An inflator apparatus and method for inflating an inflatable device wherein a solid fuel material and nitrous oxide are stored in intimate contact and, when properly actuated, react to produce inflation gas for use in inflating the inflatable device.

This invention relates generally to inflatable restraint systems and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for inflating an inflatable device such as an inflatable vehicle occupant restraint airbag cushion, such as commonly used in such systems.
It is well known to protect a vehicle occupant using a cushion or bag, e.g., an "airbag," that is inflated or expanded with gas when the vehicle encounters sudden deceleration, such as in a collision. In such systems, the airbag cushion is normally housed in an uninflated and folded condition to minimize space requirements. Upon actuation of the system, the cushion begins being inflated in a matter of no more than a few milliseconds with gas produced or supplied by a device commonly referred to as "inflator."
Many types of inflator devices have been disclosed in the art for inflating an inflatable restraint systems airbag cushion. Prior art inflator devices include compressed stored gas inflators, pyrotechnic inflators and hybrid inflators. Unfortunately, each of these types of inflator devices has been subject to certain disadvantages such as greater than desired weight and space requirements, production of undesired or non-preferred combustion products in greater than desired amounts, and production or emission of gases at a greater than desired temperature, for example.
In view ofthese and other related or similar problems and shortcomings of prior inflator devices, a new type an inflator, called a "fluid fueled inflator," has been developed. Such inflators are the subject of commonly assigned Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,104, issued Nov. 28, 1995; Rink, U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,312, issued Feb. 27, 1996; and Rink et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,473, issued Jul. 2, 1996, the disclosures of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
Such an inflator device utilizes a fuel material in the form of a fluid, e.g., in the form of a gas, liquid, finely divided solid, or one or more combinations thereof, in the formation of an inflation gas for an associated inflatable device. In one such inflator device, the fluid fuel material is burned to produce gas which contacts a quantity of stored pressurized gas to produce inflation gas for use in inflating a respective inflatable device.
While such fluid fueled inflators avoid or minimize at least some of the above-identified shortcomings of prior inflator devices, the proper storage of a fuel material together with a corresponding oxidant can be difficult, especially over prolonged periods of time such as are commonly or typically associated with inflatable restraint systems in automotive vehicles, which systems require a responsive lifetime which extends for a period of years. Also, while the separate storage of the fuel and oxidant can alleviate or reduce some such storage concerns, the complexity and cost of the design and manufacture of an inflator providing such separate storage of fuel and oxidant can be greater than desired.
In view thereof, there remains a need for an inflator device which satisfies one or more of the following objectives: increased simplicity of design and construction; avoidance or minimization of the risks or problems associated with the storing, handling and dispensing of various and selected gas generant materials; and permits even further reductions in assembly weight and cost.


Embodiments of an organosulfur capture or scavenger nanomaterial of this disclosure include a sorbent containing a composition of a mixed metal oxide, the metal being in various oxidation states. In embodiments, the mixed metal is manganese, iron, nickel, copper, or zinc. In some embodiments the sorbent includes a first mixed metal oxide and a second different metal or mixed metal oxide. The scavenger material may be synthesized from a metal precursor salt, neutralized and dried, and then washed or soaked to remove one or more byproducts. The resulting sorbent is in nanoparticulate form and has an amorphous non-crystalline structure.

This disclosure is in the field of processes designed to remove sulfides, mercaptans, and thiophenes from liquid hydrocarbon process streams such as, but not limited to, natural gas liquids, propane, butane, ethylene, diesel, biodiesel, and gasoline.
Iron oxide-based and iron carbonate-based adsorbents having a defined crystalline structure like SULFATREAT-HC® and SULFURTRAP® can be used to treat liquid hydrocarbon streams and remove hydrogen sulfide and light sulfur compounds like methyl and ethyl mercaptans. However, their sulfur-removing performance, as measured in the gas environment, is limited relative to iron oxide-based adsorbents having at least some amorphous structure like that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,404,031 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,759,252 B1 to Callaway. In the liquids environment, the crystalline iron oxide-based and iron carbonate-based adsorbents have not proven themselves to be cost-effective alternatives to precious metal catalysts in treating liquid hydrocarbon streams.
The amorphous-content iron-based adsorbents have not been tried in liquids given that field experience teaches that iron-based adsorbents will not be cost effective in treating these liquids due, in part, to the iron-based adsorbents relatively low organosulfur loading capacity. This capacity is typically below 10% and usually around 5% or less.

Mixed metal oxide sorbent composition and method for removing organosulfur from liquid hydrocarbon streams


An electricity storage module includes a stack, holder members, and heat-transfer plate members. The stack is formed by stacking power storage elements having lead terminals protruding outward from end portions. The holder members are made of insulating resin and are attached to the end portions of the power storage elements, the holder members holding the power storage elements. The heat-transfer plate member are disposed between power storage elements adjacent in a stacking direction, the heat-transfer plate members made of heat conductive material. An engaging portion is provided on one of the holder members and the heat-transfer plate members, and an engaged portion arranged to be engaged by the engaging portion is provided on the other of the holder members and the heat-transfer plate members. The holder members and the heat-transfer plate members are integrated by mutual engagement of the engaging portions and the engaged portions.

This application is a national stage application of PCT/JP2013/073488, international filing date Sep. 2, 2013, and claims priority to JP 2012-234535, filed in Japan on Oct. 24, 2012, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to an electricity storage module.
Known examples of power storage elements that contain power storage devices include secondary batteries, such as lithium ion batteries and nickel hydrogen batteries. A plurality of secondary batteries, such as lithium ion batteries, are connected together to form a battery module. One such battery module is known, for example, from JP 2006-210312A.


A bag having excellent water and perspiration resistance, showing no deterioration of the skin after extended use, and having excellent light resistance, thereby experiencing no discoloration or yellowing under the sun or fluorescent lighting.

Quality bags generally have a leather skin while general, wide-spread bags have a synthetic leather skin.
Some synthetic leather skins are made of vinyl chloride, which may produce toxic gases during waste treatment.
Polyurethane materials have been extensively used in synthetic leather bags in the prior art because they provide a texture similar to that of leather. Such polyurethane materials are used to coat the surface of a base fabric to form the skin.
However, when bags having a polyurethane skin become wet by rain or are stained with a user's sweating hands, the moisture and polyurethane may be subject to hydrolysis, deteriorating the material. Consequently, for example, the skin surface likely cracks and peels off at the handles after extended use.
Colored parts may fade or the skin surface may turn yellow under the sun or fluorescent lighting.
According to these viewpoints, the composition of synthetic leather has been attempted using polycarbonate, which has excellent hydrolysis resistance.
In Japanese Patent No. 3281126, in order to form synthetic leather where the hydrolysis resistance can be improved in no-yellow discoloration type polyurethane, technologies for synthetic leather and artificial leather using polyurethane, which has been obtained using polytetramethylene carbonate diol, are disclosed.
However, in these technologies described in the above Patent Literature, in general, a technology consisting of a coating agent composition using polycarbonate from the viewpoint to improve the hydrolysis resistance is merely disclosed, and no specific technical composition in the case of forming the skin material of bags is mentioned at all.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a bag having excellent water and perspiration resistance, the skin of which shows no deterioration after extended use, has light resistance and experiences no discoloration or yellowing under the sun or fluorescent lighting.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a bag that does not experience deformation or loss of shape during use, even when stress is applied to the skin material due to the weight of its contents after extended use. In addition, another object is to provide a bag where a surface of the skin material is smooth and the quality of apparent condition is excellent.


A system for reducing pressure drop associated with the turbulent flow of asphaltenic crude oil through a conduit. The crude oil has a high asphaltene content and/or a low API gravity. Such reduction in pressure drop is achieved by treating the asphaltenic crude oil with a high molecular weight drag reducing polymer that can have a solubility parameter within about 20 percent of the solubility parameter of the heavy crude oil. The drag reducing polymer can also comprise the residues of monomers having at least one heteroatom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to high molecular weight drag reducers for use in crude oils. In another aspect, the present invention relates to high molecular weight drag reducing polymers for use in crude oils having an asphaltene content of at least about 3 weight percent and an API gravity of less than about 26°.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When fluids are transported by a pipeline, there is typically a drop in fluid pressure due to friction between the wall of the pipeline and the fluid. Due to this pressure drop, for a given pipeline, fluid must be transported with sufficient pressure to achieve the desired throughput. When higher flow rates are desired through the pipeline, more pressure must be applied due to the fact that, as flow rates are increased, the difference in pressure caused by the pressure drop also increases. However, design limitations on pipelines limit the amount of pressure that can be employed. The problems associated with pressure drop are most acute when fluids are transported over long distances. Such pressure drops can result in inefficiencies that increase equipment and operation costs.
To alleviate the problems associated with pressure drop, many in the industry utilize drag reducing additives in the flowing fluid. When the flow of fluid in a pipeline is turbulent, high molecular weight polymeric drag reducers can be employed to enhance the flow. A drag reducer is a composition capable of substantially reducing friction loss associated with the turbulent flow of a fluid through a pipeline. The role of these additives is to suppress the growth of turbulent eddies, which results in higher flow rate at a constant pumping pressure. Ultra-high molecular weight polymers are known to function well as drag reducers, particularly in hydrocarbon liquids. In general, drag reduction depends in part upon the molecular weight of the polymer additive and its ability to dissolve in the hydrocarbon under turbulent flow. Effective drag reducing polymers typically have molecular weights in excess of five million.
Conventional polymeric drag reducers, however, typically do not perform well in crude oils having a low API gravity and/or a high asphaltene content. Accordingly, there is a need for improved drag reducing agents capable of reducing the pressure drop associated with the turbulent flow of low API gravity and/or high-asphaltene crude oils through pipelines.

