Alternate methods of adjusting orientation of a wall are disclosed. The first such method includes the steps of establishing a fulcrum on a floor a predetermined distance from the wall, placing a lever in contact with the floor fulcrum, placing a push bar between the lever and the wall, and pushing against the lever towards the wall, whereby the push bar pushes the wall away from the lever. The second or alternate such method of adjusting orientation of a wall includes the steps of establishing a fulcrum on a floor a predetermined distance from the wall, placing a lever in contact with the floor fulcrum, connecting one end of a flexible line assembly to the lever and connecting the other end of the flexible line assembly to the wall, pulling the lever away from the wall, whereby the flexible line assembly pulls the wall towards the lever.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand tools and, more particularly, to hand tools that have multiple features for performing multiple functions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of multi-purpose hand tools are known that are used to perform a variety of functions. In the building trades, many multi-purpose hand tools share a common function, that of prying. The well know crow bar is typical example of a multi-purpose hand tool that can be used to carry out a prying function. Moreover, throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to multi-purpose hand tools that can be used for prying, and the following U.S. patents are representative of some of those innovations: 2,896,910, 2,937,004, and 4,762,303. More specifically, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,896,910, 2,937,004, and 4,762,303 discloses a multi-purpose hand tool that can be used to carry out a prying function and joist-straightening function. In the building trades both the prying function and the joist-straightening function are important functions to perform with a hand tool. Therefore, for a multi-purpose hand tool that is used in the building trades, it would be desirable if the tool enables a person to carry out both a prying function and a joist-straightening function.
However, there are other important functions to be performed in the building trades that are not aided with the above-cited patents. For example, it is often necessary to straighten walls so that they can be braced in a straight orientation. In this respect, it would be desirable if a multi-purpose hand tool were provided that enables one to carry out a wall-straightening function. More specifically, sometimes a wall is leaning outward and must be pulled in to be straightened. In this respect, it would be desirable if a multi-purpose hand tool were provided that enables a person to pull in an outwardly leaning wall. At other times, a wall is leaning inward and must be pushed outward to be straightened. In this respect, it would be desirable if a multi-purpose hand tool were provided that enables a person to push out an inwardly leaning wall.
There are other instances at a work site where some object, such as a floor board or joist, must be jacked upward. In this respect, it would be desirable if a multi-purpose hand tool were provided that enables a person to jack a floor board or joist upward.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,554 may be of interest for its disclosure of a hand tool used for lifting and pulling a manhole cover. The tool employs a chain, a lever, and a fulcrum base. A hinge is employed for connecting the lever to the fulcrum base. It is well known that hinges undergo wear and tear during use. Moreover, hinges often develop annoying squeaking sounds when used. In this respect, it would be desirable if a multi-purpose hand tool were provided that does not employ a hinge connection between a lever and a fulcrum base.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,228 may be of interest for its disclosure of a hand tool used for prying and wrecking. There are two prying legs, one fulcrum member, and a clamping assembly for connecting the prying legs and the fulcrum member together. To avoid such complexities, it would be desirable if a multi-purpose hand tool included a one-piece structure that includes two prying legs and a fulcrum member.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use multi-purpose hand tools, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a multi-purpose hand tool apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) enables a person to carry out both a prying function and a joist-straightening function; (2) enables a person to carry out a wall-straightening function; (3) enables a person to pull in an outwardly leaning wall; (4) enables a person to push out an inwardly leaning wall; (5) enables a person to jack a floor board or joist upward; (6) does not employ a hinge connection between a lever and a fulcrum base; and (7) includes a one-piece structure that includes two prying legs and a fulcrum member. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique multi-purpose hand tool apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.

Multi-purpose hand tool apparatus and method of using same


Techniques are provided for modifying an image processing cartridge. In one aspect, a method of modifying one such imaging process cartridge is disclosed. The method provides the imaging process cartridge, the imaging process cartridge has a waste bin assembly, and the waste bin assembly further has an organic photo conductor (OPC) drum which is coupled with a first wiper blade. The first wiper blade exerts a first abutment pressure when the first wiper blade is coupled to the OPC drum. The method removes the first wiper blade and installs a second wiper blade, wherein the second wiper blade exerts a second abutment pressure when coupled to the OPC drum.

In the printing process, more specifically the electro-photographic process, an image is typically transferred from a computer or other source to a print media. As part of the printing process, the image is created by the image source and may be etched electronically using a laser onto an organic photo conductor (OPC) drum. Etching the OPC drum may create areas on the OPC drum that are electrostatically discharged. As the OPC drum rotates, toner having oppositely charged particles may be transferred from a developer or presentation roller to the OPC drum. The toner may then be transferred to the print media and fused into the media.
As part of the printing process, excess or undeveloped toner may remain on the OPC drum. The toner can adhere to the OPC drum mechanically or through static electricity. Typically an elastic blade, commonly referred to in the industry as a cleaning blade or a wiper blade, is positioned against the OPC drum. The wiper blade is positioned to distribute pressure equally along the edge of the blade as the blade is positioned against the OPC drum. As the OPC drum rotates, the edge of the wiper blade scrapes off any excess toner that may be remaining on the OPC drum after the drum has transferred toner to the print media. The excess toner that is scrapped off the OPC drum is deposited in a waste bin section of the toner cartridge.
Removing the excessive or undeveloped toner may be complicated due to the surface roughness characteristics of the OPC drum. Surface imperfections on the OPC drum may allow the toner to become entrapped in areas where the wiper blade may not be able to adequately reach. This allows the waste or underdeveloped toner to pass underneath the wiper blade and become attached to the primary charge roller (PCR), resulting in various print defects. If the wiper blade does not effectively remove the excess toner, additive buildup of excess toner on the PCR may occur. The additive buildup insulates the PCR, reducing the charging capacity of the OPC drum. The reduced charge appears as a discharged area on the OPC drum resulting in toner being deposited into undesired areas of the OPC drum. This printing defect most often appears as vertical streaks in the direction the page travels during the printing process.
An emerging industry has developed that deals with the recycling of printer cartridges. Typically, the cartridge is recycled by a cartridge remanufacturer, who receives spent printer cartridges and refurbishes them. The refurbishment process entails replacing the worn or nonfunctioning parts, refilling the cartridge with either toner or ink, and distributing the refurbished cartridges into the marketplace. In some instances, different or newer toner may be installed in the original equipment manufacturer's (OEM) cartridges during the refurbishment process. Using different toner within an OEM cartridge may create printing difficulties due to possible incompatibility issues with the OEM cartridge.
As newer types of toners are developed, the characteristics of the toner may be different when compared to OEM toners. Newer toners may have different electrostatic charge characteristics as well as dimensional differences. For example, newer toner may be smaller or have different outline characteristics when compared to the OEM toner. An OEM imaging process cartridge with newer toner installed may not print properly due to problems arising from removing excess or waste toner from the OPC drum. In this instance, the OEM wiper blade may apply too little abutment pressure against the OPC drum to effectively remove the new toner.

Methods for imaging cartridge conversion


An optical mask can be made by providing a transparent mask substrate; depositing a first layer of opaque material, forming an aperture in the first layer; depositing a second layer of transparent material, depositing a third layer of transparent material; patterning the third layer to produce a disc-shaped region, heating the third layer until the disc-shaped region reflows into a lens-shaped region and cross-links, depositing a fourth layer, patterning the fourth layer to produce a cavity extending to the surface of the lens-shaped region, and dry etching the end of the cavity until the second layer develops a shape corresponding to the lens-shaped region.

Optical data communication systems commonly include optical receiver devices that receive optical signals conveyed via an optical communication link (e.g., optical fiber) and convert the optical signals into electrical signals. In this manner, the data or information contained in the optical signals can be recovered or received and provided to other electronic systems, such as switching systems or processing systems. Such optical receiver devices include photodetectors, such as photodiodes. A common type of photodiode used in optical receiver devices is known as a PIN photodiode due to its structure comprising an intrinsic or lightly doped semiconductor layer sandwiched between a P-type semiconductor layer and an N-type semiconductor layer. PIN diode physics dictate that the size of the active area (i.e., photosensitive area) is inversely proportional to the maximum data rate that the device can detect. Thus, a PIN photodiode suitable for high data rates must have a small active area. However, the light emitted by an optical fiber forms a beam that is relatively wide compared with the width of a high-speed PIN photodiode. Focusing or otherwise directing the incoming light (optical signals) onto a very small PIN photodiode poses design challenges.
An optical receiver can include a lens between a PIN photodiode device and an end of an optical fiber to focus light emitted from the fiber onto the PIN photodiode. However, including such a lens in an optical receiver can impact ease of assembly and thus manufacturing economy. It has also been suggested to fashion a region of the semiconductor substrate from which the PIN photodiode is formed into a reflector that directs light into the active area of a PIN photodiode from a lateral direction, i.e., parallel to the plane of the substrate. However, such a structure is difficult to fabricate and thus impacts manufacturing economy. Moreover, such a structure is generally incapable of increasing the light-collecting area of the PIN photodiode device by more than a few microns.
It would be desirable to provide a photodetector device that has a large collection area relative to the size of the active area and that can be readily manufactured.

