given amount and also which can be engaged with the second output rod 102, a diaphragm 18 which is engaged with the auxiliary movable wall 17 in order to form an auxiliary variable pressure chamber 19 between the auxiliary movable wall 17 and itself, and communication chamber switching device which allows the auxiliary variable pressure chamber 19 to communicate selectively with either the constant pressure chamber 4 or the atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a negative pressure type booster which is used to boost a brake force, and more particularly to a negative pressure type booster for use in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been widely used a negative pressure type booster for reduction of an operation force when braking a vehicle. The conventional negative pressure type booster includes: a constant pressure chamber, which is normally in communication with an intake manifold provided in an engine and into which a negative pressure can be introduced; a variable pressure chamber which is used to select either a first state where the variable pressure chamber is cut off from the constant pressure chamber so that it is in communication with the atmospheres or a second state where the variable pressure chamber is in communication with the constant pressure chamber so that a negative pressure is introduced into the variable pressure chamber; a vacuum valve which is used to establish or cut off communication between the constant pressure chamber and the variable pressure chamber; and an air valve which is used to establish or cut off communication between the variable pressure chamber and the atmosphere. In the conventional negative pressure type booster, if the vacuum valve and the air valve are opened or closed by operating a brake operation member provided in the vehicle, then a pressure difference according to the operation force of a brake operation member can be set between the constant pressure chamber and variable pressure chamber, which makes it possible to generate a brake force which is amplified according to the operation force of the brake operation member.
By the way, in recent years, there has been known a negative pressure type booster including an electrically operated solenoid valve, where even when a brake operation member is not operated by a driver, the operation of the solenoid valve can bring a variable pressure chamber into communication with the atmosphere to thereby produce a large is pressure difference between the variable pressure chamber and a constant pressure chamber, so that a great brake force can be generated. For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei 5-24533 discloses a negative pressure type booster of the above-mentioned type.
On the other hand, conventionally, there is also known a brake fluid pressure device including a traction control system (hereinafter referred to as "TRC") in which when a vehicle starts to move, if an excessive drive force is applied onto the wheels of the vehicle to the degree that the drive wheels thereof are caused to slip on the surface of a road, without any braking operation by a driver, a brake force can be applied onto the side of the slipping drive wheels to increase a brake fluid pressure temporarily, thereby causing the slipping wheels to grip the road surface so that the vehicle wheels can be accelerated effectively. In such a brake fluid pressure device, there has been demanded an initial pressure increasing function to allow smoother supply of brake fluid which is used to give a brake force onto the side of the slipping wheels.
When the above-mentioned initial pressure increasing function is carried out in the above conventional negative pressure type booster, the following case can be expected: that is, for example, in the start of motion of the vehicle, if a drive force is given to the vehicle wheels excessively to thereby cause the drive wheels thereof to slip on the road surface, with no braking operation by a driver, the solenoid valve can be operated electrically, the operation of the solenoid valve can bring the variable pressure chamber into communication with the atmosphere to thereby produce a large pressure difference between the variable pressure chamber and the constant pressure chamber and thus generate a brake force, so that the brake fluid can be supplied to the slipping drive wheel side.
However, in the conventional negative pressure type booster, the great brake force is generated because the atmosphere is introduced into the variable pressure chamber to fill it up by means of the operation of the solenoid valve. Therefore, in the TRC or the like, when the conventional negative pressure type booster is operated as an initial pressure increasing function, if the solenoid valve or the like is out of order, then there exists a fear that the great brake force can be generated all the time.


A paper stacking apparatus enables documents emerging in a continuous flow from the exit of an image processing system to be stacked in the order in which the documents exit, even when the documents exit at irregular intervals. The paper stacking apparatus utilizes a conveyor belt which is divided into two transport segments. A first transport segment transports documents away from an exit of an image processing machine and drives a leading edge of each document onto an inclined stacking tray. A second transport segment, which slopes downwardly, pushes a trailing edge of each document onto the stacking tray.

Image processing systems such as copying machines, printers and image scanners are being required for high-speed processing of a growing quantities of information generated by modern society. An image processing system is usually equipped with an automatic document feeder to provide a continuous input of documents from a stack of such documents, and a paper stacker which stacks the processed documents as they exit from the system.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a prior art paper stacking apparatus 20. The stacking apparatus 20 comprises a conveyor belt 22, support rollers 24 and a stacking tray 26. FIGS. 1 and 2 also show a portion of an image processing machine 40 with exit rollers 41 that feed documents 50 onto the paper stacking apparatus 20. The paper stacking apparatus 20 is coupled to the image processing machine 40. The conveyor belt 22 is driven in a direction shown by an arrow A by a conventional motor (not shown). The stacking tray 26 is attached to the paper stacking apparatus 20 at an angle to facilitate removal of the documents 50 after they are stacked. Stacked documents are designated with the numeral 50a.
The documents 50 which emerge from the exit rollers 41 are conveyed along the conveyor belt 22 at a speed that is slower than the speed at which the documents 50 exit the image processing machine 40. Because of this speed differential, the emerging documents 50 are conveyed with a leading edge of each the document 50 overlapping a trailing edge of the document 50 in front. The documents 50 thus conveyed are pushed up onto the stacking tray 26. As a result of the overlapping, the documents 50 are stacked up on the stacking tray 26 in the correct order.
In order to assure a proper overlapping of the documents 50, it is necessary to feed the documents 50 from the image processing machine 40 at a substantially constant rate and with a prescribed interval or space between the documents 50. If this prescribed interval is not maintained, a stream of the documents 50 exits with intermittent overlapping. This condition is shown in FIG. 2. One of the documents 50, designated as 50b, is shown in FIG. 2 being pushed up against the lower edge of the stacked documents 50a already on the stacking tray 26. When this condition occurs it is possible that the document 50b will be forced into the midst of the stacked documents 50a. When this occurs, the documents 50 are not stacked in the order in which they exited the image processing machine 40.
It is desirable therefore to provide a document stacking apparatus which can maintain a correct order of stacked documents emerging from an image processing machine when the documents are not overlapped.


A scroll compressor includes a hermetic shell which has a partition defining a discharge pressure chamber and a suction pressure chamber within the shell. The partition includes a surface which pilots the non-orbiting scroll to allow for limited axial movement of the non-orbiting scroll. Rotational motion of the non-orbiting scroll is prohibited by a stationary pin which extends from the partition to engage an extension of the slot which is utilized by the Oldham coupling.

Scroll machines are generally provided with an outer shell which defines an internal hermetic chamber. A partition, often termed a muffler plate, is positioned within the internal hermetic chamber to define a suction pressure chamber and a discharge pressure chamber. A scroll assembly is located within the hermetic chamber of the outer shell and it includes an orbiting scroll member and a non-orbiting scroll member. Each scroll member has a spiral wrap and these spiral warps are mutually intermeshed to define at least one enclosed space of progressively changing volume between a suction pressure region and a discharge pressure region. The suction pressure region is in communication with the suction pressure chamber and the discharge pressure region is in communication with the discharge pressure chamber. A flow passage is normally formed through an end plate of one of the scroll members for allowing the fluid communication between the discharge pressure region and the discharge pressure chamber. Thus, the partition or muffler plate must allow fluid communication between the discharge pressure region and the discharge pressure chamber while effectively sealing the discharge pressure chamber from the suction pressure chamber.
Various designs for partitions or muffler plates have been developed which meet the requirements of sealing between the discharge pressure chamber and the suction pressure chamber while performing additional functions such as providing for the mounting and installation of an internal pressure relief valve.
While some scroll compressors have been developed having a fixed non-orbiting scroll and an orbiting scroll, other scroll compressors permit a small amount of axial movement of the non-orbiting scroll and then utilize fluid pressure biasing to bias the non-orbiting scroll into engagement with the orbiting scroll to enhance the sealing between the wraps of the scroll members. These axially movable non-orbiting scrolls thus require a movable seal assembly disposed between the non-orbiting scroll and the partition or muffler plate in order for the partition or muffler plate to meet its sealing requirements. In addition, the axial mounting systems for the non-orbiting scroll must permit axial movement of the non-orbiting scroll while simultaneously prohibiting rotational movement of the non-orbiting scroll. Applicants Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,316 entitled "Non-Orbiting Scroll Mounting Arrangements for a Scroll Machine", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses various systems for mounting axially movable non-orbiting scrolls.
The present invention discloses a partition which separates the internal hermetic chamber of a scroll machine into a discharge pressure chamber and a suction pressure chamber. In addition, the partition pilots the non-orbiting scroll member for limited axial movement while properly locating it within the internal hermetic chamber. A pin assembly disposed between the partition and the non-orbiting scroll member in one embodiment prohibits rotational movement of the non-orbiting scroll relative to the partition. In another embodiment, the pin assembly is disposed between the main bearing housing and the non-orbiting scroll to prohibit rotational movement of the non-orbiting scroll relative to the main bearing housing. Both the piloting of the non-orbiting scroll by the partition and the pin assembly allow the axial movement of the non-orbiting scroll necessary to enhance sealing between the wraps of the two scroll members.
Other advantages and objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the subsequent detailed description, appended claims and drawings.

