A method for heating metal powder, e.g., iron powder, comprises irradiating the powder with microwaves. The powder may be coated with various materials to enhance the heating effects of the microwave. For example, the powder may be coated with a non-emissive material, such as a ceramic material. The powder may also be coated with a dipole material, such as water or plastic, or a dielectric material.

In several known metallurgical operations, metal powder is heated for various purposes, such as annealing of the powder, hot compaction of the powder, or coating of the powder. A "powder" is defined as a collection of particles. In several of the known applications, a compact made from the powder is heated to remove lubricants and to increase the compact cohesiveness (sintering). Most of the known heating techniques make use of radiant heat furnaces. While radiant heat is effective in heating compacts of metal particles that have metal to metal contact, they are ineffective in heating loose powder. This is because the thermal conductivity of a powder is less than that of a solid compact. For example, the thermal conductivity of iron powder is one hundred times less than that of a solid compact of iron.
In addition, induction heating (operating at 1000 Hz) has been known to produce eddy currents in metals and has been used for melting and heat treating solid metals. In connection with heating a metal powder, this technique would involve placing the powder in a solid container and employing induction to heat the container. The container would then transmit the heat to the powder. However, due to the poor heat conductivity of powder, this method is ineffective.

Methods and apparatus for heating metal powders


A robust method for determining a radiation imaging system focus error, that employs a focus sensor and an accompanying curve determined analytically or empirically according to the characteristics of the sensor, is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, the focus sensor comprises two beamsplitters, a spacer, and three detectors comprising CCD array. The three detectors are constrained to satisfy radiation path length specifications, with respect to the beamsplitters and spacer. In the method, the curve representing variance vs. focus position is empirically determined. The focus sensor may then be aligned in an unused portion of an imaging system radiation field. The detectors simultaneously image the same scene, sampling it at three different focus positions. These sampled points are then fit to the empirically determined curve; a maximum of the fitted curve is a robust measure of the imaging system focus error.

A canonical imaging system that may be used to explain the concept of an imaging system focus error, is shown in FIG. 1.
The FIG. 1A imaging system 10 comprises a conventional lens 12. Radiation rays 14, which represent parallel incident radiation beams from a fixed and infinite object point 16, are reflected by the lens 12 and converge to a focus F at a focal point 18. The focal point 18 is a sub-set of a focal plane 20 which intersects the focal point 18.
By definition, the focal point 18 is the image of the fixed and infinite object point 16. Accordingly, if a radiation detector 22, for example (and where appropriate), a photographic film, is placed coincident with the focal plane 20, the image of the fixed object point 16 at an imaging plane 24 defined by the radiation detector 22, can be sharply developed by the radiation detector 22.
In summary, the FIG. 1A imaging system 10 has been so constructed (i.e., with the focal plane 20 coincident with the imaging plane 24) that it does not introduce focus error: it is in-focus. An indicia of this desired condition is that the fixed and infinite object point 16 can be sharply developed, i.e., without undue blurs, fuzziness or other degradations of the image.
Attention is now directed to FIG. 1B, which shows a first modification of the FIG. 1A imaging system 10, so that a first out-of-focus condition can be demonstrated. Here, the imaging plane 24 has been physically displaced, by a distance D, from the focal plane 20. The physical displacement D corresponds to an introduction of focus error, and thus introduces a "sensible" and undesirable degradation of the image quality of the object point 16.
Attention is now directed to FIG. 1C, which shows a second modification of the FIG. 1A imaging system 10, so that a second out-of-focus condition can be demonstrated. Here, the focal plane 20 is still coincident with the imaging plane 24, but the heretofore fixed and infinite object point 16 has been displaced so that it is now located at a finite distance from the imaging system 10. This relocation action induces an out-of-focus condition, D, thereby introducing a sensible and undesirable image degradation.
Note, although not shown in FIG. 1, that an out-of-focus condition can also be induced by inter alia: changes in the lens 12 curvature, or temperature gradients incurred by the imaging system 10. In all cases, it is desired to determine a focus error for an out-of-focus condition, so that the imaging system can be efficiently restored to the in-focus state, thus providing sharp images of an object.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,506 issued in the name of Fiete et al. discloses a method for determining an imaging system focus error. That method employs a focus sensor and accompanying reference curve. However, that method samples three different focus positions to use as a basis for generating a parabolic curve, whereby the maximum of the parabolic curve is a measure of the imaging system focus error. Utilizing a parabolic curve provides reasonable results for small focus errors. However, either as focus error increases, or as the system response changes due to effects such as component aging or varying conditions of use or environment, the parabolic curve proves to be an inadequate representation of the true focus error from the point of optimum focus. As such, the parabolic curve does not accurately represent the full range of sensor response to various focus positions.

Robust method for determining an imaging system focus error


Forming solder bumps each having a constant height by surely supplying onto each of electrode pads a solder ball corresponding to a predetermined volume while omitting Au plating performed on the electrode pads onto which the solder bumps are to be formed. For achieving the forming of the solder bumps, the adhesive film is formed instead of the Au plating, the adhesive film being used as an oxidation-preventing film and as film for temporarily fixing each of the solder balls, the solder balls being supplied by stencil mask or the vacuum adsorbing mask.

