A system and structure for snooping cache memories of several snooping masters connected to a bus macro, wherein each non-originating snooping master has a cache memory, and wherein some, but less than all the cache memories, may have the data requested by an originating snooping master and wherein the needed data in an non-originating snooping master is marked as updated, and wherein a main memory having addresses for all data is connected to the bus macro. Only those non-originating snooping masters which may have the requested data are queried. All the non-originating snooping masters that have been queried reply. If a non-originating snooping master has the requested data marked as updated, that non-originating snooping master returns the updated data to the originating snooping master and possibly to the main memory. If none of the non-originating snooping masters has the requested data marked as updated, then the requested data is read from main memory.

In a system wherein there are multiple devices that share a common main memory, and each can individually cache data from addresses in main memory, to ensure data consistency among devices, a mechanism often used is known as hardware enforced cache coherency of data. A portion of this mechanism is known as "snooping". When a processor, or other snooping master, makes a coherent access to main memory, that access is first broadcast to all the other snooping masters (the "non-originating snooping masters") as a "snoop request" by a central resource, called the "Bus Macro". The non-originating snooping masters react to the snoop request by returning a snoop result that indicates the state of that master's cache for the address provided with the snoop request. The bus macro receives all the snoop results and takes one of several possible actions based on the values of the snoop results. One action may be to allow the main memory access to complete. Another action may be to delay the main memory access until the non-originating snooping masters write modified data from their caches back to main memory. Other actions are also possible. Note that the most common type of snooping master with a cache is a processor, although other devices, such as DMA controllers, can be used.
Typically, when memory coherence is required, all snooping masters continuously snoop all main memory accesses to ensure data consistency. However, there are often times when the originating master knows which non-originating snooping masters need to participate in the snooping of its request. In these cases, it is desirable not to broadcast the snoop request to the non-originating snooping masters that do not need to participate in the snoop. This is desirable for several reasons:
1) Unnecessary power is consumed making the snoop requests to non-originating snooping masters that do not need to receive the request.
2) Once the request is made to the non-originating snooping master, that snooping master must snoop its cache to see if it has a cached copy of the requested address location. This snooping of the cache may interfere with the non-originating snooping master from accessing the cache locally, thus decreasing the performance of the non-originating snooping master.
3) If one of the non-originating snooping masters takes many clock cycles to snoop its cache (e.g. because it is physically located across a bridge), the originating master will be stalled until the slowest non-originating snooping master has completed the snoop, thus decreasing the originating master's performance.

Selective snooping by snoop masters to locate updated data

International Business Machines Corporation


A cooler tote apparatus can be attached to existing coolers. A tote apparatus (100) for a rectangular cooler (80) in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention includes side panels (120, 122, 124, 126) with elastic portions (110, 112, 114, 116) interposed between and attached to the side panels (120, 122, 124, 126). Side panels (120, 122, 124, 126) may include one or more expandable pockets (130-135). A tote apparatus (300) for a cylindrical cooler (90) in accordance with the first embodiment includes side panels (320, 322) with an elastic portion (310) interposed between and attached to the side panels (320, 322). Side panels (320, 322) may include one or more expandable pockets (330, 332).

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for toting or carrying things, and more specifically relates to a tote apparatus that attaches to a cooler.
2. Background Art
Containers such as ice chests, insulated jugs, and vacuum bottles have been used for decades to keep a variety of food items and drinks hot or cold, as desired. For the sake of convenience and clarity, these ice chests, jugs, and bottles are generically referred to herein as coolers, recognizing that the insulated properties of these containers make them well suited for either hot or cold food or beverages. Coolers come in many different sizes and configurations.
One common use of a cooler is on a family picnic to a park. When the family arrives at the park, all of the picnic supplies must be unloaded from the vehicle and carried to the desired picnic area. Typically this involves many trips back and forth between the vehicle and the picnic area. One trip is generally required to carry the cooler, which may contain meat and condiments that need to be kept cold. Additional trips are also required to carry the other picnic supplies that do not have to be kept cold, such as chips and buns.
There are known coolers and attachments to coolers that provide pockets for carrying things. Examples of these are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,276 issued Aug. 29, 1995 to Gordon; 4,640,392 issued Feb. 3, 1987 to Decker et al. and assigned to Igloo Corporation; 4,468,933 issued Sep. 4, 1984 to Christopher; and Des. 316,012 issued Apr. 9, 1991 to Christopher. The two patents to Christopher disclose coolers that are manufactured with pockets. The configuration in the Christopher patents would require a consumer that wants pockets on a cooler to purchase a new cooler. While special-purpose coolers with pockets may be useful for the first-time buyer of a cooler, there are literally millions of coolers that are currently in use. Owners of existing coolers could greatly benefit from a separate attachment that could be purchased and fitted on the cooler at home by the user. In addition, known coolers and tote devices generally have relatively small pockets, allowing a person to store sunglasses, sunblock, or similar small items in these pockets, but none allow for the toting of large items.
Therefore, there existed a need for a multi-pocketed tote apparatus that has relatively large pockets and that may be easily retro-fitted onto an existing cooler.

Multi-pocketed cooler tote apparatus and method


Provided is an antenna structure which is capable of having sufficient antenna performance even in an antenna having a small cross-sectional area. The antenna of the present invention comprises: a ferrite sheet; and an antenna sheet (flexible printed circuit board) which has a spiral loop antenna pattern. The antenna sheet is folded and the ferrite sheet is inserted therein to form a folded antenna. The folded antenna is configured in such a manner that a longitudinal pattern of the spiral loop antenna pattern is disposed close to a longitudinal centerline portion of the ferrite sheet.

For a spiral loop antenna generally attached to a battery and housed in a terminal, the antenna has an antenna pattern formed in a single plane and is attached to one side of the battery.
When the size of the antenna is larger than a certain size (e.g., a size of at least 50 mm×40 mm), the use of the antenna that has a loop antenna pattern formed on a single side thereof and then is attached to a battery does not cause a problem with the performance of the antenna. However, if the size of the antenna is decreased, the performance of the antenna may be deteriorated.
This is because the smaller size of the antenna causes a problem in that a spiral loop antenna pattern formed in a single plane would not be able to exhibit sufficient antenna performance.
Accordingly, such a case requires an antenna structure that prevents deterioration of the performance of an antenna.


The voltage across the spark gap is increased or amplified to ignite the gap when required, thus enabling ignition of the spark gap when required. The incremental voltage to obtain gap ignition is additive to any voltage already across the gap, and is additive irrespective of polarity. That is, if a possible overvoltage pulse arrives, the main gap has an increased positive voltage. If a negative overvoltage pulse arrives, the main gap has an increased negative voltage applied.

Spark gap type lightning arrestors have been used in order to protect electrical equipment. In operation they conduct excess line voltage delivered by lightning strikes to ground. The arrestors, by virtue of their configuration, have a spark gap which provided by an air gap dimensioned to not break down at system working voltages (line voltages), but to breakdown by arcing at an overvoltage well in excess of line voltage, such as an overvoltage consequential upon a lightning strike. The arc formed conducts the transient current, inherent in an overvoltage condition, to ground.
In order to ensure that the arc formed upon a lightning strike will extinguish after the overvoltage has been conducted to ground, the spark gap is dimensioned relatively wide. As a consequence, it typically requires approximately 3 kV to 4 kV across the gap to initiate the breakdown arc on a 220-240 V, 50 Hz system.
Thus, before the breakdown arc is initiated, a situation can arise where a line voltage of up to 4 kV is transmitted to equipment which is sensitive to such excess voltage. This problem has to date been left unaddressed.
Other arrestors incorporate a third electrode proximate one of the main electrodes. When activated, the third electrode creates a spark between it and one of the main electrodes. This spark forces the main gap between the main electrodes to avalanche. The problem in reducing the gap width is power follow-on current and formation of metal fingers from gasified metal. These can short circuit the gap. Also, the enormous temperatures (typically 5000.degree.-8000.degree. C.) and pressures in the triggered arc cause severe burning of the trigger electrode (with virtually whatever material is used). Further, these type of arrestors are specially constructed, relatively expensive, or have internal gas pressure reduced to control spark overvoltage.
Yet a further type of arrestor is the gas arrestor which has a spark gap encapsulated in a gas environment, the gas environment providing a relatively selected strike voltage. The gases typically used are neon, with a strike voltage of approximately 75V to 90V, and argon, with a strike voltage of approximately 230V. However, for example in the telecommunications industry there is a need for over voltage protection with a strike voltage of approximately 60V, and to date this need has also been unaddressed.
Other problems related to prior art devices is that where the arrestor is configured to a set trigger voltage, it has been found that after several operations, the trigger electrode can burn or deteriorate to such an extent that the original characteristics of break down voltage are partially or totally lost.


The present disclosure provides embodiments for a semiconductor structure including a heat spreader that includes a graphene grid having a first major surface and a second major surface opposite the first major surface. The graphene grid has a plurality of holes, each hole having a first opening in the first major surface and a second opening in the second major surface. The heat spreader also includes a first copper portion covering the first major surface of the graphene grid, a second copper portion covering the second major surface of the graphene grid, and a plurality of copper vias filling the plurality of holes.

