Curable coating compositions are described comprising. (a) a polymer resin comprising active hydrogen-containing functional groups, PA1 (b) a curing agent having groups that are reactive with said functional groups on (a), and PA1 (c) a compound comprising at least one carbamate group that is the reaction product of:. (1) a hydroxyl group that is the result of a ring-opening reaction between an epoxy group and an organic acid group, and PA2 (2) cyanic acid or a compound comprising a carbamate group.

Curable coating compositions such as thermoset coatings are widely used in the coatings art. They are often used for topcoats in the automotive and industrial coatings industry. Color-plus-clear composite coatings are particularly useful as topcoats where exceptional gloss, depth of color, distinctness of image, or special metallic effects are desired. The automotive industry has made extensive use of these coatings for automotive body panels. Color-plus-clear composite coatings, however, require an extremely high degree of clarity in the clearcoat to achieve the desired visual effect. High-gloss coatings also require a low degree of visual aberations at the surface of the coating in order to achieve the desired visual effect such as high distinctness of image (DOI).
As such, these coatings are especially susceptible to a phenomenon known as environmental etch. Environmental etch manifests itself as spots or marks on or in the finish of the coating that often cannot be rubbed out.
It is often difficult to predict the degree of resistance to environmental etch that a high gloss or color-plus-clear composite coating will exhibit. Many coating compositions known for their durability and/or weatherability when used in exterior paints, such as high-solids enamels, do not provide the desired level of resistance to environmental etch when used in high gloss coatings such as the clearcoat of a color-plus-clear composite coating.
Many compositions have been proposed for use as the clearcoat of a color-plus-clear composite coating, such as polyurethanes, acid-epoxy systems and the like. However, many prior art systems suffer from disadvantages such as coatability problems, compatibility problems with the pigmented basecoat, solubility problems. Moreover, very few one-pack coating compositions have been found that provide satisfactory resistance to environmental etch, especially in the demanding environment of automotive coatings.
There is also a continuing desire to reduce the volatile organic content (VOC) of coating compositions. This must be done without sacrificing the rheological properties of the coating composition required for trouble-free application of the composition while maintaining the desired level of appearance. In addition, it is desirable to provide coatings with a good combination of properties such as durability, hardness, flexibility, and resistance to scratching, marring, solvents, and acids.
Curable coating compositions utilizing carbamate-functional resins are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,669. These coating compositions can provide significant etch advantages over other coating compositions, such as hydroxy-functional acrylic/melamine coating compositions. It may often be desirable, however, to provide still further improvements in the above-described coating properties.

