An engine control unit including a substantially rectangular printed circuit board in which a microcontroller is mounted. The printed circuit board includes a connector portion in which connection terminals are provided to be arranged in one side edge portion along the longitudinal direction thereof. The connection terminals of the connector portion include connection terminals for input on one side in the longitudinal direction and connection terminals for output on the other side with respect to a setting position. A microcontroller is disposed at substantially the center portion of the printed circuit board in the longitudinal direction thereof. An electronic component as an input interface circuit is disposed on the one side in the longitudinal direction, and an electronic component as an output interface circuit is disposed on the other side.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an engine control unit which includes a printed circuit board with a microcontroller mounted thereon and can be used in a vehicle such as a motorcycle or various general-purpose machines having an engine.
2. Description of Related Art
In a fuel injection (FI) system of a vehicle, an engine control unit (ECU) is used to control a fuel injection system. Recently, the ECU is also used in a motorcycle (for example, a motorbike and a motorized bicycle), and the ECU is also used in a smaller motorcycle. In addition, the ECU controls, for example, a fuel injection timing and a fuel injection amount in a fuel injection device as control of the fuel injection system, and controls an ignition timing of an ignition mechanism (spark plug) and an idle rotation speed (idle speed control). Moreover, there may be cases where, in addition to the control of the fuel system including fuel injection and the control of the ignition mechanism, for example, control of an intake and exhaust air system, a valve train mechanism, and start control, and others is performed depending on the type of a vehicle including a four-wheeled vehicle.
The ECU that performs the control described above includes a printed circuit board in which a microcontroller is mounted and one side edge portion includes a male type connector portion having a plurality of connection terminals, and a case which covers and accommodates a part of the printed circuit board excluding the connector portion (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
The connector portion of the printed board of the ECU is connected to a female type connector on a vehicle side. To the connector on the vehicle side, wires from various sensors provided in the vehicle to output signals or devices (controlled devices) of the vehicle which are controlled are collectively connected.


The invention provides human binding molecules specifically binding to West Nile virus and having West Nile virus neutralizing activity, nucleic acid molecules encoding the human binding molecules, compositions comprising the human binding molecules and methods of identifying or producing the human binding molecules. The human binding molecules can be used in the diagnosis, post-exposure prophylaxis and/or treatment of a condition resulting from West Nile virus.

West Nile virus ("WNV") is a member of the Flaviviridae family, genus Flavivirus. Flaviviruses are small spherical enveloped positive-strand RNA viruses. The Flavivirus genus comprises more than 60 highly related viruses including several human pathogens such as inter alia yellow fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, Murray Valley encephalitis virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, and dengue virus.
WNV was initially isolated in 1937 in the West Nile region of Uganda but has now an almost worldwide distribution including parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and, most recently, North America. WNV was first diagnosed in the New York area in 1999 and has continued to spread rapidly across North America causing infections in persons in over 40 different states reaching as far as California.
WNV is mainly transmitted to man by mosquitoes but occasionally transmission has been linked to blood transfusion and organ transplantation. WNV infections generally have mild symptoms, which generally last three to six days, varying from a fever of sudden onset, headache, tremors, skin rash to swollen lymph glands. However, in 30% of the cases, particularly in elderly and immunocompromised patients, the disease progresses to a more severe state (e.g., encephalitis or aseptic meningitis), which can lead to death. By 2002, human mortality increased to over 150 cases. Besides infecting humans, WNV is also known to infect horses and several bird species and can cause severe illness and death in those species.
The two main strategies for preventing WNV infections are a) controlling the spread of WNV by spraying large areas with insecticides to kill mosquito vectors and b) reducing the contact between humans and mosquitoes by using personal protection such as anti-insect repellents. Unfortunately, these strategies are however highly inefficacious. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the toxic effects of insecticides. Moreover, spraying requires repeated applications and is considered to be unreliable, as it does not provide complete coverage of mosquito breeding areas or eradication of mosquitoes.
There is no specific treatment of WNV infection. Treatment has only been supportive, since there are no available anti-viral or other drugs with proven efficacy. The most promising potential treatment options currently available for humans include the anti-viral compounds ribavirin and interferon-alpha2b (Anderson and Rahal, 2002), and human anti-WNV immunoglobulins (Ben Nathan et al., 2003). A disadvantage associated with ribavirin and interferon alpha2b are their significant toxicities. A disadvantage of anti-WNV immunoglobulins is that they are not available in sufficient amounts and are too expensive. In addition, the possibility of contamination by known or unknown pathogens is an additional concern associated with anti-WNV immunoglobulins. Furthermore, in PCT International Application WO 02/072036, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference, it has been suggested that the WNV F protein may be used to prepare murine anti-WNV monoclonal antibodies. However, murine antibodies, in naked or immunoconjugated format, are limited for their use in vivo due to problems associated with administration of murine antibodies to humans, such as short serum half life, an inability to trigger certain human effector functions and elicitation of an unwanted dramatic immune response against the murine antibody in a human. Accordingly, an urgent need exists for a medicament suitable for detection, prevention and/or treatment of WNV infections.

Binding molecules capable of neutralizing West Nile virus and uses thereof


A system for evaluating risk associated with a mortgage loan includes an automated underwriting engine configured to calculate a first risk indication and a second risk indication for the mortgage loan. The first risk indication is based on mortgage loan application data received for the mortgage loan, and further based on at least one of interest rate risk and collateral risk associated with the mortgage loan. The second risk indication represents a probability of an adverse event associated with the mortgage loan. The probability of the adverse event is determined based on the mortgage loan application data. The system also includes user interface logic configure to provide a user interface, and further configured to provide the first risk indication to a lender in the form of an underwriting recommendation for the mortgage loan, and to provide the second risk indication to the lender in a form which is useable by the lender to manage the risk associated with the mortgage loan.

The purchase of a home is typically the largest investment that a person makes. Because of the amount of money required to purchase a home, most home buyers do not have sufficient assets to purchase a home outright on a cash basis. In addition, buyers who have already purchased a home may wish to refinance their home. Therefore, potential homebuyers consult lenders such as banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, savings and loan institutions, state and local housing finance agencies, and so on, to obtain the funds necessary to purchase or refinance their homes. These lenders offer mortgage products to potential home buyers. The lenders who make (originate and fund) mortgage loans directly to home buyers comprise the "primary mortgage market."
When a mortgage is made in the primary mortgage market, the lender can: (i) hold the loan as an investment in its portfolio, or (ii) sell the loan to investors in the "secondary mortgage market" (e.g., pension funds, insurance companies, securities dealers, financial institutions and various other investors) to replenish its supply of funds. The loan may be sold alone, or in packages of other similar loans, for cash or in exchange for mortgage backed securities (MBS) which provide lenders with a liquid asset to hold or sell to the secondary market. By choosing to sell its mortgage loans to the secondary mortgage market for cash, or by selling the mortgage backed securities, lenders get a new supply of funds to make more home mortgage loans, thereby assuring home buyers a continual supply of mortgage credit.
The ability to assess the credit risk associated with a mortgage loan is important to both lenders and investors in the secondary market. A defaulted loan or a delinquent loan is costly to the owner of the asset (initially the lender in the primary mortgage market). Thus, the lender tries to avoid making loans in situations where there is a significant likelihood that the loan will later default or be delinquent. As a lender improves its ability to determine credit risk associated with a loan, the costs associated with lending go down. Fewer loans are given that default or become delinquent. In the secondary mortgage market, where mortgage loans are commonly sold to investors, fewer defaulted/delinquent loans results in a better return on investment, resulting in increased capital flow to the housing market. Better risk predictions, therefore, decrease the defaults/delinquencies, improve capital flow to the housing market, and ultimately decrease mortgage costs for consumers.
Mortgage loans originated by a lender (or alternatively a broker) are typically underwritten prior to closing. Although the final underwriting decision is made by the lender, the lender may submit a loan to an automated underwriting engine of the investor to determine whether the loan meets the credit risk eligibility and loan product eligibility requirements of the investor based on a set of loan information provided by the lender. Such loan information typically includes borrower-specific risk factors, loan-specific risk factors, and property-specific risk factors. Borrower-specific risk factors may include factors such as the borrower's credit rating or score, as well as other factors such as a borrower's income and financial reserves. Property-specific risk factors may include factors such as the type of property (e.g., manufactured housing, etc.). Loan-specific risk factors may include factors such as the loan-to-value ratio, the loan amount, the loan purpose, and so on.
In order to determine whether the loan is eligible for purchase by the investor, underwriting engines typically assess the probability that a borrower will default and the estimated financial loss to the purchaser as the result of the default. For example, in order to determine the probability of default, the underwriting engine may assign different weights to various risk factors or loan characteristics contained in the loan information provided by the lender that are indicative of the potential for default, and then derive the probability of default from the weighted factors. The different weights may be periodically adjusted in order to reflect changes, such as increases or decreases to the impact of particular risk factors or loan characteristics on the probability of default.
While the risk characteristics associated with a loan may often be evaluated in terms of the general risk of default for the loan, the overall risk characteristics associated with the loan may also include other types of risk as indicated by borrower-specific risk factors, loan-specific risk factors, and property-specific risk factors. Such risks and factors may often be specific to the particular investor providing the automated underwriting engine. A need exists for methods and systems for evaluating a loan which evaluate risk characteristics of loans with improved accuracy and which account for risks and costs associated with a loan for a particular investor.
Additionally, other parties, such as mortgage insurers and loan servicers, may wish to utilize the automated underwriting engine provided by an investor to evaluate the risk characteristics associated with a loan with improved accuracy at the time of origination of the loan, but without taking into account the risks and costs specific to the investor. A further need exists for methods and systems for evaluating a loan with improved accuracy at the time of origination.


