A medical electrode for conducting an electrical current to or from the skin of a patient. The electrode comprises a thin, flexible metallic conductor, a layer of electrolyte in electrical contact with the conductor and positioned to be in electrical contact with the skin when the electrode is applied to a patient, and an insulating layer overlying the conductor, wherein a peripheral edge of the metallic conductor is sealed with an insulating material so that the peripheral edge of the conductor is substantially out of electrical contact with the electrolyte. This tends to increase the shelf life of the electrode because the more highly worked (e.g., from being die cut during manufacture), and thus higher energy state, peripheral edge is electrically isolated.

Medical electrodes are applied to the skin for a variety of purposes, including defibrillation, pacing, and monitoring electrical activity (e.g., ECG). A typical medical electrode has a thin metallic conductor (e.g., tin) sandwiched between an insulating backing layer and a conductive gel layer. The metallic conductor is usually cut from sheets of metal by die cutting equipment.
Electrical current flows from the metallic conductor through the gel layer to the skin. The gel layer contains an electrolyte that makes it conductive, and is typically either a nearly solid (highly viscous) gel or a liquid gel supported in a sponge-like layer. Because the gel is normally in contact with the metallic conductor throughout the life of the electrode, corrosion can naturally occur owing to variations in energy levels at the interface between the gel and metallic conductor. This corrosion is often the determining factor in setting the shelf life of the electrode.
One solution proposed for countering corrosion of the metallic conductor is to use stainless steel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,428), but, in fact, the corrosion still occurs with stainless steel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,998 discloses coating tin with stannous chloride, which helps to reduce corrosion. Putting a rubber layer between the metallic conductor and the gel has been attempted. Replacing the gel with a conductive polymer, to eliminate the salt solution, has been done, but the electrode tends to have poorer connectivity with the skin of the patient, and such conductive polymers tend to be oxygen sensitive and to degrade with age.
Another solution proposed for addressing corrosion, and thereby lengthening the shelf life of such electrodes, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,877, entitled "Protecting Medical Electrodes from Corrosion", filed on Jun. 18, 1998. A sacrificial element electrically connected to the metallic conductor and also exposed to the gel layer forms an anode-cathode cell in which the sacrificial element functions as a sacrificial anode that corrodes, protecting the metallic conductor, which functions as the cathode, from corrosion.

Medical electrode with peripheral edge of conductor sealed from electrolyte


A system is disclosed that may compensate for bus timing that may vary over operating conditions of a bus. The system may include a communication bus, a first functional unit configured to transmit data via the communication bus, and a second functional unit configured to receive data via the bus. The first functional unit may transmit a first value via the communication bus to the second functional unit. The first functional unit may be further configured to assert a data valid signal responsive to a determination that a first time period has elapsed since the transmission of the first data value. The second functional unit may be configured to receive the first data value and sample the first data value dependent upon the data valid signal.

1. Technical Field
This invention is related to the field of integrated circuit implementation, and more particularly to the implementation of bus timing architectures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computing systems may include one or more systems-on-a-chip (SoCs), which may integrate a number of different functions, such as, graphics and audio processing, onto a single integrated circuit. With numerous functions included in a single integrated circuit, chip count may be kept low in mobile computing systems, such as smartphones and tablets, for example, which may result in reduced assembly costs, and a smaller form factor for such mobile computing systems.
As geometries on semiconductor processes continue to shrink and processing performance requirements continue to increase, timing of critical signals across an integrated circuit may be difficult to maintain. To improve manufacturing yields, SoC designers may attempt to guarantee timing of some or all of these signals. Guaranteeing timing refers to a process that may involve simulating or estimating delays of signals as they propagate throughout the chip, and analyzing and correcting these delays such that sufficient setup and hold times are provided to the circuits receiving the critical signals. Guaranteeing the timing of the signals may be even more difficult for multi-bit buses that may run to several functional blocks included in the integrated circuit, where the timing of all signals on the bus needs to be balanced. To simplify timing, many buses are synchronized to a system clock such that a new value is placed on the bus during each clock cycle.
Timing of signals throughout an SoC design, may be estimated before the design is manufactured by employing a method known as Static Timing Analysis (STA) may be employed. STA refers to a step in an SoC design process in which the expected timing of some or all of the digital circuits in an SoC design may be computed without the need for a full chip simulation to be run. Since full chip circuit level simulations may be time consuming and computing power intensive, STA may be utilized as an alternative method for identifying and analyzing the timing of critical signals.

