On an insulating substrate through which a plurality of through holes are formed, the following components and members are provided: LED chips, each of which consists of a p-side semiconductor layer and an n-side semiconductor layer that are joined into a p-n junction, and is placed between the adjacent through holes; a first electrode which is formed in one of the adjacent through holes, and connected to the p-side semiconductor layer so as to form electrical connections on the bottom surface of the insulating substrate; and a second electrode which is formed in the other adjacent through hole in a separate manner from the first electrode, and connected to the n-side semiconductor layer so as to form electrical connections on the bottom surface of the insulating substrate. Further, each through hole is sealed by a sealing member such as a conductive bonding agent. Moreover, the LED chips are sealed by a light-transmitting resin. With this arrangement, it is possible to easily mass-produce compact light-emitting devices with high reliability by cutting the insulating substrate along the through holes.

In general, LED (Light-Emitting Diode) chips are used in light-emitting devices of surface-mounting types that are used as a light source for various display panels, a backlight for liquid crystal displays and a light source for lighting switches. Each LED chip consists of a p-side semiconductor and an n-side semiconductor that are joined into a p-n junction. FIG. 13 shows one example of light-emitting devices wherein such chip parts are used.
In this light-emitting device 60, LED chips 62, which have a n-side semiconductor layer 62a and a p-side semiconductor layer 62b that are mutually joined into a p-n junction, are used. The n-side semiconductor layer 62a of this LED chip 62 is affixed onto a lead frame 61.
The p-side semiconductor layer 62b, which forms the upper surface of the LED chip 62, is electrically connected to a frame 63 on the anode side, which is adjacent to the lead frame 61, by a bonding wire 64 made of a gold line or other lines with a diameter of approximately 10 .mu.m to 40 .mu.m. Here, the bonding wire 64 is shaped like an arc above, the LED chip 62 so as not to be cut off by the edges or other portions of the LED chip 62. Moreover, one part of the lead frame 61 and one part of the frame 63 on the anode side are sealed by light-transmitting resin 65 in a manner so as to cover the LED chip 62 and the bonding wire 64.
FIG. 14 is a side view showing one example of light-emitting devices wherein such chip parts are used. In this light-emitting device 70, LED chips 74 are used that have a n-side semiconductor layer 74a and a p-side semiconductor layer 74b that are mutually joined into a p-n junction. In this light-emitting device 70, electrode patterns 72 and 73 are formed by metal plating at respective ends in the length-wise direction of the surface of an insulating substrate 71. The electrode patterns 72 and 73 are bent down from the surface of the insulating substrate 71 along the respective end faces thereof in the length-wise direction, thereby covering the respective end portions of the bottom surface of the insulating substrate 71. Here, the n-side semiconductor layer 74a is affixed onto one of the electrode patterns 72.
The p-side semiconductor layer 74b, which forms the upper surface of the LED chip 74, is electrically connected to the other electrode pattern 73 of the insulating substrate 71 by a bonding wire 75 made of a gold line or other lines with a diameter of approximately 10 .mu.m to 40 .mu.m. Here, the bonding wire 75 is shaped like an arc above the LED chip 74 so as not to be cut off by the edges or other portions of the LED chip 74. Further, the LED chip 74 is sealed by light-transmitting resin 76 together with the bonding wire 75.
As described above, the bonding wires 64 and 75, which are highly susceptible to cutoffs due to external stress, are respectively sealed by the light-transmitting resins 65 and 76.
However, when, upon manufacturing the light-emitting device 60 or the light-emitting device 70, the bonding wire 64 or 75 is soldered to the frame 63 or the electrode pattern 73, the bonding wire 64 or 75 still tends to be cut off. Moreover, the bonding wire 64 or 75 also tends to be cut off by external stress caused by warps or other phenomena of the frame 63 and the insulating substrate 71 that occur after the soldering process.
Furthermore, it is necessary for the bonding wire 64 or 75 to have a distance of approximately 100 .mu.m to 200 .mu.m from the top of the arc formed on the LED chip 62 or 74 to the surface of the LED chip 62 or 74 so as not to be cut off by the edges or other portions of the LED chip 62 or 74. As a result, the light-transmitting resin 65 or 76 needs to be thick to the order of 100 .mu.m above the arc so as to also seal the arc that is formed by the bonding wire 64 or 75. This makes the light-transmitting resin 65 or 76 thicker, causing the light-emitting device 60 or 70 to become bulky.
Moreover, when an LED chip 74, mounted on the insulating substrate 71, is sealed by light-transmitting resin 76, some of the light-transmitting resin 76 in the molten state tends to adhere to the bottom surface of the insulating substrate 71. The light-transmitting resin 76, thus adhered to the bottom surface of the insulating substrate 71, causes adverse effects on wiring and other elements that are installed on the bottom surface of the insulating substrate 71. For this reason, it is necessary to prevent the light-transmitting resin 76 in its molten state from trickling down to the bottom surface of the insulating substrate 71.
In general, when the LED chip 74 is sealed by the light-transmitting resin 76, a jig, a metal mold or other members, which is used to prevent the light-transmitting resin 76 in its molten state from trickling along the side face of the insulating substrate 71 down to the bottom surface, is tightly pressed onto a portion along the edge of the insulating substrate 71. For this reason, it is necessary to provide an area for accepting the jig or other members along the edge of the insulating substrate 71. This also causes the light-emitting device 70 to become bulky.
Moreover, in order to mass-produce light-emitting devices, a number of through holes are formed in an insulating substrate, and a number of LED chips are disposed on the insulating substrate and are sealed by light-transmitting resin. Then, the insulating substrate and light-transmitting resin are subjected to dicing cuts so as to be shaped into each LED chip. In particular, in this arrangement, the light-transmitting resin in its molten state tends to trickle down to the bottom surface of the insulating substrate passing the through holes. For this reason, it is necessary to provide areas for accepting the jigs or other members around the respective through holes.
FIG. 15 shows one example of the minimum dimensions of the light-emitting device 70 of the chip type of FIG. 14. In this light-emitting device 70, a square LED chip 74, each side measuring 300 .mu.m, was used. In this case, the thickness of the insulating substrate 71 was at least 200 .mu.m, the thickness of the LED chip was 300 .mu.m, the distance from the top of the arc of the bonding wire 75 to the upper surface of the LED chip 74 was 200 .mu.m, and the thickness of the light-emitting resin 76 covering the arc was 100 .mu.m. Therefore, the minimum necessary thickness of the light-emitting device 70 was 800 .mu.m.
Furthermore, the length (area) of the insulating substrate 71 in the lengthwise direction, which is required to mount the LED chip 74, was 600 .mu.m, the length required for separating the electrode pattern 73 and the electrode pattern 72 from each other was 200 .mu.m, the length required for connecting the bonding wire 75 and the electrode pattern 73 was 400 .mu.m, and the length required for placing the jig or other members, which is used to prevent the light-transmitting resin 76 installed on the insulating substrate 71, from trickling down to the bottom surface of the insulating substrate 71, was 200 .mu.m along the entire edge of the insulating substrate 71. Therefore, the length of the insulating substrate 71 in the lengthwise direction, which forms the length of the light-emitting device 70 in the lengthwise direction, was 1600 .mu.m (1.6 mm), the minimum necessary length.
In recent years, in order to meet demands for compactness of various display panels, lighting switches and other apparatuses, compact light-emitting devices have been required. Therefore, it is not desirable to have thick light-transmitting resin 65 or 76. However, the thinner the light-transmitting resin 65 or 76 is made, the higher the possibility of cutoff of the bonding wire 64 or 75. This results in a problem of low reliability in light-emitting devices to be produced.

Method of making compact light-emitting device with sealing member


The present invention relates to pelleted poultry feed containing plasma, and methods of making and using pelleted poultry feed containing plasma.

Improving the growth of animals such as chickens and turkeys is an important goal for producers that raise chickens and turkeys. Currently, in the United States, more than 80% of feed for non-ruminant animals such as chickens and turkeys is pelleted, and swine and poultry fed pelleted feed have improved growth performance (Fairfield, 2003a and 2003b).
Plasma can be added to a swine diet in order to increase feed intake and growth. However, increasing the conditioning temperature during the feed pelleting process decreases the growth-enhancing properties of the plasma for swine (Steidinger et al., 2000). There is currently a need for growth-enhancing feeds for poultry such as chickens and turkeys, such as pelleted feeds.


A variable reluctance motor is disclosed including a stator having a plurality of radially inwardly extending poles. A coil of foil wire is mounted about each of the stator poles. Flats are formed in the inner surface of the stator adjacent to the sides of each of the stator poles so that the coils of foil wire can lie flat thereagainst. A pair of rigid cylindrical retainers are provided for retaining the coils of foil wire on the poles. A rotor assembly is disposed within the stator. The rotor assembly includes a shaft having a rotor secured thereto. A plurality of radially outwardly extending poles are formed on the outer surface of the rotor. Electrical current is selectively passed through each of the coils of foil wire to cause the rotor assembly to rotate relative to the stator. Each of the coils of foil wire is wound beginning with a start winding and ending with a finish winding. The foil wires in each of the start and finish windings are employed as lead wires for connecting the coils to a control circuit for passing electrical current through the coils. A novel structure for orienting the various start and finish windings about the circumference of the stator is also disclosed.

