A static random access memory (“SRAM”) comprising: a pair of inverters each having an input and an output; a cross-coupling path coupling the input of a first inverter to the output of a second inverter; and a transmission gate, wherein the transmission gate comprises a p-channel transistor coupling the input of the second inverter to the output of the first inverter; and an n-channel transistor coupling the input of the second inverter to the output of the first inverter in parallel with the p-channel transistor. In another embodiment, the SRAM comprises a first inverter having a supply voltage node connected to a supply voltage, and a ground node connected to ground; a second inverter cross-coupled with the first inverter and having a supply voltage node connected to a supply voltage, and a ground node; and a switch selectively connecting and disconnecting the ground node of the second inverter to ground.

Embedded systems particularly targeted towards portable applications require extremely low energy consumption as they are often battery powered. In these embedded systems memory consumes a significant portion of the total system power budget; thus memory power reduction is crucial. Lowering supply voltage is one of the options to reduce power (energy) consumption. However, ultra-low-power design of high-density Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) in which the operating voltage is below the transistor threshold voltage is extremely challenging. This is due to reduced static noise margin (SNM) and increased variability in design and process parameters in nanoscale CMOS (nano-CMOS) technology. Therefore, reducing the operating voltage for memory to reduce the leakage power and active energy in energy constraint applications is a major challenge.
In modern System on Chips (SoCs) devices when total power and total area is dominated by the SRAM, reduction in its supply voltage (Vdd) can save both active energy and leakage power during stand-by operation. Hence, supply voltage scaling is the first choice of semiconductor manufacturers for ultra-low-power applications. Also for system integration, SRAM must be compatible with sub-threshold combinational logic operating at ultra-low voltages. However, this leads to an increase in sensitivity of design and process parameter variability. This problem will worsen in nanometer technologies with ultra-low voltage operation and makes SRAM design and stability analysis more challenging.
Process variations have a major impact in both the inter-die and intra-die threshold voltage variation due to random dopant fluctuations in small geometry SRAM cell transistors. Consequently, there are major concerns over SRAM cell stability as well as the integrity of read and write operations in future nano-CMOS designs. This may lead to poor yield and density requirements due to: degraded static noise margin (SNM); poor write-ability; increased sensitivity of design; and severe variations in process parameters. Moreover, the density requirement is mainly limited by the poor driving capacity of bit-lines, which allows fewer cells per bit-line and reduced bit-line sensing margin.
Different types of SRAM bitcells consisting of five, seven, eight, and ten transistors, have been proposed to improve the yield, density and failure probability due to poor SNM, write-ability and process variations.
The 5-transistor bitcell proposed by Carlson et al in "A high density, low leakage, 5T SRAM for embedded caches", Solid-State Circuits Conference 2004, ESSCIRC 2004, Proceeding of the 30th European, pages 215-218, 21-23 Sep. 2004 employs a single-ended input/output (I/O) line for reading and writing which requires additional sensing circuitry for reliable read operation. In the 7-transistor bitcell proposed by Aly et al in "Novel 7T SRAM cell for low power cache design", SOC conference, 2005, Proceedings IEEE International, pages 171-174, 19-23 September 2005, a differential read operation is performed, while, during write operations, a feedback connection between inverters is disconnected to improve the read SNM. In the 8-transistor bitcell proposed by Chang et al in "Stable SRAM cell design for the 32 nm node and beyond", VLSI Technology, 2005. Digest of Technical Papers, 2005 Symposium on, pages 128-129, 14-16 Jun. 2005, two additional NMOS transistors are included to decouple the cell and separate read and write word-lines are used to improve the read stability. A 10-transistor subthreshold bitcell proposed by Calhoun et al in "A 256 kb 65 nm sub-threshold SRAM design for ultra-low voltage operation", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 42(3): 680-688, March 2007 uses a buffer for reading to improve the read SNM. Read access is single ended and employs separate read and write word-lines. A 160 mV robust Schmitt trigger based subthreshold SRAM bitcell proposed by Kulkarni et al in "A 160 mV robust Schmitt trigger based subthreshold SRAM", Solid State Circuits, IEEE Journal of, 42(10): 2303-2313, October 2007 focuses on making the basic inverter pair of the memory cell robust to improve the stability of the cross-coupled inverters. Here, we will refer to this cell as 10T-ST for subsequent discussions. In the literature, the read SNM of the 7-transistor, 8-transistor and 10-transistor SRAM cells has been improved by decoupling the bitcell nodes from the bit-lines during the read access, hence making the read SNM equal to the hold SNM. However, in 10T-ST, the read SNM has been improved by strengthening the inverter pairs. The write-ability has been improved in prior designs by using virtual supply voltage for write access transistors at the cost of generating and routing an extra supply voltage.
The limitations of current designs motivates the exploration of an alternative SRAM bitcell structure that will be suitable for nano-CMOS circuits for targeted ultra-low-power applications.


A pin connector with a seal assembly using a unique wet connect assembly. The pin connector is formed from a tubular having an upper tubular portion and a lower tubular portion. The lower tubular portion has an upper tubular body and a lower tubular body with a lower tubular body face. A first pin engages the wet connect assembly. The first pin has a first pin outer surface, which can be connected to the wet connect assembly.

A need exists for an intelligent completion system for use inside a multi-zone hydrocarbon well.
There further exists a need for a pin connector with seal assembly that can be pulled after use, taken apart, cleaned, and reused.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.


A crystallization system for producing sodium aluminum fluoride cryolite from hydrofluoric acid waste includes a crystallization reaction tank, a sodium aluminate tank, a high concentration hydrofluoric acid waste tank, a pH value/fluoride detecting section, a dehydrator, a low concentration hydrofluoric acid waste tank, and a control device. The crystallization reaction tank includes a dispersing plate and the control plate to control the flow rate and liquid form of the sodium aluminate and the hydrofluoric acid waste. The loop-like pH value/fluoride detecting section is in communication with the reaction tank to detect the pH value/fluoride concentration of the water sample which is the aqueous mixture of sodium aluminate and hydrofluoric acid waste. Therefore, the crystallization system is capable of controlling factors affecting the cryolite purity during the operation process, and consequently, the crystallization system can produce cryolite whose purity is good enough for recycling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crystallization system, and more particularly to a crystallization system and method for producing sodium aluminum fluoride cryolite from hydrofluoric acid waste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
High concentration hydrofluoric acid (HF, 49%) or hydrofluoric acid mixture are widely used for etching purpose in science and technology fields, such as semiconductor (IC), liquid display panel (TFT-LCD), and solar cells. Hence, large quantity of waste hydrofluoric acid of various concentrations (from 49% to 0.5%) is produced and needs to be waste treated.
The existing methods for disposal of waste hydrofluoric acid include treating with Calcium compounds, including CaO Ca(OH)2 CaCl2 and etc, which will produce CaF2 after reacting with the fluoride of the waste. Or, the waste hydrofluoric acid can be added with specific chemical agents to solidify and remove the fluoride. The above two methods are costly and difficult to implement. Besides, the volume of the CaF2 sludge is very large, and the percentage of the Caf2 whose purity is high enough to meet recycling standard is very low. The latter method can produce Na3AlF6, but it has to use PAC (Polyalumi-num Chloride) as coagulant, which will affect the crystalline purity of the cryolite.
It is to be noted that sodium aluminum fluoride cryolite can be generated from hydrofluoric acid and sodium aluminate through the following chemical equations: 12HF+3NaAlO2→Na3AlF6+2AlF3+H2O. Based on the above method, the inventor of this application has filed a patent application in Taiwan, which is titled "crystallization system and method for producing sodium aluminum fluoride cryolite from hydrofluoric acid waste", as shown in FIG. 1. The crystallization system a sodium aluminate chemical tank V2 and a high concentration of hydrofluoric acid waste tank V1, from where the liquid wastes flow through a batch quantity control section F1, F2, through a constant flow and uniform dosing section A which is located at the top portion of the reaction tank of the crystallization system, and a batch crystallization reaction section R which is located at the lower portion of the reaction tank. The constant flow and uniform dosing section A is provided with dispersing aperture of batch dosing of sodium aluminate into the hydrofluoric acid waste. The mixture is crystallized on standing and then moved to the microfiltration section S to remove cryolite, and then the filtered liquid waste flows to a low concentration hydrofluoric acid wastewater treatment section W for further processing.
The purity of the obtained cryolite is as high as 96%, however, the factor affecting the cryolite purity not only involves the way the hydrofluoric acid and sodium aluminate contact and react, but also includes the percentage of impurities contained in the solutions, PH value of the solutions, and etc.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Crystallization system and method for producing sodium aluminum fluoride cryolite from hydrofluoric acid waste

RETECH ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.


