The hard disk drive of a computer system is loaded with a preloaded image including an operating system, a number of application programs, and a device driver installation routine, all of which are not dependent on the hardware configuration of the computer system. A hidden partition of the hard disk drive is also loaded with a number of device drivers, which are dependent upon the hardware configuration. During the first boot only of the preloaded image, the device drivers are installed by the device driver installation routine.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to developing a preloaded image of programs and data to be loaded into a computer system before it is delivered to an end user, and, more particularly, to developing such an image in a form that is independent of the hardware configuration of the computer system, and to additionally providing for the installation of device drivers that depend on the hardware configuration.
2. Summary of the Background Art
A typical computing system is delivered to an end user with a "preloaded" image of programs and data, including an operating system, application programs, and various drivers associated with the hardware of the computing system. Generally, large orders of computing systems from a single organization are delivered to the organization without this kind of an image. Then, the image is "preloaded" by an information technology specialist employed by the organization. On the other hand, computers sold in small numbers are generally delivered with the "preloaded" image having been loaded by the manufacturer, or, conceivably, by a value-added retailer.
Generally, the operating system and the application programs receive the most attention from the end user in terms of their perceived value. However, the device drivers are needed to allow operation of various hardware devices within the computing system.
FIG. 1 is a pictographic view of programs and data stored within the hard disk drive 10 of a conventional computing system in the form in which the system is delivered to the end user. This data includes a preloaded image 12, which in turn includes an operating system 14, a number of application programs 16, and a number of device drivers 18. The operating system 14, when loaded, controls the allocation and usage of various hardware resources of the computing system and provides a software foundation for the operation of the application programs 16, and for other application programs which may be subsequently installed. The application programs 16 are each designed to perform a specific task, such as word processing, spreadsheet calculations, accounting, or maintaining address book data. Each of the device drivers 18 permits the computer system to communicate with a particular hardware device within the computer system or with an external device attached to the computer system. Various device drivers 18 may manipulate the associated hardware device to allow the transmission of data to the device, while other device drivers 18 only perform a data translation function. A central hierarchical database 20, associated with the operating system 14 includes data used to locate and use the various device drivers 18. During subsequent operation of the computing system, the device drivers 18 are accessible to the operating system 14 and to the application programs 16. The preloaded image 12 also includes the master boot record (MBR) 22, stored in the first sector within the hard disk drive 10. The MBR 22 stores instructions to locate and begin the process of loading the operating system 14.
For example, if the operating system 14 is Microsoft WINDOWS 9x, WINDOWS CE, WINDOWS NT, WINDOWS 2000, or WINDOWS Me, the database 20 includes a first branch of the Registry, which stores a file known as a key for each entry. The key includes values that specify the type of entry, which may be associated with a device driver, with a service routine, or with a file system. The key also includes a pointer to the location of the device driver or service routine and a value that determines the order in which the device driver or service routine is loaded. The value associated with a device drive indicates that it is to be loaded at boot start by the operating system loader, later by the I/O manager of the operating system after executive subsystems have been loaded, or only on demand. In addition, if the operating system 14 is one of these versions of WINDOWS, the device drivers 18 are stored in a second branch 23 of the registry.
Thus, the device drivers 18 are dependent on the hardware configuration of the computing system. They are, in fact, a reflection of this hardware configuration, including the code necessary to operate these hardware devices. This dependency means that a different preloaded image 18 is needed for each hardware configuration. This requirement places a burden on the organization and individuals preparing and preloading the image 18. For example, it these individuals are responsible for supplying a range of different types of computing systems to end users, a different preloaded image must be developed and loaded for each type of computing system. In addition, when a new type of computer is added to the systems to be delivered, a new image 18 must be developed. Thus, what is needed is a method for using a preloaded image that is independent of the hardware configuration, so that the same preloaded image can by used across a number of different hardware configurations or platforms.
In order to accommodate hardware changes and upgrades, which are expected to occur, the operating system 14 includes means for installing additional device drivers, which are not installed as part of the preloaded image 18. For example, recent versions of Microsoft WINDOWS support a PLUG AND PLAY feature that recognizes installed or connected hardware devices for which a device driver has not been installed, and that then proceeds to find the device driver among a number of uninstalled device drivers stored within data associated with the operating system 14. The device driver may also be installed from a removable medium, such as a compact disk supplied with the operating system or a floppy diskette supplied with a new hardware device.
However, this ability of the operating system 14 to install device drivers cannot be reasonably used as an alternative to installing the necessary device drivers 18 as a part of the preloaded image 18. Even if all of the necessary device drivers were found among the data associated with the operating system 14, the installation of these drivers individually as installed hardware devices are discovered would take far too much time during the initial booting of the operating system 14. Furthermore, there is a likelihood that one or more of the necessary device drivers would not be readily found, and that user intervention would be required to provide removable media storing the device drivers. Thus, what is needed is a method for using a preloaded image that is independent of the hardware configuration while retaining an ability to install device drivers during system initialization.
Thus, the conventional operating system 16 is "transportable," being used on a number of different kinds of computer systems. For example, various versions of Microsoft WINDOWS are each used on a wide variety of types of computing systems, from large desk-top systems to laptop systems.
One method for making an operating system transportable in this sense is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,532 as a transportable operating system which can be readily configured on a relatively isolated computing system. All non-hardware related functions are contained in a transportable portion of the operating system, while hardware and potential hardware functions are developed through a hardware abstraction layer through appropriate interfaces and calls. The hardware abstraction layer is broken down into a main system read only memory (ROM), which contains a certain minimal number of functions, and various hardware modules, which may be located in ROM or on an adapter board. While a number of U.S. patents describe methods for reducing the level of dependence that device drivers have on the details of a particular hardware configuration, there is no reason to believe that the application of such methods can result in the development of an array of device drivers which is truly independent of the hardware configuration. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,585 defines a feature table that tracks peculiarities of the actual hardware allowing applications that write directly to the hardware devices to understand what these devices can and cannot do. What is needed is a method allowing installation preloaded image independent of the hardware configuration without placing an additional burden on application programs and without restricting the kinds of application programs which can be run.
While another patent describes ways of modifying an operating system to provide hardware-dependent capabilities, there is no reason to believe that this method can be expected to eliminate a need to install hardware-dependent device drivers. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,562 describes a way to incorporate new installation scripts into an existing operating system in order to install and reboot a system using a new platform-specific kernel and new device-specific drivers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,483 describes a device-driver interface for achieving portability of device drivers for operating with a full source level of compatibility across multiple instruction set architectures and platforms. The device driver interface makes transparent to the driver the actual data access mechanisms of the host computers on which the driver is compiled. However, this method leaves the device drivers dependent on the characteristics of the device being driven, so a convenient method of loading hardware-dependent device drivers is still needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,585 describes a computer system with a self-describing feature table, accessible by device drivers, with a simple process being able to access these feature tables to fully customize the device drivers at installation, or at boot. The device drive may be able to branch on the data in the feature table. However, there is no indication that such a method can eliminate the hardware-dependence of a device drive when it is installed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,169 describes a technique for enhancing a software layer while ensuring backwards compatibility. In one implementation, the software layer is a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) that interfaces between hardware and an operating system. The HAL can be enhanced with additional functionality without having to worry about crashing the operating system if the old hardware is used with the new HAL. Again, there is no indication that the use of this technique eliminates a need to load hardware dependent drivers during system initialization.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,089 describes a method for using a temporary connection between a client computer system and a server to update portions of an operating system and device drivers following changes to the client computer system. The server sends information describing the previous hardware configuration of the client system. Then, the client system determines differences between its current configuration and its previous configuration, and sends information describing new devices to the server. The server identifies new drivers and components of the operating system, and stores them in locations from which they are downloaded to the client computer. What is needed is a method for loading device drivers corresponding to the hardware of an actual system without requiring the establishment of a connection with a server or other procedures requiring operator interaction.

Method for providing a single preloaded software image with an ability to support multiple hardware configurations and multiple types of computer systems


An epoxy resin based powder coating composition is disclosed, comprising an epoxy resin, a reaction product of dicyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride, and a cure accelerator.. The coating composition may further comprise an aromatic acid anhydride based curing agent, an impact modifier and a surface smoothing agent.. The coating composition has stable powder characteristic and provides good heat resistance and electrical insulation.

Epoxy resins are conventionally cured with amine-based curing agents and common examples are aliphatic or aromatic polyamines, as well as secondary or tertiary amines. However, from the viewpoint of environmental hygienics, amine-based hardeners are not highly recommendable since they have strong irritating effects on the skin.
Under these circumstances, attention has been drawn to acid anhydride based curing agents such as maleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride and hexahydrophthalic anhydride and the use of them has increased these days.
However, such acid anhydride based curing agents have various problems, among which the following are pronounced: (1) absorbency is high; (2) high temperatures are needed to effect curing; (3) prolonged cure times are necessary; (4) solid and low-melting acid anhydrides may sometimes sublime when curing is effected at high temperatures; and (5) solid and high-melting acid anhydrides do not have satisfactory miscibility with epoxy resins.

