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The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and more particularly to apparatus and methods for writing and/or reading row or column data to or from a memory array.
In semiconductor memory devices, data is read from or written to memory cells in the device according to decoded address information and various other control signals. Such memory devices are used for storage of data and or program code in personal computer systems, embedded processor-based systems, video image processing circuits, and the like. Ferroelectric memories are commonly organized in single-transistor, single-capacitor (1T1C) or two-transistor, two-capacitor (1T1C) configurations, in which each memory cell includes one or more access transistors, as is generally known. The ferroelectric memory cells typically comprise one or more ferroelectric (FE) capacitors adapted to store a binary data bit, wherein the access transistor or transistors, typically MOS devices, are operable to selectively connect the FE capacitor to one of a pair of complimentary bitlines, with the other bitline being connected to a reference voltage. The individual cells are commonly organized as individual bits of a corresponding data word, where the cells of a given word are accessed concurrently by activation of platelines and wordlines by address decoding circuitry.
Such ferroelectric memory devices provide non-volatile data storage where data memory cells are constructed using ferroelectric dielectric material which may be polarized in one direction or another in order to store a binary value. The ferroelectric effect allows for the retention of a stable polarization in the absence of an applied electric field due to the alignment of internal dipoles within Perovskite crystals in the dielectric material. This alignment may be selectively achieved by application of an,electric field which exceeds the coercive field of the material. Conversely, reversal of the applied field reverses the internal dipoles. The response of the polarization of a ferroelectric capacitor to the applied voltage may be plotted as a hysteresis curve.
Data in a ferroelectric data cell is read by connecting a reference voltage to a first bitline and connecting the cell capacitor between a complimentary bitline and a plateline signal voltage. This provides a differential voltage on the bitline pair, which is connected to a sense amp circuit. The reference voltage is typically supplied at an intermediate voltage between the voltage associated with a capacitor charged to a binary xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d and that of the capacitor charged to a binary xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d. The polarity of the sensed differential voltage thus represents the data stored in the cell, which is buffered and applied to a pair of local IO lines. The transfer of data between the ferroelectric memory cell, the sense amp circuit, and the local data bitlines is controlled by various access transistors, typically MOS devices, with switching signals being provided by control circuitry in the device.
Connection of the ferroelectric cell capacitor between the plateline and the bitline during a read operation causes an electric field to be applied to the cell capacitor. If the field is applied in a direction to switch or reverse the internal dipoles, more charge will be moved than if the dipoles are not reversed. As a result, the sense amplifier can measure the charge applied to the cell bit lines and produce either a logic xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d at the sense amp terminals. Since reading the cell data is a destructive operation, the sensed data is then restored to the cell following each read operation. To write data to the cell, an electric field is applied to the cell capacitor by a sense amp or write buffer to polarize it to the desired state. Ferroelectric memories provide certain performance advantages over other forms of non-volatile data storage devices, such as flash and EEPROM type memories. For example, ferroelectric memories offer short programming (e.g., write access) times and low power consumption.
Ferroelectric memory devices typically include a number of individually addressable memory cells arranged in an array configuration, wherein the array is typically organized as a matrix of rows and columns. Conventionally, data is stored into a memory array as a row, and read out from the memory array as a row, where the row typically consists of 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits of binary data. In such a conventional ferroelectric memory device, row decoder circuitry is connected to a first side of a ferroelectric memory cell of interest and the second side is connected to IO circuitry using a sense amp. During a write operation, the row decoder provides plateline pulse signals to the first side of each ferroelectric cell in a data row and the other sides are connected to the write data. In a read operation, the decoder provides plate line pulses to the first side of each ferroelectric memory cell in a data row, and sense amplifiers are connected to the other side of the cells to read a row of stored data bits in parallel fashion. In a single read operation, an entire row of data bits (e.g., 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits) are obtained from the memory cells in the selected row.
However, there are situations in which only the data in one or a few columns of the array is needed. For example, in image processing applications it may be desirable to read the first data bit from a number of different rows, such as the first bit from 16 data rows. In conventional memory architectures, a single parallel read of a column of data is not possible. Instead, this would require 16 read operations, one for each of the 16 rows. Thus, the effective read out speed for column data is much slower than for row data in existing memory devices. A parallel situation exists for write operations, wherein conventional memory architectures require 16 write operations just to write a column of 16 cells. Accordingly, there is a need for improved memory devices and methodologies, by which parallel column and row data accesses can be done at comparable speeds for read and/or write operations.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of one or more aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention, and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention, nor to delineate the scope thereof. Rather, the primary purpose of the summary is to present some concepts of the invention in simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. The invention relates to memory devices and methods in which rows or columns of data can be accessed for reading and/or writing in a single memory operation, by which the above mentioned and other disadvantages associated with conventional memory devices may be mitigated or overcome.
One aspect of the invention relates to memory devices comprising an array with memory cells arranged in columns and rows, where individual memory cells are coupled with a single row line and a single column line. Row sense amps are provided, individually comprising a row sense amp input coupled with one of the row lines, where the row sense amps are operable to sense a memory cell data state during a column read operation and to provide write data during a column write operation. Column sense amps are also provided, which individually comprise a column sense amp input coupled with one of the column lines, and which are adapted to sense a memory cell data state during a row read operation and to provide write data during a row write operation. A decoder is also provided, which comprises a plurality of row decoder outputs coupled with the row lines and column decoder outputs coupled with the column lines. The decoder operates to provide a plateline signal to one of the row decoder outputs according to address information for a selected row during a row read or write operation, and to provide a plateline signal to one of the column decoder outputs according to address information for a selected column during a column read or write operation.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a ferroelectric memory device is provided, comprising an array with memory cells arranged in columns and rows, where individual memory cells are coupled with a single row line and a single column line. The device comprises a plurality of sense amps to sense or write a memory cell data state when a memory cell is coupled with an input thereof, and a decoder is provided comprising a plurality of decoder outputs. The decoder provides a plateline signal to one of the decoder outputs according to address information for a selected row or column during a read or write operation. The memory device further comprises a selector system coupled with the row lines, the column lines, the sense amps, and the decoder outputs. The selector system operates to selectively couple at least one of the row lines with one of the decoder outputs and to couple the column lines with the sense amp inputs to read or write a row of memory cells. In addition, the selector system couples at least one of the column lines with one of the decoder outputs and couples the row lines with the sense amp inputs to read or write a column of memory cells.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a ferroelectric memory device is provided, comprising a memory array of ferroelectric memory cells arranged in columns and rows, with a plurality of column lines and row lines, where the cells are individually coupled with a single row line and a single column line in the array. The ferroelectric memory device further comprises means for selectively accessing a group of memory cells along one of a column line and a row line in a single memory operation. In one implementation, the means for selectively accessing a group of memory cells comprises a plurality of row sense amps, a plurality of column sense amps, and a decoder having a plurality of row decoder outputs coupled with the row lines and a plurality of column decoder outputs coupled with the column lines.
In another exemplary implementation, the means for selectively accessing a group of memory cells comprises a plurality of sense amps for sensing or writing cell data and a decoder with decoder outputs for selectively providing a plateline signal to one row or column of memory cells. The means for selectively accessing a group of memory cells in this example also comprises a selector system coupled with the row lines, the column lines, the sense amps, and the decoder outputs. The selector system couples one or more of the row lines with one of the decoder outputs and couples the column lines with the sense amp inputs to read or write a row of memory cells. In addition, the selector system couples one or more of the column lines with one of the decoder outputs and couples the row lines with the sense amp inputs to read or write a column of memory cells.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, methods are provided for reading a row or a column of ferroelectric memory cells in a memory array, comprising coupling column lines to sense amps, providing a plateline signal to one or more row lines, and sensing memory cell data states associated with a row of memory cells during a row read operation. The method further comprises coupling the row lines to the sense amps, providing a plateline signal to one of the column lines, and sensing memory cell data states associated with a column of memory cells during a column read operation.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, methods are provided for writing a row or a column of ferroelectric memory cells in a memory array. The method comprises coupling the column lines to sense amps, providing a plateline signal to one or more of the row lines, and writing memory cell data states to a row of memory cells using the sense amps during a row write operation. In addition, the method comprises coupling the plurality of row lines to the sense amps, providing a plateline signal to one of the column lines, and writing memory cell data states to a column of memory cells during a column write operation.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the following description and annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects and implementations of the invention. These are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other aspects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings. | {
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The present application is based on French patent application no. 01/02991, filed on Mar. 2, 2001, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, int its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and device for inserting, into a receiving housing such as a cavity, or for depositing on a surface, continuous fibers, for example glass fibers, in expanded form, with a view to acoustically and/or thermally insulating the deposition housing or environment.
2. Description of the Background
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,471, for deadening the noise of an acoustic exhaust muffler for an engine, to fill the space surrounding the exhaust gas discharge cylinder with glass fibers, which fibers consist of continuous glass filaments supplied from a yarn roving and are in the form of a bulked product. There, a glass yarn roving is treated by wheels for stretching out/paying out the yarn, and for guiding the yarn, a braking wheel for controlling the tension in the yarn, and a compressed air apparatus for spraying the yarn into the space that is to be filled, the air injected into the apparatus allowing the filaments to be separated, entangled and sprayed.
However, this device, installed at a factory for the mass-production of exhaust mufflers requires numerous take-up elements for stretching out, guiding and controlling the tension in the yarn as far as the spraying apparatus. Moreover, it is not possible for this device to be used in other applications of filling or depositing, the receiving elements (cavity or surface) of which are too bulky to be filled in factory, or which are fixed.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device for filling or depositing expanded fibers, which is simpler to use and more compact than known devices, thus making it lighter in weight and portable.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method and device for filling or depositing expanded fibers, which is easy to handle and to direct, therefore allowing the fibers to be sprayed in any direction.
According to a feature of the invention, a device comprises a spraying apparatus for charging, in expanded form, fibers from at least one bundle of fibers taken from at least one roving, the apparatus comprising a portable tool having a manual gripping element, the portable tool comprising a nozzle for spraying the fibers of the at least one bundle; an air supply device connected for supplying air to the nozzle so as to expand fibers of a bundle therein; an extraction system configured to hold the at least one bundle and feed the at least one bundle to the nozzle; and an inlet guide positioned to guide the at least one bundle to the extraction system.
This device is therefore portable, which has the advantage of enabling it to be used on receiving elements which cannot be transported or which are difficult to access.
The bundle of the roving may be formed of a number of continuous or discontinuous filaments made of glass or thermoplastic. Depending on the application, it may be envisaged that the device will comprise several rovings, the bundles of which are paid out and bulked by the spraying apparatus together and simultaneously.
In the case of the use of a single roving, the latter may be portable, being placed in a basket.
According to one feature, the bundle extraction system has two cylindrical rollers rotating in opposite directions and between which the bundle passes, and an outlet guide arranged at the outlet of the rollers and which takes up the bundle. The rotational speed of the rollers gives the bundle its linear speed of travel.
According to another feature, a device for guiding the bundle towards the inlet of the apparatus is provided an the outside of the body of the apparatus and consists, for example, of an eyelet or a flexible tube. In the case of several bundles, a device for guiding the bundles is provided on the outside of the body of the apparatus and consists of a row of eyelets arranged along an axis parallel to the axes of rotation of the rollers.
Preferrably, there is provided a debundling system which consists of an associated spreader bar system at the roving outlet or at the inlet to the spraying apparatus.
The extraction system advantageously operates using a pneumatic motor.
According to another feature, the spraying apparatus has the form of a gun, the handle of which constitutes the holding element and houses the pneumatic motor.
Preferably the air supply to the nozzle and the air supply to the motor came from the same source, such as a pneumatic compressor, so as to simplify the device as far as possible.
Advantageously, means of recovering air which has been exhausted from the pneumatic motor, consist of a pipe which is connected to the exhaust region of the pneumatic motor and is arranged to open, laterally to the outlet guide. | {
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Telecommunications networks are important for providing global data and voice communication. Monitoring the networks is important to ensure reliable operation, fault detection, timely mitigation of potentially malicious activities and more. Network taps are known for connecting to networks and providing a port to monitor the communication traffic on the network. Network monitors are known for providing information to other network elements.
In order to maintain the integrity of network monitors, it is important to implement a fault detection technique where certain network components can signal an alarm in the event of a fault in another component. This is important because a faulty component may not provide a reliable alarm signal, for example, if the power supply fails and the component is without power to provide the alarm.
Conventional network taps provide an alarm signal in the event of power failure in monitoring equipment. While this may be a common occurrence, it is not the only occurrence that can lead to a fault. What is needed is a network tap that can provide additional integrity verification of network monitoring components. | {
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This invention relates to pneumatic spring devices and more particularly to those of the type including a rigid casing defining a cavity therein and a diaphragm member arranged in the casing to divide the cavity into two chambers, including a gaseous fluid chamber filled with a mass of gaseous spring fluid such as air sealed therein and an oil chamber to be held under oil pressure load.
Conventional forms of such type of spring device have characteristically exhibited a spring constant which increases with increase in amount of load applied to the device over the whole working range thereof, as indicated by the line A in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings. In use of the spring device in an automotive suspension system, such spring characteristic is advantageous in that it enables the device to support a heavier load efficiently without impairing riding comfort of the vehicle. However, in the lighter load region, where the spring constant is reduced to an extreme extent, vertical displacement of the vehicle body for any load change is substantially increased and this obviously involves the disadvantage that the vehicle body is subjected to much increased pitching and rolling movements in such load region. In contrast, the line B in FIG. 5 represents a spring characteristic generally required of springs for automotive suspension. In other words, a suspension spring should preferably exhibit a performance characteristic like that of a conventional device in that portion of working range which lies above a certain intermediate load point N and have a spring constant which increases with reduction in load in the load region lower than the point N.
Accordingly, the present invention has for its object the provision of a novel pneumatic spring device of the type described which is adapted to meet the performance requirements described above and simple in construction.
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a few preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system that can be used especially to estimate the unknown geometrical transformations that have occurred in data, for example in an image, or in an audio or video sequence.
It can be applied to correcting the distortions that have occurred in the transmission of images and/or to obtaining information on message-carrying watermarks.
The invention is used for example in watermarking. Indeed, a geometrical transformation in an image most usually makes the watermark illegible. In watermarking a reference pattern in the image it is thus possible to make an estimation, in a watermark reader for example, of the geometrical transformation that has occurred, and then to reverse it before decoding the message-carrying watermark.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Resistance to geometrical transformation is a crucial problem in watermarking. The detection of the watermark is often made impossible when the received message is distorted with respect to the original message.
Modifications of the geometry of the image indeed often occur during the distribution or exploitation of a work. This is the case especially with shearing or scaling which may be related with changes in format.
Analog/digital and digital/analog transformations may introduce a distortion in the image or they may introduce line “jitter” in a video sequence.
There are also highly effective, ill-intentioned attacks, such as the Stirmark attack described in 1988 by F. Petitcolas et al in “Attacks on copyright marking systems”, Proceedings of 2nd Information Hiding Workshop. This attack was designed to prevent the accurate detection of watermarks.
Different methods designed to counter the harmful effect of geometrical modifications have therefore been developed. They can be classified under five categories:
1) The Watermarking of a Reference Pattern Known at Transmission and at Reception
A simple method that uses a reference pattern is described in the patent FR 2.792.797. In this invention, a reference pattern known as a co-watermark is added to the image. At reception, the search for maximum self-correlation between the received image and the reference pattern makes it possible to determine the original coordinates of the initial image. This method is resistant to shifting, shearing and translation undergone by the image, i.e. to the global distortions of the image. The method becomes inefficient when the geometrical transformation is more complicated, for example when the transformation is a rotation, a scaling or zooming, a carpet distortion, etc.
S. Pereira and T. Pun in “Fast Robust template Matching for Affine Resistant Image Watermarking”, Proceedings of International Workshop on Information, have proposed a more general co-watermarking method to resist affine transformations of the image. However, this method is limited and can be used to readjust the image only for affine geometrical transformations.
Another method proposed by S. Voloshynovskiy, F. Deguillaume, T. Pun in “Multibit Digital Watermarking Robust Against Non-linear Geometrical Transformations”, Proceedings of ICIP 01, is used to resist more complex global and/or local transformation. A reference pattern is watermarked orthogonally to the message which, for its part, consists of a symmetrical and periodic pattern. The decoding of the watermark and the estimation of the transformation are done in conjunction.
Two watermarks are inserted: the message-carrying watermark w1 and a reference watermark w2 (co-watermark). The message-carrying watermark consists of a block sized Kx, Ky symmetrized and periodized so as to obtain a block having the size of the image. The estimation is made in the Fourier domain: the fact that w1 is periodic implies the presence of the evenly spaced out peaks in the Fourier domain. For each block of the image, it is considered that the local distortion may be approximated by an affine geometrical transformation (a combination of rotation, non-uniform scaling and translation). During decoding, for each block, a search is made for the affine transformation that minimizes the distance between the reference watermark and the distorted image, provided that this transformation is plausible (for example cases of excessive stretching are eliminated). This method is efficient for readjusting the watermarks but is complex because it calls for an exhaustive search for parameters for each block of the image. Furthermore, it is based on an approximation (a non-linear local transformation cannot be reduced to a succession of affine transformations) and does not take account of the correlations existing between estimated parameters for neighboring blocks.
2) Watermarking in an Invariant Space by Geometrical Transformation
O'Ruanaidh and T. Pun in “Rotation, scale and translation invariant spread spectrum digital image watermarking”, Signal Processing, Vol. 66 No. 3, p 303–317, propose that the watermarking should be performed in an invariant space by rotation, translation, scaling, to overcome the effects of any geometrical transformation that may be performed on the image. This result is obtained by taking advantage of the properties of the Fourier-Mellin transform. The advantage of this method is that it enables resistance to geometrical transformations without the need for any preliminary synchronization. Its drawback is that the invariant properties are no longer respected when the circular translation is replaced by a shearing of the image. Furthermore, this method is complex and costly in terms of computation and may raise problems of digital computation. Again, the density of the information embedded in the image varies greatly
3) Watermarking in a Referential System Related to the Image
In another approach, a reference system linked to the image is chosen in order to embed the watermark and detect it. When the geometry of the image is distorted, the referential system will be modified in the same way, and it will then be possible to recover the mark without any need for an external synchronization.
The method described by P. Bas, J. M Chassery and B. Macq, “Robust Watermarking based on the warping of predefined triangular patterns” Proceedings of SPIE—January 2000, uses a local system of reference coordinates linked to a set of regions characteristic of the image. These regions may be defined in particular by points of interest, such as those obtained by a Harris detector described in C. Harris and M. Stephen, “A combined corner and edge detector”, 4 Alvey Vision Conf, p.147–151,1988.
4) The Redundant Insertion of Watermarking in the Image.
5) The Exhaustive Search for All the Possible Transformations.
The idea of the invention consists especially in estimating local distortions or distortions considered to be local, introduced into the data, such as images, audio, video etc., where the estimation may be done globally or locally. | {
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This invention relates to a therapeutic appliance for aiding in recovering the functions of carpal joints, hands and fingers incapacitated due to diseases or impediments in the central nervous system, such as cerebrovascular troubles, cerebral injury, cerebral palsy and spinal damage, as well as impediments in the peripheral nervous system, joints, muscles, and tendons.
In the event that the forearms, carpal joints, hands and fingers are functionally disordered due to the foregoing diseases and impediments, it is required to conduct exercise for recovering mobility concurrently with medical treatment. However, it has been heretofore recognized very difficult to recover the functions of incapacitated carpal joints, hands and fingers. No satisfactory therapeutic appliance for recovering the functions has yet been developed for all research in the modern rehabilitative medicine. For example, many conventional therapeutic appliances utilizing air pressure or spring actions to aid in restoring the extensibility of carpal joints, hands and fingers inflicted with bending contracture or dysfunction in extending motion have produced no satisfactory results in that they involve complicated motions and impose excessive burdens on patients.
In this regard the present inventors have proposed a therapeutic appliance for improving functions of hand fingers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,250. The appliance of said patent application comprises a palm splint cloth shaped so as to accommodate a hand with its fingers spread apart. Finger retainer members are disposed on the front surface of the splint cloth for holding the fingers individually in their spread apart positions. A plurality of first bladders is disposed on the front surface of said palm splint cloth and positioned between adjacent fingers, except between the thumb and forefinger, for spreading the fingers apart from each other. A plurality of second bladders is disposed on the opposite surface of said palm splint cloth for extending the fingers, hand and carpal joint. Fluid (air) supply and discharge tubes are connected to the first and second bladders for supplying and discharging fluid to and from the bladders. Compressed air is supplied to the bladders through the tubes and discharged from the bladders through the tubes. This operation may be repeated to impart extending and opening motions to the functionally incapacitated carpal joint, hand and fingers intermittently and rythmically to thereby remedy the bending contracture and dysfunction in extending motion as well as to create a motive for triggering self-motivating capacity. This appliance has provided drastically excellent effects in improving functions of hands and fingers by using a flat palm-shaped splint cloth, rather than the conventional glove-type splint, and finger retainers for holding the fingers individually to make it easy for a patient to wear the appliance on his or her bent and contractured fingers and by disposing bladders between adjacent fingers to effectively spread the fingers apart in addition to extending the fingers, in contrast to the prior art glove-type appliance. The therapeutic appliance disclosed in the aforesaid patent application has thus gained favorable reception in the medical field.
However, the present inventors are still not totally satisfied with this appliance in that it does not provide sufficient bending of the patient's carpal joint towards the back of the hand. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electrical stimulation of the body, and in particular a system, device and method for controlled and monitored electrical transcranial stimulation using cutaneous electrodes for medical treatment applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a method of applying low current electrical signals across the head in order to affect cognitive processes in a patient's brain as part of a medical treatment. Specifically, tDCS treatment is typically applied with currents in the 0 to 10 milliamperes (0 to 0.010 amperes) range. tDCS treatment has numerous medical applications that include treatment of drug addiction, post-stroke rehabilitation and treatment of depression.
tDCS treatment sessions are generally applied using a device containing a current source, such that a predictable amount of treatment current can be delivered to the patient, regardless of the impedance of the electrical pathway between a set of cutaneous electrodes. The device may be capable of generating differential output voltages of up to 80 volts or more.
In order to ensure the safety of the patient, it is necessary to ensure that the output current of the tDCS device does not exceed a safe level. If, due to a failure of electronics or programming, the output current were to exceed the prescribed safe level, serious injury to the patient could result, including damage to the patient's skin and brain.
In the past, fuses have been used as a safety means on electrical lines to provide overcurrent protection. However, due to the low currents used in tDCS treatments, fuses alone are not able to provide adequate protection to the patient, as there are no fuses on the market able to quickly interrupt a current of such small magnitude. Similarly, given that the range of safe tDCS currents may be narrow, fuses do not provide an adequately accurate threshold for protection. Fuses also cannot provide a nuanced approach to detecting abnormal conditions.
To ensure absolute safety of the patient receiving tDCS, there is a need for a reliable method of preventing the output current of the tDCS device from exceeding a pre-determined safe level, even in the presence of component failures, programming faults or abnormal circumstances. A system and method for preventing tDCS treatment current from exceeding a given level, even in the presence of multiple component failures is presented herein. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking apparatus, and more particularly, to a cooking apparatus constructed in a structure to improve user convenience.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Various kinds of products, such as a microwave oven and an oven, have been used as cooking apparatuses. The microwave oven is a kind of cooking apparatus which cooks food using only a magnetron or jointly a magnetron and a heater. The oven is another kind of cooking apparatus to heat hermetically sealed food such that the food is cooked by dry heat. Electricity or gaseous fuel is used as an energy source to supply heat to the food.
The oven includes an oven unit to cook food using high-temperature heat in a hermetically sealed space and a cooktop unit to cook food in a direct heating fashion.
The oven unit cooks bulky food using convective heat and radiant heat. In the oven unit is mounted a heater to heat food. The heater may be used to bake bread or cake. Also, infrared rays may be irradiated to broil fish. On the other hand, the cooktop unit cooks food using radiant heat transmitted from burners mounted above the oven unit and conductive heat transmitted from a container to the food.
However, the conventional cooking apparatus has the following problems.
First, when an object to the heated is placed on the cooktop unit to cook food, it is required that a user bend his/her back to check the state of flames so as to control the amount of heat applied to the object according to the state of the food.
Second, it is required that the user open a door of the oven unit to check the state of food or look in the oven unit from the outside of the door with the naked eye so as to check the cooked state of the food which is being cooked in the oven unit.
When the user opens the door of the oven unit so as to check the cooked state of the food, heat in the oven unit is directly transmitted to the user with the result that the user may get burnt. Also, the leakage of heat results in the loss of energy. On the other hand, when the user checks the cooked state of the food from the outside of the door without opening the door of the oven unit, it is difficult for the user to accurately check the cooked state of the food. | {
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In the aviation industry, aircraft inspections and maintenance are typically scheduled after a period of operation time or flight hours, or when predetermined flight cycles have been reached. The inspection and maintenance processes are comprehensive and ongoing. For example, certain aircraft components are replaced upon reaching a maximum allowable usage, while other parts are periodically checked for field failures or faulty performance. Airlines and airworthiness authorities often refer to scheduled inspections as A-check, B-check, C-check, or D-check, wherein A-checks and B-checks are considered to be lighter checks, and C-checks and D-checks are considered to be heavier checks. As illustrated in FIG. 1, at an airport gate, for example, airline crewmembers may conduct a ground inspection and assessment 102 of parked aircraft. Such ground assessment, also known as an airport ramp inspection, involves checks on airplane structure and system components for visible damages caused by aging, wear and tear, deterioration due to the environment, strikes by birds, lightening, or foreign objects debris, etc. The procedure is performed in accordance with flight crew operation manuals 104 including pilot operation handbooks, regulatory updates 106, crewmember knowledge 108, and other information provided by the aircraft manufacturer and operating airlines.
Typically, it is the responsibility of the airlines ground crew to make a decision 110 on whether the aircraft is airworthy before pushback for departure. In preparation for flight, items on a checklist, both interior and exterior, are inspected. Discovery of any safety issues, and correction or deferment of such issues, is essential for ensuring a safe flight. Since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) adopted the operation concept of a minimum equipment list (MEL), flights are allowed with certain inoperative items, as long as such items are nonessential in flight. Thus, within the FAA MEL guidelines, airlines may defer repairs of certain nonessential equipment. For inoperative equipment found during inspection, a decision is made as to whether the aircraft is safe for departure 120, whether maintenance 112 is needed prior to departure, whether flight can be made under the limitations imposed by the FAA MEL rules regarding deferment 122, or whether the flight needs to be cancelled 114. The flight crew and maintenance engineering crews are notified of the status 116, 118, and all information is documented in log books 124 and maintenance records 126.
With the above-described inspection and maintenance processes, on-the-spot flight safety decisions heavily depend on the skills, knowledge, experience and level of training received by the individuals of the airline crewmembers who are working around the aircraft to perform ground inspections. During the inspections, airplane instrument, sensors, probes, brakes, pressure vents, engine blades, fluid level, cracks, and corrosions, etc., are subject to crewmembers' interpretations. Additionally, some inspections are conducted at night or at other times during poor visibility, which increases the likelihood that a safety issue could be misinterpreted or misjudged during inspection. Examples include obstructed probes by insect nests, worn-out brake pins, partially shut vents, twisted engine blades, fluid leaks, lightening strikes having caused holes, cracks, or dents on top of fuselage, corrosion of antennas, lost of fasteners, and color of the over pressure relief caps, etc. Inevitably, there have been reported incidents traced back to errors and improper judgment by humans.
In some newer and more advanced aircraft, the aircraft include onboard real-time health management systems, referred to as Airplane Health Management (AHM) systems, which enable fleet-wide monitoring of the aircraft while in flight. AHM systems give airlines additional capabilities to monitor onboard systems and components, thereby enabling efficient fleet operations for the airlines with optimized flight planning and flight management. For example, AHM systems aggregate the data, identify potential issues, update maintenance manuals, and provide service and repair related information supplied by aircraft manufacturer systems and engineering experts. AHM summary reports can be sent via to ground stations then routed to airline operation centers for processing. Data going through such channels can be costly to some airlines if the amount becomes huge and the speed of data transmissions can be an issue. As an alternative, AHM summary reports can also be stored on a recorder for later retrieval at the airport either wirelessly or manually.
With onboard and off-board broadband connectivity, large volumes of accumulated aviation service data are becoming available for airlines to assist fleet maintenance, airplane inspections, and repairs on the ground. Airline crewmembers may have access to this database through an internet infrastructure or cloud-based servers to assist their decision-making. Predictive analytics or other machine-assisted methods are capable of extracting true values from volumes of data. Accurate processing of such big data leads to confident decisions, and better decisions means greater operational efficiency and reduction of costs and risks for the airlines. With data analytics enhanced inspection and maintenance, airline crew are able to assess the situation in real time and make correct decisions on-the-spot, thereby enhancing the safety of the flying public, the crewmembers, and the airplanes.
One downside of the above-described AHM system is that it does not combine and integrate all relevant in-service maintenance data among an aircraft manufacturer's aircraft portfolios. Rather, airlines typically keep their fleet inspection results and maintenance data from each other. Unless major incidences occur that operators must report per FAA rules, aircraft maintenance data is only available on a voluntary basis. Due to geographical diversity and differences in culture, languages and data format, current maintenance records of inspections and repairs performed by worldwide fleet on the ground are not integrated with the aircraft manufacturer's AHM system including data collected in-flight. For non-English speaking countries, airlines maintenance logs are often recorded in foreign languages, which is also incompatible with an AHM system written in English. Thus, using the traditional methods, airlines take time, in some case up to a week, to make necessary actions.
Thus, it is desirable to have an improved system and method for integrating and analyzing the contents collected from ground maintenance and inspection with an onboard AHM system to improve accuracy with diagnosis of safety issues and timeliness of the appropriate responses to such issues. | {
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The field of the disclosure relates generally to passive wireless sensors and, more particularly, to passive wireless sensors for turbomachines.
At least some known turbomachines, i.e., gas turbine engines compress air via a plurality of rotatable compressor blades and ignite a fuel-air mixture in a combustor to generate combustion gases that are channeled through rotatable turbine buckets via a hot gas path. Also, at least some other known turbomachines, i.e., steam turbine engines channel steam through rotatable buckets via a steam path. Such known turbomachines convert thermal energy of the combustion gas stream and steam, respectively, to mechanical energy used to rotate a turbine shaft. Output of the turbomachines may be used to power a machine, for example, an electric generator, a compressor, or a pump.
Many of these known turbomachines include known sensing devices that are configured to withstand high temperatures and the stresses and strains associated with high-temperature environments for only a short period of time, i.e., 100 hours or less. Some such known sensing devices include measurement instruments coupled to, within a gas turbine, for example, combustor assemblies. Such known coupled sensing devices typically require extensive wiring as well as modifications to the combustor assemblies to accommodate the wiring. Therefore, such measurement systems increase construction and maintenance costs.
Other known wireless sensing devices are deposited on the combustors through a printing process. Yet other known wireless sensing devices are formed in layers on the surfaces of the high-temperature components. Moreover, other known wireless sensing devices are embedded within the high-temperature components, e.g., inserted into slots defined within the components during manufacturing. Furthermore, some known wireless sensing devices require the substrate (for ground layers or ground plane) and dielectric features of the components to which the sensing devices will be affixed. These five methods of coupling, i.e., affixing sensors to high-temperature components require addition of at least some of the sensor components to the high-temperature components subsequent to manufacture of such components. As such, these methods lend themselves to adoption by non-original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Moreover, post-manufacture affixing of portions of the sensing devices to the high-temperature components has a potential for not fully integrating the sensors with the high-temperature components. In addition, the most appropriate or desired position on the high-temperature components for affixing devices may not be available. Specifically, while certain portions of components or certain components exposed to high-temperature conditions, e.g., 500° Celsius (° C.) to 1000° C., and the associated substrates are coated appropriately, other components or portions thereof will be exposed to lower temperatures, e.g., approximately 200° C. will likely not be coated, therefore these regions will not have the necessary dielectric properties. Also, some component surfaces, i.e., substrates may be unacceptable as a substrate for the sensing devices.
Further, such issues with known stationary surfaces within a turbomachine are similar for rotational components therein, e.g., compressor blades and turbine buckets. Such rotational components also have additional issues such as high-velocity rotational effects and connectivity issues associated with the rotational operation of the monitored components and the difficulties with transmitting measurement data from the blades and buckets to an external data storage and analysis unit. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic equipment employing a storage medium, a recording medium recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and a recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing a disk cartridge. Particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic equipment employing a storage medium having a lid body, a recording medium recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and a recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing a disk cartridge.
2. Background of the Invention
Generally, an electronic equipment shown in FIG. 1 has been known as that using a disk cartridge housing a disk-like recording medium as a storage medium. The electronic equipment shown in FIG. 1 is a disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus and has a substantially rectangular box-shaped casing 1 and a front panel 2 fitted to a front side of the casing 1. This front panel 2 closes a front surface opening portion of the casing 1.
The front panel 2 has a storage medium insertion portion 3 formed therethrough and formed of a slot-shaped rectangular opening portion. The disk cartridge is inserted into and ejected from the outside of the equipment through the storage medium insertion portion 3. The storage medium insertion portion 3 of the front panel 2 can be opened and closed by a lid body 5 disposed on the inner side thereof.
The lid body 5 has a shutter portion 5a which can close the whole storage medium insertion portion 3 and a pair of left and right rotation shaft portions 5b projectingly provided at upper portions of both longitudinal-direction sides of the shutter portion 5a. Both of the rotation shaft portions 5b are rotatably engaged with shaft holes provided in the front panel 2 and are biased by coil springs (not shown) toward in the direction in which the storage medium insertion portion 3.
The storage medium insertion portion 3 of the front panel 2 is usually closed by a lid body 5 by a spring force of a coil spring. When the lid body 5 is pushed backward by the disk cartridge 4 against the spring force of the coil spring and then rotated backward by about 90.degree. with the rotation shaft portion 5b being employed as a rotation center, the storage medium insertion portion 3 is completely opened, thereby an insertion path of the disk cartridge 4 being established.
However, in the disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus as described above, the lid body 5 closing the storage medium insertion portion 3 serves as a shutter rotated inward in the casing 1 and is rotated inward by the disk cartridge 4 when the disk cartridge 4 is inserted, thereby a path where the disk cartridge 4 is loaded onto the equipment being established.
Accordingly, when the disk cartridge 4 is inserted and reaches a predetermined position in the electronic equipment, the lid body 5 is kept in a state such that it is lifted up, which permits a mechanism, parts and so on housed in the casing 1 to be exposed. Therefore, in this state, dusts and so on may enter the casing 1 from the opened storage medium insertion portion 3, which may cause any problems. Although the inside of the storage medium insertion portion 3 is usually closed by the lid body 5, the storage medium insertion portion 3 itself is always exposed, which lowers a degree of freedom in design and tends to unify an appearance of the equipment. | {
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1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a method for applying protective silicone coatings to substrates. More particularly, this invention involves heating a specified class of moisture reactive organosiloxane compositions to a flowable state and applying the compositions as coatings to a substrate, whereupon the compositions cool and become non-flowable. The initially applied coatings can be made flowable by heating but in the presence of atmospheric moisture gradually convert to a resin-reinforced elastomeric material that is not reflowable with heating to temperatures well above the application temperature. Many of the coatings can be handled at ambient temperature within minutes after being coated without damage to the coating or transfer of coating material.
The cured coatings provide long term protection for substrates against harsh environments at temperatures above the application temperature of the initial coating.
2. Background Information
Many combinations of resinous and liquid polymers are known. Some of these exhibit the properties characteristic of pressure sensitive adhesives, also referred to as PSA's.
PSA's based on organosilicon compounds typically contain 1) a silicone resin containing specified concentrations of monofunctional R.sub.3 SiO units, referred to as M units, and tetrafunctional SiO.sub.4/2 units, referred to as Q units, and 2) a high molecular weight polydiorganosiloxane having the consistency of a gum. These compositions are typically applied as a solution in a compatible organic liquid or a low viscosity, liquid nonreactive polyorganosiloxane. Following application of the solution to a desired substrate the liquid is evaporated to deposit the PSA.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,601, issued to Currie et al. describes curable silicone PSA's useful for bonding silicone rubber to metals such as aluminum, and which cure to a permanent adhesive at room temperature even in the absence of moisture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,920, which issued to R. Sweet, describes solventless silicone PSA's that can be applied as a heated melt, also referred to as a hot melt. The compositions differ from prior art PSA's by replacement of the gum type polydiorganosiloxane with a liquid polydiorganosiloxane and by addition of from 1 to 10 percent, based on the combined weight of the organosilicon compounds, of a liquid ester of a monocarboxylic acid containing from 2 to 32 carbon atoms. Replacing this ester with a phenyl-containing polysiloxane fluid to make the PSA more compatible with drugs and other organic materials is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,410, which issued to R. Sweet.
The hot melt PSA's described in both Sweet patents do not contain moisture activated reactive groups capable of forming a cured material, and therefore retain the flowability at elevated temperatures and the tackiness characteristic of PSA's.
A commonly assigned copending application, Ser. No. 07/748,848, filed on Aug. 22, 1991 describes silicone PSA's that cure in the presence of moisture to permanent adhesives. The compositions are particularly useful as structural adhesives for adhering glass panels to structural materials such as concrete, aluminum and steel. The two required ingredients of the PSA are an MQ resin and a high consistency polydiorganosiloxane gum wherein at least 50 percent and preferably at least 90 percent of the silicon-bonded hydrocarbon radicals are methyl.
One or both ingredients of the PSA compositions described in the aforementioned copending application contain moisture activated curing groups of the formula R.sub.b (OR').sub.3-b SiZ--, where R represents a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, R' represents an alkyl or aryl radical, Z is a divalent group that durably links the curing group to a silicon atom of one of the PSA ingredients and the value of h is 0 or 1. Typical linking groups that can be represented by Z include but are not limited to oxygen, one or more diorganosiloxane units, and hydrocarbylene radicals that optionally contains one or more hetero atoms selected from oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur.
Due to the high viscosity of gum type polydiorganosiloxanes even at elevated temperatures, the moisture curable PSA compositions are not suitable for application as heated molten materials, but instead are applied to substrates as solutions in a miscible organic solvent such as xylene. The solvent is removed prior to curing of the composition or evaporates during the curing reaction.
Japanese laid open patent application (Kokai) No. 4(1992)-/81,487 describes curable pressure sensitive adhesive compositions comprising (1) 100 parts by weight of an organosiloxane copolymer consisting essentially of triorganosiloxy and SiO.sub.4/2 units and up to 0.7 weight percent of silanol groups, where the molar ratio of triorganosiloxy to SiO.sub.4/2 units is from 0.6 to 1.2, respectively, (2) a liquid polydiorganosiloxane containing as the terminal units alkoxy, alkenyloxy, iminoxy, acyloxy and/or aminoxy radicals, and (3) a condensation catalyst to promote curing of the composition in the presence of atmospheric moisture. The molar ratio of silanol groups in the resinous copolymer to terminal units in the liquid polydiorganosiloxane is from 1 to 10.
The characterizing feature of the moisture reacting compositions described in the Japanese patent application is their ability to retain the characteristics of pressure sensitive adhesives under both dry and wet conditions following reaction of the moisture reactive groups. This requires that the molar ratio of silanol units in the resinous copolymer to terminal units in the liquid polydiorganosiloxane be from 1 to 10, and preferably from 4 to 8.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,484, which issued to A. Colas on February 25, 1992 describes elastomer-forming compositions containing (1) a hydroxyl- or alkoxy-terminated polydiorganosiloxane (2) an alkoxy-functional MQ type silicone resin that is preferably liquid under ambient conditions and (3) a titanium-containing curing catalyst. These compositions are described as flowable under ambient conditions and cure in the presence of atmospheric moisture to yield elastomeric materials.
Moisture curable elastomer-forming compositions containing (1) a hydroxyl-terminated polydiorganosiloxane (2) an MQ type silicone resin containing from 0.5 to 6 weight percent of hydroxyl groups, (3) alkoxy-functional organosilicon compounds as the curing agent, and (4) a titanium-containing curing catalyst are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,088, which issued to G. Favre et al. on Mar. 6, 1979.
Organic polymer compositions that are solid under ambient conditions and sufficiently flowable when heated to be applied as coatings that can subsequently be cured by a free radical reaction are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,364, which issued to Bolte et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,121, which issued to Hinterwaldner et al., and Japanese Laid Open Application 89/251,837.
Moisture curable organic polymer compositions that form conventional or pressure sensitive adhesives and can be applied as heated melts are described in Published European Patent Application No. 0420864. The compositions comprise a silane-modified copolymer of ethylene and a polar monomer such as vinyl acetate, a catalyst and an optional plasticizer. The modified polymers contain silicon-bonded hydrolyzable groups.
Patent application WO 91/08420, filed under the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, describes adhesive compositions containing a tackifier resin or tackifier wax that has been modified by reaction with a silane containing hydrolyzable groups that are present in the final resin or wax. The composition optionally contains an organic polymer with groups capable of reacting with the silicon-bonded hydrolyzable groups to form a crosslinked material.