This invention relates in general to electric motors and in particular to a variable reluctance motor having coils which are wound from foil wire.
Electric motors are well known devices which convert electrical energy to rotary mechanical energy. To accomplish this, electric motors establish and control electromagnetic fields so as to cause the desired rotary mechanical motion. There are many different types of electric motors, each utilizing different means for establishing and controlling the electromagnetic fields. Consequently, the operating characteristics of these electric motors vary from type to type, and certain types of electric motors are better suited for performing certain tasks than others.
Synchronous motors constitute one principal class of electric motors. The two basic components of a synchronous motor are (1) a stationary magnetic field generating structure, generally referred to as the stator, and (2) a rotatable component driven thereby, generally referred to as the rotor. Both the stator and the rotor are usually formed from magnetic materials, such as iron. Synchronous motors are characterized in that the rotational speed of the rotor is directly related to the frequency of the electrical input signal applied thereto. Thus, so long as the frequency of the applied electrical input signal is constant, the rotor will be driven at a constant rotational speed. Within this broad definition, however, the structure and operation of synchronous electric motors vary widely.
One variety of synchronous electric motor is known as a variable reluctance (VR) motor. VR motors operate on the principle that a magnetic field surrounding a magnetic material component will exert a mechanical force on that component, urging it to become aligned with the magnetic flux lines generated by the magnetic field. Thus, by using the stator to establish and rotate a magnetic field about the rotor, the rotor can be rotatably driven to move relative to the stator. In a basic VR motor structure, this can be accomplished by providing one pair of opposed magnetic poles on the stator and a corresponding pair of opposed magnetic poles on the rotor. A coil of electrically conductive wire is wound about each of the two stator poles. By passing electrical current through each of the stator coils in an appropriate manner, the stator poles can be selectively electro-magnetized so as to attract the corresponding poles of the rotor thereto.
Frequently, two or more pairs of poles are provided on both the stator and the rotor. In this more advanced VR motor structure, electrical current is passed in sequential fashion through the stator coils so as to attract the corresponding rotor poles thereto. By providing more poles on the stator and the rotor, the overall torque generated by the VR motor can be increased. Also, the additional poles facilitate rotation of the rotor at a more uniform speed.
To further optimize the operation of the VR motor, the magnitude of the electrical current which is sequentially passed through the stator coils can be varied as a function of the rotational displacement of the rotor, as opposed to simply being supplied in an on-off manner. For example, the magnitude of the electrical current passed through a particular stator coil can initially be large, but decrease as the rotor pole rotates toward it. Consequently, the stator coil is prevented from continuing to attract that rotor pole toward it after the rotor pole has rotated past the stator pole.
As mentioned above, the electromagnetic coils used in VR motors are formed by winding electrically conductive wire about the poles of the stator. The wire used in such windings has typically been conventional wire having a circular cross sectional shape. While such wire is commonly available and relative inexpensive, the circular cross sectional shape of the wire does not lend itself to high density winding. In other words, the circular cross sectional shape of the wire causes a relatively large number of gaps to be created between adjacent turns of the wire when the coil is wound. As a result, the overall winding density (i.e., the number of windings per unit space) of the coil is limited. Since the strength of the electromagnetic field generated by the stator (for an acceptable power dissipation of the winding) is directly related to this winding density, the strength of the electromagnetic field is also limited (because of thermal considerations). Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved electromagnetic coil structure for a VR motor which maximizes the overall winding density of the coil windings so as to maximize the strength of the electromagnetic field generated thereby.

Variable reluctance motor having foil wire wound coils


An LED chip capping construction to enhance luminance of the LED containing a condenser capping over a chip of the LED; a condensing part of the condenser protruding through a carrier and surrounded by multiple condensing aspects; the source light from the chip passing the condenser and consistently reflected to each condensing aspect due to the medium characteristics of the condenser.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an improved construction of a light emitting diode (LED), and more particularly, to one of chip capping construction to enhance LED luminance
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The LED generally available in the market for giving features of being compact, low power consumption, lower heat generated and longer service life have been gradually exiting the conventional tungsten lamps in the adaptation to commodities such as Christmas decoration lights, flash lights, vehicle signal lamps, and traffic signs. The LED as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is essentially comprised of a see-three packaging 10 containing conductors 20 of different polarities and a carrier 30. A chip is fixed to the carrier, and a golden plated wire 50 connects an electrode layer 41 of the chip to the conductor 40 while each conductor 20 extends out of the transparent packaging 10 to serve as a contact to the power source.
Accordingly, when the conductor 20 is conducted, the light source generated by the chip 40 emits the light. A fluorescent material 60 may be provided to the peripheral of the chip 40 so that when the light source generated from the chip 40 penetrates the fluorescent material 60, the wave length of the source light is incorporated with that of the fluorescence material 60 to produce the light color expected.
With improved manufacturing process and workmanship, the LED may be designed to emit a specific light color depending on the type of fluorescent material used to further expand the application range of the LED in the market. However, current R&D efforts for the LED are essentially invested in the color performance results and the increase of the production capacity of the LED. Therefore, there has been so far the absence of seeing any breakthrough in enhancing the luminance of the LED.


A carrier for use in the preparation of samples for spectroscopic analysis comprises a rod-like element 10 housing a domed end 11. The dome end 11 is coated with abrasive material. To prepare a sample the abrasive material is rubbed by linear movement or rotation against the material to be analysed. That material becomes abraded and attaches to the end 11. The carrier can be formed from a commercially available dowel and is therefore easy to make and use.

In the field of mid infrared spectroscopy of solids a significant problem which has been encountered is the preparation of samples of the solids which are sufficiently thin to transmit significant amounts of infrared radiation in order to enable the spectroscopic analysis to take place. A known way of attempting to deal with the problem has been to abrade the solid material using a commercially available abrasive paper, e.g. sandpaper, which typically incorporates particles of SiO and Al.sub.s O.sub.3. This creates on or in the sandpaper small particles of solid material to be investigated. The sandpaper is then placed in an instrument which can be used to carry out the spectroscopic analysis and a spectrum of the sandpaper is measured in diffused reflectance in a known way. This reveals the characteristic spectrum of the sample, in particular the small particles of the sample embedded in the sandpaper.
An enhancement of this method is to use sandpaper coated with a relatively thin coating of high reflective material such as aluminium.
It has been the practice to use small discs of sandpaper for forming samples as described above. Such small discs are satisfactory when the surface of the material to be analysed has projections such as a corner against which the abrasive surface can be rubbed to form the sample on the surface of the sandpaper. However, for very flat surfaces or for surfaces where there are recesses, it can be more difficult to obtain a satisfactory sample using the sandpaper discs. The present invention has been devised in order to deal with this problem.

Carrier and its use in the preparation of samples for spectroscopy


A foldable peritoneal catheter is provided with a flexible central plenum chamber and flexible fluted wands or rods that extend outwardly from the plenum chamber and serve as liquid transport means for a dialysate fluid or the like. This type of peritoneal catheter is well suited for chronic peritoneal dialysis.

Peritoneal dialysis catheters are of two general types: those designed for acute use (three days or less) and those for chronic use (over three days). Acute peritoneal dialysis catheters are straight, relatively rigid nylon or polyethylene catheters with numerous perforations or sideholes on the intraperitoneal portion. Chronic peritoneal dialysis catheters are constructed of soft materials like silicone rubber or polyurethane. The intraperitoneal portion may contain sideholes like the acute catheter, but may also have larger apertures for passage of the peritoneal fluid. Some chronic catheters have disks, beads or flanges at the parietal peritoneum to fix the catheter position. All have one or two extraperitoneal cuffs, which promote a local inflammatory response and tissue ingrowth, producing a fibrous plug to fix the catheter in position, prevent fluid leaks, and prevent bacterial migration around the catheter.
Some acute catheters are advanced into the abdomen with a pointed metal stylet inside; others have a tapered tip and are advanced into the abdomen over a guidewire. Acute catheters are fixed in place by suturing wings to the skin surface. Since there is no barrier to bacterial migration around the catheter, and because of the stiffness of the catheter, there is a significant risk of peritonitis, peritoneal irritation, and bowel perforation if the catheter is left in place for more than three days. For patients with acute renal failure, therapy usually is necessary for much more than three days. For these patients, safer access is provided by placing a chronic catheter at the start of dialysis therapy.
Historically, chronic peritoneal catheters have been made from a hydrophobic silicone polymer. However, such catheters suffer from a variety of problems such as infection of the biofilm on the catheter with attendant recurrent peritonitis, omental attachment to the catheter with resulting outflow obstruction, as well as mechanical failures leading to detachment of the catheter connectors.
Recently, curled peritoneal catheters have been made from a hydrophilic polyurethane. While this material of construction usually is smoother and stronger than a silicone polymer of comparable dimensions, such hydrophilic polyurethane catheters have not exhibited a reduced incidence of recurrent peritonitis, outflow obstruction or mechanical failures.