Epoxy resin based powder coating composition


An improved process for the preparation of L-aspartic acid N-thiocarboxyanhydride by the reaction of a 0.75 to 1.25 molar solution of an N-alkoxy-thiocarbonyl L-aspartic acid in a lower alkyl acetate solvent with a phosphorous trihalide. The desired product is substantially insoluble in the lower alkyl acetate solvent and is recovered in pure form without further purification or separation steps.

This invention relates to the preparation of L-aspartic acid N-thiocarboxyanhydride, which is a useful intermediate for the synthesis of peptides. In particular, L-aspartic acid N-thiocarboxyanhydride is useful for reaction with L-phenylalanine lower alkyl esters to form L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine lower alkyl esters, which are useful as potent sweetening agents for use in food stuffs and beverages. The methyl ester is especially preferred as a sweetening agent.
The preparation of amino acid N-thiocarboxyanhydride derivatives is described in J. Org. Chem. 36, 49 (1971). One method of interest is by the reaction of an N-alkoxythiocarbonyl amino acid with a phosphorous trihalide. In order to allow the use of L-aspartic acid N-thiocarboxyanhydride as an intermediate for the preparation of L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine lower alkyl esters for use in food products, it is necessary to be able to prepare the L-aspartic acid N-thiocarboxyhydride in good yields and in high purity.

Process for the preparation of L-aspartic acid N-thiocarboxyanhydride


A method for transferring data includes connecting N ports of a crossbar to N devices, respectively, where N is an integer greater than one. Inbound data is received at one of the N ports from a respective one of the N devices. Dedicated connections are provided between an input buffer of one of the N ports and N−1 output buffers associated with others of the N ports, respectively. At least one of the N−1 output buffers of the others of the N ports is selected to output outbound data corresponding to the inbound data. The inbound data from the input buffer of one of the N ports is selectively transferred to at least one of the N−1 output buffers of the others of the N ports.

A network switch creates a network among a plurality of end nodes, such as workstations, and other network switches connected thereto. Each end node is connected to one port of the network. The ports also serve to connect network switches together.
Each end node sends packets of data to the network switch which the switch then routes either to another of the end nodes connected thereto or to a network switch to which the destination end node is connected. In the latter case, the receiving network switch routes the packet to the destination end node.
Each network switch has to temporarily store the packets of data which it receives from the units (end node or network switch) connected to it while the switch determines how, when and through which port to retransmit the packets. Each packet can be transmitted to only one destination address (a "unicast" packet) or to more than one unit (a "multicast" or "broadcast" packet). For multicast and broadcast packets, the switch typically stores the packet only once and transmits multiple copies of the packet to some (multicast) or all (broadcast) of its ports. Once the packet has been transmitted to all of its destinations, it can be removed from the memory or written over.
Switching Ethernet Controllers (SECs) are network switches that implement the Ethernet switching protocol. According to the protocol, the Ethernet network (cabling and Ethernet ports) operates at 10 Megabits per second. Switches which operate at the desired speed of 10 Megabits per second are known as providing "full-wire" throughput.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/790,155, filed Jan. 28, 1997, and incorporated herein by reference, in order to optimize through-put time, communication between SECs attempts to utilize the bus as little as possible so that the bus will be available as soon as a SEC wants to utilize it. Therefore, each SEC includes a write-only bus communication unit which transfers the packets out of the SEC by only writing to the bus. Thus, packets enter each SEC by having been written therein from other SECs and not by reading them in, since read operations utilize the bus for significant amounts of time compared to write operations. Having the bus available generally whenever a SEC needs it helps to provide the full-wire throughput.
However, when many SECs write to the same bus, the throughput is limited by the speed of the bus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for controlling the flow of packets through a network switch


A method for neighbor cell interference estimation in the UpLink of a CDMA communication system comprises obtaining measurements of an uplink received total wideband power (RTWP) and obtaining measurements of a load utilization of the uplink. At least a sum of the neighbor cell interference power and the noise power floor as well as a load utilization probability are jointly estimated from the measurements of an uplink RTWP and the measurements of a load utilization of the uplink. A thermal noise power floor is monitored by performing a running estimate of a long-time average uplink wideband power, preferably an estimated thermal noise power floor level or an operational level of the RTWP. A subset of the states of the estimation is selected, comprising only all states of the estimation that are associated with powers. The states of the selected subset and quantities associated therewith are scaled with a scaling factor. The scaling factor depends on the running estimate.

In connection with CDMA communication systems and Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) communication systems, Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) have recently been discussed and developed intensively. Heterogeneous networks concerns effects associated with networks where different kinds of cells are mixed. A problem is then that these cells may have different radio properties in terms of e.g. radio sensitivity, frequency band, coverage, output power, capacity or acceptable load level. This can be an effect of the use of different RBS sizes (macro, micro, pico, femto), different revision (different receiver technology, SW quality), different vendors and of the purpose of a specific deployment.
One of the most important factor in HetNets is that of air interface load management, i.e. the issues associated with the scheduling of radio resources in different cells and the interaction between cells in terms of inter-cell interference. The aspects that are of interest for the present disclosure are the algorithmic architectures associated with such air-interface load management in the UpLink (UL) of e.g. the WCDMA system. The reason for this renewed interest includes the need to optimize performance in HetNets and the fact that the concept of load changes with the introduction of advanced receivers.
To exemplify these problems, consider FIG. 1. That figure shows a Het Net 1 comprising a number of high power cells 2, also denoted as macro cells. A low power cell 4 with limited coverage is intended to serve a hotspot 3. In order to get a sufficient coverage of the hotspot 3 an interference suppressing receiver may be used. The problem is now that the low power cell is located in the interior of and at the boundary of a specific macro cell. Further, surrounding macro cells interfere with the low power cell rendering a high level of neighbor cell interference in the low power cell, that despite the advanced receiver reduces the coverage to levels indicated by reference numeral 5 that do not allow a major coverage of the hotspot 3. As a result, users of the hotspot 3 are connected to the surrounding macro cells 2, thereby further increasing the neighbor cell interference experienced by the low power cell 4.
From this discussion it should be clear that it would be advantageous if the Radio Network Controller (RNC) or the surrounding Radio Base Stations (RBSs) could be informed of the interference situation and take action, using e.g. admission control in the RNC or new functionality in the surrounding RBSs to reduce neighbor cell interference and to provide a better management of the hot spot traffic—in terms of air interface load. This requires RBS means to estimate the neighbor cell interference. This requires careful consideration of the algorithmic architectures involved.
Load estimation and load prediction as concepts are well know in prior art. Some of the applied methods are summarized in Appendix A.
Neighbor cell interference estimation as such based on uplink power measurements is known in prior art and it is e.g. described in [2]. The technology is based on the assumption that the powers of all radio links are measured in the uplink receiver. This is not the case today. The power measurement is associated with difficulties since the transmission of the WCDMA uplink is not orthogonal, a fact that causes errors when the powers are estimated and since the individual code powers are often small, making signal to noise ratios low as well. This fact contributes to the inaccuracy of said power estimates.
The major problem associated with the solution of [2], [4] is however that the sum of neighbor cell interference and thermal noise power needs to be estimated by means of high order Kalman filtering. This step has a very high computational complexity. Although [5] provides techniques that reduce this computational complexity it is still high when the number of users increase. The subsequent steps of [2] and [4] estimate the thermal noise power floor according to the prior art algorithms described above, followed by a subtraction to arrive at the neighbor cell interference.
The reference [3] recognizes a problem associated with power scaling of the output of the Kalman filter of the Rise over Thermal (RoT) estimator, i.e. the first block 301 of FIG. 2. Essentially, the problem is due to the fact that the Kalman filter is designed at a specific operating point in the linear power domain. Now, with recent traffic increases, the power operating point will vary significantly. With such significantly varying power operating point, the linear power domain of the Kalman filter makes the calculations non-optimized. Furthermore, these problems become even more severe when in-band interference external to the WCDMA system is entered into the equation. This is because such interference affects the UL power level significantly.
A problem is thus that inter-cell interference power estimation algorithms do not include functionality to handle noise floor and interference power variations anticipated in tomorrow's HetNets in an accurate manner.

Interference estimation and devices therefore


A receptacle for minimizing evaporation of a fluid includes a single-piece body, a fluid-tight seal, a penetrable septum, and a lid coupled to the body. The body includes a first chamber having a first opening. The fluid-tight seal is affixed to a surface of the body that defines the first opening. The fluid-tight seal covers the first opening and is frangible. The septum covers the first opening and the fluid-tight seal. The lid has an opening axially aligned with the first opening. The septum comprises slits forming flaps The first chamber can be the only chamber containing a fluid, or the single-piece body may also include another chamber containing the fluid. The other chamber can be in fluid communication with the first chamber via a conduit. The fluid-tight seal can also cover the opening of the second chamber.

Field
Embodiments of this disclosure relate to receptacles that contain a fluid.
Background
Sample processing instruments can use a variety of fluids. These fluids are typically contained within a chamber of a receptacle and, in some applications, are sealed within the chamber by a seal. These fluids can evaporate when exposed to atmospheric conditions, for example, after the seal is broken or omitted. It may be desirable in some applications to reduce or eliminate evaporation of the fluid. For example, evaporation may expedite the rate the fluid volume is reduced or may alter the concentration.