When curable compositions applied in the molten state are used as protective coatings, the cooled uncured compositions should preferably exhibit sufficient adhesion and sufficiently low tackiness to allow the coated articles to be handled immediately or shortly following application of the coating composition without damage to the coating or transfer of coating material to objects that contact the articles.
When the substrate is a printed circuit board, to correct coating defects and make repairs to the electronic components mounted on the coated substrate it is desirable that at least the interior portion of the coating remain reflowable upon heating for a limited time period while curing under ambient conditions to ultimately form a crosslinked, non-reflowable elastomeric material exhibiting excellent adhesion to the substrate, as demonstrated by a resistance to corrosion of metal surfaces and articles on the substrate.
With the increasing emphasis on eliminating or at least reducing the amount of volatile materials released during the application and curing of coating compositions, there has been a growing demand for curable compositions that can be applied in the absence of solvents or diluents.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide moisture reactive coating compositions that are substantially free of unreactive liquid materials and can be heated for application as molten liquids that upon contacting a substrate at ambient temperature rapidly form solid coatings exhibiting strong adhesion to clean or contaminated substrates without requiring priming or other surface preparation. The initially applied coatings are reflowable upon heating and in the presence of moisture under ambient conditions are gradually converted to substantially tack-free resin-reinforced elastomeric materials that are not reflowable even at temperature substantially above their application temperature and maintain their initial adhesion to the substrate. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to polymer resins and, in particular, to polymer resins suitable for use in polymer interlayers, including those utilized in multiple layer panels.
2. Description of Related Art
Poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) is often used in the manufacture of polymer sheets that can be used as interlayers in multiple layer panels, including, for example, light-transmitting laminates such as safety glass or polymeric laminates. PVB is also used in photovoltaic solar panels to encapsulate the panels which are used to generate and supply electricity for commercial and residential applications.
The term “safety glass” generally refers to a transparent laminate that includes at least one polymer sheet, or interlayer, disposed between two sheets of glass. Safety glass is often used as a transparent barrier in architectural and automotive applications, and one of its primary functions is to absorb energy resulting from impact or a blow without allowing the object to penetrate the glass. Additionally, even when the applied force is sufficient to break the glass, the polymeric interlayer helps keep the glass bonded to the laminate, which prevents dispersion of sharp glass shards, thereby minimizing injury and damage to people or objects within the interior space. Safety glass may also provide other benefits, such as a reduction in ultraviolet (UV) and/or infrared (IR) radiation, and it may also enhance the aesthetic appearance of window openings through addition of color, texture, and the like. Additionally, safety glass with desirable acoustic properties has also been produced, which results in quieter internal spaces.
Often, polymers that exhibit one set of desirable properties, such as acoustic performance, lack other desirable properties, such as impact resistance or strength. Therefore, in order to achieve certain combinations of properties, multilayered polymer interlayers have been used. These multilayered interlayers may include at least one inner “core” layer sandwiched between two outer “skin” layers. Often, the core layer of an interlayer may be a softer layer having a lower glass transition temperature, which enhances its acoustic performance. However, because such resin layers can be difficult to easily process and/or transport, the skin layers of such multilayered interlayers are often stiffer and have higher glass transition temperatures, which imparts enhanced processability, strength, and impact resistance to the interlayer. In some cases, the outer layers may be formed from the lower glass transition materials, with the inner core layer being the stiffer layer.
At times, use of various resins having different properties can also produce optical defects within the interlayer. For example, one defect common to these types of compositions, layers, and interlayers is mottle. Mottle is an objectionable form of optical distortion or visual defect appearing as uneven spots or texture, usually in the final structure. Mottle is caused by small-scale surface variations at the interfaces between the soft and stiff layers wherein the individual layers have different refractive indices. Clarity is another important optical property that is determined by measuring the level of haze within the composition, layer, or interlayer. High haze typically occurs when different types of optically incompatible polymers and/or plasticizers are blended or mixed together. In such mixtures, light passing through the blend is scattered as it encounters regions of different polymer materials, and the result is a hazy, visually unclear appearance. High clarity polymers and interlayers are those having very low haze values.
Thus, a need exists for polymer resin compositions, resin layers, and interlayers formed from blends of poly(vinyl acetal) resins that have different compositions, but that exhibit desirable optical properties. Additionally, such compositions, layers, and interlayers should be produced without sacrificing mechanical and acoustic performance of the final product and should be usable in a wide variety of end use applications, including as automotive and architectural multiple layer panels. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to printing machines and more particularly to an apparatus for slowing down products in the folder of rotary printing machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
DD 246 006 A3 discloses an apparatus of the generic type having a decelerating-roller pair. At least one decelerating roller has a strip which cyclically groups the products at their trailing end along with the other decelerating roller. Additionally, in each case one transporting-roller pair is arranged upstream and downstream of the decelerating-roller pair, as seen in the transporting direction, and is driven at the speed of, and in sync with, the incoming products. At least one transporting roller of the downstream transporting-roller pair includes a transporting segment. | {
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A variable force archwire made from a nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) alloy wire is shown in Japanese utility model publication SHOO 63-34650 (1988). Different sections of the archwire are treated to develop different moduli of elasticity, thus imparting different forces when deflected. Typically, the sections corresponding to the front teeth, the bicuspids, and the molars are heat treated differently so that each section exhibits a unique modulus of elasticity. As a result, when the archwire is mounted to a patient's teeth, it imparts different forces to different sections of the dental arch.
A typical variable force archwire is heat treated so that its section corresponding to the molars imparts a greater force when deflected than its section corresponding to the bicuspids. The section corresponding to the bicuspids is typically heat treated to impart a greater force when deflected than the section corresponding to the front teeth.
One problem with non-variable force archwires is that the entire length of such an archwire exerts substantially the same force when deflected. Therefore, because it is necessary to impart different forces to different sections of a patient's dental arch, more than one archwire must be employed during the course of treatment. Typically, 7 to 8 different archwires may be used to treat a single patient. With variable force archwires, however, fewer archwires are required.
In FIG. 1, the teeth T of a typical dental arch are illustrated. An orthodontic archwire W is ligated to several orthodontic brackets B mounted to the teeth T. The bending and resultant tension within the archwire W creates forces that are imparted to the brackets B and thus the teeth T. The distal ends WA of the archwire W are secured to the brackets B mounted to the anterior molars, to prevent the archwire from slipping in the mesial direction.
With known stainless steel orthodontic archwires, the distal ends are typically bent into appropriate shapes to prevent them from slipping through the orthodontic brackets B. Typical stainless steel archwires are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end WA of the archwire W is formed into a triangular shape. In FIG. 3, the distal end WA is formed into a hook shape. The bent distal ends are often referred to as "stops".
One problem with shape-memory alloy archwires, such as Ni-Ti archwires, is that it has not been possible to bend their distal ends to form stops. Because of the properties of shape-memory alloy wires, when their distal ends are bent to form stops, the bent shapes are not retained because the archwires tend to return to their original shapes. It has been necessary therefore to attach fastening accessories to their distal ends to prevent them from slipping through the orthodontic appliances. For example, stop tubes are typically mechanically fastened to the distal ends of shape-memory alloy archwires. The procedure of attaching fastening accessories, however, has proven to be relatively complicated and time consuming.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to overcome the problems and disadvantages of known shape-memory alloy archwires. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio selective calling receiver and, more particularly, to a radio selective calling receiver having a battery saving function. The present invention also relates to a scanning type radio selective calling receiver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a radio selective calling receiver using a battery as a power supply, to prolong the service life of the battery, the power consumed by the reception section must be suppressed low. In addition, if a large-capacity battery is used, the overall radio selective calling receiver increases in size. For this reason, to reduce the size of the compact radio selective calling receiver, it is important to reduce the power consumption of the reception section.
Under the circumstances, in a general radio selective calling receiver, battery saving (to be referred to as BS hereinafter) control is performed such that the reception section is not always operated but is intermittently operated at predetermined time intervals to suppress the power consumption of the reception section low.
To suppress the power consumption of the reception section low, it is desired that the reception section be intermittently operated at long time intervals. However, excessively long time intervals increase the probability that the radio selective calling receiver fails to receive a radio signal which should be received. As a result, the reception function of the radio selective calling receiver may be impaired. For this reason, BS control in a general radio selective calling receiver is performed such that the reception section is intermittently operated at time intervals which are set to ensure the reception function.
Such BS control may be effective while the radio selective calling receiver is in the coverage zone in which radio signals can be received. If, however, the reception section is intermittently operated at such short time intervals even while the radio selective calling receiver stays in an area, outside the coverage zone, in which no radio signals arrive at the receiver, the power is wasted.
The radio selective calling receiver disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-304043 has been proposed as a means for solving such a problem. This radio selective calling receiver is designed to detect whether a sync signal is received. On the basis of this detection, it is checked whether the receiver is in the coverage zone. Upon detecting the movement of the radio selective calling receiver out of the coverage zone, the receiver switches the BS control modes to reduce the power consumption of the reception section. More specifically, when this radio selective calling receiver moves out of the coverage zone, the receiver starts counting a period of time that elapses upon moving out of the coverage zone. The reception section is intermittently operated at first time intervals which are relatively short time intervals until this elapsed time reaches a predetermined time A. After the elapsed time exceeds the predetermined time A, the reception section is intermittently operated at second time intervals which are longer than the first time intervals.
According to this radio selective calling receiver, since intermittent reception is performed at short time intervals when the time period of a stay outside the coverage zone is shorter than the predetermined time A, even a call signal that arrives immediately after the receiver returns to the coverage zone can be quickly received. If the time period during which the receiver stayed outside the coverage zone is longer than the predetermined time A, the time intervals of intermittent reception are switched to the long time intervals. With this operation, the power consumption of the reception section can be suppressed low, and hence the service life of the battery can be prolonged.
In the above conventional radio selective calling receiver, movement of the receiver out of the coverage zone is detected when no sync signal is received, and the time intervals of intermittent reception are uniformly prolonged. According to this BS control, a problem may be caused in performing synchronization establishment when the receiver returns to the coverage zone depending on the time intervals of intermittent reception after the movement of the receiver out of the coverage zone. This problem will be described below.
Consider two cases in which the radio selective calling receiver moves out of the coverage zone: the first case in which the receiver moves out of the transmission area in which radio waves transmitted from a transmitting station can be received; and the second case in which the receiver enters a place, e.g., a subway or a building, within the transmission area, in which radio waves are blocked.
In the first case, an abrupt operation for restoration to the coverage zone is rarely required. No problem is therefore posed even if the time intervals of intermittent reception outside the coverage zone are prolonged to a certain extent. In contrast to this, in the second case, quick restoration to the coverage zone and synchronization establishment for this purpose are required immediately after the blocked state of radio waves is canceled. If, therefore, the time intervals of intermittent reception outside the coverage zone are prolonged, such quick synchronization establishment is difficult to perform.
In the above conventional radio selective calling receiver, however, the time intervals of intermittent reception are uniformly switched without checking whether the movement of the receiver out of the coverage zone corresponds to the first or second case. For this reason, if priority is given to a reduction in power consumption by prolonging the timer intervals, a problem may be posed in quick synchronization establishment for restoration to the coverage zone. To prevent this problem, the time intervals of intermittent reception outside the coverage zone need to be shortened. If, however, the time intervals are shortened, the power consumption cannot be sufficiently reduced.
Demands have recently arisen for a receiver to which a plurality of frequencies at which a self-call number is transmitted are assigned in advance (to be referred to as a scanning receiver hereinafter). This type of receiver is used as a multi-area receiver which can automatically switch a plurality of areas with different frequencies. According to this receiver, since a plurality of frequencies at which the self-call number is transmitted are assigned to the receiver, the receiver searches for a sync signal in a transmission signal to be received while sequentially scanning the assigned frequencies when the receiver is outside the coverage zone.
Upon reception of the sync signal, the receiver stops scanning the frequencies, and locks the frequency to the above frequency. As a result, the receiver is set in the state in which a self-call signal can be received, i.e., the coverage-zone state. In the coverage-zone state, the frequency is kept fixed until a condition for determination of movement out of the coverage zone is satisfied. According to the scanning receiver, automatic multi-area selection is realized as follows. In the coverage-zone state, a frequency is fixed. When the receiver moves out of the coverage zone, synchronization with a transmission signal, which has been established in the coverage-zone state, is canceled, and a sync signal is detected while the frequencies are switched.
According to such automatic multi-area selection, for example, in the receiver disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 06-315001, in the out-of-coverage-zone state, frequency scanning is performed a predetermined number of times according to a predetermined pattern. If no sync signal is detected, frequency scanning is performed again according to the above pattern after a lapse of a predetermined period of time. A general condition of determination of movement out of the coverage zone is that no sync signal is consecutively received a predetermined number of times at the sync signal transmission timings in the coverage-zone state.
In such a conventional radio selective calling receiver as a scanning receiver, since a plurality of frequencies cannot be simultaneously received, the intervals at which a sync signal is detected at a specific frequency are prolonged in proportion to the number of scanning frequencies. That is, as the number of frequencies to be detected increases, detection of a sync signal delays even if the receiver is in the signal transmission area, and a longer period of time is required for a shift from the out-of-coverage-zone mode to the coverage-zone mode.
If the number of times of detection of a sync signal is simply increased, the BS effect deteriorates in the out-of-coverage-zone state although a detecting operation is performed at short intervals.
In the first case in which the above out-of-coverage-zone state is established, priority should be given to the BS effect. In the second case, synchronization must be quickly established. In contrast to this, in the conventional radio selective calling receiver disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-315001, predetermined BS control is performed after the receiver moves out of the coverage zone regardless of the immediately preceding reception state in the coverage zone. That is, the above two cases are not discriminated. For this reason, if priority is given to the BS effect, synchronization establishment delays. If priority is given to synchronization establishment, the BS effect in the out-of-coverage-zone state deteriorates. | {
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The present invention relates to an exhaust system for a turbomachine, such as a steam or gas turbine or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to an exhaust system for an axial flow turbomachine that minimizes the strength of harmful vortices within the flow.
The performance of a steam turbine may generally be improved by lowering the back pressure to which the last row of blades of the turbine is subjected. Consequently, turbines often discharge to a condenser in which a sub-atmospheric pressure is maintained. Typically, the exhaust steam discharging axially from the last row of blades is directed to a condenser mounted below the turbine by turning the flow 90.degree. from the axial to the vertically downward directions. This turning of the flow is accomplished by an exhaust system that includes a diffuser in flow communication with an exhaust housing.
Diffusers are generally comprised of inner and outer flow guides that serve to increase the static pressure by reducing the velocity head. Typically, the cross-sectional shape of the outer flow guide is a simple arcuate shape--see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,945,760; 4,863,341; 3,058,720; 3,697,191; and 3,690,786. However, conical shaped diffusers have also been utilized--see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,566. Although outer flow guides are generally of uniform axial length, at least one steam turbine manufacturer has utilized an outer flow guide in a bottom exhaust system that has an axial length that varies around its circumference, being a maximum at the bottom of the diffuser and a minimum at the top.
The exhaust housing receives steam from the diffuser and directs it to the condenser through a bottom outlet opening in the housing. To obtain maximum performance, it is important to configure the exhaust system so as to minimize losses arising from the formation of vortices in the steam flow. However, as explained below, the difficulty of this task is exacerbated by the somewhat torturous path the steam must take as it is directed to the condenser.
The steam from the diffuser enters the exhaust housing in a 360.degree. arc. However, it discharges from the exhaust housing to the condenser through only the bottom outlet opening. This presents no problem with respect to the steam flowing in the bottom portion of the diffuser since by turning such steam into the radial direction, the diffuser turns the steam directly toward the bottom outlet opening. However, the steam discharging at the top of the diffuser must turn 180.degree. from the vertically upward direction to the vertically downward direction, in addition to turning 90.degree. from the axial direction to the vertically upward direction. Consequently, vortices are formed within the exhaust housing in the vicinity of the top of the diffuser outlet that create losses in the steam flow that detract from the efficiency of the exhaust system and, therefore, the performance of the turbine.
One approach for minimizing such losses used in the past involves the incorporation of flow dividers into the exhaust diffuser that allow the steam to expand and turn into the radial direction through several smaller concentric flow passages, rather than a single large flow passage, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,470 (Herzog). Another approach, suggested for a gas turbine exhaust system, involves the use of flow stabilizing ribs formed on the outer diameter of the diffuser that guide the flow toward the outlet opening so as to prevent the formation of vortices, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,566 (Takamura). However, such approaches have not been entirely successful and can result in a considerable increase in the manufacturing cost of the diffuser.
It is therefore desirable to provide an exhaust system for a turbomachine capable of turning an axial flow discharging from the turbine into a radial direction, such as vertically downward, in such a way that the formation of vortices and other loss mechanisms are minimized. It is also desirable that the shape of the exhaust diffuser in such an exhaust system facilitate its manufacture, thereby minimizing the cost of the diffuser. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention is directed to small and low-profile connectors. More particularly, the present invention is directed to pluggable-style connectors that are received within a housing, or guide frame, and which require some sort of exterior latch to retain the connector in its mated engagement with the housing or guide frame.
Small and low-profile connectors, such as those used in SFP (Small Form Factor Pluggable) applications are desired in electronic devices in which space is a premium. Such connectors are widely used to make connections with routers and servers. They are small in size. A problem with many electronic connectors of this type, however, is the tendency for them to separate or be disconnected from the component to which they are connected.
Connectors, and particularly plug connectors, can be made more reliable and separation less likely by latching them together. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,987 issued Jun. 29, 1999 to Reed et al. and entitled “Latched Electrical Connector” discloses a plug-receptacle connector assembly with a latching mechanism incorporated into the housing of the plug connector. One problem with the locking plug connectors such as those disclosed in the '987 patent is that they are not usable with low-profile, high-density receptacle connectors. Their size and the side locations of the actuators for the latching mechanisms of such plug connectors would increase the size required in a system. Such a connector also requires a specially configured housing to receive the plug connector. As connectors become smaller and as the density of receptacle connectors in electronic devices increases, the simple act of disengaging a plug connector latch mechanism becomes increasingly more difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,665, issued Nov. 18, 2003 discloses another plug connector in which a latching mechanism is incorporated into the plug connector housing. This connector has a complex mechanical structure with a plurality of parts, such that manufacturing and assembly costs will be increased. It uses two latching elements that extend longitudinally and sideways along the inner walls of the plug connector housing. It is constructed of many separate pieces and is relatively difficult to manufacture, and it requires excessive space at its rear end for an actuator to project.
The present invention is directed to a small size, and low profile pluggable connector that overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a driving force control method during engine clutch slipping in a transmission mounted electric device (TMED) HEV in which a motor and a transmission are connected. More particularly, the present invention relates to an enhanced driving force control method in case of an engine clutch slipping in TMED hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), which allows a separator motor (HSG) to bear a load while performing a low-speed and large-torque operation in a zone where noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) is disadvantageous when a vehicle starts to improve engine operation to be maintained in a zone where the NVH is advantageous.
(b) Background Art
Due to the demand for improving fuel efficiency of a vehicle and the demand for saving fuel while meeting a discharge gas regulation of various countries, development of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) using both an engine and an electric motor as power has been developed. The hybrid electric vehicle is a type of vehicle that uses both the engine and the electric motor as driving force of the vehicle and as a result, the engine is driven when the vehicle is driven at a high speed and both the engine and the electric motor are driven when the driving force requires an increase, whereas the electric motor is driven when the vehicle is driven in the city (e.g., with high congestion).
The hybrid electric vehicle is driven by two power sources, the engine and the motor, and an engine clutch is disposed between the power sources and as a result, the hybrid electric vehicle operates in an electric vehicle (EV) mode or HEV mode based on a connection (coupling) of the engine clutch and during this process, optimal output torque may be provided by considering how the engine and the motor harmoniously operate.
The engine outputs clutch torque and additional torque for maintaining a speed when the engine clutch slips (see FIG. 1) and a control for the engine and the motor to maintain a predetermined speed is executed during learning engine clutch transmission torque, and as a result, the torque of the engine needs to be increased as much as the clutch torque when pressure is applied (see FIG. 2). In FIGS. 1 and 2, We represents an engine angular speed and Wm represents a motor angular speed. It can be seen that the engine is operated in a zone in which NVH is disadvantageous in a torque zone where engine torque Te is substantially large based on clutch slipping transmission torque T_clutch of a substantially large torque zone in both a behavior when the engine clutch slip-starts and a behavior when the engine clutch transmission torque is learned.
In general, an operation speed of the engine is adjusted to approximately an idle revolutions per minute (rpm) when the vehicle starts and the engine is required to output additional torque to maintain the clutch torque and the engine speed when the engine clutch slips. Since the engine bears an engine clutch torque load, the engine operates with a low speed and large torque as schematically illustrated in FIG. 3. As a result, the engine operates in an operation zone in which noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) is disadvantageous.
In this regard, the present applicant has disclosed a system and a method for learning the transmission torque of the engine clutch of the hybrid electric vehicle, which maintain the engine at a predetermined speed (e.g., idle speed) and allow a start generator to appropriately bear the transmission torque of the engine clutch based on operation hydraulic pressure of the engine clutch to prevent engine booming in the low-speed and large-torque zone at the time of learning the transmission torque and enhance the NVH, while learning the transmission torque of the engine clutch of the hybrid electric vehicle.
Additionally, a shift control device of the related art includes a motor assist control part that generates assist torque equivalent to a deviation between required torque for an internal combustion engine and output torque of the internal combustion engine during shifting a driving device that includes a generator used to assist the internal combustion engine in a motor to correct assist torque using correction torque when clutch slipping occurs, in a HEV including the internal combustion engine and the motor.
Another developed related art teaches a hybrid electric vehicle having a motor and an engine selectively connected on a drive line by a controller configured to provide additional motor torque to compensate for engine inertia resistance based on a clutch slipping speed value during a period of clutch engagement and a clutch pressure value and the engine is connected to a starter used to start the engine when additional torque is required.
The above information disclosed in this section is merely for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Measurement transmitters of the field of the invention for providing a measured value of at least one measured variable to a control system comprise: a sensor having an electrical transducer for outputting a primary signal dependent on the current value of the measured variable; a first electronic circuit for driving the transducer, for processing the primary signal and for outputting an intermediate signal dependent on the primary signal; a second electronic circuit for feeding the first electronic circuit and for processing the intermediate signal for producing a signal representing the measured value of the measured variable, wherein the second electronic circuit has a signal output for outputting the signal to connection lines; a housing arrangement, wherein the first electronic circuit has at least a first circuit carrier, and the second electronic circuit has at least a second circuit carrier, and wherein the first and second electronic circuits are positioned in the housing assembly spaced from one another. Frequently, the measurement transmitter is modularly embodied, so that the housing arrangement includes a first housing module and a second housing module, wherein the two housing modules are connected with one another. The first housing module contains the sensor and the first electronic circuit, while the second electronic circuit is arranged in the second housing module. The second housing module contains additionally a so-called terminal block where the connection lines are to be connected. Via the connection lines, high frequency disturbances in the region of some 100 MHz can get into the second housing module and via the signal path degrade the second and first electronic circuits. In order to prevent this, for example, the second housing module is embodied as a two chamber housing with a partition, which separates a connector space, which contains the terminal block, from the electronics compartment, in which the second electronic circuit is arranged. In the metal partition, which already acts as shielding, high frequency filters are provided, which are intended to attenuate the HF-signals. Such a measurement transmitter is described, for example, in WO 96/05483. The manufacture of a two chamber housing is, however, relatively expensive, since at least one additional housing opening with a corresponding housing lid must then be provided. | {
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MEMS devices are used, for example, as airbag accelerometers, microengines, optical switches, gyroscopic devices, sensors, and actuators. MEMS devices are typically manufactured from a silicon wafer using microlithography, and have freestanding active silicon elements (e.g., gears, hinges, levers, slides, and mirrors) that must be free to move, rotate, etc. The inherent mechanical nature of MEMS devices brings about a high and ever increasing level of complexity to their production and reliability.
MEMS devices generally have large surface-area-to-volume ratios, and thus their performance is often dominated by strong adhesion (i.e., stiction) of active silicon elements to one another and/or to the supporting silicon substrate. Stiction may be caused by capillary forces (e.g., resulting from high critical surface tension of silicon surfaces of MEMS devices), electrostatic forces, van der Waals forces, and/or “chemical” forces such as hydrogen bonding and solid bridging. Stiction may occur, for example, during release of MEMS elements from via etching, or at a later time (e.g., during use).
Stiction, friction, and wear are major problems limiting both the production yield and useful lifetime of many MEMS devices, and have plagued the MEMS industry since its inception.
To address the problem of stiction, various treatments that reduce stiction (i.e., anti-stiction treatments) are commonly employed. Such treatments typically reduce capillary forces by reducing the surface energy of MEMS surfaces (e.g., resulting in a high advancing and/or receding contact angle with water). Ideally, anti-stiction treatments are stable at typical operating temperatures of MEMS devices (e.g., in the range of from −40 to +130° C.). In some cases, an anti-stiction treatment may also serve to lubricate moving MEMS elements, thereby ensuring proper function and reducing the rate of wear.
Many anti-stiction and/or lubrication treatments are mere liquid coatings, and thus prone to loss or removal over time. Other anti-stiction treatments utilize various grafting techniques to chemically bond an anti-stiction coating to silicon surfaces of the MEMS device. However, and notwithstanding any reduction in stiction that may be achieved by such methods, there continues to be a need for further improvements in anti-stiction treatments. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. For example, some recent studies have suggested that plaque rupture may trigger 60 to 70% of fatal myocardial infarctions. In a further 25 to 30% of fatal infarctions, plaque erosion or ulceration is the trigger. Vulnerable plaques are often undetectable using conventional techniques such as angiography. Indeed, the majority of these vulnerable plaques that lead to infarction occur in coronary arteries that appeared normal or only mildly stenotic on angiograms performed prior to the infarction.
Studies into the composition of vulnerable plaque suggest that the presence of inflammatory cells (and particularly a large lipid core with associated inflammatory cells) is the most powerful predictor of ulceration and/or imminent plaque rupture. For example, in plaque erosion, the endothelium beneath the thrombus is replaced by or interspersed with inflammatory cells. Recent literature has suggested that the presence of inflammatory cells within vulnerable plaque and thus the vulnerable plaque itself, might be identifiable by detecting heat associated with the metabolic activity of these inflammatory cells. Specifically, it is generally known that activated inflammatory cells have a heat signature that is slightly above that of connective tissue cells. Accordingly, it is believed that one way to detect whether specific plaque is vulnerable to rupture and/or ulceration is to measure the temperature of the plaque walls of arteries in the region of the plaque.
Once vulnerable plaque is identified, the expectation is that in many cases it may be treated. Since currently there are not satisfactory devices for identifying vulnerable plaque, current treatments tend to be general in nature. For example, low cholesterol diets are often recommended to lower serum cholesterol (i.e. cholesterol in the blood). Other approaches utilize systemic anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and non-steroidal drugs to reduce inflammation and thrombosis. However, it is believed that if vulnerable plaque can be reliably detected, localized treatments may be developed to specifically address the problems.
In view of the foregoing, improved catheters that facilitate the identification, location and mapping of inflamed plaque and/or other hot spots within arteries and/or other vessels would be desirable. Further, integrated catheter devices which are capable of both locating vulnerable plaque and delivering appropriate treatment agents would be desirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Infection at the point of insertion is associated with percutaneous insertion and placement of certain medical devices. Microbes, including bacteria, can be difficult to destroy and patients can become infected from various procedures. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates in general to computer system memories. More particularly, the invention is directed to systems and methods for using spare bits in the context of a global memory shared by a multiplicity of processors.
Systems composed of multiple but coordinated processors were first developed and used in the context of mainframes. More recently, interest in multiple processor systems has escalated as a consequence of the low cost and high performance of microprocessors, with the objective of replicating mainframe performance through the parallel use of multiple microprocessors.
A variety of architectures have been defined for multi-processor systems. Most designs rely upon highly integrated architectures by virtue of the need for cache coherence. In such systems, cache coherence is maintained through complex logic circuit interconnection of the cache memories associated with the individual microprocessors to ensure data consistency as reflected in the various caches and main memory.
A somewhat different approach to architecting a multi-processor system relies upon a relatively loose hardware level coupling of the individual processors, with the singular exception of circuit logic controlling access to the shared global memory, and the use of software to manage cache coherence. An architecture which relies upon software managed cache coherence allows the designer to utilize existing processor hardware to the maximum extent, including the utilization of memory error correction resources such as bank related spare bit steering and data error correction code (ECC) memory configurations. This relative independence of the processors also lends itself to multi-processor systems with extenuated levels of availability, in that one or more processors may be disconnected without disrupting the operation of the remaining processors. Coordination in the access to, and coherency with, a shared global memory is of course somewhat more difficult when the processors are not closely coupled.
One problem that arises with a shared global memory, loosely coupled, multi-processor architecture relates to the management of error detection and correction resources. In such context, the designation and coordinated use of spare bits as well as error correction code bits must be consistent from processor to processor, so that the data in global memory is both consistent and reliable. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of crystallizing an amorphous silicon film or a crystalline silicon film formed on an insulating substrate of glass or the like or promoting crystalline performance thereof by performing laser annealing thereto.
2. Description of Prior Art
In recent years researches have widely been carried out on the technology of crystallizing an amorphous semiconductor film or a crystalline semiconductor film (semiconductor film having crystalline performance constituted not by single crystal but polycrystal, microcrystal or the like), that is, a non single crystal silicon film formed on an insulating substrate of glass or the like or promoting the crystalline performance by performing laser annealing in respect of the film. A silicon film is frequently used for the semiconductor film.
Compared with a quartz substrate which has been frequently used conventionally, a glass substrate has an advantage where the substrate is inexpensive and superior in fabrication performance and a substrate having a large area can easily be formed. Further, laser is preferably used in crystallization process since the melting point of the glass substrate is low. Laser can impart high energy only to a non single crystal film without considerably changing temperature of a substrate.
A crystalline silicon film formed by performing laser annealing is provided with high mobility. Further, researches have been carried out on the technology of forming a thin film transistor (TFT) by using the crystalline silicon film. According to the technology, a liquid crystal electro-optic device of a monolithic type where TFTs for pixel driving and for drive circuit are fabricated on one sheet of a glass substrate, can be provided. The crystalline silicon film is constituted by a number of crystal grains and therefore, the film is referred to generally as a polycrystalline silicon film or a polycrystalline semiconductor film.
Further, a method of performing laser annealing by fabricating a pulse laser beam of an excimer laser or the like having a large output into a square spot of several cm square or a linear shape of several mm width .times. several tens cm on an irradiated face by an optical system and scanning the laser beam (moving an irradiation position of the laser beam relatively in respect of the irradiated face), is preferably used since the method is provided with excellent mass production performance and is industrially excellent.
Particularly, when the linear laser beam is used, high mass production performance can be provided since laser irradiation can be carried out over the entire irradiated face by scanning the laser only in a direction orthogonal to the line direction different from a case of using a laser beam in a spot-like shape where scanning in the forward and rearward direction and in the left and right direction is needed.
Several problems have been posed in performing laser annealing in respect of a non single crystal silicon film by scanning a laser beam of a spot-like shape or a linear shape with a pulse laser beam as a light source.
A particularly serious problem is nonuniformity of effect of laser irradiation in a substrate face. As feature of laser beam, although provision of large energy is pointed out as the most preferable advantage, on the other hand, the pulse laser is provided with a drawback where dispersion of energy for respective shots of pulses is as large as several percent. According to the drawback, when, for example, a liquid crystal display is formed by crystallizing an amorphous silicon film by an excimer laser, there causes an inconvenience where trace of pulse of laser is visualized as it is on picture image.
Such an image failure constitutes a serious drawback in the present age where beautiful picture image is needed. The present invention has been carried out with an object of making inconspicuous or completely eliminating the drawback. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates generally to a package of an electronic device, and more particularly, to a package structure and method for a card.
A package of a card-sized electronic device has to provide essential mechanical strength and electric performance, at least conformed to some specific standards and criterion. The structure of the package also has to be used adaptively for package process in order for mass production, and the cost-effectiveness is particularly important. Card-sized electronic devices, such as modem card, LAN care, and memory card, are widely used, and the trend is toward downsizing for such devices. Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) and compact flash (CF) are typical international standards for memory cards, and new standards are still emerging. While some details exist among various card standards, their package structures are similar, in which a printed circuit board (PCB) is encapsulated with a case whose cover is electrically conductive and provides a ground sidepiece to be electrically connected with the system reference in the slot of the apparatus inserted with the card.
A conventional package method sandwiches a PCB between two plastic frames with two metal covers thereon riveted by a tool so as to encapsulate the plastic frames and PCB. However, the metal covers and plastic frames cannot be tightly bonded by riveting. As a result, the metal covers are likely to loosen and become separated from the package. Moreover, the riveting process may deform the metal covers, and the mechanical strength of the package formed by riveting is poor.
An improvement for the package method applies high temperature adhesive on the internal surface of a metal cover. In a package process, the metal cover is heated to over 80xc2x0 C. to melt the adhesive for attachment of the metal cover with a plastic frame thereon, and then two metal covers with each a plastic frame thereon are riveted to encapsulate a PCB therebetween after a cooling process to confirm the adhesives between the metal covers and plastic frames. The prior art requires heating and cooling processes, which is somewhat bothersome and time-consuming. In addition, possibilities are inherent that the attached plastic frame on the metal cover may be dropped from the cover during the riveting process, thus poor performance is still employed.
Further improved package structure and method are proposed respectively in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,397,857, 5,475,919, and 5,490,891, by which a metal cover is positioned in a mold to be directly bonded with a plastic frame with an injection molding such that a half case is formed, and then a package is completed with two half cases by combining the plastic frames respectively on the two half cases together by sonic welding. Such package offers better mechanical strength and simpler manufacture process than prior arts, while in payment of higher technique and more cost for material and manufacture. At first, the metal cover has to be formed with hooks or curved fingers on each sides to be embedded into the plastic frame during direct injection molding, so as to be firmly bonded itself with the plastic frame. For the formation of such hooks or fingers on each side of a metal cover, a longer metal plate enough for the length of the hooks or fingers is used and bent many times. Therefore, the manufacture process of the metal cover is more time-consuming, complex, and difficult, cost for material and manufacture is also more, tools to be used in the process are larger, and there is more attrition to the tools. In addition, the precision requirement for the metal cover to be positioned in the mold with the plastic frame injection molded thereon is critical and strict. Further, in order for electrical connection between two metal covers by contact with each other and welded combination of two plastic frames respectively on the covers at the same time, the precision requirement for the metal cover is more critical and strict. Also, molds with high precision for such metal covers and plastic frames are very expensive, which thus increases the manufacture cost. Finally, each time only one metal cover can be enclosed within the cavity of a mold for injection molding with such prior arts. In this manner, a mold can injection-mold only one plastic frame each time, which is adverse to mass production. Therefore, it is desired alternative approach or improvement on package structure and method for a card.
One object of the present invention is to provide a package structure and method for a card advantageous to manufacture process, time, cost, and reliability. According to the present invention, a package structure and method for a card comprises respective attachment of first and second conductive covers each having a vertical piece extending on one side thereof with first lateral surface of first and second plastic frames in use of a low temperature adhesive therebetween to form first and second half cases, and combination of the first and second half cases with insertion of another adhesive or sonic welding between second lateral surfaces of the first and second plastic frames. Preferably, one welding line is formed or one chemical is applied on one or both of the second lateral surfaces of the first and second plastic frames in order for sonic welding of the first and second plastic frames. Alternatively, one adhesive area is formed along and deep into one or both of the second lateral surfaces of the first and second plastic frames in order for adhesion of the first and second plastic frames with the another adhesive.
Further to the first and second lateral surfaces, the plastic frame has an outer surface preferably formed with a recess to accommodate the vertical piece of the conductive cover, by which the outer surface of the vertical piece is not lower than the outer surface of the plastic frame. An adhesive area is formed preferably deep into the plastic frame to be coated with the low temperature adhesive in order for the attachment of the conductive cover.
Each of the first and second plastic frames is further formed with a trench or through hole for clamping a conductive piece, preferably with a hook shape, in contact with the conductive cover and the other conductive piece on the other plastic frame.
Preferably, the second lateral surfaces of the first and second plastic frames have corresponding positioning holes and heads so as to bond the plastic frames together. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates generally to orthodontic and dental devices and systems and methods for making same. More specifically, the invention relates to guide apparatus, systems and methods for making tooth positioning appliances.
Orthodontic treatments involve repositioning misaligned teeth and improving bite configurations for improved cosmetic appearance and dental function. Repositioning teeth is accomplished by applying controlled forces to the teeth over an extended period of time. This is conventionally accomplished by wearing what are commonly referred to as “braces.” Braces comprise a variety of appliances such as brackets, bands, archwires, ligatures, and O-rings. The brackets and bands are bonded to the patient's teeth using a suitable material, such as dental adhesive. Once the adhesive has set, the archwire is attached to the brackets by way of slots in the brackets. The archwire links the brackets together and exerts forces on them to move the teeth over time. Twisted wires or elastomeric O-rings are commonly used to reinforce attachment of the archwire to the brackets. Attachment of the archwire to the brackets is known in the art of orthodontia as “ligation” and wires used in this procedure are called “ligatures.” The elastomeric O-rings are called “ties.”
After the archwire is in place, periodic meetings with the orthodontist are required, during which the patient's braces are adjusted. Such adjustments include installing and bending different archwires having different force-inducing properties and replacing or tightening existing ligatures. Between orthodontic appointments, the patient may be required to wear supplemental appliances, such as elastic bands or headgear, to supply additional or extraoral forces.
Although conventional braces are effective, they are often a tedious and time consuming process requiring many visits to the orthodontist's office. Moreover, from a patient's perspective, they are unsightly and uncomfortable. Moreover, the archwire and ligatures which connect the brackets in a continuous network make brushing, flossing between the teeth and other dental hygiene procedures challenging, possibly contributing to the development of gingivitis, enamel decalcification and/or decay. Consequently, alternative orthodontic treatments are needed. In particular, it would be desirable to use appliances which can be removed by the patient during daily dental hygiene routines, while participating in athletic activities, or for cosmetic purposes.
A particularly promising approach relies on the use of elastic positioning appliances for realigning teeth. Such appliances comprise a thin shell of elastic material that generally conforms to a patient's teeth but is slightly out of alignment with the initial tooth configuration. Placement of the elastic positioner over the teeth applies controlled forces in specific locations to gradually move the teeth into the new configuration. Repetition of this process with successive appliances comprising new configurations eventually moves the teeth through a series of intermediate configurations to a final desired configuration. Various systems, methods and apparatus for moving teeth with such appliances are described in numerous patents assigned to the assignee of the present application, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,975,893; 6,183,248; 6,210,162; 6,217,325; 6,227,851; 6,227,850; 6,299,440; 6,309,215; 6,318,994; 6,371,761; 6,386,864; 6,386,878; 6,390,812; D457,638S; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,394,801; 6,398,548; 6,406,292; 6,409,504; 6,450,807; 6,454,565; 6,457,972; 6,463,344; 6,471,511; 6,485,298; 6,488,499; 6,497,574; 6,499,997; 6,514,074; 6,524,101; 6,554,611; 6,572,372; 6,582,227; 6,582,229; 6,602,070; 6,607,382; 6,621,491; 6,626,666; 6,629,840; 6,633,789; 6,665,570; 6,682,346; 6,685,469; 6,685,470; 6,688,886; 6,699,037; 6,705,861; 6,705,863; 6,722,880; 6,726,478; 6,729,876; 6,761,560; 6,767,208; 6,783,360; 6,783,604; 6,786,721; 6,790,035; 6,802,713; 6,814,574; and 6,830,450; all of which are incorporated herein by reference and are referred to below as “the incorporated references.”
One method for manufacturing tooth positioning appliances, described more fully in the incorporated references, involves taking an impression of the patient's teeth, scanning the impression to provide an initial digital data set representing the teeth in their pre-treatment positions, manipulating the digital data to provide intermediate and final digital data sets representing treatment positions for moving the teeth, using the data sets to create positive molds of the appliances, and making appliances as negatives of the positive molds. Variations of such methods may involve directly scanning the patient's teeth, creating a solid model of the teeth and scanning the model, manipulating such a solid model, and many other variations described in the incorporated references. In some techniques, the positive molds are created using a rapid prototyping method, such as stereolithography. Appliances are then made by thermoforming or otherwise forming a plastic material over the molds and separating and trimming the plastic to produce the appliances. Although such manufacturing methods work quite well and are often optimal for producing tooth moving appliances, alternative manufacturing methods that may be more efficient, less expensive, require less material or manual input and the like are continually being sought.
One alternative method for making tooth moving appliances involves first forming a physical, three-dimensional model of the patient's upper or lower teeth. One or more of the teeth are then separated from the model, such as by cutting, and moved to a desired intermediate or final position on the model. The moved tooth or teeth are then secured in place on the model in its/their new positions, and a plastic or similar material is formed over the model with the moved teeth. The formed plastic is then trimmed and removed from the model to produce an appliance. One or more teeth can then be separated from the model again, moved to new positions and secured, and a second appliance may be formed over the model. This can be repeated to form as many appliances, or sets of upper and lower appliances, as desired. In an alternative version, the model may be manipulated to a first configuration, a copy of the model may be made, and an appliance may be made from the copy. The original model may be moved to a second configuration, a copy made, and a second appliance made, and so on. One advantage of such methods is that an inexpensive material, such as dental plaster, may be used to form the model (or models) of the patient's teeth, and such a material and process will typically be less expensive than certain rapid prototyping processes, such as stereolithography, which produces a separate positive mold of hardened resin for each appliance to be manufactured. Such methods of manually manipulating a solid model have inherent drawbacks, however, in that the teeth separated from the model are placed in their new positions on the model by hand and by approximation. These manipulations require a great deal of skill and experience, which may lead to suboptimal results for the patient and may also make mass production of appliances very difficult, if not impossible.
