A flexure arrangement, suitable for use with or as part of, e.g., an optical beam steering arrangements, and intended for supporting and transmitting movement to any appropriate element, the arrangement including a first flexure to which movement is applied, a second flexure which attaches the arrangement to any appropriate supporting structure, structure linking the first flexure to the second flexure and structure for receiving any appropriate element, the first and second flexure being appropriately spaced so that any movement applied to the first flexure is amplified by the flexure arrangement.

The present invention relates to flexure arrangements, suitable for use with or as part of e.g. an optical beam steering arrangement, and intended for supporting and transmitting movement to any appropriate element.
The closest prior art known to the applicant is disclosed in PCT/GB01/00062 which is one of the applicant's own patent applications.
One of the objectives of the invention is to further improve beam steering arrangements which are capable of being assembled to form optical switches with a large number of input and output ports while being of minimal sizes. The invention aims therefore to further improve the compactness of beam steering arrangements.
Another objective of the invention is to render the arrangements simple to manufacture and assemble. In order to achieve this, reducing the complexity of an optical switch is an important consideration.
A further objective of the arrangements with which this invention is concerned is to provide an even further accurate steering facility to achieve higher quality switching.
A particular objective of the inventive arrangements is to achieve a greater angular swing of any element destined to be displaced by the arrangements which is far greater than the movement applied to the arrangement. Achieving an enhanced scale of amplification of movement will be an important factor in achieving the objective of compactness mentioned above.
Other considerations such as longevity and costs are also taken into account in the design of these arrangements.
One of the objectives of this invention is to provide a reduction of the beam actuators length as compared to the prior art system.
A further objective of the invention is to offer a new approach to providing the orientation and support of an optical element such as a collimator while achieving the required high level of accuracy and long term dependability.
An additional aim of the current invention is to improve the assembly of any individual components to the arrangement, thus rendering the arrangement altogether more practical.
A further objective of this invention is to present an improved kind of two dimensional (2D) piezoelectric actuator.


A system and method for generating a schema for a database is provided. The schema is based, at least in part, upon three main tables: object types, objects, and, associations. Through these three base tables, the system facilitates rapid prototyping of schema associated with database(s). The schema is extensible since associations between objects, objects and object types are not hard-coded and can be dynamically updated by modifying the appropriate entry(ies) in one or more of these three base tables. Thus, through these three tables, an extensible, flexible framework for generating and/or dynamically modifying the schema is provided.

During conventional database prototyping, the structure of a database schema can frequently change due, for example, to changing requirement(s) and/or programming difficulties. Updating a hard-coded schema can be hard and infeasible especially when the compatibility with prior versions is required in a rapid prototyping environment and especially when a product or a prototype is already deployed. Often it requires writing special software for upgrading the database which is a source of potential errors and defies the requirements of rapid prototyping.

Rapid prototyping, generating and dynamically modifying a schema representing a database

Abstract: The system includes an input component that receives information associated with a requested database prototype. The system further includes a schema generation component that generates a schema based, at least in part, upon the information received by the input component.


A polygon mirror scanner is disclosed, comprising a rotor having a rotating shaft, a polygon mirror having a regular prism and having a mirror surface on each side thereof, and a magnet; a bearing device, rotatably bearing the rotor, having a radial bearing, a thrust bearing, and a stator yoke; and a stator having a coil facing the magnet with a predetermined distance therebetween, wherein the radial bearing and the thrust bearing are exchangeable at the end of their useful life while maintaining a desired level of high precision and tolerances for proper and efficient operation of the polygon mirror scanner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polygon mirror scanner for light writing for use in digital copiers, page printers, and the like.
2. Discussion of the Background
FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a cross section of a conventional polygon mirror scanner. A rotary polygon mirror 1 has a disc-shaped plane polygon (an equilateral hexagon in FIG. 4), a cylindrical rotor 3 below the rotary polygon mirror 1, a head 1a above the rotary polygon mirror 1 in the center thereof and six side faces 1b on the periphery of the rotary polygon mirror 1.
The six side faces 1b on the periphery of the rotary polygon mirror 1 are mirror-finished smooth light reflection faces (mirror faces). The center of the head 1a, i.e., a center of gravity of the equilateral hexagon, has a hole, where a rotating shaft 2 fitted to the rotary polygon mirror 1 is inserted. In addition, the rotating shaft 2 has a curved surface at both ends thereof.
A magnet 4 has a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter which is almost equal to an inner diameter of the rotor 3, and is fixed inside the rotor 3 so as to be concentric with the rotating shaft 2 to form a rotor 10 for the polygon mirror scanner.
A bearing device 20, supporting the rotating shaft 2 of the rotor 10, includes a radial bearing 21, supporting the rotating shaft 2, a thrust bearing 22, receiving a thrust load of the rotating shaft 2, and a stator yoke 23, supporting the radial bearing 21. The radial bearing 21 is formed of a slide bearing, such as a bearing including an oil, and fixed by being pressed into or bonded to an inner circumferential surface of the stator yoke 23.
The thrust bearing 22 is formed of a slide bearing, e.g., a resin plate such as polyimide having good slidability and abrasion resistance, and fixed by being pressed into or bonded to a concave part on the bottom of the inner circumferential surface of the stator yoke 23. The bearing device 20 is vertically fixed to a plane surface of a control base plate 32, and a coil 31 is fixed on a peripheral surface of the bearing device 20 to form a stator 30.
The coil 31 may be fixed on the control base plate 32. In addition, a peripheral cylindrical surface of the coil 31 faces a peripheral cylindrical surface of the inner circumferential and cylindrical surface of the magnet 4, while maintaining a predetermined clearance. Electricity from the control base plate 32 to the coil 31 drives the rotary polygon mirror 1 to rotate around the rotating shaft 2.
Conventionally, a rotary polygon mirror for use in a polygon mirror scanner for copiers, and like devices is constituted of a flat member having a mirror finished surface on its circumference. The mirror finished rotary polygon mirror is assembled with a rotor and a magnet to form a rotor for a scanner motor, i.e., a rotor for the polygon mirror scanner. The rotary polygon mirror is assembled with a rotating shaft, a rotor yoke, and a magnet to form a rotor for the polygon mirror scanner.
A stator works as a motor driving the rotary polygon mirror to rotate a scanning light beam, wherein a coil is arranged facing the magnet installed in the rotor with a predetermined space and a rotating shaft of the rotor is supported on a base plate on which a controller switching an energizing level of the coil is located.
Due to recent increasing environmental concerns, it is essential that electrical and mechanical products are reused and recycled. Therefore, individual components for digital copiers, page printers, and other similar devices need to be reused and recycled.
It has been said that a rotating shaft and a bearing for a polygon mirror scanner for light writing for use in the digital copiers, page printers, and the like can only be reused as a recycled metallic material or disposed of because, over time, they cannot avoid abrasion and damage due to their extended use.
However, a rotor including a rotary polygon mirror of a polygon mirror scanner for light writing, a rotating shaft, a rotor and a magnet in a body has less abrasion and damage of the rotating shaft due to its extended use. On the other hand, the bearing cannot avoid abrasion and damage due to its extended use.
Therefore, when the bearing comes to the end of its useful life, the polygon mirror scanner has to be exchanged as an assembly, although some of its components are still in a good and useful condition. In addition, a precise modification of the rotary polygon mirror of the rotor requires a significant amount of time and energy; therefore, the rotary polygon mirror has to be reused.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-41359 discloses a method of removing only a rotating shaft from a motor frame and recycling other members thereof.
In the above-mentioned conventional polygon mirror scanner for light writing, the bearing is abraded by a contact of the rotating shaft when the rotation stars and stops because the rotating shaft, which is a center of rotation, is formed of a material harder than that of the bearing.
In addition, over an extended period of use, the rotational load deteriorates as a result of, as for example, a loss in lubrication. In these situations, the polygon mirror scanner takes longer to reach a stable rotational high-speed and experiences operational difficulties, including an irregular rotation and difficulty in maintaining a desired high-speed. These operational problems result in an increase of electric power consumption and a reduction in efficiency of the polygon scanner mirror.
Therefore, when the bearing comes to the end of its useful life, the polygon mirror scanner is exchanged as an assembly although some of its components have not come to the end of their useful lives, resulting in the unnecessary replacement of the good components.
In addition, it is not possible to replace the bearing without replacing the stator yoke into which the bearing is pressed, resulting in alteration and/or loss of the required high vertical precision or tight tolerances between the stator yoke to and the bottom surface of the motor circuit board due to current repair methods, thus, it becomes difficult to reach the needed high rotational speed and desired high efficiency for the polygon mirror scanner.
For at least the foregoing reasons, a need exists for a polygon mirror scanner having a bearing that can be easily replaced at the end of its useful life, while continuing to use other components in the mirror assembly that are still in good operating condition and maintaining the required high precision and tight tolerances for proper and efficient operation of the mirror assembly.

