Disclosed is a 12-kDa PPD protein isolated and purified from the purified protein derivative, the major fraction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that protects mice against the induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and salts, functional derivatives, analogs and active fractions thereof, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Increasing evidence suggests that infectious agents can affect the development of autoimmune diseases. Viruses have been most often implicated in the etiology of autoimmune diseases, although bacteria may also be involved: streptococcal infection may lead to rheumatic fever and myocarditis, Mycoplasma arthriditis or its toxins can cause arthritis in mice or rats, and arthritis has also been associated with reactivity to mycobacterial antigens, both in humans and rats. However, several reports indicate that viruses and bacteria may also enhance the natural propensity of mice to become resistant to an autoimmune disease. Thus, non-obese diabetic mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus become resistant to the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and mice infected with lactic dehydrogenase virus are refractory to the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Similarly, bacteria may also be involved in conferring resistance to autoimmune diseases, as demonstrated in a previous study by the present inventor (Lehman and Ben-Nun, 1992).
EAE is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is caused by CD4.sup.+ T lymphocytes specific for myelin antigens, such as MBP or PLP (Ben-Nun and Lando, 1983). In SJL/J mice, the disease can be induced by injecting the animals with CNS homogenate, MBP or PLP, or with peptides derived therefrom (Raine, 1984). However, disease induction is dependent on the presence of immunoadjuvant in the inoculum. Mt is routinely used as the immunopotentiating agent in the induction of experimental autoimmune diseases. However, its mode of action in enhancing the development of the disease remains unclear. Although controversial data were obtained, there is an indication that Mt can also protect Lewis rats against the induction of an autoimmune disease (Lisak and Kies, 1968; MacPhee and Mason, 1990; Hempel et al., 1985). The inventor recently analyzed the effect of Mt and other bacteria on EAE in SJL/J mice, and observed that mice pre-exposed to Mt acquired long-lasting resistance to EAE, even when the bacteria were administered as an aqueous preparation, rather than as an emulsion in IFA. This study clearly demonstrated that Mt can not only promote the development of EAE, but can also protect against the disease, depending on the time of exposure to the bacteria (Lehman and Ben-Nun, 1992). Because effective protection was obtained with non-pathogenic bacterial preparations (heat-killed bacteria), it was speculated that immunity against a particular component(s) of Mt may be sufficient to confer resistance against induction of an autoimmune disease. Accordingly, it was recently demonstrated by the inventor that PPD is the major fraction of Mt which confers on mice resistance to induction of EAE (Ben-Nun et al., 1993). The protection observed following immunization with PPD was not a simple consequence of a non-specific effect on the immune balance, as other immunogens, both bacterial and non-bacterial, had only marginal or no protective effect.
It should be noted that EAE is the well established and widely accepted animal model for studying the effects of various agents which may be implicated in human autoimmune diseases in general, and particularly multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and graft-versus-host disease. Thus, an agent found to be capable of eliciting a protective effect against EAE in animals such as mice or rats, is also considered to be an agent capable of eliciting protection against autoimmune diseases in humans.

12-kDa protein derived from M. Tuberculosis useful for treatment of autoimmune diseases


A touch panel includes a substrate, a first patterned conductive layer, a patterned passivation layer, and a second patterned conductive layer. The first patterned conductive layer is located on the substrate, and the first patterned conductive layer includes a plurality of first sensing pads and a plurality of second sensing pads, wherein a gap is formed between adjacent first and second sensing pads. The patterned passivation layer is located on the first patterned conductive layer, and the patterned passivation layer covers the gap and exposes at least a portion of each first sensing pad and at least a portion of each second sensing pad. The second patterned conductive layer is located on the patterned passivation layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a panel and a method for fabricating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a touch panel and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of Related Art
According to different sensing principles, touch panels may be categorized into resistant touch panels, capacitive touch panels, optical touch panels, sonic wave touch panels, and electromagnetic touch panels etc. Among the touch panels, the projective capacitive touch panels have drawn much attention due to rapid growth in smartphone sales.
Typically, the projective capacitive touch panels may be categorized into island-type and via-type projective capacitive touch panels according to how a passivation layer is arranged between conductive layers. FIG. 1A is a schematic top view showing a conventional island-type projective capacitive touch panel. FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C are schematic cross-sectional views respectively along lines I-I′ and II-II′ of FIG. 1A. Referring to FIG. 1A through FIG. 1C, a projective capacitive touch panel 100a includes a substrate 102, buffer layers 104a and 104b, a plurality of first sensing series 110, a plurality of second sensing series 120, a passivation layer 130 and a covering layer 140 serving to insulate the first sensing series 110 from the second sensing series 120. Each of the first sensing series 110 includes a plurality of first sensing pads 112 and a plurality of first bridging lines 114 located among the first sensing pads 112. Each of the second sensing series 120 includes a plurality of second sensing pads 122 and a plurality of second bridging lines 124 located among the second sensing pads 122.
In the island-type projective capacitive touch panel 100a illustrated in FIG. 1A through FIG. 1C, the passivation layer 130 is patterned as island-shaped and arranged between the second sensing pads 122 and the first bridging lines 114. Thus, when a material of the passivation layer 130 is similar to a material of the buffer layers 104a and 104b, the buffer layers 104a and 104b serving as optical index-match layers are also removed in a fabricating process for patterning the passivation layer 130, which results in reduced adjustment flexibility for optical characteristics of the projective capacitive touch panel 100a.
FIG. 2A is a schematic top view showing a conventional via-type projective capacitive touch panel. FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C are schematic cross-sectional view respectively along lines I-I′ and II-II′ of FIG. 2A. Referring to FIG. 2A through FIG. 2C, a projective capacitive touch panel 100b has elements that are substantially identical to those of the island-type projective capacitive touch panel 100a, and a major difference therebetween lies in the passivation layer 130 covers the first bridging lines 114, and the first sensing pads 112 are electrically connected with the first bridging lines 114 through via holes 132 in the passivation layer 130. Since the passivation layer 130 entirely covers the substrate 102, optical stability of the via-type projective capacitive touch panel 100b is easily influenced by a thickness of the passivation layer 130. As a result, the optical stability of the via-type projective capacitive touch panel 100b may be even worse than that of the island-type projective capacitive touch panel 100a.
Accordingly, the way by which the passivation layer is arranged would influence optical characteristics of the projective capacitive touch panel. Therefore, how to design a projective capacitive touch panel with good optical characteristics is a major subject to be worked on by technicians and research and development personnel in the field of the present invention.

Touch panel and method of fabricating the same


An electronic control unit compulsorily stops supply of a fuel injection quantity, which is calculated based on various parameters including a throttle opening degree, performed by an injector in accordance with a crank angle signal if a series of operations, of rapidly opening a throttle valve from a certain throttle opening degree and then rapidly closing the throttle valve, occurs within a predetermined time in one combustion cycle of an internal combustion engine after completion of stroke determination. The electronic control unit removes the compulsory stoppage of the supply of the fuel injection quantity if drawing of an air intake quantity overlaps with at least one-third of an intake stroke in one combustion cycle of the engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injection controller of an internal combustion engine for calculating a fuel injection quantity in a combustion cycle based on a crank angle signal, which is detected in accordance with an angular position corresponding to rotation of a crankshaft of the engine, and for performing fuel injection control.
2. Description of Related Art
In an independent air intake internal combustion engine, a basic fuel injection quantity is set in accordance with an intake pressure, a throttle opening degree, an engine rotation speed or the like. A final fuel injection quantity is calculated by correcting the basic fuel injection quantity based on various parameters such as cooling water temperature, intake air temperature, atmospheric pressure or a gear position of a transmission. Fuel cutting control is also performed to change or cut the fuel injection quantity in accordance with various operation parameters such as engine rotation speed, vehicle speed, or a change in the throttle opening degree.
A technology related to the above scheme is described in JP-A-H04-81537, for example. In this technology, a fuel supply quantity is reduced from a steady-state value or cut for a predetermined time if deceleration is detected within a certain time after acceleration correction is performed.
If the processing ability of the CPU of an electronic control unit at the time when this technology was made is taken into consideration, then it would not have been possible for the above technology to consider the case where a series of operations, such as rapidly opening a throttle valve from a certain throttle opening degree and then rapidly closing the throttle valve, occurs in an extremely short time within one combustion cycle of the engine. Therefore, this technology cannot respond to an over-rich mixture condition, which can be caused by asynchronous fuel injection performed in accordance with the change in the throttle opening degree when the acceleration is required in the first stage by a driver and the throttle valve is rapidly opened. As a result, there is a possibility of reduction of engine rotation speed or engine stall.
However, in some cases, the over-rich mixture condition is not necessarily caused by the asynchronous fuel injection even in the case where the series of operations, namely, rapidly opening the throttle valve from a certain throttle opening degree and then rapidly closing the throttle valve, occurs in an extremely short time within a combustion cycle of the engine. There is also the possibility that an operating state of the engine is adversely affected if the fuel supply quantity is reduced or cut in a uniform manner.