Partition and pilot ring for scroll machine


A system is set forth to increase the capacity of an LNG-based liquefier in a cryogenic air separation unit wherein, in a low production mode, the nitrogen that is fed to the LNG-based liquefier consists only of at least a portion of the high pressure nitrogen from the distillation column system while in a high production mode, a supplemental compressor is used to boost the pressure of at least a portion of the low pressure nitrogen from the distillation column system to create additional (or replacement) feed to the LNG-based liquefier. A key to the present invention is the supplemental compressor and the associated heat exchange equipment is separate and distinct from the LNG-based liquefier. This allows its purchase to be delayed until a capacity increase is actually needed and thus avoid building an oversized liquefier based on a speculative increase in liquid product demand.

The present invention concerns the well known process (hereafter "Process") for the cryogenic separation of an air feed wherein:
(a) the air feed is compressed, cleaned of impurities that will freeze out at cryogenic temperatures such as water and carbon dioxide, and subsequently fed into an cryogenic air separation unit (hereafter "ASU") comprising a main heat exchanger and a distillation column system;
(b) the air feed is cooled (and optionally at least a portion condensed) in the main heat exchanger by indirectly heat exchanging the air feed against at least a portion of the effluent streams from the distillation column system;
(c) the cooled air feed is separated in the distillation column system into effluent streams including a stream enriched in nitrogen and a stream enriched in oxygen (and, optionally, respective streams enriched in the remaining components of the air feed including argon, krypton and xenon); and
(d) the distillation column system comprises a higher pressure column and a lower pressure column;
(e) the higher pressure column separates the air feed into effluent streams including a high pressure nitrogen stream withdrawn from the top of the higher pressure column, and a crude liquid oxygen stream withdrawn from the bottom of the higher pressure column and fed to the lower pressure column for further processing;
(f) the lower pressure column separates the crude liquid oxygen stream into effluent streams including an oxygen product stream withdrawn from the bottom of the lower pressure column, and a low pressure nitrogen stream withdrawn from the top of the lower pressure (and often a waste nitrogen stream which is withdrawn from an upper location of the lower pressure column); and
(g) the higher pressure column and lower pressure column are thermally linked such that at least a portion of the high pressure nitrogen is condensed in a reboiler/condenser against boiling oxygen-rich liquid that collects in the bottom (or sump) of the lower pressure column and used as reflux for the distillation column system.
More specifically, the present invention concerns the known embodiment of the above-described Process wherein, in order to provide the refrigeration necessary when at least a portion of the product is desired as liquid, refrigeration is extracted from liquefied natural gas (hereafter "LNG") by feeding nitrogen from the distillation column system to an insulated liquefier unit (hereafter "LNG-based liquefier") where it is liquefied. If at least a portion of the liquid product desired is liquid oxygen, at least a portion of the liquefied nitrogen is returned to the distillation column system (or optionally the main heat exchanger). Otherwise, the liquefied nitrogen is withdrawn as product.
Typical of LNG-based liquefiers, the nitrogen is compressed in stages and cooled between stages by indirect heat exchange against LNG. If the compression is performed with a cold-inlet temperature, the LNG will also be used to cool the feed to the compressor as well as the discharge by indirect heat exchange. Examples of LNG-Based liquefiers can be found in GB patent application 1,376,678 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,137,558, 5,139,547 and 5,141,543, all further discussed below.
The skilled practitioner will appreciate the contrast between an LNG-based liquefier and the more conventional liquefier where the refrigeration necessary to make liquid product is derived from turbo-expanding either nitrogen or air feed.
An LNG-based liquefier is typically oversized to accommodate a projected increase in demand of liquid products after the initial years of operation. This is particularly true for liquid nitrogen since the demand for liquid nitrogen out of any particularly ASU often grows faster than the demand for liquid oxygen above the base load of liquid oxygen for which the plant is designed. A problem with this oversizing approach however is the incremental capital cost incurred does not begin to pay off until the projected demand increase is actually realized (if at all). Furthermore, capital costs are particularly sensitive for LNG-based liquefiers since, as opposed to conventional liquefiers which are typically located near the customers of the liquid products, LNG-based liquefiers must be located near an LNG receiving terminal and thus incur a product transportation cost penalty.
To address this problem, the present invention is a system to increase the capacity of the LNG-based liquefier comprising a supplemental compressor that is separate and distinct from the auxiliary compressor(s) contained in the LNG-based liquefier. This allows the supplemental compressor and the associated heat exchange equipment to be purchased and installed when the projected demand increase is actually realized, if at all. In this fashion, the incremental capital that would have otherwise been spent on oversizing the LNG-based liquefier from the start does not get spent until it is actually needed. Another benefit of the present invention is that the capacity increase is primarily directly toward the ability to produce liquid nitrogen which, as noted above, will often have a demand that grows faster than the demand for the liquid oxygen from the plant.
The skilled practitioner will appreciate that, as an alternative to the present invention, the capacity of an LNG-based liquefier can be increased by adding a dense fluid expander. However, only modest capacity increases can be achieved in this manner.
GB patent application 1,376,678 (hereafter "GB '678") teaches the very basic concept of how LNG refrigeration may be used to liquefy a nitrogen stream. The LNG is first pumped to the desired delivery pressure then directed to a heat exchanger. The warm nitrogen gas is cooled in said heat exchanger then compressed in several stages. After each stage of compression, the now warmer nitrogen is returned to the heat exchanger and cooled again. After the final stage of compression the nitrogen is cooled then reduced in pressure across a valve and liquid is produced. When the stream is reduced in pressure, some vapor is generated which is recycled to the appropriate stage of compression.
GB '678 teaches many important fundamental principles. First, the LNG is not sufficiently cold to liquefy a low-pressure nitrogen gas. In fact, if the LNG were to be vaporized at atmospheric pressure, the boiling temperature would be typically above −260° F., and the nitrogen would need to be compressed to at least 15.5 bara in order to condense. If the LNG vaporization pressure is increased, so too will the required nitrogen pressure be increased. Therefore, multiple stages of nitrogen compression are required, and LNG can be used to provide cooling for the compressor intercooler and aftercooler. Second, because the LNG temperature is relatively warm compared to the normal boiling point of nitrogen (which is approximately −320° F.), flash gas is generated when the liquefied nitrogen is reduced in pressure. This flash gas must be recycled and recompressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,758 (hereafter "U.S. '758") discloses a method wherein a nitrogen gas stream is compressed to a pressure of about 15 bara then cooled and condensed by heat exchange against vaporizing LNG. The nitrogen gas stream originates from the top of the lower pressure column of a double-column cycle or from the top of the sole column of a single-column cycle. Some of the condensed liquid nitrogen, which was produced by heat exchange with vaporizing LNG, is returned to the top of the distillation column that produced the gaseous nitrogen. The refrigeration that is supplied by the liquid nitrogen is transformed in the distillation column to produce the oxygen product as a liquid. The portion of condensed liquid nitrogen that is not returned to the distillation column is directed to storage as product liquid nitrogen.
EP 0,304,355 (hereafter "EP '355") teaches the use of an inert gas recycle such as nitrogen or argon to act as a medium to transfer refrigeration from the LNG to the air separation plant. In this scheme, the high pressure inert gas stream is liquefied against vaporizing LNG then used to cool medium pressure streams from the air separation unit (ASU). One of the ASU streams, after cooling, is cold compressed, liquefied and returned to the ASU as refrigerant. The motivation here is to maintain the streams in the same heat exchanger as the LNG at a higher pressure than the LNG. This is done to assure that LNG cannot leak into the nitrogen streams, i.e. to ensure that methane cannot be transported into the ASU with the liquefied return nitrogen. The authors also assert that the bulk of the refrigeration needed for the ASU is blown as reflux liquid into a rectifying column.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,137,558, 5,139,547, and 5,141,543 (hereafter "U.S. '558", "U.S. '547", and "U.S. '543" respectively) provide a good survey of the prior art up to 1990. These three documents also teach the state-of-the-art at that time. In all three of these documents, the nitrogen feed to the liquefier is made up of lower pressure and higher pressure nitrogen streams from the ASU. The lower pressure nitrogen stream originates from the lower pressure column; the higher pressure nitrogen stream originates from the higher pressure column. No direction is given as to the ratio of the lower pressure to higher pressure nitrogen streams.
There is little new art in the literature since the early 90's because the majority of applications for recovery of refrigeration from LNG (LNG receiving terminals) were filled and new terminals were not commonly being built. Recently, there has been resurgence in interest in new LNG receiving terminals and therefore the potential to recover refrigeration from LNG.

