A hydrogen storage battery with improved cycle life and a method for making the same. The battery has a negative electrode with an electrochemically active negative material and a negative electrode capacity and a positive electrode electrochemically coupled with the negative electrode, the positive electrode having a positive electrode capacity and an electrochemically active positive material with a precharge.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to rechargeable hydrogen storage batteries and methods for making the same. More particularly, the present invention pertains to rechargeable hydrogen storage batteries having a negative electrode with an active hydrogen storage material and a nickel positive electrode.
II. Description of the Background
Rechargeable batteries with high energy density, high capacity and long cycle life are highly desirable. Two types of alkaline rechargeable batteries commonly used are the Ni—Cd (nickel cadmium) type and the Ni—MH (nickel metal hydride) type. In both types of batteries the positive electrodes are made with an active nickel hydroxide material while the negative electrodes are different.
Ni—MH cells operate by a very different mechanism than Ni—Cd cells. Ni—MH cells utilize a negative electrode that is capable of reversible electrochemical storage of hydrogen, hence the term hydrogen storage battery. The negative and positive electrodes are spaced apart in an alkaline electrolyte. Upon application of an electrical potential across a Ni—MH cell, the active material of the negative electrode is charged by the electrochemical absorption of hydrogen and the electrochemical discharge of a hydroxyl ion, as shown in equation 1.M+H2O+e−M−H+OH−  (1)The negative electrode half-cell reactions are reversible. Upon discharge, the stored hydrogen is released to form a water molecule and release an electron through the conduction network into the battery terminal.
The reactions that take place at the positive electrode of the Ni—MH cell are shown in equation 2.Ni(OH)2+OH−NiOOH+H2O+e−  (2)
The use of nickel hydroxide as a positive active material for Ni—MH batteries is generally known. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,182, issued Jun. 4, 1996 to Ovshinsky et al., entitled "Enhanced Nickel Hydroxide Positive Electrode Materials For Alkaline Rechargeable Electrochemical Cells", the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,182, Ovshinsky et al. describes a positive electrode material comprising particles of nickel hydroxide positive electrode material and a precursor coating of a substantially continuous, uniform encapsulant layer precipitated on the particles to increase conductivity and resistance to corrosion products.
Several forms of positive electrodes exist at present and include: sintered, foamed, and pasted type electrodes. Sintered electrodes are produced by depositing the active material in the interstices of a porous metal matrix followed by sintering the metal. Foamed and pasted electrodes are made with nickel hydroxide particles in contact with a conductive network or substrate, most commonly foam nickel or perforated stainless steel coated with nickel. Several variants of these electrodes exist and include plastic-bonded nickel electrodes, which may utilize graphite as a micro-conductor, and pasted nickel fiber electrodes, which utilize nickel hydroxide particles loaded onto a high porosity, conductive nickel fiber or nickel foam. The current trend has been away from using sintered electrodes in favor of pasted electrodes because pasted electrodes can provide significantly higher loading.
Several processes for making positive electrodes are also generally known, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,728 issued to Ovshinsky et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, where electrodes having a capacity in excess of 560 mAh/cc are reported. The particular process used for making electrodes can have a significant impact on the electrode's performance. For example, conventional sintered electrodes may now be obtained with an energy density of 480-500 mAh/cc. Sintered positive electrodes are constructed by applying a nickel powder slurry to a nickel-plated, steel base followed by sintering at high temperature. This process causes the individual particles of nickel to weld at their points of contact, resulting in a porous material that is approximately 80% open volume and 20% solid metal. The sintered material is then impregnated with active material by soaking it in an acidic solution of nickel nitrate, followed by conversion to nickel hydroxide in a reaction with alkali metal hydroxide. After impregnation, the material is subjected to electrochemical formation. Pasted electrodes may be made by mixing various powders, such as nickel hydroxide particles, material, binders and additives and applying the mixture to a conductive grid.
Production of nickel hydroxide particles is generally known and is typically made using a precipitation reaction, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,822, issued to Ovshinsky et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,822, Ovshinsky et al describes producing nickel hydroxide material by combining a nickel salt with a hydroxide to precipitate nickel hydroxide. Like electrode formation, the method for making nickel active material can have a significant impact on properties and performance of the electrode.
Nickel hydroxide material should have high capacity and long cycle life. Excellent results have been found by forming nickel hydroxide with an apparent density of 1.4-1.7 g/cm3, a tap density of about 1.8-2.3 g/cm3, and an average size range of about 5-50 μ. Excellent results have also been found by making the active, nickel hydroxide with a high packing density and a narrow size distribution, such as may be provided with substantially spherical particles having an average particle size of about 10 μm and a tap density of about 2.2 g/cc. Paste made with this kind of active material has good fluidity and uniformity, making it possible to fabricate high capacity, uniformly loaded electrodes. The use of this kind of active material also improves utilization and discharge capacity. However, if process conditions are not carefully controlled, the resulting precipitate may be irregular in shape and have a low tap density. Electrodes formed with low-density nickel hydroxide will lack high capacity and high energy density. Improper process conditions can also produce a powder that is too fine. An very fine powder will increase adsorption of water at the surface of the particles, thereby requiring longer filtering times. Further, if process conditions are not properly controlled, precipitated particles may be formed with an excessively wide particle size distribution (ranging from 1 to hundreds of microns). Nickel hydroxide made with an excessively wide particle size distribution may require additional processing, such as pulverization, to render it useful. For these reasons and others, active powder having a low density, irregular shape and/or poor size distribution is undesirable for use in a high capacity nickel metal hydride battery.
To produce high density, substantially spherical nickel hydroxide powder, carefully controlled process conditions are used to seed and gradually grow nickel hydroxide particles. Although process conditions can vary, generally the process involves combining a nickel salt with an ammonium ion to form a nickel-ammonium complex. The nickel-ammonium complex is then broken down, typically with caustic, to gradually precipitate nickel hydroxide. However, this reaction rate is difficult to control, so methods have been introduced to separate certain steps in the production process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,403, entitled "Method for Preparing High Density Nickel Hydroxide Used for Alkali Rechargeable Batteries", issued to Shin on Mar. 12, 1996, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, discloses a method for preparing nickel hydroxide from a nickel sulfate solution using a separate or isolated amine reactor. Nickel sulfate is mixed with ammonium hydroxide in the isolated amine reactor to form a nickel ammonium complex. The nickel ammonium complex is removed from the reactor and sent to a second mixing vessel or reactor where it is combined with a solution of sodium hydroxide to obtain nickel hydroxide. The nickel hydroxide particles may then be formed into a pasted electrode with suitable binders, additives, conductive powders, etc. The electrode is then combined with a negative electrode, separator and a suitable electrolyte to form a hydrogen storage battery.
One useful form of hydrogen storage battery is the sealed type. Sealed batteries are particularly advantageous because they are maintenance free. Sealed batteries typically use a small amount of liquid and operate in a starved condition. However, sealed hydrogen storage batteries are vulnerable to degradation during cycling, particularly, during overcharging and overdischarging conditions. For example, overcharging can effect oxidization of the negative active material. Oxidation of the negative active material it turn results in an irreversible loss of negative electrode capacity and an unbalanced state of charge between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. Another problem that can occur is battery venting. Battery venting can occurs primarily from pressure build-up resulting from hydrogen gas generation at a rate that cannot be recombined within the battery at a complimentary rate. When a critical pressure is reached, gas is vented through a battery safety valve. Most of this excess gas evolution occurs during overcharging at the surface of the negative electrode. To further add to the problem, additional hydrogen evolution may occur from localized heating of the negative electrode. Localized heating occurs from the exothermic reaction of oxygen gas recombining with hydrogen stored at the negative electrode. This localized heating in turn lowers the hydrogen evolution potential at the surface of the negative electrode. The end result is build-up and venting of hydrogen gas. This gas venting causes an irreversible loss of cell capacity and an increase in cell impedance.
To reduce the potential for oxidation of the negative active material and minimize gas evolution, current practice is to make hydrogen storage batteries that are positive limited, e.g. have a positive electrode capacity which is smaller than negative electrode capacity. Excess negative capacity prevents the negative electrode from becoming fully charged and ideally permits oxygen produced at the positive electrode to easily recombine at the surface of the negative electrode according to the following reactions:
                              OH          -                →                                            1              4                                                  O              2                                +                                    1              2                                                  H              2                                    O                    +                                    e              -                                                                                (                              at                                                                                the                                                                                positive                                                                                electrode                            )                                                          (        5        )                                          MH          +                                    1              4                                                  O              2                                      →                  M          +                                    1              2                                                  H              2                                    O                                                                                (                              at                                                                                the                                                                                negative                                                                                electrode                            )                                                          (        6        )
However, positive limiting a battery alone does not prevent premature failure due to complications during overcharge, overdischarge and charging. As a consequence of these complications, oxidation and gas evolution at the negative electrode act to systematically reduce battery cycle life through electrode oxidation, degradation, battery venting, active material disintegration, etc.