Device and method for making photomask assembly and photodetector device having light-collecting optical microstructure

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


The present invention relates to a process for the hydrocyanation of organic compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation to nitrites, in particular the hydrocyanation of diolefins or of substituted olefins, such as alkenenitriles.. More specifically, it comprises a process for the hydrocyanation of organic compounds containing at least one ethylenic double bond by reaction with hydrogen cyanide in the presence of an aqueous solution of a catalyst comprising at least one transition metal compound and at least one water-soluble phosphine, characterized in that the said water-soluble phosphine is a monodentate or bidentate phosphine.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the hydrocyanation of organic compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation to nitrites, in particular the hydrocyanation of diolefins or of substituted olefis, such as alkenenitriles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
French Patent No. 1,599,761 describes a process for the preparation of nitrites by addition of hydrocyanic acid to organic compounds having at least one ethylenic double bond in the presence of a nickel catalyst and of a triaryl phosphite. This reaction can be carried out in the presence or in the absence of a solvent.
When a solvent is used in this process of the prior art, it is preferably a hydrocarbon, such as benzene or xylenes, or a nitrile, such as acetonitrile.
The catalyst used in an organic nickel complex containing ligands, such as phosphines, arsines, stibines, phosphites, arsenites or antimonites.
The presence of a promoter to activate the catalyst, such as a boron compound or a metal salt, generally a Lewis acid, is also recommended in the patent.
In this process, the medium is entirely organic and one of its major disadvantages is the difficulty in separating, at the end of a reaction, the hydrocyanation products from the catalytic solution containing a number of constituents (nickel complex, triaryl phosphite, promoter), for the purpose in particular of recycling the latter solution in a new hydrocyanation reaction. Such a separation is problematic, very complex and incomplete and a substantial loss of catalyst is observed, as well as the presence of the said catalyst in the hydrocyanation products. This loss of metal catalyst, generally based on nickel, poses economic problems but raises, in an even more pressing way, questions regarding the future of such metals, because the discharge of effluents or the storage of waste are environmentally less and less acceptable.
Provision has been made, in Patent FR-A-2,338,253, for carrying out the hydrocyanation of compounds having at least one ethylenic unsaturation in the presence of an aqueous solution of a compound of a transition metal, in particular nickel, palladium or iron, and of a sulphonated phosphine.
The sulphonated phosphines described in this patent are sulphonated triarylphosphines and more particularly sulphonated triphenylphosphines.
This process makes possible good hydrocyanation, in particular of butadiene and pentenenitriles, and an easy separation of the catalytic solution by simple separation by settling and consequently avoids as far as possible the discharge of effluents or of waste containing the metals acting as catalysts.
The results obtained during the hydrocyanation reaction are relatively good with various substrates and in particular with functionalized olefins such as pentenenitriles. However, it turns out that the lifetime of the catalyst could be improved in order to allow this type of process to be operated industrially.
The present invention relates to a process capable of providing an outstanding industrial solution to this very important hydrocyanation reaction which results, when it is applied, for example, to butadiene and then to pentenenitriles, in adiponitrile, one of the base compounds necessary for the manufacture of polyamide-6,6.
More specifically, it comprises a process for the hydrocyanation of organic compounds containing at least one ethylenic double bond by reaction with hydrogen cyanide in the presence of an aqueous solution of a catalyst comprising at least one compound of a transition metal and at least one water-soluble phosphine, characterized in that the said water-soluble phosphine is a monodentate or bidentate phosphine corresponding to the general formula (I): ##STR1## in which: Ar1 and Ar2, which are identical or different, represent aryl groups or aryl groups containing one or a number of substituents such as:
alkyl or alkoxy radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA2 halogen atom, PA2 hydrophilic group, such as: PA2 alkyl or alkoxy radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA2 halogen atom, PA2 hydrophilic group, such as: PA2 alkoxy radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA2 halogen atom, PA2 hydrophilic group, such as: PA2 alkyl or alkoxy radical having 1 to 2 carbon atoms, PA2 chlorine atom, PA2 hydrophilic group, such as: PA2 alkyl or alkoxy radical having 1 to 2 carbon atoms, PA2 chlorine atom, PA2 hydrophilic group, such as:
--COOM, --SO.sub.3 M or --PO.sub.3 M, M representing an inorganic or organic cationic residue chosen from the proton, cations derived from alkali or alkaline-earth metals, ammonium cations --N(R).sub.4 in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and other cations derived from metals, the arylcarboxylic acid, arylsulphonic acid or arylphosphonic acid salts of which are soluble in water, PA3 --N(R).sub.3, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA3 --OH PA3 --COOM or --PO.sub.3 M, M representing an inorganic or organic cationic residue chosen from the proton, cations derived from alkali or alkaline-earth metals, ammonium cations --N(R).sub.4, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and other cations derived from metals, the arylcarboxylic acid or arylphosphonic acid salts of which are soluble in water, PA3 --N(R).sub.3, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA3 --OH, PA3 --COOM, --SO.sub.3 M or --PO.sub.3 M, M representing an inorganic or organic cationic residue chosen from the proton, cations derived from alkali or alkaline-earth metals, ammonium cations --N(R).sub.4, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and other cations derived from metals, the arylcarboxylic acid, arylsulphonic acid or arylphosphonic acid salts of which are soluble in water, PA3 --N(R).sub.3, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA3 --OH PA3 --COOM, --SO.sub.3 M or --PO.sub.3 M, M representing an inorganic or organic cationic residue chosen from the proton, cations derived from sodium, potassium, calcium or barium, ammonium, tetramethylammonium, tetraethylammonium, tetrapropylammonium or tetrabutylammonium cations and cations derived from zinc, lead or tin, PA3 --N(R).sub.3, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA3 --OH PA3 --COOM or --PO.sub.3 M, M representing an inorganic or organic cationic residue chosen from the proton, cations derived from sodium, potassium, calcium or barium, ammonium, tetramethylammonium, tetraethylammonium, tetrapropylammonium or tetrabutylammonium cations and cations derived from zinc, lead or tin, PA3 --N(R).sub.3, in the formula of which the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, PA3 --OH
Ar3 represents an aryl group containing one or a number of substituents, such as: PA1 a represents 0 or 1, PA1 b represents 0 or 1, PA1 c represents an integer from 0 to 3, PA1 D represents an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group or an alkyl or cycloalkyl group containing one or a number of substituents, such as: PA1 d represents an integer from 0 to 3, PA1 the sum (a+b+c+d) is equal to 3 PA1 a, b, e and f each represent 0 or 1, PA1 d and g each represent an integer from 0 to 2, PA1 the sum (a+b+d) is equal to 2, PA1 the sum (e+f+g) is equal to 2, PA1 L represents a single valency bond or a divalent hydrocarbon radical, such as an alkylene radical, a cycloalkylene radical, an arylene radical or a radical deriving from a heterocycle containing one or two oxygen, nitrogen or sulphur atoms in the ring, these various cyclic radicals being bonded directly to one of the phosphorus atoms or to both phosphorus atoms or being bonded to one of the phosphorus atoms or to both via a linear or branched alkylene radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, it being possible for the ring or rings which are optionally part of the divalent radical L to contain one or a number of substituents, such as an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms. PA1 the substituent or substituents of Ar1 and Ar2, which are identical or different, represent groups such as: PA1 the substituent or substituents of Ar3, which are identical or different, represent groups such as: PA1 compounds in which the nickel is in the zero oxidation state, such as potassium tetracyanonickelate K.sub.4 Ni(CN).sub.4 !, bis(acrylonitrile)nickel(O), bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel and derivatives containing ligands from group Va, such as tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(O) (in the latter case, the compound can be dissolved in a water-immiscible solvent, such as toluene, and then an aqueous solution of sulphonated phosphine extracts part of the nickel, a red coloration developing in the aqueous solution which separates by settling); PA1 nickel compounds such as carboxylates (in particular the acetate), carbonate, bicarbonate, borate, bromide, chloride, citrate, thiocyanate, cyanide, formate, hydroxide, hydrophosphite, phosphite, phosphate and derivatives, iodide, nitrate, sulphate, sulphite, arylsulphonates and alkylsulphonates.
at least one of the said substituents of Ar3 being a hydrophilic group as defined above,
or to the general formula (II): ##STR2## in which: Ar1, Ar2 and D have the meanings indicated above for the formula (I),
Mention may be made, as examples of metals, the arylcarboxylic acid, arylsulphonic acid or arylphosphonic acid salts of which are soluble in water, of lead, zinc and tin.
The expression soluble in water is understood to mean, in the present text, a compound soluble to at least 0.01 g per liter of water.
The preferred water-soluble phosphines are the phosphines of formula (I) or of formula (II) in which Ar1 and Ar2 are phenyl groups or phenyl groups containing one or two substituents as defined above, Ar3 is a phenyl group containing one or two substituents as defined above, D is an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a cycloalkyl group having 5 to 8 carbon atoms, an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms containing one or a number of substituents as defined above or a cycloalkyl group having 5 to 8 carbon atoms containing one or a number of substituents as defined above and L is a single valency bond, an alkylene radical having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a monocyclic or bicyclic cycloalkylene radical having from 4 to 12 carbon atoms, a phenylene radical, a diphenylene radical, a naphthylene radical, a dinaphthylene radical or a radical deriving from a heterocycle containing one or two oxygen, nitrogen or sulphur atoms in the ring, these various cyclic radicals being bonded directly to one of the phosphorus atoms or to both phosphorus atoms or being bonded to one of the phosphorus atoms or to both via a linear or branched alkylene radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, it being possible for the ring or rings which are optionally part of the divalent radical L to contain one or a number of substituents, such as an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms.
The preferred water-soluble phosphines are the phosphines of formula (I) or of formula (II) in which:
overall at least two of the said substituents of Ar1, Ar2, Ar3 and D, for the phosphines of formula (I), and of Ar1, Ar2 and D, for the phosphines of formula (II), being a hydrophilic group as defined above.
Mention may be made, as non-limiting examples of phosphines of general formula (I), of in particular tris(hydroxymethyl)phosphine, tris(2-hydroxyethyl)phosphine, tris(3-hydroxypropyl)phosphine, tris(2-carboxymethyl)phosphine, the sodium salt of tris(3-carboxyphenyl)phosphine, tris(3-carboxyethyl)phosphine, the iodide of tris(4-trimethylammoniophenyl)phosphine, the sodium salt of tris(2-phosphonatoethyl)phosphine, bis(2-carboxyethyl)phenylphosphine, the sodium salt of tris(para-phosphophenyl)phosphine, the sodium salt of bis(meta-sulphophenyl)(para-carboxyphenyl)phosphine or the sodium salt of bis(meta-sulphophenyl)(2-sulphoethyl)phosphine.
Mention may be made, as non-limiting examples of phosphines of general formula (II), of in particular the sodium salt of 2,2'-bisdi(sulphonatophenyl)phosphino!-1,1'-binaphthyl, the sodium salt of 1,2-bis-di(sulphonatophenyl)phosphinomethyl!cyclobutane (CBDTS), 1,2-bis(dihydroxymethylphosphino)ethane, 1,3-bis(dihydroxymethylphosphino)propane or the sodium salt of 2,2'-bisdi(sulphonatophenyl)phosphinomethyl!-1,1'-binaphthyl.
Some of the water-soluble phosphines of formula (I) or (II) are commercially available.
For the preparation of the others, reference may be made to the general or specific processes for the synthesis of phosphines described in the general literature, such as Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organischen Chemie Methods of Organic Chemistry!, organische Phosphor Verbindungen Organic Phosphorus Compounds!, Part 1 (1963).
Finally, for the preparation of undescribed water-soluble derivatives, it is possible, starting with phosphines not containing water-soluble substituents defined above, to introduce one or a number of these hydrophilic substituents. Thus, sulphonate groups for example can be introduced by the reaction of SO.sub.3 in sulphuric acid. Carboxylate, phosphonate and quaternary ammonium groups can likewise be introduced by applying the chemical methods known for this type of synthesis.
Compounds of nickel, of palladium and of iron are preferably used as transition metal compounds. Compounds which are soluble in water or capable of dissolving under the reactions conditions are used. The residue bonded to the metal is not critical, as long as it satisfies these conditions.
Among the abovementioned compounds, the most preferred compounds are those of nickel and mention may be made, as non-limiting examples, of:
It is not necessary for the nickel compound itself to be soluble in water. For example, nickel cyanide, which is sparingly soluble in water, is very soluble in an aqueous solution of phosphine.
