The non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution according to the invention is a non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution free from a cyanide compound, wherein bis-(3-sulfopropyl)disulfide is added, as a complexing agent for gold stabilization, to the electroless gold plating solution.

The present invention relates to a non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution and a process for electroless gold plating.
The process for producing a semiconductor device includes a step mounting a solder ball 16 as an external connecting terminal on a pad 14 constituting an end part of a wiring pattern 12 made of copper and formed on one surface of a substrate 10, as shown in FIG. 1.
At the formation of such a solder ball 16 on the pad 14 made of copper, a resinous mask layer 18 such as a solder resist is first formed on one surface of the substrate 10 and then a concave portion 20 where a pad surface is exposed at the bottom is formed in the mask layer 18 by laser or the like.
Then, in the concave portion 20, after a metal layer 22 made of Ni—P is formed as an underlying layer by electroless nickel plating, the substrate 10 is dipped in an electroless gold plating solution in order to form a gold layer 24 thinner than the metal layer 22 on the upper surface of the metal layer 22 by immersion gold plating.
Thereafter, by placing a solder ball on the gold layer 24 and reflowing it, gold is diffused into the solder and an alloy of Ni—P of the metal layer 22 with the solder is formed, thereby firmly fixing the solder ball 16 as an external connecting terminal.
As the electroless gold plating solution in which the substrate 10 is dipped at the time of immersion gold plating for forming the gold layer, there has been hitherto employed a cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution to which a cyanide complex such as KAu(CN)2 is added as a gold source.
However, since the cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution is generally used in an alkaline region, the resinous mask layer 18 such as a solder resist is apt to be eroded when the substrate 10, one surface of which is covered with the mask layer 18, is dipped in the cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution.
Moreover, with regard to the cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution, special care should be taken in its handling owing to its toxicity and also a special operation is necessary for detoxifying it in the case of its disposal.
Furthermore, the cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution has a problem that a reaction with the underlying Ni—P metal layer 22 (displacement reaction) is apt to proceed excessively and pinholes remain in the underlying Ni—P metal layer, that is, Ni erosion generates.
Instead of such a conventional cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution, a non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution free from a cyanide compound has been proposed in Hyomen Gijutsu (Surface Finishing), vol. 52, No. 5, 2001 (pages 410 to 413), for example.
In such a non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution, a gold sulfite complex is added as a gold source in order to stabilize a gold ion in the electroless gold plating solution.
However, since such a non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution is still used in an alkaline region, the resinous mask layer 18 such as a solder resist is apt to be eroded when the substrate 10, one surface of which is covered with the mask layer 18, is dipped in the non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution.
Furthermore, the non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution containing a gold sulfite complex as a gold source is extremely low in stability as described in Hyomen Gijutsu (Surface Finishing), vol. 46, No. 9, 1995 (pages 775-777). Therefore, frequency of replacement of the electroless gold plating solution increases.
In order to solve the problems of the non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution, there has been reported a cyanide-containing electroless gold plating solution to which sodium mercaptoethanesulfonate (MES) is added (Patent Document 1).
According to the non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution, since it is possible to use it in a region of pH 7 or lower, there are advantages that a resinous mask layer such as a solder resist is not eroded and also solution stability is satisfactory.
[Patent Document 1] US 2006/0062927 A1
However, with regard to the above non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution to which MES is added, no problem arises in the case that the underlying metal layer is a so-called low-phosphorus type Ni—P plated metal layer of a phosphorus content of about 1 to 4% by weight. But, in the case that a so-called medium-phosphorus type plated metal layer of a phosphorus content of about 6 to 9% by weight, there is a problem that the underlying metal layer is eroded and roughened by the non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution. Therefore, there is a problem that satisfactory bonding reliability of solder cannot be attained.

Non-cyanide electroless gold plating solution and process for electroless gold plating


Method and apparatus for color printing according to a printer table having high color smoothness for out-of-gamut colors. A color printer gamut edge is first determined and color primary values for colors within the printer gamut are calculated and inserted into the printer table. For transition colors, namely those colors outside the printer gamut edge but still within the printer table, color primary values are calculated by selecting a color from the printer gamut edge at a point which lies at a constant angle from the transition color in question. The same constant angle is used for each and every one of the transition colors. A border table is provided for colors outside of the printer table; the color primary values for the border table are selected in the same manner as for the transition colors. According to the invention, it is possible to provide smooth color transitions for out-of-gamut colors, and in particular it is possible to provide monotonically increasing lightness in both the printer table and the border table and thereby avoid undesirable bands of darker colors within lighter colors.

This application is being filed with a microfiche appendix of computer program listings consisting of one (1) fiche having forty-one (41) frames.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Color printing method and apparatus using an out-of-gamut color table


A method and apparatus for robustly enhanced Class of Service (COS) at the application layer permits highly flexible privilege based access and enables implementation of complex policies and rules for classification and differentiation of services. Differentiation facilitates categorization of traffic to permit flexible design and implementation of multiple Class of Service levels.

