Systems, methods, and apparatuses including computer program products for speculative throughput computing are disclosed. Speculative throughput computing is used to execute program segments in parallel. In one aspect, a method includes generating precise ranges of locations that speculative read or write instructions have accessed; determining that a speculative write instruction from a first program segment has accessed a first precise range of locations; comparing the first precise range of locations with a second precise range of locations accessed by a speculative read or write instruction from a second program segment; determining that the first precise range of locations overlaps with the second precise range of locations; and identifying a miss-speculation and restoring memory content of locations speculative write instructions have accessed in the first precise range of locations and the second precise range of locations, when the first precise range of locations overlaps with the second precise range of locations.

A program (e.g., computer application) can be partitioned into a plurality of program segments. For example, a program can be partitioned into program segments P1, P2, . . . , PN, where N is a number of program segments. Conventional computing systems can execute the program segments one after another in an enumerated order. For example, a single processor computing system can execute P1 before executing P2, P2 before executing P3, and PN-1 before executing PN. Executing program segments in this order respects sequential semantics (e.g., a program segment with a higher enumeration order x reads from a memory location before a program segment with a lower enumeration order y writes to the memory location, where x>y).
For example, a first program segment can have an enumeration order i, and a second program segment can have an enumeration order j, where i<j. The first program segment and the second program segment can be executed in parallel without violating sequential semantics if the program segments do not access the same memory locations. Furthermore, sequential semantics is not violated if the first program segment does not write to a memory location after the second program segment reads from the memory location.
Multiprocessor, multicore, or multithreading computing systems can execute program segments in parallel (e.g., executing program segments at substantially the same time) on a plurality of processors, processor cores, or threads. Executing program segments in parallel that were not originally designed to execute in parallel can be referred to as "speculative execution."
Conventional compilers can partition a program into program segments by determining which program segments access the same memory locations. Due to limitations of conventional analysis methods, or because accessed memory locations are unknown at a time of compiling, many programs cannot be partitioned by conventional compilers to allow for parallel execution of the program segments.
For example, some conventional analysis methods execute write instructions of program segments at temporary memory locations. These conventional analysis methods create execution overhead associated with using the temporary memory locations (e.g., storing and moving data from the temporary memory locations). Other conventional analysis methods use centralized data structures to store original data of memory locations where write instructions of program segments write, so that the original data may be restored. Updating the centralized structure can cause excessive overhead, especially if the write log is implemented in software using a dedicated data structure. Furthermore, if a miss-speculation occurs (e.g., when a program segment with an enumeration order i has written to a location that a program segment with an enumeration order j has already read, where i<j), program segments with an enumeration order higher (e.g., greater) than j halt and redo their executions. Halting and redoing executions causes execution overhead that can make speculative execution inefficient.
Furthermore, typical hardware and software implementations of conventional analysis methods use complex mechanisms and are inefficient. For example, typical software implementations create execution overhead because they use extra instructions, and cause poor memory system performance by lowering the memory locality, which can result in cache misses.
Some implementations monitor fixed regions of memory (e.g., a fixed range of one or more consecutive memory locations) to track if the region has been modified. A region size that is too large can result in false determinations of violations of sequential semantics. For example, a program segment may be forced to halt and redo its execution if it accesses the same region as another program segment with a lower enumeration order, even if none of the program segments accesses the same location. Alternatively, a region size that is too small increases the overhead of monitoring read and write instructions.
In addition, conventional profiling methods (e.g., test executions of programs to determine properties of a program to predict gains from speculative execution of the programs) assume a single method for speculative execution. Methods for speculative execution are also referred to as "speculative methods" or "processes for speculative throughput computing." Furthermore, conventional dependence analyzers often are not able to determine whether the program segments may be executed in parallel.

Generating and comparing memory access ranges for speculative throughput computing


A method includes predicting an environmental condition at a location to which a vehicle is travelling, the environmental condition including at least one of water, dust, and pollution, determining that an object within the vehicle is at a distance greater than a threshold distance from an unobstructed window of the vehicle, and then actuating the unobstructed window to a closed position based on the environmental condition and the object being at the distance from the window greater than the threshold distance.

Vehicles, such as passenger cars, typically include sensors to collect data about a surrounding environment. The sensors can be placed on or in various parts of the vehicle, e.g., a vehicle roof, a vehicle hood, a rear vehicle door, etc. A vehicle may include a computer that is programmed to actuate one or more vehicle components, e.g., a window, a climate control system, etc.


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet, a first control unit configured to control the image forming apparatus, a second control unit configured to control the image forming unit based on control of the first control unit, and a signal output unit configured to output a control signal for controlling an operation of the image forming unit, when the image forming apparatus is in a power saving state in which power supply to the first control unit is stopped, wherein the second control unit performs a specific operation for maintenance of the image forming unit, according to the control signal output from the signal output unit, when the image forming apparatus is in the power saving state in which power supply to the first control unit is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, it may become necessary to perform a post-processing operation in a printer unit at predetermined time intervals after the image forming apparatus has shifted to a power saving mode and a controller unit has been shut down. Conventionally, in such a case, the controller unit is switched on by activating a hard disk only to perform the post-processing operation.
The controller unit is thus switched on and activated while the post-processing of the printer unit is being performed in the power saving mode although the controller unit can be shut down.
Examples of the post-processing operation of the printer unit are as described below.
Rotating a photosensitive drum at regular time intervals to prevent an imprint generated by a blade pressing on the photosensitive drum for a long time, and suppress an influence on an image to be formed.
Rotating an exhaust fan for a predetermined period of time to discharge gas remaining inside the image forming apparatus (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-199773).
A central processing unit (CPU) in the controller unit performs various controls so that the image forming apparatus operates as the multifunction peripheral. More specifically, the CPU controls an operation panel, a scanner, an image processing unit, communication for receiving commands such as a print command from a network, and communication for instructing the printer unit to perform printing. When an operation mode of the image forming apparatus shifts to the power saving mode, the above-described control is stopped, and the CPU is switched off.
Further, conventionally, the CPU in the controller unit performs printer control for performing the post-processing operation in the printer unit. It is thus necessary to activate the controller unit when the post-processing of the printer unit is to be performed.

Image forming apparatus and control method thereof


A method and system for monitoring and fine tuning a business process are disclosed. A system for monitoring and fine tuning a business process, according to an embodiment of the invention, includes a process cost definition engine to generate and define a cost definition, or function, for each sub-process that is part of a business process. The system may also include a process cost calculator for calculating the cost for each sub-process that is part of a business process, based on the cost function associated with the sub-process. The system may also include a display engine to display various views and communicate data generated by the system to various users of the system.

A business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Business processes are generally identified in terms of their beginning and end points, sub-processes, interfaces, and the organizational units involved. Often a business process tends to cross organizational boundaries. For example, a business process may occur across or between organizational subunits, such as different departments of a business enterprise. Examples of business processes include: developing a new product; ordering goods from a supplier; creating a marketing plan; processing and paying an insurance claim; etc.
Both large and small business enterprises are challenged with managing a wide variety of business processes. Because the success of a business enterprise is often dependent on the efficiency of its business processes, a significant amount of attention is given to improving business processes. In fact, each year, business enterprises spend millions of dollars in consulting fees in efforts to engineer, and/or re-engineer, their critical business processes. Many business enterprises, particularly smaller businesses, regularly perform business processes without formally identifying and managing the processes.
In an attempt to help businesses better manage their business processes, software developers have developed business process software (e.g., SAP Business Workflow, from SAP AG of Walldorf, Germany) to model and manage business processes. One of the goals of business process software is to "push the intelligence of the processors into the machine," allowing a business to cut processing costs of paper-based processes by using existing information technology infrastructure to create, route, and process work items formerly associated with paper based business processes. For example, using business process software, a business can capture and manage all of the essential data for a particular business process, and thereby improve the means by which they identify and allocate resources for a business process, schedule the sub-processes, or tasks, required to complete a particular business process, and communicate effectively between the role players involved with the process.
Despite the overall advantages that are realized using present business process software, present software solutions do not adequately address several problem areas. For example, one problem with current business process software applications is their inability to meaningfully monitor the overall efficiency level of a business process. For example, current software solutions do not provide the ability to pinpoint problem areas, or bottlenecks, that delay or otherwise negatively impact on the performance of a process.
Another problem with current business processes software is the inability to effectively communicate the overall importance of an individual sub-process, or task, to the processors directly involved in performing that sub-process. For example, it is often difficult for businesses to impart to the individual actors in a business process the urgency or order of importance of one task compared to others from the point of view of the business as a whole. Rather, process actors prioritize tasks chronologically, or according to the whims of their immediate supervisors whose priorities are, by nature of the business environment, rarely well aligned with the ultimate strategy of the business as a whole. Currently, prioritization schemes rely on deadlines or arbitrary prioritization schemes.