Curable coating compositions containing carbamate additive


A semiconductor memory device is provided which ensures the symmetry of memory data transmission time and a high-speed operation and has large write/read operation margin with no need of increasing the chip area. By placing a horizontally long peripheral circuit section in the middle in the vertical direction of a semiconductor chip, placing a vertically long shift register section above and below and perpendicularly to the peripheral circuit section, and making the memory core and shift register arrangement symmetrical in the horizontal direction, the data/signal lines between the memory core and the shift register section can be made short and the symmetry of the interconnections can be maintained, which allows the implementation of a high-speed and large-margin semiconductor memory device. In addition, a faster semiconductor memory can be obtained by forming the shift register section by stacking shift registers each corresponding to a data block and selecting the order in which the shift registers are stacked so that the length of interconnections between the peripheral circuit and the shift register is minimized.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and more specifically to the circuit arrangement of a semiconductor memory device operations of which are synchronized with a high-frequency clock signal. This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 10-364613, filed Dec. 22, 1998, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Such a semiconductor memory device as is synchronized with a high-frequency clock signal is referred hereinafter to as a synchronous memory. The circuit arrangement of a conventional synchronous memory 100 is shown in FIG. 1. The memory 100 is roughly divided into a memory core section 101 and an I/F circuit section.
The I/F circuit section includes right and left shift register sections 102 adjacent to the memory core section 101, right and left input/output (I/O) circuits 106 corresponding to the right and left shift register sections, a delayed locked loop (DLL) circuit 111, and a control logic circuit 112.
The DLL circuit 111 produces an internal write data control clock signal rclk in synchronization with an externally applied write clock signal RXCLK and an internal read data control clock signal tclk in synchronization with an externally applied read clock signal TXCLK.
The control logic circuit 112 performs logical operations on a protocol entered through an external command signal COMMAND to produce control signals for the memory.
The right and left I/O circuits 106 are responsive to the internal write data control signal rclk to take in serial write data DQ less than 0:7 greater than  and DQ less than 8:15 greater than , respectively, from external I/O data lines and then output internal serial write data eWrite and oWrite to the shift register sections 102 each consisting of plural shift registers.
Further, the right and left I/O circuits are responsive to the internal read data control signal tclk to take in internal serial read data eRead and oRead from the left and right shift register sections, respectively, and then output serial read data DQ less than 0:7 greater than  and DQ less than 8:15 greater than , respectively, onto the external I/O data lines.
Here,  less than 0:7 greater than  and  less than 8:15 greater than  represent the low-order eight bits and the high-order eight bits, respectively, of 16-bit data. The letters e and o affixed to Read and Write represent even-numbered and odd-numbered bits of data, respectively.
The shift register sections 102 are each responsive to a control signal to take in internal parallel read data RD less than 0:7 greater than  output from the memory core section 101 in a read operation and to write internal parallel write data WD less than 0:7 greater than  output therefrom into the memory core section in a write operation.
Thus, the right and left shift registers 102 convert internal parallel read data RD less than 0:7 greater than  read from the memory core section 101 into internal serial read data eRead and oRead at read time and convert internal serial write data eWrite and oWrite from the I/O circuits 106 into internal parallel write data WD less than 0:7 greater than  at write time.
The memory core section 101 includes, as in a normal DRAM circuit, a memory cell array, a sense amplifier, a row decoder, a column decoder, a redundancy fuse, and a DQ buffer.
In FIG. 2, there is illustrated, in the layout of the conventional synchronous memory, the flow of data from the memory core section 101 to the I/O circuits 106 with conversion from parallel form to serial form by the shift register sections 102. Here, the right and left I/O circuits 106 included in a peripheral circuit section 105 enclosed with dashed lines are consecutively numbered 0 through 7 and 8 through 15.
In writing into the memory core section 101, serial write data from the I/O circuits 106 are entered into the shift register sections 102 for conversion into parallel write data and the resulting parallel write data are written into the memory core section 101.
Thus, the flow of data in a write operation is the reverse of that in a read operation. In FIG. 2, therefore, there is illustrated the flow of data in a read operation by way of example.
In FIG. 2, four memory core sections 101 are placed above and below the peripheral circuit section 105. The left-hand memory core sections 101 are each allocated areas for eight bits in correspondence with the left-hand 8-bit I/O circuit 106 assigned consecutive numbers 0 through 7. Likewise, the right-hand memory core sections 101 are each allocated areas for eight bits in correspondence with the right-hand 8-bit I/O circuit 106 assigned consecutive numbers 8 through 15. As a result, a 16-bit synchronous memory is constituted as a whole.
In this manner, the cell array is allocated areas from (I/O)0 less than 0:7 greater than  to (I/O)15 less than 0:7 greater than  each of eight bits as shown in FIG. 2. If the synchronous memory is active, then either upper left and lower right memory core sections or lower left and upper right ones will be selected in combination by an address signal.
Data read from each memory core section in a parallel form, eight bits at a time, is converted to 8-bit serial data in the corresponding shift register section 102. The shift register section 102 is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
FIG. 3A shows the shift register section 102 in enlarged form. The shift register section 102 has shift registers 102a each corresponding to a respective one of the I/O circuits (I/O)0 through (I/O)7. Odd-numbered bits of data and even-numbered bits of data (hereinafter referred simply as to even and odd data) are shifted in the shift register section in synchronization with rising and falling edges, respectively, of the internal read data control clock tclk.
That is, eight-bit parallel read data of RD0 less than 0:7 greater than  to RD7 less than 0:7 greater than  read from the memory core section are entered into the shift registers 102a and odd serial read data of oRead0 to oRead7 and even serial read data of eRead0 to eRead7 are read from the shift registers 102a.
Odd serial write data of oWrite0 to oWrite7 and even serial write data of eWrite0 to eWrite7 are entered into the shift registers 102a and 8-bit parallel write data of WD0 less than 0:7 greater than  to WD7 less than 0:7 greater than  are output from the shift registers.
FIG. 3B shows the circuit arrangement of the shift register 102a, which includes a read register 107 and a write register 108.
The read register 107 includes first and second shift registers. The first shift register includes four cascade-connected flip-flops (FFs) 109 that receive odd parallel read data RD less than 1 greater than , RD less than 3 greater than , RD less than 5 greater than , and RD less than 7 greater than  and output serial read data oRead. The second shift register includes four cascade-connected FFs 110 that receive even parallel read data RD less than 0 greater than , RD less than 2 greater than , RD less than 4 greater than , and RD less than 6 greater than  and output serial read data eRead.
Likewise, the write register 108 includes first and second shift registers. The first shift register includes four cascade-connected FFs 109 that receive odd serial write data owrite and output odd parallel write data WD less than 1 greater than , WD less than 3 greater than , WD less than 5 greater than  and WD less than 7 greater than . The second shift register includes four cascade-connected FFs 110 that receive even serial write data eWrite and output even parallel write data WD less than 0 greater than , WD less than 2 greater than , WD less than 4 greater than  and WD less than 6 greater than .
Thus, the read register 107 and the write register 108 provide parallel-to-serial conversion and serial-to-parallel conversion, respectively.
Next, reference will be made to timing diagrams of FIGS. 4 through 7 to describe read and write operations of the synchronous memory in terms of one memory core section 101 and its associated shift register section 102 and I/O circuit 106.
First, an example of a read operation will be described with reference to FIG. 4. Eight-bit parallel read data RD less than 0:7 greater than  is output from a memory core section 101 at a fixed time after the entry of a read command signal COMMAND.
The odd bits 1, 3, 5 and 7 of the 8-bit parallel read data RD less than 0:7 greater than  are applied to the inputs of the respective FFs 109 in the read register 107 and then clocked out of the read register in synchronization with rising edges of the internal read data control clock signal tclk, whereby conversion into 4-bit serial read data oRead is performed.
On the other hand, the even-numbered bits 0, 2, 4 and 6 of the 8-bit parallel read data RD less than 0:7 greater than  are applied to the inputs of the respective FFs 110 in the read register 107 and then clocked out of the read register in synchronization with falling edges of the internal read data control clock signal tclk, whereby conversion into 4-bit serial read data eRead is performed.
These serial read data oRead and eRead are then combined, so that 8-bit serial read data including bits numbered 0 through 7 is output to outside through the associated I/O circuit 106 of FIG. 2. In this manner, 8-bit serial read data is output in four cycles of the clock signal tclk. That is, 4-bit read data oRead and eRead can be alternately output using rising and falling edges of the clock signal tclk.
Another example of a read operation is illustrated in FIG. 5, which is a timing diagram for parallel-to-serial conversion using only rising edges of the internal read data control clock signal tclk. This approach requires eight cycles of the clock signal tclk for parallel-to-serial conversion of 8-bit data unlike the FIG. 4 case where both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal tclk are used.
Next, an example of a write operation will be described with reference to FIG. 6. Eight-bit serial write data is output from an I/O circuit at a fixed time after the entry of a write command signal COMMAND.
The even-numbered bits 0, 2, 4 and 6 of 8-bit serial write data from the I/O circuit are sequentially applied to the input of cascade connection of the FFs 110 in the write register 108 and then clocked into the write register in synchronization with rising edges of the internal write data control clock signal rclk, whereby conversion into 4-bit parallel write data ewrite is performed.
On the other hand, the odd-numbered bits 1, 3, 5 and 7 of the 8-bit serial write data from the I/O circuit are sequentially applied to the input of cascade connection of the FFs 109 in the write register 108 and then clocked into the write register in synchronization with falling edges of the internal write data control clock signal rclk, whereby conversion into 4-bit parallel write data owrite is performed.
By combining the outputs of the FFs 109 and 110 in the write register 108, serial-to-parallel converted write data WD less than 0:7 greater than  including bits numbered 0 through 7 is output.
Another example of a write operation is illustrated in FIG. 7, which is a timing diagram for serial-to-parallel conversion based on only rising edges of the internal write data control clock signal rclk. This approach requires eight cycles of the clock signal rclk for serial-to-parallel conversion of 8-bit data unlike the case of FIG. 6 where both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal rclk are used.
Next, the configuration of the conventional synchronous memory will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. 8A shows the pattern layout of the main circuit of the memory. Though not shown, pads connected to input/output terminals are placed in the middle of the chip.
The I/O circuits 106 are placed on the right and left of the DLL circuit 111. The control logic circuit 112 is placed above the DLL circuit. The shift register sections 102 are placed above the control logic circuit 112 and below the DLL circuit 111 and the I/O circuits 106 for data transfer to and from the memory sections 101 as indicated by arrows.
DQ buffers 103 and redundancy fuse circuits 104 are placed adjacent to the shift register sections 102. The redundancy fuse circuits are adapted to improve the manufacturing yield by providing redundancy for the memory core sections 101 and removing failed bits.
By placing each memory core section 101 and its associated shift register section 102 in the upper and lower portions of the chip symmetrically with respect to the central line, data lines and signal lines between each memory core section and its associated shift register section can be made symmetrical with respect to the central line and transfer times of data and signals over the data lines and signal lines in the upper and lower portions can be made equal to each other. The margin of read and write operations can therefore be improved. However, this configuration increases the area of the chip because of need of the two upper and lower shift register sections.
FIG. 8B is a block diagram of the memory core section 101. As with a normal semiconductor memory device, the memory core section 101 includes the DQ buffer 103, the fuse circuit 104, a memory cell array 113, a sense amplifier 114, a column decoder 115, and a row decoder 116. ADD indicates an address signal, RD read data, and WD write data.
The pattern layout can be modified such that the upper and lower memory core sections 101 share one shift register section 102. This conventional example is shown in FIG. 9. With this modified layout, a reduction in the chip area can be expected in comparison with the layout of FIG. 8, but the length of data lines and signal lines between the shared shift register section and the upper memory core section and the length of those between the shift register section and the lower memory core section will become different from each other. For this reason, a disadvantage arises in that the margin of operations of reading from and writing into the memory core section associated with longer and different length interconnections is reduced.
As described above, the conventional synchronous memory has a problem that, in order to make the signal transfer times for the upper and lower memory core sections equal to each other, two upper and lower shift registers are required and as a result the chip area increases.
With another conventional synchronous memory such that the upper and lower memory core sections share one shift register section, a reduction in the chip area can be expected, but the length of data lines and signal lines between the shared shift register section and the upper memory core section and the length of those between the shift register section and the lower memory core section differ from each other. For this reason, a disadvantage arises in that the margin of operations of reading from and writing into the memory core section associated with longer and different length interconnections is reduced and the symmetry of data/signal transmission time is lost.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a synchronous memory having large write/read operation margin by placing memory core and shift register arrangements in the upper right and left portions and the lower right and left portions of a chip so that they are symmetrical not only in the up-and-down direction but in the right-and-left direction to ensure the symmetry of data/signal transmission time between each memory core and its associated shift register without increasing the chip area.
A semiconductor memory device of the present invention is a synchronous memory formed on a rectangular semiconductor chip and characterized in that a horizontally long peripheral circuit section including I/O circuits is placed in the middle of the chip and memory core, shift register arrangements are placed in the upper and lower portions of the chip so that the chip is symmetrical about the peripheral circuit section and the longitudinal line of the shift register section and the longitudinal line of the peripheral circuit section are perpendicular to each other.
The synchronous memory of the present invention in which the pattern layout has the up-and-down symmetry is further characterized by having the right-and-left symmetry.
In addition, the synchronous memory is characterized by optimizing the direction of flow of write/read data in the shift register section in order to reduce the length of interconnections between the peripheral circuit section and the shift register section which are perpendicular to each other on the chip.
In the description below, the right-and-left direction along a side of a rectangular semiconductor chip is referred to as the horizontal direction and the up-and-down direction along another side of the chip is referred to as the vertical direction. The shape of the semiconductor chip may be either square or rectangular.
Specifically, a semiconductor memory device of the present invention is formed on a rectangular semiconductor chip having horizontal and vertical sides and comprises: a peripheral circuit section including a plurality of I/O circuits and placed in the middle in the vertical direction of the chip so that its longitudinal line is oriented parallel to the horizontal direction of the chip; a shift register section placed on the chip symmetrically with respect to the center line of the peripheral circuit section along its longitudinal line so that its longitudinal line is perpendicular to the longitudinal line of the peripheral circuit section; and a memory core section including a memory cell array and placed adjacent to the shift register section along the longitudinal line of the shift register section.
Preferably, in the semiconductor memory device, the memory core section and the shift register section are placed on the chip symmetrically with respect to the vertical center line of the semiconductor chip.
Preferably, in the semiconductor memory device, the memory core section is placed adjacent to one side of the shift register section along its longitudinal line.
Preferably, in the semiconductor memory device, the memory core section is placed adjacent to both sides of the shift register section along its longitudinal line.
Preferably, in the semiconductor memory device, the memory core section comprises first and second memory cores placed adjacent to both sides of the shift register section and the shift register section comprises a first shift register section which operates in association with the first memory core and a second shift register section which operates in association with the second memory core.
Preferably, in the semiconductor memory device, the memory core section comprises first and second memory cores placed adjacent to both sides of the shift register and the shift register section operates in association with the first and second memory cores.
A semiconductor memory device of the present invention is formed on a rectangular semiconductor chip having horizontal and vertical sides and comprises: a peripheral circuit section including a plurality of I/O circuits and placed in the middle in the vertical direction of the chip so that its longitudinal line is oriented parallel to the horizontal direction of the chip; a shift register section placed on the chip symmetrically with respect to the center line of the peripheral circuit section along its longitudinal line so that its longitudinal line is perpendicular to the longitudinal line of the peripheral circuit section; and a memory core section including a memory cell array and placed adjacent to the shift register section along the longitudinal line of the shift register section, the shift register section including a plurality of shift registers which are arranged along the vertical direction of the chip and correspond one for one with the plurality of I/O circuits. The shift registers which correspond one for one with the I/O circuits are described in the sixteenth embodiment of the invention.
In a semiconductor memory device of the present invention, the shift register section includes a plurality of shift registers which are arranged along the vertical direction of the chip and correspond one for one with bits of write/read serial data. Such shift registers are described in the seventeenth embodiment of the present invention.
Preferably, the shift register section comprises a first shift register section having a plurality of shift registers which correspond one for one with even bits of the serial data and a second shift register section having a plurality of shift registers which correspond one for one with odd bits of the serial data, the first and second shift register sections being arranged independently.
Preferably, write/read data is transferred in one of the following transfer modes: a transfer mode in which, at data write time, serial data is transferred from a shift register which is close to the peripheral circuit section to a shift register which is far from the peripheral circuit section; a transfer mode in which, at data read time, parallel data read from the memory core section is transferred to a shift register close to the peripheral circuit section; a transfer mode in which, at data write time, serial data is transferred from a shift register close to the peripheral circuit section to a shift register far from the peripheral circuit section and then turns back toward a shift register close to the peripheral circuit section; and a transfer mode in which, at data read time, parallel data read from the memory core section is transferred to a shift register far from the peripheral circuit section and then turns back toward a shift register close to the peripheral circuit section.
This configuration ensures the symmetry of data lines and signal lines that connect the memory core section and the shift register section. Further, by optimizing the dividing arrangement of the memory core section and the shift register section and the data transfer mode of the shift register section, the length of the data lines and the signal lines is reduced, thus allowing the write/read operation margin to be obtained, the operating speed to be increased, the power dissipation to be reduced, and the chip size to be reduced.
Preferably, in the semiconductor memory device of the present invention, a write register forming a part of the shift register section is arranged such that a latch control signal (WRTLAT in FIG. 20) for a plurality of latch circuits is transferred in synchronization with an internal clock signal, bits of serial write data entered into the write register are taken into the latch circuits in a given order, and the bits of the write data are taken from the latch circuits in parallel, and, in the write data transfer mode of the shift register section, by the latch control signal entered into a shift register in the shift register section which is close to the peripheral circuit section being transferred toward a shift register far from the peripheral circuit section, bits of serial write data entered into a shift register close to the peripheral circuit section are sequentially taken into latch circuits from close to the peripheral circuit section to far from the peripheral circuit section.
In normal shift register-based serial-to-parallel conversion, bits of input serial data are sequentially taken into register blocks starting with the block far from the input of the shift register to the block close to the input of the shift register. In the write register stated above, bits of input serial data are sequentially taken into blocks starting with the block close to the input to the block far from the input.
Using this function, by entering serial write data into the write register block closest to the peripheral circuit section and outputting serial read data subjected to parallel-to-serial conversion in the read register from the read register block closest to the peripheral circuit section, the data lines and signal lines can be reduced in length.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.


