A disk drive with switchable power levels for the heaters in the sliders is disclosed. The invention includes a switch for the electrical circuit of each heater which selects between two or more voltages to apply to the power control element and the heater with at least a high and a low voltage option. The heater power control circuit dissipates a certain amount of heat as a part of the control process. By having a low voltage option the disk drive can save power and reduce the amount of heat dissipated by the heater control circuit when high power is not required. The programmable switch is controlled by the drive control system. The high power setting can be used during manufacturing testing or otherwise if higher heater power is needed. The low power setting is used for normal operation or to save power.

A prior art magnetic disk drive 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1 a slider 13 containing magnetic transducers for reading and writing (not shown) magnetic transitions is urged toward the rotating disk 16 by a suspension (not shown). As the disk rotates an air-bearing develops under the slider and causes it to fly. The distance between the slider and the disk surface is the fly-height (FH). The term "air-bearing height" is used interchangeably with fly-height. The disk 16 typically includes a thin film overcoat 17 and a set of thin films 18 which include one or more ferromagnetic layers in which information is recorded. A disk drive can contain multiple disks and multiple sliders. The slider 13 contains heater 14 which is used to affect the fly-height of the slider by causing a local thermal expansion of the slider in the area where the read and write heads are located. The thermal expansion has the effect of pushing the heads closer to the disk and reducing the effective fly-height. A lower slider fly-height is required for higher areal densities. Fly-heights of less than 7 nm are currently needed. Each slider heater has an adjustable power control element (not shown) in series with it.
The manufacturing process for disk drives with thermal fly-height control includes a calibration process for the control loop for the thermal fly-height control can require a larger amount of heater power than is needed for normal operation. For example, it can be advantageous to over drive the heater to cause contact with the disk. However, the extra power requires a higher voltage supply to the power control element in series with the heater and when not being used results in a higher heat dissipation in the power control element.
In U.S. patent application 2003/0174430 by Takahasi, et al. a disk drive with heaters in the slider is described. The heaters include a heating coil and a thermal expansion element. Two heaters are disposed on opposite sides of the heads. A temperature sensor near the heads is included. The heating coils are electrically connected through the wirings disposed in the arm assembly to a power source and the control unit. Current is supplied from the power source to the coils under control of the control unit. The control unit has a fly-height detection unit, a fly-height control unit, a power supplying control unit, and a converting unit.
In U.S. patent application 2003/0035237 by Jeffrey Lille Feb. 20, 2003 an electro-thermal micromechanical actuator on a slider is disclosed. A movable member is etched into a face of a slider opposite the air-bearing surface of the slider. The movable member is substantially freestanding in relation to the slider, having only a single end connected to the slider. An electrically actuated heater element with two parallel current paths is disposed on the movable member. One of the current paths is substantially narrower than the other current path. When a current is passed through the heater element, the narrower current path heats up more quickly than the wider current path. By varying the current passed through the heater element in a selected manner, a distortion of the movable member is harnessed and used to create a relative motion in the slider body, allowing the slider to be quickly and exactly located over the centerline of a track of a storage device.
In U.S. patent application 2004/0027728 by Coffey et al. Feb. 12, 2004 a magnetic head for thermally-assisted writing of data to a disk is disclosed. In one embodiment, the magnetic head includes a write head element and a heating element which is a resistive infared radiator. The heating element is coupled to at least one via pad which is exposed on an outer surface of the magnetic head. The heating element is formed beneath or within the pole tip such that it is able to transfer heat to a portion of the disk before the write head element can write data to it.

Disk drive with selectable power source for heater in a slider

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, and a spindle motor operable to rotate the disk. The disk drive comprises control circuitry configured to a rotation speed of the spindle motor, generate a gain as a function of the measured rotation speed, wherein the function comprises a polynomial having a degree greater than one, and spin-up the spindle motor based on the gain.

Disk drives comprise a disk and a head connected to a distal end of an actuator arm which is rotated about a pivot by a voice coil motor (VCM) to position the head radially over the disk. The disk comprises a plurality of radially spaced, concentric tracks for recording user data sectors and servo sectors. The servo sectors comprise head positioning information (e.g., a track address) which is read by the head and processed by a servo control system to control the actuator arm as it seeks from track to track.
A spindle motor rotates the disk (or disks) at a high speed so that the head essentially flies over the disk surface on an air bearing. When the disk drive is powered on, a spin-up operation is executed in order to spin up the disk to the operating speed before loading the head over the disk surface. It is desirable to spin up the disk as fast as possible in order to minimize the delay before a host may access the disk drive. In addition, it may be desirable to achieve a substantially consistent spin-up time across a family of disk drives so that a disk drive manufacturer may provide an accurate specification for the spin-up time, thereby enabling the design of storage systems based on the spin-up specification.

Disk drive with improved spin-up control


A heat sink is provided. The heat sink includes a single-piece housing having a floor and two walls, the walls perpendicular to the floor and the walls are parallel to each other. The heat sink includes the housing having an inlet and an outlet. The housing is configured to attach power modules to an outer surface of the floor and to outer surfaces of the two walls. The housing is configured to cool the power modules in response to fluid flow into the inlet.

Packaging constraints are very tight for power modules in electric and hybrid vehicles and other applications. Power modules may need cooling during operation. Air cooling is one option to consider. Liquid cooling may be difficult due to plumbing requirements, packaging constraints, and an ever-present danger of mixing liquid and electricity. Coolant can leak from hoses or other flexible couplers joining cooling units, and cause electrical short circuits. Large, distributed cooling units with multiple such hoses and couplers may experience reduced reliability as a result.
It is within this context that the embodiments arise.

Inverter power module packaging with cold plate


A ferrule comprising a molded ferrule body defining fiber bores, an end face of a connective end of the ferrule positioned about the fiber bores, and an integral reference surface for determining the angularity of the end face. The integral reference surface is not machined subsequent to a ferrule molding process and is accessible after assembly of the ferrule body into a connector body. A multi-fiber ferrule comprising a connective end defining an end face, a rear non-connective portion defining a protruding shoulder, and an integral reference datum positioned on a surface of the shoulder accessible for determining the angularity of a plane defined by the end face, wherein the integral datum is accessible when the ferrule is received within a connector body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of multifiber connectors and, more specifically, to molded fiber optic ferrules with an integral reference surface for end face geometry measurement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical fibers are used for a variety of applications including voice communications, data transmission and the like. In order to interconnect a plurality of optical fibers with a minimum amount of attenuation, a pair of multifiber connectors is preferably mated such that the opposing optical fibers are biased into contact with one another. To achieve optimal transmission without utilizing refractive index matching gel, the multifiber connectors must be precisely aligned in order to correspondingly align the individual optical fibers in the connectors. This alignment is typically provided by guide pins that extend outwardly from the end face of a male multifiber ferrule for insertion into corresponding guide pin openings, grooves or other structures defined by a female multifiber ferrule. In addition to precise alignment, the geometry of the ferrule and, in particular, the polish geometry of the end face of the ferrule, is extremely important to insure proper fiber-to-fiber contact. In this regard, at least the portion of the end face of each ferrule that is proximate to the optical fibers is preferably polished to define a plane extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis defined by the guide pin openings and, therefore, perpendicular to the fiber bores. In addition, the planar surface defined by the portion of the end face of each ferrule proximate to the fiber bores is precisely positioned relative to the ends of the optical fibers. For example, with proper polish geometry, the optical fibers will extend by a predetermined distance beyond the end face of the ferrule so that fiber-to-fiber contact between opposing optical fibers is established. If, however, the polish geometry is not precisely defined, fiber-to-fiber contact may be prevented or otherwise obstructed by contact between those portions of the end faces of the opposing ferrules that extend beyond the ends of the optical fibers.
In order to monitor the polish geometry and the resulting quality of each ferrule, it is desirable to determine the planarity of the end face of the ferrule and the angle of the end face relative to the guide pin openings. As such, referring to prior art FIGS. 1a-b, a conventional ferrule 30 is shown in which an end face reference surface 32, also referred to herein as the "region of interest," is measured for planarity. The end face reference surface 32 is an area on the end face 34 of the ferrule 30 in the vicinity of the plurality of fiber bores 42. Truncated measurement pins 33 having very precisely machined ends that extend from the end face 34 of the ferrule 30 are used to determine if the end face reference surface 32 of the ferrule 30 has been properly molded or machined to be planar. In order to determine the planarity of end face reference surface 32, the measurement pins 33 are inserted into guide pin openings 36 to define a measurement pin reference surface 38. Referring to FIG. 1b, the measurement pins 33 are machined to be very flat on one of their ends. The plane defined by the measurement pin reference surface 38 of one or both of the measurement pins 33 is then compared to the end face reference surface 32 using an interference vision system, such as an interferometer having 3D capabilities. After comparative measurements have been made and the planarity of the end face reference surface 32 confirmed, the measurement pins 33 are removed from the guide pin openings 36 and replaced with conventional guide pins to produce a male ferrule. A female ferrule is produced with vacant guide pin openings 36 operable for receiving the guide pins of a respective male ferrule. Predetermined lengths of optical cable may then be produced by combining sections of cable comprising mating male and female ferrules. An example of a multi-fiber ferrule measured using truncated pins can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,621 issued to Luther et al.
There are several disadvantages associated with using truncated precision measurement pins 33 to measure the planarity of the end face reference feature 32 and/or the angularity of the end face 34. For one, the measurement pins 33 are very expensive to manufacture because of the very precise machining of one of their ends. Furthermore, the measurement pins 33 may be easily lost due to their extremely small size. Also, when using the ends of the measurement pins 33 as a reference surface, it is necessary to make the optical measurements using a relatively expensive interference vision system having 3D capabilities. Still further, with conventional multifiber ferrules, male multifiber ferrules cannot be measured for planarity after assembly due to the difficulty in removing the guide pins without damaging the ferrule assembly.
In particular instances, it is desired to produce a ferrule having an end face with an angle other than normal (i.e., perpendicular) to the longitudinal axis of the ferrule body. In such cases, the angle is typically introduced by machining the end face of the ferrule subsequent to the molding process. By machining the angle as opposed to molding it, the end face of every ferrule must be individually machined after the ferrule is removed from the mold. This subsequent machining step leads to a decrease in ferrule uniformity and an increase in ferrule production time. Therefore, it would be desirable to rapidly and economically produce a large number of substantially identical ferrules having an end face with a predetermined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the ferrule body, without having to machine each ferrule subsequent to the molding process.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a fiber optic ferrule that eliminates the need for using truncated precision measurement pins and an interference vision system having 3D capabilities to determine the planarity of the region of interest on the end face of the ferrule. Such ferrule should have integral geometry features that permit planarity measurements of at least the region of interest of the end face, and angularity measurements of the entire end face, to be determined more readily and more economically. Such ferrule should substantially reduce ferrule manufacturing, assembly and quality inspection times. Such ferrule should allow for region of interest planarity and end face angularity measurements to be made for both male and female ferrules after ferrule assembly and throughout the life of the ferrule. Such ferrule should eliminate the step of having to machine a predetermined angle on the end face of the ferrule subsequent to the molding process.