When the nickel compound used corresponds to a nickel oxidation state greater than zero, a nickel-reducing agent which reacts preferentially with nickel under the reaction conditions is added to the reaction mixture. This reducing agent can be organic or inorganic. Mention may be made, as non-limiting examples, of NaBH.sub.4, Zn powder, magnesium, KBH.sub.4 and borohydrides which are preferably soluble in water.
This reducing agent is added in an amount such that the number of redox equivalents is between 1 and 10. However, values of less than 1 and greater than 10 are not excluded.
When the nickel compound used corresponds to the 0 nickel oxidation state, it is also possible to add a reducing agent of the type of those mentioned above, but this addition is not essential.
When an iron compound is used, the same reducing agents are suitable.
In the case of palladium, the reducing agents can additionally be components of the reaction mixture (phosphine, solvent, olefin).
The organic compounds containing at least one ethylenic double bond which are more particularly employed in the present process are diolefins, such as butadiene, isoprene, 1,5-hexadiene or 1,5-cyclooctadiene, aliphatic nitrites containing ethylenic unsaturation, particularly linear pentenenitriles, such as 3-pentenenitrile or 4-pentenenitrile, monoolefins, such as styrene, methylstyrene, vinylnaphthalene, cyclohexene or methylcyclohexene, and mixtures of a number of these compounds.
The pentenenitriles in particular can contain amounts, generally minor; of other compounds, such as 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile, 2-methyl-2-butenenitrile, 2-pentenenitrile, valeronitrile, adiponitrile, 2-methylglutaronitrile, 2-ethylsuccinonitrile or butadiene, originating, for example, from the prior hydrocyanation reaction of butadiene.
Not insignificant amounts of 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile and 2-methyl-2-butenenitrile are formed, with the linear pentenenitriles, during the hydrocyanation of butadiene.
The catalytic solution used for the hydrocyanation according to the process of the invention can be prepared before it is introduced into the reaction region, for example by addition, to the aqueous solution of the water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II), of the appropriate amount of chosen transition metal compound and optionally of the reducing agent. It is also possible to prepare the catalytic solution "in situ" by simple mixing of these various constituents.
The amount of nickel compound or compound of another transition metal used is chosen so that there is, per liter of reaction solution, between 10.sup.-4 and 1, and preferably between 0.005 and 0.5, mol of nickel or of the other transition metal employed.
The amount of water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II) used to prepare the reaction solution is chosen so that the number of moles of this compound with respect to 1 mol of transition metal is from 0.5 to 2000 and preferably from 2 to 300.
Although the reaction is generally carried out without a third solvent, it can be advantageous to add an inert water-immiscible organic solvent which can be that of the subsequent extraction.
Mention may be made, as examples of such solvents, of aromatic, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons which maintain the reaction mixture in the two-phase state.
Thus, once the reaction has ended, it is very easy to separate, on the one hand, an aqueous phase containing the water-soluble phosphine or phosphines of formula (I) or (II) and the transition metal compound and, on the other hand, an organic phase composed of the reactants involved in the reaction, the reaction products and, if appropriate, the water-immiscible organic solvent.
The hydrocyanation reaction is generally carried out at a temperature from 10.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. and preferably from 30.degree. C. to 120.degree. C.
The process of the invention can be carried out continuously or batchwise.
The hydrogen cyanide employed can be prepared from metal cyanides, in particular sodium cyanide, or from cyanohydrins.
The hydrogen cyanide is introduced into the reactor in the gaseous form or in the liquid form. It can also be dissolved beforehand in an organic solvent.
Within the context of a batchwise implementation, it is possible, in practice, to charge to a reactor which has been purged beforehand using an inert gas (such as nitrogen or argon) either an aqueous solution containing all or part of the various constituents, such as the water-soluble phosphine, the transition metal compound, the possible reducing agent and the possible solvent, or the said constituents separately. Generally, the reactor is then brought to the chosen temperature and then the pentenenitrile is introduced. The hydrogen cyanide is then itself introduced, preferably continuously and uniformly.
When the reaction (the progress of which can be monitored by quantitative determination of samples withdrawn) has finished, the reaction mixture is drawn off after cooling and the reaction products are isolated by separation by settling, optionally followed by extraction of the aqueous layer using an appropriate solvent, such as, for example, the abovementioned water-immiscible solvents.
The aqueous catalytic solution can then be recycled in a fresh reaction for the hydrocyanation of organic compounds containing at least one ethylenic double bond.
Within the context of a continuous implementation of the process, only the organic phase can be drawn off, whereas the aqueous catalytic phase remains in the reactor.
This reaction in two-phase medium makes it extremely simple to implement an industrial process. The ready separation of all the catalyst, on the one hand, and of the reaction products, on the other hand, renders unnecessary a large number of operations, such as distillation of reactants and reaction products or liquid/liquid extraction using an appropriate solvent.
An improvement to the process for the hydrocyanation of compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation according to the present invention relates to the hydrocyanation of the said compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation by reaction with hydrogen cyanide, characterized in that the reaction is carried out in the presence of an aqueous solution of a catalyst comprising at least one transition metal compound, at least one water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II) and a cocatalyst comprising at least one Lewis acid.
The compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation which can be employed in this improvement are generally those which have been mentioned with respect to the base process. However, it is more particularly advantageous to apply it to aliphatic nitrites containing ethylenic unsaturation, in particular to linear pentenenitriles, such as 3-pentenenitrile, 4-pentenenitrile and their mixtures.
These pentenenitriles can contain amounts, generally minor, of other compounds, such as 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile, 2-methyl-2-butenenitrile, 2-pentenenitrile, valeronitrile, adiponitrile, 2-methylglutaronitrile, 2-ethylsuccinonitrile or butadiene, originating from the prior hydrocyanation reaction of butadiene and/or from the isomerization of 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile to pentenenitriles.
The water-soluble phosphines, the transition metal compounds, the operating conditions and the composition of the reaction mixture are the same as for the general hydrocyanation process according to the invention which has been described above but the reaction is additionally carried out in the presence of a Lewis acid.
The Lewis acid used as cocatalyst makes it possible in particular, in the case of the hydrocyanation of aliphatic nitrites containing ethylenic unsaturation, to improve the linearity of the dinitriles obtained, that is to say the percentage of linear dinitrile with respect to all the dinitriles formed, and/or to increase the lifetime of the catalyst.
Lewis acid is understood to mean in the present text, according to the usual definition, compounds which are electron-pair acceptors.
The Lewis acids cited in the work edited by G. A. Olah, "Friedel-Crafts and Related Reactions", volume I, pages 191 to 197 (1963), can in particular be employed.
The Lewis acids which can be employed as cocatalysts in the present process are chosen from compounds of the elements from groups Ib, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, Va, Vb, VIb, VIIb and VIII of the Periodic Classification of the Elements, insofar as the said compounds are at least partially soluble and stable in water. These compounds are most often salts, in particular halides, preferably chlorides and bromides, sulphates, carboxylates and phosphates.
Mention may be made, as non-limiting examples of such Lewis acids, of zinc chloride, zinc bromide, zinc iodide, manganese chloride., manganese bromide, cadmium chloride, cadmium bromide, stannous chloride, stannous bromide, stannous sulphate, stannous tartrate, chlorides or bromides of rare-earth metal elements, such as lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium, cobalt chloride, ferrous chloride or yttrium chloride.
It is, of course, possible to employ mixtures of a number of Lewis acids.
It is also advantageous, if appropriate, to stabilize the Lewis acid in aqueous solution by the addition of an alkali metal chloride, such as lithium chloride or sodium chloride in particular. The lithium chloride or sodium chloride/Lewis acid molar ratio varies very widely, for example from 0 to 100, it being possible for the specific ratio to be adjusted depending on the stability of the Lewis acid in water.
Among the Lewis acids, zinc chloride, zinc bromide, stannous chloride, stannous bromide, stannous chloride stabilized with lithium chloride, stannous chloride stabilized with sodium chloride and zinc chloride/stannous chloride mixtures are very particularly preferred.
The Lewis acid cocatalyst employed generally represents from 0.01 to 50 mol per mole of transition metal compound, more particularly of nickel compound, and preferably from 1 to 10 mol per mole.
As for the implementation of the base process of the invention, the catalytic solution used for the hydrocyanation in the presence of Lewis acid can be prepared before it is introduced into the reaction region, for example by addition, to the aqueous solution of the water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II), of the appropriate amount of chosen transition metal compound, of Lewis acid and optionally of the reducing agent. It is also possible to prepare the catalytic solution "in situ" by simple mixing of these various constituents.
The separation of the catalyst in the aqueous phase is easy by simple separation by settling, as has been indicated above for the base process. This aqueous solution of catalyst can thus be recycled in a fresh hydrocyanation reaction. In the case, which is very important economically, of the hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles, it is possible to recycle this catalyst solution either in a fresh hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles or, more generally, in the hydrocyanation of butadiene, resulting in pentenenitriles which are subsequently hydrocyanated with the same catalyst.
It is also possible, under the conditions of the hydrocyanation process of the present invention, and in particular by carrying out the reaction in the presence of the catalyst described above containing at least one water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II) and at least one transition metal compound, to isomerize 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile to pentenenitriles in the absence of hydrogen cyanide.
The 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile subjected to the isomerization according to the invention can be employed alone or as a mixture with other compounds.
Thus, it is possible to use 2-methyl-3-butenenitrile as a mixture with 2-methyl-2-butenenitrile, 4-pentenenitrile, 3-pentenenitrile, 2-pentenenitrile, butadiene, adiponitrile, 2-methylglutaronitrile, 2-ethylsuccinonitrile or valeronitrile.
Thus, it is particularly advantageous to treat the reaction mixture originating from the hydrocyanation of butadiene with HCN in the presence of an aqueous solution of at least one water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II) and of at least one transition metal compound, more preferentially of a nickel compound in the 0 oxidation state, as defined above.
Within the context of this preferred alternative form, as the catalytic system is already present for the hydrocyanation reaction of butadiene, it is sufficient to stop any introduction of hydrogen cyanide in order to allow the isomerization reaction to take place.
It is possible, if appropriate, in this alternative form, to gently sweep the reactor using an inert gas, such as nitrogen or argon, for example, in order to drive off the hydrocyanic acid which could still be present.
The isomerization reaction is generally carried out at a temperature from 10.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. and preferably from 60.degree. C. to 120.degree. C.
In the preferred case of an isomerization immediately following the hydrocyanation reaction of butadiene, it will be advantageous to carry out the isomerization at the temperature at which the hydrocyanation has been carried out.
As for the process for the hydrocyanation of compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation, the catalytic solution used for the isomerization can be prepared before it is introduced into the reaction region, for example by addition, to the aqueous solution of the water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II), of the appropriate amount of chosen transition metal compound and optionally of the reducing agent. It is also possible to prepare the catalytic solution "in situ", by simple mixing of these various constituents. The amount of transition metal compound, and more particularly of nickel, used and the amount of water-soluble phosphine of formula (I) or (II) are the same as for the hydrocyanation reaction.
Although the isomerization reaction is generally carried out without a third solvent, it can be advantageous to add an inert water-immiscible organic solvent which can be that of the subsequent extraction. This is in particular the case when such a solvent has been employed in the hydrocyanation reaction of butadiene which has been used to prepare the mixture subjected to the isomerization reaction. Such solvents can be chosen from those which have been mentioned above for the hydrocyanation.
At the end of the reaction, it is very easy to separate the catalyst from the isomerization reaction products, as has been indicated for the hydrocyanation, and to recycle it, if appropriate, in one of the hydrocyanation reactions described above or in a fresh isomerization reaction.

