A belt tensioning device for a belt drive which comprises a driving machine with a driving belt pulley drivable by a driveshaft around a driving axis, and a plurality of further belt pulleys and with an infinite belt which is wrapped around the driving belt pulley and the further belt pulleys wherein the belt tensioning device comprises a housing in which two tensioning arms are supported so as to be pivotable around a common pivot axis, in which tensioning arms there are supported tensioning rollers with axes of rotation extending parallel to the driving axis, wherein the tensioning arms are supported relative to one another by spring means, wherein, with the driving belt pulley mounted at the driving machine, the housing can be mounted in that, in an annular region surrounding the driveshaft of the driving belt pulley, the housing is contact-free relative to the driving machine.

The invention relates to a belt tensioning device for a belt drive which comprises a driving machine with a driving belt pulley drivable by a driveshaft around a driving axis, and a plurality of further belt pulleys, and having an infinite belt which is wrapped around the driving belt pulley and the further belt pulleys, wherein the belt tensioning device comprises a housing in which two tensioning arms are supported so as to be pivotable around a common pivot axis, in which tensioning arms there are supported tensioning rollers with axes of rotation extending parallel to the driving axis, wherein the tensioning arms are supported relative to one another by spring means. Regardless of the terms used above, the tensioning device is intended to be suitable for chain and belt drives in general.
In a modern internal combustion engine comprising a starter generator, there occurs a change in the position of the tensioned strand and the loose strand, which position is found in the direction of rotation of the belt in front of the driving belt pulley on the one hand and in the direction of rotation of the belt behind the driving belt pulley on the other hand. Depending on the state of operation, torque can be released at the driving belt pulley during the starting process and consumed at the driving belt pulley during the driving process. In such a case, the loose strand should be loaded by a tensioning roller, and preferably two tensioning rollers are used directly in front of and directly behind the driving belt pulley. The change from torque release to torque consumption at the driving belt pulley corresponds to the change from torque consumption to torque release at the crankshaft belt pulley of the internal combustion engine.
EP 1 464 871 A1 proposes a double belt tensioning device wherein the pivot axis of the tensioning arms is positioned outside a polygon formed by the different axes of rotation of the belt pulleys. This has a number of disadvantages. Belt tightening devices of this type require a considerable amount of space which is not always available. The operation of positioning the belt is very complicated. Because of the long tensioning arms, long lever arms are provided which require high spring forces. Furthermore, the lever effect is very disadvantageous because, as a rule, the direction of the tensioning arm movement and the resulting direction of force of the belt deviate considerably from one another.
From DE 199 26 615 A1 there is known a tensioning device for traction means with two tensioning rollers wherein the axes of oscillation of the tensioning arms of the two tensioning rollers coincide with the driving axis of the driving belt pulley. The tensioning device comprises a flanged housing which supports a bearing shaft for a driving belt pulley. The device can be arranged at a driving machine in a finish-mounted condition, with the bearing shaft being connected to the driveshaft of the driving machine via a plug-in connection. Disadvantages of such a device include the driveshaft having two parts, with the bearing shaft of the driving belt pulley additionally having to be supported in the flange housing, as well as the design requiring a considerable increase in the overall length.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a belt tensioning device of the latter type which has a simple design and, while having a short overall length, is provided with a design which facilitates mounting and removal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Belt tensioning device for being used with a starter generator


Techniques and systems are described for analytics system entity resolution. Typed higher-order node combinations are determined within a dataset, and an amount of similarity between two arbitrary nodes within the dataset is determined based on the typed higher-order node combinations. The amount of similarity enables the digital analytics to accurately perform source resolution of portions of the dataset to a respective source, and may be utilized to control output of digital content to a client device.

Analytics systems are configured to identify patterns in vast quantities of data, and from these patterns, gain insights that are not possible to be made by a human alone. Analytics systems, for instance, may be configured to provision network and computational resources of service providers systems, control output of digital content (e.g., recommendations and digital marketing content), detect fraudulent and malicious activity, and so forth. To do so, analytics systems are tasked with analyzing vast quantities of data (e.g., petabytes) that may be obtained from a diverse range of sources and rely on the accuracy of this data in order to support the insights.
Conventional techniques used to collect and analyze this data, however, are inefficient and lack accuracy in instances regarding how to attribute the data collected to a source, i.e., source resolution. Conventional techniques, for instance, assign a source identifier (ID) to a collection of data involving user interaction with digital content using a respective computing device. The data, for instance, may describe user interaction with a website involving a mobile device as a session and assign that session to a respective source ID. Data may also be collected involving user interaction with the website involving a desktop computer by the same user, which is assigned another source ID as another session of data. Conventional analytics systems, however, are not capable of accurately determining that both sessions, even though involving different source IDs, actually have a same source of user interaction. Thus, an inability of conventional analytics systems to accurately resolve a source of the sessions causes conventional analytics systems to maintain these sessions separately and are incapable of realizing insights that may be gained from linking the sessions together, which may cause the analytics systems to fail for their intended purpose and lack accuracy in achieving a desired result.


Apparatus for reducing vibration on three axes and which can be used at normal temperatures includes two masses (49 and 50, FIG. 10) suspended by a flexible rod (48) itself suspended by two resilient suspensions (57 and 58). An electrodynamic motor constituted by two electromagnets acts along axis YY', two electromagnets act along axis ZZ', and eight electromagnets act along axis XX', the motor being servo-controlled to the vibration which is to be reduced, and generating motion of the two masses (49 and 50) along three orthogonal axes to oppose the vibrations that are to be reduced. The simpler example has two masses capable of moving in a plane and disposed at the ends of two flexible structures coupled together via a cylindrical plate. An electrodynamic motor is constituted by two or four electromagnets that act in orthogonal directions, that are servo-controlled as a function of the vibration to be reduced, and that generate motion of the two masses to oppose the vibration to be reduced along two orthogonal axes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vibration-reducing apparatuses constituted by moving masses that are resiliently suspended and displaced by electromagnetic motors in directions opposite to those of the vibrations to be reduced, with the electromagnetic motors being servo-controlled to the vibration that is to be reduced in such a manner as to cause it to be decreased by a previously-set amount.
The invention is applicable whenever vibration reduction is a strategic or an economic need: military hardware, land or sea vehicles, civil aircraft, or in general wherever the presence of vibration is detrimental.
A usual disposition is shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 1A and 1B, FIG. 1B being an enlarged section view of a proton of FIG. 1A. The moving mass (1) is suspended on springs (2). The electrodynamic motor is constituted by a coil (3) carrying an alternating current that is an image of the displacement of the frame, and a magnet (4) providing a magnetic field in an air gap (5). The moving mass (1) is thus driven in the same manner as a loudspeaker membrane.
A regulator (6) and an amplifier (7) deliver control current to the coil (3) determined as a function of the vibratory amplitudes measured by an accelerometer (8) placed on the structure of the machine (9).
If m is the mass of the machine and v is its velocity prior to application of the apparatus, and M and V are the mass of the moving mass (1) and its vibratory velocity, then M.V-m.v=0 when the vibratory speed of the machine is cancelled.
When used under real conditions, the usual disposition of FIG. 1 suffers from the drawback of being heavy and bulky, since in order to reduce the propagation of vibration from a machine to the environment, it is necessary to reduce all six mechanical components of vibration at a point, which components are as follows (FIG. 2):
three vibratory velocities along three axes Ox, Oy, and Oz; and PA1 three moments of rotation about the three axes Ox, Oy, and Oz. PA1 on adopting motion for the active masses that is planar or tri-axial; and PA1 on a plurality of motors constituted by electromagnets of effectiveness and endurance that are well known.
Thus, in order to obtain significant reduction of vibration, six devices are required, located as shown by way of example in FIG. 3. The amplifiers, regulators, and accompanying circuits, together with the measuring accelerometers are not shown: only the six apparatuses are shown.
Another drawback of those apparatuses results from the difficulty of evacuating the heat generated by the current flowing through the coil (3) of FIG. 1 which is thermally isolated from the structure, since the support (10) of FIG. 1 is necessarily constituted by a material that does not conduct electricity and that Is therefore a poor conductor of heat, thereby impeding the flow of heat to other, cooler locations.
To mitigate that drawback which reduces the lifetime of that type of apparatus, due in particular to the thermal and mechanical aging of the electrical insulators, it is often necessary to add a cooling fan whose own operation serves to generate vibrations in addition to the amplitudes that are to be reduced, or indeed to add cooling systems that rely on a flow of liquid coolant.
That limitation prevents the above disposition operating in high temperature applications.
Finally, a last drawback comes from the fact that the active mass is often suspended on annular springs commonly called "speeders", having a lifetime that is short and uncertain. In addition to the drawback of lifetime that is limited or uncertain since it is difficult to calculate, the above configuration is bulky, voluminous, and heavy.
Those drawbacks mean that apparatuses of the above type or variants thereof are used very little in industry and are intended more for laboratory testing.
That old design is constrained by the linear relationship that exists between the control current and the force generated, which disposition is unavoidable when servo-control is based on analog electronics.
The linearity constraint has now disappeared with the arrival of regulators and control devices that are digital.