Foldable catheter for peritoneal dialysis


A temperature control apparatus for a microchemical chip having at least one chemical reactor includes a temperature regulator, and a controller. The temperature regulator can advantageously be configured to allow the microchemical chip to be mounted thereon. The temperature regulator can advantageously be configured to be thermally engaged with the at least one chemical reactor so as to control the temperature of the at least one chemical reactor. The controller can advantageously be removably connected to the temperature regulator. The controller can advantageously be configured to control the temperature regulator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a temperature control apparatus for a microchemical chip. More specifically, the present invention relates to a temperature control apparatus for controlling a temperature of a chemical reactor included in a microchemical chip
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-271781, filed Sep. 20, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
All patents, patent applications, patent publications, scientific articles, and the like, which will hereinafter be cited or identified in the present application, will hereby be incorporated by reference in their entirety in order to describe more filly the state of the art to which the present invention pertains.
In recent years, a miniaturized chemical reaction system, so called microchemical system has been developed. The microchemical system is configured to make a chemical reaction, a biochemical reaction, and a sample analysis in a micro area by using MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System). The microchemical system utilizes a microchemical chip to make a reaction and an analysis. Typically, the microchemical system may include a substrate and at least one chemical reactor over the substrate. The substrate may be made of a glass, quartz, or a plastic material. The microchemical chip can advantageously be miniaturized to increase a reaction surface area per unit area of a sample. Increasing the reaction surface area can decrease a reaction time. Further, the microchemical chip can advantageously be configured to precisely control a flow rate of a sample so as to efficiently make a reaction and an analysis. Furthermore, the microchemical chip can advantageously be configured to reduce the necessary amount of sample or reagent.
The microchemical chip includes the chemical reactor over or in the chip. In the chemical reactor, a chemical process is caused. Typical examples of the chemical process may include, but are not limited to, mixture, reaction, extraction, separation, and condensation An optimum temperature control to the chemical reactor can be effective to increase the reaction rate, stabilize the reaction, activate the reaction, and increase the chemical performance.
International Publication No. WO00/48724 Pamphlet discloses a conventional technique for temperature control of the microchemical chip. The microchemical chip includes a chemical reactor and a thermoelectric device that is attached to a bottom of the chemical reactor. The thermoelectric device is configured to control the temperature of the chemical reactor, for example, heating and cooling the chemical reactor, thereby controlling a chemical reaction in the chemical reactor. A thermoelectric device is attached or fixed to the microchemical chip at a predetermined position thereof so as to efficiently control the temperature of a chemical reactor at a position over the microchemical chip. This thermoelectric device can not control efficiently the temperature of another chemical reactor at a different position from the above position. In order to efficiently control the other chemical reactor, it is necessary that the thermoelectric device is removed and reattached at a different position from the above-position. In other words, the best or better position of the thermoelectric device depends on the position of the chemical reactor. This means that changing the position of the chemical reactor needs changing the connection position or structure of the thermoelectric device. The conventional temperature control apparatus is not configured to allow user to change or adjust the position of the thermoelectric device in accordance with the position of the chemical reactor of the microchemical chip.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication, No. 2005-114298 discloses another conventional temperature control apparatus for microchemical chip. The other conventional temperature control apparatus is configured to allow user to change or adjust the position of the thermoelectric device in accordance with the position of the chemical reactor of the microchemical chip. The other conventional temperature control apparatus includes a temperature regulator, a temperature controller, a heat exchanger, and a moving and fixing device. The temperature regulator further includes a thermoelectric device and a temperature sensor. The temperature controller is configured to control a current flow to the thermoelectric device as to as control a temperature of one end of the temperature regulator, wherein the control is made with reference to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. The moving and fixing device is configured to thermally connect or engage the heat exchanger with the opposite end of the temperature regulator. The moving and fixing device is configured to move and fix the temperature regulator relative to the heat exchanger.
The moving and fixing device is configured to allow user to move and fix the temperature regulator by adjusting a nut or a fixing screw. This means that user is allowed to freely change the temperature regulating position over the temperature control apparatus. The above configuration allows user to be free to select a position of the temperature regulator based on various temperature regulating positions of a temperature-regulating-object such as the microchemical chip. The above configuration allows a single temperature regulator to be used for various temperature regulating positions. The other conventional temperature control apparatus has a high flexibility of placement The other conventional temperature control apparatus is advantageous in cost reduction.
As described above, the other conventional temperature control apparatus is configured to allow user to adjust the nut or fixing screw in order to move and fix the temperature regulator in accordance with the type of the microchemical chip. This conventional configuration is disadvantageous in working efficiency and in time-consumption.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved temperature control apparatus for a microchemical chip having at least one chemical reactor. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Temperature control apparatus for microchemical chip


The present invention provides a filter device including a supply channel where a liquid flows in; a first liquid chamber that is communicated with the supply channel; a second liquid chamber that is communicated with the first liquid chamber; a first discharge channel that is communicated with the second liquid chamber and that discharges the liquid; a first filter that is provided between the first liquid chamber and the second liquid chamber; and a second filter that is provided between the first liquid chamber and the second liquid chamber and whose lower end is positioned higher than a lower end of the first filter.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a filter device and to a liquid droplet ejecting device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a filter device that removes wastes and foreign substances from inside a liquid, and to a liquid droplet ejecting device that ejects the liquid, which is passed through the filter device and is supplied thereto, from the nozzles of a liquid droplet ejecting head.
2. Related Art
A filter is provided in an inkjet recording device that ejects ink droplets from the nozzles of an inkjet recording head and prints on a recording medium. This filter is provided in the ink supply path of the inkjet recording head in order to prevent clogging of the nozzles or deterioration of the ink ejecting capabilities, due to wastes and/or foreign substances found in the ink.
With recent inkjet recording heads, there is a trend towards an increase in the number of nozzles provided in one recording head, or an increase of repeat-frequency of ejecting of ink, for the purpose of high-speed printing. Also, progress is being made in making the nozzle cross-sectional area smaller in order to make the ejected ink droplets smaller, for the purpose of achieving high-quality printing.
Due to these developments, certain qualities are demanded of the above-mentioned filter, namely, the filter needs to be able to remove even smaller wastes and foreign substances, and it must have a form with which loss of pressure is small. For this reason, progress is being made in the miniaturization of the filter meshes and the increasing of the area of the filter. However, when the filter area is made larger, the size of the inkjet recording head is increased depending on the arrangement of the filter. As a way of improving on this, increases in size of the inkjet recording head can be suppressed by dividing a filter into plural filter portions and being arranged in parallel.
Nonetheless, with the above-described configuration, the channel at the downstream side of the filter branches into plural channels so when bubbles generated in the ink stop in one channel, ink flows in the other channels so sufficient external force cannot be applied to the bubbles. There is a problem in that the ability to remove bubbles (i.e., discharge them) from the channel where the bubbles stop worsens and this tends to cause deterioration of the ink ejecting capability.

Filter device and liquid droplet ejecting device


A roofing membrane may include a main body, a first material, and a second material. The first material may be bonded to the main body and positioned toward a first edge thereof. The second material may be bonded to the main body and positioned toward a second edge thereof. The second edge may be positioned opposite the first edge such that the first and second materials are positioned toward opposite edges of the main body. At least one of the first material or the second material may include a first reactive material of a chemically reactive two-part cure system that is configured to chemically react upon contact of the first reactive material with a second reactive material of the chemically reactive two-part cure system.

Roofing membranes are commonly used for roofing systems of building and structures. Roofing membranes are often applied to the building or structure's roof to prevent leaks and/or to provide aesthetic appeal. Roofing membranes are commonly made of various synthetic rubber materials, modified bitumen, or thermoplastic materials.
Two common types of roofing membrane include those made of thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) and those made of ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM). TPO membranes are often white, but may be made in various other colors or shades, such as grey, black, and the like. Similarly, EPDM membranes are often black, but in some embodiments may also be white. White roofing membranes are often used to provide a pleasing visual appeal and/or to reflect radiation and thereby minimize heat island effects. Individual sections of EPDM membranes are often bonded together by priming or preparing an edges of the EPDM membranes and then applying a tape to the primed or prepared edges. Individual sections of TPO membranes are often coupled together by overlapping adjacent edges and heat welding the edges together. TPO may also be bonded by priming adjacent edges and using a tape.

Roofing membranes having multiple adhesive regions and method therefor


A light emitting diode package mounting apparatus comprises a heatsink defining a surface comprising one of a male or female connector. An LED package has a base where a portion of the base defines the other of the female or male connector. The connectors engage one another such that a force is exerted on the base that presses the LED package against the surface. To assemble the LED package in the heat sink, the LED package is located on the surface. The LED package and heatsink are moved relative to one another such that the male connector is inserted into the female connector.

