An atomic analyzer includes a plasma generator, in which a discharge gas is fed in a micro gap between a pair of electrodes to generate nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma, a bias voltage controller that includes a plasma-leading electrode for leading the nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma generated by the plasma generator to an object to be irradiated, the object to be irradiated with the nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma is placed on the plasma-leading electrode, a bias voltage is applied between the plasma-leading electrode and the electrodes of the plasma generator to irradiate the object with the nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma, and a spectrometer that analyzes atoms spectroscopically from light emitted from atomized generated by atomizing a substance composing the object to be irradiated by the nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma irradiation or from light absorbed by the atomized atoms.

Conventionally, the quantitative determination of atoms contained in soil or sewage is required in terms of the environmental pollution. In this case, in general, soil or sewage must be subjected to pretreatment, such as drying or being dissolved in a chemical. Furthermore, the apparatuses used are large and are impossible to carry. It is therefore difficult to perform a component analysis at the site of pollution. The component analysis requires atomization of elements composing a substance. It is known that the atomization is performed by chemical methods or physical methods using a laser or plasma. In the chemical methods, because different elements require different treatments, it is difficult to measure multiple elements simultaneously. Furthermore, when a laser is miniaturized for convenience of carrying, the laser has a reduced power and low analytical sensitivity. Furthermore, a solid containing a liquid (or a solid in a liquid) requires complete vaporization of the liquid and vaporization of the solid. Direct use of a solid containing a liquid requires a higher-power laser, which is difficult to miniaturize. In particular, it is desired that the atomic analysis of a solid contained in a waste fluid be performed directly with the waste fluid. However, a portable laser cannot be used in such an analysis of a solid contained in a waste fluid.
On the other hand, a plasma generator for use in the atomic analysis using plasma is known by Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that generates helium plasma, which has the highest atomization capability. Since a helium gas has a very high excitation temperature, surrounding walls that generate plasma must be cooled. A helium gas may be used to cool the surrounding walls. However, helium has a high thermal conductivity and exhibits extensive thermal diffusion. If a helium gas is fed in the axial direction for cooling, therefore, the energy of helium is dissipated into the atmosphere.
According to Patent Document 1, to solve this problem, a helium gas is fed spirally into an outer discharge tube to reduce the flow rate in the axial direction, thus forming ring-shaped plasma around the axis. A gas to be analyzed is supplied into the ring-shaped plasma.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-147790


With advanced compute capabilities and growing convergence of wireless standards, it is desirable to run multiple wireless standards, e.g., 4G, 5G NR, and Wi-Fi, on a single signal processing system. Automatic gain control (AGC) is a process of converging on a gain level for optimum signal reception considering the dynamic range of all the components in the receive chain, including analog and digital parts. For certain wireless standard such as Wi-Fi, AGC is required to complete within a short interval. Both RF and baseband gains have to be adjusted within this short time. Discloses in the present disclosure are embodiments of a high-speed and low pin-count interface between an RF circuit and a baseband circuit for AGC communication. The high-speed interface provides a light-weight serial protocol over one or more low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) channels to meet a low-latency requirement for gain updates.

The importance of wireless communication in today's society is well understood by one of skill in the art. Advances in wireless technologies have resulted in the ability of a communication system to support wireless communications of different standards, e.g., 5G New Radio (NR), 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, etc. Different wireless standards have aspects which are very different from each other—fundamental frame structures, timing of symbols, forward error correction (FEC) codes.
With advanced compute capabilities and growing convergence of wireless standards, there is requirement to run multiple wireless standards, e.g., 4G LTE, 5G NR, and Wi-Fi, on a single hardware, e.g., a system on a chip (SoC). This requires simultaneously receiving and transmitting signals corresponding to each radio standard and also process them according to the requirements of the corresponding radio standard. However, typical solutions involve providing separate hardware blocks specific to each radio standard which in turn requires more area on the SoC and consumes more power. As the need for inter-operability among different types of wireless standards increases, improvements in resource flexibility and system configurability will become more important.
Among various processes for signal processing, AGC is a process of converging on a gain level for optimum signal reception considering a dynamic range of all components in a signal receiving chain (analog and digital). For some wireless standard such as Wi-Fi, AGC is required to complete within a short interval, e.g., 2.4p. Both RF and base-band gains have to be adjusted within this short interval. In certain situations. Some RF analog components may be in a different IC from a baseband (BB) IC. Hence a high-speed interface may be needed between the different ICs such that the AGC may be implemented within the required short interval.
Accordingly, what is needed are systems, devices and methods that address the above-described issues.

Systems and methods for fast AGC convergence using high-speed interface between baseband and RFIC


A method for preparing nylon microspheres is provided, said method comprising steps (1), (2) and (3) or steps (1′), (2) and (3) as follows: (1) a radically polymerizable monomer is dispersed in a molten lactam monomer, and a free radical initiator is added, so that radical polymerization of the radically polymerizable monomer is carried out, to give a mixture of a free radical polymer and the lactam monomer; or (1′) a mixture of a free radical polymer and a molten lactam monomer is provided; and (2) an initiator and an activator, used for anionic ring-opening polymerization of the lactam monomer, are added to the mixture obtained in step (1) wherein the remaining radically polymerizable monomer and water are removed, or to the mixture obtained in step (1′), so that the anionic ring-opening polymerization of the lactam is carried out to give a polymer alloy of the free radical polymer/polyamide; and (3) the free radical polymer in the polymer alloy obtained in step (2) is removed by dissolution, giving nylon microspheres. Nylon microspheres are also provided, wherein the weight average molecular weight of the nylon lies in the range of 10000-300000, and the particle size of the nylon microspheres lies in the range of 0.1-500 μm.

Nylon has been widely used in engineering plastics due to its high strength, high wearing resistance, high chemical resistance, and good deformation resistance and anti-aging ability. Nylon synthesized by anionic ring-opening polymerization has a much higher molecular weight than that of nylon synthesized by condensation polymerization, thus it is superior in applicability.
Nylon particles see a great potential for application in coatings and raw materials for rollforming molding and extrusion molding. Conventional processes for preparing nylon particles include solution precipitation, emulsion, direct polymerization, mechanical ground (low temperature, slicing process and air flow crush), and the like. These processes, however, typically suffer from such drawbacks as technical complexity, high cost and high energy consumption, irregular powder shape, large particle size and wide distribution of particle size, rendering significant difficulty in their practical application.
It is disclosed in European Patent No. EP1636292 that polyamide spherical particles were made by emulsion polymerization. It is disclosed in WO 03097228 that polyamide spherical particles were made by interfacial polycondensation. However, these two processes are not suitable for industrial application for their process complexity and the need of a great deal of solvent and dispersant.
A method is disclosed in Chinese Patent No. CN1624025 wherein a polyamide powder was obtained by mixing polyamide granules and a water soluble polymer to give a co-blend with polyamide as the dispersed phase and the water soluble polymer as the continuous phase, and then removing the water soluble polymer with water. While this method is desirable in industrialized manufacture, the preparation of polyamide powder used as the raw material requires consumption of a lot of energy.

Method for preparing nylon microspheres and nylon microspheres prepared thereby

Shanghai Genius Advanced Material (Group) Company, Ltd.


A device for providing protection from harmful effects produced when a vehicle is stored with its wiper blades in contact with its windshield. In a preferred embodiment, a device has a wiper arm support portion, an elongated body portion, and a windshield contacting portion. Operative installation of the device between the vehicle's wiper arms and the windshield lifts the wiper blades out of contact with the windshield.

The present invention relates generally to devices associated with windshields and wipers and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly provides a device which is usable for preserving windshields and wipers.
It is well known that virtually all vehicles are equipped with windshields and windshield wipers, excepting most motorcycles. A windshield serves to protect and shield the vehicle's occupants from the elements, and the windshield wipers serve to clean and clear the windshield's outer surface so that it is easy to see through the windshield. Some vehicles, such as airplanes, also utilize windshields as barriers between air pressure inside the airplanes and air pressure external to the airplanes.
Unfortunately, when wipers are allowed to remain in operative contact with windshields for extended periods of time, many harmful effects are produced. These harmful effects are known to occur, for example, with recreational vehicles, airplanes, and utility vehicles, which are used only occasionally, intermittently, or are otherwise stored periodically without their wipers being activated.
One harmful effect is that, while a wiper is in operative contact with a windshield, biasing members, such as springs, within an arm supporting a wiper blade proximate the windshield, typically force the wiper blade against the windshield and thereby produce a deflection of the wiper blade. Generally, the wiper blade is made of a rubber-like material which tends to be resilient, but prolonged deflection of the wiper blade usually causes it to retain the deflection. Such retained deflection, in turn, causes the wiper blade to perform poorly when it is subsequently called upon to clean or clear the windshield. For this reason, a wiper blade having a retained deflection will usually be rejected during a periodic vehicle inspection, resulting in an economic cost for replacement of the wiper blade which may be quite significant, particularly in the case of an airplane wiper blade.
Another harmful effect is that a wiper blade, having been biased into contact with a windshield for a prolonged period of time, tends to become adhered to the windshield. This situation is encountered most often when the vehicle has been stored in hot weather conditions. When the wiper is subsequently activated, the wiper blade must be forcefully torn from the windshield, possibly severing portions of the wiper blade or otherwise damaging the wiper mechanism. This situation may also occur in cold weather conditions when frozen rain, frost, etc. adheres the wiper blade to the windshield.
Still another harmful effect is that moisture tends to collect about a wiper blade when it is stored in contact with a windshield. Such prolonged exposure to moisture can degrade the wiper blade material, making it hard, brittle, and otherwise prone to cracking and poor performance.
Yet another harmful effect is that dirt, sand, dust, grit, etc. tends to collect on upper surfaces of the wiper blade and about a line of contact between the wiper blade and the windshield. If left uncleaned, when the wiper is subsequently activated, the wiper blade will typically scrape the sand, grit, etc. across the outer surface of the windshield. Repeated occurrences will abrade multiple arcs into the outer surface of the windshield, making the windshield difficult to see through. In extreme cases, the windshield may have to be replaced, which is very costly, particularly for airplane windshields.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that it would be quite desirable to provide a device which preserves wipers and windshields, prevents wiper blades from adhering to windshields, prevents accumulation of moisture about wiper blades during storage, prevents accumulation of dirt, grit, etc. between and about wiper blades and windshields during storage, and prevents wiper blades from retaining deflection as a result of prolonged operative contact with windshields. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide such a device and associated methods of preserving wipers and windshields.

