A hand-held setting tool for driving fastening elements in a workpiece includes a muzzle member (20) axially displaceable relative to the tool housing (11) in a direction of an operational axis (A) of the setting tool (10), a feeding channel (28) for a fastening element strip (50) and arranged in the muzzle member (20) and opening into a fastening element the receiving chamber (29) provided in the muzzle member (20), and a locking member (40) arranged on the muzzle member (20) and forming a locking section (42) displaceable into the feeding channel (28), and a blocking section (41) for preventing displacement of the muzzle member relative to the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand-held setting tool for driving fastening elements in a workpiece and including a housing, a muzzle member axially displaceable relative to the housing in a direction of an operational axis of the setting tool and having a chamber for receiving a fastening element, a feeding channel for a fastening element strip and arranged in the muzzle member and opening into the receiving chamber, and a locking member arranged on the muzzle member and forming a locking section displaceable into the feeding channel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Setting tools of the type discussed above can be driven with solid, gaseous, or liquid fuels, or with compressed air. In combustion-powered tools, a setting piston is driven by high-pressure combustion gases. The setting piston drives a fastening element in a workpiece.
German Patent DE 40 32 200 C2 discloses a setting tool in which a muzzle member, which has a receiving chamber for a fastening element driven in a workpiece, is axially displaceable relative to the tool housing. On the setting tool, there is provided a press-on feeler that initials a drive-in process upon its displacement relative to the muzzle part when the setting tool is pressed against the workpiece.
The setting tool further includes a blocking member that blocks the relative displacement of the feeler when no fastening element is located in the receiving chamber of the muzzle member. A drive-in or setting process with the setting tool then cannot be carried out.
German Publication DE 196 42 295 A1 discloses a hand-held, explosive power charge-operated setting tool in which a bolt guide, which is formed as a muzzle member, forms a guide channel for fastening elements. The muzzle member is axially displaceable relative to the housing. On the muzzle member, there is provided a pivotal lever that lockingly pivots in the projection of the cross-section of the guide channel by a control element upon displacement of the muzzle member relative to the housing.
The drawback of both above-discussed known setting tools consists, among others, in a large number of components.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is a setting tool of the above-discussed type and having as few components as possible.
Another object of the present invention is a setting tool of the type discussed above that would insure a reliable detection of a fastening element strip and that would prevent displacement of the fastening element strip in the press-on condition of the setting tool.


A method is for manufacturing a nanostructure in-situ, at least one predetermined point on a supporting carrier. The method includes choosing a suitable material for a substrate in the carrier, creating the substrate, and preparing a template on the substrate so that the template covers the predetermined point. The template is given a proper shape according to the desired final shape of the nanostructure, and a film of nanosource material with desired dimensions is formed on the template. The film of nanosource material is made to restructure from a part of the template, thus forming the desired nanostructure. Suitably, the template includes a first and a second area which have different properties with respect to the nanosource material.

Nanostructures, for example in the shape of tubes, so called nanotubes, are structures which offer a number of new and interesting functionalities in, for example, the field of electronics. At present, however, there are difficulties associated with the manufacturing of nanostructures. Nanotubes, for example, are at present produced by means of a variety of procedures, which all have the common drawback that the nanotubes produced in these ways need a significant amount of postprocessing, and also need additional manipulation in order to be incorporated into devices.

Method for manufacturing a nanostructure at a predetermined point on supporting carrier