A control mechanism for independently or conjointly controlling three different functions of an off-highway implement. The control mechanism includes a single, vertical elongated control lever mounted for manipulation in first and second directions about first and second axes and for manipulation through a twisting action about a vertical axis extending substantially perpendicular to the first and second axes. A salient feature of the present invention is that manipulation of the control lever in the first and second directions, conjointly or independently, controls first and second functions of the implement while twisting manipulation of the control lever about its vertical axis controls a third implement function independently or conjointly relative to the other two implement functions.

Off-highway implements, such as front-end loaders and the like are typically provided with a loader mechanism at one end thereof. A conventional loader mechanism includes a working tool such as a bucket or the like pivotally connected to a frame of the implement by longitudinally extending loader arms. A series of hydraulic actuators, usually in the form of double-acting hydraulic cylinders, are connected to a hydraulic system of the implement for effecting various loader functions. Hydraulic actuators are used to elevate the bucket or tool by raising and lowering the loader arms. Hydraulic actuators are likewise used to control the roll or pivotal movement of the bucket relative to the loader arms. Many loader mechanisms further incorporate a device such as a clam shell bucket which requires a third actuator to effect articulated movement of the clam shell bucket.
Control over the various loader functions or work operations is conventionally achieved through manipulation of various control levers. Each control lever is connected to one or more control valves which, in turn, regulates hydraulic fluid flow between a pressurized hydraulic source on the implement and each of the actuators.
During operation of the implement, the loader mechanism can perform a single function but usually at least two loader functions are affected simultaneously. That is, while the loader arms are being elevationally positioned, the pivotal position or roll of the bucket may likewise be adjusted When equipped with a clam shell bucket, all three loader functions may be affected simultaneously to economize on operational time for the loader. As will be appreciated, controlling the implement's direction and speed simultaneously with the raising, lowering, tilting, and articulating the bucket of the loader mechanism through movement of at least two control levers can become a cumbersome task for anyone to perform successfully.
Thus, there is a need and a desire for a control mechanism including a single control lever capable of affecting control of various loader functions either independently of one another or in unison with one another or, in any combination desired by the operator.

Control mechanism for an off-highway implement


The method comprises receiving from the vehicle controller, values associated with the engine speed and of another parameter indicative of the engine operating conditions, such as the total fuelling amount, and controlling the fuel injection parameters according to the engine state, which, for example, can include a normal operation mode, a filter regeneration mode, an engine protection mode, high or low transient load modes, and operating at different altitudes, through algorithms implemented in an electronic controller.

