An optical path of measurement light emitted from a measurement light source is overlaid by a beam combiner on an optical path of reference light emitted from a reference light source. The measurement light emitted from the measurement light source includes light in the sensitivity wavelength range (S1) of a measurement light detector and light in the sensitivity wavelength range (S2) of a reference light detector. An interferometer includes a wavelength separation filter that cuts light in at least a part of the sensitivity wavelength range (S2) of the reference light detector, of light included in the wavelength range of the measurement light.

A Michelson two-beam interferometer utilized for FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) in a spectrometer is configured to divide, with a beam splitter, measurement light (for example, near-infrared light) in two directions of a fixed mirror and a moving mirror, and to combine, with the beam splitter, light reflected off the fixed mirror and light reflected off the moving mirror into one optical path. When the moving mirror is moved back and forth (in the direction of the optical axis of entrance light), since the optical path difference of the two light beams divided is changed, the combined light becomes measurement interference light (interferogram) whose intensity is changed according to the amount of movement of the moving mirror. This interferogram is sampled and is subjected to AD conversion and Fourier transform, and thus it is possible to determine the spectrum distribution of the entrance light, with the result that it is possible to determine, from the spectrum distribution, the intensity of the measurement interference light per number of waves (1/wavelength).
Since the interferogram described above is indicated by a function of the phase difference of the moving mirror and the fixed mirror, that is, a function of the optical path difference of the light reflected off the moving mirror and the light reflected off the fixed mirror, when the interferogram is sampled and thus its intensity is determined, in general, it is necessary to monitor the position of the moving mirror with a reference light source in addition to a light source that emits the measurement light. Specifically, reference light (for example, laser light) emitted from the reference light source is divided with a beam splitter and guided to the moving mirror and the fixed mirror, the light reflected off the moving mirror and the light reflected off the fixed mirror are combined with the beam splitter and the combined light is guided as reference interference light to a reference light detector for position detection. Since the intensity of the reference interference light is changed according to the position of the moving mirror, variations in the intensity of the reference interference light are detected with the reference light detector, and thus it is possible to determine the position (the optical path difference of the two light beams divided) of the moving mirror.
In this respect, for example, in patent document 1, the optical path of laser light serving as reference light is provided side by side with the optical path of measurement light, and, based on the result of detection of the laser light by a reference light detector, a signal indicating timing at which interferogram is sampled is produced.
In recent years, much attention has been focused on safety and security, and trace detection and high-precision detection have been required in various fields. In particular, in the inspection of medicines in pharmaceutical research laboratories and the like and in hospitals in the medical field, it is important to identify samples with high precision. For example, in order to realize a high-precision measurement, patent document 2 discloses a configuration in which unnecessary light included in measurement light is cut by an optical bandpass filter.

Interferometer and spectrometer including same


The present invention provides compositions and methods for the multiple release of a drug in the gastrointestinal tract of a subject through the use of an oral multiple drug release system. The system provides site-specific release of the drug to both the small intestine and the colon in the form of multiple controlled doses for long-lasting efficacy, thereby reducing the drug dosing frequency.

In the past decade, rapid development has occurred in the field of drug delivery and release. In particular, a number of drug delivery and release systems have been developed that influence the control of drug release.
For the topical treatment of diseases and disorders such as ulcerative colitis, drug release in the colon of the gastrointestinal tract topically accumulates the drug in a high concentration without involving absorption in the small intestine, which leads to the reduction of systemic side effects and is obviously favorable for the improvement of a therapeutic effect. Considering a systemic drug, on the other hand, release in the colon is disadvantageous in that the colon is shorter and poorer in development of microvilli than the small intestine and therefore has a smaller surface area available for absorption and is less permeable to a polar compound. However, the average retention time in the ascending colon is about 3 hours in younger people and about 10 hours in older people (Hongo et al., NICHIHEIKATSUKINSHI, 24:55-60 (1988)), which is equal to or even longer than that in the small intestine (about 3 to 4 hours), and it means a long, effective absorption time. Considering the aspect of the colon as a site of administration of peptide or protein-based drugs, the colon is advantageous in that no digestive enzymes are secreted and that the peptidase activity of the membrane of the large intestine is lower than that of the small intestine (Kopecek et al., Proc. Int. Symp. Control. Rel. Bioact. Mat., 17:130-131 (1990)). Therefore, drug release in the colon is expected to give improved systemic bioavailability.
A large number of preparations targeting the lower part of the gastrointestinal tract, especially the colon, have been reported. These systems are roughly divided into four types: (1) a delayed release system designed to release a drug in accordance with a change in pH; (2) a timed-release system designed to release a drug after a predetermined time; (3) a microflora enzyme system making use of the abundant enterobacteria in the lower part of the gastrointestinal tract; and (4) a system making use of a lectin-like substance specific to the large intestine.
The delayed release system uses an acrylic or cellulosic enteric coating material and dissolves on pH change. Because of ease of preparation, many reports on this system have been made. Taking the system using the acrylic enteric coating material Eudragit S as an example, many reports can be found, such as those by Behringer, Manchester University, Saale Co., and the like. However, the group from Manchester University reported at AAPS in 1993 that for such enterically-coated systems, the timing of drug release is determined by the transit of the system in the gastrointestinal tract rather than a pH change and, therefore, the specificity to the colon is low. Further, it is very likely that the other similar delayed release systems are also unsuccessful in colon-specific drug release.
The timed-release system is represented by the Time Erosion System (TES) from Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Pulsincap from H. P. Scherer. According to these systems, the site of drug release is determined by the time of transit of the system in the gastrointestinal tract, which makes it difficult to target the release of a drug in the lower gastrointestinal tract. Since the transit of the system in the gastrointestinal tract is largely influenced by the gastric emptying time, some systems can be made with an enteric coating. Nevertheless, it is difficult to release a drug specifically in the colon, considering that the transit time of the system in the small intestine displays both intra- and inter-variation and also largely varies according to the disease or disorder to be treated.
Of particular interest is the system using the enterobacteria located in the lower gastrointestinal tract. This system is classified into three categories: (1) those utilizing degradation of azoaromatic polymers by an azo-reductase produced from enterobacteria as reported in Saffran et al., Science, 233:1081-1084 (1986) and Kopecek et al., Pharmaceutical Research, 9:1540-1545 (1992); (2) those utilizing degradation of polysaccharides by β-galactosidase of enterobacteria as reported in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-50863 and Bauer et al., Pharmaceutical Research, 10:5218 (1993); and (3) those utilizing degradation of chitosan by chitosanase as reported in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-217924 and Japanese Patent Application No. 4-225922. However, degradation of an azoaromatic polymer by enterobacteria is slow (Kopecek et al., supra) and may produce a harmful substance, making it unsuitable for long-term use. In fact, such a system containing insulin, when administered to beagle dogs, only achieved low efficacy (Saffran et al., Biochemical Society Transactions, 18:752-754 (1990)). The system using a polysaccharide is considered to cause no safety concerns because a material that has been taken as dietary fiber is used. However, according to a study performed by Cook et al., Pharmaceutical Research, 10:S223 (1993), the polysaccharide pectin is not only slowly degraded by enterobacteria, but the drug is released at a point in time prior to the arrival of the system in the colon. Therefore, this system appears to be ineffective as a colon-specific drug release system. Similarly, the drug release in artificial intestinal juice was found to be uncontrolled and non-specific (see, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-50863).
The system utilizing a lectin-like substance present in the large intestine has been reported in Kopecek et al., Proc. Int. Symp. Control. Rel. Bioact. Mat., 17:130-131 (1990). This technique relates to a polymeric system prepared by binding fucose and a drug to a polymer via an azo bond, utilizing a lectin-like substance present in the large intestine for fucose recognition, and controlling the transit of the system in the colon so as to let the system release the drug by the action of an azo-reductase. However, the fucose-recognizing lectin is specific only to guinea pigs. Therefore, the technique cannot be applied directly to humans.
As a result, none of the various systems described above for colonic drug release is satisfactory for providing site-specific drug release to the colon.
Another disadvantage of the various systems described above is the lack of sufficient pharmacological effects of the drug in the second half of the day from a system taken only once daily, especially for drugs where prolonged and consistent efficacy is required for effective treatment of a disease or disorder. In particular, delivery systems containing drugs that are quickly eliminated from plasma or have site-specific absorption patterns are confronted with the difficulty of maintaining effective levels over the period of a full day following oral administration. In general, such systems necessitate a dosing regimen where a patient is administered the drug at least twice a day. However, the inconvenience associated with multiple daily administrations, especially among children, leads to patient non-compliance and results in the ineffective treatment of a disease or disorder. As such, none of the above-described systems is suitable for providing sustained, site-specific drug release.
Thus, there is a need to develop a drug delivery system for the release of a drug in the gastrointestinal tract that provides, for example: (1) long-lasting drug efficacy (e.g., sustained release for about 24 hours); (2) site-specific delivery to multiple release sites (e.g., drug release in both the small intestine and colon); (3) reduced dosing frequency; and (4) drug release that is independent of the transit time of the system through the gastrointestinal tract. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.