Polygon mirror scanner having an easily replaceable bearing


A method for a base station to support network entry of a mobile station in a communication system is provided. The method includes transmitting to the mobile station each of a plurality of transmitted network entry signals over a preferred downlink beam corresponding to the transmitted network entry signal. Each of a plurality of received network entry signals is received from the mobile station over a preferred uplink beam corresponding to the received network entry signal. Each of the transmitted network entry signals comprises the preferred uplink beam corresponding to a subsequently received network entry signal, and each of the received network entry signals comprises the preferred downlink beam corresponding to a subsequently transmitted network entry signal.

The demand for wireless data traffic is explosively increasing due to increasing popularity of smart phones and other mobile data devices, such as tablets, netbooks and eBook readers, among consumers and businesses. In order to meet the high growth in mobile data traffic, improvements in radio interface efficiency and allocation of new spectrum are useful.

Apparatus and method for supporting network entry in a millimeter-wave mobile broadband communication system


The invention is related to a method for encoding a size of a data section and to an encoder for encoding a size of a data section. The invention is further related to a method for determining a size of a data section and to a decoder for determining a size of a data section. The method for encoding a size of a data section comprises the step of increasing the size and the step of determining the number of information units necessary for encoding the increased size. Furthermore, the method comprises the step of decreasing the determined number and the step of forming a code by encoding the decreased determined number and by encoding the increased size. Due to knowledge of an increased lower bound, instead of the number of information units actually necessary for encoding the size a decreased number can be encoded.

The invention is related to a method for encoding a size of a data section and to an encoder for encoding a size of a data section. The invention is further related to a method for determining a size of a data section and to a decoder for determining a size of a data section.
An encoded size may indicate the length of a subsequent signal value section of variable length, the extent of a subsequent filename or an amount of subsequent information units used for encoding other data. That is, an encoded size may be used as a prefix in a variable length encoding scheme.
In variable length coding, varying numbers of information units are used for encoding pay load data. The information units used for some pay load data form a data section of variable extent. The extent of the data section corresponds to the length of the code representing the pay load data. To allow decoding of an encoded integer signal value, the extent of the data section is encoded as a size in a prefix. Thus, the size represents the number of information units used for coding the integer signal value.
The prefix itself may be formed from a variable number of information units and thus may have variable length. If so, this requires at least a preceding portion of the prefix being encoded independently. That is, the preceding portion can be decoded without further information.
To meet this requirement the preceding portion commonly comprises unary code, i.e. a number of information units of equal content. This number indicates the size of the remaining part of the prefix.
As the size of the remaining part is at least 1, the number of information units of equal content can be by one smaller than the size of the remaining part. So the size of the preceding portion is by 1 smaller than the size of the remaining part.
The remaining part of the prefix then comprises the binary encoded size.
Variable length coding allows for efficient use of storage space and transmission bandwidth. Therefore, it is used in a variety of technical applications. For instance, variable length coding is used for encoding visual sensor inputs, for transmission of video or multimedia streams or for storage of audio data, just to name a few.
The advantages of variable length coding come along with the overhead of requiring prefixes. Especially the preceding portion is bulky due to the requirement of independent encoding. Thus, there is a need for further reducing the average size of the preceding portion.

Method and encoder for encoding a size of a data section and method and decoder for determining a size of a data section


The baby seat occupant detection system of the present invention functions to reliably remind forgetful or negligent caregivers when they have an infant in a car seat inside a vehicle and have left a predetermined proximity around the vehicle. In one embodiment, the invention comprises a temperature detector for detecting unsafe temperatures and sounding an alarm to alert a caregiver when the temperature inside a vehicle has risen to a level which is unsafe for the occupant left unattended in the vehicle.

This invention relates to systems for detecting the presence of an infant in a car seat in an automobile or other vehicle. More particularly, this invention relates to a baby seat occupant detection system which sounds an alarm when an infant is inadvertently left in a vehicle. Even more specifically, this invention relates to a baby seat occupant detection system which alarms when an infant is left in a baby seat in a vehicle and the caregiver travels an unacceptable distance away from the vehicle or the temperature in the vehicle reaches an unacceptable level.
Federal and state laws regarding the vehicular transportation of babies require that the baby be safely strapped into a baby car seat that is itself safely restrained in the vehicle through the use of conventional seat belts or auxiliary belts specifically adapted for baby car seats. The use of a baby seat is intended to provide a safer environment for the baby during transportation to protect the baby as much as possible in the event of a collision, sudden stop or other abrupt incident that might otherwise result in the baby being thrown from the car during the incident and becoming injured.
Unfortunately, however, during the everyday haste of normal life, the driver oftentimes forgets that the baby is in the car seat after parking the vehicle, and simply walks away inadvertently leaving the baby unattended in the car seat. Not only does this raise the danger of kidnapping, but also subjects the baby to a dangerous environment in the event of inclement weather. Specifically, it is well-known that the internal temperatures of a vehicle left in the sun during hot weather will cause the interior temperature to dramatically rise to above 100° Fahrenheit. A baby strapped in the car seat is oblivious to the impending danger of life-threatening heat stroke. Older children, who may appreciate the dangers of heat stroke, may nevertheless be unable to escape because of being strapped into the car seat. Consequently, there presently exists a need for a baby seat detector which detects when a baby has been left unattended in a car seat by his or her mother, father or other caregiver, and to then sound an alarm that would alert the caregiver to the fact that he or she has left the baby behind in the car seat.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved baby seat occupant detection system. It is another object of this invention to provide a baby seat occupant detection system which operates at low power. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for determining when a caregiver has traveled an unacceptable distance from the vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to use low cost components to determine the distance between a caregiver and an infant in a baby seat and alarm if the caregiver has left a preset proximity around the vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for calling a cell phone, 911, or OnStar or LoJack type system in a situation where a caregiver has left a predetermined proximity around the vehicle or that the temperature inside the vehicle has exceeded a preset temperature.
Another object of this invention is to provide an alarm when the power supply is below acceptable levels and means for conserving the power supply when no baby is in the baby seat or when the remote portion is inactive.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a baby seat occupant detection system which is portable and can be moved from vehicle to vehicle. Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a baby seat occupant detection system wherein the base unit identifies and communicates with multiple remote units such that multiple caregivers have remote units 1 that work with the same base unit. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a baby seat occupant detection system with a remote unit that identifies and communicates with multiple base units.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the invention in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


In a nozzle plate for a fuel injection device which can inject fuel flowed out from a fuel injection port of the fuel injection device in a sufficiently atomized state, a portion of fuel which flows in the inside of a nozzle hole impinges on an interference element, is sharply bent so as to flow backward by an impinging surface of the interference element which is formed of an annular recessed surface, is made to impinge on fuel which intends to advance straightly and pass through the nozzle hole and the orifice, and forms the flow of the fuel which intends to advance straightly and pass through the nozzle hole and the orifice into a turbulent flow. As a result, the nozzle plate for a fuel injection device further enhances the level of the atomization of fuel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nozzle plate for a fuel injection device which is mounted on a fuel injection port of the fuel injection device, and injects fuel flowed out from the fuel injection port after atomizing the fuel.
2. Related Art
An internal combustion engine (hereinafter abbreviated as "engine") of an automobile or the like is configured such that a combustible mixed gas is formed by mixing fuel injected from a fuel injection device and air introduced into the engine through an intake pipe, and the combustible mixed gas is burned in the inside of the cylinder. It has been known that, in such an engine, a mixing state of fuel injected from the fuel injection device and air largely influences the performance of the engine. Particularly, it has been known that the atomization of the fuel injected from the fuel injection device becomes an important factor which influences the performance of the engine.


There is provided in a preferred embodiment a mounting brace assembly for securing a steering column member to a vehicle cross-support member in a position braced against a vehicle cowl top. The assembly includes a cowl top bracket for engaging the vehicle cowl top, and a mounting base arm extending longitudinally along a base axis from a first axial end portion to a second axial end portion. The base arm includes an anchor flange sized for generally upward mated insertion in at least part of a flange receiving slot. The cowl top bracket is coupled to the base arm proximal to a vehicle forward end, and includes a load transfer portion shaped for juxtaposed abutment with a load bearing portion of the vehicle cowl top. Contact between the cowl top bracket and the vehicle cowl top transfers rotational bearing forces from the assembly towards the vehicle cowl top.

