1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for processing input information or controlling execution of a process in accordance with the environment around the system and/or the attributes of user and a method therefor.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, a system has been known which interprets input in a natural language to infer a goal or an intention of a user from the input. To realize a system of the foregoing type, the system must have a natural language parser (analyzer) for converting a natural language, such as English, into a computer expression and a mechanism, which uses a knowledge base formed by making a goal and a plan for achieving the goal to correspond to each other to infer a goal behind input.
Another system is available in which input in a natural language cannot be processed but which performs a predetermined process in accordance with commands, a menu or the like.
In the conventional natural language processing system, input in a natural language is converted into a computer expression and the goal behind that input is inferred using a knowledge base which has the knowledge of goals and plans. However, it has not been applied to predict the results of a possible plan, especially its undesirable effects.
In a system employing an input method which does not use the natural language, a command is interpreted to a limited meaning defined with respect to the command. Therefore, the intention of the command is not considered. Moreover, an erroneous input occurring due to a mistake in the operation by a user is not normally taken into account in the foregoing system.
Hitherto, a system is available in which a user is able to determine the level of the operational environment, such as whether help information, guidance information or the like from the system is provided, is determined by a user in accordance with his expertise with respect to the system or the complexity of the task to be performed in the system.
There has been another system in which a list of previously input commands is stored to which a reference can be made by a user or which enables a user to again execute the stored command.
However, the foregoing conventional systems require a user to determine and change the level of the operational environment by operating buttons or inputting commands. Moreover, simple provision of the help information causes the help information having the same contents to be given to the user regardless of the expertise level of the user. Therefore, a skilled user is given unnecessarily detailed information, while the provided contents are too difficult for a beginner to be understood. Thus, the foregoing systems are unsatisfactory for the both types of users.
The conventional systems require a user to perform a complicated process to make a reference to the command list or again perform a command, thus requiring the user to be skilled in the procedure.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system capable of executing a process corresponding to input information and suitable to the situation and a method therefor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system capable of controlling execution of a process in accordance with the attribute of a user and a method therefor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system which makes a plan to meet a requirement from a user and which is capable of predicting a result of execution of the plan and a method therefor.
According to one aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing system comprising: inputting means for inputting information; a knowledge base having knowledge of the relationship among situations, requirements corresponding to the situations and responses corresponding to the requirements; inference means which retrieves the knowledge base in accordance with the information input by the inputting means to infer a requirement corresponding to the information and the situation; and outputting means for outputting the requirement inferred by the inference means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing system comprising: inputting means for inputting information; a knowledge base having knowledge of the relationship among a situation, a requirement, a response corresponding to the requirement, a plan corresponding to the requirement and a result of execution of a process; requirement inference means which retrieves the knowledge base in accordance with the information input by the inputting means to infer a requirement corresponding to the information; plan construction means for constructing a plan corresponding to the requirement; and predicting means for predicting a result of execution of the plan by performing a simulation of the plan made by the plan construction means.
According to still another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing system comprising: inputting means for inputting a command from a user; history storage means for storing input information performed by the inputting means; a knowledge base having knowledge of commands; inference means which infers the possible next-command to be input next by the inputting means the knowledge base in accordance with the information stored in the history storage means; and outputting means for outputting the possible commands inferred by the inference means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing system comprising: inputting means for inputting information from a user; a knowledge base having knowledge of the attributes of each user, on the basis of the knowledge retrieved from requirements corresponding to the attributes of the users and responses corresponding to the requirements; inference means which retrieves the knowledge base in accordance with the information input by the inputting means and the attribute of the user, the information of which has been input, so as to infer a requirement which corresponds to the information and the attribute of the user; and output means for outputting the requirement inferred by the inference means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing system comprising: natural language inputting means for inputting information in a natural language; a linguistic knowledge base having knowledge of languages; a global knowledge base having knowledge of common sense; analyzing means for analyzing, by using the linguistic knowledge base, the natural language information input by the natural language inputting means; a situation knowledge base having knowledge of the relationship among situations, requirements corresponding to the situations and responses corresponding to the requirements; requirement inference means which retrieves the situation knowledge base in accordance with the result of analysis performed by the analyzing means to infer a requirement corresponding to the natural language information; and outputting means for outputting the requirement inferred by the requirement inference means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an execution control system comprising: operation means which is operated by a user; executing means for executing a process in accordance with the operation performed by the operation means; a knowledge base having knowledge of operations to be performed by the operation means and the relationship among the operations and the attributes of the user; inference means for inferring the attribute of the user in accordance with the knowledge in the knowledge base; and control means for controlling execution to be performed by the executing means in accordance with the attributes of the user inferred by the inference means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an execution control system comprising: operation means to be operated by a user; executing means for executing a process in accordance with the operation performed by the operation means; history storage means for storing history of operations performed by the operation means; and control means for controlling execution of the process by the execution means in accordance with the history of the operations stored in the history storage means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an execution control system comprising: operation means to be operated by a user; executing means for executing a process in accordance with the operation performed by the operation means; history storage means for storing history of operations performed by the operation means; a knowledge base having knowledge of the operations of the operation means and the relationship between the operations and the attributes of the user; inference means for inferring the attribute of the use in accordance with the history of the operations stored in the history storage means and the knowledge in the knowledge base; and control means for controlling execution of the process by the executing means in accordance with the attributes of the user inferred by the inference means.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing method comprising the steps of: an inputting step for inputting information; an inference step which retrieves a knowledge base having knowledge of situations, requirements corresponding to the situations and the relationship between the requirements and responses in accordance with the information input in the inputting step to infer a requirement corresponding to the information and the situation; and an outputting step for outputting a requirement inferred in the inference step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing method comprising the steps of: an inputting step for inputting information; a requirement inference step for retrieving, in accordance with the information input in the inputting step, a knowledge base having knowledge of the relationship among situations, requirements, responses corresponding to the requirements, plans corresponding to the requirements so as to infer a requirement corresponding to the information; a making means for making a plan corresponding to the requirement; and a predicting step for predicting a result of execution of the plan by performing a simulation of the plan made in the making step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing method comprising the steps of: an inputting step for inputting a command from a user; a history storage step for storing information of history of inputs performed in the inputting step; an inference step in which a reference is made to a knowledge base having knowledge of commands in accordance with the information of history stored in the history storage step to infer possible commands to be next input in the inputting step; and an outputting step for outputting the possible commands inferred in the inference step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing method comprising the steps of: an inputting step for inputting information from a user; an inference step for retrieving a knowledge base having knowledge of the relationship among the attribute of each user, requirements corresponding to the attributes of the users and responses corresponding to the requirements in accordance with the input information in the inputting step and the attribute of the user, who has input the information so as to infer a requirement which corresponds to the information and the attribute of the user; and an outputting step for outputting a requirement inferred in the inference step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an information processing method comprising the steps of: a natural language inputting step for inputting information in a natural language; an analyzing step for analyzing the natural language information input in the natural language inputting step by using a linguistic knowledge base having knowledge of languages and a global knowledge base having knowledge of common sense; a requirement inference step for retrieving the situation knowledge base having knowledge of the relationship among situations, requirements corresponding to the situations and responses corresponding to the requirements to infer a requirement corresponding to the natural language information; and an outputting step for outputting the requirement inferred in the requirement inference step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an execution control method comprising the steps of: an executing step for executing a process in accordance with the operation of an operation portion performed by a user; a knowledge base having knowledge of operations of the operation portion and knowledge of the relationship between the operations and the attributes of users; an inference step for inferring the attributes of the user in accordance with the knowledge of the knowledge base; and a control step for controlling execution of a process to be performed by the executing step in accordance with the attributes of the user inferred in the inference step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an execution control method comprising the steps of: an operation step in which an operation is performed by a user; an executing step for executing a process in accordance with the operation performed in the operating step; a history storage step for storing history of the operations performed in the operating step; and a control step for controlling execution of the process in accordance with the history of the operations stored in the history storage step.