Therefore, it would be desirable to develop alternative methods, systems and apparatus for manipulating physical tooth models and for making tooth moving appliances. Such methods, systems and apparatus would ideally provide for precision in model manipulation and, thus, in production of appliances. Such methods, systems and apparatus would also ideally provide for appliance manufacture at reduced cost as compared to currently available, more precise methods. For example, such methods, systems and apparatus may require less material or human input. At least some of these objectives will be met by the present invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light-emitting device comprising a light source which emits light having a plurality of colors, a display apparatus using the light-emitting device, and a read apparatus using the light-emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been conventionally known that, in some types of transmissive liquid crystal which employ a backlight including a side light, and reflective liquid crystals which employ a front light, a light-emitting device, which includes a white cold cathode fluorescent tube or a white light-emitting diode (LED) as a light source, is mounted as a back light or a front light for display. Particularly, many types of cellular phones which have rapidly become popular recently-employ a white LED.
However, a light source using a white cold cathode fluorescent tube and a white LED have a problem that white point and luminance characteristics vary largely depending on changes in temperature characteristics and changes over time. In order to solve this problem, the following two methods have been proposed, for example.
The first method is effective in the case where multiple types of light sources emitting light of different colors are switched by a time-division to provide a white light source. As described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 10-49074, for example, light sources of respective colors are monitored by an optical sensor and changes in amounts of light are fed back to respective light sources for emitting white light.
The second method is effective for the case where multiple types of light sources emitting light of different colors are made to emit light at the same time to provide a white light source. As described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 11-295689, light sources of respective colors are monitored by an optical sensor and changes in amounts of light are fed back to respective light sources so as to have an equal value as a certain predetermined value for emitting white light.
General examples of light-emitting operations of light sources for allowing the multiple types of light sources to emit light at the same time and the colors of emitted light to be mixed for providing white color in the second method mentioned above are shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The multiple types of the light sources are, for example, a red LED, a green LED, and a blue LED Methods for controlling a light-emitting operation of the light sources are roughly divided into two types: a pulse width control method shown in FIG. 12; and a current value control method shown in FIG. 13. A method which combines these two methods is also possible.
FIGS. 12(a), (b) and (a) are graphs which respectively show the performance of pulse width control of current values flowing through the red, green and blue light sources, with the horizontal axes indicating time and the vertical axes indicating current value. By performing pulse width control of the emission intensities of the light sources, i.e., by controlling the time lengths of the light emitted by the light sources while the emission intensities of the light sources are maintained constant, apparent light emission intensities change. For example, in order to increase the apparent light emission intensities, the light emitting time of the light sources is lengthened. In order to reduce the apparent emission Intensities, the light emitting time of the light sources is shortened. In this way, the apparent light intensities of the light sources are controlled by adjusting the length of time while light is emitted and the length of time while light is not emitted.
Taking the light-emitting operation of the red light source as shown in FIG. 12(a) as a standard, the green light source as shown in FIG. 12(b) emits light for a period of time shorter than that of the red light source in the first cycle. In the next cycle, the green light source emits the light for a further shorter time to reduce the apparent emission intensities. The blue light source as shown in FIG. 12(c) emits light for a period of time longer than the red light source. In the next cycle, the blue light source emits light for further longer time to increase the apparent emission intensities.
As described above, in the pulse width control method, the light-emitting time of the light sources are controlled at a predetermined frequency while the values of the current flowing through the light sources are maintained constant. The frequency should be set to a cycle which is not perceived by the eyes of a human, for example, 60 Hz or higher. If the frequency is set too high, the cost for the driving circuit increases. Thus, generally the frequency is set to about 200 Hz.
Similarly to FIG. 12. FIGS. 13(a), (b) and (a) are graphs which respectively show sequentially changing current values flowing through the red, green and blue light sources, with the horizontal axes indicating the time and the vertical axes indicating the current values. In this case, by sequentially changing the amount of the current flowing through the light sources over time, the emission intensities of the light sources is controlled. In order to increase the emission intensities, the current value is increased. In order to reduce the emission intensities, the current value is reduced. For example, in the red light source as shown in FIG. 13(a), the emission intensity is increased by increasing the current values flowing through the red light source. In the green light source as shown in FIG. 13(b), the emission intensity is reduced by reducing the current values. As shown in FIG. 13(c), the emission intensity may be maintained constant by allowing a current which is constant in terms of time to flow.
The first and the second methods described above have the following problems. First, the time-division switching method described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 10-49074 has an advantage that the emission intensities of the light sources can be monitored by a single type optical sensor, but the method has a critical problem that it is effective for only the time-division method, in which light sources are turned on one type at a time in turn, and it cannot be applied to a method other than the time-division method.
Further, the simultaneous light-emitting method described in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 11-295689 has a problem that the cost is high because a color separation filter is necessary in addition to three types of optical sensor corresponding to the red, green, and blue light sources, and a problem that control of the emission intensities becomes inaccurate due to a variance in optical sensor outputs because three types of optical sensor cannot be located at the same place.
Further, although it is desirable that the backlight emits light uniformly across its entire surface, it is difficult to actually emit light in a uniform manner. Thus, uneven luminance is usually generated. It is also a concern that, when three types of the light sources, i.e., a red light source, a green light source, and a blue light source are used instead of a light source emitting white light, uneven color may be generated because the colors of the light from the light sources are not perfectly mixed. In the case where such uneven luminance or uneven color is generated, variance may be a problem depending on where the display apparatus is located. | {
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Angiogenesis is a biological process of supplying new blood vessels to tissue or organ, and more particularly, means the formation of new capillary blood vessels from pre-existing capillary blood vessels, which is a basic process of forming blood vessels in a body after growth. The process of forming new blood vessels is a significantly complicated and delicate procedure, and is briefly described as follows. First, when a stimulus for angiogenesis is transmitted to the pre-existing blood vessels, the vessels are expanded and blood vessel permeability is increased. Second, fibrin is released to the outside of the vessel through the expanded vessel to be deposited in a cytoplasmic matrix around the vessel. Third, enzymes for degrading a basement membrane of pre-existing vessels are activated, the basement membranes are degraded, and endothelial cells are released between the degraded basements to be proliferated in matrix of neighboring cells and migrated. Finally, endothelial cells arranged in a row form shape of a vessel, such that a new blood vessel is generated (Risau, W. (1997) Nature: 386 671-674).
The process of angiogenesis is strictly regulated by various negative and positive regulators (Folkman and Cotran., Int. Rev. Exp. Patho., 16, 207˜248, 1976). When angiogenesis is abnormally regulated, various diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic retinopathy, or the like, occur. Particularly, in the case in which this pathological angiogenesis is generated in retina, the angiogenesis causes retinal edema, retinal or vitreous hemorrhage, and finally traction retinal detachment. In addition, the angiogenesis in the retina becomes a major cause of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (Aiello L P, et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 1994, 331, 1480-1487).
Recently, nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used for industrial and biomedical objects. Particularly, the nanoparticles have been suggested as a selective drug delivery system (P. S. Ghosh, C. K Kim, G. Han, N. S. Forbes, V. M. Rotello, ACS Nano 2008, 2, 2213.) and a potential antibacterial drug against bacterial infection (K. Y. Yoon, J. H. Byeon, J. H. Park, J. Hwang, Sci. Total. Environ. 2007, 373:572.). In addition, it was reported that gold or silver nanoparticles inhibit the angiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and researches into development of an angiogenesis inhibitor using the nanoparticle have been conducted. However, in order to use the nanoparticle in treatment, careful evaluation of toxicity of the nanoparticle and effort to minimize the toxicity are necessarily required. That is, development of a nanoparticle therapeutic agent of excellent effect and low toxicity has been requested.
Therefore, the present inventors discovered that inorganic nanoparticles selected from titanium oxide nanoparticles or silica nanoparticles have anti-angiogenic effect at a concentration at which the nanoparticles do not have the toxicity, and completed the present invention. | {
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Universal joints are well known devices that provide a driving connection between two shafts adapted to rotate about non-aligned axes of rotation. Universal joints have wide industrial application, and are widely used between rotatable drive shaft sections in vehicle drive train systems, steering systems, etc. One type of universal joint commonly used today is the Cardan universal joint. A Cardan universal joint is classified as a non-constant velocity type of universal joint because the instantaneous angular velocities of the driving shaft and the driven shaft will vary with the angle of rotation (although the average angular velocities for a complete revolution are equal).
A double Cardan universal joint is a near-constant velocity universal joint that is used to correct some of the deficiencies in a single Cardan universal joint. A typical double Cardan universal joint is essentially formed by two single Cardan universal joints that are connected by a unitary coupling yoke having a supporting and centering mechanism. While in wide use today, double Cardan universal joints still suffer from many drawbacks as they do not attain constant velocity and cannot provide for high angles (up to 90 degrees) between the input and output shaft. | {
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Cable communication systems typically use a cable modem termination system (CMTS) in communication with a plurality of cable modems. The CMTS forms the interface to an Internet protocol (IP)-based network over the Internet. The CMTS modulates the data from the Internet for transmission to cable modems (e.g., homes, mobile devices, and offices) and receives the upstream data from the cable modems. The CMTS also manages load balancing and error correction. In these existing systems, for data to be transmitted from one cable modem to another, the data is first transmitted from one cable modem to the CMTS, and then from the CMTS to the second cable modem.
DOCSIS 3.1 uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) for data transmission. OFDM is a complex modulation method that uses a number of narrowband subcarriers (up to 8,192). All subcarriers are transmitted simultaneously. The set of simultaneously-transmitted subcarriers is called an OFDM symbol. Between OFDM symbols, a guard interval or cyclic prefix is used to prevent inter-signal interference during transmission and therefore prevents a loss of data.
Compared to fourth-generation (4G) cellular networks, 5G networks use smaller cells with higher bandwidth and lower latency. Accordingly, methods that communicate data between cells of a 4G network may be unable to handle the larger number of cells of a 5G network, especially while attempting to meet the higher bandwidth and lower latency requirements of 5G. Additionally, since the 5G cells are smaller, the percentage of mobile connections that will be near the edge of a cell or in overlapping cells is higher when compared to 4G. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to MOSFET sensors, filters and nanostructures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A problem with many conventional nano-sized chemical sensors is that they do not have a high specificity for particular chemical species to be detected. For example, MOSFETs, or more precisely, ISFETs (Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistors), may be provided with porous gates to allow the environmental gases to arrive at the gate/dielectric interface and modify the threshold voltage and current voltage character. In fact, these ISFETs are often quite sensitive to gaseous ambients of different types. However, the electrical behavior of the ISFET does not generally allow different gases to be distinguished from each other, especially when there are several gases present in the environment simultaneously.
Similar to the problems faced in producing high specificity nano-sized chemical sensors, there is also currently no good way to produce very high flow-through nano-sized reaction chambers or chemical filters having a high degree of chemical specificity. For example, people having an oxygen deficiency often carry around a bulky oxygen tank which must be refilled on a regular basis. A lightweight active filter that allowed the passage of oxygen and very little nitrogen and larger dust and pollen particles would be a significant adjunct to the quality of life for many people
The present methods of electron beam lithography being developed at great expense may reach an ultimate minimum dimension of about 35 nm, which is indeed a large improvement over the 180 nm now being produced in the IC business. One of the best developed methods in this family is called SCALPEL (SCattering with Angular Limitation Projection Electron-beam Lithography). This system requires magnetic lenses, very thin masks, difficult mask alignment tools, and is quite complex. It appears to have significant promise in high throughput lithography for minimum dimensions down to about 35 nm, but not for smaller dimensions. A simple contact mask for e-beam lithography producing dimensions in the range of 1 to 5 nm would be of major benefit for a wide range of applications. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention involves a process for manufacture of a triboelectrically charged nonwoven material and its application.
2. Description of Related Art
Such filter media are composed of a fiber blend comprising at least two different fiber polymers, which are so different in the electro-negativity of their surface that they are provided with electrostatic charges during web manufacture through carding and through the subsequent bonding by means of a mechanical needle process. Such media have already been described in documents EP 0 246 811 and EP 0 674 933 and are widely used as so-called xe2x80x9ctriboelectrically charged electret filtersxe2x80x9d for aerosol filtration purposes.
In order to produce filter media on the basis of these processes, the fiber finish must be washed off the fibers prior to carding, and all the antistatically active constituents as wall as auxiliary agents, which normally ensure a good workability of the fibers on carding machines, must be removed.
However, this entails certain drawbacks like a significantly poorer workability of the washed fiber blend compared with standard fibers coated with fiber finish, and it has been impossible so far to produce xe2x80x9ctriboelectrically charged electret filtersxe2x80x9d on the basis of fine fibers (mean fiber titer xe2x89xa61.7 dtex).
Problems arise particularly when the web is manufactured in accordance with document EP 0 246 811 using a carding engine. A comb, permitting to separate the web from the card and to transfer it on to a conveyor, is used as a card doffer system of the card cylinder. Although strong electrical charges are repeatedly released on the card doffer as a result of the combing mechanism, thus resulting in frequent failures of the fleece stacker plate, this technology has prevailed over the usual roll doffer system.
Web bonding has been performed by mechanical needling on the basis of the processes described so far. On webs exhibiting a higher mass per unit area, proper bonding is achieved by mechanical fiber interlacing, even if the needles leave unwanted channels, thus reducing the filtering efficiency of the nonwoven material.
With webs featuring a low mass per unit area, the needling technology is unable, however, to achieve proper bonding properties. If the mass per unit area falls below 100 g/m2, the thin web will offer the needles only a weak resistance, and it will therefore be difficult to interface the fibers in such a way that they trigger a sufficiently high force flow of the fibers.
This is why the needling technology process can produce light xe2x80x9ctriboelectrically charged electret filtersxe2x80x9d (mass per unit area less than 50 g/m2 only if it is reinforced by a carrier which will offer a sufficient resistance during the needling process of the loose web fibers.
Carrier materials are usually lightweight fabrics, scrims and nonwovens (preferably spunbonded nonwovens). Although these media only provide a negligible contribution to the filtration of fine aerosols, they are primarily used to establish a connection between the web and the carrier, and to meet the minimum requirements in terms of tensile strength for this nonwoven material.
The disadvantages inherent to the use of carriers are the costs involved as well as a poorer porosity of the filter media.
Even if lightweight webs can sufficiently be bonded by using a carrier material on the basis of the processes described here, the regularity of the web structure (fiber distribution) remains unsatisfactory. When using standard fiber blends of 2 to 3 dtex and applying cross-laying technology, the web already presents an open and uneven aspect as a result of the coarse fibers and matting technology applied because cross-laying technology causes the web to be deposited with a V-shape on to the feeding device leading to the bonding unit, and creates therefore corresponding nonhomogeneity inside the fleece. Moreover, the irregularities are intensified by the mechanical needling process, as the needles cause entire sections of the web to be shifted, thus forming larger perforations.
However, an irregular web structure is inappropriate for filter applications because an uneven fiber distribution or even perforations strongly affect the filtering efficiency.
The low density of lightweight triboelectrically charged nonwovens appeared to be a further drawback. In connection with heavy needlefelts, a density of 0.25 g/cm3 can be achieved only by means of mechanical needling. However, this value is strongly reduced if webs of less than 10 m/m2 are bonded by means of needle technological means. In this case, the fibers will form large loops on both surfaces and produce voluminous nonwovens with a density of 0.03-0.07 g/cm3.
The low density of lightweight triboelectrically charged needlefelts poses no problems as long as they are used in a plane shape. Should they however be arranged inside filter components, a maximum of filtration area will have to be efficiently accommodated within a limited space. In such cases, voluminous media are at a serious disadvantage as compared with thinner products.
It is an object of the invention to provide a process for the manufacture of lightweight triboelectrically charged nonwovens and their applications.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by drying a fiber blend consisting of polyacrylnitrile fibers with a titer of xe2x89xa61.7 dtex and of polyolefine fibers with a titer of xe2x89xa61.7 dtex, freed from lubricating and antistatic agents, down to a moisture content of less than 1% by weight, and by carding it into a triboelectrically charged web featuring a mass per unit area of 15-80 g/m2 on a longitudinal or randomizing card. In this case, the web is taken off by two simultaneously running rolls and a transfer roll, thus causing the web to be deposited in machine direction on to a conveyor, and the bonding procedure takes place directly inside a bonding unit, the unbonded web being forwarded via 1 to 3 points of transfer only.
The use of a longitudinal or randomizing card and the laying of the web in carding direction make it possible to prevent the fleece from being distorted in the cross lapper and the weight from fluctuating as a result of the V-shaped depositing plate.
The usual systems incorporating a comb or a doffer roll exhibiting a small diameter are not selected for separating the web from the carding engine, but a roll doffer system equipped with two simultaneously running rolls featuring a larger diameter ( greater than 200 mm), the first one acting as a compacting roll and the second one as a doffer roll, plus a fluted transfer roll. It is surprising to observe that this doffer system made it possible to card finely titered fiber blends with a high fleece regularity as well, and to place them on to the depositing belt.
In order to prevent the carded web from being elongated in machine direction after being laid down on the conveyor belt, it is necessary to opt for a short distance between the card and the bonding unit, and there must be only a minimum number of points of transfer between the card and the bonding unit. Ideally, a continuous conveyor belt should guide the web directly from the card to the bonding unit.
The best results are attained through bonding operations based on a water-jet needling process making it possible to bond lightweight and finely titered triboelectrically charged webs properly, without affecting significantly the structure of the web.
Benefits are also provided, as an alternative, by grid-shaped thermal bonding of the web by means of an ultrasonic calendering machine or by using heated calender rolls.
The bonding processes, water-jet needling procedures and thermal grid-shaped bonding operations involved in the present invention provide not only the benefit of preventing the destruction or perforation of the web as a result of the bonding process, but also the advantage of producing a more compacted nonwoven material.
Nonwovens manufactured in this way are thinner than equivalent mechanically needled products with the same mass per area unit, and they can therefore be mounted easily into filter components (in a pleated form, for example).
With regard to the grid-shaped thermal bonding process, preference is given to processes which will lead to a minimum compacting as well as minimum thermal stresses of the web. Grid-shaped bonding involving the ultrasonic calender engine is particularly suited for this purpose, but other types of grid-shaped bonding processes may be applied by means of heated calender rolls. In order to achieve the highest possible porosity, a bonding area ranging from 6% to 30% should be selected for the nonwoven to feature a minimum strength of 4 N for a 50 mm wide tearing strip, so as to meet the requirements involved in handling and use.
As a rule, it is not advisable for any type of bonding to meet the stringent strength and rigidity requirements by increasing the mass per area unit or the bonding area of the triboelectrical nonwoven material.
Greater benefits are brought by the use of blends incorporating polypropylene and polyethylene fibers or core sheath fibers as polyolefine fibers, the constituents with a lower melting point acting as binding fibers. Higher strength values are achieved through the use of fibers acting as binding fibers.
Greater benefits are also provided when laminating the triboelectrically charged nonwoven produced by the present invention together with other fabrics (like grid structures, fabrics, papers, nonwovens, etc.) triggering reinforcing effects.
One advantage of the triboelectrically charged nonwoven based on the present invention is the manufacture of a multilayer filter medium, the triboelectrically charged nonwoven being preceded by a prefiltering layer made of spunbonded or drylaid nonwoven material on the primary-air side, and followed by a fine-filter layer made of a microfiber fleece and/or filter paper on the clean-air side.
The arrangement of a highly porous filter layer at primary-air end makes it possible to prevent the layer made of triboelectrically charged fibers from being clogged at an early stage, and to extend the service life of the filter medium, which is manufactured with the triboelectrically charged nonwoven based on the present invention.
The nonwovens produced on the basis of this invention bring particularly valuable advantages in applications calling for a high filter efficiency within a limited space for installation of the filter component. Filter cassettes or cartridges incorporating zigzag-shaped pleated filter media are manufactured for small-size ambient-air purification appliances, such as car interior filters or engine intake-air filters, which provide filter-related advantages when using the lightweight triboelectrically charged microfiber nonwovens. Such nonwovens are laminated together with a reinforcing nonwoven, e.g. a plastic grid or a paper, to provide them with an appropriate rigidity for pleating purposes.
The nonwovens based on the present invention ran also be successfully used as filter media for vacuum-cleaner bags. For such applications, they are produced as a laminated material together with filter papers, spunbonded nonwovens and/or microfiber nonwovens. The use of triboelectrically charged nonwovens as vacuum-cleaner bags provides the following benefits.
As highly efficient electret filters, they enhance significantly the filtering performance of customary filter media (especially filter papers). If triboelectrically charged nonwovens are arranged upstream of the paper layer in flow direction, they are also in a position to protect the paper layer against fine dust and, therefore, to improve the constancy of the vacuum-cleaner""s suction performance. As laminated materials with papers, they can be pleated easily thanks to their low thickness, and processed into filter bags by means of inexpensive self-opening bag machinery.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the following Examples 1 to 3: | {
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Cellular aging, especially the aging of skin cells, has been extensively studied. One of the most important factors in cellular aging is the formation and accumulation of free radicals within cells. Cellular aging is usually fought by protecting the skin by blocking mechanisms against UVA/UVB radiation and against reactive oxygen species (ROS) or oxygen free radicals, which are generated by exposure to sunlight and oxygen, their formation being catalyzed by pollutants and enhanced by the presence of traces of ozone. An important group of free radicals are the Reactive Carbonyl Species (RCS) generated in oxidative biological processes such as lipid peroxidation, which are one of the factors involved in accelerated skin aging, skin aging by UV radiation and erythema of the skin. In the context of this invention, the term “aging” refers to changes in the skin that occur with age (chronoaging) or sun exposure (photoaging) or environmental agents such as tobacco smoke, extreme cold conditions of weather or wind, chemical pollutants or pollution, and includes all external visible changes as well as those perceptible by touch, for example and without limitation thereto, the development of discontinuities in skin such as wrinkles, fine lines, cracks, irregularities or roughness, enlarged pores, loss of elasticity, loss of firmness, loss of smoothness, loss of recovery from deformation, sagging of the skin such as sagging of the cheeks, the appearance of bags under the eyes or the appearance of jowls, inter alia, changes in skin color such as spots, redness, dark circles, bags under the eyes or the emergence of hyperpigmented areas such as age spots or freckles, inter alia, abnormal differentiation, hypercornification, elastosis, keratosis, hair loss, appearance of orange-peel skin or cellulite, loss of the structure of collagen and other histological changes of the stratum corneum, the dermis, the epidermis, the vascular system, such as the emergence of spider veins or telangiectasia, or of the tissues close to the skin, inter alia.
At molecular level, the RCS are responsible for, among other processes, for DNA damage, degradation of proteasomes and alteration of intra and extracellular proteins [Degenhardt T P, Brinkmann-Frye S R, Thorpe S R and Baynes J. W. (1998) in The Mailard Reaction in Foods and Medicine, J. O'Brien, Nursten H E, Crabbe M J C and Ames J M, eds, pp 3-10, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK]. These species include unsaturated aldehydes and the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the form of α aldehyde, β-unsaturated, harmful and toxic cells. Aldehydes are also formed in glycation reactions, and by the influence of different pollutants. Some of the major aldehydes formed by lipid peroxidation are malondialdehyde (MDA), acrolein, 4-hydroxy 2-nonenal (HNE), 2-nonenal (NE), glyoxal and methylglyoxal, formed by the influence of different pollutants, formaldehyde, acrolein and crotonaldehyde. These aldehydes, due to their electrophilic nature, are highly reactive with cellular nucleophiles such as glutathione, protein side chains of cysteine, lysine and histidine, and nucleic acids [Liu Q, Raina A K, Smith M A, Sayre L M and Perry G. (2003) “Hydroxynonenal, toxic carbonyls, and Alzheimer disease” Mol. Aspects Med 24:305-313]. These aldehydes not only degrade key components such as cellular DNA, but their effect is compounded because the proteins involved in the endogenous DNA repair mechanisms are also damaged, losing their functionality.
In particular, HNE is a metastable species, present in relatively high concentrations in biological tissues, which can easily spread from their place of origin and thus can propagate oxidative damage by acting as a secondary toxic messenger [Uchida K., Shiraishi M., Naito Y, Torii Y, Nakamura Y. and Osawa T. (1999) “Activation of stress signaling pathways by the end product of lipid peroxidation. 4-hydroxynonenal is a potential inducer of intracellular peroxide production “J. Biol Chem 274:2234-2242]. Acrolein, in turn, is an unwanted and unstable byproduct caused by overheated organic matter, and is present as a contaminant in the environment, for instance formed by the incomplete combustion of plastic and consumption of tobacco [Uchida K., Kanematsu M., Morimitsu Y, Osawa T., Noguchi N. and Niki E. (1998) “Acrolein is a product of lipid peroxidation reaction. Formation of free acrolein and its conjugate with lysine residues in oxidized low density lipoproteins, “J. Biol Chem 273:16058-16066]. In the natural protection mechanisms of cells the RCS are captured by certain scavenger substances in cells, such as glutathione, in order to avoid toxic or harmful effects on the cell, specifically damage to proteins and to cellular DNA. However, this scavenging of RCS cells by natural mechanisms does not occur properly when the cell is subjected to UV radiation; this circumstance is common, for example, in dermal cells. This alteration of the natural protection mechanisms also involves a decrease in the efficacy of DNA repair mechanisms, because the proteins involved in repair processes are damaged. Therefore, there is a need to assist the scavenging of the RCS in cells exposed to UV radiation. In this sense, the administration of sequestering substances has been suggested, in order to help catch these RCS to prevent degradation of cell proteins and DNA, essential components for cellular viability, as well as to enhance the efficacy of the DNA repair mechanisms. The scavenging will therefore reduce, delay and/or prevent symptoms of aging and/or photoaging.
A secondary effect of the treatment of cellulite with lipolytic agents is the rapid generation of fatty acid oxidation which ends up producing an increase in skin RCS. The toxic effect of these RCS causes premature aging of the treated skin, with a loss of elasticity that involves a persistent orange-peel appearance of the cellulite-affected area despite treatment. In this sense, the administration of sequestering substances has been suggested, in order to help scavenging these RCS to prevent their toxic or harmful effects. This scavenging will, therefore, improve the appearance of cellulite-affected skin and help prevent and/or treat cellulite.
There are several studies on the administration of certain substances with regard to their ability to scavenge RCS in cells, especially of carnosine and glycyl-histidyl-lysine (GHK) tripeptide. Carnosine has demonstrated an acceptable scavenging efficiency for two aldehydes, HNE and acrolein. However, carnosine has the drawback of being extremely labile to enzymatic action of specific enzymes such as carnosine [Pegova A., Abe H. and Boldyrev A. (2000) “Hydrolysis of carnosine and related compounds by mammalian carnosine” Comp. Biochem. Physiol. B. Biochem. Mol. Bio. 127:443-446]. Moreover, one of the direct decomposition products of carnosine is histidine, which can easily turn into histamine in the body and which is involved in allergic processes.
With regard to GHK tripeptide, some of its applications in its form of complexes with metals, especially copper, have been described. Thus it has been found that such complexes are involved in the regeneration and repair of some types of tissues in mammals, especially in the sense of accelerating wound repair, increasing re-epithelialization of the skin, increasing skin thickness, increasing the subcutaneous fat layer, increasing the size of hair follicles, curing stomach ulcers, etc. Its RCS scavenging efficiency has also been described, as well as the inhibition of cell death induced by exposure to RCS [Cebrian J., Messeguer A., Facino R M and Garcia Anton J. M. (2005) “New anti-RNS and-RCS products for cosmetic treatment” Int J. Cosmet. Sci 27:271-278], and its benefit as an adjunct in the treatment and/or prevention of cellulite [EP1611898 B1 Lipotec]. However, the chemical stability of tripeptide is low, rapidly degrading in solution, which requires an active stabilization protocol in cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations.
Therefore, there is a need to find new RCS scavengers more stable than carnosine and GHK.
Body Odor
The nature of the odor emitted by the human body is influenced not only by endogenous factors such as genetic makeup or the pathologies presented by the human body, but also by factors such as lifestyle, food intake, smoking and bathing frequency [Labows J N (1979) “Human odors” Perf. 4:12-17 flavor, Senol M. and Fireman P. (1999) “Body odor in dermatologic diagnosis” Cutis 63:107-111]. Components of the scent given off by the human body have been identified, mostly volatile aldehydes formed from fatty acids and their esters secreted by various human organs and/or cells. The components of body odor are not constant throughout the different stages of life. Specifically, the smell of people of middle and advanced age is due mostly to aldehydes of unsaturated fatty acids such as 2-nonenal or 2-octenal, formed from 9-hexacedenoic acid, which is found primarily in the sebaceous secretions of people of middle and advanced age and is responsible for the unpleasant, fatty and rancid body odor that is associated with aging [S. Haze, Y. Gozu, S. Nakamura, Y. Kohno, K. Sawano, H. Ohta and K. Yamazaki (2001) “2-Nonenal newly found in human body odor tends to increase with aging,” J. Invest. Dermatol. 116:520-524]. These α and β unsaturated aldehydes are Reactive Carbonyl Species (RCS) generated in the fat and skin during the process of lipid peroxidation incurred by fatty acids in situations of oxidative stress.
The cosmetics industry has employed various strategies for mitigating this odor, which are based on masking body odor with a fragrance or perfume or employing physical absorbents to prevent the dispersal of the scent. Neither of these strategies solves the problem of body odor as they do not inhibit the formation of odor per se and furthermore entail that, collaterally, the use of perfumes generates more aggressive odors when the different aromatic compounds are mixed or that the use of absorbents such as cyclodextrins or charcoal does not yield immediate results. A different strategy is based on inhibition of the generation of body odor and involves the use of antioxidants and/or antibacterial agents. These agents are effective in inhibiting the generation of odor, but it is known that their continued use can cause allergies.
Thus, there is a need for new substances capable of inhibiting body odor, specifically body odor caused by the generation of RCS and associated with aging. Patent application DE 102 37 458 A1 describes the use of carnosine as an inhibitor of body odor caused by the generation of RCS. Patent EP 0 955 035 B1 describes the use of antioxidants, lipoxygenase inhibitors and/or antibacterial agents with substances capable of masking body odor caused by the generation of RCS. Patent application JP 2001254274 A describes tissues functionalized with agents for inhibiting body odor caused by RCS. U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,862 B1 describes the use of trehalose and/or maltitol as agents for inhibiting body odor caused by the generation of RCS. GHK tripeptide and carnosine and their derivatives are the only peptides able to scavenge RCS and thus are potent anti-aging agents and inhibitors of body odor. However, these two peptides have the stability problems mentioned above.
Thus, there is a need for new effective peptides capable of scavenging RCS and solving the stability problems known in the state of the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The “last mile” is a phrase in telecommunications, cable television and Internet industries relating to the connection of retail customers (e.g., homes or offices) to the pertinent network (e.g., the telephone network or the internet). The “last mile” connections typically exhibit a bandwidth “bottleneck” limiting the rate of data delivery to the customers. Furthermore, “last mile” connections are expensive to upgrade due to the large number of such connections (i.e., relative to the number of connections between exchanges or routers).
Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a schematic illustration of a typical “last mile” connection which is known in the art. Such a typical “last mile” connection includes a building 10 a distribution point 20 and a central office 24. Building 10 includes, for example, eight apartments 121-128. Each of apartments 121-128 includes, for example, a respective one of computers 141-148 coupled with a respective one of modems 161-168 either directly or via a router or hub (not shown). Each one of modems 161-168 is coupled with distribution point 20 via a respective one of line connections 181-188 also known as “drops”. Each one of line connections 181-188 is, for example, a twisted pair of wires. Each one of line connections 181-188 may further be, for example, a coaxial cable. Line connections 181-188 are grouped together within a binder 22. Distribution point 20 along with line connections 181-188 and computers 141-148 constitute a communication system. Distribution point 20 is coupled with Central office 24 via a communication channel 26 (e.g., optical cable, wireless channel). The distance between building 10 and distribution point 20 is up to the order of hundreds of meters and typically up to 200 meters. The distance between distribution point 20 and central office 24 is up to the order of several kilometers.
It is noted that computers 141-148 are brought herein as an example only. Other devices require communication services (e.g., smart TV's, smartphones, IP phones, routers) may be coupled with the respective one of modems 161-168. Furthermore, building 10 may include offices rather than apartments. Additionally, the number of apartments or offices in building 10 may be different than eight (e.g. four, sixteen). Additionally, the distribution point may be connected to a plurality of private homes.
“G.fast” technology attempts to increase the data rate between the distribution point and the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE—such as modems, routers, hubs, computers, Smart TV's and the like) to the order of one Giga bits per second (i.e., 1 Gbps). Typically, the bandwidth of each twisted pair is between 100-200 Megahertz (MHz) and the number of twisted pairs per binder is between eight and sixteen. As a result of the high frequencies employed, a high degree of crosstalk interference exists between the different twisted pairs in the binder. In essence, due to the high level of crosstalk, the coupling between the distribution point and different CPE may be considered as a multiple access problem where a plurality of devices are coupled with the plurality of CPE's. Such a coupling or channel may be described in a matrix form where the entries in the matrix represent the different coupling factors.
Data transmission includes downstream transmission of data from the DP toward the CPE also referred to as downlink (DL). Data transmission also includes upstream transmission of data from the CPE toward the DP also referred to as uplink (UL). Furthermore, data transmission is divided into data frames, where each frame includes a plurality of time-slots each for transmitting a data symbols (i.e., a combination of bits is transmitted in each time-slot). Nevertheless, the terms ‘time-slot’ and ‘symbol’ are used herein interchangeably. In each frame, a portion of the symbols may be designated for downlink transmission and a portion of the symbols may be designated for uplink transmission. Frames may further be grouped in super-frames, where each super-frame includes a plurality (e.g., one the order of tens) of frames. Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which is a schematic of a super-frame, generally referenced 50, which is known in the art. Super-frame 50 includes a plurality of frames. The duration of super-frame 50 may in on the order of several milliseconds (ms) and typically 1 ms and each super-frame includes between 20 symbols and 40 symbols. Each frame, for example, frame 52, which corresponds to the second frame of super-frame 50, includes a plurality of time-slots, such as time-slot 54 for transmission of data symbols
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0211503 to Che et al, entitled “Dynamic Allocation of Subframe Scheduling for Time Division Duplex Operation in a Packet-Based Wireless communication System” directs to a system and a method for dynamically allocating subframe of a communication frame for downlink transmission of for uplink transmission. In the system and method directed to by Che et al, radio frame defined as having a duration of 10 milliseconds. The radio frame is further subdivided into 10 subframes, each having a duration of 1 millisecond. Each subframe is further divided again into two slots, each having a duration of 0.5 milliseconds as shown. The frame further has three special fields to form a 1 millisecond special subframe. These special fields are the downlink pilot time slot, the guard period and the uplink pilot time slot. The other sub-frames may be allocated to either downlink transmission or uplink transmission according to certain rules. According to the system and method directed to by Che, there are seven TDD configurations of downlink and uplink subframe allocation patterns to be used. One of the configuration patterns, which would be chosen by a radio resource controller RRC and communicated to the User Equipment (UE) the base station, so the pattern selected is known to both the UE the base station. According to Che et al, a portion of the subframes are protected subframes allocated for only downlink or uplink transmission while the other portion of the subframes are flexible subframes which may be allocated to either downlink or to uplink transmission. The subframes are allocated according to one of two approaches for dynamic allocation. In the first approach, the subframe allocation is embedded in the flexible subframes when these are downlink subframes. According to the second approach, the allocation is made in the protected subframes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,311 to Gilbert et al entitled “Adaptive Time Division Duplexing and Apparatus for Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation Within a Wireless Communication System” directs to an adaptive time division duplexing where the uplink and downlink bandwidth requirements are continuously monitored. Accordingly, the time slots of each frame are allocated for either uplink transmission or downlink transmission. According to one allocation process, a frame, which includes N consecutive time slots The First N1 time slots are dynamically configures for downlink transmissions only. The remaining slots are dynamically configured for uplink transmissions only. According to another allocation process, a frame, a plurality of adjacent time slots may interchangeably be allocated for downlink and uplink transmission. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention is directed to a mouthguard fabricated from a polymer blend comprising ethylene vinyl acetate and thermoplastic polyurethane, and a method of fabricating a mouthguard from such a polymer blend.
Conventionally, in a contact sport such as football, basketball, hockey or the like, an accident, for example, fracture of jaw bone, a laceration of soft tissue of the oral cavity, or the like, has frequently happened. Accordingly, in order to prevent such an accident, it is desired to put a mouthpiece in a mouth.
A number of mouthguards currently exist in the art for protecting the teeth and for reducing the chance of shock, concussions and other injuries as a result of high impact collisions and blows during athletic competition. Mouthguards generally are characterized as being nonpersonalized, universal and stock model type; xe2x80x9cboil and bitexe2x80x9d; and custom thermoformed to have upper jaw and teeth direct contact. Additionally, mouthguards may be tethered or untethered. Tethered mouthguards are usually connected to a fastening point, such as a helmet or face guard, to prevent the chance of the mouthguard from being lost as well as to prevent swallowing of the mouthguard or choking on the mouthguard by the user.
Failure to use a mouthguard or the use of an improperly fitted mouthguard when impacts, collisions or blows occur to the jaw structure of an athlete have been found to be responsible for athletes"" susceptibility to headaches, presence of earaches, ringing in the ears, clogged ears, vertigo, concussions and dizziness. The cause of these types of health problems and injuries are generally not visible by inspection of the mouth or jaw, but more particularly relate to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and surrounding tissues where the lower jaw is connected to the skull in the proximity where the auriculo-temporalis nerves and supra-temporal arteries pass from the neck nerves into the skull to the brain.
Most mouthguards in the past have been made from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). The material has a softening point approximating the temperature of boiling water which will permit the mouthguard to be placed in boiling water and custom fit to the wearer""s mouth. However, the EVA material, although the best known to date, is not ideal for absorption, attenuation, and dissipation of shock forces exerted on the EVA mouthguard during athletic activity. Furthermore, the EVA material is subject to deformation and break down with continued use and chewing thereon by the wearer. There is a need, therefore, for a mouthguard having a higher ability for the absorption, attenuation and dissipation of shock forces as compared with conventional, EVA mouthguards.
This and other objects of the invention are achieved by a mouthguard, fitted to the molar and incisor teeth and gums of a human user. Such a mouthguard comprises a blend of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic urethane (TPU), especially a blend, wherein the EVA is present in the range of about 5 to about 95% by weight and the balance is TPU.
In some aspects, the mouthguard is fitted at a temperature in excess of 100xc2x0 C. with reference to a model of the human user""s teeth. In other aspects, the mouthguard is fitted at a temperature of less than 100xc2x0 C. with direct reference to the human user""s teeth.
In these latter embodiments, the mouthguard comprises a generally U-shaped body with an upper surface and a lower surface, the upper surface having a channel fitted to the upper molar and incisor teeth and gums of the user. A first arm portion of the body corresponds to the right upper molars and gums of the user and a second arm portion of the body corresponds to the left upper molars and gums of the user. A base portion joining the first and second arm portions corresponds to the incisors and gums of the user. In some of these embodiments, a first cushion pad is arranged in the first arm portion and a second cushion pad is arranged in the second arm portion. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A horse is generally feed-restricted or hand-fed at least twice per day due to its small stomach size relative to its large body mass. Feeding a horse in an unrestricted or "ad libitum" fashion often results in colic, founder, azoturia and other digestive related problems. To avoid such problems, even complete horse rations containing roughage must be carefully hand-fed. Manual feeding is often time consuming and costly, especially for owners of pleasure horses.
It is known in the prior art to produce horse feeds for high performance horses which have compositions exhibiting good palatability, improved digestibility and high carbohydrate content for increased energy. Such feeds are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,115 to Brever et al, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,166,867 and 4,197,320 to Betz et al. These patents, however, generally describe rations which are designed merely to supplement an existing diet; they are not suitable for use in "free choice" or ad libitum feeding. Moreover, while feed intake limiting compositions have been described for ruminants, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,197,319 and 4,230,736 to Betz et al, such compositions are merely dietary supplements which cannot be used for horses. This is because the ruminant digestive system differs substantially from the equine digestive system. Moreover, such ruminant compositions typically restrict feeding through ingredient excess or chemical additives, and these techniques cannot be safely applied to horses.
There is therefore a need for a feed intake limiting composition for use in ad libitum horse feeding which prevents colic, founder and other digestive disorders and which may be fed as a substantially complete ration without supplementation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a wafer-level process for fabricating semiconductor planar devices such as diodes and, more particularly, concerns a simplified wafer level process for fabricating planar diodes from semiconductor.