Drag reduction of asphaltenic crude oils


An electrical connector includes a housing, a lever, and a TPA member. The housing includes a front portion to receive terminals of a mating connector and a rear portion to receive a plurality of wiring harnesses. The housing also includes a TPA slot into which the TPA member is inserted. The lever include an interference portion and is disposed on the housing body so as to rotated within a range between a predetermined position and a final position, thereby functioning as an insertion-assist mechanism. The TPA member is to assure a proper position of the terminals of the wiring harnesses inserted, engaging with the terminals. When the TPA member is improperly inserted into the housing, the interference portion comes into interference with, in accordance with rotational movement of the lever, a portion of the TPA member that protrudes from the surface of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and particularly to an electrical connector with a terminal assurance position member that assures a proper position of terminals of wiring harnesses to be installed into the electrical connector.
2. Background Art
An electrical connector is a core component used in many electric systems to connect wiring harnesses. Connectors are typically manufactured by a connector manufacturer, and thereafter supplied to a harness assembler to install wiring harnesses thereinto. The connectors attaching the wiring harnesses are further supplied to a downstream assembler to be installed into electric systems, combining with mating connectors.
A connector for a specific application, among other things, a connector for an automotive electric system, may include a terminal position assurance (TPA) member for installing the wiring harnesses. The TPA member is a piece to assure a proper position of terminals of the wiring harnesses relative to a housing of the connector. When the terminals of the wiring harnesses are inserted into the housing, detents disposed on the terminals may be elastically deformed due to interference with small protrusions disposed within the housing, and thereafter snap back to engage with the protrusions disposed within the housing. In this case, when the TPA member is inserted into the housing from, for example, a side surface of the housing, the TPA member may engage with edge portions of the terminals to restrain movement of the terminals. As a consequence of this, the position of the terminals of the wiring harnesses can be properly assured.
In recent years, some relatively large connectors have also been developed, which may be provided with several dozen terminals or poles. These terminals may be consolidated into one or more sub housings or sub connectors depending on various types thereof, such as optical fibers and electrical wires for communication and for power. The sub housing is fitted into a housing body, thereby resulting in a configuration of the connector. The sub housing and the housing body may include corresponding TPA members, respectively. The larger connectors with dozens of terminals typically require a greater force to combine with a mating connector. Accordingly, the larger connectors are generally provided with an insertion-assist mechanism, such as a lever mechanism, in order to reduce a necessary insertion force.
The connectors, which are manufactured by the connector manufacturer as discussed above, are supplied to the harness assembler as they are sets of assembly components, each of which is typically composed of a housing body with a lever, a sub housing, and a TPA member. The assembly components are assembled into connectors, installing wiring harnesses. In the process of assembling the connector with the lever, the wiring harnesses are inserted into the sub housing and fixed with the TPA member, and subsequently the resulting sub connector is installed into the housing body. All of the wiring harnesses are inserted, and thereafter the lever is set up at the predetermined position in order to combine with the mating connector.
In the conventional connector discussed above, however, it has been difficult to verify whether the sub housing is properly installed into the housing body. Accordingly, there has been a problem that the sub housing is not properly installed into the housing body, thereby resulting in deterioration in fundamental performance of the connector. This may include deterioration in reliability of connection.
Additionally, the TPA member inserted into the sub housing has been simply devoted to assuring a proper position of the wiring harnesses relative to the sub housing. Thus, the TPA member has not ultimately assured a proper position of the terminals of the wiring harnesses relative to the housing body. Accordingly, in a case where the sub housing is not installed properly into the housing body, the terminals of the wiring harnesses may be displaced. This may also cause the deterioration in the fundamental performance of the connector.


A medical image classification method such as CT (or CAT) scans includes receiving the CT scan or medical image, inputting the medical image into an image classification model, which provides a cross entropy (CE) loss function and an aggregated cross entropy (ACE) loss function. According to the ACE loss function, image samples with generic label are used as input data during model training. The medical image can be classified by using the image classification model, and a classification of the medical image is thereby obtained. The present disclosure can classify indeterminate or general medical images and even unlabeled images and thus realize supervision of medical data. A device for applying the method is also provided.

Electronic or other images of body parts of a patient representing medical conditions can be generated by doctors at the time of diagnosis. Generally, the doctor labels the image to identify which classification the medical image belongs to. However, due to differences in medical experience or habits, different doctors may have differences in labeling medical images. Some labels of medical images may be wrong, some may be unlabeled, and some of medical images may carry a vague and unhelpful explanation. Such medical practices may result in difficulties for a follow-up doctor to use these medical images for treatment.
Therefore, an improved medical image classification method is desired.

Medical image classification method and related device


Persistent storage may contain a definition for components of a graphical user interface (GUI) and a layout, wherein a first plurality thereof are not configurable and a second plurality thereof are configurable, wherein the applications are respectively associated with different configurations of the second plurality of the components. One or more processors may be configured to: receive a request for a record of an application associated with a configuration of the second plurality of components; identify a first set of fields within the record that correspond to the first plurality of components; identify a second set of fields within the record that correspond to the second plurality of components; generate a representation of the GUI in which the first set of fields are in the first plurality of components and the second set of fields are in the second plurality of components; and transmit the representation of the GUI.

A remote network management platform may be a cloud-based computing system with processing, storage, and communication capabilities for service management and other features. Through use of discovery procedures, such a remote network management platform may be able to determine the hardware and software components, as well as relationships therebetween, of a managed network. Representations of this data may be stored as configuration items in a database of the platform. With the data easily accessible, applications can be built atop the platform that can make use of the data to provide services to users of the managed network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adaptable user interface layout for applications


Since a high-frequency signal that is output from a high-frequency oscillator circuit section is detected in a detector circuit and a bias of a negative voltage is supplied from a bias circuit section to the high-frequency amplifier circuit section with a detection voltage that is detected, a negative power supply circuit such as a DC/DC converter or a peripheral circuit is not required, and since a negative bias voltage can be supplied to a high-frequency amplifier circuit, downsizing can be achieved with a low cost.

The present invention relates to a high-frequency amplifier that uses a depression-type transistor in which a threshold voltage of the transistor is minus and, particularly, to a high-frequency amplifier that can easily obtain a negative power supply of a bias supply negative voltage of the high-frequency amplifier.
In recent years, in order to transmit a radio signal of a microwave region of 1 GHz or more of a mobile body communication terminal device such as a mobile telephone terminal, a wireless LAN terminal or the like, a high-frequency amplifier is used which employs a depression-type Field Effect Transistor (FET) using gallium arsenide (GaAs) of which an operation speed is faster than that of a bipolar transistor of the related art. In the depression-type FET, since a forward voltage of a gate is as low as approximately 0.7 V, a voltage that turns off a drain current of the FET is set low as 0 V or less (approximately −2 V) in the gate voltage. Thus, in order to turn off the drain current of the depression-type FET, it is necessary for the drain voltage to be 0 V or for the gate voltage to be set to 0 V or less (approximately −2 V). Further, as an example, the high-frequency amplifier is used in the mobile telephone, the wireless LAN system or the like described above, and is used in a transmitting section of a wireless communication device which amplifies and transmits a high-frequency signal, but is not limited to such a wireless communication device.
Thus, in order to obtain a negative voltage of 0 V or less, a power supply circuit generating a negative voltage is required separately from the high-frequency amplifier that is configured of the FET. Further, in the high-frequency amplifier, for example, if the FET configures a source ground amplifier, it is necessary to apply a desired negative voltage in advance that controls the drain current of the high-frequency amplifier in the gate voltage of the FET in the high-frequency amplifier.
A high-frequency amplifier that is configured of a depression-type FET is disclosed in PTL 1 and PTL 2. As disclosed in the Patent Literature, in the related art, as illustrated in FIG. 4, in a high-frequency amplifier 1, a high-frequency signal from a high-frequency oscillator circuit section 2 is amplified in a high-frequency amplifier circuit section 3 that is configured of the depression-type FET and the high-frequency amplifier circuit section 3 is connected to an outside power supply (not illustrated in the view) from a power supply voltage supply terminal 7. In the depression-type FET of the high-frequency amplifier circuit section 3, it is necessary to include a DC/DC converter 10 or a negative power supply circuit (not illustrated) separately through a bias circuit 5 as a bias supply source for applying a negative gate voltage. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, if the DC/DC converter 10 is used, the negative voltage is output from a positive voltage that is input from the DC/DC converter 10 and it is necessary to supply a bias of the negative voltage to the gate of the depression-type FET through the bias circuit 5.