A system for resubmitting a message for integration of applications receives information relating to a plurality of messages. Each message of the plurality of messages has been unsuccessfully transmitted between integration milestones, the message for resubmission being one of the plurality of messages. The corresponding integration milestones of the plurality of messages comprise different types of integration milestones. The system receives criteria to filter the received information. The system determines the message for resubmission by filtering the received information in accordance with the received criteria. The system sends the message from a first integration milestone to a second integration milestone.

In computing, "integration" can generally mean bringing together a collection of different computing systems/software applications so that they function as a coordinated whole. An application integration architecture ("AIA") provides a framework that allows one to bring the applications together by creating business-process flows. A business process-flow may generally be considered to be a collection of related and structured computing activities (performed by the integrated systems/applications) that produces a specific business service for a user.
In order for the collection of different systems/applications to perform the computing activities of a built business-process flow, the applications typically communicate with each other via specialized messages. These messages may coordinate the operation of each application and coordinate the transfer of data between each of the applications. A message may be transmitted from a source application to a target application. If the message is not successfully transmitted, the message may be re-sent/resubmitted at a later time.


A golf club head includes a first portion forming a part of the head body of the golf club head, a second portion forming another part of the head body of the golf club head, and an intermediate layer. The first portion, the second portion, and the intermediate layer are made of different materials. Each of the first portion and the second portion has an abutting portion, with the intermediate layer being positioned between the abutting portion of the first portion and the abutting portion of the second portion. The intermediate layer and the abutting portion of the first portion are joined together by friction welding, and the intermediate layer and the abutting portion of the second portion are joined together by friction welding, thereby forming a golf club head product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club head. In particular, the present invention relates to a golf club head that is produced by means of joining two portions of the golf club head by friction welding.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical golf club head and a production method therefore are disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,769,307 and 5,885,170. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings which respectively correspond to FIGS. 1 and 2 of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,769,307 and 5,885,170, a typical golf club includes a head body 10, a hosel 20, and a shaft 30. The head body 10 is made of a metal material and includes a striking plate 11 on a front side thereof, with a heel 12 being formed on a side of the striking plate 11, and with an extension 13 extending upward from the heel 12 and having a flat abutting portion 131. Another flat abutting portion 22 is formed at a lower part of the hosel 20 that is formed of another metal material. The hosel 20 includes an engaging hole 21 in an upper part thereof for engaging with a lower end of a shaft 30.
A force F is applied to the head body 10 and the hosel 20 to make the flat abutting portion 131 abuts against the flat abutting portion 22. Then, the flat abutting portion 131 (or the flat abutting portion 22) is turned relative to the flat abutting portion 22 (or the flat abutting portion 131). With the friction heat, the head body 10 can be joined to the hosel 20.
Although the friction welding simplifies the manufacturing process and cuts the manufacturing cost in comparison to ordinary welding or brazing, several problems exist. Firstly, the metal material of the flat abutting portion 131 and the metal material of the flat abutting portion 22 melt and fuse with each other after friction welding, forming an intermetallic layer (not shown). Since the metal material (e.g., stainless steel) of the flat abutting portion 131 differs from that (e.g., titanium alloy) of the flat abutting portion 22 and thus provides poor compatibility in welding, the metallurgic structure of the intermetallic layer is detrimental to improvement of the bonding strength, resulting in a fragile structure or reducing the resilient deforming capability. As a result, the connection area between the head body 10 and the hosel 20 may break when proceeding with adjusting of inclination angle A of the hosel 20 of the golf club head product or when striking a golf ball. The good product ratio is reduced, and the life of the club head is shortened. Results of cannon shot tests showed that the head body 10 and the hosel 20 were apt to crack or break after being shot not more than 1000 times (a golf ball with a standard weight hits the striking plate 11 of the head body 10 at a velocity of 50 m/sec). The same problem exists when using friction welding to bond two portions of the club head that are made of different metals having insufficient compatibility.

Manufacturing method for a golf club head


A plastic bag holding and filling apparatus that is operable to assist in the holding and filling of a plastic bag. The plastic bag holding and filling apparatus includes a body having a bottom that is planar in manner and rectangular in shape. The body further includes a first lateral edge and second lateral edge. Extending upward from the first lateral edge is a first side panel. A second side panel is formed along the second lateral edge and is perpendicular thereto. The body includes a ramp secured to the second end. The ramp includes a hingedly secured first portion and second portion. A bag guide is secured to the second portion of the ramp and is manufactured from wire and further including opposing lower corners that are rounded in shape. A first hook and second hook are secured to the first side panel and second side panel.

The standard checkout line in grocery stores and numerous other retail stores are typically configured in the same manner. A counter is present that provides a surface for a shopper to place the objects for purchase thereon. A cashier will grasp and item and typically scan the barcode in order to register the item with the cash register and calculate the total amount due for the objects purchased. As the cashier is scanning the items the items are typically pushed to the end of the counter where another employee is sometimes available and will begin to place the objects purchased in a bag, most commonly a plastic bag.
One problem with existing checkout counters is the reliance on second employee being present to provide services of bagging the objects being purchased. On many occasions either during slow or busy times of the store employees are either not staffed or they are unavailable due to the workload. This can create delays in the bagging and thus the completion of the checkout process. Additionally, conventional plastic shopping bags are stored available for use on a rack that has proven difficult to use. As is known in the art, plastic bags are stored for use on wire stands typically having two arms that support a multitude of plastic bags. An individual desiring to open one of the plastic bags, typically the outer plastic bag, must often perform an exercise in dexterity using fingers to peel the outer bag so as to place the outer bag in the open position for filling.
Another issue with conventional checkout counters and plastic bag holders is the inability of conventional bag holders to hold the bag in an open position. This drastically slows the bagging process and as such the checkout process for the customer.
Accordingly, there is a need for a checkout counter attachment that includes an apparatus operable to assist in the filling of a plastic shopping bag wherein the apparatus is operable to receive objects thereon and direct the objects into an open plastic bag operably secured thereto.

Plastic bag holding and filling apparatus


A connector for coupling pipes having a small diameter includes a generally cylindrical main body 1 having a connecting end portion 2, a small-diameter chamber 3' which is larger in diameter than the bore of the end 2, and a large-diameter chamber 3. The end portion 2 and the chambers 3' and 3 are coaxially connected with one another. The large-diameter chamber 3 is surrounded by a wall having a pair of window openings 9, and a pair of resilient arms 7 each lying in one of the window openings 9 and having a radially inwardly bent pawl 5. The small-diameter chamber 3' contains seal rings 6, a bush 12 and a sleeve 13 positioned on the opposite side of the seal rings from the bush, which are all fitted about a pipe P connected in the main body 1. The large-diameter chamber 3 contains a cylindrical holding member 8 having an inner surface portion engaged with a wall portion of the pipe P, and an outer surface having a shoulder against which the pawls 5 are held.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector for coupling metal or resin pipes or tubes having a relatively small diameter not exceeding about 20 mm which are often used to form a path for the supply of a fluid, such as oil or air, to or in automobiles, machines or equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known connector is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application laid open under No. 82192/1986. It comprises a collar 21 having an open-ended large-diameter rear portion 22 with a large inside diameter, and a pawl 23 formed by a part of the wall of the large-diameter portion bent radially inwardly and extending toward a small-diameter front portion 22' with a small inside diameter, a seal ring 24 fitted in an annular groove 25 formed in the inner surface of the small-diameter portion 22', and a pipe P.sub.1 having a flange P.sub.1 ' held by the pawl 23, and an inner tubular portion P.sub.1 " held in intimate contact with the seal ring 24, as shown in FIG. 28 of the accompanying drawings.
This connector has, however, a number of drawbacks. As the flange P.sub.1 ' forms an integral part of the pipe P.sub.1, it is necessary to employ a pipe having a large wall thickness and cut away a substantial portion of its wall thickness to form a flange having a large outside diameter. As a matter of fact, however, it is impossible to form the flange P.sub.1 ' with a diameter which is sufficiently large to ensure that it be held firmly in position by the pawl 23, so that there may not be any displacement of the flange and the pawl from each other when they are vibrated. The work of cutting away a substantial portion of the pipe wall is likely to bring about a serious reduction in the productivity of a process for manufacturing the connector. Moreover, the axial displacement of the pipe P.sub.1 in the collar 21 as a result of, for example, the vibration of an engine causes the wear of the seal ring 24 and thereby a lowering of its sealing property.
Another known connector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 10711/1989. It comprises a housing 21 forming its main body and having a large-diameter chamber 22 and a small-diameter chamber 26, a pipe P.sub.1 extending into the housing 21 through its rear end having a flange 21', and having a radially outwardly projecting wall portion P.sub.1 ', a holding element 23 inserted in the large-diameter chamber 22 about the pipe P.sub.1, and having a pair of grip tabs 24 projecting from the housing 21, a mid-wall portion engaging the flange 21' and a pair of pawls 24' formed at its inner end and held against the wall portion P.sub.1 ' of the pipe P.sub.1 to hold the pipe P.sub.1 in position, as shown in FIG. 29. The small-diameter chamber 26 contains seal rings 25 formed from e.g. rubber, and held in contact with the pipe P.sub.1.
This device also has a number of drawbacks. The large-diameter chamber 22 of the housing 21 unavoidably has between the pipe P.sub.1 and the holding element 23 a large free space which is so large that the undesirable axial or radial movement of the pipe P.sub.1 is likely to result from any vibration transmitted to the connector and cause the abrasion or wear of the seal rings 25 which makes them incapable of maintaining a tight seal for a long period of time. It is likely that the holding element 23 may be disengaged from the projecting wall portion P.sub.1 ' of the pipe P.sub.1, if its grip tabs 24 projecting from the housing 1 are inadvertently contacted by anybody, or anything else, or receive any impact.