Process for the hydrocyanation of organic compounds containing ethylenic unsaturation

Rhone-Poulenc Fiber & Resin Intermediates


A method of storing data related to system initialization in a data hub in a manner which provides accessibility to the data in either the pre-boot environment or the run-time environment.

When initializing or booting a computer platform, there are two primary stages of system evolution. First, in the pre-boot environment, the system performs tasks such as preparing the hardware, discovering and/or checking the memory, initializing the chipset, and so on. These tasks may be performed by BIOS or firmware in order to prepare the system to boot a target. Typically, the target to be booted is an operating system (O/S). After the target is booted, the system is in a run-time environment controlled by the O/S.
In the case of a catastrophic failure, there is relatively little visibility into the cause of an error within the pre-boot environment. Within the pre-boot environment itself, errors may be detected using a Power-On Self Test (POST) card, or other debug techniques. However, debug techniques such as POST do not typically provide a comprehensive log of pre-boot data; they simply provide information about the point at which a critical error has occurred.
There is also no mechanism by which the operating system may be notified of other non-critical issues that are encountered during pre-boot. The operating system and programs which are running on the O/S must rely upon the integrity of the underlying operating system and platform in order to function correctly. The existence of a non-critical error in the pre-boot environment may lead to a critical error or failure in the run-time environment. The O/S has no visibility of certain hardware issues that occurred during the pre-boot which the firmware would be aware of. Some examples of hardware problems that may occur in the pre-boot environment which the O/S may not be aware of, and that a user may not be able to find in a dump file, include the existence of a bad microprocessor (CPU), problems with chipset timing, or a bad disk.

Storing data related to system initialization in memory while determining and storing data if an exception has taken place during initialization


A hydraulic power steering apparatus (10) comprises a rotatable input member (31), a rotatable output member (130), and a housing supporting (11) the input member (31) and the output member (130) for rotation about an axis (45) relative to each other. A hydraulic control valve assembly (30) in the housing (11) includes a valve core (40), a valve sleeve (41) and a plurality of hydraulic seals (120-126) which block leakage of hydraulic fluid from the valve assembly (30). The hydraulic power steering apparatus (10) further includes an elastomeric damping ring (200) extending circumferentially between the valve core (40) and the valve sleeve (41). The elastomeric damping ring (200) damps vibrations of the valve core (40) relative to the valve sleeve (41), and thereby attenuates noise in the apparatus (10).