The invention relates to a method of producing an electronic part with bumps, such as a mounting substrate, a semiconductor package, a semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor chip and etc., in which a plurality of conductive bumps for electrical connection are formed, and relates to another method of producing an electronic part in which method a first electronic part with bumps is bonded to a second electronic part such as a substrate.
In recent years, for realizing the high density design of electronic circuit and the high speed design of signal transmission in the electronic circuit, there is adopted a connection system using bumps for connecting a printed board to a semiconductor package.
As regards conventional technique is known JP-A-9-199506 (Conventional Technique 1). Namely, in Conventional Technique 1 there is disclosed a method comprising the steps of: forming nickel film on each of electrode pads provided on a wafer, selectively forming a adhesive film on each of the electrode pads, then excessively supplying solder particles so that some of the solder particles are adhered to the nickel film through the adhesive film, shaking excessive solder particles off the adhesive film by use of brush etc., supplying flux onto each of the solder particles adhered to the adhesive film, and heating and melding the solder particles so that solder bumps may be formed.
As another conventional technique is also known JP-A-6-152120 (Conventional Technique 2). In Conventional Technique 2, solder powder is spread on adhesive film previously formed, and then the reflow thereof is performed so that a thin solder layer such as priming solder may be formed.
However, in the method of Conventional Technique 1, in a case where the size of each of electrode pads is smaller than that of the solder particle, the electrode pad is apt to be located among a plurality of adjacent solder particles with the result that the necessary solder particles do not come to be adhered onto the pads, so that there is such a fear as the failure of bonding is apt to occur. On the other hand, in another case where the size of each of the pad electrodes is equal to or is somewhat larger than that of the solder particle, a plurality of solder particles are apt to be adhered onto the electrode pad, which causes such an unfavorable state as some of resultant solder bumps come to have volume two or three times as large as that of each of normal bumps although each of the resultant bumps must have the same volume each other, so that connection reliability required when a substrate or a board is mounted is deteriorated. Further, the removing of excess solder particles by use of, for example, a brush is apt to remove such solder particles temporarily adhered as to be formed into solder bumps, so that there occurs such a fear as failure in connection is caused.
On the other hand, in the method of Conventional Technique 2, solder powder of particles each sufficiently smaller in size than the size of each of the pads are spread onto each of the pads, and then the reflow of the solder powder is performed, so that the resultant bumps are prevented from having sizes quite different from each other, however, the adhering amount of the solder powder is limited to be not more than the volume of a value multiplying a pad surface area by the height of the solder powder. Thus, in order to obtain solder bumps each having a sufficient volume, the several repetitions of the step are required unfavorably, which is not practical.
The first object of the invention is to obtain a method of producing an electronic part with bumps which can solve the above problems, in which method one solder ball having a volume corresponding to an intended solder bump volume is surely supplied onto an adhesive portion, whereby even solder bumps each having a large volume can be formed by a single step while preventing the solder bumps from having various volumes different from each other, and the second object of the invention is to obtain another method of producing electronic parts in which method the electronic part with bumps is bonded to another electronic part such as a substrate or board.
In the invention, in order to achieve the object of the invention, adhesive film is selectively formed on electrode pads of a semiconductor device or on electrode pads each formed by metallizing with, for example, Ni on metal conductor of the semiconductor device, a solder preform having a predetermined volume being then supplied onto the adhesive film formed on each of the pads through a stencil mask or an adsorption mask so that the solder preform may be adhered to the adhesive film regarding each of the pads, and the reflow of the solder preforms is performed, after coating the preforms with flux as occasion demands, so that a solder bump having a predetermined volume may be formed on each of the electrode pads.
Namely, according to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing an electronic part with bumps, comprising: selectively forming an adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on the electronic component; aligning and supplying a bonding member onto each of the adhesive films; and bonding each of the bonding members to each of the pad portions by melting the bonding member so that each of the bumps is formed on each of the pad portions.
According to the second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing on electronic part with bumps, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on said electronic component, which forming is performed by immersing the electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
aligning and supplying a bonding member onto said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions; and
bonding each of said bonding members to each of said pad portions by melting said bonding member so that each of said bumps is formed of said bonding member and so that each of said bumps is bonded to each of said pad portions.
A method of producing an electronic part with bumps according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the thickness of the adhesive film is made to be not less than 5 xcexcm in the adhesive film-forming step.
According to the third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing an electronic part with bumps, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on said electronic component, which forming is performed by immersing the electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
aligning and supplying a bonding member onto said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions, which aligning and supplying are performed by use of both of an aligning mask having opening portions capable of aligning and supplying said bonding members and an aligning squeegee capable of moving the bonding members into said opening portions; and
bonding each of said bonding members, which are supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of said pad portions by melting said bonding member so that each of said bumps is formed of said bonding member and so that each of said bumps is bonded to each of said pad portions.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing electronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a first electronic part;
aligning and supplying a bonding member to said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions in said adhesive film-forming step;
relatively aligning each of said pad portions of the first electronic part, each of which pad portions is provided with said bonding member supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of pad portions of a second electronic part, and then overlapping each of said pad portions of the first electronic part with each of said pad portions of the second electronic part through the bonding member interposed therebetween; and
bonding said overlapped pad portions of said first electronic part to said overlapped pad portions of said second electronic part by melting said bonding members so that an electric circuit of said first electronic part is bonded to another electric circuit of said second electronic part.
According to the fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing electronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a first electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing the electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
aligning and supplying a bonding member to said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions in said adhesive film-forming step;
relatively aligning each of said pad portions of the first electronic part, each of which pad portions is provided with said bonding member supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of pad portions of a second electronic part, and then overlapping each of said pad portions of the first electronic part with each of said pad portions of the second electronic part through the bonding member interposed therebetween; and
bonding said overlapped pad portions of said first electronic part to said overlapped pad portions of said second electronic part by melting said bonding members so that an electric circuit of said first electronic part is bonded to another electric circuit of said second electronic part.
According to the sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing electronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a first electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing the electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
aligning and supplying a bonding member to said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions in said adhesive film-forming step, which aligning and supplying are performed by use of both of an aligning mask having opening portions capable of aligning and supplying said bonding members and an aligning squeegee capable of moving the bonding members into said opening portions;
relatively aligning each of said pad portions of the first electronic part, each of which pad portions is provided with said bonding member supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of pad portions of a second electronic part, and then overlapping each of said pad portions of the first electronic part with each of said pad portions of the second electronic part through the bonding member interposed therebetween; and
bonding said overlapped pad portions of said first electronic part to said overlapped pad portions of said second electronic part by melting said bonding members so that an electric circuit of said first electronic part is bonded to another electric circuit of said second electronic part.
According to the seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing electronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a first electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing the electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
aligning and supplying a bonding member to said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions in said adhesive film-forming step, which aligning and supplying are performed by use of both of an aligning mask having opening portions capable of aligning and supplying said bonding members and an aligning squeegee capable of moving the bonding members into said opening portions;
relatively aligning each of said pad portions of the first electronic part, each of which pad portions is provided with said bonding member supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of pad portions of a second electronic part, and then overlapping each of said pad portions of the first electronic part with each of said pad portions of the second electronic part through the bonding member interposed therebetween; and
bonding said overlapped pad portions of said first electronic part to said overlapped pad portions of said second electronic part by melting said bonding members so that an electric circuit of said first electronic part is bonded to another electric circuit of said second electronic part.
According to the eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing electronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a first electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing said first electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a second electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing said first electronic component in said fluid;
aligning and supplying a bonding member to said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions in the first adhesive-film-forming step;
relatively aligning each of the pad portions of the first electronic part, each of which pad portions is provided with a bonding member supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of pad portions of a second electronic part, and then overlapping each of said pad portions of the first electronic part with each of said pad portions of the second electronic part through the bonding member interposed therebetween; and
bonding said overlapped pad portions of the first electronic part to said overlapped pad portions of the second electronic part by melting said bonding members so that an electric circuit of the first electronic part is bonded to another electric circuit of the second electronic part.
According to the ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing electronic circuit, comprising the steps of:
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a first electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing said first electronic component in a fluid containing imidazole derivative which is adsorbed on metallic portions and which is not adsorbed on portions other than the metallic portions;
selectively forming adhesive film on each of a plurality of pad portions provided on a second electronic part, which forming is performed by immersing said first electronic component in said fluid;
aligning and supplying a bonding member to said adhesive film formed on each of said pad portions in the first adhesive-film-forming step, which aligning and supplying are performed by use of both of an aligning mask having opening portions capable of aligning and supplying said bonding members and an aligning squeegee capable of moving the bonding members into said opening portions;
relatively aligning each of the pad portions of the first electronic part, each of which pad portions is provided with said bonding member supplied in the bonding member-aligning-and-supplying step, to each of pad portions of a second electronic part, and then overlapping each of said pad portions of the first electronic part with each of said pad portions of the second electronic part through the bonding member interposed therebetween; and
bonding said overlapped pad portions of the first electronic part to said overlapped pad portions of the second electronic part by melting said bonding members so that an electric circuit of the first electronic part is bonded to another electric circuit of the second electronic part.
In the methods, it is preferred that the thickness of the adhesive film be made to be not less than 5 xcexcm. Further, each of the methods may comprise a step of regenerating the adhesive film having been already formed in the adhesive film-forming step so that the adhesive film may have adhesion.

Method of producing electronic part with bumps and method of producing electronic part


A system and method for altering the properties of a material by exposure of the material to a magnetic field is described herein. The method comprises generating a magnetic field; exposing a material to the magnetic field, and determining the optimum settings of the magnetic field parameters for the particular material. The magnetic field may be time varying or time invariant. Various properties of the magnetic field can be altered to determine the optimum settings for altering the material properties, including the amplitude, frequency, and waveform. In one embodiment, a method for improving the conductivity of a transmission line is provided, comprising: providing a high voltage electrical transmission line; temporarily installing a magnetic field generator along at least a portion of the transmission line; and generating a pulsed magnetic field around at least a portion of the transmission line using the magnetic field generator and simultaneously running a current through the transmission line.

In recent years, the United States Energy Information Administration estimated that the average monthly American residential electricity consumption was 936 kilowatt-hours, with appliances accounting for the bulk of the electricity consumption. As people become more tied to their, electronic devices, this number is likely to be on the rise. Consequently, power plants must work to meet the high demands of the population's energy consumption.
The United States operates approximately 157,000 miles of high voltage electric transmission lines, and though demand for electricity has increased, construction of transmission lines has actually decreased. As such, numerous problems have arisen. Electrical grids are congested, resulting in increased electricity costs. Additionally, line losses have also increased. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, transmission and distribution losses in the United States were up about 5% in 1970 and grew to 9.5% in 2001.
The significant transmission line loss in current methods of electrical power transmission results in substantial losses in energy and money. At present, it is estimated that up to 7.5% of the electricity transmitted is lost due to inefficiencies in the electrical grid, which is a loss of approximately $30 billion a year due to inefficiencies of the electrical grid. Thus, there remains a need in the art for improved power transmission materials and methods to substantially reduce the transmission line loss that would result in improved efficiencies, lower costs, and the preservation of viable resources.

Apparatus and method for altering the properties of materials by processing through the application of a magnetic field


Catalytic materials for exhaust gas purifying catalyst composites comprise platinum group metal (PGM)-containing catalysts whose PGM component(s) are provided as nanoparticles and are affixed to a refractory metal oxide, which may be provided as a precursor. Upon calcination of the catalysts, the PGM is thermally affixed to and well-dispersed throughout the support. Excellent conversion of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides can advantageously be achieved using such catalysts.

