text
stringlengths 2
806k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
This invention relates generally to data analysis and more particularly to methods and apparatus for analyzing activity based on tracking movement of individuals.
Data analysis can be used to assist in optimizing marketing efforts. Data analysis of spending habits (such as shopping, travelling, dining, etc.) enable purveyors of these services to more accurately and precisely identify and communicate with their target (i.e. likely) consumers.
Currently, there does not exist an automated method for analyzing interaction between individuals in certain environments such as at a conference. The effectiveness or success of a conference is typically determined based on attendance.
Participants may attend educational sessions or they may conduct these sessions. Participants may also be vendors who set up booths to promote their products/services. Participants may only have contact information from other participants in the form of business cards evidencing any interaction. This information may be used for evaluating the effectiveness of conference attendance. However, this approach is cumbersome since contact information has to be exchanged manually and perhaps scanned in for later retrieval and analysis. There exists a need for more accurately analyzing interaction between participants in a particular environment such as at a conference.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Implantable pulse generators 15, such as pacemakers, defibrillators, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (“ICD”) and neurostimulators, provide electrotherapy via implantable medical leads 10 to nerves, such as those nerves found in cardiac tissue, the spinal column, the brain, etc. Electrotherapy is provided in the form of electrical signals, which are generated in the pulse generator 15 and travel via the lead's conductors to the electrotherapy treatment site.
Lead conductors 85 are typically in the form of flexible single wires or multi-filar cables. These lead conductors 85 may be individually electrically insulated with their own dedicated insulation jackets or may be without a dedicated insulation jacket, instead having to rely on the concentric insulation layers of the lead body.
New lead technologies and treatment programs make it desirable to place electronic lead components along the length of the lead body 50 of a lead 10. For example, as indicated in FIG. 1, which is an isometric view of a proposed lead body 50 that may be coupled to a pulse generator 15 via a lead connector end 35 having a pin contact 55 and ring contacts 61-62, multiple fragile electronic chips electrodes 80-83 may be located along the lengths of the conductors 85a, 85b, 85c extending between the proximal and distal ends 40, 45 of the lead body 50. The placement of such electronic chip electrodes 80-83 necessitates multiple closely spaced couplings of the straight-routed conductors 85a-85c with the terminals of the electronic chip electrodes 80-83. Such close spaced couplings with conductors 85a-85c substantially reduce the ability of the conductors 85a-85c to displace and conform to displacement of the lead body 50, potentially resulting in rapid failure of the conductors 85a-85c. Also, the conductors 85a-85c result in substantial strain in the couplings, causing rapid failure of the couplings as well.
There is a need in the art for a lead having a conductor configuration that provides improved resistance to strain induced conductor failure, reduced lead body stiffness and reduced manufacturing costs. There is also a need in the art for a method of manufacturing a lead having such a conductor configuration.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a cathode panel for a cold cathode field emission display, a cold cathode field emission display into which the above cathode panel for a cold cathode field emission display is incorporated, and a method of producing a cathode panel for a cold cathode field emission display.
Studies of various flat panel type displays are under way as displays which are to replace currently main-stream cathode ray tubes (CRT). The flat panel type displays include a liquid crystal display (LCD), an electroluminescence display (ELD) and a plasma display panel (PDP). Further, there is also proposed a cold cathode field emission display (FED), which is capable of emitting electrons into vacuum from a solid without relying on thermal excitation, and it is of great interest from the viewpoint of a high resolution, display of high-brightness colors and a low power consumption.
A cold cathode field emission display (to be sometimes referred to as “display” hereinafter) generally has a constitution in which a cathode panel having cold cathode electron emitting portions (to be sometimes referred to as “electron emitting portions” hereinafter) disposed so as to correspond to pixels arranged in the form of a two-dimensional matrix and an anode panel having fluorescent layers which are caused to emit light by colliding with electrons emitted from the above electron emitting portions are placed to be opposed to each other through a vacuum layer. Each electron emitting portion formed on the cathode panel is constituted of one cold cathode field emission device (to be sometimes referred to as “field emission device” hereinafter) or a plurality of field emission devices.
The field emission device can be generally classified into Spindt type, edge type and flat type field emission devices.
FIG. 27 shows a conceptual view of a display to which the Spindt type field emission devices are applied, as an example, and FIG. 63 shows a partial schematic perspective exploded view of part of a cathode panel 50 and an anode panel 60 as a conventional example. The Spindt type field emission device constituting such a display comprises a cathode electrode 52 formed on a support 51, an insulating layer 53, a gate electrode 54 formed on the insulating layer 53 and a circular-cone-shaped electron emitting electrode 56 formed in an opening portion 55 penetrating through the gate electrode 54 and the insulating layer 53. A predetermined number of the electron emitting electrodes 56 are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix form, to form one electron emitting portion which constitutes one pixel. The cathode electrode 52 has a stripe form extending in a first direction, and the gate electrode 54 has a stripe form extending in a second direction different from the first direction (see FIG. 63). The cathode electrode 52 in the stripe form and the gate electrode 54 in the stripe form overlap each other, and the overlapped portion corresponds to the electron emitting portion 10. The cathode panel 50 has a plurality of such electron emitting portions.
The anode panel 60 has a structure in which a fluorescent layer 62 having a predetermined pattern (specifically, a fluorescent layer 62R to emit light in red, a fluorescent layer 62G to emit light in green and a fluorescent layer 62B to emit light in blue as shown in FIG. 63) is formed on a substrate 61, and the fluorescent layer 62 is covered with an anode electrode 63. A black matrix 64 composed of a light-absorbing material such as carbon is filled in every portion between two members of the fluorescent layers 62R, 62G and 63B to prevent the color mixing of a display image. The above order of stacking of the fluorescent layer 62 and the anode electrode 63 on the substrate 61 may be reversed. In this case, the anode electrode 63 is positioned in front of the fluorescent layer 62 when viewed from the side of a viewer of a display, so that it is required to use a transparent electrically conductive material such as ITO (indium-tin oxide) or the like, to form the anode electrode 63.
When a voltage is applied between the cathode electrode 52 and the gate electrode 54, an electric field is generated, and electrons are emitted from the top portion of the electron emitting electrode 56 due to the electric field. The electrons are attracted toward the anode electrode 63 formed in the anode panel 60 and collide with the fluorescent layer 62 which is a light emitting layer interposed between the anode electrode 63 and the transparent substrate 61. As a result, the fluorescent layer 62 is excited to emit light, and a desired image can be obtained. The operation of the field emission device is basically controlled by a voltage to be applied to the gate electrode 54.
The outline of the method of producing the Spindt type field emission device shown in FIGS. 27 and 63 will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 31A, 31B, 32A and 32B. This method is in principle a method of forming the circular-cone-shaped electron emitting electrode 56 composed of a metal material by vertical vapor deposition. That is, vaporized particles perpendicularly enter the opening portion 55. The amount of the vaporized particles which reach a bottom portion of the opening portion 55 is gradually decreased by utilizing the shielding effect of an overhanging deposit formed around an opening edge portion of the opening portion 55, so that the electron emitting electrode 56 as a circular-cone-shaped deposit is formed in a self-aligned manner. This method employs a method of pre-forming a peeling-off layer 57 on the insulating layer 53 and the gate electrode 54 for easing the removal of the unnecessary overhanging deposit, and the method will be explained with reference to FIGS. 31A, 31B, 32A and 32B.
[Step-100]
A conductive material layer composed, for example, of polysilicon for a cathode electrode is formed on a support 51 composed, for example, of a glass substrate by a plasma-enhanced CVD method. Then, the conductive material layer for a cathode electrode is patterned by a lithographic method and a dry etching method, to form the cathode electrode 52 having a stripe form. Thereafter, an insulating layer 53 composed of SiO2 is formed on the entire surface by a CVD method, and then a conductive material layer (for example, TiN layer) for a gate electrode is formed by a sputtering method. Then, the conductive material layer for a gate electrode is patterned by a lithographic method and a dry etching method, to form the stripe-shaped gate electrode 54 which is composed of the conductive material layer and has an opening portion 55. Thereafter, an opening portion 55 having a diameter, for example, of approximately 1 μm is formed in the insulating layer 53 (see FIG. 31A).
[Step-110]
As shown in FIG. 31B, a peeling-off layer 57 is formed on the gate electrode 54 and the insulating layer 53 by oblique vapor deposition of nickel (Ni) while the support 51 is turned. In this case, the incidence angle of vaporized particles relative to a normal of the support 51 is set at a sufficiently large angle (for example, an incidence angle of 65° to 85°), whereby the peeling-off layer 57 can be formed on the insulating layer 53 and the gate electrode 54 almost without depositing any nickel in the bottom portion of the opening portion 55. The peeling-off layer 57 extends from the opening edge portion of the opening portion 55 like eaves, whereby the diameter of the opening portion 55 is substantially decreased.
[Step-120]
Then, an electrically conductive material such as molybdenum (Mo) is deposited on the entire surface by vertical vapor deposition (incidence angle 3° to 10°). During the above vapor deposition, as shown in FIG. 32A, as the conductive material layer 56A having an overhanging form grows on the peeling-off layer 57, the substantial diameter of the opening portion 55 is gradually decreased, the vaporized particles which contributes to the deposition in the bottom portion of the opening portion 55 gradually comes to be limited to particles which pass the central region of the opening portion 55. As a result, a circular-cone-shaped deposit is formed on the bottom portion of the opening portion 55, and the circular-cone-shaped deposit constitutes the electron emitting electrode 56.
[Step-130]
Then, as shown in FIG. 32B, the peeling-off layer 57 is peeled off from the insulating layer 53 and the gate electrode 54 by a lift-off method, and the conductive material layer 56A above the insulating layer 53 and the gate electrode 54 is selectively removed. In this manner, a cathode panel having a plurality of the Spindt type field emission devices can be obtained.
In the field emission device, the emission of electrons from the tip portion of the electron emitting electrode 56 begins when a potential difference Δv between a voltage applied to the gate electrode 54 and a voltage applied to the cathode electrode 52 comes to be a threshold voltage ΔVth or higher. And, for example, as the voltage applied to the gate electrode 54 increases (that is, as the potential difference Δ increases), an electron emission current caused by the emission of electrons from the tip portion of the electron emitting electrode 56 sharply increases.
Meanwhile, very clean treatment and high processing accuracy are required for producing a large-sized display. For example, for producing a color display having 380000 pixels, it is required to form 1140000 electron emitting portions. When a display is to be constituted of the Spindt type field emission devices, it is required to form tens to approximately one thousand Spindt type field emission devices per electron emitting portion. It is therefore required to form tens of millions of the fine field emission devices close to one another at intervals of several micrometers or less. For attaining a high electron emission current at a low driving voltage, preferably, the distance of the tip portion of the electron emitting electrode 56 and the opening edge portion of the gate electrode 54 is approximately 0.12 μm to 1.2 μm.
In the steps of producing the above Spindt type field emission devices, however, it is required to peel off the peeling-off layer 57 all over the large-area support (for example, glass substrate) for producing a display having a large-area screen, and the peeling of the peeling-off layer 57 causes a defect on the field emission devices. In a dry process, further, a reaction product is increasingly deposited in processing the large-area support, and the field emission devices are liable to have a defect due to particles. When an electrically conductive foreign matter (particle) is present between the gate electrode 54 and the electron emitting electrode 56, the gate electrode 54 and the electron emitting electrode 56 are short-circuited, and as a result, electrons are no longer emitted from the field emission device, so that a black spot appears on a display screen. In the cathode panel, generally, there are arranged a plurality of columns of cold cathode electron emitting regions each of which has a plurality of electron emitting portions arranged one-dimensionally (in the form of a stripe). When a short circuit is formed in the field emission device, there are some cases where the whole of one column of the stripe-shaped electron emitting portions including the short-circuited field emission device can no longer perform complete displaying.
In one method of avoiding the problem caused by the above short circuit of the field emission device, for example, a resistance layer having a resistance of about 2 MΩ is formed between the electron emitting electrode 56 and the cathode electrode 52, as is schematically shown in FIG. 64A. When a field emission device is in a short-circuited state, a leak current consequently flows between the gate electrode 54 and the cathode electrode 52 through the electron emitting electrode 56 and the resistance layer, which leads to an increase in consumption power. When a difference between a voltage applied to the gate electrode 54 and a voltage applied to the cathode electrode 52 is ΔV, and when the resistance layer has a resistance value R, the consumption power P consumed due to short circuiting of the field emission devices can be calculated by the following equation, in which n is the number of field emission devices in a short-circuited state.P=n(ΔV2/R)
The consumption power P can be decreased by increasing the resistance value R of the resistance layer. When the resistance value R is increased, however, there is brought a state where the resistance value R is added to an inter-layer capacitance component C between the gate electrode 54 and the cathode electrode 52 as is shown in FIG. 64B, and, as a result, a time constant increases. Driving signals to be applied to the gate electrode 54 and the cathode electrode 52 are therefore delayed, and as a result, the operation speed of the display is deferred. Therefore, the resistance value R of the resistance layer cannot be increased much, and if possible, it is preferred not to provide the resistance layer.
Another problem with the field emission devices is that the field emission devices vary in electron emitting characteristics. The field emission devices are formed on the cathode panel in the number of hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions by the same process and even if these field emission devices look identical when observed through an electron microscope, the field emission devices vary in threshold voltage ΔVth. When a field emission device has an extremely low value of the threshold voltage ΔVth, it comes to be in an operation state even in a potential difference state where field emission devices which have a normal threshold voltage ΔVth do not operate. As a result, there is caused a problem that a bright spot appears on a display screen.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surgical treatment for dysphonia and its requisite device for carrying out the treatment. More specifically, the invention relates to a device useful for the surgical treatment of thyroplasty type II, which has been known as Isshiki's operation, and a method of treating dysphonia with use of the device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The causes for difficulty of voice production or hoarse voice are multiple, for example vocal abuse, excessive smoking, vocal tumors such as polyp and cancer, and vocal fold mobility disturbance. Voice disturbance due to vocal abuse can be treated effectively by simple vocal rest for a week for instance, and dysphonia resulting from vocal tumors can be managed by surgical removal of the tumor. However, disphonia associated with vocal fold mobility disturbance, such as paralysis producing imperfect closure of the glottis, or conversely, excessively tight closure of the glottis on phonation is too complicated to handle by the above-mentioned treatments.
Spasmodic dysphonia, which is caused by an excessively tight closure of the glottis, was first treated by recurrent laryngeal nerve section, with some success, though proved later to be only temporary (see Dedo H H. Recurrent laryngeal nerve section for spastic dysphonia. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1976; 85: 451–459). Recently, a treatment by administrating botulinum toxin to muscles of a patient was proposed as a replaceable therapy of the nerve section (see, Brin MF et al.: Treatment of spasmodic dysphonia (laryngeal dystonia) with local injections of botulinum toxin: in review and technical aspects. In A. Blitzer et al, eds.; Neurologic Disorders of the Larynx. New York, N.Y.: Thieme Medical Publishers 1992; 214–228). This approach with the administration of botulinum toxin is currently in most frequent use, however, there is a problem that the clinical efficacy of botulinum toxin dose not last in long term. Due to the fact that botulinum toxin induces temporary paralysis of the muscle where the toxin is injected, the effect of blocking the nerve impulse from the injection of the botulinum toxin gradually dwindles, usually diminishing in about 3 to 4 months. As a result, the patient requires an injection of the toxin every three to six months. To make matters worse, the repetitive injections of the toxin are associated with a serious problem that determination of the dose and injection site of the toxin is not easy due to great individual variation such as weight, age, and responsiveness to the therapy.
On the other hand, one of the inventors proposed a surgical intervention into the thyroid cartilage. As shown in FIG. 4, a part of the thyroid cartilage 11 forms the Adam's Apple. The proposed surgical treatment is called as thyroplasty type II and described in the articles “Isshiki N. et al. Midline lateralization thyroplasty for adductor spasmodic dysphonia. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 2000:109:189–193”, and others.
The conventional surgical treatment of thyroplasty type II is carried out according as procedures in FIGS. 5 to 8. First, the thyroid cartilage 11 is vertically incised at the midline thereof (see FIG. 5), and the incised edges 11a, 11a are pulled laterally by hooks 12, 12 (see FIG. 6), so that the vocal folds are also pulled laterally, preventing excessive tight closure of the glottis.
After that, as shown in FIG. 7, a silicone prosthesis 13 is prepared. The silicone prosthesis 13 consists of a pair of wings 13b,13b and a prominence 13a between the wings 13b,13b, the prominence 13a being capable of fitting the width (W) of the groove 14 created by separation of the cartilage. The prominence 13a is inserted in the groove 14 and the pair of wings 13b,13b are fixed to the thyroid cartilage 11 by sutures, thereby securing the width (W) which is optimal distance for phonation. FIG. 8 illustrates that the two silicone prostheses 13,13 are fixed to the cartilage 11 at the upper and lower portions thereof.
This surgical procedure proved to be effective in relieving the vocal strain on phonation, recovering their normal voice in 26 patients operated on, with one exception who had other dystonia too. No recurrences were noted in any patient. The longest follow-up period is 4 years.
However, the procedure of fitting in and stabilizing the silicone prosthesis 13 in the groove 14 of the incised thyroid cartilage requires a surgical expertise. This technical difficulties prevented popularization of the surgical treatment of thyroplasty type II.
There is a further technical difficulty with the surgical treatment. Since the thyroid cartilage is located in the anterior middle of the neck, it is desirous that any protrusion after the procedure of fixing the silicone prosthesis 13 to the thyroid cartilage 11 is inconspicuous, especially in women. To meet the requirement, the silicone prosthesis 13 having small and thin wings 13a, 13a is preferably employed. On the other hand, numerous sutures are required in order to fix the prosthesis to the cartilage for long-term widening the incised edges of the thyroid cartilage, despite that such numerous sutures may cause damage to the edges of the incised cartilage and/or the thin silicone wings.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and cleaning method suitable for cleaning of substrates requiring a high degree of cleanliness, such as semiconductor substrates, glass substrates, and liquid crystal panels.
With the progress of the technology to fabricate high-integration semiconductor devices in recent years, circuit wiring patterns or interconnections on semiconductor substrates have been becoming small and fine, and distances between wiring patterns have also been decreasing. In the processing of semiconductor substrates, such particles as fine semiconductor particles, dust particles, and crystalline protrusions may adhere to the substrate surface. If particles larger than the distances between wiring patterns remain on the substrate surface, problems such as short-circuiting between wiring patterns occur. Accordingly, particles that may be present on the substrate surface have to be satisfactorily smaller than the distances between wiring patterns. These circumstances also apply to the processing of glass substrates used for masks or the like and the processing of substrates such as liquid crystal panels. In compliance with these demands, a cleaning technique for removing even finer particles, i.e. submicron-level particles, from semiconductor substrates or the like is needed.
The semiconductor substrate is polished in order to make the substrate surface flat. There are publicly known methods of cleaning the polished semiconductor substrate. One of the known cleaning methods is scrub cleaning wherein a rotating substrate is supplied with a cleaning liquid, and while doing so, the substrate is rubbed with a cleaning member comprising a brush, a sponge or the like, thereby the substrate is cleaned. Another known cleaning method is spray cleaning wherein a cleaning liquid is sprayed toward a rotating substrate under the application of ultrasonic vibrational energy or high pressure. The substrate after the completion of the cleaning process is dried, for example, by spinning.
A conventional cleaning apparatus for performing the above-described cleaning process has a supporting device for supporting the substrate, a cleaning cup surrounds the periphery of the supporting device to prevent contamination of the outside of the cleaning cup, which might otherwise be caused by a cleaning liquid splashed by the centrifugal force induced by the rotation of the substrate. The cleaning apparatus further has a cleaning vessel covering the periphery of the cleaning cup.
When the substrate is cleaned by using two different kinds of chemical liquids, two units of cleaning apparatus, i.e. a primary cleaning apparatus and a secondary cleaning apparatus, are juxtaposed with each other. In the primary cleaning apparatus, cleaning using one chemical liquid is carried out. Thereafter, cleaning using the other chemical liquid is performed in the secondary cleaning apparatus. Next, rinsing using pure water is carried out in the secondary cleaning apparatus. Further, drying (e.g. spin drying) is performed in the secondary cleaning apparatus. Thereafter, the substrate is taken out of the secondary cleaning apparatus.
However, when the drying process for the substrate after the secondary cleaning process is carried out in the secondary cleaning apparatus, the substrate may be affected by reverse contamination. Here, the “reverse contamination” means that the cleaned semiconductor substrate is recontaminated with a by-product or the like. That is, when an alkaline chemical (e.g. NH4OH) is used for the chemical liquid cleaning in the primary cleaning apparatus and an acidic chemical (e.g. DHF) is used for the chemical liquid cleaning in the secondary cleaning apparatus, for example, the alkali attached to the substrate transferred into the secondary cleaning apparatus reacts with the newly supplied acid to form the by-product [e.g. NH4OH+HF→H2O+NH4F (by-product)]. The by-product adheres to and accumulates on the cleaning cup in the secondary cleaning apparatus and also to the interior of the cleaning vessel therein. The substrate in the secondary cleaning apparatus is rinsed with pure water subsequently. Therefore, the chemical liquids and the by-product are removed from the substrate. However, the by-product and the chemical liquids attached to and accumulated on the inner wall of the cleaning cup and the inner wall of the cleaning vessel, etc. remain attached thereto. Therefore, the remaining by-product and chemical liquids are whirled up by an air flow induced when the substrate is spin-dried, and adhere to the rinsed substrate. In this way, reverse contamination of the substrate occurs (i.e. defects increase).
The above-described problems may be solved by providing a drying apparatus independently in addition to the primary and secondary cleaning apparatuses to dry the rinsed substrate in the contamination-free drying apparatus. However, the use of this method leads to an increase in the installation area due to an increase in size of the system caused by the addition of another processing unit (i.e. a total of three processing units). In addition, the transfer control of the substrate between the three processing units becomes complicated, resulting in a reduction in the transfer throughput.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention relates to a device for non-destructive measurement of the extent to which a surface layer of a material has been affected by a superficial treatment, and particularly but not exclusively the measurement of the depth to which a material is affected by a thermal and/or theremochemical treatment.
The devices envisaged by the present invention are those which comprise a semi cylindrical block intended to be applied with its non-arcuate face against the sample to be studied, a transducer-emitter of ultrasonic waves, a transducer-receiver, the axes of the emitter and receiver being located in a common plane normal to the axis of the semi cylindrical block, and the emitter and receiver each being carried by a slide which is symmetrically movable on the arcuate surface of said block, means for entrainment of both transducers, and means for measuring the angle which they form between them.
This apparatus is based on a method which includes emitting a beam of ultrasonic waves and appropriately directing the beam so as to produce surface waves on the material to be studied.
Detection and measurement are effected on the beam reflected by the sample surface on which the control operates. This method enables determination on the value of the speed of propagation of the Rayleigh waves on the surface of a solid by measurement of the angle of incidence of the ultrasonic beam causing the production of these surface waves. This theory is particularly developed in the works of G. Bradfield, to which reference will be made for further information, particularly to the article entitled "The ultrasonic goniometer and its applications" in the February issue, 1968, of the periodical "Non-Destructive Testing" and to British Pat. Nos. 959.029 and 772.083.
In the present case, the principle involves taking into account the fact that the speed of propagation of these surface waves is affected by the presence of a layer obtained, particularly on steel, by a thermal treatment, and in particular this variation in speed depends on the value of the thickness of said layer.
A generator delivers the electrical signals necessary to supply the transducer-emitter. The ultrasonic waves may be generated either in the form of short-duration pulses or in wave trains of regulable length; in both cases, various frequencies may be used.
The measurement assembly enables observation and analysis of the signals received by the transducer-receiver. This assembly, made up principally of an oscilloscope, may be accompanied by a recording instrument. In known devices of the type in question, the mechanical connection ensuring symmetrical movements of both transducers comprises a fairly large number of toothed sprockets and pinions, and sliding cardan-jointed shafts, rendering the assembly relatively complicated and liable to have a degree of operational play the elimination of which would make the apparatus even more complex.
One of the objects of the invention is to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages by providing an apparatus of very simple construction, which is robust, convenient to use and reliable and precise in operation.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The use of Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) has been gaining popularity in a great number of applications because of the flexibility and convenience in connectivity they provide. WPAN systems, such as those based on Bluetooth (BT) technology, replace cumbersome cabling and/or wiring used to connect peripheral devices and/or mobile terminals by providing short distance wireless links that allow connectivity within a 10-meter range. In contrast to WPAN systems, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) provide connectivity to devices that are located within a slightly larger geographical area, such as the area covered by a building or a campus, for example. WLAN systems are based on IEEE 802.11 standard specifications, typically operate within a 100-meter range, and are generally utilized to supplement the communication capacity provided by traditional wired Local Area Networks (LANs) installed in the same geographic area as the WLAN system.
In some instances, WLAN systems may be operated in conjunction with WPAN systems to provide users with an enhanced overall functionality. For example, Bluetooth technology may be utilized to connect a laptop computer or a handheld wireless terminal to a peripheral device, such as a keyboard, mouse, headphone, and/or printer, while the laptop computer or the handheld wireless terminal is also connected to a campus-wide WLAN network through an access point (AP) located within the building.
Both Bluetooth and WLAN radio devices, such as those used in, for example, handheld wireless terminals, generally operate in the 2.4 GHz (2.4000-2.4835 GHz) Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) unlicensed band. Other radio devices, such as those used in cordless phones, may also operate in the ISM unlicensed band. While the ISM band provides a suitable low-cost solution for many of short-range wireless applications, it may also have some drawbacks when multiple users operate simultaneously. For example, because of the limited bandwidth, spectrum sharing may be necessary to accommodate multiple users. Multiple active users may also result in significant interference between operating devices. Moreover, in some instances, microwave ovens may also operate in this frequency spectrum and may produce significant interference or blocking signals that may affect Bluetooth and/or WLAN transmissions.
When operating a Bluetooth radio and a WLAN radio in, for example, a wireless device, at least two different types of interference effects may occur. First, when an interfering signal is present in a transmission medium along with the signal-of-interest, a low signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SINR) may result. In this instance, for example, a Bluetooth signal may interfere with a WLAN signal or a WLAN signal may interfere with a Bluetooth signal. The second effect may occur when the Bluetooth and WLAN radio devices are collocated, that is, when they are located in close proximity to each other so that there is a small radio frequency (RF) path loss between their corresponding radio front-end receivers. In this instance, the isolation between the Bluetooth radio front-end and the WLAN radio front-end may be as low as 10 dB, for example. As a result, one radio may desensitize the front-end of the other radio upon transmission. Moreover, since Bluetooth employs transmit power control, the collocated Bluetooth radio may step up its power level when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the Bluetooth link is low, effectively compromising the front-end isolation between radio devices even further. Low noise amplifiers (LNAs) in the radio front-ends may not be preceded by a channel selection filter and may be easily saturated by the signals in the ISM band, such as those from collocated transmissions. The saturation may result in a reduction in sensitivity or desensitization of the receiver portion of a radio front-end, which may reduce the radio front-end's ability to detect and demodulate the desired signal.
Packet communication in WLAN systems requires acknowledgement from the receiver in order for the communication to proceed. When the isolation between collocated radio devices is low, collisions between WLAN communication and Bluetooth communication, due to greater levels of mutual interference than if the isolation were high, may result in a slowdown of the WLAN communication, as the access point does not acknowledge packets. This condition may continue to spiral downwards until the access point drops the WLAN station. If, in order to avoid this condition, WLAN communication in collocated radio devices is given priority over all Bluetooth communication, then isochronous Bluetooth packet traffic, which does not have retransmission capabilities, may be starved of communication bandwidth. Moreover, this approach may also starve other Bluetooth packet traffic of any communication access. Collocated WLAN/Bluetooth radio devices should therefore be operated so as to maintain WLAN communication rates high while also providing access to Bluetooth communication when necessary.
Different techniques have been developed to address the low isolation problem that occurs between collocated Bluetooth and WLAN radio devices in coexistent operation. These techniques may take advantage of either frequency and/or time orthogonality mechanisms to reduce interference between collocated radio devices. Moreover, these techniques may result from so-called collaborative or non-collaborative mechanisms in Bluetooth and WLAN radio devices, where collaboration refers to any direct communication between the protocols. For example, Bluetooth technology utilizes Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) as a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique that minimizes channel interference. In AFH, the physical channel is characterized by a pseudo-random hopping, at a rate of 1600 hops-per-second, between 79 1 MHz channels in the Bluetooth piconet. AFH provides a non-collaborative mechanism that may be utilized by a Bluetooth device to avoid frequencies occupied by a spread spectrum system such as a WLAN system. In some instances, the Bluetooth radio may be adapted to modify its hopping pattern based on, for example, frequencies in the ISM spectrum that are not being occupied by other users.
Even when frequency division multiplexing techniques are applied, significant interference may still occur because a strong signal in a separate channel may still act as a blocking signal and may desense the radio front-end receiver, that is, increase the receiver's noise floor to the point that the received signal may not be clearly detected. For example, a collocated WLAN radio front-end transmitter generating a 15 dBm signal acts as a strong interferer or blocker to a collocated Bluetooth radio device receiver when the isolation between radio devices is only 10 dB. Similarly, when a Bluetooth radio device is transmitting and a WLAN radio device is receiving, particularly when the Bluetooth radio front-end transmitter is operating as a 20 dBm Class 1 type, the WLAN radio device receiver may be desensed by the Bluetooth transmission as the isolation between radios is reduced. Due to high-volume, low-cost nature of WLAN and BT radio chips, the more expensive Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filtering devices that may filter out blocking signals from nearby channels are not generally utilized and collocated WLAN/Bluetooth radio device interference remains a concern in WPAN applications.
Other techniques may be based on collaborative coexistence mechanisms, such as those described in the IEEE 802.15.2-2002 Recommended Practice for Information Technology—Part 15.2: Coexistence of Wireless Personal Area Networks with Other Wireless Devices Operating in the Unlicensed Frequency Bands. For example, these techniques may comprise Medium Access Control (MAC) layer mechanisms or Physical (PHY) layer mechanisms. The MAC layer techniques may comprise, for example, the Alternating Wireless Medium Access (AWMA) technique or the Packet Traffic Arbitration (PTA) technique. Both the AWMA and the PTA techniques provide a time division multiplexing (TDM) approach to the collocated radio device isolation problem. For example, the AWMA technique partitions a WLAN communication interval into two segments: one for the WLAN system and one for the WPAN system. Each wireless system is then restricted to transmissions in their allocated time segments. On the other hand, the PTA technique provides for each communication attempt by either a collocated WLAN radio device or a Bluetooth radio device to be submitted for arbitration and approval. The PTA may then deny a communication request that would result in collision or interference. The PHY layer technique may comprise, for example, a programmable notch filter in the WLAN radio device receiver to filter out narrow-band WPAN or Bluetooth interfering signals. These techniques may result in some transmission inefficiencies or in the need of additional hardware features in order to achieve better coexistent operation.
Other collaborative coexistence mechanisms may be based on proprietary technologies. For example, in some instances, firmware in the collocated WLAN radio device may be utilized to poll a status signal in the collocated Bluetooth radio device to determine whether Bluetooth communication is to occur. However, polling the Bluetooth radio device may have to be performed on a fairly constant basis and may detract the WLAN radio device from its own WLAN communication operations. If a polling window is utilized instead, where the polling window may be as long as several hundred microseconds, the WLAN radio device may not perform its WLAN protocol operations during that time with the expectation that the Bluetooth radio device may indicate that Bluetooth communication is to occur. In other instances, the collocated WLAN and Bluetooth radio devices may utilize an interrupt-driven arbitration approach. In this regard, considerable processing time may be necessary for performing the interrupt operation and to determine the appropriate communication schedule based on the priority and type of WLAN and Bluetooth packets.
As a result of the interference or collisions that may occur between collocated radio devices in a coexistence terminal, separate antennas or antenna arrays may be utilized for each protocol supported by the radio device. However, the use of additional antenna hardware may not only result in a costlier product, but also may limit the size or form factor that may be achieved in, for example, a mobile terminal.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Titration is generally known as a method of determining volumetrically the concentration of a substance in a subject material by adding a standard solution of known volume and strength (this standard solution is known as the "titrant") to the subject material until a given reaction is completed.
Typically, titration is carried out to the "endpoint", i.e. the point at which the given reaction is complete, to determine the concentration of a given substance in the material. Various potentiometric, colorimetric, and coulometric titration processes are known in the art. Potentiometric determination methods are generally based on the determination of pH, ion activity, redox and other chemical potentials. Uses of titration techniques include determination of the contents of a chemical solution (See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,608 to Frueh) or to determine the concentration of certain functional chemical groups in a solution (See, U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,685 to Prohaska).
Titration processes require a high degree of precision, extensive operator interaction and are generally very time corisuining. Further, because the amount of titrant added to a solution to yield a given change will vary dramatically as the electric potential changes, overshooting the endpoint of a titration often occurs. Overshooting the endpoint of a titration results in inaccurate and often useless data or results.
In an effort to increase the accuracy and efficiency of titration processes, automatic titration systems have been developed. Most often these systems take the form of titration-to-endpoint methods mentioned above. In a typical endpoint system, the automatic titrator will produce a recording of the entire titration curve from which the endpoint may be determined.
In the curve-recording type of automatic system, titrant is delivered by means of a motor-driven syringe, or burette, through a capillary whose tip is immersed in a rapidly stirred solution. The motor drive is coupled to the drive mechanism of a recording potentiometer, with the recording chart divisions being directly related to the titrant delivered. The measured potential variations are automatically plotted on the chart, and by inspection of the plotted curve, the entrance and exit of the steep portion of the curve in which an inflection occurs can be located. By taking half the distance between these points, a close estimate of the endpoint is obtained.
One of the key advantages of an automatic titrator is that a large number of similar titrations can be performed in a short period of time, but the requirement for manual determination of the endpoint in each case obviates this advantage. In addition, poor results can occur if there is a slow attainment of equilibrium in the solution during the titration, or if the mixing rate is inadequate. This problem can be overcome to some extent by the use of an "anticipation" technique wherein the rate of titrant addition is automatically slowed as the end point is approached. However, anticipation does not entirely eliminate the problem, for the slower rate itself introduces errors and also reduces the advantage of the automatic system. It should also be noted that in many titrations, the points of inflection (areas of rapid change in electric potential that are indicative of the endpoint) on the plotted curve are very difficult to locate with any accuracy, and this introduces further error in the measurements.
There are many examples of automated titration-to-endpoint processes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,685 to Prohaska discloses a computer-controlled process whereby a program is used to analyze the progress of the titration curve by determining the slope of the curve after each incremental addition of titrant. The maximum slope of the curve is calculated to determine the endpoint of the titration.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,178 to Rethermal, Jr., discloses an automatic titration process that plots the first derivative of the titration curve in an attempt to more accurately determine the endpoint of the titration.
Other methods of automatic titration to determine the end point of the titration are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,942 to Vandenbossche et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,299 to Ishikawa, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,608 to Frueh.
Titration processes may also be used to adjust the electric potential of a subject material. The adjustment may take the form of, for example, pH modification or the modification of the ion concentration in a material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,551 to Riggs et al. discloses a process where predetermined dispenses are injected into a fluid stream to create an in-situ titration curve to calculate one total dispense to obtain a desired pH. However, this system is slowed by the fact that the titration curve must be created before adjustment may commence.
The known processes utilizing automatic titration have been unable to completely solve such problems as excessive overshooting of the aim or endpoint, slow titration times or the requirement of operator interaction. Further, the known processes utilizing automatic titration are often restricted to pH applications or are designed for application only in titration-to-endpoint systems.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention is directed to an improved digital display electronic timepiece circuit assembly and in particular to the mounting of each of the circuit elements in a digital display electronic timepiece to the same organic film substrate to facilitate assembly of an electronic timepiece.
In the horology art, the development of accurate small sized time standards such as quartz crystal vibrators, and the like, has changed the emphasis in wristwatches from mechanical movements to quartz crystal electronic timepiece circuitry capable of providing highly accurate low frequency timekeeping signals. Specifically, a quartz crystal vibrator is utilized in an oscillator circuit to produce a high frequency time standard signal, which signal is then applied to appropriate divider circuitry which divides the high frequency signal into the low frequency timekeeping signal to be applied to an appropriate display. Such electronic timepiece circuitry is particularly adapted for providing a digital display of actual time. By providing appropriate driving and decoding circuitry and a liquid crystal or light emitting diode digital display panel, the low frequency timekeeping signal produced by the divider is digitally displayed. As the assembly of such digital display electronic wristwatches has been simplified and automated, the cost of such watches has been substantially reduced thereby contributing to the popularity thereof. Nevertheless, the state of the art forms of digital display electronic timepiece circuit assemblies are expensive and of lessened reliability, in particular due to the methods of effecting electrical and mechanical coupling of the essential elements of the digital display electronic timepiece circuit, to wit, the digital display panel and integrated circuit chips.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to battery chargers for charging rechargeable batteries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-23387 describes a battery charger that suppresses the temperature increase of a power source circuit in the battery charger. This known battery charger includes a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the power source circuit and a switch electrically connecting and disconnecting the battery with the power source circuit. When the temperature of the power source circuit detected by the temperature sensor exceeds a predetermined value, the switch is turned OFF. As a result, the supply of charging current to the battery from the power source circuit is halted, thereby suppressing the temperature increase of the power source circuit.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Enterprises assemble vast amounts of customer data. In conventional systems, enterprises communicate uncoded customer data in accordance with a customer identifier, such as a customer account number. This is problematic because uncoded data is susceptible to security breaches and uncoded data uses a substantial amount of resources, such as bandwidth and memory.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
During conveying of milk with the help of an underpressure over a long distance and in particular through feedpipes, there exists the danger that the milk will change from its original state and spoil as a whole. This may, for example, be due to the fact that, during conveying, the thin albumen membranes which surround the fatty globules in the milk can be damaged mechanically, after which the unprotected fat can be attacked by fat-cleaving enzymes commonly called lipases. In this case, a relatively significant cleaving of various free fatty acids (FFA) takes place. Of these, the butter acid is in particular mentioned because of its rancid taste. Long-chain free fatty acids, for example stearic acid, can produce a soapy taste in the milk and in milk products. During the destruction of the fatty globules, free fat is also formed in addition to the free fatty acids, namely, fat which has lost its globule structure and behaves physically differently than the undamaged fatty globules. Since free fat has a greater tendency to be distributed unevenly, it makes it more difficult to pull a representative fat sample from the conveyed milk and to satisfactorily separate out the fat.
The amount of free fatty acids present in milk is usually given in terms of a milli-equivalent per liter of milk (mequ./1). In the case of values of between 1.5 and 2.0, depending on the composition of the free fatty acids, the consumer will typically be very aware of a poor taste of the milk or milk products. Therefore, in the case of milk which is to be transported from a farm, a free fatty acid content of not more than approximately 1.0 mequ./1 is desirable in order to leave an allowance for influences at the dairy, for example milk transport outside and within the dairy, the time period until pasteurization, and so forth.
As is known, lipases are always present in milk. However, the production of free fatty acids varies widely. It has been found that an increased amount of free fatty acids is often produced during late lactation, during relatively high milk output, when the cow is in heat or when a change in feed occurs. Furthermore, it has been found that the probability of production of free fatty acids during conveying of warm milk is substantially higher than during conveying of cold milk. The conditions under which a mechanical milking is carried out also appear to have a certain influence on the production of free fatty acids. All in all, the degree of free fatty acids which exist in the delivered milk obviously depends on a plurality of factors such as, for example, and aside from the sensitivity of the cows, the manner and carefulness of the milking routine, the quality of the milk cooling, the frequency of hauling away the milk, the design and maintenance of the milking apparatus, and many other factors. Depending on the presence and relative importance of these influencing factors, one finds FFA values in milk which has been supplied by a farm of from 0.4 up to more than 1.8 mequ./1.
One very important single factor has been found to be the type of milking apparatus utilized. If one compares various types of modern milking apparatuses of equal quality and design which are operated under equal conditions, then the average content of free fatty acids is approximately as follows:
______________________________________ Type mequ./l ______________________________________ Bucket milking apparatus 0.45 Pipe milking apparatus with a low milking 0.60 pipe (or low milk measuring cups) Pipe milking apparatus with an overhead 0.80 milking pipe (or overhead milk measuring cups) Milk in the udder of a cow 0.30 ______________________________________
From these values it becomes clear that a relatively large difference in the production of free fatty acids is present in a pipe milking apparatus with a low milking pipe as compared to one with an overhead milking pipe. A milking apparatus with a low milking pipe which has been designed and serviced normally will, during a good milking routine and even under unfavorable conditions like late lactation, a change in feeding and so forth, rarely come into the range of 1 mequ./1, but this happens relatively frequently in a modern apparatus with an overhead milking pipe. On the other hand, the milking apparatus with an overhead milk discharge pipe is very common in the classic family operation with a tie-up stall in most countries which produce milk.
The basic difference between a pipe-milking apparatus with an overhead pipe and one with a low pipe is that in the former the milk is conveyed, with the help of the underpressure or vacuum which exists in the milk discharge pipe, from the collecting piece of the milking tool through a long hose to the milk discharge pipe, which lies approximately 1.8 to 2 meters above the ground. In the case of the low milk discharge pipe, which is supported approximately at the height of the collecting piece, the upward conveying of the milk through a long milk hose is absent.
A milking machine actually has a dual purpose. It must on the one hand suck milk out of the teat, and on the other hand move the milk from the area near the teat to a storage reservoir. Both functions are accomplished by the suction force of the underpressure which exists in the milk discharge pipe. If the milk were conveyed as a continuous milk column to the milk discharge pipe, the milking vacuum which exists at the tip of the teat and with which the milk is sucked out of the teat would, especially due to hydrostatic pressure losses, become very unstable at increased milk flow rates and would decrease too far below half of the nominal vacuum. Such a process would result in unacceptable problems like falling off of the milking tool, extremely long milking times, and very poor milking completion. Furthermore, the milking vacuum would be exposed in addition to extremely cyclic variations due to the pump action of the rubber teat, which opens and closes rhythmically in connection with the mass forces of the conveyed milk. The use of such a milking vacuum at the teat would be totally impossible, both from the viewpoint of udder health and also the efficiency of the milking operation. For these reasons, standard modern milking machines each feed small amounts of air into the milking tool (approximately 8 liters per minute of air). Through this, the milk column is physically interrupted and thus lighter and more pressure elastic. In this manner, the hydrostatic pressure losses and the cyclic vacuum variations at the teat can be reduced to a tolerable degree; and only in this manner are the conditions created which make milking in a practical manner possible at all, particularly with an overhead milking pipe which is disposed approximately 2 meters high.
If the raw milk does not contain any finely distributed air and if it is cooled in addition, then an enormously high mechanical stress is needed in order to cause an increase in the FFA content which is worth mentioning. If the conveying air is intensively mixed with milk, however, three primary concerns exist with respect to the FFA content:
1. The fatty globule membranes will have a greatly increased tendency to burst along the boundary layer between the milk and the air, due to the surface tension and loading, and a fine and intensive mixing of air in the milk substantially increases the total area of this boundary surface. PA0 2. Adding air also increases the flow rate of the discharged milk. This could cause, under particularly unfavorable conditions such as a high addition of air, narrow pipe cross sections, sharp transitions and so forth, impact and shearing forces between the moving milk particles themselves and between the moving milk particles and the pipe wall which are so high that direct destruction of the fatty globule membranes is possible. PA0 3. If milk containing air is guided through a centrifugal pump, a considerable damage of the albumen membranes can occur. For this, just a small percentage of air which cannot even be seen with the naked eye is sufficient. PA0 1. The amount of free fatty acids produced can be noticeably reduced. PA0 2. A smaller amount of free fat is produced, thereby providing better capability for separating the fat and easier removal of a representative fat sample from a milk storage reservoir. PA0 3. A reduced formation of foam in the milk is achieved. This facilitates better hygiene in the milk storage reservoir, a reduced danger of the milk storage reservoir overflowing, and a simpler reading of the amounts of milk in the reservoir with the help of measuring devices. PA0 4. The vacuum which exists during the various phases of the milking process is noticeably stabilized. PA0 5. The danger that mastitis agents will be transmitted from one cow to another by milk returning from the milk discharge pipe when the other cow is just being milked dry is reduced considerably.
