An electro-thermal ice protection system includes a controller for managing and controlling electrical power generated to heat and de-ice surfaces, such as aircraft wings. The system is comprised of a number of power control modules (PCMs) and at least one master control unit (MCU). These elements can be stacked together and mounted into rack systems in order to provide scalable organized power distribution for a de-icing and ice protection system. The electro-thermal system can be used with a load leveling system and method capable of controlling switches such that it appears to a generator that the load is constant. Switches can be scheduled such that, ideally, the power load seen by the power source has emissions of no more than one PWM load superpositioned with zero or more constant, non-modulated loads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for electrically heating and de-icing the wing of an airplane, and more particularly to a system and method for providing power and control through a wing de-icing system in an airplane using stackable, scalable elements and a system for serial load leveling, and more particularly to a load leveling system for avoidance of compounded emissions in high energy, parallel, or distributed, pulse-modulated power control systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ice buildup on the wings of aircraft can cause flight delays and flight hazards. Typical wing de-icing systems include multiple individual heating elements spaced about the wing surface of the aircraft. These heating elements are typically powered by electricity. Many aircraft have wing de-icing systems built into the craft, but often these systems are inefficient or under-equipped for the aircraft into which they are installed.
Existing electro-thermal wing de-icing systems are less flexible, unreliable, and inefficient. What is needed is a flexible, scalable, and reliable wing ice protection system solution for the next generation of more electric aircraft.
More information can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,081 which is incorporated herein by reference.
Avoidance of the effects of simultaneous or coincidental switching of high currents is a challenge for systems having multiple pulse-width modulation (PWM) power switching circuits that share common supplies, enclosures, and other components. Part of the concern is the conducted and radiated EMI emissions resulting from compounded switching transients, but electrical and mechanical effects on the power source are also important.
Such a PWM power switching circuit is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/479,105, filed on May 23, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Synchronized switching is preferred in such systems for reasons of determinacy. However, the conducted and radiated EMI effects of switching are compounded when multiple switches change at the same time. For example, FIG. 10 illustrates how simultaneously opening and closing multiple PWM circuits increases emissions far over that of a single PWM load. An additional effect may be observed as multiple synchronized PWM switches potentially combine to cause cumulative waveforms possessing strong fundamental frequencies significantly different than the fundamental frequency of the individual PWM switches.
As such, it is valuable to consider methods that provide determinant switching but reduce emissions, particularly those associated with simultaneous or compounded switching. This can be particularly important on aircraft where certain frequencies must be avoided for the safety of the vehicle.
Existing systems commonly generally distribute the switching events to reduce simultaneous switching. However, these methods retain a wide range of dynamic emissions, a significant portion of which have harmonic characteristics stronger than desired. It is very difficult to determine which of emissions these systems will experience at any moment in operation, so worst case emissions must be accounted.
Given a system with N switches and M possible pulse widths, using current phase spreading techniques, the range of emissions to characterize is on the order of NM. With Serial Load Leveling, the range of emissions with the technique is M, and those emissions are the minimum possible.
There are existing no-spread synchronized switching techniques that are fairly common. In Non-Spread Synchronized Switching systems, PWM switches are synchronized, share a common clock, and turn on simultaneously, but each one turns off separately according to individual duty cycles. An example of such a system is shown in FIG. 11. In a system supplied by a rotating generator, such power pulses have the effect of oscillating torque loads. In such systems, the maximum amplitude of these oscillations is the sum of the loads, e.g., having 4 to 16 loads yields a torque modulation 4-16 times that of a single load. For solid-state power supplies, the oscillating load causes analogous oscillating effects on the filtering and regulating components of the supply. The supply and other system components must be made to be robust to these oscillations, including avoidance of resonance with any significant harmonics.
There are also existing phase spreading techniques. A few methods exist to mitigate the effects of simultaneous switching loads. In general, they distribute or spread the individual PWM phases over the PWM cycle. However, they suffer either from lack of determinacy required for absolute characterization or from retention of significant transient or harmonic effects.
One such example is non-coherent phase spreading. One method of phase spreading is to introduce pseudorandom or non-coherent phase spreading to the PWM switch timing. This may be achieved by such means as random scattering of switch phasing or, more commonly, by reliance on presumed frequency drift of multiple non-coherent (wild) clocks. However, a lack of coherency complicates absolute system verification, that is, verification becomes a statistical exercise. Neither does non-coherent phase spreading eliminate the possibility of transient peaks, sustained problematic waveforms, or resonance.
Phase spreading has additional limitations in AC applications. Whereas phase spreading may have a relatively continuous switching distribution in DC applications, zero-cross AC switching quantizes the distribution—zero-cross AC switching imposes a common clock on all switches, regardless of any spreading.
Heretofore there has not been available an electro-thermal wing ice protection system with the features and elements, including a load leveling system, of the present invention.

Electro-thermal ice protection system and method with serial load leveling


A visual monitoring system for a golfer to simultaneously watch his golf swing while the swing is being made. The system includes one or more video cameras and a video monitoring screen mounted below a transparent surface where the swing is being made with a golf club for viewing the swing without distorting the head of the golfer during the golf swing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a golf swing monitoring system and particularly a system that lets the golfer see his swing as he is making it.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many very complicated and sophisticated monitoring systems of golfers swings presently on the market. However, all the devices or systems presently available will take tapes of the swing through video cameras and can only be viewed after the swing is made. The tapes are replayed because they are a permanent record.
Such devices have draw backs due to the fact the swing is finished and the golfer cannot stop to view his actions during execution of the same. There is a lag time between the actual swing and the play back of the swing.