Method and system for monitoring a business process


In a high-density mounting method for an electronic circuit board, a stud bump is formed on a connection terminal of a semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip is buried in a printed circuit board such that the stud bump has a height almost equal to that of a surface of the printed circuit board. At least a surface of the printed circuit board where the semiconductor chip is buried is covered with a first insulating layer. A hole is formed in the first insulating layer by using a laser to expose the stud bump. A first wiring pattern is selectively formed on the first insulating layer, thereby connecting the first wiring pattern and the exposed stud bump to each other. A high-density mounting structure for an electronic circuit board is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a high-density mounting method and structure for an electronic circuit board and, more particularly, to a high-density mounting method and structure for an electronic circuit board suitably used in mounting a semiconductor chip, a surface mounted device (SMD), a multichip module (MCM), and the like on a printed circuit board with a high density.
Conventionally, as a high-density mounting method and structure for an electronic circuit board of this type, the following ones are known. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-175297 discloses a multilayer printed circuit board device in which semiconductor chips are buried in a board in order to perform high-density mounting. More specifically, in order to solve the problems posed by dipping the printed circuit board in a developing solution that adversely affects the semiconductor chips and the warp caused by mounting, two boards in which through holes having the sizes of the semiconductor chips are formed at the same positions are stuck on the two surfaces of one base board, thereby constituting a wiring board.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-7147 discloses the mounting construction of a semiconductor device in which LSI chips are buried in a substrate to achieve high-density mounting. More specifically, a ball bump is formed on each LSI chip by bonding, and the LSI is buried in a recessed portion formed in an insulating substrate and is sealed. Subsequently, the sealed surface is flatly ground to expose the ball bump portion, and is metallized. Since the ball bump can be conducted and connected to a circuit by metallization, if the metal portion is removed to leave a necessary portion, a wiring pattern is formed.
The conventional high-density mounting method and structure for the electronic circuit board described above have the following problems. In the former case, semiconductor chips are buried in the upper and lower surfaces of the board to eliminate the warp. In practice, however, it is considerably difficult to arrange the semiconductor chips on the upper and lower surfaces of the board in terms of mounting the chips on the board and formation of a circuit, and the mounting operation is largely limited. Therefore, this device can be used in limited applications.
Boards in which holes are formed are stacked on the upper and lower surfaces of the base board for the purpose of formation of recessed portions, thereby realizing a multilayer structure. If the boards are pressed through a prepreg so that they are adhered to each other, the prepreg is squeezed to the peripheries of the boards and flows into the recessed portions as well. In other words, it is difficult to form precise recessed portions in the board. In order to bury the semiconductor chips, the squeezed prepreg must be removed afterwards.
In order to perform circuit formation without dipping the semiconductor chips in the developing solution, a wiring pattern is formed by printing a conductive paste. When recessed portions are formed in the board and the semiconductor chips are fitted in the recessed portions, gaps are formed inevitably. Accordingly, if a circuit is formed by printing on the board in which the semiconductor chips are fitted, the circuit forms a bridge even partially and tends to cause disconnection. In order to avoid this, if the circuit is formed by plating, this is against the original purpose of not dipping the printed circuit board in the plating solution. Even if the circuit is formed by plating, masking must be performed after plating, making the manufacturing method complicated.
In the latter case, when forming a wiring pattern to be connected to an LSI chip, a circuit is formed by etching after metallization. Etching generally employed in a printed circuit board is performed in the following manner. A photosensitive dry film is brought into tight contact with the printed circuit board. Only a necessary portion of the photosensitive dry film is photosensitized, and a portion of the photosensitive dry film other than the circuit portion is removed by etching. With this method, however, a flat place where the dry film can be adhered is required, and the step of flatly grinding the dry film until the bump of the LSI chip is exposed is required.
When connecting the bump and the circuit by metallizing the exposed bump, since the thermal expansion coefficient of the sealing member and that of the bump differ, if the size of the bump decreases, the connection reliability suffers when influenced by the thermal stress. In particular, the recent IC pad pitch is 100 .mu.m or less. If the IC pad pitch becomes small in this manner, the connection area becomes very small, posing a significant problem in reliability.
Basically, since the board is not a multilayer board but a double-sided board, connection of a complicated circuit is limited. When a large number of recessed portions are formed, a warp is caused in the entire board due to the shrinkage of the sealing resin.

High-density mounting method and structure for electronic circuit board


A touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The touch panel includes a backlight module, a first assembly, and a second assembly. The first assembly includes a first polarizer and a color filter substrate. The second assembly includes an array substrate and a second polarizer. The first polarizer, the color filter substrate, the second polarizer, and the array substrate are disposed on an upper surface of the backlight module.

With development of electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets, a design of modules such as liquid crystal displays and touch panels has gradually developed toward size expansion and weight reduction.
Existing touch panels have a plurality of structural designs, one of which is a glass-glass (G+G) structure, that is, a glass cover is used to adhere to a glass functional sheet. A touch panel using this structure will have two layers of glasses, which is thick and heavy, and is not suitable for thin and light products. A glass-film-film (GFF) structure is subsequently developed, that is, a functional film replaces with a glass functional sheet, which is lighter and thinner than the glass. There is also a one glass solution (OGS) structure in which a functional sheet is fabricated on a glass cover. It has advantages in thickness, but user experience and strength properties of the OGS structure are difficult to achieve performances of the cover glass, so the OGS structure is not as good as the GFF structure. There are touch panel structures with a single-layer solution such as a cover glass/film sensor/multi ITO (GFM), which is a single-layer and multi-point solution, and a cover glass/film sensor (GF), which is a single-film solution, but they have drawbacks. The touch panel structures that high-end mobile phones are keen on are an on-cell structure and an in-cell structure. The on-cell structure and the in-cell structure can effectively reduce a thickness and increase a brightness (transmission rate) of a screen compared to the GFF technology. The difference is that functional sheets of a touch panel are integrated on a liquid crystal module (LCM).
As shown in FIG. 1, a touch panel of an on-cell structure or an in-cell structure includes a backlight module, a first polarizer 111, an array substrate 121, a color filter substrate 112, a second polarizer 122, a sealant 202, and a glass cover 201. A display panel is mainly composed of the array substrate and the color filter substrate for display. In a process of preparing the touch panel, a bonding process of the glass cover and the display panel is limited and materials used are also limited, thereby resulting in a limited thickness of an entire touch panel. At present, an overall thickness of the touch panel can only be greater than or equal to 1.65 mm, where a thickness of the glass cover is 0.55 mm, a thickness of the sealant is 0.1 mm, a thickness of the display panel is 0.4 mm, and a thickness of the backlight module is 0.61 mm. If users want to reduce a weight of the touch panel itself by further reducing the thickness of any components of the touch panel, it is easy to cause various drawbacks to the touch panel. For example, if the thickness of the glass cover is reduced from 0.55 mm to 0.4 mm, after the glass cover is attached to the display panel, surface yellow spots, stress marks, and the like are likely to occur due to uneven stress. Moreover, an overall warpage tolerance of the touch panel increases. If the thickness of the sealant is reduced, bubbles will be generated during a process of attaching the glass cover to the display panel such that the two are poorly attached and it cannot be mass-produced. If the thickness of the display panel is reduced, a broken rate of a cell will be greatly increased, and it is likely to cause unevenness in display, color mura and the like. If the thickness of the array substrate is reduced, a light effect is lowered, and a brightness of the touch panel is impaired, and a power consumption is increased. Therefore, the reduction of any components in the touch panel will result in poor overall performance of the touch panel, thereby decreasing a yield of the touch panel.

