Hydraulic systems generally comprise expansion hose lines and other damping elements which are provided with one or several serially connected hose chambers according to the generated pressure pulsation. The damping measures of the inventive hydraulic system are initiated according to the prevailing pressure during operation thereof. The aim of the invention is to keep the loss of pressure low and save a significant amount of energy during continuous operations. Said aim is achieved by a direct line connection between the source of pressure and the user, which bypasses the dampers. Said bypass line is blocked by a valve when the pressure in the system increases.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pressurized fluid power transmission system such as, for example, a hydraulic system and its damping device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In power transmission systems which use a compressible or incompressible pressurized fluid for power transmission, i.e., in pneumatic systems or hydraulic systems, pulsation dampers are frequently interposed between the pressure source and the load, said dampers damping pulsations due to the pressure source or the user. Such pulsation dampers are, for example, expansion hoses which, in addition, may contain installed in them, for example, resonator pipes or reflectors for the generation of pressure wave interferences to extinguish such pressure waves. Such damping devices are interposed between the pressure source and the user.
Pressurized fluid power transmission systems are frequently used in situations in which the load varies, i.e., is not constant in terms of time. Likewise, the pumping rate of the pressure source may fluctuate as a function of the speed of the engine, for example.
Damping devices exhibit a specific resistance to flow which may lead to energy losses in the power transmission system. These losses are of consequence from the viewpoint of economic efficiency. On the other hand, damping devices cannot just be omitted.
In addition, damping devices frequently are effective only for a more or less wide band of pressure pulsations. If all pressure pulsations occurring in every conceivable state of operation are to be eliminated by the damping device, a complex damping device with correspondingly high resistance to flow is the result.
Considering this, the problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a pressurized fluid power transmission system, which works very efficiently and reduces pressure pulsations to a tolerable minimum.
This problem has been solved with the power transmission system using a pressurized fluid as disclosed by Claim 1:

Hydraulic system comprising pressure-controlled damping means


An intake system for an engine is disclosed. The intake system is arranged to selectively provide exhaust gas recirculation for improving emission quality. The engine has at least one combustion chamber and an exhaust valve controlled exhaust passage leading from the combustion chamber for routing exhaust therefrom. The intake system includes an intake passage leading to the combustion chamber, an intake valve arranged to control the flow of air into the combustion chamber and a throttle valve positioned in the intake passage upstream of the intake valve. A mechanism is provided for changing the volume of the intake passage between the throttle valve and intake valve for selectively inducing exhaust gas recirculation during an opening overlap of the exhaust and intake valves.

Engines produce a number of exhaust gases, some of which are considered environmentally undesirable. One of these by-products is NO.sub.x compounds. NO.sub.x compounds are generated during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels, especially at increased combustion temperatures.
The production of harmful NOx compounds may be reduced by lowering the combustion temperature. One method for lowering the combustion temperature is to route exhaust gas after combustion back into the combustion chamber for mixing with the next air and fuel charge. This exhaust gas displaces some air and fuel charge, thus reducing the heat generated during combustion and thus the combustion temperature.
It is known to route exhaust gas from the exhaust passage leading from the combustion chamber back to the intake passage leading to the combustion chamber through which fuel and air for combustion are supplied. This system is known as an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system. Such a system generally comprises a passage leading from the exhaust passage to the intake passage, with the passage of exhaust gas therethrough regulated by a valve. This system is generally referred to as an "external" system since the exhaust gas is routed from the exhaust to the intake passage external of the flow path through the combustion chamber.
The external EGR system has the disadvantage that the exhaust gas which is routed from the exhaust passage to the intake passage is generally diluted with fresh air which fills the exhaust passage between exhaust strokes. Thus, the ratio of exhaust gas to the total amount of gas which is supplied to the intake air and fuel charge is reduced, as is the effectiveness of the exhaust gas recirculation in reducing harmful emissions.
In some situations, exhaust gas flowing from the combustion chamber into the exhaust passage is drawn backwardly into the combustion chamber at the same time the next air and fuel charge is being introduced. This situation generally arises when an intake valve opens the intake passage at the same time as the exhaust valve is open and exhaust is flowing into the exhaust passage.
During a portion of this period when both valves are open, or valve "overlap" as it is called, exhaust gas at high pressure is relieved through the exhaust passage. At the same time, however, the intake pressure within the intake passage leading to the combustion chamber is low, creating a suction effect. The next air and fuel charge naturally flows along the intake passage towards this low pressure area and into the combustion chamber. In addition, because the pressure in the exhaust passage is relatively high, some of the exhaust also flows back through the combustion chamber towards this low pressure area within the intake passage. Because this flow of exhaust gas is through the combustion chamber to the intake passage, it may be referred to as "internal" exhaust gas recirculation.
Unfortunately, this "internal" exhaust gas recirculation situation generally only occurs when the engine is running at low speed, and not at mid and high speeds where excessive heating results in the creation of the undesirable gases and the greater need for exhaust gas recirculation exists. In particular, as the engine speed increases, a throttle which controls the flow of air through the intake passage opens. As the throttle opens, the air pressure within the intake passage approaches atmospheric pressure. This relatively high pressure within the intake passage precludes the flow of exhaust in a direction generally other than directly out the exhaust passage, such that little exhaust gas recirculation occurs. In addition, exhaust gas recirculation at low engine speed may cause an over-dilution of the charge supplied to the combustion chamber in a manner which may cause the engine to misfire and run rough or die.
An improved exhaust gas recirculation system for an internal combustion engine is desired.

Engine intake system for controlling internal exhaust gas recirculation


A plastic or other polymer case, similar to a suitcase, and which is hinged at its bottom, even by way of a living hinge, the plastic case is formed of two segments, like a suitcase, having a series of apertures therein, for sighting of any hay provided therein, and which includes various slots, at the front, or perhaps even at the back, to allow access of the horse to feed when the case is filled with hay and hung within a stable, stall, or in a trailer, where the horse is kept.

Not applicable.
Various styles of feeding mechanisms have been long available for dispensing food to pets, animals, and the like. For example, hay bins, for feeding animals, such as horses, cows, and the like, have long been used by the farmer.
Various prior art patents, albeit old in age, have shown various types of feed racks, such as the patent to Hawkins, U.S. Pat. No. 36,905, which is used for holding feed, for sheep, and which is fabricated of various hinged components, as can be noted in the patent. Various types of hooks are located to one side of the rack, and appears to have hinges at its opposite side, such that when the rack is closed, it can be filled with feed, for feeding of sheep. Obviously, it can also be opened, apparently for cleaning purposes.
The patent to Winkler, U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,889, shows a portable livestock feeder. This particular feeder just shows a variety of space bars, that allow animals to attain entrance, at least apparently the head part of the animal, in order for the livestock to feed.
The patent to Nethery, U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,794, shows a portable animal feeding station. This station is simply provided upon skids, has a wire siding, that allows the animals to attain access to the hay or other feed enclosed therein.
The design patent U.S. Pat. No. Des. 262,746, to Harris, shows another animal feeder, and it appears, at least in its FIG. 4, that this feeder may be fabricated of two parts, and has a sloping bottom, which apparently allows concentration of the animal feed, at the location where it is consumed.
The patent to Lundgren, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,510, shows another form of hay feeder. This is apparently just a feed bag type of device that has a series of ribs to provide access therethrough, so the animal can either obtain access to the feed through the slits, or through the top opening.
The patent to Cooke, U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,222, shows a horse feeder which includes an apparently molded barrel type of design, with a grill provided across its access opening.
Finally, the patent to Thome, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,759, shows another feeding device for stock. This device appears to be far more complex a design than the current invention, and includes a trough, with a bin furnishing an access opening therethrough, and series of upright bars above the bin.
This invention relates principally to the hay box, which has been devised as a hay feeding case, and which can be opened, like a suitcase, to have hay added thereto, closed, hung into position, to allow convenient and portable feeding of horses, and the like, with a minimum of effort.
The invention contemplates the formation of a hay feeding case that will conveniently allow the owner of horses to easily feed them, under a variety of conditions or locations, as necessary. Apparently among horse fanciers, particularly those that have horses that are transported around in trailers, from show to show, there is a feed bag that is used to allow the horses to feed, during transit, or even when in a stall. Currently, such a bag is made out of mesh rope or twine, the hay is simply put in it in bulk, the bag is hung on a wall, and the horses can pull the hay out of the netting, for consumption. Sometimes, the horses get their foot or leg stuck in the netting, and then the feed bag has to be cut away, to release the horse, or it can lead towards fracture or injury to the horse""s legs with predictable results. This invention can be placed low to the ground without the worry of the horse getting its foot or leg caught in it.
This current invention contemplates the fabrication of an inexpensive plastic box, similar to a suitcase, which is hinged, by way of a living or other hinge, at the bottom, wherein the hay can be located therein. The plastic box is closed, and a cord is provided at the top looped through a pair of handles, for holding the box in closure. The same cord can be used to hang the container onto the wall of the trailer, stall, or the like, to readily be available for feeding of the horse, at any time. The plastic box is formed slanted at its bottom, so that the hay will fall towards the bottom center, at the location of the hinge, and allow the horse to feed even upon the various grains that accumulate thereat, not only to provide feed to the end, but also that part of the feed which may be most nutritious.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide for a portable hay feeding case that can be used by horseman to instantly feed the horses, at any time and moment.
Another object of this invention is to provide for a very facile case that can be easily opened, portions of a hay bale, or flakes of hay, can be peeled away and added into the case, for instant feeding.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hay feeding case which, because of its various closure means, can be looped by means of a rope or cable into closure, with the same roping used to hang the case from the wall of the trailer, stall, or the like, readily available for consumption by the horse.