A molecular sieve for an oxygen concentrator free of internal filtering elements and suitable for personal use to provide substantially pure oxygen for a medical patient to breathe, having a container formed of metal with an inlet thereto and an outlet and seamed with welded seams so as to be leak-proof to moisture and able to withstand passage of hot re-activating gas, an oxygen concentrating molecular sieve material contained within the container and having a longitudinal extent concentric with the longitudinal axis of the container, filter screens and springs contained within the container extending the full diametrical extent of the container and positioned on opposite sides of the sieve material, coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the container, the sieve material being a material re-activatable by passage therethrough of a hot gas and being sandwiched between the filter screens and springs and maintained in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the container.

This invention relates to molecular sieves for use in oxygen concentrators and a novel container for use therewith.
More particularly, the invention is concerned with a container having a tubular body and provided with end caps which are seam welded to the tubular body to prevent leakage as well as to assist in the maintenance of the position of the sieve material in the container. The ports of entry and outlet to and from the container are also seam welded to prevent leakage. The oxygen concentrators are primarily intended for home use, so that long life is of extreme importance, as well as to have the ability to be free-standing. The molecular sieve is intended for an oxygen concentrator which is primarily intended for supplying pure oxygen to a patient to breathe and for recharging in the field.
A molecular sieve is a filter comprising a material which has a high affinity for one or more particular gases and therefore can remove such gases by adsorption, thus concentrating the remaining gas or gases.
It is important to prevent the sieve material from moving around in the container in order to ensure an even gas flow. Therefore, alignment of the sieve material is an important requirement, and avoidance of a by-pass around the sieve material is important.
Molecular sieves are used in two main fields. One of these is for large scale, heavy duty preparation of fluids, requiring expensive apparatus and often producing extremely high purities, perhaps of the order of 99.9999% pure. Examples are the preparation of purified atmosphere for use in the manufacture of semi-conductor devices or for spacecraft research. The other main field is for personal use, as for oxygen concentrators, wherein ordinary air is passed through a molecular sieve to adsorb the nitrogen and leave perhaps 95% pure oxygen for a medical patient to breathe. The sieves in this field tend to be much cheaper and smaller.


A motherboard device includes a first connecting interface coupled to a first graphics card, a second connecting interface coupled to a second graphics card, a power source connected electrically to the first connecting interface for supplying electric power to the first graphics card via the first connecting interface, and a switch unit interconnecting electrically the power source and the second connecting interface, and operable so as to switch between an ON-state, where the power source supplies electric power to the second graphics card via the second connecting interface, and an OFF-state, where the electric power from the power source is not supplied to the second graphics card.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motherboard device and computing apparatus, more particularly to a motherboard device and computing apparatus mounted with two graphics cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, in a conventional computing apparatus having a multi-GPU processing unit, which is compatible with a Scalable Link Interface (SLI) standard proposed by nVIDIA Corporation, when the multi-GPU processing unit is operated in a two-card processing mode, the multi-GPU processing unit supplies data to two graphics cards via two PCI-Express slots, respectively, in order to increase an operating speed during image processing, such as 3D image processing, thereby resulting in an increased power consumption as compared to that by a single graphics card.
During text processing, while the multi-GPU processing unit is required to operate in the two-card processing mode, electric power is still supplied to each of the two graphics cards, thereby resulting in waste of power.

Motherboard device and computing apparatus capable of selectively controlling electric power supplied to one of two graphics cards


A front shutter (13′) comprises arm portions (132, 133) formed at both ends of an upper side of a door member (131). While one shaft portion (136) is formed on one of the arm portions (132) through a positioning portion (134), the other shaft portion (137) is formed on the other of the arm portions (133). The shaft portions (136, 137′) are inserted into holes formed on a cut and raised piece (111) and a side wall (112) respectively. The cut and raised piece (111) and the side wall (112) rotatably supports the shaft portions (136, 137′). A gap between the arm portion (133) and the side wall (112) is wider because of no positioning portion between the arm portion (133) and the side wall (112). The shutter spring (14′) not only gives force to the front shutter (13′) in a closing direction but also presses the front shutter toward the cut and raised piece (111) to prevent the shutter from moving along a pivot defined by the shaft portions (136, 137′).

This invention relates to a flexible disk drive, in particular, to a front shutter structure thereof.
The flexible disk drive defines a loading slot for loading a flexible (magnetic) disk. Generally, to the loading slot, a single swing front shutter is attached. The front shutter always receives turning force (or resilience) from a shutter spring in a closing direction. Insertion of the flexible disk into the flexible disk drive is made by pushing open the shutter against the resilience of the shutter spring.
A related flexible disk drive comprises a front shutter and a main frame with a pair of supporting plates for rotatably supporting the-front shutter.
The front shutter of the related flexible disk drive comprises a door portion having an approximately rectangular board shape, and a pair of shaft portions which are formed at both ends of a long side of the door portion and which project from the door portion. The shaft portions have a common center axis and serves as a pivot for swing of the door portion. At bases of the shaft portions, positioning portions are formed. The positioning portions restrict movable range of the door portion in a direction along the pivot when the front shutter is attached to the related flexible disk drive.
On the other hand, the supporting plates of the related flexible disk drive are opposed to each other and define holes which are inserted with the shaft portions of the front shutter. The positioning portions of the front shutter have an outside diameter larger than an inside diameter of the holes of the supporting plates. Accordingly, the supporting plates rotatably support the front shutter in a state where only the shaft portions of the front shutter are inserted into the holes of the supporting plates.
As mentioned above, the related flexible disk drive includes the positioning portions formed on the front shutter to restrict the movable range of the front shutter in the direction along the pivot. A distance between top sides of the positioning portions is slightly shorter than an interval between the supporting plates for supporting the front shutter. That is, a narrow gap is remained between one of the positioning portions and one of the supporting plates when the other of the positioning plates is close into contact with the other of the supporting plates. The gap between the positioning portion and the supporting plate allows the front shutter to swing smoothly.
However, the gap between the positioning portion and the supporting plate is easy to be eliminated by a little deformation of the supporting plates (or the main frame). Absence of the gap between the positioning portion and the supporting plate makes swing of the front shutter difficult or impossible. That is, the supporting plates are in contact with the positioning portions simultaneously and impede the swing of the front shutter.
Thus, the related flexible disk drive has an apprehension that the little deformation of the supporting plates or the main frame makes the swing of the front shutter difficult or impossible.

Front shutter attaching structure and flexible disk drive having the same


Methods and systems for preparing slurries for treating subterranean formations are provided herein. The methods may include: combining proppant particulates and a base fluid at a well site to form a slurry; and extracting dust from a mixing tank at a well site in which the slurry is disposed. The systems may include: a first tank containing proppant particulates located at a wellsite; a second tank containing a base fluid located at a well site; at least one mixer operable to receive and mix at least a portion of the proppant particulates from the first tank and at least a portion of the base fluid from the second tank at the well site to form a slurry; at least one mixing tank operable to receive the slurry from the mixer; and at least one dust extractor operable to extract dust from the at least one mixing tank.

