A semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion structure is provided in a photoconductive infrared detector and is provided at opposite ends with first and second electrodes so biased that the first and second electrodes have a positive potential and a ground potential respectively. The semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion structure has an infrared receiving part so that the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion structure comprises a first half region defined between the infrared receiving part and the first electrode and a second half region defined between the infrared receiving part and the second electrode. At least the second half region reduces in section area toward the second electrode to increase a resistance of at least the second half region.

The present invention relates to a photoconductive infrared detector, and more particularly to a highly sensitive photoconductive infrared detector with an increased electrical resistance and without substantive loss of average life time of excess minority carriers having been generated in a semiconductor crystal for detecting infrared.
The basic photoconductive infrared detector has a structure as illustrated in FIG. 1. A semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1 is provided over a substrate 2. A plus electrode 5 and a ground electrode 6 are provided at opposite ends of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. The plus electrode 5 and the ground electrode 6 are distanced from each other in a lateral and longitudinal direction. A pair of top and, bottom passivation films 4 are provided on top and bottom surfaces of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. An adhesive is applied on a bottom surface of the bottom passivation film 4 so that the bottom passivation film 4 underlying the semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1 is adhered on the substrate 2.
If the infrared is made incident into the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1, then excess minority carriers are generated in the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. Those generated excess minority carriers varies an electrical resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. The plus electrode 5 and the ground electrode 6 are biased to cause a bias current to flow from the plus electrode 5 toward the ground electrode 6. The variation in resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 by generation of the excess minority carriers causes variation of the bias current flowing through the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. It is therefore possible to detect the variation in electrical resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 by detecting variation of the bias current. The variation in electrical resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 depends upon the amount of the generated excess minority carriers. The amount of the generated excess minority carriers depends upon the intensity of the infrared having been made incident into the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. Namely, any variation in the bias current flowing through the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 means or teaches that any infrared has been made incident into the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 whereby the excess minority carriers are generated in the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 and flow through the same toward the ground electrode 6, wherein minority carriers are holes. The excess minority carriers having been generated will be recombined with electrons the average life time in the average. The average life time of the excess minority carriers depends upon the surface state and property of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. It is generally said that if the average life time of the excess minority carriers is long, then a variation in electrical resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 caused by the incidence of the infrared is large. The large variation in electrical resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 means that the photoconductive infrared detector is highly sensitive to the incident of the infrared. Namely, it is desired that the average life time of the excess minority carriers is as long as possible to ensure a possible high sensitivity to the infrared. In order to obtain a possibly long average life time of the excess minority carriers generated in the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1, it is required to prevent the recombination of the excess minority carriers or holes with electrons. In order to prevent the recombination of the excess minority carriers with electrons, the above top and bottom passivation films 4 are effective.
The above conventional infrared detector structure are, however, engaged with the following problems. In order to prevent the recombination of the excess minority carriers, the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 are coated with the passivation films 4 but only the top and bottom surfaces thereof, whilst opposite side walls and the opposite ends of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 are not coated by the passivation films 4, wherein the opposite side walls are distanced from each other in a horizontal direction vertical to the longitudinal direction. The recombination velocity of the excess minority carriers is extremely large in the vicinity of the opposite side walls and the opposite ends of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. Namely, the excess minority carriers are immediately recombined and disappeared in the vicinity of the opposite side walls and the opposite ends of the semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1. These phenomenon teach that the average life time of the excess minority carriers are short and thus the above conventional infrared ray detector has a deteriorated sensitivity to the infrared ray.
In order to settle the above problem with deterioration of the sensitivity to the infrared, it was proposed to other infrared detector which has a structure as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. This infrared detector is disclosed in the Japanese laid-open patent application No. 63-11821. A semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1 is provided over a substrate 2. A plus electrode 5 and a ground electrode 6 are provided at opposite ends of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. The plus electrode 5 and the ground electrode 6 are distanced from each other in a lateral and longitudinal direction. A pair of top and bottom passivation films 4 are provided on top and bottom surfaces of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. An adhesion is applied on a bottom surface of the bottom passivation film 4 so that the bottom passivation film 4 underlying the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 is adhered on the substrate 2. Infrared ZnS insulation film 7 transparent to the infrared is provided which extends over the top portions of the plus electrode 5 and the ground electrode 6 as well as over the top passivation film 4. Infrared shielding mask 8 is provided over the infrared ZnS insulation film 7 for shielding the infrared. The infrared shielding mask 8 is square-shaped. The infrared shielding mask 8 has a window 9 which is also square-shaped at the center position so as to allow the infrared ray to be incident through the window 9 and the infrared ZnS insulation film 7 into the center portion of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. The window 9 of the infrared shielding mask 8 has a sufficiently small area as compared to an area of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. The semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1 is made of HgcdTe. A distance between the edge of the window 9 of the infrared shielding mask 8 and the side wall of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 is set larger than a diffusion length, for example, 20 micrometers, of carriers or excess minority carriers generated so as to suppress a recombination of the generated excess minority carriers in the vicinity of side walls of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1. This contributes to suppress a remarkable loss of the average life time of the excess minority carriers generated in the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 thereby allowing an improvement in sensitivity of the infrared detector.
The sensitivity of the photoconductive infrared detector depends not only upon the above average life time of the excess minority carriers generated in the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 but also upon a resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1. If the resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 is large, then the variation in resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 due to generation of excess minority carriers therein is also large. If the variation in resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 due to generation of excess minority carriers therein is large, this means that the sensitivity of the photoconductive infrared detector is also high.
The infrared ray is made incident through the window 9 of the infrared shielding mask 8 and the infrared transparent ZnS insulation film 7 into the center portion of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 whereby excess minority carriers are generated in the center area of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 and are drifted through the semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1 to the ground electrode 6 Namely, the generated excess minority carriers flow through the half portion of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 in the ground electrode side, for which reason the electrical resistance to the excess minority carriers is substantially determined by the half portion of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 in the ground electrode side. The substantial electrical resistance of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 is determined between the center area of the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 and the ground electrode 6. As well illustrated in FIG. 2A, the semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion 1 has a wide width which remains unchanged between the plus electrode 5 and the ground electrode 6. Namely, the wide width of the semiconductor crystal infrared ray detecting portion 1 in the half area in the ground electrode 6 provides a low resistance which causes a deterioration in the sensitivity of the above conventional photoconductive infrared detector. Namely, it is difficult for the above conventional photoconductive infrared detector to ensure the required high sensitivity.
In the above circumstances, it is required to develop a novel highly sensitive photoconductive infrared detector having a high electrical resistance and ensuring a long average life time of excess minority carriers generated in a semiconductor crystal infrared detecting portion provided in the photoconductive infrared detector.

Highly sensitive photoconductive infrared detector


Disclosed is a case for an electric junction box capable of preventing water that hits onto and bounds from a projection from invading into the case. The case for the electric junction box includes a synthetic resin made case main body, an upper cover, and a lower cover. Adjacent to a part where the case main body and the upper cover are joined a bracket for fixing car body that projects from an outer face of the case main body is disposed. The bracket is provided with a plurality of insertion holes for draining water. The plurality of insertion holes is also disposed throughout the bracket. In such the case, the water blown to the bracket falls down, without bounding, through the insertion holes, and thus making it possible to prevent the water from invading into the case.

Onto an automobile an electric junction box is mounted. The electric junction box is configured in various types, for example, as disclosed in the PTL 1, a case provided with a case main body, an upper cover covering an opening of an upside of the case main body, a lower cover covering an opening of a downside of the case main body. In the case, adjacent to a part where the case main body and the upper cover are joined and a part where the case main body and the lower cover are joined, brackets for fixing to a car body are disposed.