Gastrointestinal-specific multiple drug release system


The present invention provides an infrared ray lamp and a heating apparatus using that infrared ray lamp, a method of manufacturing a heating element and a method of manufacturing an infrared ray lamp, in which radiation range in the longitudinal direction of an infrared ray lamp is either widened than the length of a heating element and carries out heating uniformly, or narrowed than the length of the heating element and increases the radiation intensity to carry out heating locally. Infrared ray lamp of the present invention has: a curved glass tube which has a form that extends in longitudinal direction, its crossing angle of the tangent lines of both ends along that longitudinal direction being 2 degrees or more; and a single or a plurality of heating elements which are sealed in the glass tube and has a flexibility to curve around the glass tube.

The present invention relates to an infrared ray lamp for use in a heating apparatus such as a heater or a cookware, a heating apparatus using the same, a method for manufacturing a heating element which comprises the same, and a method for manufacturing an infrared ray lamp, and specifically, relates to an infrared ray lamp using a carbonaceous matter as the heating element and having a superb function as a heat source, a heating apparatus using the infrared ray lamp, a method for manufacturing a heating element, and a method for manufacturing an infrared ray lamp.
Conventional infrared ray lamp has a heating element inserted in a quartz glass tube, wherein heating element is fabricated by forming a resistive element of metal of a nichrome (Ni, Cr, Fe) wire or a tungsten (W) wire in a spiral shape to be heated in the air or in an atmosphere to emit heat directly or with a reflector plate. Since the spiral-fabricated heating element has a uniform radiation intensity distribution, it was not suitable for heating in specific directions. Furthermore, since the spiral-fabricated heating element is hollow inside, it has a gap space between spiral wires, and heat is radiated inside in vain, and hence the spiral heating element required a wasteful energy for extra heating.
Thereupon, in substitution for the conventional spiral-fabricated heating element, an infrared ray lamp having carbonaceous matter as the heating element, wherein carbonaceous matter is formed in plate shape, is disclosed in the international publication WO 01/041507 pamphlet. Since the infrared ray emissivity is as high as 78–84% in carbonaceous matter, using carbonaceous matter as the heating element leads to the rise of infrared ray emissivity of the infrared ray lamp. A plate-shaped heating element has major features such as needlessness of energy for extra heating.
An infrared ray lamp, in which a sintered body of carbonaceous matter formed in a plate shape is used as a heating element and is inserted in a cylindrical quartz glass tube, has a significant radiation intensity and can perform heating with directivity when its cross-sectional shape of carbonaceous heating element is at a rate of 1 to 5 or more.
Furthermore, a desired radiation intensity distribution can be obtained by forming a reflection film evaporated onto a glass tube or a reflector plate which is hemicylindrical and has a mirror-finished reflecting surface in its inner surface. A reflection film or a reflector plate reflects infrared rays radiated from a heating element, and enables to locally increase the radiation intensity.
Since the conventional infrared ray lamp described in the international publication WO 01/041507 pamphlet is configured of a linear heating element and a linear quartz glass tube, longitudinal radiation range of the infrared ray lamp is determined by the length of the heating element. Therefore, even though radiation intensity can be locally increased or diffused in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the heating element by using a reflection film or a reflector plate, the conventional infrared ray lamp could neither enlarge radiation range nor increase radiation intensity locally in a longitudinal direction of the heating element.
The present invention is devised in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and aims to provide an infrared ray lamp having a wide radiation range in the longitudinal direction of a heating element. The present invention aims to provide an infrared ray lamp having a locally strong radiation intensity within a narrow radiation range in the longitudinal direction of a heating element, a heating apparatus using the same, and method for manufacturing a heating element and method for manufacturing an infrared ray lamp.

Infrared ray lamp, heating apparatus using the same, method for manufacturing a heating element, and method for manufacturing an infrared ray lamp

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Disclosed herein is an induction heat cooking apparatus including a power supply configured to supply an alternating current (AC) voltage, a rectifier configured to rectify the supplied AC voltage into a direct current (DC) voltage, first and second switching units configured to control switching such that the DC voltage from the rectifier is alternately applied to a working coil, a comparison unit configured to sense current flowing in the working coil and to compare the sensed current with a predetermined reference value to output pulses, and a controller configured to determine whether a cooking vessel is present on the working coil based on the output pulses.

Recently, electric ranges have come into widespread use, because the electric ranges do not generate carbon monoxide in a combustion process and have a low risk of safety accidents such as gas leak or fire.
Meanwhile, an electric range may use a highlight method of converting electricity into heat using a nichrome wire having high electrical resistance or an induction method of generating a magnetic field to apply heat using an electromagnetic induction method.
An induction heat cooking apparatus may mean an electric range operating according to the induction method. A detailed principle of the induction heat cooking apparatus will now be described.
In general, the induction heat cooking apparatus enables high-frequency current to flow in a working coil or a heating coil provided therein. When high-frequency current flows in the working coil or the heating coil, strong lines of magnetic force are generated. The lines of magnetic force generated in the working coil or the heating coil generate eddy current upon passing through a cooking vessel. Accordingly, heat is generated in the cooking vessel according to flow of Eddy current to heat the cooking vessel. As the cooking vessel is heated, food contained in the vessel is heated.
The induction heat cooking apparatus is an electric cooking apparatus for inducing heat in a cooking vessel to heat food. When the induction heat cooking apparatus is used, oxygen is not consumed and waste gas is not generated, thereby decreasing indoor air pollution. In addition, the induction heat cooking apparatus has high energy efficiency and safety. In addition, the induction heat cooking apparatus heats a vessel, thereby reducing risk of burns.
Meanwhile, if the induction heat cooking apparatus includes several burners, it may difficult for a user to intuitively distinguish between buttons for respectively adjusting the burners. Alternatively, even when a cooking vessel is not located on the induction heat cooking apparatus, energy for heating may be consumed. In order to solve such problems, there is a need for a method of, at an induction heat cooking apparatus, automatically determining whether a cooking vessel is present.

Induction heat cooking apparatus and operating method thereof


A rotary joint is configured to transfer a fluid between two entities, one of which is in rotary motion with respect to the other. The rotary joint comprises a cylindrical internal element, apt to be fixed to the entity in rotary motion, and a plurality of annular external elements. The external elements comprise at least two head elements, at least two housing elements of respective gaskets, two bearing elements, and at least one fluid inlet. The fluid inlet is placed between said two bearing elements. Housing elements of respective gaskets are arranged externally to the bearing elements, and head elements are arranged externally to the housing elements. The gaskets define an annular shaped sealed area. The sealed area is accessible on one side through said fluid inlet and on the other side through at least one fluid passage channel passing through the body of said internal element.

