A discontinuity at the surface of tubing which intercepts a stream of fluid flowing along the surface of the tubing causing the fluid to form drops and causing the drops to fall at an intended location. The invention addresses in particular the installation of drip irrigation systems in hillside applications where drip irrigation tubing may not be level. Heating and cooling of the drip irrigation tubing causes the tubing and drip emitters to rotate. The water from the emitter which is rotated to face away from the area where irrigation drip is to be applied emerges as a stream and flows along the surface of the drip irrigation tubing until it encounters a slope which causes a drop to form. The failure of the water to form drops and fall at the position of the drip emitter and rather to flow along the tubing results in a loss of irrigation to the particular plant serviced by an emitter. Plants are thus subject to stress and reduced production. The formation within the tubing surface, of a discontinuity where the slope increases causing formation of drops, or the placement of a plastic disk having an aperture around the tubing forming a discontinuity serves to control the unwanted stream and permits direction of the drip irrigation to the desired location.

Drip irrigation systems comprised generally of flexible plastic tubing with periodic drip emitters affixed through the tubing wall or spaced apart within the tubing, are commonly used for the irrigation of orchards and vineyards. One or more drip emitters are directed to the irrigation of each plant. Vineyard applications of the drip irrigation method may be employed with the tubing hung or strung above the ground by affixing tubing to a wire positioned essentially parallel to the ground. A variety of clip devices are available to affix tubing to the wire. The tubing and emitter is installed to insure that the drip irrigation, for a particular plant, falls from the emitter into that plant's root zone. Heating and cooling of the drip irrigation tubing frequently causes the tubing to rotate thus changing the orientation of the emitter. The drip emitter orientation is not of particular consequence where the tubing as installed is level. With the tubing level the water emitted from the drip emitter will emerge from the emitter and form a drop which will fall from either the emitter or the tubing. However, installation of tubing for irrigation of plants on hill sides frequently results in a tubing installation wherein the tubing is not level. Rotation of tubing and emitter, where the tubing is not level, frequently results in a rotation of the positioning of the drip emitter. Where the tubing is not level and the drip emitter faces up or away from the area to be irrigated the resulting stream of water from the emitter flows along the tubing until an obstruction is encountered or the tubing levels sufficiently to cause the water to form a drop and then spill or drip from the tubing. The failure thus realized is that the water is not applied at the point intended. A consequence is the reduced or eliminated irrigation for particular plants resulting in stress, reduced productivity and plant damage or death. A long felt need within irrigation is the ability to cause drip irrigation methods to insure application in the plant root zone when irrigating in the hillside setting or in any circumstance where drip irrigation tubing is not level.

Drip irrigation tubing surface discontinuity drip emitter flow disrupter


An exposure apparatus for a semiconductor wafer, a liquid crystal display panel and so on. The exposure apparatus comprises a light source, a holding means for a mask and a target, a moving means for moving the holding means and optical alignment systems. The optical alignment system has a moving base on which a detecting means is installed. The moving bases are arranged in the same plane and have narrow portions in their front.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an exposure apparatus for producing an Ultra Large Scale Integrated Circuit (ULSI), a liquid crystal display panel and so on. In particular, the invention relates to an alignment system to adjust positions of masks and targets to be exposed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light exposure apparatus have been applied to produce large scale integrated circuits. However, as the patterns of the circuits get finer and finer, it becomes harder to expose such circuit patterns by the light exposure apparatus because of resolution and productivity requirements.
Recently X-ray exposure apparatus have been developed instead of light exposure apparatus because the X-ray exposure apparatus can transfer finer circuit patterns than can light exposure apparatus.
In the case of such exposure by the X-ray apparatus, it is very difficult to transfer reduced patterns from a mask to a target such as a semiconductor wafer. Therefore, the patterns have to be transferred isometrically in an exposure process. In the case of isometric exposure, the gap between the mask and the wafer should have a minimum space of 10-50 .mu.m. Such exposure is called a proximity exposure.
A general X-ray exposure apparatus used to expose a semiconductor wafer is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view.
In FIG. 1 X-ray 51 from syncrotron orbital radiation (SOR) is reflected on an X-ray reflect mirror (not shown) and passes through a port 52 kept in high vacuum pressure. After that, the X-ray passes through a window 53 and a bellow 54, then into a chamber 55. In the chamber 55 there re alignment systems 58 which detect the positions and distance between the X-ray mask 56 and the semiconductor wafer 60 by LASER beam 61 as a detecting beam. Behind the chamber 55 there is a mask stage 57 which holds and moves a X-ray mask 56 and a wafer stage 59 which holds and moves a semiconductor wafer 60.
In this structure, the X-ray 51 passing through the window 53 into the chamber 55 is exposed on the X-ray mask 56 and transfers patterns on the X-ray mask to the semiconductor wafer 60 which is spaced apart from the X-ray mask by dozens of .mu.m.
The exposure process as described above is repeated several times. Therefore, the positions and the distance between the X-ray mask 56 and the semiconductor wafer 60 must be detected in each exposure process and be adjusted to the right position precisely. The alignment system 58 is applied to the detection described above.
A conventional structure of such alignment systems are shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.
Alignment marks are written on both an X-ray mask and a semiconductor wafer. The alignment system takes the picture data of these alignment marks and gets the information about the relative distance between the mask and the wafer by the processing of the picture data.
An explanation of the alignment marks written on the X-ray mask is described hereunder.
Three alignment marks (X mark 6a, Y mark 6b, .theta. mark 6c shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) are written on an exposed area in the X-ray mask 6. Three optical alignment systems are installed in the alignment systems, the optical alignment system 11a for detecting the X mark position, the optical alignment system 11b for detecting the Y mark position and the optical alignment system 11c for detecting the .theta. mark position.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, these optical alignment systems 11a, 11b, 11c, comprise objective lenses (12a, 12b, 12c), three prisms (13a, 13b, 13c), and half mirrors and reflective mirrors (not shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3).
A detection beam passes through the half mirror and the objective lens and goes to the prism. The path of the beam is bent 90 degrees by the prism. After reflection by the prism the beam reaches the alignment mark. Then, the beam is reflected by the alignment mark and passes back the same way, i.e., through the prism and the objective lens. The beam passed through the objective lens reflects on the half mirror and the reflective mirror. The beam reflected on &he reflective mirror is processed as picture data expressing the position of the alignment mark.
The positions of the alignment marks 6a, 6b, 6c may change in each exposure processes and also may change depending on the chip sizes. Therefore, the optical alignment systems need to be moved according to the changes of the positions of the alignment marks. The optical alignment systems 11a, 11b and 11c are arranged on moving bases 16a, 16b and 16c respectively. The bases can move in X-Y directions individually.
The X-ray exposure apparatus is used in the proximity exposure. All of the alignment marks 6a, 6b, 6c for detecting should be in the exposure area, which is generally sized 10 mm to 30 mm in the shape of a square. The optical alignment systems 11a, 11b, 11c should be arranged over the alignment marks 6a, 6b, 6c, respectively, and they should not interfere with each other in such a narrow space.
Therefore, the moving bases 16b and 16c, opposite each other, are arranged on the same plane. However, the moving base 16a is arranged above the moving base 16b and 16c as described in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. Thus the position of the optical alignment system 11a installed on the moving base 16a is above the other optical alignment systems 11b, 11c.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the distance h.sub.2 from the optical axis of the optical alignment system 11b to the alignment mark 6b is equal to the distance h.sub.3 from the optical axis of the optical alignment system 11c to the alignment mark 6c (h.sub.2 =h.sub.3). However, the distance h.sub.1 from the optical axis of the optical alignment system 11a to the alignment mark 6a is bigger than the distance h.sub.2 or the distance h.sub.3 respectively (h.sub.1 >h.sub.2, h.sub.1 >h.sub.3).
When the optical alignment system 11a is not arranged in the same plane in which the optical alignment system 11b and 11c are arranged as described above, the focal length f.sub.1 of the object lens 12a attached in the optical alignment system 11a is different from the focal lengths f.sub.2 and f.sub.3 of the object lenses 12b and 12c attached in the optical alignment system 11b and 11c respectively.
The focal length f.sub.2 is equal to the sum of the length h.sub.2 and the length h.sub.2 ' which is the distance from the center of the lens 12b to the alignment mark 6b. The case of the focal length f.sub.3 is as same as f.sub.2. On the other hand, the focal length f.sub.1 is equal to the sum of the length h.sub.1 and the length h1' which is the distance from the center of the lens 12a to the alignment mark 6a. The value of f.sub.1 is not equal to the value of f.sub.2 or f.sub.3 respectively.
Therefore, the optical power of lenses are different from each other in these optical alignment systems and many different parts for producing the systems are needed. Also the production cost of these different systems is very high and production takes many processes. The width of X mark 6a, Y mark 6b and .theta. mark 6c are shown in FIG. 2 as c1, c2, and c3, respectively. The value of c1 is not equal to the value of c2 or the value of c3. The value c2 is equal to the value of c3 (c1.noteq.c2=c3). Because the optical power of the lenses are different from others it is required to detect the marks as a same scaled picture with a data processing system.