In the automobile industry, vehicle cross-support members, crossbeams, cross car beams, and other similar components (collectively referred hereinafter as "vehicle cross-support members" or "cross-support members") are utilized as part of the vehicular body structure. The vehicle cross-support member normally spans between or fastened to a pair of laterally disposed vertical pillars, or A-pillars, in the region generally below the windscreen and a cowl top, and between a forward engine compartment and a rearward passenger compartment, so as to extend in a direction transverse to the length of an automobile. As part of a motor vehicle body, the cross-support member provides for cross car stiffness and rigidity against for example side load impacts.
Located forwardly of the driver and the front-row passenger, the cross-support member also supports or provides mounting surfaces for various vehicle components, including an instrument panel, a glove and/or storage compartment, a center console, a dashboard and a steering column member. Although direct attachment may be possible, various attachment devices or assemblies could be utilized to effect attachment of such vehicle components to the cross-support member. The attachment devices and assemblies are preferably designed such that the noise and vibrations transferring from the vehicle engine, drivetrain, transmission or any other moving parts are reduced for optimal passenger comfort. For vehicle components subject to or exerting a load or force, the attachment devices and assemblies preferably incorporate constructions adapted for improving load transfer, dispersion and/or distribution. Reduction of weight and production costs are also of important consideration in designing and implementing the attachment devices and assemblies.
A number of attachment or mounting assemblies for securing a steering column member in a vehicle are known. By way of an example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,256,830 to Hitz describes a plurality of standardized support arms, a number of which are configured in the form of steering column support arms each having a U-shaped cross section defined by a pair of legs. Each of the legs forming part of the steering column support arm of Hitz include an area secured in a preformed transversal slot of a vehicle cross-support member on the driver side. Hitz furthermore describes reinforcement members having the same U-shaped cross section, and which are coupled to the steering column support arms to form a rectangular cross section. Hitz suggests that the standardized support arms may alternatively be formed as other support or reinforcement components secured to the cross-support member, such as a transmission tunnel support arm and a splash shield support arm, so as to permit reduction of production costs associated with fabricating multiple vehicle components.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,146,986 to Bierkamp describes a holder configured for attachment to a tubular vehicle cross-support member to effect securement of different vehicle components. The holder of Bierkamp possesses a U shaped configuration defined by two limbs interconnected by a bridge, and which are sized to be received in a parallel spaced slots transversely oriented to a longitudinal axis of the cross-support member. Bierkamp suggests that two or more holders may be secured to the cross-support member to effect steering column attachment. The specific configuration of the holder of Bierkamp is described as advantageous in that it allows for sliding and rotational adjustment or positioning of the holder on the tubular cross-support member prior securing or welding the holder thereto.
The attachment devices described in Hitz and Bierkamp may suffer disadvantages in that forces generated by a steering column member, such as rotational forces, may not be transferred or distributed efficiently to other structural elements of the vehicle. Furthermore, as the generated forces are mainly channeled to the vehicle cross-support member, deficiencies in the attachment between the cross-support member and the devices of Hitz and Bierkamp may possibly lead to structural and/or functional failures. Given the increasing complexity and components included with steering column members, such as airbags and various control and adjustment elements, improvements to the load transfer and distribution from the steering column member may be desired.

Mounting brace assembly for steering column member


A synchronous rotating type scroll fluid machine has a first scroll member driven by a shaft of a first motor and having an end plate and a scroll wrap protruding from a surface of the scroll end plate, and a second scroll member driven by a shaft of a second motor and having a scroll end plate and a scroll wrap protruding from a surface of the scroll end plate. The machine further has a mounting structure for mounting the scroll members such that the axes of the scroll members are offset from each other and that said scroll wraps of the scroll members mesh with each other. Thrust balancing arrangements are provided for attaining a balance between the thrusting forces acting on each said scroll member, both at the mounting structure and said scroll members. The thrust balancing arrangement includes through-bores formed in the respective motor shafts and serving as passage bores for discharging a compressed gas. This arrangement also provides cooling effect as the compressed working gas functions as a cooling medium and, in addition, serves to suppress distortion of the scroll end plate of each scroll member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synchronous rotating type scroll member fluid machine of the type in which a pair of scroll members are synchronously rotated by corresponding motors so as to compress gas in a scroll member working chamber, which may be used as a compressor of a refrigerator or air conditioner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional scroll member fluid machines have been described in, for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 61-20391, 1-200083 and 2-149783.
Among the above conventional techniques, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-200391 discloses a vertical scroll member compressor which includes a fixed scroll member 1, an orbiting scroll member 2, a rotary shaft 3 provided with a crank shaft, a casing and so on, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21. FIG. 20 is a partial cross-sectional view of an upper portion of the rotary shaft 3, and FIG. 21 is a partial cross-sectional view of a lower portion of the rotary shaft 3. Between the portions respectively shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 is disposed a motor (not shown). The interior of the rotary shaft 3 also serving as the motor shaft is made hollow, and a cylindrical member 4 is disposed in the hollow portion, by which a double cylindrical space is formed. A fitting 5 having an outlet and an inlet for a cooling water 6 is disposed at the lower end of the rotary shaft 3, and the cooling water 6 is circulated within the double cylindrical space so as to cool the motor or the like.
FIG. 22 shows the scroll member compressor disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 1-200083. In this scroll member compressor, a pair of scrolls 7 and 8 in a casing C are respectively coupled to motor shafts 9 and 10 rotatably supported by the casing C, which are respectively rotated by first and second motors 11 and 12 fixed to the casing C. Sensors 13 and 14 are provided so as to detect the rotating state of the two rotary shafts 9 and 10. A control device 16 drives a third motor 15 on the basis of the signals obtained by the sensors 13 and 14 such that the rotational phase difference between the two rotary shafts 9 and 10 is reduced. A space 17 within the casing C forms a suction chamber. The interior of the motor shaft 9 is made hollow, and the hollow portion forms a discharge flow passage 18 partially having a discharge port 18'. A gas which enters the casing C in the manner indicated by arrow A is sucked from the scroll member outer peripheral portion and is compressed as it moves toward the center of the scroll member. A resultant high-pressure gas passes through the discharge flow passage 18 in the motor shaft 9 and then the discharge port 18' and is discharged outside of the compressor.
FIG. 23 shows the scroll member compressor disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-149783. This scroll member compressor has a pair of rotatable scroll members 7 and 8. The scroll member 8 is coupled to a motor shaft 19, and the other scroll member 7 is rotatable supported by a shaft on a holder 20. Rotation of the scroll member 8 driven by the motor shaft 19 rotates the scroll member 7 through an Oldham's mechanism 20'. A compression mechanism portion, including the scrolls 7 and 8, a motor 21 and a lubricating oil 43 are accommodated in a hermetic casing 22. A lower space where the motor 21 is accommodated forms a suction chamber space 23, and a space separated from the lower space by the holder 20 and a frame 25 serves as a discharge chamber space 24. The frame 25 for rotatably supporting the motor shaft has a flow passage 25' for the suction gas which is communicated with a suction space 29 on the scroll member outer peripheral portion. In the center of the scroll member 7 is provided a rotary shaft 26 having a discharge flow passage, which is opened to the discharge space 24 at the end portion of the rotary shaft 26. The rotary shaft 26 is rotatably supported on the holder 20. Between the holder 20 and the scroll member 7 is provided a back pressure chamber 27 in which the discharge gas is led from the discharge space 24 in a sealing state. The gas force in the back pressure chamber 27 and the thrust gas force in the compression working chamber formed by the two scroll member meet with each other. The back pressure space 27 and the suction space 29 located on the outer side of the suction space 27 are separated from and sealed to each other by a projecting portion 28 provided on the holder 20.
The aforementioned conventional scroll member compressors have the above structure so as to provide the following drawbacks. In the technique disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-200391, the cooling water 6, which is different from the working gas, is supplied into the inner space of the double cylindrical portion 4 provided in such a manner that it passes through the motor shaft 3. The supplied cooling water is returned through the outer space of the double cylindrical portion 4. Consequently, in a normal operating state, the motor can be effectively cooled from inner side thereof. However, in order to maintain the motor temperature to an appropriate value when the load applied to the motor changes to a great degree, the amount of cooling water must be controlled by providing a valve (not shown), such as a throttle valve, in the cooling water pipe and by opening or closing the opening thereof according to the load applied to the motor. To control the flow rate of the cooling water according to the load and thereby maintain the motor temperature to an appropriate value, i.e., to automatically change the motor cooling ability according to the load applied to the motor or cooling the motor by the working gas which flows in the scroll member wrap, have not been given much consideration in the conventional technique.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 1-200083 discloses the structure of discharge flow passage in the scroll member compressor of the type in which one pair of scrolls are rotated. However, the discharge flow passage is formed only in the motor shaft 9. Furthermore, the discharge flow passage is not formed so as to pass through the whole motor shaft 9. Thus, the motor cannot be cooled by the working gas, and consideration is not given fully to the cooling of the motor when the load to the motor varies. Furthermore, in the motor shaft 9, a reacting force to be exerted to the scroll member is generated due to flow of the high-pressure discharge gas. However, such a dynamic reaction is not generated in the other shaft because no flow passage is provided therein. Consequently, thrusts having different magnitudes are exerted to the two scrolls 7 and 8 and a thrust is thus exerted to the forward surface of the wrap of each of the scrolls. In that state, if the two scroll members are synchronously rotated at a high speed in that state, dynamic loss due to friction or burning of the wraps and hence disability of the operation of the compressor may occur. Thus, to achieve high-speed operation, balancing of the thrusts is essential. However, in the aforementioned conventional technique, no consideration is given to synchronous high-speed rotation of the two scroll members in a state wherein the thrusts exerted thereto are balanced.
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-149783 in which the two scroll members are rotated by the single motor, the through-hole is formed in the driving shaft of one of the scroll members, and the technique for balancing the thrusts exerted to the scroll members has been proposed. That is, in order to obtain such balanced thrusts, the back pressure space 27 is provided between the scroll member 7 and the holder 20 and a discharge gas is led into the back pressure space 27. However, since the back pressure space 27 has a fixed area and the inner pressure thereof is the discharge pressure, the thrust exerted to the scroll member 7 is fixed. Thus, when the thrust in the compression chamber varies due to changes in the suction pressure, the inner pressure of the back pressure space and the pressure in the compression working chamber may be imbalanced. It is thus difficult to always obtain desired thrusts. Furthermore, the sealing portion 28 is disposed on the rear surface of the rotary scroll member 7 to separate the back pressure space 27 from the suction pressure in the outer peripheral portion of the scroll member. However, this sealing is performed between the scroll member 7 which is a rotary member and the holder 20 which is a stationary member, and gas leakage cannot thus be avoided. The leaking gas is mixed into the suction gas, thus reducing the flow rate thereof and hence deteriorating the performance of the compressor. The amount of gas which leaks may be reduced by increasing the contact pressure of the sealing portion 28. However, in that case, frictional loss due to sliding increases as the rotational speed increases, and the performance of the compressor is thus deteriorated. Furthermore, in this technique, since one of the scroll members is rotated by the motor while the other scroll member is rotated by means of the Oldham's mechanism 20' disposed between the two scroll members, when the suction pressure changes and the thrust is exerted to the Oldham's mechanism 20', a frictional loss increases.
Another conventional synchronous rotating type scroll member fluid machines are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 64-302. In the first scroll member of this fluid machine, a drive member for rotating a second scroll member is slidably disposed on the rear surface of the end plate of the first scroll member opposite to a vertical surface for providing the wrap in addition to the rotary shaft, and only the scroll member wrap is provided on the front surface of the end plate of the first scroll member. In the conventional technique disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 1-267379, a drive member for rotating the second scroll member is slidably disposed between the scroll end plates of the first and second scroll members, and only the motor shaft is provided on the rear surface of the end plate of the first scroll member opposite to the surface in which the wrap is vertically provided.
In the aforementioned conventional synchronous rotating type scroll member fluid machines, since the scroll member is rotated, a centrifugal force is exerted to the scroll member wrap, deforming the wrap outwardly in the radial direction. The force and deformation thereof increase as the distance from the center of the wrap increases. Since the end plate and the scroll member wraps are formed as one unit in the scroll member, the centrifugal force generated by the scroll wrap acts to the scroll end plate as a moment load. In the aforementioned conventional techniques, since the outer peripheral portion of the scroll end plate of each of the scroll members is not supported in the thrust direction, the scroll end plate may be deformed by the moment load in an arc in which the wrap side surface thereof is protruded outerward thereof. In that case of generating such a deformation, the two scroll end plates move closer to each other at the central portion of the scroll members, increasing the slide frictional loss which may lead to contact of the end plates in the worst case. Furthermore, since the outer peripheral portions of the end plates move away from each other, the gap in the axial direction between the scroll member wrap and the surface of the scroll end plate increases, while the gap in the radial direction between the side portions of the two scroll wraps becomes non-uniform. This may lead to contact of the side surfaces of the scroll wraps. In the aforementioned conventional techniques, as the rotational speed of the scroll members increases, the possibility of the deformation increases, thus increasing contact between the scroll members. Consequently, vibrations and noise levels are increased and damage to the parts is generated. These deteriorate reliability of the compressor.
An increase in the gap between the scroll wraps is mainly caused by the scroll end plate rather than the scroll wraps themselves. Hence, a thicker and more rigid end plate may be used to decrease the deformation thereof and thereby decrease the gap between the scroll wraps. However, the scroll end plate has a disk-like form and is hence less rigid against an out-of-plane force applied thereto. Therefore, it must have a large thickness as compared with the wrap. In that case, however, the weight and, hence, inertial mass of the scroll member is increased, and the scroll member may not follow rotation of the motor excellently when the motor is activated or stopped. This makes synchronous rotation of the motors difficult.