Hydrogen storage battery; positive nickel electrode; positive electrode active material and methods for making

Abstract: Also described herein is a positive electrode material for a hydrogen storage battery and a method for making the same. The positive electrode material includes a preoxidized positive active material which is partially non-oxidized. The preoxidized positive material may be used to provide precharge to the positive electrode of a hydrogen storage battery to aid in cell balancing.


A modification process and modified article are disclosed. The modification process includes locating an area in an article, removing the area by machining to form a machined region, inserting a modification material into the machined region, securing the modification material to the article, machining the modification material flush with a geometry of the article, and applying a coating over at least a portion of the article. Another modification process includes locating an area under a suction side leading edge tip shroud fillet of an airfoil, removing the area by machining to form a hole, inserting a modification material having improved material properties as compared to an original base material into the hole, securing the modification material in place, machining the modification material and the airfoil to form a new fillet contour, and applying a coating over at least a portion of the airfoil. Also disclosed is the modified article.

Turbine components such as airfoils experience extreme stresses during operation. Some of those stresses include increased pressure and temperature which may be concentrated on specific areas of the turbine component. One specific area is under the suction side leading edge tip shroud fillet of an airfoil, where increased stress may lead to a creep rupture or cracking
Stresses of this type can lead to early removal, discard and replacement of the expensive airfoil. This reduces the expected operational lifetime of the airfoil, increasing maintenance costs and operational costs of a system.
One modification method includes weld build ups over an increased stress area, followed by machining The weld build ups reduce material properties and increase the risk of stressing additional areas at the weld interface with the blade and in the weld metal. Additionally, current modification processes do not sufficiently increase material properties of the increased stress areas of the airfoil to provide a usable modified article.
A modification process to remove increased stress areas and increase material properties, as well as a modified article that do not suffer from one or more of the above drawbacks would be desirable in the art.

Modification process and modified article


Various embodiments of low-mass sound generators each having a wide frequency band are disclosed. In some embodiments, the acoustic transducer acting as the sound generator is constructed of four layers of PVDF film. The top and bottom bi-laminate members are separately formed in a pre-curved manner to form a rippled geometry.

1.0 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to loudspeaker sometimes referred to as sound generators. More particularly, the present invention relates to a very low-mass, light-weight sound generator with a wide frequency bandwidth principally used in large surface area applications, such as wall covers, where mass is of crucial importance and when so used in such an arrangement is capable of delivering high sound levels required for audio generation or active sound control.
2.0 Description of the Related Art
A very wide variety of sound generators exist, the most familiar being the common loudspeaker. This and other such sound generators perform well in many applications, but all have disadvantages, which limit their range of applicability.
For example, conventional loudspeakers use high-mass voice coils. In aerospace applications where weight is a crucial expense, the use of loudspeakers can become prohibitive. Horn and buzzer type actuators can be designed which are light-weight and capable of low frequency use, however, their narrow-band nature and poor controllability limits their use to a narrow range of applications.
Polymer speakers have been successful in high frequency applications. These typically are electrostatic or piezoelectric (i.e. using poly-vinylidene fluoride film, abbreviated as PVDF). However, existing technologies are not capable of delivering the high displacement levels required for reproducing mid or low frequency audible sounds.
Aside from their use in sound generation, polymeric materials have been used in a bi-laminate configuration to generate motion. More particularly, when a voltage is applied to PVDF film (or any piezoelectric material) it changes thickness and length according to well-known constitutive piezoelectric equations. The thickness change is typically very small, but the length change can be significant. This elongation can be amplified by constructing a bi-laminar pair, often called a xe2x80x9cbimorph,xe2x80x9d which may be further described with reference to FIG. 1 showing a prior art parallel-laminate configuration 10.
FIG. 1 shows two layers 12 and 14 of PVDF film which are glued together with their polarities in the same direction in a manner known in the art. The voltage, xcex94V, to each PVDF film is applied between the center electrode (CE) (at the laminate interface) and the outer electrode (OE) of each laminate in a manner known in the art. FIG. 1 further illustrates each laminate as having an elongate length La, and a possible displacement y, whereas the combined thickness of the laminates, along with their associated electrodes is given by t.
The displacement xcex94y and force F generating ability of this laminate (and most simple actuators) is given by the usual expression.                               Δ                                xe2x80x83                              y                =                              (                          1              -                              F                                  F                  b                                                      )                              Δ                                xe2x80x83                                          y            0                                              (        1        )
This equation contains two commonly measured parameters: the no-load tip displacement xcex94y0 and blocked-force Fb, defined as follows:                               Δ                                xe2x80x83                                          y            0                          =                              3            4                                                        (                                                L                  a                                t                            )                        2                                          d            31                              Δ                                xe2x80x83                              V                                    (        2        )                                          F          b                =                              3            2                                          t                                      (                              W                                  L                  a                                            )                                                      Yd            31                              Δ                                xe2x80x83                              V                                    (        3        )
With regard to expressions (2) and (3), t is the film thickness (of one layer, such as 12, of the bi-laminate made up of layers 12 and 14), La is the unconstrained length, W is the width of the parallel-laminate configuration 10, and xcex94V is the applied voltage. The parameters Y and d31 are respectively the Young""s modulus and the piezoelectric charge constant, both in the direction of length (the so-called xe2x80x9c31xe2x80x9d direction of the polymer). If multiple layer pairs, such as multiple pairs of layers 12 and 14, are used (in fully-bonded arrangements) the force increases by the square of the number of pairs.
Another common implementation is the series-laminate configuration (not shown), in which the polarities of the voltage potentials applied to the two layers, such as layers 12 and 14, are reversed and the positive voltage thereof is applied only across the outer two electrodes. This construction of the series-laminate configuration is simpler to fabricate (since it does not have a center electrode), but disadvantageously produces only half the deflection per applied volt.
The above bi-laminates, such as the parallel-laminate configuration 10 and the series-laminate configuration (not shown), is shown (e.g., FIG. 1) in the cantilever configuration, where one end is clamped and the other is free for movement thereof. An alternative configuration is called the xe2x80x9cbeamxe2x80x9d configuration, known in the art, in which both ends of the associated layers, such as layers 12 and 14, are clamped and the center of the associated layers is free to displace vertically.
An additional common configuration uses only one active layer, with the other layer being inactive. As used herein, an xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d layer is meant to represent that the layer experiences movement and that the layer is comprised of an electro-acoustic material, such as a PVDF film. This one active layer arrangement is often called a xe2x80x9cmonomorph.xe2x80x9d It has reduced performance, but is of a lower cost.
The above bi-laminates have been previously used primarily as actuators for motion control. They have also found some use as sound generators in resonant (narrow bandwidth) alarm applications (typically using hard ceramic piezoelectric material) or for very low-level high-frequency novelty music sources. However, the prior art bi-laminate configurations have not used as broad-band sound generators. Therefore, a need exists in the prior art for bi-laminates that serve as broad-band sound generators.
An object of the present invention is to provide for bi-laminate configurations each having the ability to generate associated displacements so as to reproduce high sound levels required for audio generation or active sound control.
A further object of the present invention is to provide for various bi-laminates configurations, each of which serves as broad-band sound generators.
Another object of the present invention is to provide for bi-laminates that may be arranged into different configurations to provide for relatively large arrays all of which serve as broad-band sound generators.
Objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by a bi-laminated members providing for an acoustic transducer. The acoustic transducer comprises a pair of bi-laminate members each having distal opposite ends. At least one layer of each of the pair of bi-laminate members being of an active electro-acoustic material. Each pair of bi-laminate members has inner and outer surfaces with a first electrode affixed to each outer surface of each pair of bi-laminate members and with a second electrode affixed to each inner surface of each pair of bi-laminate members. Each of the pair of the bi-laminate members extends along an elongated length and each of the pairs is affixed to one another at their respective distal opposite ends along the length. At least one of each of the pair of bi-laminate members has a curved central portion along the elongated length disposed between the distal opposite ends. The curved central portion of the bi-laminate member is displaced from its respective bi-laminate member in a direction transverse to the elongated length and effective so as to permit vibration of the bi-laminate members with respect to one another.

