The invention provides a regenerable supported amine sorbent having an amine concentration of from about 35 wt. % to about 75 wt. %. The balance of the sorbent is a porous support which provides the sorbent with structural rigidity and a surface for gas/solid contact. The invention further provides a process for making the sorbent and system for cyclically absorbing and desorbing carbon dioxide using a plurality of sorbent beds.

Exposure to carbon dioxide partial pressures exceeding about 7.6 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury, partial pressure of about 1%), for extended periods of time are known to cause health problems in humans and other mammals. As a result, in enclosed habitable environments such as those existing in a submarine, space craft or space suit, carbon dioxide partial pressures are typically maintained below about 1% via the use of solid regenerable and nonregenerable carbon dioxide sorbents such as soda lime, zeolite and carbon molecular sieves, solid oxides, alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal hydroxides, amines, and combinations thereof, among others.
In addition to these sorbents, amines such as monoethanolamine and diethanotamine are often used in a liquid phase to reduce carbon dioxide partial pressures via absorption. These amines are utilized in the aqueous phase, typically 25 wt. % (weight percent) to 30 wt. % amine. The amine solution enters the top of an absorption tower while the carbon dioxide containing gaseous stream is introduced into the bottom of the tower. While intimately contacting the gaseous stream in a counter-current fashion, the amine solution chemically reacts with the carbon dioxide to absorb and remove the carbon dioxide from the gaseous stream. Desorption of the absorbed carbon dioxide then proceeds via a thermal regeneration process at temperatures in excess of about 150.degree. F. (about 66.degree. C.). During desorption, carbon dioxide and water evolve from the amine solution and are separated by condensing the water vapor in a heat exchanger. Once regenerated, the amine solution is recycled back to the absorption tower for additional carbon dioxide absorption.
Although amine solutions are capable of initially removing carbon dioxide to partial pressures below about 1%, they have a limited life due to degradation through oxidation of the amine. Oxygen present in the gas stream oxidizes the amine particularly at the elevated temperatures during desorption when the amine solution is heated. This oxidation is believed to reduce the amount of amine primary and secondary functional groups available for carbon dioxide absorption. Consequently, the amine solution's useful life is limited to only about six months of continuous use.
In contrast, if desorption is accomplished at ambient temperatures, the useful life of the amine solution will be extended; however, performance will be limited by low desorption rates. Due to both energy requirements and oxidation related degradation, amine sorbents utilized in closed environment systems are often regenerated at approximately ambient temperatures for a fixed desorption time. At ambient temperatures, the desorption of carbon dioxide is often limiting. Under these conditions, the desorption process will typically have insufficient time to fully desorb the absorbed carbon dioxide. Consequently, a portion of the absorbed carbon dioxide remains in the sorbent after the desorption process is complete, thereby reducing the capacity of the sorbent to absorb additional carbon dioxide. As a result, a decreasing portion of the carbon dioxide sorbent is used throughout the absorption-desorption cyclical process.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,614 discloses a solid aminepolyol sorbent comprising about 1 wt. % to about 25 wt. % amine, about 1 wt. % to about 25 wt. % polyol, and the remainder being a porous support which provides the amine with structural integrity and a high surface area for gas/solid contact. While the solid amine sorbent disclosed in this reference provides a number of advantages over the previously described solid and liquid sorbents, increased concentration of amine in the sorbent and improvements in cyclic CO.sub.2 removal capacity are desirable. In addition, formation of the sorbent is a fairly complex process requiring either pre-forming an amine/polyol solution and then impregnating the support with this solution, or impregnating the support with an amine solution followed by a second impregnation of the support with a polyol solution.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a solid regenerable carbon dioxide sorbent having an increased amine concentration.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a sorbent having high carbon dioxide removal rates and high desorption rates at ambient temperatures.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a process for forming such a sorbent.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a continuous use, cyclic absorption/desorption system using such a sorbent that is not influenced by the presence of humidity by using such a sorbent.


An integrated circuit device having a semiconductor device and an encapsulating material on at least a portion of the semiconductor device and a method for encapsulating an integrated circuit device is disclosed. The encapsulating material includes a plurality of nanoparticles.

Integrated circuit devices are commonly encapsulated to protect them from environmental hazards such as air, moisture, chemicals, and light, and to provide the integrated circuit with greater physical strength. Useful encapsulating materials include ceramics and polymers. Generally, encapsulating polymers include, for example, epoxies. Epoxies can include epoxy resins and thermosetting epoxy resins.
Integrated circuit devices include, for example semiconductor devices used in various electronic devices and optical devices. The semiconductor device can include many integrated circuit materials such as, at least one metal region, i.e., a metal line, bonding pad, and lead frame, at least one doped region, and at least one insulator layer formed on or in a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate is sometimes called a die. Often, the semiconductor device includes a heat sink.
Heat generated during operation can cause the integrated circuit materials to expand and/or contract. The amount that each integrated circuit material expands and/or contracts can be described by the coefficient of thermal expansion ("CTE") of the particular material. And different materials have different CTE's. Composite materials, comprising one or more particular material, can expand and/or contract in volume and/or area as well. The expansion of the composite material can be described by the thermal expansion ("TE") of the composite. The CTE's of the particular materials making up the composite can be combined in various ways, depending on the composite material in question, to yield a TE for the composite. For example, in some instances the TE of the composite can be a weighted average of the CTE's of each particular material in the composite. However, in other instances the CTE's of the particular materials making up the composite combine in other ways to yield the TE for the composite.
Problems often arise in integrated circuit devices, however, when the TE of materials making up the integrated circuit differ. One problem occurs at the interface of the semiconductor device and the encapsulating material. In particular, the thermal expansion of the semiconductor device ("TESD") and the thermal expansion of the encapsulating material ("TEEM") are not the same. As a result, these materials expand to different extents during operation and this can cause stress at the interface of these two materials. This stress often leads to cracking of the encapsulating material.
Accordingly, it would be useful to be able to match the TESD to the TEEM to prevent stress and reduce the negative effects of the stress.


A pressurized fluid subassembly comprising: (a) a fluid driven actuator configured to utilize fluid at a high pressure to change an overall length of the fluid driven actuator; and, (b) a sequence valve interposing a low pressure line and a supply line conveying the fluid to the fluid driven actuator, the sequence valve including a first sequence configured to inhibit fluid communication between the supply line and the low pressure line when the fluid at the high pressure is actively supplied to the fluid driven actuator, the sequence valve including a second sequence configured to establish fluid communication between the supply line and the low pressure line when the fluid at the high pressure is not actively supplied to the fluid driven actuator, wherein the sequence valve includes a variable bias that changes depending upon whether the fluid at the high pressure is actively supplied to the fluid driven actuator.

Those familiar with timber harvesting are familiar with feller bunchers, such as the 900K-Series feller buncher manufactured and sold by John Deere. Feller bunchers are utilized to rapidly harvest trees using a boom to reposition a felling head. Typical felling heads have a large disc saw that is used to cut the base of a tree, while repositionable arms of the felling head are used to grasp the stem of the tree as the tree is being cut. While the tree is being cut and after the tree is severed from its base, it continues to be grasped by the felling head arms and rides upon a butt plate. The operator of the feller buncher then tilts the felling head and allows gravity to lay the tree down.
While laying down the cut tree, the feller head and boom may be subjected to kick-back or rebound forces as the tree bounces on the ground. These rebound forces are absorbed by components of the feller buncher's hydraulic system, namely the hydraulic cylinders associated with the feller head and boom. More specifically, the rebound forces applied to the hydraulic cylinders result in rapid hydraulic pressure increases within the cylinders, sometimes resulting in cylinder failure. While one alternative would be incorporation of larger, more robust hydraulic cylinders, this incorporation has ripple effects that require many other components such as the hydraulic pump and hoses to be more robust and substantially less efficient. Additional issues are also encountered such as, without limitation, additional weight and potential redesign of the feller head and feller boom to withstand the increased forces that can be transmitted by more robust hydraulic cylinders. Consequently, there is a need for a solution to account for rebound forces that may be applied to the feller buncher's hydraulic system without requiring a complete redesign of the hydraulic system or the equipment (feller head and boom) repositioned by the hydraulic system.