Vibration damping devices with active control and comprising movable weights excited by electromagnets along 2 or 3 axes


One aspect of the teachings herein involves the advantageous use of learned statistical information to improve inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC). The network uses historical signal quality measurements collected over time for wireless communication devices operating within its coverage areas to identify those geographical areas where devices generally experience significant levels of patterned interference. In an example case, the network develops a “map” of the geographical areas that are affected by the transmission patterns of neighboring nodes, and it applies the map to ICIC operations, wherein the serving nodes associated with the affected areas incorporate knowledge of the interfering transmission patterns into the ongoing scheduling of users operating in the affected areas.

"Heterogeneous" cellular networks use a mix of low-power and high-power nodes, with the low-power nodes providing smaller, localized areas of improved coverage and higher data rate service within the larger coverage areas of the high-power nodes. Such arrangements allow network operators to improve coverage and address the constantly increasing demand by users for higher data rate service, without having to incur the expense and impracticality of simply increasing the number of high-power nodes.
The coverage areas of the high-power nodes are referred to herein as "macro" cells, while the coverage areas of the low-power nodes are referred to herein as "pico" cells. These are relative terms and denote only that the pico cells generally are smaller than the macro cells. In extending this nomenclature, the high-power nodes are referred to as macro nodes and the low-power nodes are referred to as pico nodes. As such, the macro layer in a heterogeneous network comprises the macro nodes and their corresponding macro cells, while the pico layer in a heterogeneous network comprises the pico nodes and their corresponding pico cells.
Various operating schemes are known for heterogeneous networks. For example, the pico cell(s) overlaid by a given macro cell may share the same cell ID, such that the involved macro and pico node(s) operate as different transmission points within the same shared cell. In other schemes, the macro and pico nodes have unique cell IDs but may operate in cooperative fashion. For example, macro and/or pico nodes may operate in a Time Division Mode (TDM), in which they mute their transmissions according to a predetermined schedule, or "muting" pattern. This pattern of muted time periods makes it possible for communication devices and other nodes in the network to predict those time periods during which such a node will mute its transmissions and those during which it may potentially schedule transmissions. For purposes of this description, interference caused by a node that mutes its transmissions according to a particular schedule is referred to as "patterned interference."
In one example of muting, a macro node mutes its downlink transmissions during certain times, e.g., Transmission Time Intervals or TTIs, so as not to interfere with users connected to pico nodes in or around the macro cell of the macro node. The TDM transmission pattern used for such muting comprise a predetermined allocation of timer periods that defines when the relevant macro node will refrain from scheduling transmissions to and/or from wireless communication devices served by the macro node.
Muting by a potentially interfering macro node is especially helpful for users operating in the "extended" range of a pico cell, e.g., where the coverage area of a pico node is expanded through use of a cell selection offset that improves the apparent signal quality of the pico node. However, muting is also important for pico nodes. Consider a "Home eNB" as an example pico node. Commonly, Home eNBs restrict node access using a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) list that identifies a typically small number of wireless communication devices that are authorized to access the network through the Home eNB.
Consequently, a given wireless communication device may be operating quite close to the Home eNB and yet be unable to use it for network access. Instead, such a user would be connected to the network through the macro node. However, downlink (DL) transmissions by the serving macro node to that user may be significantly interfered with by DL transmissions by the Home eNB to its authorized users. Thus, by applying a TDM muting pattern to its DL transmissions, the Home eNB avoids interfering with nearby users connected to a macro node.
Relays represent another type of low-power node. In a known arrangement, a relay node extends or improves service within the macro cell of a macro node, which is referred to as a "donor" macro node, to indicate its support of the relay node. In an example using nomenclature from the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, a relay node is supported by a donor eNB, where LTE eNBs represent one type of macro node. In such contexts, a relay node uses muting times to listen to transmissions by its donor eNB.
While the use of TDM muting patterns in heterogeneous networks provides potentially significant reductions in interference for certain scheduled transmissions, it also results in potentially dramatic variations in the interference level seen by users. For example, a relay node that is close to a macro cell border generates interference with high variance to users operating in the neighbor cell(s).
Of course, a Home eNB or other pico node using muting would create similarly varying patterns of interference with respect to proximate users supported by other nodes. Further, users connected to macro nodes but operating macro cell edges may experience highly varying levels of other-cell interference arising from the patterned transmissions of neighboring macro nodes.
To avoid some of these problems, it is known, for example, for a donor eNB to provide neighboring eNBs with muting pattern information for the relay node(s) operating within the cell(s) of the donor eNB. The neighboring eNBs would use such information to avoid scheduling their cell-edge users at times when the identified relay nodes transmit or receive. However, such operation requires the sharing of such information between eNBs, adding to sidehaul signaling overhead. Further, not all cell-edge users in the neighboring macro cells are affected by the relay node(s) in question, and it is inefficient to restrict scheduling for such users in dependence on the transmit/receive times of such relay nodes.
It is also known to perform a "live," dynamic detection of interference variance, and to incorporate the interference pattern(s) detected for a given user into ongoing scheduling decisions. For example, a wireless communication device may dynamically track the interference level it experiences, and it or the network uses such tracking to blindly detect that the device is experiencing patterned interference. In turn, the network may incorporate knowledge of the blindly detected interference pattern into the scheduling decisions made for that device, so as to avoid scheduling the device at times of high interference levels. Of course, such operation can impose significant processing and signaling burdens on individual devices and on the network at large.

Method and apparatus for inter-cell interference coordination in a wireless communication network


A sensor device (1) comprises a piezoelectric transducer (3) and a base member (2). The piezoelectric transducer includes a piezoelectric member with at least one excitation electrode (37, 38) connected to a first face thereof and having a thickness (h) between the first face and a second face. The piezoelectric transducer (3) is attached to a supporting face of the base member (2) with the second face of the piezoelectric transducer positioned adjacent the supporting face of the base member. The base member includes at least one acoustic wave reflecting tag (21) distant from the piezoelectric member.

It is known in the art to apply piezoelectric transducers for sensing a variety of physical parameters. These applications make use, for instance, of the variability of the propagation speed of surface acoustic waves, also referred to as SAW, with mechanic stress, or deformation, respectively, strain, temperature or molecular deposits on the surface of a SAW device. The change in propagation speed, but also changes of geometry due to strain, may be detected as changes, for instance, in the travel time of a wave, phase shift, and so forth. Accordingly, SAW devices may be used, for instance, to measure temperature, strain, torque, force etc. If specific coatings are appropriately applied on a SAW device it may be applied to measure for instance airborne substances, humidity, biological matter, radiation or magnetism. Piezoelectric sensors of the mentioned type may be used as wireless sensors, without the requirement of needing a specific power source installed at or wired to the piezoelectric transducer.
Surface and bulk acoustic wave devices are also applied as bandpass filters in electronic applications, in particular in telecommunication applications.
Generally, surface acoustic wave devices are provided as electrodes on a piezoelectric substrate. Frequently, they are provided as interdigital transducers, with sets of electrodes alternatingly interlaced on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate. An interdigital transducer (IDT) is a device that consists of two interlocking comb-shaped arrays of metallic electrodes, in the fashion of a zipper. These metallic electrodes are deposited on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate to form a periodic structure. The primary function of an interdigital transducer is to convert electric signals to surface acoustic waves, SAW, by generating periodically distributed mechanical forces via piezoelectric effect in an input transducer. The same principle is applied to the conversion of SAW back to electric signals in an output transducer. Thus, certain devices apply an input transducer and an output transducer. An oscillating voltage excitation signal supplied to the input transducer causes propagating waves in the substrate which in turn are converted into an oscillating voltage response signal at the output transducer.
Surface acoustic wave sensors are suggested for instance in EP 1 577 667, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,243,547, 7,434,989, 7,795,779, 8,742,645, 9,027,407, US 2016/0012265 and US 2015/0013461. An issue common to these devices in certain applications is that they are limited to an upper temperature boundary. US 2015/0244344 suggests a SAW device with piezoelectric materials such as ordered langasite A3BC3D2O14structure, which can function at temperatures of up to about 1500° C. Some compositions include Sr3TaGa3Si2O14, Sr3NbGa3Si2O14, Ca3TaGa3Si2O14 and Ca3TaAl3Si2O14. Langasites, however, exhibit a relatively poor electromechanical coupling value. In the application on turbo engine blades, US 2015/0244344 suggests to place a dielectric layer between the piezoelectric material and the thermal barrier coating of the blade. US 2015/0244344 proposes to place discrete piezoelectric transducers onto an acoustic substrate so as to conceive a surface-guided bulk wave transducer. A piezoelectric transducer yielding specific advantages, in particular as to the electromechanical coupling, that is, the conversion of an electric excitation signal into acoustic waves, has been disclosed by V. Pashchenko, R. Matloub, F. Parsapourkolour, P. Muralt, S. Balandras and K. Haffner at the 2016 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium.

