A component (10) for a gas turbine engine formed of a stacked plurality of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) lamellae (12) supported by a metal support structure (20). Individual lamellae are supported directly by the support structure via cooperating interlock features (30, 32) formed on the lamella and on the support structure respectively. Mating load-transferring surfaces (34, 36) of the interlock features are disposed in a plane (44) oblique to local axes of thermal growth (38, 40) in order to accommodate differential thermal expansion there between with delta alpha zero expansion (DAZE). Reinforcing fibers (62) within the CMC material may be oriented in a direction optimized to resist forces being transferred through the interlock features. Individual lamellae may all have the same structure or different interlock feature shapes and/or locations may be used in different groups of the lamellae. Applications for this invention include an airfoil assembly (10) and a ring segment assembly (82).

Stacked lamellate construction is a known art for forming gas turbine engine parts. U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,228 describes an airfoil for a gas turbine that is formed of a stack of laminar sections of monolithic ceramic material. The stack is held together in compression by a metal tie bolt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,326 describes a similar arrangement that is further improved by a piston and cylinder arrangement that accommodates differential thermal expansion between the ceramic stack and the metal supporting structure.

Lamellate CMC structure with interlock to metallic support structure


A fall arrestor for use with a vertical lift door includes a pair of latching dogs selectively pivoted into and out of contact with a vertical rail by cam members and a compression mechanism actuated by a change in tension between a lift cable and the vertical lift door. The fall arrestor further includes a ground locking system for locking the door when the vertical lift door is completely closed. The fall arrestor is capable of preventing of free fall of the vertical lift door in a catastrophic failure of a lift mechanism or the lift cable.

Vertical lift doors are used in a variety of industries where structures require large doorways. For example: aircraft hangars require hangar doors large enough for an aircraft to pass through, factories often require large doorways for receiving materials and equipment as well as the exiting of finished products.
The type of vertical lift door for such applications may vary based on specific industry requirements, structural support capacity, or the intended environment. Generally, two types of vertical lift doors are common. First, a hoist up fabric door and second, a metal clad paneled vertical lift door. Regardless of the type of vertical lift door, the doors are typically constructed with multiple panels spanning the width of the building opening. Additionally, each panel may weigh 100 lbs or more, with many over 1,000 lbs.
In order to lift and lower these large vertical lift doors, a lift mechanism usually in the form of a power driven motor is connected through a cable or similar retractable tension bearing member to each side of the door. The cable may feed through pulleys or brackets on separate panels to create uniform lifting where each panel's vertical travel is relative to the other panels.
The heavy weight of the door and its inherent exposure to adverse environmental conditions lead to substantial lift cable and lift mechanism wear. In the event of a catastrophic failure occurring as a result of a break in the lift cable or failure of the lift mechanism, significant damage to the vertical lift door or the building structure may occur, as well as possible injury to individuals or damage to goods in the vicinity of the failed door.
To obviate the effects of such catastrophic failures, safety catch systems have been devised to prevent free fall of the vertical lift doors. One form of fall arrestor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,770 to Ulfhielm, which utilizes a vertical guide bar extending along an edge of the door and having a U-shaped cross section. A compression spring is normally compressed as a result of the door weight and tension applied by a lift cable. When the lift mechanism fails and the door begins to fall, the spring expands and actuates a pair of latching dogs which extend away from each other against opposite sides of the U-shaped guide bar. However, the latching dogs extending in opposite directions from each other against the opposed sides of the U-shaped guide bar may fail to provide a reliably strong binding effect in the event of a catastrophic failure of the cable or cable lift apparatus. The forces applied by the dogs to opposing sides of the guide rail may result in deformation of the U-shaped guide bar and significant structural damage to the vertical doorframe.
Another form of vertical door fall arrestor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,716 to Bruns which discloses a safety catch system comprising a vertical guide rail configured between a pair of latching dogs that are positioned free of the guide rail through a biasing mechanism and selectively actuated by a control arm connected to a lift cable and lift mechanism. In the event of a catastrophic failure of the cable mechanism, a torsion spring surrounding an axle connected at one end to the latching dogs and at the other end to a stay/release mechanism rotates the latching dogs into contact with the guide rail. Due to the infrequent activation of the biasing mechanism and its exposure to adverse environmental conditions, the system is prone to corrosion and contamination preventing reliable activation and binding to the guide rail in the event of a catastrophic failure. Furthermore, a direct drive connection such as a torsion spring mounted on an axle which the spring must rotate in a catastrophic failure requires greater torque than a compression spring utilizing a cam mechanism to pivot the latching dogs.

Safety fall arrestor and wind lock for vertical lift doors


The drive circuit of the present invention includes a signal generation circuit which generates a drive signal at a specific timing. A first driver circuit drives one end of a first wire connected to a plurality of controlled circuits in response to the drive signal. A second driver circuit drives one end of a second wire having a smaller drive load than the first wire in response to the drive signal. A high speed driver circuit has its inputs connected to the other end of the second wire and to the other end of the first wire, and has an output terminal that drives the other end of the first wire when the voltage level at the other end of the second wire does not coincide with the voltage level at the other end of the first wire. By using the second wire as a bypass wire, by providing the drive signals to the high speed driver circuit without any delay, and by having the high speed driver circuit drive the first wire accordingly, it is possible to minimize the propagation delay of the drive signals supplied by the first wire which has a large drive load.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit that drives wires for supplying drive signals that drive a plurality of controlled circuits, and to a semiconductor memory device that makes use of this drive circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a plurality of controlled circuits are to be driven in a semiconductor device, a wire is provided along these plurality of controlled circuits, drive control signals are provided by a driver circuit from one end of this wire, and the plurality of controlled circuits connected to this wire are all driven at once. In this case, particularly when the wire to which the plurality of controlled circuits are connected has a large capacitive load and is driven by a driver circuit connected to one end of the wire, the shape of the drive control signals may be much flatter at the other end of the wire.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional drive circuit. In this example, drive control signal 11 of a signal generation circuit 10 that generates drive control signal is provided to a driver circuit 20, and one end of a wire 100 is driven at the timing of the control signal by the driver circuit 20. The wire 100 supplies the drive control signal to controlled circuits 31 through 36 provided along the wire. The controlled circuits 30 are, for example, given separate input signals that are not depicted, and perform a specific operation all at once at the timing of the drive control signal generated by the generation circuit 10 of the drive control signal.
As semiconductor devices have become more and more highly integrated in recent years, there has been a trend toward making the wire 100 thinner and narrower. In particular, the need for a multilayer construction tends to result in thinner wiring on the lower layer side, while there are limitations imposed on the width of the wiring so that it will not take up too much space. Therefore, the resistance of the wire 100 tends to be greater. Furthermore, when drive control signals are supplied to an extremely large number of the controlled circuits 30, the length of the wire 100 increases and the load capacity of the input terminals of the controlled circuits to which the wire 100 is connected results in the wire 100 having a large drive load.
FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating the signal waveform at point A, which is close to the output side of the driver circuit 20 of the wire 100, and the signal waveform at point B, which is close to the distal end on the opposite side. At point A, which is close to the driver circuit 20, the waveform is relatively sharp, as indicated by the solid line in the figure, but at point B, which is on the distal end side of the wire 100, the waveform is considerably flattened, as indicated by the broken line in the figure. This phenomenon is more pronounced the greater is the number of the controlled circuits 30 and the longer is the wire 100. Specifically, the bluntness of the waveform becomes more pronounced as the CR time constant of the wire increases. Therefore, the drive of the controlled circuit 31 positioned nearest point A in FIG. 7 is controlled at a timing equivalent to the output of the signal generation circuit 10, but the drive of the controlled circuit 36 positioned nearest point B is controlled at a timing that is considerably delayed.
When, for example, there is a need for the drive control signals to control the drive of the controlled circuits only for a short period, the timing of the control period will vary between the controlled circuits 31 and 36, and this is undesirable in terms of high-speed control within the device.