Field
This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor processing, and more specifically, to a heat spreader for a packaged semiconductor device.
Related Art
As semiconductor technology advances, semiconductor devices have decreased in size, thus allowing for a higher density of circuits within packaged devices. The higher the density, the greater the power requirements and thus the greater the amount of heat generation. The heat needs to be sufficiently dissipated to a heat sink or ambient air in order to protect the devices. For example, in high-power-density microelectronics, such as with 3D packaging having stacked integrated circuits, large amounts of heat are generated which, if not properly dissipated, may prevent the integrated circuits from operating correctly. However, traditional single conductor heat sinks which attach to the top or bottom of a packaged device do not draw sufficient heat. Therefore, a need exists for a heat spreader which provides improved thermal dissipation.


A method having application for the development of oil reservoirs for automatically extracting from a seismic image pertinent information for sedimentologic interpretation by using estimations of realistic chronological scenarios of sedimentary layers deposition. The method includes iterative estimation of a first and of a second chronological scenario of the deposition of sedimentary layers, assuming that each reflector settles at the earliest and at the latest possible moment during the sedimentary depositional process. A chronological level number is assigned to a group of initial reflectors. Then a chronological level number is incremented by one and decremented by one which numbers are assigned to the reflectors including pixels located above and respectively below the initial reflectors and above and respectively below no other reflector. An interpretation of these two chronological scenarios is eventually carried out so as to reconstruct the depositional conditions of the sedimentary layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for extracting automatically pertinent information for sedimentologic interpretation, in order to reconstruct the depositional conditions under which sedimentary layers have formed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sedimentology reconstructs environments wherein the various rocks samples of which are studied have formed. The subsoil has of piles of sedimentary layers that have settled in sub-horizontal position. The nature of the rocks that make up these layers can vary from one layer to the next, notably depending on the water depth under which the sediment has settled. These layers have a limited lateral extension because the sedimentation process does not affect the whole of the earth's surface at a given time of the geologic history.
Stratigraphy is that branch of geology that studies the order in which the rock layers that make up the earth's crust have formed through the geologic times, in particular the sedimentary rocks. It allows establishing a relative chronology referred to as stratigraphic chronology, notably through the reasoned use of two principles: a layer has the same age throughout its length and breadth, and the lower of two superposed layers is also the older. Thus units are obtained that can be differentiated according to the nature of the arguments used to define them: lithostratigraphic units, biostratigraphic units and chronostratigraphic units. The latter are characterized by sets of layers that are made to agree with time intervals (referred to as geochronological units).
On the other hand, seismic imagery is a method of observing the architecture of these layers. This technique is based on the emission of acoustic signals in the subsoil and recording of the signals propagated and reflected on particular acoustic reflectors. These signals are processed so as to form a two or three-dimensional seismic image. This seismic image is a series of vertical records referred to as seismic traces. These seismic traces represent the amplitude of the signal received as a function of time. The recorded signals generally correlate from one trace to the next, which is translated, in a seismic image, into sub-horizontal lines, more or less rectilinear, thick and continuous, referred to as lineations. These lines represent the interfaces between sedimentary layers. Thus, a two-dimensional seismic image corresponds to a vertical section of the subsoil. An example of a two-dimensional seismic image is given by FIG. 1.
The sedimentary layers can be worn away by erosion and deformed by the tectonic history of the subsoil after deposition. Thus, the current architecture of the layers shown by seismic imagery can reach a high degree of complexity which makes the task very complicated when trying to reconstruct the geologic history undergone thereby.
Now, in the field of oil exploration, one of the objectives of the interpretation of these images (referred to as seismic stratigraphy) is precisely to analyze the architecture observed to reconstruct the history of the sedimentary deposits, in order to locate the sediments that are likely to constitute oil reservoirs. The criteria used to identify hydrocarbon-containing layers are essentially based on the estimation of the position of the sea level at the time of their deposition. For example, the sandiest sediments are generally located at the deltas found along the coastlines of the continents. These coastlines vary in the course of geologic time as a function of the sea level variations and of tectonic movements such as subsidence (earth's crust collapse) or the uplift of mountain ranges.
From the observation of seismic images, the interpreter has a certain number of more or less empirical rules for determining the water depth below which a sediment has settled. This judgment is notably based on the analysis of the relative position of the layers or on the way these layers are organized: parallel layers can indicate a regular deposit at great depth, secant layers can indicate an emersion stage interposed between the depositional stages, etc.
Interpretation is often very complicated and it entirely depends on the interpreter's sedimentologic expertise. There are few tools providing assistance in this task, which is all the more complex as a seismic image often shows several hundred layers.
The base principles of seismic stratigraphy, that is the sedimentologic interpretation of seismic images, were set out by Vail et al. in the 70s (Vail P. R., et al., 1977, "Seismic Stratigraphy and Global Changes of Sea Level", in C. E. Payton ed., "Seismic Stratigrapy Application to Hydrocarbon Exploration": American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 26, p. 49–212). The concepts proposed by Vail et al. have not changed much since, but seismic acquisition surveys, notably for acquisition of seismic data in three dimensions, have spread significantly in the field of hydrocarbon exploration and production. Their large number requires a decrease in the time spent by the interpreter for processing these data.
Interpretation of the acquired data is performed by an interpreter trained in the principles of seismic stratigraphy. Considering the large amount of data to be processed, interpretation is carried out by means of softwares referred to as "seismic interpretation stations". These seismic interpretation stations provide three functionality categories concerning the invention:
(1) Tools allowing semi-automatic extraction of seismic reflectors from a "seed" picked by the interpreter on the analyzed image. Research work has been undertaken for several years now for global and entirely automated extraction of all the interfaces. Examples thereof are the method described in French Patent 2,646,520 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,494 or more recent work described in:
M. Faraklioti, M. Petrou, "Horizon Picking in 3DSeismic Data Volumes", Machine Vision and Applications, vol. 15, No. 4, October 2004.
(2) Tools for calculating seismic attributes (scalar or vector quantities estimated by mathematical processing). Examples thereof are the public report "TriTex IST-1999-20500, Feasability and Literature Study", November 2001, which assesses the calculation of attributes referred to as "texture attributes", or the review "The Leading Edge", October 2002, vol. 21, No. 10, which presents a series of articles on seismic attributes.
(3) Chronostratigraphic interpretation methods wherein the chronology of deposition of the sedimentary deposits is estimated. An example thereof is the method described by N. Keskes in French Patent 2,808,336 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,800. This method is based on the calculation of a vector field applied onto the image and which describes at any point the mean local orientation of the reflectors in the vicinity of this point. A network of lines tangential at any point to this vector field, the "flowlines", is then calculated. The local density of the flowlines is then interpreted in terms of rate of sedimentation. It can be noted that this method cannot be implemented if the initial image corresponds to a geologic medium comprising stratigraphic discontinuities such as faults, because no flowline can be propagated through these discontinuities. It can also be noted that this method provides only one chronostratigraphic interpretation out of all the possible interpretations; notably, it does not allow providing of a chronostratigraphic interpretation respecting a priori flowlines imposed by the operator.

Method of sedimentologic interpretation by estimation of various chronological scenarios of sedimentary layers deposition


A FIFO memory with a frequency f and a size of M n-bit words, to successively store n-bit words received serially at an input and give said words serially at an output in the order in which they are stored, comprises a basic memory with a frequency f/2, capable of simultaneously storing two n-bit words successively received at the input of the FIFO memory. The memory also comprises a storage circuit to store either one n-bit word received at the input of the FIFO memory or simultaneously two n-bit words produced by the basic memory and to produce, at the output OUT of the FIFO memory, one of the words that said storage circuit stores.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a "first in first out" memory more commonly known as a FIFO memory.
In general, a FIFO memory includes a basic memory (for example of the RAM type) having the size of the FIFO memory and including its read/write circuits, and logic circuits to manage the contents of the FIFO, so that the words are read in the same order as they are stored (this is the principle of the FIFO memory). Prior art FIFO memories are generally small-sized (with 8 to 16 eight-bit words).
2. Description of the Prior Art
The FIFO memories most used at present are built out of a dual-port basic memory comprising a read port and a write port at input and output. An example of such a memory is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,608. The main drawback of these memories is their size. The presence of the two ports doubles the silicon surface area needed to make a FIFO relative to the silicon surface area needed to make a classic memory of the same capacity (with the same number of words). Furthermore, the memory cells are in practice bigger and the logic circuits necessary to manage the contents of the FIFO memory and the presence of the two ports of the basic memory are more complex and therefore also bigger than those of a classic memory having the same size. Another drawback of these FIFO memories is their clock frequency (equal to the bit rate of words at input or output of the FIFO), which is limited in practice by the clock frequency of the basic dual-port memory used to make them.
Other prior art FIFO memories are made out of single-port basic memories but are used at a frequency twice that of the FIFO memory. The operations of reading in the FIFO are thus made during the even-parity cycles of a clock signal setting the clock frequency (i.e. the working rhythm or rate) of the FIFO memory, while operations of writing to the FIFO memory are made during the odd-parity cycles of the clock signal. The main drawback of these FIFO memories is that a particularly fast basic memory (with a high frequency) needs to be used in order to obtain a FIFO having a reasonable speed, since the frequency of the FIFO is halved relative to the frequency of the basic memory. Now, fast memories are generally costly because they are difficult to make and also consume a great deal of energy.

