The coupling apparatus for structural members includes a paired couplers for coupling structural members with each other, and each coupler includes a cylindrical main body, engaging projections spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction at an end of the body and projecting along the center line of the body, and engaging hooks projecting in one circumferential direction at the projecting end portions of the projections. At least one coupler further includes a coupling direction changing mechanism which couples the at least one coupler with a predetermined position of a structural member corresponding thereto so that the center line of the body of the at least one coupler can be orientated in a desired direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coupling apparatus for structural members, including a pair of couplers which couples structural members independent of each other with each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known well to assemble a large construction by coupler a plurality of structural members independent of each other.
A truss construction, for example, is well known as that construction. Conventional truss constructions are assembled with a plurality of structural members independent of each other by coupling apparatuses that use welding or fixing members such as bolts and the like.
For example, Research Report of Shimizu Corporation (Vol. 65, 1997, 4) discloses a coupling apparatus for coupling a plurality of truss structural members with each other making use of bolts.
As shown in FIG. 17A, the conventional coupling apparatus includes nose cones 12 of stainless steel mounted on predetermined positions, or both ends of a tubular truss structural member 10 formed of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) by, for example rivets not shown. Each of the nose cones 12 has a truncated-conical shape, and a high tension steel bolt 14 is screwed into the nose cone 12 from the inner hole of the tubular truss structural member 10. The portion of the shaft of the bolt 14 projected from the nose cone 12 is covered with an aluminum alloy collar 16. A fixing pin 14e is studded in the above described portion of the shaft of the bolt 14, and a longitudinal groove 16a extending in a direction in which the shaft of the bolt 14 extends is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the collar 16. The fixing pin 14e of the shaft of the bolt 14 projects into the longitudinal groove 16a on the inner peripheral surface of the collar 16.
The conventional coupling apparatus further includes a spherical node member 18. A screw hole 18a is formed at a predetermined position of the outer peripheral surface of the node member 18 as well as a recess 18b is formed at an inlet of the screw hole 18a.
After the projecting end of the shaft of the bolt 14 is aligned with the inlet of the screw hole 18a at the predetermined position of the outer peripheral surface of the node member 18, the collar 16 is rotated in a predetermined direction. With this operation, the bolt 14 is also rotated in the predetermined direction together with the collar 16, thereby the shaft of the bolt 14 is screwed into the screw hole 18a. The shaft of the bolt 14 is continuously screwed until the fixing pin 14e thereof is accommodated in the recess 18b of the inlet of the screw hole 18a. When the fixing pin 14e has been accommodated in the recess 18b, the bolt 14 can not be rotated by the collar 16.
In the conventional coupling apparatus assembled as described above, compression force exerted between the tubular truss structural member 10 and the node member 18 is mainly supported by the collar 16, and tension force exerted between the tubular truss structural member 10 and the node member 18 is mainly supported by the bolt 14.
When a node member 18′, in the outer peripheral surface of which four screw holes are formed on one imaginary circle with a maximum diameter at the same intervals, is prepared, the one ends of the four tubular truss structural members 10 can be coupled with the node member 18′ as shown in FIG. 17B.
Further, when a node member 18″, in the outer peripheral surface of which two screw holes are formed at desired two positions, is prepared, the one ends of the two tubular truss structural members 10 can be coupled with the node member 18″ as shown in FIG. 17C.
An increase in size of a construction inevitably increases the number of structural members to be coupled with each other, which makes an assembling work for the construction being troublesome.
Moreover, in the above described conventional coupling apparatus, work for aligning the projected end of the shaft of the bolt 14 at the one end of the tubular truss structural member 10 with the inlet of the screw hole 18a at the predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface of the node member 18 is very troublesome, and work for rotating the collar 16 in the predetermined direction to screw the shaft of the bolt 14 into the screw hole 18a is also very troublesome. Further, after the bolt 14 is screwed into the screw hole 18a as desired, the bolt 14 cannot be released from the screw hole 18a.
The troublesome work for assembling a construction using the conventional coupling apparatus as described above becomes more troublesome when the above assembling work is performed in an unstable environment, such as on a body floating on water, or in underwater, aerospace, or the like.
Moreover, in the above described conventional coupling apparatus, the assembling work becomes difficult unless dimensional accuracy is strictly controlled, and the assembling work becomes furthermore difficult when elements that constitute the structural member and the coupling apparatus are exposed to external environments of high temperature and low temperature, in which the elements are thermally expanded and contracted, for a long period.
Further, in the above environment, even after the assembling work is finished, the coupling apparatus is greatly deformed due to the thermal expansion and contraction of the elements that constitute the structural member and the coupling apparatus, thereby the coupling apparatus may be subjected to fatigue failure.
The present invention is derived from the above described circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a coupling apparatus for structural members which is simple in structure and can make assembling and disassembling work of the construction easy while the assembling and disassembling work is performed in the unstable environment, such as on the body floating on water, or in underwater, aerospace, or the like.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a coupling apparatus for structural members which is simple in structure, can make assembling and disassembling work of the construction easy even if the assembling and disassembling work is performed in the unstable environment such as on the body floating on water or in the underwater, aerospace, or the like, and even if the assembling and disassembling work is performed in the environment where the construction is exposed to high temperature and low temperature for a long time period, and further prevents the construction from generating a large amount of deformation and stress due to temperature expansion and temperature contraction.

Coupling apparatus for structural members


Fibrocartilage implants characterized by circumferential fiber networks embedded in arcuate or torroidal scaffolds with orthogonal fiber networks embedded therein to prevent separation of the circumferential fiber networks. The fiber networks convert axial compressive forces on the scaffolds to tensile loads on the circumferential fibers. Artificial knee meniscus and vertebral disc implants are disclosed, as well as articular disc implants for joints such as the temporomandibular joint and wrist. Methods for implanting the fibrocartilage devices are also disclosed.

The menisci are two C-shaped discs of fibrocartilage found between the condyles of the femur and the tibial plateau which play a critical role in the load transmission, load distribution, shock absorption, joint stability, and lubrication of the knee. Despite the recognized importance of the tissue, arthroscopic removal of a torn meniscus is one of the most common orthopedic procedures performed in the United States. Because the tissue has limited healing potential, the clinical outcomes of subtotal meniscectomies are generally poor. At this time, a reliable surgical procedure to replace significant loss of meniscal tissue does not exist. There is no autologous procedure to replace the meniscus and the results of allograft replacement are unreliable.
Another approach is that of tissue engineering. Current approaches include synthetic polymer scaffolds and collagen meniscus implants. With synthetic polymer scaffolds, polyurethane sponges are used to replace the meniscus. This approach has led to inconsistent results. Fibrocartilage growth is seen in some studies using this technology while in others fibrous tissue did not remodel into fibrocartilage. The underlying cartilage was protected in some studies but not protected in others.
Another type of meniscus implant uses a sponge containing collagen, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate. There is promising preliminary data for this implant, but it is not widely accepted by the orthopedic community because of issues with cytotoxic byproducts of cross-linking and scaffold shrinkage.
Both of these approaches generate an amorphous structure, the mechanical properties of which may not be appropriate for a device designed to replace the meniscus. Thus, while scaffold technology holds promise, no methods have met with the clinical success necessary for acceptance by the orthopedic community. There remains a need for a tissue engineered scaffold with the necessary mechanical properties and biocompatibility for treatment of significant meniscal damage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tissue engineered fibrocartilage replacement

RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY


The process comprises the provision of a discharge vessel (2) which is closed off on one side, fitting a second tube over part of the discharge vessel and evacuating and filling the volume of the outer bulb via a pumping hole, which remains open in the second extension part within the second tube. This pumping hole is only closed at the end by means of an operation which closes it by rolling.

US 2002/063 529 has disclosed a process for producing an electric lamp with an outer bulb, in which the outer bulb does not completely surround the inner vessel. Similar processes are described in US 2002/067 115 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,589. A variant with an outer bulb which completely surrounds the inner vessel is disclosed, for example, by CA 2 042 143.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,127 has disclosed a process for producing a cap strip for discharge lamps, the cap strip being a support strip comprising a material which is to be introduced into the lamp, in particular mercury and/or getter material as a coating. This unit is usually referred to as a getter strip. The only application area for getter and cap strips of this type envisaged by that document is the discharge vessel of a low-pressure mercury lamp. In this case, the getter or cap strip is often secured in the vicinity of an electrode, cf. also U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,603.
An example of an incandescent lamp with a getter in the outer bulb is to be found in CA-A 1 310 058.

