An agricultural vehicle includes a chassis, a threshing and separating mechanism supported by the chassis and configured for threshing and separating a crop material, a cleaning system positioned downstream of the threshing and separating mechanism in a direction of crop material flow, and an auxiliary processing system positioned downstream of the threshing and separating mechanism in the direction of crop material flow. The auxiliary processing system has an inlet and an outlet, and includes a discharge chopper having an end and a first direction of rotation about an axis of rotation. The auxiliary processing system also includes at least one rethreshing element coaxially aligned with the discharge chopper and adjacent to the end of the discharge chopper and having a second direction of rotation opposite to the first direction of rotation of the discharge chopper.

An agricultural harvester known as a "combine" is historically termed such because it combines multiple harvesting functions with a single harvesting unit, such as picking, threshing, separating, and cleaning. A combine includes a header which removes the crop from a field, and a feeder housing which transports the crop matter into a threshing rotor. The threshing rotor rotates within a perforated housing, which may be in the form of adjustable concaves, and performs a threshing operation on the crop to remove the grain. Material other than grain (MOG) such as straw from the threshing section proceeds through a straw chopper and out the rear of the combine to more easily incorporate the remaining residue in subsequent tillage practices. Once the grain is threshed it falls through perforations in the concaves and is transported to a grain pan. From the grain pan the grain is cleaned using a cleaning system. The cleaning system includes a cleaning fan which blows air through oscillating sieves or shoes to discharge chaff and other debris toward the rear of the combine. The clean grain is then transported upwards via a clean grain elevator to a grain tank onboard the combine. When the grain tank becomes full, the combine is positioned adjacent a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, and an unloading system, e.g., an unloading auger, on the combine is actuated to transfer the grain into the vehicle.
The combine may additionally include a rethreshing process to recapture the "tailings", i.e. the remaining grain and MOG mixture that is left over after the cleaning process. The tailings may include the grain that is still attached to the fragments of a head, as in barley, or it may include the kernels that are attached to the fragments of a cob, as in corn. Generally, the tailings are either rethreshed through the main threshing mechanism, such as a conventional cylinder, or processed through an additional threshing unit. Typically, after the cleaning process a tailings auger and/or conveyor is used to transport the tailings to one or both sides of the combine and back to the main threshing mechanism or additional threshing unit. After rethreshing, the tailings are returned to the cleaning system. If an additional threshing unit is used, the tailings may be returned to the cleaning system by impellers, blowers, and/or augers.
If the main threshing mechanism is used for rethreshing, the tailings may overload the main threshing mechanism and will inevitably cause excessive wear on the main threshing mechanism. If an additional, separate threshing mechanism is used for rethreshing, the load on the main threshing mechanism is lessened; however, the processing results are generally inferior compared to rethreshing the material through the main threshing mechanism. Additionally, an externally mounted additional threshing mechanism can be cumbersome and may occupy a large amount of space on the exterior of the combine.
What is needed in the art is an agricultural harvester that can efficiently and cost-effectively rethresh tailings.


Ion implantation apparatus includes an ion beam generator for generating an ion beam, a scanner for scanning the ion beam across a workpiece in a first direction, a mechanical translator for translating the workpiece in a second direction so that the ion beam is distributed over the workpiece, and a controller for controlling the translation velocity and beam scan width to limit the time that the ion beam is off the workpiece. In the case of a semiconductor wafer, the translation velocity in the beam scan width are controlled to produce an approximately circular scan pattern.

This invention relates to systems and methods for ion beam scanning of semiconductor wafers and other workpieces and, more particularly, to systems and methods for high efficiency ion beam scanning wherein overscan is limited and dose uniformity is achieved.
Ion implantation is a standard technique for introducing conductivity-altering impurities into semiconductor wafers. A desired impurity material is ionized in an ion source, the ions are accelerated to form an ion beam of prescribed energy, and the ion beam is directed at the surface of the wafer. The energetic ions in the beam penetrate into the bulk of the semiconductor material and are embedded into the crystalline lattice of the semiconductor material to form a region of desired conductivity.
Ion implantation systems usually include an ion source for converting a gas or a solid material into a well-defined ion beam. The ion beam is mass analyzed to eliminate undesired ion species, is accelerated to a desired energy and is directed onto a target plane. Most ion implanters use an ion beam that is much smaller than the wafer in both dimensions and distribute the dose from the ion beam across the wafer by scanning the beam electronically, moving the wafer mechanically, or by a combination of beam scanning and wafer movement. Ion implanters which utilize a combination of electronic beam scanning and mechanical wafer movement are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,106 issued May 1, 1990 to Berrian et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,562 issued Dec. 25, 1990 to Berrian et al. These patents describe techniques for scanning and dosimetry control in such systems. The beam efficiency in the disclosed systems is limited by the fact that the ion beam is scanned in a square pattern, whereas the wafer is round. Inefficiency in scanning arises from the fact that the ion beam is directed at the wafer during only a portion of the scan time. Efficiency is also limited by the need to overscan the wafer to reach the Faraday beam sensor and to make the dose uniform at the edges of the wafer.
Another drawback of the prior art scan techniques is that the ion beam may be left at a fixed position on one side of the wafer between electronic scans for variable amounts of time to allow the dose to be varied by changing the amount of time that the beam spends on the wafer. This can be a problem because contaminant beams may be present in addition to the main beam. The contaminant beams follow a different path through the ion optics. If the path of one of the contaminant beams falls on the wafer when the beam is at its fixed position, a concentration of dose is produced by the contaminant beam at that spot on the wafer. This problem can occur in ion implanters that use bipolar deflection to scan the ion beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,138 issued Dec. 30, 1986 to Tokoguchi et al discloses an ion implanter wherein the width of a beam scan is controlled to approximate the shape of the wafer in response to a width sensor. The wafer speed is controlled to compensate for dose variations which result from different sweep widths. U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,897 issued Apr. 7, 1981 to Bakker et al discloses a technique for ion implantation wherein the beam sweep is controlled to match the shape of the target. Curved sensors on each side of the target detect the ion beam and initiate reversal of the sweep. U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,988 issued Dec. 20, 1983 to Robertson et al discloses a technique for ion beam scanning wherein the scan width is matched to the width of the target wafer by means of a predetermined sequence of scan times.
All of the known prior art scanning techniques have had one or more drawbacks, including limited efficiency and limited applicability. For example, the techniques may be limited to ion implanters which employ two-dimensional electrostatic ion beam scanning. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and apparatus for high efficiency scanning in ion implanters.
The present invention relates to ion implanters wherein the ion beam is scanned electronically in one direction, typically horizontally, and the wafer is translated mechanically in a second direction, typically vertically, to distribute the ion beam over the wafer surface. The speed of mechanical translation is varied so that the wafer is travelling more slowly as the beam is scanned across the center of the wafer where it is wider in the electronic scan direction and faster at the top and bottom where the wafer is narrower in the electronic scan direction. The beam scan width is varied in coordination with wafer translation to maintain uniform dose on the wafer while avoiding wasting the ion beam by scanning the beam off the wafer. Preferably, the electronic scan is such that the ion beam is moving at all times so that contaminants are scanned and do not concentrate at one point on the wafer.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a method is provided for ion implantation of a workpiece. The method comprises the steps of generating an ion beam, scanning the ion beam across a workpiece in a first direction in response to a scan waveform that defines a beam scan width, translating the workpiece in a second direction at a translation velocity relative to the ion beam so that the ion beam is distributed over the workpiece, and controlling the translation velocity and the beam scan width to limit the time that the ion beam is off the workpiece.
According to another aspect of the invention, ion implantation apparatus is provided. The ion implantation apparatus comprises an ion beam generator for generating an ion beam, a scanner for scanning the ion beam across a workpiece in a first direction in response to a scan waveform that defines a beam scan width, a mechanical translator for translating the workpiece in a second direction at a translation velocity relative to the ion beam so that the ion beam is distributed over the workpiece, and a controller for controlling the translation velocity and the beam scan width to limit the time that the ion beam is off the workpiece.

High efficiency scanning in ion implanters

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


A memory scanning system may scan memory objects to determine usage frequency by scanning each memory object using a mapping of the processes stored in memory. The scanning may be performed multiple times to generate a usage history for each page or unit of memory. In some cases, scanning may be performed at different frequencies to determine multiple classifications of usage. The mapping may create a detailed topology of memory usage, including multiple classifications of access frequency, as well as several other classifications. Based on the topology, the objects in memory may be copied to another storage medium or optimized for performance or power consumption.

Computer systems often have random access memory that may be used for many different purposes, including storing executable code as well as data. These items in memory often have widely different use patterns. Some of the items may be used very frequently, while other items may be used less frequently.
When the usage pattern of each item in memory is known, certain optimizations may be performed, such as moving less used memory to another type of storage, or other optimization.


