Light weapons, which are used against human beings, have been widely used for many years now. There are known a variety of ammunition for light weapons, such as: conventional bullets, tracing bullets that are mostly used under dark conditions, hollow point bullets that explode upon impact, hand grenades, shells, etc.
Hereinafter, when the terms “gun” or “rifle” are used, if not otherwise specifically stated, these should be understood as relating to any type of light weapon, such as a pistol, shotgun, hunting weapons, machine gun, automatic rifle, submachine gun, etc.
When shooting a bullet of any type with a rifle, very accurate aim is required in order to damage the target, as the bullet generally does not include any charge. If the bullet misses the target, the target suffers no damage. Even when the bullet hits an object proximate to the target, the damage to the target is in most cases minor. The ricochets that a bullet can cause are generally small in size, and without most of the energy of the impact, the resulting damage to the target is small. Therefore, whoever wants to escape from a direct hit by such a bullet has to seek protection behind a strong and solid object. In such a case, if the bullet cannot penetrate this solid object, or event when it penetrates but loses most of its energy, the target generally escapes significant damage.
The art has failed to provide means for a light weapon firing a bullet to hit a target hidden behind a strong and solid object. The only solution that the art has provided to that problem is the firing of a hand grenade, or a heavier projectile containing explosive charge by means of a heavier weapon. Moreover, no solution has been provided yet by the art for the case in which the bullet passes very close to the target, but misses it.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bullet for a light weapon, which can cause significant damage to a target, even without directly hitting it.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bullet that can damage a target hidden behind a strong and solid object.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide said bullet with no change to the structure of the cartridge or the firing weapon.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the description proceeds.


Conventionally, as a fastener element used in a slide fastener, there have been known synthetic resin fastener elements, each being individually formed by performing injection molding of synthetic resin on a fastener tape, continuous fastener elements formed by forming monofilament in a coil shape or a zigzag shape, metal fastener elements formed by swaging a Y-shaped metal element material onto a fastener tape, or the like.
The synthetic resin fastener elements are usually formed to straddle a fastener so as to be disposed on a first surface as an outer surface of the fastener tape and a second surface as a tape back surface. The synthetic resin fastener elements include an upper half element portion arranged on the first surface side of the fastener tape and a lower half element portion arranged on the second surface side of the fastener tape.
The synthetic resin fastener element is mostly formed such that the upper half element portion and the lower half element portion have symmetrical shapes, but there is a case in which the upper half element portion and the lower half element portion are asymmetrically formed in different shapes, for example, in order to improve the appearance, the feel (the touch), or the like of the slide fastener.
Examples of the fastener elements in which the upper half element portion and the lower half element portion have shapes different from each other are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 45-33956 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 47-37061 (Patent Document 2), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-320642 (Patent document 3), and the like.
For example, a synthetic resin fastener element 51 described in Patent Document 1 includes an upper half element portion 53 arranged on a first surface side of a fastener tape 52 and a lower half element portion 54 arranged on a second surface side of the fastener tape 52 as illustrated in FIG. 12. The upper half element portion 53 includes a first tape-sandwiching portion 53a having a nearly rectangular shape in the front view and a triangular head 53b that extends from the first tape-sandwiching portion 53a toward the outside of the tape and is formed in a triangular shape in which a dimension in a tape length direction (hereinafter, this dimension is referred to as an element width dimension) gradually decreases toward the forefront thereof.
The lower half element portion 54 of the fastener element 51 includes a second tape-sandwiching portion that sandwiches the fastener tape 52 together with the first tape-sandwiching portion 53a, a neck 54a that extends from the second tape-sandwiching portion toward the outside of the tape and has a shape that is constricted in the element width direction, and a coupling head 54b that extends from the forefront of the neck 54a to be shaped like a bulge.
Particularly, in the fastener element 51 of Patent Document 1, an upper surface of the upper half element portion 53 and a lower surface of the lower half element portion 54 are continuous flat surfaces, and the triangular head 53b of the upper half element portion 53 is set to be thinner in thickness (dimension of the vertical direction) than the coupling head 54b of the lower half element portion 54.
According to Patent Document 1, since a slide fastener 50 is configured by using the above-described fastener element 51, the entire thickness of the fastener element 51 can be reduced. Further, since part of the coupling head 54b of the other coupling party can be covered with a side edge portion of the triangular head 53b, strong coupling to the extent that chain breaking is difficult to occur is obtained.
Next, a synthetic resin fastener element 61 described in Patent Document 2 includes an upper half element portion 62 and a lower half element portion 63 as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14. The upper half element portion 62 of each fastener element 61 has a nearly trapezoidal shape when viewed from the front and includes a first tape-sandwiching portion 62a that sandwiches a fastener tape together with the lower half element portion 63, a neck 62b that extends from the first tape-sandwiching portion 62a toward the outside of the tape, and a coupling head 62c that extends from a forefront of the neck 62b to form a bulge shape. In Patent Document 2, the coupling head 62c of the upper half element portion 62 is formed to have a cross section of a semicircular shape.
