Optical feedback for controlling color of light from a light source is provided. Incident optical energy of the light is detected as a function of discrete steps of wavelength. For each discrete step of wavelength, an X, Y and Z tristimulus subvalue is produced. All the X, Y and Z tristimulus subvalues for all the discrete steps are summed together to produce an X, Y and Z tristimulus value for the light. The X, Y and Z tristimulus values are used as feedback in controlling color of the light generated by the light source.

In order to detect and determine color of light from a light source, color filters are used to separate out components of light. The resulting intensity of each component is detected in order to determine light color.
For example, when trying to match color using the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) 1931 color matching function (CMF), a light sensor with a red color filter, a light sensor with a green color filter and a light sensor with a blue color filter are used to detect red, green and blue components of light. A transfer function is used to convert the detected red, green and blue components to X, Y and Z tristimulus values used by the CIE 1931 CMF. One disadvantage of this system is that filters are expensive and degrade over time. Additionally, because filters do not exactly correspond with X, Y and Z tristimulus values used by the CIE 1931 CMF, it is necessary to use an intermediate color space and a transfer function to convert detected color components to X, Y and Z values.

Providing optical feedback on light color

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An apparatus for drilling out a plug of material, the apparatus comprising: a base plate having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a central longitudinal axis; a circumferentially-extending side wall extending distally from the top surface of the base plate, the circumferentially-extending side wall terminating in a circular distal end surface; a drill bit centered on the central longitudinal axis of the base plate and extending distally therefrom, the drill bit comprising a distal portion, a proximal portion and an intermediate portion extending between the distal portion and the proximal portion; wherein the intermediate portion of the drill bit comprises a first laterally-extending flat comprising a cutting edge disposed a first distance away from the central longitudinal axis towards the circumferentially-extending side wall and a second laterally-extending flat extending a second distance away from the central longitudinal axis towards the circumferentially-extending side wall, and further wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance.

During construction (e.g., of buildings and other structures), it is common to drill holes in building materials in order to accommodate various systems, e.g., plumbing, electrical conduits, HVAC components, etc. By way of example but not limitation, where such systems are disposed behind the finished drywall of a residential or commercial structure, it is common to drill relatively large diameter holes in the studs behind the drywall (e.g., to permit passing piping or conduit through the studs), to drill relatively large diameter holes in plywood (e.g., to permit passing piping or conduit through an exterior wall and hence, through the exterior plywood sheathing), to drill relatively large diameter holes in ceilings (e.g., to accommodate automatic fire sprinklers, lighting, etc.), and in various other contexts.
Where the holes to be drilled are of relatively small diameter (e.g., ⅛″), it is common to use a traditional "cork-screw" style drill bit. In use, such a "cork-screw" style drill bit operates by cutting into a material (e.g., wood) using a quickly rotating pointed end, and then passing debris from the hole drilled into the material by the pointed end along a cork-screw-type recess disposed along the side of the drill bit such that the debris drilled out of the material exits the drill hole. When the drill bit is removed from the drill hole, a hole having the same diameter as the drill bit is left in the material, through which something may thereafter be passed (e.g., a wire, a fastener, etc.).
However, where it is desirable to drill large diameter holes (e.g., a 2.5″ diameter hole), such as may be necessary, for example, to accommodate plumbing conduit, etc., it is common to use a "barrel-style" drill apparatus such as the HOLE DOZER™ barrel-style drill apparatus manufactured by Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation of Brookfield, Wis.
With such a prior art "barrel-style" drill apparatus, a hole is drilled in a material by centering the drill apparatus on the centerpoint of a circle inscribing the hole that is to be drilled, and then rotating the outer wall of the "barrel-style" drill apparatus (e.g., using a power drill) so as to cut a circumferentially-extending (i.e., circular) slot in the material along the perimeter of the circle inscribing the hole that is to be drilled. Once the rotating outer wall of such a "barrel-style" drill apparatus has been advanced sufficiently far through the material in which the hole is being made (e.g., so as to extend through the material to the opposite side of the material), the drill apparatus is withdrawn, leaving a hole in the material having the same diameter as the diameter of the outer wall of the "barrel-style" drill apparatus, and leaving a "plug" of the material which has been drilled out disposed inside the recess defined by the outer wall of the "barrel-style" drill bit.
More particularly, and looking now at FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an exemplary prior art "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 which generally comprises a base plate 10, a circumferentially-extending side wall 15 extending upwardly from base plate 10 so as to define a recess 20, and a centering drill bit 25 centered on base plate 10 (FIG. 2) and extending upwardly therefrom such that drill bit 20 extends slightly beyond the cutting edge of circumferential side wall 15 (e.g., in order to assist in drilling a "starter hole" with drill bit 20 so as to assist in centering the drilling apparatus on the material which is to be drilled). Side wall 15 terminates in a circumferentially-extending cutting edge 30 which comprises a plurality of spaced teeth 35 disposed along cutting edge 30 (i.e., teeth configured for cutting the circumferentially-extending slot in the material which is to be drilled out).
In use, centering drill bit 25 of "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 is aligned with a centerpoint of a circle inscribing the hole which is to be drilled out on the surface of a material. Centering drill bit 25 is then rotated (e.g., using a power drill) so as to form a "starter hole" in the center of the material which is to be drilled out. Typically, centering drill bit 25 is fixed to, or formed integral with, base plate 10, such that rotation of centering drill bit 25 causes simultaneous rotation of side wall 15. However, since centering drill bit 25 typically extends slightly beyond circumferentially-extending cutting edge 30, centering drill bit 25 typically contacts the material to be drilled before teeth 35 of cutting edge 30. Centering drill bit 25 (and side wall 15) is then rotated further, advancing centering drill bit 25 further into the material until teeth 35 of cutting edge 30 of side wall 15 contact the material and begin forming a circumferentially-extending slot in the material which is to be drilled out. As "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 is advanced further into the material, the circumferentially-extending slot extends further into the material. Once the "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 has been advanced through the material which is being drilled (i.e., to the opposite side of the material) such that the circumferentially-extending slot extends all the way through the material which is being drilled out, "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 is withdrawn from the hole that has been drilled, leaving a "plug" P of material (see FIG. 3) disposed in recess 20 of "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 (and leaving a drilled out hole having the same diameter as the diameter of the circle inscribed by side wall 15 in the material).
While the "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 discussed above is effective for drilling a hole having a desired diameter in a material, it has been found that it is often difficult to remove the plug P of material which remains in recess 20 of "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5 after the material has been drilled out. This problem is particularly acute where the material being drilled expands during drilling and binds inside recess 20. By way of example but not limitation, pressure-treated wood (which is chemically-treated and therefore comprises some moisture) will expand due to the heat that results from friction during drilling, with the result that the plug P that remains inside recess 20 after drilling is completed is often difficult (and time-intensive and/or labor-intensive) to remove from recess 20 of "barrel-style" drill apparatus 5. Prior art "barrel-style" drill apparatus typically address this problem by providing a plurality of windows 40 (FIG. 1) formed in side wall 15 so as to permit an end user to insert a lever (e.g., a screwdriver) through a given window 40 (and hence, through side wall 15), which can then be used to pry the plug P lose from recess 20. However, even where such windows 40 are provided, it is still often labor-intensive and/or time-consuming to remove plug P from recess 20. This can be a particularly acute problem where plug P binds to side wall 15 due to expansion of the drilled material (see above), and/or where a large number of such holes are to be drilled.
Thus there is a need for a new and improved apparatus and method for drilling large-diameter holes in a material which facilitates quick and easy removal of the plug of material remaining in the drilling apparatus after the hole has been drilled out of the material.


Image signals of moving subjects which are imaged by a slit camera, and time information generated by a time information generator after it has been reset by a start trigger signal, are successively stored in and erased from a large-storage-capacity memory on a first-in, first-out basis. After elapse of a predetermined time period after a record trigger signal has been supplied from a record trigger generator, a storage time control circuit controls the memory to stop storing and erasing the image signals and the time information, and keeps the image signals and the time information stored which have been stored before the memory stops storing and erasing the image signals and the time information. The image information of the subjects and the time information associated with the image information can be stored in the memory within a storage time that depends on the storage capacity of the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slit camera apparatus for use as an apparatus for indicating the order of arrival of competitors at a goal, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Slit cameras are heretofore used as apparatus for indicating the order of arrival of competitors at a goal. For example, in a horse race track, a slit camera having a slit extending parallel to a goal post is used to determine the order of the horses that arrive at the goal, in the event that the order cannot be judged directly by eyes.
Conventional slit cameras include a photographic slit camera employing a silver halide film and a slit camera apparatus including a line sensor as disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2-84977.
The slit camera apparatus disclosed in the above publication comprises a slit camera employing a line sensor and an endless electronic display board. The slit camera is fixed in position such that its slit extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction (plane) in which subjects move, and the direction of the slit coincides with the longitudinal direction of the line sensor. The direction of the slit is perpendicular to the transverse direction of the line sensor.
In use, data produced by the line sensor and the display position on the electronic display board are synchronized with each other for displaying the order of arrival of the moving subjects at the goal on the electronic display board.
Slit camera apparatus as apparatus for indicating the order of arrival of competitors or moving subjects at a goal require that the order of arrival of the moving subjects be accurately determined based on the displayed images of the moving subjects, and also that the displayed images be accompanied by time information indicating the times at which the moving objects are photographed by the slit camera. To meet the above requirements, it is necessary to store, in a memory, image information of areas where the objects pass through the goal and also time information corresponding to the image information.
The amount of image information that can be stored in a memory is determined by the storage capacity of the memory. Generally, the cost and other factors of the memory prevent a large amount of image information, i.e., image information spanning a long period of time, from being stored in the memory.