Process for producing an electric lamp with outer bulb

Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft für elektrisch Glühlampen mbH


An embodiment of the invention is a multiprocessor system for detecting and recovering from errors. The multiprocessor system includes a first processor and a second processor. The first processor detects an error and initiates a recovery process. The first processor and said second processor synchronize at least one recovery action during the recovery process.

Existing single core processor chips use a variety of techniques and algorithms to implement fault recovery. Exemplary techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,859 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,121. In such systems, a master copy of all the processor's architected facilities is maintained in a recovery unit. The contents of these facilities is referred to as the processor's "checkpointed state". The modifications which result from the execution of an instruction are allowed to trickle down and update the checkpointed state only after that instruction completes without error. On detection of a recoverable error, the processor executes the following steps:                1) Preserve the checkpointed state by immediately blocking all updates to it.        2) Release all stores, and perform all writes, which have been queued up by previously checkpointed instructions.        3) Re-initialize the protected arrays back to their starting state (using the array built in self test, or ABIST, engines).        4) Refresh all copies of the architected facilities with the contents of the checkpointed state.        5) Begin execution at the point before the failure was encountered.        6) Make sure the processor achieves forward progress in the execution of the instruction stream (i.e. make sure it does not keep encountering the same, or some other, error before any progress is made).
There are some errors which a given core cannot recover from. When such an error is encountered the processor must stop running. The checkpointed state of the stopped processor is often loaded into a spare processor, when available, where execution may be able to continue uninterrupted (from an end user's perspective). This action is referred to as a processor checkstop followed by dynamic central processor (CP) sparing which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,112 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,829. Upon detection of a non-recoverable, or checkstop, error the processor will:                1) Try and preserve the checkpointed state by immediately blocking all updates.        2) Notify the system that the chip must stop running by driving the any_check line high to the clock chip.        3) The clock chip will eventually stop the clocks to the checkstopped processor.
The problem with this design is that any core going through recovery or checkstop takes on a certain amount of risk. For the recovery case, a core has the risk of causing Instruction Processing Damage (IPD). An IPD error indicates that previously queued operations by this processor may be suspect. The processor is reset in order to perform IPD recovery. This involves notifying the operating system that the task at hand must be aborted and retired. For the checkstop case, a core has the risk of stopping in a state in which CP sparing is not possible. Thus, techniques are needed to handle processor recovery in multi-core environments.

System and method for providing processor recovery in a multi-core system

International Business Machines Corporation


A method wherein an IC component is mounted to electrodes provided in a transparent portion of a flat panel display with interposition of an anisotropic conductive adhesive or film, includes steps of detecting, when mounting the IC component onto the transparent portion of the flat panel display for temporary bonding to the adhesive or film, positional displacement amounts of first positional alignment portions in two positions of the mounted IC component relative to second positional alignment portions in two positions of the transparent portion of the flat panel display in correspondence with the first positional alignment portions by a camera from a side of the flat panel display opposite from a side on which the IC component is mounted, thereby inspecting positional alignment state of bumps of the IC component with the electrodes of the flat panel display, feeding back the positional displacement amount of the IC component with respect to the flat panel display when the positional alignment state is not acceptable, and performing positional alignment of bumps of a next IC component with the electrodes of the flat panel display while taking the fed-back positional displacement amount into account. A state of bonding of the bumps to the electrodes of the flat panel display is detected in a plurality of portions, it is decided that a parallelism of the IC component relative to the flat panel display exceeds a tolerance range when the state of bonding is not acceptable, and then a warning signal is outputted.

The present invention relates to a method of mounting an IC component to a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display by bonding the electrodes, specifically, bumps on the electrodes of the IC component to the electrodes of the flat panel display.
A prior art method for bonding an IC component to a flat panel display is shown in FIGS. 27A1 through 28.
In FIGS. 27A1 and 27A2, each IC component for driving a flat panel display is prepared by taking an IC chip (CSP: Chip Size Package) out of a wafer 71 and providing the electrodes on the rear surface thereof with plating bumps. On the other hand, in step S50 shown in FIG. 28, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel as shown in FIG. 27B is placed in a specified position. In step S51, an anisotropic conductive adhesive or film (ACF, or anisotropic conductive sheet) 20 is attached to electrodes 2a provided on the periphery of a liquid crystal display panel 2. In step S52, each IC component 5 sucked by a component suction unit is aligned in position with the flat panel display 2, and the IC component 5 is temporarily bonded (pre-mounted under pressure) onto the anisotropic conductive adhesive or film 20 of the flat panel display 2 by means of a pressurizing tool 70. Then, in step S54, each flexible board is connected to the flat panel display 2. In step S55, the flat panel display 2 is subjected to an image electric inspection process. In this stage, it is decided whether or not the IC component 5 mounted on the flat panel display 2 can operate. If the IC component 5 is defective, the program flow proceeds to step S59 to remove the IC component 5 from the flat panel display 2 and mount another new IC component 5. When the IC component 5 is a good one, in step S56, the IC component 5 is regularly or properly bonded (mounted under pressure) to the anisotropic conductive adhesive or film 20 of the flat panel display 2 at a temperature and a pressurizing force that are higher than those in the temporary bonding process. Subsequently, in step S57, the IC component 5 and the anisotropic conductive adhesive or film 20 are coated with protection resin. In step S58, the flat panel display 2 mounted with each IC component 5 is stored in a specified position.
However, according to the above-mentioned bonding method, a lot of actual IC components have been used to be mounted onto the flat panel display for the purpose of finding an offset amount for cancelling a positional alignment error when aligning in position the IC component 5 with the flat panel display 2, and this has also resulted in the wastefulness of the IC components and requirement of much labor.
Furthermore, each IC component is mounted to the flat panel display via the anisotropic conductive adhesive or film. Therefore, even when the IC component and the flat panel display are accurately aligned in position with each other before mounting the IC component, the IC component slips with respect to the flat panel display due to the viscosity of the anisotropic conductive adhesive or film in the mounting stage, possibly causing a significant displacement of the IC component relative to the flat panel display after the IC component is mounted.
On the other hand, due to the warping of the flat panel display, a parallelism of the IC component relative to the flat panel display is possibly disordered. Furthermore, depending on the parallelism of a pressurizing tool for pressurizing the IC component against the flat panel display, the parallelism of the IC component relative to the flat panel display is possibly disordered. Therefore, the parallelism of the IC component relative to the flat panel display is required to be controlled within a specified tolerance range.
Measurement of the parallelism has been performed by measuring collapse of conductive particles in the anisotropic conductive adhesive or film or hue of bumps attached to the electrodes of the IC component by means of a microscope to measure the parallelism at a plurality of portions of the bonding portion of the IC component and the flat panel display. However, different measurement results may be produced depending on different microscopes, and if the positional relationship between the microscope and the bonding portion of the IC component and the flat panel display varies at each of the portions, different optical reflectance values result. This also causes an error in the measurement of the parallelism, meaning that the measurement of the parallelism has been difficult. Furthermore, when operators evaluate the parallelism, the operators become sensuous and produce different evaluation results due to differences between individuals, meaning that the evaluation lacks objectivity and can not be quantified.

Method of bonding IC component to flat panel display

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An implant to retain facial or dental prostheses includes a bone-engaging portion, a transmucosal portion, and an abutment portion. The bone-engaging portion of the implant includes a longitudinally extending distal portion formed of a conformal microscale cell structure and, optionally, a non-biological coating. The transmucosal portion includes a plurality of micro holes. The abutment portion of the implant may be polished to a mirrored or super-mirrored finish.