A method of fabricating an ultrathin SOI memory transistor includes preparing a substrate, including forming an ultrathin SOI layer of the substrate; adjusting the threshold voltage of the SOI layer; depositing a layer of silicon oxide on the SOI layer; patterning and etching the silicon oxide layer to form a sacrificial oxide gate in a gate region; depositing a layer of silicon nitride and forming the silicon nitride into a silicon nitride sidewall for the sacrificial oxide gate; depositing and smoothing a layer of amorphous silicon; selectively etching the sacrificial gate oxide; growing a layer of oxide in the gate region; depositing and smoothing a second layer of amorphous silicon; patterning and etching the second layer of amorphous silicon; implanting ion to form a source region and a drain region; annealing the structure; and depositing a layer of passivation oxide.

There are three state-of-the art approaches for fabrication of ultra-thin semiconductor devices on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates:    (1) The conventional process is fabrication without a raised source or drain. The thickness of silicon at the source/drain is the same as that of the channel region. This structure yields high source/drain parasitic resistance which degrades the device performance.    (2) In a channel thinning process, the SOI film at the channel region is thinned prior to gate oxidation. The disadvantage of this process is that the thinned SOI film region is extended out of the channel region by at least one lithography alignment tolerance. As a result the parasitic resistance in the channel region is large, and a high drive current cannot be obtained.    (3) In a raised source/drain process, after formation of the gate electrode and LDD ion implantation, an insulating sidewall is formed about the gate electrode. Silicon is selectively grown on the source/drain region and is silicided. The selective deposition of silicon or silicide has a relatively large pattern sensitive effect. That is the thickness of the selective deposition layer is thicker in the low density area and is thinner in the high density area. Therefore, the uniformity and reproducibility are poor.
Another method of fabricating an SOI transistor uses non-selective deposition of silicide, followed by CMP, etch back, and mask etching to remove unwanted silicide. The process has a set back of additional silicidation of silicon during post annealing or metal alloy process, which may consume too much silicon for ultrathin SOI film, causing voids, hence increasing the source/drain parasitic resistance.

Ultrathin SOI transistor and method of making the same


A technique improves the interaction between a backup remote data link switch (DLSw) device coupled to a remote: subnetwork having an Ethernet switch and a local DLSw device coupled to a local subnetwork of a DLSw network. When the backup remote DLSw device accepts a DLSw peer connection with the local DLSw device, the remote device uses configuration information to determine which end stations it can reach through the peer connection. The remote DLSw device then generates one or more test frames having the medium access control (MAC) addresses of those reachable stations as source MAC addresses. The test frames are sent through the Ethernet switch to force the switch to immediately update its forwarding table with the port identifier of the port receiving the incoming frames, along with the source MAC addresses of those frames.

Data communication in a computer network involves the exchange of data between two or more entities interconnected by communication links and subnetworks. These entities are typically software programs executing on hardware computer platforms, which, depending on their roles within the network, may serve as end stations or intermediate stations. Examples of intermediate stations include routers, bridges and switches that interconnect communication links and subnetworks; an end station may be a computer located on one of the subnetworks. More generally, an end station connotes a source of or target for data that typically does not provide routing or other services to other computers on the network. A local area network (LAN) is an example of a subnetwork that provides relatively short-distance communication among the interconnected stations; in contrast, a wide area network (WAN) facilitates long-distance communication over links provided by public or private telecommunications facilities.
End stations typically communicate by exchanging discrete packets or frames of data according to predefined protocols. In this context, a protocol represents a set of rules defining how the stations interact with each other to transfer data. Such interaction is simple within a LAN, since these are typically "multicast" networks: when a source station transmits a frame over the LAN, it reaches all stations on that LAN. If the intended recipient of the frame is connected to another LAN, the frame is passed over a routing device to that other LAN. Collectively, these hardware and software components comprise a communications network and their interconnections are defined by an underlying architecture.
Most computer network architectures are organized as a series of hardware and software levels or "layers" within each station. These layers interact to format data for transfer between, e.g., a source station and a destination station communicating over the network. Specifically, predetermined services are performed on the data as it passes through each layer, and the layers communicate with each other by means of the predefined protocols. This design permits each layer to offer selected services to other layers using a standardized interface that shields the other layers from the details of actual implementation of the services.
The lower layers of these architectures are generally standardized and implemented in hardware and firmware, whereas the higher layers are usually implemented in the form of software. Examples of such communications architectures include the Systems Network Architecture (SNA) developed by International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation and the Internet communications architecture.
The Internet architecture is represented by four layers termed, in ascending interfacing order, the network interface, internetwork, transport and application layers. The primary internetwork-layer protocol of the Internet architecture is the Internet Protocol (IP). IP is primarily a connectionless protocol that provides for internetwork routing, fragmentation and reassembly of exchanged packets—generally referred to as "datagrams" in an Internet environment—and which relies on transport protocols for end-to-end reliability. An example of such a transport protocol is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which is implemented by the transport layer and provides connection-oriented services to the upper layer protocols of the Internet architecture. The term TCP/IP is commonly used to denote this architecture. Protocol stacks and the TCP/IP reference model are well-known and are, for example, described in Computer Networks by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, printed by Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, N.J., 1996.
SNA is a communications framework widely used to define network functions and establish standards for enabling different models of IBM computers to exchange and process data. SNA is essentially a design philosophy that separates network communications into seven layers termed, in ascending order, the physical control layer, the data link control layer, the path control layer, the transmission control layer, the data flow control layer, the presentation services layer, and the transaction services layer. Each of these layers represents a graduated level of function moving upward from physical connections is to application software.
In the SNA architecture, the data link control layer is responsible for transmission of data from one end station to another. Bridges are devices in the data link control layer that are used to connect two or more subnetworks, so that end stations on either subnetwork are allowed to access resources on the subnetworks. Connection-oriented services at the data link layer generally involve three distinct phases: connection establishment, data transfer and connection termination. During connection establishment, a single path or connection, e.g., an IEEE 802.2 Logical Link Control Type 2 (LLC2) connection, is established between the source and destination stations. Once the connection has been established, data is transferred sequentially over the path and, when the LLC2 connection is no longer needed, the path is terminated. Connection establishment and termination are well-known and are described, e.g., in Computer Networks by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, printed by Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, N.J., 1988.