Windshield and wiper preservation device


A method and system for formatting of recording media.

This invention relates generally to recording media, and, more particularly, to the formatting of recording media.
In the case of optical tape, which is typically hundreds of meters long, it is a necessity that each track will have an identifiable track number and that each block of data along the track will have a block number, both of which are inscribed on the tape during the formatting process, so that this information can be retrieved reliably when the tape is used later for recording and/or reading of user data.
It is therefore a need to provide a method that adds both track number information and block number information to the formatted pattern in such a manner that its primary functionality, which is to provide reliable tracking position error information, is not disturbed. It is a further need to be able to add this information during the same formatting operation, so that a one-step process is maintained without requiring a separate formatting step.
In summary there is a need for a simple method to modulate track & block number information onto the servomark pattern that satisfies both the need for efficient formatting during tape manufacturing as well as the need for a reliable positioning grid, used during recording or reading of user data.

Methods and systems for providing data track identifying information on a recording medium


A steering handle assembly for an outboard motor has a low speed control switch with at least one lead wire that is not twisted during control of the watercraft. The low speed control switch provides precise control of the engine speed of the outboard motor. The steering handle assembly has a handle with an elongated handle body. The handle body is connected to the outboard motor. A grip is rotatably mounted to a distal end of the handle body and is rotatable about the axis of the handle body.

1. Field of the Inventions
The invention relates to a steering handle assembly for operating an outboard motor of watercraft and, more particularly, to a steering handle assembly having a low speed control switch for controlling the engine speed of the outboard motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Watercraft vehicles, such as boats, are often powered by an outboard motor having an internal combustion engine. The outboard motor can be attached to the aft end of a hull of a watercraft. A steering handle can extend from the outboard motor. The handle is used to steer and control the engine speed of the outboard motor. The steering handle can include a handle body and a rotatable grip. The grip can be rotated to control the engine output. A shift lever for changing the mode of operation of an associated watercraft can be positioned on the handle body. For example, the shift lever can be used to switch between forward, reverse, and neutral modes of operation.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-186653 discloses an outboard motor that has an air intake system for controlling the amount of air delivered to the internal combustion engine. The air intake system can have a flow regulating mechanism positioned along a bypass passage. The bypass passage provides air to the combustion chambers of the outboard motor to control the engine output for a low engine speed during, for example, idling, trolling and the like.
As shown in Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 2002-14235, a conventional low speed control switch can be attached to the grip of the steering handle. Unfortunately, if a speed control switch is mounted on the rotatable grip of a steering handle, the low speed control switch and the grip rotate together causing twisting of a lead wire connected to the low speed control switch. The twisting of the lead wire can cause wear.


A punctum plug for blocking lacrimal fluid flow through a punctum and an associated canaliculus composed of a hydrogel material and a hydrophobic coating which covers the exterior surface of the hydrogel material. The hydrophobic coating averts adsorption of proteinaceous materials onto the hydrogel. The punctum plug has a configuration which includes a generally cylindrical body member, an arcuate head at a first end of the body member, and a placement and retaining member at a second, peripheral end of the body member. An insertion port is located at the first end of the cylindrical body member for receiving a dilator/inserter tool. A hydrating port is fashioned at the peripheral end of the plug and partially extends through the placement and retaining member. The hydrating port is not coated with the hydrophobic material so that fluid in the canaliculus, or canalicular fluid, or preocular tear film may enter the interior portion of the plug and permit the hydrogel to expand to a desired configuration.

This invention relates to a novel method and apparatus for the treatment of tear-related disorders of the eye. More specifically, this invention relates to a punctum plug for treating cases of mild to moderate keratitis sicca or kertoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye) and related disorders by occluding the flow of lacrimal fluid into the punctum and canaliculus.
In a healthy eye, movement of the upper eyelid spreads a film of tears over the corneal and conjunctival epithelia, making the eye smooth and optically clear. The tear film is composed of three layers which coat the surface of the eye. An outer, oily layer is produced by small glands called meibomian glands located at the edges of the eyelids. This outer layer provides a smooth tear surface and reduces evaporation of tears. An intermediate, watery layer is produced by a large lacrimal gland and a plurality of small glands scattered throughout the conjunctiva. This watery layer contains the largest amount of fluid and cleanses the eye by washing away foreign particles and irritants. An inner layer consists of mucus produced by goblet cells in the conjunctiva. This inner layer allows the watery layer to spread evenly over the surface of the eye. In addition, the mucus produced by the goblet cells enables the aqueous tears to wet the epithelial surface.
Normally, the preocular tear film (PTF) is formed by the cooperative interaction of products from the Meibomian glands, the lacrimal gland, and the goblet cells; however, sometimes these glands produce less than adequate amounts of tears, resulting in dry eye.
Dry eye is characterized by an inability to maintain a stable preocular tear film due to insufficient production or excessive drainage of lacrimal fluid. Dry eye describes a continuum of problems which range from discomfort, to decreased vision and pain, and, in extreme cases, to blindness. The causes of dry eye include aging, disease inflammatory processes, and prescription drug side effects.
A previous prior art practice in treating dry eye has been to utilize various types of topical drops and ointments. Some sufferers of dry eye prefer using humidifiers and vaporizers to increase the moisture level in the surrounding air, which helps by decreasing evaporation of lacrimal fluid from the eye.
More recently, permanent punctal occlusion has proven to be an effective method of treating tear-related disorders including dry eye, corneal ulcers, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, contact lens problems and other external eye diseases. In extreme cases of discomfort and pain, such as occur in Sjogren's syndrome, permanent closure of the puncta and canaliculi by surgery or cauterization has produced marked success.
Each of the aforementioned treatments, however, possess certain inherent limitations. Topical drops and ointments require frequent re-applications. Humidifiers and vaporizers are relatively bulky and must be connected to an electrical source and, thus, are not satisfactory for all occasions, such as outdoor activities. Finally, surgical or cauterization procedures are costly and create a danger of subsequent epiphora and/or infection, the destruction of normal tissue requires surgical intervention to reverse.
The foregoing noted problems of mild to moderate dry eye have been advantageously addressed by the introduction of a punctum plug which provides reversible punctal occlusion as disclosed and claimed in the previously identified Freeman U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,750. The disclosure of this patent is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth at length.
Total occlusion of a punctum with a silicone plug of the Freeman design has proved to be very beneficial to patients suffering from dry eye conditions. However, some physicians have reported that insertion of the punctum plug is occasionally difficult because of the size of the plug relative to the size of a patient's punctal opening. In this connection it is often necessary to dilate a patient's punctum for plug insertion which may cause patient anxiety and/or discomfort.
The use of polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate p(HEMA) as a plug composition has been theorized, at least in part, because in a dry state its firmness facilitates the process of insertion. Once inserted, HEMA is hydrated, becomes soft and flexible and swells to conform in shape to a patient's lacrimal duct, or canaliculus, thereby improving the closure of the punctal aperture. However, the biocompatibility of HEMA, a solid hydrogel material, has not been satisfactory. It has been determined that soluble proteinaceous substances present in the preocular tear film (PTF) and canaliculus may be absorbed into or adsorbed onto the hydrogel and denatured proteins can initiate immune responses.
The difficulties in the preceding are not intended to be exhaustive but rather are among many which may tend to reduce the effectiveness of prior known methods and devices for treatment of dry eye. Other noteworthy problems may also exist; however, those presented above should be sufficient to demonstrate that methods and devices for treating dry eye syndrome appearing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.