Semiconductor memory device having additional driver circuit for reducing signal propagation delay


The present invention relates to a thermal management system for a thin depth LCD display enclosure. The LCD display enclosure may be used in environmentally sensitive conditions and may be environmentally-sealed to protect the components of the LCD display from environmental conditions. The LCD display components may include a lens and a LCD module, and other heating producing components, such as backlights and electronic circuitry. The heat producing components and any external heat placed on the enclosure causes the ambient air temperature inside the enclosure to rise thereby possibly causing the LCD display to not operate properly. The ambient air temperature inside the enclosure is lowered by transferring heat in the ambient air through the enclosure to a heat sink that is attached on the outside rear portion of the enclosure, and to the atmosphere using forced convection, natural convention, or both.

The present invention relates to a thermal management system for a LCD display in a thin depth, environmentally-sealed enclosure.
LCD displays are commonly used today in devices that require information to be displayed in human-perceptible form. LCD displays are typically comprised of an enclosure, a LCD module, backlights and supporting electronics. Since LCD displays use thin depth LCD modules to display information as opposed to larger in depth cathode ray tube (CRT) displays for similar sized screens, LCD displays are often used in devices that have packaging and/or space constraints. Unlike LCD displays, the tube in a CRT display increases substantially in depth as the screen size increases.
Electronic devices, such as fuel dispensers and automatic teller machines (ATM) for example, use displays to display information to users of these devices. Such information may be instructions on how to use the machine or a customer""s account status. Such information may also include other useful information and/or services that generate additional revenue beyond the particular function of the device, such as advertising or newsworthy information. Through increasingly easier and cheaper access to the Internet, it has become even more desirable for electronic devices to use displays that are larger in screen size and employ higher resolution color graphics without substantially increasing the depth of the display due to packaging limitations. Therefore, LCD displays are advantageous to use in displays in electronic devices because of the thin nature of LCD modules.
LCD displays used in outdoor devices typically use an environmentally-sealed enclosure since LCD displays include internal components, such as electronics, backlights and display modules, whose operations are sensitive to outdoor conditions, such as water and dust. However, the backlights and the electronic circuitry generate extreme heat during their operation thereby raising the ambient air temperature inside the enclosure. The ambient temperature in the enclosure rises even more in outdoor devices due to sunlight heat. If the ambient temperature in the enclosure is not managed, components of the LCD display 10 may fail. For example, the LCD module may start to white or black out if the ambient temperature inside the enclosure rises above a certain temperature.
One method keeping the ambient air temperature lower inside the enclosure is to provide a larger enclosure so that it takes more heat generated by the internal components of the LCD display and external sources, such as the sunlight, to raise the ambient air temperature inside the enclosure. However, increasing the size of the enclosure is counter to the goal of using a thin depth enclosure for a LCD display.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a thin LCD display enclosure that is sealed from the environment and is capable of efficiently dissipating heat generated by the internal components of the LCD display and external heat, such as sunlight.
The present invention relates to a thermal management system for a liquid crystal display (LCD) that is placed inside a thin depth enclosure and may be incorporated into an outdoor device. The thermal management system efficiently transfers and dissipates heat in the ambient air of the LCD display enclosure generated by components of the LCD display and external heat, such as sunlight.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the LCD display comprises an environmentally-sealed, heat conducting enclosure with a backlight assembly having at least one backlight. The backlight assembly is connected to the inside rear portion of the enclosure. A heat sink is attached on the outside rear portion of the enclosure. Heat generated by the backlights is transferred using natural convection from the enclosure to the heat sink, and the heat sink dissipates such heat to the atmosphere.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the LCD display contains the backlight assembly as discussed in the preceding paragraph. The LCD display also contains a lens on the front portion of the enclosure and a LCD module between the lens and the backlight assembly. The LCD module is placed in between the top and bottom of the enclosure to provide air gaps inside and at the top and the bottom of the LCD module to form a circular airflow path around the LCD module. A fan is placed in the airflow path to forcibly move heated air inside the enclosure from the front of the LCD module to the rear portion of the enclosure for heat dissipation through the heat sink and to the atmosphere.
The LCD display may be placed in any type of electronic device, including but not limited to a kiosk, a fuel dispenser, a personal computer, an elevator display, and an automated teller machine (ATM). The LCD display may display information and other instructions to a user of an electronic device incorporating the LCD display. If the LCD display has a touch screen, the LCD display may also act as an input device.

Thermal management for a thin environmentally-sealed LCD display enclosure


A crusher includes a replaceable first crushing member having a first crusher surface and a replaceable second crushing member having a second crusher surface. The co-operation of the crusher surfaces is defined by at least one crusher setting parameter. From measurements of a quality parameter, which relates to the nature of the crushed material, on at least two different occasions during the service life of a set of replaceable first and second crushing members and on each occasion for at least two different settings of the crusher setting parameter, a control function can be determined that describes a value, of the at least one crusher setting parameter, which on a given occasion gives a crushed material the quality parameter of which is substantially optimal. The control function is utilized for the adjustment of the crusher setting parameter for a subsequent set of replaceable first and second crushing members in such a way that on a given occasion for the subsequent set of replaceable crushing members, a crushed material is also obtained, the quality parameter of which is substantially optimal.

When crushing a hard material, for instance stone or ore, a crusher having a crushing gap, also called crushing chamber, is frequently utilized, where material is fed in from above and is crushed between two crusher surfaces that are brought toward each other and between which the hard material is crushed. An example of such a crusher is a gyratory crusher, which has a crushing head provided with an inner crushing shell, which head is fastened on a shaft and during operation describes a gyratory motion, and an outer crushing shell surrounding the inner crushing shell. The fed-in material is then crushed in a plurality of steps between the inner and outer shell. An additional example of a crusher of the type mentioned above is a jaw crusher in which a fed-in material is crushed between a fixed first jaw plate and a second jaw plate mounted on a movable jaw, which second jaw plate moves toward the first jaw plate in a reciprocating motion and in a plurality of steps successively crushes a fed-in material.
After a time of operation, crushing gives rise to wearing of the crusher surfaces and an increased distance between them. WO 93/14870 describes a method to compensate for this wear. In the method described in WO 93/14870, the shortest distance between the inner shell and the outer shell is calibrated on a plurality of occasions during the service life of a first pair of shells. Based on the same data, it is possible to predict how this shortest distance will be altered over time for a new pair of shells and to compensate for this alteration so that the shortest distance between the inner and outer shell in said new pair of shells is kept substantially constant during the entire service life of the shells.
However, the above-described method of compensating for wear has the disadvantage that it cannot produce a crushed material having predictable properties during the service life of a pair of shells.

