A fail-safe relay system for use in infrared security barriers or other apparatus producing a sensing signal so as to control the de-activation and permit the re-activation of an interconnected device; such as a machine press. The relay system uses two relays with contacts in series in conjunction with electronic circuitry. Safe-start operation for preventing reactivation of the interconnected device if any unsafe condition exists, including failure of either pair of relay contacts to open when an unsafe condition is sensed, is also accomplished.

The present invention is directed to a fail-safe relay system for use in infrared security barriers and other devices which must operate in a fail-safe manner. In an Underwriters' Laboratories (UL) publication entitled "Subject 491, OUTLINE OF THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION FOR PRESS CONTROLS (QUKU, QUQQ)", February 1975 at paragraph 34, the Operation and Component Failure Requirements for Machine Press Controls are enumerated. A fail-safe operation of the press control under component failure conditions as specified in paragraph 5.3-5.9 include the following conditions with respect to relays: relays with mechanical malfunction (blocked open or closed); relay coils under open conditions; and the relay contacts under permanently weld-closed conditions. All of these conditions must give rise to fail-safe operation of the press control apparatus; that is, either the safe shut-down of the press or continuation of the press control apparatus in an unimpaired manner.
Safe-start operation is also required; that is, if either pair of relay contacts remain closed after shut-down, the interconnected machine cannot be restarted even if no obstruction exists in an area to be guarded against human obstruction.
The above criterion for fail-safe operation has posed a problem in the security barrier field since fail-safe operation of the apparatus, such as an infrared security barrier, must be obtained even if relay contacts of the apparatus are welded closed. To meet this fail-safe criterion as well as the others mentioned above, the present invention incorporates two relays which must both be energized (that is; their relay contacts closed) in order for the interconnected device (such as a machine press) to be activated. This relay system incorporates circuitry which receives pulse information indicating the presence or absence of an obstruction in a guarded area so as to cause the relay contacts to open if an obstruction is sensed. However, after the obstruction is removed and re-start of the interconnected device is attempted, such reactivation can only occur if both pairs of relay contacts are open. In a situation where one of the relay contacts remains closed after sensing an obstruction in the guarded area, reactivation of the interconnected device is prevented. This satisfies UL's standard that any one relay can fail at a given time, but if there is a relay failure, safe-start operation requires preventing the interconnected machines from restarting until the relay is operating normally.
In order to obtain these objectives, the relay system incorporates circuitry which allows reactivation of the relay coils only if no obstruction exists and if both relay contacts are in the open position. Failure of either of these prerequisites to exist prevents reactivation of the interconnected device.
Fail-safe circuitry under the above UL standard requires that any one circuit component failure cannot cause unsafe operation of the interconnected machine. The failure modes for circit components in addition to relays are:
(1) for carbon resistors: open circuit or short circuit, PA0 (2) for wirewound resistors: open circuit, PA0 (3) for capacitors: open circuit or short circuit, PA0 (4) for semiconductor devices: open circuit or short circuit being any two junctions, PA0 (5) for circuit breakers: open circuit or failure to open under over-load or short circuit conditions, PA0 (6) for fuses: open circuit, PA0 (7) for transformers: open circuit or short circuit for any winding.
The present fail-safe relay system is designed to operate in a fail-safe manner for any circuit component failure.
Table 1 lists prior art references in the relay system art.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Date of Issue ______________________________________ 3,412,292 Forbes 1968 3,660,731 Darrow 1972 3,704,396 McDonald 1972 3,761,738 Kay et al 1973 3,858,095 Friemann et al 1974 3,936,828 Siegal 1974 3,953,770 Hiyashi 1976 4,075,961 Harris 1978 ______________________________________
All of the listed patents disclose relay systems with either means for keeping relays energized in response to a pulse stream or means for controlling machine operation in response to detection of an individual in proximity to a detector. Fail-safe features are disclosed as enumerated below, but none of these references alone or in combination with each other disclose or suggest the circuitry of the present invention, and specifically, none disclose or suggest safe-start prevention of reactivation of the interconnected machine or device under situations of relay contact permanent closing or welding.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,292, Forbes, discloses a dual relay system for liquid flow control systems which employs proximity switches to control the liquid-flow controllers. The specific embodiment shown in FIG. 3 of Forbes utilizes two relays but dies not disclose the failsafe circuitry of the present invention and specifically does not disclose circuitry for preventing the interconnected device from being reactivated (coming back on line) after a shut-down if the relay contacts remain closed due to relay component failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,731, Darrow, discloses a fail-safe pulsating peak detection circuit which utilizes current through a relay that is proportionate to the peak values of incoming pulses. This is then used by a full-wave rectifier bridge to energizes a relay coil. This type of circuitry is unlike the fail-safe relay system of the present invention including circuitry for preventing reactivation of an interconnected device when either pair of relay contacts remains in the closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,396, Macdonald, discloses a safety device for use on machines. It discloses the use of a plurality of light sources and a corresponding plurality of photoresponsive devices in which each light source is powered by a modulated electric supply and is aimed at the corresponding photo responsive device. The output of each photo responsive device is reshaped and compared with the input of the light source so that any mismatch causes a machine operation to stop. Although multiple light sources and receivers are used in a manner which can be used to generate the pulses for use with the present failsafe relay system, this reference does not disclose or suggest use of dual relays for insuring a fail-safe relay operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,738, Kay et al, discloses a remote control electrical circuit. Other than the use of a triac type thyristor in the circuitry, this reference does not disclose or suggest the failsafe relay system of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,095, Friemann et al discloses a protective circuit arrangement for band cutter machines so as to immediately stop the band cutter when it is touched. A fail-safe relay system is not disclosed in this reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,828, Siegel, discloses an electronic protection and sensing apparatus including an antenna positioned about equipment to be protected and coupled to a resistor-capacitor bridge to which an oscillator is connected. Although this reference discloses apparatus for use in protecting operators of machinery as do infrared security barriers for which the present fail-safe relay system may be employed, this reference does not disclose or suggest the fail-safe relay system of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,770, Hayashi, also is directed to safety equipment for machinery including presses and shearing machines which utilizes generation of a high frequency electric field for sensing the presence of an operator's hand so as to insure that the operator's hand does not enter a protected area. This reference does not disclose or suggest the failsafe relay system of the present invention which can be used in conjunction with such safety equipment.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,961, Harris, discloses a proximity detector device which utilizes radio frequency signal detection for energizing circuitry which in turn controls a relay for de-energizing an interconnected achine. The relay is not of a failsafe nature as presented in the present invention.
Consequently, although a number of prior art references are directed to relay systems and devices used for protecting operators from hazardous regions of machinery (for which such fail-safe relay systems can be utilized), none of these references alone or in combination with each other disclose or suggest the features of the failsafe relay system according to the present invention, including fail-safe relays and fail-safe electronic circuitry.


The invention relates to a reconstruction or fracture plate for bridging a discontinuity in a patient's long bone, such as a femur and has a central portion for placement over the bone discontinuity, a first end portion having a dual-tapered width and thickness profile having a first plurality of screw holes and a second end portion defining a second plurality of screw holes. The first and second plurality of screw holes each have asymmetrically arrayed centerlines relative to plate longitudinal and transversal axes and the screw holes may have asymetrically arrayed centerlines relative to each other. Both the first and second end portions may have dual-tapered profiles.