Dual stage piloted force reduction valve


A magnetic rotary transducer for providing a signal indicative of a rotational position of a control shaft about a rotational axis over a defined range of rotation is disclosed. The magnetic rotary transducer comprises a pair of magnets and a rotor including a pair of loop pole pieces, and an elongated pole piece having a first end adjoined to one of the loop pole pieces and a second end adjoined to the other loop pole piece. Each loop pole piece includes an inner surface defining an air gap area. The control shaft is positioned within the air gap area of one of the loop pole pieces and adjoined thereto whereby the rotor synchronously rotates with the control shaft about the axis over the defined range of rotation. The pair of magnets are adjoined to the other loop pole piece whereby two separate and distinct magnetic fields are generated within the air gap are of the loop pole piece. The magnetic rotary transducer further comprises a magnetic flux sensitive transducer positioned within the air gap area. The magnetic flux sensitive transducer is operable to provide a signal indicative of the rotational position of the control shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of rotary transducers, and more specifically to a magnetic rotary transducer for providing a signal indicative of a rotational position of a control shaft about an axis over a defined range of rotation.
2. Background
Magnetic rotary transducers known in the art are operable to output an analog signal as a function of the magnetic flux density of any magnetic flux flowing through one or more magnetic flux sensitive transducers of the magnetic rotary transducer, e.g. a Hall-effect device, a magneto-resistor, etc. Accordingly, each magnetic flux sensitive transducer is positioned within a magnetic field, and the magnitude of the analog signal varies in response to any movement of the magnetic field and/or magnetic flux sensitive transducer(s) that alters the magnetic flux density of the magnetic flux flowing through the magnetic flux sensitive transducer(s). Some magnetic rotary transducers known in the art therefore are utilized to sense each rotational position of a control shaft about an axis over a defined range of rotation. In particular, the automotive industry typically adjoins a control shaft to an accelerator pedal, a throttle valve, an exhaust gas recirculation valve, etc., whereby the rotational position of the control shaft is indicative of a rotational position of the accelerator pedal, the throttle valve, the exhaust gas recirculation valve, etc. The automotive industry as well as other industries are therefore constantly striving to improve upon the performance and to decrease the cost and size of magnetic rotary transducers.
The present invention is a new and improved magnetic rotary transducer. Various aspects of the present invention are novel, non-obvious, and provide various advantages. While the actual nature of the present invention described in detail herein can only be determined with reference to the claims appended hereto, certain features which are characteristic of the present invention disclosed herein can be described briefly.
One form of the present invention is a magnetic rotary transducer comprising a loop pole piece having an inner surface defining an air gap area, and a pair of magnets adjoined to the loop pole piece. The first magnet generates a first magnetic field in the air gap area, and the second magnet generates a second magnetic field within the air gap area. The loop pole piece is operable to be rotated about an axis over a defined range of rotation with the magnetic fields synchronously rotating therewith. The magnetic rotary transducer further comprises a magnetic flux sensitive transducer. The magnetic flux sensitive transducer is disposed within air gap area and is operable to provide a signal indicative of a rotational position of the loop pole piece over the defined range of rotation.
Another form of the present invention is a system comprising a control shaft, and the magnetic rotary transducer. The control shaft is operable to rotated over the defined range of rotation. The loop pole piece is adjoined to the control shaft whereby the signal from the magnetic flux sensitive transducer is indicative of a rotational position of the control shaft over the defined range of rotation.
Further forms, objects, features, aspects, benefits, advantages, and embodiments of the present invention shall become apparent from the detailed description and drawings provided herewith.

Magnetic non-contacting rotary transducer


A gripper installation for simultaneously gripping a plurality of elongate flexible items, in particular sausages, having a plurality of gripper portions that are disposed so as to be mutually parallel, wherein each gripper portion has two mutually spaced-apart finger pairs, wherein the fingers of each finger pair grip the item at opposite sides and for gripping an item are capable of being simultaneously converged, wherein the gripper portions are capable of being simultaneously activated.

The invention relates to a gripper installation for simultaneously gripping a plurality of elongate flexible items, in particular sausages, having a plurality of gripper portions that are disposed so as to be mutually parallel.
Particularly in the foodstuff sector it is at times necessary for an elongate item of foodstuff which is flexible, thus not completely dimensionally stable, to be gripped and relocated. One example are sausages of various types which usually are composed of a sausage skin and sausage stuffing or sausage meat filled into said sausage skin. These items or sausages, respectively, are in most instances produced by a machine and transported on a transport installation, for example a compartmented belt. Said items or sausages, respectively, are to be retrieved from said compartmented belt and moved for example to an outward transport belt or into a packaging tray or the like.
An example of such a device for treating sausages is shown in DE 20 2015 104 994 U1. A gripper installation which has a plurality of gripper portions that are disposed so as to be mutually parallel is provided for gripping and relocating a plurality of sausages, wherein each gripper portion serves for gripping one sausage. The gripper portions have in each case shovel-type grippers which are mutually spaced apart transversely to the transport installation of the inward conveyor belt on which the sausages lie transversely in a row. In order for the sausages that lie the compartments of the inward-conveying compartmented belt to be gripped, the grippers are pivoted outward such that the gripper installation can be moved from above onto the group of sausages. Upon reaching the gripping position, the gripper shovels pivot inward and grip the sausages from below at the ends. The gripper shovels thus move from the side under the ends of the sausages, so to speak in the longitudinal direction of the sausage. Upon reaching the terminal position of the gripper shovels, the gripper installation is raised; the individual sausages lie in the respective shovel pairs and by way of the latter are entrained and relocated. For reasons of type and production, the sausages to be handled at times have a slightly bent shape. The bent sausages are at times already aligned on the transport belt, that is to say that the sausages by way of the curvatures thereof are all aligned in the same direction. This is necessary in order to be able to place the sausages in an ideally compact manner, for example in a transport tray. It has now been demonstrated that in the use of the gripper installation described above one or a plurality of sausages upon being raised by way of the bulge or curvature of said sausages is/are at times pivoted downward again, thus from the horizontal position to a vertical position so to speak, thus sagging downward. When the sausages are now placed in a transport tray, for example, the sagging curvatures thus first run onto the receptacle base. When the sausages are now released, the direction in which said sausages are then deposited is not assured, such that no orderly placing is at times possible.

Gripper installation for simultaneously gripping a plurality of elongate flexible items, in particular sausages


A device for applying coating composition to a fiber web has at least one application roll for receiving a film of coating color at a feed location and for then delivering it to the fiber web at a delivery location. A nozzle applicator feeds coating color to a nozzle at the feed position of application roll. The nozzle has a downstream lip with a metering doctor on it for metering the thickness of the coating color applied to the roll. The nozzle has an upstream lip in the form of an overflow ledge spaced from the surface of the application roll. Coating liquid overflows the overflow ledge and is collected in a first overflow trough. To clean the outer surface of the application roll before coating color is thereto applied, a scraper blade scrapes the surface of the roll. Upstream in the rotation path from the scraper blade is a sprayer for spraying liquid on the application roll so that the scraper scrapes the surface of the application roll with liquid on it. A separate liquid collection trough is connected to the first overflow trough and positioned to receive liquid scraped from the surface of the application roll by the scraper blade. The scraper blade is adjustable to adjust the width of a slot between the scraper blade and the surface of the roll. The scraper blade forms a part of a guide wall for leading liquid which has been scraped off into the liquid collection trough.