FIFO memory architecture and method for the management of the same


Disclosed herein is an apparatus for cleaning residue from a transport unit of an x-ray developing machine. The transport unit has inner and outer walls which form a path for multiple film chips to travel during development of the film chips. V-grooves in the walls can become clogged with residue during normal operation of the x-ray developing machine. The apparatus includes a body and a plurality of projections extending outward from the body. The projections clear the V-grooves of residue while the apparatus is inserted between the walls and moved along the path.

The invention relates to x-ray developing machines. More specifically, the invention relates to the cleaning of x-ray developing machines.
X-ray developing machines are widely used in dental offices. An x-ray developing machine can develop as many as eight film chips simultaneously and quickly, typically in about four to six minutes. Such speed allows a dentist to provide a quick diagnosis and immediate care to a patient. Additionally, the x-ray developing machine take up little office space. A space as small as a closet can be used as a darkroom for developing the film chips.
FIG. 1 shows an x-ray developing machine 10 that is commonly used in dental offices for developing film chips. The x-ray developing machine 10 includes a transport unit 12 having inner and outer walls 14 and 16 that provide a curved path for the film chips to travel. One or more film chips are inserted through an entrance passageway 18 and into the transport unit 12. Each film chip is moved along the path by a combination of gravity (during downward travel) and transfer drives 20 (during upward travel). During its travel along the path, the film chip is immersed in a first tank 22 filled with developer solution, a second tank 24 filled with a fixing solution, and a third tank 26 filled with a rinsing solution. After leaving the transport unit 12, the film chip enters a drying compartment 28 and passes through a series of rollers 30. Exiting the x-ray developing machine 10 is fully developed film.
FIG. 2 shows V-grooves 32 in the walls 14 and 16 of the transport unit 12. A function of the V-grooves 32 is to guide the film chips along the path, yet to minimize contact with the walls 14 and 16 so as not to damage the emulsion on the surfaces of the film chips.
However, with each film chip that passes through the transport unit 12, residue from solution accumulates in the V-grooves 32. The residue can cause the film chips to become jammed in the transport unit 12 or hop off the path and fall into one of the tanks 22, 24 or 26. If a film chip becomes jammed or falls off the path, it will become crumbled, overdeveloped or otherwise ruined. Consequently, x-rays will have to be retaken at great expense to the patient, who will be exposed to additional radiation, and to the dentist or x-ray technician, who will have time taken away from his or her routine. To avoid these problems, the transport unit 12 is cleaned of the accumulated residue on a daily basis.
Cleaning the transport unit 12 can be messy and cumbersome. The transport unit 12 is removed from its housing and held over the tanks 22, 24 and 26 for a few seconds in order to allow excess solution to be drained. Care must be taken not to splash the solution; otherwise chemistry contamination might result. Additionally, the solution might drip on the floor or clothing, the latter of which would be stained permanently. After being drained, the transport unit 12 is placed on a service tray and carried over to a large sink. The transport unit 12 is rinsed in warm soapy water and hand-brushed to remove the dried residue. Once dried, the transport unit 12 is reinstalled in the housing of the x-ray developing machine 10.
There is a need for a less cumbersome, less messy way of removing residue from the transport unit 12 of an x-ray developing machine.

Apparatus for cleaning an x-ray developing machine


To provide a fuel tank fixing structure for a construction machine, which does not require a belt and is capable of fixing a fuel tank on a vehicle body stably.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional fuel tank fixing structure, FIG. 9 is an enlarged top view of a main part of the conventional fuel tank fixing structure of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is an enlarged front view of a main part of the conventional fuel tank fixing structure of FIG. 8.
A fuel tank fixing structure illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10 is arranged in a conventional compact excavator. As illustrated in FIG. 8, this conventional technique is configured such that a hydraulic oil tank 41 made of iron is fixed on a pair of supporting members 40 that are fixed on a revolving frame 32a of a revolving superstructure that constitutes a vehicle body, and a fuel tank 43 for storing therein fuel to be fed to an engine is arranged, on a position adjacent to and anterior to the hydraulic oil tank 41, i.e., arranged at a near side of a working-device attaching part 34 to which a working device (not shown) is attached. The fuel tank 43 is mounted on a pair of base members 42 that are fixed on the revolving frame 32a.
The fuel tank 43 is configured by, for example, a tank made of synthetic resin. A fuel tank made of iron has the advantages that it is possible to secure a large strength of the tank, however, the shape of the tank is fixed and tends to be restricted. On the other hand, when using the fuel tank 43 made of synthetic resin, the strength thereof is smaller than that of an iron tank, however, there is the advantage that the shape of the tank can be formed relatively flexibly, taking into account of the arrangement of peripheral devices, in the case of a compact excavator of which a space for installing devices is so small.
As illustrated in FIG. 9, the fuel tank 43 made of synthetic resin is provided with a groove 43a that is formed from a side surface to a top surface of the tank to avoid a feed opening 43b that enables fuel to be stored to be fed into an inside of the tank. A belt 35 that fastens the fuel tank 43 to fix it on the revolving frame 32a is arranged so as to be engaged with the groove 43a of the fuel tank 43.
As illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the belt 35 includes a belt-shaped iron member 35a in the form of a thin plate and a rubber member 35b that is arranged between the belt-shaped member 35a and the groove 43a of the fuel tank 43. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the belt 35 includes a bolt 35c that is welded to the belt-shaped member 35a at the top side thereof, and as illustrated in FIG. 10, includes a bolt 35d that is welded to the belt-shaped member 35a at the bottom side thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the bolt 35c on the top side of the belt 35 is inserted into a hole that is formed in a holding bracket 36 that is fixed to a side surface 41a of the hydraulic tank 41, and is tightened to be fixed to the holding bracket 36 by a nut 37 to be screwed with the bolt 35c. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the bolt 35d on the bottom side of the belt 35 is inserted into a hole that is formed in the base member 42 described above that is fixed to the revolving frame 32a, and is tightened to be fixed to the base member 42 by a nut 38 to be screwed with the bolt 35d.
As described above, in the fuel tank fixing structure according to the conventional technique illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10, the fuel tank 43 made of synthetic resin is provided with the groove 43a formed therein, and the belt 35 to be engaged with the groove 43a includes the belt-shaped member 35a made of iron, the rubber member 35b, the bolt 35c, and the bolt 35d. Thereby, the fuel tank 43 is fixed on the revolving frame 32a of the revolving superstructure (a vehicle body). The patent document 1 discloses a fuel tank fixing structure including such a belt above.

Fuel tank affixing structure for construction machine

Abstract: The present invention provides a fuel tank fixing structure, for example when fixing a fuel tank 11 made of synthetic resin on a revolving frame 2a of a revolving superstructure 2 of a compact excavator, that includes a standing member having a supporting member 11 to be fixed on the revolving frame 2a in a standing state, a hydraulic oil tank 10 made of iron, and a fixing bracket 14 made of iron, and a holding assembly for holding a fuel feed opening 11a provided on the fuel tank 11, such as a holding bracket 13 made of iron. A bushing 15 is engaged with a hole 13a1 formed in a plate part 13a of the holding bracket 13. The feed opening 11a of the fuel tank 11 is inserted into a hole 15a of the bushing 15 so that the feed opening 11a of the fuel tank 11 is held by the holding bracket 13 via the bushing 15.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.


A semantic medical technology is disclosed. In various embodiments, the technology organizes an initial data collection to collect data from the one or more sensors; processes the data to obtain an initial diagnosis wherein the initial diagnosis can be a syntax diagnosis or a semantic diagnosis; identifies an organization for an additional data collection to collect additional data; analyzes the additional data to obtain a refined diagnosis; and repeats the identifying and analyzing until a stopping criterion is satisfied.

Computing devices have become commonplace and indeed nearly ubiquitous. A typical home now has multiple computing devices, e.g., laptop computers, desktop computers, media servers, media players, mobile telephones, etc. Many of these computing devices are interconnected via a local area network, whether wired or wireless, and even to remote computing devices via the Internet.
As modern medicine advances, it has come to rely on computing devices for various functions, e.g., record keeping and remote radiological assessments. A medical facility may attach several sensors to an ailing or recovering patient, e.g., heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor, electrocardiograph (EKG) monitor, blood content monitor, urine analysis monitor, brain activity monitor, various other electrodes, etc. When in the medical facility, medical practitioners (e.g., physicians, nurses, etc.) may monitor a patient using computing devices that receive signals from these and other sensors.
Software executing on computing devices can employ data collected from the sensors to conduct various medical assessments, such as by producing preliminary diagnoses, alerting medical practitioners, or taking other actions. However, when the patient leaves the medical facility, it is difficult to continue the medical assessments.