Organizations of all sizes are using the World Wide Web ("Web") for commerce and to improve productivity, market share and internal/external processes. Web sites have become a mission critical necessity in today's business environment. Under such mission critical conditions, unpredictable service levels will result in loss of revenue and market leadership. To avoid this costly impact, web sites must be highly available and dependable.
The Web is comprised of host computers that are contacted by one or several client computers via browsers. A high level protocol (i.e. at the application layer level in the layered OSI network model), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), is used to open a connection to an indicated server, send a request, receive a reply and then display the contents of the reply to the user. In response to requests from client computers, host computers transmit data in the form of web pages. The servicing of these requests is typically performed on a "first come first served basis". Host computer resources are committed to servicing clients' requests, and, as a result there is a finite limit on the number of client computer requests that host computers can simultaneously handle. That is, when host computers receive several requests from many clients the host computers may not be able to service the requests in a timely fashion due to the depletion of the host computer resources. Further disadvantageously, under heavy loads host computers will completely stop accepting new requests until host computer resources are freed up, leaving clients seeking access to heavily used sites in some cases unable to gain access.
It is known that capacity-planning techniques such as over provisioning of computer resources to meet and exceed projected peak demands can alleviate this problem. However, this only increases the capacity of host computers to accept more connections and postpones the above-mentioned behavior. Due to the "first come first served" nature of the HTTP protocol the web site will admit and commit the host computer resources to the next request on the queue. When deployment is a corporate site, it is perfectly conceivable that under peak load this policy of treating every request uniformly will result in applying the corporate resource, such as the web site, inappropriately and indiscriminately resulting in a non-optimal use of the resource in the revenue generating process. On sites where e-commerce is conducted this can translate into a real loss of revenue.
In known networks, Class of service (Cos) is honored in the network infrastructure, i.e. at the physical/hardware level, and is implemented as a means of determining the network bandwidth that is appropriated to the flows based on and commensurate with pre-negotiated policies. Unfortunately, this known Cos policy is terminated at the network layer, below the Application layer, in the layered OSI network model. This means that end-to-end Cos is not presently available in known network configurations because once the flow reaches the application layer (Web layer or HTTP layer), there are no metrics to implement and honor Cos. Consequently, the notion of an end-to-end Cos policy in the context of a policy enabled network, such as an Internet or Intranet, breaks down and any negotiated differentiated service to the client is not universally available. Network based Cos does not deal with back-end server resource allocation, and it does not facilitate differentiation of service on the backend server. Thus even with network level Cos/Qos, all users will uniformly experience degradation of service as a result of back-end server utilization conditions (e.g. bottlenecks, overloads).
Site resource and performance management implementations are known for the intended purpose of improving host availability and dependability in the context of internets and intranets. Known "load balancing" implementations reallocate requests for overloaded servers to available servers. While such implementations monitor server loads and help to avoid disconnects due to overloading, they are typically based on a fixed or static algorithm that effects reallocation. Known load balancing techniques do not provide enhanced quality of service (QOS) as a function of client characteristics, rather QOS is enhanced only by reallocation of load. Load balancing implementations known in the art treat all requests equally, and merely re-direct traffic with little regard for the client generating the request or what the client is requesting or the nature of the transaction. In an ISP environment existing QOS solutions do not permit provision of differentiated services to each virtual site. High-end clients are treated the same as low-end clients. Known load balancing approaches have no mechanism to distinguish or prioritize users or transactions or requests. Thus even with implementation of load balancing there is still a first come first served policy. All requests are treated equally and there is no provisioning of resources based on a user or request.
One known implementation that purportedly provides enhanced QOS as a function of client characteristics is HP WebQos, available from Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif. HP WebQos enhances web performance, capacity and availability only in the HP-UX operating environment. It permits site managers to prioritize web site service levels allowing higher service quality to be allocated as a function of certain, limited, client characteristics. HP WebQoS monitors service-levels and adjusts workload scheduling and processing rates based on policies configured by the administrator. The HP WebQoS technology prioritizes access as a function of client characteristics by scheduling HTTP requests into three different priority queues. The three queues are static and not further extensible, and control resources allocated to servers and applications. The implementation disadvantageously depends on a particular operating environment, and relies on a proprietary controller (i.e. Cisco LocalDirector), to effect functionality.
The HP WebQos architecture is illustrated in FIG. 1, and comprises essentially four components: a request controller 10, a service resource controller 12, a LocalDirector (LD) controller 14 to manage the proprietary CISCO LocalDirector, and a management system 16. The request controller 10 classifies requests into high, medium, or low priority based on a configured policy. The three priority levels are used to determine admission priority and performance-level. Classification into the three priority levels can be done as a function of: Source IP Address; Destination IP Address; URL; Port number; Hostname; and IP Type-of-service. Initial requests are classified, and thereafter a session is marked and all subsequent requests associated with that session continue to be classified at the same priority.
The request controller 10 controls admission decisions for new sessions, and admits, redirects, defers, or rejects new sessions based on the configured policy. Configurable admission policies are based on the user or service class and on various performance or resource conditions, such as CPU utilization, or length of queues handling the high, medium or low priority http requests. Admitted requests are queued into high, medium, and low priority queues. The queues are serviced based on the configured policy resulting in variation in performance at each level.
The service resource controller 12 manages hardware resource allocation. Greater resources are allocated per unit of workload for higher priority services. The service resource 12 controller controls allocation as a function of: percent CPU utilization and percent disk I/O utilization.
The LD Controller 14 runs on web servers and manages the proprietary Cisco LocalDirector. The LD Controller 14 dynamically manages server weights by setting Cisco LocalDirector's relative weights for each server in a cluster using SNMP_Set. Initial weights for each server are generated using tested throughput results. The LD Controller then dynamically adjusts the LocalDirector weightings to match each server's actual capacity during operation. The LD Controller is loaded on each server using the management system.
The management system 16 in HP WebQos provides a GUI for creating, editing, and deleting Service Level Objectives (SLOs). The SLOs are the capacity and performance objectives configured per user or service class. Admission of requests, resource allocation, and priority queue servicing are configured using the management system to issue directives to the request controller 10 and the service resource controller 12.
Disadvantageously, HP WebQos architecture is highly platform dependent, requiring a particular operating environment, HP-UX, and it relies on a proprietary controller, Cisco LocalDirector, to effect functionality, limiting its applicability to systems including those proprietary components. The implementation is focused on applying policy for differentiated services to categorize users into queues. Flash crowds, i.e. unusually high periodic traffic, requesting services may end up being categorized into one or the other of the queues, thus leading to a queue imbalance. As a result, traffic may end up being rejected in a queue despite availability of server resources to service these requests through another queue. Further, in a web farm configuration, HP WebQos does not permit implementation of class management at the back-end server. Only one load balancing mechanism is used for all back-end servers. The concept of categorizing back-end servers into various priority classes does not exist. The prioritization is limited to the (maximum) three front-end queues. Under circumstances of flash crowds, low priority users will be denied access to the site(s). This may result in long term business consequences, e.g. loss of revenue, and it will result in a negative quality experience for users. The notion of provisioning and reserving resources does not exist in the HP WebQos implementation.
Further, disadvantageously, the HP WebQos does not allow prioritization of traffic or site resources based on a virtual site in an ISP environment. Still further, dependence on the three front-end priority queues, significantly limits the allocation of services among classes by limiting the number of classes of requests as a function of the available queues. Accordingly, HP WebQos imposes a significant limitation on the differentiation of service(s) allocated to admitted requests. The three priority levels are used to determine only admission priority and performance-level, which again imposes a significant limitation on the differentiation of service(s) allocated to admitted requests. A limited number of client characteristics can be used to classify requests with HP WebQos, severely limiting the classification of traffic. In conjunction with the limited number of classification queues, the limited classification characteristics in HP WebQos makes administration of complex policies and rules for classification of requests virtually impossible. The limited classification characteristics in HP WebQos significantly limits client service differentiation and does not facilitate differentiation based on adaptive modeling of client behavior.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for policy based class service and adaptive service level management within the context of an internet and intranet


A ground weather center may transmit information requests that carry at least one meteorological specific triggering command. An airborne system may translate the triggering command into detectable meteorological conditions and may arm the trigger(s) for specific weather sensors accordingly and downlink information upon the airborne system detects the triggering conditions. By using such a triggering command, the airborne system may be able transmit the same amount of valuable information with less bandwidth by reducing the number of redundant downlinked packets.

The connected weather radar concept allows a ground device of a weather data collection and prediction system to acquire timely and accurate meteorological information from commercial, private, or other aircraft equipped with weather radar and other sensors. The information received from the aircraft may serve as a supplement to other ground and/or space-based data sources. A connected weather system may acquire weather data from multiple sources, including aircraft, for ground aggregation and analysis. The synthetized weather data may then be uplinked to aircraft in a given area, for example, to aid in avoiding weather hazards, to plan routes, to choose an altitude for a more comfortable ride for passengers, or other such uses. A system that downlinks weather data from aircraft based on a "request and respond" mechanism typically results in multiple request and response sessions, with the downlinked data often containing a significant portion of low value or redundant information. Datalink bandwidth can be a limited resource, and a request and respond mechanism may consume valuable bandwidth transmitting low value data.

Requesting weather data based on pre-selected events


A light projector for camera including a light emission lamp having a filament, a lamp mounting frame which holds the light emission lamp integrally therewith as well as has a pair of support shafts projecting from opposite the sides thereof with one of the support shaft having a rectangular hole defined thereto, a reflection umbrella for reflecting the light from the filament, a light projection lens disposed so that the optical axis thereof matches the optical axis of the reflection umbrella and a casing on which the reflection umbrella and the light projection lens are mounted, wherein the lamp mounting frame is held by swingably engaging the pair of support shafts and the like with a pair of sliding grooves and the like along an optical axis direction. The relative position of the filament to the reflection umbrella can be displaced in the optical axis direction, an up/down direction and a right/left direction merely by inserting a single jig into the rectangular hole and applying displacing force thereto, whereby the dispersion and the like of the position of the filament can be corrected by a simple adjustment job so that an effective ratio of light can be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light projector for a camera and a method of adjusting the light projector, and more specifically, to a light projector for a camera for effectively projecting the light emitted from a light source and a method of adjusting the light projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light projectors for cameras, for example, light projectors used for the projection of, for example, auxiliary illumination light for automatic focusing (AF) and the like are composed of a light emission lamp having a light emission source, a casing for holding the light emission lamp and a reflection umbrella for reflecting the light emitted from the light emission source of the light emission lamp.
Since the above AF auxiliary illumination light is required to have directivity particularly in an illuminating direction, the position of a peak of illuminated light must be located at a prescribed position in the distribution thereof to obtain a desired intensity of illumination of the auxiliary light in a limited amount of emitted light.
When a filament is used as the light emission source of the light emission lamp, the distribution of illuminated light may be changed due to the dispersion of a position where the filament is formed and the peak of the illuminated light cannot be obtained at a desired position because it is difficult to form the filament at a specific position. In this case, since a light projector which cannot obtain a necessary intensity of illumination is rejected as a defective item in a production managing process, production efficiency is lowered.
To overcome the above drawback, there have been proposed various technologies as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-97298.
The publication discloses a technical means for adjusting a light emitter mounted on a direction adjustment plate in three independent directions, respectively by means of front/rear adjustment screws, upper/lower adjustment screws and right/left adjustment pins.
However, since it is necessary in the light projector disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-97298 to turn the screws and pins from three different directions in the adjustment of the light emitter, it has a problem that an adjustment job is time consuming as well as requiring that the job must be carried out while maintaining a portion of a casing in an open state so that a driver, jig and the like can be inserted therethrough. Conversely, the light emitter in which a space must be secured to permit the driver, jig and the like to be inserted therethrough from the three independent directions is not always an optimum light emitter when it is applied to a camera in which the reduction of size of which is required.

Light projector for camera and method of adjusting the same


An object is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of analyzing operation log data that can be acquired through a digital device and effectively using the operation log data. An information processing apparatus (10) according to the present disclosure includes an information collection unit (11) configured to collect an operation log generated when a digital device is operated from a plurality of the digital devices, an execution unit (12) configured to co-cluster operator information and content information. The operator information is for identifying an operator of the digital device included in a plurality of the operation logs, and the content information is about content viewed by the operator using the digital device, and a post-processing unit (13) configured to create confirmation data using an execution result of the co-clustering.

Recently, digital devices have become widespread. Consequently, the number of users who view books using digital devices is also increasing. Lectures using digital devices are also conducted at places of education. For example, a teacher stores lecture materials on a server, and students access the lecture materials on the server and take a lecture.
Teachers can easily collect or create data useful for future lectures by using digital devices for lectures. For example, when students take tests online, a lecture system promptly collects test scores of the respective students. Furthermore, a teacher can easily analyze a score distribution and the like by using analysis software. Moreover, the teacher can complete the analysis on the test score in a short time by using software that automatically executes processing from aggregation of test scores to an analysis of a specific distribution or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,718,534 discloses collecting assessment data regarding students and clustering the collected data. A result of the clustering is used for an analysis by a teacher.

