Provided are a metal belt which is improved in wear resistance, thermal conductivity, thin wall designs, heat resistance and flexibility, a fixing belt in which this metal belt is used, and a high durability and high reliability heat fixing device which has this fixing belt. This metal belt is made of a nickel-iron alloy manufactured by an electroforming process, and the nickel-iron alloy satisfies relationships expressed by the following equations:0.001≦S≦0.13, and  (1)85×S+3≦F≦350×S+3  (2)wherein S represents a sulfur content (mass %) and F represents an iron content (mass %).

In an image forming device, the heat roller type fixing device has been widely used as a fixing device which thermally fixes an unfixed image (a toner image) of object image information, which is formed and carried on a recording material (a transfer material sheet, an electrofax sheet, a sheet of electrostatic recording paper, an OHP sheet, a sheet of printing paper, a sheet of format paper and the like) by the transfer method or the direct method, on the recording material surface as a permanently fixed image in an image forming process means section of an electrophotographic process, an electrostatic recording process, a magnetic recording process and the like. In a fixing device of the heated roller type, it is general practice to use a heat source such as a halogen heater within the roller.
On the other hand, there have been widely proposed and carried out fixing devices of a type in which a resin belt or a metal belt having a small heat capacity is heated by using a ceramics heater as a heat source. That is, in fixing devices of this heating type, generally, a nip portion is formed by nipping a heat resistant belt (a fixing belt) between a ceramics heater as a heating body and a pressure roller as a pressurizing member, a recording material, on which an unfixed toner image to be fixed is formed and carried, is introduced between the fixing belt in the nip portion and the pressure roller, and the recording material is supported in a sandwiching manner and transported together with the belt, whereby in the nip portion, the heat from the ceramics heater is given to the recording material via the belt and the unfixed toner image is hot pressed and fixed on the surface of the recording material by this heat and the pressure load in the nip portion.
In this fixing device of the belt heating type, it is possible to make up a device of an on-demand type by using a small heat capacity member as a belt. That is, it is only necessary that the belt be heated to a prescribed fixing temperature by energizing the ceramics heater as a heat source only when the image formation is executed by the image forming apparatus. The fixing device of this type is advantageous in a short waiting time from the power-on operation of the image forming apparatus to a state in which the image formation can be executed (quick start capabilities) and a very small power consumption in a standby condition (electric power saving). FIG. 3 shows an example of the construction of a heat fixing device of this type. In the heat fixing device of this type, a nip portion N is formed by sandwiching a heat resistant belt (a fixing belt 310) between a ceramics heater 312 as a heating body and a pressure roller 330 as a pressurizing member, a recording material P, on which an unfixed toner image t to be fixed is formed and carried, is introduced between the fixing belt 310 at the nip portion and the pressure roller 330, and the recording material P is supported in a sandwiching manner and transported together with the belt 310, whereby in the nip portion, the heat from the ceramics heater 312 is given to the material P to be recorded via the belt 310 and the unfixed toner image t is hot pressed and fixed on the surface of the recording material P by this heat and the pressure load of the nip portion.
Heat resistant resins and the like are used as the material for the belt in such a belt heating type fixing device, including polyimide resins which are especially excellent in heat resistance and strength. However, in machines of high speed design and high durability design, the strength of resin films is insufficient. For this reason, the use of belts having a base layer made of metals excellent in strength, for example, stainless steel, nickel, copper and aluminum, has been proposed.
The Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H07-114276 and 2001-006868 disclose an induction heating type in which a metal belt is used and the self-heating of this belt is caused to occur by an eddy current caused by electromagnetic induction. FIG. 4 shows an example of the construction of a heat fixing device of this heating type. FIG. 5 shows a schematic illustration of magnetic field generating means of the heat fixing device of FIG. 4. Magnetic cores 417a, 417b and 417c are members with high magnetic permeability, and an exciting coil 418 generates an alternating magnetic flux by an alternating current (a high frequency current) supplied from an exciting circuit (not shown). When this alternating magnetic flux acts on a metal layer of a fixing film, an eddy current is generated to heat the metal layer. This heat heats the fixing film via an elastic layer and a release layer of the fixing film and heats a recording material P which is fed to a nip portion N, whereby a toner image is thermally fixed. That is, there has been proposed a heat fixing apparatus in which an eddy current is generated in the belt itself or an electrically conductive member provided very close to the belt by the magnetic flux and heat is generated by the Joule heat. In a heat fixing device of this electromagnetic induction heating type, the efficiency of consumed energy can be increased because the heat generation region can be provided closer to a body to be heated.
Methods of driving a fixing belt of a heat fixing device of the belt heating type include a method in which a belt which is brought into pressure contact with a film guide which guides an inner surface of the belt and a pressure roller is driven and rotated by the rotational driving of the pressure roller (the pressure roller driving method), and a method in which conversely, a pressure roller is driven and rotated by the driving of a belt in endless belt form which is set up in a tensioned condition by a driving roller and a tension roller.
The Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-013448 discloses as a fixing belt which is a metal belt, a fixing belt made of nickel having a thickness of 40 μm or so in which the surface roughness of a contact portion of a heater surface is less than 0.5 μm. The Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H06-222695 discloses a fixing belt of nickel with a thickness of 10 to 35 μm, having a coating layer having release characteristics on an outer circumferential surface and a resin layer on an inner circumferential surface.
As described above, generally, a seamless belt base material is used in a fixing belt which is employed in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic apparatus, an electrostatic recording apparatus and the like. For example, a seamless belt base material formed from a nickel material is generally fabricated by an electroplating process (which may sometimes be called an electroforming process) which uses a nickel sulfate bath, nickel sulfamate or the like.
In this electroplating process, a mother mold having a prescribed shape is used, film formation by electroforming is performed on the outer circumference of the mother mold, and a seamless belt base material is produced by being extracted from the mother mold. However, in a conventional nickel seamless belt, the surface is oxidized when heated to not less than 180° C. during fixing. In the case of the heat fixing device of the belt heating type shown in FIG. 3, for example, the surface is scraped off due to contact with the ceramics heater 312 and the belt guide 316 and frictional resistance increases. For this reason, a torque of the fixing belt driven by the pressure roll (pressurizing member) 330 increases and it becomes impossible to obtain designed rotations.
Therefore, it has hitherto been general practice to provide a sliding layer on the belt guide side (inner surface) of the seamless belt base material. The purpose is to reduce the resistance due to contact of the fixing belt with the belt guides 316, 416a and 416b and sliding plates 340, 440 in FIGS. 3 and 4. It has been proposed to form a sliding layer by using polyimide resin. However, because the thermal conductivity of what is called resin-based materials including polyimide resin is approximately 300 times as low as the thermal conductivity of nickel, which is the base material, (nickel 0.92 W/cm·° C., polyimide resin 2.9×10−3 W/cm·° C.), the start-up time becomes long and the advantage of the nickel materials that thermal conductivity is good disappears. Polyimide resin requires high material costs, and process costs also increase because a polyimide resin film is formed on the inner surface of the belt. Furthermore, there are many cases where during the film forming process of polyimide resin, moisture is absorbed in the polyimide film and the excellent characteristics of polyimide are lost.
On the other hand, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-006868 discloses a lubricating metal layer which is such that ceramics particles or synthetic resin particles are dispersed in a metal matrix, the lubricating metal layer being formed on the surface of a heating member sliding with a support member. By providing a metal layer which is such that ceramics particles or synthetic resin particles are dispersed in a metal matrix, it is possible to reduce the sliding resistance of the surface of the heating member sliding with the support member and also to suppress an increase in the sliding resistance by an improvement of paper-feed durability. However, because the thermal conductivity is still small compared to nickel, which is the base material, this small thermal conductivity remains to be a problem to be solved in increasing the printing speed of a heat fixing device.
On the other hand, the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-225134 proposes a metal tube produced by plastic forming methods. The plastic forming methods include drawing, pultrusion, processing method which involves pultruding a base material during drawing, and the like. When the thickness of a tube is to be reduced, for example, in the case of the pultrusion, it has drawbacks such that the wear of dies occurs frequently, the thickness cannot be reduced (thickness: not more than 30 μm), and the like.
In the future, requirements for energy saving and space saving will become increasingly severe, and small designs of a heat fixing device used in an image forming apparatus and small designs of the inside diameter of a fixing belt are being pursued. Therefore, a fixing belt having a metal layer is required to provide oxidation resistance at high temperatures, lubricity, thermal conductivity, thin wall designs, heat resistance, flexibility and the like.

Metal belt, fixing belt and heat fixing device


An igniter for solid cooking fuels includes a heat chamber and a heat gun manifold. The heat gun manifold includes a manifold flange with a first hole, the manifold flange attached to a bottom of the heat chamber, and a manifold tube received within the first hole. A top of the manifold tube received at least partially within the heat chamber. A heat gun may be removably coupled to a bottom of the manifold tube with the heat gun in fluid communication with the heat chamber. An upper handle may be attached to an outer surface of the heat chamber with a heat shield between the upper handle and the heat chamber.

