Disclosed is a non-contact magnetic latch mechanism for holding a disc drive actuator in its park position. The latch includes a magnetically permeable element coupled to the actuator. The magnetically permeable element is positioned so as to be attracted to the magnetic field produced by the actuator voice coil magnets when the actuator is in or near its park position. The size, shape and location of the magnet may be selected so as to vary the latch torque and the range of influence of the latch on the actuator.

This invention relates generally to the field of hard disc drive data storage devices, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to latch mechanisms for holding an actuator mechanism of a disc drive at a park position in the absence of power.
Disc drives of the type known as xe2x80x9cWinchesterxe2x80x9d disc drives, or hard disc drives, are well known in the industry. Such disc drives magnetically record digital data on a plurality of circular, concentric data tracks on the surfaces of one or more rigid discs. The discs are typically mounted for rotation on the hub of a brushless DC spindle motor. In disc drives of the current generation, the spindle motor rotates the discs at speeds of up to 15,000 RPM.
Data are recorded to and retrieved from the discs by an array of vertically aligned read/write head assemblies, or heads, which are controllably moved from track to track by an actuator assembly. The read/write head assemblies typically consist of an electromagnetic transducer carried on an air bearing slider. This slider acts in a cooperative pneumatic relationship with a thin layer of air dragged along by the spinning discs to fly the head assembly in a closely spaced relationship to the disc surface. In order to maintain the proper flying relationship between the head assemblies and the discs, the head assemblies are attached to and supported by head suspension tabs.
The actuator assembly used to move the heads from track to track has assumed many forms historically, with most disc drives of the current generation incorporating an actuator of the type referred to as a rotary voice coil actuator. A typical rotary voice coil actuator consists of a pivot shaft fixedly attached to the disc drive housing base member closely adjacent the outer diameter of the discs. The pivot shaft is mounted such that its central axis is normal to the plane of rotation of the discs. An actuator bearing housing is mounted to the pivot shaft by an arrangement of precision ball bearing assemblies, and supports a flat coil which is suspended in the magnetic field of an array of permanent magnets, which are fixedly mounted to the disc drive housing base member. On the side of the actuator bearing housing opposite to the coil, the actuator bearing housing also typically includes a plurality of vertically aligned, radially extending actuator head mounting arms, to which the head suspensions mentioned above are mounted. When controlled DC current is applied to the coil, a magnetic field is formed surrounding the coil which interacts with the magnetic field of the permanent magnets to rotate the actuator bearing housing, with the attached head suspensions and head assemblies, in accordance with the well-known Lorentz relationship. As the actuator bearing housing rotates, the heads are moved radially across the data tracks along an arcuate path.
The movement of the heads across the disc surfaces in disc drives utilizing voice coil actuator systems is typically under the control of closed loop servo systems. In a closed loop servo system, specific data patterns used to define the location of the heads relative to the disc surface arc prerecorded on the discs during the disc drive manufacturing process. The servo system reads the previously recorded servo information from the servo portion of the discs, compares the actual position of the actuator over the disc surface to a desired position and generates a position error signal (PES) reflective of the difference between the actual and desired positions. The servo system then generates a position correction signal which is used to select the polarity and amplitude of current applied to the coil of the voice coil actuator to bring the actuator to the desired position. When the actuator is at the desired position, no PES is generated, and no current is applied to the coil. Any subsequent tendency of the actuator to move from the desired position is countered by the detection of a position error, and the generation of the appropriate position correction signal to the coil.
When power to the disc drive is lost, servo control of the current flow in the coil of the voice coil actuator is lost. In the absence of DC current flowing in the coil, the actuator is free to move in response to such things as mechanical shock, air movement within the disc drive or mechanical bias applied to the actuator by the printed circuit cable (PCC) used to carry signals to the coil and to and from the heads mounted on the actuator. Since a power loss also means that the spindle motor will also cease to rotate the discs, the air bearing supporting the heads also begins to deteriorate and contact will be made between the heads and the discs. Because of this, it is common practice in the industry to monitor input power to the disc drive, and, at the detection of power loss, to drive the actuator to a park position and latch it there until power to the disc drive is restored. One way in which the heads may be held at positions spaced from the discs is by providing ramps at the outer diameters of the discs. The ramps guide the heads away from the discs by forcing biased load suspension tabs away from the planes of the discs as the actuator moves into its park position. Such an arrangement can be seen in FIG. 2.
Once the actuator is in the park position, it is common to provide a primary latch mechanism which serves to prevent the actuator from being moved out of the park position when the drive is subjected to shock. Many forms of such latches have been used and are disclosed in the art. Examples are inertial latches and air latches. Inertial latches move in response to external shocks to lock the actuator in place. An air latch holds the actuator in place when the actuator reaches its park position, but moves to an unlatch position in response to airflow generated by the spinning discs when power is restored to the drive. One problem associated with these latches is that under certain conditions they do not effectively prevent movement of the actuator. For example, while high levels of shock will cause an inertial latch to move to engage the actuator, lower levels of shock, especially repeated shocks resulting from vibration, can be insufficient to move the inertial latch but sufficient to move the actuator out of the park position. In the case of an air latch, external shocks can move the latch out of engagement with the actuator, leaving the actuator free to rotate out of the park position. For this reason, it is known to provide a secondary latch mechanism which prevents the actuator from leaving the park position even under circumstances when the primary latch mechanism is ineffective.
This secondary latch mechanism is known to take the form of a detent in the surface of the ramp. This is illustrated in FIG. 3 which shows a load suspension tab 136 in three positions: seated in the detent 154 at left, ascending or descending the sloped ramp surface 152 in the center, and flying above the surface of the disc 110 at right. As may be seen in FIG. 4, the detent 154 increases the torque required to drive the actuator out of the park position against the bias of the load suspension tabs 136, so the actuator will remain parked even when the primary latch is ineffective. However, there are many disadvantages associated with the use of a detent as a secondary latch mechanism, as will be explained below.
One disadvantage of these detent latch designs is that the torque required to move the actuator out of the park position decreases when a disc drive is depopulated, i.e., when discs are removed from the drive. Because heads and corresponding load suspension tabs are also removed, the overall bias provided by the load suspension tabs against the ramps is reduced, thereby decreasing the overall secondary latch torque. Shocks to the disc drive which are too low to activate an inertial latch but high enough to cause the actuator to overcome the reduced secondary latch torque could allow the actuator to leave the park position and contact the stationary disc, causing damage to the discs and heads.
Another problem presented by these detent latch designs is that the detent depth permits excess vertical acceleration of the heads when the drive is subject to high levels of shock. As can be seen in FIG. 9, detents 154 which face each other define a large distance 240 over which a head may travel when the drive is subjected to shock, resulting in greater acceleration and therefore velocity, increasing the likelihood of damage when the tab 136 contacts the opposing detent.
Another problem with these detent latch designs is that they are by nature limited in both xe2x80x9clatch torque,xe2x80x9d i.e., the force by which they prevent movement of the actuator out of its park position, and xe2x80x9crange of influence,xe2x80x9d i.e., the range of actuator rotation over which they exert torque on the actuator. Referring to FIG. 9, latch torque is increased by increasing the angle 210, such that increasing amounts of torque are required to drive the actuator against the bias force provided by the load suspensions tabs 136 against the detents 154. The latch torque is limited because if the angle 210 is increased too much, the load suspension tabs 136 can be bent or broken when forced against the detent surface. The range of influence 230 of the detent latch is limited because the detent depth 220 is limited by the spacing of adjacent heads from one another. As can be seen in FIG. 9, if the depths 220 of the detents 154 were increased too much, the heads supported by the suspension load tabs 136 would collide with one another when the actuator reached its park position. If latch torque is to be maintained at a suitable level, angle 210 must also be maintained and the range of influence 230 is limited by these factors.
A related problem with these detent latch designs is that the latch torque cannot be varied independently of the range of influence. If the latch torque is increased, for example, by increasing the angle 210 of the detent 154, the range 230 over which the detent latch is effective is necessarily shortened because of detent depth limit 220.
The limited range of influence of these detent latch designs can also affect the structure of the primary latch mechanism when an inertial latch is used. When manufacturing tolerances are taken into account, a one-piece actuator may rotate as little as 1.5 degrees before escaping the detent latch. When the drive is subject to shock under these conditions, the actuator may rotate past its point of engagement with the inertial latch before the inertial latch can move to its latching position, thereby allowing the actuator to descend the ramp and contact the disc surface. A solution to this problem in the past involved constructing a two-part latch in which an xe2x80x9cengagementxe2x80x9d part of the latch was moved more quickly by an xe2x80x9cinertialxe2x80x9d part to compensate for the slow movement of the xe2x80x9cinertialxe2x80x9d portion. However, this inertial latch structure involves additional cost associated with additional manufacturing steps, tooling, and packaging space in the VCM area of the drive.
The present invention is an improved secondary latch mechanism for holding a disc drive actuator in its park position. The secondary latch mechanism is a non-contact magnetic latch which includes a magnetically permeable element coupled to the actuator. The magnetically permeable element is positioned so as to be attracted to the magnetic field produced by the voice coil magnets when the actuator is in or near its park position. Additional features and benefits will become apparent upon a review of the attached figures and the accompanying description.