A basic purpose of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatus of the above-mentioned type in which the milk is guided through feedpipes but in which the FFA values are not significantly increased as the milk is conveyed.
To explain the general thought of the invention, it is first pointed out that it was found that in an inclined pipe, a milk and air mixture can flow in two layers, the heavier milk moving at the bottom in the pipe and the air passing over it. The milk in this case flows due to the force of gravity.
In a feedpipe however, the conveying of the milk can occur only through a pressure difference between the upper and the lower end of a milk column or one or more milk plugs. A plug formation is therefore necessary in a feedpipe during the conveying method with the help of an underpressure. However, this has the result that the inside diameter of the feedpipe cannot be chosen too large, even though, due to the need to minimize flow losses and thus vacuum losses in the milking tool, it is absolutely necessary to strive for an inside diameter of the feedpipe which is as large as possible. It has now been determined that, at cross sections of the feedpipe which are too large or at milk flow rates which are too small, the conveying of the milk no longer occurs smoothly and steadily because, under these conditions, proper milk plug formation becomes increasingly difficult. The conveying air which is added to the milk breaks increasingly under these conditions through the milk plug which is to be moved, and the plug residues flow back along the feedpipe until a new plug is formed or until all the milk as drops or as droplets is carried whirlingly along through the upwardly flowing conveying air.
In addition, since the amount of conveying air added is practically the same for each milking phase, there results as an additional complication the fact that the added amount of air is generally chosen so that, for maximum milk flow, a favorable discharge of the milk is assured. Thus, in this particular situation, a balance exists between the milk flow and the amount of conveying-air added. At the start and end of a milking cycle, however, the milk flow is substantially less than the maximum milk flow. In the case of a typical milk flow curve, the peak milk flow is relatively short. For example, during 50% of the milking time, the milk flow typically reaches only about 10%-20% of the maximum milk flow. During late lactation or, for example, because of uneven milking intervals (during evening milking), significantly smaller milk amounts are milked, causing the unbalance to be further sharpened. A greatly increased danger of dissolving the milk plugs and of conveying a pure air-milk mixture exists in these cases.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus implemented by a distributed control system including a plurality of CPU groups having a hierarchical structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Centralized control using one CPU is performed for printer device control of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system. An increasing CPU load due to centralized control requires a higher performance CPU. In addition, as the load of the printer device rises, communication cables (a bundle of communication lines) need to be laid from a CPU board to distant load driver units and many long communication cables are indispensable. To solve these problems, a control form is receiving a great deal of attention, in which control modules that build an electrophotographic system are assigned to sub-CPUs.
Examples of the construction of a control system by distributing respective partial module control functions to a plurality of CPUs have been proposed in several control equipment product fields other than copying machines. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-071819 has proposed a technique of hierarchically locating functional modules in a vehicle and performing distributed control. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-171960 has proposed a technique of applying a similar hierarchical control structure to robot/automation equipment. These sub-CPUs require a communication unit to operate them as a system as a whole. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-171960, separate communication networks are constructed for respective hierarchical layers in a control network for performing communication between functional modules. By distributing loads, a more stable control network can be built.
However, these conventional techniques suffer the following problems. When this system configuration is applied to distributed control of an image forming apparatus, a plurality of CPUs operate at the same operating frequency. The peak value of the frequency spectrum of a clock signal rises, increasing radiation noise. The radiation noise may be suppressed by designing different operating frequencies for respective CPUs. However, the operating frequency needs to be determined for each image forming apparatus model. This leads to a larger number of design steps and higher design cost. Further, factory management of CPUs having different operating frequencies is essential and boosts the manufacturing cost.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a current circuit and method thereof and more particularly related to a current control circuit and method thereof for a power converter, which implements a current sampling circuit to sample an inductor current passing through the current control circuit of the power converter so as to be able to control the output duty cycle ratio. As a result, the occurrence of inrush current is restrained. The present invention provides a better response speed and better system stability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because of continuing development of the modern technology and the popularity of the electronic devices, power converters play an important role to the electronic devices. A power converter is to convert power to suitable voltage as needed by the electronic devices, such as computers, display monitors, DVD players, and so on.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a conventional power converter. The control circuit 100 includes a converter unit 101, a voltage divider circuit 102, a differential amplifier 103, a comparator 104, a compensation circuit 105 and a driver 106. An input power Vi is converted by the converter unit 101 to generate a output power V0 to a capacitance C. The converter unit 101 includes an inductor, a diode and a transistor switch. During operation, as the transistor switch is conducted, the diode will have a reverse bias to store the power of the input voltage Vi in the inductor. When the transistor switch is cut off, the inductor will be unable to store power and the power stored in the inductor will be released to the capacitance C.
The output voltage V0 will generate a feedback voltage VFB by passing the voltage of the resistor R1 and resistor R2, which are connected in serial, in the voltage divider circuit 102 to compare in the differential amplifier 103 with a reference voltage Vref to generate an error signal E0 to the comparator 104. However, it is easy to cause circuit unstable because of the effect of the loading variation. Therefore, a compensation circuit 105 is used to solve the problem of the circuit stability. At the same time, the inductor current within the converter unit 101 and a ramp signal will be weighted to generate an output signal Vsum. Thereafter, the comparator 104 will compare the error signal E0 and the output signal to generate a driving signal S′ and then the driver 106 will drive the transistor switch SW to operate.
However, the conventional power converter is likely to generate an inrush current which causes the circuit to malfunction and decreases the circuit efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to design a power converter to solve the problem caused by the inrush current and to increase system efficiency.
The present invention is related to a current circuit and method, more particularly related to a current control circuit and method for a power converter. The invention implements a current sampling circuit to sample an inductor current passing through the current control circuit of the power converter so as to be able to control the output duty cycle ratio. As a result the occurrence of inrush current is restrained. The present invention thus provides a better response speed and better system stability.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to footwear and, more specifically, to a locator unit contained within footwear providing a method for GPS position determination and transmission of said location determination data to a central monitoring station which disseminates the data through the use of proprietary software and the Internet.
The footwear in the preferred embodiment contains the electronic circuitry in the mid sole of the shoe having GPS location determination unit and transponder whereby a remote location can determine the position of the wearer of said footwear having said device.
Furthermore, the present invention provides for additional elements by having the GPS unit and transponder contained within a socket positioned within the heel of the shoe.
The location component can be selectively inserted and or removed from the midsole or heel.
The socket in the midsole is comprised of a throughbore having spaced apart sidewalls and a top wall having retaining means positioned on each sidewall.
The heel socket is comprised of spaced apart sidewalls, top wall, a back wall and frontal aperture with the location of the socket preferably in the instep or heel of the shoe.
The insertable removable component has means for engaging the sidewalls of the receptacle and closure means for securing the component within said receptacle. Furthermore, the component can form a compartment for the inclusion of a GPS receiver and transponder for locating the wearer of said shoes.
The present invention provides for another additional element wherein the position determination component is contained within the tongue of the footwear.
In addition, to the electronic circuitry being embedded in the tongue of the shoe the antenna can be contained within a logo prominently placed on the tongue of the shoe which will increase the effectiveness of the device.
While the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides for an unobtrusive concealed locator device contained within the body of the shoe, it additionally provides for the attachment of a positioning determining device and transponder for transmitting the location data on demand in a module that can be releasably attached to the exterior of the shoe by means of the shoelaces or hook and loop material to the back of the footwear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other receptacles designed for footwear. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 1,597,823 issued to Randolph on Aug. 31, 1926.
Another patent was issued to Agrillo on Aug. 28, 1956 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,278. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,609 was issued to Bodkin on Aug. 4, 1959 and still yet another was issued on Oct. 27, 1987 to Dassler as U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,445.
Another patent was issued to Ormanns et al. on Sep. 26, 1989 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,700. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,518 was issued to Haber et al. on Dec. 5, 1995. Another was issued to Goldston et al. on Feb. 15, 1994 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,586 and still yet another was issued on Sep. 17, 1996 to Musa as U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,259.
Another patent was issued to McCarthy on Nov. 12, 1996 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,432. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,316 was issued to Huang on Aug. 12, 1997. Another was issued to Ingargiola et al. on May 5, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,087 and still yet another was issued on Oct. 26, 1999 to Inman as U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,631.
Another patent was issued to Robinson on Jan. 11, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,822. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,080 was issued to Layson, Jr. on Jan. 11, 2000. Another was issued to James on Jun. 19, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,251.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
By way of introduction to the subject invention, reference is made to commonly-assigned Pat. No. 5,429,284. This patent discloses a garment hanger comprised of a one-piece body having a hook portion for the receipt of a display rod, a central portion depending from the hook portion and having first and second openings therein, and a lower portion defining a fold line segment depending from the central portion with a third opening disposed in the fold line segment and a flap segment depending from the fold line segment. The central portion and the flap segment define coactive structure for retaining the flap segment against the central portion on folding of the flap segment about the fold line segment. The coactive structure is preferably comprised of first and second projections on the flap segment adjacent respective lateral margins thereof and first and second latching openings in the central portion adjacent respective lateral margins thereof.
In use of the hanger, with the flap segment unfolded, a garment, such as a tie, is looped through the first and second openings and then passed through the third opening. The flap is now folded against the garment and latched to the central portion.
By way of further introduction to the subject invention, reference is made to commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,378, which discloses a garment hanger comprised of a one-piece body having a hook portion for the receipt of a display rod, a central portion depending from the hook portion, the body defining in the central portion an opening therethrough and a garment support member disposed in the opening and movable relative to the body and a lower portion defining a fold line segment depending from the central portion and a flap segment depending from the fold line segment, the central portion, the fold line segment and the flap segment jointly defining a slot in the body which opens into a margin of the body.
The central portion and the flap segment define coactive means for retaining the flap segment against the central portion on folding of the flap segment about the fold line segment.
The fold line segment is disposed contiguously with an interior end of the slot and provides cantilever support for the flap segment.
Further background to the subject invention is found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,421,494 and 5,452,828, both of which disclose hanger assemblies wherein structure defining a compartment for a promotional article is hung jointly with the article to be sold.
In the '494 patent, there is provided a hanger composite including a first hanger having a hook portion for releasable securement to a display rod and an elongate foldable tail portion, the tail portion defining a latching opening therethrough and a projection extending outwardly of the tail portion to a given extent for latching disposition in the latching opening, and a second hanger assembled with the first hanger and defining a compartment for containment of an article, the second hanger having an opening therethrough configured complementally with the tail portion of the first hanger and enabling the assembly of the first and second hangers.
In the '828 patent, there is provided a display assembly including a belt having a buckle, a belt blank secured with the buckle and a retaining member secured with the belt blank adjacent the buckle for retaining a portion of the belt blank issuing from the buckle upon belt buckling and a hanger having a hook portion disposed on the belt retaining member, the hook portion defining locking structure for capturing the belt retaining member in the hook portion, and a compartment portion depending from the hook portion, the compartment being adapted for containment of an article to be marketed with the belt.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Radiolabeled chelating compounds are useful both as medical diagnostic and therapeutic agents. For example, radiolabeled ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) have been reported to be useful in evaluating renal functions, Klingensmith et al., J. Nucl. Med. 23:377 (1982). Similarly, Kasina et al., J. Med. Chem. 29:1933 (1986) report promising renal pharmaceuticals that are technetium chelates of N.sub.2 S.sub.2 diamido dimercaptides. Many other radiolabeled diagnostic chelates have been reported and include: tartrate and orthophosphate, Molinski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,157; propylene amine oxime, Troutner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,876; polyhydroxycarboxylic acids, Adler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,005; organotrisubstituted trivalent phosphorus compounds, Dean et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,700; bis-thiosemicarbazone, Vedee et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,472; gentisyl alcohol in combination with phosphonates, Fawzi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,000; mercaptoacetylglycylglycylglycine (MAG.sub.3) Fritzberg et al., J. Nucl. Med. 27:111-116 (1986); mercaptocarboxylic acids, Winchell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,285; thiosaccharides, Kubiatowicz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,398; homocysteine and homocysteinamide derivatives, Byrne et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,430; metallothionein, Tolman, European application Apr. 10, 1984 0 137 457 AZ; isonitrile, Jones et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,774; and imidodiphosphonate, Subramanian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,268.
One class of such compounds is the bifunctional chelating compounds, which have a functional group capable of binding a metal and a functional group reactive with a carrier molecule. Compounds of this type are being actively investigated since they are capable of stably linking radionuclides to target-specific biological molecules such as proteins, antibodies, and antibody fragments.
Diagnostic imaging of specific target tissue in vivo with a radiometal-chelate-antibody conjugate was reported by Khaw et al., Science 209:295 (1980). Similarly, the therapeutic use of radiometal-chelate-antibody conjugates to treat cellular disorders is disclosed by Gansow et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,106.
The procedure employed to insert a radiometal into a chelating compound depends on the chemistry of the radiometal and the chemical structure of the chelating compound. A variety of radiometals can be incorporated into both simple and bifunctional chelating compounds. The particular radiometal selected depends on the intended application and availability, as well as other factors.
Generally, radiometals intended for use as therapeutic agents are alpha, beta, or Auger electron emitters, such as .sup.109 Pd, .sup.111 Ag, .sup.119 Sb, .sup.198 Au, .sup.199 Au, .sup.67 Cu, .sup.105 Rh, .sup.186 Re, .sup.188 Re, and .sup.212 Bi. Radiometals intended for use as diagnostic agents are usually positron or gamma photon emitters. For example, in positron emission tomography .sup.43 Sc, .sup.44 Sc, .sup.52 Fe, .sup.55 Co, and .sup.68 Ga can be employed, while for gamma camera imaging .sup.203 Pb, .sup.97 Ru, .sup.197 Hg, .sup.67 Ga, .sup.201 Tl, .sup.99m Tc, .sup.113m In, and .sup.111 In are usually selected.
Many of the radiometals described above are available in oxidation states unsuitable for chelation without prior treatment. .sup.99m Tc, for example, is available as pertechnetate (TcO.sub.4.sup.-) and must be reduced to a lower oxidation state before chelation can occur. This is usually accomplished by the addition of a reducing agent, such as Sn.sup.+2 or dithionite at alkaline pH to the pertechnetate chelator mixture.
Transfer of the radiometal to the ultimate chelator is often facilitated by employing a labile or weak chelating agent (WCA) in the reaction mixture, Fritzberg et al. (1986). In the case of .sup.99m Tc, for example, an initial complex may be formed with a WCA such as gluconate. The .sup.99m Tc-gluconate complex forms quickly, thereby minimizing reoxidation of the .sup.99m Tc. Heating the initial Tc-WCA complex in the presence of a strong chelating agent (SCA) results in transfer of .sup.99m Tc to the strong chelating agent in improved yields, compared to carrying out the reduction of pertechnetate in the presence of the strong chelator alone.
Pollack et al. British J. Hematology, 34:231 (1976) describe the kinetic nature of the problem of transferring metals between strong chelating agents. These authors demonstrate a significantly enhanced transfer rate when a weak chelating agent, such as nitrilotriacetate, is employed.
The need to enhance the transfer kinetics of a metal to a strong chelator is particularly important when the chelator is attached to a protein. For example, Childs et al., J. Nucl. Med. 26:293-299 (1985) describe the rather harsh conditions, i.e. pH 4, necessary to achieve adequate binding of a radiometal to the antibody-bound chelator. Exposure to high temperatures or extremes of pH may denature or otherwise damage the protein to which the chelating compound is attached. Examples of weak chelating agents that have been used to facilitate transfer of metals to proteins or strong chelating agents attached thereto include the polyhydroxycarboxylates, glucoheptonate, Burchiel et al., J. Nucl. Med. 27:896 (1986) and tartrate, Kasina et al., Proc. Intl. Radio. Chem. Symp. 269-71 (1986). Strong chelating agents that have been conjugated to target specific proteins include: DTPA, Childs et al. (1985); EDTA, Wieder et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,751 (1982); metallothionein, Tolman, European Patent Application 0137457 (1985); bis-thiosemicarbozones, Arano et al., Int. J. Nucl. Med. Bio. 12:425 ( 1986), U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,362; and diamido dimercaptide (N.sub.2 S.sub.2) Fritzberg et. al. (1986).
Even when a weak chelating agent is used to facilitate incorporation of a radiometal into a strong chelating compound, the kinetics are not always sufficient unless somewhat harsh conditions are employed. It is known, for example, that transfer of technetium from a Tc-tartrate complex to an antibody-N.sub.2 S.sub.2 conjugate is slow and requires heating to 50.degree. C. or more for an hour to effect acceptable radiometal transfer. See European Patent Application Publication No. 188,256. Heating to temperatures above 37.degree. C. often leads to aggregation of proteins such as antibodies, as well as nonspecific labeling of the antibody itself.
Accordingly, a need exists for a chelating compound that can rapidly form stable chelates with radiometals at physiological temperatures or below. Radiolabeling of bifunctional chelators suitable for conjugation to target-specific biological molecules should be possible under conditions that preserve biological activity.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This application is based on and claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/874,956 filed Dec. 15, 2006 and is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/955,469 filed Dec. 13, 2007, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates, in general, to converged networks, and in particular, to soft error recovery.
There are two generally accepted definitions of errors in computer hardware and networks: soft errors and hard errors. Hard errors are the result of broken hardware, e.g. hardware with defects for one reason or another. These errors are repeatable. Soft errors are also know as transient errors and are usually not repeatable. Soft errors are random in nature and are caused by noise in the system such as high energy particles (alpha, beta, gamma, etc.), electrical interference, clock jitter, etc. Hardware's and network's susceptibility to soft errors is determined by the robustness of the design.
One major concern with errors, particularly in a datacenter network, is “silent data corruption” (SDC), which may be caused by either soft or hard error. The SDC refers to altered data that was undetected either due to insufficient or lack of checking mechanisms. In other words, SDC is the same as an undetected error that leads to data corruption. It should be noted that some undetected errors cause no problems, and are still considered SDC.
Current industry standard approaches for converged datacenter networks are susceptible to soft errors due to a variety of factors, including the high cost of radiation chamber testing and radiation hardening. This includes many of the new cloud data centers. Soft errors may occur because of radiation events, such as particle strikes, e.g. cosmic rays and alpha particles, interfering with the network. These radiation events may lead to transient errors in hardware and may lead to undetected state changes in software.
Soft errors in network switches may affect both the data plane, such as crossbar/shared memory and input/output switch ports, and the control plane, such as switch operating system (OS), of the switch. This may lead to multiple errors, including misrouting for gateway routers in a datacenter that may send packets to erroneous external locations, misclassification of packets, and misclassification of the availability of switches. Soft errors may also affect packet processing, compute and memory elements of a switch.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Generally, due to excellent mechanical and thermal properties and high gas-barrier properties, polyamide stretch films obtained by stretching uniaxially or biaxially have been used widely as materials for packaging of liquid type food, moist food, frozen food, retort food, paste type food, livestock meat and seafood products, and heavy products such as soup, konjak, hamburg, miso paste, ham, rice, etc. These films to be used mainly for packaging are required to have good slipperiness and excellent workability for printing, vapor deposition, lamination, and bagmaking. However, conventional polyamide biaxially oriented films have a defective point in that their slipperiness is worsened by moisture absorption and softening in highly humid environments, and consequently, there are various problems attributed to deficiency in slipperiness at the time of handling or processing the films particularly in rainy seasons.
As a means for improving the slipperiness of a polyamide resin film, the following methods are proposed: (1) a method for decreasing the contact surface area of films on one another by adding fine particles of silica, kaolin, or the like to a resin, extruding these fine particles and forming fine projections on the surface of films by a stretching treatment; (2) a method for decreasing the contact surface area of films on one another by forming spherulite in the films; (3) a method for decreasing mutual action in contact portions of films on one another by adding an organic lubricant, such as higher fatty acid bisamide compounds or the like, to a polyamide resin; and (4) a method for making a film having a multi-layer structure by a coating, lamination, or co-extrusion method and forming a layer with improved slipperiness obtained by the methods (1) to (3) as a top surface layer.
However, in order to reliably obtain satisfactory workability even under high humidity for polyamide resin films obtained by methods (1) and (2), it is necessary to increase the addition amount of fine particles or spherulite for forming the projections on the film surface, and owing to that, the transparency of the film is lowered and it becomes a serious defect for packaging use for which a clear appearance is required. As compared with polyamide resin films obtained by methods (1) and (2), the polyamide resin film obtained by method (3) is provided with high slipperiness although slightly inferior in transparency. However, if the addition amount of an organic lubricant is increased to obtain sufficient slipperiness, it results in worsening of the sticking property and wettability to other materials at the time of layering or laminating the film on other materials and undesirably affects the processability for printing, vapor deposition, lamination, etc.
A method is therefore proposed for providing excellent slipperiness in highly humid environments by specifying the size of inorganic fine particles and the pore volume and controlling the ratio of the layer to which the fine particles are added (reference to Patent Document 1). In this method, although having remarkably excellent slipperiness in highly humid environments as well as transparency sufficient for packaging materials without any problem, films obtained by the method are difficult to be used for purposes required to have good designing properties.
As another method, a method is proposed for keeping slipperiness by adding a semi-aromatic polyamide resin to an aliphatic polyamide resin as a main component, making a resin with low moisture absorption exist in the film surface, and suppressing softening of the surface (Japanese Patent No. 3671978).
However, although the transparency decrease is suppressed to improve the slipperiness by addition of a semi-aromatic polyamide resin by this method. While this method can be an excellent technique for controlling the slipperiness, the method has a problem in terms of the cost that the raw material cost of a semi-aromatic polyamide resin is high, and the production cost tends to be high.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Gutters and downspouts are mounted on most residential and commercial structures along the lower edge of the roof of the structure to receive water draining off of the roof, such as during a rainstorm. Gutters come in many different styles, including K gutter, half round gutter, or commercial box gutter, but all are generally formed with an open top through which water is received into a trough or channel that delivers the water by gravity to a downspout for discharge away from the building structure. Gutters are often mounted on a plurality of hangers that are spaced along the length of the gutter and fastened to fascia boards by nails or screws such that the gutter is suspended from the hangers. The downspout is connected to an outlet of the gutter to provide a conduit to drain the collected rainwater from the gutter for discharge along the surface of the ground and direct the rainwater away from the building structure.
Typically, the downspout is provided with an elbow at the discharge end thereof to direct the discharged rainwater into a generally horizontal direction away from the building on which the downspout is mounted. These elbows at the discharge end of the downspout have a short length and are only effective to provide a direction for the discharge of the rainwater away from the building; therefore, the rainwater is often discharged too close to the building and the discharged rainwater can find a way into the basement of the building to cause cracks or leaks. Splash blocks can be provided to receive the discharged rainwater from the downspout elbow and help direct the rainwater away from the building. Other attempts to divert the rainwater from downspouts include a non-flexible extension, which is typically a generally horizontally disposed piece of downspout affixed to the discharge end of the elbow, and a flexible downspout extension that can be bent in a desired direction to redirect the discharged rainwater.
Occasionally, a landowner will bury into the ground a drainage pipe or conduit for conveying rainwater to a remote location, such as a groundwater restoration cistern, or at least some point remotely distant from the building. The downspout is then connected to the drainage pipe by the downspout extension so that the rainwater is discharged at a location that will not infiltrate into the basement of the building. Once such downspout extension can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,701, granted to Christopher Noble on Sep. 29, 1998. The Noble downspout extension is formed with multiple adapter portions at each end of a flexible central portion. The adapter segments at the respective ends of the downspout extension are separated by a cut line to allow the installer of the downspout extension to separate the outwardmost adapter segment from the downspout extension so that the inner adapter segment could be utilized to connect to the downspout. The Noble downspout extension is formed so that the adapter segments at one end of the downspout extension will be capable of fitting into the corresponding adapter segment at the opposing end of the downspout extension so that multiple downspout extensions can be hooked together in a serial manner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,825, granted to Christopher Noble on Mar. 28, 2000, the downspout extension was formed with multiple adapter segments at each end of the flexible central portion of the downspout extension. More particularly, the adapter segments begin with a large rectangular configuration on the outwardmost ends of the downspout extension followed inwardly by a smaller rectangular adapter segment and then inwardly a smaller circular adapter segment. Each adapter segment is separable from the inwardly disposed adapter segment by a cut line so that the outward adapter segments can be removed. Accordingly, when the outwardmost adapter segment was utilized to connect to the discharge end of the downspout, the rainwater, and any debris entrained within the flow of the rainwater had to pass from a larger adapter configuration into a smaller adapter configuration, thus forming a restriction on the flow through the downspout extension.
A differently configured flexible downspout extension is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,017,614 granted on Mar. 28, 2006, to Stephen Handley. In the Handley downspout extension, one end of the downspout extension was formed with multiple rectangular adapter segments arranged in decreasing sizes from the outwardmost adapter segment to the innermost adapter segment, while the opposing end of the downspout extension was provided with circular connector sized for attachment to a circular drainage pipe or conduit. Thus, one end of the flexible downspout extension is formed for connection to a downspout, while the opposing end is formed for connection to a drainage pipe. As with the Noble downspout extensions, the connection of the downspout to the outwardmost adapter segment causes the flow to be constricted through decreasingly smaller adapter segments before reaching the central flexible portion.
Low profile downspout extensions are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,632, granted to Eric M. Zima on Jan. 26, 1999, in which a telescopic extension is coupled to the discharge end of the downspout to direct water therefrom to a remote location. The rain chute disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,358, issued on Mar. 20, 2001, to Lawrence M. Janesky, also provides a low profile apparatus for conveying water to a remote location from the downspout of a building. A low profile conduit connectable to a downspout discharge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,532, granted on Dec. 2, 2008, to W. Haynes Sloan. The structure of this low profile conduit requires a reinforcement member at the transition area between the circular connector and the low profile rectangular conduit.
It would be desirable to provide a low profile downspout extension that is configured to connect to either 2×3 or 3×4 rectangular downspouts and transition into a low profile rectangular conduit that can be located below landscaping without providing internal reinforcement members. It would further be desirable to provide a low profile downspout extension that is extendable incrementally to provide a conduit of desirable length.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Current photoimagable dielectric (PID) materials, such as Probimer and Probelec from Vantico, and Dynavia 2000 from Shipley Ronal, have been used in Surface Laminar Circuit™ (SLC) technology as a build-up material. The material is applied to the subcomposite circuit board, and is dried. The vias are then imaged into the dielectric layer, and then the material is cured. Subsequent processing includes a surface treatment, copper plating, and circuitization. This process can be repeated for additional build-up layers, or the substrate can be finished by applying solder mask and the appropriate surface finish.
A common use of SLC technology is in chip carrier substrates. In some applications, specifically those relating to original equipment manufacture, it is desirable to conform to JEDEC standards. One of the JEDEC tests, deep thermal cycling (DTC), subjects the assembled modules to thermal cycling between −55° C. and 125° C. and, in some cases, from −65° C. to 150° C. With certain designs, the PID material may crack during thermal cycling and the crack often propagates through the material causing a break in the underlying electrical circuit line, creating an open circuit. This cracking is due to the strain placed on the material by bending of the substrate and by mismatches in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), for example between the copper and the epoxy. Typically, if the localized strain exceeds the ductility of the material, the material will fail. A material may also break by repeated bending at a lower strain, such as during thermal cycling, due to material fatigue. Another factor here is the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the material. This is the temperature at which an amorphous material, such as most polymers, changes from a brittle vitreous state to a plastic state. Since the CTE of polymers typically increases significantly above the Tg, it is desirable to use a material with a Tg higher than the maximum temperature at which the material is stressed.
Typical approaches to solving these problems include adding a thermoplastic component to increase the ductility of the polymer, or adding a filler material to lower the CTE. However, adding a filler can significantly reduce the ductility. In addition, both of these approaches can degrade the photo resolution of the PID.
The resins that are combined to create a polymer formulation will be hereinafter referred to as a “resin blend.” This resin blend needs to meet various material and processing objectives for easy manufacture. Also, it is desirable to have a polymer formulation that has high ductility and high flex fatigue life. Furthermore, it is necessary that this polymer system be photoimagable. One approach to formulating a PID material is to use epoxy resins and cationic photoinitiators. There are many epoxy resins available with a range of properties. Cationic photoinitiators suitable for polymerizing epoxies include sulfonium and onium salts and ferrocene derivative salts.
Epoxy starting materials available in the industry may be mono, di, or poly functional. Most epoxy pre polymers are low molecular weight. It is typical for resins synthesized from polymers of low molecular weight epoxy starting materials to be brittle. Some epoxies have a high Tg, but the general trend is for materials with a high Tg to be brittle below the transition temperature. Flexible polymers typically do not have a high Tg. This makes the formulating of such a material with a high Tg, a high ductility, and a low CTE, a challenge.
U.S. Pat. No 5,061,779 describes the production of a resin capable of filling plated through holes. This resin contains brominated materials and is thermally cured resulting in a material having a Tg>75° C. This patent does not teach the production of high Tg and high flex materials for photoimagable applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,250 and No. 4,593,056 relate to a resin capable of yielding high tensile strength fibers via a wet winding process. The resin in −250 contains cycloaliphatic epoxy and Epon-type resins and aromatic diamine components. The resin in −056 utilizes difunctional epoxy and Epon-like epoxy resins along with an aromatic diamine hardener component. The resin is thermally cured by use of an aromatic trihydroxy cure accelerator. The patents do not teach the production of high Tg and high flex materials for PID applications. Furthermore, these diamines are basic and would tend to neutralize the effect of acidic compounds that are used as cationic photoinitiators.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,263 relates to the production of a photoimagable material. This objective is achieved by incorporating a photocationic initiator into a polymeric backbone. Crosslinking is achieved by attaching reactive pendant groups, such as epoxies, acrylates or allyl ethers, to an unrelated polymer backbone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,259 relates to a polymeric resin with good heat resistance and good adhesion to copper, along with good flexibility and high bend strength. The resins can include a blend of difunctional and trifunctional epoxies that are thermally cured using imidazoles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,121 relates to difunctional and trifunctional epoxies that are catalyzed by a photocationic initiator for use as an adhesive. It also includes tin and a polybutadiene toughener. The reported Tg is in the range of 100° to 130° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,216 describes formulations containing difunctional and trifunctional epoxies along with a thermoplastic toughener, with an object of producing high Tg materials. The formulations are cured utilizing high energy radiation. The use of UV light is not described. The use of the formulations for photoimagable dielectrics is not discussed.
German Pat. No. DE 4217509 discloses a low viscosity mixture of a trifunctional epoxy with a diclycidyl ether based on bisphenol F and a highly functionalized amine-based resin component. The mixture may include silica. It is cured using a thermal catalyst. The mixture is used for prepreg/laminate applications, but is not mentioned as being useful for the photoimagable dielectrics.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Generally, a disk-shaped medium such as an optical disk or a magnetic disk is stored in a disk cartridge for dust control or convenient insertion to a recording/reproducing device. Such a disc cartridge has a window to accept insertion of a recording/reproducing head and a turntable for rotation driving of the disk. Further, the disk cartridge has a covering board to open and close the window, which is generally called a shutter. Various optical disks such as a mini disk (MD), a magneto-optical disk, or a DVD, or a flexible disk can be the recording medium having such an arrangement.
As an example of the medium, FIG. 10 shows an arrangement of components included in a disk cartridge of an MD. Further, FIGS. 11A through 11E are schematic diagrams and a cross-sectional view showing the opened state and the closed state of the shutter of the disk cartridge. The disk cartridge 100 adopts a magnetic head and an optical head for recording/reproducing of the disk 103. As shown in FIGS. 11A through 11E, and FIGS. 12A through 12E, the disk cartridge 100 roughly includes a front case 107 and a rear case 108, and stores the disk 103. The front case 107 has an upper window 101 as an insertion hole for a magnetic head, and the rear case 108 has a turntable insertion hole 102c and a lower window 102 for insertion of an optical head. These two windows 101 and 102 can be opened and closed with a shutter 104, and is opened when recording/reproducing is carried out, and is closed when recording/reproducing is not carried out.
Further, when recording/reproducing is carried out, the disk 103 is joined to a turntable of an optical disk device with a magnet due to magnetic force through the lower window 102 via a clamping plate 106 of magnetic material included in the disk 103. The disk 103 joined to the turntable is rotated for driving, and also writing or reading of information signals is performed with the magnetic head or the optical head by making access to the information recording surface of the disk 103 via the upper window 101 and/or the lower window 102.
Note that, the arrangements of cartridges used for the other media stated above do not greatly differ from this cartridge except for the covering before the insertion to a turntable, and the covering method which either uses a shutter and a spring, or uses mechanical covering by a shutter lock.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Tokukaihei 6-131841 (published on May 13, 1994) discloses a disk cartridge having two windows (or may also be called insertion holes) having the same arrangement as above in one surface. In this disk cartridge, in the recording/reproducing, writing and reading of information signals is carried out via the two windows with a recording head and a reproducing head (such as an optical head or a magnetic head) which simultaneously make access to the same signal recording surface. FIGS. 12A through 12E are schematic diagrams and a cross-sectional view showing the opened state and the closed state of the shutter the disk cartridge 200.
Since the component arrangement of the disc cartridge 200 is not greatly differ from the described disc cartridge 100 of an MD, for ease of explanation, materials having the equivalent functions as those of the disk cartridge 100 will be given the same reference symbols, and explanation thereof will be omitted here. As shown in FIGS. 12A through 12E, the disk cartridge 200 has two windows in the same case made of the front case 107 and the rear case 108 for inserting a recording head and a reproducing head. The two windows slide to open in the same directions with the shutter 104. With this arrangement, the disk 103 stored in the disk cartridge 200 can be used for a disk device in which a recording head and reproducing head make access to the same surface at the same time.
Further, the publication above also suggests an example of the disk cartridge having respective shutter 104a and 104b, which are separately opened and closed. In this disk cartridge, when it is used for a disk driving device capable of accepting either of recording/reproducing head to the signal recording surface, the unused window for insertion is closed while the other is opened for accepting a recording/reproducing head to be accessed to the signal recording surface, thus ensuring a superior dust control.
The following will respectively describe two types of the driving device used for recording/reproducing the disk stored in the foregoing disk cartridge.
One is a large-sized driving device for a large disk (for example, a DVD player) capable of recording a large amount of information, and generally fixed in a predetermined place. Another is a small-sized driving device for a small disk (for example, a portable MD player) capable of movable use. These driving devices have different priorities in the performance depending on the purpose of use. For example, a small sized driving device has to be downsized for meeting its purpose of movable use.
Accordingly, in the small sized driving device, the shutter provided in the disk cartridge should not go out of the width of the disk cartridge even in the opened state. The following will discuss the condition of the shutter which does not go out of the width of the disk cartridge even in the opened state with reference to FIG. 11A through 11E, and FIGS. 13A and 13B.
In the cartridge 100 shown in FIGS. 11A through 11E used for such as an MD, a lens center 105a of an optical head 105 is moved on a line a-a′ (a line on the center of the turntable) to carry out recording/reproducing of an optical disk. When the lens center 105a goes out of the line a-a′, the existing optical disk device becomes incapable of position recognition for recording/reproducing. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the disk cartridge 100 has the lower window 102 (insertion hole for the optical head) substantially symmetrical with respect to the centerline (a line a-a′). In this disk cartridge 100, the width of the window W1 is substantially the same as the width of the shutter W2 (note: W1=W2=W) and the lower window has to be the center of the cartridge as thus described in order to meet the requirement of the condition of the shutter 104 which does not go out of the width of the disk cartridge, and therefore the condition is denoted by the following equation;½L/≧½W+W
where L represents the length of opening/closing direction (sliding direction) of the shutter 104.
More specifically, the limitation of the width of the window is about ⅓ of the length L of the cartridge, and also it is ⅓ of the diameter of the disk since it is preferable that the length of the cartridge is substantially the same as the diameter of the disk so as to downsize the disk.
Meanwhile, a major demand for the large-sized driving device used for a large capacity recording medium is high speed information processing for dealing with a large amount of information. Thus, respective driving devices corresponding each diameter have been provided as the large sized driving device. The respective driving devices use optical heads (recording/reproducing head) corresponding to the diameter of the disk so as to realize high speed, high density and stable information processing. Further, for thus realizing high speed, high density and stable information processing, the beam diameter required for the recording/reproducing have to be reduced by bringing the objective lens of the optical head as close as possible to the disk so that the focal distance is reduced. The beam diameter needs to be large to some extent before passing through the objective lens so as to effectively reduce the beam diameter, since it is difficult to adjust the focus of the beam in excessively small diameter. In the small sized driving device whose major demand is downsizing has the limitation of the width of the window in the disk cartridge, and therefore it is impossible to make a large beam diameter. Consequently, high speed information processing is difficult in a small-sized driving device.
Incidentally, in recent years, there has been a new demand of high speed information processing by using a large sized driving device with respect to information recorded on a small disk with a portable small-sized driving device.
To use a small disk in a large-sized driving device, which is normally used for a large disk, the recording/reproducing head in the large-sized driving device needs to be fit to the window (insertion hole for a recording/reproducing head) of the small sized driving device. However, a conventional small disk such as an MD has a window in a width of ⅓ of the width of the disk cartridge. Therefore, when a large-sized driving device is used for the small disk having the small window, as has been described, the particular function of a large-sized driving device, i.e., high speed information processing cannot be expected.
Further, the cartridge 200 disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Tokukaihei 6-131841 does not meet the foregoing requirement either due to the reason above (limitation of the size of the window), though it is adoptable for various recording heads or reproducing heads by having a plurality of windows (insertion hole for recording/reproducing head).
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Radio frequency (RF) communication links are increasingly being used to transfer information, and to control devices. As the number of device that rely on RF communications increases, and as the amount of data transferred by such devices also increases, the RF spectrum available for such communications has become increasingly crowded. This crowding of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum requires that RF devices make efficient use of the available bandwidth.
In order to maximize the available RF communications systems, various techniques and standards have been developed or proposed. For example, narrowly steered beams can be used for point to point communications between pairs of devices, reducing the potential for interference with other devices. In addition, agile systems, such as cognitive radios and software defined radios can detect which communication channels are occupied, and which are available for communications, thereby avoiding interference with other transmissions. Some or all of these systems can make use of multiple element antenna systems, such as planar phased array antennas, which can enable beam steering and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas. Systems that can or do utilize such antenna systems include those adhering to the IEEE 802.11n and 802.11as, WiMAX (4G), Long Term Evolution (LTE 4G), and the proposed 5th Generation Wireless systems (5G) standards.
As the telecommunications industry rapidly migrates to the new 5G standard, we can expect unprecedented data speeds, low latency and high reliability communications. To support these advancements, millimeter wave frequency bands are being made available on a global scale for 5G base stations, backhauls, fronthauls and customer premises equipment. The wide contiguous bandwidths available at these newly assigned frequencies enable high data rates. Additionally, the associated short wavelengths allow physically compact electronic steerable (active) antennas to be deployed that offer spatial diversity, spectrum reuse, and high antenna directivity (gain) to overcome the higher path loss encountered at millimeter wave frequencies.
However, current wireless communications technology features omni-directional sectored antennas tailored for use at frequencies below 6 GHz. Additionally, only fixed beam horn antennas and slowly steerable reflectors or lenses have been available for commercial development. These technologies are not electronically steerable and require moving parts or multiple antennas to cover a large geographical area. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an antenna system that incorporated planar antenna phased technology in order to enhance the spectral efficiency of RF communications networks.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Pill cases are known in the art and typically contain a plurality of pills which can be accessed by the user as needed. Pill cases known in the art are desirably compact so that they can be carried by the user in a purse or in a shirt pocket or other convenient location.
Some users are required to take medication for extended periods of time. Examples of such medications include medicines for treating chronic illnesses such as elevated blood pressure, cardiac deficiencies, arthritis, illnesses in which pain is part of an on-going treatment plan, and the like. In addition, life-style related medications such as birth control pills, hormone replacement pills and the like also require long term, periodic use.
Pill storage/dispensing devices, especially for long term use medications, typically suffer from a number of disadvantages. One such device is a container typically used by pharmacies to fill prescriptions for medications. These containers are disadvantageous because the pills can be adversely affected (e.g. chipped or broken) by unwanted contact with other pills and can easily fall out of the container when attempting to dispense a typical dose of one or two pills. In addition, such containers do not enable the user to readily visualize how many pills remain in the container. Some pill dispensers are typically limited to a fixed number of pills before they must be replaced and therefore can only be used for relatively short term prescription periods (e.g. no more than 30 days).
Other pill storage/dispensing cases are shown and described in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. Des. 339,742; Des. 358,762; Des. 411,445; Des. 414,106; and Des. 423,111; as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,414,119; 5,348,158; 5,351,818; 5,368,187; 5,372,258; 6,036,018; 6,173,838; and 6,219,997 each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Some pill dispensing/storage cases now employ blister cards or blister packs which house a preselected number of pills and which protect each pill so that they cannot be broken by contact with other pills. The blister cards store pills in spaced apart pill receiving cavities which are then sealed using a protective cover such as coated paper, foil, plastic or the like. The pills may be removed from the cavities by piercing the cover or by applying pressure to one side of the covered pill until the pill bursts through the protective cover. More detailed descriptions of blister cards or packs are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,187; 6,036,018; 6,219,997; and 6,338,408, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Despite these efforts there remains the need for a pill storage/dispensing device that a) is compact, b) easily opened to gain access to the pills, c) capable of accommodating pills for extensive prescription periods, d) capable of accommodating sleeves for receiving different pills and/or dosage regimens and e) wherein the sleeves can accommodate multiple blister cards or packs, which are either permanently or removably secured to the pill case.
It would therefore be a significant advantage in the art to provide users an opportunity to house medications in a pill storing/dispensing device which can readily house individual pills in separate compartments and which facilitates dispensing of the desired dose of pills. It would also be an advantage in the art the pill containing device can house a varying quantity of pills depending on the particular requirements of the medication and the dosage regimen required by the user which may be in the form of blister cards which have varying numbers of pills such as may be used for dispensing oral contraceptive medications.
It would be a further advantage in the art to provide a pill storage/dispensing device having multiple sleeves, where each sleeve receives and dispenses a number of pills corresponding to a particular dosage regimen. It would be a further advantage in the art if the device can accommodate relative long term prescriptions (e.g. more than 30 days) and it would be a still further advantage in the art if the pill case can be in a compact form, easy to carry and store in a purse, shirt pocket or the like.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Data storage devices (DSD) store data and include a mechanical portion, or head-disk assembly (HDA) and an electronics portion, or printed circuit board wiring assembly (PWA), controlling functions of the HDA while providing a communication interface between the HDA and a host being serviced by the DSD. The HDA has a disk, with data recorded on a recording surface, rotated at a constant speed by a motor assembly, the data is accessed by a read/write head of an actuator assembly the position of which is controlled by a closed loop servo system. The data storage device market continues to place pressure on the industry for DSD's with higher rates of data throughput.