A hydraulic power steering gear for steering a vehicle includes a directional control valve assembly. The steering gear also includes a piston and a mechanical steering linkage which is connected between the piston and the steerable wheels of the vehicle. The directional control valve assembly operates in response to rotation of an input shaft which is connected to the steering wheel of the vehicle. Depending upon the direction in which the steering wheel and the input shaft are turned by the operator of the vehicle, the directional control valve assembly directs a pressurized flow of hydraulic fluid to either one of two sides of the piston. The directional control valve assembly simultaneously directs the hydraulic fluid from the other side of the piston to the fluid reservoir. The directional control valve assembly thus pressurizes one side of the piston and vents the other side of the piston. The hydraulic fluid pressure acting on the piston then causes the piston to move in the selected direction. The mechanical steering linkage responds to movement of the piston by turning the steerable wheels in the selected direction.
The directional control valve assembly includes a valve core and a valve sleeve. The valve core and the valve sleeve have surfaces which define hydraulic fluid flow paths through the valve assembly, and are supported to rotate relative to each other. The valve core is connected to the input shaft to rotate relative to the valve sleeve when the operator of the vehicle turns the steering wheel. The valve sleeve is connected to the piston to rotate relative to the valve core when the piston moves. When the valve core is rotated relative to the valve sleeve upon rotation of the steering wheel, the hydraulic fluid flow paths defined by the valve core and the valve sleeve are adjusted so as to pressurize one side of the piston and simultaneously to vent the other side of the piston. The piston then moves and the steerable vehicle wheels are steered accordingly. When the piston is thus moved to effect steering of the vehicle wheels, the valve sleeve is rotated relative to the valve core in a follow-up manner. The valve sleeve and the valve core are thus returned to their centered positions as steering of the wheels in the selected direction is completed.
The pressurized flows of hydraulic fluid in the directional control valve assembly cause the valve core to vibrate relative to the valve sleeve. The vibrations can cause noises that are audible to the occupants of the vehicle.

Hydraulic power steering gear with noise attenuation


Examples include techniques to monitor control plane (CP) network traffic. Examples include monitoring CP traffic between one or more user equipment (UEs) wirelessly coupled to a network and a virtual network function arranged to process user plane (UP) traffic for an application service provided to the one or more UEs to determine whether at least a portion of the UP traffic needs to be routed to a different VNF for UP processing.

Computing resources deployed in communication or data networks for control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) processing or handling are increasingly becoming physically and/or geographically separated. For example, CP and UP separation is becoming a key architecture imperative for current and next generation (e.g., 5G) communication networks. Technical specifications associated with these current and next generation communication networks such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications may specify CP and UP separation (also referred to as "CUPS") for software defined networks (SDN)/network function virtualization (NFV) deployments. For some SDN/NFV deployments, CP processing may be primarily at a centralized location of a communication network compared to UP processing that may be distributed throughout the communication network.

Techniques to monitor control plane network traffic


The disclosed subject matter relates to methods and apparatus facilitating assessments of structural and electronic features, parameters, characteristics or any combination thereof using one or more unmanned autonomous vehicles. In some embodiments, an unmanned vehicle may be configured to monitor one or both of the structural and electrical characteristics of an object, and can also include cooperative behavior between two or more unmanned vehicles to test electrical communication in a directional fashion.

The disclosed subject matter relates to methods and apparatus facilitating assessments of structural and electronic features, parameters, characteristics or any combination thereof using one or more unmanned autonomous vehicles.
Generally, inspections of structures and various types of objects is necessary due to wear and tear caused by weather or other environmental elements. Electrical characteristics are often also required to be regularly assessed. Issues arising out of power failures, electronic transmission faults, and non-isotropic radiation can require periodic or continual assessment to assure a reliable communications link with any number of users attempting to utilize the structure.
Typically, structures in need of constant inspection include railway tracks, cellular phone towers, roads, bridges, dams, electrical power grids, power plants, water treatment plants, high-rise buildings, and oil refineries, among others. Human inspection can be significantly aided by an automated infrastructure that can provide constant or periodic monitoring, especially in cases that may be deemed dangerous or expensive to conduct an inspection or monitoring task by one or more individuals.
Cellular phone towers have become ubiquitous as the rise of cellular phone use continues to rise exponentially. As such, the structural and communication health of a cellular phone tower has become of increasing importance. Cellular phone towers can be subject to numerous problems that require maintenance. One such problem is basic structural maintenance due to environmental problems such as weather, pollution, debris and terrain. Additionally, the cellular phone tower can experience communication problems due to electrical issues such as failed equipment, interference, or even atmospheric phenomena such as solar flares, etc. Manually inspecting cell phone towers can be very laborious due to their heights, and maintenance crews are often required to travel large distances (since the towers are preferentially kept out of view). Further, maintenance crews risk potentially fatal accidents from falling, electrocution, etc.

Electronic assessments, and methods of use and manufacture thereof


A method of balancing the voltage of DC links in a cascaded multi-level converter (CMC) semiconductor circuit, including the steps of providing a plurality of H-bridge converters per phase in the CMC circuit and utilizing a three phase duty cycle value from the main controller to determine a normalized duty cycle value, a ceiling duty cycle value and a floor duty cycle value. The normalized duty cycle value and an output current of the CMC is used to determine the direction and polarity of a capacitor current, and utilizing the capacitor current to determine a plurality of output capacitor voltages. A voltage summation result and direction is obtained from a ceiling index pointer and a floor index pointer and the voltage summation result, direction from the ceiling index pointer and a floor index pointer are used to create a combined switching table for the H-bridge converters. A pulse width modulator is utilized to balance the voltage of the DC links and thereby eliminate DC-capacitor voltage imbalance.

The present invention generally relates to the field of power electronics, and more particularly to a novel pulse width modulation (PWM) technique and circuit for balancing the voltage of DC links of a cascaded-multilevel converter (CMC) for reactive power compensations. The invention has application in, for example, electric power generation in Flexible Alternating Current Transmission systems (FACTS) and motor drives, and is useful in both active and reactive power generation.
The method and circuit described and claimed in this application can be implemented by hardware circuitry. Thus, the calculation time in the digital signal processor (DSP) is only slightly increased as more voltage levels are employed. The basic structure of the proposed technique is modular. Therefore, the method and circuit may be employed for any number of H-bridge converters. With these features, the complexity of the DSP programming for the control loop is not affected by increasing the number of voltage levels.
Prior art DC capacitor voltage-balancing techniques add individual DC voltage loops into the main control loop. The compensators of each individual loop, however, are very difficult to design because of the complexity of the voltage-loop transfer functions. Thus, trial and error evaluation and testing provides the simplest way to achieve a satisfactory compensator design. This process is very time-consuming. Moreover, the greater the number of voltage levels, the more complex the control design. The main controller, which is the DSP-based, must perform all of the feedback control steps. As a result, the prior art approach potentially reduces the reliability of the controller.
To overcome the disadvantages of prior art devices and methods, this application describes a new PWM technique, which is specially designed for CMC-based Static Synchronous Shunt Compensators (STATCOM). The PWM method is referred to as a "cascaded PWM", in which the DC capacitor voltages, the output currents and the three-phase multilevel duty cycle command are used as its inputs.

Method and circuit for cascaded pulse width modulation

Electrical Power Research Institute, Inc.


A method of fabricating a thin-film compound solar cell having an n-type buffer layer formed therein for providing a heterojunction with a p-type compound semiconductor light absorbing layer formed on a back electrode by spreading a powder of a sulfur compound containing n-type doping element over the light absorbing layer surface or applying a coat of a solution of a sulfur compound containing n-type doping element onto the light absorbing layer surface and then fusing the powder or the coat thereon by heat. This process can produce a high-quality n-type buffer layer tightly adhered to a p-type compound semiconductor light absorbing layer to achieve stable characteristic of heterojunction therewith.

The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a compound semiconductor thin-film solar cell having a p-type light absorbing layer with an n-type heterojunction buffer layer formed thereon.
FIG. 1 shows a basic structure of a thin-film solar cell produced from a general compound semiconductor, which comprises a SLG (soda lime glass) substrate 1 on which a back molybdenum (Mo) electrode layer (positive electrode) 2, a p-type light absorbing layer 5, an n-type heterojunction buffer layer 6 and a transparent electrode layer (negative electrode) 7 are subsequently formed in the described order.
In the thin-film compound semiconductor solar cell, the light absorbing layer 5 is produced in the form of a CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenium) thin film made of Cu (In+Ga) Se2 of I–III–VI2 group based on Cu, (In, Ga), Se, which possesses high power conversion efficiency exceeding 18%.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,091 discloses a method of forming a heterojunction buffer layer most suited to a light absorbing layer of CIS by chemically growing a thin film of CdS representing a compound semiconductor of II–VI group from a solution.
Japanese Laying-Open Patent Publication No. H-08-330614 describes a heterojunction buffer layer of ZnS which does not contain harmful metal such as cadmium and possesses high power conversion efficiency.
The above-described conventional methods of fabricating compound thin film solar cells involve such a common problem that, while the light absorbing layer is dipped in the solution, two processes of diffusing Zn or Cd element into the light absorbing layer and forming a ZnS or CdS film concurrently take place, which may easily cause variations in power conversion efficiency of the product from the crystallinity and surface conditions of the light absorbing layer.
The Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) method may cause inclusion of impurities into a buffer layer to be formed on a light absorbing layer, which may have decreased quality.
The CBD method may also cause adhesion of ZnS to the inside wall of the bath and carriers transporting the substrates in the bath, thereby resulting in loss of ZnS and producing a large amount of waste solution.