Non-contact magnetic latch for disc drive actuator


Properties of real nodes are selected by which to organize the real nodes as leaf nodes in a tree graph. A number of virtual nodes are provided, each representing a value of a selected property for at least one of the real nodes. The virtual nodes and real nodes are organized into the tree graph, the virtual nodes positioned along branches starting at a root node and ending at a real node, the virtual nodes in a unique path from the root node to a real node representing the values of the selected properties for the real node. The tree graph is displayed, and can be reconfigured by dragging and dropping a virtual node to a different level in the hierarchy of the tree graph.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to organizing data. In particular, the invention relates to changing the organization and display of information such as a collection of files or data objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hierarchical tree graphs often are used to display information. For example, a computing system may display a set of files or data objects in the form of a tree graph in a graphical user interface window of a display device of the computing system. Typically, however, the relationship of the files or data objects being displayed is fixed by an underlying mathematical tree that structures the organization of the information in a data structure or storage medium accessible by the computing system, for example, as might be used by a file or storage system of the computing system. Thus, the tree graph cannot be readily changed without changing the relationship of the files or data objects in the underlying file or storage system.


A digital camera has a memory and a scan-mode. In this mode, the camera takes a sequence of still pictures. A next one of the pictures in the sequence is selected for being stored in the memory based on an amount of overlap regarding a picture content with a previous one of the pictures stored in the memory. The camera processes the pictures stored in the memory so as to create a composite picture.

The digital, solid-state cameras are rapidly replacing the traditional analog cameras. Prices have come down to a mass-market level and features, unheard of in the conventional analog domain, are being added to give the user ever more control over the capturing process and the quality of the end-result. Currently, digital cameras are commercially available that have been designed for connecting to a PC in order to transfer image files. These files can include still image files (e.g., JPEG files) as well as motion video files (e.g., QuickTime files). Such a digital camera captures digital still images and motion video segments and stores the images using, e.g., Flash EPROM memory. Digital cameras also are increasingly more frequently integrated with other appliances. Devices such as mobile phones currently come equipped with camera chips as a standard feature. Market reports estimate that in 2002 about 20 million (20M) so-called "camera phones" were sold worldwide. The embedded digital camera enables to instantly share a snapshot with a remote party. A similar trend of designed-in camera chips has appeared in the PDA market. Solid-state cameras thus have become a commodity in the consumer electronics (CE) environment, i.e., the mass market, wherein brand owners try to distinguish their products by means of attractive features providing additional functionality.
An example of the above is discussed in US patent application publication 20030095193. This reference discloses creating a panoramic digital image by providing a digital camera having a memory and which is operable in a first mode for producing individual still digital images, and in a second mode for capturing a series of overlapping digital images to be used in constructing the panoramic digital image. The digital camera is mounted on a stand, rotated on the stand through a series of predetermined positions, and operated in the second mode to capture the series of overlapping digital images. The series of overlapping digital images corresponding to the panoramic digital image is stored in a predetermined location in the memory, and processed to stitch such images together to produce the panoramic digital image.

Digital camera with panorama or mosaic functionality


Provided is a method in which a communication state between a main control unit and each sub control unit can be judged to be normal or abnormal, in a condition where a noise may be generated from a drive system power line. This method includes a power supply step s4, a test communication step (see arrows (3) and (4)), and a judgment step s6. In the power supply step s4, power is supplied to first sub control units 2a from a drive system power source 6 while no power is supplied to actuators 7 from the power source 6. In the test communication step, communication of a test signal is performed between the main control unit 1 and each of the sub control units 2. In the judgment step s6, whether the communication state is normal or abnormal is judged based on the result of the communication of the test signal between the main control unit 1 and each of the sub control units 2.

Known is a control system like one in a bipedal walking robot, for controlling actuators provided at hip joints, knee joints, and foot joints of its legs, shoulder joints, elbow joints and wrist joints of its arms, and the like.
In the control system, the actuators are driven and controlled based on a communication of a control signal between a main control unit and each sub control unit through a signal line. Further, from a viewpoint of appropriate drive and control, it is judged whether a state of the communication is normal or abnormal in the process described below, before driving the robot.
First of all, power is supplied to each of the sub control units from a control system power source through a control system power line. Next, an ID request signal is transmitted from the main control unit to each of the sub control units through a signal line. Each of the sub control units receives the ID request signal and then transmits an ID signal to the main control unit through the signal line as above. This ID signal corresponds to an ID which has been assigned to each of the sub control units in advance. Accordingly, the main control unit identifies which one of the sub control units corresponds to which one of the actuators.
Thereafter, a test signal is transmitted from the main control unit to each of the sub control units through the signal line. Each of the sub control units receives the test signal, inverts bits of the test signal, and then transmits this signal back to the main control unit as a response signal. Based on whether or not the response signal is a signal which is obtained by accurately inverting the bits of the previously transmitted test signal, the main control unit judges whether the communication state with each of the sub control units is normal or abnormal.
When the main control unit judges that the communication state with each of the sub control units is normal, power is supplied to each of the sub control units from a drive system power source through a drive system power line. Based on the communications of the control signals with the main control unit through the signal lines, the sub control units control power supply from the drive system power source to the actuators. Therefore, the actuators are driven and controlled, and the right and left legs and arms of the robot are thus driven, allowing the robot to realize a walking function and the like.
Meanwhile, from a viewpoint of ensuring easy movement of a joint area of the robot, the signal line and the power line are provided to be close to each other especially at a joint portion. In the vicinities of the hip joints and the shoulder joints in particular, the signal lines and the power lines extending to the knee joints and the elbow joints, which are respectively provided down from the hip and shoulder joints, are concentrated. Hence, the communication state which was normal before driving the robot may become abnormal after the robot is driven, owing to an influence of a noise generated from the close drive system power line. This may cause abnormal drive and control of the actuator.
However, in the aforementioned method, whether the communication state is normal or abnormal is judged while power is supplied neither to the sub control units nor to the actuators from the drive system power source. Thus, this method is not capable of eliminating a possibility that the communication state which was normal before driving the robot becomes abnormal after the robot is driven, thereby causing the abnormal drive and control of the actuator.
Thus, in the present invention, a problem to be solved is to provide a method in which communication between a main control unit and each sub control unit can be judged to be normal or abnormal, in a condition where a noise may be generated from the drive system power line.

Method for judging communication state in a control system of linked joints


Parallel programming and execution systems and techniques are discussed herein. In accordance with one technique, a parallel programming model is used to decompose a complex process into parallelizable tasks with proper dependencies set by data objects as interfaces. Another technique features a scheduling mechanism that provides thread affinity and automatic load-balance management among an assortment of processing units such as CPUSs/CPU cores, GPUs/GPU cores, and/or hardware threads in a scalable manner. The models and techniques are applied in an exemplary manner to a digital media encoding process.

Traditional computing environments featuring single processors generally perform data processing operations associated with a particular computer-implemented process in a serial manner, although some traditional computing environments may support time-division multiplexing, where a single processor switches between different operations frequently enough that a user perceives that the operations are being performed concurrently.
Computing environments have been trending to multiprocessing systems having multiple processing units. Many types of systems may be considered to be multiprocessing systems, and examples of multiprocessing systems include but are not limited to: systems having multiple central processing units ("CPUs") and/or graphics processing units ("GPUs"); single- or multi-CPU/GPU systems having multiple cores; and single- or multi-CPC/GPU systems that have additional hardware supports to efficiently execute multiple operations
Computer programs that implement all or part of a particular computer-implemented process may also be designed to be multithreaded, that is, to have multiple threads of execution. A thread of execution is a portion of a computer program that can be performed concurrently with another portion of the computer program.
The trend toward multiprocessing systems and the emergence of multithreaded computer programs, and especially the combination thereof, has the potential to increase performance and efficiency of many computer-implemented processes. To achieve such performance and efficiency gains, it is desirable to specially design multithreaded computer programs.


In a method of producing iron and steel, from iron ores largely composed of iron oxides, wherein a direct reduction process is used to produce a solid particulate intermediate product, generally known as sponge iron or Direct Reduced Iron (DRI); pneumatically conveying the DRI in a closed pipe from the reduction reactor of the direct reduction process to the metallurgical furnaces where liquid iron or steel are produced, for example electric arc furnaces, induction furnaces, basic oxygen furnaces, etc. or to a briquetting press to form DRI briquettes, or simply to a silo or storage bin, or in general to a subsequent processing step for said DRI. When the carrier gas is recirculated for reuse, surprisingly air is preferred as the source of such gas, especially for reactive hot DRI. This method has a superior efficiency and productivity and reduces the overall energy consumption relative to currently used DRI steelmaking plants. This is also applicable to pneumatic delivery of cold (or hot) ore to the reduction reactor.