Synchronous rotating type scroll fluid machine


A device which may be removably mounted on a back of a seat. The device includes a lower bracket and an upper compression portion connected by telescopic sleeves. The extension of the sleeves may be releasably fixed to secure the device to the seat. The device may be padded and provide lateral support for the user. Various elements may also be releasably mounted to the device, such as a head support, a utility console and a pencil holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a physical support and utility device for use with a chair or similar piece of furniture. In particular, the present invention relates to an improved side headrest and utility console combination which may be removably mounted upon a chair and in particular a vehicle seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chairs and like items of furniture, especially the seats used in vehicles, generally provide good support for the upper legs, buttocks, and back of the user. However, these seats typically do not provide good lateral support for the user. It is often the case that a passenger in a vehicle may become tired and wish to sleep during the journey. The lack of lateral support found in vehicle seats often results in the passenger's head, and possibly the upper body tilting toward one side as the muscles relax during sleep.
In addition to being an uncomfortable position, in vehicles this may pose a special danger. In particular, the leaning of the upper body of the passenger may cause the shoulder strap of the typical three point restraint system to be placed at a portion of the passenger's body which reduces the effectiveness of the restraint system, and possibly causing the restraint system to actually become a danger to the passenger. This problem is even more severe in the case of small children, which typically have a poor fit within the three point restraint system even before leaning of the upper body.
The passengers of vehicles would also like access to various loose articles during travel in the vehicle. It has often been the case that such articles, such as sunglasses or beverages, have simply been placed on the seat adjacent to the passenger. This may cause a danger to the passenger if the driver of the vehicle is attempting to reach such loose items and is inattentive to road conditions, and further poses the problem of damage to the loose articles or the vehicle seat.
It has been known to provide a utility console having various recesses adapted to retain loose articles with the bottom of the utility tray having a pair of weighted flaps which lie on either side of the central hump in the floor of an automobile. However, such utility consoles are difficult to reach by a passenger within a restraining system, and are not particularly stable and may be rather easily dislodged, spilling the loose items contained therein.

Vehicle seat mounted headrest and utility console


A piston pump (10) for a hydraulic consumer of an electronically controlled vehicle brake system, carries a stepped piston (50, 50′) and centers a sealing assembly (26, 26′) which is retained in an axial direction Ax by a step (52, 52′) on the stepped piston (50, 50′), on the one hand, and is retained by a spring cage (53, 53′), on the other hand. The stepped piston (50, 50′) includes a plane support (54, 54′) for plane support legs (55a,b,c; 55a,b,c′) of the spring cage (53, 53′) The stepped piston (50, 50′) includes radially inwards, with respect to the support (54, 54′), a stepped bore (56, 56′), with the bore (56, 56′) accommodating centering legs (57a,b,c; 57a,b,c′) of the spring cage (53, 53′). Coaxially as well as inside the stepped bore (56, 56′), a spring-loaded valve member (59, 59′) of a non-return valve is arranged. A resetting spring (38) is supported on an abutment (41) of the bushing (18, 19) on the one hand and on the spring cage (53, 53′) on the other hand The bushing (18, 19) is provided with a stop (63, 63′) for the stepped piston (50, 50′), so that stepped piston (50, 50′), resetting spring (38), non-return valve, and sealing assembly (26) are arranged within the bushing (18, 19) as a subassembly that can be handled independently.

The present invention relates to a piston pump for supplying pressure fluid into a hydraulic consumer of an electronically controlled vehicle brake system. This consumer may principally concern at least one vehicle brake, or a master cylinder, or a pressure fluid reservoir, or a pressure fluid accumulator. A supply of several of the mentioned consumers or a supply of combinations of the mentioned consumers is basically possible.
In prior art piston pumps a piston is movably arranged in a stepped bore of an accommodating member. The piston is guided directly in the accommodating member, and non-return valves are provided which are used for the ventilation of a working chamber. The working chamber is limited by the piston. A resetting spring is supported in the working chamber on the piston between an abutment and a spring retainer. The stepped bore is isolated from the ambience by means of a closing member.
EP 0 734 494 B2 discloses a piston pump whose piston is guided directly in the pump housing. The spring cage for the valve components is configured as a sheet-metal shaped part in such a fashion that the piston, the resetting spring, and a valve subassembly are secured in relation to each other as a subassembly which can be handled independently. This special provision renders it possible to rationalize a bushing which brings about the cohesion of the components of a piston pump.
However, the piston pump according to EP 0 734 494 B2 suffers from the major shortcoming that its axial overall length needs improvement. The degree of miniaturization is not sufficient. One reason therefor can be seen in that pump piston and non-return valves are serially arranged in an axial direction. Further, the special function of the spring cage necessitates an axial attachment portion which extends externally over a front part of the pump piston and engages radially from the outside into a groove of the pump piston in positive engagement therewith. The sealing means must be arranged at an axial distance from the piston end. Finally, the support of the resetting spring on the piston needs improvement because the clip-type attachment of the resetting spring on the spring cage requires the spring cage to be tolerated with high precision and, also, the spring diameter to be tolerated with high precision. This increases the costs of manufacture because especially the resetting spring is a thermally treated metal component which suffers from inevitable changes in dimension due to this heat treatment. To permit a safe cohesion of the related components, it is necessary to tolerate the manufacture to the spring cage with high precision.
An object of the invention is to provide a piston pump having a reduced axial overall length while the support of the resetting spring is improved, and wherein the essential components of the piston pump can nevertheless be mounted in a simple fashion into an accommodating member, grouped as a subassembly in the form of a cartridge.