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for treating subterranean formations.
Wellbores are drilled into the earth for a variety of purposes including tapping into hydrocarbon bearing formations to extract the hydrocarbons for use as fuel, lubricants, chemical production, and other purposes. Hydrocarbon producing wells can be stimulated using fracturing treatments. In a typical hydraulic fracturing treatment, a fracturing fluid is pumped through a wellbore and into a subterranean formation producing zone at a rate and pressure such that one or more fractures are formed or extended into the zone.
Hydraulic fracturing treatments may produce primary fractures in the near field around the well bore, as well as induced, dendritic fractures in the far field extending from the primary fractures. These induced, dendritic fractures are generally formed at the tip and edges of the primary fractures, and extend outwardly in a branching tree like manner from the primary fractures, creating a complex fracture network. The complex fracture network encompasses the primary fracture and any and all branching fractures (e.g., secondary branch fractures, tertiary branch fractures, etc.), regardless of their size, man-made or otherwise, within a subterranean formation that are in fluid communication with the wellbore. Because secondary dendritic fractures can extend transversely to the trajectory of the primary fractures, they reach and link natural fractures both in and adjacent to the trajectory of the primary fractures. As such, secondary fractures reach a larger portion of the naturally occurring fracture network, and link the natural fractures back to the primary fractures and the wellbore. Accordingly, communication between the primary fracture and the remainder of the corresponding complex fracture network may be an important factor in maximizing production from the formation.
Fracturing treatment fluid may also function as a carrier fluid that transports solids to a target area. For example, particulate solids, also known as "proppant particulates," "proppants," or "particulates," may be suspended in a portion of the fracturing fluid and transported to a fracture. The suspended particulates are deposited in the fractures so as to prevent the fractures from fully closing once the hydraulic pressure is removed. By keeping the fractures from fully closing, the proppant particulates aid in forming conductive channels through which produced hydrocarbons can readily flow. Accordingly, proppant particulates hold the complex fracture network open, thereby maintaining the ability for hydrocarbons to flow through the complex fracture network to ultimately be produced at the surface.
The generation of dust may occur during storage, transportation, and application of certain particulate solids. Therefore, the delivery of particulate solids to the well site in the form of a liquid concentrate proppant slurry that include a suspension agent is often desirable. The delivery of the liquid concentrate proppant slurry to the well site often requires specialized transportation and storage containers. Additionally, degradation of the suspension agent and/or settling of proppant in the liquid concentrate proppant slurry may occur during storage and transportation of the liquid concentrate proppant slurry.
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted, such embodiments do not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation should be inferred. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are examples only, and not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.

Methods and systems for preparing proppant slurries


A gas turbine engine assembly is connected to a pylon for mounting the gas turbine engine to an aircraft. The assembly has a frame supporting at least one accessory independently of the gas turbine engine. The frame is attached to the pylon at forward and rearward engine mounting locations. The frame comprises at least one hollow tube and at least one duct is arranged to supply coolant into the at least one hollow tube and the at least one hollow tube is arranged to supply coolant to the at least one accessory.

Our European patent application 12196908.3, published as EP2607658A2, discloses a gas turbine engine assembly connected to a pylon structure for mounting the gas turbine engine to an aircraft. The assembly has a frame attached to the pylon at forward and rearward engine mounting locations and the frame supports accessories independently of the gas turbine engine. Our European patent application 12196908.3, EP2607658A2, discloses that the accessories are arranged in an accessory mounting zone between the core engine casing and an inner nacelle surrounding the core engine. A flow of cooling air for the accessories enters the accessory mounting zone through an opening at the front of the inner nacelle and flows over and cools the accessories. The flow of cooling air leaves the accessory mounting zone through an opening at the rear of the inner nacelle and then mixes with the bypass-air at the rear of the inner nacelle or the flow of cooling air leaves the accessory mounting zone through an opening in the core engine casing and then mixes with the core flow at the rear of the engine close to the core engine nozzle. The frame may be aerodynamically shaped as an aerofoil to minimise or positively affect the flow of coolant within the inner nacelle.
However, the flow of cooling air described in our European patent application 12196908.3, EP2607658A2, does not provide adequate cooling of the accessories. In particular the flow of cooling air does not reach and therefore does not cool some of the accessories at all and/or the flow of cooling air is not in sufficient amounts and therefore does not prevent overheating of some of the accessories. Therefore the present invention seeks to provide a novel arrangement for cooling the accessories supported on a frame which reduces or overcomes the above mentioned problem.

Accessory mounting for a gas turbine engine


A method for forming a feature in a substrate, where residue within the feature can be easily removed. An upper sidewall portion of the feature is formed, where the upper sidewall portion forms a void in the substrate. The upper sidewall portion has an upper sidewall angle. A lower sidewall portion of the feature is formed, where the lower sidewall portion forms a void in the substrate. The lower sidewall portion has a lower sidewall angle. The upper sidewall angle of the upper sidewall portion is shallower than the lower sidewall angle of the lower sidewall portion. By forming the feature with a shallower sidewall angle at the top of the feature, any debris within the feature is more susceptible to rinsing, etching, or other cleaning procedures, and thus the feature is more easily cleaned than standard features having relatively steeper sidewalls.

In the manufacture of integrated circuits, such as semiconductor devices, it is often desirable to form one or more features on the substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer substrate, for identification purposes. For example, in laser marking, laser radiation is used to partially melt and ablate a portion of the surface of the substrate to form a visible feature. These visible features, or indicia elements, are created in patterns to form identifying indicia.
The features generally have the structure of a blind bore or hole as shown in FIG. 1. Because of the shape of the feature, residue such as photoresist can remain in the feature, and the shape of the feature makes it difficult to completely remove the residue. The residue may, under subsequent processing conditions, eject from the feature and redeposit on nearby integrated circuits. Thus, the presence of the residue can adversely affect subsequent manufacturing steps and decrease the yield of integrated circuits on the substrate. As the geometries of integrated circuits continue to shrink, the detrimental effect of residue from laser marking tends to have an increasing impact on the yield.
Another shortcoming of conventional processes is their ability to render features of desirable configuration. For example, to enhance the visibility of the features, it is desirable that the cross sections of the features be substantially circular. Conventional methods may not yield features having such characteristics.
What is needed, therefore, is a method for forming features that have a shape that aids removal of residue from the features and which also renders features of more desirable configuration.


At both of the upper and lower faces of flange section (24A) of rotation body (24) rotatably retained between lower case (21) and upper case (23) opposed to each other via inner case (22), inner concavo-convex section (25) and outer concavo-convex section (26) are provided at point-symmetric positions on concentric circles of an inner circumference-side circle and an outer circumference-side circle. Inner elastic contact projection (27C) and outer elastic contact projection (27D) of double ring-like click spring (27) respectively elastically contact inner concavo-convex section (25) and outer concavo-convex section (26) respectively corresponding to both of the upper and lower faces of flange section (24A), thereby providing a clear click feeling and a high click degree.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a click apparatus that is used for a rotating operation section of an in-vehicle control apparatus such as a car air-conditioner and that generates a click feeling by a rotating operation.
2. Background Art
A rotating operation section of an in-vehicle control apparatus such as a car air-conditioner mainly uses a click-type rotating operation-type electronic component so that operability is obtained and a set position after the operation is prevented from being dislocated. Thus, the click-type rotating operation-type electronic component as described above has been required to have a high click degree in order to prevent the dislocation due to vibration or the like and to prevent a wrong operation.
A conventional click apparatus used for the click-type rotating operation-type electronic component as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 20 and FIG. 21.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional click apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H9-63812. FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional click apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H8-222413.
In the conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 20, case 1 having an opening at the lower face has circular-cylindrical bearing section 1A that is protruded from the center in the upward direction. Bearing section 1A includes penetration hole 1B. Rotation body 2 has axis section 2A that is rotatably inserted to penetration hole 1B of bearing section 1A. Flange section 2B at the lower part of rotation body 2 is provided within the opening of the case. The upper face of flange section 2B has inner concavo-convex section 2C and outer concavo-convex section 2D that are formed on the circumference of a concentric circle. Cover plate 3 has center hole 3A. Support section 2E protruding from flange section 2B of rotation body 2 in the lower direction is rotatably fitted in center hole 3A to seal the opening at the lower face of case 1. Cover 4 is composed of a metal plate and is provided so as to upwardly protrude bearing section 1A of case 1 from middle hole 4A and to hold the side walls of case 1. The lower ends of cover 4 are caulked to be bent so as to press cover plate 3 from the lower side.
Ring-like click spring 5 is fixed at the top face of the opening of case 1. Circular arc-like parts at both ends of click spring 5 opposed to each other are bent to the lower side. Among the bent parts, the one having a longer length to the tip end is first spring section 5A and the one having a shorter length to the tip end is second spring section 5B. The tip end of first spring section 5A elastically contacts outer concavo-convex section 2D provided at flange section 2B of rotation body 2. The tip end of second spring section 5B elastically contacts inner concavo-convex section 2C.
When axis section 2A of rotation body 2 is rotated and operated in the configuration as described above, rotation body 2 is rotated while axis section 2A being supported by bearing section 1A of case 1 and support section 2E being supported by center hole 3A of cover plate 3. By this rotation of rotation body 2, first spring section 5A of click spring 5 elastically contacting the upper face of flange section 2B is slid over outer concavo-convex section 2D and second spring section 5B is slid over inner concavo-convex section 2C, thereby generating a click degree.
This click apparatus includes two spring sections of first spring section 5A and second spring section 5B. Thus, a strong click degree can be obtained by allowing outer concavo-convex section 2D of flange section 2B and the concave section and the convex section of inner concavo-convex section 2C to have an equal distance from the rotation center. On the contrary, a weak click degree and a double click number can be obtained by arranging outer concavo-convex section 2D and the concave section and the convex section of inner concavo-convex section 2C with angles from the rotation center dislocated by ½.
Next, a conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 21 will be described. This click apparatus has a different configuration from that of the click apparatus shown in FIG. 20 in that click springs are provided at different positions from those in the case of the click apparatus shown in FIG. 20.
First, as in the click apparatus shown in FIG. 20, flange section 12B of rotation body 12 is positioned in the lower face opening section of case 11 and axis section 12A is rotatably inserted to bearing section 11A of case 11. Support section 12D at the lower part of rotation body 12 is supported by center hole 13A of cover plate 13. Cover 14 is caulked to be bent so as to hold case 11 to provide the entire combination.
However, in the case of the click apparatus shown in FIG. 21, ring-like click spring 15 is fixed to cover plate 13 and both circular arc-like ends of click spring 15 are upwardly bent, respectively. First spring section 15A and second spring section 15B of click spring 15 are formed to elastically contact concavo-convex section 12C provided in the lower face of flange section 12B of rotation body 12.
The operation of the click apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 21 is the same as that of the click apparatus of FIG. 20 and thus will not be described further.
As shown in FIG. 21, the click apparatus having this configuration is structured so that first spring section 15A and second spring section 15B are bent to have an equal length and are slid over the same concavo-convex sections 12C provided in the lower face of flange section 12B while elastically contacting the concavo-convex sections 12C.
Thus, an increased click number is obtained when the concave sections and the convex sections of concavo-convex section 12C in the lower face of flange section 12B are positioned so as to be opposed to one another with regards to the rotation center as shown in FIG. 21. A click apparatus having a strong click degree is also obtained when the concave sections and the convex sections have the same positional relation with regards to the rotation center.
In the case of the conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 20, when rotation body 2 receives an elastic contact force from click spring 5 and rotates, friction is caused between the upper face surrounding center hole 3A of cover plate 3 and support section 2E. In the case of the conventional click apparatus shown in FIG. 21 on the other hand, when rotation body 12 receives an elastic contact force from click spring 15 and rotates, friction is caused between the lower face of bearing section 11A of case 11 and support section 12D.
However, when these conventional click apparatuses have increased elastic contact forces from click springs 5 and 15 in order to provide an increased click degree in accordance with a demand from a device in which the click apparatuses are used, pressures given from rotation bodies 2 and 12 to support sections 2E and 12D are also increased. This has caused a disadvantage that the above friction proportionally-increased due to the increased pressures has suppressed a clear click feeling.