A manufacturing method of a support for a planographic printing plate including at least an alkaline etching step of dissolving an aluminum surface layer of an aluminum web with an alkaline solution during a surface roughening treatment on a surface of the aluminum web continuously traveling,                the manufacturing method comprising:        a circulating step of cyclically using the alkaline solution between a treatment tank for the etching and an alkaline solution reservoir during adjusting composition concentration of the alkaline solution; and        a filtering step of filtering the alkaline solution cyclically used so as to remove solid matter in the alkaline solution.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus of a support for a planographic printing plate, particularly relates to an alkaline etching treatment using an alkaline solution applied to a low purity aluminum web, and relates to an acid etching treatment using an acid electrolytic solution applied to an aluminum web.
Description of the Related Art
In general, an aluminum support for a planographic printing plate (referred to as a "support for a planographic printing plate", hereinafter) is manufactured by graining (surface roughening treatment) at least one surface of an aluminum web that is a thin web plate, and forming an anodic oxidation film on this roughened surface formed through the surface roughening treatment. A thin plate of pure aluminium or an aluminum alloy with purity of 99.5 wt % or more is commonly used as a material of an aluminum web to be manufactured into support for a planographic printing plate.
For the purpose of applying a function of a planographic printing plate for an application to the spread of the CTP (computer to plate) technology, impurities (dissimilar metal) may be added in aluminum. In the viewpoint of energy saving, it has been studied on that a support for a planographic printing plate is manufactured by utilizing recycled aluminum ground metal made from scrap materials or recycled materials of planographic printing plates.
The roughened surface of the support of a planographic printing plate produced as described above is coated with a plate-making layer forming solution such as a photosensitive layer forming solution and a heat-sensitive layer forming solution, and is dried so as to produce a photosensitive or heat-sensitive printing surface. In this manner, a web for a planographic printing plate is manufactured.
In the above mentioned roughened surface, a surface of an aluminum web is normally provided with a brush graining treatment for roughening the surface; an alkaline etching treatment for processing the aluminum web with an alkaline solution so as to dissolve a surface layer thereof; and an electrolytic surface roughening treatment for applying AC electrolysis to an aluminum web in an acid electrolytic solution.
In the an anode oxidation film treatment, DC electrolysis is applied to an aluminum web in anode oxidation treatment solution containing a strong acid such as a sulphuric acid solution, a phosphoric acid solution, and a sulfonic acid solution as an acid component.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-066650 discloses an alkaline etching technique. In a manufacturing method of a support for a planographic printing plate, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-112484 discloses a brush graining treatment for roughening a surface of an aluminum web, an electrolytic surface roughening treatment for carrying out AC electrolysis on an aluminum web in an acid electrolytic solution, an anode oxidation treatment for forming an anode oxidation film on an aluminum web in an acid solution.
Unfortunately, in an alkaline etching treatment, although composition concentration of an alkaline solution cyclically used is adjusted at a constant level, the etching performance gradually becomes deteriorated while the alkaline solution is being cyclically used.
Deterioration of the etching performance varies hole diameter distributions of pits formed on a roughened surface of an aluminum web, which hinders a constant quality level of a support for a planographic printing plate. Consequently, this deteriorates the printing resistance and the fouling resistance of a planographic printing plate manufactured as a finished product.
In acid etching, since an aluminum material constituting an aluminum web contains not a few impurities, various kinds of solid matters resulted from such impurities (intermetallic compounds or deposits) may be generated in an acid electrolytic solution used in an electrolytic surface roughening treatment, or an acid solution used in an anode oxidation treatment. Such generated solid matters are precipitated onto rollers, and may be transferred or cause flaws on the aluminum web, or generate an uneven roughened surface of the aluminum web, which may result in defects on an anode oxidation film thereof.
These disadvantages in the alkaline etching and the acid etching become notable particularly in use of a low purity aluminum web such as an aluminum web having low purity of 99.4 wt % or less, particularly 99.0 wt % or less (98.5 wt %, for example).
In some cases, impurities (dissimilar metal) are added in aluminum for the purpose of applying a function of a planographic printing plate for an application to the CTP (computer to plate). In the viewpoint of energy saving, it has been studied on that a support for a planographic printing plate is manufactured by utilizing recycled aluminum ground metal made of scrap materials or recycled materials of planographic printing plates.

Manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus of support for planographic printing plate


A film bulk acoustic wave resonator includes a first substrate; a first insulating material layer, formed on the first substrate; a first cavity, formed in the first insulating material layer with an opening facing away from the first substrate; and an acoustic-wave resonant plate, including a first electrode, a piezoelectric oscillation plate, and a second electrode stacked on the first insulating material layer. The piezoelectric oscillation plate is disposed between the first electrode and the first electrode. The first electrode includes a first electrode cavity above the first cavity. The second electrode includes a second cavity above the first cavity. At least a portion of a boundary of the piezoelectric oscillation plate is formed by a boundary of the first electrode cavity and a boundary of the second electrode cavity. The boundary of the piezoelectric oscillation plate has an irregular polygonal shape without having two parallel edges.

With the development of mobile communication technology, the amount of mobile data transmission has also increased rapidly. Therefore, in situations that the frequency resources are limited and mobile communication devices should be used as few as possible, improving the transmission power of wireless power transmitting devices such as wireless base stations, micro base stations, and repeaters becomes a problem that must be considered. In the meantime, this also means that the requirements on the filter power in the front-end circuits of mobile communication devices are also getting higher and higher.
At present, the high-power filters in devices such as wireless base stations are mainly cavity filters, and their power can reach hundreds of watts; however, the size of these filters is usually too large. Moreover, there are some devices equipped with dielectric filters, which may have an average power over 5 watts; however, the size of these filters is also very large. Because of the large size, these cavity filters cannot be integrated into the radio-frequency (RF) front-end chip.
Film filters, based on semiconductor micromachining technology and mainly including surface acoustic wave resonators (SAWRs) and bulk acoustic wave resonators (BAWRs), are able to overcome the defects of the two filters described above. In particular, BAWRs demonstrate advantages of high operating frequency, high load power, and high quality factor (Q-factor). In addition, the sizes of BAWRs are also small, which is desired for integration.
Currently, how to suppress the crosstalk between lateral spurious waves and longitudinal bulk acoustic wave signals transmitted along the c-axis direction in a BAWR remains a crucial challenge in the field of filter technology. In particular, while ensuring the connection to an external input/output electrical signal source, how to suppress the lateral resonant waves and their reflection in the piezoelectric film and also minimize the reduction of the energy consumption due to the acoustic waves propagating out from the device oscillation plate (i.e., the acoustic-wave resonant plate) has become the focus of the industry.
The disclosed film BAWRs and fabrication methods thereof are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.