A swing/rotating gas metal arc welding torch, include a hollow shaft motor and a feeder panel. An upper extending shaft of the feeder panel penetrates through a brush mechanism, and is fixedly connected to a lower extension shaft of the hollow shaft by means of a coupling, and a lower extending shaft of the feeder panel penetrates through a support bearing mounted in a brush base and is then connected to an eccentric or bent conductive rod mechanism; the motor base is fixedly connected to the brush base by means of connecting screws, and a welding shielding gas is provided and welding torch cooling is achieved by means of inner holes of the connecting screws as well as a built-in gas passage and a cooling water passage of the brush base; the length of the conductive rod mechanism is adjusted by means of modulation or extension and retraction.

Gas metal arc welding is an arc welding method which takes a welding wire as a consumable electrode, adopts argon gas, CO2 gas or an argon-rich gas mixture and the like as a protective medium or adopts a self-shielded flux-cored wire. This method is suitable for welding on various positions such as a flat position and a spatial position, and is widely applied to metal manufacturing. The control on oscillating, swing or rotating motion of a welding arc is often required for improving the formation of a weld and the performance of a welded joint.
In accordance with Chinese Patent Applications with Publication No. CN1657211A entitled "Rotary Electric Arc Narrow Gap Welding Method and Device Driven by Hollow Shaft Motor" and Publication No. CN101412143A entitled "Swing Arc Narrow Gap Consumable Electrode Gas Shielded Welding Method and Welding Torch", a hollow shaft motor directly drives an eccentric contact tube mechanism or a bent conductive rod mechanism by means of a coupling to drive the arc to perform unidirectional rotating motion or reciprocating circular-arc swing in a narrow-gap groove, thereby respectively achieving rotating arc narrow gap fusion welding and swing arc narrow-gap fusion welding. The disadvantages of such a welding torch are that: firstly, only single rotating arc or swing arc narrow gap welding may be achieved as a result of a single arc motion control way and a narrow scope of application. Secondly, indirect positioning is achieved between a motor base and a bearing seat by means of a supporting plate, thereby resulting in low transmission positioning precision and great motor rotating resistance. Thirdly, a special sensing detection device for arc rotating frequency or swing frequency which is arranged between a motor mechanism and an electric brush mechanism is adopted, so that a welding torch mechanism is complicated. Fourthly, without a built-in cooling water passage, the welding torch body is easily heated by welding heat radiation. Fifthly, without a built-in gas passage, a welding torch nozzle mechanism only with an external nozzle mechanism is complicated. Sixthly, the conductive rod and the contact with relatively fixed structural forms and dimensions are adopted, so that process adaptability is relatively poor.
In accordance with Chinese Patent Application with Publication No. CN106180994A entitled "Rotary Oscillating type Welding Torch and Welding Method", disclosed is a welding torch in which a motor drives a rotary conducting seat or a curved contact tube fixedly connected thereto, so that arc rotating or oscillating is achieved. The disadvantages are that: firstly, the arc rotating motion mechanism is complex and the transmission positioning precision is not high as the rotary conducting seat adopts double-bearing support. Secondly, contact welding feed is performed with graphite powder, and feed stability is worse. Thirdly, the curved contact tube is a consumable part, so that the implementation cost is high. Fourthly, a rotary oscillating angle of the contact tube is detected by means of a special position sensing mechanism, so that the welding torch mechanism is complicated. Fifthly, the conductive rod mechanism is fixed and single in structural form, is poor in modulation and adjustability, and is worse in process adaptability. Sixthly, the welding torch is only applied for narrow gap arc welding.

Swing/rotating gas metal arc welding torch and use method therefor

JIANGSU UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


Described is a technology by which a scalable distributed file system is provided by deploying intelligent storage devices that are directly connected to the network. A server receives a request for data from a requester, and sends corresponding requests to the storage devices. The storage devices send data blocks directly to the requester instead of back to the server, while identifying the server as the sender, e.g., by programming a switch to participate in such an operation.

Contemporary cloud computing and other centralized data storage scenarios (e.g., datacenters) need a great deal of storage. Contemporary storage systems based upon hard disk storage have hard disks attached directly to server nodes, typically with a single server set up as a file server. During normal operation, when a request for a file comes to this file server, the file server looks up the file system indexes and identifies the physical blocks on the hard drives that contain the file data, reads the individual blocks into memory, sets up a transfer from memory to the network interface, and completes the file transfer over the network interface.
One limitation of such a system is that the size of the file server storage is limited by the number of hard drives that can be attached to the physical machine. Large scale distributed systems overcome this limitation by setting up several such machines as peers and distributing the storage across the machines. Each machine then can have either a global view of the file index, or a local view along with peer communication to get a global view. In general, when a request for a file comes in to one of the servers, e.g., a main server machine, the main server machine identifies the peer machines across which the file blocks are distributed by looking up its local index or asking its peer machines, and requests the file blocks from each of the identified machines. Each peer machine then looks up the blocks among its local hard drives, reads the individual blocks into memory, and transfers the blocks over the network to the main server machine. The main server then assembles the file in memory from the various blocks received from the various peer machines and transfers them back over the network to complete the file transfer.
However, such a distributed system increases the size and cost of the storage by adding more compute nodes, with the additional computing power of these nodes often. This also leads to waste in the need for additional power and cooling in the datacenters. Further, there is additional bandwidth consumed in transferring the file from the machines with the data to the machine that is completing the file transfer. Moreover, with a main server handling reads and writes by assembling blocks, there is usually a limit on how many hard disks can be attached to a single server node.

Scalable storage with programmable networks


An IC card connection unit according to the invention is for use in electronic equipment into which an IC card is inserted. It included a body provided with a contacting arrangement for contacts, and a card supporter fixedly attached to the body, provided with a recess for forming a card insertion path. A card butting part movable when pressed by the tip of the IC card is disposed in the card insertion path, and a pressing force applied to the card butting part is converted into a force acting in the direction crossing the direction of the card insertion path, whereby contacts of the equipment are shifted so as to be in contact with contacts of the IC card while the IC card is retained in the card insertion path.

In a conventional connection unit for an IC card (memory card included) used in electronic equipment, for example, portable electronic equipment used for electronic commercial transactions, contacts of the equipment are disposed so as to protrude in an insertion path for the IC card and come into contact with contacts of the IC card inserted into the insertion path.
The conventional IC card connection unit, wherein the contacts of the equipment are disposed so as to protrude in the insertion path for the IC card, has a drawback in that when the IC card is inserted into the insertion path, the contacts of the equipment come into contact with resin material composing the IC card before they come into contact with the contacts of the IC card. This shaves off the resin material, with the result that generated shavings of the resin material adhere to the contacts, causing faulty contact and leading to poor reliability.
Furthermore, there has been a likelihood that a high voltage developed when the contacts of the IC card are disengaged from the contacts of the equipment may destroy the circuit of the IC card.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an IC card connection unit wherein generation of shavings of resin composing the IC card does not occur when bringing the contacts of the IC card into contact with the contacts of the equipment, enhancing reliability of contact between the contacts, and preventing a high voltage from being developed when the contacts are disengaged from each other, eliminating a risk of the IC card circuit being destroyed.


An apparatus for damping torsional vibrations, particularly between coaxial primary and secondary masses of a composite flywheel in the power train between the engine and the transmission of a motor vehicle, has at least one coil spring or torsion spring which extends around the common axis of the two masses, which is stressed at least in the radial direction, and which is in a mere frictional (rather than positive) torque transmitting engagement with at least one of the masses. The spring can be installed to transmit torque from the secondary mass to the primary mass and/or vice versa, and such spring can operate in series with a damper between the primary and secondary masses.