Connector for pipes having a small diameter


A device for closing and locking the shutters of an aircraft thrust reverser includes a lock having a latch which is motorized so as to complete the closure of a shutter utilizing energy supplied by the motor, thereby relieving the jack which is the prime mover of the shutter. The device includes a stop which opposes the latch and interacts with a counter-stop so as to immobilize the shutter in the closed position and thus reduce vibration and flapping of the shutter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to aircraft thrust reversers, and more particularly to a device for closing the shutters of such a thrust reverser and locking them in the closed position.
A thrust reverser forms a thin and substantially annular structure surrounding a turboshaft engine of the aircraft and centred on the geometric axis of the engine. More particularly, a thrust reverser comprises a fixed structure surrounding the engine and defining a plurality of radial apertures which can be closed or opened by movable shutters. When the shutters are closed, the function of the thrust reverser is to channel rearwards the flow of propulsion gases generated by the engine. When the shutters are open, the propulsion gases pass through the radial apertures and are diverted forwards, which diversion produces the thrust reversal.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Each shutter is usually closed by at least one jack which is housed in the thickness of the reverser structure, one end of the jack being attached to the fixed structure, while its other end is attached to the shutter. The shutter is maintained in its closed position by at least one lock which is usually integral with the fixed structure. This lock comprises a movable latch which retains the shutter by means of a locking interface integral with the shutter. It will be noted that the lock instead may be integral with the shutter, and that in this case the locking interface will be integral with the fixed structure. The locking interface usually comprises a roller rotatably mounted at the end of a tie rod, and the latch of the lock acts on the roller to retain the shutter in its closed position.
When the jack is operated to close the shutter and the shutter approaches its closed position, the jack has to exert a substantial additional traction force in order to:
bring the shutter onto bearing surfaces ensuring precise positioning of the said shutter near the closed position, PA1 compress sealing gaskets which are generally of an elastomeric material and which are arranged between the periphery of the shutter and the fixed structure, PA1 trigger the lock of the shutter, which is usually of the passive type in that the latch of the lock is brought mechanically into the closed position by the movement of the locking interface which is carried by the shutter and which comes into engagement with the latch to move it into its closed position, the latch then locking itself automatically in the closed position by means of a spring and cam mechanism, PA1 "over-retract" the shutter, that is to say slightly overshoot the closed position of the shutter so as to allow automatic locking of the latch, the "over-retraction" temporarily entailing further compression of the sealing gaskets between the shutter and the fixed structure. This additional force requires strengthening of the jack, of the fixed structure and of the shutter, all of which increases the mass and cost of the thrust reverser.
Furthermore, the additional force has to be exerted under very unfavourable conditions in the case of thrust reversers of the well known type referred to as "pivoting-door" reversers. In such reversers, each radial aperture is shut off by a shutter, called a "door", which is pivotally mounted in the fixed structure so that the pivoting usually takes place in a plane including the geometric axis of the reverser. What happens, in this case, is that, when the shutter nears the closed position, the geometric axis of the jack approaches the geometric pivot axis of the shutter, such that the jack has to exert a very substantial additional force in order to produce only a reduced pivoting torque on the shutter.
Also, the additional force has to be further augmented in the case of reversers whose pivoting shutters are referred to as "self-opening". This is because the shutters in such thrust reversers tend to open naturally under the effect of the pressure of the propulsion gases generated by the turboshaft engine, this arising from the offset position of the pivots, and the jacks have to supply an additional force to overcome this tendency.
A first problem to be solved, therefore, is that of reducing the force required to be exerted by the jacks near the closed position of the shutters.
Another problem with known thrust reversers is that as soon as a shutter is closed and locked, its jack is disabled. The shutter is consequently relaxed and can start to vibrate or flap under the combined effect of the vibration transmitted from the engine to the reverser, and of the turbulent flow of the ambient air and of the propulsion gases at the ends of the shutter. This vibration or flapping of the shutter causes hammering and accelerated wear of the locking members, particularly the latch and the locking interface.
Thrust reversers with pivoting shutters are more exposed to this phenomenon because the forward ends of the shutters constitute leading edges exposed to the flow of ambient air or of the propulsion gases. The flapping occurs mainly at low engine speeds, when the pressure of the propulsion gases is insufficient to press the locking interface of the shutter against the latch of the lock.
Thus, a second problem to be solved by the invention is that of reducing, or even suppressing, the vibration and flapping of the shutters in the locked position.

Device for closing and locking the shutters of a thrust reverser


A method, system, and apparatus for fabricating a three-dimensional circuit is provided. In an embodiment, a method for fabricating a three-dimensional circuit by an additive manufacturing process includes determining a shape, location, and spatial orientation of a number of components, a number of dielectrics, and a number of metal interconnects for the three dimensional circuit. The method also includes obtaining fused filament fabrication (FFF) specific actions for a number of dielectric materials and the metal interconnects. The method also includes separating tool paths of the dielectric material and the metal interconnects into individual tool paths for each of the dielectric materials and the metal interconnects. The method also includes removing specific actions for one of the individual toolpaths from an FFF specific action. The method also includes rewriting the one of the individual toolpaths into micro-dispensing actions to control a tool for micro-dispensing ink.

The disclosure relates generally to additive manufacturing techniques for fabricating three-dimensional circuit structures.
3D printing (3DP) is a rapidly evolving manufacturing technique that now offers the ability to build multi-material parts in a single process. While scalability is still being addressed, 3DP offers unquestionably strong capabilities for quick turn-around-time parts and customizability. It can build complicated geometries and structures that are simply not possible to produce by other means. The additional degrees of freedom offered by the third dimension hold great promise to manufacture circuits and electromagnetic elements in unconventional form factors and with greatly improved performance.

3D volumetric circuits and associated methods

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A light beam position detecting device detects the passage positions of a plurality of light beams for scanning the surface of a photosensitive drum. The light beam position detecting device has a sensor pattern for generating an output which is continuously changed in a wide range with a variation in the passage position of the light beam in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to a main scanning direction of the light beam. The sensor pattern precisely detects the relative scanning position of the light beam in a wide range. The passage positions of the plurality of light beams for scanning the surface of the photosensitive drum are controlled to a preset position based on the output of the sensor pattern.

This invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine or laser printer for scanning and exposing a single light beam or a plurality of light beams emitted from a semicon-ductor laser on a photosensitive drum surface to form a single electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum and more particularly to a light beam scanning apparatus provided on the image forming apparatus for scanning the single light beam or the plurality of light beams.
In recent years, various types of digital copying machines for forming an image by scanning and exposing the light beam and using the electrophotographic process are developed. Recently, in order to further enhance the image forming speed, a multi-beam type digital copying machine in which a plurality of light beams are emitted to simultaneously scan a plurality of lines by use of the plurality of light beams has been developed.
The multi-beam type digital copying machine includes an optical system unit as a light beam scanning apparatus having a plurality of semiconductor laser oscillators for emitting light beams, a polygonal rotating mirror such as a polygon mirror for reflecting the light beams output from the plurality of semicon-ductor laser oscillators towards the photosensitive drum and scanning the photosensitive drum by the light beams and a collimator lens and f-xcex8 lens as main components.
Conventionally, in the above multi-beam type digital copying machine, control of the exposure position of the light beam in the main scanning direction and control of the exposure position in the sub-the main scanning direction (that is, control of the passage position of the light beam) are effected in the optical system unit in order to form an image with high image quality.
A concrete example of the above technique is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 1-43294, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 3-57452, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 3-57453, Japanese UM. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 5-32824, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-72399, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-228000, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-210849, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-258125, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-314901 and Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-76704. However, the techniques disclosed in the above publications have the following problems.
That is, for control of the light beam exposure position in the main scanning direction, it is important to mount a light beam detecting device constructed by a plurality of optical sensors in a preset direction with respect to the main scanning direction of the light beam. That is, if the light beam detecting device is mounted in an inclined state, it becomes impossible to correctly detect the light beam position in the main scanning direction and, for example, there occurs a problem that a vertical line cannot be drawn straight.
However, an example indicating that the sensor itself has a function of detecting the relation between the mounting direction of the light beam detecting device and the main scanning direction of the light beam is disclosed only in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-314901. Even in this example, the inclination detecting range is extremely narrow and there occurs a problem that detection and adjustment of the light beam position are difficult.
For control of the light beam position in the sub-scanning direction, examples in which the passage position of the light beam in the sub-scanning direction is replaced by time at which the light beam passes the sensor and detected are disclosed in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-72399, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-228000 and Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-210849.
However, if a variation occurs in the f-xcex8. characteristic of the f-xcex8 lens mounted on the optical system unit or a variation occurs in the rotation speed of the polygon mirror, then a variation will occur in the scanning speed of the light beam on the sensor and a detection error may occur when the detection method based on the passage time of the light beam is used.
Further, in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-258125, Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-314901 and Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-76704, examples in which the passage position of the light beam is driven into a portion between specified sensor patterns formed on the light beam detecting device to set the passage position of the light beam in a preset position are shown. However, with this construction, it is necessary to independ-ently drive the light beams to the preset passage position and actuators for controlling the passage positions of the light beams are required by a number corresponding to the number of light beams. That is, in comparison with a case wherein one light beam is used as a reference and the passage positions of the remaining light beams are controlled, the number of actuators is larger by one and the cost becomes higher.
Further, if the detecting pattern for driving the light beam to the preset position is used, the precision of detection is high, but a range (detection range) in which each sensor output of the detecting pattern varies with a variation in the passage position of the light beam is narrow. Therefore, the control process becomes complicated and time for the control process becomes long.
If it is possible to control the passage position of each light beam for a plurality of resolutions, the number of sensor patterns for driving each light beam is increased and the structure of the sensor becomes complicated.
A first object of this invention is to provide a light beam scanning apparatus capable of enlarging the range (detection range) in which one sensor can respond to a variation in the passage position of a light beam, simplifying the control process and enhancing the control operation speed.
A second object of this invention is to provide a light beam scanning apparatus in which the number of actuators such as galvanomirrors for controlling the passage positions of the light beams is suppressed.
A third object of this invention is to provide a light beam scanning apparatus capable of coping with a plurality of resolutions with the simple sensor construction.
A fourth object of this invention is to provide a light beam scanning apparatus having a sensor for detecting the mounting inclination of the light beam detecting device with respect to the main scanning direction of the light beam in a wide range in the light beam detecting device.
A fifth object of this invention is to provide a light beam scanning apparatus capable of precisely detecting the passage position of the light beam irrespective of the scanning speed of the light beam on the sensor.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light beam scanning apparatus comprising: light beam emitting means for outputting a light beam; a beam scanner for reflecting the light beam output from the light beam emitting device towards a to-be-scanned surface to scan the to-be-scanned surface by use of the light beam in a main scanning direction; a first beam position detector for detecting the light beam scanned on the to-be-scanned surface by the beam scanner and generating an analog signal which is continuously changed with a variation in the passage position in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction of the light beam; and controller for controlling the position of the light beam scanned by the beam scanner on the to-be-scanned surface to a preset position based on the result of detection of the first beam position detector.
Further, according to this invention, a plurality of light beam emitting devices are provided and the beam scanner scans the to-be-scanned surface by use of a plurality of light beams emitted from the plurality of light beam emitting devices. The scanning apparatus further comprises light beam passage position changing means of a number smaller than the number of the plurality of light beam emitting devices by one, for changing the passage position of the light beam in the sub-scanning direction. The controller determines one of the plurality of light beams as a reference beam and changing the relative passage position of the remaining light beams with respect to the passage position of the reference light beam by use of the light beam passage position changing means.
Therefore, the number of actuators such as galvanomirrors for controlling the passage positions of the light beams can be suppressed. Further, the relative passage positions of the plurality of light beams can be precisely detected irrespective of the scanning speed of the light beam on the sensor.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light beam scanning apparatus comprising: a plurality of light beam emitting devices for outputting light beams; a beam scanner for reflecting the light beams output from the light beam emitting devices towards a to-be-scanned surface to scan the to-be-scanned surface by use of the light beams in a main scanning direction; a first beam position detector for detecting the light beam scanned on the to-be-scanned surface by the beam scanner and generating an analog signal which is continuously changed with a variation in the passage position in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction of the light beam; a first target light detecting member having a first passage target and disposed separately from the first beam position detector in the main scanning direction; a second target light detecting member having a second passage target separated from the first passage target in the sub-scanning direction by a distance corresponding to preset resolution; light beam passage position changing means for changing the passage position of at least one of the plurality of light beams; and a controller for controlling the relation of the respective passage positions of the plurality of light beams to a preset relation by use of the light beam passage position changing means based on the outputs of the first beam position detector respectively obtained when the light beam has passed through the first and second passage targets.
There is further provided a light beam scanning apparatus the above, wherein the controller includes: calculating means for calculating a difference between the outputs of the first beam position detector respectively obtained when the light beam has passed through the first and second passage targets; and means for changing the passage position of one of first and second light beams among the plurality of light beams by use of the first beam passage position changing means to set the difference calculated by the calculating means equal to a difference between outputs of the beam position detector respectively obtained at the time of scanning by the first and second light beams.
There is further provided a light beam scanning apparatus the above, wherein the first beam position detector includes second and third beam position detectors; the second beam position detector generates an output which continuously decreases with a variation in the passage position of the light beam in the sub-scanning direction, the third beam position detector is disposed separately from the second beam position detector in the sub-scanning direction and generates an output which continuously increases with a variation in the passage position of the light beam, and the controller controls the passage position of the light beam to a preset position based on the results of detection of the second and third beam position detectors.
There is further provided a light beam scanning apparatus the above, further comprising: a fifth beam position detector disposed separately from the second and third beam position detectors in the main scanning direction, for detecting the light beam used for scanning the to-be-scanned surface by the beam scanner and generating an output which continuously decreases with a variation in the passage position of the light beam; a sixth beam position detector disposed adjacent to the fifth beam position detector in the sub-scanning direction, for detecting the light beam used for scanning the to-be-scanned surface by the beam scanner and generating an output which continuously increases with a variation in the passage position of the light beam; and inclination detecting means for detecting whole inclinations of the second to sixth beam position detectors with respect to the scanning direction of the light beam based on the results of detection of the second, third, fifth and sixth beam position detectors.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.


An eyeglass frame is formed so as to eliminate pain to a wearer when the frame nips the head of the wearer for a long period of usage. The eyeglass frame includes a front frame made of plastic or metal for holding lenses, a pair of elastic bodies, a first end of each elastic body is attached to either side of a rear face of the front frame and is bent inwardly at a central portion thereof, and a temple disposed at a second end of each elastic body. The temple has an end cover. One of the first end and the second end of the elastic body is connected to a hinge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eyeglass frame on which temples are attached via elastic bodies on both sides of the rear face of a front frame which holds lenses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a front frame of eyeglass, there are such types as a full rim type as described in JP, A, 2003-43427, or a half rim type. A pair of temples that contact with side faces of users' head are provided on both sides of the rear face of the rim that is for installing lenses so as to be rotatable inwardly and foldable from the predetermined expanded condition.
In usual eyeglass frames arranged as described above, users use an eyeglass in such a way that the temples nip the user's head at both sides of ears in a condition where the temples are rotated fully outwardly to come to an end. Further, temple bending curvature is mainly adjusted so that a user can be released from tightness while wearing eyeglasses.
In a conventional eyeglass frame as described above, however, the optimum condition for users is intended to be secured by adjusting mainly the temple bending curvature, which causes such a problem that temple adjustment affects armor portion attached to the rim since the temple is integrated with the armor.
Moreover, as the adjustment is mainly carried out by the temple adjustment, it is inevitable by all means to bend the temple without deforming the front frame side portion of the temple. Due to this fact the adjustment comes to a result that apart of inside surface of the temple contacts with a point of user's head and the contacting force with the head becomes big, which causes a problem of potential risk of pain.


