A barrel lock padlock is provided which can be used to engage the hasp-and-staple fitted to an enclosure such as a gas or electricity meter box. The housing of the barrel lock has a slot into which the staple can be passed to align with the bore in the housing in which the plunger of the barrel lock is movable, so that when the plunger is moved to the locking position by its spring it passes through the staple to lock the box. A key is passed through a key hole in a cap of the lock to engage the plunger and retract it, allowing the padlock to be removed from the staple.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a padlock and to a locking assembly including said padlock in which the padlock is of the so-called barrel lock type, in which locking is effected by a plunger which is spring biased to the locking position and may be withdrawn to an unlocking position against the action of the spring by use of a special key.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Barrel locks are favored as a means of securing gas and electricity meters because the lock can be installed and locked without needing to use the key, leaving intact a seal over the keyhole. Only authorized persons in possession of the key may thereafter unlock the barrel lock.
In prior art devices the plunger of a barrel lock may displace balls outwardly of the lock housing or, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,041, the plunger may, in the locking position, engage and prevent relative axial movement of a stud which projects from the enclosure to be locked and which passes through a bore in the lock housing which is transverse to the bore in which the plunger is movable.
Many utility meter boxes are provided with a hasp-and-staple whereby the box may be padlocked. The present invention proceeds from the realization that a barrel lock may be adapted for use as a padlock, thereby dispensing with the need for a stud assembly projecting from the meter box. As illustrated in FIG. 3 of the Drawings of the said U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,041 the provision of the stud requires that a special opening be drilled in a side wall of the box, the insertion of a bolt through this opening onto which the stud is threaded and the provision of a locking flange and backing plate. In addition to the labor involved in installing it the stud assembly represents a high proportion of the cost of manufacturing the barrel lock assembly.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a padlock of the barrel lock type which will be cheaper to manufacture and easier to install than barrel locks of the kind exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,041.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a padlock comprising a housing, a bore in the housing, a plunger movable axially of the bore, spring means biasing the plunger toward one end of the bore, a cap closing the other end of the bore, key engagement means at the end of the plunger nearer the cap, a key hole in the cap aligned with said key engagement means and a slot in said housing transverse to and intersecting said bore, the slot being adapted to receive the staple of a hasp-and-staple fastening whereby the plunger may pass through said staple to lock an enclosure fitted with said hasp-and-staple fastening.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided the combination of a padlock as defined in the immediately preceding paragraph and an enclosure having a hinged lid and provided with a hasp-and-staple fastening, wherein the hasp is a hasp projecting from a side wall of the enclosure and the staple is pivotable at one end relative to the lid whereby the other end of the staple may be swung through or withdrawn from said hasp, said other end of the staple having an aperture which, when said other end of the staple is inserted in said slot of said padlock, may be coaxially aligned with said bore of said padlock whereby said plunger may pass through said aperture of the staple to lock the lid of the enclosure.
The staple may be fabricated from sheet metal to be generally J-shaped and the slot in the padlock may be parallel-sided to receive the apertured end of the staple as a sliding fit.
The padlock cap is preferably in the form of a body from one end of which projects a reduced diameter spigot. An end of the housing comprises a bore of enlarged diameter to receive said spigot, the housing body having a blind bore which, in the assembled condition of the cap and housing, is axially aligned with the bore in the housing. The key hole is formed at the blind end of the bore in the cap and a compressed spring is trapped in the assembled cap and housing between the plunger and the blind bore in the cap body.
The body of the cap may be surrounded by a metal casing which extends beyond the end of the body remote from the spigot to form a crown for the body, said crown having slits through which a seal may be passed to cover the key hole.
The housing is preferably formed with a further bore transverse to the plunger bore and on the side of the slot nearer the cap through which further bore a plunger-retention member may be passed to hold the plunger in the unlocked position against the action of the spring means.
Said further bore is preferably a blind bore which is intersected by the plunger bore intermediate the ends of the further bore.
Said bore in the housing in which the plunger is movable is preferably a blind bore which is intersected by said slot intermediate the ends of the blind bore.


Techniques are disclosed for managing metadata of a storage system. A storage control system receives data to be written to primary storage, and writes the received data together with metadata to a write cache. The storage control system destages the metadata from the write cache to a primary metadata structure which is configured to persistently store and index the metadata. The primary metadata structure comprises (i) a first data structure that is configured to accumulate the metadata destaged from the write cache and organize the accumulated metadata in blocks of metadata sorted by index keys, and (ii) a second data structure that is configured to receive the accumulated metadata from the first data structure, and organize the received metadata using an index structure that enables random-access to the metadata using the index keys.

Storage systems utilize some form of internal layout for a physical data layer, and employ a mapping mechanism from a logical layer (as understood by user volumes or files) to a physical layer that is used to store data. A storage controller may arrange data in the physical layer using various methods such as, e.g., packing data to conserve capacity, implementing a log-structured array, storage tiering, etc. In addition, storage systems require various types of metadata to support core storage functionality. Such metadata includes, e.g., metadata for mapping logical locations (offset in a file or volume) to a physical location (to track the physical location of stored data items), invalidation and garbage collection related metadata, metadata accounting, deduplication referencing, snapshot generations and relationships, and resiliency related metadata (e.g., RAID), etc. The metadata must be resilient to failures such as a device or a node going offline, because without the metadata, the stored data become inaccessible and key functionality breaks. In addition, the process of persisting metadata should not add a significant amount of bandwidth or IOPS (input/output operations per second) which degrades system performance and affects the endurance of storage devices used to store the metadata. In this regard, efficient metadata management is critical to overall performance of a data storage system.


Unreconciled information regarding financial account transactions is received from multiple sources. Transactions identified in the information received from one of the sources are classified according to the probability of matching a transaction identified in information received from another source. Transactions identified in both sources are displayed in a common user interface, together with account balances adjusted for those transactions. The user is able to accept the classification, and as to at least some classes of transactions, change the classification or the matching transaction. The unaccepted transactions may be rendered so as to indicate their unaccepted state.

Maintaining accurate information for a financial account can be tedious and time-consuming. Using a personal checking account as an example, the account holder must usually enter each transaction (e.g., a check, deposit, ATM withdrawal, etc.) into a record of some type, such as a checkbook register or a ledger. This information recorded by the account holder must then be periodically reconciled against the records of the bank or other institution providing the account, commonly called balancing the checkbook. This reconciliation typically involves comparing entries made by the account holder in a check register or other record with a bank statement listing transactions that have "cleared" the bank (i.e., have been processed by the bank), as well as with the account balance shown in the bank's records. In many cases, often because of failure to record all transactions and/or mistakes in recording transactions, there is not a perfect correlation between the data in the account holder's records and the bank statement. Any conflicts between the two records must then be resolved, and the two records synchronized. If the account holder's records are not periodically reconciled against the financial institution's records, he or she will not have an accurate understanding of his or her finances, and risks being overdrawn or other unpleasant consequences.
Home computers and other types of electronic data storage and processing devices have been used to automate some of this record keeping. One of the first steps was moving the account holder records from a paper check register or similar document into a home computer or other similar device. Although offering advantages over a pure paper system, this alone does not significantly alleviate the problems associated with periodic account reconciliation. In particular, if the account statement from the bank or other financial institution is still in paper form, reconciling the account holder's records and the bank records remains essentially the same process. The only difference is that instead of placing marks or other indicia in a check register or other paper document to indicate that a check or other transaction has cleared the bank, and/or agreement with the bank's description of the transaction or resulting account balance, the account holder simply revises an electronic check register based on a paper account statement. Moreover, until the account holder reconciles the account statement with the electronic check register, information from the statement cannot be used in the account holder's financial decision-making.
Receiving account information electronically is also known. Instead of receiving a paper account statement in the mail, the account statement can be periodically downloaded into a home (or other) computer, and that downloaded statement then compared to data input by the account holder. This fails to solve many problems associated with account reconciliation, however. In particular, most account holders do not wish to rely solely on a bank's account records, and there remains a need to periodically reconcile account holder (customer) records and account provider (bank) records. Traditionally, personal finance software has kept user-entered account data and electronic bank statement data separate. In order to reconcile the two data sources (i.e., to "balance" the account), a special tool is implemented. This often involves calling a separate subroutine or program to combine the two data sources and permit the account holder to resolve conflicts. This also presents problems. The account holder must know to use this tool, and how to use the tool, to take advantage of the downloaded data. The account holder must also traverse between the transaction register and this reconciliation tool in order to compare possible entries and see if duplication has occurred. Furthermore, other components of the software (e.g., budgeting, etc.) cannot use the newly acquired data until these steps are performed. Even if both the bank statement and the check register are in electronic form, data in the bank statement is not used in the account holder's financial decision-making until the account holder initiates the reconciliation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,204, titled "Correlating Transaction Records Via User-Specified Identifier Creating Uncleared Transaction," discloses a method whereby an account holder is able to create records of uncleared transactions in a financial institution's account ledger. The uncleared transaction record is treated as an account comment, but the account balance is not modified until the transaction actually clears. For this and other reasons, this patent fails to solve many of the problems described above.