Chalmers Intellectual Property Rights AB


A modulator includes a modulation circuit for generating modulation signals based on inputted luminance data and for outputting the modulation signals to a plurality of image display elements, each of which is driven by a potential difference between a selection potential applied within a predetermined time period by a selection circuit and the modulation signal. The modulation signal has a waveform which is a combination of a plurality of unit pulses, with the unit pulses having an identical width and n kinds of peak values A1 to An, with n being an integer greater than 1, and A1<. . . <An. Additionally, the unit pulses are combined in such a way that maximal peak value portions of the waveform of the modulation signal are dispersed, and that a rising portion and a falling portion of the waveform have a stair-step-like shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to driving devices for driving image display elements by use of modulation pulses as modulated based on luminance data. More particularly but not exclusively, this invention relates to driving devices adaptable for use in image display apparatus equipped with an image display unit having a plurality of image display elements wired together into a matrix.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image display apparatus using image display elements including electron emitting elements and electro-luminescent (EL) elements has been studied. This type of image display apparatus is more excellent in characteristics than other types of conventional image display apparatus; so, the demand therefor is expected to rise in near future. For instance, the image display apparatus is advantageous over recently widely used liquid crystal display (LCD) devices in that the former requires no back-light units because of self-luminous type, and also in that the former is wider in viewing angles than the latter.
FIG. 28 indicates schematically one example of a multiple-electron source unit using electrical wiring methods. This multi-electron source unit is arranged to include a number of electron emitting elements which are laid out two-dimensionally so that these are electrically wired to have a matrix form as shown in the drawing.
In FIG. 28, reference numeral "1"designates electron emitting elements which are represented by symbols; numeral 2 denotes row wirings; 3 shows column wirings. The row wirings 2 and column wirings 3 have electrical wiring resistance 4, 5, wiring inductance 6, 7, and wiring capacitance 8. Numeral 9 denotes a scanning circuit; 10 is a modulator circuit; 11, a multi-electron source substrate; 12, a substrate.
In the multi-electron source unit with the matrix-wired electron emitting elements, appropriate electrical signals are applied to row and column wirings in order to output a desired electron beam.
FIG. 29 is a schematic waveform diagram for explanation of a pulse width modulation (PWM) scheme. For example, in order to drive any given row of electron emitting elements in the matrix, a selection potential Vs is applied to a row wiring of a presently selected row and a non-selection potential Vns, at the same time, is applied to row wirings of non-selected rows. In a way synchronous with this voltage application, a drive potential (modulation pulse signal) Ve is applied to a column wiring for output of an electron beam.
With this method, a voltage of Ve–Vs is applied to an electron emitting element in the selected row, while a voltage with a potential Ve–Vns is applied to an electron emitting elements in the non-selected rows. Setting the voltages Ve, Vs and Vns at appropriate potential levels enables an electron beam with a desired intensity to be output from only the electron emitting element or elements in the selected row. Additionally in view of the fact that cold cathode elements are inherently high in speed of response, adequately varying the length of a time period for application of the drive potential Ve makes it possible to change the length of a time period for electron beam output.
Similar electron beam controllabilities may also be achieved by other techniques such as pulse wave peak value modulation schemes, also known as pulse height modulation (PHM), which control the luminance by changing the potential level (amplitude) and/or current value of a modulation pulse being applied to a column wiring.
Unfortunately, currently available large-screen high-definition image display apparatus with enhanced fidelity and increased resolution capability—such as displays with 1,920 by 1,080 dots of effective pixels and a frame rate of 60 hertz (Hz) and also 10-bit gradation tonality—are encountered with problems which follow.
Letting the wave height or peak value of an energy applied to an element in pulse peak value modulation schemes be Pi, the above-noted image display apparatus requires a resolution of Pi/210=Pi/1024. Pi is set at several volts (V) in the case of voltage driving and, therefore, a resolution of several millivolts (mV) is required for a drive waveform over the entirety of a display screen with 1,920-by-1,080 pixels. However, in view of electrical characteristics of components making up drive circuitry such as integrated circuit (IC) chips and printed wiring boards and power supply units, it remains difficult to achieve such level of resolution.
On the other hand, in the case of pulse width modulation schemes, a time taken to drive a single scan line is 1/(60×1080) sec, which is nearly equal to 15 microseconds (μsec). In case 10-bit pulse width modulation is performed, the minimum pulse width is 1/(60×1080×210) sec. which is about to 15 nanoseconds (nsec). In this case the pulse width resolution of 15 nsec in minimum is required.
However, the wirings as shown in FIG. 28 are equivalent to low-pass filters having a cut-off frequency that is determined by the wire inductance (L), wire capacitance (C) and wire resistance (R). Accordingly, in the case of driving signal transmission wirings and/or display unit wirings having such low-pass characteristics by line-sequential pulse width modulation (PWM) drive schemes with frequency spectrum components higher than or equal to the cutoff frequency, PWM waveforms being applied to elements can experience unwanted rounding of the rising and falling rectangular edges thereof as shown in FIG. 30. This wave edge rounding would result in a decrease in display quality at low luminance levels.
In particular, in case a PWM drive waveform with low gradation is applied from the modulator circuit 10, a synthetic waveform that is created by combination of a drive waveform and an output waveform of the scanning circuit 9 and is applied to an electron emitting element 1 decreases in peak value. This leads to a decrease in peak value of a drive waveform that is made up of high frequency spectrum components only, that is, the low-gradation PWM drive waveform. In other words, it is no longer achievable to visually display any image with desired tonality in low gradation regions.
Also note that in the case of supplying constant current pulses with short time lengths from a control constant current source to a multi-electron source unit with a very large number of matrix-wired electron emitting elements, a problem that electrons are hardly released in any way arises. Obviously, electrons are emitted in case constant current pulses are continuously supplied within a relatively long time period; however, a lengthened rise-up time must be required until initiation of electron emission.
FIG. 30 is a timing chart for explanation of the problems above. As shown herein, when merely supplying short current pulses from the control constant current source, a drive current If hardly flows in any electron emitting element. Even when supplying long pulses, the drive current If flowing in the electron emitting element comes to have a waveform with an increased rise-up time. This occurs due to some rounding of rectangular-wave edges of the current waveform being fed to the electron emitting element. More specifically, the current waveform can experience such edge rounding in spite of the fact that the cold cathode type electron emitting element per se has high-speed response performance. Such waveform rounding results in deformation or distortion of the waveform of an emission current Ie.
In multi-electron source unit with passive matrix-wired electron emitting elements, the parasitic capacitance (wiring capacitance) increases with an increase in matrix scale or size. Main part of the parasitic capacitance is present at an intersection between row and column wirings. An equivalent circuit of this is shown in FIG. 28. When beginning supply of a constant current I1 from the modulator circuit 10 for use as the control constant current source that is connected to column wirings 3, this current is consumed for charge-up of the individual parasitic capacitance 8 early in the time period and thus hardly acts as the drive current of an electron emitting element or elements 1. Due to this, an appreciable decrease takes place in effective response speed of the electron emitting element(s).
Additionally the voltage drive schemes are faced with problems to be solved as follows. Image display apparatus using light emitting elements of the type causing a current to flow during driving—for example, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), electroluminescence (EL) devices, field emission display (FED) elements, surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) elements—is generally designed so that the wiring resistance is set lower in value. Accordingly its equivalent circuitry is given as the model shown in FIG. 28, which comes with the parasitic capacitance, resistance, and inductance components. When applying the related art voltage drive method to such circuitry, a drive waveform experiences some rounding of rising edges due to the flow of a charge-up current i into the parasitic capacitance upon application of a voltage. Furthermore, owing to the self-inductive action of the parasitic inductance, an electromotive force of U=−L×(di/dt) is produced resulting in generation of over-shooting and/or ringing, which leads to unwanted occurrence of application of abnormal voltages to light emitting elements.
In recent years, image display apparatus is under growing requirements for achievement of larger screen sizes and higher precision and also higher gradation. The quest for larger screen sizes and higher precision and higher tonality results in increases in parasitic inductance and capacitance of electrical wires used. Hence, the problems such as the failure of tonality in dark regions due to the rounding of rising edge of the drive waveform, the overshoot and the ringing are becoming more serious issues to be solved.
Another problem of the approach using drive waveforms created by means of plain pulse width control and pulse peak value control schemes is that uniform increasing characteristic of the grayscale/gradation tonality is no longer guaranteeable due to any possible changes and fluctuations of the voltage versus luminescence intensity characteristics of light emitting elements.
In addition, drive waveforms based on the simple pulse width control are such that their pulses are made identical in start timing as shown in FIG. 31. With such aligned pulses, a large current rushes to flow in a scan wiring at the time of potential rise-up of a pulse width modulation waveform, resulting in occurrence of a voltage drop. In a multi-electron source unit with a great number of matrix-wired electron emitting elements, the voltage to be applied to each element decreases due to the voltage drop occurring by the influence of the resistance component of such wiring. The greater the distance from its power supply end, the lower the element-applied voltage. A result of this is that the emission electron distribution pattern of each element fails to stay uniform. And,when applying such multi-electron source unit to image display apparatus, a problem arises that the display quality can decrease due to the voltage drop as created by the wiring resistance.
An explanation will be given of the voltage drop with reference to FIG. 28 and FIG. 32. FIG. 32 is a perspective view of an image display panel using the multi-electron source substrate 11 of FIG. 28. In FIG. 32, numeral 13 designates a metal back plate; 14 denotes a fluorescent layer; 15 is a front face plate.
Now suppose that a row wiring 2 is selected. Assume that all of the pixels connected to the selected row wiring 2 are driven to turn on. An equivalent circuit at this time is shown in FIG. 33. In this drawing, 16 denotes current components flowing into the row wiring 2 from its associated column wirings through corresponding electron emitting elements; 4 indicates resistance components of row wiring 2.
Here, assume that the currents flowing into the row wiring 2 measure the same value If for respective elements. Also assume that the resistance value of row wiring 2 per pixel is rf. A voltage potential on the row wiring at this time is calculated in a way which follows.
A current which flows in a resistance component Rf5 is If. A voltage drop caused by Rf5 is given as If·rf. A current flowing in Rf4 is 2·If, and a voltage drop by Rf4 is 2·If·rf. Similar calculations are repeated to determine the voltage drop at each resistance component. Calculation results of the potential at each portion on the row wiring 2 are plotted in a graph of FIG. 34. Note here that the data plot in this graph is under an assumption that the drive potential Ve is higher than the selection potential Vs, i.e. Ve>Vs.
Remarkably, when the potential Vs is output from the scanning circuit 9 that is a power feed point, a current flows into the row wiring 2, resulting in an increase in potential with an increase in distance from the power feed point. Especially a potential increase at the farthest end is as large as 21·If·rf. FIG. 35A shows the waveform of a voltage signal which is applied to a row wiring; FIG. 35B shows a drive waveform that is applied to a row wiring at the farthest end; and, FIG. 35C is a voltage waveform as applied to a selected electron emitting element. It can be seen that the potential riseup causes the selection potential to change from Vs to Vs′, resulting in a likewise decrease in element-applied voltage.
This voltage difference pauses no particular problems in case the row wiring stays less in resistance. However, such voltage difference is no longer negligible in some cases—for example, when the row wiring has an increased value of resistance due to an increase in screen size of image display apparatus. The voltage difference also becomes greater in cases where the pixels used increase in number resulting in an increase in current flowing into the row wiring.
This voltage difference causes electron emitting elements to differ from one another in voltage applied thereto. In particular, an electron emitting element near the power feed point and another element far therefrom are such that the same voltage is never applied thereto, resulting in occurrence of an appreciable difference therebetween in electron emission amount. This is observable as a luminance difference between pixels, which leads to a decrease in display quality.

Driving device and image display apparatus


A method for treating heavy metal contaminated soils, particularly those containing hexavalent chromium, which includes a first soil washing at pH 9-12 with an anionic synthetic organic flocculant followed by a liquid-solid phase separation such as by gravity separation including sedimentation, an optional second soil sludge washing at pH 2.5-3.0 with addition of a metal valency reducing agent which when done is followed by a second liquid-solid phase separation using a cationic synthetic organic flocculant, combining the first and second stage liquids and optional treating the liquid phase with a metal valency reduction agent such as sodium metabisulfite under acidic conditions followed by treatment with an alkaline agent to form insoluble metal hydroxide which is separated in a phase separation process and is combined with the final sludge, recycling the liquid from washing stage or stages for use in soil processing, dewatering the separated sludge or sludges using a separation method (e.g. pressure filtration, centrifuge, etc.) and treating the dewatered sludge with an alkaline reagent, such as dry lime dust, lime slurry, potassium or sodium hydroxide thus resulting in metal immobilization within the treated soil in the hydroxide form.

