In a heavy duty pneumatic tire having a lug pattern and used for truck, bus, construction vehicle and the like, at least two lug grooves located in each half region of the tread portion are connected to each other through an auxiliary groove containing a step protrusion therein, and the widths and depths of the auxiliary groove and step protrusion satisfy particular relationships.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to heavy duty pneumatic tires, and more particularly to a heavy duty pneumatic tire having improved traction and braking performances on a wet road surface or wet performances without damaging resistance to uneven wear and resistance to stone biting.
2. Related Art Statement
In the pneumatic tire having lug grooves separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the tire and extending substantially in the widthwise direction of the tire and island portions defined by such lug grooves or a lug pattern, traction force and braking force are excellent. Such tires are widely used as a tire for truck and bus, a tire for a construction vehicle and the like.
On the other hand, there is a chance of a truck, bus and the like provided with such a tire running at a high speed according to road conditions, hence, it is highly demanded to have steering property and stability in such tires.
In order that such a demand is satisfied by the conventional technique, as shown in FIG. 17a, lug grooves 14 are formed in each of half regions in widthwise direction of a tread portion 12 of a tire 10 at a shifting of about half pitch in the circumferential direction. Further, a part of the lug groove 14 substantially extending from a shoulder portion 16 toward a central region of the tread portion 12 in the widthwise direction is bent toward the circumferential direction of the tire. Then, the lug grooves 14, 14 formed in the respective half regions of the tread portion 12 are connected to each other through a subsidiary groove 18 slanting and crossed with respect to the equator P of the tire. The bent portions of the two lug grooves 14 formed in each half region of the tread portion and separated from each other in the circumferential direction of the tire are connected to each other through another subsidiary groove 20 slanting and crossed with respect to a plane separated in parallel to the equatorial plane of the tire consequently an island portion 22 is defined by these subsidiary grooves 18 and 20.
In such a conventional tire 10, the edge of the island portion 22 slants and is crossed with the equatorial plane or the plane separated in parallel to the equatorial plane, so that not only the traction performance and braking performance are improved but also the lateral slipping of the tire against the movement in the widthwise direction of the tire is suppressed to contribute the improvement of the steering property and stability of the tire. Furthermore, when the tire is run on a wet road surface, the above edge develops a so-called edge effect that the edge cuts a water film formed on the road surface to contact with the road surface, so that the wet performances are improved.
As shown in FIG. 17b, the depths of the subsidiary grooves 18 and 20 from the tread surface are about 30% of the depth of the lug groove 14 to ensure the rigidity of the island portion 22 defined by these subsidiary grooves 18 and 20 at the kicking-out side edge. Thus the uneven wear at the kicking-out side region of the island portion 22 during the running of the tire is prevented.
However, the depths of the subsidiary grooves 18 and 20 formed in the central region of the tread portion 12 are shallower than that of the lug groove 14, so that the drainage performance of the tire is degraded as the wearing of the tread surface promotes during the running and hence the given object can not be achieved.
Furthermore, once wear is caused at the edge of the island portion 22 in the central region of the tire tread, the uneven wear gradually proceeds due to the difference in the size of the tire, and also the edge is worn, so that the edge effect can not be expected and consequently the steering property and stability on wet road surface are degraded.


A multi-channel spectrometer and a light source are used to measure both the emitted and the reflected light from a surface which is at an elevated temperature relative to its environment. In a first method, the temperature of the surface and emissivity in each wavelength is calculated from a knowledge of the spectrum and the measurement of the incident and reflected light. In the second method, the reflected light is measured from a reference surface having a known reflectivity and the same geometry as the surface of interest and the emitted and the reflected light are measured for the surface of interest. These measurements permit the computation of the emissivity in each channel of the spectrometer and the temperature of the surface of interest.

It is relatively easy to measure the radiation spectrum from a target surface. The spectrum itself, however, does not yield information about the temperature without knowledge or information about the emissivity of the surface as a function of wavelength and possibly angle. The emissivity is often assumed to be constant (i.e., the gray body assumption) or to have a prescribed variation with wavelength. However, in actuality, the emissivity can vary strongly and without regularity as a function of wavelength. Hence, a lack of knowledge of the emissivity leads to a large uncertainty in the temperature obtained from the radiation measurement. In some present applications, the emitted light is compared to a surface having a known temperature, however, the validity of this comparison hinges on the assumption that the surface being measured and the reference temperature have the same emissivity.

Systems and methods for integrated emissivity and temperature measurement of a surface

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


Cart apparatuses and related methods are described that are configured to traverse uneven terrain while carrying heavy loads such as game animals or equipment. In one example, the cart has a frame that has a handle structure and at least one cargo support portion. At least one wheel support assembly is configured to pivot around an axle connected to the frame. A first wheel and a second wheel may also be included, with the first and second wheels each being pivotable relative to the at least one wheel support assembly. The first wheel may have a first axis of rotation offset from and parallel to the axle, and the second wheel may have a second axis of rotation offset from and parallel to the axle. These carts and methods may make travel through uneven terrain and wilderness areas faster and more conveniently for outdoorsmen.

Sportsmen frequently hunt game animals in remote areas where roads, trails, and other cleared paths are distant or not well maintained. When an animal is downed deep within wooded, rocky, or mountainous terrain, the sportsman must exert great effort to transport the animal from the wilderness back to a vehicle, cabin, or other destination from which the animal can be more easily moved. Many game animals are often large and heavy, so dragging or carrying the animal is difficult and unwieldy even after field dressing.
To address these issues, sporting equipment providers have developed relatively lightweight wheeled hand carts that can be carried or otherwise transported into the wilderness. For example, a cart may be collapsible and made of tubular frame members for easier transport. When needed, the cart may be assembled or unfolded and may then be used to support an animal's body or other hunting equipment as the sportsman pulls it back from the hunt. These carts save considerable effort but have difficulty traversing rough terrain. Usually, the carts have little or no suspension and have rigid axles, similar to a wheeled hand truck or dolly. This design helps to limit the weight, size, and cost of the cart, but it also makes it burdensome to get the cart and animal over rocks, logs, ditches, and other common obstacles in the wilderness. As a result, obstacles may cause the cart to get stuck or cause the load to tip over, and the sportsman may have to counter-productively take longer and more time-consuming routes to reach his or her destination to avoid getting the cart stuck. Additionally, most hunting or utility carts have one- or two-wheeled designs with large wheels and a high center of gravity. This may cause issues when traveling over rough terrain since they are easily tipped over or put high stress on the wheels, causing them to break.
There is therefore a need for improvements in off-road transportation equipment, particularly for carts that may be used to transport game or other heavy loads after a hunt.


A forming process which utilize blown-blown technique has an initial phase, a transfer phase, and a finishing phase for producing a hollow glass object provided with a neck. During the initial phase all or part of the internal profile of the neck is molded by a mechanical element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and device for forming hollow glass objects, as well as the objects obtained. In particular, it deals with the production of objects such as bottles exhibiting a neck which may be threaded, where the production uses the so-called "blown-blown" technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
This technique, well known to those skilled in the art, can be schematically subdivided into three phases: the initial phase, the transfer phase, and the finishing phase.
The initial phase is the phase of forming the blank starting with a glass gob under compression in a parison mold and using a mechanical operation to initially puncture the neck, and then having an actual piercing operation performed by blowing into the blank.
The transfer phase consists of swinging the blank into the finishing mold while holding it by the neck.
The finishing phase is the one where the blank acquires its final shape in the finishing mold due to a second blowing operation.
Thus, in this technique the internal profile of the bottles is molded by pneumatic forces which are exerted against the internal walls of the bottle being formed, and this happens both during the initial phase and during the finishing phase, this in contrast to the so-called "pressed-blown" technique, in which during the initial phase the blank is pressed mechanically by a counter mold called a punch.
This means that in the "blown-blown" technique, which enjoys many advantages, especially in terms of production speed, it is relatively difficult to control the internal profile of the bottle to a high degree of precision, especially to ensure that the walls have a uniform and sufficient thickness. Thus far it has been impossible to use the blown-blown technique to reliably form a bottle whose internal profile must be locally modified for a specific functional need. Thus, for example, in the case of bottles designed for holding liquid substances of medical and/or cosmetic nature it would be very advantageous to be able to locally change the internal profile of the neck, in particular by producing a constriction zone which would control the quantity of product dispensed during application of said substances, especially when using a brush, and a zone which could, for example, also work together with the bottle closure.