LED lighting structures typically comprise an LED circuit board comprising one or more LED'S for projecting light through a lens. The LED board is attached to a heat dissipating substrate such as a metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB). The LED board, lens and substrate comprise an LED package that is secured to a heatsink where the heatsink may comprise fins or other structure for dissipating heat to the ambient environment. The dissipation of heat from the LED package is needed to maintain good performance of the LED over time.


A technique is disclosed for drying and curing a liquid film applied to a former which is reactive to radio frequency energy so as to generate heat. A liquid film, such as latex, is applied to a metallic former which is then disposed in the proximity of an applicator which propagates radio frequency energy. In response, by a process of induction the former generates heat and thereby advantageously dries said film in an inside-to-outside manner. A superior product is produced which is substantially free of defects and blemishes.

Conventional techniques for producing natural latex and synthetic latex condoms and gloves involve, generally, the steps of dipping a former into a vat or tub of liquid latex to apply a relatively thin film to the former, placing the former with the applied coating into a conventional oven to dry and cure the product, removing tile cured product from the former and repeating the process. A wide variety of additional steps may typically be included in the process to produce specific features or a higher quality product, such as, for example, multiple dipping applications to produce a laminated or thicker film or forming rings at the edges of the product. Mass production of latex products is typically accomplished in a batch process or by using a continuous chain or belt that carries a plurality of formers. The chain is continuously driven at a steady rate through each station where a step of the process is performed. The batch process uses a plurality of formers rigidly mounted on a plate, the plate being advanced in discrete steps. Desired qualities of such latex products include uniformity of thickness, purity of composition, tensile strength and resistance to deterioration.
Although defects or impurities may be introduced at any step of the process, many product defects are caused during the drying and curing steps. Contamination, "mud-cracking" and "skinning oven" are examples of product defects that may be introduced during the conventional drying and curing stages of the production process. Mud-cracking, or gel-cracking is a product defect caused during prior art drying processes due to the fact that the outer surface dries first, or skins over. As drying progresses inwardly, the material beneath the surface dries and shrinks. The surface skin, which is developing, attaches to the gelling and shrinking material beneath the skin and is ruptured into fissures as the material beneath the surface skin shrinks. In accordance with the present invention, this prior art defect is overcome if the drying first takes place at the inner surface next to the former because this gelled material cannot shrink since its size is maintained by the former. As drying progresses outwardly, shrinking of gelled material is prevented by the rigid former and the solid material beneath the ungelled portion.
Skinning over is another product defect caused during prior art processes where the outer layers of the film commence drying and form a solid surface that acts as a barrier which prevents moisture and other volatiles trapped within the inner layer from escaping as the inner portion of the film drys. The unwanted trapped substances result in the production of discontinuities that weaken and compromise the integrity of the final product.
Conventional ovens, usually in the form of long ducts which form tunnels, typically use steam heated radiators which heat the air forced through tile ducts. Alternatively, hot gases of combustion from gas burners, mixed with incoming air, may be forced through the ducts. Sometimes radiant heat is used to dry and cure the product on the formers. Since drying of the product during such conventional prior art heating processes initiates with the outer surface of the film, those processes prevent evaporation of volatiles which are trapped beneath the outer skin of the film. In addition, hot air forced through the ducts carries dirt and dust which impinges on and blemishes the product.
Of an entire production cycle, a relatively short amount of time is spent in the steps of applying the liquid latex. The majority of the cycle time involves drying and curing in the ovens, thereby increasing the likelihood that product defects will be introduced during the drying stage. For example, a typical mass production apparatus for producing condoms may be comprised of a first dipping step, a second dipping step, ring formation, drying and curing. The entire production cycle may take twenty-five minutes, and due to the general inefficiency of the ovens, the curing and drying steps may comprise twenty minutes or 80% of the entire cycle time.
A great deal of the heat from the ovens is, during a mass production process, released into the atmosphere of the factory, creating an extremely uncomfortable environment for the factory personnel. In addition, the gases and fumes created during the drying process often interfere with the performance and comfort of the factory personnel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,049,323 to Giles, Jr., 5,082,436 to Choi et al., and 5,101,085 to Minnich are generally directed to heating techniques which use radio frequency energy to thermostamp and cure thermoplastic composites. Radio frequency sensitizing agents are added to the uncured composite which is then heated by subjecting it to radio frequency energy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,551 to Davidson et al. involves drying of a liquid-containing coating by application of microwave radiation. Each of these prior art techniques, however, are directed to application of an energy source that directly and primarily affects the material of the product being produced. As a result, if such techniques were used to dry, for example, latex dipped products, the outer layer of the film would tend to dry first, trapping unwanted volatiles and residue beneath the dried outer skin of the film, resulting in several undesirable product defects.