This invention relates generally to internal osteosynthesis plates for fracture or reconstructive repair of long bones in patients, such as the humerus, radius, ulna, tibia and femur. A common principle in long-bone fracture management is interfragmentary contact and stabilization until sufficient osseous healing occurs to mobilize the fracture. During this period, an adequate healing response relies on the combination of bone-to-bone contact and plate fixation to obtain the optimum load sharing distribution across the reparative site. However, in contrast to fracture repair, there are clinical situations requiring major long-bone reconstruction; as in leg-length inequality, major reconstruction after trauma, or following radical tumor resection, wherein cortical bone-to-bone contact is initially absent at the reparative site and must be repaired by bone grafts. These latter bone graft cases, by their very nature, preclude the important biomechanical advantage of early load sharing offered by cortical bone contact. In these instances, any load transfer must be through the plate and associated plate screws until adequate osseous consolidation allows for functional load sharing between bone segments and the internal fixation device.
In fracture fixation or reconstructive procedures, a bony discontinuity, be it a fracture with or without adequate reduction, or a bone gap, as in reconstructive procedures, must be suitably stabilized and provide sufficient load transfer. Although it has been widely reported that inadequate anatomic reduction during fracture fixation can result in excessively high plate stresses, which can lead to premature failure, little is known about the loads being simultaneously transferred through the individual plate screws. Furthermore, if bone-to-bone contact is not achieved in fracture reduction, or can not be achieved as in long-bone reconstruction, then even greater load demands must be placed upon individual plate screws.
During the past ten years, there has been a substantial increase in long-bone reconstruction surgery employing autogenous cancellous bone grafts where bone-to-bone contact can not be initially achieved. Because these bone gaps average five centimeters, osseous healing requires many months to consolidate sufficiently prior to full weight-bearing, thus imposing high, long-term loading demands upon the plate and screw fixation systems now in use. Further complicating an uneventful rehabilitation of these patients is the desire and need for early controlled ambulation, to expedite osseous healing, which results in additional loading of the plate-screw fixation system.
The standard leg-lengthening plate, currently in surgical use today, is essentially a broad or narrow fracture plate whose mid-section is simply elongated and devoid of screw holes in order to bridge a large bone graft site. Since a fracture plate is generally intended for use with cortical bone-to-bone contact, its design is unsuitable for use in surgical situations where bone contact is initially absent or unstable, as in reconstructive surgery involving large gap bone grafts. Therefore, a fracture plate with a simple elongated mid-section can not be relied upon to support early ambulation or unusual intermittent higher loads, since its inherent total stiffness, associated with asymmetric femoral loading, transfers significantly greater non-uniform bending strains to the plate screws. In the presence of asymmetric long-bone bending, excessive screw bending strains are produced and result in a high percentage of screw failures in these fixation regions, with subsequent loss of plate fixation. Analysis of radiographs have demonstrated that the sequence of femoral screw failure generally starts at the most proximal plate screw (i.e., the screw closest to the patient's pelvis at the plate tip) and proceeds distally towards the plate mid-section. Scanning electron microscopy studies of failed screw surfaces have been conducted and demonstrate that screw failure was predominantly the result of bending fatigue rather than shear failure.
The highly asymmetrical failure pattern of these plate screws--almost all proximal to the plate mid-section, in association with individual screws predominantly failing in bending--gave rise to the theory that asymmetrical femoral bending, during loading, was the cause of these clinical implant failures. Furthermore, any long-bone subjected to asymmetric bending during loading would demonstrate non-uniform screw strains if the fracture or fixation plate used is symmetrical in shape on either side of the reparative site. The significance of this invention is that the plate fixation design is more appropriately matched to the loading requirements of individual long-bones as opposed to plates designed to fit the anatomical contours of a bone or the site of reparative fixation.
To investigate further the mechanism of clinical failure, a single-stance anatomic model was employed by me to simulate the fixation mechanics of the then-current surgical leg-lengthening procedure. This analysis demonstrated that asymmetric loading of the femur could result in abnormally high screw bending strains leading to the screw bending fatigue seen clinically. Based on these studies, the operative procedure was modified by surgically positioning the conventional leg-lengthening plate as posteriorly as possible to counteract the large lateral bending moments produced along the proximal femoral shaft. To reduce further excessive bending strain levels on a per-screw basis, ten-hole plates (five screws on each side of the bone gap) were substituted for the normally used eight-hole plates (four screws on each side of the bone gap). Although the posteriorly-positioned, ten-hole plate did reduce proximal screw failures, its surgical placement was not easily accomplished, nor could it serve as a permanent solution in reducing excessive strains on the proximal plate screws. However, plate repositioning did reduce screw failures, thus providing clinical confirmation that excessively high bending loads were being applied to the proximal plate screws.
These research studies and associated clinical results clearly indicated the need to understand better the basic interrelationships involving the transfer of screw loads between plate and bone during osseous healing, both for long-term reconstruction and fracture repair. In fact, one may take the position that a dichotomy exists in observing two grossly different modes of implant failure for two relatively similar fixation conditions. For example, implant failure during delayed or non-unions of poorly reduced midshaft femoral fractures result primarily in plate failure, while in femoral reconstruction cases, broken screws are the primary cause of failure.
My studies have demonstrated that there are substantial differences in the transfer of screw loads during fracture repair as opposed to long-bone reconstruction, thus providing a unique insight into the mechanisms of plate fixation. Furthermore, these studies provided the basis for the development by me of the dual taper, asymmetric hole placement in reconstruction and fracture plates of the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to create a reconstruction or fracture plate suitable for use in large-gap, long bone grafts, that is less susceptible to anchoring screw and plate failure than previously known reconstruction or fracture long bone plates, that eliminates medical complications caused by failure, such as potential loss of the patient's leg length; increased medical risks from delayed bone union; increased hospitalization and costs associated therewith; and additional surgery necessary to salvage the plate failure.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to create a reconstruction or fracture plate, having varying flexibility along the plate and an asymmetrical array of screw holes for receipt of anchoring screws, that distributes more equalized loads to each screw than previously known plates, while secondarily improving load transfer at the reparative site and reducing stress shielding.

Dual-taper, asymmetric hole placement in reconstruction and fracture plates

The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York


Colorimeter includes an illumination light reception unit, an attached part, a detection unit, a recognition unit, a color measurement control unit, and an output unit. To the attached part, a mask member is attached to cover the illumination light reception unit. The detection unit detects parts disposed on the mask member. The recognition unit recognizes information on the kind of the mask member in accordance with a detection result by the detection unit. The color measurement control unit causes the recognition unit to recognize information on the kind of mask member in accordance with the detection result at a first timing, and on the kind of mask member in accordance with the detection result at a second timing. The output unit performs a predetermined output in response to a discordance between the information on the kind of mask member at the first timing and at the second timing.

To make various industrial products and the like have constant quality, for example, the products are maintained to have the same color on surfaces thereof. For this purpose, at any stage from the manufacture to the shipment, the color of the surface is measured with a colorimeter or the like to manage the color of the surface. Such a colorimeter includes, for example, an illumination light reception unit including a light source that illuminates a surface of an object whose color is to be measured, such as a product (also referred to as a color measurement object), and a sensor that receives light such as reflection light generated from the surface.
Incidentally, in regard to a part of the surface of the color measurement object whose color is to be managed, that is, a part whose color is to be measured (also referred to as color measurement part), the size and shape may vary depending on various conditions including the shape and size of the color measurement object, the request from clients, the manufacturing method, and the like. However, preparing a different colorimeter for each condition is a large burden on a manufacturer economically.
In view of the above, a portable color measurement device has been suggested (for example, Patent Literature 1) which includes an exchangeable nose cone disposed between a color measurement object and a main body of a colorimeter in accordance with a condition. In this device, for example, the size of a region whose color is to be measured (also referred to as color measurement region) can be changed. This nose cone includes a window part that defines the size of the color measurement region and the like, and is attached to a colorimeter so as to cover the illumination light reception unit, and can function as a member (also referred to as mask member) to be in contact with the color measurement object when the color of the color measurement object is measured.
In such a structure, when the mask member is exchanged, it may be necessary to change an optical system and a calibration coefficient or the like used in the calculation at the color measurement in accordance with the kind of the mask member. In view of this, the device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes one or more magnetic switches on a lower half of the main body. The magnetic switch monitors a magnetic field generated from a magnet disposed on the mask member. Thus, the kind of the mask member is automatically recognized and displayed.


A system for computing probabilities of variables in a belief network includes a data acquisition interface configured to receive data representative of the belief network. The system further includes a partial evaluator configured to carry out a partial evaluation algorithm that determines the probability calculations that must be performed on the received data in order to compute the probabilities of the variables in the belief network. The system further includes a source code generator configured to output the probability calculations as a source code in a programming language.

Computerized data models that can predict future data and/or explain past data are helpful in solving real-world problems. These models are especially useful for large and complex data that are difficult for humans to effectively understand. One data modeling technique is probabilistic modeling. Probabilistic modeling provides mathematically rigorous methods for handling uncertainty when modeling a problem domain. Probabilistic modeling has an extremely wide range of applications, including medical diagnoses, bioinformatics, computer vision, signal processing, control systems, cognitive science, and financial modeling.
One probabilistic data modeling technique is Bayesian networks (BN), also known as belief networks, Bayesian belief networks, probabilistic networks, or directed graphical models. A BN consists of nodes connected by directed edges. Each node represents a particular random variable having some number of states. Each edge is directed from a parent node to a child node and represents the causal influence of the parent node on the child node. Each node in a BN has a conditional probability distribution (CPD) associated with it that describes the causal influences of its parents. Bayesian networks are generally used to compute the probabilities that certain events will occur, possibly given the fact that certain other events have already occurred.
Current inference engines that are used to compute probabilities in BNs may have an inherent overhead, because they are written as generic algorithms in high-level programming languages. Further, current inference engines used to compute probabilities in BNs is that they are written by hand by computer programmers in a specific programming language. To use the inference engine in a different programming language, the inference engine may either have to be re-written in the other language or some sort of inter-language communication protocol may have to be used. It may be time-consuming and error-prone to rewrite a complex algorithm such as a BN inference engine in a different programming language. Inter-language communication protocols may have their own overhead and may often be difficult to use effectively. In some cases, an inter-language communication protocol may not even exist for certain programming languages.
A method and system for computing probabilities in BNs without incurring the overhead described above, and without being restricted to a specific programming language, are highly desirable.