Information processing apparatus, data generation method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium


The invention relates to a base station (10) for a cellular communications system, wherein said cellular communications system preferably operates according to the long term evolution, LTE, standard, wherein said base station (10) is configured to transmit random access information, which comprises information on random access procedures associated with said base station (10), and/or scheduling information.

The LTE communications standard is defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) Specification series 3GPP TS 36.xxx, wherein 3GPP TS 36.211 relates to Physical Channels and Modulation. For further explanations in this application, the term "LTE standard" generally refers to the specification series 3GPP TS 36.xxx, particularly to LTE Release 8. More specifically, regarding 3GPP TS 36.211, in the following description, document version V8.7.0 is referred to, which is e.g. available on the World Wide Web (http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36211.htm).
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved base station, an improved terminal, and improved methods of operating said base station and said terminal which enable an efficient data transfer within LTE cells even for terminals with comparatively low complexity.

Base station and terminal for a cellular communications system


According to one embodiment, an image recognition apparatus includes an acquisition unit, an operation unit and a controller. The controller specifies a pattern area including the pattern from the image acquired by the acquisition unit, sets a pattern candidate area based on a position of a pattern area which failed to be specified, the position being accepted by the operation unit, re-sets a photography parameter for photographing the set pattern candidate area, acquires, through the acquisition unit, an image including the pattern candidate area photographed in accordance with the re-set photography parameter, specifies a pattern area from the acquired image including the pattern candidate area, and recognizes a pattern which the specified pattern area includes.

In an image recognition apparatus which recognizes a commodity from an image photographed by a camera, the precision of recognition of the commodity varies depending on the environment of photography. For example, in the case of a POS system which recognizes a bar code of a commodity by using a camera, the precision of recognition of the bar code of the commodity varies depending on the environment of photography.

Image recognition apparatus and commodity information processing apparatus


A wavelength converter includes an excitation light source outputting excitation light, a beam splitter receiving an input of the excitation light and an input of the optical signal and to divide both the inputted excitation light and the inputted optical signal into a first polarization component and a second polarization component, a non-linear optical fiber as a non-polarization-maintaining fiber, an accommodation section securing and accommodating the non-linear optical fiber, a first collimator lens disposed between the beam splitter and a first end of the non-linear optical fiber, and a second collimator lens disposed between the beam splitter and a second end of the non-linear optical fiber, wherein the optical signal is inputted to the beam splitter from a direction different from the input of the excitation light.

In recent years, it is demanded that a transmission capacity be enlarged to cope with an increase in communication demand. The transmission capacity can be enlarged, for example, by increasing the number of optical fiber cores.
However, as a cost of fiber optic construction is high, it is demanded that the transmission capacity be enlarged without increasing the number of optical fiber cores.
As for a transmission apparatus, the enlargement of the transmission capacity is limited when only a conventional band (C band) is used for communication. To enlarge the transmission capacity, it is desirable to use, in addition to the C band, a long band (L band) in a long wavelength band, and a short band (S band) in a short wavelength band, for example.
In a case where, for example, an optical transceiver, a wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer, and an optical amplifier are individually developed for the S band, the C band, and the L band, it may be required to develop transmission apparatuses adapted for the use of the L and S bands in addition to a transmission apparatus adapted for the use of the C band only, causing high cost.
In view of this, it is conceivable that a low-cost broadband transmission system may be configured by employing C band parts and allowing a wavelength converter to convert the C band parts to equivalents for the other bands such as the L and S bands.
Meanwhile, there is a wavelength conversion technology that inputs excitation light and an optical signal to a highly non-linear fiber (HNLF). Such a technology for accommodating the HNLF is disdosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-207677, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-301009, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-294324.

Wavelength converter and transmission apparatus


Pixel blocks of a user-generated print job raster page are clustered into raster color clusters, and pixel blocks of a corresponding scanned page are clustered into scanned color clusters. For each raster color cluster, if a color difference between the cluster and a corresponding scanned color cluster is greater than a threshold, color fading of the cluster is determined from simulated depletion of each colorant of a printing device, and a likely depleted colorant is determined based on the corresponding scanned color cluster and the determined color fading. A most likely depleted colorant is determined from the likely depleted colorant predicted for each raster color cluster for which the determined color difference is greater than the threshold.

Printing devices include standalone printers, as well as all-in-one (AIO) and multifunction printer (MFP) devices that include functionality like scanning, copying, and/or faxing functionality in addition to printing functionality. To print full color images onto print media like paper, printing devices can include colorants, such as toner or ink, which may correspond to the colors of a process color model. For example, a laser-printing device may commonly include cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner.

Predicting depleted printing device colorant from color fading

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A motor driving device includes a PWM signal generating unit, a control unit, a driving unit, a floating point selecting unit and a BEMF detecting unit. The PWM signal generating unit generates an input PWM signal having a duty cycle according to a rotation speed command. The control unit generates a driving signal having multiple phases and an output PWM signal. The floating point selection unit selects a floating phase of the motor that is not turned off, and the BEMF detecting unit receives detects the BEMF of the floating phase during ON times or OFF times of the output PWM signal, so as to output a commutation signal in response to zero crossing events occurring in the BEMF. The control unit controls the BEMF detecting unit to detect the BEMF of the floating phase under the ON times or the OFF times of the output PWM signal.

Direct current (DC) brushless motors are common motors that have advantages of high efficiency, lightness, thinness, shortness, and smallness, and thus are widely used in various fields. In existing electronic products, such as personal computers, notebook computers, communication devices, and household appliances, DC brushless motors are widely used. For example, fan motors for various electronic products and spindle motors for computer storage devices utilize the DC brushless motors. In general, when driving a DC brushless motor, a position of a rotor of the motor must be detected to properly drive commutation switches for performing a commutation procedure.
An existing brushless DC motor system typically includes a three-phase brushless DC motor, a Hall sensor, and a driver. However, since the Hall sensor is easily affected by external environments, a sensing accuracy may be lowered, and may even malfunction in some environments (for example, an environment with an excessive temperature). On the other hand, the brushless DC motor system further includes the Hall sensor, and a volume of the system and manufacturing costs are therefore increased. Therefore, a sensorless driving method without using a sensor is further proposed.
In the existing sensorless driving method, commutation timings are determined by detecting a back electromotive force (BEMF) during ON times of a PWM signal. In order to reduce noises, one of phases can be detected as a floating phase, and corresponding BEMF zero points are used for comparison.
However, when the motor is in a low rotation speed condition, the ON times of the PWM signal are greatly reduced, and are not enough for being used to detect zero-crossing events of the BEMF. Therefore, the existing motor driving device attempts to detect the BEMF during OFF times of the PWM signal to determine the commutation timings. However, issues relating to misjudgments of the commutation points often occur.
In general, during the ON times of the PWM, slopes of the detected coil current exhibits a positive value, which is the same as a polarity of the BEMF, and the commutation points can be correctly determined. However, in certain motor mechanisms, since the rotation speed of motors does not match the rotation speed that can be achieved by an input current for the motor, an erroneous BEMF signal may be generated, resulting in misjudgment of the commutation points.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for a motor driving device and method capable of respectively performing BEMF detections during ON and OFF times of a PWM signal in accordance with motor parameters.


Novel tools and techniques are described for waterproof charging contact system. In one aspect, the charging contact system may comprise docking station comprising a first set of compliant charging contacts for a tablet computer system and a second set of compliant charging contacts for a handset computer. Each compliant charging contact comprises a charging pin pressed into an elastomer diaphragm inserted within a body of the docking station. The tablet computer system comprises a first set of static charging contacts configured to mate with the first set of compliant charging contacts. The handset comprises a second set of static charging contacts configured to mate with the second set of compliant charging contacts.

Traditionally, docking bases for portable devices, such as portable handsets for telephones, have comprised rigid carriages containing charging contacts protruding upward through openings in the top of the carriages. As a result, spills and dirt can easily enter the docking bases and soon disable it. The docking bases are also difficult to clean. Electronic tablets and handsets are used in a wide range of environments (such as a kitchen, etc.). The docking bases are exposed to spills, dirt, and/or other debris. A need remains for a docking base that is suitably protected against spills and debris for use in a spill- and debris-prone environment and that can be easily cleaned.
In addition, it is desirable to have a docking station suitable for charging both a tablet computer system and a handset.