The present invention relates to apparatus for damping torsional vibrations. Such apparatus can be utilized with advantage in composite masses or flywheels which are installed in the power trains of motor vehicles to transmit torque between a prime mover (e.g., a combustion engine) and a driven unit (e.g., a manually shiftable, automated or automatic transmission). More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus wherein torque is being transmitted between an output member (such as a member including a primary mass or flywheel of a composite mass or flywheel) and an input member (such as a member including a secondary mass or flywheel of the composite mass or flywheel) by way of one or more resilient elements which permit angular movements of the output and input members relative to each other.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,541,748 (granted Jun. 9, 1925 to Davis) and 1,997,021 (granted Apr. 9, 1935 to Spase) disclose cushioning or vibration damping apparatus wherein one or more springs extend around the common axis of the rotary input and output members. One end portion of each spring is form-lockingly connected with the input member, and the other end portion of each such spring is form-lockingly connected with the output member. A drawback of such apparatus is that they prevent rotation of the input and output members relative to each other beyond a predetermined angle regardless of the magnitude of transmitted torque and irrespective of the circumstances of use of the patented apparatus.

Apparatus for damping torsional vibrations


Provided is a battery pack in which a terminal stand having electrode terminals of battery modules inserted and connected thereinto is formed at one side of a sub plate in which the battery modules are seated, such that the battery modules are easily electrically connected to each other and are attachable and detachable.

Generally, since a secondary battery may be charged and discharged unlike a primary battery, the secondary battery has been applied to various fields such as a digital camera, a cellular phone, a laptop computer, and a hybrid vehicle and has been actively studied. An example of the secondary battery includes a nickel-cadmium battery, a nickel-metal hydride battery, a nickel-hydrogen battery, and a lithium secondary battery. In addition, among these secondary batteries, the lithium secondary battery having a high energy density and a discharging voltage has been mainly studied, and has been commercialized and widely used.
Further, the secondary battery is configured in a form of a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked due to the necessity of a high output and a large capacity, and is configured of one battery pack by stacking and arranging a plurality of battery modules in parallel with each other and connecting positive electrode terminals and negative electrode terminals of neighboring battery modules to each other by bus bars.
Here, the bus bar has through-holes formed in both sides thereof, and the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal protruding outwardly of the battery modules are inserted into the through-holes and are fastened and are closely adhered and coupled thereto by a nut, thereby forming the battery pack in which the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal are electrically connected to each other.
However, when the battery modules are connected to each other by fastening the nut as described above, it is difficult to assemble the battery pack by stacking the battery modules or to perform disassembling and assembling at the time of maintenance due to abnormality of the battery pack.
As the related art, EP Patent Publication Application No. 2,337,119 entitled "Medium or Large Battery Pack Including Electrode Connection Device" has been disclosed.


A plastic pallet comprising an upper plastic sheet and a lower plastic sheet. The lower sheet has a generally rectangular configuration, including sidewalls and end walls, and includes a plurality of separate parallel upwardly opening longitudinally extending U-shaped grooves extending from end to end of the sheet and a plurality of downwardly opening U-shaped grooves interspersed between the upwardly opening grooves and opening in the end walls of the sheet. The upper sheet defines a top wall and a plurality of upwardly opening U-shaped protrusions extending downwardly from the top wall and sized to nest within the upwardly opening grooves of the lower sheet, whereby the sheets may be fused together to form double thickness U-shaped wall structures at the interfaces of the protrusions and the upwardly opening grooves. The pallet further includes a pair of longitudinally extending metallic beams positioned between the upper and lower sheets.

This invention relates to shipping and storage pallets and more particularly to plastic pallets embodying a twin sheet construction.
Whereas twin sheet pallets have in general proven to be superior to the wooden pallets previously in use, the undersurfaces of the pallets tend to be irregular so that movement of the pallets over irregular transfer surfaces and over various transfer devices such as conveyors is difficult and sometimes impossible. Further, the prior art twin sheet pallets fail to make provision to preclude tipping of the pallet off of the forks of a forklift truck in the presence of an unbalanced load on the pallet. Further, the prior art twin sheet pallets have tended to creep or sag after extended periods of use.


A new and improved electrical receptacle comprising a light permeable housing, electrical outlets mounted in the housing, and illuminating means disposed interiorly of the housing. In an alternatively preferred arrangement, a stand pivotally attached to the receptacle housing is adapted to elevate the receptacle thereby affording protection against short circuits due to excessive moisture on the floor. In yet another alternatively preferred arrangement, a second pivotal attachment on the housing is effective to prevent the inadvertent disconnection of electrical cords plugged into the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical receptacles, and more particularly, to electrical receptacles having self-contained means for illuminating the housing in which the electrical receptacles are mounted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical receptacles attached to one end of a power cord or electrical conductor are well known. Such devices, commonly referred to as "extension cords", are used widely to enable electrical appliances to be plugged in and turned on where for one reason or another, a wall-mounted receptacle is not conveniently present. In addition, the combination of a wall-mounted electrical receptacle and an illuminating device attached to the receptacle is known (U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,225). Also known is the use of a "night-light" mounted in an outlet box in a wall and having an electric receptacle therewith (U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,419); and the combination of electrical power outlets with illumination means in a tower module for use at marinas (U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,182). None of the prior arrangements, however, contemplate the provision of an illuminated receptacle attached to an electrical conductor so as to facilitate safe access to electrical power low-light or darkness conditions. The foregoing disadvantage is overcome by the unique electrical receptacle arrangement 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.


A highly thermally conductive printed circuit board prevents electrochemical migration by inhibiting elution of copper ions. The printed circuit board is a metal-base printed circuit board including a metal base plate having an insulating resin layer and a copper foil layer stacked thereon in this order. In the printed circuit board, the insulating resin layer contains a first inorganic filler made of inorganic particles having particle diameters of 0.1 nm to 600 nm with an average particle diameter (D50) of 1 nm to 300 nm, and a second inorganic filler made of inorganic particles having particle diameters of 100 nm to 100 μm with an average particle diameter (D50) of 500 nm to 20 μm, and the first inorganic filler and the second inorganic filler are uniformly dispersed in the insulating resin layer.

Printed circuit boards are necessary as components for electronic apparatuses and electrical apparatuses. Printed circuit boards have various structures such as single-sided printed circuit boards, double-sided printed circuit boards, and multilayer printed circuit boards. Printed circuit boards are assembled by mounting devices such as resistors, capacitors, reactors, and transformers, by soldering.
Recently, to dissipate heat generated when power semiconductors or LED devices are operated, metal-base printed circuit boards including a copper foil layer, an insulating resin layer, and a metal base plate have been increasingly used. To conserve energy, power semiconductors that control electric power, and LEDs that can emit light with less electricity than incandescent light bulbs, have been increasingly employed.
For example, a metal-base printed circuit board has a structure in which an insulating resin layer having a thickness of approximately 100 μm to approximately 300 μm and a copper foil layer having a thickness of approximately 35 μm to approximately 140 μm are stacked in this order on a metal base plate having a thickness of approximately 1 mm to approximately 2 mm.
The insulating resin layer is obtained as a prepreg having a thickness of about 50 μm by applying a material obtained by adding an inorganic filler such as SiO2 or Al2O3 to an epoxy resin onto a copper foil layer, a PET film, or the like. One to several sheets of the prepreg are stacked on the metal base plate, and furthermore, the copper foil layer is stacked thereon. Then, these layers and plate are bonded together by hot pressing. A metal-base printed circuit board is obtained by etching the copper foil layer to any wiring pattern. As the metal-base printed circuit board, a printed circuit board described in Patent Document 1 is known, for example.
A point in a case in which a power semiconductor or the like is mounted on a metal-base printed circuit board is that the metal-base printed circuit board can dissipate heat (cool the power semiconductor or the like) appropriately during the operation thereof. As the power semiconductor, an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), a MOS-FET (metal oxide film semiconductor field-effect transistor), or the like is used. The electric power generated by the power semiconductor reaches several watts to several tens of watts. To dissipate the heat efficiently, it is desirable that the insulating resin layer have as high a thermal conductivity as possible.
Insulating resin layers generally used so far for metal-base printed circuit boards have thermal conductivities of about 1 W/m·K to 3 W/m·K. Recently, those having higher thermal conductivities have been demanded, and insulating resin layers having thermal conductivities improved to about 5 W/m·K to 6 W/m·K have been developed and used.
In the case of a metal-base printed circuit board with the thermal conductivity being about 1 W/m·K to 3 W/m·K, an inorganic filler such as SiO2 or Al2O3 is added at a ratio of about 80% by mass. To increase the thermal conductivity to about 5 W/m·K to 6 W/m·K, Al2O3 or the like is further added to about 80% by mass to 95% by mass, or an inorganic filler having a high thermal conductivity such as BN or AlN is added.
In general, the insulating resin layer used has a thickness of 80 μm to 200 μm. A voltage is to be applied between the copper foil layer and the metal base plate. The applied voltage varies depending on the purpose of the device, and for example, when a 1200 V IGBT element is used, a voltage of approximately 1000 V is applied to the insulating resin layer. Hence, the insulating resin layer has to provide reliable insulation for a long period.
In particular, it is necessary to prevent occurrence of electrochemical migration, which is one of the insulation degradation phenomena occurring in the wiring pattern of the copper foil layer. In this phenomenon, moisture absorption or dew condensation, which may occur during use of the device, causes decrease in insulation resistance in the wiring pattern of the copper foil layer, and copper ions are eluted from the copper foil and are deposited by reduction on the counter electrode, so that an electrically conductive path is formed, which leads to a short circuit.
The electrochemical migration may also occur in an insulating resin layer of a metal-base printed circuit board. Hence, it is necessary to prevent the electrochemical migration. In particular, copper ions are easily eluted in end portions of the copper foil layer and in the vicinities of the end portions where the electric field intensity is high.