In the recent years, the necessity of rendering the steelmaking processes more efficient, more productive, and less wasteful, has become increasingly urgent, due to rising production costs (particularly energy costs) and also due to the increasing restrictions imposed upon steel plants for ecological reasons.
One of the successful routes for producing steel, which is being increasingly promoted and has become more widely utilized, is the direct reduction without melting of lumps or pellets of ore with subsequent electric arc furnace refining. This is in contrast to the traditional steel plants using blast furnaces and basic oxygen converter furnaces for making steel from melted ore. Although in the present specification a preferred embodiment of the invention is described as applied to a steelmaking plant comprising a direct reduction plant and electric arc furnaces, it is evident that the invention in its broader aspects can be adapted to other applications where DRI or other metallic iron bearing particles (hot or cold) are to be transported.
In order to better understand the invention, some of the characteristics of DRI are given herein, which will help one to appreciate why pneumatic transport systems had never been previously recommended for commercialized DRI nor ever successfully used before with this material.
DRI is commercially produced by direct reduction of lumps or pellets of iron ore by contacting these with a stream of reducing gas at a high temperature. Reduction is carried out in the solid state. The resulting DRI is a friable particulate solid which is very porous and reactive at high temperatures. At such elevated temperatures, it reoxidizes exothermically with water or oxygen in the ambient air.
Iron ores employed for direct reduction are generally iron oxides: hematite and magnetite. When the iron ore has a high iron content, for example above 55%, it can be economically processed by simply breaking it down to particle sizes at least 80% and preferably at least 90% of which are greater than 0.5 cm and range up to about 6 cm (i.e. 0.2 to 2.4 inches). It is also necessary that said ore has a high mechanical strength so as to withstand pressures, shocks and crushing which tend to create undesirable and excessive fines during its transport and handling. Such dust-like fines can cause considerable problems, such as uneven flow and gas channelling inside the fixed or moving bed reduction reactor. This results in unhomogeneous reduction, thus producing DRI of an inferior and uneven quality.
In order to render it mechanically stronger, it is preferred in many cases, to grind the iron ore, magnetically concentrate it to increase its iron content, include some additives such as lime and dolomite, and form it into pellets in the 0.5 to 2.4 cm range. In this pelletizing process, the pellets formed are generally spherical with the desired chemical composition needed for optimal performance in the reduction process and also in the subsequent steelmaking stage in the electric arc furnace. Since pellets have a higher iron content with a more uniform quality, they can consequently be transported over long distances by truck, rail, etc., more economically (because the unnecessary transportation of a substantial amount of gangue is avoided).
Direct reduction plants chemically reduce iron ores by contacting the particles, which may be irregularly shaped pieces of iron ore or pellets or mixtures thereof, with a stream of reducing gas, largely composed of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, at a temperature between 850.degree. and 1,050.degree. C., normally at about 950.degree. C.
The commercial reduction reactor may be of the fixed bed or moving bed type. It is evident that in order to increase the reaction rate between the solid ore particles and the reducing gas, it is desirable that said particles be highly porous. However, this characteristic also makes DRI very reactive, since it contains a high proportion of metallic iron, which tends to reoxidize when in contact with the oxygen in air or water. As is typical of all chemical reactions, reoxidation of DRI is faster and more violent as the temperature increases. This is why DRI in the past always has most desirably been safely handled at ambient temperature and is normally cooled down inside the reduction reactor by circulating a cooling gas therethrough before it is discharged. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,765,872; 4,046,557; and 4,150,972.
Cooling DRI, although commonly necessary for the safe handling of the DRI to avoid reoxidation problems and to reduce the need for expensive temperature resistent pumps, valves, etc., is however disadvantageous with respect to the energy efficiency of the overall steelmaking process. Since much of the thermal energy of the DRI is lost through its cooling; therefore, it is necessary to spend more energy to heat the DRI once again in order to melt it and convert it to steel. Only some of the lost energy is usefully recovered in steam generation, in heat exchangers, and the like.
To meet this problem, it has been proposed in the past to omit cooling the DRI in the reduction reactor and to discharge it at the highest feasible temperature, normally in the range of 400.degree. to 750.degree. C., in order to decrease energy cost in the electric furnaces where DRI is melted, or alternatively to hot briquet the DRI, commonly at temperatures above 600.degree. C. This represents substantial energy savings. However, transportation of DRI at high temperature has so far involved using systems which have significant drawbacks.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,799,367 and 4,188,022 teach discharging DRI at a high temperature from a direct reduction reactor without cooling it down to ambient temperature. It is proposed to transport this hot DRI to its next processing step, utilizing containers which are placed at the outlets of the discharge bins of the reduction reactor. These containers are filled with an inert gas to prevent contact of hot DRI with oxygen in the air, thus avoiding reoxidation thereof. This transport system, however, presents a number of disadvantages, because the containers with DRI must be moved through the plant by means of trucks or railroad equipment. This requires a maintenance system for motorized vehicles with its consequent high operating costs.
Furthermore, such a system also needs transit space within the plants. In an already existing plant, it is very difficult to open suitable space for transit of trucks or a railroad, if such installations are not planned beforehand.
As previously discussed, it has been also proposed in the past to form the DRI particles into briquettes while at high temperature whereby compaction of DRI particles into dense briquettes decreases substantially the porosity and thereby its reactivity. However, even if only for hot DRI transport to the briquetting press, systems currently in use are complicated and involve large investment and high operating costs.
German patent No. 3806861 teaches transport of hot DRI in a bin. Such bins are used with pressure locks in some direct reduction processes operating at pressures over one atmosphere. These processes require pressure locks for charge and discharge of the reduction reactor. This transport system is however applicable only to short distances, for example from the reduction reactor to a briquetting press located close to said reactor. If DRI is to be transported over longer distances, for example hundreds of meters, this system using pressure lock bins is not practical nor economical since it would require a larger number of such bins, which, due to their required characteristics for pressure, temperature and abrasion resistance as well as their sealing valves, are expensive.
By far the most common current practice for DRI transportation involves discharge from the reactor at low temperatures, for example at temperatures below 100.degree. C., and utilization of open belt conveyors. DRI is moved by means of these belt conveyors, to silos or storage bins and then to feeding bins of the electric furnaces at the meltshop. This method, however, has several drawbacks. For example, the fines, e.g. the very small particles produced from the abrasion and breakage of ore lumps, of pellets, or of DRI inside the reduction reactor and during DRI handling, are spilled at transfer points and are entrained by ambient air currents passing over the open conveyors with the consequent problems of losses of valuable metallic iron units and of significant environmental pollution. These losses of metallic iron, which mainly occur at the transfer stations of the DRI, can be as 2% to 10% of DRI production, depending on the type of facilities.
Non-commercialized attempts to produce DRI by fluidized bed direct reduction methods have been proposed from time-to-time. These teach the use of very fine-grained ores up to only 3 mm in diameter and preferably less than 0.5 mm). In dealing with a grain size appropriate to being fluidized, a few such references have suggested pneumatic transport of such "fine-grained sponge iron" (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,007,034 and 4,045,214). However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,858 is the only reference known to applicants which is relevant to the commercially-proven larger-sized DRI particles (i.e. greater than 0.5 cm) that has any suggestion of pneumatic transport of DRI. Yet, even this latter patent's teaching is only in the context of the larger "sponge iron pellets [being]. . . converted to finely divided form" by "grinding or milling" prior to transport by a carrier gas.
Crushed limestone is reported to have been pneumatically transported over short distances as a feed device; however, this is a relatively soft material as compare to DRI (or even to iron ore). Thus, in spite of such uses, such lime transport has never been extended to or suggested for iron ore or for DRI of a size greater than 3 mm.
There is also considerable literature on pneumatic transport of catalyst particles in the petroleum industry, but always of smaller particles of a size appropriate for use in a fluidized bed.