Method and device for the control of a crusher


A diamond base material for surface acoustic wave device, which includes: a low-resistivity base material, and a high-resistivity diamond layer having a thickness of 5-50 .mu.m disposed on the low-resistivity base material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diamond base material which may suitably be used for fabricating a surface acoustic wave device (hereinafter, mainly referred to as "SAW device"), and a SAW device utilizing such a diamond base material.
2. Related Background Art
Diamond has a highest acoustic propagation velocity among all of the materials which are present on the earth, and has a band gap energy of 5.5 eV, which is very large as compared with those of known semiconductor substances. In addition, diamond is transparent with respect to light having a wavelength ranging from a near-ultraviolet region to a near-infrared region. Accordingly, it is expected that diamond can improve an operating characteristic and/or can widen an operating range or latitude in various technical or scientific fields such as acoustic, surface acoustic wave, optical, and semiconductor fields.
In addition, since diamond has a good thermal conductivity, not only diamond itself may desirably function as a heat sink material, but also a stable functional device or element (such as optical functional device) which requires substantially no temperature compensation for heat may be constituted by use of diamond.
By utilizing such dynamical, electric or electronic characteristics, diamond has been used for a wide variety of dynamical, optical, electric or electronic devices (as described in, e.g., "Diamond Thin Film", written by Tadao Inuzuka, pp. 99-115, 1990, published by Kyoritsu Shuppan (Tokyo, JAPAN)). Specific examples of such a device utilizing diamond may include a SAW device which may suitably be used for a high-frequency filter, etc.
Heretofore, as the above-mentioned SAW device, there is known one having a multilayered structure comprising a diamond thin film and a combination of an interdigital transducer or electrode having a comb-like shape (hereinafter, mainly referred to as "IDT") and a piezoelectric substance disposed on the diamond thin film, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 38874/1979 (i.e., Sho 54-38874) and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (KOKAI) No. 62911/1989 (i.e., Sho 64-62911).
As described above, the SAW device has a structure comprising a diamond thin film and a piezoelectric layer disposed thereon, wherein the piezoelectric layer comprises a piezoelectric substance such as ZnO, quartz crystal, LiNbO.sub.3 and LiTaO.sub.3. Accordingly, the above-mentioned IDT constituting the SAW device is usually grounded by using a wire bonding method, i.e., a method wherein the IDT is grounded by use of a wire which is electrically connected to the IDT by way of a bonding pad.
However, the above-mentioned conventional wire bonding method has the following drawbacks.
(1) In the wire bonding method, it is necessary to provide, on a device to be wire-bonded, a sufficient space corresponding to the area of bonding pads to be used for the wire bonding, and therefore the size of the device itself necessarily becomes large to a considerable extent. PA1 (2) In a case where the SAW device has a multi-electrode structure comprising a plurality of electrodes (inclusive of IDTs), the number of the bonding wires and the number of the bonding pads become considerably large, and therefore the size of the device itself becomes large to a further extent. In addition, the location or position of the bonding pads is considerably limited so that the bonding wires may be connected to the resultant bonding pads. PA1 (3) In a case where the SAW device has a multi-electrode structure, the bonding steps themselves for conducting the wire bonding become complicated and troublesome. PA1 a low-resistivity base material; PA1 a diamond layer disposed on the low-resistivity base material, the diamond layer having a through hole formed therein; PA1 a piezoelectric substance layer disposed on the diamond layer; and PA1 an interdigital transducer disposed in contact with the piezoelectric substance layer, the interdigital transducer being connected to the low-resistivity base material for grounding by way of the through hole formed in the diamond layer. PA1 a base material; PA1 a low-resistivity diamond layer disposed on the base material; PA1 a high-resistivity diamond layer disposed on the low-resistivity diamond layer, the high-resistivity diamond layer having a through hole formed therein; PA1 a piezoelectric substance layer disposed on the high-resistivity diamond layer; and PA1 an interdigital transducer disposed in contact with the piezoelectric substance layer, the interdigital transducer being connected to the low-resistivity diamond layer and/or base material for grounding by way of the through hole formed in the high-resistivity diamond layer. PA1 wherein the through hole is formed by use of a dry etching method. PA1 wherein the through hole is formed by use of a dry etching method.
Particularly, in recent years, there has strongly been demanded a small-sized SAW device of a surface-mounting type, i.e., a SAW device which may be mounted to a surface or surface portion of an apparatus wherein the SAW device is to be utilized. Accordingly, there has been desired the development of a grounding method which is suitably applicable to such a small-sized SAW device of the surface-mounting type.

Surface acoustic wave device and diamond base material for the same


A portable cellular phone system with an automatic answering telephone function can perform data communication and has automatic answering telephone functions installed on both the network side and a terminal unit side. This system includes a section for transferring a message recorded first by the automatic answering telephone function on the network side to the terminal unit side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communication system using portable cellular phone sets and radio communication terminal units (to be simply referred to as a portable cellular phone system hereinafter) which can perform data communication and, more particularly, to a portable cellular phone system with an automatic answering telephone function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a portable cellular phone system, an automatic answering telephone function (to be simply referred to as an automatic answering function hereinafter) is used when a callee cannot answer the phone or is outside the radio zone. Such an automatic answering function is generally installed on a network for a portable cellular phone system and managed by the management company (to be referred to as an automatic answering telephone center hereinafter) of the portable cellular phone system. In addition, a similar function is implemented by a memory mounted in a user's phone set itself (this function will be referred to as a built-in automatic answering function hereinafter). The former function has not much limitation in terms of recording time, but a memory must always be prepared, resulting in an increase in facility/running cost on the management company side. In addition, the user must access the automatic answering telephone center to hear the voice (message) recorded in the automatic answering telephone center. In general, the user is charged for the fee for a telephone call for this purpose. The latter function has limitations in terms of recording time, but the user can repeatedly play back the recorded message.
Under the circumstances, both the automatic answering telephone center scheme and the built-in automatic answering function scheme are generally prepared to allow a user to select one or both of the schemes.
According to the automatic answering function in the conventional automatic answering telephone center, a message is recorded in the automatic answering telephone center installed on a network, and the message is made to play back by connecting a general voice communication channel between the automatic answering telephone center and the terminal. For this reason, under a condition of poor communication quality, voice is interrupted or mixed with noise, resulting in deterioration in the clarity. As a consequence, the user must repeatedly play back the message. Naturally, in this case, the fee for a telephone call increases from the viewpoint of the user, and the communication traffic increases from the viewpoint of the management company.
In the conventional built-in automatic answering function scheme, when a caller connects to the portable cellular phone set of the callee, the phone set automatically plays back an answering message to allow the caller to store his/her message in the memory in the phone set itself. In this case, since the caller pays the charge for the telephone call, the user is charged no fee. If, however, the message is recorded under a condition of poor communication quality, the voice is recorded with low clarity. In this case, since the user cannot make out the message even after repetitive playback, he/she must call back the person who has left the message to inquire it.

Portable cellular phone system with automatic answering telephone function


A touch-free flowable food product dispenser is disclosed. The food product dispenser includes a main body, a pump assembly mounted in the main body and a cover member mounted to the main body. The cover member is part of an automated pump actuation unit that can be removably mounted to the main body such that the automated pump actuation unit engages a pump assembly supported by the main body. The automated pump actuation unit includes a sensor positioned to detect the presence of an actuation member, such as a hand, in proximity to the sensor. When the actuation member is detected, the automated pump actuation unit actuate the pump assembly to dispense the food product. The cover member and automated pump actuation assembly are formed as a single unit that can be installed on the main body to convert manual pump dispensers to touch-free dispensers.

The present disclosure generally relates to the automatic dispensing of a flowable food product, such as condiments, from a storage container or pouch. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a sanitary, touch-free automatic flowable food product dispensing apparatus and method to use such apparatus.
Flowable food products can include a wide variety of products, such as condiments (i.e. ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tartar sauce, etc.), syrups, dressings, cheeses, fudge, caramel or other similar food products that can flow and thus be pumped. At many restaurants or other food service locations, flowable food products are dispensed utilizing a manual pump from a reservoir containing the food product. Such pumps typically include a flexible diaphragm pump mounted to a main body that includes an open interior sized to receive a supply of the food product to be dispensed. These dispensers typically rely upon the manual action of a handle or lever that must be depressed by the user to depress and release a flexible diaphragm of the diaphragm pump. The depression of the handle creates pressure onto the diaphragm which, upon release, creates a negative source of pressure to draw the food product from the open reservoir.
One problem with manual pumps is that the pump handle collects bacteria or viruses since multiple users touch the same pump handle during daily usage. Typically, the pump handle is not sanitized during use in a single day and is sanitized only at the end of a day or the beginning of the next day. For this reason, the pump handle provides a point for possible contamination from the multiple users.
The present disclosure utilizes a common pumping mechanism, such as a flexible diaphragm pump, in combination with an automated pump actuator to eliminate the need for a manual pump handle.