Provided is a method for milling ceramic powder which comprises wet-milling at least one ceramic powder by a media agitating mill wherein the volume of liquid is 4 times or less the net-volume of the ceramic powder. A dispersing agent is added and milling is carried out using grinding media of 1 mm, or less, in diameter. Further, a media agitating mill used for the above method is provided which comprises a milling chamber, grinding media and an agitator wherein the peripheral speed of the agitator is 10 m/s or more, the grinding media have a diameter of 1 mm or less and packing fraction of the grinding media is 65-85 vol %. A method for making a sintered body from fine powder produced by the above milling method is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a media agitating mill for performing grinding, mixing, dispersing, homogenizing and the similar actions.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for wet milling ceramic powders into fine particles, especially to submicron particles or finer particles by a media agitating mill.
The "milling" used herein includes preferential grinding which comprises carrying out grinding and mixing simultaneously.
Moreover, the present invention also relates to a fine powder and a method for producing the same and to a method for producing a sintered body using the fine powder, especially to a fine powder of 0.6 .mu.m or less in mean particle size and a method for producing it and a method for producing a sintered body using this fine powder.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, for milling ceramic powders to fine powders, there has been a method which comprises dispersing the ceramic powders in a liquid such as water, ethanol and trichloroethane in a volume of about 10 times or more that of the ceramic powders and agitating the dispersion together with grinding media such as agate, zirconia ceramic, and alumina ceramic, to thereby perform milling of the ceramic powders. It has been reported that in this method, when grinding media of small diameter (in the order of mm) are used, milling time can be shortened as compared with when grinding media of larger size are used. (Tanaka et al, "Zairyo (materials)", Vol. 35, pages 54-58). Recently, media agitating mill which agitates grinding media and powder at a high speed has been noticed as a mill for ceramic powders.
Conventional media agitating mills have a structure comprising at least a milling chamber, grinding media and an agitator and inner face of the milling chamber is made of metals such as stainless steel, ceramics or resins.
It has been said that in order to produce a homogenous and high density sintered body by ordinary firing, it is essential that the particle size of raw material powder is less than submicron. Recently, a fine powder prepared by a solution method such as a coprecipitation method or alkoxide method has been noticed as raw material powder for obtaining a homogeneous and high density sintered body by firing at a low temperature. Furthermore, as a method for obtaining a fine powder by a milling method, there is a method which uses a media agitating mill which agitates grinding media and powder at a high speed by an agitator.
The conventional methods need a long time for milling ceramic powders to fine powders, especially of a particle size of submicron. As mentioned in the above cited literature, in order to mill a calcined powder of BaTiO.sub.3 to a particle size of less than about 0.6 .mu.m, 100 hours or more is required even if grinding media of 2 mm are used.
The conventional media agitating mills and methods for milling ceramic powders using this mills require a long time for milling ceramic powders to fine powders, especially to a particle size of submicron. Further, in this case, grinding media or an agitator are considerably worn and the components thereof are incorporated into the ceramic powders to cause deterioration and scattering of properties. The milling time can be shortened by increasing the number of revolution or peripheral speed of agitator to increase a milling speed. However, the above-mentioned conventional milling chambers have various defects and the milling speed cannot be increased so much. That is, in case the milling chamber is made of metals such as stainless steel or chromium plating, the milling chamber is considerably worn and the components of the chamber are incorporated into ceramic powders, resulting in deterioration or scattering of the properties. If the milling chamber is made of ceramic such as alumina and zirconia, wear is relatively less than that of the metallic chamber, but is still serious and causes incorporation of components of the chamber into ceramic powders, resulting in deterioration and scattering of the properties. Besides, they are relatively expensive. When the chamber is made of resins such as polyethylene and polyurethane, since they are low in thermal conductivity, heat is considerably generated when a milling speed is increased and thus, the milling speed cannot be sufficiently increased.
According to the conventional solution methods such as a coprecipitation method and alkoxide method, there is obtained a homogeneous fine powder having a particle diameter of from submicron to several nanometers and uniform in particle diameter, but the resulting powder is generally poor in dispersibility. Therefore, a molded body of high density cannot be obtained and hence it is difficult to obtain a homogeneous sintered body because of abnormal growth of particles. Moreover, according to these methods, the composition of the resulting powder is not necessarily the same as that of raw material. Besides, the resulting powder is high in cost.
On the other hand, there is a ball mill method as a milling method for obtaining fine powders and this method has been widely used as a method excellent in mass-producibility. However, this method requires much time for obtaining a powder of submicron in particle size. In addition, a powder prepared by the conventional milling method is inferior in dispersibility and a molded body or sintered body of high density is difficult to obtain.

Media agitating mill and method for milling ceramic powder

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Light is supplied into a light incident surface 2 from a fluorescent lamp L enclosed by a silver foil sheet R, and parallelized illuminating light flux is taken out from a light exit surface 3. On a back surface 4 side of a light flux parallelizer 1, across or without a thin air layer 5, a polarization converter .SIGMA. is disposed. The polarization converter .SIGMA. reinforces the polarization function of the surface light source device through polarization conversion action accompanying reflection in the prism. At a position confronting the light exit surface 3 across an air layer 7, a polarization separating plate 8 is disposed. At a further outside, across an air layer 9, an exit light direction modifier 10 is disposed. A bright polarized illuminating light flux is emitted from a light exit surface 11. When applied to a backlight of a liquid crystal display, a liquid crystal display panel is disposed at a further outside of the exit light direction modifier 10.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a surface light source device having a function for generating a polarized light flux from a polarization-free light or a function for generating a much polarized light flux from a less polarized light (hereinafter called polarization function). The surface light source device of the invention is employed in applications requiring polarized light flux, and is particularly applied beneficially to backlight of a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been hitherto known well to apply a surface light source device comprising a light guide plate having light scattering ability on the surface or inside, and a light source (such as fluorescent lamp) disposed at the side to backlight of a liquid crystal display or the like (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patents No. H2-221926 and No. H4-145485, and Japanese Laid-open Utility Model No. 51-89888).
In these "conventional" surface light source devices, the principle is based on the idea that the quantity of light emitted from the light exit surface is maintained by making the light propagation direction as random as possible by the light scattering action in the light guide or surface region. Therefore, the presented illuminating light is free from evident directivity, and does not have function for generating the light possessing polarization in a specific direction.
By contrast, the present inventor previously proposed a light flux parallelizing apparatus by making use of light flux parallelizing function of a wedge-shaped light scattering light guide having characteristic parameters for defining the scattering characteristic (effective scatter irradiation parameter E and correlation distance a; detail given later) determined in a specific range (Japanese Patent Application No. H5-349479, filed Dec. 28, 1993). When a modified surface light source device is constituted by combining the light flux parallelizing apparatus with a light source, the illuminating light flux has a definite directivity, but polarization polarized in a specific direction cannot be generated.
As the means for obtaining polarized light from a polarization free light emitted from an ordinary light source, polarizing plates and beam splitter type polarizer are known. These polarizing elements eliminate the polarized components in a direction orthogonal to a specific direction in order to obtain a polarized light.
As a result, about half of the light energy is lost. Therefore, if the polarizing element is combined with any one of the surface light source devices mentioned above, it is difficult to obtain polarized illuminating light flux efficiently.
On the other hand, when a polarization-free illuminating light flux is entered from behind a liquid crystal display panel of a liquid crystal display, by the polarizing plate provided at the light incident side of the liquid crystal display panel in order to enter the light polarized in a specific direction into the liquid crystal layer, about half of the light energy of the illuminating light flux generated in the surface light source device is wasted. Accordingly, the brightness of the display of the liquid crystal display is sacrificed.
If the surface light source device having a capability of generating a light flux polarized in a specific direction having a suppressed light energy loss is presented, by employing it in the backlight of the liquid crystal display, the loss of the liquid crystal display panel when passing through the polarizing plate can be lowered (The polarizing direction of the illuminating light flux from the backlight and the polarizing axis direction of the polarizing plate are set parallel.). From such viewpoint, realization of a surface light source device having a capacity of generating a light flux polarized in a specific direction with a suppressed light energy loss has been waited for.