A liquid crystal display device has a liquid crystal panel wherein an opposite substrate includes a plurality of pillar-shaped spacers opposing scanning lines provided on an array substrate. The spacers have distal ends which contact the scanning lines with an opposite electrode of the opposing substrate being interposed between the distal ends and the scanning lines. Each of the distal ends of the spacers has a width smaller than the width of each scanning line. Pixel electrodes have notches which are formed in those of their side edges which are opposite to the scanning lines, such that the notches are located opposite to the distal ends of the spacers. The distance between the side edges of the pixel electrode and the scanning line opposing the side edges is larger at regions around the distal ends of the spacers than other regions.

The present invention relates to an active matrix liquid crystal display device which includes wiring lines arranged in a matrix, and pixel electrodes disposed in regions surrounded by the wiring lines and connected to the pixel electrodes through switching elements.
In general, an active matrix liquid crystal display device of a light transmission type has an array substrate, an opposite substrate, and a liquid crystal composition held between the array substrate and the opposite substrate.
The array substrate has the following structure: a plurality of signal lines and a plurality of gate lines are arranged on a glass substrate in a matrix manner, and thin film transistors (hereinafter referred to as TFTs) are provided at the intersections of the signal lines and gate lines. Pixel electrodes formed of Indium Tine Oxide (hereinafter referred to as ITO) are arranged in regions surrounded by the signal lines and gate lines, and connected to the signal gate lines through switching elements, respectively.
On the other hand, the opposite substrate has the following structure: a black matrix pattern formed of light-shielding material such as Cr is formed on a glass substrate, and red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colored layers are formed as color filters on the black matrix pattern. Furthermore, an opposite electrode formed of a transparent conductive film of, e.g., ITO is formed on the colored filters.
The array substrate and opposite substrate are adhered to each other with a predetermined gap, and a liquid crystal composition is sealed in the gap between the array and opposite substrates, thereby forming the liquid crystal display device. In addition, spacers are arranged between the array and opposite substrates in order to keep those substrates apart from each other by the predetermined gap.
In recent years, liquid crystal display devices have been provided which use pillar-shaped spacers, instead of spherical spacers. More specifically, in these display devices, the opposite substrate has a plurality of pillar-shaped spacers projecting toward the array substrate, and distal ends of the spacers are located to contact the wiring lines of the array substrate, e.g., the gate lines, thereby keeping the gap between the array and opposite substrates, i.e., a cell gap, at a predetermined value.
Each of the pillar-shaped spacers is formed of colored layers which have successively been stacked. On the spacers, the opposite electrode formed of ITO are arranged.
By virtue of the above structure, the pillar-shaped spacers can be selectively arranged on the gate lines which are non-display regions. The spherical spacers cannot be arranged in such a manner. In this regard, the liquid crystal display device using the pillar-shaped spacers is more advantageous than the liquid crystal display device using the spherical spacers.
However, in the above liquid crystal display device using the pillar-shaped spacers, when an external force is applied to the liquid crystal display device and the array and opposite substrates are displaced from each other, the spacers are greatly moved relative to the array substrate. In particular, this is remarkable in recent liquid crystal display devices in which the array and opposite substrates are formed of thinner transparent substrates in order for the devices to have smaller weights. Those devices themselves have lower strengths, and are easily deformed due to external impact. When the spacers are moved relative to the array substrate, the opposite electrode covering the spacers is brought into contact with the pixel electrodes of the array substrate, causing a short-circuit and generating luminance spots.

Active matrix liquid crystal display device


The present invention is directed to an excavator that is operable in manual and automatic modes and uses state machines to effect unit operations, rotationally offset swing actuators to rotate boom and cutter head, a fail safe hydraulic system to maintain gripper pressure in the event of a malfunction of the hydraulic system, differing position and pressure control functions in the hydraulic actuators, a kinematic module to effect pitch and roll adjustments, a cutting face profile generator to generate a profile of the excavation face, and an optimization module to realize a high degree of optimization of excavator operation.

Annually, underground mining of valuable materials is the cause of numerous injuries to and deaths of mine personnel. Governments worldwide have enacted restrictive and wide-ranging regulations to protect the safety of mine personnel. The resulting measures required to comply with the regulations have been a contributing cause of significant increases in underground mining costs. Further increases in mining costs are attributable to global increases in labor costs generally. Increases in mining costs have caused numerous low grade deposits to be uneconomic to mine and therefore caused high rates of inflation in consumer products.
To reduce mining costs and provide for increased personnel safety, a vast amount of research has been performed to develop a mining machine that can excavate materials continuously and remotely. Although success has been realized in developing machines to mine materials continuously in soft deposits, such as coal, soda ash, talc, and other sedimentary materials, there continue to be problems in developing a machine to mine materials continuously in hard deposits, such as igneous and metamorphic materials. A primary problem to developing a continuous mining machine in hard materials has been an unacceptably high rate of cutter bit wear.
Development of a remotely operable or fully automatic machine has been problematic in both soft and hard deposits. The currently available logic necessary to provide for full or partial automation is relatively crude. The ability to precisely locate the machine with reference to the orebody has also been difficult, leading to unacceptably high rates of dilution of excavated ore with barren country rock. Precise, real-time, and simultaneous location of the orebody and the mining machine is extremely important to ensure that each cut of the mining machine is optimal relative to the exposed ore-bearing zone.


The invention provides a liquid crystal alignment film, a method for preparing the same and a liquid crystal display device comprising the same. The alignment film comprises a polyimide obtained by reacting a compound as shown in Formula 2 or Formula 3 with an aromatic diamine as shown in Formula 1, wherein the R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R1′, R2′, R3′, R4′, R5′, R6′, R7′, or R8′ is H, an alkyl, an aralkyl or a haloalkyl, and the Ar is an aryl. The liquid crystal alignment film has a tactic spatial configuration, decreases the π-π attractive interaction between the polyimide backbones, allows the directional and homogenous alignment of the liquid crystal molecules on the surface of the polyimide, and thereby increases the contrast of the liquid crystal display.

During the manufacture of the thin film transistor liquid crystal display, the homogeneity of the liquid crystal orientation directly affects various qualities of the display. In manufacture, the directional alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is usually achieved by coating an alignment film on the substrate. As shown in FIG. 1, the alignment film 2 coated on the surface of the substrate 1 is directionally aligned along the rubbing direction under the action of the rapidly rotating rubbing roller 3, and after the assembly of the thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate with the color filter (CF) substrate, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned along a certain direction through the anchoring effect of the alignment film on the surface liquid crystal molecules. The major component of the alignment film is polyimide. With the continuously elevating requirements on the display quality of the display, especially in high end display mode such as in plane switching (IPS), fringe field switching (FFS) and the like, the homogeneity of the directional alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is paid more and more attention. Therefore, the ability of the alignment film to pose a directional effect on the liquid crystal molecules also becomes a focus.
The traditional polyimide alignment film primarily involves the polymerization of pyromellitic dianhydride and p-phenylenediamine in a solvent (such as N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP)) to generate a polyamic acid and heat dehydration of the polyamic acid to form a polyimide alignment film (as shown in FIG. 2). By employing the aforementioned method, an improved polyimide alignment film can be obtained by the polymerization of the derivatives, analogs or modified species with side chain substitution of pyromellitic dianhydride and p-phenylenediamine. The polyimide alignment film obtained by this method has a structure of long, single and straight chains, and between the chains, stacking is formed through binding by intermolecular interaction such as π-π interaction, hydrogen bond, or spatial hindrance. As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal molecule 5 is adsorbed onto the polyimide. The intermolecular interaction between the liquid crystal molecules and the polyimide determines the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules in the polyimide surface layer. Research shows that the shape of the backbone of the polyimide, the attractive effect between the aromatic rings on the backbone and the aromatic rings on the liquid crystal molecules, and the repulsive effect of the side chain alkyl on the liquid crystal molecules dominate the directional alignment of the liquid crystal molecules. In prior art, the directional force of the alignment film on the liquid crystal molecules is often strengthened by increasing the proportion or volume of the aromatic component in the polyimide backbone or embedding a long alkyl side chain. Since the traditional polyimde backbone is not completely a structure of a straight chain, enhancing the directional effect of the alignment film on the liquid crystal molecules by simply increasing the proportion or volume of the aromatic component will cause too strong π-π interaction between the chains in the polyimide which causes the backbones of the polyimide to bind each other, thereby causing the liquid crystal molecules adsorbed onto the surface of the polyimide alignment film to have different twisting angles in different regions of the polyimide back bone, which in turn causes the inconsistency among the alignment directions of the liquid crystal molecules 5 in different regions of the polyimide backbone 4 (resulting in the situation as shown in FIG. 3). This will prevent the liquid crystal molecules from aligning in a good directional and consistent manner, cause the decrease of the contrast of the liquid crystal display, and thus cause the drop of the display quality of the liquid crystal display.