According to another aspect, the present invention which achieves these objectives relates to an execution control method comprising the steps of: an operation step in which an operation is performed by a user; an executing step for executing a process in accordance with the operation performed in the operating step; a history storage step for storing history of the operations performed in the operating step; a knowledge base having knowledge of the operations to be performed in the operation step and knowledge of the relationship between the operations and the attributes of the user; an inference step for inferring the attributes of the user in accordance with the history stored in the history storage step and the knowledge of the knowledge base; and a control step for controlling execution in the executing step in accordance with the attribute of the user inferred in the inference step.
Other objectives and advantages besides those discussed above shall be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the-description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follow the description for determining the scope of the invention.


The present disclosure relates to video coding.
Video coding finds use in many modern consumer electronic applications. Media players, such as media rendering applications, set top boxes and DVD players, commonly receive video data that has been coded by bandwidth compression techniques. The media players decode the video data before rendering it on a display. In other applications, videoconferencing applications perform bidirectional exchanges of coded video data. Each device codes video data representing locally-acquired video and transmits the coded video to another device. The other device receives and decodes the coded video, then renders it on a display.
Video coding and decoding processes typically are “lossy” processes. Video data recovered by decoders provides a representation of the source video from which it is derived but it possess various errors. When such errors are perceptible by human viewer, they often cause dissatisfaction with the viewing experience.
In many media exchange applications, different portions of a video may have very similar content. Consider, for example, a produced video where two characters are engaged in spoken dialogue with each other. Oftentimes, such events are represented by a video sequence that contains image information of a first speaker, then a second. Image content of the video sequence may toggle between image information of the two speakers for a time as the event progresses.
In many applications, video coders may apply different coding techniques at various points during such an event, which leads to different sets of artifacts. In the example above, a video coder may code image information of the first speaker differently during a first portion of spoken dialogue than during a second portion of dialogue, and the video coder may code representation of the first speaker differently during third, fourth, etc. portions as well. These different codings each may induce different sets of artifacts when the coded video data is decoded and rendered, which may lead to a dissatisfactory viewing experience.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage containers, and particularly, but not by way of limitation, to reusable containers for liquid additives for use in the oil well service industry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many activities conducted in the oil well servicing industry require the use of liquid materials which are typically provided in 55-gallon drums. There is a substantial cost involved in the handling and disposal of such drums which typically are not reused.
The prior art does include a number of liquid container systems designed for reuse.
The full-size liquid additive tank 26 disclosed herein is itself a part of the prior art in that it has been on sale by the assignee of the present invention for greater than one year prior to the filing of this application.
A couple of other manufacturers have developed somewhat similar tanks such as those marketed by Hoover Universal, Inc., under the trademark AGRI-TOTE and such as the containers marketed under the trademark "TransStore" by Custom Metalcraft.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) using guiding lines to make an etch mask for pattern transfer into a substrate, and more particularly to a method for making the guiding lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) has been proposed for making imprint templates for patterned media (also called bit-patterned media) magnetic recording disks and for patterning semiconductor devices, for example, for patterning parallel generally straight lines in MPU, DRAM and NAND flash devices. DSA of BCPs by use of a patterned sublayer that provides a chemical contrast pattern for the BCP film is well-known. After the BCP components self-assemble on the patterned sublayer, one of the components is selectively removed, leaving the other component with the desired pattern, which can then be used as an etch mask to transfer the pattern into an underlying substrate. The etched substrate can be used as an imprint template.
In conventional DSA by use of a chemical contrast pattern, an array of sparse guiding lines, usually made of a cross-linkable polymer mat, is lithographically patterned on the substrate. The pitch of these guiding lines (Ls) needs to be an integer multiple of the natural pitch (L0) formed by the block copolymer to be directed, i.e., Ls=nL0, where n is an integer equal to or greater than 1. However, the width of the guiding lines generally needs to be about 0.5 L0, or nearly equal to the width of one of the block copolymer components. While lithographic applications benefit from the fact that the guiding lines can be sparse (at a pitch of nL0) and that the high density comes from the density multiplication afforded by the block copolymers, the resolution requirement to pattern the width of the guiding lines keeps scaling with the final block copolymer dimensions. As lithographic applications advance to smaller dimensions, especially below 20 nm full pitch, the fabrication of guiding lines with a width below 10 nm while maintaining adequate roughness and width uniformity becomes ever more difficult and beyond what is possible with current resist materials for electron-beam (e-beam) or optical lithography.
Pending application Ser. No. 14/532,240 filed Nov. 4, 2014 and assigned to the same assignee as this application describes a pattern of guiding lines for DSA of a BCP that is an array of spaced guiding lines with oxidized sidewalls. A silicon-containing BCP self-assembles with the silicon-free BCP component wetting the oxidized sidewalls. The silicon-free BCP component is removed. The other BCP component then has a line density double that of the original spaced guiding lines and can be used as an etch mask to etch the underlying substrate. In the '240 application the spaced guiding lines are formed by electron-beam lithography. However, for small-pitch BCPs, it can be difficult to pattern guiding lines by e-beam lithography since it requires operating at the resolution limit of current e-beam resists. At the resolution limit of the e-beam resist, guiding lines are typically rough, broken, and/or wavy and cause defects in the BCP pattern that they guide. This effect is particularly severe for radial lines, which are required for making patterned media magnetic recording disks. Radial lines are more difficult to create by the e-beam tool due to the circumferential path of the beam, which results in an increased width roughness of the exposed lines. Also, radial lines require a smaller pitch than circumferential lines and thus a greater guiding line resolution to make patterned media bit structures with a high bit aspect ratio.
What is needed is an improved method for making guiding lines that results in a BCP pattern after DSA with better quality and lower roughness.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device equipped with a light-emitting element or an electro-optical element in a pixel. In particular, the present invention relates to a display device having a layer including an organic material, a fluorescent material, or a phosphorescent material in the light-emitting element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A display device having a light-emitting element which includes a layer of an organic material between a pair of electrodes and emits light when a current is supplied between the electrodes has been developed. Such a display device has an advantage in reducing thickness and weight, has high visibility due to the self-luminance, and has high response speed. In addition, since power consumption of such a display device may potentially be made very small, it has been actively developed as a device of next generation, and some of such devices have been put into practical use.
In the display device using the light-emitting element having the aforementioned configuration, high image quality and widening of a color gamut have been expected. For example, a display device which can reproduce and display accurate colors in editing in a printing operation, seeing and listening to a work of art, movies, or the like, and catching a real color exactly in telemedicine, has been strongly expected. In view of this, in order to improve a color gamut which can be viewed by human eyes, research to optimize a structure such as improvement of color purity and widening of a color gamut has been carried out (for example, see Reference 1: Published Japanese translation of PCT International Publication for Patent Application No. 2001-039554).
However, there is still a surplus in a color gamut which can be viewed by human eyes, and thus, a color reproduction area of a display device so far is still insufficient. FIG. 39 shows the CIE-XY chromaticity diagram which is established by COMMISSION INTERNATIONALE DE L'ECLAIRAGE (INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON ILLUMINATION: CIE) managing standards of color internationally. In an outer boundary of the diagram, a point which is near the rightmost end corresponds to an emission spectrum of 700 nm of red monochromatic light; a point which is near the uppermost end corresponds to an emission spectrum of 546.1 nm of green monochromatic light; and a point which is near the lowermost end corresponds to an emission spectrum of 435.8 nm of blue monochromatic light. In this chromaticity diagram, brightness (chroma) is lower in the inner side since the outer boundary of the graph (a visible area) corresponds to an emission spectrum of monochromatic light while the inner side thereof corresponds to a combination color obtained by combining different kinds of monochromatic light. In the case of expressing a color by an additive color mixture, a plurality of standard colors can reproduce only a color which lies in a position surrounded with a polygon formed of points which are shown in the CIE-XY chromaticity diagram.