The sheet conveying apparatus includes a first curl forming part provided downstream of a fixing part for fixing a toner image to a sheet, for curling the sheet; a second curl forming part provided downstream of the first curl forming part, for curling the sheet in a direction opposite to a direction in which the sheet is curled in the first curl forming part, in which a curling amount of the sheet in the second curl forming part is set to be smaller than that in the first curl forming part, and the curling amount of the sheet in the second curl forming part is variable according to rigidity of the sheet. Thus, a shape of the curled sheet can be reliably reformed with a simple structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus with a structure for reforming a curl generated on a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer for forming an image by an electrophotographic process, a toner image which has been formed in an image forming part is transferred onto a sheet fed from a sheet feeding part, and the toner image having been transferred onto the sheet is fixed to the sheet in a fixing part.
As an example of such the fixing part, there is a fixing part employing a heat-pressure fixing system for fixing a toner image to a sheet by applying heat and pressure to the sheet at the same time by a rotary member such as a pair of rollers. In a case of adopting the fixing part employing the heat-pressure fixing system, there arises a problem in that deformation (i.e., curl) is caused on a sheet when the toner image is fixed to the sheet.
In general, as the curl generated by the fixing part, there are three types of curls, that is, a heat curl, a toner curl, and a nip curl. As shapes of the curl, hereinafter, for understanding, an upward curl is defined as a shape in which leading and trailing edges of the sheet in a conveying direction of a sheet is higher than a central portion of the sheet, while a downward curl is defined as a shape in which leading and trailing edges of the sheet is lower than the central portion of the sheet.
Here, the heat curl is generated due to a difference between an amount of water contained in a front surface of the sheet and that contained in a back surface of the sheet. When heat is applied to the sheet in the fixing part, the heat curl is generated due to an expansion and contraction difference between both surfaces of the sheet which is caused by the difference between the amount of water contained in the front surface and that contained in the back surface of the sheet. There is a case where the heat curl is more likely to be generated because the sheet is prevented from absorbing moisture due to toner carried on the surface of the sheet.
The toner curl is generated during such a process that the toner transferred onto the sheet is melted by being applied with heat in the fixing part, and is then cooled and condensed.
The nip curl is generated due to physical deformation caused when the sheet is applied with heat and pressure in a nip part of a fixing roller in the fixing part for fixing toner to a sheet by application of heat and pressure with a pair of fixing rollers.
Here, sizes of the above-mentioned three-types of curls generated are different from each other depending on a plurality of causes such as a thickness or humidity (i.e., amount of humidity absorption) of a sheet, a toner amount transferred onto the sheet, and a temperature difference between nip rollers of the fixing part. For example, in the heat curl generated due to the difference between the amount of water contained in the front surface and that contained in the back surface of the sheet, a large difference in moisture absorption is easily generated between both surfaces of the sheet under such circumstances as thick paper or high humidity, thereby generating a large curl.
The toner curl generated due to the condensed toner transferred onto the sheet is affected by an amount of contraction at a time of toner contraction, a toner carrying amount, and a difference in an amount of toner carried on both surfaces of the sheet. In addition, when rigidity of the sheet is low, the sheet is more likely to be affected by the toner curl, so thin paper is more easily curled to a large extent than thick paper.
The nip curl generated depending on the shape of a nip part of the fixing roller tends to be the upward curl in which the leading and trailing edges of the sheet become higher than the central portion thereof, because, for example, the shape of the nip part becomes a convex shape in the downward direction when an upper roller is composed of a hard roller and a lower roller is composed of a soft roller.
Thus, there is the case where the sheet is curled due to various causes when the sheet passes through the fixing part. When the curled sheet is discharged without reforming the curl, there arises such problems that the sheet is curled up on a discharge tray, or subsequent sheets cannot be stacked on the tray due to blocking of an outlet by the trailing edge of the sheet, thereby deteriorating a stacking property of a sheet.
Thus, up to now, an image forming apparatus including a sheet conveying apparatus for conveying sheets having passed through the fixing part onto the discharge tray, which is provided with a curl reforming apparatus provided downstream of the fixing part and used for reforming a curl of a sheet has been put into practical use. The curl reforming apparatus is used for reforming a shape of a sheet by curling the sheet in a direction opposite to that of a curl of the sheet already generated by the fixing part. In the present application, a direction of a curl of the sheet before being reformed is defined as "pre-curled direction", and a direction of a curl of the sheet in which the sheet is curled to reform the curl of the sheet is defined as "curling direction", to thereby distinguish the directions of the curls. In addition, an amount of curl in the pre-curled direction is defined as "pre-curled amount", and an amount of curl in the curling direction in which the sheet is curled to reform the curl of the sheet is defined as "curling amount".
As a system of the curl reforming apparatus, there are a system capable of controlling the curling amount of the sheet by using an actuator, and a system in which the curling amount is not controlled by setting the curling amount to be constant.
Here, in a case of the curl reforming apparatus which does not control the curling amount, the pre-curled direction is not fixed to one direction due to the thickness of the sheet or the toner carrying amount as described above, so there is a case where the pre-curled direction matches the curling direction by the curl reforming apparatus, which results in further curling of the sheet. In such the case, there has been a problem of, for example, curling of the sheet on the discharge tray.
Accordingly, as the curl reforming apparatus for sufficiently reforming a curl of a sheet, there has been proposed a curl reforming apparatus in which a curl forming part for curling a sheet in an upward direction is provided along with another curl forming part for curling a sheet in a downward direction, and one of the curl forming parts is selectively used based on detection by curl detecting means for detecting a curl of a sheet.
Further, as an example of the curl reforming apparatus with such the structure, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-026419 in which the pre-curled direction and the pre-curled amount of the sheet are detected by the curl detecting means, and the curling amount of the curl forming part selected based on the detected pre-curled direction and the pre-curled amount is adjusted, to thereby appropriately reform the curl of the sheet.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a sheet conveying apparatus including such the conventional curl reforming apparatus. In FIG. 5, reference symbol FX denotes a fixing part, and reference numeral 104 denotes a curl reforming apparatus for reforming a curl of a sheet P. The fixing part FX includes an entering guide FX1, a heat roller FX 2 provided on an inner side of a fixing heat source FX4, a pressure roller FX3, and discharge rollers FX5. An outer peripheral surface of the heat roller FX2 is set such that the outer peripheral surface has a wider rubber layer as compared with the pressure roller FX3, and the rubber layer of the heat roller FX2 is deformed to a large extent in the nip part between the heat roller FX2 and the pressure roller FX3 with the nip part having a convex shape in the upward direction.
The curl reforming apparatus 104 includes three rollers 104a to 104c serving as curl reforming members, and a support disk 104d rotationally supporting the rollers 104a to 104c. A fixed guide 100 is a fixed guide composed of a pair of guide plates 100a and 100b, movable guides 101 and 102 are composed of a pair of guide plates 101a and 101b and a pair of guide plates 102a and 102b, respectively, and a fixed guide 103 is composed of a pair of guide plates 103a and 103b.
The guide plates 101a and 101b of the movable guide 101 and the guide plates 102a and 102b of the movable guide 102 are lightweight members and are each composed of, for example, a plastic sheet or a plurality of rods. As shown in FIG. 6B, the guide plates 101a and 101b of the movable guide 101 and the guide plates 102a and 102b of the movable guide 102 are loosely connected at a connected portion Y. In addition, downstream end portions of the movable guides 101 and 102, that is, end portions of the guide plates 101a and 102a on a side closer to the fixed guide 103 are free ends so as to move within the fixed guide 103.
In the curl reforming apparatus with such the structure, the nip part between the heat roller FX2 and the pressure roller FX3 is heated, an unfixed toner image is subjected to a fixing process, and then the sheet P passes through the fixed guide 100, the movable guides 101 and 102, and the fixed guide 103.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 6A, there is a sheet P having the downward curl, in which a central portion of the sheet becomes higher than the leading and trailing edges thereof on a side bearing the fixed toner image, depending on the thickness or humidity of the sheet, the transferred toner amount, the temperature difference between the nip rollers of the fixing part, and the like. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a sheet P having the upward curl in which a central portion of the sheet becomes lower than the leading and trailing edges thereof on a side bearing the fixed toner image.
Further, for example when the sheet P before image formation is curled, a state of the curl is varied such as the curl of the sheet remains after the image formation, or the curl is reformed, and a generating level of the curl is different in each case. In addition, in the curl generated due to the fixing process, the upward curl or the downward curl may be generated depending on a paper quality, the amount of humidity absorption, and the like of the sheet P, and the generating level of the curl is also varied.
When the sheet P passes through the movable guides 101 and 102, for example, when the curl of the sheet P is the downward curl, the movable guides 101 and 102 are deformed as shown in FIG. 6A. In FIG. 6B, a variable resistor 105 constitutes the curl detecting means together with the movable guides 101 and 102.
The variable resistor 105 includes a slider 105b which moves integrally in a vertical direction with the connected portion Y, and a resistor 105a serving as displacement detecting means for detecting a position of the slider 105b. The variable resistor 105a detects the position of the slider 105b according to a resistivity of the resistor 105a.
In the variable resistor 105, when the sheet P enters the movable guides 101 and 102, the movable guide 101 moves in the upward direction with a base 101X as an axis along with the curl of the sheet P. Then, a movement of the movable guide 101 is converted into voltage by the variable resistor 105 serving as the displacement detecting means, and the direction (i.e., downward curl) and the level of the curl of the sheet P are detected based on a voltage value.
Further, the curl reforming apparatus 104 reforms the upward curl in a state shown in FIG. 6A, and reforms the downward curl in a state shown in FIG. 7 in which the support disk 104d is rotated by 30°. In this case, the support disk 104d is rotated by a control of controlling means 106, and the controlling means 106 controls a rotational angle of the support disk 104d based on an output of the variable resistor 105.
Accordingly, with respect to the sheet P curled in the downward direction, the curl reforming apparatus 104 becomes a state shown in FIG. 6A, thereby reforming the curl of the sheet P during a conveying process of the sheet P, and with respect to the sheet P curled in the upward direction, the curl reforming apparatus 104 becomes a state shown in FIG. 7, thereby reforming the curl of the sheet P such that the curl thereof is eliminated.
However, in the conventional sheet conveying apparatus, in order to achieve the curl detecting means and the controllable curl reforming means, there has been a problem in that a size of the apparatus is increased and the number of components is increased, which increases the size of the entire image forming apparatus and costs required for the apparatus.