Liquid crystal alignment film, method for preparing same and liquid crystal display device comprising same

Beijing Boe Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


Apparatus for protecting subsea structures, and in particular christmas trees from damage by fishing nets, trawl boards, anchors and other marine equipment, include a protective structure which is placed over the christmas tree. The protective structure has an opening in the top portion to allow access to the christmas tree when such access is needed and a protective cap which closes the opening to prevent damage from silt, sand, trash and overhead falling objects. The entire protective structure is secured in place by one or more piles which are driven into the sea floor or by cementing one or more steel piles in place in the sea floor. The protective structure and the cap are guided into place around the well by guide cables attached to the guide base of the well. A lifting device in the protective cap facilitates removal of the cap by a single cable.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to subsea structures, and more particularly, to apparatus for protecting subsea wells from damage by trawl boards and ship anchors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The production of oil and gas from offshore wells has developed into a major endeavor of the petroleum industry. Wells are commonly drilled throughout the world at a wide variety of locations, some of which are in shipping lanes or areas of high density ship traffic while others are in fishing areas where fishing vessels may pull fishing nets, trawl boards and anchors across wellheads having christmas trees attached thereto. A snagged anchor can literally tear a christmas tree off a wellhead thereby causing dangerous and expensive oil and gas leakage into the sea. Such leaks are not only expensive in terms of repair expense and wasted products but can cause considerable damage to the environment. As a result some governments require protective enclosures of subsea production systems, oil storage areas, manifolds, and christmas trees and other wellhead equipment.
Some of the prior art protective enclosures include installations of concrete, steel and/or fiberglass structures that are simply placed over the christmas tree. These structures may be in the form of domes, pyramids or cone-like shapes that allow the deflection of trawl boards and other objects over the christmas trees.
Most steel and concrete protectors rely on their massive weight to retain them in position when they are positioned on the sea floor. Since the christmas tree of a well can protrude 20 to 30 feet above the sea floor, a protective structure such as a steel pyramid may be as tall as 30 feet with a base as large as 50 to 60 feet in diameter, and with a total weight approaching or exceeding 200,000 lbs. The lighter fiberglass structures require some means of anchoring the structures to the sea floor. In some of the prior art installations, this has been accomplished with screw-type anchors positioned around the fiberglass structure. Furthermore, the physical size of all these structures makes their handling and installation difficult.
It is important that the problems of handling the large protective structures and of securing them in position around the subsea christmas trees be reduced. A structure which covers the christmas tree and relies upon its own weight to prevent displacement by moving trawl board or anchors is too large and cumbersome to be conveniently installed.


In an article providing apparatus, a storage rack (11) has at a front face thereof a loading portion for loading articles into the storage rack. A conveying robot (12) is movable right and left along a rear face of the storage rack. Responsive to a command produced in an operational unit (15), the conveying robot picks up, as a designated article, one of the articles rearwardly from the storage rack and conveys the designated article with movement thereof. A conveyor (13) is adjacent to a side face of the storage rack and receives the designated article from the conveying robot to convey the designated article forward. The operational unit is placed in front of the conveyor and receives the designated article from the conveyor.

The present invention relates to an article providing apparatus for storing articles and for discharging a selected one or ones of the articles in response to operation of an operational unit included in the article providing apparatus.
A conventional article providing apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (JP-U) No. 06-3916. The conventional article providing apparatus comprises a storage rack for storing articles, a delivery port, and a conveyance means disposed along the storage rack for conveying a selected one of ones of the articles from the storage rack to the delivery port. The conventional article providing apparatus can handle a wide variety of articles by dividing the storage rack into many parts. Therefore, the realization of an unmanned retail store can be expected by applying the exist technique for automatic vending machines to the conventional apparatus to actualize an article providing apparatus or an automatic vending system.
FIG. 1 shows an article providing apparatus which has been already proposed as an earlier technology. The article providing apparatus comprises two storage racks 1 arranged right and left for storing articles, an operational unit 2 for being operated by a customer, a conveyance means 3 having a conveying robot which moves laterally and vertically along a space between the storage racks 1 for picking up the article from the storage racks 1 to convey the article to the operational unit 2, and sample showcases 5 which are immovably fixed to cover, in combination with partitions or doors 4, the front of the storage racks 1. The operational unit 2 has a delivery port 6 formed therein.
The operation for loading the articles into the each rack 1 is done at its side. For loading the articles, loading spaces 7 are provided on the sides of the respective racks 1.
However, the article providing apparatus of FIG. 1 has a serious problem of large installation area. That is, the loading spaces 7 are required large at the sides of the respective storage racks 1, thereby significantly increasing the installation areas as compared with conventional vending machines. Accordingly, there is less of suitable installation places, hence obstructing the spread.

Article providing apparatus capable of being installed in a smaller site


A flash lamp power supply system, comprising (a) a simmer power supply circuit, comprising (i) a DC simmer power supply, (ii) means for connecting a flash lamp in series with the DC power supply, and (iii) a capacitor connected in parallel to the power supply and to the flash lamp connecting means, wherein the impedance and capacitance of the simmer power supply are selected so as to provide dV/dT for the simmer power supply circuit equal to or greater than the rate at which the lamp impedance changes during a flash cycle; and (b) a pulse power supply circuit, comprising (i) a DC pulse source voltage supply, (ii) a thyristor, and (iii) means for connecting the lamp in series with the DC pulse source voltage supply and the thyristor, wherein the pulse power supply circuit further comprises a capacitor connected in parallel with the pulse source voltage supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of power supplies and is more specifically directed to a power supply suitable for use as a flash lamp simmer supply.
2. Background
Flash lamps, which are generally filled with xenon or krypton, produce intense pulses of light when subjected to an increase in voltage from below to above the voltage required to generate an arc through the lamp. The lamps are not operated in a continuous fashion, but, as indicated by their name, in a flashing mode by supplying pulsed voltage to the lamps.
Because of the intensity of light produced, such lamps are desirable for high intensity applications; however, such lamps have previously not been operated with high efficiency when used to produce ultraviolet light. Operation of a flash lamp with high output in the deep ultraviolet requires very high peak power and current levels, thus forcing the lamp to operate under conditions not required for normal visible light production.
For example, it is generally desirable to operate flash lamps in a so-called simmer mode, in which a small current is passed through the lamps on a continuous basis, with the simmer current and voltage being insufficient to produce the high-energy flash of light. When flash lamps are operated in the simmer mode, they typically have increased lamp life and improved efficiency of conversion of electrical energy to light energy. Operation in a simmer mode also eliminates the need to restart the lamp prior to each flash.
However, the high voltage and amperage required for efficient UV light production causes problems with existing simmer circuits. The major drawback to use of flash lamps in a simmer mode in both visible and UV light production is the relatively large amount of power consumed by the simmer power supply. The classic simmer supply is a high-voltage power supply connected to the lamp through a string of resistors referred to as "ballast" resistors. Such a power supply produces a relatively constant current through the lamp, because the relatively high resistance of the ballast resistors provides most of the resistance in the circuit despite variations in voltage across the lamp during discharge. The particular voltage used will depend on the operating characteristics of the lamp being used, but typically is in the range of several hundred to more than a thousand volts (e.g., typically about 1500 volts for a six-inch arc). The high open-circuit voltage from the simmer power supply has the additional advantage of reducing the energy required to start the lamp.
A major disadvantage in such a system is that the ballast resistors dissipate significant power. For example, if a lamp is to be simmered using a 1500-volt power supply at a current of 1 amp, and the lamp voltage drop at that current is 100 V, then the power dissipated by the resistors is 1400 W while the lamp energy dissipation is only 100 W. If a lamp were to be operated at a pulse input power of 4,000 W (average), then the simmer power would represent 37.5% of the total lamp power consumption.
An apparent technique for overcoming this difficulty would be to use a switching power supply to provide the 1 amp of simmer current as needed by the circuit. Switching power supplies are well known and can be purchased through commercial electrical suppliers. If a switching power supply with an efficiency of 80% were used, then the total power consumed by the simmer current would be 125 W, or only 3.1% of the lamp pulse power. Such a system has not been amenable to prior design, however, since the lamp, when pulsed, has a dynamic impedance that changes its V/I characteristics on the millisecond time scale following a flash. The simmer current must be maintained at a constant nominal value despite this variation in lamp impedance. Typically, at a 2 amp simmer current, the initial voltage drop as measured with a resistive power supply is approximately 120 V, increasing to 200 V during operation before returning to the steady-state value. If the simmer current and power supply voltage are not properly matched, the lamp voltage drop can reach a peak at which the supply can no longer provide sufficient current. If this happens, the lamp will go out, and the advantages of using a simmer mode will be lost.
Prior simmer circuits used with relatively low-power flash lamps operating in the visible light range overcame this problem by including the previously mentioned ballast resistor, with the resulting loss in efficiency as discussed above. This was not a problem in operations such as flash photography, where energy consumption is not normally a relevant issue. However in UV applications involving chemical photolysis, such as are being contemplated by the present inventors, continuous flashing at high voltage is required, and the inefficiency of existing simmer circuits represents a major cost in the operation of the lamp.
Circuits have been designed for use in other applications where the current needs to remain constant in spite of variations in load resistance. For an example of such a circuit used for other applications, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,551. However, such circuits are not directly applicable to flash lamp power supplies, as they provide time-averaged (rather than instantaneous) constant current through the varying resistance and are designed for AC (rather than DC) operation. Accordingly, there remains a need for switching power supplies useful as an ultraviolet flash lamp supply.