Molded ferrule with reference surface for end face geometry measurement


A distribution connection module (1) for telecommunications and data technology includes a housing (3) in which input and output contacts (4, 5) for the connection of cables or wires are arranged such that they are externally accessible. The housing (3) is designed with a cavity in which functional elements are arranged between the input and output contacts (4, 5).

Such a distribution connection module is known, for example, from DE 27 25 551. The distribution connection module comprises a first row of connecting contacts on the cable side and, opposite this, a second row of connecting contacts on the jumper side, in which case the contacts on the cable side may be regarded as input contacts, and the contacts on the jumper side may be regarded as output contacts, even when the information flow may be in the opposite direction. Center contacts, into which test or protection connectors can be inserted, are arranged between the rows. Three-point or five-point overvoltage protection modules or coordinated protection circuits represent one example of such protection connectors. If such an overvoltage protection device is now inserted into the center contacts, then this center tap and, in some cases, adjacent center taps as well, is no longer accessible for inspection and test purposes, or the overvoltage protection device must be removed again for test and inspection purposes, so that the contacts are not protected during this time.
Furthermore, distribution connection modules are known, for example, from DE 39 17 270, in which functional elements such as coordinated protection circuits can be inserted into the distribution connection module at the sides or from underneath. A disadvantage in this case is that the distribution connection modules have to be manufactured in a correspondingly complex manner.
A common feature of all distribution connection modules is that the external functional elements must be plugged into sprung contacts, which need to be subject to stringent requirements with regard to the withstand voltage and current carrying capacity. A further disadvantage is that the external functional elements cause interference in compact, modular designs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Distribution connection module for telecommunications and data systems technology


A system and method for active visual measurement and servo control using laterally sampled white light interferometry (L-SWLI) for real-time visual tracking of six-degree-of-freedom (6 DOF) rigid body motion with near-nanometer precision. The visual tracking system is integrated with a 6 DOF motion stage to realize an ultra precision six-axis visual servo control system. Use of L-SWLI obtains the complete pose of the target object from a single image frame to enable real-time tracking. Six-degree-of-freedom motions are obtained by measuring the fringe pattern on multiple surfaces of the object or from a single surface with additional information gained from conventional image processing techniques.

The specific approach of using microelectronic fabrication techniques to produce microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has led to mostly planar parts having dimensions in the vertical direction of only a few micrometers, many other techniques are being developed and applied to make multi-scale 3D devices. Although these methods have yielded primarily experimental devices up until now, many researchers and practitioners believe that multi-scale 3D devices, whose components range in size from several millimeters to micrometers and down to nanometers, will have a much greater application range than MEMS in many industries including medicine, communications, defense, aerospace, consumer products, and many more. Experts in the field agree that existing devices have limitation barriers that may impede further innovation. The barriers can be broadly categorized into three areas: 1) design and fabrication, 2) metrology and testing, and 3) assembly and packaging.
Ultra precision motion control devices, e.g. piezo actuators, are extensively used in positioning and alignment schemes requiring the highest precision. These devices have internal control loops equipped with sensors that render ultra high resolutions. To achieve multi-degree-of-freedom actuation, very often multiple translational and/or rotational actuators are simply cascaded, and based on a pre-calibrated kinematic coordinate transformation between each actuator sensor coordinate frame (SCF) and the object coordinate frame (OCF), the desired position and orientation with respect to the OCF are commanded to each actuator. When dealing with dimensions of sub-micrometer range, small pre-calibration errors, such as those resulting from non-orthogonal transducer axes, can lead to erroneous results. Especially in the case that rotational motion is necessary, the effects of pre-calibration errors in terms of geometries and dimensions become very significant. Error sources such as thermal expansion and sensor drift can be even more critical and will attribute to system time variance with respect to the OCE which necessitates a different means of compensation.
In this respect, visual feedback can provide a direct measure of position and orientation with respect to an OCF and defines a common reference frame to which multiple objects are registered, revealing the relative position and orientation between objects that are subject to relative positioning and alignment. A robust solution is to acquire real-time visual feedback from the object space which continuously compensates for various time varying error sources. Furthermore, in addition to pre-calibration and time variant error sources, a major obstacle in the case of micro-manipulation is the uncertain mechanics of the micro-domain. They are surface forces which are a combination of Van der Waals forces, electrostatic surface charges and other forces that occur at the micro-level and that overwhelm the effect of gravity. Models of interaction forces and actuation schemes based on them have been proposed, however it is still maintained that visual feedback from the working domain combined with intelligent control schemes are the most robust solution.
Using visual feedback from optical microscopes to control micro-manipulation processes has been investigated by several researchers for applications in both the engineering and the bio-medical field. For most work done in this area, true real-time visual servoing only involves two degrees-of-freedom (DOF), i.e. x and y, within the focus plane of the microscope; a natural consequence due to the narrow depth of focus of an optical microscope. Proposed methods of recovering the third DOF, i.e. z, inside the framework of visual servoing under a microscope are as follows. Using stereoscopic techniques to recover depth was proposed. Depth recovery using active vision techniques such as Depth from Focus, and methods using active illumination with triangulation were also proposed. However each of these methods requires some sort of mechanical scanning or requires intensive computation which inherently limits its ability to deliver real time information in the z-direction. Moreover, the achievable depth resolution of all these methods is coupled with the lateral resolution of the image obtained by the optical microscope, which is limited by diffraction. This ultimately limits the achievable vertical resolution and causes a trade-off between field of view and the vertical resolution of the system.
Interferometric methods such as Phase Shifting Interferometry (PSI) and Vertically Sampled White Light Interferometry (V-SWLI) can achieve vertical resolutions in the nanometer range without the dependence on lateral resolution of the optics.
Vertically Sampled White Light Interferometry (V-SWLI) is emerging as a powerful tool for high precision, high speed, non-contact depth recovery of various technical and biological specimens. While PSI achieves higher resolution, V-SWLI maintains the advantages of interferometry, while overcoming important limitations, such as height ambiguity, limited measurement range, and the requirement of surface roughness, inherent in conventional PSI. V-SWLI is briefly discussed as it serves as a foundation for L-SWLI in many respects.
In SWLI, a broad band light source is used with an interferometer microscope. FIG. 1-(A) shows a schema of a Mirau-type interferometer microscope setup. The white light source is amplitude divided at the beam splitter 2 (FIG. 1-A), one path reflects off the reference plane and the other off the sample object, the two paths are recombined hence interfering with each other and the interference for each sample object point is detected at the CCD array. For V-SWLI measurement, either the object or the reference plane is scanned incrementally along the direction of the optical z-axis. Interference fringes occur only when the optical path difference (OPD) of the two arms of the interferometer are smaller than the coherence length. A pixel-intensity time history, called an interferogram, is sampled for each pixel of the CCD array plane while the OPD is changed incrementally. An interferogram during a 20 μm scan is shown in FIG. 1-(B). The interference is extremely localized, generating a sharply defined coherence region that is only a few micrometers wide. The rest of the distribution represents low-frequency background illumination that stems from test surface scatter and defocus. The interferogram is constituted of a periodic signal modulated by an envelope function and can be simply modeled as,s(z)=B(z)±m(z−z0)cos(2πfz·z+θ)  (1)where m(z−Z0) is the envelope function, B(z) is the background illumination, fz is the carrier frequency and θ is phase. In order to obtain the height distribution, each interferogram of each pixel is processed to find the peak of m(z−zo), where the OPD of the two arms of the interferometer equal each other.
P. J. Caber proposed a method of demodulating the sampled interferogram to acquire the peak of the envelope function, which is explained briefly. The first step is to high-pass-filter the signal to get rid of low-frequency background illumination to get,s′(z)=m(z−z0)cos(2πfz·z+θ)  (2)The signal is then rectified, i.e. squared, in the second step, in effect doubling the carrier frequency,
                                          s            ″                                          (            z            )                          =                                            1              2                                                                  m                2                                                          (                                  z                  -                                      z                    0                                                  )                                              +                                    1              2                                                                  m                2                                                          (                                  z                  -                                      z                    0                                                  )                                                                cos                                            (                                                      4                                        π                                                                                f                        z                                            ·                      z                                                        +                                      2                                        θ                                                  )                                                                        (        3        )
In this step, the second term of (3) is shifted away from the first one in the frequency domain such that the two can be easily separated by a suitable low-pass-filtering operation, which effectively isolates m2(z−z0)/2 for processing. Finally the peak of this function is located, and the vertical position that corresponds to the peak is recorded. To achieve depth resolution that is beyond the sampling interval, simple curve fitting operations can be performed, which result in a more accurate estimation of the peak position. Depth resolution of the current system is below 10 nm due to several factors, including optical dispersion, sampling accuracy, and the flatness of the reference mirror of the interferometer. A more thorough investigation into the resolution limiting factors is done in M. Fleischer's "Theoretical Limits of scanning white-light interferometry signal evaluation algorithm" Applied Optics, vol. 40 17, 10 Jun. 2001.