Method of fabricating a compound semiconductor thin-layer solar cell


A system for sensing breakage of one or more of a plurality of strands of material that are being fed in unison along a circular array of separate feed paths while the array of feed paths is being rotated about an imaginary axis that extends substantially centrally among the array of feed paths utilizes separate indicator assemblies positioned along each of the separate feed paths, with the indicator assemblies being arranged in a substantially circular array for rotation along a circular path of movement that extends substantially concentrically about the axis of rotation. At least one optical detector is positioned alongside the substantially circular path of movement that is followed by the indicator assemblies as they rotate, whereby, at least once during each revolution, each of the indicator assemblies is caused to move past an optical detector. In the event that any of the indicator assemblies detect breakage of its associated strand, an associated indicator flag is pivoted quickly under the action of an associated biasing device from its normally nested position to an extended position that will be sensed as the flag-extended indicator assembly moves past an optical detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for rapidly detecting breakage of one or more of a plurality of strands of material that are being fed along an array of separate feed paths while the array of feed paths is being rotated about an imaginary axis that extends substantially centrally among the feed paths. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of a plurality of strand breakage indicator assemblies that each are associated with a separate one of the feed paths for providing pivotally mounted flag-carrying indicator arms that are counterbalanced to render the arms substantially insensitive to centrifugal force and to changes in speed of rotation, with each of the arms being biased into engagement with a guided reach of an associated strand in a manner that will permit such tautness of the reach as is characteristic of normal feeding of the strand along its associated feed path to hold the associated flag-carrying arm in a "nested" position; however, if the associated strand should break, or if an undesired diminution in tautness of the guided reach of the associated strand is otherwise caused to take place, the associated flag-carrying indicator arm promptly will pivot to an "extended" position wherein it typically will be detected within less than one revolution of the array of feed paths by a stationary detector that monitors a circular path of travel that is followed by "extended" indicator flags.
2. Prior Art
While a variety of strand breakage detection systems have been proposed for use with apparatus that requires the concurrent feeding of a plurality of strands of material along separate feed paths to a workstation or the like, most of these prior proposals are not suited for use with apparatus that requires that a plurality of strands be fed in unison along an array of feed paths while the array is being rotated at relatively high speeds of rotation (e.g., within the range of about 600 to about 1400 revolutions per minute, and sometimes higher).
A significant problem that arises when structures that define arrays of feed paths are rotated at speeds as high as 1400 revolutions per minute is that the components of such structures must be capable not only of withstanding relatively high loadings of centrifugal force, but must also be capable of functioning properly in the presence of such loadings. At 1400 revolutions per minute, a component that is spaced only a few inches from the axis of rotation easily can be subjected to loadings of force that are hundreds of times the weight of the component. In such circumstances, electrical switch components easily can develop malfunctions and/or fail to perform as intended. Likewise, even simple mechanical devices that employ relatively movable parts and that have proven to be highly reliable when used in stationary environments often are found to malfunction and/or fail to perform as intended when subjected to an environment of high speed rotation.
While a number of proposals have been made that attempt to utilize electrical components and circuitry that is installed on rotating structures to provide for the sensing of breakage of one or more strands that are being fed in unison along arrays of feed paths that are defined by such structures, still another problem that typically renders such proposals unsuitable is that, of necessity, they employ some form of commutators to establish requisite electrical connections between the rotating structures and adjacent stationary structures. Such proposals not only characteristically suffer from the drawbacks and shortcomings described above, but also from the problems that typically are associated with the use of commutators. Commutators are subject to wear and often fail to supply with suitable stability the type of uninterrupted electrical contact that needs to be maintained between rotating and stationary structures. Thus, to the extent that the employment of commutators, electrical components and associated circuitry can be avoided on rotating structure that defines a plurality of strand feed paths, it has been deemed desirable to do so.
In commercially available knitting machinery of the type that typically is utilized in the formation of reinforced rubber hose to provide a knitted layer of reinforcing material that extends about an inner layer of the rubber hose, it often is desirable to rotate an assembly known as a "knitter" (i.e., a commercially available unit that employs knitting needles that are moved by a mechanical cam drive system and which needs to be supplied with a plurality of strands of material to be "knitted") at relatively high speeds of rotation together with such structure as defines an array of feed paths that are followed by strands of material that are fed in unison to the knitter. The faster that the knitter and the associated strand feed path defining structure can be rotated while suitably supplying an array of strands of material to the knitter, the greater the length of reinforced hose that can be produced during a given period of time. However, the faster that the strand-feeding structure is rotated, the greater are the centrifugal forces that are imposed on attendant strand breakage sensing components, and, if known types of strand breakage detector devices are employed, the greater is the likelihood that they will be deleteriously affected. A suitably simple, highly reliable strand breakage detection system that is capable of being used in such an environment long has eluded those who are skilled in the art.

Strand breakage detection system for use with a plurality of strands being fed in unison along a rotating circular array of feed paths


A system and method for concurrent WLAN and WPAN wireless modes from a single device is presented. A client uses a Wi-Fi device's infrastructure mode to communicate in a WLAN environment and, during idle WLAN times, uses the Wi-Fi device's adhoc mode to communicate in a WPAN environment. The Wi-Fi device uses a watchdog timer to switch between infrastructure mode and adhoc mode. When the client's Wi-Fi device switches to infrastructure mode, the client's Wi-Fi device uses an infrastructure register and an infrastructure device driver to transfer data over the WLAN environment. Likewise, when the client's Wi-Fi device switches to adhoc mode, the client's Wi-Fi device uses an adhoc register and an adhoc device driver to transfer data over the WLAN environment. The client uses a code shim to act as a virtual device driver at times when either the infrastructure device driver or the adhoc device driver is inactive.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for communicating concurrently in a plurality of wireless environments using a single device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for using a single Wi-Fi device to concurrently communicate in a wireless LAN environment and a wireless PAN environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wi-Fi technology is rapidly being adapted for use in wireless local area networks (WLAN's). A wireless LAN is one in which a mobile user connects to a local area network (LAN) through a wireless connection. Wi-Fi technology is gaining acceptance in consumer and commercial markets as an alternative to a wired LAN due to its excellent interoperability and commodity pricing. Wi-Fi is specified in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification (including additions and changes specified in 802.11a, 802.11b, etc). Wi-Fi specifies an Ethernet-like protocol which uses CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance) for channel sharing. Wi-Fi technology currently operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band or the 5 GHz U-NII frequency band and offers data rates up to 54 Mbps.
Another standard, Bluetooth, revolves around a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Bluetooth is the most common WPAN technology and was used as the basis for the IEEE 802.15.1 standard. A wireless personal area network (WPAN) is used to wirelessly interconnect devices centered on an individual person through a point-to-point or peer-to-peer connection. Typically, a wireless personal area network uses technology that permits communication within a very short range, such as ten meters. A WPAN may serve to interconnect ordinary computing and communicating devices that many people carry with them today. A challenge found, however, is that many peripheral devices, such as printers and handheld devices, are required to support both WLAN interoperability for infrastructure network communication as well as WPAN interoperability for point-to-point communication.
Wi-Fi technology could replace Bluetooth technology as a technology to support WPAN environments, all the while providing lower system cost, higher bandwidth, and better interoperability. A challenge found, however, is that existing Wi-Fi technology does not allow a single device to simultaneously or concurrently support both infrastructure and peer-to-peer environments. In order to support simultaneous infrastructure and peer-to-peer environments using Wi-Fi technology, two Wi-Fi devices are required, one for each environment, thereby increasing a computer system's equipment cost.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method to support concurrent infrastructure and peer-to-peer environments using a single Wi-Fi device.

System and method for concurrent WLAN and WPAN wireless modes from a single device


A system for converting an input oscillation having an input frequency into an output oscillation having an output frequency is disclosed. The system comprises: a controller configured for receiving the input oscillation and responsively generating a multi-component drive signal. A frequency of at least one component of the drive signal is other than two times the input frequency. In some embodiments, a frequency of another component of the drive signal equals about two times the output frequency. The system also comprises an oscillator for generating pump oscillations responsively to the drive signal and applying parametric excitation to the input oscillation at the pump oscillations.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to amplification and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a method and a system for parametric amplification.
Parametric amplification is a technique employed in oscillating systems wherein a parameter (e.g., inertia, a spring constant or affecting element's elastic stiffness) is modulated to produce amplification in the response of the system. Parametric amplifiers have generated sustained interest because their operational noise can be low. Parametric amplifiers typically combine a pump signal with an input signal to effect amplification or frequency conversion of the input signal.
Several implementations of this technique have been utilized in electronic systems, optical systems, and electromechanical systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,575 discloses a mechanical parametric device including two electrostatically coupled resonators, wherein a first resonator oscillates in response to an input signal, and a second resonator provides a feedback to amplify the oscillation of the first resonator.
Parametric amplifiers can be characterized as degenerate or non-degenerate. In a degenerate parametric amplifier, the frequency of the pump signal equals twice the input signal's frequency which also equals to the natural frequency of the amplifier. For any other relation between the pump signal, input signal and amplifier natural frequencies, the amplifier is characterized as a non-degenerate parametric amplifier. Degenerate parametric amplification provides a relatively high gain, but is not applicable when the input signal's frequency is not constant and when it does not coincide with the natural frequency. Non-degenerate parametric amplification is useful for input signals whose frequency is not pre-determined, but it has a relatively low gain.