Switching power supply for high-voltage flash lamps


Method for vaporizing getter material from a container inside a vacuum electron tube comprises (a) sensing the location of the container from outside the tube, (b) generating signals indicating that location, (c) positioning an induction heating coil outside the tube opposite the container, (d) energizing the positioned heating coil and (e) using the generated signals to control the energizing step.

This invention relates to a novel method for vaporizing getter material inside a vacuum electron tube and particularly, but not exclusively, to a novel method for flashing the getter material from a getter container in a color television tube.
In one popular design of a color television picture tube, which is a type of cathode-ray tube, a getter container having getter material therein is held against or close to the inner surface of the envelope, usually that part of the envelope called the funnel. After the envelope is evacuated of gases and sealed, an induction coil is positioned against or close to the outer surface of the envelope opposite the getter container and is then energized with a high-frequency current. The magnetic field generated by the energized coil induces currents in the getter container causing the temperature of the getter container and the getter material therein to rise rapidly until getter material, which is usually barium metal, vaporizes or "flashes" and deposits as a getter film on internal surfaces of the tube. A purpose of the getter film is to absorb both residual gas left in the envelope after evacuation and adsorbed gas that is later evolved from internal surfaces during the operating life of the tube. The life of the tube is determined principally by the ability of the getter film to continue to absorb gas and to maintain a low gas pressure in the envelope.
In order to vaporize the maximum amount of getter material from the container and to realize a desired distribution of deposited getter material in the tube, it is necessary to position the induction coil properly with respect to the getter container to produce optimum magnetic coupling between them. This is not easily done. Although the envelope is usually constituted of a transparent glass, the getter container cannot be seen (optically) from outside the tube because the inner surface of the envelope opposite the getter container is coated with an opaque conductive coating.
Heretofore, it was the common procedure to make a dummy tube without any opaque wall coating present, and then to determine where the induction coil should be located on tubes of that design in order to flash the getter material from the getter container. Since, during factory production, there is some variation from the nominal position of the getter container, this prior procedure results in a corresponding variation in the amount and uniformity of the deposited getter material. To compensate for misalignment between the induction coil and the getter container, a large, flat "pancake" coil is used. However, while the use of a large, flat coil insures the flashing of the getter material, it never creates the uniform heating in the getter container for realizing the best control of the getter-flashing method.

Method for vaporizing getter material in a vacuum electron tube


Industrial, municipal, sanitary, marine, and infectious waste materials are thermally and chemically converted principally to steam, fuels and environmentally acceptable solids by dehydration, pyrolysis of the solid residue therefrom, and finally gasification of the pyrolysis char residue. In contrast to incineration processes, the products have significant market value and present no atmospheric pollution problems. Temperatures employed range up to about 3000.degree. F.

This invention relates to an improved process for the effective minimization of waste materials while recovering therefrom an optimized proportion of fuel components and other useful products. The improved process of this invention employs both pyrolysis and gasification to achieve an environmentally desirable result.
Pollution of the environment has become a major problem in recent years and has now reached a state where conventional procedures for handling typical wastes are no longer adequate or even permissible. Increased concern for both working and living conditions has led to the enactment and enforcement of legislation intended, in part, to require disposal of waste materials, including harmful or hazardous waste materials, without causing additional pollution of the environment. Landfills are rapidly reaching the limits of their capacities and the generally suggested and preferred means for future processing usually involves incineration.
Major types of waste materials include a great variety of industrial wastes; municipal wastes and related sanitary wastes; hazardous wastes, including infectious wastes from hospitals; marine wastes; and agricultural wastes.
Typical hazardous waste materials include oily liquids such as polychlorinated biphenyls as well as various solid pesticide formulations and by-products such as dioxins as well as hospital wastes. Incineration has been practiced at sea as well as in various land-based operations. The latter include the co-firing of hazardous wastes in high-temperature industrial processes employing, for example, steel furnaces, cement kilns, lime kilns, and glass melting furnaces.
The complete incineration of waste material may be effected in a sub-surface cavity, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,708, either underground or under water. Liquid oxygen is supplied in excess so that ignition leads to complete destruction of the combustible material. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,337 relates to combustion of wastes in a closed room, employing pure oxygen to assure complete reaction. Waste coal in an abandoned mine may be combusted, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,655, in a stream of air, with recovery of heat energy. Earlier art, relative to underground burning, includes various techniques for burning stumps, as, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,141,747; 1,190,006; 1,440,741; and 1,617,867.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,015 describes a submerged incinerator for burning oil residues from drill cuttings at an off-shore well-drilling location.
A portable incinerator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,690, whereby radioactive waste is burned in a three-tier combustion assembly which can be placed over an ash pit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,424, solid waste material is pyrolyzed by heating in the absence of air at an unspecified temperature. Vaporized materials are then burned in air in the presence of a combustible gas such as propane.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,406, pollution control is effected with a flueless combustion chamber wherein gaseous combustion products are diverted downwardly and finally through a standpipe. The combustion unit and downstream equipment are portable and can be used with part of the installation situated below grade.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,208 provides a method and apparatus for incineration of industrial wastes wherein the oxygen content of the combustion mixture is regulated by varying the feed rate of either air or pure oxygen, in a dual feed system, in response to a feedback signal indicating a parameter characteristic of the flue gas streams. In this manner, a selected oxygen content and a combustion temperature may be maintained.
In a gaseous combustion system, U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,032 provides for feedback control signals to regulate the proportion of combustible waste gas in the feed in order to avoid the presence of an explosive mixture.
Such combustion techniques typically create large additional quantities of carbon oxides, particularly carbon dioxide, which are discharged to an already polluted atmosphere. The typical oxidizing agent is air and, at typical combustion temperatures, the formation of various nitrogen oxides creates an additional pollution problem. All of this contributes in a major way to the worsening of the so-called "greenhouse effect" which threatens permanent deterioration of the environment.
Accordingly, there exists a serious need for the provision of improved waste processing methods which have the added advantage of generally improving the environment.


The invention discloses novel series of silicone polyesters which are useful as delivery systems for a variety of hydroxyl containing active such as lanolin, cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, Vitamin A, Vitamin D-2, Vitamin D-3, Vitamin D-4, Vitamin E, and Panthenol. Compounds of the invention by are prepared by the esterification of (a) a hydroxyl containing silicone compound selected from silanol and dimethicone copolyol (b) a diacid and (c) a hydroxyl functional active selected from lanolin, cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, Vitamin A, Vitamin D-2, Vitamin D-3, Vitamin D-4, Vitamin E, and Panthenol; and optionally (d) a mono functional fatty acid. The polyesters of the present invention allow for the formulation of personal care products in which the "active" can be formulated into a variety of solvents without the loss of activity.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention discloses novel series of silicone polyesters which are useful as delivery systems for a variety of hydroxyl containing actives such as lanolin, cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, Vitamin A, Vitamin D-2, Vitamin D-3, Vitamin D-4, Vitamin E, and Panthenol. Compounds of the invention are prepared by the esterification of (a) a hydroxyl containing silicone compound selected from silanol and dimethicone copolyol (b) a diacid and (c) a hydroxyl functional active and optionally (d) a mono functional fatty acid. The polyesters of the present invention allow for the formulation of personal care products in which the "active" can be formulated into a variety of solvents without the loss of activity.
By hydroxyl functional active is meant a vitamin, co-vitamin, or other material known to effect a change to the hair or skin which contains a hydroxyl group or hydroxyl groups.
2. Arts and Practices
The personal care market is a very diverse market segment which includes a number of products designed to be used on hair, skin, lips, and nails. These products include shampoos, bubble baths, pomades, conditioners, make up, hand creme, make up remover, hair relaxer, lipstick, nail polish, and many others. Some of these products are water based like shampoo others are mineral oil based like make up remover.
In addition to performing the specific cosmetic function in each type of product, there is a general need in each product type to incorporate ingredients which will help improve the condition of the hair, skin nails and lips. The desirable functions include but are not limited to; barrier properties, remoisturization, softening, and conditioning.
One of the most important function of human skin is the protection against adverse environmental factors. Environmental factors like exposure of the skin to sun, cold or heat adversely effects the skin and minimizes the barrier property of the skin. Additionally, the application of many cosmetic products or use of soap on the skin removes the fatty layer of the skin. It is therefore highly desirable to replace the barrier properties which are removed from the skin. Lipids and other oily materials added to the skin improve the natural barrier properties of the skin and hair the skin retain moisture and feel soft. If a suitable delivery system is used lanolin, cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, Vitamin A, Vitamin D-2, Vitamin D-3, Vitamin D-4, Vitamin E, and Panthenol could be excellent materials for use as moisturizing and barrier creme applications. These materials are very difficult to deliver from aqueous environment. One attempt to deliver these materials to the skin has been to make emulsions of these oils in water. This is done by selecting surface active agents which will emulsify the hydroxy active into small droplets which are surrounded by the surface active agent in what are called micelles. The resulting emulsion resembles milk and contains the emulsified hydroxy active. The difficulty with this approach is that the material present in the micelle is deposited very inefficiently onto the hair and skin since the micelle must break to deliver the oil. Since the majority of the micelles do not break, the majority of the active is rinsed off and ends up in the drain. Another approach has been to make derivatives of these oily materials. Lanolin and cholesterol ethoxylates are commercially available which are water soluble. An example of this is lanolin with seventy five moles of ethylene oxide added. While the molecule is water soluble, the beneficial refatting effects are minimized. There has therefore been a long felt need for materials which could be incorporated into personal care products, which deliver the cholesterol or lanolin to the hair or skin in many different solvents, including water, mineral oil and others.
We have discovered that the incorporation of lanolin, cholesterol, dihydrocholesterol, Vitamin A, Vitamin D-2, Vitamin D-3, Vitamin D-4, Vitamin E, or Panthenol into a silicone polyester in relatively low concentrations results in polyesters which can be made soluble in many different solvents and which give the beneficial properties of the cholesterol or lanolin to the skin and hair. In short, low concentrations of these polyesters by virtue of their substantivity to hair and skin will provide outstanding remoisturization properties in many varied personal care formulations. Activity is seen at as low as 0.1%.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,489 issued September 1991 to O'Lenick teaches that silicone waxes can be prepared via esterification of silanol compounds. These materials contain no actives.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,956 issued March 1992 to O'Lenick teaches that silicone compounds can be linked to proteins or amino acids through a phosphate group. This invention shows the desirability of incorporating the active protein into a molecule containing silicone, which is one of the objectives of the current invention. The O'Lenick ('956) technology is not applicable to actives which do not have nitrogen in the molecule.