The methods for treating soils contaminated with heavy metals known to the skilled-in-the-art are based on either washing the soil with solutions which change metal valency and/or making metals insoluble or detoxifying and immobilizing the metals within the soil matrix.
The known soil washing methods suffer many drawbacks because a substantial portion of the heavy metals in the soil, particularly chromium, are bound with organic soil components and are difficult to release. Thus, heavy metals in the soil are typically bound with organic matter (e.g. humic acids) and sometimes are poorly extracted unless the organic compounds are destroyed. These complexes are unstable under acidic or alkaline conditions when hydrolysis of organic substances occurs. To fully extract heavy metals from the soil, it is usually necessary to add chemical reagents to lower pH to 2-3, wash the soil by 2-3 volumes of elutriate to ensure full metal recovery and then adjust pH to 7.0-7.5. This is a costly procedure for industrial use. Also, these methods usually require extensive use of expensive reagents, e.g. acids or alkali, etc.
There is a method for heavy metal contaminated soil treatment (the technology is filed in the United States Environmental Protection Agency database VISITT under vendor name IT Corp. Mar. 10, 1993). Heavy metal are extracted from the soil slurry by contact with hydrochloric acid which then is drawn-off, two-stage the water washing and final caustic wash. An important drawback of the method is foaming of the slurried soil.
Scientific Ecology Group, Inc. has developed a process for removing heavy metal contaminants from soil by using an extraction solution containing sufficient cations to displace the contaminant from soil (the technology is filed in the EPA database VISITT Mar. 31, 1993). The main disadvantage of the method is that soil has low permeability and thus is not substantially dewatered.
There is known a resin-in-pulp technology to extract metal contaminants (the technology is filed in the EPA database VISITT under the trade name "In-Pulp Decontamination of Contaminated Soil" Feb. 12, 1993). This technology uses an adsorbent such as ion exchange resin or active carbon to extract the dissolved metals. The shortcoming of the technology is the necessity to separate soil from pulp particles which is a very costly process. Also, the synthetic resins used for the process are very expensive.
There exists a technology registered in the EPA database VISITT under the trade name "TerraMet Heavy Metal Removal Technology" Feb. 11, 1993 which represents an extractive process which leaches heavy metals from contaminated soil with a proprietary aqueous leaching solution and subsequent metal ion removal using liquid ion exchange, resin ion exchange or reduction. The main disadvantage of the method is the presence of high levels of surfactants. Additionally, this method suffers several of the same drawbacks as the above discussed methods.
Further, known soil immobilization and cement encapsulation methods generally result in substantial increase of the treated soil volume.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,710 describes a method for treating chromium ore waste contaminated soils by detoxification, fixation, immobilization and, stabilization. The drawbacks of the method include its use of expensive ferrous sulfate and a substantial increase in treated soil volume caused by forming crystalhydrates in course of the fixation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,509 describes a method for treating cadmium and lead contaminated solid residue with calcium sulfide to reduce leaching of cadmium and lead from said residue to environmentally acceptable levels. A particularly convenient method involves addition of dry lime and an aqueous solution of an inorganic salt supplying sulfide, especially an alkali metal sulfide. The main disadvantage of the method is that the amount of reagent additives strongly depends on heavy metal content and it is impractical for heavy contaminated soils, while also being too complicated for use with lower concentration of metals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,829 describes a process for production of agglomerates which are resistant to leaching out, from finely divided waste materials by dissolving a hydraulic binding agent under a condition of forced mixing, combining the resulting aqueous colloidal solution with finely divided waste materials, agglomerating by mixing, and then hardening. The main drawback of the method is that the agglomerates hardening is very slow under its conditions of low temperatures thus requiring additional heating which adds to the cost of the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,009 describes a method of treating waste water containing surfactants and heavy metals such as Cd, Cr, Mn, Hg, etc. by the flocculation process with a cationic macromolecular reagent at a dosage ranging from 1 to 50 ppm. The cationic macromolecular reagent for use in the method includes polyacrylamine as well as denatured substances thereof, polyimine, etc. to facilitate adsorption of the aggregate substance, surfactants and heavy metals by foams. The process of binding the heavy metals by this patent is based on chemical adsorption and is insufficiently effective for higher concentration of heavy metals. In particular, this method is impractical for removal of heavy metals contained in the soils where they are tightly bound with organic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,377 discloses a method for removal of dissolved heavy metals from waste oils, industrial wastewater, or polar solvent by metallic polythiocarbonate formation. This method when used for soil treatment requires substantial dilution which results in need for large volumes of the reactors and the use of a very high dosage of reagents.
For solidification of sludge or semi-liquid wastes, some polymeric materials may be added as a coagulation/cross-linking aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,134 describes a process for binding waste liquor or sludge, in which a hydraulic mortar is added and the mixture is subjected to a milling operation and then allowed to set. Optionally, from 0.5 to 20% by weight of a polymerisable resin such as a urea-formaldehyde or a melamine-formaldehyde or an acrylic resin are added. The drawback of the method is the high cost of the polymerisable resin and bulking of the final product.
The present invention provides a combination of washing and encapsulation techniques using solutions of anionic and when appropriate cationic synthetic organic flocculants which avoid the main drawbacks mentioned above. This allows one to minimize the use of reagents compared with the washing techniques, and does not result in the increase of treated soil volume compared with the known encapsulation methods.

Method for treating soil contaminated with heavy metals


A method is for recovering a block mapping table in a system including a flash memory device, where the block mapping table utilizes address mapping in accordance with a wear-leveling scheme. The method includes reading block arrangement information from the flash memory device for the wear-leveling scheme, restoring the block mapping table with reference to allocation block information included in the block arrangement information and scanning address allocation information included in spare regions of erased blocks of the flash memory device with reference to erased block information included in the block arrangement information and updating the block mapping table in accordance with the scanned address allocation information.

The present invention generally relates to storage media, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for recovering data in a nonvolatile memory.
A claim of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 is made to Korean Patent Application No. 2006-104152, filed Oct. 25, 2006, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Flash memories are typically classified as either NOR type or NAND type depending upon the manner in which memory cells are interconnected with bit lines. NOR flash memories are capable of relatively fast read operations, and hence are often utilized for code storage. On the other hand, NAND flash memories are capable of relatively high write frequencies, and are often employed as low-cost, high capacity data storage media.
In both NOR type and NAND type flash memories, each unit memory cell must be in an erased state prior to programming. In addition, erase functions are typically executed in units of erase blocks or erase zones containing large quantities of memory cells. These and other characteristics of flash memory necessitate the use of a "flash translation layer" (FTL) between the flash memory and the file system of the device. FTL generally functions to conceal the erase operations of the flash memory, and to emulate a storage device such as a disc drive or other mass-storage device. For example, during a write operation, the FTL functions to map physical addresses of the flash memory with logical addresses generated by the file system. In order to achieve a fast mapping operation, FTL uses an address mapping table typically composed of static random access memory (RAM). The address mapping function of FTL allows a host to identify flash memory as a hard disk drive (HDD) or static RAM, and to access the flash memory in the same manner as an HDD or static RAM.
As an example of block address mapping by FTL, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing of a virtual block mapping scheme. As shown, "n" logical address domain blocks LBN_0 through LBN_n−1 are mapped to "n+m" physical address domain blocks PBN_0 through PBN_n−1 and RBN_0 through RBN_m−1. The "m" physical address domain blocks in excess of the "n" logical domain blocks may be deemed spare blocks which are utilized in place of abnormal ("bad") blocks.
Mapping of the logical address domain blocks to the physical address domain blocks is dynamic in the sense that the mapping of the logical address domain blocks to the physical address domain blocks is not fixedly defined. For example, a "wear-leveling" scheme may be adopted to prolong the life of the memory blocks of the flash memory. For example, wear-leveling may include storing information indicative of an erase count for each memory block, and assigning logical block addresses to those memory blocks having the smallest erase counts
In the meantime, upon the occurrence of an inadvertent power loss (e.g., power failure), it is necessary during reboot to recover and restore the FTL mapping information. This is conventionally done by executing a process in which mapping information from a specific field included in each block is read by scanning all blocks, and then restoring a mapping table composed in RAM (random access memory). This process suffers the disadvantage of consuming time and resources during reboot.

System with flash memory device and data recovery method thereof


A machine and method for making frusto-conical liners for a funnel of the type used on a urinal for female individuals. The liners are dispensed from a dispenser of the telescopic type so that pressing down on a top part of the dispenser releases a liner from the dispenser. The funnel lined by the liner is cradled in an improved funnel holder that includes an ejector that knocks a used liner off the funnel when the funnel is returned to the holder so that the user need not handle the liner. The machine that performs the method of making the liners includes a station where flat liners are removed from a stack of liners, spread open, and placed on a mandrel. The mandrel rotates to a second station where the liner is folded into its final configuration. The mandrel next rotates to a third station where the liner is heat treated, and the mandrel then rotates to a fourth station where the liner is removed from the machine and added to a stack of nested liners for subsequent charging into a dispenser.

The only urinal for females that has ever met with commercial success, anywhere in the world, was invented by the present inventor and two embodiments thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,598 and 4,985,940. The device can take the form of a wall-mounted unit, as shown in the earlier patent, or it may be provided as a floor-mounted unit, as shown in the more recent patent.
The device, sold under the trademark She-inal by Urinette, Inc., includes a form-fitting funnel that is lined with a paper liner so that the funnel itself does not contact the user's body. The funnel is hung after use on a funnel holder, and an arm strategically positioned above the holder knocks the liner off as the funnel is being hung so that the user never needs to touch the liner.
The earlier device also includes a funnel dispenser that is operated by placing the funnel into the dispenser so that the rim of the funnel may engage a nested liner and remove it from the dispenser.
Thus, the earlier embodiments of the She-inal represent the most relevant prior art to the present invention. However, said earlier embodiments and devices created by others did not suggest to those of ordinary skill in this art how the art could be advanced at the time the present invention was made.