Methods and systems for ultra-precise measurement and control of object motion in six degrees of freedom by projection and measurement of interference fringes


Disclosed is a docking station for holding an electronic device having a main body, a first channel in the main body, a back side of the first channel, a front side of the first channel, a first plug in the first channel, a first port electronically connected to the first plug, and an extraction force associated with the first plug. A normal force of the main body is greater than an extraction force associated with the first plug. The main body is formed primarily from a first material and a net density of the main body is greater than half of the density of the first material.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention relate to a docking station for holding an electronic device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a docking station with a plug to connect to the electronic device where the docking station has a weight greater than the force necessary to remove the electronic device from the plug.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally speaking, a docking station is an accessory designed to physically support an electronic device that is placed on it, typically to raise its screen up to a more ergonomic height, provide cooling, or just to conserve desk space. Docking stations can include one or more plugs to interface with the electronic device and one or more ports electrically connected to the plugs. External connectors can be connected to the one or more ports to connect the docking station to other electronic devices.
Typically, docking stations are made of a light weight/low density material, such as plastic or aluminum. The density of plastic or aluminum is low compared to other metals, like titanium, zinc, iron, nickel, and copper. Current manufacturing motivations are to use as little material as possible to save on production costs. Current manufacturing motivations are to make devices weigh as little as possible so that they can be shipped cheaply. Current manufacturing motivations are to include ample air spaces inside a housing of the electronic device so that the electronics, circuit boards, and wires can be easily routed. The related art docking stations are made of such materials to not add extra weight to the device, to match the consistency of the outer shell of the electronic device, or to enable mobility of the docking stations.
Although a lesser weight may be desirable, a user utilizing a docking station that connects the electronic device to an external computer or electrical source are burdened and inconvenienced due to the light weight and low density properties of those docking station. A user wishing to remove an electronic device from the docking station and disconnect the electronic device from the convertor dock will be required to either: 1) apply an opposite force on the docking device to remove the electronic device that is connected to the docking station, 2) lift the docking station and pull the electronic device and docking station in opposite directions, or 3) affix the docking station to a surface by other means, like glue, to prevent the docking station from being lifted when applying the force necessary to overcome the extraction force associated with the convertor dock plug. Without the application of the opposite force by the user or other object, when lifting the electronic device, the docking station will remain connected to the electronic device due to the extraction force associated with the plug.
Other types of related art docking stations are of a larger size to accommodate additional features such as speakers, amplifiers, power converters, and advanced electronics. These additional components add to the size of the docking station and consequently to the weight of the docking station. A larger, heavier docking station creates a larger normal force applied by the docking station to the surface it is resting on. However, larger related art docking stations are undesirable due to the excess amount of space that larger docking stations consume; one of the main features of a docking station is to improve the ergonomic environment related to the electronic device. The consumption of additional space in inconvenient and can be undesirable to users.


The present invention relates to the field of avian reproduction. In particular, the present invention provides a method of activating an egg in a shell. The invention also provides a method of activating an egg in a shell, whereby a live chick is hatched.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of avian egg activation. In particular, the present invention relates to methods of activating an egg in a shell. The invention also relates to a method of activating an egg in a shell, whereby a live chick is hatched.
2. Background Art


A suspended pull-out cabinet organizer assembly includes: a front mounting bracket including a front facing flange and a first support arm and a second support arm; a rear mounting bracket including a rear mounting face, a first mounting arm, and a second mounting arm; a pair of drawer slides spanning the front mounting bracket and the rear mounting bracket, each drawer slide including at least two mounting tabs; and an organizer including a series of at least two mounting bosses corresponding to each mounting tab on the first drawer slide and the second drawer slide, wherein the organizer is mounted to the first drawer slide and the second drawer slide by securing each mounting tab to a corresponding mounting boss.

Currently, there are a number of solutions for suspending an organizer in a cabinet. For example, some of these solutions suspend a trash can from a structure spanning between the front and the rear of the cabinet. Other solutions suspend one or more rails between a pair of drawer slides, the rail providing hooks from which to hang cookware. These solutions, in particular, fail to use all of the space in the cabinet in an inefficient manner.
Other solutions attempt to use plastic extrusions to guide and support a tray within a cabinet. However, the plastic extrusions that support the tray do not allow full access to the content of the tray and the tray easily slides out of the extrusions and falls on the floor. Additionally the extrusions must be mounted to a full shelf, as the extrusions themselves are too insubstantial to mount only at the front and back of the cabinet.
Still, other solutions seek to use a partial extension that is friction slide mounted in the center of the cabinet. However, the single rail allows the suspended organizer to wiggle and, the manner in which it is constructed, does not allow full access to all of the organized items.
None of the known teachings provide a solution that makes efficient use of the space within the cabinet, provides a securely mounted organizational structure, and is capable of easy installation in a variety of cabinet sizes.
Accordingly, there is a need for a suspended pull-out cabinet organizer that makes efficient use of the space within the cabinet, provides a securely mounted organizational structure, and is capable of easy installation in a variety of cabinet sizes, as shown and described herein.

Suspended pull-out cabinet organizer drawer


Apparatus for braking relative vertical movement between two vertical members includes linkage connected either directly or indirectly to a cable pulley-mount that is spring loaded and moves cams that wedge in between two vertically moveable members when cable tension is not present at the pulley. A broken cable, for example, will create a situation where there is no cable tension between a plurality of cable pulleys, the lack of cable tension moves the mechanical cam style linkage to engage the braking members.