An internal combustion engine comprises a main combustion chamber part, an auxiliary combustion chamber part, a first communicating passage, a second communicating passage and an igniting component. The auxiliary combustion chamber part includes first and second auxiliary combustion chambers. The first auxiliary combustion chamber is disposed adjacent to the main combustion chamber part. The second auxiliary combustion chamber is disposed adjacent to the first auxiliary combustion chamber at a position further away from the main combustion chamber part. The first communicating passage extends between the main combustion chamber part and the first auxiliary combustion chamber and the second communicating passage extends between the first auxiliary combustion chamber and the second auxiliary combustion chamber. The ignition component is configured and arranged to ignite fresh air-fuel mixture introduced from the main combustion chamber into the first auxiliary combustion chamber through the first communicating passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine with an auxiliary combustion chamber. More specifically, the present invention relates to an internal combustion engine in which each cylinder has a main chamber part and an auxiliary combustion chamber part.
2. Background Information
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 60-45716 discloses a conventional internal combustion engine with auxiliary combustion chamber in which each cylinder has a main combustion chamber and an auxiliary combustion chamber. In this conventional internal combustion engine with an auxiliary combustion chamber, the auxiliary combustion chamber is disposed adjacent to the main combustion chamber.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved internal combustion engine with an auxiliary combustion chamber. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Internal combustion engine with auxiliary combustion chamber


A system may include a portable spray device having a battery powered drive, a rotary atomizer driven by the battery powered drive, and a syringe configured to supply a liquid to the rotary atomizer, wherein the rotary atomizer is configured to rotate to atomize the liquid into a spray. A system may include a portable spray device having a barrel portion with a first syringe fluidly coupled to a spray head, and a handle portion coupled to the barrel portion via a break-action mechanism. The handle portion may include an actuator assembly configured to drive a first plunger in the first syringe.

The invention relates generally to systems and methods for spraying substances, such as coating fluids (e.g., paint).
A variety of spray devices may be used to apply a spray to a target object. For example, spray devices often employ a gas, such as pressurized air, to atomize a liquid (e.g., paint) to generate a spray, which is then directed toward the target object to create a coating. Unfortunately, these spray devices require a source of pressurized air, such as a compressor or a compressed gas tank. By further example, spray devices often require one or more connections with external equipment, such as air supply conduits, liquid supply conduits (e.g., paint conduits), electrical cords, and so forth. Unfortunately, these connections limit the portability and ease of use of the spray devices. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved spray device.


Systems and methods can enable select virtual session capabilities on a user device configured to access a virtual session, which is an instance of a virtual machine. The user device can receive and forward to a gateway sever, a request to launch a virtual session. Based on the virtual session launch request, the gateway server can obtain a compliance profile determined from operational data. The gateway can permit user device access a virtual session hosted on a virtual machine (“VM”) server. The VM server can use the compliance profile and security data from the user device to determine a risk profile of the user device. The virtual session can be configured at the VM server based on the risk profile so as to allow access to a subset of available applications and functions within the applications for the virtual session.

Enterprises are increasingly utilizing computing infrastructures that implement virtual environments to provide flexible computing solutions that increase work force productivity. With a virtual environment, an employee can use a computing device that may be their own, issued by an enterprise, or publicly available, to access virtual sessions hosted by a server for the enterprise. A virtual session can be an instance of a virtual machine ("VM") that is instantiated by a server. The virtual session can constitute a virtualized computing environment that is accessed over a period of time that can be monitored, managed, or limited for security and other purposes. The virtual session can allow workers to effectively access a desktop and enterprise applications that run in the respective virtual machine. More succinctly, a virtual session can simulate an operating system that supports multiple applications and provides an enterprise managed computing environment that can be utilized by an employee on different devices and from multiple locations.
A foundational purpose for enterprises to utilize virtual environments is to provide increased opportunities for employees to be productive. Such environments allow an enterprise and its employees to utilize productivity tools and produce work products at any time, and at locations or facilities where the enterprise, aside from the employee, has no presence. Ideally, an employee can remotely work within a computing infrastructure of an enterprise, using the same or substantially the same applications as when they are "at work."
However, the flexibility and increased productivity mentioned above must be balanced with security measures. Virtual environments must prevent sensitive or propriety information from being made available or stolen. As a result, computing devices used by employees, such as tablets, laptops, mobile phones, and other mobile devices, are managed, updated, or otherwise maintained by enterprises to keep data access secure. This can include enforcing encryption, updating security patches and enterprise-specific anti-virus programs, enforcing setting and firewall configurations, approving versions of operating systems, jailbreak detection protocols, and requiring certain authentication methods.
Zero-trust architectures follow a security concept centered on not automatically trusting anything inside or outside of an architecture's perimeters, and verifying anything and everything trying to connect to systems supported by the architecture before granting access. Applying the zero-trust security concept to virtual environments leads to denying access to a virtual session for a device that is not in compliance with an enterprise-specified state for any of a number of components, programs, or network connections. For example, because a mobile device is not compliant with 1 out of a 100 compliance rules, access to a virtual session is denied in total under a conventional implementation of a zero-trust security policy. Although security may be preserved, there is a cost in productivity due to employee downtime—even where no aspect of the non-compliance impacts a productivity-related activity for which the virtual session is being accessed.
As a result, a need exists for a system and method for enabling secure access to virtual sessions and selectively enabling virtual session applications based on a risk profile that would be unsatisfactory for granting access to a virtual session configured to implement a full capability scheme, particularly when a zero-trust protocol is being concurrently implemented.


A polishing dental instrument includes a polisher, which is vibrated by a drive shaft connected to a motor-driven drive via an eccentric pin. The eccentric movements are elastically transferred to two arms via two compression springs. The arms are fixed to a displaceably guided bearing sleeve positioned in the casing. The polisher which is guided in the bearing has an end piece whose lateral edges are adapted to smooth or clean the tooth root surface. As a result of the elastically transferred reciprocating movements of the eccentric pin a very fine smoothing of the root surface is obtained.

The present invention relates to a process for treating a tooth, and in particular its root parts located under the gums with the aid of a dental instrument, having a scraping tool provided with a drive incorporated into the instrument handle for imparting to the tool a reciprocating movement, as well as to a dental instrument for performing the process.
Apart from the hand-operated instruments used for the odontopathy treatment, particularly periodontosis and which are referred to as scalers, use is also made of scalers, which are equipped with a motor drive and in which a reciprocating movement is imparted to the scraping means or curette located at the end of the handle. The motor-driven instruments make the work of the dentist or surgeon much easier to do as compared with hand-operated instruments. The scraping curette, with the edge of which the tooth is cleaned, is moved along the root of the tooth under the gums, and under pressure it is suddenly moved in the direction of the tooth masticatory surface.
The motor-driven scaler has proved to be satisfactory in operation, because it is possible to efficiently treat the surface parts of the tooth root, so that on the root surfaces are formed smooth, clean and slightly concave surface portions.
Recent research has revealed that it is desired to smooth these minor depressions. The known instruments cannot be used for such smoothing purposes and consequently hand-operated instruments have to be used.

Process and instrument for dental treatment


A method for generating a messaging stream where one or more messages are exchanged between a first user and a second user comprises generating a messaging stream where one or more messages are exchanged between a first user and a second user. The method further includes receiving a selection of an animated object from the first user for the messaging stream. The method further includes providing the animated object in the messaging stream. The method further includes receiving a first action from the first user related to the animated object. The method further includes modifying a display of the animated object based on the first action. The method further includes receiving a second action from the second user related to the animated object. The method further includes modifying the display of the animated object based on the second action.

Current messaging applications allow for non-interactive, one-directional objects in the form of stickers, emojis, photos, GIFs, and sounds. However, these one-directional objects may be considered fleeting because they are limited in applicability. For example, a first user may send an emoji to a second user, who finds the emoji to be funny, but then forgets about the emoji entirely.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Generating messaging streams with animated objects


A method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium (30) having magnetically separate magnetic recording patterns on at least one surface of a nonmagnetic substrate (1), includes the steps of forming a magnetic layer (2) on the nonmagnetic substrate, forming a mask layer (3) on the magnetic layer, forming a resist layer (4) on the mask layer, transferring negative patterns of the magnetic recording patterns to the resist layer using a stamp (5), removing portions of the mask layer which correspond to the negative patterns of the magnetic recording patterns, implanting ions in the magnetic layer from a resist layer-side surface to partly demagnetize the magnetic layer, and removing the resist layer and the mask layer. A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus includes the above magnetic recording medium (30), a driving section (11) that drives the magnetic recording medium in a recording direction, a magnetic head (27) including a recording section and a reproducing section, a device (28) for moving the magnetic head relative to the magnetic recording medium, and recording and reproducing signal processing device (29) for inputting a signal to the magnetic head and reproducing an output signal from the magnetic head.