A gain-control-type transistor power amplifier is provided which performs gain control in a state in which there is satisfactory linearity by extending the varying range of a gain control voltage capable of controlling the output level of an RF signal. The gain-control-type transistor power amplifier includes an amplifying transistor, to the base of which a bias voltage and an amplification signal are supplied, and a control transistor, to the base of which a gain control voltage is supplied. The gain control voltage output from the emitter of the control transistor is supplied to the base of the amplifying transistor in such a manner as to be superposed onto the base bias, and the base bias voltage is varied by the supplied gain control voltage, controlling the gain of the amplifying transistor and the output level of the RF signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gain-control-type transistor power amplifier. More particularly, the present invention relates to a gain-control-type transistor power amplifier suitable for adjusting an output signal level of a power amplifier for transmission disposed in a transmission and receiving unit on a subphone side of a digital cordless telephone set.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, digital cordless telephone sets transmit and receive signals on a time-division basis using the same frequency between the base phone and subphones. In particular, on the subphone side, when a signal from the base phone is received, a received signal intensity indicating the received signal level is detected, and when a signal is transmitted, the gain of the transmission power amplifier is controlled according to the detected received signal intensity so that the transmission signal level is controlled, and this controlled signal is transmitted to the base phone side. In this case, when the received signal intensity is increased, control is performed so that the gain of the transmission power amplifier is decreased, and the transmission signal level is decreased. On the other hand, when the received signal intensity is decreased, the gain of the transmission power amplifier is increased, and the transmission signal level is increased so that the consumption of the built-in battery which drives the subphone is reduced as low as possible.
In this case, all the components of the the subphone of the above-described known digital cordless telephone set are formed of small circuit elements, such as transistors. The subphone comprises a transmission section, formed of a transistor power amplifier, a frequency mixer, a filter, and the like, which constitute a transmission power amplifier, a receiving section, formed of a transistor receiving amplifier, a frequency mixer, a filter, and the like, which constitute a receiving amplifier, and a transmission and receiving common section formed of a phase control loop (PLL) including a transmission and receiving select switch, a filter and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), and others. These components of the transmission section, the receiving section, and the transmission and receiving common section are formed into one unit and disposed within a transmission and receiving unit (TR unit).
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a gain-control-type transistor power amplifier for use in the transmission section of the known digital cordless telephone set.
As shown in FIG. 4, the gain-control-type transistor power amplifier comprises a pre-amplifying transistor 41 which is emitter-grounded, a power amplifying transistor 42 which is similarly emitter-grounded, an input filter circuit 43 formed of a series resistor 43a, a series inductor 43b and a branch capacitor 43c, first and second coupling capacitors 44 and 45, a first collector load 46 formed of a series-connected inductor 46a, a resistor 46b and a branch capacitor 46c, an interstage filter circuit 47 formed of a series inductor 47a and a branch capacitor 47b, a third coupling capacitor 48, a second collector load 49 formed of a series inductor 49a and a branch capacitor 49b, an output filter circuit 50 formed of a series inductor 50a and a branch capacitor 50b, a fourth coupling capacitor 51, a first base bias circuit 52 formed of a series inductor 52a and a branch capacitor 52b, a second base bias circuit 53 formed of a series resistor 53a and a branch capacitor 53b, a signal input terminal 54, a signal output terminal 55, a power terminal 56 on the high voltage side, a power terminal 57 on the low voltage side, and a gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58.
The pre-amplifying transistor 41 is connected at its base to the signal input terminal 54 via the second coupling capacitor 45 and the first coupling capacitor 44 and further connected to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 via the first base bias circuit 52, and is connected at its collector to the power terminal 56 on the high voltage side via the first collector load 46 and further connected to the base of the power amplifying transistor 42 via the interstage filter circuit 47 and the third coupling capacitor 48. The power amplifying transistor 42 is connected at its base to the power terminal 57 on the low voltage side via the second base bias circuit 53, and is connected at its collector to the power terminal 56 on the high voltage side via the second collector load 49 and further connected to the signal output terminal 55 via the output filter circuit 50 and the fourth coupling capacitor 51.
In this case, a radio frequency signal (hereinafter referred to as an "RF signal") to be amplified is supplied to the signal input terminal 54, and the amplified RF signal is output from the signal output terminal 55. A relatively high power voltage is supplied to the power terminal 56 on the high voltage side, and a relatively low power voltage is supplied to the power terminal 57 on the low voltage side. A gain control voltage which varies in response to the received signal intensity is supplied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58, and the varying range of the gain control voltage is, for example, from 0 to 1.5 V.
The gain-control-type transistor power amplifier constructed as described above operates as described below.
An RF signal to be amplified, which is applied to the signal input terminal 54, is supplied to the base of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 via the first coupling capacitor 44, the input filter circuit 43, and the second coupling capacitor 45, is pre-amplified by the pre-amplifying transistor 41 and output from the collector thereof. At this time, the amplification gain of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 becomes a variable gain, which is dependent on the magnitude of the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58. Then, the RF signal pre-amplified by the pre-amplifying transistor 41 is supplied to the base of the power amplifying transistor 42 via the interstage filter circuit 47 and the third coupling capacitor 48, and is power-amplified by the power amplifying transistor 42 and output from the collector thereof. In this case, the amplification gain of the power amplifying transistor 42 becomes a fixed gain, which is dependent on a power voltage applied to the power terminal 57 on the low voltage side. Then, the RF signal which is power-amplified by the power amplifying transistor 42 is supplied to the signal output terminal 55 via the output. filter circuit 50 and the fourth coupling capacitor 51, is output from the signal output terminal 55 through a transmission and receiving select switch (not shown) to an antenna (also not shown) and transmitted.
Meanwhile, the amplification gain of the RF signal in this known gain-control-type transistor power amplifier, namely, the RF signal level output from the signal output terminal 55, depends on the magnitude of the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58. In this case, the gain control voltage varies according to the RF signal level (received signal intensity) received by the receiving section of the digital cordless telephone set. When the received signal intensity is large, the gain control voltage decreases. When, on the other hand, the received signal intensity is small, the gain control voltage increases. The varying range is in a range from 0 to 1.5 V.
FIG. 2 is a characteristic view illustrating an example of the relationship between the gain control voltage and the RF signal output level in the gain-control-type transistor power amplifier. FIG. 3 is a characteristic view illustrating an example of the relationship between the gain control voltage and the base voltage of the pre-amplifying transistor in the gain-control-type transistor power amplifier.
In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis indicates the gain control voltage (V) applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal, and the vertical axis indicates the RF signal output level (dBm) output from the signal output terminal.
In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis indicates the gain control voltage (V) applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal, and the vertical axis indicates the base voltage (V) of the pre-amplifying transistor.
In the above-described known gain-control-type transistor power amplifier, initially, when the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 is from 0 to 0.5 V, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 3, the base voltage of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 does not reach the base-emitter junction voltage (Vbe.apprxeq.0.6 V) of the transistor 41. Therefore, the pre-amplifying transistor 41 is in a cut-off state, and an RF signal is not output, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 2.
Next, when the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 exceeds 0.5 V, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 3, the base voltage of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 increases sequentially with an increase in the gain control voltage, and in response to this, the output level of the RF signal increases sharply, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 2.
At this time, when the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 increases to about 0.8 V, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 3, the base voltage of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 increases sequentially with an increase in the gain control voltage; however, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 2, the output level of the RF signal, which until then was in a sharply increasing state, becomes dull, and in a stage in which the gain control voltage exceeds 0.8 V, the output level of the RF signal saturates with respect to an increase in the gain control voltage thereafter.
Further, when the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 exceeds 1.0 V, although, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 3, the base voltage of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 continues to increase sequentially with an increase in the gain control voltage, as indicated by the curve B of FIG. 2, the output level of the RF signal, which until then was in a saturated state, decreases conversely, and moreover, the rate of decrease is quite sharp.
Thereafter, when the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 increases to about 1.3 V, as indicated by curve B of FIG. 3, the base voltage of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 approaches a saturated state in which the base voltage does not increase greatly with an increase in the gain control voltage, and as indicated by curve B of FIG. 2, the output level of the RF signal becomes almost zero regardless of the gain control voltage.
As described above, the known gain-control-type transistor power amplifier is capable of controlling the output level of the RF signal in a range from -10 to +20 dBm in a range in which the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 is from 0.5 to 0.8 V.
In the above-described known gain-control-type transistor power amplifier, since the output impedance of a control integrated circuit (IC) which supplies a gain control voltage to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 is relatively high, the base bias current based on the gain control voltage supplied to the base of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 cannot be increased. For example, since the base bias current is a maximum of approximately 1 mA, the gain of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 cannot be increased. Therefore, it becomes possible to control the output level of the RF signal only in the range in which the gain control voltage applied to the gain-control-voltage supply terminal 58 is from 0.5 to 0.8 V. There arises the problem that the varying range of the gain control voltage capable of controlling the output level of the RF signal is narrow, and in addition, the linearity of the varying of the output level of the RF signal with respect to the variation in the gain control voltage is not satisfactory.
In addition to this, it is possible that instead of varying the gain of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 by the gain control voltage, the above-described known gain-control-type transistor power amplifier may adopt control means that cause the gain of the power amplifying transistor 42 to be varied or may adopt control means that cause the gain of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 and the gain of the power amplifying transistor 42 in combination to be varied by the gain control voltage. If the former control means is adopted, there arises the problem that the distortion ratio of the RF signal increases during gain control, and spurious components increase. If the latter control means is adopted, there arises the problem that the construction of the circuit which performs gain control becomes complex when there is a difference between the gain of the pre-amplifying transistor 41 and the gain of the power amplifying transistor 42.

Gain-control-type transistor power amplifier


According to the invention, techniques for profiling of human behavior based upon analyzing data contained in databases, data marts and data warehouses. In an exemplary embodiment, the invention provides for creating a dynamic customer profile by analyzing relationships in data from one or more data sources of an enterprise. The method can be used with many popular visualization tools, such as On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools and the like. The method is especially useful in conjunction with a meta-model based technique for modeling the enterprise data. The enterprise is typically a business activity, but can also be other loci of human activity. The human behavior profiled is typically that of a customer, but can be any other type of human behavior. Embodiments according to the invention can display data from a variety of sources in order to provide visual representations of data in a data warehousing environment.