A light managing screen may provide a rear projection screen, front projection screen or component thereof. The screen may comprise a polymeric composition including a first polymeric material, and a second polymeric material disposed as a plurality of elongated structures within the first polymeric material. Each elongated structure has a major axis and the major axes are substantially aligned. The first polymeric material has an index of refraction that differs by at least 0.01 from an index of refraction of the second polymeric material. In some instances, a pressure sensitive adhesive material is selected as the first polymeric material. The orientation of the elongated structures and the difference in indices of refraction results in the polymeric composition scattering light asymmetrically.

Optical films and other devices have been developed for a variety of applications, including for use as decorative articles and to enhance or alter characteristics of displays. In particular, there are instances when it is desirable to anisotropically reflect or otherwise scatter light. For example, in many display and projection screen applications, a broad horizontal viewing angle is desirable because a user or viewer may be positioned to the side of the display or projection screen. On the other hand, the vertical viewing angle typically does not need to be as broad because the user or viewer is typically positioned with the display or projection screen at or near eye level. Accordingly, it can be desirable to have an anisotropic display with a relatively broad horizontal viewing angle, but a relatively narrow vertical viewing angle.
One method to modify the viewing angle includes the use of surface structure, such as a lenticular lens screen, where one dimensional lens structures are molded onto plastic substrates. Light is focused by the cylindrical-like lens structures onto a diffusive film to achieve asymmetric diffusion. However, lenticular screens contain a series of tangible grooves which can be expressed as a frequency. This frequency can interfere with the pixel frequency in liquid crystal based projection displays and generate Moire fringes. Thus, the use of current lenticular screens is limited for high definition image display in which pixel frequencies are higher.

Light emitting diode (LED) device and method of making same


Detecting the presence of a target material in a scene by using a multi-aperture interferometer system having a plurality of apertures at least one of which has an adjustable optical path length, by adjusting the aperture(s) to obtain a predetermined optical path length difference among the apertures, the predetermined optical path length difference being based on a source laser wavelength and a target material wavelength, illuminating the scene with the source laser, capturing a spectral data set corresponding to an interference pattern generated in the multi-aperture interferometer system for an illuminated point source in the scene, the spectral data set containing spatially distributed spectral data, and determining whether the target material is present at the illuminated point source based on a presence of spectral data in at least one side lobe of the spectral data set.

Laser induced fluorescence is an established technique for classifying and identifying materials that absorb a particular wavenumber or waveband of radiation. The majority of applications of laser induced fluorescence involve using a pump laser that is matched to an absorption band of the material of interest. The material then fluoresces at a certain wavelength or over a waveband. A spectrometer is used to obtain a spectral fingerprint of the radiation from fluorescence and a grating device or prism is used in the spectrometer to disperse the various wavelengths so that they are spread across a focal plane. However, traditional imaging spectrometers typically require long integration times.
Fizeau interferometers, such as in the form of a multi-aperture telescopes, can also be used in a Fourier Transform Spectroscopic (FTS) mode to acquire high resolution spectral data. However, the Fizeau FTS mode typically requires the collection hundreds of images to in order to obtain the necessary spectral data. The time required to obtain these sets of data can be prohibitive for many applications, especially where it is desirable to quickly identify whether a particular material associated with a particular wavenumber or waveband of radiation is present in a scene.
In view of the above, it is desirable to have a system for quickly and efficiently capturing desired spectral data from a point source and determining the presence of a particular material in the point source that is associated with a particular wavenumber or waveband of radiation.

Generation of spatially distributed spectral data using a multi-aperture system


An air-dryer cartridge for a compressed air preparation system of a utility vehicle includes a drying agent container having a first housing part and a second housing part movable relative to each other, a cartridge housing for holding the drying agent container, and a helical spring is arranged to preload the second housing part in a direction to reduce a volume of the drying agent container. The helical spring has multiple coils, including a first outer coil at a first end of the helical spring and a second outer coil at a second end of the helical spring. At least one of the first and second outer coils has a greater diameter than inner coils of the helical spring between the first and the second end of the helical spring.