Silicone polyester polymers as delivery systems


The present relation relates to the technological field of compressors. Problem to be solved: The current reciprocating compressors valves arrangements includes valves whose flexion area suffer from direct interference of the body disposed immediately over said valve. Such feature, besides damaging de valve movement, further causes wear phenomena on the flexion areas of the valve, which can result in critical fault of the valve and consequently of the compressor. Resolution of the problem: It is revealed a valve arrange whose end valve capable of moving includes a flexion area previously defined and intentionally misaligned with any contact area of the body immediately disposed over the valve.

As it is known by technicians on the art, reciprocating compressors comprises electromechanical equipment capable of compress certain gases as work fluids. The reciprocating compressors used in cooling systems are specially capable of compressing coolants.
Among a plurality of subsystems and components that integrate a reciprocating compressor, it is highlighted—according to the invention in question—the valves system, which is composed by valves capable of control the fluid flows that are sucked and discharged by the compression mechanism of the compressor.
Generally, valves arrangement of reciprocating compressor is composed by at least one suction valve (disposed beneath plate-valve, inside the compression cylinder of the compression mechanism) and at least one exhaust valve (disposed over the plate-valve, inside the exhaust chamber of the head of the compression mechanism of the compressor). Valve arrangements of this kind of compressor are broadly known by technicians on the art.
Specially, and in view of the small size hermetic reciprocating compressors, normally applied in cooling systems, it is common that the valves which integrated the valves arrangement comprises reed valves, that is, valves defined by a flexible metallic foil, which have one of it ends fixed (in a fixed element, by a support and/or fixing means) and another moving end, this being generally aligned with the suction or exhaust port by which exists flow of the work fluid. Reed valves also are extremely known by technicians on the art.
Furthermore, it is still known that some valve arrangements belonging to the current state of the art comprises, beyond the "main" valve (which can be a suction valve or an exhaust valve, or both) at least one auxiliary valve. The use of the auxiliary valve is more common in set with exhaust valves, but not limited to this. The auxiliary valve is assembled between the main valve and the exhaust stop, which is a rigid limiter of the valve movement path. An auxiliary valve infers a spring effect on the main valve, from specific openings of the main valve. For the opening process, by reaching the contact height with the auxiliary valve, the set slows, due to higher rigidity of auxiliary valve, before the contact with the stop, avoiding high impact speeds that can fracture the valve. The quantity of movement of the main valve is stored on the auxiliary valve, with spring force, which is returned accelerating the main valve for the closing process avoiding gas reflux of the exhaust chamber for the compression chamber, which degrades the compressor efficiency. In a general way, either for suction valves or exhaust valves, since they are reed valves, is common the use of auxiliary valves, this also comprises reed valves.
However, and considering that the main valve and the auxiliary valve have at least one end capable of moving, being this end free or supported, can be observed some problems related to moving dynamic between such valves.
In general lines, such problems refer to basically the occurrence of wear on the fixing region of main and auxiliary valve. On the limit of the functional and fixing regions, here called crimping lines where the valve flexion occurs, there is an intense and frequent micro-displacement related and tangential between the main and auxiliary valve, which is a common wear mechanism. This process is aggravated if the fixing means exerts compressive tension concentrated on this limit region. This configuration is usually found in reciprocating hermetic compressors, which eventually may fail depending on the biasing applied to the valve system, being this the intense relative movement and normal strength of fixing near the valve flexion region.
The current state of the art comprises some constructive solutions intended to mitigate this problems, among them highlights the solutions described on patent documents JP2013177820 and WO2007116989.
Patent document JP2013177820 describes an arrangement of valves fundamentally integrated by a main valve, an auxiliary valve, a valve stop and a fixing means. On this arrangement the main valve is spaced from the auxiliary valve by means of a spacer element, which is also fixed by fixing means. Said spacer element prevents the valves to have physical contact between them on the region that they are fixed (fixing means region), reducing, consequently, the occurrence of wear on the valves flexion region. However, introducing an additional body—the spacer element—does not eliminate all negative aspects, which also keeps the fixing strength over the flexion areas. From a constructive point of view increases the complexity and cost by the addition of a component of the valves system.
Patent Document WO2007116989 describes a valve arrangement fundamentally integrated by a main valve, an auxiliary valve, a valve stop and a fixing means. On this arrangement the auxiliary valve is particular in view that shows on the fixing region appendix stamped which works as elastic spacers of spring effect. The valve stop has a protruding portion that on being pressed by the cylinder lid presses the auxiliary valve on the spacers region which transmits part of the fixing strength, but keeping certain spacing. This spacing prevent that the valves have physical contact between them on the region that they are fixed (fixing means region), reducing, consequently, the occurrence of wear on the valves flexion region. However, using an auxiliary valve and stop as described on document WO2007116989, because involves a more complex construction, requests production processes more complexes and costly.
This way, and having in mind that the current state of the art lacks of simple solutions capable of reducing reliability problems related to wear on valves arrangements provided by at least one main valve and at least one auxiliary valve, emerges the invention in question.

Reciprocating compressor valves arrangement


In a manufacturing method for performing plasma etching on a second surface of a semiconductor wafer that has a first surface where an insulating film is placed in dividing regions and the second surface which is opposite from the first surface and on which a mask for defining the dividing regions is placed thereby exposing the insulating film from etching bottom portions by removing portions that correspond to the dividing regions and subsequently continuously performing the plasma etching in the state in which the exposed surfaces of the insulating film are charged with electric charge due to ions in the plasma thereby removing corner portions put in contact with the insulating film in the device-formation-regions, isotropic etching is performed on the semiconductor wafer at any timing.