Touch-free flowable food product dispenser


A disk cartridge has a projection on an inner surface thereof. The projection is located proximate the head access opening to prevent medium distortion during cartridge insertion. The cartridge is designed for insertion into a drive in which the medium is mounted by translating the medium within the cartridge away from a spindle access opening in the cartridge. The translation of the medium can cause the medium to twist thereby distorting the peripheral edge of the medium. The projection on the inner surface of the cartridge inhibits the medium distortion.

This invention relates to a cartridge based data storage system in which a flexible magnetic disk is disposed within a cartridge shell. More particularly, the invention relates to preventing the distortion of media during insertion of a cartridge into a disk drive.
Microprocessors and supporting computer technologies are rapidly increasing in speed and computing power while decreasing in cost and size. These factors have led to the broad application of microprocessors to an array of electronic products, such as hand-held computers, digital cameras, cellular phones and the like. All of these devices have, in effect, become computers with particular application-specific attributes. For this new breed of computer products, enormous flexibility is gained by the ability to exchange data files and store computer software.
A variety of proprietary storage devices have been used in computer products. For example, hand-held computers have used integrated circuit memory cards ("memory cards") as the primary information storage media. Memory cards include memory storage elements, such as static random access memory (SRAM), or programmable and erasable non-volatile memory, such as "flash" memory. Memory cards each are typically the size of a conventional credit card and are used in portable computers in place of hard disk drives and floppy disk drives. Furthermore, memory cards enhance the significant advantages of the size, weight, and battery lifetime attributes of the portable computer and increase portability of the storage media. However, because of the limited memory density attainable in each memory card and the high cost of the specialized memory chips, using memory cards in hand-held computers imposes limitations not encountered in less portable computers, which typically use more power-consuming and heavier hard and floppy disk drives as their primary storage media.
Other of these computer products, such as the digital camera, have employed miniature video disks as the storage media. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,175 issued Nov. 12, 1985 to Baumeister discloses a digital camera configured to store information on a magnetic disk. In Baumeister, a signal processor receives signals representative of a picture from a photo sensor. Those signals are recorded on a magnetic disk for later processing. Unfortunately, the video disk storage product provides limited storage capacity. For that and other reasons (e.g., power consumption and cost), the video disk has not been used in other computer products. As a result, interchanging data from one of these digital cameras with other computer products, such as a hand-held computer, is not readily achieved.
Miniature hard disk drives have also been suggested for use in portable computer products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,314 issued Nov. 21, 1995 to Morehouse et al. discloses a miniature hard drive for use in portable computer applications. In Morehouse, a hard disk drive is described that is approximately 50 mm in diameter. While addressing many of the problems presented by storage requirements in portable computers, the obvious problem of removability of the storage media is still present.
Similar to a standard size cartridge, the miniature cartridge contains a flexible magnetic disk disposed within a hard outer shell. Such a standard size cartridge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,157 (Takahashi). The Takahashi patent is generally directed to a disk cassette that contains a flexible magnetic disk having a center core (i.e., a hub) and an apparatus for reading and recording information on the flexible magnetic disk. The disk cassette comprises a flexible disk attached to a hub. The disk and hub assembly are sandwiched between an upper cover and a lower cover. To constrain the movement of the flexible disk within the cover, the hub has a center hollow which mates with a projection from the upper cover of the cassette.
Disk drives for use with such removable disk cartridges typically employ either a linear actuator mechanism or a radial arm actuator mechanism for positioning the read/write head(s) of the disk drive on the recording surface(s) of the storage medium, or disk. Because the disk cartridges are designed to be removable from the drive, the linear or radial arm actuators must be able to move off, and away from, the storage medium to a retracted position in order to prevent damage to the head(s) when a cartridge is inserted and removed from the disk drive. Moreover, many removable cartridge disk drives employ a pair of opposing read/write heads for recording and reproducing information on both sides of a storage medium. Typically, the opposing heads are disposed on flexible suspension arms at the distal end of an actuator that allow the heads to fly closely over the respective surfaces of the rotating disk. The opposing heads must be spread apart as they approach the edge of the disk during a head loading operation in order to avoid collision with the edge of the disk. Similarly, when the heads are unloaded from the disk, they must again be spread apart to avoid collision with the edge of the disk and each other.
When a disk cassette of the type described above is inserted into the disk drive, the hub of the disk and the spindle of the drive must engage to allow the drive to spin the disk at a required rate. Typically, the hub and spindle engagement is accomplished by either translating the cartridge above the spindle until the spindle aligns with the cartridge, then translating the cartridge downwardly until the hub and spindle engage. Alternatively, the spindle is lowered before the disk cartridge is inserted into the drive. After the disk cassette is fully inserted, or during insertion, the spindle is raised to engage the hub.
In applications having very little space to accommodate a storage device, such as hand-held computers, digital cameras, and the like, the above-described disk and drive arrangements present a variety of drawbacks. For example, raising the disk cassette above the spindle requires additional overhead space to allow the cartridge to move above the spindle. Where the spindle is lowered, additional space is required to accommodate the spindle and motor as they move down into the drive chassis. In either case, a thicker disk drive results.
To reduce the overall dimensions of the drive and disk cassette, drawbacks of the prior art disk cassettes it may be desirable to insert a cartridge an move the media within the cartridge so that adequate clearance over the spindle is provided. However, movement of the media during cartridge insertion could cause distortion around the peripheral edges. Thus, there is a need to provide an apparatus to prevent media distortion during cartridge insertion.

Disk cartridge with medium distortion neutralizing projection


A power transmission device has two roller members which are rotatable on their own axes and the outer peripheral portions of which are pressed against a wire member tightly stretched between two pulley members, a rotary gear which is rotatable around a revolution axial center of the roller members integrally with a supporting member which supports the roller members, a spring worm meshed with the rotary gear, and an actuator which controls the rotation amount of the spring worm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power transmission device for driving a robot joint and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in a robot, such as an industrial robot, the amount of displacement of a joint has generally been controlled to a desired value by position control (servo control). A power transmission mechanism of a joint of this type of robot adopts, in many cases, a highly rigid structure that minimizes the chance of a change in the amount of displacement of the joint, which is caused by a change in an external force, so as to make it possible to accurately control the amount of displacement of the joint to the desired value.
However, the joint having the power transmission mechanism of the highly rigid structure exhibits poor flexibility under a variety of external environments that make it difficult to identify or predict the position or shape of an external object or a disturbance or the like beforehand. If, for example, a driven member of a joint comes in contact with an unexpected external object, then a situation frequently occurs, in which it becomes difficult to properly move the driven member or an excessive external force acts on an actuator that drives the joint.
In recent years, therefore, a study on a robot having a joint that permits elastic displacement has been carried out by the present applicant and others.
Meanwhile, as a power transmission mechanism of a joint of an industrial robot or the like, there has conventionally been known one having a construction proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4442464 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). According to the construction of the power transmission mechanism, a wire between two pulleys is provided with a spring so as to transmit power between the two pulleys through an elastic force generated by the spring, thereby enabling the joint to be elastically displaced.
For a robot required to carry out, for example, various tasks under various environments, the power transmission mechanism of a joint is desired to be configured to allow the stiffness characteristics (the degree of stiffness) of the joint to be variably controlled, thereby permitting a flexible motion of the robot suited for each type of task under each environmental condition.
It is further desired to configure the power transmission mechanism of the joint to allow the joint to generate a viscous force as necessary and to allow the viscosity characteristics, namely, the degree of ease of generating a viscous force, to be controlled.
However, the power transmission device having the construction described in the foregoing Patent Document 1 merely has the spring installed on the wire between the two pulleys. Hence, the power transmission device is not adapted to allow the stiffness characteristics between the two pulleys, i.e., the stiffness characteristics of the joint, to be variably controlled and also not adapted to allow the viscosity characteristics between the two pulleys to be variably controlled. There has been a risk that the power transmission device constructed as described in Patent Document 1 would inevitably have a complicated structure, an increased size or deteriorated drive efficiency if an attempt were to be made to enable the power transmission device to variably control the stiffness characteristics between the two pulleys, i.e., the stiffness characteristics of the joint, or to variably control the viscosity characteristics between the two pulleys, i.e., the viscosity characteristics of the joint.