System to increase capacity of LNG-based liquefier in air separation process


An optimization processor which is parameter driven for generating plural solutions for employee transfer requests and leave requests for an entire enterprise in near real time from which an optimal solution avoiding compromises to future staffing requirements may be selected.

An organization may have several locations from which it provides goods or services, and thus require employees in each location for a specific time period to support its objectives.
Each employee may request a transfer to one or more locations for a next time period. An awarded transfer request entitles the associated employee to commence an assignment at the awarded location at the start of the next time period. Until the end of the current time period, the employee remains at its current location.
Each employee may also request a leave of absence for the next time period. An awarded leave of absence request entitles the associated employee to take time off without pay for part or all, depending on the awarded leave type, of the next time period. Leave types consist of full period leaves, first half period leaves, last half period leaves, and jobshares. A full period leave provides time off for the entire time period. A first half period leave provides time off for the first half of the time period. A last half period leave provides time off for the last half of the time period. A jobshare consists of two employees who have designated each other as jobshare partners who share the work responsibilities of one person; it is the equivalent of a full period leave for one person.
The quantity of employees required at each location may vary from one time period to another. The organization determines how many employees will be required for the next time period. By awarding transfer requests, the organization is able to move employees from locations where fewer employees may be required to locations where more employees are required. Similarly, by awarding leaves of absence, the organization may temporarily reduce the number of employees at a location where fewer employees are required.
However, system-wide employee seniority is a factor that complicates transfer and leave processing. Let every employee have a unique seniority ranking. For any two employees making the same request, such as a transfer to the same location or for a particular leave type at the same location, the junior employee may not be awarded the request if the senior employee is not awarded the request.
During organization expansion, new hires may be added by the organization to the employee pool. The transfer and leave optimization processor also places new hires at locations that need additional staffing. In order to do so, and due to seniority requirements, it must assure that for every location to which a new hire is assigned, the most junior employee requesting a transfer to that location is granted its request.
An organization that faces the challenge of employees distributed across several locations who not only request transfers to other locations, but also request leaves of absence is Continental Airlines. At Continental Airlines, 9000 flight attendants are domiciled at three domestic, two international, and eleven language speaker bases. Through contractual rights, the flight attendants are permitted to request transfers from their current base to other bases within the Continental Airlines system. Flight attendants are also permitted to request full period leaves, jobshares, first half period leaves, and last half period leaves. As an organized union, the flight attendants of Continental Airlines adhere strictly to seniority requirements. Thus the rights and privileges afforded through seniority with respect to transfer and leave awards are enforced without exception.
At Continental Airlines, the time periods utilized are bid periods which approximate calendar months. In every bid period, approximately 5% of the flight attendant population has a transfer request on file, and approximately 5% of the flight attendant population has a leave request on file. By the 15th day of the calendar month preceding the start of the next bid period, Continental management is required to post the transfer and leave awards for the next bid period. Before doing so, management personnel determine the staffing levels required for the next bid period relative to the current bid period. Anecdotal evidence suggests that flight attendant utilization increases when they are domiciled where they prefer. Thus, there is a desire to award as many transfer requests as possible to increase flight attendant utilization and productivity. This evidence also suggests that flight attendant morale and reliability increases when leaves are granted. when flight attendants are awarded their requests, the entire population of flight attendants benefit through higher morale and fewer unplanned absences. With the flight attendant transfer and leave requests on file, knowledge of oncoming new hires, and knowledge of the required staffing levels for the next bid period, management must balance a desire to award as many transfer and leave requests as possible with the operational necessity to staff correctly and abide by seniority obligations.
Highly skilled Continental flight attendant management personnel with expert knowledge require from several hours to days to manually generate a single set of transfer and leave awards and new hire assignments. In general, the solution adopted in such a time consuming effort is the first that is obtained. Because of the time consuming manual process, there is little opportunity to generate multiple solutions and determine which one best satisfies not only the staffing requirements for the next bid period, but also puts the airline in the best staffing position beyond the next bid period.
Prior art, such as the Pilot Training Optimization System offered commercially by CALEB Technologies Corp. of Austin, Tex., and the paper entitled, "Moving Toward An Integrated Decision Support System For Manpower Planning At Continental Airlines: Optimization Of Pilot Training Assignments", by Gang Yu, Stacy Dugan, and Michael Arguello, Industrial Applications of Combinatorial Optimization, edited by Gang Yu, Jan. 24, 1998, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston Mass., solve unrelated problems. Such prior art systems focus on scheduling the advancement of pilots for training and future positions with respect to required staffing levels at each position. These systems are primarily interested in determining the timing of employee transitions which are already awarded to the employees.
In contrast, the problem addressed by this invention determines how to award transfers and leaves, and which combination of awarded transfers and leaves best meets the required staffing levels.
The invention described herein provides a means to generate a solution in seconds to a few minutes, and thus in near real time. The employee transfer and leave optimization processor in accordance with the invention is parameter driven in that parameter values and configuration settings may be varied to control the optimization processor. The parameters include the minimum and maximum quantity of awarded transfers into and out of specific locations, the minimum and maximum quantity of awarded leaves by type at specific locations, indicators allowing new hires into specific locations, indicators requiring transfer requests to be cleared (i.e., the most junior request is awarded) into specific locations, an indicator whether to process only transfer requests, an indicator whether to process only leave requests, and an indicator specifying that the required staffing levels be met exactly for the next time period. Because the invention is parameter driven, it can be executed several times with different parameter settings to generate a variety of solutions. With several solutions in hand, a user can converge towards solutions that were not previously attainable through their manual process.
The invention as described herein has been developed by CALEB Technologies Corp. of Austin, Tex., as part of an integrated decision support system. The system manages large volumes of data and employs state-of-the-art optimization modeling and solution techniques to efficiently allocate human and training resources, and attain optimal operational and cost effective performance.

Employee transfer and leave optimization processor


An elongated beam assembly for a tracked suspension includes an inverted “U” shaped member having a first upper surface disposed at an outwardly descending lateral angle; and a plurality of track wheels coupled to the bottom of the member and disposed inside the member. In another arrangement the assembly includes a curved plate disposed between and fixed to both an inner wall and outer wall of the “U” shaped member, with the free edge of the curved plate extending outward over the top edge of the outer wall.

Tracked vehicles are typically designed to operate in fields and construction sites. In these environments dirt and rocks are often churned up and deposited on suspension components. This can clog the tracks, jam suspension components and cause excessive wear, among other problems. What is needed is a suspension that can better shed dirt and other contaminants. It is an object of this invention to provide such a suspension assembly.