Presently, most over-the-road heavy vehicles are fuelled by gasoline or diesel fuel. Because both gasoline and diesel fuelled internal combustion engines generate a considerable amount of pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), engine manufacturers will be required to make improvements to their engines in order to comply with the new government regulatory standards regarding lower emissions of combustion products.
For diesel-cycle engines one approach that shows a significant improvement in lowering emissions involves substituting some of the diesel fuel with gaseous fuels such as natural gas, pure methane, ethane, liquefied petroleum gas, lighter flammable hydrocarbon derivatives, hydrogen, and blends of such fuels. Gaseous fuels are generally defined herein as fuels that are gaseous at atmospheric pressure and zero degrees Celsius. Whereas liquid fuels such as diesel are injected at very high pressures in order to atomize the fuel, gaseous fuels can be injected into an engine's combustion chamber at lower pressure because no extra energy is required for fuel atomization.
An advantage of substituting a gaseous fuel for diesel fuel is that the selected gaseous fuel can be one that burns cleaner than diesel fuels while preserving the high efficiency and high torque of the conventional diesel engines.
Another advantage of gaseous fuels is that, as a resource, such fuels are more widely distributed around the world and the amount of proven reserves of natural gas is much greater, compared to proven oil reserves.
Gaseous fuels can also come from renewable sources such as vent gases from garbage dumps and sewage treatment plants. Hydrogen can be produced with electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind power and hydro-electric dams.
However, some modifications are required to a conventional diesel engine to allow gaseous fuels to be substituted for diesel fuel. In a diesel engine, the heat produced by the mechanical compression of the fuel and air mixture auto-ignites the liquid diesel fuel charge at or near the end of the piston's compression stroke. Under the same conditions, gaseous fuels such as natural gas will not reliably auto-ignite. Therefore, in order to burn a gaseous fuel in a conventional engine with the same compression ratio without having to completely redesign the engine, some additional device is required to assist with ignition of the gaseous fuel, such as a hot surface provided by a glow plug, or a fuel injection valve for introducing a pilot fuel. The pilot fuel can be a small quantity of diesel fuel, whereby the auto-ignition of the pilot fuel triggers the ignition of gaseous fuel.
Gaseous fuelled engines have to respond to different power and load requirements according to different conditions, either external to the engine system or internal to the engine system, while preserving or further reducing a vehicle's emissions rates. Examples of conditions that are external to the engine include ambient temperature, cold start and high or low transient loads depending upon where the vehicle travels, such as city or highway conditions or different altitudes. Examples of conditions internal to the engine include, predefined engine operating modes such as an engine protection mode or a particulate filter regeneration mode.
It is presently known in the diesel engine industry, and particularly in the heavy duty truck industry using diesel engines, to select engine fuelling strategies based on the geographic conditions, wherein the geographic conditions are either presumed from certain engine and/or vehicle operational parameters (for example, engine acceleration) or more accurately determined based on the vehicle location which is communicated through a receiver associated with the travelling vehicle as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,156. Such a system comprises a control computer with a memory having a number of different engine fuelling maps stored therein. Each engine fuelling map includes a mathematical function, table of values or the like, mapping engine fuelling requests to appropriate fuel quantities, fuel injection timing, and the like. The control computer responds to the radio signals relating to the vehicle location to determine therefrom the vehicle's geographical location, retrieves from the memory unit an appropriate engine fuelling map and controls the fuelling system according to the appropriate engine fuelling map.
Due to the modifications to conventional diesel engines that are required for allowing gaseous fuels to be substituted for diesel fuel, a more sophisticated electronic engine control is necessary in order to implement new combustion strategies for gaseous fuelled engines. For example, the engine control strategies of a diesel engine that has been modified to operate with gaseous fuel has to take into consideration the timing for triggering the ignition assisted devices, while also coordinating such timing with the timing for the gaseous fuel injection to achieve efficient combustion.
While it has been demonstrated that by injecting a gaseous fuel directly into the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, it is possible to at least match the power output, performance, and efficiency of a conventional diesel engine, there are a number of factors that make gaseous-fuelled engines different from conventional diesel-fuelled engines, and these differences require control methods that are different from those developed for conventional diesel engines.

Fuel injection control method for a direct injection gaseous-fuelled internal combustion engine


An improved tail cap assembly having features that allow direct electrical contact between a battery and the barrel of a flashlight is provided. The tail cap assembly includes a cap and a conductive spring. The cap is adapted to engage with the flashlight barrel. The tail cap assembly includes a cap which has a seat, two ears extending from the seat and gaps between the two ears. A conductive spring that includes a base portion is disposed between the ears. At least a part of the base portion is arranged to bear against the seat. And the base portion extends outward in a radial direction through at least one of the gaps. The conductive spring may be a coil spring, and the base portion is oval or asymmetrical shaped.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates to flashlights and flashlight components.
2. Background
Various flashlight designs are known in the art. Flashlights typically include one or more dry cell batteries. In certain designs, the batteries are arranged in series in a battery compartment of a barrel or tube that acts as a handle for the flashlight. An electrical circuit is frequently established from one electrode of the battery or batteries through a conductor to a switch, then through a conductor to one electrode of the lamp bulb. After passing through the filament of the lamp bulb, the electric circuit emerges through a second electrode of the lamp bulb in electrical contact with a conductor, which in turn is in electrical contact with the other electrode of the battery or batteries. Actuation of the switch to complete the electric circuit enables electricity to pass through the filament, thereby generating light which is typically focused by a reflector to form a beam of light.
The production of light from such flashlights has often been degraded by the quality of the reflector used and the optical characteristics of any lens interposed in the beam path. As a result, efforts at improving such flashlights have often attempted to address the quality of their optical characteristics. For example, more highly reflective, well-defined reflectors have been found to provide a better-defined focus thereby enhancing the quality of the light beam produced. Additionally, several advances have been achieved in the light emitting characteristics of flashlight lamp bulbs.
Despite such efforts, light beams produced by known flashlights are frequently elliptical or elongated in shape. These aberrations generally result from the fact that the flashlight lamp bulb is not properly aligned with the principal axis of the reflector of the assembled flashlight.
In various flashlight designs, the lamp is supported within the flashlight by a holder or spacer within the barrel and extends into the flashlight reflector. Due to manufacturing and assembly operations and tolerances, however, after manufacture of the flashlight is fully completed, the lamp may be permanently misaligned with the reflector, resulting in degraded performance. Furthermore, simply locating the center of the lamp bulb on the principal axis of the reflector does not ensure that aberrations in the projected light beam will be eliminated. This is because the critical component of the lamp that must be centered relative to the reflector is the lamp filament.
One attempt at addressing the misalignment problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,858, by A. Maglica. This patent describes a flashlight that includes a switch housing that partially floats within the barrel of the flashlight to allow for slight movement of the lamp relative to the reflector, thereby helping to ensure that the lamp and the lamp filament are centered relative to the reflector. However, in the centering mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,858, to the extent that the lamp filament is not centered within the bulb, then the lamp filament will not be properly centered within the reflector and optimal performance of the flashlight will not be achieved.
Switch designs that are adapted to close an electrical path between the lamp bulb and battery, or batteries, in response to axial movement of the head along the barrel and to open the electrical path in response to axial movement in the opposite direction along the barrel are known. While such switches have generally worked well for flashlights that employ smaller batteries of the AA or AAA type, known designs are not well suited for flashlights that employ larger battery sizes, such as C or D size batteries. One reason such designs are not well suited for flashlights employing larger batteries is that the positive electrode of the battery closest to the head end of the flashlight is urged against a conductor mounted flush against the bottom of the switch. As a result, the battery or batteries may become damaged in the event that the flashlight is dropped. The problem also becomes more acute as the number of batteries connected in series increases due to the added weight, and hence momentum, of the batteries. Another reason such switch designs are not well suited for flashlights with larger batteries is that they are not designed to handle the heat associated with higher amperage lamp bulbs rated for use with such batteries.
Current switch designs that open and close in response to axial movement of the head assembly along the barrel are also not designed to ensure that the filament of each bulb will always be properly aligned with the principal axis of the reflector. As a result, optimal performance of such flashlights is not always achieved.
Misalignment problems are likely to be more pronounced in flashlights with higher capacity bulbs, because such bulbs tend to be longer, thus accentuating any misalignment between the bulb holding mechanism of the flashlight and the reflector as well as any misalignment of the bulb filament within the bulb itself.
The development of flashlights having a variable focus, which produces a beam of light having variable dispersion, has also been accomplished. In such flashlights, the head assembly is typically rotatably connected to the barrel of the flashlight at the end where the bulb is retained. In addition, the head assembly is adapted to be controllably translatable along the barrel such that the relative positional relationship between the reflector and lamp bulb may be varied, thereby varying the dispersion of the light beam emanating through the lens from the lamb bulb. While variable focus flashlights have also employed switches that are adapted to open and close in response to the axial movement of the head assembly, such flashlights have generally been limited to flashlights employing AA and AAA batteries for a variety of reasons, including some of those described above.
In metal flashlights, the flashlight's tail cap is typically a component of the electrical circuit and there must be electrical continuity from one part of the tail cap to another, usually from an outer peripheral region to an inner peripheral region. In such designs when the tail cap and the barrel are anodized, painted, or otherwise treated so that the surface of the tail cap or the barrel loses all or a part of its ability to conduct current, then extra processing steps are required to either remove the non-conducting coating from electrical contact points or mask the contact points prior to forming the coating.
In order to avoid having to remove the nonconductive coating from the contact points of the tail cap, or mask the contact points, attempts have been made to eliminate the tail cap from the electrical circuit. Several different designs have been employed to achieve this end. Such designs, however, have required the use of a plurality of parts and multiple manufacturing steps. The elimination of any such parts and steps would decrease the overall manufacturing cost of the flashlight, as well as improve the reliability of the flashlight.