The application range of magnetic recording drives, such as magnetic disk drives, flexible disk drives and magnetic tape drives, has recently been significantly extended, making these magnetic recording drives more important. For magnetic recording media used in these drives, efforts have been made to markedly improve recording density. In particular, since the introduction of an MR head and a PRML technique, surface recording density has been further significantly increased. In recent years, a GMR head and a TMR head have also been introduced to increase the recording density at a rate of as much as 100% per year. The magnetic recording media have been demanded to achieve a much higher recording density in the future. Thus, there has been a demand for an increase in the coersive force, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and resolution of a magnetic recording layer. Furthermore, efforts have been made to increase linear recording density as well as track density in order to improve the surface recording density.
The latest magnetic recording drives have a track density of as much as 110 kTPI. However, increasing the track density is disadvantageously likely to cause magnetically recorded data in adjacent tracks to interfere with each other. A magnetization transition region in the boundary between the adjacent tracks may then serves as a noise source to reduce the SNR. This leads directly to a decrease in bit error rate, hindering the enhancement of the recording density.
To increase the surface recording density, it is necessary to reduce the size of recording bits on the magnetic recording medium to ensure as high saturation magnetization and as large a magnetic film thickness as possible for each recording bit. However, a reduction in the size of recording bits may disadvantageously decrease the minimum magnetization volume per bit, resulting in heat fluctuation. Magnetization reversal may men occur to eliminate the recorded data.
Furthermore, the resulting decrease in inter-track distance leads to the need for a very highly accurate track servo technique for the magnetic recording drive. Further, a method is generally used, which uses a wide recording range and a reproducing range that is narrower than the recording range in order to eliminate the adverse effect by the adjacent tracks as much as possible. This method can suppress the effect between tracks to the minimum. However, this may disadvantageously make it difficult to obtain sufficient reproduction outputs and to thus ensure a sufficient SNR.
To avoid the heat fluctuation problem and to ensure a sufficient SNR and sufficient outputs, an attempt has been made to form recesses and protrusions on the surface of the recording medium along the tracks to physically separate the recording tracks from one another in order to increase the track density. This technique is hereinafter referred to as a discrete track method. A magnetic recording medium manufactured by the discrete track method is hereinafter referred to as a discrete track medium.
A known example of the discrete track medium is a magnetic recording medium formed on a nonmagnetic substrate having recess and protrusion patterns on a surface thereof to form physically separate magnetic recording tracks and servo signal patterns (see, for example, JP-A 2004-164692).
This magnetic recording medium has a ferromagnetic layer formed, via a soft magnetic layer, on the surface of a substrate on which a plurality of recesses and protrusions are formed. A protective film is formed on the surface of the substrate. The magnetic recording medium has a magnetic recording region formed thereon in the area of the protrusions and physically separated from surroundings.
The magnetic recording medium can inhibit the formation of magnetic domain walls in the soft magnetic layer, avoiding the adverse effect by heat fluctuation and the interference between the adjacent signals. This makes it possible to provide a high-density magnetic recording medium mat can minimize possible noise.
The discrete track method includes a method of forming tracks after forming a magnetic recording medium made up of a number of layers of thin films and a method of forming thin films for the magnetic recording medium after forming recess and protrusion patterns directly on the substrate surface or in a mm film layer mw JP-A 2004-178793 and JP-A 2004-178794). The former method is often called a magnetic layer processing method and performs physical processing on the surface after the formation of the medium. Unfortunately, the medium is thus prone to be contaminated during the manufacturing process, which is very complicated. The latter method is often called an embossing method. This method prevents the medium from being contaminated during the manufacturing process. However, the film formed takes over the recess and protrusion shapes formed on the substrate, preventing the stabilization of the floating posture and height of a recording and reproducing head performing the recording and reproducing operations while floating over the medium.
A method has also been disclosed, which involves forming inter-track regions in the discrete track medium by implanting nitrogen or oxygen ions in the preformed magnetic layer or irradiating the magnetic layer with a laser (see JP-A HEI 5-205257). However, the inter-track regions formed by this method offer reduced saturation magnetization but increased coersive force. Consequently, an insufficient magnetization state remains, resulting in blurring when information is written on the magnetic track portion.
A method has also been disclosed, which involves manufacturing what is called a patterned medium having magnetic recording patterns arranged with a specified bit-by-bit regularity wherein the magnetic recording pattern are formed by etching based on ion irradiation (see IEICE Technical Report MR2005-55 (2006-02), pp. 21-26 (The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers)). However, even with this method, disadvantageously, the magnetic recording medium may be contaminated during the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the smoothness of the surface may be degraded.
For magnetic recording apparatuses that face technical difficulties associated with the increased recording density, the present invention drastically increases the recording density while ensuring recording and reproducing properties equivalent or superior to those achieved by the conventional techniques. The present invention also reduces the coersive force and remanent magnetization in the inter-pattern regions to the minimum to prevent possible blurring during magnetic recording. This increases the surface recording density. In particular, for discrete-track magnetic recording media manufactured by forming recesses and protrusions on a magnetic layer preformed on the substrate, the present invention eliminates a magnetic layer removing step executed for the conventional magnetic layer processing method, substantially simplifying the manufacturing process. The present invention also provides a manufacturing method with reduced contamination risks and a useful magnetic recording medium with an excellent head floating property.
Through dedicated efforts to accomplish the above object, the present inventors have reached the present invention.

Method for manufacturing magnetic recording medium and magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus


Thermal stresses normally associated with joining are alleviated by a low temperature joining technique of the present invention. A low-temperature joining material is applied (as a paste, or as a powder spray, or as a tape, or as a paint, or as a putty) at the junction of two components desired to be joined together. Energy from a source such as a laser beam (for example an Nd:YAG or a CO.sub.2 laser) or by a flame, arc, plasma, or the like, is either "walked" along the joining material to react the entire amount of joining material, or the joining material is self-sustaining and simply requires igniting a selected portion of the joining material by the energy source. In an exemplary application of the process, vanes are brazed to the bowl and/or to the shroud of an automatic transmission bowl (impeller or turbine) assembly, preferably using the low-temperature joining material. Systems for delivering the joining material and the energy are described. The fabrication of hollow vanes is described. The fabrication of shroudless bowl components and stator components subsuming the function of the shroud are described.