A tape head assembly for writing data to and reading data from a tape includes a tape head member having an engagement surface that is configured to engage the tape as the tape moves past the tape head member. A plurality of arrays of interactive elements are supported on the engagement surface. Each array is longitudinally offset from each other array. Each individual array includes a read group having only read elements and a write group having only write elements. Each read group is laterally offset from each write group within each array.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates to the field of arranging interactive elements on a tape head configured to read electronic data stored on tape media.
2. Background Art
Tape heads that are configured to read electronic data stored on tape media, for example, magnetic tapes, are known. Magnetic tape conventionally include a plurality of servo tracks and a plurality of data zones. The data zones are arranged longitudinally along the magnetic tape. The servo tracks are also arranged longitudinally on the magnetic tape and bound the data zones. For example, a conventional tape may include two data zones and three servo tracks, a first and a third servo track being laterally spaced apart along the magnetic tape with the two data zones disposed between the first and third servo tracks. The second servo track is disposed along the center of the magnetic tape separating the two data zones.
A conventional tape head includes a plurality of servo track sensors and a plurality of interactive elements. The interactive elements comprise read elements and write elements which respectively read data from, and write data to, the magnetic tape as the magnetic tape passes over the tape head. The interactive elements are disposed along an engagement surface of the tape head that is configured to engage the magnetic tape as the magnetic tape passes over the tape head. The interactive elements are disposed on the engagement surface between outer lying servo track sensors. The servo track sensors are spaced apart by a distance that corresponds to the distance between two consecutive servo tracks on the magnetic tape. The interactive elements are disposed between the servo track sensors and are spaced apart from one another by a substantially equal distance.
As the magnetic tape passes over the engagement surface of the tape head, the interactive elements can read data from, and write data to, the magnetic tape. As the magnetic tape moves past the tape head, it has a tendency to stray from a constant position in a lateral direction. The servo track sensors on the tape head detect the position of the servo tracks and, hence, detect lateral movement of the magnetic tape. The servo track sensors provide feedback to mechanisms that reposition the tape head to ensure that the interactive elements maintain a substantially constant lateral position with respect to the magnetic tape. In this manner, data tracks are deposited along the surface of the magnetic tape by the write elements at precisely known lateral position with respect to the servo tracks.
A conventional tape head includes two arrays of interactive elements longitudinally spaced apart from one another. Each array typically includes sixteen read/write pairs (only eight have been depicted for ease of illustration). Each read/write pair consists of a single read element and a single write element. The read and write elements in a single read/write pair are disposed on the tape head at substantially the same lateral position along the engagement surface. Each of the read elements in an array are aligned in a lateral column with each other. Similarly, each of the write elements within an array are laterally aligned in a column with one another and also substantially longitudinally aligned with their corresponding read elements. The longitudinal alignment of the read elements with the write elements of each read/write pair ensures the proper alignment of each read element and each write element with the data tracks on the magnetic tape. Further, the read/write pairs of each array are also longitudinally aligned with the read/write pairs of the other arrays. This arrangement permits the write elements of a first array to write data to the magnetic tape as it passes over the engagement surface and a corresponding read element from an adjacent second array to confirm that the data was written correctly as the magnetic tape passes downstream to the second array. The tape head can write and confirm data in the data tracks on the magnetic tape as the magnetic tape moves past the tape head in either a forward or reverse direction.
The tape head can move laterally to the second data zone. Once the tape head is positioned over the second data zone, the servo track sensors can detect the position of the second and third servo tracks and use them in the same manner that it detected and used the first and second servo tracks. Typically, the tape head will write data to the magnetic tape in one of the data zones as the magnetic tape moves in the forward direction. Then the tape head moves to the other data zone and writes to that data zone as the tape moves in the reverse direction.
The above described configuration can present some problems. First, the tape head needs to be capable of both very fine lateral adjustments as the magnetic tape moves past the engagement surface, and also very coarse adjustments as the tape head moves between data zones. The fine adjustments require the use of very flexible electric connectors because of the very high frequency of tape head adjustments and because of the very small dimensions of such adjustments (as small as 0.1 microns). However, as the tape head moves between data zones, it travels a distance of thousands of microns. Such long distance travel requires a far more robust electrical connection because of the increased wear and tear such motion causes. The goal of providing flexible electrical connectors needed for fine adjustment is antithetical to the goal of providing robust electrical connectors needed for coarse adjustment.
Another problem encountered by the configuration described above is that the magnetic tape, which is frequently comprised of a plastic substrate, is sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. The dimensions of the substrate change in both the longitudinal and lateral directions as the plastic substrate expands and contracts thereby making it difficult for a tape head to properly align with the data tracks. Potential solutions to this problem include doubling the number of read/write pairs within a single data zone, or, alternatively positioning the same number of read/write pairs on only half of the engagement surface. Either solution would diminish the distance between read/write pairs which in turn, places the data tracks closer together. A reduction in distance between data tracks reduces the impact on the tape head of the expanding and contracting substrate. However, because of the complexity associated with manufacturing tape heads, simply doubling or otherwise increasing the number of read/write pairs between servo track sensors is problematic and undesirable. Also, positioning read/write pairs on only half of the engagement surface would render such a tape head incompatible with previously recorded magnetic tape on which data was recorded using a conventional tape head. The present invention addresses these and other problems.

Tape head layout having offset read and write element arrays


A unique beverage holder is adapted to be mounted on a vertical wall surface, and includes a cantilevered beverage holder platform and an advertising display, preferably including a slot or other arrangement for receiving an advertising media and an outwardly facing window for viewing the advertisement. The device is preferably installed in bathrooms, and the like, such as above urinals to provide bathroom users with a place to set their beverage, and at the same time attracting attention to the advertisement while the user is captive. In one embodiment, the beverage holder is adapted to be reversibly mounted on a wall bracket such that the shelf unit may alternately be at the top or bottom of the device. The reversible beverage holder is preferably secured to the wall bracket by release tabs.

Throughout the hospitality industry, observations have shown that nearly two-thirds of all restroom users bring a beverage into the restroom. Examples of venues in which people bring beverages into the restroom include sports stadiums and arenas, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos, airports, rest areas, and many other public area that have restrooms. Men are often forced to place their beverage on top of a urinal. Women typically place their beverage on top of a toilet paper holder or the toilet in the bathroom stall. This situation is unsanitary and also wastes an opportunity to deliver advertising to a captive audience. Accordingly there is a need for a beverage holder that can be mounted onto a vertical surface in places such as restrooms, and in particular above urinals or in restroom stalls, and which also displays advertisements while providing a convenient location for a user to place their beverage while they are using the restroom, or the like. Tampering and vandalism can pose a challenge for advertisers utilizing a beverage holder mounted to a wall surface. Accordingly, there is an additional need for a horizontal platform for holding beverages and the like that is designed to discourage and/or minimize tampering and vandalism associated with the device.

Horizontal platform and advertisement display apparatus and method of using same


A method and system for bundling elongated material surrounded with a plurality of binding frames, each binding frame having vertical and horizontal members attached so as to form a rectangular shaped frame. The vertical and horizontal members are connected using corner jigs, each corner jig having a horizontal base adapted to receive a horizontal member and a vertical sleeve adapted to receive a vertical member. Each binding frame is then surrounded with a binding band adapted to hold the corner jigs and frames in place so as to maintain the elongated material in the bundle.

The present invention relates generally to methods of packing material bundles and the like. Specifically, this invention relates to a method and system for bundling elongated materials utilizing reusable frames.
Securely bundling heavy elongated materials such as vinyl siding or lumber has traditionally been a difficult and cumbersome task. The extreme weight of such bundles typically requires a great amount of lumber and associated labor in order to construct a framework of sufficient strength to hold the material in place. Oftentimes these lumber frames collapse due to the weight of the material or the inability of the bundles to withstand stacking.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to develop a stronger and more cost-effective system and method for bundling elongated material.
The present invention includes a bulk packaging system for bundling elongated material. The system utilizes binding frames that are adapted to surround the elongated material. Each binding frame has two vertical and two horizontal members, preferably elongated rectangular members, with each member having opposing ends. Each end of a vertical member is in contact with an end of a horizontal member so as to form a rectangular shape to the frame.
Corner jigs are used to reinforce the binding frames. Each corner jig has a horizontal base having an inner channel and a groove. The inner channel of the base is adapted to engage a horizontal member of a binding frame. The groove is of appropriate size and shape to receive a binding band. The corner jig also has a vertical sleeve attached to the horizontal base so as to form an angle. The vertical sleeve has an opening opposite the horizontal base and a groove along the sleeve. The opening is adapted to receive a vertical member of a binding frame, and the groove is of an appropriate size and shape to receive a binding band. Each frame has a corner jig to connect each vertical member to each horizontal member. Each frame also has a binding band surrounding the corner jigs and the frame such that each frame bundles the elongated material.
Also included in the present invention is a method for packaging elongated material in a bundle. First, the elongated material is surrounded with a plurality of binding frames, each binding frame having vertical and horizontal members connected so as to form a rectangular shaped frame. The vertical and horizontal members are connected using corner jigs, each corner jig having a horizontal base adapted to receive a horizontal member and a vertical sleeve adapted to receive a vertical member. Each binding frame is then surrounded with a binding band adapted to hold the corner jigs and frames in place so as to maintain the elongated material in the bundle.
In addition to the novel features and advantages mentioned above, other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following descriptions of the drawings and preferred embodiments.


In order to improve conformability of a sliding surface of a sliding member in an early state of sliding, there is provided a sliding member in which a plurality of holes are formed on a sliding surface, and the diameters (or the opening area) of the holes on the sliding surface are arranged so as to become gradually large as it gets closer to both ends in an axial direction from the center side in the axial direction. This feature decreases the pressurized area as it gets closer to the ends of the sliding surface so that it wears at an early stage, whereby a conformed surface following the deflection of a mating member is provided.