Data link switching (DLSw) is a forwarding mechanism over an IP backbone WAN, such as the Internet. In traditional bridging, the data link connection is end-to-end, i.e., effectively continuous between communicating end stations. A stream of data frames originating from a source end station on a source LAN traverses one or more bridges specified in the path over the LLC2 connection to a destination station on a destination LAN. In a system implementing DLSw, by contrast, the LLC2 connection terminates at a local DLSw device, e.g., a switch. The DLSw device multiplexes the LLC2 data stream over a conventional TCP transport connection to a remote DLSw device. LLC2 acknowledgement frames used to acknowledge ordered receipt of the LLC2 data frames are "stripped-out" of the data stream and acted upon by the local DLSw device; in this way, the actual data frames are permitted to traverse the IP WAN to their destination while the "overhead" acknowledgement frames required by LLC2 connections for reliable data delivery are kept off the WAN. The LLC2 connections from the source LAN to the local transmitting DLSw device, and from the remote receiving DLSw device to the destination LAN, are entirely independent from one another. Data link switching may be further implemented on multi-protocol routers capable of handling DLSw devices as well as conventional (e.g., source-route bridging) frames. The DLSw forwarding mechanism is well-known and described in detail in Wells & Bartky, Request for Comment (RFC) 1795 (1995).
An example of a DLSw network arrangement may comprise one or more local DLSw devices connected to a local subnetwork having a host mainframe or server computer and a remote DLSw device connected to a remote subnetwork having remote end stations or client computers. Each DLSw device establishes a "peer" relationship to the other DLSw device in accordance with a conventional Capabilities Exchange message sequence defined by RFC 1795, and the logical and physical connections between these devices connect the subnetworks into a larger DLSw network. A problem with this arrangement is that any disruption in the remote DLSw device results in the loss of connectivity of the remote subnetwork to the larger network.
Network system administrators have attempted to solve this problem by adding a redundant remote DLSw device to the remote subnetwork. This solution is sufficient as long as the remote subnetwork is of a type that supports source-route bridging (SRB) operations with respect to the contents of a routing information field (RIF) of a frame. If it is, the RIF of each frame is examined by the remote DLSw devices to determine (i) the path followed by the frame through the remote subnetwork and, notably, (ii) which remote device should act on the frame.
DLSw, however, can be used to connect end stations on media that do not implement or support SRB and RIFs; for example, Ethernet is a common technology that does not support the use of RIFs. In the case of a remote Ethernet subnetwork, there is no field in an Ethernet frame that records the route traveled by the frame through the subnetwork, nor is there is an indication of a predetermined route that the frame should travel in the future. Accordingly, implementation of redundant remote DLSw devices on such media may cause problems within the DLSw devices and network.
One such problem results from the fact that DLSw devices typically "learn" the locations of end stations (both locally-reachable and those that can be reached through a remote DLSw peer device) within the network. If a remote DLSw device has learned that a particular station can be reached both "locally" (from the perspective of the remote device) and through its DLSw peer device, an optimal choice is to use the locally-reachable route. Yet there may be multiple remote DLSw devices on the subnetwork, each of which may be forwarding frames received from its DLSw peers; since there are no RIFs in the frames to indicate that they may have previously traversed a DLSw peer connection, a remote DLSw device may mistakenly learn that a particular station is reachable "locally" when, in fact, traffic to this station should actually be sent via the DLSw peer. This results in a loss of data connectivity from the local subnetwork over the DLSw peers.
Another problem arises when a remote end station on the remote subnetwork attempts to establish a communication session with the mainframe computer on the local subnetwork. Each remote DLSw device exchanges conventional Circuit Setup messages with its local DLSw peer device to establish a logical connection circuit. When the local DLSw device establishes two active logical connections with the remote DLSw devices, the local DLSw device interprets the circuits as duplicates caused by error during transmission of the connection establishment messages and destroys both circuits.
System administrators have worked around these problems by configuring one of the remote DLSw devices as a primary remote DLSw device and the other as a backup remote DLSw device. In this arrangement, only one remote DLSw device has an active logical connection with the local DLSw device at any point in time. If the primary remote DLSw device fails, the local DLSw device "destroys" its logical connection with that remote device and establishes a logical connection with the backup remote DLSw device. The local DLSw device continually monitors the status of the primary DLSw remote device and, as soon as this latter device is operational, the local DLSw device "destroys" the logical connection with the backup remote DLSw device and logically reconnects with the primary remote device. An example of such an arrangement is described in a copending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/978,899 titled, Backup Peer Pool for a Routed Computer Network by Periasamy et al., which application is hereby incorporated by reference as though fully described herein. However, this arrangement may cause a further problem when the primary and backup remote devices are connected to an Ethernet switch.
The Ethernet switch is a device with multiple ports for connecting multiple end stations to the larger network. Each port may handle multiple medium access control (MAC) addresses from multiple end stations. The Ethernet switch maintains a forwarding table, which may be implemented as a Content Addressable Memory, to keep track of which ports access certain MAC addresses. As the end stations forward frames through the switch to the network, the switch records the port identifier (ID) of the incoming frames, along with the source MAC addresses of the transmitting end stations, in the forwarding table. The table also stores the port IDs of the ports that connect the switch to the primary and backup remote DLSw devices, together with MAC addresses accessible through those ports.
When the primary remote DLSw device fails, the local DLSw device detects the failure (typically due to a timeout event in the underlying TCP transport connection), terminates the logical connection with the now "inactive" DLSw device and initiates a logical connection with the backup remote DLSw device. However, the Ethernet switch has learned that all local end stations reachable through the local DLSw peer should be forwarded through its port to which the primary remote DLSw device is connected. Hence, frame traffic destined to these local end stations is sent to the inactive DLSw device and, thus, never reaches the local DLSw peer until the corresponding forwarding table entries in the switch "time-out".
When these "old" entries time-out, the Ethernet switch has no currently valid entries for these destination MAC addresses; therefore, the switch "broadcasts" subsequently-received frames destined for the local end stations to all of its ports and, in response to receiving the broadcasted frame, the backup remote DLSw device delivers the frame to its local DLSw peer. When traffic from the local DLSw peer flows through the Ethernet switch, the switch updates its forwarding table with the port ID for the port connecting the backup remote DLSw device, along with the source MAC addresses of incoming frame traffic at that port.
When the primary remote DLSw device comes back "on-line", the local DLSw device (i) recontacts the primary remote DLSw device, (ii) reinitiates a logical connection to that primary device, and (iii) terminates the logical connection with the backup remote DLSw device. Yet, as noted, the Ethernet switch does not forward traffic destined for the local DLSw peer through the port to which the primary remote device is connected until after its forwarding table entries (particularly those specifying the backup path) have timed-out. As a result, when the primary and backup remote DLSw devices are connected to a switched Ethernet LAN, the recovery time associated with transitioning from primary-to-backup device status, and vice versa, is variably increased by the time needed to "purge" old port ID and MAC address entries from the forwarding table of the Ethernet switch.
It should be noted that certain types of device failures may be detectable by an Ethernet switch; these device failures typically cause most commercially-available Ethernet switches to immediately flush all forwarding table entries corresponding to its ports connected to the failed devices. In these cases, the recovery time delay described above may not be observed when transitioning from primary-to-backup status; however, the delay incurred when transitioning from backup-to-primary status is still present as this transition is not triggered by a failure event in the network.