Charcoal is popular cooking fuel used throughout the world. Charcoal is used as a fuel to cook food using fire. Charcoal has an advantage over fire burning wood since it does not generate as much soot and it provides the chef greater heat control. Although charcoal is an archaic cooking fuel, charcoal imparts a pleasant atmosphere for any gathering. The odor reminds people of good food and fellowship with friends and family.
The ease and convenience of grills using propane, natural gas and electricity has caused people to choose alternatives to using charcoal for grilling their food. Having the ability to light charcoal quickly and cleanly will make the use of charcoal more convenient. If charcoal can be ignited quickly, cleanly and safely, more people will enjoy its pleasing cooking qualities.
People light charcoal on fire using various methods including chemical accelerants such as charcoal lighting fluid; physical heating methods such as hot ceramic heaters; concentrated heat, for example lighting a small fire under a venter tube containing the charcoal (i.e. chimney starter); and a hybrid type, for example, by using a physical heating method along with concentrated heat.
Since smell and taste are closely linked, it is important to prepare charcoal in ways that will not impart offending or poisonous odor into the food that is being cooked. Charcoal lighting fluid is a petroleum based liquid that smells bad and is often not quickly burned up once the charcoal is ready for cooking. The person preparing the grill generally places the charcoal to be lit inside the grill that they will be cooking the food. The lighter fluid is sprayed on the charcoal. When the user sprays the charcoal lighter fluid onto the charcoal however, charcoal lighter fluid also penetrates the charcoal ash that is setting in the bottom of the grilling vessel. The charcoal lighting fluid can also permeate the grill walls if the grill is made of ceramic, file tile or brick.
Some devices have aspects that utilize fuel as an accelerant to ignite the charcoal. As a result of the use of the fuel, there is a strong likelihood that the smell of the fuel may linger after ignition of the charcoal.
In order to combat the deleterious effects of charcoal fluid, charcoal starters that employed the use of electric heating elements have been used to ignite charcoal. However, these lighters have slow ignition speeds since there is no forced air helping to speed ignition. Because the heat from the electric heating element immediately touching a piece of charcoal provides the source of ignition, the remaining charcoal is only later ignited by the charcoal that was ignited by the electric heating element.
Other solutions for igniting charcoal without the use of charcoal lighter fluid use hot air from a small fire lit under the charcoal igniter. These types of solutions are commonly referred to as 'chimney starters'. These solutions require the user to crumple up newspaper or other easily ignitable material and place this material under the unit, light the newspaper on fire with a lighter or match, and wait for the hot air and gases from the fire produced by the burning newspaper to ignite the charcoal. When the charcoal is fully ignited, the charcoal is dumped into the cooking vessel. However, these charcoal starters have numerous disadvantages. For, example, these starters produce a larger mess from the ash resulting from igniting the newspaper or other material that is placed under the unit to start the ignition. These igniters also depend on airflow from the charcoal that is near the bottom of the igniter. In order to provide the airflow, air holes are provided on the bottom and sides of these starters. Charcoal ash or small ignited charcoal can fall out of the starter during the ignition phase. To prevent this problem, the user will use this igniter inside the grilling vessel but if the user wishes to ignite more charcoal to be added later on in the cooking cycle, they will have to use these igniters inside another separate grilling vessel or another heat resistant container.
Furthermore, these charcoal lighters may produce excessive heat. Due to the heat generated from the ignition of the charcoal, these charcoal starters must be placed inside the grilling vessel or on a surface that is not damaged from heat and fire. If the user has a patio or deck made of wood or a plastic material, these charcoal starters can cause significant damage to the patio or deck material. Even if the patio or deck material is made from stone, concrete or tile, fire and heat can still damage the surface by leaving marks or causing cracking from the heat.
In order to improve the speed of ignition, other solutions attempted to combine forced air along with an ignition mechanism. However, these devices often do not allow the user to heat charcoal outside of the cooking vessel or grill so the user would not be able to light new charcoal outside of the cooking session without disturbing the existing cooking session or using a separate grilling vessel.
Other disadvantages of these devices are that the heating mechanism and blower are integrated with the unit. Forced air heating apparatus such as heat guns tend to wear out quickly due to the extreme temperature variances that it undergoes with normal use. If the forced air heating apparatus were to wear out, the entire unit must be discarded.
Another problem that many chimney style heat chamber designs have is that the handles will become too hot to touch as the charcoal catches fire. This problem can only be addressed by making a heat insulated handle that is manufactured from heat resistant material such as wood, spiraled metal or plastic. Regardless of how heat resistant these materials are however, they will still heat up over time while being exposed to heat. The best way to prevent the handle from heating up is to keep it from touching other metal that is hot.
Therefore, a charcoal lighter that is fast, reliable and efficient that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of other lighters is desirable.


A method and an arrangement maintain end-to-end synchronization on a telecommunications connection transmitting data in frames substantially in real time and using synchronized end-to-end encryption, wherein at least a part of the telecommunications connection is a packet-switched connection, in which case the reproduction delay of the data to be transmitted can be increased by adding one or more extra frames to the frame string being transmitted, wherein the arrangement defines, based on the number of received frames, an initialization vector value corresponding to a frame received at the receiving end of the telecommunications connection and used in decrypting the frame, adjusts the reproduction delay to mark the frame to be added to increase the reproduction delay as an extra frame, and defines the initialization vector value to count only the frames not marked as extra frames in the number of received frames.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for maintaining an end-to-end synchronization on a telecommunications connection.
In telecommunications systems, such as an official network, it is very important that electronic interception of the traffic is not possible. The air interface is typically encrypted, so even though the radio traffic is monitored, an outsider cannot decrypt it. In an infrastructure, the traffic is, however, not necessary encrypted, so the traffic, such as speech, can be decrypted using the code of the system in question. Even though an outsider cannot in principle listen to the speech flow inside the infrastructure, this is a possible security risk for the most demanding users. Therefore, a solution has been developed in which speech can be encrypted with end-to-end encryption. An example of a system enabling the end-to-end encryption is the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) system.
The basic idea of end-to-end encryption is that a network user, such as an authority, can encrypt and decrypt traffic independently and regardless of the used transmission network for instance in terminal equipment.
In the TETRA system, for instance, when employing end-to-end encryption, the sender first codes a 60-ms voice sample using a TETRA code, thus creating a plaintext sample. The transmitting terminal creates an encrypted sample using a certain key stream segment. The encrypted sample is then transmitted to the network. The recipient decrypts the encrypted sample by using the same key stream segment, thus again obtaining a plaintext sample.
To prevent the encryption from being broken, the key stream segment is changed continuously, which means that each frame comprising a 60-ms voice sample is encrypted with its own key stream segment. Both encryption key stream generators should thus agree on what key stream segment to use for each frame. This task belongs to synchronization control. For the task, synchronization vectors are used that are transmitted between terminals by means of an in-band signal.
The encryption key stream generator generates a key stream segment on the basis of a certain key and an initialization vector. The keys are distributed to each terminal participating in the encrypted call. This is part of the terminal settings. A new key stream segment is thus generated once in every 60 milliseconds. After each frame, the initialization vector is changed. The simplest alternative is to increment it by one, but each encryption algorithm contains its own incrementation method that can be even more complex to prevent the breaking of the encryption.
The task of synchronization control is to make sure that both ends know the initialization vector used to encrypt each frame. For the encrypter and decrypter to agree on the value of the initialization vector, a synchronization vector is transmitted at the beginning of the speech item. In case of a group call, joining the call must be possible even during a speech item. Therefore, the synchronization vector is transmitted continuously for instance 1 to 4 times a second. In addition to the initialization vector, the synchronization vector contains for instance a key identifier and CRC error check so that the terminal can verify the integrity of the synchronization vector. The recipient thus counts the number of frames transmitted after the synchronization vector and the encryption key stream generator generates a new initialization vector on the basis of the initialization vector received last and the number of frames.
A data transmission network may comprise one or more packet-switched connections, for instance IP (Internet Protocol) connections, in which data is transmitted using the voice over IP technology, for instance. RTP (Real Time Protocol) is one standard protocol for transmitting real-time data, such as sound and video images in an IP network, for instance. The IP network typically causes a varying delay in packet transmission. For speech intelligibility, for instance, a varying delay is very deleterious. To compensate for this, the receiving end of the RTP transmission buffers incoming packets to a jitter buffer and reproduces them at a given reproduction time. A packet arriving before the reproduction time participates in the reconstruction of the original signal. A packet arriving after the reproduction time remains unused and rejected.
On one hand, a real-time application requires an as short end-to-end delay as possible, and consequently the reproduction delay should be reduced. On the other hand, a long reproduction delay allows a long time for the packets to arrive and thus, more packets can be accepted. The value of the reproduction delay should thus be adjusted continuously according to the network conditions. Most RTP algorithms have a facility that adjusts the reproduction delay automatically according to the network conditions to improve sound quality. The reproduction delay can be shifted 60 ms forward, for instance, by having the IP gateway create a 60-ms replacement packet. In other words, an extra frame is added to the frame flow being transmitted.
A problem with the arrangement described above is that if synchronized end-to-end encryption coding is used and an extra frame is added to the frame flow, the result is that the frame counter at the receiving end is one frame ahead in relation to the incoming frames and the key stream segment of the receiving end no longer matches the key stream segment of the transmitting end.
Increasing the reproduction delay in the middle of a speech item, for instance, thus has the consequence that end-to-end synchronization is lost and the encrypted speech can no longer be decoded. This continues until the transmitting end sends a new synchronization vector to synchronize the receiving end. This phenomenon can be prevented in such a manner that in semi-duplex calls, for instance, the reproduction delay is changed only after speech items. If the speech items are long, the reproduction delay can then be changed disadvantageously infrequently: the quality of speech may be poor until the end of the entire speech item, because the reproduction delay cannot be changed earlier. Further, in duplex calls, for instance, in which there are no speech items and the terminal transmits continuously, the reproduction delay cannot be changed at all during the call, if loss of synchronization is to be avoided.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Maintaining end-to-end synchronization on a telecommunications connection


Systems and methods that provide one or more mobile device facilitated non-cash avenues to redeem a ticket voucher associated with an amount of funds.