It is generally well known to assemble components (workpieces) together by mechanical instrumentalities such as nuts and bolts, rivets, tabs and slots. For example, with respect to tabs (also known as "lugs" or "pawls") and slots (also known as "slits", "recesses", "grooves" or "indentations"), it is known to assemble blades (also known as "vanes") having tabs on their outer edges to an outer shell (also known as "bowl") of an automotive automatic transmission torque converter impeller or turbine (also known as a "vane wheel", jointly referred to herein as "bowl assemblies") having slots extending into or through its inner surface into which the tabs fit. Similarly, it is known to assemble an inner shroud component (also known as "core tube" or "torus ring") to the inner edges of the vanes by fitting tabs on the inner edges of the vanes through slots extending through the inner shroud component, then bending over the tabs. The use of tabs and slots to assemble vanes to the bowl and shroud of an automatic transmission impeller assembly is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,855 (the 1855 patent), and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,365 (the '365 patent), incorporated by reference herein. The following paragraphs emphasize certain problems attendant assembling vanes in a bowl of an automatic transmissions.
The '855 patent discloses a vane wheel for fluid couplings or torque converters, especially for motor vehicles. As disclosed therein, a plurality of vanes are disposed between two toroidal surfaces, an outer toroidal surface (e.g., a torque converter shell) and an inner toroidal surface (e.g., a torque converter shroud). As noted in the '855 patent the individual vanes have significant flexibility and, during abrupt changes in transmitted torque, the inner toroidal surface (i.e., the shroud) tends to displace itself angularly (e.g., rotate), vis-a-vis the outer toroidal surface (i.e., the bowl). The solution proposed in this patent is to provide separate and distinct (i.e., from the vanes 12) anti-rotational bracing members (plates 20) extending from the outer toroidal surface to the inner toroidal surface. These plates (20) are fixed by welding or soldering to the toroidal surfaces. In an embodiment of the '855 patent, the anti-rotational bracing members are formed as right-angle bent portions (30) at the ends of certain vanes (12), and these bent portions are advantageously force-fitted between the toroidal surfaces. In a further embodiment, bent portions (30) are formed facing one another on two adjacent vanes (12) and are connected by a bar (35) which is fixed to the bent portions and to the toroidal surfaces by welding, brazing or soldering.
A non-trivial problem in the fabrication and usage of vaned-impellers (or turbines) such as in automotive torque converters (e.g., the impeller assemblies thereof) is leakage (of fluid) occurring between the blades (vanes) and the toroidal surface of the bowl. Generally speaking, leakage will result in decreased fluid dynamic (hydrodynamic) efficiency which, in the context of an automotive torque converter, will translate into reduced gasoline (fuel) efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,362 (the '362 patent) discloses a technique for sealing (reducing leakage) involving the use of elastomeric linings on the core and shell surfaces, proximate the blades. The elastomeric linings are deformed where the blades engage the core and shell surfaces. This localized deformation effects a seal between the core and shell surfaces, which eliminates leakage between the cores and the shells, thereby increasing torque converter efficiency.
Returning to the challenge of affixing a plurality of vanes (blades) to a toroidal surface (especially the outer housing of a torque converter), there has been limited effort in recent years directed to welding the vanes into the bowl. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,365 (the '365 patent), entitled METHOD FOR WELDING TORQUE CONVERTER BLADES TO A HOUSING USING A LASER WELDING BEAM, discloses forming blades (vanes) with a tab fitted within a recess formed in the impeller housing (bowl) such that the blade stands clear of the adjacent surfaces of the housing by the width of an air gap. A laser beam is directed onto an adjacent surface of the housing a short distance from an edge of the housing adjacent a blade tab to be welded to the housing. A laser beam whose axis is inclined with respect to the recess strikes a surface of the housing adjacent the tab. The welding (e.g., laser) beam is moved parallel to the blade tab so that the blade tab is welded to the housing, without the use of filler material. The housing is rotated to bring successive blade tabs into position for welding.
As is evident, the technique of the "365 patent" amounts to "spot" (localized) welding of the blades to the bowl, and does not address the leakage problem addressed hereinabove. Moreover, in any process, such as those mentioned above, for affixing a plurality of blades to an automatic transmission impeller housing involving the use of slots in the impeller housing, in order to affix a different number or shape of blades to the bowl, or to affix the same (or a different) number of blades to the bowl at a different angle, it is necessary to modify the slot configuration (e.g., number, spacing, angle) of the bowl.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,604 (the '604 patent), incorporated by reference herein, discloses a method of assembling a torque converter impeller assembly showing traditional tab/slot assembly of the inner edges of the vanes to a semitoroidal core ring, and a technique of assembling the vanes and core ring as a subassembly to the interior surface of the outer shell (bowl). FIG. 4 of the '604 patent illustrates the process of fixturing (see fixture 39) the vanes for assembly of the core tube (via tabs and slots) to the inner edges of the vanes to fabricate the subassembly. A brazing material is applied to the outer (towards the bowl) edges of the vanes (as well as along the edges of the bent tabs on the inner edges of the vanes). The subassembly of the core ring and vanes, with brazing material applied thereto, is then positioned in the outer shell (bowl). The outer shell, vanes and core ring are then disposed in a brazing oven whereby the brazed metal (e.g., paste) flows along the outer edges of the vanes (as well as along the edges of the inner tabs of the vanes), to securely bond the vanes to the outer shell (as well as to complete the bonding of the core ring to the vanes). The advantages of this technique for assembling the vanes to the bowl, cited in the '604 patent, include:
(a) the vanes need not be aligned with special indentations in the bowl, thereby facilitating the assembly of the torque converter impeller; and
(b) since the outer shell (bowl) does not require indentations (slots), it is not necessary to inventory outer shells by the orientation of the indentations in the outer shell. Outer shells can be used with a variety of vanes and it is easier to change from one vane configuration to another vane configuration.
Irrespective of the particular milieu of affixing vanes to the bowl component of an automatic transmission, brazing is a generally well known technique of joining components (e.g., two articles, two workpieces) to one another and generally involves melting (i.e., causing a thermal reaction in) a brazing material (also referred to as a "filler material") at temperatures of approximately 1000.degree. C. (one thousand degrees Celsius). The brazing material (typically in paste form) may be the same as or different in composition from the material of the to-be-joined components. As distinguished from welding, brazing typically does not involve the melting of the components being joined together, and welding does. (See, e.g., the '365 patent which describes a welding beam melting a component being joined, and subsequent flow of the molten material.) Melting the components being joined together (as in welding) affects the grain orientation of the components, as well as any temper that may have been imparted to the component(s). Irrespective of whether a technique is classified as brazing or welding, the use of high temperatures can cause undesirable distortion, annealing, or the like of one or both of the components (workpieces) being joined together.
Disposing a torque converter impeller in a brazing oven, as disclosed by the '604 patent, is particularly problematic as it will result in "mass" (overall) heating of the components being assembled, as well as in distortion of the components. Such mass heating of the torque converter bowl is detrimental to the metallurgy of the bowl which may, for example, already have been provided with a hardened hub which will lose its temper as a result of such mass heating. Moreover, it is evident that a component heated in an oven to sufficient temperatures to effect brazing will require a significant, and in some cases controlled, cooling-off period.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,659 (the '659 patent), entitled METHOD FOR BONDING VANES IN A! TORQUE CONVERTER, describes previous attempts at bonding vanes to a slotless impeller bowl by brazing, using a brazing paste which is a mixture of pulverized copper and alcohol, in an electric furnace. The method described in this patent involves temporarily connecting the vanes to the core ring by spot welding, then fitting this subassembly of vanes/core tube to the bowl. (This pre-fabrication of a subassembly, comprising vanes joined to the core tube for insertion as a unit into the bowl, is analogous to that of the aforementioned '604 patent.) Brazing material, in the form of copper rings (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d), is disposed between flanges (10a, 10b) on the vanes (10) and each of the core tube (11) and the bowl (12). Then, the to-be-brazed assembly is placed in an electric furnace which is filled with a suitable reducing atmosphere and is internally maintained at a temperature ranging from 1,110.degree. C. to 1,130.degree. C. to heat the assembly at a temperature higher than the melting point of the copper rings. The thermal cycle discussed in the "659 patent" is preliminary heating for 18 minutes (until the desired temperature is attained), maintaining the desired temperature for 10 minutes, and slowly cooling down the assembly for 54 minutes--a process taking approximately one and one half hours to achieve the sought after brazing of vanes. There is no suggestion in this patent that the resulting brazed joints are more than localized to the position of the copper rings (e.g., resulting in an analogue of spot-welding the vanes).
Further attention is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,295 (the '295 patent), entitled WELDING OF PARTS SEPARATED BY A GAP USING A LASER WELDING BEAM, which discloses a related technique for welding together two portions of a cover for a torque converter at an overlap joint using a welding beam.
Another phenomenon attendant automatic transmission bowl assemblies (impellers, turbines) is that the bowl component tends to "balloon" in response to the fluid pressures contained therein. This, of course, exacerbates any pre-existing leakage (i.e., between the vanes and the bowl) problem, since any gap between the vanes and the bowl will grow as the bowl balloons. Additionally, it is intuitively evident that such ballooning of the bowl imposes undesired stresses on the bowl and on any means of joining the vanes to the bowl, and that enhanced bowl stiffness (resistance to ballooning) would be desirable.

Methods of joining metal components and resulting articles particularly automotive torque converter assemblies


A communications management network for managing subscribers' communication sessions. The management network includes multiple sets of session management modules or servers (e.g., Intelligent Service Control Points), a services hub and a data warehouse. The network may also include a gateway for routing text messages. Each set of session management modules includes a plurality of modules, and each subscriber is assigned to one set of modules with one of the modules as a primary and another as a secondary or backup. Subscribers are grouped according to geographical area (e.g., by zip code, by area code), service area or other criteria, and all subscribers within a group are assigned to the same primary and secondary modules. Management of subscribers' communication sessions is load balanced by reassigning groups of subscribers to different sets of session management modules. Each module tracks account statuses (e.g., prepaid services balances) for its assigned subscribers.

This invention relates to the fields of communications and computer systems. More particularly, a scalable communications management network architecture is provided for managing subscriber communication sessions.
As mobile communications become more widely accepted, providers are offering an ever-increasing variety of services, including prepaid services. With prepaid services, a customer purchases a predetermined number of wireless communication credits or minutes. Because the customer has prepaid for the services, he or she does not need to enter into a credit agreement with the service provider or demonstrate an acceptable credit history. Prepaid wireless communication services are especially attractive to young adults who are unable or unwilling to enter into long-term credit commitments of the kind required for traditional mobile communication service arrangements.
Providers of prepaid communication services naturally wish to ensure that their customers' service usage does not exceed their prepaid credits. Therefore, providers generally automate the process of tracking their customers' service usage, maintaining their credit balances and managing their communication sessions. As more and more subscribers join a provider, the burden placed on the provider's management network or system increases commensurately. In addition to the tasks associated with enabling and controlling individual communication sessions, the provider's management network may also be responsible for tasks such as provisioning new customers' accounts, routing SMS (Short Message Service) messages, monitoring network statuses, etc.
However, computer systems employed by the provider to manage customer accounts and credit balances have (mite processing limits. Traditionally, when such a processing limit was approached, the provider would replace or reconfigure the computer system. This could entail significant expense and labor costs, in addition to a possible loss of service availability for some period of time.
Therefore, there is a need for a communications management network architecture that is easily scalable to support increasing numbers of customers, without the costs and risk of service outage inherent in traditional architectures.
In addition, with prepaid communication services a customer must replenish his or her account in a timely manner in order to avoid service termination. However, it is very easy for a customer to forget to perform such replenishment. And, if the customer is very active, he or she may have to replenish frequently, especially if replenishing with small sums. Depending on how often the customer must replenish, the complexity of replenishment and any fees that may assessed the customer, repeated replenishment may become onerous.
Thus, there is also a need for a method of automatically replenishing a customer's prepaid communication services balance.