The present invention concerns a rotary joint and a pressure regulation system for tires.
The invention refers specifically to the field of tires for agricultural, earth- and forestry use, but can be considered in all applications that need to adjust the tire pressure, in particular to adapt the pressure according to use.
It is known that machines for agricultural use need to move on various types of soil. In particular, these machines can be used both on the road and on the field. Depending on the type of use there is a need to have a tire with different inflation pressures.
In fact, when the tractor works in field conditions, a low inflation pressure of tires allows a lower fuel consumption, resulting in an increase in traction, and moreover reduces the compaction of the soil. On the contrary, on the road it is necessary to increase the inflation pressure, to reduce fuel consumption and to improve the stability of the vehicle.
Traditionally, the problem of traction on the field can be partially solved by the aid of the ballast which, by increasing the weight, press the tire to the ground, increasing both the value of the contact pressure and the size of the footprint, with the effect of increase the amount of tire surface useful for traction. The increase in the size of the footprint can, however, also be achieved by reducing the internal pressure of the tire.
The use of low pressure on fields is however limited by the difficulty of bringing the tire back to a higher inflation pressure for the subsequent road travel. To limit the discussion there is therefore the difficulty to bring the tire pressure back to the correct value for road use, since this increase in pressure requires the use of systems outside the tire itself, which require the tractor to be stopped during operations.
The optimal working conditions on the road (where the pressure must be higher) and on the field (where the optimal pressure is lower) can be combined by means of a special pressure regulation system.
According to the prior art, to give rise to this variation of pressure there are various possibilities, which are however burdensome both from the point of view of the realization and from the economic point of view. Moreover, with none of the existing solutions it is possible to achieve the necessary pressure reduction without changing the geometry of the tire-rim assembly.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,196,814, 2,525,752 and 5,109,905 relate to different systems to make multiple-chamber tires; U.S. Pat. No. 2,196,814 in particular describes a tire wherein the inner chamber is divided into compartments by a plurality of protrusions projecting inwardly from the wall of the tire, U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,752 describes a tire divided into several superimposed concentric annular chambers and U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,905 describes a tire divided into two overlapping concentric annular chambers, separated by a collapsing wall, one of the two chambers being inflated at a higher pressure, so as to compensate for any loss of pressure of the other. All the solutions according to these patents have the limit to add a constructive complication to the system in the phase of realization of the tire, and moreover limit the inner space with consequent decrease in the amount of air inside the cover.
Some existing solutions provide for the installation of equipment located in the space between the rim and the cover, and then inside the cover itself. Being the assembly of the tire on the rim achieved by the subsequent assembly of the two heels which will then hit the rim, it is extremely difficult to insert an external apparatus in a simple manner. In fact, the system should be mounted after the insertion of the first heel, thus limiting the maneuvering space to the assembly operator. Should, however, the system be mounted with ease, such as in the case of an additional air chamber (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,540), there would always be the problem of the limitation of air quantity inside the tire.
Moreover, occupying the space inside the cover means that, in the event of considerable inflection of the tire during operation or in the event of a puncture, the system will be damaged considerably.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,405 discloses a rotary joint applied to the wheel hub of a vehicle, through which a tire mounted on the wheel can be maintained properly inflated even while the vehicle is being driven. In particular, said rotary joint comprises two coaxial units, free to rotate with respect to each other and respectively a first unit in rotation together with the rim of the wheel and a second unit stationary with respect to the rim, said second unit comprising a cap applied in correspondence of the outer part of the hub, said first unit being in connection with the air chamber of said tire and said second unit being in connection with a source of pressurized air, arranged on the vehicle chassis, through a connecting pipe externally placed on the wheel. The solution described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,405 involves the presence of a pneumatic connecting tube mounted in the outer part of the circle, which constitutes an additional encumbrance disposed on the wheel and which, moreover, is exposed to shocks and interference due to external obstacles.
The German patent for utility model No. DE8907153 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,688 show pressure control systems in one tire wherein a tube connects the air chamber and the compression means that are integrated in the vehicle on which the wheel is mounted (in specific case a tractor) and not in tire cover. Systems of this type have the great difficulty consisting in the passage of air between the vehicle and the wheel system, which is rotating relative to the vehicle. This involves the use of complicated systems of gaskets and joints to ensure sealing. Moreover, this type of integrated system must necessarily be provided for a priori and can not be mounted on vehicles already on the market.
Last but not least, it should be considered the fact that pressure control should be viewed from an economic-environmental point of view, and therefore the considerable initial investment that some of the existing systems entail, which does not allow significant economic benefits and interesting investment return times should be considered.
In conclusion, taking into account in particular these last requirements, the system should, at least in some embodiments, be mounted on already existing rims without involving an excessive expense and without needing additional space with respect to the initial tire, already limited by regulations relating to road traffic.

Rotary joint and pressure regulation system for tires


A microelectronic assembly and method of making, which includes a first microelectronic element (including a substrate with first and second opposing surfaces, a semiconductor device, and conductive pads at the first surface which are electrically coupled to the semiconductor device) and a second microelectronic element (including a handler with first and second opposing surfaces, a second semiconductor device, and conductive pads at the handler first surface which are electrically coupled to the second semiconductor device). The first and second microelectronic elements are integrated such that the second surfaces face each other. The first microelectronic element includes conductive elements each extending from one of its conductive pads, through the substrate to the second surface. The second microelectronic element includes conductive elements each extending between the handler first and second surfaces. The conductive elements of the first microelectronics element are electrically coupled to the conductive elements of the second microelectronics element.

The trend for semiconductor devices is smaller integrated circuit (IC) devices (also referred to as chips), packaged in smaller packages (which protect the chip while providing off chip signaling connectivity). With related chip devices (e.g. an image sensor and its processor), one way to accomplish size reduction is to form both devices as part of the same IC chip (i.e. integrate them into a single integrated circuit device). However, that raises a whole host of complex manufacturing issues that can adversely affect operation, cost and yield. Another technique for combining related chip devices is 3D IC packaging, which saves space by stacking separate chips inside a single package or stacking one chip packing on another chip package.
3D packaging can result in increased density and smaller form factor, better electrical performance (because of shorter interconnect length which allows for increased device speed and lower power consumption), better heterogeneous integration (i.e. integrate different functional layers such as an image sensor and its processor), and lower cost.
However, 3D integration for microelectronics packaging faces challenges as well, such as high cost of 3D processing infrastructure and sustainable supply chain. Existing 3D IC packaging techniques to form through-silicon via's (TSV's), including Via-First, Via-Last and Via-middle processes, utilize semiconductor lithographic processes which are inherently complex and costly. As a result, few companies in the world can afford the billions of dollars in CMOS R&D per year to keep pace. Moreover, interconnects between IC packages can fail due to the stresses incurred during manufacturing and mounting, as well as thermal or vibrational stresses incurred during operation. A complementary, cost-effective TSV solution is needed to enable use of a separate but closely coupled image processor enabling the pixel array area on the image sensor to be maximized, and enable direct memory access, by stacking and vertically interconnecting multiple chips.

Method of forming 3D integrated microelectronic assembly with stress reducing interconnects


A vertical bidirectional switch of the type having its control referenced to the rear surface, including on its rear surface a first main electrode and on its front surface a second main electrode and a gate electrode, this switch being controllable by a positive voltage between its gate and its first electrode, wherein the gate electrode is arranged on the front surface of a via crossing the chip in which the switch is formed.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a bidirectional switch formed of a semiconductor chip comprising a main electrode on each surface of the chip and a control electrode on the front surface of the chip, this control electrode or gate being controlled by a voltage referenced to the voltage of the rear surface electrode.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Such components are different from unidirectional thyristors and from bidirectional triacs in which the gate signal is controlled by reference to the front surface electrode. Having the gate electrode referenced to the rear surface is advantageous in that it is convenient to connect the rear surface comprising a single electrode to a ground plate or a radiator, which enables the gate signal to be referenced to a fixed voltage, for example, the ground, while in many applications, the main front surface electrode is connected to the mains voltage, which make it necessary to provide isolation systems to deliver a voltage between a control signal and a variable potential.
The applicant, which has created the concept of bidirectional switch referenced to the rear surface, sold under trade name "ACS", has conducted many studies on these components. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,034,381, 6,593,600, and 6,927,427 will especially be mentioned. Further, previously, the applicant had provided to connect multiple unidirectional components (thyristors) in parallel with a common cathode, the gates being referenced to the cathode, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,502.
The various known architectures of bidirectional rear surface referenced switches, when controllable in Q1 and Q4 modes, that is, when the gate is positive with respect to the rear surface electrode, have the disadvantage of involving a transistor or a lateral thyristor for their turning-on. This sets, on the one hand, an issue in terms of surface area assigned to the gate, and on the other hand, possible latch-up problems when an abrupt voltage variation is applied between the main electrodes (dV/dt turn-on).

Bi-directional switch with Q1 and Q4 control


A system and a method for programming and/or operating an automation system has a programming system/method which presents the technological sequence as a chain of steps (or flowchart) but functions as a combination logic. For low-cost programming of the automation system accompanied by a high level of data consistency, it is proposed that, in order to program the automation system, a data program DP which can be executed on a data processing device and is formed, at the time of the execution, directly from a specific execution plan which contains the sequences of the program to be carried out as well as combination logic assigned to the sequences is provided. This results in an execution-oriented combination logic which can be used for designing, programming and/or documenting the data program of the automation system. The sequences and the combination logic assigned to the sequences are based here on a single data store so that when there are program changes no data inconsistencies whatsoever are produced, in contrast to previous solutions with different databases for designing, programming and/or documentation.

The invention relates to a system and method for programming automation systems and a computer program product for carrying out such a method.
Such a system is used in particular in the field of automation equipment. In order to create, process, analyze and display such an automation program, programming tools are used which can be executed on a data processing device and which are capable of graphically displaying the automation program or a part of an automation program. For this purpose, various methods of representation for the automation program are possible, for example structograms, automatic state machines, circuit diagrams, functional diagrams etc. Many automation programs are capable of being represented in different ways, for example as a structogram or as a program sequencing plan, as a circuit diagram or as a functional diagram.

System and method for programming and/or operating an automation system with execution-oriented combination logic


An electromotive adjustment drive includes an electric drive having a single motor with a rotor having a magnetic pole assembly, and a stator interacting with the rotor and having a magnetic pole assembly. The rotor is operatively connected to a member, such as a plasticizing screw of an injection unit, and is constructed for movement along a travel path, whereby one of the magnetic pole assemblies of the rotor and the stator is extended in relation to the other one of the magnetic pole assemblies of the rotor and the stator by a portion corresponding to the travel path. A spindle drive is positioned between the rotor and a motor housing and has a first transmitting element which is operatively connected to the rotor, and a second transmitting element which supports the first transmitting element. A plurality of switching elements is constructed for selective operation of the electric drive as a rotary drive or as injection drive.