Several systems have been developed and patented over the years as part of an ongoing effort to continuously improve the safety of various lifting machinery. Embodiments herein contemplate a significant improvement over prior art both in the prevention of inadvertent nuisance tripping and the overall performance of the braking system of a multi-stage lift when actuated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,686 discloses a multi-stage lift which was in commercial production for many years. In this lift, the stages include like extruded aluminum mast sections which interfit in front to back relation and are separated in the front to back direction by guide rollers. The lift stages are elevated by operation of a reeving system including a cable between a rear winch and a front carriage which passes over top and bottom pulleys in each extensible stage, a top pulley on the back stationary stage, and a pulley on the carriage. The carriage pulley and the bottom pulleys on the extensible stages are spring-biased to move downwardly in case of cable failure. Such downward movement swings a locking pawl into operating position into an adjacent recess provided by a locking channel on the adjoining stage, thus stopping further movement of the mast sections upon cable failure.
The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,686 did not consistently function as intended and was prone to failure because the locking pawl would not engage into the adjacent recess provided by the locking channel on the adjoining mast stage due to acceleration, or manufacturing alignment tolerances between the pawl and the channel, or if it did engage it would rip through the slotted channel only slowing down the inevitable collapse of the multi-stage lift system. The device, when deployed in a real life cable break situation (and when it would actually function as intended), would frequently damage the multi-stage mast assembly, which is not ideal but was generally acceptable if life, limb, or property damage was averted. In many cases a full engagement of the system would leave the multi-stage mast assembly so damaged that it would be completely unusable and unrepairable (scrap).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,142 discloses a multi-stage lift which has also been in commercial production for many years. In this lift, the stages comprise like extruded aluminum mast sections which interfit in front to back relation and are separated in the front to back direction by guide rollers. The lift stages are elevated by operation of a reeving system including a cable between a rear winch and a front carriage which passes over top and bottom pulleys in each extensible stage, a top pulley on the back stationary stage, and a pulley on the carriage. The braking system of this device operates by the wedging of knurled rollers between a sloped face on a first mast section and a vertical face on an adjacent mast section. The sloped face is provided by a ramp member on the first mast section. A flange projects from a bottom of the ramp toward the vertical face of the adjacent mast section. A slide rod freely extends through a vertical opening in this flange. A pair of the knurled rollers are mounted adjacent an upper end of the rod at opposite sides of the rod. The slide rod extends through a compression spring seated on the flange. Normally, this spring is engaged at the top by a stop pin on the slide rod and is compressed by the combined weight of the rod and rollers. However, if the mast stage on which the ramp member is mounted accelerates downwardly relative to the adjacent mast stage, the compression spring responsively expands and causes the wedging rollers to move up the ramp so that they are wedged between the ramp member of the first mast section and the vertical face of the adjacent mast section. In this wedging position, the knurled rollers stop further downward movement of the ramp member and associated first mast section relative to the adjacent mast stage.
The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,142 functions fairly consistently but, since it is triggered by gravity versus lack of cable tension, it is prone to inadvertent nuisance tripping. That is, the braking system sometimes engaged even when a cable failure was not present. As examples, such inadvertent trippings may occur simply by the operator lowering the multi-stage mast assembly in an accelerated fashion or, in such a similar manner, when turning the crank on the winch with uneven gyrations or oscillations which result in a situation that momentarily simulates a quick downward acceleration strong enough and for a duration long enough to simulate the free fall of a vertical mast member. These actions result in the compression spring responsively expanding and causing the wedging knurled rollers to occupy a wedging position, stopping further downward movement of the ramp member and associated mast section relative to the adjacent mast stage. The situation is compounded by the fact that these multi-stage lifts are frequently transported in pick-up trucks and other vehicles in the horizontal position, allowing the wedging rollers to move to a wedging position during transport of the lift. When the lift is placed back in the vertical position it is possible that some of the knurled rollers do not fall back into their normal operating position. The inadvertent nuisance tripping of this device causes significant customer dissatisfaction and it is not uncommon that a multi-stage lift gets stuck in the elevated position and must be carefully laid down on it back by forklifts or other devices so that a service mechanic can use a special tool to disengage the wedge roller(s) from the wedge position(s). This is an expensive situation as it involves a service call to a qualified mechanic and the act of taking a multi-stage lift that is in a vertical position 25 ft. in the air and laying it on its back in the horizontal position can be dangerous and may be very difficult to accomplish if the lift is in a tight location.

Cam driven wedge braking system for multi-stage lifts


A system for processing feedback entries received from software provided by a vendor to an end user machine. The end user machine includes the software, a feedback module, and a database. The feedback module: establishes a secret key k(0) and a secret key n(0; generates an identification tag FE(0); generates a secret key s(0); generates an encryption Ek0 of the identification tag FE(0) using the secret key k(0) where Ek0=E(k(0),FE(0)); generates a parameter Hn0 using the secret key n(0) where Hn0=Hash(n(0)∥Ek0); generates a parameter Hs0 using the secret key s(0) where Hs0=Hash(s(0)∥Ek0); sends Ek0, Hn0, and Hs0 to the database; and sends Ek0 and Hn0 to the vendor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for processing feedback entries received from software.
2. Related Art
Understanding customer behavior facilitates designing products that are more in tune with customer requirements. As an example, if a vendor finds that a large number of customers are not using the spell checker before sending an email, it may means that the spell check feature should be enabled by default. On the other hand, if a large number of users are dismissing an explicit feature without using the explicit feature, it may mean that the explicit feature is more of an irritant. Currently, most software vendors rely on surveys and interviews to understand customer behavior. However, surveys are often unreliable because survey participants are only a small portion of the installed customer base. Also, survey participants tend to behave differently in survey situations and real life situations.
A situation which may requires immediate attention from software vendors is erroneous program behavior. This includes abnormal terminations, assertion failures, crashes etc. Bugs encountered at customer's site are difficult and expensive to resolve because customers who contact customer support to report such problems often find it difficult to articulate the exact nature of the problem. The customers are also usually not competent to provide accurate information that can help in identifying a problem's cause, such as stack traces, environment etc.
It may be desirable for the software to send error reports to the vendor. If the software product sends error reports to the vendor, the error reports could have useful information such as stack traces, crash dumps, etc., which will help the vendor to respond faster to defects, resulting in faster patch release cycles. Some programs provide the user with an option to send error reports to the vendor. If a known problem occurs, the user is provided a link to the service pack, hotfix or knowledge base article that addresses the issue.
Error reports provide the following benefits to software vendors: helps in early identification of critical issues; provides rich information like stack traces, crash dumps, etc., that is assists in reproducing the problem; and provides timely feedback on patches, hotfixes etc., as soon as the problem is detected.
Since user machines are not always online, information collected by the system for error reporting should be stored in user's machine at least until a network connection is available. However, user machines are prone to attacks and the vendor should be able to provide privacy and security for the user even when machines are compromised. However, providing privacy and security even after the user's machine is compromised is a challenging task which is not addressed by existing systems.
Thus, there is a need for an error reporting system that provides security and privacy for the user even after the user's machine is compromised.

System for processing feedback entries received from software

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods for adhering a hydrogel matrix to a molded polymer substrate and its use as a biosensor, e.g., a continuous or episodic glucose monitor, are disclosed. The presently disclosed subject matter provides a method for adhering a hydrogel matrix to a molded polymer substrate, the method comprising: (a) molding a polymer comprising one or more polymer chains with an oxidizer to form a molded polymer substrate; (b) providing a hydrogel matrix comprising a hydrogel, a component comprising one or more acrylate groups or another functional group that can form one or more radicals upon polymerization in the molded polymer substrate, and a photo initiator; (c) combining the molded polymer substrate and the hydrogel matrix; and (d) curing the combined molded polymer substrate and hydrogel matrix for a period of time.

In the past, physical entrapment typically was used to immobilize detection matrices on a molded polymer substrate in analytical systems designed for the diagnostic testing of liquid samples, e.g., biological samples from a patient or subject. In such systems, the molded substrate physically holds the detection matrix in place. Analytical testing, however, is not feasible in such systems, especially with dense or colored liquids, because the detection matrix has a tendency to slide or move away from its original position on the substrate. Under these circumstances, the liquid sample can infiltrate between the substrate and the detection matrix and potentially interfere with optical measurements. Further, in optical measurements, the matrix can move out of the focal point of the interrogating light source, causing inaccurate or even false negative readings.


An agitating feeder is provided in a compression molding machine that includes at least one die having a die bore, an upper punch and a lower punch retained respectively above and below the die so as to be vertically slidable, and a compression mechanism for compressing and molding a powdery material filled in the die bore by the upper punch and the lower punch. The agitating feeder includes an agitating rotor for rotating to agitate the powdery material, a housing accommodating the agitating rotor, and a gas flow device for flowing gas in the housing.

There has been known a compression molding machine including an agitating feeder that agitates a powdery material and feeds the agitated powdery material in a die, in order to uniformly fill the powdery material in the die. The agitating feeder includes a housing and agitating rotors that are accommodated in the housing and rotate in directions opposite to each other. While agitating a powdery material in the housing, the agitating feeder fills the powdery material in each die that passes below the agitating rotors, so that the powdery material is filled in the respective dies uniformly in terms of quantity. The agitating rotors are mounted in the housing so as to rotate above a turret with no contact made therebetween (refer to Japanese Registered Utility Model Publication No. 3052283, for example).
However, in a case where a particularly fine powdery material is filled in a die bore, the powdery material aggregates in some cases and may not flow smoothly. As a result, the powdery material may not be uniformly filled in a die bore. Further, the powdery material may be accumulated in a region downstream in the rotation direction of the turret accommodated in the housing, and the powdery material may leak through a gap between the agitating feeder and a die table of the turret.

Agitating feeder and compression molding machine


Leakage of water from a boiler water system wherein steam is generated in a boiler from feedwater fed to the boiler, and the concentration of impurities in the boiler water within the boiler is reduced by withdrawing fractions thereof as blowdown while admitting additional feedwater as boiler-water makeup, is determined. The boiler has a concentration cycle value, the concentration cycle value being the average value of the concentration of an inert component in the blowdown at steady state (C.sub.F) divided by the concentration of the inert component in the feedwater (C.sub.I). The concentration of the inert component in the boiler at steady state varies from a high concentration C.sub.H, having a value that is higher than C.sub.F, to a low concentration C.sub.L, having a value between the (C.sub.I) and the (C.sub.F), within a time period. The method comprises:. employing as the inert component an inert tracer; PA1 sensing a characteristic of the inert tracer in the boiler at steady state equivalent to its concentration in the boiler water; PA1 converting the sensed characteristic to a value equivalent to the concentration of the inert tracer in the boiler water; and PA1 activation of a signal when a variance in the cyclic concentration fluctuation of said inert tracer occurs that is consistent with a leakage of boiler water.