Systems and methods include determination of a first value to be blinded, determination of a first key value, generation of a first composite value based on the first value and the first key value, performance of a hash operation on the first composite value to generate a first hash value, seeding of a pseudorandom generator with the first hash value to generate a first pseudorandom value, truncation of the first hash value based on the first pseudorandom value to generate a first truncated value, and generation of a blinded value associated with the first value based on a blinding function comprising the first value and the first truncated value.

Enterprises expend significant resources to ensure the security of electronic data. Current trends of using untrusted third-parties (e.g., cloud-based services) for data storage and/or processing present new scenarios requiring efficient systems to provide data security.
Encryption is often used to secure electronic data. In one example, a data owner may encrypt data using an encryption key and provide the encrypted data to a third-party for storage. If the data owner wishes to use the data, the data owner retrieves the encrypted data from the third-party, decrypts the data using a decryption key which corresponds to the public key and is known only to the data owner, and proceeds to use the decrypted data.
Generally, probabilistic encryption algorithm E(·) takes as input a plaintext m ∈  and an encryption key and outputs the ciphertext c ∈ . If encryption algorithm E(·) is homomorphic, an operation ∘ applied to ciphertexts E(m1) and E(m2) yields E (m), where m is the result of a corresponding homomorphic operation * applied to the plaintexts m1 and m2 (i.e., m=m1*m2). The homomorphic operations are typically addition and multiplication, as depicted in the following, where decryption algorithm D takes as input a ciphertext c ∈  and a decryption key and outputs the plaintext m: D(E(m1) ⊕ E(m2))=m1+m2; D(E(m1) ⊙ E(m2))=m1·m2.
Homomorphic encryption therefore allows a data owner to outsource processing of secret data to an untrusted third party without revealing the secret data to the third party. For example, a data owner may encrypt secret plaintexts m1 and m2 to generate ciphertexts E (m1) and E (m2) and transmit ciphertexts E (m1) and E (m2) to a third party. The third party applies homomorphic operations to E(m1) and E(m2) to yield E (m) and returns E (m) to the data owner. The data owner then decrypts E (m) to access desired processing result m.
Partially homomorphic encryption schemes typically enable either additive or multiplicative operations on the underlying plaintexts, while fully homomorphic encryption schemes support both addition and multiplication. Such schemes are therefore unable to provide privacy-preserved outsourced processing in the case of functions which include unsupported operations. Even in the case of supported functions, the use of homomorphic encryption schemes may require substantial computational overhead.
Blinding is used in secure computation protocols to protect secret values during plaintext processing. Such processing is not limited to homomorphic operations. Additive or multiplicative blinding uses randomness to protect confidential data. In an example of additive blinding, a secret random value r is added to a secret value x to be protected, resulting in blinded value y (i.e., y=x+r). Similarly, in multiplicative blinding, the secret value x to be protected is multiplied by a secret random value r to generate blinded value y, i.e., y=x·r. Various combinations of additive blinding and multiplicative blinding may also be employed, e.g., y=x·r1+r2. These additions or multiplications can be performed on a plaintext secret value x, or on an encrypted secret value x via homomorphic encryption to generate an encrypted blinded value y.
Data blinding as described above can present security risks. For example, a task may require processing of a secret value x several times. At each iteration, a new blinded value y is generated based on the secret value x, a fixed blinding equation, and a new secret random value r. Given enough iterations and some knowledge of the randomness distribution of r (e.g., the expected value), a malicious party may apply statistical methods to remove r and learn non-trivial information about the secret value x. Such repeated processing of the same secret data is fundamental to a variety of anticipated scenarios such as, but not limited to, blockchain-based supply-chain verification and outsourced privacy-preserving computations in the cloud, e.g., privacy-preserving machine learning.
An efficient blinding algorithm which addresses the foregoing deficiencies is desired.


A transdermal drug delivery device is disclosed that may comprise a housing including an upper housing portion and a lower housing portion. The lower housing portion may define a bottom surface including skin attachment means for releasably attaching the lower housing portion to skin of a user. The upper housing portion may at least partially surround a central region of the device. The device may also include a microneedle assembly and a reservoir disposed within the central region. The reservoir may be in fluid communication with the microneedle assembly. Additionally, the device may include a pushing element disposed above the microneedle assembly within the central region. The pushing element may be configured to provide a continuous bilateral force having a downward component transmitted through the microneedle assembly and an upward component transmitted through the skin attachment means.

Numerous devices have previously been developed for the transdermal delivery of drugs and other medicinal compounds utilizing microneedle assemblies. Microneedles have the advantage of causing less pain to the patient as compared to larger conventional needles. In addition, conventional subcutaneous (often intra-muscular) delivery of drugs via a needle acts to deliver large amounts of a drug at one time, thereby often creating a spike in the bioavailability of the drug. For drugs with certain metabolic profiles this is not a significant problem. However, many drugs benefit from having a steady state concentration in the patient's blood stream, a well-known example of such a drug is insulin. Transdermal drug delivery devices are technically capable of slowly administering drugs at a constant rate over an extended period of time. Thus, transdermal drug delivery devices offer several advantages relative to conventional subcutaneous drug delivery methods.
However, existing transdermal drug delivery devices often fail to consistently deliver all of the drug beneath the stratum corneum layer of the skin so that it can be absorbed into the body. In this regard, due to the small size of the needles, often times all or a portion of the drug is delivered only onto the top of the skin or into the stratum corneum layer where the drug cannot be absorbed into the body of the patient. This can happen for various reasons. For example, the needle depth may slightly retract from the desired insertion depth such as due to the inconsistent application of force on the needles or the natural elasticity of the skin acts to push the needles outwardly after insertion. Further complicating transdermal delivery with such small needles is that the skin may form such a complete juncture with the needle that the drug flows upwardly along the needle towards the point of insertion and away from the cellular layers capable of absorbing the drug into the body.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a transdermal drug delivery device having an improved ability to consistently and effectively deliver a drug formulation through a patient's skin.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A mask pattern to be provided on a transparent substrate 2 includes a semi-light-shielding portion 3 which transmits exposure light in the same phase as that of the light-transmitting portion 4 and a phase shifter 5 which transmits exposure light in a phase opposite to that of the light-transmitting portion 4. The semi-light-shielding portion 3 has a transmittance which allows exposure light to be partially transmitted. The phase shifter 5 is provided in a region of the mask pattern in which light transmitted through the phase shifter 5 can cancel part of the light transmitted through the light-transmitting portion 4 and the semi-light-transmitting portion 3.

In recent years, it is increasingly necessary to reduce the size of circuit patterns for high integration of a large-scale integrated circuit device (hereinafter, referred to as "LSI") that can be achieved with semiconductors. As a result, reduction of the width of a line for wiring patterns constituting a circuit or reduction of the size of contact hole patterns (hereinafter, referred to as "contact patterns") that connect between layered wirings formed with an insulating layer therebetween have become very important.
Hereinafter, reduction of the size of wiring patterns and contact patterns with a conventional light-exposure system will be described by using a positive resist process as an example. In a positive resist process, a line pattern refers to part of a resist film (resist pattern) which is not exposed with exposure light, i.e., part thereof which is left after development. A space pattern refers to part of a resist film which is exposed with exposure light, i.e., an opening portion which is formed by removing part of a resist film by development (resist-removed pattern). A contact pattern refers to a hole-like opening which is formed by removing part of a resist film by development and can be regarded as a small space pattern of the space patterns. When using a negative resist process instead of a positive resist process, the definition of the line pattern and the definition of the space pattern are replaced by each other.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


This invention relates to electronic circuit testing and more particularly to an apparatus utilizing data compression techniques. An electronic circuit or board tester according to the invention includes one tester circuit with the combination of a sequencer and a vector-sequencer-memory per pin. A data-sequence, such as a loop to address the memory cells of an electronic memory one after the other in a predetermined chronological order, is applied to a pin of a device under test and is compressed in order to save memory space.