Disclosed is a valve assembly having a slidable valve stem that passes through a bushing enclosed in a bonnet. At least one circumferential stem seal seals the valve stem to the bushing. At least one passageway is provided through the bushing for injecting a fluid between the valve stem and the bushing to wash out deposits. A second optional passageway is also provided for injecting a lubricant around the valve stem.

This invention relates to a valve assembly having at least one passageway through a bushing through which a fluid can be injected to wash contaminants away from the stem seals. In particular, it relates to a valve assembly for controlling the flow of brine.
Ethylene and propylene gases, produced by cracking crude oil, are often stored in underground salt caverns. To force the gases out of the caverns, brine, which will not dissolve the salt, is pumped into the caverns. Pneumatically operated gate valves are used to control the flow of brine into and out of these caverns. Abrasive salt crystals from the brine tend to adhere to the valve stem. They increase the friction on the stem, making it more difficult to operate the valve, and abrade the stem seals, causing the valve to fail. When a valve becomes so clogged that it can not be opened or closed pneumatically, a worker must be sent into the field to close the valve. This is done by physically pulling the stem up using a tool, a demanding task that can damage the piston retainers on the valve.


A rotating electrical machine that includes a rotor core having a permanent magnet placed therein; a stator core placed so as to face the rotor core in a radial direction and including a plurality of teeth and a plurality of slots each located between adjacent ones of the teeth; and a plurality of coils placed in the slots of the stator core.

The present disclosure relates to rotating electrical machines and stators.
Conventionally, rotating electrical machines and stators which include a plurality of teeth are known in the art. Such a rotating electrical machine and a stator are disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-115057 (JP 2010-115057 A).
Conventional rotating electrical machines have a plurality of teeth. The plurality of teeth include same-phase teeth each having coils of the same phase placed in slots adjoining one side and the other side in the circumferential direction of the same-phase tooth, and different-phase teeth each having coils of different phases placed in slots adjoining one side and the other side in the circumferential direction of the different-phase tooth. When a current is supplied (applied) to the coils of each phase, the magnetic resistance of paths running from a rotor through the different-phase teeth is smaller than that of paths running from the rotor through the same-phase teeth. Accordingly, when a current is applied and the rotor is rotated, the amount of current magnetic flux that passes through the different-phase teeth, namely the amount of magnetic flux from permanent magnets of the rotor which passes through the different-phase teeth, is larger than the amount of current magnetic flux that passes through the same-phase teeth, namely the amount of magnetic flux from the permanent magnets of the rotor which passes through the same-phase teeth. Torque that is applied to the rotor therefore increases rapidly. That is, torque ripple is generated in the conventional rotating electrical machines.
As a solution to this, in the rotating electrical machine described in JP 2010-115057 A, the tip ends (corners) on the radially inner side of the different-phase teeth are chambered. The tip ends (corners) on the radially inner side of the same-phase teeth are not chambered. Since the tip ends on the radially inner side of the different-phase teeth are chambered, the length between the permanent magnet and the tip end on the radially inner side of the different-phase tooth is larger than the length between the permanent magnet and the tip end on the radially inner side of the same-phase tooth accordingly. As a result, when a current is applied, the magnetic resistance of the paths running from the rotor through the different-phase teeth is substantially the same as that of the paths running from the rotor through the same-phase teeth. Torque ripple can thus be reduced.


There is a support module for a posture support device such as a bed mattress. The module comprises upper and lower frames (3A, 3B) connected together by linkages (3C, 3D) which in use of the module within the support device are adapted upon activation by an external control (3H, 3J) to displace the frames (3A, 3B) between a collapsed configuration and a spaced apart configuration so that the posture support device can be adjusted between a soft support and a firm support. The module may be fitted between rows of conventional innersprings during manufacture of a conventional bed mattress,

Existing mattresses are typically manufactured in "soft", "medium" and "firm" versions in accordance with the amount of support provided. The difference between the models is normally achieved by varying the type and number of innersprings as well as the thickness of the padding which is applied over them. While this initially provides the consumer with a choice, the available range of support is still limited. Also the support provided cannot be adjusted to suit particular areas of the body or different partners in the case of double beds. Further, with use, even firm mattresses begin to sag and lose their posture support and there is currently no way of readily compensating for this.


A patterned glass substrate is provided for use in a solar cell. The glass substrate is both patterned on at least one surface thereof and has a low iron content. The combination of low iron content, optional oxidizing agent, and the patterning of the glass substrate results in a substrate with high visible transmission and excellent light refracting characteristics.

Solar cells are known in the art. A solar cell may include, for example, a photoelectric transfer film made up of one or more layers located between a pair of substrate. These layers may be supported by a glass substrate. Example solar cells are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,510,344, 4,806,436, 6,506,622, 5,977,477, and JP 07-122764, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Substrate(s) in a solar cell are sometimes made of glass. Glass that is fairly clear in color and highly transmissive to visible light is sometimes desirable. Glass raw materials (e.g., silica sand, soda ash, dolomite, and/or limestone) typically include certain impurities such as iron, which is a colorant. The total amount of iron present is expressed herein in terms of Fe2O3 in accordance with standard practice. However, typically, not all iron is in the from of Fe2O3. Instead, iron is usually present in both the ferrous state (Fe2+; expressed herein as FeO, even though all ferrous state iron in the glass may not be in the form of FeO) and the ferric state (Fe3+). Iron in the ferrous state (Fe2+; FeO) is a blue-green colorant, while iron in the ferric state (Fe3+) is a yellow-green colorant. The blue-green colorant of ferrous iron (Fe2+; FeO) is of particular concern when seeking to achieve a fairly clear or neutral colored glass, since as a strong colorant it introduces significant color into the glass. While iron in the ferric state (Fe3+) is also a colorant, it is of less concern when seeking to achieve a glass fairly clear in color since iron in the ferric state tends to be weaker as a colorant than its ferrous state counterpart.
It has been found that the use of a low-iron highly transparent patterned glass is advantageous for solar cell applications. The use of the low-iron composition in combination with the patterned surface(s) of the glass substrate(s) has been found to be advantageous with respect to optical properties, thereby leading to increased solar efficiency of a solar cell.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, a solar cell patterned glass substrate has a visible transmission of at least 75% (more preferably at least 80%, even more preferably at least 85%, and most preferably at least about 90%). In making such a glass, a batch therefor includes a base glass (e.g., soda lime silica glass) and in addition comprises (or consists essentially of in certain other embodiments) a very small amount of total iron.
Optionally, an amount of cerium oxide may also be present. In certain example embodiments, the patterned glass substrate may have fairly clear color that may be slightly yellowish (a positive b* value is indicative of yellowish color). For example, in certain example embodiments, the patterned glass substrate may be characterized by a visible transmission of at least 90%, a total solar/energy value of at least 90%, a transmissive a* color value of from −1.0 to +1.0 (more preferably from −0.5 to +0.5, and most preferably from −0.2 to 0), and a transmissive b* color value of from 0 to +1.5 (more preferably from +0.1 to +1.0, and most preferably from +0.2 to +0.7). These properties may be realized at an example non-limiting reference glass thickness of from about 3-4 mm.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a solar cell comprising: a patterned glass substrate, wherein at least one surface of the patterned glass substrate has a surface roughness of from about 0.1 to 1.5 μm; first and second conductive layers with at least a photoelectric film provided therebetween; wherein the glass substrate is of a composition comprising:
Ingredientwt. %SiO267-75%Na2O10-20%CaO 5-15%total iron (expressed as Fe2O3)0.001 to 0.06% cerium oxide  0 to 0.30%wherein the glass substrate has visible transmission of at least 90%, a transmissive a* color value of −1.0 to +1.0 and a transmissive b* color value of from 0 to +1.5. The amount of total iron oxide (expressed as Fe2O3) is more preferably from 0.02 to 0.06%. MgO may also be provided in the glass in certain example embodiments.
In other example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a method of making patterned glass, the method comprising: providing a molten glass batch in a furnace or melter comprising from 67-75% SiO2, from about 0.001 to 0.06% (more preferably from 0.01 to 0.06%) total iron, and from about 0 to 0.30% cerium oxide; providing the glass batch so as to have a batch redox of at least 10; forwarding a glass ribbon from the furnace or melter to a nip between first and second rollers, at least one of the rollers having patter defined in a surface thereof, wherein the glass ribbon reaches the nip at a temperature of from about 1,900 to 2,400 degrees F.; at the nip, transferring the pattern from the roller(s) to the glass ribbon; the glass ribbon being at a temperature of from about 1,100 to 1,600 degrees F. upon exiting the nip; annealing the glass ribbon at least after the ribbon exits the nip, thereby providing a patterned glass having a visible transmission of at least 90%, from about 0.001 to 0.06% (more preferably from 0.01 to 0.06%) total iron, and from about 0 to 0.30% cerium oxide.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, the glass has no more than 0.07% cerium oxide, more preferably no more than 0.06%, a transmissive a* color value of −0.5 to +0.5 and a transmissive b* color value of from +0.1 to +1.0.