Surface light source device with polarization function


A charged species source and a charged species drain are provided. A moveable component is positioned proximate to the charged species source and the charged species drain. A first protrusion and a second protrusion are provided in contact with the moveable component, wherein at least one of the moveable component, the first protrusion and the second protrusion have a size of a micrometer scale or smaller. The moveable component is moved relative to the charged species source and the charged species drain to transfer electrical charge between the source and the drain.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power supplies for applications and devices that require small, low-cost, high-voltage power supplies. These power supplies can be used, for example, in high-density and ultra-high-density data storage devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a Van De Graaf apparatus according to the related art. A Van De Graaf apparatus is typically manufactured on a macroscopic scale and is often used to raise the hair of students during high school science demonstrations as the students touch the apparatus with their hands.
The portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 has a charged species source 10 that is connected to an electrical ground 20. In close proximity to the edge or tip of the charged species source 10 is a belt 30 that is wrapped around a first roller 40 and a second roller 50. The belt 30 travels in a closed path around the rollers 40, 50 as the rollers 40, 50 turn or spin about their fixed axes 45, 55.
The first roller 40 is either positively or negatively charged and the second roller 50 either remains uncharged or is oppositely charged relative to the first roller 40. Away from the charged species source 10, but also proximate to the belt 30, is positioned a charged species drain 60. The charged species drain 60 is electrically connected to a device 70 such as a power supply or capacitor. During operation, the Van De Graaf apparatus supplies a current to the device 70.
The charged species source 10 generally is made from a metal or other conductive material. The charged species source 10 generally takes the shape of a pin or a comb. However, other geometries are sometimes used.
The belt 30 is typically made of rubber. The first roller 40 typically is made from a material other than rubber. The second roller 50 is typically made of a material that is neither the material used to make the belt 30 nor the material used to make the first roller 40. However, under certain circumstances, the second roller 50 and the belt 30 are made from the same material.
The charged species drain 60 can be made from a metal or other conducting material. The charged species drain 60 is often in the shape of a pin or a comb, although other geometries are sometimes used. The device 70 to which the charged species drain 60 is electrically connected can be any type of apparatus that would benefit from a high potential current being supplied to it.
When operating the Van De Graaf apparatus, the first roller 40 typically undergoes a charging process. The first roller 40 can be either positively or negatively charged, depending on the type of charged species that are used to supply current to the device 70. For example, if electrons are used, the first roller 40 is positively charged.
In order to charge the first roller 40, charged species may be supplied to the first roller 40 from an outside source. Alternatively, the first roller 40 can be tribocharged.
Tribocharging involves "frictional charging" between two contacting surfaces that are made from different materials. Since different materials attract electrons with different amounts of force, tribocharging operates on the principle that, when two different materials rub against each other, the electrons in the surface atoms of one material will be more strongly attracted to the other material and will effectively "tear off" of one material in order to attach themselves to the other. If the materials continue to rub against each other over time, one material will become more and more negatively charged while the other material will become more and more positively charged as surface atom electrons continue to move from one material to the other.
In FIG. 1, the surfaces of the first roller 40 and of the belt 30 move relative to each other when the first roller 40 turns and moves the belt 30. Also, because the belt 30 and first roller 40 are made from different materials, charged species from the surface of the belt 30 are transferred to the surface of the first roller 40. Therefore, over time the first roller 40 becomes charged. The belt also gets charged, but because it is larger, the charged species are more diffuse.
When it is desirable for the second roller 50 to be oppositely charged relative to the first roller 40, the material from which the second roller 50 is made can be chosen such that, as the surface of the belt 30 moves relative to the second roller 50, tribocharging occurs that is opposite in polarity to the tribocharging that occurs between the first roller 40 and the belt 30. In other words, in FIG. 1, the belt 30 can tribocharge the first roller 40 with one type of charged specie and can charge the second roller 50 with an oppositely charged specie.
When, on the other hand, it is desirable that an uncharged second roller 50 be used, the belt 30 and the second roller 50 can be manufactured from the same material, thereby preventing tribocharging. Also, even if different materials are used to make the belt 30 and second roller 50, the charged species that build up in the second roller 50 can be quickly removed by an external electrical connection.
Once the desired charging has occurred in each of the rollers 40, 50, the charged species source 10 is "turned on" and charged species begin to flow towards the tip of the charged species source 10 closest to the belt 30. The charged species at the tip of the charged species source 10 then get attracted by the charged first roller 40 and travel towards it. However, the charged species do not travel through the belt 30 and therefore effectively become attached to the belt 30.
Once the charged species are attached to the belt 30, the moving belt 30 transports the charged species from a position near the first roller 40 to a position near the oppositely charged or uncharged second roller 50. Once the charged species are near the second roller 50, they either experience no electrostatic forces between themselves and the second roller 50 or experience repulsive electrostatic forces that repel the charged species away from the second roller 50.
The unattracted or repelled charged species them approach the charged species drain 60. When the species get close enough to the drain 60, they move off of the surface of the belt 30, through the drain 60, and to the device 70 where they supply a current at a high electrostatic potential.
The related art device illustrated in FIG. 1 has the disadvantage that it can only be used on a macroscopic scale. Further, a significant amount of energy is required to move the belt 30 by using the first roller 40 and second roller 50.

Method of transferring electric charge using a micrometer-scaled device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A stress-driven electrostrictive ceramic low-voltage plate voltage sensor based on the principle of the field-coupling between the strain and polarization in the ceramic material of the device. Application of a dithering or driving voltage to a piezoelectric tube thereby generating an oscillating polarization whose amplitude is proportional to an applied low-frequency voltage. A electrostrictive ceramic wafer material affixed to the piezoelectric tube senses this oscillation and generates a displacement current. The displacement current represents a voltage output that is an amplitude modulated carrier whose displaced amplitude is proportional to an applied unknown signal voltage sought to be determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low-frequency voltage sensor and more particularly to a stress-driven low-frequency electrostrictive ceramic plate voltage sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Field response materials, e.g., magnetostrictive metals and electrostrictive ceramics, are used in sensors.
The measurement of low-frequency magnetic fields utilizing a magnetoelastic amorphous metal low-frequency magnetic field sensors with a magnetostrictive amorphous metal ribbon has been discussed by Mermelstein in the paper entitled A Magnetoelastic Metallic Glass Low-Frequency Magnetometer, IEEE Trans. Magn. Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 36-56, January 1992. This technique is based upon the magnetoelastic interaction between the magnetization and strain in field-annealed amorphous metal ribbons. The magnetoelastic magnetometer has the ability to measure the low-frequency magnetic field and magnetic field gradiants in the presence of other low-frequency perturbations such as temperature and other stress fluctuations.
The principle of operation of the magnetometer is based upon the field-dependent coupling between the magnetization and strain modes in the magnetostrictive amorphous material. It is constructed by interfacing a resonating piezoelectric plate to a field-annealed magnetostrictive amorphous ribbon with a viscous fluid. The piezoelectric plate serves to generate a well-defined stress wave in the ribbon at acoustic frequencies where the viscous fluid transfers the strain in the ceramic to the ribbon.
Also, electrostrictive ceramics have been demonstrated for use in the detection of low-frequency voltages in fiber optic interferometers, as discussed in the paper Fiber-optic dc and low-frequency electric field sensor, Vohra et al., Opt. Ltrs., Vol. 16 No. 18, pp. 1445-1447, September 1991. However, they require the use of fiber-optic interferometers to measure low-frequency voltages. Presently, this is the only technology available to measure low-frequency voltages using electrostrictive materials.

Low-frequency electrostrictive ceramic plate voltage sensor

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A mirror drive device that eliminates the need of an additional driving source for releasing a mirror from a locked state, and achieves power saving, lower cost, and size reduction thereof. When a main mirror holder and a sub mirror holder rotatably attached thereto are in respective mirror-down positions, cams of a cam gear and a mirror drive gear that moves the sub holder are in contact to restrict movement of the mirror drive gear. When the holders are between the mirror-down position and a mirror-up position, gears of the cam gear and the mirror drive gear are in mesh for moving the sub holder. When the sub holder is moved from the mirror-down position to the mirror-up position, the sub holder is brought into contact with the main holder to push and move the main holder from the mirror-down position to the mirror-up position.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mirror drive device equipped with a mechanism for high-speed driving of a mirror unit provided in an image pickup apparatus, such as a single-lens reflex camera, and an image pickup apparatus equipped with the mirror drive device.
Description of the Related Art
In a mirror drive device mounted on an image pickup apparatus, such as a single-lens reflex camera, an operation for retracting a mirror unit formed by a main mirror and a sub mirror from a photographing optical path during photographing and an operation for moving the mirror unit into the photographing optical path during finder observation are performed at high speed. Each mirror of the mirror unit having entered the photographing optical path is brought into contact with an associated stopper formed on the mirror drive device, thereby being positioned in a predetermined stop position to guide an object light flux having passed through a photographic optical system to a viewfinder optical system and a focus detection unit.
As such a mirror drive device as described above, there has been proposed one equipped with a direct drive mechanism for directly driving the main mirror. In this proposed mirror drive device, a voice coil motor causes the main mirror to move from a mirror-down position where the main mirror is in the photographing optical path to a mirror-up position where the main mirror is retracted from the photographing optical path. Further, the main mirror is engaged and locked in the mirror-down position using a locking lug which is slidably moved by a solenoid, and the main mirror is released from the locked state by energizing the solenoid to drive the same slidably moving the locking lug (see Japanese Patent. Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-44271).
In a quick return mechanism. e.g. of a single-lens reflex camera, the mirror unit is rotated between the mirror-down position and the mirror-up position by rotating the main mirror with a spring force, and causing the sub mirror to follow the main mirror using a toggle spring and an inversion cam.
However, in the mechanism that drives the mirror unit using the spring force, to rotate the mirror at high speed, it is necessary to use a spring having a large spring force. For this reason, a large torque is required to charge the spring at high speed during rotation of the mirror, which requires an actuator having a large driving force, or a reduction gear having a large reduction ratio.
To solve this problem, conventionally, there has been proposed a mirror drive device using a spring member which inverts its urging direction during rotation of a mirror (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No, 2006-30498). In the proposed mirror drive device, the spring member applies the urging force to the mirror in a direction in which the mirror is retracted, when the mirror is in a position for finder observation, and applies the urging force to the mirror in a direction toward the position for finder observation, when the mirror is in the retracted position.
However, in the mirror drive device proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-44271, the solenoid which is an additional driving source is required to release the main mirror from the state locked using the locking lug. This increases not only the power consumption, but also manufacturing costs, and further, a space for arranging a slide mechanism for the locking lug and the solenoid is also required, which increases the size of the mirror drive device, leading to an increase in the size of the camera.
Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication. No. 2006-30498, after the mirror reaches a position where the urging direction of the spring member for applying the urging force is inverted during rotation of the mirror, it is necessary to always charge the spring member. This increases a load in a charging region of the spring member, which limits achievement of lower torque in rotating the mirror.