Method and system for parametric amplification

Technion Research & Development Foundation Limited


Apparatus and method for securing a heat sink to a heat-generating device on a circuit board. The apparatus clamps onto the heating-generating device and the circuit board in a manner that avoids bending of the circuit board. The apparatus includes a retention module having a plurality of retention features that extend through openings in the circuit board disposed about the perimeter of the heat-generating device, such as a processor. The apparatus also includes a heat sink having a heat sink base for contacting the heat-generating device in order to dissipate heat produced by the device. The heat sink is selectively securable to the retention features of the retention module using levers, such as a wire module, having a spring clip to engage the retention features and clamp the heat sink and retention module together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for securing a heat sink above a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat sinks are a vital part of any computer system. The heat generated by continued and extended use of a computer can severely damage the electrical components in the computer. Heat sinks provide a way for the heat to be transferred away from the source and away from critical components. To increase the amount of thermal transfer, heat sinks typically include a large surface area or a large number of thermally conductive fins. However, the problem that arises when large heat sinks or heat sinks with a large number of fins are used is that critical space within the confines of the computer chassis is used up. Also, heavy heat sinks must be secured directly to the computer chassis in order to avoid transmitting the direct weight of the heat sink on the CPU.
The contact area between the heat sink and the electrical components and the pressure at the point of contact between the heat sink and the heat source are also important considerations in heat sink design. A heat sink with a flat contact area is preferred since a thinner layer of thermal compound may be used. This reduces the thermal resistance between the heat sink and the heat source. The pressure between the heat sink and the heat source must be high in order to maintain the requisite thermal contact and to facilitate thermal flow. Mechanical clips may help maintain the requisite pressure between the surface of the heat sink and the CPU, but such clips are usually difficult to install and are not reliable when the computer is being shipped. Even a slight jarring during shipping may cause the weight of the heat sink to fall directly on the CPU or motherboard causing severe damage. Further, because of the increased thickness in motherboards, the use of an under-the-board spring to dampen the force exhibited by the heat sink on the CPU and other electrical components is no longer feasible.
The recent proliferation of Land Grid Array (LGA) sockets have created another problem that must be considered during heat sink design and particularly in the manner in which heat sinks or other cooling devices are attached to the socket/CPU assembly. Current LGA socket designs frequently contain heat sinks as part of the assembly. The heat sink base is usually used as one of the loading plates in the assembly and is typically attached to a back-side stiffener using multiple screws or spring-loaded threaded fasteners. Even these simple attachment means can consume a significant portion of the effective heat sink volume, since the screws or spring-loaded fasteners protrude through the heat sink and require removal or partial removal of some of the fin structure, thereby reducing its thermal efficiency. Additionally, deflection that might occur under actuation load can create gaps between the heat sink and the assembly that can compromise the thermal effectiveness of the heat sink and/or cause the weight of the heat sink to fall directly on the CPU.
It is therefore desirable to have an apparatus and method that allows a heat sink to be mounted above a CPU and to deliver a load commensurate with the required thermal flow characteristics of the heat sink. It would also be desirable to provide a mechanism to hold the heat sink firmly in place without bending or imposing stresses upon the circuit board or the processor. It would be even further desirable to attach the heat sink with a simple attachment mechanism.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus for securing heat sinks to a device under test

International Business Machines Corporation


A splined connection comprises a shaft with longitudinal radially outwardly protruding ridges and intermediate grooves, a hub provided with correspondingly shaped ridges and intermediate grooves and is adapted to being fitted in engagement with the shaft ridges and grooves to provide between the shaft and the hub a connection region causing the shaft and hub to rotate together. A sealing arrangement adapted to close off the connection region. The sealing arrangement comprises two annular sealing elements applied at an axial distance from one another and adjacent to the connection region so that the sealing elements are each in continuous contact with a surface of the shaft around the whole of their inner radial surface and in continuous contact with a surface of the hub around the whole of their outer radial surface.

The present invention relates to a splined connection and particularly to elements which orient the shaft and hub connected and also seal that connection.
Splined connections are used in various applications in connection with torque transmission. Splined connections are particularly advantageous in cases where axial mobility between components is required. A splined connection usually comprises a shaft-shaped element provided with longitudinal protruding ridges and intermediate grooves, and a hub-shaped element provided with correspondingly shaped ridges and intermediate grooves and intended to be fitted in engagement with the ridges and grooves of the shaft so that a connection region causing the shaft and hub to rotate together is formed between them.
An example of such an application is in connection with transmission of torque from an engine to a power takeoff of a vehicle. In such cases the power takeoff may be connected to the engine's flywheel via the hub of the splined connection. The power takeoff is thus driven directly by the engine independently of the clutch. The splined connection is then situated inside a housing which encloses the clutch. The shaft will be hollow so that it can extend externally about the vehicle's input shaft to the gearbox. To enable the gearbox to be fitted, the splined connection region between hub and shaft needs to exhibit a certain amount of clearance.
A problem with such clearance between the hub and the shaft is that lubricant supplied to the connection region is readily ejected during operation. The space in the clutch housing also makes oil lubrication of the connection region impossible and grease lubrication can only be supplied sparingly, to avoid risk of grease reaching clutch plates situated in the vicinity of the splined connection. The space in the clutch housing contains a great deal of dust and particles. There is risk of such particles entering the connection region. The risk of particles accumulating in the connection region increases with the magnitude of the clearance. Finally, said clearance between hub and shaft allows obliqueness and radial displacement of the shaft relative to the hub. It is usual for such obliqueness and radial displacement to occur particularly at low load of the power takeoff. Obliqueness and radial displacement result in relative movement between hub and shaft in the connection region, causing wear of the surfaces in the splined connection region.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,018 refers to a spindle device intended to connect two rotating shafts. The spindle device comprises a spindle connected to two separate hubs in different splined connection regions. Each of the two hubs comprises a sealing device situated at an end portion of the region of connection of the respective hub to the spindle. However, the sealing devices do not seem to extend all the way down into the grooves between the ridges of the spindle. They therefore do not come into contact with the bottom surfaces of the grooves. This means that there is no absolute seal between spindle and hub in the splined connection regions. Each of the hubs is thus supported at only an end portion of a sealing device. A sealing device applied in this way does not provide stable support to prevent possible obliqueness of the hubs relative to the spindle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,737 refers to a splined connection in a driveline. The splined connection comprises an annular seal arranged between a hub and a shaft at a relatively large distance from a connection region between the hub and the shaft. A sealing plug is arranged on the opposite side of the connection region. The plug is fastened so that it covers an end aperture in the hub. The shaft does not extend right up to the plug, which means that the plug provides no support surface for the shaft. There is thus risk of the shaft being at an angle to the hub during operation, particularly if the clearance between hub and shaft is large.


A method and system for establishing a load model (120) that utilizes a measurement from a second monitor (140) to estimate a value taken by a first monitor (150). A base load value associated with a load (160) is collected. The load model (120) is applied to the base load value, yielding an estimated load value. The estimated load value is representative of at least one measured load value for the load (160).

In a typical energy monitoring system, a monitoring device of revenue-grade accuracy is required to measure energy generation or energy usage points. A monitoring device of this caliber is often set up to measure all three phases of power and produces a multitude of different measured values. Monitoring devices of this type tends to be quite expensive and require a fairly intensive installation process, which may require the power system to be taken off-line for a period of time. Overall system size further adds to monitoring costs, because energy monitoring and distribution systems are growing in size, resulting in systems with a large number of monitoring devices.

Load model generation for estimating a load value from a base load value in a system


A device receives an infrastructure design document that represents a network infrastructure design. The device causes the infrastructure design document to be displayed via a first interface of a geographic information system (GIS) tool that is to be used during an inspection of a site, where the inspection includes inspecting structural components that are to support equipment of a network. The device receives, from a user device, feedback data that is based on the inspection. The device causes the feedback data to be integrated into the GIS tool. The device receives, from another user device, instructions that are to be used to update the infrastructure design document. The device updates the infrastructure design document based on the set of instructions and performs actions that allow the infrastructure design document to be used when implementing the network infrastructure design.

A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and display spatial or geographic data. A GIS system may include one or more GIS tools that allow users to search for the spatial or geographic data, analyze the spatial or geographic data, edit the spatial or geographic data, view the spatial or geographic data, and/or the like.

Verification, modification, and/or validation of an infrastructure design document via improved collaboration between on site devices and remote devices


A technique for applying time compression to simulate long-term execution of a software application in the short time frames includes providing simulated events to a software application under test and selectively advancing the system clock. The subject system utilizes two utility modules to interact with a software application under testing. The first module, the Event Simulation module, generates a range of predefine events which simulate the nature and frequency of events to which the software application would react. The second module, the Clock Modification module, intercepts the time signal generated by the operating system under which the software application is executing and modifies the clock signal, typically by advancing the time at a rate which is faster than one second per second, i.e., normal time rate. With the subject system, the behavior of an application over a simulated period may be observed in just a fraction of the simulated period duration, e.g. one year of simulated testing performance in five days. For systems or applications where behavior is influenced by the historical pattern of use, the disclosed technique for time compression can identify defects that normally occur only after extended periods of use.