Touch panel and manufacturing method thereof

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator comprises: a base; a barrier layer disposed on the base; a lower electrode disposed on the barrier layer; a piezoelectric thin film disposed on the lower electrode; and an upper electrode disposed on the piezoelectric thin film. The piezoelectric thin film includes a columnar crystal that extends in the direction intersecting the film surface. The top surface of the piezoelectric thin film is flattened by polishing so as to have a root mean square roughness of 2 nm or smaller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator incorporating a piezoelectric thin film and first and second electrodes disposed on both surfaces of the piezoelectric thin film, and to a method of manufacturing such a thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A reduction in size and an increase in usable frequency range have been sought for mobile telecommunications devices such as cellular phones that have been dramatically widespread. Accordingly, a reduction in size and an increase in usable frequency range have been desired for electronic components used in the mobile telecommunications devices, too.
Some mobile telecommunications devices comprise a duplexer for switching between a transmission signal path and a reception signal path, which allows a single antenna to be used for both transmission and reception. Such a duplexer comprises a transmission filter for allowing a transmission signal to pass therethrough and for interrupting a reception signal and a reception filter for allowing a reception signal to pass therethrough and for interrupting a transmission signal.
Surface acoustic wave filters have been recently used for the filters of some of the above-described duplexers. The surface acoustic wave filters have a feature that they are usable at frequencies up to 2 gigahertz and capable of being smaller in size compared to ceramic filters. However, if the future mobile telecommunications devices are designed to be used at frequencies of 2 gigaherz and higher, there are still many technical problems to be solved to make surface acoustic wave filters capable of being used at such high frequencies.
To solve these problems, attention has been given to devices called thin-film bulk acoustic oscillators. The thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator is the device utilizing bulk acoustic waves that are transmitted inside a piezoelectric thin-film in the direction of its thickness. A resonator incorporating the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator is called a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (that may be hereinafter referred to as FBAR), in particular. The FBAR allows variations in resonant frequency by changing the thickness of the piezoelectric thin film. It is estimated that the FBAR is capable of being used at frequencies of several gigaherz.
The characteristics of the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator greatly depend on the thickness and quality of the piezoelectric thin film. A variety of methods have been thus proposed to improve the characteristics of the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator. For example, the Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2001-313535 discloses a technique for reducing the surface roughness of an electrode layer to be the base of the piezoelectric thin film. The Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2002-372974 discloses a technique for reducing the surface roughness of the bottom surface of the piezoelectric thin film and thereby reducing the surface roughness of the top surface of the piezoelectric thin film.
One of the techniques relating to the surface acoustic wave elements is a technique for polishing the surface of a thin film formed to cover interdigital electrodes for reducing the occurrences of ripples, which is disclosed in the Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Heisei 1-233816 (1989).
The piezoelectric thin film of the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator is made of zinc oxide (ZnO) or aluminum nitride (AlN), for example. The crystal of such a material may be column-shaped in some cases. To form the piezoelectric thin film of the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator by using such a material, the piezoelectric thin film is formed by sputtering, for example, so that the crystal is formed into a column extending in the direction nearly vertical to the surface of the piezoelectric thin film to obtain an enhanced piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric thin film thereby formed has an uneven top surface due to the columnar crystal especially when the thickness of the thin film is about 1 μm.
As mentioned above, the characteristics of the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator greatly depend on the thickness of the piezoelectric thin film. In particular, the resonant frequency of the FBAR depends on the thickness of the piezoelectric thin film. Therefore, if the piezoelectric thin film has an uneven top surface as mentioned above, variations in thickness are created among portions of the piezoelectric thin film when seen microscopically. As a result, the characteristics of the thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator are reduced. The technique disclosed in the Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2001-313535 is provided for reducing the surface roughness of the electrode layer to be the base of the piezoelectric thin film. The technique disclosed in the Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2002-372974 is provided for reducing the surface roughness of the bottom surface of the piezoelectric thin film. However, it is difficult through either of these techniques to sufficiently reduce the projections and depressions of the top surface of the piezoelectric thin film that result from the column-shaped crystal of the material of the piezoelectric thin film. For example, the Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application 2002-372974 discloses that the root mean square (RMS) roughness of the bottom surface of the piezoelectric thin film is 2.0 nanometers (nm) or smaller. However, when the crystal of the material of the piezoelectric thin film is columnar, it is difficult to control such that the root mean square roughness of the top surface of the piezoelectric thin film is 2.0 nm or smaller even if the root mean square roughness of the bottom surface of the piezoelectric thin film is controlled to be 2.0 nm or smaller.

Thin-film bulk acoustic oscillator and method of manufacturing same


A fastening device for hoses including two fastening parts two fastening parts adapted to be joined with each other and each having at least one recess which, in the joined state of the fastening parts, form at least one passage for at least one hose. The fastening parts are each formed by a fastening body with an elastic fastening component, wherein the fastening body has a lower elasticity than the elastic fastening component. The elastic fastening component respectively forms a recess surface in the recess. The elastic fastening component is molded to the fastening body to form a chemical bond with the same.

Such fastening devices are used e.g. for hydraulic hoses on construction vehicles. Here, it is a general problem that the hydraulic hoses show signs of fatigue caused by "chafing". In known fastening devices, also referred to as hose clamps, damage to the hose may be caused primarily by sharp and rigid edges on the fastening devices. Here, the inner fabric of the hydraulic hoses may be exposed and, in extreme cases, the fabric may even rupture, leading to a loss of hydraulic fluid and thus to a failure of the machine.
In addition, hydraulic hoses have a high tolerance with respect to their outer diameter so that they can either not be fixed well or are excessively compressed when conventional hose clamps are used.
A fastening device is known from WO 2015/177181 A1. In the known fastening device, it is provided that an elastic insert is placed in the fastening bodies, wherein the contact surface provided between the fastening body and the elastic insert is kept small for vibration and sound damping. The sound and vibration reducing properties were reduced further by making the difference between the outer diameter and the inner diameter of the insert as great as possible. For a further reduction of sound and vibrations, supporting bodies are arranged on the inner side of the elastic insert, so that the hose received in the fastening device is supported only "at intervals". The elastic insert is retained in a form-fitting manner in the fastening body.
It has been found for the known fastening devices that due to the plurality of parts that have to be matched in a custom-fit manner, the handling is hardly practicable and the assembly thereof and the placing of hydraulic lines is made difficult. This results in higher production and maintenance efforts. In case of strong vibrations, the form-fit fastening of the elastic insert may lead to the insert being strongly deformed and pushed out of the fastening body.
Other embodiments of fastening devices in which the fastening device is entirely or almost entirely made of an elastic material, have the disadvantage that the fastening device may become warped, may yield and/or be compressed when being fastened. This may e.g. lead to the clamps coming loose inadvertently or compressing the hydraulic hose excessively. Moreover, the elastic material makes it difficult to exactly fix the hose with a desired torque.


In a process of forming MISFETs that have gate insulating films that are mutually different in thickness on the same substrate, the formation of an undesirable natural oxide film at the interface between the semiconductor substrate and the gate insulating film is suppressed. A gate insulating film of MISFETs constituting an internal circuit is comprised of a silicon oxynitride film. Another gate insulating film of MISFETs constituting an I/O circuit is comprised of a laminated silicon oxynitride film and a high dielectric film. A process of forming the two types of gate insulating films on the substrate is continuously carried out in a treatment apparatus of a multi-chamber system. Accordingly, the substrate will not be exposed to air. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the inclusion of undesirable foreign matter and the formation of a natural oxide film at the interface between the substrate and the gate insulating films.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique that is applicable to a semiconductor integrated circuit device in which two or more types of MISFETs (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors) have gate insulating films that are mutually different in thickness and are formed on the same semiconductor substrate.
The operating voltage of a semiconductor device has been reduced generation by generation in the development of semiconductor integrated circuits for achieving higher integration and a lower power consumption. Under such circumstances, a MISFET is reduced in size in accordance with a scaling law for maintaining and improving the device performance, so that the thickness of the gate insulating film is reduced at the same time. However, for example, with a CMOS logic LSI, or the like, the operating voltage is different between the internal circuit and the input/output circuit. For this reason, a MISFET in which the thickness of the gate insulating film is relatively larger is also required.
For such a reason, in a recent semiconductor device, efforts have been pursued to effect the introduction of a process of forming a plurality of types of MISFETs which have gate insulating films that are mutually different in thickness on the same substrate. For example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-188338 discloses a process of separately forming a gate insulating film made of silicon dioxide in a first region of a semiconductor substrate and another gate insulating film made of silicon nitride or tantalum oxide in a second region thereof.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuit device


C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having an internal double bond can be produced by hydroisomerization of C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having a terminal double bond in the presence of H.sub.2 on a catalyst having a content of a noble metal of group VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements (Mendeleev), if C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having a terminal double bond are fed into a hydroisomerization reactor after preheating, as such or in a mixture with other hydrocarbons, and the reaction product is divided into a work-up stream and a recycle stream. The recycle stream is recycled to the inlet of the hydroisomerization reactor and is used there as feed together with the C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having a terminal double bond or with the hydrocarbon stream comprising the C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having a terminal double bond and with the H.sub.2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having an internal double bond by hydroisomerization of C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having a terminal double bond, in which the product stream exiting from the reactor is divided into a work-up stream and a recycle stream, and the recycle stream is recycled to the reactor inlet, where, together with the C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 -alkenes having a terminal double bond and the H.sub.2, it forms the feed for the reactor. The process serves especially for converting 1-butene into 2-butene.
2. Description of the Related Art
Alkenes having an internal double bond, for example 2-butene, are sought-after alkylating agents for alkylating n-alkanes and/or i-alkanes, valuable motor fuels ("alkylate gasoline") being produced. Such alkylates of olefins having an internal double bond produce, in the motor fuel sector, better properties than alkylates of olefins having a terminal double bond. Thus, for example, n-1-butene with n-butane/i-butane produces an alkylate gasoline having a research octane rating ROR of 92.5, whereas the corresponding alkylate of 2-butene has an ROR of 98.5 (Oil and Gas Journal 8 (1971), 60). The shift of terminal double bonds to an internal position of the olefin therefore represents an important step in the production of high-octane gasoline.
The conversion, for example, of 1-butene to 2-butene has long been carried out as a so-called hydroisomerization in the presence of hydrogen on a catalyst suitable for the hydrogenation. Thus U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,545 discloses using for this purpose a catalyst having a content of Pd or Pt on SiO.sub.2 or Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 as support, which, however, to avoid the undesirable overhydrogenation, is damped in its activity using sulfur compounds. However, as a consequence of this, the hydroisomerization must be carried out at a temperature of up to 155.degree. C. However, the thermodynamic equilibrium is more on the side of 1-butene at higher temperatures, so that lower hydroisomerization yields can be achieved at higher temperatures. According to FR 2,438,084, an increase in selectivity of a Pd/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 catalyst can also be induced, apart from a treatment with sulfur compounds, by a treatment with ammonia or carbon monoxide. A further variant of the increase in selectivity is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,745 in which a Pd/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 catalyst is treated with hydrogen sulfide and then with hydrogen; at 80 to 100.degree. C., using such a catalyst, a hydroisomerization is carried out in which the accompanying butadiene is substantially eliminated by hydrogenation, but a considerable portion of butene is also undesirably hydrogenated to give the saturated butane. DE-A 31 40 573 describes a hydroisomerization of 1-butene to 2-butene on a catalyst containing 0.3% Pd on high-purity Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, which is performed subsequently to the oligomerization of i-butene and in the presence of the oligomer. The isomerization is carried out at 120.degree. C. and at a molar ratio of hydrogen to hydrocarbons of 0.5. EP-A 338 309 discloses that alkenes having a terminal double bond can be isomerized to form alkenes having an internal double bond if the catalyst used is a macroporous or gel-form cation exchanger in the H+ form, which contains 0.001 to 10 g of a metal of subgroup VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements (Mendeleev) per liter of cation exchanger.