Film bulk acoustic wave resonators and fabrication methods thereof

SHANGHAI JADIC OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD


A klystron comprises an electron gun which emits electron beams, a cavity resonator which imparts velocity modulation to the electron beams, a cavity resonator which converts the power of the electron beams into microwave power, a drift tube interconnecting the cavity resonators, and a vacuum gate valve provided on the drift tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high power klystron which imparts velocity modulation to electrons in an electron beam for amplification in the microwave region.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A klystron disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 62-52832 is shown in FIG. 1 in a sectional view. Referring to FIG. 1, the klystron has an electron gun 1 consisting of a cathode 11, an anode 12, and an insulating glass bulb 13 electrically insulating the cathode 11 from the anode 12. The electron gun 1 emits electron beams 2, and a collector 3 collects the electron beams 2. An input cavity resonator 4 resonates to cause velocity modulation of the electron beams 2 traveling from the electron gun 1 to the collector 3. An output cavity resonator 5 converts the beam power of the electron beams 2 subjected to density modulation for producing a compressional wave during travel through a predetermined distance after velocity modulation into microwave power. A drift tube 6 is interposed between the input cavity resonator 4 and the output cavity resonator 5 to form a drift space for the electron beams 2. The microwave power obtained by the output cavity resonator 5 is guided to an external device by an output waveguide 7. A waveguide vacuum gate valve 8 provided on the output waveguide 7 is closed while the klystron is not in use and is opened while the klystron is in use.
While the klystron is not in use, the waveguide vacuum gate valve 8 is closed to seal the klystron hermetically and the interior of the klystron is kept in a vacuum by an ion pump, not shown.
In using the klystron, the waveguide vacuum gate valve 8 is opened, the interior of the klystron is maintained in a sufficiently high vacuum by the ion pump, and then the cathode 11 of the electron gun 1 starts emitting electrons. Then, the electrons are caused to travel in the form of electron beams 2 by the voltage applied across the cathode 11 and the anode 12 (not shown). While the electron beams 2 travel through the cavity of the input cavity resonator 4, the electron beams 2 are subjected to velocity modulation by the voltage applied to the cavity of the input cavity resonator 4 (not shown). The velocity-modulated electron beams 2 undergo density modulation to produce bunching while the velocity-modulated electron beam 2 travels through a predetermined distance in the drift tube 6. The density-modulated electron beams 2 traveling through the output cavity resonator 5 induces a current and thereby the beam power of the electron beams 2 is converted into microwave power. The collector 3 absorbs the residual power of the electron beams 2.
Since the waveguide vacuum gate 8 is opened while the klystron is used, the microwave power produced by the output cavity resonator 5 is guided through the waveguide vacuum gate valve 8 to an external device by the output waveguide 7.
The waveguide vacuum gate valve 8 included in the prior art klystron thus constructed is required to maintain a vacuum in the electron gun 1 while the klystron is not in use, and to transmit the microwave power smoothly while the klystron is in use. Accordingly, the waveguide vacuum gate valve 8, in general, is of a double choke flange construction, which is complicated and expensive. Moreover, since the waveguide vacuum gate valve 8 is provided on the output waveguide 7, the magnitude of the microwave power that can be transmitted by the output waveguide 7 is limited to a relatively small magnitude by the capacity of the waveguide vacuum gate valve 8.

Klystron having a vacuum gate valve disposed in a drift tube


A printing machine for printing on regular-stock type substrates and on card-stock type substrates includes a rotatable drum member having an outer surface for contacting regular-stock and card-stock type substrates; a first path for moving and printing on regular-stock type substrates, the first path including a curved portion defined by the outer surface of the rotatable drum member, and a first printing station; and a second path for moving and printing on card-stock type substrates, the second path being substantially straight and including a second printing station separate from the first printing station.

The present invention relates generally to printing machines or printers including ink jet printers, and more particularly relates to such a printing machine or printer including subassemblies for printing effectively on regular-stock type substrates and heavy card-stock type substrates.
Liquid ink printers of the type frequently referred to either as continuous stream or as drop-on-demand, such as piezoelectric, acoustic, phase change wax-based or thermal, have at least one printhead from which droplets of ink are directed towards a recording sheet. Within the printhead, the ink is contained in a plurality of channels. For a drop-on-demand printhead power pulses cause the droplets of ink to be expelled as required from orifices or nozzles at the end of the channels.
In a thermal ink-jet printer, the power pulses are usually produced by formation and growth of vapor bubbles on heating elements or resistors, each located in a respective one of the channels, which are individually addressable to heat and vaporize ink in the channels. As voltage is applied across a selected resistor, a vapor bubble grows in the associated channel and initially expels the ink therein from the channel orifice, thereby forming a droplet moving in a direction away from the channel orifice and towards the recording medium where, upon hitting the recording medium, a dot or spot of ink is deposited. Following collapse of the vapor bubble the channel is refilled by capillary action, which, in turn, draws ink from a supply container of liquid ink. Operation of a thermal ink-jet printer is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,774.
The ink jet printhead may be incorporated into either a carriage type printer, a partial width array type printer, or a page-width type printer. The carriage type printer typically has a relatively small printhead containing the ink channels and nozzles. The printhead can be sealingly attached to a disposable ink supply cartridge and the combined printhead and cartridge assembly is attached to a carriage which is reciprocated to print one swath of information (equal to the length of a column of nozzles), at a time, on a supported, stationary recording medium, such as paper or a transparency.
After the swath is printed, the paper is stepped a distance equal to the height of the printed swath or a portion thereof, so that the next printed swath is contiguous or overlapping therewith. This procedure is repeated until an entire page is printed. In contrast, the page width printer includes a stationary printhead having a length sufficient to print across the width or length of a supported sheet of recording medium at a time. The supported recording medium is continually moved past the page width printhead in a direction substantially normal to the printhead length and at a constant or varying speed during the printing process.
In either case, the substrate or sheet is supported and heated on a heating and supporting assembly that includes a platen and a heating device in order to dry the printed swath and prevent it from bleeding into an adjacent swath. Typically, the sheet supporting platen consists of a flat surface, or of a rotating hollow drum, that in either case, has a back surface, and a front surface that has an area which is large enough to support up to a legal size sheet, with border areas left over. In the case of a rotating hollow drum platen for example, heat is generated by a radiant heater or heating device mounted inside the hollow of the drum.
Ordinarily, because drum type printers, such as the ink jet type, have a drum platen having a substantial curvature, they make printing on heavy card-stock difficult, and where possible, tend to induce undesirable curls in heavy card-stock substrates. There is therefore a need for such a printer including subassemblies for enabling effective printing on regular and heavy card-stock substrates.

Drum platen type printing machine for printing on regular and card-stock substrates


The first invention provides a substrate for a magnetic recording medium, which is prepared by forming a macro-concavo-convex pattern for improving CSS properties and a micro-concavo-convex pattern for improving magnetic properties on the surface, thereby preventing the degradation of the CSS properties brought by the enhancement in friction coefficient and the increase in the area of a protective layer of the medium in contact with a magnetic head, caused by the wearing of the protective layer of the medium.. The second invention provides a process of producing a substrate for a magnetic recording medium, which forms the above macro-concavo-convex pattern and micro-concavo-convex pattern in a uniform distribution at the same time.. The first invention utilizes, as the texture, protrusions 13P and 15P different in length from the substrate surface, the protrusions being prepared by packing at least two kinds of materials 13 and 15 differing in etching rate into alumite pores 14A and 14B, polishing and then etching.. The second process invention comprises the steps of packing the first material into alumite pores of an aluminum alloy by means of electrolytic deposition, packing the second material having an etching rate different from that of the first material by means of dipping method, polishing the resultant surface and etching the polished surface so as to make the respective protrusion lengths of the first and the second materials within the predetermined range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for a magnetic recording medium improved by means of a chemical texture method and a process of producing the same.
2. Discussion of Background
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 165025/1989 discloses a chemical texture method (CTX method) as a method for forming a minute concavo-convex rough surface (texture) on a substrate for a magnetic recording medium. The CTX method is a method for remarkably improving not only magnetic properties of a magnetic film but also tribological properties of a substrate such as CSS properties and adsorption properties of a magnetic head onto a magnetic recording medium, which comprises (a) forming an alumite layer 3 having innumerable pores 2 on the surface by anodizing an aluminum or aluminium alloy substrate 1, (b) packing a material 4 having an etching rate different from the alumite into the pores of the alumite layer, (c) polishing the resultant substrate, (d) etching the polished substrate to form a minute concavo-convex pattern 4P on the alumite surface due to the above etching rate difference, and (e) forming a magnetic layer 5 and a protective layer 6 on the above treated surface, for example, by sputtering method, as shown in FIG. 4.
According to the above CTX method, since there are no protrusions protruded above the predetermined standard level, there are few head hits resulting in head crush and there is no fear that the protective layer 6 is cut by banishing step, thus providing a magnetic disk substrate having satisfactory CSS properties and corrosion resistance. The distance between pores 2 can be optionally adjusted, for example within a range of from 10 to 200 nm, by controlling anodizing voltage.
Recently, a high density magnetic recording medium using a Co-Pt type alloy as a magnetic layer has come to public notice. It is preferable for improving C/N properties to form the magnetic layer of this alloy in the vicinity of room temperature under a gas pressure range as high as possible (at least 10 mTorr). A graphite film containing diamond-like carbon used as a protective layer for this magnetic layer must be formed at a temperature as high as possible and under a pressure range as low as possible (lower than 5 mTorr). Otherwise, a protective layer having a satisfactory mechanical strength can not be formed but a soft carbon film rich in graphite structure is formed.
On the other hand, the texture obtained by the above known CTX method is too minute to the above-mentioned soft carbon film and the soft carbon film is worn when a magnetic head is in contact therewith during using the disk, thereby the concave part (valley) of the disk surface is rapidly buried with the worn carbon particles. Consequently, the area of the disk surface in contact with the magnetic head is increased, and accordingly the friction coefficient is enhanced, which results in poor CSS properties.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it has been tried to reduce the packing rate of the electrolytic deposits into pores, but a satisfactory result has not been obtained.

Substrate for magnetic recording medium and process of producing the same


Described is an apparatus and a method to accurately determine the gas entrainment characteristics of liquids, such as automatic transmission fluids. The apparatus comprises a liquid reservoir, a conduit having an inlet and an outlet connected to the liquid reservoir so as to form a pressurized recirculating loop for the liquid in the liquid reservoir, a pump for moving the liquid through the conduit, and a means for admitting gas (such as air) into the conduit to aerate the liquid.