Process and device for forming hollow glass objects having a neck with a localized constriction


An oscillator system and method in which a time period (inverse of frequency) of a multi-stage ring oscillator (ROSC) is adjusted by a bias current which controls the charging and discharging times of respective capacitors (e.g., interelectrode capacities) within each stage. The time periods of the unadjusted oscillator are counted along with the time periods of a reference clock over a same period of time and a count difference between the two counts is determined. The count difference is applied by a logic circuit in accordance with an algorithm relating count differences to incremental bias current levels to adjust the frequency of the oscillator. The logic circuit generates digital gate signals corresponding to the count difference and these signals automatically select the bias current level needed to bring the oscillator frequency into close agreement with the reference clock frequency. The digital gate signals are stored in a non-volatile memory so that the oscillator will continue to operate at the adjusted frequency (i.e., that of the reference clock) even if the reference clock is no longer present and power is temporarily removed. The oscillator system is well suited for implementation by complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology as part of an integrated circuit (IC).

There are numerous electronic circuit applications where, for proper operation, it is necessary to provide precise timing or synchronization of one portion of a circuit with another. Such timing is conveniently provided by a local oscillator whose frequency is sufficiently accurate for the requirements of the circuit being timed or synchronized. Depending on the degree of accuracy required, an oscillator may be very simple and inexpensive where frequency range can have wide latitude on the one hand, or relatively complex and expensive where a high degree of accuracy (less than a few percent error) in frequency is required. It is desirable to have an oscillator which is both simple and inexpensive and which operates at an accurate frequency.
Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing technology is highly developed, and for many applications, is the technology of choice in designing and implementing large scale integrated circuits.
Various kinds of oscillators have been used for on-board timing of other circuitry on a CMOS integrated circuit (IC). One kind of oscillator which lends itself particularly well to implementation by CMOS technology is a ring oscillator. In this kind of oscillator there are no inductor-capacitor tuned circuits which in other oscillators are used to accurately set the frequency of operation. Instead of tuned circuits, a ring oscillator has an odd number of identical and very simple inverting stages connected in series, with an output of each stage coupled to an input of the next stage and with the output of the last stage coupled to the input of the first stage. In one embodiment each stage is an inverter having a pair of serially connected complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors whose output switches to a high level, a "1", when a low level, a "0" is applied to the input thereof, and switches to a "0" when a "1" is applied to the input thereof. The frequency of operation of this type of oscillator is determined by the speed of progression of a switching event of "1" to "0", and "0" to "1" from one stage to another around the ring, and by the number of stages.
A conventional ring oscillator implemented in CMOS technology as part of an IC chip may have its own frequency of operation within a very wide range of frequencies. Thus, by way of example, in one ring oscillator currently being manufactured as part of a CMOS IC chip, the difference in frequency of the oscillator of one chip from the frequency of the oscillator of another supposedly identical chip can be as great as 3 to 1. This wide range of frequency of operation is caused by physical and dimensional variations inherent in the manufacturing process and by normal temperature and supply voltage changes. Obviously, where precise timing of a circuit is required (e.g., frequency accuracy to within a few percent), such a wide frequency range as this is unacceptable.
It is desirable to have a CMOS ring oscillator which is relatively inexpensive and whose frequency can be set to a desired level of accuracy. The present invention provides an effective and inexpensive solution to this problem of accuracy in frequency of operation of ring oscillators.

Ring oscillator with frequency control loop


A method of recording a color image on a monochrome photographic recording medium by the steps of separating the color image into three color components, one luminance component and two chrominance components; and recording the three color components on adjacent areas of the recording medium, the luminance component being recorded on a larger area than either of the two chrominance components.

Properly processed and stored, monochrome (e.g. Black and White silver halide) film continues to meet both legal and archival standards for the long term storage of information. This has in fact buoyed its continued use despite competition from digital imaging technologies such as magnetic and optical storage over the last decade. It is clear that monochrome silver halide film will continue to serve a vital role in the archival storage of information. Its human readable form is especially important in its acceptance since it immunizes it against digital format obsolescence which threatens to be the bane of digital storage techniques.
However, because monochrome film only yields monochromatic information on output, typical single channel recording methods lose all color information content of the original document. This problem is easily, but inconveniently, solved in the existing art with monochrome films by resorting to classical three channel separation techniques. This involves the recording of the original image onto monochrome film through three separate color filters, nominally red(R), green(G) and blue(B), thus arriving at three distinct and disjoined image frames or field-of-views (FOV); one for each color. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,811 issued Jun. 29, 1971 which discloses the use of crossed beam splitters in a camera for recording three color separation images on a monochrome film.
A reconstructed image with color information can then be retrieved from these three records by reversing the process, with special attention paid to spatial registration of the records. Because each frame is separate and disjoined from members of its triad, the reconstruction process can become cumbersome due to handling and alignment issues.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,250 issued May 15, 1990 to Konishi discloses a color image recording and reproducing apparatus using monochromatic recording medium. The separate frames are optically recorded on microfilm and a blip mark adjacent each frame is recorded to indicate the color of the separation. The blip marks are employed in reproduction apparatus to select the color of the toner or paper, but no attempt is made to register multiple color separations in the output apparatus.
Existing film scanning apparatus is configured to scan a single image in a single optical field of view (FOV). The necessity of scanning three color separations to reproduce a color image recorded on a monochromatic film in the conventional manner reduces the productivity of such scanning apparatus by a factor of three.
It is also well known in the art that there is less visible information in the red and blue separations than in the green separation. Thus, a method that employs the same amount of recording medium for the red, blue and green separations is inefficient.
There exists a need therefore for an improved method of recording a color image on a monochromatic recording medium.

Method for recording and storing color images


A resin composition used as a material of an insulating layer of a printed wiring board including the insulating layer and a conductor layer formed on a surface of the insulating layer by plating, the resin composition including: an epoxy compound; a cyanate compound; a maleimide compound; an inorganic filler; and an imidazole silane, wherein the maleimide compound includes a predetermined maleimide compound, a content of the maleimide compound is 25% by mass or less based on 100% by mass of a total content of the epoxy compound, the cyanate compound, and the maleimide compound, and the imidazole silane includes a compound represented by the formula (3).

In recent years, the miniaturization and performance enhancement of electronic equipment have advanced. For multilayer printed wiring boards, in order to improve the packaging density of electronic components, conductor wiring is increasingly made finer, and their wiring formation techniques are desired. As methods for forming high density fine wiring on an insulating layer, an additive method in which a conductor layer is formed only by electroless plating, a semi-additive method in which a thin copper layer is formed on the entire surface by electroless plating, and then a conductor layer is formed by electrolytic plating, and then the thin copper layer is flash-etched, and the like are known.
In addition, due to the miniaturization and densification of multilayer printed wiring boards, thinning laminates used for multilayer printed wiring boards is actively studied. With thinning, the problems of a decrease in packaging reliability and an increase in the warpage of multilayer printed wiring boards occur, and therefore high adhesiveness and high glass transition temperature are require of resin compositions that are materials of insulating layers.
Patent Literatures 1 and 2 describe techniques using an epoxy resin, a phenolic resin, and an imidazole silane in order to improve the adhesiveness between an inner layer circuit and an insulating layer and moldability.
In addition, Patent Literature 3 describes a resin composition using an epoxy resin, a curing agent, silica, and an imidazole silane and discloses that when this resin composition is cured, and a metal layer is formed, by plating treatment, on the surface of the cured product subsequently subjected to roughening treatment, the cured product and the metal layer exhibit high adhesion.

Resin composition for printed wiring board material and prepreg, resin sheet, metal foil-clad laminate, and printed wiring board using the same


A molten metal reactor (10) includes a reactor vessel having a heating section (11) formed from a dielectric material. The reactor vessel also includes a reaction section (12) connected to heating section (11). An induction heating coil (18) is associated with the reactor vessel heating section (11) and produces an electromagnetic field within a field area (19). A portion of the field extends through the heating section (11) for inductively heating a reactant metal (14) contained in the heating section, while a dielectric spacing material (25) positioned around induction heating coil (18) isolates electrically conductive materials from the induction heating field (19). A circulating arrangement (20) circulates molten reactant metal between the heating section (11) and reaction section (12) to react waste material introduced into the reactor in the reaction section, outside of the induction heating field (19).

