A heat exchanger for an air conditioner comprises parallel flat fins for conducting air flows therebetween, and parallel tubes passing perpendicularly through the flat fins for conducting heat exchanging fluid. Each fin includes vertical beads disposed above, below, in front of and behind the tubes for draining condensed water.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat exchanger for an air conditioner, and more particularly to a heat exchanger having a plurality of louver patterns above and below heat exchanging tubes perpendicularly passing through flat fins whereby the air currents flowing therethrough become turbulent and mixed and further a dead air region around each tube is reduced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional heat exchanger for an air conditioner includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of flat fins 1 arranged in a parallel relation to each other at predetermined intervals and a plurality of heat exchanging tubes 2 passing through the fins 1 perpendicular thereto. The air currents flow in the space defined between the fins 1 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and exchange heat with the fluid flowing in the heat exchanging tubes 2.
For a thermal fluid flowing around each flat fin 1, it has been known that the thickness of the thermal boundary layer 3 on both heat transfer surfaces of the fin 1 is gradually thickened in proportion to square root of the distance from the air current inlet end of the fin 1 as shown in FIG. 2. In this regard, the heat transfer rate of the fin 1 is remarkably reduced in proportion to the distance from the air current inlet end. Therefore, the above heat exchanger has a lower heat transfer efficiency.
For the thermal fluid flowing about each heat transfer pipe 102, it has been also known that, when lower velocity air currents flow in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 3, the air currents separate from the outer surface of the pipe 2 at portions spaced apart from the center point of outer surface of the pipe 4 at angles of 70-degree to 80-degree. Therefore, a dead air region 4 is formed behind each tube 2 in a direction of the air flow as shown in the hatched region of FIG. 3. In the dead air region 4, the heat transfer rate of the tube 2 is remarkably reduced so that the heat transfer efficiency of the above heat exchanger becomes worse.
In order to overcome the above problems, there has been proposed another solution as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. This heat exchanger includes a plurality of heat exchanging tubes 2 which are fitted into the regularly spaced flat fins 1 such that the tubes 2 are perpendicular to the fins 1. The heat exchanger also includes a plurality of rectangular louver patterns P which are formed adjacent the tubes 2 passing through each fin 1, without any fin portions disposed between the tubes 2. Each louver 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, or 5e is formed by bending at a given angle the louver's outer edges relative to the plane of the flat fin 1, respectively, by way of the cutting process. Also, the louvers are vertically positioned to the heat exchanging tubes 2.
The above-described louvers 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d and 5e make the air flow turbulent. This operation advantageously reduces the thickness of the thermal boundary layers formed on the fins 1. However, since upper and lower ends of each pattern of louvers are parallel to a tangent of the outer circumferential surface of the tube 2 and the patterns of louvers are generally rectangular, a dead air region still exists behind each tube 2 in a direction of the air flow. Also, there is a problem in that unmixed air currents flow in the spaces between the plurality of flat fins 1, and the expected improvement of the heat transfer effect due to mixing of air currents cannot be guaranteed.
Further, there is a problem in that said upper and lower edges of said louvers 5a to 5e are arranged in parallel relation to the air current flow S, resulting in an increased pressure drop that reduces the heat transfer performance.


A multi-layer graded reflectivity mirror (GRM) with high effective reflectivity is suitable for use in large aperture laser systems with relatively low gain. The GRMs are manufactured with multiple dielectric layers with a thickness profile that eliminates the interference fringes, while providing a reflectivity which tapers smoothly from a peak to zero. The mirror is formed on a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first. The substrate consists of a material which has low absorption at a given wavelength .lambda.. A first dielectric layer is formed on the first surface of the substrate which has an index of refraction n.sub.1 and having an optical thickness profile with a maximum optical thickness of .lambda./4 at a center which essentially continuously decreases away from the center to a minimum optical thickness of Z at a perimeter P. A second dielectric layer is formed on the first dielectric layer having an index of refraction n.sub.2 and a thickness profile which is similar to the thickness profile of the first dielectric layer. Additional dielectric layers can be added as necessary to achieve the reflectivity magnitude desired. The thickness Z is the thickness at which the reflectivity profile reaches zero at the first interference fringe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to graded reflectivity mirrors, such as are used for output couplers in unstable laser resonators; and, more particularly, to graded reflectivity mirrors with high effective reflectivity manufactured from multiple dielectric layers.
2. Description of Related Art
Unstable laser resonators are commonly employed to achieve transverse mode patterns that fill, or nearly fill, the available volume within a gain medium of a laser resonator for high efficiency, while suppressing higher order transverse modes. The typical output coupler for unstable resonators of the prior art is the "dot" mirror. These dot mirror output couplers have a low effective reflectivity because they use the spreading of the beam outside of the central reflective dot region on the output coupler as the coupling mechanism. This property has limited the usefulness of unstable resonator designs to laser systems with relatively high gain. See Siegman, LASERS (University Science Books, 1986) pp. 47-48; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,808, entitled HIGH POWER LASER EMPLOYING AN UNSTABLE RESONATOR, invented by Byer and Herbst.
An alternative output coupler of the prior art for unstable resonators is known as the variable, or graded, reflectivity mirror. Use of graded reflectivity mirrors (GRMs) as output couplers for unstable resonators greatly improves the output beam quality of the resonator. In these output couplers, rather than having a dot of high reflectivity with hard edges as an output coupler, a tapered layer of dielectric is formed on a substrate causing a radially variable reflectivity profile. The layer typically has an optical thickness of a quarter wavelength at the center and smoothly as possible tapers to a thickness of 0. The taper is generally assumed to cause a Gaussian reflectivity profile from a peak at the center to 0 reflectivity at the edges of the dielectric layer. See, for instance, De Silvestri et al., "Nd:YAG Laser with Multi Dielectric Variable Reflectivity Output Coupler", OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS, Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 229-232, Jul. 1, 1988 (and references cited therein).
GRMs also suffer the problem of relatively low effective reflectivity. The low effective reflectivity results mainly because materials suitable for manufacturing the mirrors do not have high enough reflectivity in the geometries commonly used, particularly in the visible and near infra red ranges. Therefore, GRMs have been limited, as have the dot mirrors, to systems with high gain. One such laser system is manufactured by Quantel International, Santa Clara, Calif. (Quantel's Datachrome line of Q-switched Nd:YAG Lasers). For lower gain systems, the GRM output coupler has not proved practical.
The effective reflectivity of GRMs can be improved by using a multi-layer mirror as described by Piegari et al., "Optical Coatings with Radially Variable Reflectance", FA16-1, pp. 406-408, Proceeding Office OSA, Topical Conference on Optical Through Filters, Tucson, April 1988, and Zizzo et al., "Fabrication and Characterization of Tuned Gaussian Mirrors for the Visible and Near Infra Red", OPTICS LETTERS, Vol. 13, No. 5, May 1988, 342-344.
However, the smooth reflectivity taper is lost for such multi-layer mirrors due to the interference fringes which cause rings of zero reflectivity in the mirror. FIG. 1 is a graph of the reflectivity of a mirror formed of three tapered dielectric layers. The graph shows the optical thickness of each of the three layers at trace 10, where optical thickness is equal to the index of refraction n times the actual thickness T. The reflectivity profile of the mirror as a whole is shown at trace 11. The mirror is formed on a BK-7 substrate having an anti-reflective coating on a first surface. A first dielectric layer of HfO.sub.2 is formed with the optical thickness profile of trace 10. On top of the first layer, a second dielectric layer of SiO.sub.2 is formed having the same optical thickness profile. Finally, a third dielectric layer of HfO.sub.2 is formed with the same optical thickness profile. Thus, the optical thicknesses of the three layers have profiles that start at 0.25 wavelengths at the center and continuously decrease to a thickness of 0 at the perimeter of about 1.8 mm radius.
For a single layer graded reflectivity mirror, the zero reflectivity perimeter would match the zero thickness perimeter of the dielectric layer. However, for the multi-layer embodiment of FIG. 1, an interference fringe at radius of approximately 0.6 mm (point 12 in FIG. 1) is induced. This forms a ring of zero reflectivity that effectively limits the size of the transverse mode that can be effectively coupled using the multi-layer GRM. This characteristic limits the usefulness of multi-layer GRMs of the prior art to laser systems with relatively small effective apertures.
The problem caused by the rings of zero reflectivity in multi-layer GRMs becomes more pronounced as the number of dielectric layers is increased. Therefore, the higher the reflectivity required and the more layers used to achieve that reflectivity, the smaller the effective aperture of the output coupler becomes. The small effective aperture complicates the problem of utilizing the optimum amount of the volume of the gain media.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide GRMs for use in unstable laser resonator and other laser related applications that can be used with large aperture laser systems and systems with relatively low gain.