Conventionally, as a method for dividing a semiconductor wafer into individual semiconductor chips by such a manufacturing method for semiconductor chips, various methods have been known. For example, a method for dividing a semiconductor wafer by mechanically cutting the wafer by means of a rotary blade called the dicer blade, i.e., mechanical dicing is known.
However, semiconductor wafers have recently been made thinner and thinner, and a semiconductor wafer susceptible to external forces is subjected to the mechanical dicing described above, it is often the case where the semiconductor wafer is damaged at the time of cutting. This leads to a problem that a reduction in the processing yield cannot be avoided. As such damage, there is, for example, the occurrence of chipping that the corner portions (edges) of the semiconductor chips become chipped due to the sharply cut shape.
In recent years, plasma dicing that uses plasma etching has been attracting attention in place of the conventional mechanical dicing described above (reference should be made to, for example, Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2004-172365 A). A method for dividing a semiconductor wafer into individual semiconductor chips by the conventional plasma dicing is described herein with reference to the schematic explanatory views shown in FIGS. 27A through 27C and FIGS. 28A and 28B.
First of all, as shown in FIG. 27A, a semiconductor wafer 501 is put into a state in which semiconductor devices 502 are formed in the respective device-formation-regions R1 defined by dividing regions R2 on its circuit-formation-face 501a. Each of the semiconductor devices 502 includes devices such as a MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) structure transistor constructed of a semiconductor wafer 501 (Semiconductor), a silicon oxide 551 (Oxide) formed directly on the circuit-formation-face 501a and a metal film (Metal) formed on the silicon oxide 551. Further, the semiconductor device 502 further includes connection terminals 552 (also called the bonding pads) for electrically connecting the devices to external electronic apparatuses. Moreover, a surface protection film 553 is formed on the surfaces of the semiconductor devices 502, so that the surfaces of the semiconductor devices 502 are protected. The connection terminals 552 are exposed outside without being covered with the surface protection film 553. Neither the silicon oxide 551 nor the surface protection film 553 is formed in portions that correspond to the dividing regions R2 of the circuit-formation-face 501a.
Next, as shown in FIG. 27B, a protective sheet 504 is peelably adhesively stuck to the circuit-formation-face 501a via an adhesive so that the circuit-formation-face 501a of the semiconductor wafer 501 does not suffer damages. Subsequently, a mask (mask pattern) 505 is placed on a surface 501b to be processed (that is, a processing-target-face), or the surface opposite from the circuit-formation-face 501a so that the portions that correspond to the dividing regions R2 are exposed.
Next, by performing plasma etching on the semiconductor wafer 501 on which the mask 505 is thus formed, the exposed surface of the surface 501b that is not covered with the mask 505 is etched, removing the portions that correspond to the dividing regions R2. Through this process, as shown in FIG. 27C, the device-formation-regions R1 are individually separated, forming the individual pieces of the semiconductor chips 510 that include the semiconductor devices 502. Consequently, the semiconductor wafer 501 is divided into the individual pieces of the semiconductor chips 510 that include the respective semiconductor devices 502 along the dividing regions R2.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 28A, the mask 505 that is remaining on the surface 501b to be processed of the separated semiconductor chips 510 is removed by carrying out, for example, an ashing process. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 28B, an adhesive sheet (dicing sheet) 506 is stuck to the surface 501b to be processed of the semiconductor wafer 501, and the protective sheet 504 that has protected the circuit-formation-face 501a of the semiconductor wafer 501 is peeled off. As a result, the semiconductor chips 510 are arranged on the adhesive sheet 506 in a state in which they are separated into individual pieces.
By dividing the semiconductor wafer 501 using the conventional plasma dicing described above, damages given to the manufactured semiconductor chips 510 can be reduced in comparison with the aforementioned mechanical dicing.

Manufacturing method for semiconductor chips, and semiconductor chip


Feed screws are used for container filling machines in order to separate a series of approaching containers at a specific distance from each other. Feed screws for non-rotationally symmetrically shaped containers are milled with a milling tool rotating at a high rpm, the shaft of which is arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the feed screw that rotates at a lower rpm. To avoid feed screw flank errors, the rotating milling tool is moved up and down in an oscillating manner, so that a milling tool can be used, the contours of which agree exactly with the associated cross sectional area of the containers which are to be handled. The first shaft of the milling tool is attached to a sliding carriage, which is movably guided in an upward and downward direction by means of a crank mechanism.

The invention relates to a method for milling the flanks of a feed screw and to a feed screw milling machine.
Feed screws of the type under consideration are used in container filling machines such as, for example, bottle filling machines, in order to position a series of approaching containers at a specific distance corresponding to the respective incremental machine spacing. For this purpose, such feed screws are also arranged between successive stations of a filling machine, so that the containers are transferred at a predetermined distance from each other.
In order to transfer the containers, which generally either have no distance or only a small distance between themselves, to the feed screw, a spiral groove is milled into the feed screw, the pitch of the flanks of which varies along the length of the feed screw and, in this particular case, in such a manner that the pitch increases from the point where the containers enter the feed screw toward the point of exit.
The spiral shaped groove is milled into a feed screw blank by means of a milling tool that rotates at high rpm, with the feed screw blank rotating at a much lower rpm, while either the milling tool or the feed screw is moved at variable speed in the axial direction. If the feed screw which is to be produced is intended for use in the handling of rotationally symmetrical containers, the rotating milling tool is arranged relative to the feed screw blank in such a way that the shaft of the milling tool extends at a right angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the feed screw blank. The milling tool has a linear milling edge and mills the spiral shaped grooved independent of the instantaneous feed screw pitch with the required precision and without flank errors, so that the production of a feed screw for rotationally symmetrical containers is largely free of problems.
However, if the feed screw is intended for use in handling containers that are not rotationally symmetrical, it should then have a spiral shaped groove with a cross sectional area that is suited to the container which is to be handled. In order to mill the spiral shaped groove in this case, the arrangement is configured such that the shaft of the milling tool extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the feed screw blank.
If the milling tool has a shape that precisely agrees with the associated cross sectional area of the container shape that is to be handled, then, as a result of a changing pitch when the groove is milled, there is an increasingly greater feed screw flank error as the pitch increases, that is, the spiral shaped groove becomes narrower as the pitch becomes increasingly larger, whereby the crooked positioning or even a crushing of the containers can occur. This feed screw flank error presently is corrected by employing a specifically oversized milling tool, but has the disadvantage that the spiral shaped groove that is milled-in only agrees with the shape of the container which is to be handled at a very specific pitch. But at any of the other areas along the feed screw the containers are not grasped and transferred in an error free manner, since the pitch usually increases in the direction from the start of the feed screw toward the end.
A further feature of the invention is the development of a method for milling the flanks of a feed screw of the type considered, such that the occurrence of an error at the feed screw flank with variable feed screw pitch is avoided to the greatest degree possible Additionally, a feed screw milling machine should be specified whereby a groove specifically defined for the associated cross section of a container shape which is to be handled can be milled into a feed screw blank without the appearance of an error in the flank of the feed screw at variable pitches.

Method for cutting the flanks of an infeed worm and worm milling machine

Krones AG Hermann Kronseder Maschinenfabrik


A light emitting device can include a substrate with LED chips disposed on a surface of the substrate. The LED chips can include chips of at least four different colors. Electrical paths disposed in part on the substrate and in part within the substrate can connect the LED chips into at least three independently addressable groups, and the number of independently addressable groups can be less than the number of colors of LED chips, so that at least one of the groups includes LED chips of two or more different colors.

This disclosure relates generally to light-emitting devices and in particular to an LED emitter that produces light having a continuous spectrum.
Light sources based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are emerging as an energy-efficient replacement for conventional incandescent or halogen light sources in a variety of applications. Compared to conventional light sources, LED-based light sources can provide significantly higher energy efficiency and longer life.
However, a number of challenges must be addressed to provide practical LED-based light sources. For example, a given LED emits light in a narrow band of wavelengths, which creates challenges for the production of white light (which is generally a mixture of different wavelengths). Further, not all white light is created equal. The human eye is sensitive to the differences among white-light sources such as fluorescent light, incandescent light, and sunlight. "Color temperature" generally refers to the spectrum of light produced by a black body radiator at a given temperature, and artificial light sources can be assigned a correlated color temperature (CCT) based on approximate color-matching to a blackbody radiator. Moreover, not all white light of a given CCT is equivalent. For instance, in the case of environmental lighting, the quality of light depends on its spectral content, which determines how objects of various colors will appear when illuminated by the light. Quality of color may be measured using various metrics, such as the widely used color rendering index (CRI, or "CIE Ra"), as defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). CIE Ra is a quantitative measure of how accurately an artificial light source reproduces object color across a range of colors, as compared with natural light. The artificial light source can be tested using a number of CIE standard color samples; examples used herein are based on the standard R1-R15 sample set. Another measure of quality of color includes the "TM-30-15" color metrics recently published by the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) (Technical Memorandum TM-30-15, entitled "IES Method for Evaluating Light Source Color Rendition"). TM-30-15 color metrics include a fidelity metric (Rf) similar to CRI and a gamut metric (Rg) that indicates average saturation level relative to a reference source. High CRI, or Rf and Rg close to 100, are desirable characteristics for a quality white light source.

Tunable LED emitter with continuous spectrum


Aspects are generally directed to multi-sensor boresight alignment methods and systems for a multi-spectral reimaging optical system. In one example, a multi-sensor boresight alignment system includes a system interface to receive a first image frame from a first sensor and a second image frame from a second sensor, the first image frame having a contrast within a first spectral band and including a first image of a plate having a pattern of apertures, and the second image frame having a contrast within a second spectral band and including a second image of the plate. The system includes a field programmable gate array (FPGA) coupled to the system interface, the FPGA configured to spot track each image frame to identify a corresponding centroid of the pattern of apertures and correct an optical alignment between the first and second sensors based on a position of the corresponding centroids.

Electro-optical systems are used in a variety of applications such as imaging, targeting, ranging, tracking, surveillance, and reconnaissance, among other military and civilian applications. In many of these systems, multiple imaging sensors sharing a common image plane each produce respective images of a viewed target or scene. In certain multi-spectral, electro-optical systems, different imaging sensors within the system are receptive to different spectral bands of electromagnetic radiation or light. These different spectral images allow an operator to detect and identify target characteristics that may otherwise be concealed when viewing the target in a single, narrower spectral band. Mutual alignment of the various imaging sensors within the system is necessary for ensuring that the fields of view (FOVs) of each respective sensor are aligned.