Temperature-induced deactivation of catalysts containing platinum group metals (PGMs) such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium is a great challenge facing environmental catalysis today. Historically, in a standard preparation, PGM particles have been deposited on thermally durable metal oxide supports (e.g., alumina (AI2O3), zirconia (ZrO2), ceria (CeO2), ceria-zirconia composites (CeZrOx) and the like) by impregnating the supports with solutions containing ions of PGMs, wherein the ions were provided by precursors, such as salts of the desired PGM. Impregnation methods typically lead to the formation of PGM particles with an average diameter of less than or equal to about 5 nanometers (nm) on the metal oxide support. Upon hydrothermal aging, these small particles experience fast deactivation. One mechanism of deactivation is the agglomerating of these small PGM particles, leading to agglomerated group of particles with diameters, e.g., of several hundreds of nanometers. Another mechanism of deactivation can be a solid state reaction between small PGM particles and the metal oxide support, forming inactive PGM-support mixed oxides (for example, RhAlO3). Both of these deactivation mechanisms are associated with small PGM particle size, for example, less than or equal to about 5 nm in the initial fresh state.
International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2011/017139 is directed to "preparation of diesel oxidation catalysts via deposition of colloidal nanoparticles," and exemplifies the formation of platinum nanoparticles on a microparticle alumina support material using chemical fixation by pH adjustment. By use of a microparticle alumina support material, the platinum nanoparticles are primarily located on the surface of the support material (largely outside of the pores of the support material). U.S. Patent Appln. Publ. No. 2012/0263633 describes metal oxide support materials containing nanoscaled iron-platinum group metal particles having a particle size from 0.5 nm to 10 nm, wherein at least 70% of the nanoscaled iron-platinum group metal particles are located on an outside surface layer of the metal oxide support material. The nanoscaled particles of this 2012/0263633 reference originated from precursor soluble salts.
There is a continuing need in the art to provide catalytic articles that provide excellent catalytic activity, thermal stability, and/or efficient use of components such as PGM particles.

Platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts for automotive emissions treatment


The invention relates to an implant for anchoring a prosthesis in the jaw of a patient, having a base body (1) and a post (2) connecting to the top thereof, wherein the post (2) engages with a recess opening (3) of the base body (1) in a positive and non-positive manner and can be firmly connected thereto. In order to improve such an implant, the invention suggests that a sealing collar (4) surrounding the recess opening (3), and an annular groove (5) surrounding the sealing collar (4) be provided on the top of the base body (1), wherein the post (2) has a circumferential shoulder (6) on the bottom thereof facing the base body (1), the shoulder having a shape that is complementary to the sealing collar (4) and the annular groove (5).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an implant for anchoring a prosthesis in the jaw of a patient, having a base body and a post connecting to the top thereof, wherein the post engages with a recess opening of the base body in a positive and non-positive manner and can be firmly connected thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
Where one or several natural teeth need to be replaced, dental implants, which are a means for anchoring dental replacements, such as crowns, bridges or prostheses, are nowadays used in dental medicine. Dental implants within this meaning are pillars which are anchored in the jawbone and function as artificial tooth roots. They are firmly anchored elements which are implanted in the jawbone. They enable individual teeth and dental bridges to be fixed in place without disturbing healthy neighboring teeth. Implantation is a process in which dental implants are firmly anchored by pressing or screwing them into a tooth root cavity previously formed in the jawbone. The implant usually consists of several parts, namely a base body, which forms the anchor proper, a post, which engages with the base body and carries the crown or bridge or prosthesis, and a fixing element which serves to secure the post to the base body.
In a widely used type of implant, the post is fixed in the recess of the base body by means of a fixing screw which runs through the hollow post. In this configuration, the post is provided, for instance, with a hexagonal section facing the base body, which fits accurately into the hexagonal contour of the recess opening of the base body. In the area of its contact faces with the base body, the post is additionally provided with a shoulder which interacts with a matching end the on top of the base body. Here, the objective is to obtain a connection that is as gap-free as possible between the base body and the post to prevent the ingress of bacteria. Such a gap-free interface is generally considered necessary in order to avoid the undesired consequences of an implantation—so-called perioimplantitis. Perioimplantitis may lead to the implant losing its anchor from the jawbone.
Several dental implants with gap-free interfaces are known in the prior art. The known dental implants are partly not satisfactory in terms of resistance to the significant pressures that teeth are subjected to. If the connection between the post and the base body is not perfect, the implant may suffer damage which may lead to micromovements, cause the post to become loose or even damage the base body, so that the implant may lose its functionality in the medium term. If the connection between the post and the base body becomes loose, this may permit bacteria to enter the developing gap between the base body and the post, which may result in the afore-mentioned perioimplantitis.


A cost monitoring system can monitor a cost of queries executing in a complex event processing system, running on top of a pay-as-you-go cloud infrastructure. Certain embodiments may employ a generic, cloud-platform independent cost model, multi-query optimization, cost calculation, and/or operator placement techniques, in order to monitor and explain query cost down to an operator level. Certain embodiments may monitor costs in near real-time, as they are created. Embodiments may function independent of an underlying complex event processing system and the underlying cloud platform. Embodiments can optimize a work plan of the cloud-based system so as to minimize cost for the end user, matching the cost model of the underlying cloud platform.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to complex event processing (CEP) systems, and in particular, to monitoring and optimization of same.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Scalable, distributed streaming systems can automatically scale up with the increasing load. This property matches the cloud computing paradigm, which presents the user with an illusion of an infinite resource pool available on demand.
However, the automatic consumption of a varying number of computing resources, combined with dynamic varying load patterns, implies the unpredictability of the resulting bill when a given streaming system is deployed on a cloud platform.
Accordingly, the present disclosure addresses these and other issues with systems and methods providing cost monitoring and cost-driven optimization of a complex event processing system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cost monitoring and cost-driven optimization of complex event processing system


An all-purpose modular canopy system including a canopy frame formed of a plurality of interconnected sections, the sections being formed of welded tubular elements. The sections are modular in configuration including end and central portions whereby the sections may be selectively assembled to produce the desired length. The canopy frame includes transversely disposed brace elements associated with supporting columns and adjustable fittings to facilitate alignment of the columns and canopy frame, and the canopy frame is covered by a flexible covering using a lacing system between the frame and covering to maintain covering tension. The covering may include a skirt cooperating with skirt stabilizers formed in the canopy frame corners for maintaining the skirt properly oriented.

Canopies mounted upon columns are commonly employed to form lightweight shelters. The canopy basically consists of a roof portion supported by vertically extending columns disposed below the assembled roof portion. The canopy roof portion may be defined by relatively rigid components, such as panels, or may consist of a framework covered by a flexible cover or tarpaulin. In many installations the sides of a canopy shelter are open, but it is also known to enclose the sides of the canopy shelter with fabric such as tent material.
Currently, canopies are widely used as shelters for automobiles, motor homes, picnic tables, boats, and the like, and canopies are often mounted upon boat lifting devices to protect the boat from the weather when lifted from the water surface.
Various types of canopy constructions are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 493,305; 498,583; 3,023,732; 4,347,690 and 4,865,066.
Canopies serve well as a lightweight shelter for a number of purposes and a popular canopy construction consists of a column supported framework over which a flexible cover such as a tarpaulin is disposed. The cover is usually tensioned over the canopy frame, and the frame is usually formed by a plurality of interconnected elongated tubular members which define the size and configuration of the shelter desired.
Canopies used as shelters for automobiles, boats, and recreational vehicles are often required to be of considerable length, such as 25 feet or longer, while canopies used with sheltered items of lesser dimension, such as a picnic table, require a framework considerably smaller than the aforementioned. Typically, canopies are constructed and fabricated in a custom manner to accommodate a particular use and installation, and once the canopy frame is assembled or fabricated its significant size renders the canopy impractical to move or seasonally store. Hence, canopies of conventional construction are not usually considered to be "portable", and under normal conditions canopies are not considered to be "portable" or readily transported or stored.
A need exists for an all-purpose canopy construction which is economical to manufacture, versatile, readily erected and disassembled, and capable of ease of storage and transport.


A wheelchair-dock system includes a floor including an elongated depression, a movable member, an actuator drivingly coupled to the member, and a position sensor coupled to the member. The depression defines a lateral direction. The member is movable in the lateral direction between an extended position over the depression and a retracted position.

Passenger vehicle are not typically designed and produced to accommodate wheelchairs. Therefore, accommodations for wheelchairs in vehicles are typically installed with aftermarket modifications to a production vehicle. For example, a vehicle may be modified with a lift or the like to load a wheelchair onto a vehicle. Often, a wheelchair will be stowed in a cargo area once a passenger is transferred to a vehicle seat. Production vehicles typically do not have the ability to accommodate the wheelchair of an occupant in a manner allowing the occupant to sit in the wheelchair in the vehicle, or if they do, significant aftermarket modification is required.