The present invention relates generally to computer database systems, and specifically to methods for visualizing information from a data warehousing environment.
Few could foresee the rapid development of computer technology just a few years ago. Computers now have a place in our homes, our offices, our schools and even our briefcases and satchels. As computer automation continues to impact an ever increasing portion of our daily lives, governments, businesses and individuals have turned to database technology to help them manage the "information explosion," the exponential proliferation of information that must be sorted, assimilated and managed on a continuing basis. One area of importance to the database design field is data model selection for database applications.
A data model represents the structure or organization of data stored in the database. It enables the use of data in certain forms and may limit the data being used in other forms. Different applications usually require different data models. Many different data models can exist, and they usually differ markedly from one another. Typically, database applications are customized to a particular data model of a particular database. Usually, these applications must be re-implemented for every database, even though the functioning of the application remains the same.
Presently, database developers have turned to data warehousing technology to resolve often conflicting data management requirements. Traditional data warehousing approaches focus on decision support applications, which emphasize summarized information. While perceived advantages exist, an inherent disadvantage to these systems is that the customer identity is lost. Further, usability of customer data analyses techniques can be improved over traditional approaches by methods for displaying analysis results and database content to the user.
What is needed is a method for analyzing customer data contained in databases, data marts and data warehouses.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for fabricating a trench isolation structure wherein a trench is formed in a silicon body and an oxide layer is formed in the trench. The silicon body is exposed at the bottom of the trench by means of an etching step, and silicon oxide is selectively grown on the silicon exposed at the bottom of the trench, the silicon oxide being grown from the bottom of the trench toward an upper edge of the trench.

The packing density of components in integrated circuits is continuously increasing in the course of advancing miniaturization in semiconductor technology. In order to avoid undesirable interactions between the components, the quality of the isolation of the components among one another is an important aspect of process development.
Besides the traditional LOCOS technique (Local Oxidation of Silicon), STI technology (Shallow Trench Isolation) has been developed for large scale integrated semiconductor chips. In STI technology, trenches are etched into the substrate and are filled with dielectric material. STI structures are typically used in MOS and CMOS technology in order to provide an isolation between adjacent components.
As the packing density increases, the width of these isolation trenches also decreases and their aspect ratio (ratio of height to width) increases. Consequently, filling the isolation trenches becomes more difficult, cavities may be produced in the isolating filling material, as a result of which their isolation property is impaired and thus adversely affects the yield and quality of the product.
The deposition of silicon oxide with the aid of an HDP-CVD process (high density plasma chemical vapor deposition) is known as a method for filling isolation trenches having a high aspect ratio (up to approximately 3:1). As a result of the high plasma density, this process also has a sputtering component in addition to the deposition, as a result of which dense insulation layers can be obtained with good setting of the deposition/sputtering ratio. Numerous modifications of this method are known for obtaining a dense filling (see, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0187655, which is incorporated herein by reference). In the transition to sub-100 nm technology, this method nevertheless increasingly poses difficulties with regard to cavity- and seam-free filling of the isolation trenches.
Another isolation possibility consists in realizing the filling process with flowable materials such as, for example, spin-on glass (SOG). Disadvantages of this method are a shrinkage occurring in the filling material and also a necessary complicated aftertreatment (densification, breaking, annealing, etc.).
As an alternative to filling isolation trenches having a very high aspect ratio in the course of 70 nm development, consideration is given to the so-called SelOx method (see, EP 1 178 528, and "SelOx—A Simple Shallow Trench Isolation for 0.25μ Design Rules and below", Siemens Development Report 11/1998, which are incorporated herein by reference), which is based on a selective growth process of silicon oxide on silicon with respect to silicon oxide and nitride. The SelOx method exhibits very good filling properties.
However, the advantages are also opposed by three fundamental disadvantages or problems of the SelOx method. First, after the formation of the isolation trenches, silicon is uncovered in the latter both at the bottom and at the walls. Therefore, the selective oxide grows not only proceeding from the bottom of the trench but also from the sidewalls of the trench. As a result, a seam can form and, at the boundaries between pad nitride and silicon, the SelOx projects upward beyond the later isolation trench, which results in problems in the further process implementation on account of a differing and difficult-to-control etching behavior.
Second, if the isolation trenches are used for isolating DRAM memory cells with trench capacitors, for example, then at those locations at which the isolation trench intersects the trench capacitor, the oxide collar, the so-called collar oxide, is incipiently cut at the upper wall regions of the trench capacitors. Consequently, silicon dioxide rather than silicon is uncovered at these locations, on which silicon dioxide the SelOx exhibits an inhibited growth and tends toward cavity formation in the further course of the growth.
Third, since the isolation trench is severely damaged at the surface directly after the standard RIE etching (reactive ion etching), it is conventional to provide, before the trench is filled with oxide, a thermal oxidation step for annealing or eliminating its damage, in particular with regard to a good leakage and storage behavior of the components. Since uncovered silicon is required for the SelOx method, however, this so-called AA oxidation (oxidation of the sidewalls of the STI trench) has hitherto been effected after the filling of the trench, which, however, entails risks with regard to layer stresses and the quality of the oxide.

Method for fabricating a trench isolation structure having a high aspect ratio


Parameters for control of engine operation are operated for each operating state for establishment of compliance, whereby the output values are made compliance targets. This compliance operation is performed by first determining the adjustment sequences and adjustment directions for a plurality of parameters for reducing the output values exceeding the compliance targets and then sequentially operating these parameters in accordance with the determined adjustment sequence and in the determined adjustment direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic compliance device, automatic compliance method, automobile, and storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
When developing new internal combustion engines not seen in the past, work is performed to search for values of parameters for control of engine operation enabling the optimal engine output values to be obtained, that is, compliance work is performed. In this compliance work, the values of parameters such as the fuel injection amounts and fuel injection timings are changed little by little based on experience and thereby a long time is spent to find the compliance values of parameters enabling one to obtain the optimal engine output values, for example, the optimal exhaust emission amounts. The same applies to development of new vehicles.
However, even if searching for compliance values of parameters based on experience in this way, if the number of parameters becomes greater, finding the optimum compliance values of the parameters becomes difficult. Further, since finding the optimal values of the parameters takes a long time, there is the problem that not only does the development also take a long time, but also a tremendous amount of labor is required.
Therefore, an automatic compliance device designed to automatically perform the compliance work for parameters has already been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-138889). In this automatic compliance device, one parameter giving the greatest effect upon one output value is set in advance, that is, combinations of output values and parameters are set in advance, and the parameters for finding the parameter compliance values of the parameters are simultaneously feedback controlled so that the output values combined with the parameters become the corresponding target output values.
However, in practice, when the operating state of the engine changes, the parameters having the greatest effects on the output values change accordingly and therefore it is difficult to set in advance one parameter having the greatest effect on an output value as explained above. Further, in practice, when one parameter changes, some output values will become closer to the target output values, but other output values will become further from the target output values. Therefore, even if simultaneously feedback controlling all parameters, it is difficult to find the compliance values of parameters whereby all output values will approach the target output values.

Automatic compliance device, automatic compliance method, automobile, and storage medium


The invention relates to a V engine, especially a diesel engine, comprising a first cylinder bank and a second cylinder bank, said V engine being designed for two-stage charging by means of a low-pressure exhaust gas turbocharger and a high-pressure exhaust gas turbocharger. The invention is characterized in that the low-pressure exhaust gas turbocharger and the high-pressure exhaust gas turbocharger are respectively arranged on the front of a cylinder bank above a main output element of the V engine.

Forced induction for internal combustion engines, including high performance internal combustion engines, is known in the prior art, wherein the forced induction is carried out by means of mechanical superchargers or exhaust stream turbochargers. Such engines are, for example, diesel engines, such as ship power plant engines or industrial engines, for example, having an output in the range of several hundred kW, for example. In this case, forced induction systems with one exhaust stream turbocharger per block of cylinders are known, as in EP 0 952 329 A2, for example, as are forced induction systems having multi-stage charging, with multiple turbochargers per cylinder bank, for example.
In addition, in the field of such high-performance internal combustion engines, stricter exhaust regulations will require compliance in the future. In order to meet emission specifications and/or requirements, including for example the EPA TIER 4 rule for emissions, an internal combustion engine of the type presently considered must be designed in accordance with the rules using emission-reducing technologies, for example. Typically, such technologies require significant constructed space.
Proceeding from the above situation, the problem addressed by the invention is that of suggesting a low-emission engine, particularly an engine in the output range above 500 kW, which overcomes the disadvantages named above, and which enables an extremely compact construction, particularly by means of the arrangement of the forced induction system.