Molten metal reactors may be used to treat a wide variety of waste materials including wastes which include halogenated hydrocarbons, biomedical waste, and radioactive wastes. Molten metal reactors utilize a bath of molten reactant metal which may include aluminum, magnesium, and/or lithium, for example, along with other metals. The atmosphere above the bath is preferably purged of oxygen. When waste material is placed in contact with the molten reactant metal, the metal reacts with the organic molecules in the waste material to strip halogen atoms and form metal salts. The reaction also liberates carbon along with other elements such as hydrogen and nitrogen. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and some metal salts may be removed from the molten metal reactor in a gaseous form. Metals which may be included in the waste material, or are liberated from the waste material, may alloy with the bath. Other reaction products or liberated materials collect at the surface or bottom of the bath and may be removed by suitable means.
Molten metal reactors require a heating arrangement to heat the reactant metal to a molten state and then maintain the reactant metal in a molten state at a desired temperature as waste material is added to the bath. U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,101 to Wagner shows a molten metal reactor having an induction heater for heating the reactant metal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,341 to Wagner discloses a two-chamber molten metal reactor having a hydrocarbon-fired heater in one of the chambers. This two-chamber arrangement allows the reactant metal to be heated with hydrocarbon-fired burners while maintaining a separate area in which reaction products may collect for removal.
Hydrocarbon-fired heaters are desirable for many molten metal reactor applications. However, other applications for molten metal reactors cannot accommodate heating using hydrocarbon-fired burners. For example, a molten metal reactor may be highly desirable for treating biomedical wastes and other wastes generated aboard a ship. However, a sufficient hydrocarbon supply may not be readily available aboard the ship to provide the required heating.
Induction heaters are well-suited for fixed plants which have access to a suitable electric power supply. However, the electromagnetic field produced by induction heaters has, prior to the present invention, limited the temperatures at which the molten metal reactor could be operated. This temperature limitation arose from the fact that portions of the electromagnetic field extended beyond the molten reactant metal and passed through the reactor vessel and related equipment. The electromagnetic field generated heat in these metallic structural elements as well as in the reactant metal. Therefore, structural elements associated with the molten metal reactor had to be comprised of metals which maintained strength at high temperatures. Operating temperatures still had to be kept low enough to maintain the structural integrity of structural elements associated with the molten metal reactor.
The temperature limitations associated with prior molten metal reactors also effectively limited the types of wastes which could be treated. For example, although wastes which included transuranic elements (all elements having an atomic number greater than uranium), could be treated in prior molten metal reactors, the treatment was slowed by the temperature of the molten metal bath. In prior art molten metal reactors, the molten metal temperature was insufficient to cause transuranic metals to go to a molten state. Thus, transuranic metals dissolved relatively slowly in prior art molten metal reactors, and the transuranic elements alloyed with the reactant metals only after this relatively slow dissolution process.

High temperature molten metal reactor and waste treatment method

Clean Technologies International Corporation


A data processing system regulating access from a plurality of host computers to a plurality of direct access storage devices. The data processing system has a storage controller connected for data communication to the host computers by one or more channels per host computer. The storage controller is further connected to direct access storage devices used to provide auxiliary storage. The storage controller, responsive to host computer request, selectively establishes a communication link for data transfer between the host computers and the direct access storage devices. Channels are temporarily disqualified from obtaining control of the storage controller or a storage device during periods of contention for access to the storage devices or the storage controller. Transmission of device end and control unit end signals is also selective by channel. Override conditions are specified to allow for host computer or channel failure without disabling the data processing system.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to data storage systems for data processing systems, and more particularly relates to controllers for disk drives serving a plurality of host main frame computers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Main frame computer systems generally use auxiliary storage devices for mass storage of data. Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD) are one such type of auxiliary storage device. A direct access storage device is one in which access time is effectively independent of the location of data in the storage device. Direct access storage devices may be located externally to a host main frame computer and can serve several computers. Data integrity requires that only one computer use or own a direct access storage device at a time. The system designer must provide for resolution of conflict between the computers for access to the storage device.
One common type of direct access storage device is the magnetic disk unit, which includes a disk drive, magnetic transducers for writing data to and reading data from the disk drive and associated controls for positioning the transducers, among other tasks. For applications such as data base storage, several magnetic disk units may be grouped together, and a storage controller logically positioned between the group and several independent computers. The storage controller handles connection and disconnection between a particular computer and magnetic disk unit. It is to the storage controller that the task of resolution of conflicting demands of host computers for magnetic disk units falls.
The IBM 3990 storage controller is an example of a storage control unit used to handle connections between selected members of a group of magnetic disk units and computers requesting connection. The IBM 3990 Model 3 type controller, which is available from IBM Corporation, can handle up to sixteen channels from host computers and up to sixty-four magnetic storage units. Within the storage controller are two multipath storage directors and four storage paths, two of which are associated with each multipath storage director. Each multipath storage director may be connected to up to eight incoming channels from host computers, for a total of sixteen channels for the storage controller as a whole. Each multipath storage director is connected to two storage paths, thus functioning as an 8.times.2 switch. Channels are physical links between the storage controller and the host computers. Usually, a host computer has two or four channels, half being physically connected to the one multipath storage director and the other half being connected to the other multipath storage director.
Each storage path is connected to all of the available magnetic disk units. Upon indication that a disk is ready, the controller can secure any one of a plurality of the channels and storage paths back to a host to establish a data path. It is a feature of the IBM 3990 storage controller that an input/output transaction between a host computer and a magnetic disk unit may be broken into two separate connections, which may be handled along distinct channels and storage paths. A request need not be responded to over the same channel on which it was received. This feature increases throughput through the storage controller. While each storage path is in effect a stand alone control unit based upon its own microprocessor, the storage paths share control arrays in a common memory space for synchronization functions relating to handling connections, disconnections and reconnections relating to a transaction.
Several manufacturers, including IBM, Amdahl and Hitachi, supply computers of various models connectable to the IBM 3990 storage controller. These computers differ in operating speeds and in time required to respond to signals from storage controllers. The channels used for connection of the computers to the storage controller may also differ. One type of channel has parallel copper wire paths for transmission of electrical signals. This channel type is used at distances of up to about 125 meters. Serial optical cables are used to connect computers and storage controllers at distances out to 15 kilometers.
A computer requesting connection to a magnetic storage unit that is already in use is given a busy signal and refused connection by the storage controller. Upon the storage unit being released, an Owed Device End (ODE) signal has been sent by the storage controller to all channels that received a device busy signal during the period the device was taken. Similarly, all storage paths in a storage cluster may be occupied by connections between storage units and computers. A computer requesting a connection under these circumstances is given a control unit busy signal. Upon release of one of the connections, all computers having received the busy signal are provided a Control Unit End (CUE) signal. The ODE signal and the CUE signal are akin to starting guns in a race among the computers to take control of the storage director or storage device. Control is granted on a first come, first served basis.
The race is not limited to the entities receiving the CUE and ODE signals. Any of the computers attached to the storage controller may receive control of a storage path or storage device for the asking by being the first to have its request received. Thus the channel which just released a storage path may make a request to regain control of the path.
The conflict resolution regime is not a race among equals. Computers which are faster can respond to the CUE and ODE signals more quickly. Where the channel between computer and storage controller is physically short, the transmission time for the CUE and ODE signals from the storage controller to the computer and the transmission time for a resulting Start Input/Output (SI/O) signal from the computer to the storage controller is commensurately short. Computers advantaged by a short channel may beat far removed computers to the storage controller with a SI/O signal even though they have not received a CUE or ODE signal. The problem caused by this system is that during periods of high demand for access to a data base stored on a group of magnetic storage devices, the slow or more distant computers may be locked out of access to the storage devices by computers which are faster or which have shorter transmission link times to a storage controller.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of allocating access among computers to storage paths in a storage controller and to direct access storage devices.
It is another object of the invention to prevent lock out of computers from access to either storage paths or to direct access storage devices.
It is still another object of the invention to identify failing host computers.