The present invention relates to a sliding member in which a high load acts on an end side of a sliding surface thereof, and particularly to a sliding member for a main bearing for supporting a crankshaft of an engine, for example.
In general, an engine used for an automobile or the like is constructed so that a crankshaft and a piston are mutually coupled via a connecting rod. This engine generates driving force by using the connecting rod to convert up-and-down movement (vertical movement) of the piston into rotational movement and to transmit it to the crankshaft. Because the crankshaft obtains the rotational movement by converting the up-and-down movement as described above, a main shaft thereof is rotated in a so-called elliptical orbit, that is, in a deflected state in an radial direction if using a grandiloquent phrase.
However, if the crankshaft is deflected during sliding operation before the main bearing supporting it conforms to the crankshaft, that is, in an initial state immediately after newly bringing it into use, a load acts particularly on both end portions in an axial direction of the main bearing. Therefore, the bearing surface load sometimes rises extremely in the portions to cause breakage of an oil film and accordingly, the sliding operation in a partial metallic contact state has caused seizure or the like. For preventing this seizure, it is necessary to improve conformability in the initial state, and in particular, to improve the initial conformability on an end side of the sliding surface in the axial direction.
There is known a sliding member which is improved in anti-seizure property by covering a bearing alloy layer with an overlay layer, by directly spraying hard particles of the mean particle diameter of 20 to 100 μm on the overlay layer to form fine recesses having a crater shape on the overlay layer working as a sliding surface, and by confining lubrication oil to the recesses, for example. See JP-A-2002-147459 (Paragraph "0010" to "0034,", and Table 4), for example.


There is provided a cassette carrying-in system, which can rotate a cassette housing therein substrates to be treated so that the substrates are changed from a vertical state to a horizontal state and which can carry the cassette in, e.g., a load-lock chamber of a vacuum processing unit. The cassette carrying-in system is provided for carrying a cassette, in which a plurality of substrates to be processed are arranged in parallel, in a processing unit for treating the substrates. The cassette carrying-in system comprises: a moving body having a first supporting portion for holding a bottom portion of the cassette so that the substrates to be processed are arranged vertically, and a second supporting portion, which is rotatable with the first supporting portion and which supports thereon a side of the cassette when the cassette is inclined, the second supporting portion supporting thereon the side serving as a bottom of the cassette when the substrates to be processed are arranged horizontally; a rotating mechanism for rotating the first and second supporting portions so that the substrates in the cassette are changed between a vertical state and a horizontal state; and a running mechanism for running the moving body so that the cassette supported on the first and second supporting portions moves between inside and outside the processing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for the carrying-in of a cassette for substrates to be processed. More specifically, the invention relates to a system for carrying, e.g., a wafer cassette, which holds therein a plurality of semiconductor wafers, in a processing unit, e.g., a load-lock chamber of a vacuum processing unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Semiconductor fabrication processes include vacuum processings, such as etching, thin film deposition, ashing and sputtering. In recent years, a single wafer vacuum processing unit called a cluster tool, which increases throughput by connecting a plurality of vacuum processing chambers and cassette chambers to a common transfer chamber, has been made fit for practical use.
FIG. 11 shows a conventional vacuum processing unit of this type. In FIG. 11, reference number 1 denotes a transfer chamber, and reference numbers 11 through 13 denote vacuum processing chambers. In addition, reference numbers 14 and 15 denote cassette chambers serving as load-lock chambers, and S denotes a cassette stage. In this system, an operator sets a wafer cassette (which will be hereinafter simply referred to as a "cassette") C, which houses therein, e.g., 25 wafers, on the cassette stage S so that the wafers are arranged horizontally (or substantially horizontally). Then, while the attitude of the cassette C is maintained, the cassette C is carried in the cassette chamber 14 or 15 by means of a transfer arm (not shown) provided between the cassette C and the cassette chamber 14 or 15. Thereafter, the wafers in the cassette chamber 14 or 15 are carried in the vacuum chamber 11, 12 or 13 by means of a transfer arm (not shown) provided in the transfer chamber 1, and a predetermined vacuum processing is carried out therein.
As shown in FIG. 12A, the cassette C is a container of a resin for holding therein a plurality of wafers W which are arranged vertically in parallel. The cassette C has an opening on the upper side for taking the wafers in and out. The inner wall of the cassette C is formed with a plurality of slots for receiving therein the edges of the wafers W. It is required to set the cassette C in the cassette chamber 14 or 15 so that the transfer arm in the transfer chamber 1 can access to the wafers W in the cassette C, i.e., so that the wafers W are arranged substantially horizontally as shown in FIG. 12B and the opening faces the transfer chamber 1. Therefore, in the cassette stage S outside the cassette chambers 14 and 15, the wafers W must be horizontally arranged and the opening must face doors 14a and 15a of the cassette chambers 14 and 15.
Since the operator carries the cassette while the wafers W are arranged horizontally, the operator must turn its wrist to the front by about 90 degrees while holding the cassette C. However, the cassette C housing therein 25 wafers is very heavy, e.g., about 4 kg when the size of the wafer is 8 inches, and greater than 10 kg when the size of the wafer is 12 inches. Therefore, this operation is an undesired human engineering operation since excessive load is applied to the operator's wrist.
As an example of technique for rotating the cassette C, U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,614 disclosed a cassette holder mechanism, which is schematically shown in FIG. 13. As schematically shown in FIG. 13, a L-shaped member 103 has two supporting surfaces 101 and 102, which are perpendicular to each other. A cassette C is mounted on one of the supporting surfaces 101 and 102 of the L-shaped member 103. The L-shaped member 103 is rotated by about 90 degrees by means of a motor 104 to rotate the cassette C.
If this cassette holder is arranged on the cassette stage S, it is not required to turn the operator's wrist. In this case, since it may be required to provide a cassette holder mechanism in addition to the transfer arm for carrying the cassette C in and out of the cassette chamber 14 or 15, an expensive transfer mechanism may be required. Therefore, it is considered that the cassette holder mechanism is combined with the doors 14a and 15a of the cassette chambers 14 and 15, i.e., the supporting surfaces of the cassette holder mechanism are also used as the doors, so that after the cassette C is mounted on the supporting surfaces, the L-shaped member is rotates so as to cause the cassette C to rise at the same time that the cassette C is carried in the cassette chamber 14 or 15.
However, with this construction, since the driving portion of the cassette holder mechanism is introduced into the cassette chamber, there are problems of contamination due to particle and contamination due to lubricating oil. In addition, an O-ring serving as a sealing material is provided between the door 14a or 15a and the edge portion of the carrying-in port of the cassette chamber 14 or 15, and the O-ring is deformed and the door 14a or 15a is drawn when the cassette chamber 14 or 15 is evacuated after the door 14a or 15a is closed. In view of this point, the mechanism is complicated. Moreover, in generally, clean air always flows from the top to prevent particle contamination even if the cassette C is supported on the supporting surface 101. However, since the supporting surface 101 also serves as a door and is a plate, it is difficult to flow the clean air as a laminar flow. Therefore, it is not desired that the cassette holder means is combined with the doors 14a and 15a of the cassette chambers 14 and 15.

System for carrying-in of cassette for substrates to be processed


A rigid patch body for placing over and around a damaged portion (hole) of the external wall of a pressurized vessel, such as a space vehicle or habitat. The rigid patch body allows a person such as an astronaut to make temporary repairs to the pressurized vessel from the exterior of the vessel to enable more permanent repairs to be made from the interior of the vessel. The pressure wall patch of the present invention includes a floor surrounded by four side members. Each side member includes a threaded screw for anchoring the patch body to the external wall of the pressurized vessel and a recess in its lower surface for supporting an inflatable bladder for surrounding the damaged portion (hole) of the external wall to seal the area surrounding the damaged portion to allow the vessel to be repressurized. The floor of the rigid patch body supports a source of gas in communication with a gas supply valve and a gas supply gauge in communication with the gas supply valve and the inflatable bladder.

The prior art devices used for making emergency repairs to holes in pressurized spacecrafts made by meteoroid impacts or other pressure wall breaches are designed for placement on the internal wall of the spacecraft through use of adhesives. These holes normally have rough, petalled, outer edges in that they result from meteors impacting the outer wall of the spacecraft and causing depressurization of the spacecraft. The prior art devices require a smooth, accessible, surface for placement of the device on the internal wall of the spacecraft, thus their use requires considerable cutting and grinding of the wall surface by pressure-suited astronauts prior to the placement of the device over the hole. The need for the cutting and grinding operations is a major drawback or disadvantage of such prior art devices. Another major drawback or disadvantage of such prior art devices results from the fact that many areas of a spacecraft are not readily accessible for repairing the hole, particularly those internal walls of the spacecraft behind and covered by equipment racks, utility lines and the like. An emergency repair to holes in these areas of the spacecraft would be very time consuming and burdensome in that it would often require a complete disassembly of the equipment racks and/or removal or rerouting of such utility lines and the like prior to the making of the repair by pressure suited astronauts.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages or drawbacks of the prior art devices as well as provides several distinct advantages thereover in that it provides a pressure wall patch that is placed over and around the hole (damaged portion) from the exterior of the spacecraft. The device of the present invention requires no wall preparation (cutting, grinding etc.) prior to use, thus eliminating danger to pressure-suited astronauts from sharp hole edges and from tools used for cutting, grinding, etc. The device of the present invention can be used to repair a hole in the wall in an area of the spacecraft that is not readily accessible from the interior of the spacecraft without performing some major disassembly of the spacecraft. The device of the present invention, once in place, also allows safer, more permanent, wall repair to be conducted in a shirt sleeve environment from the interior of the spacecraft by the astronauts.
Typical spacecrafts, such as space vehicles or habitats, are comprised of a pressurized enclosure whose external surface, which may be flat, cylindrical or spherical, is generally formed of an isogrid (or orthogrid) structure. The isogrid structure is generally defined by upstanding ribs which isolate adjacent portions of the surface from each other and adds structural rigidity to the spacecraft.
The device of the present invention requires no redesign of the existing pressure walls of conventional spacecraft other than the possible prior addition of numerous, pre-drilled, shallow tapped holes in the intersecting or other areas of the existing isogrid structure or numerous holes pre-drilled in the existing isogrid structure generally parallel to the outer pressure wall surface.