Method for the pneumatic transport of large iron-bearing particles


Defects in an image forming system may give rise to visible streaks, or one-dimensional defects in an image that run parallel to the process direction. One known method for compensating for streaks introduces a separate tone reproduction curve for each pixel column in the process direction. A compensation pattern according to this invention has alignment marks before and after a halftone compensation region. The alignment marks provide alignment between the printer pixel grid and a scanning pixel grid. The line width of each alignment mark and the gray level in each pixel column of each gray level portion is measured and analyzed to produce a local tone reproduction curve for each pixel column and associated line width. The line widths of the alignment marks can be remeasured to adjust the local tone reproduction curves to compensate for the streak defect when printing.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for reducing print defects in electrostatically formed images.
2. Description of Related Art
Defects in the subsystems of a xerographic, electrophotographic or similar image forming system, such as a laser printer, digital copier or the like, may give rise to visible streaks in a printed image. Streaks are primarily one-dimensional defects in an image that run parallel to the process direction. Typical defects might arise from a non-uniform LED imager, contamination of the high voltage elements in a charger, scratches in the photoreceptor surface, etc. In a uniform patch of gray, streaks and bands may appear as a variation in the gray level. In general, "gray" refers to the intensity value of any single color separation layer, whether the toner is black, cyan, magenta, yellow or some other color.
One method of reducing such streaks is to design and manufacture the critical parameters of the marking engine subsystems to tight specifications. Often though, such precision manufacturing will prove to be cost prohibitive.
A tone reproduction curve (TRC) may be measured by printing patches of different bitmap area coverage. In some digital image processing applications, the reflectivity of a patch of gray is measured with a toner area coverage sensor. The manner of operation of the toner area coverage sensor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,033, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Toner area coverage sensors are typically designed with an illumination beam much larger than the halftone screen dimension. This large beam does not provide the resolution for the toner area coverage sensor to be useful as a sensor for the narrow streaks that may occur for poorly performing subsystems.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/738,573 by Klassen et al, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses one exemplary embodiment of a method for compensating for streaks by introducing a separate tone reproduction curve for each pixel column in the process direction. A compensation pattern is printed and then scanned to first measure the ideal tone reproduction curve and then detect and measure streaks. The tone reproduction curves for the pixel columns associated with the streak are then modified to compensate for the streak.

System and methods for compensating for streaks in images


Point of sale (POS) devices, systems, and methods disclosed herein enable payments by merchants to non-customers, such as to employees of the merchant. A point of sale system of the merchant determines an amount of a payment to be made by the merchant to the employee. The point of sale system transmits payment instructions for executing the payment to a payment system provider computing system. The funds are made available in a bank account of the employee instantly or near instantly.

In many situations, customers at a point of sale of a retail establishment wish to tip an employee of the retail establishment. For example, at a restaurant or bar, customers may wish to tip the wait staff, the bartender or other employee. In such situations, the customer may be provided with a bill, which the customer may then pay with cash (e.g., paper currency and/or coins) or credit card (e.g., a physical credit card, or a credit card provisioned to a mobile wallet application installed on a mobile device, such as a smart phone, etc.). When paying with cash, the customer may tip the employee by leaving additional cash in excess of the amount of the bill. When paying with credit card, the customer may write in an additional tip amount that is in excess of the amount of the bill. The total amount charged to the credit card is then the amount of the bill plus the tip. Many retail establishments will calculate the aggregate amount of credit card tips received by employees during a shift, and then pay the employee the aggregated tip amount in cash at the end of the employee's shift. This provides an immediate reward to the servers for high quality service provided to customers.
Most people prefer not to carry around large amounts of cash. Hence, for some retail establishments, the vast majority of people pay with credit card and not cash. As a result, such retail establishments may not have enough cash on hand to pay employees their credit card tips at the end of their shifts using only the cash received from cash-paying customers during that shift. Instead, such retail establishments need to send an employee to a branch location of a bank to get cash to pay the tips of employees. Given that bank branch locations typically are not open late at night and have limited weekend hours, this in turn requires retail establishments to obtain significant amounts of cash in advance and to store that cash in a secure location (e.g., an on-premises safe). A possible solution to this problem would be to include the aggregated tip amount in the employee's paycheck. However, as compared to paying in cash at the end of the shift, this approach does not provide the same immediate reward to the employees for high quality service provided to customers.
Other situations also exist where there is need for a retail establishment to provide cash to an individual at a point of sale terminal. For example, some stores sell used goods (e.g., used books) and use cash to purchase such goods from their original owners. As another example, consignment stores sell second hand goods. When a good sells, a percentage of the sale price is typically owed to the original owner of the good. Such entities could benefit from improved payment mechanisms as well.

Instant network cash transfer at point of sale


In a synchronous digital communications system a network of SDH (or SONET) equipments (SE) are arranged to exchange synchronisation signals via ports on the SEs, each port being allocated a source identifier (SID). These SIDs are used to identify the source of each synchronisation signal input at a particular SE. When the SE selects a synchronisation signal to transmit out of its ports, the SID associated with that selected signal is compared with SID of each port. If a match is found the synchronisation status message (SSM) associated with the synchronisation signal sent out at that port is set to “Do Not Use” (DNU) to warn the destination SE that the synchronisation signal has been looped back. Each SE is allocated a unique equipment identifier. The SID of each port is set to the unique SE identifier of SE to which it is directly connected.

The present invention relates to the field of synchronous hierarchy communications networks, for example synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) and SONET networks and to the synchronisation of network elements within such networks.
A synchronous hierarchy communications network comprises a number of interconnected nodes or network elements (NE), e.g. SDH equipment (SE), arranged to exchange data, synchronisation and control signalling according to a synchronous hierarchy, as set out for example in the synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) or SONET standards. Typically a synchronisation signal will be passed from one NE to the next, along with the data signal, so creating a synchronisation path through communicating NEs via data ports. The synchronisation is carried by virtue of the synchronisation signal's aggregate bit rate rather than the data it contains. The signal also carries the synchronisation status message (SSM).
For brevity in the following the invention will be described with reference to SDH, it being understood that the invention is also applicable to SONET. A significant feature of SDH systems is the ability of networks to automatically recover from synchronisation failures. To support this feature each SE requires a pre-configured synchronisation source priority table and each synchronisation signal must carry an indication of the quality of the timing source from which it is derived. In SDH networks, this indication of quality is carried in the SSM. For any one STM-N output, the SE will autonomously select from the SSM values of the available sources the one with the highest quality. The selection of which source to use to synchronise data signals sent out from STM-N ports of an SE is also controlled by the pre-configured priority table of that equipment. For any one STM-N output, one or a number of synchronisation sources can each be assigned a priority and the SE can use the priority table to identify the source with the highest priority. In practice priority is only used to select a synchronisation source if there are more than one available with the same, highest quality, or if a valid SSM is not available.
At a network level it is important that the overall trail of successive synchronisation sources (which may be described as a "daisy chain" of SEs passing synchronisation information from one to the other along the chain) always refers back to a designated external source. This is illustrated in FIG. 1. It is also important that every effort is made to prevent a timing loop occurring. A timing loop occurs when a synchronisation signal transmitted by a SE is returned (i.e. looped-back) to the same SE which then selects that looped-back synchronisation signal as its source for transmitting thus "closing the loop" such that there is no independent external source of synchronisation. This is illustrated in FIG. 2.
To avoid this situation, international standards (e.g. pr ETS 300 417-6-1) define a method whereby, when a synchronisation source input to a SE via a particular port is selected for onward transmission by that SE, the SSM sent out by that particular port is set to "do not use" (DNU). A synchronisation signal with an associated SSM of DNU will not be used. This ensures that a synchronisation signal directed back towards the original source of synchronisation is not itself used for synchronisation.
However, the method of the above International Standard does not cope with the situation where two adjacent NEs are connected via more than one port. Whereas a SSM of DNU will be transmitted on the first port at which the synchronisation signal is received, the second port connected to the same source of synchronisation can still output a synchronisation signal with a valid (i.e. non-DNU) SSM.


Systems and methods for etching operation management. A process controller acquires a line width on a processed wafer, determines a first Critical Dimension (CD) bias by subtracting the measured width from a target width, determines an adjusted target width by providing a first and a second etching duration, determines a second CD bias by providing the adjusted target width, determines third etching duration corresponding to the second CD bias, receives an event from an etching tool, and directs the etching tool to perform etching operations on an initiated wafer for the third etching duration.

The invention relates to semiconductor device fabrication, and more particularly, to systems and methods of etching operation management.
Generally, a set of processing steps is performed across a group of semiconductor wafers, typically referred to as a lot. For example, a process layer that may be composed of a variety of different materials may be formed across a semiconductor wafer. Thereafter, a patterned layer of photoresist may be formed across the process layer using known photolithography techniques. Typically, an etching process is then performed across the process layer using the patterned layer of photoresist as a mask. The etching process results in the formation of various electronic devices in the process layer. Such electronic devices may be used as, for example, a gate electrode structure for transistors. Many durations, trench isolation structures are also formed across the substrate of the semiconductor wafer to isolate electrical areas across a semiconductor wafer. One example of an isolation structure that can be used is a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure. Critical dimensions (CDs), which are the geometries and spacings used to monitor the pattern size and ensure that it is within the customer specification, are especially to have size maintenance during processing. CD bias refers to a situation wherein the designed and actual values do not match. Ideally, CD bias approaches zero, but in actuality can measurably affect the resulting semiconductor device performance and operation.
CD control management is a major challenge in etching processes. Advanced process control (APC) feed-forward or feedback control systems have been widely deployed for after-etch inspection (AEI) and after-development inspection (ADI), as automated methods for monitoring and verifying CD. The APC feed-forward or feedback control systems initiate control scripts, which can be a software program that automatically retrieve the data needed to execute an etch process. For example, large amounts of analysis and/or computations are performed to adjust etching duration on wafers.
In conventional systems, an etching duration is only adjustable by given increments, such as 1, 2 or 3 second increments, resulting in inaccurate adjustment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the conventional adjustment for etching duration. If the CD bias is detected as 24.9 nanometers, in an ideal case, the etching duration should be adjusted to approximately 33 seconds. The etching duration, however, can only be adjusted to 32 seconds when using conventional methods.