System and method for regulating access to direct access storage devices in data processing systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A method that stress assembled circuit boards well beyond normal operational limits both with respect to supply voltages and temperature cycling. The circuit boards are transferred between a cold bath of inert liquid and a hot bath of inert liquid while the power voltages are being applied for short periods of time at voltages which exceed the nominal voltages of the devices. The circuit boards are transferred from the hot bath to the cold bath or vice versa in less than 30 seconds, and maximum stresses are achieved without damaging parts or the circuit boards.

a well known problem in the manufacturing of electronic circuit boards is early failures which are referred to as infant failures. Statistically, the majority of the electrical devices that will fail in the first ten years will fail during the first year of operation. To reduce these failures and associated warranty cost, manufacturers perform burn-in tests. Such tests can eliminate the majority of the electrical devices that will fail during the first year of operation. During a burn-in test, the devices are subjected to elevated thermal or electrical operating conditions for a long period of time, typically, one to eight weeks, thereby simulating one year of operation under normal conditions.
The prior art has utilized different techniques to increase the reliability of the burn-in test. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,973 utilizes a bath of an inert liquid having a boiling point less than the desired temperature at which the electrical device is to be operated for testing purposes. This technique allows the device to be operated at the highest possible temperature without the device being destroyed. Since the temperature at which the device must be operated is often unique to a particular device, the technique of this latter patent does not work well on a circuit board having different types of devices. Further, the tests still require an extended amount of time.
It is also known in the prior art to vary the temperature at which a device is operating over a temperature range by changing the temperature of the air within a environmental test chamber. The range of air temperatures vary from the normal operating temperature of the device to its normal off-state temperature. Such a chamber is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,750. At the same time as the temperature is being varied, the power to the electronic components is turned on and off. It is a well known phenomenon that turning the power on and off does stress the component to a certain extent. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,208 discloses that printed circuit boards can be tested by maintaining operational power on the printed circuit boards and cycling the environmental chamber through temperatures which simulate system testing, insulation, and normal use. It has also been the general practice in the electronic industry to place circuit boards containing electronic devices in a high temperature environmental test chamber and to vary the supply voltages to those circuit boards within the normal operating tolerances established for the devices on the printed circuit boards.
Whereas the prior art burn-in techniques have functioned well to produce products which have acceptable infant failure levels, the amount of time taken is normally measured in days or weeks. From a manufacturing point of view, these prior art burn-in periods are expensive because delays in producing the product, increased inventory cost, and added associated manufacturing expenses. Most importantly, however, prior art burn-in periods are not compatible with high velocity manufacturing and just-in-time (JIT) processes. The JIT process requires that the various parts needed to build a complex piece of electronic gear such as a modern telecommunications system arrive at the manufacturing plant almost simultaneously and that the complete electronic system is produced in a matter of a few days, often as short as four or five days. Since large amounts of time are required to assembly circuit boards, there is not sufficient time to use prior art burn-in times to reduce the infant failure levels. Further, burn-in of the individual electronic parts before they are assembled into printed circuit boards has shown only limited success because defective circuit boards are still found after assembly or after delivery to the customer.
Hence, there exists a long-felt need among electronic system manufacturers for a method which would reduce the time needed to perform burn-in or environmental stress screening.


A method of and system for generating multiple parallel scan lines, for a thin, narrow height scanner by generating a reading beam, using a suitable scanning mechanism to scan or dither the reading beam, directing the scanned beam onto an optical element, controlling the system such that the beam is alternately transmitted or reflected by the optical element, and directing multiple scan lines into the scan volume. When the optical element is reflective, a scan line is produced directly off the optical element; when the optical element is transmissive, a scan line passes through the optical element and is reflected by a fold mirror and into the scan volume.

The field of the present invention relates to scan line generation for scanners. In particular, a method and apparatus is described herein for generating multiple scan lines in a thin scanner such as used for barcode scanning.
Traditional fixed scanners generate parallel scan lines by use of a spinning facet wheel, also called a polygon mirror, having a plurality of facet mirrors arranged at different tilt angles. FIG. 1 illustrates such a configuration 10 having a polygon mirror 12 having multiple mirror facets. A reading beam generated from for example a laser diode (not shown) is directed onto the polygon mirror 12 which as it rotates creates a scan line via each facet mirror. The scan lines 14 and 16 are reflected by facets onto a fold mirror 18 thereby projecting parallel scan lines into the scan volume. This configuration requires downstream pattern mirror(s) to have a larger height to intercept these lines and fold them into a scan pattern of parallel lines.
Another method commonly employed for rapidly and repetitively scanning the illumination beam across a scanned region is mirror dithering. Dithering, i.e. rapid oscillation, of an illumination beam steering mirror about an axis substantially parallel to the mirror face causes the illumination beam to move rapidly back and forth thereby forming a scan line. Generally a dithering mirror can only produce a single scan line. In either method, when a scan line illuminates a barcode, the resulting time dependent signal due to detected light scattered and/or reflected from the bars and spaces of the barcode is decoded to extract the information encoded therein.

Method for generating multiple scan lines in a thin scanner


A control apparatus for controlling concentration of toner incorporated in developing material in a developing unit by means of controlling a toner replenishment to supply the toner in accordance with a toner concentration detected by a toner concentration detecting sensor in a first state wherein the detecting signal of the sensor is normal and to supply the toner by a constant volume at the predetermined period in a second state wherein the detecting signal of the sensor is abnormal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for controlling the density of toner in a developing unit used in copy machines, laser printers or like image forming apparatus that forms images by toner development.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, toner concentration detecting sensors for detecting developer toner concentration have been provided in the toner transport section within the developing unit and toner accommodating section to enable development with uniform image density. Toner is supplied to the developing unit in accordance with the toner concentration detected by said toner concentration detecting sensors. Thus, the developing material toner concentration can be stably maintained within the developing unit.
However, accurate detection of toner concentration cannot be achieved due to toner accumulation and adhesion to the top of the sensor. For these reasons an elastic cleaning blade or brush is attached to the support shaft used for transport/mixing of the developing material so as to clean the surface of the sensor by making rubbing contact with the surface of said sensor in conjunction with the rotation of the support shaft.
However, the cleaning member becomes bent and folded because it makes repeated rubbing contact with the toner concentration detecting sensor, making proper operation impossible. Further, toner concentration detecting sensor output may not be input to the microcomputer or other control device due to disconnection or a breakdown of said sensor itself. Consequently, if for some reason the cleaning member does not operate, the output from the toner concentration detecting sensor increases, toner concentration is judged to be low, and toner replenishment is excessive. The developed toner image therefore attains an extremely high concentration and the toner overflows the developing unit and soils the surrounding region.
Further, a breakdown which impedes sensor output being input to the microcomputer controller leads to a determination that toner concentration is high, and results in extremely low toner image density after development because toner replenishment has been discontinued.

Control apparatus for controlling density of toner in a developing unit


A system for dispensing a fluid, such as a hand soap or the like. The system includes a dispenser and/or a refill cartridge. The dispenser includes a dispenser body having a refill cavity, a dispenser lid configured to be coupled to the dispenser body, and a pump sub-system mounted to the dispenser lid. The pump sub-system includes a first dip tube, a dispensing orifice, and a pump. The refill cartridge includes a cartridge body having a fluid cavity, a store of a fluid in the fluid cavity, and a second dip tube extending into the store of the fluid. The refill cartridge is configured for slidable insertion into and removal from the refill cavity of the dispenser body. The dispenser lid may be coupled to the dispenser body thereby mating the first and second dip tubes to enable dispensing of the fluid.

Pump style soap dispensers have been in use for quite some time. Dispensers of this type are used until the soap is completely used up or sufficiently depleted so that it can no longer be pumped to the outlet for use. At such time, these dispensers are discarded and replaced with a new dispenser. In these conventional systems, the entire dispenser is discarded together as a single unit, which results in more waste than is necessary. Alternatively, users may refill their dispensers by manually pouring an additional amount of the soap or other liquid from a large refill container into the dispenser. This process typically results in at least some of the liquid product being spilled onto the countertop or floor, thereby creating an undesirable mess. A final problem with existing dispensers is that a significant amount of the product cannot be evacuated from the container. Thus, there is a need for a convenient and mess-free system that allows for replenishment of the liquid product that can be easily achieved by persons of all ages and dexterity and that enables some components of the system to be used with multiple replenishment cartridges, thereby reducing waste. Furthermore, there is a need for a dispenser of liquid product that enables a greater amount, and preferably all, of the liquid product to be dispensed for use.