A trough collector for solar energy, with multiple parallel troughs preferably being contained within a single unit. The collector does not use conventional azimuth tracking in order to keep the sun's rays directed toward the parabola's focus as the sun moves across the sky. Instead, the relative position between the collecting device (preferably a conductive tube containing a circulating working fluid) and the plane of symmetry for each collector is adjusted so that the collecting device remains within the focal zone of the collector as the sun traverses the sky.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of solar energy. More specifically, the invention comprises a solar collector incorporating multiple parabolic troughs and multiple collector pipes running through the troughs, in which the position of the pipes relative to the troughs is varied in order to keep the collector pipes in the focus of the troughs as the sun moves across the sky.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solar energy collecting devices frequently use focusing lenses or reflectors to intensify the energy of the sun. Some collecting devices directly convert the solar energy to electrical energy using a photovoltaic array. Other collecting devices use the solar energy to heat a circulating working fluid. The present invention may be adapted to either type of collecting devices, as well as other types.
FIG. 1 shows an elevation view of a prior art solar collector suitable for heating a circulating working fluid. Parabolic trough 10 receives incoming rays 12. Because the sun may be considered to be an infinite distance away, the incoming rays are effectively parallel. The parabola that is used to define parabolic trough 10 is selected to bring the parallel incoming rays to the same point central focal point 14. Meeting this limitation produces the maximum collection efficiency.
The reflecting trough shown extends for any suitable distance in a direction that is perpendicular to the orientation of the view. For this type of collector, a conductive pipe containing the circulating working fluid is run through central focal point 14, with the pipe running in a direction that is also perpendicular to the view of FIG. 1.
Those skilled in the art will quickly realize that focal point 14 lies along the parabola's axis of symmetry 15, so long as the incoming rays are parallel to the axis of symmetry. Because the reflecting trough actually extends for some distance in a direction that is perpendicular to the view of FIG. 1, axis of symmetry 15 actually defines a "plane of symmetry" that extends along the length of the trough (the plane of symmetry being perpendicular to the orientation of the view).
In FIG. 1, the sun is located directly above the reflector and the rays are coming straight down. Of course, the sun moves across the sky during the course of the day. Parabolic trough 10 must generally be tilted so that the plane of symmetry running through axis of symmetry 15 remains parallel with the incoming rays. This tilting action is generally referred to as an adjustment in "elevation." It is indicated by the reciprocating arrow labeled tracking pivot 16.
Prior art parabolic trough collectors typically include a suitable tilting mechanism in order to adjust the elevation of the collector. This mechanism regulates the elevation of the collector throughout the course of the day. An azimuth tracking mechanism is also frequently included. Such mechanisms tend to be complex and relatively expensive.
FIG. 5 shows a simplified representation of a prior art solar collector that includes both elevation and azimuth tracking. Three parallel parabolic trough reflectors 10 are contained within housing 46. The parabolic troughs each have a finite length. The focus of each trough is therefore not a single point but rather an axis that runs through the focal point existing at each section taken through the trough. Thus, as seen in the view, the three trough reflectors have three parallel focus axes 44.
In order to keep the housing perfectly perpendicular to the incoming solar rays it must be adjusted in both elevation and azimuth. Elevation adjustment 48 tilts housing 46 as indicated. Azimuth adjustment 50 rotates the housing so that it tracks the sun crossing the sky.
One may simply set the elevation adjustment to match the latitude of the location and gain a good approximation of the optimum elevation through the middle of the day. Azimuth, however, is not so easy to approximate. A simple visualization exercise demonstrates this fact: If one sets the azimuth of a device such as shown in FIG. 5 so that housing 46 directly faces the sun at sunrise, it is immediately apparent that the trough reflectors will not receive any direct rays by sunset. For this reason, a housing that lacks azimuth tracking is most often set so that the azimuth is correct when the sun is directly overhead.
This static approach works fairly well for photovoltaic cells but it does not work well for parabolic trough reflectors. FIG. 2 graphically illustrates the focusing error that occurs in the absence of a tracking mechanism. This figure shows a static parabolic trough 10 after the sun has moved away from its zenith position. Incoming rays 12 are no longer parallel to the parabola's axis of symmetry 15 (and plane of symmetry). The result is that the incoming rays are no longer reflected toward central focal point 14. Instead, they have shifted to the right toward shifted focal zone 42. The shift is primarily in a direction that is perpendicular to the plane of symmetry running through axis of symmetry 15. The term "focal zone" is used because a parabola only brings incoming rays into sharp focus when the rays are parallel to the parabola's axis of symmetry. Once the incoming rays are angularly offset from the axis of symmetry, the parabola is no longer able to create a perfect focus. However, over a reasonable range of angular displacement, the parabola is still able to create a good concentration of solar energy and the region of this concentration is therefore referred to as a "focal zone."
The reader will thereby appreciate that it is desirable to position a collector pipe within the focal zone even when the focal zone moves away from the trough collector's plane of symmetry. The present invention presents such a solution.

Multiple parabolic trough solar collector having a focus-tracking pipe array

The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.


A thermal recording material comprising a support having provided thereon a thermal recording layer containing a diazonium salt and a coupling component. The diazonium salt is a compound represented by the following general formula (1):. General Formula (1) ##STR1## wherein T and U each independently represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group or an acylamino group; V represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group or OR.sup.3 ; R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 each independently represents an alkyl group or an aryl group; and X.sup.- represents an anion. The thermal recording material has excellent stock storage stability and provides fast color-developed images having an extremely high developed color density.

Diazonium salts are compounds having very high chemical activity, and react with phenol derivatives or compounds having active methylene groups, called coupling components, to readily form azo dyes. They are also photosensitive, and decompose by light irradiation to lose their activity. Diazonium compounds therefore have long been utilized as light recording materials represented by diazo copies (see Shashin Kogaku no Kiso (Higinen Shashin) [The Fundamentals of Photographic Engineering (Nonsilver Photograph)], pages 89 to 117 and 182 to 201 (1982), Corona Publishing Co. Ltd.).
Furthermore, by utilizing the property of light decomposition and the resulting loss of activity, recently, diazonium compounds have also been applied to recording materials which require image fixing. In this regard, light-fixing type thermal recording materials have been proposed in which the recording materials comprising recording layers containing diazonium salts and coupling components are heated in accordance with image signals to react the same and thereby form images. This is followed by light irradiation to fix the images (Koji Sato et al., Gazo Denshi Gakkaishi, 11(4), 290-296 (1982)).
However, in such recording materials using a diazonium salt as a color developing element, the diazonium salt has extremely high chemical activity. As a result, the diazonium salt gradually pyrolyzes even in the dark to lose its reactivity. Therefore, the above mentioned recording materials have a short shelf life.
Various methods have been proposed for reducing the instability of the diazonium compounds, and one of the most effective means is to encapsulate the diazonium salt. Such micro-encapsulation isolates the diazonium salt from decomposition enhancers such as water and basic compounds. Accordingly, decomposition of the diazonium salt is considerably inhibited and the shelf life of recording materials containing an encapsulated diazonium salt is also remarkably improved (Tomomasa Usami et al., Denshi Shashin Gakkaishi, 26(2), 115-125 (1987)).
In a general method of encapsulation, the diazonium salt is dissolved in a hydrophobic solvent (oily phase). The resulting solution is added to an aqueous solution of a water-soluble polymer (aqueous phase), followed by emulsifying and dispersing with a homogenizer or the like. A monomer or prepolymer for forming microcapsule walls is previously added to either the oily phase or the aqueous phase, or to both. This induces a polymerization reaction or deposits a polymer at the interface of the oily phase and the aqueous phase to form polymer walls and thereby prepare the microcapsules.
These methods are described in detail, for example, in Tomoshi Kondo, Microcapsules, Nikkan Kogyo Shinbunsha (1970), Tamotsu Kondo et al., Microcapsules, Sankyo Shuppan (1977).
The microcapsule walls thus formed may comprise various materials such as crosslinked gelatin, alginates, cellulose derivatives, urea resins, urethane resins, melamine resins and nylon resins.
When the microcapsules have walls formed of a material having a glass transition temperature that is a little higher than room temperature, such as urea resins and urethane resins, the capsule walls are mass non-permeable at room temperature but are mass permeable at the glass transition temperature or higher. Such microcapsules are called thermally responsive microcapsules and are useful for thermal recording materials.
That is, recording materials comprising a support having provided thereon a thermal recording layer containing: thermally responsive microcapsules containing a diazonium salt; a coupler; and a base allow for stable retention of the diazonium salt for a long period of time, easy formation of color-developed images by heating, and also image fixing by light irradiation.
As described above, micro-encapsulation of the diazonium salt makes it possible to far improve the stability of the thermal recording materials.
However, when the diazonium salt itself is chemically unstable, the improvement in stability is limited even if the diazonium salt is micro-encapsulated. For improving the stability of thermal recording materials, it is also important to improve the stability of the diazonium salt itself. In thermal recording materials using a conventional diazonium salt, the recording material is irradiated with light having an absorption wavelength for the diazonium salt after thermal printing. This causes photolysis or fixing of the diazonium salt such that the reactivity thereof with a coupling component is lost. Accordingly, storage of the thermal recording material in an illuminated room for a long period of time advances photolysis of the diazonium salt, which in turn tends to decrease the developed color density after storage. In view of the above, the present inventors have conducted extensive investigations relating to the photolysis of diazonium salts.