A method for digital communication in a system including a gateway apparatus, a first radio communication apparatus, and a second radio communication apparatus, the method including: at the first radio communication apparatus, sending first data to the gateway apparatus during a first time slot of a radio frame, the radio frame including a common slot, the first time slot allocated to the first radio communication apparatus for data transmission, and a second time slot allocated to the second radio communication apparatus for data transmission; determining whether the first data has been received by the gateway apparatus; upon determining that the first data has not been received by the gateway apparatus, sending a relay request signal to the second radio communication apparatus during the common slot of the radio frame; in response to the relay request signal, receiving a response signal from the second radio communication apparatus.

A multi-hop radio communication system has presently attracted attention. In the multi-hop radio communication system, a terminal apparatus performs radio communication with an access point through another terminal apparatus. If the terminal apparatus is incapable of direct radio communication with the access point, the terminal apparatus can transmit data to the access point through the other terminal apparatus. This enables an increase of a data arrival rate to the access point with a reduced delay. As examples of the multi-hop radio communication system, there are a BAN (Body Area Network) and sensor networks for monitoring a forest fire, intrusion of a suspicious person, etc.
In the multi-hop radio communication system, radio communication may be performed by a TDMA (Time Divisional Multiple Access) method in some cases. In the TDMA method, each terminal apparatus performs radio communication using a time slot allocated thereto. Typically, there is a communication method in a beacon mode provided in an IEEE 802.15.6 standard. According to the beacon mode communication method, the terminal apparatus performs radio communication on the basis of time slot information that is included in a beacon signal received from the access point, for example.
The terminal apparatus using the TDMA method shifts to an operating state (or active mode) at the time slot allocated to the self-terminal, to perform data transmission and reception. On the other hand, in other than the allocated time slot, the terminal apparatus shifts to a power saving state (or sleep mode) in which data transmission and reception are not performed. Power consumption in the terminal apparatus is reduced by means of such intermittent operation.
As a technique related to such a radio communication system, there is a technique as follows, for example.
Namely, there is a radio communication system in which a hub, on detecting a communication disconnection with a node 4, requests nodes 2, 3 to search for the node 4, and if the hub receives from the node 3 a discovery notification of the node 4, the hub allocates a relay band, so as to perform radio communication with the node 4 through the node 3.
It is said that according to the above technique, power consumption in the relay node can be reduced because a relay node that discovers the node 4 transmits notification information, whereas a relay node that fails to discover the node 4 does not transmit any notification information.
Further, there is also disclosed a multi-hop radio ad hoc network system, in which all terminals and a gateway in a network perform switchover operation between activation and sleep, in synchronization with an activation cycle, an activation phase and an activation period, to execute data transfer during the activation period, whereas perform minimal operation during the sleep period.
According to the above technique, it is said that low power consumption can be achieved because of achieving an efficient sleep mode.
Moreover, there is also a radio communication apparatus, in which, as attribute information of at least the self-station and neighboring stations that are directly communicable with the self-station, relay capability data indicative of whether each radio station is available as a relay station is retained in the radio station, so that a neighboring station, which is capable of relaying and selected on the basis of the relay capability data of the neighboring stations, is utilized as a relay station.
According to the above technique, it is said that the radio communication apparatus, which is available as a radio station constituting a multi-hop radio communication network and available as a relay station and capable of preferentially executing communication of the self-station, can be provided.

Method for digital communication, radio communication system, and radio communication apparatus


Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing a heuristics service using a generically-consumable, reusable heuristics manager object. This heuristics manager object provides a “black box” approach to statistically-triggered heuristics, and eliminates the need to write application-specific code for compiling statistics and performing complicated analysis of those statistics within each application program. In one embodiment, the heuristics manager object is provided as a web-accessible service, which may be registered in a network-accessible registry such as a UDDI registry. Enterprises may subscribe to this service for monitoring and analyzing statistics pertaining to one or more of the enterprise's applications, thereby providing a novel method of doing business for the provider of the heuristics service.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system, and deals more particularly with methods, systems, computer program products, and methods of doing business wherein executing application programs can use an external statistically-triggered heuristics monitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
When using processor-intensive calculations, it is a standard practice in the industry to provide algorithms for monitoring system performance, where those algorithms are optimized through use of one or more heuristics. Heuristics typically exist as paper algorithms and formulas, and to apply one or more heuristics to a specific application requires individual implementation in an application program. For example, the typical approach is to write native application support code in which statistics are gathered and compared to heuristics within a loop or called routine. This approach is effective, but it has a number of drawbacks. As one example, it is highly implementation-dependent, providing a solution that is tailored to a particular application. Therefore, existing implementations do not lend themselves to being reused among applications. As another example, programmers who provide these application-specific solutions need to write code that assumes an in-depth understanding of complex mathematical calculations, and programmers having such skills are not widely available. Furthermore, a side-effect of complex code is that program development, testing, and support costs increase, and programs tend to be more error-prone.
Yet, many applications can benefit from statistical monitoring which applies heuristics. Accordingly, what is needed is a solution that provides these benefits but avoids the limitations of prior art approaches.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a process for copolymerizing a dicarboxylic acid, a dialkyl ester, and a diol in the presence of a transesterification catalyst. The process involves heating a mixture containing carboxylic acids and esters in excess diol at elevated temperatures in the presence of a transesterification catalyst and returning any vaporized diol to the reaction vessel until the theoretical amount of alcohol and/or water have been evolved. The alcohol and/or water of reaction is not allowed to return to the vessel. When the theoretical weight of alcohol and/or water is collected, the excess diol is removed and the polymerization is allowed to proceed.

Polyesters are widely used as extrusion and injection molding resins for the fabrication of various articles for household or industrial use, including appliance parts, containers and auto parts. A majority of the polyesters are composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or materials where PET has been modified by the addition of other diols and/or dicarboxylic acid esters. The polyesters are usually prepared by reacting a dialkyl ester of a dicarboxylic acid and a diol, for example, dimethylterephthalate and ethylene glycol in the presence of a transesterification catalyst.
In the above mentioned polymerization reaction, trace amounts of dicarboxylic acids deactivate the transesterification catalysts resulting in undesirable prolonged transesterification times or no ester exchange. If zinc or manganese are used as the transesterification catalyst, the catalyst is rendered essentially ineffective. This severely limits the monomers which can be used to prepare a polyester. For example, in order to copolymerize a dicarboxylic acid with dimethylterephthalate, the dicarboxylic acid must be converted to its corresponding dicarboxylic acid ester. Therefore, it would be economically advantageous to be able to polymerize a mixture containing a dialkyl ester of a dicarboxylic acid and a dicarboxylic acid in the presence of standard transesterification catalysts.
The process of the present invention has eliminated the need to convert a dicarboxylic acid to its corresponding diester before copolymerizing it with a dimethyl ester of a carboxylic acid in the presence of standard transesterification catalysts.

Copolymerization of dicarboxylic acids and dialkyl esters of dicarboxylic acids to form polyesters


A method for forming micro lenses includes the step of performing an etching treatment to an object to be processed, which includes a lens material layer and a mask layer having lens shapes and formed on the lens material layer, using an etching gas including SF6 gas and CHF3 gas, an etching gas including SF6 gas and CO gas, an etching gas including a gas having therein carbon and fluorine and CO gas, or an etching gas including two or more kinds of gases from a first gas having therein carbon and fluorine and a second gas having therein carbon and fluorine, to etch the lens material layer and the mask layer and transfer the lens shapes of the mask layer to the lens material layer, thereby forming the micro lenses.