The present invention relates to a device for applying coating color to a fiber web. The device includes an application roll for applying the coating to the web, a nozzle which delivers the coating to the application roll, a trough to receive overflow coating and a device for cleaning the application roll surface including liquid application means and a scraper following the liquid application as the roll rotates.
Devices of this type can be arranged as part of or inside of or else outside of a paper manufacturing machine. The liquid to be applied may, for instance, be a size suspension with which the web of paper is to be impregnated, i.e. the size suspension penetrates more or less completely into the interior of the paper web. However, the liquid may alternatively be a coating composition meaning pigment suspensions of different types, from which a surface layer is formed on the web of paper. In both cases, the liquid can be applied merely to one side of the paper web or to both sides thereof.
Applicable prior art publications include:
1. Federal Republic of Germany Utility Model 8 414 413 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,268
2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,729,192
3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,307
4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,663
5. "Wochenschrift fur Papierfabrikation" 1973, pages 164 to 169.
6. "Wochenschrift fur Papierfabrikation" 1978, pages 773 to 778.
7. German Published Application DE-OS 35 12 892.
The invention proceeds from Reference 1, and particularly from FIG. 2 thereof. That discloses two application rolls which together form a nip through which a web of paper passes. Each of the two application rolls has a nozzle applicator associated with it which applies a film of coating color to the outer surface of the respective roll. Each nozzle applicator has a nozzle with two nozzle lips. The lip which is downstream in the direction of roll rotation has a free end which supports a roll doctor, i.e. a bar having a grooved outer surface. This enables a metered application of coating color to the outer surface of the roll.
Although it is not shown in Reference 1, in practice, a cleaning device is always present in order to clean the outer surface of each application roll. This cleaning device is located between the place where the film of coating color is transferred from the outer surface of the roll to the web of paper, i.e. the delivery position, and the place where the nozzle applicator delivers the film of coating color onto the outer surface of the roll, i.e. the feed position. Such cleaning devices are necessary for various reasons. On the one hand, particles of coating color and, on the other hand, fibers which are torn out of the web of paper upon its removal from the outer surface of the roll remain on the outer surface. These are stubborn deposits which accumulate upon each revolution of the roll and the deposits lead to non-uniformities in the film of coating color as well as to disturbances. Therefore, the deposits must be eliminated.
The known cleaning device comprises a scraper having a scraper blade which, in operation, is applied against the outer surface of the roll, and further comprises a source of liquid that applied liquid to the roll surface before or upstream in the path of roll rotation of the scraper blade contact with the roll surface. The source of liquid has two purposes. On the one hand, it sprays cleaning liquid onto the outer surface of the roll for loosening the deposits, or at least it prepares for the loosening thereof. On the other hand, it assures that at all times neither the scraper blade nor the subsequent doctor of the applicator nozzle travels dry over the roll surface. The blade and the doctor must be lubricated at all times. If this is not done, then the sensitive outer surface of the roll may be damaged by the scraper blade or the metering doctor.
Even before commencement of the coating operation, i.e. before the charging of the nozzle chamber with coating color, and thus before application of a coating film onto the outer surface of the roll, the liquid source must supply sufficient liquid in order to lubricate both the scraper blade and the doctor. The liquid source is generally a spray pipe which extends over the outer surface of the roll. The liquid is thus applied to the outer surface in excess quantity before commencement of the coating operation and the liquid remains adhering to the roll outer surface, passing through the slot between the scraper blade and the outer surface. A part of this adherent liquid then always continues to travel with the outer surface and arrives at the doctor, so as to also lubricate it. Another part of the liquid passes into the coating color collection trough. That trough is arranged in front of or upstream of the nozzle applicator in order to receive excess coating color. The trough therefore contains a mixture of coating color and cleaning liquid.
Once the coating operation has been started, and when the nozzle delivers a film of coating color in the desired amount to the outer surface of the roll, the metering doctor is lubricated by the coating color, and the doctor then does not require a separate lubricating liquid. It is then merely necessary to assure that the scraper blade receives sufficient lubricating liquid, generally water. The source of liquid thus need deliver less liquid after this time. Throttling of the amount of liquid being applied is, however, also necessary, since otherwise there is an undesired dilution and thus an impairment of the film of coating color.
The problem to which the invention is addressed starts here. It is difficult to adapt the following parameters to one another, namely the time of the commencement of the coating operation, i.e. the feeding of the film of coating color onto the outer surface of the roll, the time of the throttling of the feed of liquid, and the extent of the throttling.

Coating device having two separate collection troughs connected to each other


A reticle manipulating device with an at least substantially closed housing for maintaining clean-room conditions inside the housing, an input/output station for introducing and discharging reticles in and out of the housing, and at least one functional unit arranged in the housing for impressing a predetermined function on the reticles. The device has a manipulating device also arranged inside the housing, for manipulating the reticles in the housing.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure and embodiments relate to a reticle manipulating device with an at least substantially closed housing for maintaining clean-room conditions inside the housing, an input/output station for introducing and discharging reticles in and out of the housing, and at least one functional unit arranged in the housing for impressing a predetermined function on the reticles, wherein, by means of a manipulating device also arranged inside the housing, the reticles can be manipulated in the housing.
2. Brief Description of Earlier Related Developments
So-called reticles are required in the production of electronic components. These involve exposure masks or photomasks, with which structures lying in the micrometer and nanometer range are imprinted on semiconductors or other substrates in the projection exposure process. It is frequently provided to produce specific electronic components in batches, for which reason, the reticles are used only for specific times during the production. In between times, the exposure masks must be intermediately stored. Stocker devices have been previously known for this purpose, in which a plurality of reticles can be intermediately stocked. Such stocker devices of the prior art, which are usually called stockers, have an essentially closed housing for this purpose. The housing is provided with openings only for the input and output of air and for introducing and discharging the reticles. Clean-room conditions prevail inside the housing, by which means a contamination of the reticles will be avoided.
It is known sufficiently that in the manufacture of electronic components any ever so small dirt particle and any ever so slight damage to the reticle leads to costly rejects. It is thus desired to avoid dirt or damage. For this reason, it has become known to examine reticles for contamination directly prior to introducing them into the production process. If dirt is found, then it can be removed from the reticle by a cleaning unit. A unit in which both a cleaning device and a detection device are arranged in a stocking device for reticles is known from WO 02/01292 A1 of the same Applicant.
The reticles are usually transported in a specific, standardized transport box during production from their storage place to a processing plant and back again. A plurality of such transport boxes exist, whereby reticle manipulating devices of the prior art are usually equipped only for one or at most a few types of transport boxes.
It appears to be a disadvantage in these units of the prior art that they do not offer possibilities for responding to different application conditions. No measures are provided for adapting the device to changing application conditions.


A method, system and product are provided for harmonic enhancement of an encoded audio signal. The method includes receiving the encoded audio signal, the encoded audio signal having multiple frequency subbands, selecting one of the subbands having a data sample associated therewith, and generating a frequency doubled copy the data sample associated with the subband. The method also includes generating a new data sample for a second subband using the frequency doubled copied data sample, the second subband having a frequency greater than the first subband by one octave, and modifying the encoded audio signal to create an enhanced encoded audio signal having the new data sample associated with the second subband. The system includes control logic for performing the method. The product includes a storage medium having computer readable programmed instructions for performing the method.

To more efficiently transmit digital audio data on low bandwidth data networks, or to store larger amounts of digital audio data in a small data space, various data compression or encoding systems and techniques have been developed. Many such encoded audio systems use as a main element in data reduction the concept of not transmitting, or otherwise not storing portions of the audio that might not be perceived by an end user. As a result, such systems are referred to as perceptually encoded or "lossy" audio systems.
However, as a result of such data elimination, perceptually encoded audio systems are not considered "audiophile" quality, and suffer from processing limitations. To overcome such deficiencies, a method, system and product have been developed to encode digital audio signals in a loss-less fashion, which is more properly referred to as "component audio" rather than perceptual encoding, since all portions or components of the digital audio signal are retained. Such a method, system and product are described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/771,790 entitled "Method, System And Product For Lossless Encoding Of Digital Audio Data", which was filed on the same date and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Many broadcasters use analog or non-perceptual modes of enhancing and processing audio for clarity of broadcast or recording. Such conventional methods add even numbered harmonics in the analog domain or in a digital signal processor implementation thereof. Unfortunately, such methods also add odd harmonics (such as #3, #5, #7, etc.) that are discordant or audible as distortion, since distortion is the method used to implement such methods. In the digital perceptual signal path, however, no such processing exists.
Thus, there exists a need for a method, system and product for harmonic enhancement of encoded audio signals, particularly perceptually encoded audio signals. Such a method, system and product would add synthetic harmonics at octave intervals to perceptually encoded audio signals, thereby adding clarity to the signals and/or compensating for low audio bandwidth.