Solar cell low iron patterned glass and method of making same


A J-runner, used in the construction of shaft walls in buildings is provided with a lifting element or ledge or both to permit simple centering of studs or shaft walls or both. By providing a lifting member in a lower J-runner, the studs or shaft walls or both can rest upon the lifting member to assist in vertically centering the studs or shaft walls or both when the shaft is fully constructed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a J-runner for shaft wall construction apparatus used to hold wall panels in place during constructions of shaft walls in buildings.
2. Background of the Invention
Walls around shafts, such as elevator shafts, were traditionally formed from concrete. Such installations required personnel working inside the shaft to have to wait until the walls were completed, then remove debris and other material from the concrete erection.
As an improvement to the concrete systems, the assignee of the present invention developed a system whereby drywall (such as SHEETROCK brand gypsum board, available from United States Gypsum Corporation of Chicago, Ill.) or other wall panels can be installed from outside the shaft, thereby significantly reducing any scaffolding, and construction debris inside the shaft. By installing the wall panels from the outside, personnel working inside the shaft no longer needed to wait until the construction was completed to begin their work.
Such systems typically include a pair of J-runners into which a first wall panel is inserted, with the first J-runner along the top of the wall panel and a second J-runner along the bottom. The J-runner generally is formed from metals, such as steel, and typically includes a first short upstanding section and a second tall upstanding section in a substantially parallel configuration, each forming a substantially right angle with a middle section. Such a configuration allows for a first wall panel (or shaft panel) to be inserted between the upstanding sections to form the interior of the shaft. Additional wall panels can be affixed to the outside of the J-runners, typically to the outer surfaces of the short upstanding sections to form the interior of the room. In typical shaft wall constructions, wall studs, such as C-H studs and E-studs, are used to hold the wall panel in place. This type of construction is described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,943,680; 3,940,899; and 4,152,878, all to Balinski, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
However, with this type of construction, vertically centering the wall studs is desired to achieve optimal structural performance. Additionally, when water or moisture develops in the cavity formed by the wall panels, the prior art constructions provide no means for dissipating such moisture.


A relatively low cost, easy to install and aesthetically pleasing digital video broadcast from satellite (DVBS) elliptical horn antenna designed as part of a reflector antenna system to receive satellite television broadcast signals with circular polarity. This type antenna may be implemented with a single antenna feed horn with multiple feed horns that may be arranged separately or in one or more integral feed horn blocks. The antennas may be designed to achieve acceptable circular polarity performance over broad and multiple frequency bands through the use of oppositely sloped differential phase differential sections.

An increasing number of applications, such as digital video satellite broadcast television systems, utilize elliptical antenna reflectors to improve gain and interference rejection in desired directions. This is particularly true for ground-based antenna systems designed to receive from and/or transmit to geo-stationary satellites when other potential interfering satellites are closely spaced, for example on the order of two degrees away. Simply increasing a circular antenna's reception area improves gain and interference rejection in all directions. Increasing the antenna size should also be balanced against cost and aesthetic tradeoffs. Elliptical antenna reflectors strike a better balance between these competing design objectives by increasing the size of the antenna reflector more in the direction in which interference rejection is most critical. The resulting elliptical antennas maintain a relative small reflector size (collection area) while providing improved rejection of unwanted signals in the direction needed. This is typically accomplished by aligning the long axis of the antenna reflector with the geostationary arc. Elliptical reflectors can also be designed to improve the antenna's performance when multiple feeds are used to receive from or transmit to multiple locations (such as multiple satellites).
In general, elliptical antenna feed horns should be used in connection with elliptical reflectors in order to achieve optimum performance. Although elliptical antenna feed horns are somewhat more complex than ordinary circular feeds feed horns, there are a number of established design approaches for elliptical beam feeds. In addition, many applications are now using circular polarity. This is where the challenge arises. It is difficult to achieve good circular polarity cross polarization isolation (also referred to as x-polarization or x-pol isolation) when using an elliptical beam feed with a circular polarity polarizer (also referred to as a CP polarizer) approaches. The problem arises because an elliptical horn (or most any non-axially symmetric horn) introduces a differential phase shift between orthogonal electric fields that are parallel (or near parallel) to either the wide or narrow sides of the horn. The result is that when a circular polarity signal is received by an elliptical horn the asymmetries in the horn introduce a phase differential between the orthogonal fields, changing the circular polarity into elliptical polarity at the output of the horn. Simply attaching a conventional CP polarizer to a feed horn with an elliptical portion results in poor cross-polarization performance due to the differential phase and amplitude characteristics imparted by the elliptical portion of the feed horn.
The following additional background information will facilitate a more detailed discussion of CP polarizers and elliptical antenna feed horns. First it should be appreciated that that circular polarity can be expressed as the vector sum of two orthogonal linear components that are 90 degrees out of phase. For example, the orthogonal linear components can be referred to as +45FV0P (+45 degrees from vertical and 0 degrees phase reference) and −45FV+90P (−45 degrees from vertical and +90 degrees phase). A typical CP polarizer is lined up with the −45LP+90P component and delays that 45FV+90P component by 90 degrees so that it becomes in phase with the +45FV0P component. When this occurs the result is a theoretically lossless conversion of the received power conversion from circular polarity to linear polarity (vertical polarity in this case). This linear polarity can then be easily picked up with simple linear probe, wave-guide slot, etc. If both right hand circular polarity (RHCP) and left hand circular polarity LHCP beams are present, then the CP polarizer produces both vertical and horizontal linear polarity components.
Now consider a theoretically perfect circular polarity beam impinging on an elliptically shaped receiving horn as shown in FIGS. 1A-C. Again, recall that circular polarity can be expressed as the vector sum of two orthogonal linear components that are 90 degrees out of phase. For simplicity in this case, the orthogonal linear components will be taken to be H (horizontal) and V (vertical), where H is aligned with (parallel to) the x-axis, V is aligned with the y-axis, and the z-axis is the signal propagation direction through the horn, as expressed in terms of a conventional Cartesian coordinate system. As the circular polarity beam enters the horn, the elliptical shape of the horn causes the H and V components to travel at different phase velocities through the horn so the H and V components are no longer 90 degrees out of phase when they reach the end of the horn (at the start of the polarizer section). So elliptical polarity now exists at the start of the polarizer section. So a polarizer designed to convert circular polarity to linear polarity will have poor CP cross polarization (cross polarization) performance as shown in FIG. 1D.
As a design compromise, many elliptical reflector systems simply use circular beam feeds with conventional CP polarizers in an attempt to preserve good circular polarity cross polarization isolation. This approach is easy to implement but results in significant compromises (degradations) in efficiency, gain noise temperature, beam width, and side lobe performance of the reflector system, because the circular beam feeds do not properly illuminate the elliptical reflector. This situation is shown in FIG. 2, in which the antenna horn illumination level along the short axis of the reflector is too high resulting in large amounts of wasted spillover energy that degrades gain, efficiency, and noise temperature. In addition, the antenna horn illumination level along the long axis of the reflector is too low resulting in degraded taper efficiency and gain. In addition, this improper illumination makes it very difficult to achieve desired beam width and side lobe performance. That is, the high illumination along the short axis of the antenna degrades (raises) side lobes while the low illumination along the long axis of the antenna degrades (widens) beam widths. In addition, for multi-beam applications where a single reflector is used to receive from multiple beam sources (typically satellites) that are closely spaced, use of a circular feed increases the physical spacing required between the feeds, which limits the closeness of the beams that the antenna can receive.
There has been some work in the area of elliptical beam feed horns that provide circular polarization. U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,542 gives a vague description of an antenna horn that includes a divided elliptical horn section including a phase compensator in the form an "arc structure metal" that spans the entire major axis of the elliptical horn. It is not clear whether or not the "arc structure metal" is used to remove the phase differential introduced by the horn such that a conventional CP polarizer can be attached to it or if the "arc structure metal" is used in conjunction with the horn to achieve the proper phase differentials needed for CP polarizer thereby eliminating the need for a separate CP polarizer. Regardless, this metal structure complicates the manufacturability of the horn making it more difficult to die cast or machine. Also adding the arc through the middle of the horn might require the horn to be wider than desired for many applications.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for single and multi-beam elliptical antenna systems that exhibit improved efficiency, gain, interference rejection, gain noise temperature, beam width, side lobe, size and cost and other characteristics.