Method and apparatus for drying coatings or films


The optical signal to noise ratio is improved when the polarization multilevel signal light is demodulated. A optical polarization multilevel signal receiving apparatus is provided with a polarization multilevel receiver configured to generate at least one estimation symbol A1 to AN estimating a state of the symbol A by utilizing a polarization state of at least one polarization multilevel symbol received in a past before the symbol A, a past value of a decision variable, and a decision result, average the estimation symbols A1 to AN and the symbol A to calculate a reference symbol Ar, and use the calculated reference symbol Ar in place of the symbol A to calculate a decision variable corresponding to a polarization state change of the received symbol R, where R is a received symbol and A is at least one past symbol used as a reference for a change.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to transmitting an optical polarization multilevel signal on an optical fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
In ultra-high speed optical fiber transmission, a wavelength multiplexing transmission system is widely used in which multiple optical signals having different wavelengths are bundled for transmission in order to effectively utilize a wavelength range (or a frequency band) available for the signal transmission. In this transmission system, the transmitting side bundles and transmits multiple optical signals having different wavelengths and the receiving side receives the optical signals split into the original wavelengths, and thereby the transmission of the signals is made.
Also, to effectively utilize the frequency band, polarization multiplexing transmission is under study. The polarization multiplexing transmission system uses a multiplexing technique utilizing the difference of polarization states of light. According to the system, in the transmitting side, two pairs of optical signals modulated with an independent information signal are converted into a mutually orthogonal polarization states to be multiplexed and then transmitted to an optical fiber. The polarization state of the optical signal can be expressed as a point on the Poincare sphere surface.
By the way, it is known that the polarization state of the optical signal is subject to change during the transmission through the optical fiber. This change in the polarization state can be represented as a random conversion on the Poincare sphere surface. It is noted that the orthogonality of the polarization state is maintained after the change during the transmission. By utilizing the property, the receiving side performs a converting operation of the polarization state and a splitting operation of the polarization to split the received optical signal into two original optical signals that have been multiplexed at the transmitting side. As such, the polarization multiplexing transmission system achieves the transmission of twice as much information by using the same wavelength width as the wavelength multiplexing transmission system.
Described below is a technique for achieving the optical polarization multiplexing transmission system, that is, the optical polarization multiplexing technique at the transmitter and the optical polarization splitting technique at the receiver. First, the coherent polarization multiplexing transmission system that is one of the conventional techniques of the polarization multiplexing optical receiver will be described. P. J. Winzer, "Spectrally Efficient Long-Haul Optical Networking Using 112-Gb/s Polarization-Multiplexed 16-QAM," JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 28, NO. 4, Feb. 15, 2010, pp. 547-556 is one of the documents disclosing the configuration of the apparatus that supports this type of transmission system.
FIG. 1, which is comprised of FIGS. 1A and 1B, illustrates an example of the conventional digital coherent polarization multiplexing transmission system. FIG. 1A represents the configuration of a polarization multiplexing optical multilevel transmitter 100 of the system and FIG. 1B represents the configuration of a polarization diversity coherent optical multilevel receiver 120 of the system.
The polarization multiplexing optical multilevel transmitter 100 splits a non-modulated laser beam output from a transmission laser source 104 into two at an optical splitter 105 and inputs them into two quadrature optical field modulators 106-1 and 106-2. The quadrature optical field modulator (or referred to as the IQ modulator) is configured with two pairs of the MZ modulators arranged in parallel on a substrate such as Lithium Niobate. In response to a fast-modulated voltage signal applied to the modulation signal input terminal of the MZ modulator, the in-phase component (the I component or the real part) and the quadrature component (the Q component or the imaginary part) of the optical field of the output light output from the output terminal can be independently modulated.
Input information signals 101-1 and 101-2 to be transmitted are encoded to multilevel signals (such as 16QAM, for example) by multilevel encoded circuits 102-1 and 102-2, respectively. The in-phase component and the quadrature component of the multilevel signal are converted into an analog electric waveform by D/A converters 103-1 to 103-4 in a fast operation and then input into the in-phase and the quadrature modulation terminals of the two quadrature optical field modulators 106-1 and 106-2.
As a result, the output lights from the respective quadrature optical field modulators 106-1 and 106-2 are turned into independent multilevel modulation lights modulated on a two-dimensional complex plane, respectively. They are converted so that the polarization states are orthogonal to each other, input to a polarization multiplexing circuit 107 as an optical modulation signal 108 of S polarization and an optical modulation signal 109 of P polarization, and output from an output optical fiber 110 as a polarization multiplexing optical multilevel signal 111.
FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of the signal constellation according to the optical multilevel modulation and the polarization multiplexing transmission. FIG. 2A shows a sixteen-level quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) as an example of the signal constellation according to the optical multilevel modulation. In the 16QAM, the signal constellation is arranged in a grid-like pattern and four bits of information can be transmitted per one symbol. The example in the figure represents the values of two high-order bits (10xx, 11xx, 01xx, 00xx) on the Q axis coordinate and the values of two low-order bits (xx10, xx11, xx01, xx00) on the I axis coordinate.
Such multilevel signal can be generated by inputting the multilevel electrical signal (four-level in this example) to the input terminal of the in-phase component modulation signal and the input terminal of the quadrature component modulation signal of FIG. 1, respectively, and designating the field coordinate (i(t), q(t)) of the in-phase component and the quadrature component. At this time, the optical field of the optical modulation signal of the X polarization output from the quadrature optical field modulators 106-1 and 106-2 is expressed as (i(t)+jq(t))exp(jωt). Here, ω is an optical angular frequency of a transmission laser source 104, and j is a unit of the imaginary number. It is noted that, when a complex optical field signal is generated, the voltage signals of the real part i(t) and the imaginary part q(t) of the complex field signal may be generated using an ultra-high speed DA converter to apply them to the input terminal for the in-phase component modulation signal and the input terminal for the quadrature component modulation signal.
FIG. 2B represents the concept of the polarization multiplexing. The optical wave is one sort of the electromagnetic waves. Thus, there are two independent orthogonal polarization sates (for example, the horizontal polarization and the vertical polarization) in the optical wave depending on the vibration direction of the field with respect to its propagation direction. Therefore, two optical field components (the S polarization component and the P polarization component in the figure) can be modulated with separate information signals, multiplexed, and transmitted.
Returning to the description of FIG. 1A, the polarization multiplexing optical multilevel signal 111 output from the above-described polarization multiplexing optical multilevel transmitter 100 is transmitted through the optical fiber of, for example, a few tens to a few thousands km. In this case, the polarization multiplexing optical multilevel signal 111 is subject to transmission impairment due to chromatic dispersion and the like in the optical fiber and is received by the polarization diversity coherent optical multilevel receiver 120 of FIG. 1B. Here, the coherent reception refers to a system in which the output light of the local oscillation laser source 124 located inside the receiver is used as the reference for detection of the field component of the optical signal.
A received polarization multiplexing optical multilevel signal 121 input from an input optical fiber 122 is input to a polarization splitting optical 90-deg. hybrid circuit 125 after being appropriately amplified by an optical amplifier 123 and the like. The polarization splitting optical 90-deg. hybrid circuit 125 splits the input signal into four sets of optical signals of the X polarization components (in-phase and quadrature components) and the Y polarization components (in-phase and quadrature components) and outputs them to four balance optical receivers 126-1 to 126-4, respectively.
It is noted that the optical frequency of the local oscillation laser source 124 located within the receiver is set to substantially the same as the received polarization multiplexing optical multilevel signal 121, and its output light is connected to one input port of the polarization splitting optical 90-deg. hybrid circuit 125. The output light of the local oscillation laser source 124 is also distributed to the balance optical receivers 126-1 to 126-4 through the polarization splitting optical 90-deg. hybrid circuit 125.
In respective balance optical receivers 126-1 to 126-4, the input signal light and the local oscillation light are interfered and the lights obtained from the interference are converted into electrical signals. The electrical signals are sampled and converted into digital signals at A/D converters 127-1 to 127-4 and output to the digital signal processor.
In the digital signal processor, first, the component corresponding to the inverse function of the chromatic dispersion superimposed at the optical fiber transmission path is applied at a semi-fixed dispersion compensation circuit 128. Thereby, the waveform degradation subjected at the optical fiber transmission path is compensated. The signal in which the degradation has been compensated is provided to a polarization beam splitter 129. The polarization beam splitter 129 detects the quadrature polarization component during transmission to perform a polarization conversion, and splits and extracts the original S polarization component and P polarization component of the transmitting side. The S polarization component is output to a sampling circuit 130-1 and the P polarization component is output to a sampling circuit 130-2. In the sampling circuits 130-1 and 130-2, the data at the center time in the waveform is extracted. Next, in frequency and phase estimation circuits 131-1 and 131-2, the IF offset frequency component and the phase fluctuation component are removed. Then, in multilevel signal decision circuits 132-1 and 132-2, a decision and decoding process of the multilevel signal is performed, and output information signals 133-1 and 133-2 are obtained.
It is noted that, in general, a framer and error correction circuit is arranged in the subsequent stage of the receiver (transponder). The framer and error correction circuit analyzes the received signal to find the head of the data frame, and performs an error correction process utilizing error correction information pre-provided before the transmission, and a process of channel and monitoring information by reading out the information in the header.