Mirror drive device that moves mirror holders and image pickup apparatus


A spindle assembly includes a main housing, a spindle mounted for rotation within the housing, a wheel hub attached to the spindle, a coupling located adjacent to an inner end of the spindle, and a disconnect shaft located within a bore of the coupling. The disconnect shaft is moveable in an axial direction between an engaged position in which a splined portion of the disconnect shaft mates with splined portions of both the spindle and the coupling to prevent the spindle from rotating independently of the coupling, and a disengaged position that allows the spindle to free-wheel relative to the coupling. A sprocket or gear is connected to an inner end of the coupling to connect the spindle assembly to a drive motor. An actuator is connected to an inner end of the disconnect shaft to move the shaft between its engaged and disengaged positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to spindle assemblies for self-propelled vehicles, and particularly to spindle assemblies having a coupling for disconnecting the spindle from a drive motor to provide a free-wheeling mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional spindle assembly 10 for self-propelled vehicles is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The conventional spindle assembly 10 provides a bearing and hydraulic motor disconnect package for use in the towable equipment market. It allows an equipment operator to do two primary functions:                1. Tow a vehicle from one job site to another when the spindle assembly is in the "disconnected" or "free-wheeling" mode; and        2. Once at a job site, to engage the vehicle's self-propelling drive system by means of a movable splined shaft connecting a hydraulic motor to the equipment's wheels.
Typically, two spindle assemblies are used on vehicles, but some vehicles have only one. Major components of the conventional spindle assembly are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and include: a housing 11, a spindle 12, a wheel hub 13, a disconnect shaft 14, bearings 15, and a coupling 16.
The housing 11 contains the bearings 15 and spindle 12. The spindle 12 is splined in the center to allow for the connecting and disconnecting of the spindle assembly 10 from the hydraulic motor (not shown), as well as mounting of the wheel hub 13 where the vehicle's tire rim will attach. The disconnect shaft 14 is also splined and slides between the spindle 12 and the coupling 16 depending on which mode (connected or disconnected) the equipment operator requires. Pulling the shaft 14 out disengages the unit and places it in free-wheeling mode. A positive lock-out is included to assure the shaft 14 will not engage the coupling 16 while the vehicle is being towed. When the shaft 14 is allowed to engage into the coupling 16, the unit is placed in connected mode, and the vehicle can be moved on a job site with its own power. The conventional spindle assembly 10 allows for the mounting of the hydraulic motor directly to the housing 11 where the splined drive shaft on the motor will engage into the coupling 16 thus providing power to the wheels of the vehicle.
The hydraulic motor shaft is directly engaged into the coupling 16. This arrangement relies solely on the motor and hydraulic drive system for performance of the vehicle and smoothness of operation around the job site. However, in certain cases, optimal performance cannot be achieved with the motor based on the design of the hydraulic system or because of limitations with the hydraulic motor.
In the conventional spindle assembly 10, equipment operators must manually disengage the disconnect shaft 14 on each wheel with a handle 17 located in the center of the wheel. This handle 17 is located on the outboard side of the vehicle. While no fault of the design, operators often neglect to disengage the handle 17 when leaving a job site. This causes the torque from the vehicle's wheels to be transferred back from the road through the spindle 12 and into the hydraulic motor. The result often leads to damage occurring to the internal splines on the coupling 16, disconnect shaft 14 and/or spindle 12, as well as damage to the hydraulic motor. The conventional design does not allow for an efficient way to disconnect the spindle assembly 10 with the disconnect handle 17 in the existing location because anything that is added will greatly complicate tire changes if a flat occurs. Any change to the design will only add length to the disconnect handle 17, and that would lead to damage if the vehicle comes in close contact with another object when clearances at a job site are an issue.
There is a need in the industry for an improved spindle assembly having a disconnect feature for use with self-propelled vehicles to provide a free-wheeling mode.

Spindle assembly for self-propelled vehicle


An apparatus and method for securing the front and back upholstery material portions together over a metal frame for a chair back in a vehicle chair. The chair back is of the type that folds downwardly. A channel member is secured to the bottom of the frame for the chair back. Clips having U-shaped portions are secured to the channel so that the U-shaped portions face out of the channel. The upholstery material is sewed into an enclosure with a front portion, a back portion, and an open bottom. The enclosure is inserted over the metal frame. The ends of the front and back portions are tightly drawn together and inserted into the clips for retention. Stiffening members are secured to the ends.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to upholstering, and in particular to an apparatus and method for upholstering a vehicle chair back.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many pleasure boats, particularly the so-called "bass boats", have upholstered and padded swivel chairs positioned fairly high for casting. When driving the boat with the main engine, often the operator sits near the rear of the boat. To improve visibility, the backs of the swivel chairs are hinged to the seat so that they can be folded down. The backs are also usually folded down while towing the boat.
In upholstering the chair backs, the front, back and side portions are first sewn together into an open-bottomed enclosure. The enclosure is inserted over the frame of the back, and the front and back portions are secured by various means at the bottom. While the back is folded down, the base or bottom of it is exposed. Consequently it is desirable to have an attractive closure means for securing the front and back portions together. Also, a fast and simple method for securing the back portion to the front portion for vehicle chair backs in general is desirable.

Apparatus for upholstering a vehicle chair


A method of inhibiting atrophy of the skin or vagina comprising administering to a human in need thereof an effective amount of a compound having the formula ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 are independently hydrogen, --CH.sub.3, ##STR2## wherein Ar is oprionally substituted phenyl; R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of pyrrolidine, hexamethyleneamino, and piperidino; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of solvate thereof.

Changes in the appearance and texture of the skin with increasing age has been proverbial and well documented both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is a subject which is highly subjective in its evaluation and its ultimate effect on the individual. By in large the effect of the general atrophy of skin with age is cosmetic, but can have pathological consequences many of which are psychological in nature, i.e., the feeling of getting "old," depression, loss of sexual attractiveness, etc. In some cases, the atrophy of the skin in older people can have direct pathologies associated with it, e.g., the ability of the skin to repair in wound healing. In general, the atrophy of the skin is considered a normal and progressive consequence of the aging process and taken with "good grace." Despite the normal acceptance of aging, there is a particular time in a woman's life, i.e., the menopause, when the progressive aging pattern is greatly accelerated, especially with regard to atrophy of the vagina and skin. It is often this rapid acceleration and suddenness of change which can be contributory to pathological and psychological distress. Additionally, vaginal atrophy can lead to discomfort, e.g., itching, dryness, and painful intercourse, which can lead to a loss of sexual enjoyment and conjugal harmony and in some cases be causal in social sequellae such as divorce.
As mentioned before, the atrophy or aging of the skin can have both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The qualitative aspects are: the change of smoothness and texture, thus causing a "roughness" in look and feel on the outer surface of the skin, the change of elasticity of the skin, thus effecting the mechanical properties of the skin, and the changes in skin pigmentation. These qualitative changes result in the commonly described condition of atrophied skin as: wrinkled, rough, withered, and spotty. Quantitatively, skin aging in post-menopausal women can be measured as: a decrease in the mitotic rate of keratinocytes, changes in dermal thickness, decrease in glycosaminoglycans and soluble collagen which are linked to the moisture content of the skin, and the decease in the urinary excretion of hydroyproline, a measure of decrease collagen turnover. The qualitative changes in the skin, i.e., sightlessness and mechanical properties, are the result of the quantitative changes, i.e., loss or change of the extra-cellular matrix components. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate a beneficial effect of a therapy for post-menopausal skin atrophy without totally relying on subjective analysis, even though a subjective improvement may be the ultimate desired effect. In the case of vaginal atrophy, the quantitative aspect is the amount of vaginal moisture which is controlled by the amount of secretion from glands in the dermus, the qualitative result is subjective comfort.
Currently, there are two major therapies available for the treatment of skin and vaginal atrophy in post-menopausal women. The first therapy is strictly a cosmetic approach, e.g., the use of make-up, skin moisturizers, night cremes, vaginal lubricants, etc. Although this cosmetic therapy does not affect the underlying physiological cause of the atrophy, often it does achieve some subjective benefit for the individual. The second type of therapy involves the treatment of the underlying physiological causes with active, medicinal agents, most notably Vitamin A and estrogens. Vitamin A is used, its effectiveness is controvsial, and it is known to have substantial, undesirable side-effects which limit its use.
At the time of menopause, the levels of estrogen produced by the ovaries rapidly decrease. This decrease in estrogen has pronounced effects on the skin and vagina causing a rapid acceleration in the natural process of atrophy. Estrogen replacement therapy is often beneficial in treating skin and vaginal atrophy. However, estrogen replacement therapy has undesired side-effects, most serious of which is the potential for the development of the threat of cancer. The inclusion of progestinal agents leads to undesirable psychological effects. The use of estrogen replacement therapy for the sole purpose of treating skin and vaginal atrophy is not common because of the negative side-effects. Clearly, an effective and safe agent which positively effects the underlying physiology and thus improves the qualitative aspects of skin and vaginal properties in post-menopausal women would be useful.

