The invention relates to a surgical cutting instrument for insertion into a cutting trocar sleeve comprising an essentially tubular housing shank, a distal section adapted to be inserted in the trocar sleeve and joined with the housing shank, said distal section having a cutting means and actuating means for the said distal section at a proximal end of the housing shank, the distal section being constituted by a plurality of elements articulatingly joined together, which elements are able to be shifted between a position aligned with the housing shank and an arcuately laterally extended position.


A biaxially stretched polyamide resin film using a polyamide such as nylon 6 and/or nylon 66 is excellent in the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, adhesive strength, pinhole strength and impact-resistant strength, and additionally, in gas-barrier property and heat resistance. Thus, laminated films, in which a biaxially stretched polyamide resin film is used as a front substrate and a sealant made of a polyolefin film is bonded to the front substrate by a method such as dry laminating or extrusion laminating, are used in wide fields including packaging materials for use in sterilization treatment such as boiling or retorting.
Such biaxially stretched polyamide resin films are usually used as front substrates, and are in many cases free from direct contact with contents. Accordingly, the behavior of the caprolactam monomer (hereinafter, abbreviated as “monomer” as the case may be) in the biaxially stretched polyamide resin films has not been much mentioned yet.
In these years, however, the issue of the deterioration of packaged articles and contents has undergone increasingly severe requests thereto, and the improvement of the issue has come to be demanded. In particular, in the medical applications or the like objecting to subtle compositional changes of the contents, the small molecular weight monomers contained in the polyamide resin film pass through the sealant to migrate into the contents, when heating, for example, for sterilization treatment is conducted, and hence it comes to be impossible to leave such an issue out of consideration.
For the purpose of coping with the issue, there have been proposed polyamide resins, in each of which the molecular weight of the constituent monomer unit is large, such as nylon 11 and nylon 12 or copolyamide resins mainly composed of nylon 11 and nylon 12 (JP 4-325159 A). Additionally, a copolymerized polyamide resin between 1,6-hexanediamine and sebacic acid has also been proposed (JP 2001-328681 A). However, these are specific polyamides, and are high in price and low in versatility. Consequently, strongly demanded are films in which highly versatile nylon 6 and/or nylon 66 is used and the amount of the monomer contained therein is low.
Even if the unreacted monomers and oligomers are removed from a polyamide resin at the stage of being chips prior to film molding, remelting of the polyamide resin chips with a melt extruder or the like regenerates monomers and oligomers, and consequently the monomers remain in the film to degrade the quality of the film. In particular, a polyamide in which caproamide is the main repeating unit thereof has a characteristic that the monomer tends to be more easily generated than in a polyamides formed of a dicarboxylic acid and a diamine.
In general, when the terminal group concentration of a polyamide resin is higher, the regeneration amount of the monomer at the time of remelting tends to be larger. Thus, there has been developed a polyamide in which the above-described problem is alleviated by adding a compound capable of reacting with the carboxyl terminals or the amino terminals of the polyamide. Specifically, there has been disclosed a method in which an organic glycidyl ester is reacted with the carboxyl groups and the amino groups of the polyamide (JP 10-219104 A). However, in this method, when the organic glycidyl ester and the polyamide chips are dry blended and melt-kneaded in an extruder, the organic glycidyl ester is allowed to react with the terminal groups of the polyamide. Therefore, in this method, it is difficult to perform uniform mixing in the dry blending step prior to film molding. Consequently, such non-uniform mixing offers a cause for the compositional variation. Thus, it is difficult to obtain a polyamide having a uniform terminal group concentration, and moreover, the dry blending step itself is unsuitable for films involving large melt extrusion amounts. Additionally, the amount of the monomer extracted after the melt molding remains to be as large as 0.35 to 0.5% by mass to show that the reduction amount of the monomer is insufficient.
On the other hand, there has been disclosed a method in which the terminal amino groups of a polyamide resin are blocked with a dicarboxylic acid anhydride (JP 2005-187665 A). However, the amount of the regenerated monomer at the time of melting remains to be as large as 0.27 to 0.75% by mass, revealing that it is difficult to sufficiently reduce the amount of the monomer extracted from the polyamide resin film.
On the other hand, in these years, recognized is a trend to regulate the discharge, from industrial plants and business institutions, of organic compound materials (generally abbreviated as “VOC”) which evaporate at normal temperature and pressure and easily volatilize into the air. For example, in Japan, on the basis of the revised Air Pollution Control Law, a government ordinance that specifies the type and the size of the institution as an object of regulation came into effect on Jun. 1, 2005. Additionally, the government and ministry ordinances for the discharge standard value, the notification items, the measurement methods and the like were proclaimed on Jun. 10, 2005 and came into effect on Apr. 1, 2006.
Further studies are needed as to whether or not the caprolactam monomer discharged in the air provides adverse effects. However, in the production of a polyamide resin film, in printing on the film, and in the steps of laminate processing, bag forming processing and the like using the film, it is the manufacturer's responsibility to reduce the amount of the caprolactam monomer discharged into the air from the film.
Accordingly, the reduction of the amount of the caprolactam monomer extracted from the film and the recovery of the caprolactam monomer at the time of production of the film are strongly demanded.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for increasing the efficiency of software on mobiles devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for reducing the number of heap handles in a program, which reduces the effort and resources involved in manipulating the heap handles.
2. Related Art
The Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME™), has become a very popular software platform for memory-constrained devices such as wireless devices. Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, RIM, Siemens, and many other key players in the wireless device industry have shipped a large number of J2ME™-enabled devices. In fact, over one billion J2ME™-enabled mobile phones have been shipped during the past few years.
A number of techniques for conserving memory have been developed in order to effectively run applications on such memory-constrained computing devices. One such technique uses exact garbage collection on a shared heap to reclaim memory that is no longer in use. Exact garbage collection uses precise knowledge about all pointers to the heap and between heap objects when scanning and relocating objects. Pointers to the heap are often referred to as “heap roots,” and typically include static pointers and local heap pointers in stack frames.
Exact garbage collection is often implemented using a programming language which is not associated with a garbage-collected heap. For instance, a J2ME™ virtual machine might be written using the C or C++ programming languages. The compilers for such languages are typically unaware of garbage collection, and often do not provide support for locating heap pointers in stack frames. Without such dedicated language support, heap pointers in programs are typically implemented using special structures known as “heap handles.” These heap handles are typically allocated on the stack and require proper management. For instance, heap handles need to be: initialized; inserted into the “root set” of heap roots; and removed after use. Note that the root set is often implemented as a linked list of heap handles.
Using heap handles incurs both direct and indirect costs. For instance, additional code needs to be generated and executed to insert and remove heap handles from the root set, and heap handles consume more memory than ordinary pointers in stack frames. Additionally, compilers that are unaware of heap-handle semantics cannot optimize heap handles in the same manner as ordinary pointers, since heap handles are typically at least two-field data structures, and heap handles escape local scope the moment they are added into the root set. Furthermore, if a heap handle is not promptly removed from the root set or set to null after the corresponding object for the heap handle is used, the garbage collector considers the object to be reachable, and does not dispose of the object.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus that reduces the above-described costs of manipulating heap handles where possible.


1. Field of Invention
A trailer mounted shooting bench, storage container and target apparatus provides a portable shooting station, which can be transported to a remote location appropriate for target shooting or hunting, and provides the target attaching to the trailer mounted shooting bench during transport with the target being detached and deployed in a desired location with the trailer mounted shooting bench moved to a separate location, the shooting bench made stationary for targeting and shooting at the target, or used for any general shooting purpose. The shooting bench provides various storage for shooting paraphernalia with an array of options provided for sport shooting or hunting purposes.
2. Description of Prior Art
A preliminary review of prior art patents was conducted by the applicant which reveal prior art patents in a similar field or having similar use. However, the prior art inventions do not disclose the same or similar elements as the present portable shooting bench and target, nor do they present the material components in a manner contemplated or anticipated in the prior art.
Portable shooting benches found in prior art reveal several portable shooting devices which provide a stable surface from which to shoot. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,280 to Stonebraker, Sr., a backpack shooting table is disclosed which provides a four legged backpack frame component with independent adjustable legs, a stable horizontal platform upon the frame with an adjustable gun rest. A collapsible and portable gun table with four adjustable and collapsible legs is demonstrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,180 to Morizio, which is approximately the size of a card table. This table also provides an adjustable gun rest, drawers, transport wheels and can be used as a table or an angled upright support. A portable shooting bench assembly is further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,247 to Reese, which provides an adjustable gun rest and a bench seat for seated shooting, the assembly being presented with a wheelbarrow-type frame with two handles near the set for picking up the seat end and a large single wheel near the gun rest end for rolling the assembly. It too has adjustable legs and further provides for seat adjustment for a left handed or right handed shooter.
Several other shooting related devices are presented in prior art that incorporate into a rear vehicle trailer hitch. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,550 to Highfill, a clay target thrower is mounted to an arm that extends up and away from a receiver hitch. A seat attached to a horizontal arm having a single adjustable jack and an end defining an adjustable height table top, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,578 to Callegari, is connected into a receiver hitch. A near identical receiver hitch mounted device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,064 to Thompson, except it has a seat that swivels from one side to another and a table top which may be presented for a left handed shooter or a right handed shooter. A free standing shooting table with several horizontally presented surfaces for elbow rests, gun stock rests and other swivel mounted items, including a lower seat, having independent collapsible legs for support, with this device being transported in a receiver hitch when collapsed and partial disassembled. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,536,820 to Wade, a receiver hitch mounted shooting rest is shown with multiple adjustments for height and distance from the tailgate are provided, while U.S. Pat. No. D628,405 to Pippin merely shows a design patent for a receiver hitch mounted shooting table with a vertical height adjustment and foot rest pegs.