Technique for improving the interaction between data link switch backup peer devices and ethernet switches


An ink jet printer which causes ink to fly to a recording medium to form an image, comprising: plural nozzles functioning as ink ejection ports; plural individual flow paths which are disposed with respectively corresponding to the nozzles, the individual flow paths respectively having driving elements which eject internal ink through the nozzles; a common liquid chamber which communicates with the individual flow paths, the common liquid chamber having an opening portion through which ink is supplied into the chamber; an ink supply path which has a sectional area smaller than a sectional area of the opening portion of the common liquid chamber, the ink supply path being connected to the opening portion to guide ink to the common liquid chamber; and an ink supply source for supplying ink through the ink supply path.

The invention relates to an ink jet printer and an ink jet print head which comprise plural driving elements for ejecting ink, plural individual flow paths respectively corresponding to the nozzles, ejection ports corresponding to the flow paths, and a common liquid chamber for supplying ink to the individual flow paths, and in which ink is supplied to the common liquid chamber through an ink supply path.
Conventionally, as typical examples of an ink jet print head used in an ink jet printer, known are a piezoelectric ink jet print head in which a pressure chamber is mechanically deformed by a piezoelectric material and ink is ejected through an ink ejection port by the resulting pressure, and a thermal ink jet print head in which a heater disposed in the vicinity of an ink flow path is energized to evaporate ink and ink is ejected through an ink ejection port by the pressure produced by the evaporation.
FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a head chip and an ink supply member in an example of an ink jet print head of the prior art, and FIG. 18 is a section view taken along a line A. In the figures, 1 designates a head chip, 2 designates nozzles, 3 designates individual flow paths, 4 designates heating elements, 5 designates a common liquid chamber, 6 designates a heat sink, 7 designates a circuit board, 8 designates bonding wires, 9 designates a sealant, 10 designates air bubbles, 11 designates an ink supply member, 12 designates an ink supply device, and 13 designates an ink flow pipe. FIGS. 17 and 18 show a thermal ink jet print head.
In the head chip 1, the plural individual flow paths 3 are formed and open in the outside so as to form the nozzles 2. The individual flow paths 3 internally communicate with the common liquid chamber 5. The heating elements 4 are disposed at midpoints of the individual flow paths 3, respectively. When the heating elements 4 generate heat, air bubbles are produced in the individual flow paths 3. The pressure of the produced air bubbles causes ink drops to be ejected through the nozzles 2, thereby performing the recording. The common liquid chamber 5 has an opening functioning as an ink inflow port.
The head chip 1 may be produced by, for example, bonding two silicon substrates together. In this case, the individual flow paths 3, the common liquid chamber 5, etc. are formed in one of the silicon substrates by anisotropic etching. The common liquid chamber 5 is formed by the anisotropic etching so as to pass through the silicon substrate, and the through hole is formed as the opening functioning as the ink inflow port. In the anisotropic etching, the silicon substrate is etched so as to form a predetermined angle. Therefore, each individual flow path 3 is formed into a triangular shape and the common liquid chamber 5 is formed into a shape which is expanded as moving from the opening to the inner portion. The communication between the individual flow paths 3 and the common liquid chamber 5 is directly performed by the anisotropic etching, or formed by grinding an unetched portion by means of dicing. Alternatively, a resin layer formed on the other substrate is etched to form bypass pits, thereby realizing the communication.
The ink supply member 11 has the ink supply device 12 and the ink flow pipe 13 which are used for supplying ink fed from an ink tank (not shown) to the head chip 1. The ink supply device 12 is formed as a substantially chevron space so that the opening is larger than the opening of the common liquid chamber 5 of the head chip 1. The object of this structure is to prevent ink turbulence from occurring, thereby reducing residual air bubbles. This structure is described in, for example, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 6-91874. The ink supply member 11 is fixed to the head chip 1 in such a manner that the opening of the ink supply device 12 communicates with that of the common liquid chamber 5 of the head chip 1.
The head chip 1 is fixed to the heat sink 6 so as to dissipate heat generated by the heating elements 4. Also the circuit board 7 is disposed on the heat sink 6 so that the power and signals supplied from the main unit of the printer are transmitted to the head chip 1 through the bonding wires 8, and signals and the like of various sensors disposed in the head chip 1 are transmitted to the printer main unit. In order to protect the bonding wires 8 and reinforce the fixation of the head chip 1 and the ink supply member 11, the sealant 9 is poured into a space defined by the ink supply member 11 and the heat sink 6.
Ink is fed from the ink tank which is not shown to the thus configured ink jet print head. The ink fed from the ink tank is supplied to the ink supply device 12 through the ink flow pipe 13 in the ink supply member 11, and then to the common liquid chamber 5 of the head chip 1 so as to be further supplied to the individual flow paths 3. The nozzles 2 open in the air. When no countermeasure is taken, therefore, ink leaks from the nozzles 2. To comply with this, the interior of each ink flow path is always maintained to have a negative pressure of 0 to -200 mmH.sub.2 O by an ink impregnating member in the ink tank or a negative pressure generating mechanism.
In the ink jet print head, when air bubbles 10 stay in the ink supply device 12 or the common liquid chamber 5, the air bubbles 10 grow while the printer is used. The air bubbles 10 close the individual flow paths 3 so as to impede the ink supply, with the result that a printing failure is caused. In the thermal ink jet print head, particularly, ink is evaporated by heat generation of the heating elements 4, and hence the temperature of the ink is raised by the heat generated in this process. Then, air in the ink is precipitated and the air bubbles 10 in the common liquid chamber 5 gradually grow. Even in the case where only small air bubbles initially stay, therefore, the air bubbles finally impede the ejection. Since the growth of air bubbles is based on the heat generation as described above, air bubbles 10 tend to grow in the common liquid chamber 5 and at a portion where the ink supply device 12 is connected to the common liquid chamber 5. In the configuration described above, since the opening of the ink supply device 12 is larger than that of the common liquid chamber 5, the peripheral portion of the opening of the common liquid chamber 5 impedes the ink flow, so that air bubbles 10 easily grow in this portion. The air bubbles 10 which have grown to a larger size then enter the common liquid chamber 5 to impede the supply of ink to the individual flow paths 3, thereby causing an image defect.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the ink flow in the ink jet print head of the prior art, and FIG. 20 is a graph showing an example of the flow rate of ink in the head. As means for preventing an image defect due to air bubbles staying in the common liquid chamber from occurring, a method in which air bubbles staying in the common liquid chamber are removed away by sucking them through the nozzles 2 is usually employed. In FIG. 19, the arrows show the direction of the ink flow in the suction process. FIG. 20 shows the flow rates in the direction of the ink flow in various portions in this process. Also in a usual printing process, the ink flow direction is substantially identical with that shown in FIG. 19.
When ink is sucked through the nozzles 2, a quantity of ink which is equal to that of the sucked ink is fed from the ink tank which is not shown. The ink is supplied through the ink flow pipe 13 and enters the ink supply device 12. The ink then spreads along the shape of the ink supply device as shown in FIG. 19, and the flow rate is reduced as shown in FIG. 20. The ink in the ink supply device 12 further flows in the direction from the ink supply device 12 to the common liquid chamber 5 and then enters the common liquid chamber 5. The inferior of the common liquid chamber 5 is somewhat expanded, and hence the ink flow rate is further reduced. The direction of the ink flow which enters the common liquid chamber 5 is changed toward the individual flow paths 3, and then sucked out through the individual flow paths 3. Since the individual flow paths 3 have a small sectional area, the ink flow rate is higher.
When ink flows as described above, the ink flows are uniform in all the nozzles and hence a higher image quality can be realized. When air bubbles 10 stay in the common liquid chamber 5, however, the low ink flow rate in the common liquid chamber 5 makes the removal of the air bubbles 10 difficult. Furthermore, also the rate of the ink flow in the ink supply device 12 is low. Accordingly, when air bubbles 10 stay at a step formed in the portion where the ink supply device 12 is connected to the common liquid chamber 5, for example, the air bubbles 10 are hardly sucked even by conducting such a suction process. Consequently, the suction process fails to suck all the air bubbles 10 and the air bubbles tend to stay in the portion, with the result that an image defect which is so serious that a further suction process must be immediately conducted is produced. As a countermeasure, it may be contemplated that the suction process is repeated several times. As the suction process is conducted more frequently, however, the ink utilization efficiency for printing is lower, and a waste ink tank which is required for storing sucked ink must have a larger capacity, thereby producing a problem in that the size of the whole of an apparatus is increased.
Another configuration in which the side wall of a common liquid chamber is formed at an angle of 45.degree. or less which is smaller than that in the above-mentioned configuration is described in, for example, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 3-110172. Also in this configuration, the ink flow spreads into a fan-like shape, and hence there arises the same problem as that discussed above.


The invention includes methods and apparatus for preparing a tire surface for receiving a tire patch. Such methods include selecting a desired depth marking template for use in forming one or more depth marking apertures within a tire surface and within a desired tire patch application area, each of the one or more depth marking apertures having a desired depth corresponding to a desired depth of the patch receiving area, the template having one or more openings extending through a thickness of the template corresponding to the one or more marking apertures to be formed. The methods further include forming one or more depth marking apertures within the tread by inserting a material removal member of a power tool into each of the one or more openings in the template, the power tool removing tire material to the desired depth for each aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for preparing tires for repair. More specifically, this invention relates to methods and apparatus for preparing tires for application of a tire patch.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is commonly known to use tire patches to repair damaged portions of a tire. It is also known that tire patches may form any of a variety of shapes and sizes. In preparing the tire for receiving a tire patch, the corresponding surface of the tire is prepared to improve patch adhesion and arrangement. In certain instances, the surface is simply cleaned and/or roughened. In other instances, it is desirous to remove sufficient material from the tire to form a recessed area for receiving a tire patch. This area is referred to as a patch receiving area.
In removing material for forming the patch receiving area, it is often desirous to control the removal of the material to ensure that a particular depth is achieved. For example, it may be desirous to ensure that any reinforcements (i.e., fabric, cords, strand, or the like) are not damaged by the removal process. Further, it may be desirous to reach a particular depth to expose a certain layer or material, or to otherwise simply reach any other desired depth.
Presently when forming the patch receiving area according to manual methods, an operator freely utilizes an unconstrained abrading tool to remove material from the tire. In performing such operation, the operator must not only control the position of the tool in all directions along the surface, but must also monitor the continued removal of such material to achieve a desired depth. This process may become an iterative process, as the operator interrupts the removal process to determine whether the present depth has reached, or not gone beyond, the desired (i.e, target) depth. Accordingly, there is a need to better control the formation of the patch receiving area of a tire for manual operations.

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin


An RF power transistor package is configured for mounting to a heat sink in a multi-layer pc board, and includes a direct top side electrical ground path from a transistor chip located atop a ceramic substrate to a mounting flange, without passing through the ceramic substrate by way of metal plating an outer surface of the ceramic substrate to electrically connect a top mounted metal lead to the flange. A direct ground path from the transistor chip to the mounting flange is also provided by way of plated via holes through the ceramic substrate. The top side ground path is also configured to connect with the middle ground reference layer of the multi-layer pc board when the mounting flange is secured to the heat sink, so that a unified ground potential is seen by the transistor at both the middle layer and heat sink. In this manner, the power transistor package is grounded at the same reference potential as other elements attached to the pc board, while still having the high performance characteristics provided by the ground path via holes.