Micro lenses for a CCD are formed, e.g., by performing the steps of: forming a mask layer 11, out of a resist film, to have specific lens shapes on a lens material layer 10, which is made of a lens material such as an Si3N4 film; and then etching both the mask layer 11 and the lens material layer 10 to transfer the lens shapes of the mask layer 11 to the lens material layer 10, as shown in FIG. 24. Conventionally, in the etching step, the lens material layer 10 and the mask layer 11 are etched in a selectivity of 1:1, whereby the lens shapes of the mask layer 11 are precisely transferred to the lens material layer 10.
Normally, the shape of a micro lens is defined by the curvature, the height, and the width thereof wherein the width is a diameter of the lens from a horizontal viewpoint. Further, it is possible to form a desired lens shape by controlling various process parameters. Meanwhile, for the purpose of improving a sensitivity by increasing the light collection efficiency in terms of an uppermost surface lens of a CCD, it is required to enlarge an area of the lens, whereby more light can be collected on a condensing point. For this reason, it is preferred to enlarge a lens width by reducing a distance A between adjacent lenses.
However, the lens shapes of the mask layer 11 are formed in a photolithography process, which limits the ability to minimize of a distance B between adjacent lens shapes. That is to say, the minimum of the distance B is 0.2 to 0.3 μm and cannot be reduced further because adjacent resist films adhere to each other due to a surface tension thereof in the course of a heat treatment during the photolithography process.
Consequently, the present inventors have endeavoured to establish a method for forming micro lenses whose shapes are different from the lens shapes of the mask layer 11 by controlling a selectivity between the lens material layer 10 and the mask layer 11 during an etching process. In this connection, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2000-164837 (hereinafter, referred to as "reference 1") discloses a method for forming an in-layer lens with a thickness different from that of a lens shape of a resist layer by etching a lens material layer and the resist with the lens shape using an etching gas including SF6 gas and O2 gas, and controlling a ratio of the flow rates of the SF6 gas and the O2 gas; and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2002-110952 (hereinafter, referred to as "reference 2") discloses a method for forming on-chip lenses with large widths and narrowing a distance between adjacent lenses by etching a lens material layer and a resist film, where the lens shapes are formed, using an etching gas including CF4 and O2.
However, the method of reference 1 has a disadvantage in that the width of the resulting lens becomes rather small, because the etching gas includes O2. It is presumed that oxygen facilitates an etching of the resist film that is an organic film, whereby the lens shape of the resist becomes smaller and the reduced lens shape of the resist is transferred, to produce a smaller lens. For this reason, this method suffers from the lack of controllability over a lens area. Further, although this method can control the thickness of the lens, it cannot form a lens with a large width.
Further, the method of reference 2 has a problem in that an in-surface uniformity of an etching rate becomes lower in case the lens material layer is an inorganic film. Furthermore, the method of reference 2 has the same problem as that of reference 1 in that it is difficult to form a lens with a large width because the etching gas includes O2.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electrical power generator that increases both power generation efficiency and electrical power density. The generator includes: a plurality of disk surfaces; a plurality of stationary supports; and a rotating shaft affixed to each of the disk surfaces. Each disk surface is coupled to an array of magnets arranged as matching magnetic pairs on two adjacent disk surfaces so as to create a plurality of magnetic fields between the matching magnetic pairs. Each stationary support sustains an array of electromagnetic coils. Each coil is disposed in-between each of the matching magnetic pairs. Each rotating shaft rotates each of the matching magnetic pairs around the generator coils such that a time varying magnetic flux is provided and electrical power is generated in each of the generator coils.

From the early days of electric power generator equipment, the only way that has been considered to obtain the changing magnetic field has been the moving of coils of wire past magnets or magnets past coils. For many years electric power generator engineering focused on different configurations of moving of coils past magnets or magnets past coils. Since the idea has worked, however inefficiently, the way by which electricity was produced did not change for many years.
The rising cost of energy sources and environmental pollution concerns, caused by vast amount of fuel burning, motivated governments and industry to pay attention and prioritize enhancements in power generation efficiency. One of the pioneering efforts in improving generator efficiency was made by Ecklin in U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,622 enclosed herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,622 discloses a permanent magnet motor in one embodiment utilizes a spring-biased reciprocating magnetizable member positioned between two permanent magnets. Magnetic shields in the form of rotatable shutters are located between each permanent magnet and the reciprocating member to alternately shield and expose the member to the magnetic field thereby producing reciprocating motion. A second embodiment utilizes a pair of reciprocating spring-biased permanent magnets with adjacent like magnetic poles separated by a magnetic shield which alternately exposes and shields the like poles from the repelling forces of their magnetic fields. In his SAG 6 generator idea, Ecklin is using a slightly different configuration from the configuration in this reference, in which both the magnets and the coil are stationary. By refraining from having to put most of the input power in moving heavy masses of coils or magnets the SAG6 generator is significantly more efficient.
A significant feature of an electrical generator is to have a configuration, which maximizes the power output of a given generator physical size. Mounting space constrains and easier handling capability demands generator configurations which minimize the physical size for a given power output.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,119 enclosed herein by reference discloses an AC power generating system includes an array of permanent magnet alternators. The stator windings of these alternators are electrically connected in series and the total output voltage of the alternator array is regulated by adjusting the relative angular positions of the stators to control the phase angle of the output voltage of each alternator. The alternators employ an inside-out design wherein a plurality of permanent magnets are positioned at circumferentially displaced locations on an internal surface of a nonmagnetic support structure to form the rotor. A stator having a core with longitudinal slots for receiving a stator winding is positioned within the rotor structure such that relative rotation between the stator and rotor induces a voltage in the stator winding.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,025 enclosed herein by reference discloses a rotational magnetic electrical generating device that produces an alternating electrical current generated by a central rotational magnetic cylinder with an inner cavity having a central fixed coil operated by a DC current providing a driving rotational force upon a plurality of embedded neodymium magnets within the inner cavity of the central rotational magnetic cylinder, the central rotational magnetic cylinder having an upper outer margin with an upper magnetic ring and a lower outer margin having a lower magnetic ring, the two magnetic rings suspending the central rotational magnetic cylinder between two fixed magnetic fields supported by a frame member, the central rotational magnetic cylinder further having an outer perimeter surface embedded with a plurality of neodymium alloy magnets equally sized and spaced apart, a lower surface embedded with a plurality of neodymium alloy magnets equally sized and spaced apart, and an upper surface embedded with a plurality of neodymium alloy magnets equally sized and spaced apart and an upper surface embedded with a plurality of neodymium alloy magnets equally sized and spaced apart. A plurality of alternate wound electrical stators are suspended above the upper surface below the lower surface and around the outer perimeter surface of the central rotational magnetic cylinder, supported by the frame member while insulated from the frame member, each electrical stator connected to external leads to transmit alternating current generated by the spinning central rotational magnetic cylinder, the entire device enclosed within a vacuum.
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/272,839 enclosed herein by reference discloses a flywheel motor/generator having a holder to maintain the permanent magnets in a circular array on the rotor. Unique aspects of the invention include the magnet shapes that are used, the liner/retainer configuration used to secure the magnets, and the construction of the rotor in the immediate vicinity of the magnets. The principal functions of the design are 1) managing stresses in the rotor and the magnets at high speed when centrifugal acceleration can exceed 100,000 g's, and 2) securing the magnets when the assembly is at rest when magnets that are not properly secured can reposition themselves in deleterious ways through mutual attraction or repulsion. Keying features are also provided on the ends of the magnets to aid in assembly of the rotor and to maintain the magnets in the proper orientation.
Hence there is still a long felt need for an efficient electric generator that maximizes the electrical power output for a give physical size.

High efficiency high output density electrical power generator


Techniques disclosed herein can be used to improve cross-temperature coverage of memory devices and improve memory device reliability in cross-temperature conditions. More specifically, a memory trim set can be selected from multiple candidate memory trim sets when performing a memory operation (such as a memory write operation), based on a temperature metric and a P/E cycle metric for the memory device. The candidate memory trim sets include multiple respective memory trim values (e.g., memory configuration parameters, such as program voltage step size, program pulse width, program verify level, etc., as discussed above) for performing the memory operation. The temperature metric can be indicative of a temperature of at least a region of the memory device (e.g., the entire device, a memory plane, a memory block, etc.), and the P/E cycle metric can be indicative of a number of P/E cycles performed by the memory device within a selected time interval.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory, including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory requires power to maintain its data and includes random-access memory (RAM), in various forms, such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), or synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory may retain stored data when not powered (may be implemented as read-only memory (ROM) in some cases) and may include one or more storage technologies, such as flash memory (e.g., NAND or NOR flash), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), static RAM (SRAM), Ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), resistance variable memory, such as phase-change random-access memory (PCRAM), resistive random-access memory (RRAM), magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), or 3D XPoin™ memory, among others. Systems incorporating memory may include multiple memory devices or memory systems implementing multiple storage technologies.
Flash memory is utilized as non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically include one or more groups of one-transistor, floating gate or charge trap memory cells that allow for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Two common types of flash memory array architectures include NAND and NOR architectures, named after the logic form in which the basic memory cell configuration of each is arranged. The memory cells of the memory array are typically arranged in a matrix. In an example, the gates of each floating gate memory cell in a row of the array are coupled to an access line (e.g., a word line). In a NOR architecture, the drains of each memory cell in a column of the array are coupled to a data line (e.g., a bit line). In a NAND architecture, the drains of each memory cell in a string of the array are coupled together in series, source to drain, between a source line and a bit line.
Memory devices can be configured to operate in different conditions associated with different operating temperatures. For example, data read temperatures (i.e., a temperature of a memory device at time data is read from the device) can be different from data write temperatures (i.e., a temperature of the memory device when data is written to the device). When the data write process includes data being written to a memory device outside of a normal or a preferred temperature range, a cross-temperature condition occurs which is associated with a difference (or delta) between the write temperature and the read temperature, and results in a decrease of the device reliability and inefficient device operation.