A system, method, and non-transitory computer-readable relating to network security are disclosed. In particular, embodiments described generally relate to systems and methods of stateless processing in a fault-tolerant microservice environment. In one example, a method is disclosed, which includes transmitting, by a first microservice, packet data and a context associated therewith; receiving the packet data and the context by a second microservice, the second microservice to: use the context to determine what security processing to perform, perform the security processing over the packet data, and transmit resulting data and the context to a third microservice; and receiving the resulting data and the context by the third microservice, the third microservice to: use the context to determine what security processing to perform, and perform the security processing over the resulting data.

The expansion of cloud computing services has led to collections of servers to provide computing capacity to run various client applications. Some client-server connections use private networks. Other client-server connections use virtual private networks to exchange data over a public network as if they were directly connected by private networks. With the expansion of cloud computing services has come an expansion of datacenters to host servers. Some hosted servers are housed in multi-tenant datacenters, and share resources with other, potentially unrelated servers.
Data security and monitoring network traffic is useful in such datacenters. Data traveling between servers and client applications needs to be monitored and processed for security. Monitoring security in high-bandwidth datacenters often uses many security servers working in tandem. One problem to be addressed is how to recover from failure of one server among many.

Systems and methods of stateless processing in a fault-tolerant microservice environment


A ride-height adjustment system for a vehicle. The system has a first detector, to detect a preliminary end-of-journey (EOJ) event, such as seat belt unbuckling or ignition switch-off. A controller adjusts the vehicle's suspension system in a first movement in response to detection of the preliminary EOJ event, to change the ride height of the vehicle towards an access ride height of the vehicle. The access ride height is a predetermined ride height that facilitates egress from and entrance to the vehicle. A second detector detects opening of a door of the vehicle. When the ride height of the vehicle remains different from the access ride height after the first movement, the controller adjusts the suspension system in a second movement in response to the door-opening detection. This further changes the ride height of the vehicle towards the access ride height of the vehicle.

Some vehicles have two characteristics, among others. A first is that their ride height during normal operation is such that egress from and entrance to the vehicle is not as easy or convenient as it might be. Depending on the type of vehicle, the height could be lower or higher, to suit most people. With sports utility vehicles (SUVs) that have off road capabilities, the ride height of the vehicle, and thus of the passengers in the vehicle, is high, so that the vehicle has substantial ground clearance over rough terrain, as well as giving the driver and passengers a good viewing position to survey the ground being traversed. On the other hand, sports cars, or high performance cars frequently have a low ride height, because they will typically be driven only on good road surfaces and a low vehicle gives a low centre of gravity which improves vehicle handling, for example by reducing roll during cornering. A second characteristic of some vehicles is adjustable suspension for the vehicle, whereby the ride height can be adjusted. Typically, but not exclusively, such suspension systems are gas suspension systems (usually air, and referred to as such hereinafter) where ride height depends on the mass of air in the suspension system, which may be adjusted by operation of a pump (to increase pressure), or of a valve (to reduce pressure). The pressure is often in the region of 3 to 20 bar. Such air suspension may be provided in both SUVs and sports cars, although for different reasons. The higher the ride height of the vehicle, the more suspension travel the vehicle provides, although the comfort of the ride in the vehicle generally depends on their being the capability of suspension travel in both directions (i.e. up in the case of bumps being experienced or down in the case of holes). In both types of vehicle, the "normal" ride height for everyday situations may be a first height, whereas less usual situations may invoke a different, second ride height—higher in SUVs for off-road applications, and lower for sports cars when the driver wants to enter a sports driving mode. However, in SUV vehicles it may also be desirable to lower the suspension during extended road driving.
For an SUV, when it is in a raised suspension condition, or even in an intermediate position, passengers may be required to make a significant step up (for entrance into) or step down (for exit from) the vehicle, and conversely for a sports car or some performance cars.
It is known to lower vehicle suspension when a journey in a vehicle terminates and a driver (and any passenger(s)) is to leave the vehicle. An end-of-journey event is detected in the known systems and pressure is relieved from the suspension system when that occurs so that the vehicle sinks to its lowest suspension setting. However, an issue is that air suspension systems typically take a number of seconds (perhaps five or more) to evacuate completely and lower the vehicle to its rest height. Therefore the vehicle may still be in the process of lowering as a passenger egresses from the vehicle. This has some safety issues, as well as being disconcerting for passengers, who cannot then tell what height the ground is from their position if the vehicle is changing height while they are exiting.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a suspension system for a vehicle, and a vehicle incorporating such system, with improved end of journey arrangements, or at least to provide a system that addresses the above issues and mitigates some of the problems discussed.


Various aspects described herein relate to measuring cells in a public land mobile network (PLMN). An enhanced discovery reference signal (eDRS) of a cell is received on an unlicensed carrier frequency, wherein the eDRS comprises at least a reference signal transmission or a synchronization signal transmission. Measurements of the eDRS for the cell can be performed based at least in part on a configuration associated with a serving cell. The measurements of the eDRS can be reported to the serving cell.

Described herein are aspects generally related to communication systems, and more particularly, to processing reference signals transmitted in a wireless communication system.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, data, multimedia, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems are multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, and others. These systems are often deployed in conformity with specifications such as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), etc.
In cellular networks, "macro cell" base stations provide connectivity and coverage to a large number of users over a certain geographical area. A macro network deployment is carefully planned, designed, and implemented to offer good coverage over the geographical region. Even such careful planning, however, cannot fully accommodate channel characteristics such as fading, multipath, shadowing, etc., especially in indoor environments. Indoor users therefore often face coverage issues (e.g., call outages and quality degradation) resulting in poor user experience. In addition, the macro cells may not be able to sufficiently accommodate radio resources for a high number of users.
To improve indoor or other specific geographic coverage, such as for residential homes and office buildings, and/or to offload network traffic from macro cells, additional "small cell" base stations, typically operating at a lower power than the macro cell base stations, have been and are being deployed to supplement conventional macro networks. Small cell base stations may also provide incremental capacity growth, richer user experience, and so on. Additionally, in LTE, small cells have been extended into the unlicensed frequency spectrum such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies. This extension of small cell LTE operation is designed to increase spectral efficiency and hence capacity of the LTE system. This can also result in multiple small cells relating to multiple public land mobile networks (PLMN) operating on the same frequency.
Presently, devices configured to communicate with such small cells in unlicensed frequencies may not be able to distinguish an underlying PLMN of each the small cells, and thus may attempt to establish communications with one or more small cells outside of a current PLMN associated with the device. This may result in failed attempts by the device to handover to a small cell belonging to a different PLMN, to add secondary cell carriers (e.g., in carrier aggregation) belonging to a different PLMN, etc., as well as measurement of cells to which the device may not be able to handover or add a carrier.

Network identification based on discovery reference signals in wireless communications


An approach is provided in which a knowledge manager identifies document command statements in a document that correspond to requests included in the document. The knowledge manager compares the document command statements against promise structures corresponding to promises included in valid documents and generates a suspicion score based on the analysis. In turn, the knowledge manager generates a suspicious document notification corresponding to the document when the suspicion score reaches a suspicion threshold.

"Phishing" refers to an act of a human or a computer system that attempts to obtain sensitive information from unknowing victims. Phishers traditionally send an official-looking malicious document (e.g., e-mail message, text message, etc.) to a potential victim pretending to be part of the potential victim's bank or retail establishment. The email may request the potential victim to respond with sensitive information, or click on a website link to a location where the potential victim enters sensitive information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, passwords, birth dates, etc. The malicious documents have an increasing level of sophistication with the intention of tricking a user into clicking a link, downloading an executable program, or responding to some call to action and providing personal details. As such, the ability to detect authentic looking malicious documents is becoming more difficult using traditional spam checking and virus checking techniques.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cognitive detection of malicious documents

International Business Machines Corporation


In one embodiment, a semiconductor package includes an isolating container having a recess, which forms an inner membrane portion and an outer rim portion. The rim portion is thicker than the membrane portion. The package includes a semiconductor chip disposed in the recess and a backplane disposed under the membrane portion of the isolating container.

Sensors are used for a variety of applications such as thermal sensors, current sensors, magnetic field sensors, radiation sensors, light sensors etc. Many of these types of sensors are fabricated within a semiconductor die. The sensitivity of the sensor may depend on the distance between the physical source to the sensor within the semiconductor die. For example, current sensors may be used for over-current protection or for monitoring current flowing through a conductor. For such applications, Hall-sensors or similar sensors are widely used. Hall-sensors sense the magnetic field of the current and provide a voltage (Hall voltage) proportional to the intensity of the current. As the magnetic field decreases with increasing distance between the magnetic field sensor and the conductor carrying the current, the Hall-sensor has to be brought close to the conductor to improve the sensitivity to the magnetic field. Similarly, for a thermal sensor, the distance of the heat source to the sensor must be minimized to increase the sensitivity and reliability of the sensor.