When red (R) is shown by the CIE-XY chromaticity diagram, human eyes can perceive a color which has a coordinate near a right region of the chromaticity diagram (a region surrounded with the circumference of the chromaticity diagram and a dotted line 3901 in FIG. 39) as red. In addition, when green (G) is shown by the CIE-XY chromaticity diagram, human eyes can perceive a color which has a coordinate near an upper region of the chromaticity diagram (a region surrounded with the circumference of the chromaticity diagram and a dotted line 3902 in FIG. 39) as green. When blue (B) is shown by the CIE-XY chromaticity diagram, human eyes can perceive a color which has a coordinate near a lower region of the chromaticity diagram (a region surrounded with the circumference of the chromaticity diagram and dotted lines 3903 and 3904 in FIG. 39) as blue. As a specific example, a hi-vision (high definition television broadcasting; HDTV) standard can be given, which has chromaticity coordinates of R (x=0.67, y=0.33), G (x=0.21, y=0.71), and B (x=0.14, y=0.08) (a triangle 3905 in FIG. 39).
According to the method disclosed in Reference 1, a color reproduction area can be expanded in directions of arrows in FIG. 39 by increasing color purity, and brightness of colors recognized by human eyes can be increased. However, there is still a surplus in a color gamut which can be viewed by human eyes. Therefore, it is an essential task to expand the color reproduction area by satisfying the surplus in the color gamut which can be viewed by human eyes.


The deployment of an implant in the body is an often repeated and advantageous procedure performed during the practice of modern medicine. Implants may be used for innumerable purposes including the delivery of therapeutic for short and prolonged periods of time and for the structural support of failing internal cavities and lumens. Implants may be deployed in either case through non-invasive procedures such as endoscopy and through more invasive procedures that require large incisions into the body of a patient. The non-invasive and less-invasive procedures are generally used when the target area is accessible through a lumen of the body while the more invasive procedures may be employed when the target area is located deep within the body or otherwise not readily accessible through a lumen of the body.
Invasive procedures have a higher financial cost and inflict a greater amount of trauma to the patient than non-invasive procedures. Consequently, non-invasive procedures are generally preferred over invasive procedures when given the choice. In certain circumstances, however, it may not be efficient or plausible to perform a procedure non-invasively. In these circumstances, more-invasive procedures may be required despite their shortcomings. For instance, when an implant needs to be deployed deep into the body in an area that is not readily accessible through a lumen or an external orifice an invasive procedure may be the only plausible technique. Similarly, when the target area is located deep within a muscle or tissue that does not have a nearby or sufficiently large lumen to provide access to the target site an invasive procedure may, again, be the only plausible technique. Consequently, in these situations as well as in others, a practitioner may be left with no choice but to perform an invasive procedure to deploy the implant to the targeted area.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for controlling liquid hydrocarbon spills.
More particularly, this invention relates to a method for bodying spilled hydrocarbon liquids to render those liquids non-flowing and amenable to recovery.
In one specific embodiment of the invention, oil spilled on water is contained and immobilized by dissolving in the oil particles of a relatively high molecular weight cryogenically comminuted, rubbery polymer applied to the oil as a slurry in a liquid cryogenic refrigerant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of solid materials have been used to absorb spilled liquid hydrocarbons. Materials commonly used include straw, newspaper, expanded perlite, and a number of polymeric materials of various compositions and configurations. Examples of polymers used to absorb and recover spilled hydrocarbons include particulate expanded polystyrene and polystyrenebutadione as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,631; a foam of an ethylene-alkyl acrylate copolymer recited in U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,514; granular polyurethane particles described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,125 and polyolefin fibers applied as a water slurry as shown by Japanese Patent No. 49-96980.
It is also known to apply refrigerants including solid or liquid carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen to oil spills on water for the purpose either of solidifying the oil or of manipulating its movement. Cole et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,873, for example, disclose the use of solid carbon dioxide particles of freeze oil floating on water thus allowing mechanical removal to the oil from the water. Ross et al in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,031,707 and 4,129,431 disclose techniques for manipulating, or herding, a petroleum mass on water using blocks of solid carbon dioxide or other low temperature material to change the surface tension of the petroleum or to solidify it. Techniques utilizing refrigeration produce effects which necessarily are transitory in nature as both a water body and the atmosphere act as essentially infinite heat sinks which rapidly bring the chilled oil back to temperature equilibrium with the ambient environment.
It has also been recognized that a number of hydrocarbon polymers affect the viscosity characteristics of the hydrocarbon liquid in which they are dissolved. At low concentrations of polymer in hydrocarbon, in the general range of about 5 to 1000 ppm (0.0005% to 0.1%), the fluid flow friction loss is substantially reduced and this effect is utilized on a commercial basis to increasc flow of crude oil and petroleum products through pipelines. At somewhat higher polymer concentrations, on the order of 2000 to 5000 ppm (0.2% to 0.5%), a significant increase in viscosity of the hydrocarbon is observed. At and above about 5000 ppm the liquid begins to gel and at still higher polymer concentrations above about 2% depending upon the particular liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon fraction, the liquid becomes a rubbery semi-solid or solid.
It is common knowledge in the art that non-crosslinked solid polymers are soluble to varying degrees in compatible liquids. The linear hydrocarbon polymers in general and the rubbery hydrocarbon polymers specifically are known to display a relatively high degree of solubility in hydrocarbon liquids. Examples of rubbery hydrocarbon polymers which display a significant degree of solubility in hydrocarbon liquids such as crude oil or kerosene include polyisoprene, polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene copolymers, polyisobutylene and the like.
However, it is also recognized in the art that relatively high molecular weight polymers dissolve very slowly even in the best of solvents. Hours, days or even weeks of contact are required to dissolve such polymers in hydrocarbons at modestly high concentration levels. For example, Meier et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,508 show that 22 hours of stirring contact was required to completely dissolve 1.5 grams of hydrogenated polyisoprene in 200 cc of cyclohexane. Dissolving the same polymer under identical conditions in West Texas crude oil required 70 hours. Attempts to dissolve ethylene-propylene copolymers in the same solvents were incomplete at the end of 168 hours.
Prior art approaches to dissolving a polymer in a liquid hydrocarbon generally include contacting the polymer with the hydrocarbon at ambient to relatively elevated temperatures. It is generally accepted that an increase in temperature will speed dissolution of the polymer as will an increase in surface area as by comminution of the polymer into relatively small particles. Because many of the rubbery polymeric materials are relatively soft and resilient, they are extremely difficult and often impossible to comminute by conventional grinding techniques. Even after comminution, the soformed particles tend to stick and clump together thus negating the practical effect of comminution.
One example of prior art techniques for dissolving rubbery polymers; i.e., polyisobutylene, in hydrocarbons such as kerosene is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,154. Patentees disclose that a commercial polyisobutylene resin preground to a particle size of about 10 to 20 U.S. standard screen scale requires some 2 hours of stirring contact with kerosene until the solution attains sufficient viscosity to keep the undissolved resin particles dispersed. Another 3 to 5 hours is required for complete dissolution of the polymer particles. Patentees also teach that heating up to about 200.degree. F. increases the rate of solution.