Dual bi-laminate polymer audio transducer

The United States of America as represented by The Secretary of the Navy


A gate electrode includes a first polysilicon film remaining on a first oxide film, a part of a second polysilicon layer 8 superimposed on the polysilicon layer, and a part of the second polysilicon layer partially extending over second gate oxide films. Thus, the thickness of the gate electrode on the first gate oxide film is the same as that of the gate electrode of the prior art, but the film thickness t2 of the gate electrode 10 on the second gate oxide films 6A and 6B is thinner than the thickness t1 of the prior art. Therefore, the height gap h2 between the gate electrode 10 and the N+type source layer 11 and the height gap h2 between the gate electrode 10 and the N+type drain layer 12 become smaller compared to those of prior art, leading to the improved flatness of the interlayer oxide film 13.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an insulated gate semiconductor device with high voltage structure and its manufacturing method, especially to a technology to improve the breakdown voltage between a gate and a source as well as the breakdown voltage between a gate and a drain.
2. Background Art
The insulated gate semiconductor device of the prior art will be explained hereinafter by referring to FIG. 5. This type of insulated gate semiconductor device is generally called a MOS transistor. Here, the MOS transistor with a high voltage structure will be explained. This kind of MOS transistor is used as an output buffer for an LCD driver.
In FIG. 5, an N−type source layer 52 and an N−type drain layer 53 are deeply formed by thermal diffusion on the surface of a P type silicon substrate 51. The N−type source layer 52 and the N−type drain layer 53 are made of an N type diffusion layer of a relatively low impurity concentration. The region between the N−type source layer 52 and the N−type drain layer 53 is a channel region CH.
Reference numerals 54 and 55 denote thick gate oxide films formed by selective oxidation. The thick gate oxide film 54 is formed at the edge of the N−type drain layer 53, and the thick gate oxide film 55 is formed at the edge of the N−type source layer 52. Reference numeral 56 denotes a field oxide film formed simultaneously by the selective oxidation stated above. The thick gate oxide films 54, 55, and the field oxide film 56 are films that are generally called LOCOS.
Reference numeral 57 denotes a thin gate oxide film formed on the channel region CH of the MOS transistor. The thin gate oxide film 57 and the thick gate oxide films 54 and 55 make a unitary unit forming a gate oxide film. N+type source layer 58 is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 51 between the thick oxide film 54 and the field oxide film 56. Likewise, N+type drain layer 59 is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 51 between the thick oxide film 55 and the field oxide film 56. The N+type source layer 58 and the N+type drain layer 59 are made of an N type diffusion layer of a high impurity concentration. A gate electrode 60 covers the thin gate oxide film 57 and partially extends over the thick gate oxide films 54 and 55.
The structure of the MOS transistor described above can be summarized as follows. The edge of the gate electrode 60 is formed away from the N+type source layer 58 as well as away from the N+type drain layer 59. The region between the gate electrode 60 and the N+type source layer 58, and the region between the gate electrode 60 and the N+type drain layer 59 are called offset regions. In the offset regions, the thick gate oxide films 54 and 55 are formed. Under these thick gate oxide films 54 and 55, the N−type source layer 52 and the N−type drain layer 53 are formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 51. The N−type source layer 52 and the N−type drain layer 53 also extend to the area beneath the N+type source layer 58 and the N+type drain layer 59.
The structure described above provides an improvement in the breakdown voltage between the gate and the source because of the smaller electric field between the gate electrode 60 and the N+type source layer 58. In the same manner, the breakdown strength between the gate and the drain is also improved because of the smaller electric field between the gate electrode 60 and the N+type drain layer 59. Here, the breakdown voltage between the gate and the source is the voltage at which dielectric breakdown occurs between the gate and the source when a high voltage is applied to the gate. Likewise, the breakdown voltage between the gate and the drain is the voltage at which dielectric breakdown occurs between the gate and the drain when a high voltage is applied to the gate.
Also, this structure provides an improvement in the source breakdown voltage, the drain breakdown voltage and the breakdown voltage between the source and the drain. Here, the source breakdown voltage is the voltage at which breakdown occurs when a high voltage is applied to the source. Also, the drain breakdown voltage is the voltage at which breakdown occurs when a high voltage is applied to the drain. The breakdown strength between the source and the drain is the voltage at which breakdown occurs when a high voltage is applied between the source and the drain.
However, in the structure described above, the height gap h1 between the gate electrode 60 and the N+type source layer 58 or the N+type drain layer 59 is large, because the gate electrode 60 partially extends over the thick gate oxide films 54 and 55.
Thus, the flatness of the interlayer oxide film 61 is reduced since the interlayer oxide film made of BPSG film reflects the height gap h1, creating the height gap H1. Here, BPSG stands for boron phosphorus silicate glass.
The reduction in the flatness of the interlayer oxide film 61 also causes problems such as degraded processing accuracy of a wiring layer which is formed on the interlayer oxide film 61. When an aluminum wiring layer is formed on the interlayer oxide film 61, an aluminum layer is first formed on the interlayer oxide film 61 by a sputtering method. Then, a photoresist layer is formed on the aluminum layer.
Next, the photoresist layer is exposed by using a stepper. A development processing is performed to the photoresist layer, and the photoresist layer is then processed to have a certain amount of line width. When the interlayer oxide film 61 becomes less flat, the accuracy of the line widths of the photoresist layer after the development processing is also degraded.
Afterwards, etching is performed on the aluminum layer by using the processed photoresist layer as a mask for forming the aluminum wiring layer. However, the degraded accuracy of the line widths of the photoresist layer also leads to degraded accuracy in the line widths of the aluminum wiring layer. That is, the deterioration of the flatness of the interlayer oxide film 61 causes the degraded processing accuracy of the wiring layer.

Method of manufacturing insulated gate semiconductor device


A device for guiding two sub-assemblies of a motor vehicle displaceable in relation to one another. Said device comprises two guide elements positioned at a distance from one another in a transversal direction that is perpendicular to the guide direction and two guide units, in which a respective guide element is mounted so that it is displaceable in the guide direction. The guide elements are intercoupled and stops are allocated to the guide elements on the guide units, said stops limiting a displacement of the guide elements in relation to the respective guide units in the transversal direction, perpendicular to the guide direction. A first of the two guide elements in the allocated guide unit is mounted perpendicularly to the guide direction with a negligible displacement margin. The second guide element is mounted in the allocated guide unit with a greater displacement margin in the transversal direction.

The invention relates to a device for guiding two structural assemblies of a motor vehicle which are displaceable relative to one another, more particularly of a motor vehicle seat, in a guide direction.
A device of this kind comprises two guide elements which are spaced from one another at right angles to the guide direction and which where applicable are coupled to one another by a connecting element, as well as two guide devices in which each one of the guide elements is mounted movable along the guide direction and which can likewise be coupled to one another by a connecting element whereby the guide elements on the guide devices are assigned stops which restrict movement of the guide elements perpendicular to the guide direction (and in the guide direction). The two guide elements on the one hand and the associated guide devices on the other are thereby each associated with one of the two sub assemblies which are displaceable relative to one another.
A device of this kind serves to guide in a defined direction two sub assemblies of a motor vehicle which are displaceable relative to one another, more particularly of a motor vehicle seat, which are able to move relative to one another under the action of an external adjusting force which is applied manually or by external force (e.g. motorised). This can relate to both a longitudinal movement along a straight or curved line and to a swivel movement.
The connecting element through which the two guide elements are coupled to one another need not necessarily run perpendicular to the guide direction; but the two guide elements have along an axis running perpendicular to the guide direction a space which is spanned by the connecting element. The connecting element can serve more particularly for the rigid coupling of the two guide elements and can by way of example be formed by a rigid or partially elastic element of the seat frame of a motor vehicle seat.
The connecting element can be on the one hand a connecting element which serves for the direct connection of the two guide elements or of the two guide devices, such as e.g. a cross tube of a vehicle seat. On the other hand the two guide elements and/or the two guide devices can also each be coupled indirectly to the other, e.g. by mounting the two corresponding sub assemblies on each outer side part of a seat lower frame whereby the two side parts in turn are connected to one another through further structural elements of the seat lower frame.
It is known to provide two substantially rigidly interconnected slide or rotary joints which are each mounted in a base part of a seat structure, such as e.g. a seat side part on the two long sides of a seat trough (on opposites of a motor vehicle seat), with means for compensating assembly and manufacturing tolerances. Noises, more particularly rattling noises are to be avoided hereby.
As means for compensating tolerances are used spring elements which are integrated in the slide or rotary joints consisting of plastics and are active in at least one compensating direction. The tolerances to be compensated can thereby, particularly in the case of sliding guides, lie within the range of some millimeters throughout since alignment errors are also to be compensated. It has however been seen that with a sudden strain on such sliding or rotary joints, e.g. as a result of travelling over uneven road surfaces or with a sudden change of direction or with sharp braking of the vehicle, transversal forces can appear acting perpendicular to the guide direction leading to a sudden compression of the spring elements. The contacting stop faces of the guide elements (in the form of sliding or rotary joints) on the one hand and of the associated guide devices on the other cause noises which the vehicle occupants can find disturbing.
Furthermore the spring elements can permit compensating movements of the relatively displaceable sub assemblies of the motor vehicle seat which the relevant seat user may find uncomfortable.