Automated financial register reconciliation in a combined user interface


A regeneration control system for an oxidation catalyst in an internal combustion engine includes a temperature sensor to produce a temperature signal indicative of an exhaust inlet temperature that is below a regeneration temperature for accumulated hydrocarbons on the oxidation catalyst, an electrically actuated boost leakage valve, and a regeneration control unit. The regeneration control unit commands an adjustment to the position of the electrically actuated boost leakage valve to increase leaked boost to increase exhaust temperature to the regeneration temperature by way of increased air-fuel ratio. Related methodology is disclosed.

Internal combustion engines are used throughout the world in a great range of environments different in temperature, humidity, and even altitude, and are operated across the spectrums of load, speed, and duty cycle. Internal combustion engines used in higher-temperature environments are often optimized in various ways differently from those used in colder-temperature environments. Varying ambient conditions can also affect engine operation, and therefore engines are typically equipped with various controls to accommodate changing conditions so that goals such as efficiency, productivity, and emissions can still be met.
Despite sophisticated engineering of engines and associated machinery, and implementation of advanced control strategies, circumstances can exist where conventional engine designs and operating or control strategies are not ideally suited to present conditions. For instance, it has been observed that at idle conditions, particularly with low parasitic loads, engine combustion can be somewhat incomplete due to the relatively small amounts of fuel that are injected. Coupled with relatively cold inlet air temperatures, combustion quality can be reduced even further such that during extended periods of idling, exhaust and other system parameters may not be optimally managed. Certain aspects of modern emissions mitigation systems for engines require catalyst activation temperatures that may be greater than exhaust temperatures produced by the engine under such conditions, potentially leading to undesired output of certain exhaust constituents or requiring other mechanisms for emissions capture or treatment. In some instances, engine speed can be increased during extended periods of idling to produce somewhat elevated exhaust temperatures, however, such an approach has the downside of requiring burning more fuel than what might otherwise be necessary. One strategy for selectively controlling exhaust temperatures is set forth in United States Patent Application Publication No. 20150143802AI.

Regeneration control system for oxidation catalyst regeneration in internal combustion engine


An image blur correction apparatus including a lens unit configured to include at least one lens and configured to be turnable in a first direction which is a direction about a first supporting axis that is orthogonal to a light axis of the lens with respect to an outer housing, and in a second direction which is a direction about a second supporting axis that is orthogonal to the light axis and the first supporting axis, a fixed member configured to be arranged on an outer periphery side of the lens unit and configured to turnably support the lens unit in the first direction and the second direction, a first drive unit configured to turn the lens unit in the first direction, and a second drive unit configured to turn the lens unit in the second direction.

The present technology relates to a technical field regarding image blur correction apparatuses and imaging apparatuses. More specifically, the present technology relates to a technical field for making the configuration simpler and more compact by forming a spherical slide portion on an outer periphery of a lens unit and forming a spherical support portion that is configured so that the slide portion can slide along an inner periphery of a fixed member.
In an imaging apparatus such as a video camera and a still camera, an image blur correction apparatus may be provided for correcting image blur by moving a lens in a direction orthogonal to the light axis direction.
The image blur correction apparatus provided in such an imaging apparatus may be configured so that a lens unit, which has a lens, turns in a first direction about a first supporting axis that is orthogonal to the light axis of the lens with respect to an outer housing, and in a second direction that is a direction about a second supporting axis orthogonal to the light axis and the first supporting axis (e.g., refer to JP H7-274056A).
Image blur correction is performed by the lens unit being turned in a yaw direction about the first supporting axis, and in a pitch direction about the second supporting axis.
In the image blur correction apparatus described in JP H7-274056A, two gimbal mechanisms, each having a base plate curved in an L shape, are provided to turn the lens unit in the yaw direction and the pitch direction.
The image blur operation is carried out in the pitch direction by turning the lens unit in the pitch direction with respect to one of the gimbal mechanisms, and in the yaw direction by turning the lens unit together with the first gimbal mechanism in the yaw direction with respect to the other gimbal mechanism.

Image blur correction apparatus and imaging apparatus


Approaches presented herein enable assignment of translated work to an agent in a customer support environment based on a confidence factor that measures accuracy of translation and an agent's language skill. Specifically, agent proficiencies in a set of natural languages are measured and scored. An incoming customer communication is translated into one or more natural languages and each language translation is assigned a translation score based on a confidence of translation. The skill score and translation score are utilized to calculate a confidence factor for each language. In one approach, the customer communication is assigned to an agent that has a confidence factor greater than a predetermined threshold confidence factor. In another approach, the communication is only assigned if a rule optimizing agent availability and risk of constrained resources is satisfied.

In a typical system in which work is assigned to resources, such as in a customer support center, for example, a communication from the customer often comes into the system with language as a specific attribute. This communication can be in the form of a voice communication, a textual communication, a video communication, and/or the like. Such a communication is generally routed to a queue until a resource (i.e., a human agent) is available to assist the customer. When a communication enters the system, the set of resources that can work on the communication may be constrained, resulting in the call being held in the queue for an extended period of time. Further, the set of resources may include resources that are fluent in different natural languages in order to effectively process the communication.

Language translation and work assignment optimization in a customer support environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A suspension for an engine on an aircraft strut is disclosed. The suspension includes a beam with a plate provided with a fixing device for fixing to the strut; and a suspension arch linked to the beam by at least one pivot link whose axis is intended to be parallel to the axis of the engine. The suspension arch having, at each of its ends, a fixing device for fixing to a case of the engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of jet engines and targets the suspension of the latter on the structure of the aircraft that they propel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A propulsion engine, such as a jet engine, can be mounted at various points on the aircraft by attachment to a strut or a pylon belonging to the structure thereof. It can thus be fixed to the wings, to the fuselage, generally at the rear, or mounted in the tail group by appropriate attachment means. The function of these attachment means is to ensure the transmission of the mechanical forces between the engine and the structure of the aircraft.
The loads to be taken into consideration are oriented in the three main directions of a coordinate system linked to the engine. These are, in particular, in normal operation, the weight of the engine on the vertical axis Z, its thrust on the axis X of the engine, and the lateral aerodynamic loads on the transversal axis Y. The loads to be transmitted also include the take-up of the rotational torque around the axis X of the engine. These means must also allow for the deformations undergone by the engine during the different phases of the flight resulting, for example, from the dimensional variations due to the thermal stresses.
The link between the engine and the strut is usually provided, for fan engines, by two suspension planes, one at the front of the engine, on the intermediate case, the other at the rear. Each of the suspension means is arranged to transmit a portion of the forces. For example, one of the suspensions, called front suspension, takes up or transfers the lateral forces on the axis Y and vertical forces on the axis Z, and that of the engine torque around the axis X. The other suspension, called rear suspension, transmits to the strut of the aircraft the lateral and vertical forces. The axial forces can be taken up by one of these two planes. Such a suspension is isostatic.
With reference to FIG. 1, there is known, through the application EP1707487 A1 from the company SNECMA, a rear suspension 1 comprising a beam 11, possibly double, fixed to the strut by bolts and linked to the case of the engine by link rods 12. The link rods 12 swivel at their ends on clevises or cleats, depending on the mounting, which are attached respectively to the engine case and to the beam 11. This suspension 1 transmits the forces and the moment on the axis Y and the forces and the moment on the axis Z.
In order for the transmission of the forces by the link rod 12 to be purely axial, that is to say, along the axis of the link rods, a swivel bearing 13 is provided at each end of the link rods 12. This mounting makes it possible in particular to absorb the radial and axial expansions of the engine.
The safety constraints also stipulate the presence on this suspension of means mitigating the failure of a force transmission member. Thus, there are usually provided for this purpose link means with play, said to be on standby, which become active by absorption of the play and transmit the forces via a backup pathway, if one of the transmissions fails following a part breakdown. Still referring to FIG. 1, the rear suspension 1 includes a safety link 14 linked at its end to the beam 11 by a swivel-type bearing 13.
Because of the swivel links 13 that the beam 11 has, said beam has a large lateral dimension in the direction Y which disturbs the circulation of the airstream in which the suspension is placed, and in particular the secondary stream for a bypass engine. For a suspension, a beam width D, represented in FIG. 1, is defined, which corresponds to the smallest lateral dimension of the beam 11 which is situated in the airstream. The greater the width D of the beam 11, the more the aerodynamic efficiency of the engine is reduced.
Several beam shapes have been considered for reducing the width D of the beam, but these tests have come to nothing. The swivel-jointed links, which are positioned on the beam, impose a minimum lateral dimension. One immediate solution would be to place them vertically. This is difficult given the fact that the height of the beam is limited. In fact, it depends on the constraints of wing height and engine height relative to the ground which are predetermined. In other words, the current solutions do not allow for the incorporation of swivel-jointed links in a beam whose dimensions are reduced both widthwise and heightwise.

Suspension for an engine on an aircraft strut including a suspension arch


A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes establishing a pool of potential matches for a user in a computer-implemented matching system, in which each of the potential matches meet at least one criteria of the user; determining a messaging score for each of the potential matches of the pool, the messaging score indicating a messaging aptitude of the potential match; and ranking the potential matches, where each of the potential matches is ranked based on a similarity of the messaging score of the potential match to a messaging score of the user. In one embodiment, the method may further include presenting to the user results of the ranking.