It can thus be appreciated that, were prior art techniques used in the application of polymer particles to spilled hydrocarbons, little if any practical change in the physical characteristics of the spilled hydrocarbon could be expected.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of monitoring industrial process plants. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of process data mining.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Industrial process plants employ various means to monitor processes and equipment. These may be Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED) specially made for particular equipment or some mathematical modeling method. IEDs are designed around the concept of a feedback control loop based on traditional control theory. Usually set points are defined within the range of data; violations of these set points trigger an alarm mode. These methods, while excellent at determining violation of set conditions and/or adjusting the control loop accordingly when system parameters change, are usually computationally intensive, even for monitoring and controlling a single piece of equipment. The complexity of such systems increases exponentially when implemented at the plant level, let alone for a fleet-wide implementation.
On the other hand, most mathematical methods employed in the industry currently utilize a two step process for analyzing and monitoring data: a training step and a monitoring step. In the training step, the system “learns” the modeling parameters, based on a-priori data, and in the monitoring step, the system monitors the equipment or the process against the “learned” result.
The major disadvantage of using such a two step process for learning and monitoring is that inconsistent results may be observed if the model changes due to a changing physical process, corrupt data, sensor malfunction etc. In such cases, there are no sure ways to know why the results are inconsistent and this gives rise to the possibility of false alarm.
Another obvious limitation is that a “clean” or optimal set of data is required to train the model before monitoring can be performed. This initial optimal data set usually is not available for the real world and has to be obtained either from simulation or from filtering existing prior data. If the model developed in such a way has some errors, or if some unforeseen event is seen in the data, the model has to be retrained to account for such a data point. This retraining of the model introduces an added effort in the monitoring step.
What is needed, therefore, is a method for analyzing and classifying process data that does not require a clean set of data for training purposes, but that learns parameters on the fly by looking at changing data. What is further needed is such a method that optimizes the control data as more data is added. What is yet further needed is such a method that differentiates between key parameters and base parameters. What is still yet further needed is such a method that combines outputs of related sensors.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data recording disk, a disk drive device and a method for writing servo patterns on a data recording surface of a rotating data recording disk, and more particularly to a method, data recording disk and disk drive having servo patterns that improve efficiency of head positioning and data storage.
2. Description of Related Art
A giant magneto resistive (GMR) head has been developed as a next generation read/write head of a hard disk drive device. The GMR head can generate an output signal which is larger than an output signal generated by a prior magneto resistive (MR) head. The capability of generating the large output signal causes a reduction of a head width of the GMR head.
The GMR head is fabricated by the fabrication process of the MR head, and hence a head width of the GMR head is determined by a tolerance of the fabrication process of the MR head. It is assumed that the head width of the prior MR head is 2 xcexcm, (1 xcexcm=10xe2x88x926 m), the head width of the GMR head is 1 xcexcm, and the tolerance of the fabrication technology of the MR head is 0.4 xcexcm. Since the tolerance of the 0.4 xcexcm is applied to both the MR head and GMR head, the head width of the MR head is 2 xcexcmxc2x10.4 xcexcm, that is, the track width of the MR head varies from 1.6 xcexcm to 2.4 xcexcm, and a variance of the head width is 20%. The head width of the GMR head is 1 xcexcmxc2x10.4 xcexcm, that is, the head width of the GMR head varies from 0.6 xcexcm to 1.4 xcexcm, and a variance of the head width is 40%. In this manner, the variance of the head width of the MR head is 20%, while the variance of the head width of the GMR head is 40% which is larger than that of the MR head.
An uniform track pitch is used in the track arrangement of the prior MR technology. A track pitch is a distance between a track center of one track and a track center of the next track.
If the uniform track pitch of the MR head is used for the GMR head, the following first problem, as shown in FIG. 1 occurs. As described above, the head width of the GMR head varies from 0.6 xcexcm to 1.4 xcexcm. For simplifying the description, three kinds of the GMR heads 1, 2 and 3 are shown in FIG. 1, i.e., the GMR head 1 has the 1.4 xcexcm head width, the GMR head 2 has the 1.0 xcexcm head width, and the GMR head 3 has the 0.6 xcexcm head width. The track width of all the tracks 1, 2 and 3 are the same width, i.e., 1.4 xcexcm, which is the largest width of the GMR head, and the uniform track pitch is used for all the tracks. A gap is provided for separating the adjacent two tracks. And, the center of the GMR heads 1, 2 and 3 are aligned to the track center of each track, respectively. It is apparent that useless or wasted space exists between the GMR heads 1 and 2, and between the GMR heads 2 and 3.
The following second problem occurs with respect to the servo patterns provided in the track. The servo patterns A and B are written to define the tracks, and read by the head to generate a feedback signal which is supplied to a hard disk control device. The detail of the servo patterns A and B are shown in FIG. 4(B) and (C). The servo pattern A has alternately arranged opposite magnetization direction, and the servo pattern B has an uniform magnetization direction. The hard disk control device responds to the feedback signal to position the center of the head on the track center. It is assumed that the GMR heads 1, 2 and 3 are shifted from the track center by a distance of 10% of the track pitch, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 1. For example, it is assumed that the track pitch=track widthxc3x971.1=1.4 xcexcm=1.1xc3x971.6 xcexcm, and the shift distance=track pitchxc3x970.1=0.16 xcexcm. In this case, the GMR heads 1, 2 and 3 are shifted with respect to the servo pattern B, and the variation of the levels of the feedback signals sensed by the GMR heads 1, 2 and 3 are as follows.
In the case of the GMR head 1 of the 1.4 xcexcm head width: 0.16 xcexcm/1.41 xcexcm=0.114. That is, the level of feedback signal is reduced by 11.4%. In the case of the GMR head 2 of the 1.01 xcexcm head width: 0.16 xcexcm/1.0 xcexcm=0.16. That is, the level of feedback signal is reduced by 16%. In the case of the GMR head 3 of the 0.6 xcexcm head width: 0.16 xcexcm/0.6 xcexcm=0.267. That is, the level of feedback signal is reduced by 26.7%.
The variation of the levels of the feedback signal sensed by the prior MR head of 2.4 xcexcm head width, the prior MR head of 2.0 xcexcm head width, and the prior MR head of 1.6 xcexcm head width are, as follows. It is assumed that the track pitch=track widthxc3x971.1=2.4 xcexcmxc3x971.1=2.6 xcexcm, and the shift distance=track pitchxc3x970.1=0.26 xcexcm.
In the case of the MR head of the 2.4 xcexcm head width: 0.26 xcexc m/2.4 xcexc m=0.108. That is, the level of the feedback signal is reduced by 10.8%. In the case of the MR head of the 2.0 xcexcm head width: 0.26 xcexcm /2.0 xcexcm=0.13. That is, the level of the feedback signal is reduced by 13%. In the case of the MR head of the 1.6 xcexcm head width: 0.26 xcexcm/1.6 xcexcm=0.163. That is, the level of the feedback signal is reduced by 16.3%.
In this manner, when the head is shifted by the distance of track pitch multiplied by A, the level of the feedback signal of the MR head to the hard disk control device varies from 10.8% to 16.3%, while the level of the feedback signal of the GMR head to the hard disk control device varies from 11.4% to 26.7%.
The range of the variation of the feedback signals to the hard disk control device should be small, since if the range of the variation becomes large, undesirable phenomenon, such as an oscillation of the entire servo system may occur.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method, data recording disk and disk drive that eliminates useless or wasted space on a data recording disk.
It can also be seen that there is a need for a method, data recording disk and disk drive that provides a track pitch that varies depending o the track width.
It can also be seen that there is a need for a method, data recording disk and disk drive that provides a uniform level of variation I the feedback signals.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a data recording disk that includes a first data recording surface and a second data recording surface, wherein a track pitch of adjacent data recording tracks of the first data recording surface differs from a track pitch of adjacent data recording tracks of the second data recording surface.