Device for guiding two sub-assemblies of a motor vehicle which are displaceable in relation to one another, in particular of a motor vehicle seat, in a guide direction

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co KG, Coburg


Storing and updating parameters of object slices used to render more complex objects is made more efficient in raster graphics systems. Recognizing that some parameters of adjacent object slices remain unchanged, these values need not be stored or updated, thereby saving transmission overhead and/or memory.

The present invention is directed to graphic imaging devices, such as printers and display monitors, and more particularly to the manner in which image data is stored in such devices during the process of generating an image.
In a computer-based imaging system, data which describes an image is generated in a host computer, for example using a desktop publishing program, and then forwarded to an image generating device where it is converted into a format that can be used by the device. In an exemplary system, the image data from the host computer might be in the format of a high-level page description language (PDL). One example of a well-known PDL is PostScript. In the host computer, graphic commands from the desktop publishing program, or other suitable application program, are converted into PDL commands. These commands are sent to the printer which interprets them and determines which types of graphics operations are to be performed, such as draw a rectangle or a particular character of text. The interpretation process typically also determines associated graphic state arguments that apply to each object, such as color, font, size, and the like. This information is then converted into pixel display values which are stored in a frame buffer to represent the shapes and colors of the objects. The values in the frame buffer are used to control the operation of the active elements in a print engine, such as a laser diode in a laser printer or a print head in an inkjet printer, to form the image. The process of converting the high-level PDL commands into the frame buffer display values is known as rendering.
To increase the overall rate at which printing is carried out, particularly for complex documents containing different types of objects, the various steps of the rendering process might be pipelined. At one or more stages of the process, the image data is converted to an intermediate form which can be utilized more efficiently by the next stage. For example, in one well-known type of operation relating to laser printers, high-level graphics operations are determined from the PDL data, and stored in a display list from which they are provided to the stage which generates the individual pixel display values.
The amount of information to be stored in an intermediate form is a significant consideration for purposes of efficient memory allocation in these types of applications. More particularly, each entry in the display list represents a shape or a graphics state command, e.g., color, to be applied to subsequent entries. In addition to this image data, each entry has some associated overhead information which is stored along with it. This overhead information might comprise a header which describes the type of entry, and a pointer or other reference to the next entry on the list. To the extent possible, it is desirable to minimize the amount of information to be stored.
In other types of imaging systems, lower level commands are transmitted between a control device, e.g., a computer, and an image forming device. Bit-maps, for example, involve transmitting information relating to each pixel to be imaged. In these types of systems, it is desirable to minimize the amount of information to be transmitted.
To determine an appropriate amount of data to be stored or transmitted, it is useful to consider how rendering is performed. In the world of raster graphics rendering, it is common to approximate curves and circular arcs using straight lines. Conventional raster graphics rendering techniques involve slicing such a straight-line approximated complex object into simpler representations such as lines, rectangles or trapezoids. Each line, rectangle or trapezoid is then rendered sequentially, for example from top to bottom of the complex object.
An example of raster graphics rendering using linear object slices is illustrated in FIG. 1. Therein an ellipse is rendered by sequentially drawing of said linear object slices in the form of raster lines, for example from the top of the ellipse to the bottom of the ellipse. Two coordinates are used to define each raster line; each line is to be sequentially rendered. In the example of FIG. 1, the two lines shown have coordinates XL1, XR1 and XL2, XR2, respectively. For each line that is to be rendered to create the ellipse of FIG. 1, the two parameters used to uniquely define the line are transmitted or stored depending upon the type of imaging system under consideration. For example, a PDL interpreter might receive a high level command to draw the ellipse of FIG. 1 and would then store each set of line coordinates in a display list.
Suppose that, instead of using linear object slices, a raster graphic subsystem used rectangles to render more complex objects. This type of rendering is illustrated in FIG. 2. In addition to the end points of the rectangle, the raster graphics subsystem also needs to know the height H of each rectangle. According to conventional techniques, for each rectangle that is to be rendered on a display, three parameters are transmitted to, or stored in intermediate form in, the raster graphics subsystem. In the example of FIG. 2, these three parameters are, for the middle rectangle, denoted as XL1, XR1 and H.
A third example is provided in FIG. 3. Therein, the elliptical object is rendered using a series of trapezoids as object slices. Each trapezoid is defined by an upper, lefthand coordinate, e.g., XL1, an upper, righthand coordinate, e.g., XR1, and a height H. Along each side of the trapezoid, there are also parameters which describe the change in gradient (i.e., slope) of the trapezoid as it traverses downwardly in the vertical direction. These parameters are denoted DXL and DXR for the left and right sides, respectively, of the middle trapezoid illustrated in FIG. 3.
In conventional rendering devices one slice of an object, e.g., a line, a rectangle or a trapezoid, is rendered at a time. Going from one slice to the next adjacent slice, all of the parameters that describe the location at which the next line, rectangle or trapezoid is to be rendered, are retransmitted, or stored in an intermediate form such as a display list, before further rendering can take place. For example, the parameters XL1, XR1, H, DXL and DXR would conventionally be retransmitted or stored for each trapezoidal object slice. However, as recognized by Applicants, each of these parameters does not always change from object slice to object slice. In fact, depending upon the geometry of the complex object being rendered, redundant information of object slice parameters is frequently transmitted or stored using these conventional rendering techniques. Thus, conventional rendering techniques which update graphical object slice parameters by transmitting all of the parameter information for each object slice between, for example, a host computer and a graphics rendering subsystem, create unnecessary overhead in the data transmission which hinders the performance of these conventional devices. Similarly, those conventional systems which convert all of the parameters for every object slice into some intermediate form, e.g., a display list, and store that information are inefficient and wasteful of system memory.

Compact representation of object slices for rendering raster graphics


Forming and/or improving a language model based on data from a large collection of documents, such as web data. The collection of documents is queried using queries that are formed from the language model. The language model is subsequently improved using the information thus obtained. The improvement is used to improve the query. As data is received from the collection of documents, it is compared to a rejection model, that models what rejected documents typically look like. Any document that meets the test is then rejected. The documents that remain are characterized to determine whether they add information to the language model, whether they are relevant, and whether they should be independently rejected. Rejected documents are used to update the rejection model; accepted documents are used to update the language model. Each iteration improves the language model, and the documents may be analyzed again using the improved language model.

Natural language processing (NLP) systems, such as speech recognition, machine translation, or other text to text applications, typically rely on language models to allow a machine to recognize speech. The performance of these systems can be improved by customizing the model for a specific domain and/or application. A typical way of forming such a model is to base the model on text resources. For example, a model for a specific domain may be based on text resources that are specific to that domain.
Sometimes, text for a target domain might be available from an institution, that maintains a repository of texts, such as NIST or LDC. Other times, the data is simply collected manually.
Manual collection of data may be very difficult, and may add to system turnaround time and cost. Moreover, the amount of available data for a specific domain may be quite limited. In order to limit the effects of minimal domain specific data, a topic independent language model is often merged with a topic-specific language model generated from the limited in-domain data. This operation may form a hybrid model. The hybrid model may be smoothed to form a final topic specific language model.
This approach, however, is often less accurate compared to an approach where effective amounts of in-domain data are available.

Topic specific language models built from large numbers of documents


Systems and methods are described for reducing coherence effect in narrow line-width light sources through various modulation techniques. The systems and methods can include a narrow line-width laser source with a thermoelectric cooler thermally coupled thereto and a controller communicatively coupled to the thermoelectric cooler. The controller is configured to provide a varied input signal to the thermoelectric cooler to reduce coherence of the narrow line-width laser source by artificially broadening the narrow line-width on a time averaged basis. The systems and methods can also include direct modulation of the narrow line-width laser source. The systems and methods can include a narrow line-width Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR). The systems and methods can also include direct modulation of the narrow line-width laser source with or without the varied input signal to the thermoelectric cooler.