Automatic source code generation for computing probabilities of variables in belief networks


Provided is a piston ring capable of maintaining an excellent effect of preventing aluminum cohesion in a high output engine over a long period of time. At least one of the upper, lower, and side faces of the piston ring is coated with a silica-based coating in which hard nanoparticles are dispersed. The coating has a Martens hardness of 1,000 to 8,000 N/mm2. As the hard nanoparticles, carbon nanoparticles, nanodiamond particles, carbon nanotubes, or carbon nanofibers are used. To the coating, resin particles of a fluorine-based resin or a polyether-based resin may be added.

The temperature around a top ring of a gasoline engine reaches a high temperature of 200° C. or higher by combustion of fuel. In an internal combustion engine, a piston ring and a surface of a piston ring groove of a piston (hereinafter referred to as "ring groove surface") repeatedly collide by combustion pressure at such a high temperature. At the same time, the piston ring surface and the ring groove surface slide in a circumferential direction.
The ring groove surface has projections that have been produced in lathe turning using a cutting tool and have a height of approximately 1 μm at intervals of 0.2 mm. As a material for a piston, an aluminum alloy is generally used for weight saving of an automobile body. However, an aluminum-based material has a low heat resistance, and when the temperature is higher than 200° C., the hardness thereof is reduced. The ring groove surface collides with a piston ring at such a high temperature and slides to cause a fatigue fracture of the ring groove surface. Thus, the projections come off the surface, and an active fresh surface made of an aluminum alloy appears on the ring groove surface. Dropped aluminum alloy pieces and the fresh surface of aluminum alloy appeared in the ring groove collide with the piston ring to be brought into contact with the upper and lower faces of the piston ring and thus slide. The aluminum alloy pieces cohere to the side face of the piston ring, or "aluminum cohesion" in which the piston ring body adheres to the fresh surface of aluminum alloy of the piston occurs. The aluminum cohesion continuously occurs so long as the fresh surface of aluminum alloy continues to be generated. The aluminum cohesion proceeds, and the piston ring adheres to the piston in the ring groove. As a result, the sealing performance of the piston ring is impaired. A gas sealing function as one sealing performance is impaired to cause a blowby phenomenon in which high-pressure combustion gas flows from a combustion chamber to a crank chamber. As a result, the engine output is decreased. Further, when an oil sealing function is impaired, the consumption of oil is increased. In addition, the aluminum cohesion promotes wear of the ring groove, and the sealability between the upper and lower faces of the piston ring and the ring groove surface is impaired to increase the amount of blowby.
As a method for preventing aluminum cohesion, many methods including a method in which an aluminum alloy that is a piston base material is not brought into direct contact with a piston ring, and particularly a top ring, and a method for alleviating an attack on a ring groove by a piston ring, have been conventionally proposed.
As the countermeasures of a piston, Patent Literature 1 describes a method in which a ring groove surface is subjected to an anodic oxidation treatment (anodized aluminum treatment), and micropores formed by the treatment are charged with a lubricating substance. Since a hard coating containing aluminum oxide as a main component is formed on the ring groove surface by the anodized aluminum treatment, the aluminum alloy that is a piston base material is prevented from separating, and cohesion to a piston ring is suppressed. However, there are problems in which the cost for the anodic oxidation treatment on a piston is high and aluminum oxide has poor initial running-in properties due to hardness.
On the other hand, as the countermeasures of a piston ring, Patent Literature 2 describes a method for forming, on the side face of the piston ring, a coating in which molybdenum disulfide as a solid lubricant is dispersed in polyamide or polyimide as a heat resistant resin. According to the configuration in Patent Literature 2, the solid lubricant in the coating is cleaved and worn, and accordingly the friction coefficient of the coating is decreased. Thus, the attacking properties on a ring groove are alleviated, and aluminum cohesion is suppressed.
Further, Patent Literature 3 describes a method for forming a surface coating which includes a heat resistant resin containing a copper powder on the side face of a piston ring. In Patent Literature 3, the wear resistance is imparted to the surface coating formed on the surface of the piston ring by addition of the copper powder, and accordingly the lubricity due to the heat resistant resin can be exerted over a long period of time.
Moreover, Patent Literature 4 shows that a dry coating lubricant containing a polyamideimide resin as a main component, a coating modifier for a polyamideimide resin, and hard particles of alumina or the like is formed on a sliding face of a sliding member having a streak with a predetermined surface roughness, thus the friction coefficient can be decreased while the wear resistance and adhesive property of the sliding member can be improved. Further, Patent Literature 4 describes that from the viewpoint of balance of wear resistance and wear of an opposite material, it is preferable that the hard particles be alumina and silicon nitride having a predetermined hardness.
Recently, in order to cope with the improvement of fuel efficiency, an increase in combustion pressure of an engine proceeds. As a result, the attainment temperature around a top ring is higher. In such a situation, a fatigue fracture due to a decrease in the piston strength tends to occur, and it is difficult to maintain a coating that covers a piston ring and is made of a resin over a long period of time. In Patent document 2, the solid lubricant is added as an essential component. However, the solid lubricant itself is cleaved and worn as described above, and therefore the friction coefficient of the coating is decreased. Thus, the attacking properties on a ring groove are alleviated. Therefore, the wear resistance of the coating is low, and it is difficult to maintain the coating over a long period of time and to keep the effect of preventing aluminum cohesion. The wear of the coating is attempted to be suppressed, but the amount of the solid lubricant to be added is limited, and a decrease in the friction coefficient of the coating is also limited. For this reason, the surface of the piston material having a lowered hardness at a high temperature may be roughened. Further, aluminum cohesion may occur. Since the coatings in Patent Literatures 3 and 4 are each a resin coating, the wear resistance is limited. At a high temperature, the coating may be lost due to wear or thermal decomposition, and it is difficult to maintain the effect of preventing aluminum cohesion over a long period of time.
Therefore, at present time, a piston ring that can maintain a high effect of preventing aluminum cohesion in a high output engine over a long period of time has not been achieved.


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) having an organic electroluminescent layer formed between a first electrode and a second electrode. One of the first and second electrodes is a transparent electrode having a surface through which light is emitted from the OLED to the outside. The transparent electrode has a plasmonic photonic crystal structure fabricated having an artificial lattice with a pitch in density variation intermediate in size between a metallic crystal and a photonic crystal formed in the same material as the transparent electrode, thereby operable to suppress propagation of the surface plasmon polaritons at the surface.

