The present invention relates to an ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus which detects information concerning an internal structure of an object to be examined by making each of a plurality of arranged transducers sequentially emits an ultrasonic pulse signal into the object in turn, receiving each ultrasonic echo reflected by the internal structure of the object by the plurality of transducers in each ultrasonic scanning cycle, and obtaining information concerning the internal structure of the object on the basis of input signals provided by the plurality of transducers. The present invention is intended to provide an ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus capable operating at a high frame rate and of forming a clear picture of high quality even if the object is moving. The ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus comprises a displacement measuring means which determines displacement vectors indicating the displacements of the picture elements between two focused input pictures obtained in two ultrasonic scanning cycles for a plurality of focused input pictures, and a displacement integrating means which determines integrated displacement vectors indicating the displacements of the picture elements of a focused input picture from those of a predetermined reference focused input picture by integrating displacement vectors of the corresponding picture elements in a plurality of focused input pictures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus capable of detecting the internal information of an object to be examined by successively sending ultrasonic pulse signals into the object by a plurality of transducers, receiving reflected ultrasonic waves reflected by an internal structure of the object by the plurality of transducers every time an ultrasonic pulse signal is sent into the object and detecting the internal information of the object on the basis of the received ultrasonic waves.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been widely used for diagnosing diseases. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus emits ultrasonic waves into a test object, particularly, a human body, receives ultrasonic echoes reflected by an internal structure of the object, converts the received ultrasonic echoes into corresponding input signals and forms an image of the internal structure for diagnosis on the basis of information represented by the input signals.
Referring to FIG. 13 showing a prior art ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a probe pulse signal transmitted by a transmitter, not shown, is applied through an amplifier 10 and a probe signal focusing means 12 to transducers 2 included in an ultrasonic probe 1. Then, each transducer 2 emits an ultrasonic pulse signal into an object. Since the delay of the probe pulse signal applied to each transducer 20 is controlled by the probe signal focusing means 12, the ultrasonic pulse signal emitted by each transducer 2 forms an ultrasonic pulse beam, i.e., a probe beam-1 or a probe beam-2, that is focused on a position at a predetermined depth in the object. A delaying pattern in which the probe signal focusing means 12 delays the probe pulse signal is varied to shift the ultrasonic pulse beam in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 13 for scanning. The ultrasonic pulse beam is reflected by the internal structure of the object, the ultrasonic echoes reflected by the internal structure of the object are received by the transducers 2, and then the ultrasonic echoes are converted into input signals.
Received signal focusing means 14 delay the input signals provided by the transducers 2 to provide input signals corresponding to the ultrasonic echoes reflected by the same point in the object at the same time simultaneously, and then an adder adds the input signals.
A delay pattern in which the received signal focusing means 14 delay the input signals is varied to execute scanning on the receiving side in synchronism with dynamic focusing in which point on which the input signal is focused is changed sequentially and the scanning action of the ultrasonic pulse beam on the basis of a fact that the ultrasonic wave reflected by a deeper point in the object arrives rater at the transducer 2.
The output signals of the adder 16 are converted into corresponding logarithmic signals by a logarithmic converter 18, the logarithmic signals are detected by a detector 20. Then, the output signals of the detector 20 are converted into image signals representing an image to be displayed on a display 26 by a digital scan converter 22 and the image signals are stored temporarily in a frame memory 24. The image signals are read from the frame memory 24 and sent to the display 26, such as a CRT, to display an image of an internal structure of the object on the display 26 for diagnosis.
With respect to the prior art ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, several ultrasonic pulse beams which are controlled to focus at several different depth points in the object are needed to make each scanning line. And many scanning lines are needed to make each picture. Therefore#the number of pictures, i.e., the number of frames, which can be formed in unit time is relatively small.
Suppose, for example, that ultrasonic pulse signals are emitted at intervals of 200 .mu.sec, the number of the transducers 2 is 128, the number of scanning lines is 128, a maximum depth is 15 cm, and focusing pitch in the direction of depth is 2 cm. Then, frame rate, i.e. the number of frames per unit times is as small as 4 frames/sec. Therefore, the current ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus sacrifices picture quality for increasing the frame rate.
Efforts have been made to obtain the three-dimensional information of an internal structure of an object by using transducers arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. However, if the number of the transducers is 32.times.32=1024, the number of scanning lines is 64.times.64=4096 and scanning pitch in the direction of depth is 2 cm, frame rate is only 0.14 frames/sec, which is far below a practical level.
An ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus is one of means proposed to solve such a problem.
FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic view of the previously proposed ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus and FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic view of assistance in explaining the mode of operation of the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus. In FIG. 14, parts like of corresponding to those of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 13 are denoted by the same reference characters.
Referring to FIGS. 14 and 15, a probe pulse signal transmitted by a transmitter, not shown, is transferred through an amplifier 10 and a switching circuit 28 to transducers 2. Accordingly, the probe pulse signal is applied to one of the M transducers 2 at a time. Suppose that the probe pulse signal is applied to the first transducer 2, i.e., the top transducer 2 in FIG. 14, as shown in FIG. 14. Then, the first transducer 2 emits a ultrasonic pulse signal into the object.
The ultrasonic pulse signal is reflected by the internal structure of the object, represented by a reflecting point in FIG. 14. The M transducers 2 receive the reflected ultrasonic wave and provide input signals. M AD converters 30 sample N input signals corresponding to the reflected ultrasonic waves reflected, respectively, by reflecting points at different depths and converts the N input signals into digital input signals. The digital input signals are stored temporarily in M memories 32. Then, the digital input signals are read from the M memories 32, delayed and added by an input signal focusing means 34 so that R picture elements with respect to the direction of depth in a desired region in the object and Q picture elements (Q scanning lines) with respect to the direction of arrangement of the transducers 2 are formed to form a focused input picture. The focused input picture is given through an adder 36 to and stored in a memory 38.
The switching circuit 28 is set for the second transducer 2, i.e., the second transducer 2 from the top, to emit the ultrasonic pulse signal by the second transducer 2 to make the input signal focusing means 34 provides the next focused input picture by the foregoing procedure. Since the focused input picture obtained in the last ultrasonic scanning cycle is stored in the memory 38, the adder 36 adds the picture elements of the focused input picture previously stored in the memory 38 and the corresponding picture elements of the focused input picture obtained in this ultrasonic scanning cycle, and the focused input picture previously stored in the memory 38 is replaced with a focused input picture obtained by the addition of the picture elements of the successive focused input pictures is stored in the memory 38.
Thus, the M transducers 2 are actuated successively and the focused input picture forming procedure including emission of a ultrasonic pulse signal, reception of the reflected ultrasonic pulse signal and formation of a focused input picture is repeated as shown in FIG. 15 to obtain a display RF data representing the addition of M focused input pictures.
The display RF data is transferred, similarly to the transfer of the input signal in the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, through a logarithmic converter 18, a detector 20 and a digital scan converter 22 to and stored temporarily in a frame memory 24. A tomogram of an internal structure of the object generated on the basis of the display RF data is displayed on a display 26.
The ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus is capable of operating at a very high frame rate. For example, if the ultrasonic pulse signal is emitted at intervals of 240 .mu.sec, the number M of the transducers 2 is 128, the number of scanning lines is 128 and a maximum depth is 15 cm, the frame rate is 32 frames/sec, which is far higher than the frame rate of 4 frames/sec of the prior art ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. If the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus is provided with 32.times.32=1024 transducers arranged in a two-dimensional matrix for three-dimensional measurement, the frame rate is 4 frames/sec, which is far higher than the frame rate of 0.14 frames/sec of the prior art ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.
However, since the transducers 2 of the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus emit ultrasonic pulse signals at different times, respectively, the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus is able to form a clear picture of a stationary object only. For example, in forming a tomogram of an internal structure of an object, the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus cannot be satisfactorily focused because the internal structure is caused to move inevitably by the breathing action of the lung and the pulsation of the heart. Accordingly, the tomogram of an internal structure of an object formed by the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus is inferior in quality to that formed by the prior art ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and hence the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus has not been applied to practical uses.
Furthermore, since the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus synthesizes the display data by calculation after the completion of sequential emission of the ultrasonic pulse signals by the transducers, the ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus has difficulty in detecting the minute movement of tissues and the velocity of a blood stream by the Doppler analysis.
Still further, it has been impossible to detect a blood stream flowing in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the ultrasonic beam by the Doppler analysis.

Ultrasonic synthetic aperture diagnostic apparatus


In general terms, the present invention includes a light emitting polymeric material, the polymeric material comprising: (a) an electron transporting polymer; the electron transporting polymer in contact with (b) an electron blocking polymer, the electron blocking polymer incorporating a network electrode polymer. Such devices may be bilayer or multilayer devices, in accordance with arrangements known in the art. Likewise, the source of electrical current may be from any appropriate source having the electrical characteristics sufficient to and appropriate for the desired device make-up and application.