Circular polarity elliptical horn antenna


A training sequence is pre-filtered in a radiocommunication system having an emitter in the form of an antenna device with several antenna systems, thereby making it possible to transmit the training sequences through a pre-filter to said antenna systems side for reradiation by the emitter. Estimation enabling to form the properties of radio transmission channels described by spatial correlations is formed. The prefilter is dimensioned according to the correlations, thereby minimizing the error value of an algorithm used for estimation the channel on a reception side.

The invention relates to a method for pre-filtering training sequences in a radio communication system, in which an antenna system comprising a number of antenna elements is used on the transmit side at least.
In the case of radio communication systems, such as mobile radio communication systems, to increase data transmission capacity, antenna systems each comprising a number of antenna elements are used on both the transmit side and the receive side. Such radio communication systems are referred to as so-called Multiple Input Multiple Output or MIMO radio communication systems.
Special signal processing algorithms are used to split a digital input data stream into data sub-streams and emit them via the transmit-side antenna elements. Spatial radio channel coefficients can be derived based on the spatial arrangement of the antenna elements, representing characteristics of radio transmission channels. The radio channel coefficients for example describe signal fading, specific propagation, attenuation, interference, etc. in the radio transmission channel.
The radio channel coefficients are used for example on the transmit side to pre-filter the data sub-streams, to adjust these in an optimum manner to the radio transmission with respect to a higher data throughput or with respect to a higher level of transmission quality. For example pre-filtering brings about an individual transmit power adjustment and/or an individual modulation for every data sub-stream.
In the case of a MIMO radio communication system, radio channel coefficient determination with the aid of channel estimation is very complex. With a number MTX of transmit antennae and a number MRX of receive antennae, a total of MRX×MTX radio channel coefficients to be estimated therefore results for MRX×MTX radio transmission channels. Specifically, for a MIMO radio communication system with four transmit and four receive antennae, a total of 16 radio transmission channels results described by 16 radio channel coefficients.
In the case of an FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) radio communication system in particular, precise estimation of the radio channel coefficients requires long training sequences, which in turn take up a considerable number of radio transmission resources.
Transmitter-side pre-filtering of symbols to be sent is known from "Performance Analysis of MIMO Maximum Likelihood Receivers with Channel Correlation, Colored Gaussian Noise, and Linear Prefiltering", Mario Kiessling et al., ICC 2003, IEEE International Conference on Communications, vol. 5, 11.05.2003-15.05.2003, pages 3026 to 3030, XP002270467, USA. The described pre-filtering allows improved receipt of the symbols to be achieved in respect of the bit error rate BER and in respect of the signal to noise ratio SNR, with pre-filtering taking place on the basis of statistical algorithms.
Transmit-side pre-filtering is known from "Statistical Prefiltering for MIMO Systems with Linear Receivers in the Presence of Transmit Correlation" Kiessling, 57th IEEE Semi-annual Vehicular Technology Conference, VTC 2003, Jeju, South Korea, vol. 1, 22.04.2003-25.04.2003, pages 267-271, XP002270468, for the dimensioning of which there is no need for a precise knowledge of channel state information CSI.
Pre-filtering is carried out based on statistical values.
Further pre-filtering based on statistical values is known from "Statistical Prefiltering for MMSE and ML Receivers with Correlated MIMO Channels", Kiessling, WCNC 2003, IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference Record, New Orleans, La., USA, 16-20.03.2003, vol. 2, pages 919-924, XP002270469.

Method for pre-filtering training sequences in a radiocommunication system


The present invention aims to produce high-quality recycled pulp with little damage to fibers, high brightness and low residual ink by means of a force selectively acting on fiber surfaces during the process of recycling waste paper. Moreover, fiber surfaces are modified by means of a force acting on only the fiber surfaces to obtain high-quality pulp and to render harmless dirts deteriorating pulp quality.

Recently, there have been growing demands for recycling waste paper with a view to saving global resources and preserving the environment, and increasing the range of application of recycling has become an important issue. While conventional recycled pulp has generally been used for newsprint/magazine paper etc., a demand has grown recently for the production of recycled pulp having high brightness and low residual ink; which is to be achieved by advanced treatment of waste paper with a view to expanding a range of application of recycled pulp.
Methods for recycling waste paper typically comprise a step of stripping ink from pulp fibers and a step of removing the stripped ink. More specifically, the mainstream method comprises promoting stripping of ink from pulp fibers and fragmentation thereof by hydrodynamic shear forces or the friction force between pulp fibers in a pulper and subsequently removing ink by flotation and/or washing. During this process, waste paper is typically treated at basic pH by adding deinking chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate, oxidizing bleaches and/or reducing bleaches and deinking agents, if needed. Advanced treatment methods for waste paper include, for example, promoting stripping/fragmentation of ink by mechanical force after the ink stripping step or ink removal step or removing ink again and then (patent document 1) stripping ink that could not be removed by the previous treatment and remains on pulp fibers.
However, diversification of waste paper has led to increased inclusion of offset inks deteriorated over time to an advanced stage of oxidative polymerization, toner inks thermally fused to pulp fibers, UV-curable resin inks cured by treatment during printing, etc., which cause the problem of insufficient stripping of ink during recycling that results in a significant impairment in the final pulp quality due to the presence of unstrapped ink in the paper pulp. This problem has been addressed by treatment under higher mechanical load or at higher temperatures or by adding larger amounts of chemicals such as alkalis or deinking agents, but the increased mechanical load caused problems such as fragmentation of pulp fibers or increase of small fibers or twisting of pulp fibers resulting in a loss of paper strength or size stability or paper curling; and the increase of steam costs for high temperatures or chemical costs caused problems of increased costs. Another approach is to repeat multiple cycles of step of stripping ink by mechanical force and the step of removing ink by flotation and/or washing until a desired pulp quality is obtained, but this approach requires a very large capital investment and invites an increase in drainage load so that it is considerably disadvantageous from the aspects of cost, energy and environmental conservation and has not been widely used. Thus, especially toner prints and UV-curable resin ink prints have been used for only paperboards and household paper, but have not been positively used as raw waste paper materials for printing paper, specialty paper for communication and newsprint paper.
Moreover, improvements in the utilization rate of waste paper has enabled pulp fibers per se to be recycled a greater number of times, and with repeated recycling pulp fibers are more severely damaged as reported by Okayama et al. (Takayuki Okayama, The 7th Basic Lecture about Pulp, Waste Paper Pulp (Part 2), Edited by Japan Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, p 101-111, 2002). It is known that the hydrogen bonding capability of pulp fibers considerably decreases by heat drying, and when waste paper once dried is to be recycled, the hydrogen bonding capability must be improved by beating the waste paper with a refiner or the like to raise pulp fibers in order to compensate for the decrease in hydrogen bonding capability. However, the inner structures of pulp fibers are seriously damaged and turn into structures having lamellar or annular cracks during this process. Pulp fibers in such a state seem to be readily broken by friction between fibers due to mechanical force or contact with agitating blades during the process of recycling waste paper, thereby promoting fragmentation of pulp fibers. Thus, conventional techniques can not avoid damage to pulp fibers or an increase in costs such as energy consumption or drainage costs in order to produce high-quality pulp from diversifying waste papers.
Pulp fibers have conventionally been modified by beating pulp using a mechanical force to fibrillate pulp fibers so that the bonding area between fibers is enlarged by raising microfibrils on fiber surfaces to improve bonding strength. However, such a method deteriorates paper strength because of a decrease in fiber length resulting from cutting of pulp fibers per se.
Ink stripping performance has conventionally been improved by causing friction between pulp fibers under mechanical load such as kneaders and surface chemical action by surfactants called deinking agents. However, hard-to-strip toners and UV-curable resin inks are being used increasingly in recent years, which causes damage to pulp fibers per se due to the increased mechanical load.
For bleaching kraft pulp, chlorine bleaches have been used to decompose and remove organic coloring components derived from lignin or the like, but they are being replaced by bleaching without using chlorine or bleaching without using even chlorine bleaches because of the environmental impact of bleach wastewater, which causes problems of increased costs due to the decreased bleaching efficiency.
Thus, conventional techniques could not avoid damage to pulp fibers or cost increases such as chemical costs because of the mechanical load imposed on the entire pulp fibers in order to improve pulp quality.
The following Ukrainian non-patent documents use cavitation for producing waste paperboard pulp, but do not include deinking treatment.
Patent document 2 discloses a method for treating pulp via cavitation by passing a pulp suspension through a reactor having a special shape, but it was difficult to fully strip/remove ink by this method.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods for producing recycled pulp and methods for modifying pulp fiber surfaces using liquid jet cavitation