Communications network architectures have experienced significant notoriety because they can offer the benefits of automation, convenience, and data management for their respective online communities. Certain network protocols may be used in order to allow an end user to be matched to other end users or to scenarios in which they stand to benefit (e.g., job searches, person-finding services, real estate searches, online dating, etc.).
In the case of an online dating service, for example, an end user will typically be prompted to specify a variety of preferences to be used in matching the end user with other end users in the particular online dating service community. This specification may be accomplished by the end user responding to questions designed to elicit explicit preferences of the end user or by the end user rating a variety of qualities on a scale of very important to not at all important, for example. The end user may also be presented with an opportunity to identify "deal breakers;" that is, characteristics or behaviors that if possessed or engaged in by a potential match render that person immediately and irredeemably undesirable. Additionally, the end user may be presented with the opportunity to specify certain "must haves," which are the opposite of deal breakers; in particular, they are characteristics or behaviors a potential match should possess or engage in to even be considered by the end user. The information each end user provides about him or herself may be viewed by other end users in the online community in determining whether to interact with that end user.

System and method for optimizing interactions between users in a network environment


The present invention relates to HDM2-p53 interaction inhibitors for use in the treatment of cancer, wherein the drug is administered by a high dose intermittent dosing regimen. The present invention relates in particular to the HDM2-p53 interaction inhibitor HDM20I and the dosing regimen di, d8 of a 4 week cycle.

p53 is induced and activated by a number of potentially tumorigenic processes—including aberrant growth signals, DNA damage, ultraviolet light, and protein kinase inhibitors (Millard M, et al. Curr Pharm Design 2011; 17:536-559)—and regulates genes controlling cell growth arrest, DNA repair, apoptosis, and angiogenesis (Bullock A N & Fersht A R. Nat Rev Cancer 2001; 1:68-76; Vogelstein B, et al. Nature Education 2010; 3(9):6).
Human Double Minute-2 (HDM2) is one of the most important regulators of p53. It binds directly to p53, inhibiting its transactivation, and subsequently directing it towards cytoplasmic degradation (Zhang Y, et al. Nucleic Acids Res 2010; 38:6544-6554).
p53 is one of the most frequently inactivated proteins in human cancer, either through direct mutation of the TP53 gene (found in approximately 50% of all human cancers) (Vogelstein, B et al. Nature 2000; 408:307-310) or via suppressive mechanisms such as overexpression of HDM2 (Zhao Y, et al. BioDiscovery 2013; 8:4).
Potent and selective inhibitors of the HDM2-p53 interaction (also referred to as HDM2 inhibitors or MDM2 inhibitors), e.g. NVP-HDM201, have been shown to restore p53 function in preclinical cell and in vivo models (Holzer P, et al. Poster presented at AACR 2016, Abstract #4855).
Different dosing regimens were described for HDM2 inhibitors and tested in clinical studies. E.g. US2013/0245089 discloses a method of treating a patient suffering from cancer by administering to the patient 4-{[(2R,3S,4R,5S)-4-(4-Chloro-2-fluoro-phenyl)-3-(3-chloro-2-fluoro-phenyl)-4-cyano-5-(2, 2-dimethyl-propyl)-pyrrolidine-2-carbonyl]-amino}-3-methoxy-benzoic acid in an amount of from about 800 to about 3000 mg/day for an administration period of up to about 7 days, on days 1-7, of a 28 day treatment cycle, followed by a rest period of from about 21 to about 23 days.
A paper in Clinical Cancer Research by B. Higgins et al. (May 2014) disclosed a 28 days cycle schedule, where RG7388 is administered once weekly three times followed by 13 days of rest (28 days cycle schedule), or where the drug is administered for 5 consecutive days of a 28 days schedule. Further dosing regimens for HDM2 inhibitors are disclosed in WO 2015/198266.
HDM2 inhibitors and how to prepare them were disclosed for example in WO2013/111105 or WO2011/076786.

Dose and regimen for HDM2-p53 interaction inhibitors


A guiding element for a printing unit is provided to facilitate use of the printing unit in an imprinter function. In one operating situation, a strip is printed as it passes through a printing gap of the printing unit. In another operating situation, the strip is guided through the printing gap by the guiding element in a non-contact manner. The guiding element includes, on the outer surface, a plurality of openings adapted for the discharge of a pressurized fluid. These openings are micro-openings of a diameter less than 500 μm.

A printing unit with two web guide elements, which two web guide elements are arranged respectively in an inlet and in an outlet area of a printing unit in such a way that, with the printing location disengaged, a web can be conducted through the printing location without touching it, is known from DE 93 11 113 U1. The two web guide elements are embodied as rollers, which are rotatably seated in lateral walls of the printing unit.
A turning bar is disclosed, in one preferred embodiment, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,693. A tube wall element made of a porous material which is permeable to air forms a closed pressure chamber in conjunction with a base body. The porous segment constitutes a wall of the chamber and is embodied to be load-bearing over the width of the latter, without a load-bearing support. In a second example, a segment with through-bores is utilized instead of the porous segment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,468 shows a guide element which has an inner body with bores and an outer body of a porous material which is permeable to air. The bores in the inner body are only provided in the expected area of a loop of material which will pass around the guide element.
EP 0 705 785 A2 is concerned with the transport and deflection of web-shaped material, for example in the form of film material. In one embodiment, compressed air flows through the pores of a porous wall with mean pore diameters of 7 to 10 μm, and in another embodiment air flows through a wall having micro-bores with openings of 350 μm.


An improved thermal sprayable molybdenum-iron alloy powder useful for forming wear and abrasion resistant coatings having high thermal conductivity and preferably good corrosion resistance. The preferred embodiment of the alloy powder includes two distinct substantially uniformly dispersed solid solution phases of molybdenum, including a first low molybdenum concentration matrix phase and a second higher molybdenum concentration phase for forming improved dual phase molybdenum coatings. The preferred alloy powder composition includes 15-60% by weight molybdenum, 20-60% by weight iron and the preferred corrosion resistant alloy includes 3-35% by weight nickel plus chromium. A more preferred composition includes by weight 25-50% molybdenum, 4-10% chromium, 10-18% nickel and 1-3% carbon, plus silicon as required to promote fluidity and atomization. The most preferred composition comprises by weight 25-40% molybdenum, 4 to 8% chromium, 12 to 18% nickel, 1-2.5% carbon, 2-3% silicon, 0.2-1% boron and 25-50% iron.

The present invention relates to improved thermal sprayable powders, particularly molybdenum-iron alloy powders suitable for forming improved coatings on metal substrates having high thermal conductivity and wear resistance. More particularly, the present invention relates to improved molybdenum-iron alloy powders suitable for thermal spraying and forming corrosion and wear resistant coatings having good thermal conductivity.
Surfaces subject to wear at elevated temperatures are often coated with metal alloys to reduce wear and to provide improved conductivity. For example, yankee dryer rolls used by the paper and pulp industries are often faced with a coating comprising 75% by weight molybdenum and 25% by weight nickel alloy. The coating is typically formed using a plasma spray gun into which is fed a blend of molybdenum and alloy powders. Yankee dryer rolls may exceed 20 feet in diameter and are often 30-40 feet in length. The molybdenum-nickel coatings are, however, susceptible to corrosion, reducing the useful life of such coatings, particularly in the corrosive environment to which yankee dryer rolls are subjected.
In such coatings, molybdenum provides improved wear resistance, high thermal conductivity and functions as a tribological couple with the doctor blade. These properties are critical in such applications, making molybdenum a preferred material for such coatings. Nickel alloy is added primarily to serve as a binder to hold the molybdenum particles together in the coating. Unfortunately, however, such nickel alloys have relatively poor thermal conductivity and when nickel is in contact with molybdenum under the service conditions of a yankee dryer rolls, galvanic potential exacerbates corrosion. As will be understood, corroded surfaces on yankee dryer rolls are unacceptable, requiring replacement or refacing, which is an expensive, time consuming procedure, particularly given the size of the rolls. A corrosion resistant coating is thus needed for such applications, which must also have good thermal conductivity and wear resistance.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, there are many other applications requiring improved wear resistance and good thermal conductivity which do not necessarily require corrosion resistance. For example, there are numerous applications for coatings having improved wear resistance and good thermal conductivity in the automotive and aerospace industries. The coatings of this invention may be used for such applications as piston rings and shifter forks, for example.
Another problem with present wear resistant coatings requiring good thermal conductivity and wear resistance is the method of application. Where the constituents of the coating alloy must be fed as a blend of separate metal or metal alloy powders, the consistency of the resultant coating alloy may be adversely affected. Alloy thermal spray coating powders are, however, limited to alloys which may be formed by conventional atomization techniques. That is, the alloy formulation must be capable of being melted and atomized. Also, the alloy metal powder must be suitable for thermal spray applications, preferably suitable for both plasma and HVOF (high velocity oxygen flame) thermal spray apparatus. Thus, there is a need for a thermal sprayable metal alloy powder which may be used to form improved wear and abrasion resistant coatings having high thermal conductivity and most preferably coatings which are also corrosion and oxidation resistant. The improved thermal sprayable molybdenum-iron alloy powder of this invention meets these criteria.