A meter device for measuring electrical energy is provided. The meter device includes circuitry for measuring at least one parameter of electrical energy provided to the meter device. A storage device is provided for storing at least one calibration factor for compensating for errors associated with at least one of at least one external current transformer (CT) and at least one external potential transformer (PT) that operates on the electrical energy provided to the meter device. At least one processor is provided for processing the at least one calibration factor for adjusting the measuring for compensating for the errors when measuring the at least one parameter of electrical energy.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to meters for measuring energy. In particular, this invention relates to a system and method for compensating for potential and current transformers in meters for measuring energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical utility companies ("utilities") track electric usage by customers by using power meters. These meters track the amount of power consumed at a particular location, such as a substation. The electric utility companies may use the power meter to charge its customers for their power consumption, i.e., revenue metering.
Traditionally, power meters used mechanical means to track the amount of consumed power. The inductive spinning disk power meter is still commonly used. The spinning disk drives mechanical counters that track the power consumption information.
Newer to the market are electronic power meters. Electronic meters have replaced the older mechanical meters, and utilize digital sampling of the voltage and current waveforms to generate power consumption information. In both, the mechanical and electronic power meters, when used with high voltages and currents, such as at a substation setting, the meters incorporate external sensors to divide the voltage and current into levels that are safe for the meters to read. Typically, a primary voltage is divided to a secondary 120 volt waveform, and a primary current is divided to a 5 amp secondary waveform. The sensors are current and/or voltage (potential) transformers, which introduce errors into the measurements in addition to errors introduced by other sources, such as the meters themselves. Furthermore, errors introduced by the current transformers are nonlinear throughout the range of magnitude of usage. Additionally, the current transformers are inductive by nature, and generate a phase shift which further degrades accuracy in measurements.
Therefore, it is an aspect of the invention to compensate for errors introduced by current and/or voltage transformers into readings by power meters.
It is further an aspect of the invention to compensate for nonlinear errors introduced by current transformers into readings by power meters.
Additionally, it is an aspect of the invention to compensate for errors introduced into readings by power meters due to phase shifts generated by the current transformers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for compensating for potential and current transformers in energy meters


Described herein are cannulated reamer designs and methods. In one embodiment, a reamer comprises a cannulated central body portion, a plurality of cutting legs and outer frame. The cannulated central body portion has an inner wall surface and an opposing outer wall surface defining a thickness and a bone contacting surface and an opposing distal end surface defining a length, the inner wall surface defining a bore about a central longitudinal axis of the cannulated central body portion. The plurality of cutting legs extends outwardly from the cannulated central body portion. The other defines a periphery of the reamer, the outer frame coupled to a lateral end of each of the plurality of cutting legs. The cannulated central body portion has a recess extending entirely through the thickness and only partially though the length.

Over time and through repeated use, bones and joints can become damaged or worn. For example, repetitive strain on bones and joints (e.g., through athletic activity), traumatic events, and certain diseases (e.g., arthritis) can cause cartilage in joint areas, for example, which normally provides a cushioning effect, to wear down. When the cartilage wears down, fluid can accumulate in the joint areas, resulting in pain, stiffness, and decreased mobility. The same can happen in cases where tendons in a joint become lax or soft tissues in or adjacent the joint tear becomes damaged or worn.
Arthroplasty procedures can be used to repair such damaged joints. During a typical arthroplasty procedure, an arthritic or otherwise dysfunctional joint can be remodeled or realigned. A prosthesis or prostheses can be implanted to repair the damaged region. Arthroplasty procedures may take place in any of a number of different regions of the body, such as the knees, hips, shoulders, or elbows, for example.
One type of arthroplasty procedure is a shoulder arthroplasty, in which a damaged shoulder joint may be replaced with prosthetic implants. The shoulder joint may have been damaged by, for example, arthritis (e.g., severe osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis), trauma, or a rare destructive joint disease.
Prostheses that are implanted into a damaged region may provide support and structure to the damaged region, and may help to restore the damaged region, thereby enhancing its functionality. Prior to implantation of a prosthesis in a damaged region, the damaged region may be prepared to receive the prosthesis. In the case of a shoulder arthroplasty procedure, one or more of the bones in the shoulder area, such as the humerus and/or glenoid, may be treated (e.g., cut, drilled, reamed, and/or resurfaced) to provide one or more surfaces that can align with the implant and thereby accommodate the implant. Standard alignment instrumentation and/or patient-specific guides may be used for locating a position and orientation to resect the humeral head for proper humeral stem placement.
Accuracy in implant alignment is an important factor to the success of a surgical procedure. A one to two millimeter translational misalignment, or a one to two degree rotational misalignment, may result in imbalanced ligaments, and may thereby significantly affect the outcome of the procedure. For example, implant misalignment may result in intolerable post-surgery pain, and also may prevent the patient from having proper deltoid tension or range of motion.
To achieve accurate implant alignment, prior to treating (e.g., cutting, drilling, reaming, and/or resurfacing) any regions of a bone, it is important to correctly determine the location at which the treatment will take place and how the treatment will be oriented. Prior to reaming the scapula, for example, the trajectory that the reaming will take place is determined either preoperatively or intraoperatively. A reamer is generally slid over a guide wire placed in the scapula at a desired trajectory. The reamer is then preferably used to remove bone at that trajectory until a desired depth is reached. Dislocation of the shoulder joint between the humerus and scapula generally occurs prior to reaming. It is often desirable to limit the amount of dislocation of the shoulder joint in order to not damage and/or preserve the surrounding soft tissues.


An optical encoder equipped with an origin detection apparatus has a scale provided with an optical grating, a plurality of light receiving elements that is provided in association with the pitch of the optical grating and movable relative to the scale and a light source that illuminates the light receiving elements with light through the scale. An optically discontinuous portion is provided in the optical grating of the scale, a change of a light beam that occurs over a certain length of section at the time when a light beam corresponding to the discontinuous portion is incident on the light receiving elements, a change occurring in that section is detected, calculation is performed, and an origin position is detected from the result of the calculation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an origin detection method for an optical encoder that is used in displace measurement or angle measurement.
2. Description of the Related Art
A photoelectric encoder has a main scale on which a first optical grating is provided and an index scale opposed thereto on which a second optical grating is provided. The photoelectric encoder further has a light source that illuminates the main scale with light and a light receiving element that receives light having been transmitted through or reflected by the optical grating of the main scale and transmitted through the optical grating of the index scale.
Japanese Patent Publication No. H06-056304 teaches use of a light receiving element array that also functions as an index scale in a photoelectric encoder of the above described type. The inventors of the present invention have also filed patent applications, e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-161645, on inventions concerning encoders of the above described type.
The encoder having the above described structure is called an incremental type encoder. This type of encoder detects the movement amount of a scale by counting the number of output pulses generated by movement of the scale. A problem encountered with the incremental type encoder is that the absolute position in the rotational angle cannot be determined, and it is required, in some cases, to provide an additional separate sensor to detect the absolute position.
As a solution to this problem, the following system has been developed. FIG. 16 shows a scale disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-318790, in which the transmittance of the pattern on the scale 1 is varied to enable to detect the absolute position in an incremental type encoder. In this scale, mark 1a has a transmittance of 1, and transmittances of marks 1b, 1c, 1d . . . gradually decrease.
FIG. 17 shows changes in signals that occur when a portion of the scale 1 in which the transmittance varies passes by a sensor in an encoder having this scale 1. Signals A and B are analogue two phase signals obtained from the sensor.
The amplitude of the signals decreases with a gradual decrease in the transmittance of the mark of the scale 1, and the absolute position can be detected by detecting this change in the signal amplitude.
In an absolute position detection unit used in the above described conventional encoder, in order to detect the signal amplitude, it is required to sample signals at intervals significantly shorter than a cycle of the encoder signals obtained.
Since it is necessary to determine the peak voltage and valley voltage of the signals based on the result of sampling, a large scale circuit such as a high speed A/D converter is required to be provided.
In addition, it is difficult to produce a scale including portions having different transmittances with reliability, and significant variations in actual changes in the signal amplitude will be generated.
An object of the present invention is to provide an origin detection method for an optical encoder that enables origin detection with a simple structure by performing computation according to changes in the sensor signal with movement of a scale.