A semiconductor memory device comprises a plurality of normal memory cell arrays having a first and a second data state, a plurality of redundant memory cell arrays having a first and a second data state for substituting for the normal memory cell arrays, a plurality of input/output lines, a plurality of complementary input/output lines, a plurality of first control signals for substituting a redundant memory cell array having the first data state for a defective normal memory cell array having the first data state, and a plurality of second control signals for substituting a redundant memory cell array having the second data state for a defective normal memory cell array having the second data state. In the device, a control circuit for transmitting the complementary input/output data to the plurality of input/output lines, and the input/output data to the plurality of complementary input/output data lines according to the circumstances is provided. Accordingly, the yield of semiconductor memory devices can be improved by increasing the potential number of redundant memory cells which can be substituted for defective normal memory cells.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a circuit for substituting for a defective memory cell of a semiconductor memory device with a redundancy cell.
Generally, a semiconductor memory device has a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns, and as memory capacity increases, more such memory cells are added. Increasing memory capacity increases the probability of defective memory cells being present, and even if just one memory cell is defective, the entire chip cannot be used. In view of this, an inevitable fact follows: as the memory capacity becomes large, the yield of manufactured semiconductor memory devices deteriorates.
Accordingly, in order to raise the yield of manufactured semiconductor memory devices, rows and columns of a redundancy cell array are arranged as part of a standard memory cell array, so that a chip can be used regardless of existing defective memory cells. The yield is improved by substituting for portions of the defective cell array with a column or row from the redundancy memory cell array.
The redundancy method installs redundant memory cells to be substituted at connected positions adjacent to the chip's normal memory cell array. When the address of a defective cell is marked by blowing the metal or polysilicon fuses corresponding to the row (or column) of a defective cell in the normal memory cell array, the operation of the address decoder of a normal row (or column) is intercepted and the row (or column) of a substituted redundant cell is selected.
Generally, semiconductor memory cell constitution (such as in DRAM devices) consists of two states of data topology, corresponding to the arrangement and composition of the memory cell array. That is, one half of the memory cell array equals the output data's state to be read and written, while the other half corresponds to the complement data's state.
Similarly, since the redundant memory cell is constituted and installed as a part of a normal memory cell array in the periphery of a normal memory cell array, the data topology state of the row (or column) of each redundant memory cell can be fixed to one of the above two data topology states. When the defective normal memory cell array and the redundant memory cell array are substituted through a repair, one, two, four or eight rows or columns are substituted at the same time, and when such a block forms one or two redundant memory cell arrays or more, the redundant memory cell array substituted for the defective normal memory cell array is randomly substituted, and as a result, the data state of the substituted redundant cell may be different from the original data state.
Also, if a redundant memory cell which can be substituted according to the address of the cell to be repaired is fixed to match the data state, the efficiency of the redundant cell is reduced. And if the redundant memory cell is used regardless of the data state, the data states of redundant memory cell and the substituted normal memory cell are changed.


A magnetic resonance tomography apparatus has a basic field magnet system and at least one oscillation source. An outer envelope of the basic field magnet system, to which the oscillation source is mechanically connected, thereby comprises at least a part of a decoupling mechanism that prevents a propagation of oscillations caused by the oscillation source onto at least a sub-region of the outer envelope.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus of the type that contains a basic field magnet system as well as a gradient coil system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance tomography is a known technology for acquiring images of the inside of objects, particularly, the body of a living examination subject. To this end, the magnetic resonance tomography apparatus has a volume for acceptance of the examination subject, referred to as an examination volume. The examination volume is at least partly spatially limited by a surface of the apparatus that surrounds it. The majority part of the aforementioned limiting surface is normally formed by a surface belonging to the gradient coil system, and a further part, which is normally only a small part, is formed by a part of an outer envelope of the basic field magnet system. At least in a sub-region of the examination volume, the basic field magnet system generates an optimally uniform, static basic magnetic field on which the gradient coil system superimposes rapidly switched magnetic field with constant gradients, referred to as gradient fields, in all three spatial directions. Currents flow in the gradient coils with amplitudes that reach several 100 A and that are subject to frequent and fast changes in the direction of the current, with rise and decay rates of several 100 kA/s. These currents are controlled on the basis of pulse sequences and, due to Lorentz forces, cause vibrations of the gradient coil system, given a basic magnetic field on the order of magnitude of 1 Tesla.
These vibrations are transmitted to the entire surface of the magnetic resonance tomography apparatus via various propagation paths. Dependent on their surface speed, the mechanical oscillations of various surface regions are transmitted as sound oscillations that ultimately cause the known noise emissions.
The overall surface of a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus is essentially formed by the outer envelope of the basic field magnet system, which forms by far the largest part, as well as the surface of the gradient coil system, including the devices such as radio-frequency antennas mounted at the gradient coil system. Regardless of the measuring location, the envelope of the basic field magnet system is the dominant noise source. This is also true of the examination volume, which is essentially limited by the surface of the gradient coil system.
One transmission path dominates in the transmission of the vibrations of the gradient coil system onto the envelope of the basic field magnet system. This proceeds via a direct mechanical connection of the gradient coil system to the basic field magnet system, for example due to the gradient coil system being press fit in a hollow opening of the basic field magnet system.
Progress in the field of magnetic resonance tomography for shortening the measuring times and for improving imaging properties is always related to faster and faster pulse sequences. These cause an increase in the current amplitudes as well as in the current rise and decay rates in the gradient coils. Without counter-measures, this leads to increasing noise due to higher Lorentz forces and rapid changes in the effective direction of the Lorentz forces due to stronger vibrations.
Excessively high noise phenomena can be opposed, for example, by increasing the rigidity of the gradient coil system. A doubling of the rigidity, however, only yields an increase of the natural resonant frequencies of the vibrating components by a factor of approximately 1.4. Since the gradient coil system is already a very stiff element at present, technical and economic limits exist as to the increase in rigidity, which is practical.
German OS 195 31 216 discloses a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus with a gradient coil system secured to the basic field magnet system via at least one support mount, the support mount being located in the region of a natural oscillation node of the gradient coil system which is expected during operation. In one embodiment, the support mount includes a damping element. Disadvantageous influences caused by oscillations of the gradient coil system, for instance acoustic and structural noises, as well as disturbances in the image quality are avoided as a result. However, as soon as the gradient coil system exhibits greater rigidity compared to the envelope of the basic field magnet system, the support mountxe2x80x94including the damping elementsxe2x80x94leads to hardly any noticeable reduction in noise because no effective decoupling of the vibration-generating gradient coil system from the outer envelope is achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,177 discloses a gradient coil system for a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus that is mechanically connected to a basic field magnet system of the apparatus via vibration-damping connector elements. A vibration decoupling of the gradient coil system from the basic field magnet system thereby occurs in defined fashion by means of the vibration-damping connector elements. The entire basic field magnet system is thus kept free of vibrations that proceed from the gradient coil system. For noise reduction as well as a high magnetic resonance image quality, a vibration as well as a deformation of the operating gradient coil system are also prevented.
German OS 44 32 747 discloses a fundamental reduction of oscillations of the gradient coil system on the basis of an active technique. To that end, a force generator, particularly containing piezoelectric components, is arranged in or at the gradient coil system. This generates forces that oppose the oscillations of the gradient coil system, so that a deformation of the gradient coil system is essentially prevented. To that end, the piezoelectric components are appropriately driven by a voltage applied thereto. The introduction or attachment of a number of piezoelectric components into the comparatively spatially extensive gradient coil system, the voltage supply thereof, as well as, an appropriate drive circuit, involve significant technical and economic outlay.
An object of the present invention is to provide an economical magnetic resonance tomography apparatus with low noise emissions that, among other things, avoids the aforementioned disadvantages.
This object is inventively achieved in a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus having an outer envelope of the basic field magnet system to which the source of the oscillations is mechanically connected, with this outer envelope forming at least one part of a decoupling mechanism that prevents propagation of oscillations caused by the source of oscillations onto at least a sub-region of the outer envelope. As a result, vibration of by far the majority part of the surface of the magnetic resonance tomography apparatus is suppressed or reduced to a minimum. In particular, the decoupling mechanism prevents oscillatory movement of the envelope that is characterized by a motion direction perpendicular to the surface of the envelope and is thus especially relevant for producing noise. The dominant noise source is thus suppressed or reduced. Because the envelope forms part of the decoupling mechanism, the decoupling mechanism acts directly at the location of the conversion of mechanical oscillations into noise-producing sound oscillations. An effective point of employment of the decoupling mechanism can be defined in a simple way. Further, the effects of the decoupling mechanism on the overall system are relatively easily determinable.
In an embodiment, a connector between the oscillation source and the basic field magnet system contains a part of the decoupling mechanism. In an embodiment that saves components and space this connector participates at a point of employment for the decoupling mechanism together with the basic field magnet, particularly the outer envelope thereof.
In a further embodiment, the decoupling mechanism contains an element, such as a bellows or an element of elastic material, that has a vibration-decoupling effect due to its mechanical properties.
In a further embodiment, the decoupling mechanism contains actuators, preferably fashioned as piezo elements, whose spatial size is designed such that they have a vibration-decoupling effect.
In another embodiment, the decoupling mechanism includes sensors for this purpose, preferably embodied as piezo elements, that are arranged in the immediate proximity of the actuators for detecting the vibration and controlling the actuators. German OS 44 32 747 cited above is referenced for a detailed explanation of the above-described, active measure with actuators and sensors for vibration suppression. Compared to the structure taught in that reference, however, the present invention does not employ a multitude of piezo elements arranged over a comparatively spatially extensive oscillation source, for example a gradient coil system; rather, piezo elements are arranged in a comparatively small spatial region, for example in the proximity of a connection between the oscillation source and the basic field magnet system. There, they prevent transmission of oscillations of the oscillation source onto the entire envelope of the basic field magnet system. The economic outlay therefor is correspondingly lower and a high noise-reducing effect is still achieved.
In an especially advantageous embodiment, the actuators or sensors are fashioned as lamellae and/or fibers and/or films, and are attached on the surface of the decoupling mechanism and/or are integrated in the decoupling mechanism. Particularly the attachment to the surface, for example on the envelope of the basic field magnet system, requires only minimal modifications of existing components.
In another advantageous embodiment, the decoupling mechanism contains a stiffening element. The oscillation-decoupling effect of the decoupling mechanism, particularly between a comparatively rigid oscillation source and an envelope that is soft compared thereto, is enhanced by a supplementary utilization of the stiffening elements, particularly in conjunction with aforementioned other embodiments of the decoupling mechanism. Due to oscillation reflections at the stiffening elements, however, the utilization of the stiffening elements by themselves also leads to an oscillation-decoupling effect.
In another embodiment, the oscillation source is a gradient coil system. The gradient coil system of a magnetic resonance tomography apparatus is the main source of noise, so particular significance is accorded to the decoupling thereof.
In another embodiment, the decoupling mechanism is arranged for this purpose in a region wherein the envelope is not covered by a surface of the gradient coil system facing directly toward the envelope. This takes into account the fact that only oscillations of the outer envelope of the basic field magnet system that are not covered by surfaces of the gradient coil system, i.e. that represent surfaces of the magnetic resonance tomography apparatus, convert mechanical oscillations into noise-producing sound oscillations. The oscillations of the covered regions of the envelope are of no interest in view of the noise.
In a further embodiment, the decoupling mechanism is arranged for this purpose along a closed curve proceeding on the envelope, preferably along a closed boundary curve between a region in which the envelope is covered by the surface of the gradient coil system facing directly toward the envelope and a region that is not covered. This assures that the oscillation source is completely vibration-decoupled from the rest of the apparatus, so that no bridges remain via which the oscillation source can transmit oscillations onto the overall envelope of the basic field magnet system.
The inventive magnetic resonance tomography apparatus can have a hollow-cylindrical basic field magnet system having an opening in which the gradient coil system is connected to the basic field magnet system via the connectors.
In another embodiment wherein a cold head of a superconductive basic field magnet is the oscillation source, the decoupling mechanism is arranged along a closed curve in a transition region of the cold head into the basic field magnet system. As a result, transmission of oscillations from the cold head onto the surface of the rest of the apparatus is prevented and the cold head is suppressed as a source of noise.