Semiconductor packages and methods for producing the same


A universal mounting housing for a linear actuator has a housing with a wall having an inner surface and an outer surface with at least one bore to enable securement of the housing. The at least one bore has an axial open portion that enables passage of attachment members. The at least one bore has a first and second diameter portion. The first diameter portion extends a length of the open portion. The diameter is of a size necessitating the attachment members to be axially moved into the at least one bore. The second diameter portion is larger than the first diameter portion. The second diameter portion receives a head portion of the attachment member.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides an actuator housing that provides these features. The present actuator housing enables the housing to be utilized in a multitude of positions. The present housing enables a single housing to be manufactured to reduce the cost of manufacturing. The present disclosure provides different attachment members to secure the housing for various applications.


An apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine that automatically corrects an error of a reference position to prevent an erroneous calculation of a controlled-parameter so as to accurately control the internal combustion engine, the apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine having a period measuring section for measuring a period of a plurality of reference-position areas and a period of a plurality of areas corresponding to cylinders of a reference-position signal, an angular error detection section for detecting an angular error in each reference-position area in accordance with the period of the reference-position areas and the period of the areas corresponding to the cylinders and an error discrimination section that discriminates validity of the angular error to generate a final angular error, wherein a timer control section corrects the controlled-parameter in accordance with the final angular error, and a control time setting section corrects a time controlled by the timer in accordance with the final angular error.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine by controlling controlled-parameters (ignition timing and the like) for each cylinder in accordance with the period of reference-position areas in a reference-position signal, and more particularly to an apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine, the reliability of which is improved by correcting an error of the period of the reference-position areas in the reference-position signal.
2. Description of the Related
In general, an internal combustion engine of a type revolved by a plurality of cylinders through a crank shaft comprises a microcomputer for calculating controlled-parameters (the fuel injection timing, the power supply timing to the ignition coil and the ignition timing and the like) in accordance with a reference-position signal synchronized with the revolutions of the internal combustion engine and the state of running informed from a variety of sensors.
Usually, timing for controlling ignition coils and injectors is, in a steady operational state, controlled by means of a timer in accordance with a reference position denoted by a reference-position signal. Therefore, an angle detection section for generating the reference-position signal is disposed on the crank shaft or the cam shaft of the internal combustion engine in order that first and last transitions of the reference-position signal indicate a predetermined crank angle (the rotational angle of the crank shaft), that is, the reference position.
The first and last transitions of the reference-position signal correspond to the timing, at which power is supplied to the ignition coil, and the ignition timing of the same respectively, which are realized in a start state (at the cranking timing) in which the rotational period is unstable and the operation of an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is unstable due to the voltage drop.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the functions of a conventional internal combustion engine. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an example of the structure of the angle detection section shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a graph showing both reference-position signal and a coil current generated by the angle detection section.
Referring to FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 represents a known angle detection section for generating reference-position signal SGT in the form of a pulse, the angle detection section 1 comprising, for example, as shown in FIG. 8: a rotational plate 12 attached to a cam shaft 10 of the internal combustion engine and having slits 11; and a photo-coupler having light receiving devices 13 and 14 respectively facing the slits 11.
The reference-position signal SGT generated by the angle detection section in synchronization with the revolutions of the internal combustion engine rises at reference position B75.degree. (at a position earlier than the top dead center by 75.degree.) and falls at reference position B5.degree. (at a position earlier than the top dead center by 5.degree.) of each cylinder.
Referring to FIG. 9, reference numeral T70 represents a period of areas (positions at each of which the crank angle is 70.degree.) in each of which the level of the reference-position signal SGT is high. Reference numeral T110 represents a period of areas (110.degree.) in each of which the same is low, T180 represents a period of the reference positions, and T720 represents a period of areas corresponding to the cylinders, the period being equivalent to one period (which is 720.degree. because the crank shaft is rotated by two times) corresponding to each cylinder. The pulse of the reference-position signal SGT corresponds to the number of the cylinders such that the pulse correspond to #1, #3, #4 and #2 cylinders if the internal combustion engine has four cylinders.
Symbols Ton represent a period in which the timer controls the timing to correspond to the moment at which the supply of coil current I is commenced. Symbol .theta.a represents the crank angle corresponding to the ignition timing and Ta represents a time controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing. In this case, the reference position for the power supply start timing Ton is B5.degree. and the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing is B75.degree..
Referring to FIG. 7, reference numeral 2 represents variable sensors for detecting operational state D of the internal combustion engine and comprising a sucked-air quantity sensor, a throttle sensor and a temperature sensor (collectively omitted from illustration). Therefore, the operational state D includes the sucked-air quantity (or the degree of opening of the throttle) indicating the engine load, the revolution speed of the engine and the temperature of the sucked air.
Reference numeral 30 represents the ECU comprising a microcomputer to generate controlled-parameters (the fuel injection timing, the power supply timing, and the ignition timing and the like) for each cylinder in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT and the operational state D. Reference numeral 4 represents a power transistor having a base to which a controlled-parameter signal is supplied from the ECU 3 so that the power transistor 4 is activated/deactivated. Reference numeral 5 represents an ignition coil having a primary coil 5a connected to the collector of the power transistor 4. Reference numeral 6 represents a spark plug connected to a secondary coil 5b of the ignition coil 5 to sequentially burn mixed gas in each cylinder.
The ECU 30 comprises: a period measuring section 310 for measuring reference-position period T180 in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT; a timer control section 320 for calculating a controlled-parameter, for example, crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing, in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT, the reference-position period T180 and the operational state D; a controlled-time setting section 330 for converting the ignition timing crank angle .theta.a into the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing in accordance with the reference-position period T180; and an output interface 390 for supplying the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing to the base of the power transistor 4, the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing being supplied as the controlled-parameter signal.
The ECU 30 activates the power transistor 4 at the power supply start timing Ton (see FIG. 9) to raise the coil current I which flows through the primary coil 5a of the ignition coil 5. At the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing, the ECU 30 deactivates the power transistor 4 to interrupt flowing of the coil current I. At the aforesaid timing, the ECU 30 makes the secondary coil 5b generate high-potential voltage so that the spark plug 6 discharges a spark.
Although FIG. 7 shows only the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing for the ignition coil 5 as the controlled-parameter, the ECU 30 further generates a controlled-parameter for the injector (omitted from illustration) which corresponds to the fuel injection timing.
The angle detection section 1 may comprise a cylinder identification signal (omitted from illustration) for identifying a specific cylinder among the cylinders.
Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the operation of the conventional apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine shown in FIG. 7 will now be described.
During running of the vehicle, the light receiving device 14 in the angle detection section 1 generates and supplies the reference-position signal SGT formed as shown in FIG. 9 in accordance with the revolutions of the cam shaft 10 of the internal combustion engine to supply the reference-position signal SGT to the ECU 30. Similarly, the various sensors 2 detect the operational state D indicating the number of revolutions and the load and the like and supply the operational state D to the ECU 30.
The period measuring section 310 in the ECU 30 measures the reference-position period T180 whenever it detects the reference position B75.degree. of the reference-position signal SGT.
The timer control section 320 calculates an optimum crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing corresponding to the operational state D by using a provided map in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT and the reference-position period T180. In accordance with the reference-position period T180 and the crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing, the controlled-time setting section 330 calculates the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing (the time controlled by the timer counted from the reference position B75.degree.) corresponding to the ignition timing, as follows: EQU Ta=.theta.a x (T180/180.degree.) (1)
As described above, the timer control section 320, by using the map, calculates the optimum ignition timing .theta.a with reference to the reference position B75.degree.. The controlled-time setting section 330 calculates the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing in accordance with Equation (1), the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing being formed into the controlled-parameter signal through the output interface 390 and then supplied to the power transistor 4.
Although omitted from illustration in FIG. 7, assumption is made here that the power supply start timing Ton for the ignition coil 5 has been, as the timer controlled-time counted from the reference position B5.degree., transmitted through the output interface 390 and therefore the coil current I has been raised.
The time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing has been, as can be understood from Equation (1), normalized with the reference-position period T180 onto which the state of revolutions of the internal combustion engine are reflected. As a result, the coil current I can be interrupted at an optimum timing corresponding to the state of the revolutions so that the cylinders to be controlled can be ignited.
That is, the power transistor 4 is activated after the controlled time Ton has passed from the moment of the reference position B5.degree. so that the supply of the coil current I is commenced. After the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing has passed from the reference position B75.degree., the power transistor 4 is deactivated and the coil current I is interrupted so that negative high-potential voltage is generated in the secondary coil 5b in accordance with the level of the coil current I realized at the interruption. Then, the high-potential voltage is applied to a space between electrodes of the spark plug 6 so that the spark plug 6 discharges a spark. As a result, the mixed gas in the cylinder, which is the subject to be controlled, is ignited.