A circuit breaker is disclosed which includes a plurality of stacked breaker modules arranged in series. Each breaker module can include, in parallel, a mechanical switching assembly, a semiconductor switching assembly and an arrester assembly. The circuit breaker can easily be adapted to a larger number of applications and voltage ranges by varying the number of breaker modules.

WO 2011/050832 describes a high-voltage circuit breaker comprising at least two breaker sections connected in series.
WO 2011/057675 describes a high-voltage circuit breaker comprising, in one embodiment, a plurality of mechanical switches as well as a plurality of transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,366 describes a high-voltage circuit breaker that comprises a combination of mechanical and semiconductor switches arranged in parallel.

Circuit breaker with stacked breaker modules


A support beam structure for use within an overhead rotating type stretch film wrapping machine comprises a main body portion which has a first end which is adapted to be fixedly mounted upon a mounting plate which, in turn, is adapted to be fixedly mounted upon an upstanding fixed support, such as, for example, an I-beam, and a second opposite end which is adapted to support a rotating arm of the overhead rotating type stretch film wrapping machine. The main body portion has a substantially vertically elongated octagonal cross-sectional configuration and comprises a bottom wall, lower lateral divergently angled side members, vertically extending side members, and upper lateral convergently angled side members. The upper lateral side members define tension members for supporting the rotating arm end of the main body portion, and the noted bottom wall and side members of the main body portion are integrally formed together as folded portions of a sheet metal blank.

Stretch film wrapping machines are of course well-known in the packaging industry in connection with the wrapping of various objects, such as, for example, articles, packages, palletized loads, or the like, within stretch wrapping film. An example of one type of stretch film wrapping machine is illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings and comprises a COBRA SERIES Model IV Stretch Wrapping Machine which is available from ITW MIMA, 6701 Nob Hill Road, Tamarac, Fla. 33321 which is a corporate subsidiary of ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC., 3600 West Lake Avenue, Glenview, Ill. 60025.
In accordance with such a stretch film wrapping machine which is well-known in the industry, the machine is generally indicated by the reference character 10 and is seen to comprise a free-standing floor stand which comprises a vertical standard 12 having a base 14 which is bolted or otherwise fixedly secured to a pair of divergent feet or legs 16 such that the vertical standard 12 is able to be supported upon the floor in a vertically oriented mode. A controller 18, having a keypad 20, is mounted upon the vertical standard 12 so as to be readily accessible to operator personnel in order to control film wrapping or packaging operations.
A substantially horizontally extending support beam structure 22, which is in the form of a structural channel or box beam, has one end thereof fixedly secured, such as, for example, by welding means, to a mounting bracket 24, and the mounting bracket 24 is adjustably secured at a fixed vertical location or elevational level upon the upper end of the vertical standard 12 by means of a plurality of bolt fastener assemblies 17. While support beam structure 22 has been illustrated as being mounted upon the vertical standard 12, it is to be understood and readily appreciated that the support beam structure 22, and the film wrapping mechanisms mounted thereon and to be described hereinafter, may alternatively be directly mounted upon a wall, or a support column, in lieu of being mounted upon the free-standing floor stand comprising vertical standard 12 and leg members 16. In view of the fact that the support beam structure 22 is, in effect, mounted upon the mounting bracket 24 by means of the one end thereof in a cantilevered manner, one or more support struts or tension members 19 are fixedly secured, also by, for example, suitable welding means, at one end thereof to the mounting bracket 24 and at the other opposite end thereof to the free distal end of the support beam structure 22 whereby the free distal end of the support beam structure 22 is adequately supported in tension so as to, in turn, be able to adequately carry or support the weight of the stretch film wrapping components which will now be described.
The free distal end of the support beam structure 22 has a horizontally extending support arm 26 rotatably mounted thereon and which is adapted to be rotatably driven by a suitable drive motor and operatively associated gearing, not shown in the drawing, wherein such drive components are housed within the support beam structure 22. In turn, the free distal end of the horizontally extending support arm 26, that is, the end disposed opposite the end which is rotatably mounted upon the support beam structure 22, is provided with a vertically extending downright 28 upon which a stretch head or carriage 30 is reciprocably mounted for vertically upward and downward movements attendant the wrapping or packaging of an article, package, or palletized load 32 which is disposed in a stationary mode at a wrapping station 34.
The stretch head or carriage 30 is provided with a supply roll of wrapping film 36, from which wrapping film 38 is withdrawn or uncoiled so as to wrap or package, for example, the palletized load 32, and a plurality of tension rollers 40 which develop a predetermined amount of tension within the wrapping film 38 in accordance with, or relative to, the particular loads to be wrapped or packaged. It is noted that the stretch head or carriage 30 is provided with a centrally located, vertically oriented housing 42 which accommodates the downright 28 such that the stretch head or carriage 30 can vertically reciprocate therealong in the upward and downward directions, however, the remaining structure of the stretch head or carriage 30, including the supply roll of wrapping film 36 and the tension rollers 40, are oriented in a tilted mode at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical such that lowermost regions of, for example, palletized load 32, that is, those regions adjacent to the floor of the wrapping station 34, may nevertheless be wrapped or packaged within the wrapping film 38.
As is well-known in the industry, stretch film wrapping machines of the type exemplified by wrapping machine 10 serve to wrap or package articles, packages, or palletized loads 32 located at the wrapping station 34 as a result of continuously wrapping the load 32 in wrapping film 38 wherein the wrapping operation is achieved through means of a combination of simultaneous movements comprising the rotary movement of the horizontally extending support arm 26 about its rotary axis defined adjacent to the free distal end of the support beam structure 22, and the vertically reciprocable upward and downward movements of the stretch head or carriage 30 upon which the supply roll of wrapping film 36 is mounted.
While the aforenoted exemplary stretch film wrapping machine 10 is highly respected for its performance characteristics which has led to its substantial commercial success, the support beam structure 22 of the machine is a relatively heavy structural component which imparts considerable weight to the overall machine. In addition, the support beam structure 22 comprises a plurality of separate components which must be welded together and requires internal support plates and extensive gusseting whereby the fabrication process for manufacturing the support beam structure 22 is labor intensive and therefore relatively expensive.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved support beam structure which is able to be incorporated within stretch film wrapping machines wherein such support beam structure is sufficiently strong, yet relatively light in weight, and wherein further, the support beam structure is relatively easy and economical to manufacture in view of the fact that extensive internal gusseting, welding, and other labor-intensive processing procedures are effectively able to be eliminated.

Overhead rotating type stretch film wrapping machine support beam structure


A connector assembly is provided comprising a device including a conductive device shroud forming a device plug receptacle. A cable element includes a first stripped cable end portion exposing an internal cable conductor and a third stripped cable portion exposing a cable ground shield. A terminal element is mounted to the first stripped cable end portion. A ground busbar includes a cable mount end mounted to the third stripped cable portion and a ground terminal end. A conductive overmolded connector body is molded covering at least a portion of said third stripped cable portion and comprising a connector plug portion configured to fit within the device plug receptacle. The first stripped cable end portion protrudes out of the connector plug portion and the ground terminal end protrudes outside the conductive overmolded connector body such that the ground terminal end is placed in electrical communication with the conductive device shroud when the connector plug portion is placed within the device plug receptacle.