Magnetic resonance tomography apparatus with vibration-decoupled outer envelope


A storage device, such as a NAND flash device, avoids the need for garbage collection. An application executing on a host system tracks data objects that are marked as invalid and maintains an association between data objects and logical blocks, each logical block corresponding to a physical block of memory in the NAND flash device. Upon determining that the logical block contains no valid objects, the application instructs an SSD to trim the physical block of memory corresponding to the logical block. The application also aggregates write commands until a full block of data is ready to be written, at which point the application transmits a write command to the SSD.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for storing and accessing data in a flash memory system.
Background of the Invention
Typically flash memory includes many data blocks (a smallest erasable unit). Each data block includes several data pages (a smallest programmable unit). Read and write operations may be performed at page level. Erase operations are only performed at block level. Due to internal characteristic of flash memory, a flash page cannot be overwritten. It needs to be erased prior to program operation. Because erase operation is very time intensive (it is a block level operation) and also reduces the flash block lifetime (each flash block is associated with fixed number of erase cycle), flash vendors often perform flash page overwrite operation as 1) write a new flash page, 2) invalidate an old flash page.
This leads to many versions of same page, all these versions except the recent version of the page is invalid once the data is modified. Several invalid copies of the same page will increase device space consumption, which leads to increase in write amplification (WA).
Blocks with many invalid pages are still not suitable for reuse because valid pages cannot be erased. Device garbage collection (GC) is responsible for reclaiming the invalid pages by moving the valid pages into a new block, once the block is free of all valid pages, it is erased, and this block now can be used by incoming writes.
Device GC does not run very frequently, because the GC process will interfere with the device throughput. Out of many blocks, which have many invalid pages, only certain blocks (victim blocks) are picked by the Garbage Collection process for cleanup. Identifying victim blocks is usually done if the block has maximum number of invalid pages. Because of all these thresholds and limitations, the actual amount of physical information written is a multiple of the logical amount intended to be written. Therefore write implication caused by Device GC=(Data written to Flash/Actual Data written by host)
Certain object storing applications, such as level DB and rocks DB, are designed as log-structured merge-tree (LSM) systems. Similar to SSDs (solid state drive), these applications have many invalid versions of objects that are no longer required. A process called compaction is run often, which will compact the database by removing invalid versions of objects. These applications running on SSDs will likewise create write amplification by storing invalid objects. The WA caused by the database is (Data written to Flash/Actual data written to database). The total WA of system is therefore WA of the flash drive times the WA of the database.
The apparatus and methods disclosed herein provide an improved approach for avoiding write amplification in flash storage systems.

Eliminating garbage collection in nand flash devices


A map maker is disclosed in which a physical map is produced by depositing fluid entrained entities, such as cotton fibers, trash and neps, in a pattern on a surface, such as a nylon mesh surface. Each position in the pattern is uniquely associated with data produced by another monitor to provide topological mapping between the data event map and the physical map. In one embodiment, a drive system and computer are used to control the position of a surface relative to a nozzle that deposits the entities on the surface and relative to a camera that scans the map formed on the surface. In the preferred embodiment, the map is planar, but an alternate cylindrical map is shown. Also, an embodiment is shown in which a map maker is incorporated into a carding machine.