The present invention relates, in general, to an electromotive drive for operating a member to execute a linear movement and a rotary movement, and more particularly to an electromotive adjustment drive for an injection unit of an injection molding machine to rotate a plasticizing screw for carrying out the plasticizing phase and to linearly move the plasticizing screw for carrying out the injection phase.
Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,868 describes a drive apparatus for an injection unit, including a hollow-shaft motor which is axially aligned with a spindle drive comprised of a ball screw with a ball nut. The drive apparatus uses a single electric motor and three one-way clutches to provide both the injection and plasticizing functions. Two one-way clutches are engaged to prevent a rotation of the plasticizing screw and to couple the spindle drive with the electric motor, when the plasticizing screw is intended to execute the injection function, whereas the third one-way clutch operatively connects the electric motor directly with the plasticizing screw, while the other one-way clutches slip, when the plasticizing screw is intended to execute the plasticizing function. This single motor drive requires the provision of an auxiliary motor to control the back pressure of the plastic melt during the plasticizing function. In addition, except for the ball nut, all drive components of the drive apparatus, including both motors and the ball screw, associated bearings, and the one-way clutches, must be moved axially together with the plasticizing screw in relation to the extruder barrel so that the overall mass being moved and supported is very large.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved electromotive adjustment drive to obviate prior art shortcomings and to significantly reduce power consumption as well as to significantly decrease the stress to which bearings are subjected during operation of the member being moved and rotated.

Electromotive adjustment drive for an injection unit

L & T-Demag Plastics Machinery Private Limited


A process for brazing components formed of superalloys that contain elements prone to oxidation during brazing. At least one braze tape is applied to at least one faying surface of at least a first of the components being joined by brazing. The braze tape comprises a braze tape alloy containing the base metal of the superalloys and a melting point suppressant, and is applied so as to substantially cover the faying surface. The braze tape is then bonded to the faying surface by heating the first component to a temperature not exceeding the brazing temperature required to join the components. Thereafter, the components are assembled so that the bonded braze tape are between the respective faying surfaces of the components. The components are then brazed together by applying and heating a braze alloy to the braze temperature.

This invention generally relates to brazing methods for use with superalloys. More particularly, this invention relates to a brazing process employing a braze tape to inhibit oxidation of the faying surfaces of components being joined during a brazing process.
Nickel, cobalt, and iron-base superalloys are widely used to form high temperature components of gas turbine engines. While some high-temperature superalloy components can be formed by a single casting, others are preferably or required to be fabricated by a joining operation. As an example, a high pressure turbine nozzle assembly may be structurally supported by a nozzle support assembly formed by brazing a number of individual nickel-base superalloy members. In carrying out the brazing process, an appropriate braze alloy is placed between the interface (faying) surfaces to be joined, and the faying surfaces and the braze alloy therebetween are heated to a temperature sufficient to melt the braze alloy without melting or causing grain growth in the superalloy base material. The braze alloy melts at a lower temperature than the superalloy base material as a result of containing a melting point suppressant such as boron. On cooling, the braze alloy solidifies to form a permanent metallurgical bond.
Because gas turbine engine components must operate in a thermally hostile environment that requires resistance to oxidation, superalloys typically contain aluminum, titanium, iron, and/or niobium that, in addition to contributing to the mechanical properties, form tenacious oxides that inhibit oxidation of the superalloy. Unfortunately, if a superalloy contains a sufficient amount of these metals individually or in combination (e.g., by weight, more than 0.4% aluminum, more than 0.7% titanium, or more than 0.7% Ti+Al), these protective oxides can hinder brazing of the superalloy by preventing the braze alloy from adequately wetting the surface of the superalloy. Because the braze alloy does not adequately flow onto the superalloy base material, uniform and complete brazing is not achieved.
As a solution, the faying surfaces of nickel-base superalloy components have been plated with nickel prior to the brazing operation. The nickel plating improves the brazeability of a superalloy by preventing oxide formation in those regions that are to be bonded, thereby enhancing the wetting action of the braze alloy. Such a process typically involves masking a superalloy component to expose only those surfaces to be plated, and then depositing a layer of nickel using an electrochemical plating technique. However, nickel electroplating processes have several shortcomings, including being costly, labor intensive, time consuming, and environmentally unfriendly. Accordingly, it would be desirable if a brazing process existed that facilitated the brazing of superalloy components without the need for nickel plating the surfaces to be brazed.

Process of brazing superalloy components


To provide a noise control system capable of generating a noise cancellation field where noise is reduced at a desired position in a space. An error scanning filter generates a noise cancellation signal using an adaptive control algorithm based on error scanning, the signal having a phase opposite to that of an acoustic signal component detected by a reference sensor. A control speaker radiates the noise cancellation signal to create a noise cancellation field near the head of a person receiving sound.

Examples of anti-noise measures applying adaptive signal processing have been reported and means for creating a noise cancellation field in an ambient environment of a sleeping person has been reported.
For example, noise cancellation pillows that creates a noise cancellation field while a person is sleeping have been proposed, in which an active noise control system, which creates a noise cancellation field around the person receiving noise while his/her sleep, is configured in the pillow (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2).

Noise control system, and fan structure and outdoor unit of air-conditioning-apparatus each equipped therewith


The image forming method includes the steps of: depositing a first liquid containing at least a dispersion inhibitor, a polymerization initiator, and a high-boiling-point organic solvent, onto an image forming region of a recording medium where an image is to be formed according to image data, and onto a peripheral region of the image forming region; ejecting a second liquid containing at least a radiation-curable polymer compound and a coloring material, onto the recording medium according to the image data after the first liquid is deposited onto the image forming region and the peripheral region of the image forming region; ejecting a third liquid containing at least a radiation-curable polymer compound, onto at least the peripheral region of the image forming region after the first liquid is deposited onto the image forming region and the peripheral region of the image forming region, the third liquid having a transparent color, the same color as the recording medium, or a similar color to the recording medium; and irradiating radiation onto the first liquid, the second liquid and the third liquid on the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to image formation technology in an image forming apparatus for forming a desired image on a medium by reacting an image forming liquid such as ink with a treatment liquid and fixing the image forming liquid onto the medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, inkjet recording apparatuses have become common as image forming apparatuses which form images, such as photographic images, documents, or the like, on a medium. An inkjet recording apparatus forms a desired image on a medium by ejecting droplets of ink from nozzles, by driving ejection elements provided in the print head in accordance with data.
Depending on the type of medium and the type of ink, when the ejected ink droplets permeate into the media, bleeding or spreading of the formed dots may occur, thus leading to a marked decline in the quality of the image formed. In order to prevent image deterioration caused by bleeding or spreading of dots in this way, a system has been proposed which uses a radiation-curable ink whose curing (fixing) is promoted by the irradiation of radiation, such as ultraviolet light or an electron beam, onto the ink droplets ejected onto the media.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-287035 discloses an inkjet recording method, a recorded object, and an inkjet recording apparatus where printing is carried out by depositing a reactive solution containing a photopolymerization initiator, and an ink composition containing an acrylate monomer and an oligomer, onto a recording medium, and thereby print bleeding and print non-uniformities are suppressed so as to prevent color bleeding, which is uneven color mixing occurring at the boundary regions between the different colors used in the color inkjet recording method.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-12971 discloses an inkjet recording method whereby printing is carried out by depositing an ink composition containing 30% to 98% (wt %: weight percentage) of a polymer compound and a coloring material, and a reactive liquid containing a polymer compound and a polymerization initiator, onto a recording medium, and thereby print bleeding and print non-uniformities are suppressed so as to prevent color bleeding, which is uneven color mixing at the boundary regions between the different colors in the color inkjet recording method.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-135781 discloses an inkjet recording apparatus, an image forming method, and ink composition where at least a portion of the image is formed by mixing and curing a first ink composition and a second ink composition, in such a manner that a clear and highly detailed image can be recorded, even onto normal paper which has not received special processing.
However, according to a method whereby an ink droplet is ejected onto a treatment liquid deposited onto the media, the surface of the treatment liquid on the media onto which the ink droplets are ejected is not a completely flat surface, but rather the perimeter sections thereof in particular have a gradient, and hence the ink droplets deposited onto the treatment liquid may move due to this gradient. In this way, the dots are not formed at the prescribed positions, due to the movement of the ink arising at the perimeter sections of the treatment liquid, and this affects the quality of the image formed on the media.
Furthermore, if an organic solvent having the high boiling point is used for the solvent of the treatment liquid, then the unreacted treatment liquid which is not incorporated into the polymer compound (monomer, oligomer, or the like) in the ink, does not cure and remains on the surface of the media. Moreover, if the treatment liquid is deposited over a broader range than the ink droplet ejection range in such a manner that an ink droplet is not ejected onto the perimeter sections of the treatment liquid, then the amount of unreacted treatment liquid remaining on the surface of the media increases.
Japanese Patent Application Publications No. 10-287035, No. 2003-12971, and No. 2000-135781 do not disclose or suggest a concrete method for preventing landing interference in the case of high-speed printing. Landing interference means, for example, a phenomenon that a liquid droplet of ink moves and becomes fixed at a position different from its originally intended landing position or a phenomenon that the shape of the liquid ink droplet is deformed and disrupted, due to combination between liquid ink droplets on the surface of the recording medium, before fixing, and immediately after the ink droplets have landing on the recording medium. If landing interference occurs on the recording medium, in the cases of ink droplets of the same color, a density non-uniformity may become visible, and the line quality may decline. Furthermore, in the cases of inks of different colors, color bleeding may occur.