A portable soldering device comprises a short arc lamp including an alumina ceramic cylindrically shaped body with a concave opening at one end that is plated with silver to form an ellipsoidal reflector, a cathode suspended within the concave opening in opposition to an anode protruding through a hole in the center of the concave opening from the opposite end of the body, a circular iron base that supports the anode at its center and attaches to the body. The soldering device further comprises a cone-shaped hood over the flat window and a supply of inert gas attached to the hood that excludes smoke, residue and splatter from infiltrating the hood.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to arc lamps and more specifically to arc lamps useful as soldering tools and in fiber optic bundle illumination applications for medical endoscopes, instrumentation and projection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Short arc lamps provide intense point sources of light that allow light collection in reflectors for applications in medical endoscopes, instrumentation and projection. Short arc lamps are used in industrial endoscopes for the inspection of jet engine interiors.
Conventional lasers have been used to solder, weld and cut metals. However, lasers powerful enough to do so are also powerful enough to cause serious injury to human operators. Such injury can easily happen when a stray laser beam reflects off the workpiece. It is therefore customary for operators to wear special glasses and shop coats for their protection.
Ordinary light is non-coherent and must be focused to form tight spots of light to have the intensity needed to solder or weld metal. With such a spot of light, there is little danger of injury from misdirected or reflected light, because the non-coherent light will simply scatter in low energy rays.
FIGS. 1A and 1B represent a prior art soldering device 10, based on a conventional arc lamp 12, that is described in Japanese Patent Application 2-14499, filed Feb. 15, 1992, in the Japanese Patent Office, by Makoto Kobayashi, et al. Arc lamp 12 and an external reflector 14 are used to pipe light down a fiber optic cable 16 to an end fitted with a window 18 and a hood 20 for soldering and light-weight welding. The assembly places the arc lamp 12 including a power supply 22, reflector 14 and one end of the fiber optic cable in a housing that remains stationary. A supply of inert gas (not shown) is needed at a remote unit that comprises the other end of the fiber optic cable 16, the window 18, the hood 20 and an inlet in the hood 24 that allows inert gas to fill the hood 20 to exclude smoke, residue and splatter during soldering or welding of a workpiece 26. Integrated short arc lamps are smaller and less bulky than arc lamp 12 and its non-integrated reflector 14.
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical prior art short arc lamp 30 that comprises an anode 32 and a cathode 34 positioned along the longitudinal axis of a cylindrical body 36 with a sealed concave parabolic cavity 38 that contains xenon gas pressurized to several atmospheres. U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,128, issued Dec. 30, 1986, to Roy D. Roberts, the present inventor, and Robert L. Miner, describes such a short arc lamp in which a copper sleeve member 40 is attached to a wall 42 to conduct heat from wall 42 through to an exterior wall 44 and a metal ring 45 with a heat sink (not shown) and eventually to circulating ambient air. A flat glass window 46 seals in the xenon gas.
The prior art soldering apparatuses that use arc lamps for a heat source are too bulky and expensive because a large reflector is needed for a conventional arc lamp to focus a tight beam down a fiber optics cable. A far less bulky and inexpensive short arc lamp based system is needed in the market.


While an emitting position of light from an optical waveguide and a magnetic pole end part are made closer to each other, high-density writing onto a magnetic recording medium is realized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermally assisted magnetic head which writes signals by a thermally assisted magnetic recording scheme, a head gimbal assembly (HGA) equipped with this thermally assisted magnetic head, and a hard disk drive equipped with the HGA.
2. Related Background Art
As hard disk drives have been increasing their recording density, thin-film magnetic heads have been required to further improve their performances. As the thin-film magnetic heads, those of composite type having a structure in which a magnetism detecting device such as a magnetoresistive (MR) device and a magnetic recording device such as electromagnetic coil device are laminated have been in wide use, while these devices read/write data signals from/onto magnetic disks which are magnetic recording media.
In general, a magnetic recording medium is a sort of discontinuous body in which magnetic fine particles are assembled, while each magnetic fine particle has a single-domain structure. Here, one recording bit is constituted by a plurality of magnetic fine particles. Therefore, for enhancing the recording density, it is necessary to make the magnetic fine particles smaller, so as to reduce irregularities at boundaries of recording bits. When the magnetic fine particles are made smaller, however, their volume decreases, so that the thermal stability in magnetization may deteriorate, thereby causing a problem.
An index of the thermal stability in magnetization is given by KUV/kBT. Here, KU is the magnetic anisotropy energy of a magnetic fine particle, V is the volume of one magnetic fine particle, kB is the Boltzmann constant, and T is the absolute temperature. Making the magnetic fine particles smaller just reduces V, which lowers KUV/kBT by itself, thereby worsens the thermal stability. Though KU may be made greater at the same time as measures against this problem, the increase in KU enhances the coercivity of the magnetic recording medium. On the other hand, the writing magnetic field intensity caused by a magnetic head is substantially determined by the saturated magnetic flux density of a soft magnetic material constituting a magnetic pole within the head. Therefore, no writing can be made if the coercivity exceeds a permissible value determined by the limit of writing magnetic field intensity.
Proposed as a method for solving such a problem in thermal stability of magnetization is a so-called thermally assisted magnetic recording scheme which applies heat to a magnetic recording medium immediately before applying a writing magnetic field, while using a magnetic material having a large value of KU, so as to effect writing with lowered coercivity. This scheme is roughly classified into magnetic dominant recording and optical dominant recording. In the magnetic dominant recording, the writing is attributed to an electromagnetic coil device, while the radiation diameter of light is greater than the track width (recording width). In the optical dominant recording, in contrast, the writing is attributed to a light-radiating part, while the radiation diameter of light is substantially the same as the track width (recording width). Namely, the magnetic dominant recording and optical dominant recording impart space resolution to a magnetic field and light, respectively.
As such thermally assisted magnetic head recording apparatus, Patent Documents 1 and 2 and Nonpatent Document 1 disclose structures in which a light source such as semiconductor laser is provided at a position separated from a slider equipped with a magnetic recording device for generating a magnetic field, while light from the light source is guided to the medium-opposing surface of the slider through an optical fiber, a lens, and the like.
Patent Documents 3 and 4 disclose thermally assisted magnetic heads in which a magnetic recording device and a light source are integrated on a side face or medium-opposing surface of a slider.
Patent Documents 5 and 6 disclose thermally assisted magnetic heads in which an optical waveguide is provided at a position near an electromagnetic coil device in the laminating direction of a magnetic head (bit length direction). In this structure, light emitted from a light-emitting device is introduced into the optical waveguide and then is let out from a light exit surface of the optical waveguide within the medium-opposing surface, so as to heat a magnetic recording medium locally. Subsequently, the electromagnetic coil device applies a writing magnetic field to a local area of the magnetic recording medium having lowered the coercivity by the local heating, so as to perform writing.
Nonpatent Document 2 discloses a thermally assisted magnetic head in which a magnetic pole end part, which is a part exposed to the medium-opposing surface in the main magnetic pole layer, projects toward the optical waveguide.
Nonpatent Document 3 discloses a magnetic recording medium used for thermally assisted magnetic recording such as those mentioned above.
Patent Document 7 discloses a light-radiating device in which electromagnetic waves such as light propagated through a core are deflected by a deflecting structure to a base part formed with a magnetic head or the like.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-162444    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-255254    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-158067    [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-004901    [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-190655    [Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-185548    [Patent Document 7] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-331508    [Nonpatent Document 1] Shintaro Miyanishi, et al., "Near-Field Assisted Magnetic Recording", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 2005, Vol. 41, No. 10, pp. 2817-2821    [Nonpatent Document 2] Micheal A. Seigler, et al., "Progress and Prospects in Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording", in Optical Data Storage, OSA Technical Digest Series (CD) (Optical Society of America, 2007), paper TuA1
[Nonpatent Document 3] Jan-Ulrich Thiele, et al., "Magnetic and Structural Properties of FePt—FeRh Exchange Spring Films for Thermally Assisted Magnetic Recording Media", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 2004, Vol. 40, No. 4, p. 2537

Thermally assisted magnetic head with optical waveguide

Abstract: A thermally assisted magnetic head comprises a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end part exposed at a medium-opposing surface opposing a magnetic disk, and an optical waveguide for deflecting laser light incident thereon into a laminating direction. The main magnetic pole layer is positioned on a side where the light is deflected by the optical waveguide. The magnetic pole end part projects to the side where the light is deflected by the optical waveguide. The optical waveguide projects more than the magnetic pole end part on the medium-opposing surface side.


Disclosed are various embodiments of a method of forming vias for backside connections in a wafer stack, wherein the vias are formed by non-thermal laser ablation. Other embodiments are described an claimed.