A mechanism for a loading/unloading read and/or write head of a disk drive apparatus against a magnetic disk, includes a lifter which bends a suspension supporting the read and/or write head. The suspension is bent by moving a lifter up responsive to movement of the read and/or write head to detach the read and/or write head retained on a tip of the suspension from the magnetic disk by a given distance, thereby a high shock resistance is obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a loading/unloading mechanism for read and/or write head used in a disk drive apparatus which drives a disk recording medium, particularly, it relates to simplification of its structure.
2. Description of Related Arts
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a loading/unloading mechanism of a conventional disk drive apparatus published in "NIKKEI ELECTRONICS", 1986, 3-24, No. 391, pp 90 to pp 99, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing its structure. In the figure, numeral 1 indicates a sliding-type read and/or write head which reads and/or writes a magnetic disk 3. The read and/or write head 1 is installed on a tip of a tapered suspension 2 and supported thereon so as to be urged in a direction contacting to the magnetic disk 3. In the midway of the suspension 2, a cam 21 is engaged with a lifter 6 to be described later. The base end of the suspension 2 is mounted on an actuator 4 which swings about a pivot shaft 41. Actuator 4 is formed in a shape of a sickle and in the midway thereof, projects a strut 71 which serves as a rotating center of a link arm 7 supporting the lifter 6. The link arm 7 is provided with the bar lifter 6 on its one end, and on the other end, a cam pin 72 engaged with a latching cam 24 to be described later. The link arm 7 is urged counterclockwise by means of a spring 27, and the counterclockwise movement of the lifter 6 is regulated by a stopper pin 23 contacting its base end. The stopper pin 23 is movable up and down by a loading solenoid 22. The latching cam 24 is for retaining the lifter 6 in the vicinity of the root of the suspension 2, and is provided with a latch groove 24a engaged with the cam pin 72 on its periphery. The latching cam 24 swings about a pivot 24b and is usually urged counterclockwise by a latching spring 25. Thereby, the latching groove 24a and the cam pin 72 are kept in contact when they are engaged with each other. The latching cam 24 is rotated clockwise by a cam releasing solenoid 26 to release the engagement between the latch groove 24a and the cam pin 72.
Next, the loading and unloading operation for the conventional loading/unloading mechanism of the read and/or write head will be described.
Referring to FIG. 1, first, the case where the read and/or write head 1 moves from the unloading state in which it is detached from the magnetic disk 3, to the loading state in which it contacts to the magnetic disk 3 is described.
The actuator 4 is rotated about the pivot shaft 41 to bring the head 1 to the outermost periphery of the medium 3. Next, the solenoid 22 is energized to project the stopper pin 23. Then, while a portion of the link arm 7 to which the lifter 6 is fixed is caught by the pin 23, the actuator 4 is rotated reversely in an inner circumferential direction. At this time, since the strut 71 of the link arm 7 is fixed to the actuator 4, the link arm 7 is rotated in the opposite direction of the rotation of the actuator arm 4 or clockwise in FIG. 1, and the lifter 6 is moved in the releasing direction of the cam 21, disposed on the suspension 2. Thus, the head 1 is contacted to the magnetic disk 3 to achieve the loading state. The cam pin 72 is fixed to a portion of the link arm 7 and is moved to the position where it is caught by the latch groove 24a, provided on the cam 24, pre-loaded by the cam spring 25. Furthermore, the solenoid 22 is released and the pin 23 is retracted to complete the loading operation.
Next, the unloading operation for detaching the head 1 from the magnetic disk 3 is described. When the current preserved in a capacitor and the like, not shown, is applied to the cam releasing solenoid 26, installed on the actuator 4, as a result of the power source of the disk drive apparatus being cut off, a portion of the cam 24 is attracted and cam 24 is rotated clockwise, thereby the cam pin 72 caught by the latch groove 24a is released. As a result, the link arm 7 is rotated in the direction in which the lifter 6 approaches to the head 1 by the unloading spring 27, or counterclockwise in FIG. 1, and the head 1 is detached from the magnetic disk 3 to complete the unloading operation.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional disk drive apparatus of a contact start and stop system (CSS), in which the read and/or write head is neither loaded nor unloaded. In the figure, numeral 31 designates a spindle motor which rotates the magnetic disk 3 and in the CSS system, keeps the read and/or write head 1 standstill on a shipping zone on the innermost periphery of the magnetic disk 3 at a time of non-operation. The read and/or write head 1 is installed on a tip of the suspension 2. The base end of the suspension 2 is mounted on a tip of the actuator 4. The actuator 4 swings about the pivot shaft 41.
When starting the disk drive apparatus of the CSS system, the spindle motor 31 is rotated while keeping the read and/or write head 1 standing still on the magnetic disk 3. In general, the head 1 is kept standstill at the inner circumference side on the magnetic disk 3. Though the head 1 rubs the magnetic disk 3 in the beginning, when a given revolution speed is achieved, it starts to float above the magnetic disk 3 by the air bearing effect. At normal revolution of the spindle motor, it floats at a constant height of about 0.2 .mu.m. When the disk drive apparatus is stopped and the revolution of the spindle motor reduces to a certain revolution speed, the head 1 begins to contact with the magnetic disk 3 and keeps rubbing the magnetic disk 3 until the spindle motor stops. Accordingly, it has been devised to stop the spindle motor positively for shortening the sliding distance.
Since the conventional head loading and unloading mechanism is constituted as aforementioned, the number of component parts increases, and it is necessary to insure a wide region for component parts and a region in which the lifter moves to unload the read and/or write head. Also, sequential operations for operating the component parts in constant order are necessitated, resulting in uncertainty of operation and frequent troubles. Moreover, there are such problems as complicated assembling and a high cost.
Meanwhile in the conventional CSS system, the lower the floating height of the read and/or write head from the magnetic disk, the less the frequency of contact start and stop, resulting in a shorter life. The higher the recording density the lower must be the floating height, resulting in the longer rubbing distance between the head and the magnetic disk thus causing problems. Also, as the head contacts directly to the medium the vibration and shock resistance at the time of non-operation is limited. Besides, when the number of magnetic disks increases and contact resistance of the read and/or write head therewith becomes larger, the starting torque of the spindle motor must be increased that much. In this system, since the motor is not reversible, angular position detecting means of certain accuracy must be provided in a spindle motor driving circuit. Furthermore, it is also necessary to provide means for reducing the idling time of the spindle motor at the time of interruption of the power source.

Loading/unloading mechanism for read and/or write head


A hydraulic valve lifter including venting means to assure venting of air through the lifter and filling thereof with oil during pre-start filling of the engine oil galleries after engine assembly. Patterning of a hemispherical pushrod seat surface, and/or patterning of either or both of the mating surfaces of a pushrod seat and a piston, permits air purged from the engine through a pushrod to be vented through the lifter. Such means may be temporary or permanent and may include coatings of the surfaces with materials that are destroyed by engine action after starting. Permanent means may include surface grooves in the mating surfaces and/or small-diameter passages between the hemispherical seat surface and the cylindrical outer surface of the pushrod seat. Venting means in accordance with the invention is useful for both valve-deactivating and non-valve-deactivating valve lifters.

Hydraulic lifter assemblies for actuating intake and exhaust valves in internal combustion engines are well known. A typical lifter assembly includes a lifter body supportive of cam follower such as a roller. In use, the body is disposed for reciprocal motion in a bore in an engine block for translating rotary motion of a cam lobe into reciprocal motion of a pushrod. A piston within a well in the lifter body defines a high-pressure chamber in the well between the piston and the bottom of the well. The piston includes a low-pressure reservoir supplied with engine oil, from which the high-pressure chamber is replenished via a check valve. A pushrod seat closes the low-pressure chamber and receives the pushrod. A spring within the high-pressure chamber urges the piston outwards, thus removing mechanical lash in the valve train. The low-pressure chamber is provided with oil via an axial passage in the pushrod in communication with an oil gallery in the engine rocker arm assembly, such that there are no air voids in the oil supply system during engine operation.
It is necessary to completely purge air from an engine oil supply system after assembly of the engine and before the first starting. Of necessity, when the rocker arm assembly is bolted to the engine head, some of the intake and exhaust valves are placed in an open position. In a relatively short time, those lifter assemblies associated with the open valves will leak oil from their high-pressure chambers in response to force exerted by the valve springs. When this happens during normal operation of an engine, as during periods of inoperation, it is of little consequence, as the lifter automatically refills from the low-pressure reservoir through the check valve as soon as the engine is re-started and the force is relieved from the lifter. However, upon first starting an engine after assembly, it is essential that the low-pressure reservoir have sufficient oil to refill the high-pressure chamber immediately. A failure to provide oil for filling of the high-pressure chamber immediately results in a noisy lifter, a false indication of lifter failure, a failure of the first-start-after-assembly engine test, and substantial engine rework costs.
To guard against this problem in the prior art, lifters are carefully filled with oil after assembly of the lifter and are shipped in a vertical position. However, engine assembly can require a lifter to be placed in an orientation wherein oil can drain from the lifter. In addition, some engines have normal lifter positions wherein oil can drain from the low-pressure reservoir during and after engine assembly.
Prior to starting a newly-assembled engine, oil is forced through the oil distribution system under pressure for a predetermined time period, typically on the order of one minute, to purge air from the system. A large amount of air is initially present in galleries in the rocker arm shaft, rocker arms, and pushrods, which air must be expelled from the pushrods at or through the hydraulic valve lifters. Because there is no lash between elements in the valve-open valve trains, air purging is difficult and frequently incomplete, resulting in a noisy lifter upon initial starting. Further, any lifter with residual air trapped in the low-pressure reservoir may suck that air into the high-pressure chamber upon start-up, producing a void therein resulting in prolonged lifter noise and test failure.
What is needed in the art of hydraulic valve lifters is a means to assure purging of air from all engine pushrods and lifters prior to first starting of an engine.
It is a principal object of the present invention to prevent lifter test failure of a newly-assembled internal combustion engine.