Image forming method and image forming apparatus


A refrigerant compressor includes a compressor housing divided by a valve plate into a first chamber and a second chamber. The valve plate includes suction conduits linking the first chamber with the suction chamber and discharge conduits linking the first chamber with the discharge chamber. A suction valve member bends to open and close the suction conduits in response to changes in discharge chamber pressure and the resulting pressure difference between the first chamber and the suction chamber. A suction valve control mechanism includes a regulator for regulating the opening and closing of the suction conduit between a maximum opening position and a minimum opening position in response to changes in discharge chamber pressure. Consquently, a starting torque shock to the compressor is reduced while maintaining high volumetric efficiency of the compressor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fluid displacement apparatus with a suction valve mechanism and, more particularly, to a valved suction mechanism of a piston-type refrigerant compressor used in an automotive air conditioning system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piston-type compressors, such as a swash plate-type compressor and a wobble plate-type compressor, are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,284 to Hovarter describes an air conditioning device used for a vehicle employing a multi-cylinder, piston-type compressor with reciprocatory piston, and a suction and discharge valve mechanism. The suction and discharge valve mechanism has a valve plate defining suction and discharge ports and a valve sheet defining resilient reed valves therein. The ends of a cylinder block are closed by front and rear housings, through the valve plate, so that suction and discharge chambers are formed in each of the housings.
The suction chamber is in fluid communication with the compression chambers through a suction valve mechanism having suction ports, which are formed in the valve plate, and suction valves, which are arranged on the inner side of the valve plate. Discharge chambers are in fluid communication with the compression chambers through a discharge valve mechanism. The discharge valve mechanism includes discharge ports, which are formed in the valve plate, and discharge valves, which are arranged on the outer side of the valve plate. The housing is provided with inlet ports, which permit refrigerant gas to be introduced from the eternal portions of the air conditioning circuit and to flow into the suction chambers, and outlet ports, which permit a compressed refrigerant gas to flow from the discharge chambers into the air conditioning circuit. A free end of each suction valve is resiliently bent and moves away from the valve plate due to the differential between pressure within the compression chambers and that within the suction chamber during the suction stroke of the reciprocating piston in the compression chamber.
When the discharge stroke ends and the subsequent suction stroke begins, each suction valve is bent to an open position by the differential between a reduced pressure within the compression chamber and the pressure prevailing in the suction chamber of the housing. The suction port is opened to allow the refrigerant gas in the suction chamber to be drawn into the compression chamber. When the suction stroke ends and the compression stroke begins, each suction valve returns to the closed position, to close the suction port under the high pressure of the compressed refrigerant gas, and the associated discharge valve is moved to the open position, to open the discharge ports by the high pressure of the compression gas.
In the above described construction and operation of a known suction valve mechanism of the reciprocating piston-type compressor, the cross-sectional area of each suction port is designed to be constant. Therefore, starting torque shock may to occur at the time of starting of the compressor because a relatively large amount of refrigerant gas is introduced into the compression chamber and a great deal of power is required to compress the refrigerant gas.
In an attempt to solve this problem, the cross-sectional area of each suction port is designed to be significantly reduced. However, during the operation of the compressor, the discharge ability of the compressor is reduced due to the pressure loss of the refrigerant gas through small suction ports. Therefore, it is difficult to simultaneously resolve each of the above-mentioned problems.

Valved suction mechanism for refrigerant compressor


A method and system is disclosed for simultaneously determining glottal closure instants (GCIs), fundamental frequency (F0s), and voicing state of a speech signal. A speech signal may be processed to determine a sequence of candidate GCIs. For each candidate GCI, a set of candidate F0s may be determined. A lattice of hypotheses may be constructed, where each lattice point is a hypothesis of a concurrence of a candidate GCI, a candidate F0, and voicing state. Each given hypothesis may also include a score of the candidate GCI, F0, and voicing state for evaluating a cost of the given hypothesis and a cost of connections between the given hypothesis and other hypotheses of the lattice. Dynamic programming may be used to determine a least-cost path through the lattice, and backtracking across the path may be used to determine an optimal set of GCIs, F0s and voicing states of the speech signal.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A goal of speech analysis is to determine characteristics of a speech signal that may be related to physiological properties of speech production. Such characteristics may have application in processes or operations involving speech synthesis, speech recognition, and speech encoding, possibly among others. Various technologies, including computers, network servers, telephones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), can be employed to implement a speech analysis system, or one or more components of such a system. Communication networks may in turn provide communication paths and links between some or all of such devices, supporting speech analysis system capabilities, and services that may utilize speech analysis system capabilities.

Simultaneous estimation of fundamental frequency, voicing state, and glottal closure instant


A tab for attaching to sheet material comprises a substrate including a front side, a back side opposite the front side, an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion. The tab includes a cut through the middle portion of the substrate to form a flap, an adhesive along the upper portion of the back side and along the lower portion of the back side of the substrate, and a fold-line through the middle portion which allows the substrate to be folded. When the substrate is folded along the fold-line, the flap extends beyond the fold-line and the back side of the upper portion faces the back side of the middle portion.

The present invention relates to an adhesive planar article. More specifically, the present invention relates to an adhesive coated planar article having a cut-out flap and an upper portion that is folded to form a tab extension when the adhesive coated planar article is attached to sheet material.
In working with large stacks of documents, it is often desirable to categorize the documents or to flag a document that is of particular importance. Tabs are useful to categorize documents by signaling when one category ends and another begins or to highlight a page of particular importance. In addition to flagging a page, it is often desirable to also make notes on that page. However, depending on the importance of maintaining the original document, marking directly on the flagged page may not be desirable.
To flag a page of paper from a stack or binder of papers, typically a separate tab page is inserted into the binder or an adhesive backed paper is attached to the flagged paper. Adding a separate tab page adds to the bulk of the stack of papers. Further, a separate tab page does not allow notes to be placed in direct connection to a document because the tab page precedes the related documents.
Using an adhesive backed paper to flag a page can be useful in flagging the page and providing a writing surface. However, the use of an adhesive note such as a 3M Post-it® brand note for this purpose may not properly align the note with the flagged paper, resulting in nonuniform tabs extending from the page (e.g., tabs of different lengths, tilted tabs, etc.). Marked documents with nonuniform tabs may make the collection of papers appear unorganized and unprofessional.


Steel pistons used in many internal combustion engines are generally composed of a skirt and a crown. The skirt's function is to reduce the lateral and rotational movement of the piston in the cylinder while the engine is in operation. Lateral and rotational frictional forces imparted to a piston during engine operation cause the piston to scrape off the lubricating oil film present on the cylinder wall. The reduced oil film thickness increases piston and cylinder wall wear due to metal to metal contact. The subsequent metal to metal contact produces a phenomenon called scuffing. This disclosure incorporates several design modifications to the piston and results in a significant reduction of the lateral and rotational motion of the piston during engine operation. The reduction of piston motion reduces the amount of oil film removed from the cylinder wall and increases lubrication efficiency. The Increased lubrication efficiency realized reduces frictional wear power loss and scuffing.