Lock-free queues of a shared memory environment are used to facilitate communication within that environment. The lock-free queues can be used for interprocess communication, as well as intraprocess communication. The lock-free queues are structured to minimize the use of atomic operations when performing operations on the queues, and to minimize the number of enqueue/dequeue operations to be performed on the queues.

Shared memory has long been used for communication, such as interprocess communication, in environments having shared memory. The memory is accessible by a plurality of processes and those processes use queues resident within the shared memory for communication. For example, each process has at least one queue to be used for communication and other processes access a particular process' queue to communicate with that process. Since multiple processes access the same queue, locking mechanisms are used to protect the integrity of the queue. Lock protection, however, causes contention for the queues, which is costly in terms of performance.
To improve performance, it is possible to have dedicated queues in which each process that wishes to communicate with another process has a dedicated queue for that other process. However, this dramatically increases the number of queues needed and reduces scalability within the environment.
Based on the foregoing, a need still exists for a more efficient mechanism for using shared memory for communication. For example, a need exists for an improved capability that eliminates locking, while not dramatically increasing the number of queues needed for communication.

Facilitating communication within shared memory environments using lock-free queues

International Business Machines Corporation


A dual-mode pulse frequency modulation boost converter operates in a hysteretic mode during light load currents to regulate an output voltage using a substantially fixed peak switching current and operates in a continuous mode during heavy load currents to regulate the output voltage using a variable peak switching current. The boost converter senses load power to automatically switch between the hysteretic mode and the continuous mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power conversion circuits and more particularly to a boost converter that uses two pulse frequency modulation (PFM) operating modes for efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inductor based boost mode light emitting diode (LED) drivers typically include pulse width modulation (PWM) converters that operate at a fixed frequency. A PWM converter uses an oscillator to generate the fixed (or PWM reference) frequency and varies the switching duty cycle applied to a semiconductor switch to regulate an output voltage. The PWM converter can operate in a voltage mode or a current mode. In a current mode PWM converter, the output voltage is regulated indirectly by controlling a peak or an average switch current. In a voltage mode PWM converter, the output voltage is directly regulated. Both modes of operation can promote inefficiency (e.g., switching loss or conduction loss) as load current changes.


A method and system for transmitting packets having a first address length on a core network supporting a second address length, where the second address length is larger than the first address length by determining a length of the first address and establishing an offset to the first address such that a combined length of the offset, length of a network prefix for the second address and length of the first address equals the length of the second address. The method and system of the present invention can be implemented as an enhancement to existing network protocols such as IPv4, IPv6 and the like.

The expansion of the use of the Internet Protocol ("IP"), such as through the ever increasing growth of the Internet has put a strain on the amount of device addresses available. The popular Internet Protocol v4 ("IPv4") addressing scheme provides 32 address bits, arranged as four 8-bit segments. A more recent addressing scheme, Internet Protocol version 6 ("IPv6"), enlarges the address size to 128 bits, arranged as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits. While this increased address size allows for a vast number of addressed devices and very large networks (for instance, IPv6 supports roughly 3.4×1038 addresses) most devices at the local link edge lack the resources to support the larger address size. For example, numerous radio frequency identification ("RFID") devices and various field deployable devices (referred to generally herein as "sensors") may only support an 8-bit, 16-bit or 32 bit address and therefore cannot support 128-bit IPv6 addressing. The proliferation of electronic communication devices has heightened the requirements for providing unique addresses.
While other methods of addressing for such devices are being investigated, there are no methods that incorporate the ability to route data directly based on an offset bit slice of the IPv6 address. Other methods will consequently suffer from complications in data forwarding across a standard IPv6 core network, thus requiring tunneling and/or address translation, which do not provide true end-to-end connectivity and cannot participate in some internet protocols. As such, simply writing software for execution by the general purpose CPU in forwarding devices is not practical.
What is desired is an arrangement under which existing sensor devices can be utilized to support IPv6 routing without requiring the sensors to support a full 128 bit address.

Method and system for internet protocol address concatenation


A fire suppression sprinkler system convertible between a wet and a dry mode of operation is disclosed. The system features a field convertible valve having a bypass loop with a bypass valve for selectively configuring the valve for wet or dry mode operation. For dry mode operation, the bypass valve is open. The field convertible valve also has a system actuator, a gas control valve and a water supply shut-off valve which are open in the dry mode. In the wet mode of operation, the bypass valve is open and the gas control and water supply shut-off valves are closed. The field convertible valve operates in a latch mode controlled by the system actuator in the dry mode, and as a flapper valve in the wet mode of operation. A method of converting the mode of operation of the sprinkler system is also disclosed.

Fire suppression sprinkler systems comprise a piping network having branches extending throughout a building or other structure through which water or other fire suppressing fluid may be conveyed to be discharged on a fire within the structure. Sprinkler heads are mounted on the piping network and positioned throughout the structure, the sprinkler heads opening in response to a fire event to effect the water discharge. The piping network is connected to a source of pressurized water. Flow of water from the source to the network is controlled by a valve.
One characteristic which may be used to distinguish fire suppression sprinkler systems from one another is whether the system is a "wet" system or a "dry" system. In a wet system, pressurized water is present throughout the piping network when the system is in the ready state. The water is prevented from being discharged by the sprinkler heads themselves, which remain closed unless a fire event is detected. Once a fire occurs, the sprinkler heads in the vicinity of the fire open and immediately discharge water onto the fire. The valve which controls water flow from the source to the sprinkler heads opens in response to the demand for water flow.
In contrast, a compressed gas, typically compressed air, fills the piping network in a dry system when the system is in the ready state. The valve which controls the flow of water to the sprinkler heads is held closed and prevents water from entering the piping network until a fire event is detected. The valve is controlled by a system actuator which is capable of sensing a drop in the air pressure within the piping network occasioned, for example, when a sprinkler head opens in response to a fire event. When the sprinkler head opens, it discharges compressed air from the network, causing the air pressure to drop within the piping network. The system actuator senses the pressure drop and opens the valve, which allows water to flow into the piping network. The water displaces the air in the system and eventually reaches the open sprinkler head, which discharges the water onto the fire. Latched clapper valves are advantageous but high air pressure in conjunction with a low differential clapper design are also feasible.
Wet systems are preferred unless freezing environments are expected. Water is immediately available at the sprinkler heads for discharge as soon as one or more heads opens, thus providing rapid response to suppress a fast spreading fire. Dry systems are used when the piping network is subjected to temperatures that are below the freezing point of the water or other liquid used to suppress the fire. This may occur, for example, in an unheated structure, such as a warehouse located in a temperate zone where the ambient temperature varies seasonally below freezing for extended periods.
The valves used in the wet system to control the flow of water from the source to the network are different from those used in the dry system. Wet system valves act as check valves and open in response to a demand for water flow, but close automatically when demand for flow ceases. In contrast, dry system valves are held closed and are opened by a system actuator that responds to one or more indications of a fire event, for example, loss of air pressure in the piping network. The valve may also be actuated directly by a pressure differential.
It is often desirable to have the option to operate a sprinkler system in either the wet or the dry mode as a particular situation demands. This would be advantageous, for example, in unheated warehouses in cold climates to permit faster water delivery during warm periods. Furthermore, it may also be desired to readily convert a system from the wet to the dry mode or vice versa. This would be advantageous, for example, if the use to which the structure in which the sprinkler system is positioned changes. The prior art practice for effecting such multi-mode systems is to install both a wet system valve and a dry system valve, and all of their appurtenant auxiliary valves and components, in series with one another between the water source and the piping network. Then, depending upon which sprinkler system is desired, the appropriate valves and their associated components and auxiliary valves are used, and the valves associated with the other system are bypassed or otherwise opened or closed as required to isolate them. Using two valves and all of their associated components is complex and expensive however. There is clearly a need for an alternative which allows a sprinkler system to readily be converted from wet to dry mode and back again as required in response to a particular demand.