Multi-cycle delay for communication buses


A thin film magnetic head capable of obtaining a sufficient overwrite characteristic and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. An insulating film pattern is disposed in a recess formed in a bottom pole. The front end of the insulating film pattern is positioned within a region where the front end part of a top pole tip extends. The insulating film pattern has the function of shielding propagation of magnetic flux from the top pole tip disposed on the insulating film pattern to the bottom pole formed under the insulating film pattern. Consequently, due to the existence of the insulating film pattern, the propagation of the magnetic flux from the top pole tip to the bottom pole is suppressed, so that sufficient magnetic flux is supplied to the front end part. Therefore, the excellent overwrite characteristic can be assured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head having at least an inductive magnetic transducer for writing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an improvement in performance of a thin film magnetic head is demanded in accordance with an increase in surface recording density of a hard disk drive. As a thin film magnetic head, a composite thin film magnetic head in which a recording head having an inductive-type magnetic transducer for writing and a reproducing head having a magnetoresistive (hereinbelow, referred to as MR) element for reading are stacked is widely used.
In order to improve the recording density in the performances of the recording head, it is necessary to increase track density of a magnetic recording medium. For this purpose, it is necessary to realize a recording head of a narrow track structure in which the width on the air bearing surface of each of a bottom pole and a top pole formed while sandwiching a write gap is reduced to the order of a few microns to submicrons. In order to achieve this, semiconductor processing techniques are used.
Referring to FIGS. 31 and 36, as an example of a method of manufacturing a conventional thin film magnetic head, a method of manufacturing a composite thin film magnetic head will be described.
According to the manufacturing method, first, as shown in FIG. 31, an insulating layer 102 made of, for example, aluminium oxide (Al2O3; hereinbelow, simply called xe2x80x9caluminaxe2x80x9d) is deposited in a thickness of about 5.0 to 10.0 xcexcm on a substrate 101 made of altic (Al2O3.TiC) or the like. Subsequently, a bottom shield layer 103 for a reproducing head is formed on the insulating layer 102. For example, alumina layer is then sputter-deposited in a thickness of 100 to 200 nm on the bottom shield layer 103 to form a shield gap film 104. An MR film 105 for constructing an MR device for reproducing is deposited in a thickness of tens nm on the shield gap film 104 and is patterned in a desired shape by high-precision photolithography. Then lead layers (not shown) as lead electrode layers, which are electrically connected to the MR film 105, are formed on both sides of the MR film 105. After that, a shield gap film 106 is formed on the lead layers, the shield gap film 104, and the MR film 105, and the MR film 105 is buried in the shield gap films 104 and 106. A top shield-cum-bottom pole (hereinbelow, referred to as a bottom pole) 107 made of a magnetic material such as nickel iron alloy (NiFe; hereinbelow, also simply called xe2x80x9cPermalloy (trade name)xe2x80x9d) used for both of the reproducing head and the recording head is formed on the shield gap film 106.
As shown in FIG. 32, on the bottom pole 107, a write gap layer 108 made of an insulating material such as alumina is formed. Further, a photoresist film 109 is formed in a predetermined pattern on the write gap layer 108 by high-precision photolithography. On the photoresist film 109, a thin film coil 110 for an inductive-type recording head made of, for example, copper (Cu) is formed by plating or the like. A photoresist film 111 is formed in a predetermined pattern by high-precision photolithography so as to cover the photoresist film 109 and the thin film coil 110. In order to insulate the winding portions of the thin film coil 110 from each other, a heat treatment is conducted at, for example, 250 degrees on the photoresist film 111.
As shown in FIG. 33, in a position rearward of the thin film coil 110 (the right side in FIG. 33), an opening 108a is formed by partially etching the write gap layer 108 in order to form a magnetic path, thereby exposing part of the bottom pole 107. A top yoke-cum-top pole (hereinbelow, called top pole) 112 made of a magnetic material having high saturated magnetic flux density such as Permalloy is selectively formed so as to cover the exposed face of the bottom pole 107, the photoresist film 111 and the write gap layer 108.
As a method of forming the top pole 112, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 7-262519, a frame plating is used. When the top pole 112 is formed by using the frame plating, first, on the whole coil portion (hereinbelow, called an xe2x80x9capex portionxe2x80x9d) projected like a mountain covered with the photoresist film 111, a thin electrode film made of, for example, Permalloy is deposited by sputtering or the like. A photoresist is then applied on the electrode film, thereby forming the photoresist film. The photoresist film is patterned by a photolithography to form a frame (outer frame) for a plating. Then the electrode film formed before is used as a seed layer and a plating film made of Permalloy is grown by plating, thereby forming the top pole 112.
The top pole 112 has, for example, a shape in plane as shown in FIG. 36 which will be described hereinlater and includes a yoke part 112a and a pole tip part 112b. The top pole 112 is in contact with and magnetically coupled to the bottom pole 107 in the opening 108a. Subsequently, by using part (pole tip part 112b) of the top pole 112 as a mask, both the write gap layer 108 and bottom pole 107 are selectively etched about 0.5 xcexcm by ion milling (refer to FIG. 35) and, after that, an overcoat layer 113 made of, for example, alumina is formed on the top pole 112. Finally, by machining and polishing, the track surface, that is, an air bearing surface 120 of the recording head and reproducing head is formed, thereby completing a thin film magnetic head.
FIGS. 34 to 36 show the structure of the thin film magnetic head in a completed state. FIG. 34 is a cross section of the thin film magnetic head in the direction perpendicular to the air bearing surface 120. FIG. 35 is an enlarged cross section in the direction parallel to the air bearing surface 120 of the pole part. FIG. 36 is a plan view of the structure. FIG. 33 is a cross section taken along line XXXIIIxe2x80x94XXXIII of FIG. 36. In FIGS. 34 to 36, the overcoat layer 113 and the like are omitted. In FIG. 36, with respect to the thin film coil 110 and the photoresist film 111, only their outlines are shown.
In FIGS. 34 and 36, xe2x80x9cTHxe2x80x9d denotes the throat height and xe2x80x9cMRHxe2x80x9d indicates the MR height. The xe2x80x9cthroat height (TH)xe2x80x9d is one of factors which determine the performance of the recording head and is length from the position of the edge on the side closest to the air bearing surface 120 of the insulating layer (photoresist film 111) for electrically isolating the thin film coil 110 from the other conductive portions, that is, from the throat height zero position (THO) to the air bearing surface 120. In order to improve the performance of the recording head, it is necessary to optimize the throat height (TH). The throat height (TH) is controlled by a polishing amount at the time of forming the air bearing surface 120. The xe2x80x9cMR height (MRH)xe2x80x9d denotes length from the position of the edge on the side furthest from the air bearing surface 120 of the MR film 105, that is, the MR height zero position (MRH0) to the position of the air bearing surface 120. The MR height (MRH) is also controlled by the polishing amount at the time of forming the air bearing surface 120.
Besides the throat height (TH) and the MR height (MRH), another factor which determines the performance of the thin film magnetic head is an apex angle (xcex8) shown in FIG. 34. The apex angle xcex8 is an average inclination angle of an inclined face close to the air bearing surface 120 of the photoresist film 111.
As shown in FIG. 35, a structure such that part of the write gap layer 108 and part of the bottom pole 107 are etched in a self aligned manner to the pole tip part 112b of the top pole 112 is called a trim structure. According to the trim structure, an increase in the effective track width due to expansion of the magnetic flux which occurs at the time of writing data to a narrow track can be prevented. xe2x80x9cP2Wxe2x80x9d in the drawing indicates the width of the portion having the trim structure (hereinbelow, simply called xe2x80x9cpole part 500xe2x80x9d), that is, the pole width (hereinbelow, also called xe2x80x9ctrack widthxe2x80x9d). The processing dimension of the pole width P2W depends on the width of a portion corresponding to the pole part 500 in a mask (photoresist film pattern in the above case) used at the time of performing an etching process to form the trim structure. xe2x80x9cP2Lxe2x80x9d in the drawing denotes the thickness of the pole tip part 112b as part of the pole part 500, that is, the pole length. As shown in FIG. 35, lead layers 121 as lead electrode layer electrically connected to the MR film 105 are provided on both sides of the MR film 105. In FIGS. 31 to 34, the lead layer 121 is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 36, the top pole 112 has the yoke part 112a, which occupies a major part of the top pole 112, and the pole tip part 112b having an almost constant width as the pole width P2W. In the connecting portion between the yoke part 112a and the pole tip part 112b, the outer edge of the yoke part 112a forms an angle xcex1 to a plane parallel to the air bearing surface 120. In the connecting portion, the outer edge of the pole tip part 112b and a plane parallel to the air bearing surface 120 form an angle xcex2. For example, xcex1 is 45 degrees and xcex2 is 90 degrees. As described above, the pole tip part 112b is a part serving as a mask used to form the trim structure of the pole part 500. As understood from FIGS. 34 and 36, the pole tip part 112b extends on the flat write gap layer 108 and the yoke part 112a extends on the apex portion.
Detailed structural characteristics of the top pole are described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 8-249614.
In the conventional thin film magnetic head having the structure as shown in FIG. 33, the magnetic flux generated by the thin film coil 110 at the time of recording information propagates through the top pole 112 from the yoke part 112a toward the pole tip part 112b and finally reaches the tip of the pole tip part 112b. The magnetic flux reached the pole tip part 112b generates a signal magnetic field to the outside. By the signal magnetic field, information is recorded onto a recording medium (not shown).
In order to assure the excellent overwrite characteristics of the thin film magnetic head, generally, it is necessary to smoothly and sufficiently supply the magnetic flux to the pole tip part 112b of the top pole 112 to sufficiently generate the signal magnetic field.
In the conventional thin film magnetic head shown in FIG. 33, however, only the thin write gap layer 108 is provided between the pole tip part 112b of the top pole 112 and the bottom pole 107. Part of the magnetic flux flowed from the yoke part 112a toward the pole tip part 112b does not therefore reach the tip of the pole tip part 112b but passes through the write gap layer 108 and propagates to the bottom pole 107. In the following, the propagation of the magnetic flux from the top pole 112 to the bottom pole 107 via the write gap layer 108 will be called xe2x80x9cleakage of magnetic fluxxe2x80x9d. Such a tendency is conspicuous in a region 112S defined between a region formed on the flat write gap layer 108 in the top pole 112 and a region formed on the apex because a downward flow of the magnetic flux in the top pole 112 occurs in the region 112S extending in the thickness direction (longitudinal direction in the drawing).
The xe2x80x9cleakage of the magnetic fluxxe2x80x9d induces inconveniences as described below.
1) Due to the leakage of the magnetic flux from the top pole 112 to the bottom pole 107, the absolute volume of the magnetic flux propagating through the top pole 112 from the yoke part 112a to the pole tip part 112b decreases. In such a case, the magnetic flux generated by the thin film coil 110 cannot be sufficiently supplied to the tip of the pole tip part 112b. Consequently, the overwrite characteristic of the thin film magnetic head deteriorates severely.
2) Local concentration of the magnetic flux on the bottom pole 107 due to the leakage of the magnetic flux exerts an adverse influence on the reading operation of the thin film magnetic head. For example, when the magnetic flux concentrates on the bottom pole 107 more than necessary and part of the magnetic flux passes through the bottom pole 107 and reaches the MR film 105, the magnetic flux reached the MR film 105 acts as magnetic noises at the time of the reading operation of the reproducing head. Due to this, the normal reading operation of the thin film magnetic head is disturbed.
The invention has been achieved in consideration of the problems. An object is to provide a thin film magnetic head capable of obtaining a sufficient overwrite characteristic by suppressing xe2x80x9cleakage of magnetic fluxxe2x80x9d in a propagation process of magnetic flux and a method of manufacturing the same.
According to the invention, there is provided a thin film magnetic head comprising: a first magnetic layer having a magnetic pole and a second magnetic layer having a magnetic pole, which are magnetically coupled to each other, the magnetic poles facing each other with a gap layer having a flat surface region in between in part of a side of a recording-medium-facing surface facing a recording medium, and the first magnetic layer including a first magnetic portion having a constant width portion which extends from the recording medium facing surface in a length direction so as to be apart from the recording medium facing surface and which specifies a recording track width of the recording medium; a thin film coil part disposed between the two magnetic layers sandwiching an insulating layer; and a first non-magnetic pattern which is embedded in a recess formed in part on the side in contact with the gap layer, of the second magnetic layer, and which serves as part of the insulating layer, the position of the front end of the first non-magnetic pattern specifying the position of the front end of the insulating layer, wherein the front end of the first non-magnetic pattern is positioned in a region where the constant width portion extends of the region where the first magnetic portion extends.
According to the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprising: a first magnetic layer having a magnetic pole and a second magnetic layer having a magnetic pole, which are magnetically coupled to each other, the magnetic poles facing each other with a gap layer having a flat surface region in between in part of a side of a recording-medium-facing surface facing a recording medium, and the first magnetic layer including a first magnetic portion having a constant width portion which extends from the recording medium facing surface in a length direction so as to be apart from the recording medium facing surface and which specifies a recording track width of the recording medium; and a thin film coil part disposed between the two magnetic layers sandwiching an insulating layer; wherein the method comprises a step of forming a first non-magnetic pattern serving as part of the insulating layer in a recess formed in part on the side in contact with the gap layer, of the second magnetic layer, so that the front end of the first non-magnetic pattern is positioned in a region where the constant width portion extends of the region where the first magnetic portion extends, and specifies the position of the front end of the insulating layer.
In the thin film magnetic head of the invention, the position of the front end of the insulating layer is specified by the position of the front end of the first non-magnetic pattern as part of the insulating layer. In this case, the xe2x80x9cposition of the front end of the insulating layerxe2x80x9d is a position of one of the edges of the insulating layer, which is the closest to the recording medium facing surface. Especially, due to the existence of the first non-magnetic pattern, propagation of the magnetic flux from its upper region to its lower region can be suppressed.
In the thin film magnetic head or in the method of manufacturing the head of the invention, further, a second non-magnetic pattern which serves as part of the insulating layer so as to extend in contact with a side of the gap layer opposite to the side with which the first non-magnetic pattern is in contact may be provided.
In the thin film magnetic head of the invention, the surface near the front end of the second non-magnetic pattern is inclined with respect to the surface of the gap layer.
In the thin film magnetic head of the invention, the position of the front end of the second non-magnetic pattern is rearward in the length direction of the position of the front end of the first non-magnetic pattern, and the first magnetic portion may extend from a flat region of the gap layer to the inclined face of the second non-magnetic pattern.
In the method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head of the invention, the second non-magnetic pattern may be formed so that the front end of the second non-magnetic pattern is positioned rearward of the front end of the first non-magnetic pattern along the length direction.
In the thin film magnetic head or the method of manufacturing the head of the invention, at least the constant width portion in the first magnetic portion may extend on the flat region of the gap layer.
In the thin film magnetic head or the method of manufacturing the head of the invention, the first magnetic portion may further comprise: at least two connection portions disposed so as to be separated from each other in the track width direction; and a coupling portion for magnetically coupling the constant width portion and at least two connection portions. In such a case, part of the insulating layer may be buried in a region surrounded by the coupling portion in the first magnetic portion and at least two connection portions.
According to the method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head of the invention, in the case where the surface near the front end of the second non-magnetic pattern has an inclined face inclined with respect to the surface of the gap layer and at least part of the coupling portion in the first magnetic portion and the connection portion is disposed on the inclined face of the second non-magnetic pattern, the step of forming the first magnetic portion may include: a step of forming a photoresist layer so as to cover at least the flat region in the gap layer and the inclined region in the second non-magnetic pattern; a first exposing step of selectively exposing a first region including a region corresponding to the shape in plane of the constant width portion, in the photoresist layer of the flat region in the gap layer; a second exposing step of selectively exposing a second region corresponding to the shape in plane of at least the coupling portion and the connection portion of the photoresist layer in a region extending from the inclined region of the second non-magnetic pattern to the flat region of the gap layer; a step of forming a photoresist pattern by developing both the first and second regions of the photoresist layer in a lump; and a step of integrally forming the constant width portion, the coupling portion and the connection portion by using the photoresist pattern. In such a case, in the second exposing step, preferably, the first and second regions are partially overlapped with each other.
In the thin film magnetic head or the method of manufacturing the head of the invention, the first magnetic layer may further include: a second magnetic portion which is magnetically coupled to the first magnetic portion so as to be partially overlapped with each other; and a third magnetic portion for magnetically coupling the second magnetic portion to the second magnetic layer.
The method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head of the invention may further include the steps of: forming the first magnetic portion and, simultaneously, forming the third magnetic portion and a coil connection pattern as part of the thin film coil part on a coil end provided at the end of the thin film coil part; forming a coil covering layer as part of the insulating layer so as to cover at least the first magnetic portion, the third magnetic portion and the coil connection pattern; planarizing the surface of the coil covering layer by polishing until at least the first magnetic portion, the third magnetic portion and the coil connection pattern are exposed; and forming the second magnetic portion so as to be magnetically coupled with the exposed faces of both the first and third magnetic portions on the surface planarized by the polishing and, simultaneously, forming a conductive layer pattern so as to be electrically connected to the exposed face of the coil connection pattern.
In the thin film magnetic head or the method of manufacturing the head of the invention, at least one of the first and second magnetic layers may be made of a material containing either nickel iron alloy or iron nitride, or a material containing an amorphous alloy. It is preferable to use either cobalt iron alloy or zirconium cobalt iron alloy as the amorphous alloy.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.