Described below will be the modulation system other than the above-described polarization multiplexing transmission system in which the polarization of the optical signal is utilized. Here, the transmission system referred to as polarization multilevel modulation system in which multiple polarization states of the optical signal are utilized for information transmission will be described. The polarization multilevel modulation system is disclosed in S. Benedetto, "Multilevel polarization modulation using a specifically designed LiNbO3 device," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 8, pp. 949-951, for example.
The principle of the polarization multilevel modulation system will be described below based on the Poincare sphere diagrams of FIGS. 3A-3D. The Poincare sphere is typically a sphere in which the radius is normalized (for example, to "1") as illustrated in FIG. 3A and, with respect to the typical optical signal (the polarization degree is sufficiently high), the polarization state can be expressed as a point on the sphere surface. When three axes of the Poincare sphere are denoted as S1, S2, and S3 and the longitude and latitude of the signal point (the white circle) are measured as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the longitude serves as a parameter representing a manner of inclination of the polarization plane and the latitude serves as a parameter representing an ellipticity.
Each position on the Poincare sphere corresponds to the actual polarization state as seen in FIG. 3B. For example, at the intersection of the S1 axis and the sphere plane surface, the positive side represents the TE polarization (for example, the S polarization), and the negative side represents the TM polarization (for example, the P polarization). Further, on the equator (S3=0), the linear polarizations with different inclination are aligned in order. At the north pole and the south pole, the counterclockwise and the clockwise circler polarizations are arranged, and most parts on the sphere surface other than the above represent polarization states with any inclination and any ellipticity. It is noted that two points on the sphere surface located in the opposite positions interposing the center of the sphere represent the mutually orthogonal polarizations.
The multilevel polarization modulation system addressed in S. Benedetto, "Multilevel polarization modulation using a specifically designed LiNbO3 device," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 8, pp. 949-951 is the multilevel modulation in which one polarization state of a plurality of polarization states set on the Poincare sphere is selectively transmitted. For example, FIG. 3C represents an arrangement example of the polarization states (signal points) in the case of the twelve-level polarization modulation (12PolSK). It is noted that the twelve signal points are arranged to have wide intervals between the signals and be evenly close to each other as illustrated in FIG. 3C. Each signal point on the Poincare sphere can be generated by arbitrarily modulating the amplitude and the phase of the optical field and can be used in combination of the polarization multilevel modulation and the conventional multilevel modulation.
FIGS. 4A and 4B are configuration diagrams of the conventional polarization multilevel transmission system using a digital coherent technique. FIG. 4A represents the configuration of a polarization multilevel optical transmitter 140 and FIG. 4B represents the configuration of a polarization multilevel coherent optical receiver 143.
The polarization multilevel optical transmitter 140 inputs the input information signals 101 all together into a polarization multilevel encoder (POLENC) 141 to encode them into the desired polarization state and field state. By the encoding here, generated are the optical modulation signal 108 of the S polarization component having any amplitude and phase and the optical modulation signal 109 of the P polarization component similarly having any amplitude and phase. The polarization multiplexing circuit 107 coherently multiplexes the two optical modulation signals 108 and 109 to generate any polarization multilevel and optical multilevel signal 142.
The apparatus configuration of the polarization multilevel optical transmitter 140 illustrated in FIG. 4A is substantially the same as that of the polarization multiplexing optical multilevel transmitter 100 illustrated in FIG. 1A, but different in that it is necessary to create the path lengths and/or the modulation timing in a high accuracy because of the needs of the coherent addition of the S polarized optical modulation signal 108 and the P polarized optical modulation signal 109, and therefore the configuration of the apparatus is slightly complicated.
The apparatus configuration of the polarization multilevel coherent optical receiver 143 illustrated in FIG. 4B is also similar to that of the polarization diversity coherent optical multilevel receiver 120 illustrated in FIG. 1. One of the differences is in that the polarization beam splitter 129 (FIG. 1B) is replaced with a polarization state estimation circuit 144 (FIG. 4B). The internal parts of the optical transmission apparatus and/or the optical fiber transmission path currently used do not have the mechanism for holding the primary axis of the polarization in a constant direction. Therefore, the mapping of the signal points of the received polarization multilevel signals onto the Poincare sphere exhibits a state that is subjected to the three-dimensional rotation in any direction with respect to the signal constellation at the time of transmission, as illustrated in FIG. 3D. In FIG. 3D, this state is represented as any rotation of the equator plane (the hatched part). Therefore, the polarization multilevel coherent optical receiver 143 is provided with the polarization state estimation circuit 144 as the mechanism for estimating the direction of the original polarization primary axes (S1, S2, and S3 illustrated as the dotted lines in the figure). Further, another difference is in that the multilevel signal decision circuits 132-1 and 132-2 (FIG. 1B) are replaced with a polarization multilevel decoder 145 (FIG. 4B). The polarization multilevel decoder 145 recovers the information signals all together based on the polarization state and/or the amplitude and phase of the received constellation.
Subsequently, described will be the modulation system other than the above-described polarization multiplexing transmission system in which the polarization of the optical signal is utilized. Here, the differential polarization modulation system will be described. The differential polarization modulation system is a system to transmit the information by utilizing the change in the polarization between the received symbol and the immediately preceding symbol. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,663 discloses an example of transmitting the binary information, for example.
FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate the differential polarization modulation system. In the differential polarization modulation system, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the transmission is made so as to alternatively switch two orthogonal polarizations. FIG. 5B is a view illustrating the state transition mapped on the Poincare sphere. In this system, the digital information "1" is transmitted at the time when the polarization is switched, while the digital information "0" is transmitted at the time when the polarization is unchanged. Therefore, the receiver supporting the system demodulates the received symbol by the coherent heterodyne detection of the received differential polarization modulation light, detects the change in the phase or the amplitude by calculating the product or the difference of the received symbol and the immediately preceding symbol, and demodulates the information signal based on the detection result. The differential polarization modulation system is able to transmit the information without requiring the strict detection of the polarization state, and has advantage that it is unlikely to be subjected to the impairment even in the transmission path where the polarization state changes rapidly.
Further, J. Blaikie, etc., "Multilevel Differential Polarization Shift Keying", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. 45, NO. 1, January 1997 proposes the differential polarization multilevel system in which the number of levels is increased. In general, in the high order differential polarization modulation, there remains uncertainty in deriving, from the polarization state S(n−1) of the immediately preceding symbol only, the change of the polarization state to the polarization state S(n). This is because the rotation of the Poincare sphere in the transition from S(n−1) to S(n) is not uniquely determined. Thus, the system disclosed in J. Blaikie, etc., "Multilevel Differential Polarization Shift Keying", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. 45, NO. 1, January 1997 also utilizes the polarization state S(n−2) that is two symbols preceding in the past. In this system, a rule is defined that the same polarization or the mutually orthogonal polarizations are not transmitted in consecutive two symbols. Two decision variables d1(n) and d2(n) used in the receiver supporting the system are defined as the following equation (8) in J. Blaikie, etc., "Multilevel Differential Polarization Shift Keying", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. 45, NO. 1, January 1997.d1(n)=S(n)S(n−2)/(|S(n)∥S(n−2)|)  (Equation 1)d2(n)=S(n)S(n−1)×S(n−2)/(|S(n)∥S(n−1)×S(n−2)|)  (Equation 2)
Here, d1(n) is a normalized inner product of S(n) and S(n−2), and d2(n) is a normalized inner product of S1 and a normalized outer product vector of S(n−1) and S(n−2).
FIGS. 6A-6E illustrate the principle of the multilevel differential polarization modulation. FIG. 6A illustrates a positional relationship among three symbols S(n−2), S(n−1), and S(n) that have been received consecutively in time. The d1 provided by Equation 1 is a coordinate value of the received symbol S(n) measured along the D1 axis that passes the Origin and S(n−2) as illustrated in FIG. 6B. In the case of this example, S(n) is on the surface of d1=0. Therefore, d1=0.
On the other hand, d2 provided by Equation 2 is a normalized inner product measured along the D2 axis (the axis parallel to the outer product vector S(n−1)×S(n−2), that is, orthogonal to both S(n−1) and S(n−2)) as illustrated in FIG. 6C. In the case of this example, S(n) is just on the D2 axis and thus d2=1.
As illustrated in FIG. 6C, the D1 axis and the D2 axis both pass the Origin of the sphere and are not parallel to each other. Therefore, the position S(n) of the received symbol can be determined uniquely to the coordinates (d1, d2). As described above, the d1 axis and the d2 axis are defined from the positions of two symbols and it is therefore confirmed that (d1, d2) is a differential demodulation result with respect to the positions for past two symbols. Such multilevel differential modulation is useful, in particular, for the case where the number of the signal points is increased for the improved transmission efficiency in the polarization multilevel transmission.
Typically, in the polarization multilevel modulation system, when the number of the signal points is increased (when a large number of signal points are densely arranged on the two-dimensional Poincare sphere surface), the correct decision of the signal point will be impossible even with a slight inclination of the Poincare sphere (even with a slight rotation of the polarization primary axis). Further, in the polarization multilevel modulation system, the increased number of the signal points makes it quite difficult to detect the primary axis or track the change in the primary axis after the reception. In particular, when the degradation of the SN is larger or when a rapid fluctuation is generated in the polarization state, the error in the detection of the polarization axis or in the tracking occurs, which makes the reception impossible.
In contrast, in the case of the above-described differential multilevel polarization modulation system, the symbol decision is made based on the difference and the like in the polarization between two consecutively received symbols, so that the accurate and fast polarization tracking is not required and thus the strength against the fast polarization fluctuation is improved.