Diodes are mass produced in great numbers every year. As a high volume component found in virtually every electrical device of any complexity, the market for diodes is very large, competitive, and sensitive to pricing pressure. Manufacturers must produce these devices both with sufficient reliability and low cost to satisfy the competitive demands of the marketplace. Currently, one known process for manufacturing diodes from semiconductor chips entails the use of several photolithographic steps employing a mask, each of which increases the cost of manufacture.
A specific example of one such known process is a standard glass passivated pallet process employing three masking steps, and is illustrated in the process flow diagram of FIG. 1. Beginning in step 1 with a wafer of silicon 10, the wafer is doped in step 2 so as to provide P+, N, and N+ regions (respectively indicated as 12, 14, and 16 in FIG. 1). Prior to the first photolithographic step 3, a protective oxide layer is provided in the form of an oxide coating 18. After baking, developing, and hard baking, a first mask is used to generate the structure shown in the figure after step 3, in which windows 19 are opened up in the oxide layer 18. In step 4 these windows are etched to form grids in the silicon wafer, defining the intended boundaries of each diode.
In step 5, a layer 20 of polynitride is deposited to prepare the surface for step 6, the second photolithographic step in which a mask is employed. Here, a layer of glass powder 22 is deposited along the grid as indicated, baked under high pressure and fired (step 7).
In step 8, a low temperature oxide chemical vapor deposition process is used to overlay an oxide (silicon dioxide) on the surface to protect the glass for step 9, the third photolithographic step in which a mask is employed (here to deposit a polymer coating).
Contact etching and photoresist etching is performed in step 10, exposing the P+ and N+ surfaces, which are then coated with nickel plating in step 11 to provide ohmic contacts.
This known process requires three photolithographic steps in which a precision mask is employed. The repeated use of masks and the care with which they must be used is a substantial component in the cost of the finished product produced by this process.
Demand persists for diodes that can be manufactured using simpler and cheaper processes | {
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Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), also referred to as laparoscopic or endoscopic surgery, has experienced spectacular growth worldwide over the past few decades for the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of acute and chronic pathologies. Endoscopic procedures are economical, safer, and promote a more rapid recovery in contrast to conventional surgical approaches. Technological advancements in MIS are expected to have robust growth in the future. As endoscopic technologies develop and become the standard of care for most types of surgical interventions, the continued development of innovative quality tools to address the unique problems associated with this type of surgery must be vigorously pursued.
A laparoscopic surgery is performed by inserting a cannula (a hollow plastic or metal tube) through the abdominal wall, either by scalpel dissection or by blunt penetration with a piercing instrument (a trocar) occupying the central lumen of the cannula. When the cannula is placed through the skin and into the abdomen, the surgical blade or central trocar is withdrawn, leaving a cannula that is designed to inflate the abdominal cavity with carbon dioxide gas in order to distend the anterior abdominal wall away from the internal organs. The presence of this gas in the abdominal cavity is known as a pneumoperitoneum.
Once the pneumoperitoneum is established, a fiber optic endoscope (which may either be attached to a high-definition video camera or guided by direct vision) is inserted safely into the abdomen allowing visualization of the abdominal viscera. When complete visualization of the abdomen is accomplished, a number of secondary cannulae are placed via the previously described technique. The surgery is then performed through these cannulated passageways, referred to as ports. The ports function as conduits for the insertion and exchange of various specialized hand-held or robotic-assisted instruments and devices to accomplish the laparoscopic procedure, which would otherwise be performed by an open surgical incision.
The observed benefits of MIS include reduced blood loss, lower risk of infection, more rapid recovery rates, and reduced postoperative pain. These benefits have caused laparoscopy to become the preferred method for an ever-increasing number of surgical procedures. As with any other surgery, however, MIS is not without its share of complications. Two common complications relevant to MIS surgeries are the formation of abdominal adhesions and/or hernia development.
While laparoscopic adhesion formation occurs less frequently than those related to open surgeries, the risk remains omnipresent as a result of the cumulative effect of the fibrin-forming inflammatory process. Factors that predispose the development of adhesions include: ischemia (poor blood supply), obesity, malnutrition, diabetes, or the devascularization of the peritoneum caused by the surgery itself. The development of adhesions generally occurs between the fifth and seventh postoperative day, resulting in scar-like bands. These adhesive bands may surround the intestine and adhere them either together, or to the peritoneum of the interior abdominal wall. However, months to years later after the initial surgery, these constrictive bands may form a thickened fibrous web which, when fully compact, are capable of inflicting severe pain or causing an intermittent-to-complete bowel obstruction. These two unfortunate scenarios will likely translate into higher medical costs related to emergency surgical procedures, lengthy hospital admissions, and prolonged recovery periods.
The other complication related to minimally invasive procedures is the port-site wound hernia, also referred to as an incisional or ventral hernia. The port-site wound hernia is defined as the abnormal protrusion of abdominal viscera through the wound's fascial defect. This type of hernia commonly develops in the first four years after the index surgery. At present, there is a problematic lack of long-term data on the incidence and natural history of port-site hernia development. Significant contributing factors for port-site wound herniation relate to the size and location of the fascial defect.
Obese patients, with a body mass index (BMI) of thirty or greater, are more susceptible to port-site wound herniation regardless of the fascial defect's size. This may be attributed to the obese patient's enlarged pre-peritoneal space and/or tendency toward elevated intra-abdominal pressures. Extensive manipulation and stretching of the instrument port during the MIS procedure (i.e. retrieval of specimens, multiple re-insertions, or aggressive use of laparoscopic instruments or devices) may enlarge the size of the fascial defect beyond the wound's initial diameter thus rendering the fascial defect vulnerable to port-site wound herniation.
With regards to location, herniation occurs more frequently when the fascial defect is located in the midline of the abdomen, especially in the upper midline area or at the umbilicus, possibly due to the absence of supporting musculature in these areas. In contrast, port-site wound hernias occur less often when they are located below the umbilicus or more laterally on the abdomen.
Another contributing factor for the development of a port-site wound hernia is known as the Chimney Effect. This describes a partial vacuum that is created as the surgical cannula is withdrawn from the wound, much like a piston. As this negative pressure increases within the narrow perimeter of the wound, it is capable of drawing abdominal viscera through the fascial defect and in the subcutaneous tissue or out of the body, thus creating the port-site wound hernia.
There are two technical risk factors for port-site wound hernia: the surgical trocar design used for creating the wound, and/or the suture used for closing the fascial defect. With regards to the former, the bladed trocar presents a greater risk for port-site wound hernia development than non-bladed trocars. Port-site wound herniation may also be related to the repair of the fascial defect with suture, as exemplified by suture fractures, slipping of suture knots, excessive suture tension, or sutures that absorb too rapidly. Suture closure of these wounds can be time consuming and difficult whether the suturing method is performed by the traditional approach (a needle attached to a suture and operated by a needle holder held in the operator's hand), or by a contemporary method using wound closure devices. The latter generally incorporates a needle or sharp tool with a suture affixed to one end in order to approximate and close the fascial defect.
Regardless of the method, the application involves the same time-consuming and cumbersome approach for employing a needle (or sharp tool) with a suture affixed to one end in order to approximate and close the fascial defect within the narrow recesses of the port-site wound. Moreover, these suture techniques have the predictable risk of injuring the underlying bowel, omentum, or other organs as the needle is swept through the fascial tissues.
In obese patients these suturing methods can be painstakingly difficult, since the fascia is obscured from view by adipose tissue. If the fascial defect is too deep and/or is located at a steep angled trajectory in relation to its small skin incision, a blind attempt (e.g., with no direct vision) is the only option for closing the fascial defect. This risky suturing effort generally fails to capture a sufficient margin of the wound's edge.
With regards to the contemporary devices, they may share the same vexing difficulties as the traditional method. However, a specific drawback with these devices relates to their requirement for a pneumoperitoneum and direct visualization during their surgical application. This time-consuming requirement proves problematic, since all of these devices are unable to close the port operating the telescopic lens.
These technical challenges can compromise the wound's integrity, resulting in complications such as poor wound healing, suture failure, and port-site wound herniation, all of which will inadvertently negate the advantages of the MIS procedure. Ultimately, these complications will lead to increased pain and loss of productivity for the patient, while at the same time reducing efficiency with increased costs to the health care system in general. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The use of light emitting diodes in general lighting is still limited due to limitations in light output level or flux generated by the illumination devices. Limits in flux are due to the limited maximum temperature of the LED chip, and the life time requirements, which are strongly related to the temperature of the LED chip. The temperature of the LED chip is determined by the cooling capacity in the system, and the power efficiency of the device (optical power produced by the LEDs and LED system, versus the electrical power going in). Illumination devices that use LEDs also typically suffer from poor color quality characterized by color point instability. The color point instability varies over time as well as from part to part. Poor color quality is also characterized by poor color rendering, which is due to the spectrum produced by the LED light sources having bands with no or little power. Further, illumination devices that use LEDs typically have spatial and/or angular variations in the color. Additionally, illumination devices that use LEDs are expensive due to, among other things, the necessity of required color control electronics and/or sensors to maintain the color point of the light source or using only a small selection of produced LEDs that meet the color and/or flux requirements for the application.
Consequently, improvements to illumination device that uses light emitting diodes as the light source are desired. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In chromatographic systems of the prior art, a single sample to be separated wastefully occupied only a small portion of a chromatographic column. A second sample was not introduced into such column until the first sample had been completely eluted. Accordingly, chromatographic separation of samples was an inefficient and time-consuming procedure. The present invention contemplates a much more efficient use of a chromatographic column. This increased efficiency is achieved by initially separating each of a number of samples fed seriatim into a first column into its individual components on a coarse basis. The eluant passing from the first column is sampled, so as to pass particular fractions of each sample seriatim through a second column, wherein a complete separation of the constituents is effected. This technique provides a passage of many sample fractions through the system concurrently. The over-all result is a dramatic increase in the throughput of the chromatographic system. The column efficiency or separation power of such a system is also improved dramatically by recycling in a continuous fashion those fractions eluting through the second column or passing such fractions through a third column which forms a cyclic flow path with the second column. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Interaction with transportation systems is a daily fact of life for most everyone. Whether it is a public bus system or private car, getting from one place to another seems increasingly more difficult and costly. Road congestion, burdensome fuel prices and environmental concerns beg for alternatives. Existing alternatives each have their own pluses and minuses. For example, public transportation is relatively inexpensive and safe, but participants are restricted to certain routes and schedules that are unlikely to meet everyone's needs. Use of a private car personalizes routes and schedules, but is expensive in terms of fuel, pollution, and required road infrastructure.
Rideshare programs have been proposed that attempt to match public riders with private drivers. In a rideshare program, a private driver agrees to provide transportation to a rider traveling in generally the same direction at generally the same time. A significant advantage to these rideshare programs is the more efficient use of resources, including cars, fuel and roads. Participants might be slightly inconvenienced in terms of routes and schedules to accommodate the needs of other riders. There are transaction costs to matching riders with drivers in terms of both time and compensation, which must be worthwhile to all parties to encourage use of the system. Examples of rideshare systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,875, issued Nov. 23, 1982 to Behnke and U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,730, issued Feb. 24, 2004 to Dickerson, the disclosure of which are incorporated by reference.
Rideshare programs may also introduce issues for participants not present when they make their own way. For instance, besides destination and time, there may be issues with compatibility and compensation. Participants are prudent to be concerned with their own security when matched with participants previously unknown to them. Monitoring the security of the participants during the trip and the success of the rideshare would also be of benefit. There exists a need to encourage the participation of participants in a rideshare program, to match participants based upon compatibility and to enhance the security of the participants while participating in the rideshare. The present invention provides such methods and systems, among the other advantages described below. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Electrical connectors are known in which an electrical terminal is retained within a dielectric housing and is adapted for termination to an end of a conductor wire inserted through an aperture of the housing. Examples of such connectors are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,637,675; 4,705,340; 4,795,364; 5,006,077; 5,120,245; and in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 07/708,405 filed May 31, 1991; 07/773,069 filed Oct. 7, 1991; 07/863,626 filed Apr. 3, 1992. Examples of products are disclosed in AMP Catalog No. 82257 entitled "AMP Quiet Front Terminal Block" dated September 1991.
Generally, such connectors disclose a multiterminal housing block having individual cylindrical housing sections each containing a barrel-shaped terminal having an aperture through a side wall for receipt of an insulated wire end aligned with a wire-receiving aperture through the housing wall, and a slot extending laterally from the aperture defined by metal edges spaced closely enough to slice into and thereby penetrate the insulative jacket of the wire upon rotation of the terminal within the housing section and slightly compressively engage the conductor wire therewithin, defining a termination. An actuator secured atop each housing section is rotatable to turn the barrel terminal upon insertion of the wire end thereinto. Commonly, such connectors can utilize a two-apertured terminal and corresponding housing section defining two such wire-receiving arrangements for receipt of two wire ends thereinto for respective terminations, and can be used to cross-connect the wires to each other as in Ser. No. 07/708,405, or to a third conductor also electrically connected to the terminal, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,245.
The housing sections of such connectors preferably contain a sealant composition such as grease or synthetic gel-like compositions which coat the exposed metal surfaces to prevent moisture and air from causing corrosion, preserving the integrity of the electrical connection for long-term in-service use. In U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 07/749,373 filed Aug. 23, 1991 and 07/878,807 filed May 5, 1992 there are disclosed electrical connectors which contain novel sealant compositions having a gel-like consistency. The sealant compositions are disclosed to conform and coat the otherwise exposed metal surfaces of the wire conductor and the terminal and thus seal the surfaces against corrosion. The unstripped ends of wires may be inserted into the respective apertures for termination, easily penetrating the sealant material to be seated in the apertures of the barrel terminals; the terminals are then easily rotated by the actuator to penetrate the insulation and establish an electrical connection with the wires. The sealant material embeds and coats all exposed metal within the housing to inhibit corrosion, maintaining protection of the termination for long in-service life.
From time to time repairs to such terminations may be necessary, such as where a wire has been damaged at a location remote from the termination. The damaged wire must be removed from the termination, by rotating the terminal to an open position and pulling the wire end from the connector. In such cases some amount of sealant material would remain adhered to the wire end and be somewhat messy. This would also diminish the amount of sealant material remaining in the connector, and for reuse of the connector a corresponding amount of material would have to be reinjected into the connector around the terminal to again assure sealing when a new wire end is reinserted to reestablish the termination.
Certain connectors such as those disclosed in Ser. Nos. 07/749,373 and 07/878,807 include tape elements are positioned onto the outer surface of the housing and covering the wire-receiving apertures of the housing sections, with holes or intersecting slots defined in the tape approximately aligned with the centers of the apertures. Such tape elements to a substantial degree retain the sealant material within the housing and are adapted to permit wire insertion.
It is known with some conventional sealant materials which are two-part compositions, for the two fluid parts of the sealant material to be thoroughly mixed just prior to injection into the connector housing, and thereafter curing after injection; conventionally, a continuous film or tape such as of cellophane has been used to close off the apertures of the housing at least until the fluid has cured, whereafter the substrate may be removed for entry of the wire ends through the housing apertures, or alternatively the substrate may be slit at the apertures for wires to be inserted therethrough.
It is desired to provide a sealant-retaining tape element which assures that all sealant material remains in the housing upon removal of a wire end during repair after initial termination. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Recently, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebooks, video cameras, cellular phones or the like is rapidly increasing, and energy storage batteries, robots, satellites or the like are developed in earnest. Accordingly, a high-performance secondary battery allowing repeated charging/discharging is actively studied.
Secondary batteries commercially used at the present include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, lithium secondary batteries or the like, among which the lithium secondary batteries are in the limelight due to their very low self-discharge ratio, high energy density and free charging/discharging since a memory effect does not substantially occur in comparison to nickel-based secondary batteries.
Recently, due to exhaustion of carbon energy and increased interest in the environment, hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles are becoming the focus of public attention all over the world, including US, Europe, Japan and Korea. For such vehicles, the most important component is a vehicle battery which gives a driving force to a vehicle motor. Since the hybrid electric vehicle or the electric vehicle obtains a driving force by means of charging/discharging of the battery, they ensure better mileage in comparison to a vehicle using only an engine and discharges little to no pollution, which is one of the growing reasons why people choose to use such vehicles.
Meanwhile, one of the most important social issues in relation to batteries is safety. The use of batteries is not only increasing in small-sized devices such as notebooks and cellular phones but also in middle-sized or large-sized devices such as vehicles and power storage systems. Also, since the explosion or fire of a battery may damage a device to which the battery is mounted and can lead to additional conflagration, the safety of the battery is of major concern.
In particular, middle-sized or large-sized batteries used for hybrid electric vehicles or electric vehicles demand even stricter safety requirements. Such middle-sized or large-sized batteries generate high voltage, which in itself cause a lot of heat. Moreover, in cases of a battery for a vehicle, if a battery pack is excessively operated at high temperature during the hot summer time or great impact is applied to the battery due to an accident such as vehicle collision, causing an internal short circuit or a protection function to malfunction, a fire may occur at the battery for a vehicle.
If a fire occurs at the battery for a vehicle as described above, the fire is not limited to damaging just the battery but can spread to the vehicle, which may obviously cause property damage, but also lead to risking the safety of the person in the vehicle. Moreover, on the road, a vehicle fire may spread to other vehicles and cause traffic congestion, which may result in even more serious damage. | {
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amorphous metal-metal composite article and a method for producing the same, and more particularly relates to an amorphous metal-metal composite article, comprising an ordinary crystallized metal and an amorphous material (hereinafter may be referred to as amorphous), such as amorphous metal or amorphous alloy, which has been produced from its melted state through rapid cooling and has no crystal structure, firmly bonded to the crystallized metal by the explosion pressure of an explosive, and a method for producing the same.
Amorphous metal has excellent magnetic properties, and hence is attempted to be used as various magnetic materials.
(2) Related Art Statement
Amorphous can be produced by a rapid cooling method or other various methods, such as spatter method, chemical vapor deposit method, plating method and the like. However, the amorphous obtained by these methods are thin sheets, fine wires and powders, all of which have a dimension of less than several hundreds .mu.m, and the use field of these amorphouses is very limited. In order to use amorphous in a wide field, amorphous having a larger dimension is demanded, and a shaped article produced by the compression molding of amorphous metal powder has been disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-open Specification No. 61-139,629).
Japanese Patent Laid-open Specification No. 61-195,905 discloses an amorphous-covered metal obtained by a method wherein an amorphous metal powder is bonded to a metal matrix by an explosion pressure; and Japanese Patent Laid-open Specification No. 62-23,905 discloses a method for producing a composite sintered article from an amorphous metal powder and a metal powder by utilizing a high energy shock.
There has been proposed a technic, wherein an amorphous metal thin sheet having a thickness of not larger than 100 .mu.m is bonded to a sheet or round rod of metal by an explosion pressure to produce a composite article having both of the excellent magnetic properties inherent to amorphous metal and the high strength inherent to metal (Magnetic Society of Japan, 10th Autumn Annual Meeting Preprint No. 4PC-10 (page 61) (1986, 11), Ichiro Sasada et al, "Properties of Torque Sensor produced by the Explosion Bonding Method"). Further, Japanese Patent Laid open Specification No. 61-132,282 discloses a method for bonding an amorphous metal to a metal by an explosion pressure in order to produce an amorphous metal-metal composite article which has a clearance between the amorphous metal and the metal and is used as an electrode in a chlorine-generating electrolysis.
As a method for bonding a metal thin sheet having a thickness of about 100 .mu.m to a metal sheet by an explosion pressure, there has been known a method, for example, illustrated in FIG. 2. In the method of FIG. 2, a metal thin sheet 2' is adhered to a metal sheet 1' having a thickness of about 1-2 mm by the use of an adhesive 3', an explosive layer 4' is arranged on the metal sheet 1' at the surface opposite to the surface adhered with the metal thin sheet 2', the laminate of the metal thin sheet 2', metal sheet 1' and explosive layer 4' is arranged such that the surface of the metal thin sheet 2', which surface is opposite to the surface adhered with the metal sheet 1', is faced with a clearance to a metal 5' to be bonded with the metal thin sheet 2', and the explosive 4' is detonated to apply an explosion pressure through the metal sheet 1' having a thickness of 1-2 mm to the metal thin sheet 2' and to collide the metal thin sheet 2' to the metal 5' at a high velocity.
It is known that, when it is intended to bond a metal sheet to another metal sheet, for example, to bond a sheet of a metal, such as titanium or the like, to a steel sheet, a good result is obtained by previously polishing the surfaces of both the metal sheets to a surface roughness of not larger than approximately 0.7 .mu.m and then bonding both the members to each other (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 42-24,982).
In the conventional amorphous metal-metal composite article produced by the use of amorphous metal powder, the amorphous metal portion has a block shape, round rod shape or annular shape having a certain thickness. Moreover, the amorphous metal portion is produced by compacting powders. Therefore, the conventional amorphous metal-metal composite article is poor in strength, and can not be used, for example, as a torque sensor for detecting the torque of engine.
In order to eliminate these drawbacks, there has been proposed to produce a sintered article by the use of a combination of an amorphous metal powder and a metal powder. However, the resulting sintered article is still insufficient in the strength. Moreover, a minute observation of the amorphous metal sintered body portion shows that the portion is formed of individual particles of powders bonded to each other, and therefore the amorphous metal sintered body portion has a slight magnetical strain at the boundary of the particles, and the resulting sintered shaped article is apt to be poor in the magnetic properties as a whole.
Conventional method for producing a composite article of an amorphous metal thin sheet and a metal sheet is free from the drawbacks of the conventional sintered article produced by the use of a combination of an amorphous metal powder and a metal powder, which drawbacks are poor in the strength of the resulting shaped article and in the magnetic properties at the bonding boundary of fellow particles, but still has several drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that the amorphous metal thin sheet has a thickness of 100 .mu.m or less, and predominantly has a thickness of about 20-30 .mu.m, and therefore when it is intended to bond the amorphous metal thin sheet to a metal sheet by an explosion pressure, the amorphous metal thin sheet is deformed, and a composite article having a smooth surface can not be obtained, or only a composite article having locally bonded portions is obtained. Further, during the bonding of the amorphous metal thin sheet to the metal sheet, the bonding interface of the amorphous metal thin sheet and the metal sheet is exposed to a high temperature, and the amorphous metal thin sheet is often crystallized in many portions due to the high temperature, and excellent magnetic properties are lost in the resulting composite article. Moreover, although a method, wherein an amorphous metal thin sheet is collided to a metal at a high velocity to bond them with each other, can be carried out in principle, it is practically difficult to produce a composite article having a good bonded state, and the method can not be practically used.
The inventors have variously studied the drawbacks of the above described conventional methods in order to find out an effective means for bonding an amorphous metal thin sheet to a metal sheet.
There are probably the following two reasons as a reason why an amorphous metal thin sheet bonded to a metal does not have a smooth surface.
(1) In the conventional method for bonding a metal sheet to another metal sheet or a metal block by utilizing an explosion pressure, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a metal sheet 2" is arranged in parallel to a metal sheet 5" with a small clearance, an explosive layer 4" is arranged so as to be in contact with that surface of the metal sheet 2" which is opposite to the surface faced to the metal sheet 5", the explosive 4" is detonated from its one end to fly the metal sheet 2" at a high velocity by the explosion pressure and to collide the metal sheet 2" to the metal sheet 5", whereby the collision point is continuously moved corresponding to the proceeding of the explosion, and the metal sheet 2' is bonded to the metal sheet 5". In this method, when the metal sheet 2" is thin, the metal sheet 2" is plastically deformed or sometimes broken due to the strain caused by the explosion pressure during the course of the flying by the explosion pressure before the collision to the metal sheet 5", and a distorted composite article or a composite article, wherein the metal sheet 2" in a broken state is bonded to the metal sheet 5", is often obtained. Particularly, when it is intended to use an amorphous metal sheet, which is a subject material to be used in the present invention, in place of the metal sheet 2", and to bond the amorphous metal sheet to a metal sheet 5", the amorphous metal sheet is often broken before its collision with the metal sheet 5" or often bonded unsatisfactorily to the metal sheet 5" by an undesirable strain due to the reason that the amorphous metal sheet is hard but is poor in deformability and further is thin.
(2) It has been thought that the above described drawbacks of the deformation and breakage of the metal sheet 2" during its flying can be obviated, for example, by a method, wherein a metal sheet 2' is adhered to a metal sheet 1' having a thickness of about 1-2 mm by means of an adhesive 3' and an explosion pressure is applied to the metal sheet 2' through the metal sheet 1' as described above. However, although the metal sheet 2' is prevented from being deformed and broken during the course of flying, a mutual plastic fluidization of the metal sheet 2' and the metal sheet 5' occurs at the bonding interface of both the members during the course of the bonding thereof, and the plastic fluidization has an adverse influence upon the shape of the surface of the metal sheet 2' to form often a corrugate surface or to form often a composite article having a broken surface. The reason is probably as follows. It has been known that, when metals are bonded to each other by the explosion, it is necessary that the collision point of both the metals moves at a velocity lower than the sound velocity in either the metal sheet 2' or the metal sheet 5'. It has been known that, when this requirement is satisfied, a plastic fluidization occurs at the interface of the metal sheet 2' and the metal sheet 5', and both the metal sheets are firmly bonded with each other while when this requirement is not satisfied, the metal sheet 2' and the metal sheet 5' are repelled with each other, and are not bonded with each other. That is, when it is intended to bond a metal to a metal or to bond an amorphous metal to a metal by the use of explosion pressure in a conventional technic, it is an essential requirement to cause a plastic fluidization at their bonding interface, and if the plastic fluidization does not occur, both the metal sheets are not able to be bonded with each other. However, the essential requirement for attaining the bonding is the cause of the deformation of the surface of an amorphous metal thin sheet or the breakage of the amorphous metal thin sheet during the bonding of the thin sheet to a metal sheet. That is, there is an antinomy in the bonding of an amorphous metal thin sheet to a metal sheet. Particularly, amorphous metal has a high hardness and is difficult to be deformed, and when it is intended to deform forcedly an amorphous metal thin sheet by applying a large strain, the amorphous metal thin sheet is broken. Therefore, the above described problems probably highly influence upon amorphous metal thin sheet higher than upon ordinary metals.
In order to solve the above described problems, the followings are considered.
(1) In order to prevent the deformation of an amorphous metal thin sheet during the course of flying by the explosion pressure, the flying distance should be made small as possible, and if possible, the amorphous metal thin sheet should be bonded to a metal sheet without the flying of the amorphous metal thin sheet by the explosion pressure.
(2) In order to make small as possible the plastic fluidization at the bonding interface of an amorphous metal thin sheet with a metal sheet, the collision point of both the sheets at their bonding interface should be moved at a velocity higher than the higher sound velocity between the sound velocity in the amorphous metal thin sheet and that in the metal sheet to suppress the plastic fluidization as small as possible and a novel method for bonding both the sheets in a satisfactorily high strength should be developed.
(3) Even when the above described requirements have been attained, it is necessary to suppress the crystallization of amorphous metal as low as possible in order to maintain the excellent properties of the amorphous metal. Therefore, the width of the range, in which the amorphous metal reaches its crystallization temperature, should be made small as possible.
The inventors have made various theoretical and experimental investigations for attaining these requirements, and have accomplished the present invention. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid reforming device for reforming, as well as tap water, various kinds of fluids (e.g., gray water, sewage water and the like) including heavily contaminated water containing electrolyte substances and organic substances as impurities (e.g., seawater containing water creatures which is used as ballast water for ships; washing water containing bacteria which has been used for washing seafood such as clams; and discharged water containing fats and organic substances included in milk given to calves in farms). More specifically, the invention relates to a fluid reforming device for reforming: tap water such as air-conditioner cooling water (including warm water) circulated in factories; water supplied to boilers, industrial water supplied to factories; drinking water; water used for humidifying room, and the like; gray water (water for flush toilets; renovated industrial waste water; rainwater, and the like); and sewage water such as industrial waste water, river water, and the like; and moreover, bath water of hot springs or 24-hour baths; well water; hard water; soft water; seawater containing sewage which is circulated to be used for aquaculture; and oils to be used repeatedly.
2. Description of Related Art
Cooling water for air conditioners in factories, which is an example of fluids to be reformed, is used in circulation, and dust, dirt, and the like enter the cooling water while it is circulated. Although insoluble dust and dirt are filtered and removed by a filter or the like during circulation, water-soluble substances in the dust or dirt are dissolved into the circulating water. Particularly, substances such as Ca and Mg are oxidized over time, and deposited and accumulated as scales in pipes, which causes clogging of equipment such as pipes and pumps. Further, various kinds of germs (e.g., Escherichia coli, Legionella, and respiratory bacteria that cause pneumonia or bronchitis) also grow in the circulating water. These germs are blown out from an air outlet into room, and cause diseases (diarrhea, stomach ache, and pneumonia). On the other hand, there are problems such as marine pollution caused by ballast water, pollution caused by washing water for seafood, and pollution caused by washing water containing fats and organic substances. The ballast water is seawater used as ballast far ships. Before a ship leaves a port empty; ballast tanks of the ship are filled with seawater at the port. When the ship is loaded with goods at a port of call, an equivalent amount of ballast water is discharged from the ship. The discharged seawater contains sea creatures from the port at which the ship left. Thus, the sea creatures are scattered as invasive species into the sea at the port of call, and adversely affect the ecosystem at the port of call.
Likewise, 24-hour baths or urban hot springs use circulated tap water or hot spring water, respectively, and the water quality is rapidly degraded due to propagation of: minerals that are originally contained in the water (particularly in the hot spring water); electrolytic substances (metal ion such as Na) or organic substances contained in sweat of bathing persons; falling bacteria; and germs discharged from the bathing persons. Likewise, the quality of seawater, which is circulated and used for aquaculture, is also gradually degraded due to wastes of fish kept in a tank, propagating germs, and mixed impurities, which causes a reduction in survival rate of cultured fish.
Reforming of industrial waste water or bath water of a large communal bath has conventionally been performed by adding chemicals (strong disinfectants (oxidizer) such as hypochlorous acid and potassium permanganate) or by using a large-scale aerator. However, these reforming ways have problems such as high cost and need for a large space, and therefore, are not convenient. In particular, it is impossible to add a strong disinfectant (oxidizer) or the like into water circulating in a large bath of an urban hot spring, or water in a home-use 24-hour bath, and it is difficult to introduce a large-scale treatment facility.
A fluid reforming device used for the above-described purposes instead of the large-scale treatment facility has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Nos. 2623204, 2611080, and 2615308. This device is applicable to the urban hot spring and the home-use 24-hour bath. In the treatment performed by this device, some of the organic compounds in the water are evaporated while the other are deposited, and the supernatant water becomes sterilized clean water, which is verified to be reusable. | {
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Event logs provide a nearly complete history of activities within an information technology (IT) environment. Event logs can include logon times, names of created processes, directory paths of processes, and accounts used to connect to a plurality of host machines. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to circuit modules and measurement methods and more specifically relates to circuit modules that include a processing circuit and an isolator and measurement methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
A composite electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-117500 is a known example of a conventional circuit module. The composite electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-117500 includes a power amplifier and an isolator. The isolator is provided downstream of the power amplifier and plays the role of preventing a signal from entering the power amplifier in a reverse direction.
In the case of the above-described composite electronic component, at the time of manufacture, the electrical characteristics of the isolator are adjusted while measuring the large signal characteristics of the composite electronic component serving as a power amplifier in order to make the measured values of the isolator become desired values. Thus, desired electrical characteristics are obtained for the isolator.
However, there is a problem with the composite electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-117500 in that the isolation characteristics of the isolator cannot be accurately measured while the isolator is being used inside the composite electronic component. In more detail, measurement of the isolation characteristics of the isolator is performed by inputting a test signal from an output port of the isolator and measuring an output signal output from an input port of the isolator. However, in the above-described composite electronic component, since the power amplifier and the isolator are connected to each other, a test signal is input from an output port of the isolator and an output signal is measured from an input signal of the power amplifier. Consequently, the isolation characteristics of the composite electronic component and the isolation characteristics of the isolator are superposed on top of one another. Thus, in the composite electronic component described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-117500, there is a concern that the isolation characteristics of only the isolator cannot be measured. | {
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A fastener driving tool for driving fasteners, such as nails, drive screws, etc. is a tool in which a connected fastener assembly connecting multiple connected fasteners is stored in a magazine and the fasteners are fed to the nose section of the driving tool sequentially beginning with the first fastener so that the fasteners are driven continuously into workpieces.
Such fasteners are used not only to anchor wood to wood, but also to fasten liners or wood to concrete, to secure I-beams to thin steel sheets and to fasten denz glass (a plaster board-like material) to studs.
As methods for connecting fasteners to form a connected fastener assembly, various methods are known: for example, a stick type connecting method in which multiple fasteners are integrally connected to a straight connecting band made of a synthetic resin, a wire connecting method in which the shaft sections of fasteners are connected using two parallel metal wires by welding, and the so-called plastic sheet connecting method in which retaining pieces provided at constant intervals are bent in the same direction so as to protrude from the upper and lower ends of a connecting band made of a synthetic resin and having a thin sheet shape and fasteners are inserted into the upper and lower retaining pieces. As an example of the synthetic resin connecting method, the method disclosed in Patent document 1 is known. In addition, as an example of the plastic sheet connecting method, the method disclosed in Patent document 2 is known. Furthermore, a method in which fasteners are connected using a connecting sheet made of a synthetic resin is also known. This connecting sheet comprises retaining sections for allowing the shaft sections of fasteners to be passed through and connecting sections for connecting adjacent retaining sections (refer to Patent documents 3 and 4). [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 57-120713 [Patent document 2] Japanese Utility Model No. 2526455 [Patent document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-90723 [Patent document 4] Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-35623
However, the connected fastener assembly in which multiple fasteners are integrally connected to a straight connecting band made of a synthetic resin so as to be formed into a stick shape has a problem of being unable to be wound into a coil.
In addition, in the case of the connected fastener assembly according to the wire connecting method, wires are scattered at the time of driving, whereby there is a danger of striking and injuring human bodies and garbage is produced. Furthermore, the shaft sections of the fasteners are welded to wires in this method. In the case that the fasteners are hardened nails, for example, the strength thereof is lowered at the welded portions by heat during welding. When such nails are driven into high-strength concrete or the like, the nails are likely to buckle or fracture. Moreover, if the connected fastener assembly wound into a coil is dropped to the floor or ground inadvertently when the connected fastener assembly is loaded into the magazine of a fastener driving tool, the exterior of the coil may be deformed. If the exterior is deformed, it is difficult to restore the coil into its original shape. Besides, when the connected fastener assembly wound into a coil is carried, a finger is inserted into the center hollow portion of the coil. In this case, there is a danger that the finger is injured by the tip ends of the wires.
On the other hand, in the case of the connected fastener assembly according to the plastic sheet connecting method, each fastener is detached from the connecting band and driven at the time of driving. It is thus necessary to form an ejection hole for ejecting the connecting band remaining in the nose section of a fastener driving tool. Hence, the strength of the nose section lowers, and the connecting band becomes garbage and must be thrown away.
Furthermore, the connected fastener assembly obtained according to the method disclosed in Patent documents 3 and 4 in which fasteners are connected using a connecting sheet made of a synthetic resin is simple in structure. However, the connecting sections for connecting the adjacent fasteners are formed along the center line connecting the centers of these fasteners. Hence, when the connected fastener assembly is wound into a coil, if the first wound portion of the coil, that is, the portion having the smallest winding diameter, is attempted to be wound as small as possible in diameter, the connecting sections must be bent at an acute angle. However, if bent at an acute angle, the connecting sections are subjected to large stress, thereby being lowered in strength and whitened. As a result, the connecting sections may be broken owing to vibration or impact at the time of driving, thereby causing improper feeding. If the connecting sections are made to have a sufficient length, the connecting sections can be bent so that a coil having a small diameter is obtained. However, the pitch between the fasteners increases, and there is a problem that the number of fasteners to be connected is reduced. In addition, if the connecting sections are disposed along the center line of the connecting band, when the connected fastener assembly is loaded into the magazine of a fastener driving tool, the tip end of the feeding pawl of the tool interferes with the connecting section and cannot engage the center of the retaining section of the connecting band, and improper feeding may occur. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an antenna system, more particularly to a method and an antenna system capable of automatically setting optimum antenna units as working antenna units.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multiple-input and multiple output (MIMO) is a common wireless communication technology which is nowadays widely applied to various kinds of communication systems, such as the third-generation of mobile telecommunications (3G) and the fourth-generation of mobile telecommunications (4G). A wireless router is an ordinary example of the application of MIMO technology.
Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram which illustrates an antenna system 9 adopting MIMO technology is provided. The antenna system 9 includes a control circuit 91, a plurality of radio frequency (RF) modules 92, 93 connected electrically to the control circuit 91, a plurality of antenna units 94, 95 connected electrically to the RF module 92, and a plurality of antenna units 96, 97 connected electrically to the RF module 93. The control circuit 91, by means of the RF modules 92, 93, is able to control one of the antenna units 94, 95 and one of the antenna units 96, 97 for wireless signal transmission. For example, the antenna units 94, 96 may be external antennas disposed on an electronic device (e.g., a wireless router), and the antenna units 95, 97 may be internal antennas disposed in the electronic device. When the antenna system 9 which adopts MIMO technology operates to transmit or receive wireless signals, the antenna units 94, 96 must cooperate to form a group for operation, and the antenna units 95, 97 must also cooperate to form a group for operation. However, the antenna system 9 only activates one of the groups of the antenna units at a time.
When a user operates the electronic device, a switch of the electronic device may be utilized to switch between transmission paths, which are constituted respectively by the RF module 92 and the antenna unit 94, the RF module 92 and the antenna unit 95, the RF module 93 and the antenna unit 96, and the RF module and the antenna unit 97, for wireless signal transmission. The user usually selects one of the aforementioned transmission paths according to a subjective usage experience. In other words, when the user considers the wireless transmission efficiency of one of the transmission paths being insufficient, another one of the transmission paths may be selected by the user for transmission in an attempt to promote the transmission efficiency. However, this kind of selection strategy is performed without taking into account objective information associated with network quality, and thus is relatively ineffective.
Moreover, when the antenna system 9 is in operation, since the group of the antenna units 94, 96 and the group of the antenna units 95, 97 are required to work separately, and since the antenna units 94, 95, 96, 97 may not be flexibly adjusted to form different groups for operation (for example, the antenna unit 94 may not cooperate with the antenna unit 97 to form a group for operation), flexibility of matching between the antenna units is restricted, so that performance of the antenna system 9 is adversely influenced. | {
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1. Field
The present invention is directed to novel aminoglycoside compounds, more specifically, novel tobramycin derivatives, and methods for their preparation and use as therapeutic or prophylactic agents.
2. Description of the Related Art
A particular interest in modern drug discovery is the development of novel low molecular weight drugs that work by binding to RNA. RNA, which serves as a messenger between DNA and proteins, was thought to be an entirely flexible molecule without significant structural complexity. Recent studies have revealed a surprising intricacy in RNA structure. RNA has a structural complexity rivaling proteins, rather than simple motifs like DNA. Genome sequencing reveals both the sequences of the proteins and the mRNAs that encode them. Since proteins are synthesized using an RNA template, such proteins can be inhibited by preventing their production in the first place by interfering with the translation of the mRNA. Since both proteins and the RNAs are potential drug targeting sites, the number of targets revealed from genome sequencing efforts is effectively doubled. These observations unlock a new world of opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry to target RNA with small molecules.
Classical drug discovery has focused on proteins as targets for intervention. Proteins can be extremely difficult to isolate and purify in the appropriate form for use in assays for drug screening. Many proteins require post-translational modifications that occur only in specific cell types under specific conditions. Proteins fold into globular domains with hydrophobic cores and hydrophilic and charged groups on the surface. Multiple subunits frequently form complexes, which may be required for a valid drug screen. Membrane proteins usually need to be embedded in a membrane to retain their proper shape. The smallest practical unit of a protein that can be used in drug screening is a globular domain. The notion of removing a single alpha helix or turn of a beta sheet and using it in a drug screen is not practical, since only the intact protein may have the appropriate 3-dimensional shape for drug binding. Preparation of biologically active proteins for screening is a major limitation in classical high throughput screening. Quite often the limiting reagent in high throughput screening efforts is a biologically active form of a protein which can also be quite expensive.
For screening to discover compounds that bind RNA targets, the classic approaches used for proteins can be superceded with new approaches. All RNAs are essentially equivalent in their solubility, ease of synthesis or use in assays. The physical properties of RNAs are independent of the protein they encode. They may be readily prepared in large quantity through either chemical or enzymatic synthesis and are not extensively modified in vivo. With RNA, the smallest practical unit for drug binding is the functional subdomain. A functional subdomain in RNA is a fragment that, when removed from the larger RNA and studied in isolation, retains its biologically relevant shape and protein or RNA-binding properties. The size and composition of RNA functional subdomains make them accessible by enzymatic or chemical synthesis. The structural biology community has developed significant experience in identification of functional RNA subdomains in order to facilitate structural studies by techniques such as NMR spectroscopy. For example, small analogs of the decoding region of 16S rRNA (the A-site) have been identified as containing only the essential region, and have been shown to bind antibiotics in the same fashion as the intact ribosome.