Molybdenum-iron thermal sprayable alloy powders


Pluralities of ultrasonic transducers are arranged on the bottom wall of the cleaning tank. The output power of the ultrasonic oscillator is supplied to the transducers through the switching unit, which switches the drive mode between a first mode in which all the ultrasonic transducers are supplied with the output power and thus are excited, and a second mode in which only a part or parts of the ultrasonic transducers are supplied with the output power generated by the ultrasonic oscillator. The first mode is used when cleaning substrates not-resistant to vibration, and the second mode is used when cleaning substrates resistant to vibration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus, more specifically, to an apparatus that utilizes ultrasonic waves to clean substrates, for example, semiconductor wafers or LCD glass substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the processing of semiconductor devices or LCDs, the wet-method for cleaning semiconductor wafers or LCD glass substrates by immersing them into a tank containing a chemical liquid or rinse liquids, etc., is widely utilized.
One example of a cleaning apparatus that implements the wet-cleaning method is an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus. Conventional ultrasonic cleaning apparatuses are primarily comprised of a quartz cleaning tank that holds cleaning liquids such as chemical fluids in which the semiconductor wafer is immersed, an intermediate tank that that holds vibration-propagating liquid such as pure-water in which the bottom portion of the cleaning tank is immersed, and an ultrasonic wave generating unit comprised of a stainless steel vibration transfer plate, on which ultrasonic transducers are affixed, arranged at a bottom portion of the intermediate tank.
With ultrasonic cleaning apparatuses like that mentioned above, semiconductor wafers held by a wafer guide are immersed in the cleaning tank that contains chemical fluids, the ultrasonic transducers are excited by the application of an appropriate high-frequency voltage, thereby generating ultrasonic wave. The ultrasonic wave propagates through the pure water in the cleaning tank, and removes particles etc. adhered to the wafers.
The acoustic pressure of the ultrasonic wave and processing time determines the efficiency of particle removal. Particles can be removed in a shorter amount of time if the acoustic pressure of the ultrasonic wave is high. Even if the acoustic pressure is low, particles can be removed by lengthening the processing time. Conventional ultrasonic cleaning apparatuses have been geared toward faster, high acoustic pressure processing, or slow, low acoustic pressure processing. With the former, damage to the wafer may result, and with the latter, the problem of low throughput is a concern.
Chemical liquids used with ultrasonic cleaning apparatuses include a mixture of ammonia solution and hydrogen peroxide solution called "SC1" (NH4OH/H2O2/H2O), a mixture of hydrochloric acid solution and hydrogen peroxide solution called "SC2" (HCl/H2O2/H2O), and dilute hydrofluoric acid (DHF ,etc., and these are used according to the objective of the cleaning process. When these chemical liquids are used, dissolving of the quartz cleaning tank may occur, resulting in generation of metallic contamination. Also, with the dissolving of the cleaning tank, the through rate of sonic power may be affected, causing the possibility that cleansing efficiency may be worsened.


In a method for computed tomography and a computed tomography apparatus for scanning a subject with a conical ray beam emanating from a focus that detects a matrix-like detector array, the focus is moved relative to the subject on a spiral path around a system axis, and the detector array supplies output data corresponding to the incident radiation, and images having an inclined image plane are reconstructed from output data respectively supplied during the movement of the focus on a spiral segment, the image planes of these images are inclined by an inclination angle γ around a first axis intersecting the system axis at a right angle and also are inclined by a tilt angle δ with respect to the system axis around a second axis that intersects the first axis as well as the system axis at a right angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for operating a computed tomography apparatus, and to a computed tomography apparatus, of the type for conducting a spiral scan of an examination subject.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Methods for operating a computed tomography apparatus are known wherein, for scanning a subject with a conical ray beam emanating from a focus which strikes with a matrix-like detector array for detecting the radiation, the focus is moved relative to the subject on a spiral path around a system axis. The detector array supplies output data corresponding to the incident radiation, and images relative to the system axis are reconstructed from the output data respectively supplied during the movement of the focus has each spiral segment. Computed tomography (CT) systems are known having a radiation source with a focus from which a conical ray beam emanates, a matrix-like detector array for detecting the radiation, the detector array supplying output data corresponding to the incident radiation, means for generating a relative motion between the radiation source and the detector array, and the subject, and an image computer to which the output data are supplied. For scanning the subject with the ray beam and the two-dimensional detector array, motion relative to a system axis is generated such that the focus moves relative to the system axis on a helical spiral path whose center axis corresponds to the system axis. The image computer uses the output data respectively supplied during the motion of the focus in spiral segments to reconstruct images having an image plane inclined relative to the system axis.
Such a procedure is referred to as spiral-CT and such a method and CT apparatus are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,134.
The spiral path of the focus F illustrated in FIG. 1 is described by the following equations:
                                                                                x                  f                                =                                                                                -                                          R                      f                                                                          cos                                                                                α                                                                                y                  f                                =                                                                                R                    f                                                      sin                                                                                α                                                                                z                  f                                =                                                                  S                  ·                  p                  ·                                      α                                          2                                            π                                                                                and                                                                        x            _                    =                      (                                                                                -                                              R                        f                                                                                cos                                                                                α                                                                                -                                              R                        f                                                                                sin                                                                                α                                                                                Sp                                                              α                                              2                                                π                                                                                )                                              (        1        )
When the detector elements of the detector array are arranged in rows proceeding transversely relative to the system axis Z and in columns proceeding parallel to the system Z, S stands for the extent of a detector row in the direction of the system axis and p stands for the pitch, and
  p  =      h    S  applies, where h stands for the slope of the spiral path per revolution of the focus F. α is the projection angle, and an image plane associated with data that were registered over a projection angle range of ±α is considered below, with the reference projection belonging to the image plane being at αr=0, i.e. it represents the middle of the projection angle range ±α. Below, αr is referred to as the reference projection angle.
In conventional spiral-CT, tomograms referred to as transverse tomograms are reconstructed, i.e. images for image planes that reside at a right angle relative to the system axis z and that thus contain the x-axis and y-axis, the x-axis and y-axis being at a right angle relative to one another and to the system axis z.
In the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,134, in contrast, images are reconstructed for image planes that, according to FIG. 2, are inclined by an inclination angle γ around the x-axis relative to the system axis z. As a result, the advantage (at least theoretically) is achieved that the images contain fewer artifacts when the inclination angle γ is selected such that a good, optimum matching of the image plane to the spiral path is established insofar as possible according to a suitable error criterion, for example minimum square average of the spacing of all points of the spiral segment from the image plane measured in the z-direction.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,134, fan data, i.e. data registered in known fan geometry, are employed for the reconstruction, the data having been acquired with the motion of the focus over a spiral segment having proceeding through a 180° plus the fan angle or cone angle, for example 240°. With respect to the reference projection angle αr=0, the following applies to the normal vector of the image plane:
            n      US                  (      γ      )        =            (                                    0                                                                              -                sin                                                                                γ                                                                          cos                                                                                γ                                          )        .  The optimum inclination angle γ is obviously dependent on the slope of the spirals and thus on the pitch p.
Fundamentally, the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,134 can be employed for arbitrary values of the pitch p. However, an optimum utilization of the detector area available and thus of the radiation dose applied to the patient for image acquisition (detector and thus dose utilization), is not possible below the maximum pitch Pmax. This is because even though a given transverse slice, i.e. a slice of the subject residing at a right angle relative to the system axis z, is scanned over a spiral segment that is longer than 180° plus the fan or cone angle, only a spiral segment having the length 180° plus the cone angle can be utilized for values of the pitch p below the maximum pitch Pmax, since the utilization of a longer spiral segment would make it impossible to adapt the image plane adequately well to the spiral path.

Method and apparatus for spiral scan computed tomography


The present invention allows the reproduction of a crystalline aluminum hydroxide having a high particle strength and a high purity which can find wide application such as abrasive from a supersaturated sodium aluminate solution which is being recycled in the production of aluminum hydroxide or lithographic printing plate. In a process for the purification of aluminum hydroxide which comprises the hydrolysis reaction of a supersaturated solution of sodium aluminate to crystallize aluminum hydroxide, the improvement which comprises the steps of keeping the temperature of a suspension formed by mixing a mother liquor having a total caustic soda concentration of from 50 to 700 g/l and an aluminum concentration or from 0 to 300 g/l with crystalline aluminum hydroxide at a range of from 10.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. for at least 1 to 48 hours, mixing the suspension with the supersaturated solution of sodium aluminate, and then causing the crystallization reaction at the crystallization reaction temperature.