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration


An intrusion detection method for detecting an intrusion in data traffic on a data communication network parses the data traffic to extract at least one protocol field of a protocol message of the data traffic, and associates the extracted protocol field with a model for that protocol field. The model is selected from a set of models. An assessment is made to determine if a contents of the extracted protocol field is in a safe region as defined by the model, and an intrusion detection signal is generated in case it is established that the contents of the extracted protocol field is outside the safe region. The set of models may comprise a corresponding model for each protocol field of a set of protocol fields.

In many data communication networks, detection systems are deployed to detect malicious intrusions. Such intrusions comprise data from attackers or infected computers that may affect the working of servers, computers or other equipment.
There are two main types of such intrusion detection systems: signature-based and anomaly-based intrusion detection systems.
A signature-based intrusion detection system (SBS) relies on pattern-matching techniques. The system contains a database of signatures, i.e. sequences of data that are known from attacks of the past. These signatures are matched against the tested data. When a match is found, an alert is raised. The database of signatures needs to be updated by experts after a new attack has been identified.
Differently, an anomaly-based intrusion detection system (ABS) first builds a statistical model describing the normal network traffic during a so-called "learning phase". Then, during a so-called "testing phase" the system analyses data and classifies any traffic or action that significantly deviates from the model, as an attack. The advantage of an anomaly-based system is that it can detect zero-day attacks, i.e. attacks that not yet have been identified as such by experts. To detect most attacks, ABSes need to inspect the network traffic payload. Existing methods are based on n-gram analysis, which is either applied on the (raw) packet payload or to portions of it.
However, in some data communication networks malicious data is very similar to legitimate data. This may be the case in a so called SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) network or other Industrial Control Network. In a SCADA or other Industrial Control network protocol messages are exchanged between computers, servers and other equipment on an application layer of the data communication network. These protocol messages may comprise instructions to control machines. A protocol message with a malicious instruction ("set rotational speed at 100 rpm") may be very similar to a legitimate instruction ("set rotational speed at 10 rpm").
When the malicious data is very similar to legitimate data, the malicious data may be classified as normal or legitimate data by the anomaly-based intrusion detection system, which could endanger the working of computers, servers and other equipment in the network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for classifying a protocol message in a data communication network


The invention comprises a first fixture group for clamping a first erecting rod, a second fixture group for clamping a second erecting rod, a fixed bolt and a compression spring, wherein the first fixture group comprises a first cylindrical portion with a first non-circular axisymmetric profile, the second fixture group comprises a second cylindrical portion sleeved with the first cylindrical portion, the second cylindrical portion comprises a second non-circular axisymmetric profile correspondingly sleeved with the first non-circular axisymmetric profile, and the first cylindrical portion axially slides relative to the second cylindrical portion to have a rotatable rotating position and a non-rotatable clamping position, the fixed bolt penetrates through the second cylindrical portion, the first cylindrical portion and the compression spring to be screwed with a nut, and the first cylindrical portion is pushed by the compression spring to move from the rotating position to the clamping position.

Various instruments and music scores may need to be provided for performers to use during a performance. Various instruments and music scores required for playing, such as brass cymbal, drums and cowbells, may be fixed by the performers through implements disclosed in the patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,718,878 B2, 9,633,635 B2, 5,692,719 and the like, such as monopods, holders and music stands, so that the instruments such as the brass cymbal, the drums and the cowbells as well as music scores can be placed beside the performers.
For the purpose of performance, the performers may also use a rotary joint as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 9,310,021 B2. The rotary joint comprises a lower joint and an upper joint, wherein the upper and lower joints may be respectively connected to a erecting rod. After a rotary knob of the rotary joint is rotated and loosened, a relative angle between the lower joint and the upper joint may be changed by a user through rotation, so as to adjust a relative inclination angle between the two erecting rods, and meet the requirements during performance.
Although the rotary joint described above can be used by the user to adjust the relative inclination angle between the two erecting rods, the relative inclination angle can be adjusted after the rotary knob is rotated and loosened by the user. After the adjustment, the relative inclination angle between the two erecting rods can be fixed only by tightening the rotary knob again, resulting in quite a troublesome operation. Moreover, the rotary knob is fixed in a spiral way, so that the problem of loosening caused by vibration and screwing tooth breaking may exist. Obviously, the use requirement cannot be met.