This invention pertains to an apparatus and a method for determining the gas entrainment characteristics of liquids, such as lubricating compositions, particularly automatic transmission fluids (ATFs).
The intermixing of a lubricant and air results in the formation of a gas-in-liquid dispersion. Such gas-in-liquid dispersions are technically termed "foams" (see for example: Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., New York, 1984, Chapter 18). In the lubricant art, the terms air "entrainment" and "foaming" are commonly applied to describe the processes of air incorporation into, and release from, lubricants, respectively. The formation of a stable air-in-oil dispersion in a lubricant under pressure is commonly referred to as "air entrainment", whereas foaming is normally understood to mean the release of dispersed air from a liquid phase at atmospheric pressure. The bubble rich layer which forms on top of the liquid phase is referred to as "foam." Foaming, as used in this context, is the result of poor release of air from the liquid phase. Normally, an air-in-oil dispersion, a lubricant with entrained air formed under pressure, will foam when the pressure is released and the dispersion is returned to atmospheric pressure.
Foaming is a function of the interfacial tension of the dispersion and the viscosity of the liquid phase. Air entrainment, as was previously noted, is the ability of the lubricant to form a stable air-in-oil dispersion under pressure. Air entrainment characteristics are influenced by the interfacial tension of the dispersion (as are foaming characteristics), and are also highly dependent on the size of the bubbles formed and the ability of the lubricant to stabilize the bubbles either through viscous isolation or additive adsorption. The amount of air that can be entrained by a lubricant is controlled by many factors, as indicated above. What is of interest is that lubricants vary in the maximum amount of air that they can entrain irrespective of the volume of air introduced into them. The ability to determine this maximum air entrainment capacity of a lubricant is the subject of this invention.
In many lubrication applications air and the lubricant are mixed together at high shear rates and at high temperatures. These conditions cause formation of air-in-oil dispersions. Entrained air in lubricants is detrimental to performance for several reasons. First it disrupts the lubricant film, thereby leading to wear. Second, air in intimate contact with the lubricant under pressure and at elevated temperatures causes oxidation. And third, air is compressible so hydraulic fluids with entrained air give soft or "spongy" responses. Transmissions (manual, automatic or continuously variable) are particularly susceptible to air entrainment. These devices have rotating elements that dip into the lubricant and in the process effectively mix air into the lubricant. Transmissions of this type also have pumps such that any air drawn into the pump will be dispersed into the lubricant phase. This aerated fluid then is subject to the problems previously described.
Many apparatuses and tests are known for determining the foaming characteristics of lubricants, including the ASTM D-892 Standard Test Method for Foaming Characteristics of Lubricating Oils, and the General Motors DEXRON.RTM.-III Foam Test, GM-6297M. However, there are no such apparatuses or procedures for determining the air entrainment characteristics of lubricants.
The present invention provides an apparatus and a method to accurately determine the gas entrainment characteristics of liquids, such as new or used lubricants, particularly automatic transmission fluids.

Apparatus and method for determining the air entrainment characteristics of liquids


Motion of a magnetic bubble material is caused by subjecting magnetic bubbles within the material to a magnetic field gradient. The bubbles respond to the magnetic field gradient by producing forces angled from the direction of the magnetic field gradient, and resistance of the magnetic bubble material to internal movement of the magnetic bubbles causes the material to move in response to the magnetic bubble forces.

Magnetic bubbles are generally cylindrical-shaped regions within a material in which a magnetization direction within the bubbles is opposite to a magnetization direction in the material outside the bubbles. Materials producing magnetic bubbles are often thin crystalline films, but magnetic bubbles are not limited to such materials.
Magnetic bubbles have been studied primarily as prospects for information storage and processing. Although considerable knowledge has been developed on magnetic bubbles, they have so far not been widely exploited for other uses.
From the extensive literature on magnetic bubbles, the following selections provide basic information on magnetic bubble characteristics, to aid in understanding this invention:
"Formation of Normal and Hard Bubbles by Cutting Strip Domains", by Hideki Nishida, Tsutomu Kobayashi, and Yutaka Sugita, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. MAG-9, No. 3, September 1973, pages 517-520.
MAGNETIC BUBBLES by T. H. O'Dell, Halsted Press Book, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1974, title page and pages 4-9.
Ferromagnetodynamics, The dynamics of magnetic bubbles, domains and domain walls, by T. H. O'Dell, Halsted Press Book, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1981, title page and pages 16-24.
"Forced Shear Flow of Magnetic Bubble Arrays", by R. Seshadri and R. M. Westervelt, The American Physical Society, Physical Review Letters, Volume 70, Number 2, Jan. 11, 1993, pages 234-237.
"Commensurate-incommensurate transitions in magnetic bubble arrays with periodic line pinning", by Junmin Hu and R. M. Westervelt, The American Physical Society, Physical Review B, Volume 55, Number 2, Jan. 1, 1997-II, pages 771-774.


A double barrier tunnel diode (10) has a quantum well (12), a pair of electron injection layers (16) on either side of the quantum well (12), and a barrier layer (14) between each of the electron injection layers (16) and the quantum well (12), in a strained biaxial epitaxial relationship with the quantum well (12). The material of the quantum well (12) is chosen such that the biaxial strain is sufficient to reduce the energy of heavy holes in the quantum well (12) to less than the energy of the conduction band minimum energy of the electron injection layers (16). Preferably the quantum well (12) is made of gallium antimonide with from about 1 to about 40 atomic percent arsenic alloyed therein, the electron injection layers (16) are made of indium arsenide, and the barrier layers (14) are made of aluminum antimonide.

This invention relates to semiconductor diodes, and, more particularly, to a modified double barrier tunnel diode.
A diode is a semiconductor device having a nonlinear voltage-current relation. Diodes are among the most important of solid-state devices, and are used in many electronic applications. The tunnel diode is one variety of diode, having the unusual characteristic of negative resistance. As the term is used, negative resistance is a voltage-current behavior wherein, over certain voltage ranges, increasing the voltage applied across the diode leads to decreased current carried through the diode. By contrast, in most devices an increasing applied voltage results in increasing current. Tunnel diodes have a number of applications, including high frequency oscillator circuits and high frequency electronic switches.
One type of tunnel diode is the double barrier tunnel diode. One such double barrier tunnel diode includes a gallium antimonide quantum well with a thin barrier layer of aluminum antimonide epitaxially joined to each side of the quantum well. This structure, termed a quantum barrier, in turn lies between two injection layers of indium arsenide. The quantum barrier creates an energy barrier to the flow of electrons that can be overcome by electrons only under certain conditions, and which results in the negative resistance characteristic of interest over a range of applied bias voltage. Electrons are injected into the quantum barrier from the conduction band of one of the injection layers under an internal voltage, produced by the applied external voltage. The internal voltage increases the energy of the injected electrons to satisfy the resonant tunneling condition of the quantum barrier. Under the proper conditions of voltage sufficient to satisfy the resonance condition, the incoming electron has the same energy as a valence level of the quantum well, and the electrons tunnel through the quantum barrier. As the bias voltage is increased further, the energy levels no longer align and the current decreases, resulting in the negative resistance effect.
In some cases, it has been observed that the magnitude of the negative resistance effect is not as great as might be expected. It is important to understand the cause of this reduced negative-resistance effect, and an associated need for an improved double barrier tunnel diode that exhibits the full extent of the negative-resistance effect. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Strained interband resonant tunneling negative resistance diode


A product dispenser with a reservoir adapted for a product and a cap. The reservoir has a protrusion and a piston engaging mechanism. The cap has a pipette, a piston configured to move to create a suction to draw the product through a lower end orifice of the pipette, a housing for the piston, a corresponding engaging mechanism, a button configured to dispense the product, and a chamber configured to change its volume depending on the movement of the piston and the movement of the button.

A dispenser provided with a reservoir and a pipette fixed to a cap which has an push button for dispensing the product is known. A coil spring or an elastically deformable diaphragm allows product to be sucked into the pipette. However, depending on the dispenser structure and/or how strongly the product is sucked and dispensed, the amount of the dispensed product can be easily varied in such dispensers. Thus, there is a need to provide dispensers of viscous products with improved precision in dispensing.
Alternatively, dispensers to automatically fill the pipette with products has been proposed. For example, Chattel's US patent application publication No. 2015144663 A discloses a dispenser for viscous products, including: a container for a product, a sealing cap designed to be screwed onto the container, a pipette, and a piston capable of causing a suction of the product into the pipette, the dispenser being arranged such that, when the cap is screwed onto the container, the unscrewing of the cap in the direction of opening of the dispenser causes, by itself, a movement of the piston producing the suction.
However, the inventor of the present invention has found a need to provide a different dispenser structure from that disclosed in the above Chanel's US patent publication, for at least one of the followings:
dispensing a larger dose per stroke; and
reducing the number of pieces used in the structure, by which the dispenser may provide improved stability in: sealing functions; and/or piston movements.
There is also a need to provide such dispensers without using plastic springs or bellows in view of prevention of failure of piston movement caused by creep/fatigue. Dispensers without any metal parts such as metal coil spring may also be desired in view of easiness to recycle plastic materials used in other parts of the dispenser. This enables material selection allowing the dispenser to be recycled according to one SPI class wherein each of the components is selected from the group consisting of a single class of recyclable materials as defined by the Society of the Plastics Industry.
Thus, there is a need for providing dispensers to meet at least one of the aforementioned needs.