A boiler is a vessel in which water is vaporized into steam by the application of heat, typically on a continuous basis. The steam generated is most often used either as a direct or indirect heat transfer medium and/or to generate electric power. High pressure and/or high capacity boilers generally are water-tube boilers in which water is circulated within tubes and the applied heat (combustion products such as flame and hot combustion gases) flows across the outside of the tubes. Some of these water tubes may comprise the walls of the furnace in which the heat-generating combustion occurs.
Most water tubes are in the boiler furnace and therefore leakage in a boiler system can be a very grave matter. For instance, the serious risk of smelt/water explosions caused by leakage in recovery boilers is well recognized in the pulp and paper industry, and industry-wide efforts seeking ways to reduce the risk are on-going. Such goal is of significant interest to recovery boiler manufacturers, insurers and pulp mills which operate recovery boilers which burn organic liquors having high caustic levels. Explosions caused by leakage is not a concern for power boilers which burn oil or natural gas, because leaking water will just flash to steam, but nonetheless leakage decreases boiler operation efficiency and increases boiler maintenance costs, and thus leak detection is desirable. A primary leakage concern for boilers in the chemical process industry is contamination of process streams, for instance in ammonia production plants having an ammonia stream on one side of the boiler wall. The nuclear power generation industry has a serious need to avoid boiler-water leakage because fluids with a high radioactive contamination level are under high pressure and a leakage could spread such contamination outside of the initial containment.
Many technologies have been and are currently being developed for detecting boiler water leaks, particularly furnace-water-wall leaks, at the earliest possible moment. These technologies include the use of steam drum level control, computer algorithm, and others. Among the recently developed technologies for early leak detection is the use of sodium ion concentration to detect tube leaks (balancing the sodium ion mass between the boiler feedwater and blowdown), but the sensitivity of the sodium-specific electrode is affected by pH among other feedwater variables. Some boiler operators are currently using complex computer systems in attempts to use boiler operating data for leakage detection with intricate calculations.
A leak detection method of greater sensitivity is needed, because the early detection of leaks requires detection of an extremely small water loss from a dynamic water system. A leak detection method of great sensitivity must be independent of chemical species that might be present in boiler feedwater in amounts varying with the operation efficiency of the demineralizer, mixed bed polisher or other techniques used to purify the feedwater prior to introduction into the boiler.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a boiler-tube leak detection method of great sensitivity that is both cost efficient and relatively simple to operate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for the early detection of leaks which can detect an extremely small water loss from a dynamic boiler water system. It is an object of the present invention to provide a leak detection method of great sensitivity that is independent of quality variations in boiler feedwater, and thus is independent of the operational efficiency of the demineralizer, mixed bed polisher or other techniques used to purify the feedwater prior to introduction into the boiler. These and other objects of the present invention are described further below.


A variable angle flexible band clamping corner for clamping work piece angles in desired locations to permit nailing, screwing, gluing, or otherwise joining the work pieces. The clamping corner consists of two pivotable contact pads, where the face of each contact pad extends on both sides of the face of the other contact pad. The contact pads can be either constant width fingers that bypass each other when pivoting, or a wide pad with thinner fingers extending from the pad, where the fingers interleave with each other. A corner formed by two work pieces positioned between the two contact pads remains aligned by the force of the face of each contact pad. The clamping corner includes a body that receives force and transmits the force to the contact pads which hold the work piece corner in place.

It is often desirable to clamp two work pieces together. For example, rectangular picture frames are made from four work pieces cut in a bevel at both ends, and the beveled ends of two work pieces fit together to form a frame corner. Each frame corner is held together by a fastener and or adhesive, and the frame corners must be clamped while the adhesive dries or the fastener is installed. Other situations involving clamping work pieces together include window frame assembly and furniture construction. With any of these examples, it is important to avoid work piece misalignment. Another consideration is proper clamping of corners having acute or obtuse angles. Many times the corner will form a 90° angle, as in a rectangular picture frame or window frame. But sometimes it is desirable to construct a frame with other angles. For example, some windows have octagon shapes where the work piece corners form obtuse angles. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a clamping device that can be used to firmly and accurately clamp work piece corners having a variety of angles.
Clamping corners are known in a wide range of structural designs. It is well known in the art that work piece corners can be clamped with rigid sleeves as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,784. These rigid sleeves slide over the work piece corner and clamp down on the top and bottom surfaces of the work pieces. These devices are unable to adapt to work piece corners having a variety of angles, however. Each rigid sleeve has a particular angle and will not fit onto work piece corners having a different angle. It is therefore desirable to provide a clamping corner that can adapt to work piece corners with varying angles.
Another design well known in the art is a clamping corner with pivotable pads as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 891,121. These clamps can adapt to work piece corners having angles other than 90° because they have pivotable pressure surfaces. These devices do not prevent the work piece corners from misaligning, however. The pivotable pressure surfaces are typically separated by a gap that allows the work pieces to shift relative to one another, thus misaligning the corner. It is therefore desirable to provide a clamping corner device that will prevent misalignment of the work piece corner.

Variable angle flexible band clamp corner


The present invention provides a method and system for testing the output of a digital imaging system. The method comprises the steps of sending a test job to a test digital imaging system and generating test information. The test information suitably comprises a plurality of computed values, each computed value corresponding to a portion of the test job. The test information is then compared with control information produced by sending the test job to a control digital imaging system. In addition, the invention provides a digital imaging device designed to accept test job and capable of generating the test information upon initiation of testing procedures.

This invention pertains generally to digital imaging devices and the use of drivers, and more particularly to the use of a paperless command in testing driver functionality.
Digital imaging devices ("DID") are complex machines that require administration attention. DIDs suitably include devices such as printers, fax machines, scanners, copiers, multi-functional peripherals ("MFPs"), and other like peripheral devices. In addition, DIDs are often connected to a network. In order to manage most DIDs on a network, administrators make use of either a Common Information Model ("CIM") or a Simple Networking Management Protocol ("SNMP"). Both architectures provide an almost universal and platform independent mechanism to access and interface with digital imaging devices. For each DID, the Original Equipment Manufacturer ("OEM") creates a description of device management information relating to CIM and SNMP networks. Such management information generally includes textual binary descriptors that describe the nature of the device, the management capabilities of the device, the names of the objects native to the device, the types of actions the device can perform, etc. Value-added resellers ("VAR"), OEMs, or vendors then utilize the device management information to access and control the DIDs and to create software for managing the DIDs. In particular, device drivers are developed.
Device drivers are pieces of software that enable computers to communicate with peripheral devices. In doing so, they are responsible for accessing hardware registers of the device. Device drivers often form part of the lowest level of an operating system ("OS") kernel, with which they are linked when the kernel is built. OS also accept loadable device drivers that can be installed after the OS is running.
As OS and DID change, device drivers must often be changed to accommodate a change in technology. As new device drivers are created, designers must verify the quality of the drivers. In the past, this was accomplished by creating a test job having known results and sending it to a DID operating with the new driver. If the DID is a MFP, printer, fax machine or the like, the DID suitably outputs or prints the test job, and the printed output is then compared to a control printed test job. However, this process is extraordinarily time-consuming and difficult because adequately testing DID drivers often requires that the test jobs be thousands of pages. In addition, comparing two printed pages is a difficult task, as the pages may contain visually imperceptible differences.


A coding apparatus generates coded data by coding inputted data in a predetermined unit basis, maps one or more units of the coded data onto a packet of fixed length and outputs the packet. The coding apparatus includes a storage unit that stores the coded data and outputs the data size of the stored coded data, and a packetization unit that maps the coded data stored in the storage unit onto the packet and outputs the header size assigned to the one or more units of the coded data and the payload size of the packet. The coding apparatus also includes a control unit that generates the control information based on the data size of the outputted coded data, the header size and the payload size and outputs the control information, and a coding unit that generates the coded data by calculating an outer candidate value that makes the data size of the coded data to be mapped onto the packet an integral multiple of the payload size of the packet based on the outputted control information and coding the predetermined units of inputted data up to the outer candidate value.