The present disclosure relates to metal pistons used in internal combustion engines fueled by gasoline, diesel, alcohol or any other combustible fuel. Internal combustion engine pistons are usually composed of two elements; a skirt and crown. The crown may have a plurality of circumferentially extending lands spaced from a top of the land toward the piston skirt with a groove disposed between adjacent lands for receiving a piston ring. Therefore, pistons have a series of alternating lands and grooves fabricated into the crown of the piston. In some piston examples the skirt and crown are joined by a mechanical method, e.g. welding. Other examples cast or machine the pistons as a one piece skirt and crown.
In operation, a piston is received within a mating cylinder or liner of an internal combustion engine. A lubricant such as oil minimizes friction as the piston moves up and down within the cylinder, portions of the piston (e.g., the piston rings) coming into sliding contact with a cylinder wall surface.
In reality, however, during engine operation, pistons are subjected to lateral and rotational forces as they move up and down vertically within a cylinder, causing the pistons to move in an eccentric motion within the cylinder or liner of the internal combustion engine. The eccentric motion takes the piston out of the desired straight vertical path within the cylinder or liner. The off center piston alignment may cause portions of the skirt, piston rings and lands to scrape the lubricating oil off of the cylinder wall, respectively breaking through of the oil film forcing metal to metal contact.
It is known to have a land adjacent to an uppermost land, a so-called second land, and the skirt provide the vertical guidance for the piston in its mating cylinder during engine operation. In previous piston embodiments where there are multiple lands, the second land has a greater axial extent (e.g., is taller) than the other lands positioned below it (e.g. intermediate and bottom lands). Moreover, at most there is only a minimal oil film between the second land and the cylinder wall or liner during engine operation with limited lubrication and hence limited damping of the rocking motion of the reciprocating piston within the cylinder.
An approach to introduce a guidance land spaced away from the heat of combustion such as the bottom land has been developed to significantly dampen the kinetic forces that cause the eccentric and otherwise erratic piston movement within a mating cylinder during engine operation. Therefore, lubricant such as in the form of an oil film remains intact on the cylinder or liner wall. Metal to metal contact and wear, piston power loss through undesired frictional contact, and possible temperature spikes resulting from enhanced frictional contact are all reduced.
Reducing the lateral and rotational motion of the piston also reduces the noise generated by the phenomenon known as piston slap. Limiting unnecessary, detrimental movement and frictional contact of engine pistons also increases engine efficiency. The present disclosure combines several modifications to the piston crown and skirt, thereby resulting in greatly improved engine performance and efficiency.

Steel piston with fourth land guidance and improved friction characteristics


A system includes a computer having at least one power input connection and at least one I/O connection grouped into a first port. The system also includes a docking station that has at least one power output connection and at least one I/O connection grouped into a second port. The system further comprises a cable having a first end connectable with the first port and a second end connectable with the second port. The cable provides an interconnection between the at least one power output connection of the docking station and the at least one power input connection of the computer. The cable also provides interconnection between the at least one I/O connection of the computer and the at least one I/O connection of the docking station.

Computer systems have become increasingly involved in a variety of applications. Much of this involvement can be attributed to the increasingly portable nature of modern computer systems. Computer systems, such as notebook, laptop, and handheld computers, provide their users with quick and easy mobile access to a vast amount of data. Among those who benefit from these portable computer systems are those involved in public safety, such as police, fire and rescue personnel. Others who benefit in a civil or commercial sense are field personnel, such as engineers or technicians, who rely on portable computer systems to perform testing, monitoring, evaluation etc. in a variety of remote or off-site locations. Still others who benefit from this technology are those involved in national defense, such as military personnel, who use systems, such as battlefield digitization computers (BDCs) to provide situational awareness and command and control information to personnel operating mobile units, such as tactical vehicles, aviation, and weapon platforms.
In many instances, portable computer systems use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics products, which are post-engineered or customized to provide user specific functionality. For example, portable computer systems may be post-engineered to meet environmental conditions or may be fitted or retrofitted with hardware and software to include a desired set of peripherals, such as global positioning system (GPS) functionality, radio/satellite communications, wireless networking (e.g., Internet) capability, communication and I/O compatibility (e.g., RS-232, RS-422, Ethernet, USB), and video (e.g., SVGA) compatability. A major benefit of COTS products is that they are non-developmental items that allow rapid proof-of-concept demonstration and system development.
When embedded into specialized systems, COTS items may have been modified to the point that any attempt to follow technology migration (e.g., faster processor, faster bus speed, and new memory type) may result in significant nonrecurring engineering (NRE) costs. The proliferation of technology, rate of COTS product evolution, advancement of system requirements, and realities of program budgets are all driving and complicating factors in this process.
A major cost driver in system design, whether from the ground up or using COTS assemblies, is in initial fielding and future updating of the system to the latest available technology. This may be especially true when the system is mounted in or on a specialized installation platform. For example, on a military vehicle installation platform, a BDC system may include a display unit, a keyboard, and a processor unit mounted in the vehicle with cables connecting the display unit to the processor unit and to the keyboard. External peripherals, such as an Internet controller, GPS module, radio and/or satellite communications, and various other task-specific hardware, such as sensors require mounting space on the platform and external cabling to provide power and communications. Considering that different installation platforms (e.g., vehicle types) have different architectures and may require different or unique capabilities, space (e.g., footprint space) on the installation platform may be at a premium, installations may be complex, and changes, maintenance, and upgrades to the system or its architecture may prove difficult and costly. Also, the personnel occupying any given vehicle may have different needs and therefore may require different combinations of hardware.

Computer system with configurable docking station


A container for transporting and storing hazardous materials such as Chlorine includes a cylindrical body having end caps. The end caps are welded to the body to form a pressure vessel. The end caps have a peripheral edge that is recessed with respect to the ends of the body to protect the weld against damage from impact. The configuration of the juxtaposed components forms a lap joint that can be affixed together by a fillet weld.

Containers used to store toxic or hazardous chemicals are well known in the art. For many years manufacturers and users of various chemical substances have purchased containers to transport and store these substances. Some of the chemicals stored in these containers include chlorine, sulfur dioxide, as well as numerous other chemicals. It is appreciated that while these substances are useful for their intended purpose, in a certain state they may be hazardous if brought into contact with human beings.
One type of container for transporting hazardous substances is the multi-unit tank car. The containers may be sized and configured to store a particular amount of chemical for transportation. Typically the containers of this type are constructed from carbon steel. For safety purposes certain characteristics, such as wall thickness and material type, may be mandated by governmental regulations pertaining to containers for handling hazardous substances. In general, the containers are extremely durable and have a usable life cycle of many years or even decades. Durability is important in ensuring the longevity of storing these substances safely.
As more and more containers are manufactured and as the life cycle of these containers is relatively long, the need for containers of this type may diminish. Therefore, it is important to be able to compete cost effectively in the industry. What is needed is a container for storing hazardous substances and a method for constructing the containers that reduces costs while maintaining the standards to which these containers must be made.

Container for transporting and storing hazardous substances and method for making the container


A disk drive apparatus includes a casing having an upper plate; and a tray. The upper plate includes an arm having an attracted member fixed thereto. When the tray moves from a protruding position to a recording-and-playback position, since engagements of the arm and the tray are engaged with each other, the main body of the arm swings, and the attracted member serves as a chucking position facing a chucked portion of the disk-shaped recording medium placed on the tray. When the tray moves from the recording-and-playback position to the protruding position, since the engagement of the arm is detached from the engagement of the tray, the main body of the arm swings, and the attracted member serves as a retracting position retracting above the chucked portion of the disk-shaped recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive apparatus recording information into and/or playing it back from a disc-shaped recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, an optical disk, such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital versatile disk (DVD), used in a pair disk state has been available on the market. Also, a disk cartridge having a structure in which an optical disk is stored in a cartridge case such that both faces of the optical disk are covered by the cartridge case has been available on the market.
As disclosed in, for example, U.S. Published Application No. 2004-0013071, a disk drive apparatus recording information into and/or playing it back from any both an optical disk in a pair disk state and another optical disk stored in the cartridge case has been available on the market.
In such a disk drive apparatus, when an optical disk used in a pair disk state is used, the optical disk is chucked such that a chucked portion of the optical disk is sandwiched by a magnet built in a turntable of a spindle motor and an attracted member attracted to the magnet.
When a disk cartridge is used, an optical disk in the disk cartridge is chucked such that an attracted plate built in the chucked portion of the optical disk is attracted by the magnet built in the turntable.
Also, when a disk cartridge is used, the disk drive apparatus has a mechanism by which the attracted member is moved to a retracting position lying in the back space in a direction along which the disk cartridge is loaded or unloaded in order to prevent the attracted member from interfering with the disk cartridge.
Since the above-described known apparatus has a mechanism by which the attracted member is moved to the retracting position lying in the back space of the apparatus in the direction along which the disk cartridge is loaded or unloaded in order to prevent the attracted member from interfering with the disk cartridge, it is required to secure a retracting space of the attracted member in the direction along which the disk cartridge is loaded or unloaded, thereby leading to a disadvantage in making the apparatus compact.
Also, as used, for example, in some of blue ray disks, when a disk cartridge having a structure in which a circular projection is formed along the circumference of an optical disk so as to extend higher than the upper surface of the optical disk in a state in which the optical disk is stored in a disk-storing depression in the upper surface of a cartridge case of the disk cartridge is used, the mechanism by which the attracted member is moved to the back space of the apparatus in the direction along which the disk cartridge is loaded or unloaded causes the attracted member to interfere with the circular projection of the cartridge case, thereby leading to a problem in that the disk cartridge having the above-mentioned structure can not be used.