This invention relates to electroluminescent devices and in particular to electroluminescent devices based on organic light emitting diodes (OLEDS).
Known organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) generally comprise an emissive electroluminescent organic semiconductor material layer formed between a cathode and an anode formed on a glass substrate, whereby the electroluminescent organic semiconductor material emits light when a voltage is applied across the anode and cathode electrodes.
In order for visible light to be emitted from the OLED, at least one of the electrodes must be transparent to radiation in the 350 nm-800 nm wavelength range.
OLEDs are considered to be suitable candidates for the next generation of displays, e.g., flat panel displays because of their advantages over conventional technologies used in traditional displays, e.g., liquid Crystal displays (LCDs) and plasma display panels (PDPs). OLEDs are also being increasingly used in lighting applications, replacing the more common incandescent bulbs.
Such advantages over LCDs and PDPs include, lower fabrication costs, light-weight, flexible plastic substrates, wider viewing angles & improved brightness, increased power efficiency and faster response time. However, whilst efficient in comparison to LCDs and PDPs, the efficiency of the OLED is limited, due to incomplete light extraction from the active, light-emitting layer due to losses in the OLED.
FIG. 1 shows in section, a conventional OLED 1 of the prior art, whereby an organic electroluminescent material layer 2 is located between two electrodes; a transparent anode 4 and a reflecting cathode 6.
The specific type of electroluminescent layer to be used may vary depending on the application of the OLED. For example, such material for the electroluminescent material may include organometallic chelates, for example Alq3, fluorescent and phosphorescent dyes and conjugated dendrimers. Alternatively, organic polymer molecules may be used, whereby typical polymers include derivatives of poly (p-phenylene vinylene) and polyfluorene. Substitution of side chains onto the polymer may determine the colour of emitted light or the stability and solubility of the polymer for performance and ease of processing. Furthermore, a polymer such as poly (n-vinylcarbazole) may be used as a host material to which an organometallic complex is added as a dopant. Iridium complexes such as Ir(mppy)3 or complexes based on other heavy metals such as platinum may also be used.
The anode 4 is fabricated from a transparent material (e.g., indium-tin-oxide (ITO)), whilst the cathode 6 may be fabricated from a reflective metal (e.g., magnesium-silver or lithium-aluminium alloy). A protective substrate (not shown) is then deposited over the anode 4. The substrate may be flexible. Alternatively, the anode, cathode and electroluminescent material may be deposited on the substrate.
In operation, when a voltage 10 is applied across the electrodes 4 and 6, holes from the anode 4 and electrons from the cathode 6 are injected into the organic layer 2. These holes and electrons migrate through the organic layer 2 until they meet and recombine to form an exciton. Relaxation from the excited to ground states then occurs, causing emission of light 12 through the transparent anode 4.
Furthermore, it is known to use different layers and materials to increase the efficiency of OLEDs, whereby hole and electron injection and/or blocking and/or transport layers are used to optimise the electric properties of the OLED. For example, hole injection (HIL), e.g., Cu/Pc and/or hole transport layers (HTL), e.g., aNPD, Triarylamines, and/or electron transport (ETL), e.g., Alq3 and/or Hole Blocking layers (HBL), e.g., BCP may be used to improve electrical efficiency as required. When a voltage 10 is applied between the anode and the cathode in the OLED having the above-described structure, holes generated in the anode move to the emission layer through the HIL and the HTL, and electrons generated in the cathode move to the emission layer through the HBL and the ETL. The holes and electrons moved to the emission layer are recombined in the emitting layer to emit the light. The light generated in the emission layer is emitted to the outside through the anode. Whilst the HIL, HTL, ETL, and HBL address the electrical efficiency of OLEDs, one of the key challenges in the design of OLEDs is to optimize their light extraction efficiency.
For conventional OLEDs as depicted in FIG. 1, light extraction inefficiencies exist because light generated within a high-index organic material has difficulty propagating into the surrounding lower-index Anode/Glass substrate owing to total internal refection (TIR) at the glass/air interface, coupling to dielectric waveguide modes of the organic layers, in-plane emission, and dissipation into the metal contacts of the OLED. Approximately, 30% of the generated photons remain trapped in the glass substrate and 50% in the organic layers. Therefore, output coupling efficiency of known OLEDs is approximately only 20%.
Various approaches for improving the optical out coupling efficiency of OLEDs have been put forward. For example, the planar substrate/air interface may be modified in order to reduce repeated TIR, e.g., by using a micro lens array, or a large half sphere lens on the substrate surface.
Other methods of out-coupling efficiency attempt to extract the light trapped in the organic/ITO layers for example by using a low refractive index porous aerogel, micro-cavity effects, or an embedded low-index grid photonic crystal pattern on the glass substrate. However, using these methods, the improvement in relation to OLED efficiency is limited. Moreover, some of these methods have disadvantages associated with them such as a reduction in electrical efficiency, a decrease in lifetime, a viewing angle dependent colour, complicated fabrication processes and high costs. For instance, eliminating TIR using antireflective coatings does not work as each of the layers will refract the light and ultimately the final interface with air will still meet the TIR condition. In addition, establishing gratings at pitches less than half the UV exposure wavelength is very difficult.


A metering rod type coating applicator is provided with a metering rod having its peripheral surfaced texture to a texture in a range of Ra 0.06 to Ra 1.6 to improve the application of coating to a moving surface and permit uniform coating application using higher solids content coatings and/or lower coat weights. Preferably, the rod will be rotated at a speed significantly higher than that conventionally used and preferably with a peripheral velocity in the range of about 15 to 20 m/min.

The use of metering rod type coaters for applying coating, for example to the surface of a size press are well known. U.S. Pat. No 4,250,211 issued Feb. 10, 1981 to Damrau, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,603 issued Nov. 17, 1987 to Wohlfeil and U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,081 issued Jan. 7, 1992 to Kustermann, all disclose short dwell coaters with metering rods defining one side of the main coating or metering outlet from the coating head that could be used to apply coating to a web directly onto the surface of a roll of a size press coater or the like.
It is also known to use grooved rods which have contoured peripheral surfaces and function as volumetric metering rods to meter the amount of coating applied, i.e. the surface of the rod is defined for example by winding small diameter wire helically about the rod to define the rod surface or by machining circumferential grooves formed in the rod. The diameter of the fine wire defines gaps or grooves between the convolutions of the helix. The size of these gaps as defined by the diameter of the fine wire plays a significant role in controlling the amount of coating that will be applied.
Canadian patent application 2,040,845 published Oct. 20, 1991, inventor Rantanen, discloses a rod coater that utilizes a metering rod having a very smooth peripheral surface and that is rotated contrary to the direction of movement of the coating through the coating outlet.
In all of the above described systems, uniformity of coating application may be deficient. The type of metering rod that is used i.e. grooved or smooth, imparts an upper limit to the solids content of the coating that may be properly applied.


A system is provided that automatically generates one or more haptic effects from source data, such as audio source data. The system fits the one or more haptic effects to the source data by analyzing the source data and identifying one or more haptic effects that are the most similar to the source data. The system matches the identified one or more haptic effects with the source data. The system subsequently outputs the identified one or more haptic effects.

Haptics is a tactile and force feedback technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying haptic feedback effects (i.e., "haptic effects"), such as forces, vibrations, and motions, to the user. Devices, such as mobile devices, touchscreen devices, and personal computers, can be configured to generate haptic effects. In general, calls to embedded hardware capable of generating haptic effects (such as actuators) can be programmed within an operating system ("OS") of the device. These calls specify which haptic effect to play. For example, when a user interacts with the device using, for example, a button, touchscreen, lever, joystick, wheel, or some other control, the OS of the device can send a play command through control circuitry to the embedded hardware. The embedded hardware then produces the appropriate haptic effect.
Devices can be configured to coordinate the output of haptic effects with the output of other content, such as games or other media, so that the haptic effects are incorporated into the other content. For example, in a gaming context, when a game is developed, an audio effect developer can develop audio effects that are associated with the game and represent an action occurring within the game, such as machine gun fire, explosions, or car crashes. Typically, haptic effects are added to the game late in the game development process, such as when the game developer is finishing development of the game application, or when the game developer ports the finished game application to a new platform. This generally results in the phenomena where haptic effects are added after all the audio effects have been developed. Because haptic effects are typically added so late in the process, it generally falls on the haptic effect developer, or some other developer, to make a decision regarding associating a haptic effect with an audio effect. Further, an audio effect developer typically does not have input regarding a selection of an appropriate haptic effect for an audio effect. This can contribute to a degradation of the quality of haptic effects that are ultimately incorporated into the content. This quality degradation can be a barrier to incorporating high-quality haptic effects into such content.


An upsetting press for swaging wire segments into balls or the like. The press includes a fixed matrix, a stamp holder provided for a stamp and mounted on a machine frame so as to be displaceable in the stamping direction, a cam drive mechanism for the stamp holder, and a gripper device provided for the wire segments. The cam drive mechanism is a double cam that is rotatably mounted in the machine frame. An angle lever is pivotably mounted in the machine frame. Follower rollers are carried by the angle lever and run on the double cam. A presser carriage is provided for the stamp holder and is guided in the machine frame in such a way that it can move back and forth. A knee lever is provided that has two arms, one of which is connected to the machine frame and the other of which is connected to the presser carriage. A connecting rod operatively interconnects the angle lever with the knee lever.

The present invention relates to an upsetting press for upsetting or swaging wire segments of predetermined lengths into balls or the like, with the press including a fixed matrix, a stamp holder that is provided for the movable die or stamp and is mounted on a machine frame in such a way as to be displaceable, a cam drive mechanism for the stamp holder, and gripper means that is provided for the wire segments and is controlled in the operating cycle of the press.
Such an upsetting press, which is provided with a cam drive mechanism for the stamp holder that is mounted on a machine frame, is disclosed, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 26 53 040. This known upsetting press is a so-called miniature ball press, in other words, an upsetting press for stamping relatively small wire segments into correspondingly small balls having a diameter of only several millimeters. With this known press, as the cam drive mechanism for the stamp holder a simple cam is used that is embodied as a so-called cup wheel. Due to the precision of the press that is required when producing balls having such a small diameter, this heretofore known press is necessarily structurally very complicated. However, due to its fundamental structural design, this press is little, or not at all, suitable for processing considerably larger wire segments into balls, pins, and the like. The forces necessary for processing wire segments that are of an order of magnitude of several millimeters to several centimeters would imply a dimensioning of the press of German Offenlegungsschrift No. 26 53 040 that already for economical reasons would no longer be acceptable.
The upsetting presses that are used to convert wire segments of conventional size into balls, pins, and the like therefore have a presser carriage that is mounted in the machine frame in such a way as to be movable back and forth, and that is driven by a drive motor via a crankshaft and connecting rod. With this proven construction, the conversion during swaging of larger wire segments can in particular be carried out without difficulty. Due to the movement principle of the presser carriage that is inherently prescribed due to the crankshaft drive, and due to the stamp holder with its stamp or matrix that is connected to the presser carriage, and due to the necessity of having enough time available for the movement of the gripper means for the wire segments out of the space between the two matrixes after the movable and fixed matrixes have grasped and held the wire segment, it has been known for a long time to displaceably mount the movable matrix, i.e. the matrix holder therefore, on the presser carriage, thereby enabling an increase of the operating cycle of the press.
With the press that is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 27 28 647, and which in principle is also the same type of press, the difficulty resulting from the movement principle of the presser carriage is circumvented to a certain extent by mounting the movable matrix holder, with its matrix, independently from the presser carriage in the machine frame in such a way as to be movable back and forth, and by providing the movable matrix holder with a separate drive mechanism that periodically acts upon the matrix holder independently of the presser carriage. In this way, the movement of the matrix holder, with its matrix, can occur over a certain portion of an operating cycle of the press independently of the course of movement of the presser carriage as prescribed by the crankshaft drive.
However, a drawback of this known press is the fact that for the matrix holder, i.e. the movable matrix, two separate drive mechanisms must be provided that have more or less overlapping movement principles and that result in a correspondingly complicated construction of the press. And yet despite all this, such a press, due to the movement principle of the presser carriage that in the end inherently determines the movement of the pertaining matrix, an optimum movement progress of the matrix holder, with its matrix, is not possible over an entire operating cycle, in contrast to upsetting presses that operate with a cam drive mechanism for the matrix holder.
It is an object of the present invention to improve an upsetting press of the aforementioned general type, which in principle is equipped with a cam drive mechanism, to such an extent that the press is structurally simplified, and that the necessary precision of the movement progress of the stamp holder, with its stamp, is assured even at a relatively high output capacity, i.e. high operating cycle of the upsetting press.