Wafer bonding is the joining together of two or more semiconductor wafers upon which integrated circuitry has been formed to form a three-dimensional wafer stack. The wafer stack is subsequently diced into separate "stacked die," each stacked die having multiple layers of integrated circuitry. Wafer stacking technology offers a number of potential benefits, including improved form factors, lower costs, enhanced performance, and greater integration through "system-on-chip" solutions. Potential applications for wafer stacking technology include, for example, high performance processing devices, video and graphics processors, as well as high density and high bandwidth memory chips.
Typically, to form a wafer stack, two wafers are oriented in face-to-face relationship, and conductors on one wafer are bonded to conductors on the other wafer. Each of the wafers—and, hence, the wafer stack—includes integrated circuitry for a number of integrated circuit die, or stacked die, which will ultimately be cut from the wafer stack. Electrical connections are formed through the backside of one of the wafers, and these backside connections will provide for the electrical connection of each stacked die with a next-level component, such as a package substrate, a circuit board, a motherboard, another integrated circuit device, a computer system, etc. The backside connections may comprise a number of conductive vias formed through one of the wafers, each via having one end extending to a conductor in the wafer (e.g., a conductor within an interconnect structure formed on that wafer) and having an opposing end coupled with a lead. For a flip-chip type package employing Controlled Collapse Chip Connection ("C4") assembly techniques, these leads may comprise an array of solder bumps (or columns or other conductive elements).
The vias used to form the backside connections on a wafer stack, as described above, may be formed by a dry etch process (e.g., plasma etching). With these etching processes, however, it may be difficult to form vias having a high aspect ratio, which can limit the thickness of a wafer that can be etched through. Additional limitations on this technique of forming vias for backside connections include a lack of selectivity and the potential for overetching and/or an undesirable etch profile, as well as a sensitivity to variations in thickness of the wafer (which may be thinned at the backside).

Method of forming vias on a wafer stack using laser ablation


A blister package for containing a product has a tub and a base. The tub slidably engages the base and is slidable between a storage position, used for storing the product, and a removal position, used for removing the product. A panel is secured to the base and locks the tub in the storage position until removed. After the panel is removed, the tub is free to slide to the removal position in which a part of an open side of the tub is adjacent an access aperture in the base. A cover covers the access aperture and is movable between a closed position, adjacent the access aperture, and a open position, spaced apart from the access aperture.

The present invention relates to the field of blister packages. Blister packages include a tub for containing a product and a cardboard backing. The tub is typically made of clear plastic so that the product can be seen.
In many conventional blister packages the tub is glued to the cardboard backing. The blister package is opened by tearing the cardboard away from the plastic tub. A problem with conventional glued blister tubs is that once the package is opened it cannot be resealed. If items are kept in an opened blister package they are prone to fall out and become lost.
Several known blister packages have a tub which is slidable relative to the backing so that after the blister package is first opened it can be closed again and used to contain the remaining product. A slidable blister tub is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,248 to Mackowicki. The tub has laterally protruding flanges which engage a pair of channels. To remove the product, a user slides the tub so that the tub opening is beyond the cardboard backing. After the desired items are removed, the tub is moved back to store the remaining product.
A problem with the blister package disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,248 is that the tub is not restrained from sliding. The blister package can be opened quickly and presents an easy target for thieves.
A further problem with the blister package disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,248 is that the tub can become completely disengaged from the cardboard backing. If the tub becomes inadvertently disengaged from the cardboard backing some of the product will probably be spilled. The tub can become disengaged when a user is removing items and inadvertently slides the tub beyond the flange to channel engagement. The tub can also become disengaged during transportation since the tub is not restrained from sliding.
A further problem with the blister tub disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,248 is that a user cannot tell whether the blister package has already been opened. Consumers often want to know whether a package has been opened, particularly with edible items, to avoid products which have been tampered with.


The present invention relates to an air-conditioning system with full heat recovery comprising a condenser, an evaporator, a compressor and an expansion valve; one side of the condenser is disposed in a position corresponding to an indoor air outlet and an outdoor air inlet; the other side of the condenser is provided with an exhaust vent; and a cooling fan is disposed between the exhaust vent and a cooling air opening. The present air-conditioning system with full heat recovery can be connected with a condensate recycle system. The present invention utilizes low temperature, low humidity indoor exhaust air as cooling air for the evaporative condenser. It makes use of the sensible heat (temperature difference) of indoor exhaust air as well as the latent heat (humidity difference) of indoor exhaust air, thereby attaining better condensation effects. It also uses the condensate to assist cooling and increases cooling and water saving effects. The present invention can be widely used in the air-conditioning systems in restaurants, hospitals, supermarkets, villas and offices and has wide applications.

The present invention relates to air-conditioning cooling apparatus and more particularly pertains to an air-conditioning system with full heat recovery.
Following the increasing popularity of air-conditioners, the air-conditioning industry has been fast developing in the past decade. However, the increasing popularity of air-conditioners exerts enormous pressure on the existing insufficient electricity supply facilities. Statistics show that electricity consumption-of-air-conditioners amounts to 35% of the total electricity consumption of an office building. The operational costs of air-conditioners are huge. Developing air-conditioning facilities of effective energy saving capability has therefore been a development trend in the air-conditioning industry.
The existing air-conditioners are mainly divided into two types, namely air-cooled air-conditioners and water-cooled air-conditioners. Air-cooled air-conditioners utilize outdoor air directly as the cooling agent to cool the apparatus. Since the refrigeration operation of air-conditioners is mainly in the seasons of higher temperature, the refrigeration efficiency of directly using outdoor air for cooling is therefore relatively low, where the COP (coefficient of performance) is maintained at around 2.0. It can be seen that this type of air-conditioners is of high energy consumption. However, air-cooled air-conditioners dominate the market because of the convenience in installation and the flexibility in location. Water-cooled air-conditioners utilize water as the cooling agent and bring the exhaust heat of the refrigeration system to the cooling tower. Heat is then discharged outdoor by the cooling tower. Since the cooling tower can lower the temperature of cooling water to approximately the outdoor wet-bulb temperature, the refrigeration system operates with cooling water of outdoor wet-bulb temperature, thereby increasing the refrigeration efficiency of the water-cooled air-conditioners, where the COP can reach 3.8 to 4.0. Nevertheless, since water-cooled air-conditioners are installed additionally with a cooling tower and a cooling pump, the overall energy consumption of the system and the costs of the apparatus increase. Moreover, for the purposes of heat radiation, traditional cooling towers usually use water sprinklers to spray water evenly. Water drops from this type of sprayers are relatively small. Further, there are relatively strong winds in the cooling tower. Therefore, it is common for water drops to "fly" out of the cooling tower during its operation as small water drops are carried by strong winds to spill out from the tower directly. This water spillage amounts to over 50% of the total water consumption of the cooling tower, while the water used for actual evaporation and heat radiation is less than 50%. Furthermore, the air-conditioners produce large volume of condensate during the refrigeration process. Known skills are to directly discharge the condensate that is produced. Since the temperature of condensate is as low as 10° C. to 15° C., the cooling energy loss is relatively high. If the condensate can be directly recycled to assist cooling, the temperature of cooling water can be lowered and energy can be saved, and this can greatly reduce the consumption of cooling water.
In addition, when the air-conditioner is used, for the purposes of satisfying the hygienic requirements of indoor air, fresh air has to be supplied continuously to the air-conditioning area. In existing air-conditioning systems, fresh air load amounts to around 30% of the total air-conditioning load and the energy consumption is high. To reduce the total load, fresh air reduction methods are often used, which lead to poorer air quality in the air-conditioning area and fail to satisfy the hygienic requirements. Further, an exhaust system that discharges some of the indoor air to the outside has to be installed to facilitate indoor air exchange. The discharged air is a cooling air source of low temperature and humidity. Its temperature is usually relatively low at 25° C. to 28° C. Its relative humidity is also low at 60% to 70% and its wet-bulb temperature is even as low as 20° C. to 23° C. The existing air-conditioners of air-conditioning systems fail to utilize this cooling energy and thus lead to wastage directly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Air-conditioning system with full heat recovery


A combination of an electromagnetic switching device and a printed circuit board incoming and outgoing connecting conductors associated with switchable conducting paths in the switching device. The connecting conductors are each associated with a connecting terminal for connecting an external electrical conductor. Pin contacts are connected to the printed circuit board for establishing a connection to the switching device. Each of the connecting conductors includes a contact receptacle accessible from the front of the switchgear housing for providing a contact connection to one of the pin contacts.

German Patent Publication DE 41 15 092 A1 describes the mounting of electromagnetic switching devices on printed circuit boards. To this end, the switching device is provided on the back with soldering pins which are inserted into corresponding holes and then soldered to contacting conductor surfaces of the printed circuit board. The disadvantage is that in the event of a failure of the switching device, the failed device can be replaced with a new one only with great effort and with the risk of damaging the printed circuit board or the switching device. Another disadvantage is that, for conventional wiring on the one hand, and, on the other hand, for connection to printed circuit boards, switching devices that are suitable for the respective connection method have to be provided separately.
European Patent Publication EP 0 779 640 A2 discloses a combination of an electromagnetic switching device and a bus-compatible amplifier module. The switching device is provided with connecting terminals and coil terminals on the connection sides running perpendicular to the front of the switching device. The connecting terminals are connected inside the device to switchable conducting paths, i.e., to power and auxiliary contacts, via connecting conductors. The amplifier module has connector pins which are connectable to the coil terminals leading to the operating coil of the switching device. This combination does not provide for the connection of the amplifier module to the switchable conducting paths via the pin contacts. World Patent Publication WO 81/01092 A1 describes a switching device having an integrated printed circuit board which is connected via pin contacts to a further printed circuit board inside the switching devices.