Readily-fillable hydraulic valve lifter assembly


A fuse layout (10) constructed of a wiring electrode made of a barrier metal layer of a high melting point and a main wiring metal layer comprises a plurality of fusion-type fuse sections (11 and 12) connected to each other in series and a plurality of fuse pads (13, 14, and 15) for drawing current to the respective fuse sections. If only one of the fuse sections is cut, the whole fuse layout is put in the “cut condition” so that the total fraction defective of incomplete cut of the fuse layout is largely reduced. Even if the barrier metal layer is not cut to remain, it has a high resistance so that the fuse resistance of the whole fuse layout becomes very high and the fuse layout is considered in the “cut condition”.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a layout of a fuse integrally formed on a substrate with elements of a semiconductor device and a method of trimming.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuse simultaneously formed with elements of a semiconductor device is used upon trimming for adjusting characteristics of the elements. Especially, in recent years, the fuse is used in a redundant circuit of a memory device to switch to a row or column of a spare circuit when a certain row or column of a main circuit is defective, thereby increasing production yield.
The fuse is not formed by individual process but generally formed with main elements in the process of producing electrodes of the semiconductor device. A fusion-type metal is usually used for the fuse, wherein the metal is cut or disconnected by drawing current or applying laser beam to the narrow portion of the metal. A short-circuited type fuse is also used, which has a capacitor structure where an insulating film is sandwiched by metals and broken down by application of voltage to make short-circuited between the metals.
The main stream of the conventional method has been using a single layer metal, such as aluminum (Al) and Copper (Cu), for electrode wiring of the semiconductor device. However, as the fine structure is required, in case of Al wiring, a two-layer electrode has become popular, wherein a conventional.wiring metal is formed on a thin lower layer made of a barrier metal, such as tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), and titanium nitride (TiN).
Japanese Patent Application Kokai Number 9-36234 discloses the structure of the fuse and manufacturing method thereof.
In the conventional method of cutting the fusion-type fuse by drawing current, it was easy to cut the electrode wiring made of the single layer of Al. However, when the electrode has the two-layer structure including the lower layer of the barrier metal, although the main wiring metal of the upper layer is easily cut, the thin barrier metal is prone not to be completely cut because the barrier metal has a relatively high resistance which does not permit large current to be drawn to the barrier metal.
It is difficult to apply higher voltage between the fuses due to adverse influences on the elements. Thus, when the barrier metal is not cut completely and remains, it causes a characteristic failure and a leakage problem, resulting in decrease of the yield and reliability.
When the fuse is cut by applying laser beam, there is no problem caused by the two-layer structure of electrode. However, if the irradiation of laser beam is not accurate, the fuse is not cut completely and some metal remains at an end of the fuse, resulting in decrease of the yield and reliability because the irradiation of laser beam cannot be repeated at the same position.


A drilling tool including at least two cutting elements (e.g., redundant or upon a selected profile region) sized, positioned, and configured thereon so as to contact or encounter a change in at least one drilling characteristic of a subterranean formation along an anticipated drilling path prior to other cutting elements thereon encountering same is disclosed. Methods of designing a drilling tool are also disclosed including placing such cutting elements upon the cutting element profile in relation to a predicted boundary surface along an anticipated drilling path. Methods of operating a drilling tool so as to initially contact a boundary surface between two differing regions of a subterranean formation drilled with at least two cutting elements is disclosed. The cutting elements configured on drilling tools and methods of the present invention may be designed for limiting lateral force or generating a lateral force having a desired direction during drilling associated therewith.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to placement of cutting elements on a rotary drilling tool for use in drilling subterranean formations or other hard materials disposed within a subterranean formation, such as drill strings, casing components, and the like. More particularly, the invention pertains to placement of two or more redundant cutting elements upon a drilling tool so as to contact a change in formation characteristics between different subterranean regions between a formation and another structure disposed therein, or between two structures disposed in a borehole prior to contact by other cutting elements disposed thereon.
2. Background of Related Art
Conventionally, it is well-known that cutting elements located in the different positions on a face of a rotary drill bit may experience vastly different loading conditions, different wear characteristics, or both. The effects of the loading and wear have been accommodated in conventional rotary drill bits by variations in cutting element size, geometry, and configuration in relation thereto. However, conventional approaches to cutting element placement on a rotary drill bit often do not consider the effects and conditions of the cutting elements as well as the forces and torques associated therewith during an initial encounter of a transition during drilling between two adjacent subterranean formations having at least one differing characteristic. In addition, conventional approaches for cutting element placement on a rotary drill bit have not adequately addressed considerations of transitions occurring when drilling through downhole equipment, such as a casing shoe, the cement surrounding the casing shoe, and the formation therebelow.
Several approaches have been developed to accommodate varying loading conditions that may occur in different positions on a rotary drill bit face. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,021,859, 5,950,747, 5,787,022, and 5,605,198 to Tibbitts, and Tibbitts et al., respectively, each of which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose selective placement of cutting elements of differing diamond table-to-substrate interface design at different locations on the bit face, to address different predicted or expected loading conditions.
In a conventional approach to improving the drilling performance of rotary drill bits, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,164,394 and 6,564,886 to Mensa-Wilmot et al. each disclose rotary drill bits including cutting elements disposed at substantially identical radial positions wherein the rotationally preceding cutting element is oriented at a positive backrake angle, while the rotationally following cutting element is oriented at a negative backrake angle and exhibits less exposure than the rotationally preceding cutting element.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,171 to Mensa-Wilmot et al. discloses a rotary drill bit, including sets of cutting elements mounted thereon, wherein each set of cutting elements includes at least two cutting elements mounted on different blades at generally the same radial position but having differing degrees of backrake and exposure.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,755 to Williamson discloses a rotary drill bit including successive sets of cutting elements, the cutting elements of each set being disposed at equal radius from and displaced about the axis of rotation of the rotaly drill bit through equal arcs, so that each cutting element of a set thereof is intended to trace a path which overlaps with the paths of adjacent cutting elements of another set or sets of cutting elements.
Also, U.S. Patent Application 2002/0157869 A1 to Glass et al. discloses a fixed-cutter drill bit, which is purportedly optimized so that cutter torques are evenly distributed during drilling of homogeneous rock and also in transitional formations. Methods utilizing predictive mathematical drilling force models are also disclosed.
Rotary drill bits, and more specifically fixed cutter or "drag" bits, have also been conventionally designed as so-called "anti-whirl" bits. Such bits use an intentionally unbalanced and oriented lateral or radial force vector, usually generated by the bit's cutters, to cause one side of the bit configured as an enlarged, cutter-devoid bearing area comprising one or more gage pads to ride continuously against the side wall of the well bore to prevent the inception of bit "whirl," a well-recognized phenomenon wherein the bit precesses around the well bore and against the side wall in a direction counter to the direction in which the bit is being rotated. Whirl may result in a borehole of enlarged (over gauge) dimension and out-of-round shape and in damage to the cutters and bit itself.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,010,789 and 5,042,596 to Brett et al., the disclosures of each of which are incorporated in their entirety by reference thereto, disclose anti-whirl drill bits. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,422 to Hansen et al., assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference thereto, discloses support structures in a normally cutter devoid zone to stabilize the drill bit.
In a further approach to stabilize rotary drill bits while drilling, selective placement of cutting elements upon a rotary drill bit may create stabilizing grooves, kerfs, or ridges. Such configurations are intended to mechanically inhibit lateral vibration, assuming sufficient vertical or weight-on-bit force is applied to the rotary drill bit.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,484 to Warren et al. discloses forming a groove by placing a cutting element offset from the other cutting elements positioned along a cutting element profile. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,024 to Keith et al. discloses cutting elements having differing regions of abrasion resistance. Such a configuration is purported to laterally stabilize the rotary drill bit within the borehole because as the cutting elements wear away, radially alternating grooves and ridges may be formed.
However, despite the aforementioned conventional approaches to improving drilling performance of a rotary drill bit or other drilling tool by configuring the placement or design of the cutting elements thereon, there remains a need for improved apparatus and methods for drilling with a rotary drill bit between differing materials or formation regions with different properties.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Drilling tool for reducing cutter damage when drilling through formation changes, and methods of design and operation thereof