A new design and fabrication process of an elastomer spatial light modulator (eSLM). The present invention resolves many known challenges and enables the eSLM to operate as programmable masks for the EUV lithography systems. Bottom electrodes are deposited and patterned on an insulation layer. A sacrificial layer is then deposited, patterned and polished on top of the bottom electrodes. A nitride shell forms a protection layer that prevents out-gassing and degradations of elastomer during operations. The sacrificial layer is removed, forming a cavity. An elastomer is injected at one end of the cavity and pulled into it by capillary forces. In an embodiment, the eSLM comprises a 2-D array of elastomer pillars, each containing a capacitive actuator with an elastomer as the supporting and dielectric structure. A stack of Mo/Si multilayer mirror is deposited on the surface to achieve a high reflectivity about 70% or more in EUV.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to spatial light modulators (SLMs). More particularly, it relates to the design and fabrication of elastomer spatial light modulators for maskless extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
2. Description of the Related Art
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is considered by pioneering researchers as a leading possibility for delineating structures smaller than 100 nm. Because defect free EUV masks are expensive, difficult to obtain, and cannot be protected by pellicles due to high absorption in the EUV, maskless EUV lithography appears to be a promising alternative. An effort has been made to use spatial light modulators (SLMs) to replace masks, see, N. Choksi et al. "Maskless Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography," J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 17, pp. 3047–3051 (1999).
EUV lithography, maskless lithography, and SLMs are known in their respective fields and therefore are not further described herein for the sake of brevity. Readers are directed to the following U.S. patents and articles for related teachings in the respective fields.    1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,826, "SURFACE DEFORMATION IMAGE DEVICE."    2. U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,620, "METHOD OF MAKING DEFORMABLE LIGHT MODULATOR STRUCTURE."    3. U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,935, "SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR AND METHOD."    4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,360, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MODULATING A LIGHT BEAM."    5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,301, "PHASE MODULATING DEVICE."    6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,176, "Maskless lithography."    7. U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,224, "METHOD FOR MASKLESS LITHOGRAPHY."    8. U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,340, "PIEZO PROGRAMMABLE RETICLE FOR EUV LITHOGRAPHY."    9. U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,698, "MASKLESS 2-D AND 3-D PATTERN GENERATION PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY."    10. C. W. Gwyn et al. "Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography,"J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 16, pp.3142–3149 (1998).    11. Y. Shroff et al. "Fabrication of Parallel-Plate Nanomirror Arrays For Extreme Ultraviolet Maskless Lithography,"J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 19, pp. 2412–2415 (2001).    12. O. Solgaard et al. "Deformable Grating Optical Modulator," Opt. Lett. 17, pp. 688–690. (1992).    13. R. Tepe et al. "Viscoelastic Spatial Light Modulator with Active Matrix Addressing," App. Opt. 28, pp. 4826–4834 (1989).    14. W. Brinker et al. "Metallized Viscoelastic Control Layers for Light-Valve Projection Displays," Displays 16, pp. 13–20 (1995).    15. S. Sakarya et al. "Technology of Reflective Membranes for Spatial Light Modulators," Sens. and Actuators A 97–98, pp. 468–472 (2002).    16. R. Tepe "Theoretical Analysis of an Electrically Addressed Viscoelastic Spatial Light Modulator," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 4, pp. 1273–1282 (1987).    17. P. Duerr et al. "Characterization of Spatial Light Modulators for Microlithography," Proc. SPIE 4985, pp. 211–221 (2003).    18. H. Kueck et al. "New system for fast submicron laser direct writing," Proc. SPIE 2440, pp. 506–514 (1995).    19. Y. Chen et al. "Modeling and Control of Nanomirrors for EUV Maskless Lithography," Technical Proceedings of the Third Intl. Conf. on Modeling and Simulation of Microsystems, pp. 602–604, 2000.
Although maskless EUV lithography using SLMs remains a promising approach today, challenges prohibit practical and viable design and fabrication of SLMs for the EUV lithography systems. For example, conventional SLMs fabricated with spin-on deposited elastomer are not suitable for EUV applications because of difficulties in polishing soft materials. They also are not scalable to meet the requirements of existing EUV maskless lithography systems.
Clearly, there is a need in the art for a new design and fabrication of elastomer spatial light modulators that resolves these challenges and provides useful programmable masks for extreme ultraviolet lithography systems. The present invention addresses this need.

Elastomer spatial light modulators for extreme ultraviolet lithography

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A connector assembly includes a receptacle connector and a plug connector. The receptacle connector includes a receptacle insulative housing and a plurality of female contact groups each of which includes first and second female contacts combined together. Each of the first and second female contacts includes a retaining portion including a first locking portion and a second locking portion. Each first locking portion includes a slit. Each second locking portion includes a positioning portion and an engaging arm. The retaining portions of the first female contact and the second female contact are of the same configuration after rotating 180 degrees. When the first female contact is combined in position with the second female contact, the positioning portion and the slit of the first female contact engage with the slit and the positioning portion of the second female contact, simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly, and more particularly to a receptacle connector and a plug connector with stable structures for mating with each other.
2. Description of Related Art
With rapid development of electronic technologies, connector assemblies have been widely used in electronic devices for exchanging information and data with external devices. A conventional connector usually includes an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing and a metallic shell enclosing the insulative housing. The connector assembly includes a receptacle connector for being mounted to a circuit board and a plug connector for mating with the receptacle connector.
In order to meet the requirements of stable signal transmission and high effective transmission of the electronic devices, strong mating stabilization of the electrical connector needs to be ensured. However, the contacts of the conventional receptacle connector are usually directly inserted into the insulative housing without locking structures, as a result that the contacts easily withdraw from the insulative housing. Besides, since there is no reasonable mismatching protection structure, the plug connector can be incorrectly inserted into unmatchable receptacle connectors. Besides, how to stably hold the plug connector and the receptacle connector when they are transmitting signals is a problem to be solved.
Hence, a connector assembly with improved stable structures is desired.

Connector assembly with a receptacle connector and a plug connector with stable structures


A viewing device is provided for viewing at least one image transparency having an associated tracking memory. The viewing device comprises an illumination device having at least one viewing surface adapted to present at least one illumination pattern, at least one radio frequency read write device for obtaining electronic data stored in an associated tracking memory of an image transparency positioned proximate to the viewing surface and at least one display device for viewing at least one electronic image related to said at least one image transparency. A control processing unit is adapted to receive said obtained data from said associated tracking memory and to use the obtained data for forming the at least one electronic image.