Thin film magnetic head with diverging pole connection portions


An automatic crossbar on a ski chair-lift for containing seated passengers and facilitating dismounting passengers. A vertically elongated bar (20) with a cross (20a) attached at its base is pivotably suspended from a passenger chair, positioning the crossbar in front of passengers. An elastic closure attachment (9), and/or an automatic locking mechanism (60), is attached between the elongated bar and the chair to retain the crossbar in a closed position and contain passengers. A blocking structure (200) is suspended proximal to the aerial cable above the landing platform. The elongated bar has an upper portion (20v) above its pivotal mount (21b) which impacts the blocking structure as the aerial cable moves the chair forward. The impact causes the upper portion to rotate back as the lower portion and crossbar are levered forward and upward. As the crossbar swings forward from the chair, passengers grasp the crossbar to balance with while standing onto the landing platform.

The invention relates to a ski chair-lift having chairs coupled on the line to an aerial cable and equipped with enclosures that contain passengers.
Skiers and other passengers riding on present chair-lifts assume several risks. These risks include falling off chairs during transport, getting frost bitten, and falling when dismounting. Beginners regularly fall on the slick snow packed landing ramp. They are often injured or embarrassed. Some are unable to safely dismount after many attempts. People that fall on the exit ramp cause problems for others as well. Falling beginners may pull co-passengers down with them. Other skiers may crash into fallen people on the exit ramp. Lift operators that intervene to xe2x80x9cmake a savexe2x80x9d may be injured by lifting people, having a slip-and-fall accidents, or by being run into by others. When some falls, the operator may have to stop the lift. Stopped lifts causes time delays for people in route, and for those waiting in the lift-line.
Prior art automatic enclosures on chairs
The relevant prior art concerns devices that assist passengers with riding on ski chair-lifts. Several prior art devices (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,556,014 by Rudkin (1969); 4,303,016 by Tauzin (1981); and 4,784,065 by Brochand (1988)) have automatic swing-back enclosures, capable of occupying a lowered position protecting the passengers sitting on the chair, and an open position for passengers to mount and dismount from the chair. These automatic enclosures swing up and back over the heads of passengers. These chairs provide no mechanism to assist less experienced passengers with dismounting onto the slippery snow surface. They are designed to be used by accomplished chair-lift riders. Thus, beginner skiers regularly fall.
Manually operated safety-bar enclosures
Most chair lifts provide manually operated enclosures, sometimes called xe2x80x9csafety-barsxe2x80x9d. The enclosures are cage-like with a crossbar in front. These safety-bars swing up and back with similar pivotal mechanics as shown in the prior art above. Users rotate the crossbars up and back over their heads prior to unloading. Like prior art above, the safety-bar enclosures are attached by pivotal mounts on the rear or sides of the chair. To contain skiers after loading, passengers pull the crossbar down from above and behind their heads. However, as one passenger lowers the bar, the crossbar may accidentally hit another passenger in the head (if that passenger is leaning forward) as it comes down from above and behind. It is necessary for all passengers to lean forward in order to balance while sitting down. Many safety-bars are xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped. They run across the front of passengers and bend 90xc2x0 at each side to run directly above and parallel with the arm rests. The sides of these xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped safety-bars rest on both of the chair""s arm-rests when the safety-bar is closed. Accordingly, if one""s arm is on the arm rest when the safety-bar is closed, a skiers"" arm may be caught between the safety-bar and the arm-rest. To prevent these accidents when closing the safety-bar, passengers must learn to sit up straight with their arms at their sides after mounting the chair. If used correctly, safety-bars help passengers to be transported safely. Yet, many novices fail to pull the crossbar down during transport, or to raise the crossbar in time for unloading. The lift must be stopped if the crossbar is not raised for dismounting. Accordingly, to avoid delays, many ski resorts have no safety-bars on their beginner lifts. Because the existence of safety-bars does not guarantee a safe transport, some resorts choose not to call them safety-bars. Additionally, prior art enclosures on ski chair-lifts do not provide a mechanism to help passengers dismount without falling. Many chair lift related injuries occur when people fall from chairs during transport or fall on the landing platform during dismount.
An automatic locking and unlocking crossbar on a ski chair-lift for containing seated passengers, and for facilitating dismounting passengers. To contain passengers, a vertically elongated bar, suspends a horizontal crossbar in a locked position in front of seated passengers. The vertically elongated bar is pivotably mounted near its top to an aerial chair""s suspension bar. At the exit terminal, the crossbar is levered forward and upward away from the front of the chair. To facilitate dismounting, passengers may grasp the crossbar to assist them with standing. The crossbar is levered forward and upward by the impact of a blocking structure against the top of the elongated bar (above its pivotal mount).
Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, the objects and advantages of this automatic crossbar are as follows:
(a) to provide an open crossbar to allow passengers to mount;
(b) to permit mounting and dismounting at top, bottom, and mid-station platforms;
(c) to gradually close the crossbar after the chair is mounted;
(d) to provide an automatic crossbar that locks closed;
(e) to allow it to be unlocked by someone from the ground during an emergency;
(f) to provide a fail-safe brake-away system to force the lock open if it fails, so as to not damage the lock or endanger passengers;
(g) to protect passengers from falling, or jumping, out of a lift prematurely;
(h) to prevent users from falling or crashing into each other when dismounting;
(i) to provide safety for passengers that forget, or are unable, to close a crossbar;
(j) to provide passengers with increased sense of being contained and safe;
(k) to function in various weather conditions, including during snow and ice storms;
(l) to protect the components from excessive wear;
(m) to provide passenger with balancing assistance for standing when dismounting;
(n) to reduce time delays and injuries related to the falling of dismounting passengers;
(o) to allow the crossbar to shut and contain passengers without hitting the top of a passengers head or catching a passenger""s arm between the safety-bar and the arm rest;
(p) to provide snowboarders with increased balance to set in their rear boot while dismounting.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.