Angle fixing clamp holder with simple steering operation


The present invention is a syringe tip cap comprising a bottom portion, a top portion, an annular skirt extending therebetween and a plug that projects proximally from the bottom portion so as to be telescoped into the passage of a syringe tip. The plug provides means to allow air to be vented from the syringe with contacting the user. The syringe tip cap of the present invention also provides the user with an indication by tactile and visual feedback that the syringe has been vented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a syringe tip cap for use in blood collection and transport procedures and more particularly to a syringe tip cap for use with an arterial blood-sampling syringe or whole blood collection syringe.
2. Description of Related Art
Arterial blood samples are commonly obtained from a patient by using an arterial blood gas syringe or a whole blood collection syringe for arterial blood gas or other analytical analysis.
In the field of arterial blood gas syringes, it is important to prevent exposure of a collected blood sample to the atmosphere and to allow for the removal of trapped gases from the syringe once sampling is effected.
Conventional arterial blood gas syringes include a syringe barrel, a syringe tip, a luer connection, a standard needle and a plunger rod with a piston member on the distal end thereof.
When the syringe is being used to draw a blood sample, the needle is conventionally removed after draw and the syringe tip covered by a cap to isolate the sample during storage and/or transportation. Various tip cap structures have been disclosed having features designed to protect both the sample and the technician during capping, transportation and storage. Venting of these prior art structures is performed by inverting the syringe (tip up), removing the cap and visualizing advancement of the blood sample through the tip consequent to pressure applied to the plunger in order to remove any air left in the syringe tip and then transport the sample to the site of analysis.
While recent advances have contributed to improved technician safety during venting, further improvements are needed, particularly for syringe assemblies intended for arterial blood gas analysis, where residual gas left in a syringe after sampling may interfere with the analysis as well as to protect the user from exposure to the blood sample.
The present invention is a tip cap for use with an arterial blood gas syringe or whole blood collection syringe. Desirably, the syringe comprises a barrel, a syringe tip, a luer connection, a needle and a plunger rod with a piston member on the distal end of the plunger rod. In instances where the syringe is used to draw a sample by an arterial line, then the needle is not included.
Preferably, the syringe may also include a suitable additive such as an anticoagulant.
The syringe tip is preferably a slightly tapered conical tip projecting from the distal end of the syringe barrel. A passage extends through the syringe tip and communicates with the syringe barrel. The luer connection projects from the distal end of the syringe barrel and coaxially surrounds the syringe tip.
The tip cap preferably comprises a bottom portion, a top portion, and an annular skirt extending from the top portion to the bottom portion having an inner surface and an outer surface. The bottom portion comprises an inner and an outer end wall. The top portion comprises a rim. The annular skirt defines a diameter greater than the outside diameter of the syringe barrel. The outer surface of the annular skirt may include ribs such as protrusions or flats to enhance handling and gripping of the tip cap by the user.
The cap further includes an inner plug that projects proximally from the bottom portion inner end wall and is dimensioned to be telescoped into the passage of the syringe tip of the syringe barrel. The plug provides means to allow air to be vented from the syringe with depression of the syringe plunger. In addition, the plug provides tactile means to the user to indicate that the syringe has been vented.
The tip cap further comprises an intermediate wall projecting proximally from the inner end wall of the bottom portion of the tip cap and is in spaced surrounding relationship to the plug.
Preferably, the intermediate wall comprises an outer surface that is substantially cylindrical and an inner surface that is defined by six intersecting planar surfaces whereby the inner surface of the intermediate wall is substantially a hexagonal cross-section.
Preferably, the hexagonal cross-sectional of the inner surface of the intermediate wall provides a frictional fit with the conically tapered tip of the syringe. In addition, the outer surface of the intermediate wall preferably comprises vertical interference strips that assist the user in locating the cap onto the syringe, and more particularly whereby the strips engage with the luer connection on the syringe. The strips are of varying lengths to provide tactile feel to the user whereby the increasing resistance between the strips and the luer connection indicates to the user that the tip cap is at various positions. Preferably, the strips are vertical and of varying lengths to identify the venting position. The first position is the venting position and the second position is the secured position or final position whereby the tip cap and the syringe are removably secured.
Additionally, the tip cap further comprises a generally cylindrical internal sealing ring extending from the inner surface of the annular skirt and the inner end wall of the bottom portion. The internal ring further comprises an inner wall surface and outer wall surface. Most preferably, the internal sealing ring is separated from the outer surface of the intermediate wall by a first annular space. In addition, there is a second annular space between the inner surface of the annular skirt and the inner wall surface of the internal sealing ring.
The inner wall surface of the internal sealing ring further comprises indentations or grooves. The indentations provide the means to relieve pressure that may be caused when the syringe tip is pushed into the tip cap. In addition, the indentations may substantially reduce blood leakage from the syringe when the capped syringe is stored in ice water.
In use, the user draws a blood sample from a patient into an arterial blood gas syringe via a needle or intravenous line. Then either the needle is removed from the syringe and placed in a sharps container or the syringe is removed from the IV line. Then the user urges the tip cap over the distal end of the syringe barrel, with a slight twisting motion, whereby the luer connection will cooperate with the strips of the intermediate wall whereby the cap will progressively screw onto the syringe via the cooperation between the luer connection the strips and the plug telescopes into the conical passage of the tip of the syringe barrel. Alternatively, the cap may also be pushed onto the syringe.
The strips provide two stopping points for connecting the tip cap and the syringe. The first stopping point occurs when the user feels the tactile stopping point of the strips. At this first point, a venting position has been reached whereby the user points the syringe tip with the cap upwardly and lightly tapping the syringe barrel to move air bubbles to the distal end of the syringe barrel. The user then gently depresses the plunger so that air bubbles contained within the blood sample will be expelled via the venting mechanism of the plug. When all of the trapped air is removed from the blood sample, a resistance to further depress the plunger will be experienced by the user due to the design of the plug.
The second stopping point occurs when the planar interior surface of the intermediate wall gradually is urged into tight engagement with the outer surface of the conically tapered tip as the tip cap is telescoped onto the syringe barrel. Thus, the plug achieves a sealing of the passage through the tip while the intermediate wall achieves a frictional retention.
Preferably, the cap engages onto at least two of the four thread strips. Thereafter, the cap engages with two more threads, positioned slightly further down. The increase from two to four threads indicates to the user an increase in resistance to turn and therefore indicating the venting position.
The cap and syringe may be separated in a reverse twist off manner by applying a rotational force to the cap. Most preferably, an upward rotational force is applied to the cap and a downwardly force applied to the syringe along the longitudinal axis.
An advantage of the tip cap of the present invention is that it provides the user with tactile feedback when venting of air from the blood sample in the syringe is substantially complete as well as to visually alert the user that venting is complete.
Still another advantage of the tip cap of the present invention is that there is visual tactile feedback to the user whereby the user can view the syringe tip in the tip cap.
Another advantage of the tip cap of the present invention is that the outer surface of the tip cap contains features to enhance handling and grip for the user.
A notable advantage of the tip cap of the present invention is that the internal ring surrounds the luer connection of the syringe, assists in preventing any residual blood sample in the syringe luer connection from leaking out of the tip cap and luer connection, most notably during storage in ice water.
Another advantage of the present invention is that inclusions of water in the tip cap escape through channels.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the tip cap has a LED light transmission feature due to the structure and materials of construction.
Advantages of the tip cap of the present invention further include the attributes of the intermediate wall and the plug: (i) the strips lock the tip cap into place and substantially prevent the tip cap from being inadvertently removed from the syringe tip; (ii) the strips lock the tip cap into place with the luer connection and prevent the tip cap from being removed laterally from the syringe; (iii) the strips allow ease of use whereby the tip cap is easily screwed or urged into place with the syringe; (iv) the strips and the plug allow the tip cap to be partially seated with the syringe so that the sample in the syringe can be vented; (v) the strips and the plug provide the tip cap to be removable locked with the syringe to prevent accidental detachment of the tip cap and the syringe; (vi) the plug provides the means to vent air from the sample in the syringe without contacting the user; and (vii) the plug allows the syringe to be sealed from the atmosphere.


Provided are a defrosting control device, an air conditioner and a defrosting control method therefor. The device includes an airbag device, wherein the airbag device includes a mounting support (1), an airbag (2) and an inflation mechanism. When an air conditioner to be controlled enters a defrosting mode, the inflation mechanism inflates the airbag (2) such that same forms an airbag layer to isolate an outdoor heat exchanger of the air conditioner to be controlled from flowing air outside the outdoor heat exchanger. The defrosting control device can achieve the beneficial effects of a small defrosting heat loss, a good defrosting effect and a good user experience.

As one of clean and environmentally friendly technologies using renewable resources, heat-pump air conditioners use solar energy resources stored in the surface soil and water as cold and heat sources and are free of combustion, smoke, waste and pollution. With regard to a conventional household heat-pump air conditioner, when the machine set operates in a heating mode for a long period of time in a low-temperature and humid environment, an outdoor heat exchanger is easily frosted, thereby influencing the heat exchange performance and reducing the heating effect of the air conditioner. In this case, it is necessary to switch it to a defrosting mode in which air exhausted by an air compressor directly enters the outdoor heat exchanger for defrosting. During the defrosting process, the external fan stops operating.
With the development of pure electric automobiles, heat-pump air conditioners have been gradually applied to pure electric automobiles at present. Since the outdoor heat exchanger of the automobile air conditioner is located in the front of the automobile, a high air flow rate will be generated on the surface of the outdoor heat exchanger when the automobile is running. When the heat-pump automobile air conditioner enters the defrosting mode, air flowing at a high rate on the surface of the outdoor heat exchanger will take away a large amount of heat used for defrosting, resulting in the waste of heat in the heat-pump air conditioner system. Moreover, the defrosting effect of the heat-pump automobile air conditioner will be seriously affected, or even the defrosting cannot be achieved, thereby affecting the comfort of passengers in the automobile. This is obviously different from the household air conditioners, and is also a great challenge for the industry of heat-pump automobile air conditioners.
There are defects such as high defrosting heat loss, poor defrosting effect and poor user experience in the prior art.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Defrosting control device, air conditioner and defrosting control method therefor

GREE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES (WUHAN) CO., LTD

GREE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES, INC. OF ZHUHAI


An apparatus for producing toner for developing an electrostatic latent image, is provided with an inlet section to receive a slurry containing toner particles, impure fine particles having a specific gravity smaller than that of the toner particles and aqueous medium; a centrifugal concentrating device for applying centrifugal force to the slurry and having a precipitating plate with which the toner particles are precipitated from the slurry and an accommodating section to accommodate a concentrated slurry containing the precipitated toner particles, and                an outlet section to deliver impure fine particles and aqueous medium.