Etching operation management systems and methods

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A linear guiding device where noise characteristics are improved by reducing traveling noise and operability of a slider body is smoothed, and where movement braking can be improved by reducing rolling body passage vibration. Crowning 24 with a curved surface having a predetermined curvature radius R is provided on an end section of a rolling body raceway groove 11 of a bearing block 24. A crowning amount C of the crowning 24 is set to a value C>Hmax greater that the value of a maximum elastic deformation amount Hmax of a rolling body B elastically deformed in a rolling body rolling path 14 by a preload or an external load. By this, even when a large load acts on a bearing block 2A or a large installation error occurs by skewing etc., the rolling body B smoothly rolls without an elastic deformation amount of the rolling body B rolling on the end section side of the rolling body raceway groove 11 becoming greater than the crowning amount C. As a consequence, significant worsening of a noise level and impairment of operability can be prevented.

A linear motion guiding apparatus for linearly guiding an article to be guided while circulating rolling elements such as rollers or balls infinitely in the inside is one of important mechanical elements giving significant effects on the moving accuracy of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, super precision fabrication machines, super precision measuring instruments, etc.
The linear motion guiding apparatus is an apparatus including a guide rail provided with a rail side rolling element raceway groove, and a slider main body in which a slider side rolling element raceway groove opposed to the rail side rolling element raceway groove is provided and supported on the guide rail so as to be moveable axially by way of rolling of a plurality polarity of rolling elements arranged in the rolling element rolling channel formed between the slider side rolling element raceway groove and the rail side rolling element raceway groove. Then, the apparatus includes a rolling element return channel formed in the slider main body so as to be substantially in parallel with the rolling element rolling channel, an end cap attached to both ends in the moving direction of the slider main body to form an outer circumferential circulation groove for a semi-arcuate rolling element circulation channel for communicating the end of the rolling element return channel and the end of the rolling element rolling channel, and a return guide interposed between the end cap and the slider main body to form an inner circumferential circulation groove for the rolling element circulation channel at a position opposed to the outer circumferential circulation groove.
In a case where rolling elements of the linear motion guiding apparatus circulate the rolling element rolling channel, the rolling element circulation channel, and the rolling element return channel infinitely, periodical fine vibrations (hereinafter referred to as rolling element passing vibrations) are generated to greatly effectuate the moving accuracy of the equipments described above. The rolling element passing vibrations are developed when the rolling elements rolling in the rolling element rolling channel (load region) while undergoing load by pre-load or external load are released from the load upon exiting from the load region to the rolling element circulation channel (non-load region) or applied with additional load upon entrance from the non-load region to the load region.
Suppression for the rolling element passing vibrations is conducted by applying a crowing fabrication to both ends of the slider side rolling element raceway groove forming the rolling element rolling channel thereby gradually conducting change of load upon exit and entrance of the rolling element to and from the load region (for example, in Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: JP04-54310A (FIG. 11, FIG. 15).
However, the linear motion guiding apparatus described above involves a problem that the operability and the noise level are tended to be worsened in a case where a large load exerts on the slider main body or a large installation error is caused by caulking.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the foregoing situations and it intends to provide a linear motion guiding apparatus capable of attaining the improvement in the noise characteristics by the reduction of the traveling sounds and attaining the smooth operability for the slider main body, as well as capable of improving the moving accuracy by the reduction of the rolling element passing vibrations.


The present invention discloses a solution for improving shared space availability by dynamically responding user utilization behavior of shared space. In the system, automated sensors within a shared space can be used to detect when spaces are in use. Sensors such as motion detectors, infrared sensors, cameras, and the like can correlate space usage to a reservation system. When a space is reserved by a user, the system can verify space occupancy according to the reservation. If the space is unoccupied and the reservation time has not expired, the space can be automatically freed. If the excess time before reservation expiration is more than a threshold value (e.g., fifteen minutes) the system can penalize the user. Penalties can be applied for users that do not utilize reservations.

The present invention relates to the field of collaboration and resource scheduling and, more particularly, to improving shared space availability by dynamically responding user utilization behavior of shared space.
Shared spaces such as conference rooms, workrooms, and shared office space require careful management to be effectively utilized. In many instances, shared office spaces that are not carefully monitored tend to be over-scheduled and under-utilized. When scheduling mechanisms are in place, users are incited to reserve a maximal amount of time for a shared space. When too many users behave in this manner, the available shared space becomes scarce as its utilization goes down.
Further, users often reserve shared space with the intention of utilizing the space. However, complications can arise and users can forget and/or miss their reservation and the space can go unused. When this occurs, other users are typically unaware that the space is not in use and are forced to wait or use other resources. What is needed is a mechanism to curb scheduling behavior that negatively affects shared space utilization.

Shared space availability by dynamically responding to user utilization behavior of shared space

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is a vehicle system having a thickening system which comprises a nonionic long-chain alkylated water-soluble polymer and a specific cationic quaternary ammonium surfactant component dispersed in a compatible solvent. The quaternary surfactant component has an iodine value of at least about 15. The quaternary surfactant component is characterized by having a sufficient level of unsaturated C.sub.14 -C.sub.22 alkyl or C.sub.14 -C.sub.22 alkyl amido C.sub.2 -C.sub.6 alkylene radicals such that the average iodine value is at least about 15. These vehicle systems are useful in cosmetic compositions which are used to deliver an active component to the hair or skin. The vehicle systems are particularly useful in hair care compositions, especially rinse-off hair conditioning and styling compositions. In a particular rinse-off hair styling and conditioning composition hereof, the composition contains a vehicle system, as described above, and additionally contains a hair setting agent, a distributing aid, and a mono-long chain, tri-short chain quaternary ammonium surfactant.

Typical hair conditioning products have a particular thick rheology that is desirable for such products. These products are based on the combination of a surfactant, which is generally a quaternary ammonium compound, and a fatty alcohol. This combination results in a gel-network structure which provides the composition with a thick rheology. However, while such compositions deliver conditioning benefits to the hair, such compositions also deposit on hair making hair look and feel dirty.
Alternative thickening systems have been used in hair care compositions, but none have been found to date which provide this same desirable rheology. Though hair care products thickened with polymer thickeners can be made to have a thick rheology, these products generally are characterized by an undesirable "slimy" feel and do not hold their poured shape.
Nonionic water-soluble cellulose ethers are employed in a variety of applications, including hair care compositions. Widely used, commercially-available nonionic cellulose ethers include methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose and ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose.
Better thickening efficiency is realized with higher molecular weight cellulose ethers. However, production of such materials is difficult and expensive. Though crosslinking of these polymers is an alternative means to achieve high viscosity solutions, good crosslinking techniques are not known. Of course, high concentrations of polymers will also provide high viscosity but such an approach is inefficient and impractical, particularly due to the high expense involved. Furthermore, use of highly crosslinked polymers or high levels of polymeric thickeners may result in a vehicle system that is too elastic for the present uses.
Alternative water-soluble polymeric thickeners sometimes used to thicken hair care compositions are natural polysaccharides such as guar gum, xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
A number of references teach the use of nonionic cellulose ethers and water-soluble gums for thickening hair care compositions. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,928, Glover, issued Dec. 10, 1985, teaching a hair conditioner comprising a suspension system which consists of one of glucan gum, guar gum, and hydroxyethylcellulose; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,230, Grollier et al., issued Apr. 8, 1986, which teaches cosmetic compositions for treating hair which comprise as thickening agents hydroxyethyl-cellulose, or water-soluble vegetable thickening agents, such as guar gum. Japanese Patent Publication 61-053211, published Mar. 7, 1986, discloses a hair colorant containing an aromatic alcohol, xanthan gum, and hydroxyethylcellulose.
Certain cellulose ethers have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,277, Landoll, issued Oct. 14, 1980, which are relatively low molecular weight but which are capable of producing highly viscous aqueous solutions in practical concentrations. These materials are nonionic cellulose ethers having a sufficient degree of nonionic substitution selected from the group consisting of methyl, hydroxyethyl, and hydroxypropyl to cause them to be water-soluble and which are further substituted with a hydrocarbon radical having from about 10 to 24 carbon atoms in an amount between about 0.2 weight percent and the amount which renders said cellulose ether less than 1%, by weight, soluble in water. The cellulose ether to be modified is preferably one of low to medium molecular weight; i.e., less than about 800,000 and preferably between about 20,000 and 700,000 (about 75 to 2500 D.P.).
These modified cellulose ethers have been disclosed for use in a variety of composition types. Landoll ('277) teaches the use of these materials in shampoo formulations. Hercules trade literature teaches the use of these materials in shampoos, liquid soaps, and lotions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,004, Goddard, issued Jul. 28, 1987, discloses the use of these materials in mousse compositions for the hair. U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,089, Leipold, issued Nov. 27, 1984, teaches dentifrice compositions containing these materials.
These materials have now been found to provide a rheology very much like the desirable gel-network structure of typical hair conditioners (without the slimy feel associated with most polymeric thickeners), when they are combined with surfactants at certain critical levels. Such compositions are disclosed in U.S. Ser. Nos. 07/551,118, 07/551,119, and 07/551,120, all filed Jul. 16, 1990, by Bolich, Norton, and Russell.
Still, it remains desirable to provide further improved vehicle systems for use for cosmetic compositions. In particular, it is desirable to improve perceived spreadability of the compositions upon application by the user to the hair or skin. It is also desirable to provide improved wet feel of the hair on skin treated with such cosmetic compositions.
Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle system for a hair care and other cosmetic composition which provides a gel-network-like structure to the composition not based on a typical quaternary ammonium compound/fatty alcohol gel-network thickening system, which provides improved perceived spreadability upon application to the skin or hair and which provides improved wet feel of the hair or skin to the touch.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle system, as described above, for a hair care and other cosmetic compositions which allows for dispersion of a wide variety of active hair or skin care components therein while providing improved wet feel and perceived spreadability relative to such compositions with prior disclosed vehicle systems.
In a particular aspect of this patent, it is an object to provide hair styling/conditioning compositions having excellent wet hair feel. Such compositions contain hair setting agents which typically should be accompanied by a distributing aid to facilitate spreading of the hair setting agent upon application to hair. The use of distributing aids, such as xanthan gum, unfortunately can negatively impact wet hair feel. Thus it is another object of this invention to provide a hair styling and conditioning composition containing a distributing aid for the hair setting agent that has excellent wet hair feel characteristics.
These and other objects will become readily apparent from the detailed description which follows.