A range of oral and maxillofacial surgical operations can be carried out on a human or animal subject which can include the placement of dental or facial implants. They can be used to treat facial injuries, craniofacial fractures, soft tissue injuries of the mouth, face, and neck. They can be used in reconstructive surgery, orthognathic surgery, pre-implant surgery, including the use of implants to retain facial or dental prostheses and associated bone grafting techniques as part of oro-facial reconstruction. A common kind of implant is a dental implant that can be surgically implanted into a human or animal subject's jaw bone to support an artificial tooth and restore chewing function. The artificial tooth is typically a prosthesis—such as a crown—manufactured in accordance with methods that are well known in the art. The implant has a longitudinally extending distal portion with a standardised cross sectional area and a standardised length. Often the implant is either threaded or press-fit into a void or bore which is drilled into the human or animal subject's mandible or maxilla jaw bone at the edentulous site. The press-fit implant is usually inserted by applying a force to the implant in an insertion direction. For a threaded implant, self-tapping threads can be used for initial stability of the implant immediately after surgery. Before biological integration has time to take place, the threads can try to resist tension, twisting, or bending loads applied to the implant.
The placement of dental implants requires a proper fixation in the jaw bone to provide initial stability. For proper fixation a sufficient bone volume at the site of implantation is essential. For example, the quantity (eg. height) of the bone, the bone quality (eg. bone density) and a proper healing of the implant into the jaw is important for proper fixation. In particular, for certain dental implants to be successful, the jawbone must have enough bone height and bone density to support the implant. If the bone height under the gum is not sufficient, is not wide enough or both, or the bone density is not sufficient then a procedure to add bone to the jaw before implants can be placed is often required. In 30-40% of all dental implant procedures an augmentation of bone prior to implantation is necessary. Depending on the location of the implantation site, a number of different bone augmentation procedures can be applied and it can take 5-6 months following the procedure to achieve sufficient bone for the insertion of a dental implant. Sinus lift is commonly applied to augment bone in the upper jaw. The procedure increases the height of the jaw by filling part of the maxillary sinus with bone. In cases where the jaw ridge is too thin to place dental implants, ridge expansion can be applied. This is achieved by mechanically extending the jaw ridge, often using bone substitute material to augment bone at the jaw ridge. All of these techniques are inconvenient, traumatic, require extended healing times, suffer from a high risk of rejection and add additional cost and time to the dental implant procedure.
There is a continuing need in the art for an improved implant. The present invention seeks to address this need.


Unique identifications are assigned to entities in a network and items in a database. In general, unique identifications are assigned to entities or data items within a network by a plurality of server entities, each server entity capable of obtaining a unique subset of identifications from other server entities, assigning an identification from its subset to another server entity, subdividing its own subset to form other unique subsets and assigning a unique subset to another server entity. Each server entity receives its own server entity identification when it is installed and also may request to receive a unique subset of entity identifications. A subset of entity identifications, also referred to interchangeably herein as a "block" of entity identifications, comprises one or more entity identifications. Each server entity controls the assignment of the entity identifications within the subsets it receives. When items such as records or attributes within records are created in a server's database, the server entity generates a unique sequence identification which it combines with its entity identification to create a unique item identification.

In version 3.2 of the Macintosh operating system and subsequent versions, distributed by Apple Computer, a mechanism in the file system issues identifications for file structures, such as, for example, folders and files, which are unique within the file system of a particular computer. In this file system, called the Hierarchical File System, a newly-created file structure is assigned an identification which is based on the value of a counter. The counter is initialized and incremented with respect to each assignment of an identification to a file structure. However, the mechanism in the Macintosh operating system is not designed to handle a network of computer systems. The file system of the Macintosh operating system is described in "Inside Macintosh, Volume IV, Chapter 19, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1986 and "Inside Macintosh: Files", Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1992.
A networked computer system comprises one or more network entities such as computers, printers, servers, routers, users, gateways, processes, tasks, communication points, etc. The term "server" is used herein to denote any computer or software application which responds to a request of another computer or software application. The term "client" is used to denote an initiator of a request, either a user or a computer device, while server is used to denote an acceptor of that request.
Each entity may be described by one or more storage records, herein referred to as "records", each record containing items of information which pertain to that entity. For example, if the entity is a printer entity, then corresponding records may contain a name, an electronic address and paper size information.
Generally, in a networked computer system having a very large number of entities, a structure including one or more groupings of entities is maintained. The organizational model of this structure varies from system to system or from networked computer system to networked computer system.
In some systems the structure is organized in a hierarchical format, containing logical groupings of entities called catalogs. Each catalog may contain one or more subordinate catalogs, herein referred to as sub-catalogs, thereby permitting structures of varying depths. Records for a network entity may be included in one or more catalogs.
Typically, it is desirable for each entity and each of its records on the network to have a unique identification because ambiguities may arise when two or more entities or records have the same identification. For example, if two entities have the same identification and a third entity sends a communication over the network specifying that identification, it is unclear which entity is the intended recipient of the communication. Likewise, if a user is attempting to access a particular record and two or more records have the same identification, then, in the absence of other information, it is unclear which record to access. Thus, to avoid ambiguities, it is preferable for each entity and record in a networked computer environment to have a unique identifier.
Unique identifiers are discussed generally in "Distributed Systems--Architecture and Implementation", Chapter 9, B. W. Lampson, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1981, and "Distributed Systems", Chapter 12, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1993. The former describes unique identifiers having a structure with two components: a server identifier and a unique local identifier. The unique local identifier is unique within the domain of the server identifier. It is suggested that the server identifier is an address of a server.
In some networked computer systems, such as the Xerox Network Systems products, an identifier is created by concatenating a time stamp with an Ethernet host identifier. Xerox Network Systems is a trademark and Xerox is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation. The time stamp includes the date and time, including seconds. An Ethernet card typically includes a unique identification assigned at manufacturing time. This technique has several drawbacks however. First, it includes a hardware limitation in that each server entity generally has to include an Ethernet card. Second, the technique depends upon ensuring that the internal clock does not move backwards or stop and that more than one identifier is not issued during a single second, thereby possibly reusing a time stamp. Thus, timing servers and other precautions are used to attempt to keep the timing in sync and to keep the timing hardware and software operating. Typically, the system keeps track of the last time stamp issued and checks that the next time stamp issued is chronologically later.
In some networked computer systems, records are identified by character strings which bear some relationship to the information stored in the record. For example, in a database where each record corresponds to an individual user, the identification of a record might be the name of the user. However, two or more users may have the same name, thereby creating ambiguities. Moreover, when a user changes his or her name, the corresponding item identification is changed.
Several methods can be used to generate unique identifications for entities in a networked computer system. In some networked computer systems, one or more persons act as administrators and assign a unique number to each server for each domain. However, this system can be tedious and is vulnerable to human error.
The system can be tedious because an entity or its representative contacts human personnel to receive an identification. The human personnel uses a list, computerized or manual, in order to derive an identification to assign to the entity.
Human error may cause the same identification to be assigned to two or more entities. In a situation where two or more administrators assign identifications using a common list of identifications, a breakdown in contact, either through miscommunication or a shutdown of the communications system, can result in two or more administrators assigning the same number to two or more different entities. If the entities embed these identifications in their records, it can be difficult to correct the error, if and when the error is discovered.
Rather than assigning identifiers using human administrators, a central server, herein called a "seed server" can be used. The use of a central unique identifier generator is suggested in "Distributed Systems--Architecture and Implementation" at page 195.
In networked systems which employ a seed server method there is a risk of bottleneck because there is a single source for assigning identifications in the system. Additionally, if the seed server is unreadable, unreachable or otherwise unable to effectively assign an identification when a new server is installed in the network system, an operator generally intervenes to handle the installation of the new server. When the seed server subsequently becomes available it is updated with the information about the servers which were installed during that inoperative or problematic period. A discrepancy or error related to the updating of the seed server, could potentially result in the same identification being assigned to two different servers.

Method and apparatus for creating and assigning unique identifiers for network entities and database items in a networked computer system


A method for producing an energy cell, in particular an energy storage cell or battery, having the steps of: arranging a plurality of films of the energy cell at a processing location, and cutting the plurality of films in one operation, wherein the cutting of the films is carried out by a laser beam, and wherein the laser beam is guided in a liquid. Also an apparatus for producing an energy cell.

The invention relates to a method for producing an energy cell, in particular an energy storage cell, such as a battery, and to an apparatus for carrying out this method. The invention is used in particular in the production of lithium-ion batteries.
The procedure known hitherto from the technical literature for the production of battery films for constructing batteries, in particular lithium-ion batteries, is the mechanical cutting or punching of the films, as is described for example in the patent DE 197 050 33 A1. Recently, the cutting of the battery films by means of brilliant laser beam sources, in particular fiber lasers, has also been studied and published (e.g. "High Speed Laser Cutting of Electrodes for Advanced Batteries", ICALEO, 26-30 Sep. 2010, Herfurth, Hans; Heinemann, Stefan).
Plant engineering for water-jet-guided laser cutting is likewise known and commercially available (e.g. MicroJet laser from Synova).