Since the report in 1990 of electroluminescence (EL) in poly(.rho.-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) [1], EL of conjugated polymers has been considered an important property with many potential applications. Electroluminescence combined with other unique properties of polymers, such as solution processibility, band gap tunability, and mechanical flexibility, make conjugated polymers excellent candidates for low cost large area display applications. In addition to PPV, a variety of PPV derivatives and other conjugated polymers and copolymers have been found to exhibit electroluminescent properties [2,3]. Light-emitting devices incorporating these materials have demonstrated all the necessary colors needed for display applications.
Since the initial fabrication, a number of techniques have been developed to improve the device performance. One way is to use a low workfunction metal, such as Ca, as the electron injecting electrode (cathode) [4]. The double charge injection mechanism of polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) requires the match of cathode (anode) workfunction to the corresponding LUMO (HOMO) level of the polymer in order to achieve efficient charge injection. The relatively small electron affinity of most conjugated polymers requires metals with very low workfunctions to achieve efficient electron injection. However, since low workfunction metals are generally oxygen reactive, devices with low workfunction cathode are usually unstable. Thus, polymers with high electron affinities are desirable.
Another common technique is to incorporate charge transporting layers in a multilayer device structure. The charge transporting layer enhances the transport of one type of charge while blocking the other, achieving balanced charge injection and transport and spatially confined emission zone away from the electrodes. To date the highest efficiency polymer light-emitting devices reported are multilayer devices [5].
Pyridine-based conjugated polymers have been shown to be promising candidates for light-emitting devices [6,7]. As compared to phenylene-based analogues, one of the most important features of the pyridine based polymers is the higher electron affinity. As a consequence, the polymer is more resistant to oxidation and shows better electron transport properties. In contrast, most other conjugated polymers are susceptible to oxidation and exhibit better hole transport properties. FIG. 1 shows the structures of the pyridine-containing polymers and copolymers, namely poly(.rho.-pyridine) (PPy), poly(p-pyridyl vinylene) (PPyV), and copolymers of PPyV and PPV (PPyVP(R).sub.2 V) with various functional sidegroups R=C.sub.12 H.sub.25, OC.sub.16 H.sub.33, COOC.sub.12 H.sub.25. With respect to .pi. electronic levels, C.sub.12 H.sub.25 is slightly electron donating; OC.sub.16 H.sub.33 electron donating; and COOC.sub.12 H.sub.25 electron withdrawing. The pyridine-based polymers are highly luminescent, especially the copolymers. The internal photoluminescent quantum efficiencies of the copolymers have been measured [8] to be 75-90% in solution and 18-30% in film, with the exception of the OC.sub.16 H.sub.33 copolymer. The electron donating nature of OC.sub.16 H.sub.33 makes this copolymer more susceptible for oxidation. As a result, the PL quantum efficiency of the OC.sub.16 H.sub.33 copolymer is only 2% in film although it is high (.about.80%) in solution. To reduce the oxidation effects, the strapped copolymer (@PPyVPV) was introduced, as shown in FIG. 1(d). Also the strapped copolymer shows fewer aggregation effects as compared to the "usual" copolymers (see FIG. 1).
It is an object of the present invention to improve the performance of light-emitting polymers, such as reducing the required voltage required, and thus achieving similar levels of brightness while reducing the amount of power required for electroluminescence.
In view of the present disclosure or through practice of the present invention, other advantages may become apparent.

Light-emitting devices containing network electrode polymers in electron blocking layer

The Ohio State University Research Foundation


A power steering apparatus includes a hydraulic power cylinder, and a reversible pump driven by a motor and connected by left and right fluid passages with left and right pressure chambers of the power cylinder. The first and second fluid passages are so arranged that pressure losses in the first and second passages are substantially equal to each other.

The present invention relates to power steering apparatus.
A Japanese patent provisional publication No. 2004-306721 discloses a power steering system including a hydraulic power cylinder, a reversible pump and a motor for driving the pump selectively in forward or reverse direction to supply the hydraulic pressure selectively to left and right pressure chambers of the power cylinder.


An oil pump unit with a variable flow rate includes: an oil pump having an intake port and a discharge port and accommodating a pump rotor; and an oil path switching valve having oil inlets and oil outlets and opening/closing oil pressure return holes communicating with the discharge port, in which the oil path switching valve and the oil pump are separately disposed, the intake port and the discharge port are open to valve-mounting surfaces formed at the oil pump, and oil inlets and the oil outlet are open to body-mounting surfaces matching with the valve-mounting surfaces of the oil path switching valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil pump unit with a variable flow rate that is suitable for an engine of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In the related art, as the oil pump with a variable flow rate, there has been disclosed an oil pump with a variable flow rate that includes a pump body having an intake port and a discharge port and accommodating a pump rotor and a flow path switching valve having an oil inlet and an oil outlet and opening/closing a hydraulic pressure returning hole that communicates with the discharge port (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-255227).


A disclosed apparatus comprises a guiding element and a nonlinear element. The guiding element guides optical input signals, at least one of which is phase-modulated, to an interference area where such signals meet and interfere. The resulting interference signal is nonlinearly discriminated by the nonlinear element to produce an optical output signal that can be amplitude- or phase-modulated according to the phase modulation of the input signals. The invention also includes related methods and photonic logic gates.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical device functioning as a photonic transistor. The invented optical device can be used as a basic element in an optical integrated circuit (OIC) that permits logic operations to be carried out using optical signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electronic devices, transistors are the basic elements of circuits. In digital applications, a transistor has the properties of a switch. The transistor can be driven between conductance and non-conductance states in order to change the voltage level, and thereby logic level, output by the transistor.
Interest has begun to emerge in recent years toward development of an optical device that behaves analogously to a electronic transistor. The reason for this interest is that optical signals can potentially travel faster in integrated circuits than electrical signals because they are not subject to capacitance which slows switching speed between logic states. Given the ever increasing demand for faster switching, it is expected that in the future, absent a major technological advance in electronics, use of optical devices will become increasingly desirable if not essential.
However, use of optical devices to form integrated logic circuits presents unique challenges. By its nature light propagates and cannot be stored. The ability to represent a logic state stably for as long as may be required thus becomes an issue. It would thus be desirable to provide a photonic transistor that can be used to represent logic states stably using optical signals. Moreover, there is an established industry using optical components which use primarily amplitude-modulated optical signals in which the amplitude or intensity of light pulses represents digital logic states. Any solution able to store and process data optically will also ideally be compatible with existing optical telecommunications infrastructure.
Also related to this application are light-guiding elements, which include materials such as photonic bandgap (PBG) elements. PBG elements are composed of structures with periodic spacing that enable light of a wavelength related to the spacing of the structures to travel in a confined manner through the material. Although guiding elements are interesting from the standpoint that they automatically filter light of undesired wavelengths, an undesired result is that light is quickly attenuated in guiding elements. It is therefore desirable that optical logic and signal processing be performed with a relatively short transmission pathway through a guiding element such as a PBG material to avoid its being unduly attenuated.
In the manufacture of virtually any integrated circuit, it is desirable that the components of the circuit be integrated on the substrate in a relatively small area to enable the most functionality possible per unit area of the device. Although conductive electrical wires and the like can turn abruptly in connecting to electrical transistors, optical waveguides can not generally turn so abruptly without use of mirrors because excessive light will escape the waveguide. Thus, integrated optical waveguides have limits on how abruptly they can turn which further impacts on the size of the integrated device and creates issues regarding optical isolation of the integrated devices. It would be desirable to provide an integrated device in which optical signals can propagate in abrupt turns to increase functionality of integrated optical devices.
Moreover, as more optical devices and related connections are integrated on a substrate, it becomes desirable to optically isolate the devices to avoid multi-path effects and cross-talk between devices. It would thus be desirable to provide an optical circuit in which the optical devices are effectively optically isolated from one another.
In some optical modulation schemes, data is represented by more than two amplitude levels. The problem with such an approach is that it requires very stringent control on the amplitudes of the optical signals on which logic operations are performed. For example, in an AND gate, if two pulses are both at high or "1" logic levels represented by an amplitude of "1" in this example, then the output will have an amplitude that is the linear sum of these two levels, or "2". This output signal must be attenuated back to "1" before it can be provided to the next optical gate in the circuit. This approach for an optical modulation scheme is not generally desirable because of the complications associated with maintaining appropriate amplitude levels throughout the circuit. It would therefore be desirable to provide an optical circuit that does not require management of the amplitudes as required in such linearly additive optical circuits.
The publication "Fabrication and Characterization of Photonic Crystal Slab Waveguides and Application to Ultra-Fast All-Optical Switching Devices," Kiyoshi Asakawa, The Femto Technology Research Association, Jun. 30, 2003, discloses a symmetrical Mach-Zender interferometer formed in a photonic crystal. The input side of the device includes three input paths for light pulses to enter. The outer paths receive a control pulse, and because one of the two outer paths is different in length from the other, the control pulse received by both of these outer paths is delayed in one path by π radians relative to the other path. An optical signal pulse is input to the central path, which branches into two separate paths that meet with respective outer input paths. At the two places where the outer and inner symmetric paths meet, the crystal slab has two quantum dot nonlinear elements, one for each of the two meeting places. The quantum dot nonlinear elements outputs are provided to initially separate pathways that join together to form a single output path for the output light pulse. The Asakawa device represents binary zeros with the lack of light, which cannot be used to perform digital logic, because the device transmits no data if no light enters it. The Asakawa device was thus created with the intention of using it as a switch or filter for incoming fiber optic data. It would be desirable to provide a photonic transistor that can be used as the basis for gates to perform optical digital logic for generic all-purpose optical computing.
Also worth mentioning in relation to this disclosure is US 2003/0179425 filed Jan. 27, 2003 and published Sep. 23, 2003, naming Charles Romaniuk as sole inventor. The application discloses a device with a combiner stage followed by a filter stage, next followed by an output stage. The combiner stage includes two y-shaped combiners, the first of which receives two phase-modulated input signals to generate an output signal that is supplied to one of two inputs to the second combiner. The second input to the second y-shaped combiner is a control input. The filter stage includes an absorption diode which receives the output of the second combiner of the combiner stage, and generates a binary output based on same. The output of the y-combiner of the output stage receives as one input the output of the absorption diode of the filter stage as its input. The combiner of the output stage also receives a second input which is another control signal. Depending upon the state of the two control inputs, which are π radians out of phase from one another, the logic circuit functions as either an AND or OR logic gate.
Although Romaniuk's device is meritorious in several respects, it requires use of both phase and amplitude modulated inputs to perform complex logic operations, and thus requires a linear absorber to discern logic levels. More specifically, in the Romaniuk device, if two signals interfere constructively, the magnitude of the output becomes twice as large. If this interference continues to propagate through a circuit as it does in the Romaniuk device, complications result when it is used as an input to a subsequent logic gate with an amplitude twice as large as it was originally. By absorbing half of the signal, the Romaniuk device can lessen the interference back to 1× amplitude. However, this requires exacting control of the amplitude of the logic levels in the device through the use of a linear optical absorber.
For many applications, it would be desirable to utilize a different approach in which complimentary networks with sets of photonic transistors which are activated or deactivated, depending upon the states of the input signals. This approach can be used to avoid representation of more than two digital logic states with different amplitudes that linearly add, which is highly subject to error without extensive control of amplitude levels throughout the circuit.
Thus, although the published patent application U.S. 2003/0179425 has its merits, it would be desirable if a device could be obtained that is relatively simplified, capable of integration on a substrate, does not require use of linearly additive signals propagating through its circuit requiring complexity to discern and interpret logic levels, and yet one that provides effective logic operations on optical signals.