Origin detection method for optical encoder


A brushless motor has a field part 20, three-phase coils 21, 22, and 23, a drive block 40 for supplying a power to the coils in accordance with output signals of a position detecting block 30, and a rotation detecting block 10 for producing a rotation signal and a direction signal by using output signals of the position detecting block 30. The rotation detecting block 10 has a shaped position signal producing circuit 11 for producing plural-phase shaped position signals, a rotation signal producing circuit 12 for producing the rotation signal synchronized with the shaped position signals, and a direction signal producing circuit 13 for producing the direction signal in correspondence with levels of the shaped position signals at a timing of a level change of the rotation signal.

The invention relates to a brushless motor for rotating a disk or the like.
Recently, in a brushless motor for rotating a disk or the like, a waveform shaping circuit is used for detecting a rotation of the motor in order to measure a rotational speed of the motor. As disclosed in, for example, the unexamined published Japanese patent application (TOKKAI) SHO 63-256013, the waveform shaping circuit is configured so as to produce a pulse signal by shaping an alternating signal of a frequency proportional to the rotational speed of the motor.
FIG. 27 shows configurations of a detector and the waveform shaping circuit which are used in detection of the rotation in the prior art. In an optical disk 2002 attached to a rotor shaft 2001, slits are formed at regular angular intervals. A light emitting diode 2010 and a phototransistor 2011 are attached to a support member 2003 fixed to the stator, so as to face each other across the slits of the optical disk 2002. A detection signal from the phototransistor 2011 is amplified by a linear amplifier circuit 2020, and an alternating signal 2101 is output. Accordingly, in response to the rotation of the optical disk 2002, the alternating signal 2101 of a frequency which is proportional to the rotational speed of the rotor is generated in the phototransistor 2011 and the amplifier circuit 2020.
A first comparator block 2110 having no hysteresis receives the alternating signal 2101, and produces a shaped signal 2141 which is obtained by comparing and shaping the alternating signal 2101. The first comparator block 2110 comprises a comparator 2111, an inverting circuit 2112, and a DC voltage source 2113. A second comparator block 2120 having a predetermined hysteresis width corresponding to resistors 2121 and 2122 produces another shaped signal 2142 which is obtained by comparing and shaping the alternating signal 2101 by using the predetermined hysteresis width. The second comparator block 2120 comprises the resistors 2121 and 2122, a comparator 2123, and an inverting circuit 2124. The shaped signals 2141 and 2142 are supplied to a pulse generating block 2130. The pulse generating block 2130 comprises an inverting circuit 2131, an AND circuit 2132, and OR circuits 2133 and 2134. The pulse generating block 2130 outputs a pulse signal 2150, the level of which is changed during a time period from a leading edge of the shaped signal 2141 to that of the shaped signal 2142. As a result, the rotational speed of the motor can be measured on the basis of the pulse signal 2150.
However, in the conventional brushless motor, many detection parts and detection devices are required to attach to the rotor and the stator in order to generate the alternating signals. Consequently, the number of mechanical parts is large and the production of the motor is complicated. In particular, the optical disk 2002 having slits must be attached to the rotor, and the light emitting diode 2010 and the phototransistor 2011 must be attached to the stator. As a result, the conventional brushless motor has problems that the production cost is high and that the space for such parts is large.
In the conventional brushless motor, moreover, the pulse signal 2150 can be used for measurement of the rotational speed but cannot be used for detection of a rotational direction. In many applications for rotating the disk or the like, it is required also to detect the rotational direction. In the above-mentioned conventional configuration, some detection parts for detecting the rotational direction must be additionally disposed.
As the two comparator blocks 2110 and 2120 are used for shaping the same alternating signal 2101, the circuitry of the conventional brushless motor has a complex configuration. In order to simplify the circuitry, it may be contemplated that only the first comparator block 2110 having no hysteresis is used, and the second comparator block 2120 and the pulse generating block 2130 are omitted. However, since the first comparator block 2110 has no hysteresis, many noise pulses are generated at timings when the edges of the shaped signal 2141 are generated, by high-frequency noises contained in the alternating signal 2101. The pulse signal from the first comparator block 2110 cannot be used as the signal for measuring the rotational speed.
On the contrary, in order to simplify the circuitry, it may be contemplated that only the second comparator block 2120 having hysteresis is used, and the first comparator block 2110 and the pulse generating block 2130 are omitted. However, since the second comparator block 2120 has hysteresis, timings of the edges of the shaped signal 2142 are shifted from the respective zero-crossing points of the input alternating signal 2101 by a value corresponding to the hysteresis width. Both the pulse width and the pulse period of the shaped signal 2142 are varied by an amplitude modulation component contained in the alternating signal 2101. Therefore, the pulse signal of the second comparator block 2120 cannot be sufficiently as the signal for measuring the rotational speed.
Although the two comparator blocks are used in the conventional brushless motor, the output signal has noise pulses when the alternating signal 2101 contains noises larger than the hysteresis width of the second comparator block 2120. In mass production, there are large variations in the amplitude of the alternating signal 2101. Therefore, the hysteresis width must be set to a value sufficiently smaller than the estimated minimum amplitude in mass-produced motors, and the margin for noises is reduced remarkably.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A master cylinder device including: a housing whose front side is closed and which has a separation wall for separating the inside of the housing into a front side chamber and a rear side chamber; a pressurizing piston disposed in the front side chamber so as to define a pressurizing chamber for pressurizing the brake fluid and an input chamber into which a brake fluid from a high pressure source is introduced; an input piston disposed in the rear side chamber and moving forward by an operation force; and a transmission rod which is through the separation wall, whose proximal end portion is fixed in one of the pressurizing and input pistons, and whose distal end portion is apart from the other of the pressurizing and input pistons in a state of no forward movement.

In hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like which are actively developed in recent years, a resistance force generated by an electric motor or an electric generator etc. which is driven by a rotation of a wheel is utilized for a regenerative brake. Additionally, even in these vehicles, a hydraulic brake in which a brake device is actuated by a brake fluid pressurized by a master cylinder device is utilized like a conventional vehicle. As for these vehicles, when a brake operation amount is small, that is, when a required brake force is small, the vehicle is braked with the regenerative brake. As the brake operation amount increases with the required brake force increasing, the vehicle is braked with not only the regenerative brake but also the hydraulic brake. Therefore, in the above vehicles, both brakes can brake the vehicle while cooperating with each other such that a brake force in the hydraulic brake is generated in a condition in which a brake force of the regenerative brake is insufficient. For such cooperation, each of master cylinder devices disclosed in the following Patent Literatures is configured to be able to pressurize a brake fluid depending on not a brake operation force by a driver but only a pressure of a brake fluid introduced from a high pressure source. That is, each of the master cylinder devices is configured to be able to voluntarily pressurize the brake fluid irrespective of a brake operation by the driver, thereby actuating the brake device only where necessary.    Patent Literature 1: JP-2007-55588-A    Patent Literature 2: JP-2009-502623-A


A programmable logic array is provided. The programmable logic array includes first and second logic planes. The first logic plane receives a number of input signals. The first logic plane includes a plurality of vertical transistors arranged in rows and columns that are interconnected to provide a number of logical outputs. The second logic plane also includes a number of vertical transistors arranged in rows and columns that receive the outputs of the first logic plane and that are interconnected to produce a number of logical outputs such that the programmable logic array implements a logical function.