A data recording disk according to the present invention includes a first data recording surface and a second data recording surface, wherein the number of data recording tracks of the first data recording surface differs from the number of data recording tracks of the second data recording surface, and the a gap width between the data recording tracks of the first data recording surface differs from a gap width between the data recording tracks of the second data recording surface.
A data recording disk according to the present invention includes a first data recording surface and a second data recording surface, wherein the number of data recording tracks of the first data recording surface differs from the number of data recording tracks of the second data recording surface.
A disk drive device according to the present invention includes data recording surfaces on a rotating data recording disk, each of the data recording surfaces is provided with a read/write head, wherein the number of data recording tracks of a first data recording surface differs from the number of data recording tracks of a second data recording surface, and a gap width between the data recording tracks of the first data recording surface differs from a gap width between the data recording tracks of the second data recording surface.
All data recording tracks of the first data recording surface have substantially the same track width, and all gaps of the first data recording surface have substantially the same gap width.
All data recording tracks of the second data recording surface have substantially the same track width, and all gaps of the second data recording surface have substantially the same gap width.
Data is written in a direction from an outer most data recording track to an inner most data recording track of the first data recording surface, then the data is written in a direction from an outer most data recording track to an inner most data recording track of the second data recording surface.
Addresses of data recording tracks are successively assigned from an outer most data recording track to an inner most data recording track of the first data recording surface, and the address of the inner most data recording track of the first data recording surface is followed by an address of an outer most data recording track of the second data recording surface, and the addresses on the second data recording surface are successively assigned from the outer most data recording track to an inner most data recording track of the second data recording surface.
A method according to the present invention for writing servo patterns for defining a plurality of data recording tracks on a rotating data recording disk by a read/write head contained in a disk drive device, includes positioning the read/write head at one position along a radial direction of the rotating data recording disk, writing servo patterns on the rotating data recording disk by the read/write head positioned at the one position, reading the servo patterns by the read/write head positioned at the one position to detect an amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head, moving the read/write head from the one position along the radial direction, reading the servo patterns by the read/write head moved from the one position to detect that an amplitude of output signal generated by the moved read/write head becomes 50xe2x88x92Gw/2% of the amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head when it is positioned at the one position, wherein the Gw is a predetermined gap width between the data recording tracks, stopping the read/write head when the detection is made, and overlappingly writing the servo patterns on the rotating data recording disk by the stopped read/write head.
A method according to the present invention for writing servo patterns for defining a plurality of data recording tracks on a rotating data recording disk by a read/write head contained in a disk drive device, includes specifying a gap width between adjacent data recording tracks, writing servo patterns for defining a plurality of data recording tracks separated by the specified gap width on the rotating data recording disk by the read/write head, detecting that the total number of data recording tracks is smaller than a predetermined number, specifying an overlap width of adjacent data recording tracks, and rewriting servo patterns for defining a plurality of data recording tracks overlapped each other by the overlap width on the rotating data recording disk by the read/write head, the rewriting of servo patterns including positioning the read/write head at one position along a radial direction of the rotating data recording disk, rewriting the servo patterns on the rotating data recording disk by the read/write head positioned at the one position, reading the rewritten servo patterns by the read/write head positioned at the one position to detect an amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head, moving the read/write head from the one position along the radial direction, reading the rewritten servo patterns by the read/write head moved from the one position to detect that an amplitude of output signal generated by the moved read/write head becomes 50+Y/2% of the amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head when it is positioned at the one position, wherein the Y is the overlap width, stopping the movement of the read/write head when the detection is made, and rewriting the servo patterns on the rotating data recording disk by the stopped read/write head stopped.
A method according to the present invention for writing servo patterns for defining a plurality of data recording tracks on each of a plurality of data recording surfaces on rotating data recording disks by a read/write head provided on each of the plurality of data recording surfaces contained is a disk drive device, includes specifying a gap width between adjacent data recording tracks, writing servo patterns on a plurality of servo tracks for defining the plurality of data recording tracks separated by the specified gap width on one data recording surface by its read/write head, storing a count value indicating the number of servo tracks written on the one data recording surface, repeating the writing of servo patterns and storing the count value until the servo patterns are written on all data recording surfaces, determining whether the total number of data recording tracks written on the data recording surfaces exceeds a predetermined number, or not, specifying an overlap width of adjacent data recording tracks, if the total number of data recording tracks written on data surfaces does not exceed the over the top width, finding the data recording surface containing the least number of data recording tracks by determining the count values of the all data recording surfaces, and rewriting the servo patterns for defining the plurality of data recording tracks overlapped each other by the overlap width on the data recording surface found to contain the least number of data recording tracks to its read/write head, the rewriting including positioning the read/write head at one position along a radial direction of the data recording surface, rewriting servo patterns on the data recording surface by the read/write head positioned at the one position, reading the rewritten servo patterns by the read/write head positioned at the one position to detect an amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head, moving the read/write head from the one position along the radial direction, reading the rewritten servo patterns by the read/write head moved from the one position to detect that an amplitude of output signal generated by the moved read/write head becomes 50+Y/2% of the amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head when it is positioned at the one position, wherein the Y is the overlap width, stopping the movement of the read/write head when the detection is made, and rewriting the servo patterns on the data recording surface by the stopped read/write head stopped.
A method according to the present invention for writing servo patterns for defining a plurality of data recording tracks on each of a plurality of data recording surfaces on rotating data recording disks by a read/write head provided on each of the plurality of data recording surfaces contained is a disk drive device, includes specifying a gap width between adjacent data recording tracks, positioning the read/write head at one position along a radial direction of one data recording surface, setting a count value of a counter to an initial value, writing servo patterns on the data recording surface by the read/write head positioned at the one position, reading the servo patterns by the read/write head positioned at the one position to detect an amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head, moving the read/write head from the one position along the radial direction, reading the servo patterns by the read/write head moved from the one position to detect that an amplitude of output signal generated by the moved read/write head becomes 50xe2x88x92Gw/2% of the amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head when it is positioned at the one position, wherein the Gw is the specified gap width between the data recording tracks, stopping the read/write head when the detection is made, incrementing the count value, overlappingly writing the servo patterns on the data recording surface by the stopped read/write head, repeating the reading, moving, reading and stopping until the servo patterns are entirely written on the one data recording surface, electing next data recording surface and repeating the positioning, setting, writing, reading, moving, reading, stopping, incrementing, overlapping and repeating, determining whether the total number of data recording tracks written on all data recording surfaces exceeds a predetermined number, or not, specifying an overlap width of adjacent data recording tracks, if the total number of data recording tracks written on all data recording surfaces does not exceed the predetermined number, finding the data recording surface containing the least number of data recording tracks by determining the count values of the all data recording surfaces, and rewriting the servo patterns for defining the plurality of data recording tracks overlapped each other by the overlap width on the data recording surface found containing the least number of data recording tracks by its read/write head, the rewriting including positioning the read/write head at one position along a radial direction of the data recording surface, rewriting servo patterns on the data recording surface by the read/write head positioned at the one position, reading the rewritten servo patterns by the read/write head positioned at the one position to detect an amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head, moving the read/write head from the one position along the radial direction, reading the rewritten servo patterns by the read/write head moved from the one position to detect that an amplitude of output signal generated by the moved read/write head becomes 50+Y/2% of the amplitude of output signal generated by the read/write head when it is positioned at the one position, wherein the Y is the overlap width, stopping the movement of the read/write head when the detection is made, and rewriting the servo patterns on the data recording surface by the stopped read/write head stopped.