Optical device and circuit using phase modulation and related methods


A method in a computer network for automatically detecting a most advantageous protocol for communication by a client computer, said client computer being configured to be coupled to a server computer via a computer network. The method includes initiating a plurality of protocol threads for sending from the client computer to the server computer, a plurality of data requests. Each of the data requests employs a different protocol and a different connection. The data requests are configured to solicit, responsive to the data requests, a set of responses from the server computer. Each of the responses employs a protocol associated with a respective one of the data requests. The method further includes receiving at the client computer at least a subset of the responses. The method also includes initiating a control thread at the client computer. The control thread monitors the subset of the responses as each response is received from the server computer to select the most advantageous protocol from protocols associated with the subset of the responses, wherein the most advantageous protocol is determined based on a predefined protocol priority.

The present invention relates to data communication in a computer network. More particularly, the present invention relates to improved methods and apparatus for permitting a client computer in a client-server architecture computer network to automatically detect the most advantageous protocol, among the protocols available, for use in communicating with the server irrespective whether there exist firewalls or proxies in the network.
Client-server architectures are well known to those skilled in the computer art. For example, in a typical computer network, one or more client computers may be coupled to any number of server computers. Client computers typically refer to terminals or personal computers through which end users interact with the network. Server computers typically represent nodes in the computer network where data, application programs, and the like, reside. Server computers may also represent nodes in the network for forwarding data, programs, and the likes from other servers to the requesting client computers.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 illustrates a computer network 100, representing for example a subset of an international computer network popularly known as the Internet. As is well known, the Internet represents a well-known international computer network that links, among others, various military, governmental, educational, nonprofit, industrial and financial institutions, commercial enterprises, and individuals. There are shown in FIG. 1 a server 102, a server 104, and a client computer 106. Server computer 104 is separated from client computer 106 by a firewall 108, which may be implemented in either software or hardware, and may reside on a computer and/or circuit between client computer 106 and server computer 104.
Firewall 108 may be specified, as is well known to those skilled in the art, to prevent certain types of data and/or protocols from traversing through it. The specific data and/or protocols prohibited or permitted to traverse firewall 108 depend on the firewall parameters, which are typically set by a system administrator responsible for the maintenance and security of client computer 106 and/or other computers connected to it, e.g., other computers in a local area network. By way of example, firewall 108 may be set up to prevent TCP, UDP, or HTTP (Transmission Control Protocol, User Datagram Protocol, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol, respectively) data and/or other protocols from being transmitted between client computer 106 and server 104. The firewalls could be configured to allow specific TCP or UDP sessions, for example outgoing TCP connection to certain ports, UDP sessions to certain ports, and the like.
Without a firewall, any type of data and/or protocol may be communicated between a client computer and a server computer if appropriate software and/or hardware are employed. For example, server 102 resides on the same side of firewall 108 as client computer 106, i.e., firewall 108 is not disposed in between the communication path between server 102 and client computer 106. Accordingly, few, if any, of the protocols that client computer 106 may employ to communicate with server 102 may be blocked.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, some computer networks may be provided with proxies, i.e., software codes or hardware circuitries that facilitate the indirect communication between a client computer and a server around a firewall. With reference to FIG. 1, for example, client computer 106 may communicate with server 104 through proxy 120. Through proxy 120, HTTP data, which may otherwise be blocked by firewall 108 for the purpose of this example, may be transmitted between client computer 106 and server computer 104.
In some computer networks, one or more protocols may be available for communication between the client computer and the server computer. For certain applications, one of these protocols, however, is often more advantageous, i.e., suitable, than others. By way of example, in applications involving real-time data rendering (such as rendering audio, video, and/or annotation data as they are streamed from a server, as described in above-referenced U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/818,804 and 08/819,585 (Atty: Docket No.: VXT710)), it is highly preferable that the client computer executing that application selects a protocol that permits the greatest degree of control over the transmission of data packets and/or enables data transmission to occur at the highest possible rate. This is because these applications are fairly demanding in terms of their bit rate and connection reliability requirements. Accordingly, the quality of the data rendered, e.g., the video and/or audio clips played, often depends on whether the user has successfully configured the client computer to receive data from the server computer using the most advantageous protocol available.
In the prior art, the selection of the most advantageous protocol for communication between client computer 106 and server computer 104 typically requires a high degree of technical sophistication on the part of the user of client computer 106. By way of example, it is typically necessary in the prior art for the user of client computer 106 to understand the topology of computer network 100, the protocols available for use with the network, and/or the protocols that can traverse firewall 108 before that user can be expected to configure his client computer 106 for communication.
This level of technical sophistication is, however, likely to be beyond that typically possessed by an average user of client computer 106. Accordingly, users in the prior art often find it difficult to configure their client computers even for simple communication tasks with the network. The difficulties may be encountered for example during the initial setup or whenever there are changes in the topology of computer network 100 and/or in the technology employed to transmit data between client computer 106 and server 104. Typically, expert and expensive assistance is required, if such assistance is available at all in the geographic area of the user.
Furthermore, even if the user can configure client computer 106 to communicate with server 104 through firewall 108 and/or proxy 120, there is no assurance that the user of client computer 106 has properly selected, among the protocols available, the most advantageous protocol communication (e.g., in terms of data transmission rate, transmission control, and the like). As mentioned earlier, the ability to employ the most advantageous protocol for communication, while desirable for most networking applications, and is particularly critical in applications such as real-time data rendering (e.g., rendering of audio, video, and/or annotation data as they are receive from the server). If a less than optimal protocol is chosen for communication, the quality of the rendered data ,e.g., the video clips and/or audio clips, may suffer.
In view of the foregoing, there are desired improved techniques for permitting a client computer in a client-server network to efficiently, automatically, and appropriately select the most advantageous protocol to communicate with a server computer.