Meanwhile, the lower half element portion 63 of the fastener element 61 includes only a second tape-sandwiching portion 63a arranged to correspond to the first tape-sandwiching portion 62a and the neck 62b of the upper half element portion 62. Below the coupling head 62c of the upper half element portion 62, a space with nothing formed is present.
In the slide fastener 60 of Patent Document 2 having the above-described fastener element 61, since the coupling head 62c of the upper half element portion 62 has a semicircular cross section, the fastener tape 64 can be easily bent toward the upper half element portion 62 side at a small curvature in a state in which the left and right fastener elements 61 are coupled. According to Patent Document 2, a tape inner side edge portion of the first tape-sandwiching portion 62a in each fastener element 61 is formed to have a larger width than the coupling head 62c, and thus coupling of the left and right fastener elements 61 can be prevented from coming loose in the bending state of the fastener tape 64.
A synthetic resin fastener element 71 described in Patent Document 3 has an upper half element portion 72 and a lower half element portion 73 as illustrated in FIG. 15. The upper half element portion 72 of each fastener element 71 includes a first tape-sandwiching portion 72a having a nearly rectangular shape when viewed from the front and a triangular head 72b that extends from the first tape-sandwiching portion 72a toward the outside of the tape and is formed in a triangular shape in which an element width dimension gradually decreases toward the forefront.
The lower half element portion 73 of the fastener element 71 includes a second tape-sandwiching portion 73a that sandwiches a fastener tape 74 together with the first tape-sandwiching portion 72a, a neck 73b that extends from the second tape-sandwiching portion 73a toward the outside of the tape, and a coupling head 73c that extends from a forefront of the neck 73b to form a bulge shape.
Further, in the fastener element 71, an upper surface of the upper half element portion 72 is formed to be curved such that a central portion in an element width direction and a central portion in an element length direction can protrude upward. Meanwhile, a lower surface of the lower half element portion 73 is formed to be a flat plane surface.
In a slide fastener 70 having the fastener element 71 of Patent Document 3, the upper surface of the upper half element portion 72 has the curved surface that bulges in the form of a gentle circular arc, and thus the feel or the touch of the fastener element 71 can be improved, and the appearance of the element row can be improved.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 45-33956
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 47-37061
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-320642


The present invention relates to the anaerobic digestion treatment of biochemical wastes. More particularly, the invention relates to a possess for removing BOD (biological oxygen demand) and nitrogen and phosphorus from waste water discharged from the process of the anaerobic digestion treatment of a biochemical waste.
The anaerobic digestion treatment of biochemical wastes have heretofore been adopted for treating wastes having a high BOD value, for example, excessive activated sludges, excretions and waste waters from the alcohol distillation process. The anaerobic digestion treatment has recently attracted attention in the art because of various advantages. For example, since the digestion gas generated as a by-product can be used as the energy source of the treatment apparatus, the treatment cost is low, and the digestion sludge discharged as a by-product can be used as a high quality organic fertilizer.
One example of such anaerobic digestion treatment is disclosed in the specification of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 685,901 filed on May 12, 1976 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,801, and this treatment process comprises the following two main steps; the primary treatment step of subjecting the starting waste water to pulverization, heating and acid addition to form an organic slurry, and the secondary treatment step of subjecting the organic slurry to anaerobic fermentation in the presence of bacteria to decompose it to digested sludge and methane gas. In general, since BOD is left at a concentration of several hundred ppm in the anaerobically treated water (the effluent separated from the digested sludge by solid-liquid separation), the treated water is diluted and subjected to the aerobic digestion treatment to remove BOD therefrom and then, the treated water is discharged into sewerage or the like. This discharged water still contains 500 to 800 ppm of nitrogen and about 10 ppm of phosphorus. Accordingly, the anaerobic digestion treatment involves a problem of occurrence of secondary pollution by promotion of eutrophication of rivers, seas and the like by nitrogen and phosphorus contained in discharged water. As means for removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, there are known physical, chemical and biological processes, but there is not known a process for removing nitrogen and phosphorus from waste waters from the anaerobic digestion treatment process.


Computer networks, such as the Internet, enable transmission and reception of a vast array of information. In recent years, for example, some commercial retail stores have attempted to make product information available to customers over the Internet. It is becoming increasingly popular for information providers to provide mechanisms by which customers can compare such product information across multiple manufacturers and retailers. For simplicity, manufacturers, retailers, and others that sell products to customers are interchangeably referred to herein as “merchants.” For example, Internet search/shopping sites allow customers to compare pricing information for products across multiple merchants.