Interrogatable passive acoustic sensor device with reflective tags


A programming assistance technical solution for a framework-based application program. The application program contains program files and configuration files, including: processing configuration files of an application program history base into a configuration file classification base according to types of frameworks; constructing a Closed Frequent Subtree Set according to the configuration file classification base and determining a support of the Closed Frequent Subtree; and providing the Closed Frequent Subtree Set and the support for programming assistance. The technical solution of the present invention can be employed to assist in programming of a framework-based application program.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of programming assistance, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus that improves programming assistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
A framework-based application program is very popular in the current commercial application development environment. For example, J2EE is the most popular framework-based application. In a framework-based application, application logic exists not only in codes but also in framework configuration files, e.g., framework configuration files such as Struts, iBatis, Spring, etc.
Although the use of a framework brings many advantages, there still exists problems, such as the following: the types of frameworks are widely various, each of which has its own syntax, and requires a certain learning period; and, most of the existing frameworks come from open source software of open source communities, documents can be incomplete or outdated, and a programmer may not have enough time to command all the details.
Thus, it can be seen that there is still room for improvement on prior art, and that a technical solution of improved programming assistance is needed.

Method and apparatus for programming assistance

International Business Machines Corporation


Arc welding apparatus for use in conjunction with conventional link forming apparatus is operable for welding the closed ends of a link after it is formed. The electrode is mounted on a swinging arm which presents the electrode from the front of the assembly and positions the electrode substantially over the top of the link for welding thereof. The vertical, horizontal and angular positions of the electrode are adjustable by means of threaded adjustment knobs. A shield and gas tube are mounted adjacent to the tip end of the electrode and move simultaneously with the electrode into position over the link during a welding operation.

The instant invention relates to welding apparatus and more particularly to welding apparatus for use in conjunction with automatic link forming apparatus.
In making jewelry, it is conventional to attach ornaments or findings to a chain by taking a small diameter U-shaped wire, placing a ring attached to the ornament over the free ends of the wire and forming the wire into a closed link. The closed ends of the wire are then permanently joined by either soldering or welding to prevent them from separating.
Heretofore, there have been known in the art link forming apparatus which are operable for automatically forming the U-shaped wire workpieces, presenting them for attachment to a chain or finding and closing the open ends of the wire around the chain or finding. One such machine is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. to Crafford, et al, 3,841,088. This apparatus forms the U-shaped workpieces from a continuous length of wire stock and feeds the workpieces to a workpiece holder for holding of the bight of the U-shaped workpiece. A chain or other finding is manually placed over the free ends of the workpiece and a camming head is then actuated into engagement with the free ends of the wire bending the ends into a closed loop or link. The link is then ejected from the holder and another workpiece is presented for attachment and closure. The ejected link can then be soldered or welded in a separate operation.
There have also been known in the art welding apparatus which operate in conjunction with the conventional link forming apparatus to automatically weld the ends of the link after closure thereof. Such apparatus is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. to Brastow, et al, 4,388,513. This apparatus positions a movable welding head adjacent to the link forming apparatus and it is adapted to move the electrode thereof to and from the workpiece holder via a linkage assembly which is actuated by a solenoid. A complete cycle for forming and welding a link comprises the following steps: presenting the workpiece for closure, actuating the camming head to descend and bend the free ends of the workpiece into a closed link, retracting the camming head, actuating the electrode of the welding head to the workpiece and positioning it a selected distance therefrom, moving a shield into position in front of the workpiece and ionizing the air around the workpiece by directing a selected gas around the workpiece. Once the proper ionization level is reached a welding arc travels from the electrode to the workpiece to effect the weld. The electrode is then retracted, the shield removed and the workpiece is released and a new workpiece is presented at the workpiece holder.
Although the device disclosed in the Brastow patent is effective for automatically forming the welds, there are several disadvantages which will become apparent. It is pointed out that the electrode head of the Brastow device is presented from the rear of the workpiece holder. Rear presentation often interferes with larger and odd shaped finding or ornaments which must be positioned adjacent the workpiece holder for attachment to the link. It has been found that the large findings often block the forward travel of the electrode head thereby preventing the welding operation. Rear presentation of the electrode head also prevents welding of odd shaped wire stock, such as half-round stock and flat stock. Because of the shape of the stock, an electrode which is presented from the rear of the workpiece holder must weld through the thickest dimension of the wire. Welding through the thickest dimension of the wire requires increased electrical discharge. It has been found that the increased electrical discharge often disfigures or disintegrates the rearward portions of the link before the weld can travel through to the forward portions of the link. The inability to weld half-round and flat stock is a significant disadvantage in the current marketplace because use of these types of linking materials is becoming more and more popular.


An improved coupling assembly (10) mounted on a corrugated deck (30) and embedded in a concrete partition, such as floor (100), to provide an opening through the deck and the floor, is described. The coupling is comprised of an inner conduit (13) mounted inside of an outer sleeve (11). A flange portion (15) is provided at one end of the sleeve and includes openings (19) for fastening means, such as nails or screws (21) that serve to secure the coupling assembly in position on the deck. The conduit is mounted to the inside (11A) of the sleeve to position the opposed open ends (13B) and (13C) of the conduit extending beyond the sleeve means and through an opening (50) in the deck. The sleeve enables the contact point between the sleeve and the conduit to be adjusted along the length of the conduit. This is useful in those situations where the conduit has been mounted in an existing building construction or where the mounting position between the conduit and sleeve needs to be adjusted. The coupling is then embedded in the poured concrete floor and fluid carrying pipes can be connected to the opposed open ends of the conduit. The partition need not necessarily be a floor, but instead can comprise a wall. The floor can also be sloped and an upper end of the conduit can be provided with a drain conduit (61) for removing liquid from the top of the sloped floor.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved coupling assembly for use in adjustably mounting a conduit through a corrugated deck. In particular, the present invention relates to a coupling assembly that enables fluid carrying pipes to be adjustably mounted through a corrugated deck. The coupling is comprised of a sleeve having a mounting flange secured to the deck. A fluid carrying conduit is then mounted inside the sleeve. The sleeve enables the contact position between the outside sidewall of the conduit and the inside sidewall of the sleeve to be adjustable along the length of the conduit.
To mount the coupling on the deck, a hole is first drilled through the corrugated deck and the flange portion of the sleeve is secured to at least two spaced apart ridge portions of the corrugated deck by screws, bolts or other suitable means so that the sleeve is concentric with the deck hole. In this position, the plane of the flange portion of the sleeve is parallel with the apices of the ridge portions of the corrugated deck. The conduit is then mounted inside the sleeve so that the conduit extends through the deck hole and beyond the opposed ends of the sleeve. Concrete forming a partition means can then be poured on the deck to form the floor and to embed the coupling in the floor. Fluid carrying pipes can also be connected to the opposed ends of the conduit to provide for moving fluids between the floor. The corrugated deck can also serve as a form for a wall as the partition means, or the floor can be sloped. In this case, the upper end of the conduit can be provided with a drain head for removing fluids from the floor.
(2) Prior Art
Couplings embedded in partitions, such as concrete walls and floors are well known. The couplings generally have a cylindrical sleeve that is mounted to a form for the wall or floor. After the partition is poured, the form can be removed or it can remain in place. The sleeve then provides an opening through the partition and serves for mounting fluid carrying pipes through the wall or floor.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,598 describes a coupling for plastic fluid carrying pipes that is embedded in a concrete floor. The coupling is comprised of a tubular sleeve portion that is provided with a flange at one end for connecting the coupling to a form for the floor. When the floor is poured, the sleeve is embedded in the concrete to provide an opening through the floor. The sleeve is provided with an inner annular rim that has spaced apart parallel shoulders, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The shoulders serve to support fluid carrying pipes extending from the coupling on either side of the partition. This coupling is particularly adapted to be connected to a planar surface as the form for the concrete floor and the inner rim prevents the fluid pipes mounted inside the sleeve from being adjustable along the length of the pipes.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,170, an improved coupling for plastic, fluid carrying pipes that is embedded in a concrete partition is described. The coupling is provided with a flange at one end for connecting the coupling to a form for the concrete partition. The coupling also has multiple concentric rings on an outside wall of a sleeve portion. This helps prevent leakage between the outside wall of the coupling and the concrete partition. The sleeve is provided with an inner annular rim that serves to mount fluid carrying pipes on either side of the partition. This coupling is particularly adapted to be connected to a planar surface as the form for the concrete partition. Also, the inner rim prevents the fluid pipes mounted inside the sleeve from being adjustable along the length of the pipes.
My U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,583,565; 4,638,829; 4,724,858; 4,953,235, describe firestop fittings particularly adapted to prevent the spread of smoke and fire between floors in a multi-story building by plugging off any potential fire path through a vertical pipe mounted between the floors. These patents describe an assembly where a non-flammable plug is released by heat less than required for heat destruction of a plastic coupling mounted in a concrete floor. Upon being released, the plug moves into and seals in an iron fitting mounted inside of the plastic coupling to serve as a non-flammable barrier through the iron fitting. This retards the spread of fire through the plastic coupling by depriving the inside of the coupling of oxygen.
My U.S. application Ser. No. 07/692,669 filed Apr. 29, 1991, describes a similar firestop fitting having a moveable plug for plugging off a vertical pipe mounted between fire rated floor members. My U.S. application Ser. No. 07/701,057 filed May 16, 1991, describes a firestop fitting having a moveable plug for plugging off a horizontal pipe mounted between vertical, fire rated wall members. These inventions are particularly adapted to prevent the spread of smoke and fire through the pipe by plugging off the inside of the pipe.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,235 describes a trap fitting assembly that uses a flammable coupling vertically mounted through a concrete floor. A non-flammable sleeve is mounted inside the coupling and extends below the coupling for connection to a non-flammable J-pipe. The J-pipe contains water at a level sufficient to prevent smoke and fire from spreading through the floor through the flammable coupling. The sleeve prevents fire from spreading through the trap fitting by depriving the inside of the coupling of the necessary oxygen needed to sustain the spread of fire through the coupling. This invention is preferably adapted for a floor drain outlet or a tub.
My U.S. application Ser. No. 07/700,406 filed May 15, 1991, describes a trap fitting assembly for mounting in a flammable floor to prevent the spread of smoke and fire through the floor and a lower ceiling. The fitting assembly is comprised of a flammable connection mounted inside of a non-flammable threaded nipple that is mounted in an opening in a support means supported in the floor. A non-flammable J-pipe threads onto a lower extension of the nipple and contains water at a level sufficient to prevent smoke and fire from spreading through the fitting assembly. This invention is preferably adapted for mounting in a tub box as the support means and the connection is preferably a T-connection for draining a tub through an overflow pipe and a drain pipe connected to a tub drain.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,309 describes a firestop stub-out assembly, which includes a non-flammable insert having an annular flange at one end. The insert is mounted inside of a flammable, plastic sleeve and locked in place by a plastic coupling that mounts over and around the flange portion of the insert. This invention is adapted to be mounted through a fire rated wall member, to provide a means for coupling a water operated fixture mounted in a room and to fluid carrying conduits mounted between spaced apart fire rated wall members.
What is needed is a coupling assembly that provides for adjustably mounting a fluid conduit inside the sleeve portion of the assembly so that the contact position between the conduit and the sleeve is adjustable along the length of the conduit. This is useful in those situations where the conduit has already been mounted in an existing building construction or where the conduit is needed to be adjustable with respect to the sleeve.
It is a further point of the present invention to provide a means for quickly and easily mounting the sleeve to a support such as a corrugated deck for mounting fluid carrying pipes through the deck. Until the present invention, the most accepted method has been to first cut an opening in the corrugated deck and then weld an oversized steel pipe to the deck, around the opening. A conduit section mounted inside the steel pipe and through the opening in the deck is then welded to the steel pipe. Fluid carrying pipes can be connected to the opposite ends of the conduit section for moving fluids through the corrugated deck.
This prior art method requires that the deck be made of a metal material, and that the oversized pipe be made of a weldable, metal material. The coupling assembly of the present invention is able to be mounted to corrugated decks that are made of both metal materials and non-metal materials. The flange portion of the sleeve provides for bolting, screwing, gluing or similarly securing the coupling to the corrugated deck so that a conduit portion of the coupling extends through an opening in the deck. Fluid carrying pipes can then be connected to the coupling assembly on either side of the deck, or the deck can first serve as a support for pouring a concrete partition before the fluid carrying pipes are connected to the coupling assembly.