Method and apparatus for determining a most advantageous protocol for use in a computer network


A rotating split seal ring assembly comprises a seal ring having a split dividing the seal ring into at least two sections configured to fit a round a shaft, a clamp ring having a split dividing the clamp ring into at least two sections configured to circumferentially surround the seal ring, each clamp ring section having tabs which cooperate with corresponding tabs on another clamp ring section to permit assembly of the clamp ring sections around the seal ring; and a housing having a split dividing the housing into at least two sections configured to fit around the shaft, the housing including first and second notches having at least one converging angle sidewall configured to receive and engage the tabs so as to prevent rotation of the clamp ring relative to the housing. Upon shaft rotation, the tabs each engage at least one converging angle sidewall to provide metal-to-metal contact between the tabs and the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical split seals for sealing along a shaft and, more specifically, to a rotating seal ring component kit including the parts for a rotating seal ring component of a mechanical split seal and including the method of assembling those parts into a rotating seal ring component.
2. Background Information
Equipment such as pumps operate in an environment in which a rotating shaft must be sealed around its periphery to prevent fluids from entering into or exiting from a housing adjacent the shaft. In certain installations sealing elements in such equipment are relatively inaccessible. To avoid the effort and time required to completely disassemble such equipment, split seal rings may be used as the sealing elements which comprise a plurality of split elements surrounding a shaft rather than non-split elements. Replacement of the sealing elements may thus be accomplished without having to slide a solid seal ring off the shaft or disassemble other non-split to permit removal of a solid seal ring. The split seal rings are simply disassembled and removed from around the shaft.
Normally, two opposing split seal rings are provided. One is stationary (i.e., non-rotating) and the other rotates. Typically, each split seal ring comprises two halves extending 180 degrees to constitute a complete seal ring. However, it is possible to split a ring into three or more pieces. Accordingly, the terms "halves" or "sections" in this application as applied to seal rings or any other element of a mechanical split seal, are intended to reference at least two pieces and may, therefore, include three or more pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,401 issued to Sandgren (the "Sandgren patent") discloses a mechanical split seal comprising a pair of seal ring halves which are configured to fit around a shaft and rotate, and a pair of seal ring halves which are stationary. The assembly of parts which mounts the rotating seal ring halves to the shaft may be referred to as a rotating seal ring component of a mechanical split seal and the parts which make up the rotating seal ring component of a mechanical split seal may be referred to as a rotating seal ring component kit. A rotating seal ring component kit may be distributed independently to replace a rotating seal ring component or may be distributed as part of a mechanical split seal kit which includes parts not only for the rotating seal ring component but also for the remaining components of a mechanical split seal.
The rotating seal ring component disclosed in the Sandgren patent comprises a split seal ring made up of a pair of seal ring halves configured to fit around a shaft, and a split housing made up of a pair of housing halves configured to circumferentially surround the seal ring halves. An o-ring is interposed between the seal ring halves and the housing halves to support the seal ring in the housing.
Rotating seal ring components of this type do not employ any rigid clamping of the seal ring halves but rather rely upon pressure exerted through the o-ring and/or from fluid external to the seal ring halves to hold the seal ring halves together. Other examples of this type of rotating seal ring component may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,384 issued to Azibert and U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,425 issued to Wilkinson.
The non-rigidly clamped seal ring configurations represented by the Sandgren, Azibert, and Wilkinson patents are distinguished from prior art mechanical split seal arrangements in which there is rigid mechanical clamping employed to hold seal ring halves together. One example of a rigid mechanical clamping arrangement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,101,200 issued to Tracy.
An object of the present invention is to provide a rotating seal ring component and related kit and method of assembly in which the seal ring halves are mechanically clamped together around a shaft by rigid, hard surface to hard surface contact.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drive mechanism for a rotating mechanical split seal and method of assembly thereof


Transcriptional regulatory regions and transcriptional regulatory factors for the human high affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) γ-chain gene are specified and are targets for the development of transcriptional regulatory agents for the FcεRI γ-chain gene. The following are provided: DNA comprising the full length or a portion of the base sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1, that regulates transcription of the human high affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) γ-chain gene; and DNA comprising the full length or a portion of the base sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2, that regulates transcription of the human high affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) γ-chain gene. The present invention is promising for the development of novel agents for the prophylaxis/treatment of allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, thrombosis, glomerulonephritis, and lupus nephritis.

The high affinity IgE receptor (referred to below as FcεRI) expressed on the cell membrane of mast cells and basophils is known to be a key glycoprotein in the type I allergic reaction. When antigen-specific IgE's bonded to FcεRI are crosslinked by the corresponding polyvalent antigen (for example, cedar pollen antigen for individuals suffering from cedar pollen allergy, dust mite antigen for individuals suffering from dust mite allergies), the FcεRI's are clustered, the signal transduction mechanism operates, and the mast cells undergo initial activation. As a result, various chemical transmitters that evoke allergic inflammation, i.e., most prominently the histamine preliminarily stored in cell granules, are released and the new synthesis and release of leukotriene, prostaglandin, and so forth, which are intracellular metabolites, is explosively induced, evoking a type I allergic reaction.
In addition, cytokine secretion from mast cells is promoted by the clustering of FcεRI's on the mast cells, inducing the expression of various adhesion molecules in the neighboring vascular endothelial cells. Eosinophils and lymphocytes in the blood aggregate by binding via these adhesion molecules to the vascular endothelial cells at the site of inflammation. The late allergic reaction is evoked as a result. Moreover, the FcεRI expressed by the Langerhans cells of the skin is presumed to contribute to the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis by antigen presentation and cytokine production.
Based on the preceding, a promising strategy for the development of agents for allergy prophylaxis treatment is to target the FcεRI that specifically mediates type I allergy and thereby block signal transduction from this receptor at the point of origin.
FcεRI is also known to participate in platelet activation and glomerulonephritis, and given this it is also promising to carry out the development of thrombosis and glomerulonephiritis by targeting FcεRI.
In humans, human FcεRI functions expressed on the cell surface as a tetramer of an α-chain, a β-chain, and 2 γ-chains or as a trimer of an α-chain and 2 γ-chains. The extracellular region of the α-chain binds-directly to IgE while the β-chain γ-chain participate in signal transduction into the cell. The γ-chain assembles with the other molecules, which have a ligand binding site, to form a receptor on the cell surface. When ligand binds to the receptor's ligand binding site, the γ-chain transduces the signal into the cell.
For example, the γ-chain has been reported to perform the function of transmitting an activation signal into the cell in the FcεRI-mediated induction of allergic reactions (refer, for example, to Non-Patent documents 1 to 3). In addition, the γ-chain has been reported to induce the platelet activation reaction by associating with the collagen receptor GP VI on the platelet (refer, for example, to Non-Patent document 4).
The γ-chain is also a constituent element of the IgG receptors FcγRIII and FcγRI and the IgA receptor FcαR, and the suggestion has also been made these FcR's participate in glomerulonephritis-(refer, for example, to Non-Patent document 5).    Non-Patent document 1 Ra C et al., Nature, 341:752-754 (1989);    Non-Patent document 2 Blank U et al., Nature, 337; 187-189 (1989);    Non-Patent document 3 Kinet J P, Annual Review of Immunology, 17:931-972 (1999);    Non-Patent document 4 Konishi H et al., Circulation, 105(8):912-916 (2002);    Non-Patent document 5 Suzuki Y et al., Kidney Int., 54(4):1166-1174 (1998)
However, on the subject of transcriptional regulatory regions for the high affinity human IgE receptor γ-chain, only the analysis by Brini A T et al., in 1993 has been carried out, and to date no detailed analysis that precisely identifies transcriptional regulatory elements and/or transcriptional regulatory factors has been performed.
As a result of intensive investigations, the present inventors succeeded in identifying, from within previously unanalyzed regions, regions that participate in the transcriptional regulation of the human FcεRI γ-chain gene and in identifying transcription factors that bind to these regions and were thereby able to achieve the present invention.

Transcriptional regulation of high affinity IgE receptor γ-chain


An apparatus for managing a medicine administering process to enable inspection of the medicine administering process, includes a video recording unit that generates video recorded image data by video recording the medicine administering process, and a data addition unit that adds controlling data that enables the recorded video of the medicine administering process to be displayed with display elements that depict transition events of the medicine administering process.

In the related art, in a pharmacy of a hospital, a nurse's room of a ward, or the like, a pharmacist or a nurse carries out a combination and preparation operation (hereinafter, referred to as administering) of medicines which are prescribed based on an instruction such as a prescription, an injection prescription, or the like which is provided by a doctor.
When administering the medicines, first, it is necessary to collect a plurality of medicines which are prescribed based on the instruction, to measure, dissolve, and combine the plurality of collected medicines through an adequate procedure, and the like.

Apparatus for managing medicine administering process, and control program therefor


In a heating and hot water supply device including a burning means, a first heat exchanger, a circulation passage for circulating a heating thermal medium, a circulation pump, a first bypass passage, a second heat exchanger for hot water supply, a hot water supply passage, a distribution means at a branching portion of the first bypass passage, and a second bypass passage bypassing the second heat exchanger, a flow rate adjustment means for adjusting a bypass flow rate in the second bypass passage is provided. The distribution means is capable of adjusting its distribution ratio for heating, or hot water supply, or simultaneous heating/hot water supply. All passage connection portions on the second heat exchanger were provided on its one side portion.