The total number of data recording tracks written on the all data recording surfaces is determined by referring to the count values of the all data recording surfaces.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to accompanying descriptive matter, in which there are illustrated and described specific examples of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.


This invention relates to a slider block for a scroll compressor wherein the inner bore of the slider block has a clearance recess to allow for movement of the eccentric pin that moves relative to the slider block bore.
Scroll compressors are becoming widely utilized in refrigerant compression applications. In a scroll compressor a first scroll member has a generally spiral wrap extending from a base. A second scroll member has its own wrap which interfits with the spiral wrap of the first scroll member. The second scroll member is caused to orbit relative to the first scroll member to entrap and then compress a refrigerant. The second scroll member is generally driven to orbit by an electric rotary motor driving the second scroll member through a Oldham coupling. The connection between the driveshaft of the motor and the orbiting scroll is through a slider block, such that the second scroll has the ability to move relative to the first scroll under certain circumstances. Typically, the shaft has an eccentric pin extending upwardly into an opening in the slider block. The opening has a flat drive surface that is in contact with a barrel shaped drive surface on the eccentric pin. The bore of the slider block has two opposed curved surfaces. The pin may slide relative to the flat surface on the slider block, such that the orbiting scroll can move towards and away from the wrap on the first scroll member.
In one type of slider block, the accurate surfaces that define the two curved portions of the bore need to be spaced relatively far inwardly to provide for additional structure on the outer periphery of the slider block. In particular, one type of slider block has an oil notch at its side. The formation of the oil notch requires that the curved surface be spaced relatively far inwardly to provide for sufficient wall thickness. However, if the wall is sufficiently thick such that the curved surface is spaced inwardly, it may well be there is insufficient clearance for the pin to move to certain positions with out contacting the opposed curved surface.
The present invention is directed to addressing the above-mentioned problem.
A scroll compressor is provided with a slider block having a pair of curved opposed surfaces. The surfaces are preferably centered on a common center line. A pair of drive flats separates the two curved surfaces. A recess is formed into one of the two curved surfaces to provide additional clearance for movement of the eccentric pin. Preferably the recess is generally opposed to structure on the outer periphery of the slider block; the structure is preferably a notch to allow for flow of oil. The notch is associated with one of the two curved surfaces, and the curved surface is spaced inwardly from the notch to provide sufficient wall thickness. The inwardly spaced curved surface results in the need for additional clearance provided by the recess.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.


The demand for microphones for mobile equipment such as mobile telephones, headsets and cameras tends to follow the growing demand for mobile equipment—for instance mobile telephones.
The demand has for many years been rather simple in that the demand was for microphones with extremely low costs and for microphones suitable for production in very high volumes. The performance of such microphones was comparable from one manufacturer to another and was at a level comparable to that of telephony systems. In recent years, however, the demand has changed to also be for microphones with a performance above that of telephony systems. Today there appears to be a trend in the demand heading towards so-called high-fidelity (hi-fi) quality.
Use of integrated digital processors, with ever increasing performance, in the different types of mobile equipment has also brought attention to the performance of the more peripheral links of the signal processing chain from pick-up of a signal over transmission and/or storage to reproduction of the signal. Such more peripheral link is for instance the microphone or the circuitry embodied with a microphone transducer in a microphone capsule. A microphone capsule—also denoted a microphone element—can include shock mounts, acoustic isolators, protective covers and a semiconductor die, with integrated circuitry, in addition to the microphone transducer. The microphone transducer and the integrated electronic circuit is embodied in the microphone capsule converts acoustic energy to electrical energy so as to provide an electrical microphone signal.
It has been discovered that integrated digital processors can be configured to repair some damages to a microphone signal occurred due to inadequate signal conditioning in the microphone capsule. But in general it is far more efficient not to disregard aspects of signal conditioning in peripheral links of the signal processing chain to thereby avoid destroying the microphone signal and consequently being able to provide far better repair of the signal if needed at all. The microphone signal may be destroyed by disregarding a noise source and/or by overloading an amplifier (in the capsule).
Thus, there is a demand for high quality microphones, but unfortunately the demand for low price seems to persist. As cost of a semiconductor die is directly related to the size of the die it is important, for the purpose of reducing price, that the electronic circuit integrated on the die is as small or compact as possible. Therefore, very simple circuits are desired, with a due regard to a desired (high) performance.
It has been discovered that meeting high performance demands is not simply a question of providing a more robust or conservative design. Due to the important cost issues and signal conditioning aspects it is found that there is no single one fixed signal conditioning circuit that is able to provide high performance in various acoustic situations. Such various situations could be described as a voice signal with/without loud/quiet background noise, a loud or quiet voice signal or combinations thereof. Thus, the signal conditioning needed to provide high performance is different from one situation to another.
It has therefore been proposed—despite the additional cost of a more complex semiconductor die in the capsule—to provide the semiconductor die with means for the circuit on the die to adapt to a given acoustic situation. Thereby, high performance can be achieved in different acoustic situations. In some designs of microphones it may be equitable to provide the adaptation to different acoustic situations by a control loop embodied entirely on the semiconductor die, but in other designs it may be equitable to provide the control loop to provide a control feedback from a circuit external to the microphone capsule. Thereby it is necessary to configure the semiconductor die for an external circuit to make the circuit in the semiconductor die adapt to a situation. To this end cost is generally an obstacle simply to have one or more additional pad(s) for receiving such an external feedback.
Thus, since high quality microphones are sought after, more complex circuitry is inherently needed which—all other things being equal—has a higher power consumption. Since the mobile equipment is battery powered current consumption of the device including portion thereof is subject to be minimized as far as possible. This adds an additional and important dimension to the demand.
The microphone is based on the principle of a capacitor, which is formed by a movable member that constitutes a membrane of the microphone and another member, e.g. a so-called back plate of the microphone. One of the members of the microphone, preferably the membrane, is charged by a constant electrical charge. The charge is either provided as an electrostatic charge captured on one of the members or provided by a voltage source e.g. a charge pump or voltage step-up circuit on the semiconductor die.
A sound pressure detected by the microphone will cause the membrane to move and consequently change the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the membrane member and the other member. When the charge on the capacitor formed by these two members is kept constant, the voltage across the two capacitor members will change with the incoming sound pressure level. As the charge on the microphone capacitor has to be kept constant to maintain proportionality between sound pressure and voltage across the capacitor members, it is important not to load the microphone capacitance with any resistive load. A resistive load will discharge the capacitor and thereby degrade or ruin the capacitors performance as a microphone. A capacitive load will reduce sensitivity of the microphone transducer.
Therefore, in order to pick up a microphone signal from the capacitor, amplifiers configured with the primary objective of providing high input resistance are preferred to buffer the capacitor from circuits which are optimized for other objectives. The amplifier connected to pick up the microphone signal is typically denoted a preamplifier or a buffer amplifier or simply a buffer. The preamplifier is typically connected physically very close to the capacitor—within a distance of very few millimetres or fractions of millimetres.
For small sized microphones only a very limited amount of electrical charge can be stored on one of the microphone members. This further emphasizes the requirement of high input resistance. Consequently, the input resistance of preamplifiers for small sized microphones has to be extremely high—in the magnitude of Giga ohms. Additionally, the input capacitance of this amplifier has to be very small in order to achieve a fair sensitivity to sound pressure.
Traditionally, this preamplifier has been implemented as a simple JFET. The JFET solution has been sufficient, but demands in the telecom industry call for ever smaller microphones—with increased sensitivity. This yields a contradiction in terms since sensitivity of the microphone capacitor drops as size goes down. All other things being equal, this will further reduce the sensitivity of the microphone and the buffer in combination. The demands in the telecom industry are among other things driven by market trends which encompass hands free operation of different types of small-sized equipment and more widespread application of microphones in e.g. camera applications.