DSD standards have recently been revised to change the physical sectors on the drives from 512 bytes to 1024 bytes (or “1K”). While the Advanced Technology Attachment (“ATA”) standard allows the local block address (“LBA”) to be changed to conform to the physical sector size, changing the LBA from 512 bytes is not presently compatible with the basic input/output system (“BIOS”), operating system software, applications, host interface, drive interface, and hardware. These legacy operating systems, applications, and hardware still transmit and request data in 512 byte blocks. Some of the hardware is actually “hard wired” to read and write in 512 bytes and cannot be changed via a firmware update.
Even though the physical sector size on a hard disk drive may be 1K, it will still have to manage data transfer requests, file allocation tables (“FAT”), and drive partitioning based upon 512 byte formats. For optimal performance, data transfers should start on even LBAs and end on odd LBAs as even LBAs are aligned with the beginning of each 1K physical sector. This means that for operating systems and hardware limited to 512 byte functionality, the beginning of each odd LBA is unaligned with a physical sector and must be located using a read command before the remaining data can be written. This degrades the DSD writing time and thus the performance of the DSD in time-critical applications.
The information included in this Background section of the specification, including any references cited herein and any description or discussion thereof, is included for technical reference purposes only and is not to be regarded subject matter by which the scope of the invention is to be bound.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio phone equipment, and more particularly to a radio phone apparatus for credit card for making a telephone call by the use of a credit card or a charge card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Progress of mobile phone services in recent years demands a mobile phone with which passengers taking an omnibus, a sightseeing bus, and a taxi, etc., can freely give a telephone call. Prior techniques in such a field are known in for example "Design of Car Equipment for Mobile Public Phone" issued by Electric & Communication Laboratory of NTT, vol. 33, No. 4 1984, p.p. 771 to 783 (1984) or in "Versatile Services of Mobile Phone" Telecommunication Facilities, vol. 36, No. 8, p.p. 115 to 118 (1984) in NTT Facility Division.
A mobile phone described in these references is that of coin dispensing public type wherein the charges for telephone calls are selectively collected without fail without troubling a carman when the phone is employed by passengers taking an omnibus, a sight-seeing bus, and a taxi, etc.
However, such a coin dispensing system suffers from the following problems:
(a) A user must have a proper amount of coins with him.
(b) Processing for charging as a coin type mobile phone is needed to result in a complicated circuit therefor as well as deteriorated speech quality. Moreover, a strong box to house coins is needed. Thus, the mobile is heavy-weighted and is costly.
(c) Usage of the mobile phone must be limited depending on a capacity of the strong box when the box is full with coins and hence coins must be withdrawn periodically.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present disclosure is directed to a method and system for renewable energy to be stored in temperature-pressure tank for eventual conversion to electrical energy making possible the conversion of renewable energy into a variable stream. Such a system and method is suitable especially of wind, tide and the sun, to realize a constant stream of electrical energy.
One conventional solution is the described in Japanese Patent No. JP2240401 (A) that shows method of storing energy in substance under pressure in pressure accumulator.
Another conventional solution is described in French Patent No. FR2891095 (A1) that shows method of storing energy in a heated substance in a tank with water heated by sun panels.
Yet another solution is described in Japanese Patent No. JP57146004 (A) that shows method of storing energy in a heated substance in a heat accumulator.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Since its advent, the model of a standalone personal computer with removable storage media has had a great effect on the computer industry and influenced the design of much of computer system architectures and infrastructures. However, advances in storage solutions and complex computer systems have been happening rapidly since the time of the first standalone computers. For example, continued discovery of smaller and smaller integrated circuits and semiconductor chips capable of storing ever increasing quantities of data, increased bandwidth and data transfer rates possible with today's computer networks and the concomitant increased utilization of server computers in connection with databases and storage components of all types are all examples of the increased functionality that networked computer environments have evolved to possess.
As a consequence, traditional computing and storage techniques and models have been challenged. The widespread use of removable storage media, for example, has been challenged by the ability to remotely store files efficiently and inexpensively. Furthermore, as computer systems have evolved, so has the availability and configuration of data storage devices, such as magnetic or optical disks. For example, these storage devices can be connected to the computer system via a bus, or they can be connected to the computer system via a wired or wireless network. In addition, the storage devices can be separate or co-located in a single cabinet.
As background, a storage volume is a software abstraction of the underlying storage devices and is the smallest self-contained unit of storage mounted by an operating system and administered by the file system. Storage volumes abstract the physical topology of their associated storage devices and may be a fraction of a disk, a whole disk or even multiple disks that are bound into a virtually contiguous range of logical blocks. This binding may increase the fault tolerance, performance, or capacity characteristics of the underlying devices. In short, in today's complex computer system environments, storage volumes can be a diverse set of elements for which efficient and effective management is desirable.
Volumes are constructed from one or more extents that are contiguous storage address spaces presented by the underlying storage devices. An extent is typically characterized by the size of the address space and a starting offset for the address space from a base of the media. Volume mapping is the process of mapping contiguous address space presented by the volume onto the non-contiguous storage address spaces of the underlying extents. Volume mappings are either implemented on a specialized hardware controller, referred to as a hardware volume provider, or in software by a software volume provider. By way of further background, a technique for common administration and management of volume providers is provided in commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 09/449,577, entitled “Administration of RAID Storage Volumes.”
Advances in storage techniques are changing the ways in which data can be stored, thereby placing a strain on the traditional management of files within and between volumes. Thus, advances in networks and computer system models have greater ramifications than simply resulting change in the types of storage components being utilized and in the connections being used between the storage components. Techniques traditionally used to manage file transfers, for example, were not originally designed to support all of the increased functionality of today's complex networked environments. Operating systems, system infrastructure and core file management functions with which many computers operate have thus been affected. As a consequence, current file systems have lingering inefficiency associated therewith and are not equipped to handle all different types of storage operations with maximum efficiency.
One such inefficiency exists in connection with the hierarchical storage management (HSM) system, the system that oversees the storage of files and operations incident thereto. With the proliferation of various storage elements and techniques as described above, sometimes it becomes desirable to store portion(s) of a file in remote storage while retaining portion(s) in local storage. This may be desirable, for example, to free up more valuable local storage when portions of a file are known to be static, or to stow away certain data that is infrequently utilized. For another example, an append only file has the characteristic that data writes occur only at the end of the file. For yet another example, migration of data to remote storage might be an effective way of providing on-line disk/memory allocation limits. Consequently, an efficient use of local storage may dictate that the immutable portions of the file, to which new writes are appended, be migrated to remote storage. Thus, there are a variety of reasons why a file may have some data that is suited to migration to remote storage.
The case for partial migration of files is not generally supported in current HSM systems for relocation operations and the like. For example, a file copied from one storage location to another storage location, such as from on-line storage to remote storage, generally involves copying or moving the entire file. Current HSM systems perform a file move by recalling the entire file, copying it either to a second server managed by a second HSM system or to a second volume managed by the same HSM system, and registering the target volume for administration by either the second or same HSM system, respectively. Thus, current HSM systems do not perform move operations without changing on-disk allocations.
Commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/644,667, entitled “Partial Migration of an Object to Another Storage Location in a Computer System,” filed on the same day as the present application, relates to a HSM system that does support partial migration of data streams/files. In that system, metadata is generated for the description of a file having at least one portion migrated. Via the metadata, the HSM system can recall the file data since the metadata contains information relating to where each portion of the file is stored. A need still exists, however, for efficient relocation techniques in connection with such a system. A system could be implemented for a file or other data stream, stored partially in a base storage location and stored partially in another storage location as a result of partial migration techniques, such that the HSM system, used incident to the file migration, would cause relocation of the entire file, i.e., both the portion remotely stored and the portion stored on the base volume. For example, the HSM system could cause the remotely stored or migrated portion to be read back from remote storage and then the entire file once re-assembled in the base volume could be relocated according to standard relocation techniques.
Thus, the current state of the art of hierarchical storage management of files inadequately or inefficiently covers the case where files, to be copied, moved or re-located in some respect, have been partially migrated to another storage location. Further, the state of the art provides inadequate and/or inefficient support for systems administering the migration of predetermined part(s) of files/streams from one storage location to another while retaining other part(s) of files/streams. The invention of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/644,667, referenced above, describes a mechanism for specifying those regions of a data stream suited to writes and updates and those immutable or other regions of a data stream suited to off-line or remote storage. In so doing, a method of generating metadata for describing a stream's storage relationships is provided. However, a need still exists for updating the metadata in the event of a relocation operation. Consequently, issues arising in connection with the partial migration of files are becoming the subject of much current research and development. Thus, in current systems where the file server performs re-location operation(s) in connection with a file that is partially stored in remote storage, a common approach does not exist to relocate, move or copy files from one volume to another.
Thus, assuming a file management system that can describe, define or specify when a file has been partially stored in remote storage, it would be advantageous to update such description, definition or specification to reflect efficient relocation operations. Alternatively stated, assuming the existence of a file server for a computer system capable of identifying and specifying via metadata when a file has portion(s) that have been migrated to remote storage, it would be advantageous to perform efficient relocation operations and to update the metadata in accordance with the same. It would be further advantageous to be able to move a stream/file independent of its on-disk allocations. It would be further advantageous to move metadata used to manage a partially migrated file to a new location. It would be still further advantageous to allow efficient access to migrated data of a partially migrated file relocated to a new storage location. It would be still further advantageous to provide a HSM system capable of efficiently moving, copying or relocating files that have been partially migrated to remote storage from one volume to another, even where multiple back end servers are involved.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Residential and commercial air conditioners include as a part thereof a fan coil unit located within a housing which includes a coil through which refrigerant (liquid or gas, such as freon) is pumped. The coil is normally supported above a condensation pan, convector tray or primary pan having one or more openings through which air is blown by one or more fans powered by motors which are supported below and from the primary pan. The air passing through the coil creates condensation on the coil which drips down upon and into the primary pan and is then conducted by an appropriate outlet through a discharge pipe to a secondary pan and/or an associated drain.
Such conventional primary pans are generally made from galvanized metal and rust with relative ease. The fasteners (nuts and bolts and/or rivets) which connect the fan and/or fan housings to the primary pan are also generally made from metal and rust with equal relative ease. Once the primary pan and/or the fasteners rust, the condensation/water normally accumulating therein and draining properly therefrom, cannot do so. Instead the condensation can, for example, drip through the rusted galvanized primary pan and/or the fasteners into the underlying motor(s) which drives the fan(s) thereby causing the motor to short-out. The fan motor itself is normally supported by a metallic bracket and excessive rusting of the primary pans/metal fasteners will cause the fan support brackets to rust. Excessive rusting coupled with the centrifugal force of the fan motor would cause wobble, undesirable increased noise, and could eventually result in the brackets breaking or sufficiently loosening such that the motors and fans simply fall from the primary pan.
Excessive rust also blocks or reduces normal drainage which results in fungus growth, and fungus growth in turn can cause odors. Should such fungus growth cause the normal drain opening of the primary pan to close or to become appreciably blocked, the water/condensation will overflow with attendant damage.
The latter-identified patent and pending patent application reduce rust and fungus growth associated with conventional galvanized metal primary pans. The latter disclosures also provide an obvious solution to rubber gasket deterioration associated with conventional primary pans. Primary pan reinforcement, motor mounts and fan housing mounts are also set forth in the latter-identified disclosures.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The telecommunications and data transmission industries are rapidly expanding their development of fiber optic transmission systems. Historically, telecommunications signals and data have been transmitted over wire lines such as twisted pair or coaxial cables. In order to accommodate higher signal rate speeds, the industry is turning to increased use of fiber optic cables as the transmission medium.
As the use of fiber optic cables increases, the need for peripheral equipment has increased. For example, it is desirable to have access to a fiber optic line for the purpose of either re-routing the line in the event of damage to the line or to have access to the line for purposes of monitoring or testing the line.
Fiber optic peripheral equipment for cable management, cable storage and connection capabilities are well known. The use of modular fiber optic connector modules is known for performing so-called cross-connect applications. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,432,875 and 5,363,465 to ADC Telecommunications, Inc. concern fiber optic connector modules and chassis designs for receiving the modules in cross-connect applications.
PCT WO97/41720 also concerns a fiber optic module for use in cross-connect applications. The document discloses optical signal routing, monitoring, and visual path identification capabilities.
There is a continuing need for fiber optic modules which provide optical signal routing, monitoring, and visual path identification capabilities.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a plasma electron source apparatus, a method for generating pulsed electron beams and the use of a plasma electron source apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Freeform fabrication or additive manufacturing is a method for forming three-dimensional articles through successive fusion of chosen parts of powder layers applied to a worktable. A method and apparatus according to this technique is disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0152771.
Such an apparatus may comprise a work table on which the three-dimensional article is to be formed, a powder dispenser, arranged to lay down a thin layer of powder on the work table for the formation of a powder bed, a ray gun for delivering energy to the powder whereby fusion of the powder takes place, elements for control of the ray given off by the ray gun over the powder bed for the formation of a cross section of the three-dimensional article through fusion of parts of the powder bed, and a controlling computer, in which information is stored concerning consecutive cross sections of the three-dimensional article. A three-dimensional article is formed through consecutive fusions of consecutively formed cross sections of powder layers, successively laid down by the powder dispenser.
When using an electron beam for delivering energy to the powder in additive manufacturing it is desirable to switch on and off the electron beam relatively fast in order to control the heat distribution and the fusion mechanism.
The switching frequency is limited by the temperature time constant for the filament material when an electron beam is generated from a heated metal filament. It is difficult for not saying impossible to switch the electron generation from a hot filament on and off faster than 50 Hz.
The switching frequency of hot filament electron generation may be increased by using a so called triod design. In the triod design a grid is used, which rapidly may switch on and off the electron beam. However, with a triod design it may be difficult to form a usable electron beam for freeform fabrication with good quality with respect to focus and intensity stability over space and time and for variable current.
When an electron beam is generated from a plasma source the switching frequency is limited by the time for creating a plasma and extinguish a plasma. It is also limited by the switching time for the high voltage needed for turning on and off the plasma. The highest possible plasma generating frequency is in theory about 10 MHz, but in practice limited by the switching time of the high voltage drive electronics.
The known methods for creating pulsed electron beams do not have a sufficiently high pulse rate without influencing electron beam quality, which may be a problem in additive manufacturing.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
For all-wheel drive motor vehicles, a distinction is made between an engageable all-wheel drive and a permanent all-wheel drive. In the case of a permanent all-wheel drive, the drive torque produced in the drive assembly is distributed via a mechanical inter-axle differential, such as, for example, a Torsen differential, essentially uniformly to the front axle and to the rear axle. Torque or speed differences are compensated for via the inter-axle differential between the two vehicle axles. In contrast to this, for an engageable all-wheel drive, the inter-axle differential is replaced by a rigid center clutch. By means of the center clutch, it is possible, as needed, to engage the rear axle with the drive train or to decouple it from the drive train. In such an engageable all-wheel drive—in contrast to the above permanent all-wheel drive with an inter-axle differential—there is no speed or torque compensation between the vehicle axles.
Known from DE 10 2012 020 908 A1 is a generic drive device for an all-wheel drive, two-track motor vehicle. Arranged in the drive train of the motor vehicle is a drive assembly constructed from an internal combustion engine with a downstream manual transmission, via which, in driving operation, the front axle is permanently driven. The transmission output shaft extends up to a center clutch, which is in drive connection with the rear axle via a Cardan shaft. In the closed state, the center clutch is subjected to a coupling torque. In order to ensure the absence of slippage, the center clutch can be operated in the closed state with excess contact pressure. In this case, the rear axle is engaged rigidly with the drive train. In the open or disengaged state of the center clutch, the rear axle is decoupled from the drive train.
In the above rigid all-wheel drive, the engine torque delivered by the drive assembly in driving operation is distributed in accordance with the axle friction coefficient (which acts between the vehicle wheels and the roadway) at the front axle and with the axle friction coefficient at the rear axle. By way of example, for equal axle friction coefficients, the wheel torque that can be taken up at the front axle and at the rear axle is, respectively, 50% of the total wheel torque delivered by the engine.
In a driving situation with engaged all-wheel drive as well as with the front axle on asphalt and with the rear axle on ice, the following constellation results: in this case, the front axle provides a greater ability to take up torque than the rear axle. This means that a greater wheel torque can be taken up at the front axle than at the rear axle with a smaller axle friction coefficient. This can lead to the fact that the wheel torque applied at the front axle exceeds a critical overload threshold value. This results in the danger of an axle overload, in particular an overload of the bevel gear of the front-axle differential.
For protection against such an axle overload, a component protection function can be created in a motor vehicle with purely front-wheel drive, for which the maximum allowed engine torque is calculated from an addition of an overload threshold value, which is predetermined by design and is deposited in the control instrument and for which, when it is reached, there exists the danger of a component damage at the front axle, with the moment of inertia of the engine. The moment of inertia of the engine is needed for acceleration of the engine and therefore does not place a load on the front axle.
Although, in this way, a protection of the components of the front axle against overload is ensured, the engine torque limitation results in limitations in regard to the engine performance as well as a time loss during the starting operation and reduced hill climbing and starting abilities on slopes.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Apparatus for releasably holding a vehicle visor and spring clip for use therein oftentimes fail to exert the required torsional resistance to prevent the visor from rotating out of its raised storage position, especially when the vehicle is driven on rough roads.
Other apparatus for releasably holding the vehicle visor and associated spring clips are capable of providing enough torsional resistance. However, such apparatus and spring clips oftentimes: (1) exert a damaging amount of force to other elements of the visor in providing such torsional resistance; (2) take-up too much space; and/or (3) weigh too much.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,131, to Fleming, discloses a visor control having an elastically deformable clamp of U-shaped cross-section with sides contacting a cylindrical pivot rod to hold the visor in position. The pivot rod has noncontinuous flats broken by lobes which align with recesses formed in the sides of the clamp. The sides of the clamp engage the edges of the flats as the rod is rotated within the clamp to provide a torque on the pivot rod as the sides abut the edge of the flats to provide snap-up action to move and hold the visor in a stored position.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,313, to Lanser et al., discloses a visor control including a U-shaped spring clamp with integrally converging sides terminating in inwardly projecting rounded tips which circumscribe a portion of the visor rod in all positions of adjustment. The sides of the clamp include alternately staggered slots which cooperate with alternately staggered lobes and flats disposed along the longitudinal axis of the visor pivot rod for selectively camming the visor into a snap-up raised storage position and spreading the sides to frictionally hold the visor rod therebetween when the visor is lowered to a use position. A tang extends from a portion of at least one of the sides of the U-shaped clamp and extends into a recess in the body of the visor to hold the clamp against rotation.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,303, to Miller, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a U-shaped clip having first and second arms within a cooperating clip housing integrally formed within the rear panel of the sun visor. A conduit is formed by the spring clip enabling the sliding of the pivot shaft due to both the clip housing and the spring clip. The clip housing is designed to cooperate with the pivot shaft to prestress one arm of the spring clip, thereby eliminating excess play between the spring clip and the sunvisor when the visor is rotated. The attachment mechanism is designed such that a snap-abut hook is properly received within a receiving hook, thereby effectively securing the sunvisor to the pivot shaft.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,949, to Miller et al., also assigned to the assignee of the present invention discloses a mounting system including a pivot shaft with a generally circular cross section which cooperates with the sunvisor. The pivot shaft has a flat surface along one side of the shaft which provides a detent position for the sunvisor when in the retracted position. An annular groove is provided which is oriented in a plane generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. A first clip is provided which cooperates with the shaft and sunvisor. The first clip has a first leg and a second leg such that either the first leg or the second leg has a protrusion which cooperates with the annular groove to prevent either the first leg or the second leg from locating the flat surface while allowing the other leg to locate the flat surface to obtain the detent position when the sunvisor is in the retracted position. A second clip cooperates with the first clip to securely fasten the first clip about the pivot shaft.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,201,377, to Schoenheit, discloses a visor including a support, and a shield member pivoted to the support and movable relative thereto for adjustment of its position longitudinally of the axis of the pivot. A bowed leaf-spring having a crown engageable with the support and tensioned by movement of the shield member about the axis of the pivot holds the shield member in adjusted positions. A mechanism on the support releases the tension of the leaf-spring upon movement of the shield member to one position.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
MRI systems use the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) effects that RF transmissions at the nuclei Lamor frequency have on atomic nuclei having a net magnetic moment such as those in hydrogen. The net magnetic moment of these nuclei are first magnetically aligned by a strong static magnetic field B.sub.0 (e.g., typically created by magnetic poles on opposite sides of the MRI imaging volume or inside a solenoidal cryogenic superconducting electromagnet). The static field B.sub.0 is altered by gradient magnetic fields created in the X, Y, and Z directions of the imaging volume. Selected nuclei, which spin in alignment with the B.sub.0 field, are then nutated by the perpendicular magnetic field of a NMR RF transmission at the Lamor frequency, causing a population of such nuclei to tip from the direction of the magnetic field B.sub.0. Thus, for example, in FIG. 1, certain nuclei (designated by magnetic moment M.sub.0) are aligned with the "Z'" axis by the static B.sub.0 field and then rotated to the X'-Y' plane as a result of an RF signal being imposed on them. The nuclei then precess in the X'-Y' plane as shown by the circulating arrow in FIG. 1 (which is a reference frame rotating at the nominal Lamor resonance frequency around the Z' axis).
The NMR RF spin-nutating signal will, of course, tip more than one species of the target isotope in a particular area. Immediately after the nutating RF signal tips them, the spinning nuclei will all be in-phase with each other; that is, the rotating magnetic moments of all NMR species all rotate across the "Y'" axis all at approximately the same time. However, after the NMR nutating RF pulse ends, each species of nuclei begin to freely precess at its own characteristic speed around the Z' axis. As they do, the phase of the rotating nuclei species will differ as a result of such parameters as the physical or chemical environment that the nuclei are located in. Nuclei in fat, for example, precess at a different rate than do nuclei in water. In an MRI imaging pulse sequence there are also magnetic field gradients which dephase the moments due to their local resonance frequency varying in space.
Once the spins are disturbed from their equilibrium, processes known as relaxation cause the phase-coherent component of magnetic moments in the X'-Y' plane to decay and the Z'-component to recover to its equilibrium magnitude, M.sub.0. These processes are usually characterized by exponentials whose time constants are called T.sub.2 and T.sub.1, respectively. When magnetic resonance signals are observed through flux oscillation in a plane coexistent with the X'-Y' plane, both of these processes decrease the signal strength as a function of time.
As a result, if the relative phase of components of the magnetic moments in the X'-Y' plane of FIG. 1 begin aligned on the Y'-axis, over time they will begin to spread out and disperse to fill the full rotational area. The nuclei of moment M.sub.2, for example, which initially crossed the Y'-axis at the same time as M.sub.0, gradually moves during the relaxation period to the position shown in FIG. 1 as it spins faster than M.sub.0. M.sub.1, by contrast, spins slower than both M.sub.0 and M.sub.2, and thus begins to lag them during the dephasing period. The strength of the detectable NMR response signal thus decays as the relative phases of the magnetic moments disperse (i.e., lose phase coherence) in the X'-Y' plane.
Information about NMR hydrogen nuclei can be obtained, in part, by measuring their T.sub.2, T.sub.1 decay times. In addition, before the nuclei become completely dephased another RF signal (e.g., a 180.degree. signal) can tip the magnetic moments (e.g., to a 180.degree. inverted position). This inverts the spinning magnetic moments M.sub.0, M.sub.1 and M.sub.2 so the fastest moment M.sub.2 now lags (instead of leading) M.sub.0, which in turn also now lags the slowest moment M.sub.1. Eventually, the faster moment M.sub.2 will again catch up with and pass the slowest moment M.sub.1 during which, a so-called "spin-echo" NMR RF response can be detected from the changes in net magnetic moment as the various magnetic moments come back into phase coherence. The whole procedure must, of course, be completed before T.sub.1 or T.sub.2 relaxation processes destroy the detectable X'-Y' components of the magnetic moments.
Detectable NMR RF response echoes can also be formed by application of a field gradient and it's subsequent reversal, provided that it is done before T.sub.1 or T.sub.2 relaxation destroy M.sub.X'Y'. This is commonly called a field echo, gradient echo or race-track echo.
The above are just two background examples of how the nuclei can be tipped, relaxed, brought in- or out-of-phase, etc. from which information about the nuclei can be obtained by observing detectable NMR RF response signals.
The differences in the phase relationships between the species of nuclei in one tissue versus another can be used as information to separate MRI images of fat components of tissue from fluids or water-based tissue (for these purposes, "water-based tissue" and "fluids" are used interchangeably).
Although MR images of both water and fat may contain the same or different diagnostic information, they often interfere with each other's interpretation when overlapped in an MRI image and thus make it difficult to properly interpret the composite MR image. Somewhat different diagnostic information may also be obtained from separate MR images of only the fat-based or water-based species of NMR nuclei.
At high field strengths, the separation of water and fat images or suppression of fat signals can be achieved using selective excitation or non-excitation approaches. However, at mid- or low field strengths, approaches based on chemical shift selectivity become impractical, if not impossible. At all field strengths, the difficulties of water/fat image separation are further exacerbated when there are large magnetic field inhomogeneities.
This difficulty in separating fat and water images in a practical MR imaging application is particularly true for mid- and low-field systems where the frequency separation between the water and fat signals is much reduced in comparison to that at high fields. Recently, several techniques were introduced for separation of water and fat images in the presence of large field inhomogeneities. Some of these techniques use multiple spin-echoes, thus requiring the use of multiple RF refocusing pulses. They are therefore sensitive to magnetic field inhomogeneities and also preclude multiple-echo experiments. The Three-Point Dixon method has promising features for mid- or low field applications. It uses a single spin-echo sequence but relies on the acquisition of three images for water/fat separation, an in-phase image and two out-phase images. Unfortunately, it requires a minimum of three scans to do so.
FIG. 2 shows the three data acquisition schemes for the three images in the Three-Point Dixon method. Slice selection is not shown for simplicity. As those in the art will understand from FIG. 2, three different scans are used. In the first, a 90.degree. pulse is followed by a 180.degree. pulse at a time T, yielding the spin echo S.sub.0. Then, a 90.degree. pulse is followed by a 180.degree. pulse a time .tau. earlier than the time T, yielding a spin echo S.sub..pi.. Finally, another 90.degree. pulse is followed by a 180.degree. pulse a time .tau. later than the time T, yielding a spin echo S.sub.-.pi.. The Dixon Methodology is described in "Three-Point Dixon Technique for True Water Fat Decompositions with B.sub.0 Inhomogeneity Corrected,"18 Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 371-383 (1991), by Glover et al., "True Water and Fat MR Imaging With Use of Multiple-Echo Acquisition", 173 Radiology 249-253 (1989), by Williams et al., "Separation of True Fat and Water Images By Correcting Magnetic Field Inhomogeneity In Situ," 159 Radiology 783-786 (1986), by Yeung et al., which are incorporated herein by reference, and are summarized in part below.
The value of .tau. is determined according to .tau.=1/(4.DELTA..nu.) with .DELTA..nu. being the frequency difference between the water and fat signals. The value of .tau. is thus chosen so the phase between the nuclei in, respectively, fat and water are 1) in-phase, 2) out-of-phase by .pi., and 3) out-of-phase by -.pi.. FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c schematically show in a rotating frame the MR signals in the three different acquisition schemes.
Other phase differences than .pi. can also be used as described in Hardy et al., JMRI, 1995. Additionally, the S.sub.0 signal could be derived from a gradient reversal induced field echo. It is not required that S.sub.0 be an RF induced spin echo.
In a brief summary, three NMR RF responses are required to compute separate water-based and fat-based images:
S.sub.0 =a first NMR response with phase coherent fat and water NMR species; PA1 S.sub..theta. =a second NMR response with a predetermined difference between fat and water NMR species in a first (e.g., "positive") direction; and PA1 S.sub.-.theta. =a third NMR response with the same predetermined phase difference between fat and water NMR species in the opposite (e.g., "negative") direction. PA1 1) fitting the phase derivatives to polynomial functions; and PA1 2) phase unwrapping. PA1 (A) A pixel in the image was chosen as the subseed for unwrapping and the measured phase value was assigned to the final phase value used for water and fat image reconstruction. EQU .phi..sub.f (x.sub.0,y.sub.0)=.phi.(x.sub.0,y.sub.0) PA1 (B) From the subseed, a 4.times.4 seed was built by comparing the phase values to the subseed value. If the difference is larger than a predetermined threshold, a 2.pi. unwrapping is executed: EQU .DELTA..phi.=.phi.-.phi.(x.sub.0,y.sub.0) EQU .phi..sub.f =.phi.+sign(.DELTA..phi.).times.2.PI. PA1 (C) Continuing from the seed, a four column cross is built using a single direction prediction: EQU .phi..sub.p =1/4 {.phi..sub.f.sup.-.spsp.4 +.phi..sub.f.sup.-.spsp.3 +.phi..sub.f.sup.-.spsp.2 .phi..sub.f.sup.-.spsp.1 +4.delta..phi..sup.-.spsp.1 +3.delta..phi..sup.-.spsp.2 +2.delta..phi..sup.-.spsp.3 +.delta..phi..sup.-.spsp.4 } EQU .DELTA..phi.=.phi.-.phi..sub.p PA1 (D) Using the cross, the four quadrants of the image are unwrapped using the same prediction approach, but in two directions. Unwrapping is executed when both directions show the same execution for unwrapping. In other situations, the average of the predicted values is used. When the pixel value is below the intensity threshold, the phase value is again set to the predicted average value.
Once S.sub.0, S.sub..theta., S.sub.-.theta. and .crclbar. are known, then separate MR images of the NMR fat species and/or the NMR water species can be derived. The following more specific description of an exemplary embodiment is based on the .crclbar.=.pi. example detailed in the Dixon paper.
In the presence of field inhomogeneities, the MR signals can be described by EQU S.sub.0 =(P.sub.w +P.sub.f) EQU S.sub..pi. =(P.sub.w -P.sub.f).sup.e.spsp.i.phi. EQU S.sub.-.pi. =(P.sub.w -P.sub.f).sup.e.spsp.-i.phi.
where .phi. is the phase angle due to field inhomogeneities or frequency offset, and P.sub.w and P.sub.f are water and fat spin densities, respectively.
Thus .phi. can be determined from S.sub..pi. and S.sub.-.pi. by EQU .phi.=1/2arg(S.sub..pi.. S*.sub.-.pi.)
where arg produces the phase angle of a complex number.
Water and fat images can then be reconstructed according to EQU I.sub.water =S.sub.0 +0.5S.sub..pi. e.sup.-i.phi. +0.5S.sub.-.pi. e.sup.i.phi. EQU I.sub.fat =S.sub.0 -0.5S.sub..pi. e.sup.-i.phi. -0.5S.sub.-.pi. e.sup.i.phi .
The central component of this method--and also the most demanding component to determine--is the phase angle .phi.. The phase angle is generally determined by phase mapping. Calculating .phi. from S.sub..pi. and S.sub.-.pi. involves:
Each of these are discussed in turn below.
i. Polynomial fitting
The magnetic field is modeled using a polynomial function: ##EQU1##
To find the coefficients a.sub.n and b.sub.n, partial spatial derivatives of the phase value .phi. are calculated and fit to the polynomial functions: ##EQU2## Fitting was performed with weighted least-square with the weighting factors determined according to ##EQU3## where S.sub.0 (x,y) is the pixel value in the in-phase image and S.sub.0max is the maximum of that image.
From p.sub.n and q.sub.n, a.sub.n and b.sub.n are calculated from the equations: ##EQU4## ii. Binary Phase Unwrapping
If it can be assumed that the magnetic field fitting is relatively accurate within a small error range, for example, .+-.0.2.pi., then unwrapping can be performed by simply comparing the measured phase .phi. with the predicted phase .phi..sub.p : EQU .DELTA..phi.=.phi..sub.p -.phi.
If .vertline..DELTA..phi..vertline.>.pi., then .phi..sub.f used for water and fat image reconstruction is determined by ##EQU5## where integer truncates the resulting quotient to whole number. iii. Unwrapping by Region Growing
However, the field fitting may contain large errors (for example, >.pi.) which will cause errors in phase unwrapping and consequently result in water/fat mutual contamination in the final images. To unwrap in a more fool-proof way, a region growing algorithm was implemented as the following:
where .phi..sub.f.sup.-1 (i=1, . . . 4) are unwrapped phase values of the neighboring pixel, .delta..phi..sup.-1 (i=1, . . . 4) are phase increments between two neighboring pixels from the polynomial fitting.
If the pixel value is smaller than the intensity threshold, .phi..sub.f is set to .phi..sub.p. Otherwise, if .vertline..DELTA..phi..vertline.<.pi. set .phi..sub.f to .phi.. If .vertline..DELTA..phi..vertline.>.pi. then EQU .phi..sub.f =.phi.+integer(.delta..phi./2.pi.).times.2.pi..
See Szamowski et al., Radiology 192, page 555-561, 1994 for more discussion of region growing approaches to phase correction.
iv. Results
Shown in FIG. 4 are head images reconstructed with binary phase unwrapping. The left image of FIG. 4 is a water and fat image; the middle image is water only; and the right image is fat only. The corresponding images reconstructed using the region growing algorithms are shown in FIG. 5. FIGS. 6 and 7 show the abdominal images reconstructed in the same way as for FIGS. 3a-3c and FIG. 4, respectively.
As can be seen, this prior method obtains separate fat and water images but disadvantageously requires three separate data acquisition scans (e.g., 3 TR intervals) to obtain them.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a dual pump system, and more particularly, to a dual pump system which is capable of bypassing a portion of oil, when the oil supplied to an engine excessively increases in supply pressure, to always maintain an adequate oil supply pressure at each portion of the engine.
Generally, engine oil is circulated through an engine of a vehicle to prevent the engine from being overheated or reduce frictional force between various mechanisms. For this, an oil pump is applied.
However, driving torque of the engine may be lost when the oil pump operates because the oil pump discharges oil to a discharge-side, and simultaneously, operates to suction oil that is retuned to a suction-side.
In vehicles, since the improvement in the driving torque of the engine is essential to improve fuel efficiency, the driving torque loss (power consumption consumed for supplying oil) due to an oil pump, which is proportional to the relationship of “flow rate×hydraulic pressure”, may be reduced by improving performance of the oil pump.
In recent years, the importance in fuel reduction of the vehicles is further emphasized by high oil prices and the regulation of carbon dioxide, and thus the improvement of the fuel efficiency and the eco-friendliness are being considered to key factors when the vehicles are developed.
Particularly, when considering the fact in which the improvement of the driving torque of the engine is essential, the reduction of the driving torque through the oil pump may be very effective to improve the fuel efficiency.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a structure, in which a portion of oil is bypassed through a relief valve at a high speed RPM to reduce an oil pressure and improve fuel efficiency, is disclosed.
The oil pump as described above may reduce the oil pressure in the high speed section. However, since the oil pressure is maintained to a high level as ever in a middle speed section, the improvement of the fuel efficiency may deteriorate.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to the field of hydraulic systems operated by intermittently or continuously operated fluid pumps and, more particularly, to vehicle mounted hydraulic systems utilizing gear pumps which are rotated by the vehicle motor. The present invention focuses on a flow recirculation control system which allows essentially the pump demand to be met at all times. This prevents overheating and shortened pump life due to starvation/cavitation problems.
II. Discussion of the Related Art
Vehicle mounted hydraulic systems are typically powered by gear pumps. These hydraulic pumps may operate anytime the truck motor is running, i.e., continuously, or be driven from a power take-off (PTO) so that the pump can be turned off or mechanically disconnected when not in use. Such systems at a given time are typically characterized as being in one of three defined modes of operation. These include an ON mode in which the pump is running and one or more hydraulic devices are being operated, and an OFF mode in which the pump may or may not be running but no hydraulic devices are being operated. The third mode is characterized as an OVERSPEED mode in which the pump is turning at a speed at which, under normal conditions, it will deliver too much flow to the system with respect to the then current need.
Prior systems typically employ what is known as a "dry valve" system in which a valve located on the suction side of the pump--when the pump is in the OFF or OVERSPEED mode--meters a small amount of hydraulic fluid which is allowed to flow through the pump as a minimum supply when the system is running. Unfortunately, the minimum amount often is but a small fraction of the actual pump demand, so that the pump is forced to operate in a starved condition. This type of arrangement is typical of prior systems and, while operable, is undesirable because operation under starved condition may result in higher than normal pump operating temperatures and undue wear on the pump. For example, if the truck or other vehicle carrying a hydraulic system having a continuously operated pump is driving down the road at high speed and the hydraulic system is in the OFF mode, the pump could still be turning fast enough to ask for perhaps 60-70 gallons of oil per minute. The dry valve system, however, meters only an average of, for example, two gallons of oil per minute into the pump producing starvation cavitation which increases the noise, heat generated and wear on the pump parts.
An illustration of such a prior hydraulic system for one type of refuse truck is illustrated by the schematic hydraulic diagram of FIG. 1. The system includes a fluid reservoir 10 equipped with a vented reservoir filler cap 12 and return line filter 14. The reservoir 10 is connected to a reservoir outlet/pump inlet suction line 16. A dry valve is depicted at 18 connected to the inlet 20 of a gear pump 22. The outlet 23 of the gear pump 22 is connected by line 24 to the inlet section 26 of a first main spool valve which includes a truck tailgate operating section 28, a refuse ejector operating spool valve section 30 and an outlet section 32. The tailgate operating section 28 is connected to a tailgate operating cylinder 34 and the ejector section is connected with a telescoping ejector operating cylinder as at 36. An additional hydraulic pressure line 38 supplies high pressure hydraulic fluid to a packer/slide spool valve inlet section at 40 which connects with spool valve sections 42, 44, 46 and 48 which operate additional respective cylinders as illustrated at 50, 52 and 54 to provide other tipping, sliding, packing and, if desired, winch functions. A main low pressure hydraulic return line is shown at 56.
It is clear from the schematic diagram of FIG. 1 that all of the hydraulic fluid flowing from the pump outlet through high pressure line 24 must flow through the spool valves prior to returning to the reservoir 10. Demand may be adequate for pump output when one or more of the cylinders is being operated. During periods of no demand, when none of the hydraulic cylinders is being operated under this condition, the permissible flow through the pump is controlled by dry valve 18. The pump operates with an undersupply of hydraulic fluid and thereby experiences cavitation which causes the pump to be noisy, run at a much higher than desired temperature and generally shortens pump life. If low flow problems could be alleviated, the maintenance with regard to such system could be greatly reduced.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. This invention is a rose plant of the miniature rose class which can be grown quite satisfactorily in a greenhouse or as a graden perennial, as a specimen plant, in a border, or for cut flowers, needing protection through the winter in severe climates.
2. This present invention is a new and distinct variety of miniature rose plant (Rose chinensis `minima`), which was created by crossing the following the following two roses: The seed parent is Baby Katie, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,471, a compact and prolific miniature rose, whose flowers are a pink to salmon and cream blend, created F. H. Saville in 1978, sold and marketed under the name Baby Katie. The pollen parent is Mazurka, a medium pink, prolific, floribunda rose, created by Verbeck in 1965, not patented. The varietal denomination of this new rose is SAVacook.
This new variety is distinguished by:
Buds and flowers of a soft apricot blend, deriving much of its characteristic color from its seed parent, Baby Katie, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,471.
Buds that open in different shades of apricot but that still finish up as the same shade of light yellow to yellow/apricot blend.
Flowers borne in abundance in clusters and one to a stem.
A plant that grows equally well in a greenhouse or outdoors; it's always in bloom to serve as a decorative plant or for cut flowers.
Little or no fragrance.
Asexual production by cuttings of this new variety as performed in Essex County, Mass. and in San Bernardino County, Calif. shows that all distinguishing characteristics of this rose continually come true to form.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to semi-crystalline polymer compositions plasticized with aromatic sulphonamides in which the nitrogen atom contains a substituent carrying a hydroxyl or oxycarbonyl group.
The problem of plasticizers in polymers is well known in the state of the art. Reference may be made, on this subject, to the work xe2x80x9cEncyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineeringxe2x80x9d, published by Wiley, 1989, Supplement Vol., pp. 568-647, for example, or alternatively to the book xe2x80x9cThe Technology of Plasticizersxe2x80x9d, J. K. Sears and J. R. Darby, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1982.
It is well known that semi-crystalline polymers, such as polyamide-6, polyamide-6,6, polyamides-4,6, -6,10 and -6,12 and some polyketones, are very difficult to plasticize because of their high melting temperature and of the low compatibility between these polymers and the plasticizers known in the state of the art. This is because, if it is desired to incorporate a plasticizer above these high melting temperatures, typically from 250 to 300xc2x0 C., and even 340xc2x0 C. for polyamide-4,6, the plasticizer rapidly degrades, colouring the polymer, and its destruction does not make it possible to effectively plasticize the polymer; in addition, the plasticizer can also evaporate. Such is the case if attempts are made to use, as plasticizer for these polyamides, N-n-butylbenzenesulphonamide or N-ethyl-p-toluenesulphonamide, for example, plasticizers widely used on an industrial scale to plasticize polyamides with lower melting temperatures. One way of alleviating these disadvantages is to process the polymer so that the plasticizer is only found at a high temperature for the shortest possible time but this way of operating causes great technical difficulties, including very high losses of the plasticizer, problems of air pollution related to the sudden evaporation and/or thermal degradation of the plasticizer, and the like.
In addition to the criterion of good thermal stability which must be exhibited by plasticizers for semi-crystalline polymers with high melting temperatures, there is also the problem of the possible migration from the polymer of these plasticizers with time.
As regards semi-crystalline polymers which have lower melting temperatures, such as polyamide-11, polyamide-12, polyoxymethylene or poly(vinylidene fluoride), for which polymers a plasticizer is incorporated at temperatures of the order of 220xc2x0 C., the problem of the thermal stability of the plasticizer is less critical. However, the intrinsic volatility of a plasticizer such as N-n-butylbenzenesulphonamide can be the source of problems, such as a loss of the product, and smells, which will have to be eliminated by means of complex and expensive equipment.
It would therefore be advantageous to find plasticizers for semi-crystalline polymers with high melting temperatures, such as polyamide-6, polyamide-6,6, polyamides-4,6, -6,9, -6,10, -6,12 and MXD-6 and some polyketones, but also polyamide-11, polyamide-12, polyoxymethylene and poly(vinylidene fluoride), which would be stable at high temperatures ranging from 220 to 300xc2x0 C. and even 340xc2x0 C. for polyamide-4,6 without undergoing either consequent decomposition or consequent evaporation. These plasticizers should not migrate towards the surface of the polymer either, in order to avoid the problem of exudation. In addition, it goes without saying that these plasticizers should effectively exhibit plasticizing properties at least equivalent to and preferably better than those of the plasticizers known in the state of the art.
The Applicant Company has now found, surprisingly, a family of aromatic sulphonamides in which the nitrogen atom contains a substituent carrying a hydroxyl or oxycarbonyl group which fully meets all the requirements mentioned above for plasticizers for semi-crystalline polymers with a high melting temperature and a processing temperature equal to or greater than 220xc2x0 C., preferably 250xc2x0 C.
For this reason, the present invention relates to compositions comprising at least one polymer and at least one plasticizer, characterized in that
a. the polymer is semi-crystalline and exhibits a processing temperature equal to or greater than 220xc2x0 C., preferably 250xc2x0 C.,
b. the plasticizer is an aromatic benzenesulphonamide represented by the general formula (I)
in which
R1 represents a hydrogen atom, a C1-C4 alkyl group or a C1-C4 alkoxy group,
X represents a linear or branched C2-C10 alkylene group, or
a cycloaliphatic group, or
an aromatic group,
Y represents one of the groups OH or
xe2x80x83R2 representing a C1-C4 alkyl group or an aromatic group, these groups optionally themselves being substituted by an OH or C1-C4 alkyl group.