Radio Frequency ("RF") power transistors have many uses in industries ranging from communications to consumer electronics, e.g., for use as high frequency amplifiers. Such transistors are commonly designed for attachment to a printed circuit ("pc") board, to be used in conjunction with other circuit components mounted on the same pc board.
Typically, one or more transistor cells are fabricated on a silicon wafer (referred to as a transistor "chip"). The transistor chip is then attached to an insulating layer, normally a ceramic substrate. The ceramic substrate is itself attached to a mounting flange, and a protective cover is placed over the substrate and transistor chip, thereby forming a component transistor "package." Various electrically conductive (e.g., metal) leads are attached to, and extend away from the package (i.e., outside the protective cover) to connect common terminals of the transistor chip to external circuit elements, e.g., located in a pc board along with the transistor package. For example, in a bipolar junction type transistor, respective electrical leads attached to the package are connected to a base, emitter and collector of the transistor chip.
Single layer pc boards--i.e., where there is a single layer of dielectric material between respective top and bottom surfaces of the board,--typically have a metallic bottom surface which is also a reference ground. This bottom surface is connected, usually with screws or solder, to a (metallic) heat sink, so that the bottom of the pc board and the heat sink have the same ground potential with respect to any circuit elements attached to the pc board.
One of two methods is used to connect the transistor package to ground in a single layer pc board. A first method is to provide a "top side" ground, wherein one or more grounding wires connect respective emitter, base or collector pads of the transistor chip to a "ground plane" (also known as a "ground bar"), which is normally attached to the ceramic substrate adjacent the transistor chip. The ground plane is electrically part of a metal lead frame extending from the package. After the package is mounted to the heat sink, the lead frame may be soldered or otherwise connected (e.g., by a wire clip arrangement) to the top of the respective pc board, wherein an electrical path to ground (i.e., the bottom surface of the board) is provided. Although a ground path is achieved by this method, it is not necessarily of uniform length from each of the common emitter (or base) locations.
Another method for grounding RF transistor packages in a single layer pc board is through the use of plated "via holes" located in the ceramic substrate. In particular, the via holes extend from a top surface of the ceramic substrate to a top surface of the mounting flange and are plated with an electrically conductive material, e.g., metal, thereby allowing current to flow through them. Again, one or more grounding wires connect respective emitter, base or collector pads of the transistor chip to a ground plane. The ground plane is provided directly over, and is in electrical contact with the via holes, so that current passes from the ground plane, through the via holes, to the mounting flange. The mounting flange is then connected, usually by screws, to the metal heat sink, which, as noted above, is an equivalent potential as the board's bottom surface. Proper spacing of the via holes is desirable so that each emitter, base or collector pad of the transistor chip is located approximately the same electrical distance to ground potential, and thereby reduce unwanted inductance.
Of the aforedescribed grounding methods for single layer pc boards, the via holes are generally considered superior from a performance perspective, because the electrical path to ground (e.g., the heat sink surface) is more direct and uniform over the entire transistor device. On the other hand, where performance requirements will allow, the top side "lead frame" method is perferred, as it is less costly to manufacture the packages without the via holes.
With the need to reduce component size, amplifier designers are being forced to develop RF power transistor packages for multi-layer pc boards, wherein proper grounding becomes more difficult. In particular, in a multi-layer pc board, there are at least two, and often more layers of dielectric insulating material between the respective bottom and top surfaces of the pc board, with an additional metallic layer located between two of the dielectric layers. This additional metallic layer acts as ground reference for certain components mounted on the top surface of the pc board. Thus, when the bottom of the board is mated with a heat sink, there are two ground planes:--the metal layer between the dielectric layers of the pc board, and the heat sink. While these two ground planes are connected, components mounted to the top surface of the pc board will still "see" the ground plane of the middle metallic layer much more so than the ground plane of the heat sink surface.
When an amplifier designer is required to use an RF power transistor in a multi-layer pc board whose performance requirements would otherwise require the use of plated via holes for grounding, i.e., in order to minimize common lead inductance over the ground path, there is a problem in that the RF power transistor will use as the predominant ground plane the heat sink, to which it is directly attached, whereas the other circuit elements mounted to the board will use the middle metallic layer as the predominant ground plane.
In particular, the RF power transistor operates at very high frequencies, which can result in an undesirable isolation between the two ground planes. This isolation can prevent high frequency components of the transistor current from flowing from the middle metal layer to the heat sink bottom of the pc board. This, in turn, causes the transistor to "see" a different voltage at the middle metal layer than at the heat sink. Having different reference voltages for various electrical components in the same pc board can lead to instabilities, poor production yields and generally lower reliability.
Thus, it is a desirable objective to provide a grounding method for an RF transistor power package designed for use in a multi-layer pc board and, in particular, with minimal common lead inductance between the package and the supporting circuitry.


A system and method for allocating service provider network resources for supporting dispatch multi-party calls is disclosed. In an embodiment of a method of the present invention, the method includes receiving a requirement at the service provider network for supporting a dispatch multi-party call having a projected number of participants. An amount of network resources required to support the projected number of participants is determined. A portion of the amount of network resources required to support the projected number of participants in the dispatch multi-party call is dedicated to the dispatch multi-party call in the service provider network. In an embodiment of a system of the present invention, the system includes a media server having resources for supporting a dispatch multi-party call having a projected number of participants in a service provider network. A resource manager is coupled to the media server and determines an amount of media server resources required to support the projected number of participants and dedicates a portion of the amount of media resources required to support the projected number of participants in the media server.

Cellular communications systems typically provide interconnect and/or dispatch voice communication services. Interconnect voice communication services are those typically provided by most cellular carriers as circuit-switched communications. Dispatch communication services are commonly known as a "walkie-talkie" type of call, such as provided by Nextel Communications, Inc. and identified by the trade names Push-To-Talk (PTT) or Direct Connect. The popularity of dispatch calls is ever expanding and this increase in popularity has created a demand for these types of calls.
Currently, dispatch communication services can typically provide private and multi-party calls. A private dispatch call is between two parties, while a multi-party dispatch call, which can be either a group call or a chatroom call, as will be further explained later in this specification, is between more than two parties, each of whom can converse with each of the other participants during the call. Multi-party calls are becoming increasingly popular because they allow a subscriber to converse with numerous other subscribers in the same session. This provides particular utility in both business applications and for social communications. However, there are aspects in the way dispatch multi-party calls are handled by the dispatch service provider network that does not provide for efficient utilization of resources within the network.
Currently, due to various limitations, most multi-party dispatch calls are only able to be conducted between a few participants, e.g., four or five people. One of these limitations, for example, is the narrowband RF interface into the service provider network for the potential participants. Because bandwidth is limited, it has been possible for only a relatively limited number of participants to participate in multi-party dispatch calls. Due to the limited participation in these currently conducted multi-party sessions, the issue of efficiently utilizing network resources to support these multi-party calls has not been a significant concern for service provider networks. However, multi-party dispatch calls do present unique issues for a dispatch network service provider in efficiently utilizing network resources. These issues will only become more challenging for service providers as the number of potential participants in these calls ever increases.
Currently, as discussed above, dispatch multi-party calls are generally conducted between a small number of participants. In assigning network resources to support these calls, currently, the service provider dedicates enough resources to support the projected number of participants in the call. Therefore, if the network has a requirement to support a multi-party dispatch call with four participants, the network dedicates sufficient resources to support a call between all four projected participants in the call. However, in the large majority of multi-party calls that are conducted, the number of actual participants in the call is less than the projected number of participants. Therefore, in this situation where the actual participation is less than the projected participation, because network resources are dedicated to support the call at the projected level of participation, an inefficient use of network resources results. Currently, even if the actual participation is less than the projected participation, network resources are dedicated based on the projected participation in order to ensure adequate resources are available; even if this results in inefficiencies for the network.
However, today, even if network inefficiency is inherent in dedicating service provider media resources to support multi-party calls, the impact of this inefficiency may not be significant. For example, since multi-party calls are generally only conducted between a small number of participants, e.g., four people, if the network dedicates resources for all four projected participants and only three actually participate, this inefficient use of resources is most-likely not too detrimental to the network. Whereas only 75% of the dedicated resources were actually required, the inefficiency for this small multi-party call results in the network dedicating resources for only one more person than what was required. Generally, an inefficient dedication of network resources related to one or two, or even more, subscribers is not an issue of paramount concern to the service provider.
However, as discussed above, as the projected participation in multi-party dispatch calls increases in the future, inefficient dedication of network resources to support these larger calls can have significant impact on a service provider. The number of participants in multi-party dispatch calls is expected to increase due to a number of factors, including the ever-increasing popularity of these calls, the availability of broadband access to the network, and the variety of options available for formats for conducting these types of calls, e.g., group calls, public chatrooms, and ad-hoc chatrooms. As can be understood, if a network is required to dedicate resources to support a multi-party call that is projected to have 400 participants, a significant amount of network resources will be dedicated to the call, and thus, unavailable for supporting other subscribers. If all 400 people participate, whereas a large amount of network resources would be required, the network would efficiently utilize all of the dedicated resources in supporting the call. However, in this circumstance of a projected large multi-party call, if only 75% of the projected participants actually participate, a significant amount of dedicated network resources will go unused, even though dedicated. Thus, the network resources that are dedicated to support the remaining 25% of the projected participants that do not actually participate, i.e., 100 people, are not available to support other subscribers. Therefore, in this circumstance where network resources are dedicated to support a large multi-party call and where not all of the projected participants actually participate, a significant amount of network resources are inefficiently dedicated. As discussed above, as multi-party dispatch calls become more and more popular in the future, there is a need to provide a more efficient way of allocating network resources to support these calls.
One alternative, of course, is to merely increase the amount of network resources available in the service provider network. However, this alternative is not desirable for at least the reason that it may be a prohibitively expensive solution for the service provider. Additionally, simply increasing the amount of network resources available does not improve the efficiency with which these resources are utilized.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an improved system and method for efficiently utilizing service provider network resources for supporting multi-party dispatch calls.

System and method for efficient media resource allocation


A combine harvester is provided with left and right main frames that extend in the front-rear direction of a vehicle body, and a threshing device installed between the left and right main frames. The threshing device is provided with a threshing unit that performs a grain removal process, and a sorting unit that is provided below the threshing unit and performs a sorting process of sorting processed articles after the grain removal process has been performed by the threshing unit. A threshing frame included in the threshing unit is mounted on and supported by the left and right main frames, and a sorting unit frame included in the sorting unit is suspended from and supported by the left and right main frames.

The threshing device is provided with a threshing unit that performs a threshing process and a sorting unit that performs a sorting process of sorting processed articles after the threshing process is performed by the threshing unit, in a state arranged in the vertical direction. Conventionally, the threshing unit and the sorting unit are integrally housed in a substantially box-shaped case, and the entire threshing device is mounted on and supported by a main frame provided in a lower portion of a vehicle body (for example, see Patent Document 1).