The availability of new technologies has given vending machine manufacturers and software developers many tools to address market demands of vending operators. Advances in software and electronics are now enabling the use of computer controls and data acquisition systems directly inside a vending machine. Some of the latest vending machines now make it possible for vending machine operators to download selected aspects of operational information on-site onto portable computers. Although these computerized systems make it easier for operators to gather and analyze some data, they generally ignore many significant aspects of vending operations and commonly provide untimely data. In addition, these computerized systems are typically cumbersome, difficult to connect and fail to leverage advanced functionality likely to enhance vending machine operation efficiency and profitability.


The existing state of the art discloses different types of methods for modeling an object. Said methods are mainly classified into passive methods and active methods. In the area of active methods, sensors such as laser or structured light scanners or also Time-of-Flight type cameras are used. There are other possibilities such as projecting, with the aid of a video projector, a known pattern on an object and deducing the shape of the object by means of analyzing the deformation experienced by the pattern due to the shape of the object.
In the area of passive methods, most techniques exploit the geometric triangulation relating two or more views of the object of interest.
The present invention is in the field of the passive methods which include the following approaches of modeling objects based on views:                Structure from Motion, SfM, consisting of estimating the model of the scene in front of a camera in motion. However, the technique is only applicable to a set of multiple static cameras. Generally, an SfM algorithm establishes the match between the views of a set of points in the scene. By means of establishing this match, it is possible to triangulate the position of the points in the three dimensions of the space in front of one or several cameras. From this point, there are several possibilities for generating a model of an object. One possibility is using triangulation to calibrate the position of the camera throughout its motion or the position of each static camera. A dense model of the shape of the scene can be obtained, for example, by means of Shape from Stereo. Another possibility is assuming that the surface between any three points is locally flat. This model is therefore obtained by connecting points in groups of three by a triangle. The set of 3D triangles form a mesh representing the shape of the object. In this sense methods which reconstruct parts of the flat object are known from the state of the art. Firstly, matches between flat segments are established. Four points per segment or region are found and then a homography is induced. This homography allows establishing the epipolar geometry between the views. Finally, the set of segments can be positioned in 3D.        3D volumetric reconstruction. This approach encompasses from the least to the most precise modeling. For example, the box delimiting the real object would be a too coarse model. There are more precise models such as the Convex Hull (CH), the Visual Hull (VH) and the Photo Hull (PH). One of the most widespread volumetric models due to its good ratio between precision and low computational cost is the Visual Hull (VH). The Visual Hull is obtained by means of a method referred to as Shape-from-Silhouette (SfS). In a first phase, the Shape-from-Silhouette extracts the active entities of the scene (silhouettes of the object) by means of a set of cameras. The Visual Hull therefore corresponds with the volume inside the intersection of the cones going from the optical center of the cameras through the silhouettes in the optical planes of the cameras. The set of cameras must be intrinsically and extrinsically calibrated beforehand. The calibration can thus be obtained using the set of control points the coordinates of which are automatically known as a set of characteristic key points, as in the Structure from Motion approach.        Shape from Shading, “SfSh”, deals with recovering the shape from a gradual variation of the shading in the view. The idea behind Shape from Shading is that the color intensity can be described as a function of the surface, the shape, and the direction of the light source. Most SfSh algorithms assume that the direction of the light source is known.
The passive methods described above have several drawbacks depending on the method used. In the case of methods based on Structure from Motion (SfM), the drawbacks arise from the objects without texture. In fact, in the absence of texture on the surface of the object, the resulting model is very coarse. In the case of very limited texture but with sufficient points for calibrating the set of cameras, the Shape from Stereo method can be used. However, the result of the previous method has the drawback that it is not capable of isolating the object from the objects forming the background or surrounding the object which is being modeled. In the particular case of the methods described above and which are based on finding four points of a segment and generating a homography, the entire calibration process depends on the possibility of establishing a match between the detected planes, which is not viable for objects without texture.
On the other hand, the Visual Hull obtained with a generic SfS method mainly depends on two aspects. Firstly, the positions of the cameras determined the efficiency of the SfS method. Another limitation of the applicability of this method is that the silhouettes are extracted by comparison with a known static background. This means that the object cannot be present in the scene when the background is captured. Consequently, this method is only valid for objects which can be easily obtained or introduced in the scene but not for modeling a part of a room, such as a wall or a fixed board.
It would therefore be desirable to find a method for generating a model of a flat object from views of the object which does not depend on the texture of the object to be modeled or on the consequent limitation involved in the correct calibration of the cameras, as well as to the capacity to move the object to be modeled with respect to the background or to the site in which the object is located.


In known systems electrical transmission lines leading from a power source such as a generator, to consumers are protected against insulation failure or overload by at least one circuit breaker. In certain instances the circuit breaker includes mechanical switching devices having a pair of conductor terminals and a bridging member for opening and closing the gap in between said terminals. Because it is not possible to interrupt a high voltage or a large electrical current instantaneously, the electric arc emerging in the expanding gap upon pulling the conductor terminals apart is often spread and broken in an insulation gas environment, such as pressurized air or sulfur hexafluoride for example. The high voltage circuit breaker market is increasingly dominated by self-blast technology.
FR 2575594 discloses a representative of such a self-blast-type circuit breaker (GCB) using SF6 as an extinguishing agent. The arrangement includes movable and immovable electrical contacts located in an arcing zone such that an electric arc is generated in the arcing zone. A pressure chamber arrangement is connected by channels to the SF6-filled arcing zone for enhancing the breaking quality by preventing the electric arc from becoming revitalized after an initial extinction.
In known systems, the highest short-line fault ratings (SLF) are covered by puffer type gas circuit breakers such as tank SF6 puffer circuit breakers for example. If limits above 50 kA, 245/300 kV are to be achieved by employing such puffer type circuit breakers expensive line to ground or grading capacitances are specified.
There have also been attempts in scaling-up known self-blast technology puffer breakers to withstand ratings of 63 kA at 300 kV, in a 60 Hz environment having 450 Ohm without a delay in time.
Known GCB features a quenching chamber, also known as interruption chamber, which is filled with an insulating gas. The chamber extends along a longitudinal axis and is designed to be radially symmetric, (e.g., rotationally symmetric about said longitudinal axis. The quenching chamber further includes at least two separable arcing contact pieces coaxially arranged and facing each other as well as an arcing zone formed in between the at least two arcing contact pieces. An electric arc burns between the at least two arcing contact pieces during a disconnection/interruption process and heats up the isolating gas in the arcing zone when the contact pieces are separated. The heat causes an increase of the pressure of the insulating gas in the arcing zone of the GCB. The pressurized gas escapes through at least one dedicated annular gap between an arcing contact piece and the quenching chamber and through cavities arranged proximal to the longitudinal axis in the contact pieces, if any, such that each emerging flow path constitutes an optimal gas nozzle. Thus, in the context of the present disclosure, the term nozzle describes a functional flow rather than a physical component.
Known attempts to achieve the above ratings with scaled-up self-blast technology puffer breakers failed because higher pressure values are expected which lead to mechanical failure of the material of the GCB and an undesired reduction of the dielectric withstand of the insulating gas due to the associated high temperature of above 2000K.
There are two situations under which a high-voltage circuit breaker, in particular a high-voltage alternating current circuit breaker, should endure. The first situation is known as a short line fault (SLF) and the second situation is known as a terminal fault (T100a).
In a GCB, the pressure in the arcing zone should be comparatively high for extinguishing the electric arc in a reliable manner in case of a short line fault. One drawback, however, is that a high pressure raises the thermal load to the structure of a circuit breaker. With respect to a terminal fault, the current pressure values in the arcing zone exceed the pressure values that are specified for reliably extinguishing the electric arc, which are comparatively low. Hence, in case of a GCB, the gas nozzle should be able to bear the pressure in the arcing zone in the SLF situation, as well as withstand T100a conditions.
In “Investigation of Technology for Developing Large Capacity and Compact Size GCB” disclosed in the IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 12, No. 2 dated April 1997, a different solution for achieving the above-mentioned ratings by employing different nozzle geometry is proposed. This nozzle is different from other known GCB applications because of an inner nozzle that is assigned to a movable arcing contact wherein said inner nozzle contributes to the establishment of local higher gas pressures specified for the thermal interruption at a SLF without only increasing the pressure in a dedicated puffer chamber of a GCB.
There remains the drawback, that high gas pressures are known to cause high temperatures which in turn are undesired for dielectric interruption since the gas becomes conductive above 2000 Kelvin such that it can not be employed sensibly for breaking an electric arc in case of SF6 gas employed as the extinguishing agent in a GCB.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to brassiere. More particularly, the present invention relates to brassiere, especially sport brassiere, having breast supporting panels in the breast cups.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A brassiere attempts to combine comfort for the wearer and support for the breasts, which can be mutually exclusive features. Commonly, a brassiere incorporates stretchable or elastic materials for the comfort of the wearer. Typically, support for the breasts is achieved with underwires made of rigid materials, such as metal and/or plastic.
The difficulty in making both a comfortable and supportive brassiere is amplified for xe2x80x9csportsxe2x80x9dbrassiere designed to be worn during exercise and other physical activities. Some sports brassiere function by compressing the breasts to the body of the wearer. A disadvantage of this type of sports brassiere is that it does not support the breasts of the wearer and the breasts may shift within the sports brassiere during exercise and other physical activities. To reduce the risk of injury to the breasts and back, sports brassiere are expected to be strong and fully supportive. At the same time, sports brassiere are sometimes worn for extended periods of time. Therefore, such brassiere must be quite comfortable to wear. Also, for various reasons, some women prefer to wear sports brassiere exclusively, instead of everyday and/or xe2x80x9cfashionxe2x80x9d brassiere.
In light of the foregoing, there is an ongoing need for brassiere, especially sports brassiere, that are both comfortable to wear and adequately support the breasts of the wearer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a brassiere that is comfortable to wear.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a comfortable brassiere that can adequately support the breasts of a wearer during exercise and other physical activities.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a comfortable and supportive brassiere that is simple to manufacture.
In light of the foregoing, there is provided a brassiere having a body made of a stretchable material for comfort. Each breast cup has a breast receiving portion with an inner layer and outer layer, and a support panel portion with the inner and outer layers and a breast supporting panel between the inner and outer layers. The breast supporting panel is substantially inelastic in all directions and, preferably, forms an arcuate edge for supporting the breast. Thus, the entire brassiere stretches and moves with the wearer, while each non-elastic breast supporting panel provides the desired breast support. Significantly, the bottom edge of each breast supporting panel is spaced from the bottom edge of the brassiere. Decreasing the length of the breast supporting panel so that its bottom edge does not contact the bottom edge of the brassiere allows the bottom periphery of the brassiere to have additional flex that improves the overall comfort of the brassiere. Preferably, the bottom edge of the brassiere is turned to form the waistband of the brassiere.


In prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,627 of the present inventor issued Oct. 1, 1991 is disclosed a machine for spreading particulate material and particularly, but not exclusively, granular fertilizer in an agricultural situation. This machine includes a tank arranged to be mounted on a suitable transportation vehicle. At one end of the tank which is either the front end or the back end is mounted a pair of booms with each boom extending outwardly to a respective side of the tank for movement with the vehicle across the ground. Each boom includes a series of pipes which are horizontal and arranged either in a single row or in two rows so that the pipes are connected side by side. The tank has a pair of belts extending longitudinally of the tank side by side in a common horizontal plane. Each belt feeds out of the end of the tank for discharging material carried on the upper run of the belt into a guide duct system positioned underneath the end of the belt. The guide duct system includes a plurality of ducts equal to the number of pipes and arranged side by side across the width of the discharge end of the belt. The guide duct system thus receives portions of the material from different positions across the width of the belt and transfers that portion of material to a respective one of the pipes. The inner end of the pipes are connected to a manifold so that air from a fan blows through the pipes to carry the portion of material along the respective pipe to a spreader system at the end of the pipe. The spreader system can in some cases include two separate spreaders one directly at the end and one spaced inwardly from the end so as to split the material at the two separate spreaders thus reducing the number of individual pipes.
This machine has achieved considerable commercial success and is widely sold in North America.
The above patent also discloses a system for adding one or more additional components to the first component from the tank. Thus the belt carries the first component out of the tank using a gate at the exit of the tank for levelling the material on the belt at a predetermined thickness. Two further tanks are provided each of which has an individual metering system which meters an additional component from the additional tank onto the top of the same belt so that the same belt carries the additional material with the first material from the main tank to the guide system for discharge of the portions into the separate ducts of the guide system.
However the machine described above using the supplemental tanks does not provide sufficient flexibility of the materials to be supplied by the belt to accommodate the variations in the components of the fertilizer which are desired for modern agriculture.


1. Field
Embodiments relate to a secondary battery and a secondary battery module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Secondary batteries are rechargeable batteries, and may be broadly used in portable electronic devices, e.g., cellular phones, notebook computers, and camcorders.
A secondary battery is formed by inserting an electrode assembly, in which a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator are wound in the form of a jelly roll, into a case through an opening of the case, and covering the opening by using a cap assembly. Current collecting plates are formed at two ends of the electrode assembly and are electrically connected to a terminal unit of the cap assembly. Accordingly, if an external terminal is connected to the terminal unit, current generated in the electrode assembly may be provided to the external terminal via the current collecting plates and the terminal unit.
The terminal unit may include a positive electrode rivet and a negative electrode rivet connected to the current collecting plates, and rivet terminals bonded to the positive and negative electrode rivets in order to be connected to bus bars. Bonding between the positive electrode rivet or the negative electrode rivet and a rivet terminal, and between a rivet terminal and a bus bar may be performed by using a laser welding method. However, since the positive and negative electrode rivets are generally formed of dissimilar metals, if the rivet terminals are formed by using one metal, dissimilar metal welding may be performed between the positive electrode rivet or the negative electrode rivet and a rivet terminal.


A comminuting apparatus may typically be used for example for comminuting wood, paper, plastic material, rubber, textiles, production residues or waste from trade and industry, but also for dealing with bulky refuse, domestic refuse, collections of paper and other waste materials for example from organisations set up to dispose of waste and such like in an environmentally friendly fashion, as well as more specialist waste such as hospital and clinical waste. A comminuting apparatus for such a purpose may comprise a drive unit with at least one electric motor having a drive shaft operatively connected to a comminuting shaft. At its periphery the comminuting shaft has comminuting tools over its working width. The tools co-operate with a counterpart means adapted in respect of shape to the rotational surface of the comminuting shaft, for comminuting the material to be processed. In such an apparatus the material to be comminuted is comminuted by cutting, shearing, squeezing, tearing and/or rubbing, between rotor members or in the co-operation between a rotor member and a fixed transverse member operatively associated therewith. Such an apparatus may be found for example in EP 0 419 919 B1.
There are also forms of comminuting apparatus comprising a plurality of rotors each with a respective stationary transverse member associated therewith, between the respective rotors.
To perform an operation of roughly pre-comminuting waste material, a rotary speed of the comminuting shaft of between about 20 and 50 rpm is appropriate. Hydraulic drives are generally used for that purpose. When dealing with material which is easy to comminute or which is already sufficiently pre-comminuted, such as for example films, sheets, packaging residues and the like, the comminuting apparatus can in principle be operated at higher rotary speeds in order to increase the waste material throughput, and in that respect presentday comminuting apparatuses are equipped with comminuting shafts which may be driven at between about 80 and 500 rpm. The electrical drive power of such an apparatus is between about 30 and 450 kW.
Various drive configurations may be adopted for such comminuting apparatuses. Conventional apparatuses generally include an asynchronous motor which is preferably of a 4-pole configuration and which accordingly operates at a motor speed of 1500 revolutions at a mains frequency of 50 Hz. To set the specified speed of rotation of the comminuting shaft, the transmission of force thereto from the motor is effected by way of a belt drive or a universally jointed shaft or a clutch to a transmission in which the rotary speed, depending on the respective demands involved, is reduced to between about 90 and 200 rpm, whereby the torque at the comminuting shaft is increased in comparison with that of the motor in the same relationship.
In regard to a further design configuration of a comminuting apparatus, it has a drive in the form of an electric motor which is generally of a 4-pole or 6-pole design and which accordingly operates at 1500 rpm or 1000 rpm respectively at a mains frequency of 50 Hz. Connected downstream of the electric motor is a transmission operating with a pulling means such as a belt or chain transmission. That arrangement makes it possible to attain rotary speeds for the comminuting shaft of between about 200 rpm and 500 rpm, by means of a simple drive, although it will be noted that belt pulleys which are very large and usually expensive have to be used.
As the large belt pulleys employed have a high moment of inertia, a load-limiting or load-separating clutch or coupling unit is generally fitted at or in a hub between the comminuting shaft and the belt pulley, preferably a slipping clutch, depending on the material to be comminuted, in order to avoid breakage of the comminuting shaft. At even lower rotary speeds, it is necessary to use a double-run belt transmission. In that case, very high levels of torque can be produced at the comminuting shaft, which however require suitable dimensioning of the drive elements, so that such a design configuration is very expensive and maintenance-intensive, while at the same time the comminuting apparatus takes up a great deal of space, by virtue of its bulky structure. The fluid couplings which are generally used in both the above-discussed drive configurations optimise the known disadvantageous start-up characteristic of an asynchronous motor and make it easier for the comminuting shaft to start under load. In addition, in the event of a sudden blockage, for example due to the presence of a foreign body in the material being comminuted, the coupling arrangement has a damping effect and reduces the load peaks which are produced by the apparatus in the supply mains network.
A further conventional drive arrangement for a comminuting apparatus employs an asynchronous electric motor, a hydraulic pump and an oil motor. The moment produced by that drive assembly is passed to the comminuting shaft with or without an interposed transmission. That design configuration is highly expensive and maintenance-intensive, and comparatively unfavourable in terms of level of efficiency, while in addition the apparatus is very noisy. On the other hand that configuration affords the advantage that the rotary speed of the comminuting shaft can be adjusted over a predetermined range.
What is common to all those conventional drive configurations is that they include a plurality of drive members for connecting a motor to a comminuting shaft. They are comparatively expensive, they increase the amount of space required and in addition increase the level of noise generated by the apparatus. Connecting a plurality of drive members in succession results in the machine suffering from a power loss. In other words, the machine has an unfavourable level of efficiency, with a corresponding energy loss. As the entire drive consists of a plurality of drive members, those drive members in combination exhibit a high level of mass moment of inertia, which, in the event of load peaks which suddenly occur, can result in problems in regard to strength and operating life and under some circumstances can result in parts of the machine being broken and destroyed. Load peaks of that kind can occur on the one hand due to pieces of material which cannot be comminuted, for example metal, stones, rocks and so forth, in the material being processed, but they can also occur when comminuting tough resilient materials with a high level of tearing strength such as for example fiber mesh or web, cables, cords and the like.
Depending on the material being comminuted, the rotor blades adopted and the rotary speed of the rotor or rotors, rotary oscillations often occur, in particular when gear transmissions are used in the drive assembly. Such oscillations generate a large amount of noise and reduce the service life of the drives.