Provisioning communication services in a communications management network


A connector includes a connecting terminal to be connected to another connecting terminal of another connector, a fixed contact, a movable contact provided at one end of a movable plate, a movable spring connected to the movable plate, and an operation part that moves according to an operation performed by an operator. The connecting terminal is connected to one of the fixed contact and the movable contact. The operation part applies a force to a part of the movable spring in a direction that is substantially parallel to a direction of a force applied to operate the operation part, and causes the movable contact to contact the fixed contact. The direction of the force applied to operate the operation part is substantially parallel to a direction in which the movable contact moves.

Generally, an electric apparatus is driven by electric power supplied from a power supply. An electric apparatus typically receives electric power via a connector from a power supply. Patent documents 1 and 2 disclose a connector unit including a protruding male connector and a hollow female connector that are fitted together to be electrically connected.
In recent years, as a measure to cope with global warming, it is being considered to use, even for power transmission in local areas, a direct-current high-voltage power that suffers less power loss during voltage conversion and power transmission and does not necessitate increasing the diameter of a cable. Supplying electric power in this manner is particularly preferable for an information apparatus such as a server that consumes a large amount of electric power.
On the other hand, when electric power supplied to an electric apparatus has a high voltage, the electric power may affect the human body and operations of electronic components. When such a high-voltage power is used for an information apparatus such as a server that is installed and maintained by a human, it is necessary to use, for electric connection, a connector that is different from a connector used for a normal alternating-current commercial power supply.


A self-cleaning rotor assembly for a centrifugal separator can be thoroughly cleaned of accumulated solids without disassembly of the separator. The rotor assembly comprises a fully welded, enclosed rotor body. The rotor assembly has a double-ended, hollow axial shaft. The bottom end of the axial shaft extends through the separator housing and has a high pressure fluid coupling. A plurality of spray nozzles are fitted to the axial shaft within the rotor body. The spray nozzles are arranged to spray a washing fluid radially onto the interior surfaces of the rotor. The interior volume of the rotor is divided into a plurality of chambers by a corresponding plurality of axial vanes. At least one nozzle is disposed within each of the chambers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to centrifugal separators for separating mixed liquids of different densities, and more particularly to a self-cleaning rotor assembly for such separators.
2. Prior Art
Centrifugal devices are widely used for separating materials of different densities. Such devices have been found to provide a highly satisfactory method of separating liquids from one another based on different weight phases.
Separators, also referred to as extractors, can separate the individual components of a mixed component input stream, provided that the components remain in separate phases. In many instances, extraction may be facilitated with the use of a solvent that is injected into the device as a second input stream. In this case, the device is often referred to as a "contactor" since it brings the process stream and the solvent stream into intimate contact. The solvent phase, together with the soluble specie(s), is then separated from the carrier phase by differentiation of the phase densities. Typically, the process liquids comprise a lighter (less dense) solvent or organic phase and a heavier aqueous phase, which are introduced into the centrifugal contactor through separate inlets that communicate with a mixing zone. The resulting liquid mixture then enters the rotor of the contactor where centrifugal force separates the heavier phase from the lighter phase by forcing the heavier phase to flow outwardly away from the rotational axis of the rotor and thereby displace the lighter phase closer to the rotational axis of the rotor. The two phases are then individually collected at the upper end of the rotor with the heavier phase exiting at a location adjacent to the outer periphery and the lighter phase exiting at a location adjacent to the rotational axis. Typically, one or both of the exiting phases is subjected to one or more subsequent stages of extraction such as by circulation through another contactor.
A method of centrifugally separating the components of a water-petroleum mixture is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,158 issued to the second-named inventor of this application. The method described therein utilized a centrifugal contactor developed by the U.S. Department of Energy for the extraction of transuranic elements from radioactive waste streams at nuclear processing plants. It was discovered that this device could be advantageously employed for the separation of a water-petroleum mixture. Improvements to the basic contactor design are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,340 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,070, both of which are commonly assigned with the present application.
The centrifugal separator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,340 employs a welded rotor assembly. During normal use, particularly when separating water/petroleum mixtures, solids suspended within the mixture tend to accumulate in the interior of the rotor assembly. Such solids are difficult to remove from a welded, enclosed rotor assembly. Backflushing of the rotor has not produced satisfactory results. Better results have been obtained by disassembling the separator and removing the rotor assembly. However, this is a time-consuming operation, thereby causing the separator to be removed from service for an extended period of time.