The invention relates in general to electronic circuit testing and more particularly to an apparatus utilizing data compression techniques.
Electronic circuits have become more and more complex and appropriate circuit testers need more and more functionality in order to be able to perform a sufficient test.
As the electronic circuits to be tested comprise a huge amount of electrical connections, such as pins, the equipment needed for the functional test of an electronic circuit increases significantly. Furthermore, there is a need to modify the test patterns to be applied to the electrical connections of an electronic circuit under test or to a board with several integrated circuits to be tested.
An electronic circuit or board tester should be easily adaptable for the test of various electronic circuits or boards having different numbers of electrical connections and functionality. Test parameters should be easily programmable. Each device under test (DUT) comprises several input and output electrical connections, such as pins. An electronic circuit or board tester applies digital signal patterns to the electrical connections of the DUT taking the specifications of the respective DUT into account. Digital output signals or digital patterns generated by the DUT are compared with a signal pattern of the same DUT having full functionality.
A DUT may be a memory circuit or a board with several memory circuits, such as RAMs, SRAMs, VRAMs, pipelined burst SRAMs etc. Each cell or at least most of the memorizing cells of the memory circuit have to be addressed, the binary signals "0" or "1" are written into each tested cell and it is checked, whether the contents of the cells are lost or modified, when accessing other cells of the memory circuit.
In order to carry out such memory tests, industry has developed several standard-test-patterns, such as "march, checkerboard, galpat etc.", addressing the cells in a specific chronical order.
Such standard-test-patterns make use of (for-next) loops and are used for the test of electronic memories and other electronic circuits.
Particularly, electronic circuit or board testers comprising individual tester circuits for each pin of the electronic device under test (DUT) are equipped with a large quantity of electronic memories such as expensive RAMs. Thus there is a need to reduce the amount of memories and/or memory capacity needed for carrying out a functionality test on various electronic circuits or boards, such as those comprising integrated circuits (ICs).
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,427 of the applicant, it is known to use a set of vector storage units each storing a segment of a test vector. In case that one test vector comprises two or more identical segments, this segment is stored only once. If for example the test data-segment at pin 1 and pin 2 are the same at the same clock cycle, this segment is stored only once. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,427 proposes to use several sequences. It will be understood that a combination of a vector storage unit and an associated sequencer, each combination working independently except with regard to the same clock signal, cannot be used. Otherwise identical segments would have to be stored in more than one vector storage unit each being associated with a different electrical connection or pin of the DUT.
When using a modular circuit or board tester with a vector storage unit and an associated sequencer per electrical connection or pin of the DUT, there is a need for an electronic circuit or board tester having another concept.

Electronic circuit or board tester with compressed data-sequences


A piezo-pneumatic valve driving type dispensing pump having an improved dispensing speed and a simplified structure, and a method of dispensing a viscous liquid by using the pump. Accordingly, a viscous liquid may be easily dispensed by reciprocating a valve rod inserted into a reservoir storing the viscous liquid, by using an air pressure. In particular, the air pressure may be precisely controlled by opening or closing a flow passage allowing the air to enter or exit, by using a piezoelectric element-based piezoelectric valve. Thus, the valve rod may be operated precisely at a high speed so that an exact amount of the viscous liquid is dispensed at a high speed.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to an apparatus for dispensing liquid, and a method of dispensing a viscous liquid by using the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A dispenser supplies a liquid solution such as water, oil, or resin of a predetermined amount and is used in diverse fields, for example, in a semiconductor process or in the medical field.
In particular, a dispenser is frequently used in an underfill process of a semiconductor process, that is, to fill a package of a semiconductor device with a resin. In a process of manufacturing a light emitting diode (LED) device, a dispenser is used in a process of coating a LED chip with a phosphorescent solution which is a mixture of a phosphorescent material and a resin.
In dispensers as described above, a pump receiving a viscous liquid and dispensing a fixed amount of the viscous liquid at an exact position is used as a core device.
Currently, dispensing pumps that use various driving methods are developed. For example, Korean Patent Nos. 10-1041067 (published on Jun. 13, 2011), 10-1100828 (published on Jan. 2, 2012), and 10-1301107 (published on Aug. 27, 2013) discloses related technologies.

Piezo-pneumatic valve driving type dispensing pump and method of dispensing viscous liquid by using the pump


An electrostatic rotating electrical machine employs axially extending electrically conductive electrodes on a rotor interacting with a corresponding set of axially extending electrodes on a stator, where the electrodes are supported at an outer surface of a dielectric sleeve which continues beneath the electrodes to provide a robust support and to minimize electrode weight.

The present invention relates to rotating electrical machines (e.g., electrical motors and generators) and in particular to a rotating electrical machine employing axially or radially extending surfaces.
Electrical motors and generators share similar structures of an electrically interacting, stator and rotor and may be collectively termed "rotating electrical machines." Conventional rotating electrical machines may be roughly divided into "electromagnetic" devices exploiting magnetic fields between moving parts, and "electrostatic" devices exploiting electrical fields between moving parts.
Electrostatic rotating electrical machines have a number of advantages over conventional electromagnetic rotating electrical machines including the elimination of magnets and costly rare earth materials, significant weight from ferrous materials, and high-current copper windings. Electrostatic machines may be made of lower weight/cost dielectric materials and conductors.
Electrostatic machines are commonly found in micro-scale, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) which permit extremely small gaps between rotor and stator elements allowing high capacitance between surfaces and high electrical fields. For larger scale rotating machines, for example, those providing integer horsepower and larger outputs (macro-scale), the physical gap between the stator and rotor may be one to three orders of magnitude larger than that for MEMS machines. This larger gap requires higher applied voltages typically in the thousands or even tens of thousands of volts for comparable shear stress (electric field strength) in the rotor/stator gap to attain useful amounts of torque. These high voltages normally require ultra high vacuum containment vessels to prevent arcing between stator and rotor components. The simultaneous requirement of minimizing the gap (tolerances) between stator and rotor components and using high voltage driving power, in macro-scale rotating machines, can present significant manufacturing challenges in manufacturing macro-scale electrostatic motors.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/598,411 filed Jan. 16, 2015, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference, describes an electrostatic rotating machine that simplifies manufacture by eliminating plates in favor of interdigitated conductive pegs immersed in a high dielectric strength, high relative permittivity fluid. The peg-style construction allows increased design flexibility through modification of peg spacing alignment and dimensions, allowing variations in capacitance as a function of rotation to be maximized and closely matched with available driving voltages/currents for improved torque and torque consistency. Torque is generated in the reference patent by means of variable capacitance. As the shaft of the machine turns, the capacitance among the rotor and stator pegs varies. Applying voltage to specific pin sets will produce torque proportional to the derivative of the capacitance with respect to position. This torque mechanism is the dual to electromagnetic reluctance based machines.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/715,214 filed May 18, 2015, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference, describes an improvement in the above-referenced peg-style electrostatic machine which uses dielectric sleeves that may fit around rows of pegs. The sleeves may be constructed of a low permittivity material to shape the electrostatic field, between the pegs of the rotor and/or stator to provide improved torque characteristics and tailoring of leakage flux or mechanical or drag properties.

Electrostatic rotating-machine employing dielectric substrates with surface conductors


A capsule suited to contain in its inside a mass of powdered coffee for preparing an infusion of coffee. The capsule comprises a container closed by a lid. The container is provided with a filter of the coffee/hot water infusion. The capsule is characterized in that the mass of powdered coffee is located in an annular space surrounding a central chimney. The infusion water, during at least one of its intermediate steps, converges from the annular space towards the central chimney passing first through a vertical filter.

As is known, being defined as "American-style coffee" is an infusion achieved by the use of a particular machine where the hot water passes through a filter which contains unpressed ground coffee and is deposited by gravity into a carafe below.
The coffee that is used for preparing such a beverage is different from that used in moka or Italian espresso machines for the fact of being milled in a more coarse way and not subject to any pre-compression when in the capsule.
There are commercially available machines specially made for preparing American-style coffee, which are characterized by a very simple operation.
In fact, said machines have a water tank, a pump which sends the heated water in a small container with a paper filter containing coffee therein. The hot water submerges the coffee and, passing through the filter paper, falls by gravity into an appropriate carafe below suited for maintaining the beverage hot for a long time since it is heated by a specific electrical warming plate.
In addition to the traditional American-style coffee-makers, wherein the bowl-shaped filter is hand filled by the user, capsules have recently appeared on the market presenting an outer casing wherein a paper filter partially filled with unpressed coffee is inserted.
By means of special percolator machines the lid and the bottom in plastic material are perforated so as to create a flow of hot water that infuses with the coffee powder.
However, the American-style coffee capsules currently on the market do not work reliably. In fact, usually providing only a filter arranged at the bottom, the incoming hot water is induced to flow along substantially vertical preferential fluid threads, which, therefore, do not affect the whole mass of ground coffee contained in the capsule.

Interchangeable capsule for preparing an infusion of coffee, and method for obtaining an infusion of said coffee


In a plasma treating apparatus, a ceramic porous substance having a three-dimensional network structure in which a frame portion formed of ceramic containing alumina is provided continuously like a three-dimensional network is used for the material of an electrode member for the plasma treating apparatus to be attached to the front surface of a gas supplying port of an electrode for plasma generation, and a gas for plasma generation is caused to pass through a hole portion formed irregularly in the three-dimensional network structure. Consequently, the distribution of the gas to be supplied is made uniform to prevent an abnormal discharge so that uniform etching having no variation can be carried out.