A wide variety of substances are or may be entrained in fluid, such as air, for study including, for example, cotton fibers, polyester fibers, other textile fibers, coffee, other particulate foodstuffs, etc. Such entrained material nearly always contains foreign matter, such as trash in cotton, and interesting variations in the material itself may be present. In cotton, tangled balls of fibers called neps, as well as trash, are interesting because both affect the utility and value of the cotton. In polyester fiber, foreign and undesirable entities known as shot or fused fibers, as well as neps, are interesting because these entities also degrade the performance of the raw material.
One device that measures such air entrained entities including neps is sold under the trade name AFIS by Zellweger Uster, Inc. In this device, a sample of entities, such as cotton fiber containing neps and trash, are fed to the machine, individualized, entrained in an airstream, and optically measured. While such devices work well to measure such things as neps in a cotton sample, it would be desirable to have fast and economical methods or devices to supplement, verify and/or calibrate the data produced by the AFIS device. In this application, it is highly desirable to establish a time relationship with the AFIS data event and the location of the entity on the physical nep. Another area of application is to directly monitor such foreign matter entities, without a separate optical measure. A final area of application is to monitor the main component of the sample itself, such as individual fibers.
More generally, the objectives of this invention are to topologically map the locations of entities in space and/or time, to map their locations in space with data events in time, or to map between different data events.
Topology, among other things, deals with mathematical relationships between points on general surfaces. In this invention we are concerned with entities such as neps or trash particles or fibers which comprise volumetric fiber samples within which it is impractical or impossible to "see" or examine them without interference; that is, it is impractical or impossible to measure them. We are concerned with presentation; this means transforming or mapping volumetrically-located entities onto surfaces or into lines where they can be measured substantially individually and thus without interference. The transformation leaves the entity properties substantially unchanged, or invariant.
Thus a first application of topological mapping is presentation of a volumetric sample of entities onto surfaces or onto lines wherein their presentation enhances or enables measurement. This mapping is described by the general transform operation EQU S.sub.v .revreaction.S.sub.s ( 1)
where S.sub.v describes each entities' location in the volumetric sample and S.sub.s describes its location when presented for measurement on a surface. This surface is called PHYSICAL MAP of the entities. The locations can be time-dependent.
Further to this objective of topological mapping, we establish the functional relationship of surface-located entities to measurement data events E(t) EQU S.sub.s (t).revreaction.E(t)
where E(t) is an n-dimensional vector, EQU R(t)=[V.sub.1 (t), V.sub.2 (t), . . . V.sub.n (t)], (2)
where the elements V.sub.1 (t) are physical responses such as voltage, force, time, etc.
The terminology "event" relates, for example, to a voltage waveform in time. Time need not be explicit, however, in Equation 2. The measurement data for the entities is called a DATA MAP.
It can be now appreciated that examination of the physical map of entities in concert with the data map is most useful. One may investigate relationships between events and entities or between events in two or more data maps or even between entities on two or more physical maps.
The physical and data maps can, for simplistic convenience, be planar or to the same scale. Both serve archival purposes. Modern computational methods and apparatus enable high-powered analytical investigations of relationships between mapped entities and events. In providing for apparatus and methods to meet the topological mapping objectives of this invention, a powerful new analytical tool is enabled.
There follow clarifying comments. Let the mappings be (1) the ordered individualization of entities such as fibers, neps and trash in bulk fiber samples, one at a time, followed by (2) measurement of these individual entities, followed next by the (3) presentation of all sample entities in serpentine tracks on planar mesh and (4) concluded by measurement of the entities when so preferably presented for examination.
A unique spatial relationship is provided between the location of the entities in the original volume and their position in the tracts (or along a line). A unique relationship is provided between the locations S.sub.s (t) of the spheres and entities on the physical map and their data events E(t). These mapping relationships are useful in themselves but we have special interest in relating the temporal measurement events E.sub.2 in Step 2 with those in Step 4, E.sub.4. We are topologically relating two data maps to investigate the data relationships for each entity removed from the volume sample (Step 1) and presented in the preferred planar pattern (Step 3).
To further simplify, assume that Step 4 is a reference method such as optical microscopy. We seek to relate these data to the event data of Step 2. This will be appreciated as a calibration procedure.
The data events and maps in either Steps 2 or 4 may be one dimensional, such a peak voltage for each nep, as in an AFIS sensor; two dimensional, such as charge-coupled signals representing images of a trash particle; or three-dimensional such as a holographic record of a pneumatically-transported fiber.
The present invention also provides an efficient apparatus and method for monitoring the properties of fluid entrained entities. Such monitoring may be for independent direct measurements or for correlation with data from other instruments for the purpose of mutually verifying data or calibrating one of the instruments.
In accordance with the present invention, a physical map is produced by depositing fluid entrained entities, such as cotton fibers, trash and neps, in a pattern on a surface, such as a nylon mesh surface. When used with another instrument, preferably each position in the pattern is uniquely associated with data produced by the other monitor so that for a particular set of data one may locate on the physical map the entities that produced the data. This represents a topological mapping between the data event map and the physical map.
To produce the physical map of the preferred embodiment, an appropriate filter is interposed in an airstream containing entities and is moved relative to the airstream in a pattern at a known speed. Thus, the entities are deposited in a pattern on a filter.
In the preferred embodiment, a physical map apparatus is incorporated into an AFIS device. In such combination, an entity sample is fed into a separator that separates and individualizes the various entities in the sample and the individual entities are transported in a conduit by a vacuum driven airstream to an optical measuring station where characteristics of the entities are optically measured and optical data events are produced. From the optical station, the entities are carried by suction through a conduit to the physical map apparatus where a nozzle directs the entities through an appropriate filter. A suction tube, positioned on the opposite side of the filter from the nozzle, draws air from the nozzle and a suction pump is connected to the suction tube for providing the needed suction. As air passes from the nozzle, through the filter and into the suction tube, entities are caught by and deposited on the filter. Hereafter, the terms physical map and filter map are used interchangeably.
A drive mechanism is connected to move the mesh filter relative to the nozzle in a pattern to thereby deposit entities in such pattern on the filter and create a filter map.
A computer is connected to receive and record optical data produced by the optical measuring station as a function of time and it is also connected to record the position of the nozzle relative to the filter as a function of time. In this manner, a time-stamped map is produced on the filter. A correction factor indicative of the time that it takes for the entities to travel from the optical measuring station to the filter is provided to the computer and, using the correction factor, the computer correlates the optical data to positions in the pattern on the filter map. These correlated data are stored and selectively used or displayed.
Sensors are provided for sensing characteristics of the entities on the filter map as a function of map position. In a preferred embodiment, a first camera is positioned adjacent to the nozzle and a second camera is positioned adjacent to the suction tube. Stepping motors and translation tables drive the mesh filter in X, Y directions relative to the nozzle, the suction tube and the two cameras. A control system is provided between the computer and the stepping motors so that the computer precisely controls the position of the mesh filter, and the computer is provided with the position of the nozzle and the cameras. With this information, the computer is programmed to control the stepping motors and cause the filter to move in a reversing raster scan so that parallel rows of entities are deposited on the filter. Also, the computer is programmed to move the rows of entities into view of the cameras as desired. Preferably, the cameras are positioned relative to the nozzle to view two rows behind the nozzle as the entities are being deposited on the filter. Thus, as the entities are being deposited, the cameras are viewing a previously deposited row. In this manner, the process of depositing rows of entities also functions to scan the rows with the cameras. As the cameras scan, a series of video images are stored in the computer and are correlated to the map position that the cameras viewed, and it will be recalled that the stored optical data is also correlated to the map positions. Thus, the optical data, the map positions, and the video images are all cross-correlated and each may be output as a function of the others.
In another embodiment, the filter map is a circular cylinder and a helical pattern is produced.
Of course, the video or other measurements may be made at a later time since the physical map may be retained permanently.


A hydraulic circuit with electronic latching through valve assemblies to allow full control of ground engaging tools including raising, lowering, and providing regulated active down force pressure via a work vehicle valves with manual input while allowing a continuous pressure source to be used in parallel. Pressure transducers and electrically controlled valves along with an electric control circuit allow automatic switching between manual control and automatic control of the ground engaging tools.

In agricultural work vehicle, such as, an agricultural tractor, hydraulic systems which operate high capacity equipment typically generate a considerable amount of heat which must be dissipated. For example, an implement such as a large seeding tool with a hydraulically driven fan often includes an active hydraulic down force system which operates simultaneously with the fan. Many work vehicles include an additional output port, often referred to as a power beyond pressure port, which is connected to the hydraulically powered components on the implement, to provide additional hydraulic capacity.
During activation of the down force system, the hydraulic circuit must run in a high pressure standby condition. The selective control valve on the work vehicle is moved to an active position, such as the lower position, and as the down pressure control valve adjusts pressure to the implement cylinders the hydraulic pump receives a signal from the system indicating a stalled condition. The stall signal causes the pump to run at the high pressure condition which requires more power and generates more heat. When a large flow of oil is required by the implement, such as required by the fan, during the high pressure standby condition a large amount of hydraulic energy must be dissipated by valves in the system. This energy dissipation generates a large amount of heat energy. Under certain extreme temperature conditions, work vehicles with marginal hydraulic cooling systems may overheat.
A partial solution is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,056,465, commonly assigned with the present application and hereby incorporated by reference. There, additional valve components are configured into the active down force circuit to cause the tractor hydraulic system to operate below the stall or high pressure standby condition. A check valve connects the tractor power beyond supply line to the pressure reduction valve that is connected to the implement cylinder ends and controls down pressure. The tractor selective control valve (SCV) is then operated at load pressure in the float mode when the down force circuit is controlling implement down pressure. The circuit eliminates a stall signal to the hydraulic pump that otherwise would cause the pump to rise to the high, heat-producing stall pressure when operating in the active pressure mode. During implement lift, a check valve allows hydraulic flow from the cylinders to bypass the pressure reduction valve. The system therefore operates at lower pressure and lower power to produce less heat and increase fuel economy.
A load sensing system keeps the system pressure at the lowest possible level. The power beyond system provides an external load sense option. However, the power beyond system does not allow the operator to control its output. There is a need to supply an externally load-sensed pressure to the system while allowing the system to be controlled by a non-externally load-sensed selective control valve. To prevent load-sensed pressure from commanding pump flow during tractor engine startup, thus creating tractor starting issues under certain circumstances, it is necessary to prevent load sense signal pressure from being communicated to the tractor during engine startup. Since not all tractors are equipped with power beyond, it is also necessary to be able to operate the rockshaft cylinders and a down force circuit normally, without attaching to power beyond supply, power beyond return, or load sense lines to the circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,573,111, commonly assigned with the present application and hereby incorporated by reference, provides a solution by adding automatic latching controlled by pilot operated hydraulic valves. However, in some instances, due to fluctuations in the hydraulic pressure, the latching can be inadvertently deactivated.