Process for preparing C.sub.4 --C.sub.6 --alkenes having an internal double bond comprising recycling a portion of a product stream


A system for sharing a network port of a network interface includes a plurality of processing units, a first network interface unit coupled to a first portion of the plurality of processing units, a second network interface unit coupled to a different portion of the plurality of processing units, and a link coupled between the first and second network interface units. The first and second network interface units each includes an independently controllable network port for connection to a network, and a virtual interface. The network port includes a shared MAC unit, a link interface, and control logic, which may selectably route packets between processing units of the first portion of the plurality of processing units and the network via the link and the network port of the second network interface unit. The virtual interface may include a plurality of independent programmable virtual MAC units.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to networking systems and, more particularly, to shared network resources.
2. Description of the Related Art
Networked computer systems are typically connected to a network using some type of network interface. The type of interface varies depending on the network protocol. For example, in an Ethernet network, a computer system or processing node may connect to the network using a network interface card (NIC). The NIC may be assigned a unique medium access control (MAC) address that identifies that NIC to all the other computer systems in the world, that may be connected to the network. In a conventional system, each processing node may have its own NIC, and thus its own network port.
In computer systems that include a large number of processing nodes such as, for example, server systems that have a large number of blade processing units in each chassis, the component count of the resources used to access the network can get quite large. Accordingly, the costs associated the networking components may also be high, especially for some of the newer standards such as 10Gigabit Ethernet, for example. This may be especially true since each of the processing units may typically only use a fraction of the bandwidth that a 10GE link can provide. Additional drawbacks associated with large networked systems include the large amount of rack space that must be dedicated to cabling, network port connectors, and the like, and the mechanical issues and mean time between failure (MTBF) for these components.

System for sharing a network port of a network interface including a link for connection to another shared network interface


A method of forming a component-embedded printed circuit board includes: preparing a first layered structure; preparing a second layered structure that includes an adhesive film and a releasable film; attaching the second layered structure to the first layered structure to form a layered stack, the releasable film releasably covering a mounting region of the first layered structure; heating and pressing the layered stack; cutting the second layered structure through the adhesive film; removing the releasable film together with a portion of the adhesive film from the mounting region to form a hole in the second layered structure; and mounting an electronic component in the hole.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a component-embedded printed circuit board and a method of forming the same, more particularly to a method involving the use of a releasable film in the process of forming a component-embedding hole in a layered structure of a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 to 9 illustrate consecutive steps of a conventional method of forming a component-embedded printed circuit board. The conventional method includes the steps of: preparing a copper clad laminate (CCL) 13 that has a core insulator layer 131, a patterned upper foil layer 132 formed on one side of the core insulator layer 131, an upper protection layer 134 of an insulation material covering the upper foil layer 132, a patterned lower foil layer 133 formed on an opposite side of the core insulator layer 131, and a lower protection layer 135 of the insulation material covering the lower foil layer 133 (see FIG. 1), the copper clad laminate 13 having a mounting region 130 with an area substantially equal to a cross-sectional area of an electronic component 18 to be mounted on the mounting region 130 in a subsequent step (see FIG. 8), the upper foil layer 132 having a plurality of spaced apart foil traces 1321, two of the foil traces 1321 being disposed at the mounting region 130 and being exposed from the upper protection layer 134, the copper clad laminate 13 further having a build-up region 130′ surrounding the mounting region 130; preparing a thermosetting adhesive film 11 (see FIG. 2) that is solid at room temperature and that can be softened and cured at an elevated temperature ranging from 150° C. to 220° C.; punching the thermosetting adhesive film 11 under room temperature to form a through-hole 110 therein (see FIG.  2); preparing a resin coated copper (RCC) foil 12 that has a build-up insulator layer 121 and a copper foil layer 122 formed on the build-up insulator layer 121 (see FIG. 3); attaching the punched thermosetting adhesive film 11 to the resin coated copper foil 12 to form a build-up layered structure 10 (see FIG. 3); stacking the build-up layered structure 10 on the copper clad laminate 13 along a stacking direction to form a printed circuit stack 100, such that the through-hole 110 is aligned with the mounting region 130 in the stacking direction (see FIG. 4); heating and pressing the printed circuit stack 100 (see FIG. 5) so as to form the punched thermosetting adhesive film 11 into a cured thermoset film 11′ that adhesively bonds the build-up insulator layer 121 to the build-up region 130′ of the copper clad laminate 13; patterning the copper foil layer 122 to form a plurality of copper traces 1221 on the build-up insulator layer 121 (see FIG. 6); cutting the build-up layered structure 10 through the build-up insulator layer 121 along a cutting path that is aligned with a periphery of the mounting region 130 using a laser beam 150 (see FIG. 7); removing a cut portion of the build-up insulator layer 121 so as to form a component-embedding hole 101 in the build-up layered structure 10 to expose the mounting region 130 (see FIG. 8); and disposing the electronic component 18 in the component-embedding hole 101 and mounting the electronic component 18 on the mounting region 130 to connect electrically with the two foil traces 1321 at the mounting region 130 via a solder material 19 using conventional soldering techniques (see FIG. 9).
It is noted that the thermosetting adhesive film 11 is required to be punched to form the through-hole 110 before the heating and pressing of the printed circuit stack 100. Otherwise, the cured thermoset adhesive film 11′ may be adhesively bonded to the mounting region 130 after the heating and pressing of the printed circuit stack 100 and may not be removed from the mounting region 130 by peeling.
Since the thermosetting adhesive film 11 is softened and is slightly flowable during the heating and pressing operation, an area thereof expands and a thickness thereof becomes thinner after the heating and pressing operation. Hence, because of the expansion, the through-hole 110 in the thermosetting adhesive film 11 is required to have an area that is much greater than that of the mounting region 130, so that the thermosetting adhesive film 11 is prevented from overflowing into the mounting region 130 and cover the two foil traces 1321 at the mounting region 130 during heating and pressing of the thermosetting adhesive film 11. As a consequence, the cured thermoset adhesive film 11′ thus formed may have a curved portion 112 around the through-hole 110, the curved portion 112 having a cross-section with a gradually decreasing thickness (T) (see FIG. 9). The curved portion 112 cooperates with the build-up insulator layer 121 to define a cavity 17 therebetween. As such, residue of an acid solution tends to be trapped in the cavity 17 during subsequent acid washing operations, which can result in chemical attack on the bonding between the build-up insulator layer 121 and the cured thermoset adhesive film 11′ and corrosion to the electronic component 18 and the two foil traces 1321 at the mounting region 130. In addition, a portion 1211 of the build-up insulator layer 121 that is disposed around the component-embedding hole 101 and adjacent to the curved portion 112 is susceptible to mechanical attack during subsequent mounting and soldering operations, which can result in an adverse effect on the performance of the electronic component 18.