From the past, heating and hot water supply devices that perform changeover between heating operation (i.e. room heating operation etc.) and hot water supply operation have been widely utilized. With this type of heating and hot water supply device, during hot water supply operation, fuel is combusted and evolves heat that is applied to a heating thermal medium by a main heat exchanger, and the heating thermal medium is circulated between the main heat exchanger and a heat exchanger for hot water supply. A fin and tube type main heat exchanger is employed in the heat exchanger for recovering sensible heat from the combustion gases, and moreover there are some such devices that are also capable of providing heat to the heating thermal medium by also taking advantage of latent heat in the combustion gases.
For the heat exchanger for hot water supply, generally a plate type heat exchanger is employed in which fluid passages are defined between a plurality of plates that are overlapped in the front/rear direction. As illustrated in FIG. 5, in such a heat exchanger for hot water supply 120, a pair of connection portions 129, 130 of a circulation passage through which the heating thermal medium flows are provided at a front surface portion and at a rear surface portion, and a pair of connection portions 131, 132 of a hot water supply passage are likewise provided at a front surface portion and at a rear surface portion. In the heat exchanger for hot water supply 120, cold water flowing in the hot water supply passage exchanges heat with the heating thermal medium, and this heated water is supplied as hot water.
On the other hand, in heating operation, as shown in Patent Document #1, the circulation passage for the heating thermal medium is changed over by a three-way valve so that the heating thermal medium circulates between a heating apparatus and the main heat exchanger. After the heating thermal medium heated by the main heat exchanger has dissipated heat via the heating apparatus, it is returned back to the main heat exchanger again.
However, since changing over between the alternatives of space heating operation and hot water supply operation is performed by changing over the three-way valve, accordingly there is the problem that it is not possible to perform heating operation and hot water supply operation simultaneously. By contrast, it has also been considered to provide, instead of a three-way valve, a distribution valve whose distribution ratio can be adjusted.
Moreover, since control of the hot water supply temperature is performed by controlling the temperature of the heating thermal medium, accordingly it is not easy to control properly the hot water supply temperature. Therefore, as shown in Patent Document #2, it has been considered to provide a bypass passage in the hot water supply passage that bypasses the heat exchanger for hot water supply, and to adjust the flow rate of cold water flowing in the bypass passage and to mix in cold water to the hot water heated by the heat exchanger for hot water supply, thus controlling the hot water supply temperature.


An integrated circuit inductor has a number of vertical metal segments, a number of lower metal straps that electrically connect alternate metal segments, and a number of upper metal straps that electrically connect alternate metal segments to form a continuous electrical path. Layers of a ferromagnetic material are formed normal to the metal segments to extend past at least two sides of each metal segment to increase the inductance of the inductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inductors and, more particularly, to a semiconductor die with an integrated inductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inductors are common circuit elements that are used in numerous devices. In many applications, inductors are implemented as stand-alone devices which, in turn, consume a significant amount of circuit board space. In order to minimize the required circuit board space for hand-held devices, it is desirable to integrate an inductor into a chip.
FIGS. 1A-1D shows views that illustrate a prior art integrated circuit inductor 100. FIG. 1A shows a plan view, while FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view taken along lines 1B-1B of FIG. 1A. In addition, FIG. 1C shows a cross-sectional view taken along lines 1C-1C of FIG. 1A, while FIG. 1D shows a cross-sectional view taken along lines 1D-1D of FIG. 1A.
As shown in FIGS. 1A-1D, inductor 100 is formed on top of a four metal layer interconnect structure that includes a fourth layer of insulation material I4, and a metal trace 110 that is formed on insulation layer I4 from a fourth metal layer M4. In addition, the metal interconnect structure includes a fifth layer of insulation material I5 that is formed on metal trace 110, and a via 112 that is formed through insulation layer I5 to make an electrical connection with metal trace 110.
As further shown in FIGS. 1A-1D, inductor 100 includes a metal trace 114 that is formed on top of the fifth layer of insulation material I5 from a fifth metal layer M5. Metal trace 114, which has a width W and a depth D, has a first end 120 that is formed over via 112 to make an electrical connection with via 112, and a second end 122. Metal trace 114, which makes one and a half loops in the same plane, is typically formed on top of the metal interconnect structure to avoid inducing currents in the substrate.
One important measure of an inductor is the quality factor or Q of an inductor. High Q inductors are desirable in a number of RF circuits, such as resonant circuits. The Q of an inductor is a measure of the ratio of magnetic energy stored in the inductor versus the total energy fed into the inductor, and is given by equation (EQ.) 1 as:Q=ωL/Z,  EQ. 1where ω is related to the frequency f of the signal applied to the inductor (ω=2(pi)(f)), L represents the inductance of the inductor, and Z represents the RF impedance of the inductor. Thus, as indicated by EQ. 1, the higher the inductance, the higher the Q of the inductor.
One approach to increasing the inductance of an inductor is to form the coil structure around a ferromagnetic core structure. Due to the difficulty in forming planar inductors, such as inductor 100, around a ferromagnetic core structure, many current-generation integrated circuit inductors are formed as micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) devices.
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view that illustrates an example of a prior-art MEMS inductor 200. As shown in FIG. 2, MEMS inductor 200 includes a base conductive plate 210, and a top conductive plate 212 that lies over base conductive plate 210. MEMS inductor 200 also includes a conductive sidewall 214 that has a bottom surface that contacts base conductive plate 210, and a top surface that contacts top conductive plate 212. In addition, MEMS inductor 200 further includes a conductive sidewall 216 that has a top surface that contacts top conductive plate 212.
As shown, base conductive plate 210, top conductive plate 212, and conductive sidewalls 214 and 216, which can be formed from materials including copper, define an enclosed region 220 that lies only between the base and top conductive plates 210 and 212, and sidewalls 214 and 216.
As further shown, MEMS inductor 200 includes a magnetic core structure 222 that is located within enclosed region 220, and within no other enclosed regions. Magnetic core structure 222, which is electrically isolated from all other conductive regions, can be implemented in a number of prior-art fashions. For example, magnetic core structure 222 can be implemented with a number of laminated Ni—Fe cores 224 which are thin enough to minimize eddy currents.
In operation, a current I1 can flow into MEMS inductor 200 along the bottom side of sidewall 216, and out along the near end of bottom conductive plate 210 that lies away from sidewall 214. A current I2 can also flow in the opposite direction, flowing into MEMS inductor 200 along the end of bottom conductive plate 210 that lies away from sidewall 214, and flowing out along the bottom side of sidewall 216.
Although there are various solutions for forming integrated circuit inductors around ferromagnetic core structures, there is a continuing need for integrated circuit inductors which are simple to form and which provide a larger inductance that can be obtained with conventional planar inductors.

Semiconductor die with an integrated inductor


Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for identifying a driver versus a passenger within a smart vehicle. This involves a determination of the relative positions of the wireless communication devices within the smart vehicle using near-field communication (NFC) or GPS, AGPS, etc. The wireless communication device detected closest to the driver seat is assumed to be the device owned by the driver. Once identified, the driver can be billed for tolls and other road services, based on the location of the smart vehicle. For instance, as the smart vehicle approaches a toll, a notification can be sent to all of the wireless communication devices. A response from a particular wireless communication device will result in the corresponding user's account being billed for the toll. Further, the smart vehicle can communicate with near-field transceivers placed, for instance, alongside a High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane. A driver of the vehicle can be billed, fined, or ticketed based upon a determination of an absence of passengers in the smart vehicle.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle driver identification. More specifically, the present invention relates to determining the driver versus the passengers of a vehicle.
Background of the Invention
In the case of vehicular traffic on a roadway, waterway, etc., there are several archaic and time-consuming procedures that are undergone by drivers, municipalities, and law enforcement. Specifically, the payment of tolls requires drivers to stop at a toll booth, or purchase an EZ-Pass® card and set up the account. Driving on toll roads requires toll booths to be set up at specific distances along the road. Driving in carpool or High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes requires constant monitoring and enforcement by traffic police to ensure that vehicles without passengers remain out of the HOV lane. Further, collecting fees for tolls, lane usage, fines, etc. is a complex process requiring issuing tickets, or billing several separate accounts for the driver. Several costs are incurred by the municipality in enforcing payments, and by the driver in keeping track of tickets, late fees, etc.
Present-day technology can alleviate some of these problems. Notably, microelectronic devices are becoming more and more ubiquitous. By coupling processors, memories, and transceivers to these devices, almost any handheld object can become a wireless communication device capable of transmitting and receiving data over a network. It is easy to set up a personal-area network with a few such devices incorporated into various everyday objects. However, this functionality is currently not being exploited to its full level. In the case of paying tolls, a driver is still required to stop at a toll booth or purchase and set up a separate account. Traffic police are still manually controlling a driver's use of an HOV lane.
Some vehicles have transceivers coupled to them, such as cellular or GPS units, but are still unable to measure or transmit several crucial pieces of information that would otherwise be useful in billing or charging a driver of the vehicle. Finally, any enforcement of fines, tickets, etc. is still based on a paper-based system using postal mail to deliver ticket notices, and receive payments.
What is needed is a means for seamlessly charging and/or billing a driver of a vehicle in real-time, based upon the location of the vehicle, and the number of passengers in the vehicle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Devices, systems and methods for identifying and/or billing an individual in a vehicle


Provided is a vehicular display device that can prevent generation of abnormal noise from around a transmission portion. The vehicular display device includes: a display unit that is provided inside an instrument panel to project a display image; a transparent cover that allows the display image projected from the display unit to pass therethrough to a windshield; a bezel body provided with an opening portion allowing passage of the display image that has passed through the transparent cover; and a cushioning material that is provided between at least a part of an end edge of the opening portion on the bezel body and the transparent cover.