Coupling assembly for corrugated decks and method for connecting thereto


A wireless communication device and method therein for adapting radio frequency receiving bandwidth are disclosed. The wireless communication device is configured to obtain information on respective bandwidths and center frequencies of a first and a second channels. The wireless communication device is further configured to determine a total receiving bandwidth to use at a time instant based on the respective bandwidths and time instants for reception of the first and second channels and adapt the radio frequency receiving bandwidth in the wireless communication device based on the determined total receiving bandwidth.

Wireless communication networks, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) or High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) networks, 3G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (Wimax) network, Wireless Local Area Network (WLANN/Wi-Fi), LTE advanced or Fourth Generation (4G) networks, usually cover a geographical area which is divided into cell areas. Each cell area is served by a base station, which may also be referred as a Network (NW) node, an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB, an access node, etc. A wireless communication network may include a number of cells that can support communications for a number of wireless communication devices or User Equipment (UE). Each cell or NW node may use certain carrier frequencies and cover certain system bandwidth. The NW node serves a wireless communication device via a communication link, which may be referred to as a serving node, cell, beam, sector, etc.
The current cellular LTE standard supports flexible Bandwidth (BW), e.g., from 1.4 MHz up to 20 MHz, and even wider bandwidths using carrier aggregation techniques. In order for a wireless communication device, e.g., a UE, to connect to a NW node, the wireless communication device must determine the cell carrier frequency as well as the system bandwidth to use. Furthermore, in current LTE standards, there is a requirement that the NW node and the wireless communication device support and connect using the same system BW. Hence, the wireless communication device must search for relevant control messages over the entire system BW of the NW node.
For the upcoming New Radio-access technology in 5G, denoted NR herein, a more generic approach is desirable with respect to the system bandwidths of respective network nodes. NR should support multiple types of wireless communication devices. A range of device types includes, for example, from high-end Mobile Broadband (MBB) devices capable of supporting system BWs up to several GHz, down to low-cost, low-power Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, which may support BWs of 100 KHz or perhaps a few MHz. Hence a desired requirement is that a device, e.g. a UE, which may support, e.g. 100 MHz bandwidth, may be allocated a dedicated UE system BW, referred to as a scheduling BW, e.g. maximum 100 MHz anywhere within the total system BW of a NW node gNodeB, e.g. 1000 MHz. It is also desirable that the NW node can allocate a smaller scheduling BW than the one supported by a UE.
In NR the system BW may be very large, and in order for a UE to be energy efficient, the UE should not be mandated to receive the entire system BW if not needed. Hence in NR it is proposed that the UE monitors for downlink control information, i.e. control channels etc. in one or more "control sub band". The control sub band is configured by the serving cell or serving beam. Then the UE may reduce the radio receiver BW to cover only the control sub band to save power in its radio receiver.
In NR it is proposed that the UE relies on mobility pilots or synchronization (sync) signals for mobility measurements. The mobility pilots or sync signals will not fill up the entire system BW of a NW node e.g. gNodeB, but instead only a sub band i.e. a part of the system BW. The sub band will be configured by the serving NW node or serving beam, which informs adjacent NW nodes which sub band to use and the UE is also informed about the sub band in order to know where to find the mobility pilots/sync signals. The mobility pilots or sync signals may be transmitted on another sub band than the control sub band, which is inefficient for the UE radio receiver power when the UE needs to do Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements.

Communication device and method for adapting radio frequency receiving bandwidth


The present invention includes a DC signal generating circuit for generating a DC signal and a ramp signal generating circuit for generating a periodic ramp signal. A synthesizing circuit is then used to combine the DC signal and the ramp signal to generate a synthesized signal, where the DC level of the synthesized signal is determined by the DC level of the DC signal. A driving circuit is used to amplify the power of the synthesized signal. A rotate coil surrounding the neck of a cathode-ray tube is responsive to the amplified synthesized signal, and therefore generates a magnetic force to turn electron beam in the cathode-ray tube, thereby compensating the trapezoidal distortion on the bottom and the top edges of a screen display.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for compensating the distortion on a screen display, and particularly to apparatus and method for compensating the distortion on the bottom and top edges of a screen display.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A display on a monitor or a television set is usually distorted geometrically due to the imperfection of a cathode-ray tube or the influence from the surrounding environment. FIGS. 1A to 1F demonstrate some types of geometrical distortion, which are often referred to as horizontally trapezoidal distortion. This distortion exists on the right or left edge, and is caused mainly by the imperfection of the yoke surrounding a cathode-ray tube (CRT) during manufacturing. Although the supply of the CRTs is regulated by CRT manufacturers according to their specification, the distortion is quite noticeable for CRT larger than 17 inches. Therefore, monitor manufacturers usually add some compensating circuits to correct this type of distortion.
FIGS. 2A to 2D show another type of geometrical distortion, which are usually referred to as horizontal pincushion distortion. This distortion exists on the right or left edge, and is caused mainly by the non-roundness on the surface of the screen. The monitor manufacturers usually compensate this type of distortion through the adjustment of a bias current in the monitor. For example, the distortion in FIG. 2C can be corrected by making the length of the central horizontal scan longer than the length of the top or the bottom scan.
FIGS. 3A to 3D further show some examples of pincushion type of geometrical distortion. These examples differ from those in FIGS. 2A-2D on the locations where the distortion occurs. The pincushion type of distortion on the top or bottom edge is also caused by the non-roundness on the surface of the scan, and is usually corrected through the yoke by the CRT manufacturer. Unfortunately, for the pincushion type of distortion on the top or bottom edge, the monitor manufactures usually do not apply further compensation or adjustment unless excellent quality requested.
FIGS. 4A 4F demonstrate another trapezoidal distortion on the top and/or bottom edge. Although the supply of the CRTs is regulated by CRT manufacturers according to their specification, this type of distortion is quite noticeable for CRT larger than 17 inches. Unfortunately, their is no apparatus or method provided for compensating the distortion on the bottom and top edges of a screen display.
A rotate coil 52, shown in FIG. 5, surrounding a cathode-ray tube 50 and near a yoke 54, is used to correct a tilt problem of the screen display. However, this rotate coil 52 could not be used directly to solve any aforementioned type of distortion.