Component-embedded printed circuit board and method of forming the same


A lead-free glaze that can be fired at a low temperature, a spark plug for which it is used, and a spark plug production method are provided. The lead-free glaze is for coating onto ceramic materials. This lead-free glaze contains 16-49 wt % of SiO2, 15-35 wt % of B2O3, 0-10 wt % of Al2O3 and 0-10 wt % of ZnO. A spark plug is provided that comprises coating the lead-free glaze onto the surface of an insulator and firing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lead-free glaze, a spark plug on which it is used, and a method of producing the spark plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
A spark plug insulator is an example of an insulator coated with a glaze. The glaze is coated onto the insulator after which the insulator is fired simultaneous to sealing parts in the hole in the insulator.
It is necessary that the conditions under which parts are sealed into the hole of this insulator are such that the temperature is no higher than 900xc2x0 C. to prevent oxidation of the stem.
There has been a demand for lead-free glaze in recent years to accommodate environmental concerns. However, it is difficult to fire lead-free glaze onto an insulator at a temperature of 900xc2x0 C. or lower. Thus, it is no longer possible to perform firing simultaneous to sealing parts in the hole of the insulator.
In consideration of this problem of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a lead-free glaze that allows firing at low temperatures, a spark plug in which it is used, and a method of producing the glaze.
A first aspect of the present invention is a lead-free glaze for coating ceramic materials containing 16-49 wt % of SiO2, 15-35 wt % of B2O3, 0-10 wt % of Al2O3 and 0-10 wt % of ZnO.
As a result of having the above constitution, the lead-free glaze of the present invention can be fired onto an insulator even at a temperature of 900xc2x0 C. or lower. In addition, since this lead-free glaze does not contain lead, it is suitable for environmental protection.
In addition, since the lead-free glaze of the present invention can be fired at a low temperature of 900xc2x0 C. or lower, if the ceramic material is a spark plug insulator, oxidation of the stem inserted into the hole of the insulator can be prevented. Consequently, firing of the coated glaze and sealing of parts in the hole of the insulator can be carried out simultaneously.
The following provides an explanation of the composition of the lead-free glaze of the present invention.
SiO2 and B2O3 are the main components of borosilicate glass. Regarding SiO2 and B2O3, the melting point of a glaze tends to increase as the amount of SiO2 increases, and the ratio of SiO2/(SiO2+B2O3) is preferably 50-70 wt %. If the ratio is less than 50 wt %, the water resistance of the glaze decreases resulting in the risk of the glass component eluting in water and deteriorating. If the ratio exceeds 70 wt %, the melting point rises resulting in a risk of the smoothness of the glazed surface decreasing.
The content of SiO2 is 16-49 wt %. If the SiO2 content is less than 16 wt %, there is the risk of the water resistance of the glaze decreasing. If the SiO2 content exceeds 49 wt %, the melting point of the glaze rises resulting in a risk of the smoothness of the glazed surface decreasing.
The content of B2O3 is 15-35 wt %. If the B2O3 content is less than 15 wt %, the melting point of the glaze rises resulting in a risk of the smoothness of the glazed surface decreasing. If the B2O3 content exceeds 35 wt %, there is the risk of the water resistance of the glaze decreasing.
Al2O3 demonstrates the effect of improving the water resistance of the glaze when added in a minute amount, and prevents the glass component from eluting and deteriorating in water. The content of Al2O3 is 0-10 wt %. If the Al2O3 exceeds 10 wt %, the viscosity during firing increases resulting in the risk of the smoothness of the glazed surface decreasing. The content of Al2O3 is preferably 2-10 wt %. If less than 2 wt %, there is the risk of a reduction in the effect of improving the water resistance of the glass.
ZnO stabilizes the glass without increasing the viscosity during firing. In addition, ZnO also has the effect of suppressing increases in the coefficient of linear expansion of the glaze. The content of ZnO is 0-10 wt %. If the ZnO content exceeds 10 wt %, the transparency of the glazed surface becomes poor.
The above lead-free glaze also preferably contains one type or two or more types of components selected from the group consisting of CaO, BaO and MgO. This is because BaO, CaO and MgO stabilize the glass without increasing the viscosity during firing.
The above lead-free glaze also preferably contains one type or two or more types of components selected from the group consisting of Bi2O3, ZrO2, TiO2, CeO and FeO.
Although Bi2O3 lowers the melting point of the glaze, if added in large amounts, it results in the risk of the glazed surface losing it smoothness.
ZrO2 has the effect of stabilizing the glass and lowering the coefficient of linear expansion, while also increasing the ceramic strength. On the other hand, the addition of ZrO2 in large amounts causes clouding.
Although TiO2, CeO and FeO have the effect of preventing discoloration of the ceramic material by increasing weather resistance, addition of these components in large amounts conversely colors the glaze.
Thus, these components are preferably blended so that the necessary coefficient of linear expansion is obtained. As a result, the glass components in the glaze can be stabilized, discoloration of the ceramic material can be prevented, and the melting point of the glaze can be lowered.
Moreover, the above lead-free glaze also preferably contains one type or two or more types of components selected from the group consisting of Li2O, Na2O and K2O. Li2O, Na2O and K2O are alkaline metal oxides that lower the melting point of the glaze. The addition of these components improves the smoothness of the glazed surface.
The above lead-free glaze further preferably contains 2-30 wt % of BaO. BaO has a potent effect of suppressing increases in viscosity during firing, and results in a smooth glazed surface when added in an amount of 2 wt % or more. If the BaO content is less than 2 wt %, there is the risk of the viscosity of the glaze increasing. In addition, if the BaO content exceeds 30 wt %, there is the risk of an increase in the coefficient of linear expansion.
Moreover, the above lead-free glaze preferably contains 1-10 wt % of ZrO2. ZrO2 stabilizes the glass in the glaze and has the effect of lowering the coefficient of linear expansion. Consequently, the strength of the ceramic material can be increased by coating a ceramic material with glaze containing ZrO2. On the other hand, if the ZrO2 content is less than 1 wt %, there is the risk of an increase in the coefficient of linear expansion of the glaze, while if the ZrO2 content exceeds 10 wt %, there is the risk of the glaze becoming clouded.
The above lead-free glaze also preferably contains 1-25 wt % of Bi2O3. Bi2O3 has the effect of lowering the melting point of the glaze. If the Bi2O3 content is less than 1 wt %, there is the risk of reducing the effect of lowering the melting point of the glaze. If the Bi2O3 content exceeds 25 wt %, there is the risk of the glazed surface losing its smoothness.
The above lead-free glaze preferably contains the following components:
SiO2: 35-49 wt %
B2O3: 20-35 wt %
Al2O3: 2-10 wt %
ZnO: 0-10 wt %
BaO: 2-25 wt %
ZrO2: 1-10 wt %
Bi2O3: 1-15 wt % and,
at least one type of LiO2, Na2O or K2O: 0-10 wt %.
If the content of SiO2 is less than 35 wt %, the water resistance of the glaze decreases resulting in the risk of the glass component eluting in water and deteriorating. If the SiO2 content exceeds 49 wt %, the melting point of the glaze rises resulting in the risk of decreased smoothness of the glazed surface.
If the content of B2O3 is less than 20 wt %, the melting point of the glaze rises resulting in the risk of decreased smoothness of the glazed surface. If the B2O3 content exceeds 35 wt %, there is the risk of the water resistance of the glaze decreasing.
If the content of Al2O3 is less than 2 wt %, there is the risk of decreasing the effect of improving the water resistance of the glaze by addition of Al2O3. If the Al2O3 content exceeds 10 wt %, viscosity during firing increases resulting the risk of a decrease in the smoothness of the glazed surface.
If the content of ZnO exceeds 10 wt %, there is the risk of a decrease in transparency of the glazed surface.
If the content of BaO is less than 2 wt %, there is the risk of the effect of suppressing increases in viscosity during firing decreasing and, if the BaO content exceeds 25 wt %, there is the risk of an increase in the coefficient of linear expansion.
If the content of ZrO2 is less than 1 wt %, there is the risk of a decrease in the ceramic strength. If the ZrO2 content exceeds 10 wt %, there is the risk of clouding of the glaze.
If the content of Bi2O3 is less than 1 wt %, there is the risk of an increase in the melting point of the glaze. If the Bi2O3 content exceeds 15 wt %, there is the risk of the glazed surface losing its smoothness.
If the total content of at least one type of LiO2, Na2O or K2O exceeds 10 wt %, there is the risk of the coefficient of linear expansion of the glaze layer increasing, or insulation resistance at a high temperature of, for example, 500xc2x0 C., decreasing.
A second aspect of the present invention is a spark plug comprising coating the surface of the insulator with the above lead-free glaze and firing.
Since the spark plug has a lead-free glaze according to the present invention fired onto the surface of the insulator, firing can be performed at low temperatures enabling it to be manufactured safely. In addition, the glazed surface following firing is smooth. Consequently, the plug cap is attached easily. In addition, there is little adhesion of debris and insulation resistance can be secured from a normal temperature to 500xc2x0 C.
In addition, the lead-free glaze may be fired after adding minute amounts of clay component such as kaolin and bentonite or organic binder to the glass components. In this case, the composition of the lead-free glaze after firing is the same as the above-mentioned composition before firing.
If the insulator is made of alumina and if the glaze layer has a coefficient of linear expansion of 50-80xc3x9710xe2x88x927/xc2x0 C. that approximates that of the alumina, although firing can be carried out without cracking and so forth, the coefficient of linear expansion of the glass increases rapidly at the transition point. Thus, it is preferable that the coefficient of linear expansion of the glaze at 100-300xc2x0 C. be 50-75xc3x9710xe2x88x927/xc2x0 C. In the case of deviation from this range, there is the risk of the occurrence of cracks in the glaze.
A third aspect of the present invention is a method of producing a spark plug comprising coating the above lead-free glaze onto the surface of an insulator and firing at a temperature of 900xc2x0 C. or lower. In this production method, the insulator is coated with a lead-free glaze that allows the above low-temperature firing. Consequently, the lead-free glaze can be fired at a low temperature of 900xc2x0 C. or lower, allowing firing to be carried out at low cost.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is a method of producing a spark plug comprising coating the above lead-free glaze onto the surface of an insulator, inserting a part into the hole of the insulator and heating the insulator and part to simultaneously fire the above lead-free glaze and seal the above part.
The present production method uses a lead-free glaze that allows the above low-temperature firing. In the present production method, since firing of the lead-free glaze and sealing of the above part by sealing glass and so forth are carried out simultaneously, a spark plug can be obtained easily.
The heating temperature of the above insulator is preferably 900xc2x0 C. or lower. As a result, a spark plug can be obtained both easily and at low cost.


The present teaching relates to discovery of user unknown interests. In one example, information related to a user is retrieved from a user profile. The information indicates one or more known interests of the user. At least one known interest of the user is identified based on the information. One or more supplemental interests with respect to each identified at least one known interest of the user are identified. The one or more supplemental interests do not overlap with the one or more known interests of the user. Supplemental content associated with the one or more supplemental interests are identified. Each piece of content in the supplemental content is ranked. At least one piece of content in the supplemental content is selected based on the ranking. The selected at least one piece of supplemental content is used to discover unknown interest of the user.