The present invention relates to an electrode member for a plasma treating apparatus to be attached to the front surface of the gas supplying port of an electrode for plasma generation in the plasma treating apparatus. Further, the present invention relates to a plasma treating apparatus and plasma treating method using the above-mentioned electrode member.
As an apparatus for surface finishing an electronic component such as a substrate or a semiconductor device, a plasma treating apparatus has been known. The plasma treating apparatus serves to generate plasma under a vacuum atmosphere and to carry out a treatment such as etching over the surface of an object to be treated physically and chemically by the plasma. The plasma is generated by applying a high frequency voltage to an electrode in a sealed treatment chamber. A gas for plasma generation having a predetermined pressure (hereinafter referred to as a "gas") is supplied in the treatment chamber.
In such a plasma treatment, in some cases it is desirable that a high density plasma should be generated depending on the purposes of the treatment. In a plasma treating apparatus for carrying out plasma etching on a silicon substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, a method of spraying and supplying a gas having a comparatively high pressure onto the surface of a silicon wafer is used in order to enhance the treatment efficiency.
For such a gas supplying method, a conventional method is known in which a gas supplying port is formed on an upper electrode provided opposite to a lower electrode holding a silicon wafer. The upper electrode serves as a discharge electrode plate and a gas introducing plate. In this case, the discharge electrode plate has a large number of fine gas supplying holes and is attached to the upper electrode, thereby uniformly supplying a gas to the surface of a silicon wafer.
In the case in which the discharge electrode plate is used, however, there are the following problems. In the method of injecting and supplying a gas from a gas supplying hole, the uniform distribution of the gas to be supplied is restricted and the amount of the gas to be sprayed onto the surface of a silicon wafer is not uniform between a portion provided under the supplying hole and other portions.
For this reason, an abnormal discharge in which plasma is convergently generated in the vicinity of the supplying hole is apt to be induced and various drawbacks are caused by the abnormal discharge. More specifically, etching is convergently carried out in a portion in which the abnormal discharge is generated. Therefore, there is a drawback in that the quality of etching is affected, for example, a silicon wafer is damaged or an etching result has a variation. In addition, there is a drawback that a discharge electrode plate provided with the gas supplying hole is worn by the plasma, depending on the material of the discharge electrode plate.
Moreover, porous ceramic having crystal grains, having a diameter of about 10 μm to 50 μm, aggregated and sintered has been tried to be used as a discharge electrode plate. However, since the discharge electrode plate is easily broken due to heat shock caused by the heat of plasma, it cannot be used as a discharge electrode to be directly exposed to the plasma.

Electrode member used in a plasma treating apparatus


Reflecting and luminous layered material is provided which combines the advantages of a light reflective component and a luminescent component. The material includes a first layer of prismatic light reflective plastic material having an underlying surface formed with a plurality of minute prism-like formations projecting therefrom at regular spaced intervals and an overlying substantially smooth light transmissive surface. The material also includes a second layer of plastic luminescent material attached to the underlying surface of the prism-like formations. The layers are joined at a first region as by heat sealing, ultrasonic welding, sewing, or stapling into a unitary structure such that the prism-like formations are substantially destroyed. A second region is thereby defined at which the first layer and the second layer are physically distinct. An electroluminescent lamp is received in the second region and can be selectively energized. When the lamp is energized, its light radiates through the underlying surface of prism-like formations and through the smooth light transmissive surface. Simultaneously, reflected light from the prism-like formations partially energizes the second layer of luminescent material. When the lamp is deenergized, phosphorescent light radiates from the second layer through the underlying surface of prism-like formations and through the smooth light transmissive surface. Other embodiments are disclosed which can be tailored to a variety of applications.

I. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to flexible layered material which is simultaneously self luminating and capable of reflecting light from an outside source. In one embodiment, the material may be in sheet form comprising an overlying layer of prismatic light reflecting material and an underlying layer of luminescent material in which the latter can be selectively energized to become luminous. The material functions independently of a change in its surroundings, such as the presence or absence of an external light source, and will continue to be fully operational even when the surroundings change.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Various reflective materials are commonly employed for safety and decorative purposes. One of the most common principles employed is simply to apply a reflective coating upon a surface of the item or to construct the item of a highly reflective material such as polished metal. In addition to reflective coatings and specular surfaces, it is also common to use structures which have upon one or both surfaces various formations which reflect the light rays impinging thereon, either principally as a result of the steepness of the angle at which the light ray impinges the surface or by virtue of reflective coatings on the surface of the formations.
There has been a constant demand for retroreflective materials, i.e. materials capable of reflecting the bulk of the light rays impinging thereon in a substantially parallel path back toward the source of the light. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company has sold a material under the trademark SCOTCHLITE which relies upon minute glass spheres embedded in a matrix of synthetic resin to provide such retroreflection. Another type of retroreflective element has been a molded member having cube corner formations on one surface thereof, such molded members being formed from glass or synthetic plastic.
Cube corner reflectors molded from glass and more recently from acrylic resins have commonly been employed as safety devices on bicycles, automobiles and other vehicles. Although it had long been suggested that the cube corner might be of small dimension until the advent of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,348, to Rowland, generally such formations were of appreciable size. Furthermore, the nature of the material from which reflectors were fabricated resulted in structures which were relatively rigid in character and which did not lend themselves either to shaping to various substrates of nonplanar character or to use as a fabric which might be worn. Moreover, it came to be recognized that as the size of the cube corner formations is reduced, criticality in control of angles and dimensions becomes far more acute since even a minute deviation will produce a substantial deviation in the capability of the material to retroreflect light rays impinging thereon.
The Rowland patent represented a significant advancement in the field of reflective materials. That patent discloses a retroreflective composite synthetic plastic material comprised of a body portion having substantially smooth surfaces on opposite sides thereof and a large number of minute cube corner formations closely spaced about and projecting from one of the smooth surfaces. The cube corner formations each have three faces and a base adjacent the body portion with a side edge dimension said to be not more than 0.025 inch and preferably less than 0.010 inch and the close spacing avoids any substantial smooth areas therebetween. The body portion and the cube corner formations are separately formed from essentially transparent synthetic plastic resin and are bonded together into a composite structure wherein those light rays entering into the material through the opposite surface of the body portion predominately pass through the body portion and into the cube corner formations by which they are reflected back through the composite structure substantially parallel to the path of entry.
In the most conveniently formed structure of the patented concept, each cube corner formation has one face parallel to one face of every other cube corner formation. Preferably, the cube corner formations are substantially equal in size and arranged in a pattern of rows and columns. The center-to-center spacing between cube corner formations in every row and between cube corner formations in every column is in accordance with a uniform pattern to insure close spacing of the formations and good retroreflection. The apex of each cube corner formation is in alignment with the apices of all of the cube corner formations located in the pattern row and column in which it is disposed, and each apex is vertically aligned with the center of its base.
To provide optimum reflectivity, the composite material has a reflective coating deposited on the cube corner formations. An adhesive layer may then be provided on the reflective coating and a removable piece of sheet material loosely adhered to the adhesive layer. This self-adherent composite structure may be readily used since the sheet material may be removed to adhere the retroreflective sheet material to a substrate. In the optimum form, either with or without an adhesive coating, the reflective coating is metallic and the structure includes a layer of resin deposited on the metallic coating to provide protection therefor. In the absence of a protective resin layer, it is customary to provide an integral, non-removable backing sheet to provide protection for the cube corner formations which can be easily damaged. The backing sheet also serves to enhance the reflectability of the cube corner formations.
Over the years, there have also been significant advances in the use of luminous materials for compositions to provide visibility at nighttime or in locations in which little or no light is available or permissible. Throughout this disclosure, the expression "luminous material" or "luminous composition" is intended to include any material or composition which has phosphorescent, fluorescent, and/or auto luminescent properties. An early disclosure of a luminous device is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 1,373,783 to Willis which discloses a glass plate mounted in a metal holder with a layer of luminous powder compressed between the glass plate and the holder. In a further development disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,333,641 to Corwin, luminous adhesive sheet or tape material is disclosed. In this instance, a sheet of cellulose film is provided with a permanently tacky, pressure-sensitive, adhesive coating containing a luminous material. The coating is applied to one surface of the sheet or tape and is visible through the sheet or tape when the latter is applied to a supporting object.
Still another disclosure of a luminous structure is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,846 to Feuer which discloses a light source utilizing the beta ray energy of a radioactive material characterized by having a front phosphor region of sufficient depth to absorb the emitted beta rays but not the light generated by the radioactive excitation of the phosphor particles. It includes a back heavy metal reflecting region which, due to the high atomic number, at least 45, serves to back scatter the beta particles as well as reflect light. The reflected beta particles then further excite the forward phosphor regions and ultimately this energy is discharged from the system in a form of light energy.
A more recent development is a phosphorescent type material produced and sold by Hanovia Division of Conrad Inc. of Newark, N.J. under the trademark "SPOT-LITE". In this instance, the luminescent material is of flexible vinyl plastic film which absorbs energy from any light source to which it is exposed, whether natural sunlight, or artificial incandescent or fluorescent light, and chemically generates a luminous light in response thereto. The film produces an intense bright green glow which is visible in absolute darkness for a duration of approximately thirty minutes. After that period of time, even though eighty to eighty-five percent of its luminosity will have diminished, it continues to exhibit a visible glow for up to an additional eight hour period of time. Nonetheless, after exposure of three to ten seconds of ambient light, the film can be recharged to its maximum capacity.
Still more recently, in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 07/890,391 filed May 26, 1992 entitled "Visibility Enhancing Material", A. Spencer et al. disclosed flexible visibility enhancing material which combines the advantages of a light reflective component and a luminescent component. The material includes a first layer of prismatic light reflective plastic material having an underlying surface formed with a plurality of minute prism-like formations projecting therefrom at regular spaced intervals and an overlying substantially smooth light transmissive surface. Bonded as by heat sealing to the first layer is a second layer of plastic luminescent material contiguously and integrally attached to the underlying surface of prism-like formations and generally coextensive therewith. The visibility enhancing material simultaneously radiates luminescent light from the second layer through the underlying surface of prism-like formations and through the smooth light transmissive surface and reflected light from the prism-like formations through the smooth light transmissive surface.
The combination of the two vinyl layers thereby created a new material which had the characteristics of both. The retroreflective phosphorescent type material of the invention reflected light back in the direction of its source and also produced its own light in conditions of subdued light and total darkness. This unique combination enabled the material of the invention to be visible when light was shined onto it, and also when the light source was extinguished entirely. Additionally, the visibility enhancing material of the invention was visible under extreme variations and lighting conditions, including total darkness. This was an unexpected phenomenon since the construction of the retroreflective material disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,348 and marketed under the trademark "REFLEXITE" was not previously known to be transparent or translucent to any substantial extent. It was reflective of light shined onto it, but was not known for any characteristic which would enable transmission of light from a second source on a side opposite the source being reflected. Another unexpected phenomenon provided by the material of the invention was that the life expectancy of the radiance from the luminescent material had been found to be substantially extended.
In a further development, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 07/890,392 filed May 26, 1992 entitled "Material With Enhanced Visibility Characteristics", the underlying layer of luminescent material can be selectively energized to become luminous.
In still a further development, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 07/954,387 filed Sep. 30, 1992 entitled "Layered Reflecting and Luminous Material", the layers of prismatic light reflecting material and luminescent material are joined at a first region of finite width as by heat sealing, ultrasonic welding, sewing, or stapling into a unitary structure such that the prism-like formations are substantially destroyed. A second region is thereby defined at which the first layer and the second layer are physically distinct. In the second region, the layered material simultaneously radiates luminescent light from the second layer through the underlying surface of prism-like formations through the smooth light transmissive surface and reflected light from the prism-like formations through the smooth light transmissive surface of the first layer. Only phosphorescent light radiates from the first region. In another embodiment of that invention, the second layer may be replaced with a layer of luminescent material which can be selectively energized to become luminous.