Conventionally, a head-up display (HUD) device that projects a display image from a projector provided in an instrument panel onto a windshield, reflects the projected display image on the windshield, and allows a passenger to visually recognize the reflected image as a virtual image has been proposed as a vehicular display device (for example, see Patent Literature 1). The vehicular display device described in Patent Literature 1 includes a transparent cover that is provided to an opening portion of the instrument panel for allowing a display image to pass therethrough.


Dual-phase steels and a process for producing a family of dual-phase steels that have a low YS/TS ratio and tensile strength above 590 MPa. The process includes employing low annealing temperatures combined with specific cooling strategies using gas jet rapid cooling equipped with “Ultra Rapid Cooling” (URC) capacity in the cooling tower. The process can also include the production of dual-phase steels with tensile strengths of at least 690 MPa by processing steels with specific cooling strategies using the URC having a refined Mo content towards the higher end of the chemical composition range mentioned in the current stated invention.

Low-carbon steels having a yield strength of approximately 170 megapascals (MPa) that exhibit excellent deep drawing behavior are used in a variety of industries, e.g. the automobile industry. However, and despite their forming and cost advantages over high-strength steels, the relatively low-strength level of low-carbon steels results in crash performance of such materials being mainly dependent on a thickness of a sheet thereof. As such, first generation advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) have been developed in order to reduce the weight of automotive components and thereby afford improved vehicle fuel efficiency.
Among first generation AHSS, dual-phase steels are increasingly being used for vehicle components in order to reduce their weight. The excellent strength-ductility balance provide a large formability range and make them one of the most attractive choices for weight saving applications in automobiles.
Dual-phase steels can be produced by subjecting low-carbon steels to an intercritical anneal followed by sufficiently rapid cooling. It is appreciated that an intercritical anneal refers to annealing the steel at a temperature or temperature range below the material's Ac3 temperature and above the Ac1 temperature, i.e. where the microstructure of the steel consists of ferrite and austenite. Also, the rapid cooling of the material transforms the austenite into martensite such that a predominantly dual-phase ferrite-martensite microstructure is produced.
The addition of alloying elements in a low-carbon steel can circumvent the requirement of high cooling rates on a production line in order to obtain martensite as a low transformation product in a ferritic matrix. However, the addition of such alloying elements naturally increases the cost of the steel. In particular, alloying elements such as manganese, chromium, molybdenum, and niobium can be used to reduce the rate of cooling required for the transformation of the austenite to martensite. Also, molybdenum is an effective alloying element that imparts quench hardenability, along with the added benefit of not being prone to selective oxidation during annealing when compared to chromium, manganese, silicon, etc. As such, the use of molybdenum does not hamper the surface characteristics of processed dual-phase steels and affords for improved coating thereof.
Three basic methods are known for the commercial production of dual-phase steels. First, an as-hot-rolled method produces a dual-phase microstructure during conventional hot rolling through the control of chemistry and processing conditions. Second, a continuous annealing approach typically takes coiled hot- or cold-rolled steel strip, uncoils and anneals the steel strip in an intercritical temperature range in order to produce a ferrite plus austenite microstructure/matrix. Thereafter, rapid cooling higher than a critical cooling rate for the steel chemistry is applied to the strip to produce the ferrite-martensite microstructure. Finally, a batch annealing approach simply anneals coils of hot- or cold-rolled material.

Process for making cold-rolled dual phase steel sheet


A vibratory feeder having a component rod assembly with a component key, a component rod and a component load ramp configured to support balance correction members, a vibrator assembly advancing the balance correction members along the component rod assembly to an escapement assembly with an escapement blade allowing one balance correction member at a time to progress onto a component stop which stages and releases the balance correction member into the gravity feed chute that transports the balance correction member to confinement within a component retainer and on to an air activated shutter that dispenses the balance correction member upon activation of a shutter air slide. The vibrator assembly includes a vibration source motor mounted at the center of mass of the vibratory feeder assembly.

The present invention relates generally to the field of disc drive data storage devices, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an automated assembly of a disc drive head-disc assembly which includes an automated balance correction station with a vibratory feeder for balance correction members.
Modern hard disc drives are commonly used in a multitude of computer environments ranging from super computers through notebook computers to store large amounts of data in a form that can be made readily available to a user. Typically, a disc drive comprises one or more magnetic discs that are rotated by a spindle motor at a constant high speed. The surface of each disc serves as a data recording surface and is divided into a series of generally concentric recording tracks radially spaced across a band between an inner diameter and an outer diameter. The data tracks extend around the disc and data is stored within the tracks on the disc surface in the form of magnetic flux transitions. The flux transitions are induced by an array of transducers otherwise commonly called read/write heads. Typically, each data track is divided into a number of data sectors that store fixed sized data blocks.
Each read/write head includes an interactive element such as a magnetic transducer which senses the magnetic transitions on a selected data track to read the data stored on the track. Alternatively, the read/write head transmits an electrical signal that induces magnetic transitions on the selected data track to write data to the track. As is known in the art, the read/write heads are supported by rotary actuator arms and are positioned by the actuator arms over a selected data track to either read or write data. The read/write head includes a slider assembly having an air-bearing surface that causes the read/write head to fly relative to the disc surface. The air bearing is developed by load forces applied to the read/write head by a load arm interacting with air currents produced by disc rotation.
Typically, several open-centered discs and spacer rings are alternately stacked on the hub of a spindle motor, followed by the attachment of a clampring to form a disc pack. The hub, defining the core of the stack, serves to align the discs and spacer rings around a common centerline. Movement of the discs and spacer rings is typically constrained by a compressive load maintained by the clampring. The complementary actuator arms of an actuator assembly, commonly called an E-block, support the read/write heads to access the surfaces of the stacked discs of the disc pack. The read/write heads communicate electronically with a printed circuit board assembly (PCB) through read/write wires and a flex circuit attached to the E-block. When the E-block is merged with the disc pack into a base deck and a cover is attached to the base deck, a head-disc assembly (HDA) is formed. For a general discussion of E-block assembly techniques, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,636 issued to Stefansky et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The head-disc assembly (HDA) of a disc drive is typically assembled in a clean room environment. A clean room environment (free of contaminants of 0.3 micron and larger) is necessary to ensure that the head-disc interface remains unencumbered and damage free. The slightest damage to the surface of a disc or read/write head can result in a catastrophic failure of the disc drive. The primary causes of catastrophic failure, particularly read/write head crashes (a non-recoverable, catastrophic failure of the disc drive), are generally characterized as contamination, exposure to mechanically induced shock and non-shock induced damage. The source of non-shock induced damage is typically traced to the assembly process, and generally stems from handling damage sustained by the disc drive during the assembly process.
Several factors that bear particularly on the problem of assembly process induced damage are the physical size of the disc drive, the spacing of the components, the recording densities sought to be achieved and the level of precision to be maintained during the assembly process. The high levels of precision required by the assembly process are necessary to attain the operational tolerances required by the disc drive. The rigorous operational tolerances are in response to market demands that have driven the need to decrease the physical size of disc drives while simultaneously increasing disc drive storage capacity and performance characteristics.
Demands on disc drive mechanical components and assembly procedures have become increasingly more critical in order to meet the strenuous requirements of increased capability and size reduction in the face of these new market demands. Part-to-part variations in critical functional attributes in the magnitude of micro-inches can result in disc drive failures. Additionally, as disc drive designs continue to require size reduction, smaller read/write heads, thinner substrates, longer and thinner actuator arms, and thinner gimbal assemblies must continue to be incorporated into the drives. This trend significantly exacerbates the need to improve assembly processes to protect the read/write heads and discs from damage resulting from incidental contact between mating components. The aforementioned factors resultantly increase the difficulty of assembling disc drives, and as the assembly process becomes more difficult, the need to invent new tools, methods and control systems to deal with the emerging complexities pose unique problems in need of solutions.
Coupled with the size and performance demands is the further market driven requirement forever increasing fault free performance. The progression of continually thinner disc thickness and tighter disc spacing, together with increasing track density and increasing numbers of discs in the disc pack, has resulted in a demand for tools, methods and control systems of ever increasing sophistication. A result has been a decreasing number of assembly tasks involving direct operator intervention. Many of the tasks involved in modem methods are beyond the capability of operators to reliably and repeatedly perform, further driving the need for automated equipment and tooling.
In addition to the difficulties faced in assembling modem disc drives of high capacity and complex, physical product performance requirements have dictated the need to develop new process technologies to ensure compliance with operating specifications. The primary factors driving more stringent demands on the mechanical components and the assembly process are the continually increasing areal densities and data transfer rates of the disc drives.
The continuing trend in the disc drive industry is to develop products with ever increasing areal densities, decreasing access times and increasing rotational speeds. The combination of these factors places greater demands on the ability of modern servo systems to control the position of read/write heads relative to data tracks. The ability to assemble HDAs nominally free from the effects caused by unequal load forces on the read/write heads, disc pack imbalance or one of the components of runout, velocity and acceleration (commonly referred to as RVA) poses a significant challenge as track densities increase. The components of RVA are disc runout (a measure of the motion of the disc along the longitudinal axis of the motor as it rotates); velocity (a measure of variations in linear speed of the disc pack across the surface of the disc); and acceleration (a measure of the relative flatness of the discs in the disc pack). By design, a disc drive typically has a discrete threshold level of resistance to withstand rotationally induced noise and instability, below which the servo system is not impaired. Also, a fixed range of load forces must be maintained on the read/write head to ensure proper fly height for data exchange. The operating performance of the disc drive servo system is affected by mechanical factors beyond the effects of mechanically induced read/write head oscillation from disc surface anomalies. Errors are traceable to disc pack imbalance and RVA noise sources. Even with improved approaches to the generation of position error signals in the disc drive servo system, the ability of the system to deal with such issues is finite. The limits of the servo system capability to reliably control the position of the read/write head relative to the data track must not be consumed by the noise present in the HDA resulting from the assembly process. Consumption of the available margin by the assembly process leaves no margin in the system to accommodate changes in the disc drive attributes over the life of the product. An inability to accommodate changes in the disc drive attributes leads to field failures and an overall loss in product reliability, a detrimental impact to product market position.
An additional area of concern, and a problem faced by disc drive producers, is the exposure of the discs and heads to sub-micron particles and particulate generation during the assembly process of the disc drive. Clean rooms are typically used as the assembly setting for disc drive production. Great efforts are taken to minimize the potential of contamination throughout most aspects of the mechanical assembly process. Vibratory part feeders have been used in non-clean room assembly operations for some time, however traditional vibratory part feeders are prolific particulate generators and present significant contamination problems when introduced into clean rooms. Failure to maintain contamination controlled clean room assembly facilities has been linked to subsequent disc damage and again, the slightest damage to the surface of a disc or read/write head can result in a catastrophic failure of the disc drive.
While the use of balance correction members to correct disc drive imbalance is known, there persists a need for optimization and control to assure consistent and reliable use of balance correction in modern high performance disc drives.
Thus, in general, there is a need for an improved approach to disc drive-assembling technology to minimize the potential of damage during assembly, to produce product that is design compliant and reliable, and to minimize mechanically induced system noise. One such need is for a load force optimized balance correction vibratory feeder capable of dispensing the load force optimized balance correction members while minimizing particulate matter generation.
The present invention provides a vibratory feeder for advancing and dispensing balance correction members used to correct rotational imbalance of a disc drive, the vibratory feeder assembly having a component rod assembly configured to substantially conform to balance correction members of specific mass and maintain sliding alignment of the balance correction members. A vibration unit disposed at the center of gravity of the vibratory feeder intermittently vibrates the component rod assembly to selectively advance the balance correction members.
To dispense the balance correction members, a sliding component stop, a component wiper, an escapement blade and a component retainer with a release shutter are provided. Upon activation, the escapement blade lifts and a single balance correction member advances into position on the sliding component stop. The escapement blade lowers to prevent advancement of the remaining balance correction members. With a single balance correction member in place, the sliding component stop slides past the component wiper which wipes the balance correction member off the sliding component stop and deposits the balance correction member into the component retainer where the air slide activated shutter removes the balance correction member from the component retainer.
These and other features and advantages which characterize the present invention will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings.