Method, system and product for harmonic enhancement of encoded audio signals


An external cavity laser has a wavelength of the laser output that is tuned by a rotary tuning element mounted on the axle of a motor. The rotary tuning element includes a variable thickness interference film for wavelength selection, and a variable thickness compensation prism to adjust the cavity length appropriately for the selected wavelength, to stable wavelengths and mode-hop-free tuning ranges as the tuning element is rotated.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is directed to external cavity semiconductor lasers.
2. Description of Related Art
Tunable external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) are widely used in light-based test and measurement equipment and are increasingly used in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical voice and data communications devices. In some tunable external cavity diode lasers the output is tuned by systems that include an interference filter inserted into the cavity, or by a grating element inserted into the cavity.
Multiple longitudinal modes may be supported by a cavity, corresponding to wavelengths such that an integral number of half-wavelengths can fit within the cavity length. If the gain medium provides gain at the wavelength of the adjacent modes, mode hopping can occur, when, while changing the tuning of the external cavity, an adjacent spectral mode begins to oscillate. The cavity may support the multiple modes, or may "hop" between the modes, by outputting a discontinuous signal on multiple wavelengths.
Recently, various compact systems have been described that provide continuous mode-hop-free tuning for external cavity semiconductor lasers. Examples of these systems include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,282,215 and 6,526,071 to Zorabedian, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,401 to Scobey, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The '215 patent discloses a system that uses an interference filter to tune the external cavity laser (ECL) with an absence of mode hopping and reduced feedback from interference and reflections. The '215 patent also discloses a tuning mechanism that provides for mechanical frequency modulated tuning of the external cavity laser tuning elements. As disclosed in the '215 patent, a tuning etalon is combined with a wedge-shaped corrective element to provide mode-hop-free tuning. In particular, the tuning element is translated based on an encoder and reader. The required range of motion of the translator along the translation axis may be in the centimeter range in practice. Motor technologies including thermomechanical, ultrasonic, and linear stepper are disclosed. In one embodiment, a voice coil actuator is coupled to and positions the tuning element.
The '071 patent discloses similar tunable laser systems, with a grid generator which exhibits first pass bands which correspond to the individual channels of a selected wavelength grid and a finesse which suppresses side modes of the laser. The external cavity laser described in the '071 patent does not require closed loop feedback. Rather, a tuning mechanism is disclosed which provides for electrical or mechanical tuning to a known position or electrical parameter, e.g., voltage, current, or capacitance. The channel selector exhibits second pass bands that are wider than the first pass bands. The second pass bands have a periodicity that at least substantially corresponds to the separation between the shortest wavelength channel and the longest wavelength channel of the selected wavelength grid and a finesse that suppresses channels adjacent to the selected channel.
The actuators and control systems and methods disclosed in the '215 and '071 patents may be too slow, costly, complex and/or unreliable for various applications.
The '401 patent discloses a system that includes a monolithic prism assembly where the prism assembly comprises a substrate having a first external face and a second external face that opposes the first face and that is inclined at an acute angle to the first face and to a transverse plane of the external cavity. One face of the substrate, preferably the inclined face, incorporates a thin film Fabry-Perot interference filter. Translating the monolithic prism assembly transversely to the optical axis produces continuous mode-hop-free tuning of the laser output wavelength. However, the required properties of the disclosed interference filters may require fabrication that is too precise and/or expensive for various applications. In addition, the required external cavity length that is compatible with practically achievable filters may be too short for including various desirable and economic optical components. Finally, similarly to the '215 and '071 patents, the actuators and control systems and methods disclosed and/or suggested in the '401 patent may be too slow, costly, complex and/or unreliable for various applications.

External cavity laser with rotary tuning element


In alternative embodiments, the invention provides processes and methods for the recovery or the removal of the so-called “Minor Elements” consisting of iron, aluminum and magnesium (expressed as oxides), from wet-process phosphoric acid using a continuous ion exchange approach. In alternative embodiments, use of processes and methods of the invention allows for the reduction of these Minor Elements with minimal phosphate losses and dilution in order to produce a phosphoric acid that is suitable for the production of fertilizer products such as world-class diammonium phosphate (DAP), merchant-grade phosphoric acid, superphosphoric acid, and other phosphoric acid products. Further, use of the invention would allow the use of lower grade phosphate rock or ore, which would greatly expand the potential phosphate rock reserve base for phosphate mining activities, and allow for better overall utilization of resources from a given developed mine site.

Phosphoric acid is a primary ingredient for the production of various phosphate products, including diammonium phosphate fertilizer (DAP); merchant-grade phosphoric acid (MGA); superphosphoric acid (SPA), and other various fertilizer and industrial-grade products. The phosphoric acid is made from the reaction of mined phosphate rock with sulfuric acid (H2SO4), for the most part, to produce a phosphoric acid solution and a by-product gypsum material. Phosphoric acid can also be produced via the reaction of phosphate rock with other acids such as hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, but the majority of the production is with sulfuric acid.
Since the phosphate rock is a mined material, it generally contains a number of associated impurities. Typically the rock can contain levels of iron, aluminum, magnesium (the so-called "minor elements"), as well as limestone, excess silica, traces of uranium and rare earths, and appreciable levels of fluoride components. To some extent, many of these impurities dissolve into phosphoric acid during the reaction of the phosphate rock with the acid source.
Phosphate rock itself is quite variable depending on its source. Some rocks are quite low in associated impurities and in general do not required any extra levels of beneficiation to produce the desired end-products. Other rock sources can contain relatively high levels of impurities and in many cases these impurities can make it difficult, if not impossible, to produce specification products.
Further as various rock sources are mined the typical trend is to mine the highest quality material first, and then over time mine the lower grade ore. In some cases, even though there is phosphate rock still available at a mine, the contained impurities are too high, and the rock cannot be chemically processed using the conventional technologies, thus the low-grade ore becomes essentially valueless. This, in turn, results in less than full recovery of the potentially useable phosphate ore.
Since the presence of impurities, especially the so-called "minor elements", can be detrimental to the phos-acid producer's ability to produce specification products, as well as diminish the potential phosphate rock that can be recovered from a given mine site, it would be desirable to have a method that can be used to reduce the dissolved impurities that are extracted into the acid and remove these impurities in such a manner that associated phosphoric acid losses are minimized and any phosphoric acid dilution is also held to a minimum. This would result in a significant increase in the quality of acid that could be produced by the phosphoric acid operation even with lower grade phosphate rock sources. Further, this would also greatly expand the potential phosphate rock reserve base for the phosphate mining operations and allow for better overall utilization of resources from a given developed mine site.

Processes for the removal and recovery of minor elements in wet-process phosphoric acid


A gear shifting control system for a vehicle includes an engine, a continuously-variable transmission, and an electronic control unit. The vehicle includes driving wheels. The engine includes an electronic throttle valve controlling a torque of the engine. The continuously-variable transmission is disposed in a power transmission path between the engine and the driving wheels. The electronic control unit is configured to i) decrease the torque of the engine by decreasing a throttle opening of the electronic throttle valve when the continuously-variable transmission upshifts, and ii) output a gear shifting start command for starting the upshifting of the continuously-variable transmission with a delay relative to a decrease start command for starting the decrease of the throttle opening of the electronic throttle valve when the continuously-variable transmission upshifts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gear shifting control system of a continuously-variable transmission, and more particularly, to suppression of variation in an output shaft torque occurring during gear shifting.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to suppress a variation of an output shift torque occurring when an inertia phase is started in so-called upshifting which is gear shifting to a speedup side of an automatic transmission, a gear shifting controller of an automatic transmission is known which performs a so-called torque-down control of decreasing an engine torque during gear shifting by controlling an electronic throttle valve of an engine so as to decrease a throttle opening. An example of the gear shifting controller of an automatic transmission is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 3-157560 (JP 3-157560 A).
JP 3-157560 A describes that a region (hereinafter, referred to as dead zone) in which the variation of the engine torque with respect to the variation of the throttle opening is small is present in a high-opening region of the electronic throttle valve. In this regard, when upshifting is carried out from the high-opening region of the electronic throttle valve, the decrease in the engine torque is delayed with respect to the decrease in the throttle opening and the torque-down control is not performed from the gear shifting start time, whereby there is a problem in that a sufficient gear shifting shock reducing effect based on the torque-down is not obtained. As a solution to this problem, JP 3-157560 A discloses a technique of enabling the start of the torque-down of the engine at the inertia phase start time of the automatic transmission by decreasing the throttle opening of the electronic throttle valve up to the lower end of the dead zone in advance before starting the inertia phase of the automatic transmission when the gear shifting of the automatic transmission is determined.