A fountain for heating and distributing fluidic material is manufactured using various processes and materials. In one embodiment, the fountain includes a heating element encased in an enclosure. A basin containing a medium, such as chocolate, is removably mounted to the enclosure so that the basin is heated by contact with the enclosure. Additionally, an auger having a spiral flight rotates and lifts the melted chocolate upward to a top end of a cylinder that houses the auger. One or more tiers may be mounted, using various locking mechanisms, onto the cylinder to divert flow of the medium. A smaller chocolate fountain that may advantageously be more suitable for home use is also described herein.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a food dispensing apparatus, and more particularly to a fountain that flows with a fluidic material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fondue machines typically include a bowl shaped container for holding and heating a medium; usually, an edible medium, such as chocolate, cheese, or caramel. For ease of description, in the following description of various embodiments of fondue machines and fountains, chocolate will be the medium that is heated. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that a reference to chocolate hereinafter may be replaced by any other medium. The container of a typical fondue machine is heated by a heating element to melt the chocolate. Fruit, or other food items, may then be dipped into the container of the fondue machine.
In recent years, fondue machines have taken on alternate configurations. For example, a fondue fountain has been developed that moves melted chocolate, cheese, or caramel, for example, so that the melted medium flows over a number of tiers like a fountain. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a prior art chocolate fountain 100, including a container 110 configured to hold and melt chocolate. A hollow barrel 120 is mounted in the center of the container 110 and provides a pathway for melted chocolate to be moved upward, through its hollow center, to the top of the fountain. An auger including a spiral flight extending around the length of the auger is mounted within the hollow barrel 120. The auger is rotated in order to lift the melted chocolate upward in the hollow barrel 120. On the top of the barrel 120 is a crown 140 that fills with chocolate that flows out of the barrel 120. When the crown 140 is full of melted chocolate, the chocolate begins to fall over the edges of the crown 140. Attached to the barrel 120 are tiers 130 which vary in size. As the chocolate flows downwardly from the crown 140, the chocolate flows over each of the tiers 130, thus forming a multi-level chocolate waterfall. The chocolate fountain 100 also includes a heating element that is placed below the container 110.
One disadvantage of the prior art fountain 100 is the difficulty in attaching the tiers 130 in the appropriate location. For example, there is no mechanism to easily determine where each of the tiers 130 should be attached to the barrel 120. Additionally, there is no mechanism for ensuring that the attached tiers 130 are level so that the melted chocolate flows evenly around the perimeter of each tier 130. Furthermore, attachment of tiers 130 in the prior art requires the use of tools, such as a hex wrench, in order to tighten a fastener which secures the tiers 130 to the barrel 120.
Another disadvantage of the prior art fountain 100 is the difficulty experienced in cleaning the various pieces of the fountain 100. For example, the tiers 130 and crown 149 are typically manufactured by welding multiple pieces of metal together, thus leaving burrs, pits, and sharp edges. Because melted chocolate tends to accumulate on any non-smooth surfaces, cleaning tiers 130 that include burrs, or other non-smooth welding artifacts, is increasingly difficult. Furthermore, accumulation of chocolate in pits, or other non-smooth surfaces, can be unsanitary if not cleaned thoroughly. Additionally, the sharp edges created by welding may be dangerous to users of the fountain 100.
A further disadvantage of the prior art fountain 100 is the uneven heating of the desired fondue medium, such as chocolate, in the container 110. In particular, the container 110 contains hot spots over the areas that are in direct contact with the heating element. Adding to the problem of uneven heating, the container 110 of the chocolate fountain 100 is not configured to urge the fluidized chocolate towards a center of the container 110. Accordingly, melted chocolate does not pool in the center of the container 110, but instead spreads on the surface of the unevenly heated container 110. Additionally, the outer perimeter of the container 110 typically becomes hot when the heating element is active, thus presenting the possibility of harming a user that touches the container. Also, when users of the prior art fountain 100 dip food items into the flowing chocolate, a portion of the melted chocolate typically falls outside of the container 110 due to the small size of the container 110.
Another disadvantage of the prior art fountain 100 is that as the auger lifts the melted fluidized chocolate up the barrel 120, the melted chocolate comes in contact with a central shaft of the auger which requires additional cleaning. Also, because the auger and the barrel 120 are both made of metal, the melted chocolate may be contaminated with metal filings caused by the contact of the rotating auger with the barrel 120. In addition, the friction of the metal auger with the metal barrel 120 may having a sharpening effect on the edges of the spiral flight, causing the spiral flight to become sharp and dangerous to the user. Furthermore, because the auger is made of metal, with the spiral flight welded onto a rod, there are typically burrs, pits, and uneven surfaces that increase the difficulty of cleaning the auger and promote the potential for an unsanitary chocolate fountain 100.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fondue fountain configured for easy attachment of tiers at predetermined locations, such as by including a mechanism to easily determine where each of the tiers should be attached to the shaft. Additionally, what is needed is a mechanism for ensuring that the attached tiers are level. Furthermore, a chocolate fountain that allows manual attachment of tiers is desired. Also, a fondue fountain that is easier to clean is needed. A fondue fountain that evenly heats chocolate is also desired. In addition, a fondue fountain having a container with an outer perimeter that does not get hot when the heating element is active is desired. A fondue fountain having a container that is angled to direct the melted chocolate to the center of the container to reduce pooling of stagnant fluidized medium, such as chocolate, is also desired. Furthermore, a fondue fountain that reduces the portion of the melted medium that falls outside of the fountain when users dip food items into the flowing fluidized medium is desired. Moreover, a fondue fountain that reduces the occurrence of contaminants, such as metal filings, in the medium is needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fountain that flows with fluidic material


This application discloses a communication method, a communications apparatus, a network device, and a terminal. Quasi co-location QCL beam information is determined. The QCL beam information includes beam information that has a QCL relationship with a reference signal antenna port. The QCL beam information is sent. A terminal receives the QCL beam information. The QCL beam information includes the beam information that has the QCL relationship with the reference signal antenna port. The terminal determines, based on the beam information that is included in the QCL beam information and that has the QCL relationship with the reference signal antenna port, a beam that has the QCL relationship with the reference signal antenna port.

Popularization of devices such as an intelligent mobile terminal in recent years imposes a higher requirement on a system throughput. In a case of increasingly strained spectrum resources, a communication mode supporting coordinated multipoint transmission/reception (CoMP) emerges.
In the CoMP communication mode, signals may come from a plurality of different transmission points (TRP). To ensure correct receiving and demodulation of the signals, a concept of a reference signal that has a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship is introduced, for example, a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). A terminal may estimate a large-scale property parameter based on the CRS/CSI-RS. The large-scale property parameter includes one or more of a delay spread, a Doppler spread, a Doppler frequency shift, an average channel gain, and an average delay. For example, in a protocol Release 11 of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communications system, antenna port QCL is introduced to support CoMP. The antenna port QCL indicates that signals sent by antenna ports go through same large-scale fading, and have a same large-scale property parameter. For example, when a QCL relationship exists between an antenna port A and an antenna port B, a large-scale channel property parameter estimated by using a signal on the antenna port A is also applicable to a signal on the antenna port B.
In the LTE system, to support a terminal receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) from a serving base station, and receiving a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) from a coordinated base station, a new transmission mode (transmission mode 10) is defined in R11. A physical downlink shared channel resource element mapping and quasi co-location indicator (PQI) is introduced, to indicate the base station sending the PDSCH, and to indicate an antenna port that is consistent with a large-scale channel property corresponding to the PDSCH. In the LTE system, for a same TRP, there is a QCL relationship between all ports for a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) corresponding to the PDSCH received by the terminal, that is, there is a quasi co-location relationship between an antenna port 7 to an antenna port 14. Therefore, the terminal may learn of, based on the PQI with reference to PDSCH resource element mapping and QCL configuration information of radio resource control (RRC) configuration, a radio channel parameter corresponding to the DMRS that needs to be used to demodulate the PDSCH.
However, in a 5th Generation communications system, a large-scale array structure of a plurality of antenna panels may be configured in a same TRP, and different beams formed by different antenna panels have different large-scale properties (in addition to a delay spread, a Doppler spread, a Doppler frequency shift, an average channel gain, and an average delay, the large-scale property further includes an angle of arrival (AOA), an angle of arrival spread (AAS), an angle of departure (AOD), an angle of departure spread (ADS), a spatial correlation (spatial correlation), and the like). Therefore, for a same TRP, there may be no QCL relationship between antenna ports for sending signals. As a result, when the QCL information is configured based on the PQI indicator, the terminal cannot estimate a large-scale property parameter based on the information. Different large-scale property parameters of different beams may indicate that one or more of the large-scale property parameters is/are different.
Therefore, how to provide a QCL information configuration method applicable to the 5G communications system is an urgent problem to be resolved.