Upsetting press for upsetting or swaging wire segments of predetermined lengths into balls or the like


A high-precision cylindrical coil having a high-precision fine coil pattern and a high mechanical precision such as fine roundness and no axial runout, and a cylindrical micrometer using the cylindrical coil are provided.

Recently, as high-performance instrument having a built-in actuator has been widely used in fields of medical instrument, analytical instrument, or micro-machine, a small-sized micromotor has been demanded.
In the implementation of the micromotor having a small size, particularly, a small diameter, a coil built in the micrometer is necessarily formed in a small size and finely.
Generally, the coil is formed by winding a copper line which is coated with an insulator such as polyurethane around a core having a slot. Otherwise, the coil may be formed as a coreless coil. Namely, a self-fusing copper line is prepared by additionally forming a fusing layer on the outmost layer of the insulator-coated copper line. The coreless coil is obtained by forming the self-fusing copper line in a shape of cup or bell. In order to implement a cylindrical micromotor having a small diameter, the coreless coil, that is, a coil having no core is very suitable.
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, a Kodak type winding method or a Faulhaber type winding method is used to manufacture the cup-shaped coreless coil. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-007938, there is disclosed a parallel coil which is formed by arraying a plurality of the coils that is manufactured according to the aforementioned method in order to minimize current consumption and improve torque characteristic.

Cylindrical coil and cylindrical micromotor using the same

Abstract: In a cylindrical coil, a plurality of layers of coil patterns formed by filling the coil pattern grooves formed on a cylindrical substrate with a conductor and a plurality of insulating layers coating the cylindrical substrate are formed, the layers of coil patterns are electrically interconnected to each other by filling a through-hole formed by performing a hole forming process with a conductor, and the outmost layer is made of an insulating material.

Namiki Seimitsu Houseki Kabushiki Kaisha


A flexible display apparatus is provided, including a flexible substrate including a bending area, an insulating layer formed on the flexible substrate and including at least one cutout at the bending area, and a plurality of wires configured following a surface shape of the insulating layer at the bending area. The at least one cutout includes sloped sidewalls protruding away from the flexible substrate.

With the continuous advancement of the display technology, display panel manufacturing technology has also become more mature. The existing display panels mainly include organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, and plasma display panels (PDP), etc. OLED display apparatus are featured with self-luminous, light weight, thin thickness, wide viewing angle, fast response and high contrast, etc., thereby drawing a lot of attention as next generation display apparatus. Flexible OLED display apparatus having a bending area have been developed, however, the designs of the bending area is desired to be improved.
The disclosed flexible display apparatus is directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.

Flexible display apparatus having a bending area cutout

Shanghai Tianma Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd.


A system for modeling computer instruction execution is disclosed. The public status register holds data representative of the status of the computer processing system. A combinational logic unit receives multibit data words from the public status register, as well as a source of program code. The combinational logic unit produces output data implementing a computer processor. A working status register, connected to the combinational logic unit, receives the combinational logic unit output signals. A clock signal generator, during first and second clock intervals, transfers the data from the working status register to the public status register only after all the combinational logic units have provided their output data for a given set of input data. A second clock interval will clock the public status register contents to the input of the combinational logic unit when a subsequent set of program code is presented to the combinational logic unit.

The present invention relates to systems for modeling computer program execution. Specifically, a system is described which will permit simulating parallel execution of parallel hardware and software by modeling the process using sequentially executed code.
In evaluating the performance of computer programs, specifically those for parallel processing systems, it is desirable to model the computer hardware in order to monitor its performance while executing a program. The model is needed as a tool to understand the performance of the program when being executed by a specific processor architecture. By modeling the computer architecture the execution bottlenecks may be identified and analyzed. Once these problems are analyzed, changes in program code may be implemented to improve the overall program efficiency. The real time performance for executing the program may be measured using the model. The use of such simulation techniques also permits measuring hardware performance, permitting changes to the hardware to be monitored as a result of running the program on a model simulating actual hardware performance.
The simulation of computer hardware using sequential logic configured by sequentially executed computer code is made difficult because of data dependencies. The combinational logic which prefetches, decodes and executes the program instructions is order dependent, requiring that data be processed in a certain order.
The order dependency of sequential combinational logic lengthens the time required to simulate program execution. The time for simulation is a function of n.sup.2, where n is the number of logic devices of the combinational logic unit. The length of simulation time necessarily reduces the effectiveness of the computer hardware modeling.

Apparatus and method for modeling parallel processing of instructions using sequential execution hardware

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a method of communicating in a network, comprising a secondary station transmitting to a primary station a data packet comprising a report, the secondary station monitoring before transmission of the packet whether said packet includes an indication of the order of transmission in a sequence of transmitted packets, and adding an indication of the order of transmission in a sequence of transmitted packets.

In a mobile telecommunication network like a UMTS system, a primary station, for instance a Node B (or Base Station or eNB) communicates with at least one secondary station, for instance a User Equipment (or Mobile Station), by means of a plurality of channels. In order to transmit data to the primary station, a secondary station needs to request a resource to the primary station, which is then allocated. This request of allocation can be made in several ways depending on the considered channel.
In an example, in order to request a resource, it is required to indicate the amount of data to be transmitted, i.e. the data in the buffer of the secondary station. To this end, the secondary station transmits to the primary station a buffer status report indicative of the amount of data in the secondary station buffer. Thus, the primary station allocates a resource corresponding to both the capability of the network and the amount of data to be transmitted. This permits the allocation of resource to be adjusted.
In order to transmit this Report, the secondary station uses for instance an ARQ protocol, or an HARQ protocol. It means that the secondary station may retransmit the message until it receives a positive acknowledgement of reception from the primary station. In such a case, it is possible that a first report is finally correctly received long after having been transmitted, and in some cases even after a second report updating the first report. In such a case, the primary station may discard the second report believing that the first report is representative of the current status. This can lead to a waste of resources (if the second report indicated that no data was in the buffer), or in delays (if the first report indicated that no data was in the buffer).

Method for communicating in a network, a secondary station and system therefor


A video test strip reader uses a video imager or camera for viewing a viewing field containing reagent test strips each having test pads reacted with a specimen containing constituents of interest. The video imager produces an analog signal representing an image of the viewing field. An image handler coupled to the video imager converts or digitizes the analog signal into a digital signal representing the image and stores the image in the form of an array of pixels representing the image. Each pixel contains color information broken down into red, green or blue (RGB). A processor coupled to the image handler analyzes the array of pixels, determines the location and orientation of a test strip, identifies the test areas on the test strip, measures the corresponding test areas on the strip at the proper times and calculates the test results, such as the concentration of the constituents of interest in the specimen or other measurable properties of the specimen such as color or specific gravity, etc. Accordingly, the video test strip reader can simultaneously locate, color analyze and time track multiple test strips on the viewing field.