The preferred aromatic benzenesulphonamides of formula (I) are those in which:
R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl or methoxy group,
X represents a linear or branched C2-C10 alkylene group or a phenyl group,
Y represents an OH or xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94R2 group,
R2 representing a methyl or phenyl group, the latter being themselves optionally substituted by an OH or methyl group.
The semi-crystalline polymers to which the present invention relates are those for which the processing temperature is equal to or greater than 220xc2x0 C., preferably 250xc2x0 C., this processing temperature being imposed by the high melting temperature of these polymers. Mention may be made, among these, of polyamide-6, polyamide-6,6 and some polyketones, on account of the plasticization problems which they pose by virtue of their high melting temperature. The polyketones concerned here are condensation products of carbon monoxide with aliphatic olefins, for example the condensation product of carbon monoxide with ethene and propene. These polyketones are well known in the state of the art (mention may be made, without implied limitation, of Patents EP 485,058, EP 213,671 and EP 121,965, for example). The present invention also relates to polyamides-4,6, -6,9, -6,10, -6,12 and MDX-6. Other semi-crystalline polymers, such as polyamide-11, polyamide-12, polyoxymethylene and poly(vinylidene fluoride), can also be advantageously plasticized by the aromatic sulphonamides of formula (I).
Mention may be made, among the aromatic sulphonamides of formula (I) which are liquid (L) or solid (S) at room temperature as specified below, of the following products, with the abbreviations which have been assigned to them:
AS: N-(2-hydroxyethyl)benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NH(CH2)2OH (L)
AY: N-(3-hydroxypropyl)benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NH(CH2)3OH (L)
BC: N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-p-toluenesulphonamide CH3C6H4SO2NH(CH2)2OH (S)
BE: N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NHC6H4OH (S)
BF: N-[(2-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-1-methyl)ethyl]-benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NHC(CH3)(CH2OH)CH2OH (L)
BG: N-[5-hydroxy-1,5-dimethylhexyl]benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NHCH(CH3)(CH2)3C(CH3)2OH (S)
BH: N-(2-acetoxyethyl)benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NH(CH2)2OCOCH3 (S)
BI: N-(5-hydroxypentyl)benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NH(CH2)5OH (L)
BK: N-[2-(4-hydroxybenzoyloxy)ethyl]benzene-sulphonamide C6H5SO2NH(CH2)2OCOC6H4OH (S)
BL: N-[2-(4-methylbenzoyloxy)ethyl]benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NH(CH2)2OCOC6H4CH3 (S)
BJ: N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-p-methoxybenzenesulphonamide CH3OC6H4SO2NH(CH2)2OH (S)
BM: N-(2-hydroxypropyl)benzenesulphonamide C6H5SO2NHCH2CH(CH3)OH (L)
The advantages introduced by the aromatic sulphonamides of formula (I) in the plasticization of the semi-crystalline polymers are many. Among these, mention may be made of:
the high thermal stability of the sulphonamides makes it possible to incorporate them in polymers at high temperature without them substantially evaporating, which prevents losses of the product and atmospheric pollution; they do not decompose at high temperature, which prevents unacceptable colouring of the polymer and allows them to act as plasticizer since they remain present intact in the polymer. It is consequently possible henceforth to use these new plasticizers for processing techniques (injection moulding, extrusion, extrusion blow-moulding, rotational moulding, and the like) at high temperatures and with contact times such that the plasticizers known in the state of the art cannot be used because of their volatility and/or their degradation at these temperatures,
their high compatibility with the abovementioned polymers also promotes the development of their plasticizing properties,
their plasticizing effect is reflected by a large decrease in the mechanical torque developed by the molten medium during mixing of the plasticizer with the polymer as well as during any processing of these compositions,
which represents a large decrease in the energy to be used during these operations; the plasticizing effect is also reflected by a fall in the glass transition temperature, which results in a decrease in the stiffness of the articles obtained starting with these compositions, which can be measured by the fall in the elastic modulus, determined by the tensile test (ISO Standard 527-1 and 527-2), and by an improvement in the impact strength (measurable, for example, by the test known under the name of xe2x80x9cNotched Izod impactxe2x80x9d according to ISO Standard 180).
Some aromatic sulphonamides corresponding to the formula (I) have already been used as polymer plasticizers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,296 describes aromatic sulphonamides mono- or disubstituted on the nitrogen atom by alkyl groups which can themselves be substituted by a hydroxyl, alkoxy or acyloxy group. These products are used, as plasticizers, solely for polyurethanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,201,028 also describes aromatic sulphonamides mono- or disubstituted on the nitrogen atom by alkyl groups carrying hydroxyl groups. These compounds are used, as plasticizers, solely for urea-formaldehyde resins, alone or as a mixture with cellulose polymers.
Patent GB 455,694 also describes aromatic sulphonamides mono- or disubstituted on the nitrogen atom by alkyl groups carrying ester or hydroxyl groups as plasticizers solely for ethers and cellulose ethers. The article by D. Aelony in Ind. Engineer. Chem., 46, pp. 587-591 (1954) describes esters of the same type as those in Patent GB 455,694 as plasticizers for vinyl resins alone.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,292,464 provides N-hydroxyalkyl-N-(aryl)arylsulphonamides as plasticizers for various polymers, essentially for cellulose derivatives; polyamides are mentioned among these polymers, without further details. In practice, the sulphonamides disubstituted on the nitrogen atom of this patent have plasticizing properties markedly inferior to those of aromatic sulphonamides monosubstituted on the nitrogen atom of formula (I) for semi-crystalline polymers with high melting temperatures according to the present invention.
Finally, Patent Application JP 2-221467 describes adhesives for textile pieces composed of a mixture of an N-hydroxyalkylated benzenesulphonamide and of a heat-meltable resin containing a polyamide; these adhesives can be used at 130xc2x0 C.
As is well known to the person skilled in the art, it is impossible to predict what will be the properties of a compound which is a good plasticizer for a given polymer when attempts are made to use it as plasticizer for a polymer of a very different nature. Moreover, none of the abovementioned documents tackles the question of the plasticization of semi-crystalline polymers which can only be processed at high temperatures or explains the problems which this causes, no more than the solutions to be introduced thereto.
Aromatic sulphonamides other than those of formula (I) have already been provided as plasticizers for polyamides with high melting temperatures, such as polyamides-6, -6,6, and the like. Thus it is that, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,499,932, the reaction products of alcohols with N-alkylolarylsulphonamides are provided as plasticizers for these polyamides. These reaction products would be ethers of N-alkylolarylsulphonamides, but condensation reactions during the synthesis of these products could give rise to more complex molecules than a simple ether; the examples given of these products are all C1-C8 alkyl ethers of N-methyloltoluenesulphonamide. In fact, the thermal stability of this type of compound is much poorer than that of the aromatic sulphonamides of formula (I), as can be seen in Example 2 below. U.S. Pat. No. 2,244,183 provides, as plasticizer for the same polyamides, resins resulting from the condensation of formaldehyde with toluene- or cyclohexanesulphonamides optionally substituted by an alkyl group on the nitrogen atom. These resins have a much poorer plasticizing effect than the aromatic sulphonamides of formula (I).
The aromatic sulphonamides of formula (I) can be synthesized conventionally by reacting benzenesulphonyl chloride, optionally substituted on the benzene ring by an R1 group according to the formula (I), with an amine of formula NH2xe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94Y, in which X has the meaning given above and Y represents a hydroxyl group, with heating in water or in an inert solvent, such as benzene or toluene, in the presence of a base, such as sodium hydroxide, pyridine or the amine NH2xe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94Y in excess; the benzenesulphonyl chloride is preferably added dropwise to the amine in aqueous or organic solution, care being taken that the pH does not fall below the value 9. When Y represents an xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94R2 group, R2 having the meaning given above, a hydroxylated benzene-sulphonamide obtained as described above is esterified with the carboxylic acid or the anhydride corresponding to this Y group, optionally under catalytic conditions. Many examples of this type of synthesis are given in the literature, for example in the abovementioned article by D. Aelony.
The finished product is isolated according to the techniques well known to the person skilled in the art, for example by extraction with a third solvent chosen from aromatic or cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic esters or ketones or alternatively chlorinated solvents, such as chloroform. The isolation technique will depend on the solubility of the product synthesized.
The amount of the aromatic sulphonamide of formula (I) used according to the present invention depends on the polymer concerned and on its industrial application and most often varies from 2% to 30% and preferably from 5% to 20% by weight with respect to the total weight of the composition.
Various techniques can be used for introducing the aromatic sulphonamide of formula (I) into the semi-crystalline polymer according to the present invention. The most usual technique consists in mixing the plasticizer and the polymer in the molten state. The most widely used method industrially for doing this is extrusion. An aromatic sulphonamide of formula (I) existing in the liquid form at room temperature will be appropriately introduced via a metering pump in the feed zone of the extruder simultaneously with the polymer granules, the throughput of the metering pump being adjusted so as to provide a rod of the desired composition at the extruder outlet. If the aromatic sulphonamide of formula (I) exists in the solid form at room temperature, the polymer granules will be dry-mixed beforehand with the appropriate amount of the abovementioned product. The polymer granules, thus coated with plasticizer, will then be introduced into the feed zone of the extruder. For aromatic sulphonamides with low melting points, it is possible to feed the extruder with plasticizer in the molten state (liquid) via a pump equipped for this purpose. On a laboratory scale, use will conveniently be made of a thermostatically-controlled kneader in which rotate steel knives which homogenize the composition in the molten state, the polymer granules and the plasticizer having been dry-mixed beforehand.
It is also possible to introduce the sulphonamide of formula (I) into the semi-crystalline polymer by dissolving these products in a solvent or a mixture of solvents. This technique can advantageously be used for the preparation of samples in the form of films, for analytical purposes, for example.
Finally, it is also possible to obtain the compositions according to the invention by introducing the sulphonamide of formula (I) into the reactor in which the polymer is synthesized, either at the beginning of this synthesis or during or at the end of the latter.
The compositions according to the invention can additionally comprise additives usual for semi-crystalline polymers, such as impact reinforcements, inorganic fillers, antioxidants, UV stabilizers, processing aids, such as mould-release agents, and the like.
The compositions according to the invention lend themselves to the manufacture of finished components obtained by processes, such as extrusion and injection moulding, in which the plasticized polymer is processed in the molten state. Mention may be made, among the articles thus manufactured, of hydraulic brake cables, pipes, tubes, tanks and other engineering components.
On account of the excellent plasticization of the polymers targeted by the present invention, it is now possible to envisage the use of these in the same applications under easy processing conditions, which was not possible previously.
The examples which follow illustrate the invention without limiting it.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device for feeding sheets one by one, as well as an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet feeding device.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) R8 version, for a user equipment (UE) in idle mode or in the forward random access channel (CELL_FACH) state, in order to decrease an uplink transmission delay and improve an uplink transmission rate, an enhanced random access channel (RACH) is introduced, that is, an enhanced dedicated transport channel (E-DCH) substitutes for an RACH to implement uplink transmission.
A radio network controller (RNC) may configure an uplink transmission common enhanced dedicated transport channel (Common E-DCH) resource pool for a base station (NodeB). For example, the resource pool may have 32 sets of resources, where resource indexes (index) 1 to 32 are used to represent corresponding resources. The base station may allocate a common E-DCH resource to a user equipment according to the common E-DCH resource pool configured by the radio network controller.
The radio network controller configures two information elements (IE), Granted E-DCH Resources and Denied E-DCH Resources, on an Iub interface. The Granted E-DCH Resources are used to collect statistics on the number of E-DCH resources that are granted to a user equipment in a cell of the base station within a certain period. The Denied E-DCH Resources are used to collect statistics on the number of RACH preambles (preamble) that are detected at the base station but are denied to be allocated an E-DCH resource within a predefined period. The base station may report statistic values of the number of Granted E-DCH Resources and the number of Denied E-DCH Resources to the radio network controller in a mode set by the radio network controller, such as, periodic report, event triggered report, or on demand report. The radio network controller adjusts, according to the two statistic values, the number of common E-DCH resources configured for the cell.
The 3GPP UMTS R11 version introduces the feature that a 2 ms transmission time interval (TTI) and a 10 ms TTI coexist, that is, each cell is configured with two TTI lengths. In a same cell, a user equipment that supports an enhanced RACH, when performing uplink transmission, may dynamically select either of the two TTI lengths to perform uplink transmission. In this case, the user equipment may select a common E-DCH resource to which the 10 ms TTI corresponds or a common E-DCH resource to which the 2 ms TTI corresponds to perform uplink transmission. Because user equipments in a cell that select different TTI to perform uplink transmission change dynamically, how to dynamically adjust the range (or size) of a resource pool in the case that a plurality of TTI coexists is an urgent problem to be solved.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to presentation projectors for projecting computer generated presentations and other images to a viewing surface. In particular, the present invention relates to technology that enables the wireless transmission of an image to a presentation projector.
2. Background Information
The widespread acceptance of using computers to facilitate group communications has created a large demand for devices that project computer displays. As a result, corporate enterprises have installed multimedia projection systems in many workplace conference rooms, or provide access to portable presentation equipment that can be used in conference rooms as needed. In a typical operating mode, multimedia projection systems receive analog video signals from a personal computer (“PC”). The video signals may represent still, partial, or full-motion display images of a type rendered by the PC. The analog video signals are typically converted in the projection system into digital video signals, and the signals are electronically conditioned and processed to control an image-forming device, such as a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) or a digital micro-mirror device (“DMD”).
A popular type of multimedia projection system employs a broad-spectrum light source and optical path components upstream and downstream of the image-forming device to project the image onto a display screen. An example of a DMD-based multimedia projector is the model LP420 manufactured by InFocus Corporation., of Wilsonville, Oreg., the assignee of the present application.
To display their presentations, users tote portable computers such as laptops into the conference room, and attach the computer to the projector using a connecting cable. The necessity of carrying heavy cabling to attach the computer to the projector is inconvenient, especially when giving mobile presentations. Issues of cable compatibility or malfunction may occur and the set-up time is increased. Moreover, if more than one presenter uses the projection equipment, each with their own laptops, then each successive presenter needs to repeat the cabling set-up procedure, which results in a delay between presentations.
One way to eliminate the cabling problem is to transmit the image over a wireless communications link instead of a cable connection. Wireless transmission of an image to a projector is known in the art. For example, U.S. patent. application Ser. No. 5,847,748, Multimedia Projection System, which issued on Dec. 8, 1998, to David P. Laughlin, (the “'748 patent”) discloses a multimedia projection system that includes a notebook computer that has an integral projector. The projector described in the '748 patent is capable of receiving information from the computer's central processing unit through a cable or a wireless communication circuit, including an infrared communication circuit.
An example of a prior art wireless presentation projector is the Notevision5 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projector manufactured by the Sharp Electronics Corporation of Mahwah, N.J. The Notevision5 LCD projector features an infrared communication capability, which allows users to transfer digital images from a laptop or a compatible device directly to the projector. The Sharp Notevision5 LCD projector relies on an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) data communication standard to transmit the image from the computer to the projector. One of the drawbacks to using the IrDA data communication standard is the bandwidth limitation inherent in infrared communications. Transmission data rates are low, with a maximum data transmission speed of up to 4 Mb/s (megabytes per second). This results in a very slow image update, typically up to at least 15 seconds per screen. The slow image update rate is unacceptable to most presentation system users.
In an effort to overcome the low data transmission rates, the IrDA data communication standards provide for converting and storing images in a compressed format in order to reduce the amount of data that is transmitted. The Sharp Notevision5 projector uses the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image compression format, which is documented by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in ISO standard 10918, Information technology—Digital compression and coding of continuous-tone still images, first published in 1994. However, the conversion and storage of the image using the JPEG image compression format is a process that is computationally intensive and necessarily delays the transmission of the image from the computer to the projector. Moreover, the size of the compressed JPEG images of a typical presentation is still unacceptably large, which does not allow for satisfactory update rates for displaying a wireless projected image.
Yet another drawback inherent in the use of the IrDA data communication standard is that infrared communication is a short-range technology limited to about a 30–50 foot radius. In addition, infrared communication is highly directional because the infrared signals cannot penetrate solid objects. Thus, interference is common and the signals can even be affected by indoor lighting (e.g. the use of fluorescent lights) and air quality (e.g. the presence of dust or smoke).
What is needed, therefore, is an improved method of wireless image transmission between a computer and a projector. In particular, the wireless transmission of an image that is independent of the wireless transmission medium and that provides for faster updates of the projected image in an efficient and user-friendly way presents a unique set of challenges, requiring a new and novel solution.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Failures in steel casing, or piping, due to improper heat treatment has long been a problem in well completion. Improperly heat treated casing if placed in service in a borehole will be subject to failure because borehole pressures are too high for the inferior hardness properties of the improperly heat treated casing. Casing may be improperly heat treated in its entirety or in one or more areas along the length of the casing. The minimum length will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer because of the differences in heat treating equipment, but will be about six inches.
Any non-destructive test of such a casing before being set in the well is at best an indirect test. For example, Brinell hardness testers have been used to impart a blow at a certain point on the surface of the casing with a known force and the degree of penetration into the surface is measured. The hardness of the steel at the surface is presumed to be an indication of the hardness of the steel throughout its thickness at that point.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
A travel consumer can conventionally enjoy the benefits of a diversity of choices: a marketplace that is replete with purchase options; numerous information sources that provide travel-related information and advice on everything from destinations to hotels and related points-of-interest; and finally, a reasonable degree of price transparency on a vast array of travel-related goods and services. While consumers derive much utility from this choice environment—enabled by online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel websites—the fact remains that the travel consumer is often encumbered by information abundance and by legacy technology platforms that almost invariably complicate the consumer's choice. For an average consumer, these choice-related challenges take many forms, such as a plurality of travel-related goals and objectives pertaining to all of the relevant facets and phases of the travel planning process; the existence of a large number of viable itinerary options to sort through, evaluate, and ultimately choose from; the existence of disparate and non-homogenous information sources, all of which possess varying degrees of quality, usefulness, and reliability; and the need to consider complex value trade-offs among key choice attributes and objectives (e.g., price vs. suitability of a selected flight for the consumer), together with the existence of often conflicting objectives (e.g., a desire for luxury, constrained by willingness-to-pay).
Empirical studies reveal that travelers are more likely to rely on advice and recommendations of friends, relatives, colleagues, and so forth than other information sources. Conventionally, the traveler can review the recommendations of friends by intentionally searching for them, for example, on a social network page of a friend or on a profile page of the friend on a travel website. However, the conventional OTAs do not take the recommendations of friends of the traveler into consideration when searching and presenting feasible travel itineraries to the traveler.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method and a record.
2. Related Art
In recent years, there have been increasing demands for prints having images, formed on printing surfaces, having a metallic luster. The following methods have been used to form such images having a metallic luster: for example, a foil stamping printing method in which a recording medium having a flat printing surface is prepared and a metal foil is pressed against the recording medium, a method in which a metal is vacuum-deposited on a plastic film having a smooth printing surface, and a method in which a recording medium is coated with a metal pigment ink and then subjected to pressing.
Meanwhile, an ink jet recording method is a process in which printing is performed in such a manner that droplets of an ink composition are ejected and applied to a recording medium such as a sheet of paper. The ink jet recording method has an advantage that a high-resolution, high-quality image can be printed at high speed with a relatively small-sized apparatus. Therefore, it has been attempted that the ink jet recording method is used to print a record having a metallic surface. For example, JP-A-2008-088228 discloses an ink composition, containing a metal powder, for ink jet printing.
In order to obtain an image with a metallic luster by the ink jet recording method, a recording medium having a smooth surface needs to be selected because a metallic luster is achieved by forming a smooth metallic surface. Therefore, the recording medium needs to be a plastic sheet with a smooth surface or a sheet of coated paper.
It is difficult to form an image having a sufficient metallic luster on a recording medium, such as a sheet of plain paper, having substantially no coat layer by the ink jet recording method. Since plain paper absorbs ink, it is difficult to fix a metal powder on a printing surface of a sheet of plain paper.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Magnetic recording has an increasing range of application for audio and video recording as well as various information processing purposes. The important factors imposed on the magnetic recording media for such magnetic recording are that original signals can be recorded and reproduced as faithfully as possible and that they can store in a limited area as much information as possible. Efforts have been made for the development of improved magnetic recording medium and magnetic material in order to achieve the purposes of high fidelity, high reliability and high recording density. A similar situation is found with respect to the magnetic material intended for use in a recording layer of thermomagnetic recording media capable of high density recording such as magnetooptical recording media.
The recording wavelength should be reduced in order to increase the recording density of a magnetic recording medium. As the recording wavelength is reduced, the size of a pit being recorded becomes substantially smaller than the thickness of the medium, approaching to the size of magnetic particles. Then isotropic or perpendicular magnetizable components provide a greater contribution than longitudinal magnetizable components of the medium. For this reason, particulate or spherical particles tending to orient in an isotropic or perpendicular direction are more advantageous for high density recording than acicular particles tending to orient in a longitudinal direction of the medium.
In the manufacture of magnetic disks of the flexible type, magnetic particles are applied to a length of film stock in a longitudinal direction. The coated film is finally punched into disks which are required to have circumferentially uniform properties. For such uniformity of properties, particulate or spherical particles tending to remain randomly oriented independent of a direction of application are more advantageous than acicular particles tending to orient in a direction of application.
For magnetooptical recording medium wherein recording is generally effected in a perpendicular direction to the medium surface, particulate or spherical particles are preferred for the same reason as above.
It is thus recognized from these points of view that flakes of Ba ferrite base material are superior recording material for high density recording. Flakes of this material, however, suffer from many drawbacks that they tend to be electrically charged because they are dielectric oxide particles, that they are formed into a coating having an increased electrical resistance as the magnetic layer, and that they tend to agglomerate without dispersing because they are synthesized through heat treatment at a relatively high temperature. In addition, the flake Ba ferrite material cannot be used for optical and thermomagnetic recording because its Curie temperature is 400.degree. C. or higher.
Nevertheless, most magnetic particles currently used for magnetic recording are of acicular or needle shape. This is partly because they have an increased coercive force. Particulate or spherical form of metallic iron (.alpha.-Fe), for example, is not expected to have a high coercive force because its magnetocrystalline anisotropy is low. Thus acicular .alpha.-Fe magnetic powder whose coercive force has been increased by imparting magnetic shape anisotropy is commonly used.
Metallic cobalt has a stable hexagonal structure at room temperature and relatively high magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Metallic cobalt is thus expected to produce a high coercive force even in particulate or spherical particle form if it is possible to take advantage of the high magnetocrystalline anisotropy. However, it is known from B. Szpunar, J. Magnetism of Magnetic Materials, Vol. 49 (1985), page 93 that if metallic cobalt is finely divided to a sufficient size as recording material, a face-centered cubic structure becomes stable from an energy aspect rather than a hexagonal structure affording high magnetic anisotropy. For this reason, none of currently available cobalt particles have a high coercive force as expected.
For these reasons, metallic magnetic materials based on iron or cobalt are finely divided into an acicular shape or chain structure so that an increased coercive force is available due to a shape effect.
As opposed to the metallic magnetic powders, hexagonal intermetallic compounds of Fe-Co-P series are expected to develop a high coercive force in particulate or spherical particle form because of high magnetocrystalline anisotropy.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 4755/1963, for example, discloses a permanent magnet comprising a three-component intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P having a hexagonal crystalline structure wherein the Fe:Co ratio is up to 60:40 and the phosphorus content is from 20 to 22%.
According to this publication, the intermetallic compound is manufactured by first preparing a molten bath of phosphorus-copper (Cu 90%, P 10%). Predetermined weight proportions of electrolytic iron powder and cobalt pieces are added to the molten bath to form a bath consisting of 95% of phosphorus-copper and 5% of iron-cobalt. The molten metal is then poured into a steel mold to form a casting. The casting is leached with a weak or strong acid, obtaining (Fe,Co).sub.2 P. The intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P is available in fine particulate form according to the description of said publication. However, the compound cannot be obtained in a ultrafine particle size as defined in the present invention without an additional comminuting step. In addition, mechanical comminution generally gives particles having a poor particle size distribution and a low degree of sphericity and is difficult to produce ultrafine particles of 0.1 .mu.m or smaller in size.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 5757/1964 discloses an improvement in the manufacture of the intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P described in the above-cited Japanese Patent Publication No. 4755/1963 wherein the cooling rate at which the molten metal is cooled in the mold is controlled so as to increase the coercive force. The thus produced intermetallic compound particles are reported to exhibit a coercive force of 735 Oe at the maximum, much lower than a coercive force in excess of 2,000 Oe as achieved by the present invention with the equivalent composition, that is, stoichiometric composition.
In order that the intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P produced by the method of Japanese Patent Publication No. 5757/1964 exhibit a coercive force comparable to that of the ultrafine particles of the present invention, the method should involve an additional heat treatment as taught in said publication, resulting in an overall complicated process.
Besides, the intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P described in the above-cited Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5757/1964 and 4755/1963 is less resistant to corrosion and prone to a loss of magnetic properties. In this regard, Japanese Patent Publication No. 11085/1983 proposes to improve the corrosion resistance of the intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P by adding Cr thereto. It discloses ferromagnetic particles comprising hexagonal metal phosphide of the formula: EQU (Fe.sub.(1-x-y) Co.sub.x Cr.sub.y).sub.2 P
wherein 0.045<x+y<0.40 and 0.005<y<0.10, the particles having a mean particle size of 0.02 to 1.0 .mu.m.
These ferromagnetic particles are produced by substantially the same method as the intermetallic compound (Fe,Co).sub.2 P particles described in the above-cited Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5757/1964 and 4755/1963. An extra comminuting step must be added before ferromagnetic particles having a mean particle size of 0.02 to 1.0 .mu.m can be available.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 11085/1983, the ferromagnetic particles exhibit a coercive force of 200 to 500 Oe despite the inclusion of P in the stoichiometric amount. An additional heat treatment is necessary in order to increase the coercive force to 2,000 Oe.
Some known methods for the preparation of ultrafine particles of metal and alloy materials utilize a gas phase process. Known gas phase processes are vacuum evaporation processes as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5149/1975, 5665/1975, 5666/1975, 21719/1977, and 44123/1980 and Japanese Patent Application Kokai Nos. 55400/1973, and active plasma arc evaporation processes as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44725/1982 and Japanese Patent Application Kokai Nos. 104103/1983 and 162705/1985.
Basically, these processes are devised to heat a source ingot metal to a high temperature with an electron beam, arc plasma or the like to evaporate atoms from the metal surface, followed by condensation of the vapor for collection.
When these gas phase processes are applied to the manufacture of fine particles of hexagonal intermetallic compound of Fe-Co-P series as previously mentioned, several problems arises. First, it is difficult to continuously form a compound or composite material from such elements having greatly different melting and boiling points as Fe, Co, and P since a source ingot is melted and evaporated. Secondly, an alloy ingot used as the evaporation source is expensive.
One solution to the first problem is Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 149705/1985, which is successful in forming a composite material from elements having different boiling points. However, this process is unsuitable for mass production because an apparatus of complex structure is necessary. In addition, this process is presumed difficult to produce hexagonal Fe-Co-P intermetallic compounds, especially ultrafine particles of hexagonal Fe-Co-P intermetallic compounds within the composition range defined in the present invention.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Conventional divers'suits are produced from neoprene and have numerous disadvantages. For example, when suits are folded for traveling, the neoprene creases at the folds and tends to retain the creases. Creases create air pockets which produce buoyancy. Another disadvantage is that neoprene is a closed cell foam material containing air pockets which, at normal atmospheric pressure, provide good insulative characteristics. However, under pressures experienced in a routine dive, the pockets collapse allowing the neoprene to be compressed to a fraction of its normal thickness with a concurrent decrease in insulative characteristics at a depth at which those characteristics are most needed, i.e., where the water is colder. Further, the air pockets make the suit more buoyant at shallow depths requiring use of weights for diving. Still further, the neoprene suits are generally difficult to don since they are desirably tight in order to eliminate air trapped between the suit and diver.
One prior art attempt to alleviate some of the above disadvantages has been to form a wet suit material of an outer Lycra fabric bonded to an inner plush fabric. One such material is available from Malden Mills, Inc. under the designation Polartec 2000. This material fails to overcome all the above disadvantages since it does not have the insulative qualities of suits made from neoprene.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Several intervention tools used in a well have an internal pump for providing fluid to an operational bit arranged in the front end of the tool. Thus, the pump needs a rotational input of a certain speed which is substantially higher than the rotational speed of the tool bit. The pump is therefore arranged so that fluid from the pump is supplied through a reduction gear, however, when intervening small diameter wells, this design is not appropriate as the reduction gear needs all the internal space available to avoid the gear being worn down very quickly.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus that can be used to decorate a drinking glass such as a wineglass, to identify a drinking glass as being used by or belonging to a specific individual and if desired to be given away as a party favor or gift. In particular a decorative collar is fashioned as a piece of jewelry from a precious metal such as gold or platinum, a semi-precious metal such as silver or copper, or any combination of precious and semi-precious metals, however other materials such as plastics, rubbers, woods, industrial metals can be used. Precious gem stones, semi-precious gem stones, fixed charms, removable charms, or any combination of gem stones and charms can be further added to the decorative collar for additional ornamentation, however other ornamental accents such as glass accents, plastic accents, wood accents, and metal accents may be used. The decorative collar can affix snugly at any position on a stem of a glass such as a wineglass or to a handle of a drinking cup such as a mug. The apparatus comprises at least one geometrically shaped decorative collar comprising at least two pieces such that the at least one geometrically shaped decorative collar can encircle a stem or handle of a glass, cup or mug when the at least two pieces that form the decorative collar are separated then joined together to surround the stem or handle of a glass or mug whereby the at least one geometrically shaped decorative collar is restored to its original shape and form. An embodiment according to the present invention comprises a first piece of the at least two pieces being joined to a second piece of the at least two pieces with a movable mechanism such as a hinge for a first connection and a locking/unlocking mechanism such as a fastener opposed to the movable mechanism for a second connection. Another embodiment according to the present invention comprises the at least two pieces having at least two interconnecting fasteners comprising a first side and a second side whereby the first side of the fastener and the second side of the fastener of a first of the at least two pieces are positioned opposite to a first side and a second side of the fastener located on a second of the at least two pieces such that when pressed together the first side of the first of the at least two pieces engages the second side of the second of the at least pieces and the second side of the first of the at least two pieces engages the first side of the second of the at least two pieces such that the first and second of the at least two pieces are locked together forming a collar. Another embodiment according to the present invention further includes at least one gasket insert constructed from a pliable material such as silicon, whereby the at least one gasket insert can be embedded into an inner surface of at least one of the at least two pieces of the decorative collar such that when the decorative collar is affixed to a stem or a handle of a glass, cup, mug or goblet, the gasket insert protects the stem or handle from scratches, breakage and further allows a snug fit to the glass stem or mug handle such that the decorative collar will remain non-movably fixed at whatever location on the stem or mug handle that it is affixed to. The decorative collar can also be constructed large enough to encircle and affix to the entire body of a drinking glass. Another embodiment according to the present invention comprises a plurality of geometrical shapes that are designed to be stackable such that the aesthetic features of each of the plurality of geometrical shapes accent and enhance each other whereby the stack of geometric shapes form one unit of jewelry or can be used separately as individual units of jewelry. If desired each of the geometric shapes that form the stack can be interlocking with one another however the geometric shapes can also be freely separable.
2. Description of Related Art
Throughout each year various types of social events and gatherings occur. Weddings, award ceremonies, children's birthday parties, and holiday parties are just a few examples of such events.
Food and beverages are typically served at these events. The nature of the event and where the event is held generally dictates how and with what type of tableware the food and beverages are served on. Food and beverages can be served on tableware ranging from throw-away paper plates and cups to china plates and crystal glassware.
At formal events beverages tend to be served to guests in non-throw away containers, such as crystal wineglasses, goblets, champagne glasses etc. When a guest finishes their drink and would like a refill they sometimes forget where they have left their original drink glass so the guest merely orders a replacement drink served in a different glass. Not only can this result in a number of empty or partially filled glasses remaining throughout the formal event area making clean-up more burdensome, it becomes necessary for the host of the party to have an adequate supply of glasses to accommodate refills for all of the guests.
Another common problem when serving beverages in non-disposable containers is that guests sometimes pick up a glass believing it to be their own and end up drinking from a glass that was used by someone else. This can be embarrassing and certainly is not sanitary.
A solution to the above problem is that of labeling a glass with a person's name. Stick on labels as well as round paper rings having a person's name have been used but are generally not appropriately used at a formal affair. Additionally either the host or the guest themselves are required to write a name on the label which is time-consuming and tedious.
Other solutions used in the past have been attempts to make wine charms and stemware trinkets but those attempts have proven largely unsatisfactory because they generally do not last long, easily fall off a glass, break because of fatigue, or are not aesthetically appealing for formal functions.
Thus a need exists for an apparatus that can be used to identify a glass as belonging to a particular individual, that is more aesthetically appeasing and fashionable, that can be given away as a party favor or gift, that is more durable, and that snuggly fits on a stem of a glass, handle of a cup or on a glass itself.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Logging tools are lowered into a well on a logging cable. The cable typically includes one or more electrical conductors extending from the logging tool in the sonde (one or more tools) to the end of the cable which is typically stored on a drum or reel for convenience in handling. The logging cable typically has a strong member which is a type of woven wire rope. The length of the cable is an important factor to enable depths or locations of measurements to be determined by the sonde in the borehole. Thus, a particular reading must be located vertically so that the reading can be correlated with other data to associate the data with particular formations which are intercepted by the borehole. One technique for increasing the precision of this measurement is to place magnetic marks on the cable at specified locations. Magnetic marks typically are placed on the cable by magnetizing the ferrous material comprising the cable. Ordinarily, the magnetic marks are placed at calibrated distances along the cable.
A magnetic mark is placed by magnetizing that portion of the cable to create a magnetic mark. The mark is detected by a detection device which is held adjacent to the cable as it moves past which forms an output pulse from the device. The pulse is indicative of the passage of the magnetic mark. This works quite well as long as the magnetic mark has a specified magnetic intensity or strength. However, the magnetic marks tend to wear by loss of intensity. Several factors contribute to the loss of intensity. One is the mere passage of time, but perhaps the more important factors involved are continual passage of the marked portion of the logging cable over the sheave. Another factor is prior magnetization of the casing or wellhead equipment, whether intentional or accidental. In addition, the magnetic marks on the cable are stored in tightly wound bights on the reel, and marks stored adjacent to one another tend to reduce mark intensity. Accordingly, the marks on the cable become weaker and weaker. Ultimately, they become so weak that they can no longer be detected, or at least several marks of the cable become so weak that the entire cable must be removed and remarked. Remarking is easily described but is an expensive process to carry out. It is quite difficult to accomplish in the field. Normally, it requires that the cable be removed from the field location (whether onshore or offshore) and transferred with the storage reel to a remarking location. The remarking equipment requires a mechanism for magnetizing the cable. In addition, it requires a measuring apparatus which carefully calibrates the distance between adjacent marks. The strong marks are placed on the cable only after precise measurement. The first step, however, is erasing all prior marks. This is accomplished simply by exposing the entire cable to an oscillatory magnetic field which destroys the preexistent marks. Remeasuring then positions the new set of marks. The new marks are simply placed on the cable in the same fashion as would occur with a new cable.
The remarking procedure presently used thus requires transportation of the cable and associated reel, thereby taking the cable out of service. This is disruptive to field operations, and is a time consuming process which is therefore relatively expensive. In particular, this derives from the necessity of remeasuring the cable to locate the marks. This must be accomplished with the cable held at a specified tension or load. The materials comprising the cable stretch or elongate in the elastic range. Accordingly, the marks must be placed on the cable with a specified or known tension. Accordingly, the presently used remarking procedure involves precise measurements of cable tension and distance between marks. It is desirable that the marks be placed on the cable with an accuracy which approaches about one eighth inch between marks which are normally one hundred feet apart. In other words, the measurement is accurate to approximately one part per ten thousand between marks. While this accuracy can be obtained, it is nevertheless obtained with substantial time, effort and resultant cost.
By contrast, the present apparatus and procedure remark the cable by intensifying the prior marks. The prior marks will fade, but they are remarked before they become undetectable. Thus, when the cable has been used sufficiently that the marks are marginally detectable, they are remarked at the same locations. This avoids the necessity of careful measurements. This avoids the necessity of placing the cable under a specified tension during remarking. This is more readily accomplished with equipment in the field, and indeed, the present apparatus has the form of an accessory which can be incorporated with the cable handling equipment so that the cable and drum for storage of the cable do not have to be removed; rather, remarking can occur at the wellhead. It can occur while leaving the cable drum mounted on the skid or other support equipment without any disruption of the equipment and removal from the immediate wellhead vicinity.
Remarking as proposed by the present disclosure involves the use of a set of measuring wheels which are already in place. The measuring wheels enable the cable to be spooled into the borehole while the magnetic marks pass through a detector. The detector forms an output signal having the form of an electrical pulse indicative of magnetic mark passage. That signal is delivered to a marker control circuit. That circuit provides a strong magnetization current flow to a coil positioned around the cable for marking purposes. The magnetic mark formed thereby is controlled in location so that it marks over the prior mark. In other words, as the prior mark traverses through the present apparatus, it is written over, thereby providing a strong mark on the cable using prior mark locations.
The present procedure involves the use of a magnetic mark detector and a magnetic marker. The latter device is a coil provided with a pulsed current flow of sufficient strength. The distance between these two components is measured along the cable passing through and is a distance which can be measured. As the cable traverses the equipment, this distance is also traversed by a mark which is to be remarked, and this distance is measured by the controller circuitry. Remarking is then implemented. Measurements between marks are not required. Calibrated measurements under calibrated tension loads are not required. Rather, the entire procedure is accomplished in the field utilizing the prior marks to locate the new and stronger marks.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to toilet hygienic accessories and more specifically it relates to a bidet device. The bidet device includes a hand held spray head used in conjunction with a standard toilet to be directed to a crotch area of a female body, so as to reduce the use of toilet paper and soiled underwear during a menstrual cycle. The bidet device can be utilized for medical and other female personal nature requirements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous toilet hygienic accessories have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,596,058 to Nourbakhsh; 4,761,837 to Takeda; 4,890,340 to Lovitt and 5,023,961 to Alonso all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
NOUREAKHSH, MAHMOUD M.
BIDET ATTACHMENT FOR WATER CLOSETS
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,058
This patent discloses a bidet attachment for a conventional water closet. An open compartment is formed at one end of the water tank to receive a water mixing chamber which receives water from incoming hot and cold supply lines. The entry of hot and cold water into the mixing chamber is controlled by valve control handles on the side of the compartment. An outlet pipe extends from the mixing chamber to the overfill pipe of the water tank and is accessible so that the water temperature can be sensed by touching the outlet pipe. A hand held spray is carried on the end of a flexible hose which can be retracted into the compartment for storage. A control button on the spray head can be activated to divert water from the outlet pipe to the hose for application of a bidet spray from the spray head, with the toilet bowl serving as the bidet basin.
TAKEDA, HISANOBU
WASHING DEVICE FOR PARTS OF BODY
U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,837
A washing device for parts of the body comprises a pump means to supply water from a water source under pressure and a nozzle means which spouts the pressurized water against the private parts of the human body as a water jet. Since the pump means has an air intake port on the suction side, air foam is securely mixed in the water jet. Also, since an air control valve is provided in connection with the air intake port, the mixing ratio of the air in the water can be controlled by the air control valve.
LOVITT, HAROLD B.
SELF-CONTAINED HAND-HELD BIDET
U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,340
This patent discloses a self-contained hand-held bidet device, for providing lavaging action with portability and convenience. The device comprises a housing having a motorized pump with a power source and switch for activating the pump. The pump draws fluid from a reservoir mounted at one end of the housing and pumps the fluid through a pivotal conduit to exit as a spray. Lightweight construction, a collapsible reservoir and the pivotally mounted wand facilitate convenient storage.
ALONSO, NELSON A.
BIDET ACCESSORY
U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,961
This patent discloses a bidet accessory for mounting to the rear flanged section of two-piece toilet fixtures and removably connected to hot and cold water supplies. An outlet is connected through a flexible conduit to a sprayer that is, when not in use, held in place by the supporting assembly. A mounting assembly is mounted to the supporting assembly and it allows for the installation of the bidet accessory in a multitude of different angles depending on the users' preferences and space constraints.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Electrophoresis is a method used to separate and analyze biological macromolecules, including proteins, DNA, RNA, and complexes of these molecules. Numerous electrophoretic techniques have been developed including capillary electrophoresis, gel electrophoresis, paper electrophoresis, and immunoelectrophoresis.
A common electrophoretic method is gel electrophoresis. In gel electrophoresis, a gel is formed using compounds such as agarose or polyacrylamide. A mixture containing the desired compound(s) is placed (or loaded) onto one end of the gel, and the gel is then placed contact with a liquid buffer. This liquid buffer contains salts, which, when dissolved, form ions within the buffer.
Biological molecules are typically charged, for example when contacted with electrophoresis buffer. For example, DNA is negatively charged in common electrophoresis buffers due to the phosphate groups in its backbone. Therefore, when electric current is applied to the ends of the gel, the biological molecules move through the gel from one end to the other. Depending on their size, shape, and charge, some molecules move through the gel faster than others. As the mixture moves through the gel, molecules of one size, shape, or charge are separated from those of a different size, shape, and/or charge. The speed at which the molecules pass through the gel and the separation between the various types of molecules also depends on the concentration and type of the gel. In general, molecules pass through thicker gels slower than they do through thinner gels, though thicker gels typically provide better separation.
The gels can be run horizontally and/or vertically. When run horizontally, the gel is generally submerged in the buffer. The sample mixture is loaded at one end and run to the other end. When the gel is run vertically, the sample mixture is loaded at the top of the gel and run towards the bottom. A vertical gel is generally not submerged in buffer. Rather it is run on an electrophoresis apparatus that contains a buffer chamber at the top and the bottom of the gel.
Conventional electrophoresis apparatus include cassettes that are typically two parallel glass plates held apart by spacers. Separation of biomolecules within an electrophoresis gel is easily achieved; however, subsequent collection of the isolated molecules for further analysis can be inefficient and difficult. This is especially true when the individual biomolecules or complexes containing the biomolecules have different physical characteristics, such as molecular weights and/or charges. For example, in traditional gel electrophoresis, as a mixture of biomolecules moves through the gel, molecules of one size, shape, or charge are separated from those of a different size, shape, and/or charge. Thus, biomolecules of interest can be spread apart within the cross-linked gel, leaving them not easily accessible. There thus remains a need for improved electrophoresis apparatus that addresses these and other issues.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device which has a semiconductor laser element, and functions to project a laser beam from the semiconductor laser element, while protecting the laser element.
2. Description of Prior Arts
It has heretofore been a practice to provide a casing (such as one designated by a reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings) about a semiconductor laser device for preventing environmental pollution, and to project a light beam as the laser output through an optical window 2 provided in the casing 1.
In view, however, of the fact that the semiconductor laser element 3 used in this device emits light beam from both ends thereof, there inevitably arises a problem that, rather than only one of the light beams, i.e., a front beam 4 alone, being projected out of the optical window as mentioned above, the other light beam, i.e., the rear beam 5, is also reflected within the casing 1 to mix with the front beam 4.