An aluminum plate to be used as a support for lithographic printing plate is etched on the surface thereof with caustic soda before or after being mechanically or electrochemically roughened.
Further, in an electrochemical roughening process nitric acid and hydrochloric acid are used. In an anodic oxidation process, sulfuric acid is used. Thus, various processing solutions are used in the surface treatment of a support.
The variation of the aluminum ion concentration in the processing solution to be used in these surface treatment processes results in a big difference in the configuration of the surface of the support thus treated, exerting a great adverse effect on the quality of the support.
As mentioned above, the aluminum ion concentration in the processing solution has a great adverse effect on the quality of an aluminum support for printing plate. Accordingly, it is important to keep the aluminum ion concentration in the processing solution at a predetermined value.
A conventional common practice of keeping the aluminum concentration in the processing solution constant is to properly discharge the processing solution from the processing system. Another conventional common practice is to cause aluminum ions in the processing solution to be adsorbed by an ion exchange resin as mentioned in JP-A-57-192300 (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application").
However, the external adjustment method which comprises properly discharging the processing solution from the system to keep the aluminum ion concentration constant is disadvantageous in that it requires the processing solution to be discharged from the system, resulting in a drastic increase in the consumption of the processing solution and the burden of disposal of waste liquor.
An aluminum sash is etched with caustic soda in the process for the matting of the surface thereof or the formation of an anodized film thereon for higher durability. Since this process requires a large amount of an etching solution to be used, it is necessary that aluminum hydroxide be recovered from the etching solution.
Further, various surface treatment processes such as anodic oxidation with sulfuric acid have the same disadvantages as the foregoing process for the surface treatment of an aluminum support for printing plate with respect to the disposal of waste liquor. For example, these surface treatment processes require the recovery of aluminum hydroxide from a sludge produced by the neutralization of waste liquor and the recovery of aluminum ions for the adjustment of the aluminum ion concentration of the surface treatment.
As mentioned above, in the production of alumina, lithographic printing plate or aluminum sash, the procedure of purifying a crude sodium aluminate solution in the course of the process to obtain a high purity aluminum hydroxide whereby the aluminum ion concentration of the surface treatment is properly controlled is important to prepare a high purity aluminum hydroxide from a sodium aluminate solution and recover aluminum hydroxide from an aluminum sludge produced by the process.
In the process for the preparation of alumina from bauxite, the step of obtaining a purified solution of sodium aluminate from a supersaturated sodium aluminate solution to prepare aluminum hydroxide has been heretofore carried out by a sedimentation process which comprises allowing crystalline impurities to be precipitated in a thickener to remove impurities from the supersaturated sodium aluminate solution. However, this process is disadvantageous in that the crystalline impurities are so fine that a prolonged sedimentation time and a large sedimentation area are needed, producing the necessity of a large scale facility. Further, extremely fine crystalline impurities (regarded as almost liquid) cannot be fully removed. Accordingly, it takes time as long as 42 to 72 hours to crystallize aluminum hydroxide. Moreover, the resulting purified sodium aluminate solution has a poor purity. The percent crystallization of aluminate hydroxide is not too good.
In order to separate sodium and aluminum ions from a sodium aluminate solution, diffuse dialysis using an ion exchange membrane previously proposed by the inventors may be employed to discharge aluminum ions out of the system (JP-A-1-200992). However, the diffuse dialysis is disadvantageous in that insoluble metals such as iron attached to the membrane must be removed and a scale such as aluminum hydroxide attached to the membrane on the waste liquor side thereof after diffuse dialysis must be removed once per three days by washing with an acid such as sulfuric acid, causing a rise in the running cost.
As a crystallization process for the preparation of crystalline aluminum hydroxide and a sodium aluminate solution from a supersaturated sodium aluminate solution, particularly a crystallization-process which comprises crystallizing aluminum hydroxide from a supersaturated sodium aluminate solution while the solution used is being reused as an etching solution at an etching step to keep the aluminum ion concentration of the etching solution or the like at a predetermined value, a process as disclosed in JP-A-5-279020 is known.
However, when a particulate crystalline aluminum hydroxide (normally finely divided particles having a size of from 1 .mu.m to 150 .mu.m unless otherwise specified) as a common industrial product or a crystalline aluminum hydroxide obtained according to a method disclosed in JP-A-5-279020 is circulated in the form of slurry by means of a pump, an external force developed by the pump may break some secondary crystals to primary crystals or further reduce the size of the primary crystals. Crystalline aluminum hydroxide may be hereinafter occasionally referred simply to as "aluminum hydroxide" unless confused.
Referring to the use of aluminum hydroxide as an abrasive, an industrially available common aluminum hydroxide or aluminum hydroxide obtained according to the method disclosed in the above cited JP-A-5-279020 shows an extremely short abrasive life as compared with other abrasives and thus must be used in a huge amount.

Process for the purification of aluminum hydroxide and process for the surface treatment of aluminum plate utilizing the purification process


A pulsed laser diode array driver includes an inductor having a first terminal configured to receive a source voltage, a source capacitor coupled between the first terminal of the inductor and ground, a bypass capacitor connected between a second terminal of the inductor and ground, a bypass switch connected between the second terminal of the inductor and ground, a laser diode array with one or more rows of laser diodes, and one or more laser diode switches, each being connected between a respective row node of the laser diode array and ground. The laser diode switches and the bypass switch are configured to control a current flow through the inductor to produce respective high-current pulses through each row of the laser diode array, each of the high-current pulses corresponding to a peak current of a resonant waveform developed at that row of the laser diode array.

Laser-based ranging systems, such as Lidar, often use a pulsed laser diode driver circuit to generate a short, high-current pulse, which is passed through a laser diode to emit a corresponding pulse of laser light. Reflected pulses of laser light are received by the Lidar system and are used to determine a distance between the Lidar system and the point of reflection. Spatial resolution of Lidar systems is determined in part by the width of the pulse of laser light. For example, it is usually desirable to generate a pulse of light having a width of about 5 ns or less. However, parasitic inductances of the pulsed laser diode driver circuit and the laser diode typically must be overcome to achieve the desired short pulse width. For example, many laser diodes have at least one bond wire which can contribute 1 nH of inductance, thereby limiting a slew rate of the current pulse unless there is very high voltage. Thus, some conventional pulsed laser diode driver circuits use a high source voltage, often greater than 40V to 100V, to achieve the desired pulse width. Switching devices, such as GaN field-effect transistors (FET), are often used in conventional pulsed laser diode driver circuits as they are able to withstand such high voltages. However, pulsed laser diode driver circuits that use GaN technology may be more expensive and/or may be more difficult to integrate with Silicon-based architectures.
Some Lidar systems use arrays of laser diodes as a laser light source. Some laser diode arrays include multiple edge-emitting laser diodes (EELs), and some laser diode arrays include multiple vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Unlike single edge-emitting laser diodes, laser diode arrays contain many individual laser diodes organized as rows and/or columns to reduce the number of connections required to pulse the laser diodes. For instance, a VCSEL array arranged with 100 rows and 100 columns would contain 10,000 laser diodes. A typical method for driving such a VCSEL array involves connecting all 10,000 anodes of the VCSEL array to a common anode node (e.g., a package pin) and all 100 cathodes in each row to a respective cathode row node (e.g., a respective package pin) to form a common-anode VCSEL array. In this example, there would be one anode node and 100 row cathode nodes. Another typical method for driving such a VCSEL array involves connecting all 10,000 cathodes of the VCSEL array to a common cathode node (e.g., a package pin) and all 100 anodes in each row to a respective anode row node (e.g., a respective package pin) to form a common-cathode VCSEL array. In this example, there would be one cathode node and 100 row anode nodes.
As another example, an edge-emitting laser diode array arranged with four rows and four columns would contain 16 laser diodes. A typical method for driving such a laser diode array involves connecting all 16 anodes of the laser diode array to a common anode node (e.g., a package pin) and all four cathodes in each row to a respective cathode row node (e.g., a respective package pin) to form a common-anode laser diode array. In this example, there would be one anode node and four row cathode nodes. Another typical method for driving an edge-emitting laser diode array involves connecting all 16 cathodes of the laser diode array to a common cathode node (e.g., a package pin) and all four anodes in each row to a respective anode row node (e.g., a respective package pin) to form a common-cathode laser diode array. In this example, there would be one cathode node and four row anode nodes.

Pulsed resonant laser diode array driver


A continuous block caster is provided with a mold block assembly having an internal anchor pin which is insulated. One end of a support pin, many of which are used to support each block, is threaded into the anchor pin, the other end is demountably secured in a fastening member in turn fastened to a carriage block. All the fastening members except only one at the center, are y- or x-y slides, so termed because they permit lateral movement of the support pin. A stepped lock-down key which provides a camming means, allows an entire mold block assembly and supporting pin assembly to be connected and disconnected quickly from the carriage block by rotating the key. Insulating the support pin in this manner allows the planarity of a casting face to be maintained in a lateral plane within 5 mils (127 micrometers) of vertical movement. Such limited distortion does not adversely affect the planarity of the upper and lower faces of the cast slab.