An apparatus for detecting an in-cylinder pressure of an engine is provided. The apparatus comprises an in-cylinder pressure sensor for outputting a signal indicating a change rate of an in-cylinder pressure and a control unit. The control unit is configured to correct the signal from the in-cylinder pressure sensor, integrate the corrected signal to determine the in-cylinder pressure, determine a change rate of a drift contained in the determined in-cylinder, and feedback the change rate of the drift so that the correction of the signal is made with the change rate of the drift. Since the output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor from which a drift has been removed is integrated, it is prevented that a drift appears in the in-cylinder pressure obtained by the integral. A resetting operation is not required so as to remove a drift.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting an in-cylinder pressure of an engine, and, more particularly, it relates to an apparatus for detecting an in-cylinder pressure more accurately by correcting a drift of the in-cylinder pressure.
Conventionally, an in-cylinder pressure sensor is provided in a cylinder of an engine so as to detect a pressure within the cylinder (this pressure will be hereinafter referred to as an in-cylinder pressure). The in-cylinder pressure detected by such a sensor is used in various control for the engine.
A sensor using a piezo-electric element is known as an in-cylinder pressure sensor. This sensor detects the rate of change of the in-cylinder pressure. As shown in FIG. 31, the change rate of the in-cylinder pressure detected by an in-cylinder pressure sensor 500 is typically integrated by an integrator circuit 501. An output of the integrator circuit 501 is used as the in-cylinder pressure.
In general, when the piezo-electric element is used, there are hysteresis characteristics in a relationship between a change in the actual in-cylinder pressure and an output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor. Furthermore, the output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor increases as the temperature of the piezo-electric element increases. When such an in-cylinder pressure sensor is mounted on the engine, variations occur in the output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor due to the heat generation from the engine. As a result, "deviation" (or drift) appears in the waveform of the in-cylinder pressure generated by the integrator circuit as shown in FIG. 32.
If such a drift appears, it may be difficult to detect the in-cylinder pressure with accuracy. The output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor is typically converted from analog to digital (A/D conversion) for subsequent computer processes. If a drift component is contained in the output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor, a correlation may be lost between the analog value of the output of the in-cylinder pressure sensor and the digital value obtained by the A/D conversion.
The Japanese Patent Publication No. H07-280686 discloses a technique for resetting an integrator circuit so as to correct such a drift. Referring to FIG. 33, a switching element 512 is closed at a predetermined timing in each combustion cycle of the engine. When the switching element is closed, the potential difference (voltage) across a capacitor 513 becomes zero. An output of an operational amplifier 514 is reset to a reference value. In response to such a resetting operation, a drift is removed.
FIG. 34 shows the waveform of the in-cylinder pressure generated by the integrator circuit when the above-described resetting operation is performed. The resetting operation is carried out at time t1, t2, t3, t4 and t5. It is seen that a waveform 515 caused by such a resetting operation is superposed on the waveform of the in-cylinder pressure. As a result, discontinuous frequency characteristics appear in the in-cylinder pressure waveform around the resetting operation. Due to such discontinuous frequency characteristics, an undesired frequency component may be introduced in subsequent computer processes that use the in-cylinder pressure. This may reduce the accuracy of control of the engine. Also, even if such a resetting operation is performed, a drift increases between resetting operations (that is, during one combustion cycle).
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method for preventing a drift from appearing in the in-cylinder pressure without performing such a resetting operation.

In-cylinder pressure detecting apparatus


A method for detecting rotational speeds (n) of an internal combustion engine having a signal wheel having marks (M1 through M7) for signaling on a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine is described. The marks (M1 through M7) on the signal wheel are detected with the aid of a sensor and evaluated by a detection and evaluation device. To implement high-precision detection of a rotational speed, the rotational speeds (n) are evaluated using a sector section of approximately 6° to 35° to increase the accuracy on the basis of a reduced sector section of the signal wheel.

It is known to detect the rotational speed of an internal combustion engine on a crankshaft for an engine control unit for synchronization purposes for precisely timed injection into the individual cylinders. For this purpose, the rotational movement of a gearwheel situated on the crankshaft is detected by a sensor. The gearwheel is synchronizable. At least one or two defined tooth gaps are provided for this purpose.
For example, a method for rotational speed detection on an internal combustion engine is known from German Published Patent Application No. 101 23 022 or German Patent Specification No. 101 43 954. Teeth on a gearwheel mounted on a crankshaft are scanned with the aid of a sensor.
German Published Patent Application No. 10 2006 011 644 describes a device and a method for detecting peripheral speeds of two transmission parts in order to have them mesh with one another at a definable peripheral speed for starting the internal combustion engine.
German Published Patent Application No. 10 2008 040 830 describes a method and a device of a start-stop control for an internal combustion engine so that a pinion driven by a starter motor meshes with an annular gear of a coasting internal combustion engine.
German Published Patent Application No. 199 33 844 A1 describes a device for detecting the reverse rotation of a rotating part of an internal combustion engine.

Control system and method for detecting the rotational speed of an internal combustion engine


A battery pack assembly allowing automated single ended bonding directly between a battery cell and a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is disclosed. The pack assembly comprises: a caddy, soft and malleable pad, plastic cell lattice, PCB, and plurality of ultrasonic wire or ribbon bonds. The pad includes a first group of apertures and is set on the top of battery cells. The cell lattice includes a second group of apertures and is set on the top of the pad. The PCB includes a third group of apertures and is set on the top of the cell lattice. The ultrasonic wire or ribbon bonds directly connect positive and negative contacts of the battery cells with the PCB. A battery pack assembly allowing equalizing of the temperature potentials of every battery cell in the pack is also disclosed. The pack assembly comprises: a phase change material, soft and malleable pad, and caddy.