Multi-spectral boresight alignment methods and systems


Certain embodiments of the present invention provide for a system and method for modeling S-distortion in an image intensifier. In an embodiment, the method may include identifying a reference coordinate on an input screen of the image intensifier. The method also includes computing a set of charged particle velocity vectors. The method also includes computing a set of magnetic field vectors. The method also includes computing the force exerted on the charged particle in an image intensifier. Certain embodiments of the present invention include an iterative method for calibrating an image acquisition system with an analytic S-distortion model. In an embodiment, the method may include comparing the difference between the measured fiducial shadow positions and the model fiducial positions with a threshold value. If the difference is less than the threshold value, the optical distortion parameters are used for linearizing the set of acquired images.

The present invention generally relates to a system and method for improving the navigation accuracy of an electromagnetic navigation system for use with medical applications. Particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for improving the calibration of a fluoroscope camera by compensating for the S-distortion.
Electromagnetic type navigation systems are useful in numerous applications. One application of particular use is in medical applications, and more specifically, image guided surgery. Typical image guided surgical systems acquire a set of images of an operative region of a patient's body and track a surgical tool or instrument in relation to one or more sets of coordinates. At the present time, such systems have been developed or proposed for a number of surgical procedures such as brain surgery and arthroscopic procedures on the knee, wrist, shoulder or spine, as well as certain types of angiography, cardiac or other interventional radiological procedures and biopsies. Such procedures may also involve preoperative or intraoperative x-ray images being taken to correct the position or otherwise navigate a tool or instrument involved in the procedure in relation to anatomical features of interest. For example, such tracking may be useful for the placement of an elongated probe, radiation needle, fastener or other article in tissue or bone that is internal or is otherwise positioned so that it is difficult to view directly.
An electromagnetic tracking system may be used in conjunction with an x-ray system. For example, an electromagnetic tracking system may be used in conjunction with a C-arm fluoroscope. The C-arm fluoroscope may utilize an x-ray source at one end of the C-arm and an x-ray detector, or camera, at the other end of the C-arm. The patient may be placed between the x-ray source and the x-ray detector. X-rays may pass from the x-ray source, through the patient, to the x-ray detector where an image is captured. The electromagnetic tracking system may generate an electromagnetic field between the ends of the C-arm and penetrate the body with minimal attenuation or change so tracking may continue during a surgical procedure.
Part of the X-ray detector may include an X-ray image intensifier device (IID). The function of the IID in the fluoroscopic imaging system is to convert the x-ray spectrum transmitted through the patient into a highly visible image. The image is produced by converting the x-ray photons into light photons at the image intensifier input phosphor, converting the visible light photons into electrons at the photocathode, accelerating and focusing the electrons through use of electrodes, and finally, converting the electrons back into visible light at the output phosphor. The intensity of the final image is several thousand times brighter than the initial image created at the input phosphor. The IID allows for lower x-ray doses to be used on patients by magnifying the intensity produced in the output image, allowing the viewer to more easily see the structure of the object being imaged.
In general, there are a variety of imperfections in IIDs, including pincushion distortion and S-distortion. Pincushion distortion is at least partially caused by the mapping of electrons from the curved input surface to a flat output screen. The mapping from a curved surface to a flat surface may cause larger magnification at the image periphery as compared to the center. S-distortion associated with the IIDs is at least partially caused by the magnetic field effect of the earth on the paths of the moving electrons within the IID. The resulting distortion usually has a characteristic "S" shape. For example, electrons within the IID move in paths along designated lines of flux. External electromagnetic sources, such as the earth's electromagnetic field, affect electron paths at the perimeter of the image intensifier more so than those nearer the center. This characteristic causes the image in a fluoroscopic system to distort with an S shape. Since the magnitude of the earth's magnetic field varies as the IID's position is changed, the S-distortion pattern may vary.
One technique that has been used to address the variances of the S-distortion pattern is to arrange the mu-metal shield to reduce the residual earth magnetic fields inside the IID tube. Such an arrangement may include adding an active coil to the IID to compensate for the earth's magnetic field or introducing a distortion sensing mechanism in conjunction with the active compensation coil to dynamically correct the actual distortion. These techniques are generally not sufficient for use with 3D imaging or navigation purposes.
Another technique that has been used to address the variances of the S-distortion pattern is to perform calibration. Calibration may be performed off-line or online. The off-line calibration may be used for the fixed room or mobile C-arm with repeatable motion control. The disadvantage of off-line calibration is that it the C-arm is generally non-mobile. The online calibration use a calibration target embedded with fiducial markers. One disadvantage of the on-line calibration technique is a potential high sensitivity to miss-detection of the fiducial shadow that may be obscured by patient anatomy or the surgical table.
Accordingly, a system and method is needed to better address the variances of the S-distortion. Such a system and method may improve navigation system accuracy as well as reduce the camera calibration re-projection error.

Method and system for correction of fluoroscope image distortion


When injection-hole inlets and injection-hole outlets are projected vertically onto an X-Y plane (N) perpendicular to a valve-seat axial center, an injection-hole arrangement angle (θ), which is formed by a straight line (a) passing through a center of the injection-hole inlet of a reference injection hole and the valve-seat axial center and a straight line (b) passing through a center of the injection-hole inlet of the injection hole neighboring the reference injection hole and the valve-seat axial center on the plane (N), is set so as to become smaller as being closer to a Y-axis. A fuel turn angle (α) on a wide-angle side, which is formed by the straight line (a) and a straight line (c) passing through a center of the injection-hole inlet and a center of the injection-hole outlet on the plane (N), has a relationship: 90°<α<180°.

In recent years, along with a trend toward stricter regulations on exhaust-gas emissions from automobiles or the like, combustion efficiency of an internal combustion engine has been required to be improved.
In general, in any of injection holes of a fuel injection valve, as a fuel liquid film spreads thinly in the injection hole, particle diameter of a droplet formed by breakup of the liquid film after the injection becomes smaller. However, an angle of the liquid film injected from a single injection hole (hereinafter referred to as "single spray angle") becomes larger. At this time, the spray particle diameter and the single spray angle have a tradeoff relationship as indicated on the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of FIG. 13.
Hitherto, in an internal combustion engine, which injects the fuel toward an intake valve provided to a distal end of an intake port, the fuel is caused to adhere to the intake valve and the vaporized fuel is supplied to a combustion chamber.
However, when a spray angle of a spray aggregate obtained by aggregating a plurality of the single sprays is set too large after the single spray angle is increased with insufficient atomization, the amount of spray, which is located on the outer side with respect to a central axis of the spray, adhering to an inner wall of the intake port increases at the time of injection. Therefore, there is a problem in that engine controllability is lowered.
Moreover, when the spray adhering to the intake port becomes the liquid film, which then flows along the inner wall of the intake port into the combustion chamber, there is a problem in that the degradation of the exhaust-gas emission performance and lowered combustion efficiency are caused.
As solutions to the above-mentioned problems, a variety of technologies to realize both the atomization and the aggregation of the sprays have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
In Patent Literature 1, a plurality of injection holes formed through an injection-hole plate are formed on a radially outer side of a valve-seat opening inner wall that is a portion having a minimum inner diameter of the valve seat with a diameter reduced toward a downstream side. A cavity that brings the valve-seat opening inner wall and the injection holes into communication with each other is formed in a downstream-side end surface of the valve seat.
Moreover, when a plurality of injection-hole inlets are projected onto a plane that is perpendicular to a valve-seat axial center, a distance between an outermost diameter of the plurality of injection holes and an outer circumferential wall of the cavity is set equal to or larger than the diameter of the injection hole.
In this manner, when the valve is opened, a fuel flow from a valve-seat axial center toward the center of the injection hole and a fuel flow corresponding to a part of the flow along an outer circumferential surface of the cavity through portions between the injection holes into the injection holes are caused to collide against each other to cause a turbulence in the fuel flow, thereby breaking up the liquid film so as to realize promotion of the atomization.
In Patent Literature 2, a long axis and a short axis that is shorter than the long axis and is perpendicular to the long axis are defined at an end portion of the valve-seat opening. A fuel chamber having a long axis longer than the inner diameter of the valve-seat opening and a short axis shorter than the inner diameter of the valve-seat opening is provided. Inside the fuel chamber, the injection holes are formed.
As a result, the fuel flows to the radially outer side with respect to the valve-seat axial center to form a swirl flow in the combustion chamber and form the injected fuel into the thinner film. In this manner, the promotion of the atomization is realized.
By the way, in order to clarify a mechanism of the atomization of the fuel spray, the fuel injected from the injection holes is first photographed in an enlarged manner. As a result, it is proven that the fuel breakup process proceeds from "liquid film" through "liquid thread" to "droplet" by a force for diffusing the fuel that overcomes a surface tension.
Moreover, it is also proven that the effects of the surface tension become greater after the fuel once becomes the liquid droplets and therefore the breakup less liable to occur from then on.
Thus, it is proven that a higher degree of atomization can be achieved when the "thin liquid film" with smaller fuel turbulence is injected from the injection holes and the liquid film is further spread thinly to be then broken up. On the contrary, when the turbulence occurs in the fuel flow, the breakup occurs in a state of a "thick liquid film" before the fuel liquid film is spread thinly. Therefore, the droplets after the breakup also become larger.
Moreover, in the fuel injection valve including the plurality of injection holes formed through the injection-hole plate, which are arranged on the radially outer side of the valve-seat opening inner wall, and the cavity that brings the valve-seat opening inner wall and the injection holes into communication with each other, when the valve is opened, the fuel spreads radially from the valve-seat axial center inside the cavity to flow toward the center of the injection hole.
Therefore, when the spray aggregate is sprayed from the fuel injection valve in a plurality of directions, an orientation of the flow of the fuel flowing into the injection hole suddenly changes in the injection hole toward a desired injection direction. Therefore, the swirl flow is formed in each of the injection holes. At this time, the swirl flow generated in the injection holes is to spread the fuel into the thin liquid film without causing the turbulence in the fuel flow. Therefore, it is proven that the injected particle diameter can be reduced.
In neither Patent Literature 1 nor Patent Literature 2, however, the clarified atomization mechanism described above is appropriately used.