In the past, many designs have addressed the problem of casting a molten metal into a moving mold, continuously, with an operable and reliable machine. Towards this end, about 20 years ago, Lauener disclosed a continuous casting machine in U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,586, which used multiple mold block assemblies to form a continuous mold cavity from which molten metal emerged as a slab casting. Because the machine uses mold blocks it is referred to as a "block caster", and because it continuously casts a slab (or "strip") it is also referred to as a "slab caster". The uphill struggle by many persons skilled in the art, to establish the Lauener machine as a viable contender against competing commercial "belt casters", has over the years, spurred much effort towards refining concepts incorporated in machines able to produce a quality slab casting, reliably and economically.
This invention is specifically directed to separate supporting and fastening means which are together referred to as "mounting means", employed for attaching a mold block to a carriage block in any continuous block caster. An internally anchored mold block, and a support pin which anchors the mold block through its "non-casting face", have been designed to minimize the effects of thermal deformations to which mold blocks are subjected in the block caster. By "non-casting face" we refer to the horizontal face of a mold block which does not contact molten metal; the horizontal face which does, is referred to as a "casting face"). The interaction of the elements of the mounting means and the internally anchored mold block is unobviously effective to cope with such effects, particularly the vertical expansion, which is minimized to such an extent that no compensation for the expansion which does occur, is necessary.
As will presently be evident, the goal of this invention is to provide a block caster able to cast a slab of uniform thickness with unstriated, substantially smoothly planar upper and lower surfaces formed between upper and lower reference planes defined by the casting faces of opposed mold blocks. To cast such a slab, the casting faces of the opposed mold blocks are to be maintained in their corresponding reference planes while they travel through the mold cavity of the block caster.
In a block caster, a pair of synchronously driven endless trains of mold block assemblies ("casting trains") travelling in paths which resemble loops, define a substantially linear horizontal mold cavity having open ends, when the opposed "casting faces" of mold blocks in the mold block assemblies come together in spaced-apart relationship, facing each other, along the linear portions of the loops. Each loop has its linear portion connected by upper and lower arcuate portions or "bends" which complete the loops, and the mold block assemblies are endlessly interconnected and oppositely disposed relative to one another in the adjacent linear portions of the loops. The mold cavity is preferably defined in conjunction with "side dams" which together confine the molten metal in the moving mold cavity.
A casting nozzle is inserted near one open end, referred to as the "molten end", to supply the mold cavity with molten metal from a tundish. The molten metal cools as it progresses with the mold block assemblies until the slab emerges from the other open end, referred to as the "solid end". The longitudinal direction in which the molten metal is cast is referred to as the "casting direction" or the x-axis. The lateral direction, orthogonal to that in which the metal is cast, is referred to as the "transverse direction" or y-axis; and the vertically spaced-apart distance of the mold block faces which define the thickness of the cast slab is said to be in the vertical direction, or z-axis.
As one might expect, to cast a slab with uniformly rectangular cross-section, it is essential that, in the mold cavity, the faces of the mold blocks defining the upper surface of the slab be in the same plane, and that the faces of those mold blocks defining the lower surface of the slab be in the same plane. When any portion of the face of a mold block is displaced from its original planar configuration, the slab cast will not have planar upper and lower surfaces. Depending upon the type of displacement, the surfaces will be arcuate, rippled or striated. When the mold blocks are not contiguous, or, if their vertical sides are not planar when they are touching, the surface of a cast slab will be striated, referred to as "ribbed"; if the edges of the blocks are thermally distorted so as to result in "bumps" (explained herebelow), the surface of a cast slab will also be striated, said to be "grooved". Whether ribbed or grooved, if present, such striations are clearly visible in the cast slab, for example as seen in the color photograph in the article titled "Small Aluminum Companies Speed Up, Spread Out" by George McManus, Iron Age, Feb '91.
Portions of the mold block faces are unavoidably displaced because they get heated to a high temperature when they contact molten metal at the molten end, then cool progressively as they transfer heat to the mold block as it reaches the solid end. The mold blocks are necessarily distorted due to the temperature gradients which are three-dimensionally distributed through the mold block. As the mold blocks cool and the molten metal solidifies, their original dimensions begin to be restored, returning to normal when sufficiently cooled, if the edges of blocks are undamaged.
Under actual operating conditions, the distortions of the mold blocks are such that they exert enormous pressure against contiguous mold blocks forcing the metal of the blocks out of their planar conformance in edge-abutting protuberances, referred to as "bumps". These bumps interfere with the smoothly planar definition of the surfaces of the upper and lower series of mold block faces. As a result, the upper and lower surfaces of the slab are neither planar nor smooth (that is, have poor "surface accuracy"). Such a slab is unacceptable in commerce because its surface contains cracks, or, provides locations from which cracks can propagate when the slab is rolled. A slab with poor surface accuracy is evidence of the "casting problem"--the less accurate the surface, the greater the problem.
The design and construction of a block caster derives from a fundamental decision whether to restrain the forces of distortion by equal and opposite restraints, or, to control and limit the distortions without substantially restraining them, and to cope with the controlled distortion.
We decided that the first step towards solving the well-recognized problem of poor surface accuracy was to provide a machine designed to allow the mold blocks to undergo their cyclical thermal changes without substantially restraining them, yet without interfering with the continuously planar configuration of the opposed surfaces of the mold cavity.
To this end, in our copending patent application Ser. No. 07/674,664 we provided "microslits" in the face of each mold block. We minimized the "mechanical noise", for example, the vibrations transmitted to the mold blocks during operation, by providing elastic hinges which maintained the faces of mold blocks in each carriage track, in or near the open ends of the mold cavity, in essentially contiguous relationship even in the "bends" of each continuous carriage track. By "essentially contiguous" we mean that casting faces of mold blocks are horizontally spaced apart ("gapped") less than 0.020" (inch) preferably less than 0.005"; and, vertically spaced apart ("set") less than 0.020", preferably less than 0.005", so as to form a smoothly continuous arcuate surface in the bends. The elastic hinges eliminated the mechanical excitation (familiarly referred to as "banging") caused by impact in the "bends" of a "loop", of adjacent mold blocks having radially divergent corners, and circumferentially spaced-apart faces.
Because a mold block supported from a carriage block, must be replaceable in any block caster irrespective of the details of the particular design and construction of the block caster, we have provided for replacement of a mold block, together with the support pin assemblies which support the mold block, quickly and easily. We have invented a method for substituting a `fresh` (new or remanufactured) mold block assembly for one which requires replacement even in a block caster in which mold block assemblies are interlinked as if in a chain (hence referred to as "chain-wise linking"). Such chain-wise interlinking is unlike the linking in the '586 patent which teaches separate mold blocks connected so that removing one mold block allows the remaining mold blocks to separate from one another in the train. In chain-wise interlinking, removing a mold block to separate the ends of the chain, allows one to hold all the mold blocks supported by only the first mold block at one end of the chain. Because of the inherent difficulty of replacing a mold block in this chain-wise configuration, which is the linking in the most preferred embodiment of the invention, it is particularly surprising that a substitution may be made in a manner as effective as we have devised.
Despite the features we have disclosed for a block caster in our '664 application, which features redound to superior operation of that block caster, we found that the conventional mounting means, such as are disclosed in the aforesaid Lauener '586 patent, fail to provide a sufficiently high quality cast slab, reliably and routinely. By "sufficiently high quality" we refer to a slab which is acceptable to a customer who purchases slabs for his further use, for example, to be rolled into "can stock" for beverage cans.
Briefly, the mounting means used in the '586 patent secures a mold block to a guide member. The mounting means relies upon a bolt 15 one end of which is threadedly secured in the geometric center of a rectangular mold block 10; the other end of the bolt 15 is passed through a bore in a guide member 11 and tightened against it with a nut 16 and an interposed spring washer (cup spring) 17. Four supports (bolts) 12, two on either side of the bolt 15, are provided with spherical rounded ends which rest on backings 13 of hardened steel. The backings 13 are in the form of plane discs having a raised rim and the rounded ends of the bolts are in contact with the planar discs so that when the mold block 10 expands or contracts the bolts 12 assume a sloping position. Thus when the mold block does move laterally, it causes rotation of one spherical rounded end of each bolt 12 (in a backing 13 which is sunk in the mold block 10) and a simultaneous, corresponding rotation of the other spherical rounded end of the bolt in another backing 13 sunk in the guide member 11. This causes a displacement along the diameter of the sphere (of which the spherical rounded ends of the bolts are opposite portions), and there is no change in the distance between the mold blocks and the carriage block (or `guide member`, see col 3, lines 61-75).
In the '586 patent, Lauener expected to maintain the distance between the non-casting face of the block and the carriage block constant with the aforesaid bolts with spherical rounded ends. But these bolts are unable to accommodate anything but the smallest vertical expansion even with the assistance of the spring washer (cup spring 17). A large, if not major portion of the vertical expansion of the mold block occurs after the cast slab solidifies. Under such conditions, the casting face of the block is positioned against the solidified slab and cannot move, forcing movement of the non-casting face of the block away from the slab. This exerts great pressure on the carriage block and associated structure of the block caster, which pressure forces the casting face of a mold block in the processing zone out of the reference plane for the faces of mold blocks of each train in that zone. Such pressure also accelerates distortion of the casting face of the mold block. The bolts with spherical rounded ends and the spring washer of the '586 structure are ineffective to cope with the relatively large vertical expansion which results after solidification of the slab.
The foregoing will be better understood upon envisioning the sequence of events in the processing zone. At the start, when molten metal contacts the casting faces of specific opposed mold blocks at the mouth of the mold cavity, the thermal gradient between the casting face and non-casting face of each of those molds block is greatest. The initial expansion of each mold block due to this gradient, forces each casting face out of its reference plane for the casting face of that mold, immediately. Since the melt offers little resistance, the opposed casting faces of those mold blocks move towards each other, squeezing the cooling melt into a thinner (measured along the z-axis) slab than when the faces of the mold blocks first commenced to form the mold cavity.
As the melt cools while travelling through the mid-portion of the mold cavity, those specific mold blocks continue to expand vertically and laterally. Such vertical expansion progressively further forces the casting faces of those opposed mold blocks towards each other, and forces each casting face out of its respective reference plane, so long as the central portion of the cooling slab is relatively soft and compressible, though the slab, near its surface, is solid.
As the cooling slab continues to travel through the mold cavity, the thermal gradient between the casting and non-casting faces of those mold blocks is decreased relatively rapidly because of the typically high thermal conductivity of any metal preferred for use as a mold block. At this later stage in the travel of the slab through the mold cavity, the slab is solidified and essentially incompressible so that further vertical expansion of each of those mold blocks results in force being exerted against the carriage block assembly, thus "loading" it in proportion to the magnitude of the force exerted. It is this force exerted against the solidified slab which causes displacement of the backings 13 and rotation of the spherical rounded ends of the bolts 12 in the block caster of the '586 patent. Near the far end of the mold cavity where the slab is solidified, the displacement of opposed casting faces towards each other is essentially zero because the slab is incompressible, and, the displacement away from each other is relatively small compared to the displacement of those casting faces in their travel through the initial and mid-portions of the mold cavity, because of the limitations imposed by the bolts 12 in their backing plates.
The mold block 10 in the '586 patent is maintained in the central position relative to the guide member 11 by means of three guide pieces 21, 22 and 23 screwed on to the guide member and slide in grooves 18, 19 and 20. The guide piece 23 prevents lateral displacement (along the y-axis), and guide pieces 21 and 22 prevent displacement in the casting direction (x-axis).
As will be evident from the placement of the bolts 15 which externally anchor the surface of the mold block 10 to the guide member 11, during operation of the block caster described in the '586 patent, the displacements due to the vertical expansions referred to hereinabove will correspond to the vertical expansion of the entire block. In contrast, in the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of an internally anchored mold block herebelow, the displacement due to such vertical expansion is limited to the thickness of only that portion of the mold block near its face, which portion is defined by the distance (referred to as the "heat-sensitive distance") between the casting face and the lateral centerline of an anchor for a support pin of a support pin assembly. When this heat-sensitive distance is less than one-half the height or thickness (measured along the z-axis) of the mold block, preferably one-third, the vertical expansion attributable to such distance is less than one-half that attributable to the entire thickness of the mold block.
It will now be evident that Lauener (in '586) failed to accommodate the vertical expansion of the mold block and its supporting means by the spring washer (cup spring 17). The spring washer and spherical rounded ends of the bolts 15 could only accommodate a portion of the lateral expansion of the block by angulation of the bolts 15. As did others in the prior art, Lauener failed to make provision to cope with relatively large changes in positions of the casting faces of opposed mold blocks as they are forced towards each other while the slab is compressible, or as they are forced away from each other after the slab is solidified.
The positions of the casting faces are not fixed prior to solidification of the slab, but "float" up and down due to thermal changes. For casting aluminum, this vertical expansion (in the direction of the z-axis) is about 0.32 mm for a mold block of practical thickness (say 10 cm, measured along the z-axis), and is too great to be accommodated by any prior art vertical compensating means.
We have found that it is most desirable to maintain the relative positions of opposed casting faces of mold blocks substantially coplanar in their respective reference planes throughout the casting zone, and to do so, the vertical displacement of these faces relative to each other must be minimized. We have been able to do this by supporting each mold block with an insulated support pin anchored within the mold block, relatively close to the casting face of the mold block, so that such vertical distortion as is transmitted to the support pin is too little to cause undesirable striations in the surface of the cast slab. Thus the casting faces of contiguous mold blocks of each loop, maintain a substantially coplanar configuration in the casting zone, which coplanar configuration in turn, results in substantially smoothly planar upper and lower surfaces of a cast slab which is commercially highly desirable for further processing.