Customers searching for a product often desire to view products that are related to or serve as alternatives to that product. For example a customer searching for a particular tablet computer may want to view product information regarding comparable tablet computers offered by another manufacturer. However, conventional methods for identifying alternative products are inadequate and often require a significant amount of time to gather enough data to predict with confidence that two products are alternatives.


The present invention is related to the field of silica crucibles, and more specifically to a silica crucible having a multi-layer wall in which one or more of the wall layers are doped with aluminum.
Silicon wafers used in semiconductor industries are made from ingots of single-crystal silicon. Such ingots generally are manufactured by one of two processes: the Czochralski (CZ) process and the floating zone (FZ) process. Among those, the CZ-process is more widely used for mass production of single-crystal ingots.
In the CZ-process, metallic silicon is charged in a silica glass crucible housed within a susceptor located in a crystal growth chamber. The charge is then heated by a heater surrounding the susceptor to melt the charged silicon. The susceptor typically is rotated during this procedure. A single silicon crystal is pulled from the silicon melt at or near the melting temperature of silicon.
For higher ingot productivity, a more rapid CZ-process is desirable. However, accelerating the crystal pulling rate beyond a certain rate results in improper silicon crystal structures. Many trials are done to shorten the “melt down” period by increasing heating power. Similarly, in the production of large-diameter wafers, the amount of silicon charge and the melt-down time are increased and more intense energy is input. The total process time is much longer than that for small-diameter ingots.
This harsh melt-down procedure increases the rate of crucible inner surface roughening. Compressing the meltdown period also negatively affects the rigidity of silica crucible. Silica glass is not hard enough to prevent sagging of the side wall in harsher melt down processes. A more dimensionally stable crucible is desired.
At operating temperatures, the inner surface of a silica crucible reacts with the silicon melt. In many cases, it is the inner layer of the crucible that undergoes a change in morphology. More exactly, the inner surface roughens after prolonged operation in the CZ-process. This roughening can cause a loss of crystal structure of the pulled ingot. Inner surface roughening renders the crucible unfit for use in silicon ingot manufacture.
Additionally, the inner layer of a silica glass crucible can be dissolved into the silicon melt during the CZ-process. Silicon and oxygen, the main components of a silica crucible, are not deleterious to the silicon melt. However, impurities in the inner layer of the crucible can be transferred to the silicon melt during this process. To keep the silicon melt free from such impurities, a crucible is required to be extremely pure or to be insoluble by the silicon melt.
A standard method for making a silica glass crucible is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,046. Quartz grain is supplied in a rotating mold in a crucible shape. The grain is then heated by an electric arc to fuse the inner part of the formed grain, leaving the outside grain unfused. During fusion, additional grain is supplied to the inside surface of the crucible. Quartz grain is melted and piled up as a transparent inner layer, while the formed grain is fused rather promptly to make an translucent silica glass substrate. The resultant crucible has a wall comprising a transparent inner layer and an translucent outer layer having a rough outer surface, which is the interface between fused grain and unfused grain.
One crucible is known to reduce the dissolution of the inner surface of the crucible. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,976,247 and 5,980,629 disclose the creation of a “devitrified” layer inside of a crucible to prevent particulate generation at the silica-melt interface. The devitrified layer is reported to dissolve uniformly. Here, the devitrified layer means a crystallized silica layer, which the present inventors found to dissolve more slowly in the silicon melt than does amorphous silica. The above references claim alkaline-earth elements as a devitrification promoter, with barium recited as an example.
One of the present inventors filed Japanese Patent 3100836 (laid open Tokukai Hei8-2932), teaching an inner layer containing from 100-2000 ppm aluminum and 0.5-1 mm in thickness. The inner layer crystallizes in the CZ-process, so dissolution is suppressed and the dimensional stability of the crucible is improved.
It is known in the ingot manufacturing industry that circular patterns (“rosettes”) are observed on the crucible surface contacting the silicon melt. Examples are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,046, FIGS. 6A-6B. The ring is referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,046 as crystobalite. This phenomenon was investigated and determined to be a rosette surrounded by crystobalite.
The crystobalite ring is normally decorated with brown deposit when cooled down after a CZ-process use. It is hypothesized that the brown deposit is either silicon mono-oxide or colloidal silicon. The center of the rosette has a rough surface that is either not covered by crystobalite or covered by a very thin crystobalite layer. The outside of the rosette is the original silica glass surface, which has retained its original smoothness.
As CZ-process time continues, rosettes grow and the surfaces of the rosette centers become rough. Further, the rosettes merge and the rough surface area is increased. The smooth virgin surface decreases and finally disappears. When a major portion of the inner surface of the crucible is covered by a rough surface, the pulled silicon crystal loses its crystalline structure. Such a roughened crucible is unsuitable for ingot manufacture and silicon crystal pulling using a roughened crucible must be ceased to avoid manufacture of substandard ingots.