Automatic crossbar on ski chair-lift for facilitating passenger dismount


A angle pipe conveyor comprises a conveyor belt or roller belt. The conveyor belt includes a first conveyor belt section and a second conveyor belt section to define a cylinder structure having an overlap thickness based on plural sections of the roller belt with an overlap structure having an oval-shaped cross section. Support elements support the conveyor belt as rollers located on the support elements guide the cylinder structure.

Pipe conveyors are known that use a belt to convey bulk material between the phases of mining, processing, and storage. Unlike the troughed conveyer the pipe conveyor encloses the bulk material during transport, allowing it to be used to transport the bulk material through areas where spillage and dust are major concerns, or in the case of dangerous or hazardous materials.
Known pipe conveyors transport the material in a circular cross-section formed by overlapping belt edges and using idlers arranged in a hexagonal pattern to form a tubular shape. At the loading point these systems provide a trough conveyor for loading of the material. After loading the material, the belt is formed into a pipe shape for the transport length of the system and re-opened at the destination for the unloading of the material in the standard manner of a troughed conveyor. Because the material is enclosed by the belt during transport, spillage, scattering, and flying dust are eliminated, making the pipe conveyor an effective, non-polluting transport system. These systems also allow the pipe conveyor to maneuver both vertical and horizontal curves that would be very difficult to impossible for the conventional conveyor without loss of conveyed materials. Also, because pipe conveyors load and discharge the bulk material in the conventional manner, standard equipment can be used at the head and tail ends, making the system cost effective and efficient.
Pipe conveyor systems of the state-of-the-art, such as in WO 88/09759; EP 0253148; DE 31 45 899; DE 36 20 906; DE 36 24 122; EP 0194509; U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,221; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,653 and others, are limited with regard to the angle of inclination of conveyance. In such known prior systems the pipe conveyors transport the bulk materials at an angle of up to 30° and no higher. With previous designs the maximum filling of the pipe conveyor was considered to be 75% of the entire cross-sectional volume of the pipe. This limitation was present because any filling larger than that would result in an unstable running condition which would send the conveyor belts into either a clockwise or counterclockwise turning motion.
DE 196 17 089 discloses a conveyor that has several successively mounted roller frames arranged so that the cross-section enclosed by the conveyor belt when changing over to the rising section is reduced by 15 to 25% compared with the horizontal section previously covered. The conveyor belt, before beginning of the cross section reduction, may receive an oval cross-sectional shape with horizontal centerline. With this a return of the hose belt conveyor is easier and better controllable in the rising distance section. The reduction in cross-section corresponds to the part of the cross-section not covered by material when the belt is loaded in the horizontal section.


A self-braking descender having a panic function and being formed by a body including a channel through which a cord extends in both directions. One end of the body is provided with an actuation lever formed by two projecting sides, a solidly connected appendage and a friction hole through which the cord also extends, and the lever can be folded onto the body. The other end of the body is provided with a head formed by a preferably semi-circular part including two projections and a rear cam with toothing in order to increase the friction in the panic position. An assist element for controlling the sliding of the cord is also included.

Activities in which cords are used to descend vertical walls are well-known, be they sporting activities like climbing or caving, or those applied to industry for work at height or rescue operations. For descents using a cord, or for abseiling, elements attached to the cords, known as descenders, are used. The large majority of descenders operate quite simply by using the friction exerted by the cord on the device. Some have a self-locking element, which allows the descent to be stopped at any time, and sometimes a further safety element is added with a panic function which blocks the descent if the user pulls too strongly on the descender. The configuration of these panic elements is often complex in terms of design and handling, which could make them difficult to use in risk situations, which is precisely when a rapid, safe response is required.

Self-braking descender with panic function


A method for the compensation of disturbances upon magnetic measurements on value documents, in which a sensor having several measuring tracks for generating measurement signals is employed, in which for each value document a specified number of data records is generated, the value document not being captured by at least one of the measuring tracks during the measurement, wherein from the measurement signal of the at least one measuring track there is ascertained a value for the quantity of a disturbance present in the region of the sensor during the measurement on the value document, and a compensation of the deviations of the measurement signals of the measuring tracks capturing the value document, which deviations are caused by the disturbance present during the measurement, is carried out by means of said ascertained value for the quantity of the disturbance.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the compensation of disturbances upon magnetic measurements on value documents.
B. Related Art
The check of value documents is of great importance, since the value documents are divided, on the basis of the check, for example into value documents which are authentic, forged, or suspicious. Upon the check of the value documents, also the type of value document is ascertained, thus for example in the case of a bank note its currency and denomination. Usually, by means of sensors there are performed magnetic measurements on the value documents, for the purpose of which the value documents to be checked are transported past the sensors and the measurement signals of the sensors for checking the value documents evaluated. Besides bank notes, further value documents such as checks, tickets, coupons, etc. can be checked in the same way.
The value documents have security elements, such as e.g. security strips, security threads, or prints, which contain magnetic or magnetizable materials. For the magnetic coding of a security element, also a certain characteristic sequence of magnetic and non-magnetic regions can be used, the arrangement of which represents a characteristic and machine-checkable coding of the value document, which are ascertained, as described above, by means of sensors, in order to check in this way the magnetic coding.
It has turned out, however, that the check of the magnetic properties of the magnetic materials of the security elements make high demands on the employed sensors, since only small amounts of the magnetic or magnetizable materials are employed, which is why the magnetic fields emanating from the security elements are low upon the check. The measurement and check of the magnetic properties of the security elements by means of the employed sensors is therefore particularly susceptible to disturbances, e.g. electromagnetic disturbances, as they occur for example in the environment of electrical machines

Compensation of disturbances upon magnetic measurements on value documents


A light-collective member (142) for collecting a light outputted from a light source (140), which irradiates a light toward a document surface, toward a sub-scanning direction is provided in front of the light source (140). An illuminating portion which is so formed that each of opposite end surfaces (170, 172) in the main scanning direction of the light-collective member (142) has an obtuse angle with respect to a bottom surface (174) facing the light source (140).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus for forming an image of a light reflected from a document surface as a document image on a light-receiving surface of an imaging device, and an image forming apparatus, e.g. a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a complex machine having functions of those, which is provided with the image reading apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer has been generally used which has an image forming section operable to form a toner image on a surface of a photoconductive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and then transfer the toner image onto a recording sheet. In such image forming apparatus, there is provided an image reading apparatus which uses an imaging lens to form an image of a reflected light, which is obtained by irradiating a light to a document surface from a light source (exposure light source) constituting an illuminating portion, as a document image onto a light-receiving surface of an imaging device (photoelectric conversion element) as a line sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device).
In the conventional image reading apparatus so configured as described above, a rod-like light source such as a xenon lamp is generally used as a light source for irradiating a light to a document surface. According to such illuminating portion using a xenon lamp, which is a rod-like light source, an illuminance distribution in sub-scanning direction which is a relative moving direction with respect to the light source and the document surface at a time of reading a document, (a light distribution over a cross section in sub-scanning direction) has a flat peak characteristic as shown in FIG. 9, so that an illumination efficiency is bad. Accordingly, there has been a problem that it would be necessary to improve an ability to converge a light in sub-scanning direction, and it would be also necessary to prevent image deterioration caused by lowering in light intensity at end portions in the main scanning direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction, of the imaging device due to an effect of deformation caused by the imaging lens.
Therefore, it has been proposed to align a plurality light-emitting diodes in the main scanning direction, and on the other hand arrange the light-emitting diodes so as to be not densely at a central portion in the line direction but densely at end portions, and to provide a collective lens between the light source and the document surface (for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H2-284571, referred to as a patent document 1 hereinafter). In the illuminating portion so configured as described above, since the illuminance distribution in the sub-scanning direction of the light-emitting diodes has a sharp-pointed peak characteristic as shown in FIG. 10, and the collective lens is provided between the light source and the document surface, excellent illumination efficiency can be achieved. Further, since the light-emitting diodes are arranged densely in peripheral portions, the light intensity at end portions of the light source increases. Consequently, it causes lowering of the light intensity at end portions in the main scanning direction of the imaging device to be less likely to occur, so that the image deterioration can be prevented.
However, even though good illumination efficiency can be achieved, and image deterioration at end portions in the main scanning direction of the imaging device can be prevented according to the proposed image forming apparatus, it causes problems that increasing the number of light-emitting diodes at the end portions causes costs to rise, and manufacturing of the light source becomes complicated since it would be necessary to arrange the pitch of the light-emitting diodes at the central portion be different from that at the end portions.

Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus


A publish-subscribe messaging method including: generating a modified first publication message by modifying a first publication message to include a reply-to property that directs a recipient device to acknowledge, to an acknowledgment queue, receipt of the first publication message; publishing the modified first publication message to (i) the acknowledgment queue and (ii) a consumer queue; responsive to the modified first publication message being consumed by one or more subscribers and/or a first timeout for the modified first publication message expiring, deleting the modified first publication message from the consumer queue; and responsive to the acknowledgment queue receiving an acknowledgment for the modified first publication message and/or a second timeout for the modified first publication message expiring, deleting the modified first publication message from the acknowledgment queue.

In networked systems, various messaging patterns can be used so that two different parts of a system connect and communicate with each other. Request-reply is one of the basic messaging patterns wherein the first computer sends a request for some data and the second responds to the request. In such messaging patterns, there usually is a series of such interchanges until the complete message is sent. For example, when the response payload is split into a plurality of messages, an initial request can be sent followed by a series of responses and finally an acknowledgment. The request-reply pattern is straight-forward but has limited scalability.
Accordingly, one alternative is a publish-subscribe model. With publish-subscribe, message senders, called publishers, do not send messages directly to specific receivers (i.e., subscribers), but instead categorize published messages into classes without any foreknowledge of whether there will be any subscribers to the classes. Similarly, subscribers may express interest in one or more classes and only receive messages that are of interest without knowledge of whether any publishers publish messages to those classes. Publishers can publish messages to a message broker, which in turn forwards the message to the subscribers. Publish-subscribe models often are used with streaming, for example, as they can provide greater network scalability and a more dynamic network topology as compared to the request-reply model. But when the message broker uses acknowledgments, performance can suffer because every subscriber thread is held up for the subscriber's activity to complete and an acknowledgment to be provided. In other words, by awaiting acknowledgments from numerous subscribers, message sending rates may be reduced. As message sending rates are reduced, a backlog of messages builds up, leading to memory scarcity and, potentially, out-of-memory scenarios.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for improved messaging characteristics. More specifically, a need exists for an asynchronous publish-subscribe messaging model with acknowledgments. Moreover, there is a need for systems and methods for guaranteed, exactly-once delivery. Aspects of the present disclosure are related to these and other concerns.

Systems and methods for asynchronous publish-subscribe messaging and acknowledgments


A display device and its method are proposed in the present invention. First, at least one input parameter sent from a host is received and the display device then produces an output image according to the input parameter for displaying the output image. The display device includes a scaling module and a digital display module. The scaling module receives the input parameter. Next, the scaling module receives an input image sent from the host to produce the output image in accordance with the input parameter. Finally, the output image is transmitted to the digital display module to display the output image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a display device and its method, and more particularly, to a display device and method that can speedily acquire the parameters to show images and thus improve the efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, the digital display devices are capable of receiving analog images and converting these analog images into digital images for displaying. In order to perform the analog-to-digital converting step, a clock (SCLK) for sampling the analog images is needed. In the prior arts, the clock is obtained by using a synchronization processor to process a horizontal synchronous signal (Hsync) and a vertical synchronous signal (Vsync) and consequently generates the characteristics such as the frequencies of Hsync and Vsync, the polarities of Hsync and Vsync, and the number of Hsync pulses between two Vsync signals (Vtotal), etc. Once the characteristics of Hsync and Vsync are realized, the resolution of the image is estimated and then the clock can be obtained (SCLK=Htotal*Vtotal*(frequency of Vsync)).
However, the estimated resolution may be wrong or may not be obtained in some cases. For example, when the characteristics of Hsync are the same as those of Vsync, the resolution cannot be estimated. Besides, a complicated firmware and a large memory space may be necessary for estimating the resolution such that time for estimating the resolution and hardware cost increase.


A method of automatically feeding lubricating oil to bearing parts of various machine elements using a microcomputer whereby various settings, progress of the settings, and display of the operating state of a lubricating oil feeding apparatus can be easily identified in a user-oriented manner. According to the method, the remaining operating time is displayed on liquid crystal displays (LCDs) after the lubricating oil feeding apparatus is installed to facilitate the identification of the elapse of the operating time, the operation of a motor for discharging a set amount of lubricating oil is controlled, and various displays such as the overload of the motor, shortage of a battery capacity, elapse of the lubricating oil replacement time, etc., are displayed by icons on the LCDs. The method includes initializing the microcomputer to drive the lubricating oil discharge motor by one revolution when a power is initially supplied, setting a discharge amount of the lubricating oil, selecting and setting the number of operating months, controlling the operation of the motor so that the lubricating oil is discharged according to the set number of operating months, and displaying an elapse of the set operating months and various factors such as a trouble, shortage of the battery capacity, replacement time of the lubricating oil, etc., by icons and indicator lamps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of automatically feeding lubricating oil to bearing parts of various machine elements. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic lubricating oil feeding method using a microcomputer whereby various settings, progress of the settings, and display of the operating state of a lubricating oil feeding apparatus can be easily identified in a user-oriented manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to achieve the automatic lubricating oil feeding to machine elements such as bearings of various industrial equipments, diverse kinds of lubricating oil feeding techniques have been developed and used.
An automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus using gas pressure has been developed to continuously feed the lubricating oil to bearings or other parts which require the lubricating oil to the exclusion of inconvenience of the manual operation.
According to this apparatus, a typical diaphragm is extended by the gas pressure of an electrochemical reactor, and this causes a piston to descend so as to discharge the lubricating oil (i.e., grease). The gas pressure is controlled by a control circuit in a manner that the amount of current, which corresponds to the gas reaction time of the electrochemical reactor, is adjusted by the control circuit, and this causes the discharge of the lubricating oil to be performed for a preset time in the range of one month to several or several tens of months.
Consequently, the above-described conventional apparatus can continuously feed the lubricating oil through the term set in the range of one month to several months by variably determining the current supplied to the electrochemical reactor (i.e., gas chamber) in accordance with the resistance value of a resistor selected by a switch and by adjusting the reaction time of the electrochemical reactor accordingly. In the apparatus, light emitting diodes which operate simultaneously with the selection operation of the switch are employed to display the operating state of the apparatus.
However, the conventional electric lubricating oil feeding apparatus has the drawbacks that since it controls the lubricating oil discharge time by adjusting the electrochemical reaction time by limiting the supplied current through a selected resistor, it cannot reflect the condition inside the bearing and the environmental change such as the change of temperature. Also, it cannot achieve an accurate discharge of lubricating oil with a proper amount in the preset time because the preset amount of current supplied to the electrochemical reactor is changed due to the change of the internal resistance value of the electrochemical reactor as the time elapses.
Further, according to the conventional apparatus, it is difficult for a user to identify the setting time of the lubricating oil feeding apparatus since the setting time of the apparatus should be identified by checking the state of the switches one by one. Also, even though the entire setting time elapses due to an external factor such as temperature, machine element, internal factor, etc., the user cannot identify such an abnormal elapse of time.
In order to solve the problems involved in the conventional lubricating oil feeding apparatus as described above, Korea Patent Number 189152 issued to the applicant discloses an automatic lubricating oil feeding method which includes an operating-term input step performed by a mode selection means to set the lubricating oil discharge time, an output step performed by a microcomputer to control the output time per unit time according to a set operating term, the microcomputer providing a computed output to an electrochemical reactor according to a selected mode and controlling a liquid crystal display (LCD) to display the set mode, a step of detecting the termination of the set operating term, and a step of rapidly discharging the remaining lubricating oil by deleting the set mode and resetting a shortest term mode when the set mode is terminated.
According to the above patent, the setting of the operating term and the identification of the set term can be easily effected, and the discharge of the lubricating oil can be accurately controlled even after the elapse of the term by compensating for the internal resistance of the electrochemical reactor. Especially, if the set term elapses, the remaining lubricating oil is rapidly discharged by changing the present mode to the shortest term mode.
Though the above-described patent has various advantages as described above, it has the disadvantage that the discharge of the lubricating oil using the electrochemical reaction cannot effect an accurate control of the discharge amount of the lubricating oil. Thus, the applicant has developed a driving apparatus whereby a piston ascends and descends by a driving motor to feed the lubricating oil as much as the volume of a cylinder.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems involved in the prior art, and to provide an automatic lubricating oil feeding method using a microcomputer which can control the display of the remaining operating time by icons on liquid crystal displays (LCDs) after an automatic lubricating oil feeding apparatus is installed to facilitate the identification of the elapse of the operating time, the operation of a motor for discharging a set amount of lubricating oil, and various displays such as the overload of the motor, shortage of a battery capacity, elapse of the lubricating oil replacement time, etc.
In order to achieve the above object, there is provided an automatic lubricating oil feeding method which comprises an initializing step of driving a lubricating oil discharge motor by one revolution when a power is initially supplied, a discharge amount setting step of setting a discharge amount of lubricating oil, an operating term setting step of selecting and setting the number of operating months, a drive control step of controlling an operation of the motor so that the lubricating oil is discharged according to the set number of operating months, and a display step of displaying an elapse of the set operating months and various factors such as a trouble, a shortage of a battery capacity, a replacement time of the lubricating oil, etc., by icons and indicator lamps.