Automotive environments provide an extensive array of challenges towards engineering design. The environments are replete with caustic materials, liquids, and temperatures that challenge even the basics of operational assemblies. One such arena is that of electrical connectors. Electrical connectors play an ever increasing role in automotive assemblies. They communicate the power, signals, and transmissions that provide functionality to automotive systems. They are, however, sensitive to environmental damage or interference.
A known approach to addressing these environmental concerns in connector design is to increase robustness and add complex sealing configurations. These approaches add considerably to the cost and weight of connector assemblies. In a design field wherein low cost and low weight is prized, such approaches are often less than desirable. Additionally, as the complexity of connector sealing designs is increased, potential failures are often also increased. Finally, many sealing connector designs fail to address the significant issues involved with electrical shielding. As the number of electronic components within a vehicle increases, interference due to electrical leakage represents a growing concern.
As such it would be highly desirable to have a connector assembly that could be simply and efficiently constructed. It would also be highly desirable for such a connector assembly to provide improved sealing characteristics in combination with design simplicity. Finally, it would be highly desirable to have such a connector assembly that provided improved shielding characteristics.

Connector assembly with overmolded shielded housing


A desktop stapler has a base member including a restricting unit; a magazine including a plunger disposed on the head thereof; two linkage devices; a press member; and a guide member. Each linkage device includes a first hole, a third hole, a second hole formed on a bend between the first and third holes, and a pivot hole. Each pivot hole connects with the base member via the restricting unit. The press member includes a press portion defined on the bottom of an end thereof, a grip portion defined on another end thereof and connecting to the plunger of the magazine, and two pivot holes formed on two sidewalls thereof and connected to the third holes of the linkage devices respectively via a coupler unit. The guide member includes a first end inserted via a coupler unit, a second end defining a press end, and two second pivot holes formed on two sidewalls thereof and opposite to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a desktop stapler.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional stapler is shown in Taiwan Patent No. M299629. The stapler includes a linkage unit 40 having a first linkage 41 and a second linkage 42. The rear end of the first linkage 41 pivotally connects to the base 11. The head of the second linkage 42 is pivotally disposed to the press member 31, and the rear of the second linkage 42 pivotally connects to the first linkage 41. The advantage of the stapler in this reference is that the force of exerting to eject staples can be reduced via the specific arms of force due to the specific positions where the linkage unit 40 couples to parts of the stapler. Therefore, it can reduce the force for ejecting staples to 55%.
Furthermore, another conventional stapler for saving force to eject staples is shown in Taiwan Publication No. 200722244. The stapler includes a base 10, a magazine 20, a linkage 30, and a press member 40. The magazine 20 is adapted to receive staples and pivotally connects to the frame of the base 10. The linkage 30, which is mounted on the magazine 20 and pivotally connects to the frame of the base 10, includes two flanges 32 extending from two sides thereof and a plunger 33 disposed on the head thereof. The press member 40, which is mounted on the magazine 20 and pivotally connects to the frame of the base 10, includes two flanges 43 extending from two sides thereof and two slits 45 respectively formed on the flanges 43. Each slit 45 is adapted for receiving the related flange 32 slidably.
A user presses the press member 40, and the press member 40 pivots relative to the base 10. Hence, the flanges 43 drive the plunger 33 of the linkage 30 to eject staples from the magazine 20 via the transformation of the arms of force from the press member 40 to the linkage 30. Therefore, it can reduce the force of ejecting staples.
However, the frame is installed on the base 10 undetachably. The magazine 20 connects to the base 10 and is limited by the linkage 30 and press member 40 simultaneously. Therefore, when loading staples to the magazine 20, the magazine 20 is pulled outwardly from the rear end of the stapler. It is not convenient for users.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in the prior art.


Electrical connectors having field modifiable lugs are provided. In some embodiments, the electrical connectors include a lug having at least two different modification guide features, which assist the user to modify lug from its blank or unmodified state shown in to a modified state while ensuring that the modified connector maintains the desired compliance to the various regulatory and overseeing bodies.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is related to electrical connectors. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to electrical connectors having lugs that can be modified or customized in the field.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical connectors having a lug are known. Such electrical connectors are used to connect one or more electrical conductors to one another and/or to a terminal or bus.
Due to the many uses of the electrical connectors, the lugs can take any number of sizes and have any number of holes. To reduce the number of electrical connectors carried to a particular job site, some users have been known to modify the size of the lugs and/or to modify the location/size/number of holes in the lug to meet their particular needs in the field as needed.
Unfortunately, modifications to the length of the lugs can void the approval from one or more regulatory bodies such as, but not limited to, the Underwriters Laboratory, Inc. ("UL"), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and others and/or can be contrary to one or more requirements set forth by governmental or trade organizations. Furthermore, modifications to the location/size/number of holes in the lugs can also void the regulatory approval and/or be contrary to various requirements.
Accordingly, it has been determined by the present application that there is a need for electrical connectors with field modifiable or customizable lugs that assist the user in maintaining the desired compliance to the various regulatory and overseeing bodies.


The present invention provides, in one embodiment, a semiconductor wafer (100) dicing process. The dicing process comprises removing circuit features (120) from a street (115) located between dies (105) on a semiconductor substrate (102) using a first blade (135), such that the semiconductor substrate is exposed, and cutting through the exposed semiconductor substrate using a second blade (190). The first blade has a surface (140) coated with an abrasive material (145) comprising grit particles (150), having a median diameter (155) of at least about 25 microns. The grit particles are adhered to the first blade with a bonding agent (160) having a hardness of about 80 or less (Rockwell B Hardness scale). The grit particles have a concentration in the bonding agent ranging from about 25 to about 50 vol %. Another embodiment of the invention is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (200).

Singulation, the process of separating a semiconductor wafer substrate into individual integrated circuit dies, is an essential procedure in semiconductor device manufacturing. Numerous methods can be used to achieve singulation including: laser cutting, scribe and break, routing, dicing or combinations thereof. One of the most commonly used methods for singulation is dicing. Dicing refers to cutting the wafer substrate along a street or kerf located between the dies via mechanical grinding with a rotating blade.
Shrinking integrated circuit geometries and the introduction of new materials into integrated circuit designs are present new challenges to existing singulation technologies. To facilitate faster device operating speeds and reduced power consumption, present and future generations of integrated circuits have decreasingly smaller circuit features and multiple layers of transistors, metalization and insulators made of low dielectric constant materials (e.g., dielectric constant less than ˜4). Unfortunately, the insulating layers of low dielectric constant materials have weak mechanical strength and poor adhesion to other layers of the integrated circuit. Moreover, to further improve integrated circuit performance, traditional silicon-based semiconductor wafers are being replaced by more fragile materials. Small multilayered circuit geometries on fragile substrate wafers are highly susceptible to peeling and chipping during conventional singulation. Reduced yields of high quality functional semiconductor devices, due to peeling and chipping of the integrated circuit dies, can significantly increase semiconductor device manufacturing costs.
Previous efforts to reduce the occurrence of peeling and chipping during singulation are not entirely satisfactory. Traditionally, seal rings, comprising metal lines, are formed around the perimeter of each die. Although the seal rings act as a barrier to help prevent micro-cracks from encroaching into dies during singulation, there can still be substantial losses of dies due to cracking and peeling under the seal ring. In other instances, singulation involves a combination of laser ablation and dicing. A laser ablation step fuses the circuit feature layers together, creating a metalized border along the streets. The metalized borders supplement the function of metal seal rings to further reduce micro-crack formation during a subsequent dicing step, to complete the separation of the wafer into individual dies. Laser ablation, however, can cause thermal damage to integrated circuits, resulting in lower yields of functional devices. In addition, laser ablation tools are substantially more expensive than dicing tools, thereby adding significant costs to the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Furthermore, semiconductor device production throughput is decreased because a semiconductor wafer ready for singulation has to be transferred to a laser ablation tool, and then transferred to a dicing tool.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an inexpensive method of manufacturing semiconductor devices that minimizes the losses of integrated circuits from chipping and peeling of dies during singulation.

Method for dicing and singulating substrates


A method and device for cloning snapshots is provided. A new snapshot can be created by cloning an existing snapshot. The clone snapshot may use the preserved data of the existing snapshot, thereby obviating the need to copy the preserved data. Additionally, the clone snapshot may be created with a data structure for storing write data. Since the clone snapshot initially has no write data to store, the creation of the entire clone snapshot can be accomplished without copying any preserved data or write data from the existing snapshot, thereby increasing the efficiency with which a clone snapshot can be created.