1. Technical Field
The present teaching relates to methods and systems for providing content. Specifically, the present teaching relates to methods and systems for providing online content.
2. Discussion of Technical Background
The Internet has made it possible for a user to electronically access virtually any content at anytime and from any location. With the explosion of information, it has become more and more important to provide users with information that is relevant to the user and not just information in general. Further, as users of today's society rely on the Internet as their source of information, entertainment, and/or social connections, e.g., news, social interaction, movies, music, etc, it is critical to provide users with information they find valuable.
Efforts have been made to attempt to allow users to readily access relevant and on the point content. For example, topical portals have been developed that are more subject matter oriented as compared to generic content gathering systems such as traditional search engines. Example topical portals include portals on finance, sports, news, weather, shopping, music, art, film, etc. Such topical portals allow users to access information related to subject matters that these portals are directed to. Users have to go to different portals to access content of certain subject matter, which is not convenient and not user centric.
Another line of efforts in attempting to enable users to easily access relevant content is via personalization, which aims at understanding each user's individual likings/interests/preferences so that an individualized user profile for each user can be set up and can be used to select content that matches a user's interests. The underlying goal is to meet the minds of users in terms of content consumption. User profiles traditionally are constructed based on users' declared interests and/or inferred from, e.g., users' demographics. There have also been systems that identify users' interests based on observations made on users' interactions with content. A typical example of such user interaction with content is click through rate (CTR).
These traditional approaches have various shortcomings. For example, users' interests are profiled without any reference to a baseline so that the level of interest can be more accurately estimated. User interests are detected in isolated application settings so that user profiling in individual applications cannot capture a broad range of the overall interests of a user. Such traditional approach to user profiling lead to fragmented representation of user interests without a coherent understanding of the users' preferences. Because profiles of the same user derived from different application settings are often grounded with respect to the specifics of the applications, it is also difficult to integrate them to generate a more coherent profile that better represent the user's interests.
User activities directed to content are traditionally observed and used to estimate or infer users' interests. CTR is the most commonly used measure to estimate users' interests. However, CTR is no longer adequate to capture users' interests particularly given that different types of activities that a user may perform on different types of devices may also reflect or implicate user's interests. In addition, user reactions to content usually represent users' short term interests. Such observed short term interests, when acquired piece meal, as traditional approaches often do, can only lead to reactive, rather than proactive, services to users. Although short term interests are important, they are not adequate to enable understanding of the more persistent long term interests of a user, which are crucial in terms of user retention. Most user interactions with content represent short term interests of the user so that relying on such short term interest behavior makes it difficult to expand the understanding of the increasing range of interests of the user. When this is in combination with the fact that such collected data is always the past behavior and collected passively, it creates a personalization bubble, making it difficult, if not impossible, to discover other interests of a user unless the user initiates some action to reveal new interests.
Yet another line of effort to allow users to access relevant content is to pooling content that may be interested by users in accordance with their interests. Given the explosion of information on the Internet, it is not likely, even if possible, to evaluate all content accessible via the Internet whenever there is a need to select content relevant to a particular user. Thus, realistically, it is needed to identify a subset or a pool of the Internet content based on some criteria so that content can be selected from this pool and recommended to users based on their interests for consumption.
Conventional approaches to creating such a subset of content are application centric. Each application carves out its own subset of content in a manner that is specific to the application. For example, Amazon.com may have a content pool related to products and information associated thereof created/updated based on information related to its own users and/or interests of such users exhibited when they interact with Amazon.com. Facebook also has its own subset of content, generated in a manner not only specific to Facebook but also based on user interests exhibited while they are active on Facebook. As a user may be active in different applications (e.g., Amazon.com and Facebook) and with each application, they likely exhibit only part of their overall interests in connection with the nature of the application. Given that, each application can usually gain understanding, at best, of partial interests of users, making it difficult to develop a subset of content that can be used to serve a broader range of users' interests.
Another line of effort is directed to personalized content recommendation, i.e., selecting content from a content pool based on the user's personalized profiles and recommending such identified content to the user. Conventional solutions focus on relevance, i.e., the relevance between the content and the user. Although relevance is important, there are other factors that also impact how recommendation content should be selected in order to satisfy a user's interests. Most content recommendation systems insert advertisement to content identified for a user for recommendation. Some traditional systems that are used to identify insertion advertisements match content with advertisement or user's query (also content) with advertisement, without considering matching based on demographics of the user with features of the target audience defined by advertisers. Some traditional systems match user profiles with the specified demographics of the target audience defined by advertisers but without matching the content to be provided to the user and the advertisement. The reason is that content is often classified into taxonomy based on subject matters covered in the content yet advertisement taxonomy is often based on desired target audience groups. This makes it less effective in terms of selecting the most relevant advertisement to be inserted into content to be recommended to a specific user.
There is a need for improvements over the conventional approaches to personalizing content recommendation.

Method and system for discovery of user unknown interests based on supplemental content


A hydraulic piston unit including a rotational group for driving or being driven by a driving shaft, and having a tiltable displacement element for adjusting the displacement volume of the rotational group between a minimum or a maximum displacement, wherein, on t valve segment between a kidney-shaped inlet port and a kidney-shaped outlet port at respective dead end positions of reciprocally moveable working pistons first and second control ports are located in fluid connection with cylinder bores in the cylinder block, for controlling the position of the displacement element. The hydraulic piston unit further includes a control valve with a shiftable control valve spool fluidly connected via a high pressure port to a high pressure side of the hydraulic piston unit. The control valve spool is configured to conduct hydraulic fluid from the high pressure side to one of the first or the second control port.

In the state of the art, the displacement volume of hydraulic piston units is usually adjusted by the help of a servo unit having a servo cylinder and a movable servo piston, the position of which in the servo cylinder ultimately determines the displacement volume of the rotational group inside the hydraulic piston unit. Such a servo unit constitutes a separate assembly group, especially in two position hydraulic piston units, which causes increased costs and consumes construction space. Furthermore, such a servo unit is subjected to wear or other possible failures that may lead to inoperability of the whole hydraulic piston unit. Furthermore, every cylinder piston unit shows a certain leakage and, therefore, so does such a servo unit as well.


A water production system (1) for making potable water (7) in an environment of humid tropical air (6) and cold deep ocean water (8) comprising a heat exchanger (2), means for controlling (3) the volume of the deep ocean water (2) passing through the heat exchanger (2) based on the amount of heat absorbed by the heat exchanger (2) in the process of condensing water vapor (7a) from the humid air (6), and means for enhancing (4) the rate of at which water vapor (7a) is condensed including a positive air pressure dome (9) system for enhancing the humidity, condensation rate, and water quality, and a continuous coil (2a) disposed in the flow of humid air (6) to condense additional potable water (7), and means for vibrating (38) elements of the system to increase condensation.