A shipping container particularly adapted for both displaying goods therein and flattening to a single panel after use is provided herein. The shipping container apparatus is ready for unfolding and is convertible for storage and/or recycling. The shipping container includes a lid releasably attachable to a tray, wherein the lid has at least one wall member juxtaposed to at least one portion of the tray.

The use of shipping containers is a very common practice. For shipping purposes, these containers are increasingly being used for displaying goods for sale within the containers. After using these containers, they are often stacked on top of each other in a storage place waiting to be crushed upon or after collection for recycling or taken to a landfill. Often, a knife or blade is used to cut the container to dissect the box into pieces to save storage room. Sometimes, the containers are cut and a portion of the container removed such that the container also operates as a display device while goods are still in the container. These practices suffer from many drawbacks including the problems that they are often time consuming, may result in damage to the goods through inadvertent contact with the knife during cutting, as well as dangerous to the individual cutting the box into pieces. The pieces of the container resulting from the cutting may be of various sizes and have irregular shapes and sharp edges, which make the subsequent sorting, stacking, wrapping, or fastening for storage or recycling inconvenient and inefficient. Additionally, cutting a portion of the container using a knife often leads to an unappealing visual display of the product inside the container.
Accordingly, one aspect of the container described herein provides a shipping container apparatus for goods which is convertible to a flattened single panel without the need of a tool, such as a knife or blade. In another aspect of the container described herein, a structurally sound shipping container apparatus for goods is provided wherein the container has a lid which is detachably secured to a tray. Advantageously, the lid is easily removable and flattenable for purposes of storing or recycling the lid material.
These and other aspect, objects, and features of the container described herein will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims and drawings.


An infant stroller apparatus includes a stroller frame having a leg frame, a stand platform pivotally connected with the leg frame about a pivot axis, and a spring connected with the leg frame. The stand platform is connected with a caster assembly disposed rearward relative to the pivot axis. The spring is configured to bias the stand platform in a direction for displacing the caster assembly downward. In some embodiment, the infant stroller apparatus can include a brake assembly operable to lift the caster assembly of the stand platform in a braking state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to infant stroller apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, there are many double strollers on the market. Some double strollers may include two seats placed side by side, while others may have a front seat and a rear seat placed behind the front seat. Usually, the seats of a double stroller are permanently attached to the stroller frame, some of them allowing the installation of one or two infant car seats in the area of the seats. Because the seats are permanently attached to the stroller frame, the conventional double strollers have limited seating options. Moreover, the increased length of the double stroller may render it more difficult to maneuver.
Therefore, there is a need for an infant stroller apparatus that is more flexible in use, and address at least the foregoing issues.


The present invention describes methods of producing milligram quantities of three forms of purified Stat1 protein from recombinant DNA constructs. In addition, the Stat proteins may be isolated in their phosphorylated or nonphosphorylated forms (Tyr 701). The proteins can be produced in baculovirus infected insect cells, or E. coli. A compact domain in the amino terminus of Stat1α was isolated and found to enhance DNA binding due to its ability to interact with a neighboring Stat protein. A relatively protease-resistant recombinant truncated form of the Stat protein was isolated in 40-50 mg quantities. Purification of the Stat proteins were performed after modifying specific cysteine residues of the Stat proteins to prevent aggregation. Activated EGF-receptor partially purified from membranes by immunoprecipitation was shown to be capable of in vitro catalysis of the phosphorylation of the tyrosine residue of Stat1 known to be phosphorylated in vivo. Techniques are enclosed to separate the phosphorylated from the nonphosphorylated Stat proteins. The techniques disclosed are general for Stat proteins and may be used to isolate large quantities of purified Stat 2, 3, 4, 5A, 5B and 6. Methods for using purified Stat proteins, truncated Stat proteins, or Stat N-terminal fragments for drug discovery are also disclosed.

Transcription factors play a major role in cellular function by inducing the transcription of specific mRNAs. Transcription factors, in turn, are controlled by distinct signalling molecules. One particular family of transcription factor consists of the Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (Stat) proteins. Presently, there are seven known mammalian Stat family members. The recent discovery of Drosophila and Dictyostelium discoideum Stat proteins suggest that Stat proteins have played an important role in signal transduction since the early stages of our evolution [Yan R. et al., Cell 84:421-430 (1996); Kawata et al., Cell 89:909 (1997)].
Stat proteins mediate the action of a large group of signalling molecules including the cytokines and growth factors (Darnell et al. WO 95/08629, 1995). One distinctive characteristic of the Stat proteins are their apparent lack of requirement for changes in second messenger, e.g. cAMP or Ca++, concentrations. Another characteristic is that Stat proteins are activated in the cell cytoplasm by phosphorylation on a single tyrosine (Darnell et al., 1994; Schindler and Darnell, 1995). The responsible kinases are either ligand-activated transmembrane receptors with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity, such as EGF- or PDGF-receptors, or cytokine receptors that lack intrinsic kinase activity but have associated JAK kinases, such as those for interferons and interleukins (Ihle, 1995). When Stat proteins are phosphorylated, they form homo- or heterodimeric structures in which the phosphotyrosine of one partner binds to the SRC homology domain (SH2) of the other. The newly formed dimer then translocates to the nucleus, binds to a palindromic GAS sequence, thereby activating transcription (Shuai et al., 1994; Qureshi et al., 1995; Leung et al., 1996).
Stat proteins serve in the capacity as a direct messengers between the cytokine or growth factor receptor present on the cell surface, and the cell nucleus. However, since each cytokine and growth factor produce a specific cellular effect by activating a distinct set of genes, the means in which such a limited number of Stat proteins mediate this result remains a mystery. Indeed, at least thirty different ligand-receptor complexes signal the nucleus through the seven known mammalian Stat proteins [Darnell et al., Science 277:1630-1635 (1997)].
Clearly there is a need to further study the biochemistry of Stat proteins. Unfortunately current studies are seriously hampered due to the low quantities of purified protein available. Full-length cDNAs for all mammalian Stats have been cloned. In addition, certain Stat proteins have been expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells using a His tag at the COOH-terminal end and then purified by Ni-affinity chromatography (Xu, X., et al., note 9 (1996). However, no one has reported the production of milligram quantities of activated Stat protein, nor more importantly, a purification process amenable to scaling up for such quantitative isolations.
To perform the biochemical studies necessary to understand the mechanism of the Stat-mediated signal transduction, and to configure assays useful for the detection of compounds that modulate Stat function, there remains an unfulfilled requirement for the production of large amounts of pure protein. Furthermore, there is a need for a means of specifically phosphorylating the correct tyrosine residue on a Stat protein and then separating the resulting phosphorylated Stat protein from the unphosphorylated form in quantitative yields. In addition, there is a need to produce large quantities of stable, soluble truncated Stat proteins that retain functional activities of the corresponding native Stat protein. Finally, there is a need to develop methods of isolating these functional truncated Stat proteins.
The citation of any reference herein should not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as "Prior Art" to the instant application.

Purified Stat proteins and methods of purifying thereof


An illuminating device includes a light source, an optical waveguide that emits light from the light source through an emission surface thereof, and a prism sheet that is provided on the emission surface side of the optical waveguide. In the illuminating device, the following relationship is established between a refractive index x of the prism sheet and an apex angle y of a prism: y=107.86x−140.43+M (−4≦M≦4).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an illuminating device, such as a backlight unit used for, for example, a liquid crystal display device of a cellular phone.
2. Related Art
A liquid crystal display device includes a backlight unit on the rear surface side of a liquid crystal display panel to perform transmissive display. In general, the backlight unit is composed of an illuminating device including a light source, an optical waveguide for emitting light from the light source to the rear surface of the liquid crystal display panel as surface light, a sheet for diffusing light emitted from the optical waveguide, and a prism sheet for condensing light. Light incident on the optical waveguide from the light source travels in the optical waveguide while repeatedly reflecting from an emission surface and a reflective surface of the optical waveguide, and is then emitted from the emission surface to the outside.
The light emitted from the optical waveguide is incident on the prism sheet. The prism sheet refracts the incident light to change the traveling direction of light. In this way, the prism sheet can emit light toward the liquid crystal display panel. JP-A-7-174910 discloses a prism sheet formed of a material having a high refractive index. The prism sheet having a high refractive index can refract light at a large angle to make it incident on the liquid crystal display panel in the vertical direction, resulting in an improvement in the brightness of an illuminating device.
However, the optical waveguide emits light mainly in a specific direction light, rather than uniformly in all directions. Therefore, merely increasing the refractive index of the prism sheet without taking the characteristics of light emitted from the optical waveguide into consideration is insufficient for improving the brightness of an illuminating device.