A process for the preparation of toner particles which comprises a suspension polymerization followed by a starved feed monomer addition process and wherein the suspension polymerization comprises the formation of an organic phase comprised of monomer, initiator, pigment and optional toner additives; adding the organic phase to an aqueous phase comprised of water and a stabilizer; shearing the resulting organic and aqueous phase mixture; polymerizing the monomer by heating to enable toner particles; and wherein said starved feed addition comprises adding a second monomer, optionally with crosslinking agents or initiators, and heating to polymerize the added monomer.

This invention is generally directed to processes for the preparation of toner compositions, primarily in situ toners. Xerographic toners exhibiting low melt properties can be fused at lower temperatures than those toners typically used in xerography, resulting in reduced energy consumption, improved reliability, lower cost and higher speed. Low melt toners can be prepared by at least two general methods. The first method involves preparation of a low melt toner composition, while the second method is based on melt mixing polymers with widely varying properties to yield a composite material with the desired properties. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,242 there is illustrated a toner comprised of a mixture of a linear polymer, which acts as the matrix polymer, a crosslinked polymer, which is incorporated to improve fusing latitude, a wax, which is added to provide lubrication, and a copolymer compatibilizer to enable dispersion of wax in the matrix polymer. Generally, the matrix polymer is a low molecular weight polymer with a suitably high glass transition temperature that provides the required low melting behavior to the toner. The polymer in the dispersed domains is a high molecular weight polymer that provides higher elasticity and, therefore, required hot offset behavior to the toner. The dispersed phase polymer may be crosslinked. It is also possible to use a low molecular weight but highly elastic polymer for the dispersed phase, for example low molecular weight polyolefins. Low melt toners may be prepared either by a conventional toner manufacturing approach based on pulverizing a resin that has been melt blended with pigments, charge control agents and other additives, or by an in situ toner process in which the final toner particles containing all necessary pigments, charge control agents and other additives are prepared directly in a chemical reactor. Regardless of whether the toner is prepared by an in situ approach or by a conventional pulverization approach, attainment of low melt properties requires that a dispersed phase of a polymeric material exists in a continuous matrix of another polymeric material. This requirement dictates that dispersion of the minor components be of excellent quality, that is the size of the dispersed phase domains should be as small as possible, preferably less than approximately one micron in diameter. However, there is considerable difficulty in preparing resins or particles with such a microphase morphology since most polymer pairs are not compatible, blending or mixing two polymers can be difficult. Achieving a level of mixing sufficiently intensive to reduce the size of the dispersed phase domains to the range of a micron or less is extremely difficult. Methods are known for preparing well-dispersed blends of incompatible polymers, one such method involving the use of a Banbury type mixer with very high shear at relatively low temperature to provide intensive mixing. One disadvantage of the Banbury process is that it is a batch process. Batch processes are generally uneconomical. Also, extruders cannot usually be operated at the low temperatures required to attain the same effective mixing provided by Banbury type mixers. Both the Banbury mixing and extrusion processes also suffer from the disadvantage of being applicable only to the preparation of conventional toner, and not to the preparation of in situ toner. Another approach that can be used to prepare polymer blends involves use of a compatibilizer, for example a block copolymer or a graft copolymer of one type of segment compatible with the continuous phase polymer, and one type of segment compatible with the dispersed phase polymer. When the polymers and the compatibilizer are blended, the compatibilizer preferentially locates at the interfacial regions between the phases, providing reduced interfacial tension and increased phase stability. The disadvantages of relying on compatibilizers include the addition of another polymer to the system which can further complicate the behavior, the difficulty in locating an adequate compatibilizer, and the fact that compatibilizers are primarily only effective for high shear conventional toner manufacturing. For in situ toner, processes to provide extensive mixing within the particles are not believed to exist. Furthermore, there is the concern that the compatibilized dispersed phase will not perform its desired function in the same manner as when it is not compatibilized. For example, very well compatibilized wax may not be as effective a lubricant as free wax.
Several in situ toner preparation methods are known. These processes include dispersion polymerization, suspension polymerization, emulsion polymerization, and the like. Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,559 is the preparation of a toner composition by the incorporation of a prepolymer into a monomer/pigment mixture, followed by emulsion polymerization. In suspension polymerization processes, the pigment and additives such as charge control components are added to a monomer or comonomers prior to polymerization. Particle formation is achieved by the dispersion of the pigmented monomer or comonomers in a continuous phase, such as water, and the droplets of pigmented monomers are then polymerized to form toner particles. One advantage of these processes as compared to many other methods is the elimination of fusion mixing (Banbury/extruder) and pulverization classification processing. Nevertheless, it can be difficult with these processes to accomplish polymerization of pigmented monomer droplets in a diameter range of 3 to 25 microns with a narrow distribution of particle diameter of, for example, 1.3.
Also mentioned are U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,559, which discloses the incorporation of a prepolymer into a monomer toner mix followed by emulsion polymerization, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,680,200 and 4,702,988, which illustrate emulsion polymerization; and 4,797,339 and 4,996,127, which disclose aggregation processes in which small primary particles are produced by emulsion polymerization, which particles can contain pigment on the surface.
Also, recited are the following U.S. Patents disclosing suspension polymerization U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,077,804; 4,601,968; 4,626,489; 4,816,366 and 4,845,007; 5,043,404 directed to semisuspension polymerization; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,898, which discloses bulk and suspension polymerization.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,282 (Mahabadi), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, there are illustrated processes for the preparation of toners, and more specifically, semisuspension polymerized toner processes in which a mixture of monomer or comonomers, a polymerization initiator, a crosslinking component and a chain transfer component is bulk polymerized until partial polymerization, that is for example from about 10 to about 40 percent of monomer or comonomers, is converted to a polymer; thereafter mixing the partially polymerized product with pigments, optional charge control agents and other additives with, for example, a high shear homogenizer to form a uniform organic phase, dispersing the organic phase in water containing a stabilizing component with, for example, a high shear mixer to produce a narrow particle size toner suspension; and polymerizing the suspension product. The toner obtained can then be washed/dried and dry blended with surface flow aid additives.
However, none of these processes for the preparation of toner involve the incorporation of a microphase dispersion of a second type of polymer in the continuous phase polymer, and obtaining an effective dispersion of a minor phase in a major phase. Similarly, there are a number of processes available for preparing polymer resins for conventional toner manufacturing based on a pulverization process. Toners have been prepared generally by fusion mixing of pigments (colorants), charge control agents and other additives into thermoplastic resins to disperse them uniformly therein. In view of the high viscosity of the mixture, a considerable amount of energy is needed to achieve uniform dispersion of pigments and other additives in the toner resin. The mixture is then cooled, followed by pulverization and classification into desired particle sizes and particle size distribution. It is known that pulverization is an energy intensive step in this process. This preparation method is capable of producing excellent toners, but requires the use of several steps which are costly, energy intensive and are limited in certain respects.
In the process for producing toners by pulverization, the material must usually be fragile so as to be readily pulverized to a certain extent. Therefore, some thermoplastic resins, which are not fragile but have acceptable fusing performance, are not usually selected for the aforementioned prior art processes. Also, if the material is too fragile, it may be excessively micropulverized and, therefore, the fines portion of the particles must be uneconomically removed. These limitations become increasingly severe for smaller particle size toners. Moreover, when a material with a low melting point is employed to improve fusing performance of the toner, fusion of such material may occur in the pulverizing device or the classifier. These processes are also unable to provide a microphase dispersion of a second type of polymer in the continuous phase of the matrix polymer. Therefore, there exists a need for a process for blending polymers that enables effective dispersion in either in situ toners or toner resin particles and, more specifically, a process for preparing particles containing different types of polymer resins consisting of one or more minor phase polymers dispersed extremely well throughout the continuous major phase. This process is based on the starved feed addition of a monomer to a suspension, semisuspension, emulsion or dispersion polymerization of polymeric particles comprised of a polymer that is incompatible with the polymer to be formed by the added monomer. Therefore, the process is amenable to suspension polymerization, dispersion polymerization, semisuspension polymerization or emulsion polymerization. In one embodiment, this process comprises a particle formation step in which pigment or dye particles and charge enhancing components are included, and then starved feed addition of another monomer occurs. Starved feed addition involves adding a monomer slowly enough that secondary droplets or polymer particles cannot form or are minimized, but rather all the added monomer diffuses through the aqueous phase and into existing particles. The starved fed monomer polymerizes to provide a polymer that is incompatible with the existing particles. Furthermore, the starved feed monomer is not more hydrophilic than the existing polymer/monomer particle to ensure that the starved feed monomer diffuses into the interior of the particle and does not form a shell around the exterior of the particle. If desired, initiator, chain transfer agent or crosslinking agent can be added to the starved feed monomer. Crosslinking agent could be used to provide very high molecular weight or crosslinked domains, while chain transfer agents could provide very low molecular weight domains. While the starved feed monomer is being added, heating continues. The added monomer, after diffusing into the particle interior, will begin to polymerize, and because it is incompatible with the matrix polymer, will phase separate into microdomains. These phase separated microdomains are thus formed in situ, unlike domains created by physical blending procedures. As the monomer actively polymerizes in the presence of the matrix polymer and perhaps monomer, it is also likely that some copolymerization or grafting will occur, thereby further enhancing the stability of the microdomains. Typical sizes of these domains are 0.05 to 3.0 microns in average diameter.