Field convertible valve and sprinkler system


Improved phase-change memory cells are provided for storing information in a plurality of programmable cell states. A phase-change material is located between first and second electrodes for applying a read voltage to the phase-change material to read the programmed cell state. An electrically-conductive component extends from one electrode to the other in contact with the phase-change material. The resistance presented by this component to a cell current produced by the read voltage is less than that of the amorphous phase and greater than that of the crystalline phase of the phase-change material in any of the cell states.

The present invention relates generally to phase-change memory cells.
Phase-change memory (PCM) is a non-volatile solid-state memory technology that exploits the reversible, thermally-assisted switching of phase-change materials, in particular chalcogenide compounds such as GST (Germanium-Antimony-Tellurium), between states with different electrical resistance. The fundamental storage unit (the "cell") can be programmed into a number of different states, or levels, which exhibit different resistance characteristics. The s programmable cell-states can be used to represent different data values, permitting storage of information.
In single-level PCM devices, each cell can be set to one of s=2 states (a "SET" state and a "RESET" state) permitting storage of one bit per cell. In the RESET state, which corresponds to a wholly amorphous state of the phase-change material, the electrical resistance of the cell is very high. By heating the phase-change material to a temperature above its crystallization point and then cooling, the phase-change material can be transformed into a low-resistance, fully-crystalline state. This low-resistance state provides the SET state of the cell. If the cell is then heated to a high temperature, above the melting point of the phase-change material, the material reverts to the fully-amorphous RESET state on rapid cooling. In multilevel PCM devices, the cell can be set to s>2 programmable states permitting storage of more than one bit per cell. The different programmable states correspond to different relative proportions of the amorphous and crystalline phases within the volume of phase-change material. In particular, in addition to the two states used for single-level operation, multilevel cells exploit intermediate states in which the cell contains different volumes of the amorphous phase within the otherwise crystalline PCM material. Since the two material phases exhibit a large resistance contrast, varying the size of the amorphous phase within the overall cell volume produces a corresponding variation in cell resistance.
Reading and writing of data in PCM cells is achieved by applying appropriate voltages to the phase-change material via a pair of electrodes associated with each cell. In a write operation, the resulting programming signal causes Joule heating of the phase-change material to achieve an appropriate temperature to induce the desired cell-state on cooling. Reading of PCM cells is performed using cell resistance as a metric for cell-state. An applied read voltage causes current to flow through the cell, this current being dependent on resistance of the cell. Measurement of the cell current therefore provides an indication of the programmed cell state. A sufficiently low read voltage is used for this resistance metric to ensure that application of the read voltage does not disturb the programmed cell state. Cell state detection can then be performed by comparing the resistance metric with predefined reference levels for the s programmable cell-states.
A problem with phase-change memory is that the resistance of the amorphous phase exhibits undesirable attributes, such as low-frequency noise and drift. This drift causes resistance of the amorphous phase to increase in value over time. As a result, the read measurements for programmed cell states tend to change over time. This resistance drift complicates read out of the written information, potentially even destroying the information if there is a large variability in the amount of drift exhibited by different cell states so that the read measurement distributions for neighboring cell states interfere with one another. The larger the number of cell states and the closer the initial spacing between readback resistance levels, the more susceptible cells are to this problem. This presents a challenge in the development of multilevel phase-change memory efforts to achieve storage of more bits per cell for increased storage density and to reduce manufacturing cost per bit.
Currently, several techniques are used to alleviate problems associated with resistance drift. One class of techniques uses specialized read and write schemes for storage and readout of information in the memory. These techniques typically incur a penalty in write or read speed and require more complicated read/write circuitry for the memory cells. Another class of techniques makes use of coding to introduce redundancy in the stored information. This inherently reduces storage density. Another approach is disclosed in European Patent Application publication no. EP 2034536 A1 and illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. This figure shows a schematic illustration of a PCM cell 1 having a volume of phase-change material 2 located between a top electrode 3 and a bottom electrode (or "heater") 4. The cell state shown represents an intermediate state in which the material 2 contains both crystalline and amorphous phases. The amorphous phase is indicated by the shaded hemispherical volume 5 above bottom electrode 4. The crystalline phase 6 occupies the remainder of the cell volume. A thin resistive region 7 provides a parallel current path between the bottom electrode 4 and the crystalline phase 6 of the phase-change material in operation. When a read voltage is applied to read the programmed cell-state, the resulting cell current flows primarily via this current path from crystalline phase 6 to bottom electrode 4, in preference to flowing through the high-resistance amorphous phase 5. The resistance of the parallel current path depends on the length "x" in the figure.
Improved phase change memory cells is desirable.


A vehicular defroster control system comprising a single defroster selector switch for alternatively operating the air-conditioning defroster only or both the air-conditioning defroster and the electric heat-operated defroster, an environmental condition input unit for inputting environmental conditions including at least an ambient air temperature and a sunlight intensity, and an operation control means for judging whether or not the inputted ambient air temperature and the sunlight intensity are lower than previously set predetermined values, and operating the electric heat-operated defroster only when it is judged that both of the inputted ambient air temperature and the sunlight intensity are lower than the predetermined values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for controlling a vehicular defroster for operating and controlling an air-conditioning defroster for discharging air-conditioned air against a windshield glass, and an electric heat-operated defroster having a heating wire embedded in the windshield glass.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the vehicular defroster is provided with an air-conditioning defroster for performing defogging by discharging air-conditioned air against a windshield glass, and an electric heat-operated defroster for performing defogging by using a heating wire embedded in the windshield glass.
The air-conditioning defroster is generally operated by manipulating an outlet selector switch provided on an air-conditioner control panel so that the air outlet mode in the passenger's compartment is changed to the "DEF" mode or the "FOOT/DEF" mode. On the other hand, the electric heat-operated defroster includes an exclusive on/off selector switch which is individually designed separately from the air-conditioning system.
However, the conventional vehicular defroster as described above individually includes the two means, i.e., the air-conditioning defroster and the electric heat-operated defroster which have the identical function to perform defogging for the windshield glass in order to ensure the frontward view from the passenger's compartment. Therefore, the passenger selectively operates the air-conditioning defroster and the electric heat-operated defroster. As a result, the operation to perform "defogging" is considerably complicated.
It is premised in the conventional vehicular defroster that the electric heat-operated defroster provided in the windshield glass is used when the ambient air temperature is relatively low, because of the following reason. That is, if the electric heat-operated defroster is operated at a temperature not less than a certain temperature, the windshield glass is distorted, or the windshield glass tends to be broken. Therefore, a problem is pointed out that it is complicated to manage the operation of the electric heat-operated defroster.