Thus, when the rear beam mixes with the front beam, a problem arises that no accurate measurement of the light beam from the semiconductor laser device can be made, because the light intensity differs from point to point on the optical window. Also, it is of great concern that ghost and other undesirable phenomena may occur depending on a positional relationship of the device at the time of its use. Such situations constitute inconveniences and disadvantages when the semiconductor laser device per se is evaluated, or when it is used as a recording device.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery pack provided with a memory and a secondary battery, a charging device for charging the battery pack, and an electronic device using the battery pack as a power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, some types of battery packs for use in an electronic device are provided with a nonvolatile memory for storing a nominal charge capacity value and a remaining charge capacity value.
Further, there has been proposed a charging device for charging a battery pack of the above-mentioned type, in which the remaining charge capacity value is calculated based on a result of electric current integration and an initial remaining charge capacity value and a nominal remaining charge capacity value stored in a nonvolatile memory, and the initial remaining charge capacity value is rewritten into the calculated present remaining charge capacity value (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H06-310179).
Furthermore, an electronic device on which such a battery pack is mounted is configured to be capable of calculating a battery available time period from the present remaining charge capacity value and a load current.
In techniques typified by the above-mentioned prior art, however, since the remaining charge capacity value is stored in the nonvolatile memory, the calculation of the integral of charging current and that of load current is indispensable. With this configuration, it is impossible to accurately measure an electric current in the case of an electronic load where rush current frequently occurs, which is a factor causing an accuracy error in the measurement of the remaining charge capacity. Further, it is required to provide a device for measuring a current value on a power supply line, which causes a drop in voltage, thereby impeding improvement of power efficiency.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Autotaxin, also known as ATX, ENPP2 or NPP2, short for Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase phosphodiesterase 2, is an enzyme secreted within the human body. This molecule has been known for generating (LPA) through conversion of lysophosphatidyl-choline (LPC) thereto via lysophospholipase D activity (the removal of choline from the base compound generates LPA). LPA has been realized to contribute to tumor cell growth, unfortunately, as the reactivity within the human body of LPA within certain tissues has resulted, in certain studies, in cancerous growths when present at certain levels. In this manner, then, it has been theorized that the greater the incidence of autotaxin activity within the human body, the greater the possibility of LPA generation. A reduction in the catalytic capabilities of autotaxin to convert the LPC molecule to LPA would theoretically permit an ultimate reduction in possibility of unwanted cell proliferation through reduced LPA presence within a subject's body.
The mechanism of autotaxin in terms of enzymatic activity and catalysis to form LPA resides in its phosphodiesterase capability. LPA can be generated from the cleavage of the phosphodiester bonds of LPC, through the function of a phospholipase enzyme (note Formula I).
In extracellular fluids, this enzymatic catalysis of LPC removes the choline group, leaving LPA, which has a tendency to stimulate cell growth and proliferation as well as chemotaxis. From this, it appears that the motility of tumor cells is increased as well, resulting in properties and gene expression within certain carcinomas (such as, for instance, breast cancer cells), causing further processing into a form that is bioactive and potentially dangerous. Metastasis and oncogenesis of cancer cells appear to occur as well with elevated levels of LPA present within a targeted region. Increased ATX expression has been identified in renal carcinoma, metastatic breast cancer, thyroid carcinoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and invasive glioblastoma multiforme, as well as other diseases, including multiple sclerosis, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's diseases, and chronic pain.
It has thus been determined that the ability to prevent, or at least reduce, the amount of LPA within the human body holds great promise at, likewise, reducing, if not preventing, the onset of certain diseases, most prominently, certain cancers. It has been theorized, as noted above, that autotaxin modifications may prevent the undesirable conversion from LPC to LPA; the ability to actually accomplish such a result has been elusive, however, at least to the degree necessary for effective broad-scale utilization of such a method. Any modification thereof must exhibit an ability to drastically reduce the activity of autotaxin while also, preferably exhibiting oral bioavailability as well.
Autotaxin (ATX, NPP2) was originally identified as an autocrine motility factor in the conditioned media of A2058 melanoma cells. Subsequently, ATX was shown to be, as discussed above, the lysophospholipase D enzyme responsible for synthesis of the bioactive lipid lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in vivo. Specific, potent inhibitors of ATX are therefore desirable as novel therapeutic leads.
Examples of metal chelators, lipid analogs and non-lipid, small molecules have all been identified as autotaxin inhibitors. Metal chelators such as EDTA, phenanthroline, and L-histidine have been shown to inhibit ATX activity, presumably via interactions with active site divalent metal ions required for function. Lipid analogs represent the largest group of reported ATX inhibitors (see FIG. 1 for structures). LPA and the related bioactive lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) were previously shown to function as feedback inhibitors of ATX. This discovery led to the analysis of several LPA and S1P analogs as ATX inhibitors. Reported LPA analogs include fatty alcohol phosphates, Darmstoff analogs, cyclic phosphatidic acid analogs, and phosphonates (VPC8a202, S32826, and JGW-8). One reported S1P analog, FTY720-phosphate, has also been examined as an ATX inhibitor (structures of these types of previous ATX inhibiting compounds are provided below).
While many of these lipid analogs are potent ATX inhibitors, they lack many characteristics seen in 90% of orally bioavailable drugs, and collectively they lack significant structural diversity.
Finally, the third category of reported ATX inhibitors consists of non-lipid, small molecules that collectively extend structural diversity and in general possess physicochemical characteristics more closely related to orally bioavailable drugs. The most efficacious structures previously identified are shown in group Figure A, below. H2L 7905958 (1) was the most efficacious compound from that initial single concentration screen (at 10 μM compound 1 fully inhibited ATX-catalyzed hydrolysis of 1 μM FS-3). Recently, additional small-molecule inhibitors of ATX (group Figures B and C) were identified as potential as metastasis blockers as well. One compound, NSC 48300, in group Figure C, showed essentially 100% inhibition of melanoma metastasis at micromolar concentrations. Although this compound, and the group of compounds similar thereto, exhibited acceptable, if not effective autotaxin inhibition, it is not clear if such compounds are selective to ATX (NPP2).
Furthermore, the previous ATX inhibiting compounds all exhibited certain drawbacks in largescale potential utilization. For instance, past work at ATX inhibition has included, as noted above, L-histidine. Unfortunately, millimolar concentrations were required for any efficacy, and, more importantly, zinc sulfate reversal of this effect (in submillimolar concentrations) suggested an inhibition mechanism involving interaction with the two native active site metal ions thereof. Other potential ATX inhibitors have included the products of ATX-catalyzed hydrolysis of LPC and sphingosyl phosphorylcholine (SPC), LPA, and S1P, respectively. Inhibition of ATX by LPA and S1P suggests that product feedback inhibition may contribute to regulation of ATX function in vivo. Additional reported ATX inhibitors share several common structural features, including a phosphate, thiophosphate, or phosphonate headgroup attached either with or without a linker to an alkyl chain, which can vary in overall length and can be either saturated or unsaturated. However, these compounds lack substantial structural diversity for possible additive or synergistic effect at improving ATX reduction. For oral ingestion purposes, as well, it is of great importance to identify novel non-lipid structural classes capable of inhibiting ATX that are structurally dissimilar from those currently used for this purpose.
It is believed, without relying upon any specific scientific basis, that the lack of diversity in reported ATX inhibitors, as noted above, is due, in part, to the lack of a characterized three-dimensional structure of the enzyme itself. The ATX sequence of over 860 amino acids is divided into several domains, including a central catalytic domain composed of about 400 amino acids. ATX is a member of the nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase (NPP) family, as well as the alkaline phosphatase superfamily. Crystallographic structures of several alkaline phosphatase superfamily members have been available for decades. These crystal structures show remarkable structural conservation in a small core surrounding the catalytic site, but unfortunately show completely different structural characteristics outside this conserved core. Sequence homology of the alkaline phosphatases with ATX does not exceed 14% and is therefore insufficient for generation of a high quality homology model in any region outside the approximately 100 amino acid structurally conserved core. The recent report of a crystal structure of a bacterial NPP enzyme with 30% identity to the ATX catalytic core domain enabled the development of a structural model of the ATX catalytic domain that may prove useful in structure-based drug design. Although a significant improvement, such a homology model must be applied cautiously as involvement of the c-terminal nuclease-like domain in substrate recognition has been suggested from studies of NPP family domain-swapping chimeras. In any event, these previously reported ATX inhibitors are analogs of LPA, a phospholipid, and are more hydrophobic than is typical of orally bioavailable drugs, thereby creating problems in that area.
As such, there exists a definitive lack in providing effective ATX inhibition (or inactivation) within the current knowledge base in this area, particularly as it concerns compounds that not only exhibit ATX inhibition, but do so selectively for NPP2 alone, as compared with other NPP-type compounds (NPP6 and NPP7, for instance). The determination of proper selective NPP2 inhibiting compounds can thus aid in not only further optimization of autotaxin treatment agents, but also an understanding of the actual amino acid structures outside of the ATX conservative core. As such, although some compounds may promote ATX inhibition as they currently exist, some others with homologous structures (at least to a certain degree) to such effective ATX reduction agents may serve as intermediate compounds for further reaction and/or modification for such an optimization process.
As noted above, previous attempts at such treatments have provided developments of certain classes of compounds that exhibit certain desired results with ATX inhibition. However, the generation of classes that effectively provide increased overall ATX inhibition characteristics has been lacking in the pharmaceutical industry. The present invention provides not only improved ATX inhibiting compounds, but possible intermediates as launching pads into further improvement possibilities within this area as well.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wiring board, and particularly relates to a method of manufacturing a wiring board having a decoupling capacitor which is connected to a semiconductor chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with a semiconductor device such as a semiconductor chip becoming smaller and thinner, there has been a need to make a decoupling capacitor (which may also be called a bypass capacitor) smaller for suppressing changes in the power supply voltage of the semiconductor chip so as to stabilize its operation, and to use thin-film technologies for the decoupling capacitor.
Moreover, as the operating frequency of the semiconductor chip is expected to become higher in order to further increase the operating speed of the semiconductor chip in the future, the decoupling capacitor is preferably installed in the vicinity of the semiconductor chip in order to reduce the inductance of the decoupling capacitor connection.
Thus, different decoupling capacitors and methods of installing the decoupling capacitors that respond to the need as described above are being proposed.
For example, when a semiconductor chip is mounted on a wiring board so as to use the semiconductor chip, a method of mounting a decoupling capacitor on the back side of a wiring board, or in other words, on the side opposite the side on which the semiconductor chip is mounted (for example, refer to Patent Document 1), and structures and forms for embedding the decoupling capacitor into the wiring board are being proposed (for example, refer to Patent Documents 2 through 4).
Patent Document 1
JP2003-264253A
Patent Document 2
JP2004-14573A
Patent Document 3
JP2004-152883A
Patent Document 4
JP2004-281830A
However, for installing a decoupling capacitor in a wiring board on which a semiconductor chip is mounted, a problem could arise with the reliability of the wiring structure to which the decoupling capacitor and the semiconductor chip are connected.
For example, when trying to simply configure the wiring structure to which a decoupling capacitor and a semiconductor are connected, it is preferable that via wiring be formed such that it pierces the decoupling capacitor, thereby simplifying the wiring structure and making it possible to reduce the impedance of the wiring structure.
However, as the via wiring and pattern wiring connected to the via wiring are minituarized, problems could arise with the registration tolerance (the alignment tolerance) of the via wiring, or with the reliability of the connection between the via wiring and electrode layers of the decoupling capacitor, or with the reliability of the connection between the via wiring and the pattern wiring, possibly making it difficult to make a low-impedance structure which is superior in the reliability of the connection.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
It is known that biological cells may be damaged by raising their temperature to approximately 40° C. to 46° C. Hyperthermal treatment, that is, applying temperatures in the range of 40° C. to 46° C. to localized areas of the body has been considered for ablating diseased biological tissue, particularly cancer cells. The application of heat has also been shown to enhance certain biological processes, particularly biological processes associated with healing tissue. Thus low-level heat energy has been applied to areas of damaged tissue in order to encourage biological repair processes.
Microwave energy has been considered for heating biological tissues both for hyperthermal treatment to ablate diseased biological tissues and for other therapeutic purposes such as for enhancing biological processes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,998 discusses various uses of microwave energy for therapeutic purposes. A problem with using microwave energy for therapeutic applications is that the microwave energy not only heats the intended target of the treatment, that is, the diseased tissue or the tissue undergoing repair processes, but also adjacent biological tissue. This is particularly a problem in hyperthermal treatments because it can cause excessive damage to healthy tissue in addition to the diseased tissue.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention relates to an overflow-preventing valve and the application thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to an overflow-preventing valve that effectively works for preventing a sealing oil or a lubricating oil from overflowing out of a system for a rotary machine which is used in an inorganic or organic chemical plant, a petroleum refinery plant, a plant for manufacturing chemicals and a power plant, and to the application thereof.
A conventional sealing oil supply system for a centrifugal compressor has a structure, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, a sealing oil for preventing gas from leaking out of a compressor is pressurized by a sealing oil pump 1 and is adjusted to a constant predetermined differential pressure (a difference between an oil pressure and a gas pressure) through a liquid level control valve 2 and a liquid level controller 4 to correspond to an internal pressure of a compressor 8. The sealing oil is fed to the compressor 8 through a sealing oil supply pipe 3. To control the pressure, a gas pressure transmitting pipe 6 is connected from the compressor 8 to an upper portion of a sealing oil head tank 5. Any change such as an increase or a decrease in the gas pressure in the compressor 8 is detected by the liquid level controller 4, and an air pressure signal is sent to the liquid level control valve 2 to regulate the valve in order to control a supply rate of oil, so that the predetermined differential pressure between the gas pressure in the compressor 8 and the pressure of the sealing oil is constantly maintained, thereby to prevent the gas from leaking out of a casing.
A plurality of transfer barriers 9 equipped with rubber bladders therein is provided between the sealing oil supply pipe 3 and the sealing oil head tank 5, so that the sealing oil to be fed and the oil in the sealing oil head tank 5 are kept separated from each other by the rubber bladders in the transfer barriers 9 even in the event that the pressure for supplying the sealing oil is abnormally raised due to a trouble and/or an inappropriate operation of the liquid level control valve 2 or the liquid level controller 4. Thus, the oil in the sealing oil head tank 5 is prevented from flowing into the compressor 8 through the gas pressure transmitting pipe 6. In the conventional system shown in FIG. 5, the transfer barriers 9 are usually so small that a plurality of barriers has to be provided in order to create a capacity comparable to an amount of oil in the sealing oil head tank 5.
Moreover, the sealing oil in the sealing oil head tank 5 is isolated by the sealing oil transfer barriers 9, wherein a considerable period of time is required for charging the oil to be stored in the tank beforehand, and somewhat sophisticated skill is also required for adjusting the level of the oil in the tank. Furthermore, the rubber bladders in the transfer barriers 9 are always in contact with oil and are shrunk during operation of the compressor 8 or the rubber bladders may be aged in a long usage. Thus, the bladders are hardened or broken and become defective. Therefore, in order to prevent such an accident, the transfer barriers must be regularly renewed, to cause a great burden in an maintenance cost.
Therefore, the transfer barriers 9 may be omitted to save the cost of facilities. Even though a sealing oil overflow rarely occurs, in such a case, the compressor must be disassembled and re-assembled in order to clean the overflowed sealing oil, which requires laborious work and a large amount of time. For example, in case of disassembling and re-assembling a centrifugal compressor in an ethylene producing plant, a total time was two to five days inclusive of purging with gas and re-starting (e.g. 5 men.times.12 hours.times.2 shifts.times.2 days), which also caused a production loss of several hundred million yen.
The present inventor, therefore, had studied various overflow-preventing valves but could not find any desirable valves.
For instance, (1) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication (Kokai) No. 93625/1988 discloses a device for preventing fuel from flowing out, and (2) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication (Kokai) No. 240468/1990 discloses an exhaust valve. In the case of the Publication (1), however, the device is designed to cope with a case where a fuel tank is turned sideways by about 90 degrees, so that a valve moves and comes into intimate contact with a valve seat due to the self-weight of the fuel and closes a flow path to thereby permit some fuel (oil) to flow out. Also, the valve of the Publication (1) is not quite utilizable as a stationary overflow-preventing valve that does not incline. In the case of the valve disclosed in the Publication (2) (see FIG. 3 which is a sectional view of the prior art), an orifice 21A is provided on an outlet side to separate and discharge only gas since it is not possible for the conventional discharge valve to completely prevent drain of liquid. In case a gas pressure suddenly changes in the system, however, there is another problem that the orifice 21A itself functions as a resistance, causing delay of transmission of pressure. When the above valve is used for a sealing oil supply system of FIG. 4, it is, therefore, difficult to finely adjust a liquid level.
The present inventor therefore has conducted a study, and has discovered a fact that the above-mentioned problems can be solved if a float valve 13 could be made in a shape of an inverse U-shaped cross section instead of the conventional closed spherical body 13G (see FIG. 3), and has arrived at the present invention.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for washing away foreign matters caught between a tool and a tool holding part by flowing a fluid into a flow passage formed in the tool holding part, thereby preventing deterioration in machining accuracy due to deviation of a rotation axis of the tool. Furthermore, this technique is arranged to detect a trouble that foreign matters are caught between the tool and the tool holding part without being washed away.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The invention relates to an apparatus for utilizing the energy of the sun, and more particularly to an arrangement of solar cells on a supporting structure.
It is an object of the invention to provide a particularly appropriate refinement of the arrangement of solar cells on a supporting structure, which is to be highly permanent and extremely light and which preferably can be integrated into the upper deck of a water vessel. The arrangement of the solar cells to obtain energy should be accomplished in as simple a manner as possible, in order to keep the price of the arrangement within acceptable limits. The arrangement should be accomplished with few components, which have little tendency to break down. As a further main objective, the arrangement of solar cells should be of as low a weight as possible, so that the arrangement can be used universally beyond the particular application set forth herein.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a bolt having an excellent guiding performance.
Bolts have been known which are provided at a tip end of a bolt shank portion with a guide portion so that, even when a bolt is inserted slantingly into a mating female screw, the bolt corrects its own position to be precisely inserted into the female screw (as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Provisional Utility Model Publications Nos. 5-57415, 59-37413, 54-147364, 6-59614, 52-77371 and 50-79861). FIG. 3 shows an example of prior bolts devised in that manner, in which a tapered portion 3 is provided on a tip end of a bolt shank portion 2 formed with normal screw threads 1 and screw threads 4 are also formed on the tapered portion.
It is believed that while the tapered portion 3 is sometimes formed to define a simply tapered slant face, it can be formed with the screw threads 4 whereby, even when an associated bolt is inserted somewhat slantingly into a mating female screw such as nuts or the like, the screw threads formed on the tapered portion engage with screw threads 6 of the female screw to enable guiding the bolt precisely relative to the female screw while correcting a position of the bolt.
However, it is not possible to form complete screw threads on the tapered portion 3, and so the screw threads 4 on such portion become necessarily incomplete. Such incomplete screw threads are made smaller in height than complete screw threads are. Therefore, when a slant angle .theta. (see FIG. 4. The same applies in the following description) of a central axis of the bolt relative to a central axis of a female screw 5 is small, the bolt can be corrected with respect to a direction of insertion, but when a slant angle .theta. is great, the screw threads on the tapered portion will not engage with the screw threads 6 on the female screw 5, and so undergo slipping to crush the screw threads on the female screw and to generate pitch jumping with the result that continued fastening causes a danger of seizure on the bolt.
Further, in the case where such bolts are fastened by means of an automatic fastening machine, not only the slant angle but also axial misalignment (misalignment between the bolt axis and the female screw axis) become problematic. Incidentally, an example of the user's demands is that the slant angle .theta. is at least 3 degrees with the axial misalignment being 3 mm.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to hearing systems, devices and methods. Although specific reference is made to hearing aid systems, embodiments of the present invention can be used in many applications where tissue is stimulated with at least one of vibration or an electrical current, for example with wireless communication, the treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's, and cochlear implants.
People like to hear. Hearing devices can be used with communication systems and aids to help the hearing impaired. Hearing impaired subjects need hearing aids to verbally communicate with those around them. Open canal hearing aids have proven to be successful in the marketplace because of increased comfort and an improved cosmetic appearance. Another reason why open canal hearing aides can be popular is reduced occlusion of the ear canal. Occlusion can result in an unnatural, tunnel-like hearing effect which can be caused by large hearing aids which block the ear canal. However, a problem that may occur with open canal hearing aids is feedback. The feedback may result from placement of the microphone in too close proximity with the speaker or the amplified sound being too great. Thus, feedback can limit the degree of sound amplification that a hearing aid can provide. In some instances, feedback may be minimized by using non-acoustic means of stimulating the natural hearing transduction pathway, for example stimulating the tympanic membrane and/or bones of the ossicular chain. A permanent magnet or plurality of magnets may be coupled to the eardrum or the ossicles in the middle ear to stimulate the hearing pathway. These permanent magnets can be magnetically driven to cause motion in the hearing transduction pathway thereby causing neural impulses leading to the sensation of hearing. A permanent magnet may be coupled to the eardrum through the use of a fluid and surface tension, for example as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,259,032 and 6,084,975.
However, work in relation to embodiments of the present invention suggests that magnetically driving the hearing transduction pathway may have limitations. The strength of the magnetic field generated to drive the attached magnet may decrease rapidly with the distance from the field generator coil to the permanent magnet. For magnets implanted to the ossicle, invasive surgery may be needed. Coupling a magnet to the eardrum may avoid the need for invasive surgery. However, there can be a need to align the driver coil with the permanent magnet, and placement of the driver coil near the magnet can cause discomfort for the user, in at least some instances.
An alternative approach is a photo-mechanical system, for example, a hearing device may use light as a medium to transmit sound signals. Such systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,289,639 and U.S. Pat. App. No. U.S. Publication Nos. 2006/0189841. The optical output signal can be delivered to an output transducer coupled to the eardrum or the ossicle. Although optical systems may result in improved comfort for the patient, work in relation to embodiments of the present invention suggests that such systems may result in at least some distortion of the signal such that in some instances the sound perceived by the patient may be less than ideal in at least some instances.
Although pulse width modulation can be used to transmit an audio signal with an optical signal, work in relation to embodiments of the present invention suggests that at least some of the known pulse width modulation schemes may not work well with prior hearing devices in at least some instances. A digital signal output can be represented by a train of digital pulses. The pulses can have a duty cycle (the ratio of time in active to the overall period) that varies with the intended analog amplitude level. The pulses can be integrated to find the intended audio signal, which has an amplitude equal to the duty cycle multiplied by the pulse amplitude. When the amplitude of the intended audio signal decreases, the duty cycle can be decreased so that the amplitude of the integrated audio signal drops proportionally. Conversely, when the amplitude of the intended audio signal increases, the duty cycle can be increased so that the amplitude rises proportionally. Analog audio signals may vary positively or negatively from zero. At least some known pulse width modulation schemes may use a quiescent level, or zero audio level, represented by a 50% duty cycle. Decreases in duty cycle from this quiescent level can correspond to negative audio signal amplitude while increases in duty cycle can correspond to positive audio signal amplitude. Because this quiescent level is maintained, significant amounts of power may be consumed in at least some instances. While this amount of power use may not be a problem for larger signal transduction systems, in at least some instances this power use can pose problems for hearing devices, which are preferably small and may use small batteries that are ideally infrequently replaced.
For the above reasons, it would be desirable to provide hearing systems which at least decrease, or even avoid, at least some of the above mentioned limitations of the current hearing devices. For example, there is a need to provide a comfortable hearing device with less distortion and less feedback than current devices.
2. Description of the Background Art
Patents of interest include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,585,416, 3,764,748, 5,142,186, 5,554,096, 5,624,376, 5,795,287, 5,800,336, 5,825,122, 5,857,958, 5,859,916, 5,888,187, 5,897,486, 5,913,815, 5,949,895, 6,093,144, 6,139,488, 6,174,278, 6,190,305, 6,208,445, 6,217,508, 6,222,302, 6,422,991, 6,475,134, 6,519,376, 6,626,822, 6,676,592, 6,728,024, 6,735,318, 6,900,926, 6,920,340, 7,072,475, 7,095,981, 7,239,069, 7,289,639, D512,979, and EP1845919. Patent publications of interest include: PCT Publication Nos. WO 03/063542, WO 2006/075175, U.S. Publication Nos. 2002/0086715, 2003/0142841, 2004/0234092, 2006/0107744, 2006/0233398, 2006/075175, 2008/0021518, and 2008/01079292. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,259,032, 5,276,910, 5,425,104, 5,804,109, 6,084,975, 6,554,761, 6,629,922, U.S. Publication Nos. 2006/0023908, 2006/0189841, 2006/0251278, and 2007/0100197, the complete disclosures of which herein are incorporated herein by reference and suitable for combination in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, may also be of interest. Journal publications of potential interest include: Ayatollahi et al., “Design and Modeling of Micromachines Condenser MEMS Loudspeaker using Permanent Magnet Neodymium-Iron-Boron (Nd—Fe—B)”, ISCE, Kuala Lampur, 2006; Birch et al, “Microengineered Systems for the Hearing Impaired”, IEE, London, 1996; Cheng et al., “A silicon microspeaker for hearing instruments”, J. Micromech. Microeng., 14(2004) 859-866; Yi et al., “Piezoelectric microspeaker with compressive nitride diaphragm”, IEEE, 2006, and Zhigang Wang et al., “Preliminary Assessment of Remote Photoelectric Excitation of an Actuator for a Hearing Implant”, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference, Shanghai, China, Sep. 1-4, 2005 Other publications of interest include: Gennum GA3280 Preliminary Data Sheet, “Voyager TD™. Open Platform DSP System for Ultra Low Power Audio Processing” and National Semiconductor LM4673 Data Sheet, “LM4673 Filterless, 2.65 W, Mono, Class D audio Power Amplifier”; and Lee et al., “The Optimal Magnetic Force For A Novel Actuator Coupled to the Tympanic Membrane: A Finite Element Analysis,” Biomedical Engineering: Applications, Basis and Communications, Vol. 19, No. 3(171-177), 2007.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
A VTOL aerial vehicle can be used for a number of applications. The conditions under which a VTOL aerial vehicle must land may be variable. For example, the landing surface may be moving at the time the VTOL aerial vehicle is landing. For VTOL aerial vehicles that are operating at sea it is quit difficult to safely land on the deck of a ship due to constant sway, roll, pitch and yaw of a ship at sea. It can also be quite difficult to safely land on the deck of an offshore platform such as an oil drilling platform or on solid ground in zones exposed for violent winds. Therefore the VTOL aerial vehicle needs to be locked during landing in order to prevent sliding or toppling of the VTOL aerial vehicle. Sliding or toppling of a VTOL aerial vehicle can result in damage to or even loss of the VTOL aerial vehicle.
VTOL aerial vehicles often have a harpoon and grid securing system for securing the VTOL aerial vehicle to a platform during landing. These systems comprise a grid mounted on the landing and take-off platform. The harpoon is mounted underneath the VTOL aerial vehicle and substantially comprises a retractable arm and, at the end of the arm, a head for catching in the grid. During landing the harpoon descends vertically towards the grid and then goes down into the grid and thereby locks the VTOL aerial vehicle to the platform. Harpoon and grid securing system comprise, apart from a harpoon, an electric/pneumatic unit, hoses and mounting devices. Therefore the harpoon and grid securing system is quite large, heavy and bulky. In addition, there is no or little room for both a harpoon and grid securing system and a camera/radar sensor.
Another example of a known anchoring system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing vertical onto a ship is shown in document US-A1-2004256519. An aerial vehicle recovery system includes a landing pad secured or securable to a supporting surface. The landing pad has an upwardly facing capture surface having a passive retaining medium thereon. The aerial vehicle to be recovered includes one or more shoes affixed to a lower portion of the aerial vehicle. The shoes have a complementary passive retaining medium thereon configured to mate or interlock with or adhere to or otherwise interface with the retaining medium of the capture surface on the landing pad. The retaining medium on the landing pad and the complementary retaining medium on the aerial vehicle together form a passive retaining system that retains the vehicle on the landing pad upon the exertion of sufficient compressive force by the vehicle on the capture surface. The aerial vehicle recovery system can be used in conjunction with a variety of supporting surfaces, such as a ship's deck, an offshore platform, a truck grid, or the ground.
The system that is disclosed in the document US-A1-2004256519 has several drawbacks. One drawback is that the retaining medium on the aerial vehicle has to be released from the vehicle to allow the vehicle to be removed from the landing pad, leaving the retaining medium attached to the capture surface. The shoes must then be removed from the landing pad, such as by peeling the shoes from the capture surface, and new engagement components must be attached to the landing elements prior to each flight. Another drawback is that system is not suitable for aerial vehicles that are so heavy that the engagement components would be crushed. A further drawback is that the area of the landing pad is determined by the size of the landing gear of the aerial vehicle, which must contact the pad at all points.
As a consequence, in light of the above drawbacks, there is a need of a landing arresting system for VTOL aerial vehicles that allow for a fully automated operations cycle, whereby the aerial vehicle can be repeatedly launched, retrieved, serviced and re-launched, without manual intervention at any point, that is suitable for both lightweight and heavy VTOL aerial vehicles and whose landing and take-off platform is not determined by the size of the landing elements.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Fluidized bed coating processes are well known and typically employ a fluidized bed dryer to coat discrete, finely-divided particles while the particles are suspended in an upwardly-moving gas stream in a coating chamber. While so suspended, a solution of the coating material is sprayed into the moving fluid bed of particles and the particles subsequently dryed and recovered, the recovered particles contain generally a thin coating of the coating material thereon. Fluidized bed dryers are commercially sold as standard pieces of engineering equipment and typical Wurster-type dryers and processes are described; for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,117,027, 3,196,827, 3,253,944, 2,648,609, 2,799,241, and 3,241,520. These patents disclose various fluidized bed dryers for the encapsulation of discrete particles with various coatings and various processes for coating such discrete particles in a fluidized bed technique.
One technique for the fluidized bed coating of discrete particles comprises suspending seed particles or crystals of about 20-200 mesh particles size or smaller of the particular material to be coated, such as a drug, in a fluidized bed chamber and, thereafter, contacting the suspended particles in the bed with an atomized mixture of a granulating material, so as to build up the seed particles to the desired size granules. The granulating materials are typically dispersed, dissolved or suspended in a volatile liquid such as water or an organic solvent and sprayed into the fluidized bed in a technique such as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,089,824, issued May 14, 1963. Another technique of preparing agglomerate-type particles typically for subsequent use with tablets comprises employing a mixture of finely-divided powders in a fluidized bed and a solution of binder material is used to adhere the fine particles in the bed into larger particles, such as, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,824, issued Sept. 21, 1965.
The coating of finely-divided particles in a fluidized bed provides for microencapsulation and may use a wide variety of discrete particles to be coated with a wide variety of materials to be deposited as a uniform coating layer on the particles. Encapsulating ingredients useful in fluidized bed coatings include but are not limited to: waxes; cellulose such as ethyl cellulose, hydroxy ethyl and propyl cellulose and methyl cellulose, and carboxymethyl cellulose; gelatins; gums; fatty acids like stearates; and natural and synthetic film-forming polymers such as shellac, starches, fluorocarbons, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, vinyl chloride resins, acrylic resins, etc. The coating ingredients may be used as solvent or aqueous solutions, emulsions, dispersions, and melts. Materials capable of being employed in a fluidized bed include finely-divided solid material to be microencapsulated. Microencapsulation has been used for the encapsulation of pigments, in paint making, in paper making, in food products, pharamaceuticals, for beauty aids, laundry products, pressure-sensitive copying systems, paper coatings and a wide variety of other uses. In particular, it has been found that the microencapsulation technique is particularly useful for the encapsulation coating of materials, such as drugs, in order to provide a uniform coating and therefore provide for a delayed or controlled release of the active ingredient from the coated microcapsule. Microencapsulation techniques are set forth, for example, generally in Chemical Technology Review, No. 73, entitled "Microcapsulations and Microcapsulation Techniques" (1975), and Chemical Technology Review, No. 135, entitled "Microcapsules and other Capsules Advances Since 1975," both published by the Noyes Data Corporation.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus, an exposure method, and a device manufacturing method.
Description of the Related Art
Along with micropatterning of devices, extremely strict optical performance has been requested for the projection optical system of an exposure apparatus, and various imaging characteristic adjusting mechanisms such as a magnification adjusting mechanism and a distortion adjusting mechanism have been added. These imaging characteristic adjusting mechanisms mainly aim at correcting the assembly error of the projection optical system and correcting a change in imaging performance of the projection optical system caused by exposure heat. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-183214 has proposed an exposure apparatus including a correction system which corrects the projection magnification of a projection optical system. In the exposure apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-183214, the projection magnification is adjusted in accordance with the shot magnification of a preceding shot, and is adjusted again in accordance with the shot magnification of a succeeding shot if the projection magnification for the preceding shot exceeds the tolerance of an alignment error of the succeeding shot.
Recently, a back-side illumination (BSI) sensor has been developed in order to improve the sensitivity of an image sensor. The BSI sensor is manufactured by bonding a device substrate to a supporting substrate to polish the back side of the device substrate, and then performing an overlay exposure of patterns such as a color filter and a microlens on the back side of the device substrate. A distortion is known to occur in this device substrate when bonding the device substrate to the supporting substrate to polish the back side of the device substrate. It is therefore necessary to perform an exposure by controlling the imaging performance (the magnification, the distortion, or the like) of the projection optical system in accordance with the distorted shape of the device substrate when performing the overlay exposure of the color filter, the microlens, and the like on the device substrate.
However, the imaging performance needs to be corrected greatly every time each shot is exposed because the distortion amount of this device substrate is large and the distortion shapes of the respective shots on the device substrate vary greatly. In the exposure apparatus in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-183214, the imaging performance of the projection optical system is corrected in accordance with the shot magnification of each shot, leading to a decrease in throughput because of its high frequency of correction.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a scheduled motion planning method and apparatus for a vehicle and more particularly to a scheduled motion planning method and apparatus suited to a rendezvous and docking of a space vehicle.
Phase plane control (hereinafter called Prior Art 1) is one of the orbit control methods for space vehicles which are used conventionally by operators of space vehicles or control system designers.
FIG. 5 shows characteristics of phase plane control which are displayed on a phase plane. This control is independent in the three axes of x, y, and z. In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents a position deviation 401 between the desired position and position data and the vertical axis represents a velocity deviation 402 between the desired velocity and velocity data. In a + (plus) region 403 shown in the drawing, a control command is issued to a space vehicle so as to accelerate in the + (plus) direction. In a - (minus) region 404, the control command is issued to a space vehicle so as to accelerate in the (minus) direction. In a 0 (zero) region 405 (dead band), the control command is 0. The 0 region 405 is generally designed to be sufficiently wide compared with measurement errors of the position data and velocity data.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show response examples under the phase plane control.
In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents velocity. In the drawing, a desired velocity 411, an actual velocity 412, and a velocity 413 inputted to the controller (data measured by the sensor which is filtered) are shown. Although the actual velocity 412 overshoots the desired velocity 411, it is robustly stable for the measurement error.
FIG. 7 shows a locus 414 on the phase plane at this time (locus of the relationship between the position deviation and velocity deviation which are inputted to the controller).
As one of the means for suppressing overshooting, a method for presetting a temporary desired value and switching the desired value in appropriate timing (hereinafter called Prior Art 2) is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 5-127701.
The temporary desired value is designed so that the peak value when the actual velocity overshoots the desired velocity becomes equal to the original desired value and when the actually controlled value reaches the original desired value, the desired value is switched. This method does not preset the switching timing.
As one of other control methods, a method using predictive fuzzy control (hereinafter called Prior Art 3) is proposed in Journal of Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Vol. 39, No. 444, p 44 to 50, 1991.
In this method, a control command is decided by fuzzy inference of an evaluation function for three types of velocities when the velocity of a space vehicle is changed from the present velocity by .+-. delta and when it is left unchanged. In this case, by using an example of orbit control in the final approach phase of rendezvous and docking of the space vehicle, the magnitude of relative distance, upper and lower velocity limits, arrival time, and avoidance of collision (safety) are selected as evaluation items.
Rendezvous and docking of a space vehicle is generally divided into several phases depending on the flying method. For example, there are phases of orbit input, transfer, fly- around, final approach, and docking available. It is desirable in this case to make a scheduled motion plan from start to end for at least one phase and to let an operator know the scheduled motion plan. By doing this, the operator can predict the safety to a certain extent.
It is necessary that the scheduled motion plan itself can be changed depending on the status. By doing this, a disturbance, failure, or abnormal phenomenon can be properly dealt with.
Furthermore, an attempt to control the evaluation items precisely one by one like Prior Art 3 is also a method. However, it may be considered to use the control system like Prior Art 1 which is conventionally used by users and control system designers and to make a scheduled motion plan so as to put the characteristics of the control system to practical use. For example, under the aforementioned phase plane control, it is known that overshooting can be improved by setting the desired velocity in stages like Prior Art 2.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift register circuit and a drive control apparatus, and more particularly to a shifter register circuit which can be excellently applied in a scanning driver of, e.g., an image display apparatus or an image read apparatus, and a drive control apparatus including this shift register circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, information devices such as a computer, a mobile phone or a personal digital assistance, or imaging devices such as a digital video camera, a digital still camera or a scanner have considerably gained in popularity. In such devices, an image display circuit for, e.g., a liquid crystal display panel or an image read circuit for, e.g., a photosensor array has been in heavy usage.
For example, an active matrix drive type liquid crystal display apparatus has a display panel in which display pixels (liquid crystal pixels) provided with pixel transistors each formed of a thin film transistor are arranged in a matrix form. The panel includes scanning lines through which the respective display pixels are connected in a row direction and data lines through which the same are connected in a column direction. In this apparatus, a scanning driver (a gate driver) is used to sequentially set the respective scanning lines to a selective state. A data driver is also used to apply a signal voltage corresponding to display data to the respective data lines. As a result, an alignment state of a liquid crystal in each display pixel set to the selective state is controlled, thereby display desired image information.
Here, the scanning driver is configured to generate and output a scanning signal which is used to sequentially set the respective scanning lines to the selective state, and is generally constituted of a shift register circuit.
There is also known an image read apparatus provided with a photosensor array in which photosensors (read pixels) are arranged in a matrix form the read apparatus also has a scanning driver which is used to sequentially set the photosensors in respective rows to a drive state (a selective state) at the time of an image read operation of the photosensor array. This apparatus is configured to read detection data (brightness data) corresponding to a light receiving quantity detected by each photosensor set to the drive state by a read driver, and acquire image information of an object. In such an image read apparatus, like the liquid crystal display apparatus mentioned above, the scanning driver is provided with a shift register circuit which generates and outputs a scanning signal which is used to sequentially set the photosensors in the respective rows to the drive state.
The scanning driver applied in the image display apparatus or the image read apparatus mentioned above will now be briefly described.
FIG. 13 is a structural view of a primary part showing an example of a scanning driver (a shift register circuit section) applied in a liquid crystal display apparatus according to a prior art.
The scanning driver applied in an image display apparatus (a liquid crystal display apparatus) has a configuration in which, e.g., a plurality of stages (shift blocks) SRC (q−1), SRC (q), SRC (q+1), . . . (q is an integer which is not smaller than 2) are cascade-connected as shown in this figure. The driver is provided with a shift register circuit section which sequentially inputs (transfer) an output signal from each stage SRC (q) to the next stage SRC (q+1). Here, the output signal from each stage SRC (q) is sequentially output as a scanning signal GOUT (k) to a scanning line in a corresponding row in accordance with the transfer operation (which converts a level of the output signal into a predetermined signal level), and inputs to a previous stage SCR (Q−1) as a reset signal.
In the scanning driver (the shift register circuit) shown in FIG. 1, reference characters CKV and CKVB denote clock signals having a mutual reversal relationship; STV, a shift start signal which is input to a non-illustrated first stage SRC (1); an END, a reset signal which is input to a last stage.
In the image display apparatus including such a scanning driver, according to a known display drive control method, since an operating frequency of the scanning driver can be generally set to be lower than that of a data driver, even a transistor element using a semiconductor material having relatively low electron mobility such as amorphous silicon or zinc oxide (ZnO) can be applied as a switching element constituting the scanning driver (the shift register circuit section).
In this case, when an element structure (a thin film transistor structure) using amorphous silicon or the like is applied to display pixels arranged in a display panel, these display pixels (the display panel) and a display drive device such as a scanning driver or a data driver which is a peripheral circuit can be integrally formed on a single panel substrate (a glass substrate or the like) by using the same manufacturing process. As a result, there has been studied/developed a technology which reduces a scale and a thickness of the apparatus and simplifies the manufacturing process to decrease a cost, for example.
As described above, in the thin film transistor element formed of a semiconductor material such as amorphous silicon or zinc oxide, its electron mobility is low and its operation characteristics are poor as compared with a thin film transistor element formed of a semiconductor material such as single-crystal silicon or polysilicon. However, in a case where this thin film transistor element is applied in the above-described image display apparatus or image read apparatus, it can be applied to a scanning driver which has an operating frequency lower than that of a data driver but has no problem in operation.
However, in the scanning driver to which an amorphous silicon transistor or the like is applied, since its operating frequency is essentially low, it is disadvantageously hard to be applied to a panel having a large number of scanning lines and a high operating frequency, e.g., a display panel having a high resolution or a large screen or a sensor array.
Specifically, it is generally known that an operating frequency (i.e., an operating speed) of the scanning driver is determined by a product (a time constant) of a resistance component (an output resistance) and a load carrying capacity of an output section of a scanning signal (i.e., an output section of each shift block (stage) constituting a shift register circuit). Here, the load carrying capacity is a sum of wiring capacities which are parasitic on the respective scanning lines, an input capacity in the next shift block and others, and the resistance component is an on resistance or the like of a switching element constituting the output section of the shift block.
As described above, when the thin film transistor such as an amorphous silicon transistor is applied in the scanning driver, a capacity component which serves as the load carrying capacity is large because of element characteristics, and an on resistance is low. Therefore, considerably reducing the operating frequency to be lower than that of the scanning driver to which a single-crystal silicon transistor is applied is unavoidable.
Further, the amorphous silicon transistor has characteristics that its manufacturing process is simple and uniform and excellent element characteristics can be obtained during manufacture, but deterioration in the element characteristics over time is larger than that in the single-crystal silicon transistor or the polysilicon transistor. Therefore, it has a problem that excellently performing display driving or read driving for a long time is difficult. Specifically, according to a verification by the present inventors, there has been obtained an experimental result that an operating frequency is reduced to approximately ½ of that in the initial state when an acceleration experiment is conducted for several-hundred hours in a temperature environment of approximately 80° C. There is a problem that excellent display driving or read driving cannot be assured in an actual product for a long period of time.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door locking handle assembly with a built-in combination lock of a pull-out and side-swinging lever-action type, in which a door handle is pivoted to a base body of the assembly so as to be pulled out forward and pushed back rearward relative to the base body and turned on its pivoted end.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known in the art, a door locking handle assembly of a conventional type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,623, herein incorporated by reference, has a construction in which: a base body of the assembly is fixedly mounted on a door; a door handle is pivoted to the base body so as to be pulled out forward and pushed back rearward relative to the base body and further turned sideward on its pivoted end after completion of its pulling-out operation; when the door handle is pulled out of the base body to assume its pulled-up or raised inclination position relative to the base body or turned sideward after completion of its pulling-out operation, a catch plate or rack which serves as a door bolt directly or indirectly connected with the door handle is released from a receiving portion of a stationary frame element (i.e., door frame for supporting a door). In this type of conventional door locking handle assembly, a cylinder lock is incorporated in either the door handle or the base body. On the other hand, the door handle is pushed back rearward relative to the base body and held in its folded or locked position in the base body.