Suspension polymerized toner treated by starved feed monomer addition process


The present invention describes an automobile exhaust pipes, and more particularly to an exhaust pipe capable of producing appropriate pressure to assist engine torque output when the engine is running at a low speed and expediting the waste gas to be discharged from an automobile when the engine is running at a high speed, so as to enhance the operating performance of automobile engines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automobile exhaust pipes, and more particularly to an exhaust pipe capable of producing appropriate pressure to assist engine torque output when the engine is running at a low speed and expediting the waste gas to be discharged from an automobile when the engine is running at a high speed, so as to enhance the operating performance of automobile engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the operating principle of an automobile, an engine nebulizes a fuel and mixes the nebulized fuel with air, so as to create an explosion in a cylinder, and the pressure of expansion is converted into a rotary force to drive the wheels to rotate. The mainstream of automobiles is a 4-cylinder engine with a design of driving the pistons repeatedly to move up and down for two times. In other words, four actions including an air inhaling, a compression, an expansion, and a discharge are preformed when the engine rotates twice, and the ignition is done by electric sparks. The total volume for the pistons in the cylinders to move up and down is called exhaustion capacity, which is also an index of an engine power. In normal conditions, if the engine is running at a low speed, then the exhaust pipe will produce an appropriate discharge pressure to assist the engine torque output; and if the engine is running at a high speed, the exhaust pipe will expedite the exhaustion to enhance the engine operating performance of an automobile.


A capacitance temperature sensor in which temperature is measured by detecting capacitance of a parallel plate condenser which comprises a dielectric material comprising strontium titanate single crystal in which (a) 30% by weight or less of oxygen-16 or (b) 30% by weight to 50% by weight of oxygen-16 is substituted with oxygen-18 isotope.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitance temperature sensor in which temperature is measured by detecting capacitance of a parallel plate condenser which comprises a dielectric material comprising strontium titanate single crystal, and a temperature measuring device using the capacitance temperature sensor.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Bulk single crystal strontium titanate (hereinafter referred to as "STO") is known as a quantum paraelectric material and its dielectric-constant is 20,000 or more at 4.2 K. The dielectric constant of the bulk single crystal strontium titanate depends on bias and stress and decreases according to them.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,891 discloses use of a ferroelectric material as a capacitance temperature sensor.
Bulk single crystal STO exhibits a high dielectric constant at low temperatures as mentioned above and thus is an extremely useful dielectric material for superconducting devices or semiconductor devices which are used at low temperatures.
On the other hand, when a ferromagnetic material is used as a capacitance temperature sensor as disclosed in the related art, temperature change causes residual polarization. As a result, hysteresis appears, making it impossible to obtain a capacitance temperature sensor having a one-to-one relationship between the temperature and the capacitance measured.
Further, a capacitance temperature sensor made of a ferroelectric material as disclosed in the related art has been commercialized, but its sensitivity and absolute sensitivity are as low as 20 pF/K and 0.02, respectively. Such a capacitance temperature sensor is thus disadvantageous in that its precision in temperature measurement is low.

Capacitance temperature sensor and temperature measuring device

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


A display panel and a display apparatus are provided. The display panel includes an image panel having pixel lines; a polarization panel which switches a polarization direction of a ray of light emitted from the image panel; and a lens which passes the ray of light provided from the polarization panel. The lens includes a first lens array which has a first birefringence characteristic, a second lens array which has a second birefringence characteristic different from the first birefringence characteristic, and which is arranged at a location to face the first lens array in an alternating manner, and a liquid crystal portion which has a same birefringence characteristic as either the first birefringence characteristic or the second birefringence characteristic, and which is filled in between the first lens array and the second lens array.

1. Field
Apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments herein relate to a display panel and a display apparatus including the display panel, and more particularly, to a display panel using a plurality of lens arrays having different birefringence characteristics from each other and a display apparatus having the display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of electronic technologies, various types of electronic devices are being developed and provided. Specifically, the display apparatus including a displaying function are utilized in various places such as homes, offices, and companies. For instance, the television (TV), the cellular phone, the PDA, the MP3 player, the kiosk, the electronic frame, the electronic board, the electronic book, and others are utilized for displaying.
As the display apparatuses diversify and the number of the display apparatuses increases, the display apparatuses are enabled to provide a variety of contents thereon. Specifically, three-dimensional display system providing three-dimensional (3D) contents are manufactured and supplied.
The 3D display system is mainly categorized into a glassless system with which the user can watch the contents without having to wear glasses, and a glasses system with which the user can watch the contents through a pair of glasses. The glasses system discriminately provides the left-eye images and the right-eye images to the left eye and the right eye, respectively. Thus, the glasses system can provide high image quality, but the user may feel inconvenience in watching the contents with the glasses.
In the glassless system, although the user can watch the 3D images without having to wear the glasses, the image quality may be lower and the user may sense different depths depending on a location from which the display is viewed.
Particularly, in the glassless system, due to the way the left-eye and right-eye images are provided, the horizontal image resolution can decrease about half.
Accordingly, the glassless system has a disadvantage that it is not possible to watch the contents in the original resolution.