A system and method of analyzing defects on a mask used in lithography are provided. A defect area image is provided as a first input, a set of lithography parameters is provided as a second input, and a set of metrology data is provided as a third input. The defect area image comprises an image of a portion of the mask. A simulated image can be generated in response to the first input. The simulated image comprises a simulation of an image that would be printed on a wafer if the wafer were exposed to a radiation source directed at the portion of the mask. The characteristics of the radiation source comprise the set of lithography parameters and the characteristics of the mask comprise the set of metrology data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of integrated circuit manufacturing. In particular, the invention relates to a system for analyzing defects on binary intensity masks, phase-shifting masks and next generation lithography (NGL) masks used in the manufacture of integrated circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
In designing an integrated circuit (IC), engineers typically rely upon computer simulation tools to help create a circuit schematic design consisting of individual devices coupled together to perform a certain function. To actually fabricate this circuit in a semiconductor substrate the circuit must be translated into a physical representation, or layout, which itself can then be transferred onto a template (i.e. a mask), and then to the silicon surface. Again, computer aided design (CAD) tools assist layout designers in the task of translating the discrete circuit elements into shapes, which will embody the devices themselves in the completed IC. These shapes make up the individual components of the circuit, such as gate electrodes, field oxidation regions, diffusion regions, metal interconnections, and so on.
Once the layout of the circuit has been created, the next step to manufacturing the integrated circuit is to transfer the layout onto a semiconductor substrate. One way to do this is to use the process of optical lithography in which the layout is first transferred onto a physical template, which is in turn used to optically project the layout onto a silicon wafer. Other types of wafers can be used, e.g. silicon germanium, etc.
In transferring the layout to a physical template, a mask (usually. a quartz plate coated with chrome) is generally created for each layer of the integrated circuit design. This is done by inputting the data representing the layout design for that layer into a device, such as an electron beam machine, which writes the integrated circuit layout pattern into the mask material. In less complicated and dense integrated circuits, each mask comprises the geometric shapes that represent the desired circuit pattern for its corresponding layer. In more complicated and dense circuits in which the size of the circuit features approach the optical limits of the lithography process, the masks may also comprise sub-lithographic, optical proximity correction features, such as serifs, hammerheads, bias and assist bars, designed to compensate for proximity effects. In other advanced circuit designs, phase-shifting masks may be used to circumvent certain basic optical limitations of the process by enhancing the contrast of the optical lithography process.
These masks are then used to optically project the layout onto a silicon wafer coated with photoresist material. For each layer of the design, a light (visible/non-visible radiation) is shone on the mask corresponding to that layer via a visible light source or an ultra-violet light source. This light passes through the clear regions of the mask, whose image exposes the underlying photoresist layer, and is blocked by the opaque regions of the mask, thereby leaving that underlying portion of the photoresist layer unexposed. The exposed photoresist layer is then developed, typically through chemical removal of the exposed/non-exposed regions of the photoresist layer. The result is a semiconductor wafer coated with a photoresist layer exhibiting a desired pattern, which defines the geometries, features, lines and shapes of that layer. This process is then repeated for each layer of the design.
As integrated circuit designs become more complicated, it becomes increasingly important that the masks used in photolithography are accurate representations of the original design layout. Unfortunately, the electron beam and other machines used to manufacture these masks are not error-free. Thus, in the typical manufacturing process, some mask defects do occur outside the controlled process.
A defect on a mask is anything that is different from the design database and is deemed intolerable by an inspection tool or an inspection engineer. A photolithographic mask can comprise a plurality of opaque areas (typically made of chrome) and a plurality of clear areas (typically made of quartz). In a bright field mask, the background is clear and the circuit pattern is defined by opaque areas. In a dark field mask, the background is opaque and the circuit pattern is defined by clear areas. Common mask defects that occur during a bright field mask manufacturing process include, for example, an isolated opaque pinhole defect in a clear area, an isolated clear spot defect in an opaque area, an edge intrusion defect in an opaque area, an edge protrusion defect in a clear area, a geometry break defect in an opaque area, and a geometry bridge defect in a clear area. Similar type defects can occur in a dark field mask manufacturing process. Defects may also occur in the sub-resolution optical proximity correction (OPC) features provided on the chip. These OPC features could include, for example, serifs, hammerheads, and assist lines.
FIG. 1 illustrates a known method of analyzing a mask for one or more of the above-described defects. After designing an integrated circuit 100 and creating a data file 110, the mask design data is provided to a device such as an electron beam or laser writing machine and a mask is manufactured 115. The mask is then inspected for defects as shown in step 120. In this inspection, the surface of the mask can be scanned with a high resolution microscope (e.g. optical, scanning electron, focus ion beam, atomic force, and near-field optical microscopes) and capturing images of the mask. These mask images can then be observed off-line by an engineer or on-line by a mask fabrication worker to identify defects on the physical mask. Then, a decision is made in step 125 whether the inspected mask is good enough for use in the lithography process. This decision can be made off-line by a skilled inspection engineer or on-line by a fabrication worker, possibly with the aid of inspection software. If there are no defects, or defects are discovered but determined to be within tolerances set by the manufacturer or end-user, then the mask passes inspection and can be used to expose a wafer in step 140. If defects are discovered that fall outside tolerances, then the mask fails inspection and a decision is made in step 130 as to whether the mask can be cleaned and/or repaired to correct the defects in step 135, or whether the defects are so severe that a new mask must be manufactured (returning to step 115). This process is continued until a manufactured mask passes inspection.
Once a physical mask is produced that passes inspection, the mask is further inspected to ensure that the mask will produce the desired image on a photoresist after a wafer is exposed to light through the mask. Typically, this inspection includes exposing and processing a wafer in step 140 using the inspected mask. The processed wafer is then inspected in step 145, and a decision is made in step 150 as to whether there are any defects and whether the defects fall within tolerances. If discovered defects are substantial, then, as before, a decision is made in step 130 whether the defects can be repaired or whether a new mask must be produced in step 115. This process is continued until a mask is manufactured that will produce desired wafer patterns and that will pass the wafer level inspection, thereby ending inspection in step 160. This mask is then used in the lithography process to expose the corresponding layer in the overall manufacturing process.
The goal of defect inspection is to correctly identify a defect to avoid a failed wafer processing. However, not all mask defects are important with respect to the desired result, i.e. an accurate representation of the original design layout on the photoresist material or etched into silicon. Specifically, not all mask defects will "print." Loosely speaking, the printability of a defect is how a defect would impact the outcome of a given photolithography and/or etching process. Because the printability of a defect is mainly associated with the stepper exposure conditions, a defect can be "not printable" for a particular set of stepper exposure conditions and "printable" under a different set of stepper exposure conditions. These conditions for optics based lithography can include, for example, defect size, wavelength, numerical aperture, coherence factor, illumination mode, exposure time, exposure focus/defocus, and the reflection/transmission characteristics of the defect.
Currently, inspection tools that are in use include tools that inspect masks both on-line (i.e. within the production line) and off-line. Conventional on-line inspection tools typically scan the entire mask area looking for defect areas, and some may also compare the inspected result with the mask layout database when defects are detected. However, the defect analysis of the typical on-line inspection tools are based primarily (or solely) on the size of the defect picked up by the optics to define the severity of a particular defect. While this scheme has been somewhat successful in the past, current masks are designed with smaller and smaller features that include advanced and unconventional methods such as OPC. Due to these changes, conventional methods of inspection are rapidly proving to be inadequate because they do not address several issues.
First, whether a defect prints or not greatly depends on both its location and size, not just size or transmission/reflection/phase characteristics alone. For example, a large defective spot in an isolated area may have little or no effect on the current and subsequent process layers. On the other hand, a small spot near a corner, an edge, or a critical area should not be dismissed without closer examination. This is true for both conventional binary masks and advanced masks. Second, advanced OPC mask features can trigger false defect detections. A conventional scheme can falsely report an OPC feature or an imperfect OPC feature as a defect, when this feature actually has little impact on the end result. Although some existing mask inspection tools have a sliding scale setting to "tolerate" OPC features, this is not a robust method because defects associated with these special features may be overlooked because of this arbitrary scale. Additionally, OPC features are typically designed for a specific set of stepper parameters, whereas sliding scales are blind to these stepper parameters. Third, phase information is not properly incorporated into consideration, if at all, in conventional defect inspection methods. Therefore, phase-shifting masks are not properly inspected. Finally, even though a defect may not appear to print, the defect can affect the process latitude in a way that will decrease yield and not be detected by conventional on-line defect inspection systems.
Off-line inspection stations, which either scan for defects directly or review previously stored undetermined defect data from an on-line tool, face the same issues. In addition, an a engineer having the requisite expertise may be needed to resolve these issues, thereby diminishing throughput while significantly increasing cost. Although an engineer's judgment can greatly reduce the magnitude of the defect printability problem, still, there is not enough certainty and accuracy until the defect is viewed as it appears on an actual wafer after exposure through the mask. This is especially true in current lithography steppers using non-standard illumination modes such as annular and quadruple. Thus, using currently existing inspection systems, it is nearly impossible to judge a defect's printability without actually printing the mask onto a wafer, which is expensive and time-consuming.
Accordingly, in any mask inspection system, the important decision to be made is whether a given defect will "print" on the underlying photoresist in a lithography process under specified conditions. If a mask defect does not print or have other effects on the lithography process (such as unacceptably narrowing the lithography process window), then the mask with the defect can still be used to provide acceptable lithography results. Therefore, one can avoid the expense in time and money of repairing and/or replacing masks whose defects do not print. What is desired then, is a method and apparatus for analyzing masks used in the lithography process that solve the aforementioned problems of currently existing mask inspection systems.