Combination of a switching device and a printed board


This application concerns a frame for a pump package for connecting to a liquid storage tank, the frame comprising a mounting frame portion and a transport frame portion. The mounting frame portion has an installation side for securing the mounting frame portion to the outside of a liquid storage tank and a mounting side for securing a pump package to the mounting frame portion. The transport frame portion has one or more lifting points for lifting the pump package when secured to the mounting frame portion. Together, the mounting frame portion and the transport frame portion form an enclosed space for containing the pump package when the mounting frame portion and the transport frame portion are attached.

It is known to provide containerised tanks to safely store liquid such as fuel or other potentially hazardous fluids. For example, large construction sites can consume a significant amount of fuel and having a fuel storage tank on site can remove the time wasted waiting for fuel deliveries.
Such tanks often require the ability to quickly and efficiently connect to and supply fuel to various pieces of auxiliary machinery such as generators, heaters, lighting towers etc. To facilitate this, known tank systems feature an integral equipment cabinet which houses pumps and accessories for connection to the intended machinery. The pumps and accessories that are used to connect and supply stored liquid from a tank to one or more auxiliary machinery shall be referred to herein as a "pump package", although any suitable term may be used in the art.
Pump packages may be considered as "bespoke" items in that the exact configuration of a pump package (in terms of the pumps and accessories included therein) is dependent on the auxiliary machinery with which the pump package and tank is to be used, and this may vary for different projects. For example, there may be upward of 200 different possible combinations of pumps and accessories that could be used for a pump package.
Usually the individual pumps and accessories of a pump package are designed, manufactured and assembled directly into an equipment cabinet that is integral to the liquid storage tank because the complete, assembled pump package will be too heavy and difficult to place into position in the cabinet. However, a problem with assembling the pump package directly into a cabinet is that assembly can begin only after the liquid storage tank has been manufactured and delivered to the same location, e.g. at an assembly depot.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a means for assembling the pump package at a location that is remote from the cabinet of a liquid storage tank and for easily transporting the assembled pump package to a position in the cabinet.


A Flash memory controller is disclosed. The Flash memory controller comprises a host interface, a Flash memory interface, controller logic coupled between the host interface, the controller logic handling a plurality of voltages. The controller also includes a mechanism for allowing a multiple voltage host to interface with a high voltage or a multiple voltage Flash memory. A multiple voltage Flash memory controller in accordance with the present invention provides the following advantages over conventional Flash memory controllers: (1) a voltage host is allowed to interface with multiple Flash memory components that operate at different voltages in any combination; (2) power consumption efficiency is improved by integrating the programmable voltage regulator, and voltage comparator mechanism with the Flash memory controller; (3) External jumper selection is eliminated for power source configuration; and (4) Flash memory controller power source interface pin-outs are simplified.

A traditional Flash memory storage device, such as an SD card, MMC, USB, Compact Flash (CF) or Memory Stick (MS), operates at a fixed voltage level of 3.3 volts. As mobile communication host devices, such as PDAs and cell phones, proliferate in the market place, a voltage level of power supply to 1.8 volts is needed in order to conserve battery power dissipation. Dual voltage power sources provide a challenge for an intelligent Flash memory controller. The role of the Flash memory controllers is to provide a seamless interface between any combination of host devices, PCs, PDAs or cell phones, and the Flash memory components residing inside Flash memory storage devices.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional Flash memory storage device 50, that consists of a host interface 27, a dual voltage Flash memory controller 20, a Flash memory component 51, and a Flash interface 24. It works through a host device interface 27 with a host device 10. There are six interface combinations between host device 10 and Flash memory 51 as illustrated in List 1 and Table 1.
List 1:    (a) High voltage host and high voltage Flash memory.    (b) Low voltage host and high voltage Flash memory.    (c) Dual voltage host and high voltage Flash memory.    (d) High voltage host and dual voltage Flash memory.    (e) Low voltage host and dual voltage Flash memory.    (f) Dual voltage host and dual voltage Flash memory.
TABLE 1Flash MemoryFlash Memory3.3 V1.8 V/3.3 VHost DeviceInterfaceInterface3.3 Vcombination (a)combination (d)Host DeviceInterfaceInterface1.8 Vcombination (b)combination (e)Host DeviceInterfaceInterface1.8 V/3.3 Vcombination (c)combination (f)
A high voltage host is a host device 10 such as a PC, PDA or cell phone that operates at a single fixed voltage, normally at 3.3 volts. A low voltage host is a host device 10 such as a PDA or cell phone that operates at a single fixed voltage, normally at 1.8 volts. A dual voltage host is a host device 10 such as a PC, PDA or cell phone that can interface with a Flash memory storage device 50 at either a high voltage of 3.3 volts or a low voltage of 1.8 volts, on demand.
A high voltage Flash memory is a Flash memory component 51 that operates at a single fixed voltage, normally at 3.3 volts. It is commonly referred to as a 3.3V Flash memory. A dual voltage Flash memory is Flash memory component 51 that can operate at either a high voltage of 3.3 volts or a low voltage of 1.8 volts, on demand. It is commonly referred to as a 1.8V Flash memory. Even though a dual voltage Flash memory can operate at either voltage, it is beneficial to operate at a low voltage level of 1.8 volt for lower power consumption.
The conventional dual voltage Flash memory controller 20 includes a step-down voltage regulator 25 to provide for a low voltage of 1.8 volts. It is used as a power source for Flash memory 51 as well as for Flash I/O buffer 23. Through proper jumper connection of nodes A 41, B 42, C 43, D 44, E 45 and F 46, it is possible to address all combinations mentioned above, except interface combination (b) which is a low voltage. Accordingly, a host device interfacing with a high voltage memory device means that a low voltage host device 10 can only interface with a dual voltage Flash memory 51, instead of a more available high voltage one.
Nodes A 41, B 42 and C 43 form one jumper set. It functions as a single pole/double-throw power switch with node B 42 as the center pole. Nodes D 44, E 45 and F 46 form one jumper set. It functions as another singe-pole/double-throw power switch with node E 45 as the center pole. SELECT A-B connects nodes A 41 and B 42. SELECT B-C connects nodes B 42 and C 43. SELECT A-B and SELECT B-C are mutually exclusive. SELECT D-E connects nodes D 44 and E 45. SELECT E-F connects nodes E 45 and F 46. SELECT D-E and SELECT E-F are mutually exclusive.
As dual voltage Flash memory availability is heavily dependent on more advanced semiconductor process technology, it is important to provide an intelligent dual voltage Flash memory controller that is able to interface with any Flash memory component, be it dual voltage, high voltage or low voltage.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the conventional dual voltage Flash memory controller 20 includes a host interface 27, host IO buffer 21, kernel control logic 22, Flash IO buffer 23, step-down voltage regulator 25 and Flash interface 24. The memory controller 20 has various interface pads VCCIN IOH 31, VCCIN_H 32, VCCIN_K 35, VCCIN_IOF 36, VCCOUT_F 33, and VCCOUT_K 34 for power input and output. VCCIN_ IOH 31 is the power input to host I/O buffer 21. This pad is always connected to the power output of host device 10 power interface. VCCIN_H 32 is the power input to step-down voltage regulator 25. VCCIN_K 35 is the power input to kernel controller logic 22. VCCIN_IOF 36 is the power input to Flash I0 buffer 23. This pad is always connected to power input VCCIN_F 52 to Flash memory 51. VCCOUT_F 33 is the power output of 1.8 volts from step-down 25, intended for Flash memory 51. VCCOUT_K 34 is the power output of 1.8 volts from step-down voltage regulator 25, intended for kernel controller logic 22.
The power source of VCCIN_F 52 and VCCIN JOF 36 is connected to node B 42 of a three-pin jumper set. One end of the jumper set is node A 41, which is connected to the power interface of host device 10. Another node C 43 is connected to VCCOUT_F 33. The two exclusiveiumper combinations of SELECT A-B and SELECT B-C are used to select the Flash memory 51 power source of the host device 10 power interface or VCCOUT_F 33 of 1.8V respectively.
Another three-pin jumper set is used to configure the mode of operation of a dual voltage card C (not shown) and to correctly reflect the type of Flash memory 51 installed through node E 45. Node D 44 is connected to the power interface of host device 10. Node F 46 is connected to ground. The two exclusive jumper combinations of SELECT D-E and SELECT E-F are used to select the mode of operation of Flash memory storage device 50 of either DUAL VOLTAGE or HIGH VOLTAGE respectively. Dual voltage mode indicates that a 1.8V Flash memory is used. High voltage mode indicates that a 3.3V Flash memory is used. The reason to have jumper nodes D, E, and F is to allow the Flash memory controller 20 to respond to host device 10 during power-on as to which type of Flash memory component 51 is used, either 1.8V (dual voltage) or 3.3V (high voltage).
FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing how the Flash memory controller 20 responds to a query from the host device 10 after power-on. After power-on, the Flash memory controller waits for command 300 from host device 10. The host device 10 will send voltage query command 301 to Flash memory storage device 50. Flash memory controller 20 responds with correct voltage type 302 of Flash memory 51 based on dual voltage card select node E 45 from the jumper set.
If high voltage card mode is returned, the host device 10 will decide if it is able to support the Flash memory storage device 50. If not, the power source from the power interface of host device 10 will be turned off and the Flash memory storage device is disabled. If dual voltage card mode is returned, host device 10 will decide if it is able to provide a 1.8 volts power source to Flash memory storage device 50. If so, it will decide if it should turn off the power source and turn it back on at 1.8 volts 304. If not, the original power source is maintained and the initialization sequence continues. The Flash memory storage device is ready to accept an identification command 305 from the host 10. It is then ready for data transfer 306 from the host device 10.
Referring again to FIG. 1, there are two possible sets of valid jumper combinations as depicted in Table 2 and Table 3 to select the power source feeding into power pad VCCIN IOF 36 of flash I/O buffer 23 and power pad VCCIN_F 52 of Flash memory 51 in FIG. 1.
TABLE 2Flash MemoryFlash MemoryPrior Art (1)3.3 V1.8 V/3.3 VHost DeviceSELECT A-BSELECT B-C3.3 VSELECT E-FSELECT D-EHost DeviceNOT ALLOWEDSELECT B-C1.8 VSELECT D-EHost DeviceSELECT A-BSELECT B-C1.8 V/3.3 VSELECT E-FSELECT D-E
Where:
SELECT A-B: Connect jumper nodes A and B.
SELECT B-C: Connect jumper nodes B and C.
SELECT D-E: Connect jumper nodes D and E.
SELECT E-F: Connect jumper nodes E and F.
SELECT G-H: Connect jumper nodes G and H.
SELECT H-I: Connect jumper nodes H and I. The combination labeled "NOT ALLOWED" corresponds to interface combination (b) in List 1.
TABLE 3Flash MemoryFlash MemoryPrior Art (2)3.3 V1.8 V/3.3 VHost DeviceSELECT A-BSELECT A-B3.3 VSELECT E-FSELECT D-EHost DeviceNOT ALLOWEDSELECT A-B1.8 VSELECT D-EHost DeviceSELECT A-BSELECT A-B1.8 V/3.3 VSELECT E-FSELECT D-E
With a single step-down voltage regulator, the conventional Flash memory controller does not allow a 1.8V host device to interface with a 3.3V Flash memory, as shown in Table 2 and Table 3.
Accordingly, what is needed is a Flash memory controller that provides the following features: (a) allows a host to interface with a plurality of Flash memory components of different voltages in any combination; (b) improves power consumption efficiency; (c) eliminates external jumper selection for power source configuration; and (d) simplifies Flash memory controller power source interface pin-outs. The present invention addresses such a need.