In the conventional door locking handle assembly, an available space for mounting the assembly is extremely limited in each of opposite sides of the door to which the assembly is fixedly mounted because the interior space of a box or container for housing various instruments therein is relatively limited due to the presence of these various instruments housed therein Due to this, it is necessary to considerably limit in height the projections of the assembly in opposite directions perpendicular to the plane of the door""s surface.
In order to fulfill the above need, it is necessary to reduce in thickness the assembly as a whole by reducing in thickness the door handle and in depth the base body. However, this forces a cylinder lock of the assembly to be small in thickness.
On the other hand, in a thin-type cylinder lock, since the number of sets of disc tumblers and/or pin tumblers incorporated in the cylinder lock as components of its internal locking mechanism is small, the number of available keys of the cylinder lock is naturally limited. Due to this, in the case where there are a large number of eligible users of the instruments contained in the box provided with the door locking handle assembly which employs the cylinder lock in a condition in which these users are controlled through a computerized personal management system, it is difficult to use the conventional door locking handle assembly which employs the thin-type cylinder lock.
Although the conventional door locking handle assembly described above has been fully appreciated by users, a need exists in the art for an improved one of such door locking handle assembly, which is improved in performance.
Under such circumstances, the present invention was made. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a door locking handle assembly, which is small in thickness as a whole and capable of providing a very large number of available keys of a combination lock incorporated in the assembly, wherein a large number of eligible persons or users of various instruments contained in a box or container provided with the door locking handle assembly are precisely controlled through a computerized personal management system.
It is possible to accomplish the above object of the present invention by providing:
In a door locking handle assembly with a built-in combination lock (19), the assembly being provided with a base body (1) which is fixedly mounted on a door (2), wherein a door handle (13) is pivoted to the base body (1) so as to be capable of being pulled out forward and pushed back rearward relative to the base body (1) and also turning sideward on a locking shaft (10) after completion of its pulling-out operation, wherein a rack (12) serving as a door bolt for the door (2) is directly or indirectly connected with the door handle (13) so as to be engaged with and disengaged from a receiving portion of a stationary frame element such as a main body of a box when the door handle (13) is pulled out forward and then turned sideward on the locking shaft (10) after completion of the pulling-out operation of the door handle (13), the rack (12) being slidably supported and guided in its up and down linear motion relative to the door (2), wherein the door (2) is swingably supported by the stationary frame element, the improvement wherein:
the combination lock (19), which is provided with a plurality of marked dial discs (22), is incorporated in the door handle (13) and opened by turning each of the marked dial discs (22) a given number of times to establish a predetermined combination of marks provided in outer peripheral surfaces of the dial discs (22);
a locking member (24) for preventing the door handle (13) from being pulled out of the base body (1) is juxtaposed with an inner surface of the door handle (13) to pass through a central portion of each of the plurality of the marked dial discs (22) of the combination lock (19);
the base body (1) is provided with a projection portion (40) in an inner peripheral surface of its lower end portion, wherein the projection portion (40) is provided with a front cam slope (42) and a rear cam slope (41) to have each of the cam slopes (42, 41) be engageable with a lower-end latch member (35) which is connected with a lower end portion of the locking member (24), wherein the rear cam slope (41) of the projection portion (40) drives the lower-end latch member (35) upward against a resilient force exerted by a spring member (27) when the door handle (13) is pulled out of the base body (1) after the combination lock (19) is unlocked; and
all the marked dial discs (22), the locking member (24) and the lower-end latch member (35) are resiliently urged downward under the influence of the resilient force exerted by the spring member (27), which permits the lower-end latch member (35) to be engaged with and disengaged from the projection portion (40) of the base body (1) when the combination lock (19) is locked and unlocked, respectively.
In the door locking handle assembly of the present invention having the above construction, a control operator of the instruments housed in the box allocates to each of a large number of eligible users or owners of these instruments a unique combination of marks of the marked dial discs of the combination lock for unlocking and locking the combination lock.
In opening a door of the box to use the instruments contained in the box, it is necessary for each of the eligible users to establish his or her own allocated unique combination of the marks by turning in a normal or a reverse direction each of the marked dial discs a given number of times, wherein the marks are provided in an outer peripheral surface of each of the dial discs.
When the allocated unique combination of the marks of the dial discs is established, the combination lock is unlocked to permit the locking member and the lower-end end latch member connected with the lower end portion of the locking member to move to their unlocked positions, so that the door handle is released from the base body, which permits the door handle is pulled out of the base body to assume its raised position.
When the door handle is then swung sideward in its raised position, the rack, which is slidably supported and guided in the door latch mechanism of the door, is moved up and down relative to the door latch mechanism and engaged with and disengaged from the receiving portion of the stationary frame element of the box, which permits the door of the box to be closed and opened, respectively.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Photochromic glass has been widely used in the field of ophthalmic lenses with a particular emphasis on applications to sunglasses. Upon exposure to actinic radiation, a photochromic glass undergoes a photochemical or photostructural transformation that leads to darkening and a reduction in the transmission of light in a particular spectral range. In the case of sunglasses, the actinic radiation may be sunlight and the photochromic response may lead to a reduction in transmission of visible light to reduce the intensity of light that reaches the eye. The photochromic response protects the eye from unsafe intensity levels and provides comfort to the wearer.
The earliest commercially successful photochromic glasses utilized silver halide crystals as the photochromic agent. The silver halides can be incorporated into a variety of base glasses to provide a photochromic glass suitable for ophthalmic uses. Typical base glasses are alkali-doped silica or modified silica glasses. U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,860 (Armistead and Stookey) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,296 (Eppler and Stookey), for example, describe photochromic glasses that include silver halides in an alkali-doped boroaluminosilicate glass. Silver halide photochromic glasses remain a viable commercial product and are sold by Corning, Inc. under the PHOTOGRAY® and PHOTOBROWN® product lines.
Silver halides have certain drawback as photochromic agents. First, silver halides have high sensitivity to actinic radiation and impart a strong photodarkening response when exposed to low levels of actinic radiation. As a result, a viewer wearing sunglasses made from silver halide photochromic glass perceives little difference in the level of darkening observed at low (e.g. dawn) and high (e.g. mid-day) levels of illumination. It would be desirable to develop a photochromic glass that exhibits a more uniform photodarkening response, as perceived by the viewer, over the range of illumination intensities normally encountered in daily activity. Second, the photodarkening response of silver halide glasses is sensitive to ambient temperature. For a given level of illumination, photodarkening is more pronounced at low temperatures than at high temperatures. This leads to seasonal variations in the photochromic response that may be undesirable for many consumers. Third, silver is a relative expensive additive for glass and the cost of silver halide photochromic glass limits the range of commercial applications.
Deficiencies in the performance and cost of silver halide glasses have motivated interest in developing silver-free photochromic glasses for commercial applications. U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,299 (Araujo); U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,485 (Seward and Tick); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,745 (Araujo and Tick) describe a series of photochromic glasses that use copper-cadmium halides as the photochromic agent. The copper-cadmium halides exhibit good photochromic response and overcome many of the deficiencies associated with silver halides: (1) batch cost is reduced by eliminating silver, (2) the photochromic response is less sensitive to ambient temperature, and (3) a photodarkening response that varies more gradually with illumination intensity. Despite the advantages of the copper-cadmium photochromic glasses, commercial prospects are limited due to concerns over toxicity and disposal of cadmium.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,299 (Araujo) also discloses glasses with copper halides as the photochromic agent. The glasses are free of cadmium. The compositions, however, proved difficult to process and exhibited a hazy appearance that was unsuitable for most commercial applications. Haze-free photochromic glass compositions using copper halides as the photochromic agent were presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,781 (Morse and Seward). The base glass composition was a B2O3—Al2O3—SiO2 glass with alkali dopants in addition to copper and halides. Preferred compositions included low concentrations (˜1 wt %) of WO3 or MoO3 to improve the photochromic response of the copper halide. Good photochromic response (darkening and fading) was observed for the glasses.
As the market for ophthalmic glasses has expanded, greater demands have been placed on the performance of photochromic glass. One concern is the recognition that overexposure of the eye to UV light is harmful. This concern has motivated interest in developing photochromic glasses that effectively filter UV light without compromising transmission in the visible. The silver halide, copper-cadmium halide, and copper halide photochromic glasses discussed above have absorption bands in the UV, but the absorption bands lack a sharp UV cutoff and the glasses transmit a significant amount of UV light. U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,562 (Araujo and Morgan) discloses copper halide glasses having sharp UV cutoff near 400 nm. The patent demonstrated that the shape and intensity of UV absorption bands depends on the concentration of copper in the glass. A series of compositions with sharp UV cutoffs were disclosed. The glasses described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,562 (Araujo), however, are not photochromic and lack the reversible photodarkening response desired for ophthalmic and other consumer applications.
There is a need for glasses having a sharp UV cutoff and a photochromic response.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor. Particularly, this invention relates to a cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor improved in afterglow characteristics.
2. Description of Prior Art
It has been heretofore known that a cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor having the following formula: EQU LnOX:xCe
in which Ln is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of Y, La, Gd and Lu; X is at least one halogen selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br and I; and x is a number satisfying the condition of 0<x.ltoreq.0.2, can be employed as a phosphor for a radiographic intensifying screen, since the phosphor gives an emission (spontaneous emission) in the blue light region with the maximum at a wavelength of approx. 380-400 nm when excited with a radiation such as X-rays. Recently, it has been discovered that said cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor emits light in the blue region when excited with an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength within the region of 450-900 nm after exposure to a radiation such as X-rays, that is, the phosphor gives stimulated emission. Because of the stimulability thereof, the cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor has been paid much attention and investigated as a phosphor for a radiation image storage panel employable in a radiation image recording and reproducing method utilizing a stimulable phosphor.
The radiation image recording and reproducing method utilizing a stimulable phosphor can be employed in place of the conventional radiography utilizing a combination of a radiographic film and an intensifying screen. The method involves steps of causing a stimulable phosphor to absorb a radiation having passed through an object or having radiated from an object; sequentially exciting (or scanning) the phosphor with an electromagnetic wave such as visible light or infrared rays (stimulating rays) to release the radiation energy stored in the phosphor as light emission (stimulated emission); photoelectrically detecting the emitted light to obtain electric signals; and reproducing the radiation image of the object as a visible image from the electric signals.
In the radiation image recording and reproducing method, a radiation image is obtainable with a sufficient amount of information by applying a radiation to the object at a considerably small dose, as compared with the conventional radiography. Accordingly, the radiation image recording and reproducing method is of great value, especially when the method is used for medical diagnosis.
The radiation image storage panel employed for the above-described method generally comprises a support and a stimulable phosphor layer provided on one surface of the support. However, if the phosphor layer is self-supporting, the support may be omitted. Further, a transparent film of a polymer material is generally provided on the free surface (surface not facing the support) of the phosphor layer to protect the phosphor layer from chemical deterioration or physical shock.
The stimulable phosphor emits light (gives stimulated emission) when excited with an electromagnetic wave (stimulating rays) such as visible light or infrared rays after having been exposed to a radiation such as X-rays. Accordingly, the radiation having passed through an object or radiated from an object is absorbed by the phosphor layer of the panel in proportion to the applied radiation dose, and a radiation image of the object is produced in the panel in the form of a radiation energy-stored image. The radiation energy-stored image can be released as stimulated emission by sequentially irradiating the panel with stimulating rays. The stimulated emission is then photoelectrically detected to give electric signals, so as to reproduce a visible image from the electric signals.
The operation of reading out the radiation energy-stored image is generally carried out by the steps of scanning the panel with a laser beam (stimulable rays) to sequentially excite the stimulable phosphor so as to release the radiation energy stored therein as light emission and detecting the light by a photosensor.
In the last step of the read-out operation, the light which is continuously emitted by the stimulable phosphor of the radiation image storage panel after terminating the excitation with stimulating rays (namely, afterglow of stimulated emission) causes the decrease of S/N ratio of the resulting image. In more detail, the afterglow given by the phosphor particles other than the phosphor particles aimed to excite is detected as the light emitted by the aimed ones in the case that the phosphor gives afterglow in a relatively high ratio to the amount of the stimulated emission. As a result, the image provided by the radiation image storage panel comprising such a stimulable phosphor tends to deteriorate on the image quality (sharpness, density resolution, etc.).
The afterglow characteristics of the panel varies depending not only on the employed stimulable phosphor but also on the scanning speed of the stimulating rays. In more detail, if the scanning speed is slow enough, the afterglow affects the image quality only in a negligible small degree. However, the image processing is desired to be rapidly carried out, so the scanning speed needs to be high. In this case, the afterglow of the stimulable phosphor considerably lowers the image quality. Therefore, it is desired that the amount of afterglow of the stimulable phosphor employed for the radiation image storage panel be made as small as possible. In other words, it is desired that the stimulated emission cease as soon as the excitation with the stimulating rays terminates.
When a radiation image storage panel containing a stimulable phosphor is employed in radiography for medical diagnosis, it is also desired that the sensitivity of the panel to a radiation be made as high as possible to reduce the exposure dose for patient and to facilitate the procedure for converting the stimulated emission to electric signals. Accordingly, it is desired to make the luminance of stimulated emission of the phosphor employed for the panel as high as possible.
The cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor expressed by the above-described formula consists essentially of cerium as an activator and LnOX as a matrix crystal which has the PbFCl-type crystal structure and which is composed of rare earth element Ln, oxygen O and halogen X. The expression of LnOX in the above-described formula means that rare earth element Ln, oxygen O and halogen X together consist in a matrix crystal whose structure is the same as that of PbFCl crystal, and the expression does not mean that the atomic ratio of Ln, O and X is always 1:1:1 in the crystal.
Among the cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphors expressed by the above-described formula, a phosphor of which ratio between Ln and X (X/Ln) satisfies the condition of 0.500<X/Ln.ltoreq.0.998 by atomic ratio has a maximum peak of the stimulation spectrum located at .lambda. which is satisfying the condition of 550 nm<.lambda.<700 nm. The wavelength of the maximum peak of this phosphor (.lambda.) is longer than those of other phosphors and matches with a radiation wavelength of He-Ne laser, which is generally employed for a stimulating light source. Therefore, the phosphor can absorb the stimulating ray sufficiently and its luminance of stimulated emission is considerably high. With respect to the above-mentioned phosphor, a radiation image recording and reproducing method and a radiation image storage panel employing the phosphor, the inventors have obtained U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,183.
The cerium activated rare earth oxyhalide phosphor described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,183 exhibits high luminance, and the radiation image storage panel employing the phosphor has high sensitivity. However, the amount of afterglow of the phosphor is considerably large and the image provided by the panel employing the phosphor is lowered on the image quality when the scanning speed of the stimulating rays is high. Therefore it is desired to improve the afterglow characteristics of the above-mentioned stimulable phosphor.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The leaching of contaminants from human crop fields, lawns, gardens and parks is a major cause of water resource contamination and pollution. Contaminants of particular concern include, but are not limited to fertilizers, pesticides and pathogenic microorganisms that can leach into water sources e.g., groundwater, rivers, lakes, streams, and estuaries.
Despite the beneficial effects on cultivated plants, when fertilizer nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus end up in the larger environment, the result is contamination and often eutrophication of water sources e.g., lakes, rivers, streams and estuaries.
Unfortunately, the problem of eutrophication is extensive. Indeed, eutrophication accounts for nearly one half of impaired lake areas in the U.S., and an even greater portion of impaired rivers. Eutrophication is rapidly expanding not only in lakes and rivers, but also in estuaries and coastal seas of the developed world. Thus, fertilizer nutrient runoff leads to eutrophication and upsets the ecological balance. The ecological imbalance can have dangerous consequences, the full extent of which is still unknown.
Pesticide contamination of water resources is also problematic. Insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides which are used to kill agricultural pests, enter the water system and contaminate water resources through both direct application, and runoff. Contaminating pesticides poison fish and wildlife, contaminate food sources, and destroy animal habitat. Furthermore, many pesticides are toxic to human beings, and thus their presence in water supplies poses a significant human health threat.
Unfortunately, agriculture is one of the largest contributors of fertilizer and pesticide pollution. Indeed, agricultural pollution is a major source of water quality impacts to rivers and lakes, the third largest source of impairments to estuaries, and is also a major contributor to groundwater contamination and wetlands degradation. However, agriculture is not the sole contributor to the problem of fertilizer and pesticide contamination of water resources. Indeed, runoff from the maintenance and beautification of parks, lawns, golf courses and gardens are also significant contributors to nonpoint source pollution of water resources.
Currently, the United States has over 330 million acres of agricultural land, between about 14 and 26 million acres of lawn, and between about 2 million to about 3 million acres of golf courses distributed over about 15,827 facilities. The runoff pollution generated from just these sources is significant, and is damaging enough to warrant measures for the reduction of runoff pollution. Indeed, as more native lands are converted for agricultural, recreational, housing and other human development purposes, further increases to nonpoint source pollution of water resources are expected. If these sources of pollution are not controlled, extreme environmental degradation will inevitably result.
Clearly, what is needed are fertilizer and pesticide formulations and methods of their application that reduce or eliminate nonpoint source pollution while maintaining the quality and abundance of American agriculture and the beauty of American home landscapes, recreational facilities and public parks.
Current fertilizer technology consists primarily of direct application and/or slow release fertilizers e.g., Osmocote®, ESN®, Polyon®, and Avail®, to name a few. Unfortunately, slow release fertilizers are designed either to delay release of fertilizer components by holding nutrients in place and then releasing them all at once at some time after the application e.g., by using a water soluble membrane (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,858,634 U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,245; U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,162; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,018,441). Or in the case of low solubility slow release fertilizers, the composition must rely on natural processes e.g., soil pH, soil temperature, rainfall, etc., to release the fertilizer. Since the majority of nutrients still enter the environment in a short interval of time, the excess that typically results in run-off is still created.
Similarly, current pesticide application methods do little to ensure that the pesticide remains in the place where it is applied. For example, soil insecticides and nematicides are typically either incorporated in the soil, surface applied, and/or applied over-the-top of foliage. Clearly losses will occur in the first few rainfall events after application. Not surprisingly, the situation of environmental pesticide contamination is made more egregious by pesticides that persist longer in the environment, since such long lasting pesticidal chemicals are exposed to more leaching and runoff events.
Thus, the same fertilizers and pesticides that ensure abundant agricultural harvests and attractive yards, parks and recreational facilities are also problematic in that they contribute significantly to the degradation of water supplies through run-off and leaching which produces pollution and eutrophication. Therefore, fertilizer and pesticide formulations and methods of application that minimize pollution while simultaneously preserving the benefits of fertilizers and pesticides are clearly needed in the art. Fortunately, the invention disclosed herein meets these and other needs.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to door and movable panel latches and, more particularly, to door and movable panel latches for vehicles.
A vehicle frequently includes displaceable panels such as doors, hood, trunk lid, hatch and the like which are affixed for hinged or sliding engagement with a host vehicle body. Cooperating systems of latches and strikers are typically provided to ensure that such panels remain secured in their fully closed position when the panel is closed.
A door latch typically includes a fork bolt that is pivoted between an unlatched position and a primary latched position when the door is closed to latch the door in the closed position. The fork bolt is typically held in the primary latched position by a detent lever that pivots between an engaged position and a disengaged position. The detent lever is spring biased into the engaged position and thus, holds the fork bolt in the primary latched position when in the engaged position and releases the fork bolt when it is moved to the disengaged position so that the door can be opened.
The fork bolt is pivoted to the primary latched position by a striker attached to, for example, an associated door jamb when the door is closed. Once in the primary latched position, the detent lever engages the fork bolt to ensure the assembly remains latched.
Some vehicles have power unlatching mechanisms that electrically release the door latch. These power unlatching mechanisms moves the detent lever from the engaged position to the disengaged position such that the fork bolt can be rotated or pivoted to the unlatched position. However and when an external condition or force is applied to the door the door may not “pop open” freely and if the power unlatching mechanism is subsequently disengaged the detent lever returns to the engaged position by the spring biasing force and the door cannot be opened even though an electric release command was provided.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an automatically operated door latch assembly. More specifically, it is desirable to provide an automatically operated door latch assembly that employs a device or motor to move the detent lever from the engaged position to the disengaged position in order to release the striker from the fork bolt.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The majority of golf balls commercially-available today are of a solid construction. Solid golf balls include one-piece, two-piece, and multi-layer golf balls. One-piece golf balls are inexpensive and easy to construct, but have limited playing characteristics and their use is, at best, confined to the driving range. Two-piece golf balls are generally constructed with a solid polybutadiene core and a cover and are typically the most popular with recreational golfers because they are very durable and provide good distance. These golf balls are also relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture, but are regarded by top players as having limited playing characteristics. Multi-layer golf balls are comprised of a solid core and a cover, either of which may be formed of one or more layers. These balls are regarded as having an extended range of playing characteristics, but are more expensive and difficult to manufacture than are one- and two-piece golf balls.
Wound golf balls, which typically included a fluid-filled center surrounded by a layer of tensioned elastomeric material and a cover, were preferred for their spin and “feel” characteristics but were more difficult and expensive to manufacture than solid golf balls. Manufacturers are continuously striving to produce a solid ball that concurrently includes the beneficial characteristics of a wound ball.
Golf ball playing characteristics, such as compression, velocity, and spin can be adjusted and optimized by manufacturers to suit players having a wide variety of playing abilities. For example, manufacturers can alter any or all of these properties by changing the materials and/or the physical construction of each or all of the various golf ball components (i.e., centers, cores, intermediate layers, and covers). Finding the right combination of core and layer materials and the ideal ball construction to produce a golf ball suited for a predetermined set of performance criteria is a challenging task.
Efforts to construct a multi-layer golf ball have generally focused on the use of one or more cover layers, typically formed from ionomeric and/or polyurethane compositions. It is desirable, therefore, to construct a golf ball formed of a urethane or urea outer cover layer, at least two interior cover layers, and a core of one or more layers. In particular, it is desired that this three-cover-layer construction include an intermediate cover layer formed from a liquid rubber latex material in conjunction with a stiff, resilient thermoplastic inner cover layer.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention relates to an improved cleaning means for an electrophotographic copier or a printer and an image-forming process and image-forming apparatus each in which the cleaning means is used.
Heretofore in the electrophotography based on Carlson process, an image is formed in the following manner. A uniform charge is applied to the surface of an image-forming member; an electrostatic latent image is formed by making an imagewise exposure; a toner image is formed by developing the latent image; and the toner image is transferred and fixed to an image transfer member.
After making the image transfer, the image-forming member is cleaned up by a cleaning means and is then used repeatedly for a long time. It is inevitable for the cleaning step to have both of a cleaning function by which toner remaining on an image-forming member is effectively scraped away by a cleaning means such as a cleaning blade, and a toner collecting function by which cleaned up toner is smoothly collected on the outside of an image-forming region by a collecting means such as a cleaning roller. When the two functions are fulfilled satisfactory, an excellent cleaning operation can be performed.
According to the studies through many years made by the inventors, a toner guide roller is required to satisfy the following peculiar requirements to fully perform the functions.
To be more concrete, it is required to satisfy the following requirements:
(1) A guide roller itself is great in durability, strong in mechanical abrasion resistance and resistant to the functions of activator such as ozone produced by a discharge, because the roller is relatively close to a corona discharge electrode;
(2) When the guide roller is rotated by coupling it to the rotation of an image-forming member, the roller is well followed around the image-forming member without any slipping off of the rotation and any erroneous rotation is not produced even when the roller is forcibly rotated;
(3) Toner scraped off from the image-forming member adheres to the guide roller surface so that the toner can smoothly be transported, and the roller is excellent in toner transportability and in separability of the adhered toner from the roller, because the adhered toner is to be collected smoothly by a scraper;
(4) The guide roller surface has a proper elasticity and is brought into close contact with the surface of the image-forming member without any gap so that the roller can be rotated without producing any toner scattering;
(5) When the guide roller is rotated, the image-forming member surface can neither abraded nor damaged; and
(6) In an image transfer step, the roller is to be efficiency in removal of paper dust.
For the techniques in which toner scraped off from the surface of an image-forming member by a cleaning means such as a cleaning blade and an elastic roller is collected by the above-mentioned elastic roller, there are some proposals therefor such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as JP OPI Publication) Nos. 60-107675/1985, 61-67073/1986 and 1-267679/1989. Wherein an elastic roller comprising a foamed material such as urethane rubber, chloroprene rubber, silicone rubber and sponge is served as both a cleaning means together with a cleaning blade and a toner guide roller, such elastic roller is rotated by bringing it into pressure contact with an image-forming member so that cleaned up toner scraped off by the cleaning means is made adhered to the guide roller and is then transported by the guide roller to a toner collection unit.
The above-mentioned foamed material such as sponge herein means that it has a pore size of not smaller than 100 .mu.m and it is quite different in itself from the open-cell cellular materials of the invention.
However, the guide rollers described in the above-mentioned patent publications cannot satisfy all the requirements (1) through (6). In the present state where a high-speed operation and a high image quality are recently demanded on copying machines, most of the above-mentioned requirements have not been satisfied and the improvements of the guide roller have also been urgently needed.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication Open to Public Inspection No. 57-172470/1982 proposes for an elastic roller having at least the surface comprising an open-cell cellular material to serve as a cleaning means in place of the above-mentioned cleaning blade for a copying machine. Wherein cleaned up toner is collected by a suction fan.
The elastic roller described therein is strictly a cleaning means for an image-forming member and remaining toner is required to be scraped off at a high rotation speed. It is therefore difficult to select a peculiar cellular material to meet the requirement. There are some problems that the size of a cleaning unit becomes remarkably larger than in the other image-forming apparatuses, that a noise is produced and that a cleaning effect becomes more unsatisfactory than in a cleaning blade.
It is an object of the invention to provide a toner guide roller by which toner scraped off by a cleaning blade is made adhered to and then transported to a collection member efficiently and fully.
Another object of the invention is to provide a toner cleaning device, an image-forming process and an image-forming apparatus each in which a toner cleaning property is excellent in a process of repeatedly forming images and, particularly, an image is not deteriorated by the surface of an image-forming member damaged by a toner guide roller so that a high quality image can stably be obtained.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Modified silicones can exhibit a variety of physical properties. The polymers can be modified to be hydrophilic, lipophilic and hydrophobic depending on the nature of the organic substituents. Recently, branched, non-crosslinked organo-modified polysiloxane compositions comprising multiple siloxane chains bonded to a core via covalent bonds have been produced and identified by the present invention as having improved demulsification properties.
The branched organo-modified polysiloxane compositions and their preparation are further described in the sections below.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The invention relates to a filling level gage operating with microwaves, for measuring a filling level of a filling material in a container, having a microwave generator and an antenna with planar antenna structure, which is used to transmit the microwaves in the direction of the filling material and to receive microwaves reflected from a filling material surface. In these filling level gages, a time of flight of the microwaves from the device to the filling material surface and back is normally established by means of a reception and evaluation circuit, and the current filling level is determined therefrom.
During the measurement of a filling level, microwaves are transmitted to the surface of a filling material by means of an antenna, and echo waves reflected from the surface are received. An echo function representing the echo amplitudes as a function of distance is formed, from which the probable useful echo and its time of flight are determined. The distance between the filling material surface and the antenna is determined from the time of flight.
The European patent application filed on Jul. 9, 1999 with the application number 99 11 7604.1 describes an antenna with planar antenna structure, which is suitable for filling-level measurement.
Such planar antennas are also described in the book xe2x80x9cEinfxc3xchrung in die Theorie und Technik planarer Mikrowellenantennen in Mikrostreifenleitungstechnikxe2x80x9d [Introduction to the theory and technology of planar microwave antennas in microstrip line technology] Gregor Gronau, Verlagsbuchhandlung Nellissen-Wolff or in the journal article xe2x80x9cImpedance of radiation slot in the ground plane of a microstrip linexe2x80x9d, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol AP-30, pages 922-926, May 1982.
To determine the filling level, it is possible to employ all known methods which make it possible to measure comparatively short distances by means of reflected microwaves. The best known examples are pulse radar and frequency modulation continuous wave radar (FMCW radar).
In pulse radar, periodically short microwave transmission pulses, referred to below as wave packets, are transmitted, are reflected from the filling material surface and are received again after a distance-dependent time of flight. The received signal amplitude as a function of time is the echo function. Every value of this echo function corresponds to the amplitude of an echo reflected at a certain distance from the antenna.
In the FMCW method, a continuous microwave is transmitted which is periodically linearly frequency-modulated, for example with a sawtooth function. The frequency of the received echo signal therefore exhibits a frequency difference, which depends on the time of flight of the echo signal, with respect to the instantaneous frequency which the transmission signal has at the time of reception. The frequency difference between the transmission signal and the reception signal, which can be found by mixing the two signals and evaluating the Fourier spectrum of the mixed signal, hence corresponds to the distance of the reflecting surface from the antenna. Further, the amplitudes of the spectral lines of the frequency spectrum obtained by Fourier transformation correspond to the echo amplitudes. This Fourier spectrum therefore represents the echo function in this case.
During the measurement of a filling level using only one antenna, the problem arises that meaningful measurement of the filling level is possible only if the filling level does not fall below a minimum distance from the antenna. This minimum distance, which is often referred to as the blocking distance, is due to the fact that a reception signal resulting from transmission must first have decayed to an amplitude lying below the echo amplitude before the echo signal reflected by the filling material surface can be reliably detected and evaluated.
This problem can be substantially solved by using two separate antennas, one of which is used to transmit and one to receive microwaves. But this solution requires the container to have two openings at a suitable separation, through which the two antennas can be inserted. This is, however, not the case in most applications.
EP-B 592 584 describes a filling level gage operating with microwaves, having
a microwave generator and
an antenna,
which is used to transmit the microwaves in the direction of the filling material and to receive microwaves reflected from a filling material surface,
in which a transmission element and a reception element are arranged.
Crosstalk from the transmitter to the receiver is reduced here by generating microwaves polarized linearly in a first polarization plane and passing them through a phase shifter. The phase shifter is dimensioned so that the emerging microwaves are e.g. left-circularly polarized. As a result of reflection from the filling material surface, correspondingly right-circularly polarized microwaves are then received and converted into linearly polarized microwaves by means of the phase shifter. The polarization plane of these microwaves is perpendicular to the first polarization plane. The receiver is designed so that it only receives microwaves with this polarization, but does not pick up microwaves polarized along the first polarization plane.
Such an antenna, however, is very expensive to produce since it requires corresponding filters and phase shifters. Further, it is comparatively large as a result, and power is lost every time the microwaves pass through a filter or phase shifter.
It is an object of the invention to provide a filling level gage operating with microwaves, which functions with a single antenna constructed as simply as possible, and in which a minimum distance required for measurement between the filling material and the antenna is as small as possible.
To that end, the invention consists of a filling level gage operating with microwaves, for measuring a filling level of a filling material in a container, having
a microwave generator,
an antenna with planar antenna structure,
which is used to transmit the microwaves in the direction of the filling material and to receive microwaves reflected from a filling material surface,
in which the planar antenna structure has at least two transmission and/or reception elements.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transmission and/or reception elements are respectively located in a subregion of the antenna.
According to another preferred embodiment, the transmission and/or reception elements are arranged interleaved.
According to a further embodiment, in order to measure a filling level at a close range in front of the antenna, at least one of the transmission and/or reception elements is used exclusively as a receiver.
According to still another preferred embodiment, in order to measure a filling level at a far range in front of the antenna, all the transmission and/or reception elements are used as transmitters and as receivers.
According to yet a further preferred embodiment, at least one transmission and/or reception element is used exclusively as a transmitter and the remaining transmission and/or reception elements are used exclusively as receivers, and a differential signal is established which corresponds to the difference between the transmission signals applied to the transmitters and the reception signals received by the receivers.
According to an advantageous and preferred embodiment, the microwaves to be transmitted have frequencies which are higher than 20 GHz.
One advantage of the invention is that, owing to the planar antenna structure, the antenna provides a very high degree of flexibility. The antenna structure can, as desired, be split into a plurality of transmission and/or reception elements and each transmission and/or reception element can be used optimally. By means of this, for example, a very high transmission power is available for measurements at far range and, for measurements at close range, splitting the transmission and/or reception elements into pure transmission elements and pure reception elements significantly reduces crosstalk from the transmitter to the receiver. The only additional outlay needed for utilizing these advantages involves corresponding circuit connections of the individual transmission and/or reception elements. This is simple to implement and does not entail any power reduction.
The invention and further advantages will now be described in more detail with the aid of the figures of the drawing, in which four exemplary embodiments are represented; the same parts are provided with the same reference numbers in the figures.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to an improved, energy efficient spray dryer utilized to transform liquid feed solutions, through the almost instantaneous evaporation of the liquid in the feed solutions, to dry, finely divided powders, and more particularly, to such a spray dryer having a novel and unique air distribution system.
Spray dryers have been used for a number of years to produce powdered milk, powdered chalk, powder for cosmetics, and other similar powdered products from feed solutions consisting of solids dissolved, dispersed or suspended in water. Essentially, all spray dryers are comprised of: a source of a continuous flow of hot air; a drying chamber; an atomizing system; and a powder recovery system, with the air source typically including an air supply fan, an air heater and an air distribution system, and with the powder recovery system typically including a powder separation system and an exhaust air flow system. The function of the air source is to cause heated air, flowing continuously at a relatively high velocity, to be introduced into the drying chamber while the feed solution is being dispersed as small droplets into the air flow by the atomizing system.
Over the years, those working in the art have recognized that the structure and arrangement of the air source, and particularly that of the air distribution system, are of prime importance with respect to obtaining the goals of the efficient evaporation of feed solution in the drying chamber and of the production of a high quality powdered product. A number of different air distribution systems have been utilized to attempt to achieve these goals. In one prior known air distribution system, the drying air flows, along a generally horizontal path, from the air supply fan into a larger distribution chamber, and past an air heater. The heated drying air then continues to flow along the horizontal path until it is introduced into the drying chamber through a vertically disposed, open ended cylindrical distributor tube. A plurality of horizontally disposed woven wire screens are mounted in the distributor tube, between its ends, to attempt to make the air velocity more uniform. A cooling ring is mounted about the lower end of the distributor tube, i.e. the end of the tube adjacent to the upper end or roof of the drying chamber. A small portion of the relatively cool air, flowing from the air supply fan, is directed to flow through the cooling ring and to exit from the ring, through an annular air gap, to the exterior of the spray dryer. Another known prior art distribution system is similar to the foregoing system except that the upper, inlet end of the vertically disposed distributor tube is cut off at an angle, normally 45.degree., with respect to the longitudinal vertical axis of the tube and that the horizontally disposed woven sire screens are positioned adjacent to the lower end of the tube. These two prior systems are described more specifically hereafter. Still another known prior art distribution system is similar to the first, above described systems except that the upper, inlet end of the vertically disposed distributor tube is flared outwardly and that the horizontal disposed woven wire screens are positioned adjacent to the upper inlet end of the distributor tube. In yet another known prior art distributor system, heated air is introduced into the drying chamber through a generally uniform diameter conduit. A bank of relatively small diameter tubes are disposed in and across the conduit downstream from the air heater. A venturi is positioned between this bank of small tubes and the drying chamber so that the air flowing from the venturi is introduced directly into the drying chamber. The end of the conduit adjacent the upper end of the drying chamber is cooled by the circulation of water through a ring disposed about the lower end.
While the foregoing prior art distribution systems perform adequately, by contemporary standards, it has been found that practical limits exist as to the air velocity distribution and the temperature of the air that may be introduced into the drying chambers of the systems and that these limits reduce the efficiency of the prior spray dryers. In other words, while ideally the temperatures of air should be as high as the particular product can tolerate and the velocity of the air should be as even in distribution as the system will produce, the structure and arrangement of the air distribution systems impose limits on the maximum temperature and velocity distribution of the air flow that can be used during the actual operating of the prior spray dryers. We have analyzed these prior art distribution systems and in our opinion, the practical limitation of these prior systems is caused by the fact that the air flowing into the drying chamber does not have sufficiently uniform velocity and temperature profiles. More specifically, each droplet emerging from the atomizer system should be dried with air at a predetermined desired temperature. In these prior air distribution systems, it has been found that while the average temperature of the air may be at or near this desired temperature, there will be significant variations in the temperature of air, as measured across a plane transverse to the air flow. The droplets subjected to the lower temperature air will be too "wet" and will deposit on the lower parts of the drying chamber. The droplets subjected to the higher temperature air will be too "dry" and will give rise to an inferior product quality.
The effect of variations in the velocity profile is similar to that of the temperature profile since the rate of drying of the droplet particles is proportional to the amount or volume of air introduced onto each droplet particle. To avoid the problems caused by the nonuniform velocity and temperature profiles, it has been necessary to operate the prior spray dryers at lower, less efficient temperatures and velocities.
Another problem present in the prior air distribution systems is the formation of a fringe of burned powder at the drying chamber roof--distribution system interface. The introduction of air into the drying chamber causes eddy currents in the chamber, and these currents in turn cause some partially dried droplet-particles to migrate back up onto the roof of the chamber where they are "burned on" and form the fringe of burned powder. This fringe is detrimental to the operation of the dryer in that parts of the fringe continually fall off and contaminate the powdered product and in some cases, the fringe will ignite and cause extensive burning in the drying chamber.
It is a primary object of our present invention to provide an improved spray dryer which has a novel air distribution system capable of producing relatively even or uniform air velocity and temperature profiles and which thus may be operated satisfactorily at air velocities at or relatively near the maximum velocities obtainable in the spray dryer and at drying air temperatures at or relatively near the maximum optional drying temperature for the product being processed. It is a related object of our present invention to provide an improved spray dryer of the type described wherein the longstanding above described problem of fringe formation at the drying chamber roof-distribution system interface is significantly reduced if not completely prevented.
More specifically, the improved spray dryer of our present invention includes a novel air distribution system wherein tapered or sloped transition ducting is used to direct the air from the air supply fan to the air heater. This transition ducting allows the air to expand evenly over the whole area of the heater. A pre-profile plate is mounted immediately upstream of the heater and functions to level out differences in the velocity of the air coming from the air supply fan. In other words, the pre-profile plate helps to even out air velocity differences in the air entering the heater, resulting in a more even temperature distribution from the heater. A profile plate is used with the heater to prevent large quantities of unheated air from bypassing the heater. Despite the use of the pre-profile and profile plates, unacceptable variations may still exist in the air temperature and velocity profiles.
In order to overcome these variations, the heated air is then forced to flow through a diffuser that consists of a perforated plate or woven wire having a large number of small holes therein. As the heated air passes through the small holes in the diffuser, it is subjected to a pressure drop and is intimately mixed so that the velocity and temperature profiles of the air flowing downstream of the diffuser is much more uniform.
Downstream of the diffuser, the air flows through a compression device which may be a conical or similarity shaped piece of ducting and which functions to increase the velocity of the air, typically by a factor of three, and to even out any remaining temperature and velocity irregularities that remain in the temperature and velocity profiles although its greatest effect is in smoothing out velocity differences. The heated air next flows through a lower air distributor which is a straight piece of ducting or tubing and which functions to straighten out any small variations in the air velocity profile that may still exist and to project and direct the air flow, at the desired velocity, into the drying chamber. To minimize turbulence caused by the nozzle atomizer of the atomizing system, a tapered aerodynamically designed piece is placed on and over the nozzle to streamline the shape of the nozzle and to allow air to flow past the nozzle with the least amount of turbulence.
In one embodiment of present invention described herein, the diffuser and the compression device are not separate components although the modified combined diffuser-compression device functions, for all practical matters, the same as the separate diffuser and compression device. In another embodiment, however, the compression device and its function are omitted while in still another embodiment, the lower air distributor, and a substantial portion of its function is accomplished by a modified compression device.
The air distribution system of our present invention also includes an internal air gap cooling system which is utilized to prevent the formation of a burned powder fringe at and around the interface between the drying chamber roof and the adjacent lower end of lower air distributor. This cooling system includes a ring that surrounds the interface and that has a relatively small annular gap to allow cooling air to flow into the drying chamber so as to cool the tip of the lower air distributor and the surrounding area. The employment of this cooling system allows the improved spray dryer of our present invention to be operated at relatively high air temperatures, without the formation of the objectionable fringe, and thus increases the efficiency and practical capacity of the spray dryer.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of this invention, described in connection with the accompanying drawings.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Patent Literature 1: JP 2010-114588 A
Patent Literature 1 discloses a portable mobile phone attached to a vehicle with a function of an accident report following detection of an accident. The mobile phone includes the following. A camera captures an image of an area forward of the vehicle. A memory records data including the captured image only during a fixed duration. A communicator conducts an accident report to transmit the recorded data together with a vehicle position and vehicle speed to a predetermined information collection center via a base station of mobile-phone line when an acceleration sensor detects an acceleration greater than a predetermined level.
The technology in Patent Literature 1 does not teach a situation of an occupant after the accident since the camera only captures an image of an area forward of the vehicle even after the accident. This makes it difficult for the information collection center having received the accident report to determine whether to need an emergency lifesaving activity.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
There is a need for varying and adjusting the flexibility and stiffness of associated devices, apparatus and equipment to customize to a user's unique needs, and to the requirements of a particular task or desired outcome.
For example, in recent years, as it relates to the category of sports and fitness equipment, manufacturers and marketers have increasingly turned to different kinds of methods to enhance the customization and performance of sporting and fitness equipment. In some cases, entire lines of sporting equipment have been developed whose stiffness or flexibility characteristics are different from each other and are designed to be matched to the user's unique needs. Such differences, however, may be enough to give the individual equipment user an edge over the competition in that the equipment can be more personally customized, matched to a desired goal, and, therefore, enhance performance.
Until now, the user may choose a particular piece of sporting or fitness equipment having a desired stiffness or flexibility characteristic and, during play, switch to a different piece of sporting equipment that is slightly more flexible or stiffer to suit changing playing conditions or to help compensate for weariness or fatigue or some other anomaly that prevents optimum performance. Such switching, of course, is subject to the availability of different pieces of sporting or fitness equipment from which to choose, at the precise moment the change or adjustment is needed. In many cases, the availability is limited due to cost and over all impracticability.
Additionally, subtle but important changes in the stiffness or flexibility characteristics of sporting or fitness equipment may not be available between different pieces of sporting equipment, because the characteristics may be set by the manufacturer from the choice of materials, design, etc., and to change the characteristics would be impossible, as such customization isn't offered to the user. Further, the user must have the different pieces of sporting equipment nearby during play or they are essentially in practice unavailable to the user.
Thus, it can be seen how the lack of adjustability in stiffness and flexibility may adversely affect optimum performance of a device, apparatus, and equipment.
Turning to additional types of devices, apparatus and equipment, it can be seen how the lack of a practical means of adjustability in stiffness and flexibility may adversely affect performance.
Medical Devices, Apparatus, and Equipment
Medical devices, apparatus and equipment, such as braces that are used for supporting injured limbs, require the flexibility of the device to be adjusted based on the degree of the injury, type of surgery, and the progress of the healing of the injured party. Further, there is a need for on-going protection even after recovery. Yet the degree of adjustability of braces is limited, and, in most cases, fixed. Adjustability of the flexibility of the brace the brace to the specific needs and requirements of the user, may enhance recovery and protection from further injury.