Cosmetic compositions containing hydrophobically modified nonionic polymer and unsaturated quaternary ammonium surfactant


A medical valve may comprise a valve stem and an operation portion. The operation portion may include a stationary portion, a movable portion which is movable relative to the stationary portion and fixed relative to the valve stem, a seal disposed between the stationary portion and the movable portion, and a biasing member. Movement of the movable portion in a first direction may cause deformation of the biasing member, such that a restorative force of the biasing member urges movement of the movable portion in a second direction opposite the first direction. A frictional force between the seal and one of the stationary portion and the movable portion resists the movement of the movable portion in the second direction.

Endoscopes include functionality to deliver fluids (including air and water) and suction to a site of a procedure. Tubing for delivering fluids and/or suction extends from a handle of the endoscope, through a sheath of the endoscope, and to a distal tip of the endoscope. During a procedure, body fluids, tissues, or other material can build up in the tubing and, in some cases, lead to clogging of the tubing. In order to aid in reprocessing of reusable endoscopes between procedures, pre-processing is performed in an endoscopy suite. For example, water or other fluids are flushed through the tubing after the endoscope is removed from a patient, in order to clear debris from the air/water and/or suction tubing. One option for accomplishing such pre-processing is a reusable cleaning valve. The cleaning valve may be inserted into an air/water valve cylinder of an endoscope after the scope is removed from a patient. An operator may then depress a button of the cleaning valve for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30 seconds) to flush the air and/or water channels of the endoscope prior to further reprocessing of the endoscope. Such cleaning may require active intervention by an operator. A reusable cleaning valve must be subject to cleaning, itself, in between uses, which can add to reprocessing cost. Therefore, a need exists for valves capable of performing cleaning functions.


A macro array comprises a film-shaped hard porous body and a plurality of spots, which contain test substances and are arrayed on the film-shaped hard porous body. The film-shaped hard porous body may be constituted of a surface layer region, which is provided with through-pores having a comparatively small mean pore diameter, and a base layer region, which is provided with through-pores having a comparatively large mean pore diameter. The surface of the film-shaped hard porous body, on which surface the spots are to be arrayed, may be coated with an auxiliary substance for promoting fixation of the test substances to the surface of the film-shaped hard porous body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a macro array for use in molecular biology research, such as genetic expression analysis, medical fields, and other fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional macro arrays comprise a membrane and a plurality of spots (dots), which contain biopolymers, such as DNA""s, and are arrayed (formed) on the membrane. With the macro arrays, multiple kinds of samples can be analyzed at one time on a single membrane. Therefore, the macro arrays are used widely in the molecular biology and the medical fields. For example, in cases where test substances are various kinds of genome DNA fragments, behavior of plurality of genes can be analyzed at one time by adding a probe, which has been prepared from total mRNA, or the like, onto the macro array and causing hybridization, or the like, to occur.
However, the conventional macro arrays are constituted by arraying spots, which contain test substances, such as DNA""s, in good order on a polymeric organic membrane formed from nitrocellulose, or the like. Ordinarily, porous polymeric films, such as the nitrocellulose membranes, are markedly soft and apt to suffer from bending and creasing, which adversely affects the analytic operations, and the like. Therefore, in cases where the conventional macro arrays are subjected to hybridization, autoradiography, and the like, the operator must process and carry the membranes, which constitute the macro arrays, with the greatest possible care.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a macro array, wherein a film-shaped material, which is not apt to suffer from bending and creasing, is employed as a base material, such that the macro array is easy to process.
The present invention provides a macro array, comprising a film-shaped hard porous body and a plurality of spots, which contain test substances and are arrayed on the film-shaped hard porous body.
The macro array in accordance with the present invention will hereinbelow often referred to as the hard macro array.
The term xe2x80x9cfilm-shaped hard porous bodyxe2x80x9d as used herein means the porous body formed from an inorganic compound (which may be, for example, a metal type of compound) into a film-shaped shape (typically, a film-shaped shape having a film thickness of at most 2 mm).
Also, the term xe2x80x9cmacro arrayxe2x80x9d as used herein means the film-shaped body comprising the film-shaped hard porous body and a plurality of test substance-containing spots, which are arrayed (typically, in a matrix-like form) on the film-shaped hard porous body. Typically, the macro array may comprise the film-shaped hard porous body and a plurality of spots, which contain polynucleotide samples for genetic expression analysis, determination of a base sequence, variation analysis, polymorphism analysis, or the like, and which are arrayed on the film-shaped hard porous body. However, the purposes, for which the macro array in accordance with the present invention is used, are not limited to the applications described above. Specifically, the macro array in accordance with the present invention may comprise the film-shaped hard porous body and a plurality of spots of test substances, which may presumably contain substances (target substances) for the identification, analysis, or the like, of the target substances through chemical reactions or physical reactions, the spots being arrayed (typically, in a matrix-like form) on the film-shaped hard porous body.
Further, the term xe2x80x9ctest substancexe2x80x9d as used herein means the substance to be analyzed on the macro array through hybridization or other techniques. Typically, the test substances may be biopolymers (i.e., polymeric electrolytes of the types constituting living bodies), such as polynucleotides, e.g. DNA""s and RNA""s, chemically synthesized oligonucleotides, and peptides. However, the test substances are not limited to the substances enumerated above. Specifically, the test substances may be various polymers and various monomers, which are capable of being adsorbed or fixed to the film-shaped hard porous body. (The polymers and monomers may be capable of being fixed to the film-shaped hard porous body such that they do not separate easily from the film-shaped hard porous body.)
The term xe2x80x9cspotxe2x80x9d as used herein means the visually perceptible or visually imperceptible fine point on the film-shaped hard porous body, at which point the test substance, such as the biopolymer, is adsorbed or fixed.
In the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, the base material, on which the test substance-containing spots are formed, is the film-shaped hard porous body. Therefore, the advantages over the conventional macro arrays, in which polymer types of porous membranes are utilized as the base materials, can be obtained in that the film-shaped hard porous body are not apt to suffer from bending and creasing as in the cases of the polymer types of porous membranes having a markedly high softness. Therefore, the operator need not pay close attention to the prevention of bending and creasing of the film-shaped hard porous body and is capable of more easily processing the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention than in the conventional macro arrays.
Also, with the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, wherein the base material is constituted of the film-shaped hard porous body, when the test substance-containing sample is applied drop-wise (i.e., spotted) onto the film-shaped hard porous body, part of the test substance-containing sample is capable of permeating to the interior of the pore. Therefore, the test substance-containing sample having been spotted can be restricted from diffusing horizontally on the surface of the base material (i.e., the film-shaped hard porous body). As a result, the diameter of the spot formed on the surface of the base material can be kept small. Accordingly, with the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, the comparatively small spots can be arrayed at a high density.
In the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, the film-shaped hard porous body should preferably be constituted of a surface layer region, which is provided with through-pores having a comparatively small mean pore diameter, and a base layer region, which is provided with through-pores having a comparatively large mean pore diameter. The term xe2x80x9csurface layer regionxe2x80x9d as used herein means the surface layer region of the base material containing the surface on which the spots are formed and arrayed. The term xe2x80x9cbase layer regionxe2x80x9d as used herein means the layer region, which is adjacent to the surface layer region with respect to the direction of the film thickness of the film-shaped hard porous body. With the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, wherein the film-shaped hard porous body is constituted of the surface layer region, which is provided with the through-pores having a comparatively small mean pore diameter, and the base layer region, which is provided with through-pores having the comparatively large mean pore diameter, the test substance applied onto the surface of the surface layer region is apt to remain on the surface of the surface layer region due to the comparatively small pore diameters of the pores in the surface layer region. Also, a solvent, such as water, which is contained in the applied spot and enters into the pores in the surface layer region, is capable of being quickly introduced toward the bottom surface side of the film-shaped hard porous body via the pores larger than the pores of the surface layer region. Therefore, the formation of the spots can be performed efficiently.
Further, in the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, a surface of the film-shaped hard porous body, on which surface the spots are to be arrayed, should preferably be coated with an auxiliary substance for promoting fixation of the test substances to the surface of the film-shaped hard porous body. With the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, wherein the surface of the film-shaped hard porous body is coated with the auxiliary substance, the efficiency, with which the test substances are fixed to the surface of the inorganic type of film-shaped hard porous body, can be enhanced.
The hard macro array in accordance with the present invention has a higher hardness than the hardness of the conventional macro arrays, in which polymeric organic membranes are employed as the base materials. Therefore, the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention is easy to process, and careless bending, creasing, or the like, can be prevented from occurring. Also, with the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, the operator is capable of being released from feeling of tension and stress at the time of the operation for hybridization, autoradiography, or the like. Further, with the hard macro array in accordance with the present invention, operation characteristics can be enhanced, and therefore the processing, such as hybridization or autoradiography, is capable of being performed efficiently and smoothly.
The present invention will hereinbelow be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.