However, the angle detection section 1 arranged as shown in FIG. 8 involves errors in the positions of the slits 11 due to scattering occurring when the same is manufactured, and accordingly the pulse edge of the reference-position signal SGT does not always accurately indicate the reference position B75.degree. or 5.degree..
If the first reference position B75.degree. is, in actual, at a crank angle position of 76.degree. shifted in the advance direction by 1.degree., the actual ignition timing is undesirably shifted in the advance direction by 1.degree. of the crank angle from an aimed ignition timing because the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing obtainable from Equation (1) is determined on the basis of an assumption that the first reference position is B75.degree..
That is, the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing does not coincide with a desired crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing because the reference-position period T180 in Equation (1) equivalents to a crank angle of 181.degree..
It leads to a fact that the ignition is performed at an inaccurate timing shifted in the advance direction while being considerably deviated from the ignition timing calculated by the ECU 30. In this case, there arises a problem in that the internal combustion engine is damaged for example.
Since the conventional apparatus for controlling the internal combustion engine calculates the reference-position period T180 on a basis of an assumption that the reference-position signal SGT indicates the accurate reference positions B75.degree. and B5.degree. and calculates the controlled-parameters (for example, the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing), accurate control cannot be performed if an error takes place in the reference position B75.degree. or B.degree. due to a manufacturing error or the like. For example, a problem rises in that the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing is erroneously controlled, resulting in that the internal combustion engine is damaged.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the functions of another conventional apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine of the foregoing type. FIG. 11 is a graph showing waveforms of a reference-position signal generated by the angle detection section 1 shown in FIG. 10 and a coil current.
Referring to FIG. 10, the structure in the ECU 3 is different from the control apparatus shown in FIG. 7. The residual portions are basically the same as those of the control apparatus shown in FIG. 7.
A reference-position signal SGT generated by the angle detection section 1 in synchronization with the revolutions of the internal combustion engine, as shown in FIG. 11, rises at a first reference position B75.degree. (at a position earlier than the top dead center by 75.degree.) and falls at a second reference position B5.degree. (at a position earlier than the top dead center by 5.degree.) for each cylinder. The reference-position period is 180.degree. of the crank angle.
Referring to FIG. 11, T180 (n-1) represents a previous reference-position period of the first reference positions B75.degree., T180 (n) represents a present reference-position period, Tex represents a predicated next period, Ton represents a time controlled by a timer corresponding to the timing at which supply of coil current I is commenced, .theta.a represents a crank angle corresponding to the ignition timing and Ta represents a time controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing. In this case, the reference position for the power-supply commencement timing Ton is the second reference position B5.degree. and the reference position for the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing is the first reference position B75.degree..
Reference numeral 3 represents an ECU comprising a microcomputer to generate controlled-parameters (the fuel injection timing, the power supply timing, and the ignition timing and the like) for each cylinder in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT and the operational state D.
The ECU 3 comprises: a period measuring section 31 for measuring reference-position period T180 in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT; a controlled-parameter calculating section 320 for controlling the controlled-parameters in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT, the reference-position period T180 and the operational state D; and an output interface 39 for supplying the controlled-parameter to the base of the power transistor 4 as a drive signal.
The controlled-parameter calculating section 32 comprises: a predicted-period calculating section 33 for calculating the next reference-position period, that is, the predicted period Tex, in accordance with change in the reference-position period T180; a timer control section 34 for, by using a map, calculating the power-supply commencement timing Ton and the crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing to serve as the controlled-parameters in accordance with the reference-position signal SGT, reference-position period T180 and the operational state; and a correction section 35 for calculating to correct the crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing in accordance with the predicted period Tex so as to transmit the ignition timing Ta.
The controlled-parameter signal supplied from the ECU 3 activates the power transistor 4 at the power-supply timing Ton so that the coil current I, which flows through the primary coil 5a of the ignition coil 5, is raised. The controlled-parameter signal deactivates the power transistor 4 at the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing to interrupt the coil current I so that high-potential voltage is generated in the secondary coil 5b to cause the spark plug 6 to discharge a spark.
Although only the controlled-parameter for the ignition coil 5 has been described here, the ECU 3 further generates, for example, a controlled-parameter for the injector (omitted from illustration) corresponding to the fuel injection timing similarly to the apparatus shown in FIG. 7.
Referring to FIGS. 8 and 11, the operation of the conventional apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine shown in FIG. 10 will now be described.
During running of the vehicle, the light receiving device 14 in the angle detection section 1 generates and supplies the reference-position signal SGT formed as shown in FIG. 11 in accordance with the revolutions of the cam shaft 10 of the internal combustion engine to supply it to the ECU 3. Similarly, the various sensors 2 detect the operational state D indicating the number of revolutions and the load and the like and supplies the operational state D to the ECU 3.
The reference-position period measuring section 31 in the ECU 3 measures the period as the reference-position period T180 whenever it detects the first reference position B75.degree..
The predicted-period calculating section 33 in the controlled-parameter calculating section 32 calculates the predicted period Tex in accordance with the previous reference-position period T180 (n-1) and the present position period T180 (n) as follows: EQU Tex=T180 (n)+K{T180 (n)-T180 (n-1)} (2)
where {T180 (n)-T180 (n-1)} represents a deviation of the period corresponding to change in the revolutions and K represents a prediction weighted coefficient. The prediction weighted coefficient K is set to an optimally matched value corresponding to acceleration characteristics and the like of each internal combustion engine.
AS shown in Equation (2), a value obtained by multiplying the deviation of the period with the prediction weighted coefficient K is added to the present position period T180 (n) to be reflected on the predicted period Tex.
Since the deviation of the period is, therefore, a negative value in, for example, the transition operational state during acceleration because T180 (n)<T180 (n-1), the quantity of decrease in the reference-position period T180 is reflected on the predicted period Tex. In a steady operational state in which change in the revolutions is limited, the previous reference-position period T180 (n-1) and the present reference-position period T180 (n) are the same, and therefore, the deviation in the period is made to be substantially zero. Accordingly, the present reference-position period T180 (n) is made to be the predicted period Tex as it is.
Then, the timer control section 34 in the controlled-parameter calculating section 32 calculates optimum power-supply commencement timing Ton and the crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing corresponding to the operational state D. The correction section 35 calculates to correct the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing (the controlled time from the first reference position B75.degree.) corresponding to the ignition timing in accordance with the crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing and the predicted period Tex as follows: EQU Ta=.theta.a (Tex/180.degree.) (3)
The crank angle .theta.a at the ignition timing in Equation (3) corresponds to the ignition timing from the controlled reference position (B75.degree.).
As described above, the controlled-parameter calculating section 32, by using a map, obtains the optimum ignition timing .theta.a corresponding to the operational state D with reference to the first reference position B75.degree. (or the second reference position B5.degree.) to calculate the timer control time to the ignition timing, that is, the ignition timing Ta from Equation (3). The ignition timing Ta is transmitted through the output interface 39.
The power supply start timing Ton for the ignition coil 5 has been, as the timer controlled time from the second reference position B5.degree., transmitted through the output interface 39, and therefore the coil current I has been raised. Therefore, the ignition timing Ta corrected with the predicted period Tex interrupts the coil current I at an optimum timing so that the cylinder, which is the subject to be controlled, can be ignited.
That is, when the supply of the coil current I is commenced after the control time Ton has passed from the second reference position B5.degree. and the power transistor 4 is deactivated after the control time Ta has passed from the first reference position B75.degree. so that the coil current I is interrupted, negative high-potential voltage is applied to the spark plug 6 connected to the secondary coil 5b of the ignition coil 5. Therefore, discharge takes place between the electrodes of the spark plug 6 of the cylinder, the ignition of which is the subject to be controlled, so that the mixed gas in the cylinder to be subjected is ignited.
However, the angle detection section 1 in the apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine as well as involves errors in the positions of the slits 11 due to scattering occurring when the same is manufactured, and accordingly the pulse edge of the reference-position signal SGT does not always accurately indicate the reference position B75.degree. or 5.degree..
If the first reference position B75.degree. is, in actual, at crank angle position 76.degree. shifted in the advance direction by 1.degree., the actual ignition timing is undesirably shifted in the advance direction by 1.degree. of the crank angle from an aimed ignition timing because the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing obtainable from Equation (3) is determined on the basis of an assumption that the first reference position is B75.degree..
It leads to a fact that the ignition is performed at an inaccurate timing shifted in the advance direction while being considerably deviated from the ignition timing calculated by the ECU 3. In this case, there arises a problem in that the internal combustion engine is damaged for example.
Since the conventional apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine has been arranged in this way that the predicted period Tex is calculated and the controlled-parameter for the ignition coil 5 is obtained on the basis of an assumption that the reference-position signal SGT accurately indicates the reference positions B75.degree. and B5.degree., the apparatus cannot precisely control the internal combustion engine similarly to the foregoing control apparatus if the reference position B75.degree. or B5.degree. includes an error due to a manufacturing error or the like. Accordingly, there arises a problem in that the controlled-parameter, for example, the time Ta controlled by the timer and corresponding to the ignition timing is erroneously controlled and therefore the internal combustion engine can be damaged.