Visual analysis and verification system using advanced tools


Systems and methods for controlling fuel factions delivered to different cylinders are provided. In one example, a controller is configured to, during a single engine cycle and responsive to a first condition, deliver a lower fraction of a first fuel into a donor cylinder in comparison to a fraction of the first fuel being injected into a non-donor cylinder and deliver a higher fraction of a second fuel into the donor cylinder in comparison to a fraction of the second fuel being injected into the non-donor cylinder.

Internal combustion engines have been widely used in many fields, such as vehicles due to high power-to-weight ratios together with high fuel energy density. In recent years, with increasing attention of reducing pollution of harmful engine emissions to environment, internal combustion engines, such as compression ignition engines (also known as "diesel" engines) can be modified to burn a plurality of fuels, such as both natural gas and diesel fuels, which is referred to as dual fuel operation.
During some types of dual fuel operation, the natural gas may be premixed with an intake air, and then the mixture is introduced into engine cylinders during intake strokes thereof. Subsequently, compression strokes of the engine cylinders start and proceed to increase pressure and temperature of the mixture. At the end of the compression strokes, a small quantity of the diesel fuel is injected into the engine cylinders to ignite the mixture of the intake air and the natural gas by the auto-ignition of the diesel fuel so as to trigger combustion in the engine cylinders.
As a result, the substitution of the natural gas for the diesel fuel can reduce the emissions of the pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). However, when the operation of such engines is switched from a steady state to an increased load state, such as a transient acceleration state, the quantity of the natural gas is increased significantly to provide desirable power, which results in reduction of the air fuel ratio (AFR) and may cause the auto-ignition of the premixed natural gas accordingly. The auto-ignition of the premixed natural gas may cause detonation or knocking in the engine cylinders, thereby damaging the engine.
There have been attempts to avoid the detonation or knocking in the engine cylinders. For example, to enable the dual fuel operation, the compression ratio of the engine cylinders may be reduced. This may result in reduction of the cycle efficiency of the engines and increased challenges during cold start. Alternatively, during the dual fuel operation, the substitution of the natural gas to the diesel fuel may be reduced, which increases the harmful engine emissions and the fuel cost due to the increased quantity of the diesel fuel.
Additionally, sudden increases in load may result in increased temperature of an aftertreatment system. If the aftertreatment system has built up flammable substances (e.g., oil, unburned fuel, or soot particles), uncontrolled combustion in the aftertreatment system may occur, thereby causing damage to the aftertreatment system.
Attempts to avoid uncontrolled oxidation in the aftertreatment have primarily looked to limiting the rate of load increase. However, this can result in degraded performance when fast load increase is desired.
Therefore, there is a need for new and improved methods for operating an internal combustion engine.


Self-contained, combined wrench and marking system, and method for installing a fitting and for automatically marking an installed fitting. The self-contained combined wrench and marking system has a wrench that may include a wrench head for rotating a fastener during a fastener tightening operation, a torque measuring mechanism for measuring a torque applied to the fastener during the fastener tightening operation, and an angle measuring mechanism for rotating the fastener to a preset angle during the fastener tightening operation. The self-contained combined wrench and marking system also has a marking system for automatically marking the fastener after the torque is applied to the fastener and after rotating the fastener to the preset angle.

1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to a method and apparatus for installing fluid fittings and fasteners. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a self-contained, combined wrench and marking system for installing and marking fluid fittings and fasteners, and to a method for installing and marking fluid fittings and fasteners.
2. Background
An aircraft includes many movable structures, for example and without limitation, wing flaps, vertical fins and ailerons, that are operated hydraulically. Accordingly, a typical aircraft may include many hydraulic lines that extend throughout the aircraft and that are comprised of numerous line sections joined together by fluid fittings.
The fittings are assembled to the line sections using nuts, and it is important that the assembled structures be fluid-tight. In a typical procedure for installing a hydraulic line in an aircraft, a mechanic first loosely attaches one end of a fitting to a line section by hand-tightening the nut at the one end of the fitting, then stretches or compresses the line section so that the opposite end of the fitting can be attached to another line section, again by hand-tightening the nut at the opposite end of the fitting. The mechanic then further tightens the nuts, first at one end and then at the opposite end of the fitting. This process of alternately tightening the nuts at the ends of the fitting may be repeated two or three times until the nuts at both ends of the fitting are fully tightened.
A mechanic may install several hundred hydraulic fittings in a day, and to help ensure that all nuts and fittings have been properly tightened, it is often the practice to mark a nut and/or fitting after it has been fully tightened.
As a result of the process of alternately and repeatedly tightening the nuts at the opposite ends of a fitting, however, it is not uncommon that the mechanic might inadvertently fail to fully tighten the nut at one or both ends of a fitting, yet still mark the nuts as being fully tightened.
All fittings in a hydraulic line of an aircraft are subjected to leak-testing such that any nuts that may have been only hand-tightened or that were otherwise improperly installed will be identified and properly fastened. When a fitting fails leak-testing, however, it is necessary to clean the leaked aviation hydraulic fluid (e.g., Skydrol) from surrounding surfaces, and to then fully tighten any loose nuts prior to retesting of the fitting. In addition to being time consuming, the preferred cleaning agent used to clean the leaked aviation hydraulic fluid is Freon which is a hazardous material and may also cause damage to the surrounding surfaces that requires repair.
Thus, it would be desirable to minimize the number of fittings that fail during leak-testing.
The typical procedure for marking an assembled hydraulic joint requires the mechanic to apply a colored compound, (e.g., Inspection seal lacquer F925) by squeezing a small tube so that a stripe of the compound, sometimes referred to as a "torque stripe", covers both the fitting and the nut. This procedure for marking an installed hydraulic joint may be unsatisfactory.
One problem, as indicated above, is that the mechanic may inadvertently mark a fitting that has not been fully tightened. Also, these manual marking procedures are time consuming and reduce productivity. Recognizing the inadequacies of manual marking procedures, a marking wrench was developed. The prior art marking wrench both tightens a fastener and then marks the tightened nut with ink to indicate that the nut has been tightened.
The prior art marking wrench, however, is still not fully satisfactory. For one thing, the marking wrench only marks the nut and not its mating fitting. It is desirable to have the mark cover both nut and fitting so that it would be known if someone loosened, or tampered with the nut. A misaligned mark on the nut and fitting surfaces flags this condition. The prior art marking wrench is also non-ratcheting which makes operation of the wrench rather slow. Furthermore, the prior art marking wrench contacts the nut with ink impregnated felt, but trials of this wrench found that the felt dried up, rendering its marking capability useless.
There is, accordingly, a need for a mechanism for installing fittings and fasteners in hydraulic lines in an aircraft and in other applications that will minimize fluid leaks during leak-testing, and that will also automatically mark installed fittings and fasteners after they have been properly installed.


A coating for a gun propellant powder wherein the graphite commonly used to coat a gun propellant powder is totally or partially replaced with molybdenum disulfide in an amount equal to or less than five tenths percent by weight of the propellant powder.

Bench rest shooters have found that when shooting in competition with the normal uncoated bullet and the normal uncoated barrel that the rifle bore must be cleaned after about ten to twenty shots in order to maintain accuracy in a high powered rifle. A photomicrograph of the bore of a rifle indicates that the visually smooth bore is actually comprised of peaks and valleys with the peaks being more than twenty microns apart. When a cartridge in a high powered rifle is fired chamber pressures build to 35000 to 55000 pounds per square inch or more and a bullet is accelerated from a dead stop to 2500 to as much as 4000 feet per second or more. Bore fouling that occurs comprises bits of copper, and graphite from the normal powder coating. The graphite hardens and becomes abrasive under firing conditions and builds up in the rifle bore to finally score and deform the bullet to cause bullet unbalance and flight path deviation. Testing has shown that with a molybdenum disulfide coated powder this fouling is minimized because the first bullets fired coat the bore of the rifle. This happens because of the peculiar properties of molybdenum disulfide wherein under heat and pressure the laminar plates of the compound slide, much like a deck of cards. Electron photomicrographs have indicated that the sliding plates of the molybdenum disulfide bridge and smooth the photomicrographically rough rifle bore surface. Excess molybdenum disulfide is ejected from the rifle bore.
Most gun propellant powders are coated with graphite. The object of the present invention is to partially or totally replace the graphite coating of the propellant with molybdenum disulfide. Total replacement of the graphite is preferred. With this partial or total replacement and with either normal or molybdenum disulfide coated bullets the shooter will be able to fire many times without the necessity for cleaning the rifle bore as frequently and the gun should fire more accurately for increased number of shots.
Much prior art has been found wherein a bullet in a cartridge has been molybdenum disulfide coated to provide some of the benefits to the shooter as the subject invention. No prior art has been found wherein a gun propellant powder is coated with molybdenum disulfide. In Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,296 up to 4% molybdenum disulfide is used as a binder and pressing aid for molding gas generant pyrotechnic compositions especially suitable for inflating vehicle occupant restraint systems. Taylor would indicate that coating of a gun propellant powder with molybdenum disulfide in place of graphite is feasible in gun propellant manufacture.