Flash memory controller utilizing multiple voltages and a method of use


An equipment seat back support has a high back support with a frame attachable to a low back seat support. A frame support rests on a top edge of the low back seat support. An attachment means secures the frame support to the low back seat support. A slant adjustment means is employed for variation of slant of the equipment seat back support in relationship to the frame support. Soft surface attachments or bolt-on attachments are optional for the frame support. An optional embodiment has a frame support that is attachable to a seat with or without a back support.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of equipment seats for equipment such as tractors and riding lawn mowers. In particular, it is an add-on back support for low back seats.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Riding types of lawn mowers, tractors and equipment generally are provided with low back seats. A back support extends approximately a hand span up from a rear surface of the seat. These are called low back seats. They are known also as lip seats. Some seats don't have any back support at all. The reason manufacturers provide mostly low back seats is that most residential use consumers who comprise the largest market, prefer them for short-time use generally consumed for cutting a residential lawn or for accomplishing some residential short-time agricultural or construction project. Many users, however, prefer or actually need high back support to operate equipment. Long-time users such as lawn care providers and large scale gardeners, for instance, are left with only the low back seats sold for general public short-time users. A wide variety of high back seats and low back seats for equipment have been provided. But an existing low back seat must be discarded to install a high back seat. Conversely, an existing high back seat must be discarded if a low back seat is preferred. Because manufacturers now market lawn and garden equipment with a universal image of a low back seat, an add-on back support to fit all low back seats and no back seats has a considerable niche of utility that is provided by this invention.
One known add-on back support is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,536. It is a bonnet type of construction that does not provide adjustability and rigidity with cushioned support provided by this invention. It is believed that there are no other add-on back supports for low back or no back seats that provide adjustability and rigidity of cushioned support in a manner taught by this invention.


Disclosed herein is a common mode filter having improved insertion loss characteristics. The common mode filter includes: first and second coil electrode patterns formed at an upper layer and alternately disposed; and first and second coil electrode patterns formed at a lower layer and alternately disposed, wherein the outermost pattern of the upper layer and the outermost pattern of the lower layer are coil electrode patterns having the same order.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a common mode filter, and more particularly, to a structure of a coil electrode pattern in a common mode filter.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with the development of a technology, electronic devices such as a portable phone, a home appliance, a personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the like, have been changed from an analog scheme into a digital scheme and a speed of the electronic devices has increased due to an increase in an amount of processed data. Therefore, a universal serial bus (USB) 2.0, a USB 3.0, and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) have been widely spread as a high speed signal transmitting interface and have been used in many digital devices such as a personal computer and a digital high-definition television.
These interfaces adopt a differential signal system transmitting differential signals (differential mode signals) using a pair of signal lines unlike a single-end transmitting system that has been generally used for a long period of time. However, electronic devices that are digitized and have an increased speed are sensitive to stimulus from the outside. That is, in the case in which a small abnormal voltage and high frequency noise are introduced from the outside into an internal circuit of the electronic device, a circuit may be damaged and a signal may be distorted.
In order to prevent the damage to the circuit of the electronic device and generation of the signal distortion, a filter is installed to prevent the high frequency noise from being introduced into the circuit. Generally, a common mode filter has been used in a high speed differential signal line, or the like, in order to remove common mode noise.
The common mode noise indicates noise generated in the differential signal line, and the common mode filter removes noise that may not be removed by an existing electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter. The common mode filter contributes to improvement in EMI characteristics of a home appliance, or the like, and improvement of antenna characteristics of a cellular phone, or the like.
Referring to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-015494, a general common mode filter according to the related art includes a metal-polymer composite filled around first and second coil electrode patterns enclosed by an insulating resin.
Here, the first and second coil electrode patterns are stacked while having the insulating resin therebetween in order to enhance electromagnetic coupling therebetween. Therefore, the first and second coil electrode patterns are disposed to face each other in a vertical direction.


A buried-layer semiconductor structure solving the problem of defect and dislocation generation which typically results when impurity induced layer disordering occurs across interfaces where there are changes in both the column III and the column V constituents in the manufacture of III-V compound semiconductors, for use, for example, in lasers. The structure is characterized by a thin buried active layers entirely bounded by thick layers on a substrate. Defect generation is avoided by maintaining the thin layer below a critical thickness and lattice matching the thick layers to the substrate.. As a further feature, the problem of relatively poor thermal conductivity in AlGaInP based laser structures is avoided by minimizing the amount of AlGaInP material contained in the laser structure, restricting these materials only to the critical active layers, and using AlGaAs for the majority of the optical guiding and carrier confining layers.. As a further feature, high levels of p-type doping in AlInP, which is desired because of its low refractive index, is obtained by replacing AlInP layers with AlGaAs layers of high aluminum composition and therefore comparable refractive index.