A tile using an activated carbon, which is excellent as a formaldehyde absorbent, and a preparation process thereof are disclosed. The effect of activated carbon on absorbing formaldehyde is maximized by the activated carbon-in-core structure, in which the problem of activated carbon that is easily oxidized during a heat treatment may be overcome.

As an absorbent added in the production of a functional tile for removing formaldehyde using loess or clay, use can be made of various materials such as charcoals, zeolites, diatomites, or ashes.
In connection to the above, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-49437 discloses a building material and room using allophane, Korean Patent Registration No. 495571 discloses a healthy tile using fly ash and diatomite, Korean Patent Registration No. 478949 discloses a process for producing an earthen vessel containing charcoal using wood flour, Korean Patent Registration No. 301253 discloses a wallboard having a humidity function and a manufacturing method thereof, Korean Patent Registration No. 677761 discloses functional building materials and a method for production thereof, and Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2006-248793 discloses a tile material for construction. There are other various techniques in relation therewith, but none has been described of an activated carbon constituting the core according to the present invention and improvement in formaldehyde absorption performance using the same.
The most important factor for improving formaldehyde removal performance of a functional tile is the performance of an absorbent itself. However, when including the absorbent to actually exert its function, there may be concerns of deterioration and reduced performance of the absorbent itself due to the heat treatment in the preparation process of the tile. Therefore, an ideal tile for removing formaldehyde results from a technique that is capable of maximizing the realization of the initial performance of the absorbent.

Tile for removing formaldehyde and process for preparing the same


A process for improving the run-in characteristics of drives having sintered bearings. The drives are subject, prior to their operational usage in repeated cycles (I; II etc.), to a loading procedure exhibiting respectively a first load (M.sub.1), with the effect of operating of the sintered bearings in the mixed friction region (MR), and a following transition to a second load (M.sub.A, with the effect of operation of the sintered bearings in the boundary friction region (GR).

A drive having sintered bearings is shown for example, in EP-A2-0 509 263, which shows a geared motor for a motor vehicle window-lifter drive. As shown, the rotor shaft extends into a gear case that is flange-mounted on the motor frame of a commutor motor, and drives by means of a worm shaft, a worm wheel which is coupled to the cable pulley of a Bowden cable type window-lifter. The rotor shaft is mounted in at least one sintered bearing, which, due to the contact pressures acting upon the flanks of the worm shaft, is also subjected, in particular to radial stress. In geared motor drives of this type, which are made as mass-produced products, the torques developed are subject to a certain scattering. It has been shown that the differences in the starting torques of these geared motor drives are based upon differences in the sintered slide bearings which are used.
An article "Sintered Bearings in Precision Engineering" in the magazine "Fienwerktechnik & Me.beta.technik 98 (1990) 12, pp. 535-538, indicates that sintered bearings display, during run-in, a metallic contact. This is because the porous inlets of the bearing on the running surface are initially open, and hence a large part of the oil in the pressure region of the bearing gap, which is in fact necessary to develop a lubricating wedge, is forced into pore ducts and thus makes the development of a load-bearing oil film more difficult. As a consequence, such bearings operate only in a region of so-called "mixed friction" instead of in a fluid-friction region, which is actually desired.
The above-mentioned operations as to sintered slide bearings can be deduced by applying known laws of hydrodynamic lubrication to solid slide bearings Specific "Stribeck curves", as they are known, can be measured for each type of drive and represent the functional dependence of the bearing friction coefficient ".mu." upon the radial load and upon the rotation speed "n". It can be demonstrated, in particular, that in terms of such curves, the transition from the fluid friction zone into the mixed friction zone and the preceding boundary friction zone is substantially lower in the case of sintered slide bearings than in the case of solid slide bearings.

Process for improving the run-in characteristics of drives having sintered bearings


A shielded point motion fishing tackle having a twin set of springless, retractable fishing hooks shielded by the body of a live or artificial lure until activated by the force caused by the striking motion of a fish.