Method and apparatus for controlling vehicular defroster


A method for determining the wear rate of a spark plug electrode of an ignition system of an internal combustion engine comprises determining a risetiine number indicating the time required for raising the current and thereby the primary energy which is supplied to an ignition coil of the spark plug from an inactive level to a predetermined level, determining an operating condition indicator configured to indicate an operating condition of the ignition system, determining a wear rate of the spark plug electrode based on a difference of a first spark plug state indicator at a first time instance and a second spark plug state indicator at a second time instance, wherein the first time instance and the second time instance are separated by a predetermined time interval, wherein the spark plug state indicator is determined as a value based on the risetime number and the operating condition indicator.

In order to initiate combustion of a compressed fuel-air-mixture in a cylinder of a reciprocating spark-ignition (SI) engine, in particular for engines operating on gaseous fuel, a spark plug for generating a spark arc based on external energy supply is required. In general, the spark plug is provided with two electrodes between which the spark arc is to be generated. Depending on the engine operating conditions, the state of an ignition coil and the state of the spark plug electrodes, a definite minimum energy is required to ignite the fuel-air-mixture inside the cylinder. This definite minimum energy generally leads to high electrode temperatures and, as a consequence, to an erosion of the electrodes. Electrode erosion could be measured in form of wear and could be used for monitoring the state of a spark plug and determining the wear of a spark plug, for instance, in order to decide whether the spark plug has to be replaced or not.
An exemplary apparatus and method for determining the wear rate of a spark plug of an internal combustion engine by use of wear determination means is disclosed in EP 1 835 172 A2. The wear determination means determine a current wear of a spark plug based on operating conditions of the internal combustion engine and add this current wear to a total wear state of the spark plug.
The present disclosure is directed, at least in part, to improving or overcoming one or more aspects of prior systems.

Spark plug electrode wear rate determination for a spark-ignited engine


A miter saw attachment for attaching to the fence of a miter saw and for cutting molding, for example crown molding or cove molding, the attachment comprising: a block comprising an angled face and a fence face, with the block defining a mount recess and defining a block opening leading to the mount recess. The mount defining a mount opening with a means for fastening received therein. The mount received in the mount recess. The means for fastening tightened drawing the mount and block to the fence of the miter saw. The molding to be cut is positioned and held against the angled face of the block and cut.

While the task of cutting and installing trim molding in a room is rather straightforward, the task of cutting and installing crown molding and cove molding is more complex, especially at corners where the side walls and the ceiling of a room meet. Many pieces of crown molding and cove molding have been wasted in attempts to cut the crown molding or cove molding at the proper angle for installation in the corner of a room. Thus, the task of cutting and installing crown/cove molding is oftentimes left to skilled carpenters using specialized saws and equipment. Some of these tools include compound miter saws, which have been used with varying degrees of success.
A standard miter saw is a relatively inexpensive tool that comprises a handle connected to a motor and blade assembly which is mounted on a turn table. The turn table is rotatably mounted on a base, and a miter saw fence extends from the base. The motor and blade assembly is pivotally mounted to the turn table, thus the motor and blade assembly can be pivoted towards and away from the base and can be rotated relative to the base. The turn table also defines a slot for accommodating the blade when the blade is pivoted towards the turn table. The miter saw blade is perpendicular to the table during the cut, that is, the standard miter saw only makes 90° angle cuts with respect to the table, regardless of how the handle and blade assembly is rotated. Stated differently, the motor, blade, and table may be rotated to make angled cuts, such that the cut made by the blade is at an angle with respect to the fence, but the blade still cuts at a 90° angle to the table.
The structure of the standard miter saw gives rise to problems when using the standard miter saw to cut crown molding for installation in the corners of a room. The blade of a standard miter saw simply cannot be moved such that it makes an angle of less than 90° with respect to the turn table to make the necessary cuts.
The compound miter allows for perpendicular cuts to be made as described above. Additionally, in a compound miter saw the saw blade can be moved into a position that is at an angle of less than 90° with respect to the table. The compound miter saw can cut crown molding for installation in room corners by moving the blade such that it makes an acute angle (less than 90°) with respect to the table, and pivoting the blade to make the cut. However, even though the compound miter saw can cut crown molding for room corners, it is much more expensive to own and maintain than the standard miter saw. Additionally, the compound miter saw is difficult to use for cutting crown molding for the corners of a room, and the chances of the user making successful cuts every time are, at best, mediocre.
Thus, there is a need for an inexpensive apparatus for allowing miter cuts to be made in crown molding and the like, and which is easy to use and maintain, and which may be readily produced.


An electrochemical conversion system 10 is disclosed having a housing (11) which includes boiling chamber (12), a cell holding block (13), and a condensing chamber (14) coupled by conduits. The system also includes an electrochemical cell (23) mounted within the cell holding block, a heater (24) mounted in thermal communication with the boiling chamber, and a cooler (25). With the energization of the heater a portion of the working fluid is heated to a vapor state so as to create a high total pressure with a low partial pressure of hydrogen gas upon one side of the electrochemical cell, while simultaneously a high partial pressure of hydrogen gas is developed on the opposite side of the cell. The hydrogen partial pressure differential across the cell causes an electrical potential across the cell as hydrogen migrates across the cell.

This invention relates to the conversion of heat energy to electrical energy utilizing an electrochemical cell.
The conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy may be accomplished in a variety of ways. It is known that electrochemical cells or batteries rely on redox reactions wherein electrons from a reactant being oxidized are transferred to a reactant being reduced. With the separation of the reactants from each other, it is possible to cause the electrons to flow through an external circuit where they can be used to perform work.
Electrochemical cells however have had a problem of exhausting the reactants. Although most cells can be recharged by applying a reverse polarity voltage across the electrodes, such recharging requires a separate electrical source. During the recharging of the cell the cell typically is not utilized as an electrical power source, thus rendering it unusable during the recharging period.
Fuel cells have been developed in an effort to overcome problems associated with electrochemical cells. Typically, fuel cells operate by passing an ionized species across a selective electrolyte which blocks the passage of the non-ionized species. By placing porous electrodes on either side of the electrolyte, a current may be induced in an external circuit connecting the electrodes. The most common type of fuel cell is a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell which passes hydrogen through one of the electrodes while oxygen is passed through the other electrode. The hydrogen and oxygen combine at the electrolyte-electrode interface to produce water. By continuously removing the water, a concentration gradient is maintained to induce the flow of hydrogen and oxygen to the cell.
These types of fuel cells however suffer from a number of disadvantages. These cells must be continuously supplied with a reactant in order to continuously produce electricity. Additionally, these cells produce a continuous product stream which continuously must be removed, the removal of which may pose a problem. The porous electrodes of these fuel cells must allow the passage of the reactant entering the cell. However, over time these porous electrodes can become fouled or plugged so as to slow or even prevent the passage of the reactant. Such slowing of the reactant flow reduces the production of electricity. Lastly, the selection of an appropriate electrolyte is not always easy. The electrolyte must rapidly transport the ionized species in order to increase the current production. Frequently, the limited migration of the ionized species through the electrolyte is a limiting factor on the amount of current produced.
In an effort to avoid the problems inherent with the previously described fuel cells, thermoelectric conversion cells have been designed. These thermoelectric conversion cells utilize heat to produce a pressure gradient to induce the flow of a reactant, such as molten sodium, across a solid electrolyte. A current is generated as sodium atoms lose electrons upon entering the electrolyte and gain electrons upon leaving the electrolyte. These cells however also suffer from the plugging of the porous electrodes required to pass the sodium ions. Furthermore, the diffusion of the sodium ions through the solid electrolytes has proven to be slow, thereby limiting the amount of current produced by the cell. Lastly, these types of fuel cells operate at extremely high temperatures, typically in a range between 1,200-1,500 degrees Kelvin, thus making them impractical for many uses.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for an electrochemical conversion system that does not require a continuous source of reactant, which does not require an electrolyte which may be plugged over time and which may be operated at relatively low temperatures. It is the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.
In a preferred form of the invention an electrochemical conversion system comprises an electrochemical cell, a housing which in combination with the electrochemical cell defines a first pathway which directs a two phase fluid stream past the electrochemical cell, and a two phase fluid stream contained within the housing. The system also has heating means thermally coupled to the housing for heating the fluid stream to a vapor phase prior to the electrochemical cell, cooling means thermally coupled to the housing for cooling the fluid stream to a liquid phase subsequent to the electrochemical cell, and a stream of hydrogen gas in fluid communication with the electrochemical cell. With this construction, the heating means vaporizes the two phase fluid stream so as to cause a low partial pressure of hydrogen upon one side of the electrochemical cell and therefore a pressure differential of hydrogen across the electrochemical cell which in turn causes the hydrogen gas to pass through the electrochemical cell creating an electric potential difference, the hydrogen is then entrained into the vaporized fluid stream.