Semiconductor manufacturers have developed components, such as packages and BGA devices, which contain multiple semiconductor dice. For example, systems in a package (SIP) include multiple dice having different configurations, such as a memory, a processing, or an application specific configuration. The multiple dice provide increased integration, security and performance in a component.
One aspect of these multi-dice components is that they typically have a relatively large peripheral outline and thickness. For example, conventional systems in a package have two or more dice spread out on a common substrate. These components are typically larger than conventional plastic semiconductor packages. It would be desirable to be able to fabricate semiconductor components, such as packages and BGA devices, with multiple dice, but also with a chip scale outline and thickness.
At the same time, components need a reliable and efficient internal signal transmission system, and a high input/output capability. One aspect of conventional chip scale components, such as chip scale packages (CSP), is that they are difficult to manufacture with the reliability required in the industry. For example, some chip scale components include relatively complicated signal transmission systems, such as beam leads and wire conductors. These signal transmission systems are difficult to manufacture, and are prone to failure, particularly at the high pin counts required for demanding electronics applications. It would be desirable for a multi-dice component to have a reliable signal transmission system capable of volume manufacture.
The present invention is directed to a multi-dice component having a chip scale outline, an integrated internal signal transmission system, and a high input-output capability. In addition, the present invention is directed to wafer level methods for fabricating multi-dice, chip scale components.


Radiofrequency (RF) powered electron beam accelerators (or accelerator guides) have found wide usage in medical accelerators where the high energy electron beam is employed either directly for therapeutic purposes, or converted to generate x-rays for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. The electron beam generated by an electron beam accelerator can also be used directly or indirectly to kill infectious pests, to sterilize objects, and to change physical properties of objects and materials. A further common use of electron beam accelerators is to perform radiographic testing and inspection of objects, such as containers for storing radioactive material, and concrete and steel structures.
The RF power for an electron beam accelerator is generally desired to be controlled, such that the beam energy from the accelerator can be delivered in a desired manner. It is common practice that the RF power be delivered to the accelerator as a series of short pulses, resulting in an electron beam output of a corresponding series of beam pulses. In some applications, it may be desirable that the accelerator be capable of generating beam energy pulses that vary between different energy levels, even on a pulse-by-pulse basis. However, existing systems may not be able to accomplish these objectives. Also, existing RF systems may not be able to control generated power such that power delivered to the accelerator can be varied quickly, e.g., in the order of milliseconds, between at least two power levels, which may be desirable in certain accelerator system applications.
Further, in existing systems, RF power provided by a power generator to an accelerator may be reflected back to the power generator. In many applications, it is desirable that such reflected RF power from the accelerator be controlled such that the frequency of a power generator will be “pulled” to the accelerator frequency, resulting in a stable operation of the power generator and the accelerator. If the reflected power is not controlled, the frequency of the power generator may be forced or “pulled” away from the operational frequency of the accelerator, resulting in failure of the accelerator to operate correctly.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a horizontal axis wind turbine and a method for measuring an upflow angle.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, horizontal axis wind turbines have been in practical use in order to gain electric power from natural wind. The performance of the horizontal axis wind turbines is shown by a power curve representing relationship between the wind speed at hub (the wind speed at the rotational central portion of a rotor of a horizontal axis wind turbine) and power (production of electricity) in general. The production of electricity leading directly to profitability is predicted based on the power curve and the wind speed at hub estimated by simulation or observed in advance.
Wind-generated electricity systems are often installed in complex topography. In such topography, the wind speed varies with not only the height from ground but also the horizontal position, and in addition, an upflow wind is often generated. The power generation and structure damage are affected by not only horizontal component of the wind but also vertical. Therefore it is meaningful to measure 3-D wind speed with consideration of “upflow angle” for improvement of predictability of the production of electricity.
3-D ultrasonic anemometers and Pitot tubes are proposed as earlier developments for measuring 3-D wind speed with consideration of a “upflow angle”. (For example, see Kaijo Corp. “measurement and control system business—atmospheric apparatus” [online] 1997, Kaijo Corp.)
The above-described 3-D ultrasonic anemometers, however, have a problem that it is expensive and large. An anemometer for measuring the wind speed at hub of a horizontal axis wind turbine requires durability to endure even in a relative harsh environment for long periods without maintenance, whereas 3-D ultrasonic anemometers and Pitot tubes are not produced on an assumption of such an operating environment. Therefore they have reservations about durability and lack reliability.


Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication (also referred to as “machine-type communications” or “MTC”) may be seen as a form of data communication between entities that do not necessarily need human interaction.
M2M communication may be used in a variety of areas such as: security, tracking/tracing, healthcare, remote maintenance/control and metering. M2M communication may be used in surveillance systems, order management, gaming machines and remote monitoring of vital signs. M2M communication may be used in programmable logic controllers (PLCs), sensors, lighting, vending machine control and in applications related to power, gas, water, heating, grid control, and industrial metering. Additionally, M2M communication based on machine type communication (MTC) technology may be used in areas such as customer service.
Depending on its implementation, M2M communication may be different from some current communication models. For example, M2M communication may a large number of WTRUs, and/or may involve very little traffic per WTRU. Additionally, relative to some current technologies, M2M communication may involve lower costs and less effort to deploy.
M2M communications may take advantage of deployed wireless networks based on Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other technologies such as those developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and 3GPP2. M2M communications may use networks based on these technologies to deliver business solutions in a cost-effective manner. In a circumstance involving ubiquitous deployment of wireless networks, the availability of the wireless networks may facilitate and/or encourage the deployment and use of M2M WTRUs. Additionally, further enhancements to these technologies may provide additional opportunities for the deployment of M2M-based solutions.