This invention relates generally to integrated circuits and in particular to a programmable logic array with vertical transistors.
Logic circuits are an integral part of digital systems, such as computers. Essentially, a logic circuit processes a number of inputs to produce a number of outputs for use by the digital system. The inputs and outputs are generally electronic signals that take on one of two xe2x80x9cbinaryxe2x80x9d values, a xe2x80x9chighxe2x80x9d logic value or a xe2x80x9clowxe2x80x9d logic value. The logic circuit manipulates the inputs using binary logic which describes, in a mathematical way, a given or desired relationship between the inputs and the outputs of the logic circuit.
Logic circuits that are tailored to the specific needs of a particular customer can be very expensive to fabricate on a commercial basis. Thus, general purpose very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits are defined. VLSI circuits serve as many logic roles as possible, which helps to consolidate desired logic functions. However, random logic circuits are still required to tie the various elements of a digital system together.
Several schemes are used to implement these random logic circuits. One solution is standard logic, such as transistor-transistor logic (TTL). TTL integrated circuits are versatile because they integrate only a relatively small number of commonly used logic functions. The drawback is that large numbers of TTL integrated circuits are typically required for a specific application. This increases the consumption of power and board space, and drives up the overall cost of the digital system.
One alternative to standard logic is fully custom logic integrated circuits. Custom logic circuits are precisely tailored to the needs of a specific application. This allows the implementation of specific circuit architectures that dramatically reduces the number of parts required for a system. However, custom logic devices require significantly greater engineering time and effort, which increases the cost to develop these circuits and may also delay the production of the end system.
A less expensive alternative to custom logic is the xe2x80x9cprogrammable logic array.xe2x80x9d Programmable logic arrays take advantage of the fact that complex combinational logic functions can be reduced and simplified into various standard forms. For example, logical functions can be manipulated and reduced down to traditional Sum of Products (SOP) form. In SOP form, a logical function uses just two types of logic functions that are implemented sequentially. This is referred to as two-level logic and can be implemented with various conventional logic functions, e.g., AND-OR, NAND-NAND, NOR-NOR.
One benefit of the programmable logic array is that it provides a regular, systematic approach to the design of random, combinational logic circuits. A multitude of logical functions can be created from a common building block, e.g., an array of transistors. The logic array is customized or xe2x80x9cprogrammedxe2x80x9d by creating a specific metallization pattern to interconnect the various transistors in the array to implement the desired function.
Programmable logic arrays are fabricated using photolithographic techniques that allow semiconductor and other materials to be manipulated to form integrated circuits as is known in the art. These photolithographic techniques essentially use light that is focused through lenses and masks to define patterns in the materials with microscopic dimensions. The equipment and techniques that are used to implement this photolithography provide a limit for the size of the circuits that can be formed with the materials. Essentially, at some point, the lithography cannot create a fine enough image with sufficient clarity to decrease the size of the elements of the circuit. In other words, there is a minimum dimension that can be achieved through conventional photolithography. This minimum dimension is referred to as the xe2x80x9ccritical dimensionxe2x80x9d (CD) or minimum xe2x80x9cfeature sizexe2x80x9d (F) of the photolithographic process. The minimum feature size imposes one constraint on the size of the components of a programmable logic array. In order to keep up with the demands for larger programmable logic arrays, designers search for ways to reduce the size of the components of the array.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a programmable logic array that uses less surface area of a semiconductor wafer as compared to conventional arrays.
The above mentioned problems with programmable logic arrays and other problems are addressed by the present invention and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification. A programmable logic array is described which is formed with vertical transistors.
In one embodiment, a programmable logic array is provided. The programmable logic array includes first and second logic planes. The first logic plane receives a number of input signals. The first logic plane includes a plurality of vertical transistors arranged in rows and columns that are interconnected to provide a number of logical outputs. The second logic plane also includes a number of vertical transistors arranged in rows and columns that receive the outputs of the first logic plane and that are interconnected to produce a number of logical outputs such that the programmable logic array implements a logical function.

Programmable logic array with vertical transistors


The present invention relates to: a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans in which a glutamine tRNA 5′ terminus-derived fragment (Gln 5′-tsRNA) is overexpressed; a preparation method therefor; and a method for screening for aging-associated factors by using the transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans. A transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans model provided in the present invention is an animal model in which Gln 5′-tsRNA is overexpressed such that aging is inhibited. When the model of the present invention is used, anti-aging mechanisms can be easily investigated, thereby significantly contributing to various research fields such as that of developing new anti-aging drugs and screening for age-inducing materials.

Small non-coding RNA of approximately 20 to 50 bp is RNA serving as RNA itself, unlike mRNA expressed into a protein, and it has recently been identified that various small RNAs play important functions in a living body. The small RNAs include microRNA (miRNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA), and PIWI-binding RNA (piRNA), and serve to interfere with and suppress RNA targets having base sequences complementary to their own base sequences.
tRNA-derived fragments (tRNA-derived small RNAs; tsRNAs) are a type of small non-coding RNAs newly found in various subjects. These fragments are found in various species including a rat, C. elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, as well as a human, and thus it is assumed that they have evolutionarily conserved functions. In addition, since tsRNAs are generated by cleaving a specific part from previously-made mature tRNA, and found only as a specific base sequence, not an arbitrary base sequence, tsRNA is considered to be a fragment having a specific function rather than a fragment simply produced by randomly degrading tRNA. Here, four types of fragments may be produced according to cleaved sites in mature tRNA, and classified into, for example, 5′-tsRNA, 3′ CCA tsRNA, 3′ U tsRNA, and internal tsRNA (see FIG. 1).
tsRNAs have been found in cancer cell lines, virus-infected cells, adipose tissue-derived stem cells, and mouse serum, fragments are generated in various physiological circumstances such as stress, etc. Since it has been reported that they have regulatory functions similar to small RNA, anti-aging-related functions have not been identified yet.
Particularly, due to the characteristics of a tRNA gene, there is difficulty in sequencing of tsRNAs, and for example, since multiple copies of the tRNA gene are present in the entire genome, some of the multiple copies are the same, but some differ in sequence, it is difficult to confirm an exact genomic origin from which tsRNA is derived. In addition, since mature tRNA is severely modified, it is difficult to exactly match a genomic sequence corresponding to tsRNA generated from the mature form.
Meanwhile, since C. elegans only takes approximately three days from being hatched from an egg to becoming an adult via four stages of larval phase including L1, L2, L3 and L4, and has a lifespan of approximately 3 weeks, it is an animal model suitable for a developmental experiment or lifespan experiment. In addition, C. elegans facilitates genetic manipulation, has a small size, is grown relatively economically in a large quantity at once, and has a transparent body, and therefore it is very easy to directly observe the inside of C. elegans or to observe fluorescence using a microscope.
In addition, C. elegans conserves many genes involved in human diseases, and thus the potential of discovering and analyzing genes using this worm and developing a new drug targeting these genes has been investigated. For example, genes involved in an insulin signaling pathway, apoptosis-regulating genes, and MAP kinase signaling pathway genes critical for immune regulation, which are genes critical for regulation of metabolism and aging in mammals, are also present in C. elegans, and the mechanisms of these genes have been actively studied.

Anti-aging transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans


An attenuated phase-shifted reticle. The disclosed reticle comprises a sub-resolution pattern, in regions other than the features to be formed. The sub-resolution pattern transmits a substantially uniform, attenuated radiation intensity. The features are phase-shifted relative to the sub-resolution pattern, such that light transmitted through them is approximately 180.degree. out of phase compared with the attenuated radiation transmitted through the sub-resolution pattern surrounding the features. In this way, the sub-resolution pattern acts as a phase-shifter for the features.