Method for producing an energy cell and apparatus for carrying out same


A method of assessing traffic and performance characteristics of a mobile telecommunications network in terms of the level of service has inputs as to performance requirements for voice traffic and voice loss, data traffic or data loss, information with respect to the voice traffic offered and the data traffic offered and average length of an individual message. The determination is made on the basis of the number of radio slots which are allocable to data traffic and on the basis of an exponential distribution of the average call waiting time in the queue.

Networks for mobile telecommunications apparatuses are known. These networks are generally described as cellular and they are distinguished by a plurality of cells, each defined as the group of territorial points served by the radio-electric signal radiated by an antenna (radio interface).
Apart from the intrinsic mobility of users, the main peculiarity of networks of mobile apparatuses is the use of the radio interface as access port to the network itself.
It is also known that dimension and performance assessments of telecommunications networks or systems in which the traffic offered is composed of voice traffic only, are made by using a method at the basis of which is a model described as being of the M/M/N type where the first M stands for the exponential distribution of the calls offered by the system, the second M stands for the exponential distribution of the duration of the calls served and N corresponds to the number of lines, telephone channels or resources available, all this being expressed using what is known as the "Erlang-B" formula.
Using this method it is possible to determine dimensioning and/or performance in probabilistic terms or, in other words, the level of service P(c) of the telecommunications system examined, in the periods with the highest traffic (peak time), by means of the formula:
      P              (      c      )        =                    ρ        c                    c        !                            ∑                  i          =          0                c                                                              ρ          i                          i          !                    and in which:    λ is the number of calls arriving per unit of time:    μ is the number of calls served per unit of time:    C is the number of lines, telephone channels or resources available.
According to the state of the art, therefore, P(c) represents the percentage of incoming calls (or offers) not served (that is, blocked by the system) during the period of highest traffic (peak time) and is calculated on the basis of the telephone traffic offered and of the lines, telephone channels or resources available, naturally in the commonly known and accepted hypotheses that:
the number of incoming voice calls has a Poisson distribution with parameter λ, meaning, in an intuitive manner, that the distribution of the time between the instant of arrival of a call and the instant of arrival of the next call (inter-arrival time) is of the exponential type with parameter λ and, as a consequence, there are no bursts of calls;
the number of voice calls served has a distribution of the exponential type with parameter μ, meaning, in intuitive manner, that the distribution of the duration of the calls served by the system is of the exponential type with parameter μ.
The known method is indisputably adequate for assessing the dimensioning and performance of a telecommunications system of the type described and, as a consequence, of a base station (cell) of a mobile telephony system, such as GSM, which manages voice traffic only, as, in this case, the hypotheses indicated effectively provide a good approximation of reality.
It is also known that the assessment of the dimensioning and performance of telecommunications systems with voice traffic characterized by the presence of "queues", because there are telephone exchanges for example, is carried out using methods at the basis of which is a model of the M/M/N/Q type in which the first three terms have the meanings already illustrated above and Q represents the number of calls awaiting service which can be queued in the system.
In general, these methods are characterised by the fact that they envisage a user "impatience" factor with a dropped call frequency parameter α.
However, the known methods mentioned so far are not suitable for managing data traffic, and even less, for mixed voice and data traffic and, as a consequence, cannot be used for assessing the dimensioning and performance of network base stations, of the GSM-GPRS type, for example.
As is known, in fact, a peculiarity of data or voice and data networks, such as GSM-GPRS networks, consists of the fact that networks of this type are suitable for supplying a multiplicity of "services" such as, for example, voice telephony, FTP, email and Internet access and that each of these service has, as a rule, different characteristics both in terms of speed (number of bits per second) and of traffic (volume to transmit, symmetry or asymmetry of the service). It follows from this that system cell dimensioning must take account jointly of the characteristics of each service and, in particular, of the coexistence of the traditional voice service and of the data services supported.
A first technical problem linked with the need to support data traffic consists of the fact that the data traffic transmission speed in these types of network and, more in general, in fixed data telephony networks, is not constant with time and greatly depends of the number of lines, telephone channels or resources available in a given instant.
In the specific case of the GSM-GPRS network, as is known, data traffic for the various types of service is managed (served) using radio carriers of predefined frequency and, in the framework of each radio carrier (FDMA access technique), by a given slot (the logic channel) among those periodically available in the framework of the time frame used on the radio interface (TDMA access technique). In this context, if even one user requests a data transmission, one whole slot of the GSM time frame is assigned to the user itself and this implies a given transmission speed, for example 9.05 kbit/s nominal, for the data encoding denominated CS-1, or 13.4 kbit/s nominal for the date encoding denominated CS-2. If, on the other hand, several users simultaneously request data transmission, the single slot is subdivided among the users themselves, with a consequent drop in the transmission speed which will therefore be a function of the number of active users in the system (cell) at that moment; in a more intuitive manner, the generic user notes a net data transmission speed which varies with time on the basis of the load conditions in the system itself. The characteristics of the phenomenon described are clearly different from those typical of simple voice-only transmission for which, as is known, the GSM time frame slot assigned to the user is attributed to the same in a univocal and exclusive manner until completion of the telephone call.
Therefore, the use of a method which has the Erlang-B formula as a basis, as found in the known state of the art, is found to be a very rough approximation of the results and in fact translates into a very approximate assessment of the dimensioning of a data management network, such as, for example, a GSM-GPRS network. A second problem found in the known state of the art consists of the fact that nevertheless, as a rule, data traffic does not need to be served immediately and can therefore be queued and apparently therefore be approximated to an M/M/N/Q model in which this traffic leaves the queue or is served (if a phone channel is freed in the meantime) or because of dropping out of the system (what is called the customer's "impatience" which models the terminal-cell combination here), such a M/M/N/Q model and corresponding method once again entails a rough approximation of the results as its does not envisage managing the traffic with resources which vary over time.
Therefore, the use of a method which has the Erlang-B formula as a basis, modified to take account of the fact that the data traffic can be queued, as found in the known state of the art, is found to be a very rough approximation of the results and in fact translates into a very approximate assessment of the dimensioning of a data and/or voice management network, such as, for example, the GSM-GPRS network.
A third problem present, in particular, in the case of co-existence of voice traffic and data traffic, resides in the fact that, as is known, to the extent that priority in these cases is given to voice traffic with respect to data traffic (preemption) in such a way as to attribute all the resources (or, in any case, all the resources placed in common between the two type of services) to the first type of traffic rather than to the second to which, at most, a minimum capacity protected from intrusion by voice calls is reserved, in this case to the state of the art known to date does not take account of this preemption, and, therefore, in assessing the performance of a mixed voice and data network, it substantially assesses performance as if voice and data did not coexist and there was no preemption.
It clearly emerges from the problems described so far, that the known methodologies for assessing dimensioning and performance of the base stations of a network for mobile telecommunications apparatuses are inadequate for the requirements and are such as to lead to rough assessment errors, as they do not take account of the peculiarities of data and/or voice and data traffic.

Method for assessing the characteristics of a network for mobile telecommunications apparatuses


Provided is a coherent detection implementing apparatus, system and method. The apparatus includes: a first transceiver unit, configured to send an optical signal in a first direction to a second device, wherein the optical signal in the first direction includes a direct current optical signal with a first wavelength and a modulated optical signal with a second wavelength; and configured to receive an optical signal in a second direction from the second device; and a first coherent receiver, connected with the first transceiver unit, and configured to take a part of the direct current optical signal with the first wavelength in the optical signal in the first direction as a Local Oscillator (LO) light for coherent reception, perform coherent frequency mixing between the LO light and the optical signal in the second direction, and demodulate the optical signal in the second direction.

At present, coherent detection technology has become an important development direction of an optical communication system. Power budget and cost are two important considerations in building the optical communication system. Because of the introduction of Local Oscillator (LO) light, the coherent detection technology can significantly improve the receiving sensitivity of the system, reduce the power requirement for the received signal light, and thereby alleviate the bandwidth and power constraints of the traditional optical communication system.
The main components of a coherent receiver specified in the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) standard are shown in FIG. 1. For a coherent detection system, it is necessary to introduce an LO laser to provide the LO light. In order to achieve the coherent detection with the maximum sensitivity, the signal light and the LO light need to meet the following conditions: the signal light and the LO light need to have the same polarization state, the same frequency or a stable frequency difference, and limited phase noise. Therefore, in order to enable the central wavelength of the LO light to keep consistent with the central wavelength of the signal light, it is necessary to use a high-precision tunable laser as an LO light source for coherent detection. In order to reduce the phase noise, the line width of the used LO laser is required to be extremely narrow, which results in high cost and high price of the coherent detection system.