The binding sites on RNA are hydrophilic and relatively open as compared to proteins. The potential for small molecule recognition based on shape is enhanced by the deformability of RNA. The binding of molecules to specific RNA targets can be determined by global conformation and the distribution of charged, aromatic, and hydrogen bonding groups off of a relatively rigid scaffold. Properly placed positive charges are believed to be important, since long-range electrostatic interactions can be used to steer molecules into a binding pocket with the proper orientation. In structures where nucleobases are exposed, stacking interactions with aromatic functional groups may contribute to the binding interaction. The major groove of RNA provides many sites for specific hydrogen bonding with a ligand. These include the aromatic N7 nitrogen atoms of adenosine and guanosine, the O4 and O6 oxygen atoms of uridine and guanosine, and the amines of adenosine and cytidine. The rich structural and sequence diversity of RNA suggests to us that ligands can be created with high affinity and specificity for their target.
Although our understanding of RNA structure and folding, as well as the modes in which RNA is recognized by other ligands, is far from being comprehensive, significant progress has been made in the last decade (see, e.g., Chow, C. S.; Bogdan, F. M., Chem. Rev., 1997, 97, 1489 and Wallis, M. G.; Schroeder, R., Prog. Biophys. Molec. Biol. 1997, 67, 141). Despite the central role RNA plays in the replication of bacteria, drugs that target these pivotal RNA sites of these pathogens are scarce. The increasing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics makes the search for novel RNA binders of crucial importance.
Certain small molecules can bind and block essential functions of RNA. Examples of such molecules include the aminoglycoside antibiotics and drugs such as erythromycin which binds to bacterial rRNA and releases peptidyl-tRNA and mRNA. Aminoglycoside antibiotics have long been known to bind RNA. They exert their antibacterial effects by binding to specific target sites in the bacterial ribosome. For the structurally related antibiotics neamine, ribostamycin, neomycin B, and paromomycin, the binding site has been localized to the A-site of the prokaryotic 16S ribosomal decoding region RNA (see Moazed, D.; Noller, H. F., Nature, 1987, 327, 389). Binding of aminoglycosides to this RNA target interferes with the fidelity of mRNA translation and results in miscoding and truncation, leading ultimately to bacterial cell death (see Alper, P. B.; Hendrix, M.; Sears, P.; Wong, C., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 120, 1965).
There is a need in the art for new chemical entities that work against bacteria with broad-spectrum activity. Perhaps the biggest challenge in discovering RNA-binding antibacterial drugs is identifying vital structures common to bacteria that can be disabled by small molecule drug binding. A challenge in targeting RNA with small molecules is to develop a chemical strategy which recognizes specific shapes of RNA. There are three sets of data that provide hints on how to do this: natural protein interactions with RNA, natural product antibiotics that bind RNA, and man-made RNAs (aptamers) that bind proteins and other molecules. Each data set, however, provides different insights to the problem.
Several classes of drugs obtained from natural sources have been shown to work by binding to RNA or RNA/protein complexes. These include three different structural classes of antibiotics: thiostreptone, the aminoglycoside family and the macrolide family of antibiotics. These examples provide powerful clues to how small molecules and targets might be selected. Nature has selected RNA targets in the ribosome, one of the most ancient and conserved targets in bacteria. Since antibacterial drugs are desired to be potent and have broad-spectrum activity, these ancient processes, fundamental to all bacterial life, represent attractive targets. The closer we get to ancient conserved functions the more likely we are to find broadly conserved RNA shapes. It is important to also consider the shape of the equivalent structure in humans, since bacteria were unlikely to have considered the therapeutic index of their RNAs while evolving them.
A large number of natural antibiotics exist, these include the aminoglycosides, such as, kirromycin, neomycin, paromomycin, thiostrepton, and many others. They are very potent, bactericidal compounds that bind RNA of the small ribosomal subunit. The bactericidal action is mediated by binding to the bacterial RNA in a fashion that leads to misreading of the genetic code. Misreading of the code during translation of integral membrane proteins is thought to produce abnormal proteins that compromise the barrier properties of the bacterial membrane.
Antibiotics are chemical substances produced by various species of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes) that suppress the growth of other microorganisms and may eventually destroy them. However, common usage often extends the term antibiotics to include synthetic antibacterial agents, such as the sulfonamides, and quinolines, that are not products of microbes. The number of antibiotics that have been identified now extends into the hundreds, and many of these have been developed to the stage where they are of value in the therapy of infectious diseases. Antibiotics differ markedly in physical, chemical, and pharmacological properties, antibacterial spectra, and mechanisms of action. In recent years, knowledge of molecular mechanisms of bacterial, fungal, and viral replication has greatly facilitated rational development of compounds that can interfere with the life cycles of these microorganisms.
At least 30% of all hospitalized patients now receive one or more courses of therapy with antibiotics, and millions of potentially fatal infections have been cured. At the same time, these pharmaceutical agents have become among the most misused of those available to the practicing physician. One result of widespread use of antimicrobial agents has been the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which in turn has created an ever-increasing need for new drugs. Many of these agents have also contributed significantly to the rising costs of medical care.
When the antimicrobial activity of a new agent is first tested, a pattern of sensitivity and resistance is usually defined. Unfortunately, this spectrum of activity can subsequently change to a remarkable degree, because microorganisms have evolved the array of ingenious alterations discussed above that allow them to survive in the presence of antibiotics. The mechanism of drug resistance varies from microorganism to microorganism and from drug to drug.
The development of resistance to antibiotics usually involves a stable genetic change, inheritable from generation to generation. Any of the mechanisms that result in alteration of bacterial genetic composition can operate. While mutation is frequently the cause, resistance to antimicrobial agents may be acquired through transfer of genetic material from one bacterium to another by transduction, transformation or conjugation.
For the foregoing reasons, while progress has been made in this field, there is a need for new chemical entities that possess antibacterial activity. Further, in order to accelerate the drug discovery process, new methods for synthesizing aminoglycoside antibiotics are needed to provide an array of compounds that are potentially new drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Several full-spectrum imaging techniques have been introduced in recent years that promise to provide rapid and comprehensive chemical characterization of complex samples. These spectroscopic imaging techniques include Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with attached Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (EDX), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Electron Energy Loss spectroscopy (EELS), Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), gamma-ray spectroscopy, Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), Raman Spectroscopy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans, Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) scans, IR reflectometry, Mass Spectrometry (MS), multidimensional chromatographic/spectroscopic techniques, hyperspectral remote imaging sensors, etc. These new spectroscopic imaging systems enable the collection of a complete spectrum at each point in a 1-, 2- or 3-dimensional spatial array. It is not uncommon that these spectral image data sets comprise tens of thousands of individual spectra, or more.
One of the remaining obstacles to adopting these techniques for routine use is the difficulty of reducing the vast quantities of raw spectral data to meaningful chemical information. Multivariate factor analysis techniques have proven effective for extracting the essential chemical information from high dimensional spectral image data sets into a limited number of components that describe the spectral characteristics and spatial distributions of the chemical species comprising the sample. In mathematical terms, given an m-pixel×n-channel matrix of spectral data D, we wish to approximate D by the matrix factorizationD≅CST (1)Here, C is an m-pixel×p-component matrix describing the distribution of the pure components at each spatial location and S is an n-channel×p-component matrix representation of the pure-component spectra. In the typical case that p<<m and n, the factorization in Eq. (1) accomplishes a large reduction in the dimensionality of the data set with the goal of optimally separating factors embodying real chemical information from those describing only noise.
It is well known, however, that factor-based methods suffer from a “rotational ambiguity.” Given any invertible p×p transformation matrix R, D can be equally well expressed asD≅CST=(CR)(R−1ST)={tilde over (C)}{tilde over (S)}T (2)That is, an infinite number of factor pairs {tilde over (C)} and {tilde over (S)} will provide equally good fits to the data. The key to deriving relatively unique factors, then, is to select those factor solutions that satisfy additional optimization criteria. Thus, physically inspired constraints are often employed to derive relatively unique factor models that make the pure components more easily interpretable. In general, one would expect that the extent to which these criteria or constraints actually reflect the physical reality of a given sample, the higher the fidelity and reliability of the derived components.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA), used either by itself or to preprocess data, is the most ubiquitous tool of factor analysis. The constraints imposed by PCA are that the spectral and concentration factors must contain orthogonal components and that the components serially maximize the variance in the data that each accounts for. Neither constraint has any basis in physical reality; thus, the factors obtained via PCA are abstract and not easily interpreted. Alternating Least Squares-based Multivariate Curve Resolution (MCR-ALS) is another common factorization method used for spectral image analysis. This technique may force spectra and concentrations to be non-negative, for instance, yielding more physically realistic pure components. There are many cases, however, in which those constraints are not effective and where alternative approaches may provide new analytical insights.
For many cases of practical importance, imaged samples are “simple” in the sense that they consist of relatively discrete chemical phases. That is, at any given location, only one or a few of the chemical species comprising the entire sample have non-zero concentrations. In the limiting case that each location has only a single chemical component having non-zero concentration, the sample is said to be “perfectly simple.” The methods of the present invention exploit this simplicity in the spatial domain to make the resulting factor models more realistic. Therefore, more physically accurate and interpretable spectral and abundance components can be extracted from spectral images that have spatially simple structure. | {
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This invention relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to wireless communication systems using multiple antennas at the transmitter and one or more antennas at the receiver.
Wireless communication systems that use multiple antennas at the transmitter are commonly referred to as multiple-input systems. Space-time coding can be used in multiple-input systems to reduce the power needed to transmit information at a particular information data rate and still maintain a certain error rate. Similarly, space-time coding can be used to increase the information data rate at a particular power lever and still maintain a certain error rate, or to reduce the error rate at a particular information data rate and power level.
Additionally, it is highly advantageous to employ channel coding in order to approach the maximum open loop capacity of a multiple-input system. (An open loop system is one where channel characteristics are not fed back to the transmitter.) As channel coding improves, the system approaches the maximum open loop capacity. Thus, it is desirable to employ such channel coding in a multiple-input system. The state-of-the-art channel codes, e.g., Turbo codes, trellis codes and the like, are typically spatially one dimensional, i.e., they are designed for only a single transmit antenna. Particular types of space-time coding allow the use of such channel codes in multiple-input systems. Such space-time coding involves reducing interference between concurrently transmitted symbols.
Typically, in a transmitter that uses both channel coding and space time coding, a primitive data stream—the data stream to be transmitted—is divided into data sub-streams, each of which is channel coded, and each encoded sub-stream is mapped into symbol space to produce symbol sub-streams. One or more of the symbol sub-streams are then space-time coded to form space-time coded symbol sub-streams. In some space-time coding schemes, each transmit antenna transmits transmit-sequences formed from the symbols of one or more symbol sub-streams. The transmit-sequences are one or more symbol periods in duration. This duration is commonly referred to as the length of the transmit-sequence. A plurality of transmit-sequences that are to be transmitted by the same antenna form the space-time-coded symbol sub-streams. | {
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In general, a heat storage apparatus is a device installed around a compressor for storing heat emitted from the compressor, including a heat storage tank installed around the compressor for storing the heat emitted from the compressor and a refrigerant pipe installed inside the heat storage tank, through which a refrigerant flows, the refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant pipe heated by the heat stored in the heat storage tank.
Since the heat storage tank is arranged to enclose more than half of the outer circumferential face of the compressor, the heat storage tank is installed in the compressor by placing the heat storage tank on the top of the compressor and then moving the heat storage tank down.
In order to easily install the heat storage tank in the compressor, the diameter of the inner circumferential face of the heat storage tank has to be designed to be larger than that of the outer circumferential face of the compressor, in which case where the diameter of the inner circumferential face of the heat storage tank is larger than that of the outer circumferential face of the compressor, when the heat storage tank is installed in the compressor, there is a gap formed between the inner circumferential face of the heat storage tank and the outer circumferential face of the compressor, and some of the heat emitted from the compressor comes out through the gap between the inner circumferential face of the heat storage tank and the outer circumferential face of the compressor, hindering efficient storage of the heat emitted from the compressor. | {
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As conventional opening/closing type communication terminals, for instance, an opening/closing type portable terminal apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2001-251406, in which one casing is rotated along a direction perpendicular to an opening/closing direction. The opening/closing type portable terminal apparatus of this publication is arranged by employing an input unit for inputting information, a display unit for monitoring an operation condition and for displaying reception data, a control unit for controlling the input unit and the display unit, and a casing. It should be noted that the input unit owns a first input unit such as numeral keys, and a second input unit such as function keys. Also, the casing is arranged as follows. That is, this casing is divided into a first casing on which the second input unit is provided, and a second casing on which both the display unit and the second input unit are provided. The first casing is connected to the second casing by a hinge portion in a pivotable manner. Both the first casing and the second casing can be freely opened and closed, while the hinge portion is set as a rotation shaft.
As hinge apparatus for realize such a hinge portion, for example, one hinge apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2000-240636. Referring now to FIG. 11, the hinge apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2000-240636 will be described. FIG. 11 is a plan view (A) and a side view (B) of the hinge apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2000-240636.
The hinge apparatus shown in FIG. 11 is arranged by employing the opening/closing shaft 202, the rotation shaft 203, the angle restricting piece 204, the restricting flange 205, and the rotation restricting portion 206. The opening/closing shaft 202 is pivotably supported by an opening/closing shaft supporting portion 201. The rotation shaft 203 rotatably penetrates through the opening/closing shaft 202 under perpendicular intersecting condition. The angle restricting piece 204 is provided in such a manner that this angular restricting piece 204 mutually abuts against both the opening/closing shaft supporting portion 201 and the opening/closing shaft 202. The restricting flange 205 is provided on the rotation shaft 202 under projected condition. The rotation restricting portion 206 is faced to the restriction flange 205 mounted on the opening/closing shaft supporting portion 201. In the case that this hinge apparatus is applied to the above-described opening/closing type communication terminal, a dimension of a hinge portion as the rotation shaft is determined by such a distance between a tip portion of the angle restricting piece 204 which is moved in connection with the rotation of the rotation shaft 203 and an axis center of the rotation shaft 203.
Also, as the conventional opening/closing type communication terminals, a portable telephone is disclosed in JP-A-6-311216. In the portable telephone disclosed in this publication, a first casing which is constituted by both a first front case and a first rear cover is pivotably connected to a second casing which is constituted by a second front case and a second rear cover by way of a hinge portion. Also, a first curved plane portion having an arc shape which is provided at an edge portion of the first front case is engaged with a second curved plane portion having an arc shape which is provided at an edge portion of the first rear cover so as to construct a first cavity portion having a substantially cylindrical shape which is internally communicated with the first casing at an edge portion of this first casing. Also, a second cavity portion having a substantially cylindrical shape is constituted at an edge portion of the second casing, which is internally communicated with this second casing. Then, the first cavity portion and the second cavity portion are arranged adjacent to each other in a coaxial manner. Also, a flexible printed board which connects an electric circuit employed in the first casing to an electric circuit employed in the second casing is wound and penetrated in a spiral shape along both an inner diameter of the first cavity portion and an inner diameter of the second cavity portion. Also, a cable which is present and is bridged over both the casings is elongated within an internal diameter of the flexible printed board which is wound in the spiral shape.
However, in the above-explained conventional communication terminal, even if the conventional hinge portion is mounted on such an apparatus as a portable telephone which is requested to be made compact so as to realize an opening/closing type portable telephone and the like, there is a problem that the apparatus becomes a large size due to the dimension of the hinge portion. Also, the dimension of the hinge portion is determined based upon the diameter of the opening/closing shaft, and the rotation radius of the angle restricting piece provided on the edge portion of the rotation shaft. In such an arrangement that the angle restricting piece is provided at the edge portion of the rotation shaft, the rotation radius is increased. There is such a problem that the size of the hinge portion becomes large.
Furthermore, since the opening/closing type portable telephone, or the like owns such a structure that bending stress and twist stress are produced on the flexible printed board in connection with the opening/closing operation thereof, there is a risk that a conductor portion (circuit pattern) of the flexible printed board is cut out.
FIG. 12 is a plan view for showing a flexible printed board which penetrates through the conventional hinge portion. As indicated in this drawing, the flexible printed board 300 is wound in a spiral shape within the hinge portion in order to be connected to connectors which are provided on a first casing (not shown) and a second casing (not shown) respectively. A twist angle “P” (see FIG. 12) of the flexible printed board which is wound in a right winding direction and directed from a lower side to an upper side is not changed even in such a case that the casings are folded. It should be noted that a two-dot and dash line indicates such a case that the casings have been folded.
However, since fixing positions (right/left directions) of both edges of the flexible printed board with respect to the first casing and the second casing are not changed, if the first casing and the second casing are folded from the opened condition, then the twist angle “P” is chanted into an approximately P/2. In other words, since the first casing and the second casing are folded, such a construction is made that both the bending stress and the twist angle are added to the flexible printed board.
Generally speaking, a flexible printed board owns a flexible characteristic, and thus, has a sufficiently strong construction with respect to bending stress. However, when various sorts of stress are applied in a composite manner to the flexible printed board, circuit disconnections and broken boards of the flexible printed board may be conducted. As a consequence, in the conventional opening/closing type portable telephones, if the opening/closing operations are repeatedly carried out, then the circuit disconnections and the broken boards of the flexible printed boars are conducted, which should be still improved.
Also, in the hinge apparatus (see FIG. 11) described in the above-explained JP-A-2000-240636, in such a case that an outer decoration cover for covering both the opening/closing shaft 202 and the rotation shaft 203 is provided, since the hinge apparatus owns such a structure that the opening/closing shaft 202 is pivotably moved within the opening/closing shaft supporting unit 201, the outer decoration cover cannot be made in close contact to the opening/closing shaft supporting portion 201 in order to avoid abrasion with respect to the opening/closing shaft supporting portion 201. As a result, a clearance is produced between the outer decoration cover and the opening/closing shaft 202. There is a risk that rain and the like are entered into this clearance, which may cause corrosion of appliances.
The present invention is made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and therefore, has an object to provide both a hinge apparatus in which a clearance between a rotating shaft and a cover member is small, and an opening/closing type communication terminal equipped with this hinge apparatus. Furthermore, the present invention owns another object to provide both a compact hinge apparatus in which a rotation radius of the rotating shaft is small, and also, an opening/closing type communication terminal equipped with this hinge apparatus. | {
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Modern disc drives are commonly used in a multitude of computer environments, ranging from super computers to notebook computers, to store large amounts of data in a form that can be made readily available to a user. Typically, a disc drive has one or more magnetic discs that are rotated by a spindle motor at a constant high speed. Each disc has a data recording surface divided into a series of generally concentric data tracks radially spaced across a band having an inner diameter and an outer diameter.
The data is stored within the data tracks on the disc surfaces in the form of magnetic flux transitions. The flux transitions are induced by an array of read/write heads. Typically, each data track is divided into a number of data sectors where data is stored in fixed size data blocks.
The read/write head includes an interactive element such as a magnetic transducer which senses the magnetic transitions on a selected data track to read the data stored on the track. Alternatively, the interactive element transmits an electrical signal that induces magnetic transitions on the selected data track to write data to the track.
As is known in the art, each read/write head is mounted to a load arm that is supported by an actuator arm and is selectively positionable by a rotary actuator assembly over a selected data track of the disc to either read data from or write data to the selected data track. The read/write head includes a slider assembly having an air bearing surface that, in response to air currents caused by rotation of the discs, causes the read/write head to fly adjacent the disc surface with a desired gap separating the read/write head and the corresponding disc.
Typically, a plurality of open-center discs and spacer rings are alternately stacked on a spindle motor hub. The hub, defining the core of the stack, serves to align the discs and spacer rings around a common axis. Collectively the discs, spacer rings, and spindle motor hub define a disc pack assembly. The surfaces of the stacked discs are accessed by the read/write heads which are mounted on a complementary stack of actuator arms which form part of an actuator assembly. The actuator assembly generally includes head wires which conduct electrical signals from the read/write heads to the flex circuit which, in turn, conducts the electrical signals to a flex circuit connector. The flex circuit connector is mounted to a flex circuit mounting bracket, and the mounting bracket is mounted to a disc drive basedeck. External to the basedeck, the flex circuit connector is secured to a printed circuit board assembly (PCB).
The actuator assembly interacts with a magnet assembly of the disc drive to selectively move the actuator arms so as to selectively position the read/write heads. This interaction generally involves the relative movement of an electrical coil and a magnetic circuit created by a pair of opposing magnets. In one embodiment the coil is attached to the actuator assembly and rotates therewith within the magnetic field of stationary magnets. In an alternative embodiment it is known to attach the magnets to the actuator assembly and rotate them adjacent an electric coil.
In either case, the electric coil is energized with a control current to create an electromagnetic field which interacts with the magnetic circuit to move and position the actuator assembly. The recent trend in the industry is to reduce drive seek time, the time required to move the read/write head from a current data track to a target data track. One way of reducing seek time is to increase the relative amount of current to the electric coil. As the current is increased the operating temperature of the coil likewise increases, as a proportionate amount of the electrical energy is dissipated as heat energy. One skilled in the art will understand that the amount of current that can be passed through a coil is generally a function of its electrical resistance, which is directly proportional to the temperature of the coil. As the temperature of the coil increases, the magnitude of the control current is limited, adversely affecting the drive seek time. Moreover, elevated coil temperatures can also adversely affect the seek time performance by generally weakening the strength of the magnetic circuit of the magnet assembly.
There is a long-felt need in the industry for an improved actuator assembly that provides thermal heat transfer from the electric coil of the voice coil motor, so as to reduce the accumulation of heat energy in the coil to reduce the coil operating temperature. | {
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This invention relates generally to rendering graphical objects, and more particularly, to combining polygon and volume graphic objects.
The field of rendering three-dimensional (3D) objects or synthetic models can be partitioned into two main areas: polygon rendering and volume rendering. Polygon rendering is only concerned with the surface topology, whereas volume rendering also deals with the internal structure of objects or models.
Polygon Rendering
In processors and processes designed for polygon rendering, the surfaces of the object or model are described in terms of polygons, e.g., triangles and lines. These fundamental geometric components are used to generate constituent xe2x80x9cfragmentsxe2x80x9d representing the outer surface of the object. A fragment is defined as all information (data) required to render (draw) a single image pixel that is on the surface, for example, the x and y coordinates of the pixel, the red, green, and blue color values of the pixel alpha transparency, depth values, texture coordinates, and the like. Fragments can be blended into a color (or image) buffer before being rendered as pixels.
Volume Rendering
In processors and processes designed for volume rendering, the basic building block is a 3D voxel. Depending on a viewing or projecting orientation (view frustum), voxels can be interpolated to yield volume samples. The interpolated volume samples can be considered to be equivalent to fragments as defined above. A base plane used during volume rendering can also be considered equivalent to the image plane. This correspondence makes it easier to integrate polygon rendering with volume rendering and application programming interfaces of commonly used rendering systems.
Combined Polygon and Volume Rendering
Often, it is important to combine polygon and volume rendering. For example, a surface terrain is better rendered with polygons, because flat terrain is generally homogeneous. Other effects, such as fog, are more effectively rendered with volume graphics techniques, because fog particles are intrinsically specified by their voxel values.
Mixed polygon and volume rendering is particularly useful for visualization, especially in medical applications, as described by Kaufamn et al. in xe2x80x9cIntermixing Surface and Volume Rendering,xe2x80x9d Proc. Nato90, Berlin, 1990, vol. 60, pp. 217-227, Springer Verlag Berlin, and by Ebert et al. in xe2x80x9cRendering and Animation of Gaseous Phenomena by Combining Fast Volume and Scanlie A-Buffer techniques,xe2x80x9d Proc. SIGGRAPH ""90, 1990. Mixed polygon and volume rendering combines the speed and storage efficiency of polygonal representations with the realism of volume graphics.
In enhanced reality applications, such as computer assisted surgery guidance as described by Kikinis et al. in xe2x80x9cComputer Assisted Interactive Three-Dimensional Planning for Neurosurgical Procedures,xe2x80x9d Neurosurgery, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 640-651, 1996, or virtual endoscopy surgery simulation, as described by Geiger et al. in xe2x80x9cSimulation of Endoscopy,xe2x80x9d Comp. Vision Virtual reality and Robotics in Med., Niece, France, 1995, pp. 227-281, the intermixing of volume objects and polygon objects allows one to choose the best representation for a particular scene.
Sampled volume data, such as CT or MR images can be directly combined with synthetic objects such as surgical instruments, probes, catheters, prostheses, and landmarks displayed as glyphs. In some instances, preoperatively derived surface models for certain anatomical structures are more appropriate. For example, skin is more efficiently stored, and better visualized as a polygon mesh.
Converting Polygons to Volume Samples
One straightforward way of mixing polygon and volume rendering is to first convert the polygonal models into sampled volumes, and then to render the converted models with volume rendering techniques, see Sobierajski et al. in xe2x80x9cVolumetric Ray Tracing,xe2x80x9d Proc. Symposium on Volume Visualization, Washington D.C., 1994. This method is computationally expensive, because each pixel of converted polygons must be represented as a voxel, thus giving up the speed and storage advantages of polygons as described above.
Simultaneous Ray Casting
Another way to combine polygon and volume rendering is to simultaneously cast rays through both the polygonal and volume data, resample both data at the same sample intervals, and then to composite the colors and opacities in depth sort order as described by Levoy in xe2x80x9cEfficient Ray Tracing of Volume Data,xe2x80x9d ACM Trans. On Volume Graphics, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 245-261, 1990. There, polygons and volumes are ray traced, with each pixel and voxel being depth sorted and merged. The method requires ray tracing of polygons, as opposed to the usual efficient scan conversion techniques. Ray tracing makes it impractical to use conventional polygon rendering hardware, further reducing the efficiency of the method.
Therefore, there is a need for a method which efficiently allows one to combine polygon and volume rendering.
The invention combines polygon and volume representations of graphical objects during rendering. The combined rendering can take advantage of the rendering ease of polygons, and the richness of volume graphic techniques.
The combination is made possible by first forming a depth-related approximation of the volume graphics object. This is done by casting rays through the object, and segmenting the rays according to volume surfaces. The segmenting produces depth information which is sorted in an ascending order. In addition, color and opacity values are accumulated according to the ray segments. Pairs of segment depths are used to define front and back clip planes, and polygons intersecting the clip surfaces are broken into smaller non-intersecting polygons.
For each pair of clip planes, interleave geometry-pixel and volume-pixel compositing as follows. Front-to-back composite rasterized geometry between the current front clip plane and a next volume surface, front-to-back composite volume-pixels between the clip planes, and front-to-back composite rasterized geometry between the next volume surface and the back clip plane. | {
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A cutting disk for a machine tool for the cutting and/or grinding of workpieces, in particular consisting of materials such as cellulose or wood, comprises a disk-shaped main body having a radially inside receiving region and a radially outside work zone with at least one first active region and at least one second active region. The first and the second active region respectively have at least one cutting element, configured, in particular, as a cutting grain or as a cutting tooth.
In DE 103 37 841 A1, a cutting disk is disclosed. The cutting disk comprises a radially inwardly arranged receiving region for the releasable fixing of the disk to a rotary drive and a radially outwardly arranged active region for cooperation with a workpiece. The active region has outwardly open, oblique slits and is provided with a cutting coating containing an abrasive cutting body. | {
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There are numerous prior art methods for coating substrates to improve their performance, e.g. lifetime, abrasion wear resistance and similar properties. For example, consider the case of plastic sunglass lenses or plastic prescription eyewear. Due to the ease of scratching plastic, abrasion-resistant coatings are deposited onto the surface of plastic lenses. These hard outer coatings increase the useful life of the lenses. To make such coatings marketable, the process for depositing these hard coatings must be inexpensive, reliable and reproducible.
Plastic lenses sold into the ophthalmic lens market are largely coated by acrylic and polysiloxane dip-coatings or spin coatings. These coatings significantly improve the abrasion resistance of the lens compared to the uncoated lens. This is particularly true for the case of polycarbonate which is very subject to abrasion. However, improved abrasion resistance of coated lenses is still a major problem in the ophthalmic lens industry. The industrial goal is to obtain plastic lenses which exhibit the same abrasion resistance as glass lenses. Current commercial plastic lenses have abrasion resistance characteristics which are poor compared to glass. Therefore, when purchasing lenses, one must choose between glass, which is very abrasion resistant but is heavier, or plastic which is lighter but much less abrasion-resistant.
Other coatings have been suggested for plastic substrates, including lenses. Most of these coatings are so-called "plasma polymers" which are largely produced by creating a plasma from siloxane precursor gases. The substrates are exposed to the plasma, but they are not biased to cause energetic ion bombardment. The performance of these plasma polymers is often only marginally better than that of the polysiloxane and acrylic spin and dip coatings, and the performance of these coatings does not approach the performance of glass. These films are often quite soft and are not useable as protective coatings except on extremely soft substrates.
Other coating processes have been suggested in which energetic ion bombardment is caused by mounting the substrates on the powered electrode in a radio frequency (RF) plasma system and exposing the parts to the plasma, thereby creating a negative bias on the substrate surface. The resultant coatings are often more abrasion resistant than the "plasma polymers". These plasma systems are not readily scaled to a throughput required for mass production nor are they easily operated in a reproducible, controlled fashion in a production environment. The RF plasma process also suffers in that the deposition process, and the properties of the resultant coating are dependent on whether the substrate to be coated is an electrical conductor or insulator. Furthermore, if the substrate is an insulator, the thickness of the substrate strongly influences the deposition process energetics and the properties of the resultant coating. This means that for production coating of insulating substrates of different size and shape, e.g. plastic lenses, it may be necessary to have different coating processes for each type of substrate. This reduces the flexibility of the process for use in production. Additionally, systems with large area electrodes are not widely available. For example, there are no readily available commercial parallel plate RF deposition systems having large electrodes, i.e. at least one meter in diameter.
The following references illustrate prior an coating processes in which plasmas are used in direct contact with the surface of the substrate:
Rzad et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,882, describe a method of preparing a transparent plastic article having an improved protective stratum thereon. The protective stratum is deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).
Balian et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,060, describe a process and device for depositing thin layers on a substrate using a plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) technique. The substrate must be made conductive, and is used as an electrode in the PCVD process.
Reed et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,308, describe an abrasion-resistant article and a method for producing the same. The article includes a plastic substrate and a gradational coating applied by a PECVD process.
Devins et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,941, also describe an abrasion-resistant article and a method for making the same. The article includes a polycarbonate substrate, an interfacial layer of an adherent resinous composition on the substrate, and an abrasion-resistant layer applied on top of the interfacial layer by PECVD.
Brochot et. al., U.S. Pat. 5,093,153 describe a coated object comprising a glass substrate coated with an organomineral film by a PECVD process.
.Iadd.Bonet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,152, describe a plasma polymerization method for making a coating of composition SiC.sub.0-5 N.sub.0.3-0.8 O.sub.1.3-2.5 H.sub.0.5-1.2 on plastic optical substrates, by placing the substrate in the afterglow of a plasma and injecting a silicon-containing material near the surface of the substrate..Iaddend.
Kubacki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,315, describes a low-temperature plasma polymerization process for coating an optical plastic substrate with a single layer coating for the purpose of improving the durability of the plastic.
Enke et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,730, describe a PECVD process for producing a transparent protective coating on a plastic optical substrate surface.
All of the prior art plasma deposition methods for application of wear and abrasion-resistant coatings suffer from one or more of the following deficiencies and shortcomings:
(1) difficulty in pre-cleaning of substrates prior to deposition; PA1 (2) adhesion of the protective, abrasion-resistant coating; PA1 (3) permeation of the coatings by water vapor and oxygen; PA1 (4) fabrication of coherent, dense coatings; PA1 (5) control of coating properties during a deposition run and batch-to-batch variation of coating characteristics; PA1 (6) coating thickness control and reproducibility of thickness; PA1 (7) part-to-part and batch-to-batch control of coating uniformity; PA1 (8) difficulty in coating substrates of complex geometry or configuration; and PA1 (9) production readiness and ability to scale-up the deposition process for mass production.
These shortcomings are highlighted in the following review of the two preferred prior art methods for deposition of abrasion-resistant coatings on plastic optical substrates: plasma polymerization and biased RF plasma deposition.
The first problem encountered by both methods is the difficulty in pre-cleaning the substrates prior to deposition of the adhesion layer or abrasion-resistant film. Typically substrates are pre-cleaned in an inert gas or glow discharge (plasma) prior to deposition. This pre-cleaning technique suffers from low cleaning rate, and re-contamination of the substrate by sputtered contaminants which are deposited back onto the substrate.
One of the key requirements for a protective coating on a variety of substrates, including optics, is the need to provide a barrier to moisture, oxygen, and other environmental elements. This requires formation of a coating structure with optimal atom packing density. This atom packing density is maximized by a high degree of ion bombardment during film growth, which is not easily attainable or optimized by the plasma polymerization methods of the prior art.
Regarding the control of the coating properties within a single deposition run, and from batch-to-batch, it is well known that control is difficult with the plasma deposition methods. For the case of deposition of electrically insulating coatings on electrically conductive substrates by the biased RF plasma technique, it is known that as the deposited coating thickness increases, there will be a gradual decrease of the surface bias on the growing film; see Meyerson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,494, column 6, line 67 through column 7, line 3. This decrease results in a change in the properties of the deposited coating, i.e. hardness, stress and hydrogen concentration.
Because the size and shape of the particular part to be coated, and its method of fixturing influence the plasma uniformity and plasma density around the part, it is difficult to predict and control deposition thickness uniformity across multiple parts coated within a single coating run using the plasma deposition methods of the prior art.
While the plasma deposition methods offer high deposition rates, it is difficult to reproducibly control deposition rate, deposition thickness and deposition uniformity across large areas with plasma deposition methods. Because of the interdependence of process variables such as pressure, gas flow rate, power, and substrate bias, accurate control of deposition thickness is difficult. Thus, it is very difficult to manufacture coating layers with thickness less than 0.1 micron, and with run-to-run thickness variation of less than approximately 10%. This is a significant disadvantage of the plasma deposition techniques of the prior art for the deposition of optical coatings, especially those requiring the use of multiple, thin layers of varying refractive index, such as antireflection coatings.
Finally, because of the sensitivity of the plasma deposition processes to substrate geometry, it is often impossible to coat parts of complex geometry or configuration. Examples of complex geometry include optical lenses with high corrective power which may be edged to a variety of shapes, industrial molds used to fabricate plastic parts, and other industrial machine parts, including shafts, gears, bearings, and the like. The current industrial trend is to fabricate many of these industrial machine parts from electrically insulating plastics and ceramics. These electrically insulating industrial machine parts are especially difficult to coat uniformly by the plasma deposition methods.
All of the difficulties above combine to make mass production of protective, abrasion-resistant coatings on a variety of substrates by the plasma deposition processes of the prior art very problematic indeed. Clearly, an improved method for flexible, reproducible, and high quality mass production of abrasion-resistant coatings has long been sought.
Ion beam etching and deposition of many materials is known in the prior art. For example, ion milling is commonly used in semiconductor processing. Ion beam systems typically are more controllable than RF plasma systems in that the deposition and etching process parameters, e.g. plasma potential, substrate bias, plasma current, gas flows and chamber pressures are not as strongly coupled as they are in the RF plasma process. This results in a wider process window and better control for ion beam processing, as compared to plasma processing. Additionally, ion beam deposition equipment is available which is capable of processing in excess of 1000 square inches of substrate material per batch. It is believed that RF equipment is not commercially available which approaches this level of scale. The combination of the higher degree of control for ion beam processing and the ability to scale to large areas allows for a process which is more easily moved into production and is more robust. However, one major disadvantage to prior art ion beam deposition processes, e.g. for deposition of DLC films, is their relatively low deposition rate which leads to long production times for thick coatings, and hence high production cost.
In an article published in Clinical Materials, Vol. 12, pages 237-244 (1993), G. Dearnaley describes a process in which low vapor pressure materials are condensed on the surface of the article to be coated and simultaneously bombarded by a high energy nitrogen ion beam. In this case, the ion energy required is greater than 10 kV. These large voltages are difficult to control and become problematic in a production environment. In addition, the coatings manufactured by this method are opaque and not useable for applications where a transparent coated product is required.
Kimock, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,808, 5,190,807, 5,268,217 disclose direct ion beam deposition processes using a hydrocarbon gas or carbon vapor for producing abrasion wear resistant products comprising substrates with hard outer coatings of substantially optically transparent diamond-like carbon (DLC) useful for commercial articles such as optical lenses, sunglass lenses, and bar code scanner windows. | {
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Producers of commercial electronic equipment, not to mention defense applications, are being forced to improve the performance of shielding devices to counteract electromagnetic interference complicated by the ever higher frequencies of energy generation in and beyond the megahertz range. Openings in cabinet enclosures for access doors, hinges, etc. must be so protected by the use of suitable shielding.
This has been an ongoing problem and various solutions have been proposed, these prior solutions however being unsatisfactory from one or more points of view. Thus, the prior devices have been insufficient from point of view of at least one or more of the following requirements:
1. Attenuation of internal and external interference using gasketing with resistive values within the range of 0.1 to 0.001 ohm-cm and selectable attenuation from 30 to 90 dB.
2. Low compression set of the gasket so long term mechanical sealing is maintained.
3. Superior physical properties of the gasket to prevent failure due to tearing forces.
4. Resistance to reduced electromagnetic shielding due to oxidation.
5. Ease of cleanliness maintenance.
6. Freedom from free metal chips as occurs with the initial fitting and subsequent deterioration of metallic meshes and metal assemblies.
7. A neat appearance of the shield.
8. Ease of installation and replacement.
9. Low cost relative to alternate designs.
There are presently available four different types of cabinet shielding means which suffer one or more defects. These are as follows:
______________________________________ Product Principal Inadequacy ______________________________________ 1. Carbon Filled Elastomers Shielding ability falls off in the higher frequency range 2. Metal Filled Elastomers Poor physical properties (compression set, tear, etc.) 3. Metal Mesh with Hard to cut cleanly for Elastomeric Core corners; chips of free metal 4. Metallic Seals Difficult to keep clean, (Spring-like fingers) oxidation ______________________________________ | {
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Electromigration is the transport of atoms within a conductive material, which is caused by collisions that transfer momentum between electrons passing through the conductive material (i.e., current) and the atoms of the conductive material. Modern day integrated circuit chips often experience electromigration in metal interconnect layers. For example, as electrons carry a current to a semiconductor device, the electrons collide with metal atoms in the metal interconnect layers. The collisions cause metal atoms within the metal interconnect layers to move (i.e., undergo electromigration), resulting in voids in the metal interconnect layers that can lead to integrated circuit failure. | {
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The present invention relates generally to educational and instructional board games for play by two or more persons where turns are taken to advance game pieces and capture the game pieces of the other player(s). More particularly, the present invention relates to a checkers-type game where the game pieces are marked with a mathematical function and a numeral which is used to determine a point value each time another game piece is taken.
The game of Checkers is certainly well-known and widely played and over the years there have been a number of variations to the basic game apparatus and method of play. The game of Chinese Checkers is one such variation where game pieces are advanced and jumps taken all in an effort to reach a particular objective. In both regular Checkers and Chinese Checkers, the focus is on the play of the game and the strategy employed by each player to out smart and out maneuver the opponent(s) in order to successfully capture the opponent's game pieces or be the first to achieve some objective. If anything is taught by these games, it is limited to the play of the game and game strategies generally.
There have been attempts to create a greater learning experience with checkers-type games as evidenced by the patents to Climenson and Ballou. In U.S. Pat. No. 574,192 issued to Climenson on Dec. 29, 1896, the game board is square in shape with 100 (10.times.10) individual game squares. These individual game squares are alternately arranged in a light and dark color pattern and the entire game is played using only one of the two sets of differently colored and alternately colored squares. The outer most border of game squares (36 total) constitutes a disqualification area. Any game piece which is forced to jump so as to land on one of the border squares is disqualified from the game. The interior game squares are arranged in an 8.times.8 pattern for 64 total squares and the colored squares which are used for play of the game (32 total) are each permanently marked with a numeral and a mathematical function such as addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.
Each player has 12 game pieces which are numbered and arranged on 12 of the 32 squares in three rows, the same as is done when playing Checkers. As the game is played, the pieces are moved diagonally and jumping of opposing pieces as required. Any piece which is jumped remains on the board and the player making the jump is entitled to score a certain number of points based on the number of his game piece and the number and function of the vacant square where his game piece lands after the jump. The player with the greatest point total is the winner of the game.
The play of the Climenson game is more complex than Checkers and requires more time to play a game in that the game pieces are not removed after being jumped. Whatever educational value there may be from calculating the score is limited by the lack of uniformity in the mathematical functions which appear on the 32 game squares. If a student desires to practice multiplication by playing the game, it is conceivable that the entire game might be played with only one or two multiplication calculations being required for the student. Fixing the configuration of the board limits the games versatility and precludes a focus on one type of mathematical function for instructional purposes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 613,550 issued to Ballou on Nov. 1, 1898 the game board is a larger version of a checker board having 14 squares on a side for 196 total squares. Twenty-six (26) of the 28 alternating squares of the center 4 rows are marked with the numeral and the selected corners of the selected squares in this center of 4 rows are marked with one or two dots. Each player has 21 game pieces which are arranged on alternating squares in the first three rows at his end of the board. The two players take turns moving diagonally with the objective being to reach the 4 rows in the center portion of the board. Once a player's game piece passes over a diagonal row of 4 squares a numerical value is computed based on the dots which are in the corners of the squares which are passed through in moving across the 4 rows. For example, moving across the squares marked 4, 10, 10, and 5 results in a dot expression of 4:10::10:5 which according to the rules of ratio and proportion requires one to multiply the extremes and means and divide the greater product by the lesser to achieve the result. In this case, multiplying the extremes results in 20 and multiplying the means results in 100. The larger product 100 divided by the smaller product 20 gives the result of 5 which according to the rules of the game means that the player successfully moving across the 4-10-10-5 diagonal row gets to remove 5 game pieces of his opponent.