Communication method, communications apparatus, network device, and terminal


A control device of a machine tool which filters possible continued machining time data estimated from a value of current of a motor to thereby enable an accurate grasp of the time regardless of fluctuation of the load, that is, a control device of a machine tool which has a motor which drives a spindle, which control device of a machine tool can use a value of current of the motor, an overheat temperature of the motor, and a temperature of the motor to estimate the time until reaching the overheat temperature when the current operating current continues to be run through the motor, filter the estimated value of time by a filter to display a possible continued processing time, change a filter time constant based on either of a value of current and current command value, and accurately display the possible continued processing time even if the load fluctuates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device of a machine tool which estimates overheating of a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
When using a spindle of a machine tool for machining, usually it is used at or below a continuous rated load of the spindle motor. The "continuous rated load" is a load of a level where the motor will not overheat even if that load is continuously applied for an unlimited time so long as being used at that load or less. However, when performing heavy duty machining or when increasing the load for just a short time to shorten the processing time, sometimes a load exceeding the continuous rated load is given to operate the motor.
When applying a load exceeding the continuous rated load to a motor, a possible machining time is prescribed in accordance with that load. If continuing to apply a load for a time over this, the motor will end up overheating. Therefore, when applying a load exceeding the continuous rated load to a motor for performing processing, an indicator relating to exactly how much time the processing can be continued without the motor overheating when continuing to apply the current load becomes necessary.
In general, a graph which illustrates an allowable load characteristic which enables information on "how many minutes machining is possible until overheating if machining by a load n %" to be understood for each motor is prescribed for machining exceeding a continuous rated load. The operator performs machining with reference to the illustrated information. In the graph of the allowable load characteristic, the possible machining time corresponding to a load is prescribed. If referring to the graph of the allowable load characteristic, it will be understood how much time it will take for the motor to end up overheating if continuing to apply a certain load.
FIG. 1 is a view which illustrates one example of an allowable load characteristic of a motor. In FIG. 1, the abscissa indicates a motor speed, while the ordinate indicates a load which is applied to the motor. A load of 100% illustrates the continuous rated load. In that case, even if that load is continuously applied for an unlimited time, the motor will not overheat. In the example which is illustrated in FIG. 1, in the low speed rotation region, a 200% load is illustrated as the load which can be applied if machining for 2.5 minutes in a 10 minute cycle, while a 230% load is illustrated as the load which can be applied if machining for 1 minute in a 10 minute cycle. If applying a load exceeding the continuous rated load to make the motor continuously operate, the motor may generate heat exceeding the allowable amount of heat generation and break down.
To deal with this problem, for example, in the method and apparatus for control of a machine tool by numerical control which are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-271836A, the amount of heat generation of a program as a whole is estimated from the expected values of heat generation of the motor at the time of fast speed of the feed shaft motor (non-machining) and the time of machining speed and the time constant is made to change so that the amount of heat generation becomes the allowable one or less. However, while the invention which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-271836A estimates the heat generation of the motor, it does not disclose for exactly how much time machining is possible until overheating.
Further, in a control device of a permanent magnet type synchronous motor which is disclosed in WO2005/093942, the loss which occurs at the motor (copper loss+iron loss) is found, the amount of the rated loss minus that loss is deemed the loss which can be consumed by the motor, and a d-axis current corresponding to this is run so as to prevent overload of the motor. However, in the invention which is disclosed in WO2005/093942, the loss including the iron loss is estimated, there is no disclosure of how much time remains during which machining is possible until overheating.
Therefore, the present applicant proposes preparing a formula for heat simulation which estimates the motor temperature from the value of current of the motor and providing a method of calculating this formula in reverse so as to estimate about how much time remains until the motor overheats, that is, about how much time remains during which continuous machining is possible.
However, in the method which the present applicant proposes, the possible continued machining time from the value of current is estimated, so if the value of current fluctuates slightly due to fluctuation of the machining load, the possible continued machining time will frequently fluctuate and therefore the time will be difficult to grasp.

Control device of machine tool which estimates overheating of motor


A striker locks two members by engagement with a groove of a hook, wherein the striker is fixed to one of the two members and the hook is rotatably fixed to the other of the two members. The striker includes a mounting plate portion fixed to the one of the two members; a base plate portion which is formed so as to extend perpendicular to the mounting plate portion by a bending process along a bend line; and a folded-back plate portion which is formed by folding over an extended portion. The folded back plate portion extends from one end of the base plate portion in a direction of the bend line, onto the opposite side of the base plate portion from the mounting plate portion side, so that the extended portion overlies the base plate portion. The base plate portion is positioned closer to the hook than the folded-back plate portion. A through-hole is formed in the base plate portion and the folded-back plate portion, which overlie each other, so that a folded end portion between the base plate portion and the folded-back plate portion defines a rod portion serving as an engaging portion engageable with a groove of the hook.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show two conventional strikers, respectively.
The striker shown in FIG. 6A includes a mounting plate portion 121 which is fixed to a car body and a base plate portion 122 which is formed (bent) upright relative to the mounting plate portion 121 by a bending process. A rod portion 123 is formed at one end (the right end as viewed in FIG. 6A) of the base plate portion 129 by making a through-hole 122 in the base plate portion 122 so that the rod portion 123 is used as an engaging portion engageable with a groove of an associated hook.
The striker shown in FIG. 6B includes two base plate portions 222 and 222′ which overlie each other and a rod portion 223 which is formed at one end (the upper end as viewed in FIG. 6B) of each of the two base plate portions 222 and 222′ by making a through-hole 229 in the two base plate portions 222 and 222′, so that the rod portion 223 is used as an engaging portion engageable with a groove of an associated hook. The two base plate portions 222 and 222′ are formed upright relative to two mounting plate portions 221 and 221′ of the striker, respectively, by a bending process. In addition, the two base plate portions 222 and 222′ are not separate plate members; the two base plate portions 222 and 222′ are formed by bending a seamless plate along a portion thereof which is formed as the aforementioned rod portion 223.
Although substantially the same as the striker shown in FIG. 6B, a striker having two base plate portions (which respectively correspond to the two base plate portions 222 and 222′) which are formed from separate plates is known in the art (this type of striker is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese unexamined patent publication H07-229345). In this conventional striker, the two separate plates that overlie each other are fixed to each other by spot welding.
To engage and disengage the striker with/from the groove of the associated hook smoothly, it is desirable that the rod portion be rounded off and have a large thickness (e.g., 3 to 7 millimeters, desirably 4 to 6 millimeters depending on factors such as the inner diameter of the groove of the associated hook). Namely, it is desirable that the rod portion have a round shape such as a circular shape in cross section (section taken along a plane orthogonal to the direction of the length of the rod portion) and that the rod portion have a large thickness (diameter).