A flexographic plate is a type of relief printing plates and generally includes an elastic relief plate made of rubber or photosensitive resin, to which a liquid ink is applied for printing. Flexographic plates can print on rough or curved surfaces and are thus widely used for printing images on wrapping, magazines, cardboards, labels,  and bottles. Flexographic plates were previously manufactured by pouring molten rubber in a mold and then curing the rubber or by manually carving a rubber plate. Neither of these techniques was suitable for producing accurate flexographic plates, however. Lately, the development of a new technique that uses curable resins to make flexographic plate materials has made the production of flexographic plates considerably simple.
A typical flexographic plate material of the newly developed type includes, from top to bottom, a surface protective layer; a layer of a curable resin composition that is curable by irradiating with an active energy ray and is composed of an elastomer, such as urethane rubber, butyl rubber, silicon rubber and ethylene propylene rubber, an ethylenic unsaturated compound and, if necessary, a photopolymerization initiator; an adhesive layer; and a substrate (See, for example, “Kankosei jushi no kiso to jitsuyo (Basics and applications of photosensitive resins)” Supervised by Kiyoshi Akamatsu, CMC Co. Ltd. (2001) 152-160).
In one process for producing a flexographic plate from such a flexographic plate material, a film carrying a negative image of a letter, diagram, picture, pattern, or any other image to be printed is first applied to the surface of the protective film opposite to the substrate. The negative film is then irradiated with an active energy  ray from above, so that the predetermined areas of the curable resin composition layer are selectively cured by the action of the active energy ray transmitted through the imaged area of the film and become insoluble to solvent. Subsequently, the negative film and the protective film are removed and a solvent is applied to remove the non-irradiated or uncured areas of the curable resin composition layer (development step) and thereby form an image area (i.e., image plate surface). This completes a flexographic plate (See, for example, “Kankosei jushi no kiso to jitsuyo (Basics and applications of photosensitive resins)” Supervised by Kiyoshi Akamatsu, CMC Co. Ltd. (2001) 152-160; Japanese Patent Publication No. S55-34415; U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,636; Japanese Patent Publication No. S51-43374; and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H2-108632).
In an effort to ensure formation of fine dots and lines on the flexographic plates and prevent chipping of the image plate surface during development, improvements have been made as to the type and proportion of the resin to be added to the curable resin composition. One example involves the use of a styrene-based block copolymer in which the part of the copolymer formed of a conjugated diene has a significant bound vinyl content (See, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-134410). In another example, a certain thermoplastic elastomer composed of a  monovinyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon and a conjugated diene is used in conjunction with a diene-based liquid rubber that has a high average proportion of bound vinyl units (See, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-155418).
The technique described in Japanese Patent Publication No. S55-34415 employs crystalline 1,2-polybutadiene in conjunction with a polymer compound, such as polyisoprene rubber, that comprises as its constituents at least one of ethylene, butadiene and isoprene. A drawback of this technique is that the uncrosslinked rubber used in the resin makes the flexographic plate susceptible to deformation (cold flow) during storage or transportation of uncured plates. U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,636 and Japanese Patent Publication No. S51-43374 describes the use of a certain block copolymer (preferably a styrene-isoprene-styrene triblock copolymer or a styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer having a particular composition) that is a thermoplastic elastomer and in which the hard segments have a grass transition temperature of 25° C. or above. In these techniques, the part of the copolymer formed of polystyrene causes a cohesive force, which reduces deformation of uncured plates. However, the polystyrene blocks of the elastomer do not undergo crosslinking even when irradiated with an active energy ray, so that the uncrosslinked polystyrene  blocks causes a poor solvent resistance of the cured area. Consequently, the image area tends to swell when a solvent is applied to remove the uncured area, resulting in insufficient reproducibility and poor ink resistance of the flexographic plates. Another flaw of this technique is that the strength and extension of the cured area are insufficient especially for forming a fine image area and the resulting flexographic plate becomes less durable. This causes chipping in the edge of the image plate surface during the removal of the uncured area by washing with a solvent and, when necessary, a brush. As a result, the desired sharp image plate surface may not be obtained.
In the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H2-108632, the flexibility of flexographic plates is increased by the use of a binder (preferably, a styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer) containing thermoplastic and elastomeric domains, in combination with a particular addition polymerizable ethylenic unsaturated monomer. Despite its improved flexibility, the resin according to this technique includes some part formed of a polystyrene block similar to the one described above, which makes the flexographic plate less resistant to solvent. The cured area of the flexographic plate obtained by this technique is not strong enough to form a fine image area.
Although both of the techniques described in  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-134410 and No. 2000-155418 have managed to improve the curability of the part of the styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer formed of conjugated diene units and have managed to increase the toughness of the resulting flexographic plate, the similar polystyrene block part present in the thermoplastic elastomers suppresses the solvent resistance and the flexographic plates are not operative enough to form a fine image area.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a curable resin composition suitable for the production of a flexographic plate material that allows printing on an article with rough surfaces, such as cardboard and recycled paper. The curable composition of the present invention can be cured to form strong and extendable areas and can thus be used to make flexographic plates that can form a sharp image plate surface even for a fine image. It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a flexographic plate material that uses the curable resin composition as its constituent.


Wireless devices typically are able to send and receive information about the caller placing a phone call. Wireless devices can include, for example, cellular devices, tablets, smart phones, and the like. Stored in the memory, wireless devices often maintain a contact database. The contact database can include a telephone number correlated to a name, address, and company, for example. These contact databases can associate phone numbers with callers. When a recognized caller whose phone number is stored on the wireless device of a called party calls the called party, the called party's wireless device may communicate the caller's information on the called party's wireless device so that the called party can determine whether or not to answer the call. Sometimes, however, the phone number of the caller may not be associated with any contacts stored on the called party's wireless device, so a called party may not be able to determine who is calling. This results in some important calls not being answered or some unimportant calls being answered. On the other hand, answering such anonymous phone calls can result in being subject to undesirable solicitation phone calls and the like.
Therefore, there is a need for providing a calling party's information when that information is not stored on a called party's wireless device so that the called party's wireless device can communicate that information for the called party.


Computer graphics display systems typically comprise a frame buffer memory which stores the color and Z coordinate associated with each pixel to be displayed on the monitor of the computer graphics display system. A frame buffer controller of the computer graphics display system controls the process of writing the Z coordinates and the colors of the pixels to the frame buffer memory. In many high-performance computer graphics display systems, Z buffer depth comparison tests are used to determine whether a new Z coordinate received in the frame buffer controller corresponds to a pixel that will be visible when displayed, or whether the pixel associated with the new Z coordinate will be occluded or hidden if displayed. If the pixel will be occluded, it is unnecessary to write the Z coordinate and the associated color to the frame buffer memory and the pixel can be discarded. On the other hand, if the pixel will be visible, the Z coordinate and the associated color must be written to the frame buffer memory.
In these types of systems, Z buffer depth comparison tests are performed by reading the old Z coordinate for the pixel from the Z buffer, comparing the old Z coordinate with the new Z coordinate, and, if the new Z coordinate passes the Z buffer depth comparison test, writing the new Z coordinate and the associated pixel color into the Z buffer and image buffer, respectively, of the frame buffer memory. Once these steps have been performed, the next pixel is processed in an identical manner.
Although this type of depth comparison test is needed to occlude hidden surfaces, performing depth comparison operations for each new Z coordinate received in the frame buffer controller requires significant memory bandwidth for reading the Z coordinates from the Z buffer.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and apparatus for performing Z buffer depth comparison tests which reduce the number of reads to the frame buffer memory and thereby improve memory bandwidth efficiency.