Reagent test strips are widely used in the field of clinical chemistry. A test strip usually has one or more test areas, and each test area is capable of undergoing a color change in response to contact with a liquid specimen. The liquid specimen usually contains one or more constituents or properties of interest. The presence and concentrations of these constituents of interest in the specimen are determinable by an analysis of the color changes undergone by the test strip. Usually, this analysis involves a color comparison between the test area or test pad and a color standard or scale. In this way, reagent test strips assist physicians in diagnosing the existence of diseases and other health problems.
Color comparisons made with the naked eye can lead to imprecise measurement. Today, strip reading instruments exist that employ reflectance photometry for reading test strip color changes. These instruments accurately determine the color change of a test strip within a limited wavelength range or bandwidth but sometimes fail to measure minute color inconsistencies outside the limited bandwidth. For example, such an instrument can fail to detect traces of blood within a urine specimen on a MULTISTIX.RTM. reagent strip of the type sold by Miles Inc., Diagnostics Division, of Elkhart, Ind. 46515. After the urine specimen contacts the test pad of a MULTISTIX.RTM. reagent strip, intact blood cells appear as tiny green blotches on the yellow test area. Existing strip readers detect the overall color of the test pad but can ignore the small blotches of green. In addition, existing strip reading instruments using one or more wavelengths can lead to a false positive bilirubin result in the presence of interference from indoxyl sulfate. Visually, the atypical color is easily detected but not by prior strip readers that only analyze a limited bandwidth of the entire visual spectrum.
The first commercially available strip reading instruments of this type were effective but unable to adequately cope with the large numbers of specimens handled by clinical laboratories. These instruments require inserting a single test strip, reading the test strip and removing the test strip from the instrument before the instrument can analyze the next test strip. Moreover, with certain instruments the speed of operation is limited by the requirement of precise placement of the strip in the instrument.
Automation of strip reading instruments has significantly improved the speed with which specimens are processed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,261 discloses a multiple-strip reading instrument utilizing reflectance photometry to read test strips. An operator sequentially places the test strips transversely in a loading area. A blotter arm orients the test strips on rails extending from the loading area to one or more reading stations employing read heads and then to a waste receptacle.
This instrument provides for the reading of reagent strips with multiple test areas having varying incubation times. An indexing mechanism in timed relation with the blotter arm incrementally advances the strips in spaced parallel relation a predetermined distance along the rails. After each incremental advance, each test strip dwells for a predetermined time period in its new position. Consequently, individual test strips sequentially advance to a reading position where, during the dwell period, certain test areas are read. Subsequently, the instrument advances the test strip to the next reading position where the instrument reads the other test areas on the test strip with longer incubation times. This arrangement is somewhat inflexible to variations in incubation times for varying test strips because the timing of this instrument accounts for the distance that the test strip travels from the loading area to the read heads, the incubation times for a certain test area and the indexing rate of the indexing mechanism. Thus, if the instrument reads a test strip having test areas with different incubation times than the typical test strip, the instrument can obtain inaccurate results.
The instrument embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,694 also transports test strips at a right angle to their longitudinal direction from a strip loading area, along a transport path under the read heads to a waste receptacle. In order to obtain accurate results, these instruments require that the test strips be read at the appropriate time.
A common feature of these instruments is a visual and auditory prompt signalling the operator to dip a strip in the sample and place it in the loading area of the instrument. Typically, these prompts occur at fixed time intervals, such as every 10 or 12 seconds. Unfortunately, operators frequently fail to comply with the prompts by either not understanding or choosing to ignore the manufacturer's instruction about immersing the test strip when the tone is presented. This timing differential between the instrument prompt and when the operator actually dips the test strip can cause a degradation of measurement results. Moreover, forcing the user to dip and place strips as dictated by the instrument adds pressure onto the operator and can lead to human error.

Video test strip reader and method for evaluating test strips


A device for the production of a non-woven product from a fluid dielectric substance, comprising a first electrode, means for leading this electrode along a closed path, driving means to move this electrode along this path, coating means for coating this electrode with the said substance opposite a first portion of the said path, a second electrode whose surface is relatively extensive with regard to the first electrode, located opposite a second portion of the said path, an electrostatic generator connected to one of the said electrodes to establish a potential difference between them so as to create an electrostatic field capable of acting on the said substance to form a plurality of fibers in the direction of the said second electrode, characterized in that it comprises two endless transport bands mounted respectively around guide means defining two closed parallel trajectories passing near the coating means and the said second electrode, these bands being connected to the said driving means so as to move synchronously around their respective guide means, and a plurality of electrical conductive wires stretching transversely between these bands, each of these wires constituting the said first electrode as and when they pass opposite the said second electrode.

There exist various processes for directly producing a non-woven material from a fluid dielectric substance, in solution or molten, by means of forces created by an electrostatic field on this substance.
One of these processes consists in wetting an electrode with a solution of the product intended to yield the non-woven, and forming an electrostatic field between this electrode and a second electrode, so as to atomise this solution and collect small fibers on the second electrode. The electrode wetted by the solution is in the form either of a toothed wheel so as to concentrate the electrostatic field on these points, or of a ring formed by a conductive wire. In both cases, the electrode is driven to rotate around a horizontal axis of rotation and its lower part passes down into the solution so as to wet the electrode as it rotates.
The yield from this process is low insofar as about 80 to 99% of the substance atomised in the electrostatic field is constituted by the solvent. Moreover, the devices for putting this process into operation only allow very small quantities of solution to be atomised. Finally, the width of the non-woven product obtained from such a device is necessarily reduced. It has been proposed to put several co-axial rings in parallel. However, such a solution gives rise to problems relating to the homogeneity of the non-woven product.
British Pat. No. 1,484,584 describes another process starting with a thermoplastic dielectric substance, which is melted and brought into an electrostatic field. The advantage of this process resides in the fact that it makes it possible to produce fibers without the use of a solvent and that a plurality of fibers are formed simultaneously from a layer of the molten substance. Consequently, its yield is greater than that of the above-mentioned process. However, the means for carrying out this process, constituted in particular by an endless wire electrode driven so as to move along its closed trajectory, has a limited interest from the industrial point of view because of the width of the product which can be obtained and the speed of production.
Moreover, in that Patent, the formation of the layer of molten material on the surface of the wire electrode is obtained by the passage of this electrode through a mass of molten material placed in a container, the opposite sides of which are pierced with respective openings so as to permit the wire to pass through this container and to leave it covered with a layer of molten material extruded through the outlet opening for the wire. On leaving the container, the extruded matter covering the electrode is subjected to the electrostatic field and a plurality of fibers are formed along the layer of this material. The centering of the wire electrode in the outlet opening controls the regularity of the thickness of the layer surrounding the electrode and, to a great extent, the quality of the fibers obtained. Moreover, the even heating of a large mass of molten material is difficult to achieve. The difficulty in obtaining a perfect centering of the electrode and the even heating of the material is no doubt one of the causes of irregularities found in the non-woven product obtained by means of this device.

Device for forming a nonwoven product from a fluid dielectric substance and process


On the stationary side of a radial bearing constructed of a plurality of magnetic poles, the magnetic poles are formed into a shape such that the magnetic flux density distribution formed between the inner surfaces of these magnetic poles and a rotor located on the rotating side of the radial bearing has a distribution inclined from the magnetic pole end portion to the magnetic pole center portion. With this arrangement, the rate of change in magnetic flux density during the shift of the rotor from a magnetic pole to the adjacent magnetic pole is reduced, thereby reducing the eddy current loss and heat generation.