Apparatus and method for compensating the distortion on a screen display


To ensure high level of reliability, it is desirable to test an electrical device, such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system, periodically with minimum possible energy usage and without compromising reliability. A regenerative load (RGL) unit is described which makes it possible to conduct a load test of a UPS system and supply a portion of the energy used for the load test from a generator in the RGL unit. An induction motor driven by an adjustable speed drive and coupled to an induction generator is used in the RGL unit to supply the load to the electrical device and supply a portion of the power used by the electrical device under test.

Uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems are widely used in contexts where having an electrically stable and reliable power supply is critical for the operation of equipment and systems. UPS systems are typically of the standby, line interactive, or online double conversion design. These three UPS designs provide different levels of protection from electrical power disturbances, such as voltage surges, or failures, such as black outs. As an example, many data centers use online double conversion UPS designs that provide a high level of protection.
An online double conversion UPS system typically draws alternating current (AC) power from a commercial power grid and converts the AC to direct current (DC). The DC supply is used to keep a battery fully charged and is converted back to AC in an inverter to deliver clean, regulated AC power as required by a customer's equipment. The battery is of sufficient capacity to provide backup power for the equipment being protected. If there is an interruption to the supply of AC power to the UPS, energy stored in the batteries is used to feed the inverter which will continue to provide the required AC power for the customer's equipment for a predetermined period of time.
To ensure a high level of reliability, UPS manufacturers conduct extensive testing at their factories and also at installation sites during initial setup and commissioning. UPS systems are also tested periodically by end users to ensure their continued reliable operation. These tests typically include full load testing using a resistive load bank. Power from the UPS is delivered to the resistive load bank over a lengthy test period, such as a period from one to four hours. The UPS output is converted to heat in the resistive load bank which is dissipated to the surrounding air. As a consequence, the resistive load bank requires adequate ventilation, such as may be provided by mechanical ventilation equipment, to dissipate the heat and must be kept away from combustible material and vapors. Since a large number of the electrical industry and user groups use resistive load banks for testing electrical equipment, such as UPS systems, a significant amount of energy is lost performing the tests. Consequently, manufacturers, as well as users of UPS systems, incur significant costs to pay for the energy used during testing, and may further incur a demand charge that is based on the time of the day when a test is run.

Load testing of uninterrupted power supply systems using regenerative loading by supplying percentage of a test power


The present invention provides a method for an improved protective coating for plasma dicing a substrate. A work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate, the substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface of the substrate having a plurality of device structures and a plurality of street areas is provided. The work piece is formed by adhering the substrate to a support film and then mounting the substrate with the support film to a frame. A composite material coating having a matrix component and a filler component is applied to the top surface of the substrate. The filler component has a plurality of particles. The composite material coating is removed from at least one street area to expose the street area. The exposed street area is plasma etched. The composite material coating is removed from the top surface of the substrate.

Semi-conductor devices are fabricated on substrates which are in the form of thin wafers. Silicon is commonly used as the substrate material, but other materials, such as III-V compounds (for example GaAs and InP) are also used. In some instances (for example, the manufacture of LED's) the substrate is a sapphire or silicon carbide wafer on which a thin layer of a semi-conducting material is deposited. The size of such substrates ranges from two inches and three inches up to two hundred millimeters and three hundred millimeters diameter and many standards exist (e.g., SEMI) to describe such substrate sizes.
After fabrication on the substrate, the individual devices (die or chips) are separated from each other prior to packaging or being employed in other electronic circuitry. For many years, mechanical means have been used to separate the die from each other. Such mechanical means have included breaking the wafer along scribe lines aligned with the substrate crystal axis or by using a high speed diamond saw to saw into or through the substrate in a region (streets) between the die. More recently, lasers have been used to facilitate the scribing process.
Recently plasma etching techniques have been proposed as a means of separating die and overcoming some of these limitations. After device fabrication, the substrate is masked with a suitable mask material, leaving open areas between the die. The masked substrate is then processed using a reactive gas plasma which etches the substrate material exposed between the die. However, the reactive gas plasma also etches the mask material. For thicker substrates, the selectivity of the etching of the substrate material to the mask material needs to be improved.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved protective film that has a higher selectivity of etching in the reactive gas plasma to the substrate material.
Nothing in the prior art provides the benefits attendant with the present invention.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art devices and which is a significant contribution to the advancement to the dicing of semiconductor substrates using a plasma etching apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for an improved protective coating for plasma dicing a substrate, the method comprising: providing a work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate, the substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface of the substrate having a plurality of device structures and a plurality of street areas; applying a composite material coating to the top surface of the substrate; removing said composite material coating from at least one street area to expose the street area; plasma etching the exposed street area; and removing said composite material coating from the top surface of the substrate.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for an improved protective coating for plasma dicing a substrate, the method comprising: providing a work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate, the substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface of the substrate having a plurality of device structures and a plurality of street areas; applying a composite material coating to the top surface of the substrate, said composite material coating having a matrix component and a filler component; removing said composite material coating from at least one street area to expose the street area; plasma etching the exposed street area; and removing said composite material coating from the top surface of the substrate.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for an improved protective coating for plasma dicing a substrate, the method comprising: providing a work piece having a support film, a frame and the substrate, the substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface of the substrate having a plurality of device structures and a plurality of street areas; applying a composite material coating to the top surface of the substrate, said composite material coating having a matrix component and a filler component, said filler component having a plurality of particles; removing said composite material coating from at least one street area to expose the street area; plasma etching the exposed street area; and removing said composite material coating from the top surface of the substrate.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


An assembly for performing an agricultural operation, in particular crop processing. The assembly is provided with an autonomous agricultural machine that is movable over a parcel for performing the agricultural operation and with a control unit for controlling the functioning of the autonomous agricultural machine. The control unit is provided with a memory containing sound-standard data. The control unit controls the functioning of the autonomous agricultural machine with the aid of the sound-standard data. An autonomous agricultural machine for performing the agricultural operation. The autonomous agricultural machine is provided with a control unit for controlling the functioning of the autonomous agricultural machine, with a position-determining system for determining the momentary position of the agricultural machine in the parcel, and with a sound meter. The control unit is provided with a memory containing sound-standard data. The control unit controls the functioning of the autonomous agricultural machine with the aid of the sound-standard data and/or data from the sound meter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of agriculture and to assemblies for performing an agricultural operation, in particular crop processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Assemblies for performing agricultural operations, in particular crop processing, are generally known. Such operations often generate considerable amounts of noise. Additionally, due to the nature of these operations they may sometimes be carried out at inconvenient times such as early in the morning or late at night causing possible noise-nuisance. The invention aims at providing an alternative assembly which seeks to overcome the above mentioned problem.

Assembly and an autonomous agricultural machine for performing an agricultural operation, in particular crop processing


The present disclosure generally relates to contact management and communication with contacts. On a portable electronic device having a display a plurality of affordances associated with a plurality of contacts are displayed. A first user input is received selecting a first affordance of the plurality of affordances for a first contact of the plurality of contacts. In response to receiving the first user input and in accordance with a determination that a first communication application is in a set of communication applications installed on the portable electronic device, a contact information interface is displayed for the first contact. The contact information interface includes a first contact identification field for the first contact. The first contact identification field is associated with the first contact and the first communication application.

Electronic device typically include the ability to communicate in many forms. In addition to communication services provided by first-party applications that come with the electronic device when it is sold, many electronic devices allow for third-party communication applications to be installed that use existing and new communication services. Additional communication services and communication applications increase the amount of contact information on the electronic device.