The present invention relates generally to on board inert gas generating systems, and more particularly, to an on board inert gas generating system having a fast warm up feature. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for quickly warming up a permeable membrane air separation system.

The present invention relates generally to on board inert gas generating systems, and more particularly, to an on board inert gas generating system having a fast warm up feature. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for quickly warming up a permeable membrane air separation system.
On Board Inert Gas Generating Systems (OBIGGS) Air Separation Modules (ASM) utilizing molecular sieve employing a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process have been used for many years to inert the fuel tanks on aircraft such as the AH-64 helicopter, C-17 transport and the V-22 tilt-Rotor aircraft. During normal operational modes, this PSA technology uses conditioned engine bleed air at typical operating temperatures that may range from xe2x88x9260 to 130 degrees F., and removes oxygen to generate nitrogen enriched air (NEA). This wide temperature range has a relatively minor impact on the performance of the PSA technology. The NEA product gas is used to purge the ullage space above the fuel in the fuel tanks which is initially filled with air containing oxygen at the normal concentrations of about 21% oxygen. Reducing the oxygen concentration to or below about 9% oxygen in the ullage space above the fuel in the fuel tank on the aircraft eliminates the potential for an explosion when the fuel tank is exposed to potential ignition sources such as electrical sparks or incendiary rounds. During normal aircraft start-ups the initial air temperatures received by the PSA OBIGGS can be very cold, depending upon the existing environmental conditions and how quickly warm engine bleed air is provided to the OBIGGS. The performance of OBIGGS employing the PSA technology is affected relatively little by air temperature of xe2x88x9260 to +130 degrees, which results in immediate, efficient generation of NEA. No warm-up or start-up time is needed.
A newer OBIGGS ASM technology is now being employed to generate NEA on some aircraft such as the USAF F-22, and will be employed on future aircraft such as the JSF. This newer technology utilizes hollow fibers of permeable membrane (PM) which operate most efficiently at operating temperatures of about +140 to +220 degrees F. The inlet supply air is introduced to the inside of one end of a bundle of thousands of small hollow fibers, and oxygen permeates through the walls and is exhausted. The nitrogen permeates through the hollow fibers much slower than oxygen, such that at the opposite end of the hollow fibers NEA is generated by the loss of oxygen via permeation through the permeable membrane fiber as the source gas traverses the length of each hollow fiber. The PM technology has the potential advantage of exhibiting good NEA generation rates at higher operating temperatures than the PSA OBIGGS technology. This can be particularly attractive for some applications where the preferred source of air is obtained from the aircraft engine bleed air, which is generally warmer than +220 degrees F. Less cooling of the air would be required to use the PM technology than the PSA OBIGGS technology. This reduces heat exchanger size and weight, which is an important benefit for aircraft applications.
All OBIGGS ASMs that employ either PSA or PM technologies utilize a flow control device to regulate the amount of NEA allowed to flow from the OBIGGS ASM. This flow control device is usually a fixed orifice that is sized to limit the NEA flow rate such that the oxygen content in the NEA product gas is limited to about 9% or less. Both PSA and PM product gas nitrogen purity is inversely proportional to the NEA product flow from the ASM. High NEA flow through the fibers allows less time for oxygen to permeate through the PM fiber which results in the NEA oxygen content to increase. A flow rate that is too high can result in the fuel tanks having explosive combinations of oxygen and fuel vapors. Too little flow results in the desired low-oxygen content, but the low NEA flow rate can significantly delay the purging of the oxygen-laden air from the fuel tank and delay the achievement of a safe inert condition.
As noted earlier PM ASMs operate best at higher operating temperatures of +140 to +220 degrees F. When aircraft are required to xe2x80x9cscramblexe2x80x9d and be airborne rapidly, the time to inert the fuel tanks to a safe condition quickly is important. Waiting for the PM to reach the higher normal PM operating temperature results in a delay in reaching optimum performance and reduces the NEA generation rate available during this start-up or warm-up period. The PM must be warmed up quickly or longer times to inert the fuel tanks will be required. Some fighter aircraft missions require the aircraft to be airborne in five minutes or less; however, it can take longer than that just to warm up the PM ASM and attain near normal performance. Thus, a need exists in the art for a system capable of warming up a PM ASM in five minutes or less.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to reduce the time required to warm up a PM ASM.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a PM ASM system which provides warm inlet air from the engine bleed air system into the PM ASM.
Another object of the present invention is to initially increase NEA flow through the PM ASM to speed up the warming of the hollow fibers in the PM.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that directs a portion of the warm engine bleed air into the outer shell of the PM ASM.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus which can utilize NEA product flow and/or engine bleed air to warm the hollow fibers of the PM separator.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide NEA product gas having an oxygen content of about 9% or less in less than five minutes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a permeable membrane air separation system that can be warmed up in less than five minutes.
Advantageously, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for warming up the PM ASM to obtain near normal performance in approximately three minutes. This compares to present performance of approximately 7.5 minutes.
The present invention uses a fast start valve that allows an increased flow of NEA through the PM ASM that is then directed into the outer shell of the PM ASM. This increased flow of warm inlet air from the engine bleed air system into, through around each hollow fiber, and accelerates the warming of the hollow fibers in the PM ASM. An alternative approach accelerates PM ASM warm up by directing a portion of the warm inlet air directly into the outer shell of the PM ASM while the normal amount of NEA is allowed to flow through the inside of the PM fibers. A third approach is to direct a combination of increased NEA flow and inlet airflow into the outer shell to accelerate warming of the PM ASM.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in an air separation module assembly having fast warm up capability. The air separation module is connected to a source of warm air. An air separation module has an inlet, an outlet, an exit port and an entry point. The inlet is connected to the source of warm air. A valve is connected to the entry point. The valve is also connected to at least one of the exit port and the source of warm air.
The foregoing objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of quickly warming up an air separation module. Warm air is flowed through an air separation module to separate nitrogen gas therefrom. A portion of the separated nitrogen gas is directed to an ullage space of a fuel tank. A portion of the separated nitrogen gas is directed back into the air separation module.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of quickly warming up an air separation module. Warm air is flowed through an air separation module to separate nitrogen gas therefrom. A portion of the separated nitrogen gas is directed to an ullage space of a fuel tank. A portion of the separated nitrogen gas is directed back into the air separation module. A source of warm air is directed into an entry point of an air separation module. The warm air is then exhausted from the air separation module.
The foregoing objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of quickly warming up an air separation module. Warm air is flowed through an air separation module to separate nitrogen gas therefrom. A portion of the separated nitrogen gas is directed to an ullage space of a fuel tank. A portion of the separated nitrogen gas is directed back into the air separation module. Air is directed from a source of warm air into an entry point of an air separation module and exhausts the warm air from an exit port of the air separation module.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description thereof are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

Air separation module using a fast start valve for fast warm up of a permeable membrane air separation module


A carbonized product 10 used for production of activated carbon for an electrode of an electric double-layer capacitor, includes a plurality of crystallites 12 each having a graphite structure in an amorphous carbon matrix 11. The interlayer distance d002 of the crystallites 12 is set a value equal to or larger than 0.347 nm. Thus, by using this carbonized product, it is possible to produce activated carbon having a high electrostatic capacity density (F/cc) for an electrode of an electric double-layer capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carbonized product used for production of activated carbon for an electrode of an electric double-layer capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional activated carbon for an electrode is produced by subjecting a carbonized product to an activating treatment, e.g., an alkali-activating treatment.
The alkali-activating treatment is a substantially established technique. To produce activated carbon for an electrode having a high electrostatic capacity density (F/cc), it is necessary to use a suitable carbonized product.