Following the design and coding of a software application for use with a computer system, the software is usually tested in the development environment or in actual field trials. One of the purposes of such testing is to detect any error or undesirable performance characteristics in the code. Time is often a factor in limiting the thoroughness with which an application is tested, due to many variables including too many code paths, too many operating systems, too many kinds of clients, etc. For some software, the problem of time is not one of schedule or resources. The performance of some software applications does not lend itself easily to short term diagnostic testing. Such software applications interact with users over long time periods and the history of these interactions influences software behavior. For example, in a collaborative filtering application that suggests merchandise by comparing a person's buying patterns to those of other people, defects may not surface until months or years of buying data have been collected, yet few developments projects can afford to spend so long testing the system. Accordingly, a need exists for a technique to test the performance of software which normally would take an extended period of time to observe. Another a need exists for a technique to compress the testing time for certain software, including knowledge management products, to a rate faster than one second per second.

System and method for time compression during software testing


A waterproof receptacle for use in the disposal of animal waste products. The litter receptacle contains a layer of porous expanded shale. The porous shale has a porisity of at least 10% by volume for reducing bulk density of the porous shale and an ability to absorb liquid waste upwardly. Advantageously, the porous structure allows a portion of the liquid to flow to the bottom of the receptacle for subsequent upward absorption. Most advantageously, a screen size of at least +50 mesh (300 microns) is maintained to limit dusting. Optionally, 5 to 25% by weight ammonia absorbing zeolite may be added for odor control.

Moisture absorbent clays have historically been used as absorbent animal litters. Most clays used for animal litters are believed to contain smectites or other water-swellable clays, such as the polygorskite group clays, for liquid absorption. Smectite clays can increase several times by volume when absorbing water. This increase in volume can cause severe sewer damage when quantities of smectite clay are flushed down a toilet. Problems with moisture absorbent clays also include "dusting" upon pouring animal litters into a container and "mudding" upon urination of an animal into the clay. Controlling the volume fraction of fine material helps control the dusting and mudding problems. These "dust-free" animal litters have been enjoying an increased market share in recent years. However, breakage that occurs during shipping and handling typically produces a small amount of dust that can not be avoided.
When an animal urinates on a clay-based cat litter, a small pool of urine can quickly form on the top surface of the animal litter. The urine will subsequently soak into the animal litter and form a fairly large moist area. This moist area will tend to be avoided by cats upon subsequent visits to a litter box. Ammonia formed during the biological breakdown of the urine acts as a transfer agent of objectionable odors. Zeolites such as clinoptilolite have been mixed into some clay based animal litters for ammonia absorption to limit transfer of odors. The zeolite additions have been found to significantly reduce odors arising from the biological breakdown of urine.
For an animal litter to compete with clay based animal litters, it must possess good absorption characteristics, resistance to dusting and an acceptable bulk density. Several alternate materials have been proposed for use as animal litters. For example, Lojek et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,196, disclose a mixture of (limestone, alfalfa or other fibre material), (Portland cement or plaster of Paris) and a binder for holding the ingredients together. Bickoff et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,564, disclose use of a pressed, washed and dehydrated vegetative material as an animal litter. A combination of ferrous sulfate hepta-hydrate with fly ash or dried fine powders of zeolite for use as an animal litter is disclosed by Komakine in U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,188. R. F. Stockel, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,094, disclosed use of fly ash, bottom ash and/or boiler slag as a cat litter. As far as known, none of the above alternative animal litters have been able to successfully compete commercially with water-absorbent clay based animal litters.
It is an object of this invention to provide a clay-substitute animal litter that can match or exceed existing clay-based animal litters with regard to absorption characteristics, resistance to dusting and bulk density.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a animal litter that can reduce the volume of animal litter wetted during urination.


A liquid crystal display includes a first substrate, a first field generating electrode arranged on the first substrate and including first and second cutouts, and a second substrate facing the first substrate. A second field generating electrode is arranged on the second substrate and includes a third cutout, and a liquid crystal layer is interposed between the first and second field generating electrodes. A column spacer is interposed between the first and second substrates and is disposed in the first cutout region.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display.
2. Discussion of the Background
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of the most widely distributed flat panel displays. Generally, the LCD includes two display panels having field generating electrodes, such as pixel electrodes and a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The LCD displays an image by applying a voltage to the field generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the liquid crystal layer, whereby an orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer controls the polarization of incident light.
A vertical alignment (VA) mode LCD has been widely used because it may have a high contrast ratio and may provide a wide viewing angle. Without an electric field, the major axes of liquid crystal molecules in the VA mode LCD may be arranged perpendicular to the display panels.
A number of methods may be used to provide a wide viewing angle in a VA mode LCD. For example, cutouts may be formed in the field generating electrodes, or protrusions may be formed on the field generating electrodes. Because the orientation to which the liquid crystal molecules are tilted may be determined using cutouts and protrusions, the reference viewing angle may be widened by changing the arrangements of the cutouts and protrusions, thereby providing various directions of the tilt orientation of the liquid crystal molecules.
However, for an LCD including cutouts, the liquid crystal molecules corresponding to the cutouts may not be suitably aligned, thereby causing texture. Furthermore, when a structure, such as a column spacer, is included in the LCD, distortion of an electric field may occur, thereby increasing the texture. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A device for retaining and longitudinally adjusting a binding (4, 6) on a ski (2) is attached in a removable and adjustable fashion on the upper surface of said ski in a determined longitudinal position. The binding includes a base plate (9) longitudinally slidably mounted on the support piece (8) interdependent with the ski. The base plate carries a lock which is vertically movable for permitting displacement towards the top and towards the bottom, and inversely. A biasing system urges the lock from its unlocked position (upper position), towards its unlocked position (lower position) such that it cooperates with the support piece. A structure maintains a transverse position of the removable unlocking tool (15), which is configured to retain the lock in the upper, unlocked position.

The present invention concerns a device for retaining and adjusting the longitudinal position of a binding on a board for sliding on snow such as a ski or the like.
In an already known manner, the boot of a skier, on the body of a ski of the alpine type, is retained on the ski in a removable fashion, by its front end, by a front safety binding commonly called "butee" and, by its rear end, and in particular its heel, thanks to a rear safety binding commonly called "talonniere."
It is known that, for good control of the skis, the boot must, in the retained position on the ski, be in a predetermined and precise longitudinal position on the ski, for permitting a correct performance of the ski. Also, the manufacturers affix at the time of fabrication of the skis make a mark, that must correspond to the middle of the sole of the boot, when it is retained on the ski. Analogously, the manufacturers of ski boots indicate by a mark the middle of the boot. When mounting the ski bindings, the front and rear bindings have to be attached on the ski in the predetermined longitudinal positions, such that the middle of the boot corresponds to the mark made on the ski.
The manufacturers have developed a means of adjustment, intended particularly for moving of the location, permitting attending to adjusting the position of the binding(s), easily, and without the necessity of specialized tools. These devices are often such that the maneuvering means permits the adjustment, whether placed in the front end of the body of the binding, to be easily accessible by the operator. All the time this kind of device presents a certain number of inconveniences, and particularly those of being in a position that permits an inopportune unlocking, like for example in response to a shock by the ski, or another object.

Restraining and longitudinal position adjusting device of a binding for skis


An exemplary light source module includes a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB), a number of light emitting diodes (LEDs), and a light guide plate (LGP). The LEDs are mounted on the PCB, which is capable of switching each of the LEDs on and off. The LGP includes a light input surface and a number of light output surfaces. The light input surface is opposite to the LEDs. The LEDs face the light input surfaces, and at least one light guide structure is defined at the light input surface so that a majority of light beams from each LED pass substantially perpendicularly through a corresponding portion of the at least one light guide structure and exit from a corresponding light output surface.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to light source modules and, particularly, to a light source module having light emitting diodes (LEDs).
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid crystal display devices have many desirable performance characteristics, such as large-scale information display capability, easy coloring, low power consumption, long life, little or no associated pollution, and so on. Therefore, liquid crystal display devices are widely used in numerous kinds of electronic devices. A typical liquid crystal display device generally includes a light source module and a liquid crystal screen. The light source module typically includes a light guide plate (LGP), and at least one linear light source or point light source such as a cold cathode ray tube or an LED. The light guide plate has a rectangular cross section, and includes a bottom face, a top face, and four side faces. Light from the cold cathode ray tube or the LED is projected to enter one of the side faces of the LGP, whereupon the light is internally reflected by other side faces and the bottom face, and then emits from the top face to illuminate the liquid crystal screen positioned on the top face. However, with the ongoing development of electronic devices and demand for high quality liquid crystal display devices, the above-described illuminating means may not yield satisfactory performance.
What is needed, therefore, is a light source module which can overcome the above-described problem.

Light source module with light emitting diodes