Vibratory feeder for dispensing balance correction members for securing to a disc drive disc pack


A microactuator including a base frame; and a moving plate having both ends supported by a plurality of elastic support portions inside the base frame, the moving plate having a first side on which a reflective mirror for changing a light path is disposed. At least one first rib is disposed along an edge of a second side of the moving plate, which is the reverse side of the first side of the moving plate, and a second rib is disposed in the center of the second side of the moving plate and correspondingly encloses a permanent magnet. Also, a portion of the second side of the moving plate, except for the first and second ribs, is removed to a predetermined depth to reduce the weight of the entire moving plate and to define the first and second ribs.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a microactuator, which reflects light to change a light path.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the development of printers and other image forming apparatuses has been oriented toward increasing printing speed. In order to design high-speed printers, it is necessary to accelerate the operations of a polygon mirror, since the operation of the polygon mirror significantly affect the printing speed of the printers. However, since a spindle motor, which is required for driving most polygon mirrors, operates presently at a limited speed due to restrictions of oscillation, noise, and bearings, the speed of the polygon mirrors is limited to about 40,000 rpm (about 28 ppm) or lower. Accordingly, a new apparatus that can replace the spindle motor and the polygon mirror is required for ever-increasing the printing speed of printers.
In order to replace the spindle motor and the polygon mirror, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) microactuator has been developed. MEMS microactuators, most of which are hinged structures, are inexpensive and have good performance. However, a better performance is required for such microactuators to fulfill recent requirements for high speed and large displacement. It is difficult for the microactuators to meet both high-speed and large-displacement demands.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,956,684, which has been assigned to Texas Instruments Inc., discloses a hinged device that operates due to rotary power generated by an electromagnetic force, wherein a magnet is attached to a rotation body and a fixing body that excites the rotation body and has a bobbing coil. U.S. Pat. No. 6,956,684 discloses a method of attaching a magnet to a front side of an attaching member of a hinge layer and bonding a back layer having a compensation mass moment to a back side of the attaching member of the hinge layer such that the center of mass of the combined front and back layers is substantially coplanar with an axis of rotation of the hinged device in order to stabilize a scan operation. Furthermore, the attaching member and a back portion of the front layer define a spine structure, which allows reduction of weight and mass of the hinged device while maintaining the stiffness of the rotation body.
However, the mass of the rotation body is increased by use of the back layer having the compensation mass moment. Although the spine structure has been proposed to overcome this problem, the size (especially the height) of the entire rotation body is still increased. Also, since many components are used, the manufacture of the disclosed hinged device is difficult and costly.
As another example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0225821, which has been published by Texas Instruments Inc., discloses a hinged device having an optical surface. To allow balancing of the hinged device so that the center of mass of the hinged device is on the pivoting axis, a recess is formed in the optical surface instead of adding a back layer having a compensation mass moment. Here, since a hinge portion has the same thickness as the entire structure, controlling a resonance frequency and induced stress is difficult to achieve.


The axial direction B of the spindle 64 for supporting the movable pulleys 58 and 59 is arranged at a position rotated about the axis of the shaft relative to the axial direction of the spindle 56. The axial direction B of the spindle 64 is arranged in a state of being inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the axial direction A when the movable pulleys 58 and 59 are in the lifted position. This allows the movable pulleys 58 and 59 to be automatically moved to a position at which no stress is applied to the first wire rope 54.

A mobile X-ray imaging apparatus, which is a kind of mobile radiographic imaging apparatus, is also referred to as an X-ray imaging apparatus for rounds, and performs X-ray imaging by moving between hospital rooms. This mobile X-ray imaging apparatus is provided with a main body having front wheels and rear wheels, a support column erected on the main body, a lifting and lowering member that moves upward and downward along the support column in a state of supporting an X-ray irradiation unit composed of an X-ray tube and a collimator, an X-ray detector that detects X-rays emitted from the X-ray irradiation unit and passed through the subject, and a battery disposed inside the main body.
In such a mobile X-ray imaging apparatus, it is necessary to lift and lower the X-ray irradiation unit composed of an X-ray tube and a collimator depending on the situation of imaging. At this time, since the X-ray irradiation unit has a large weight, a lifting and lowering assist mechanism is adopted in order to facilitate lifting and lowering of the X-ray irradiation unit. As this lifting and lowering assist mechanism, conventionally, a lifting and lowering assist mechanism is used in which an X-ray irradiation unit is connected to one end of a wire rope wound around a fixed pulley and a counterweight having a weight similar to that of the X-ray irradiation unit is connected the other end of the wire rope. However, this lifting and lowering assist mechanism has a problem that the weight of the entire device is increased since it uses a counterweight having the similar weight as that of the X-ray irradiation unit in addition to the X-ray irradiation unit. For this reason, a lifting and lowering assist mechanism using a spring instead of a counterweight has been proposed.
In the lifting and lowering assist mechanism using a spring, in order to cope with the change of the urging force due to the extension and contraction of the spring, the configuration using a pulley (pulley) in which the winding radius of the wire rope changes according to the rotation angle is adopted. That is, in Patent Document 1, a mobile X-ray device is disclosed in which a lifting and lowering assist mechanism using a cone pulley on which a spiral groove is formed is used. Further, in Patent Document 2, a mobile X-ray device equipped with a variable radius pulley is disclosed.