A great effort has been made to develop technologies for cast molding of hydrogel contact lenses with high precision, fidelity and reproducibility and at low cost. One of such manufacturing technologies is the so-called Lightstream Technology™ (CIBA Vision) involving a lens-forming composition being substantially free of monomers and comprising a substantially purified prepolymer with ethylenically-unsaturated groups, reusable molds, and curing under a spatial limitation of actinic radiation (e.g., UV), as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,508,317, 5,583,463, 5,789,464, and 5,849,810. The Lightstream Technology™ for making contact lenses have several advantages. First, the curing process is fast, at a time scale of seconds. Fast curing can ensure design and adaptation of a high speed, continuous and automatic lens production involving on-line lens curing. Second, by using a composition comprising a prepolymer and being substantially free of monomers, subsequent extraction steps (removing unpolymerized monomers from the lenses) required in a traditional cast-molding manufacturing process are eliminated. Without lens extraction, the production cost can be reduced and the production efficiency can be further enhanced. Third, reusable quartz/glass molds or reusable plastic molds, not disposable plastic molds, can be used, because, following the production of a lens, these molds can be cleaned rapidly and effectively of the uncrosslinked prepolymer and other residues, using a suitable solvent and can be blown dried with air. Disposable plastic molds inherently have variations in the dimensions, because, during injection-molding of plastic molds, fluctuations in the dimensions of molds can occur as a result of fluctuations in the production process (temperatures, pressures, material properties), and also because the resultant molds may undergo non-uniformly shrinking after the injection molding. These dimensional changes in the mold may lead to fluctuations in the parameters of contact lenses to be produced (peak refractive index, diameter, basic curve, central thickness etc.) and to a low fidelity in duplicating complex lens design. By using reusable molds which are produced in high precision, one can eliminate dimensional variations inherently presented in disposable molds and thereby variation in contact lenses produced therefrom. Lenses produced according to the Lightstream Technology™ can have high consistency and high fidelity to the original lens design.
However, there are some practical limitations which hinder realization of all of the great potentials of such technology in the production of silicone hydrogel contact lenses. For example, when a silicone-containing prepolymer disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,091,283, 7,268,189 and 7,238,750 is used to prepare a silicone hydrogel lens formulation, an organic solvent is generally required to solubilize the prepolymer. When such lens formulation is used to produce silicone hydrogel according to the Lightstream Technology™, the cured lens in the mold after UV crosslinking is still swollen in the organic solvent before the solvent exchange to water. Such lens may not be able to survive the mold opening and de-molding process, because the cured lens is in the swellon state in the organic solvent and has an inadequate stiffness and toughness (e.g., too low). As such, the production yield may be low and the production cost could be higher due to low production yield derived from the lens defects created during mold opening and de-molding process.
Accordingly, there is still a need for a lens manufacturing process in which lens defects generated during mold opening and de-molding process can be minimized.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game processing server apparatus and a game processing server system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A social game is provided in a social networking service (SNS), and is an online game in which a player plays the game while having communications with other players. As the social game is provided in the SNS, which is proposed for providing communications between participants, the social game is configured to provide more communications to the players compared with a previously known online game although such an online game also provides communications to the players.
As one kind of such social games, a social Role Playing Game (RPG) is known. In the social RPG, a quest (mission) is provided in which a player character operated by a player (user) goes through a predetermined area in a map while playing the game.
In this quest, various events are set to occur when the player character goes through the predetermined area while consuming energy points or the like. For example, the player character can learn magic power, a skill or the like by encountering and defeating an enemy character or encountering a bonus item. Further, when the player clears a quest in an area where a boss character is set, the boss character appears so that the player character can fight against the boss character. When the player character defeats the boss character, the player character can get a weapon or a reward.
Thus, the player tries to clear quests and expects to obtain an ability, a weapon, a reward or the like through the predetermined events.
In a previously known RPG or in a social RPG, the event to occur in the same quest is set to be almost the same for all of the players based on a scenario of the game.
Even in such a case, as long as the player enjoys the game by himself or herself, there may be no problem. Even when the same event occurs in the same quest for all of the players, the player recognizes the game as provided.
However, for the social game, the players often have communications with other players, and sometimes, the players make a team to compete with other teams. Thus, the players often know what kind of event is to occur and what will happen as a result in a specific quest before the player actually plays the quest. In such a case, if the event occurs as the player expects, the player can easily predict the result of the game so that the player may have a tedious feeling thereby lowering the enjoyment of the game.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a charger, and more particularly to an AC and DC dual input charger.
2. The Related Art
A conventional charger is generally an AC power charger or a DC power charger. The AC power charger is directly connected with the AC power, and is mainly used inside a room. The DC power charger is connected with the DC power through a car charger, and is mainly used in a car and other vehicles. In order to make the charger used in both AC and DC work modes, an AC input plug and a DC input plug are provided to connect with the charger, and a manual control switch is mounted to the charger so as to switch the AC and DC input. However, when the AC and DC dual input charger described above is in use, it needs to control the switch manually to match the AC plug or DC plug so as to realize the function of charging. As a result, the usage of the AC and DC dual input charger becomes complex and apt to cause a wrong operation.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure with a heat sink for electronic component and securing members for the mounting structure and more particularly to the mounting structure with the heat sink for at least one electronic component suitably used for electronic components such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration) circuit whose temperature rises at a time of operations and the securing member suitably used for the mounting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a heat sink of this kind is used for suppressing a temperature rise caused by power consumed when an LSI in a package is operating by being in thermal contact with the LSI surface-mounted or insertion-mounted on a printed circuit board. When the heat sink is secured to the printed circuit board, since the LSI package is sandwiched between the heat sink and the printed circuit board, it is necessary that some contrivance to accommodate variations in a height of the LSI package is provided.
Variations in the height readily occur among the mounted LSI packages and reasons for the variations in the height of the LSI package are various. For example, in the case of a surface-mounting type LSI package such as a BGA (Ball Grid Array) or a like, variations in thickness of solder balls arranged in a grid-like form readily occurs among lots and, in the case of face-down bonding, variations occur easily, or also in an insertion-mounted type package, variations occurs readily in a degree to which a lead is inserted into a hole of a land portion.
A related mounting structure of this type is disclosed in, for example, Patent Reference 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-057405) in which a heat transmission rubber is disposed between a heat sink and an LSI package so that variations in a direction of height are accommodated by the heat transmission rubber.
Also, a related mounting structure of this kind is disclosed in, for example, Patent Reference 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 09-139450) in which each compression coil spring is attached to each male screw serving as a securing member and is made to accommodate variations in height in a direction of an LSI package. However, thermal conductivity of the heat transmission rubber is low and highly-priced, which causes high costs of the heat sink securing structure, therefore, conventionally, the compression springs are generally used.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a related mounting structure (structure for securing a heat sink) of an LSI package with a heat sink using compression coil springs and disassembled securing members to be used in the mounting structure. FIG. 6 is a side view showing the related mounting structure and the securing members for the mounting structure. FIG. 7 is the mounting structure of FIG. 5 taken along the line A-A.
The related mounting structure (structure for securing heat sink) of this type roughly includes, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, a printed circuit board 1, an LSI package 2 being surface-mounted on the printed circuit board 1, a heat sink 3 having a fin structure disposed in a thermal contact state on an upper surface of the LSI package 2, a pair of lower and upper stiffeners (lower stiffener 4 and upper stiffener 5) to support and reinforce the printed circuit board 1, and a set of securing members including screw members 6, male screws 7, shafts 8, washers and a like, and compression coil springs 10 to accommodate variations in height in a direction of the LSI package 2 (refer to Patent Reference 3 [Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-058703] for the stiffener structure). The pair of upper and lower stiffeners 4 and 5 is made of a metal plate and is secured with the screw members 6 in a state in which the printed circuit board 1 is sandwiched between the upper and lower stiffeners. The upper and lower stiffeners are secured to each other and, therefore, an occurrence of warpage caused by heat of the printed circuit board 1 can be prevented.
The above heat sink is so configured that many dissipating fins 3b to increase contact areas (dissipation area) with an outer atmosphere are disposed on an upper surface of an heat sink base 3a in parallel to one another and in an erected manner. At four corners of the heat sink base 3a are formed through-holes 3c to insert the male screws 7. On the upper surface stiffeners 6, as shown in FIG. 7, is formed an aperture portion to allow the LSI package to be inserted. In positions corresponding to the through-holes 3c at four corners of the heat sink base 3a are attached, in a securing manner, the shafts 8 (female screws with upper portion being opened) to screw the male screws 7 therein. The LSI package 2 is so configured as to be exposed from the aperture portion 11 of the upper stiffener 5 and a flat upper surface of the LSI package 2 is in thermal contact with a bottom of the heat sink base 3a.
Each of the above male screws 7 is passed through each of washers 9, each of compression coil springs 10 and each of through holes 3c in this order and, in this state, an end of each of the male screws is screwed into each of the upper stiffener 5 and, as a result, each of the male screws 7 is screw-secured to each of the shafts. Thus, conventionally, the heat sink 3 is screw-secured to the upper stiffener 5 using the screw members and the printed circuit board 1, in a state in which the LSI package is exposed from the aperture portion 11 of the upper stiffener 5 is sandwiched between the upper stiffener 5 and the lower stiffener 4 and is secured and, therefore, in a state in which the upper surface of the LSI package 2 is in thermal contact with the bottom of the heat sink base 3a, the heat sink 3 is secured to the printed circuit board 1.
According to the above configurations, even when variations in height occurs among the LSI packages 2 due to the easy occurrence of variations in the thickness of solder balls 12 (FIG. 7) arranged in a grid form and/or the easy occurrence of variations at a time of face-down bonding, each of the compression coil springs 10 sandwiched between a head portion of each of the male screws 7 and the upper surface of the heat sink base 3a, thereby variations in height can be accommodated (FIGS. 6 and 7).
However, the above related mounting structure has a problem. That is, the height accommodating tool to secure the heat sink 3 to the printed circuit board 1 is made up of the male screws 7, the shafts (female screws) 5, the compression coil springs 10, and the washers 9 and, therefore, component counts are large, many attaching man-hours are required, thus causing complicated mounting processes. More specifically, the related method for the heat sink requires, as shown in FIG. 5, (1) a process of attaching and securing each of the shafts (female screws) 8 to the upper stiffener 5, (2) a process of securing the upper stiffeners 5 and the lower stiffener 4 by using each of the screw members 6 with the printed circuit board 1 being sandwiched between the upper and lower stiffeners, (3) a process of attaching each of the washers 9 and each of the compression coil springs 10 to each of the male screws 7, and (4) a process of securing the heat sink 3 to the printed circuit board 1 by using each of the male screws 7 with the heat sink 3 being in thermal contact with the LSI package 2, thus resulting in complicated mounting work. Additionally, the related mounting structure for the heat sink has another problem. That is, each of the male screws 7 and/or compression coil springs 10 spring out therefrom, a wind path F (FIG. 6) of a fan (not shown) is stopped up, thus resulting in lowering of the dissipation efficiency.