The invention is a demulsifying cleaning preparation comprising a mixture of nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, monocarboxylic acids having 8 to 9 carbon atoms, builders and auxiliaries. The particular proportions of surfactants permits demulsification and rapid separation of oily materials from the detergent mixture.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 3,663,445 relates to liquid, storable concentrates consisting of 6 to 45% by weight of a nonionic surfactant,, for example a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, 4 to 33% by weight of an ethanolamine salt of a fatty acid, 2 to 90% by weight of an ethanolamine and 0 to 50% by weight water and to cleaning and degreasing preparations, more particularly for metallic surfaces, which are obtained from the concentrates by dilution with water.
AT-PS 308 936 relates to liquid, storable concentrates consisting of at least 5% by weight of a nonionic surfactant, for example a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, at least 3% by weight of a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms in the molecule, at least 4.5% by weight of one or more alkanolamines and typical additives, such as complexing agents, and water and to cleaning and degreasing preparations obtainable from the concentrates by dilution with water.
GB-PS 1,321,513 relates to a process for cleaning metal surfaces using two cleaning baths applied one after the other, namely a precleaning bath and a degreasing bath. The precleaning bath consists of at least 5% by weight of a nonionic surfactant containing 3 to 5 mol ethylene oxide, at least 3% by weight of a fatty acid and/or an alkyl polyethylene oxide carboxylic acid, at least 1. 5% by weight of an alkanolamine and/or oxazine and, for the rest, of water. The degreasing bath consists of an inorganic or organic alkaline substance, for example potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, potassium orthophosphate, potassium pyrophosphate, potassium borate, alkanolamine, preferably mono-, di- or triethanolamine, morpholine, and a complexing agent, a low-foaming surfactant, for example a condensation product of fatty acids with 3 to 5 mol ethylene oxide, and other additives and, for the rest, of water.
AT-PS 299 421 relates to a water-based liquid detergent for dishwashing machines containing 2 to 6% by weight of anonionic surfactant, 15 to 25% by weight of an organic sequestrant, 7 to 15% by weight of a hydrotropic substance, 3 to 15% by weight of an ethanolamine and 0.1 to 0.6% of a corrosion inhibitor.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. DE. 25 05 252 relates to a process for the industrial cleaning and degreasing of articles, more particularly of metals, by treatment of the articles with a solventless aqueous solution containing an organic sequestrant and a hydrotropic substance, characterized in that the aqueous solution used contains 0.1 to 204 by weight of an organic hydrotropic electrolyte in the form of benzenesulfonates, lower alkylbenzenesulfonates, di-(lower alkyl)-benzenesulfonates or mixtures thereof and 0.1 to 254 by weight of an organic sequestrant in the form of aminopolycarboxylic acids or aminopolyphosphonic acids or salts or mixtures thereof, the ratio by weight of the electrolyte to the sequestrant being 2:1 to 1:3 and the pH value of the solution being in the range from 9 to 13.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 4,321,166 relates to liquid cleaning preparations containing 20 to 704 by weight of a surfactant, for example a fatty alcohol ethoxylate, 0.85 to 2% by weight of a corrosion inhibitor system consisting essentially of a mixture of an oligomeric olefinic fatty acid and an aromatic triazole and 1 to 75% by weight water.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. DE. 35 30 623 relates to demulsifying cleaning preparations with a surface moisturizing effect which contain builders/complexing agents in a quantity of 0.5 to 10% by weight, one or more alkanolamine(s) in a quantity of 20 to 604 by weight, one or more nonionic surfactant(s) in a quantity of 1 to 15% by weight and, for the rest, water. These cleaning preparations and corresponding cleaning compositions are suitable for the cleaning and degreasing of painted and unpainted vehicle surfaces, engines, floors and walls of workshops, etc., even at room temperature, with demulsification of the oily or greasy soil removed.
However, the demulsifying effect of these known cleaning preparations does not satisfy present-day requirements. In other words, their demulsification of the oil-containing soil removed and the resulting, subsequent separation of oil are not sufficient to reduce the residual oil contents in the wastewater to the low levels required today.
By contrast, the problem addressed by the present invention was to provide demulsifying cleaning preparations for the cleaning of hard surfaces soiled with oil which would have a better demulsifying effect and also a better cleaning effect than known cleaning preparations. In addition, the demulsifying effect of the cleaning preparations would result in improved oil removal and hence in lower residual oil contents in the wastewater.

Demulsifying powder-form or liquid cleaning preparations and their use


Methods and systems for a transmission are provided herein. In one example, a hydraulic system includes a lubrication valve included in a lubricant line and designed to adjust a flow of lubricant to a multi-disc wet clutch. The hydraulic system further includes a clutch line coupled to a clutch control valve, where the clutch line is in fluidic communication with a hydraulic fluid to a clutch actuator of the multi-disc wet clutch and a passive adjustment device of the lubrication valve and where the passive adjustment device transitions the lubrication valve between a limited flow state and an open flow state based on a pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the clutch line.

Certain transmissions use hydraulically controlled components, such as wet friction clutches, to reduce power interruptions during shifting transients to diminish noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH). Transmission have additionally deployed lubrication systems that direct oil to bearings, clutches, such as friction clutches, and other moving components, to increase component longevity and reduce wear. The lubricant supplied to the friction clutches decreases clutch wear but may also increase drag torque due to the viscous effects of oil that occur when the clutch is disengaged. This drag torque may cause continuous undesired power losses which decreases gearbox efficiency. US 2015/0012191 A1 to Ohya et al. teaches an automatic transmission with a lubricating oil supply system that routes oil to a plurality of clutches and a motor for lubrication and cooling. In the oil supply system, an electronically adjusted flowrate control valve is positioned downstream of a relief valve. Further, in the system, the flowrate control valve is actively commanded by a controller to decrease the pressure of oil delivered to the clutches, particularly during disengagement.
The inventors have recognized several issues with Ohya's oil supply system and other hydraulic systems. Using a hydraulic clutch actuation system that is independent from a clutch lubrication system may demand complex hydraulic conduit routing schemes. The complex hydraulic conduit routing schemes may pose barriers to space efficient integration of both systems into a tightly packaged transmission. Further, higher amounts of computational resources may be devoted to actively controlling the flowrate valve downstream of the relief valve for relief flow adjustment, when compared to system which may use coordinated hydraulic and lubrication system control. Because of the added structural and computational complexity, previous hydraulic systems have been costly and exhibited packaging inefficiencies. Further, Ohya's oil supply strategy for the clutch may, under some circumstances, fall short of meeting the clutch's lubrication demands, particularly during shifting transients.
To resolve at least a portion of the aforementioned issues, the inventors have developed a hydraulic system in a transmission including a lubrication valve positioned in a lubrication line. The hydraulic system further includes a clutch line in fluidic communication with a multi-disc wet clutch and a passive adjustment device of the lubrication valve. The hydraulic system also includes a clutch control valve designed to adjust the hydraulic pressure in the clutch line. In the system, the passive adjustment device transitions the lubrication valve between a limited flow state and an open flow state based on a pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the clutch line. In this way, the hydraulic system may effectively adjust the lubricant flow to the clutch using a system that may be more space efficient and less costly and complex than systems with lubrication valves that are directly electronically actuated.
As one example, the hydraulic system may further include a controller that is designed to determine a desired lubrication valve state based on a transmission gear ratio. The controller is further designed to adjust the pressure in the clutch line by actuation of the clutch control valve to place the lubrication in the limited flow state or the open flow state based on a transmission shift event. For example, the controller may maintain the clutch line pressure above a threshold value when the clutch is engaged and the transmission remains in a desired gear. However, after the transmission is shifted out of the gear, the clutch remains disengaged, and the transmission ratio deviates from the shift point ratio by a predetermined value, the clutch line pressure may be decreased below the threshold value. In this manner, the system delivers a higher lubricant flow to the clutch while the clutch is engaged, for instance, to enhance clutch performance and decrease clutch degradation and deliver a lower lubricant flow to the clutch during disengagement, to decrease drag torque losses and consequently increase transmission efficiency.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Transmission hydraulic system and method for operation of the hydraulic system


The present invention relates generally to silicate-based coatings and to methods to make and apply same. In one embodiment, the silicate-coatings of the present invention are formed from a two part mixture of phosphate-based component and a glass-based component. In another embodiment, the silicate-based coatings of the present invention are free from any organic materials.