An assembly adapted to protect a vehicle with an expandable room by preventing water and debris on the roof of an expanded expandable room from being trapped or crushed between the expandable room and the body of the vehicle as the room is retracted. The assembly comprises an upper member and a lower member that mate at a pivoting connection. The upper member is attached to the outside surface of the vehicle above the expandable room. The lower member is pivotally combined with the upper member so that it hangs below the upper member and rests against the top edge of the expandable room. As the room is retracted, a spring urges a portion of the lower member to remain frictionally engaged with the roof of the expandable room so as to slide over the surface of the roof and remove water and other debris from the roof.

This invention relates generally to expandable rooms, and more particularly to room structures that are moveable between retracted and expanded positions. The invention particularly relates to vehicles such as recreational vehicles that are provided with one or more expandable room or room portions that are capable of moving from a retracted position to an expanded position to provide additional internal space. Typically, one portion of the room is nested within a portion of an existing room of the vehicle that remains fixed.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, when a recreational vehicle equipped with an expandable room is in motion, the room typically remains in a retracted position. This is necessary in order for the vehicle to move over the road and remain within vehicle width limitations. However, when the vehicle is stopped for a period of time, it is often desirable to increase the size of the internal accommodations, and in order to do so the user will cause the moveable portion of the room to move outwardly to an expanded position. Similarly, when it is time to move the vehicle over the road again, the user will cause the movable portion of the room to move inwardly to its retracted position.
In its expanded position, leaves, branches, rain water, and other debris may gather on the roof of the expandable room. The debris can cause damage to the recreational vehicle as the room is retracted because it can get crushed or trapped in between the recreational vehicle body and the expandable room. To prevent this from happening, awnings or cloth covers have been used over the top of the expandable rooms to prevent the water and debris from accumulating on the roof of the room. Awnings of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,568. There are multiple problems with these types of awnings. First, they don't always prevent the accumulation of debris because debris can still accumulate on the roof if the wind blows the debris under the sides of the awning. Further, awnings are limited in length because the longer their length, the greater the bending force on the roller support tube. In some instances the bending force may be so great that the roller tube cannot support the weight of the awning which can be dangerous, especially in high winds.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a vehicle protection assembly that prevents water and other debris on the roof of an expandable room from being trapped or crushed between the expandable room and the vehicle when the expandable room is retracted into its nested position.

Device for removing water and other debris from the roof of an expandable room on a vehicle


A voltage supply for providing a clamped voltage to a circuit element to be protected against electrical overstress (EOS) has a reference voltage module and a voltage clamp module. The reference voltage module has a first field-effect transistor (FET) whose source and drain are connected in series between a programmable reference current source and a first resistor across a power supply. The gate of the first FET is connected to its drain to provide a reference voltage defined by the reference current flowing in the first resistor. The voltage clamp module has a second FET whose gate receives the reference voltage and whose source is connected to provide to the protected circuit element the clamped voltage whose variation is limited by the reference voltage.

The present invention is directed to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to a voltage clamping circuit.
Electrical overstress (EOS) failures of semiconductor devices are generally thermally-induced, electromigration-related and electric field-related. EOS reliability issues are encountered in circuit design especially for high voltage circuits or multiple power domain circuits. To avoid EOS, there are strict rules on the voltage difference applied to the terminals of circuit elements such as metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Voltages that do not respect these rules can lead to failures or reduced life time of the semiconductor devices.
The designer should keep the semiconductor devices safe under all operation conditions. However, process-voltage-temperature (PVT) variations and load variations are difficult to control or predict during the design stage. There is a need to clamp the voltages applied to a sensitive semiconductor device into the safe region in spite of unexpected PVT and load variation effects, that is to say limit physically the maximum voltage differences applied across sensitive terminals of the semiconductor device.
An on-chip voltage clamp for protecting semiconductor devices against EOS is sought having an accurate clamping voltage in spite of PVT and load variations, while enabling the clamping voltage to be programmed to suit different circuits, and without adding excessive cost to the design.


The invention describes a method of manufacturing a VCSEL module (100) comprising at least one VCSEL chip (33) with an upper side (U) and a lower side (L) and with a plurality of VCSEL units (55) on a common carrier structure (35), the VCSEL units (55) comprising a first doped layer (50) of a first type facing towards the lower side (L) and a second doped layer (23) of a second type facing towards the upper side (U). The method comprises the steps of dividing the VCSEL chip (33) into a plurality of subarrays (39a, 39b, 39c, 39d, 39e, 39f, 39g, 39h, 39i) with at least one VCSEL unit (55) each, electrically connecting at least some of the subarrays (39a, 39b, 39c, 39d, 39e, 39f, 39g, 39h, 39i) in series. The invention also describes a VCSEL module (100) manufactured in such process.

VCSEL modules are comprised of a number (i.e. one or a plurality) of VCSEL chips (also called dies) which chips comprise at least one, usually a large number of VCSEL units. The larger these chips the less mounting time and thus mounting costs for the production of VCSEL modules needs to be spent. Therefore, it is particularly beneficial to use as large semiconductor chips in this context as possible as long as they can be soldered with a good quality. Firstly, larger chips reduce the amount of lost wafer area due to sawing lanes and rims of the chips. Secondly, fewer individual soldered steps, i.e. pick-and-place steps, are necessary. VCSEL chips currently have maximum sizes varying between 0.8 mm×0.8 mm up to 5 mm×5 mm.
The sizes of VCSEL chips are mainly limited by the current that runs through them. As the efficiency of VCSELs has improved enormously (even apart from the sizes of VCSEL chips), operational currents of 15 A in cw (continuous wave) operation and even 30 A in pulsed operation can be considered normal for a chip of the size of 4 mm2. Larger chips, for instance, with a size of 9 mm2 may result in currents well above 50 A. However, for a laser driver with a fixed electrical power of, for instance, 1000 W it is beneficial to operate at relatively moderate currents. In addition, the size of the electrical connections from such driver to the VCSEL module and inside of the VCSEL module scale up with the operation current and become more and more bulky, heavy, and inflexible.
For small VCSEL chips, the operation current and voltage can be tailored by connecting several chips in parallel and others in series. For larger chips however, the current is the limiting factor of size, because on the chip level all VCSEL units are operated in parallel. This implies that there is a certain limit of size to VCSEL chips inside VCSEL modules which limit also restricts the effectivity of mounting processes of the VCSEL chips.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide for a possibility of more effectively providing a VCSEL module of the above-mentioned kind, in particular by overcoming the current limit of the size of the VCSEL chips.


Fungicidal compositions comprising a paraffinic oil and 2-chloro-N-(4′-chloro[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-yl)-3-pyridinecarboxamide (boscalid) are provided. The fungicidal compositions may further comprise a pigment. The fungicidal compositions may be provided as oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions which may be used for controlling fungal disease, such as dollar spot or bentgrass dead spot or bermudagrass dead spot, in plants, such as turfgrasses. Methods of applying the fungicidal compositions are also provided.