An image forming apparatus forms image information by introducing a light beam emitted from a light source and deflected by a light deflecting device to the surface of an image carrying member through an optical image forming system and then by scanning the surface of the image carrying member using that light beam. The surface to be scanned of the image carrying member is shaped into a form which corresponds to the optical characteristics of the optical forming system. Consequently, the resultant image forming apparatus has a simple structure and is capable of forming high definition images.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention pertains to an image forming apparatus for forming image information, such as characters or figures, on the surface of an image carrying member by directing a modulated light beam emitted from a light source to the surface of the image carrying member having a predetermined shape, such as a photosensitive drum or a recording material, e.g., a silver salt film, through a light deflecting device, such as a rotating polygonal mirror, and by scanning the surface of the image carrying member using that light beam. Such an image forming apparatus can be suitably applied to, for example, a laser beam printer (LBP) or a process optical printer.
Conventional image forming apparatuses, such as laser beam printers, form image information by scanning the surface of an image carrying member by means of an optical scanning system using a light beam modulated by and emitted from a laser beam source.
Generally, in laser beam printers, the light modulated by and emitted from the light source is converged into a beam made up of parallel rays of light by means of a collimator lens, and then is made incident on a reflecting surface of a light deflecting device which may be a rotating polygonal mirror.
The light beam reflected by the reflecting surface of the light deflecting device is gathered by means of a scanning lens exhibiting f-.theta. characteristics, and is then directed to the surface to be scanned which is the image carrying member. The surface to be scanned is scanned using that light beam by rotating the light deflecting device by means of a motor or the like.
Recently there has been an increasing demand for an image forming apparatus capable of high density, i.e., high definition, recording of image information. To achieve high definition recording of the image information, in scanning the surface a light beam having a small spot size is generally required. However, a reduction in the spot size of the light beam results in a reduction of the depth of focus on the surface to be scanned, thus necessitating an optical image forming system (f-.theta. lens) which exhibits less curvature of the field.
To achieve a high definition or high quality image by reducing the light beam spot size on the surface to be scanned, a reduction in the F-number (FNo) of the optical image forming system, such as a f-.theta. lens, is desired.
However, a reduction in the FNo of the f-.theta. lens decreases the size of the light beam incident on the f-.theta. lens, and rapidly reduces the depth of focus. Hence, very high assembly accuracy of the surface to be scanned is required. This makes manufacture of the surface to be scanned very difficult.
In an optical scanning system provided with a means for performing tilt correction of the light deflecting device, such as a rotating polygonal mirror, it is very difficult to reduce the FNo of the f-.theta. lens. In the case of an optical scanning system having, for example, a scanning width corresponding to the A4 through A3 paper sizes, the FNo is generally between 20 and 30.
In the optical scanning apparatus which employs a laser beam as a light source, the diameter of the spot L and the depth of focus H on the surface to be scanned approximately have the following relationships: EQU L=k.lambda.F (1) EQU H=.+-.2.lambda.F.sup.2 ( 2)
where .lambda. is the wavelength of the light beam, F is the FNo of the optical system, and k is a constant (k.gtoreq.1.64) which represents the intensity of the light beam in the vicinity of the pupil of the f-.theta. lens. The spot diameter L is a value obtained when the intensity of light is reduced to 1/e.sup.2 of the maximum peak intensity.
Table 1 lists the spot diameter L and depth of focus H in the horizontal direction in which a light beam is moved. The values shown in Table 1 have been calculated using the wavelength .lambda.=0.78 .mu.m and the constant k=1.7.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ F-Number of Spot Diameter Depth of Focus the Optical System (.mu.m) (mm) ______________________________________ 70 93 .+-.7.6 60 80 .+-.5.6 50 66 .+-.3.9 40 53 .+-.2.5 30 40 .+-.1.4 20 27 .+-.0.62 15 20 .+-.0.35 10 13 .+-.0.16 ______________________________________
As can be seen from the Table 1, when the FNo of the f-.theta. lens is, for example, about 15 and the spot diameter is 20 .mu.m or less, the depth of focus is .+-.0.35 mm or less.
Generally, the curvature of field on the surface to be scanned has different distribution characteristics in the horizontal (the meridional direction, indicated by a curve M in FIG. 1) and the vertical (the sagittal direction, indicated by a curve S in FIG. 1) directions, as shown in FIG. 1.
In an optical scanning apparatus, because the light beam diameter is large with respect to the vertical direction (in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which scanning is performed by the scanning means), the allowable degree of aberration is large. However, with respect to the horizontal direction (the direction in which scanning is performed by the scanning means), the light beam diameter is about one half of that in the vertical direction, and the allowable degree of aberration is thus small.
As can be seen from Table 1, when the spot diameter is about 20 .mu.m, the depth of focus is .+-.0.35 mm. Therefore, when the curvature of the field is .+-.0.35 mm, the aberration allowance of the surface to be scanned, e.g., the image carrying member, is zero in terms of the shape or arrangement thereof. As a result, if the spot diameter of the light beam is 20 .mu.m or less, a solution may not be available for the design of an optical scanning system using conventional techniques.
Accordingly, Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 116603/1984 discloses an image forming apparatus which has a control system for correcting image formed position errors such that the position on the surface to be scanned at which the spot of a light beam is formed coincides with the focal point thereof.
However, the optical system of such an image forming apparatus is complicated, and hence the apparatus including the control system is very expensive.
In the case of an image forming apparatus having a post objective type optical scanning system, since the surface to be scanned of the image carrying member is cylindrical, the overall size of the image forming apparatus is large. Also, the construction of the conveying system is complicated.

Image forming apparatus featuring a custom formed scanned surface for effecting high definition images


In accordance with some embodiments, spatial and temporal locality between threads executing on graphics processing units may be analyzed and tracked in order to improve performance. In some applications where a large number of threads are executed and those threads use common resources such as common data, affinity tracking may be used to improve performance by reducing the cache miss rate and to more effectively use relatively small-sized caches.

This relates generally graphics processing units.
In many computing platforms, separate central processing and graphics processing units may be used. Graphics processing tasks may be offloaded from central processors to graphics processors. Graphics processors may perform a number of specialized tasks including graphics tasks and financial analysis tasks. Typically where heavy mathematical operations are involved, tasks may be offloaded to the graphics processor.
For example, in financial analysis, a Monte Carlo simulation may be performed. A Monte Carlo simulation predicts option prices based on average prices and variances of stock prices. Graphics processors may be used to do these simulations using thousands of threads. Generally the sequence of thread execution is not optimized and is simply taken in a thread by thread execution order.

Scheduling thread execution based on thread affinity


An exercise device comprises a rigid rod having a first and second ends, a plurality of light sources arranged in a row along at least a portion of an axis extending between the first and second ends of the rigid rod, at least one load sensor for detecting an applied longitudinal force, and a processor coupled to the at least one load sensor and to the plurality of light sources. The processor is configured to execute machine-executable instructions that cause the processor to obtain a signal indicating a magnitude of the applied longitudinal force, and cause a subset of the plurality of light sources to emit light. A ratio of a number of light sources in the subset to a total number of the plurality of light sources represents the magnitude of the applied longitudinal force relative to a reference longitudinal force.

Exercise is important to maintain and improve a person's physical fitness and overall health and wellness. One way to motivate people to exercise is to provide feedback regarding their workouts. Today, there are many ways for people engaged in cardiovascular exercise to obtain feedback about their performances. For example, the so-called "cardio" machines, such as treadmills, exercise bicycles, rowing machines, stair-climbing equipment, and elliptical machines, commonly found in commercial gyms or in users' homes often provide information to users about (virtual) distance traveled, speed, estimated number of calories burned, and the like. Similarly, smart phones and wearable devices, such as smart watches and fitness trackers, may provide information about or estimates of the number of steps walked, distance traveled, flights of stairs climbed, calories burned, or time spent running, walking, or biking. The feedback provided by cardio machines, smart phones, and wearable devices tends to encourage users to establish and meet goals (e.g., to walk at least 10,000 steps per day, to run at a pace of at least six miles per hour for thirty minutes, to burn 300 calories, etc.).
In addition to cardiovascular exercise, many people also include weight lifting and weight training in their workout routines. Tracking the amount of weight lifted and the number of repetitions performed can also help users to establish and meet goals. Typically, however, users must track such information by hand, such as by recording information about the workout during the workout by writing it on paper or by entering the information into an electronic application (e.g., a smart phone application). The need for user involvement in the tracking process is inconvenient because it requires the user to stop the workout to record the tracked information, and it may also require the user to carry a mobile device or paper and a writing implement in the gym, or the user may need to remember all of the pertinent information about the workout. Moreover, there may be information about the workout that would be useful for the user to know but that is inconvenient, difficult, or impossible for the user to track while working out. For instance, the user may want to know how quickly or slowly he or she performed each repetition in a set of ten repetitions of bench press. Because the user's hands are in use holding the barbell during the set, the user cannot easily start or stop a timer for each repetition. Although a second person could time each repetition, such a process is likely to be inaccurate because the second person would need to determine when each repetition starts and finishes, and then would need to record the time of each repetition during the time between repetitions, which might not be feasible. Furthermore, the person performing bench press may be relying on the second person as a spotter (i.e., a person who stands by to assist the exerciser if the exerciser's muscles fatigue to the point that the exerciser cannot complete a repetition). If the second person is too engrossed in determining the timing of each repetition, he or she may not be an effective spotter.
Therefore, there is a need for innovations that allow people engaged in strength training exercises to obtain useful information about their workouts.


One type of capacitive sensing apparatus has a sensing element that includes a first portion and a second portion adjacent opposite edges of a sensing region. Signals from the first and second portions are combined. Another type of apparatus includes: a first sensing element including first and second portions; a second sensing element including third and fourth portions; and a third sensing element including fifth and sixth portions. The first, third and fifth portions form a first pattern, and the second, fourth and sixth portions form a second pattern. The patterns are bilaterally symmetrical about a median of a sensing region. In another type of apparatus, an electrical conductor coupled to a first sensing element passes through a gap in a second sensing element. An electrical conductor coupled to the second sensing element is dimensioned such that a capacitive coupling to the second sensing element is compensated for the gap.