Coherent detection implementing apparatus, system and method


A durable sealing curtain assembly preferably comprising a pair of tracks slidably attached to opposite sides of an opening such as a door or window, a curtain having its lateral edges engaged by the tracks, and spring systems attached to each track, whereby the spring systems urge the tracks outwardly to maintain the curtain taut yet allow the tracks to slide inwardly towards the center of the opening so that the curtain does not endure excessive pressure upon application of an external force. At least one track preferably also comprises a cam mechanism that is operative to urge the track inwardly to release tension from the curtain and thereby allow the curtain to be more easily raised or lowered, after which, the cam mechanism can be disengaged to allow the track to return to its outwardly biased position, thus returning the curtain to a taut condition.

The use of sealed curtains is known in the prior art. Generally, a sealed curtain apparatus comprises a curtain and tracks along the frame of an opening such as a door or window. The edges of the curtain are engaged by the tracks. As the curtain is moved towards a position covering the opening, the edges of the curtain travel along the tracks. The benefit of this design is that the sealed curtain prevents matter such as insects and debris from passing through the space between the curtain and the frame. However, because the curtain is sealed, the apparatus becomes less durable because it cannot yield to external forces. With unsealed curtains, an external force applied to the curtain will merely briefly displace the curtain from the door or window frame. With sealed curtains, the engagement of the curtain edges with the tracks on the frame prevents the curtain from becoming displaced. Consequently, an external force applied to the sealed curtain may cause stress on the curtain leading to breakage.
In this respect, the durable sealing curtain according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus which provides a seal between the edges of a curtain and the frame of an opening such as a door or window that is better able to withstand the application of substantial external forces without suffering failure of the apparatus.
Furthermore, in the prior art, the more tautly a sealed curtain is pulled across an opening, the more difficult it generally is to slide the curtain along the tracks. In this respect, the durable sealing curtain according to the present invention allows the curtain to be loosened while urged open or shut and then returned to a taut position when the curtain is in place.


According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for multiplex backup using next relative addresses may be provided. The method may include receiving a first chunk and a second chunk that are each associated with a first file. A next relative address may be appended to the first chunk. The next relative address may indicate a position in a storage device. The first chunk with the next relative address may be written to the storage device at a first address. The method may further include writing the second chunk to the storage device at the position indicated by the next relative address of the first chunk.

In typical backup systems, a file may be divided into one or more chunks that are stored on a backup storage device. In some situations, all chunks of one file are written sequentially to the backup storage device before the next file is written. In other situations, the chunks of one file may not be contiguously written to the backup storage device. As an example, in multiplexed backup, various files may be backed up simultaneously, and the chunks of a file may be interleaved with chunks of other files as they are written to the backup storage device. In some systems, an index table may be created in order to track the locations of the chunks and to associate the chunks with their respective files. A file may be restored by reading each chunk of the file at the address of the backup storage device specified in the index table.

Multiplex backup using next relative addressing


A method of aligning an optical fiber according to the present invention has a first step of aligning an optical fiber by moving the optical fiber and finding a position that maximizes the power of beam outputted from the optical fiber with the use of a power meter, and a second step of moving and aligning the optical fiber in the optical axis direction (direction Z) from the position in which the optical fiber has been as a result of the alignment in the first step in a manner that makes the degree of polarization of two laser beams K1 and K2 equal to or lower than a given level with the use of a polarimeter.