Self-cleaning rotor for a centrifugal separator


Provided is a liquid crystal polyester resin composition comprising 100 parts by weight of a liquid crystal polyester resin, 2 to 50 parts by weight of hollow sphere having an average particle diameter of 5 to 500 xcexcm and a volume hollowness of 60 to 80%, and 0 to 40 parts by weight of inorganic fiber, wherein said liquid crystal polyester resin composition has the specific range of fracture rate of the hollow sphere. The liquid crystal polyester resing composition gives a molded product having necessary mechanical physical properties, light-weighted and excellently low thermal conductivity, with good reproducibility.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal polyester resin composition and a molded product thereof. More precisely, it relates to a liquid crystal polyester resin composition containing hollow sphere and a molded product thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because of their excellent thermal resistance and mechanical physical properties as well as their excellent flowability in molten state, i.e. processability, melt liquid crystallinity polyester reins that exhibit liquid crystallinity in molten state (hereinafter, such resin is referred to as liquid crystal polyester resin) have been used in various field including electric and electronic fields as molding materials which can be subjected to precise molding. In recent years, in the electric and electronic fields, downsizing, lightening and performance-elevating are more and more required. Following this, more light-weighted resins have been required for liquid crystal polyester resins as the materials having necessary heat resistance, mechanical physical properties and processability.
As means for lightening liquid crystal polyester resins, a method of compounding hollow sphere has been known. For example, JP-A-58-93759 (JP-B-64-7626) and JP-A-64-74258 describe light-weighted and excellently isotropic resin compositions as well as molding products thereof.
In the conventional resin compositions containing hollow sphere and molded products, however, insufficient reproducibility was inevitable in production thereof, including instability in performance occurred by ununiformity in degree of fracture of hollow spheres, and thus they were not satisfactory for production in the industrial scale.
An object of the invention is to provide, with good reproducibility, a liquid crystal polyester resin composition, which gives a molded product having necessary mechanical physical properties, light-weighted and excellently low thermal conductivity, and to provide a molded product thereof.
As the result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that the above object can be attained by a specific liquid crystal polyester resin composition containing a specific amount of specific hollow spheres, and thus completed the present invention.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to (1) a liquid crystal polyester resin composition comprising 100 parts by weight of a liquid crystal polyester resin, 2 to 50 parts by weight of hollow sphere having an average particle diameter of 5 to 500 xcexcm and a volume hollowness of 60 to 80%, and 0 to 40 parts by weight of inorganic fiber, wherein said liquid crystal polyester resin composition having an X value, defined below, of 10 to 50:
X=100xc3x97[(100/xcfx810+xcex1/xcfx811+xcex2/xcfx813)xe2x88x92(100+xcex1+xcex2)/xcfx81]/(xcex1/xcfx811xe2x88x92xcex1/xcfx812)
in the formula, a represents the amount of the hollow sphere (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcex2 represents the amount of the inorganic fiber (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcfx810 represents the specific gravity of the liquid crystal polyester resin, xcfx811 represents the true specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx812 represents the material specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx813 represents the specific gravity of the inorganic fiber and xcfx81 represents the specific gravity of ASTM No. 4 dumbbell (having a thickness of 2.5 mm) obtained by injection molding of said liquid crystal polyester resin composition.
Said liquid crystal polyester resin composition can be obtained by compounding 2 to 50 parts by weight of hollow sphere having an average particle diameter of 5 to 500 xcexcm and a volume hollowness of 60 to 80%, and 0 to 40 parts by weight of inorganic fiber with 100 parts by weight of a liquid crystal polyester resin.
The present invention also relates to (2) a molded product obtained by molding the liquid crystal polyester resin composition according to the above described (1).
The present invention further relates to a molded product obtainable by molding a liquid crystal polyester resin compound comprising 100 parts by weight of a liquid crystal polyester resin, 2 to 50 parts by weight of hollow sphere having an average particle diameter of 5 to 500 xcexcm and a volume hollowness of 60 to 80%, and 0 to 40 parts by weight of inorganic fiber, wherein said molded product having an Xxe2x80x2 value, defined below, of 10 to 50:
Xxe2x80x2=100xc3x97[(100/xcfx810+xcex1/xcfx811+xcex2/xcfx813)xe2x88x92(100+xcex1+xcex2)/xcfx81]/(xcex1/xcfx811xe2x88x92xcex1/xcfx812)
in the formula, a represents the amount of the hollow sphere (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcex2 represents the amount of the inorganic fiber (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcfx810 represents the specific gravity of the liquid crystal polyester resin, xcfx811 represents the true specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx812 represents the material specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx813 represents the specific gravity of the inorganic fiber and xcfx81xe2x80x2 represents the specific gravity of said molded product.
The liquid crystal polyester resin used in the invention is a polyester generally called thermotropic liquid crystal polymer, and forms an isotropic melt at a temperature of 400xc2x0 C. or below. Examples include:
a resin comprising a combination of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, an aromatic diol and an aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid;
a resin comprising different aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acids;
a resin comprising a combination of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid and an aromatic diol;
a resin formed by reacting a polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate or the like with an aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid; and the like. As materials for synthesis, sometimes ester-forming derivatives thereof are used in place of these aromatic dicarboxylic acid, aromatic diol and aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid.
The structural unit of the liquid crystal polyester used in the present invention include the followings.
Structural units derived from aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acids:
Structural units derived from aromatic dicarboxylic acids:
Structural units derived from aromatic diols:
The liquid crystal polyester which is preferable from the standpoint of balance between heat-resistance, mechanical property and processability is a liquid crystal polyester resin containing the structural unit represented by (A1) in an amount of at least 30 mol %. Specifically, those structural units having following combinations are preferable.
Combination of (A1), (B1), (B2), and (C1).
Combination of (A1), (B1), (B2), and (C2).
Combination of (A1), (B1), (B2), (C1) and (C2).
Known methods can be adopted for preparing liquid crystal polyester resins used in the present invention. For example, liquid crystal polyester resins of (a) and (b) are described in Japanese Patent Kokoku Publication (JP-B) Nos. 47-47870, 63-3888, and the like.
The hollow sphere used in the invention is generally called balloon. Examples of materials for the hollow sphere include inorganic materials such as alumina, silica, glass and the like; and organic materials such as urea resins, phenol resins and the like. A mixture of two or more thereof may be used as required. Amongst them, glass is suitable from the viewpoint of thermal resistance and strength. Therefore, glass balloon is preferably used as the hollow sphere.
The average particle diameter of the hollow sphere used in the invention is 5 xcexcm or more, preferably 10 xcexcm or more, from the viewpoint of molding characteristics and mechanical strength. The average particle diameter is 500 xcexcm or less, preferably 200 xcexcm or less, from the viewpoint of fracture inhibition and molding characteristics of the hollow sphere. The volume hollowness of the hollow sphere is 60% or more from the viewpoint of lowering of specific gravity, and 80% or less from the viewpoint of fracture inhibition of the hollow sphere. The volume hollowness of the hollow sphere can be obtained according to the following equation: Volume hollowness (%)=100xc3x97(1xe2x88x92xcfx811/xcfx812) wherein xcfx811 represents the true specific gravity of the hollow sphere (i.e., the specific gravity of the hollow sphere as it is), xcfx812 represents the material specific gravity of the hollow sphere (i.e., the specific gravity of the material itself that constitutes the hollow sphere).
The amount of the hollow sphere to be contained is 2 parts by weight or more, preferably 5 parts by weight or more, based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin, and 50 parts by weight or less, preferably 30 parts by weight or less, from the viewpoint of a balance of the specific gravity or stiffness.
The liquid crystal polyester resin composition of the invention may contain inorganic fiber for the purpose of increasing the strength. Examples of the inorganic fiber include glass fiber, alumina fiber, carbon fiber, boron fiber, potassium titanate fiber, asbestos and the like. Two or more of them can be used as required. Amongst them, glass fiber is suitably used.
When the inorganic fiber is contained, the amount thereof to be contained is usually 1 part by weight or more, preferably 3 parts by weight or more, more preferably 5 parts by weight or more, and usually 40 parts by weight or less, preferably 15 parts by weight or less, from the viewpoint of flowability, based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin. Sum of respective amounts of the hollow sphere and the inorganic fiber is usually 50 parts by weight or less, preferably 30 parts by weight or less, based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin.
The liquid crystal polyester resin composition of the invention has an X value, defined below, of 10 to 50:
X=100xc3x97[(100/xcfx810+xcex1/xcfx811+xcex2/xcfx813)xe2x88x92(100+xcex1+xcex2)/xcfx81](xcex1/xcfx811xe2x88x92xcex1/xcfx812)
wherein a represents the amount of the hollow sphere (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcex2 represents the amount of the inorganic fiber (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcfx810 represents the specific gravity of the liquid crystal polyester resin, xcfx811 represents the true specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx812 represents the material specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx813 represents the specific gravity of the inorganic fiber and xcfx81 represents the specific gravity of ASTM No. 4 dumbbell (having a thickness of 2.5 mm) obtained by injection molding of said liquid crystal polyester resin composition.
In the injection molding of the ASTM No. 4 dumbbell (having a thickness of 2.5 mm), the following conditions can be adopted:
Cylinder temperature: flow beginning temperature +20xc2x0 C.
(The flow beginning temperature means a temperature at which the melt viscosity shows 4800 Paxc2x7s when a heated melt is extruded under a load of 100 kg/cm2 (9.81 MPaxc2x7s) and a heating rate of 4xc2x0 C./minute using a capillary rheometer with a nozzle having an inside diameter of 1 mm and a length of 10 mm.)
Mold temperature: 130xc2x0 C.
The above value X corresponds to the fracture rate of the hollow sphere, because, in the above formula, (100/xcfx810+xcex1/xcfx811+xcex2/xcfx813) corresponds to sum of volumes of the liquid crystal polyester resin, plus hollow sphere and inorganic fiber before compounding, (100+xcex1+xcex2)/xcfx81 corresponds to a volume of ASTM No. 4 dumbbell (having a thickness of 2.5 mm), and (xcex1/xcfx811xe2x88x92xcex1/xcfx812) corresponds to a volume of hollow space of the hollow sphere before compounding, when the weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin is taken as 100.
The value X is preferably 30 or less and more preferably 20 or less. The value X of less than 10 is not preferred from the viewpoint of reproducibility on production and strength, and the value exceeding 50 is not preferred from the viewpoint of light-weighting and low thermal conductivity.
Preparation of the liquid crystal polyester resin composition of the invention may be carried out by mixing respective components including the liquid crystal polyester resin, hollow sphere, inorganic fiber as required and others with a Henschel mixer, tumbler or the like; by melt-kneading the respective components with an extruder to give pellets of composition; or by mixing respective components with a Henschel mixer, tumbler or the like and then melt-kneading with an extruder to give pellets of composition.
The liquid crystal polyester resin composition of the invention gives a molded product which is light-weighted and which has an excellent low thermal conductivity. Various molded products can be obtained by molding processes such as injection molding and the like using the composition. Injection molding is preferably conducted under conditions including an injection pressure and a holding pressure of 150 MPaxc2x7s in the molding machine, from the viewpoint of fracture inhibition of the hollow sphere.
By molding the liquid crystal polyester resin composition of the invention, amolded product can be obtained having an Xxe2x80x2 value, defined below, of 10 to 50:
Xxe2x80x2=100xc3x97[(100/xcfx810+xcex1/xcfx811+xcex2/xcfx813)xe2x88x92(100+xcex1+xcex2)/xcfx81]/(xcex1/xcfx811xe2x88x92xcex1/xcfx812)
wherein a represents the amount of the hollow sphere (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcex2 represents the amount of the inorganic fiber (part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the liquid crystal polyester resin), xcfx810 represents the specific gravity of the liquid crystal polyester resin, xcfx811 represents the true specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx812 represents the material specific gravity of the hollow sphere, xcfx813 represents the specific gravity of the inorganic fiber and xcfx81xe2x80x2 represents the specific gravity of said molded product.
The value Xxe2x80x2 is preferably 30 or less and more preferably 20 or less. The value Xxe2x80x2 of less than 10 is not preferred from the viewpoint of reproducibility on production and strength, and the value exceeding 50 is not preferred from the viewpoint of light-weighting and low thermal conductivity. The value Xxe2x80x2 corresponds to the fracture rate of the hollow sphere like the value X described above.
Examples of the molded product include: electric and electronic parts such as connector, socket, relay parts, coil bobbin, optical pickup, oscillator element, computer-related parts and the like; parts related to process for producing semiconductor such as IC tray and the like; domestic electric appliance parts such as VTR, television, iron, air conditioner, stereo, cleaner, refrigerator, rice cooker, illumination instruments and the like; parts for acoustic goods such as compact disk, laser disk, speaker and the like; parts for communication apparatuses such as telephone, facsimile, modem and the like; parts related to copiers and printers such as heater-holder and the like; machine parts such as impeller, fan-gear, gear, bearing, motor parts and casing and the like; cooking appliances such as microwave cooking pan, heat-resistant dish and the like; building materials or construction materials such as heat-insulation and sound-insulation materials including flooring material and wall material, supporting materials including pillar and beam, roof materials and the like; parts for aircrafts; parts for space machinery; parts for radiation facility such as nuclear reactor and the like, parts for marine facility, jigs for cleaning, pipes, nozzles, parts for sensors, sports goods, leisure goods and so on.

Liquid crystal polyester resin composition and molded product thereof