Method of automatically feeding lubricating oil using microcomputer


An insulation cutting and displacing contact element comprises a substantially U-shaped insulation displacement portion and a clamping portion. The insulation displacement portion has a base with a wire insertion opening. The base has first and second legs extending therefrom. Each of the first and second legs has an insulation displacement slot that communicates with the wire insertion opening. The first leg has a spring contact member projecting into an inner portion of the insulation displacement portion. The clamping portion extends from the second leg. The clamping portion is bent about a bending axis by about 90 degrees. The clamping portion has tongues for securing a connecting wire.

An insulation cutting and displacing contact element (hereinafter referred to as "contact element") typically include a U-shaped insulation displacement portion and are used, for example, with windings. One end of an enamelled wire is positioned in a chamber of an insulated housing. The insulation cutting and displacing contact element is inserted into the chamber. A portion of the enamelled wire, which is positioned in the chamber, is received in a wire insertion opening and insulation displacement slots of the contact element. As the contact element is further inserted into the chamber, sharp cutting edges of the contact element displace the insulation on the enamelled wire and make electrical contact with a conductor of the enamelled wire. A contact pin or contact blade can then be inserted into the contact element. The contact pin or contact blade contacts a spring contact member that projects into an inner portion of the insulation displacement portion.
Normally, the contact element is punched and folded from a single sheet of spring steel. The spring contact member is formed by folding an extension of a first leg of the insulation displacement portion around a first bending axis by about 180 degrees. This folded portion is then folded in the same direction around a second bending axis by less than about 180 degrees. As a result, the spring contact member is positioned in the proximity of the first bending axis in contact with an opposing inner face of a second leg of the U-shaped insulation displacement portion or in the proximity thereof. The pin contact or blade contact can thereby be clamped between the spring contact member and the second leg of the U-shaped insulation displacement to ensure good electrical contact.
The configuration of the contact element previously discussed, however, does not allow the contact element to be connected to an additional module, such as, a resistor, a blocking diode, or the like. It is therefore desirable to develop a contact element wherein the contact element in terms of potential not only forms a unit with the inserted contact pin or contact blade but also with a connecting wire of a module.

Insulation cutting and displacing contact element


A system for cleaning both the box and pin ends of tubular members, recovery of the fluid residue, filtering of the residue to recover the heavy solids, and disposing of each of the components of the residue in an environmentally safe manner. A first housing positionable over the end of a tubular member; a first bladder expandable from the housing to seal around the outer wall of the tubular member; a plurality of jets positioned adjacent the threads of the tubular member, so that as the jets are rotated around the threads, a high pressure fluid spray cleans the threads of the member; a second bladder expandable from the end of the jetting means for sealing the inner bore of the member beyond the threads, so that all fluid jetted into the housing from the jetting nozzles is captured within the housing and flows from the housing, and no fluid flows beyond the threaded pipe end either along the inner or outer walls of the tubular member. The fluid is then collected, filtered, and the filtrate is disposed as waste water, and the filters containing the filtered solid is placed in environmentally safe sealed containers for disposal. In additional embodiments of the system, there is incorporated a sealing diaphragm as the exterior sealing member which is manually adjustable from a non-sealing to a sealing position around the wall of the pipe, and an absorption plate within the housing for absorbing impact of the end of a tubular member as it is inserted in the housing. Further, there is included an extension of the spray nozzles along a non-threaded portion of the tubular member for cleaning the non-threaded portion of the tubular member so that further testing can be conducted on the member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tubular members such as production tubing, production casing, or drill pipe including other types of threaded pipe. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for cleaning the pin and box ends of threaded tubular members by the use of a high-pressure fluid spray and collecting and filtering the fluid residue. Further, the system allows the separation of the solid components from the residue, so that the solids and filtered fluid are disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. An additional embodiment of the invention provides for a modified exterior sealing system, and another embodiment provides for cleaning a portion of the wall of the tubular member for conducting further tests on the integrity of the wall portion.
2. General Background of the Invention
In the field of threaded connections of pipe, such as drill pipe and production casing, or the like, tubular members are formed into a "string" by the threaded connection between sections of pipe. Normally, as with drill pipe and casing, there is formed a threaded joint between a pin end of a first pipe section, where the threads are exposed on the outer wall of the end of the tubular member, and the box end of the adjoining member, where the threads are formed on the inner wall of the end of the casing. Although the threads are milled to very close tolerances, it is required, in order to insure a connection which will seal properly, that a fluid, often containing heavy metals, such as lead, be placed on the threads, so that the connection, when completed is leak proof. In addition, the threads of the adjoining sections of the tubular members often become coated with the fluids which are pumped down the borehole, for example, during production of a well, or during drilling, which likewise contain heavy solids due to the nature of the fluid.
It is imperative that following the retrieval of the "string" from the hole, and the disconnecting of each section of pipe, that prior to placing the sections of pipe back into operation, that both the box and pin ends of each pipe section be carefully cleaned to insure that no residue remains from the previous use that the pipe had been put to.
At the present time, governmental regulations require that when the ends of the pipe are cleaned, and there may result in a fluid residue containing the heavy solids which coated the ends of the pipe section, that the residue be covered in such a manner so that the surrounding environment, such as ground and water, not be contaminated with the residue. Therefore, for example, if the cleaning of the tubular members takes place in a storage area, where the pipe members may be placed on pipe racks, if any cleaning of the ends of the pipe members take place, then any fluid which is utilized in the cleaning, must be recovered, since it cannot be allowed to fall onto the ground or run into nearby water sources.
Oftentimes, in the present state of the art, in an effort to capture the fluid residue, absorption mats are placed beneath the pipe end, so that any fluid which runs fro the pipe end will fall onto the mat and be absorbed into the mat. The mats are then collected and disposed of. However, quite often, the sections of pipe are placed on the pipe racks in such a manner that the distal end of the pipe, i.e., that end not being cleaned, is lower than the end being cleaned. therefore, any fluid which would flow into the pipe bore, would naturally run through the length of the pipe, and would flow out of the distal end onto the ground below. It is therefore necessary, that a system be developed which will capture all of the residual fluid which may result from the cleaning process, and prevent any flow of fluid beyond the pipe end being cleaned.
Although that solves one problem, another problem becomes the disposal of the residual fluid, containing the heavy metals, which is accumulated from the cleaning of numerous sections of pipe. Under current regulations, this fluid cannot simply be dumped into a fluid "pit" since such pits are no longer authorized to be contaminated with heavy metal to prevent contamination of local drinking water sources. Therefore, the fluid should be hauled off and disposed of at a distant, authorized site. That process then requires that the fluid be transported via public roads which gain may create a hazard should an accident occur during transit. There, there becomes a need to properly dispose of the contents.
A modified version of the system addresses the problem of cleaning the threaded and non-threaded portion of the ends of a tubular member so that other tests, such as metal integrity tests, can be run on the member without there being debris or contamination on the ends of the tubular member.
A search of the art resulted in the retrieval of several references which are pertinent and which have been made of record in the accompanying Statement of the Art.

System for cleaning threaded and unthreaded portions of tubular members


A method for determining a volume of a fracture network includes detecting seismic signals deployed over an area of the subsurface during pumping of fracturing fluid into at least one wellbore drilled through the area. A hypocenter of each fracture induced by the pumping is determined using the seismic signals. A facture network and associated fracture volume is determined using the determined hypocenters and seismic moments determined from the detected seismic signals. A maximum value of a scaling factor is determined based on a subset of the hypocenters having a highest cumulative seismic moments. The scaling factor is determined by relating a pumped volume of the fracturing fluid with respect to the determined fracture volume. Dimensions of each fracture are scaled using the maximum value of the scaling factor. The fracture volumes are recalculated using the scaled dimensions.