Recreational fishing is one of the more popular leisure time activities enjoyed by sportsmen everywhere. Most commonly, recreational fishing is done with a fishing rod, line and a hook and some form of artificial or live bait. There is a wide variety of shapes and designs of fishing tackle available in the industry today. A good resource showing different types of fishing tackle can be found at www.cabelas.com and www.basspro.com. Recreational fishing has grown worldwide to become a multibillion dollar industry. In the United States alone, the fishing industry encompasses more than 30 billion dollars annually and employs over 300,000 people.
Although most styles of commercial artificial fishing lures are fairly easy to use, they provide almost no protection at all from snags or puncture wounds from their incredibly sharp points.
Every fisherman, when casting around waters filled with reeds, grasses, dead branches, etc., knows all too well how difficult it is to keep the hook points from snagging objects in, or out of the water. A great deal of time is wasted unhooking barbed points from grasses, limbs and anything else in the way. In addition, many fishermen have experienced firsthand the reality of puncture wounds and clothing tears either on themselves or to others. In fact, stab wounds are pretty common while handling and casting tackle with sharp hooks. A surprise prick on a finger can happen, on occasion, just by reaching into a tackle box. In addition, common artificial lures usually have either very small treble hooks dangling off of them or they have one or more fixed hooks sticking out. All have dangerous and exposed points that even a fish can sense quickly while investigating or striking the bait lure. This can decrease the opportunities for capture, as well. Some lures use two or more treble hooks that are usually somewhat smaller hooks than would normally be desired since larger treble hooks would overwhelm the lure and add weight. Most lure manufacturers use small treble hooks and a lure no longer than 17-20 cm long might have up to 2-3 sets of treble hooks hanging off of it just to ensure a fish is hooked. Handling these lures safely is always tricky and a challenge. Also, if you happen to catch a large sport fish on an undersized treble hook, it is much easier for a fish to jump back off of the hook. Sizing the hook properly for the lure and being free from snags and/or puncture wounds has been a difficult issue to solve for manufacturers of lures.
There have been a number of fishing tackle designs attempting to solve these safety and non-snagging issues. Many have tried to incorporate some type of motion hook device in the attempt. Unfortunately, almost all of these motion hooks employ the use of a cocked spring with a trigger mechanism in an effort to mobilize or snap hooks out to catch a fish. Few are truly practical. Plus, these spring hook designs are inherently risky to handle, especially for children and novices, and don't generally integrate or function well with a wide range of artificial lure shapes and sizes. Some are very complex and impractical due to weight, bulk and cost to produce. A person rarely, if not ever, sees a spring hook device on the shelf of any major sporting goods stores possibly due to liability concerns and the fear of accidentally firing the hook points out into someone's hand. The present invention overcomes the need to use springs or triggers to move hooks into, and out of a desired position. Spring hook devices are also illegal in some jurisdictions. Spring hooks and other designs to place hooks in motion have been disclosed in patents and other publications listed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,373 discloses a barbless fish hook containing a guard member formed of spring wire whereby the guard member may be deflected away from the point where the hook is set in a fish and thus prevents the fish from being dislodged from the hook. This particular hook is based on spring action, is cumbersome in design and is likely to be ineffective in operation or in retaining a fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,340 discloses a fish hook construction which is characterized by a first pair of like short hooks encompassed by a second pair of relatively long hooks and wherein said hooks are oriented and coordinated in a manner that both pairs of hooks are normally nested together and closed in a manner to render the structure effectively snag less. Hooks spring out to open when portions are grasped and squeezed by a fish. This is a spring actuated hook system and it is doubtful that it will work at all. Second, it probably won't work hidden inside a lure. The question that remains is how would a fisherman use it? It does not seem practical or useful.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,372 discloses a fish hook that has a flat barbless point which is specifically shaped to penetrate and remain embedded in the fish. This particular hook is not likely to enhance penetration into the flesh of a fish or prevent an active sport fish from dislodging or jumping off the hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,622 describes a barbless fish hook assembly incorporating a sleeve of material proximal to the barbless fish hook for setting the fish on the hook body. It is unlikely the presence of a sleeve material will provide sufficient resistance to secure the fish on the hook. Furthermore, the addition of a sleeve to the hook assembly would add unnecessary complexity and costs to the manufacturing process.
U.S. Patent Application 20030172579 discloses a barbless fishing hook with a shank having a longitudinal axis with a spike at one end and adjacent and proximal to the spike having a radially expanded surface extending outward from the longitudinal axis in the form of an protruding budge to presumably provide a surface on which the fish will adhere after engaging the hook. This hook design is unlikely to be an effective means of capturing a fish where the fish is retained successfully since the injury to the fish from this hook will provide an efficient path for the hook to dislodge from the fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,314 discloses a self-setting configuration for weed less fishing lures. This invention employs a spring biased dual hook assembly with an accompanying set of latch tabs permitting the two hooks to be cocked into a stable position inside the lure. The assembly is subject to automatic release by a tug on the fishing line by snapping the hooks into a stable position with hooks forced outside the lure into the fish's mouth. This is a spring triggered design that uses words like elastic wire to describe a spring. This lure might even trigger just by casting forces. This does not seem practical for actual use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,908 B1 discloses a fishing lure with spring-loaded hooks. The fishing lure includes housing in which a pair of fishing hooks is enclosed. One end of each hook is secured to a spring-loaded plunger held in a hook retracted position by a trigger. The trigger is a spring plunger that is supposedly activated when a fish bites on the lure. When the trigger is activated, the plunger is released and the spring drives it forward. It suggests the hooks are driven into the fish's mouth with a sufficient force so that they cannot be dislodged by the movement of the fish. This sounds invention depends on where the hooks penetrate the fish in order to secure it. This seems a cumbersome and heavy spring action design that appears to be a hazard to anyone using it.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,632 B1 discloses a fishing lure comprising of at least one hook, a pivot pin about which the hook can pivot, a trigger which serves to engage the hook so when a fish takes the lure, the trigger is disengaged from the hook permitting them to extend outward and engage a fish. This design seems to be unusable. This is not a hook system that can be put into a variety of artificial lures nor can one use live bait with it. It does not appear to be a useful design.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,695 B2 discloses a fishing lure assembly having concealed retractable hooks. The fishing lure assembly has a latch in its interior to inhibit the movement of the hooks.
Pressure on the hook section can cause the latch to release the hooks to engage a fish. This is a spring hook system and it is not clear how it will work. This invention uses code words like "bias" to cover that fact that springs move the hooks into place. The trigger system also appears to be unsafe. Hooks that are opposite facing yet not over lapping will limit the lures and the hooks sizes that could be used. This spring device may not survive a hard cast by the fisherman.
U.S. Patent Application 20050252073 discloses a modified fish hook for catch and release applications wherein it is desired to inflict minimal damage to the fish and thus to release the fish in a healthy state after it has been caught. The hook comprises an eye, shank, bend point and one or more dogs located on the bend, shank or both of the hook. The dogs will comprise non barbed raised surfaces or structures. This invention is a barbless hook with non-barbed projections on its surface. This is intended to retain the caught fish on the hook until it can be safely removed and returned to the water. The fish, however, is unlikely to be retained on the hook. The raised surfaces, or dogs as they are referred to, seem wholly insufficient to hold and active jumping sport fish.
U.S. Patent Application number US 2007/0101634 A1 discloses a fishing lure assembly that is weed less because the hooks are retracted into a housing that prevents the assembly from snagging weeds and getting caught in debris. The assembly includes a fulcrum about which the hooks are spring-loaded. A trigger is rotatable and secured within the housing. When a fish moves the trigger, the hooks are released to catch the fish. It seems impractical for artificial lures and is a spring activated device. Also, grasses, branches, general handling and casting might move the trigger and set the hooks in motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,852 B1 discloses a fishing lure which has retractable hooks, and a spring portion mounted around a pin within the lure body. Each hook is retained in a cocked position. A forward pull on the rod releases the trigger to move forward freeing the coiled portion of the spring to unwind causing the hooks to be extended. This is another spring activated hook system that requires unique mechanisms that add cost, weight and throw a lure off balance. This trigger may, in fact, release the hooks during a hard or violent cast or just in general handling.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,337 B1 discloses an automatic setting of a fish hook assembly comprising 2 hooks pivotally secured to a common shaft, a coil spring installed on the shaft between the hooks, and a latch to hold the 2 hooks together. The latch is disengaged when a fish strikes the assembly, and the hooks are automatically set in the mouth of the fish. This does not seem to be useful or practical. It is not clear if this is for live bait or an artificial lure. In either case, it does not appear to be efficient for fishing and seems clunky and impractical.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,358 discloses a barbless hook equipped with a plurality of grooves formed beneath the hook tip, where the barb is generally provided, thus avoiding damage to a caught fish. The presence of grooves on a fish hook located beneath the barbless spear is unlikely to be efficacious to retaining the fish after it is hooked.
UK Patent Application GB 2501537 discloses a fishing lure with deployable hooks. The fishing lure allows the selective deployment of the hooks that are attached to an elongated central core, a hook anchor collar that is slidable and rotatable disposed on the central core, a spring and a hook guide. When the lure is bitten by the fish, the hooks are released by the action of the spring to deploy the distal ends of the hooks beyond the lure. This design uses expensive custom parts and a spring that add weight and complexity. It is not clear how this invention could work in a common lure. Spring lures generally cannot be casted so they become impractical for everyday fishing with a lure.


To provide message waiting notification in a wireless client/server environment, the server initiates a telephone call to the client using a telephone number assigned for message waiting notification. The server inserts a telephone number assigned for message waiting notification into a calling party number field and information pertaining to the message received into a calling party name field of the sent caller identification information. The telephone network then pages the client in response to the initiated telephone call. The server then terminates the telephone call.. Upon receiving the page, a caller identification device positioned within the client receives the caller identification information sent with the initialed telephone call. The client compares the telephone number contained within the calling party member field of the caller identification information against the assigned telephone number. A match indicates that the call is a message waiting notification. The client further reads the calling party name field of the caller identification information to receive the information pertaining to the received message.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains in general to event notification in a client/server environment, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for message waiting notification in a client/server environment wherein the client and server communicate via a wireless network.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless data systems which use a client/server architecture are being developed with the principal data service of these data systems being messaging such as, E-mail, fax-mail and voice-mail, among others. In a client/server environment, when a server receives messages for a client, it would be beneficial if a message waiting notification could be sent to alert the client. Although the server could "call" the client to provide the client message waiting notification, all public standards for client/server architectures do not allow the server to call the client. Instead, the client is required to call the server and establish a "session" before notification and other information can be transferred from the server to the client.
In certain applications, such as a circuit data system used in standard analog cellular telephone systems, no notification mechanism exists. In other applications, solutions to address the problem of message waiting notification have been developed, however, each has a drawback. For example, in a Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) system, mobile clients are assigned a fixed Internet Protocol (IP) address. Mobile clients are required to "log into" the server and maintain a continuous connection. The server can then deliver information to the mobile client at any time since a virtual connection is continuously maintained. IP addresses, however, are limited in number and the use of fixed IP addresses required by the Cellular Digital Packet Data system requires the coordination of all mobile device manufacturers.
It has also been suggested that a Short Message Service (SMS) of a mobile telephone system be used as a message waiting notification vehicle. SMS allows a short message to be delivered to a mobile client. This message can be coded with a standard format such that the client recognizes the SMS message as a message waiting notification. SMS, however, is not a reliable notification system. In many mobile telephone systems, SMS is only provided as a secondary service to voice traffic. Therefore, in heavily loaded mobile telephone systems, SMS messages can be delayed indefinitely making SMS an unreliable notification mechanism. Additionally, SMS messages are typically delivered for a fee and many users may not wish to pay for notification messages.
There is a need therefore, for an efficient, reliable and inexpensive method and apparatus for providing message waiting notification from a server to a client in a wireless client/server architecture.

Method and apparatus for event notification for wireless devices


Microwave cooking packages suitable for use as microwave popcorn packages include at least one panel (e.g., first and second panels) formed of a vertically rigid material. A flexible portion is attached to the panels. The flexible portion may be formed of a polyester film material such as a biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, which may be at least partially transparent. The flexible portion (and panels) defines a bag construction configured to contain a popcorn charge and to be expandable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration when the popcorn charge is subjected to a popping operation. The microwave cooking package may include a vent assembly configured to at least partially open when the bag configuration is in an expanded configuration to vent the bag construction. The vent assembly includes a first portion a second portion of the bag construction that is configured to be folded against the first portion.

Microwave cooking packages, and, in particular, microwave popcorn packages in current commercial use, typically employ two-ply paper constructions in which inner and outer flexible paper sheets or plies are laminated to one another. A microwave interactive sheet, typically referred to as a microwave susceptor, may be encapsulated between the two flexible paper sheets. The resulting microwave popcorn packages can be provided in a form that may be collapsed and folded when stored before use (e.g., when packaged for shipping, sale, and storage by a consumer). During popping, when a popcorn charge within the packages is exposed to microwave energy in a microwave oven, the bags unfold and expand. When the popping operation is completed, the package is opened and the contents emptied into a container such as a bowl or basket for consumption. The microwave popcorn package may then be collapsed for disposal. When a container is not available, the consumer may instead reach into the bag to obtain the contents.