Apparatus for controller internal combustion engine


This invention relates to a fine powder-coated amine comprising a solid amine having a melting point equal to or higher than 50° C. and a mean particle size equal to or smaller than 20 μm. The fine powder-coated amine has an amount of heat in the second absorption peak measured by a differential scanning calorimeter equal to or less than 220 J/g, and the surface of the solid amine is coated with fine powder having a mean particle size equal to or smaller than 2 μm.

In the past, a fine particles-coated amine prepared by coating the surface of a solid amine compound with fine particles and a surface-treated solid amine compound prepared by inactivating the surface of the solid amine compound with a sulfonamide-based derivative are used as a hardener component of a one-pack type heat curable composition (patent documents 1-3).
Patent Document 1: JP-B-3769421
Patent Document 2: JP-B-4423802
Patent Document 3: JP-A-2002-302600

Fine powder-coated amine and composition containing same


The present invention includes an extrusion line system capable of simultaneous running and retooling. The invention utilizes a turret device having an upper surface adapted to rotate about a central point. The turret device has on its upper surface a first and second production line portion. The production line portions are positioned on the upper surface such that when the turret device is in one position the first production portion may be used with an extrusion device. When the turret device is in a second position, the second production portion may be used. This approach allows retooling of one of the production portions while the other production portion is running on the line.

The present invention relates generally to methods of retooling a production line. Specifically, the invention relates to the swapping out of sizing apparatus on an extrusion line.
In the extrusion industry, as with most industries, it is desirable to minimize downtime as much as possible. When switching between product runs, it is typically necessary to shut down a production line for a number of hours in order to setup the next product. Apparatus has been designed to allow retooling of a line by sliding the sizing for a first product to one side of the extrusion line and bringing in the new sizing for a second product from the other side. Then, when switching to a third product, the sizing for the second product may be pulled back to the other side of the line. The sizing for the first product is retooled during the second product run, such that the tooling for the third product may simply be moved back into place.
One problem with this approach is that the sizing equipment requires a significant amount of space for retooling, and the sliding approach requires that amount of space on each side of the production line. Since there is often not a lot of free space in a manufacturing environment, it is desirable to find a way of retooling that minimizes the amount of space needed. Another problem with using the sliding approach in a limited area is that an operator may be forced to reach across the front sizing, which is in active operation on the line, in order to reach the back sizing for purposes of retooling and adjustments. This raises serious safety issues for the operator and the manufacturer.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to develop a method for quickly, safely, and efficiently swapping out sizing apparatus in an extrusion line that requires a minimal amount of space on the production floor.
The present invention includes an extrusion line system capable of simultaneous running and retooling, only requiring the system downtime necessary for rotating into position and connecting the retooled sizing. The system utilizes an extrusion device to generate a flow of extruded product. A first production portion receives the flow of extruded product. The first production portion contains a first sizing apparatus to shape the flow of extruded product, and a first cooling device to cool the first sizing apparatus. A second production portion is located a distance from the extrusion device. The second portion includes a second sizing apparatus adapted to shape the flow of extruded product when placed in proper contact with the extrusion device, and a second cooling device. The invention utilizes a turret device having an upper surface adapted to rotate about a central point. The turret device has on its upper surface the first and second production portions. The production portions are positioned on the upper surface such that when the turret device is in one position the first production portion may be used with the extrusion device. When the turret device is in a second position, the second production portion may be used.
In an alternative embodiment, only one cooling device may be used that is adapted to detach from the system. In this case, only the first and second sizing devices would need to be included on the turret.
In addition to the novel features and advantages mentioned above, other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following descriptions of the drawings and preferred embodiments.

Turret loading device for extrusion line


A surgical electrode consisting of an insulated stainless steel wire having surgical needles conductively affixed at one or both ends, at least one needle having a pointed end and a nonpointed end with a blind hole or flange in the nonpointed end thereof, and the blunt end of a blunt pointed pin fitted into said hole or flange and a crimp in said nonpointed end of the needle retaining said pin in said hole or flange with controlled pull-out characteristics, said pin conductively and permanently affixed at the other end to said wire, whereby said pin may be pulled out of said blind hole or flange and the blunt end of said pin used as an electrical jack for connection to a pacemaker or similar electric current generating or monitoring device. The electrodes are particularly useful as temporary heart pacer electrodes for cardiac stimulation during and after surgical operations.

This invention relates to surgical electrodes, and more particularly to an improvement in needled surgical electrodes to facilitate the attachment of the electrode to electrical generating or monitoring devices.
Surgical electrodes for use as heart pacer electrodes are well known in the medical profession. In general, such electrodes are constructed of a number of fine stainless steel wires twisted together to form a single flexible, multifilament electrode wire. The major portion of the wire is insulated with a polyethylene, silicone, nylon, or other non-conducting coating, with a short length of wire at either end left uninsulated. To one uninsulated end of the electrode wire there is attached by swaging or other means a fine curved needle for piercing the heart tissue to place the uninsulated end of the electrode in the myocardium. At the other end of the electrode wire is affixed a straight or Keith-type cutting needle for piercing the thoracic wall to lead the electrode to an outer point for connection with the pacemaker. Once the electrode has been properly positioned, the needles are clipped off or snapped off, as in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,756, and the uninsulated end of the electrode is ready for attachment to the pacemaker as required for stimulating or regulating the beating of the heart.
Insulated stainless steel sutures and their application as heart pacer electrode wires are described generally in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,035,583; 3,125,095 and 3,847,156, which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The electrodes of the prior art have disadvantages in that when the electrode has been positioned for heart stimulation, the needle on the end exterior to the body must be clipped off and the bare stainless steel wire then attached in electrical contact to the pacemaker unit, or the needle itself must be snapped off and the remaining attached shank used as an electrical jack for connection to the pacemaker unit. The steps of needle removal and wire attachment are separate, time consuming acts at a critical stage of the heart surgery. Moreover, upon repeated attachment, removal and reattachment, the ends of the stainless steel wire may fray and become difficult to work with. In the snap-off or break-away lead wire disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,756, there is always the danger that there may be sharp edges on the electrical jack portion of the needle which might tear the surgeon's gloves and compromise the sterile field or that the pacemaker may be damaged when the shank of the needle is inserted therein.
The present invention works an improvement over the prior art by simplifying and/or refining the attachment, removal and reattachment of the electrode to the pacemaker. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a surgical electrode having a needle which can be removed without cutting or breaking. It is a further object of this invention to provide a surgical electrode which is quickly and easily attached to a pacemaker after removal of the needle. It is yet a further object of this invention to provide surgical electrodes having blunt pointed electrical connecting means adapted for pacemaker electrical devices.

Heart pacer lead wire with pull-away needle