Some conventional coding apparatuses (encoders) that improve transmission efficiency of coded data determine a quantization width based on buffer amount (for example, refer to document 1).
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a conventional encoder (coding apparatus) described in the above-mentioned document.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional audio encoder 200 includes a coding unit 202, a packetization unit 204, a quantization width calculation unit 206 and the like.
The coding unit 202 receives an input of audio data 201 and calculates coded data size inside. The coding unit 202 generates coded data in a way that the coded data falls within the calculated coded data size, and the generated coded data is stored in the sequential storage unit 203. The data stored in the storage unit 203 is divided into packets 205 by the packetization unit 204. The storage unit 203 transfers the stored data size to the quantization width calculation unit 206, and the quantization width calculation unit 206 transfers the quantization width to the coding unit 202.
In the case where the size of the coded data outputted by the coding unit 202 is variable length, the total size of the data stored in the storage unit 203 is also variable length.
The procedure at the time of dividing the data stored by the storage unit 203 will be shown in FIG. 2.
The coded data stored by the storage unit 203 is called as elementary stream (abridged as ES from here). As to audio data, ESs are made in a plurality of audio frames 301, 302 and 308.
Next, these ESs are converted into a packetized elementary stream (abridged as PES). ESs are converted into PESs by adding a PES header 303 to ESs, and the whole is called as PES packet. In the PES packet, the data part stored by the storage unit 203 is called PES payload 304. This PES packet is converted into a transport stream (called TS from here). This PES packet is divided into fixed lengths, and the TS header 305 is added to each of the packets so as to make each of the corresponding TS packets. A TS payload 306 follows the TS header. In mapping from an ES to a PES or a TS, there may be a case of mapping an integer number of audio frames onto a single PES packet and mapping in a way that a single audio frame is not divided into plural PES packets, and also, mapping in a way that a single TS packet is not divided into plural PES packets with a view to making it easier to access on an audio frame basis as shown in FIG. 2.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent application No. 2001-292448 publication.
However, in a conventional audio encoder, in the above-mentioned case, there is a case where padding 307 is generated on a PES packet basis when dividing the PES packet into TS packets. Especially, percentage of the padding in the size of the PES packet becomes bigger when the size of the PES packet is small, and there emerges a problem that the transmission efficiency of the TS packets decreases.
Also, it is possible to improve the transmission rate of the TS packets by changing the coded data size in order to restrain padding. However, there is a problem that sound quality deteriorates when changing coded data size, to be more specific, reducing the coded data size or always changing the coded data size during the encode processing with no restriction.
The first object of the present invention is to provide a coding apparatus that solves the above-mentioned first problem, that is, to reduce the padding data and improve the transmission efficiency.
Also, the second object of the present invention is to provide a coding apparatus that solves the above-mentioned second problem and minimize sound deterioration improving the transmission efficiency.


Aspects for managing print jobs for a printer are described. The aspects include an examination of a print queue of print jobs based on a level of consumable resources available in the printer. Further, an order of the print jobs in the printer is adjusted to prioritize printing of the print jobs that can be completely printed with the consumable resources available, wherein the printer realizes increased throughput and minimized downtime.

High speed printers need to maximize throughput. One aspect of ensuring maximum throughput is minimizing printer downtime for replenishment of consumable resources. Many printers today provide some alert when certain printer resources are close to becoming depleted or have been depleted. For instance, printers typically include a small Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen to display a message that toner is low, paper is out, etc. Alternatively, the printer driver may send a message for display at a computer connected to the printer indicating which resource is low/depleted. To implement such alert systems, sensors are used to detect when a resource is depleted. For instance, the paper tray would include an electrical or electromechanical sensor to detect when the paper tray is empty. A toner and oil cartridge would include sensors to detect when the toner level is near or at empty. The sensor, upon detecting that the resource is close to or at depletion, would signal the printer processor and the printer processor would, in response, send an alert message to an LCD screen at the printer or to a printer management software program running on an attached computer.
Normally, network-connected self-service printers depend on the printer user to replenish consumable resources that have been depleted. Thus, if a printer runs out of a consumable after a job starts, the printer stops and waits for service. Throughput drops to zero. Such inefficiency creates a need for managing print jobs in a manner that eliminates or minimizes printers stopping in the middle of a job due to a lack of consumable resources.

Method and system for managing print jobs for a printer to maximize throughput


To determine the optimum recording light amounts for all recordable regions of each optical disk in a relatively short time, information is recorded on the try-to-write region 4 on the inside of the innermost periphery of the rewritable region 2 of the optical disk 1 while rotating it at linear velocities equal to the recording velocities of at least two positions (radii R1, R2) in the radius direction A within the rewritable region 2, and the optimum recording light amounts are measured. Then, the optimum recording light amounts for all velocities in the rewritable region 2 are determined by an interpolation or extrapolation processing 26 of the measured optimum recording light amounts at the two velocities.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for recording optical disks, both those suitable for recording and those suitable upon reproduction, for example, reversible-type optical disks capable of being repetitively recorded and reproduced, or write-once type disks.
2. Description of Prior Art
When recording such disks, pits (or marks) are formed on a repetitively recordable and reproducible optical disk, or a write-once read-many type optical disk, and the amount of laser light to be irradiated on the optical disk, the amount of recording light, has to be maintained to be a proper value. This is because the recorded pits are required to have a uniform shape and a high density in order to reduce error upon reproduction and improve the recording density.
According to the prior art, in order to set the amount of recording light at a proper value, a "try-to-write" region is prepared on a track within a predetermined user's recordable region of the optical disk, and the user confirms the proper amount of recording light within this try-to-write region.
When information is recorded at the confirmed proper amount of recording light, the recording density of a recorded region near the try-to-write region can be improved since a relatively small error occurs upon reproduction.
However, when a video signal is recorded over the whole disk, i.e. the innermost to outermost periphery of the user's recordable region of the optical disk, the amount of recording light, even if it is set to be a proper value within the try-to-write region as mentioned above, diverges from the proper amount at other tracks away from that region because the linear velocity of the recording medium (which depends on the radius of the track) is considerably different from that within the try-to-write region. This limits the high-density recordability.
Increasing the amount of testing, however tends to occupy more time and thus be inefficient. Also, although it has been proposed to provide a test area in every sector and test at every radius (e.g. in computers WD2000 and WD3000) this reduces the amount of available storage area and so is unsuitable for video disks where more data is generally stored than on a computer disk.

M-O disk recording apparatus with light amount control based on multiple test performed on a test region at multiple disk rotational velocities


An internal combustion engine for a vehicle is provided, having at least one cylinder with a first gas exchange inlet valve, a second gas exchange inlet valve, a first gas exchange outlet valve, a second gas exchange outlet valve, and a piston with a piston crown which has a plurality of valve seat pockets. In each case one valve seat pocket is provided for the first gas exchange inlet valve, the second gas exchange inlet valve, the first gas exchange outlet valve and the second gas exchange outlet valve, and the plurality of valve seat pockets have at least partially different depths. Alternatively, one valve seat pocket is provided for the first gas exchange inlet valve and the first gas exchange outlet valve, and no valve seat pocket is provided for the second gas exchange inlet valve and/or for the second gas exchange outlet valve.

It is known to provide a piston crown of a piston of an internal combustion engine with valve seat pockets for gas exchange valves.
For example, DE 10 2007 027 787 A1 discloses an internal combustion engine, in the case of which valve seat pockets which lie opposite the gas exchange valves are formed in an end face of a piston.
Furthermore, it is known to actuate gas exchange inlet valves and gas exchange outlet valves with a valve overlap. A valve overlap relates to a time period between the beginning of the opening of a gas exchange inlet valve and the end of the closing of a gas exchange outlet valve.
In order for it to be possible, for example, to realize great valve overlaps in the case of diesel engines, valve seat pockets have to be provided in the piston. The valve overlap serves to optimize the gas exchange and therefore to optimize the overall degree of efficiency of the engine. In the case of a positive pressure gradient between the inlet side and the outlet side, air is flushed through the combustion chamber during the valve overlap in the gas exchange in the region of the top dead centre of the piston movement of a piston. The consequences are reduced combustion chamber and exhaust gas temperatures, and an increased degree of efficiency of the turbocharger as a result of the increased air throughput.
The positive effect of the gas exchange is opposed by an impairment of the degree of high pressure efficiency. On account of the required valve seat pockets, for example, the compression ratio is lowered, which has a negative influence on the thermal degree of efficiency. In addition, for example, the combustion pattern and therefore also the combustion efficiency are influenced greatly by way of the valve seat pockets. The valve seat pockets can remove, for example, a large part of the upper recess contour of a combustion-optimized piston recess.