Temperature management for a memory device using memory trim sets


The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a composite acoustic panel employed in an inlet passage of a gas turbine engine (1). The acoustic panel comprises a permeable face-layer (8), an impermeable backing sheet (9) and a sound absorbing layer (10) disposed therebetween. The method comprises a double polymerisation process for the face-layer and the remainder of the acoustic panel and finally a perforation step to perforate the face-layer according to a pre-determined perforation distribution (11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5).

Noise levels generated by modern commercial aircraft during take-off and landing are of significant importance to aircraft operators. In order to reduce (to attenuate) the noise emitted by aircraft engines, the air intake passages of gas turbine or turbofan engines are generally provided with acoustic liners on the inner surfaces of the engine which are configured to attenuate the noise generated by the engine in operation.
Various designs of noise attenuating panel are known in the art. Generally, the panels comprise a perforated layer defining part of the inlet passage of the engine and a further imperforate layer defining the back of the panel. A honeycomb layer, such as that manufactured by the company Hexcel, is located between the two layers. Thus, noise can be attenuated by the honeycomb layer as air is permitted to enter the honeycomb through the perforated panel.
These existing acoustic panels have resulted in significant improvements in aircraft noise levels. However, with desired increases in fuel economy from aircraft operators the additional weight known acoustic panels add to aircraft engines presents its own problems. One solution to reduce weight is to employ a lighter material such as composite materials. Moving to acoustic panel manufacture using composite materials can mitigate the additional weight problems of acoustic panels. However it significantly increases the cost and complexity of acoustic panel manufacture owing to the nature of composite part manufacturing.
The present invention aims to address the problems associated with the prior art in terms of weight whilst providing an improved acoustic panel at minimal manufacturing cost. This can thereby reduce fuel consumption of the engine and minimise energy use in manufacturing.


A wrench for soft spike assemblies. The wrench provides a wrench head and a ribbed handle. The wrench head includes a plurality of symmetrically-spaced torque members and insert grip members, the former designed to frictionally engage the individual spikes and the latter designed to engage and grasp the perimeter of the spike assembly thereby facilitating hands-free installation and removal of the spike assemblies. The handle is provided with a hexagonal insert passage fore receiving an Allen-type wrench which may be used to provide increased torque in installing or removing a soft spike assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to accessories for sports activities such as the game of golf and more particularly to a wrench for use on golf shoes for installing and removing soft spike assemblies.
2. Prior Art
Spiked shoes are well known for providing a high degree of traction which is especially useful in certain sports. Golf shoes are normally spiked to provide a golfer with extra traction which is especially important during the golf swing when slipping feet can otherwise cause poor performance. In the past, the spikes in golf shoes have been made of metal having a unitary truncated conical shape about one-quarter inch long. Each such spike usually has a threaded insert which is received in a receptacle in the shoe sole exterior surface, the receptacle having a mating thread. A typical golf shoe has ten to twelve such spikes and the distribution of the spikes is designed to provide firm traction as the golfer shifts his or her weight during the golf club swing. Normally, spikes wear out before the shoes wear out. The spikes are configured with a circular flange which may be made of a hard plastic. The flange will usually have at least two symmetrically spaced holes designed to receive a wrench which may be used to apply a torque to the spike and unthread the insert from the receptacle. A wrench can, of course, be used to replace a worn spike with a new spike so that a pair of golf shoes can be respiked one or more times.
Recently, many golf courses have begun to require golfers to wear soft spike golf shoes. The concern with conventional spiked shoes is that their long metal spikes damage delicate golf course surfaces, particularly the greens which must be kept as smooth as possible to facilitate proper play. In response to this relatively recent requirement, golf shoe manufacturers have begun offering shoes having a radically different type of spike assembly. This new spike assembly uses shorter, blunter spikes and compensates for reduced traction per spike by replacing each individual conventional spike with a plurality of the new spikes. This increase in the number of ground contact points, also distributes the golfer's weight over a larger number of spikes, reducing the penetration of each spike. The overall effect is retained good traction, but with less damage to delicate greens and other golf course surfaces.


A system includes a combustion engine for a genset. The engine having an exhaust to emit water and exhaust gases from the exhaust and a sound-dampening device coupled between the exhaust and a muffler, the sound-dampening device including a tubular member having internal rings.

In marine exhaust systems, a flexible exhaust hose is coupled between the combustion engine of a generator set (genset) and a muffler and water separator. These flexible exhaust hoses transfer the exhaust gases and the raw water from the genset to the boat muffler and water separator that are located remote from the genset. Unlike automotive exhaust system that are made of metal, which is a good noise barrier, marine exhaust hoses have to be flexible and thus are not good barriers for noise. Lately, genset noise has been reduced through better designs, thus making the radiated noise from the exhaust hose the major source of overall noise.
One technique to reduce the noise of exhaust hoses is to insulate the exhaust hose with a barrier type material. However, this is not a practical solution since the boat builder supplies the exhaust hose and the builders are typically reluctant to invest the additional time and money to insulate the exhaust hose. What is needed is a more practical technique to reduce marine exhaust hose noise.


An electrostatic carrier tray is an apparatus that is used to temporarily grasp and to transport semiconductive coupons/wafers. The apparatus mainly includes a primary substrate, a plurality of electrostatics field generating circuits, a conformal coating, a structural backing, and a power-delivery and control system. The electrostatics field generating circuits are positioned on one side of the primary substrate, and the power delivery and control system is positioned on the other side of the primary substrate. The electrostatics field generating circuits are used to bond the semiconductive coupons/wafers to the apparatus. The structural backing is used to handle the apparatus while transporting the semiconductive coupons/wafers and is also used to protect the power-delivery and control system from physical damage. The conformal coating is superimposed onto the electrostatics field generating circuits and the primary substrate as a means of protection.

With the advent of new technology, people are more reliant on electronic devices/systems in their daily routine. This causes an increase in manufacturing and producing of electronic devices and systems. Manufacturing and producing electronic devices require following stringent guidelines and strict procedures where oftentimes parts have to be transported and moved to various locations, process stations, and production plants. These parts and devices are made in many multiples of sizes and form factors, which causes manufacturers the need to maintain inventory of transport carriers (most commonly Joint Electron Devices Engineer Council (JEDEC) trays) that are specific to the device size and/-or process step in which it is involved, the devices need to be securely located and indexed in cavities in conventional trays. Causing manufactures the need to manage thousands or tens of thousands trays to fill all the size needs. Currently, there is no effective and easy way to move electronic substrates from one location to another. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for a mobile electric carrier device that can easily and safely transport power electronic substrates and coupons with no size or form factor restrictions.


In one half portion of one surface of a substrate there are formed in parallel V-grooves of the same depth, in which optical fibers and are disposed and positioned with their axes held at a height H1 with respect to the surface. The optical fibers and have lens portions formed integrally therewith at one end, and the end faces of the lens portions are tilted at an angle θ′ from their axes. A beam splitter is mounted on the substrate on a center line between elongations of the optical fibers, and light emitted from the lens portion propagates through space and is launched in focused form into the beam splitter, and a portion of the incident light is reflected, which propagates space and is launched in focused form into the lens portion and propagates through the optical fiber. The light having passed through the beam splitter is launched into a light receiving element. By monitoring an electrical signal that is output from the light receiving element, it is possible to monitor the light propagating through the optical fiber.