Information systems such as Hospital Information Systems (HIS) or Radiology Information Systems (RIS) provide information management for medical data for patients admitted to hospitals or receiving outpatient care. Patient information can be in multitude of forms serving functions such as patient records, billing and medical diagnostic films. Diagnostic films are generated by several modalities such as Computer Tomography, Ultra Sound, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Digital Radiographic or Computer Radiographic using a many different devices that generate images with a wide variety of mediums using different exposure, processing and development techniques. Accordingly, diagnostic images are generated with a wide variety of image densities, color qualities and media properties that are best observed under lighting conditions that reflect such characteristics and properties.
Many types of diagnostic images are formed digitally and printed onto diagnostic film with the digital data typically retained, allowing reprinting of the diagnostic film at a later time, thus reducing dependence on a single piece of diagnostic film that could be misplaced or inadvertently destroyed. However, other types of patient related records and diagnostic images are routinely recorded only on hardcopy diagnostic films and paper files held in folders. Such folders continue to serve as the ultimate repository of medical information for each patient. It is vital for effective patient care that such films contain not only the correct diagnostic films and records needed to diagnose and treat a patient's condition but also that the diagnostic films and records are positively identified so that there is minimal chance of confusion due to mismatched diagnostic films. It is also valuable to ensure that such diagnostic films be correlated with other data about the patient. Finally, it is also important that patient privacy be properly maintained, with checks on authorization and security that help to ensure the privacy of patient records and help to obtain the proper medical care, without jeopardizing quality and timeliness. These needs are not met by the current folder based system. Thus, there remains a recognized need for more efficient ways of maintaining and managing hardcopy diagnostic films and for associating these diagnostic films to the complete set of patient data.
An important tool in observing diagnostic films is the conventional illumination device also called a light box. This device has a display platform that projects a generally uniform light pattern in a manner that passes through diagnostic films in order to facilitate observation of these diagnostic films. Diagnostic images, printed on film, show the appropriate detail with the sufficient backlight illumination. However, the conventional illumination device provides only one kind of light for viewing such diagnostic films. The light does not adapt to the characteristics of the diagnostic film being viewed using the illumination device.
Further, there can be a need to view both diagnostic films in concert with digital images of and or textual data patient data. Solutions have been proposed for a hybrid illumination device for conventional diagnostic films and for digital images and or textual data patient data. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,516 entitled "Integrated Film and Film less Image Display System" to Leiper discloses a viewing workstation that allows a medical professional to access and view an X-ray image from a roll of images. Then, from a bar code on the X-ray, a link is provided to electronically stored images for the same patient. These images are then displayed on a display monitor.
Related solutions include U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,216 entitled "Viewing Apparatus and Work Station" to Inbar et al., which also discloses a backlight apparatus having an auxiliary display for electronic data. U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,373 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Displaying Images" to Rego discloses sensing a bar code or other indicia on a film image for obtaining an electronic image, including use of a touch-sensitive display surface for displayed films.
While the solutions of Leiper '516, Inbar et al. '216, and Rego '373 disclosures provide the capability for viewing both film and electronic data and images, there is substantial room for improvement with respect to image management, access security and log maintenance, and user interaction. For example, For example, there are numerous additional opportunities for improvement of diagnosis and treatment using a digital light box as part of a larger medical imaging system.
The Leiper '516 and Rego '373 disclosures describe sensing a bar code for obtaining the electronic image data that corresponds to an image on film. The bar code thus provides a read-only "pointer" to the larger database. A number of other types of memory devices can be coupled to a specific piece of image-bearing film. Examples of suitable memory devices include other optically encoded devices and magnetic strips or similar magnetically encoded media.
Radio frequency identification devices offer yet another type of solution for associating a memory storage device with a unit of an imaging medium. Radio frequency identification tags have been proposed for use in a wide range of identification and tracking applications, such as with passports and credit cards, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,222 to Moskowitz et al. One type of commercially available, low profile radio frequency identification tags is the "TAG-IT INLAY"™ RFID tag available from Texas Instruments, Incorporated, located in Dallas, Tex., USA. This component can be used to provide identifying information about an item to which it is attached, for example. radio frequency identification devices are useful for tracking the location of, characteristics of and usage of documents, books, packages, and other inventory. For example, radio frequency identification tags can be used to track the location of documents and track the chain of custody of such documents within a document management system. Radio frequency identification tags offer the advantage of small size, enabling these devices to be unobtrusively attached or embedded within an item. Unlike optical or mechanical equivalents, radio frequency identification tags allow communication regardless of orientation relative to a transceiver. When equipped with an on-board read-write memory, these devices can be used for recording and recall of at least some amount of data related to an item to which they are coupled.
Systems employing radio frequency identification tags typically comprise a read/write element, or radio frequency transceiver, that acts as the interface between the radio frequency identification tags and a computer system of some type that uses and/or provides the stored data. The radio frequency identification tags itself is typically embodied as a transponder, having an integral antenna, adapted to send and receive electromagnetic fields in cooperation with the transceiver, where the electromagnetic field itself contains information to be conveyed to and from a memory on the radio frequency identification tags. Both read/write and read-only versions of radio frequency identification tags are available. Information that is stored in memory on the radio frequency identification tags can be used to track, identify, and process an item. The radio frequency identification tags memory can also store other information that is to be associated with the item, such as timestamps and identification codes for example. Among possible uses for radio frequency identification tags are identification, tracking, and management of diagnostic films such as X-ray films. However, some type of data processing and display platform is needed in order to associate a diagnostic film with the full body of medical information available for a patient and to provide secure access to that data.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for an illumination device that enables viewing of diagnostic films with access to related electronic diagnostic images and available patient data to an attending diagnostician having the proper authorizations.


Circuits and methods for frequency modulation (FM) using a digital frequency-locked loop (DFLL). A digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) generates and adjusts a frequency of a modulated signal based on a digital tuning word. A DFLL control logic circuit receives a feedback of the modulated signal and generates a carrier signal word. A sigma delta modulator circuit receives an input signal and applies dithering to produce a dithered input signal word. An adder circuit receives and sums the dithered input signal word and the carrier signal word to produce the digital tuning word. The DFLL control logic circuit adjusts the carrier signal word to lock a carrier frequency of the modulated signal.

Conventionally, frequency modulation (FM) transmitters have been designed using analog phase-locked-loops (PLLs) that include voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs). FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional PLL 80. PLL 80 includes phase detector 70, charge pump 71, lowpass filter 72, VCO 1, and feedback divider circuit 73.
VCO 1 receives control voltage 4 and input signal 90 and generates output signal 75. Feedback divider circuit 73 receives a feedback of output signal 75 and generates divided carrier signal 77. Phase detector 70 receives divided carrier signal 77 and reference clock signal 74 and generates phase difference 78. Charge pump 71 receives phase difference 78 and generates charged phase difference 79. In one example, charge pump 71 transforms phase difference 78 into two signals—commonly referred to as an UP and DOWN controlling switches—to steer current into (or out of) a capacitor to generate a voltage having an average value (i.e., duty cycle) that is proportional to phase difference 78. Lowpass filter 72 receives charged phase difference 79 and generates control voltage 4.
Phase detector 70 compares reference signal 74 and divided output signal 77 and adjusts phase difference 78 such that phase difference 78 has frequency components equal to a sum and a difference of a frequency of reference signal 74 and a frequency of divided output signal 77. Low-pass filter 72 attenuates the sum component of charged phase difference 79 but passes difference component of charged phase difference 79 as control voltage 4. In one aspect, low-pass filter 72 attenuates the high frequency components of the charge pump output to generate control voltage 4. Control voltage 4 controls VCO 1, thereby setting a frequency of output signal 75.
Because lowpass filter 72 attenuates the sum component of charged phase difference 79, only the difference component will be present in control voltage 4, which sets the frequency of output signal 75. Control voltage 4 therefore is proportional to the difference in phase between reference signal 74 and divided carrier signal 77. As such, control voltage 4 will adjust a frequency of output signal 75 such that the frequency of output signal 75 moves closer to a frequency of reference signal 74. Thus, PLL 80 locks the frequency of output signal 75 to the frequency of reference signal 74.
Input signal 90 may be applied to modulate the frequency of output signal 75. That is, input signal 90 may further control VCO 1 such that the frequency of output signal 75 varies according to the input signal within a range around the frequency of reference signal 74.
FIG. 2 shows VCO 1 in more detail. VCO 1 includes varactor 3 connected in parallel with inductor 5. DC control voltage 4 is adjusted to control a capacitance of varactor 3. The capacitance of varactor 3 determines the frequency of output signal 75. Specifically, as the capacitance of varactor 3 increases, the frequency of output signal 75 decreases. Alternatively, as the capacitance of varactor 3 decreases, the frequency of output signal 75 increases.

Frequency modulation using a digital frequency locked loop


A method of making a nonwoven material having good absorbency, softness and strength. A fibrous web is airlayed from fibers comprising at least one of natural fibers and rayon fibers. The web is prebonded by sequentially adding moisture on an upper surface of the web and on a lower surface of the web. The web is calendered with a heated roll a first time after adding moisture on the upper surface of the web and calendered with a heated roll a second time after adding moisture on the lower surface of the web. The web is then spunlaced.

In the manufacture of air laid nonwoven materials, natural fibers are used to form a web onto which a bonding agent or bonding fibers are applied which under the influence of heat bind the formed web into a porous material layer. Such layers are formed on top of each other including as many as the desired thickness of the product requires. Material layers produced as described are used in the manufacture of various table top, hygiene, hospital and wipe products. The problem with these types of products, however, is their often inadequate strength, resulting in breaking of the products or deleterious dusting of fibers.
In the manufacture of spunlaced nonwoven material, the fibrous structure is created by using fine water jets to entangle the fibers of a fibrous web with each other. These jets are directed at the fibrous layer supported by a liquid permeable wire moving in a specific speed. When the fibers pass under the jets, the liquid jets penetrating the layer impinge the fibers. The joint influence of this and of the jets reaching the wire causes the fibers to entangle with each other. This method can be used to produce nonwoven fabrics from fibers of different origin selected on the basis of their intended usage, as long as the fibers minimum length is adequate. However, the problem with this type of a process is often that short fibers are flushed out or that they pass through the wire, which causes fiber loss, cleaning problems and extra costs.

Manufacturing method and nonwoven material


A battery module includes a first battery cell having a first housing and first and second electrical terminals. The first housing has first, second, third and fourth ends. The first and second electrical terminals extend outwardly from the third and fourth ends, respectively. A distance from the second end of the first housing to a second edge of the first electrical terminal is greater than a distance from the first end of the first housing to a first edge of the first electrical terminal. A distance from the second end of the first housing to a second edge of the second electrical terminal is greater than a distance from the first end of the first housing to a first edge of the second electrical terminal. The battery module further includes a cooling fin disposed adjacent to the first battery cell, and a cooling plate coupled to the cooling fin.

The inventors herein have recognized a need for a battery module having a battery cell with an improved placement of electrical terminals thereon that allows for an improved placement of electrical devices such as interconnect boards and wire harnesses thereon to maximize a battery system energy density by decreasing the unusable space of the battery system. The inventors herein have further recognized that disposing the battery cell on a cooling plate such that the electrical terminals thereof are disposed proximate to the cooling plate, results in an improved dissipation of heat energy from the battery module.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.