Conventional computing devices provide a user with several ways to input a choice or a selection. For example, a user can use one or more keys of an alphanumeric keyboard communicatively connected to the computing device in order to indicate a choice or selection. Additionally, a user can use a cursor control device communicatively connected to the computing device to indicate a choice. Also, a user can use a microphone communicatively connected to the computing device to audibly indicate a particular selection. Moreover, touch-sensing technology can be used to provide an input selection to a computing device or other electronic device.
Within the broad category of touch sensing technology there exist capacitive sensing touch sensors. Among conventional capacitive touch sensors, there are different sensing technologies. For example, one sensing technology involves the use of sensing electrodes formed in triangular shapes wherein the direction of each triangle point alternates. However, there are disadvantages associated with this technique. For instance, one of the disadvantages is that as a finger (or object) moves towards the wide end of a first triangular shaped electrode and the narrow point of a second triangular shaped electrode, the narrow point electrode does not provide a quality signal because of its inherent signal-to-noise ratio. As such, this can be referred to as sensing geometry that induces signal-to-noise ratio concerns.
Another sensing technology uses a grid of conductive elements that cross over one another. While this design offers ease of signal interpretation, it also has the disadvantage of higher manufacturing cost. A further disadvantage affects multiple-layer sensors, as each layer degrades optical clarity of a capacitive touch sensor.
Another factor to consider in the design of a capacitive sensing apparatus is that the sensed position of a finger or object relative to the touch sensor should be unambiguous. That is, for example, the response of the sensing apparatus to a finger at any location on a touch sensor should be different from the response at other locations on the touch sensor.
Thus, a capacitive sensing apparatus that addresses one or more of the above-mentioned issues would be advantageous.


This invention relates to an action doll and in particular to an action doll which includes a base in which are mounted a motor, a transmission mechanism, a friction wheel, and a battery chamber, a bicycle having a front wheel engaged with the friction wheel and a time clock at a hind part thereof, and a doll having two feet engaged with pedals of the front wheel of said bicycle, whereby the doll may ride the bicycle as a human being and may produce music as desired hence making the toy funny and interesting.

It is found that most toy dolls are dull and monotonous. Hence, such toys are often played for a very short time and then thrown away thereby wasting money.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an action doll which may obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.


A method for the production of a silicon single crystal by pulling the single crystal, according to the Czochralski method, from a melt which is held in a rotating crucible, the single crystal growing at a growth front, heat being deliberately supplied to the center of the growth front by a heat flux directed at the growth front. The method produces a silicon single crystal with an oxygen content of from 4*1017 cm−3 to 7.2*1017 cm−3 and a radial concentration change for boron or phosphorus of less than 5%, which has no agglomerated self-point defects. Semiconductor wafers are separated from the single crystal. These semiconductor wafers have may have agglomerated vacancy defects (COPs) as the only self-point defect type or may have certain other defect distributions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the production of a silicon single crystal by pulling the single crystal, according to the Czochralski method, from a melt which is held in a rotating crucible, with the single crystal growing at a growth front. The invention also relates to a silicon single crystal and to semiconductor wafers which are separated therefrom.
2. The Prior Art
The production of single crystals which have a diameter of 200 mm or more represents a significant challenge, particularly since it is very difficult to deliberately adjust the radial crystal properties within a very narrow tolerance range. This applies to the concentration of impurities or dopants, and especially to the crystal defects and self-point defects, and agglomerates thereof. Self-point defects include interstitial silicon atoms (silicon self-interstitials) and vacancies, which are formed at the growth front of the single crystal. They very substantially determine the radial and axial defect distributions occurring later in the single crystal, and they also affect the impurity distributions which occur. For example, vacancies contribute to the precipitation of oxygen. When they exceed a size of about 70 nm, oxygen precipitates form oxygen-induced stacking faults (OSFs). The vacancies themselves can combine into agglomerates and form so-called COPs (crystal originated particles). Agglomerates of interstitial atoms form local crystal dislocations, which are also referred to as LPITs (large etch pits) because of the detection method which is used. The oxygen concentrations and the thermal conditions at the growth front and in the solidifying single crystal determine the nature and distribution of the crystal defects and impurities.
The thermal conditions when pulling the single crystal are dictated by the heat sources, i.e. the heating elements which are used, and the heat of crystallization released during solidification. The heat energy is transferred to the single crystal by radiation, heat conduction and heat transport, for example via the flows in the melt. The removal of heat in the vicinity of the growth front is determined to a large extent by the heat radiated from the edge of the single crystal and by the thermal dissipation in the single crystal. Overall, the thermal budget can be affected by the design of the pulling system, i.e. via the geometrical arrangement of the thermally conductive parts, the heat shields and by additional heat sources. The process conditions, for example growth rate, pressure, quantity, type and flow of inert gases through the pulling system furthermore contribute substantially to the thermal balance. Increasing the pressure or the quantity of inert gases, for example, will reduce the temperature. Faster pull rates produce more heat of crystallization.
The flows which transport heat in the melt are extremely difficult to predict. The heating elements, generally arranged in a ring around the crucible, produce a convective flow in the melt. Together with the counter-rotation conventionally used for the single crystal and crucible, this leads to pattern of movement in the melt which is distinguished by an upward melt flow at the edge of the crucible and a downward melt flow below the growing single crystal.
As experiments have shown, the movement of the melt also depends on the degree and direction of the rotation of the crucible and the single crystal. For example, iso-rotation and counter-rotation produce very different convection patterns. Crystal pulling with iso-rotation has already been studied (Zulehner/Huber in Crystals 8, Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 1982, pp 44-46). Counter-rotation is generally preferred because, compared to iso-rotation, it leads to a less oxygen-rich material and significantly more stable conditions for the crystal growth. The iso-rotation variant is not generally used on an industrial scale.
The flows which transport heat and oxygen in the melt can also be affected by the forces due to applied electromagnetic fields. Static or dynamic fields make it possible to alter the degree and direction of the flows in the melt, so that different oxygen contents can be obtained. They are primarily used for oxygen control. Magnetic fields are used in a number of variants, for example in the form of static magnetic fields (horizontal, vertical and CUSP magnetic fields), single-phase or polyphase alternating fields, rotating magnetic fields and traveling magnetic fields. According to U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0092461 A1, for example, a traveling magnetic field is used in order to control the incorporation of oxygen into the single crystal. Recent numerical simulations for the effect of magnetic fields on the movement of the melt are presented, for example, in "Numerical investigation of silicon melt flow in large diameter CZ-crystal growth under the influence of steady and dynamic magnetic fields", Journal of Crystal Growth, 230 (2001) 92-99.
The radial temperature distribution at the growth front of the crystal is extremely important for the crystal properties. It is determined essentially by the heat radiated from the edge of the single crystal. As a rule, a much more pronounced temperature drop is therefore observed at the edge of the single crystal than at its center. The axial temperature drop is usually denoted by G (axial temperature gradient). Its radial variation G®) very substantially determines the self-point defect distribution, and therefore the other crystal properties as well. The radial change of the temperature gradient G due to the thermal budget is generally determined by numerical simulation calculations. The radial variation of the temperature gradient can be experimentally determined from the behavior of the radial crystal defect distribution for different growth rates.
The ratio V/G®) is of crucial importance in terms of the creation of crystal defects, G®) being the axial temperature gradient at the growth front of the single crystal and depending on the radial position (the radius r) in the single crystal, and V being the rate at which the single crystal is pulled from the melt. If the ratio V/G is more than a critical value k1, then vacancy defects (vacancies) predominantly occur; these can agglomerate and then be identified, for example, as COPs (crystal originated particles). Depending on the detection method, they are sometimes referred to as LPDs (light point defects) or LLSs (localized light scatterers). Because of the usually decreasing radial profile of V/G, the largest COPs most commonly occur at the center of the crystal. They generally have a diameter of about 100 nm, and therefore cause problems for component fabrication. The size and number of the COPs is determined by the initial concentrations of the vacancies, the cooling rate and the presence of impurities during agglomeration. For example, the presence of nitrogen leads to a shift of the size distribution toward smaller COPs with a larger defect density.
If the ratio V/G is lower than a critical value k2, which is less than k1, then self-point defects are predominantly found in the form of interstitial atoms (silicon self-interstitials), which can also produce agglomerates and are microscopically seen as dislocation loops. These are often referred to as A swirls, and the smaller form as B swirls, or as LPIT defects (large etch pits) for short because of their appearance. The size of LPITs lies in the range up to 10 μm. As a rule, not even epitaxial layers can cover up these defects perfectly. These defects as well can also impair the functionality of the electronic components fabricated on silicon wafers.
In the broadest sense, the region in which neither agglomeration of vacancies nor agglomeration of interstitial atoms takes place, i.e. in which V/G lies between k1 and k2, is referred to as a neutral zone or perfect region. The value of V/G at which the crystal changes from excess vacancies to excess interstitials naturally lies between k1 and k2, and is given in the literature as the critical limit Ccrit=1.3*10−3 cm2 min−1 K−1 (Ammon, Journal of Crystal Growth, 151, 1995, 273-277). In a more specific sense, however, distinction is also made between a region in which there are still free unagglomerated vacancies and a particular region of free interstitial atoms. The vacancy region, also referred to as the v region (vacancies), is distinguished in that if the oxygen content of the single crystal is high enough, oxidation-induced stacking faults are created there, while the I region (interstitials) remains fully fault-free. In this more specific sense, therefore, only the I region is actually a perfect crystal region.
Large ingrown oxygen precipitates with a diameter of more than about 70 nm can be revealed as oxygen-induced stacking faults (OSFs). To this end, the semiconductor wafers cut from the single crystal are subjected to a special heat treatment, which is referred to as wet oxidation. The growth rate of the oxygen precipitates created during the crystal pulling, which are sometimes also referred to as grown BMDs (bulk micro-defects), is promoted by vacancies in the silicon lattice. OSFs are therefore encountered primarily in the v region.
The single crystal would be virtually defect-free if the pulling conditions can be adjusted so that the radial profile of the defect function V/G®) lies within the critical limits for COP or LPIT formation. This is not easy to achieve, however, especially when single crystals with a comparatively large diameter are being pulled, because the value of G then depends significantly on the radial position r. In general, owing to the radiative heat losses, the temperature gradient G is very much greater at the edge of the single crystal than at the center.
The radial profile of the defect function V/G®), or of the temperature gradient G®), can lead to there being several defect regions on a semiconductor wafer cut from a single crystal. COPS preferentially occur at the center. The size distribution of the agglomerated vacancies is dictated by the cooling rate of the single crystal in the vicinity of the growth front. The size distribution of the COPs can be altered from a few large COPs to many small, less perturbing COPs by a high cooling rate (more than 2 K/min), or short dwell times in the temperature range from the melting point to about 1100° C., or by doping the melt with nitrogen. Furthermore, a radial size distribution such that smaller defects are formed with increasing radius is found in the COP region. The COP region is followed by an oxygen-induced stacking fault ring (OSF), due to the interaction of vacancies and oxygen precipitates. Outside this is a fully defect-free region, which is in turn bounded by a region with crystal defects consisting of interstitial agglomerates (LPITs). At the edge of the single crystal, the interstitial atoms diffuse as a function of the thermal conditions, so that a centimeter-wide defect-free ring may also be created there.
The crystal defect regions that occur have already been discussed at length, in relation to the radial V/G profile, by Eidenzon/Puzanov in Inorganic Materials, vol. 33, No. 3, 1997, pp 219-255. This article has already indicated possible ways of producing defect-free material. Both the cooling rate in temperature range during agglomeration, the effect of nitrogen doping and methods such as oscillating growth rate are referred to in this context.
To a certain extent, radial homogenization of V/G(r) can be achieved by using passive or active heat shields in the vicinity of the solidification front, as proposed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,008. Most publications relate to an effect on the cooling behavior due to modified heat shields. With the known prior art, however, sufficient radial V/G homogenization for the production of perfect silicon, especially with large crystal diameters, cannot be achieved in this way. By means of impurities, for example nitrogen or carbon, but also oxygen, the size and positioning of the defect distribution can be influenced so that the precipitation of impurities such as oxygen, can also be influenced. It is therefore of great importance to be able to deliberately produce and control both axial and radial impurity profiles.