A display device includes a reflecting layer. A display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: a lower substrate; an upper substrate facing the lower substrate; a thin film transistor on the lower substrate; and a first reflecting layer on a first surface of the upper substrate, the first surface facing the lower substrate, in which the lower substrate and the upper substrate include a display area for displaying an image, and a peripheral area outside the display area, and wherein the first reflecting layer is at the peripheral area, at display area, and at an area adjacent an edge of the upper substrate.

1. Field
Aspects of the present invention relate to a display device including a reflecting layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display devices, such as liquid crystal displays (LCD), organic light emitting diode displays (OLED display), and electrophoretic displays, include field generating electrodes and an electro-optical active layer. For example, an OLED display includes an organic light emitting layer as the electro-optical active layer, and an LCD includes a liquid crystal layer as the electro-optical active layer. Field generating electrodes may be connected to a switching element, such as a thin film transistor, to receive a data signal, and the electro-optical active layer may display an image by converting the data signal into an optical signal.
When impurities, such as moisture or oxygen, flow into the display device from a surrounding environment, oxidation of or peeling of an element of the display device, such as an electrode and the like, may result, so that the lifespan of the element may be decreased, or so that efficiency of the element may deteriorate, and a display quality of the display device may deteriorate. Accordingly, when the display device is manufactured, a sealing process is performed so as to isolate the internal element from the outside and to prevent impurities, such as moisture, from permeating. The sealing process includes a method of sealing edges of a lower substrate and an upper substrate by using a sealant.
Recently, display devices having various functions have been developed. Among them, a display device, which serves as a display when displaying an image, and which serves as a mirror when not displaying an image, has been developed. This is referred to as a mirror-type display device. When the display device serves as a mirror, a user may view his/her image/reflection as necessary, and may observe other objects through the mirror that are desired to be viewed. For example, when the mirror-type display device is applied to a vehicle, the mirror-type display device may be applied to a side mirror or an inside mirror (e.g., rearview mirror or vanity mirror). The mirror-type display device includes a reflecting layer for reflecting light so as to serve as a mirror.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancing understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not form prior art.

Display device including reflecting layer


A solder joint in which an electronic component with a back metal is bonded to a substrate by a solder alloy. The solder alloy includes: a solder alloy layer having an alloy composition consisting of, in mass %: Ag: 2 to 4%, Cu: 0.6 to 2%, Sb: 9.0 to 12%, Ni: 0.005 to 1%, optionally Co: 0.2% or less and Fe: 0.1% or less, with the balance being Sn; an Sn—Sb intermetallic compound phase; a back metal-side intermetallic compound layer formed at an interface between the back metal and the solder alloy; and a substrate-side intermetallic compound layer formed at an interface between the substrate and the solder alloy. The solder alloy layer exists at least one of between the Sn—Sb intermetallic compound phase and the back metal-side intermetallic compound layer, and between the Sn—Sb intermetallic compound phase and the substrate-side intermetallic compound layer.

In recent years, high integration, large capacity and high-speed processing are required for an electronic device. In order to satisfy this requirement, it is attempted to achieve high integration and high functionalization at a semiconductor chip level by using a semiconductor package such as QFP (Quad Flat Package). In the production of QFP, a packaging process of die-bonding a silicon chip cut out from a silicon wafer to a lead frame is employed.
In QFP, a solder joint is formed by die-bonding a silicon chip and a lead frame using a solder alloy through the packaging process. On the silicon chip, a back metal such as Ni layer is formed so as to improve wettability with the solder to enhance the adhesion strength. However, since Ni diffuses into Si due to heat during melting of the solder and the function of a semiconductor chip deteriorates, a barrier layer such as Ti layer is formed between the silicon chip and the Ni layer. In a case where the back metal layer is thus multilayered, separation between back metal layers or separation between back metal and solder alloy occurs in some cases. In order to prevent such separation, various studies have been made on the back metal layer.
JP-A-2001-196393 discloses a technique that for obtaining good bonding properties by preventing generation of voids and improving the wettability of a solder alloy, a first metal film composed of a layer containing Cr or V and a Ni layer and a second metal film (metal layer) containing Sn or Sb are provided above a silicon chip and an alloy containing Sn as a main component and containing 10 wt % or more of Sb is used as the solder alloy for bonding the silicon chip to a substrate.
JP-A-H06-244226 has proposed a semiconductor device having a bonding structure in which for preventing interfacial fracture due to production of an intermetallic compound, a metal layer (barrier layer) such as Cr or Ti is provided on a silicon chip and the barrier layer is directly adhered and fixed to a brazing material containing Sn and Sb as main components. In addition, according to JP-A-H06-244226, even when an intermediate layer such as Ni layer or Ag layer is provided between the barrier layer and the solder alloy so as to enhance the adhesion strength to the solder alloy, the intermediate phase disappears and an intermetallic compound phase with Sn is not generated, as a result, generation and selective fracture of an intermetallic compound phase are not caused.
In this way, in the conventional die bonding, various studies on the back metal are made by using an Sn—Sb-based solder alloy. An Sn—Sb alloy is employed in these studies so as to prevent a solder alloy used in the die bonding from melting during mounting on a printed circuit board, etc. since this alloy has a high liquidus temperature. However, even when the liquidus temperature of the solder alloy is increased by the addition of a large amount of Sb, since the heating temperature during mounting of a silicon chip on a printed circuit board reaches a temperature region near the liquidus temperature of the solder alloy, the solder alloy may be softened to cause a change in the resistance value of the solder joint.
Therefore, for example, JP-A-2001-144111 discloses a technique of using, in the bonding of an electrode portion after die bonding, a solder alloy formed of Sn containing from 0.005 to 5.0 mass % of at least one of Fe and Ni, further containing at least one of Ag: from 0.1 to 20 mass % and Cu: from 0.005 to 9 mass %, and also containing from 0.1 to 15 mass % of Sb, so as to improve the thermal fatigue resistance performance to reduce a change in resistance during heating.

Soldered joint and method for forming soldered joint


Dynamically isolating application servers, wherein only active application servers are indicated to client applications to prevent access to inactive application servers by the client applications. A central server of a distributed system determines a state of application servers in a system, and generates a list of application servers that includes all application servers of the system including an indication of the state of the application servers. The central server also generates a filtered list of application servers that excludes inactive application servers or application servers in an inactive mode. The filtered list is passed to client applications, which enables the client applications to only access the active application servers, but not access the inactive application servers.

A distributed system is a system in which multiple servers may be spread through multiple systems or subsystems. Each system may include multiple application servers. An example is the Netweaver system available from SAP AG of Walldorf, Germany. The application servers receive and process requests from client applications that may be both within and external to the system. In traditional systems, even when an application server is disabled from receiving requests from external applications, the system itself is aware of the application server, and can send requests to the application server. Thus, an application server cannot traditionally be a part of a system without being seen by the system and hit with requests.
Hitting the application server with requests when trying, for example, to perform testing within the system can reduce the effectiveness of the testing and/or increase the testing time. Additionally, errors may be introduced into the testing even when the application server intended for testing should not be available to service external requests. Hitting the application server can also result in data loss within the system if the application server fails to perform the processing. Thus, current systems cannot have an application server that is part of the system context, and yet isolated from servicing requests.
Descriptions of certain details and implementations follow, including a description of the figures, which may depict some or all of the embodiments described below, as well as discussing other potential embodiments or implementations of the inventive concepts presented herein. An overview of embodiments of the invention is provided below, followed by a more detailed description with reference to the drawings.


An semiconductor device having a plurality of fabrication layers. A first region of a first fabrication layer of the semiconductor device is revised. To signal the revision, a connectivity structure in a second region of the first fabrication layer is omitted to interrupt an otherwise continuous signal path that extends through a plurality of interconnection layers of the semiconductor device.

Integrated circuit devices are usually marked with various identifying information, such as device type, production date, manufacturer and so forth. Such marking is often formed directly on the integrated circuit die, for example, by etching alphanumeric characters into the substrate or oxide layer. Unfortunately, once the die is encapsulated within an opaque package housing, the on-die marking is no longer visible. Consequently, unless the desired information is printed on the package housing, the package may need to be disassembled to access the on-die information. Even when the desired information is printed on the device housing, visual inspection is still typically required to recover the information and may be difficult or impractical due to the mounting orientation of the device (e.g., print-side down), inaccessibility of the device within a system, or inaccessibility of the system itself.

Integrated circuit device with electronically accessible device identifier