Systems and methods for monitoring pressure at a contact surface, for applications such as pressure sore prevention. The system includes a number of force sensors positioned at different locations in relation to the contact surface, the force sensors providing a signal in proportion to the amount of force detected. The system includes a controller for receiving the signals from the force sensors and determining values associated with each force sensor. The controller is configured for comparing a first one or more values associated with a first subset of force sensors with a second one or more values associated with a second subset of force sensors, determining from the comparing whether a threshold between said first one or more values and said second one or more values has been exceeded, and controlling, based on the determining, an indicator to provide an indication to the user.

The skin of people confined to a bed or wheelchair is susceptible to decubitus ulcers, commonly referred to as pressure sores or bedsores.
Some existing conventional systems use a pressure relieving wheelchair cushion to prevent pressure sores together with a device which monitors pressure over time. In such systems, based on pressure readings detected and stored as a whole, an alarm is activated when an amount of pressure and time from a user has been detected; i.e., the user has been sitting for too long and is alerted to unload. A difficulty with such systems is that the user response is limited to basic unloading actions such as getting up or performing wheelchair push-ups.
Another difficulty with such systems occurs when a user is improperly sitting. If the patient develops a habit to sit with an incorrect posture, even if they comply with the unloading alerts, they are still at risk of developing pressure sores as a result of their postural deformity.

Monitoring system for pressure sore prevention


A system and method of coating curved substrates and assembling devices having coated elements. The system and method are of particular utility in the manufacture of lamps having a coating formed on the hermetically sealed light emitting chamber of the lamp. The system and method includes, inter alia, an improved uniform coating process and apparatus, improved throughput in the coating process, a reduction in bad coating losses, improved baking processes, and an improved method and apparatus for aligning the filament of a halogen lamp achieved by performing the step of coating of the light emitting chamber prior to the step of sealing the chamber.

The present invention relates to the fields of forming coatings on substrates and assembling devices having coated elements.
The deposition of materials to form coatings on curved substrates is well known and finds utility, for example, in the manufacture of lamps. In the manufacture of lamps, particularly lamps which include a hermetically sealed light emitting chamber (i.e., a lamp burner) such as halogen lamps or high intensity discharge ("HID") lamps, it is often desirable to deposit one or more materials to form a coating on at least a portion of the surface of the lamp burner. For example, it is well known to deposit materials such as infrared reflecting ("IRR") material, ultraviolet reflecting material, heat reflecting material, and visible spectrum radiation reflecting material to form coatings on the surface of lamp burners.
A known method of manufacturing lamps having a coating formed on at least a portion of the surface of the lamp burner includes the sequential steps of (i) providing a lamp burner envelope formed from a generally tubular section of light transmitting material; (ii) positioning one or more electrical leads so that each lead provides an electrical connection from the interior of the light emitting chamber to the exterior of the chamber; (iii) sealing the lamp burner envelope to hermetically seal the burner envelope to the leads to thereby seal the light emitting chamber; and then (iv) depositing one or more materials to form a coating on at least a portion of the surface of the lamp burner.
There are many disadvantages in this method of manufacturing such lamps due to the sequence of the steps of (a) sealing the lamp burner and (b) forming the coating on the sealed lamp burner. Some of the disadvantages result from the difficulty of uniformly depositing the material or materials on the elongated shape and generally circular cross-section of the lamp burners, a process which requires the rotation of each individual lamp burner about its longitudinal axis from the outside once the leads are installed and the ends of the burner are sealed. Other disadvantages include the limited throughput in the deposition process as a result of the amount of area occupied by the carrier required to hold and rotate each lamp burner. Still other disadvantages result from the limitation on the temperature of the reactive process caused by the presence of the elements of the burner other than the envelope. Further disadvantages result from the inability to test the quality of the coating before the coated substrate is used in additional manufacturing steps, e.g., the time and expense of completing the burner before discovering a defective coating results in the loss of the entire burner rather than the relatively inexpensive, defectively coated burner envelope. Still other disadvantages result from the inability to use the coating to facilitate other manufacturing steps such as the positioning of the leads within the envelope in the aligning and sealing process.
With respect to the difficulty in obtaining uniform deposition, the processes used to form coatings on substrates such as lamp burners include chemical vapor deposition ("CVD") and sputter deposition. One prior art method and apparatus for forming a coating on substrates by sputter deposition is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,162 to Bartolomei et al., the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. In the Bartolomei et al. process, one or more substrates are supported by a carrier and carried past one or more sources of the material or materials to be deposited, e.g., sputtering targets in a sputter deposition process, by a rotating drum or a linearly transported planar surface.
It is desirable that the materials deposited on the surface of the lamp burner form a coating which possesses uniform physical characteristics throughout the coated surface about the circumference of the lamp burner. In this way the physical characteristics of the coating on any one portion of the surface of the lamp burner are the same as the physical characteristics of the coating on the other portions of the surface of the lamp burner.
A known process for uniformly coating elongated objects having a generally circular cross-section, here described in connection with the coating of lamp burners, includes the steps of (a) supporting an array of the lamp burners on a carrier (such as a cylindrical drum or planar surface as disclosed in Bartolomei et al.); (b) rotating each lamp burner in the array about its longitudinal axis; and (c) carrying the rotating array past one or more sources of the material or materials to be deposited. By rotating each lamp burner about its longitudinal axis while depositing the material or materials on the selected portions of the surface of the lamp burner to form the coating, each portion of the circumference of the lamp burner the material or materials deposited may be uniformly deposited about the circumference of each lamp burner thus providing uniformity in the physical characteristics of the coating about the entire coated surface of the lamp burner.
The mounting of each end of each lamp burner in the array to a mechanical means for rotating the burner requires redundant, complex and expensive tooling in the coating apparatus. In one aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel coating method and apparatus for forming a uniform coating on an array of lamp burner envelopes which requires less complex and thus less expensive tooling for the rotation of each lamp burner or other substrate about its longitudinal axis during the coating process. This and other objects may be achieved by the novel apparatus and method for rotating a plurality of lamp burner envelopes about the longitudinal axis thereof while moving the envelopes past one or more sputtering sources.
With regard to the throughput of the deposition process, it is desirable to maximize the throughput by maximizing the number of substrates which may be mounted on the carrier. It is common in known processes for each individual substrate rotation means to require more space on the carrier than the individual substrate. Because each substrate is mounted on an individual axial rotation means, the maximum density of the array of lamp burners which may be carried per surface area of the carrier is severely limited. In another aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for forming a coating on an array of substrates with significantly improved throughput.
With respect to temperature limitations, it is often desirable to coat substrates using a reactive coating method such as disclosed in the aforementioned Bartolomei et al. patent. In that process, a material such as silicon is deposited and reacted with a gas such as oxygen so that the coating on the surface of the substrate comprises silicon dioxide, a reaction which generally occurs more readily at higher temperatures. While the temperature at which the reactive coating is deposited on the substrate in a reactive sputter deposition process is generally within the range of 25° C. to 125° C. and is limited to about 200° C. or below, the time required to form a completely reacted coating on a substrate may be reduced by depositing the coating material or materials at a rate in excess of the rate at which all of the deposited materials will be reacted with the reactive gas in the reactive coating apparatus, and thereafter removing the substrates from the reactive coating apparatus for baking in a reactive atmosphere at temperatures greater than the temperature of the deposition process. The elevation of temperature in the baking process reduces the total time required to obtain a fully reacted coating on a substrate and thus improves the efficacy of the coating process. Generally, the amount of time required to complete the reaction is inversely related to the baking temperature, and the uniformity of the coating is generally enhanced by higher baking temperatures.
However, the temperature of the baking process may be significantly limited by the non-substrate components being baked. Where, for example, electrical leads and other components of a completed lamp burner are present, such electrical leads will be damaged if exposed to high temperatures in a reactive atmosphere such as air which contains a significant amount of oxygen. For example, the baking temperature of a lamp burner having tungsten and molybdenum electrical leads must be limited to less than about 400° C. in an atmosphere comprising essentially of normal dry air to prevent damage to the electrical leads due to oxidation of the leads. Thus, the baking temperature of the lamp burners must be limited to prevent damage to the leads, and this limits the advantage of the baking process.
In another aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for manufacturing lamps which avoids the baking temperature limitation imposed by the inclusion of non-substrate components in the device coated. In other aspects, it is an object of the present invention to provide to provide a novel method of baking coated lamp burner envelopes.
With respect to the losses associated with the defective coating of completed products, there will be "bad coating losses" in any coating process in which the coating is of unacceptable quality. Yet another disadvantage of performing additional manufacturing steps before the substrate is coated results in the loss of the entire lamp burner, including the components used as well as the time and expense incurred in performing the additional manufacturing steps. In lamp burners, for example, the electrical leads and the time positioning the leads and sealing the lamp burner envelopes represents a significant expense. Where the quality of the coating can be tested before any additional manufacturing steps are performed, the loss from a defective coating is limited to the substrate. In another aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for manufacturing coated substrates in which the cost of bad coating losses is significantly reduced.
In the manufacture of certain products such as halogen lamps having a filament, it is known that an IRR coating on at least a portion of the surface of the halogen lamp burner improve the operating efficiency of the lamp, i.e., the IRR coating reflects the infrared radiation emitted in the light emitting chamber back toward the filament to raise the temperature of the filament and thereby reduce the power necessary to operate the lamp. The position of the filament relative to the lamp burner envelope is critical in optimizing the advantage in operating efficiency of the lamp from the use of an IRR coating on the lamp burner. Where the burner is assembled prior to coating, the existence of the IRR coating is not available in determining the optimum position of the filament. Known methods require the use of time consuming and complex apparatus to optically and mechanically position the filament prior to hermetically sealing the burner envelope to the leads. In yet another aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for determining the optimum position of the filament of a halogen lamp relative to the lamp burner envelope. In other aspects, the methods and apparatus of the present invention are low in cost and easy to perform, facilitated by measuring the electrical resistance of the filament, and facilitated by measuring the power applied to the filament to maintain a constant temperature of the filament.
Where many of the disadvantages of completing the device prior to its coating are obviated by coating of the substrate prior to the further manufacturing steps, it becomes important to protect the coating from damage during the further manufacturing steps.
Where the substrate is coated prior to the additional manufacturing steps, there is the possibility of damage to the coating in the further manufacturing steps. For example in the manufacture of lamps where the lamp burner envelope is formed from glass or quartz, the step of hermetically sealing the burner envelope to the electrical leads includes the pinching of portions of the lamp burner envelope which have been raised to about 1700° C.–2000° C. Where the lamp burner envelope is formed from ceramic material, the step of hermetically sealing the burner envelope to the electrical leads includes the melting of a frit by raising its temperature to about 1700° C. Such temperatures may damage the coating. In another aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for preventing damage to the coating formed on a lamp burner envelope during the sealing of the envelope. In additional aspects, this object may be realized by mechanical shielding and by a novel protective coating to both prevent damage to the IRR coating during the sealing of the lamp burner envelope and reduce the loss of infrared radiation during the operation of the lamp.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