In this game, no jumping is allowed except when both players have game pieces in the numbered squares and no backward moves are allowed until the numbered squares have been crossed and the opponents kingdom is entered. The game is called "ratio" and is limited in play and educational value by fixing the numerical markings on the center rows of the board.
For a less complicated game there is a Checkers adaptation once offered by Yippy, Inc. of New York, N.Y. referred to as "Two Way Checkers". In this game, the checker pieces are assigned a value of 1,5,10 or 25 points in order to add a new dimension to the game. As the advertisement for the game states, "straight piece-for-piece trades are out--why lose a 25 to kill a 1?". This game, even more so than the games disclosed by the Climenson and Ballou patents is geared solely to gain play strategy. There are no real educational or instructional aspects as to mathematics except an appreciation of numbers and which ones are larger.
Another game which attempts to combine mathematics with board game play is offered by Creative Toys Ltd. under the name "Arithmechips". The game board includes a 9.times.9 matrix of 81 squares and 169 playing chips. Each chip includes a mathematical expression on one side such as "19-11=" and the answer, 8, is displayed on the opposite side of the corresponding chip. The "Arithmechips" game is sold in three versions, one version is subtraction, one is addition and the third is multiplication. Each game version is structured such that every playing chip has a mathematical expression corresponding to the specific version. For example, if the subtraction version is selected, all 169 playing chips have a subtraction expression displayed on one side of the chip and the correct answer to the subtraction expression is displayed on the opposite side of the chip.
Playing chips are selected at random and placed on 80 of the 81 squares leaving the center square vacant. One player moves first by jumping over one chip, and landing on the vacant square. The jumping player then collects the chip which was jumped over and must answer the problem correctly in order to keep the chip. The object is to collect chips not score points. Multiple jumps are permitted similar to those allowed in the game of Checkers and if more than one chip is collected the problems must all be answered correctly in order to keep all the chips. Once there is a miss in answering the mathematical expression correctly that chip and all those left (yet unanswered) as part of the same multiple jump are returned to the game board with the answer side laid face down. When no jumps can be made the game is over and the chips of each player are counted.
One drawback of this game is the inability to practice the different mathematical functions without having to buy two or three different versions of what would otherwise be the same game. Another drawback is the time it takes to play. Assuming that games such as this will be used by grade schools as well as households with small children, it is important to have a faster paced game and one which can be played in 10 to 15 minutes so as to hold the interest of the players. In view of the fact that one aspect of the "Arithmechips" game and the game of the present invention is for educational and instructional purposes, the actual play of the game needs to be short enough so as to hold the interest of the players. Games which take substantially longer to play such as 45 to 55 minutes are not as suitable for this age of player nor for use during a school class period or recess period. If the game cannot be finished in a class period or recess period the children will not be inclined to start the game. While some educational or instructional value may still be realized in a partially played game, the children still like the idea of competition and winning. The game in their minds is played to see who wins and who loses. If there is not enough time to finish the game a significant part of why the game is played is lost.
The present invention offers a simple, fast paced game that is played somewhat like Checkers but can be played with one game apparatus in anyone of four different mathematical functions consisting of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The players select the function to be used and the game pieces are oriented accordingly. There is no penalty for wrong answers since the players want to be encouraged to learn and not to be penalized for an error. The game takes about the same amount of time as Checkers and the game can be easily completed in part of a grade school class period or recess period. As will be described hereinafter, the present invention overcomes the problems and drawbacks in the earlier games in a novel and an obvious manner. | {
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A computing system generally contains a processor, memory, and a data bus. The processor performs the operations of the computer, executing code, and moving data from and to memory locations. The data bus sends or retrieves data to or from main memory. A conventional computer additionally contains input and output ports and interfaces to provide data input or output from the processor to external devices (keyboard or display).
Cache memory is a copy of the main memory that is repeatedly used to reduce processing time. Generally, whenever memory is accessed, to retrieve information or to store information, the processor must traverse the data bus, request the data, and wait for a response. This takes a lot of processing time. To reduce the time for processing and manipulating memory over the data bus, cache memory is used. The processor uses cache memory to avoid traversing a bus, and waiting for a response. Since the cache is inside the processor, the cache memory reduces bus calls. The cache memory can be accessed much quicker than continually reading and writing to main memory. The processor then manipulates the cache memory directly. When the processor is done with the memory, or when additional cache memory space is needed for another application, the cache memory is written back to the main memory, and data from a different memory location is written into the cache memory.
Generally, cache controllers operate in a manner that is invisible to the software being executed. However, especially in embedded systems, there are reasons to provide capabilities to the software to manipulate cache entries either by direct access to cache entries or indirect access via commands that reference desired memory addresses. These commands often include the ability to invalidate a cache entry and/or clean an entry. The data in an entry is written out when that data has changed since the main memory has been written. Often times, these instructions operate on the real memory address as opposed to the cache entry. That is, the specified address is looked up in the cache and if present, the entry where the block is found is cleaned and/or invalidated.
Memory blocks are often automatically inserted into a cache entry upon a read access to the memory. That is, the cache controller will find an empty cache entry, or free an existing one by evicting an entry in the index mapped by the specified address. As the data is read from main memory, a whole block is read and copied into the empty cache entry. There are times, however, when the software is referencing memory in which the existing data is going to be ignored. That is, the software desires an area of memory in cache, but is going to immediately rewrite the data, not using the existing information in that memory location. Writing the data before it is in cache can be expensive from a performance standpoint as can waiting for data to be read from memory that is going to be ignored anyway.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary conventional computing system 100 with processor 102, cache memory 104, data bus 106, and input/output interfacing ports. The processor 102 controls the data bus 106 to read from or write to main memory 114. The main memory 114 may additionally be accessed over a server 112, as part of a storage area network. The input/output interface 108 permits a user to interact with the computing system 100 through input and output devices 110 such as a keyboard or display. The processor 102 will request data from the main memory 114 through the data bus 106. The data in the main memory location requested 120 is then retrieved by the data bus 106 and copied into the cache memory location 122. The processor may then manipulate the data directly. Once the memory space is needed by another main memory allocation, or the processor is finished manipulating the data, the data bus will write the cache memory data back to the main memory location. The cache memory location 122 links to the main memory location 120 by using part of the available memory as an index to the main memory location.
Though the cache memory is an attempt to reduce the processing time in manipulating memory by moving a part of that memory into the processor, there are still delays in retrieving the data from memory. Before the cache memory is used, the processor still traverses the data bus, requests the data, and waits for a response. The main memory is copied into the cache memory before it is manipulated. Once in cache, the processor can manipulate the memory relatively fast. However, waiting for the processor to retrieve the memory and store it in cache is still an expensive operation, in terms of processing time.
One solution to the delay time in accessing memory is a preload instruction. The preload instruction is called by a user when a memory location is accessed in advance of when it is needed by the processor. The preload instruction permits a user to load memory into cache before it is actually needed. Therefore, the system hides the copy time if the request is sent with sufficient time prior to its use. However, the preload instruction takes up cache memory before it is needed by the processor and also occupies the data bus which may slow down other operations unnecessarily. A cache memory block is written to main memory and the cache memory allocated to the new memory. This allocation is potentially before the processor is finished with a previous memory manipulation. If the function is called too early, the memory fetched may have to be written back to memory and never accessed by the processor. The cache may evict the preloaded memory location to manipulate other memory needed by the processor before the desired memory manipulation is performed. In addition, a programmer must foresee the need for the memory space before it is actually required by the processor. In contrast, if the function is called too late, then the processor may still stall if sufficient time was not given to traverse the data bus for the required memory allocation.
An example of a conventional processor, including the input/output interface, data cache, and data bus is produced by ARM. Specifically, the ARM 1156T2 provides the preload instruction to retrieve main memory before it is required by the processor. Information on the ARM processors is generally available at http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. Specifically, the documentation for the ARM 1156 CPU is available at http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0338g/DDI0338G_arm1156t2s_r0p 4_trm.pdf, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
An example of when the preload instruction may be used is when an area of memory is needed to control an input/output operation. A block of cache memory is allocated to control everything the processor needs for the operation. The data is copied into cache with sufficient time that the processor has the memory available when the processor is ready to manipulate the data; therefore, the processor does not have to wait for the memory to be read. However, if the pre-load is used too often, then the bus is slowed down. Generally, the cache and the bus can handle only a limited number of calls before it is no longer efficient. Also, if another application needs to retrieve information, it may be slowed down by the pre-load retrieve, therefore interfering with another application or user before the retrieved information is needed by the preload user.
Generally, the cache is a working copy of main memory, which is more expensive to access. When the memory is about to be rewritten, reading it into cache is a wasteful operation on the memory bus. It not only can result in processing delays while waiting for the memory read to complete, but it can add to congestion in the memory interface. | {
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Expansion of tubular elements finds application in various fields of technology including, for example, the production of hydrocarbon fluid from a wellbore formed in an earth formation. Wellbores are generally provided with one or more casings or liners to provide stability to the wellbore wall, and/or to provide zonal isolation between different earth formation layers. The terms “casing” and “liner” normally refer to wellbore tubulars for supporting and stabilising the wellbore wall, whereby it is generally understood that a casing extends from a downhole location to surface, whereas a liner does not fully extend to surface. However, in this specification the terms “casing” and “liner” are used interchangeably and without intended distinction.
In conventional wellbore construction, several casings are set at different depth intervals, and in a nested arrangement. Each subsequent casing has to be lowered through the previous casing and therefore must have a smaller diameter than the previous casing. As a result, the available wellbore diameter for oil and gas production decreases with depth. To alleviate this drawback, it has been practiced to radially expand wellbore tubulars after lowering into the wellbore. Such expanded tubular element is, for example, an expanded casing section or an expanded clad against a previously installed existing casing. If each casing section is expanded to about the same diameter, the available wellbore diameter remains substantially constant along (a portion of) its depth, as opposed to the conventional, nested, arrangement whereby the available wellbore diameter decreases with depth.
EP-044706-A2 discloses a method of radially expanding a tubular element by eversion of an inner tube to form an outer tube around a portion of the inner tube, the tubes being interconnected at their respective forward ends to present a rollover area capable of being moved forwardly. The rollover area is induced to move forward by pumping driving fluid into the annular space between the inner and outer tubes. As the tubular element expands to a larger diameter, the wall stretches in circumferential direction during the eversion process. Therefore the bending radius of the wall in the rollover area does not only depend on the resistance to bending of the wall, but also on the resistance to stretching of the wall in circumferential direction. Such resistance to stretching tends to reduce the diameter of the expanded section, and thereby tends to reduce the bending radius of the wall in the rollover area.
Due to such relatively small bending radius, the wall is subjected to relatively high strains, thereby leading to an increased risk of damage to the wall during the eversion process.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved method of radially expanding a tubular element, which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Cargo of various types is transported by a variety of means, including trailers, such as flat bed trailers, which are designed to transport various loads positioned on the trailer bed along its length, or at discrete locations thereon. Other vehicles, such as airplanes or trains, are also used to transport cargo. In many cases, the loads carried by such trailers or other vehicles may be bulky and irregular in shape and/or weight distribution, adversely effecting stability of the load on the trailer. In order to safely transport cargo in such environments, the cargo must be secured against any movement or shifting, and cargo control systems have been developed for this purpose. Such cargo control systems have included retaining straps fixed on one side of a trailer bed and having retaining hooks on a free end which are secured to the other side of the trailer bed over a portion of a load positioned on the trailer bed. The retaining straps may include a ratchet type assembly positioned along its length for tightening down of the strap onto a load. The strap may also be anchored at its one end via a winch assembly for tightening of the strap. Over center buckles are also commonly employed with tensioning straps for cargo tie-down systems to secure cargo on a trailer bed or floor. In the past, the tie down straps may have been situated at discrete intervals along the length of the trailer bed, but were fixed in position, and thus presented problems with properly securing certain loads, depending upon the shape and size of the cargo. More recently, the cargo retaining straps are adjustably positioned by means of movable winches mounted upon elongated tracks fixed to a vehicle bed, floor or vehicle wall. The winches are movable, allowing the tension forces within the cargo-retaining strap to be substantially perpendicular to the axis of the winch track. Different vehicle mounted tracks for use with load bearing winches have been developed, and include a double L track design as well as a C track design as examples.
Although adjustable winch position facilitates properly tightening cargo retaining straps about a load positioned on a vehicle or like, various problems continue to exist with respect to cargo tie down systems. As in the case of flat bed trailers, the typical method to secure freight or cargo on a flatbed trailer would require moving the cargo tie down strap winch to a desired location, and unrolling the cargo tie down strap, such as a dacron web, against the cargo positioned on the deck of the flatbed trailer. The web is first placed over the cargo with enough extra length to ensure properly engaging the opposing side of the trailer. If the web includes a hook, the hook is temporarily engaged upon a portion of the trailer on the opposing side of the cargo, and then the user must return back to the winch for tightening of the web to a required tension to secure the freight. Typically, a winch bar may be used in the winch to gain leverage needed to tension the web. In many instances, if the retaining strap includes a hook, the hook will not remain in engagement with the trailer due to its loosened condition, such that upon tightening, the strap is not properly engaged to the opposing side of the trailer over the cargo. As a large number of cargo retaining straps may be used, the inability to effectively secure the distal end of the strap to the trailer in a desired manner over a cargo becomes a significant problem. Further, hooks that are sometimes provided on cargo retaining straps may not provide proper coupling to a portion of the vehicle in a desired manner to properly secure cargo. As an example, hooks typically provided on retaining straps include flat hooks, grab hooks and chain anchors wherein a length of chain is terminated with a grab hook, or a loop or ring is provided as a coupling member associated with the strap. The hook type coupling members are generally susceptible to movement in association with a portion of the vehicle to which they are attached, presenting the possibility of untensioning of the strap which could allow shifting or movement of the cargo. Other types of coupling members or arrangements typically require the user to physically tie or secure the end of the strap to a portion of the vehicle, increasing the labor involved in properly securing a load.
Based upon the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a tie down hanger system for cargo handling systems which allow positive retention of a tie-down restraining strap in a manner to facilitate properly securing a load. It would further be advantageous to provide a tie down straphanger system for securing tie down straps at an adjustable position depending upon the nature and position of cargo. It would also be desirable to provide a tie down coupling system, which works in conjunction with adjustable winch and track combinations, and to provide a tie down strap coupling system, which eliminates the possible untensioning of the tie down strap. | {
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The present disclosure relates generally to the fabrication of microelectronic memory. The microelectronic memory may be non-volatile, wherein the memory can retain stored information even when not powered. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates to a gas-discharge lamp, in particular a deuterium lamp, having a housing base made of an insulating material.
In the deuterium lamps used most often today, the cathode is surrounded by a metal housing, which lies at the same potential as the anode space and the molded body. This results in secondary discharges developing, which lead to metal-coating in the case of translucent lamps. The secondary discharge has the further effect that molded body erosion takes place and the intensity of the lamp decreases, because the discharge current can no longer flow completely through the molded body.
In the known deuterium lamps the housing consists of a total of six parts, which all carry tolerances and must be welded to each other. Because the tolerances add up independently, the spread in standard factory models is disproportionately large, especially in the front housing part. Such deuterium lamps further require a high expenditure of time for the assembly. Here, both the front and also the rear housing part are made of metal, wherein the two housing parts are usually connected by a metallic intermediate wall. The cathode is surrounded by the housing front and the cathode window, which are mounted on the intermediate wall. The cathode window and the molded body are thus connected to each other in a conductive way due to the construction. This allows the molded body and the cathode window to lie at the same potential which is lower, however, than the plasma potential at the location of the molded body. This has the result that positive ions are accelerated from the plasma onto the molded body and contribute to its abrasion. Through this form of sputtering, the diameter of the aperture increases and the electrode density in the aperture decreases, whereby the lamp loses UV intensity and the abraded material of the molded body settles on the inside of the bulb and thus results in a reduction of the intensity of the lamp.
German published patent application DE 199 01 919 A1 describes a miniature deuterium arc lamp. The deuterium arc lamp has a construction that is mounted on the distal end of the electrical conductor in an elongated glass bulb at a spacing from the glass bulb, wherein the spacer devices, which engage with the configuration and are arranged at a small distance relative to the bulb, are provided for limiting the transverse movement of the construction in the bulb. Here, the anode is arranged transverse by a dielectric lying in-between at a spacing from a conductive sheet.
Spacer devices fix the anode, the conductive sheet, and the dielectric lying in-between, which were installed in a self-supporting manner on the end of the conductor in previously known deuterium lamps.
European patent application publication EP 0 727 810 A2 describes a gas-discharge tube having a focusing support element of an insulator, wherein the focusing electrode support element has a front surface and a rear surface opposite the front surface, with a thermionic cathode for the emission of thermionic electrons, wherein the cathode is located on the front surface side of the focusing electrode support element; an anode for receiving the thermionic electrons, which the thermionic cathode emits, wherein the anode is located on the rear surface side of the focusing electrode support element and is opposite an opening of the passage hole; a focusing electrode supported by the focusing electrode support element, which is provided by a focusing opening located at a position of an opening of the passage hole for convergence paths of the thermionic electrodes; a spacer between the focusing electrode support element and the anode, which contacts both the rear surface of the focusing electrode support element and also a front surface of the anode; and an anode support element of an insulator, wherein the anode support element is located on an opposite side of the focusing electrode support element by the anode and has a surface that contacts the rear surface of the anode, in order to push the anode onto the rear surface of the focusing electrode support element by the spacer, whereby an interval is fixed between the focusing electrode and the anode of the electrode support element and the spacer.
When a discharge occurs in such a gas-discharge tube among the thermionic cathode, the focusing electrode, and the anode, the anode generates heat after receiving the thermionic electrons, and the focusing electrode also generates heat after bombardment with cations.
German published patent application DE 11 2005 001 775 describes a gas-discharge tube in which a sealed container, an anode and a cathode are provided, and a conductive part that limits a discharge path, wherein the conductive part is arranged between the anode and the cathode and reduces the discharge path formed between the anode and the cathode. Furthermore, the gas-discharge tube has a cathode cover, which is made of ceramic and encloses the cathode. In this gas-discharge tube, as in DE 11 2005 001 775, the cathode cover is encased by the cathode-side cover section, in which only the slot for the emission of electrons is provided as the necessary minimal opening. In this way, the heat-retention effect of the cathode is remarkably maintained by the cathode-side cover section, and the energy consumption is reduced. The ceramic housing thus serves for maintaining the heat within the cathode space.
The discharge lamps described here have the consequence, among other things, that secondary discharges arise, and thus molded body erosion takes place on the aperture. This has the result that the intensity and the service life of the gas-discharge lamp are significantly reduced. Furthermore, the discharge lamps described above are complicated in their assembly. | {
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This invention relates to a cis-bicyclo[3.3.0]octylidene derivative represented by the formula: ##STR4## wherein R.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group; R.sup.2 is a hydrogen atom or a protective group for hydroxyl group; and Y is ##STR5## where R.sup.3 is a hydrogen atom or a protective group for hydroxyl group; R.sup.4 is a hydrogen atom or a straight, branched or cyclic alkyl group, alkenyl group or alkynyl group; and X is a group represented by CH.dbd.CH or C.tbd.C.
The cis-bicyclo[3.3.0]octylidene derivative represented by the above formula (I) obtained according to this invention can be subjected to deprotection of the primary hydroxyl group, oxidation, elongation of an .omega.-chain by utilizing the Wittig reaction and reduction of a 15-position carbonyl group (prostaglandine numbering) for deprotection, or deprotection of the protective group and hydrolysis of the ester to be led to a carbacycline which is useful as a therapeutic or prophylactic of various circulatory diseases (see Reference examples shown below).
In the prior art, most of the methods for preparation of a 5-E-exo-trisubstituted olefin such as a cis-bicyclo[3.3.0]octylidene derivative represented by the above formula (I) utilize the Wittig reaction as shown below, and they are disclosed in, for example, M. Shibasaki, J. Ueda and S. Ikegami, Tetrahedron Lett., 433 (1979); D. R. Morton, Jr. and F. C. Brokaw, J. Org. Chem., 44, 2880 (1979); W. Skuballa and H. Vorbruggen, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 20, 1046 (1981); Y. Konishi, M. Kawamura, Y. Iguchi, Y. Arai and M. Hayashi, Tetrahedron, 37, 4391 (1981); etc. However, in these cases, a mixture of 5-E isomer and 5-Z isomer is obtained as shown in the following reaction scheme and it is very difficult under the present situation to separate only the 5-E isomer useful as a pharmaceutical from such a mixture. ##STR6## | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of driving a brushless dc motor. This invention also relates to an apparatus for driving a brushless dc motor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
General brushless dc motors include a stator having windings and a rotor having permanent magnets. The stator windings are supplied with drive currents. To drive the rotor satisfactorily, it is necessary to sequentially change the drive currents in response to the angular relation (the positional relation) between the stator windings and the magnetic poles of the rotor.
Some of prior art apparatuses for driving a brushless dc motor include position sensors detecting the angular relation (the positional relation) between stator windings and magnetic poles of a rotor. Drive currents fed to the stator windings are sequentially changed in response to the outut signals from the position sensors.
Japanese published examined patent application 61-3193 discloses a prior art advanced apparatus for driving a brushless dc motor which dispenses with position sensors. This prior art advanced apparatus uses the following fact. In a brushless dc motor, as a rotor rotates, voltages are induced in stator windings in dependence on the positional relation between the stator windings and magnetic poles of the rotor. The induced voltages are opposite to drive voltages related to drive currents fed to the stator windings. The induced voltages are generally referred to as "back" voltages. In the prior art advanced apparatus of Japanese patent application 61-3193, the induced voltages are detected as an indication of the positional relation between the stator windings and the magnetic poles of the rotor, and the detected voltages are used for the control of the change of the drive currents. The prior art advanced apparatus of Japanese patent application 61-3193 tends to be complicated in structure. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention is drawn to an improved gas injection nozzle design for use in a swirling tank reactor used in the degassing of molten metal with a fluxing gas.
An improved method and apparatus for degassing molten metal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,066 to Joseph A. Clumpner and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. The disclosure in the aforenoted patent teaches degassing molten metal using an apparatus comprising a swirling tank reactor wherein molten metal is tangentially introduced into the reactor so that the molten metal flows in a swirling rotating fashion as the metal passes from the inlet of the reactor to the outlet thereof. In order to achieve the desired swirling flow of molten metal from the metal inlet to the metal outlet of the reactor, it is required that the metal inlet be positioned with respect to the chamber wall of the reactor in such a manner as to tangentially introduce the liquid into the reactor. In a preferred embodiment, the swirling tank reactor comprises a first elongated substantially cylindrical sidewall portion and a second downwardly converging sidewall portion beneath the first substantially cylindrical wall portion. Fluxing gas inlet nozzles penetrate the converging wall portion at different heights thereof so as to optimize fluxing gas bubble dispersion through the entire melt as it passes from the inlet of the reactor to the outlet thereof. By positioning the nozzles at different heights in the converging wall portion, the fluxing gas nozzles are in turn located at various distances from the center axis of the swirling tank reactor thereby maximizing fluxing gas bubble dispersion. The specific details of the various embodiments of swirling tank reactors and nozzle locations disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,066 may readily employ the improved gas injection nozzle design of the present invention and the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,066 is incorporated hereby by reference.
While the above-noted swirling tank reactors disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,066 are superior to other known prior art inline degassing apparatuses, a number of problems have been encountered with fluxing gas nozzle designs. In particular, metal leakage from the reactor around the nozzle tip has been experienced. In addition, a problem has been encountered with leakage in the fluxing gas delivery line itself. Finally, it has been found that the nozzles tend to break off when they project through the chamber wall and into the tank proper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,636 to Joseph A. Clumpner, assigned to the assignee of the instant invention, discloses a gas injection nozzle for use in the swirling tank reactor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,066. The gas nozzle design comprises a nozzle insert secured in the wall of the swirling tank reactor and flush with the inner circumference of said wall. The nozzle insert is provided with a seating surface adapted to receive a nozzle tip cone made of a ceramic material or the like. The fluxing gas nozzle is spring biased against the nozzle tip cone with adequate force to seal the nozzle against the tip cone and the tip cone against the nozzle insert so as to prevent metal leakage from the reactor around the fluxing gas nozzle. The fluxing gas nozzle is secured to the fluxing gas supply line by means of a nozzle screw assembly employing a seal between the nozzle screw assembly and the fluxing gas nozzle. It has been found that the rotational movement of the nozzle screw assembly on the seal between the nozzle screw assembly and the fluxing gas nozzle is detrimental to effective sealing. As the swirling tank reactor is designed for the removal of hydrogen and alkaline earth metals from molten aluminum and employs active gases such as chlorine and the like it is imperative that a leak-proof design for delivering the fluxing gas be developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,735 to Robert E. Hershey, assigned to the assignee of the instant invention, discloses a gas injection nozzle for use in a swirling tank reactor of the type described above. The gas nozzle design comprises a nozzle insert secured in the wall of the swirling tank reactor and flush with the inner circumference of the wall. The nozzle insert is provided with a seating surface adapted to receive a nozzle tip cone made of a ceramic material or the like. The fluxing gas nozzle is biased against the nozzle tip cone with adequate force to seal the nozzle against the tip cone so as to prevent metal leakage from the reactor around the fluxing gas nozzle. The fluxing gas nozzle is secured to the fluxing gas supply line by means of a nozzle screw assembly which comprises a nozzle nut which receives the nozzle blank. The nozzle nut receives in a non-rotational manner a clamp plate which presses against a seal provided between the clamp plate and the rear of the nozzle blank. A male screw member is threadably received in the nozzle nut and biases the clamp plate against the seal and correspondingly the nozzle blank to effect a leak-free seal. A spring washer may be provided between the clamp plate and the male screw to aid in biasing the clamp plate. While the nozzle assembly of the '735 patent initially operated without any leakage problem, over time leakage has occurred due to destruction of tip cone gasket materials.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved gas injection nozzle design for delivering a gaseous material which is free of leakage in the gas delivery line.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved gas injection nozzle design for use in a swirling tank reactor used in the degassing of molten metal with a fluxing gas.
It is a particular object of the present invention to provide an improved gas injection nozzle design for use in a swirling tank reactor used in the degassing of molten metal wherein gas leakage around the nozzle tip is eliminated.
It is a still a further object of the present invention to provide an improved gas injection nozzle design provided with the improvements as aforesaid which is convenient and inexpensive to utilize.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A method of using a biochip has been known as a method for fixedly attaching biopolymer such as DNAs. In the case of fixedly attaching, for example, DNAs, a DNA probe having a known base sequence is fixedly attached to respective sites of a biochip, then target DNAs having a complementary base sequence by hybridization are bonded to respective sites. By marking the target DNAs bonded by hybridization to respective sites with fluorescent molecules, the amount of bonding of the target DNAs can be recognized as a quantity of fluorescence light.
[Non-patent document: Optical technique “DNA analysis and optical technique” optical technique in life science, Journal of “optics” edited by Toru Makino and kyoichi Kano, Volume 28, No. 10 (1999), (Corp.) Japan Society of Applied Physics, section meeting, Optical Society of Japan, 1999, pp 549-552 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement for protecting an electrical facility from overvoltages with an overcurrent protection facility arranged in a first series circuit and a shunt circuit arranged between the overcurrent protection facility and the electrical facility to be protected, where the shunt circuit leads to a second series circuit, where a diode for discharging transient overvoltages is arranged in the shunt circuit, and where the diode is designed to be conductive, if a voltage threshold is exceeded, as a result of which the current resulting from the overvoltage can be passed through the shunt circuit to the facility to be protected into the second series circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common knowledge that with voltage supplies to electrical devices, it is conventional to arrange a suppressor diode downstream of a device fuse to limit overvoltages. The disadvantage with this known arrangement, however, is that brief voltage pulses may cause the device fuse to prematurely trigger. The device fuse is as a rule designed to only trigger in the event of static overvoltages or overcurrents. It is not desirable, however, for the device fuse to already trigger on account of premature voltage pulses.
One known solution is to circumvent the problem of designing the device fuse such that an increase in its responding behavior is achieved, which may result in problems in the case of a real fault, because the device to be secured is possibly still briefly supplied with an overcurrent. | {
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A band-type wireless communication device to be worn for use on, for example, an arm includes an antenna device disposed inside the band or built in a housing for compactness or portability of the band-type wireless communication device.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an antenna device for a wristwatch-type wireless communication device which antenna device is arranged to reliably produce high antenna gain and good antenna directivity while the wristwatch-type wireless communication device is worn on an arm. The antenna device of Patent Literature 1 for a wristwatch-type wireless communication device includes a helical antenna built in a main body of the wristwatch. The antenna device includes a means for, in the state where the wristwatch is worn on an arm and placed in front of the human body, (i) positioning the helical antenna away from the human body in the front direction, (ii) orienting the helical antenna so that its axis direction is perpendicular to a main printed circuit board oriented substantially parallel to the arm, and (iii) connecting the helical antenna to the main printed circuit board. The antenna device assumes the arm to serve as an earth conductor for the helical antenna and operates in such a manner that the helical antenna has a main polarization direction perpendicular to the arm. Since the antenna device assumes the arm to serve as an earth conductor for the helical antenna and operates in such a manner that the helical antenna has a main polarization direction perpendicular to the arm, the antenna device prevents the gain from being reduced when the wristwatch is worn on an arm. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to an exercise device, and more particularly to an exercise horse of the type used by gymnasts.
There are various gymnastic exercises that require the use of an exercise horse. Among these, are handstand, planche, press, double leg circles, an L, V etc. These exercises would normally be done on a pommel horse, parallel bars or still rings. All of these various gymnastic exercise devices are relatively expensive and heavy to transport. Nonetheless, it is often necessary for a gymnast to practice these various exercises not only in a gymnasium but also at home or on vacation. It is also desirable to run through some of these exercises as a warm-up exercise during a gymnastic meet.
There is, therefore, a need for a portable piece of gymnastic equipment upon which these various gymnastic exercises could be performed and which equipment would be lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Video games, virtual reality, augmented reality, and other environments simulate sound reverberations to make the environments more realistic. To make the simulated sound reverberation more realistic, it is desirable to simulate directionally varying reverberations and early reflections so that the sound experienced by a listener will vary based on the listener position and orientation with respect to the sound source. Accordingly, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for providing aural proxies and simulating directionally varying reverberation and early reflections for interactive sound propagation in virtual environments. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to magnetic recording heads, particularly to perpendicular recording heads that produce their recording magnetic fields perpendicularly to the recording medium
2. Description of the Related Art
The increasing need for high areal recording densities (up to 500 Gb/in2) is making the perpendicular magnetic recording head (PMR head) a replacement of choice for the longitudinal magnetic recording head (LMR head). By means of fringing magnetic fields that extend between two emerging pole pieces, longitudinal recording heads form small magnetic domains within the surface plane of the magnetic medium (hard disk). As recorded densities increase, these domains must correspondingly decrease in size, eventually permitting destabilizing thermal effects to become stronger than the magnetic interactions that tend to stabilize the domain formations. This occurrence is the so-called superparamagnetic limit. Recording media that accept perpendicular magnetic recording, allow domain structures to be formed perpendicularly to the disk surface and a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL) formed within the medium acts as a stabilizing influence on these perpendicular domain structures. Thus, a magnetic recording head that produces a field capable of forming domains perpendicular to the disk surface, when used in conjunction with such perpendicular media, is able to produce a stable recording with a much higher area density than is possible using standard longitudinal recording. In this regard, Yoda et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,912,769) teaches a thin film magnetic head for perpendicular recording in which the main magnetic pole tip protrudes through an aperture formed within a thin film.
A significant problem with magnetic pole structures that are currently used to produce perpendicular fields, is that the fields tend to exhibit significant lateral fringing, thereby producing unwanted side-writing (writing in adjacent tracks). This problem is much more evident in the perpendicular writing head than in the longitudinal writing head, even when the perpendicular head is shielded laterally to contain the fringing fields.
Among the efforts in the prior art to address the adverse effects of field fringing is the shielded head of Hsu et al. (US Patent Application Publication US2005/0068678) that uses side shields connected to a trailing shield by ferromagnetic studs. By locating the studs behind the ABS of the head, the return flux flow does not impinge on the disk itself. Yazawa et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2005/0057852) teaches a perpendicular magnetic writing pole that includes a shield layer conformally formed over the pole. Thus, there is a single piece shield that covers top and side surfaces of the pole. Such integral formation allows the formation of a large shield which, it is suggested, is better able to absorb the return flux of the recording head. Batra et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2002/0071208) teaches a perpendicular magnetic recording head in which the write pole is structured so that its return pole is itself formed surrounding the main pole. Thus it is the pole shape that eliminates a large degree of undesirable field fringing. The pole can, in addition, be surrounded by side shields to further reduce the effects of fringing. Kimura et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2005/0162778) describes a method of forming the track restriction region of the main pole of a perpendicular recording head using an ion milling process. There is no particular mention of the formation of shields around the pole.
Unlike the prior art cited above, the present invention provides a method of forming a three-way side shielded head (top and side shields) that significantly reduces side fringing and, as a result, allows the formation of a larger pole, while providing the same degree of track resolution and protection from side overwriting. As an aspect of the invention, the side shields themselves are used to form the pole tip, using a trench formed within the side shields to provide a self-aligned method of shaping the pole tip in an advantageous manner. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the recovery of hydrocarbons from subterranean formations. In one aspect, the invention relates to the recovery of hydrocarbons from source rock in fluid communication with geopressured subterranean formation sections.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,487 discloses a method for producing gas from a geopressured reservoir by producing a well at a high rate for a period whereupon gas separates from the geopressured water to form a gas cap from which gas is then produced. This process is applicable to geopressured sections containing gas dissolved in an aqueous liquid at high pressures, but differs from the instant invention in that the gas produced is exsolved from the aqueous liquid of the geopressured section.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,501 discloses producing oil and gas by drilling into a salt dome and washing out a cavity until the boundary between the salt and a hydrocarbon-containing formation is reached. Hydrocarbons then flow into the cavity, facilitating production thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,792, 894 discloses a process particularly applicable to the Sprayberry Trend in west Texas wherein water is allowed to imbibe into less permeable sections of source rock, thereby displacing hydrocarbons into more permeable zones from which the oil is recovered. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a ceiling runner and, more particularly, to a ceiling runner with a fire expansion joint.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,089 discloses a ceiling runner having two openings in the vertical web to absorb expansion of the ceiling runner when mounted in a suspended ceiling system. The openings permit the flanges of the ceiling runner to bend downward, the enlarged bulb at the top of the ceiling runner to bend upward and the two pieces of metal forming the web of the ceiling runner to expand outwardly to either side of the web of the ceiling runner. | {
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The invention relates to an artificial foot.
An embodiment of an artificial foot is described in DE-PS 36 44 613. It relates to a non-articulated foot with a connecting component resting on the upper side of the core, which can be removed in the usual way and is connected by means of a threaded bolt inserted from the bottom of the foot into a drill hole in the core of the foot and screwed into a threaded nut in the connecting component. The front of the heel wedge locks approximately with the front of the core, with the heel wedge rising backwards to over half the height of the foot. The inner foot rests solely on the front of the core and the front of the heel wedge. The outer foot wraps the inner foot, as well as the bottom and back of the heel wedge and forms a thin layer of skin in the drill hole mentioned. In this artificial foot known from the prior art, the characteristics of the gait in the second phase of the rolling movement (when the heel is lifted) are determined almost exclusively by the flexible characteristics of the inner foot. The outer foot serves solely to protect against the penetration of water and aggressive agents, as well as to provide a cosmetic appearance for the surface of the foot.
In an artificial foot in accordance with DE-PS 36 44 613, which describes a generic concept, exceeding the maximum size and/or providing less than the minimal stiffness of the heel wedge leads to the desired soft tread of the front of the foot, although with a relatively small burden on the heel. However, in contrast to its neutral status in standing, in this situation the prosthetic foot takes on a position which falls backward so much that the amputee has the feeling that he has stepped in a hole and that getting out of it requires so much energy that he will have trouble expending it for an extended period. In contrast, the foot in accordance with the present invention reacts to pressure on the heel by decreasing the angle between the lower leg and the heel, called a plantar flexion, until the front of the foot is set down, at which point the prosthetic foot assumes a position which corresponds exactly to its neutral status while standing. Therefore, in contrast to a non-articulated foot with a large and soft heel wedge, it is possible with the present invention to roll forward with the front foot without expending much energy.
In a conventional joint construction, the joint axis in the foot is located very high, often at the level of the foot connecting surface, and has only a short lever arm from the vertically-acting plantar buffer. Since, in the design in accordance with the present invention, the pivot of the joint in the foot is situated very low (preferably in the lower quarter of the height of the foot), a lever arm considerably longer than the horizontally operating plantar buffer is located in the area of the foot connecting surface, so that with the same plantar moment, the force of the plantar buffer can be smaller when constructed in accordance with the invention. The plantar buffer in accordance with the invention can therefore be designed to be weaker, which also has a positive effect on its dimensions. Because of the low positioning of the joint, there is also a cosmetic advantage: the split in the joint found in many conventional solutions behind the joint axis in neutral position and in front of the joint axis in plantar flexion disappears completely in the design in accordance with the invention.
When the prosthesis wearer is in a standing position (state of standing upright) and viewed from the side (sagittal view), the vertical line from his center of gravity lies in front of the turning point of the joint in the foot and thus produces a knee-safeguarding moment via the elastic front of the foot, to the extent that the other components of the prosthesis are also arranged in relation to each other in accordance with the rules of prosthesis construction.
The foot in accordance with the invention avoids a sharp sinking in the heel area, with the related loss of center of gravity height, that is characteristic of the non-articulated foot of the prior art. The foot in accordance with the invention assumes a horizontal position after the front of the foot is set down, while the non-articulated foot ends up in a position which falls sharply backward. Other advantages of the foot in accordance with the invention lie in the maintenance-free and extremely durable design of the joint. No further assembly or adjustment to the foot is required. For that reason, in accordance with the invention it is possible to construct the outer foot to be completely sealed at the bottom of the foot as well.
Other characteristics of the invention are discussed in greater detail in combination with further advantages of the invention on the basis of explanatory examples. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g., including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. These target portions are commonly referred to as “fields.”
In lithographic processes, it is desirable frequently to make measurements of the structures created, e.g., for process control and verification. Various tools for making such measurements are known, including scanning electron microscopes, which are often used to measure critical dimension (CD), and specialized tools to measure overlay, the accuracy of alignment of two layers in a device. Recently, various forms of scatterometers have been developed for use in the lithographic field. These devices direct a beam of radiation onto a target and measure one or more properties of the scattered radiation—e.g., intensity at a single angle of reflection as a function of wavelength; intensity at one or more wavelengths as a function of reflected angle; or polarization as a function of reflected angle—to obtain a diffraction “spectrum” from which a property of interest of the target can be determined.
Examples of known scatterometers include angle-resolved scatterometers of the type described in US2006033921A1 and US2010201963A1. The targets used by such scatterometers are relatively large, e.g., 40 μm by 40 μm, gratings and the measurement beam generates a spot that is smaller than the grating (i.e., the grating is underfilled). In addition to measurement of feature shapes by reconstruction, diffraction based overlay can be measured using such apparatus, as described in published patent application US2006066855A1. An overlay measurement is typically obtained by measuring asymmetry of two overlay gratings, each having a different programmed (deliberate) offset or “bias.” Diffraction-based overlay metrology using dark-field imaging of the diffraction orders enables overlay measurements on smaller targets. Examples of dark field imaging metrology can be found in published patent applications US2014192338 and US2011069292A1. Further developments of the technique have been described in several published patent publications. These targets can be smaller than the illumination spot and may be surrounded by product structures on a wafer. Multiple gratings can be measured in one image, using a composite grating target. These developments have allowed the overlay measurements that are fast and computationally very simple (once calibrated).