The process of impurity induced layer disordering (IILD) has been applied to the fabrication of a wide variety of device structures, primarily in the AlGaAs alloy system. The relative ease with which this process is used in this system is in large part due to the close lattice match between the two binary constituents, AlAs and GaAs. Lattice match is therefore maintained throughout the interdiffusion process. For a more complete description of IILD, its benefits and applications, and how to produce the desired structures by various known treatments, see the detailed descriptions given in two commonly-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,871,690 and 4,830,983, the contents of which patents are hereby incorporated by reference. The '690 patent also describes the manufacture of laser structures from the resultant semiconductor material with the IILD regions. The '983 patent also describes in detail specific processing techniques to control diffusion profiles for systematic reproduction. Also incorporated herein by reference is commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,893, which describes in detail the fabrication of multi-emitter laser arrays useful for high speed raster output scanners (ROS) and laser printing applications from the IILD material. This patent also shows the importance of p-side up mounting, whose significance will become apparent from the description that follows below.
Reference is also made to the previously published paper "Planar Diffusion-Based Processes For The Fabrication of Integrated Optical And Electrical Components", SPIE. Vol. 1582 Integrated Optoelectronics for Communication and Processing, pages 194-205, Sept. 1991. This paper, whose contents are hereby incorporated by reference, explains at great length the benefits of IILD in the fabrication of buried layer devices such as heterostructure lasers, FETs, and heterojunction bipolor transistors. What characterizes this class of devices is a very thin active region bounded on both sides by much thicker material layer. In the case of the laser, the thin region is a narrow filament of laser active region material surrounded on all sides by a material of wider bandgap. Laser action results from population inversion induced in the active region by introduced carriers. The inversion enables light amplification by stimulated emission, which means that light must be waveguided by the very thin region. Waveguiding is accomplished by the surrounding higher bandgap material which also has a lower refractive index and thus acts as an optical waveguide which maintains light in overlap with the thin active region, thus providing for amplification of light within the waveguide. In the FET application, the buried thin active region acts as the FET channel. In the bipolar transistor, it is the thin buried base region of the device, the thinner the base, the higher the operating frequency. In the laser application the active thin layers are one or more thin quantum well (QW) layers as well as possible thin barrier layers.
The performance of such buried layer III-V devices is profoundly affected by the quality of the semiconductor material. Defects, which includes dislocations, in the thin active layer or bounding layers materially affect laser light emission, transistor gain and in general device functionality. Many such devices must be made substantially defect-free in order that they have useful applications. The combination of a buried layer III-V device made by IILD, it has been observed, has a tendency to produce undesired defects under many circumstances involving systems other than the AlGaAs system mentioned above.
In more complicated III-V alloy systems in which the lattice parameter depends much more strongly on the proportions of the binary constituents, the process of enhancing the constituent interdiffusion rate can result in substantial strain within the crystal, potentially leading to threading dislocation and misfit dislocation formation. This becomes particularly the case when lattice parameter matching is accomplished through gradients in both the column III and the column V lattice constituents, as is the case at a GaInP/GaAs interface. In such cases, lattice strain during interdiffusion across the interface is minimal only when the enhanced rates of interdiffusion on both the column III and column V sites are equal. This is difficult to control because the relative rates of interdiffusion are typically a function of the concentrations of various point defect species such as Va.sub.III or I.sub.III. These point defects typically affect diffusion on III-sites and V-sites in fundamentally different ways. However, such structures incorporating phosphorus (P), such as with an AlInP, InGaAsP, or InGaP layer are highly desirable components as a result of their bandgap properties, as it results in light-emitting lasers emitting in wavelength ranges unavailable with AlGaAs, especially in the visible or further into the infra-red. Emission in the visible range is specially important for applications such as ROS. See, for instance, the Ikeda et al paper, published in App. Phys. Lett., 47(10), Nov. 15, 1985, pp. 1027-1028, which describes the fabrication of a room-temperature CW short wavelength DH laser in GaInP/AlGaInP grown on a GaAs substrate, the contents of which paper are incorporated herein by reference.
It is noted that Schwarz et al, in a paper entitled "InGaAs/InP Superlattice Mixing Induced By Zn or Si Diffusion", Appl. Phys.Lett., Vol 53, No. 12, pages 1051-1053, 1988, observed that in the InGaAs/InP system, in the fabrication of a superlattice structure, a 3.1% lattice mismatch can be accommodated in the mixed superlattice with no observable defects in the examined superlattice layers provided that the individual layer thickness was maintained below about 6-7 nm. It will be understood, however, that this teaching applies to a superlattice structure, which is a succession of thin layers bounded by thin layers, except for the bottommost layer or substrate. The superlattice structure is not commonly used to make semiconductor laser or transistor devices, which require that one or more thin layers must be bounded on both sides by thick layers for proper and efficient device operation, and, moreover, that the thick bounding layers must also be free of defects for the devices to operate properly. The Schwarz et al paper provides no teachings of how to achieve the foregoing, nor does it provide a teaching for III-V systems other than the one system described in the paper. The InGaAs/InP system is not suitable for visible light-emitting laser diodes as that compositional system would emit in the far infared region.

Buried layer III-V semiconductor devices with impurity induced layer disordering


A strut assembly for retaining a section of a vehicle in open position, and may be of an insulated type, heated type, or insulated and heated type, for use in a variety of varying temperature applications. The strut assembly may be connected to a power source of a vehicle and include a thermostatic control for maintaining a coil or one or more heating strips mounted in the strut assembly at a desired temperature. A protective sleeve or boot is provided about the plunger of the strut assembly. The strut assembly may be mounted to retain hinged side panels of a vehicle bed in an open position, with the bed being provided with collapsible support members therebeneath to provide added safety from side impacts.

The present invention relates to vehicles, such as pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles, vans, and emergency vehicles, particularly to strut assemblies and a collapsible support system for such vehicles, and more particularly to a strut assembly that can be insulated, heated, or insulated and heated, and to a support system incorporating collapsible beams.
In recent years, a hidden storage system has been developed for installation in the side panels of vehicles, and wherein one or more sections of the side panels is hinged to provide access to the interior of a storage box positioned behind the side panels. Such a hidden storage system is described and claimed in above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,000 and in Pat. No. 5,823,598 issued Oct. 20, 1998. It has been found that conventional strut assemblies which are utilized to retain the hinged side panel sections, truck lids, tail-gate window assemblies, etc. are not effective in extreme heat or cold. Also, it has been found that side impacts of a vehicle, such as referenced above, cause rupture of fuel tanks located beneath the floor of the vehicles, particularly in pickup truck beds.
The present invention involves an improved strut assembly which can withstand the heat or cold operating conditions, and provides a safety system for vehicle side impacts. The strut assembly of the present is insulated, heated and/or insulated and heated, with the heating obtained via the vehicle power supply. Heating strips are utilized which are thermostatically controlled. The safety system utilizes a plurality of beams which collapse when impacted on the ends thereof and are constructed to direct the force away from a fuel tank located beneath the beams. Thus, when these features are combined into a vehicle, they provide an advance in the art which enables use in various temperature conditions while providing an additional safety feature.

Vehicle having strut assemblies and collapsible support members


A pedestal console for a motor vehicle includes a housing stationarily mounted within the vehicle beneath and transverse to a bench seat of the vehicle. The console includes an air duct defined by structural features extending the length of the console. This allows air from a forward ventilation system to be provided, through the air duct, to an aft portion of the vehicle. The structural features extend between the bottom surface and the top surface of the console and are dimensioned to allow the console to accept passenger floor loads. To reduce cost and parts count, the entire console is formed of a one piece construction. Finally, an interior opening may be provided to route wiring of the vehicle's electrical system to the aft portion of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automotive interior subsystems. More specifically, the invention relates to a center console for air handling and electrical routing used in conjunction with a bench seat.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a number of common seating arrangements for motor vehicle interiors. Some vehicles have only a single row of seats, while others may have two or more rows. Depending on the size of the vehicle, a row may seat as few as one passenger, while two or three passengers is more common.
The seats of each row may be made up of either individual bucket seats or a single bench. A bucket seat usually offers the greatest comfort and control to each passenger, having multiple adjustments independent of the other passengers. However, bench seats provide maximum seating.
Bench seats have evolved from a simple, immobile bench spanning the width of the vehicle interior into moving split bench arrangements. A split bench combines the attributes of both bench and bucket seats. This is done by splitting the bench into at least two portions capable of at least independent movement fore and aft. For example, a 60/40 split bench divides the bench into two portions, where the driver sits in the left 40% while up to two passengers sit in the right 60% of the seat. This allows the passengers to adjust their portion of the seat independently of the driver.
Another bench seat arrangement is a 40/20/40 split bench. Here, the driver and a passenger sit on the left and right 40% of the bench and another passenger sits on the middle 20%. Typically, the middle 20% is stationary and not adjustable while the left and right portions may move and tilt. When the middle 20% is not in use, the back often may be folded forward for use as an arm rest by the driver and passenger and is usually where any cup holders and storage bins are located.
However, because a vehicle having a bench seat lacks a conventional center console, storage is limited. Furthermore, a conventional center console also provides a protected space through which air ducts and electrical wiring may be routed to a rear passenger compartment. As a result, it is more difficult to supply rear seat passengers with ventilation and electrical controls in vehicles having a bench seat. This is because there is no convenient location through which to route air ducts and electrical harnesses to the rear passenger area without potential damage by the center seat passenger. This is particularly problematic in vehicles having a large interior height, such as a van or SUV, where the center seat passenger would step or squat upon any components routed along a central area of the floor of the vehicle, potentially damaging the components.
Existing solutions attempt to avoid damage by creating small, multiple piece ducts that seek to route around or mitigate exposure to areas of likely damage. For example, in vehicles having a low interior height, such as a car, a non-structural duct may be run along the side of the central tunnel bulge of the vehicle's floor. The duct is protected by the carpet and pad of the vehicle, and by the fact that the contour of the tunnel tends to prevent direct loading of the duct. However, such a duct must conform to the tunnel and have a small cross sectional area, which reduces the amount of air flow to the rear passengers if it is to be used for air handling. Nevertheless, this technique may not always be effective. This is because it is still possible that a passenger may place a direct load on the duct and collapse it. Also, to achieve such routing of ducts, they are often made of multiple components, increasing cost, assembly time and opportunity for failure.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for an improved, cost effective means associated with a front bench seat to route air and electrical wiring to rear seat passengers.

Structural pedestal conduit for air handling and electrical routing


Solvates and crystalline forms of imatinib mesylate are described. Further, methods for preparing such solvates and crystalline forms of imatinib mesylate are described.