In various embodiments, the systems and methods of the present disclosure provide one or more mobile device facilitated non-cash avenues to redeem a ticket voucher associated with an amount of funds.
Gaming machines may provide players awards in primary games. Gaming machines generally require the player to place a wager to activate the primary game. The award may be based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager. When a player cashes out a credit balance of such gaming machines, these gaming machines may provide the player with a ticket voucher redeemable for the amount of the credit balance.

Mobile device facilitated redemption of gaming establishment ticket vouchers


An in-line biological liquid filtration system and method comprises a collection container for receiving biological liquid. A filter is located downstream of the collection container and in fluid flow communication therewith. A storage container for receiving filtered biological liquid is located downstream of the filter and the storage container is in fluid flow communication with the filter and with the collection container. An additive solution is located in the storage container. At least one automatic control member automatically restricts a flow of biological liquid or additive solution when flowing the liquid or solution between the collection container and the storage container.

This invention relates generally to filtering a biological liquid. More specifically, this invention comprises an automatic gravity driven in-line filtration system and method for filtering a biological liquid such as blood or blood product to remove leukocytes therefrom.
Various blood filtration systems exist in the prior art. However, of the systems that are in-line filtration systems, these require user manipulation of valves and/or mechanically driven components during the filtration process. The manipulation of valves must take place at the proper time during the filtration process or the system will not filter properly and the blood being filtered may be rendered unusable. The use of mechanically driven components requires additional utility hook ups and complicates the overall system. Since systems including user manipulation of valves and mechanically driven components are more time dependent, use restrictive and costly, it is desirable to achieve a liquid filtration system which may filter blood without the manipulation of valves or the use of mechanically driven components.
Additionally, it is desirable to obtain a system wherein an additive storage solution is located remotely from a whole blood collection container. As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the features of the present invention differs from those previously proposed.
The shortcomings of the prior art may be alleviated using a filtration system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The present invention comprises a process for filtering a biological liquid in an in-line filtration system. The process may comprise the following steps: providing the biological liquid in a collection container; conveying an additive solution into the collection container to nix with the biological liquid wherein the additive solution is located in a storage container and is automatically restricted to flow in a fluid path substantially bypassing a filtration media, the filtration media being disposed between the collection container and the storage container; mixing the biological liquid and the additive solution to form a mixture; and conveying the mixture into the storage container wherein the mixture is automatically restricted to flow in a second fluid path substantially passing through the filtration media.
According to the present invention there is also provided an in-line biological liquid filtration system. The system preferably comprises the following. A collection container for receiving biological liquid. A filter located downstream of the collection container and in fluid flow communication therewith. A storage container for receiving filtered biological liquid located downstream of the filter, the storage container in fluid flow communication with the filter and with the collection container. An additive solution located in the storage container. And, at least one automatic control member automatically restricting a flow of biological liquid or additive solution between the collection container and the storage container.
Another feature of the invention relates to a process and system for providing a collection container that is substantially free of any additive solution before and while biological liquid is collected in the container. Further, the additive solution is preferably located remotely in another container that serves as both a storage container for the additive solution prior to using the system and then as a long term storage container for biological liquid, preferably comprising blood or blood product, after the liquid is filtered through the system.
Still other features of the invention concerns the use of multiple storage containers and processes for separating and filtering the biological liquid, means for sampling collected liquid and an automatic, gravity operated, closed in-line filtration system.
In accordance with the following, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide an easy to use, closed in-line filtration system that can operate automatically merely under the force of gravity with minimum user supervision and without mechanical component manipulation.
A further advantage is to provide an invention that can be used with conventional liquid separation techniques, such as a centrifuge, without breaching the integrity of the closed system and while enabling multiple separation steps and storage containers for blood and blood products.

System for in-line filtering biological liquid


An apparatus for producing flat thin sections of a specimen (3) comprises a blade edge (7), a specimen carrier (4), a drive device (14) for producing a relative motion between the blade edge (7) and the specimen carrier (4) in a sectioning plane (5), and a light light-ribbon micrometer (8) arranged between the blade edge (7) and the specimen (3), wherein the light-ribbon micrometer (8) is arranged at a fixed distance (d) relative to the blade edge (7) and generates a light-ribbon in a plane perpendicular to the sectioning plane. A coding device (13) may be associated with the drive device (14) for controlling an alternating drive as a function of the distance (d) and of signals generated by the light-ribbon micrometer (8).

Apparatuses of this kind are known, in particular, as sliding, rotary, or rotating disc microtomes depending on the direction of the relative motion, or as ultramicrotomes depending on the cut thickness. To produce the section, either the specimen is measurably shifted with respect to the stationary blade edge, or the blade edge is measurably shifted with respect to the stationary specimen. The thickness of the section is adjusted by measurably stepwise displacement of the blade edge or of the specimen holder perpendicularly to the current sectioning plane.
The approaching motion between the blade edge and specimen is referred to as an "advance." The portion of the sectioning stroke during which the specimen is located in the engagement region of the blade edge is referred to as a "sectioning window." To ensure good sectioning quality, the sectioning speed in the region of the sectioning window must not be too high. In the advance region, on the other hand, the positioning speeds can be as high as possible so as to minimize the total processing time.
Known apparatuses are therefore usually equipped with programmable alternating drives that permit the setting of different advance speeds and sectioning speeds. Once a blade edge and a specimen to be processed have been placed into the apparatus, the travel lengths for advancing and for sectioning the specimen should be capable of being detected and set by said apparatus in as automatic a fashion as possible.
It is known from DE 102 58 553 B4 (corresponding to US 2004/0124378) to arrange for this purpose, between the blade edge and specimen holder, a light barrier that contains a transmitter for producing a thin light beam bundle and a detector for receiving the light beam bundle. The light beam bundle is arranged parallel to the blade edge and spaced away therefrom at the same height. As long as the relative position between the specimen and blade edge is not known, a relative motion between the specimen and blade edge in a plane parallel to the sectioning plane must also be performed during advance, in order to ensure that specimens of different sizes arrive in the region of the light barrier.
A coding unit associated with the alternating drive ascertains, from the known distance between the light barrier and blade edge, the advance motion that is still possible, and switches over to the sectioning speed. The duration of the interruption of the light barrier during sectioning is proportional to the size of the sectioning window, and can likewise be ascertained by the coding unit and used for the next sectioning operation.
The disadvantage of the known apparatus is that a plurality of stepwise advances, combined in each case with a sectioning stroke, must be carried out in order to detect the light barrier. This requires a relatively large expenditure of time.


Lubricant efficiency in an internal combustion engine is improved by determining the frictional coefficient of the lubricant and adding appropriate additives to adjust viscosity and surface tension to optimum ranges. This results in improved fuel economy and reduced engine wear.