Display panel and display apparatus using birefringence


An inkjet printhead and a method of driving the inkjet printhead include a flow channel substrate having a pressure chamber, and a piezoelectric actuator formed on the flow channel substrate to apply a driving force to the pressure chamber to eject ink. The piezoelectric actuator includes a piezoelectric layer formed on the flow channel substrate to correspond to the pressure chamber, and a plurality of common electrodes and a plurality of driving electrodes alternately arranged in a length direction of the piezoelectric layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an inkjet printhead that ejects ink using a piezoelectric actuator, and a method of driving the piezoelectric actuator of the inkjet printhead.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, inkjet printheads are devices for printing an image on a printing medium by ejecting droplets of ink onto a desired region of the printing medium. Depending on an ink ejecting method, the inkjet printheads can be classified as a thermal inkjet printhead and a piezoelectric inkjet printhead. In the thermal inkjet printhead, ink is heated to form ink bubbles, and an expansive force of the bubbles causes ink droplets to be ejected. In the piezoelectric inkjet printhead, a piezoelectric crystal is deformed, and a pressure due to the deformation of the piezoelectric crystal causes ink droplets to be ejected.
FIG. 1 is a vertical section illustrating a conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional piezoelectric inkjet printhead includes a flow channel substrate 10 and a nozzle substrate 20 to form a manifold 13, a plurality of restrictors 12, and a plurality of pressure chambers 11 as an ink flow channel. A plurality of nozzles 22 corresponding to the pressure chambers 11 is formed in the nozzle substrate 20. A piezoelectric actuator 40 is formed on the flow channel substrate 10. The manifold 13 is a passage allowing an inflow of ink from an ink reservoir (not shown) to the pressure chambers 11, and the restrictors 12 is a passage allowing and/or restricting the inflow of the ink from the manifold 13 to the pressure chambers 11. The pressure chambers 11 are arranged along one side or both sides of the manifold 13 to store ink to be ejected through the nozzles 22. A volume of the pressure chamber 11 varies according to an operation of the piezoelectric actuator 40. Thus, ink flows into or out of the pressure chamber 11 according to the pressure variation. A portion of the flow channel substrate 10, such as an upper wall thereof to define the press chamber 11 with the nozzle substrate 20, is used as a vibrating plate 14 to control the ink to flow in or out of the pressure chamber 11. The vibrating plate 14 is deformed by the operation of the piezoelectric actuator 40.
The piezoelectric actuator 40 includes a lower electrode 41, a piezoelectric layer 42, and an upper electrode 43 that are sequentially stacked on the flow channel substrate 10. A silicon oxide layer 31 is formed between the lower electrode 41 and the flow channel substrate 10 as an insulating layer. The lower electrode 41 is formed on the entire surface of the silicon oxide layer 31 as a common electrode. The piezoelectric layer 42 is formed on the lower electrode 41 above the pressure chamber 11. The upper electrode 43 is formed on the piezoelectric layer 42 as a driving electrode for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric layer 42. A flexible printed circuit (FPC) is connected to the upper electrode 43 for applying a voltage to the upper electrode 43.
When a driving pulse is applied to the upper electrode 43, the piezoelectric layer 42 is deformed, thereby bending the vibrating plate 14 and thus changing the volume of the pressure chamber 11. Ink contained in the pressure chamber 11 is ejected through the nozzle 22 according to the changed volume of the pressure chamber. The deformation of the vibrating plate 14 should be large enough to effectively eject ink having various viscosities. The deformation of the vibrating plate 14 depends on a deformation amount of the piezoelectric layer 42 in a transverse direction. The transverse deformation of the piezoelectric layer 42 depends on a transverse length of the piezoelectric layer 42 and a magnitude of the driving voltage applied to the piezoelectric layer 42. However, the transverse length of the piezoelectric layer 42 is restricted by a length of the pressure chamber 11 in a direction of the traverse direction. Therefore, in the piezoelectric actuator 40 shown in FIG. 1, the driving voltage to the piezoelectric layer 42 should be large enough to increase the deformation of the vibrating plate 14. Further, the transverse deformation of the piezoelectric layer 42 depends on a thickness uniformity of the piezoelectric layer 42. That is, if a thickness of the piezoelectric layer 42 is not uniform, the transverse deformation of the piezoelectric layer 42 is affected by a thickness variation thereof.

Inkjet printhead having piezoelectric actuator and method of driving the piezoelectric actuator


A line driver circuit is disclosed which may comprise a first supply voltage potential node; a second supply voltage potential node; a latch node; a first transistor of a first conductivity type and having a source coupled to the first supply voltage potential node, a drain coupled to the latch node, and a gate; a second transistor of the first conductivity type and having a source coupled to the first supply voltage potential node, a drain coupled to the gate of the first transistor of the first conductivity type, and a gate coupled to the latch node; a first transistor of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type and having a drain coupled to the drain of the second transistor of the first conductivity type, a source coupled to the second supply voltage potential node and a gate coupled to the latch node; and a diode having an anode coupled to the input node and a cathode coupled to the second supply voltage potential node.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to circuitry for writing data into nonvolatile memories, and in particular to providing high voltage pulses with variable base voltage levels.
2. The Prior Art
In typical floating gate nonvolatile memories, it is necessary to apply much higher voltages to the array when writing data into the memory than when reading data from the memory. This frequently requires that the transistors used to route the bias voltages employed to write to the memory be different than those used for reading operations. Generally, it is desirable not to consume static power in the circuits used to route the write bias voltages to reduce the write power consumption and, more importantly, to avoid excessive current draw from on chip charge pumps used to generate the high write voltages.
The prior art has labored to design suitable circuits to write nonvolatile memories. Typically, early efforts employed either charge pumps or boot-strap circuits in order to supply write biases using only n-channel transistors. With the development of technologies that would support high voltage, complimentary MOSFETs, the design problem was somewhat simplified and many products were designed using the xe2x80x9chalf-latchxe2x80x9d circuit shown in FIG. 1, and disclosed in William Ip, et al, xe2x80x9c256 kb CMOS EPROMxe2x80x9d, ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 138-9 (1984), and Sanjay Mehrotra et al, xe2x80x9cA 64 kb CMOS EEPROM with On-Chip ECCxe2x80x9d, ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 142-3 (1984).
As manufacturing technology for integrated circuits has been scaled to finer feature sizes, the size of memory cells has been reduced, allowing more bits to be stored in a given area. However, the voltage handling capability of the transistors has also decreased. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the voltages required to write data into nonvolatile memories has not decreased as fast as the voltage handling capability of the scaled transistors.
In order to reduce the stress on the transistors in the writing circuitry, the prior art developed xe2x80x9csplit-voltagexe2x80x9d approaches to writing in which a positive voltage was applied to one node of the cells to be written to, while another voltage of the opposing polarity was applied to another node of the cells to be written. Such an approach is disclosed in Y. Miyawaki et al, xe2x80x9cA new Erasing and Row Decoding Scheme for Low Supply Voltage Opeation 16 Mb/64 Mb flash EEPROMsxe2x80x9d, Symp. on VLSI Circuits Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 85-6 (1991), Shinichi Kobayashi, et al, xe2x80x9cA 3.3 V-Only 16 Mb DINOR Flash Memoryxe2x80x9d, ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 122-3 (1995), Masao Kuriyama, xe2x80x9cA 5V-Only 0.6 xcexcm Flash EEPROM with Row Decoder Scheme in Triple-Well Structurexe2x80x9d, ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 152-3 (1992).
While these methods have resulted in the reduction in voltage stress across the individual transistors, two charge pumps, one for positive and one for negative voltages, are typically required. Furthermore, more complex decoder circuitry are also required that occupies a greater area.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic drawing of an embodiment of typical, prior art row circuitry 100. The NAND circuit 10 receives m addresses and their complements and is configured to operate as a decoder. The output 12 of the NAND decoder 10 of a selected row is raised to VDD, while the outputs of the decoders of the unselected rows is lowered to ground. An n-channel transistor 20 has a gate biased at VDD for allowing the signal from the NAND decoder 10 to pass to a row line 22. Transistors 34 and 36 form an inverter.
In operation, if the output 12 of the NAND decoder 10 is low, transistor 36 is non-conducting and transistor 34 is conducting, pulling node 38 high. This will tend to turn off transistor 30, allowing the row line 22 to be biased at ground. If the output 12 of the NAND decoder 10 is high, transistor 36 will be biased into conduction while the channel conductance of transistor 34 will be reduced so that node 38 will be pulled toward ground. As the voltage on node 38 is reduced, the conductance of transistor 30 is increased which pulls the row line up to the source potential of transistors 30 and 34. This bias blocks conduction through transistor 34 and ultimately pulls row line 22 to the potential of node 40.
In the read mode, the circuit simply operates as described above with node 40 equal to VDD. In the write mode, node 40 is biased at VDD until the latch consisting of transistors 30, 34, and 36 is set to a known state by the output of the NAND, with the inverter consisting of 34 and 36 in a non-conducting state. After the latch is set, bias on node 40 is gradually increased to a high voltage level, VPP. If the NAND output 12 is low, the row line 22 is actively held low by this circuit. The potential of node 38 follows that of node 40 because of the conduction through transistor 34, which keeps transistor 30 in the non-conducting state. If the NAND output 12 is high, transistor 30 is conducting which maintains the row line at the potential of node 40 so that transistor 34 remains in a nonconducting state. In this case, the gate and source of transistor 20 are both biased at VDD so that this transistor is nonconducting as the row line is pulled to VPP. When word line 22 goes to VPP, transistor 20 acts as an isolation or blocking device for the low voltage NAND decoder. This allows the NAND decoder to be formed of high performance, low voltage transistors.
A disadvantage of the prior art circuit shown in FIG. 1 is that at least one of the transistors in the latch has the full VPP voltage between source and drain and at least one of these transistors has VPP applied between gate and channel. As is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, this voltage stresses the transistors of the latch.
The present disclosure provides circuitry for supplying pulses to the memory array for the purpose of writing data to the memory. The circuitry allows operation with one of the high or low level of the pulses set to an arbitrary level that is between the minimum and maximum voltage levels, thus reducing the maximum voltage handling required of the transistors of the circuitry. The disclosed circuitry provides this capability while retaining a low transistor count that allows the circuit to occupy a small area such that it can be readily interfaced to a memory array.
Various aspects of a line driver circuit are disclosed. In one aspect, the line driver circuit may comprise a first supply voltage potential node; a second supply voltage potential node; a latch node; a first transistor of a first conductivity type and having a source coupled to the first supply voltage potential node, a drain coupled to the latch node, and a gate; a second transistor of the first conductivity type and having a source coupled to the first supply voltage potential node, a drain coupled to the gate of the first transistor of the first conductivity type, and a gate coupled to the latch node; a first transistor of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type and having a drain coupled to the drain of the first transistor of the first conductivity type, a source coupled to the second supply voltage potential node and a gate coupled to the drain of the second transistor of the first conductivity type; and a diode having an anode coupled to the second supply voltage and a cathode coupled to the row line voltage potential node. The diode of the disclosed line driver circuits may include a diode connected transistor, an isolated pn diode formed in a triple-well CMOS process, or a pin diode formed in polysilicon deposited on an insulating film.