There are may characteristics of tissue products such as bath and facial tissue that must be considered in producing a final product having desirable attributes that make it suitable and preferred for the product's intended purpose. Improved softness of the product has long been one major objective, and this has been a particularly significant factor for the success of premium products. In general, the major components of softness include stiffness and bulk (density), with lower stiffness and higher bulk (lower density) generally improving perceived softness.
While enhanced softness is a desire for all types of tissue products, it has been especially challenging to achieve softness improvements in uncreped throughdried sheets. Throughdrying provides a relatively noncompressive method of removing water from a web by passing hot air through the web until it is dry. More specifically, a wet-laid web is transferred from the forming fabric to a coarse, highly permeable throughdrying fabric and retained on the throughdrying fabric until dry. The resulting dried web is softer and bulkier than a conventionally-dried uncreped sheet because fewer bonds are formed and because the web is less compressed. Thus, there are benefits to eliminating the Yankee dryer and making an uncreped throughdried product. Uncreped throughdried sheets are typically quite harsh and rough to the touch, however, compared to their creped counterparts. This is partially due to the inherently high stiffness and strength of an uncreped sheet, but is also due in part to the coarseness of the throughdrying fabric onto which the wet web is conformed and dried.
Therefore, what is lacking and needed in the art is a method for manufacturing tissue products having improved softness, and in particular uncreped throughdried tissue products having improved softness, as well as an apparatus that permits the manufacture of such tissue products.


The present invention relates to thermal barrier coatings, a method, and an apparatus for determination of past-service conditions of coatings and parts and remaining life thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to such a method and an apparatus by a non-destructive optical determination of a particular crystalline phase in a thermal barrier coating.
The constant demand for increased operating temperature in gas turbine engines has necessitated the development of ceramic coating materials that can insulate the turbine components such as turbine blades and vanes from the heat contained in the gas discharged from the combustion chamber for extending the life of such components. These ceramic coatings are known in the art as thermal barrier coatings.
A thermal barrier coating typically comprises at least a layer of a refractory or thermally insulating material such as yttria-stabilized zirconia (or xe2x80x9cYSZxe2x80x9d) which is zirconia stabilized with, for example, about 6-8 percent by weight of yttria. The refractory material would generally be selected to have a low thermal conductivity such as about 1-3 W/(m)(K), thereby reducing heat transfer to and the temperature experienced by the turbine engine component. The coating may be applied by one of known deposition techniques such as the thermal or plasma spray process or the physical vapor deposition process. A typical thermal barrier coating is a multilayer system comprising three layers. A first so-called bondcoat is applied to the surface of the superalloy of the turbine component. This bondcoat typically comprises a MCrAlY alloy wherein M is nickel, or cobalt, or PtNiAl alloys. The purpose of the bondcoat is to provide a layer which adheres well to the underlying alloy, which provides protection against oxidation of the alloy, and which provides a good base for further coatings. A second intermediate layer or interlayer is applied on the bondcoat. A suitable material for this interlayer is Al2O3. This material can be formed by oxidizing the surface of the bondcoat to form an oxide layer. The interlayer provides improved adhesion for the final thermal insulating YSZ coating and is not included for a thermal barrier property.
Despite great care taken during manufacture to ensure good adhesion of the thermal barrier coating to the underlying material of the turbine component, thermal cycling during use of such a component eventually leads to spalling of the coating. In addition, erosion of the thermal barrier coating is inevitable over an extended period of use. Such a spalling or erosion would eventually expose the underlying alloy to extreme temperatures that would lead to failure of the component. Therefore, thermal barrier coatings need be inspected frequently for any sign of deterioration. Such an inspection often requires taking the engine component out of service and is time-consuming. A common inspection technique is the visual inspection of the presence or absence of coating. While that method determines when a spall has occurred, it is unable to determine either the degree of deterioration in an intact coating. A method for determining the past-service conditions and remaining life of thermal barrier coatings would be welcome in the art.
Similarly, it is desirable to monitor the condition of the turbine components themselves. In the prior art, it is usual for a destructive evaluation to be performed at each inspection interval for critical components in the hot gas path. In that case, one part is destroyed to produce sections for metallographical examination. The condition of the coatings and base materials are determined from metallographical inspection, and a decision to repair or replace the remaining parts is made from that information.
Better knowledge of the past-service conditions experienced by the turbine components would allow the determination of the remaining life of a part without destructive evaluation. Currently there are few in-situ measurements of hot gas path parts temperatures available. Some physical changes in the phases and structures of the materials of thermal barrier coatings and components occur with exposure to high temperatures. Inspection for changes in phase content is one way to determine past-service conditions.
However, traditional methods of inspection, such as X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction, require destructive testing and specialized equipment. They are not conducive to being deployed at the site of a gas turbine. In addition, such destructive testing methods necessarily extrapolate the result obtained for one part to the condition of other similarly used parts and, thus, may not provide a true and accurate condition of those parts.
European patent application EP 0863396 A2 discloses a non-destructive measurement method for residual stress proximate an interlayer in a multilayer thermal barrier coating system. This method focuses on detecting compressive stresses that accumulate at the boundary between the interlayer and the outermost thermal barrier coating by detecting the shift in frequency of light emitted by fluorescing chromium ions in the alumina interlayer. However, significant stresses at that boundary may not appear until after the outermost barrier layer has seriously deteriorated. Furthermore, the stresses at the boundary are not useful indicators of the past-service conditions of the component itself. Therefore, such a method is not very useful in timely forewarning a need for repairing or replacing the engine component.
Therefore, there is a continued need to provide a simple non-destructive method for determining the past-service condition of a thermal barrier coating of a component used at high temperature in a turbine engine. It is also very desirable to provide a method by which the remaining useful life of the underlying component may be determined or estimated. Furthermore, it is also very desirable to provide such a method so that maintenance of turbine engine components may be performed only on an as-needed basis rather than on a fixed schedule.
The present invention provides a method for determining at least one of past-service conditions and remaining useful life of at least one of a component of a combustion engine and a thermal barrier coating thereof, which component is used in the hot-gas path of the combustion engine. The method of the present invention comprises (1) providing a combustion-engine component comprising a thermal barrier coating that comprises at least one photoluminescent (xe2x80x9cPLxe2x80x9d) material that can be excited by radiation at a first wavelength range and emits radiation at a second wavelength range different from the first wavelength range in response to the exciting radiation; the radiation emitted at the second wavelength range having a characteristic property that correlates with an amount of a crystalline phase in the thermal barrier coating, which amount increases as the combustion-engine component is exposed to elevated temperatures; (2) directing radiation having the first wavelength range at the thermal barrier coating of the combustion-engine component; (3) measuring the characteristic property of radiation having the second wavelength range; (4) determining the amount of the crystalline phase present in the thermal barrier coating from the characteristic property of radiation having the second wavelength range; and (5) inferring at least one of past-service conditions and remaining useful life of the thermal barrier coating from the amount of the crystalline phase.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the thermal barrier coating comprises yttria-stabilized zirconia.
According to another aspect of the present invention the crystalline phase is the monoclinic phase of zirconia.
The present invention also provides an apparatus for determining at least one of past-service conditions and remaining useful life of at least one of a component of a combustion engine and a thermal barrier coating thereof, which component is used in the hot-gas path of the combustion engine. The apparatus comprises (1) a source of radiation having a first wavelength range directed at the thermal barrier coating that comprises at least one PL material capable of emitting radiation having a second wavelength range in response to an excitation by the radiation having the first wavelength range; (2) a radiation detector being capable of detecting the radiation having the second wavelength range and being disposed to receive and measure a characteristic property thereof; and (3) means for relating the characteristic property of radiation having said second wavelength range to one of an amount of a crystalline phase, past-service conditions, and remaining useful life of the combustion-engine component.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a perusal of the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings in which the same numerals refer to like elements.


Every clothes dryer requires an exhaust channel to function efficiently. Normally, the exhaust channel has a hose attached to a dryer connector at one end and wall or floor vent at the other. In order to simplify the attaching of the exhaust channel, a flexible hose is known and used. However, for safety reasons, in some cases, use of the flexible hose is restricted. With such a restriction, installation of a clothes dryer becomes more difficult.
A clothes dryer is difficult to move. Yet, movement of the clothes dryer is mandatory for connection and cleaning of the exhaust channel. If a method can be found, which reduces the movement of the clothes dryer while installing the exhaust channel, great advantages can be obtained.
If the flexible hose is not used, a metal pipe is the desired replacement for the exhaust channel. Since the installation of the dryer is often in a very confined space, it becomes difficult to maneuver and attach the metal pipe to the dryer at one end and the exhaust vent at the other end, so a minimal length of flexible hose is used to connect an exhaust channel to a dryer exhaust outlet. While the flexible hose stands a better chance of collecting lint than the metal pipe, both types do collect lint and thereby present a fire hazard. As the length of the exhaust hose or pipe increases, the danger of lint collection increases, as does the fire danger. In order to keep the exhaust channel free of lint during operation of the dryer, the exhaust pipe must be detached from the clothes dryer occasionally to give access for inspection and removal of any accumulated lint. This is very desirable to minimize the danger of such fire. Thus, the prior art suffers from numerous drawbacks for the connection and disconnection of the exhaust channel. If the connection and disconnection can be simplified, while improving fire safety, great advantages can be obtained.