The use of lubricant fluids to reduce frictional losses in internal combustion engines is well known. Lubricant fluids typically contain either a hydrocarbon-based or synthetic principal lubricant oil, with additives selected to ensure that the composite lubricant fluid will serve to effectively lubricate relatively moving internal combustion engine parts under anticipated operating conditions.
Over time, through both analysis and experience, various characteristics of lubricant fluids have been better understood and improved. This is usually accomplished by adding one or more additives selected to adjust specific properties and monitoring the performance characteristics of the composite lubricant fluid. Additives such as viscosity index improvers are employed to control the viscosity, and pour point depressants are added as needed to control the freezing point of the composite lubricant fluid. Various detergent packages, corrosion inhibitors, and the like, may be added for their specific benefits.
A variety of multigrade lubricant fluids have been developed and are found to improve engine efficiency as measured by reductions in fuel consumption. In a study by McGeehan, J. A. "A Literature Review of the Effects of Piston and Ring Friction and Lubricating Oil Viscosity on Fuel Economy", SAE No. 780673, it is noted that multigrade lubricant fluids give slightly better fuel economy in reciprocating engines than do single-grade lubricant fluids. However, very little is known as to why improvements in fuel efficiency and reduced fuel consumption are achieved by the use of a multigrade lubricant fluid. Various explanations have been proposed to explain this disparity, but these, by necessity, until now, have been based on measurements of a single film thickness made in the main bearing of an internal combustion engine. See, for example, SAE Reports Nos. 869376, 880681, and 892151.
Other studies have considered the influence of cavitation in the lubricant fluid, in regions between relatively moving elements, as an important factor which determines the load bearing capability of the lubricant fluid film providing the lubrication. Theories concerning cavitation were first proposed by Reynolds in the early 1900s and these led to the development of the so-called Reynolds theory of lubrication. More recently, Coyne and Elrod, in "Conditions for the Rupture of a Lubricating Film: Parts I and II", Journal of Lubrication Technology, July 1970, have developed analyses which include the effects of surface tension in the lubricating mechanism. The influence of surface tension at the boundary conditions, and the task of specifying this in the analyses, thus adds a new parameter to both the analytical and experimental considerations.
The motor vehicle industry and the oil industry are both very concerned with energy conservation and oil consumption, and in the parameters involved in promoting engine efficiency and reducing oil consumption to avoid potential energy shortages. There is, therefore, significant interest in developing lubricant fluids and procedures for ensuring selected characteristics thereof for improved lubrication in internal combustion engines. To meet this need, it is necessary to develop an accurate understanding of the behavior of composite lubricant fluids, particularly where lubrication is provided to piston rings, both to develop a reliable model of the lubrication phenomenon and to enable the development of optimum lubricating fluid compositions. The goal of such efforts is to provide better lubricant fluids and an understanding of how to ensure that their desirable properties are maintained during prolonged use in internal combustion engines, to decrease friction-related losses, and to thereby increase engine efficiency and reduce fuel consumption.
The present invention is based on both analysis and empirical verification to provide improvements in lubricant fluid compositions and methods for ensuring efficient lubrication in internal combustion engines.
The following symbols and nomenclature are employed in the description of the invention.

Lubricant fluid composition and methods for reducing frictional losses therewith in internal combustion engines


A recliner has a chair frame that provides support to a seat and back rest. The frame includes a recliner assembly that includes a bracket that is connected to the backrest enabling reclining movement of the backrest as the bracket moves through a correspondingly shaped bracket slot in a recliner base plate, and where the bracket rotates about an axis that approximates the position of the rotational axis of the hip of a seated user. The reclining chair can also be part of a modular system of components that enable one or more seating units to be in a spanned or ganged configuration.

The invention relates generally to chairs and more specifically to chair with a compact recliner mechanism. It is desirable in some environments, particularly in lobbies of hospitals and patient rooms where the waiting times are generally more prolonged, to have seating that is comfortable to the user. Additionally, it is important that any options or features that add to the comfort be incorporated into the chair construction in a way that minimizes the number of parts and maximizes the use of common parts among different options, maximizes efficiencies of manufacturing and assembling, maximizes ease of adjustment and yet that results in a visually pleasing design.


The present invention provides a method and computer program product for reading an encoded cable speed/length value contained within an interconnection cable to set the interconnection speed of two or more components connected by the interconnection cable within a computing environment. This method detects changes to the cable connections within the I/O fabric of the computing environment, and autonomically reconfigures the connected components to enable the interconnected devices to communicate at the maximum effective bandwidth, based on the length of the interconnection cables utilized.

Since the dawn of the computer age, computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices that may be found in many different settings. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware (e.g., semiconductors, circuit boards, etc.) and software (e.g., computer programs). As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer hardware ever higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
The combination of hardware and software on a particular computer system defines a computing environment. Different hardware platforms and different operating systems thus provide different computing environments. In recent years, engineers have recognized that it is possible to provide different computing environments on the same physical computer system by logically partitioning the computer system resources into different computing environments. The iSeries computer system developed by IBM Corporation is an example of a computer system that supports logical partitioning. If logical partitioning on an iSeries computer system is desired, resource and partition manager code (referred to as a "hypervisor" in iSeries terminology) is installed that allows defining different computing environments on the same platform. Once the resource and partition manager is installed, logical partitions may be created that define different computing environments. The resource and partition manager manages the logical partitions to assure that they can share needed resources in the computer system while maintaining the separate computing environments defined by the logical partitions.
A computer system that includes multiple logical partitions typically shares resources between the logical partitions. For example, a computer system with two logical partitions could be defined that allocates 50% of the CPU to each partition, that allocates 33% of the memory to the first partition and 67% of the memory to the second partition, and that allocates two different input/output (I/O) slots to the two logical partitions, one per partition. Once logical partitions are defined and shared resources are allocated to the logical partitions, each logical partition acts as a separate computer system. Thus in the example above that has a single computer system with two logical partitions, the two logical partitions will appear for all practical purposes to be two separate and distinct computer systems.
As described above, in a logically partitioned computer system, I/O slots can be assigned to individual logical partitions. These I/O slots can be connected to the computing environment through common hardware, or "I/O Fabric", that is effectively shared by all logical partitions having slots connected through that same fabric. In a typical embodiment, I/O slots reside within an I/O enclosure which is physically separate from the processor/memory enclosure of the computing environment. In such an instance, a processor/memory enclosure is connected to the I/O enclosure via a set of interconnection cables. Additional sets of interconnection cables may be used to provide connections among the I/O enclosures themselves.
The interconnection cables forming the I/O fabric can have a variety of lengths, depending upon physical characteristics, proximity and space requirements of the interconnected enclosures. As an example, such interconnection cables typically are available in lengths of 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, and greater than 15 meters. Generally speaking, as the length of the interconnection cable increases, the maximum speed at which data may be transmitted through the cable decreases. By way of example, the shorter cable lengths (e.g., 1, 3, 6 and 10 meters) are operable at data transfer speeds of up to 1 GB/second, an intermediate length cable can only support data transfer speeds of up to 500 MB/second, and a long cable having a length of greater than 15 meters can only support data transfer speeds of up to 250 MB/second.
In order to more easily identify the length of interconnection cables utilized within a computing environment, such cables may incorporate identification pins within the cable connectors which are encoded with identifying information (e.g., speed, length) about the cable itself. Examples of such cables include, U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,155 issued to Bassler et al. on Apr. 9, 2002, entitled "Intelligent Sensing Connectors", and U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,785 issued to Lee on Nov. 17, 1998, entitled "Apparatus and Method to Uniquely Identify Similarly Connected Electrical Devices".
There is a need for a method of reading an encoded cable speed/length value contained within an interconnection cable to set the interconnection speed of two or more devices connected by the cable within a computing environment. This method should be able to detect changes to the cable connections within the I/O fabric of the computing environment, and autonomically reconfigure the connected devices to enable the interconnected devices to communicate at the maximum effective bandwidth, based on the length of the interconnection cables utilized.

Autonomic configuration of port speeds of components connected to an interconnection cable

International Business Machines Corporation


An electro-optical device includes a substrate and the following elements. Pixels are disposed in a pixel area on the substrate. Scanning lines and data lines are disposed in the pixel. An image signal line is disposed in a peripheral area located around the pixel area to supply an image signal. A sampling circuit is disposed in the peripheral area and includes transistors disposed in association with corresponding data lines. Each transistor including a semiconductor layer having (i) a source region connected to a source wiring which is electrically connected to the image signal line and which is disposed in a first direction in which the data lines are extended, (ii) a drain region connected to a drain wiring which is electrically connected to the corresponding data line and which is disposed in the first direction, and (iii) a channel region formed between the source region and the drain region. A layer is disposed above the semiconductor layer. A light-shielding film is disposed over the layer and at least in part of a gap region between adjacent transistors of the transistors in plan view. The light-shielding film is at least partially overlapping with the semiconductor layers of the adjacent transistors in plan view.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technical field of electro-optical devices, such as liquid crystal devices, and electronic apparatuses, such as liquid crystal projectors, including such electro-optical devices.
2. Related Art
Generally, such electro-optical devices are driven on the basis of image signals supplied from an external circuit to image signal lines through external circuit connecting terminals. For example, in a liquid crystal device, image signals are supplied from image signal lines via a sampling circuit to a plurality of data lines that are laid out in an image display area on a substrate. The sampling circuit is disposed in a peripheral area located around the image display area and includes a plurality of sampling switches, one sampling switch being associated with each data line. The sampling switch is generally formed of a single-channel or complementary thin film transistor (TFT). An image signal line is connected to the source of the sampling switch, a data line is connected to the drain of the sampling switch, and a sampling signal line for supplying a sampling signal is connected to the gate of the sampling switch. Concerning such sampling switches, for example, JP-A-2002-49330 discloses a technique for providing a shielding electrode between adjacent sampling switches to electrostatically shield the data line connected to the drain of one sampling switch and the image signal line connected to the source of the adjacent sampling switch.
The sampling switches are disposed with regular gaps therebetween such that they can be associated with the corresponding data lines. This causes a technical problem in that light leakage occurs in the gap between adjacent sampling switches. Accordingly, when displaying an image, in a peripheral area through which light should not pass, a streak-like white portion may be displayed at a position corresponding to the gap between adjacent sampling switches.