A switching circuit has switching elements for passing-through or cutting-off signals of a positive pulse, which is a rectangular pulse rising from a low level and falling after having kept a high level for a certain time as a high voltage input signal, and a negative pulse, which is a rectangular pulse falling from a high level and rising after having kept a low level for a certain time, the switching circuit being applied to a capacitive load driving device.

The present invention relates a switching circuit for passing-through or cutting-off continuous or intermittent high voltage signals and a display device using same, and in particular to a switching circuit suitable for controlling a high voltage pulse signal by means of a low voltage signal and a display device using same.
Heretofore a switching circuit for passing-through or cutting-off an input signal by means of semiconductor elements is discussed in "How to use FETs" pp. 110-114, published by CQ Publishing Co. Ltd., 1983, in which a method is described, by which a small signal is imputted in the source of an MOS transistor and an output signal is taken out from the drain, whereby the potential of the body (substrate) is set with respect to the source or the drain so that the p-n junctions therebetween are never biased in the forward direction under any conditions and the signal conduction and cutting-off is controlled by the gate voltage.
However by the prior art technique no attention is paid to passing-through or cutting-off high voltage signals nor to utilizing a stray diode between the drain and the body.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a simple switching circuit utilizing a stray diode existing between the drain and the body of an MOS transistor.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a high voltage signal switching circuit, which controls particularly the passing-through and cutting-off of a high voltage signal by means of a low voltage signal.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a capacitive load driving device, which drives a capacitive load with a low electric power consumption, and a display device using same.

Switching circuit and display device using the same


A method for handling uplink transmission start used in a mobile of a wireless communications system includes when an uplink transmission is started, if a predefined information element (IE) is not received, setting a primary state variable to “none” to indicate that a Serving Grant (SG) value can be affected by a Secondary Absolute Grant message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling uplink transmission start in a wireless communications system, and more particularly to a method and related apparatus for reducing signaling overhead and avoiding radio resource waste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The third generation (3G) mobile telecommunications system has adopted a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) wireless air interface access method for a cellular network. WCDMA provides high frequency spectrum utilization, universal coverage, and high quality, high-speed multimedia data transmission. The WCDMA method also meets all kinds of QoS requirements simultaneously, providing diverse, flexible, two-way transmission services and better communication quality to reduce transmission interruption rates. Through the 3G mobile telecommunications system, a user can utilize a wireless communications device, such as a mobile phone, to realize real-time video communications, conference calls, real-time games, online music broadcasts, and email sending/receiving. However, these functions rely on fast, instantaneous transmission. Thus, targeting third generation mobile telecommunication technology, the prior art provides High Speed Downlink Package Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Package Access (HSUPA), which are used to increase bandwidth utility rate and package data processing efficiency to improve uplink/downlink transmission rate.
HSUPA increases upstream network performance, reduces transmission delay by rapid retransmission of erroneous data transmissions, and can adjust transmission rate based on channel quality. To realize this type of "power control," HSUPA adopts technologies such as NodeB Scheduling, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), Soft Handover, and Short Frame Transmission. Correspondingly, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defines an Enhanced Dedicated Transport Channel (E-DCH) for controlling operations of HSUPA. E-DCH introduces new physical layer channels, such as E-HICH, E-RGCH, E-AGCH, E-DPCCH, and E-DPDCH, which are used for transmitting HARQ ACK/NACK, Uplink Scheduling Information, Control Plane information, and User Plane information. Detailed definitions of the above can be found in the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification, "3GPP TS 25.321 V6.7.0," and are not given here.
Through NodeB Scheduling technology, a base station (Node B) is allowed to adjust transmission power of mobiles or user equipments (UEs) within its transmission range (cell), so as to control uplink transmission rate of the mobiles. Referring to sections 188.8.131.52.1 and 220.127.116.11.2 of the aforementioned MAC protocol specification, the network can provide Relative Grant (RG) messages and Absolute Grant (AG) messages to a mobile through an E-DCH Relative Grant Channel (E-RGCH) and an E-DCH Absolute Grant Channel (E-AGCH) respectively, so as to adjust the transmission grant of the mobile. The E-AGCH is a shared channel that use an E-DCH Radio Network Temporary Identifier (E-RNTI) in order to address the AG messages to specific mobiles. The AG messages are used to directly adjust the transmission grant of mobiles, and can be classified into two types, Primary and Secondary. The Primary AG message provides an uplink resource grant for a specified mobile served by a cell. The Secondary AG message provides an uplink resource grant for a group of mobiles served by the cell, so as to reduce signaling overhead. On the other hand, the AG message includes an AG value field and an AG scope field. The AG value field indicates the transmission resource the mobile is allowed to use in the next transmission. The AG scope field indicates that the applicability of the AG value is "Per HARQ process" or "All HARQ Processes," meaning whether the AG value field will affect one or all HARQ processes.
According to section 22.214.171.124.1 of the aforementioned MAC protocol specification, after a mobile receives an AG message, if the E-RNTI type is "Primary," the AG value is set to "INACTIVE," the AG scope is "Per HARQ process," and a 2 ms TTI is configured, then the mobile shall de-activate a current HARQ process, which is the process identified by the value of a variable CURRENT_HARQ_PROCESS. If the E-RNTI type is "Primary," the AG value is set to "INACTIVE," the AG scope is "All HARQ processes," and a secondary E-RNTI was configured by higher layers, then the mobile shall activate all HARQ processes, set Serving Grant (SG) value to stored secondary grant (Serving_Grant=Stored_Secondary_Grant), and set a primary grant state variable to "none" (Primary_Grant_Available=false), meaning that the SG value can be affected by Secondary AG messages.
Besides, if the AG value is different from "INACTIVE," and the E-RNTI type is "Secondary," then the mobile shall set the variable Stored_Secondary_Grant to the AG value. Oppositely, if the E-RNTI type is "Primary" or the variable Primary_Grant_Available is set to "False," then the mobile shall set the SG value to the AG value (Serving_Grant=AG value). Note that, definitions of "INACTIVE," "Stored_Secondary_Grant," "Primary_Grant_Available," and "Serving_Grant" can be found in section 3.1.2 of the aforementioned MAC protocol specification.
Therefore, when the Primary AG message sets the AG value to "INACTIVE" and the AG Scope indicates "Per HARQ process" while a 2 ms TTI is configured, the prior art simply de-activates the corresponding HARQ process and keeps the variable Primary_Grant_Available unchanged. The variable Primary_Grant_Available represents whether the SG value is only affected by the Primary AG and RG messages. If Primary_Grant_Available="True," the SG value is only affected by the Primary AG or RG messages. If Primary_Grant_Available="False," the SG value is affected by the Primary AG, Secondary AG, or RG messages.
In addition, according to section 184.108.40.206.1 of the aforementioned MAC protocol specification, when E-DCH transmission is started (a variable E_DCH_TRANSMISSION is set to "True" from "False"), the mobile shall activate all HARQ processes. At the same time, if the upper layer (Radio Resource Control, RRC) has provided an IE "Serving Grant," which contains IE's "Serving Grant value" and "Primary/Secondary Grant Selector," the mobile shall set the variables Serving_Grant and Primary_Grant_Available accordingly. Oppositely, if the IE "Serving Grant" is not provided, the mobile shall set the variable Serving_Grant to a parameter Zero_Grant to indicate that the SG value of the mobile is 0, and set the variable Primary_Grant_Available to "True" to indicate that the SG value is being affected by the Primary AG messages, and thus the SG value is not affected by the Secondary AG messages.
Therefore, by the prior art, when E-DCH transmission is started, if the IE "Serving Grant" is not provided, the variable Primary_Grant_Available is set to "True," and the SG value of the mobile is not affected by any Secondary AG message. Under such circumstance, the SG value will keep to be the parameter Zero_Grant unless a Primary AG message is received, and Secondary AG messages will not be able to change the SG value from Zero_Grant to a new value. In other words, the only way to grant HARQ processes of the mobile to transmit data is through the Primary AG messages. The advantage of the Secondary AG messages vanishes, and signaling overhead is increased.

Method and apparatus for handling uplink transmission start in a wireless communications system


A creep steering control system for a utility vehicle is operable from a rearward-facing position. The creep steering control system includes a pivotable actuator alongside a rearward-facing seat that provides electronic output based on the position of the actuator. A linkage is provided between the pivotable actuator and steering wheel behind the seat.