Fitness Devices, Apparatus, and Equipment
Fitness equipment, apparatus and devices require the creation of different amounts of resistance to perform the exercise. For example, with free-weight training the user must change the weight levels to progressively increase the resistance that the user experiences. This often involves the continued and time consuming adjustment of equipment through an exercise cycle and makes changes impractical at best, and at the least a hassle.
Numerous heavy metal plates, large oily machines, weights, rubber bands, and singular resistance rods are the many known forms of fitness training. When the user changes resistance/weight or machine during an exercise set, it is time consuming and interrupts the user's conditioning.
Running Shoes, Training Shoes, Basketball Shoes
The transmission of the shoe wearer's strength (power) from their legs into the ground is directly affected by the sole stiffness of the shoe. Runners may gain more leverage and, thus, more speed by using a stiffer sole. Basketball players may also affect the height of their jumps through the leverage transmitted by the sole of their shoes. If the sole is too stiff, however, the toe-heel flex of the foot is hindered. Thus, athletic shoes are tailored, by the manufacturer, to the particular sport to which the shoe is to be used. In some case, it may be possible for the user to have the ability to tailor the sole stiffness to his/her individual weight, strength, height, running style, and ground conditions. However, this process is performed by the manufacturer and is beyond the ability of the average user. Golf
Golf clubs may be formed of graphite, wood, titanium, glass fiber or various types of composites or metal alloys. Each material varies to some degree with respect to stiffness and flexibility. However, golfers generally carry onto the golf course only a predetermined number of golf clubs. Varying the stiffness or flexibility of the golf club is not possible, unless the golfer brings another set of clubs. Nevertheless, it is impractical to carry a large number of golf clubs onto the course, wherein each club having a slight nuance of difference in flexibility and stiffness than another. Golf players prefer taking onto the course a set of clubs that are suited to the player's specific swing type, strength and ability.
The history of golf club shaft design has centered around semi flexible, wooden hickory and later steel golf shafts. The recent design innovation breakthrough of the 1960's using hollow carbon graphite shafts provided a measure of controlled shaft flex with kick points. However, to date there is no mechanical method of selecting or altering shaft flex to enhance or customize performance for the individual golfer.
Essentially golf clubs are sized and fixed to the golfer's swing, speed and body type. This creates inherent and permanently fixed limitations for the equipment, regarding any type of post purchase customization. In essence, a golf club's performance is frozen when the equipment is based upon the mechanical characteristics of the shaft
There are currently 5 to 7 industry recognized different fixed shaft flexes: L/W (Lady/Women's), A/I (Soft Regular, Intermediate or Senior), R (Regular), S (Stiff), and X (Tour Stiff, Extra Stiff or Strong). The critical ability to adjust shaft flex would allow the golfer to correct and dial in a slice or hook into a straighter midline fairway shot.
Hockey
Hockey (hockey includes, but is not limited to, ice hockey, street hockey, roller hockey, field hockey and floor hockey) players may require that the flexure of the hockey stick be changed to better assist in the wrist shot or slap shot needed at that particular junction of a game or which the player was better at making.
Younger players may require more flex in the hockey stick due to lack of strength; such flex may mean the difference between the younger player being able to lift the puck or not when making a shot since a stiffer flex in the stick may not allow the player to achieve such lift. In addition, as the younger players ages and increases in strength, the player may desire a stiffer hockey stick, which in accordance with conventional means the hockey player would need to purchase additional hockey stick shafts with the desired stiffness and flexibility characteristics. Indeed, to cover a full range of nuances of differing stiffness and flexibility characteristics, hockey players would have available many different types of hockey sticks. Even so, the hockey player may merely want to make a slight adjustment to the stiffness or flexibility of a hockey stick to improve the nuances of the play; which is not possible with conventional technology
Tennis
Tennis players also may want some stiffness and/or adjustability in their tennis rackets and to resist unwanted torsional effects caused by the ball striking the strings during play. The torsional effects may be more pronounced in the case where the ball strikes near the rim of the racket rather than the center of the strings.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse players use their lacrosse sticks to scoop up a lacrosse ball and pass the ball to other players or toward the goal. The stiffness or flexibility of the lacrosse stick may affect performance during the game.
Other Racket Sports
Other types of racket sports also suffer from the drawback of being unable to vary the stiffness and/or flexibility of the racket during the course of play to suit the needs of the player at that time, whether those needs arise from weariness, desired held positions, or training for improvement. Such racket sports include racquetball, paddleball, squash, badminton, and court tennis.
For conventional rackets, the stiffness and flexibility is set by the manufacturer and invariable. If the player tires of such characteristics being fixed or otherwise wants to vary the stiffness and flexibility, the only practical recourse is to switch to a different racket whose stiffness and flexibility characteristics better suit the needs of the player at that time.
Skiing, Snowboarding, Snow Skating, Ski-Boarding
Skis are made from a multitude of different types of materials and dimensions, the strength and flexibility of each type differing to a certain extent. Skis include those for downhill, ice skiing, cross-country skiing and water-skiing. For soft snow conditions, the rider may want to have more flexibility so as to allow the board to float. For icier conditions, the rider may want to stiffen the highback to provide greater leverage and power, which results in greater edge control.
Bicycle Shoes
Bicycle specific shoes are rigid and may or may not be attached to bicycle pedals usually through a binding or clip mechanism that prohibits the shoe from slipping off the pedal. The shoe is positioned on the pedal so the ball of the foot is directly over the pedal. The rider's foot flexes as the pedal moves. However, the bicycle shoe is designed for pedaling and walking in these shoes is uncomfortable.
Fishing Rods
Fishing rods are flexed for casting out a line. The whip effect from the casting is affected by the stiffness or flexibility of the rod. Depending upon the fishing conditions and the individual tastes of the user, the user may prefer the rod to be either more flexible or stiffer to optimize the whip effect of the cast and to deal with wind, current, types of fish, and the like. Thus, the user must select the type of flexibility or stiffness when purchasing the fishing rod.
Fins
Diving and swimming fins provide different degrees of stiffness that are fixed, and unchangeable. However, the need to have more flex or less flex and, thus, control fin bend is dependent on the changing conditions. Optimum performance that matches the conditions may be possible with dynamically adjustable fin spine(s). It would also be advantages in that the swimmer/diver would not be unnecessarily fatigued if they had proper matching flex to the conditions.
Sailboating and Sailboarding
Masts of sailboats and sailboards support sails. In many cases the users must adjust the amount of sail that is hanging from the mast according to the weather conditions to prevent damaging the mast caused by stress on the mast.
Canoeing, Rowboating and Kayaking
Paddles for canoes, row boats, and kayaks are subjected to forces as they are stroked through water. The flexibility or stiffness of the paddles, while different depending upon its design and materials, is fixed by the manufacturer. Thus, a rower who desired to change such characteristics would need to switch to a different type of paddle. Carrying a multitude of different types of paddles for use with a canoe, row boat or kayak, however, is generally impractical for the typical rower from the standpoint of cost, bulk and storage.
Lawn Rake
There are times when the flex of a rake's tines are either too flexible or too stiff for the task at hand, be it for raking gardens, light leaf, matted thatch, wet grass, debris. Often the user has to purchase a second rake to accommodate these additional needs.
Hence, there is a need in a plurality of industries, particularly with regard to the golfing industry, in which adjustment of the flexibility or stiffness of a device, apparatus or equipment would be advantageous in a selectable golf shaft that can be adjusted to flex or perform across all the recognized industry flex ranges to compensate and dial in a golfer's variable swing inconsistencies via shaft flex.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
As a method for producing (R)-2-[[[3-methyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-2-pyridyl]methyl]sulfinyl]benzimidazole having an antiulcer activity [hereinafter sometimes to be referred to as an (R)-form] or (S)-2-[[[3-methyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-2-pyridyl]methyl]sulfinyl]benzimidazole having an antiulcer activity [hereinafter sometimes to be referred to as an (S)-form], for example, Japanese Patent Application under PCT laid-open under kohyo No. Hei 11-508590 (WO 97/02261) describes a method for optically purifying a product prepared to be enriched in one enantiomer, which comprises adding a product prepared to contain either (+)-enantiomer or (−)-enantiomer in a greater amount than the other, namely, product prepared to be enriched in one enantiomer, to a solvent, selectively precipitating a racemic compound from the solvent utilizing the crystallinity of racemates, filtering and removing the precipitated racemic compound and removing the solvent to give a single enantiomer having an increased optical purity.
When an (R)-form or (S)-form is to be produced by asymmetric synthesis, 2-[[[3-methyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-2-pyridyl]methyl]thio]benzimidazole (hereinafter sometimes to be referred to as a sulfide form) is subjected to asymmetric oxidization to give the objective (R)- or (S)-form. In this case, an excess reaction product, 2-[[[3-methyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-2-pyridyl]methyl]sulfonyl]benzimidazole (hereinafter sometimes to be referred to as a sulfone form), is produced. Accordingly, the (R)-form or (S)-form obtained by asymmetric synthesis generally includes an unreacted sulfide form as an analogous substance and a sulfone form as an excess. reaction product.
Generally, a sulfone form present in sulfoxide having an antiulcer activity is difficult to remove. For example, JP-A-2000-16992 discloses that, once sulfone is produced, the yield of the objective sulfoxide decreases, and separation and purification is problematically difficult because the physico-chemical properties of the both are extremely similar to each other. Similarly in the case of an (R)-form or (S)-form, a column chromatography treatment and the like are essential for removing a sulfone form present as an analogous substance.
For example, in Example 21 of Japanese Patent Application under PCT laid-open under kohyo No. Hei 10-504290 (WO 96/02535), flush chromatography was applied to obtain the object substance from a solution containing a large amount of (−)-2-[[[3-methyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-2-pyridyl]methyl]sulfinyl]benzimidazole (11% of sulfide form and 7% of sulfone form present as analogous substances), after which various steps are applied to obtain the 99.5% ee objective substance in a yield of 29%. In Example 22 of this publication, flush chromatography was applied to obtain the objective substance from a solution containing a large amount of (+)-2-[[[3-methyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)-2-pyridyl]-methyl]sulfinyl]benzimidazole (13% of sulfide form and 8% of sulfone form present as analogous substances), after which various steps are applied to obtain the 99.6% ee objective substance in a yield of 14%.
As evidenced, conventional methods require industrially disadvantageous operations such as chromatography and the like are necessary for removing a sulfone form and the like, and the yield of the objective substance remains at a low level.
The conventional production methods are associated with problems that they indispensably require purification by column chromatography and the like to remove a sulfone form that resists separation and purification, and the objective optically active sulfoxide form shows a low enantiomer excess (optical purity) and low yield. Therefore, a production method of an (R)-form or (S)-form having an antiulcer activity, has been demanded which is industrially advantageous from the aspects of the amount of analogous substance present therein, enantiomer excess, yield, productivity, economic efficiency and the like.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
There has been a great demand in the market for portable communication and computing devices such as a portable TV and cellular phone. All these devices need a small, light-weight and low-consumption display device, and development efforts have been made accordingly.
FIG. 9 shows a circuit diagram corresponding to a single pixel element of a conventional liquid crystal display device. A gate signal line 51 and a drain signal line 61 are placed on an insulating substrate (not shown in the figure) perpendicular to each other. A selection pixel element selection TFT 70 connected to the two signal lines 51, 61 is formed near the crossing of the two signal lines 51, 61. The source 70s of the selection pixel element selection TFT 70 is connected to a pixel element electrode 17 of the liquid crystal 21.
A storage capacitor element 85 holds the voltage of the pixel element electrode 17 during one field period. A terminal 86, which is one of the terminals of the storage capacitor element 85, is connected to the source 70s of the selection pixel element selection TFT 70, and the other terminal 87 is provided with a voltage common among all the pixel elements.
When a gate signal is applied to the gate signal line 51, the selection pixel element selection TFT 70 turns to an on-state. Accordingly, an analog image signal from the drain signal line 61 is applied to the pixel element electrode 17, and the liquid crystal 21 through the pixel element electrode 17, and the storage capacitor element 85 holds the voltage. The voltage of the image signal is applied to the liquid crystal 21 through the pixel element electrode 17, and the liquid crystal 21 aliens in response to the applied voltage for providing a liquid crystal display image. By disposing the pixel elements as a matrix as described above, the LCD is achieved.
The conventional LCD is capable of showing both moving images and still images. There is a need for the display to show both a moving image and a still image within a single display. One such example is to show a still image of a battery within area in a moving image of a cellular phone display to show the remaining amount of the battery power.
However, the configuration shown in FIG. 6 requires a continuous rewriting of each pixel element with the same image signal at each scanning in order to provide a still image. This is basically to show a still-like image in a moving image mode, and the scanning signal needs to activate the selection pixel element selection TFT 70 by the gate signal at each scanning.
Accordingly, it is necessary to operate a driver circuit which generates a drive signal for the gate signals and the image signals, and an external LSI which generates various signals for controlling the timing of the drive circuit, resulting in a consumption of a significant amount of electric power. This is a considerable drawback when such a configuration is used in a cellular phone device, which has only a limited power source. That is, the time a user can use the telephone under one battery charge is considerably short.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 8-194205 discloses another configuration for display device suited for portable applications. This display device has a static memory for each of the pixel elements. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the circuit diagram of the active matrix display device with a retaining circuit disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 8-194205. A plurality of gate signal lines 51 and reference lines 52 is disposed in a predetermined direction. And a plurality of drain lines 61 are disposed in the direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction. Between a retaining circuit 54 and a pixel element electrode 17, a TFT 53 is formed. By displaying image based on the data retained in the retaining circuit, the operation of a gate driver 50 and a drain driver 60 is stopped for the reduction of the electric power consumption.
FIG. 11 shows a circuit diagram corresponding to a single pixel element of the liquid crystal display device. On a substrate, the pixel element electrode is deposed in a matrix. configuration. Between the pixel element electrodes 17, the gate signal line 51 and the drain signal line 61 are placed perpendicular to each other. The reference line 52 is disposed parallel to the gate signal line 51, and the retaining circuit 54 is formed near the crossing of the gate signal line 51 and the drain signal line 61. A switching element 53 is formed between the retaining circuit 54 and the pixel element electrode 17. A static memory (Static Random Access Memory: SRAM), in which two inverters INV1 and INV2 are positively fed back to each other, works as the retaining circuit for holding the digital image signal. Since the SRAM dose not need to refresh the memory for retaining the data, the SRAM, which is different from DRAM, is suitable for the display device.
In this configuration, the switching element 53 controls the resistance between a reference line and a pixel element electrode 17 in response to the divalent digital image signal held by the static memory and outputted from the retaining circuit in order to adjust the biasing of the liquid crystal 21. The common electrode, on the other hand, receives an AC signal Vcom. Ideally, this configuration does not need refreshing the memory when the image stays still for a period of time.
However, when a static RAM is used in the retaining circuit 54, the number of the required transistors of the retaining circuit is 4 or 6, resulting in an increased size of the circuit. Also, if the static RAM is placed between the pixel element electrodes 17, the area for the pixel element electrode is reduced. Thus, in such a case, the light manipulation area of the liquid crystal display device is limited, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the display device of a large pixel element.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
A heating cooking appliance is an apparatus for heating and cooking food. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a gas cooktop for applying heat generated in a gas combustion method to food to cook the food using the generated heat. The cooktop, which is an apparatus also called a hot plate or a hob, is now widely used.
The heating cooking appliance uses a burner system to burn gas and heat a plate, which cooks food disposed thereon.
However, a related art heating cooking apparatus only performs a function of cooking food using high heat, and does not have a function for keeping food warm. A warming drawer for storing food warm is provided to the lower portion of an oven, but this structure reduces convenience in using the heating cooking appliance of the present disclosure.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Picture frames made from cardboard blanks have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,896 (Fujikawa) 3 Dec. 1957. Existing designs suffer from various problems. The frame is typically of a fixed size and aspect ratio, whereas frames of various dimensions may be required. Folded card frames also lack structural rigidity. Such a frame is too large to be posted even in flat form. This type of frame is also expensive to produce due to the size of the blank and complexity of the cutting tool required.
A box frame is a deep frame into which, for example, a stretched canvas on a wooden frame can be inserted. A few mm clearance between the outer mouldings of the frame and the canvas is required so that the art can be inserted and removed and repositioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 796,310 (Fisher) 1 Aug. 1905 describes in one embodiment a frame assembled from a base card and four blanks which define triangular or rectangular mouldings. The blanks are of different designs for the short and long sides and the size of the frame is constrained by the base plate. Assembly also requires complex manipulation of slits and tabs to interconnect the base and moulding blanks.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Electrochemical energy storage systems, such as batteries, supercapacitors and the like, have been widely proposed for large-scale energy storage applications. Various battery designs, including flow batteries, have been considered for this purpose. Compared to other types of electrochemical energy storage systems, flow batteries can be advantageous, particularly for large-scale applications, due to their ability to decouple the parameters of power density and energy density from one another.
Flow batteries generally include negative and positive active materials in corresponding electrolyte solutions, which are flowed separately across opposing faces of a membrane or separator in an electrochemical cell containing negative and positive electrodes. The terms “membrane” and “separator” are used synonymously herein. The flow battery is charged or discharged through electrochemical reactions of the active materials that occur inside the two half-cells. As used herein, the terms “active material,” “electroactive material,” “redox-active material” or variants thereof synonymously refer to materials that undergo a change in oxidation state during operation of a flow battery or like electrochemical energy storage system (i.e., during charging or discharging). Although flow batteries hold significant promise for large-scale energy storage applications, they have often been plagued by sub-optimal energy storage performance (e.g., round trip energy efficiency) and limited cycle life, among other factors. Despite significant investigational efforts, no commercially viable flow battery technologies have yet been developed.
The operating performance of flow batteries can be impacted by a number of factors including, for example, state of charge (SOC), operating temperature, age of the flow battery and its components, electrolyte circulation rates, power and current conditions, and the like. As used herein, the term “state of charge” (SOC) refers to the relative amounts of reduced and oxidized active material species at an electrode within a given half-cell of a flow battery or other electrochemical system at a particular operation time. In many cases, the foregoing factors are not independent of one another, which can make performance optimization very difficult. Effective regulation of circulation rates throughout a flow battery is one particular factor that has been especially problematic to address and has contributed to their present lack of commercial viability.
In view of the foregoing, flow batteries and associated methods configured to promote more effective circulation of an electrolyte solution would be highly desirable in the art. The present disclosure satisfies the foregoing needs and provides related advantages as well.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
High-performance, high-speed and compact electronic systems are seeing increasing demand as the electronic industry matures. Various semiconductor package techniques have been proposed to meet such a demand. For example, a semiconductor package device may be configured to include a plurality of semiconductor chips mounted on a package substrate or to have a package-on-package (PoP) structure. Since each package of the PoP device has a semiconductor chip and a package substrate, the PoP device has a large thickness causing various technical problems. In addition, for the PoP device, it is difficult to exhaust heat generated in semiconductor chips to the outside, and thus, the PoP device suffers from technical problems, such as a device malfunction or a reduction in operation speed.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a or structure (coupling) for connecting tubes such as plastic tubes to each other, particularly to a connecting structure excellent in sealing performance suitably used in a piping system for medicine or ultra-pure water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tube connecting structures for connecting plastic tubes used in a piping system for medicine or ultra-pure water have been known, as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13.
In a structure shown in FIG. 11, presser members 303, 304, also referred to as ferrules are welded, respectively, to ends of opposed two tube members 301, 302 to be connected to each other. A gasket member 305 is disposed between the presser members 303, 304 and compressed together with the presser members 303, 304 by a clamp member 306. In another structure shown in FIG. 12, presser members 313, 314 are screw-engaged with the outer circumference of opposed two tube members 311, 312 to be connected to each other. A gasket member 315 is disposed between the presser members 313, 314 and compressed together with the presser members 313, 314 by a clamp member 316. In a further structure shown in FIG. 13, when opposed two tube members 321, 322 are molded, presser members 323, 324 are attached, respectively, to ends of the tube members 321, 322 to be connected to each other by an insert molding. A gasket member 325 is disposed between the presser members 323, 324 and compressed together with the presser members 323, 324 by a clamp member 326.
According to the above-mentioned prior art connecting structures, an adaptation for attaching or fixing the presser members to the tube members is troublesome and requires skill to obtain a desired accuracy. If the desired accuracy is not obtained, the sealing performance is insufficient, which is a fatal defect in a connecting structure used in a piping system for dealing with medicine or ultra-pure water.
Also, in the above-mentioned prior art structure, it is necessary to prepare tube members having special connecting ends as described in accordance with positions to be connected together when the piping system is installed. Further, if it is necessary to change the piping after the installation, a quick response thereto is impossible.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems in the prior art, and provides a novel tube connecting structure simple in structure, easily adaptable to various tubes, and capable of obtaining a high sealing performance in a stable manner. This tube connecting structure could also quickly respond to a requirement for a variation in piping system even after the installation thereof.
According to the invention defined by claim 1, a tube connecting structure, for connecting two tubes with each other, is provided and comprises a gasket member having a central opening and first and second annular recesses formed on opposite sides thereof along the outer periphery of the central opening, first and second tube members, each having a folded edge portion formed by folding an end thereof over the outer circumference of the tube member, wherein a convex end of the folded edge portion is brought into tight contact with the annular recess of the gasket member, first and second outer rings, each mounted onto the outer circumference of a body portion of the tube member so that a front end thereof is located behind the convex end of the folded edge portion and a rear end thereof is out of the folded edge portion, first and second presser members, each mounted onto the outer circumference of the tube member and having a contact section with the gasket member and an outer ring pressing section for pushing the rear end of the outer ring toward the mating outer ring, and a clamp member for compressing the first and second presser members together against the gasket member.
According to the invention defined by claim 2, a tube connecting structure for connecting two tubes with each other is provided, comprising a gasket member having a central opening and first and second annular recesses formed on opposite sides thereof along the outer periphery of the central opening, first and second tube members, each having a folded edge portion formed by folding an end thereof over the outer circumference of the tube member, wherein a convex end of the folded edge portion is brought into tight contact with the annular recess of the gasket member, first and second outer rings, each mounted onto the outer circumference of a body portion of the tube member so that a front end thereof is located behind the convex end of the folded edge portion and a rear end thereof is out of the folded edge portion, a male screw member mounted onto the outer circumference of the first tube member and having an outer thread, a contact section with the gasket member and an outer ring pressing section for pushing the rear end of the first outer ring toward the second outer ring, and a female screw member mounted onto the outer circumference of the second tube member and having an inner thread to be engaged with the outer thread of the male screw member and an outer ring pressing section for pushing the rear end of the second outer ring toward the first outer ring.
According to the invention defined by claim 3, a connecting structure for connecting a flanged connecting member having a flange surface to a mating tube member is provided, comprising a gasket member having a central opening in correspondence to an opening of the flanged connecting member, a contact surface in tight contact with the flange surface of the flanged connecting member on one side and an annular recess formed along the periphery of the central opening on the other side, a mating connecting tube member having a folded edge portion formed by folding an end thereof over the outer circumference thereof so that a convex end of the folded edge portion is brought into tight contact with the annular recess of the gasket member, an outer ring mounted onto the outer circumference of a body portion of the tube member so that a front end thereof is located behind the convex end of the folded edge portion and a rear end thereof is out of the folded edge portion, a presser member mounted onto the outer circumference of the tube member and having a contact section with the gasket member and an outer ring pressing section for pushing the rear end of the outer ring in the axial direction of the tube member, and a clamp member for compressing the presser member together against the gasket member.
According to the invention defined by claim 4, a tube connecting structure as defined by any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided, wherein the tube member is an elbow, a tee, a cross or a reducer.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The basic force and condition behind all activities of human life is the presence of energy. Energy is the vital principle needed to sustain life and it is required for every aspect of existence—every act uses energy—thinking, feeling, walking, eating, drinking, dreaming, breathing etc. Energy is felt and experienced upon its expenditure. The energy we experience immediately after eating (such as sweets), or the hype we get following the consumption of coffee is from the expenditure of energy from body's energy reserves, not through its accumulation. Age, fatigue and stress make people feel deficient in energy. This drag in energy very often compromises body's mental alertness. The efficiency at work place and in personal management can be enhanced by addressing body's energy demands properly.
Dietary supplements are used by physically active people or weak people to increase their physical performance, physical fitness, improve their health, or reduce the potentially negative consequences of physical activity such as injury and chronic fatigue, or suppressed immune function.
Many energy beverages, supplements and food ingredient formulations are presently available in the market, but they are fully loaded with disaccharides, carbohydrate complexes, proteins, amino acids and vitamins along with numerous other agents. Many of these formulations act too quickly to give instant energy and not sustain the levels over period of time. Besides, these formulations tend to increase the blood glucose levels sharply and this is followed by their rapid depletion. This might sometimes lead to complications. Natural supplements, which improve the feeling of being energetic, general agility, endurance and mental alertness are thus in great demand. Many research groups across the globe are working on developing a superior product to address the above requirements.
Therefore, the present invention addresses the existing need in the art by providing an extracts, fractions or compositions that provides energy and/or mental alertness. Thus, the present invention provides ingredient(s) and/or composition(s) capable of increasing energy levels for an extended period of time in a mammal to enhance energy levels, muscle power and mental alertness and thus solves these needs.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a solid-state image device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compared to a related surface irradiation type image sensor, a rear surface irradiation type image sensor has drawn attention which can completely eliminate a decrease in sensitivity caused by reflection (so-called eclipse) at a wiring layer or the like as well as can increase an aperture area. The surface irradiation type image sensor is an image sensor in which a wiring layer is formed closer to a light incident side than a photoelectric conversion region. In addition, the rear surface irradiation type image sensor is an image sensor in which a wiring layer is formed at a side opposite to a light incident side with respect to a photoelectric conversion region.
There has been a plurality of manufacturing methods of image sensors. In the manufacturing methods mentioned above, in general, the formation of a photoelectric conversion region in a complete state is important.
For example, elimination of physical defects, such as scratches and cuts, from the surface of the photoelectric conversion region is important. In addition, elimination of metal contamination from the photoelectric conversion region is also important. Furthermore, it is also important to ensure image pick-up characteristics, such as sensitivity and transfer characteristics. That is, in other words, it is important that the photoelectric conversion region have an ideal profile of various image pick-up characteristics.
In addition, as a particular important point of the rear surface irradiation type image sensor, a hole-accumulation diode (HAD) layer at an incident light surface side is formed uniform. Furthermore, also as a particular important point, the width of the photoelectric conversion region, that is, the thickness of a silicon active layer, is preferably formed uniform.
As one manufacturing method that can satisfy the above important points, a manufacturing method using a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-13089).
In the manufacturing method in which an SOI substrate is used for forming an image sensor, since the price of the SOI substrate is high, the price of the image sensor is also increased.
In addition, when an SOI structure is formed, a silicon oxide layer, which is called a BOX layer, is inevitably formed. Hence, because of the presence of a silicon oxide layer having a different coefficient of thermal expansion from that of a silicon substrate, the silicon substrate is adversely influenced (for example, generation of warping) in a high-temperature processing treatment, and as a result, the crystallinity and temperature controllability of an active layer are degraded.
As the high-temperature processing treatment, for example, there may be mentioned an activation (annealing) treatment in which ion species introduced primarily by an ion implantation method are activated, or an epitaxial growth treatment which is performed to increase the thickness of an active layer.
For example, in a related furnace type heat treatment which has been frequently used, primarily because of the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between a silicon substrate and a silicon oxide layer, degradation in crystallinity, such as generation of slip lines, occurs.
On the other hand, in a heat treatment using a lamp heating system (so-called RTA method) which has been widely spread to overcome redistribution of impurities concomitant with the trend toward miniaturization of elements, the substrate is heated by radiation of infrared rays and absorption by a silicon substrate (heat conversion). In a heat treatment by the heating system as described above, instability is induced not only in a heating mechanism but also in a temperature control (radiation thermometer).
In addition, since the silicon oxide layer (BOX layer) is present in the SOI substrate functioning as a barrier for the elimination (such as gettering) of metal contamination in a silicon active layer, the gettering effect is degraded. As described above, the silicon oxide layer considerably restricts the elimination of metal contamination, and hence it becomes difficult to suppress the generation of dark current/white spots.
The gettering is a technique in which the state of absorbing metal contamination species is formed in a region other than an active layer of a silicon substrate, the region having no influence on operation of an element, and in which the degree of cleanness of an element portion is ensured to obtain desired characteristics.
As a general example and as a technique closely relating to the manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, there has been an intrinsic gettering (IG) method.
In the intrinsic gettering method, in order to form a denuded zone (DZ) layer which is free from defects, a region to be formed into a DZ layer is preferably set apart from that in which an intrinsic gettering layer is formed by slightly more than 10 μm, and the region thus formed is a region free from defects.
In a silicon (active) layer of a current SOI substrate, the state described above is difficult to obtain from a structural point of view, and even if the above state can be obtained, the superiority (such as decrease in parasite capacity) of the SOI substrate is degraded, and hence the use of the SOI substrate is not realistic.
Furthermore, when the gettering function is imparted to a base substrate, the silicon oxide layer (BOX layer) considerably suppress the diffusion of impurities, and hence it becomes difficult to decrease impurities in an active layer region.
On the other hand, in a smartcut substrate, defect generation occurs in a SOI portion due to the generation of a foreign substance in a process, and in a step after the SOI portion is adhered to a support substrate, metal contamination (wiring material) occurs.
First, a smartcut method will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8A, a silicon substrate 111 is prepared.
Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, the surface of the silicon substrate 111 is oxidized to form a silicon oxide layer 112.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8C, hydrogen ions are implanted in the silicon substrate 111 by an ion implantation method to form a split layer 113.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8D, a support substrate 121 is adhered to the silicon substrate 111 with the silicon oxide layer 112 interposed therebetween. For the support substrate 121, for example, a silicon substrate is used. In addition, the support substrate 121 is adhered to a surface of the silicon substrate 111 closer to a side of the split layer 113.
For example, as shown in FIG. 8E, the silicon substrate 111 is peeled away from the split layer 113 so as to leave a silicon layer 114 formed of a part of the silicon substrate 111 which is located closer to a side of the support substrate 121 than the split layer 113.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 8F, an SOI substrate 110 is completed in which the silicon layer 114 is formed on the support substrate 121 with the silicon oxide layer 112 interposed therebetween.
In the smartcut method described above, for example, when a foreign substance 131 is present on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 112 formed on the silicon substrate 111 in an ion implantation step as shown in FIG. 9A, the foreign substance 131 functions as an ion implantation mask. Hence, in the silicon substrate 111 in which a region of the foreign substance is projected, a region in which hydrogen ions are not implanted is formed. As a result, a region 133 in which the split layer 113 is not formed is generated in the silicon substrate 111.
In the state as described above, as shown in FIG. 9B, the base substrate 121 (which is heretofore called the “support substrate 121”) is adhered to the silicon substrate 111 with the silicon oxide layer 112 interposed therebetween, and the silicon substrate 111 (not shown) is peeled away at the split layer 113. As a result, the silicon layer 114 formed of the silicon substrate 111 to be left on the base substrate 121 with the silicon oxide layer 112 interposed therebetween is not left in the region 133 in which the split layer 113 is not formed. That is, the silicon layer 114 (not shown) in the above region is peeled away together with the silicon substrate 111 (not shown) which is peeled away. Furthermore, the silicon oxide layer 112 in the above region is also peeled away. As a result, in the silicon layer 114 on the base substrate 121, a partial void 115 is formed at the portion at which the silicon oxide layer 112 is peeled away together with the silicon substrate 111.
In addition, for example, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the base substrate 121 is adhered to the silicon substrate 111 with the silicon oxide layer 112 interposed therebetween, the foreign substance 131 may enter between the silicon oxide layer 112 and the base substrate 121 in some cases. In this case, the split layer 113 is formed in advance in the silicon substrate 111 by ion implantation.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10B, when the silicon substrate 111 (not shown) is peeled away at the split layer 113, the silicon layer 114 formed of the silicon substrate 111 which is to be left on the base substrate 121 with the silicon oxide layer 112 interposed therebetween is left. In this step, in the region in which the foreign substance 131 (see FIG. 9A) is present, since the adhesion between the silicon oxide layer 112 and the base substrate 121 is weak, the silicon layer 114 (not shown) in the region in which the adhesion is weak is peeled away together with the silicon substrate 111 (not shown) which is peeled away. Furthermore, the silicon oxide layer 112 (not shown) in the above region is also peeled away. Hence, the partial void 115 is generated in the silicon layer 114 on the base substrate 121 at the portion at which the silicon oxide layer 112 is peeled away together with the silicon substrate 111.
Hereinafter, the case in which a solid-state image device (image sensor) is formed using the SOI substrate which is formed as described above will be described. This manufacturing method is a manufacturing method in which the smartcut method is applied to the manufacturing method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-13089.
For example, as shown in FIG. 11A, photoelectric conversion portions 141, transistor elements 142, and the like are formed in and/or on the silicon layer 114 of the SOI substrate 101. Furthermore, an insulating layer 143 including a wiring layer (not shown) is formed. In addition, a support substrate 151 is adhered to the surface of the insulating layer 143.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 11B, the base substrate 121 (which is indicated by a two-dot chain line) of the SOI substrate 101 is removed by a grinding and a chemical liquid treatment (such as etching by a mixture of hydrogen fluoride/nitric acid). In this case, in a region in which the silicon oxide layer 112 is not formed, etching proceeds. As a result, even the silicon layer 114 is etched and is removed. That is, since the silicon oxide layer 112 is partially removed and is not able to function as an etching stopper, the silicon layer 114 is continuously etched.
Incidentally, in the etching using a mixture of hydrogen fluoride/nitric acid, the etching rate of the base substrate 121 made of silicon (such as single crystal silicon) is approximately 165 times that of the silicon oxide layer 112, and hence the silicon oxide layer 112 functions as an etching stopper.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, in an etching proceeding region of the silicon layer 114, wires 145, connection plugs 146, and the like of a wiring layer 144 formed in the insulating layer 143 are corroded by etching species, so that the entire wiring layer 144 is corroded by etching.
Hence, when the smartcut method is used for the manufacturing method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-13089, metal species (such as aluminum or copper) of a wiring material may not only cause contamination of production facilities/lines but may also widely cause various types of defects in quality.
Alternatively, after an SOI substrate is formed by the smartcut method, by the use of this SOI substrate, photoelectric conversion portions, transfer gates, and the like are formed in and/or on a silicon layer of the SOI substrate, and a wiring layer is further formed on the silicon layer. Subsequently, after a support substrate is adhered to a side of the wiring layer, a silicon substrate side of the SOI substrate is removed, for example, by grinding, polishing, and/or etching, and further a silicon oxide layer of the SOI substrate is removed by etching. In an image sensor element formed by the manufacturing method as described above, by corrosion caused by the defect of the above silicon oxide layer, only the above image sensor element is a defective.
The phenomenon caused by a foreign substance described above is a fatal problem of the smartcut method, and although the above method may be probably improved, the problem caused by the above phenomenon may not be completely solved nor overcome.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high-temperature combustor liner for heated bodies, particularly a combustor liner lined with tile.
2. The Prior Art
It has been found desirable to line combustors, e.g., combustion chambers, flame tubes and the like with ceramic tiles to enable the chamber structure to better withstand high temperatures e.g., the combustor of a jet engine benefits from such a protective liner.
For examples of such liners in combustors or flame tubes see U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,886 to Sedgwick (1976), U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,159 to Memmen (1985) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,227 to Chabis (1988). These references teach hanging tiles in a chamber (to be heated) by tongue and groove, post and spring clip and hanger and slot, respectively. Undue complexity of installation, of removal or replacement, results. And there is a need and market for an improved ceramic tile assembly which overcomes the above prior art shortcomings.
There has now been developed a ceramic tile assembly wherein ceramic tiles are readily installed in a support panel in e.g., a combustor liner and then locked in place and yet are readily removable for replacement purposes.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high performance overbased calcium salicylate greases, the preparation of these greases and intermediates. More particularly, this invention relates to a process of forming a non-Newtonian oil composition in the form of a grease comprising an overbased calcium salicylate and solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate in the form of calcite which comprises heating overbased calcium salicylate, amorphous calcium carbonate, and a converting agent comprising a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms in an oleaginous vehicle, and then adding sufficient carbon dioxide to complete the conversion of the amorphous calcium carbonate to calcite.
2. Description of Related Art
As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,489, thixotropic greases or grease-like overbased calcium sulfonate compositions have corrosion-inhibiting properties and have utility for a variety of uses such as, for instance, in automobile and truck body undercoating, and for various other purposes known to the art and are disclosed in various publications and patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,242,079; 3,372,115; 3,376,222; 3,377,283; 3,523,898; 3,661,622; 3,671,012; 3,746,643; 3,730,895; 3,816,310; and 3,492,231. Such greases or grease-like compositions have gone into wide-spread use either as such, or mixed with other ingredients to produce compositions for use in a variety of environments and, generally speaking, they are characterized by reasonably good E.P. & Antiwear Properties, high dropping points, reasonably good resistance to mechanical breakdown and salt spray- and water-corrosion, thermal stability at high temperatures, and other desirable properties.
As is well known, greases are sold in various grades depending upon the softness of the grease. The softer the grease the more fluid it is. Typically, these greases are rated or graded on the basis of their worked cone penetration range. For example, greases sold under the designation grade zero have a cone penetration number from about 355 to 385, those having a cone penetration range of 310 to 340 are designated grade one, and the most widely sold greases have a cone penetration range of 265 to 295 and are designated grade two. The lower the grade of the grease the more relatively inexpensive oleaginous vehicle and the cheaper the grease. For the purposes of this invention, cone penetration is measured by the ASTM cone penetration test (D217). Penetration is the depth, in tenths of a millimeter, to which a standard cone sinks into the grease under prescribed conditions. Thus, higher penetration numbers indicate softer greases, since the cone has sunk deeper into the sample.
The greases disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,489 can be prepared by one step or two step processes. In the one step process, neutral calcium sulfonate, hydrated lime, lubricating oil, a converting agent capable of converting amorphous calcium carbonate into crystalline calcium carbonate, and a catalyst suitable for promoting carbonation of the neutral calcium sulfonate, such as methanol, are carbonated to form a non-Newtonian highly overbased calcium sulfonate solution. Additional oil stock, lime, water, boric acid, and fatty acid are then added to complete the production of the overbased calcium sulfonate grease. In the two step process, a composition comprising a Newtonian highly overbased calcium sulfonate solution is first converted to a thickened intermediate non-Newtonian product by initial treatment thereof with a converting agent such as acetic acid, propionic acid, or an alcohol. Then, there is subsequently added thereto, at elevated temperatures, boric acid in admixture with, or dissolved or partially dissolved in, hot water, lime, or calcium hydroxide and the soap-forming aliphatic monocarboxylic or fatty acid such as a C12 to C24 acid. In both the one step and two step processes, the soap-forming aliphatic monocarboxylic acid or fatty acid containing from 12 to 24 carbon atoms is added to the non-Newtonian highly overbased calcium sulfonate solution containing calcium carbonate in the calcite form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,514 discloses high performance overbased calcium sulfonate greases comprising up to about 28% by weight overbased calcium sulfonate, solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate essentially in the form of calcite, a calcium soap of a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms, and oleaginous vehicle wherein at a concentration of about 28% by weight overbased calcium sulfonate said greases have a worked cone penetration rating of less than about 295.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,467 discloses a process of forming a non-Newtonian oil composition in the form of a grease comprising an overbased calcium sulfonate and solid particles of colloidally dispersed calcium carbonate in the form of calcite which comprises heating overbased calcium sulfonate, amorphous calcium carbonate and a converting agent comprising a fatty acid of twelve to twenty-four carbon atoms in an oleaginous medium.
The disclosures of the foregoing are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device made of gallium nitride compound semiconductors. In particular, the invention relates to a device having electrodes best suited to gallium nitride compound semiconductors, and a method (device process) of manufacturing the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional gallium nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting device. This light-emitting device is shown with its electrode side downward since it is mounted on feeding electrodes (not-shown) in a flip chip fashion. This light-emitting device has an n-type gallium nitride compound semiconductor layer 92 (hereinafter, referred to as n-type GaN layer), an active layer 93, and a p-type gallium nitride compound semiconductor layer 94 (hereinafter, referred to as p-type GaN layer) which are formed on a sapphire substrate 91 in this order. The light-emitting device can emit a predetermined wavelength of light when an electric current is supplied to these layers through an electrode 95 for an n-type gallium nitride compound semiconductor (hereinafter, referred to as an n-type GaN electrode) and an electrode 96 for a p-type gallium nitride compound semiconductor (hereinafter, referred to as an p-type GaN electrode). While the substrate illustrated here is a sapphire substrate, it is not limited thereto. It is conventionally known that the substrate may be replaced with an SiC substrate or Si substrate. Thin films of gallium nitride compound semiconductors (AlxInyGa(1-x-y)N, 0≦x, y≦1) can be formed on this substrate by using conventionally-known techniques such as MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition).
In general, the n-type GaN electrode 95 is made of metal thin films such as Ti/Al and V/Al. The p-type GaN electrode 96 is often made of Pt, or metal thin films such as Ni/Au. As employed in this specification, the expression “A/B layer” shall hereinafter mean that the material A on the left lies closer to a semiconductor layer and the material B on the right lies farther from the semiconductor layer. To improve light output efficiency in the case of flip-chip mounting, there have been known techniques of making the n-type GaN electrode 95 out of an Rh/Al layer having high reflectivity so that the light emitted from the device is reflected at the sapphire-substrate side, and making the p-type GaN electrode 96 out of Rh/Al, Ag, and the like similarly. Incidentally, the reference numerals 97 and 97′ in the diagram represent eutectic electrodes.
Examples of these conventional gallium nitride compound semiconductor light-emitting devices and the methods of manufacturing the same include Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. Hei 5-211347, Hei 11-220168, 2003-110140, 2003-110138, Hei 5-291621, 2000-36619, and 2000-183400, which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 5-211347 discloses an electrode having an Ni layer at the junction with an I layer of the gallium nitride compound semiconductor. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-220168 discloses a gallium nitride compound semiconductor device of flip chip type in which a thin-film metal layer is interposed between a p-type layer and a thick-film reflective electrode layer. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-110140 discloses a nitride semiconductor light-emitting device in which a predetermined area of an electrode is given high reflectivity for the sake of enhanced light output efficiency. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-110138 discloses a nitride semiconductor light-emitting diode in which the sheet resistance and light transmittance of a transparent p electrode are balanced for improved external quantum efficiency. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 5-291621 discloses the use of Au, Pt, Ag, and Ni as the material for making ohmic contact with a gallium nitride compound semiconductor doped with p-type impurities, and the use of Al, Cr, Ti, and In as the material for making ohmic contact with a gallium nitride compound semiconductor doped with n-type impurities. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-36619 discloses a gallium nitride compound semiconductor device of flip chip type in which Ag, Rh, Ru, Pt, or Pd is used to give a high reflectivity to a thick-film electrode layer to be connected with a p-type layer. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-183400 also discloses a gallium nitride compound semiconductor device of flip chip type in which a thick-film electrode layer to be connected with a p-type layer is given a high reflectivity.
The conventional GaN electrodes mentioned above, however, have included no disclosure on the finding that annealing is not actively performed for the sake of ohmic contact with the semiconductor layer(s). In any of the above cases, establishing ohmic contact with a gallium nitride compound semiconductor requires annealing at or above 400° C. This causes several problems as follows:
(1) A first problem is evident in that surface contamination and oxidation are inevitable in the annealing furnace.