Electro-optical device and electronic apparatus including the same


An apparatus and method for generating a shape model of an object and an apparatus and method for automatically searching for feature points of an object employing the same. The apparatus for automatically searching for feature points of an object includes: a shape model generation unit which generates a shape model including a mean model of an object, and statistical feature data of each feature point forming a mean shape, by training a plurality of training sets in which a plurality of feature points are labeled for the object; an initial position resetting unit which resets an initial position of each feature point of the mean shape according to a pose of an input image; and a feature point extraction unit which adapts the mean shape whose initial position is reset, to the input image, by using the statistical feature data of each feature point of the mean shape, and extracts feature points of the input image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically searching for feature points of an object, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for accurately searching for feature points of an object in an image in which the pose of the object changes greatly.
2. Description of the Related Art
An active shape model (ASM) is an analytical model capable of extracting the shape of an object included in a new image, by using a statistical shape model after generating the statistical shape model of the object to search for by using training sets given in advance. Here, each training set consists of face images on which feature points of an object to search for are labeled, and the shape in each training set is a set of n labeled landmarks, that is, n feature points. In the ASM, correlation with which feature points labeled differently to each other move is modeled, as the shape of an object changes. Each of labeled feature points can be made to be one vector, and by performing a principal component analysis for all vectors generated in relation to the training sets, the shape can be described using an appropriate number of coefficients. According to the ASM, a statistical shape model can be iteratively changed to match an object in a new image. The shape change in the statistical shape model of ASM is restricted, so that the shape change is made only in the direction shown in labeled training sets.
However, in the ASM which is currently used for searching for feature points of a face image, the positions of feature points of an average face image obtained from training sets formed with a plurality of front face images are used. Accordingly, when the pose of the face in the input image changes greatly, it is difficult to correctly search for feature points, for example, because the positions of feature points are diffused. In addition, since an ASM profile formed with 1-dimensional templates is used in order to determine the positions to which feature points will move in a face image, there is a possibility that the ASM falls into a local minimum, in particular pose variation.
An article related to and generally discussing ASM was written by T. F. Cootes, C. J. Taylor, D. H. Cooper, and J. Graham entitled "Active Shape Models-Their Training and Application", Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT. England, Computer Vision and Image Understanding Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 38-59, January 1995.

Apparatus and method for generating shape model of object and apparatus and method for automatically searching for feature points of object employing the same


Coupling fluid-flow model and geomechanical model for integrated petroleum systems, in one aspect, may comprise analyzing historical data associated with a reservoir to determine one or more triggering events that trigger abrupt changes in the state of stress of the reservoir solid framework and in the pore pressure. One or more time steps are defined based on the determined triggering events. The fluid-flow model and the geomechanical model are coupled at the one or more defined time steps, e.g., one-way or two-way. Number of iterations may be calculated automatically for the two-way coupling to converge.

Many petroleum field management situations require the knowledge of in-situ reservoir stresses and its evolution during the production life cycle of reservoirs. For example, in cases that there are pre-existing natural fracture networks, changes in the stress field may induce more or less production along some fracture directions, affecting the decisions on well placement and injection production strategies. Other important engineering considerations can be affected by compaction and subsidence in the reservoir and overburden. Geomechanical simulations are used to calculate the mechanical response of the reservoir rocks associated with fluids production or injection into underground formations. These simulations are used to make decisions during the reservoir management life-cycle. It is important to consider the effects of pre-existing fracture networks and faulting in the oil and gas production in conventional and unconventional reservoirs.
In order to simulate the geomechanical behavior of reservoirs, the modeling of both fluid flow and mechanical response are necessary to provide realistic results about the fully coupled behavior of reservoirs under production. The coupling is needed because the state of stress and deformation of the solid framework depend on the fluid pressure within the reservoir. This defines two different physical problems, in which both the physics of fluid and solid phases must be solved simultaneously. Therefore, the mathematical model to be solved is composed by two systems of partial differential equations governing the solid framework state of stress and pressure of the fluid and phases, respectively. The result of the fluid problem is used to solve the solid problem and, in its turn, the result of the solid problem is used to solve the fluid problem. After the partial differential equations of these problems are discretized, a numerical coupling scheme has to be used to enforce this interdependency. Known solutions use coupling schemes based on numerical convergence criteria only.
To solve the coupled fluid-mechanical system problem, different coupling strategies can be employed. The most commonly used schemes are: (1) fully coupling; (2) sequentially iterative coupling; (3) iterative coupling; (4) loosely coupling; (5) loosely staggered in time coupling scheme; and (6) explicit one way coupling. In the fully coupling scheme, the coupled governing equations of flow and geomechanics are solved simultaneously at every time step of the numerical solution. In the sequentially iterative coupling scheme, one problem is solved first, say fluid, and the other problem is solved using the intermediate solution result to iterate at every time step until the full solution converges. In the loosely coupling scheme, the two separate sets of equations are solved independently and information is passed at designated time intervals in both directions. In the loosely staggered in time coupling scheme, the total time step designated for the mechanics simulator is divided into multiple time steps for the flow simulator. At the end of the time interval the pore pressure is passed to the geomechanics simulator. In the explicit one way coupling, the two separate sets of equations are solved independently over the same total time interval and information is updated in only one direction, i.e., from flow simulator to the geomechanics simulator. Normally the points of coupling are based on convergence criteria.

Method to couple fluid-flow and geomechanical models for integrated petroleum systems using known triggering events


New, efficient methods for making novel platform molecules and polymerizable mesogens are provided, as well as the novel mesogens and methods of using same.

Photocurable resins which are transparent or translucent, radioopaque, have good workability, and have good mechanical strength and stability are useful in dental applications, adhesive applications, optical applications, as composites, and in stereolithographic applications.
Low polymerization shrinkage is an important property for such resins. In dental applications, the phrase "zero polymerization shrinkage" typically means that the stresses accumulated during curing do not debond the dentin-restorative interface or fracture the tooth or restorative, which can result in marginal leakage and microbial attack of the tooth. Low polymerization shrinkage also is important to achieve accurate reproduction of photolithographic imprints and in producing optical elements.
Another advantageous property for such resins is maintenance of a liquid crystalline state during processing. For comfort in dental applications, the resin should be curable at "room temperature," defined herein as typical ambient temperature up to body temperature. Preferred curing temperatures are from about 20° C. to about 37° C. Mesogens which have been found to polymerize in a relatively stable manner at such temperatures are bis 1,4 [4′-(6′-methacryloxyhexyloxy) benzoyloxy] t-butylphenylene mesogens and their structural derivatives. These mesogens have the following general structure:
Unfortunately known synthetic methods for producing these mesogens are costly and have relatively low yields. As a result, the mesogens have enjoyed limited commercial use.
Less costly and simple synthetic methods are needed to produce these mesogens and/or to produce new mesogens that exhibit suitable viscosity for ease in handling, minimal polymerization shrinkage, and relatively high transition temperatures ("Tn->isotropic").

Mesogens and methods for their synthesis and use


A dynamic pressure bearing device and a spindle motor used for a magnetic disk drive device capable of increasing an impact resistance, reducing A-PRO (oscillating motion of shaft), reducing a variation in rigidity of bearings against a variation in temperature, suppressing a current loss, and reducing a size and a thickness.