Some utility vehicles, such as the 110 TLB offered by Deere & Company of Moline, Ill., include a creep-to-reposition function allowing an operator on a rearward-facing seat to engage and modulate ground speed while operating a rear-mounted implement such as a backhoe. U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,495 relates to a creep speed control for a utility vehicle that is operable from a rearward-facing seat. The creep speed control includes a mechanical or electronic control arrangement that a rearward-facing operator can use to move the utility vehicle at a controlled ground speed with the transmission in forward or reverse. For example, a rearward-facing operator may operate a creep speed control using a rocker switch to select either forward or reverse, and a thumb lever to control creep ground speed. The rearward-facing operator can use the creep speed control to move the utility vehicle along a trench without leaving the seat or using the backhoe to reposition the vehicle.
While an operator uses the backhoe or another rear-mounted implement from the rearward-facing position on a utility vehicle, he or she also may want to steer the vehicle. Some utility vehicle operators attempts to steer the vehicle while using the creep-to-reposition function. To do this, the operator must reach behind the rearward-facing seat to turn the vehicle's steering wheel, while simultaneously operating the creep speed control. Reaching behind the seat to steer can require uncomfortable movements by the operator, and also can be imprecise and unsafe.
A creep steering control system for a utility vehicle is needed that is operable from a rearward-facing position while using the creep-to-reposition feature. A creep steering control system for a utility vehicle is needed that an operator can use comfortably, precisely, and safely from a rearward-facing position while operating a rear-mounted implement such as a backhoe.

Creep steering control system operable from rearward-facing position


This invention is a data synchronous apparatus for synchronization between a first clock domain to a second clock domain asynchronous with the first clock domain. This invention provides for pipelining of data between the two clock domains. Plural synchronizer stages each include a data register (601, 602, 603, 604, 605) and a synchronizer circuit (611, 612, 613, 614, 615). The synchronizer circuit synchronizes a first domain write request signal to the second clock signal. A write pointer (625) enables one synchronizer stage to write first domain data upon receipt of said first domain write request signal (321). The write pointer thereafter increments to indicate a next synchronizer stage in a circular sequence. A read pointer (635) enables an indicated read stage to recall data from the corresponding data register upon output synchronization with the second clock signal. The read pointer thereafter increments to indicate the next synchronizer stage in the circular sequence. Plural first domain write request signals may simultaneously be in various states of synchronization with the second clock signal in corresponding ones of said synchronization stages.

The technical field of this invention is digital device functional blocks, used generally in the area of microprocessor design and more specifically in the area of digital signal processor devices.
This invention is used by the TRANSFER CONTROLLER WITH HUB AND PORTS ARCHITECTURE of U.K. Patent Application No. 990919.6 filed Apr. 16, 1999. The transfer controller with hub and ports is a significant basic improvement in data transfer techniques in complex digital systems. This transfer controller allows for uniform implementation of port interfaces at the periphery of such systems. Some of these ports may be slow having a relatively low data throughput. Others may be relatively fast having the throughput and speed of the central processor unit. These two portions of the device are often driven by two separate clock signals. The first clock signal has a higher frequency called the core or main processor clock. The second clock signal is called the peripheral device clock.
Synchronization in the external ports interface is required for a high speed core device to interface with a relatively low speed peripheral device. Typical known art for synchronizing requests, data or any multi-bit quantity is to write the information into a register, and then synchronize a single signal into the other domain to indicate that the data is valid and stable. The data can then be read in the other clock domain. It is not desirable to synchronize all the bits of data individually. This may result in the data being corrupted. If the data is fed into synchronizers at the point at which the synchronizers sample the data, some of the data may be sampled on this cycle and some may be sampled a cycle later. When any generalized clock frequency relationship is allowed, it is also necessary to synchronize in both directions.
This invention is a data synchronous apparatus for synchronization between a first clock domain to a second clock domain asynchronous with the first clock domain. This invention is applicable generally to any digital device using two clocks in separate portions of the device. It is particularly useful for data transfers between a relatively high speed and a relatively low speed. Usually the high speed portion is the processor core and the relatively low speed portion is the input/output (I/O) devices.
This invention provides for pipelining of data between two clock domains with asynchronous clock signals. This invention uses a shallow circular first-in-first-out (FIFO) memory element with all words passed to and from a given stage under direction of pipelined synchronized control signals. This invention includes plural synchronizer stages. Each synchronizer stage includes a data register and a synchronizer circuit. The synchronizer circuit receives a first domain write request signal and supplies a second domain read ready signal responsive to the first domain write request signal and synchronous with second clock signal. A write pointer stores an indication of one of the synchronizer stages as a write stage. This write pointer enables the indicated write synchronizer stage to write first domain data to the corresponding data register upon receipt of said first domain write request signal. The write pointer thereafter increments to indicate a next synchronizer stage in a circular sequence. a read pointer stores an indication of one of the synchronizer stages as a read stage. The read pointer enables the indicated read stage to recall second domain data from the corresponding data register upon output of a corresponding second domain read ready signal in synchronization with the second clock signal. The read pointer thereafter increments to indicate the next synchronizer stage in the circular sequence. A multiplexer selects output data from the data register indicated by the read pointer. Thus plural first domain write request signals may simultaneously be in various states of synchronization with the second clock signal in corresponding ones of said synchronization stages.

Technique for pipelining synchronization to maintain throughput across two asynchronous clock domain boundaries


Switches for use in RF devices are provided that offer a better balance of power losses and switching times than switches of the prior art. Switches of the present invention comprise a stack of transistors controlled a symmetric bias network. The stack of transistors includes an even number of transistors arranged in series, where every two successive transistors defines a pair. The bias network includes a symmetrically branching set of connections, where the gates of every pair of transistors are connected by a first connection having a first node, and two or more first nodes are connected by a second connection to a second node, and so forth. The symmetry of the bias network tends to reject even harmonics, and the rejection of even harmonics can be further enhanced by adding capacitors between the bias network and the stack of transistors at points of symmetry.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to RF circuits and more particularly to switches usable for activating and deactivating RF paths, including switching an antenna between multiple transit paths, and other applications.
2. Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art RF circuit 100 coupled to an antenna 110. The circuit 100 comprises a number of transit paths 120 and an antenna switch 130 that couples the antenna 110 to the several transit paths 120. Each transit path 120 includes a power amplifier 140 and a receiver amplifier 150 alternately joined to the antenna switch 130 by a switch 160. Within the antenna switch 130, each transit path 120 is switchably coupled to the antenna 110 by a series switch 170 and optionally also switchably coupled to ground by a parallel switch 180.
As shown in FIG. 1, when one transit path 120 is coupled to the antenna 110 (said to be in the ON mode), the series switch 170 for that transit path 120 is closed while the parallel switch 180 is open, whereas the switches 170, 180 are reversed for all other transit paths 120 (OFF mode). While the antenna switch 130 will work with only the serial switches 170, the addition of the parallel switches 180 provides greater isolation by grounding the transit paths 120 that are not in use.
Switches 170, 180 are commonly implemented with a number of transistors arranged in series, as illustrated by the prior art switches 200, 300 of FIGS. 2 and 3, described in more detail below, where the transistors are controlled together to alternately open and close. Series transistors are sometimes referred to as a stack. The gates of the transistors in the stack are controlled by a high-resistance bias network. A series switch 170, when in the ON mode, is floating and has almost a 0V voltage drop across it, the transistors behaving as resistors in series. When the series switch 170 is in the OFF mode, each transistor behaves effectively as a capacitor with the input side of the series of transistors is grounded through the parallel switch 180 while the output side of the series of transistors sees the entire RF voltage swing, since the output side of every series switch 170 is connected to a common node 190 before the antenna 110. If the voltage at the common node 190 is the RF voltage (VRF), and if the series switch 170 includes N transistors, then VRF/N must be kept below the breakdown voltage of the transistors.
The overall capacitance of a transistor between source and drain, when off, is the contribution of the source to gate, drain to gate, source to channel, and drain to channel capacitances. The product of the resistance in the ON mode (Ron) and the capacitance in the OFF mode (Coff) of the stack in this RF domain yields a Figure of Merit (Ron*Coff) which represents the RF performance of the switch. Another metric of the transistors in a switch 170, 180 is their gate capacitance, the capacitance of the gates to the bias network in the DC domain used to control the transistors. The switching speed to open or close a switch 170, 180 is proportional to the time constant, the product of the gate capacitance and the resistance of the bias network.
FIGS. 2 and 3 provide two examples of prior art switches 200, 300 commonly implemented in CMOS. Both switches 200, 300 include multiple transistors in series, and are suitable for use as either serial or parallel switches 170, 180. In a first example, shown in FIG. 2, the switch 200 includes multiple transistors 210 arranged in series, source to drain. A resistor 220 is associated with each of the multiple transistors 210, the resistor 220 for a given transistor 210 being connected in parallel between the source and the drain of that transistor 210. The gates of the multiple transistors 210 are controlled together by a bias network comprising a common control line 230 and a number of resistors 240, where each transistor 210 is connected to the common control line 230 by one of the resistors 240. In the configuration of FIG. 2, the switching time is a function of the product of the gate capacitance and the resistance of the bias network. All transistors 210 are controlled together, so the switching time is optimum.
FIG. 2 also shows an equivalent circuit 250 to represent the switch 200 in the OFF mode to illustrate the power loss through the bias network. It is noted that the resistors 220 in the switch 200 are omitted from the equivalent circuit 250, for simplicity. In circuit 250, each transistor 210 is represented by two capacitors, one for the capacitance on the source side of the gate and the other for the capacitance on the drain side of the gate. Since the entire RF voltage (VRF) is distributed across the stack of 6 transistors 210, each capacitor 255 in the equivalent circuit 250 sees 1/12 of the VRF, as shown. Power, in electrical circuits, is proportional to the square of the voltage and inversely proportional to the resistance (V2/2R). As illustrated, at one end of the stack a resistor 240 sees all of the VRF less the (1/12)VRF dissipated across one half of the associated transistor 210, hence it sees (11/12)VRF. The voltage seen be each successive resistor 240 in the stack is lower by (1/6)VRF until the last resistor 240, which sees only (1/12)VRF. The power loss due to each resistor 240 of the bias network therefore depends on its position relative to the stack.
In the example of FIG. 2, where there are 6 transistors 210 in series, the power loss for each resistor 240 is summed to arrive at the overall loss. In this example, the denominator (2R) is the same for each term, and the numerator is the sum of the squares of the voltages which is (112/122+92/122+72/122+52/122+32/122+1/122)VRF2. This can be generalized for N resistors to ((2N−1)2+ . . . +52+32+1))VRF2/(2N)2. With increasing numbers of transistors 210 the sum of the squares ((2N−1)2+ . . . ) dominates over the squared term (2N)2, thus, the overall power loss increases for each additional transistor 210 in the stack.
In a second example, shown in FIG. 3, a switch 300 also includes multiple transistors 210 arranged in series, source to drain. Similarly, a resistor 220 is associated with each of the multiple transistors 210, with the resistor 220 for a given transistor 210 is connected in parallel between the source and drain of that transistor 210. The bias network in this example also comprises one resistor 240 for each transistor 210, however, in this configuration the resistors 240 are connected in series along the control line 230. The first resistor 240 is disposed between the first gate and the DC control (not shown), the second resistor 240 is disposed between the first and second gates, and so forth, as illustrated.
The example of FIG. 3 is optimized to minimize power loss as the voltage drop across each resistor 240 is about the same, VRF/6, except for the first one in the series which sees a voltage drop of only VRF/12, as shown in the equivalent circuit 350 in FIG. 3. Therefore, the power loss becomes a constant and does not depend on the number of transistors 210 in series as the number of transistors 210 in the stack is increased. While power loss is minimized, switching time suffers in the example of FIG. 3 because the transistors 210 open progressively from one end of the stack to the other.
Another parameter of switches 200, 300 that depends on the number of transistors 210 in the stack is the linearity of the switch 200, 300. For some switches 200, 300, the linearity requirement can be very high, such as for antenna switches 130 since the antenna switch 130 is typically the last component prior to the antenna 110. Without filtering between the antenna switch 130 and the antenna 110, spurious and/or harmonic signals at the antenna 110 can interfere with the intended signal. As an example, the second harmonic of band 17 can fall into the GPS receive band and therefore about 110 dBc of harmonic rejection is required.
The number of transistors 210 in a stack of a switch 170, 180 of an antenna switch 130 is generally dictated by the minimum number of transistors 210 necessary to handle the required power and the minimum number necessary to provide the desired linearity of the switch 170, 180, whichever is larger. Given a required number of transistors, switching time and power loss are then balanced using the resistance of the bias network as the variable. In the case of switching time, decreasing resistance decreases the switching time proportionally. However, power loss scales as the inverse of the resistance, so decreasing resistance increases the power losses of the bias network.