One known issue with Dynamic or Active Battery Cell Balancing is that its effectiveness is compromised by variations in temperature across the pack. Battery cell temperatures vary due to differences in individual chemical compositions and internal resistances. If the individual state of charge (SOC) estimation is not made at the same thermal potential then the charge balancing system is not able to make accurate judgments on the need to transfer charge.
If the pack is assembled with a technical grade wax jacket surrounding each battery cell then the temperature can be equalized to be homogenous across the pack. The wax acts as a phase change material, rapidly melting at a relatively low temperature and thus able to transfer heat by natural convection between the battery cells.
A weakness and source of premature failure in current multi-cell battery packs is the tab bonding used to interconnect the battery cells. The tabs are spot-welded in a process which injects heat locally, an undesirable action which promotes premature failure. Furthermore the bonds have variable impedances which affect both the absolute performance of the pack and the effectiveness of the battery management systems.
Alternatively if a wiring harness is employed for interconnect and battery management purposes, this too is a source of potential failure by adding a multiplicity of connection nodes of varying impedance and each with the potential for outright failure or compromising the effectiveness of the battery management system. Wiring harnesses add cost and complexity and are subject to the same quality issues affecting any manually intensive process.
Ultrasonic wire or ribbon bonding is a technique used successfully in the semiconductor industry over a wide range of products including high power devices capable of handling similar currents to those found in light electric vehicle applications. By targeting this technology at the battery pack a high degree of automation is possible and a consequent improvement in reliability can be demonstrated. Connection points to the battery cells need to be migrated to a single end for ease of access and assembly.


A bicycle disc brake caliper is basically provided with a first side caliper part, a second side caliper part, a layer of bonding material, a mating recess and a mating protrusion. The first side caliper part includes a first bonding surface. The second side caliper part includes a second bonding surface. The layer of bonding material is disposed between the first and second bonding surfaces of the first and second side caliper parts. The mating recess is disposed on one of the first and second side caliper parts. The mating protrusion is disposed on the other of the first and second side caliper parts and mated with the mating recess. The first and second bonding surfaces of the first and second side caliper parts are fixedly bonded together by the layer of bonding material with a brake disc slot being defined between the first and second side caliper parts.

Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a bicycle disc brake caliper. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle disc brake caliper that has two with caliper parts or housings that are fixed together.
Background Information
In recent years, certain high performance bicycles have included disc brakes. Disc brake systems provide a substantial braking power in relationship to the amount of braking force applied to the brake lever. Also, disc brake systems typically provide a high level of consistency in all types of weather and riding conditions. Disc brake systems typically include a caliper housing, a first movable brake pad and a second fixed or movable brake pad. Disc brakes can be hydraulically actuated or mechanically actuated for moving the movable brake pad(s). The brake pads are positioned on either side of a rotor, which is attached to the front or back wheel of a bicycle. The brake pads are pressed against a brake disc or rotor that is fixed to the wheel to slow down or stop the rotation of the disc, and thus, slow down or stop the rotation of the wheel.
In the case of a mechanically actuated disc brake device, each movable brake pad is typically attached to a piston that is movable in response to operation of a camming mechanism. Upon the operation of the camming mechanism to move the piston or pistons, the brake pads come into contact with the rotor for applying frictional resistance and causing the bicycle to slow down or stop. One example of a mechanically actuated disc brake device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,671 (assigned to Shimano Inc.).
In the case of a hydraulically actuated disc brake device, the movable brake pad is typically attached to a piston that is movable in response to fluid pressure applied via a hydraulic fluid conduit in the caliper housing. Upon the application of fluid pressure to the piston or pistons, the brake pads come into contact with the rotor for applying frictional resistance and causing the bicycle to slow down or stop. Examples of a hydraulically actuated disc brake devices are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0000748A1 (assigned to Shimano Inc.) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0000749A1 (assigned to Shimano Inc.)