Abstract: A method for producing recycled pulp characterized in that cavitation is generated and used to strip contaminants deposited on fibers and ash during the process of recycling waste paper. Contaminants such as ink deposited on fibers and ash are stripped/fragmented by means of the impact force induced by collapse of fine bubbles by actively introducing bubbles generated by cavitation into a pulp suspension. A jet system having one or more nozzles for jetting an aqueous slurry containing a material comprising cellulose into a vessel.


A scanning unit is for scanning a measuring standard having a coded track formed by a graduated scale, such as an incremental track, and a reference mark system, including a detector system for scanning the coded track and an additional detector system for scanning the reference mark system. The detector system, when scanning the associated coded track or reference mark system, receives scanning signals on a signal-sensitive surface, and the additional detector system includes at least two sensors, of which only one is used for scanning the reference mark system during operation of the scanning unit. Each of the two sensors is connected to one of the two inputs of a differential amplifier, and the sensor not used for scanning is deactivated in that its signal-sensitive surface is covered.

Scanning units are used for scanning a measuring standard, which, for example, may be implemented in the form of a scale having a coded or graduation track formed by a graduated scale, e.g., in the form of an incremental track, and, in addition to the coded track, a reference mark system. The scanning unit and the measuring standard are mounted, respectively, on one of two assemblies, which are movable relatively to one another and whose relative motion is to be measured. These may be, for example, a sliding carriage and the corresponding bed of a machine tool.
By scanning a coded track in the form of an incremental track composed of a periodic line graduation, the magnitude of the relative motion of the two assemblies with respect to one another can be ascertained. However, it is not possible to obtain any absolute positional information over great lengths. For that reason, to relate the relative motion of the two assemblies to a defined reference point, on one measuring standard, at least one reference mark is typically provided on which is used to identify a specific location on the measuring standard.
To scan a measuring standard of this kind, the scanning unit includes a first detector system or sensing array, for scanning the (incremental) coded track, as well as an additional detector system for scanning the reference track. In this context, however, the problem can arise, particularly when working with measuring standards constituted of a very long scale, that, during operation of the measuring device, it is, to a certain degree, not possible to bring the scanning unit into a position in relation to the associated measuring standard, where the scanning unit is able to sense the position of the reference mark of the measuring standard, for example, because of the danger of a collision with machine parts. For that reason, in the course of further development of a reference track constituted of one single reference mark, reference mark systems having coded reference marks have been developed. Reference mark systems of this kind have a multiplicity of reference marks arranged in series in the measuring direction (direction of extension of the incremental coded track) that are each uniquely differentiable from one another. Accordingly, each of these reference marks uniquely identifies a specific location on the measuring standard, so that multiple reference points are available as reference points for the position of the scanning unit in relation to the measuring standard. In this context, the reference marks can be coded in such a manner, for example, that they are disposed one behind the other or in series, spaced apart at different distances or spatial intervals. Then, in a process in which the scanning unit travels over two of the reference marks, a suitable algorithm is used to obtain the active (absolute) position of the scanning unit in relation to the measuring standard.
Conventional measuring devices have reference tracks including both simple as well as coded reference marks, the user being able to freely choose whether he/she will use the simple or the coded reference marks during operation of the measuring device. In this case, the detector system of the scanning unit assigned to the reference track has two sensors, one of which is assigned to the uncoded and the other to the coded reference marks. During operation of the measuring device, the one or the other sensor is optionally connected to an electrical amplifier which is supplied with the signals received by the sensor in question, as electric signals, during scanning of the measuring standard.
With regard to further details pertaining to the design of position-measuring systems or position encoders, which include a measuring standard and an associated scanning unit, reference is made to the textbook Digitale Laengen-und Winkelmesstechnik (Digital Linear and Angular Position Metrology) by Alfons Ernst, Publishers Moderne Indistrie (Modern Industry) (1998), pp. 9 through 38.
In the above-described measuring devices, the problem may arise that electrical interference, which acts, for example, on the sensor or on connecting lines between the sensor and the downstream electrical amplifier, can be misinterpreted as reference pulses by an evaluation unit (such as a machine control) downstream from the amplifier. This may lead to errors in the control of the machine tool in question and, in particular, may result in machine stoppage. To suppress interference, the amplifiers may be designed with low-pass filters. However, this noticeably retards the amplifiers and, thus, reduces the permissible traversing speed of the measuring device in question.

Scanning unit for scanning a measuring standard


An optical recording/reproducing apparatus accessing a recording layer of an optical rotating recording medium using an accessing means positioned a predetermined gap away from a surface of said optical rotating recording medium and mounted with an object lens, wherein a thickness of a protective transparent layer of said optical rotating recording medium, a ratio of a defect area with respect to a beam spot area, and the above predetermined gap are values determined by the conditions defined in the following inequalities:       G    1    ≤            t      ·                        k                                xe2x80x83                              π                      xc3x97    tan              {                        sin                      -            1                                            (                      NA            n                    )                    }