Supporting and fastening means for mold blocks in a continuous block caster


In a heat exchanging apparatus for a vapor compression refrigerant cycle, an internal heat exchanger is attached to an end of a radiator. The internal heat exchanger is arranged such that high-pressure refrigerant passages are closer to the radiator than low-pressure refrigerant passages. The heat exchanging apparatus can be mounted on a vehicle such that the radiator receives cooling air more than the internal heat exchanger. Because the internal heat exchanger performs heat exchange between high-pressure refrigerant and low-pressure refrigerant, performance of the internal heat exchanger is not degraded even if it is located at a part receiving less cooling air. Thus, the heat exchanging apparatus is easily mounted on a vehicle by integrating the internal heat exchanger with the radiator, without reducing a cooling capacity of the radiator.

In general, a high-pressure side heat exchanger of a vehicular vapor compression refrigerant cycle is mounted at a front of a vehicle behind a bumper reinforcement. In a case that the bumper reinforcement extends from a right side to a left side of the vehicle in substantially the middle of the heat exchanger in a vertical direction, cooling air generally passes through a top portion and a lower portion of the heat exchanger. In some models, cooling air generally passes through left and right portions of the heat exchanger.
As for the vapor compression refrigerant cycle, for example, JP-A-2000-97504 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,334) proposes a method of improving a coefficient of performance by exchanging heat between a high-pressure refrigerant and a low-pressure refrigerant.


A method and system for dynamically synthesizing a computer program based on user context data is provided. In accordance with the invention, a request is received to generate a computer program for an identified user. In response, an incomplete definition of the computer program, from which portions of the definition are omitted, is retrieved. For each portion of the computer program omitted from the incomplete definition of the computer program, a plurality of possible versions of the omitted portion are accessed. Each possible version produces a different behavior in the computer program when it is added to the computer program. Further, each possible version has one or more conditions that may be evaluated against user attributes for the identified user to determine whether the possible version is acceptable for the user. Next, for each possible version of each omitted portion, the conditions of the possible version are evaluated to determine whether the possible version is acceptable for the user. A preference rule is then used to select, for each omitted portion, one possible version determined to be acceptable. Finally, the versions of the omitted portions of the computer program selected as preferred are added to the incomplete definition of the computer program in order to complete the definition of the computer program. In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the completed computer program is executed on behalf of the identified user.

Computer users utilize a variety of application programs for many different purposes, which include producing documents, art, and music; communicating; learning and researching; transacting business; and pursuing recreation. Such application programs are carefully designed to be useful to and usable for what their designers anticipate to be the application programs' typical users. The broad, multidimensional diversity of modern computer users however, makes it increasingly difficult to identify and design application programs for typical users. The diversity of modem users further ensures that many users will diverge significantly from any users identified as typical. As a result, many conventional applications are ill-suited to many of their users, not to mention their potential users.
Some conventional application programs may be tailored, in certain limited senses, to a particular user. First, some conventional application programs utilize different data resources depending on the value of a variable which may be said to be associated with a user. For instance, some programs display a text string in different languages based on the value of a current language variable. As another example, some programs display different times based on the value of a current time zone variable. This approach to tailoring application programs to a user does not affect how a program functions, but rather just which data it presents in a given situation.
Second, some conventional application programs permit a user to set run-time options that specify whether the application program provides certain optional features. For example, some application programs for drawing permit their users to select whether the application program should provide the feature of displaying a grid of lines intended to help the user to align portions of a drawing. This approach to tailoring application programs relies on an explicit command from the user to provide the feature or not provide the feature, which can make tailoring the performance of an application in this way time consuming and frustrating for users, often involving significant trial and error.
Given the limits of conventional approaches to tailoring application programs to particular users, a flexible and extensible system for dynamically generating computer programs and portions thereof, including various types of data artifacts, based upon relevant user information would have significant utility.

Method and system for dynamically synthesizing a computer program by differentially resolving atoms based on user context data


A card-type device that includes an antenna body disposed on a housing and movable along a turning shaft between an upright position and a flat position. An antenna turning member applies an urging force to the antenna body in a direction in which the antenna body turns to the upright position. A locking projection projecting and a corresponding locking portion which is fitted to the locking projection when the antenna body is in the flat position, stops the antenna body from turning. When the antenna body moves in a direction in which the antenna body is to be unlocked, the locking projection is released from the locking portion, and the antenna body automatically turns toward the upright position by the urging force of the antenna turning member.