Grasses are often planted and maintained to provide aesthetically pleasing or recreationally useful groundcover for an area of land, which may be called a lawn, turf, pitch, field or green depending on the context. It is common to refer to the species of grasses that are maintained in this way as turfgrasses. Turfgrass care and maintenance has a rich horticultural tradition, reflecting in part the rich variety of pathologies that affect turfgrasses (see, for example, Walsh, B. et al., HortScience, 34, 1999, 13-21).
Dollar spot, thought to be caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, is a common disease affecting turfgrass species, with symptoms that vary according to species and management practices. Characteristic symptoms of dollar spot infection include bleached, circular patches, with patches sometimes occurring in clusters, particularly on grasses cut short, such as golf course fairways, tees, and greens.
A number of management practices are known for controlling dollar spot disease in turfgrasses, including managing leaf wetness, or preventing moisture or nitrogen stress. Fungicides are also available for controlling dollar spot. For example, the use of the fungicide boscalid for controlling dollar spot disease in turfgrasses has been reported, with boscalid sometimes described as the first fungicide from the carboxamide active ingredient class (one of a class of compounds described in European Patent No. 545099). Boscalid is thought to be a systemic fungicide, acting as an inhibitor of respiration within the fungal cell (CAS No. 188425-85-6; Synonyms: 2-chloro-N-(4′-chloro[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-yl)-nicotinamide; 2-chloro-N-(4′-chloro[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-yl)-3-pyridinecarboxamide; 2-chloro-N-(4′-chloro-2-biphenylyl)nicotinamide; 2-chloro-N-(4′-chlorobiphenyl-2-yl)-nicotinamide; 2-chloro-N-[2-(4-chlorophenyl)phenyl]-pyridine-3-carboxamide; Nicobifen; 2-chloro-N-(4μ-chloro-2-biphenylyl)nicotinamide; Molecular Formula: C18H12Cl2N2O), having the following structure:

Boscalid has been made available in a number of commercial formulations, for example from the BASF Corporation under the names Endura™ or Pristine™ or Emerald™.
In an alternative approach to conventional chemical fungicides, oil-in-water emulsions comprising paraffinic oils and paraffinic spray oils have been used for controlling turfgrass pests (see, for example, Canadian Patent Application 2,472,806 and Canadian Patent Application 2,507,482). In addition, oil-in-water formulations comprising paraffinic oils and a pigment for controlling turfgrass pests have been reported (see, for example, WO 2009/155693). For example, Petro-Canada produces CIVITAS™, a broad spectrum fungicide and insecticide for use on golf course turf and landscape ornamentals, used for example to control powdery mildew, adelgids and webworms on landscape ornamentals (US EPA REG. NO. 69526-13). Product labeling indicates that CIVITAS™ may be applied as part of an alternating spray program or in tank mixes with other turf and ornamental protection products; and that CIVITAS™ may be used as a preventative treatment with curative properties for the control of many important diseases on turf, including fairways and roughs.
The combined use of formulations comprising paraffinic oils, pigment and other conventional chemical fungicides has also been reported for treating turfgrass pests, including fungicides such as demethylation inhibitors (e.g., propiconazole), methyl benzimidazole carbamate (e.g., thiophanate-methyl), and dicarboxamides (e.g., iprodione), see, for example, WO 2009/155693.

Synergistic paraffinic oil and boscalid fungicides


An apparatus and/or method is described providing for expansion of the number of nodes in an HVAC thermostat control network utilizing a wireless mesh network beyond the limits of a single mesh network by utilizing a synchronization signal to offset periods of high wireless mesh network traffic.

The present invention relates to Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, improving operation of these systems, and providing for improvements in the methods, and/or algorithms used in the management of energy used by these HVAC systems. The present invention relates to the art of providing improved communication and increasing the range and number of thermostats or other comments of a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system connected in a plurality of wireless mesh networks.
Control and communication to and between a number of thermostats and other HVAC components can be provided with a wireless network in which thermostats and other HVAC components serve as nodes in a wireless mesh network. Each of the nodes communicates with other nodes and nodes can forward data from node to node in order to build a network with extended range.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network) describes a wireless mesh network as follows.                A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. Wireless mesh networks often consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways. The mesh clients are often laptops, cell phones and other wireless devices while the mesh routers forward traffic to and from the gateways which may but need not connect to the Internet. The coverage area of the radio nodes working as a single network is sometimes called a mesh cloud. Access to this mesh cloud is dependent on the radio nodes working in harmony with each other to create a radio network. A mesh network is reliable and offers redundancy. When one node can no longer operate, the rest of the nodes can still communicate with each other, directly or through one or more intermediate nodes . . . . A wireless mesh network can be seen as a special type of wireless ad-hoc network. A wireless mesh network often has a more planned configuration, and may be deployed to provide dynamic and cost effective connectivity over a certain geographic area. An ad-hoc network, on the other hand, is formed ad hoc when wireless devices come within communication range of each other. The mesh routers may be mobile, and be moved according to specific demands arising in the network. Often the mesh routers are not limited in terms of resources compared to other nodes in the network and thus can be exploited to perform more resource intensive functions. In this way, the wireless mesh network differs from an ad-hoc network, since these nodes are often constrained by resources.
Energy saving thermostats connected in a wireless mesh network provide for communication between a number of thermostats and one or more central system controllers. There are limits on the size of a single wireless mesh network which are dependent on factors such as the number of messages being sent, the size of the messages or maximum size of the messages, the time and the frequency between nodes receiving and forward messages, the number of wireless frequencies or channels used and other such factors. A limit on the number of nodes in a single wireless network may also be a design choice by the designer of a specific wireless mesh network, and the devices which implement it. For example, a wireless mesh network might be limited to 1024 nodes. A government or regulatory agency may also limit the choice of frequencies, the power, and the number of channels utilized in a network.
In a network of thermostats it is desirable that the thermostats check the status of controlled components fairly frequently such as every fifteen seconds. It may also be desirable for a thermostat to periodically communicate with a central server to receive commands or to report status. A reasonable period for this type of communication would also be every fifteen seconds. For example, it might be desired for an HVAC system controller to receive reports of temperature from every thermostat in the system every fifteen seconds.
It is noted that no matter what frequencies or number of channels are used, or what protocols are utilized with wireless mesh technology there will always eventually be a limit on the number of nodes in a single mesh network if a periodicity of communication between all nodes of the network is a design requirement.

Avoidance of network interference between thermostats in a plurality of proximate wireless mesh networks


In a VAD method for making optical fiber preforms, the yield is increased by terminating or significantly reducing the supply of glass raw material to the torch (24) just after glass jacket soot (23, FIG. 4) has been deposited at the bottom end of the glass rod (20). The fuel supply to the torch is maintained, however, and the flame continues to be projected from the torch toward the deposited soot boule (23). The rate of vertical movement of the glass rod is increased until the flame is directed at the bottom end (27') of the soot boule. The flame is then allowed to dwell for a sufficient period to increase significantly the temperature of the bottom end of the soot boule and to consolidate partially the bottom end of the soot boule. This has the effect of containing the soot and countering the effects of gravity on the delicate soot boule that might otherwise cause it to crack.

One of the steps in making glass optical fiber by the vapor axial deposition (VAD) method is the step of depositing glass particles or "jacket soot" on a glass core rod. This is done by supplying to a torch glass raw material and fuel such that the torch projects the vaporized glass raw material within a flame toward the glass rod. The flame causes the raw material to react such as to deposit glass particles or glass soot on the core rod. The core rod typically extends vertically with the initial deposition at its upper end. It is then moved vertically and rotated so that glass soot is deposited along its entire length and circumference. After deposition, the soot surrounding the core rod or the "soot boule" is consolidated or sintered in a furnace to form a glass preform. The preform is typically elongated and thereafter is used as a source from which optical fiber is drawn.
Optical fiber is very widely used and, as a consequence, significant efforts have been made to reduce production costs. The step of making the jacket layer as described above can result in cracking of the soot boule, which may render the entire structure useless. There is therefore a continuing need for increasing the yield of methods for making optical fiber preforms without significantly increasing the cost or the time required for making such preforms.


A method for manufacturing a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) panel, which comprises: obtaining a liquid crystal mixture by uniformly mixing liquid crystal molecules, a photoinitiator and a prepolymer; forming a liquid crystal cell (23) by injecting the obtained liquid crystal mixture into an empty liquid crystal cell (22); and obtaining the PDLC panel by adopting uniformly alternated intense and weak light to irradiate the liquid crystal cell (23) to allow the liquid crystal mixture in the liquid crystal cell (23) to be subjected to polymerization. By adoption of the method, the manufactured PDLC panel has uniform brightness.

A polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is a material which is obtained by mixing low-molecular liquid crystals with a prepolymer, allowing the obtained mixture undergoing polymerization under certain conditions, and uniformly dispersing micro-size liquid crystal droplets within a polymer network, and have the electro-optical response characteristics obtained through utilization of the dielectric anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules. The PDLC mainly works between a scattered state and a transparent state and has certain grayscale. Compared with a traditional LCD device, a PDLC display has a plurality of advantages. For instance, a polarizer and an alignment layer are not required any more; the manufacturing process is simple; and a large-area flexible display can be easily manufactured. At present, the PDLC has been widely applied in the aspects of optical modulators, thermosensitive and pressure-sensitive devices, electric control glass, light valves, projection display, e-books, and etc.
One traditional method for manufacturing a PDLC panel is as follows. At firstly, liquid crystals are mixed with a prepolymer, and the mixture is filled between an array substrate and a color filter substrate which are arranged opposite to each other to form a liquid crystal cell; subsequently, light is adopted to irradiate the liquid crystal cell filled with the mixture and the mixture in the liquid crystal cell is subjected to polymerization under action of the light to produce high molecular polymers; the high molecular polymers are irradiated by the light to form spatial frame (bone) structures, and recess structures are formed among frames; and when liquid crystals move towards recess portions, a dispersed system is formed so that the liquid crystals are dispersed in a polymer network, and hence the PDLC panel can be obtained.

Method for manufacturing polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) panel