System and method of coating substrates and assembling devices having coated elements


Fabrication methods for magnetic recording media that use a plasma polish are disclosed. For one exemplary method, a film of a magnetic recording medium is deposited, and a top surface of the film is polished utilizing a plasma formed by a noble gas to smoothen the top surface of the film. A subsequent layer is then deposited onto the polished top surface of the film. A top surface of the subsequent layer has a reduced roughness by being deposited on the polished top surface of the film.

Many computer systems use magnetic disk drives for mass storage of information. Magnetic disk drives typically include one or more sliders having a read head and a write head. An actuator/suspension arm holds the slider above the surface of a magnetic disk. When the disk rotates, an air flow generated by the rotation of the disk causes an air bearing surface (ABS) side of the slider to fly to a particular height above the disk. As the slider flies on the air bearing, a voice coil motor (VCM) moves the actuator/suspension arm to position the read/write head over selected tracks of the disk. The read/write head may then read data from or write data to the tracks of the disk.
A conventional disk includes data fields where the actual data is stored. In the data fields, the magnetic surface of the disk is divided into small magnetic regions, each of which is used to encode a single binary bit of information. The magnetic regions include a few dozen magnetic grains forming a magnetic dipole, which generates a highly localized magnetic field. The write head magnetizes a magnetic region by generating a strong local magnetic field to store a bit of data within the magnetic region during a write process. The read head senses the magnetic dipole of the magnetic region to read the bit of data during a read process.
As the areal bit density of the disk increases, the magnetic regions encoding the bit data become smaller. This may reduce the read signal generated in the read head. One solution to improve the read signal is to reduce the thickness of the carbon overcoat that is typically applied to the disk for protection. The carbon overcoat is a non-magnetic layer applied to the magnetic films used store the bit data on the disk. Thus, reducing the overcoat thickness potentially reduces the relative distance between the ABS side of the slider and the magnetic films, which improves the read signal generated in the read head. However, as the overcoat becomes thinner, the corrosion resistance of the disk may degrade, especially if the overcoat is rough.
Another solution to improving the read signal is to reduce the clearance between the ABS side of the slider and the top surface of the disk. However, one consequence of a reduced clearance between the slider and the top surface of the disk is head-to-disk contact, which is undesirable. Head-to-disk contact occurs when the ABS side of the slider makes contact with the disk. Head-to-disk contact may cause damage to the slider, the disk, or both. It therefore remains an ongoing challenge to increase the areal bit density on the disk to improve the storage capacity of disk drive systems.