A system for and method of mounting a machine to a base. A mounting bolt is provided for extending through the base, the mounting bolt includes a shaft having a first end and a second end, and an enlarged head attached to the second end of the shaft. A grommet having an aperture for receiving the shaft of the mounting bolt and having a groove for receiving the machine is provided. A nut attaches to the shaft of the mounting bolt adjacent the first end thereof to secure the grommet to the mounting bolt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to compressor mounting, and in particular, to a unique system for and method of mounting compressors in the base pans of window air conditioner units, condenser split air conditioning systems, and other types of air conditioner systems, and selected refrigerant coolers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The compressors of window air conditioning units, condenser split air conditioning systems, etc., are presently mounted to base pans using grommets and various fastening devices such as weld bolts, shoulder bolts, sleeve-bolt assemblies. These prior art fastening devices require welding through the base pan or driving down through the base pan. Presently, there are over 50 varieties of grommets and numerous bolt mount methods in use in the air conditioner condenser manufacturing companies.
None of known prior art fastening devices or methods, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention. In general, nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests a fastening system or method that mounts a compressor to a base pan by driving a bolt up through the base pan.
The present invention provides a system for mounting a machine such as an air conditioner compressor or the like to a base such as a base pan of an air conditioner, etc. The system of the present invention includes a grommet for attachment to the machine, a mounting bolt for extending up through the base and the grommet, and a push nut for attachment to the mounting bolt to secure the grommet to the mounting bolt and to the base pan. The method of the present invention includes the steps of extending the shaft of a mounting bolt up through the base, attaching the machine to a grommet, then setting the grommet over the distal end of the shaft of the mounting bolt, then pushing a push nut onto the distal end of the shaft of the mounting bolt.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for and method of mounting an air conditioner compressor to a base pan, etc.
It is anticipated that the present invention could be used in any cooling device now being manufactured.
While the present invention combines a little of present and past fastening devices such as weld bolts, shoulder bolts, sleeve-bolt assemblies, some welding through the base pan and some driving down through the base pan, one object of the present invention is to provide a system that makes sleeves, shoulder bolts, and welding of weld bolts obsolete in the mounting of air conditioning compressors, and permits the use of pre-painted sheet metal, which can result in economic savings in welding and painting equipment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting bolt that is a combination threaded or knurled bolt and stud, and that is threaded or pushed up-through an extruded hole in a base pan.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting bolt having serrations and/or seal rings under the bolt head to prevent thread stripout and water leaks in window unit base pans, using the splash cooling reservoir in the pan.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting bolt in a standard length to fit many compressor sizes from 1 ton through 5 tons.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rubber grommet isolator between the compressor and the mounting bolt, and a push nut for setting on the stud portion of the bolt on top of the grommet, after the compressor is set in place on the grommet and the grommet is set on the stud portion of the bolt, to keep the compressor secure in place.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting method that can be marketed as a system consisting of a bolt-stud, a rubber grommet isolator, and a push nut, all being provided by one vendor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cost reduction goal of 25% over present compressor mounting systems and methods.
Another object of the present invention is to provide standardization of bolt and grommet design and sizes, with one bolt-stud fitting all compressors from 1 ton through 5 ton and possibly larger, and with three sizes of grommets satisfying the needs of all major air conditioner manufactures. Thus, another object of the present invention is to allow inventories to be reduced, eliminate stock outages, reduce manufacturing and component costs, and improve performance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting bolt having a reduced diameter from previous mount bolts, and having a universal or standard length.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a grommet having a universal or standard height, regardless of diameter or indentation hardness (durometer) range, and a peculiar inner bore that tapers from the bottom of the grommet to allow the grommet to slide down over the mount bolt with ease and no interruption or xe2x80x9chang upxe2x80x9d between bolt and grommet inner bore while the assembly is being completed on the manufacturing plant floor, and that does not grip or surround the mount bolt over the full height of the grommet bore. This relief from grommet inner bore full contact with the mount bolt reduces the possibilities of vibration sound transfer or noise levels.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting system that allows all compressor lines, tubes, and attachments to be dimensionally identical for compressors by locating the mount foot in the same position (height) on all compressors up to 5 ton capacity, with one mounting bolt size and length accepting all compressors up to 5 ton capacity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting system having a bolt engagement method with the bolt head locking into the underside of the base pan to provide absolute, positive thread or knurl engagement with no possibility of the bolt thread or knurl ever stripping out of the base, or loosening.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a air conditioner compressor mounting system that allows base pans to be formed out of thinner material than prior art mounting systems, and out of prepainted sheet metal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting system including a mounting bolt with shaft or shank having an unthreaded distal end, a grommet for being merely pushed over the unthreaded distal end of the bolt shaft, and a push nut for being pushed over the unthreaded distal end of the bolt shaft on top of the grommet to allow for easy assembly thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting system which allows easy service work and compressor replacement by merely cutting the push nut with one cut of side clipping pliers, and lifting the compressor off the unthreaded distal end of the bolt shaft, and using a new push nut to replace the compressor, without danger of stripping bolt threads out of the base pan hole and without having to replace bolts and nuts with removing and/or replacing compressors.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting system in which the push nut is a common, in stock item that any serviceperson can remove with side cutter pliers, and obtain a new replacement part from hardware or industrial supply houses.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting system having a push nut with 100-300 pounds strip off torque per stud and minimal 14-25 pound push on by hand, on the manufacturing assembly line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting system having a push nut which will pass any drop test and vibration test performed to assure positive compressor containment during transportation to market.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting system having a push nut which will allow hand pressure installation down on top of the grommet in the manufacturing process, and still not interfere with sound deadening or allow sound transmission through the isolator grommet due to the spring steel form of the push nut.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a mounting system having three grommet sizes to provide three durometer ranges, with all dimensions of the three different size grommets being identical except for the body diameter which increases by xe2x85x9 inch (0.3175 centimeters) between sizes, and physical characteristics such as a peculiar inner bore design and formed cap relief for aiding installation as described herein.