A perpendicular magnetic recording disk has a granular cobalt alloy recording layer (RL) containing an additive oxide or oxides, an intermediate layer (IL) as an exchange-break layer on the “soft” magnetic underlayer (SUL), and an ultrathin nucleation film (NF) between the IL and the RL. In the method of making the disk, the IL is deposited at a relatively low sputtering pressure, to thereby reduce the roughness of the RL and overcoat (OC), while the NF and RL are deposited at substantially higher sputtering pressures. The resulting disk has good recording properties and improved corrosion resistance over a comparable disk made with an IL deposited at high sputtering pressure and without the NF. The NF may be a discontinuous film with an average thickness of less than about 1 nm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to perpendicular magnetic recording media, and more particularly to a disk with a perpendicular magnetic recording layer for use in magnetic recording hard disk drives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Perpendicular magnetic recording, wherein the recorded bits are stored in a perpendicular or out-of-plane orientation in the recording layer, is a promising path toward ultra-high recording densities in magnetic recording hard disk drives. A common type of perpendicular magnetic recording system is one that uses a "dual-layer" media. This type of system is shown in FIG. 1 with a single write pole type of recording head. The dual-layer media includes a perpendicular magnetic data recording layer (RL) formed on a "soft" or relatively low-coercivity magnetically permeable underlayer (SUL). The SUL serves as a flux return path for the field from the write pole to the return pole of the recording head. In FIG. 1, the RL is illustrated with perpendicularly recorded or magnetized regions, with adjacent regions having opposite magnetization directions, as represented by the arrows. The magnetic transitions between adjacent oppositely-directed magnetized regions are detectable by the read element or head as the recorded bits.
FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cross-section of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recording disk showing the write field Hw acting on the recording layer RL. The disk also includes the hard disk substrate, a seed or onset layer (OL) for growth of the SUL, an intermediate layer (IL) between the SUL and the RL, and a protective overcoat (OC). The IL is a nonmagnetic layer or multilayer structure, also called an "exchange break layer" or EBL, that breaks the magnetic exchange coupling between the magnetically permeable films of the SUL and the RL and facilitates epitaxial growth of the RL. While not shown in FIG. 2, a seed layer is typically deposited directly on the SUL to facilitate the growth of the IL. As shown in FIG. 2, the RL is located inside the gap of the "apparent" recording head (ARH), which allows for significantly higher write fields compared to longitudinal or in-plane recording. The ARH comprises the write pole (FIG. 1) which is the real write head (RWH) above the disk, and an effective secondary write pole (SWP) beneath the RL. The SWP is facilitated by the SUL, which is decoupled from the RL by the IL and by virtue of its high permeability produces a magnetic mirror image of the RWH during the write process. This effectively brings the RL into the gap of the ARH and allows for a large write field Hw inside the RL.
One type of material for the RL is a granular ferromagnetic cobalt alloy, such as a CoPtCr alloy, with a hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) crystalline structure having the c-axis oriented substantially out-of-plane or perpendicular to the RL. The granular cobalt alloy RL should also have a well-isolated fine-grain structure to produce a high-coercivity (Hc) media and to reduce intergranular exchange coupling, which is responsible for high intrinsic media noise. Enhancement of grain segregation in the cobalt alloy RL is achieved by the addition of oxides, including oxides of Si, Ta, Ti, and Nb. These oxides tend to precipitate to the grain boundaries, and together with the elements of the cobalt alloy form nonmagnetic intergranular material. A perpendicular magnetic recording medium with a RL of a CoPtCr granular alloy with added SiO2 is described by H. Uwazumi, et al., "CoPtCr—SiO2 Granular Media for High-Density Perpendicular Recording", IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 39, No. 4, July 2003, pp. 1914-1918. A perpendicular magnetic recording medium with a RL of a CoPt granular alloy with added Ta2O5 is described by T. Chiba et al., "Structure and magnetic properties of Co—Pt—Ta2O5 film for perpendicular magnetic recording media", Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Vol. 287, February 2005, pp. 167-171.
The cobalt alloy RL has substantially out-of-plane or perpendicular magnetic anisotropy as a result of the c-axis of its hcp crystalline structure being induced to grow substantially perpendicular to the plane of the layer during deposition. To induce this growth of the hcp RL, the IL onto which the RL is formed is also an hcp material. Ruthenium (Ru) and certain Ru alloys, such as RuCr, are nonmagnetic hcp materials that are used for the IL.
The enhancement of segregation of the magnetic grains in the RL by the additive oxides is important for achieving high areal density and recording performance. The intergranular material not only effectively decouples intergranular exchange but also exerts control on the size and distribution of the magnetic grains in the RL. Current disk fabrication methods achieve this segregated RL by growing the RL on an IL that exhibits columnar growth of its grains. The columnar growth of the IL is accomplished by sputter depositing it at a relatively high sputtering pressure. However, growth of the RL on this type of IL leads to significant roughness and discontinuities in the RL, and consequently to reduced mechanical integrity of the protective OC. Poor OC coverage, roughness in the RL, and columnar growth of the IL provide a relatively easy path for water and corrosive agents to migrate through these layers and interact with the SUL. Formation of the IL at reduced sputtering pressure can reduce the RL roughness and improve the corrosion resistance of the disk. However, disks with ILs formed at lower sputtering pressure exhibit significantly reduced coercivity and thus poor recording performance.
What is needed is a perpendicular magnetic recording disk that has a granular cobalt alloy RL with additive oxides and that exhibits good corrosion resistance without compromising recording performance.

Perpendicular magnetic recording disk with ultrathin nucleation film for improved corrosion resistance and method for making the disk

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A device includes: a die including a microfluidic device; a polymer substrate formed around the die; and a separate fluid manifold attached to the polymer substrate over the die and on a same side of the substrate as the die, the manifold to deliver fluid to the die.