This invention relates to a water production system for making potable water in an environment of humid tropical air and a cooling fluid, preferably cold deep ocean water. The water production system comprises a heat exchanger, means for controlling the volume of the cooling fluid passing through the heat exchanger, and means for enhancing the rate of at which water vapor is condensed including selectively a positive air pressure dome system for enhancing the humidity, condensation rate, and water quality, and a continuous coil disposed in the flow of humid air to condense additional potable water, and means for vibrating elements of the system to increase condensation.
The improvements of this important invention comprise enhancing the humidity of the humid air, condensation rate, and water quality of the condensation system, which may include a positive air pressure dome system having a sheeting cover supported by the positive air pressure. The positive air pressure can be supplied by at least one air fan. The sheeting cover is preferably free of contact with the heat exchanger contained therein, and the sheeting cover may be secured to the ground at its peripheral edge. The positive pressure within the dome system can enhance the condensation rate and air borne water contaminants can be reduced. Utilizing the sheeting system allows flexibility for expansion of and the ability to cover a number of additional heat exchangers which can be disposed laterally at the same elevation and still be kept under an extended dome system.
Preferably, the at least one air fan includes a ducted air fan humidifier, in which the humidity levels within the dome system can be further enhanced to increase the condensation rate. The means for governing may further comprise at least one continuous coil looped over a coil support structure that is disposed in the flow of humid air to condense additional potable water from the humid air. The at least one continuous coil is supplied with cooling fluid entering or discharging from the heat exchanger. The at least one continuous coil may be loosely looped over a coil support structure. Additionally, the means for governing may comprise means for vibrating the at least one continuous coil and more generally means for vibrating the tubes of the heat exchanger.
This improved condensation system may further comprise means for controlling the cold water transported through the heat exchanger based on at least one of the temperature of the cooling water discharging from the heat exchanger, the temperature of the water in or discharging from a reservoir that collects the water discharging from the heat exchanger, and the differential between the temperature of the water entering the heat exchanger and the temperature of the water leaving the heat exchanger. Specifically, the means for controlling the cold water transported through the heat exchanger may comprise an inlet reservoir for receiving cold water, an outlet reservoir for receiving the cold water discharged from the heat exchanger, and each of the inlet reservoir and the outlet reservoir containing a volume of cooling water having an inlet upper level and an outlet upper level, respectively.
The inlet upper level may be maintained by at least one float valve which controls the volume of cold water entering the inlet reservoir; the outlet upper level is controlled by at least one moveable weir, and a cold water circuit may extends from the inlet reservoir through the heat exchanger to the outlet reservoir. Preferably, each of the inlet reservoir and the outlet reservoir is un-pressurized. The inlet end of the cold water circuit is disposed below the inlet upper level, and the outlet end of the cold water circuit is disposed below the outlet upper level. Means for measuring the temperature of the cooling water near the outlet end of the water circuit and producing a signal to control movement of the at least one moveable weir in response to the temperature is required. Additionally, the means for measuring may include measuring the temperature of the cooling water near the inlet end of the water circuit for determining the differential temperature. It is preferred that the controlled flow of cold water be siphoned through the water circuit by a vacuum created when the at least one moveable weir is lowered bringing down the outlet upper level in the outlet reservoir in response to the temperature measurement.
Unlike the present invention, U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,938 issued in 1997 to McLorg for a desert envitalization system with variable volume pneumatic polydome enclosure discloses an inflatable enclosure for condensing and collecting water vapor from solar heated seawater. The pneumatic enclosure is maintained at a positive pressure by an inflation fan. The '938 patent collects condensate that is plumbed to a ballast system which helps hold up the dome during the nighttime; it does not produce condensate for drinking water, nor does it protect a fluid heat exchanger. It is a closed hydrological system whereas the instant invention is open but internally pressurized.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,275 issued in 2002 to Domen for solar stills for producing fresh water uses an inflatable bladder system. Domen's solar still does not use a heat exchanger employing cold water and has a closed environment whereas the instant invention is a positive pressure but open environment system.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,936 issued to Sprung in 1990 for a method and system for purification of water for greenhouse structures teaches a device and method for the generation and subsequent condensation and collection of water vapor within the volume of a greenhouse. The '936 patent teaches only water production for irrigation to plants in a closed environment system and the water produced is not collected from an internal heat exchanger. Also see U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,123 issued to Gauthier in 1988 for a greenhouse equipped with a watering system which captures and distributes condensate water from the morning and evening dews. The '123 patent is used for watering plants only and not for potable, commercial, or industrial water production. Additionally, it is not related to the use of a heat exchanger system.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,077 issued in 1970 to Gerard et al. for an atmospheric water recovery method and means for obtaining potable water from atmospheric air, in which cold deep seawater is pumped through a heat exchanger that reacts with humid air to produce condensate potable water that is collected in a tank. The '077 patent does not use a moderated environment to condense water vapor and it does not teach the use of a dome system to control aerial contamination of the freshwater produced, nor does it control the flow of deep sea water based on temperature.
Design Patent D363,993 issued in 1995 to Johnson et al. for an inflatable shelter does not teach a dome system used for the production of freshwater nor does it indicate a pressurized air-flow system for inflation. Other background patents have been included in the provisional application referenced above.
The citation of the foregoing publications is not an admission that any particular publication constitutes prior art, or that any publication alone or in conjunction with others, renders unpatentable any pending claim of the present application. None of the cited publications is believed to detract from the patentability of the claimed invention.

Water production system for making potable water


In the marine hose of the present invention, protruded parts are provided at each axial direction end of the axial direction ends of the hose bodies, each axial direction end is located at both sides in the axial direction of the connection portion which is provided with limit mechanism. By this, when the marine hose is wound up to the reel, the protruded parts of the hose bodies contact the outer surface of the reel, the outer surface of the limit mechanism does not contact the outer surface of the reel. Thus, large amount of the bending force is not added to the limit mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 5 to 7, a generally known marine hose has a plurality of hose bodies 100 of which the ends in the axial direction are connected each other, a plurality of connection portions 110 for connecting said ends of the hose bodies 100 to each other, a limit mechanism 120 provided to at least one of the connection portions 110, the limit mechanism 120 releases the mutual connection of the hose bodies 100 by separating at its approximate middle portion and the limit mechanism 120 closes the ends of the hose bodies 100, when the tensile force having a predetermined amount or larger in the axial direction is added to the connection portion 110 which is provided with the limit mechanism 120. The marine hose transports liquid fuel from a tanker to a tank located on the land.
Also, a storage apparatus for storing this kind of marine hose has a reel which is capable of winding up the marine hose. This storage apparatus winds up the marine hose floating on the sea by rotating the reel.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent publication H07-293800
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent publication H10-507709


Various embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus and method for reverse shoulder arthroplasty (e.g., reverse total shoulder arthroplasty). In one specific example, a glenoid component used to resurface the scapula may be provided. Of note, unlike traditional total shoulder arthroplasty the glenoid component in a reverse shoulder is convex rather than concave; it acts as a physical stop to prevent the superior migration of the humeral head—a typical occurrence in patients suffering from rotator cuff tear arthropathy (CTA).

Neer coined the term cuff tear arthropathy in 1972 to describe the arthritic, eroded/collapsed condition of the glenohumeral joint following prolonged/progressive subacromial impingement resulting from massive, full thickness rotator cuff tears. This pathology is associated with extreme pain and near complete loss of function. (see Neer, C. S. et al. Cuff Tear Arthropathy. JBJS. #65: 1232-1244. 1983).
Cuff tear arthropathy has been historically treated with acromioplasty, arthroscopic debridement, tendon transfers, humeral tuberoplasty, arthrodesis, total shoulder arthroplasty (constrained, semi-constrained, or unconstrained), bipolar shoulder arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty (with and without acromial spacers), and most recently (and successfully) reverse shoulder arthroplasty.
The Reverse/Inverse shoulder was first conceived by Neer in the early 1970's to treat patients suffering from CTA; specifically, this device was intended to provide pain relief and prevent progressive acromial, coracoid, and glenoid erosion by resisting humeral head superior migration. This was theoretically accomplished by inverting the male and female ball and socket so that the glenoid component was now convex and the humerus now concave; doing so created a physical stop that prevents the humerus from migrating superiorly. Several reverse shoulder designs have since been conceived and developed: the Fenlin, Reeves, Gerard, Kessel, Kolbel, and the Neer-Averill to name but a few; of these, only the Kessel design has reported long-term outcomes (it is believed that each of the aforementioned designs have since been abandoned). Similar to constrained total shoulder arthroplasty, the fixed center of rotation resulted in an excessive torque on the glenoid that compromised fixation, ultimately leading to loosening.
In 1987, Paul Grammont introduced a new reverse shoulder design. It consisted of 2 components: the glenoid was a metallic or ceramic 42 mm ball (˜⅔ of a sphere) and the humeral component was a polyethylene "trumpet-shaped" cup (whose concave surface was ˜⅓ of a sphere); the humeral component was fixed with PMMA. The preliminary results of this prosthesis were published in 1987 (see Grammont, P. M. et al. Etude et Realisation D'une Novelle Prosthese D'Paule. Rhumatologie. #39: 17-22. 1987); after a mean follow-up of six months, all six patients (8 shoulders) were pain-free; however, mobility was variable: 3 patients had active anterior elevation between 100-130°, 3 patients had active anterior elevation less than 60°. These inconsistent results necessitated a redesign.
In 1991, the Grammont reverse shoulder was redesigned and renamed as the Delta III reverse shoulder prosthesis. The cemented glenoid failed; therefore, the glenosphere was redesigned to have a fixed central peg and divergent screws. The ⅔ of a sphere in the glenoid was abandoned for ⅓ of sphere to place center of rotation directly in contact with glenoid fossa; thereby, reducing the torque on the bone surface. The humeral component was designed for either cemented or uncemented applications (see Boileau, P. et al. Grammont Reverse Prosthesis: Design, Rationale, and Biomechanics. JSES January/February: 147S-161S. 2005).
This prosthesis was called the "Delta" because of its functional dependence on the Deltoid. The design rationale for the Delta III is described as follows:                the center of rotation is shifted medially (to increase the effective lever arm of the deltoid by recruiting more of the deltoid fibers for elevation and abduction).        the center of rotation is shifted distally by lowering the humerus (to tension the deltoid).        the center of the glenosphere is placed directly on the glenoid fossa to limit the torque on the fixation devices and resist loosening.        the inverted concavities of the glenohumeral joint create a physical stop to prevent humeral head superior migration; the status of the CA arch is irrelevant with this design.
Whether these theoretical biomechanical benefits of the Delta will actually become realized has yet to be determined as there has been limited long-term outcome studies (>5 yrs) which demonstrate its reliability; however, short-term and medium-term outcome studies suggest that the design provides pain relief and restores function (primarily in abduction/adduction and partially in flexion/extension; internal/external rotation is restored on a limited basis dependant upon the condition of the infraspinatus and the teres minor). In this regard, see the following: Boileau, P. et al. Grammont Reverse Prosthesis: Design, Rationale, and Biomechanics. JSES January/February: 147S-161S. 2005; Rittmeister, M. et al. Grammont Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Nonreconstructable Rotator Cuff Lesions. JSES. January/February: 17-22, 2001; Vanhove, B. Grammont's Reverse Shoulder Prosthesis for Rotator Cuff Arthropathy. A Retrospective Study of 32 Cases. Acta Orthop Belg. #70 (3): 219-225. 2004; Sirveaux, F. et al. Grammont inverted total shoulder arthroplasty in the treatment of glenohumeral osteoaitis with massive rupture of the cuff. JBJS 86-B: 388-395. 2004; Katzer, A. Two-Year Results After Exchange Shoulder Arthroplasty Using Inverse Implants. Orthopedics. Vol. 27, #11: 1165-1167. 2004; Walch, G. The Reverse Ball and Socket: When is it Indicated? Orthopaedics Today. pp. 18-20.
Of note, the Delta reverse shoulder is associated with a number of different types of complications including glenoid loosening, scapular "notching" (more descriptively called inferior glenoid erosion), acromion fractures, dislocation (head from poly and poly insert from humeral stem), instability, humeral stem fracture, humeral stem loosening, and glenoid screw fracture. In this regard, see the immediately preceding cited references.
Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The figures constitute a part of this specification and include illustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.