Method and device for the production of a silicon single crystal, silicon single crystal, and silicon semiconductor wafers with determined defect distributions


Techniques are described for adapting a keyboard arrangement to be personalized for a user, based on detected gestures made by the user while employing the keyboard arrangement. An adaptable keyboard arrangement may be provided for the user as part of a device, projected onto a surface near the user, or rendered abstractly into a space near the user. Sensor and/or contextual data may be employed to identify mistypes or near-mistypes of the user, and a statistical model may be developed of the user's typing habits. Keyboard modifications may be determined that adapt the keyboard to minimize potential typing errors and/or provide a more ergonomic keyboard arrangement for the user.

Information entry is an important part of the user experience for a person using a computing device. Although recent decades have seen the development of technologies that provide new ways for users to enter information, such as the mouse, trackpad, gestural recognition, and voice recognition, the keyboard remains the predominant method used for information entry by users. The common "QWERTY" keyboard layout was developed for use in mechanical typewriters in the 1860s and 1870s and is, in many ways, ill-suited for data entry in modern computing devices, particularly those devices with smaller form factors such as smartphones and tablets. Moreover, although some efforts have been made to improve on this layout, such as the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard developed in the 1930s or various keyboard configurations designed to be more ergonomic, the keyboards in use today remain inflexible data entry devices that may not be suitable for all users.


A three-port valve that can be more accurately controlled using a simple structure. The three-port valve is provided with the following: a first elastic tube in which a liquid circulates; a first port which is a provision and discharge opening in the first elastic tube; a second elastic tube in which a liquid circulates; a second port which is a provision and discharge opening in the second elastic tube; a third port that links the first port and the second port; first circulation control means for deforming the first elastic tube so as to control the circulation of the liquid circulating in the first elastic tube; second circulation control means for deforming the second elastic tube so as to control the circulation of the liquid circulating in the second elastic tube; and an oscillator for driving the first circulation control means and the second circulation control means.

Servo valves which control the feed direction, flow rate, and pressure of a flowing fluid (e.g., gas such as air, liquid, or the like) are used. Such servo valves each have multiple ports including a feed port, an exhaust port, and the like. For example, in the case where pressure control is performed by using a servo valve, the servo valve further has a connection port connected to a controlled object the pressure of which is controlled, as well as the feed port and the exhaust port. Such a servo valve is called a three-port valve. In the case where the flowing fluid is gas, the feed port is an air inlet, and the exhaust port is an air outlet.
A known example of the three-port valve is the servo valve disclosed in Patent Literature 1. The disclosed servo valve has three ports (a feed port, a load port, and an exhaust port). In addition, the disclosed servo valve has a spool and a sleeve. The spool has first and second valve elements. The sleeve contains the spool in such a manner that the spool can move in the axial direction, and the sleeve has a feed port which feeds air to a space between the first and second valve elements. The spool further has a third valve element which are different from the first and second valve elements.


A light unit for a bicycle includes a main light which has a detector and a micro-calculator located therein. The detector is electrically connected to the micro-calculator. The detector detects the turning angle and the lateral force of the bicycle when the bicycle turns, and sends the turning angle and the lateral force to the micro-calculator. Two secondary lights are located on two sides of the main light. Each of the two secondary lights is electrically connected to the micro-calculator which controls the operation of each of the two secondary lights to provide wider illumination when the bicycle turns.

1. Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light unit, and more particularly, to a light unit for a bicycle or a motorbike, the light unit activates a secondary light when the bicycle or motorbike turns to provide wider illumination area.
2. Descriptions of Related Art
The conventional light unit for a bicycle or a motorbike generally includes only one light which can be activated during night so as to provide an illuminated area in front of the rider. The light unit protects the pedestrians and the rider.
When the bicycle or the motorbike turns, the light unit at the front end of the bicycle or the motorbike can only illuminate the area that is located right head of the rider. When the road curves a larger angle, the road that the bicycle or the motorbike is about to turn is not illuminated, the straight light beam from the light unit of the bicycle or the motorbike obviously cannot let the rider to check the condition of the blind area.
A known light unit includes a light sensor which is electrically connected with a circuit board which is powered by a battery unit. The light bulb is connected with the circuit board. The light sensor sends a signal to the chip on the circuit board to control the operation of the light bulb which may generate a high beam or a low beam accordingly. Nevertheless, the light beam is a straight beam which still cannot illuminate the area that is not located at the axis of the light bulb or the bicycle or the motorbike. When riding on a curved road, the potential risk is still there.
The present invention intends to provide a light unit that activates the secondary light to illuminate the lateral area from the axis of the bicycle or the motorbike so as to eliminate the shortcomings mentioned above.