A switched reluctance machine is supplied from two voltage sources during a cycle of excitation. The higher voltage is a conventional bus voltage obtained, e.g., from a low-voltage storage battery and an up-converter. The lower voltage is supplied directly from the battery. The higher voltage supplies the machine during only part of an excitation cycle, the lower voltage supply supplying the energy directly to the machine during the remainder of the excitation cycle. This reduces the duty of the up-converter and increases the efficiency of the overall drive. One method of operation of the circuit allows the elimination of the up-converter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the operation of switched reluctance machines from dual voltages, particularly those performing starting and generating functions for internal combustion engines.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common for vehicles with internal combustion engines to be equipped with separate electrical machines: one for starting the engine and one for generating electrical power to recharge the starting battery and to supply ancillary electrical loads on the vehicle. The starter is typically supplied from a storage battery carried on board the vehicle. A 12 volt battery is commonly used for private cars and small industrial vehicles, whereas a 6 volt system has been used for motorcycles and a 24 volt system is commonly used on larger industrial vehicles. While in principle there is no particular limit to which storage batteries could be made, it has been found economic to limit the choices to these noted above.
If the vehicle is, say, a private car, the electrical loads presented by auxiliary equipment (e.g., windscreen wipers, ventilation fans, seat adjusters, heaters, etc) is relatively small and consequently the generator required to supply these loads and to keep the battery in a state of charge so that the engine can be restarted is also relatively small, typically around 60% of the size of the starter motor. Normally the generator generates onto an electrical bus running around the vehicle to supply the electrical loads and provide charge for the battery.
Although electrical machines in general can operate in both motoring and generating modes, it has not normally been found to be cost effective to combine the starting and the generating duties to allow them to be carried out by one machine. This is because of the speeds and loads over which the two machines typically operate; the starter has to provide peak power at relatively low engine speeds, say up to 600 rev/min, whereas the generator has to operate over a wide speed range, say 700 to 6000 rev/min and be capable of providing full output over most of that range. The result is that the two machines tend to be very different in design.
However, with the trend towards greater electrical loads, especially on larger vehicles, generator sizes are increasing, so the resulting generator weight is an incentive to seek ways of combining the starting and generating functions into a single machine. One type of electrical machine which is favored for this dual role is the switched reluctance machine, since it is economical to produce yet is inherently rugged and can operate over a wide speed range. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,489,810 and 5,493,195 to Ferreira and Heglund, respectively, both incorporated herein by reference, describe certain aspects of switched reluctance machines used as starter/generators for aircraft engines.
In general, a reluctance machine is an electrical machine in which torque is produced by the tendency of its movable part to move into a position where the reluctance of a magnetic circuit is minimized, i.e. where the inductance of the exciting winding is maximized. In one type of reluctance machine, the energization of the phase windings occurs at a controlled frequency. This type is generally referred to as a synchronous reluctance machine, and it may be operated as a motor or a generator. In a second type of reluctance machine, circuitry is provided for detecting the angular position of the rotor and energizing the phase windings as a function of the rotor position. This second type of reluctance machine is generally known as a switched reluctance machine and it may also be a motor or a generator. The characteristics of such switched reluctance machines are well known and are described in, for example, xe2x80x9cThe characteristics, design and application of switched reluctance motors and drivesxe2x80x9d by Stephenson and Blake, PCIM ""93, Nxc3xcrnberg, Jun. 21-24, 1993, incorporated herein by reference. The present invention is generally applicable to reluctance machines, particularly switched reluctance machines operating as both motors and generators.
FIG. 1 shows the principal components of a typical switched reluctance drive system. The input DC power supply 11 can be a battery or rectified and filtered AC mains for example. The DC voltage provided by the power supply 11 is switched across the phase windings 16 of the machine 12 by a power converter 13 under the control of the electronic control unit 14. Some form of current detection 17 is typically used to provide current feedback from the phase windings to the controller. The switching must be correctly synchronized to the rotation of the rotor for proper operation of the drive. A rotor position detector 15 is typically employed to supply signals corresponding to the angular position of the rotor. The output of the rotor position detector 15 may also be used to generate a speed feedback signal.
The rotor position detector 15 may take many forms, for example it may take the form of hardware, as shown schematically in FIG. 1, or of a software algorithm which calculates the position from other monitored parameters of the drive system, as described in EP-A-0573198 (Ray), incorporated herein by reference. In some systems, the rotor position detector 15 can comprise a rotor position transducer that provides output signals that change state each time the rotor rotates to a position where a different switching arrangement of the devices in the power converter 13 is required.
The energization of the phase windings in a switched reluctance machine depends heavily on accurate detection of the angular position of the rotor. The importance of accurate signals from the rotor position detector 15 may be explained by reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, which illustrate the switching of a reluctance machine operating as a motor.
FIG. 2 generally shows a rotor pole 20 approaching a stator pole 21 according to arrow 22. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a portion 23 of a complete phase winding 16 is wound around the stator pole 21. As discussed above, when the portion of the phase winding 16 around stator pole 21 is energized, a force will be exerted on the rotor, tending to pull rotor pole 20 into alignment with stator pole 21.
FIG. 3 generally shows typical switching circuitry in the power converter 13 that controls the energization of the phase winding 16, including the portion 23 around stator pole 21. When switches 31 and 32 are closed, the phase winding is coupled to the source of DC power and is energized. Many other configurations of switching circuitry are known in the art: some of these are discussed in the Stephenson and Blake paper cited above.
In general, the phase winding is energized to effect the rotation of the rotor as follows. At a first angular position of the rotor (called the xe2x80x9cturn-on anglexe2x80x9d, xcex8ON), the controller 14 provides switching signals to turn on both switching devices 31 and 32. When the switching devices 31 and 32 are on, the phase winding is coupled to the DC bus, causing an increasing magnetic flux to be established in the machine. The magnetic flux produces a magnetic field in the air gap which acts on the rotor poles to produce the motoring torque. The magnetic flux in the machine is supported by the magneto-motive force (mmf) which is provided by a current flowing from the DC supply through the switches 31 and 32 and the phase winding 23. In some controllers, current feedback is employed and the magnitude of the phase current is controlled by chopping the current by rapidly switching one or both of switching devices 31 and/or 32 on and off. FIG. 4(a) shows a typical current waveform in the chopping mode of operation, where the current is chopped between two fixed levels. In motoring operation, the turn-on angle xcex8ON is often chosen to be the rotor position where the centerline of an inter-polar space on the rotor is aligned with the centerline of a stator pole, but may be some other angle.
In many systems, the phase winding remains connected to the DC bus (or connected intermittently if chopping is employed) until the rotor rotates such that it reaches what is referred to as the xe2x80x9cfreewheeling anglexe2x80x9d, xcex8FW. When the rotor reaches an angular position corresponding to the freewheeling angle (e.g., the position shown in FIG. 2) one of the switches, for example 31, is turned off. Consequently, the current flowing through the phase winding will continue to flow, but will now flow through only one of the switches (in this example 32) and through only one of the diodes 33/34 (in this example 34). During the freewheeling period, the voltage drop across the phase winding is small, and the flux remains substantially constant. The circuit remains in this freewheeling condition until the rotor rotates to an angular position known as the xe2x80x9cturn-off anglexe2x80x9d, xcex8OFF, (e.g. when the centerline of the rotor pole is aligned with that of the stator pole). When the rotor reaches the turn-off angle, both switches 31 and 32 are turned off and the current in phase winding 23 begins to flow through diodes 33 and 34. The diodes 33 and 34 then apply the DC voltage from the DC bus in the opposite sense, causing the magnetic flux in the machine (and therefore the phase current) to decrease.
As the speed of the machine rises, there is less time for the current to rise to the chopping level, and the drive is normally run in a xe2x80x9csingle-pulsexe2x80x9d mode of operation. In this mode, the turn-on, freewheel and turn-off angles are chosen as a function of, for example, speed and load torque. Some systems do not use an angular period of freewheeling, i.e. switches 31 and 32 are switched on and off simultaneously. FIG. 4(b) shows a typical such single-pulse current waveform where the freewheel angle is zero. It is well known that the values of turn-on, freewheel and turn-off angles can be predetermined and stored in some suitable format for retrieval by the control system as required, or can be calculated or deduced in real time.
One development in electrical systems for vehicles, particularly those where the electrical load is high, is to use a high-voltage bus to supply these loads. Known designs for such vehicles use bus voltages between 24 and 600 volts. The use of these higher voltages provides a more efficient system since, for a given power, the currents are reduced as the bus voltage is raised. However this immediately brings a problem if the starting and generating functions are to be performed by one machine, since the storage battery used for starting the vehicle is unlikely to be higher than 24 volts. A machine designed to operate at a high voltage will not produce the necessary power as a starter motor if operated in the conventional manner from a low-voltage battery. One known solution is to interpose an up-converter between the battery and the machine to convert the battery voltage to a voltage at least near to the high bus voltage of the vehicle. This allows the electrical machine to operate at the same voltage for both starting and generating duties, thus avoiding the difficulty of designing the machine to operate on two quite different voltages, albeit at the expense of providing the up-converter. Such an arrangement for a switched reluctance machine is shown in FIG. 5, where only one phase of the machine is shown for convenience. The battery 38 supplies an up-converter 36 of known type to provide a high-voltage DC bus from which the winding(s) of the machine are excited in the conventional manner. The efficiency of the up-converter is a function of the voltage ratio it has to achieve. For example, an up-converter raising the voltage from 24 to 300V and having an output rating of around 10 kW will be of the order of 80% efficient. The losses are supplied from the storage battery and may therefore reduce the amount of energy available to start the engine. In addition, the cost of the up-converter is proportional to its power rating and this cost may be very significant. The conventional solution, therefore, has disadvantages of inefficiency and cost.
It is an object of the present invention at least to alleviate some of the problems associated with the prior art by supplying a switched reluctance machine from dual voltages.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of energizing a phase winding of a switched reluctance machine during a conduction period, including: supplying energy to the winding at a first voltage, and supplying energy to the winding subsequently within the same conduction period at a second voltage.
A circuit is provided by which the machine can operate from two voltages during a conduction period, hence providing the opportunity to reduce the duty and rating of the up-converter by using a lower voltage in the conduction period when appropriate. One embodiment of the invention eliminates the need for an up-converter. Thus, by the appropriate use of a lower voltage in the conduction period the up-converter can be a lower rated unit, if not eliminated altogether. This is a cost-effective solution to running a switched reluctance machine from a lower supply voltage in association with a relatively heavy load.

Operation of a switched reluctance machine from dual supply voltages


First, a sheet member which is being unwound and conveyed from a winding body, and in which a conductive film is stuck on a support sheet, is stamped in such a shape that a coil portion, a frame portion defined around the coil portion, and a joining portion connecting the coil portion to the frame portion are left unstamped. Next, a protective sheet which is made sticky, is stuck onto a surface of the stamped structure where the conductive film is stuck, and then the support sheet is peeled off. Next, an insulative support sheet which is being unwound and conveyed from a winding body, is stuck onto a surface of the structure with the protective sheet stuck thereon where the stamped conductive film is stuck, and then the protective sheet is peeled off.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of manufacturing a plane coil, and more particularly relates to a method of manufacturing a plane coil composed of a conductor wound in a spiral substantially on a plane.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In non-contact type IC cards, IC tags, and the like, a plane coil is used as an antenna for communicating information between an embedded semiconductor element (IC) and an external card processing apparatus or the like. Conventionally, such a plane coil has been formed by winding a coated wire or by etching or stamping a metal plate.
A method using a coated wire requires a step of interweaving or embedding a wound coil into a support base material in order that the wound coil holds a required shape of antenna. However, the coated wire for use is an inelastic thin wire, so that the coated wire is difficult to wound and not suitable for mass processing. Moreover, since this method requires the step of interweaving the wound coil or the like after the winding, it has a disadvantage in that a manufacturing cost thereof is increased. Thus, it has been difficult for the method of manufacturing a plane coil by winding a coated wire to achieve a reduction in cost and a mass production.
On the contrary, a method of manufacturing a plane coil by etching or stamping is more advantageous than the above method by winding a coated wire, in terms of cost, mass production, and manufacturing period. In an example of the method using etching, a metal foil or sheet is pressed and stuck on an insulative support base material (film of heat-resistant resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET)), and a surface on which the metal foil or the like is stuck is then etched to be formed in a required shape of coil.
On the other hand, in an example of the method using stamping, a metal sheet is stamped in a shape of a pattern in which coils (antennas) are partly connected to each other, and a support base material such as a PET film is stuck onto the stamped metal sheet, with keeping the stamped shape, and then, joining portions which partly connect the coils are cut off. In this case, in a conventional method of attaching the PET film, hot melt resin is coated on a surface (on a side to be brought into contact with the metal sheet) of the PET film which is being unwound and conveyed from a winding body on which the PET film is wound in a roll. The PET film is then stuck onto the metal sheet with this hot melt resin interposed therebetween. Herein, the hot melt resin is provided with a sticking property by heating.
As described above, the method of manufacturing a plane coil by etching or stamping a metal sheet is more advantageous than the method of manufacturing a plane coil by winding a coated wire, in terms of cost, mass production, and the like. Comparing the method using etching with that using stamping, the former is more disadvantageous than the latter because of higher manufacturing cost.
On the other hand, the method using stamping employs hot melt resin when sticking the PET film (support base material) onto the stamped metal sheet as described above, and thus has a problem in that the manufacturing cost is increased by use of the hot melt resin.
The applicant has already proposed a technique of coping with such a problem (Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-288628 filed on Oct. 1, 2002). In the proposed technique described in the specification and drawings, a sheet member (in which a metal foil is stuck on a surface of an insulative support sheet with a pressure-sensitive adhesive interposed therebetween) is used as a starting material for manufacturing a plane coil, and the sheet member is in advance wound on a reel in a roll. The sheet member which is being unwound and conveyed from the reel is stamped in a required shape of coil. After the stamped metal foil (coils) is stuck onto a base film such as a PET film (after transferred and laminated), unnecessary joining portions between the coils are cut off. In the proposed technique, a plane coil is manufactured by using a seal material which is easily commercially available at comparatively low cost, and applying a stamping technique. Accordingly, it is possible to achieve a reduction in the manufacturing period as well as a reduction in cost and a mass production.
However, this method uses a metal foil with a very small thickness as the material forming the coils, and the conductor width (line width) of the spiral coil is extremely small. Accordingly, the rigidity of the coil (metal foil) cannot be maintained, and it is difficult to transfer/laminate the coil onto the base film with keeping the shape of the stamped coil. Therefore, it can be supposed that a coil will be deformed, a part of the coil will be cut off depending on the conditions, or adjacent conductors in the coil will be brought into contact with each other (short-circuited between each other). Consequently, a reliability of the plane coil as a finally obtained product is lowered, and thus there is room for improvement in this respect.