System for and method of mounting compressors


A two-way broadband audio telephone communications system using 2B1Q line coding between a program amplifier located at a remote site and the central office. The program amplifier includes a codec to convert analog audio signals to digital data at a predetermined sampling rate, and a 2B1Q transceiver to convert the digital data into 2B1Q signals. The program amplifier communicates with a channel unit in the central office channel bank over a conventional two-wire link. This channel unit includes a 2B1Q transceiver that translates the 2B1Q signals received from the program amplifier into PCM format compatible with the T1 carrier system. In order to provide wide bandwidth, the channel unit is allocated at least two channels in each T1 frame. The central office channel bank can communicate with any other similarly equipped channel bank over the T1 carrier. For example, at the other end of the T1 carrier, a second central office channel bank includes channel unit with a 2B1Q transceiver that converts the T1 data from the corresponding channels in each frame into 2B1Q format. The second central office communicates these 2B1Q signals over a two-wire link with a second program amplifier having a 2B1Q transceiver and a codec for two-way conversion into analog audio signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of telephone communications. More specifically, the present invention discloses a system for providing broadband audio program telephony circuits using 2B1Q technology.
2. Statement of the Problem
2B1Q line coding is an analog modulation technique for transmitting data over telephone lines. For example, this modulation technique has been selected to implement the U-interface in the ISDN standard. Using 2B1Q coding, binary data bits are grouped in pairs. Each pair is then transmitted as a quaternary symbol, the magnitude of which may be one out of four equally spaced voltage levels (-3, -1, +1, or +3). The quaternary symbols are transmitted at half the rate of the binary sequence. Therefore, an incoming binary stream with a bit rate of 160 kbit/sec. is converted into a quaternary stream with a symbol rate of 80 kbit/sec. An example of 2B1Q line coding is shown in FIG. 5. The 2B1Q modulation scheme is an important improvement over traditional analog transmission schemes which are significantly affected by circuit impairments that degrade normal analog transmission, such as impulse noise or cross-talk. The 2B1Q scheme utilizes integrated circuits that include transceiver circuits, echo cancellation, control circuitry, interface circuitry, and which provide for bi-directional transmission over a single pair of wires.
A number of systems using 2B1Q line coding have been invented in the past, including the following:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date ______________________________________ Wong, et al. 4,896,335 Jan. 23, 1990 Sayar 4,896,334 Jan. 23, 1990 Hulth 4,912,725 Mar. 27, 1990 Batruni, et al. 4,926,472 May 15, 1990 Aly, et al. 4,964,118 Oct. 16, 1990 ______________________________________
Wong discloses a digital 2B1Q transmitter that utilizes a dual modulator to generate a 2B1Q coded output by summing two binary modulated vectors in a 2:1 weighting ratio, allowing one modulating envelope generator to drive the dual modulator. The modulating envelope is coded in a 1-bit pulse density modulation (PDM) format, permitting the use of simple gating functions in performing the modulation function.
Sayar discloses a method for timing recovery in a receiver for a loop interface of a digital data transmission system, using for example 2B1Q coding.
Hulth discloses an adaptive equalizer for a receiver in a data transmission system using 2B1Q coding.
Batruni, et al., disclose a signal processing technique for removing echo interference or distortion from a received 2B1Q coded signal.
Aly, et al., disclose a system for echo cancellation in ISDN systems using 2B1Q coding.
3. Solution to the Problem
None of the prior art references uncovered in the search show a telephone system for broadband audio programming using 2B1Q technology between the remote location and the first central office, and between the second central office and the base station. The 2B1Q signal is translated into the appropriate digital format (e.g. T1) for transmission on the carrier between the central offices. The system uses multiple channels in each frame transmitted on the T1 carrier system to provide wide bandwidth.

System for implementing broadband audio program telephony circuits using 2B1Q technology


An application server recognizes a content of voice input to a smart speaker connected via a network interface. In a case where the recognized content of voice is a content indicative of a user's dissatisfaction or request for an image formed by a printer, the application server executes processing for determining an item of a setting parameter and a value thereof to be changed in the printer, based on the recognized content of voice, generates a command including the determined item and value of the setting parameter, and transmits the generated command to the printer.

JP-A-2019-139674 discloses an electronic device configured to perform operation processing based on an instruction by a touch operation on a panel unit and an instruction by voice. JP-A-2020-021354 discloses a configuration of recording a user's operation history on an operation screen and changing the operation screen by using the operation history.
However, according to the electronic device disclosed in JP-A-2019-139674, an instruction by voice to change a value of a setting parameter of an image forming apparatus designates a value itself of the setting parameter. Therefore, in a case where a user does not understand well a relation between the value of the setting parameter and an image formation result, even when the image forming apparatus is caused to perform image formation with the value of the setting parameter after the instruction, there is a concern that an image will not be formed as intended by the user.
According to the configuration disclosed in JP-A-2020-021354, only the user operation information on the operation screen is collected as a log. Therefore, it is not possible to collect user's tastes and desires beyond the operation screen, as a log.

Information processing apparatus and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium


Systems and methods described herein relate to the correction of positional vector-valued sensors using a variety of calibration processes including fixed-angle calibration, known-angle calibration, ortho-calibration and 3-axis gimbal calibration further including various weighting schemes to provide fine-tuned functions or interpolated data which may be used for real-time sensor correction calculation or to populate a look-up table of corrected values.

1. Field
The present specification generally relates to sensor calibration.
2. Technical Background
Many systems incorporate vector-valued sensors to measure directional physical quantities. Such sensors include multi-axis magnetometers, multi-axis accelerometers, sonar arrays, radar arrays, etc. These sensors are subject to inaccuracies resulting from both internal and external sources.
Systems often make use of multi-axis or vector-valued sensors to measure physical quantities. Since the position of the sensor relative to the physical quantity being measured determines the sensor output vector, it can be considered a positional vector-valued sensor. Thus, positional vector-valued sensors are a class of sensor which has a relationship between relative sensor orientation and source orientation that produce a vector output. FIG. 1A illustrates a vector-valued sensor. The sensor, in orientation (101), senses physical quantity (102). This yields a sensor reading (103) that is relative to the body of the sensor. Similarly, the sensor, when placed in another orientation (111), senses the same physical quantity (102), and this time yields sensor reading (113) as shown in FIG. 1B. These sensors can exhibit inaccuracies stemming from a variety of sources. Sources of sensor inaccuracy may include internal sensor error sources such as sensor scale and bias effects, non-linear sensor output, asymmetric sensor output, sensor non-orthogonality, and sensor cross-axis effect or external error sources such as distortion or attenuation of the physical quantity being measured. For example, a multi-axis magnetometer may exhibit inaccuracies from imperfections in the sensor itself (scale/bias, sensor non-linearity, cross-axis effect, etc.) as well as from magnetic field distortion due to soft-iron effects of nearby ferrous system components or hard-iron effects of nearby magnetic sources such as motors, speakers, or current carrying conductors.
Traditionally, error in vector-valued sensors is accounted for in two ways. First, one might carefully design and place the sensor within the system to minimize or shield the sensor from external error sources. Second, one might account for internal sensor error sources by treating the system as a whole and using computational transformations such scaling, translating, skewing, and rotating the sensor output vectors to minimize error. These methods, however, can vary in effectiveness because the removal of external disturbances is sometimes not feasible (for example, if a system needs a battery to be near the magnetometer due to space constraints). Alternatively, sensors with non-linear, asymmetric, or jagged response properties cannot be effectively corrected using simple transformations of the data as a whole. In particular, magnetometers can exhibit errors of this form when there are a variety of objects nearby which can cause magnetic disturbances, as is often unavoidable in small electronic circuits. Sensors can also exhibit these effects due to imperfections in the manufacturing and assembling of their components. Because simple transformations affect all the data evenly, they are unable to account for any errors that only show up in a portion of the data. Other systems/method for solving sensor error are provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/478,757: Sensor Devices Utilizing Look-Up Tables for Error Correction and Methods Thereof, assigned to Yost Engineering, Inc. and hereby incorporated by reference, but even greater accuracy is desired.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a better system/method of correcting error of positional vector-valued sensors, particularly in cases in which the error can not be canceled out and exhibits non-linear, asymmetric, or jagged properties.

Determining and correcting error of positional vector-valued sensors using a fixed angle calibration process


A magneto-resistive (MR) sensor is provided including a pinned layer, and a free layer disposed above the pinned layer. Also included is a pair of leads disposed over portions of the free layer. Further, a pinning layer is disposed below the pinned layer. Disposed below the pinning layer is an underlayer. For enhanced operation, first portions of the pinned layer disposed below the leads have a first pinned layer magnetization parallel with a free layer magnetization associated with the free layer in the absence of an external field. Further, a second portion of the pinned layer has a second pinned layer magnetization perpendicular with the free layer magnetization in the absence of the external field.