With progress in the optical communications based on a dense wavelength division multiplexing transmission system over the recent years, a higher output is increasingly demanded to a pumping light source used for the optical amplifier.
Further, a greater expectation is recently given to a Raman amplifier as an amplifier for amplifying the light having a much broader band than by an erbium-doped optical amplifier that has hitherto been employed as the optical amplifier. The Raman amplifier may be defined as a method of amplifying the optical signals, which utilizes such a phenomenon that a gain occurs on the side of frequencies as low as 13 THz on the basis of a pumping wavelength due to the stimulated Raman scattering occurred when the pumping beams enter an optical fiber, and, when the signal beams having the wavelength range containing the gain described above are inputted to the optical fiber in the thus excited state, these signals are amplified.
According to the Raman amplification, the signal beams are amplified in a state where a polarization direction of the signal beams is coincident with a polarization direction of the pumping beams, and it is therefore required that an influence by a deviation between polarization directions of the signal beams and of the pumping beams be minimized. For attaining this, a degree of polarization (DOP) has hitherto been reduced by obviating the polarization of the pumping beams, which may be called depolarization.
As a method for depolarizing a laser beam emitted from a conventional semiconductor laser module used as a pumping light source or so in the optical fiber amplifier, one in which two laser beams are polarization-combined and output from an optical fiber is known.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional semiconductor laser apparatus as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,684.
As shown in FIG. 11, the conventional semiconductor laser apparatus comprises a first semiconductor laser device 100 and a second semiconductor laser device 101 each emitting a laser beam of the same wavelength in a direction vertical to the other; a first collimating lens 102 configured to collimate the laser beam emitted from the first semiconductor laser device 100; a second collimating lens 103 configured to collimate the laser beam emitted from the second semiconductor laser device 101; a polarization-combining coupler 104 configured to polarization-combine the orthogonally polarized laser beams that were collimated by the first collimating lens 102 and the second collimating lens 103; a convergent lens 105 configured to converge the laser beams polarization-combined by the polarization-combining coupler 104; and an optical fiber 107 for receiving the laser beams converged by the convergent lens 105 and letting the laser beams travel outside.
In the conventional semiconductor laser apparatus, the laser beams are emitted from the first semiconductor laser device 100 and the second semiconductor laser device 101 in mutually vertical directions and are polarization-combined by the polarization-combining coupler 104 to obtain a laser beam of reduced DOP from the optical fiber 107. (This technology will hereinafter be called a prior art 1.)
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Sho 60-76707 discloses a semiconductor laser module including a first and a second semiconductor laser devices disposed on a heat sink and emitting a first and a second laser beams respectively with mutually parallel optical axes and mutually parallel polarization directions from a substantially identical light-emitting end faces; a polarization rotator disposed on an optical path of the first laser beam emitted from the first semiconductor laser device and configured to rotate the polarization direction of the first laser beam by 90 degrees such that it is orthogonal to the polarization direction of the second laser beam; a polarization element (calcite, etc.) merging optical paths of the first and second laser beams of mutually orthogonal polarizations based on its birefringence effect; an optical fiber for receiving the laser beams emerging from the polarization element and letting the laser beams travel outside; and a lens for coupling the laser beams merged through the polarization element to the optical fiber. In the semiconductor laser module of this prior art, the first and second semiconductor laser devices are housed in a package to form an unit. (This technology will hereinafter be called a prior art 2).
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-31575 discloses a semiconductor laser module including a thermoelectric cooler; a first and a second semiconductor laser devices mounted on the thermoelectric cooler; a first and a second lenses each for collimating the first and second laser beams emitted from the first and second semiconductor laser devices; a polarization-combiner for combining the first and second laser beams; and an optical fiber for receiving the laser beams emerging from the polarization combiner and letting the laser beams travel outside. Moreover, the first and second semiconductor laser devices are formed in an LD array, in which the laser diodes are arrayed at a pitch between their light-emitting centers ( hereinafter referred to as inter-emission-center pitch) of 500 μm. Further, the first and second convergent lenses are formed in a lens array such as a ball lens array or a Fresnel lens array. (This technology will hereinafter be called a prior art 3.)
However, in the prior art 1, the lenses have to be aligned with respect to the respective laser beams emitted from the two semiconductor laser devices, which makes the manufacturing process complicated and requires a long time to manufacture.
In the prior art 2, the laser beams from the semiconductor laser device are directly received by a polarization rotator or a polarization element. The configuration therefore requires that a spacing between the semiconductor laser device and the lens be set to 300 to 500 μm or so in order to achieve a high coupling efficiency. It is difficult in practical point of view, however, to dispose the polarization rotator and the polarization element between the semiconductor laser device and the lens. Adopting a larger lens would create a larger space, but this approach will have a problem that a package needs to be larger in size than currently used, resulting in the semiconductor laser module being larger in size.
Further, in the prior art 3, two laser beams emitted at a wide interval (i.e. the inter-emission-center pitch of 500 μm) are respectively received by the separate lenses from each other and are made mutually parallel. The configuration has a problem that it is unsuitable for mass production since semiconductor laser devices are large in size and not obtained in large quantity from a single wafer. Narrowing a spacing between the stripes of the semiconductor laser device in order to obviate the above problem would need to accompany downsizing of the lenses, making it difficult to separate the laser beams emitted from the stripes and polarization-combining or optical combining of the beams that follows.
In order to solve the above problem, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a semiconductor laser module in which two laser beams emitted from two light-emitting stripes (hereinafter referred to simply as stripes) formed in a single semiconductor laser device are polarization-combined and received by an optical fiber. ( See Japanese patent application No. 2001-383840, for example. This technology will hereinafter be called a related art).
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a configuration of the semiconductor laser module of the related art.
As shown in FIG. 5, the semiconductor laser module M11 of the related art includes a single semiconductor laser device 2 having a first stripe 9 and a second stripe 10 formed in parallel to each other with a spacing of 100 μm or less interposed therebetween and emitting a first laser beam K1 and a second laser beam K2 from a front end face (i.e. an end face on right-hand side in FIG. 5) of the first stripe 9 and the second stripe 10 respectively; a first lens 4 positioned so that the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 are incident therealong and configured to separate the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 in the direction in which the first and second stripes 9, 10 are arrayed; a half-wave plate 6 (a polarization rotating element) configured to rotate a polarization direction of at least one of the first and second laser beam K1, K2 (i.e. the first laser beam K1 in FIG. 5) by a predetermined angle (by 90 degrees, for example); a polarization-combining element 7 (this polarization-combining element 7 will hereinafter be called a PBC) configured to optically combine therealong the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2; and an optical fiber 8 optically coupled to the combined laser beams emerging from the PBC 7 and letting the combined beams to travel outside.
In addition, a prism 5 is disposed between the first lens 4 and the half-wave plate 6 so that the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 are incident thereon and output therefrom along their respective optical axes parallel to each other. Further, a second lens 16 is disposed between the PBC 7 and the optical fiber 8 in order to optically couple the first and second laser beams K1, K2 polarization-combined by the PBC 7 to the optical fiber 8.
PBC 7 may be formed of a crystal such as rutile or YVO4.
The first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 emitted respectively from the front end face 2a of the first stripe 9 and the second stripe 10 of the semiconductor laser device 2 travel through the first lens 4, intersect and separate until the separation between the two beams is enough, before entering the prism 5.
During propagation through the prism 5, the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 are made parallel to each other with a spacing D interposed therebetween, and are emitted from the prism 5. The first laser beam K1 then enters the half-wave plate 6, where its polarization direction is rotated by 90 degrees, and then enters a first input part 7a of the PBC 7, while the second laser beam K2 enters a second input part 7b of the PBC 7.
The first laser beam K1 incident on the first input part 7a and the second laser beam K2 incident on the second input part 7b are polarization-combined along the PBC 7, and output from an output part 7c.
The laser beams emerging from the PBC 7 are then converged by the second lens 16, enter an end face of the optical fiber 8 supported by the ferrule 23, and propagate to outside.
According to the semiconductor laser module M1 of the related art, a first laser beam K1 and a second laser beam K2 polarized in identical directions are emitted from a first and a second stripes 9, 10 formed in a single semiconductor laser device 2 with an interval of 100 μm or less, and are sufficiently separated by a first lens 4. Thereafter, the first laser beam K1 experiences a rotation of its polarization direction by 90 degrees through a half-wave plate 6. The first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 are then polarization-combined along the PBC 7, and therefore, a high power laser beam of reduced DOP can be output from the optical fiber 8.
The above described semiconductor laser module M1 can therefore be utilized as a pumping light source for use in erbium-doped optical fiber amplifiers demanding high output, or further in Raman amplifiers in which the low polarization dependency and the stability of amplification gain are required.
In addition, since it comprises the single semiconductor laser device 2 with the two stripes each emitting one laser beam and the single first lens 4 configured to mutually separate the laser beams K1 and K2, it takes less time to align the semiconductor laser device 2 and the first lens 4. Consequently, manufacturing time of the semiconductor laser module M1 can be shorter.
Further, since the two laser beams emitted from the single semiconductor laser device 2 travel in substantially identical directions, the optical output obtained from the optical fiber 8 can be stabilized by suppressing a warpage of a package, accommodating the semiconductor laser device 2, the first lens 4, the half-wave plate 6, the PBC 7, the second lens 16, etc., along only one direction (i.e. along Z-direction in FIG. 5).
In the method of manufacturing the semiconductor laser module according to the Related Art, the step of positioning the optical fiber 8 includes a step of connecting a power meter 26 to the proximal end of the optical fiber 8 as shown in FIG. 12(A) and fixing the optical fiber 8 after the optical fiber 8 is aligned by moving a ferrule 23, which holds the optical fiber 8, in the X, Y and Z-axis directions with the use of a ferrule aligning hand 28 in a manner that makes the optical output maximum.
However, the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 differ from each other in light path physical length when passing the PBC 7 and have different refractive indices n1 and n2 as shown in FIG. 12(B) (for instance, the refractive index n1 is 2.46, whereas the refractive index n2 is 2.71) since the PBC 7 is, as has been mentioned, a birefringent element such as rutile crystal or YVO4. Positions G1 and G2 of focal points (beam waist: the portion where the laser beam spot size is smallest (where laser light is most condensed) in a Gaussian beam) of the first laser beam K1 and the second laser beam K2 which are formed optically downstream of the second lens 16 do not coincide with each other as shown in FIG. 12(B) (F1 and F2 in FIG. 12(B) indicate positions of beam waists formed through the first lens 4, whereas G1 and G2 in FIG. 12(B) indicate positions of beam waists formed through the second lens 16). The laser beams K1 and K2 also differ from each other in attenuation amount prior to coupling with the optical fiber 8, and in emission angle (FFP) and intensity upon emission from the respective stripes. These factors cause the intensity variation of laser light coupled to the optical fiber 8.
As a result, positioning the optical fiber 8 in its axial direction (Z-axis direction) in a manner that maximizes the optical output creates a difference in intensity between the orthogonal light beams coupled to the optical fiber 8. In some cases, the intensity difference makes the degree of polarization (DOP) of the combined beam larger than a desired level.
Further, the method of manufacturing the semiconductor laser module according to the Prior Art cannot always prevent the degree of polarization from exceeding an acceptable level due to a difference in characteristics (laser emission angle (FFP: Far Field Pattern) from an emission end face), optical output, and wavelength, as well as temperature dependency of these characteristics) between two semiconductor laser devices, a difference in placement of optical parts, a warped package, and the like.

Method of aligning an optical fiber, method of manufacturing a semiconductor laser module, and semiconductor laser module


An automatic performance, such as an automatic arpeggio performance or a short-phrase sequence performance, is executed on the the basis of manual performance note data corresponding to key depression on a keyboard, and automatic performance note data are obtained from the automatic performance. The manual performance note data and automatic performance note data are output to an external device after both of the note data are imparted different MIDI channel messages, i.e., channel identification data. The manual performance note data and automatic performance note data can be used properly because they can be accurately distinguished from each other by the different channel identification data. For example, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that a further automatic performance is executed on the basis of the automatic performance note data.

The present invention relates generally to automatic performance devices capable of executing automatic performances such as arpeggio and sequence performances, and more particularly to an automatic performance device and method which can output note data resulting from predetermined automatic performance processing to external equipment or the like and also achieves an improved output form of the note data.
In the field of electronic musical instruments, there have been known automatic performance devices which are capable of executing arpeggio and sequence performances on the basis of, for example, an actual or manual performance on the keyboard. The arpeggio performance is an automatic performance in which a plurality of notes, corresponding to a single key or a plurality of keys of chord-component pitches being depressed on the keyboard, are sounded separately, one after another, in a predetermined rhythm throughout the depression of the key or keys. The sequence performance is an automatic performance in which a set of note data of each prestored short-phrase sequence is allocated to a particular keyboard key so that reproduction of the short-phrase sequence data is initiated by depression of the key and then stopped by release of the key. Normally, in both of the arpeggio and sequence performances, no notes are sounded which directly correspond to actual key depression states on the keyboard.
The above-mentioned known automatic performance devices are provided with MIDI (acronym of "Musical Instrument Digital Interface") output and input terminals. In these known automatic performance devices, however, what are output therefrom as MIDI data (or in MIDI form) are just note data generated by the keyboard performance, and automatically-generated note data of an arpeggio or sequence performance are not output as MIDI data. Thus, performance data generated by arpeggio or sequence performance processing could not be recorded by an external device that is designed to receive MIDI data for recording/reproduction of a desired performance, and hence an external tone generator device associated with the external device could not reproduce an arpeggio or sequence performance by reading out the performance data.
As one possible approach to allow such an external device to record note data obtained from predetermined automatic performance processing such as arpeggio performance processing, the automatically-generated note data of the arpeggio performance may be output, together with the note data corresponding directly to a keyboard performance, from the automatic performance device to the external device as MIDI data. However, when the MIDI note data output to and recorded in the external device are to be read out and reinput to the automatic performance device for reproduction of an original performance, the performance device, having an arpeggio performance function, would automatically carry out further arpeggio performance processing on the reinput note data. This dual arpeggio performance processing would create a rather strange performance that is significantly different from the original performance.
In addition, when the MIDI data recorded in the external device are to be edited, the editing tends to be quite complex and troublesome because both the note data generated by the keyboard performance and the note data generated by the arpeggio performance processing are complicatedly mixed within the MIDI data.
As discussed above, various inconveniences have heretofore been encountered when the note data generated by the automatic performance processing, such as arpeggio performance processing, are to be output in MIDI form from the automatic performance device.