Microfluidic devices are increasingly used to measure parameters from a fluid sample. Decreasing cost per test and the ability to use relatively small sample volumes are two of the factors that are driving interest in microfluidic devices.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A semiconductor laser includes a substrate and an active layer. The substrate has a lattice constant which falls within the range between 0.565 nm and 0.56 nm. The active layer has a quantum well structure in which a GaInP alloy crystal with a lattice constant larger than the lattice constant of the substrate is formed as a well layer and an AlGaInP alloy crystal with a lattice constant smaller than the lattice constant of the substrate is formed as a barrier layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser used as a light source for optical information processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Long-service-life semiconductor lasers with small changes in threshold current upon changes in temperature are required as light sources for optical information processing. To prolong the service life, it is effective to decrease the threshold current of a laser. For these reasons, semiconductor lasers having quantum well structures as active layers are used as the light sources. In particular, a strained quantum well structure in which a semiconductor constituting a well layer having a lattice constant different from that of a substrate has been known to be effective.
The reliability of a laser is improved by shifting the lattice constant of a barrier layer in a direction opposite to a well layer, and compensating the strain of the whole quantum well.
To increase the information storage capacity of optical disks and the like, short-wavelength lasers are required. Such a laser can be attained by using GaAsP with a lattice constant smaller than that of conventional GaAs for a substrate, which is reported in H. Kressel, C. J. Nuesse, and G. H. Olsen, "Journal of Applied Physics", Vol. 49, pp. 3140 -3149, 1978, and T. Tanaka, K. Uchida, Y. Ishitani, and S. Minagawa "Applied Physics Letters", Vol. 66, pp. 783-785, 1995. In these references, the wavelength of an active layer lattice-matched with a substrate is shortened by utilizing a semiconductor crystal with a small lattice constant having a large band gap.
When the characteristics of a semiconductor laser for emitting a beam with wavelength around 635 nm are improved by introducing the above-described strained quantum well structure into the semiconductor laser, the following problems arise.
First, in a compressive-strained quantum well structure wherein a well layer has a lattice constant higher than that of a substrate, a very thin well layer with a thickness of 1 to 2 nm must be formed to emit a beam around 635 nm because the band gap of the material for the well layer itself is small. Accordingly, the characteristics are degraded due to variations in thickness of the well layer in growth.
Second, in a tensile-strained quantum well wherein a well layer has a lattice constant smaller than that of a substrate, the well layer can be made thick because the band gap of the material for the well layer is large. However, carrier confinement is degraded because a difference in band gap with respect to a barrier layer becomes small. Leakage of carriers from an active layer degrades the threshold current and temperature characteristics. Particularly in a strain compensation structure wherein a compressive strain is applied to a barrier layer, almost no potential barrier with respect to electrons exists between a well layer and the barrier layer, resulting in an increase in leakage current.
Third, if the Al composition of AlGaInP serving as a barrier layer is increased in order to increase a band gap between the well and barrier layers, the band structure changes to be of an indirect transition type. For this reason, energy at the X point decreases to increase leakage carriers passing through the X point.
As described above, many problems arise in forming a 630-nm-band laser with a strained quantum well active layer, and the performance is difficult to improve.
Next, the problems of a semiconductor laser using a strain compensated tensile-strained quantum well for compensating the strain of the whole quantum well by shifting the lattice constant of a barrier layer in a direction opposite to that of a well layer will be described in detail.
FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing a semiconductor laser using a strain compensated tensile-strained quantum well. A cladding layer 12, a guide layer 13, an active layer 14, a guide layer 15, and a cladding layer 16 are sequentially stacked on a substrate 11.
As materials for the respective layers, GaAs is used for the substrate 11; (Al.sub.0.7 Ga.sub.0.3).sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P lattice-matched with the substrate, for the cladding layers 12 and 16; (Al.sub.0.5 Ga.sub.0.5).sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P lattice-matched with the substrate, for the guide layers 13 and 15; and Ga.sub.0.64 In.sub.0.36 P with a strain of 0.93% and Al.sub.0.42 In.sub.0.58 P with a strain of -0.7%, respectively, for a well layer 141 and a barrier layer 142 in the quantum well structure of the active layer 14.
FIG. 1B is a diagram of the conduction band edge showing energy at the .GAMMA. points and energy at the X points of the respective layers from the well layer to the cladding layer in the semiconductor laser using the strain compented tensile-strained quantum well.
With the materials used in FIG. 1A, the energy of electrons at the .GAMMA. point of the well layer 141, and the energy of electrons at the .GAMMA. points of the barrier layer 142 and the guide layer 13 have almost no difference, as shown in FIG. 1B. Only the cladding layer 12 has an energy difference of 30 meV. Therefore, the quantum well effect cannot be expected, and a leakage current is very large.
Further, energy differences between the .GAMMA. point of the well layer 141 and the X points of the barrier layer 142 and the cladding layer 12 are only 110 meV, and the number of leakage carriers passing through the X points is large. For this reason, if the Al compositions of the barrier layer 142, the guide layer 13, and the cladding layer 12 are increased to make energy differences at the .GAMMA. points large, energy at the X points decreases, resulting in further increases in leakage carriers passing through the X points. Therefore, the overflow of carriers cannot be prevented.
As described above, when a 630-nm-band laser is formed with the tensile-strained quantum well active layer, the performance is difficult to improve because the size of the strain cannot be increased.
When the wavelength is shortened by using GaAsP with a lattice constant smaller than that of a conventional GaAs substrate, the composition of a GaInP active layer to be lattice-matched becomes close to GaP. For this reason, leakage carriers from the X point increase, and the characteristics cannot be improved. Therefore, it is limited to shorten the wavelength by decreasing the lattice constant of the substrate.


Provided is a radio access network slice construction method and apparatus applied to a master base station. The method includes: constructing, by each of the master base station and at least one neighboring secondary base station in the RAN, a network slice end-to-end correspondence with a core network, and determining RAN slices information in the master base station and the neighboring secondary base station; collecting statistics, by the master base station, on Slice IDs or MDD information reported by all UEs served by the master base station, and obtaining quantity of slice resources needed to be allocated to construct RAN slices by the master base station; transmitting, by the master base station, reconstruction request information of a RAN slice to the neighboring secondary base station; and performing, by the master base station, multi-connection data transmission reconfiguration on the UEs served by the master base station through an RRC message.

In an era of nowadays comprehensive informatization, the application demand for traffic data transmission in various industries is explosively growing. Compared with the traditional 3rd generation (3G) and 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems, the application scenarios the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system facing are very different. In the future 5G mobile network, not only communications among people need to be provided, but also various services need to be provided for various and massive devices of Internet of Things. In the 5G mobile network, traffic requiring for an ultra-high data transmission rate such as virtual reality, high-definition video, traffic requiring for low latency ultra-reliable transmission service such as unmanned driving in Internet of Vehicles and telemedicine, and the density of small UEs of Internet of Things will be promoted greatly in terms of a transmission rate, a single user uplink and downlink rate, an end-to-end latency and the number of UEs capable of being access to per square meter compared with the mobile network.
The traditional communication network facing limited application scenarios adopts simple architecture curing configured by single radio access network and core network functions. This architecture cannot meet application and performance requirements of all scenarios.
And, if a dedicated network is constructed for each scenario to meet the customized application and performance requirements, waste of plenty of infrastructure or spectrum resources will be caused.
The development of network function virtualization (NFV) technology makes it possible for operators to build different virtual networks for different traffic requirements. The network slice technology of the core network and the radio access network is based on a general physical infrastructure (including compute resources, storage resources, transmission resources, etc.), and performs function definition and division logically on the network, forming an end-to-end virtual network slice. Each virtual network slice possesses different function and performance characteristics to dynamically meet various traffic requirements and business models. The NFV can implement the decoupling of software and hardware. The providers of network infrastructure and equipment no longer need to provide dedicated and application-limited hardware resources for different customers, and can introduce the concept of tenants with the help of NFV and software defined network (SDN) technologies for resource division for different tenants on the same infrastructure, implementing resource and usage isolation among tenants.
The network slice divides one physical network into multiple virtual logical networks, and each virtual network corresponds to different application scenarios. That is, one physical network is divided into multiple virtual end-to-end networks. Network devices, access, transmission, and core networks are included among each virtual network. These parts are logically independent, and failure of any one of virtual network will not affect other virtual networks. Each virtual network possesses different function characteristics, and faces different requirements and services.

Radio access network slice construction method and apparatus


A two-piece, laminated-limb, take-down bow and a process for making such a bow is described. In brief, the bow comprises: an upper laminated-limb, having a sight-window formed therein and an outer diameter defined under the sight-window; a metal female sleeve having an outer diameter larger than the diameter of the upper laminated-limb; a first amount of shock-absorbing epoxy residing between a portion of the interior of the metal female sleeve and the upper laminated-limb; a lower laminated-limb; a metal male sleeve having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the female sleeve and capable of slidable insertion therein; a second amount of shock-absorbing epoxy residing between a substantially all of the interior of the metal male sleeve and the lower laminated-limb.