Currently, the bulk of commercially available coating products for use in ambient conditions (i.e., typical room temperature and pressure) to protect against and/or control corrosion, for fire protection and/or for use as decorative paints, are made of organic polymer emulsions which are designed to form a physical coat over a substrate on which they are applied. As a whole, such coatings typically exhibit a smooth and pleasing appearance. However, such coatings tend to suffer from several inherent problems.
Initially, such organic polymer emulsions only form a physical coat. Accordingly, if such coatings are scratched, any underlying metal surface is exposed and is vulnerable to corrosion. Once such a coated part begins corroding, the neighboring coating tends to bubble up and peel off due to the corrosion spreading away from the exposed area. This happens even if the neighboring areas are still coated as corrosion can and does spread underneath the neighboring coated areas. This phenomenon is called osmotic blistering, which is a very common problem with organic polymer-based coatings. Additionally, such polymer coatings, or even organic-based polymer coatings, cannot be used for fire protection, unless special intumescent (i.e., a compound that expands upon exposure to high heat conditions) is utilized.
Furthermore, the vast majority, if not all, of organic polymer coatings release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during manufacture, application and often even for a period right after application. It is well known that such VOCs are not only harmful to the ozone layer as well as the general environment, but are also harmful to anyone exposed to such VOCs. Additionally, organic polymer coatings produce harmful gases when burned and the disposal of left over coating materials can be subject to various hazardous material handling guidelines and/or regulations. Finally, since polymer coatings are made from various organic compounds, their carbon footprint is high.
Thus, there is a need in the industry for non-organic based coatings that are corrosion resistant, fire-resistant and/or more environmentally benign than the organic polymer coatings that are currently available.

Sprayable silicate-based coatings and methods for making and applying same


Methods and systems are provided for dynamically allocating engine torque and motor torque in a hybrid vehicle to meet operator torque demand. The allocation is adjusted by constraining the maximum engine torque allowable under selected conditions to provide a better trade-off between performance and fuel economy. A maximum engine torque that provides best fuel economy is learned during engine operation at different engine speed-load conditions based on a deviation in spark retard torque ratio from a threshold ratio as spark timing is moved to MBT.

In some vehicles, such as hybrid vehicles, a high level system controller may control a plurality of power and/or torque sources for propelling the vehicle. For example, the controller may allocate a total drive request among the various sources in different ways depending on operating conditions. During the allocation, a vehicle controller may consider one or more factors such as the available output range of the individual torque sources. For example, an engine may have a variable maximum torque output depending on operating conditions, and it may further change as the engine ages, etc.
One example approach for dynamic torque allocation is shown by Martin et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 7,967,720. Therein, the maximum torque allowed for the engine is adjusted during vehicle operation based on vacuum demand for various conditions, such as for fuel vapor purging. Specifically, when there is insufficient vacuum for purging a fuel canister, the maximum engine torque is limited to a level that provides the required purge vacuum. The remaining operator torque demand is then allocated to the hybrid vehicle electric motor.
However the inventors herein have identified a potential issue with such an approach. The adjusting of maximum engine torque to meet vacuum demand can result in too much limiting of the maximum torque, which hurts fuel economy. As such, it may be difficult to trade-off best fuel economy and maximum engine performance. The setting for best performance will have a maximum engine torque in the borderline spark reduction region, which is inefficient and degrades fuel economy. On the other hand, operating at a lower maximum engine torque that is at MBT spark under all conditions sacrifices engine performance and is not optimally efficient when not operating at worst case conditions. Additional variability in fuel octane rating, and engine internal conditions (such as in-cylinder temperature, compression, deposits, knock detection, etc.) make it more difficult to accurately form an open-loop prediction of the highest maximum torque available when spark is at or near MBT.
In one example, the above issue may be at least partly addressed by a method for a hybrid electric vehicle comprising: dynamically limiting a maximum available torque for an engine based on each of an operator selected vehicle performance mode and a change in torque demand, the maximum available torque limited between a first torque limit based on performance and a second torque limit based on fuel economy; and providing motor torque to the vehicle based on the dynamic limiting. In this way, a better balance can be struck between engine performance and fuel economy.
For example, in response to an operator pressing an "ECO" button of a vehicle, a fuel economy mode of vehicle operation may be selected. Accordingly, the settings of various engine operating parameters may be adjusted so as to improve fuel economy while minimizing reduction in performance when fuel economy is the priority. In particular, a maximum available engine torque may be limited. The constrained maximum available engine torque may be learned (e.g., learned up or learned down) during engine operation, at different engine speed ranges, based on a spark retard torque ratio (that is, a ratio of maximum engine torque at borderline spark relative to maximum torque at MBT). The learned maximum engine torque may allow the most torque to be extracted from the engine without entering an inefficient state. The constrained maximum engine torque may be applied when operating in the economy mode both during steady-state as well as transient conditions. In comparison, when the "ECO" button is not actuated, and a normal mode is selected where vehicle performance is of priority, the constrained maximum engine torque may be applied only when operating in steady-state conditions. During transient conditions, an unconstrained maximum engine torque may be used, at the cost of a small fuel penalty, to allow vehicle accelerations to be improved.
In this way, changing environmental and engine conditions are better accounted for and the best available engine torque is available for vehicle performance while still delivering the best fuel economy. By dynamically the degree of limiting of the maximum engine torque, and the allocation of a drive torque between an engine torque and a motor torque, a more aggressive use of the available engine is possible. In addition, a smaller, less costly battery can be used to achieve equivalent vehicle performance.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


A terminal frame used to manufacture electronic devices, the terminal frame having a metal strip and a plurality of stick-like metal terminals. The metal terminals are joined to the metal strip by resistance welding. A manufacturing system of such terminal frames includes a device used for resistance welding, where the device has an electrode which holds each terminal at a portion near a joint portion, and a current is supplied to the terminal through the electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal frame which is used to manufacture electronic devices with lead terminals and a manufacturing system for such terminal frames.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a type of electronic device, such as a piezoelectric resonator, which has lead terminals. This type of electronic device is mounted on a printed circuit board by inserting the lead terminals into through holes of the printed circuit board by an automatic component mounting machine and soldering the lead terminals to lands of the printed circuit board. In manufacturing electronic devices of this type, a terminal frame having a strip which supports metal terminals protruding in parallel from one side is used. The terminals are attached to electronic devices as lead terminals. FIGS. 8 and 9 show prior art terminal frames. FIG. 8 shows a punched terminal frame, and FIG. 9 shows a taped terminal frame.
The punched terminal frame of FIG. 8 comprises a frame 11 which is a strip with a specified width and a plurality of metal terminals 12 which protrude from a side of the frame 11 at specified intervals. The terminal frame is made by punching the frame 11 and the terminals 12 integrally out of sheet metal. The terminal frame of FIG. 9 comprises a frame 14 which is a strip of cardboard or sheet metal and stick-like, such as cylindrical, metal terminals 15. The metal terminals 15 are arranged in line on a surface of the frame 14 and are fixed on the frame 14 by an adhesive tape 16 or the like.
In producing the terminal frame of FIG. 8, after punching the frame 11 and the terminals 12 out of the sheet metal, the rest of the sheet metal is wasted, which is disadvantageous as to cost. An electronic device which is produced using this terminal frame has thin lead terminals. A failure is likely to occur in inserting the lead terminals into through holes of a printed circuit board and in cutting or bending the end portions of the lead terminals which pierce the printed circuit board to the reverse side. A possible measure to avoid these problems is to roll the terminals 12 into cylinders after the punching. However, this measure requires an additional process and increases the cost.
The taped terminal frame of FIG. 9 requires more processes and more parts. Further, the taped terminal frame is not mechanically strong against tension and torsion and is unstable. The metal terminals 15 must be made longer than necessary by an amount about the width of the adhesive tape 16, which is disadvantageous as to cost. In order to comply with a case wherein the terminal frame is heated in manufacturing electronic devices, the frame 14 and the adhesive tape 16 must resist heat, which also increases the cost manufacture.

Terminal frame used to manufacture electronic devices and manufacturing system of terminal frames


In generating a customized notification on a website, a server receives a request for events from an events database from a browser. Each event includes event parameters for interaction(s) of a user with an instance of the website. The event parameters include a template reference, variable value(s), and a timestamp. The server retrieves an application identifier for the instance of the website from the request, finds events associated with the application identifier, and finds the referenced template. The template includes a message structure with template variables. For each event found, the server parses the event parameters and template variables in the referenced template and replaces the template variables with the variable values in the given event. The server sends an array of event objects to the browser, each including a message with the variable values, a link, and a timestamp.

E-commerce websites rely on their ability to encourage live website visitors to perform certain actions to be successful. The desired visitor behavior can include a sale, a product review, sharing on social media platforms, etc. One way to encourage the desired behavior is to inform the visitor of similar behavior by other visitors. However, conventional techniques do not provide a meaningful and flexibility way to notify the visitor of such behavior.

Templates and events for customizable notifications on websites


A steering column for a motor vehicle includes a steering shaft, mounted rotatably about a longitudinal axis in a steering column housing, and a rotation limiter, and has a smooth and quiet construction of the rotation limiter. The rotation limiter includes two oppositely directed flat spiral springs, which are operatively arranged between a coupling part, disposed in a rotationally secure manner on the steering shaft, and the steering column housing.

Steer-by-wire steering columns are distinguished by the fact that no mechanical connections exist between the steering wheel and the steerable wheels. In order to limit the steering rotation, yet also without mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steerable wheels, it is necessary for a stop to be provided in the direction of rotation, which stop limits the rotation of the steering wheel. It is here customary for more than one rotation of the steering wheel to be necessary in order to steer from stop to stop.
DE 103 12 516 A1 discloses a steering column with rotation limitation, wherein two disks are provided with respectively one spiral track and a ball is arranged between the spiral tracks. Upon the rotation of the steering shaft, the ball shifts in the spiral tracks. This known solution has the drawback of a high tolerance susceptibility, since tolerances result in the balls rattling in the spiral tracks and being able to get stuck.
Thus a need exists for a steering column with rotation limiting mechanism, which ensures a reliable operation and has a low rattling tendency.