Gear shifting control system of vehicle continuously-variable transmission


A lead cutting apparatus of an electronic component, which is capable of cutting of leads of the component to a specific length independent of the shape and size of the component. This apparatus includes a table with a flat surface on which an electronic component is placed. The package of the component is supported by the flat surface of the table. A pair of cutting units are located at each side of the table. Each of the pair of cutting units has a gripper for gripping a corresponding one of the leads of the component, a cutter for cutting the corresponding one of the leads to a specific length, and a retainer for retaining the package of the component on the table. The pair of cutting units are designed to be moved toward the table and away from the table by a pair of moving units, respectively. The pair or cutting units are moved toward the table until the retainers are contacted with the package of the component by the pair of driving units, respectively, thereby positioning the component on the flat surface of the table. The grippers of the pair of cutting units are moved to grip the corresponding leads. The cutters of the pair of cutting units are moved to cut the gripped leads to the specific length.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lead cutting apparatus of an electronic component and more particularly to a lead cutting apparatus of an electronic component such as a packaged integrated circuit (IC), in which the leads extending from each end of a package of the component are cut to a specific length.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, the semiconductor industry has been in the process of transition from the era of mass-production of a same product to the era of small-quantity production of various products with the progressing expansion and competition of purpose or use. Accordingly, there has been the increasing need of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) capable of the small-quantity production of various products in the manufacturing system field of semiconductor devices or ICs.
In a finishing process (for example, a lead cutting or lead forming process) of ICs, which is performed after an assembling process, a proper cutting or forming die has been usually used for enabling automatic cutting or formation of the leads of the IC. However, various products necessitate various sizes or lengths of the leads. As a result, to cope with the various lead sizes or lengths, a lot of dedicated dies need to be prepared in advance.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the conventional lead cutting apparatuses of an IC.
In FIG. 1, the conventional apparatus includes a table 104 on which a work piece or a packaged IC 111 is placed. The table 104 is fixed on a base 112. The IC 111 has an encapsulation package 110 and leads 110a protruding from each side or end of the package 110.
A hole 104a is formed in the top surface of the table 104. The hole 104a is designed to have a shape allowing the metal, plastic, or ceramic package 110 of the IC 111 to be fitted into the hole 104a. At this time, the horizontally-extending leads 110a of the IC 111 are outside the hole 104a.
A pair of punching units 107A and 107B are provided on the base 112 at each side of the table 104. The pair of punching units 107A and 107B serve to cut the leads 110a of the IC 111 to a specific desired length. The pair of punching units 107A and 1073 are horizontally movable toward the table 104 and away from the table 104 along horizontally-extending guides 121 that are fixed on the base 112. The movement of the pair of punching units 107A and 107B are realized by a pair of driving or moving mechanisms 103A and 103B, respectively. The pair of driving mechanisms 103A and 103B are provided in the vicinities of the pair of punching units 107A and 107B, respectively.
Since the pair of punching units 107A and 107B have the same configuration, the configuration of the unit 107A is explained here. The punching unit 107A has a gripper 106 formed by a movable gripping member 106a and a fixed gripping member 106b. The movable gripping member 106a is vertically movable along guides 122. The leads 110a of the IC 111 are sandwiched and positioned by the gripping members 10a and 106b. The punching unit 107A further has a punch 105 serving as a cutter for the leads 110a. The guide 122 may be omitted.
The movable gripping member 106a is moved by the combination of an electric motor 113, feed screws 118, and nuts 119. The motor 113 is fixed to the body of the punching unit 107A. The screws 118 are rotated by the motor 113. The nuts 119 are engaged with the corresponding screws 118. The vertical movement of the movable gripping member 106a is realized by rotation of the screws 118 generated by the motor 113.
Because the pair of driving mechanisms 103A and 103B have the same configuration, the configuration of the mechanism 103A is explained here. As seen from FIG. 1, the driving mechanism 103A has a feed screw 108 engaged with the body of the unit 107A and a motor 109 fixed onto the base 112. The screw 108 is rotated by the motor 109. The punching unit 107A is horizontally moved toward the table 104 and away from the table 104 by rotation of the screw 108.
The conventional lead cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 operates as follows.
First, the packaged IC 111 is positioned on the table 104 by fitting the package 110 into the hole 104a of the table 104. Next, the pair of punching units 107A and 107B are horizontally moved toward the table 104 by the pair of driving mechanisms 103A and 103B at specific distances, respectively. Thus, the punching units 107A and 107B are positioned at desired positions for preset specific lengths, respectively. At this stage, the leads 110a are located on the fixed gripping members 106b.
Subsequently, the movable gripping members 106a of the grippers 106 of the pair of punching units 107A and 107B are lowered toward the fixed gripping members 106b, thereby gripping the leads 110a of the IC 111 at each side of the table 104. Finally, the punches 105 of the punching units 107A and 107B are lowered to cut the gripped leads 110a to the desired length. These operation sequence is performed under the control of a programmed controller (not shown).
As described above, with the conventional lead cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the leads 110a can be automatically cut to the desired specific length. However, the hole 104a of the table 104 is formed to be dedicated to the shape and size of the package 110 of the IC 111. Therefore, there is a problem that the conventional apparatus cannot be used for another IC with a different shape and/or a size.
To make it possible for the conventional apparatus to cut the leads of various ICs with different size and/or shapes, a lot of dedicated tables 104 having various holes 104a are necessarily prepared. Thus, there arises another problem that the number of the tables 104 increases and consequently, the initial and management costs are raised.
Especially, the sort of the ICs is frequently changed in the small-quantity production of various products. Accordingly, it takes a long time for set-up work such as table exchange and table centering, decreasing the operating efficiency of the apparatus.
Moreover, an automatic IC feeder is usually equipped with the lead cutting apparatus of this sort. In this case, the conventional apparatus necessitates the IC feeder an insertion behavior of the package 110 of the IC 111 into the hole 104a of the table 104. This behavior increases the cycle time.

Lead cutting apparatus of electronic component


The present invention achieves a shallow junction of a source and a drain, and provides a doping method which makes device properties reproducible and a semiconductor device fabricated using the method. In the present invention, doping for the semiconductor is conducted by attaching a molecular species with a higher electron affinity or lower ionization energy out of fullerene derivatives or metallocenes to the semiconductor surface to induce charge transfer from the molecule to the semiconductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a doping method in a junction formation process, in particular, a shallow junction formation process, of a semiconductor device, and a semiconductor device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
For metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET), high performance has been achieved by microfabrication in view of processing size. However, due to the shortened channel length, phenomena called short channel effect and hot carrier phenomena have arisen and prevented improvement of the performance of the device.
To avoid such negative impact, it is necessary to make the source/drain junction shallow. In addition, to increase the current drivability of transistors, the resistance (layer resistance) of the doping layer of the source and the drain needs to be as low as possible. International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS 2002 Update) requires realization of a source/drain junction depth of 10 nm and a sheet resistance of 360 Ω by the year 2007.
Conventionally, as a technique for forming a shallow source/drain junction, a combination of low speed ion implantation and rapid thermal annealing process (A. Ono et al.: 2000 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, p. 14), plasma doping (Bunji Mizuno, Oyo Buturi, Vol.70, No.12, p. 1458–1462, 2001), elevated source/drain due to selective epitaxial growth (Denshi Zairyo (Electronic Materials and Parts), November sppl. and Vol./2002, Guide Book of VLSI Production and Testing Equipment, p. 95–99, 2001), solid phase diffusion (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-167658) and laser doping (K. Shibahara et al.: 2001 Solid State Devices and Materials, p. 236).

Doping method and semiconductor device using the same

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


A fuel tank level indicator for indicating at a surface when a fuel tank is filled with fuel, such indicator installed on a fuel inlet pipe and having a loop pipe in line with the inlet pipe with a riser pipe at the top of the loop and a float member disposed in the riser pipe to raise an indicator member above the surface when the loop pipe fills with fuel. The fuel is prevented from backing up the inlet pipe by a back flow preventor and some of the fuel then passes into the riser pipe, raising the float member and its attached indicator member above the surface where it is visible by the person entering fuel into the inlet pipe who will then see the indicator member and stop the flow of fuel.

1. Field of the Invention
The device of this invention resides in the area of fluid level indicators and more particularly relates to a device with means to indicate when a boat's fuel tank is full.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art boat fuel tanks often have a fuel inlet on the boat's deck with no means to gauge when the fuel tank is full. When the tank is being filled with fuel, excess fuel beyond the fuel tank's capacity can often overflow onto the deck. Some boats have an overflow pipe that is positioned on the side of the hull and when the fuel tank is overfilled, the excess fuel is allowed to spill out into the water surrounding the boat which spillage causes undesirable pollution and creates a fire hazard.


A cargo support bar for use with a truck bed or truck bed liners has a pair of spaced equipment holders. Each holder has at least two upwardly extending arms which define slots for carrying cargo and equipment. A center area is formed between the equipment holders for carrying sheet material. Straps with hooks are provided to extend over the cargo. The support bars have a plastic shell extending over a 2'.times.4' wooden core. Two or more of the bars are positioned within pockets formed in the side walls of a truck bed or a truck bed liner to extend across the width and to support cargo and equipment in a double tier arrangement.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cargo holders for a pickup truck bed or a bed liner, and more particularly, for forming two tier cargo support.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Organizers have been devised for use in transporting cargo in pickup truck beds and truck bed liners. Typically, these organizers include walls or inserts which are mounted to the truck bed liner, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,682. It is also known to mount boards in slots in the liner to extend across the width of the truck bed to restrain cargo, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,434. Recently, many truck beds and truck bed liners have been formed to support cargo on an upper tier. The beds or liners are formed with pairs of pockets to hold several boards horizontally across the width of the liner and spaced vertically upwardly from the floor to support equipment and cargo in a two-tiered arrangement. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,149 and is particularly advantageous for hauling large sheet material such as drywall, plywood, or paneling.
However, the known supports and organizers do not satisfactorily secure cargo such as garden tools, pipes, or fishing poles, which frequently slide within the truck bed or truck bed liner.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide support which permits a two-tier arrangement for hauling large sheet material in a stable position.
Additionally, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which is adapted to securely transport elongated cargo, such as tubing and fishing poles, securely within a truck bed or truck bed liner.