So obviously, there is a need for microphone preamplifiers with gain and very low input capacitance, and lowest possible preamplifier die area. Additionally, low noise is important. Low noise is important as noise, during design of the microphone, can be traded for area—i.e. if the circuit has low noise and a noise lower than required, this noise level overhead can be traded for lower chip die area and it is thus possible to manufacture the preamplifier at lower cost.
When designing a preamplifier for a microphone there is normally three noise sources. These sources are noise from a bias resistor, 1/f noise from an input transistor, and white noise from the input transistor. Typically, input transistor noise dominates. Both white noise and 1/f noise can be minimized by optimizing the length and the width of the input transistor(s). This applies for any input stage e.g. a single transistor stage or a differential stage.
The noise from the bias resistor can also be minimized. If the bias resistor is made very large then the noise from the resistor will be high pass filtered and the in-band noise will be very low. This has the effect though that the lower bandwidth limit of the amplifier will be very low. This can be a problem as the input of the amplifier will settle at a nominal value only after a very long period of time after power up. Additionally, signals with intensive low frequency content arising form e.g. slamming of a door or infra sound in a car can overload the amplifier. Another related problem is small leakage currents originating from mounting of the die inside a microphone module. Such currents will, due to the extreme input impedance, establish a DC offset. This will reduce the overload margin of the amplifier.
Microphones is typically manufactured with a yield of approximately 80-90% i.e. 80-90% of the total number of produced microphones satisfy specifications on their performance. Unfortunately, 10-20% of the production is discarded since for instance sensitivity of the microphone does not satisfy the specification. A solution to reducing the discarding rate would be highly appreciated by the industry.
Another problem of e.g. electret microphones is the ageing phenomena's in which the electret microphone might change sensitivity over time thereby leading to a discrepancy between the electret microphone output and the gain of the buffer amplifier.
A microphone subjected to a background noise comprising low frequency sound at high amplitudes, e.g. from a motorized vehicle, may be prone to the problem of e.g. clipping the sound signal from the microphone. In case a voice signal is present in combination with such a background signal, the information in the voice signal may be lost since the sound pressure results in the corresponding electrical signal being clipped. The clipping of the microphone signal may occur when the amplitude of the low frequency background superposed on the voice signal overload the amplifier amplifying the signal from the microphone e.g. by exceeding a maximum sound pressure that the microphone and amplifier may handle e.g. 110 dB SPL. Minor overloading of the amplifier may result in signal clipping while severe overloading of the amplifier may yield a period of time, e.g. in the order of seconds, where the amplifier has ceased to operate as an amplifier.


The invention relates to a method for setting a conicity of a die of a strand casting installation, in particular a slab strand casting installation, during a casting procedure, comprising the following method steps: measuring temperature values along at least one centric measuring path running in a casting direction along an adjustably disposed die wall; and measuring temperature values along at least one peripheral measuring path running in a casting direction along the adjustably disposed die wall, wherein the peripheral measuring path runs between the centric measuring path and a lateral periphery of the die wall, and a spacing of the peripheral measuring path from said lateral periphery of the die wall is smaller than a spacing of the centric measuring path from the other lateral periphery of the die wall.
The invention furthermore relates to a device for a strand casting installation, in particular a slab strand casting installation, comprising: at least one die having mutually opposite, adjustably disposed die walls; at least one adjustment mechanism for adjusting the die walls; at least one actuation electronics system for actuating the adjustment mechanism; at least one centric sensor installation, connected to the actuation electronics system, for measuring temperature values along at least one centric measuring path running in a casting direction along one of the adjustably disposed die walls; and at least one peripheral sensor installation, connected to the actuation electronics system, for measuring temperature values along at least one peripheral measuring path running in a casting direction along the adjustably disposed die wall, wherein the peripheral measuring path runs between the centric measuring path and a lateral periphery of the die wall, and a spacing of the peripheral measuring path from said lateral periphery of the die wall is smaller than a spacing of the centric measuring path from the other lateral periphery of the die wall.
A respective method and a respective device are known from DE 10 2014 227 013 A1.
In the strand casting of metals in a strand casting installation, the strand width of a cast strand can be set by way of adjustable die walls on mutually opposite narrow sides of a die. The die comprises a casting passage that continues from an inlet end by way of which a metal melt is cast into the die, to an outlet end from which a strand having a strand shell and a liquid core exits, said casting passage in the cross section perpendicular to a casting direction which is defined as the direction of the metal melt flowing through the die having a rectangular shape. The strand can be configured as a slab, for example.
During cooling of the metal melt within the die, a loss of volume arises, this meaning that a cross-sectional area of the metal melt, or of the strand created therefrom, respectively, is larger at the inlet end of the die than a cross-sectional area of the metal melt, or of the strand, respectively, at the outlet end of the die. In order for a desired guiding of the metal melt, or of the strand, respectively, to be guaranteed by way of a contact with the die across the full area, the casting passage of the die is configured so as to conically taper in the casting direction. The conicity of the casting passage of the die is usually set by way of a variation in the incline of the die walls adjustably disposed on mutually opposite narrow sides. Without such a conical configuration of the casting passage of the die, the strand would no longer be guided in the lower region of the die, or in the region of the outlet end, respectively. In this instance, a controlled dissipation of heat from the strand to the usually water-cooled die walls is no longer possible. For the sake of simplicity, the conicity of the casting passage of the die in the context of the present application is referred to as the conicity of the die.
FIG. 1A shows a result in the case of an optimal conicity of a die 1. Shown is a lateral portion of the die 1 in the cross section perpendicular to the casting direction, said die 1 having two mutually opposite die walls 2 which are in each case assigned to one broad side of the die 1. Moreover, the die 1 has two mutually opposite, adjustably disposed eyeballs 3 which in each case are assigned to a narrow side of the die 1, and of which only one die wall 3 is shown in FIG. 1A. A strand 4 which has a strand shell 5 and a core 6 of liquid metal is guided through the die 1. The strand 4 bears on the entire area of the die walls 2 and 3, and on account thereof is guided in an optimal manner and simultaneously cooled by means of the die walls 2 and 3.
FIG. 1B shows a result in the case of an inadequate conicity of a die 1. On account thereof, the strand 4, or the strand shell 5, respectively, bulges outwards on the narrow sides, and the strand 4 simultaneously flattens towards the periphery, thus having a lesser thickness at said periphery than in a central region. Moreover, the periphery of the strand 4 no longer bears on the die walls 2 and 3 across the entire area such that the strand 4 is not guided in an optimal manner and is non-uniformly cooled by means of the die walls 2 and 3.
FIG. 1C shows a result in the case of an excessive conicity of a die 1. On account thereof, a concavity 6 arises on a narrow lateral face of the strand 4, or of the strand shell 5, respectively, and longitudinal depressions 7 near the periphery, the so-called rain gutters, arise on the broad sides of the strand 4. On account thereof, the narrow sides and the peripheral portions of the broad sides of the strand 4 no longer bear on the die walls 2 and 3 across the entire area such that the strand 4 is not guided in an optimal manner and is non-uniformly cooled by means of the die walls 2 and 3. On account of the inadequate cooling on the narrow sides of the strand 4, the strand shell 5 on the narrow sides of the strand 4 is not configured so as to be sufficiently strong. On account thereof, bulges are formed on the narrow sides of the strand 4 after the strand 4 has exited the die 1 and is in a secondary cooling in a strand casting installation.