Internal combustion engine having valve seat pockets


Providing an Ag ball having a low alpha dose and a high sphericity regardless of impurity elements having an amount equal to or more than a predetermined value except for Ag. In order to suppress a soft error and reduce an connection fault, a content of U is equal to or less than 5 ppb, a content of Th is equal to or less than 5 ppb, a purity is equal to or more than 99.9% but equal to or less than 99.9995%, an alpha dose is equal to or less than 0.0200 cph/cm2, a content of either Pb or Bi or a total content of both Pb and Bi is equal to or more than 1 ppm, and a sphericity is equal to or more than 0.90.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an Ag ball having a low alpha (α) dose; an Ag core ball having the Ag ball coated with a solder plating; a flux-coated Ag ball having the Ag ball coated with a flux layer; a flux-coated Ag core ball having the Ag core ball coated with the flux layer; a solder joint using the Ag ball, the flux-coated Ag ball, the Ag core ball and a flux-coated Ag core ball; a formed solder using the Ag ball, the flux-coated Ag ball, the Ag core ball and the flux-coated Ag core ball; a solder paste using the Ag ball, the flux-coated Ag ball, the Ag core ball and the flux-coated Ag core ball; and an Ag paste using the Ag ball.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, along development of compact information equipment, electronic components to be mounted on them have been downsized rapidly. A ball grid alley (hereinafter referred to as "BGA") having electrodes at its rear surface is applied to such electronic components in order to satisfy a requirement of a narrowed connection terminal and a reduced mounting area because of the downsizing requirement.
The electronic components using the BGA are, for example, semiconductor packages. In the semiconductor packages, semiconductor chips having electrodes are sealed with resin. Solder bumps are formed on the electrodes of the semiconductor chips. The solder bump is formed by joining a solder ball to the electrode of the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor package having the BGA is mounted on a printed circuit board such that each solder bump touches a conductive land of the printed circuit board. Then, the solder bump and the land are joined by melting the solder bump with heating so that the semiconductor package is mounted on the printed circuit board. Recently, a three-dimensional high-density package is studied by stacking up the semiconductor packages in a height direction in order to meet the further high-density mounting.
However, if the BGA is applied to the semiconductor package of the three-dimensional high-density mounting, the solder ball may be crushed by a semiconductor package's weight and a shorted circuit occurs between the electrodes. This affects the high-density mounting.
Therefore, another type of the solder bump is investigated wherein the bump is a ball having a small diameter and is formed by a metal such as Ag, etc. having a melting point more than the solder. Even if the weight of the semiconductor package is loaded to the solder bump having the Ag ball when the electronic component is mounted on the printed circuit board, then the Ag ball can support the semiconductor package because the Ag ball does not melt at the melting temperature of the solder. Therefore, the solder ball is not crushed by the semiconductor package's weight. A related technology is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-214040 (hereinafter referred to as "JP2011-214040 publication").
By the way, the downsizing of the electronic components allows the high-density mounting, but the high-density mounting causes soft error problems. The soft error causes a possibility of rewriting a storage content of a memory cell in a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC circuit) with an alpha ray entering the memory cell. It is conceivable that the alpha ray is emitted by alpha decay of radioactive elements such as U, Th, Po in the solder alloy. Thus, solder materials having low alpha dose are being developed recently by reducing contents of the radioactive elements.
Therefore, Ag and Ag alloy having the low alpha dose are required as discussed in the JP2011-214040 publication.
However, it has not been considered to balance the alpha dose and a sphericity of the Ag ball until now wherein the sphericity represents a deviation from a true sphere. Therefore, the soft error problem was not resolved. A cause of this problem was that a standoff height was controlled when the solder bump was formed, there were the radioactive elements and isotopes in the impurities in the Ag ball, and these elements and isotopes were diffused to emit the alpha ray after the soldering joint of the Ag ball. Then, the alpha ray emitted from the Ag ball entered the memory cell of the semiconductor chip and the soft error occurred.
The Ag ball having the high sphericity and the low alpha dose is required as discussed hereinbefore; however, no prior art including the JP2011-214040 publication did not discuss at all the Ag ball having both the high sphericity and the low alpha dose. The Ag ball was manufactured traditionally by heating the Ag material to a temperature equal to or more than 1,300° C. and melting the material. Thus, it was conceivable that a content of the radioactive isotope such as Po of emitting the alpha ray was reduced significantly by the volatilization so that the alpha ray of Ag might not affect the soft error.
However, it was not proved in the prior art that the manufacturing condition for the Ag ball caused to reduce the alpha ray from the Ag ball to prevent the soft error. Since a boiling point of 210Po is 962° C., it may be volatized sufficiently not to generate the soft error if heating to a temperature equal to or more than 1300° C. However, since the heating at the manufacturing process of the Ag ball did not purpose to volatilize Po, there was no guarantee to reduce the amount of 210Po at this temperature. Thus, it is doubtful that the conventional manufacturing process of the Ag ball produces the Ag ball having the low alpha dose.
It is conceivable to manufacture the Ag ball by using the Ag material having a high purity. However, in this case, it is not required to reduce a content of elements not to participate the alpha dose of the Ag ball. When the Ag material having the high purity is used without thought, its cost only rises.
If the sphericity of the Ag ball is low, the original function of the Ag ball does not work to control the standoff height when forming the solder bump. In this case, the bumps having uneven heights are formed so that a problem occurs at the mounting process.

Ag ball, ag core ball, flux-coated ag ball, flux-coated ag core ball, solder joint, formed solder, solder paste and ag paste


According to one embodiment, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor memory device includes forming a stacked body including a plurality of first layers and a plurality of second layers on a substrate. The method includes forming a first slit and a second slit simultaneously by dry-etching the stacked body. The first slit causes a part of the stacked body to have a comb-shaped pattern including a plurality of line parts isolated in a first direction and extending in a second direction. The second slit surrounds the comb-shaped pattern with a closed pattern. The method includes forming a hole in the line parts of the stacked body. The method includes forming a charge storage film and a semiconductor body in the hole.

A memory device having a three-dimensional structure is proposed. In the memory device, a memory hole is formed in a stacked body including a plurality of electrode layers stacked via an insulating layer. The electrode layers function as a control gate in a memory cell. A silicon body as a channel is provided on a side wall of the memory hole via a charge storage film.
In the three-dimensional device as stated above, a slit and the memory hole are formed by, for example, an Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) method in the stacked body including the electrode layers and the insulating layers. The etching is required to have high shape controllability.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor memory device


In a method of operating a compressor, a gaseous medium is compressed in a first compressor stage. The partially compressed medium is sent from the first compressor stage into an intermediate cooler where it is cooled before being directed into the second compressor stage where it is compressed further. A liquid medium is sprayed into the gaseous medium in the intermediate cooler so that a two-phase mixture with a liquid phase and a gaseous phase is formed in the intermediate cooler. The liquid phase is separated again before adding it to the second compressor stage.

Two different methods of increasing the power of gas turbines based on cooling the air mass flow are known from the state of the art. Cooling of the air mass flow received by the gas turbine results in an increased power output by the machine. The reasons include first the increased mass flow of air due to the cooling and the reduction in power consumption by a compressor at low entrance temperatures. Fundamentally two types of cooling are known: cooling the inlet air flowing into the compressor and intermediate cooling between the two separate compressor stages.
For inlet cooling, different techniques are used, including methods that work with water spraying. When a small amount of water is sprayed (typically less than 1% of the air mass flow) and completely evaporates, cooling is achieved due to the uptake of heat of evaporation. On the other hand, cooling due to uptake of sensible heat in direct contact of air and water is possible. This is proposed in the unexamined German Patent DE-A1-199 13 681. To achieve a significant cooling, relatively large quantities of water are required here and a large contact area between the liquid phase and the air to be cooled is required. This can thus be achieved by atomization of the water into fine droplets. For example, DE-A1-199 13 681 proposes using a trickle cooler for this purpose. It should also be pointed out that an additional cooling may also occur with this type of cooling due to partial evaporation of the water. Whether evaporation occurs depends on the final temperature reached. If the final temperature is low enough, no water enters the vapor phase. Then it is even possible to condense water out of the intake air.
Use of water for inlet cooling limits the applicability of the method to sufficiently warm ambient temperatures at which there is no risk of freezing (approx. >10° C.). In corresponding heat exchangers with indirect cooling (water and air do not come in direct contact), there is fundamentally the possibility of counteracting the formation of ice by adding antifreeze. This possibility does not exist with direct spraying of water into the stream of air.
Intermediate cooling of the air during compression as is disclosed in DE-A1-42 37 665 reduces the power consumption of a turbo compressor as a result of reducing the compression work. In contrast with inlet cooling, however, no increase in the air mass flow is achieved in this way. In most cases, traditional heat exchangers are used for the intermediate cooling. In recent times however there have been increased efforts to achieve the desired cooling by spraying water. This is known for example from EP-A1-0 770 771. With this method, in the past the concept of cooling by vaporization has been pursued exclusively, whereby finely atomized demineralized water is sprayed into the air stream. This takes place either in the interior of the compressor between the individual compressor stages (so-called "spray intercooling") or upstream from the compressor in the air intake. The amount of water added is normally low in these applications, namely between 0.5% and 1.5% of the mass flow of air. Cooling of the air here takes places almost exclusively through uptake of heat of evaporation by the water, but the exchange of sensible heat between gas and liquid water plays practically no role at all.
A considerable disadvantage of intermediate cooling by evaporation is the water loss. The liquid water sprayed in cannot in most cases be recovered economically from the exhaust and is discharged into the atmosphere. This can be a considerable problem, especially in regions of water shortage. With this type of intermediate cooling there are also technical problems due to the presence of liquid water in the compressor blades. This can lead to erosion and corrosion and also alters the aerodynamic properties of the blades.


A method, a system and an apparatus for remotely monitoring a cardiac condition in an individual in which there is provided a non-invasive, mobile and portable solution including hardware, software, and a back-office application allowing an autonomous and smart remote monitoring. Two-way communication is provided between the cardiac monitoring apparatus and a monitoring center, which allows sending of data of the patient being monitored to the monitoring center, as well as allowing the monitoring center or a clinician to request a new exam on demand.