A spindle motor is mounted in a hard disk drive mechanism (hereinafter referred to as HDD), a digital versatile disk mechanism (hereinafter referred to as DVD), a scanner device, etc., and is used to rotating a hard disk, a digital versatile disk, a mirror, etc. at high speed. High-speed rotation, high-speed rotation accuracy, power saving, calmness, high reliability, etc. are required of such a spindle motor. To meet such high-level requirements, it has become necessary to adopt a bearing of very high accuracy.
As such a bearing, a ball bearing has conventionally been used; recently, however, a dynamic pressure fluid bearing has come to be used. Due to its principle, a dynamic pressure fluid bearing has properties basically enabling it to meet the above requirements, and is suitable for use in a spindle motor. However, to utilize its superior properties, it is necessary to take into account various conditions in terms of structure and application to apparatuses. That is, in a dynamic pressure fluid bearing, the shaft and the bearing are supported in a non-contact state by an oil pressure generated by relative rotation. Here, from the viewpoint of fluid mechanics theory, to maintain a predetermined pressure, it is necessary to control very strictly the gap, oil viscosity, accuracy in configuration, such as squareness, etc., and, further, a special contrivance is needed for preventing fine variation due to changes in temperature and changes with passage of time.
In the following, the constructions of conventional dynamic pressure bearing devices and conventional spindle motors with various contrivances are shown. Two types of spindle motor are known: a shaft fixing type in which the shaft is fixed, as shown in FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1 (JP 8-335366 A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2000-41359 A); and a shaft rotating type in which the shaft rotates with the rotor, as shown in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 3 (JP 2000-324753 A). First, a conventional shaft fixing type spindle motor 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 19.
In the spindle motor 100, a shaft 102 is press-fitted for fixation into a base 101, and a thrust plate 103 is press-fitted for fixation into the distal end portion of the shaft 102. In the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion at the center of the base 101, there is arranged a core 104 consisting of a plurality of thin magnetic metal plates whose central hole portions are fitted onto the cylindrical portion. A plurality of radially extending salient poles are arranged on the core 104 at predetermined intervals, and coil windings 105 are provided on the salient poles. The base 101, the core 104, and the coil windings 105 form the stator of the spindle motor 100.
In the periphery of the shaft 102, there is arranged a cylindrical sleeve 111 serving as a bearing, and a counter plate 112 is fixed onto the sleeve 111 so as to close the central hole (the upper portion as seen in FIG. 19) of the sleeve 111. A cylindrical hub 114 on which a disk 113, such as a hard disk, is to be placed is fixed to the outer periphery of the sleeve 111 by press-fitting, shrinkage fit, adhesion, etc.
A cylindrical magnet 116 is fixed to the inner peripheral portion of the cylindrical portion of the hub 114 through the intermediation of a metal cylindrical yoke 115 constituting a magnetic member. The hub 114 is equipped with a screw hole through which there a screw 117 for attaching and detaching the disk 113 is passed. And, the disk 113 is held between a damper 118 and the hub 114, and then, while passing the screw 117 through the screw hole, the screw 117 is fastened, whereby the disk 113 can be fixed to the hub 114. The sleeve 111, the counter plate 112, the hub 114, the yoke 115, and the magnet 116 constitute the rotor of the spindle motor 100.
Oil is introduced into the slight gap between the shaft 102 (inclusive of the thrust plate 103) and the sleeve 111, and the oil is maintained therein so as not to leak to the exterior of the sleeve 111. In one end portion of the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 111, there is provided a radial dynamic pressure groove 121 for regulating the radial movement of the shaft 102, and also in the other end portion of the inner peripheral surface, a radial dynamic pressure groove 122 is provided. In the surface of the thrust plate 103 opposed to the counter plate 112, there is provided a thrust dynamic pressure groove for regulating the movement of the rotor in the thrust direction, and in the surface of the thrust plate 103 opposed to a step portion 123 of the sleeve, there is provided a similar thrust dynamic pressure groove.
Next, the construction of a conventional shaft rotating type spindle motor 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 20.
In the spindle motor 200, a cylindrical sleeve 202 is press-fitted for fixation into the central portion of a base 201, and a counter plate 203 is fixed onto the sleeve 202 so as to close the central hole of the sleeve 202. In the outer periphery of the sleeve 202, there is arranged a core 204 formed by stacking together thin magnetic metal plates, and a coil winding 205 is provided on a salient pole portion. The base 201, the sleeve 202 (inclusive of the counter plate 203), the core 204, and the coil winding 205 constitute the stator of the spindle motor 200.
Inserted into the sleeve 202 is a shaft 212 bonded to a hub 211, and a thrust plate 213 is press-fitted for fixation into the forward end portion of the shaft 212. A cylindrical magnet 215 is fixed to the hub 211 through the intermediation of a cylindrical yoke 214. The shaft 212 is equipped with a screw recess constituting a screw portion for screw-engagement of a screw 217 allowing mounting of a disk 216, such as a versatile disk.
The disk 216 is held between the damper 218 and the hub 211, and then the screw 217 is inserted into the screw recess, and the screw 217 is fastened, whereby the disk 216 can be mounted to the hub 211. Here, the hub 211, the shaft 212, the thrust plate 213, the yoke 214, and the magnet 215 constitute the rotor of the spindle motor 200.
Oil is introduced into the slight gap between the sleeve 202 and the shaft 212, and the oil is maintained so as not to leak to the exterior of the sleeve 202. A pair of radial dynamic pressure grooves 221 and 222 are provided respectively in one end portion and the other end portion of the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 202. Thrust dynamic pressure grooves are provided in the surface of the thrust plate 213 opposed to the counter plate 203 and in the surface thereof opposed to a step portion 223 of the sleeve 202.
The conventional fixing type spindle motor 100 and the shaft rotating type spindle motor 200 have the following five serious problems. The first problem lies in the fact that, in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the portions making relative rotation are formed by a combination of separate components, so that they are rather vulnerable to impacts.
The second problem lies in the fact that, in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the verticality between the shaft 102, 212 and the rotor is rather insufficient, resulting in an increase in runout at the hub 114, 211. This runout is of two categories: repeatable runout (hereinafter referred to as RRO), and non-repeatable runout (hereinafter referred to as NRRO). Further, there are axial runout and planar runout; in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the axial RRO (hereinafter referred to as A-RRO) is large. When the A-RRO of the hub 114, 211 increases, the planar RRO in the plane of the disk 113, 216 increases, resulting in generation of errors in terms of information recording on the disk 113, 216 and information reading from the disk 113, 216.
It is to be assumed that the increase in A-RRO in the conventional spindle motor 100, 200 is attributable to the following circumstance: in the case of the spindle motor 100, the fixing portion 100a of the sleeve 111 and the hub 114 is fixed by press-fitting, shrinkage fit, adhesion, etc.; when such a method is adopted, generation of a deviation of the hub 114 with respect to the sleeve 111 in terms of design accuracy cannot be helped. Such a deviation is also generated during assembly; further, there remains a mounting stress in the fixing portion 100a, resulting in generation of a deviation in accuracy due to temperature changes and changes with passage of time. This deviation in accuracy results in a deterioration in verticality, which directly leads to a deterioration in A-RRO.
In the case of the spindle motor 200, the diameter of the shaft 212 is small, and the contact width of the fixing portion 200a of the shaft 212 and the hub 211 is small, so that it is very difficult to control the perpendicularity at the fixing portion 200a with high accuracy, and it is quite impossible to maintain the requisite perpendicularity (verticality). Further, even if a desired perpendicularity is attained during assembly, the fixation of the shaft 212 and the hub 211 is effected by press-fitting, adhesion, etc., so that, as in the case of the sleeve 111 and the hub 114 of the spindle motor 100, a mounting stress remains, which means it is impossible to maintain the requisite perpendicularity due to temperature changes and changes with passage of time. The state where the requisite perpendicularity cannot be attained directly leads to a deterioration in A-RRO.
In both the spindle motors 100 and 200, there is generated a slight inclination of the thrust plate 103, 213 with respect to the shaft 102, 212 during the assembly of the shaft 102 and the thrust plate 103 and the assembly of the shaft 212 and the thrust plate 213. This inclination (deterioration in verticality) causes a deterioration in the A-RRO of the hub 114, 211.
The third problem lies in the fact that, in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the variation in the rigidity of the bearing with respect to temperature changes is large. When the bearing rigidity is excessively reduced, the repeatable runout (RRO) and the non-repeatable runout (NRRO) increase, making it impossible for the motor to be used as such.
It is to be assumed that the great variation (reduction) in bearing rigidity with respect to temperature changes in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200 is attributable to the following fact: in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the material of the shaft 102, 212 is a 400 type stainless steel (SUS 400 type), for example, SUS430 containing 18% of Cr, and the material of the sleeve 111, 202 is brass or a 300 type stainless steel (SUS 300 type), for example, SUS304 containing 18% or Cr and 8% of Ni. When these materials are adopted, due to the influence of a difference in coefficient of linear expansion, the gap between the shaft 102 and the sleeve 111 or the gap between the shaft 212 and the sleeve 202 is enlarged when the temperature rises, resulting in a deterioration in dynamic pressure effect and a reduction in the bearing rigidity in the radial direction. Further, when the temperature rises, the viscosity of the oil for dynamic pressure decreases, resulting in a further reduction in the rigidity of the bearing.
In the case of SUS430 and SUS304 mentioned above, the coefficient of linear expansion of SUS430, which is relatively hard, is 10.4×10−6, and the coefficient of linear expansion of SUS304, which is relatively soft, is 10.4×10−6; thus, when the temperature rises, the sleeve 111, 202 expands to a greater degree, and the gap between it and the shaft 102, 212 is enlarged. It should be noted that the problem regarding bearing rigidity occurs not only in the radial direction but also in the thrust direction for the same reason as mentioned above.
It might be possible to solve this problem regarding bearing rigidity by forming the sleeve 111, 202 of the same material as that of the shaft 102, 212, i.e., SUS 400 type (No influence due to a difference in coefficient of linear expansion is generated); however, the sleeve 111, 202 would then become rather hard, so that machining thereon, such as grooving and shaping, is rather difficult to perform, resulting in a substantial reduction in productivity and an increase in production cost. Further, regarding the variation in oil viscosity with temperature rise in the bearing portion, no improvement is to be achieved, which means the problem still persists.
Theoretically, it might be possible for the material of the shaft 102, 212 to be the same as that of the sleeve 111, 202, i.e., SUS-300 type. However, if the shaft 102, 212 were formed of the same material as that of the sleeve 111, 202, which is rather soft, the shaft 102, 212 would be susceptible to damage, and the stability in rotation would be likely to be impaired; further, locking would be likely to occur between the shaft 102, 212 and the sleeve 111, 202, so that this idea cannot be adopted.
Apart from this, it might be possible to form the shaft 102, 212 of SUS-300 type and the sleeve 111, 202 of SUS-400 type; however, if the sleeve 111, 202 were formed of SUS-400 type, the difference in thermal expansion would become excessive, so that the shaft 102, 212 would be locked at high temperature. That is, due to its small coefficient of thermal expansion, the gap between the shaft 102, 212 and the sleeve 111, 202 would be reduced to zero at high temperature, resulting in a locked state. Further, in some cases, a reduction in the size of the gap would cause the shaft 102, 212 to hit the sleeve 111, 202 formed of SUS-400 type, which is hard, resulting in the shaft 102, 212 suffering damage.
Further, if the shaft 102, 212 were formed of SUS-300 type, and the sleeve 111, 202 were formed of SUS-400 type, due to the high hardness of SUS-400 type, it would be difficult to perform high precision machining and dynamic pressure groove machining, such as attaining dimensional accuracy for the inner diameter, circularity, fine surface roughness, and highly accurate cylinder formation. A variation in the inner diameter dimension makes it impossible to obtain an appropriate gap, making it necessary to perform a process of selective combination through measurement, which requires a great amount of time. This leads to a problem in terms of productivity and cost. Difficulty in the dynamic pressure groove machining will directly lead to a deterioration in the uniformity and symmetry in the groove depth, resulting in a deterioration in bearing property. Further, this will also adversely affect the productivity and price.
For the above reasons, it is substantially impossible to adopt the combination, either, in which the shaft 102, 212 is formed of SUS-300 type and the sleeve 111, 202 of SUS-400.
The fourth problem lies in the fact that, in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the current loss is large. It is to be assumed that this is attributable to two factors, one of which is a structural factor. That is, to achieve the requisite strength and efficient operability for the fixing portion 100a of the sleeve 111 and the hub 114 of the shaft fixing type spindle motor 100 shown in FIG. 19, it is necessary to increase the axial length of the fixing portion 100a, and to make the radial wall thickness of each component sufficiently large; as a result, the space for accommodating the core 104 and the coil winding 105 is rather small, with the result that the electromagnetic characteristic (Kt) is rather low. This tendency toward a reduction in the accommodating space and electromagnetic characteristic is also involved in the shaft rotating type spindle motor 200.
The other factor leading to a large current loss is a problem regarding the bearing structure. That is, the shaft loss torque in the bearing portion can be mitigated without involving a reduction in bearing rigidity by reducing the diameter of the shaft 102, 212, and reducing the radial gap. However, in the case of the spindle motor 100, when the diameter of the shaft 102 is reduced, it becomes rather difficult to achieve the requisite connection force and perpendicularity in the fixing portion 100b of the shaft 102 and the base 101. Further, in the case of the spindle motor 200, when the diameter of the shaft 212 is reduced, the contact area in the fixing portion 200a of the shaft 212 and the hub 211 is further reduced, resulting in a further deterioration in A-RRO as described above. Further, when the radial gap is reduced, the influence of the difference in coefficient of linear expansion becomes rather conspicuous.
One of the factors leading to an increase in current loss is a problem regarding the thickness of the thrust plate 103, 213. Under the circumstances, to obtain the requisite perpendicularity of the thrust plate 103, 213 and the requisite fixing strength at the fixing portion 100c, 200b, there is no other alternative but to increase the thickness of the thrust plate 103, 213. More specifically, the thickness of the thrust plate 103, 213 is set to approximately 1 to 1.5 mm. As a result, the current loss is considerably large.
In this way, it is very difficult to reduce the diameter of the shaft 102, 212 or the thickness of the thrust plate 103, 213, and this causes an increase in current and an increase in current loss.
The fifth problem lies in the fact that while the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200 can easily conform to a 3.5 inch hard disk, it is difficult for them to conform to a 2.5 inch or 1.8 inch hard disk, which is still smaller and thinner. That is, in the conventional spindle motors 100 and 200, the portion making relative rotation is an assembled component obtained by assembling separate members, so that it is rather difficult to control the gap of the bearing portion, and the gap cannot but be rather large, making it difficult to achieve a reduction in size and thickness. In particular, taking into account the strength and accuracy of the assembly, the thickness of the thrust plate 103, 213 and that of the hub 114, 211 cannot but be large, resulting in a rather large axial thickness.
Further, with the recent requirement for ultra-miniaturization of disk drive devices, there is a demand for a spindle motor and a dynamic pressure bearing device in which the diameter of the sleeve portion is 3 mm or less. In forming radial dynamic pressure grooves in such an ultrasmall sleeve, the conventionally adopted three methods, i.e., electrolytic processing, the rotary type ball rolling with mandrel rotation, and the stationary type ball rolling without mandrel rotation, are becoming no longer applicable from the viewpoint of sleeve material, etc.
The present invention has been made with a view toward solving the above problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamic pressure bearing device, a spindle motor, a disk drive device with a spindle motor, and a method of manufacturing a dynamic pressure bearing device in which it is possible to achieve an improvement in impact resistance, a reduction in A-RRO (so-called shaft oscillating motion), a reduction in variation bearing rigidity with respect to temperature changes, minimization of current loss, and a reduction in size and thickness.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dynamic pressure bearing device, a spindle motor, a disk drive device with a spindle motor, and a method of manufacturing a dynamic pressure bearing device which help to achieve at least part of the above-mentioned characteristics.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a dynamic pressure bearing device in which, even if a reduction in thickness is achieved, it is possible to maintain the verticality of the shaft with respect to the base and in which, even if the diameter of the shaft is as small as approximately 0.6 to 3 mm, it is possible to form grooves in the inner surface of the sleeve easily and at low cost.