The present invention relates to an air-dryer cartridge and to a helical spring for an air-dryer cartridge, in particular for a compressed air preparation system of commercial vehicles.
Air-dryer cartridges of this type are used, for example, in commercial vehicles such as trucks and tractors. Said commercial vehicles typically have one or a plurality of compressed air consumers such as, for example, a pneumatic brake system for the towing vehicle and the trailer, or air suspension systems. These components have to be supplied with compressed air. The compressed air is typically made available by a compressor, for example a reciprocating compressor driven by a drive motor of the vehicle. In order for an interruption-free operation of the compressed air consumers to be guaranteed, the compressed air provided by the compressor usually has to be further prepared. The compressed air in the compressed air preparation systems provided therefore is cleaned of dirt particles which were already present in the suctioned air, and of oil and soot particles which are introduced into the compressed air by the compressor during the compression process. Furthermore, the moisture present in the compressed air is separated. This is required in order to avoid any condensation of the moisture contained in the compressed air in a compressed air container, or to minimize a quantity of condensate being created therein, respectively. The compressed air preparation systems of commercial vehicles for this purpose usually have air-dryer cartridges which dehumidify the compressed air and preferably also receive oil and dirt particles.
Such an air-dryer cartridge as is known from, for example, EP 0 036 569 B1, possesses a drying unit which contains a fill of drying agent/drying agent granulate. This fill that is composed of drying agent is accommodated in a drying agent container which is received in a cartridge housing. The, for example hat-type, cartridge housing has a flange for fastening the air-dryer cartridge onto an air dryer.
The fill of the drying agent herein must be held in a pretensioned state in order for a defined air passage cross-section to be provided. Otherwise, the individual grains of the fill, should the fill be present in loose form in the drying agent container, by virtue of the vibrations arising in the moving operation would rub against one another and, on account thereof, turn to powder. This powder under certain circumstances is so fine that said powder could stop the functioning of the pneumatic brake system of the vehicle at neuralgic points. In order for the drying agent to be kept pretensioned, the drying agent container is constructed from two housing parts which are movable in relation to one another. A spring which pretensions the housing part in a direction for reducing the volume of the drying agent container is disposed between one of the two housing parts and the cartridge housing.
Helical springs having a cylindrical shape have been conventionally used to this end. The spring used herein, with a view to the size thereof, has to exert comparatively high spring forces (e.g. approximately 500 N), on account of which a strong and therefore expensive spring is required. As has already been mentioned, the installed spring is supported on the cartridge housing, more specifically on a part of the cartridge housing that is typically curved in a concave manner. The problem that the spring end that is in contact with the curved part of the cartridge housing has a sharp edge and therefore can push itself into the cartridge housing should the latter not be embodied in a sufficiently stable manner arises herein. The cartridge housing, on account thereof, under certain circumstances can be cold-formed and become brittle.
In order for this problem to be solved, it is known for the sharp edge at the end of the spring to be ground so as to achieve a larger contact face of the spring end with the cartridge housing and to thus improve the introduction of force. In this context, the ground region of the springs however has to be post-machined for the purpose of anti-corrosion protection, this being complex and expensive. As a further solution to the above problem it is known for the free spring end on the side of the curved cartridge housing to be bent toward the radial center of the helical spring, thus in a radially inward manner. However, in the mass production of springs it is possible for only one of the spring ends to be bent radially inward in a cost-effective manner, but not both. In order for the second spring end to also be bent inward, the spring during the production has to be re-clamped, on account of which a higher production complexity is created and the costs for the spring increase. In the case of springs which have only a single radially inward bent end being used, attention has to be paid to the orientation of the spring in the assembly of the air-dryer cartridges, this requiring an increased assembly complexity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved air-dryer cartridge which solves the above problems and nevertheless is producible in a cost-effective manner.
The air-dryer cartridge of the invention has a drying agent container for stocking a drying agent, having a first housing part and a second housing part which are movable relative to one another, and a cartridge housing for receiving the drying agent container. A helical spring pretensions the second housing part in a direction for reducing a volume of the drying agent container. The helical spring has a plurality of coils, wherein a first outer coil at a first end of the helical spring has a larger diameter than inner coils of the helical spring that lie between the first and the second end of the helical spring. A second outer coil at the second end of the helical spring preferably likewise has a larger diameter than inner coils of the helical spring that lie between the first and the second end of the helical spring.
The air-dryer cartridge has a cartridge housing in which a drying agent container for stocking a drying agent is disposed. The drying agent is preferably a drying agent granulate which is present in loose form in the drying agent container. The drying agent container has a first housing part which is designed so as to be substantially cylindrical, for example, and a second housing part which is designed as a drying agent cover, or a granulate cover, respectively, said cover being inserted so as to be movable in an opening of the first housing part. The drying agent cover in the first housing part of the drying agent container is preferably guided in an axial manner. By exerting a force by means of a helical spring on the second housing part, the drying agent (granulate) that is located in the drying agent container is held by way of a defined pretensioning such that a defined air passage cross section can be guaranteed in the drying agent container. The helical spring in the installed state herein is supported on the second housing part of the drying agent container, on the one hand, and on the cartridge housing, for example, or on an additional cover between the cartridge housing and the drying agent container, on the other hand, in such a manner that said helical spring in the installed state is compressed.
It is proposed according to the invention for the helical spring to be designed such that a first outer coil at a first end of the helical spring, and/or a second outer coil at a second end of the helical spring, have/has in each case a larger diameter than inner coils of the helical spring that lie between the first and the second end of the helical spring. That is to say that the helical spring at an end thereof preferably has a first outer coil having a larger diameter than the coil which is adjacent to said coil, and/or at another end thereof has a second outer coil having a larger diameter than the diameter of the coil adjacent thereto. This configuration can be referred to as a "helical spring having outboard ends". However, according to the invention not all inner coils of the helical spring necessarily have to have a smaller diameter than the first outer coil, or the second outer coil, respectively. The term diameter here refers selectively to the external diameter or to the internal diameter of the coils of the helical spring; the wire diameter of the helical spring is substantially consistent across all coils.
On account of this design embodiment of the helical springs having outboard ends it is possible for the helical spring in the installed state to bear on the cartridge housing, for example, across a large as possible coil length, such that an improved distribution of forces can be achieved. This distribution of forces in the case of the helical spring being supported in relation to a face that is curved away from the drying agent container (that is to say curved in a concave outward manner) is even better. The outer coil, that is to say the outboard free end of the helical spring, can freely adapt to the shaping of the cartridge housing, for example, without being prevented therefrom by a coil of the helical spring adjacent to said outer coil. It can be prevented on account of this configuration that the edge at the end of this outer coil of the helical spring, more specifically the edge between the shelf face and the end face of the helical spring, is pushed into the cartridge housing, for example. As a result, the cartridge housing, for example, is stressed to a lesser extent and can be embodied using a thinner material thickness, on account of which weight and costs can be saved.
A further advantage of the air-dryer cartridge according to the invention is derived in that the central coils of the spring have a smaller diameter than the outer coils. On account thereof, the helical spring can be embodied using a thinner wire thickness, on account of which material and thus production costs can be saved.
In one advantageous design embodiment of the invention the first outer coil and the second outer coil of the helical spring have mutually identical geometries. In this way, the helical spring is designed so as to be symmetrical. The orientation in which the helical spring is installed in the assembly of the air-dryer cartridge is irrelevant on account of this measure. As a result, the assembly is simplified and capable of being carried out in a more cost-effective manner, wherein assembly errors can be simultaneously avoided.
In one advantageous design embodiment of the invention the helical spring is supported against a face that is curved in a direction away from the drying agent container. The distribution of forces can advantageously be even further improved in that the free ends of the helical spring are embodied with an even larger diameter the more intensively the cartridge housing is curved, for example.
In one further advantageous design embodiment of the invention the first outer coil of the helical spring in the installed state of the helical spring is spaced apart from an inner coil of the helical spring that is adjacent to said first outer coil (that is to say said first outer coil does not bear on said adjacent inner coil and preferably does not contact the latter). Alternatively or additionally, the second outer coil of the helical spring in the installed state of the helical spring is also preferably spaced apart from an inner coil of the helical spring that is adjacent to said second outer coil (that is to say said outer coil preferably does not bear on said inner coil and preferably does not contact the latter).
In the non-installed state of the helical spring an internal diameter of the first outer coil at the outer end thereof is preferably larger by less than a wire diameter size of the helical spring than an external diameter of the inner coil that is adjacent to the first outer coil, or an internal diameter of the second outer coil at the outer end thereof is larger by less than a wire diameter size of the helical spring than an external diameter of the inner coil that is adjacent to the second outer coil, respectively. This radial spacing preferably is at maximum approximately 75% of the wire diameter, more preferably at maximum approximately 50% of the wire diameter. This delimitation of the radial spacing according to the invention should apply at least at the outer end of the first or of the second coil, respectively, of the helical spring, that is to say not necessarily across the entire outer coil. It can be guaranteed on account of this measure that helical springs do not catch on or thread into one another in the manufacturing process, which would lead to delays in the assembly process of the air-dryer cartridge. On the other hand, this radial spacing is preferably at least approximately 15% of the wire diameter, or at least approximately 0.5 mm, in order to avoid any contact between the mutually adjacent coils of the helical spring. Damage to the surface coating can be prevented on account of this measure.
In one further advantageous design embodiment of the invention the helical spring is supported by way of at least 1.2 coils, more preferably at least 1.4 coils, even more preferably at least 1.5 coils. That is to say, preferably not only the outer end of the outer coil of the helical spring bears on the cartridge housing, for example, but apart from the entire first outer coil also a part of the subsequent inner coil. The introduction of force from the helical spring into the cartridge housing, for example, can be further improved on account thereof.
In one advantageous design embodiment of the invention at least one part of the inner coils of the helical spring forms a cylindrical portion of the helical spring. A helical spring designed in such a manner advantageously has a lower tendency of kinking than a pure dual-cone spring, for example.
In one further advantageous design embodiment of the invention at least one guide element for positioning the helical spring is provided on the second housing part of the drying agent container. This at least one guide element preferably has an inner guide element which in the installed state of the helical spring protrudes into the helical spring up to at least one inner coil of the helical spring. On account of the at least one guide element, the positioning of the helical spring in the assembly of the air-dryer cartridge can be simplified, and maintaining the correct position of the helical spring in the installed state can be supported. The inner guide element is advantageous in particular in combination with a central cylindrical portion of the helical spring, said central cylindrical portion being able to be centered on the inner guide element, for example. The inner guide element in the installed state of the helical spring in this instance preferably protrudes into the helical spring by at least one inner coil of the cylindrical portion of said helical spring. The inner guide element in the installed state of the helical spring preferably protrudes into the helical spring by at least one quarter, preferably at least one third, of the height of the helical spring. Moreover, providing the guide elements on the second housing part of the drying agent container is advantageous since this design embodiment can be embodied in a more cost effective manner than attaching guide elements to an inner side of the cartridge housing, for example, as an alternative.
In yet one further advantageous design embodiment of the invention a wire of the helical spring across the entire length thereof has a substantially circular cross section. In other words, grinding the spring ends, as is the case in the use of conventional helical springs, can be dispensed with since the helical spring designed according to the invention achieves a maximum bearing face of the outer coil on the cartridge housing, for example, already without grinding. The manufacturing complexity can thus be minimized, and a final coating of the spring ends for the purpose of an anti-corrosion protection can be dispensed with. According to the invention, a coated wire can preferably be wound to form the helical spring without the spring ends of the latter having to be ground and without any subsequent coating being required. For the purpose of anti-corrosion protection, a coated wire is preferably used for the helical spring; the use of non-coated wires for the production of the helical spring is also conceivable in other embodiments.
In one advantageous design embodiment of the invention the drying agent container is surrounded directly by the cartridge housing, and the helical spring is supported on the second housing part of the drying agent container, on the one hand, and on the cartridge housing, on the other hand. The helical spring is preferably supported on an outwardly curved cover portion of the cartridge housing.
In one other advantageous embodiment of the invention a cover which is fastened so as to be immovable relative to the first housing part of the drying agent container is disposed between the drying agent container and the cartridge housing. The helical spring in this instance is preferably supported on the second housing part of the drying agent container, on the one hand, and on said cover, on the other hand. In the case of this embodiment, not the entire air-dryer cartridge has to be replaced but only the inner unit without the cartridge housing. The cover is preferably attached to the first housing part of the drying agent container by way of a snap-fit connection.
A helical spring for an air-dryer cartridge of the invention as described above is also the subject matter of the invention.
The invention can be particularly advantageously applied in air-dryer cartridges for compressed air preparation systems of commercial vehicles.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Air-dryer cartridge and helical spring for an air-dryer cartridge

KNORR-BREMSE Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH


A bearing arrangement for an air conditioning compressor comprising a compound bearing assembly that is adapted to journal a drive pulley and electromagnetic clutch assembly wherein the bearing assembly is adapted to distribute loads on the rotor shaft for the compressor whereby the shaft loading on the rotor shaft and the radial forces acting on the drive pulley are transferred through common bearing structure to the fixed compressor housing, thereby simplifying the bearing construction and eliminating machining operation during manufacture.