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death worldwide, arising primarily from the lifestyle and food intake of individuals, as well as from congenital predispositions. Smoking, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, engaging in a sedentary lifestyle, and diabetes are factors influencing the occurrence of heart diseases. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), heart diseases account for 12% of all deaths.
Heart diseases have worldwide assumed an epidemic status, and despite the advancements in the development of pharmaceuticals, surgical techniques and medical practices, there is still a need for providing new and improved means for preventing cardiac conditions of an individual.
For example, the cardiac condition monitoring of individuals, thus far the best way of prevention, can be performed by regularly visiting the cardiologist, in which electrocardiogram (ECG) comprises the primary means for detecting changes in the cardiac condition of an individual.
The remote monitoring known in the art comprises the use of equipment attached to the individual, in which the current ECG monitoring equipment typically remains beside the patient, not allowing for free movement or rendering the remote monitoring difficult. The current options of wireless cardiac monitoring devices generally employ: RF (radio frequency) transmitters and receptors, or communication via Bluetooth (protocol 802.15.1), restricting to a few units the number of equipment simultaneously monitored as well as the distance, which is limited to about 10-20 meters. All currently available options only send data from the patient user to the clinician, thus leaving no possibility of on-demand request; i.e., bilateral.

Method, system and apparatus for continuous cardiac monitoring of an individual


A method for preparing a sorbent composition includes the steps of:    (i) applying, from a solution or a slurry, a layer of a copper compound on the surface of a support material, and    (ii) drying the coated support material,wherein the thickness of the copper compound layer on the dried support is in the range 1-200 μm. The precursor may be converted to a sorbent suitable for removing heavy metals from liquids or gases by applying one or more sulphur compounds to sulphide the copper compound and form CuS.

Mercury is found in small quantities in fluid streams such as hydrocarbon or other gas and liquid streams. Arsenic may also me found in small quantities in hydrocarbon streams. Mercury, in addition to its toxicity, can cause failure of aluminium heat exchangers and other processing equipment. Therefore there is a need to efficiently remove these metals from fluid streams, preferably as early as possible in the process flowsheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,777 discloses the use of a pre-sulphided absorbent comprising copper sulphide for the absorption of mercury from a natural gas stream containing mercury. The sorbent is prepared by mixing a copper compound such as powdered copper hydroxycarbonate (also known as basic copper carbonate) with a support or dispersion material, for example a cement, and forming extrudates or granules. Alternatively the sorbent is prepared by impregnation of a support, such as alumina spheres, with a solution of a soluble compound of copper such as copper nitrate. The copper compound in the granules, extrudates or support is sulphided using hydrogen sulphide or a solution of a sulphide in water or in an organic solvent.
Whereas combining particulate copper carbonate with a particulate support or cement provides an effective sorbent, a considerable proportion of the copper can remain unavailable within the resulting extrudate or granule. Copper is now an expensive metal and it is desirable to provide sorbents with lower levels of Cu that retain the high capacity for heavy metals observed with the granulated or extruded products. Impregnated materials, such as copper-nitrate impregnated materials can require high sulphiding temperatures, or the addition of silver compounds in order to be fully sulphided, both of which are undesirable.


Encoding inputs corresponding to a set of powers of state matrix is added. Powers of state matrix have period T. The set of the powers of the state matrix has an identical state matrix value. One of the powers of the state matrix is multiplied by input matrix and the added encoding inputs. Multiplied results are added so as to find last state of the turbo encoder. The last state corresponds to encoding state of the turbo encoder when the turbo encoding is started at zero state. Final state of the turbo encoder is found using the last state. The final state is identical to initial state of the turbo encoder, and corresponds to encoding state of the turbo encoder when turbo encoding is started with the initial state. Encoding inputs are encoded using the final state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a turbo encoder, and more specifically to a turbo encoder using a tail-biting method.
2. Description of Related Art
Turbo-codes have received considerable attention due to their powerful error correcting capability, reasonable complexity, and flexibility in different block sizes and code rates. Turbo-codes are a kind of a convolutional code.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a turbo encoder.
Referring to FIG. 1, the turbo encoder includes two recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) encoders 100 and 110 and an interleaver 120.
Turbo encoders are known to have one systematic bit. The turbo encoder in FIG. 1 has two systematic bits Vt0 and Vt1 to increase a transfer rate. Two systematic bits can encode two input bits ut0 and ut1 per one clock cycle.
According to the characteristic of the convolutional code, turbo encoders can encode almost infinite input sequences. Turbo encoders begin encoding with an initial state and go on continuously. An example of the initial state is a zero-state, in which all registers of the turbo encoder output a logic '0'.
Due to practical constraints (e.g., synchronization, channel estimation, etc.), many communication systems are block-oriented, and therefore, methods are needed for obtaining code blocks of finite length from a convolutional encoder.
Turbo encoders start encoding at an all-zero state and end encoding at an all-zero state by appending a block of tail bits to data bits to obtain the code blocks. The tail bits cause a loss of the transfer rate due to tail bit termination and other problems, particularly if codewords are short.
FIG. 2 is a state diagram of a turbo encoding method.
Referring to FIG. 2, the turbo encoding method appends a block of tail bits to data bits to obtain the code blocks.
Tail-biting prevents the loss of the transfer rate without degrading error protection ability. Using tail-biting, the state of the encoder at the beginning of the encoding process is not necessarily the all-zero state, but may be another state. Using tail-biting, the encoder is controlled in such a way that the encoder starts and ends the encoding process at the same state. Turbo decoders can determine the initial state and a final state of the turbo encoders by encoding input sequences with the initial state identical to the final state. Thus, the transfer rate loss due to the tail bits may be avoided.
The turbo encoding process using tail-biting is divided into three steps:
<Step1> Determine the last state of the encoder for input sequences. The last state corresponds to a zero state response. The encoder starts at the all-zero state, all input sequences are input, and the output bits are ignored. The last state corresponds to an encoding state of the turbo encoder when the turbo encoder starts an encoding at the zero state.
<Step2> Determine a final state of the turbo encoder using the last state. The final state is identical to an initial state of the turbo encoder. The final state corresponds to an encoding state of the turbo encoder when the turbo encoder starts an encoding with the initial state. <Step 2> can be performed by finding the final state in a look-up table containing the final state corresponding to the last state.
<Step3> Encode input sequences with the initial state that is identical to the final state.
<Step3> can be performed by the hardware identical to that of <Step1>. <Step2> can be performed by the look-up table that stores the final state and the initial state corresponding to the last state.
The overall calculation of tail-biting can be time consuming. Although the hardware used for <Step1> may be used for <Step3>, <Step1> and <Step3> perform encoding twice, adding to the processing time of the turbo encoder and increasing power consumption.

Method of finding a last state in tail-biting for turbo encoder and apparatus using the same


A power semiconductor device protection circuit includes: a drive circuit that drives a power semiconductor device; a current detector which includes a first resistor and an inductor connected in parallel; and a detection circuit that detects a short-circuit condition of the power semiconductor device. One end of the first resistor and one end of the inductor are connected to one terminal of the power semiconductor device. The detection circuit detects the short-circuit condition of the power semiconductor device by comparing a voltage of the one terminal of the power semiconductor device, which changes as a function of current flow through the first resistor and the inductor, with a short-circuit detection voltage. A reference potential of the drive circuit is connected to the other end of the first resistor and the other end of the inductor.

A power semiconductor device capable of controlling a high power is used in a power supply circuit that generates, from a direct-current (DC) or an alternating-current (AC), AC having a different frequency or in a power conversion device having such a power supply circuit. Use of the power semiconductor device in the power conversion device requires a short-circuit protection circuit to prevent the power semiconductor device from being destroyed by the short-circuit current in the event of an arm short circuit or a load short circuit.
The short-circuit protection circuit included in the power semiconductor device measures a current flow through the power semiconductor device or a voltage applied to the power semiconductor device, and, if the measurement exceeds a predetermined value, limits or interrupts the short-circuit current to prevent destruction of the power semiconductor device.
PTL 1 discloses a power semiconductor device protection circuit. The protection circuit uses a shunt resistor to detect the current flow through a power semiconductor device, shown in FIG. 6.

Power semiconductor device protection circuit and power module


Among other things described, a method of wireless communication includes transmitting, from a base station of a cell, to a user device requesting to camp on the cell, a message comprising a first field, wherein the first field is indicative of availability of another type of radio access technology (RAT) core network for communication via the base station, including, in the message, a second field whose value indicates that the user device is disallowed to access the another type of RAT core network, providing, when the user device is disallowed to camp on the cell, additional information regarding whether other intra-frequency cells that support the another type of radio access technology (RAT) core network are available for the user device to reselect.

Efforts are currently underway to define next generation wireless communication networks that provide greater deployment flexibility, support for a multitude of devices and services and different technologies for efficient bandwidth utilization. The next generation wireless communication networks are also expected to deploy new core networks that provide additional services and flexibility beyond currently available core networks.

Technique for indicating multiple core networks in a message transmission