Disclosed is a speed control system for a curved road section, which includes: a wireless communication module that supports communication with road-side units and receives road information from the road-side units for a plurality of points on a curved road adjacent to the road-side units; an allowable speed calculation unit that calculates maximum allowable speeds that are the highest speeds at which a vehicle is driven, for the plurality of points, using the road information; an optimum speed calculation unit that calculates an optimum speed in an acceleration and deceleration range that is set in consideration of a predetermined acceleration and deceleration limit of the vehicle; and a control module that displays the optimum speed calculated by the optimum speed calculation unit to the outside, or provides the calculated optimum speed to another control system in the vehicle such that the speed of the vehicle is controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speed control system for a curved road section, and more particularly to a technology that calculates the maximum allowable speed and an optimum speed on a curved road using information that is provided by a road-side unit and the like in order to provide them to the driver or to automatically control a vehicle's speed so that the vehicle can be stably driven and the safety of the driver can be guaranteed on a curved road section.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern societies, as the use of vehicles has been sharply increasing, hundreds of millions of people die or are injured due to vehicle accidents every year. Accordingly, various vehicle technologies have been developed to reduce injuries caused by traffic accidents and economic losses. The technologies include the Automatic Cruise Control (ACC) technology, the Lane Change Assistance technology, the Lane Departure Warning technology, and the Parking Assistance technology.
However, because the technologies use sensors, cameras, or the like mounted on the vehicles, the search range is restricted and the effects thereof are limited. Accordingly, technologies for recognizing a driving environment in a wider range have appeared. One of them is the V2X technology. V2X is the acronym for Vehicle to Everything, and includes V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle), V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure), and V2N (Vehicle to Nomadice). Here, the infrastructure includes a Road-Side Unit (RSU) that is installed on a roadside to communicate with the vehicles. The vehicles communicate with the road-side units installed near the roads to form a network and receive various information from the road-side units to guarantee traffic safety, guide roads and provide information such as various multimedia contents, and to prevent traffic jams.
Meanwhile, the speed of the vehicle should be accelerated or decelerated according to the curving degree of the road on a curved road while the vehicle is being driven, and it is difficult to properly accelerate and decelerate the speed of the vehicle because the field of vision is small due to the characteristics of the curved road. Accordingly, a prompt determination ability and a driving performance of the driver are required to maintain a safe speed on a curved road. Accordingly, in order to guarantee the safety of the vehicle on a curved road, it is necessary to provide proper information to adjust the speed of the vehicle to the driver using the road-side units by which a driving environment in a relatively wide range can be recognized.

Speed control system and speed control method for curved road section


Described are methods for encapsulating a personal care active, comprising preparing an aqueous phase, comprising partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol and a cosmetically acceptable non-ionic surfactant, preparing an oil phase, comprising the personal care active and isocyanate or polyisocyanate, homogenizing the aqueous phase and oil phase to form an emulsion with particles less than one micron, and forming a dispersion of polyurea core-shell particles containing the personal care active by contacting the emulsion with an aqueous amine solution.

The effectiveness of certain sun care actives, for example, sunscreens, is well understood, however, many are also associated with certain drawbacks, such as skin sensitization, or incompatibility with other components typically found in personal care compositions. One solution to avoid such drawbacks is to encapsulate the sun care actives, however, processing conditions can be a challenge, and resulting particle size is either marred by a large particle size distribution or particles that are too large.
Therefore, what is needed are new or improved methods for encapsulating personal care actives.


Even if contents data distributed over a network are once destroyed, the contents data are restored, as the copyright protection is maintained. A PC memorizes backup of distributed music contents on a hard disc, at the same time as it transmits the using log information of the music contents stored in the hard disc to an EMD server. If the music contents in the hard disc are destroyed, the PC acquires the using log information from the EMD server to reproduce the backup data memorized in the hard disc depending on the using log information.

Recently, on-line distribution of music contents employing a network, such as Internet or cable television, has come to be put to practical application.
If, in this distribution system for music contents, the contents distributors distribute the musical contents over the network, on e.g., the Web. The user exploiting this music distribution system uses his or her own personal computer to access the Web furnished by the contents distributor to download the desired music contents.
Meanwhile, in this music distribution system, the downloaded music contents are made payable over e.g., a network.
However, if once the data in a personal computer owned by a user is destroyed, the music contents, once purchased, are lost. So, for restoring the music contents, the contents need to be purchased again.


A session of network communications is processed between a client terminal and a server by intercepting a request generated from a network transport unit of the client terminal, generating an intermediate session ID for the client terminal, asking the server to establish a session, receiving a response sent from the server using a server session ID after the session is established, associating the server session ID with the intermediate session ID and sending the response to the network transport unit using the intermediate session ID.

The present invention relates to a method and appliance for processing a session in network communications.
To ensure the security of network communications, it is necessary to prevent session hijacking In general, session hijacking comprises session sniffing and cross-site script attack (XSS). To cope with session hijacking, plenty of conventional methods are put forth, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,363,478, 7,043,455, and 7,487,353, which are owned by the applicant of the present invention.

Appliance for processing a session in network communications

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


In a valve operating system for an internal combustion engine provided with valve operating characteristics changing member capable of changing operating characteristics of an engine valve, the valve operating characteristics changing member includes a connection operating member which is provided in common at a drive rocker arm and both free rocker arms to be capable of switching an alternative connecting state of the drive rocker arm to both the free rocker arms and a release state of connection of the drive rocker arms to both the free rocker arms. Thus, the operating characteristics of the engine valve can be reliably switched with favorable responsiveness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a valve operating system for an internal combustion engine in which a pair of free rocker arms, which are capable of being free with respect to an engine valve, and a drive rocker arm, which is linked and connected to the engine valve and sandwiched between both of the free rocker arms, are swingably supported at a rocker arm shaft which is common to both the free rocker arms and the drive rocker arm. A camshaft is provided which rotates around an axis parallel with the rocker arm shaft and is provided with a plurality of cams including cams individually corresponding to both the free rocker arms by making cam profiles differ from each other. The drive rocker arm and both the free rocker arms are provided with valve operating characteristics changing means capable of changing the operational characteristics of the engine valve by switching the connection of the drive rocker arm to both the free rocker arms and releasing the connection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-285207 discloses a valve operating system for an internal combustion engine in which the drive rocker arm linked and connected to the engine valve is disposed to be sandwiched between a pair of free rocker arms capable of being free from the engine valve, a hydraulic connection switching means is provided to make it possible to switch the connection of the drive rocker arm and the free rocker arm and release of connection by the operation of the connecting pin, said hydraulic connection switching means being respectively provided between the drive rocker arm and one of the free rocker arms, and between the drive rocker arm and the other free rocker arm.
However, in the valve operating system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-285207, it is difficult in controlling the hydraulic circuit to perform a release of the connection and the connecting operation of a pair of connection switching means substantially at the same time on the occasion of switching the state in which the drive rocker arm is operated to swing with one of the free rocker arms to the state in which the drive rocker arm is swung with the other free rocker arm. In addition, there is the possibility of an occurrence of trouble of both of them being in the connection release state or the connecting state due to a variation or the like of the hydraulic pressure switching signal, or the occurrence of a problem wherein the connection pins of both of the connection switching means are in the same operation state at the same time irrespective of the switching signals due to an increase or the like in the frictional force exerted on the connection pin. If such a problem occurs, a desired valve operating characteristics cannot be obtained.
When both the connection switching means are operated by switching in sequence, the operation of one connection switching means has to be started after the completion of the operation of the other connection switching means is confirmed. Thus, a delay occurs with regard to the switching time.