A solid state saturable absorber (SSSA) is formed from a slab of solid state material, such as Cr.sup.4+ : YAG. Optical distortion caused by the absorption process can be minimized by confining absorption to portions of the solid state slab which can be cooled efficiently. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the use of the SSSA in accordance with the present invention allows the repetition rate, pulse width, and energy level of the laser output pulses to be controlled by way of optical pump sources, such as a diode array. The solid state slab material allows for zig-zag propagation and thus, averaging of the thermal gradients caused by absorption, optical pumping and cooling which results in relatively low thermal lensing with virtually no birefringence and therefore allows for passive Q-switching applications in relatively high brightness laser systems. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a plurality of thin cells are stacked and immersed in an indexed matched cooling fluid in order to increase the absorption length while minimizing optical distortion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a passive Q-switch device for use with a laser system and more particularly to a solid state saturable absorber which can be scaled to handle high brightness laser sources in which the repetition rate, pulse width and energy is optically controlled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Q-switches and saturable absorbers are generally known to be used with various types of laser systems. Such devices are known to be disposed within the laser cavity and are used to block the primary laser signal until a relatively high population inversion has occurred in the lasing medium of the power amplifier at which time the device allows oscillation within the laser cavity to generate a relatively short pulse width high average power laser pulse. Examples of such laser systems which utilizes Q-switches are disclosed in: "SINGLE MODE HIGH PEAK POWER PASSIVELY Q-SWITCHED DIODE PUMP Nd: YAG LASER by Afzal, et al., Optics Letters, vol. 22, No. 17, Sep. 1, 1997 pp. 1314-1316 "Cr Li SAF Thin Slab Zig-Zag Laser" by Mandl, et al. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics vol. 33 No. Oct. 10, 1997, pp. 1864-1868, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,191,931; 5,119,382; 5,408,480 all hereby incorporated by reference. Active Q-switches are known to be either electro-optically or acousto-optically switched in order to obtain relatively high peak power average power pulses. Electro-optical Q-switches are known to include a non-linear crystal, such as LiNbO.sub.3, BBO or KDP. In such electro-optically controlled Q-switches, a kilovolt level electrical pulse is directed to the non-linear crystal, which causes the crystal to become birefringent to create a high cavity loss in order to prevent oscillation of the primary laser signal until an optimal population inversion occurs in the lasing medium. Such electro-optical Q-switches require a relatively fast rising electrical pulse in the nanosecond range and can consume a relatively significant amount of electrical power.
Acousto-optical Q-switches are also known. Such acousto-optical Q-switches are known to utilize a crystalline material, such as quartz or TeO.sub.2. In such acousto-optical Q-switches, a high power radio frequency source is required to produce an RF acoustic wave which allows light to be diffracted out of the laser cavity.
In order to increase the reliability of lasers and eliminate the drawbacks of high power consumption and the need for a high frequency RF source, passive Q-switches have been developed. Such passive Q-switches are known as saturable absorbers. Various saturable absorbers are known which utilize a light absorbing material that saturates when the gain inside the cavity exceeds a certain level at which time the primary laser signal is allowed to oscillate within the laser cavity. Known saturable absorbers are known to have several drawbacks including amplitude fluctuation of the output pulses as well as lack of precise frequency control. Also, residual absorption leads to heating. Thus, there is a need for a controllable saturable absorber for use with laser systems.

Optically controllable cooled saturable absorber Q-switch slab


An information processing method includes generating a state transition diagram based on state transition information; displaying the state transition diagram; manipulating the displayed state transition diagram; updating the state transition information in accordance with how the state transition diagram has been manipulated; and storing a position of a state designated as a transition starting state by the manipulating step. When the position of the transition starting state has been specified by the manipulating step, the displaying step displays as a pointer an icon indicating that the position of the transition starting state has been specified. When a position of a transition destination state has been specified by the manipulating step, the displaying step displays a transition directed from the stored transition starting state toward the transition destination state, and the updating step updates the state transition information by adding information of the transition to the state transition information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus, a recording medium, and a program. In particular, the present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus, a recording medium, and a program for improving efficiency in developing a user interface (UI) program using a state transition diagram.
2. Description of the Related Art
Software development tools that aid in development of application software programs are becoming increasingly widespread. For example, there is a software development tool that aids in object-oriented program development (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 6-110767 (corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,493)).
In addition, there has been proposed a software development tool for a user interface (UI) of an application software program which uses a state transition diagram typified by a unified modeling language (UML).
The state transition diagram shows a set of states, and for each of the states, a logical description of an operation to be executed therein is provided. The state transition diagram also shows, regarding each of the states, a destination of a transition that will be triggered when a predetermined event occurs in that particular state. The aforementioned software development tool for a UI of an application software program displays a program in the form of a state transition diagram, and a user's manipulation of the displayed state transition diagram causes a change in the program so as to reflect the user's manipulation of the state transition diagram, whereby edition of the program is achieved.
During the above-described edition of the state transition diagram, the user may perform an operation of drawing a "transition" (i.e., a state transition line) from a state frame representing a first state toward a state frame representing a second state in order to indicate that occurrence of a predetermined event in the first state causes a transition to the second state.
In known software development tools, the transition is drawn in the following manner: first, a pointer is moved using a mouse or the like onto a state frame representing a state that is to be a transition starting point, and a right or left button, for example, is depressed to set the position of the state frame that is to be the transition starting point; and then, with the button kept held down, the pointer is moved by moving the mouse onto a state frame representing a state that is to be a transition end point, and the button is released with the pointer located within the state frame of the desired transition destination state. As a result, the state frame of the transition starting state and the state frame of the transition destination state are linked by the transition.
The above operation, however, may cause a problem in the case where a long transition need be drawn or where the drawing of a transition involves window scrolling. This is because, in such cases, an accidental release of the button is easy to occur while moving the mouse. This may result in an accidental release of the button before the pointer reaches a desired position, resulting in failure to draw a desired transition.
As another method for drawing a transition, there has been proposed a function of drawing a line segment between desired starting and end points, which are designated by clicking, for example, the right or left button of the mouse after moving the pointer to the respective points using the mouse. In this method, in which the starting and end points are simply designated, a user may sometimes be confused as to whether he or she is now supposed to be trying to designate the starting point or the end point by moving the pointer and clicking the mouse button. Moreover, in the case where the user attempts to draw a plurality of transitions at a time, the user may have to rely on his or her own memory to recognize the current situation, which may lead to failure to draw the right transitions.
An advantage of the present invention is to reduce the likelihood of such failure by, in particular, enabling accurate drawing of a line segment such as a transition on the state transition diagram, and thereby improve the efficiency in program development.

Information processing method and apparatus, recording medium, and program


A computer management apparatus, method and computer program operable for displaying a data file on a client computer, wherein the data file comprises a structure file and a first plurality of data elements, the apparatus comprising: a send component operable for sending a first message comprising a request for the structure file; a receive component operable for receiving the structure file; an evaluate component operable for determining a second plurality of data elements, wherein the second plurality of data elements is associated with a visible area; a send component further operable for sending a second message, wherein the second message comprises a request for the second plurality of data elements; a receive component further operable for receiving the second plurality of data elements; and a display component, responsive to receipt of the second plurality of data elements, operable for displaying the second plurality of data elements in the visible area.

Increases in computer network connection speeds and bandwidth allow data processing systems to offer richer data content. Web sites use increasing Internet connection speeds to provide richer and higher bandwidth content. Computer data content in the form of Internet data elements, such as pictures and videos, are commonly used in web pages to serve the purpose of increasing the users' experience. Web data elements are also being used increasingly in email communications. However, the improvement in data content delivery may also be detrimental to users, as bandwidth improvements come at a cost. Accessing the Internet via mobile phones is a particular area that suffers from high cost and low performance connections. Often users are charged by the number of Megabytes downloaded. Since the average web page is steadily growing in size, users of such types of connections are finding that downloads are taking longer and are more expensive than previously.
A current client-side solution to reduce the cost of viewing any web page is the option to not download pictures or videos. Many web browsers support this but since so many websites rely on images to construct menus for navigation the user finds that a lot of websites become unusable. Intimately the user has lost value from the experience of using the site.
Additionally, some web sites and web based applications provide a mechanism by which the client only retrieves data for the visible portion of the page. Although this behaviour is very helpful to the user of a high cost connection, it has to be implemented on a per application basis. Since most website providers do not code such behaviour into their sites and most users would not choose to limit their browsing to the sites that have had it implemented, this solution does little to reduce the overall cost of using the connection and serves mainly to increase the performance of web site into which it has been implemented.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to address the aforementioned problem.

International Business Machines Corporation