There are provided five first lighting units for carrying out light irradiation to form a horizontal cutoff line. Each of the first lighting units has such a structure that includes a first light source formed by a light emitting diode provided to face forward in such a manner that one side of a rectangular light emitting chip is extended in a horizontal direction, and first projection lenses provided in front thereof and serving to project the image of the first light source as an inverted image forward from the lighting units. Consequently, the inverted image of the first light source projected forward from the lighting unit is an almost rectangular image having an upper edge extended almost horizontally. These are provided with a shift from each other in the horizontal direction, thereby forming a horizontal cutoff line. Two additional rows of lighting units provide light for an oblique cutoff line and a diffuse light pattern, respectively.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp that forms a light distribution pattern having a horizontal cutoff line on an upper end.
2. Related Art
As described in JP-A-2001-270383, a related art headlamp for a vehicle forms a light distribution pattern having a horizontal cutoff line on an upper end by light irradiation from a plurality of lighting units.
Moreover, JP-A-2003-31011 discloses a linear light source device that forward reflects, through a predetermined reflecting member, a light emitted from a linear light source having a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged straight.
When the linear light source device described in JP '011 is applied to a headlamp for a vehicle, it is possible to form a light distribution pattern having a horizontal cutoff line on an upper end. However, in such a case, there is a related art problem in that it is hard to finely control the shape and luminous intensity distribution of the light distribution pattern.

Vehicle headlamp with light-emitting unit shifted from optical axis of lens


There is provided a multifunction coaxial objective system (16) for a laser rangefinder (10). The transmitter, receiver, and viewing optical systems have a common, coaxial optical axis (48). The multifunction coaxial objective system (16) includes lenses (28), (30) and mirror (32) each having a central obscuration therein. The multifunction coaxial objective system (16) further includes a lens (34) having a dichroic coating on one surface (50). The dichroic coated lens (34) transmits visible and near infrared light and reflects light of the wavelength transmitted by a laser emitter (18). The viewing optical system includes a pair of focusing wedges (42), (44) for adjusting the focus of the viewing optical system. Each focusing wedge (42), (44) is a wedge-shaped optical flat. The pair of focusing wedges (42), (44) are disposed against one another along a plane inclined with respect to the coaxial optical axis (48) of the multifunction coaxial objective system (16). Focus adjustment is achieved by relative movement between the focusing wedges (42), (44) along the inclined plane. The multifunction coaxial objective system (16) of the present invention may alternatively be incorporated into a rangefinder and camera for example.

Laser rangefinders are well known in the rangefinding art. A laser rangefinder emits one or more laser pulses toward an object the range of which is to be determined. The laser pulses reflect from the object back to the rangefinder, and are detected by a laser detector. The length of time between emission of each laser pulse and its detection by the laser detector is measured by a timer clock, and the range is determined from this time period. A numerical range figure may be displayed on a suitable electronic display on the rangefinder, or may be printed on a remote paper printer, for example.
Typical laser rangefinders of the prior art have three separate optical channels: a channel for the transmitting optics, a channel for the receiving optics, and a channel for the viewing optics. Each of these optical channels typically has its own distinct optical axis. A few laser rangefinders have been designed in which the receiving and viewing channels are coaxial. However, there are no known laser rangefinders with coaxial transmitting, receiving and night viewing channels. Such a rangefinder having coaxial optics for all three functions is highly desirable for reducing size, weight, and cost of the rangefinder.
A second disadvantage with laser rangefinders of the prior art resides in the lens system for focusing the viewing optics. A typical focusing system requires relative movement between the viewing lens and the transmitter and receiver optics. This relative movement between the viewing and the rangefinder optics contributes to boresight loss, parallax, and alignment stability problems in the rangefinder.
Consequently, a need exists for a laser rangefinder with an improved optical system which uses a single optical channel for transmitting, receiving and viewing functions. Preferably, such an improved laser rangefinder will have an optical system which permits focus adjustment for the viewing system without relative movement between the viewing lens and the transmitter or receiver optics. Such an improved laser rangefinder will further preferably have night vision capability.

Multifunction coaxial objective system for a rangefinder


A method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for logging metadata modifications in a storage system are provided. According to one method, modifications to storage system metadata are detected and described in a log string data structure. The log strings are collected and periodically committed to a mass storage device in the data storage system. The log strings may be collected in a log buffer data structure that includes the collected log strings and one or more unique, constantly increasing timestamps. The time stamps are written at the end of each sector of the log buffer. The log buffer may be committed to the mass storage device when the log buffer is full, when a predefined period of time has elapsed since the previous commitment of the log strings to disk, or in a manner designed to ensure that one write of the log buffer is always outstanding. A logger module is operative to collect the log strings, build the log buffer, and to commit the log buffer to disk.

Many data storage systems maintain persistent metadata in order to reliably be brought back up in the event of improper system shutdown or catastrophic system failure. This is especially true of storage systems that maintain a lookup table or a map table to perform input/output ("I/O") operations. A lookup table is necessary in systems that implement advanced storage features such as snapshots and thin provisioning.
In order to ensure that data writes that have been signaled as completed successfully to the initiator are not lost on catastrophic system failure, it is necessary to make an update of the lookup table part of the path of an I/O operation. The traditional methods of updating metadata tables, such as a lookup table, is to write the corresponding parts of the table to disk or to maintain a fragmented representation of the table on disk and update it as needed. Both of these methods, however, are costly in terms of I/O performance and the amount of space required on disk. In particular, since any write I/O that is smaller than a sector requires a read-modify-write operation, applications currently choose to either write metadata corresponding to several portions of the disk into the same sector, or write each unit of metadata to a different portion of the disk. The disadvantage of the former method is that it is necessary to lock out several other I/O operations that would share the same metadata sector during one non-overlapping I/O operation. The disadvantage of the second method is that for substantial amounts of metadata, the amount of disk space required to store it is unacceptably large. Another disadvantage of existing systems is that it is often necessary to refer to data that has been previously persisted to disk. For instance, if a change is required on a sub-sector level, a read-modify-write operation may be needed.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the following disclosure has been made.

Logging metadata modifications in a data storage system


Disclosed herein is a bat comprising a handle portion, a transition portion attached to the handle portion, and a barrel portion attached to the transition portion. The barrel portion includes one or more first cross-sections having a first stiffness and a plurality of second cross-sections having a second stiffness. Each first cross-section is beside one second cross-section or between two of the second cross-sections and the first stiffness is greater than the second stiffness. The variance in stiffness between the first cross-sections and the second cross-sections is created by varying the amount of material in the cross-section or by, more accurately, removing material in the second cross sections to make the second cross-sections more flexible by creating slots. Likewise, a bat may be provided with third cross sections on the sides of the second cross-sections distal from the first cross-section whereby the third cross-sections are less stiff that the second cross-sections because more material is removed.