Dynamic pressure bearing device, spindle motor, disk drive device, and method of manufacturing dynamic pressure bearing device


Provided is a brace apparatus for a transformer tank and a method for determining the length thereof. The brace apparatus is mounted on a transformer tank so as to reinforce the transformer tank. The brace apparatus has a brace main body forming the exterior thereof, and in order to block the occurrence of resonance in an inner space of the brace main body, the length of the brace main body is set to be at a value at which resonance does not occur in the inner space, or a partition plate is provided to the brace main body so as to block the occurrence of resonance. In present invention, the length of the brace apparatus may be set by means of a simple configuration, thereby enabling the prevention of noise from occurring due to resonance.

Principal components, such as a core, are installed in a transformer tank, which constitutes the external appearance of a transformer. In order to increase dielectric strength, the interior of the transformer tank is filled with insulating oil. Vibration is generated in the transformer tank during the operation of the transformer, and this vibration is transmitted to the transformer tank via the insulating oil.
The transformer tank is manufactured so as to have a predetermined strength. In order to reinforce the strength of the transformer tank, there is the case in which a brace is installed on the outer surface of the transformer tank. In the case in which the brace is installed at the outer surface of the transformer tank, resistance to pressure is satisfied; however, resonance is generated in a space formed in the brace due to vibration generated in the transformer tank, whereby noise increases.

Brace apparatus for transformer tank and method for determining length thereof


The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for oral administration, consisting essentially of (a) 4 to 40% by weight of a taxane, (b) 10 to 40% by weight of polyoxyl glyceryl fatty acid ester, (c) 30 to 70% by weight of monooleoyl glycerol or 30 to 70% by weight of an oleoyl glycerol complex having 30 to 65% by weight of monooleoyl glycerol contents; 15 to 50% by weight of dioleoyl glycerol contents; and 2 to 20% by weight of trioleoyl glycerol contents, and (d) 5 to 30% by weight of a surfactant and a process for preparing the same.

Taxanes, which are an anticancer agent showing their anti-proliferative effect by acting on the organization of the microtubules in the cellular cytoskeletal system (Huizing M. T. et al., Cancer Inv., 1995, 13: 381-404), are known to exhibit excellent cytotoxicity against various kinds of cancers such as ovarian cancer, breast cancer, esophagus cancer, melanoma and leukemia. Parenteral dosage forms of paclitaxel and docetaxel are commercially available under the trademarks Taxol™ and Taxotere™, respectively. Since a taxane is known to have very low water solubility, the currently available paclitaxel-containing formulation, e.g., Taxol™, has been formulated into the form of emulsion preconcentrate, which is diluted before using for injection. However, in order to overcome the problems related to patient compliance due to the use of the injection form, stability of the formulation, and safety to the human body, etc., researches on the formulations for oral administration are being carried out.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the oral administration of a taxane such as paclitaxel exhibits very low oral bioavailability due to the action of an outwardly directed efflux pump (Walle et al, Drug Metabo. Disp. 26(4): 343-346 (1998)). It has been also reported that the orally administered paclitaxel is very poorly absorbed (less than 1%) (Eiseman et al, Second NCI Workshop on Taxol and Taxus (September 1992), Suffness (ed.) et al, Taxol™ Science and Applications, CRC Press (1995)). As an attempt to improve such a low oral bioavailability, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0009015 has disclosed a solubilized taxane-containing composition for oral administration, which is formulated by using a medium chain triglyceride such as triacetin, a monoglyceride such as monoolein, and a surfactant such as Tween. Said composition is a solubilized taxane-containing composition for oral administration, whose bioavailability is increased through high mucoadhesive property in the intestine by the monoglyceride such as monoolein. And also, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0058776 has disclosed an improved process for preparing the solubilized taxane-containing composition for oral administration, the process comprising dissolving paclitaxel, along with a medium chain triglyceride, a monoglyceride, and surfactant, in an organic solvent.
Solid formulations such as soft capsules have advantages in terms of the ease of use, compared to the lipid solution form. Considering the patient's compliance, it is necessary to control the size of the soft capsules to an appropriate size. Therefore, in order to prepare a soft capsule containing the therapeutically effective amount of a taxane, it is required to prepare a lipid solution containing the taxane in a high concentration. However, when a taxane is contained in a high concentration (for example, 4% by weight or more) according to conventional formulation methods (e.g., Korean Patent Publication Nos. 10-2004-0009015 and 10-2007-0058776), the taxane is precipitated from the lipid solution and thus the completely solubilized lipid solution cannot be obtained, thereby leading to the problem of decreased bioavailability.