In typical GaN device processes, a wafer is annealed by either: the successive steps i) of forming n-type GaN electrodes->annealing->forming p-type GaN electrodes->annealing (alternatively, the p-type GaN electrodes and the n-type GaN electrodes are formed by steps of inverted order); or the successive steps ii) of forming n-type GaN electrodes->forming p-type GaN electrodes->annealing (alternatively, the p-type GaN electrodes and the n-type GaN electrodes are formed by steps of inverted order).
With the steps i), the n-type GaN electrodes are formed before annealing for establishing ohmic contact. At the time of annealing, the areas of the wafer surface for forming the p-type GaN electrodes are thus exposed directly to the furnace atmosphere. This inevitably contaminates the surface with impurities in the furnace and causes surface oxidation, so that the p-type GaN electrodes formed thereon become poor in electric characteristic. Even if the electrode-forming surface is cleaned to alleviate contamination and surface oxidation, the n-type GaN electrodes that are formed already preclude cleaning processes that can affect the material of the electrodes. This results in imperfect cleaning. In addition, the presence of the annealing even after the formation of the p-type GaN electrodes can give the n-type GaN electrodes an excessive heat history. The two annealing processes thus result in poorer electric characteristics. The same problems can also occur when the p-type GaN electrodes are formed first.
The steps ii) will not cause the same problems as those of steps i) since the annealing is conducted only once unlike in the steps i). It is required, however, that more severe temperature, atmosphere, time, and other annealing conditions for the n-type GaN electrodes or the p-type GaN electrodes be applied as the conditions of the annealing process after the electrode formation. Consequently, the other electrodes which would exhibit optimum ohmic characteristics at milder conditions are inevitably deteriorated in characteristic.
The n-type GaN electrodes and p-type GaN electrodes both can be evaporated and annealed at the same time if they were of the same material and the same conditions. Such a material, however, has not been adequately found so far.
For example, when the n-type GaN electrode 95 requires annealing at around 400° C. and the p-type GaN electrode 96 requires annealing at around 700° C., the p-type GaN electrode 96 must be formed first. The reason is that if the n-type GaN electrode 95 is formed first, it must undergo the 700° C. annealing in order for the p-type GaN electrode 96 formed later on the same wafer to acquire ohmic characteristics. This applies excessive heat to the n-type GaN electrode 95 resulting in deterioration in electric characteristics.
(2) A second problem lies in that the device process is limited.
The eutectic electrodes 97 and 97′ shown in FIG. 1 have a metal laminate structure such as a Ti/Au/(Pt/Au)n layer and an Ni/Au/(Pt/Au)n layer. The outermost surface layer of the eutectic electrodes 97, 97′ is an eutectic material layer of Au, under which an eutectic limitation layer of Pt is formed. For flip chip connection, these layers are put downward and connected with Au/Sn eutectic parts which are laminated on the side of a submount or wiring. At the time of connection, the Au layers at the outermost surface of the eutectic electrodes 97, 97′ and the Au layer at the outermost surface of the eutectic parts of the submount are put together, to which a heat of around 300° C. is applied to create an Au/Sn eutectic state for junction. Thus, if the n-type GaN electrode 95 described above is formed and then the film forming step is continued to form the eutectic electrodes 97 and 97′ before annealing is conducted at or above 400° C. for the sake of ohmic connection of the electrode metal, the eutectic metal can melt during the annealing to preclude the function of the electrodes 97 and 97′. Hence, both the electrodes 95 and 96 for n-type GaN and p-type GaN must be formed and annealed before the eutectic electrodes 97 and 97′, which are formed in a separate step. Incidentally, as employed in this specification, the expression “(A/B)n layer” shall mean that the material A and the material B are laminated n times repeatedly.
In general, when annealed at excessive temperatures, each of the n-type GaN electrodes and p-type GaN electrodes is coarsened at the surface of its metal layer on the semiconductor-layer side, with an unfavorable deterioration in reflectivity and ohmic characteristic. When Pt, Rh, Pd, and the like are used as a p-type GaN electrode for LED in particular, the heat treatment can increase the startup voltage (Vf) by 0.05 to 0.2 V. Needless annealing is thus better omitted.
As described above, the sequence of the device process depends on order of temperatures of the annealing processes on the wafer. In addition, the annealing temperature cannot be optimized. This inevitably causes the problems that the device process cannot be designed freely, and device characteristics cannot be optimized.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices used to electromagnetically mark and locate obscured objects, and more particularly to a surface tracker adapted to visually mark a buried object or a location at the surface or ground level, which also provides a transponder or marker to enable the later location of the tracker when it becomes buried.
2. Description of the Related Art
Buried conduits are employed for supplying a wide variety of utilities, including pipelines for gas, water and sewage, and cables for telephone, optical fiber, power and television. It often becomes necessary to locate defective or damaged cables, pipes, etc., in order to repair or replace them. Conversely, it is important to know with as much accuracy as possible the approximate vicinity of such items in order to avoid disturbing them when digging or excavating for other purposes. Above-ground marking devices may be installed immediately after the conduit is buried, but they are often lost, stolen, or destroyed after a short period of use. Therefore, it is common to use underground marking devices or systems to enable the later location of a section or feature of an underground utility.
In the past, three different approaches have been used to indicate the presence of buried conduits, namely, warning tapes, trace wires, and electronic marker systems. A warning tape is simply a band of plastic which is placed above the conduit before burial. These tapes are used to alert the excavation team of the presence of the conduit before any damage thereto might occur. As the backhoe or other mechanical digger excavates the site, it will hopefully uproot a portion of the warning tape prior to contact with the conduit. The primary disadvantage of (non-metallic) warning tapes is that they cannot be detected by any surface instrumentation.
A single trace wire is sometimes buried with a utility line. The trace wire is used as a conductor for an AC signal which is applied to the wire at one accessible end, and then acts as an antenna and radiates an electromagnetic field above ground along its entire length. The electromagnetic field may be detected with an appropriate receiver, and the underground path of the line thereby determined. The earliest cable locators used a single sensor which detects a single null or peak (depending upon the orientation of the sensor) as the unit passes near the cable. Many later devices use two or more sensors that combine the signals to provide an indication of conductor proximity. The most common sensors are ferrite-core antennas, i.e., inductors. Although the conduit itself may act as a conductor (i.e., when steel pipe or copper wire cabling is used), most conduits are non-conductive and therefore require a trace wire. There are three significant disadvantages in the use of a trace wire. First of all, it is necessary to provide above ground access to the trace wire in order to couple the AC signal thereto. Secondly, if a break occurs in the wire (due to excavation, or natural causes such as corrosion, earth movement or burrowing animals), then the wire becomes useless. Finally, the trace wire is too thin to imprint a warning message thereon, precluding any visual warning. Additionally, a receiver cannot distinguish the trace wire from any other conductor in the vicinity.
Electronic marker systems for locating buried objects are known in the art, and generally consist of two types, namely, active and passive markers (transponders). Active markers require the use of a power supply which amplifies a signal source (usually an AC signal). The signal is radiated by the underground marker and detected by a receiver unit above ground. Passive markers, in contrast, have no power supply, but rather operate in a resonant mode, responsive to a transmitted electromagnetic field.
A passive marker is basically a wire coil and capacitor surrounded in a protective envelope, which is then buried adjacent to the cable, pipe, or other object to be located. The marker is self-contained, with no external, accessible connections. Passive markers are activated by radiating a signal into the ground in the area where the marker is expected to be found. The signal is emitted via an inductive coil held close to the surface (the transmitter portion of a transceiver). When the coil is directly over, or near, the passive marker (which is itself an inductive coil), the marker accepts energy within its bandpass and stores it, reaching a sustained amplitude during the transmission cycle. When the transmission cycle ends, the marker re-emits the energy at the marker's resonant frequency with an exponentially decaying amplitude. A second coil within the transceiver unit acts as a receiving antenna which detects the re-radiated energy, alerting the locating technician with an audible tone or other indicator means. See generally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,368.
FIG. 1 illustrates several kinds of passive transponders for different applications. These include a small, near-surface marker 2 for locating a valve box, a medium size or mid-range marker 4 for locating a service drop (a loose coil of cabling deployed for future use), a full-range marker 6 for locating a more deeply buried conduit stub, and a so-called ball marker 8 for locating a conduit tee. The latter marker provides a spherical housing which supports the marker coil horizontally, regardless of the orientation of the housing (i.e., self-leveling), and is used for soil conditions which may result in significant shifting of the housing, such that the marker always provides a vertical location beacon (inductor axis). These markers simply “float” around the underground feature in the soil, and are subject to soil movement.
Electronic markers, as well as warning tapes, are usually color-coded according to the particular type of utility line they mark. Specifically, gas line markers are yellow; telephone cable markers are orange; waste water tunnel markers are green; water pipe markers are blue; and power supply markers are red. Similarly, the passive marker is “coded” by tuning the coil for a specific resonant frequency. Five distinct frequencies have been designated: 83.0 kHz for gas; 101.4 kHz for telephone; 121.6 kHz for sewage; 145.7 kHz for water; and 169.8 kHz for power. In this manner, a locating technician searching for, say, a gas line, cannot accidentally activate a telephone marker since his transmitter will only be sending out an 83 kHz signal, which is not within the bandwidth for a telephone marker tuned for 101.4 kHz. Of course, these frequencies have been designated by convention, and are not meant to be restrictive.
There are hybrid systems wherein, for example, a signal is applied to a buried conductor (cable or trace wire), and coupled through the conductor to one or more markers buried adjacent the conductor. Also, a marker can be used to couple one conductor to another, so that the test signal may be conveyed to the second conductor without a direct physical connection.
While several of the foregoing articles can be used to alert an excavation team that a buried object is nearby, there continue to be problems regarding both locating and damaging the cables or conduits. Significantly, none of the foregoing designs offer any above-ground visual indication of the desired location, so a fair amount of trial and error searching must be performed before the signal from the subsurface marker is detected. If there are several underground markers in the same general vicinity, it is very likely that the searcher will mistakenly identify one of the other markers as the target marker, resulting in a mislocate of the obscured object which is only revealed after the site has been excavated. Although a location can be marked above-ground with stakes, paint, flags, etc., these implements can be removed or easily obscured by growth over time. Stakes and flags can further be re-positioned at the surface so there is no guarantee that such an implement will still be marking the proper location at later dates.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to devise an improved article for more accurately locating a buried object during interim construction which also has long-term locatability. It would be further advantageous if the article could provide a visual indication which is easily detected by an excavator.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Cement is often used to line the well bore of a petrochemical well. For example, a well may be cemented along a length of the well bore in preparation for production. Cement shrinkage can have a number of adverse effects on the integrity of the well, therefore, it is often desirable to avoid it.
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted, such embodiments do not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation should be inferred. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are examples only, and not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process and apparatus for optically checking perforations in hollow articles, and is particularly concerned with the checking of micro-perforations in aircraft engine parts such as combustion chamber walls, multi-perforated jackets of after-burner passages, and hollow turbine blades.
In such parts it is essential to be able to check, or even measure, the "permeability" of very small diameter holes. This permeability represents the capacity of the holes (perforations) to allow an aeration or cooling air flow through the wall in which they are drilled, and compliance with a minimum permeability is generally vital to the life of the part concerned.
Thus, in one example of cooled blades for the first turbine stage of a supersonic turbojet engine, in which the internal cavity of the blade is supplied with pressurized air through its root, each blade has one row of 53 perforations along its leading edge and two rows of 80 and 19 perforations along the trailing edge, all of the perforations having an average diameter of from 300 to 500 microns.
2. Summary of the prior art
The present method for checking the drilling quality of these holes consists of performing manually two operations. Firstly a gauge rod is inserted into each hole to check whether the hole is of a minimum diameter equal to that of the rod and whether the hole opens out into the internal cavity of the blade, and secondly the holes are counted to check that the intended number of holes have been provided.
In addition to the fact that this method is lengthy and tedious, the risks of error are great when counting the holes, and when checking the drilling by means of gauge rods, some holes may be omitted if the operator's attention is distracted. Moreover, these checks do not indicate whether the holes have been drilled in the right place, or whether the drilling accuracy (non-circular, etc.) is correct.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method for performing image processing on an input image, and in particular, relates to image processing for dynamic range transformation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, digital X-ray photographing apparatuses capable of outputting X-ray image data in digital form are becoming widespread as medical X-ray photographing apparatuses. Image processing is indispensable to such a digital X-ray photographing apparatus. The digital X-ray photographing apparatus (image processing apparatus) uses a variety of image processing on X-ray image data. One of important image processing is gray scale transformation processing for transforming captured x-ray image data into an image having easier-to-observe densities (brightnesses) and contrast.
As for the shape of a function used in the above-described gray scale transformation processing, for example, an S-shaped function as shown in FIG. 8 is generally used. This shape is similar to that of the characteristic curve for a silver-halide film. FIG. 8 is a prior art schematic diagram illustrating a characteristic curve used in typical gray scale transformation processing, the characteristic curve showing the relationship between an input pixel value and an output density value. A method of generating an S-shaped characteristic curve (gray scale transformation curve) shown in FIG. 8 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-88688. The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-88688 uses a function expressed by the following equation (5).
D ( x ) = OD m i n + OD ma x - OD m i n 2 { 1 1 + exp ( c ( x 0 - ( x - d ) ) ) + 1 1 + exp ( a c ( bx 0 - ( x - d ) ) ) } ( 5 )
In the equation (5), let ODmax and ODmin be a maximum output density and a minimum output density, and let a and b denote constants. In addition, let c denote a grading and let d be an amount of translation. Changing those two parameters c and d can adjust densities and contrast in a desired region of interest to optimum values.
FIG. 9 is a prior art schematic diagram explaining an example of a method of transforming the gray scale of image data relating to X-ray photography in chest. In X-ray photography in chest, the region of most interest is typically a lung region. Accordingly, the parameters c and d are changed to provide such a contrast that a representative value (e.g., mean value) in lung regions indicates a predetermined density (for example, a density of 1.8D), thus optimally adjusting densities and contrast in the lung regions.
In the above-described gray scale transformation processing, in some cases, it is difficult to set the whole of a subject area within an optimum density range while maintaining contrast in a region of interest, depending on the body size of a subject or part of the body. For example, in X-ray photography in chest, since the chest includes lung regions where an X-ray is easy to pass and a mediastinum region where an X-ray is hard to pass, the dynamic range of a subject is very wide. Accordingly, when the contrast in the lung regions is optimized using the gray scale transformation function (gray scale transformation curve) shown in FIG. 9, densities in the mediastinum region become too low. Disadvantageously, in some cases, it is difficult to simultaneously observe the lung regions and the mediastinum region.
To overcome such a disadvantage, a typical method compresses the dynamic range of an image while keeping contrast in a fine-structure portion prior to gray scale transformation. For example, when let Sorg be an input image and Sus denote a blurred image obtained by moving averages of the input image using a mask size of M×M pixels, this method is expressed by the following equation (6).Sproc=Sorg+f(Sus) (6)
A function “f( )” in the equation (6) is a generally monotonically decreasing function as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a prior art schematic diagram illustrating a dynamic range transformation function.
The equation (6) can also be expressed as the following equation (7).
S proc = ( S org - Sus ) + ( f ( Sus ) + Sus ) = ( S org - Sus ) + f 1 ( Sus ) ( 7 )
A function “f1( )” in the equation (7) is expressed as a generally monotonically increasing function as shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a prior art schematic diagram showing an example of a dynamic range transformation function. Since “Sorg−Sus” in the equation (7) corresponds to a high frequency component, this function can be regarded as gray scale transformation limited only to a low frequency component. Densities of a finally output image are obtained as a combination of the function “f1( )” in the equation (7) and the gray scale transformation function in the equation (5). Advantageously, therefore, densities in a low density region, such as the mediastinum region, can be increased.
When the function “f( )” in the equation (6) is changed, densities in a high density region, such as a skin, can be reduced. This method is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2663189. In the background of the above-described image processing techniques, however, the related-art methods have the following disadvantages.
As for the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-88688, although densities and contrast in a region of interest are optimized, a variation in dynamic range due to individual differences among subjects is not taken into consideration. Accordingly, in some cases, the whole of a subject is not set within an optimum density range. A reduction in the gradient of a gray scale transformation curve using the grading c can allow the whole of the subject to be set within the optimum density range. In this case, however, since the gradient of the gray scale transformation curve cannot be partially adjusted, contrast in a region of interest has to be sacrificed. In other words, it is difficult to optimally adjust the gray scale transformation curve in accordance with the dynamic range of the subject while maintaining the contrast in the region of interest.
According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2663189, it is possible to set the whole of a subject within an optimum density range. In the above-described techniques, however, a process of setting the whole of a subject within an optimum density range is regarded as independent of the gray scale transformation processing. How the effect of this process is reflected in an image which has undergone gray scale transformation is not taken into consideration. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the dynamic range of a subject is surely set within an optimum density range after gray scale transformation. For example, in a case shown in FIG. 11, the gradient is constant in a range where the parameter Sus is at or below a value Base. Disadvantageously, the dynamic range is uniformly compressed in a region of interest or in the vicinity thereof where it is not preferable to compress the dynamic range, depending on the set value Base.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention relates to a demolition agent for brittle materials such as concrete, rocks and bricks etc.
Hitherto, many demolition agents such as explosives, expansion gases and expansion materials have been proposed for brittle materials such as concrete, rocks and bricks etc. Among those, the explosives are a preferable demolition agent because of its strong breakage effect per unit time, but it has disadvantages that it may cause pollution such as noise, flyrock, vibration, dust and the like at an explosion time and that there may be accompanied with a danger during its operation. In order to eliminate such disadvantages, it has been proposed a method wherein a slurry of expansion material is filled into a hole drilled in a brittle material to demolish it by means of the expansive stress of the slurry. By using this method, advantages are obtained such that there is occurred no noise except a noise for drilling, no vibration and less danger. It is considered that quick lime can be used as a demolition agent because of its great expansive stress. It has, however, such a disadvantage that since it has a very high hydration speed and may expand by hydration immediately after being mixed with water, its fluidity is reduced rapidly to become difficult for pouring into the hole. Even though it can be poured, its expansive stress may escape to the direction of a hole opening so that its pressure against the side wall of the hole may become very low. It therefore cannot be used as a demolition agent. In order to overcome this disadvantage, a method may be considered in which a slurry of quick lime is poured into a hole and at the same time a binding cap is fixed on the opening of the hole to restrict its expansive stress, but it is not a preferable method because of its troublesome operation. Another method can also be considered in which silicofluoride and the like added to quick lime to restrict the hydration speed of quick lime. However, it can not be expected to obtain a high expansive stress, since quick lime has no self hydraulic property so that the expansive stress of quick lime may escape to the direction of the opening of the hole. Further, since reactivity of quick lime may be different depending on its burning degree during its preparation, it is very difficult to control its hydration speed.
An object of this invention is to offer a hydraulic demolition agent which hydrate at a relatively low speed and provide large expansive coefficient and expansive stress.
Another object of this invention is to offer a hydraulic demolition agent which can be used at the place of atmospheric temperature higher than 5.degree. C.
Other important objects and advantages features of this invention will be apparent from the following description and the drawings attached.
These objects can be attained in accordance with the present invention.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving circuit for a sensorless brushless motor. The invention particularly relates to a driving circuit for a sensorless brushless motor which detects accurately a rotational position of a three phase motor by keeping the neutral potential of the three phase motor constant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 18 shows a conventional driving circuit for a sensorless brushless motor. In FIG. 18, a terminal voltage compressing circuit 300 receives induced voltages of a three phase motor 10 from terminals U, V, and W and compresses or divides the terminal voltage. A terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 detects the current flowing through the motor 10 via a resistor 108, and corrects the terminal voltage according to the motor current. A position detecting circuit 500 detects the rotational position of the motor. A commutation switching circuit 600 switches a commutation current applied to the motor 10, and turns on or off driving transistors 101-106 in a motor driving transistor circuit 100 to rotate the motor.
In the conventional embodiment shown in FIG. 18, for example, focusing on only the U phase, an output voltage of the upper part of the U phase waveform is saturated, as shown in FIG. 24A. If an output current increases, as shown by U' of FIG. 24B, the bottom of the waveform expands, but the upper part of the waveform does not expand, since the upper part of the waveform is saturated. Therefore, the neutral potential is also shifted downward as shown by the arrow in FIG. 24B. Accordingly, the position of the rotor is detected at a different point. To avoid this difference, the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 is indispensable.
The operation of the conventional driving circuit of the current sensorless brushless motor is explained using FIG. 18. FIG. 19 shows a detailed circuit of a terminal voltage compressing circuit 300. FIG. 20 shows a detailed circuit of a terminal voltage correcting circuit 400. FIG. 21 shows a detailed circuit of a position detecting circuit 500. FIG. 22 shows a detailed circuit of a commutation switching circuit 600.
A specific construction of the terminal voltage compressing circuit 300 is explained below. FIG. 19 shows only one phase of the terminal voltage compressing circuit 300. The terminal voltage from each terminal of the motor 10 is input to an input terminal 301. The voltage divided by resistors 303 and 305 is output from an output terminal 302, relative to a neutral voltage selected by resistors 304 and 305 connected in series between a power supply 310 and a ground 311. This terminal voltage compressing circuit 300 is arranged to supply an appropriate voltage to an input terminal of the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400. The phase voltages U1, V1, W1 are output from the terminal voltage compressing circuit 300 to the inputs of the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400.
The phase voltages U1, V1, W1 supplied from the terminal voltage compressing circuit 300 are input to the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 of FIG. 20. The terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 of FIG. 20 includes npn transistors 20-34, a pnp transistor 35, resistors 36-56, and constant current sources 57-60. A U-phase terminal voltage U1 is input to the base of the npn transistor 20, a V-phase terminal voltage V1 is input to the base of the npn transistor 25, and W-phase terminal voltage W1 is input to the base of the npn transistor 30. The base of the pnp transistor 35 is connected to a resistor 108 via a terminal 61. The terminals 62-67 are supplied with correction switching signals for changing the correction of the terminal voltage. The corrected terminal voltages of each phase are output as U2, V2, and W2.
The operation of the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 is explained below using the drawings. In FIG. 20, the terminal voltage correcting circuit for three phases, U, V, and W, are shown, however, only the U-phase terminal voltage correcting circuit is explained.
Assuming that the terminal 62 and the terminal 63 are at high levels, the collector voltages of the npn transistor 22 and the npn transistor 24 reach 0, so the emitter voltages of the npn transistor 21 and the npn transistor 23 reach 0. Therefore, current does not flow through the resistor 37 or the resistor 40. Accordingly, a current i1 supplied from the constant current source 57 only flows through the resistor 36 (resistance: R1). The voltage at the U-phase output terminal of the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 is obtained by subtracting the voltage drop of the resistor 36 and the base-emitter voltage (Vbe) of the transistor 20 from the input voltage of the terminal voltage correcting circuit 400 as follows. EQU U2=U1-Vbe-R1.multidot.i1 (1)
Assuming that the terminal 62 and the terminal 63 are at low levels, and the voltage Vir is input to the terminal 61. The collector voltages of the npn transistor 21 and the npn transistor 24 become Vir+Vbe (V), so the emitter voltages of the npn transistor 21 and the npn transistor 23 become Vir. Therefore, the current Vir/R2 flows through the resistor 37 (resistance: R2) and the resistor 40 (resistance: R2), respectively. Accordingly, the current flowing through the resistor 36 becomes the sum of the current i1 supplied from the constant current source 57 and the currents flowing through the resistor 37 and the resistor 40. The voltage at the U-phase output terminal of the terminal voltage correcting circuit is obtained from the formula (2) as follows. EQU U1=U-Vbe-R1.multidot.i1-R1.multidot.Vir/R2 (2)
If the terminal 62 is at a high level and the terminal 63 is at a low level, or the terminal 62 is at a low level and the terminal 63 is at a high level, since a current of Vir/R2 flows through the resistor 37 or the resistor 40, the voltage at the U-phase output terminal of the terminal voltage correcting circuit is obtained from the formula (3) as follows. EQU U2=U1-Vbe-R1.multidot.I1-R1.multidot.Vir/R2 (3)
Therefore, the terminal voltage can be corrected by setting the terminal 62 and the terminal 63 at a high level when the voltage drop must be added (current direction: V.fwdarw.U, W.fwdarw.U). In the meantime, when the voltage drop must be subtracted (current direction: U.fwdarw.V, U.fwdarw.W), the terminal voltage can be corrected by setting the terminal 62 and the terminal 63 to low levels.
When the U-phase is not a current-carrying phase and does not need to be corrected (current direction: V.fwdarw.W, W.fwdarw.V), the terminal 62 may be set at a high level and the terminal 63 may be set at a low level, or vice versa. In the same way, as for the V-phase, when the voltage drop must be added (current direction: U.fwdarw.V, W.fwdarw.V), the terminal 64 and the terminal 65 may be set at a high level, when the voltage drop is must be subtracted (current direction: V.fwdarw.U, V.fwdarw.W), the terminal 64 and the terminal 65 may be set at a low level, and when no correction is necessary (current direction: U.fwdarw.W, W.fwdarw.U), the terminal 64 may be set at a high level and the terminal 65 may be set at a low level, or vice versa.
Furthermore, as for the W-phase, when the voltage drop must be added (current direction: U.fwdarw.W, V.fwdarw.W), the terminal 66 and the terminal 67 may be set at high levels, when the resistance drop must be subtracted (current direction: W.fwdarw.U, W.fwdarw.V), the terminal 66 and the terminal 67 may be set at low levels, and when no correction is necessary (current direction: U.fwdarw.V, V.fwdarw.U), the terminal 66 may be set at a high level and the terminal 67 may be set at a low level, or vice versa. The conducting phases and the terminals 62-67 as described above are supplied with correction switching signals K1-K6 as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 25B. The correction switching signals K1-K6 are generated, for example, in a commutation switching circuit 600 described later.
The position detecting circuit 500 is explained below using FIG. 21. In FIG. 21, the position detecting circuit 500 comprises resistors 70-81, differential amplification circuits 82-84, and comparators 85-87. The corrected U-phase terminal voltage U2 is applied to a non-inverting input terminal of a differential amplification circuit 82 and an inverting input terminal of a differential amplification circuit 83, via a resistor 70, and a resistor 75, respectively. The corrected W-phase terminal voltage W2 is applied to a non-inverting input terminal of a differential amplification circuit 83 and an inverting input terminal of a differential amplification circuit 84, via a resistor 74, and a resistor 79, respectively. The corrected V-phase terminal voltage V2 is applied to a non-inverting input terminal of a differential amplification circuit 84 and an inverting input terminal of a differential amplification circuit 82, via a resistor 78, and a resistor 71, respectively. The inverting input terminals of differential amplification circuits 82, 83, and 84 are connected to output terminals of the differential amplification circuits 82, 83, and 84 via resistors 73, 77, and 81, respectively. Each output terminal of the differential amplification circuits 82, 83, and 84 is connected to non-inverting input terminals of comparators 85, 86, and 87, respectively. Furthermore, the reference voltage Vref is input to the non-inverting input terminals of the differential amplification circuits 82, 83, and 84 and inverting input terminals of comparators 85, 86, and 87. The differential amplification circuit 82 outputs differential amplification signals U2 and V2 around the center voltage Vref. The comparator 85 compares the differential amplification signal with Vref and outputs a position signal BU. By the same process, position signals BW and BV are obtained. These position signals, BU, BW, and BV shown in FIG. 25A, are supplied to a commutation switching circuit 600 in the next stage.
FIG. 22 illustrates a conventional commutation switching circuit 600. In FIG. 22, the commutation switching circuit 600 comprises input terminals 601-603 where position signals BU, BW, and BV are respectively input. The commutation switching circuit 600 further comprises inverters 604-606, AND gates 611-616 and output terminals 621-626. Each of position signals BU, BW, and BV input to input terminals 601-603 is applied to an input terminal of an AND gate as illustrated in FIG. 22. When position signals BU, BW, and BV shown in FIG. 25A are applied, the commutation switching circuit 600 generates driving signals K1-K6 shown in FIG. 25B according to the logic circuit shown by FIG. 22. These driving signals K1-K6 are applied to the driving transistors 101-106 in the motor driving transistor circuit 100 as shown in FIG. 18 to rotate the motor 10.
FIGS. 26A-26C show the timing relationship between the output of the commutation switching circuit 600 and the U-phase output in a conventional motor driving circuit. The U-phase driving signals K1 and K2 generated by the commutation switching circuit 600 are respectively input to the driving transistors 101 and 104. In FIGS. 26A and 26C, when K1 is at logic "L", the current flows through the driving transistor 101 to generate a positive voltage at the U-phase. On the other hand, in FIGS. 26B and 26C, when K2 is at logic "H", the current flows through the driving transistor 102 to generate a negative voltage at the U-phase.
This circuit detects a current flowing through the motor 10 via the resistor 108. However, in the resistor 108, the base currents of the driving transistors 104-106 flow in addition to the current flowing through the motor 10. Therefore, it is impossible to detect a accurate current flowing only through the motor 10. Accordingly, it is inevitable to correct the terminal voltage according to the motor current. Further, it is impossible to detect accurately the position of the rotor since the errors generated in the terminal voltage compressing circuit 300 are added.
Furthermore, since the transistors 101-106 in the motor driving transistor circuit 100 are switched by the rectangular wave voltage applied to the motor 10 for commutation, a spike voltage shown in FIG. 27 is included in the output voltage. When the spike voltage is in the audible frequency band, it causes the audio noise.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
This invention relates to a combinable planting plate, particularly to one easy to fabricate, combinable to different areas a person wants, possible to plant different sorts of plants, adjustable in water volume contained in a planting layer placed in the planting plate.
As population and cities incessantly grow, and spare land for green area is harder and harder to find. Ordinary people living in a jungle of concrete buildings can only make use of a small space for planting some trees, flowers or green lawn for enjoying and observation, cultivating some lawn on a rooftop or arranging some pot flowers and evergreens, etc. in a house. However, those pot flowers or lawns on rooftops have the following disadvantages and inconveniences.
1. In planting lawns a layer of non-woven cloth is laid on the ground, or a layer of hollow bricks is laid under the layer of non-woven cloth additionally. Then soil is placed on the non-woven cloth for cultivating lawn or flowers in the soil, but this kind of planting is rather suitable for a large area, not suitable for a small room in a house or a small space of outer empty land around a house.
2. As soil is to be brought into a house and laid on a non-woven cloth, it may smear some places in a house during carrying the soil, involving cleaning work of scattered soil.
3. Common lawn is in advance already cultivated and then transplanted to where it is needed, so after the lawn is finished planting, it is not easy to change or supplement other flowers
4. Soil for lawn or green grass cannot hold water always enough, so it has to be watered regularly, resulting in psychological and bodily burden to a person.
A main objective of the invention is to offer a combinable planting plate consisting of a base, a support plate and a planting layer. The base has a plurality of cup-shaped chambers for storing water, or cone-shaped projections to store water in the spaces among the cone-shaped projections. The base has a plurality of projecting square rings and projecting combining studs formed on a circumferential edge for combining more than two bases to increase a planting area. Further, a support plate or a flat net plate is combined on the base, having a plurality of cone-shaped cups with water-absorbing material contained therein for adjusting water volume. The support plate has a circumferential short wall for placing a planting layer in the space surrounded by the wall. Then lawn, green grass or flowers may be planted in the planting layer according to a person"" liking,
Another objective of the invention is to offer a combinable planting plate provided with a support plate, which has a plurality of cone-shaped projections and water-absorbing material contained in each cone-shaped projection for planting moisture-enduring plants. Or the theory of siphon can be used to suck water in the projections to the planting layer to plant dry-enduring plants to prevent water from flowing excessively. Thus, water in the planting layer can be adjustable, facilitating care of the plants in conjunction with water storing function of the cup-shaped chambers of the base.
One more objective of the invention is to offer a combinable planting plate, having the base and the supporting plate placed on the base to permit rain or water sprayed to flow through the drain holes of the supporting plate or through the net plate into the cone-shaped cups of the base to store therein. Further, the base has drain holes in a proper height to adjust the water level of the base, which then has a function of storing water. If the flat net plate is used, roots of lawn or flowers can extend down through the net holes to suck up water stored in the base, without possibility of withering caused by insufficiency of water.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Sample analyzers include, for example, blood analyzers. Such sample analyzers aspirate a sample such as blood or the like collected in a sample container (collection tube), mix the aspirated sample with reagent, measure the mixed sample and analyse the measured sample to obtain analysis results.
The sample analyser comprises an agitating device that is used mix the sample in the sample container before the sample is aspirated by the sample analyzer.
For example, the sample agitating and aspirating device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-187158. This sample agitating and aspirating device grips a sample container held in a rack by means of hand, and repeats a reciprocating rotation movement of the hand gripping the sample container by a rotation drive cylinder. Thus, the sample within the sample container is vigorously agitated.
The hand is provided so as to be movable relative to the support member that is base of the sample agitating and aspirating device, and the hand removes the sample container from the rack and agitates the sample container.
The rotation drive cylinder that provides the rotational drive to agitate the hand is provided integratedly with the hand, and configured so as to move together with the hand within the device.
Therefore, a large drive force is required to move the hand via the rotation drive cylinder used for agitation. A large drive source is needed to obtain such a large drive force, thus enlarging the size of the apparatus.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
The present invention relates to a toner for use in a recording method utilizing electrophotography, electrostatic recording, magnetic recording, etc. More specifically, the present invention relates to a toner for use in an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile apparatus wherein a toner image once formed on an electrostatic latent image-bearing member is transferred onto a transfer(-receiving) material for image formation.
Hitherto, various electrophotographic processes have been known, e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,297,691; 3,666,363; and 4,071,361. Generally, an electrical latent image is formed on a photosensitive member using a photoconductor material, and the latent image is developed with a toner to form a toner image, which is then transferred as desired onto a transfer(-receiving) material, such as paper, and fixed, e.g., by heating, pressing, heating and pressing, or with solvent vapor, to obtain a final image. Residual toner remaining on the photosensitive member without being transferred is cleaned by various methods, and the above-mentioned steps are repeated for a subsequent image forming cycle.
In recent years, such an image forming apparatus is frequently used not only as an office copying machine for simply reproducing ordinary originals but also as a printer as an output means for computers and also as a personal copier.
Accordingly, an image forming apparatus is required to further pursue a smaller size, a lighter weight, a higher speed and a lower power consumption, and correspondingly, the apparatus is becoming to be composed of simpler elements in various respects.
On the other hand, as methods for developing electrostatic latent images, there have been generally known the two-component developing method of using a developer comprising a toner and a carrier in mixture, and the magnetic mono-component developing method using only a magnetic toner.
The two-component developing method is rather contradictory to the requirements of smaller size and lighter weight in view of the use of the carrier and the necessity of a so-called ATR (automatic toner replenishing) mechanism for adjusting a ratio between the toner and the carrier.
The magnetic mono-component method is accompanied with a difficulty in providing a color toner.
In contrast thereto, a non-magnetic mono-component developing method as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-A) 58-116559, JP-A 60-120368 and JP-A 63-271371 is noted as a developing method for solving the above-mentioned problems. In the nonmagnetic mono-component developing method, a toner is applied onto a toner-carrying member by a layer thickness regulation means, such as a blade. The toner is triboelectrically charged through friction with the blade and the toner-carrying member surface, and the toner has to be applied as a thin coating layer since a larger coating thickness is liable to result in an insufficiently charged toner fraction, which causes fog or scattering. Accordingly, the blade has to be pressed against the toner-carrying member under a sufficient pressure, and the force applied to the toner at this time is larger than the one applied to the toner in the two component developing method or in the magnetic mono-component developing method. As a result, the toner is liable to be degraded, thus causing image defects such as fog and density lowering.
As a trouble accompanying the toner deterioration, toner blot-down is known, that is spotty image defects on images caused by toner agglomeration within a developing device during continuous image formation on a large number of sheets. As the image forming process speed becomes higher, the toner deterioration is liable to be promoted so that the above trouble becomes more noticeable.
As for image forming apparatus according to electrophotography, substantial development is being achieved so as to be adapted for higher functionality or multi-functional use or color image formation. On the other hand, the toner is becoming used in various severe environments in increasing cases, and accordingly, some problems are caused as follows in such severe environments.
One such problem is caused by wide spreading of electrophotographic image forming machines, inclusive of copying machines, printers and facsimile apparatus, over many countries in the world, and there have been increasing demands for achievement of high-quality images in the respective environments and similarly high-quality images on various grades of recording materials used in the respective companies.
Another problem is caused by toner melt-sticking onto the (latent) image-bearing member liable to be caused in a low temperature/low humidity environment, resulting in spotty image defects (lacks) on the images.
Another problem is roughening of halftone images in a low humidity environment, which is a phenomenon of resulting in images with a rough appearance causing an image quality lowering in a halftone image, such as a photographic image, that is liable to be caused by a lowering in developing performance of the toner.
Another problem is toner blot-down caused when the toner is exposed to high temperature. The toner blot-down is a spotty image defect on images caused by agglomerated toner liable to be caused at the time of early state of image forming after storage of the toner at a high temperature. As the popularization of color printers, the toner is becoming used and stored various environments, and a toner free from the above-mentioned problems is desired even in a severer high temperature environment than ever.
The above problems are liable to be more noticeable at a higher image forming process speed where it becomes difficult for the toner to be sufficiently charged.
In recent years, even higher image qualities than ever are demanded for images outputted from electrophotographic image forming apparatus, especially color copying machines and printers. Further, extensive popularization due to the development of network use and lower price machines thereof, the demands of such color copying machines and printers have been diversified from the professional use principally directed to a higher proportion of color images, such as (photo)graphic images to office use for which images with a lower proportion of color images are also frequently outputted. Examples of higher performances than ever required of such color copying machines and printers may include the following.
One is freeness from fog. A color image is generally formed by superposing plural colors of toner images, and if some color image is accompanied with fog, the fog is mixed with other color images to lower the resultant image quality. The difficulty of the fog is liable to be problematic especially in the office use where images of very low percentage of color image are frequently outputted in a low humidity environment.
On the other hand, in the case of formation of images with a high percentage of color image, the above-mentioned toner melt-sticking in a low temperature/low humidity environment is liable to be problematic.
Another problem is a re-transfer phenomenon. A color image is generally formed by superposition of plural colors of toner images sequentially transferred onto a transfer material, such as an intermediate transfer member and/or paper, the previous color image transferred onto such a transfer material can be transferred back to the image-bearing member at the time of transfer of a subsequent color toner image. This is the re-transfer problem. If the re-transfer problem occurs, the color of the previously transferred color is faded to result in a color change in the final image, thus causing an image quality deterioration. This problem is liable to be more noticeable at a higher image forming process speed.
Various proposals have been made so as to provide improvements to the above-mentioned problems. For example, JP-A 11-143188 has proposed a method of preventing retransfer and fog by adopting different developing conditions for plural times of color formation. JP-A 9-114126 has proposed to prevent the fog and retransfer by improvement of toner.
In spite of these proposals, however, it has been difficult to solve many of the above-mentioned problems and comply with all of high degree of requirements to high image quality in recent years.
As a further problem to be considered, there is image deterioration caused by soiling of a charging member for charging the latent image-bearing member. This is a problem of resulting in streak image irregularities in halftone images caused by obstruction of uniform charging of the latent image-bearing member due to attachment of toner particles and/or high-resistivity silica fine particles externally added to the toner.
JP-A 10-48872 has proposed a toner containing externally added inorganic fine particles having a specific average particle size and a DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) heat-absorption peak in a specific temperature range. This is effective for preventing the re-transfer problem in a process including a single transfer step, but is not sufficient to solve the other problems including the re-transfer problem encountered in process including a plurality of transfer steps and to comply with high degree of requirements in recent years.
A generic object of the present invention is to provide a toner having solved the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from toner melt-sticking onto the latent image-bearing member in a low humidity environment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from xe2x80x9crougheningxe2x80x9d of halftone images in a low humidity environment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from toner blot-down even after storage in a high temperature environment or during continuous image formation on a large number of sheets.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from fog even in continuous formation of images with a low percentage of color image on a large number of sheets in a low humidity environment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from toner melt-sticking onto the latent image-bearing member even in continuous formation of images with a high percentage of color image in a low humidity environment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from re-transfer of toner images.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a toner free from image quality lowering depending on the quality and state of the recording material.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing such a toner, and an image forming method and an image forming apparatus using such a toner as described above.
According to the present invention, there is provided a toner, comprising: toner particles, and external additives blended with the toner particles and including (1) first inorganic fine particles having an average primary particle size of 80-800 nm of oxide of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, aluminum, zinc and zirconium, (2) second inorganic fine particles other than silica having an average primary particle size of below 80 nm and (3) silica fine particles having an average primary particle size of below 30 nm.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for producing a toner, comprising:
a first blending step of blending and dispersing toner particles containing at least a binder resin and a colorant, and first inorganic fine particles to form a toner precursor, and
a second blending step of blending and dispersing the toner precursor, and second inorganic fine particles and silica fine particles; wherein
the first inorganic fine particles have an average primary particle size of 80-800 nm and comprise an oxide of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, aluminum, zinc and zirconium,
the second inorganic fine particles are other than silica and have an average primary particle size of below 80 nm, and
the silica fine particles have an average primary particle size of below 30 nm.
The present invention further provides an image forming method, comprising:
(I) a step of supplying a nonmagnetic toner as described above onto a toner-carrying member from a supply roller and pressing and triboelectrically charging the nonmagnetic toner on the toner-carrying member with a toner application blade to form a charged layer of the nonmagnetic toner on the toner-carrying member,
(II) a step of developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image-bearing member with the nonmagnetic toner on the toner-carrying member to form a developed toner image on the image-bearing member,
(III) a step of transferring the toner image onto a transfer material, and
(IV) a step of fixing the transferred toner image.
The present invention further provides an image forming apparatus, comprising:
(I) a plurality of image forming units each comprising:
a latent image-bearing member for bearing an electrostatic latent image thereon,
a charging device for primarily charging the image-bearing member,
an exposure means for exposing the primarily charged image-bearing member to form an electrostatic latent image thereon, and
a developing device for developing the latent image with a nonmagnetic toner as described above of a color to form a toner image of one of plural colors, and
(II) a transfer device for sequentially transferring the toner images of plural colors formed by the plurality of image forming units onto a transfer-receiving material to form superposed toner images of plural colors on the transfer-receiving material.
The present invention further provides an image forming apparatus, comprising:
(I) a latent image-bearing member for bearing an electrostatic latent image thereon,
(II) a charging device for primarily charging the image-bearing member,
(III) an exposure means for exposing the primarily charged image-bearing member to form an electrostatic latent image thereon,
(IV) a plurality of developing devices for sequentially developing the latent image with plural colors of nonmagnetic toner as described above to successively form plural colors of toner images on the image-bearing member,
(V) an intermediate transfer member for successively receiving the plural colors of toner images successively formed on and transferred from the image-bearing member to form thereon superposed toner images, and
(VI) a transfer device for simultaneously transferring the superposed toner images from the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer-receiving material.
The present invention further provides an image forming apparatus, comprising:
(I) a latent image-bearing member for bearing an electrostatic latent image thereon,
(II) a charging device for primarily charging the image-bearing member,
(III) an exposure means for exposing the primarily charged image-bearing member to form an electrostatic latent image thereon,
(IV) a plurality of developing devices for sequentially developing the latent image with plural colors of nonmagnetic toner as described above to successively form plural colors of toner images on the image-bearing member, and
(V) a transfer device for successively transferring the plural colors of toner images onto a transfer-receiving material to form superposed toner images on the transfer-receiving material.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.