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view schematically illustrating an embodiment of a card-type device (refer to Patent Document 1, for example). A card-type device 40 has a wireless communication function, and includes a circuit board 41, a flat housing 42 which accommodates the circuit board 41, and an antenna structure body 43 which is disposed outside of the housing 42 and which performs wireless communication utilizing radio waves. The antenna structure body 43 includes an antenna turning shaft 44 at a base end thereof, and the antenna turning shaft 44 projects from the antenna structure body 43. The housing 42 has a through-hole on one side which allows the antenna turning shaft 44 to be inserted into the housing 42. The housing 42 also has inside thereof a bearing (not shown) which receives the antenna turning shaft 44. With this configuration of the card-type device 40, the antenna structure body 43 turns on the antenna turning shaft 44, and the shaft 44 acts as the axis of turn. For example, when the card-type device 40 is used by being inserted into a card slot of an information terminal apparatus such as a personal computer, the antenna structure body 43 is turned so as to stand on an upper surface of the housing 42 as shown by a dashed line in FIG. 12. Thereby, the sensitivity to radio waves for transmission/reception is enhanced. On the other hand, when the card-type device 40 is detached from the card slot of the information terminal apparatus and is carried about, the antenna structure body 43 is turned into an accommodated flat position to be laid flat as shown by a solid line in FIG. 12. Thus, the card-type device 40 is readily carried.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-69029    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-243435    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-21846
In the configuration of the card-type device 40 shown in FIG. 12, in order to turn the antenna structure body 43 from the flat position to the upright position, the antenna structure body 43 is turned upward manually, for example, drawn up using a nail. The manual operation of turning the antenna structure body 43 upright is troublesome, and therefore, the device 40 is not user-friendly.


A dust collecting device using multi-cyclone dust filtration includes a dust collecting chamber, cyclone chamber and airflow guiding component. The dust collecting chamber communicates with the cyclone chamber having an intake port for a gas to be filtered, an annular side wall connected to intake port and guiding gas to be filtered to form a first cyclone, an engaging port communicated with dust collecting chamber and allowing first cyclone to enter dust collecting chamber, and an exhaust port. The airflow guiding component within cyclone chamber is provided with a return flow tube receiving the returned gas to be filtered and forming a second cyclone, an airflow guiding bonnet separated from return flow tube, and a dust filtration channel between airflow guiding bonnet and return flow tube. The second cyclone flows toward the exhaust port, and enables dust therein to enter cyclone chamber again, as passing by dust filtration channel.

In practice, cyclone separation is one kind of centrifugal sedimentation, in which centrifugal force is used to rotate particles at high speed in an eddy airflow. The higher the rotational speed is, the higher centrifugal sedimentation velocity the particles obtain. Further, the object of separating the particles from the airflow is then achieved. A conventional cyclone separator, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, is mainly composed of a separation cylinder 8. The separation cylinder 8 is provided through the wall surface thereof with an air inlet 81, is tapered in the tube diameter thereof toward the bottom, and is provided at the top thereof with an extracting channel 82. When the cyclone separator is put into practice, gas containing dust particles is allowed to enter from the air inlet 81, and then a down draft is formed by the gas along an inner wall of the separation cylinder 8. Finally, an updraft is formed within the separation cylinder 8 due to a suction force applied to the extracting channel 82. The dust is incapable of being raised along with the updraft owing to its own force of gravity, and then settled to the bottom of the separation cylinder 8. Further, the effect of dust collection is generated. The related patented technology is just as disclosed in Taiwan patent no. 1558462.
The dust filtration effect of the conventional cyclone separator is considerably limited. If the enhancement of the dust filtration effect of the cyclone separator is desired, there are mainly two ways of implementation as follows: one is an increased volume of chamber within the separation cylinder, and the other is a multi-layered dust filtering inner cylinder provided within the separation cylinder, as disclosed in the patents Nos. TW 1411422, TW 201340929, CN 103181741, CN 1572220A, JP 2000-254551A, JP 2005-103251A, JP 2005-224602A, JP 2006-205162A, JP 2006-272322A, JP 2006-297057A, JP 2006-346669A, JP 2014-83478A, JP 2015-131264, US 2017/0202418 and US 2018/0036746. However, if the increased volume of chamber within the separation cylinder is put into practice, there is a tendency for the whole volume of the cyclone separator to be bulky without doubt. However, if the multi-layered dust filtering inner cylinder is put into practice, a tendency for the structure of the cyclone separator to be complex may be resulted, so as to not only be unfavorable to maintenance, but also raise a big problem of periodic replacement of the dust filtering inner cylinder. Once the replacement of dust filtering inner cylinder is required in case of an environment where the filtration of hazardous gas is performed, the whole system should be shut down, and even stopped for a period of time for the replacement. In recent years, although the technology of cyclone separation is applied to a household dust suction device successfully, the dust filtration effect thereof is not in conformity with the requirement of industrial application significantly if the structure which is the same as that of the household dust suction device is adopted for industrial practice, since it is only necessary for the household dust suction device to collect a small indefinite quantity of dust particles with relatively lower-level requirement for the dust filtration effect with respect to that required in industry so as to use a small volume and simply-constructed cyclone separator.
In addition, the applicant also proposed a patented technology, as disclosed in a European patent no. 2923625.

Dust collecting device using multi-cyclone dust filtration


A computer interface includes an input device and display connected to a CPU. The input device generally comprises a mouse movable along an X-axis or Y-axis, resulting in a corresponding movement of a cursor on the display. A pair of motors impart a force upon the mouse along the X-axis and the Y-axis. The motors provide force feedback based upon movement of the mouse and based upon interaction of the cursor with objects displayed on the display.

The present invention relates generally to a computer interface and more particularly to a mouse having force feedback.
In the known computer interface, movement of a computer mouse in an X- and/or Y-direction on a table moves a cursor or other graphical element on a computer display in a corresponding direction. As is well known, the user operates numerous functions on a graphical user interface, such as pull down menus, activating icons, scrolling windows, etc. by moving the mouse and selectively activating a button on the mouse. The known computer mouse does not provide tactile or force feedback relating to the interaction between the cursor and computer generated objects on the screen, i.e. the user cannot "feel" the objects displayed on the screen.
As a result, many people have difficulty operating a computer mouse. For example, many people have difficulty "double clicking" on a computer icon because they inadvertently move the mouse while clicking twice, thereby dragging, rather than double clicking, the icon. The known computer mouse is particularly difficult to operate for the visually impaired or those with poor motor skills, poor hand-eye coordination or those with muscular or nervous disorders.
One proposed computer input device offers force feedback relating to the cursor interaction with objects on the computer screen. That device utilizes electromagnetic flat coil actuators to generate electromagnetic forces on a handle. However, the electromagnetic flat coil actuators utilized in this computer input device are expensive and generate strong magnetic fields which interfere with the operation of the computer or which could damage computer disks. This computer input device requires an additional computer dedicated solely to controlling the input device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,016 discloses a hand controller having force feedback for teleoperation of a tool for surgery. The forces encountered by the tool are translated by a computer to torque motors, thereby providing a real time interactive feedback response enabling a surgeon to "feel" an operation. The position and orientation of the controller are determined by the lengths of twelve lines between the controller and the support structure. The twelve control lines are interconnected with the plurality of torque motors which are variably programmed by the computer to apply tension to each of the lines based upon the force encountered by the tool. This device is large and requires a large number of control lines and motors. The numerous control lines and motors complicate programming of software applications which could utilize the input device. Play in the numerous control lines and friction reduce the precision of the response and feedback of the device. The patent does not disclose force feedback based upon the interaction between a cursor and objects on a computer screen or force feedback based upon the movement of the input device.


A multi-directional ball rotation apparatus designed to maneuver an item in a plurality of directions is provided. The ball rotation apparatus includes a main housing, a first motor coupled to the main housing and having a first rotatable spindle, a shaft rotatably mounted to the main housing and operably connected to the first spindle of the motor, and a spherical member coupled to the shaft and designed to engage the item. The first spindle of the first motor is designed to rotate in a first direction to rotate the spherical member and item in a first direction. The first spindle of the first motor is designed to rotate in a second direction to rotate the spherical member and item in a second direction.

The embodiments herein relate generally to ball rotation devices. More specifically, embodiments of the invention are directed to a multi-directional ball rotation apparatus for maneuvering an item.
In a wide variety of fields such as the film, robotics and manufacturing industries, there is a need for devices that secure, move, rotate and/or transport items. These are particularly important for the film industry, where a camera head has to be secured, moved and/or rotated to capture video. In the robotics and manufacturing industries, different components have to be maneuvered and oriented as needed to facilitate the assembly and production of consumer products.
Several devices for moving items are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,238,099, 3,501,038 and 2,628,462, which comprise rotating members or balls that are used to transport and/or maneuver the desired items. However, these devices are limited because they do not allow for controlled adjustability that enables a user to quickly change the direction of movement of the secured item with ease. Further, these devices are specialized to the extent that they cannot be easily used in a wide variety of industries.
As such, there is a need in the industry for a multi-directional ball rotation apparatus that addresses the limitations of the prior art, which allows a user to control the movement and directional changes of a secured item quickly with minimal effort. There is a further need for the multi-directional ball rotation apparatus to be beneficial for use in different industries.

Multi-directional ball rotation apparatus for maneuvering an item