Optical polarization multilevel signal receiving apparatus, optical polarization multilevel signal transmitting apparatus, and optical polarization multilevel signal transmission apparatus


A network node preprocesses Closed User Group (CUG) member rules and network configuration information available to the node during a configuration phase of the network preceding an operational phase in which calls are placed among the users. The preprocessing stores the information about the CUG membership of network users into a preprocessed CUG information table directly associated with user addresses. CUG membership of some attached users is ambiguous at configuration time if there exists a CUG member rule that is more specific than a prefix configured on the node with which the addresses of such users begin. For such users, CUG membership is determined at call time. The node determines at configuration time whether the CUG membership information concerning users whose addresses begin with each prefix configured on the node is ambiguous, and for those prefixes for which user CUG membership is ambiguous an associated indicator is set. At call time the indicator associated with the user involved in the call is checked. If the indicator is set the node creates CUG membership information about the involved user and uses the created information to authorize the call. If the indicator is not set, the CUG membership information is retrieved directly from the preprocessed CUG information table and used to authorize the call.

The present invention is related generally to data communications networks, and in particular to security features of such networks.
In a typical prior art data communications network, each user of the network is coupled to a corresponding node that provides access to the network and the nodes in turn are coupled to each other by physical network media such as copper or fiber cable. For example, the nodes may be network switches responsible for establishing connections among various network segments interconnecting the users, as well as for establishing connections between the users and the inter-nodal medium. The users are computers, such as workstations, that use the network to exchange data in the form of files, mail messages, etc. The network is a collection of users, nodes, media, and other devices and interconnections that are centrally managed via a network management station (NMS) connected to the medium.
At any given time, the network has a configuration, one aspect of which is the distribution of addresses that uniquely identify network components. In general, each user is identified by a single unique address. The nodes may have associated therewith items known as prefixes commonly used for purposes of routing data through the network. Each prefix represents a portion of an address that is common to a set of users coupled to the respective node. For example, a pair of users on a given node having addresses 16165551212 and 16161234567 share the common prefix 1616. The prefix scheme allows for routing to be hierarchical, that is, for different parts of connections to be established by different elements in the network. In the example above, if a calling user is attempting to connect to a called user having the address 16161234567, the connection would first be routed to the node to which the called user is coupled, based solely on the 1616 prefix. The node would then extend the connection to the called user based on the remaining address portion 1234567.
The prefixes are stored in data structures on the nodes. in general there may be more than one prefix per node, depending of course on the configuration of addresses of the users coupled thereto. Additionally, there may be cases in which each node stores full addresses either in addition to or instead of prefixes. For such addresses, routing is performed in a non-hierarchical manner, i.e., each node examines the entire address in order to route connections. Because of the potentially mixed nature of the routing information at each node, the data structure in which the prefix or address resides on a node is referred to as an "address/prefix structure". Each node contains an address/prefix structure for routing purposes.
The typical network discussed above may be either of two known types. One type of network is referred to as a "packet-switched" network. In such a network, there never exists a dedicated channel between two users over which data is freely passed. Rather, data streams are segmented into discrete blocks known as "packets", and each packet is routed independently through the network over a series of "hops", or short interconnections. An example of such a protocol is the Internet Protocol (IP). In the other type of network, referred to as a "connection-based" network, data is transferred between users in streams of arbitrary length. A connection is set up between a calling user and a called user, then data is freely exchanged between them over the connection as though they were connected by a single private channel. This type of network is analogous to the public switched telephone network, in which two participants in a phone call enjoy an uninterrupted private connection for the duration of the call. An example of a connection-based network is Asynchronous Transfer Mode or ATM.
The present invention applies to connection-based network protocols such as those employed in an ATM network.
One extension of the ATM protocol is known as Closed User Group (CUG) functionality. In an ATM system having CUG support, sets of users form distinct entities called closed user groups, or CUGs, having properties that enable certain security measures to be used during network operation. The basic function enabled by using CUGs is the selective authorization of "calls", or connection requests, among network users. In general, a user A that is a member of a CUG can both call and receive calls from a user B that is a member of the same CUG, but cannot call or receive calls from a user C that is not a member of the same CUG. Through the use of CUGs, a network manager can establish sub-groups in the network within which communication is freely allowed, while restricting communications outside of such groups. An example of a network in which CUG functionality might be useful is a network having a portion dedicated to use by one company and another portion used by a joint venture in which that company and another company participate. The desire is for free data exchange among users within the company and among users within the joint venture, but limited and controlled exchange between the two organizations. To accomplish these goals, a different CUG could be established for each organization. Then one or more additional CUGs overlapping these two could be established to allow specific groups of users from the two organizations to communicate. CUGs have network-wide scope, and are therefore managed on a network-wide basis by the network management system or NMS. Each CUG has a unique identifier in the network and additional properties more fully discussed below. Formally, a CUG is a set of addresses and/or regular expressions each of which is known as a "CUG member" or a "CUG member rule". Each CUG has a set of member rules associated with it, and each member rule defines a characteristic possessed by the addresses of users who belong to that CUG. Most commonly, the member rules define prefixes. The membership of a CUG is the set of network users whose addresses all satisfy at least one of the member rules for that CUG. The structure, arrangement and use of member rules is described in more detail below.
In a network having CUG functionality, calls between users are authorized by determining the CUG membership of the calling user and called user, and then determining if they are members of any common CUGs. If so, the call is allowed to proceed, and if not, the call is rejected. This call-authorization process is transparent to the users except for the possibility of having a call request rejected, a possibility that exists whether CUGs are supported or not. The call authorization process is carried out within the network, and involves in particular two nodes termed the "ingress node" and the "egress node". An ingress node is a node at which a call request is first received from a calling user, i.e., the node to which the calling user is coupled. Likewise, an egress node is the node from which the call request is forwarded on to a called user coupled to that node after being authorized.
The traditional manner in which CUG calls are authorized proceeds as follows. During the initialization of the network (or subsequent re-configuration, as necessary), each node receives from the NMS all the CUG member rules that might affect the CUG membership of users attached to that node; in general, each node may receive numerous rules and the received rules may be associated with many different CUGs. When a call is placed, each ingress and egress node carries out the following actions:
1) Find all member rules affecting the CUG membership of the calling and called users;
2) Determine which CUGs the calling and called users belong to;
3) Determine whether the calling and called users belong to at least one common CUG, in which case the call is authorized;
4) If the call is authorized, forward the call on toward the called user, and if not, drop the call and return a call rejection message to the calling user.
The general technique for call authorization described above requires significant processing at the time of a call, especially in larger networks having numerous users and potentially numerous CUGs and their associated member rules.
For this reason, a node such as a switch, for example, that offers CUG support using the traditional call-authorization technique has generally lower performance (as measured in connections established per second) than a similar switch having no CUG support. As a general matter, then, network managers have heretofore been required to sacrifice performance, or to achieve it at additional expense and complexity, in order to incorporate the desirable security-enhancing functionality of CUGs into their networks.

Closed user group preprocessing decision for efficient call security validation


A tape placement head for applying thermoplastic tape to an object includes a heated feeder which guides the tape/tow to a heated zone. The heated zone has a line compactor having a single row of at least one movable heated member. An area compactor is located in the heated zone downstream from the line compactor. The area compactor includes a plurality of rows of movable feet which are extendable toward the tape/tow different distances with respect to each other to conform to the shape of the object. A shim is located between the heated compactors and the tape/tow. A chilled compactor is in a chilled zone downstream from the heated zone. The chilled zone includes a line chilled compactor and an area chilled compactor. A chilled shim is mounted between the chilled compactor and the tape/tow.

There are various products having a skin made by applying a thermoplastic tape to the product or object. Generally, the applied tape is in a heated condition when in contact with the object and then is cooled to cure and become permanently bonded. Such objects have various types of uses. One type of object is in the aeronautics industry where the object might be, for example, a wing or fuselage of an aircraft. Frequently in making the skin a laminate is formed by applying multiple layers of the thermoplastic tape on the object.

Tape placement head for applying thermoplastic tape to an object


Methods for making a micofluidic device according to embodiments of the present invention include defining a cavity. Polymer precursor solution is positioned in the cavity, and exposed to light to begin the polymerization process and define a microchannel. In some embodiments, after the polymerization process is partially complete, a solvent rinse is performed, or fresh polymer precursor introduced into the microchannel. This may promote removal of unpolymerized material from the microchannel and enable smaller feature sizes. The polymer precursor solution may contain an iniferter. Polymerized features therefore may be capped with the iniferter, which is photoactive. The iniferter may aid later binding of a polyacrylamide gel to the microchannel surface.

A variety of fabrication techniques may be utilized to create devices with microfluidic channel structures. Generally, a microfluidic channel is a channel defined by a material and having a channel dimension of 1 mm or less. Microfluidic channels may be defined by a variety of materials including etched glass, silicon, molded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and molded or embossed plastic. The microchannels themselves may be formed by etching away portions of the material, by embossing, or by building up a microchannel structure through the deposition of patterned layers. The material used and channel formation technique may be chosen based on the cost of fabrication and whether the resultant device will have the feature dimensions and material compatibility desired in a particular application.
Devices made using etching processes are generally costly, but may achieve accurate dimensions and be well-suited to a variety of applications. PDMS and plastic devices may be less costly but less well defined and may have heterogeneous chemical properties subject to temporal variation within the device. In addition, PDMS, as a porous material, may be prone to reagent evaporation through the material and may be unsuitable for long term device storage.
It may be desirable to control one or more interior surfaces of microchannels to be able to control the surface charge, hydrophobicity, binding sites, or other material linkages to the microchannel surface. Methods for controlling the surface reactivity of PDMS and plastic microchannels may not be as well developed as those for glass surfaces that can be treated by self assembly of silane monolayers. For example, a reactive surface chemistry may be needed to enable the later attachment of other materials or structures, such as polyacrylamide gels. For some applications in plastic, plasma surface treatments may be used to modify the chemistry of surfaces. However, the plasma surface treatments may result in a low density of reactive chemical groups, heterogeneous and undefined reactive groups, and non-uniform surface coverage of reactive groups, which may be problematic. In addition, undesired surface properties such as introduction of non-reactive charged groups during surface treatment can be problematic. For example, these surface treatment problems may result in undesired electroosmotic fluid flow or undesired chemical interactions with fluid constituents in some cases.
Examples of forming polymeric microdevices using photopolymerization is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,872 entitled "Microfabricated devices and method of manufacturing the same," which patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for any purpose. A liquid phase monomer solution including a photoinitiator may be loaded into a cartridge, and microchannels defined by polymerizing regions of the solution by exposing them to UV light. U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,872 further describes the later polymerization of hydrogels in the microchannels.
In a variety of applications, it may be desirable to place polyacrylamide gels at one or more locations in a microchannel. The polyacrylamide gels may be used as size-exclusion membranes, concentration membranes, or binding sites for analytes. The polyacrylamide gels are generally formed by photopolymerizing a polymer solution. On exposure to light, the polymer solution is polymerized into a gel. However, in some cases, the hydrogel may not adhere adequately or at all to one or more the microchannel surfaces. The poor adhesion may be due to surface chemistry difficulties described above. Consequently, flow through the microchannel may be disrupted in the region of a partially adhered gel, and bubbles or unusual streaming patterns may result, disrupting the proper operation of the microchannel and gel. In some cases, it may not be feasible at all to attach the gel.
Examples of polymeric microdevices are also described in WO 2004/009489 entitled "Fabrication of 3D photopolymeric devices," which publication is hereby incorporated by reference for any purpose. Iniferters or iniferter precursors are added to the liquid phase monomer solution used to form microchannels to allow covalent bonding of subsequent layers of material to a polymer surface. Iniferters are incorporated into a liquid polymer composition used to define one or more microstructures prior to polymerization. Once polymerized, the resulting polymeric layer contains iniferter on the surface of the material which facilitates bonding of subsequent layers to the polymerized surface. In this manner, a microchannel surface may be formed having iniferters and a photopolymerized hydrogel may be adhered to the microchannel surface. The described systems utilize a photomask as an upper layer of the microchannel system during formation which is removed following polymerization, resulting in open microchannels which are later sealed. A chuck system is also described that may be used to set the thickness of the polymer layer between the photomask and the substrate on the chuck.