Pharmaceutical composition for oral administration comprising high concentration taxane


A transmission having a sealing baffle is disclosed. The transmission further includes a transmission case, a torque converter housing and a torque transfer member. The transmission case has a drive sprocket and a driven sprocket mounted for rotation therein. The torque converter housing has a fluid pump for pumping lubrication fluid. The torque converter housing is configured to mount to the transmission case. The torque transfer member is coupled to the drive sprocket and to the driven sprocket for transferring a driving torque from the drive sprocket to the driven sprocket. The first baffle is mounted to the torque converter housing. The first baffle has a base, a first flange extending from a first side of the base, a second flange extending from a second side of the base and a sealing lip formed in the second flange. The sealing lip contacts the transmission case to form a seal to prevent the fluid from flooding the torque transfer member. The seal created by compression of the sealing lip against the transmission case and the subsequent thermal expansion of the baffle and sealing lip is maintained over the entire operating temperature range of the transmission.

Road vehicles that have powertrains require lubricating and hydraulic fluids to continuously operate. More specifically, the engine and especially, the automatic transmission, require lubricating and hydraulic fluids or oils to maintain their operation and extend their useful life. Additionally, these fluids are passed through filters to remove contaminants and metal shavings caused by normal operation of the powertrain.
Typically, a torque transfer member such as a chain or belt is disposed in the transmission case and couples an output shaft to a final drive assembly. The chain transfers torque from the output shaft to the final drive assembly to provide a range of selectable gear ratios. Generally, the lubricating fluid that is pressurized and pumped by the fluid pump of the transmission collects in a sump in the bottom of the transmission case. The chain that couples the output shaft to the final drive assembly in many cases contacts the standing lubricating fluid in the sump. As a result of this contact, lubricating fluid is aerated throughout the cavity of the transmission case.
While metal baffles have been introduced in some transmissions to minimize the flooding of the chain with lubricating fluid, an optimal solution has not been achieved. For example, the metal baffles are more expensive to incorporate and increase the overall dimensions of the transmission. Moreover, metal baffles are more difficult to conform to the complex geometries of the transmission.
Thus, there is a need for a new and improved transmission having a baffle that limits lubricating fluid from becoming entrained in the chain coupling the output shaft to the final drive assembly. The new and improved baffle should form a seal to limit lubricating fluid disposed in the sump of the transmission from flooding the chain, should not increase the overall dimensions of the transmission and should not be difficult to conform to the complex geometries of the transmission. Moreover, the seal should exist at high operating temperatures of the transmission.


For optimizing the computing expenditures when using STAP filters in real-time systems, the determination of the filter coefficients and the filtering of radar source data of the distance Doppler matrices {right arrow over (X)}left and {right arrow over (X)}right of two adjacent reception channels are carried out in the frequency domain. On the basis of {right arrow over (X)}left and {right arrow over (X)}right, a distance Doppler matrix {right arrow over (Y)}clutterfree is created, at which the echoes of fixed targets are suppressed and the echoes of moving targets a coherently intensified.

This application claims the priority of Germany priority document 100 12 411.9, filed Mar. 13 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a process for computing the coefficients of a space-time adaptive processing (STAP) filter, and for filtering radar source data of the distance Doppler matrices of two adjacent reception channels by means of space-time adaptive processing.
Radar source data consist of a mixture of signals (such as echoes from moving and stationary targets) and interferences (such as noise). As a rule, when analyzing these radar source data, interferences are to be suppressed so that the signals can be easily detected.
To improve the detection of moving targets (or example, in SAR images), it is necessary to suppress interference signals as well as signals which originate from stationary targets. A suitable process for this purpose is space-time adaptive processing (STAP). In known processes for this purpose, the radar source data are as a rule filtered in the time domain.
It is an object of the invention to compute and implement in a simple manner, within the scope of the STAP processing, the filter coefficients and the filtering of the radar source data of the distance Doppler matrices {right arrow over (X)}left and {right arrow over (X)}right of two reception channels, so that use of this STAP filter is permitted in real-time systems.
This and other objects and advantages are achieved by the process according to the invention, in which in contrast to conventional STAP filters, computation of the coefficients and the filtering is performed exclusively in the frequency domain. Similar to the xe2x80x98fast foldingxe2x80x99, a considerable advantage is therefore obtained with respect to the necessary processor performance.
The theoretical basis of the process according to the invention resides in the proposition that the Doppler frequency and the phase difference are correlated in the case of typical SAR source data, in the signal spectrum of two adjacent channels.

Real-time (STAP) filter for a fixed-target suppression


An image forming apparatus having a photoconductive drum to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a predetermined image by a laser beam scanned after being electrified to a predetermined electric potential, and a developing roller to rotate together with the photoconductive drum having a developing gap therebetween and to transfer a developer, which is a mixture of a toner and a carrier, to the photoconductive drum to form a toner image on the electrostatic latent image, wherein a linear velocity ratio of a linear velocity of the developing roller to a linear velocity of the photoconductive drum is provided at a predetermined ratio, which provides maximum quality of the toner image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus to develop an image using a two-component developer, and particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of controlling a linear velocity ratio of a photoconductive drum and a developing roller.
2. Description of the Related Art
A general image forming apparatus, such as electrophotographic laser printer, forms an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductive medium (drum) using an exposure optical system, forms a toner image by developing the electrostatic latent image with a developing apparatus, and fuses the toner image transferred onto a recording paper.
The developer used for the developing apparatus is divided into a one-component developer and a two-component developer. In a case of the one-component developer, the toner particles are electrified by friction among themselves or by friction with a proper electrification member.
The two-component developer is a mixture of magnetic carrier particles and synthetic resin nonmagnetic toner particles, being mixed in a proper ratio. The toner particles are electrified while being mixed with the carrier particles. Thus, the electrified toner particles are transferred to a developing roller together with the carrier, and then adhere to an electrostatic latent image area on a surface of the photoconductive medium to form the toner image.
Meanwhile, a developing method using the two-component developer has been developed. A developing apparatus using the two-component developer comprises a photoconductive drum, a developing roller (a magnet roller) which rotates while maintaining a predetermined developing gap with the photoconductive drum, a doctor blade for cutting the two-component developer attached to a surface of the developing roller in a certain thickness, and a mixer for mixing the two-component developer.
In the above structure, the mixing ratio of the toner to the carrier (T/C) in the two-component developer is less than 5%. That is, if a high-speed printing is performed in a higher T/C toner ratio than 5%, the toner particles scatters and become afloat inside of the image forming apparatus, and therefore, peripheral parts beomces contaminated.
If the T/C toner ratio is decreased, an image density is accordingly decreased. In order to compensate for this problem and to implement a desired image density, in general, the developing apparatus is designed such that a ratio of a linear velocity of the photoconductive drum to a linear velocity of the developing roller is not less than 1 to 2.5. That is, the linear velocity ratio of the developing roller to the photoconductive drum is increased so that the T/C toner ratio is controlled to remain low. Then, during the high-speed printing, the image density can be prevented from decreasing.
However, in the above developing system, if the linear velocity ratio of the developing roller to the photoconductive drum is increased to much, a back portion of the toner image can be torn off with respect to a rotating direction of the photoconductive drum at a certain-thickness font, which is so-called a 'brush mark'.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a toner T adhering to a carrier C, which is electrified to a '+' potential at the developing roller, is transferred to a toner image area 2a of the photoconductive drum 2, which is electrified to a '−' potential, to form the toner image. At this time, if a linear velocity of the developing roller 1 to the photoconductive drum 2 is increased, a '−' potential of a non-image area 2b of the photoconductive drum 2 is increased by a heat increase of the photoconductive drum 2. Furthermore, the '+' potential of the carrier C on the developing roller 1 increases. Accordingly, the carrier C on the developing roller 1 is pulled to the non-image area 2b of the photoconductive drum 2, which has an increased '−' potential. In this process, the carrier C is mashed and scattered about a back portion of the toner T attached to the image area 2a ('A' area in FIG. 1).

Image forming apparatus to control a linear velocity ratio