A system and method for interactive design of a product includes the steps of identifying an ideal design solution by identifying an unnecessary design parameter having a predetermined significant influence on a variable design response and fixing a predetermined nominal value of the identified unnecessary design parameter at which the variable design response is a minimum and the product design is an uncoupled design or a decoupled design. The method also includes the steps of selecting a most robust ideal design solution from the identified ideal design solution that is the most uncoupled design or the most decoupled design. The method further includes the steps of optimizing the most robust ideal design solution to obtain a pareto-optimal design solution for use in the design of the product that includes a design parameter having an independent design response.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer-assisted design of models and, more specifically, to a system and method of interactive redesign of a product having a pareto-optimal and robust solution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most systems typically include multiple variables that influence the performance of the system. A highly complex system, such as a vehicle, includes a large number of interrelated variables. These variables induce multiple system responses, which result in tradeoffs in system design. Various optimization techniques are known in the art for optimizing a multiple response system in the absence of noise. For example, these techniques emphasize the numerical evaluation of the weighted sum quality loss. However, these techniques do not address the nature of variations associated with individual responses, and oftentimes lead to coupled responses that leave no freedom for change in the system.
The advancement of computer-aided design (CAD) techniques in vehicle design, and in particular automotive vehicle design, enhances product design. At the same time, enhanced visualization software tools have been developed that allow for interactive display and manipulation of large geometric models, including models developed using computer-aided design (CAD). Another advancement is in the use of mathematically based software tools, collectively referred to as computer-aided engineering (CAE), to constrain and guide the designer in evaluating the design. The use of a CAE simulation allows for verification of a design intent and a prediction of a mechanical behavior of the design, including its systems, subsystems and components. Recent enhancements to the computing power of modern computers have resulted in a reduction in the amount of time required to perform the CAE analysis. Therefore, CAE tools can be utilized earlier in the design process and applied to a wider range of product development activities. In addition probabilistic based software tools are becoming available for selectively analyzing the overall reliability and robustness of a design. The combined use of computer-aided design, visualization techniques, and optimization techniques is especially beneficial in the design of a new product, or redesign of an existing product. Advantageously, potential designs can be considered in a timely and cost-effective manner using analytical techniques, versus using an actual vehicle model.
Commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Publication Number US 2002/0143503, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a system and method for selectively analyzing the overall reliability and robustness of a design using probability and statistical methods. While this methodology works well, it does not utilize axiomatic design principles to obtain a pareto-optimal and robust solution.
Frequently, the design of a product can be improved upon by varying a design parameter, such as size or geometry, without changing the product's basic design configuration. Since most product designs are not robust and are redundant or dependent, optimization of the design involves trade-off between features. However, approaches utilized heretofore do not address the benefits of designs with independent design responses. These approaches merely focus on the robustness or reduction of information content, which may not be the most robust design. Thus, there is a need in the art for a method of redesigning a product having multiple responses that takes advantage of axiomatic design principles to determine a design that is both robust and optimal.

System and method of interactive design of a product


A goniometric sensor (1) for measuring the relative rotation of two objects (20,25) comprising a flexible elongated element (2) whose respective ends are connected to the two objects (20, 25) and during whose bending the length variation ΔL is determined of one of the lines (15) not located at the neutral axis (10). This length variation ΔL is directly proportional to the relative rotation (α) between the two bodies (20, 25) multiplied for the eccentricity (e) of the line (15) with respect to the neutral axis (10). Therefore, it is possible to determine easily the relative rotation (α) by knowing the length L and the eccentricity (e) with respect to the neutral axis 10, and measuring the length variation ΔL of the line, for example by measuring the movement of the end of a cable located in a hole that contains the line.

Various electro-mechanical sensors exist used for measuring angular position between two bodies rotating with respect to each other. However, such sensors usually measure the relative angular position of bodies mechanically connected by rigid joints, for example the steering wheel and the transmission shaft of a car.
The nature of the sensors mentioned above remarkably limits the applicability in special fields such as, for example, virtual reality or the design of artificial prosthesis in medicine.
In particular, such sensors are not suitable in fields that, owing to technological progress, have recently captured the attention of many researchers, i.e. acquisition and analysis of movement of human body parts. By using absolute position data of single points of the human body or angular relative positions between two adjacent limbs, a digital model of the human body can be created.
The known sensors suitable for this particular fields depend on the type of application and on the limbs that have to be monitored.
In particular, the limbs with greater volume, such as arms and legs of a human, have few degrees of freedom and the devices used for detecting their motion usually have higher weight and encumbrance and require a higher rate of precision. The limbs with smaller volume, instead, such as the fingers of the hand that have a higher number of degrees of freedom, cannot be monitored with heavy and bulky devices and require less precision.
The known sensors used for tracking the motion of the limbs of the human body are usually of magnetic, optical, ultrasonic or mechanical nature.
Among them, two main categories of sensors exist:                1) sensors that do not require a mechanical connection between the reference object and the object to be monitored.        2) sensors that require a mechanical connection between the reference object and the object to be monitored.
To the first category the following belong:
Magnetic sensors, which require one or more transmitters for creating a magnetic field in a determined workspace. In particular, they have high costs and have the further drawback of being particularly sensitive to the presence of metal that can distort the magnetic field.
Optical sensors, which require optical markers, either active or reflective, whose light is captured allowing a computer to calculate its position. Usually, the optical devices are less bulky than the magnetic, but their functionality can be affected by parts of the body that cross accidentally the path of the light. Another drawback of the optical devices are high costs and the need for a post-processing of the measured data, as well as the long set up time for calibrating the measuring equipment.
To the second category the following belong:
Sensors of mechanical type, based on strain gauges embedded in a flexible support structure, providing the angle of rotation of the sensor-support assembly. Their performances are high but they have reliability problems and a high cost;
Sensors based on optical lines, which measure the variation of intensity of a light beam projected in an optical line. This measure reveals the angle of rotation of the sensor support. Such sensors have a relatively low cost but have reliability problems and low measuring precision.


There is presented a reliable technique for measuring condition change in nonlinear data such as brain waves. The nonlinear data is filtered and discretized into windowed data sets. The system dynamics within each data set is represented by a sequence of connected phase-space points, and for each data set a distribution function is derived. New metrics are introduced that evaluate the distance between distribution functions. The metrics are properly renormalized to provide robust and sensitive relative measures of condition change. As an example, these measures can be used on EEG data, to provide timely discrimination between normal, preseizure, seizure, and post-seizure states in epileptic patients. Apparatus utilizing hardware or software to perform the method and provide an indicative output is also disclosed.