The need to store digital files, documents, pictures, images and other data continues to increase rapidly. In connection with the electronic storage of data, various data storage systems have been devised for the rapid and secure storage of large amounts of data. Such systems may include one or a plurality of storage devices that are used in a coordinated fashion. Systems in which data can be distributed across multiple storage devices such that data will not be irretrievably lost if one of the storage devices (or in some cases, more than one storage device) fails are also available. Systems that coordinate operation of a number of individual storage devices can also provide improved data access and/or storage times. Examples of systems that can provide such advantages can be found in the various RAID (redundant array of independent disks) levels that have been developed. Whether implemented using one or a plurality of storage devices, the storage provided by a data storage system can be treated as one or more storage volumes.
In order to facilitate the availability of desired data, it is often advantageous to maintain different versions of a data storage volume. Indeed, data storage systems are available that can provide at least limited data archiving through backup facilities and/or snapshot facilities. The use of snapshot facilities greatly reduces the amount of storage space required for archiving large amounts of data.
Snapshots provide a versatile feature that is useful for data recovery operations, such as backup and recovery of storage elements. However, traditional snapshots are read-only accessible and their contents cannot be modified, thereby rendering their use somewhat limited, particularly for operating systems and applications that do not have a notion of a read-only data store (e.g., a read-only file system) and that expect to write metadata at any time that the file system is accessible. When a storage element that is held in a snapshot is exported to a client or host and contains the data for such a problematic file system, an issue arises in that the host may attempt to write data to the read-only image. This is a fundamental issue in the design of a reliable system for backups. In general, once a backup image is made via a mechanism like a snapshot, that image should be maintained as a point-in-time representation of the storage volume. A controller typically modifies snapshot data by what is known as a copy-on-write (COW) operation. The COW operation determines when a change to a storage volume is going to occur and then determines if the targeted blocks of that storage volume have changed since a snapshot was taken. If the blocks have not changed since the snapshot was taken, then the controller proceeds by copying the original contents of those blocks and writing them to the snapshot data prior to changing the storage volume. The COW operation ensures that the data from the storage volume at the point-in-time that a snapshot was taken either resides on the storage volume or on the snapshot. The controller therefore changes the snapshot only when doing so is required to preserve the data that was on the storage volume at the time the snapshot was taken, but that will be overwritten on the storage volume.
On the other hand, direct modification of a snapshot image (e.g., direct modification by a client or host rather than a controller performing a COW operation) could have serious consequences. Such consequences may include the fact that the data of the snapshot is no longer a point-in-time copy and a consistent image of the storage volume may no longer be available for subsequent recovery operations. Accordingly, most snapshot facilities do not allow a host to write data directly to a snapshot, because doing so will change the point-in-time representation of that snapshot. Thus, most snapshots are limited to read-only operations.
A relatively recent advance in backup facilities is the ability to "clone" an existing snapshot, and perform a backup of the clone instead of from the active file system. With this type of file system, the file server is allowed to remain on-line during the backup. A clone of a snapshot is generally intended to represent the same point-in-time as the snapshot from which the clone originated. Accordingly, clones have the same read-only restrictions imposed on them as their parent snapshots and those that do not have read-only restriction imposed thereon cannot guarantee that a snapshot or its clone actually represent the point-in-time that the snapshot was taken. Another drawback to current cloning systems is that the creation of a clone may take a significant amount of time to complete because most cloning systems create a complete block-by-block copy of the snapshot for the clone. This complicates the creation of a single clone and all but precludes the creation of multiple clones of the same storage volume. The result is that clones tend to be used, one at a time, for short term operations and then are deleted.


An ion resonance condition is corrected accurately in an ion trapping device. Measurements are repeated by alternately applying and not applying a resonance frequency voltage while spectral data is obtained continuously. Data obtained in the absence of the resonance frequency voltage is used as reference data to correct the set data of a resonance condition. As a result, calibration can be made while taking into consideration the variations in the amount of ions that are introduced into the ion trap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the calibration of a mass spectroscope that uses an ion trap.
2. Description of Related Art
An ion trap mass spectroscope comprises a ring electrode having a hyperboloid of revolution of one sheet on the inner surface, and a pair of end-cap electrodes disposed opposite each other across the ring electrode and having a hyperboloid of revolution of two sheets on the inner surface. The space surrounded by the ring electrode and the end-cap electrodes forms an ion trapping area. When a predetermined high-frequency voltage is applied to the ring electrode and the pair of end-cap electrodes, a three-dimensional quadrupole electric field is formed in the ion trapping area, in which ions that are either internally generated or introduced from the outside can be trapped. The thus trapped ions move around in the space inside the electrodes at a frequency specific to their mass. In the ion trap apparatus, by applying an auxiliary AC voltage with a frequency corresponding to the mass of each ion to the end-cap electrodes while holding the trapped ions, a target ion can be caused to resonate and the amplitude of its motion can be increased, thereby allowing the ion to be discharged from the ion trap.
On the other hand, by applying a wideband noise that does not include the frequency components corresponding to the ion with a specific mass, end-cap electrode ions of other masses can be discharged from the electrodes while leaving the ion of the specific mass behind. Thereafter, if a weak resonance frequency voltage corresponding to the selected ion is applied, the motion energy of the ion can be increased while the selected ion is kept inside the ion trap. Consequently, the ion in the ion trap repeatedly collides with the helium gas or the like introduced in the ion trap, resulting in the dissociation of the ion (CID). This series of operations is referred to as MS/MS. By making a comparison between the original spectrum and the spectrum obtained after ionic dissociation, structural information about an organic compound can be obtained. Thus, MS/MS is a very important analysis technique in a variety of fields including pharmacy, biochemistry, and environment.
JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-14540 A (1995) (Patent Document 1) discloses an example of the conventional technique.
With regard to the target ion of a specific mass, it is necessary to accurately determine the value of a corresponding resonance frequency under specific conditions.
When a DC voltage U and a high-frequency voltage V cos Ωt are applied between the individual electrodes, a three-dimensional quadrupole electric field is formed in the space between those electrodes. The orbital stability of an ion trapped in this electric field is determined by the values a and q (Equations (1) and (2)) given by an internal radius r0 of the ring electrode, DC voltage U applied to the electrodes, amplitude V of the main high-frequency voltage and its angular frequency Ω, and the mass-to-charge ratio m/z of the ion.
                    a        =                                            8                            e                                                                                U                                                      r                0                2                                                          Ω                2                                              ·                      z            m                                              (        1        )                                q        =                                            4                            e                                                                                U                                                      r                0                2                                                          Ω                2                                              ·                      z            m                                              (        2        )            where z is the valence of the ion, m is mass, and e is elementary charge.
In conventional products, the DC voltage U is often not used, so that a=0. As a result, only Equation (2) becomes important. The angular frequency ω of the vibration specific to the ion of a particular mass can be calculated as follows.ω≈qΩ/2√{square root over (2)}  (3)
Thus, if r0 and Ω are fixed values, the vibration frequency of the ion of a specific mass in the ion trap can be uniquely determined by setting the amplitude (voltage) V of the high-frequency voltage at a certain value.
Actually, however, subtle deviations are produced in the actual ion and its resonance frequency from the calculated values due to factors such as subtle variations in the high-frequency voltage applied to the ring electrode and the pressure in the ion trap. Accordingly, the resonance frequency or the value of the main high-frequency voltage must be corrected periodically and for each apparatus. In other words, calibration must be performed, which generally involves the following operations.
At first, a standard sample of which the observed mass is known in advance is prepared, and the sample is introduced into an ion source at a fixed flow rate with use of a sample introducing device such as a liquid feed pump. The sample, which is fed continuously, is ionized in the ion source and introduced into a vacuum system via a sampling unit, before it is introduced into an ion trap via an ion transport unit. After the introduced ion has been trapped, a fixed main high-frequency voltage is applied to the ring electrode and, in this condition, an auxiliary AC voltage of a frequency that in calculation corresponds to the mass of the standard sample ion is applied to the end-cap electrodes, thereby causing the target ion to resonate and to be discharged from the ion trap. If there is any deviation, no resonance would occur at the calculated value setting, and the ion would not be discharged.
Therefore, the frequency of the main high-frequency voltage applied to the ring electrode or that of the auxiliary AC voltage applied to the end-cap electrodes is shifted slightly each time ions are fed to the detector, and a change in ion intensity is detected. When a condition under which resonance occurs is satisfied finally, ions are discharged from the ion trap and the ion intensity of the resultant spectrum decreases, thereby allowing the amount of difference between the calculated value and the actual value to be determined. Based on this result, the auxiliary AC frequency applied to the end-cap electrodes or the main high-frequency voltage applied to the ring electrode is corrected, thus completing the calibration process.
Patent Document 1 JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-14540 A (1995)
In the above calibration operation, the condition under which ions actually resonate and are discharged from the ion trap is determined by finely adjusting either the frequency of the auxiliary AC voltage applied to the end-cap electrodes that has a resonance frequency corresponding to the ion in the standard sample to be calibrated, or by finely adjusting the amplitude (voltage) of the main high-frequency voltage applied to the ring electrode. The ion intensity of the observed ion is recorded under varying conditions, until a resonance point is determined at which the lowest ion intensity is obtained. The standard sample is introduced into the ion source at a fixed flow rate during calibration such that a constant amount of ions can be supplied to the ion trap stably.
Actually, however, it is very difficult to keep supplying ions stably into the ion trap due to such troubles as deterioration of the performance of the pump that introduces the sample into the ion source, choked pipe, unstable operation of the ion source itself, and decrease in the efficiency of ionization caused by the contamination of the ion source, for example. In many cases, the ion intensity tends to change periodically or decrease with time.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a mass spectroscope capable of accurately and highly reliably determining the ion resonance condition, and a method of calibrating the spectroscope.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mass spectroscope and method of calibrating the same