This disclosure relates generally to the field of mapping induced fractures in subsurface formations, more specifically, the disclosure relates to method for identifying volume of fractures induced, for example, by hydraulic fracturing using passive seismic signals detected above the formation in which the fractures are induced.
Passive seismic emission tomography is a technique that is used for, among other purposes, determining the hypocenter (i.e., place and time of origin) of microearthquakes resulting from formation fracturing that occurs in subsurface rock formations. Such microearthquakes may be naturally occurring or may be induced, for example, by pumping fluid into formations at sufficient pressure to cause failure, i.e., fracturing of the formation. In the latter case, it is useful to be able to determine progression of the fluid front as the fluid is pumped into the formations. One technique for performing such fluid front determination during fracture pumping is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,663,970 issued to Duncan et al. incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The technique described in the Duncan et al. '970 patent may be used to determine hypocenters of microseismic events (or microearthquakes) caused by failure of the subsurface rock formations as hydraulic fracturing fluid is pumped into the formations.
It is known in the art to generate maps of fracture networks induced by hydraulic fracturing from detected passive seismic signals. One such technique is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0110191 filed by Williams-Stroud, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Although effective at mapping most of the induced fractures in a discrete fracture network (DFN) using passive seismic signals, a large number of small fractures may not be determined using such technique or any other technique because the signals generated by the fracture events may not be detected. Thus, estimates of the total fracture volume may not correspond well with the volume of fluid pumped into subsurface formations.
What is needed is a technique that can be used to more accurately determine the total volume of fractures induced by hydraulic fracturing operations.

Method for determining fracture network volume using passive seismic signals


Semiconductor memory devices and a method thereof are provided. An example semiconductor memory device may include a control signal generation unit configured to generate a plurality of control signals in response to a bias current, a reference current generation unit configured to generate a reference current in response to the plurality of control signals and a sense amplifier configured to sense and amplify data stored in a given memory cell based on the reference current and a current on a bit line connected to the memory cell. Another example semiconductor memory device may include a memory bank including a plurality of memory cells and a sense amplifier bank including a plurality of sense amplifier units sharing a common line, each of the sense amplifier units including a current source configured to form a current path between the common line and a first voltage supply in response to an enable signal and a gating signal and a sense amplifier configured to sense and amplify data stored in a corresponding memory cell among the plurality of memory cells based on a signal on a bit line connected with the corresponding memory cell and a signal on the common line.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate generally to semiconductor memory devices and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional non-volatile memory devices may include mask read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), and erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM). Flash EEPROM (hereinafter, referred to as a "flash memory device") may have a relatively high degree of integration as compared to other EEPROMs. Flash memory devices may include NAND flash memory devices, NOR flash memory devices and AND flash memory devices. NAND flash memory devices have a relatively high degree of integration and may be used for storing data. NOR flash memory devices may have a relatively fast data access speed and may be for storing program codes.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional semiconductor memory device 10 including a sense amplifier. Referring to FIG. 1, the semiconductor memory device 10 (e.g., a NOR flash memory device) may include a plurality of memory banks 20, 30 and 40, a plurality of control signal generators 21, 25, 31, 35, 41, and 45, a plurality of sense amplifier banks 23, 27, 33, 37, 43, and 47, a first reference cell group 50 and a second reference cell group 60.
Referring to FIG. 1, the first memory bank 20 may include at least one memory cell. The first control signal generator 21 may generate a first control signal REF0 in response to a first reference current Ir1 flowing in the first reference cell group 50. The at least one memory cell may be implemented by flash EEPROM.
Referring to FIG. 1, the first sense amplifier bank 23 may include at least one first sense amplifier (not shown). The first sense amplifier may sense data stored in a first memory cell (not shown) included in the first memory bank 20 based on a first current, which may flow in a first bit line (not shown) connected with the first memory cell, and a second current, which may be generated in response to the first control signal REF0.
Referring to FIG. 1, a magnitude of the second current may depend on a swing width of the first control signal REF0. If the first current is greater than the second current, the first sense amplifier may output a first logic level (e.g., a higher logic level or logic "1"). If the first current is not greater than the second current, the first sense amplifier may output a second logic level (e.g., a lower logic level or logic "0").
Referring to FIG. 1, the second control signal generator 25 may generate a second control signal REF1 in response to a second reference current Ir2 flowing in the second reference cell group 60. The second sense amplifier bank 27 may include at least one second sense amplifier (not shown). The second sense amplifier may sense data stored in a second memory cell (not shown) included in the first memory bank 20 based on a third current, which may flow in a second bit line (not shown) connected with the second memory cell, and a fourth current, which may be generated in response to the second control signal REF1.
Referring to FIG. 1, a magnitude of the fourth current may depend on a swing width of the second control signal REF1. If the fourth current is greater than the third current, the second sense amplifier may output the first logic level (e.g., a higher logic level or logic "1"). If the fourth current is not greater than the third current, the second sense amplifier may output the second logic level (e.g., a lower logic level or logic "0").
Referring to FIG. 1, the first reference cell group 50 may include at least one memory cell including a source, a drain, a floating gate, a control gate, and a substrate. The first reference cell group 50 may generate the first reference current Ir1 in response to a reference current generation signal Ref. The second reference cell group 60 may include at least one memory cell including a source, a drain, a floating gate, a control gate, and a substrate. The second reference cell group 60 may generate the second reference current Ir2 in response to the reference current generation signal Ref.
Referring to FIG. 1, if the magnitude of the first reference current Ir1 is equal to that of the second reference current Ir2, the first control signal REF0 may be the same as the second control signal REF1 and currents (e.g., the second current and the fourth current), which may be respectively used as references if data in memory cells (e.g., the first memory cell and the second memory cell) are sensed, may likewise be the same.
However, if the magnitudes of the first and second reference currents Ir1 and Ir2 are not equal to each other, the first control signal REF0 may not be the same as the second control signal REF1 and the currents, which may be respectively used as references if data in the memory cells are sensed, may not necessarily be the same. Accordingly, data stored in the memory cells may not be reliably or consistently sensed.
For example, the first control signal REF0 and the second control signal REF1 may be generated based on currents flowing in different reference cells (e.g., the first reference cell group 50 and the second reference cell group 60), respectively, and therefore, it may be difficult to match the first control signal REF0 and the second control signal REF1. In addition, the first control signal REF0 input to a sense amplifier, which may be positioned relatively far away from the first control signal generator 21 among a plurality of sense amplifiers included in the first sense amplifier bank 23, may be distorted, and therefore, data stored in memory cells may not be reliably sensed.
In another example, because multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory may have a relatively small read margin, matching between reference currents generated in different reference cells may be an important design criterion. For example, each of memory cells in the MLC flash memory may identify one of four data states (e.g., "11", "10", "01", and "00") based on a reference current during a data read operation, and therefore, data sensing of memory cells may relatively unreliable if the reference currents of the memory cells are not substantially the same during the data sensing.

Semiconductor memory devices and method for preventing mismatch of reference signals in data sending


The present invention is directed to a commercial card packet form system that enables one or more users associated with a financial institution to input information associated with a customer to whom a commercial card (e.g., a purchase card, a travel card, a debit card, a credit card, a temporary card) is being issued. Each user may be granted or denied access to particular fields of information on the commercial card packet form depending on her or his role at the financial institution. The packet form may require reentry of information or user authentication to ensure accuracy of information. Pop-up warnings may alert the one or more users of potentially incomplete fields of information and instruct the one or more users to provide additional information. An audit trail may track updates to information and includes a timestamp and details associated with the user who made the updates.

When issuing a financial card to a customer, information must be inputted into a form system for processing. Multiple employees are often required to input information into the form system, and so there are many opportunities for information discrepancy. Therefore, there is a need for improved ways of ensuring accurate information is inputted in a complete manner.


A rotary slide vane machine has a housing with the inner contour of a Pascalian screw. The rotary piston is a hollow circular cylinder with an axis of rotation within the zero point M' of the Pascalian coordinates. The control shaft with eccentric segments is arranged inside the piston and has an axis of rotation within the center M of the Pascalian base circle. Slide vanes of a length L are guided within grooves of the rotary piston. Bearing bushings are rotatably guided on the eccentric segments and having flanges connected to the wings of the vanes. The length L is 6D+2r.sub.8s +2d.sub.61 +2e+2s (D is the diameter of the base circle, r.sub.8s the radius of the eccentric segments, d.sub.61 the wall thickness of the bearing sleeves, e the minimal displacement of the wing, and s the minimal distance between bearing sleeve and machine parts moving thereto). The flange contour is limited by an arc having the minimal distance s to the inner mantle surface of the rotary piston and by distance S'E'.sub.min of a wing to an inner edge E' of neighboring wings and by an arc with the radius r.sub.Kb minus the minimal distance s.