As optical fiber capacity grows, it is becoming important to monitor and detect transmission degradations in optical fiber in real time. In an exemplary embodiment, more and more optical systems are relying on Raman amplification to extend reach, distance, and/or capacity. This requires optical fiber that exhibits good qualities as a transmission medium, i.e. low back reflection, low connector loss, etc. Conventional monitoring systems and methods can utilize commercial Optical Time Domain Reflectometers (OTDRs). Conventional OTDRs use broad spectrum light sources such as Fabry-Perot lasers that have multiple longitudinal lasing modes. Disadvantageously, conventional OTDRs are bulky and exhibit high cost. To reduce cost, it is possible to use Integrable Tunable Laser Assembly (ITLA), Externally Modulated Laser (EML), Distributed Feedback (DFB), or the like as a source to make an on-board, low cost OTDR-like monitoring device to perform optical fiber quality checks. However, due to narrow line-width (in the range of few hundred kHz to a few MHz) of ITLA, EML, DFB, etc. sources, this narrow line-width causes coherence effects in detected Rayleigh scattering signals making the OTDR measurements unreliable. There exists a need for a simple approach in reducing the coherence effects due to narrow line-width from ITLA, EML, DFB, etc. sources.

Systems and methods reducing coherence effect in narrow line-width light sources


Disclosed are a photosensitive resin composition including (A) a binder resin represented by the following Chemical Formula 1; (B) a reactive unsaturated compound; (C) an initiator; (D) a pigment; and (E) a solvent, and a light blocking layer using the same, wherein, in the following Chemical Formula 1, each substituent is the same as defined in the detailed description.

A liquid crystal display device includes a lower substrate including a color filter including a light blocking layer, a lower substrate on which an ITO pixel electrode is formed; an active circuit portion including a liquid crystal layer, a thin film transistor, and a capacitor layer; and an upper substrate on which an ITO pixel electrode is formed. The light blocking layer blocks uncontrolled light transmitted out of a transparent pixel electrode of a substrate and thus prevents contrast reduction due to light transmitted through a thin film transistor. Red, green, and blue light blocking layers transmit light with a predetermined wavelength of white light and display colors.
The light blocking layer is generally manufactured by a pigment dispersion method. The pigment dispersion method includes coating a transparent substrate with a colorant-containing photopolymerizable composition, exposing to provide a pattern by thermal curing, and removing non-exposed portions with a solvent.
However, when a photosensitive polyimide or phenol-based resin is used as a binder resin in the pigment dispersion method, high heat resistance may be obtained but sensitivity can be lowered and an organic solvent is required as a development solvent. A photoresist using an azide compound can have low sensitivity and heat resistance and may be affected by oxygen during exposure. Also, an acrylic-based resin can have good heat resistance, shrinkage-resistance, chemical resistance, and the like, but reduced sensitivity, developability, and close-contacting (adhesive) properties.
In addition, since black pigments are included in a large amount in order to adjust optical density of a light blocking layer, sensitivity, developability, and close-contacting properties may significantly deteriorate.

Photosensitive resin composition and light blocking layer using the same


A hidden Markov detector of the present invention comprises a hidden Markov arameter estimator for coupling to an input data source, a parameter smoother coupled to the parameter estimator, and a detection statistic calculator coupled to the parameter smoother and the input data source.

The present invention relates to signal detection in the presence of noise characterized by non-Gaussian noise models. More specifically, but without limitation thereto, the present invention relates to a signal processor for detecting targets in coherent radar return signals in the presence of non-Gaussian radar clutter.
Conventional detection algorithms derived from the assumption of Gaussian noise typically suppress heavily tailed non-Gaussian clutter by requiring higher thresholds than are required for Gaussian noise, degrading the ability of these algorithms to detect weak signals. Non-Gaussian noise may be observed if the noise is dominated by a few non-Gaussian sources, or if the noise is produced by a changing number of Gaussian or non-Gaussian sources, even if the expected number of sources is large. A variety of univariate and multivariate probability distributions have been proposed to model various types of non-Gaussian data including D. Middleton's class A and B models, K, Weibull, log-normal and discrete Guassian mixture distributions. The compound random variable, Z=AX where A>0 and X has a normal distribution, has a class A, K, or discrete Gaussian mixture distribution if A has a Poisson, Gamma, or discrete distribution, respectively. Likelihood ratio and locally optimum detection algorithms based on non-Gaussian noise models have been developed for various signal types. Theoretical and empirical studies demonstrate that these algorithms have a significant performance improvement over corresponding detection algorithms derived from the assumption that the noise data have normal distributions. In applications such as radar, A may be correlated.
A continued need exists for a coherent radar detector having an improved capability for detecting weak radar return signals in the presence of non-Gaussian noise clutter.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A steering apparatus includes: an output shaft that outputs a steering force to wheels of a vehicle; a steering arm which turns about the output shaft, and to which two tie rods, to which the wheels are respectively connected, are attached; a stopper which is provided in a vicinity of the output shaft, and restricts an angle of the turning of the steering arm; a worm wheel that is fixed to the output shaft; a worm that is driven by a motor, and meshes with the worm wheel; a bearing that rotatably support the worm; a housing that holds the bearing; and a worm damper that is provided at an axial inner side or an axial outer side of the bearing in an axial direction of the worm, and is elastically deformable so as to move the worm in the axial direction, as defined herein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In a saddle-type vehicle such as an all terrain vehicle (ATV), a steering apparatus (particularly, a motor-driven power steering apparatus) is installed between a steering shaft of handlebars and a steering member of wheels (front wheels). The motor-driven power steering apparatus is an apparatus that supplements a steering force applied by a driver on the handlebars with an assist torque that is generated from an electric motor.
The motor-driven power steering apparatus has built-in members such as an input shaft, a torsion bar, and an output shaft. The input shaft is connected to the steering shaft of the handlebars. The torsion bar connects the input shaft and the output shaft. A steering arm is attached to the output shaft (for example, refer to JP-A-2007-196927) (FIG. 2).
The steering arm is a steering member of the wheels (front wheels). The steering arm is configured to turn about the output shaft. The steering arm is provided with tie rod holes to which tie rods are respectively attached. The wheels are respectively connected to the tie rods.
When the driver turns the handlebars to the maximum steering angle or greater in a clockwise direction or a counter-clockwise direction, the motor-driven power steering apparatus is required to restrict the turning of the handlebars in such a manner that a vehicle does not roll over in a lateral direction. While the vehicle is traveling on a rough road, even without the driver's turning of the handlebars, an external force originating from a protrusion (convex portion) or the like on a road surface may be input to the motor-driven power steering apparatus and the handlebars via the wheels (front wheels), and thereby this may turn the handlebars to the maximum steering angle or greater. Even in this case, the motor-driven power steering apparatus is required to restrict the turning of the handlebars in such a manner that the vehicle does not roll over in the lateral direction. The motor-driven power steering apparatus is provided with an arm stopper mechanism for such a function which restricts the turning angle of the steering arm via a stopper.
The stopper is provided to protrude downward from a lower surface of a housing of the motor-driven power steering apparatus. When the driver turns the handlebars to the maximum steering angle or greater in the clockwise direction or the counter-clockwise direction, or when the handlebars turn to the maximum steering angle or greater due to an external force that is input via the wheels (front wheels), a striking surface of the steering arm strikes against a contact surface of the stopper. Accordingly, the turning angle of the steering arm is restricted by the arm stopper mechanism via the stopper, and thereby the turning of the handlebars is restricted.
In this motor-driven power steering apparatus, when a bending load applied to the output shaft increases, an excessive load may be applied to a bearing that supports the output shaft, or to a housing in the vicinity of the bearing. Accordingly, in the motor-driven power steering apparatus, a bending load is preferably prevented from being applied to the output shaft.


Provided is an antistatic white polyester film for a surface illuminant reflector, which has practically adequate reflective performance in a visible light region, can form a film with stability even if inorganic fine particles are added in a high concentration, prevents dirt and dust from adhering to the surface of the film due to having an antistatic coat, can control the gloss levels of the front and back sides of the film, and thereby can control a diffusing property of light, and can be suitably used as a base material for a reflector used for a liquid crystal display or an internally illuminated electric ornament signboard. An antistatic white polyester film for a surface illuminant reflector, having a base material layer formed by using a polyester resin and an antistatic applied layer having the surface resistivity of 3×1012□/□ or less at a temperature of 23° C. and at a relative humidity of 50%, wherein an average reflectivity at a wavelength of 400 to 700 nm is 90% or more on one surface of the polyester film and a difference in a gloss level (60°) between one surface and the other surface of the polyester film is 5 to 80.