Computer systems generally utilize auxiliary memory storage devices having media on which data can be written and from which data can be read for later use. A direct access storage device (disk drive) incorporating rotating magnetic disks is commonly used for storing data in magnetic form on the disk surfaces. Data is recorded on concentric, radially spaced tracks on the disk surfaces. Magnetic heads including read sensors are then used to read data from the tracks on the disk surfaces.
In high capacity disk drives, magnetoresistive read sensors, commonly referred to as MR heads, are the prevailing read sensors because of their capability to read data from a surface of a disk at greater linear densities than thin film inductive heads. An MR sensor detects a magnetic field through the change in the resistance of its MR sensing layer (also referred to as an "MR element") as a function of the strength and direction of the magnetic flux being sensed by the MR layer.
The conventional MR sensor operates on the basis of the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) effect in which an MR element resistance varies as the square of the cosine of the angle between the magnetization of the MR element and the direction of sense current flowing through the MR element. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the external magnetic field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field) causes a change in the direction of magnetization in the MR element, which in turn causes a change in resistance in the MR element and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage.
Another type of MR sensor is the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor manifesting the GMR effect. In GMR sensors, the resistance of the MR sensing layer varies as a function of the spin-dependent transmission of the conduction electrons between magnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic layer (spacer) and the accompanying spin-dependent scattering which takes place at the interface of the magnetic and non-magnetic layers and within the magnetic layers.
GMR sensors using only two layers of ferromagnetic material separated by a layer of non-magnetic electrically conductive material are generally referred to as spin valve (SV) sensors manifesting the GMR effect (SV effect). In a spin valve sensor, one of the ferromagnetic layers, referred to as the pinned layer, has its magnetization typically pinned by exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic (e.g., NiO, Fe-Mn, PtMn) layer. The magnetization of the other ferromagnetic layer, referred to as the free layer, however, is not fixed and is free to rotate in response to the field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field). In spin valve sensors, the spin valve effect varies as the cosine of the angle between the magnetization of the pinned layer and the magnetization of the free layer. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium because the external magnetic field from the recorded magnetic medium causes a change in the direction of magnetization in the free layer, which in turn causes a change in resistance of the spin valve sensor and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage. It should be noted that the AMR effect is also present in the spin valve sensor free layer and it tends to reduce the overall GMR effect.
FIG. 1 shows a typical sensor 100 (not drawn to scale) comprising end regions 104 and 106 separated by a central region 102. The central region 102 has defined edges and the end regions are contiguous with and abut the edges of the central region. As shown, a free layer (free ferromagnetic layer) 110 is positioned above a pinned layer (pinned ferromagnetic layer) 120. In the case of the GMR sensor, the free layer 110 and pinned layer 120 may be separated by a non-magnetic, electrically-conducting spacer 121.
The magnetization of the pinned layer 120 is fixed through exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer 125. Free layer 110, pinned layer 120 and the AFM layer 125 are all formed primarily in the central region 102. Hard bias layers 130 and 135 formed in the end regions 104 and 106, respectively, provide longitudinal bias for the free layer 110. Leads 140 and 145 formed over hard bias layers 130 and 135, respectively, provide electrical connections for the flow of the sensing current IS from a current source 160 to the MR sensor 100. Sensor 170 is connected to leads 140 and 145 senses the change in the resistance due to changes induced in the free layer 110 by the external magnetic field (e.g., field generated by a data bit stored on a disk). IBM's U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,590 granted to Dieny et al. and incorporated herein by reference, discloses an MR sensor operating on the basis of the spin valve effect.
In an MR sensor 100 such as that of FIG. 1, the magnetization of the free layer 110 is perpendicular to the magnetization of the pinned layer 120. FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which the magnetizations of the free layer 110 and the pinned layer 120 are perpendicular, in accordance with the prior art. In use, this relationship must be maintained between the leads 140 and 145 (i.e. in an active region) to ensure proper operation and the proper "MR-pick up effect."
Unfortunately, portions of the free layer 110 and the pinned layer 120 beneath the leads 140 and 145 (i.e. in an inactive region) sometime exhibit the foregoing relationship, which results in an undesireable MR-pick up effect. In particular, the free layer 110 and the pinned layer 120 beneath the leads 140 and 145 may "pick up" interference or other unwanted signals, thus reducing the reliability of the MR sensor 100. This also makes it difficult to define a track width because the end regions read a read signal during use. It should be noted that there is a continuing desire to make the trackwidth smaller so that more tracks can be fit onto a disk.
There is thus a need for a MR sensor that reads signals only in an active region between a pair of leads, without exhibiting a side MR-pick up effect.

Process for fabricating a magneto-resistive (MR) sensor

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A heat-developable light-sensitive material including a support and at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer provided on the support, the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing light-sensitive silver halide grains, a compound to form a dye through coupling reaction with an oxidized product of a developing agent, and a binder, characterized in that the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer includes an emulsion containing a developing agent and tabular silver halide grains having a mean grain thickness of 0.01-0.07 .mu.m. The light-sensitive material enables to provide a convenient and quick method of forming color images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel silver halide color light-sensitive material, in particular, a novel light-sensitive material adapted to a heat development process (hereinafter may be referred to merely as a light-sensitive material) and a method of forming color images utilizing said light-sensitive material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Owing to remarkable development of light-sensitive materials utilizing silver halides, high-quality color images are now easily obtainable. For example, according to ordinary color photography, a color print is obtained by the process comprising taking a photograph utilizing a color negative film, developing the film, and printing the image information, which is recorded in the color negative film, on color photographic paper in an optical way. Recently, this process has made remarkable progress, and large-scale, color development laboratories, in which a large quantity of color prints are produced in a very efficient way, have spread along with the so-called mini-laboratories which are now in shops and are designed to provide small-scale, handy printer processing. Therefore, anybody can enjoy color photography easily.
The color photography, now in common use, reproduces color by the subtractive color process. Generally, a color negative film comprises a transmittable substrate and light-sensitive layers thereon utilizing a silver halide emulsion as a light-sensitive component having a sensitivity to the blue, green or red wavelength region of light, and a so-called color coupler capable of producing a yellow, magenta or cyan dye as a complementary hue of the sensitive wavelength region of the layer. A color negative film, which has been exposed while taking a photograph, is developed in a color developer containing an aromatic primary amine developing agent. In this process, the developing agent develops, i.e., reduces the exposed silver halide grains, and the oxidation product of the developing agent, which are formed concurrently with the forgoing reduction, undergoes the coupling-reaction with the color coupler to form a dye. The silver (developed silver) generated by the development and the unreacted (unexposed) silver halide are removed by means of a bleaching process and fixing rocess. This creates a color image on the color negative film. Consequently, a color photographic paper which comprises a reflective substrate and light-sensitive layers formed thereon having the same combinations of light-sensitive wave length region and hue to be produced as in the color negative film, through the developed negative film, and color-developing, bleaching and fixing the color photographic paper in the same manner as in the case of the negative film to obtain a color print having a color image as a reproduction of an original image thereon.
Although these systems are widely adopted at the present time, there is a growing demand for a simpler system. First reason for this is that expertise and skilled operation are necessary, due to the requirement of strict control of the composition and the temperature of the processing solution in a processing bath for the above-mentioned procedure consisting of color development, bleaching and fixation. Second reason for this is that closed equipment exclusively for the use in the developing process is often required, due to substances, such as a developing agent and an iron chelate compound, the discharge of which is regulated from the standpoint of environmental protection, contained as a bleaching agent in the processing solution. Third reason for this is that the currently available system does not perfectly fulfill the requirement for a rapid reproduction of image, as the above-mentioned developing process still requires a long time, although the time is shorted by the recent advance in technology. Based on this background, there has been a strong demand for a simpler system which does not utilize the developing agent and bleaching agent now in use for a conventional color image forming system and which accordingly minimizes the adverse effect on the environment.
In light of the aforementioned problems, various improved techniques have been proposed. Particularly, diverse techniques which utilize heat development have been proposed in order to achieve simple and rapid developing step.
Heat-developable light-sensitive materials and a process for their development are described in, for example, published by Shashin Kogaku no Kiso--Higin'en Shashin ("Fundamentals of Photographic Engineering--Non-silver Salt Photography"), Corona Publishing Co., Ltd. (1982), pp. 242-255.
Also, many methods of obtaining color images through heat development have been proposed. For example, a method of forming color images through the coupling of an oxidized product of a developing agent with a coupler is proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,531,286, 3,761,270, and 4,021,240, Belgium Patent No. 802,519, and Research Disclosure (hereinafter abbreviated as RD), pp. 31-32 (Sep. 1975).
However, the aforementioned methods require a relatively long time for development, and images obtained thereby are highly fogged and low in image density.
Also, IS & T's 48th Annual Conference Proceedings, pp. 180, discloses a system in which the dye formed in the developing reaction is transferred to a mordant layer and thereafter stripping a light-sensitive material from an image receiving material bearing the mordant layer to separate the developed silver and unreacted silver halide from an image formed by the dye without the use of a bleaching-fixing bath which has been indispensable to a conventional photographic process. However, this technique cannot perfectly solve the environmental problems, because it still needs a developing process by use of a processing bath containing a developing agent.
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. has proposed a Pictrography System and the Pictrostat System which dispenses with a processing solution containing a developing agent. In this system, a small amount of water is supplied to a light-sensitive material containing a base precursor which reacts with water to generate a base. The light-sensitive material and an image receiving material are placed face to face and heated to promote the developing reaction. This system does not use the aforementioned processing bath and, in this regard, is advantageous with respect to environmental protection. However, in these systems, the thus-formed dyes are fixed in a dye-fixing layer to thereby form dye images to be viewed. Therefore, it has been desired to develop a system capable of applying this technique to recording materials for photographing use.
Since silver halide light-sensitive materials for photographing use must have high sensitivity, improving the sensitivity of silver halide grains is essential. To attain this end, preferably tabular silver halide grains have been used.
There have been proposed various kinds of silver halide grains suited for a heat development system wherein development is performed at high temperature. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 2-48101 discloses a technique for improving the progress in heat development step through the use of a heat-developable light-sensitive material containing tabular silver halide grains whose diameter is at least 5 times the thickness thereof. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open (JP-A) No. 62-78555 discloses a technique for improving long-term storage stability of a heat-developable light-sensitive material through providing therein tabular light-sensitive silver halide grains whose silver iodide content is 4-40 mol % and which have a diameter-to-thickness ratio of 5 or greater in an amount of 0.05-1 mol with respect to 1 mol of organic silver salts. Further, JP-A No. 62-79447 discloses a technique for improving sensitivity and maximum density at the time of heat development through combined use of tabular light-sensitive silver halide grains having a diameter-to-thickness ratio of 5 or greater and light-sensitive silver halide grains having a silver iodide content of 4-40 mol % and a mean diameter of 0.4 .mu.m or less.
However, these techniques are intended for use in light-sensitive materials for printing use. Therefore, it has been desired to develop a system capable of applying these techniques to recording materials having sufficient sensitivity for photographing use. Also, these emulsions have been experimentally applied to the aforementioned heat development system in an attempt to obtain a light-sensitive material for photographing use which can be processed in a simple, quick manner. However, the experiments revealed that the use of tabular grains tended to impair mar resistance, indicating a potential problem in practical use.
In order to prepare a light-sensitive material for photographing use through the use of the above-mentioned system, a silver halide emulsion to be used must have higher sensitivity.
One technique for improving sensitivity of a sliver halide emulsion is to use tabular sliver halide grains.
With regard to tabular grains used in ordinary solution development type photographic systems, methods for their preparation and techniques for their use are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,434,226, 4,439,520,4, 414,310, 4,433,048, 4,414,306, and4,459,353, JP-A Nos. 59-99433 and 62-209445.
Studies have been conducted on the use of the tabular grains disclosed in the above publications in order to obtain a color light-sensitive material which contains a color developing agent and which enables simple image recording, and these studies have revealed that granularity of the attempted system is poorer than that of a conventional color negative development system. Also, an attempt to meet the demand that color light-sensitive materials have high sensitivity resulted in fog formation, poor picture quality, and a tendency toward an increase in fog formation in light -sensitive materials during their storage.