The present invention relates to a magnetic bearing spindle for use in manufacturing processing machinery (for metal molding or aluminum processing such as scrolling), a turbo molecular pump of semiconductor equipment or the like.
The issues of a high-speed spindle for machining, taken as an example, will be described below.
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for high-speed cutting work in the field of machining. The high-speed cutting is expected to produce the effects of improving the production efficiency, improving the processing accuracy and prolonging the operating life of the tool by virtue of a reduction in cutting resistance, reducing the cost of the mold and the like, and reducing the processing time by virtue of cutting from an integrated material into a shape in a stroke.
The recent requirements for the product quality care about not only the quality of the processed surface (i.e., the shape accuracy and surface roughness) but also the defect beneath the processed surface and the presence or absence of a transubstantiated layer. Accordingly, there is a great expectation for high-speed cutting that receives little influence from the generation of heat accompanying the removal of metal and is able to reduce the cutting resistance.
For the spindle that decisively dominates the capabilities of the processing machinery, there has conventionally been mainly used a support structure with ball bearings. In response to the aforementioned demands for high-speed cutting, there have been developments for the increase in speed by improving the lubricating system and adopting a ceramics bearing or the like.
On the other hand, an active control type magnetic bearing spindle that supports a rotating body in a non- contact manner by magnetic levitation has attracted a great deal of attention as a spindle that has the possibility of exceeding the limit of the ball bearing system in recent years.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the magnetic bearing spindle, in which are shown a spindle main shaft 500, a motor rotor 501, and a motor stator 502. There are also shown front side radial bearings 503 and 504, rear side radial bearings 505 and 506, and thrust bearings 507 and 508. These combinations are each being constructed of the rotor located on the rotating side and the stator located on the stationary side. There are further shown radial displacement sensors 509 and 510 located on the front and rear sides, respectively, a thrust displacement sensor 511, protecting bearings 512 and 513, and a casing 514.
The fundamental capability of the processing use spindle is normally evaluated by the magnitude of a DN value (spindle diameter x number of revolutions).
In the case of the ball bearing spindle, which has undergone a variety of improvements in recent years, it is considered that the limitation of the DN value is practically about 2.5 million taking the operating life into account due to the accompaniment of mechanical sliding lubrication.
By contrast, in the case of the magnetic bearing, it is possible to provide a spindle of which the DN value surpasses the DN value of the ball bearing by making the best use of the features of non-contact rotation that can ensure semipermanent use. In order to satisfy the demands for the aforementioned high-speed high-rigidity structure on the processing side, there have been carried out trials for increasing the spindle main shaft diameter and rotating the same at higher speed. The large main shaft diameter is desired because the inertial rigidity (the dynamic effect in which the main shaft axial center tries to keep one direction) is greater in a high-speed operation and a blade tool of a larger diameter can be gripped because the main shaft diameter is greater.
However, it was discovered that the magnetic bearing, which was expected to have a small loss because of the non-contact structure, unexpectedly caused a great frictional loss as the result ova striving for a higher DN value. The principal factor of the above result is-the eddy current loss of the radial bearing.
FIGS. 16A and 16B show the principle of the radial bearing that has conventionally been used, in which are shown a rotor iron core 600 (corresponding to 503 of FIG. 15) constructed of electromagnetic steel plates, a stator iron core 601 (corresponding to 504 of FIG. 15), and a winding 602. In the figure, the flow of magnetic flux is indicated by the arrow 603. In the radial magnetic bearing, the rotor is retained at the center in a non-contacL manner by attracting the rotor 600 by magnetic forces in vertical and horizontal directions.
Because of the rotation, one key factor of the rotor iron core is that is successively faces magnetic poles 604 in the order of N.fwdarw.S.fwdarw.S.fwdarw.N (there is another case of N.fwdarw.S.fwdarw.N.fwdarw.S as described later) as shown in FIG. 16A, so that the direction and magnitude of the magnetic flux 603 varies. Consequently, a varying induction electromotive force is generated in the rotor iron core 600, so that an eddy current flows. In order to reduce this eddy current loss, the rotor iron core 600 normally has a laminate structure formed by stacking thin electromagnetic steel plates (silicon steel plates).
If the rotating section of the magnetic bearing is constructed for the achievement of a spindle having a high DN value (a large main shaft diameter and a greater number of revolutions), the following issues occur.
(1) If electromagnetic steel plates of a high resistivity, a small iron loss, and a small plate thickness are used in order to reduce the eddy current loss, there is a restriction on the permitted number of revolutions due to a limitation of the mechanical strength of the material with respect to a stress generated by a centrifugal force so long as the material is identical. The stress generated by the centrifugal force depends on the peripheral velocity of the rotating body, and this naturally leads to the limitation of the DN value.
(2) Conversely, when electromagnetic steel plates that endure a large number of revolutions and have a large plate thickness, a low resistivity, and a large iron loss are used, an abnormal temperature rise is caused on the main shaft by the heat generation due to a. large eddy current loss so long as the material is identical. This temperature rise exerts a great deal of bad influence on the reliability of the rotating main shaft constructed of composite components. The main shaft of the magnetic bearing is normally constructed of a motor, electromagnetic steel plates of the magnetic bearing, a ring for fastening the plates, a disk for the thrust bearing, a tooling member provided by utilizing the inside of the main shaft, and so on. The main shaft subjected to severe conditions at high speed and high temperature causes the troubles of destruction, deformation, and the like of these composite components.
(3) The loss can be reduced by reducing the bias current to be formed through the electromagnet of the radial bearing, and reducing the face width or the axial length of the electromagnet, or by taking similar measures. However, the rigidity and loading capability are concurrently reduced, and therefore, the DN value is hard to increase.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An accommodating intraocular lens implant includes (a) a posterior lens unit and (b) an anterior assembly, which includes first and second anterior components, each of which comprises exactly one polymeric piece. The first anterior component is shaped so as to define an anterior floating lens unit and levers. The second anterior component (a) is assembled with the first anterior component such that the first and the second anterior components are separable from each other without tearing the anterior components, and (b) is shaped so as to define (i) an anterior rim complex, and (ii) anterior rim links, which are connected to the anterior rim complex. The levers are in jointed connection with the anterior floating lens unit, the anterior rim links, and the posterior lens unit. The levers are arranged to move the anterior floating lens unit toward and away from the anterior rim complex.

Accommodating intraocular lenses (AIOLs) allow the eye to focus at different distances. The Crystalens® (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, N.Y., USA) is an AIOL that has received FDA approval in the United States.
US Patent Application Publication 2011/0071628 to Gross et al. describes an accommodating intraocular lens (AIOL) implant that includes at least an anterior floating lens complex and a posterior lens complex, each of which comprises one or more optical elements, and a frame comprising one or more levers, which are coupled to the frame and the anterior floating lens complex. The levers are configured to leverage motion of the frame to move the anterior floating lens complex with respect to the posterior lens complex. Other embodiments are also described.
PCT Publication WO 2015/198236 to Sohn et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an accommodating intraocular lens implant that includes an anterior floating lens unit, a posterior lens unit, an anterior rim complex disposed such that the anterior floating lens unit is movable toward and away from the anterior rim complex. A plurality of levers are in jointed connection with: the anterior floating lens unit at respective first longitudinal sites along the levers, the anterior rim complex at respective second longitudinal sites along the levers, and the posterior lens unit at respective third longitudinal sites along the levers. For each of the levers, (a) a line defined by the second and third longitudinal sites, if projected onto a plane defined by a radially-outer perimeter of the lens implant, and (b) a line tangential to the radially-outer perimeter of the lens implant at a circumferential site of the perimeter circumferentially corresponding to the third longitudinal site, form an angle of between 75 and 105 degrees.


A drain pan and a method for fabricating a drain pan for use with an air conditioner, the drain pan having a plastic drain having plastic threads, with an insert disposed within the plastic drain to prevent the fracturing of the plastic threads when a steel pipe is threaded into the plastic drain. The insert may be a metal insert.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a drain pan which collects condensate from an air conditioner and a method for fabricating such drain pans.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known air conditioning systems include drain pans which collect and dispose of accumulated condensation, or condensate, and such drain pans, or trays, are typically disposed beneath an evaporator coil. Condensate is then drained out of the drain pan through an opening in the drain pan, or tray, and flows to a remote location. Presently available drain pans are formed of various types of moldable plastic material. Many times, it is necessary that the plastic drain pan be connected to a steel pipe to accommodate drainage of the condensate from the system and flow to the remote location. Typically, the installer of the air conditioning system, or a plumber, screws the steel pipe, typically a conventional ¾″ steel pipe into the drain pan, which typically includes a drain, or customer connection, having a standard pipe thread connection, such as a tapered female pipe thread. A tapered pipe thread is shaped like a wedge and stresses known as "Hoop Stresses" are generated as the plumber threads the steel pipe into the tapered female threads of the plastic drain pan. When this connection is made with torque forces being exerted higher than those achieved by hand tightening of the pipe within the plastic threaded drain, the Hoop Stresses may achieve a level at which the plastic threads of the plastic drain may be fractured. Thus, the connection between the plastic drain pan and the steel pipe may leak condensate, which is a serious disadvantage and consequence from over-tightening the steel pipe into the plastic drain pan.
The drain pan and method of fabricating a drain pan, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, as compared to previously proposed drain pans and methods for fabricating drain pans, have the advantages of: providing a plastic drain for the drain pan which is less susceptible of being fractured and leaking; and is economical to manufacture and use.

Drain pan and method for fabricating a drain pan


Fabrication techniques for making nickel boron stranded wire braze preforms are described. The techniques involve the provision of the wire material in a stranded form having a large surface to volume ratio. This general form consists of a plurality of fine wires, having the desired cross-sectional area, which may be twisted or braided to produce the preform.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to nickel base brazing materials for high temperature applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the prior art to join nickel base alloys using nickel base brazing compositions. The journal Metal Progress, Apr. 1977, Vol. 112, shows a representative listing of such brazing alloys on page 65. The common feature of such alloys is the use of effective melt depressants such as boron and silicon. Of these, boron is the most effective melt depressant but, homogeneous nickel alloys containing significant amounts of boron are so brittle that they cannot be fabricated into useful shapes and must be used in powder form. U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,794 describes a method for producing ductile nickel boron braze materials. This patent is incorporated herein by reference. The method of the patent involves providing the braze filler alloy in a ductile boron free form, working the ductile alloy into foil form and then adding the required amount of boron by a boriding process. The boriding process produces a thin boron rich surface layer which although extremely brittle, adheres to the ductile substrate even when subjected to minor mechanical strains. However, for many applications, a wire preform is desired and this wire preform is often subjected to severe mechanical strains. Borided wires of diameters greater than about 0.030 inch are found to be subject to spallation of the borided surface layer when strained. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a ductile nickel boron braze wire material which is not subject to spallation even when subjected to severe bending and melts adequately.


A system and method of automatically configuring memory in a data processing system, including the steps of: receiving source code containing a loop nest, wherein the loop nest includes data arrays with affine indexes; optimizing source code by relocating elements from a first array in memory to a second array in memory; and executing the optimized source code.