In a liquid crystal display, a side light system shown in Patent Document 1 is widely known since it has advantages that it is low-profile and can illuminate uniformly. This side light system refers to a system in which the light of a cold cathode tube is illuminated from an edge of a transparent plate such as an acrylic plate having a certain thickness, and illuminated light is uniformly distributed by virtue of dot print provided for the transparent plate and a screen with uniform brightness can be attained. In this case, it is necessary to install a reflector on the rear side of the screen in order to prevent the illuminated light from escaping toward the rear side of the screen. High reflectiveness and high diffusing property of light are required of this reflecting plate.
As a method for obtaining a polyester film suitable for a reflector of a liquid crystal display in line with this object, a method for allowing the polyester film to contain inorganic fine particles of barium sulfate or the like is known. This method can be performed at relatively low cost. This method is described in, for example, Patent Document 2. However, in this method, since some distinction is made in temperatures of stretching in a longitudinal direction between both surfaces of the film in order to adjust a diffusing property of light, i.e., a gloss level, stretching irregularities are apt to occur and the stability of film forming is low.
Further, when inorganic fine particles of titanium dioxide or the like are added to the polyester film in a high concentration, an improvement in the reflection efficiency can be expected, but since the concentration of inert particles is very high, for example, in the case of adding the inert particles to the polyester film in an amount of 50% by weight, a break of the film often takes place and film forming is very difficult.
Furthermore, the polyester film has a static-prone defect, and when it is charged, dirt and dust adhere to its surface to cause troubles of quality. This has also become a very big problem with a polyester film for the reflector. Accordingly, it is necessary to impart an antistatic property to the polyester film for the reflector. There is a description about the technique of imparting the antistatic property in, for example, Patent Document 3.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-62104    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-125700
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-149653


The present embodiments relate generally to systems and methods for securing operation of an ultrasound scanner for use with a multi-use electronic display device. In some embodiments, the multi-use electronic display device can control whether the ultrasound scanner is permitted to generate ultrasound image data for display based on an institution affiliation status of the ultrasound scanner retrieved from a server. In some embodiments, the multi-use electronic display device can control whether the ultrasound scanner is permitted to generate ultrasound image data for display based on whether a digital certificate provided by a server is successfully validated.

Ultrasound imaging systems typically include several components: a transducer that sends and receives ultrasound signals; electronics capable of processing ultrasound image data from the transducer; and a display for displaying ultrasound images. These various components have traditionally been provided by a single ultrasound manufacturer. When a single manufacturer provides the various components of the ultrasound imaging system, it may be easier to secure operation of the ultrasound imaging system. For example, they can design hardware interfaces between the various components to ensure that only compatible components are used with each other.
Some modern portable ultrasound manufacturers provide hardware for only certain components of an ultrasound imaging system. For example, it is possible to provide an ultrasound scanner that incorporates the ultrasound transducer and some of the electronics for generating ultrasound image data. These ultrasound scanners may connect to multi-use electronic display devices (such as a tablet computer) for display of generated ultrasound image data.
It may be difficult to secure the operation of an ultrasound scanner in these portable ultrasound systems. For example, since a manufacturer does not have control over the physical characteristics of the display device, it may be difficult to use hardware interfaces to provide security. Also, unlike processing and display devices supplied directly by a manufacturer, multi-use electronic display devices are not within the strict control of the manufacturer. This may increase the possibility of malicious or incompatible software being loaded onto the multi-use electronic display devices. Such software may attempt to use a given ultrasound scanner without authorization.
Moreover, since the portable ultrasound scanners are typically smaller in physical size and weight, they may potentially be more easily lost or stolen. This may further increase the possibility that unauthorized individuals may attempt to use a given ultrasound scanner.
There is thus a need for improved ultrasound systems and methods that secure operation of an ultrasound scanner. The embodiments discussed herein may address and/or ameliorate at least some of the aforementioned drawbacks identified above. The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings herein.

Systems and methods for securing operation of an ultrasound scanner


Provided here is a counter-rotating axial flow fan with improved air flow-static pressure characteristics and reduced power consumption and noise compared to the related art. A plurality of struts are disposed to be stationary between a front impeller and a rear impeller in an air channel. A plurality of front blades are each formed of a swept-back blade, and a plurality of rear blades are each formed of a forward-swept blade.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the structure of a counter-rotating axial flow fan according to the related art disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4128194 (FIGS. 1 and 2). FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D are a perspective view as viewed from a suction side, a perspective view as viewed from a discharge side, a front view as viewed from the suction side, and a rear view as viewed from the discharge side, respectively, of the counter-rotating axial flow fan according to the related art disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4128194. FIG. 2A is a vertical cross-sectional view of the counter-rotating axial flow fan of FIG. 1. FIG. 2B shows front blades of the counter-rotating axial flow fan of FIG. 1. FIG. 2C shows rear blades of the counter-rotating axial flow fan of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, some reference numerals and dimensions are changed from those of Japanese Patent No. 4128194 for illustration. The counter-rotating axial flow fan according to the related art is formed by assembling a first axial flow fan unit 1 and a second axial flow fan unit 3 via a coupling structure. The first axial flow fan unit 1 includes a first case 5, and a first impeller (front impeller) 7, a first motor 25, and three webs 21 disposed in the first case 5. The webs 21 are arranged at intervals of 120° in the circumferential direction. The first case 5 has an annular flange 9 on the suction side at one axial end of the first case 5 in a direction in which axis A extends (in the axial direction), and an annular flange 11 on the discharge side at the other axial end of the first case 5. The first case 5 also has a cylindrical portion 13 between the flanges 9 and 11. The internal spaces of the flange 9, the flange 11, and the cylindrical portion 13 form an air channel. The flange 11 on the discharge side has a circular discharge port 17 formed therein. The three webs 21 are combined with three webs 45 of the second axial flow fan unit 3 to form three stationary blades 61. The first motor 25 rotates the first impeller 7 in the first case 5 in the counterclockwise direction as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1C (in the direction of the arrow R1 in the drawings, which will be referred to as "one direction R1"). The first motor 25 rotates the first impeller 7 at a rotational speed higher than the rotational speed of a second impeller (rear impeller) 35. The first impeller 7 has an annular member (hub) 27 fitted with a cup-shaped member of a rotor (not shown) fixed to a rotary shaft (not shown) of the first motor 25, and N (five) front blades 28 integrally provided on an outer peripheral surface of an annular peripheral wall 27a of the annular member 27.
The second axial flow fan unit 3 includes a second case 33, and a second impeller (rear impeller) 35, a second motor 49, and three webs 45 disposed in the second case 33 and shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the second case 33 has a flange 37 on the suction side at one axial end of the second case 33 in a direction in which axis A extends (in the axial direction), and a flange 39 on the discharge side at the other axial end of the second case 33. The second case 33 also has a cylindrical portion 41 between the flanges 37 and 39. The internal spaces of the flange 37, the flange 39, and the cylindrical portion 41 form an air channel. The first case 5 and the second case 33 form a casing. The flange 37 on the suction side has a circular suction port 42 formed therein. The second motor 49 rotates the second impeller 35 in the second case 33 in the counterclockwise direction as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1D [in the direction of the arrow R2 in the drawings, which will be referred to as "the other direction R2", that is, in the direction opposite to the rotational direction of the first impeller 7 (the direction of the arrow R1)]. As discussed earlier, the second impeller 35 is rotated at a rotational speed lower than the rotational speed of the first impeller 7. The second impeller 35 has an annular member (hub) 50 fitted with a cup-shaped member of a rotor (not shown) fixed to a rotary shaft (not shown) of the second motor 49, and P (four) rear blades 51 integrally provided on an outer peripheral surface of an annular peripheral wall 50a of the annular member 50.
As shown in FIG. 25, the front blades 28 are each formed of a swept-back blade. The front blades 28 each have a curved shape in which a recessed portion opens in the one direction R1 (the rotational direction of the impeller 7) discussed above as viewed in lateral cross section. As shown in FIG. 2C, the rear blades 51 are also each formed of a swept-back blade. The rear blades 51 each have a curved shape in which a recessed portion opens in the other direction R2 (the rotational direction of the impeller 35) as viewed in lateral cross section. The stationary blades, or struts, 61 each have a curved shape in which a recessed portion opens in the other direction R2 and in the direction in which the rear blades 51 are located as viewed in lateral cross section.
In the counter-rotating axial flow fan according to the related art, the number N of the front blades 28, the number M of the struts 61, and the number P of the rear blades 51 are each a positive integer, and satisfy a relationship of N>P>M.
Four curved portions 18 and 58 are formed at four corners of both end portions, in the axial direction, of an inner wall portion of the air channel formed by the cylindrical portions 13 and 33. The curved portions 18 and 58 become larger in diameter toward the suction port 15 and the discharge port 57, respectively. The four curved portions 18 and 58 are shaped such that defining the diameter of the inner wall portion of the air channel as Ro, the maximum diameter Rm of the curved portions 18 and 58 is approximately 1.06Ro at ends of the cylindrical portions 13 and 33 where the diameters of the curved portions 18 and 58 are the largest. In addition, defining the outside diameter of the front blades 28 as Rf, the minimum clearance Cf between the front blades 28 and the struts 61 is less than Rf/6. Moreover, defining the outside diameter of the rear blades 51 as Rr, the minimum clearance Cr between the rear blades 51 and the struts 61 is less than Rr/8.
While the counter-rotating axial flow fan according to the related art can improve the air flow-static pressure characteristics, it is further desired to reduce power consumption and noise.