Since the late 1980's hazardous agents, such as cytotoxic agents have been useful in managing and treating a number of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (and other autoimmune diseases), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, steroid resistant polymyositis or dermatomyositis, Wegener's granulomatosis, polyarteritis nodosa, and some forms of vasculitis. Hazardous agents tend to exhibit side effects, however, that are harmful or toxic to the subject. Many of these side effects occur when hazardous agents are administered orally, but the oral form is generally the preferred method of delivery of these agents due to its ease of use.
In addition to increased toxicity, variable and reduced bioavailability has been observed for some hazardous agents, such as methotrexate, that are orally administered. These limitations are particularly demonstrated when the oral dosing is escalated beyond 15 mg per week. It has been suggested that with parenteral administration, such as by injection, more predictable, reproducible and complete bioavailability along with better therapeutic results could be achieved, particularly at higher dosages.
Only about 7% of the prescriptions for methotrexate written by rheumatologists are for an injectable formulation. Reasons for prescribing methotrexate injections are usually to improve bioavailability or to alleviate side effects. Physicians have expressed interest in increasing the number of prescriptions for cytotoxic agent injections, and particularly injections for home use and administration by a patient. This is generally not considered feasible because it is not possible to ensure that patients can reliably and repeatably draw an accurate dose from vials and correctly administer the product by subcutaneous (SC) injection, especially with agents used to treat patients suffering from certain debilitating diseases. Additionally, the toxicity of hazardous agents increases the risk that non-users of the injections will come into contact with the cytotoxic agents in a home setting. Insufficient data exists on the effect of low dose, chronic exposure to hazardous agents that are, or may be, candidates for home use or self-injection. In the absence of such information, practice guidelines direct one to assume a high degree risk for injectable hazardous agents such as methotrexate, with the recommendation of formal directives and risk assessments, including formal training and mitigation strategies, to minimize risk (see Oliver, S., and Livermore, P., Administering subcutaneous methotrexate for inflammatory arthritis: RCN guidance for nurses, 2004; Royal College of Nursing, Wyeth, Publication Code 002 269). Specific directives include: preparation of syringes in dedicated pharmacies with aseptic preparation areas; administration performed in specific locations and only by adequately trained personnel; spillage kits located proximal to use areas; accounting for all who may be at risk in the event of an accident; and audits to assess compliance and execution of risk mitigation strategies. Because of the need for such directives, and thus the large number of precautions that must be learned and followed in order to safely inject a hazardous agent, it is presently thought that it is not practical for hazardous agents, and particularly methotrexate, to be self-injected by a patient outside of a clinical setting or without the assistance of a health care provider.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a unique method and device for delivering controlled heat to perform ablation to treat benign prosthetic hypertrophy or hyperplasia (BPH). The method and the apparatus deliver this controlled heat into tissue penetrated by devices such as those disclosed in the copending above-referenced applications.
2. Discussion of Background
Treatment of cellular tissues usually requires direct contact of target tissue with a medical instrument, usually by surgical procedures exposing both the target and intervening tissue to substantial trauma. Often, precise placement of a treatment probe is difficult because of the location of a target tissue in the body or the proximity of the target tissue to easily damaged, critical body organs, nerves, or other components.
Benign prostatic hypertrophy or hyperplasia (BPH), for example, is one of the most common medical problems experienced by men over 50 years old. Urinary tract obstruction due to prostatic hyperplasia has been recognized since the earliest days of medicine. Hyperplastic enlargement of the prostate gland often leads to compression of the urethra, resulting in obstruction of the urinary tract and the subsequent development of symptoms including frequent urination, decrease in urinary flow, nocturia, pain, discomfort, and dribbling. The association of BPH with aging has been shown to exceed 50% in men over 50 years of age and increases in incidence to over 75% in men over 80 years of age. Symptoms of urinary obstruction occur most frequently between the ages of 65 and 70 when approximately 65% of men in this age group have prostatic enlargement.
Currently there is no proven effective nonsurgical method of treatment of BPH. In addition, the surgical procedures available are not totally satisfactory. Currently patients suffering from the obstructive symptoms of this disease are provided with few options: continue to cope with the symptoms (i.e., conservative management), submit to drug therapy at early stages, or submit to surgical intervention. More than 30,000 patients per year undergo surgery for removal of prostatic tissue in the United States. These represent less than five percent of men exhibiting clinical significant symptoms.
Those suffering from BPH are often elderly men, many with additional health problems which increase the risk of surgical procedures. Surgical procedures for the removal of prostatic tissue are associated with a number of hazards including anesthesia associated morbidity, hemorrhage, coagulopathies, pulmonary emboli and electrolyte imbalances. These procedures performed currently can also lead to cardiac complications, bladder perforation, incontinence, infection, urethral or bladder neck stricture, retention of prostatic chips, retrograde ejaculation, and infertility. Due to the extensive invasive nature of the current treatment options for obstructive uropathy, the majority of patients delay definitive treatment of their condition. This circumstance can lead to serious damage to structures secondary to the obstructive lesion in the prostate (bladder hypertrophy, hydronephrosis, dilation of the kidney pelves, etc.) which is not without significant consequences. In addition, a significant number of patients with symptoms sufficiently severe to warrant surgical intervention are poor operative risks and are poor candidates for prostatectomy. In addition, younger men suffering from BPH who do not desire to risk complications such as infertility are often forced to avoid surgical intervention. Thus the need, importance and value of improved surgical and non-surgical methods for treating BPH is unquestionable.
High-frequency currents are used in electrocautery procedures for cutting human tissue especially when a bloodless incision is desired or when the operating site is not accessible with a normal scalpel but presents an access for a thin instrument through natural body openings such as the esophagus, intestines or urethra. Examples include the removal of prostatic adenomas, bladder tumors or intestinal polyps. In such cases, the high-frequency current is fed by a surgical probe into the tissue to be cut. The resulting dissipated heat causes boiling and vaporization of the cell fluid at this point, whereupon the cell walls rupture and the tissue is separated.
Destruction of cellular tissues in situ has been used in the treatment of many diseases and medical conditions alone or as an adjunct to surgical removal procedures. It is often less traumatic than surgical procedures and may be the only alternative where other procedures are unsafe. Ablative treatment devices have the advantage of using a destructive energy which is rapidly dissipated and reduced to a non-destructive level by conduction and convection forces of circulating fluids and other natural body processes.
Microwave, radiofrequency, acoustical (ultrasound) and high energy (laser) devices, and tissue destructive substances have been used to destroy malignant, benign and other types of cells and tissues from a wide variety of anatomic sites and organs. Tissues treated include isolated carcinoma masses and, more specifically, organs such as the prostate, glandular and stromal nodules characteristic of benign prostate hyperplasia. These devices typically include a catheter or cannula which is used to carry a radiofrequency electrode or microwave antenna through a duct to the zone of treatment and apply energy diffusely through the duct wall into the surrounding tissue in all directions. Severe trauma is often sustained by the duct wall during this cellular destruction process, and some devices combine cooling systems with microwave antennas to reduce trauma to the ductal wall. For treating the prostate with these devices, for example, heat energy is delivered through the walls of the urethra into the surrounding prostate cells in an effort to kill the tissue constricting the urethra. Light energy, typically from a laser, is delivered to prostate tissue target sites by "burning through" the wall of the urethra. Healthy cells of the duct wall and healthy tissue between the nodules and duct wall are also indiscriminately destroyed in the process and can cause unnecessary loss of some prostate function. Furthermore, the added cooling function of some microwave devices complicates the apparatus and requires that the device be sufficiently large to accommodate this cooling system.
Application of liquids to specific tissues for medical purposes is limited by the ability to obtain delivery without traumatizing intervening tissue and to effect a delivery limited to the specific target tissue. Localized chemotherapy, drug infusions, collagen injections, or injections of agents which are then activated by light, heat or chemicals would be greatly facilitated by a device which could conveniently and precisely place a fluid supply catheter opening at the specific target tissue.


The present invention relates to a buffer storage system in a data processing apparatus and, more particularly, it relates to a buffer storage system including therein both a buffer storage for accessing operands and a buffer storage for fetching instructions, separately.
Recent increases, in the capability of a data processing apparatus, have led to attempted use of a variety of data-processing methods for coping with this increased capability. In one of these methods, namely the pipeline method, each sequence for executing an instruction is divided into a plurality of phases and each of the phases is executed at each station. This enables operations at respective stations to be achieved independently, and a plurality of instructions to be executed simultaneously.
In the prior art buffer storage system, both the pipeline set up in the operand access buffer storage, and the pipeline set up in the instruction fetch buffer storage, must be synchronized with each other. To strictly maintain such synchronization, often several operand access cycles must be left idle until several instruction fetch cycles with high priority are completed. This will be clarified in detail hereinafter. However, this leads to the problem in that the effective operating speed of the data processing apparatus cannot be made sufficiently high, due to the insertion of the above-mentioned idle operand access cycles, and therefore, the capability of the data processing apparatus cannot be increased to any large degree, even though independent buffer storages for accessing operands and fetching instructions are introduced.