Imatinib mesylate, 4-(4-methylpiperazin, 1-ylmethyl)-N-[4-methyl-3-[(4-pyrinin-3-yl)pyrimidin-2-yloamino]phenyl]benzamide mesylate, a compound having the chemical structure,

Imatinib is a protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, especially useful in the treatment of various types of cancer and can also be used for the treatment of atherosclerosis, thrombosis, restenosis, or fibrosis. Thus imatinib can also be used for the treatment of non-malignant diseases. Imatinib is usually administered orally in the form of a suitable salt, e.g., in the form of imatinib mesylate.
The present invention relates to the solid-state physical properties of imatinib mesylate. These properties can be influenced by controlling the conditions under which imatinib mesylate is obtained in solid form. Solid-state physical properties include, for example, the flow-ability of the milled solid. Flow-ability affects the ease with which the material is handled during processing into a pharmaceutical product. When particles of the powdered compound do not flow past each other easily, a formulation specialist must take that fact into account in developing a tablet or capsule formulation, which may necessitate the use of glidants such as colloidal silicon dioxide, talc, starch or tribasic calcium phosphate.
Another important solid-state property of a pharmaceutical compound is its rate of dissolution in aqueous fluid. The rate of dissolution of an active ingredient in a patient's stomach fluid can have therapeutic consequences since it imposes an upper limit on the rate at which an orally-administered active ingredient can reach the patient's bloodstream. The rate of dissolution is also a consideration in formulating syrups, elixirs and other liquid medicaments. The solid-state form of a compound may also affect its behavior on compaction and its storage stability.
These practical physical characteristics are influenced by the conformation and orientation of molecules in the unit cell, which defines a particular polymorphic form of a substance. The polymorphic form may give rise to thermal behavior different from that of the amorphous material or another polymorphic form. Thermal behavior is measured in the laboratory by such techniques as capillary melting point, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and can be used to distinguish some polymorphic forms from others. A particular polymorphic form may also give rise to distinct spectroscopic properties that may be detectable by powder X-ray crystallography, solid-state 13C NMR spectrometry and infrared spectrometry.
The present invention also relates to solvates of imatinib mesylate. When a substance crystallizes out of solution, it may trap molecules of solvent at regular intervals in the crystal lattice. Solvation also affects utilitarian physical properties of the solid-state like flowability, dissolution rate, and makes it possible to prepare new forms by the desolvation of solvates.
One of the most important physical properties of a pharmaceutical compound, which can form polymorphs or solvates, is its solubility in aqueous solution, particularly the solubility in gastric juices of a patient. Other important properties relate to the ease of processing the form into pharmaceutical dosages, as the tendency of a powdered or granulated form to flow and the surface properties that determine whether crystals of the form will adhere to each other when compacted into a tablet.
The discovery of new polymorphic forms and solvates of a pharmaceutically useful compound provides a new opportunity to improve the performance characteristics of a pharmaceutical product. It enlarges the repertoire of materials that a formulation scientist has available for designing, for example, a pharmaceutical dosage form of a drug with a targeted release profile or other desired characteristic.
There is a need in the art for new polymorphs of imatinib mesylate and processes for the preparation of imatinib mesylate forms.

Polymorphic forms of imatinib mesylate and processes for preparation of novel crystalline forms as well as amorphous and form α


The present invention is an alerting system having one or more sensors for capturing sensory data, one or more processors and one or more memories having program code to (1) capture sensory data from the one or more sensors; (2) capture attribute data representing information about the sensors used to capture the sensory data; (3) process the sensory data from the one or more sensors to detect primitive events in the sensory data; (4) correlate two or more primitive events, the primitive events weighted by the attribute data of the sensors used to capture the sensory data; and (5) perform one or more actions based on the correlation performed in the correlating step. The system may also be connected to one or more legacy systems, such as FBI, Interpol, or other criminal database systems.

As citizens of a dangerous world, we all face security and safety risks. Every day, 30 people die by gunshot in the U.S.—one every 48 minutes. A police officer dies from a gunshot wound every ten days. An intelligent security and surveillance system may save lives. Unfortunately, if criminals know the existence of a video surveillance system, the first thing they will do is attempt to cut the lead to the cameras, servers, storage, and/or other system components, destroy system components, interfere or otherwise make portions of the system dysfunctional.
A recently foiled terrorist attack on Ft. Dix Army Base in New Jersey involved five terrorists planning to kill U.S. soldiers at the army base. They were observed by gate personnel and in video cameras surveying the army base on numerous occasions prior to the planned attack. A well-meaning citizen notified the police and FBI by submitting a "video tip" which started an investigation. The video tip included information and a video of the men training for the terrorist attack and plotting to kill as many American soldiers in as short a time as possible. During the Rodney King beatings in 1992, a bystander videotaped the police brutality and submitted the video to the courts. Girls bullying other girls in school have been recorded on camera phones and the videos were submitted to school administrators, which started an investigation. Citizens are submitting tips containing multimedia information to the police, but this information is not correlated with other events, indexed, or archived. Accordingly, an intelligent security and surveillance system utilizing tips containing multimedia information may help solve crime and prevent terrorist activity. Unfortunately, if criminals or terrorists know of the existence of a "video tip" line, they will attempt to fool, flood the system with numerous fake, superfluous, or distracting video tips, or otherwise make the system ineffective.
Vandalism and damage to property decreases property values. One study conducted by the London School of Economics found that "a one-tenth standard deviation increase in the recorded density of incidents of criminal damage has a capitalized cost of just under 1% of property values, or £2,200 on the average Inner London property" (Steve Gibbons, The Costs of Urban Property Crime, 2003). An intelligent security and surveillance system may prevent such vandalism. Unfortunately, monitoring and storing data from numerous surveillance cameras consumes a very large amount of storage.
Every year from 1996-2005, over a million motor vehicles were stolen every year. That corresponds to one car stolen every 26 seconds somewhere in the United States. In 2004, the value of stolen motor vehicles was $7.6 billion and only 13% of thefts were cleared by arrests (FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 2006). An intelligent security, surveillance, storage, and alerting system may help prevent stolen cars, and may identify stolen vehicles and hence aide in the apprehension of car thieves. Unfortunately, no existing surveillance system has the intelligence to correlate information about vehicles or has the connectivity to FBI, Interpol, state, or local law enforcement databases.
Violence in schools and on college campuses continues to rise, and has increased concern among students, parents, and teachers. A shooting at Virginia Tech University in 2007 resulted in the killing of 32 people and injured 24 others. In 2005, a professor at MIT was shot four times in a parking lot on MIT's campus. In September 2007, two students were shot by a fellow student at the Delaware State University. Shootings on college campuses are increasingly becoming a common concern. An intelligent security and surveillance system on college campuses may thwart future shootings. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art gunshot detection systems are not connected intelligently to video surveillance systems, to tip information, or to other data from legacy systems.
Therefore, as recognized by the present inventors, what are needed are a method, apparatus, and system of alerting that weights input data from disparate systems to lower false alarm rates and to filter out unwanted, spurious, or intentionally distracting information.
It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.

Hierarchical data storage manager, anonymous tip processing engine, and a vehicle information processing engine for security and safety applications


Ultraviolet curable ink contained in an ink pack is prevented from curing during storage. The second resin layer, the metal layer, and the protective layer in the upper film of the surface portion of the ink pack extend from the base layer (extended portion). The metal layer has a light-shielding property, and the extended portion is folded back and attached to the surface of the lower film of the side-surface portion. The metal layer having a light-shielding property thus covers the base layers exposed at the end surface of the joint portion, and can prevent external ultraviolet rays from reaching the ink through the base layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink pack for sealing an ultraviolet curable ink therein.
2. Description of Related Art
An ink pack is known as disclosed in JP-A-2000-238291. FIG. 12 is a breakaway view illustrating an example of the ink pack of related art. An ink pack 900 includes a surface portion 902 formed of a pair of upper and lower first films 901, and a side-surface portion 904 formed of a pair of left and right second films 903. The surface portion 902 has a laminate structure of a polyethylene layer, a polyester layer, an aluminum layer, and a polyester layer. The side-surface portion 904 has a laminate structure of a polyethylene layer, an aluminum layer, and a nylon layer.
The body of the ink pack 900 is formed by heat fusion. Specifically, the base layer (polyethylene layer) at longer-side portions 905 of the surface portion 902 is heat fused with the opposing base layer (polyethylene layer) at longer-side portions 906 of the side-surface portion 904. Similarly, the opposing polyethylene layers of the surface portion 902 are heat fused at the shorter-side portions (not illustrated) on one side of the surface portion 902. An ink supply opening 907 is provided on the other side of the surface portion 902. FIG. 13 is a partially magnified cross sectional view of the ink pack shown in FIG. 12. As illustrated in the figure, the base layers are exposed on an end surface 910 at a joint portion 908 where the longer-side portions 905 are heat fused to each other.
There has been significant increase of ink consumption in inkjet printers, and the amount of ink sealed in an ink pack has been increasing in proportion. The larger ink amount requires a fair amount of strength in the ink pack itself, particularly at the heat fused portion. At present, the film base layer is provided as a 150 μm- to 200 μm-thick layer to ensure sealing of the ink at the joint portion while maintaining strength for the whole ink pack.