Described is an ammunition production loading machine. The machine will load two cartridges at once and is referred to as a ‘two-out” machine. The machine will be of a mechanical nature reducing the potential loss of production that occurs with pneumatic systems. Any pneumatic systems on the machine will operate only in failure instances, i.e. in the case of a powder failure the pneumatic system will obstruct the projectile feed mechanism. The machine consists of seven (7) major components, which operate in unison. The machine is intended to run a single caliber so changeover adjustments and time required to change calibers are eliminated. The machine is capable of precisely loading a complete cartridge at a rate of 240 parts per minute in a completely automated manner. The key features of this novel machine are the full automation from station to station and a cartridge retaining bullet crimp case bushing in a rotating main disk, which rotates cases from station to station. The bullet crimp case bushing has a tapered feature inside which crimps the case to the bullet. Machines in the prior art utilize slotted case inserts or features to hold the cartridge base in position for loading, which relies on a separate tool for crimping and are not fully automated. The herein described machine is fully automated and does not require a person to manually move parts from one station to the next, nor loading of individual inserts to effectuate the bullet to case connection.

Described is an ammunition production loading machine. The machine will load two cartridges at once and is referred to as a 'two-out" machine. The machine will be of a mechanical nature reducing the potential loss of production that occurs with pneumatic systems. Any pneumatic systems on the machine will operate only in failure instances, i.e. in the case of a powder failure the pneumatic system will obstruct the projectile feed mechanism. The machine consists of seven (7) major components, which operate in unison. The machine is intended to run a single caliber so changeover adjustments and time required to change calibers are eliminated. The machine is capable of precisely loading a complete cartridge at a rate of 240 parts per minute in a completely automated manner. This machine can be integrated into a production line which may include sealant, packaging, conveyors or additional equipment. The floor footprint of the machine is 36.00″×70.00″ (including internal conveyor) to keep the unit compact and to fit into facilities where space is restricted.


A magazine structure for a power stapler includes a magazine with a cover slidably connected thereto, an end board disposed to the magazine and having an elongate opening defined therethrough, a stopper board disposed to the end board and having a recessed portion and a slot defined in a bottom defining the recessed portion. A guide plate received in the slot and has two elongate apertures transversely defined therethrough, two pins respectively extending through the stopper board and the two elongate apertures so that a front side of the guide plate maintained to protrude in the recessed portion when an impact plate of the stapler actuating to the guide plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magazine structure of a power stapler and comprising a body for receiving nails and staples therein, and having an end board and a stopper board disposed to one of two ends thereof. The stopper board has recessed portion and a slot defined therein which pivotally receives a guide board therein which is biased by two springs and has two transverse holes with two pins extending therethrough so as to prevent inclined movement when ejecting a nail/staple in the recessed portion.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 5 shows a conventional magazine structure for a power stapler and includes an elongate body 70 having a mediate plate 700 with a plurality of grooves 71 defined in both sides thereof, two flanges 72 extending laterally in opposite directions of a lower side of the mediate plate 700 and each of the flanges 72 having a slot defined therein. A cover 40 has a push member 42 slidably received therein and two rails 44 formed in a lower side thereof so as to be slidably received in the slots in the flanges 72. U-shaped staples 61 can be mounted onto the mediate plate 700 and are pushed by the push member 42, or T-shaped nails 60 can be disposed to a side of the mediate plate 70 with a head thereof received in the grooves 71 and also are pushed by the push member 42. An end board 80 is fixedly connected to an end of the body 70 and has an opening defined therethrough. A tongue member 83 extends from a periphery defining the opening so as to define an inverted U-shaped aperture 81 between the periphery defining the opening and the tongue member 83. The tongue member 83 has a plurality of grooves 71' defined in one of two sides thereof so that U-shaped staples 61 can be passed through the U-shaped aperture 81, or the head of the T-shaped nails 60 can be received in the grooves 71'. A stopper board 90 is disposed to the end board 80. The stopper board 90 has a recessed portion 96 defined therein and a slot 97 is defined in a bottom defining the recessed portion 96 in which a nail/staple to be impacted by an impact member 50 is received. A guide plate 98 is received in the slot 97 and has a top end with a hole 980 defined therethrough so that the guide plate 98 is pivotally received in the slot 97 by a pin 971 extending laterally through the stopper board 90 and the hole 980. The top end of the guide plate 98 has an inclined surface 981 defined laterally in a front side thereof. A spring plate 972 is pivotally received in the slot 97 and biases against a lower section of the guide plate 98 toward the recessed portion 96.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the guide plate 98 has its front side inclinedly protruding in the recessed portion 96 so that when a T-shaped nail 60 is pushed within the recessed portion 96, the nail 60 can be guided by a side of the guide plate 98. However, when the impact plate 50 is lowered to impact the nail 60 in the recessed portion 96, the guide plate 98 is pivoted about the pin 971 by an impact between the front side of the guide plate 98 and the impact member 50. The lower section of the guide plate 98 is pushed by the impact member 50 and pushed inwardly into the slot 97. The following nail 60 pushed by the push member 42 then could be inclined within the recessed portion 96 because the guide plate 98 is completely received in the slot 96. A jam of the nails 60 might happen if the inclination of the nail 60 in the recessed portion 96 is large. Furthermore, it requires a lot of machining processes when manufacturing the tongue member 83 which is a narrow and long member so that the tongue member 82 is therefore easily to be broken.
The present invention provides an improved magazine structure for a power stapler, which has a guide plate pivoted to the stopper board by two pines so as to mitigate the problems as mentioned above.