Plasma polish for magnetic recording media


A one-motion grommet (10) has opposite front and rear small-diameter tubes (11, 12) and a widened tube (13) therebetween. The front small diameter tube (11) is dimensioned to pass into a through hole (9) in a body panel (8). A cut-away portion (15) extends forward from the rear end of the widened tube (13). The widened tube (13) is branched into an outer tube (13c) and an inner tube (13d) that is continuous with the second small-diameter tube (12). Front and rear walls (16a; 16b) project from the outer circumferential surface of a portion of the outer tube (13c) located more backward than the forward end of the cut-away portion (15) and are opposed to each other to form a body locking recess (16). The front end of the cut-away portion (15) is located more radially inward than the base end of the front wall (16a), and an opening side of the cut-away portion (15) is located radially inwardly of the rear wall (16b).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grommet and particularly to a grommet that can be assembled onto a wiring harness and mounted in a through hole in a body panel of an automotive vehicle. The grommet protects the wiring harness and makes a portion where the wiring harness introduced into the through hole waterproof, dustproof and soundproof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A grommet typically is mounted on a wiring harness that will extend from an engine compartment to a passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle. The grommet and the wiring harness than are mounted in a through hole of a body panel that partitions the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. Accordingly, the grommet protects the wiring harness at the through hole and prevents the flow of water, dust and sound from the engine compartment to the passenger compartment.
A grommet of the type described above is referred to as a xe2x80x9cone-motion grommetxe2x80x9d and has a body-locking recess around its outer periphery. The body locking recess is configured to be engaged with the surrounding edge of a through hole of a body panel merely by pushing the grommet into the through hole in one direction. A one-motion grommet has the potential for easy mounting.
A known one-motion grommet is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 4-42982 and also is identified by the numeral 1 in FIG. 10 herein. The grommet 1 has small-diameter tubes 2 and 3 at opposite ends of the grommet 1 and a widened tube 4 between the small-diameter tubes 2 and 3. A body locking recess 5 is formed in the outer circumferential surface of the widened tube 4, and a cut-away portion 6 is formed at the radially inner side of the body locking recess 5.
The grommet 1 is pushed in the direction of arrow Q from an engine compartment (X) to a passenger compartment (Y). As a result, a slanted wall 5a of the body locking recess 5 is deformed inwardly into the cut-away portion 6, and is enabled to pass through a through hole 9 formed in a body panel 8. The slanted wall 5a is restored to its original shape after passing through the through hole 9, so that the body panel 8 is locked between the slanted wall 5a and another side wall 5b.
The cut-away portion 6 extends from an opening 6a beyond a position radially inwardly of the body locking recess 5 to facilitate the inward deformation of the slanted wall 5a when the grommet 1 is being pushed into the through hole 9. The cut-away portion 6 then is bent radially outwardly beyond the body locking recess, so that a back end 6b of the cut-away portion 6 reaches substantially the same radial position as a groove bottom surface 5c of the body locking recess 5.
The base of the slant wall 5a is thinner at its outer circumference than at its inner circumference. As a result, the cut-away portion 6 is likely to cause the slanted wall 5a to deform outwardly when the body panel 8 contacts an outer circumferential surface 4a of the widened portion 4 adjacent the back end 6b of the cut-away portion 6. Deformation of the slanted wall 5a outwardly instead of inwardly will cause the slanted wall 5a to abut against a wall surface 8a of the body panel 8 at the side from which the grommet 1 is pushed, as shown in FIG. 4(B). Hence, it will be difficult to insert the grommet 1 into the through hole 9. More particularly, the cut-away portion 6 that is formed to facilitate the inward deformation of the slanted wall 5a may actually cause the slanted wall 5a to deform outwardly and in a direction opposite from the desired direction. This complicates the insertion of the grommet 1 into the through hole 9 and requires a larger insertion force.
The through hole of the body panel may be oblong. However, the small diameter tube is usually circular. As a result, the cut-away portion 6 may be large along one axis and small along a second axis. If the cut-away portion is excessively large along the longer axis, the surrounding wall where the body locking recess is formed enters the cut-away portion. Consequently, the body locking recess may pass through the through hole.
The cut-away portion is formed inside the side wall of the body locking recess to facilitate the inward deformation of the side wall of the recess. However, the side wall may be inclined excessively inwardly to cause the body locking recess to pass through the through hole both when the grommet is pushed into the through hole of the body panel, and when the grommet is pulled through the through hole. This may occur when the through hole is oblong and the widened tube portion formed with the body locking recess is circular, and when the through hole and the widened tube portion are both circular.
In view of the above problems, an object of the invention is to improve a mount ability of a grommet by causing a side wall of a body locking recess to be easily and securely deformed inwardly during insertion of a grommet into a through hole in a body panel.
The invention is directed to a grommet that is insertable into a through hole in a body panel in one direction, and that can be engaged with the through hole while mounted on a wiring harness. The grommet may be unitarily formed from a rubber or elastomer, and comprises first and second small-diameter tubes at opposite longitudinal ends of the grommet. The first small-diameter tube defines the front of the grommet with respect to the insertion direction of the grommet into the through hole, and hence the second small diameter tube defines the rear end of the grommet.
The grommet further comprises a widened tube between the first and second small-diameter tubes. The widened tube includes a cut-away portion that extends forward into the rear end of the widened tube and that opens toward the rear end of the grommet. Thus, the cut-away portion branches the widened tube into an outer tube and an inner tube. The inner tube is substantially continuous with the second small-diameter tube.
A body locking recess is defined in the outer tube. The body locking recess is more backward than the forward end of the cut-away portion along the longitudinal direction of the grommet. Additionally, the forward end of the cutaway portion preferably is more radially inward than the radially inward bottom end of the body locking recess. Thus, at least a portion of the outer tube will deform inwardly toward the cut-away portion in response to forces exerted by the body panel on the insertion side of the outer tube while the grommet is being pushed into the through hole in the body panel.
The body locking recess preferably is defined partly by front and rear projections on the outer surface of the outer tube. The front projection has a forwardly and outwardly facing slanted surface and a substantially radially aligned rearwardly facing surface that defines the forward side of the body locking recess. At least the forward end of the cut-away portion preferably is more radially inward than the slanted surface. These relative positions ensure that at least a portion of the outer tube will deform inwardly toward the cut-away portion in response to forces generated by the body panel on the slanted surface of the outer tube as the grommet is being pushed into the through hole in the body panel. Thus, unlike the above-described prior art, there is no possibility that the slanted surface of the annular front wall will deform radially outward in response to forces exerted by the body panel as the grommet is urged into the through hole. Accordingly, insertion of the grommet into the through hole is carried out smoothly.
The back end of the cut-away portion preferably has an opening side with an outer circumferential surface that is flared outwardly to widen toward the opening end of the cut-away portion. The outwardly flared surface preferably is radially inward from the annular rear wall of the outer tube. The base end of the slanted surface that contacts the body panel when the grommet is pushed into the through hole preferably is more radially outward than the back end of the cut-away portion. Accordingly, unlike the above-described prior art, there is no likelihood that the slanted surface is deformed outwardly against the body panel. Rather, the slanted wall is deformed inwardly toward the cut-away portion, thereby achieving a smoother pushing operation.
Further, the outer tube can be deformed easily toward the cut-away portion due to the widening at the back end opening of the cut-away portion. Therefore, the one-motion grommet can be mounted on the body panel with a small insertion force.
Portions of the outer tube adjacent the base end of the slanted surface preferably are thicker than portions of the inner tube substantially continuous with the second small-diameter tube. Thus, a pushing force of the body panel on the grommet first acts on the thinner inner tube to deform the inner tube when the body panel abuts against the slanted surface. The inward deformation of the inner tube then deforms the outer tube inwardly.
Portions of the inner tube branched by the cut-away portion and continuous with the second small-diameter tube are thinner than a base portion of the inner tube branched from the outer tube. Thus, when the body panel is brought into contact with the slanted surface of the projection that defines the body locking recess, the thinner portion of the inner tube first is pushed longitudinally thereby causing the thicker base portion to deform in a direction toward the center of the inner tube or radially inwardly and to cause the slanted wall of the outer tube to deform radially inwardly about the back end of the cutaway portion.
The grommet may further comprise an inclination-preventing projection on the outer circumferential surface of the inner tube along longitudinal direction to prevent the outer tube from inclining excessively. Thus, the outer tube comes into contact with the inclination-preventing projection to prevent the grommet from passing through the through hole.
The through hole of the body panel may be oblong. In this instance, the outer tube of the widened tube portion has an oblong cross section, but the inner tube through which the wiring harness is introduced has a substantially circular cross section. Thus, a clearance between the inner tube and the outer tube is widened at a longer axis side while being narrowed at a shorter axis side. Accordingly, the inclination-preventing projection is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the inner tube at the longer axis side, so that a distance between the projecting end of the inclination-preventing projection and the inner circumferential surface of the outer tube is substantially the same as a distance between the outer circumferential surface of the inner tube and the inner circumferential surface of the outer tube at the shorter axis side. Thus, the degree of deformation of the outer tube is restricted by the inclination-preventing projection to prevent the body locking recess from being deformed sufficiently inward to pass through the through hole of the body panel.
Most preferably, the inclination preventing projection projects a longer distance at the opening end of the cut-away portion.
Since the inward inclination of the outer tube is restricted, the projecting distance of the projection is made larger at a portion corresponding to an outwardly widened portion of the outer tube.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.


A composite blade (26) comprises a three-dimensional arrangement of reinforcing fibres (58) and a matrix material (60) infiltrated around the three-dimensional arrangement of woven reinforcing fibres (60). The three-dimensional arrangement of woven reinforcing fibres (58) defines a plurality of cavities (56) within the aerofoil (28). The composite blade (26) comprises an aerofoil portion (38) and a root portion (36). The aerofoil portion (38) comprises a leading edge (44), a trailing edge (46), a concave pressure surface wall (50), a convex suction surface wall (52) and a tip (48). The aerofoil portion (36) comprises a plurality of webs (54) extending between, and being secured to, the concave pressure surface wall (50) and the convex suction surface wall (52) to produce a Warren girder structure. The three-dimensional arrangement of woven reinforcing fibres (58) are arranged to produce the concave pressure surface wall (50), the convex suction surface wall (52) and the plurality of webs (54). The matrix material (60) is an organic resin and the reinforcing fibres (58) comprise carbon fibres.

Conventionally compressor blades, or fan blades, comprise forged, or machined, solid metal.
One problem with conventional solid low-pressure compressor blades, or fan blades, is that they are relatively heavy in weight due to their size. The gas turbine engines to which these fan blades are secured require that the rotor disc is made sufficiently strong to carry the operational loads of the fan blades and this entails strengthening the rotor disc and as such means increasing the mass and weight of the rotor disc. In addition the gas turbine engines to which these fan blades are secured require that the fan casing containment system is sufficiently strong to contain a fan blade should it become detached due to bird ingestion and as such means increasing the mass and weight of the fan casing. Thus these features add to the weight of the gas turbine engine.
In order to reduce the weight of large compressor blades, e.g. low-pressure compressor blades or fan blades, it is known for the fan blade to comprise a number of metal workpieces, which are diffusion bonded together with an intervening honeycomb structure to produce a hollow fan blade. This reduces the weight of the fan blade and enables corresponding reductions in the weight in the rotor disc and fan casing containment system.
In order to reduce the weight of large compressor blades, e.g. low-pressure compressor blades or fan blades, it is known for the fan blade to comprise a number of metal workpieces, which are diffusion bonded together and superplastically formed to produce a hollow fan blade. This reduces the weight of the fan blade and enables corresponding reductions in the weight in the rotor disc and fan casing containment system.
Also in order to reduce the weight of small and large compressor blades, e.g. low-pressure compressor blades or fan blades, it is known for the fan blade to comprise a composite material, for example fibre, or cloth, reinforced resin. It is also known for the composite material fan blade to comprise metal parts. This also reduces the weight of the fan blade and enables corresponding reductions in weight in the rotor disc and fan casing containment system.
However, a low-pressure compressor blade, or fan blade, comprising composite material has substantially the same weight as a hollow low-pressure compressor blade, or hollow fan blade, comprising a number of metal workpieces, which are diffusion bonded together and superplastically formed.