Carbonized product used for production of activated carbon for electrode of electric double-layer capacitor


A method and system for rating a data communication session between a network and a wireless device is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, the method monitors a series of events, namely, a setup event, a begin event and an end event, which take place during a communication session. The monitoring of such events is accomplished by a data rating application which resides on the wireless device. By monitoring such events, the data rating application is then able to rate the communication session using a number of rating options. The rating option selected includes both how to meter the data transmitted during a data communication session and determine the rate to be applied to each metered increment. Examples of methods used to meter the data include time and volume. Different rating options which can be used to rate the communication session include, for example, application, data utilization, source of data, class of service, quality of service and transmission efficiency.

The present invention generally relates to a method and system for data rating for wireless devices, and in particular, to mobile or cellular phones and radio phones that are capable of moving from one transmission station to another in a communication network.
More specifically, the method and system of the present invention allows rating of a data communication session to be performed within the wireless device, such as a mobile phone. As a result, by accomplishing the rating within each mobile phone, the communication traffic between a mobile phone and the service provider is reduced thereby expanding the traffic handling capacity of the service provider. A system for rating and billing a voice communication session within a mobile phone is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,577,100 (the '100 patent), and 6,198,915 B1 (the '915 patent).
Advanced data communication services in the mobile telephony environment are becoming a reality. Short Message Service (SMS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE), 1x, 1xRTT, short range radio frequency protocols (e.g., IEEE, 802.1 1.b) etc. are all examples of technologies that may be used to implement wireless data communication.
Wireless device users are demanding improved data services, and data carriers are hurriedly trying to develop solutions that would satisfy the demands of such users. However, traditional network-based billing systems are ill equipped to deal with some data carriers' current business practices or methods for billing for data services other than monthly subscription.
For example, monitoring and keeping track of data packets accurately for billing purposes at the network level is not a simple task, especially when such monitoring must be done in real time as required by prepaid and limited use services. When data packets are sent to a destination, they are usually routed via several nodes and networks before they reach their final destination. Traversing several networks presents a problem from a monitoring perspective because different networks and their respective equipment very often handle data packets differently.
Furthermore, typical network-based billing systems are generally equipped to deal with call detail records (CDRs). Such billing systems are usually dimensioned to be able to accommodate 3 or 4 CDRs per user per day. With the use of packet data, each packet generates its own detail record, referred to here as usage detail records (UDRs). A UDR is necessary because in packet switching communications each packet is transmitted to its destination separately via different routing paths. As a result, a UDR is needed for each packet in order to keep track of the status of such packet. The proliferation of a large amount of UDRs presents a capacity problem for many existing billing systems. For instance, a 30-minute session of GPRS may generate 10,000 UDRs or more at several serving nodes, an amount of UDRs which existing billing systems are not equipped to handle and for which purpose it may not be cost effective to upgrade.
Moreover, there is an additional challenge to billing data transmissions, particularly for GPRS. Most of the network equipment required to enable and implement GPRS reside at a base station controller (BSC), while the billing systems reside at a mobile switching center (MSC). The billing systems, accustomed to connecting to one or several MSCs, must now accommodate potentially hundreds of BSCs.
In the packet data environment, the network on many occasions may need to resend the same packet more than once, and possibly through alternate transmission paths. Since multiple UDRs may be generated for the same packet, network-based billing systems can only generate accurate billing on a per packet basis by gathering all of the UDR's from all of the serving nodes and reconciling them to determine successful delivery. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a cost effective method and system that is capable of rating packet data accurately without the complications and capacity burden inherent in traditional network-based billing systems.

Method and system for data rating for wireless devices


A fusing apparatus includes a fusing section, a supplying section and a control section. The supplying section supplies airflow between a recording medium and the fusing section. The supplying section includes a supplying opening of the airflow divided in a plurality of blocks along a width direction of the recording medium. The control section controls at least any one of speed of the airflow and supply amount of the airflow individually for each of the plurality of blocks based on information regarding the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fusing apparatus and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, there is a fusing apparatus which heats and applies pressure while nipping a sheet on which a toner image is formed to fuse a toner image which is not yet fused on the sheet. In such fusing apparatus, the sheet nipped by the fusing apparatus may stick to the fusing apparatus after fusing. As described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H3-164777, there is a fusing apparatus including an air blasting apparatus which sends an airflow between the sheet and the fusing apparatus to separate the sheet from the fusing apparatus. Such blasting apparatus is provided to be able to separate from the fusing apparatus a sheet with the largest size in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet among the sheet used in image forming. In other words, the range of air blasting of the air blasting apparatus corresponds to the sheet with the largest size in the width direction.
However, the conventional air blasting apparatus blasts air in a range corresponding to the sheet with the largest size in the width direction regardless of the size in the width direction of the sheet orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet. Therefore, air is blasted to a range unnecessary for separating the sheet, and needless energy is consumed.
When an image is formed on a sheet with a size in the width direction smaller than the sheet with the largest size in the width direction, the portion of the fusing apparatus positioned outside the edge section of the sheet in the width direction is cooled by directly receiving all of the air from the air blasting apparatus. Therefore, after an image is formed on a sheet with a size in the width direction smaller than the sheet with the largest size in the width direction, when an image is formed on a sheet with a larger size in the width direction, the cooled portion of the fusing apparatus is used to form the image and the fusing apparatus needs to be heated again before fusing processing starts. In other words, blasting air in a range unnecessary for separating the sheet unnecessarily cools the fusing apparatus and the fusing apparatus needs to be heated again. Therefore, the energy efficiency becomes even worse.

Fusing apparatus and image forming apparatus

KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.


A gain processor circuit calculates a first AGC signal for a first one of a number of receive chains, each including a gain-controlled front-end circuit, and derives one or more additional AGC signals from the calculation of that first AGC signal for any remaining chains. The first AGC signal may be calculated by tracking received power for one or more of the receive chains. An AGC signal may be derived for each additional receive chain by assuming that its received power is the same, i.e., the same AGC command is used. Alternatively, an additional AGC command is derived based on a scaling value determined from a ratio of received powers for the first and additional receive chains. Such powers may be expressed as channel tap powers, which may be available from other circuit elements associated with signal demodulation. Alternatively, the scaling value further incorporates received interference and/or noise powers.

The present invention generally relates to communication signal receivers, and particularly relates to automatic gain control in the context of multiple receive chains.
Communication receivers typically include a receive chain that comprises a front-end circuit providing initial signal conditioning and amplification of an antenna-received signal. Such front-end circuits vary in detail depending on the nature of the received signals and the particular implementation of the associated communication receiver, but most receivers implement some form of automatic gain control (AGC) for such front-end circuits.
With AGC, the gain (or gains) of the front-end circuit is varied responsive to changing received signal strength, which itself is subject to rapid changes due to changing fading and interference conditions. The overriding goal of AGC is to maintain the received signal in a useful amplitude range, while avoiding a saturation condition in any of the receive chain circuitry. For example, assuming that the received signal as output from the front-end circuit is digitized for subsequent baseband processing, AGC would be used to maintain the received signal at a reasonable amplitude relative to the input voltage range of the Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), without exceeding that input range.
Processing the baseband samples provided by the ADC to determine received signal strength (or power) provides a mechanism for generating AGC commands. Because of the need to maintain the rapidly changing received signal within an appropriate signal range, e.g., properly scaled relative to the dynamic range of the ADC and within the voltage limits of the receive chain amplifiers, etc., such baseband processing typically is carried out at a high rate. Although AGC processing may be carried out in software, dedicated hardware oftentimes is used to support the high processing rates.
In either case, the performance capabilities of the baseband circuit tasked with supporting the AGC function must be commensurate with the AGC performance requirements. While meeting those requirements is practicable in receiver configurations that use a single receive chain, meeting them for multiple receive chains may be onerous. That is, implementing a separate AGC function for each one of multiple receive chains may be impractical in terms of the baseband resources consumed or the overall level of performance required (i.e., processor clock speed, power, etc.).

Method of automatic gain control for multiple receiver front-ends