The current invention relates to methods and apparatus for analyzing nonlinear data and particularly time-series nonlinear data derived from any of a variety of nonlinear processes or processes having a nonlinear component, and more particularly relates to methods and apparatus for detecting and measuring changes in states of nonlinear systems, conditions of nonlinear processes, and structure of nonlinear data.
Nonlinear processes, from which nonlinear data can be derived, are ubiquitous. The number and kind of such processes cannot be fully listed, but examples include: brain waves; heart waves;
electrical transients in power systems; fluid (air or water) flow over surfaces such as those of automobiles, airplanes, or submarines; weather and climate dynamics; machine tool-part interaction (e.g., tool chatter); nuclear reactor instabilities; fusion plasma instabilities; earthquakes; turbulent flow in conduits; fatigue and stress crack growth; and planetary or satellite motion. Applications in such fields as engineering, medicine, and research frequently require the ability to distinguish and/or quantify differences between apparently similar, but actually different, states in a nonlinear system. Inherent nonlinearity and high levels of noise in systems such as those described by example above make condition or state comparisons extremely difficult or even impossible through the use of linear or traditional nonlinear analyses. For example, conventional methods cannot detect differences in brain wave activity between baseline, pre-seizure, seizure, or postseizure states. Timely monitoring and detection of changes in the state of a nonlinear system can be used to provide adequate metrics for the basic purpose of better understanding the process. From a practical standpoint, detecting and measuring condition changes can be used predictively, for example, to detect the imminent onset of a seizure or an imminent failure of the system or a part thereof. The process may need to be monitored in real-time or near real-time for the monitoring to be of use. Conventional methods, in those instances where they can be of use, however, require a relatively large amount of data and a relatively large amount of computing power. This makes real-time monitoring difficult or impossible simply because of the cost or availability of the data acquisition, storage, and manipulation means.
Even existing nonlinear methods of monitoring process data cannot always detect differences on the scale required for a given process. In some cases, this is simply because the method is insufficiently sensitive, or the measurements of the changes in state or condition are not robust enough to be reliable. In other cases, the methods require large amounts of storage and computing capability that are not available as a practical matter, or at all.
It is an object of the current invention to overcome the above-mentioned problems by providing a method and apparatus for detecting, measuring, and monitoring condition changes in nonlinear processes and systems.
It is also an object of the current invention to provide a method and apparatus capable of providing an indication of a difference between two similar but different states in nonlinear processes and systems.
It is a further object of the current invention to provide a means of monitoring and comparing nonlinear data from a process or system to provide an indication of a change in state or condition of the process or system.
It is moreover an object of the current invention to provide a method and apparatus of measuring and detecting trends in the condition or state of a nonlinear process or system.
In accordance with the foregoing objectives, it is also a particular object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for filtering, monitoring, and comparing nonlinear data from a process or system to provide an indication of a change in state or condition of the process or system, wherein said filtering, monitoring, comparing, and detecting are based solely on the data derived from the process or system in the absence of any assumptions about or models for the underlying process or system dynamics.
In a specific aspect of the invention, it is an object thereof to provide a method and apparatus for filtering, monitoring, and comparing nonlinear data from EEG sensors, and particularly from a single channel of scalp EEG, to detect and monitor nonseizure, pre-seizure, and seizure epileptic states such that a forewarning of a seizure may be provided.
The invention accomplishes the foregoing and other objects by providing a method in which nonlinear data from a process or system is acquired, monitored, and filtered. The filtered data are then used to represent the system dynamics as connected phase-space points, in turn represented by 2n-dimensional vectors within a windowed data set. A distribution function is calculated for each windowed data set to capture the occurrence frequency in the discretized (connected) phase-space. Condition change is detected, monitored, and measured by comparing the distribution functions via dissimilarity metrics, specifically using "khgr"2 statistics and L1 distance. The dissimilarity measures are renormalized to provide a consistent comparator for robust and reliable detection of changes or trends. The method can be incorporated into apparatus including a data collector, a processor, and an output device enabling real-time and near real-time assessment of data. The apparatus can be made automatic, that is, made to provide an output only when a change or given magnitude of change is detected.
The method provides a new, timely, accurate, and robust means for measuring condition change in nonlinear data. It is model-independent and, by appropriate selection of comparison criteria, can be used to detect or measure any selected amount or degree of change in a system.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a method for detecting or measuring condition or state changes in a nonlinear process or system, or monitoring the condition or state of a nonlinear process or system. The method comprises the following steps. A channel of nonlinear data from the process or system is provided. The data, referred to herein as e-data, may be provided in real-time or near real-time or may be from a means for data storage. While the e-data is typically a time serial sequence of nonlinear measures, the method is not limited to the use of time serial sequence measures, but may be used with data sequenced by a means other than time. The e-data is then filtered by means of a zero-phase quadratic filter that removes artifacts (f-data) from the data without distorting the phase or amplitude of the e-data. The resulting artifact-filtered data is referred to as g-data. The g-data is serially discretized into windowed cutsets. For time serial data, the cutsets are time-windowed cutsets. Within each cutset, the g-data are processed to create an n-dimensional phase-space representation of the data, described as a discrete n-dimensional vector. The method connects the flow of each phase-space point into the subsequent phase-space point, as a single connected-phase-space point, which is represented by a discrete 2n-dimensional vector. A distribution function tabulates the occurrence frequency of each discrete (connected) phase space vector for each cutset. The distribution function for a first selected cutset is compared with the distribution function for a second selected cutset whereby the differences between the dynamics for each compared cutset can be detected and measured. An output is then provided indicative of the dissimilarity.
In another aspect of the invention, one or more of the cutsets mentioned above can be used to define a basecase for the process. Using the foregoing method, the basecase cutset(s) can be used to generate a series of representative distribution functions against which all other (testcase) cutsets are compared, thus enabling an output indicative of a relative change in state or condition. The distribution function of the j-th testcase cutset can then be compared to the distribution function of each basecase cutset. The resulting measures of dissimilarity may be averaged over the basecase cutsets. When the comparison between the distribution functions of the unknown and basecase cutsets shows a significant difference, an output signal can be generated indicative of the difference or indicative of the fact of a difference. Alternatively, the base case cutset(s) can be used to establish a trend, the comparison thereafter enabling detection and/or measurement of a deviation in trend.
In another aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus comprising processing means capable of performing the method steps set forth above. The apparatus can also comprise the data sensing means or a means for receiving at least one channel of data. The apparatus also comprises an output means for providing an indication of the detection, measurement, or monitoring of the changes in condition of the process or system.
The method and apparatus according to the current invention enable a large reduction in the amount of data storage and data processing required because the distribution functions derived, and the comparison of the distribution functions, utilize only the populated states within each cutset. This improvement alone enables at least a many hundred-fold decrease in the amount of computing power required. This reduction in turn means that the method may be performed on a programmable general purpose personal computer. Alternatively, the method and apparatus may utilize a relative small amount of dedicated circuitry. Because such computers are widely available and relatively inexpensive, monitoring and analyses of data can be performed on-site and in real time.

Condition assessment of nonlinear processes

Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation


Methods, systems, and devices are described for managing a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS). In one configuration, service announcement information for at least one MBMS may be received. At least a subset of the service announcement information may be broadcast in a peer discovery signal. Content of the at least one MBMS may then be relayed to at least one mobile device operating outside a coverage area of a base station. In another configuration, an out-of-coverage status indicator or MBMS query may be broadcast in a first peer discovery signal, and a second peer discovery signal may be received from at least one MBMS relay device. The second peer discovery signal may include at least a subset of service announcement information for at least one MBMS.

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations, NodeBs, or eNodeBs (eNBs) that can support communication for a number of mobile devices or user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station.
In a 3GPP cellular network, broadcast and multicast services may be transported via a transport service called multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS). A broadcast multicast service centre (BM-SC) server is responsible to disseminate the media content to a group of subscribers. When a UE moves out of network coverage, the UE may be unable to use the MBMS because the uplink and downlink connections to that BM-SC server are no longer available.

Managing a multimedia broadcast multicast service using an MBMS relay device


A novel biotechnological process for the preparation of nitriles, starting from amides, is described. Micro-organisms of the genus Amycolatopsis, Actinomadura or Rhodococcus are employed for this process.

For amides such as, for example, nicotinamide, a vitamin of the vitamin B complex which is essential to animals and man, a number of biotechnological processes are already known. Generally, it is known that microorganisms containing nitrile hydratase convert nitrites to the corresponding amides. Thus EP-A-0 188 316 describes a process for the preparation of nicotinamide starting from 3-cyanopyridine using microorganisms of the genus Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter or Microbacterium.
A disadvantage of this process is that these micro-organisms have only a low activity for the conversion of 3-cyanopyridine to nicotinamide.
EP-A-0 307 926 describes the conversion of 3-cyano-pyridine to nicotinamide by means of microorganisms of the species Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1. In order that these microorganisms catalyse the desired conversion, they must be induced.
A further disadvantage of this process is that Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 is red-coloured and accordingly a discoloration of the product takes place. In addition, this microorganism has a low heat stability and is inhibited, for example, by the substrate 3-cyano-pyridine.
A further process for the preparation of nicotinamide starting from 3-cyanopyridine by means of microorganisms of the species Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 is described in EP-A-0 362 829. In order to increase the specific activity of the microorganisms containing nitrile hydratase, urea or a urea derivative was added to the culturing medium as an inducer. As in the process described beforehand, a discoloration of the product also takes place in this process.
In addition, WO 95/17 505 describes a process for the preparation of aromatic amides starting from the corresponding nitriles by means of microorganisms of the species Rhodococcus rhodochrous M33. A disadvantage of this process is the red colouration of Rhodococcus rhodochrous M33 and also the high KM value for the substrate 3-cyanopyridine.


In a method of programming a nonvolatile memory device, a program operation is performed on a selected memory cell coupled to a selected word line in response to a program command, a negative bias voltage is applied to the selected word line, a verification pass voltage is applied to an unselected word line after the negative bias voltage is applied to the selected word line, and a first program verification voltage, which is higher than the negative bias voltage and lower than a ground voltage, is applied to the selected word line.

The inventive concepts described herein relate to nonvolatile memory devices, and more particularly to methods of programming and reading nonvolatile memory devices.
Semiconductor memory devices may be classified into volatile semiconductor memory devices and nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices. While volatile semiconductor memory devices may perform read and write operations at high speed, contents stored therein may be lost when the devices are powered-off. Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices may retain contents stored therein even when powered-off. For this reason, nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices are typically used to store contents that are to be retained regardless of whether the devices are powered on or off.
Examples of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices include mask read-only memories (MROMs), programmable ROMs (PROMs), erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), or the like.
A flash memory device is a typical nonvolatile memory device. Flash memory devices are widely used as voice and image storing mediums of electronic apparatuses such as computers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, camcorders, voice recorders, MP3 players, handheld PCs, game machines, facsimiles, scanners, printers, or the like.
As highly integrated memory devices have recently become increasingly necessary, multi-bit memory devices capable of storing multi-bit data in memory cells have become more common. As the operation speed of electronic devices increase, the operation speed of memory devices must also increase. However, programming speed and reading speed of flash memories are generally low.

Nonvolatile memory devices and methods of programming and reading nonvolatile memory devices