Disclosed is an electrical connector which includes a plug comprising at least one insulative lateral support, an insulative medial lateral support and a wire having a first longitudinal section fixed to the insulative lateral support, a second longitudinal sectional fixed to the insulative medial support and an exposed third longitudinal section interposed between said first longitudinal section and said second longitudinal section. The connector also includes a receptacle comprising at least one insulative support and a wire having a first longitudinal section fixed to the insulative support and an exposed second longitudinal section of the plug. Also disclosed is a method of manufacturing this connector and a mold for use therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to electrical connectors which are used for miniaturized, high density and high pin count applications.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Recent advances in the design of portable or mobile electronic equipment have required that connector technology keep pace with the trends of miniaturization and functional complexity. Connectors used in such applications need to be more substantially densely packaged than was heretofore generally required. Such board to board types of connectors are usually used to interconnect two printed circuit boards in an "mezzanine" configuration. Such uses require connectors not only with smaller contact pitches, but, in some cases, with lower mating heights, as well. The resulting increased packaging density must ordinarily be achieved without significant sacrifice of mechanical ruggedness since such connectors may be subjected to unusually high stresses because of the nature of the application. For example, miniaturized or mobile type products are subject to high stresses if they are dropped or otherwise abused. Such high stresses have the potential for damaging connector housings, contacts and solder joints. Furthermore, the connectors themselves might separate if sufficient retention forces are not available.
The "blade-on-beam" connector design is commonly used for miniaturized designs of 0.8 mm and less. This design typically uses a single cantilever beam type of contact for the spring contact which mates an associated blade contact, which does not have spring characteristics. The contact beams generally can be of two configurations.
One such configuration is an edge stamped or "tuning fork" configuration in which the contact is blanked from flat material and reoriented 90 degrees when it is inserted into the housing so that the blanked edge of the beam is in contact with the blade. This design has the advantage that complex configurations which have a high degree of compliance can be easily stamped. The cantilever beam geometry can also be optimized by stamping an idealized shape into the profile of the beam. For example, a constant stress beam with a parabolic shaped thickness profile might be readily stamped. This approach might allow for lower contact height and tighter pitch contacts. The mounting of the contact in the housing is generally accomplished by individually stitching the contacts into the housings.
An alternative design makes use of a more conventional approach in which the beam is stamped so that the rolled edge of the material is in contact with the blade. In this case the contacts can usually be stamped on the same pitch as the final configuration, and the forms of the contact are created by bending the material during the die stamping operation. Although these beams are usually not quite as mechanically efficient as the edge stamped design, they often are more cost effective since they can be mass inserted or insert molded into the housing thus making assembly either easier or less costly from either a product or machine standpoint. This type of product is also easier to electroplate and the contact surface is usually superior to the edge stamped type of contact. second longitudinal section which is in contact with the exposed third longitudinal section of the first element.
Also encompassed within the invention of the present invention is a method for manufacturing the above described connector. A mold is first produced. This mold includes a first mold member having a planar section and a medial projection having a medial surface and opposed lateral surfaces.
The mold also includes a second mold member having a medial section and a pair of inner opposed lateral projections and a pair of outer opposed lateral projections the second member is capable of being superimposed over said first member such that each of said inner opposed lateral projections are positioned adjacent the opposed lateral surfaces of the medial projection of the first member and that each of said outer opposed lateral projections are adjacent the planar section of the first member such that a medial cavity and opposed lateral cavities are forward between said first and second members.
A pair of opposed conductive members having inner and outer terminal ends are then interposed between said first and second mold members such that the inner terminal ends are in spaced relation in the medial cavity. Each of the conductive members is interposed in contacting relation between one of the opposed lateral surfaces of the medial projection of the first member and one of the inner lateral projections of the first member. The conductive members pass through one of the lateral cavities and then are interposed in contacting relation between the planar section of the first member and one of the outer lateral projections. In manufacturing the receptacle element, the lateral cavities of the mold are at least partially filled with a liquid polymeric molding compound and allowing said molding compound to solidify so as to form opposed solid insulative lateral support structures each having one of said conductive elements embedded therein. In manufacturing the plug, the lateral cavities and the medial cavity are filled with the liquid polymeric molding compound.

Electrical connector for use in miniaturized, high density, and high pin count applications and method of manufacture


The present disclosure is directed to authenticating a mobile device and a user of the mobile device to receive patient data from a clinical information system of a medical facility. In some implementations, methods include receiving a logon request, the logon request comprising credentials and at least one technical factor, accessing a validation database based on the at least one technical factor, determining that the mobile device is an authorized mobile device based on information provided by the validation database and the at least one technical factor, validating the credentials to ensure that the user is authorized to access patient data provided by the clinical information system, and then, upon determining that the user is authorized to access patient data: establishing a session to communicate patient data between the mobile device and the clinical information system, the data managements system processing the patient data communicated during the session.

While physicians and other health care providers currently utilize a large number of products and systems that benefit from advances in wireless communication technology, there are still significant limitations to the information that can be transmitted, received, and displayed over these devices in a practical and efficient manner. There are many limitations that are intrinsic to mobile devices, especially those constraints related to speed, performance, memory, and display size. In addition, because of the critical nature of medical data, it is important that the technology work reliably and efficiently over potentially low speed, low bandwidth, and sometimes intermittent wireless connections.
Efforts have been made in the past to transmit medical information through various telecommunication means to health care professionals for review and analysis. Some such efforts are outlined in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/301,348, filed on Dec. 12, 2005, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Such examples utilize wireless data communication technologies to transmit medical information to health care providers, or to condition data such that it may be useful for remote monitoring purposes.

Multi-factor authentication for remote access of patient data


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for network-based storage of requested content are provided. A request for a content item may be received by a content storage device from a customer. Portions of the content item may be extracted from the content item. The content storage device may store the extracted portions of the content item specific to the customer. Additionally, the remainder of the content item may be stored by the content storage device separately from the stored extracted portion. The content item may be reconstructed for the customer using the extracted portions of the content item specific to the customer and the remainder of the content item.

A wide variety of service providers, such as cable providers and satellite providers, provide broadband communications services, such as television, movie, video game, and/or music services, to customers. Many customers utilize digital video recording ("DVR") devices to record, store, and/or manage broadcast content for subsequent viewing. These DVR devices are typically dedicated devices that are situated within a customer's home, and the DVR devices allow users to schedule programming content for recording and/or storing. However, compression techniques and the hardware resources of DVR and network storage devices are limited. For example, a customer is only able to record a certain volume and/or number of recordings at a given time utilizing a DVR device, and no additional incremental compression gains can be attained. Moreover, DVR and network storage devices add to the hardware expenses and maintenance costs incurred by the service providers. Hardware associated with DVR and network storage devices is also prone to failure, resulting in the customer potentially losing a portion and/or all of the recordings on the DVR device. Accordingly, finding improved ways to record, store, and/or manage content and/or services continues to be a priority.


A digitizer system having a page recognition system and a method of using such digitizer system is disclosed. The page recognition system detects a page number pre-coded on a sheet of paper when the sheet of paper is mounted onto the digitizer system. When a sheet of paper which was previously mounted on the digitizer is re-mounted onto the digitizer, the digitizer recognizes the sheet of paper as having been previously digitized and re-loads the electronic file corresponding to the same sheet of paper. Thereafter, the digitizer records the annotations made by the digitizer operator to the previously digitized sheet of paper.

Image digitizers provide a means to capture strokes made with a digital stylus on a digitizing surface. Particular digitizer models provide a capability to record hand written materials on a sheet of paper while simultaneously generating an electronic copy. Such digitizers conventionally employ a pen-tipped stylus and a sheet of paper. The paper is mounted over a digitizing surface which includes detectors for sensing the strokes or annotations made on the paper using the stylus.
A conventional image digitizer is shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the digitizer 10 is connected to a workstation 12. As notations are made on the paper 14 using the pen-tipped stylus 16, an electronic copy of the notation is captured and represented on the workstation monitor 18. At the conclusion of a recording session, i.e., once the paper is removed, the electronic copy is stored for later retrieval and reproduction.
Image digitizers have proven useful in capturing information recorded on a single piece of paper during a single writing session. However, conventional image digitizers lack the capability to recognize and distinguish a particular sheet of paper. Therefore, once a sheet of paper has been recorded and removed from the digitizer, the digitizer cannot recognize that the same sheet of paper has been remounted onto the digitizer. The inability of the digitizer to recognize a particular sheet of paper precludes retrieving a previously stored image which corresponds to the remounted sheet of paper. In the context of written examinations, for example, it is often necessary to remount prior sheets of paper that have already been written on and make additional annotations or corrections. Because conventional digitizers are incapable of identifying a previously recorded page, such conventional digitizers cannot be effectively used in many applications such as written examinations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,149 (Comerford) discloses an apparatus for improving the paper interface to a computer system. In that system, a previously digitized image of a page of hand written text can be printed on a new page of paper. The system will also print, on the same page, a bar code which uniquely identifies the image to the system. Thereafter, if the printed image is loaded onto the digitizer, a scanner attached to the digitizer can be used to scan the bar code. The bar code signifies to the system that the printed page is one that is stored in the system and provides indexing information from which the image can be retrieved. The system retrieves the digital image and allows the operator to make annotations.
Thus, Comerford discloses a method of annotating a system generated copy of previously hand written material. Comerford does not disclose a means to annotate the same sheet of paper which was previously mounted on the digitizer. This distinction is an important one. It is not always practical to print a previously digitized image for the purpose of generating a bar code which can then be used by the system to identify the particular page. For example, in a written examination it is desirable to permit test takers to simply remount any sheet of paper so that corrections and other annotations may be made to text previously written on the same sheet of paper. Moreover, it is not feasible during a testing session to direct test takers to print out digital images and apply bar codes to those printed sheets before making corrections or annotations as would be required by a system such as that disclosed by Comerford.
Therefore, there exists a need for an image digitizer capable of automatically detecting a page identifier for a sheet of paper mounted thereon and further capable of recording all annotations and corrections in an electronic file associated with the sheet of paper on which the corrections and annotations are made.

Image digitizer with page number detector and recorder