A valve actuator includes moving equipment arranged to cause a plug of said equipment to slide along a given axis between two end positions. The moving equipment includes a core constrained to move in translation with the plug along the given axis. The actuator also includes a coil lying between two rings of ferromagnetic material, all three of which are secured to a frame of the actuator so as to surround the core, which itself carries two magnets mounted in opposition on the core level with the coil, a ring of ferromagnetic material lying between the two magnets that also lie between two other rings of ferromagnetic material. A valve and a machine may be fitted with such an actuator.

In order to enable an inlet to be associated with two different outlets, it is known to make use of three-port valves.
These valves are generally associated with pneumatic valve actuators, which is incompatible with aseptic environments complying with very strict hygiene and security standards. Under such circumstances, in order to be able to use valves of this type in aseptic environments, it would be appropriate to arrange the actuator outside the aseptic environments in question, which is naturally not very practical.
In order to mitigate that drawback, proposals have been made to have recourse to electrical valve actuators. Nevertheless, the actuator then tends to heat up quickly in operation, which is particularly problematic given that the actuator is sometimes subjected to temperature constraints that are already severe.

Valve actuator, valve, and machine consisting thereof


The present invention relates to an organic light-emitting diode which can operate at a low voltage and has a long lifespan compound and, more particular, to an organic light-emitting diode, comprising: a first electrode; a second electrode facing the first electrode; and a light-emitting layer and an electron transport layer sequentially arranged between the first and the second electrode, wherein the light-emitting layer contains at least one of the amine compounds represented by following Chemical Formula A or Chemical Formula B, and the electron transport layer contains at least one of the compounds represented by the following Chemical Formula E. The structures of Chemical Formulas A, B, and E are as shown in the specification.

Organic light-emitting diodes, based on self-luminescence, exhibit the advantages of having a wide viewing angle, excellent contrast, fast response time, high brightness, and excellent driving voltage and response rate characteristics, and furthermore allow for a polychromic display.
A typical organic light-emitting diode includes a positive electrode (anode) and a negative electrode (cathode), facing each other, with an organic emissive layer, disposed therebetween, for emitting light.
As to the general structure of the organic light-emitting diode, a hole transport layer, a light-emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and a cathode are formed in that order on an anode. Here, all of the hole transport layer, the light-emitting layer, and the electron transport layer are organic films comprising organic compounds.
An organic light-emitting diode having such a structure operates as follows: when a voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode, the anode injects holes, which are then transferred to the light-emitting layer via the hole transport layer while electrons injected from the cathode move to the light-emitting layer via the electron transport layer. In the luminescent zone, the carriers, such as holes and electrons, recombine to produce an exciton. When the exciton returns to the ground state from the excited state, the molecule of the light-emitting layer emits light.
Materials used as the organic layers in organic light-emitting diodes may be divided according to the functions thereof into luminescent materials and charge carrier materials, for example, a hole injection material, a hole transport material, an electron injection material, and an electron transport material. The light-emitting mechanism forms the basis of classification of luminescent materials as fluorescent and phosphorescent materials, which use excitons in singlet and triplet states, respectively.
Meanwhile, when a single material is employed as the luminescent material, intermolecular actions cause the maximum luminescence wavelength to shift toward a longer wavelength, resulting in a reduction in color purity and light emission efficiency due to light attenuation. In this regard, a host-dopant system may be used as a luminescent material so as to increase the color purity and the light emission efficiency through energy transfer. This is based on the principle whereby, when a dopant which is smaller in energy band gap than a host forming a light-emitting layer is added in a small amount to the light-emitting layer, excitons are generated from the light-emitting layer and transported to the dopant, emitting light at high efficiency. Here, light of desired wavelengths can be obtained depending on the kind of the dopant because the wavelength of the host moves to the wavelength range of the dopant.
With regard to related arts pertaining to dopant compounds in the light-emitting layer, reference may be made to Korean Patent No. 10-2008-0015865 A (Feb. 20, 2008), which describes an organic light-emitting diode using an arylamine-coupled indenofluorene derivative, and Korean Patent No. 10-2012-0047706 A (May 14, 2012), which describes an organic photoelectric device using a compound in which dibenzofuran or dibenzothiophene intramolecularly coexists with fluorene or in which benzofuran or dibenzothiophene intramolecularly coexists with carbazole.
Another related art for improving the efficiency of an organic light-emitting diode can be found in Korean Patent No. 10-2011-0116157 A (Nov. 25, 2011), which discloses an electron transporting material having a pyridine skeleton with substituents at positions 1, 3 and 5 thereof, and an organic light-emitting diode comprising the same.
Another technique for improving an organic light-emitting diode in luminance efficiency can be found in Korean Patent No. 10-2006-0022676 A (Mar. 10, 2006), which describes an organic electroluminescence device having a blocking layer, disposed between a light-emitting layer and an electron transport layer, for controlling electron density.
Although various efforts including the documents describing the related art have been made to fabricate organic light-emitting devices having more effective luminescence characteristics, the continued development of organic light-emitting devices having higher effective luminance efficiency is still needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Organic light-emitting diode with high efficiency


An internal combustion engine for a vehicle comprises a pair of intake collectors (3A, 3B) and a communicating pipe (13) connecting the pair of intake collectors (3A, 3B). A negative pressure supply port (15) supplying intake negative pressure of the internal combustion engine to a brake booster is provided at an end of the communicating pipe (13). By providing an air amount deviation compensating arrangement which compensates for a deviation in the amounts of air flowing into the pair of intake collectors (3A, 3B) from the brake booster when braking of the vehicle is released, the amounts of air supplied to the internal combustion engine from the pair of the intake collectors (3A, 3B) are equalized.

JP2004-346830A, published by the Japan Patent Office in 2004, discloses air-fuel ratio control of an internal combustion engine for a vehicle in relation to an operation of a brake booster. The brake booster is connected to an intake passage downstream of a throttle of the internal combustion engine. The brake booster assists a braking pressure supplied from a master cylinder to brake cylinders by utilizing a difference between an intake negative pressure in the intake passage and atmospheric pressure in response to depression of a brake pedal of the vehicle.
When the brake pedal is released from depression, air in the brake booster is recirculated into the intake passage. The prior art device regulates the air pressure in the brake booster when the engine is started to be equal to the atmospheric pressure, thereby regulating the amount of air recirculated from the brake booster to the internal combustion engine to a constant level. By thus regulating the amount of air recirculated from the brake booster to the internal combustion engine to a constant level, the air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture supplied to the internal combustion engine can be controlled to a constant ratio.

Air intake device for vehicle internal combustion engine