Automotive type air conditioning systems comprise a compressor mounted in the automotive engine compartment. The compressor includes a housing that contains pumping elements for pressurizing a refrigerant gas in the automotive air conditioning system. The pumping elements may consist of double-acting, axially disposed piston and cylinder mechanisms driven by a swash plate carried by a torque input driveshaft.
Other compressors, such as the compressor disclosed in my copending patent application Ser. No. 001,600, filed Jan. 7, 1993, entitled "Scroll-Type Compressor Having Unidirectional Rotor", may comprise a pair of scrolls, one of which is fixed and the other of which follows an orbital path relative to the fixed scroll. The scrolls have wraps that define pressure chambers between tangential contact points between the wraps of the individual scrolls.
Regardless of which type of pumping elements is used, it is necessary to drive the pumping elements by a torque input driveshaft, sometimes referred to as the rotor shaft. The driveshaft, in turn, is adapted to be coupled to a drive pulley by means of a selectively engageable electromagnetic clutch.
It is common practice to journal the armature for the electromagnetic clutch and the drive pulley on a fixed sleeve that forms a part of the compressor housing. This arrangement is shown for example in prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,526. The clutch and pulley arrangement of that patent may be used for driving the scrolls of a scroll-type compressor as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,730,988 and 4,696,630.
My copending patent application identified above is assigned to the assignee of my present invention.
In a typical prior art bearing arrangement for a clutch and the drive pulley for a compressor, the shaft bearings are located within a fixed sleeve. This requires careful machining of a shaft bearing opening so that it is precisely concentric to the axis of the rotor shaft. Further, the same fixed sleeve is adapted to support the inner race of a bearing for the pulley and the armature of the electromagnetic clutch. This requires a separate precision machining operation.
It is necessary in such prior art designs for special steps to be taken during the machining operation to precisely locate the bearing center for the pulley and clutch assembly with respect to the bearing center for the rotor shaft assembly.
This makes it necessary to effect costly tolerance controls during the manufacturing operation. It also makes it necessary to provide separate bearings for the shaft and for the pulley and clutch assembly.

Combined drive pulley and rotor shaft support for a refrigerant compressor


An electronic messaging network comprises a network operation center and plural message terminals, all including memories for storing corresponding files of canned messages and associated message codes. To send a canned message, a calling party selects a canned message stored at one message terminal and transmits the assigned message code to a receiving party at another message terminal via the network operation center. The receiving terminal retrieves the selected canned message from its memory using the received message code for display to the receiving party. Files of canned responses and associated response codes may also be stored in the memories at the terminals and network operation center to allow the exchange of selected canned response options in conjunction with canned messages to be in response code form.

As more and more people sign on to information networks, congestion of the communications links comprising these networks, both wireline and wireless, and the consequential transmission delays become increasingly significant problems. Faster transmission rates, data compression techniques, and more efficient spectrum utilization are among the approaches that have been considered, and to some extent implemented, to increase the capacities of communications links.
One area of particularly rapid growth is the electronic messaging field. More and more people are moving about with portable devices, such as laptop computers and portable digital devices, which can be economically equipped to function as message sending/receiving terminals. Moreover, wireless paging hardware, software, and support services are being upgraded to accommodate two-way messaging. That is, portable pagers are being developed not only to receiving paging messages, but also to send back a signal acknowledging receipt of a paging message or even a message answering the received paging message. While such upgraded paging services are highly desirable, they can severely strain the capacity of wireless paging channels.

Method and apparatus for generating and communicating messages between subscribers to an electronic messaging network


An automated method as system for verifying end-to-end connectivity in a broadcast network such as an xDSL network including a plurality of elements such as ATM switches coupled to a subscriber modem. The method and system includes determining each of the elements in the network and establishing a communication channel with a corresponding interface of each element to generate test commands and elicit responsive data. Service logic is applied to determine the location of a fault and display the same on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in a suitable format such as a Visual Word Document (VWD).

This invention relates to a plastic globe for use in lighting applications and a method of manufacturing the same.
Outdoor luminaires such as High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting fixtures include an optical unit also called a xe2x80x9cglobexe2x80x9d which functions to protect the enclosed light source and redirect light in a manner desired by the lighting designer. Light redirection is typically accomplished by means of reflecting and/or refracting prisms disposed on inner and/or outer surfaces of the globe to reflect and refract light rays respectively. Such globes must, of course, be at least partially translucent and are therefore formed of glass or plastic.
Glass globes have heretofore been preferred by lighting designers because of their superior longevity and appearance. Greater longevity arises because glass typically has greater resistance to sunlight and inclement weather and is therefore less likely to discolor or xe2x80x9cyellowxe2x80x9d as a result of exposure. As a material, glass provides a superior appearance because of the phenomena known as xe2x80x9cglowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csparklexe2x80x9d which arises from small amounts of light passing through textured surfaces and corners of prismatic structures disposed on the light emitting surfaces of the globe. As those skilled in the art will recognize, this phenomena is unique to glass and arises as a result of the manufacturing process specifically the prismatic structures are imparted with slight radii or xe2x80x9crounded cornersxe2x80x9d due to the high viscosity of the glass material during formation of the globe. The light emitting surfaces are further imparted with a surface texture due to xe2x80x9cheat checksxe2x80x9d or small fissures in the surface metal of the cast iron forming molds due to wear, polishing, and material build up.
Plastic, in contrast, becomes very fluid with a relatively low viscosity during the molding process. This allows very small details to be created and repeated during manufacturing. Accordingly, very sharp corners can be reproduced in prismatic structures Plastic parts are also typically injection molded using highly polished steel resulting in smooth surfaces on the plastic globe. In addition, the wear of the surfaces is minimal, thus maintaining the smooth surfaces. Accordingly, while plastic globes can be manufactured at substantially lower weight, with greater precision and with perhaps greater performance properties then glass, plastic has a noticeably different appearance.
Consequently a need exists for a plastic globe and a method of manufacturing the same which overcomes the above-mentioned difficulties resulting in a globe having an aesthetically pleasing appearance which emulates the xe2x80x9csparklexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cglowxe2x80x9d of glass, when in use.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a plastic globe for use in lighting applications which emulates the appearance of glass during operation of the corresponding lighting fixture.
In carrying out the above object, there is provided a method of manufacturing a plastic globe which.comprises imparting a surface texture, preferably a somewhat rough surface, to at least a portion of one surface of the globe. The texture is imparted by etching the globe itself and/or etching corresponding mold surfaces prior to forming the globe. The method may further comprise alone, or in combination with the above etching, forming a plurality of prisms on at least one surface of the globe With a plurality of the prisms each having a corner with at least one radius to permit light to leak through during use.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent by reference to the following description of the drawings wherein like reference numerals correspond to like components.