Managing contact information for communication applications


This invention discloses a semiconductor laser incorporating a plurality of resonant optical waveguide array cells. In each of the resonant optical waveguide array cells, leaky waveguide elements are coupled together such that radiation leaked from one antiguide element is coupled with radiation propagating along another antiguide element across an interelement region. As the radiation propagates through the array it is reflected at each end of the array until it builds up enough optical gain to reach lasing threshold. Then, radiation is leaked from the sides of each array such that this radiation can impinge other resonant optical waveguide arrays and be coupled with these arrays in phase to develop a laser beam having a higher intensity than can be achieved with a single array semiconductor laser.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a semiconductor laser, and more particularly, to a semiconductor laser incorporating an array of coherently coupled semiconductor laser array cells on a common substrate.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Semiconductor lasers are well known in the art. These types of lasers have a number of desirable features including compactness of size, narrow bandwidth, reliability, and a highly directional light beam. It is therefore desirable to utilize semiconductor lasers for a variety of applications including certain medical applications, optical welding, optical storage and signal processing, laser range finding and free-space communications.
By way of background information, the basic operation of a conventional semiconductor laser will be described. As is generally known in the art, a semiconductor laser typically incorporates a multi-layered structure comprised of a number of specially doped semiconductor regions. The composition of the semiconductor material of the different layers is determined to provide a discrimination in the indices of refraction between at least some of the different layers, and thus develop a layer in which light can be confined. Adjacent layers to the confining layer, or active region, are typically referred to as cladding layers. A forward bias current across the confining layer will enable the charge carriers to recombine and emit light at a particular frequency to provide the lasing action. By confining the lasing region of the semiconductor laser to the active region, it is possible to increase the intensity of this generated light. By incorporating mirrors at each end of the active region, waves of light will oscillate back and forth within this region such that the intensity of the wave will increase until the radiation generates enough energy for lasing to occur within the semiconducting material.
Not only must the light be confined in the active region in a vertical direction by means of the layer structure, it must also be confined in the active region in a lateral direction. One known method of confining the light in a lateral direction within a particular active region is generally referred to as positive index guiding. In this type of laser, the refractive index of the material is highest in regions in which the light propagates and lower in regions aligned with the higher index of refraction regions. Another method of confining the light is known as negative-index guiding. In a negative-index guiding or antiguide laser, the refractive index of the semiconductor material is lowest in the regions in which the light propagates and higher in adjacent aligned regions. Consequently, some of the light which is incident on the higher refractive index boundary would leak out of the lasing region.
In a conventional semiconductor laser, propagation of the light is generally limited to a single region or element within the semiconductor. Because of this the power output of the laser is limited. To increase the power output of semiconductor lasers, it is known to fabricate arrays for which the elements are coupled to each other.
One known antiguide semiconductor laser array is the phase-locked, resonant optical waveguide (ROW) which incorporates an array of elements resonantly coupled to each other by leaky waves. See for example, Botez et al., Phase-Locked Arrays of Antiguides: Modal Content and Discrimination, "IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics", Vol. 26, No. 3, Mar. 1990 and Mawst et al., High-Power, Narrow-Lobe Operation from 20-Element Phase-Locked Arrays of Antiguides, "Appl. Phys. Lett.," 55 (20), 13 Nov. 1989, both of which are herein incorporated by reference. In these types of ROW lasers, an array cell of aligned channels are fabricated on a common substrate by an appropriate semiconductor deposition process, such as metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), to form an alternating array of elements having a first index of refraction adjacent interelements having a higher index of refraction. A portion of the laser radiation propagating in an active region within each of the elements will be leaked into the interelements at each reflection off the walls of the elements at the transition of low to high indices of refraction. The laser radiation which is leaked out of one element, crosses the adjoining interelement and enters an adjacent element, and is coherently coupled to the radiation traveling in that element depending on the distance between the adjacent elements, thus creating a resonance condition. Since the leaked radiation from one element is coupled with the radiation in the next element, it adds to the intensity of the laser radiation in that element. Once the intensity of the laser radiation reaches a lasing threshold level, and all elements are coupled in phase with each other, light from the semiconductor array is emitted into a narrow beam at an angle substantially perpendicular to the plane of the substrate. A higher number of elements thus results in a higher intensity beam.
For an array cell of laser elements as discussed above, it is possible that the radiation being reflected back and forth oscillates in more than one spatial mode. For an array cell of lasers which operates in several modes, the generated laser beam will have many uncorrelated lobes. The array cell can be thought of as emitting more than one beam for each different mode. The quality of the semiconductor laser, expressed as the Strehl ratio, is reduced due to the increased width of the beam distribution pattern. It is desirable in most applications to produce a semiconductor laser which operates in a single mode. The single fundamental mode preferably should be one in which all of the elements are in phase, called the in-phase mode, to achieve a high Strehl ratio.
Strong coupling of leaked radiation between the elements lends itself to the suppression of other, secondary modes of radiation having a separate phase than the primary or in-phase mode. Mode discrimination is partly realized due to the presence of transverse losses within the interelements. However, as the width of the array increases due to an increase in the number of coupled elements, the more difficult it is to maintain a single mode, and thus, the number of modes may increase above the fundamental mode. In addition, the photolithographic and deposition processes used to fabricate the array also limits the dimensions of each of the elements, and interelements. With the present technology, a semiconductor array cell of this type is limited to about 40 different adjoining array elements having a combined width of about 200 microns. An array cell of a wider dimension generally results in adverse transmission of secondary modes which interfere with the primary in-phase mode of the laser beam. Consequently, the power output of the semiconductor laser is limited by these factors. For a more thorough discussion of modal discrimination in a semiconductor laser array cell of the type discussed above, see Botez et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,063 570, issued Nov. 5, 1991, herein incorporated by reference and assigned to the assignee of the instant application.
What is needed then is a semiconductor laser incorporating multiple arrays of antiguides which has an increased power output over the prior art semiconductor lasers, and whose output is limited to a single mode. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide appropriate coupling of such semiconductor lasers in a two-dimensional configuration.

2-D monolithic coherent semiconductor laser array


A spray nozzle for discharging at least one fluid in a spray pattern into a fluid stream in a vessel, such as an atomized mixture of oil and steam in a fluidic catalytic cracking unit, wherein the nozzle alters the flow patterns of the fluid stream in the vicinity of the nozzle to inhibit erosion of the nozzle and maintain the spray pattern. The nozzle comprises an inlet member defining at least one inlet conduit and an outlet member in fluid communication with the inlet member. The outlet member includes an exterior surface and a plurality of bosses angularly spaced relative to each other about an axis of the outlet, each boss defining an outlet aperture in fluid communication with the at least one inlet conduit having a length (L) and a diameter (D) and an axially extending wall, wherein the axially extending wall extends outwardly a length (X) greater than about ⅛ inch relative to the exterior surface and L/D is at least about ½.

Fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the major refining methods used in the oil refining industry. The FCC process is employed to crack materials consisting essentially of petroleum-type hydrocarbons to produce products such as fuels for internal combustion engines and heating oils. The cracking process is usually performed in a vertically oriented conduit, or riser including a reactor vessel, that forms part of an FCC system. During the process, hot catalyst particles in an aerated (fluidized) state are typically introduced into a bottom portion of the riser and induced to flow upward. A hydrocarbon feedstock is mixed with steam to become partially fluidized and injected into the catalyst flow as the catalyst travels through the riser, which creates cracking reactions that breakdown the hydrocarbon feedstock into a simpler (lighter) molecular form.
Optimal cracking conditions in an FCC process require a substantially immediate and homogenous mixing of the catalyst and the hydrocarbon feedstock. Such mixing is difficult to achieve, however, and stratified regions of hot catalyst and cold hydrocarbon feedstock typically appear within the catalyst-hydrocarbon flow. Over-cracking and thermal cracking of the hydrocarbon molecules typically occur in the catalyst-rich areas of the flow. Conversely, incomplete cracking of the hydrocarbon molecules usually occurs in hydrocarbon-rich flow regions. These factors can substantially reduce the overall yield of the FCC process. In addition, over-cracking, thermal cracking, and incomplete cracking have undesirable side-effects such as deactivation of the catalyst within the riser due to coke laydown, regeneration of the catalyst within the regenerator due to the combustion of air and residual coke, and the production of excessive amounts of lower-boiling-range gaseous reaction products, e.g., propane and butane gases.
Hence, effective methods for mixing the catalyst and the hydrocarbon feedstock within the reactor vessel are critical to the cracking process, as proper mixing is predicating upon maintaining a constant spray pattern of the hydrocarbon feed stock. The spray pattern is achieved by constraining flow through carefully shaped flow passages. Should the shape of the passages change, the length to diameter ratio (L/D) of the flow passages is altered, which in turn changes the spray pattern. Changes in the geometry and L/D ratio occur most frequently as a result of the erosion of the nozzle material by the moving catalyst of the fluid bed of the riser in which the nozzle is installed.
To ensure proper mixing, spray nozzles have been devised that introduce the hydrocarbon-steam mixture into the upward flowing catalyst; however, the nozzles currently available for use in FCC units have significant limitations. First, the nozzles can generate an uneven spray pattern that reduces liquid contact between the hydrocarbon-steam mixture and the catalyst, which in turn impedes homogeneous mixing leading to over-cracking, thermal cracking and/or incomplete cracking of the hydrocarbon molecules. Second, the nozzles are susceptible to erosion, which significantly alters the nozzle's internal flow passages resulting in altered spray patterns, which can in turn reduce the consistency and overall output of the yield of the FCC process. Similar limitations are present in other refining processes that utilize nozzles to introduce fluids into a mixing vessel, such as reduced crude conversion (RCC) processes.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,783 describes a feed distributor nozzle for a fluid catalytic cracker. In highly erosive environments the outside surface can wear and the wear can extend to the interior of the holes as the outside wears (FIGS. 1A and 1B). When the holes change shape by being effectively shortened, they can no longer direct the spray as intended to maintain the desired spray pattern, typically a flat fan spray. With increasing depth of erosion, the flat fan spray becomes ill-defined and, eventually, the spray pattern morphs into an undesirable spray patter such as narrow cone pattern, which significantly reduces the overall efficiency of the FCC and RCC processes.
For the purpose of directing the spray pattern, nozzle covers have been devised that incorporate external bosses (see FIGS. 2A-C, 3A-B and 4A-B); however, none of these configurations are designed to maintain the minimum L/D tolerances required for consistent spray patterns when used in applications that erode the nozzle, such as FCC and RCC applications. For example, in the nozzle shown in FIGS. 2A-C, the bosses have varying L/D ratios designed to direct the spray pattern even with the hole pattern skewed of axis, however the varying L/D ratios make it impossible to maintain a consistent spray pattern if the nozzle erodes. Further, in the nozzles shown in FIGS. 3A-B and 4A-B, the bosses incorporate a "cats-eye" configuration with flow passages having varying L/D ratios, which are designed to provide individual small flat fan spray patterns of varying diameters, but as with the previously described nozzle, is not capable of maintaining a consistent spray pattern if the nozzle erodes.
Therefore, to improve the yield of FCC and other refining processes and reduce maintenance expenses associated with frequent nozzle replacements, there is a need for a spray nozzle that generates a consistently flat spray pattern for improved homogeneous mixing, reduces down stream low pressure zones and eddy currents to minimize catalyst erosion and maximize the flow area of the catalyst, and is capable of maintaining a minimum L/D ratio required as the nozzle erodes to maintain the desired spray pattern for an extended period of time.