The inventive material exhibits giant magnetoresistance upon application of an external magnetic field at room temperature. The hysteresis is minimal. The inventive material has a magnetic phase formed by eutectic decomposition. The bulk material comprises a plurality of regions characterized by a) the presence of magnetic lamellae wherein the lamellae are separated by a distance smaller than the mean free path of the conduction electrons, and b) a matrix composition having nonmagnetic properties that is interposed between the lamellae within the regions. The inventive, rapidly quenched, eutectic alloys form microstructure lamellae having antiparallel antiferromagnetic coupling and give rise to GMR properties. The inventive materials made according to the inventive process yielded commercially acceptable quantities and timeframes. Annealing destroyed the microstructure lamellae and the GMR effect. Noneutectic alloys did not exhibit the antiparallel microstructure lamellae and did not possess GMR properties.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a material that has giant magnetoresistance properties and a method for making the material. Materials exhibiting giant magnetoresistant effect are being investigated for use in read heads for high-density magnetic recording and other applications requiring small magnetic sensors that are more sensitive than conventional permalloy heads.
2. Description of Related Art
Magnetoresistance is the change in electrical resistance of a material under the influence of a magnetic field (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 7th ed. (McGraw-Hill: New York, 1992). In 1988, the magnetoresistance of certain preparations of alternating layers of magnetic and nonmagnetic superlatices was found to be very large and were termed "Giant Magnetoresistance". For example, the resistivity of superlattices of iron and chromium, when there is antiparallel coupling or antiferromagnetic coupling between adjoining iron layers 30 .ANG. thick separated by 9 .ANG. chromium layers and no external magnetic field, was lowered by almost a factor of 2 when a magnetic field of 2 Tesla (T) was applied at a temperature of 4.2 K. Typically about 30 bilayers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (Giant Magnetoresistance of (001)Fe/(001)Cr Magnetic Superlattices, Baibich, M. N. et al., Phys. Rev. Let. 61(21): 2472, Nov. 21, 1988. Preparation of giant magnetoresistant (GMR) material by use of molecular beam epitaxy methods is too costly and too slow to be useful for commercial applications. The practical utility of GMR in antiferromagnetic coupled multilayer materials was further limited by the large magnetic fields (2-4 T) required to exhibit the effect.
The GMR mechanism appears to be based on spin-dependent scattering of the conduction electrons within the magnetic particles and, more importantly for GMR, at the interfaces between magnetic particle and the nonmagnetic metal matrix. The magnitude of the GMR effect is expressed as .DELTA.R/R.sub.sat .tbd.(R.sub.H-0 -R.sub.H-sat)/R.sub.H-sat !.times.100%. When the material is layered, the resistance change is further proportional to the cosine of the angle between the magnetization directions of the alternate layers. Generally, the GMR effect has been observed to decrease as the temperature of the sample at the time of measurement increased. McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science& Technology, 1995 (McGraw-Hill: New York)!.
For antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers, the sensitivity to magnetic fields is two orders of magnitude smaller than that of currently used anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) thin-film sensors. The resistance change of AMR sensors is 2% at room temperature in a 5 Oe field while the GMR antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers require a magnetic field of about 1 or 2 T to change resistance.
In 1992 two groups of researchers observed GMR in granular, inhomogeneous alloys of copper/cobalt (Giant Magnetoresistance in Heterogeneous Cu--Co Alloys, A.E. Berkowitz, et al., Phys. Rev. Let. 68(25): 3745, Jun. 22, 1992; J. Q. Xiao, et al., Phys. Rev. Let. 68(25): 3749 Jun. 22, 1992). In granular GMR materials small fields were sufficient to align the ferromagnetic particles. The GMR effect was observed at magnetic field magnitudes of the order of 5,000 Oersted (Oe) instead of 10,000 kiloOersted (kOe). Observing that the GMR in multilayered structures comes from the reorientation of single domain magnetic layers, compounds were formed that contained single domain magnetic particles (such as cobalt) in a nonferromagnetic matrix. In an alloy having a significant volume fraction of single domain magnetic particles, the magnetic orientation of the particles is random at the coercive magnetic field; there are many particles that are statistically arranged antiparallel or less, so that a smaller applied magnetic field produces GMR. Thus it became possible to make materials having GMR properties at fields of 5 kOe and less. In a granular, inhomogeneous material, the magnitude of the GMR effect is controlled by the volume fraction of magnetic particles in the material, the magnetic particle size, the magnetic particle density, interface roughness, and impurities in the nonmagnetic metallic matrix.
GMR materials have in the past been constructed using sputtering, sputtering from a single composite target, evaporation, metal pastes, mechanically combining the magnetic and nonmagnetic materials, or implanting the magnetic materials (in the form of ions) into the nonmagnetic matrix. All of these methods are too costly in terms of equipment required, labor effort, and fabrication time, to be commercially useful.
It would be very desirable to be able to make a material that exhibited GMR properties at room temperature in a magnetic field of 5 kOe or less for a reasonable cost.

Giant magnetoresistive heterogeneous alloys and method of making same

The Regents of the University of California


A dispenser including a rear housing member and a front housing member that are connected by way of a first hinge so that the front housing member is openable relative to the rear housing member in order to fill a space defined by the front housing member and the rear housing member with at least one stack of sheet products. The front housing member and the rear housing member also include components for forming a second hinge. The first hinge allows the front housing member to open from a first side of the rear housing member in a first rotational direction, and the second hinge, when formed, allows the front housing member to rotate in an opposite direction from an opposite side of the rear housing member.

A gravity feed sheet product dispenser as broadly defined above is known from US 2011/0174834 A1. The front wall of the sheet product dispenser is joined to a side wall by way of a hinge. The hinge is provided in the form of a first plurality (five in the figures) of cylindrical members that are axially spaced and a second plurality of cylindrical members that are axially spaced and arranged so that the first and second plurality of cylindrical members interdigitate so that axial bores in each of the members align and receive therethrough a cylindrical shaft. The front wall or door is openable about this hinge to allow access to the interior space defined by the housing for reloading the dispenser with a new stack of sheet products.
The front door in the prior art restricts a positioning of the dispenser at the site of use because room must be provided for the opening of the door about the hinge.
It is desired to provide a dispenser that may be located at a site with greater freedom.


A method of manufacturing an entire piston, piston heads for example, especially intended for internal-combustion engines, wherein in an initial manufacturing step a blank that will eventually constitute the piston is preliminarily forged along a prescribed axis, shaping appropriate contours, and wherein in at least one subsequent manufacturing step the preliminarily shaped piston is finally forged along at least one other axis, creating additional contours.

The present invention concerns a method of manufacturing pistons and components thereof, piston heads for example, especially intended for internal-combustion engines.
German A 3 801 847 discloses a method of manufacturing pistons for internal-combustion engines, each piston being provided with at least one metal reinforcement. The reinforcement, of a material with open pores, is heated and introduced into a heated die. A prescribed amount of aluminum or aluminum alloy is injected into the die. A plunger is introduced into the die, compressing the cooling melt. The compressed melt flows around the reinforcement and fills both the piston mold and the reinforcement's pores. Once the melt has hardened, the piston is removed from the die along with the reinforcement and machine finished.
A piston especially intended for internal-combustion engines is known from German A 19 935 410. This piston features a shaft with a bore for a bolt and an adjacent annular field. Webs extend from the bore toward the annular field and/or toward the end of the shaft remote from the field. Pistons of this type are preferably cast.
German A 3 222 582 describes a method of manufacturing a base for a multiple-component piston, especially intended for large diesel engines. The center of the base is domed and surrounded by a shoulder and has an interior hub. The shoulder accommodates piston rings and rests against a separate piston shaft, onto which the hub can be screwed and/or welded. In this method a bowl with an area that matches the shape of the piston's center and has a surrounding collar is in an initial shaping step forged from a heat-resistant steel. The shoulder and the hub are then in a subsequent shaping step forged out of the collar. This approach, which involves forging axially in terms of the piston's base, however, allows only contours with prescribed wall thicknesses, especially radial wall thicknesses, and the product is heavy and requires a lot of material.
German A 3 222 582 describes a method of manufacturing a base for a multiple-component piston, especially intended for large diesel engines. The center of the base is domed and surrounded by a shoulder and has an interior hub. The shoulder accommodates piston rings and rests against a separate piston shaft, onto which the hub can be screwed and/or welded. In this method a bowl with an area that matches the shape of the piston's center and has a surrounding collar is in an initial shaping step forged from a heat-resistant steel. The shoulder and the hub are then in a subsequent shaping step forged out of the collar. This approach, which involves forging axially in terms of the piston's base, however, allows only contours with prescribed wall thicknesses, especially radial wall thicknesses, and the product is heavy and requires a lot of material.

Method of manufacturing pistons and components thereof, and forging tools