Plastic globe for use in lighting applications and method of making same


A machinable index divider having an integral pocket is made from a single piece of paper or other printable, flexible and resilient sheet material. The index divider is included as part of a collated set having between five and twelve index dividers with tabs aligned along one edge; each divider is a one-piece structure including a pocket formed from a bottom flap; the pocket is closed on the sides and bottom and opens upwardly. The pocket opening is disposed approximately mid-way between the panel top edge and bottom edge. Preferably, the panel has two or more perforations aligned in close proximity to the left edge. The right edge has a protruding tab area and a recessed pocket edge area. A tab member bearing preprinted indicia protrudes from the tab area on the panel right edge. A method for making the divider includes a number of steps; first, an unfolded blank is cut using a steel rule die to leave a protruding area along the right side. Next, a bottom flap of the first-cut blank is folded to define the bottom edge of the divider and make a pocket. The pocket portion of the cut, folded blank is folded on opposing sides to make first and second side flaps which are then glued to the back panel. Next, a first side of the folded, glued blank has an indicia printed thereon, proximate to the tab area, after which a tab is cut out along the edge of the back panel having the protruding tab area, above the pocket and around the printed indicia, to define a preprinted tab.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to index dividers for insertion and use in notebooks, binders or the like, and, more particularly, to a set of one-piece index dividers having machinable, pre-printed tabs and an integral pocket for storing loose papers or supplies.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Notebooks or binders for retaining sheets of paper typically include a binding having a back panel or spine attached between a front panel and a rear panel. A notebook spine may be openable (e.g., as in loose-leaf binders) or may permanently retain the sheets (e.g., as in spiral bound notebooks). A binder may also include a slidable or removable retainer clip for retaining un-perforated sheets by compression force.
The principal operating structure of a loose-leaf binder is a set of a selectively closable and openable rings, rods or tabs, all generally characterizable as sheet retainers. The most common configuration for loose-leaf binders includes sheet retainers formed as split rings that are selectively openable by spreading one or more tabs or rods included in a driving mechanism for spreading the split rings into an open configuration, thereby permitting individual sheets of loose-leaf paper to be inserted into the binder. The sheet retainers (e.g., split rings) are typically distributed along the length of the binder spine but may be secured to the back panel, and so a wide variety of sheet retainer types and locations have been developed for use in loose-leaf binders. In a three-ring binder, each split ring member penetrates one of several perforations formed in each loose-leaf sheet (e.g, of paper) inserted into the binder. Binders can have one, two, three, five, six, seven and sometimes dozens of sheet retainers, and sheet retainers can have can have various shapes. Because of the multiplicity of sheet retainer configurations, and the standardization of sizes and placement of sheet retainers, binders are sometimes referred to by the capacity (measured in thickness of leaves) and the standard number or configuration of retainers. For example, one may speak of "three-ring" binders, "three-inch three-ring" binders, "two-post lay-flat" binders, or "two-inch three-ring D-ring" binders, and so forth. Split rings may be substantially circular, D-shaped or shaped as a "slant D". The paper industry serves the market by producing leaves of paper for each size and configuration of binders. The dimensions of leaves, and thus of binders, may vary widely in a broad range of standard sizes. For example, binders for holding 81/2.times.11 inch paper or 51/2.times.81/2 inch paper are often described by paper size.
It is customary to provide dividers for use in binders where the dividers must also conform to the industry standards for paper size and the number and placement of retainers. For the purposes of exposition in the present application, a three-ring loose leaf binder for holding 81/2.times.11 inch paper is used as an example, but loose-leaf binders and notebooks with all sheet retainer configurations can have problems similar to those discussed below.
A number of office supply vendors provide packaged sets of divider sheets with tabs having pre-printed index information for use in three-ring loose leaf binders holding 81/2.times.11 inch paper; such preprinted dividers are usually die cut to form an integral tab and are called machinable index dividers. Vendors also provide index dividers with separately applied tabs and having a pocket formed thereon, for convenient storage of loose or irregularly sized sheets of paper (without requiring opening of the sheet retainer rings). The pocket dividers of the prior art have necessarily included tabs with insertable indicia for insertion in transparent plastic index tab members, because, with the manufacturing methods of the prior art, it has been impossible to produce a machinable index divider having a pocket. A die cutting step is required to cut out the tab from the paper blank, and using prior art methods, the die cutting step associated with cutting out and defining the tab would also damage at least one side of the pocket. Insertable indexes, by way of contrast, typically have the plastic indicia holding member aligned and bonded onto a side in a subsequent step, so no die cutting step is required to provide a tab.
A machinable index differs from an insertable index in that a machinable index has alphabetical or numerical indicia preprinted on the index tab. The insertable index requires insertion of the indicia, as noted above, and indicia placards are often difficult to write on and insert and require folding. Additionally, the indicia placards can be misplaced and tend to fall out if the openings in the plastic tab members are not stapled or sealed. A machinable index, being preprinted, has the added benefit of permitting a user to easily make several copies of an indexed table of contents for use in notebooks along with the index dividers. When making several notebooks with the insertable index, by way of contrast, each notebook has to have a separate set of index tab indicia prepared and inserted. Insertable indexes must be large enough to provide sufficient room for a user to print a meaningful amount of information on the inserted indicia, and so sets of insertable index dividers tend to be limited to five or eight tabs since ten and twelve count insertable tab sets are considered too small to be functional and therefore have not found acceptance in the marketplace.
Machinable indexes are widely considered to be suitable for applications requiring a more professional appearance and for those situations requiring eight, ten, twelve or larger numbers of arrayed tabs. Accordingly, there has been an unmet need for a machinable index divider including a pocket to provide the general advantages of a machinable index, namely, the ability for a user to create multiple sets of indexes with duplicate title information in a minimal amount of time, using general office printing/duplication machines, and the more professional appearance, as noted above. A machinable index including a pocket would also provide the user with a pocket for storage of loose, unpunched or small materials that may otherwise be difficult to store and organize in a binder.

One-piece machinable index divider with integral pocket


A cache includes a cache array and a cache controller. The cache array has a plurality of entries. The cache controller is coupled to the cache array. The cache controller evicts entries from the cache array according to a cache replacement policy. The cache controller evicts a first cache line from the cache array by generating a writeback request for modified data from the first cache line, and subsequently generates a writeback request for modified data from a second cache line if the second cache line is about to satisfy the cache replacement policy and stores data from a common locality as the first cache line.

Consumers continue to desire computer systems with higher performance and lower cost. To address higher performance requirements, computer chip designers have developed data processors having multiple processor cores along with a cache memory hierarchy on a single microprocessor chip. The caches in the cache hierarchy increase overall performance by reducing the average time required to access frequently used instructions and data. First level caches (L1) in the cache hierarchy are generally placed operationally close to a corresponding processor core. Typically, a processor core accesses its own dedicated L1 cache, while a last level cache (LLC) may be shared between more than one processor core and operates as the last cache between the processor cores and off-chip memory. The off-chip memory generally includes commercially available dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips such as double data rate (DDR) synchronous DRAMs (SDRAMs).
The cache controllers store new entries in their corresponding cache arrays in response to accesses by the processor cores. If a processor core has modified data stored in a cache line, the cache controller determines when to write the "dirty" cache line back to the off-chip memory according to its writeback policy. For example, the cache controller may follow a writeback on eviction policy. However, delaying write back operations until the cache line is ready for eviction could degrade the overall performance of the microprocessor by causing the memory controller to inefficiently perform the writebacks and possibly stalling the processor core.
In the following description, the use of the same reference numerals in different drawings indicates similar or identical items. Unless otherwise noted, the word "coupled" and its associated verb forms include both direct connection and indirect electrical connection by means known in the art, and unless otherwise noted any description of direct connection implies alternate embodiments using suitable forms of indirect electrical connection as well.