Method for forming polymerized microfluidic devices


A safety door for covering openings in a rotary kiln during maintenance operations on the rotary kiln. The door is affixed to the exterior surface of the rotary kiln and includes a hatch pivotally secured at one side edge thereof by a pivot rod to a frame. A plurality of tension coil springs are disposed on the pivot rod and continuously bias the hatch toward the opening with a force of approximately 400 pounds.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to high temperature kiln apparatus and more particularly to a safety door for utilization on rotary kilns of the type used in production of cement.
2. Description of the Background Art
Rotating cylindrical kilns are frequently used in the production of cement. The production of cement is a relatively complex process that involves mining and milling the raw materials which are then fed directly into a kiln or fed initially into a heat exchanger (typically a pre-heater or a pre-calciner) which discharges the material into a kiln and then fired to produce "clinkers." The clinkers are subsequently milled and packaged for sale as cement. Such kilns operate at extremely high temperatures and, in some instances, include the injection of combustible waste materials as a source of supplemental heat. These kilns are lined with refractory brick which, in many cases, become coated with hard material during operation. The brick is a wear material that has to be replaced periodically. The brick and hard coating are removed by using a special piece of equipment that hammers the keyed brick out, allowing the material to fall into the bottom of the kiln. Most kilns have bolt on doors that must be removed in order to push the material out onto the ground or into a waiting dump truck. The doors are removed when positioned on top of the kiln and the kiln is then rotated so that the resulting opening or manhole is located on the bottom of the kiln. Once the material is loose and is lying at the bottom of the kiln, equipment is utilized to push the material which has fallen into the bottom of the kiln out through the open manhole.
Once the cleaning of the material lying on the bottom of the kiln has been completed, workers must enter the kiln to measure remaining brick thickness, measure replacement sections, or replace the retainer rings prior to installation of the new brick. During this time, the kiln remains in its rotated position wherein the open manhole is on the bottom portion of the kiln.
With the open manhole in such a position, a hazard is associated with workers entering and exiting the kiln during and after clean up because the open manhole is large enough for most workers to fall through. Most kilns are positioned such that they are on elevated support pedestals thus exposing a worker to a fall greater than the six foot fall allowed by protection equipment. In addition, wearing fall protection equipment inside a kiln is not practical because there are no areas on the internal surface of the kiln for the fall protection equipment to be secured to and because of the large number of people that may be required to be inside the kiln at any given time.
Covering the opening with a solid plate, grating or boards also exposes the worker to the same fall hazard. There is thus a need for a safety door which will automatically cover the opening and which will preclude workers from falling through the open manhole during the required maintenance of the internal surface of the kiln.


In the method of the invention, hydroxypivalaldehyde (3-hydroxy-2,2-dimethylpropanal) and/or its dimer is stored under solid conditions containing an amount of water. By storing such solid conditions, hydroxypivalaldehyde and/or its dimer is stored for a long period of time without reducing its purity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stabilized hydroxypivalaldehyde (3-hydroxy-2,2-dimethylpropanal, hereinafter referred to as HPA) and a method of stably storing HPA.
2. Description of the Prior Art
HPA is generally produced by aldol condensation of isobutylaldehyde (hereinafter referred to as IBAL) and formaldehyde or a formaldehyde aqueous solution (formalin) in the presence of a basic catalyst such as amines. Although the aldol condensation generally proceeds under either acidic or basic conditions, the synthesis of HPA is generally conducted under basic conditions in the presence of a basic catalyst, because HPA has both a carbonyl group and a hydroxyl group and so easily undergoes self-condensation by acetalization under acidic conditions. After the reaction, the low-boiling components such as unreacted IBAL and formaldehyde are removed by distillation to obtain a reaction production liquid. HPA is generally used as a synthetic intermediate. If neopentyl glycol (hereinafter referred to as NPG), 3-hydroxy-2,2-dimethyl monohydroxypivalate (ester glycol, hereinafter referred to as ESG), etc., which are by-produced during the synthesis of HPA, are intended as the final products, the reaction product liquid of HPA is immediately used in a crude form in the subsequent steps without further purification.
As a method for producing pure HPA, there has been disclosed a method in which a purified HPA is produce by subjecting IBAL and formaldehyde or formalin to aldol condensation in the presence of an amine catalyst to produce HPA, removing low-boiling components by distillation to obtain crude HPA, and purifying the crude HPA by addition of water, crystallization of HPA under cooling, solid-liquid separation of HPA, and washing with water (U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,888 and JP 6-29206B). It has been reported that HPA exists in equilibrium between monomer and dimer (Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions II, vol. 3, p. 189–192, 1978) as illustrated below,
and the purified HPA is usually obtained in the form of a dimer. Is has been also disclosed that the HPA dimer show a reactivity equivalent to that of the HPA monomer (JP 1-299239A and JP 5-117187A).
If the crude HPA after removing low-boiling components by distillation is stored under solution conditions containing a basic catalyst, etc., the amount of by-products increases within a short period of time after the distillation to unfavorably reduce the concentration of HPA and/or its dimer. If HPA and/or its dimer is purified by crystallization as proposed in JP 6-29206B, etc., a large amount of HPA and/or its dimer is left in the mother liquor to significantly reduce the yield, this requiring an additional step for recovering HPA and/or its dimer from the mother liquor. Since the wet cake of HPA and/or its dimer is poor in storage stability, the purity can be maintained only in an extremely short period of time. If NPG, ESG, etc. are not the final target compounds and HPA and/or its dimer is not intended to be immediately used as the synthetic intermediate(s), the storage of HPA and/or its dimer which is produced in advance of the use or the transportation for its use at a distant place are extremely limited.
To prevent the purity of HPA and/or its dimer from being lowered, the wet cake obtained in the crystallizing operation for purification should be dried. When heated to 55° C. or higher for drying, HPA and/or its dimer is melted at the initial stage of drying where the water content is still high to increase the escaped amount thereof as the drying proceeds. Simultaneously, as illustrated below, two molecules of HPA react to form ESG by Tishchenko reaction.
To avoid these problems, the drying of the wet cake is effected generally by vacuum dry at temperatures less than 55° C. without heating to high temperatures. However, HPA is lost by sublimation under reduced pressure conditions because of its high vapor pressure and the sublimated HPA causes other problems such as clogging of vacuum lines. Therefore, the wet cake is dried by heating at temperatures lower than 55° C. for a long period of time or dried at temperatures lower than 55° C. in a flow of dry nitrogen, etc. However, these methods make the utility consumption excessively large and are highly disadvantageous for industrial use when taking the need for apparatuses for crystallization, separation, etc. into consideration.
Since HPA is instable under solution conditions containing water or under wet cake conditions, it is generally used in subsequent step without delay after its production. As described above, although it has been proposed to dry the wet cake of HPA, the proposed method is not suitable for industrial use because of the problems mentioned above. Thus, an industrially applicable method of storing HPA for a long period of time without reducing its purity is not hitherto known in the art.


A small arms projectile containing a series of vents or apertures in a geometric arrangement such that the projectile's leading edge is capable of penetrating the target without structural failure and depositing the majority of its residual energy in the target. In addition, the design of the body allows the projectile to be spin stabilized when fired from any suitable weapon.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ammunition. More specifically, this invention relates to either a projectile comprising a hollow body which opens when fired from a gun or a conventional solid base projectile. A series of vents or apertures are placed in the projectile body such that very rapid energy deposition occurs upon entering the target, yet the projectile is capable of maintaining structural integrity during launch, flight, and in the initial process of material penetration into the target.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tubular or hollow projectiles have long been known in the art. They have not been widely adopted for small arms use, although they have shown promise in terminal ballistic performance.
Generally, tubular projectiles for small arms of a given caliber are lighter than a conventional commercial projectile of the same caliber. This lighter mass has allowed tubular projectiles to be launched at higher muzzle velocities than a conventional projectile with a reduction in recoil.
However, by reducing the tubular projectile weight, muzzle velocity for a given cartridge case volume could be increased without affecting recoil. What is considered most significant is that my invention produces rapid energy deposit in ballistic gelatin targets, as compared to both conventional projectiles and generic tubular projectiles. Further, this invention may be applied to conventional solid base projectiles and produce a similar rapid deposition of energy in the target.


A traffic engineering process seeks to optimize network utilization and creating paths in the network such that the network is used efficiently. The exemplary embodiments seek to maintain fairness across allocation of flows while honoring constraints on the number of paths used per flow and the granularity of splits allowed. Exemplary embodiments provide a solution in a speedy manner and get close to optimal solutions for allocation of the network traffic.

Traffic engineering seeks to optimize network utilization and to deploy paths through a network so as to use the network efficiently. One of the challenges of traffic engineering is to ensure that various flows are treated fairly. Each flow represents an identifiable passage of information from a source to a destination. Unfortunately, many conventional approaches to traffic engineering do not treat all of the flows fairly. Certain flows may be allocated an undue portion of the network resources. Moreover, priorities for flows may not be properly honored.

Traffic engineering for network usage optimization