A conventional computer architecture typically includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU) connected to a main memory system and various Input/Output (I/O) facilities. Data, including instructions, moves between the main memory and the CPU. The overall bandwidth between main memory and the CPU is limited by a number of factors including memory access time, word size, bus width, bus speed, etc. In most cases, particularly those cases involving a large amount of data (e.g., scientific computer applications, image/video processing, etc.) the memory bandwidth between the CPU and main memory creates a bottleneck and may reduce overall system performance to an unacceptable or undesirable level.
To reduce potential bottlenecks between main memory and the CPU, computer designers may use a multi-level memory hierarchy, such as a memory hierarchy that includes the provision and use of small numbers of registers internal to the CPU, external main memory and one or more levels of intermediate cache memory. Cache memory decreases the time needed by a CPU to access data, thereby minimizing data latency. As a result, cache memory improves performance of the executing application.
Cache memory is generally not directly accessible or manipulable by the program. That is, cache memory operation is generally not part of the application program interface but is instead controlled by a dedicated controller or similar hardware. In general, cache memory is designed to be transparent to the CPU, and is treated as fast main memory. A compiler that processes source code to provide object code programs and the program performing the "load" and "store" commands into main memory use and benefit from the cache memory without having any direct program control over its use. At runtime, hardware may automatically transfer data and/or instructions that are associated with a range of addresses in main memory to the cache. When the CPU makes a subsequent request for data from these addresses, the data is provided from the cache.
Systems that require high performance hardware, such as digital signal processors and custom computer engines, typically require high memory bandwidth to support high-speed computations. The standard cache arrangement as explained above may not provide enough memory bandwidth for these types of systems and, even though cache may be used to supplement main memory, bottlenecks may still occur. To provide additional local memory bandwidth so that bottlenecks do not or are less likely to occur, in addition to cache memory, computer designers may include small, fast local memory called Scratch Pad Memory (SPM) in their computer design. SPM is local memory that is typically connected directly to the CPU.
SPM is available for use by a programmer through an application program interface. For example, a program's "load" and "store" instructions may explicitly address either a main memory area or a particular local SPM area. The program explicitly places a given data item in one of these separate memory spaces. An SPM may provide data directly to the CPU without using main memory or system bus bandwidth or space within cache memory. SPM, therefore, further improves system performance and decreases the time required for a CPU to access data. As a result, the SPM improves performance of the executing application.
Currently, data is relocated to SPM by a computer programmer and not inserted automatically by the compiler at program compile time. It is therefore desirable to automatically configure SPM usage and make the most efficient use of SPM.

Method and system for memory management optimization

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An instrument having an annular body and a pair of independently and selectively-adjustable periscopes for transmitting the superimposed images of two reference stars (or other selected celestial objects) to a viewer for the purpose of directing orientation of the instrument so that its central axis will be parallel with the polar axis and an identifiable point on the perimeter of its scaled annular body will be directed towards Aries. From such a single sighting, the user obtains nearly all of the information required to compute his own longitude and latitude, the only other information being readily obtainable from an almanac and a timepiece.

Celestial navigation procedures generally require cumbersome equipment and volumes of source materials in addition to considerable navigational training for their use. For example, plotting boards, charts, and volumes of tables are all commonly needed along with the sextant, transit, or other instruments employed for celestial observation. While the space requirements may not be objectionable on board ship, they may become so where space is at a premium, as on a smaller vessel, in aircraft, or during land exploration. Efforts to develop equipment which requires less space, and which may be easier to use for a person without extensive navigational training, have met with only limited success, presumably because voluminous tables may still be required, or because the instruments have been too complex, delicate, or difficult to operate, or because such instruments have for all practical purposes been limited to the sighting of select reference stars, such as the North Star.
References illustrative of the art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,566,312 (Cable), 2,316,466 (Storer), E. S. Maloney, Dutton's Navigation (Navel Institute Press, Anapolis, Md., 1978), and Bowditch, The American Practical Navigator.

Bi-periscopic instrument for use in determining terrestrial positions through celestial observation


A suspension control system for controlling the attitude of a vehicle such as an automobile includes a suspension unit including a hydraulic cylinder disposed between an axle and the body of the vehicle and an accumulator connected to the hydraulic cylinder, a pressurized hydraulic fluid source, a hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging valve operatively connected to the suspension unit and to the hydraulic fluid source and a controller for controlling the hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging valve to supply or discharge hydraulic fluid to or from the suspension unit. The suspension control system further includes a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the suspension unit. The controller also prevents hydraulic fluid from being discharged from the suspension unit when the pressure in the suspension unit is lower than a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension control system for controlling the attitude of a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Prior Art
Recently, there has been proposed with an attempt at a practical application, a so-called active suspension system in which control is carried out to counter changes in the attitude of a vehicle which would otherwise occur during cornering, accelerating, braking and so on. A control operation, which is carried out on the basis of signals from vehicle height sensors, a speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, an acceleration sensor and the like, regulates an amount of hydraulic fluid to be supplied to or discharged from suspension units, each disposed between an axle and the vehicle body, to suppress changes in the attitude of the vehicle and thereby stabilize attitude of the vehicle. One example of such an active suspension system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 16409/89.
FIG. 1 shows one example of a prior art active suspension control system. A suspension control system 1 comprises hydraulic cylinders 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d (reference numeral "3" will be used as a general reference numeral thereof hereinafter) mounted on a vehicle body (not shown). Respective piston rods 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d (general reference numeral "4") of the hydraulic cylinders 3 are connected to axles of wheels 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d (general reference numeral "2"), respectively. Accumulators 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d (general reference numeral "5") are connected to the respective cylinders 3. Each pairing of cylinders 3 and accumulators 5 constitutes a suspension unit. The hydraulic cylinders 3 are connected to a pressurized hydraulic fluid source 6 through hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging means 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d (general reference numeral "7"), respectively. Each hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging means 7 comprises an electromagnetic switching valve or a proportional valve which is adapted to be controlled by means of a controller 11 which will be described hereinafter. When electromagnetic switching valves are used as hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging means 7, desired amounts of fluid are supplied to and discharged from the respective cylinders 3 by controlling the periods of time during which the valves are opened. When proportional valves are used, desired amounts of fluid are supplied to and discharged from the respective cylinders 3 by controlling the openings of the valves.
Shown at 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d (general reference numeral "10") are height sensors for measuring the height of the vehicle based on the state of the cylinders 3. Reference numerals 12 and 13 respectively designate a steering angle sensor for detecting the steering angle based on the degree of rotation of the steering wheel and a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle. Signals from the sensors 10, 12 and 13 are input to the controller 11. The controller predicts changes in the attitude of the vehicle which would otherwise occur, and controls the hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging means 7 to control the amounts of fluid to be supplied to and discharged from the respective cylinders.
The accumulators 5 are of a gas-sealed-in type, as shown in FIG. 2. In the figure, reference numeral 14 designates a tubular housing with a closed bottom end. Opposite open end of the housing 14 is closed by means of a closure member 15. A piston 18 is slidably disposed in the housing 14 to divide the interior of the housing 14 into a gas chamber 16 and a oil chamber 17. A gas, for example, nitrogen gas is sealed in the gas chamber 16, while the oil chamber 17 communicates with the cylinder 3 through a passage 15a so that the same hydraulic fluid is also introduced into and discharged from the oil chamber 17 when hydraulic fluid is supplied to and discharged from the corresponding cylinder 3 by means of the hydraulic fluid supplying and discharging means. The piston 18 is provided with a sealing member 19 mounted thereon for creating a seal between the gas chamber 16 and oil chamber 17. The piston 18 moves in the housing 14 in response to the supply and discharge control of the hydraulic fluid into and from the suspension unit to provide the suspension unit with spring characteristics.
However, the conventional suspension control system as mentioned above suffers from the following problems.
When a vehicle is running on a rough road, when accelerating while cornering, or when a steering operation is continuously carried out to increase a cornering angle, the height of the vehicle greatly changes. As a result, a great amount of hydraulic fluid is discharged from suspension units and the piston 18 is displaced, thereby contacting the closure member 15. This is called a zero-down state. The zero-down state is accompanied by a harsh noise. Further, the pressure level of the hydraulic fluid in the suspension unit changes suddenly, thereby creating an oil hammer effect, which may result in a deterioration in the durability of hydraulic apparatus such as the cylinders 3, valves of the supplying and discharging means 7 and so on, and thus cause a decrease in driving stability.
In some cases, an annular buffer 20 is mounted on the inner surface of the closure member 15, as shown in FIG. 2, in order to suppress noise. However, it is difficult to suppress the noise over a long period of time due to aging of the buffer.
Further, even if the buffer 20 serves to suppress noise, the arrangement does not serve to eliminate substantial and sudden changes in the pressure level of the hydraulic fluid in the suspension unit. Accordingly, problems of the deterioration of the hydraulic apparatus and of the lowering of the driving stability remain unsolved.