Automatic performance device and method achieving improved output form of automatically-performed note data


A method and apparatus for providing custom cost accounting invoicing. The method allows each customer to associate its proprietary accounting information and billing system with invoicing information. The method provides each customer with the ability to create various expense and other information profiles, such that custom invoices may be generated using the information provided in the profiles.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing custom cost accounting billing and invoicing to facilitate business transactions.
Many business transactions require the steps of billing and invoicing. For example, in a typical business transaction, a seller of products and/or services sends an invoice to the purchaser of the products and/or services. The purchaser receives the invoice, charges or bills the amount to the appropriate account or accounts, and pays the amount on the invoice to complete the business transaction. Very often, both the seller and the purchaser are large business entities that involve multiple branches, employees, departments and business accounts. Thus, to aid the processing of business transactions, many of these billing and invoicing are performed electronically with various software and computer systems.
Even with sophisticated billing and accounting systems, the billing and invoicing involved in transactions is still complex. For example, multiple services and/or products may be involved in the same transaction, and one business entity may be involved in numerous transactions at the same time. Different types of transactions, services, or products may be charged to various different accounts or deducted from different budgets. In addition, the party receiving the invoice may also need to associate various other proprietary information to the items in the invoice, since such information may be important and essential for the invoice receiving party to complete the business transaction. For example, the party receiving the invoice may want to associate information regarding departments, managers, divisions, budgets or events with each item in the invoice.
Because of the complexity of both the transactions and the billing and accounting systems, a party receiving invoices must often further process the data in the invoices before appropriate accounts can be charged and the invoices can be paid. Typically, after a party receives an invoice, the party must first go through each item of the invoice and determine which account should be associated with a particular item in the invoice. Because each party has its custom proprietary computer systems, the party receiving the invoice must specify the account information in its own computer systems before the invoice can be processed. This may typically involve the party manually entering the invoice data into its system and associating specific items on the invoice with specific accounts. This additional processing significantly increases the workload and time required to process each invoice, and hence detrimentally affects the efficiency of business transactions, especially for large transactions and/or recurring transactions.
Therefore, there is a need to allow an invoice receiving party to customize the invoicing process such that the necessary proprietary information associated with an invoice is available automatically without the need for any of the above additional processing.

Method and apparatus for custom cost accounting invoicing


A hydraulic towing system for use with towing vehicles lacking hydraulics including a hydraulic housing which is mounted to a towing device. The hydraulic housing includes an internal compartment which stores a hydraulic system for controlling the towing device. A reservoir, pump, and control are used to control flow of hydraulic fluid through a plurality of hydraulic conduits. First and second hydraulic conduits are linked with a lift actuator which acts to transition the towing device between a lowered position for use and a raised position for storage. Third and fourth hydraulic conduits are linked with a catch actuator, which acts to mount the towing device to a towed vehicle by extending an engaging member to through a hitch of the towed vehicle. Thus, a self-contained hydraulic system may be provided for a towing device where the towing vehicle does not include its own hydraulic system.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a hydraulic system and more specifically it relates to a hydraulic towing system for use with towing vehicles lacking hydraulics.
Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Towing systems are commonly used with a wide range of towing vehicles. They can range from a simple winch to more complex systems which utilize hydraulics to advance or retract various towing connectors for linking the towing vehicle with the towed vehicle.
It has been shown through trial and effort that hydraulics are optimal for use in controlling a towing system to ensure that the towing vehicle and towed vehicle are firmly and safely connected to each other. Use of such hydraulics can ensure a tight connection that is less likely to be lost during towing efforts.
However, such systems are typically dependent on the towing vehicle already having a built-in hydraulic system to be connected to the towing system. Thus, the use of such hydraulic towing systems has, until now, been limited to use with towing vehicles incorporating their own hydraulic systems.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved hydraulic towing system for use with towing vehicles lacking hydraulics.


A wafer processing method which can polish the chamfered portion of a wafer quickly, is disclosed. The processing method comprises the steps of: chamfering a peripheral portion of a wafer obtained by slicing an ingot, by grinding; lapping the wafer; etching the chamfered or lapped wafer; thereafter honing the entirety of the chamfered peripheral portion of the wafer by using a grinding stone while applying a predetermined load to the grinding stone; and thereafter polishing the entirety of the chamfered peripheral portion and the front and rear surfaces of the wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer processing method and an equipment therefor, in particular, to a method for finishing the chamfered peripheral portion of a wafer and a finishing equipment therefor.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a wafer processing method comprising the steps of; chamfering a peripheral portion of a wafer for preventing the peripheral portion from being chipped off, lapping for making variation in thickness of wafers small, etching for removing a cracked layer and contaminated portions which were formed by abrasive grains sticking thereunto or the like, and mirror-polishing the chamfered peripheral portion and the main surface of the wafer, sequentially, is known. A method in which the order of the chamfering and lapping steps is reversed to that of the above-described method, is also known, as described in "Semiconductor Material Basic Engineering" published by Nikkan Kogyo Newspaper Publishing Company on Feb. 28, 1994. However, in the latter method, because the peripheral portion of the wafer remains edged when lapping, there are the danger of occurrence of the peripheral portion being chipped off during lapping and further the danger of the main surface of the wafer being scratched by broken silicon pieces or the like. Therefore, the method comprising a lapping step after a chamfering step, such as the former, is recently on the main stream.
There is another method as a modified example of the former, in which the chamfering step comprises a first grinding step for grinding to round and chamfer the peripheral portion of the wafer by using a grinding stone having large grain size (e.g., #800) and a second grinding step for grinding the chamfered portion by using a grinding stone having small grain size (e.g., #1500) just after the first grinding step. According to the method, the smoothness of the chamfered portion is a little degraded in a following etching step. However, because the smoothness thereof after the etching step is better than the case using only a grinding stone having large grain size, it is possible to easily carry out the work in a following polishing step for the chamfered portion.
However, in a method in which a lapping step is carried out after a chamfering step, there are some problems, that is, because the shape in plan or in section of the chamfered portion is got out of shape, and there is no opportunity to compensate the deformation of the shape, the deformed wafer as it is, is sent to a step for manufacturing semiconductor devices. Consequently, there is a problem that resist material to be removed remains on the peripheral portion of the wafer, in a photo-lithography step, and such a problem has contributed to the prevention of higher integration of semiconductor devices which will be required more and more in the future.
On the other hand, in a conventional etching step which was carried out just after a lapping step, the so-called acid etching, i.e., an etching in which the wafer was immersed in a liquid mixture of hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid and acetic acid, or the like, was carried out. However, because acid etching has defects that it is difficult to keep the flatness of the wafer after lapping and that high costs are required for processing the waste of the used etching liquid, recently, alkali etching, i.e., an etching in which the wafer was immersed in a liquid of sodium hydroxide, a liquid of potassium hydroxide or the like, has been mostly used, instead of acid etching. Because alkali etching is anistropic and is different from acid etching which is isotropic, when alkali etching is utilized, in particular, the rear surface or the periphery of the wafer is roughened, so that the smoothness of the wafer is degraded. Therefore, a further processing for the rear surface or the chamfered portion of the wafer is required. Particularly, there is a problem that the processing for the latter chamfered portion after alkali etching requires much time for processing the surface to have a roughness less than a predetermined value, to obtain the target smoothness, which is several times that of acid etching. When an alkali etching is utilized, in the step of polishing the surfaces of the wafer, a method to improve the smoothness of the rear surface of the wafer, in which a wafer is set on a carrier and the front and rear surfaces of the wafer are simultaneously polished by buffs which are set on lapping plates arranged in upper and lower sides of the wafer, is also carried out. However, in such a polishing for the front and rear surfaces of the wafer, some problems, that is, the chamfered portion of the wafer is shaved by the inner wall of the carrier to make the sectional shape of the chamfered portion get out of shape, and thereby in a photo-lithography step in the following manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, resist material to be removed remains on the peripheral portion of the wafer, may be encountered. Therefore, these problems have contributed to the prevention of higher integration of semiconductor devices.