This invention relates to a production method and production apparatus of a toner for developing electrostatic images. To state it in more detail, this invention relates to a production method and a production apparatus of a toner for developing electrostatic images wherein toner particles are obtained through a process of practicing the removal of impurities attached to the surface of toner particles by the concentration of the slurry composed of particles produced at the time of toner particle production, and to a toner for developing electrostatic latent images obtained by said production method.
In recent years, it is disclosed in the publication of the unexamined patent application 2000-214629 that, as regards a toner obtained by a polymerization process based on a suspension polymerization method or an emulsion polymerization method, because the particle diameter and shape can be controlled during polymerization process in an aqueous medium, it can be obtained a toner composed of toner particles having a small size, a uniform size distribution, and a round shape with no protrusion on the particles; because of its reproducibility of fine lines and a high resolution, it is remarked as a toner capable of reproducing small dots for a digital image.
As described in the above, as regards a polymerization toner, toner particles are produced by a polymerization process in an aqueous medium, and from particles produced in a slurry state, toner particles dispersed in an aqueous medium are obtained. In order to extract the produced toner particles from the aqueous medium, slurry concentration for removing water from the aqueous medium in a slurry state containing particles is repeated. In the aqueous medium which is a dispersion medium of the slurry of dispersed particles, impurities such as free releasing agent particles and particles of their decomposition products leaving from the surface of the toner particles are contained. Therefore, because these impurities are adhering on the surface of the toner particles separated from the aqueous medium, it is necessary that the toner particles after separation are well washed to remove these impurities from the surface of the toner particles.
In the publication of the unexamined patent application 2000-292976, it is disclosed a technology relating to a toner production method wherein washing of toner particles is practiced with supply of water until the electrical conductivity of the filtered liquid becomes under a specified value while slurry concentration by centrifugal separation is being carried out. Further, in the publication of the unexamined patent application 2001-249490, it is disclosed that the following operation is repeated plural times: that is, slurry containing toner particles is stirred in a container equipped with a stirring plane and a filter material with a washing liquid added, and the slurry is made to pass the filter material under the application of a pressure to remove the washing liquid.
However, according to these technologies, in the slurry concentration process, only it is practiced that, with a filter cloth sheet or a filter material provided in a centrifugal separation apparatus and a stirring container at the time the slurry concentration is carried out, a filtration operation using a filter material is repeated.
Further, the inventors of the present invention newly found that a toner obtained through a process of slurry concentration disclosed in the publication of the unexamined patent application 2000-292976 had its charging ability brought into a varied state after it had been subjected to a continuously repeated copying process exceeding one hundred thousand times, and it was very difficult to provide a stable toner which is not subject to the change in the charging ability in a mass continuous copying over one hundred thousand sheets accordingly. Further, this tendency was more strengthened in the case where an image formation over a long period of time in a high-temperature high-humidity environment was carried out, and poor charging, toner fusing to component parts, and generation of contamination were remarkably presented. In the latest days, there are image forming apparatus which carry out supply of documents through outputting a mass of documents having a number of pages and binding them to have a shape of a booklet, and it is no more a rare thing in the uses of users to practice a continuous copying operation reaching hundreds of thousands of sheets or millions of sheets.
Further, it is inferred that the above-mentioned change in the charging ability generated in a mass continuous copying process exceeding one hundred thousand sheets is perhaps due to the removal of impurities being insufficiently made from the surface of toner particles for a toner having been subjected to slurry concentration using a filter material. That is, it is inferred that the impurities, which are released from toner particles at the time the concentrated slurry is again dispersed to wash the toner particles after the slurry concentration is carried out, are drifting like floating objects in the liquid, and therefore, when the second slurry concentration after washing is carried out, the impurities drifting in the liquid as floating objects are trapped in the toner layer formed on the filter material, and remain on the toner particle surface having been subjected to the final washing and drying.
Hence, as regards a toner obtained through a process of slurry concentration using a filter material, impurities are easily trapped again on the surface of toner particles; however, for a conventional centrifugal separation means, a filter material has been essential and indispensable in order to capture particles with certainty at the time of concentration.
Further, the average particle diameter of a polymerization toner is smaller than 10 μm, and in order to cope with the reproducibility of fine lines of a digital image forming apparatus in recent days, it is further advanced to make particle size smaller. However, it has been known that the concentration of slurry composed of small-sized particles having a particle diameter smaller than 10 μm using a conventional centrifugal means or a decantation means was very difficult for the reasons of the performance of the apparatus etc.
Further, as regards a conventional centrifugal separation apparatus, it is known that owing to the load by the centrifugal force at the time of slurry concentration, a degradation of toner property such that breakage of toner particles and their becoming fragile are brought about or the uniformity of the orientation of polar radials on the surface of toner particles is destroyed is brought about; therefore, in a conventional centrifugal separation apparatus, the operation is carried out with the centrifugal force at the time of slurry concentration suppressed as much as possible. However, because of the centrifugal force being made small, the lowering of productivity is inevitable, and on top of it, the degradation of the toner property cannot be avoided even though the centrifugal force is made small; thus, although the stabilization of the quality of a toner based on slurry concentration has been an important problem to be solved urgently, it has been unable at all to find the clue to the solution of it.

Production apparatus of toner for developing electrostatic images, production method thereof, and toner for developing electrostatic images


An bearing cooling system is connected to and actuated by the vibration of a vibratory device to pump lubricant to lubricate internal components of the vibratory device. The bearing cooling system has a bottom end cap with an inlet in fluid communication with the vibratory device, a top end cap with an outlet for delivering the lubricant to lubricate components of the vibratory device, a tube disposed between and sealingly engaging the bottom end cap and the top end cap, and a piston having a lubricant passageway. The piston is slidably disposed within the tube downstream of the bottom end cap and upstream of the top end cap. Vibration of the vibration device causes the piston to oscillate within the tube to draw lubricant from the vibration device which passes through the lubricant passageway in the piston, and delivers lubricant to lubricate internal components of the vibration device. Upstream of the top end cap a heat exchanger and/or a filter can be used to cool and/or remove debris from the lubricant before lubricating the internal components.

Most vibratory devices, such as material tamping devices, pile drivers, vibrating tables, wick drain devices and fruit-tree shakers and the like, create desirable vibration by rotating eccentrics. In these devices, due to the wear and tear and heat resulting from vibrating machinery, it is desirable to have continuous lubrication of various internal components such as the meshing gears, bearings, and the eccentrics. Such lubrication serves to cool the intermeshing and interacting internal components that generate heat by their movement and interactions between parts. In much the same way as an automobile engine will cease up without oil to lubricate and cool the engine, pile drivers, wick drains and the like would quickly overheat and possibly cease up without lubrication to cool and lubricate its internal parts. Heretofore, the continuous lubrication used to cool and lubricate a pile driver or vibratory wick drain device has been of two types, one by fluttering and the other by nebulization.
Generally, "nebulized" lubrication involves throwing lubricant sprays onto the bearings and other components susceptible to heat and wear. The excess lubricant (e.g., oil) is collected in a recovery basin and then returned from the basin to the spraying nozzles by a motorized pump. This type of lubrication is performed in a free atmosphere. In some embodiments of nebulized lubrication, the bearings are force-lubricated by directing the lubricant directly into sealed bearings and returning excess lubricant to a recovery basin that is separated from the interior of the gear box by a wall that keeps the lubricant out of the interior of the gear box.
A drawback to nebulized lubrication is that it typically requires a vibration-tolerant motor to drive the pump, which adds significant weight and cost to the system and requires a power source for the motor, reducing the overall efficiency of the vibratory device. Additionally, because the meshing gears, bearings, and eccentrics are enclosed within the gear box, they are hidden from the operator's view. Consequently, if the motorized pump or any part of the pumping system fails, the operator frequently will not know of the failure until after serious damage to the vibratory device has occurred. Vibratory devices have been known to cease up due to lack of lubrication when the lubricant pumping system unknowingly fails.
Lubrication "by fluttering" has been performed both in a free atmosphere and under vacuum. Generally, this type of lubrication involves driving the eccentrics into rotation within a lubricant container or reservoir. The lubricant is thrown by the centrifugal force of the eccentrics. Particularly with eccentrics that have a semi-circular profile, rotation of the eccentric around its axis causes the eccentric to impact against the lubricant within the container or reservoir. This causes lubricant splash within the gear box (or housing) and forces the lubricant against the interior walls of the gear box. At startup of the vibratory device, this impact is generally rather strong, although it depends on the diameter of the eccentric, its thickness, and the level of and viscosity of the lubricant. Such impact, retards the rotating momentum of the eccentric and absorbs energy making the vibratory device less efficient than it could be if this impact were significantly reduced or eliminated. So long as the lubricant is regularly changed and appropriate levels of lubricant are maintained, the lubricant is always present within the gear box. However, during operation of the vibratory device following startup, the lubricant is so violently agitated, both by the vibration and from eccentric impact, that much, if not all, of the lubricant becomes a fine mist of lubricant globules suspended within the interior volume of the gear box.
Because the bearings are most susceptible to overheating and wear, lubrication of the bearings is usually the highest priority with vibratory devices. Although the fine mist of lubricant lubricates the internal components of the vibratory device, including the bearings, the gear box is an enclosure that holds the heat generated within the gear box. With most uses of vibratory devices the rapid heating of the device is not a serious problem because most vibratory devices are designed for intermittent duty (e.g., it takes a short period of time to drive a pile and then the vibratory device is allowed to rest from vibrating and cool down until another pile is attached and ready to be driven). However, the need for continuous duty vibratory devices is increasing. For example, vibratory wick drain devices operate almost continuously because there is such a short time between driving each wick drain. Also, as the advantages and various uses of vibratory devices become better known, the need for continuous duty pile drivers is increasing.

Bearing cooling system for vibratory devices


A method of forge welding includes placing at least two components for welding together, adjacent each other and with an exothermic flux mixture placed between the components. The exothermic flux mixture is heated to initiate an exothermic reaction and the faying surfaces of the two components are pressed together. The components being welded may be tubular, in particular pipes. Apparatus for the method of forge welding and exothermic flux mixtures for the method of forge welding are also provided.