Methods of inhibiting atrophy of the skin and vagina


A system, method, apparatus, and computer program product for customizing an appliance display are disclosed. A method may include receiving an indication of a selected image and an indication of a target appliance on which the selected image is to be displayed. The method may additionally include determining one or more display characteristics of a display of the target appliance. The method may also include processing the selected image based on the one or more display characteristics to generate a customized image formatted for display as a background image on the display of the target appliance. The method may further include configuring the target appliance, via a network, to display the customized image as a background image underlying a graphical user interface that may be displayed on the display during operation of the target appliance.

In recent years, there has been rapid advancement in display technology. For example, advancements in technologies such as liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display technology, and other similar technologies have resulted in the development of display panels that are often capable of displaying full color, high resolution graphics. Moreover, the slim depth profile and continued reduction in cost of these displays have resulted in the integration of displays into a variety of consumer products that heretofore lacked such displays. For example, household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines, and the like, now often include flat panel displays that are used to display a graphical user interface that may be used to display appliance operating status information and, in the cause of touch screen displays, to control appliance operation.
Concurrent with the evolution in display technology, there has been an ongoing development in low cost home networking solutions as well as increasing consumer sophistication in deploying and maintaining home local area networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs). As a result, home local area networks are now ubiquitous and an increasing number of consumer products now offer networking capability supporting connectivity to a home local area network, as progress continues to be made toward the conceptual "connected home" in which a multitude of consumer devices within a home are interconnected via a network for purposes of information sharing and automation among multiple devices in a home. For example, many household appliances now offer network connectivity supporting connectivity to a home local area network as well as communication with devices outside the home local area network via the Internet.

System, method, apparatus, and computer program product for customizing an appliance display


A stent delivery system is configured to include an outer tube and an inner tube, with a space between the inner and outer tubes. In the space between the outer tube and the inner tube, a cylindrical mesh reinforcing spacer is provided at a position that is on the base end side of a stent. The reinforcing spacer is provided to be freely movable in the axial direction and radial direction. Even when the outer tube and the inner tube, which have been advanced into the lumen of a living body, are bent, the reinforcing spacer moves in the axial and radial directions and elastically deforms, thereby maintaining a substantially uniform internal circumference for the outer tube along the axial direction.

Conventionally, there have been cases where a stent formed from metallic wire or the like in the shape of a hollow cylinder having a multiplicity of openings in its side wall and which is expandable in a lumen of a living body, such as blood vessel, bile duct, trachea, esophagus, urethra, etc., is used for improvement of a lesion part (stenosed part or obliterated part) in the lumen of the living body.
For instance, a stent having a self-expanding function (self-expandable stent) is delivered into a lumen of a living body while in a compressed state and contained in a gap between an inner tube and an outer tube, in a distal portion of a delivery catheter having the outer tube disposed over the periphery of the inner tube. Then, the outer tube is retracted proximally to release and expand the stent, whereby the stent can be put indwelling in the lesion part. In the stent delivery system having the stent and the catheter of this kind, there are cases where, for example, the outer tube and the inner tube are inserted into a winding lumen of a living body and are advanced into a lesion part. In this case, the space provided between the outer tube and the inner tube may cause bending and buckling of the outer tube.
In view of this, there has been known, as for example disclosed in JP-T-2002-525168 and JP-T-2006-525834, a stent delivery system wherein a coiled spring is provided between an outer tube and an inner tube so that the outer tube can be supported when the outer tube and the inner tube are bent in a lumen of a living body.
In the stent delivery system disclosed in JP-T-2002-525168 and JP-T-2006-525834, however, both ends of the coiled spring are connected (fixed) to the proximal end (base end) of the stent and the inner tube. When the inner tube and the outer tube are bent, therefore, the spring provided inside cannot follow up to the bending, so that stress concentration occurs at the contact point where the spring makes contact with the inner circumferential surface of the outer tube. As a result, the bent outer tube cannot be evenly supported by the spring. In addition, kinking (sharp bending) may take place, with the contact point between the bent outer tube and the spring as a starting point. In such a situation, the distal ends of the outer tube and the inner tube of the stent delivery system cannot be delivered into a desired portion in a lumen of a living body.


A roll mill, particularly a flaking mill with a product channel on each of the axial ends of the rollers utilizes at least two rollers having guide channels with adjoining guide surfaces, at their axial ends, with the guide channels and guide surfaces, conveying the product to be milled into the converging gap or nip of the rollers. The guide surfaces are pivotable via a piston-cylinder unit from an operating position into a discharge position where in the latter position, foreign objects which have accumulated on the guide surface are removed via an open flap, below the guide surface, into a container.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a roll mill, and in particular to a flaking mill for milling particulate material having at least two rollers that are pressed against one another by means of a pressure device, with each of the axial ends of the rollers having a product channel arranged relative thereto, with an inclined guide surface thereof being adapted to bring the product to be milled, Which tends to extend beyond the axial length of the rollers, back to the converging gap of the rollers.
2. Discussion of the Background of the Invention and Material Information
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,917 and cognate European Patent EP 0271828, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a roll mill in which product guides or guide channels are utilized on both ends or edges of the rolls which serve to return the product to be milled, that flows outwardly towards the ends of the rolls, back into the grinding gap.
In addition it is known that the product that is fed into the grinding gap, respectively the converging gap or nip between the rolls, which is not directly pulled into the gap, has a tendency to flow toward the ends of the rolls, so that predominately clumps and coarse particles etc. in the product, which are in a granulatory manner substantially larger than the product itself, and therefore cannot be gripped by the grinding nip, according to the noted tendency, arrive at the ends of the rolls.
Roll mills, which were already the state of the art with reference to prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,917, were so constructed that the roll ends had no frusto-conical tapered or bevelled ends so that the side edges or surfaces of the rolls closely adjoined the side edges of the roll mill, so that the product could flow up to the side edges of the roll mill, with the result that the noted clumps or other coarse particles were kept in motion at the roll ends until they were worn down to size which permitted entry into the grinding gap. At the time of such entry, these particles are however still larger than the granulations of the product, that is the deformation forces are greater, which is also the case with the surface loading upon the rolls. Such loads can cause damage to rolls, particularly when this condition occurs at the roll edges. This results in break out portions at the roll ends or edges.
In order to at least partially avoid the resulting differing grinding conditions, it was already suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,917 to provide a frusto-conical taper at the roll ends, on which a guide surface adjoins that prohibits that the noted coarse parts can bypass the rolls, via the channel formed by the taper at the ends of the rolls, without being milled.
While these tapers or chamfers have the advantage that while the noted clumps or other coarse particles remain in this area without damaging the rolls, it is however a disadvantage that the material flow is disturbed.

Flaking mill with a product channel on each of the axial ends of the rollers


The crusher contains rotating hammers running on a circular path. The material to be crushed reaches this annular crushing zone via a distributing plate located above the hammers. In the crushing zone the material is hit by the hammers and broken. Fragments are thereby ejected tangentially into an impact zone, where they are received by impact plates. This causes further fragmentation. In this way, the material distributed over the whole circumference is subjected twice to a hard blow. This leads to an increased throughput at small crusher size and optimum crushing efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a crusher for crushing material. Such crushers are known as a first step in a milling process. They break raw material into pieces of a defined size, which are then fed to a mill where they are milled. Crushers are also used for material that is not to be milled further but to be used directly, such as in the production of gravel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known crushers or breakers have the disadvantage of a comparatively poor material throughput. Often it is necessary to recycle material that was not sufficiently crushed in a first pass through the crusher. Such a crusher is e.g. described in EP--0 372 149.


A novel method for performing replication of messages in a network that bridges one or more physical networks to an overlay logical network is provided. A physical gateway provides bridging between network nodes of a physical network and virtual machines in the overlay logical network by serving as an endpoint of the overlay logical network. The physical gateway does not replicate messages from the bridged physical network to destination endpoints in the overlay logical network directly, but instead tunnels the message-to-be-replicated to a designated tunnel endpoint in the overlay logical network. The designated tunnel endpoint in turn replicates the message that was tunneled to it to other endpoints in the overlay logical network.