A control system for one or more dc motors in which thyristor power modules selectively gate portions of half cycles of ac voltage to the motor field and armature windings, has digitally implemented parallel inner control loops for the armature which each generate an intermediate control signal to which proportional plus derivative control action has been applied. Logic selects the intermediate control signal which phases back firing pulses for the thyristor power modules the most for application to a common digital integrator which produces a control signal having proportional plus integral control action. The voltage across each of the thyristors is monitored and used to detect continuous and discontinuous current operation for adjusting integrator gain.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a digitally implemented control system for a motor, and particularly to a low cost, flexible, multi-loop, digital system fo controlling one or more dc motors powered from an ac power source.
2. Background Information
A common type of control system for a dc motor utilizes a thyristor power module to gate selected portions of half cycles of power from an ac source to the motor armature. Typically, a second thyristor power module controls the field current.
Gating signals for the thyristor power modules have traditionally been generated by analog control circuits. These analog control circuits for the thyristor power module energizing the armature, typically have had an inner loop regulating armature current and an outer loop regulating a second parameter such as speed or torque. Some systems have multiple inner loops for controlling energization of the armature. These additional loops provide alternative voltage control and current limits, for instance, in addition to current control. As the loops are feedback loops, each of the control signals represents an error in the control parameter. The largest control or error signal is selected for use in generating the firing signals for the thyristor power module. Typically, control action, such as proportional plus integral control, is applied in the control loops. Traditionally, each loop has its own integrator. While only one inner loop is effective at a time, the individual integrators of the non-selected loops are each made to track the output of the active integrator, so that bumpless transfer can be made between loops.
Under low load conditions, the converter phases back gating of voltage pulses to the armature. With this phase back, a point is reached where the current applied to the motor becomes discontinuous. As the gain of the converter changes when the current is discontinuous, gain compensation must be applied to the current controller under these conditions. A common method of detecting discontinuous current relies upon monitoring the average current in the armature circuit. The system is tuned up, and when the average current drops below a selected minimum value, it is presumed that the discontinuous current condition exists and the current controller gain compensation is applied. However, the average current is not an accurate determinant of discontinuous current.
The development of powerful, low cost, microprocessors has lead to the digital implementation of the control schemes traditionally carried out by the analog control circuits of dc motor control systems. However, as far as known, these digital systems still output an analog firing signal to the thyristor power module.


A drive system of an electro-photography process unit, which uses a drum gear mounted on one end of a shaft of a photo-sensitive drum for receiving the motion of a drive gear of a motor via an idle gear to drive the drum, a sleeve gear engaged with the drum gear for driving a sleeve of a developer arranged on one side of the drum with a space between the sleeve and the drums, a cleaning gear engaged with the drum gear for driving a cleaning roll of a cleaning device arranged on the other side of the drum, the cleaning gear being positioned on the opposite side of the drum with respect to the sleeve gear, another drum gear mounted on the other end of the shaft of the drum for preventing deviation of the drum, another sleeve gear engaged with the other drum gear for preventing deviation of the sleeve, and another cleaning gear engaged with the other drum gear for preventing deviation of the cleaning roll.

Referring to FIG. for illustrating a conventional electro-photography process unit, the surface of a photo-sensitive drum 28 is uniformly charged with a constant voltage electric charger 25 and then exposed to the light of a lamp 24 reflected from an original document placed on a platen glass 21, so that an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photo-sensitive drum 28 corresponding to the image of the document. The light source may be a laser scanning unit, light emitting diode, etc. Thereafter, as the photo-sensitive drum 28 is rotated, the toner of a developer 27 is attracted to the surface of the photo-sensitive drum 28 so as to develop the latent,. image transferred by a transfer means 32 to a sheet of paper 31 supplied by a supply roll 20.
The paper adhering to the photo-sensitive drum 28 by the electrostatic force is separated by a separator 33 therefrom. Then the paper is conveyed by a conveyor belt 30 to a fixing means 40, where the paper is heated and pressed between a heat roll 34 and pressure roll 35 to fix the toner, conveyed to a discharging tray 39.
The residual toner on the photo-sensitive drum 28 is removed by a cleaning blade 29 and the latent image is canceled by the light supplied from a pre-erase lamp array 37.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the rotation of the drum 28 is preformed by the rotational force of the drive gear 22 of a motor being transmitted via an idle gear 23 to a drum gear 28a mounted on one end of the shaft of the drum 28. The developer 27 arranged in one side of the drum 28 has a sleeve 27b with a sleeve gear 27a that is driven by the drum gear 28a to rotate the magnet roll of the developer. On the opposite side of the drum with respect to the developer 27, is arranged the cleaning blade 29 attached by means of a fixing pin inserted in a slot formed in the base. The cleaning blade 29 has a cleaning roll 29b whose shaft has at one end a cleaning gear 29a engaged with the drum gear 29a.
Such a conventional drive system has a drawback that the gaps between the drum 28 and sleeve 27b and cleaning blade 29 are not kept constant as shown in FIG. 3A because the shaft of the drum 28 receives the torque of the drum gear 28a only at one end so that the relative positions of the drum, sleeve and cleaning blade are deviated from their original positions during the operation.