This invention relates generally to the art of archery and, more specifically, to the art of take-down bows using laminated-limbs.
Bows have been used in archery for centuries, and many innovations have been proposed to increase their performance. One need in the art has been for portability. The bow is quite long; and, therefore, there have been repeated attempts to design take-down bows that were more portable than the monolithic structure, but which were as fast-shooting and accurate.
One example of such an attempt is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,832, issued to Fisher, which disclosed a bow made from metal. The limbs are inserted into a handle structure of seamless tube steel, open at both ends to hold the shanks of the metal limbs. However, the Fisher structure has a number of problems, and it has not been accepted by archers. For example, the handle of Fisher is open on the top end, for receiving the upper limb, thus resulting in dirt, water, and other foreign materials being enabled to enter the opening. Those foreign materials scratch, gall, and corrode the socket, thus causing a non-uniform fit between the limb and handle. Further, the use of metal limbs causes the bow to be very heavy. Further still, having separate limbs and handle results in two joints, each of which must be exactly aligned if the bow is to shoot the same each time it is put together; and, there are three pieces that must be handled in assembly.
Another example of an attempt to make a take-down bow is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,709,630, issued to Rounsevelle. Unlike Fisher, Rounsevelle had a two-piece structure. However, Rounsevelle faced the same fouled joint and alignment problems of Fisher. In an attempt to address this problem, Rounsevelle provided a tapered two-sleeve fastener, each sleeve being attached permanently to one limb. However, each sleeve is tubular and the female sleeve is attached to the lower limb. Such an attachment has numerous disadvantages, among which is the tendency for the upward-pointing female sleeve to collect water, dirt, snow, etc. Further, the sleeve placement and tapering weakens the bow, limiting the size of the sight-window that can be cut in the upper limb. Further still, Rounsevelle does not provide for a close-tolerance fit to increase repeatability of the way in which the bow would shoot after being taken down and reassembled. Apparently, Rounsevelle did not recognize the need. Nor does Rounsevelle provide any way in which the metal surfaces of the sleeves can be protected from galling, corrosion, or other deterioration. Rounsevelle's bow, also, has not been accepted by archers.
Yet another attempt to make an acceptable take-down bow is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,073,418, issued to Gille, et al. Gille shows a metal-limbed bow with a "D-shaped" sleeve structure for aligning the metal-tube limbs; however, Gille has many of the previously mentioned problems. For example, due to the tubular nature of the limbs, there can be no provision for a deeply cut sight-window in the upper limb; and, the upper limb is inserted into the handle, thus creating an upward-pointing female sleeve. Further, Gille fails to disclose any way to prevent galling, corrosion, wear, etc. of the joints. Further still, Gille shows that the prior art intentionally placed the female sleeve on the lower limb of the take-down bows, in order to have the wider portion of the bow in the handle, thus allowing the top of the female sleeve to be used as an arrow rest. Gille's bow has not been accepted by archers.
Another take-down bow is seen in Australia Patent No. 135,941, issued to Brewer, which discloses yet another socket arrangement in which the female sleeve is mounted on the lower limb, causing the same problems discussed above. Further, Brewer teaches that the metallic socket members should be pinched or clamped to the wood limbs. Such an arrangement destroys the limbs due to compression of the soft wood by the hard metal, and has not been accepted.
Another metal-limbed, take-down bow is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,810,335, issued to Barnhart, which again teaches that non-metal bow limbs are undesirable. Also, Barnhart fails to address the above-noted problems; and, like the previously-mentioned bows, has not been accepted.
One of the more modern improvements in archery has been the advent of laminated-limbs. Such laminated-limbs allow for more uniformity in manufacture, better control, and faster shooting bows. However, the laminated-limbs suffer from the problem that they are soft. Also, they are as prone to damage in take-down bows as were wood limbs. Further, the laminated-limbs are of a different shape. The older wood and metal-tubed bows were rounded in the limbs, allowing for the use of tube-like sleeves for the joints; while, in modern laminated bows, the limbs are flattened, resulting in the necessity to fit a rectangular peg (the laminated-limb) in a substantially round hole (the tube) if the tubular sleeve of old are used. The art did not see such a solution as practical, and opted for rectangular-rectangular limb-to-riser connection means, using a metal-riser and two, separate laminated-limbs, as discussed below.
The advent of the metal-riser, in which the grip, arrow rest, and sight-window were incorporated, allowed the art to make the only take-down bows that, to date, have met with acceptance. Those metal-risers allowed for insertion of separate laminated upper and lower limbs, thus creating a three-piece, take-down bow. Since the riser was metal, and therefore strong, a deep sight-window could be cut therein, allowing the bow to cast the arrow more closely along the plane of the bow--that is, the plane in which the limbs tend to force the string. Such alignment improves the speed and accuracy of the bow. Further, the ends of the riser, above the sight-window and below the grip, could be shaped to conform to the rectangular shape of modern laminated-limbs.
Some three-piece, metal-riser take-downs, such as that made by Bear Archery, had rectangular pockets at each end of the riser into which the laminated-limbs were loosely inserted. Tension on the string forced each limb to stay in the riser. The first shot with such a bow was usually accompanied with a load gun-shot sound as the limbs "seated." The first shot was not considered to be accurate, due to the lack of seating. Some archers would half-draw the bow and release the string to seat the limbs before the first shot. The practice, understandably, was not considered to be conducive to long life for the bow. Further, in high draw-weight bows, the limbs tended to creak during the draw. Further, when the bow was shot, the limbs rattled in the pockets, resulting in loud, noisy bows----not well suited to hunting, where many animals react fast enough to move out of the way if they hear either the draw, or even the shot.
Other bow makers, also attempting to provide the portability of a take-down bow, still using metal-risers and separate upper and lower laminated-limbs, provided channels into which the butt of each limb was inserted. A bolt was inserted through the laminated-limb and into a support shelf located on the shooter's side of the riser. Thus, as the bow was drawn, the laminated-limb pressed against the shelf on the shooter's side of the riser. The channel wall on the target side of the riser held the limb in place. The bolt provided stability. Such a design was, effectively, the only design used by olympic-style (FITA) archers during the last three decades. Examples of such bows include the Hoyt (now Easton) TD-2 and TD-3, and the Yamaha bows that competed therewith, as will be understood by those of skill in the art. These bows included the same seating and noise problems associated with other three-piece, metal-riser, take-down bows.
An additional problem with the three-piece, metal-riser bows was the short limbs. Because the riser was stiff, no part of the riser could be used to impart energy to the arrow. All of the mechanical energy had to be stored in the relatively short laminated-limbs. The result was that take-down bows tended to shoot slowly.
The need for speed of arrow flight led to the development of what is now known as the compound bow. Such a bow is known to those of skill in the art as a cam-operated, cable bow, using a metal-riser and very short, but very thick, laminated-limbs. The overall length of such a bow is substantially shorter than the traditional one-piece bow, allowing somewhat for the portability desired in a take-down bow, and the compound shoots faster for the same draw weight in a three-piece take-down. However, it is fairly complex and cannot be easily unstrung and restrung with consistent accuracy.
Therefore, there is, and has long been, a need for a two-piece, take-down bow with shock absorbing qualities that can be made from modern, laminated-limbs and be assembled accurately, time after time. Also, there is a need for the two-piece, take-down bow to provide for a close tolerance fit, with resistance to galling, corrosion, fouled joints, and the like, while still providing a deeply cut sight-window, ease of set-up with repeatable performance between set-ups, and accuracy.

Two-piece, take-down, laminated-limb bow

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A gooseneck hitch assembly includes a hitch ball assembly having a hitch ball and a housing and a mounting assembly for securing the hitch ball assembly to the frame of a vehicle. The hitch ball is pivotally connected to the housing and includes a conveniently located grease fitting, a pivotally mounted security door with a torsion spring to hold the door in fully open and closed positions and a latch for securing the door in a closed position and the hitch ball in a towing position. A method of mounting the gooseneck hitch assembly to the towing vehicle is also disclosed.

Ball hitches of the gooseneck type wherein the hitch ball is mounted in the bed of a pick-up truck between the rear wheels of the truck are well known in the art. Examples of such gooseneck hitches are presented in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,256,324 to Hamilton; 4,657,274 to Mann et al.; 5,143,393 to Meyer; 5,435,585 to Chambers; and 5,472,222 to Marcy. The goal of these designs is to provide as much of the gooseneck hitch assembly as possible beneath the bed of the pick-up truck. Further, the hitch balls themselves are all removable or retractable so that when the hitch is not in use, the hitch ball may be removed or retracted so as not to obstruct the bed of the pick-up truck in any significant manner.
While such gooseneck hitch assemblies have become very popular, all such designs are generally difficult to install. In most situations, it is very difficult to properly position the supporting subframe of the hitch assembly underneath the bed of the pickup truck between the truck frame rails, the overlying bed and the underlying exhaust system, electrical lines, fuel lines and other vehicle components. A need is therefore identified for a gooseneck hitch assembly that may be easily installed by following simple instructions so that the installation process may be completed in a quick and efficient manner.
Further, hitch assemblies have generally failed to include or only included in an inconvenient location under the bed of the pick-up truck a grease fitting for lubricating the mechanism that allows the hitch ball to be moved between the towing and storage positions. Of course, a grease fitting under the bed of the pickup truck is so inconvenient as to often go unutilized. This neglect often results in damage to the mechanism overtime. A need is, therefore, also identified for a gooseneck hitch assembly that may be easily and conveniently lubricated so as to maintain the moving parts of the hitch ball pivotal connection in peak operating condition at all times.