A substantially non-aqueous, free-flowing, storable liquid washing or cleaning formulation comprising:. A) from more than 20 to less than 78% by weight of at least one nonionic surfactant; PA1 B) from 0.1 to 25% by weight of at least one anionic surfactant; PA1 C) from 1 to less than 20% by weight of at least one water-soluble builder; and PA1 D) from more than 20 to 35% by weight of at least one bleaching agent.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a non-aqueous bleach-containing formulation for washing or cleaning which, besides the bleaching agent, contains nonionic and anionic surfactants and also builders and to a process for the production of this formulation.
2. Statement of Related Art
Water-based washing and cleaning formulations generally contain anionic and nonionic surfactants. However, it has been found to be extremely difficult to incorporate bleaching systems in such formulations. In practice, therefore, bleaching systems are often not used in formulations of the type in question which results in a reduction in their washing performance against bleachable soils. Some liquid detergents available on the market contain very special bleaching systems which, unfortunately, either have very low oxidation potentials or are unstable and decompose even after only brief storage so that there is no improvement in washing activity against bleachable soils.
Various liquid detergent compositions which may contain bleaching agents are described in the literature.
European patent application 30 096, for example, describes non-aqueous liquid detergents of liquid nonionic surfactants which may contain 20 to 70% by weight of builders and 1 to 20% by weight of bleaching agents in suspended form. If desired, these detergents may contain anionic surfactants, such as alkyl benzene sulfonates, olefin sulfonates, alkyl sulfates or soap, optical brighteners, dyes, fragrances or enzymes.
EP-B-0 460 810 describes a non-aqueous liquid dishwashing detergent which contains a non-aqueous organic carrier liquid and at least one component selected from organic cleaning agents, builders, foam inhibitors and mixtures thereof and one component selected from a non-abrasive quantity of 0.5 to 10% of small substantially water-insoluble particles of silicon dioxide, aluminium oxide or titanium oxide or mixtures thereof as anti-film forming agents. The described detergent may also contain 3 to 15% by weight of bleaching agent.
WO 94/01524 describes a substantially non-aqueous liquid detergent which, besides nonionic surfactant, contains up to 60% by weight of builder and between 5 and 35% by weight of bleaching agent. The liquid detergent composition described in this document additionally contains a polymer compound which reduces the viscosity of the dispersion of the solid builders and bleaching agents in the nonionic surfactant in order to obtain a free-flowing and pourable composition.
German patent application 36 26 572 describes a liquid detergent containing a builder, more particularly polyacetal carboxylate, an anti-geling agent and an anti-sedimentation agent dispersed in a liquid nonionic surfactant.
Storable bleach-containing liquid detergents can only be obtained when the bleaching agent is present in the form of a stable dispersion. Commercially available liquid detergents known from the documents cited above have the disadvantage that further auxiliaries are required to obtain a stable dispersion. Since the dispersion present in commercial liquid detergents is limited in its stability, bleaching agents and enzymes cannot be incorporated alongside one another in these products because the enzymes are destroyed by the bleaching agent.
Another problem known from the prior art is that liquid detergents tend to gel, particularly when they are stored at low temperatures or are used at low washing temperatures. The effect of gelation is that the liquid detergents show poor solubility so that, on the one hand, their washing power is affected and, on the other hand, the detergent cannot be completely emptied from the dispensing compartment or a typical dispensing aid while the washing machine is in operation. The gel is very difficult to redisperse in the detergent composition. In addition, gelation leads to a distinct increase in viscosity which in turn affects the dispensing behavior of the liquid detergent. On the other hand, the viscosity of the liquid detergent should not be too low in order to prevent sedimentation of its solid constituents.

Liquid bleach-containing formulation for washing or cleaning


A watertight horizontal bulkhead is provided in the space between inner and outer shells of a double hull tanker. The bulkhead divides the space between the shells into vertically stacked wing ballast tanks. Overflow pipes are provided for each ballast tank, to prevent pressure from building when filling the tanks for ballast trips. In the disclosed embodiment, overflow pipes from lower ballast tanks lead upward to the deck, while a bleed line at the base of each such overflow pipe drains excess water left in the overflow pipe once the lower ballast tanks are filled.

Watercraft for transporting cargo have long been built of single external hulls. The large size and load of tankers, such as those designed for the transport of crude oil or other fluid cargo, entail special structural requirements. A long history of experience with single hull tankers, however, has led to established design rules and guidelines for structural safety. Engineering principles have gradually been adapted from smaller ships to ever larger ones over a long span of time.
Experience with double hull tanker designs, on the other hand, is much more limited. Nevertheless, Congress has enforced the abrupt adoption of double hull designs by passing the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, or "OPA 90," following the environmental disaster caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The outer hull of a double hull tanker serves as a sacrificial barrier, to absorb any impact in accidents, such as collisions or grounding. The outer hull thus minimizes the risk of puncturing the inner hull and consequent spills like that of the Exxon Valdez. As single hull tankers are gradually retired from service to comply with OPA 90, they are being replaced by double hull designs. Those designs lack the benefit of time testing to establish adequate margins of safety.
FIG. 4 depicts the cross-section of a conventional double hull tanker 40. The longitudinal dimension of the tanker 40 in this view would extend into and out of the paper. Typically, as is known in the art, an outer hull 42 of the tanker 40 is formed by metal plating reinforced by longitudinal stiffeners in the form of welded T-beams, L-beams or extruded bulb-beams. The plates are modularly connected to web frames which extend laterally across the width of the tanker 40. The stiffeners of the plates are fitted through slots on the web frames, and the joints are welded. An inner hull 44 may be similarly formed.
Recent inspections of older double hull tankers have revealed major structural failures at or near the double bottom area. In particular, longitudinal cracks have been found in bottom plating 54 of the inner hull 44. These fractures were centered between lateral frames and extended as long as three quarters of the distance between frames, extending along the fillet welds which fix the longitudinal stiffeners to the plating, on either side of the stiffeners. Additional fractures were found at the junction between the longitudinal stiffeners and the web frames in both the inner bottom 54 and the outer bottom 50.
Accordingly, a need exists for large watercraft which avoid such structural failures while providing the advantages of a double hull construction.