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording/reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing data by using an optical rotating recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk or an optical disk. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology on an improved reliability on defects by appropriately setting a thickness of a protective transparent layer of an optical rotating recording medium, a float of a flying head, or a distance between an electromagnetic actuator and an optical rotating recording medium in a flying head type optical recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a laser diode having a short wavelength has been increasingly used to increase the recording density of an optical rotating recording medium used in an optical hard disk drive (optical HDD), optical floppy disk drive (optical FDD), video disk recorder (VDR), magneto-optical disk (MO) drive, and compact disk (CD) drive.
Here, the explanation will be given using a magneto-optical disk as an example of an optical rotating recording medium. Along with the shortening of wavelengths by the use of blue lasers etc., the numerical aperture (NA) of an object lens mounted on a pickup increases. When the numerical aperture increases, the thickness of the protective cover coat glass on the optical rotating recording medium has to be made thinner for suppressing optical aberration in addition to improving the recording density.
When the protective cover coat glass becomes thinner, the distance between a magnetic layer and a magnetic head of the optical rotating recording medium becomes shorter, so it becomes possible to arrange the magnetic system and optical system on the same side and to make the optical recording/reproducing apparatus further smaller.
Assuming the thickness of the protective cover coat glass to be t, the thickness in the case of a past optical rotating recording medium was the thickness of the substrate itself, that is, 1.2 t. In recent DVDs, AS magneto-optical disks (AS-MOs), super compact magneto-optical disks, etc., the thickness of the protective cover coat has been halved to about 0.6 t. Also, the thickness of the protective cover coat is 0.1 t in a VDR disk and about several tens of nm in an optical HDD disk etc.
As the substrate of an optical rotating recording medium becomes thinner, the frequency of read and write errors due to defects such as dust adhering to the optical rotating recording medium increases.
When the distance between the surface of the optical rotating recording medium and the head of the pickup (or electromagnetic actuator) is the same, the thinner the substrate of the optical rotating recording medium, the greater the susceptability to defects due to dust. In this way, if the substrate of the optical rotating recording medium is made thicker as compared with the gap between the head (electromagnetic actuator) and the optical rotating recording medium, the resistance to defects is increased. On the contrary, if the substrate (protective cover coat glass) of the optical rotating recording medium is thin as compared with the gap between the head (electromagnetic actuator) and the optical rotating recording medium, the effects of defects increase.
In the case of a flying head system where the head accesses the optical rotating recording medium while in the floating state, since the gap (distance) between the head and the optical rotating recording medium is narrow, the entry of defects such as dust into the beam spot can be suppressed to a certain extent. In the same way, when using an electromagnetic actuator which accesses an optical rotating recording medium while in a state close to its surface, since the gap between the electromagnetic actuator and the optical rotating recording medium is narrow, the entry of defects such as dust into the beam spot can be suppressed to a certain extent.
Summarizing the disadvantage to be solved by the invention, up until now, no logical and quantitative evaluation has been made as to which degree of dimensions of dust or other defects is allowable correlated with the thickness of the protective cover coat glass, the gap between the optical rotating recording medium and the head, and other factors. Moreover, it was not possible to easily find from the results what the thickness the protective cover coat glass should be, what the float (distance) of the head from the optical rotating recording medium should be, and what other conditions and other design factors should be. Therefore, it was difficult to realize an optical recording/reproducing apparatus having a high reliability against defects.
This disadvantage is particularly notable in an optical recording/reproducing apparatus using a variety of the new types of optical rotating recording media such as the recent new super compact magneto-optical disks, for example, super compact, high density, large capacity magneto-optical disks using blue-color lasers, having a diameter of about 35 to 64 mm, and having a storage capacity of 2 GB (Giga-Bytes) or more, for example, 2 to 17 GB. In such a new technology optical recording/reproducing apparatus, it has been strongly demanded that the linkage among the size of defects, thickness of the protective cover coat glass, float of the head (gap between the head and the optical rotating recording medium), numerical aperture, and other factors be clarified and that the optical recording/reproducing apparatus be designed and the optical recording/reproducing apparatus be produced and operated based on the results.
Furthermore, when arranging a magnetic field modulation overwrite head at the object lens side as in an optical HDD, there is a demand for reduction of the sum of the gap and the substrate thickness in order to reduce the size of the apparatus.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of designing an optical recording/reproducing apparatus by finding conditions for optimizing the relationship of the resistance of an optical recording/reproducing apparatus against errors of the overall system (reliability), the gap between the head and optical rotating recording medium, the thickness of the substrate of the optical rotating recording medium and designing the optical recording/reproducing apparatus based on these conditions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical recording/reproducing apparatus produced based on the conditions to realize optimal relationship among the above resistance of the optical recording/reproducing apparatus against errors of the overall system (reliability), the gap between the head and an optical rotating recording medium, and the thickness of the substrate of the optical rotating recording medium.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an optical rotating recording medium able to be used in the above optical recording/reproducing apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical recording/reproducing apparatus accessing a recording layer of an optical rotating recording medium using an accessing means positioned a predetermined gap away from a surface of said optical rotating recording medium and mounted with an object lens, wherein a thickness of a protective transparent layer of said optical rotating recording medium, a ratio of a defect area with respect to a beam spot area, and the above predetermined gap are values determined by the conditions defined in the following inequalities:       G    1    ≤            t      ·                        k                                xe2x80x83                              π                      xc3x97    tan              {                        sin                      -            1                                            (                      NA            n                    )                    }
or   t  ≥      G                                        k                                      xe2x80x83                                    π                          ·        tan                          {                              sin                          -              1                                                      (                          NA              n                        )                          }
where
G is a gap separating accessing means from surface of optical rotating recording medium,
t is a thickness of transparent layer positioned at surface of recording medium of optical rotating recording medium,
n is a refractive index of transparent layer, and
NA is a numerical aperture of optical system including object lens.
Namely, the present inventors found that it is sufficient to meet the inequality A or B as conditions of the protective transparent layer and gap between the accessing means and the optical rotating recording medium (or maximum permissible size of defect). A variety of optical recording/reproducing apparatuses can be designed by applying these relations. An optical recording/reproducing apparatus resulting from the above design can operate with high reliability.
Preferably, said accessing means is a head separated from said optical rotating recording medium by a flow of air caused by rotation of said optical rotating recording medium, and said predetermined gap is a gap for inflowing air between said head and said optical rotating recording medium.
More preferably, said ratio k of the defect area with respect to the beam spot area is in the range of 0.02 to 0.2.
Still more preferably, said thickness of the protective transparent layer and said gap are determined in said ratio k of the defect area with respect to the beam spot area and use is made of an optical rotating recording medium having said thickness and a head accessing said optical rotating recording medium while separated from it.
Still more preferably again, said optical rotating recording medium includes a magneto-optical disk using light and magnetism, a phase change optical disk using only light, a playback only optical disk, a compact disk, an optical hard disk, an optical floppy disk, and a video disk.
Alternatively, said accessing means is an electromagnetic actuator positioned away from said optical rotating recording medium by a predetermined gap, and said predetermined gap is a gap between said electromagnetic actuator and said optical rotating recording medium.
More preferably, said ratio k of the defect area with respect to the beam spot area is in the range of 0.02 to 0.2.
Still more preferably, said thickness of the protective transparent layer and said gap are determined in said ratio k of the defect area with respect to the beam spot area and an optical rotating recording medium having said thickness and an electromagnetic actuator positioned away from said optical rotating recording medium by said gap are used.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical recording/reproducing apparatus accessing a recording layer of an optical rotating recording medium using an accessing means positioned away from a surface of said optical rotating recording medium by a predetermined gap and mounted with an object lens, wherein the distance of said accessing means from the surface-of said optical rotating recording medium is made to be a value defined by the following inequality:   t  ≥      G                                        k                                      xe2x80x83                                    π                          ·        tan                          {                              sin                          -              1                                                      (                          NA              n                        )                          }
where,
G is a gap separating accessing means from surface of optical rotating recording medium,
t is a thickness of transparent layer positioned at surface of recording medium of optical rotating recording medium,
n is a refractive index of transparent layer, and
NA is a numerical aperture of optical system including object lens.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical rotating recording medium to be used in the optical recording/reproducing apparatus accessing a recording layer of an optical rotating recording medium using an accessing means positioned away from a surface of said optical rotating recording medium by a predetermined gap and mounted with an object lens, wherein the optical rotating recording medium has a protective transparent layer of a thickness defined by the following inequality:   t  ≥      G                                        k                                      xe2x80x83                                    π                          ·        tan                          {                              sin                          -              1                                                      (                          NA              n                        )                          }
where,
G is a gap separating accessing means from surface of optical rotating recording medium,
t is a thickness of transparent layer positioned at surface of recording medium of optical rotating recording medium,
n is a refractive index of transparent layer, and
NA is a numerical aperture of optical system including object lens.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of designing an optical recording/reproducing apparatus accessing a recording layer of an optical rotating recording medium using an accessing means positioned away from a surface of said optical rotating recording medium by a predetermined gap and mounted with an object lens, comprising designing said optical recording/reproducing apparatus so that a thickness of a protective transparent layer of said optical rotating recording medium, a ratio of a defect area with respect to a beam spot area, and the above predetermined gap satisfy the conditions defined by the following inequalities:       G    1    ≤            t      ·                        k                                xe2x80x83                              π                      xc3x97    tan              {                        sin                      -            1                                            (                      NA            n                    )                    }
or   t  ≥      G                                        k                                      xe2x80x83                                    π                          ·        tan                          {                              sin                          -              1                                                      (                          NA              n                        )                          }
where,
G is a gap separating accessing means from surface of optical rotating recording medium,
t is a thickness of transparent layer positioned at surface of recording medium of optical rotating recording medium,
n is a refractive index of transparent layer, and
NA is a numerical aperture of optical system including object lens.
Further, preferably, the predetermined gap and the thickness of the protective transparent layer are determined with the ratio k of the defect area with respect to the beam spot area made 0.12.

Optical recording/reproducing apparatus, optical rotating recording medium, and method of designing optical recording/reproducing apparatus

Abstract: where,

Abstract: G: gap separating accessing means from surface of optical rotating recording medium,

Abstract: t: thickness of transparent layer positioned at surface of recording medium of optical rotating recording medium,

Abstract: n: refractive index of transparent layer, and

Abstract: NA: numerical aperture of optical system including object lens.