Silver halide color light-sensitive material and method of forming color images


The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine for motor vehicles. The engine can be operated in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion mode and in conventional spark ignited (SI) combustion mode. For increasing volumetric efficiency and charge temperature during homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion operation timing, duration and lift of the intake valve and the exhaust valve respectively, being controlled such that an amount of residual exhaust gases is trapped in the cylinder of the engine. An intake valve is opened at a timed moment after top dead center during an induction stroke of the piston such that a pressure wave is generated from an intake manifold into the cylinder. The intake valve is closed at a timed moment before the pressure wave is reflected within the cylinder such that a charge mass of said pressure wave is retained within the cylinder.

In order to improve thermal efficiency of gasoline internal combustion engines, lean burn is known to give enhanced thermal efficiency by reducing pumping losses and increasing ratio of specific heats. Generally speaking, lean burn is known to give low fuel consumption and low NOx emissions. There is however a limit at which an engine can be operated with a lean air/fuel mixture because of misfire and combustion instability as a result of a slow burn. Known methods to extend the lean limit include improving ignitability of the mixture by enhancing the fuel preparation, for example using atomised fuel or vaporised fuel, and increasing the flame speed by introducing charge motion and turbulence in the air/fuel mixture. Finally, combustion by auto-ignition, or homogeneous charge compression ignition, has been proposed for operating an engine with very lean or diluted air/fuel mixtures.
When certain conditions are met within a homogeneous or close to homogenous charge of lean air/fuel mixture during low load operation, homogeneous charge compression ignition can occur wherein bulk combustion takes place initiated simultaneously from many ignition sites within the charge, resulting in very stable power output, very clean combustion and high fuel conversion efficiency. NOx emissions produced in controlled homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion are extremely low in comparison with spark ignition combustion based on propagating flame front and heterogeneous charge compression ignition combustion based on an attached diffusion flame. In the latter two cases represented by a spark ignition engine and a diesel engine, respectively, the burnt gas temperature is highly heterogeneous within the charge with very high local temperature values creating high NOx emissions. By contrast, in controlled homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion where the combustion is uniformly distributed throughout the charge from many ignition sites, the burnt gas temperature is substantially homogeneous with much lower local temperature values resulting in very low NOx emission.
Engines operating under controlled homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion have already been successfully demonstrated in two-stroke gasoline engines using a conventional compression ratio. It is believed that the high proportion of burnt gases remaining from the previous cycle, i.e., the residual content, within the two-stroke engine combustion chamber is responsible for providing the hot charge temperature and active fuel radicals necessary to promote homogeneous charge compression ignition in a very lean air/fuel mixture. In four-stroke engines, because the residual content is low, homogeneous charge compression ignition is more difficult to achieve, but can be induced by heating the intake air to a high temperature or by significantly increasing the compression ratio. This effect can also be achieved by retaining a part of the hot exhaust gas, or residuals, by controlling the timing of the intake and exhaust valves.
Homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion of a gasoline like fuel (or petrol like, or fuel with high octane number) requires a temperature of approximately 1100 K to achieve auto ignition. While it may be possible to operate in the HCCI mode over a significantly wide operating range of engine speeds and load, however only a part load portion of the engine's operational range in conventional spark ignited combustion mode can normally be used for HCCI operation. Using the above solution, relying on exhaust gas from the previous combustion, e.g. through providing a so called negative valve overlap (NVO) where the exhaust valve is arranged to be closed before top dead center during an exhaust stroke of the piston, for retaining exhaust gas from the previous combustion, is known to improve the operating range in HCCI mode.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,378 discloses how, in a spark ignition or compression ignition four cycle internal combustion engine, an exhaust expansion chamber is sized to produce a reflected exhaust pressure wave timed to an auxiliary reopening of the exhaust valve after the intake valve has effectively closed. The reflected exhaust pressure wave causes the re-entry into the cylinder of a quantity of intake charge (which has previously been drawn into the expansion chamber) subsequent to the effective filling of the cylinder through the intake valve, the result being a boost in cylinder charge and pressure on the compression stroke of the piston. At engine design speed, the power output of the engine is substantially improved over the power output without the boost in cylinder charge and in compression stroke pressure.
Although the power output of the engine is improved at engine design speed using the solution according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,378 from fuel economy and exhaust emission aspects, it is undesirable to allow intake charge to be drawn into the exhaust system.


A supporting apparatus for supporting a display includes: a pillar body; a limiting unit connected to the pillar body to define a limiting space; a sliding unit movable on the pillar body; a mounting unit connected fixedly to the sliding unit and including a mounting seat for mounting the display; and a torsion coil spring that has a straight portion secured fixedly to the sliding unit and a coiled portion received in the limiting space. The torsion coil spring is retractable and extendable to convert between a retracted state, where the sliding unit is adjacent to the limiting space, and an extended state. When the torsion coil spring is converted from the retracted state to the extended state, the sliding unit is moved away from the limiting space.

A conventional supporting apparatus for supporting a display and a work table is commonly used in hospitals. The supporting apparatus includes a pillar body that extends vertically, a sliding unit, and two mounting seats. The sliding unit includes a sliding member that is movable upwardly and downwardly on the pillar body, and a pressure cylinder that is used to maintain the sliding member at a desired position on the pillar body. The mounting seats are spaced apart from each other, are connected fixedly to the sliding member, and are configured for respectively mounting the display and the work table. Through operation of the pressure cylinder, the positions of the display and the work table can be accurately adjustable. However, the pressure cylinder is relatively expensive and therefore increases the manufacturing cost. Moreover, the work table is disposed in a horizontal position, is connected fixedly to one of the mounting seats, and cannot rotate to a vertical position for storage, thereby increasing the storage space occupied by the work table.

Supporting apparatus for supporting a display


An operating method of a nonvolatile memory device includes determining whether a memory block is a selected block, and when the memory block is not the selected block, determining whether the memory block shares a block word line with the selected block. The method further includes applying an unselected block word line voltage to word lines of the memory block when the memory block shares the block word line with the selected block, and floating the word lines of the memory block when the memory block does not share the block word line with the selected block.