Overlay Logical Switches (or overlay logical networks) provide L2 (layer 2) connectivity to a collection of Virtual Machines (VMs) over an underlying L3 (layer 3) network. The overlay is implemented using a tunneling mechanism such as VXLAN (Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network), STT (Stateless Transport Tunneling), GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation), etc. Of these, VXLAN is gaining traction in the networking industry and is being implemented in physical switches from a number of switch vendors.
Since certain applications may be hosted on physical servers, there is often a need to provide layer 2 connectivity between a number of ports/VLANs in the physical network and an overlay logical network. Handling of traffic destined to Broadcast/Unknown-unicast/Multicast (BUM) MAC addresses poses some challenges. Such traffic needs to be replicated and delivered to all virtual machines that have an interface on the overlay logical switch, and all physical machines on physical networks/VLANs being connected with the overlay logical switch.
However, many physical gateways providing connectivity between VLANs in the physical network and the logical switch are often top-of-rack (ToR) hardware switches that are incapable of subscribing to multicast groups and therefore incapable of receiving IP multicast traffic. Thus if a ToR was to send BUM traffic on a multicast group, other ToRs would not be able to receive it even if the underlying physical network supported IP multicast. Moreover, many physical gateways are incapable of replicating a packet from a physical machine into multiple VXLAN-encapsulated packets or replicating a packet received on a physical network onto multiple VXLAN tunnels.

Replicating broadcast, unknown-unicast, and multicast traffic in overlay logical networks bridged with physical networks


An displacement measurement device and associated method where displacement measurements of a movable member are obtained by an electromagnetic field sensor that need not move relative to the magnet or other electromagnetic field source. The electromagnetic field sensor senses disruptions in the electromagnetic field caused by movement of the movable member to provide an output indicative of the position of the actuator.

Heretofore, solenoid actuated valves have used sensors to provide position feedback for control purposes. Linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) are well-known and widely used devices that measure the displacement of an armature relative to a coil assembly. One driving coil is used in conjunction with two secondary measurement coils.
Another type of sensor that has been used is a Hall-effect sensor. The Hall-effect sensor is an analog measuring device that provides a varying voltage output in relation to local disruptions of an electromagnetic field. The Hall-effect sensor typically is positioned to interact with a permanent magnet on the armature of the solenoid. The sensor and the magnet move relative to one another in order to vary the voltage output of the sensor thereby provide an indication of position. In a slide-by position sensor arrangement, tight control over the movement path of the armature usually must be maintained to ensure accurate displacement measurement.


A heating furnace, suitable for use in a continuous steel slab heating furnace, wherein slabs are heated by fuel combustion flames. Heat transfer converters each made of a heat-resistant material are disposed downstream of the flow of the combustion flames, more particularly, in the preheating zone of the furnace. These converters are heated through convection heat transfer from a high temperature and high speed flow of the combustion flames.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heating furnace for heating bodies by fuel combustion flames, and particularly to a heating furnace suitable for use in a continuous steel slab heating furnace and having a high heat transfer efficiency for the bodies to be heated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a heating furnace in which bodies are heated by fuel combustion flames, particularly, in a continuous steel slab heating furnace, heat transfer to steel slabs is effected directly through radiation heat transfer and convection heat transfer from combustion gas, and indirectly through radiation heat transfer from the refractory material on the furnace wall heated through radiation and convection heat transfer from combustion gas.
An example of the conventional four-zone steel slab heating furnace as described above is shown in FIG. 1. The upper portion of the drawing shows the construction of the heating furnace, and the lower portion shows the distribution of temperature in the heating furnace. Referring to the drawing, designated at 10 are steel slabs being continuously charged through an inlet 12 for charging and sent out through an outlet 14 for extracting; 16 an upper heating zone where axial flow type burners 18 are disposed for blowing out fuel combustion flames 17 in parallel to the moving direction of the steel slabs; 20 a lower heating zone where also axial flow type burners 18 are disposed; 24 on upper soaking zone where also axial flow type burners 18 are disposed; 28 a lower soaking zone where side burners 30 are disposed for blowing out fuel combustion flames perpendicularly to the moving direction of the steel slabs; and 32 a waste gas exhaust port. Additionally, the inner wall surface of this heating furnace is entirely covered by refractory material.
Now, if steel slabs 10 each having a given value of thickness are heated under conditions that the heating load is M ton/hour; the heat pattern (wall temperature pattern) in the furnace H.sub.1, and the temperature pattern of combustion gas G.sub.1, then the curves of temperature rise of the steel slabs are shown by solid lines .theta..sub.S1 (surface temperature) and .theta..sub.C1 (center temperature) in FIG. 1. The curves of temperature rise of the steel slabs under the same conditions as above except that the heat pattern in the furnace is H.sub.2 and the temperature pattern of combustion gas G.sub.2 are shown by broken lines .theta..sub.S2 (surface temperature) and .theta..sub.C2 (center temperature) also in FIG. 1. Consequently, in a section from Point O, the inlet for charging to Point x, the inlet of heating zone, H.sub.1 >H.sub.2, .theta..sub.S1 >.theta..sub.S2 and .theta..sub.C1 >.theta..sub.C2, in a section from Point x described above to Point y, the outlet of heating zone, H.sub.1 <H.sub.2, .theta..sub.S1 <.theta..sub.S2 and .theta..sub.C1 >.theta..sub.C2, and at point y, .theta..sub.S1 =.theta..sub.S2, .theta..sub.C1 =.theta..sub.C2, whereby heating is effected at the same temperature in both cases. In addition, if the same fuel is used and the same excess air ratio is adopted, the temperature of combustion gas is the same, i.e. G.sub.0, at the burner portion, and thereafter G.sub.1 >G.sub.2 and .theta..sub.g1 >.theta..sub.g2 at Point O of the furnace end. In the heating furnace as described above, the loss of heat caused by waste gas exhausted from a waste gas exhaust port 32 disposed adjacent to the inlet for charging of the heating furnace is large. Hence, in comparison between the heat patterns H.sub.1 with H.sub.2, the latter has less heat loss and better thermal efficiency than the former. Consequently, with the conventional heating furnaces, the heat pattern in the furnaces have been made to be close to the heat pattern H.sub.2 in designing the burners or the configurations of furnaces. However, in the case the kinds of fuel, the burners, the configurations of furnaces and the excess air ratio are the same there has not existed any means for further raising the temperature at the central portion of the heating zone.
On the other hand, heretofore, convection heat transfer from the high temperature and high speed flow of fuel combustion flames has not been positively utilized.


An apparatus includes: a cache to retain an instruction; an instruction-control circuit to read out the instruction from the cache; and an instruction-execution circuit to execute the instruction read out from the cache, wherein the cache includes: a pipeline processing circuit including a plurality of selection stages in each of which, among a plurality of requests for causing the cache to operate, a request having a priority level higher than priority levels of other requests is outputted to a next stage and a plurality of processing stages in each of which processing based on a request outputted from a last stage among the plurality of selection stages is sequentially executed; and a cache-control circuit to input a request received from the instruction-control circuit to the selection stage in which processing order of the processing stage is reception order of the request.

An arithmetic processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU) includes a cache memory accessible at high speed compared with a main memory device (see, for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2009/104240 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-40090). The cache memory (also called a cache) is disposed between a processor core such as a CPU core and a main memory device and retains a part of information stored in the main memory device. For example, the cache memory includes a pipeline processing section that sequentially executes, in a plurality of stages, processing based on a request or the like from the processor core.
Note that, when the cache memory has a hierarchical structure, for example, the arithmetic processing unit includes a cache memory of a second level and a cache memory of a first level accessible at high speed compared with the cache memory of the second level. In the following explanation, the cache memory of the first level and the cache memory of the second level are respectively referred to as a primary cache memory and a secondary cache memory as well. Some arithmetic processing units include the primary cache memory and the like divided into an instruction cache memory for retaining instructions and a data cache memory for retaining data.
The number of stages of pipeline processing in the cache memory tends to increase according to an increase in the frequency and multi-threading of the arithmetic processing unit. According to the increase in the number of stages of the pipeline processing, a penalty (for example, latency of the pipeline processing) in the case of a stall of the pipeline processing increases.
For example, in the instruction cache memory, processing based on a request from the processor core is executed according to request order from the processor core. Therefore, when input of one request among a plurality of requests to the pipeline processing section is delayed, input of the remaining requests is sometimes delayed as well. In this case, latency from issuance of a request by the processor core until return of a result of the request to the processor core by the instruction cache memory increases. That is, it is likely that latency in the case of cache hit of the instruction cache memory increases.