Drive system of an electro-photography process unit


A solar to mechanical or electric power conversion system which has a controller that varies the speed of a cooling fan and cooling fluid pump fan in accordance with the available solar energy intensity, ambient temperature surrounding the system and other operating conditions. The system includes a suitable heat source such as an isotope heat source, fuel combustor, or a solar concentrator that delivers solar energy to a focal point by reflection from mirrors or by Fresnel lens. A suitable solar concentrator may also be based upon on densifying the solar photon count by a Winston concentrator. For solar heated devices based on concentrated solar energy, a receiver is located at the focal point. This receiver is heated by concentrated solar energy. Heat is transferred to a working fluid which powers a heat engine. The heat engine converts the thermal energy into mechanical energy. The mechanical energy is transmitted to a load coupled to the engine. The temperature of the working fluid is lowered by transfer to the surroundings by operation of means selected from the group including a cooling fluid valve means, variable rate fan, a variable rate pump, a cooling fluid to air heat exchanger, a cooling fluid to ground heat exchanger, and a change of phase heat exchanger. The speed of the fan and pump are controlled by a controller which also senses the ambient temperatures that are available and the temperature of the cooling fluid. The controller computes an optimum cooling fluid temperature as a function of energy expenditure and controls fan, valve, and pump operations to achieve the desired energy conversion optimization.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a power system that converts heat energy into motive work.
2. Background of the Invention
The Industrial Revolution has been fueled with petrocarbons such as coal, oil and natural gas. From the time of earliest records to the middle 1600's, human population grew at a very slow rate. Since about 1650, startling increases in human population have closely followed the exploitation of resources such as petrocarbons, metallic ores, water, and air. The fossil equivalent of some 180 million barrels of oil are burned each day by earth's human population. At the beginning of the 21st century, earth's population will reach six billion persons which doubles the 1960 population.
For millions of years, fossil deposits provided safe and natural storage of carbon and radioactive elements. Global combustion of 2,800 million tons of coal each year releases about 10,200 tons of carbon dioxide, 8,960 tons of thorium and 3,640 tons of uranium to the air, water, and food chain.
Burning the fossil equivalent of 180 million barrels of oil per day has polluted the global atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other objectionable emissions. The present concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about 25 to 30% greater than at any time in the last 160,000 years. This increased presence of carbon dioxide traps solar energy in the atmosphere. Because more energy is trapped in the atmosphere, there is more evaporation of the oceans. This results in more extreme weather-related events such as floods, hurricanes, and tornados. Combustion of fossil fuels for generation of electricity exceeds all other sources of carbon dioxide pollution by the machines of the Industrial Revolution.
The market for electricity exceeds seven hundred billion dollars annually and is expected to reach one trillion dollars early in the 21st century. Generation of electricity to meet this demand must utilize renewable resources in order to prevent catastrophic degradation of the environment by fossil fuel combustion. Solar energy provides a vast but relatively untapped source of dependable energy. There have been developed various alternate fuel power systems that convert heat, wind, solar energy, etc. into electrical power. FIG. 1 shows a solar conversion system of the prior art. The system includes a solar reflector 2 which has a plurality of mirrors 4 that reflect sunlight to a focal point. Located at the focal point is a receiver 6 which is heated by concentrated solar energy. The heat is transferred to a working fluid that flows into a heat engine such as a Stirling engine 8. The Stirling engine 8 converts the thermal energy into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy is converted into electrical power by a suitable generator 9 that is coupled to the engine 8. The working fluid flows through a heat exchanger that is cooled by a suitable fluid of a cooling system. The cooling fluid flows through a radiator heat exchanger that is cooled by air that is delivered to the heat exchanger by a fan.
The electrical power generated by this type of conversion system is typically provided to a municipal power line, an off grid application such as a remote town, or a single farm or family unit. To be commercially competitive, the cost per unit energy produced by the system must be comparable to conventional power systems. The cost per unit of energy is a direct function of the energy efficiency of the system. In general, the system will have a lower cost per energy unit with a higher energy efficiency. Therefore it is desirable to maximize the net energy efficiency of the conversion system which is generated energy less parmetrics energy.
The efficiency of a heat engine such as a Stirling engine is generally defined by the equation B(Th-Tc)/Th, where Th is the upper working temperature, Tc is the lower working temperature and B is an efficiency factor of the engine that takes into account other losses. As shown by the equation, the efficiency can be increased by decreasing the lower temperature of the fluid. This is typically accomplished by increasing the heat transfer rate of the cooling system. The lower fluid temperature is limited by the ambient air temperature and amount of power drawn by the fan to cool the working fluid. At some point more energy is consumed cooling the working fluid than is gained by the system. For this reason, solar conversion systems are typically designed to operate at optimum pre-set cooling fluid temperatures.
To conserve energy, the radiator fan is de-energized when the cooling fluid is below the set point temperature. The fan is then energized when the fluid temperature raises to the set point temperature. The cycle of energizing and de-energizing the fan continues throughout the operation of the engine. The constant on-off cycling of the fan has numerous negative ramifications on the system. For example, energizing the fan initially requires a relatively large starting current which reduces the overall efficiency of the system. Periodic current surges also reduce the life of the fan. It would be desirable to provide a solar conversion system that minimized the power surges to the fan.
The system may have different optimum operating temperatures depending upon the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere and available solar energy. For example, the system may have one optimum lower fluid temperature when the ambient temperature is at 20.degree. C. and a different optimum lower fluid temperature when the ambient temperature is at 40.degree. C. Therefore a conversion system that has an optimum set point temperature for an ambient temperature of 40.degree. C. may not operate at maximum efficiency when the ambient temperature is 20.degree. C.
It would be highly desirable to have a solar energy conversion system which operates at maximum efficiency in varying ambient conditions.

Adaptive thermal controller for heat engines


A rotary machine includes a rotatable member and a casing extending circumferentially over the rotatable member. The casing includes first and second target impingement surfaces. The cooling system includes first and second impingement plates. The first impingement plate is positioned over the first target impingement surface and at least a portion of the second target impingement surface. The first impingement plate defines a plurality of first impingement holes configured to channel a first flow of cooling fluid toward the first target impingement surface. The second impingement plate is positioned over the second target impingement surface. The second impingement plate defines a plurality of second impingement holes configured to channel a second flow of cooling fluid toward the second target impingement surface. A thickness of the casing in the first target impingement surface is different than a thickness of the casing in the second target impingement surface.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to cooling systems for gas turbine engines, and more particularly to a cooling system for cooling localized regions on shrouds within gas turbine engines.
At least some known gas turbine engines include a shroud that circumscribes one or more of a high pressure compressor, a low pressure compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine. As the gas turbine engines become more powerful, temperatures generated within the gas turbine engine increase. The increased temperatures within the gas turbine engine may cause localized regions of the shroud to expand and contract more than the shroud would have expanded in a less powerful gas turbine engine. Specifically, those regions of the shroud adjacent to the rotating turbine blades may be exposed to higher temperatures that may cause the shroud to expand and increase a tip clearance defined between the shroud and the turbine blades. An increased tip clearance may increase tip leakage and decrease turbine efficiency.
Moreover, an amount of additional cooling flow needed to maintain tight clearances for the blade tips and the shroud clearance varies for different regions across the shroud. For example, at least some regions may require additional cooling depending on the thickness of the shroud at that location and the temperature of the shroud at that location. For at least some known gas turbine engines, supplying an increased amount of cooling fluid to the to the entire shroud decreases an operating efficiency of the gas turbine engine. As such, it would be desirable to devise a system of localized cooling of the shroud to facilitate increasing an efficiency of the gas turbine engine.

System and method for shroud cooling in a gas turbine engine


A character recognition processing system includes a character recognition confidence evaluating unit that evaluates whether confidence of character recognition of a plurality of areas are low or high, a character area classification unit that classifies a first area evaluated low by the character recognition confidence evaluating unit into a plurality of components, a character separation unit that separates the components classified by the character area classification unit into a character component and non-character components, according to information relating to a second area evaluated high by the character recognition confidence evaluating unit, and a first character recognition unit that performs character recognition processing for the character component separated by the character separation unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a character recognition processing system and a computer readable medium storing a program for character recognition processing.
2. Related Art
When paper document information is stored in electronic or digital form, a paper document is scanned, the scanned document information is converted into image data, and the image data is retained (electronic filing). During this operation, it is generally practiced to append any attribute or keyword to the image data in order to enhance the usability of the document in an image data format.

Character recognition processing system and computer readable medium storing program for character recognition processing


A dataset is obtained comprising data blocks, each representing a different characteristic, for a plurality of cells across a plurality of bins, each bin representing a different portion of a reference sequence. Cells are clustered on one such characteristic across the bins thereby forming a tree that includes root, intermediate, and terminal nodes, where the cells are terminal nodes and intermediate nodes have daughter nodes, themselves being intermediate nodes or a cell. A subset of the tree is displayed that includes the root and leaves, each leaf representing an intermediate node or a cell. A heat map of the characteristic is also displayed, the map including a segment for each leaf, across the bins. When a segment represents an intermediate node, it is an average of the characteristic across daughters of the node. Graphs of characteristics for the root across the bins are also displayed.

Advances in single cell nucleic acid sequencing have given rise to rich datasets for cell populations. Such sequencing techniques provide data for cell populations that can be used to determine genomic heterogeneity, including genomic copy number variation, as well as for mapping clonal evolution (e.g., evaluation of the evolution of tumors). However, such sequencing datasets are complex and, consequently, tools are needed to allow for a scalable approach to analyzing such datasets in order to determine genomic heterogeneity such as copy number variation, map clonal evolution, and/or identification of somatic variation even in a single cell.

Systems and methods for visualization of single-cell resolution characteristics


The present disclosure describes a novel method of analyzing and presenting results of human emotion during a session such as chat, video, audio and combination thereof in real time. The analysis is done using semiotic analysis and hierarchical slope clustering to give feedback for a session or historical sessions to the user or any professional. The method and system is useful for recognizing reaction for a particular session or detection of abnormal behavior. The method and system with unique algorithm is useful in getting instant feedback to stay the course or change in strategy for a desired result during the session.

Communication between people provides modes of expressing their emotions in various ways. There are various software's that perform analysis of these communications after the communication has occurred and finished. There are very few analysis tools that can perform the analysis in real time and also perform the analysis of emotion expressed via chat, video and audio communication methods. There is a need for instant feedback and analysis tool to analyze human emotion during a communication session. Normally a person shows an emotion during a session as a reaction or a response to a particular situation. The human brain first perceives the session by syntactically, semantically, somatically and then pragmatically analyzing the communication content. Computer programs are very efficient in analyzing text, audio and video data using syntactic and semantic data. Computers lack semiotic and pragmatic analysis process to a reaction or a response for a human emotion during a communication session. There is a need to perform a technically challenging analysis of human emotions to get closer to predicting the real emotional state of a person.

Human emotion assessment reporting technology—system and method