Embodiments of the inventive concepts described herein relate to a nonvolatile memory device, a storage device including the same, and an operating method thereof.
Semiconductor memory devices are generally classified as either volatile semiconductor memory devices which lose stored data in a power-off state, or nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices which retain stored data in a power-off state. In the case of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, the stored data may be permanent or reprogrammable, depending upon the fabrication technology used.
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, such as flash memory devices, have been widely adopted as user data storage media and/or program/microcode storage media in a diverse array of applications in the computer, avionics, telecommunications, and consumer electronics industries.

Nonvolatile memory device, storage device having the same, operating method thereof


Send queues provided in an InfiniBand hardware adapter receive a single transmission from a connected computer system which includes work request information, address vector, and message data. This information is sufficient for the adapter to generate packet header information and to send the requested message, thereby providing a low latency sending mechanism. The system stores completion information in tables each dedicated to one of the send queues.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to low latency message transmission. In particular, this invention provides a solution that allows send queue latency to be reduced.
I/O adapters define queue pairs (QPs) for conveying messaging information from a software consumer to the adapter prior to transmission over a network fabric. Industry standards, such as the InfiniBand™ Architecture Specification available from the InfiniBand® Trade Association and iWarp from the RDMA Consortium, specify that the message information carried on QPs is in the form of a work queue element (WQE) that carries control information pertaining to the message. The above-identified documents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Also, one or more data descriptors point to the message data to be transmitted or the location at which received messages are to be placed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Low latency message passing is a critical function in high performance computing applications. Typical data exchanges between system memory and InfiniBand adapters, that are required to initiate sending a message over the adapter, consume sizeable amounts of time.
Some SQ applications have a need to reduce the latency incurred during data transfer operations. There is a need for a mechanism to enhance the standard SQ operations so that the lower latencies required by these applications can be achieved.

Low latency send queues in I/O adapter hardware

International Business Machines Corporation


A patient-interactive method and apparatus for measuring eye refraction includes a display for producing, alternately, two spaced-apart light spots, and an aperture device for passing light from one spot through an aperture in one position, to travel to the eye, and for passing light from the other spot through an aperture in a second position, to travel to the eye. If the patient sees a single spot, the eye is properly refracting, but if he/she sees two spots, the eye is not properly refracting. Apparatus is provided to allow the patient to adjust the spacing of the light spots, and thus the angle that light enters the eye, until the patient views a single light spot. The amount of adjustment of the spacing of light spots is measured to thereby provide a measure of diopter correction necessary to correct the refraction error.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to measuring the refractive properties of the eye, and more particularly to a method and apparatus by which a patient may examine and measure the refractive properties of his/her own eyes in a more exact and objective manner than currently available.
2. The Background Art
Measuring the refractive properties of the eye is typically an iterative process, taking a fair amount of time, and involving more than one person, viz., a patient whose eyes are to be examined and an optical technician. The optical technician presents the patient with various calibrated lenses that have different optical properties and through which the patient views a displayed image or test pattern. With each lens, the optical technician asks the patient if vision with the current lens is better than with the immediately prior lens. The patient then attempts to remember and compare the prior image mentally stored in his/her brain with the current image, and make a subjective judgment as to which image is visually better. The comparison of current and prior images (viewed through current and prior calibrated lenses) continues until the patient decides that he/she has viewed the "best" image.
This decision, however, is made without any direct comparison of images. As a result, the patient oftentimes has difficulty being very conclusive about which image is better. This is evidenced by the fact that the patient frequently asks the technician to go back and forth several times between lenses before reluctantly making a decision. Of course, the optical technician has no way to "see" what the patient is actually seeing and has to rely on the patient's subjective memory skills and verbal communication.
Of current interest is a method and apparatus for objectively measuring the refractive properties of the eye, through direct observation of images, and without requiring an optical technician.

Patient-interactive method and apparatus for measuring eye refraction


A new cultivar of Rhodohypoxis named ‘Hil2008-02’, that is characterized by its flowers that are bright red-pink in color, its vigorous growth habit, and its long blooming habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rhodohypoxis plant of hybrid origin, botanically known as Rhodohypoxis 'Hil2008-02' and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Hil2008-02'.
The Inventor selected the new cultivar as a unique seedling in 2005 in Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands. The seedling arose from seeds sown from a mixture of seed collected and pooled from unnamed plants of hybrid Rhodohypoxis.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by root cuttings in in Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands in 2006 by the Inventor. Asexual propagation by root cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A control system for monitoring operation of an electric motor includes a plurality of position sensors configured to measure a position of the electric motor, an indirect position estimation module configured to indirectly estimate the position of the motor, and an error monitoring module. The error monitoring module is configured to perform at least one of: comparing a measured position from the plurality of position sensors to an estimated position from the sensor position estimation module, and detecting a failure of at least one of the one or more position sensors based on the comparison; and calculating a difference between the measured position from one of the plurality of position sensors and the measured position from another of the plurality of position sensors, and causing the indirect position estimation module to initiate estimation of the position of the motor based on the difference.

Electric Power Steering (EPS) systems utilize an electric motor, such as a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM), to provide steering assist to a driver. One control technique is called Field Oriented Control (FOC), which allows the sinusoidal three-phase motor voltage and current signals to be transformed into signal based on a synchronously rotating reference frame, commonly referred to as the direct-quadrature (DQ) reference frame, where the motor voltages and currents become direct current (DC) quantities. The DQ reference frame transformation requires positional information of the machine, which is usually obtained by using a physical position sensor. As an alternative, sensorless control (SC) refers to the class of control schemes in which the motor is controlled without a physical position sensor. In contrast with its sensor-based counterpart, SC-FOC schemes employ observers or estimators to obtain the position of the machine, however, the overall control architecture is similar to a sensor-based FOC scheme.

Fault tolerant field oriented control for electric power steering

Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation


Analyzing mobile device applications within a wireless data network and other related aspects are presented herein. More particularly, described herein is a novel Intelligent Mobility Application Profiling Tool (iMAP) and/or other mechanisms, systems and methods for profiling and benchmarking applications associated with mobile devices in a wireless data network. Various systems and methods described herein expose cross-layer interaction associated with a network device in order to profile an application on the network device with respect to energy efficiency, performance, and functionality. As described herein, radio resource control (RRC) analysis can be performed to infer RRC states associated with a given application, identify tail time, etc. Further, analyzers are employed for various layers, including transmission control protocol (TCP) and/or hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), as well as to analyze communication bursts associated with a given application. Analysis results are subsequently utilized to deliver application profiling results to a user.

A wireless communication system can be utilized to provide wireless access to various communication services (e.g., voice, video, data, messaging, content broadcast, etc.) for users of the system. Wireless communication systems can operate according to a variety of network specifications and/or standards, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). These specifications and/or standards use different modulation techniques, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Multi-Carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA), Single-Carrier CDMA (SC-CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and so on.
As data networks (e.g., Wi-Fi data networks, etc.) and data network coverage has become increasingly ubiquitous, the demand for diverse smartphone applications and other network applications has increased. However, despite a significant amount of such applications developed by both the active user community and professional developers, a large amount of challenges are encountered in the development of mobile applications when compared to their desktop counterparts for a variety of reasons. For example, mobile applications exhibit limited resources, both in terms of device capabilities as well as network resources. Further, mobile applications operate in a dynamically varying and diverse execution environment due to user mobility and resource contention. In addition, mobile applications are associated with constrained user interaction caused by restricted user interfaces conventionally employed by mobile devices.
In view of at least the above, application developers conventionally lack tools to address the challenges associated with mobile application development. In particular, mobile application developers are hindered by a lack of visibility into the resource-constrained mobile execution environment, with often dynamically varying resources and the potentially complex interaction with the application behavior.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Intelligent mobility application profiling tool


A method and apparatus having no moving parts for mixing materials and homogenizing multiphase flow in a very short section of the conduit (10) utilizing the energy from the moving fluid without the use of external energy. The mixing device (20) has a pair of generally semicircular openings (28, 30) separated by a diametrically extending post (32) and a pair of deflector wings (34, 36) extending in an inclined relation from the post (32) for dividing the multiphase flow into two counter-rotating flow streams (40, 42) which result in a homogenous singlephase flow stream.

Static mixing apparatus having no moving parts has been utilized theretofore such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,136, for example. The materials to be mixed may be liquids, solids, or gases, and non-uniformities in such materials occur in various characteristics or properties such as color, density, or temperature, for example. A multiphase flow includes two or more different materials to be mixed during fluid flow along the conduit. The materials are inserted within the conduit upstream of the mixing apparatus. Mixing of materials may be achieved by obstruction in the fluid flow path of a conduit. Baffles may be arranged in a conduit or pipe that divide and recombine fluid streams in a systematic fashion in order to minimize pressure drop. However, the length of mixing process within the pipe or conduit may be relatively long which produces a relatively high pressure drop in the mixing conduit. A pressure drop requires additional energy for moving the material along the conduit.
It is desirable that a minimum length of conduit be utilized for a mixing chamber and that a minimal pressure drop be obtained.