The present invention relates to an optical monitor module that launches a portion of light emitted from an optical fiber into another optical fiber for propagation therethrough to a monitoring part.
In a conventional optical monitor module, light emitted from an optical fiber is launched into an optical waveguide on an optical waveguide substrate having formed thereon an optical branching circuit, and light branched by the optical branching circuit is emitted from the optical waveguide substrate for incidence on a monitoring section. This prior art is disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publications Nos. 2001-358362 and 347665/94.
With such a conventional type of optical monitor module which monitors the light branched by the branching circuit of the optical waveguide formed on the optical waveguide substrate, light of relatively large power needs to be branched for monitoring because of a propagation loss by the optical waveguide. Further, the optical branching circuit has a Y-branch configuration and the two optical waveguides are formed substantially at right angles to each other—this leads to the defect of relatively much space being occupied by the optical waveguide substrate. One possible solution to this problem is an optical module configuration in which no branching circuit of the optical waveguide is used but instead light emitted from an optical fiber is launched into a beam splitter through space and light transmitted through or reflected by the beam splitter is launched into another optical fiber for propagation to the monitoring part. This module structure does not suffer a loss of light resulting from the propagation through the optical waveguide, but since the optical fibers and the beam splitter are spaced relatively wide apart, the light beam diverges (that is, the beam diameter increases), resulting in an increase in the light loss. Further, the two optical fibers are disposed substantially at right angles to each other, occupying much space.

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Limitedc


A glide-height disk-tester operates with the test disk rotating at a predetermined constant rotational speed and uses a glide head with an electrically-resistive heater and a thermally-responsive protrusion pad located on its trailing end. The linear velocity of the disk relative to the slider maintains the slider at its nominal fly height, which is typically higher than any expected asperity. With no current applied to the heater, the protrusion pad is generally flush with the air-bearing surface of the slider. Increasing levels of current are applied to the heater, which causes movement of the protrusion pad toward the disk surface. When the pad contacts an asperity, the current level applied at the instant of asperity contact is recorded. The applied current level can be correlated to the glide height from a previous calibration process using a calibration disk with known calibration bump heights.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to glide-height disk-testers for testing the surfaces of recording disks, such as disks used in magnetic recording disk drives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic recording disk drives use magnetoresistive (MR) read heads for reading the recorded data from the disks. The MR heads are extremely sensitive to small physical asperities that project from the surface of the disk. If the MR head contacts an asperity there is a momentary frictional heating of the MR element. This heating, called a thermal asperity, increases the resistance of the MR element, which causes data errors and loss of information in reading the disk. In addition, asperities can also physically damage or scratch the read or write head.
To assure that the disks are free of asperities that would project high enough to be contacted by the MR head, one of the final steps in the manufacturing of disks is a glide-height test. The disk must have a qualified glide height (QGHT) to be acceptable, meaning that no asperities should be higher that QGHT. In the conventional glide-height disk-tester the disk is placed on a spin stand and rotated at an initial high speed. A glide slider (also called a glide head), similar to the slider that supports the MR head in the disk drive but typically without a read/write head, is maintained above the surface of the rotating disk and moved radially across the disk surface as the disk rotates. The slider contains a contact sensor, such as a piezoelectric element, that generates an electrical signal when the slider contacts an asperity. With the disk rotating at its initial high speed, the slider is initially flying higher than any expected asperity. The rotational speed is then continuously reduced, which reduces the fly height of the slider, until an asperity, or a predetermined number of asperities, are detected. The glide height at the time of asperity detection is determined from the known disk rotational speed and the radial position of the slider at the instant of asperity contact. The relationship between the linear velocity of the disk relative to the slider (determined from disk rotational speed and radial location of the slider), is well known and can be previously calibrated for a particular slider design.
This method of determining glide height from the known linear velocity of the disk relative to the slider is less reliable as flying heights in disk drives become reduced to tens of nanometers or less. For example, commercially available disk drives now have flying heights of 6–8 nm. In addition, the output signal from the contact sensor is affected by the velocity at impact with the asperity, so that if different asperities are contacted at different velocities, it is difficult to estimate the relative sizes of the asperities. Also, because the linear velocity is not the same for each asperity contact, the pitch and roll of the slider is different for each asperity contact, which makes it difficult to compare different signals from the contact sensor.
What is needed is a glide-height disk-tester that does not rely on the relationship between disk linear velocity relative to the slider and fly height of the slider to determine glide height at the instant of asperity contact.

Glide-height disk-tester and method of operation

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


Various examples described herein are directed to systems, methods, and computer-readable medium for providing a tactile response. A document that includes visual data is received. Change data for the visual data that indicates changes in data values of the visual data from a previous time is received. The visual data is rendered. An indication that a section of the document is selected is received. The section includes a first visual data. A change of the first visual data is determined front the change data. A tactile response unit is controlled to provide a tactile response based on the change of the first visual data.

identifying data within a document, such as a web page or financial statement, that has changed from a previous version of the document can be difficult. Identifying sections of a document that have changed, allows a user to quickly understand the differences in the document without having to sort through the unchanged data. Current systems may generate documents with changes marked by altering relevant text. For example, text may be underlined, bolded, boxed, etc., to indicate changed data. Such enhancements, however, may not be readily useful to users with visual impairments.


Embodiments relate to polycrystalline diamond compacts (“PDCs”) including a polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) table that is substantially free of defects formed due to abnormal grain growth of tungsten carbide grains, and methods of fabricating such PDCs. In an embodiment, a PDC comprises a cemented tungsten carbide substrate including an interfacial surface that is substantially free of tungsten carbide grains exhibiting abnormal grain growth, and a PCD table bonded to the interfacial surface of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate. The PCD table includes a plurality of bonded diamond grains defining a plurality of interstitial regions. At least a portion of the interstitial regions includes a metal-solvent catalyst disposed therein. The PCD table may be substantially free of chromium or the PCD table and the cemented tungsten carbide substrate may each include chromium.

Wear-resistant, polycrystalline diamond compacts ("PDCs") are utilized in a variety of mechanical applications. For example, PDCs are used in drilling tools (e.g., cutting elements, gage trimmers, etc.), machining equipment, bearing apparatuses, wire-drawing machinery, and in other mechanical apparatuses.
PDCs have found particular utility as superabrasive cutting elements in rotary drill bits, such as roller-cone drill bits and fixed-cutter drill bits. A PDC cutting element typically includes a superabrasive diamond layer commonly known as a diamond table. The diamond table is formed and bonded to a cemented carbide substrate using a high-pressure/high-temperature ("HPHT") process. The PDC cutting element may be brazed directly into a preformed pocket, socket, or other receptacle formed in a bit body. The cemented carbide substrate may often be brazed or otherwise joined to an attachment member, such as a cylindrical backing. A rotary drill bit typically includes a number of PDC cutting elements affixed to the bit body. It is also known that a stud carrying the PDC may be used as a PDC cutting element when mounted to a bit body of a rotary drill bit by press-fitting, brazing, or otherwise securing the stud into a receptacle formed in the bit body.
Conventional PDCs are normally fabricated by placing a cemented tungsten carbide substrate into a container with a volume of diamond particles positioned on a surface of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate. A number of such containers may be loaded into an HPHT press. The substrate(s) and volume(s) of diamond particles are then processed under diamond-stable HPHT conditions. During the HPHT process, a metal-solvent catalyst cementing constituent of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate, such as cobalt from a cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide substrate, liquefies and infiltrates into interstitial regions between the diamond particles. The cobalt acts as a catalyst to promote intergrowth between the diamond particles, which results in formation of a polycrystalline diamond ("PCD") table of bonded diamond grains having diamond-to-diamond bonding therebetween that is bonded to the cemented tungsten carbide substrate. Interstitial regions between the bonded diamond grains are occupied by the metal-solvent catalyst.
During the HPHT process, tungsten carbide grains in a region of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate located adjacent to the PCD table can experience significant abnormal grain growth ("AGG"). Such tungsten carbide grains that exhibit abnormal grain growth can project from the cemented tungsten carbide substrate into the PCD table to thereby introduce stress concentrations and/or defects that can cause the PCD table to delaminate from the cemented tungsten carbide substrate when loaded during subterranean drilling operations. FIG. 1 is a photomicrograph of a microstructure 100 of a PDC taken at a magnification of 750 times in a scanning electron microscope that shows tungsten carbide grains 102 that exhibit AGG projecting from a cemented tungsten carbide substrate 104 into a PCD table 106. As shown in FIG. 1, the tungsten carbide grains 102 have experienced significant grain growth compared to other unaffected tungsten carbide grains 108 of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate 104. For example, the tungsten carbide gains 102 can be about five to about thirty times the average grain size of the unaffected tungsten carbide grains 108 and may exhibit an aspect ratio of fifty to one in some cases.

Polycrystalline diamond compact including a cemented tungsten carbide substrate that is substantially free of tungsten carbide grains exhibiting abnormal grain growth and applications therefor