At the same time, the known dark-field imaging techniques employ radiation in the visible or ultraviolet waveband. This limits the smallest features that can be measured, so that the technique can no longer measure directly the smallest features made in modern lithographic processes. To allow measurement of smaller structures, it has been proposed to use radiation of shorter wavelengths, similar for example to the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths used in EUV lithography. Such wavelengths may also be referred to as soft x-ray wavelengths and may be in the range 1 to 100 nm, for example. Examples of transmissive and reflective metrology techniques using these wavelengths in transmissive and/or reflective scattering modes are disclosed in published patent application WO2015172963A1. Further examples of metrology techniques and apparatuses using these wavelengths in transmissive and/or reflective scattering modes are disclosed in the pending patent applications PCT/EP2016/068317 and U.S. Ser. No. 15/230,937 (claiming priority from EP15180807.8 filed 12 Aug. 2015) and PCT/EP2016/068479 (claiming priority from EP15180740.1 filed 12 Aug. 2015), not published at the present priority date. The contents of all these applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Convenient sources of SXR radiation include higher harmonic generation (HHG) sources, in which infrared pump radiation from a laser is converted to shorter wavelength radiation by interaction with a gaseous medium. HHG sources are available for example from KMLabs, Boulder Colo., USA (http://www.kmlabs.com/). Various modifications of HHG sources are also under consideration for application in inspection apparatus for lithography. Some of these modifications are disclosed for example in European patent application number 16198346.5 dated Nov. 11, 2016, not been published at the priority date of the present application. Other modifications are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/388,463 and international patent application PCT/EP2016/080103, both claiming priority from European patent application no. 15202301.6 dated Dec. 23, 2015, also not yet been published at the priority date of the present application. The contents of both of these applications are incorporated herein by reference. Another type of source is the inverse Compton scattering (ICS) source, described in application PCT/EP2016/068479, mentioned above
No single metrology technique meets all requirements, and hybrid metrology systems have been proposed to combine different types of measurement and different wavelengths in a compact and cost-effective system. Examples of such hybrid techniques are disclosed in international patent application PCT/EP2016/080058, not published at the present priority date.
Unfortunately, the cost and other limitations of optical systems compatible with such wavelengths make it commercially unattractive to implement small-target dark-field imaging. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A variety of normally gaseous or liquid blowing agents have been proposed for olefinic or styrenic polymers, including virtually all of the common atmospheric gases and lower hydrocarbons.
Alkenyl aromatic foams, particularly polystyrene foams in sheet form, are presently being made from a number of blowing agents which have many undesirable characteristics. Volatility, flammability, poor thermoforming qualities, brittle physical properties, high cost, or an adverse affect to the ozone layer are just a few. Examples of the blowing agents that produce these characteristics in the production of polystyrene foam would include the aliphatic hydrocarbons, and fully (or partially) halogenated hydrocarbons.
For polystyrene, for example, the C.sub.4 -C.sub.6 alkanes have gathered widespread acceptance, especially pentane. Following a typical extrusion foaming step, the stock material is ordinarily aged before thermoforming into containers or the like. During aging, the foam cells and polymeric matrix become partially depleted of volatile hydrocarbons, which enter the atmosphere. However, potential atmospheric contamination by these by-products of foam manufacture has led workers to seek non-polluting alternative blowing agents, such as the usual atmospheric gases, e.g., nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and combinations of atmospheric gases with organic gases, e.g., the lower hydrocarbons or the freons.
In the prior art, both atmospheric gases, per se, and combinations of atmospheric and organic gases have been disclosed as blowing agents for alkenyl aromatic polymers.
Australian Patent Application No. 52724/79, published Canadian Patent Application No. 2,022,501 and published European Patent Application No. 0,411,923 all disclose blowing agents consisting of carbon dioxide for alkenyl aromatic or styrenic polymers. The resulting foamed products are said to be flexible and/or have improved tensile elongation properties. However, the production rates of the processes are generally low, on the order of less than 200 lbs./hr., and also have generally low post-expansion properties, on the order of 50% or less. In addition, these processes require relatively high extrusion temperatures, on the order of 130.degree. C. to 155.degree. C. Thus, these processes are not very economical.
In co-pending patent application Serial No. 07/891,866, there are disclosed processes for producing polystyrene foams utilizing 100% of atmospheric gas, e.g. carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen, which can be effected at a much lower extrusion temperature, i.e. on the order of about 120.degree. C., utilizing in the melted polymer an additive comprised of a masterbatch mix containing alpha-methyl polystyrene, a rubbery block copolymer, a solid blowing agent comprised of an encapsulated combination of monosodium citrate and sodium bicarbonate, white mineral oil, and silica.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,344,710 and 4,424,287 disclose blowing agents which are combinations of liquid carbon dioxide and liquid aliphatic, or fully (or partially) halogenated hydrocarbons. These patents state that the use of atmospheric gases, including 100% carbon dioxide or nitrogen as blowing agents has not been successfully employed, giving as a reason the extreme volatility of these gases, and further state that the use of these materials is said to produce corrugation and surface defects in the sheet product. These two patents disclose that a combination of atmospheric and organic gases, in an alkane: CO.sub.2 feed ratio in the range of 3:1 to 1:1 by weight, can be used, with the total amount of blowing agent combination being in the range of 2.5 to 10 parts per 100 parts by weight of thermoplastic resin. As nucleating agents for the foamed products, the patents disclose the use of a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. The process temperatures needed for extrusion of the foam are again quite high, on the order of 150.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,287 further discloses that the foams prepared with the combination of blowing agents exhibit the advantage of reduced atmospheric emissions upon aging without, however, any data to this effect, merely stating that the reduction in pollutant (i.e. the hydrocarbon blowing agents) is greater than the expected reduction due to the corresponding decrease in organic blowing agent use. The only rationale provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,287 for the reduced hydrocarbon emissions is the ability of the foamed sheet product to be immediately thermoformed, thereby reducing the need for aging of the foamed sheet product.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,309 discloses the use of two foaming agents; the first being introduced into a molten thermoplastic resin under higher pressure, with the first foaming agent being selected from a low molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbon, a low molecular weight halocarbon and mixtures thereof, and the second foaming agent being introduced under lower pressure, with the second foaming agent being selected from carbon dioxide, water vapor and mixtures thereof, to cause foaming of the melted thermoplastic resin. Again, the extrusion rates are low, on the order of 150 lbs./hr., and the extrusion temperatures are high, on the order of 290.degree.-320.degree. F.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,916,166 and 5,011,866 disclose alkenyl aromatic thermoplastic synthetic resinous elongated foam bodies having a machine direction, a transverse direction and closed, non-interconnecting gas-containing cells, which are prepared using, preferably at least 70% by weight of 1,1-difluoro-1-chloroethane (U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,166) and requiring the use of at least 70% by weight of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane or 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, based on the total weight of blowing agent mixture weight (U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,866), and using as a second blowing agent up to 30 weight percent (of the blowing agent in an amount of mixture) chemical or physical blowing agents, including water, 1-4 carbon aliphatic hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, or other hydrogen-containing chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) such as chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,166 discloses that the amount of carbon dioxide is limited to no more than about 6% by weight and that extruded articles having densities between 2.4 and 5.0 pounds per cubic foot may be obtained only by extrusion at a die temperature of about 118.degree. C. or less. The extrusion rate at this temperature should necessarily be quite low, although the patent is silent on this point. The specific examples of U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,166 show that extruded foam articles having densities of less than 2.4 pounds per cubic foot are obtained only upon extrusion above 118.degree. C., and these are obtained utilizing blowing agents which contain only about 2.7% by weight carbon dioxide based upon 100% by weight of the blowing agent mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,866 discloses alkenyl aromatic thermoplastic synthetic resinous elongated foamed products having densities of from about 1 to about 6 pounds per cubic foot which have a plurality of closed non-interconnecting gas-containing cells, with the limitation that the cells contain at least 70% by weight of either 1,1,1-trifluoroethane or 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane. U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,866 likewise prefers the use of less than 6% carbon dioxide as a component in a blowing agent mixture although some examples show the use of about 9% carbon dioxide.
Thus, there still exists a need in the art for procedures for the production of alkenyl aromatic foams which utilize combinations of atmospheric and organic gases as blowing agents and having an increased amount of atmospheric gas, such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen. There also still exists a need in the art for such alkenyl aromatic foams which can be produced at increased temperatures and increased extrusion rates for a given density. Still further, there exists a need in the art for alkenyl aromatic foams having an increased percentage of closed, non-interconnected cell structure, increased post-expansion properties, and increased retainment of blowing agent within the cell structure of the alkenyl aromatic foam.
These and other needs still remaining in the alkenyl aromatic foam art are met and satisfied by applicants' present invention, described below. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a continuous casting process and, more particularly, to an improvement in straightening a steel strand in a bow type continuous casting process. The present invention is also related to a bow type continuous casting machine for carrying out this process.
2. Description of Prior Art
Recently, the continuous casting technique, in which molten metal is continuously cast to obtain a strand, has been developed and has replaced the ingot making process followed by rough rolling in the metal industry, including the steel industry. The proportion of steel sections produced by the continuous casting process, in which the steel sections are directly obtained from molten steel by continuously casting such steel, is increasing considerably. The continuous casting process is superior to the conventional ingot making-rough rolling process in that it makes possible high production yield of slabs, blooms and the like and low energy consumption for producing the slabs and the like. This is the reason why the proportion of continuously cast steel sections produced as compared with the ingots is increasing Grades of steels to which the continuous casting process can be applied, have become remarkably varied in recent years.
In the continuous casting process, a hot strand with a liquid core is bent from a vertical direction to a curved shape, and then straightened horizontally. Alternatively, a hot strand with a liquid core is straightened from a bow shape to a horizontal line. After the straightening, the strand is cut to a desired length. However, strain tends to occur in the strand during the bending or the straightening and this results in the formation of defects. The horizontal section of the strand after straightening is not completely solidified and thus includes the liquid core in the modern high speed casting, and, therefore, the generation of (a) bulging strain of the strand caused by the ferrostatic pressure of molten metal (hereinafter referred to as the bulging strain) and (b) strain of the strand caused by straightening at the straightening stage (hereinafter referred to as the straightening strain) results in a very complicated problem which is explained in detail hereinbelow.
Advantageously, the continuously cast and cut strand sections having a great sensible heat are supplied to the rolling stage while the strand sections still retain their great sensible heat, with the result that heat energy and the cost of obtaining rollings can be lessened, as compared with a process in which the strand sections are first heated and then rolled. However, strain is generated in the continuously cast strand due to complicated reasons, and this, in turn causes the generation of cracks on the outer surface and in the interior of the strand in the continuous casting process. Therefore, according to the conventional industrial method, the hot steel sections must be cooled down to room temperature and subjected to the removal of defects prior to being supplied to the rolling stage. In order to make it possible to directly supply the hot steel sections obtained by continuous casting to the rolling stage, the steel sections must obviously be free from internal cracks and must be free from the surface defects, i.e. must not need to be subjected to the removal of surface defects and the like.
the kinds of internal and external defects and the reasons why these defects occur are explained in detail hereinafter. In a widely used continuous casting process, a curved mold for casting the longitudinally curved strand is used so as to keep the height of the continuous casting machine low and thus keep the installation cost low. The height of a continuous casting machine is the vertical distance from the top surface of the mold to a horizontal guiding region for the strand. During the straightening of the longitudinally curved strand, i.e. applying to such strand a bending opposite to the curve of the strand, internal cracks, traversal surface cracks, edge cracks and the like may be generated due to the bulging strain and/or the straightening strain.
One of the conventional technical means to prevent the internal cracks, traversal surface cracks, edge cracks and the like is to arrange the supporting and guiding rollers of the strand, which has left the mold, so that the distances between these rollers is small, thereby causing the bulging amount and strain to be lower. Another technical means is intensive cooling at a secondary cooling zone after the molding takes place which seeks to enhance the hot strength of the solidified shell by, for example, spraying water on the steel at a rate of 1.0 l/kg. Another technical means seeks to keep the straightening strain of a curved strand to a low level and is the straightening method for an unsolidified strand having a liquid core, in which method the straightening strain ranging from 0.1 to 0.25% is distributed over a long straightening region of the strand which is thus made horizontal after undergoing straightening at a plurality of straightening points. This method is hereinafter referred to as the multi-point straightening method. Incidentally, most of the modern continuous casting machines for producing a 200-300 mm thick slab are operated under the following parameters.
Radius of curvature of the basic arc: 10-13 m (a large radius of curvature). PA1 Casting speed: 0.7-2.0 m/minute PA1 Supporting and guiding rollers: the distance between these rollers is small. PA1 Secondary cooling: intensive spray cooling by water. PA1 a curved mold; PA1 a means for supporting and guiding a curved strand withdrawn from the curved mold; PA1 a means for straightening the curved strand at at least two points of the strand; PA1 a secondary cooling means for spraying a mixed medium of gas and liquid on the curved strand within the region of the supporting and guiding means, and the machine having a height of not more than 4.9 m, particularly not more than 3.5 m. The straightening means may be pinch rollers which are arranged in the straightening zones and which define a curve having a plurality of centers of curvatures. The bow type continuous casting machine may further comprise rollers in a horizontal roller zone where small diameter rollers are provided with a small distance therebetween. The strand straightened in the straightening zone is then guided into the horizontal roller zone and conveyed in this zone over an optional length. In the bow type continuous casting machine of the present invention, the solidified shell of a region of the strand within the straightening roll zone, can be made thin due to (a) the low machine height and (b) slow cooling and/or high speed casting.
When the above multi-point straightening method is carried out in these continuous casting machines under the limitation that the machine height (10-13 m) is not increased, the starting point of the multi-point straightening is positioned at a distance from the meniscus in the mold of 15.7-20.4 m as measured along the strand. This distance is determined due to the fact that the machine height of from 10 to 13 m is large. The strand surface temperature and the thickness of the solidified shell at this starting point are from 700 to 900.degree. C. and about 80 to 120 mm (estimated value), respectively. When the strand has a cross section 250 mm thick and 1800 mm wide, the total thickness of the solidified parts of the shell in the thickness direction of the strand amounts to from 70 to 90% of the strand thickness. The strand that is straightened, while the solidified shell has such a thickness, exhibits edge crack defects (in percentage) ranging from 10 to 30% and an evaluation point of the internal cracks (the rate of generating C:1.5) ranging from 4 to 5%, even if the strand is straightened by a straightening means utilizing devices for controlling the straightening force and other devices designed at a modern highly technical level. If a strand having the defects as described above is rolled at the temperature required for rolling, a satisfactorily high yield cannot be obtained.
STAHL UND EISEN VOL 95 (1975), No. 16, p 733-741 describes a process of casting, by means of a curved mold, a strand (average thickness 150 mm) having a radius of curvature of 3.9 m at casting speeds of 0.9 m/min and 0.4 m/min, secondarily cooling the strand by spraying water on it and straightening points. The height of the continuous casting machine is 4.0-4.2 m. The process of STAHL UND EISEN does not seek to provide a strand appropriate for direct rolling; however, the present inventors considered this process in the course of attempting to devise a continuous casting process capable of satisfying the requirements for subsequent use of direct rolling. As a result, the inventors consider that it is difficult in the Stahl und Eisen process to reduce the surface defects to a point so low that the strand can be directly supplied to the rolling stage. This is because the solidified shell at the starting point of the straightening is very thick and, because of this thickness, the allowable limit of straightening strain is low according to the analysis, by the present inventors, of the casing parameters. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an automatic transportation system for transporting materials in factories, warehouses or the like, and more particularly to an apparatus for positioning a carriage in such an automatic transportation system.
2. Prior Art
There has been proposed an automatic transportation system for transporting materials for an assembly line in a factory which comprises a carriage or a pallet propelled by a linear induction motor (hereinafter referred to as "LIM"). Such as automatic transportation system includes a free-roller conveyor laid on a floor, a plurality of stators of the LIM mounted on the floor along the free-roller conveyor, and a carriage (or a pallet) placed on the free-roller conveyor for slidable movement and provided at its bottom surface with a secondary conductor which serves as a reaction plate of the LIM. The stators are suitably energized to move the carriage to a predetermined position or station to thereby transport goods placed on the carriage.
With such an automatic transportation system as described above, to stop the moving carriage, the stators are energized by opposite-phase currents to brake the carriage. It is, however, difficult to stop the carriage accurately at a desired position only by the braking operation due to the opposite-phase currents. For this reason, the conventional automatic transportation system of this kind is provided with a positioning apparatus which produces, after the speed of the carriage is sufficiently decreased by the opposite-phase currents, a magnetic attractive force to stop the carriage precisely at predetermined positions.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the structure of the conventional automatic transportation system with such positioning apparatus. The system comprises two rows of roller supports 1 mounted on the floor, each row of roller supports being spaced by a predetermined distance from one another along a path or a track T. The roller supports 1 are provided at their tops with rollers 2, respectively, which are disposed at the same level above the floor. Placed on the rollers 2 for slidable movement is a carriage 3 on which goods to be transported are placed. Also provided along the track T at the sides thereof are guide rollers 4 which rollingly engage with side faces of the carriage 3 and prevent the carriage 3 from moving transversely of the track T. The carriage 3 has at a bottom surface thereof a reaction plate 5a of a LIM in the form of an elongated plate made of conductive materials. A plurality of stators 5b are mounted on the floor along the track T at equal intervals in such a manner that a top surface of each stator 5b faces a lower surface of the reaction plate 5a when the carriage 3 passes past the stator 5b. A pair of yokes 6a each having an E-shaped cross-section are fixedly mounted on the carriage 3 at its lower surface in such a manner that leg portions thereof extend downward, the yokes 6a being spaced from each other transversely of the carriage 3. A pair of yokes 6b each having an E-shaped cross-section are mounted on the floor at each predetermined stop position of the carriage 3 with their leg portions extending upward. In this case, end faces of the leg portions of the yokes 6b face those of the yokes 6a when the carriage 3 is disposed at the stop position. An induction coil 6c is wound around the center leg of each of the yokes 6b. In this automatic transportation system, the yokes 6a, the yokes 6b and the coils 6c constitute a positioning apparatus 6 for this automatic transportation system.
With this conventional system, the carriage 3 running at a high speed in the forward direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1 along the track T is braked by a traveling magnetic field produced by the stator 5b in the reverse direction indicated by an arrow B, and approaches the stop position shown in FIG. 1 at a decreased speed. Then, when the arrival of the carriage 3 at the stop position is detected by means of a limit switch (not shown), the stator 5b is de-energized and at the same time the coil 6c of the positioning apparatus 6 is energized. As a result, a magnetic attractive force is exerted between the yokes 6a and the yokes 6b, so that the carriage 3 is positioned at the stop position with the top faces of the leg portions of the yokes 6b facing the bottom faces of the leg portions of the yokes 6a. In this case, a centripetal force P to decrease the deviation of the yokes 6a from the yokes 6b is exerted in the yokes 6 a. The magnitude of this centripetal force P varies, as shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with the amount of deviation X of the yokes 6a from the yokes 6b. As will be appreciated from FIG. 3, on condition that the deviation X is within a specific range L shown in FIG. 3, the greater the absolute value of the deviation X becomes, the greater the centripetal force P to decease the deviation X becomes, and the centripetal force P is rendered zero when the deviation X is zero.
With the above system, however, if there exists a friction force between the carriage 3 and the track T, the carriage 3 suffers from a non-negligible positioning error. For example, if a friction force M (FIG. 3) to suppress the rotation of the rollers 2 is exerted in the bearings of the rollers 2, the carriage 3 is subject to a positioning error of within the range of .+-.l/2 determined by the magnitude of the friction force M, since the centripetal force P becomes smaller than the friction force M within the range of .+-.l/2. Thus, the greater the friction force M is, the greater the positioning error of the carriage 3 becomes. The above-described conventional system is thus deficient in that the positioning error of the carriage 3 is not negligible and varies in accordance with the variation of the friction force M due to the aged-deterioration of the bearings and other components parts. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weft for hair extension and a method of extending the weft for hair extension to real hair, and more particularly, to a weft for hair extension and a method of extending the weft for hair extension to real hair that provides a plurality of space portions through which the real hair is passed between a pair of wig hair bundles that are bound to form the weft for hair extension and fixedly extends the real hair that is passed through the space portions to the weft for hair extension by use of a plurality of pressure rings.
2. Background of the Related Art
In old days, wigs were just used to cover a baldhead, but as people have tried to develop their beauty with various kinds of materials, recently, they are widely used as the instruments creating new fashion modes.
Especially, young people like to have hair extension of a variety of colors and shapes for extension with their real hair, and as one of the examples of the hair extensions, there is provided a weft for hair extension that is provided with a pair of wig hair bundles as shown in FIG. 1. The pair of wig hair bundles are formed by connecting the top end portions of a plurality of horizontally wig hair ties to one another by means of a connecting thread and bound together by means of a binding thread, as shown in FIG. 2. For the convenience of delivery and storage of wig hair, in old days, the weft for hair extension was used in a shape of a wig hair bundle or planted in a wig cap to constitute the wig. In recent days, however, it is widely used as hair accessories or fashion instruments for hair extension by young generations who always enjoy new fashion modes. As well known, various kinds of hair extensions have been developed and used by Europe and America, especially, by black people.
In size of the weft for the hair extension, it is formed of a plurality of wig hair ties 10, as shown in FIG. 1, or it is formed of an individual wig hair tie, as shown in FIG. 3.
One of conventional hair extensions using the weft (general type or individual type) is usually used in such a manner as to be extended to real hair by means of a chemical adhesive. However, the conventional method causes some problems that it needs excessive time to attach the wig hair to the real hair and it exhibits weak resistance against heat and chemicals.
Therefore, the conventional wefts for hair extension are used by the following methods: First, the weft is extended to the real hair by means of a clip or pincers that is (are) provided at the top end portion thereof; Second, the weft is provided with a plurality of separate pressure rings 50 that are mounted by use of a thread 51 at the top end portion thereof, each pressure ring having real hair inserted thereinto and pressed after the insertion of the real hair, as shown in FIG. 4; and third, the individual weft is extended to the real hair by means of a crochet needle 61 and a single individual pressure ring 50.
However, these methods of extending such the wefts for the hair extension have had the following disadvantages.
In case of extending the weft for hair extension to the real hair by the use of the separate pressure ring 50, the weft for hair extension is extended to the real hair just by the utilization of the force of the pressure ring 50, such that the wig hair may be separated from the real hair at any time. In addition, the individual wefts for hair extension one by one should be extended to the real hair, such that it requires a lot of time to finish the extension.
As shown in FIG. 4, a method of extending the weft for hair extension to real hair by the use of the plurality of separate pressure rings 50 that are mounted at the top end portion thereof by means of the thread 51 has the following problems.
The plurality of pressure rings 50 should be mounted by the use of the thread 51 at the top end portion of the weft, such that the production process of the weft becomes complicated, it is necessary to spend a lot of time and human powers, and the production costs are raised.
Once the pressure rings 50 are attached at the top end portion of the weft, it is necessary for nippers or long nose pliers to approach in a vertical direction to the top end surface of the weft so as to apply the pressure force to the pressure rings 50, such that it is difficult to apply the pressure force to the pressure rings 50 in an accurate manner. Therefore, in case where the weft for hair extension that has been already extended to the real hair is adjusted in length or separated from the real hair, the pressure rings should be completely cut to separate. This makes the pressure rings 50 difficult to be used again or even if possible, it is very inconvenient to use again.
Furthermore, since the weft has the top end portion backstitched several times for the connection of the plurality of wig hair ties, the top end portion becomes hard, and in this state, the weft for hair extension further has the pressure rings 50 attached at the top end portion thereof, such that in case where the connected portion where the pressure rings 50 are mounted comes in contact with other objects, for example, in case where a user wearing the weft lies on the floor, he or she feels that his or her head gets hurt.
Additionally, even if one of the objects of the usage of the weft for hair extension is to get new beauty, the weft for hair extension 90 in the conventional method using the pressure ring 50 is positioned to the outside of the real hair 60, as shown in FIG. 6, which causes the pressure ring 50 to be lifted, such that the outer appearance becomes bad.
In line with this, U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,826 (Jenkims, Christina M. Oct. 25, 1966, patent date, “Hair Piece and Method of Making and Permanently Attaching Same”,) introduces a method for attaching the hair piece to human hair using snap fastener (13). But, the hair piece and snap fastener (13) cause a human a foreign substantial sense.
To lessen foreign substantial sense, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,761 (Meister, Karen L., Jun. 16, 1992, patent date, “Method For Attaching Hair Extension”) introduces a method for binding the hair and extension (11) using ancher sleeve (29) and fixing the hair and the extension (11) with thread (47) using a curved niddle (49). But this method is inconvenience and take too much time, because as preceding, it binds the hair and extension (11) and fix those with niddle (49).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,253 (Jeong, Ho-Taeg, Jul. 13, 1999, patent date, “Method and device for making weft of weaving for wigs”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,122 (Campbell, Annie L, Oct. 24, 2000, patent date, “Self adhesive hair weft extension and method of Securing same”), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,736 (Townsent Valerie, Jun. 18, 2002, patent date, “Method of using a self adhesive weaving for wigs”) are the method for bonding artificial hair and human hair using the adhesive, those referenced method are different from the invention because of connection media. The invention using weft and ring as the connection media which is pressed after connect weft and human hair. In this reason, the invention and those referenced invention are different. | {
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In the field of display technologies, achievement of low power consumption and achievement of high brightness have become two hot research topics now. On the basis of the traditional achievement of color images by means of red, green and blue pixels, the low power consumption and high brightness can be achieved by adding white pixels.
In the related art, pixel regions of an array substrate for displaying red, blue, green, and white colors respectively correspond to a first-color pixel region, a second-color pixel region, a third-color pixel region, and a highlight pixel region. Generally, the first-color pixel region, the second-color pixel region, and the third color pixel region have a same area, and the highlight pixel region has a smaller area. Since the highlight pixel region has a relatively small area, the gate line or the data line usually needs to be designed into a bending line structure. The area of the highlight pixel region being smaller than that of the other color pixel region is achieved by reducing a width of the highlight pixel region. In this case, the corresponding partial data lines need to be designed to have a bending structure. When the gate line or data line is designed to have a bending structure, there is necessarily a risk of disconnection. | {
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This invention relates to removable implements for folding tools or knives.
A number of tools or knives have removable implements. Various techniques are employed for stowing and removing these implements. Probably the most common arrangement is to provide the handle of the tool with a simple pocket or recess to receive the implement. The implement may be retained in the pocket by a spring, latch, or merely an interference fit. The removable toothpick of the Swiss Army Knife is probably the most familiar example of this arrangement. Other examples of removable implements stowed in this fashion are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,815,250, 5,125,157, and 5,594,966. Another common device is a foldable, removable or extensible sleeve or socket which stores multiple tool bits such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,298,756 and 6,119,561. A removable magazine for storing multiple tool bits is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,600. A pivotable carrier blade to which multiple removable tool bits are attached is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,786. Removable pliers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,274 and in Patent Application Publication No. US 2001/0014986 A1. Some knives with replaceable blades use a keyhole slot in the base of the blade to removably attach the blade to the knife.
The present invention provides a new configuration of a foldable removable implement for a folding tool or knife, and a novel method for removing and replacing the implement in the tool or knife. | {
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The present invention relates to static control devices in media handling systems, such as printers and copiers; and, more specifically, to static control devices utilizing fine fiber bundles and non-contact ionization for static charge dissipation.
In a commonly used process for electrophotographic printing applications, such as for printers and copiers, a uniform charge is applied to a photoconductive surface on a drum or belt. A light beam, such as from a laser, is used to expose the surface, leaving an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image to be printed. The latent image is developed by the application of toner particles that adhere to the electrostatic latent image. The toner image is transferred to the media intended to receive the printed image, and is fixed thereon through the application of heat and/or pressure in a fuser.
In a sheet handling device such as a printer or copier, and other machines having sheet handling pathways, electrical charges can build up in media, such as paper, that is transported through the machine. The media transported through such a device, both before and after reception thereon of the toner image, is frictionally contacted by numerous rotating members, and is slid along, over and against various stationary guide members. Consequently, the media can accumulate both positive and negative electric charges, both as a result of transport through the machine and from transfer of chargers from the photoconductive process. Paper will typically accept and hold such charges readily.
Buildup of charges on the media can impact machine performance and function detrimentally. Charges on the media can cause the media to be attracted to or repelled from transport surfaces, interfering with proper transport and indexing of the media for proper printing. Charges in the media also can interfere with transfer of the toner image to the media surface, by attracting stray toner particles thereto, in areas of the sheet not intended to receive a toner image. Such charges also can cause sheets to adhere to each other, causing media jams in the machine.
Thus, it is desirable to remove the electrostatic charges from the sheet. Early attempts at controlling static charges included devices to ionize air surrounding the sheet, thereby providing a pathway to ground. It was also known to contact the sheet directly with conductive strips, providing a more physically continuous grounding path for charges on the sheet. Early ionizing devices were expensive and produced ozone, and contacting devices sliding over a newly formed image as the sheet is transported through the machine degraded the image quality. Thus, neither of these attempts was completely satisfactory.
It also is known to contact the sheet with conductive brushes having fibers secured in a matrix. For example, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,607 xe2x80x9cFIBRILLATED PULTRUDED ELECTRONIC COMPONENT STATIC ELIMINATOR DEVICESxe2x80x9d to form pultrusions from densely packed bundles of fibers. One end of the bundle is fibrillated, and the exposed ends thereof contact a surface to be discharged. Other types of both contacting and non-contacting brush-like static charge eliminators are also known.
In another known, brush-like static eliminator, a thin tape of aluminum foil is provided transverse to the paper path in a machine. A plurality of discrete bundles of individual electrically conductive fibers are adhered to the aluminum foil, and can contact or come in close proximity to the surface of a sheet transported along the path. A problem with this design is that aluminum foil can tear easily, and is difficult to apply on a machine in a straight line, which is necessary to maintain constant space from a sheet along the length of the device. It is also known to use an aluminum strip rather than foil. However, the aluminum strip has physical memory, and will tend to curve at the ends thereof, if the aluminum strip was ever provided or stored in a roll. Also, aluminum is subject to oxidation, which reduces the conductivity and increases the surface resistance. If oxidation is significant, the effectiveness of the static control device can be diminished.
Attempts at improving such devices have not met with total success. Using a non-conductor, such as polyester, in the support or carrier strip may eliminate memory problems, but requires incorporation of conductive structures for connecting the fiber bundles to a grounding source. A single fiber or a plurality of fibers running the length of the strip can be used as the conductive structure, but is subject to failure if the continuity thereof is broken. Providing a metal coating on a non-conductive base material to serve as the conductive structure is also effective electrically, but again scratching can cause discontinuity and failure of the device.
What is needed in the art is a rigidly backed static eliminator that has bulk conductivity and corrosion resistance, and facilitates straight installation of the device in a printer, copier or the like.
In one aspect thereof, the present invention provides a static control device with a carrier strip of non-metallic, electrically conductive material. The strip has a length and first and second lateral edges extending along the length. At least one bundle of electrically conductive filaments is attached to the carrier strip, disposed on the strip transverse to the lateral edges and extending beyond at least one of the lateral edges.
In another aspect thereof, the present invention provides a static control system for a media handling apparatus having frame members and conveying devices providing a media path for transporting sheets of media through the apparatus along the media path. A static control device includes a non-metallic conductive carrier strip. The carrier strip has a length and first and second lateral edges. The carrier strip is attached and electrically connected to the frame. At least one bundle of electrically conductive filaments is attached to the carrier strip, the at least one bundle of filaments being disposed on the strip transverse to the lateral edges, and extending beyond at least one of the lateral edges.
In yet another aspect thereof, the present invention provides a static control system for a media handling apparatus with at least one frame member and conveying devices providing a media path for transporting sheets of media through the apparatus along the media path. A static control device includes a flexible, conductive plastic carrier strip, the carrier strip having a length and first and second lateral edges. The carrier strip is attached and electrically connected to the frame, and disposed transverse to media transported along the media path. A plurality of bundles of electrically conductive filaments are attached to the carrier strip, and disposed on the strip transverse to the lateral edges. The filaments have ends disposed in spaced relation to media transported along the media path.
An advantage of the present invention is providing a static control device that is easy to install properly, and that is resistant to corrosion, staining and physical deterioration from contact with common cleaning materials.
Another advantage of the present invention is providing a static control device that is robust, and can withstand a degree of physical damage without compromising its operational effectiveness.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a static control device that is light weight to reduce shipping expense, has low physical memory to remain flat when installed even if it was previously stored in a roll, and that has smooth edges for increased safety in handling.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims and drawings in which like numerals are used to designate like features. | {
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Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a linear vibrator for transmitting tactile signals to a user of a mobile phone, PDA, or a portable game console. More particularly, the present invention relates to a linear vibrator using rubber or silicone rubber having lower elasticity as a material of an elastic body secured to a casing or a base for supporting an oscillator horizontally moving by an electromagnetic force relative to a facing stator, thereby lowering the frequency sensitivity due to a characteristic frequency; reducing various errors of parts and errors in part assembly, thus resulting in smaller deviations of characteristic frequencies between products from mass production; and significantly reducing production cost by using an elastic body made of rubber or silicon rubber instead of steel plate or wire, thereby efficiently producing a structure through a simple assembly process and reducing the manufacture facility cost and labor cost resulting in improved productivity.
Description of the Related Art
For transmitting tactile signals to a user of a mobile phone, PDA, or a portable game console by generating vibration, a rotating device using an eccentric mass has conventionally been used. More recently, a linear vibrator has been developed for maximizing the vibrating intensity by making the exciting frequency coincide with the characteristic frequency of a structure.
Recently developed linear vibration generators or linear vibrators with thin structures, which provide horizontal vibrations of high intensities, have been proposed, for example, through Korean Patent Applications No. 10-2010-0090230, 10-2011-0008308, 10-2011-0019823, 10-2012-0124255, and 10-2013-0089911 filed by the same applicant as the present invention.
Such linear vibrators conventionally comprise an oscillator having a weight installed inside of a casing, and an elastic metal body formed in a U-shaped structure surrounding the weight, one end of which is connected to the weight and the other end of which is secured to the casing. Such a vibrator generates horizontal vibration by use of a resonance formed by applying an electromagnetic force of exiting frequency at the same frequency as the characteristic frequency of the elastic body, in which the vibration is maximized when the excited frequency of the electromagnetic force coincides with the characteristic frequency of the elastic body.
The elastic body, however, comprises a leaf spring formed of a steel plate or a coil spring formed of a steel wire, and the characteristic frequency may be easily changed by a trivial difference such as an insignificant shape difference between products, so that it is difficult to make the exciting frequency coincide with an intended characteristic frequency,
This makes the mass production of elastic bodies having constant features such as a constant characteristic frequency, difficult and thus requires high production cost.
The description provided above as a related art of the present invention is only for helping understanding the background of the present invention and should not be construed as being included in the related art known by those skilled in the art. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the production of a surfactant-containing amorphous alkali metal silicate/alkali metal carbonate compound with multiple wash cycle performance which may be used as a water-soluble builder in detergents or cleaners, to the use of such alkali metal silicate compounds in detergents or cleaners, to extruded detergents or cleaners and to a process for their production.
Modern compacted detergents or cleaners generally have the disadvantage that, on account of their compact structure, they exhibit poorer dissolving behavior in aqueous liquors than, for example, lighter spray-dried detergents or cleaners of the prior art. Detergents or cleaners generally tend to dissolve more slowly in water, the higher their degree of compaction. Because they are insoluble in water, the zeolites normally present as builders in detergents or cleaners can additionally contribute towards the impaired dissolving behavior.
A water-soluble alternative to zeolites are amorphous alkali metal silicates with multiple wash cycle performance.
2. Discussion of Related Art
It is known that powder-form hydrated water-soluble silicates still containing about 20% by weight of water can be obtained by the spray drying or roll drying of waterglass solutions (cf. Ullmanns Enzyclopadie der technischen Chemie, 4th Edition 1982, Vol. 21, page 412). Products of this type are commercially available for various purposes. Corresponding powders have a very loose structure as a result of spray drying. Their bulk densities are generally well below 700 g/l.
Granular alkali metal silicates with relatively high bulk densities can be obtained in accordance with the teaching of European patent application EP-A-0 526 978. In this process, an alkali metal silicate solution with a solids content of 30 to 53% by weight is introduced into a heated drum in the longitudinal axis of which rotates a shaft with a plurality of arms reaching almost to the inner surface of the drum, the drum wall having a temperature of 150 to 200.degree. C. The drying process is supported by a gas introduced into the drum at a temperature of 175 to about 250.degree. C. This process gives a product with an average particle size of 0.2 to 2 mm. A preferred drying gas is heated air.
European patent application EP-A-0 542 131 describes a process in which a product completely soluble in water at room temperature with a bulk density of 500 to 1200 g/l is obtained. Heated air is preferably used as the drying gas. This process also uses a cylindrical dryer with a heated wall (160 to 200.degree. C.) in the longitudinal axis of which a rotor with blade-like vanes rotates at such a speed that a pseudoplastic paste with a free water content of 5 to 12% by weight is formed from the silicate solution with its solids content of 40 to 60% by weight. Drying is supported by a hot air stream (220 to 260.degree. C.).
Earlier hitherto unpublished patent application P 44 19 745.4 also describes a water-soluble, amorphous and granular alkali metal silicate which is produced by a process similar to that described in EP-A-0 526 978, but contains silica. The term "amorphous" in this context means "X-ray amorphous". This means that the alkali metal silicates do not produce any sharp reflexes in X-ray diffraction patterns, but at best one or more broad maxima of which the width amounts to several degrees of the diffraction angle. However, this does not mean that regions producing sharp electron diffraction reflexes cannot be found in electron diffraction experiments. This may be interpreted to mean that the substance contains microcrystalline regions up to about 20 nm (max. 50 nm) in size.
Granular amorphous sodium silicates obtained by spray drying of aqueous waterglass solutions and subsequent grinding, compaction and spheronizing with additional drying of the ground material are the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,912,649, 3,956,467, 3,838,193 and 3,879,527. The products obtained have water contents of about 18 to 20% by weight for bulk densities well above 500 g/l.
Other granular alkali metal silicates with multiple wash cycle performance are known from European patent applications EP-A-0 561 656 and EP-A-0 488 868. These documents relate to compounds of alkali metal silicates with certain Q distributions and alkali metal carbonates. The products are obtained by granulating powder-form water-free sodium carbonate in the presence of a sodium silicate solution (waterglass solution) and drying the products so that they have a certain residual water content bound to the silicate. According to tests conducted by applicants, products such as these have a relatively low absorption capacity for nonionic surfactants of <30 g nonionic surfactants per 100 g of compound. It is not known from the prior art that compounds such as these can be produced using aqueous formulations of anionic surfactants.
Intentional patent application WO-A-91/02047 describes a process for the production of high-density extrudates in which a solid free-flowing compound is extruded under pressure in strand form. The solid free-flowing compound contains a plasticizer and/or lubricant which ensures that the compound softens and hence becomes extrudable under the pressure applied or under the effect of specific energy. After leaving the multiple-bore extrusion die, the system is not exposed to any further shearing so that its viscosity increases to such an extent that the extruded strand can be cut to predetermined extrudate dimensions. Now, it is known from International patent application WO-A-94/09111 that the compound to be extruded must contain both components which show pseudoplastic behavior and components which have dilatant properties. If the compound were only to contain components with pseudoplastic behavior, it would soften or even become almost liquid under the effect of the pronounced shear gradient to such an extent that, after leaving the multiple-bore die, the strand would no longer be cuttable. For this reason, dilatant components are also used, i.e. components which show increasing plasticity with increasing shear gradient and which thus guarantee the cuttability of the extruded strand. Most ingredients of detergents or cleaners show pseudoplastic behavior. Dilatant behavior is more the exception. However, there is one ingredient of conventional detergents or cleaners which does possess dilatant properties, namely the water-insoluble alumosilicates, such as zeolites, used as builders and phosphate substitutes. Although extruded detergents or cleaners containing 19% by weight of zeolite (based on water-free active substance), 12.5% by weight of sodium carbonate and 2.2% by weight of amorphous sodium silicate are known from International patent application WO-A-94/09111, it was not known that, in terms of process technology, zeolite could be partly or even completely replaced by water-soluble inorganic builders, such as amorphous alkali metal silicates, providing they are used in a certain form.
German patent application 195 01 269.0 describes amorphous alkali metal silicate compounds with multiple wash cycle performance and a molar ratio of M.sub.2 O to SiO.sub.2 (M=alkali metal) of 1:1.5 to 1:3.3 which contain anionic surfactants, preferably alkyl benzenesulfonates and/or alk(en)yl sulfates. In one preferred embodiment, these compounds additionally contain 30 to 70% by weight of alkali metal carbonate. They are produced by spray drying of an aqueous slurry containing all the ingredients of the alkali metal silicate compound.
EP-A-651 050 describes a process for the production of granules which contain as essential components an amorphous silicate, an anionic surfactant and another solid salt, for example sodium carbonate. This additional salt is initially introduced and is agglomerated with an aqueous "binder" of alkali metal silicate solution and anionic surfactant. Sodium carbonate is one of many suitable salt components. Whereas the binder contains the alkali metal silicate and the anionic surfactant in ratios by weight of 1:3 to 3:1, there is no mention whatever of the ratio by weight between "binder" and salt component. The agglomerates produced in accordance with the Examples have sodium carbonate contents below 10% by weight. The preferred salt present in quantities of 35.5% by weight in the Examples is sodium sulfate.