Method and apparatus related to cache memory


In an example embodiment, a semiconductor substrate has a plurality of active regions separated by a plurality of trenches. A gate insulation film fills at least a portion of the trenches, and a conductive gate film is formed over the gate insulation film. In an example embodiment, the gate insulation film, may include a tunneling insulation film, a charge storage film, and a blocking insulation film. The example embodiment may also include field isolation films, which partially fill the trenches of the semiconductor substrate, such that the upper surfaces of the active regions or the substrate are higher than the upper surfaces of the field isolation films.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and method of fabricating the same.
Semiconductor memory devices are widely employed to store various data in electronic systems, normally classified into volatiles and nonvolatiles. Volatile memory devices lose their data when their power supply is interrupted or suspended, while the nonvolatile memory devices retain their data without power. Therefore, nonvolatile memory devices are widely used in applications such as mobile telephones, memory cards, storing audio or image files, and other portable devices in operational environments without a wired power supply.
Nonvolatile memory devices are differentiated into floating-gate types and floating-trap types. In a floating-gate memory device, a floating gate is disposed between a semiconductor substrate and a control gate, where the floating gate and substrate are separated by a tunneling insulation film. A data bit is programmed by storing an electric charge in the floating gate. The floating-trap memory device programs a data bit by storing charges in a trap, formed within a non-conductive charge storage film between a semiconductor substrate and a gate electrode.
A floating-gate memory device may lose charge due to defects in the tunneling insulation film isolating the floating gate from the semiconductor substrate. In order to remain reliable, a floating-gate memory device needs a relatively thick tunneling insulation film. A floating-trap memory device can utilize a thinner tunneling insulation film, because floating-trap memory devices have relatively low power requirements compared to the floating-gate memory devices. The relatively low power requirement, because the charges in the floating-trap memory devices are held in a trap of deep potential level.
A typical floating-trap memory structure, called a silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor (SONOS) cell structure, includes a channel region formed of a silicon substrate, a tunneling layer formed of a first oxide film, a charged storage film formed of a nitride film, a blocking layer formed of a second oxide film, and a control gate electrode formed of a conductive film. The charge storage film may be made of silicon nitride film or high-dielectric material film. Alternatively, the charge storage film may be formed of isolated and distributed spots such as silicon-germanium (SiGe) quantum dots, silicon quantum dots, and metallic quantum dots.
FIG. 1 is a sectional diagram of a conventional SONOS memory device, taken along the direction of bitline.
Referring to FIG. 1, the SONOS memory device has a gate stack 2 formed on a semiconductor substrate 1. The gate stack 2 includes a tunneling insulation film 3, a charge storage film 4, a blocking insulation film 5, and a conductive gate film 6 deposited in sequential layers. At both sides of the gate stack 2, source and drain regions, 7 and 8, are formed by N-type impurities.
The charge storage film 4 has a trap potential level and the SONOS memory device uses this trap potential level in operation, as follows.
Materials forming the semiconductor substrate 1, the tunneling insulation film 3, the charge storage film 4, the blocking insulation film 5, and the conductive gate film 6 are configured with different potential barriers on their surfaces. When a positive voltage is applied to the gate electrode 2 and the drain region 8 while the source region 7 is grounded, an electric field is generated along the channel leading from the source region 7 to the drain region 8. The electric field accelerates electrons from the source region 7 toward the drain region 8. A portion of the accelerated electrons overcome the potential barrier and tunnel through the tunneling insulation film 3, and are caught at the trap potential level of the charge storage film 4. As electrons are caught and accumulated at the charge storage film 4, a threshold voltage of the cell transistor increases to set the cell transistor in a programmed state (or an erased state). When a negative voltage is applied to the gate stack 3, the electrons trapped in the charge storage film 4, tunnel through the insulation film 3 and move into the semiconductor substrate 1. At the same time, holes pass through the tunneling insulation film 3 from the semiconductor substrate 1 and are caught in the charge storage film 4, resulting in a decrease of the threshold voltage which sets the cell transistor to the erased state (or the programmed state).
FIG. 2 is a sectional diagram of a conventional SONOS memory device, taken along the direction of the gate length. In FIG. 2, field isolation films 9 are formed in the semiconductor substrate 1, confining active regions therein. The field isolation films 9, the tunneling insulation film 3, the charge storage film 4, and the blocking insulation film 5, and the conductive gate film 6 are deposited in sequence on the semiconductor substrate.
As the technological trend to increase the density and reduce the size of semiconductor memory devices continues, structural design at the microscopic level, which had not posed a problem before, is becoming an increasingly critical factor in operational performance of semiconductor memory devices, such as SONOS memory devices.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrates problems arising from the conventional art, particularly, the problems associated with the boundary between the active regions and the field isolation films. FIG. 3A illustrates a section of a conventional SONOS memory device along the gate direction, while FIG. 3B illustrates an enlarged view of the dotted circle in FIG. 3A.
From FIG. 3A, it is evident that there are microscopic step differences between the top surface of the field isolation films 9 and the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 1 at the active region. The field isolation films 9 are generally formed, after forming a pad insulation pattern on the semiconductor substrate 1 and then forming trenches on the semiconductor substrate 1 using the pad insulation pattern as an etch mask, and filling the trenches with an insulation material. A planarization process is then carried out until the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 1 is exposed, and the pad insulation pattern is completely removed. This process inevitably causes microscopic step differences, such that the top surfaces of the field isolation films 9 are positioned minutely higher than the top surface of the active regions of the semiconductor substrate 1. As a result, as the tunneling insulation film 3, the charge storage film 4, the blocking insulation film 5, and the conductive gate film 6 are sequentially deposited in the structure having the step differences, the films 3 through 6 cannot settle in flattened profiles. As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the tunneling insulation film 3 as an example is concavely deposited on the semiconductor substrate 1 between the field isolation films 9. Previously, the step difference between the top surfaces of the field isolation films 9 and the semiconductor substrate 1 of the active regions have not been considered an important factor. However, as semiconductor devices continue to shrink in size the step difference is becoming an important factor to the operational performance of semiconductor devices.
FIG. 3B, further illustrates how the thickness of the tunneling insulation film 3 varies over the active region as a result of the step difference. When voltages are applied to the structure for programming and erasing data, an electric field varies between the center and edges of the active regions. While the electric field is uniformly formed at the center of the active region, it becomes irregular and weak near the edges of the active region where the tunneling film is thicker. The programming and erasing operations are carried out using tunneling charges accelerated by the electric field. However, the intensity of the electric field differs along the tunneling insulation film, which causes the speeds of the programming and erasing operations to be differs in the center and edges of the active region. This problem may become more serious as the memory cell sizes become smaller and the edges of the active region occupy a high percentage of the area of the cell structure.

SONOS floating trap memory device formed in recess with the lower surface of the conductive gate formed higher that the upper surface of the active region


This document describes a method for preparing narrative content, particularly for presentation as a multi-sensory experience including audio and visual effects and the like. The method involves stripping details from the narrative content and replacing some of them with sensory effects so as to avoid providing too much detail. The method should enable content designers to better adapt content to be expressed on modern storytelling devices. A system is described to assist with the transformation and suggested output devices are also presented.

Storytelling has been an important part of many different societies for thousands of years. Whether oral or written, real or imagined, stories have the ability to engage the emotions, encourage learning, and stimulate creativity. In this culture, written stories have been especially important, with parents reading to their children and libraries regularly hosting "storytime" for young children. Beyond childhood recreation, storytelling remains important into maturity as stories and narratives provide important ways to communicate concepts and otherwise process emotions/events.
At least over the last generation, widespread adoption of televisions, computers, video games, mobile phones and tablets have led to a transformation of how children, in particular, may spend significant portions of their developing years. Rather than spending time outdoors and reading (or being read to), today's children may be more likely to spend hours at a time passively watching screens. Schools have adopted laptops and tablets with hopes of conveniently managing dynamic content. At home, parents have discovered the devices could hold the attention of their small children far longer than many alternatives. And so screen use has increased.
The trend has led many observers to sound the alarm, suggesting the current relationship between children and screen technology is not an altogether healthy one. Too much passive screen time has been associated with a number of potential harms including a reduction in sleep quality and a reduction in the ability to concentrate for extended periods of time. And, while quality video programming may be available, there remain concerns that watching videos can too easily become a passive activity, failing to activate the viewer imaginations. The blue light displayed by device the screens has also been suspected of contributing to eyestrain and macular degeneration, though it is not yet clear to what degree such concern is warranted. As part of the backlash against screen time, many parents and educators have turned their attention back to books (as opposed to video) as a way to teach while encouraging literacy and creativity.
It is likely that aids to storytelling also have been used for almost as long as people have been telling stories. Before the use of text, pictures and then symbols graphically represented events and concepts to be communicated or recorded. In modern history, digital tools have become popular in this regard as well, especially for parents who want to read stories to their children. In the 1980's, multimedia CD-ROMs became an important way of supplementing textual information with sounds, pictures and video.
Today, devices such as the Google Home smart speaker include a "read-along" mode. Once activated, this special mode of operation provides relevant music and sound effects to accompany supported stories when the stories are read out loud. The product uses advanced speech recognition technology to follow the progression of the spoken story. By adding music and sound to the words of an existing story, the smart speaker could be said to increase the engagement of a listener.
Another presently available product, geared toward children, Moonlite Story Book, increases the level of stimuli associated with storytelling by projecting pictures onto nearby surfaces, such as walls and ceilings which creates a limited sense of being in the world of the story.
Campfire has developed a technology to play sound effects and activate smart colored light bulbs to display colors at varying brightnesses. In this way, campfire uses ambient lighting and sound effects to create a more immersive environment for enjoying stories.
In 2013, an academic paper published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discussed the "narratarium," a technology that could automatically augment English text or voice input with colors and sounds using machine learning techniques to determine context in real time. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/942,815 filed in November, 2015, discloses an immersive dynamic functionality (also a narratarium) allowing story elements to be modified during presentation and providing additional effects to support the story.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/592,080 filed in January, 2015, discloses a storytelling device that establishes an electronic connection to an interactive book and provides story enhancement effects correlating to the book.
And the list continues. Each of these solutions adds detail to the reading experience, arguably providing more content and holding the attention of the listener. However, as the audio and video technologies employed become increasingly sophisticated (providing more and more audio and visual details), it is not at all clear whether the level of engagement in the narrative also increases. At the extremes, purely additive attempts to increase engagement in text may be reduced to largely passive experiences—much like a high definition movie with narration. In other words, progressively adding audio/video content ultimately turns the text experience into "screen time." But several drawbacks to screen time have already been noted above. Of specific concern is the potential reduction in creative or imaginative thinking (even if the harm relates simply to missed opportunities to be creative).
There remains a need for narrative learning environments that encourage creativity and deepen engagement.

System and method for defining and presenting a narrative


One of a pair of the hydraulic shock absorbers each mounted in the right and left sides of a front wheel for a two-wheel vehicle includes a contraction-side damping valve (5a) disposed in a flow passage (11) communicating a rod-side oil chamber (R1) with a piston-side oil chamber (R2), the contraction-side damping valve (5a) permitting an operating oil to flow from the piston-side oil chamber (R2) to the rod-side oil chamber (R1) only when a volume in the piston-side oil chamber (R2) is reduced, and a contraction-side check valve (6) disposed in a flow passage (10) communicating the piston-side oil chamber (R2) with the reservoir (R), the contraction-side check valve (6) permitting the operating oil to flow from the reservoir (R) to the piston-side oil chamber (R2) only when a volume in the piston-side oil chamber (R2) is increased.

JP2004-44643A published by the Japan Patent Office in 2004 has disclosed a front fork, which is provided with one fork body including a hydraulic shock absorber for production of an expansion-side damping force performing production of an expansion-side damping force, and the other fork body including a hydraulic shock absorber for production of a contraction-side damping force performing production of a contraction-side damping force.