Gooseneck hitch assembly and method of installation


The invention includes a non-pyrolytic cigarette, having an elongated tube of approximately the same, shape, dimensions, and weight of a traditional cigarette. The elongated tube contains two tobacco-filled chambers along its length and incorporates a filter at the end placed in the mouth of the user. The chambers contain pre-burned tobacco and unburned tobacco. A central air passageway communicates with the tobacco-containing chambers, and provides the taste, smell and sensation of a traditional cigarette as air is drawn through the tube and is delivered to the user. Additionally, a multiplicity of nicotine-containing ampules located within the mouth filter release liquid nicotine into the mouth of the user when pressure is applied to the filter.

The most popular use of nicotine, an addictive, relatively harmless agent produced from the combustion of tobacco, involves the smoking of cigarettes or cigars. Individuals inhale the smoke from these devices in an effort to obtain the pleasant physiological effect that nicotine has on the body. Nicotine is absorbed by the lungs when the smoker inhales the smoke. Unfortunately, nicotine is only one of over four thousand components of cigarette smoke, four hundred of which are known carcinogens or harmful toxins. It is now widely known that these other elements of cigarette smoke are responsible for a number of serious physical ailments, including lung cancer. Additionally, recent studies indicate that even second-hand smoke (i.e., smoke inhaled while in close proximity to a smoker) can cause these same maladies in non-smokers.
Furthermore, a substantial number of fires are caused as a result of smoking. Thousands of people are injured or killed, and millions of dollars in property loss occur each year in the United States as a direct result of cigarette smoking. Finally, a few relatively minor problems associated with smoking--stained teeth, dry and wrinkle-prone skin, and smoke-damaged clothing--make the habit annoying as well as dangerous.
In response to these concerns, businesses, employers, and law makers have restricted or prohibited the use of cigarettes in a variety of places and situations. For example, in the United States virtually all domestic airline flight prohibit smoking. And while most restaurants provide both smoking and non-smoking sections, many offices, hospitals, campuses and even whole cities have banned the activity altogether.
A variety of cigarette-like devices have been invented in an effort to counteract the foregoing negative aspects of smoking. These devices, however, have only provided limited solutions often at the expense of commercial success or consumer acceptance since they lack the normal look, feel, and sensation of smoking a traditional cigarette. Complex filters and devices which otherwise improve the quality of the smoke delivered to the smoker do not provide solutions to the bulk of the concerns associated with traditional cigarettes. These devices are still ignited and still produce the same health, safety and practical concerns associated with smoking traditional cigarettes. Non-ignited devices, while eliminating the concerns associated with smoke, do not offer the user the look, feel and sensation of actually smoking a traditional cigarette. Furthermore, many of these devices do not provide the user with nicotine. Finally, a large number of the existing devices involve complicated designs, resulting in higher costs for manufacturers and consumers alike.
The present invention provides a solution to the aforementioned shortcomings of available alternatives to traditional cigarette smoking. The invention is a non-ignited device, having approximately the same shape, dimensions, and weight of a traditional cigarette. The device contains two chambers along its length and incorporates a filter at the end of the smoking device placed in the mouth. The chambers contain pre-burned tobacco and unburned tobacco. The device is placed in the mouth of the user but is not lit. As the user draws on the tube, air is drawn through the center of the device. As the air moves through the device, it is flavored by the tobacco-containing chambers, which provides the taste, smell and sensation of a traditional cigarette. Additionally, ampules located within the mouth filter of the device release liquid nicotine into the mouth of the user when the user applies pressure to the mouth filter. The user can manually crush the ampules in the mouth filter before it is placed in the mouth, or bite down on the mouth filter as the device is used.
Thus the user simultaneously receives the tobacco-flavored air and the nicotine without being exposed to the carcinogens and other harmful agents found in tobacco smoke. Although the user never ignites the invention, the invention is ignited and extinguished during its manufacture so as to closely approximate the look, feel and taste of a traditional cigarette. However, since the user never ignites the invention, it does not pose health or safety hazards and therefore will not be banned in areas where traditional smoking is prohibited. Moreover, the invention is not consumed as it is used and can thus be reused a number of times before replacement is necessary. The invention can be used as a method by which to stop smoking completely, or merely as a substitute to traditional smoking.

Non-combustible anti-smoking device with nicotine impregnated mouthpiece


A looper drive cam is formed of a cylindrical cam which is fixed to a main shaft so that its axis is inclined thereto at an angle of .theta.. A looper drive fork forming an U-shaped cam follower is attached to a looper drive shaft, and is engaged with the inclined cam. The fork is attached to the looper drive shaft with a degree of freedom which allows for deviation between axes of the main shaft and the looper drive shaft. As the main shaft rotates, a cam face of the inclined cam changes in a range of .+-..theta. in a plane containing the main shaft, so that the fork rotates to rotate the looper drive shaft. Owing to the freedom of degree of the fork thus attached, the motion is transmitted smoothly, and wear and rattling are prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a looper drive mechanism of a sewing machine, and particularly to a looper drive mechanism for transmitting rotation of a main shaft to a looper.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, an overlock machine is provided with one or two loopers, which carry out elliptical or circular motion perpendicular to a path of a linear motion of a needle. The looper is driven by a looper drive shaft, which is perpendicular to a main shaft and is oscillated by a main shaft (drive shaft) of the sewing machine through motion conversion/transmission means such as an eccentric cam, spherical cam and bevel gear. For example, in a looper drive mechanism shown in FIG. 6, a main shaft 100 is provided with a crank 102 to which a link 103 is connected, and a looper drive shaft 104 is connected to the link 103 through an arm 105 and a spherical coupling arm 106. As the main shaft 100 rotates, the link 103 vertically moves, whereby the arm 105 is swung or oscillated to rotate the looper drive shaft 104, which, in turn, oscillates an oscillating arm 107 to drive a looper 108.
However, in the structure employing the spherical cam and spherical arm, manufacturing of the spherical arm itself is difficult and expensive, so that the whole structure becomes expensive.
On the other hand, in the looper drive mechanism employing the eccentric cam, the eccentric cam rotates together with the main shaft and the rotary motion of the eccentric cam caused by the rotation of the main shaft is transmitted through a connecting rod and a spherical arm to the looper drive shaft for driving the looper. In this case, it is necessary to slide the connecting rod relative to the eccentric cam, so that high accuracy cannot be obtained in the motion of the looper, and thus a good seams cannot be obtained. In the structure employing the bevel gear (disclosed, e.g., in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 53-23755 (1978)), the rotary motion of the main shaft, the motion of which is converted by the bevel gear must be further converted by the spur gear, crank, link or the like into the oscillatory motion of the looper drive shaft. This results in a disadvantage that the structures are complicated, the number of parts is large, the assembly and manufacturing are laborious, and consequently the construction is expensive.
In order to solve the disadvantages of the looper drive mechanism in the prior art, there has been proposed a looper drive mechanism employing a groove cam (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-176487 (1987)). In this looper drive mechanism, as shown in FIG. 7, a coned dram cam 201 provided with grooves 201a and 201b is attached to a main shaft 200. When the coned dram cam 201 rotates together with the main shaft 200, the oscillation of support arms 204 and 205 for rollers 203a and 203b engaging the grooves 201a and 201b are restricted by the grooves 201a and 201b while the looper drive shafts 206 and 207 are oscillated. This looper drive mechanism requires less number of parts, as compared with the above described looper drive mechanism, and, once a machine for manufacturing the hourglass cam 201 is manufactured, an accurate looper driving operation will be carried out with a simple mechanism.
These looper drive mechanisms in the prior art, however, have such a disadvantage that the assembling operation is time-consuming and laborious, in addition to the respective disadvantages described above. Specifically, in the manufacturing of these looper drive mechanisms, it is necessary to sequentially assemble the cam or gear, looper drive shaft and looper with the main shaft, so that manufacturing steps are complicated, and thus are time-consuming and laborious.
The present invention has been developed in view of these disadvantages of the looper drive mechanisms in the prior art, and it is an object of the invention to provide a looper drive mechanism, in which the number of parts is small, the manufacturing is easy and the accuracy is high.

Looper drive mechanism of a sewing machine