The present invention relates generally to baseball and softball bats. More particularly, the invention relates to a bat having a sleeve with slots.
It can be appreciated that numerous attempts have been made to improve the performance of a bat. These prior attempts have included the addition of various shells, inserts, materials, and shapes of the bat in order to improve its performance or usage. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,733,404, 6,497,631, 6,176,795, 6,022,282, 4,930,772, 4,331,330, and 3,990,699, and U.S. patent application Publication No. 2002/0016230 disclose various attempts to improve the performance or use of a bat.
The performance of a bat is generally based upon the weight of the bat, size of the bat, and the impact response of the bat at and during impact with a ball. Most of the focus for improvements in bat technology has been in improving the performance of the preferred impact area, or sweet spot. As the prior art bats have increased the performance in this area, many of the sports regulatory agencies have placed performance and/or configuration restrictions on the bats. These restrictions have mandated new innovations in the development of the bat technology.
For example, one regulatory body requires a maximum performance from a bat when impacted in the preferred impact area or sweet spot of the bat. Typically, this location is approximately six inches from the end of the bat. As such, the current maximum performance for the bat in its preferred hitting area is limited by these regulations. However, it is also to be understood that the area to either side of the sweet spot on a prior art bat has a significant drop off in performance.
The contemporary bat art has made few attempts to improve the performance of the bat sections adjacent the preferred impact area. As such, the performance of the bats in areas distal from, and even adjacent to, the sweet spot dramatically drops for the conventional bats. However, these attempts have drawback.
For example, U.S. patent application Publication 2004/0152545 discloses increasing the thickness over the sweet spot of the barrel in order to increase the leaf spring effect of the bat. However, this patent application publication fails to reduce the thickness of any wall within the bat in order to increase performance of the bat. As such, this patent application publication increases the weight of the bat in an attempt to increase the performance of the bat, which is counter productive. This patent application publication also increases the cost of the bat by increasing the amount of material used. Additionally, when there is a portion of a bat that has a change in diameter, that portion becomes a weakened spot. Additionally, the differences in spacing between portions of the body and of the frame can create weaknesses. Further, the differences in distance between the body and frame can cause manufacturing issues as to how to fill the variable distances and how to maintain the variable distances during construction of the bat. Further, this published application discloses placing slots in one end of the bat to reduce the diameter of that end of the insert to more easily place an insert into a bat frame but fails to understand the benefits of placing the slots in both end of the sleeve as to increasing the flexibility of the bat hitting portion beyond the center of the barrel. Further, the slots are not sufficient in length to increase the size of the sweet spot.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improved overall performance of bats. These improved bats need to conform to the regulatory agencies' restrictions in the preferred hitting zone while performing well beyond the preferred hitting zone. This needed bat should increase the stiffness in the preferred hitting zone as compared to the area(s) adjacent the preferred hitting zone. This needed bat must not have inconsistent spaces between the sleeve and the hitting portion. As such, what is needed is a bat that varies the stiffness of the wall of the bat in order to enhance performance of the bat.


A light-shielding film 2 formed on a transparent substrate 1 has a monolayer structure or a multilayer structure. At least one layer is formed by film-formation with a chromium-containing material including tin. The light-shielding film 2 has an optical density of 2 or higher and 4 or lower and has a reflection-preventing function. The layer made of a chromium-containing material including tin, which constitutes the light-shielding film 2, can cause a significant increase in the etching rate at the time of chlorine-containing dry etching including oxygen. Thus, burden on the resist pattern or hard mask pattern at the time of transferring a pattern on the light-shielding film is reduced, and therefore it is possible to carry out pattern transfer with high precision.

A microfabrication technique is a very important basic technique in the field of semiconductor technology, and the research and development thereof have been progressed for further finer microfabrication. In recent years, particularly, with high integration of a large scale integration circuit, refinement of circuit patterns, wiring patterns, or contact-hole patterns for wiring between layers forming a cell has been progressed, and a request for microfabrication technology has been increased.
In connection with this, even in the field of technology for photomask production to be used in the process for photolithography in microfabrication, a technique for forming fine and correct circuit patterns (mask patterns) has begun to be demanded.
In order to high-precision processing by lithography technology, the precondition is to form a photomask pattern with high precision. Generally, reduction projection is performed when forming a pattern on a semiconductor substrate by photolithographic technique. The size of the pattern formed on the photomask is therefore approximately four times larger than the side of the pattern formed on the semiconductor substrate. However, this does not mean that the desired precision of the pattern formed on the photomask is smaller than the pattern formed on the semiconductor substrate. Rather, the precision of a pattern formed on the photomask as a master is desired to be higher more than an actual pattern obtained after exposure
In today's photolithography technical field, the size of a circuit pattern to be drawn is considerably smaller than the wavelength of light to be used for exposure. Thus, in the case of forming a photomask pattern with a just four-times larger circuit pattern, light interference or the like, which is generated under exposure, influences on transfer of an original shape. As a result, the original shape cannot be transferred onto the photoresist film of a semiconductor substrate.
In some cases, therefore, a pattern formed on the photomask is made more complicated than an actual circuit pattern to reduce an effect of the above light interference or the like. The shape of such a pattern may be, for example, an actual circuit pattern subjected to optical proximity correction (OPC).
Hence, along with a decrease in size of a circuit pattern, a higher precision processing technique has been also desired in a lithographic technique for forming photomask patterns. Although lithography performance may be expressed in limiting resolution, as described above, the precision of a pattern formed on the photomask as a master is desired to be higher more than an actual pattern obtained after exposure. Thus, limiting resolution required for formation of a photomask pattern is almost equal to or higher than one required in lithography for forming a pattern on a semiconductor base.
In general, when forming a photomask pattern, a photoresist film is formed on the surface of the photomask blank in which a light-shielding film is mounted on a transparent substrate, and a pattern is then drawn (exposed) on the photoresist film by an electron beam. Subsequently, after obtaining a photoresist pattern after developing the exposed photoresist film, the light-shielding film is etched by using this photoresist pattern as a mask to obtain a light-shielding (film) pattern. The light-shielding (film) pattern thus obtained is served as a photomask pattern.
In this case, the above photoresist film should be thinned depending on the degree of fineness of the light-shielding pattern. This is because, when forming a fine light-shielding pattern while keeping the thickness of the photoresist film, the ratio (aspect ratio) of the thickness of the photoresist film to the size of the light-shielding pattern becomes large and causes troubles of failed pattern transfer, falling down or peeling off of the photoresist pattern, or the like due to deterioration of the shape of the photoresist pattern.
As a material of the light-shielding film mounted on the transparent substrate, many kinds of materials have so far been proposed. Among them, however, a chromium compound has been practically used because of much know-how on etching, for example.
Dry etching of a chromium-containing material film is generally performed by chlorine-containing dry etching. In many cases, however, chlorine-containing dry etching has a certain level of ability to etch an organic layer. Thus, in the case that a photoresist pattern is formed on a thin photoresist film and then used as a mask to etch a light-shielding film, the photoresist pattern is also etched too much to ignore by chlorine-containing dry etching. As a result, the proper photoresist pattern, which should be transferred to a light-shield film, cannot be correctly transferred to the light-shielding film.
In order to avoid such inconvenience, a photoresist material having excellent etching resistance has been requested. However, such a photoresist material has not been known yet. For this reason, to obtain a light-shielding (film) pattern having high resolution property, a light-shielding film material having higher processing accuracy is required.
For a light-shielding film having higher processing accuracy as compared with a conventional material an attempt to increase the etching rate of a light-shielding film is reported, the attempt allowing a chromium compound to contain only a certain amount of a light element.
For example, Patent Literature 1 (WO 2007/74806 A) discloses a technique for reducing photoresist film loss at the time of chlorine-containing dry etching by using a material mainly containing chromium (Cr) and nitrogen (N) and having an X-diffraction peak of substantially CrN(200) as a light-shielding film material to enhance a dry-etching rate.
Furthermore, Patent Literature 2 (JP 2007-33470 A) discloses the invention of a photomask blank where its composition, film thickness, and a laminated structure are suitably designed to obtain desired transmittance T and reflectance R while trying to increases a dry-etching rate by making the composition of a chromium-containing compound of the light-shielding film rich in light element and low in chromium composition as compared with the composition of the conventional film.

Photomask blank, method for manufacturing photomask, and method for manufacturing phase shift mask


In a multi-deck-elevator-equipped building control system, operating modes of an elevator control portion include a double operating mode. In the double operating mode, only a first cage is permitted to stop at first cage stop floors, and only a second cage is permitted to stop at second cage stop floors that are distinct from the first cage stop floors. A building fixture control portion has a first group control portion for associatively controlling an electrical fixture on the first cage stop floors and a second group control portion for associatively controlling an electrical fixture on the second cage stop floors.