A system for spatial representation of regions of interest for a visually impaired or blind person, comprises the following elements: at least one tactile map comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, the tactile map having tactile reference marks on the top surface and corresponding contact areas on the bottom surface, each tactile reference mark corresponding to a region of interest; a keyboard with a matrix of contact points configured to come into contact with the corresponding contact areas in response to pressure exerted on the tactile map positioned on the keyboard; and an electronic audio box, which can be actuated by the keyboard, the electronic audio box being provided with a multitude of audio recordings, each audio recording being associated with each tactile reference mark on the top surface of the tactile map.

When a visually impaired person wishes to go to a place that he does not know by heart, he requires the aid of a map or plan. Unlike persons who can see a map, the visually impaired read a map by touching it. Usually, the tactile map comprises symbols engraved in relief on the surface of a plan. Document US2008/0280265 describes a mobility map comprising a series of engraved symbols and/or other icons in relief combining Braille code and other alphanumeric symbols. These symbols are exposed on a surface and are composed of two different panels combined together to form a mobility map or plan. A multi-level hierarchical mobility system is also provided to enable the visually impaired to move freely and find their bearings not only inside a structure like a building, but also inside numerous geographic levels like countries, towns and districts, without losing the structural and/or spatial connection between the different levels.
The drawback of this technology is that the user must memorize the meaning of all of the symbols or icons on the map to be able to read by touching the mobility map without the aid of another person. He lacks other simple means of confirming his interpretation of the information presented on the tactile map.
Furthermore, the multi-layer structure increases the weight of the mobility map, which occupies a great deal of space and is not easy to carry around.
So far, the solution lies in integrating a location system and audio equipment, for example, GPS, into the above-mentioned mobility map. However, this solution makes a map too expensive and not affordable for all users.


A. new compound, a high temperature POSS-dianiline is provided. It is a composition of nanoparticles, which can be incorporated into polymers such as polyimides, polyamides, cyanate esters, and epoxies, for improved properties and performance of such polymers.

The controlled assembly of nanoscopic reinforcing particles in host polymer systems has resulted in improvements in various properties such as thermo-oxidative stability, response to mechanical load, thermal expansion, space survivability, abrasion resistance, and other surface-related properties. The application of nanotechnology has enabled expansion of the end-use envelope of many organic materials. Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) has proven to be a remarkably effective class of additive nanoparticles due to their inherent size, shape, rigidity, and versatility in functionality. The ability to chemically tailor POSS through synthetic control of its organic periphery offers a unique design tool for controlling particle dispersion in host materials.
However, current commercially available POSS compounds, such as POSS-dianilines either contain thermally labile aliphatic groups or excessive amine functionality. For example, octa-aminophenyl POSS is the only purely aromatic version but contains eight reactive groups which can be detrimental to polymer performance due to excessive cross-linking, thereby inhibiting assembly.
Accordingly, there is need and market for a suitable POSS composition which can overcome the above prior art shortcomings.
There has now been developed a new form of POSS dianilines, which can be reactively incorporated into polyimides, polyamides, cyanate esters, and epoxies for enhanced performance thereof as described below.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


Methods, devices, modules, and systems for a band-gap reference voltage detection circuit are provided. One embodiment for a band-gap reference voltage detection circuit includes a Brokaw cell having a band-gap reference voltage, and a circuit portion for indicating the magnitude of an input voltage signal with respect to the band-gap reference voltage. The input voltage is applied to transistor bases of the Brokaw cell.

Most electronic systems and devices contain circuits, logic and storage elements, e.g., memory, which have indeterminate states when the primary power source for the system is first applied, or when the power source drops below some minimum operating level. The circuits, logic and storage elements, e.g., memory devices, are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory, among others. Memory devices are utilized for a wide range of electronic applications including personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, cellular telephones, etc.
Incorrect and/or unreliable data can be read from the circuits, logic and storage elements, e.g., memory, during power up due to the fact that the supply voltage of the device is ramping from zero volts to a VCC level. An incorrect read operation can result in operational errors such as erroneous redundancy address selection or erroneous trimming operations, failure to boot, etc. Therefore, it is desirable and often necessary, to provide some means whereby the storage elements are set to a known state at initial power on or after a power drop. Such circuits are sometimes referred to as power-on reset (POR) circuits.
POR circuitry is often used in memory devices to insure proper functionality of the device when power is initially applied to the device, e.g., during power on of the device, and to insure proper functionality of the device if power to the device is temporarily lost. Power-on reset circuits can prevent various internal circuits of the memory device, e.g., logic circuits, processors, latches, charge pumps, and voltage regulators, among others, from functioning until after the POR circuit determines that the applied supply voltage, e.g., Vcc, is adequate to insure proper circuit function.
A wide variety of internal circuits are dependent on POR supervision of their functionality with respect to available voltage supply. The various circuits within a given electronic device or system can have differing acceptable voltage supply requirements. In previous approaches, either one voltage threshold was selected that satisfied the voltage supply requirements of all dependent circuits delaying power-up of some circuits with lower acceptable voltage thresholds, or multiple PORs were applied to supervise the multiple voltage supply thresholds, using more circuit real estate and increasing costs.
One difficulty in implementing FOR circuits is that such circuits are often be powered by the same voltage source that is monitored by the circuit. This can present a challenge, particularly if the circuit is used to ensure that the system is in a proper initial state at relatively low supply voltages. Furthermore, POR circuits should operate reliably when the input supply voltage either has a very fast rise time or a slow rise time. Additionally, the electronic deices and systems of today operate in a wide range of temperature environments. As such, POR circuits should be able to function accurately in determining voltage supply suitability for the circuits they supervise over a range of temperature variations.

Band-gap reference voltage detection circuit


Aspects of the invention can provide a fast-response, homeotropic-mode, liquid crystal display device performing bright and high-quality display having a feature of wide-viewing angle. The liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates, each having electrodes on one surface thereof, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates, having the electrodes interposed therebetween, and a display area having a plurality of dot areas two-dimensionally arrayed therein. The liquid crystal layer can include liquid crystal vertically aligned in an initial state. In a single dot area, each pixel electrode has a plurality of island-shaped portions and connecting portions electrically connecting adjacent two of the island-shaped portions to each other, and the pluralities of island-shaped portions are arrayed in a stagger pattern in plan view.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Related liquid crystal display devices can be used as image displays for electronic apparatus, such as a computer, a portable phone, or the like, and generally has a structure in which a liquid crystal layer composed of twisted nematic (TN) liquid or the like is sandwiched between a pair of substrates. Since such type of liquid crystal display device has a problem of a narrow viewing-angle, a homeotropic-mode liquid crystal display device having a feature of wide-viewing angle has been recently more commonly used. Regarding to a homeotropic-mode, liquid crystal display device, since it is required to properly control a direction toward which liquid crystal molecules are inclined at the time of having a voltage applied thereon, a variety of controlling devices have been proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-43525 discloses liquid crystal display device having a structure in which an electrode in a single dot area serving as a minimum unit of display is divided into a plurality of island-shaped portions, and these island-shaped portions are arrayed in a matrix-shaped, square-grid or rectangular-grid pattern of m rows and n columns. With this structure, an alignment control of uniform and stable homeotropic liquid crystal can be performed. This related art is presently employed in a liquid crystal TV set or the like for forming a dot area having a matrix-shaped grid pattern of 11 rows and 4 columns or 8 rows and 3 columns in which the island-shaped portions are arrayed.

Liquid crystal display device and electronic apparatus