In the semiconductor industry, there is a continuing effort to increase device density by scaling device size. State of the art devices currently have device features with a dimension well below 1 micron (submicron). To form these features, a photosensitive layer is formed on a substrate or device layer, and is exposed to radiation through a reticle. The reticle typically comprises a substantially transparent base material with an opaque layer having the desired pattern formed thereon, as is well known. At the submicron level, diffraction effects become significant, resulting in exposure of portions of the photoresist layer underlying the opaque layer near the edges of features.
To minimize effects of diffraction, phase-shifted reticles have been used in the prior art. Typically, a phase-shifted reticle has an opening in the opaque layer corresponding to the pattern to be formed. Phase-shifters, which transmit the exposing radiation and shift the phase of the radiation approximately 180.degree. relative to the openings, lie along or near the outer edges of the features. The radiation transmitted through the phase-shifter destructively interferes with radiation from the opening, thereby reducing the intensity of radiation incident on the photoresist surface underlying the opaque layer near a feature edge.
Prior art phase-shifted reticles have a number of problems which limit their ability to be used to pattern some features, however. Often, it is desired to place two features in close proximity to one another. For example, contact or via openings may be placed in a closely spaced array. In prior art phase-shifted reticles, each opening has a phase-shifting rim surrounding it. In the case of contact openings in an array, the phase-shifting rims of two openings may be very close to one another. In this case, the phase-shifting rims of the two close opening patterns are roughly equivalent to one very wide rim. Unfortunately, as the phase-shifting rim width is increased, the intensity of radiation underneath the phase-shifting rims increases. The increased intensity causes a deep recession in the developed photoresist layer, and may in fact cause a portion of the photoresist to be removed between two openings. This proximity effect occurs if two phase-shifting rims are positioned at approximately 0.55 .lambda./NA or less, where K is the wavelength of the exposing radiation, and NA is the numerical aperture of the lens of the lithographic printer being used.
In addition to the above-described proximity effect, phase-shifted reticles may be difficult to produce for certain features. During the fabrication of the reticle, the phase-shifter may be fabricated using a separate masking step from its associated feature. For very small features, the alignment tolerance may be beyond the capability of the process. In addition, even if the phase-shifter can be produced, inspection and repair is often very difficult. Finally, physical limitations may prevent the use of phase-shifters for some types of features. Generally, the phase-shifter must have a width equal to approximately 0.1-4.4 IRF-.lambda./NA, where IRF is the image reduction factor of the lens. On a 1:1 basis, the width of the phase-shifters are typically approximately 0.1.mu.. Because phase-shifters have this finite width, not all device patterns can be fabricated with phase-shifted reticles, as portions of a feature or two individual features may be spaced too closely together to allow for placement of the phase-shifters in the appropriate regions.
To overcome these problems, an attenuated phase-shifted mask (APSM) has been proposed. The APSM replaces the opaque layer of prior art masks (which is typically a layer of chrome about 0.1.mu. thick) with a "leaky" layer which transmits a reduced or attenuated percentage of the radiation incident thereon. For example, a very thin layer of chrome (approximately 300 .ANG.) could be used as the leaky layer. A chrome layer this thin will transmit approximately 10% of the radiation incident on the reticle. Additionally, the leaky chrome layer shifts the phase of the transmitted radiation approximately 30.degree. compared to radiation transmitted through regions of the reticle where the leaky chrome layer is not present. In order to achieve the required 180.degree. shift, the features are phase-shifted an additional 150.degree., either by etching the reticle or by placing a phase-shifting material in the regions of the features. That is, the APSM comprises a layer of leaky chrome covering the entire reticle base, except for the features, which are open regions (i.e regions having no thin chrome layer) with appropriate phase-shifting. Since the radiation transmitted through the features is phase-shifted 180.degree. relative to radiation transmitted through the leaky chrome layer, the prior art phase-shifters are not required. The portion of the reticle outside of the features having the attenuating chrome layer will be referred to as the "field" of the reticle herein. Since the leaky chrome transmits only about 10% of the exposing radiation, regions away from the features are only partially exposed. This partial exposure removes some of the photoresist from these regions, but a continuous layer remains. The photoresist layer thickness is adjusted for this exposure. For example, if the photoresist layer underneath the leaky chrome is reduced in thickness 1,000 .ANG. due to the exposure, and a 10,000 .ANG. layer of photoresist after developing is desired, an initial photoresist layer of 11,0000 .ANG. will be used. The leaky chrome layer is also referred to as an "absorptive phase-shifter" and as a "halftone chrome layer."
Several problems occur in the manufacture feature of the prior art APSM. First, it is extremely difficult to deposit a thin layer of chrome with uniform thickness across the surface of the reticle. Typically, some regions will have a thickness greater than the target thickness and some regions will have a thickness less than the target thickness. Second, it is difficult to deposit this thin layer with uniform physical characteristics across the surface of the reticle. For example, some regions will have more residual gas (e.g., nitrogen) incorporated in the film than other regions. Because of this and other factors, physical properties such as the optional density and refractive index are not uniform. Finally, as is well know, the thin chrome layer will have a much higher pin hole density than the prior art opaque chrome layer. In addition to the above-described difficulties in depositing the thin chrome layer, it is difficult to maintain the quality of the deposited layer throughout the reticle manufacturing process. Since the layer is so thin, it is not as rigorous as the prior art opaque chrome layer. For example, during the various manufacturing steps, such as cleaning, the above-described non-uniformities and defects may become worse. These difficulties in producing and maintaining a high quality thin chrome layer limit the ability of the prior art APSM to achieve good lithographic performance, for the reasons described below.
One problem caused by the non-uniform thickness and refractive index of the thin chrome layer in the APSM is a varying "focal shift," which will be explained in reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. In the following FIGS. 1A and 1B, a graphical representation of defocus versus critical dimension is shown. It will be understood that the actual values can vary considerably based upon the feature being formed, exposure parameters, including time and energy of the exposure, printer parameters and other factors. The FIGS. 1A and 1B provide an example for one set of exposure and printer parameters. Referring to FIG. 1A, a graph of critical dimension (CD) in a photoresist layer plotted against defocus (distance between photoresist layer and best or perfect focus) is shown. As can be seen from curve 10 of FIG. 1A, if the image is defocused in either the positive or negative direction, the dimension of an opening in the resist decreases. If the process specification allows for a CD in the range of 0.3-0.5 microns, then for the example shown in FIG. 1A, the defocus can be in the range of approximately -0.75.mu. through +0.75.mu., since the CD varies from about 0.3.mu. at -0.75 defocus, to 0.4.mu. at 0.mu. defocus, and back down to 0.3.mu. at +0.75.mu. defocus. Outside of this range, the CD falls below 0.3.mu. and is outside of the specified range. The range between -0.75.mu. and +0.75.mu. is the depth of field (DOF), and is shown by the line 11. Thus, so long as the photoresist layer is within this DOF, the CD will be within specification. As is well known, a large DOF is desirable, as the wafer topography and other factors cause the level of the photoresist layer to vary considerably across the exposure field of the printer.
In a phase-shifted reticle, the above-mentioned focal shift occurs, whereby curve 10 shifts as the phase difference between the phase-shifter and the feature varies from 180.degree. (phase error). If the phase difference is less than 180.degree., the curve 10 shifts to the right. If the phase difference is greater than 180.degree., the curve 10 shifts to the left. Referring to FIG. 1B, curve 12 shows a plot of CD versus defocus for a feature where the phase difference between the feature and its phase-shifter is less than 180.degree., and curve 13 shows CD versus defocus for a feature where the phase difference between the feature and its phase-shifter is greater than 180.degree.. Note that the shape of an individual curve does not change significantly due to phase error. Rather, the curve simply shifts, the direction and amount of shift determined by the direction and amount of phase error from 180.degree..
As mentioned earlier, the prior art thin chrome layer accounts for approximately 30.degree. of the phase-shift. However, this value will vary as the thickness and refractive index of the film varies. Since, as described above, the thickness and refractive index of the thin chrome layer are non-uniform, the phase-shift will be non-uniform across the surface of the reticle. Because of the varying phase-shift of the thin chrome layer, there will be regions on the prior art APSM where the phase difference is less than 180.degree. between a feature and its phase-shifter and regions where the phase difference is greater than 180.degree.. That is, the prior art APSM will typically have both negative and positive phase error. If the prior art APSM has some features where the phase difference is, for example, 170.degree., and some features where the phase difference is, for example, 190.degree., the DOF will be greatly decreased due to the focal shift. As can be seen from FIG. 1B, for those features having a phase difference less than 180.degree. (curve 12), the CD will be below 0.3.mu. if the defocus is approximately 0.5.mu. or greater, while those features having a phase difference greater than 180.degree. (curve 13) will have a CD below 0.3.mu. if the defocus is approximately -0.5.mu. or less. Thus, DOF 14 now extends only from -0.51.mu. through +0.5.mu. due to the varying phase error. This compares to DOF 11 of -0.75.mu. through +0.75.mu. for a reticle with no phase error, or uniform phase error.
A problem caused by the non-uniform thickness and optical density of the thin chrome layer in the prior art APSM is that light transmission through the layer will not be uniform. This may cause excessive removal of photoresist in some areas. Additionally, if the transmittance near features is too low, there may be insufficient phase-shifted radiation to effectively minimize diffraction, thereby causing a loss in resolution.
Finally, the increased pin hole density of the prior art APSM will cause undesired openings to be created in a photoresist layer exposed by the APSM. If the openings occur in critical regions, the APSM will be unusable.
What is needed is an attenuated phase-shifted reticle which allows for use of phase-shifting to improve resolution, which can be used on all features and closely spaced features, which has only minor or relatively uniform phase error, which has a low defect density, and which is easily manufacturable using current technology.