Valve operating system for internal combustion engine


A customizable and upgradable imaging system is provided. Imaging detector columns are installed in a gantry to receive imaging information about a subject. Imaging detector columns can extend and retract radially as well as be rotated orbitally around the gantry. The system can provide detector columns that include both high and low energy collimation. The detector columns may also use side shielding and adaptively disable detector elements based on emission information and shielding information. This system can be a Nuclear Medicine (NM) imaging system to acquire Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) image information.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to medical imaging systems, and more particularly, to Nuclear Medicine (NM) imaging systems which can be Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging systems.
In NM imaging, such as SPECT imaging, radiopharmaceuticals are administered internally to a patient. Radiopharmaceuticals may also be referred to as tracers. Detectors (e.g., gamma cameras), typically installed on a gantry, capture the radiation emitted by the radiopharmaceuticals and this radiation information is used by computer processors running image reconstruction algorithms to form images. The NM images primarily show physiological function of, for example, the patient or a portion of the patient being imaged.
Conventional SPECT imaging systems include one or two gamma cameras mounted to a single gantry. These systems are generally not physically reconfigurable and can only handle one radiation energy level at a time. Additionally, specific collimation may be provided, which typically limits the application of the scanner to a particular type of scan, such as whole body bone exams, cardiac exams, etc. Thus, conventional SPECT imaging systems have limitations in design and/or operational characteristics. Moreover, there is limited flexibility in these imaging systems, especially when it comes to situations where both high and low energies need to be detected by the gamma cameras. There is a need for flexibility of an imaging system to be customizable based on specific patient need, scan type, organ scanned, and operator cost constraints.

Imaging system using high and low energy collimation


A displacement component detection apparatus 10 is provided with: a displacement distribution calculation unit 11 configured to calculate, from time-series images of a measurement target region of an object 30 output from an image capturing device 20 configured to capture the images of the measurement target region, a displacement distribution in a region that corresponds to the measurement target region in the images; a movement amount calculation unit 12 configured to calculate, based on the displacement distribution and image capturing information, a movement amount in the surface direction of the measurement target region and a movement amount in the normal direction of the measurement target region; and a surface displacement calculation unit 13 configured to calculate, from the displacement distribution, a surface displacement component in the measurement target region, using the movement amount in the surface direction of the measurement target region and the movement amount in the normal direction of the measurement target region.

In concrete structures such as tunnels and bridges, defects such as cracks, peeling and internal cavities ordinarily occur due to aging. Because such defects affect the deterioration state of a structure, it is necessary to accurately detect these defects in order to accurately judge the deterioration state of the structure.
However, conventionally, detection of defects such as cracks, peeling, and internal cavities of a structure has been performed by visual inspection and hammering inspection by an inspector, and it is necessary for the inspector to approach the structure to perform inspection. Therefore, with a conventional defect detection technique, it is necessary to prepare an environment in which work can be performed in the air near the structure, for example by preparing vehicles such as aerial work vehicles and bridge inspection vehicles or creating a scaffold, and therefore the cost of performing work is high. Also, traffic regulation may be required to prepare the working environment, and in this case, there is a problem that economic opportunities are lost. Therefore, technology is sought that enables a defect in a structure to be detected remotely.
As technology for remotely detecting a defect in a structure, technology for detecting a defect using a captured image of the structure has been proposed (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 4). Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses technology in which a binarization process is performed at a predetermined threshold on an image of a structure obtained by image capturing with an image capturing device, and based on this image converted to binary values, an image corresponding to a crack occurring on a surface of the structure is detected.
Patent Document 2 discloses technology in which a thermal image of a structure is captured with an infrared camera, a change in the temperature distribution of the structure is measured, and a stress change is detected based on the measured change in the temperature distribution. Patent Document 3 discloses technology in which floating and cracks on a tunnel wall face are detected with a line sensor using infrared rays and a laser distance meter. Further, Patent Document 4 discloses technology in which distortion is measured at a plurality of locations of an object using a plurality of image capturing devices.
Thus, according to the technology disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 4, it is not necessary for an inspector to approach the structure and perform visual inspection and inspection by hammering, but rather it is sufficient to only capture an image of the structure, so a defect in the structure can be detected remotely.
In recent years, technology has also been proposed in which a defect or the like of a structure is remotely detected by capturing movement or displacement of the surface of the structure with an image (for example, see Patent Documents 5 and 6, and Non-Patent Document 1). Specifically, Patent Document 5 discloses technology in which a displacement amount of the structure is calculated based on a captured image before a load is applied and a captured image after a load is applied. Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a displacement distribution of the surface of the structure is calculated based on a captured image before a load is applied and a captured image after a load is applied, and by detecting a characteristic movement that occurs in the vicinity of a crack when a load is applied (opening/closing behavior of the crack), the crack itself is accurately detected.
Here, a case is described where the technology disclosed in Patent Documents 5 and 6 is applied to a bridge. In the case of a bridge, when a vehicle passes over the bridge, deformation occurs due to that load, and distortion and displacement occur in floor slabs and girders. Therefore, when detecting defects using movement or displacement of the surface of floor slabs and girders or the like of a bridge, an image capturing device is arranged, for example, under the bridge, and the image capturing device captures an image of a lower face of the floor slabs and girders of the bridge.
Also, Patent Document 6 discloses technology in which movement in the vertical direction and vibration of the structure itself are corrected in order to more accurately obtain a displacement distribution of the surface of the structure. Accordingly, when the technology disclosed in Patent Document 6 is applied to a bridge, a defect such as a crack can be accurately detected.
In other words, when a vehicle passes over a bridge, deformation occurs due to that load, and also, deflection occurs, and as a result the structure moves in the vertical direction and vibrates. Therefore, the distance between the lower face, which is the image capturing target, and the image capturing device fluctuates, which also affects the displacement distribution calculated based on a captured image. On the other hand, when the technology disclosed in Patent Document 6 is used, the displacement of the surface can be corrected in consideration of that influence, so a defect such as a crack that occurs in the bridge can be accurately detected.

Displacement component detection apparatus, displacement component detection method, and computer-readable recording medium


A print head for non-impact printer is, for example, an LED head which comprises a plurality of light-emitting elements, LED drivers for selectively causing a drive current to flow into the light-emitting elements on the basis of the print data, a non-volatile memory for storing the modification data related to the value of the drive current. The modification data are determined in advance at the manufacturing process on the basis of the measured result when the light-emitting elements were driven by the LED driver so that all the light-emitting elements emit substantially same amount of light at the printing operation.

The present invention relates to a non-impact printer and a print head for non-impact printer such as a LED head for electrophotographic printer and a thermal head.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional LED head 10 which comprises a plurality of light-emitting elements LD.sub.1 -LD.sub.2560 (only LD.sub.1 -LD.sub.4 are shown in FIG. 1) capable of printing at 300 dots per inch (DPI). SR.sub.1 -SR.sub.2560 (only SR.sub.1 -SR.sub.4 are shown in FIG. 1) are shift registers for sequentially shifting bit data signal DATA in synchronization with a clock signal CLK. LT.sub.1 -LT.sub.2560 (only LT.sub.1 -LT.sub.4 are shown in FIG. 1) are latches for latching the bit data signal DATA when the latch signal LOAD is inputted. G.sub.1 -G.sub.2560 (only G.sub.1 -G.sub.4 are shown in FIG. 1) are gate elements, Tr.sub.1 -Tr.sub.2560 (only Tr.sub.1 -Tr.sub.4 are shown in FIG. 1) are transistors as switching elements, r.sub.1 -r.sub.2560 (only r.sub.1 -r.sub.4 are shown in FIG. 1) are protective resistors, and V.sub.D is a power supply line. When high level signals from the latches LT.sub.1 -LT.sub.2560 are applied to the gate elements G.sub.1 -G.sub.2560 and the low level drive signal STB is inputted to the gate elements G.sub.1 -G.sub.2560 for executing printing, high level inputs are applied to the bases of the switching elements Tr.sub.1 -Tr.sub.2560. At this time, the switching elements Tr.sub.1 -Tr .sub.2560 turn to the on state, a drive current flows in the light-emitting elements LD.sub.1 -LD.sub.2560, and then the light-emitting elements LD.sub.1 -LD.sub.2560 emit light.
However, there are variations in the individual characteristics of the light-emitting elements LD.sub.1 -LD.sub.2560 and the switching elements Tr.sub.1 -Tr.sub.2560. Consequently, as indicated at the lower side of FIG. 2, the individual light intensity E.sub.1 -E.sub.2560 (only E.sub.1 -E.sub.6 are shown in FIG. 2) of the light-emitting elements LD.sub.1 -LD.sub.2560 are different and as indicated at the upper side of FIG. 2, the sizes of the printed dots d.sub.1 -d.sub.2560 (only d.sub.1 -d.sub.6 are shown in FIG. 2) are not uniform, thereby resulting in deterioration of printing quality.

Non-impact printer and a print head thereof