The present invention relates to a slide vane machine based on the geometric principle of the conchoidal of the circle, also called Pascalian Screw, with one or multiple slide vanes per working chamber in which shape and proportions of the rotating machine parts are adjusted and optimized relative to one another based on a calculation method.
Slide vane machines of the aforementioned kind are known from the U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,994,245 and DD 46,761 and have the following constructive design:
As shown in FIG. 5, in a hollow cylinder 1 with an inner contour E corresponding to the circumferential line of the Pascalian Screw which is closed off on both ends by housing end plates a rotary piston 4 in the form of a hollow circular cylinder is supported in both housing end plates in a rotatable manner and axially oriented relative to the hollow cylinder. The axis of rotation of the rotary piston corresponds to the center M' of the central circle K' of the Pascalian Screw represented in drawings 1 and 2. From this it results that the rotary piston with the radius r.sub.Kr with its outer surface approaches the inner surface of the hollow cylinder at the approximation point 21(-xr.sub.Kr Yo)=E180.degree. to form a narrow slot.
The control shaft 8, embodied as a crankshaft, with the radius r of the base circle K is guided through the hollow rotary piston and through central openings in its end faces and is also rotatably supported within the two housing end plates, whereby the crankshaft axis corresponds to the center M of the base circle K, the crankshaft axis being arranged parallel to the axis of the rotary piston.
On the crankshaft pins of the control shaft one or two slide vanes 6 with their half length L/2 are rotatably supported. They correspond functionally to slide vane wing pairs 6f staggered by 180.degree. which are connected to form a rigid slide vane by stays 6s connected to one or two central bearing sleeves 61. Their center P corresponds to the axis of the crankshaft pins, and during the rotation of the control shaft, they follow the base circle K. The slide vanes are additionally guided in diametrically opposed longitudinal grooves 5 of the rotary piston
In machines with one slide vane per working chamber the masses due to inertia of the crankshaft pins revolving on the base circle K and of the slide vane must be compensated by two counterweights at the control shaft.
The use of more than one slide vane per working chamber allows for the compensation of the forces of inertia without counterweights, when the slide vanes have a longitudinal and transverse axial symmetry and the bifurcation of the stays 6s is arranged with the bearing sleeve 61 is arranged such that they do not overlap one another.
Since the axis of rotation of the rotary piston is at M'.sub.(xo yo) =P.sub.(xo yo), the central circle K' contacts the base circle K at P.sub.(x2r yo) =S.sub.(x2r yo), r' corresponds to 2r, and the points P and S have the same trajectory velocity and direction of rotation, the central outer toothing of the control shaft 8 with the partial circle K.sub.t may engage a central inner toothing (see, for example, the representation of FIG. 9) within one rotary piston end face with the partial circle K.sub.t '.
The ratio of the number of teeth of the outer toothing 10 to the number of teeth of the inner toothing 11 is 1:2. The toothing engagement of the control shaft with the rotary piston ensures the exact synchronous rotation of these two machine parts at the ratio 2:1 and compensates bending forces acting on the slide vanes.
The machine geometry according to the Pascalian Screw also allows for constructions without toothing engagement of the control shaft 8 with the rotary piston 4, because the course of movement of the slide vanes effects a force-controlled rotation of the rotary piston and the control shaft in the aforementioned ratio 1:2.
However, due to the torque acting on the control shaft, an additional bending moment acts on the slide vanes. The bending of the slide vanes may lead to canting within the longitudinal grooves 5.
When synchronously rotating control shaft and rotary piston, the mass points of the slide vanes which are centrally located on the axis within the point P move with the number of revolutions of the control shaft along the base circle K with simultaneous rotation of the slide vanes about their axis in the point P with the number of revolutions of the rotary piston (see FIG. 5). The rounded side edges 22 of the slide vanes follow the circumferential line E of the Pascalian Screw and may thus be guided contact-free along the inner surface of the hollow cylinder 1 with the same contour.
Simultaneously, the slide vanes perform a periodic pushing movement relative to the rotary piston side wall which per revolution in each direction reaches once the maximum displacement NE.sub.max =2D at the position 0.degree..
In the patent DD 46 761 a mounting of only one slide vane per working chamber for a working principle which differs from the object of the present invention is disclosed.
The gas outflow takes place via channels within the rotary piston and the desired high inner compression is accomplished by employing the rotary piston 4 as the slide vane valve.
In the text and in the drawings the control shaft 8 is represented as a crankshaft. The problem of the design and lubrication of the slide vane bearing is not addressed.
In the text and the drawings of U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,245, the control shaft is also represented as a crankshaft with a lubricant channel that is guided through the crankshaft pins and the webs.
The constructive principle upon which the above invention is based discloses only the use of two slide vanes per working chamber. The slide vanes are comprised of two halves which are divided at the respective bearing.
The aforementioned prior art devices have the following disadvantages:
The control shaft is in the form of a crankshaft. Accordingly, the slide vanes are provided with the greatest possible constructive space within the rotary piston; however, the crankshaft concept has the following severe disadvantages:
Due to the low eccentricity the crankshaft may be manufactured in a divided form with known screw and plug-in connections which allow the use of undivided needle bearings only under high expenditures with a strongly reduced bending and torsional stiffness. Accordingly, as already suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 1,994,245, the control shaft is thus embodied as a undivided crankshaft with a lubricant channel within the crankshaft pins and webs. The slide vanes must then be provided with divided friction bearings.
However, with this embodiment a new problem arises: The boring of the lubricant channel. Due to the manufacturing technology it must be assembled from a plurality of partial borings extending through the crankshaft, the crankshaft pin, and the crankshaft webs. Due to the low eccentricity of the control shaft the through boring of the crankshaft pin for a higher number of slide vanes is very difficult.
The control shaft, due to the machine geometry, may be supported with its ends only once at the housing end plates. This results, for a greater constructive length which is unavoidable when using a greater number of slide vanes and which, due to the favorable shape of the slide vane machine, is also desirable, in the embodiment as a crankshaft to a reduced bending and torsion stiffness because of the smaller crankshaft pin cross-sections.
Accordingly, the load capacity of the control shaft and the precision of the slot between the slide vane side edges 22 and the hollow cylinder inner surface area is lowered parallel to a respective reduction of the efficiency.
The available area for the positioning of the slide vane bearings on the control shaft is twofold reduced with the embodiment as a crankshaft:
Due to the smaller diameter of the crankshaft pin the bearing diameters are small.
The maximum total width of the bearing is determined by the control shaft section within the hollow cylinder. With an increasing number of slide vanes the bearing width that is available for the individual slide vane is thus reduced. It is further reduced due to the necessary formation of the crankshaft webs.
The aforementioned disadvantages may be avoided when the control shaft is embodied as an eccentric shaft:
The manufacture as a divided shaft is substantially simpler. As can be seen from drawing FIG. 5, the individual eccentric segments 8s with a respective angular staggering are positioned on a continuous central guide shaft 9. The slide vanes may also be provided with undivided needle bearings.
The lubricant channel may be embodied as a central longitudinal slotted boring 16 from which extend radial bores within the control shaft eccentrics to the slide vane bearings.
In addition to the production-technological advantages a functional advantage in the form of an increase in the lubricant pressure due to the centrifugal acceleration within the radial eccentric borings is achieved.
The bending and torsional stiffness is increased due to the axially overlapping eccentric segments 8s.
The diameter and the width of the slide vane bearings are greater.
In the embodiment as an eccentric shaft the control shaft cross-section is greater and, accordingly, the rotary piston diameter D.sub.Kr for a constant maximum displacement NE.sub.max is also increased.
The technical applicability is thus limited because with an increasing diameter of the control shaft the ratio of the maximum displacement NE.sub.max the rotary piston diameter D.sub.Kr and thus the specific displacement volume is reduced. The displacement of the proportion of L and D.sub.Kr to NE.sub.max is represented in drawing FIG. 3.
Simultaneously, the toothing diameter of the control shaft in relation to the slide vane length is reduced. The smaller toothing is loaded by an increased torque.
A further disadvantage of the prior art is the low number of slide vanes per working chamber:
In analogy to the working principle of the multi-cellular machine a number of slide vanes as high as possible per working chamber should be realized in order to accomplish comparable pulsation and inner compression values.
FIG. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of a slide vane machine according to the principles of the present invention. The housing 1 has end walls 2, 3 in which a rotary piston in the form of a hollow circular cylinder 4 is rotatably supported by bearings 15. A control shaft 8 with sections 8s is connected to a central guide shaft 9 and is supported in bearings 13 within the end walls 2, 3. The outer toothing 10 of the control shaft 8 cooperates with the inner toothing 11 of the rotary piston 4. The slide vanes are wing pairs 6f that are connected via a center stay 6g with central bearing sleeves 61 for supporting the slide vane bearings 14 to form a fixed slide vane.
Slide vane machines with one or two slide vanes are technically of no importance because of pulsation values that are too great and achievable maximum inner compression rates that are too low.
The slide vane machine of the aforementioned U.S. patent within the represented proportion of D.sub.Kr to NE.sub.max and the design with two slide vanes per working chamber may not be expanded to a greater number.
From the prior art it may not be deduced whether the construction principle may be expanded to a number of slide vanes comparable to multi-cellular machines because of the additionally required constructive space for the use of an eccentric shaft.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to realize the embodiment of the control shaft as an eccentric shaft while simultaneously employing a greater number of slide vanes per working chamber with the aid of a calculation method or rule for slide vane machines of the aforementioned kind and, on the other hand, to determine the shape and proportionality of control shaft with the outer toothing 10, slide vanes, and rotary piston with the inner toothing 11 with optimal use of the constructive space such that the maximum displacement NE.sub.max reaches the greatest ratio possible with respect to the diameter D.sub.Kr of the rotary piston.