Attenuated phase-shifted reticle using sub-resolution pattern


A touch panel has an upper board having an upper conductive layer, a lower board having a lower conductive layer, a pair of upper electrodes along the periphery of the upper conductive layer and having an upper electrode lead, a pair of lower electrodes along the periphery of the lower conductive layer and having a lower electrode lead, and a slit formed at the upper and lower conductive layers. One of the upper electrodes is formed along a side of the upper conductive layer, and the other of the upper electrodes is formed in a substantially U shape surrounding a whole periphery excluding the upper electrode lead. One of the lower electrodes is formed in a direction orthogonal to the side of the upper conductive layer, and the other of the lower electrodes is formed in a substantially U shape surrounding a whole periphery excluding the lower electrode lead.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to touch panels to be used primarily for operating various electronic equipment.
2. Background Art
In recent years, advance in multifunctionality and diversification of various electronic equipment such as mobile phones, car navigation systems or the like has been seen. Along with this trend, there has been an increase in electronic equipment in which various functions can be switched by pushing with a finger or a pen an optically transparent touch panel provided on the front surface of a display device such as a liquid crystal display while visually identifying through the touch panel what is displayed on the display behind the touch panel. Accordingly, touch panels are being sought that have good visibility and which assure precise operation.
Referring to FIGS. 4 through 6, description will now be given of a conventional touch panel. For easy understanding of the construction, the drawings are partially enlarged.
FIG. 4 is a sectional drawing of a conventional touch panel. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the upper board and the wiring board of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lower board and the wiring board of FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, upper board 1 and lower board 2 are films or thin sheets and are optically transparent. On the rear face of upper board 1 is formed optically transparent upper conductive layer 3 made of indium tin oxide. On the top face of lower board 2 is formed optically transparent lower conductive layer 4 made of indium tin oxide.
As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of upper electrodes 5, 6 made of silver and the like is formed on the top and bottom edges of upper conductive layer 3. Upper electrodes 5, 6 extend along the outer periphery of upper conductive layer 3, and plural leads 5A, 6A are provided on upper conductive layer 3. Also, as shown in FIG. 6, a pair of lower electrodes 7, 8 is provided at the left and right edges of lower conductive layer 4. Lower electrodes 7, 8 extend along the outer periphery of lower conductive layer 4, and plural leads 7A, 7B are provided at edges of lower conductive layer 4.
Also, as shown in FIG. 5, dummy pattern 9A and plural dummy patterns 9B are formed on the lower edge of upper board 1, and dummy pattern 9C is provided at the right edge in order to keep parallelism between upper board 1 and lower board 2. Slits 10A, 10B, 10C are formed at the inner right of upper electrode 5 of upper board 1, between upper electrodes 5, 6, between leads 5A, 5B, between leads 5A, 6A, at inner left of dummy pattern 9C, and between upper electrode 6 and dummy pattern 9A, by removing upper conductive layer 3 by means of laser processing and the like.
Also, as shown in FIG. 6, dummy pattern 9D is provided on the upper edge of lower board 2 and plural dummy patterns 9E are provided on the bottom edge in order to keep parallelism between upper board 1 and lower board 2. Slits 10D, 10E are formed at the inner top of lower electrodes 7, 8 of lower board 2, between leads 7A, 7B, and at the inner bottom of dummy pattern 9D, by removing lower conductive layer 4 by means of laser processing and the like. With these slits, short-circuiting between each electrode and the dummy patterns can be prevented thus maintaining insulation.
Also, plural dot spacers (not shown) are formed with an insulating resin at a predetermined interval on the top face of lower conductive layer 4. Nearly-frame-shaped spacer 11 is provided on the outer periphery on the top face of lower board 2, and outer peripheries of upper board 1 and lower board 2 are glued together with adhesive layer 12 coated on the top face of spacer 11. Upper conductive layer 3 and lower conductive layer 4 are oppositely disposed with a predetermined gap in between.
Furthermore, filmy wiring board 13 is sandwiched between upper board 1 and lower board 2. Upper edges of plural wiring patterns 14, 15 formed on the top and bottom faces of wiring board 13 are bonded and connected with leads 5A, 6A, leads 7A, 8A, respectively, with an anisotropic conductive adhesive (not shown) thereby completing a touch panel. Here, the anisotropic conductive adhesive is manufactured by dispersing conductive particles in a synthetic resin.
A touch panel constructed in this way is disposed on a front face of a display device such as a liquid crystal display and mounted on electronic equipment. And, plural wiring patterns 14, 15 of wiring board 13 are connected to electronic circuits (not shown) of the electronic equipment with a connector or by soldering.
In the above configuration, by pressing top face of upper board 1 with a finger or a pen in accordance with what is displayed on the display device behind the touch panel, upper board 1 is warped making upper conductive layer 3 of the pressed location come in contact with lower conductive layer 4. Subsequently, a voltage is sequentially applied from the electronic circuit through plural wiring patterns 14, 15 of wiring board 13 to both edges of upper electrodes 5, 6 and lower electrodes 7, 8 and to both edges of lower conductive layer 4 which is in an orthogonal direction. The electronic circuit detects the pressed location based on the ratio of these voltages, and switching of various functions of the electronic equipment is enabled.
That is, under a condition in which plural menus are displayed on the display device behind the touch panel, when the top face of upper board 1 on top of a desired menu is pressed, the electronic circuit detects the pressed location through plural wiring patterns 14, 15 of wiring board 13. In this way, selection of a desired menu from among plural menus can be made.
In such a touch panel, plural dummy patterns are formed in order to maintain parallelism between upper board 1 and lower board 2 in addition to upper electrodes 5, 6 and lower electrodes 7, 8. In addition, in order to prevent short-circuiting between electrodes and dummy patterns and maintain insulation, gap 17A is provided between upper right edge of upper electrode 5 of upper board 1 and upper edge of dummy pattern 9C, and gap 17B is provided between lower edge of dummy pattern 9C and right edge of dummy pattern 9A, for example.
Similarly, gap 17C is provided between upper edge of lower electrode 7 of lower board 2 and left edge of dummy pattern 9D, and gap 17D is provided between right edge of dummy pattern 9D and upper edge of lower electrode 8. Nearly-frame-shaped spacer 11 and adhesive layer 12 are formed by printing and the like method on the top face of lower board 2, and outer peripheries of upper board 1 and lower 2 are bonded together. During this process, at the edges of upper board 1 and lower board 2 where these gaps exist, plural openings are formed that communicate the gaps between upper conductive layer 3 and lower conductive layer 4 to the air.
As a result, when the top face of upper board 1 is pressed, air goes in and out through these gaps and openings. Sometimes, dusts or moisture attach to upper conductive layer 3 or to lower conductive layer 4 thus making electrical on-off action unstable. Furthermore, depending on the atmospheric pressure of the environment of the use of the touch panel, swelling or depression of upper board 1 may be caused, further causing interference fringes, the so-called Newton rings, due to reflection of external light and making displayed information on the display device behind the touch panel difficult to read.
Accordingly, in order to prevent these inconveniences and ensure reliable electrical on-off action and good visibility, the following is generally practiced at the expense of extra work. Namely, an adhesive is applied to these gaps and openings after bonding upper board 1 and lower board 2 together, and the air space between upper conductive layer 3 and lower conductive layer 4 is sealed.
As related art information of the invention of this application, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-58319 is known.
As discussed above, conventional touch panels disadvantageously require sealing of plural gaps and openings with an adhesive in order to maintain insulation between electrodes and dummy patterns, costing time for fabrication and resulting in a higher cost.


A processor may identify one or more sources. The processor may identify a respective requirement of each of the one or more sources. The processor may determine if a respective requirement is different than another respective requirement. The processor may locate each of the one or more sources in a respective slice on a different container available in a server of a network.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of network modeling, and more specifically to service chain based network slicing.
Historically, there has been a one-size-fits-all approach in regard to network modeling. However, the existing market is now composed of different applications like machine-type communications, ultra-reliable low latency communications and enhanced mobile broadband content delivery. Accordingly, network slicing comes out to be an essential technique in 5G networks, where the network slice approach is to slice an original physical network architecture into multiple logical and independent networks that can be configured to meet various requirements of services.

International Business Machines Corporation