Arithmetic processing unit and control method for arithmetic processing unit


The present invention discloses an alignment system for calibrating a position of an optical fiber (30) in a bore (31) of a ferrule (20), comprising: a calibration ferrule (200) having an alignment guide hole (201) formed therein; an alignment guide element (100) for calibrating a center position of a guide hole (21) of the ferrule, so that a center of the guide hole (21) of the ferrule (20) is aligned with a center of the alignment guide hole (201); a fiber core alignment element (300) comprising a fiber core (302) having a center positioned at a theoretical center relative to a positioning reference defined by the center of the alignment guide hole (201); an optical vision system for identifying a center position of a fiber core (32) of the optical fiber (30) and the center position of the fiber core (302) of the respective fiber core alignment element (300); and a controlling and moving system for actively adjusting the position of the optical fiber (30) in the bore (31) of the ferrule (20) under the guide of the optical vision system, so that the center of the fiber core (32) of the optical fiber (30) is aligned with the center of the fiber core (302) of the respective fiber core alignment element (300), and so that the center of the fiber core (32) of the optical fiber (30) is positioned at a theoretical center relative to a positioning reference defined by the center of the guide hole (21) of the ferrule (20).

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alignment system and a method for calibrating a position of an optical fiber in a bore of a ferrule, a fiber optic ferrule assembly and a fiber optic connector manufactured by the alignment system and the calibrating method.
Description of the Related Art
A ferrule for a fiber optic connector is a high precision element manufactured by a precise machining technology, and the ferrule is a core component of the fiber optic connector. In prior art, steps of manufacturing the fiber optic connector generally comprises: obtaining a bare fiber by peeling an optical cable and cleaning the bare fiber; inserting the bare fiber through a bore of the ferrule in which gel is prefilled; curing the gel to fix the bare fiber in the bore of the ferrule; and processing the ferrule and the fiber by grinding, polishing, testing, etc., to form a ferrule assembly. A manufacturing error is unavoidable during manufacturing the ferrule assembly. Furthermore, a personal error may be occurred in size for easily fitting/assembling the ferrule assembly, for example, in order to easily insert the fiber through the bore of the ferrule, the diameter of the bore of the ferrule is formed to be larger than the outer diameter of the fiber, causing a size deviation between the outer diameter of the fiber and the diameter of the bore. Thereby, it is likely to occur various errors in the ferrule assembly, for example, a center axis of the fiber is offset from a center axis of the bore of ferrule, a position of the bore is offset from an ideal position of the bore determined with reference to an indexing feature (for example, an outer cylinder of a single-fiber ferrule or a guide hole of a multi-fiber ferrule). As a result, an actual center axis of the fiber in the bore of the ferrule may be offset from an ideal center axis of the fiber determined with reference to the indexing feature of the ferrule due to these errors, increasing the insertion loss of coupling a pair of fiber optic connectors and decreasing the optical transmission performance of the fiber optic connectors.
A mode field diameter of a single-mode fiber is much less than a mode field diameter of a multi-mode fiber. Generally, the mode field diameter of the single-mode fiber is equal to about ⅕ or ⅙ of the mode field diameter of the multi-mode fiber. Thereby, the alignment accuracy of the single-mode fiber is required to be much higher than that of the multi-mode fiber. Accordingly, the precision of the ferrule for the single-mode fiber optic connector is much higher than that of the ferrule for the multi-mode fiber optic connector.
Accordingly, in prior art, in order to ensure the single-mode fiber optic connector to satisfy with the above precision requirements, it is necessary to use the high precision single-mode ferrule to manufacture the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector, and it is impossible to use the low precision multi-mode ferrule to manufacture the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector. That is, during manufacturing the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector, it is necessary to differentiate the high precision single-mode ferrule and the low precision multi-mode ferrule. Although the single-mode single bore ferrule and the multi-mode single bore ferrule (plurality of bores) both have the same outer appearance and almost same in structure, the single-mode single bore ferrule has a much higher precision requirement than that of the multi-mode single bore ferrule. For example, for the single-mode single bore ferrule, the requirement on centricity between the bore of ferrule and the outer cylinder of the ferrule is very high, generally required to reach within 1.5 μm, or even required to less than 1 μm for the single-mode fiber optic connector with an ultralow insertion loss; and for the single-mode multi-bore ferrule, the requirement on the precision of the diameter of the bore of the ferrule and the position accuracy of the bore with respect to the guide hole of ferrule is very high, generally required to reach within 3.0 μm, or even required to less than 1 μm for the single-mode fiber optic connector with an ultralow insertion loss.
The precision requirements on the single-mode multi-bore ferrule mainly comprise a high size precision on the diameter of the bore of the ferrule, a high size precision on a diameter of a guide hole/rod of the ferrule and a high position accuracy of the bore with respect to the guide hole/rod of ferrule. Hereafter, it will compare the single-mode multi-bore ferrule and the multi-mode multi-bore ferrule on following precision requirements.
1) Dimensional tolerance on the guide hole/rod of the ferrule.
For the single-mode ferrule, the dimensional tolerance of the diameter of the guide rod of the ferrule is generally required to reach about a range of −0.0005 mm˜0.0005 mm, the dimensional tolerance of the diameter of the guide hole of the ferrule is generally required to reach about a range of −0.001 mm˜0.001 mm; for a low insertion loss single-mode ferrule, the dimensional tolerance of the diameter of the guide rod of the ferrule is even required to reach about a range of −0.0001 mm˜0.0001 mm, the dimensional tolerance of the diameter of the guide hole of the ferrule is even required to reach about a range of −0.0003 mm˜0.0003 mm.
For the multi-mode ferrule, the dimensional tolerance of the guide rod/hole of the ferrule is generally required to reach about a range of −0.001 mm˜0.001 mm.
2) Dimensional tolerance on the diameter of the bore of the ferrule.
For the single-mode ferrule, the dimensional tolerance of the diameter of the bore of the ferrule is generally required to reach about a range of −0.00075 mm˜0.00075 mm, or even required to reach about a range of −0.0003 mm˜0.0003 mm for a low insertion loss single-mode ferrule.
For the multi-mode ferrule, the dimensional tolerance of the diameter of the bore of the ferrule is generally required to reach about a range of −0.001 mm˜0.001 mm.
3) The position accuracy of the bore of the ferrule with respect to the guide hole of the ferrule.
For the single-mode ferrule, the position accuracy of the bore of the ferrule with respect to the guide hole of the ferrule is generally required to reach about 0.003 mm, or even required to reach about 0.0018 mm for a low insertion loss single-mode ferrule.
For the multi-mode ferrule, the position accuracy of the bore of the ferrule with respect to the guide hole of the ferrule is generally required to reach about 0.006 mm.
As those skilled in this art all known, the cost of the high precision single-mode ferrule is much higher than that of the low precision multi-mode ferrule, therefore, using the high precision single-mode ferrule to manufacture the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector has a disadvantage of increasing the cost of the single-mode fiber optic connector, and the cost of the single-mode fiber optic connector with the ultralow insertion loss may be times than that of the multi-mode fiber optic connector manufactured by the multi-mode ferrule.
As described above, in the prior art, the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector only can be manufactured by using the high precision single-mode ferrule, and it is impossible to use the low precision multi-mode ferrule to manufacture the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector, therefore, the cost of the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector manufactured in the prior art is very high. Furthermore, in order to avoid the deviation between the bore of the ferrule and the fiber inserted the bore of the ferrule, the diameter of the bore of the high precision single-mode ferrule is formed very small and almost equal to that of the fiber, therefore, it is difficult to insert the fiber into the bore, and the fiber is easily broken during inserting the fiber, decreasing the insertion efficiency of the fiber.
In order to overcome the above problems in the prior art, the applicant of the present invention once proposed a solution in which the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector can be manufactured by using the low precision multi-mode ferrule (with a large bore diameter and a large eccentric), instead of using the expensive high precision single-mode ferrule. The solution simplifying the production, decreases the cost, and improving the optical performance (for example, decreasing the low insertion loss) of the high precision single-mode fiber optic connector.
In the solution provided by the applicant before, the single-mode fiber protruding from the ferrule is introduced into a high precision indexing tool, so that a center of a coating layer on the single-mode fiber is aligned with a center of a high precision alignment bore in the indexing tool. After being aligned, the single-mode fiber is fixed in the bore of the low precision multi-mode ferrule. In this way, a high precision single-mode optic ferrule assembly or connector can be manufactured by using the low precision multi-mode ferrule.
However, this solution is achieved by aligning the center of the coating layer on the fiber, instead of aligning a center of a fiber core of the fiber. Thereby, in this solution, there is a prerequisite that the coating layer and the fiber core of the fiber must have good concentricity. Unfortunately, an eccentric error is unavoidable between the coating layer and the fiber core of the fiber during manufacturing the fiber. The eccentric error is random and cannot be controlled in the practice. For example, different batches of fibers may have different eccentric errors, even the same batch of fibers may have different eccentric errors, and the fibers from different manufactures may have different eccentric errors. Furthermore, there may be contaminants, for example, particles/dusts, attached on the surface of the coating layer of the fiber. As a result, in this solution provided by the applicant before, it cannot ensure that the center of the fiber core of the fiber is aligned in the highest precision. Concerning this, the present invention is proposed.

Alignment system and method for calibrating position of optical fiber bore ferrule

CommScope Telecommunications (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.