Watercraft with stacked wing ballast tanks


The invention relates to a WDM transmission system enabling high-speed and large-capacity optical transmission over the long haul. The WDM transmission system includes an optical transmission line for transmitting WDM signals in four or more channels with a channel spacing therebetween of not more than 0.4 nm and a bit rate of not less than 9 Gbit/s, and the optical transmission line has, as characteristics at a wavelength of 1.55xcexcm, a chromatic dispersion with an absolute value is 8-16 ps/nm/km and a ratio (n2/Aeff), which is a ratio of a nonlinear refractive index n2 to an effective area Aeff, of not more than 6.4xc3x9710xe2x88x9210/W.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) transmission system for transmitting signals of a plurality of channels.
2. Related Background Art
WDM transmission systems enables high-speed and large-capacity optical transmission over the long haul by transmitting multiplexed signals (hereinafter referred to as WDM signals) of a plurality of channels. For high-speed and large-capacity optical transmission over the long haul in the WDM transmission systems, it is important to suppress deterioration of signal waveform due to the nonlinear optical phenomena in the optical transmission lines and it is also important to suppress deterioration of signal waveform due to accumulated chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission lines. A number of research and development has been conducted heretofore from these viewpoints.
For example, xe2x80x9cS. Tsuda, et al., xe2x80x9cTransmission of 80xc3x9710 Gbit/s WDM channels with 50 GHz spacing over 500 km of LEAF(trademark) fiber,xe2x80x9d OFC2000, TuJ6 (2000)xe2x80x9d (Document 1) reports the WDM transmission experiment carried out using nonzero-dispersion shifted optical fibers (NZ-DSFs) with chromatic dispersion of 4 ps/nm/km at the wavelength 1550 nm. xe2x80x9cS. Bigo, et al., xe2x80x9c1.5 Terabit/s WDM transmission of 150 channels at 10 Gbit/s over 4xc3x97100 km of TeraLight(trademark) fiber,xe2x80x9d ECOC""99, PD2-9 (1999)xe2x80x9d (Document 2) reports the WDM transmission experiment carried out using nonzero-dispersion shifted optical fibers with chromatic dispersion of 8 ps/nm/km at the wavelength 1550 nm.
xe2x80x9cC. Furst, et al., xe2x80x9cPerformance limits of nonlinear RZ and NRZ coded transmission at 10 and 40 Gb/s on different fibers,xe2x80x9d OFC2000, WM31 (2000)xe2x80x9d (Document 3) reports the computation result that at the bit rate of 10 Gbit/s or 40 Gbit/s, the nonzero-dispersion shifted optical fiber with the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of about several ps/nm/km at the wavelength 1.55 xcexcm has a larger signal power margin than standard single-mode optical fibers having the zero-dispersion wavelength near the wavelength of 1.3 xcexcm. This Document 3 also describes that the deterioration of signal waveform due to interaction between chromatic dispersion and self-phase modulation (SPM) being one of the nonlinear optical phenomena becomes prominent with increase in the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line.
The inventors have studied the above prior arts in detail and, and as a result, have found problems as follows.
Namely, the above Documents 1 to 3 have reported the results of research for improvement in transmission performance of the WDM transmission systems. However, none clarified the optimum conditions of the WDM transmission systems for excellent transmission characteristics yet.
For example, when the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission lines is small (for example, about 4 ps/nm/km) as in the case wherein the nonzero-dispersion shifted optical fibers are used as optical transmission lines, since the quasi phase matching condition will be satisfied among the WDM signals if further increase of capacity is achieved by narrowing the channel spacing between the WDM signals (wavelength spacing between signal channels), there easily occurs the deterioration of signal waveform due to four-wave mixing (FWM) being one of the nonlinear optical phenomena. In addition, the signals also becomes more susceptible to cross-phase modulation (XPM), so that the waveform deterioration becomes much easier to occur.
On the other hand, when the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission lines is large (for example, about 20 ps/nm/km) as in the case wherein the standard single-mode optical fibers are used as optical transmission lines, since the WDM signals each keeping peak power high in a relatively long distance because of pulse compression propagate over the long haul in the optical transmission lines, there sometimes appears considerable deterioration of signal waveform due to not only the effect of FWM but also the interaction between SPM or XPM and chromatic dispersion. Since the absolute value of accumulated chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission lines becomes very large, a necessary dispersion compensation amount becomes larger, so as to raise difficulties in system design and increase the cost.
The present invention has been accomplished in order to solve the above problems and an object of the invention is to provide a WDM transmission system having a structure enabling high-speed and large-capacity optical transmission over the long haul.
A WDM transmission system according to the present invention includes an optical transmission line for transmitting WDM signals in four or more channels with a channel spacing therebetween of not more than 0.4 nm and a bit rate of not less than 9 Gbit/s. This optical transmission line is disposed between a transmitter and a receiver and, in addition, can be disposed at least one of between a transmitter and a repeater, between repeaters, and between a repeater and a receiver if one or more repeaters (including an optical amplifier, or the like) are disposed between the transmitter and the receiver.
Particularly, the optical transmission line has, as characteristics at a wavelength of 1.55 xcexcm, a chromatic dispersion with an absolute value of 8-16 ps/nm/km and a ratio (n2/Aeff), which is a ratio of a nonlinear refractive index n2 to an effective area Aeff of the optical transmission line, of not more than 6.4xc3x9710xe2x88x9210/W. The optical transmission line preferably has a transmission loss of not more than 0.3 dB/km. By introduction of this optical transmission line to the WDM transmission system, a requirement level for system design can be decreased and a low-cost system having a stable transmission quantity construction can be easily constructed.
Accordingly, the WDM transmission system suppresses the deterioration of signal waveform due to the FWM, which can occur when the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line is small, and suppresses the deterioration of signal waveform due to the interaction between chromatic dispersion and SPM or XPM, which can mainly occur when the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line is large, so as to implement the high-speed and large-capacity optical transmission over the long haul.
In the WDM transmission system according to the present invention, the optical transmission line preferably has the chromatic dispersion with the absolute value of 9-14 ps/nm/km and more preferably 10-12 ps/nm/km. In these cases, particularly, the deterioration of signal waveform due to the FWM is sufficiently suppressed, and the deterioration of signal waveform due to the interaction between SPM or XPM and chromatic dispersion is sufficiently suppressed.
In the WDM transmission system according to the present invention, spectral efficiency is preferably not less than 0.1 bit/s/Hz and more preferably not less than 0.2 bit/s/Hz. In these cases the system enables large-capacity optical transmission and even in these cases, the deterioration of signal waveform can also be effectively suppressed when the WDM transmission system meets the aforementioned requirements. Here the spectral efficiency is defined as a ratio (bit rate/channel spacing) of the bit rate (unit: bit/s) to the channel spacing (unit: Hz) between the multiple channels for the WDM signals.
In the WDM transmission system according to the present invention, each repeater section by defining a setting interval between optical amplifiers, namely the optical transmission line disposed between a plurality of optical amplifiers during these optical amplifiers are disposed in the WDM transmission system, is preferably not less than 20 km and more preferably not less than 40 km. In these cases the system enables long-haul optical transmission and even in these cases, the deterioration of signal waveform can also be effectively suppressed.
The WDM transmission system according to the present invention can further comprises a dispersion compensator for compensating for chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line at the wavelengths of the WDM signals. In this case, since the chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line is compensated for by the dispersion compensator, the absolute value of accumulated chromatic dispersion of the whole including the optical transmission line and the dispersion compensator becomes small, so as to further suppress the deterioration of signal waveform. Preferably, when the dispersion compensator is provided every repeater section, adding or dropping of a part of signals can be easily performed in a repeater.
It is also preferable that a dispersion slope compensation ratio of the dispersion compensator is approximately 100%. Here the dispersion slope compensation ratio (unit: %) is defined as 100xc3x97(S2/D2)/(S1/D1), where D1 is the chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line, S1 the dispersion slope of the optical transmission line, D2 the chromatic dispersion of the dispersion compensator, and S2 the dispersion slope of the dispersion compensator, at each wavelength of the WDM signals. In this case, the chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line is compensated for by the dispersion compensator while the dispersion slope of the optical transmission line is also compensated for by the dispersion compensator. Therefore, a variation of each waveform deterioration of the WDM signals can be decreased and this enables signal transmission in a broad band.
In the WDM transmission system according to the present invention, the optical transmission line preferably has a polarization mode dispersion of not more than 0.2 psxc2x7kmxe2x88x92xc2xd. In this case, the deterioration of signal waveform due to the polarization mode dispersion is suppressed, which is suitable for high-speed and large-capacity optical transmission over the long haul. When the WDM transmission system is provided with an optical amplifier, optical amplification can be implemented with stable gain for each of the WDM signals even if the gain of optical amplification for the WDM signals in this optical amplifier has polarization dependency.
In the WDM transmission system according to the present invention, each power of the WDM signals entering the optical transmission line is not less than 1 dBm. In this case, it is feasible to enhance the stability of the whole system because of expansion of the signal power margin and it is also feasible to decrease the number of optical amplifiers installed and thus decrease the cost because of increase of loss budget in transmission.
Further, at each wavelength of the WDM signals (in the multiple channels with channel spacing therebetween of not more than 0.4 nm and bit rate of not less than 9 Gbit/s), the optical transmission line preferably has a chromatic dispersion with an absolute value of 8-16 ps/nm/km. In this case, the waveform deterioration is suppressed throughout the entire signal wavelength band and thus the number of channel can be increased or decreased without cumbersome redesigning of the system.
In the WDM transmission system according to the present invention, the optical transmission line preferably has, at the wavelength of 1.58 xcexcm, the chromatic dispersion with the absolute value of 8-16 ps/nm/km. In this case, not only in the 1.55 xcexcm wavelength band but also in the 1.58 xcexcm wavelength band, the system suppresses the deterioration of signal waveform due to the FWM, which can occur when the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line is small, and also suppresses the deterioration of signal waveform due to the interaction between chromatic dispersion and SPM or XPM, which can occur when the absolute value of chromatic dispersion of the optical transmission line is large. As a result, this enables the higher-speed and larger-capacity optical transmission over the long haul.
The present invention will be more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and are not to be considered as limiting the present invention.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.