Conventional double-deck elevators have been disclosed in which an elevator car having a lower car and an upper car positioned above the lower car is raised and lowered inside a hoistway, such as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 11-71063 (Gazette), for example.
Operating modes of conventional double-deck elevators include a double operating mode and a semi-double operating mode. In the double operating mode, the lower car stops only at odd-numbered floors, and the upper car stops only at even-numbered floors. In the semi-double operating mode, a distribution similar to that of the double operating mode is performed only at departure floors (normally the first floor and the second floor), and once a landing call has been answered, both the lower car and the upper car stop at any floor. If the departure floors are the first floor and the second floor, escalators are used for movement between the first and second floors.
The operating mode is switched depending on degrees of congestion. Specifically, the double operating mode, which has a high transport efficiency, is implemented during periods of peak congestion, and the semi-double operating mode is implemented outside peak periods.
However, in a conventional building occupied by a plurality of tenants, the tenants occupy vertically continuous floors, such as Company A occupying eight and ninth floors, Company B occupying tenth through fourteenth floors, and Company C occupying fifteenth through eighteenth floors, for example. During peak periods in which the double operating mode is implemented, since the double-deck elevator cannot be used for movement between odd-numbered floors and even-numbered floors even inside the same company, the tenants are forced to use stairs.
In contrast to this, if the semi-double operating mode is implemented during peak periods, transport capacity decreases and waiting time is increased.
Consequently, there is demand for utilization efficiency of the double-deck elevator to be improved, and for user friendliness to be increased.


A photosensitive resin composition which gives a dry film having a sand blast proof property and a development property in a well-balanced manner. A photosensitive resin composition containing a carboxy group-containing urethane (meth)acrylate compound having two or more of (meth)acryloyl groups per molecule whose acid value of less than 10 mg KOH/g, an alkali soluble polymer compound, a photopolymerization initiator and a photopolymerizable compound (D) including in the structure thereof a structural unit represented by the formula (I) gives such a well-balanced properties.OCH2CH2   (I)

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photosensitive resin composition and a photosensitive dry film containing the same, and in particular relates to a photosensitive resin composition from which an excellent development property as well as a resist pattern excellent in sand blast proof property are obtained when formed into the dry film.
2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a method for selectively engraving a material to be processed such as glass and ceramics, there has been known a method which is called a sand blast processing. In the sand blast processing, a patterned photosensitive resin layer is provided as a masking material on the material to be processed and subsequently an unmasked portion is selectively engraved by blasting an abrasive on this photosensitive resin layer. The sand blast processing has been utilized for formation of a rib (partition) which defines each cell in a plasma display, and pattern formation of a circuit substrate having both a metallic pattern and an insulating pattern of the ceramics and a phosphor.
A photosensitive dry film has been used for forming a masking material used for the sand blast processing. This photosensitive dry film is a film with three layer structure obtained by coating a photosensitive resin composition on a removable support film, half drying this coating film to form a photosensitive resin layer and laminating a removable protection film thereon. Upon the use thereof, the protection film is peeled off from the photosensitive resin layer, the uncovered photosensitive resin layer is overlaid on a material to be processed, and the photosensitive resin layer is press-bonded by adding the pressure via the support film. Subsequently, the resist pattern which is the masking material in the sand blast processing is formed by exposing the photosensitive resin layer to light through the support film, peeling the support film off, and subjecting the resin layer to a developing treatment.
In recent years, along with progress of photolithography and sand blast technique, rib formation with finer pattern has been desired in the plasma display.
Aiming at efficient production of such a fine rib pattern with a high process yield, there have been reported a variety of many photosensitive resin compositions containing a carboxy-modified urethane (meth)acrylate compound and a photopolymerization initiator. For example, Patent Document 1 (JP-H8-54734-A) discloses a photosensitive resin composition containing a carboxy-modified urethane (meth)acrylate with an acid value of 20 to 70 mg KOH/g, an alkali soluble polymer compound and a photopolymerization initiator.
Patent Document 2 (JP-H11-181042-A) discloses a photosensitive resin composition containing both a carboxyl group-containing acrylic urethane based resin having an acid value of 10 to 100 mg KOH/g and an acrylic urethane based resin having a certain segment moiety, in addition to a photopolymerization initiator.

Photosensitive resin composition and photosensitive dry film containing the same


A hair dryer comprises a housing (1), a fan assembly, a heating element, and a handle (2). The fan assembly and the heating element are located in the housing (1). The handle (2) and the housing (1) are in rotational connection. An upper portion of the handle (2) is U-shaped. A rotating shaft is located at the end of the U-shaped upper portion. The U-shaped upper portion is provided with a hair brush at a position corresponding to the air inlet of the housing (1). The housing (1) can swing left and right on the handle (2). When the housing (1) is swung, the hair brush can clean the dust at the air inlet of the housing (1), making the hair dryer both simple and sanitary.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a hair dryer, and more particularly to a hair dryer which is convenient to use, and is capable of brushing dust around an air inlet of the hair dryer.
2. Description of Related Arts
Hair dryers are necessary appliances in daily lives. A conventional hair dryer usually comprises a housing, a fan motor, and a heating element. The housing usually has a tubular main portion having an air outlet, an air inlet providing on the housing at a position opposite to the air outlet, and a filter mounted at the air inlet. The fan motor is rotationally mounted in the tubular main portion at a position near the air inlet. The fan motor is connected to a plurality of fan blades so that when the fan motor is rotated, the fan blades are adapted for initiating air suction and blowing within the tubular main portion of the housing, so that air is sucked into the tubular main portion via the air inlet, and is blown out of the tubular main portion via the air outlet. The heating element is provided near the air outlet, and is electrically connected to an operation switch on the housing. The operation switch is arranged to control an operation of the heating element and the fan motor so as to control the temperature of the air blowing out of the air outlet, and the speed of the air flow. For such a conventional hair dryer just described, the air outlet is covered with a lot of dusts which can only be removed manually by using brushes. As a result, there is a need to develop a hair dryer which can remove dust at the air outlet.


An embodiment of the present invention is a switching power supply comprising a transformer with a primary and two secondaries, a switching transistor in series with the primary, a rectifier and filter on one secondary to provide regulated output power, a feedback control circuit that monitors the secondary and adjusts the duty cycle of an on-off control signal to the switching transistor to maintain a constant output at the terminals, and a monitor that detects when the power level flowing through the switching regulator has dropped to a predetermined minimum and then linearly turns on a load to the transformer. Transistor is typically a power MOSFET. The monitor tracks a summing junction current before any slope compensation is added. Load is a shunt regulator that is activated when the summing junction current falls below 12% of full scale. Alternatively, the predetermined value of 12% is adjustable. The shunt regulator load increases the load on secondary until the summing junction current returns to 12% of full scale. The feedback control circuit and monitor are preferably fabricated on a single monolithic integrated circuit which increases its power dissipation when the monitor activates the shunt regulator load.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic power supplies and specifically to switching power supplies that frequently encounter no load conditions and must be as efficient as possible to extend battery life and to reduce heat dissipation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two types of power supplies are in wide use that convert an incoming source to voltage levels useful to the equipment being powered. Linear power supplies are the simplest a series transistor typically drops enough voltage across it to maintain a constant output voltage. A problem with linear power supplies is that the heavier the output load, the more current will have to pass through the regulating transistor, since it is in series with the load. This increased current means more power must be dissipated by the transistor, and this power is thrown away as heat. Switching power supplies are more efficient and run cooler than linear power supplies at the same power levels. But switching power supplies are more complicated because a transistor operated as a switch is used to chop incoming current for a transformer that has the load connected to its secondary winding, usually through a rectifier and filter. A feedback circuit is needed to monitor the output voltage and increase the time duration the chopping transistor is on when more output voltage is needed and to reduce the time duration when less output voltage is needed. The feedback circuit often makes use of a third winding of the transformer. The advantages of the switching power supply are that they can operate either as step-up or step-down supplies, by adjusting the number of windings in the primary and secondary of the transformer, and less heat is dissipated by the transistor since it never operates in its linear region. The transistor is either fully off or fully on.
A problem develops in switching power supplies when the load is reduced to almost no load or is removed altogether. The feedback circuit has trouble making the pulses to the switching transistor narrow enough. Device limitations, circuit resistance, parasitic capacitances, loop delays, and the like, all conspire to make a switching power supply literally go wild at minimum loads. The prior art has attempted to correct this situation by a number of ways. One has been to simply put a shunt resistor across the output terminals that will draw the minimum current necessary to keep the output from going wild. The trouble with that is the resistor draws current all the time, it reduces the maximum current available externally, and it produces heat that may be hard to dispose of Zener diodes on the output can draw too much current, and their exact turn-on voltages may not be suitable for particular supplies. Other types of voltage clamps can fail to be properly matched with the voltage regulation point of the basic feedback circuit and so can draw too little or too much current in their attempts to control the output. Subharmonic oscillation of the switching transistor has also been tried. Sometimes called "hiccup mode", subharmonic oscillation can cause audible noise that is objectionable.
What is needed is a switching power supply that provides its own minimum load automatically as a part of the internal feedback control circuit that is deactivated when an external load that exceeds the minimum is connected.

Linear load circuit to control switching power supplies under minimum load conditions