One of the problems addressed by the present invention was to provide further water-soluble builders for the partial or complete replacement of zeolite in detergents or cleaners so that the dissolving behavior of heavy detergents or cleaners in particular would be improved. In addition, these water-soluble builders would also have an absorption capacity for ingredients of detergents or cleaners which are liquid to wax-like at the processing temperature. Another problem addressed by the present invention was to provide extruded detergents or cleaners which would contain the water-soluble builders in such quantities that zeolite could be completely or partly replaced not only in performance terms, but also in terms of process technology, and a process for their production. | {
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used for commercial applications. Examples include, but are not limited to, inspections of railway lines, inspection of electrical power lines, monitoring of quarry sites and construction sites. Larger than consumer UAVs, commercial UAVs are commonly powered by, but not limited to, batteries. Currently, the primary limitation of the range and capabilities for commercial UAVs is battery technology. With the latest breakthroughs and higher power densities, UAVs are capable of up to around 30 minutes of flight with a useable payload. Current UAVs require manual exchange of said power systems, requiring a man in the loop for every flight. While rendering the UAV effective for consumer use, battery technology and the automation of exchanging them is the key limiting factor to the commercial realization and wide-spread use of UAVs. | {
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The present invention relates to a package and in particular to a package for a suncream.
The invention has been developed primarily for use with suncreams or other forms of sun screening creams and will be described hereinafter with reference to that particular application. It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to that field of use and is also applicable to other skin care products. In this regard it should be noted that the term xe2x80x9csuncreamxe2x80x9d as used herein is intended to include any preparation intended for application to the skin of humans and which has:
a sun screening factor; or
the ability to reduce the intensity of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that would otherwise be incident upon the skin; or
a soothing or healing effect to skin which has become xe2x80x9csun burntxe2x80x9d or otherwise damaged due to exposure or over exposure to UV of other radiation.
Accordingly, this term encompasses after sun preparations, sun blocking creams, barrier creams or the like, whether or not these are intended for direct use as a suncream or whether contained within a cosmetic preparation.
Hitherto, sun creams or other skin care products have been packaged in conventional plastic or glass bottles to provide a convenient transportable reservoir of the cream. Often such bottles will carry information about the sun protection factor (SPF) offered by the cream or product contained within. The person or persons intending to use the cream as an impediment against skin damage caused by the sun""s rays, and more particularly by TV radiation, can use this information as a guide to the level of protection offered to their skin by the cream. However, SPF information is neither readily understood nor properly used by a significant percentage of the population and does not provide anything other than rudimentary information on the circumstances in which the cream will be beneficial.
It is an object of the present invention, at least in the preferred embodiment, to overcome or substantially ameliorate one or more disadvantages of the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a package for a suncream, the package defining a cavity for containing the suncream and display means for providing a person with an indication of the intensity of UV radiation incident upon the package.
Preferably, the display means indicates to the person that ambient conditions warrant the application of the cream to the person""s skin.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a package for containing a suncream, the package including display means for indicating to a person that one or more predetermined ambient conditions warrant the application of the cream to the person""s skin.
Preferably, the predetermined ambient conditions include the intensity of the UV radiation incident upon the package. In other embodiments, however, the predetermined ambient conditions include the temperature of the package.
More preferably, the package is a bottle which includes a base and at least one sidewall extending upwardly from the base to define a cavity for containing the suncream. Even more preferably, the sidewall includes an opening for allowing selective removal of the suncream from the cavity and being selectively closed by a lid. More preferably, the lid is rotatably mounted to the sidewall for movement between an open and a closed configuration.
In a preferred form, the display means is located on one or more of the following: the sidewall; the base; and the lid.
Preferably, the display means includes a region of photochromic material which changes colour in response to the intensity of the UV radiation incident upon the region. In other embodiments, however, the display means includes a region of thermochromic material which changes colour in response to the temperature of the region.
Preferably, the display means includes a multi-coloured strip located adjacent the region for indicating which of the colours taken by the region correspond to a high intensity of UV radiation.
Alternatively, the region includes the lid, wherein the sidewall, at least adjacent the opening, is coloured to correspond with the colour of the lid when a high level of UV radiation is incident thereupon. | {
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The present invention relates to a unit for a plasma atomizer device with a supply means for supplying a gas for generating a plasma, an atomizer means for atomizing a sample to be analyzed, an injection means for injecting the atomized sample into a plasma generated with the supplied gas, and a support means for holding the supply means, the atomizer means and the injection means.
Such units are known in the prior art. FIG. 6 illustrates such a unit according to the prior art. Said unit comprises a supply means 110 for supplying a gas for producing a plasma in a volume V. The supply means 110 normally consists of two small quartz glass tubes that are arranged such that the gas required for generating the plasma can be supplied on the one hand and a gas required for cooling the supply means 110 can be supplied on the other hand. Furthermore, there are provided an atomizer means 120 for atomizing a sample to be analyzed and an injection means 130 for injecting the atomized sample into a plasma generated with the supplied gas in the volume V. The supply means 110, the atomizer means 120 and the injection means 130 are mounted within a support means 100.
For the operation of the plasma atomizer device, the whole unit as illustrated in FIG. 6 is arranged by means of a fastening means 150 in a generator chamber which accommodates an RF generator for igniting and maintaining the plasma (not shown).
The unit which is known from the prior art has the drawback that the supply means 110, the atomizer means 120 and/or the injection means 130 can only be cleaned or replaced under great efforts. In particular, the generator chamber must be opened; the unit must be detached from the fastening means 150 and removed from the generator chamber.
Another drawback of the prior-art unit is that the supply means 110 and the injection means 130 are fixedly arranged relative to each other. This has the effect that a cleaning of the supply means 110 and of the injection means 130 is rendered more difficult.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to improve the unit according to the prior art in such a manner that the individual components are rendered more easily accessible so that the efforts for cleaning or replacing the supply means, the atomizer means and the injection means are considerably reduced.
This object is achieved by a unit of the above-described type which is characterized by the feature that the support means is connectable to a generator chamber wall of the atomizer device in such a manner that the supply means and the injection means are arranged inside the generator chamber.
Since the support means is connectable to the generator chamber wall, the whole unit can easily be inserted into the generator chamber wall and can easily be detached for cleaning or replacing the supply means, the atomizer means and the injection means. It is thus no longer necessary to open the generator chamber entirely and to detach the unit from the fastening means for cleaning or replacing the components.
According to a preferred development of the above-described unit the support means may be designed such that the atomizer means is arranged outside the generator chamber.
As a result, the atomizer means is freely accessible in the installed state of the supply means and in the installed state of the injection means and can be exchanged without removal of the supply means or the injection means for the purpose of cleaning or replacement.
According to a preferred development of the above-described units, the support means may comprise a holding means to which the supply means, the atomizer means and the injection means can be fastened in a removable manner, as well as a closing means which is arranged to be rotatable relative to the holding means and by means of which the unit can be fixed to the generator wall.
This measure makes it possible to insert the holding means with the attached supply means, atomizer means and injection means into the generator chamber wall to prevent rotation, and to fixedly connect the whole unit to the generator chamber wall just by rotating the closing means. Thus the holding means can be inserted with the components attached thereto into the generator chamber wall at a predefined angular position.
Advantageously, the closing means may comprise at least one pin that can be brought into engagement with a bayonet curve provided in the generator wall. The closing means can thereby be opened and closed in a particularly fast and easy manner.
The closing means can particularly be formed by two pins that are engageable with two bayonet curves provided in the generator wall. Thanks to the provision of two pins that engage into two bayonet curves, it is possible to achieve a uniform distribution of the forces arising during the closing operation.
Advantageously, each pin may be provided with a roller. This leads to a decrease in the frictional force between pin and bayonet curve, whereby the closing means can be operated with less force on the one hand and a closing of the pin/pins and the bayonet curve/bayonet curves is avoided on the other hand.
As an alternative to a bayonet closure, the connection means may also comprise a thread that is engageable with a thread provided in the generator wall.
According to a preferred development of all of the above-described units, a stop means may be provided for limiting a rotation of the closing means in the closing direction relative to the holding means.
Since the rotation of the closing means, which is e.g. provided with a bayonet or thread means, is limited, a fixedly defined. mounting depth of the supply means and the injection means can be achieved in the generator chamber, particularly with respect to the RF generator means. A defined mounting depth can in particular optimize the formation of the plasma. Moreover, manufacturing tolerances of the individual elements can be compensated for.
The stop means may advantageously comprise an element which can be fixed in different positions on the closing means or the holding means, as well as an element which is fixedly arranged at the side of the holding means or the closing means and which can be stopped on the fixable element.
Thus various mounting depths of the supply means and the injection means in the generator chamber can be adjusted in advance and set by rotating the closing means until abutment without the need for a repeated adjustment of the desired mounting depth.
Advantageously, the element which can be fixed in different positions onto the closing means or the holding means may be made annular and may rotatably be arranged relative to the closing means or the holding means in a non-fixed position and may comprise a first control curve along which the element fixedly arranged at the side of the holding means or the closing means can be guided and at the end of which said element can be stopped. Said measure results in a low-maintenance unit which can be produced in a particularly easy manner and thus at low costs. The annular element can here be moved by hand into the desired stop position.
According to a particularly advantageous development of said unit the annular element may comprise a second control curve, and an element, which is connected to the closing means or the holding means, may be provided that can be guided in a first position along the second control curve and, in a second position, clamps the annular element against the closing means or the holding means. A fixing mechanism for the stop means can be realized by said measure in a simple and thus also inexpensive and maintenance-friendly way.
This design can advantageously be developed such that at the end at which the element which is fixedly arranged at the side of the holding means or closing means can be stopped, the first control curve comprises a snap-in mechanism into which the element connected to the holding means or closing means can be snapped, so that the annular element can be guided relative to the closing means or the holding means into a position in which the annular element can be clamped against the closing means or the holding means.
It is possible with said features to realize a mechanism by which the stop means and thus the mounting depth can be adjusted by just moving the closing means relative to the holding means. To be more specific, it is thus no longer necessary to provide a mechanism for moving the stop means into the different positions for the different mounting depths outside the closing means and the holding means. Furthermore, it can be ensured in the case of said design that after the removal of the unit for cleaning purposes or for replacing components the previously set mounting depth can exactly be adjusted again to the desired position after the cleaning process has been finished or after individual components have been replaced.
Said mechanism can be operated as follows, in particular in order to reproduce an adjusted mounting depth. (For the sake of simplicity it will be assumed in the following that the element which is guidable along the first control curve is fixedly connected to the holding means and the element which is guidable in its first position along the second control curve is connected to the closing means and, in its second position, clamps the annular element against the closing means.)
After the desired mounting depth has been set, the annular element which is fixed onto the closing means is released by the measure that the element which clamps the annular element to the closing means is moved into its first position. The holding element will then be rotated in the closing direction until the maximum mounting depth has been reached at which the element secured at the side of the holding means snaps into the snap-in means at the end of the first control curve. The annular element is thereby temporarily connected to the closing means. A rotation of the closing means into the original position will now have the effect that the annular element remains fixed relative to the holding means and assumes a stop position corresponding to the desired mounting depth relative to the closing means. A rotation of the closing means with respect to the opening direction for removing the unit will now have the effect that the element disengages from the snap-in mechanism and can be removed from the generator chamber wall in the end. When the unit is now inserted again and the closing means is rotated in the closing direction, said rotation will be limited by the element at the side of the holding means snapping into the snap-in means, i.e. by the originally set position corresponding to the mounting depth.
According to a preferred alternative to the above-described units the support means may comprise a means which can be engaged by at least one clip provided at the side of the generator wall. The unit can thereby be removed from and secured to the generator chamber wall very rapidly by opening or closing the clip provided at the side of the generator wall.
Preferably, the support means may comprise a means that is engagable by two clips provided at the side of the generator wall. A symmetrical distribution of the holding force over the unit is ensured by said measure.
According to an advantageous development of all of the previously described units the injection means may be provided on the support means to be fixable from the side of the support means that is facing away from the generator chamber. It is thereby possible to remove the injection means independently of the support means and the supply means for cleaning purposes or for the purpose of replacement.
A particularly advantageous development consists in that the support means is provided with a locking mechanism by which the injection means can be locked to the support means. Such a measure can implement a simple, but nevertheless operationally reliable, fastening means, which in addition can be operated without wasting time.
Advantageously, the locking mechanism may comprise a slide means which is displaceable in a displacement direction extending at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the injection means, the slide means comprising an opening through which the injection means can be guided, and the slide means being preloaded relative to the support means in such a manner that in the installed state of the injection means said means is clamped in the displacement direction against the support means.
Expediently, but not limited to such a design, the slide means may be displaceable in a displacement direction extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the injection means.
According to a further advantageous development of all of the above-described units, the support means may comprise a clip means for fastening the atomizer means to the support means. Such a clip means permits a very fast replacement of the atomizer means, without the support means with the supply means and the injection means having to be removed from the generator wall.
Advantageously, the clip means may here be designed such that the atomizer means can be secured in a first position to the support means and fixed in a second position to the support means.
The clip means is expediently shaped in the form of a bow whose shape is adapted to the cross section of the atomizer chamber of the atomizer means. An easy operability is thereby ensured on the one hand and a perfect function of the fastening means on the other hand.
According to a preferred development of the units with the clip means, the support means may comprise an ejection means for facilitating a removal of the atomizer means from the support means. Such an ejection means is of particular advantage during prolonged operation of the unit because in such a case the sealing rings often get stuck between atomizer chamber and holding means, and such an ejection means considerably simplifies the removal in the case of seals that have got stuck.
Expediently, in units provided with both an ejection means and a clip means, the two means may be made integral. The constructional efforts for the unit are thereby reduced, resulting in reduced production costs. Moreover, the atomizer chamber can be removed with a handle, i.e. after the complete opening of the clip means. | {
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Gift cards are typically printed with static designs and in large quantities. They can commonly be purchased at retail locations such as card stores, bookstores, and so on. After a user purchases the gift cards, she can handwrite messages on the gift cards and use them when she gives gifts to family members, friends, or business clients. Card printing vending machines have been developed to allow the card purchasers to select card designs and input their own personalized messages before the actual cards are printed.
In recent years, online photo services such as Shutterfly, Inc., based at Redwood City, Calif., have established services for users to upload, store and share their digital photo images. The users can order physical photo products such as photographic prints, photo books, frames, calendars, CD's, frames, and greeting cards, etc. The print orders are fulfilled using automated digital printers, and shipped to the recipients as specified by the user. Customers of the online photo services often order the photo products as gifts to others. | {
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Over the last 20 years, credit cards have gained widespread acceptance as a means of paying for goods and services. In 1991, American consumers used credit cards to spend an excess of $250 billion. Worldwide, the value of credit card transactions exceeded $600 billion. The large volume of credit card transactions requires merchants to collect, transmit, and store vast amounts of transaction related data.
As used herein, the term "credit card" is intended to include credit cards, charge cards, debit cards, and other financial account cards. Credit cards typically include two sources of essential account information. A magnetic stripe includes the account number, expiration date, cardholder's name, and other information. Embossed characters also provide the account number, expiration date, and cardholder's name in a form that may be recognized by a merchant.
In order for a credit card transaction to be processed, a merchant must collect a variety of data associated with the transaction. This data typically includes the purchase price and date of the transaction, the account number and expiration date of the credit card, and the cardholder's name and signature. Once this data is collected, the merchant transmits the transaction data, along with its merchant identification code, to a credit card transaction processor. The credit card processor sorts the data according to the company that issued the credit card, and forwards the data to the appropriate company. At that point, the credit card issuer posts the transaction to the cardholder's account and the purchase amount is credited to the merchant.
The credit card processor facilitates the flow of information and funds between merchants and credit card issuers. This process is described more completely in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/820,401, filed Jan. 10, 1992, entitled "Data Card Terminal with Embossed Character Reader and Signature Capture", and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof. (The foregoing application hereinafter will be referred to as the "signature capture terminal application").
Formerly, credit card transaction data was recorded, transferred, and stored in the form of paper receipts. Over the years, the credit card industry has developed various types of equipment that provide for the electronic acquisition, transmission, and storage of transaction data. In addition to reducing the industry's reliance on paper records, this equipment expedites the processing of credit card transactions and minimizes errors associated with the entry of transaction data. The equipment includes point-of-sale (POS) equipment used by merchants and computer systems used by credit card processors.
Most merchants employ a cash register system of some type in order to record data associated with transactions, regardless of whether payment is made with cash, check, or credit card. In addition to a cash register, merchants that accept credit cards use other POS equipment to collect data associated with the credit card. This equipment usually includes electronic terminals that read the account number and expiration date from a magnetic stripe on the credit card and transmit the transaction data to the credit card processor. Such equipment may be separate from, or integrated into, the cash register equipment.
In a typical credit card transaction, a cardholder presents a credit card to a merchant, who records transaction data using an electronic terminal. The recorded data includes the amount of the purchase, the cardholder's account number, the card's expiration date, the merchant identification number, and the date of the transaction. In most cases, the cardholder is also required to sign a copy of the receipt.
Once the terminal accumulates the transaction data, the terminal automatically dials the merchant's credit card processor or other authorization source and initiates an authorization request. When the transaction is authorized, the terminal displays and/or stores the approval code or authorization indicia received from the credit card processor. The approval code is recorded along with the other transaction data. The POS equipment typically includes a printer that is capable of printing a sales receipt. The sales receipt includes the transaction data and approval code, and provides a space for the cardholder's signature.
These prior art devices allow numeric data, such as purchase price, date, account number, and merchant identification number to be easily accumulated, stored, and transmitted between the merchant and credit card processor. Consequently, numeric transaction data may be transferred and stored without the use of paper receipts. Although this numeric data is sufficient to process the transaction, it may be insufficient to validate or authenticate a transaction that is disputed by the cardholder. In the event a cardholder questions or denies the legitimacy of a transaction that appears on his or her credit card statement, it may be necessary for the merchant to produce a copy of the signed receipt as evidence that the cardholder was a party to the transaction. Therefore, it is necessary that a copy of each signed receipt be retained by the merchant for some period of time.
This process of retaining and retrieving signed receipts is simplified if the merchant employs POS equipment that allows the cardholder's signature to be digitized, transmitted, and stored along with the numeric data associated with the transaction. In such cases, the signature is digitized as the cardholder signs the credit card receipt. The digitized signature data and numeric transaction data are combined and transmitted to the credit card processor, where the data is stored for a predetermined period of time. If a cardholder disputes the validity of a transaction, the entirety of the transaction data, including a facsimile of the signature, may be provided by the credit card processor, and may serve as evidence of the legitimacy of the transaction. This process and a terminal that includes a signature capture printer are described in the above-referenced signature capture terminal application.
Many merchants have invested significant amounts of money in POS equipment, such as sophisticated electronic cash registers, that allows the merchant to collect all of the numeric data associated with credit card transactions. In the case of larger merchants, the POS equipment may be connected to a merchant's accounting computer system or "in-store processor" via a data communications network in order to facilitate the merchant's business operations. Although it may be advantageous to capture signatures in such cases, it is not cost effective or convenient to do so if it is necessary to add additional printers or terminals that duplicate the merchant's existing capabilities. Furthermore, a merchant's existing POS equipment may be connected to peripheral devices, such as check readers for automatically reading checking account data and PIN pads, which are used to input a debit card user's personal identification number (PIN). The existing POS equipment may not provide sufficient communications ports to allow the merchant to connect additional peripheral devices.
In order to facilitate the automatic collection of transaction data, it would be desirable to provide a signature capture device that could be used in conjunction with existing electronic cash registers and POS terminals. U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,906 to Protheroe et al. (the "'906 patent") and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/575,096, of Allgeier et al., filed Aug. 30, 1990, describe signature capture devices that may be used in conjunction with existing POS equipment.
The Allgeier application describes a write input device that employs a display underneath a transparent digitizer in order to capture signature information. The '906 patent correctly notes that the liquid crystal display of the Allgeier device makes it expensive. The display also increases the amount of power consumed by the device. Consequently, such devices often require a separate power supply. Liquid crystal displays also provide a limited viewing angle. Because the liquid crystal display is set up to be viewed clearly by the customer, it is difficult for the merchant to see the displayed signature and compare it to the signature on the back of the credit card.
The '906 patent describes an inexpensive pressure sensitive digitizer that does not have a display. Although this device eliminates the costs attributable to the display, pressure sensitive digitizers experience several problems when used in POS applications. A pressure sensitive digitizer consists of two electrically coated surfaces that are separated by spacers. The digitizer's sensitivity is determined by the distance between the spacers. If the digitizer is sensitive enough to respond to light writing pressure, it also is likely to respond to coincident finger contact that occurs when a customer is signing a receipt. Decreasing the sensitivity in order to avoid responses to finger contact results in increased writing force being required for the signature. Consequently, the digitizer may fail to capture light handwriting strokes. Wear from repeated use damages the coated surfaces and leads to position errors in the digitized signals. Furthermore, pressure sensitive digitizers do not accurately capture signatures when thick or multi-part forms are used.
In addition to the foregoing considerations, inexpensive add-on signature capture devices should provide flexibility and be configurable for use with POS systems having a variety of capabilities. For example, limits on the POS system's storage capacity may require that the signature capture device provide compressed signature signals, and that the size of the signature data be limited to a maximum compressed signature size selectable by the merchant. Likewise, the merchant's POS system may be powerful enough to compress the digital signature signals received from the signature capture device. Therefore, the merchant may prefer to receive uncompressed digitized signature signals and perform the compression at the electronic cash register or in-store processor. Each electronic cash register also may include a display or printer capable of producing a facsimile signature corresponding to the digitized signature signals. Providing a facsimile signature at the point-of-sale allows the merchant to indicate whether the digitized signature is acceptable prior to the completion of the transaction. An adjunct signature capture device also should preserve the merchant's ability to use other peripheral devices in conjunction with its POS devices.
Further, inexpensive add-on signature capture devices should be designed for ease of use with POS equipment in a wide variety of POS environments. For example, the merchant's sales counter may include a display in which jewelry, cameras, electronic equipment or other items may be seen, but not accessed, by customers. Such a counter is often long, allowing several customers to simultaneously inspect items at a significant distance from the electronic cash register. To better accommodate these customers, the merchant may wish to obtain customer signatures on a transaction receipt at a counter location remote from the electronic cash register. Likewise, in this and other POS environments, the merchant may wish to present sales receipts to customers at a counter location away from the electronic cash register in order to prevent customer lines from forming at the register. An inexpensive add-on signature capture device should give a merchant the flexibility to conduct sales transactions in such aforementioned situations.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a cost-effective signature capture pad that may be added to existing POS equipment. Because POS equipment has differing capabilities, there is a need for a flexible signature capture pad capable of providing signature data in a variety of user-selectable formats. Furthermore, because some POS equipment includes interconnected peripheral devices having a limited number of communications ports, there is a need for a signature capture pad that may be connected to existing POS equipment, and that facilitates data communication between POS equipment and peripheral devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Measuring the movement and strength of an infant tongue during sucking on the nipple of a bottle or pacifier presents several challenges including, for example, the limited oral space of the infant available for direct measurement and alteration of motor control feedback mechanisms induced at the tongue interface, the limited amount of space available for instrumentation of the nipple, alterations required for instrumentation of the nipple which could affect natural feeding patterns, and obtaining accurate and precise measurements of tongue contact with the nipple interface. There are two stages of feeding where the tongue is applied to the nipple. During one stage, compression (squeezing) of the nipple by forces exerted on the nipple by the tongue compresses the nipple against the palate. In a nutritive sucking condition, a volume of fluid present in the nipple is pushed out of the nipple and into the oral cavity due to compression of the nipple. In the other stage, with the oral cavity sealed, the jaw and tongue drop down and away from the palate, enlarging the oral cavity and creating negative intra-oral suction. In a nutritive sucking condition, fluid is drawn (sucked) out of the nipple. Both stages are essential to infant feeding.
Adaptations to tongue muscle including decline of or lack of improvement in tongue strength may occur in premature infants who are artificially fed for a period of time. Using animal models, researchers have documented significant negative changes in tongue muscle responsiveness as a result of artificial feeding of newborn rats, which result in long term difficulties with feeding. As many as forty percent of premature infants exhibit both immature and atypical feeding patterns and those requiring prolonged respiratory support and those experiencing delayed oral feeding are most often affected. Because artificial feeding of premature infants may not be avoidable, determining whether tongue force is adequate for safe, efficient oral feeding, and developing interventions that lessen or eliminate any negative impact on the tongue muscle, such as interventions for strengthening the tongue during non-nutritive suck (NNS) and nutritive suck (NS), are necessary. Clinical use of NNS with preterm infants to promote oral feeding is well documented. Indications are that NNS intervention has a positive impact on transition from tube feedings to oral feedings, improves bottle feeding performance and decreases length of stay. Volume intake, number of tube feedings prior to reaching full oral feeds, and impact on growth and weight gain are outcomes that have not been positively associated with NNS, and the impact of NNS on other important oral feeding outcomes is not clear. Current measurement and evaluation methods are lacking and those that currently exist are subjective in nature and provide limited empirical evidence relative to assessment of infant feeding and swallowing. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a laminated board lined with an electrically conductive material such as copper or aluminum, and being excellent in its heat conductivity, dimensional stability, heat resistance, and electrical characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the material for printed circuit wiring, there has so far been used a laminated board made up of a prepreg sheet obtained by subjecting a base material such as paper, polyester cloth, glass fiber cloth, etc. to impregnation treatment with a thermosetting resin such as phenolic resin, epoxy resin, and so on; and a copper foil laminated on the thus obtained prepreg sheet.
As the representative material for the printed circuit wiring board, there can be exemplified a paper/phenolic resin board which is manufactured by bonding a copper foil to the laminated board of paper and phenolic resin with use of adhesive agent; and a glass/epoxy resin board which is manufactured by laminating a copper foil onto a prepreg sheet of glass base material and epoxy resin, and shaping the laminate into a desired shape. Both these laminated boards possess excellent characteristics in their performance and can be manufactured at a low cost, hence they occupy an important position as the raw material for the printed circuit wiring board. While the paper/phenolic resin board is somewhat inferior to the glass/epoxy resin board in the aspect of its performance, it is a favorable material in the aspect of its manufacturing cost.
Also, since the epoxy resin/glass board is excellent in its mechanical strength, heat resistance, dimensional stability, and others, it finds its use as the substrate material for the printed circuit wiring board having high packaging density, and also as the substrate material for the multi-layered printed circuit wiring board.
However, in view of strong demand, in recent years, for a more reduced size, higher performance, and, moreover, longer service life of electronic parts and electronic appliances, high integration in the electronic parts has progressed greatly, and remarkable development in the high density packaging has been attained in the packaging technique. With progress and development in these high integration and high packaging techniques, the present situation is such that the printed circuit wiring board has also been required to have high performance. For instance, with increase in the packaging density, thinning of the circuit wiring pattern and multi-layered technique of the base board have been the important problems. Further, with progress in the high density packaging, those electronic parts are required to have improved heat dissipation characteristics, on account of which the printed circuit wiring board should have high heat conductive property. In order for the copper-lined laminated board for the printed circuit wiring to fulfil the above-mentioned requirements, there are some points of problem which cannot be overcome by the performances of the above-described conventional paper/phenolic resin board and glass/epoxy resin board. For instance, in the case of the paper/phenolic resin board, since the base material is of paper, its heat resistant property is poor, and, moreover, when manufacturing the substrate for the multi-layered printed circuit wiring board, the dimensional stability becomes a problem. Further, since the paper/phenolic resin board requires an adhesive agent when it is fastened together with the copper foil, it accompanies a disadvantage in the fabrication of the multi-layered printed circuit wiring board. On the other hand, the glass/epoxy resin board is excellent in its heat-resistant property of the base material and yet the adhesive strength between epoxy resin and the copper foil are excellent, on account of which the board is said to be useful for the thinning of the circuit wiring pattern and as the substrate material for the multi-layered printed circuit wiring board, although it still has many points to be improved for satisfying the above-mentioned requirements. For example, as to its heat conductivity, the heat conductivity of the glass base material is in a range of from 0.6 to 1.0 Kcal/m.hr..degree. C. or so, while that of the thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin, polyimide resin, etc. is in a range of from 0.2 to 0.3 Kcal/ m.hr..degree. C. On account of this, it is impossible for the laminated shaped article as the composite product of both glass and thermosetting resin materials to attain its heat conductivity greater than that of the glass base material. In the substrate of the printed circuit wiring board for the high density packaging, it is a grave disadvantage that the printed circuit wiring board having the upper limit value of the heat conductivity of only 1 Kcal/m.hr..degree. C. or lower can be manufactured, in spite of the printed circuit wiring board being required to function as the heat dissipating board for electronic parts. Further, as for its dimensional stability, the glass base material is usually made of glass fiber cloth, owing to which it has anisotropy in its dimensional stability. Improvement in this property is therefore indispensable in the fabrication of the multi-layered printed circuit wiring board. In other words, a laminated shaped material having excellent isotropy and dimensional stability is needed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This application is entitled to the benefit of, and incorporates by reference, essential subject matter disclosed in Swedish Patent Application No. 0201982-6 filed on Jun. 24, 2002.
The present invention relates to a method of cleaning crankcase gas produced by an internal combustion engine from particles, solid and/or liquid, suspended therein, the crankcase gas being caused to rotate around a rotational axis by means of a centrifugal rotor which for its operation is journalled in a supporting device at two bearing places situated axially spaced from each other.
A method of cleaning crankcase gas in this way has been described in WO 01/36103. A centrifugal separator is used having a centrifugal rotor, that includes a stack of conical separation discs and that is journalled at both its ends on the respective sides of this stack. The centrifugal rotor is rotatable in a stationary housing, the crankcase gas to be cleaned being caused to flow through thin interspaces between the separation discs from a central chamber in the rotor radially outwardly to a chamber surrounding the rotor in the stationary housing. A motor which may be of any suitable kind is coupled to the centrifugal rotor at one of the ends of the latter for rotation thereof in the stationary housing.
In recent years centrifugal separators of a relatively advanced kind, e.g. the aforementioned centrifugal separator, have been suggested for cleaning of crankcase gas. Centrifugal separators of this kind are relatively expensive to produce, which necessitates that a device for driving such a centrifugal separator must be made very cheap. One starting point for the driving of a centrifugal separator of this kind has been, therefore, that an already existing source of energy, that is continuously maintained by the combustion engine giving off the crankcase gas to be cleaned, should be usable in the easiest possible way for the driving. Thus, it has been suggested that a mechanical coupling should be established between one of the motor shafts, e.g. the crank shaft or the cam shaft, and the centrifugal rotor (see for instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,035). Another suggestion has been that an electrical motor should be used (see for instance WO 01/36103). A further suggestion has been that a pressure fluid generated by the combustion engine, e.g. part of the pressurized lubricating oil circulating in the motor, should be used for driving the centrifugal rotor through a simple turbine device (see for instance WO 99/56883).
In addition to the cost for the production of a driving device for the centrifugal rotor also other aspects on the choice of a driving device have to be considered. For instance, it has to be considered how driving energy may be transferred in the easiest and cheapest way to the centrifugal rotor. For these reasons, among others, it is today still unclear which type of driving device will be accepted in the future for a centrifugal rotor for the purpose here concerned, particularly in connection with combustion engines for propelling vehicles.
The object of the present invention is, in the first place, to provide a new method of cleaning crankcase gas by means of a centrifugal rotor, which method can give equipment as inexpensive as possible for the driving of the centrifugal rotor, including necessary devices for the transfer of driving energy from a source of energy to the centrifugal rotor, and which method can give a freedom as large as possible for the location of the centrifugal rotor in relation to the combustion engine.
This object can be achieved according to the invention by bringing a centrifugal rotor of the initially defined kind into rotation by using part of it also as a rotor of an electrical motor having also a stator, the stator being kept non-rotating and charged with electric current for rotation of the centrifugal rotor, while the centrifugal rotor is kept journalled during its rotation only at said two bearing places.
In accordance with the invention an electrical motor is used, which does not have separate bearings for the journalling of the rotor of the motor. The already present and necessary bearings for the centrifugal rotor are used for this journalling. Since the centrifugal rotor is intended for treatment of a gas and, therefore, may be made substantially completely of a very light material, the electrical driving motor may be made relatively small and, thereby, also its rotor may be made very light. For these reasons the combined centrifugal and motor rotor may be made very light and, thus, the cost for its journalling may be reduced to a minimum.
When the method according to the invention is practiced, the centrifugal rotor need not necessarily be formed so that gas to be cleaned has to flow through channels within the centrifugal rotor. Instead, the centrifugal rotor may be arranged to bring into rotation, within a stationary housing, gas that flows in a thin layer axially through an annular space formed between the centrifugal rotor and the stationary housing.
At each one of said two bearing places a bearing should be present for taking up radial forces during rotation of the centrifugal rotor. In case the centrifugal rotor is arranged for rotation around a vertical rotational axis, there may be present at one of the bearing places also a bearing for taking up axial forces. Possibly, an angular contact bearing may be used, adapted to take up radial as well axial forces.
The invention also concerns a gas cleaning separator, by means of which for instance the above defined method of cleaning crankcase gas may be performed. A separator of this kind includes a non-rotatable supporting device, a centrifugal rotor and an electrical motor for rotation of the centrifugal rotor around a preferably vertical rotational axis, the centrifugal rotor being arranged to be journalled in the supporting device through bearings situated only at two bearing places axially spaced from each other and having a rotor body with a separating device, that forms several passages through the rotor body for through flow of the gas to be cleaned. The separator is characterized in that the electrical motor includes a stator that is connected with said supporting device, and a rotor that is constituted by part of said centrifugal rotor and is journalled relative to the stator only in said bearings.
Said separating device may be of different kinds. The patent DE 48615 discloses some examples of such a device. Thus, the separation device may include several discs placed in a ring around the rotational axis of the centrifugal rotor, each disc extending both axially and from a small to a larger distance from said rotational axis in a direction crossing several radii starting from the rotational axis. The separation device alternatively may include one single disc that is winded spirally around said rotational axis in a way such that the gas to be cleaned may flow axially through a channel that, seen in a section perpendicular to the rotational axis, extends like a spiral. It is also possible to fill out a separation space in the centrifugal rotor with fibres, which between themselves form said passages through the rotor body. Preferably, however, the separation device includes a stack of conical separation discs arranged coaxially with said rotational axis.
Said supporting device is preferably constituted by part of a stationary frame, with which it is immovably connected. However, if this would prove suitable, the whole supporting device, may be turnably suspended from a stationary frame, so that it is free to perform a pendulum movement relative to the frame.
The journalling of the centrifugal rotor in the supporting device may be of different kinds. Thus, the two bearing places may be situated axially on one side of the rotor body. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the rotor body is arranged axially between the two bearing places, however. In this case the rotor of the electrical motor is preferably situated on one side and the rotor body situated on the other side of one of the bearing places.
If desired, one part of said rotor body may constitute the aforementioned part of the centrifugal rotor, that is used as a rotor in the electrical motor. The stator of the motor then may surround or be surrounded by this part of the rotor body at a larger or smaller radius, for instance at a radius half as big as the biggest radius of the rotor body. In a particular embodiment the main part of the rotor body may be situated between the two bearing places, whereas part of the rotor body may surround and extend axially past one bearing place and support the rotor of the electrical motor in an area that is not situated at the same side of this bearing place as the main part of the rotor body.
The electrical motor as defined above may principally be of any suitable kind, for instance a direct-current motor or an alternate-current motor (synchronous motor or asynchronous motor). Preferably, a synchronous motor is used having a rotor that includes permanent magnets. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In a cellular mobile communication system, in order to achieve better service, a mobile communications terminal (such as a mobile phone) may search nearby cell signals when in an idle mode, and the terminal may select a cell site (e.g., a base transceiver station) with which to connect based on the strength of cell signals of the cell site. Each cell site may broadcast a location area (i.e., coverage area, which may be identified by a number) to which the cell site belongs in a system broadcast message. When the cell site selected by the terminal belongs to (i.e., corresponds with) a new location area, the mobile terminal may initiate a location update process to report the change in location area, together with the location area number of the cell site with which the mobile terminal was previously connected, to the network.
A “pseudo base station” is an “illegal” cell site (i.e., a cell site that is not directly or indirectly authorized by the user for connection to the mobile terminal, and which may or may not be in violation of applicable laws and regulations) that is not in the mobile communication network of the user's telecom operator. Some pseudo base stations are set up to seek connections with mobile terminals within range so that the pseudo base station can feed short “annoying” messages (i.e., undesirable messages like advertisements, scamming or phishing messages, spam, malware, etc.) to the terminals. The annoying messages are normally “short” (i.e., limited in quantity of text and/or size of images) for greater effectiveness: shorter messages are more easily transmitted to mobile terminals (i.e., are transferred in less time and/or require less bandwidth), and do not require as much of the user's time to impart the information contained in the message (before the user decides that the message should be ignored and/or discarded). To induce mobile terminals to select it, the pseudo base station may enhance its transmission power so that it has stronger signal strength relative to other cell sites and is thus more likely to be selected by mobile terminals in its coverage area (i.e., within range). Once a mobile terminal has connected to the pseudo base station (and updated its location area with the network), the “pseudo base station” may transmit unauthorized and unsolicited short messages with undesirable content to the mobile terminal. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Low molecular weight, semi-crystalline ethylene-based polymers (for example, weight average molecule weights less than 5,000 g/mole) can be used in formulations to make hot melt adhesives (for example, as wax components), and in other types of adhesives. Such polymers may be produced with conventional catalyst systems, for example, constrained geometry type catalyst systems or other bis-phenylphenoxy catalysts; however, typically significantly low polymerization temperatures are needed (<135° C.) to produce theses polymers. It is desirable to find new polymerizations using new catalyst systems, which are capable of making these low molecular weight, semi-crystalline polymers at elevated temperatures, with good efficiencies to allow for increased reactor throughput. This need has been met by the following invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In a number of industries, particularly in electronics and electric power generating facilities, high purity water is necessary for effective process or manufacturing control. Particularly in the electronics industry, wherein both ionic and non-ionic impurities must be reduced to essentially zero, high purity water is essential. A number of systems have been developed to produce such water, the most prevalent being reverse osmosis procedures and ion exchange processes using successive two- or three-bed ion exchange systems. Such ion exchange beds rely upon anion and cation exchange beds for removal of impurities. A typical ion exchange resin bed is comprised of resin beads having a diameter of about 6-12 mm, with a random size distribution. Such ion exchange resin beds consist of a plastic backbone to which active or functional groups have been attached. The polymeric strands of the plastic backhone are connected through a network of cross-linking bonds that give each bead physical strength to withstand the hydraulic force generated during the demineralization cycle.
In strongly acidic and basic resins, the functional groups consist of an ionic pair. During service, the soluble contaminants enter the resin from the bulk water supply and exchange with the mobile ionic groups. The process reverses during regeneration, where contaminants are replaced by H.sup.+ or OH.sup.- groups in the case of strong-acid and -base resins, respectively.
Ion exchange systems have evolved into two and three bed systems employing a strongly acidic cation resin (H.sup.+) followed by a strongly basic anion resin (OH.sup.-). Typically, this two bed system is followed by a mixed bed having both cation and anion resins for polishing the effluent of the two bed train.
The net result of such systems is deionized water, a highly corrosive liquid which is an aggressive solvent. Deionized water is chemically unstable-it will re-ionize if contacted by ionic contaminants. Therefore, production and storage facilities must be configured to prevent contamination.
Because of the highly corrosive nature of the deionized water, as well as the strong acids and bases used to regenerate the cation and anion exchange beds, respectively (HCL or H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, and caustic sodium hydroxide), the materials utilized in the manufacture of process components (such as tanks and conduits) must be capable of withstanding extreme conditions. Stainless steel, or various steel alloys well known to those skilled in the art, are used for such purposes. Likewise, all fittings and weld seams must be equally corrosion resistant.
The vessels utilized in the production of deionized water utilizing ion exchange resin beds as set forth above, may be rated, for instance, at 250 gallons per minute throughput. Such vessels are pressurized, at a pressure of about 100 psi, to create and maintain flow therethrough. Generally speaking, the vessels are circular cross-section and are provided with rounded or curved vessel bottoms (the vessel "dome") to better withstand the internal pressures generated. Most such systems are provided with a "false bottom" within the vessel, a flat bottom across the vessel and above the bottom dome, to insure uniform movement of water through the resin bed retained by the false bottom, which would not be possible if the resin bed were asymmetrically retained by the domed bottom. In order to protect the metal components of the vessels, the interior portions exposed to the deionized water and resins are lined with an impervious lining, such as PVC or natural rubber.
The false bottoms in such vessels present a problem in water flow exiting the vessel: either the effluent water must flow into the dead space between the false bottom and the domed bottom to be drained therefrom or it must be transported therethrough with a conduit. In the first instance, the entire space between the false bottom and the domed bottom must be lined with a corrosion-resistant coating similar to that used to line the vessel. Because the coating must be applied after the false bottom is welded in place, access within the space between the false bottom and domed bottom is extremely limited, thereby making effective application of the lining in this area extremely difficult. In the second case, the conduit has been placed within a line sleeve which interconnects the interior of the vessel above the false bottom and the exit pipe from the bottom dome. In this second case, it is difficult if not impossible to effectively prevent water and/or resin from stagnating in the space between the sleeve and the throughpipe which conducts the water from the vessel. Such stagnant water area inevitably results in excess corrosion or organic contamination of the purified water.
The apparatus of the present invention eliminates the need to line the interior of the dead space between the false bottom and the bottom dome, and eliminates the stagnant space between the throughpipe and the sleeve. Therefore, the present invention provides a deionizing water vessel which is easier to construct and exhibits less corrosion and contamination than that possible through use of prior art apparatus'. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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