In the hydrocarbons (oil and gas) recovery industry, pipes can be connected by two threaded male and female unions which are designed and manufactured in accordance with the specifications defined in the American Petroleum Institute (API). This type of joint is also referred to as a "pin" and a "box" connection. The helical threaded joint engaging the two pipe sections defines a helical path through which fluid from the pipe section may leak.
Leakage is not acceptable in most situations for economical, environmental and safety reasons. In order to seal this helical path of potential leakage, pipe dope has been commonly used to coat the threads, a practice that is well known in the industry.
However, pipe dope alone can be inadequate to achieve fluid-tight sealing and some type of secondary O-ring seal is normally required. The secondary O-ring seal is usually placed in an annular recess in one of the box sections. When the pin and box are made up, the secondary seal is deformed between corresponding surfaces of the pin/box joint to achieve a good seal. The secondary seal ring can be made of polymeric or metallic materials.
Another type of metal-to-metal seal is the so called premium connection which employs tapered threads contoured in such a way that the mating threads always form a stressed metal-to-metal, circumferentially continuous, seal. Although this type of connection is better than other types, it requires a relatively high tolerance in machining and is more expensive.
Premium and conventional threaded connections have larger diameter than the body of a pipe (such as a casing used in oil well drilling operations), and hence a larger diameter hole must be drilled to run e.g. casings with threaded pipes. Larger diameter wells are slower to drill and therefore more expensive. Threaded connections are in general not as strong as the steel casing, so a threaded connection cannot withstand the same mechanical stresses as a casing (pipe) itself.
The hydrocarbon recovery industry has been experiencing steady increases in the cost of production due to having to retrieve hydrocarbons from deeper wells, harder rock formations and harsher environments. Deeper wells require more casing strings (pipe sections lining the hole), and therefore the hole diameter drilled is larger with threaded connections than if flush connections are used. Also, more complex geology often means harder drilling environments, and increased stresses on the casing whilst running in the drill hole. Threaded connections are often the weakest part of a drill string, and can prevent casings being rotated whilst running in hole due to the limited ability to withstand torque stresses of the threaded connection.
New technologies, such as expandable tubulars have been developed to reduce the loss of tubing diameter with depth that occurs in conventional drilling procedures. The technology involves forcing a tool down pipe sections to expand the diameter and thus allow more flow.
However, neither threaded nor premium connections work well for this type of application since they may lose sealing integrity, or even fail during the expansion operation.
On the other hand, traditional liquid welding techniques are also problematic as they may create weak spots/sections that could fail during the expansion operation due to inhomogeneous microstructures in the welds produced. In order to overcome this problem, forge welding has been proposed. Since forge welding is a solid joining process, it has the potential to generate more uniform microstructures in a weld thus is more suitable for expandable tubular technology.
Forge welding is a solid-state welding process that joins metallic structures by first heating the two faying sections to a high temperature, typically 50-90% of the melting temperature, then by the application of a forge force, followed by a controlled cooling or post weld heat treatment. Since this technique has the potential to generate high quality flush welds having more uniform microstructure and properties, it has been proposed for welding steel tubulars for well casings as well as for offshore pipeline construction, and for joining coil tubing.
Application of this technique to the joining of API tubulars is described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,566,625, 5,721,413 by Moe and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,181,821, 7,774,917 by Anderson et al, and US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0168693 by Rudd et al.
A typical tube or pipe forge welding operation begins at first by end profiling and cleaning to minimize the rust on pipe ends. Next, the tubes are loaded into a chamber which is then evacuated and then back filled with an inert gas. After the chamber has achieved the required conditions (e.g., pre-defined oxygen and water vapour levels), the tube ends are heated to the desired temperature (e.g., >1200° C.) with the protection of a so called shielded active gas (SAG) used to avoid oxidation at the joint being made. A force is then applied to the softened tube ends, forcing them together, to achieve forge welding. Depending on the steel types, forge temperature, and heating uniformity, the microstructures generated by these forge welding procedures may neither be ideal nor uniform, hence a post weld heat treatment is carried out. This may consist of allowing the steel to cool naturally, or by controlling the rate at which the steel cools, or by cooling the steel very quickly and then reheating it to relax the microstructure.
In order to achieve high quality welds the tube ends should be clean and oxide free. In addition the atmosphere in the forging chamber should contain minimum oxygen and water vapour content. Use is made of an SAG such as hydrogen/nitrogen mixture a reducing atmosphere with the intent of preventing new iron oxide formation during welding, but also to reduce residual iron oxide which are often present, even after careful cleaning procedures.
In practice, it usually is very difficult to achieve an oxygen and moisture free atmosphere and metal oxide free tube ends within a reasonable time span. Thus, a high quality forge weld cannot be guaranteed for every weld.
Moreover whilst pipes made of carbon steels, which have iron oxide and/or hydroxide as the predominant contaminant can be joined successfully with these prior art (SAG forge welding) techniques other steel grades, those containing more stable metal oxides such as chromium oxide are more problematic. It is more difficult to remove such oxides by reduction with e.g. hydrogen unless higher temperatures and longer times are used.
Thus there is a need for further improvements in forge welding techniques.

Method and machine for forge welding of tubular articles and exothermic flux mixture and method of manufacturing an exothermic flux mixture


A housing for mounting a laser diode and a method of aligning the laser diode to the housing and to an optical connector and to a focusing lens. The housing may have a retaining device and a surface, with the retaining device operating to maintain the optical connector against the surface of the housing. An alignment method is disclosed for use with the housing and the retaining device where an image is projected onto a viewing area through an alignment port mounted in the housing. The image relates to the position and tilt of the laser diode in the housing.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to alignment devices and methods for aligning light sources to optical connectors.
2. Background Art
The process of efficiently coupling laser light into a common plastic, glass or other optical fiber is a difficult task due to the small size of the components involved. Both the active area of the laser diode and the core area of the fiber are typically measured in single or double digit microns. Alignment errors of only a few microns can result in unacceptable loss of optical power. Perhaps the most common means of coupling laser light into a fiber is to actually weld the fiber directly to the active area of the laser diode thereby creating a fiber optically pigtailed laser diode. This is a painstaking and expensive process that is usually not reversible so that if either component fails both components can be lost. As an alternative, specially designed optics and housings offer advantages in the laser to fiber coupling process but those systems currently available have distinct economic and utilitarian limitations. Most of these alternatives require the use of some sort of electronic optical meter to measure the amount of light passing into and then out of the fiber. When the operator has determined, via this "hunt and peck" method that a maximum reading has been achieved the light source, lens if any, and fiber are deemed "aligned". A process, utilizing simple and inexpensive fixtures that incorporate several useful and intuitive features for the user and that do not require any special instrumentation would be of great benefit to manufacturers of fiber coupled laser diodes.