Wafer processing method and equipment therefor


One embodiment of the leash for an electronic device, with a data port, comprises: a connector; a singular cord; an elastomeric coating; a protective element; and a washer. The connector includes a broad face, an insertable member adjacent to the broad face and configured to engage the data port, and a latch configured to selectively lock the insertable member to the data port. The singular cord includes a first and second end and defines a spring-loop junction therebetween, wherein the second end is arranged proximal to the spring-loop junction to form a loop. The elastomeric coating is arranged over the cord between the first end and the spring-loop junction and defines a spring section therebetween. The protective element is arranged over the spring-loop junction and the second end of the cord. The washer couples the first end to the connector, the cord extending from the broad face of the connector.

Handheld electronic devices, including cell phones, smartphones, tablet computers, cameras, personal music (MP3) players, gaming controller, personal gaming devices, are used and carried by users in a wide variety of situations. Users continue to use their electronic devices in exceedingly hazardous environments, from roller coaster rides to snowboarding runs down a slope, despite the known risks involved, such as dropping the electronic device and permanently damaging or losing the device altogether. Thus there is a need in the electronic device accessory field for a new and useful leash to retain an electronic device for a user. This invention provides such a new and useful leash for an electronic device.


A method of masking a surface of a gas turbine engine component wherein the ability of a masking member to retain the shape of the surface to which it is applied is used as a primary fixing strategy to releasably hold the masking member in position over the surface of the gas turbine engine component.

Methods of encapsulating in a casting block a workpiece poorly configured for direct gripping or clamping on a machine tool or the like are presently known. Also known, is the use of adhesive backed foil to mask the workpiece prior to encapsulation to protect the encapsulated surface of the workpiece from damage or contamination. A problem resulting from the use of such adhesive backed foil to mask the workpiece lies in that interstitial spaces between the foil and the surface being masked become difficult to avoid because of the adhesive layer. The existing interstitial spaces give rise to unwanted movement of the workpiece during treatment or machining as the workpiece is poorly secured within the casting block. Consequently, numerous workpieces are discarded due to imprecise machining or errors in treatment caused by the uncontrollable movement of the workpiece.
Furthermore, once the adhesive backed foil is removed, an undesirable residue is left on the surface of the component. Time and effort are wasted to properly clean the surface, which results in non-optimal productivity.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved method of masking a workpiece that addresses the issues raised above.

Method for masking a workpiece before encapsulation in a casting block


Video presence systems are described that detect an area of interest (e.g., facial region) within captured image data and analyze the area of interest using known color information of the content currently being presented by a display, along with measured ambient light color information from a color sensor, to determine whether the area of interest (e.g., face) is currently illuminated by the display or whether the AOI is not affected by the display and instead only illuminated by the ambient light. Upon determining that the display casts color shade on the AOI, the video presence system pre-processes the image data of the detected area of interest to correct the color back to skin color under ambient light prior to performing general white balance correction.

Video conferencing, including video chat software and services, is becoming an increasingly popular way for friends, families and business associates to communicate. For example, people are increasing adding cameras, referred to as webcams, to digital displays, such as televisions (TVs), computer displays and tablets, to gain the ability to video conference using various software services. In addition, dedicated video presence systems with built-in cameras and with displays sized for video communications are frequently used by corporations to provide remote conferencing abilities.

Color correction for video communications using display content color information


According to the present invention, a non-isochronous magnetic field distribution in which the magnetic field increases as the radius increases is formed and a distribution of fixed-frequency accelerating RF voltage is formed, said non-isochronous magnetic field distribution and said distribution of fixed-frequency accelerating RF voltage being formed so that a harmonic number defined as a ratio of the particle revolution period to the period of the accelerating RF voltage decreases in integer for every particle revolution.

A cyclotron as a typical spiral orbit charged particle accelerator was invented by Lowlence in 1930, and the cyclotron includes a magnet 11 for generating magnetic field, accelerating electrodes 12 for generating radio-frequency (RF) voltage to accelerate charged particles, and an ion source 13 for creating charged particles as shown in FIG. 1-(A) and (B). The magnet 11 includes north pole 15 and south pole 16. The particles are accelerated on the spiral orbit 14.
The cyclotron is based on the principle that a period (Tp) of a charged particle circulating in a magnetic field is given by Equation (1):Tp=2πm/eB  (1)where π is the ratio of circle's circumference to its diameter, m is mass of moving particle (kg), e is electric charge (C), and B is magnetic flux density on a beam trajectory (tesla).
The mass m is given by the rest mass of m0 and the particle velocity of v(m/s) as follows:m=m0/(1−(v/c)2)1/2  (2)where c is the velocity of light (approximately 3×108 m/s).
The Equation (1) shows that the revolution period of the particle is constant if the value of m/eB is constant on the beam trajectory. This distribution of magnetic field is called an isochronous magnetic field distribution. Particularly, when the velocity v is much smaller than the light velocity c, the revolution period of the particle is constant in the uniform magnetic flux density B. Thus, the period of the accelerating RF voltage should be constant. FIG. 2 is a view of waveform of the RF voltage showing a relation between phases of the particle and the RF voltage in the isochronous magnetic field. In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is an RF voltage.
A ratio of the particle revolution period (Tp) to the period (Trf) of accelerating RF voltage is called harmonic number N and given by Equation (3).N=Tp/Trf  (3)
In FIG. 2, a case of N=2 is shown.
A kinetic energy E of a particle moving in a magnetic field is given by Equation (4),E=((ecBR)2+m02c4)1/2−m0c2  (4)where R is a radius of a trajectory curvature.
Equation (4) shows that the magnitude of BR has to be increased to increase particle energy. Thus, the magnetic field or the radius must be increased. However, a proton energy accelerated with a moderate size cyclotron is limited about 200 MeV because technical problems are encountered when the BR increases.
In order to solve the problem, a ring cyclotron as shown in FIG. 3 was developed. The ring cyclotron includes several bending magnets 31 located separately from each other and accelerating RF cavities 32 formed between the magnets 31. A low energy particle beam pre-accelerated is injected at an injection point 33 of the ring cyclotron. The injected particles are accelerated by the RF cavities and bent by the bending magnets. As a result, the accelerated particles pass on the spiral orbit 34 and extracted at an extraction point (not shown). The energy at the injection point is the injection energy and that at the extraction point is extraction energy. The radius of the trajectory curvature at the injection point is the injection radius and that at the extraction point is extraction radius. In the ring cyclotron, accelerated energy in one revolution can reaches higher than 1 MeV because the accelerating cavities and the bending magnets are spatially separated (see Non-Patent Document).
The ring cyclotron also requires the isochronous magnetic field distribution. In other wards, the field averaged on the trajectory must satisfy the condition that Tp of Equation (1) is constant. The particle energy E is also given by Equation (4) using the averaged magnetic field B and the averaged radius R. An energy gain G of the ring cyclotron is given by Equation (5),G=extraction energy/injection energy={((ecB2R2)2+m02c4)1/2−m0c2}/{((ecB1R1)2+m02c4)1/2−m0c2}  (5)where B1 and B2 are averaged magnetic flux densities at injection and extraction points, and R1 and R2 are averaged radiuses of injection and extraction points.
Particularly, when the velocity v is much lower than the light velocity c or in a non-relativistic case, Equation (5) is rewritten as follows:G=(B2R2/B1R1)2  (6)
Thus, the ratio of R2 to R1 is larger as the energy gain G is higher. Consequently, the size of magnets becomes larger as the energy gain becomes higher.
Non-Patent Document 1:
    T. Kamei and H. Kihara, "Accelerator Science", MARUZEN Co. Ltd., Sep. 20, 1993, p. 210–211

Spiral orbit charged particle accelerator and its acceleration method

National Institute of Radiological Sciences