The formation of concavities on the narrow sides of a strand can conventionally be minimized or eliminated, respectively, by reducing the conicity of the die. By contrast thereto, if it is established that the strand after passing through the die has bulges on the narrow sides, the conicity of the die is usually increased. However, if the bulges on the narrow sides of the strand are caused by an excessive conicity of the die according to FIG. 1C, the defect pattern of the longitudinal depressions on the broad sides of the strand are amplified on account of the further amplification of the conicity of the die for the intended reduction of the bulges, as is shown in FIG. 1D. This can lead to fissures on the strand shell on the base of the respective longitudinal depression, and under certain circumstances can lead to strand breakages in the region of the respective longitudinal depressions. The overall quality of the strand is reduced on account of the longitudinal depressions.


This invention pertains to a circuit for multiplying one variable by another and is particularly concerned with a circuit which is useful in a number of applications one of which is in an electronic engine control circuit for use with an internal combustion engine spark timing system.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,833, dated Sept. 7, 1976, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, there is disclosed a circuit for providing a programmed engine control function signal which is specifically disclosed as a programmed vacuum advance signal. This programmed vacuum advance signal is developed from engine manifold vacuum and from an accumulation function which is representative of the duration for which the engine has been operating in selected operating modes. Within its control range between maximum and minimum limits of vacuum spark advance, the programmed vacuum advance signal is developed as a function of the product of these two variables, namely (1) instantaneous engine manifold vacuum, as monitored by a vacuum transducer and associated transducer circuit, and (2) the accumulation function which increases in magnitude as a function of time when the engine is in a non-idle operating condition and which decreases in magnitude as a function of time when the engine is operating at idle condition. The vacuum transducer and associated transducer circuit disclosed in that patent develop a constant frequency rectangular waveform wherein the pulse width of the pulses comprising the waveform is representative of engine manifold vacuum. However, the relationship is such that at zero manifold vacuum the pulses have a definite non-zero pulse width. Thus, the product of the pulse width of the rectangular waveform signal by the accumulation function would yield an incorrect result where it is desired to obtain the product of manifold vacuum by the accumulation function. In order to obtain the correct product of manifold vacuum and accumulation function signal, it becomes necessary to make allowance for the non-zero width of the pulses which exists at zero manifold vacuum. Accordingly, a special circuit which makes this allowance is provided in that patent.
The present invention is concerned with an improvement upon the scheme disclosed in the foregoing patent. The advantages of the improvement afforded by the present invention are as follows.
The gain of the output amplifier is much easier to set. The previous system uses a more complex vacuum amplifier requireing proper choice of four interactive resistors. It is often difficult to find four appropriate resistors among standard values in order to achieve a desired gain while staying within impedance limits imposed by the system. With the present invention, development of engine control systems can be speeded up as systems can now be provided with a variable gain adjusted by a potentiometer. This capability was not available in the previous system as simultaneous adjustment of four interacting resistors was not practical. Additional advantages of the invention will be seen as the description proceeds.


This invention relates to a speaker supporting unit which is most adapted to attach a speaker unit to a door panel of an automobile.
In an audio system installed in an automobile, a speaker unit is often attached to a door panel of the automobile. One of the prior art technique for mounting the speaker unit is shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 which employs a pair of dish-shaped mounting bases 62 and 64. The interior mounting base 62 is inserted through a circular opening 60a formed in the door panel 60 to be engaged within the other mounting base 64. These mounting bases 62 and 64 are then joined together by fastening screws 65, 65. The mounting base assembly is thus secured to the door panel 60 by rims thereof tightened across the door panel 60. There are interposed between the mounting bases 62 and 64 a predetermined number of washers 66 corresponding to the thickness of the door panel 60, to prevent deformation of the mounting bases when tightened. A speaker 70 to which a grille lid 68 is attached is contained in the mounting base 62 and secured by any suitable fastening means (not shown). In this prior art, a spacer 72 may be additionally employed in a manner as particularly shown in FIG. 13 to change and adjust the orientation of the speaker 70, in which case the screw 74 should be accompanied by a bracket 76 to thereby extend in a direction perpendicular to the inclined orientation of the speaker 70.
According to the foregoing prior art, however, the orientation of the speaker 70 will be determined in dependence upon the inclination of the spacer 72. It has been impossible to adjust as desired the orientation of the speaker within a wide adjustable range. One or more sets of the spacer and the corresponding bracket should be prepared and selectively used upon necessity, which not only is troublesome but also may cause accidental loss of the adjustment members. Further, as the inner diameter of the mount base should be large enough to allow the orientation of the speaker to be changed, there might be a great probability of foreign matter entering into the mount base.


The present disclosure relates to an optical communication device, a reception apparatus, a transmission apparatus, and a transmission and reception system.
With the recent development of information-oriented society, an information processing apparatus such as personal computers (PCs) and servers handles an explosively increasing amount of information (the amount of data or signal). With such an increase in the amount of data, there is a growing necessity to transmit and receive more data between apparatus, devices, and chips at higher speed.
As an example, in a processor such as central processing units (CPUs) used in computers, the increase in its speed and functionality is progressing. In related art, the transmission and reception of data between processors are mainly carried out, for example, by using electrical signals through copper wiring on a substrate. However, the high-speed data transmission carried out by using such data transmission technology employing electrical signals (electrical communication or interconnect technology) causes problems of RC signal delay, impedance mismatching, EMC/EMI, and crosstalk, which makes it difficult to further increase data transmission speed.
Thus, the optical communication technology that modulates electrical signals into optical data and transmits data using light (or optical interconnect technology) has been developed as data transmission technology that can be substituted for the electrical communication technology. For example, JP 2005-181610A discloses a socket for optical communication that includes an installation part for installing an optical waveguide, a light emitting element for making light incident to the optical waveguide, and a light receiving element for receiving light emitted from the optical waveguide. In this socket, at least one of the light emitting element and the light receiving element is arranged corresponding to the optical waveguide. In addition, JP 2007-25310A discloses a technique that makes a socket for optical communication thinner by defining a recess in the socket and fitting an interposer substrate into the recess.


A previous invention disclosed in U.S. patent Ser. No. 13/089,576 describes the production of a concentrated organic soil amendment. This organic soil amendment and similar concentrated compost tea is typically supplied in a concentrated liquid form. This concentrated organic soil amendment allows reduced shipping volume and weight of the product. It also can be stored at reduced temperature thereby minimizing adverse effects to the efficacy of the product. The concentrated liquid soil amendment or fertilizer needs to be diluted before administering to plants and/or soil, such as turf grass or crops. When the administering area is large, a vehicle mounted tank is typically required. Diluting large quantities of concentrate can be slow and cumbersome, and may also pose occupational hazard to the operators if they have to carry heavy containers of the soil amendment or fertilizer atop a vehicle mounted tank. A convenient, fast and safe soil amendment and fertilizer storage and dispensing system is thus desired.


In liquid storage tanks having floating roofs, the floating roof is constructed at a slightly smaller diameter than the side wall of the tank to define an annular space that permits some freedom of movement as the roof is raised and lowered by the fluid product stored in the tank. The annular space is sealed by a mechanical ring seal of which there are a number of designs such as those disclosed in Moyer, U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,930 and Lippiello et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,992.
Seals are necessary in most installations where the liquid contents vaporize and cause loss of product and pollution. Improved seals have been developed that permit the storage of liquids that are more volatile than were previously stored in floating roof tanks resulting in considerable savings over fixed roof designs.
After extended periods of use, seals tend to break down and need to be replaced. In some older designs, certain components such as shoe plates were constructed from arcuate segments fastened together to form essentially one continuous ring around the tank. To replace or repair any ring seal component, the tank had to be taken out of service because environmental concerns prohibited use of a tank containing harmful vapor without a ring seal. Taking a tank out of service is time-consuming, hazardous and expensive.