Visual laser diode to fiber coupling system


A lighting apparatus for a vehicle includes at least one additional lamp provided on a left side of a front of the vehicle; at least one additional lamp provided on a right side of the front of the vehicle; a steering-angle sensor that detects a steering angle and a steering direction of a steering wheel, and outputs a steering-angle signal and a steering-direction signal; and a control device that controls the additional lamps based on the steering-angle signal and the steering-direction signal.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting apparatus (lighting system) for a vehicle to turn on or dim one or a plurality of left-side additional lamps, or that turns on or dims one or a plurality of right-side additional lamps, by being interlocked with steering, when a vehicle is traveling along a curving road. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle lighting apparatus in which if a steering angle of a steering wheel becomes not more than a given steering angle causing forced complete turn-off of light while one or a plurality of left-side additional lamps or one or a plurality of right-side additional lamps is dimming, the relevant additional lamp during dimming is forcefully and completely turned off. In this specification and the scope of claims, a term of "to dim (light)" indicates that the amount of light of the additional lamp in its on-state is gradually reduced from 100% towards 0% over a given time (e.g., about one second). That is, it indicates that the light is dimmed down towards turning off. Furthermore, a term of "road surface and the like" indicates the surface of a road, persons on the surface of the road (pedestrians and so on), and objects (guardrails, other vehicles, road signs, and buildings).
2) Description of the Related Art
Lighting apparatuses for vehicles as follows have been provided (see, for example, "Vehicle lighting apparatus" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-159986 (hereinafter, "Related technology 1")). Like Adaptive Front lighting System (AFS), the lighting apparatuses for vehicles turn on or dim one or a plurality of left-side additional lamps, or turn on or dim one or a plurality of right-side additional lamps, by being interlocked with turning of a steering wheel, when the vehicle is traveling along a curving road. The "vehicle lighting apparatus" described in Related technology 1 is explained below. It is noted that reference signs inside parentheses below correspond to those in the Related technology 1. The vehicle lighting apparatus includes a left additional lighting lamp (5) provided on the left side of the front of the vehicle, and a right additional lighting lamp. (4) on a right side therein. The vehicle lighting apparatus also includes a steering wheel steering angle detector (8) that outputs a detection signal in response to the operation of the steering wheel. The vehicle lighting apparatus further includes an arithmetic controller (7) that outputs a turn-on signal to the left additional lighting lamp (5) or to the right additional lighting lamp (4) when the steering angle of the steering wheel exceeds a reference steering angle for determination on the start of turning on light, and that outputs a light dimming signal to the left additional lighting lamp (5) or to the right additional lighting lamp (4) when the steering angle is below a reference steering angle for determination on the start of dimming the light.
The processes of the vehicle lighting apparatus are explained below. At first, the arithmetic controller (7) outputs the turn-on signal to the left additional lighting lamp (5) or the right additional lighting lamp (4) on the side of a steering direction when the steering angle of the steering wheel exceeds the reference steering angle for determination on the start of turning on the light (e.g., 40°), based on the detection signal from the steering wheel steering angle detector (8), and turns on the left additional lighting lamp (5) or the right additional lighting lamp (4). Furthermore, the arithmetic controller (7) outputs the light dimming signal to the left additional lighting lamp (5) or the right additional lighting lamp (4) on the side of a steering direction when the steering angle is below the reference steering angle for determination on the start of dimming the light (e.g., near 0°), based on the detection signal from the steering wheel steering angle detector (8). And then, the arithmetic controller (7) causes the left additional-lighting lamp (5) in its on-state or the right additional lighting lamp (4) therein to dim. In other words, the amount of light of the left additional lighting lamp (5) in its on-state or of the right additional lighting lamp (4) therein is gradually reduced from 100% towards 0% over the given time (e.g., about one second).
In the vehicle lighting apparatus, the left additional lighting lamp (5) in its on-state or the right additional lighting lamp (4) therein is gradually dimming. Therefore, a driver is not given an uncomfortable feeling due to instantaneous turning off of the left additional lighting lamp (5) or of the right additional lighting lamp (4) in its on-state.
If returning the steering wheel when the vehicle is traveling along a curving road such as a road with an S-shaped curve, the driver generally looks at the curving road in the direction of returning the steering wheel.
In the vehicle lighting apparatus, however, during the time from starting of dimming the light to passage of a given time, the left additional lighting lamp (5) or the right additional lighting lamp (4) is not in its complete off state (in a state where the light amount is 0%) but in a light dimming state (in a state where the light amount is gradually reduced from 100% towards 0%), the light dimming state being still in its on-state. Therefore, in the vehicle lighting apparatus, when the driver returns the steering wheel during driving along the curving road, even though the driver's eye point directs toward the curving road in the direction in which the steering wheel is returned, the additional lighting lamp, i.e., the left additional lighting lamp (5) or the right additional lighting lamp (4) on the side opposite to the direction in which the steering wheel is returned, is in the light dimming state that is still in its on-state. As a result of this, the vehicle lighting apparatus may sometimes give the uncomfortable feeling or annoyingness to the driver due to inconsistency between a timing of movement of the driver's eye point and a timing of completely turning off the left additional lighting lamp (5) or the right additional lighting lamp (4).
As a vehicle lighting apparatus that causes one or a plurality of left-side additional lamps or one or a plurality of right-side additional lamps to dim, there is a vehicle lighting apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-213227 (hereinafter, "Related technology 2"), in addition to the Related technology 1.


A fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device including at least one orifice member attached to an inside of an outer cylindrical member so as to straddle openings of pocket portions and extend in a circumferential direction. An orifice passage is defined by covering an orifice forming groove of the orifice member with the outer cylindrical member. A stopper mechanism is constituted by contact between an inner shaft member and the outer cylindrical member via the orifice member. A reinforcing rib is formed in the orifice member so as to project from a bottom face of the orifice forming groove and extend in the circumferential direction while a projecting distal end face thereof is in contact with the outer cylindrical member. The reinforcing rib partitions at least a portion of a circumference of the orifice passage into a plurality of passages that have same fluid flow characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cylindrical vibration-damping device adapted for use as a suspension bushing that connects a suspension and a vehicle body, for example, and more particularly to a cylindrical vibration-damping device of fluid-filled type, which utilizes vibration damping effects based on the flow action of a fluid filling the interior.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as one type of cylindrical vibration-damping devices applied for automotive suspension bushings or the like, there is known a fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device which utilizes vibration damping effects on the basis of the flow action of the fluid filling the interior. This fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device includes: an inner shaft member; an outer cylindrical member externally fitted onto the inner shaft member; a main rubber elastic body elastically connecting the inner shaft member and the outer cylindrical member, and having a plurality of pocket portions that open onto the outer peripheral face of the main rubber elastic body; a plurality of fluid chambers defined by covering the pocket portions with the outer cylindrical member and filled with a non-compressible fluid; and an orifice passage interconnecting the fluid chambers. Such a fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-5-280580, for example.
In some cases, the fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device employs an orifice member disposed to the inner peripheral side of the outer cylindrical member for providing the orifice passage. This orifice member extends a prescribed length in the circumferential direction while straddling the fluid chambers. Moreover, the orifice member has an orifice forming groove that opens onto the outer peripheral face thereof. The orifice passage is formed by covering the opening of the orifice forming groove with the outer cylindrical member.
Also, the fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device sometimes employs a stopper mechanism for limiting relative displacement of the inner shaft member and the outer cylindrical member in the axis-perpendicular direction with the aim of improving durability of the main rubber elastic body or the like. The stopper mechanism is adapted to limit relative displacement of the inner shaft member and the outer cylindrical member by means of contact therebetween.
However, if the stopper mechanism is provided to the structure in which the orifice member is disposed to the inner peripheral side of the outer cylindrical member, the inner shaft member will strike the orifice member. Consequently, this may cause the problem that the orifice member is damaged especially in the formation zone of the orifice forming groove where a gap (the orifice passage) is formed between the orifice member and the inner peripheral face of the outer cylindrical member.
On the other hand, as disclosed in JP-A-5-280580, if a structure is employed in which the contact force between the inner shaft member and the outer cylindrical member will not exert on the orifice member, it is necessary to provide means such as further employing an intermediate sleeve between the inner shaft member and the outer cylindrical member for protecting the orifice member or the like. This may cause problems such as an increased number of components, an increased weight in association therewith, and complicated construction.

Fluid-filled cylindrical vibration-damping device


This invention is a process of converting n-pentane to cyclopentene. In accordance with a preferred embodiment n-pentane feed is converted in a dual temperature stage-dual catalyst process without interstage processing of the first-stage product mixture.

With the increase in cracking severity of FCC and the rise of hydroprocessing, the problem of processing byproduct n-pentane has become more significant. Some refineries isomerize the low 61.7 RON (research octane number) n-pentane to isopentane (RON=92.3). Isomerization of the n-pentane to isopentane leads, however, to an increase in gasoline volatility (RVP of n-pentane=15.6; RVP of isopentane=20.4); and environmental factors may limit the amount of isopentane usable in gasoline in the future.
Cyclopentene offers several advantages over n-pentane as a gasoline additive. Its research octane number is higher and its volatility is substantially lower, as shown below:
______________________________________ Compound RON MON BP (.degree.F.) ______________________________________ n-pentane 61.7 62.6 97 cyclopentene 93.3 69.7 112 ______________________________________
Cyclopentene can also be converted to cyclopentanol or cyclopentyl methyl ether for octane boosting. Cyclopentene is also an important monomer. V. Dragutan et al., Olefin Metathesis and Ring Opening Polymerization of Cycloolefins 160-163 (1985), incorporated herein by reference.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for upgrading the poor octane n-pentane component of gasoline. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a product stream rich in cyclopentene.

Upgrading of normal pentane to cyclopentene


A cutting board assembly comprises a rigid base member and a selectively removable surface layer. Both the base member and the surface layer are composed of a material suited for food service. The base has a flat level upper surface. The selectively removable skin layer is received over the base to provide a replaceable cutting surface thereto. The surface includes a downwardly extending skirt to provide a snug fit about the perimeter of the base. A curb extends upwardly from the cutting surface adjacent an outer edge thereof to provide a trap for inhibiting food or juices from sliding off the cutting surface. At least a portion of the cutting surface outer edge is free of the curb to enable the sliding transfer of food to and from the surface.

The present invention pertains to the art of food preparation and more particularly to a cutting board with a replaceable cutting surface.
Wooden cutting boards are commonly used for food preparation and provide an acceptable cutting surface which does not cause dulling of knives and prevents food from slipping on the cutting surface. However, wooden cutting boards have a porous surface which may absorb various foods and fluids. These surfaces are thus difficult to disinfect.
In order to provide a cutting board which is more easily disinfected, cutting boards are being made of less porous materials including plastics and stone. The surface of the plastic cutting board is more easily washed and disinfected than wooden cutting boards. However, extended use can tend to trap food particles and fluids which can allow bacterial growth. Grooves, cuts and scratches harbor bacteria and dirt and also stain and discolor the plastic boards. Therefore, it is recommended that plastic cutting boards be replaced periodically. Still, due to the expense of replacing the plastic cutting boards, they are not replaced as often as they should to provide sanitary food preparation conditions.
In addition, it is advisable to use different cutting surfaces for preparing different classes of food to avoid cross contamination. For example, raw vegetables should not be prepared on the same surface as uncooked meat. Cooked meat should not be sliced on surfaces that have been exposed to raw meat. Ideally, different surfaces should be used for different food preparation tasks, but it is expensive to purchase separate cutting boards for each task.

Cutting board with replaceable cutting surface