Provided is a surveillance system, including: a trailer having wheels, a mast, and a trailer towing coupler; a camera coupled to the mast; a cellular modem communicatively coupled to the camera and operative to transmit video captured by the camera; a command center server operative to remotely receive and store data describing operation of a fluid-handling device and to receive the transmitted video and send the video to a user in response to a request from a web browser of the user; a power storage device; and a solar panel coupled to the power storage device such that the solar panel charges the power storage device.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to surveillance systems and, more specifically, to surveillance systems for installations of fluid-handling devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fluid-handling devices, such as valves, pumps, and various other forms of process equipment, in many use cases, are widely geographically distributed. For example, when such devices are used to extract petroleum products from an oil well, the associated fluid source or receptacle may be in a relatively remote location, as oil wells are generally distributed relative to one another and located remote from metropolitan areas. Similar issues arise in relation to petro-water disposal facilities, re-injection facilities, and petroleum pumping stations, all of which tend to be geographically distributed and include fluid-handling equipment.
Such facilities, and others, like construction sites, are often not visually monitored to the extent owners and managers would prefer. Visual monitoring is useful for a variety of reasons. For example, expensive equipment at geographically distributed sites is often stolen or vandalized. Further, remote project managers often struggle to monitor and coordinate the activities of workers at geographically distributed sites without being physical present themselves.
Conventional mobile surveillance units are often not well suited for monitoring these sites due to cost and performance. In many use cases, such units are only needed for a few weeks, making custom installation, system integration, and training relatively expensive on a per-site basis, as such costs are amortized over relatively short durations of time. And these issues are accentuated for geographically remote sites. For instance, often power supplies are not available on site or are expensive to connect to a surveillance unit, particularly for units needed for only a limited amount of time, as often happens with project-based work, like on construction sites or oil and gas related facilities. Further, usage is often substantially impaired by unreliable or low-bandwidth data connections between geographically remote surveillance units and users viewing video feeds. Finally, surveillance systems are often not integrated with other sources of information about the activity occurring on-site and, as a result, users often struggle to establish a complete understanding of what is happening due to the need to investigate information gathered through multiple systems.


A powder spreader is presented. The powder spreader includes a base element having at least a first side and a spreading element including a sheet having a curved portion protruding from the at least first side of the base element, where the curved portion of the sheet is substantially free of a discontinuity. An additive manufacturing apparatus including the powder spreader is also presented.

The present disclosure relates generally to a powder spreader, and specifically to a powder spreader for use in an additive manufacturing apparatus.
An additive manufacturing process may involve manufacturing three-dimensional (3D) objects through fusion of powder materials in two-dimensional (2D) layers on a layer-by-layer basis. Generally, layers of powder materials are successively laid down and irradiated with an energy source so that particles of the powder materials within each layer are sequentially fused to form a solidified cross-section of the desired 3D object. While some available additive manufacturing technologies directly deposit the powder material, others use a spreading or recoating process to form consecutive layers that can then be selectively fused in order to create the solidified cross-section of the desired 3D object. Each time the powder material is deposited, a recoater or a powder spreader may be used to form a layer of the powder material.
A variety of recoaters may include blades, knifes and rollers. However, there is often a contradiction between compliance to increase process robustness and reduction in contamination due to the material of the recoater. For example, in a direct metal laser melting (DMLM) process, a rigid blade made of the same material as the material being processed is typically used in order to minimize contamination. The rigid blade may be detrimental as it may damage the powder material being processed and cause part warping. Also, the currently available powder spreaders may lack material compatibility and may not be mechanically compliant.

Powder spreader and additive manufacturing apparatus thereof


A housing for enclosing a measuring apparatus for a hard disk recording medium and a recording apparatus for recording a signal on the hard disk recording medium is provided with a fan including a high efficiency particulate air filter. The fan blows air onto the hard disk recording medium and the recording apparatus under measurement through the high efficiency particulate air filter at a substantially constant air temperature and at a substantially constant air flow rate. An automatic door is located at a position other than an air protection area which includes positions of the hard disk recording medium under measurement by the recording apparatus and the recording apparatus, and includes a predetermined surrounding area. The automatic door shields the other area from the air protection area in the housing for enclosing the measuring apparatus under no measurement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a housing for enclosing a measuring apparatus for a recording apparatus such as a magnetic head, a recording medium of a hard disk drive unit, or the like, and in particular, to a housing for enclosing a measuring apparatus, provided with air blowing means including a high efficiency particulate air filter.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional measuring apparatus for use in a recording apparatus such as a hard disk drive unit, a recording medium such as a hard disk or the like is covered with a cover, and the cover is opened in only a small area for a measuring part or the whole apparatus is covered with a cover, in order to reduce the influence of variation in ambient temperature and winds.
When the recording medium is covered with the cover which is opened in only the small area for the measuring part, the cover located around the recording medium imposes limits the measuring range of the recording medium. Moreover, the cover cannot completely keep out of external temperatures and winds having unstable directions, and this leads to variation in results of measurement.
Further, in the case where the whole apparatus is covered with the cover, there is the following problem. The heat generated by a spindle, a motor or the like causes a difference in temperature between an internal area within the cover of the measuring apparatus, and an outer area thereof, and thus, the temperature in the internal area within the cover thereof changes due to opening and closing of a door upon replacement of magnetic heads, then wind is generated, this leads to variation in the results of the measurement.
Recently, hard disk manufacturers have increased a recording density of the recording medium accompanying with increase in a recording capacity of the hard disk drive unit. Accompanying with this, it has been necessary to provide a glass-recording medium having a high surface precision in order to keep a flying height of a magnetic head stable. It is a known fact that the glass-recording medium is easy to break as compared with an aluminum recording medium and that flying broken glass is dangerous. The cover opened in only the small area for the measuring part is not used for the measurement by means of the glass-recording medium in consideration of safety. When the whole apparatus is covered with the cover, the spindle is stopped at the time of the replacement of the magnetic head in order to improve safety. When the spindle is stopped, heat generated by the acceleration of the spindle causes a change in temperature of the recording medium and its surroundings and thus results in a deterioration in the precision.
It is an essential object of the present invention to provide a housing for enclosing a measuring apparatus for a recording apparatus, which is capable of maintaining the environment of temperature and air flow around a recording medium and a magnetic head which are objects to be measured by the measuring apparatus for the recording apparatus such as a hard disk drive unit, thereby preventing variation in results of measurement.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing for enclosing a measuring apparatus for a recording medium and a recording apparatus for recording a signal on the recording medium, comprising:
air blowing means including a high efficiency particulate air filter, the air blowing means blowing air onto the recording medium and the recording apparatus under measurement, through the high efficiency particulate air filter, at a substantially constant air temperature and at a substantially constant air flow rate.
The above-mentioned housing preferably further comprises an automatic door located at a position other than an air protection area which includes positions of the recording medium under measurement by the recording apparatus and the recording apparatus and includes a predetermined surrounding area, the automatic door shielding the other area from the air protection area in the housing for enclosing measuring apparatus under no measurement.
Further, the above-mentioned housing preferably further comprises an outer door adapted to open and close only when the automatic door shields the other area from the air protection area.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned housing preferably further comprises moving means for moving the recording medium and the recording apparatus to be measured, to the air protection area when the automatic door is open.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned housing, the recording medium is preferably a hard disk recording medium, and the recording apparatus comprises a magnetic head.

Housing for enclosing measuring apparatus for recording apparatus, provided with air blowing means including high efficiency particulate air filter