A method to reduce roughening of the crucible inner surface is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,046. The reference further mentions that growth of crystobalite is suppressed, as the result of applying the method. By applying the layer-by-layer deposition method as taught by this reference, however, suppression of crystobalite is insufficient and roughening still proceeds to a significant extent. “Devitrification” of the outer layer of a crucible is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,976,247 and 5,980,629. By coating a crucible with barium-containing chemicals, the outside of the crucible is “devitrified”, i.e., crystallized, when used in a CZ-process. This crystallized layer reinforces the crucible at operating temperatures and prevents sagging of the crucible side wall.
By using barium as a crystallization promoter, the crystallized layer grows as CZ-process time elapses. The silica glass experiences a large volume change when it crystallizes, creating stress at each of the interfaces of the glassy phase and crystalline phase. This stress is relieved by micro-scale deformation of the crucible. If the crystalline layer thickness exceeds a certain level, the crucible is prone to cracks and possible leakage of the silicon melt. Even if the amount of barium-doped material is carefully optimized to the running conditions, the crucible nevertheless occasionally experiences cracking toward the end of a CZ-process run.
Japanese Patent P2000-247778A discloses a three-layer crucible. The layers are a transparent synthetic silica inner layer, a synthetic silica or natural quartz glass middle layer, and an aluminum-doped silica outer layer. The optimum range for aluminum concentration in the outer layer is reported to be 50-120 ppm. The best mode taught in this reference has an approximately 3 mm thick outer layer doped with aluminum at about 75 ppm.
The doped aluminum outer layer helps to prevent sagging of crucible. However, the inner layer of this crucible is still prone to uncontrolled rosette formation and growth during a CZ-process.
A long-life crucible is therefore desirable, especially a large-diameter CZ-process crucible. Specifically, the side wall of the crucible should be able to maintain its structural integrity without warping, and the inner surface of the wall should resist roughening during a CZ-process.


Many modern electronic components are created by thin film wafer processing. One category of component created by thin film processing is the tape head. Another category is the disk head.
Most tape heads are currently built on wafers using thin film processes, similar to the wafers used for fabricating disk heads. However, the operating efficiency of disk heads and tape heads are inherently different. Disk recording/reading is very efficient, as the disk media is extremely flat and smooth, has a very thin magnetic layer, is in a sealed environment, and the heads are constructed to function with a particular media. Writing and reading tapes must address very different challenges. For example, the head must work with different tape brands, which can have different physical and magnetic properties. Furthermore, most tape is composed of magnetic particles, which are coated onto the tape surface. The resulting media can have variations in coating thickness and particle dispersion. This, coupled with spacing loss variations due to embedded wear particles and debris, requires that magnetic bits in tape must be much larger than bits in disk media for achieving an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio. Tape bits are typically of the order of 100 times wider and 3 times longer than bits recorded onto disks. Disk drive heads are designed to fly over smooth disk surfaces in a controlled manner at speeds approaching 30 to 40 meters per second. By contrast, tape stacking and other requirements limit tape drive operating speeds to approximately 3 to 6 meters per second. Thus, to achieve data rates commensurate with disk drives, high performance linear tape drives typically employ heads having multiple pairs of write-read heads that operate simultaneously. For example, two pairs provide twice the data rate of one pair, and Linear Tape Open (LTO) heads have eight pairs of read and write elements for each direction.
Often in tape head fabrication, head images are laid out on the wafer such that the heads cut from the wafer are the required length for insertion in a tape drive. However, for LTO heads for example, the active area of the head is approximately 7 mms long, whereas the tape supporting surface of the head must be 23 mm long. The remaining 16 mm are blank, i.e. devoid of devices.
A problem is that thin film wafers are of a standardized size, and thus, the number of individual dies which contain the read/write recording devices that can be cut from each wafer is limited. Increasing use of more complex wafer processes, coupled with the high cost of wafer substrates makes achieving the highest number of heads possible from a single wafer an important head design priority.
An approach to increasing the number of dies per wafer is to make each die no larger than the active area needed for each head, Thus, for example, three partial span images can fit in the space of one full span LTO image. The dies are fabricated into chips which are then inserted into a passive carrier constructed of similar substrate material. In this way, the tape is fully supported over the width of the head, but wafer costs are dramatically reduced. Partial span heads are conventionally fabricated such that the closure portion of the head is completely surrounded by the carrier. The entire structure, including head and carrier, are machined together to form a uniform tape bearing surface, which is planer or cylindrical and has no steps, discontinuities or corners. Thus, the carrier fully encompasses the original chip and the seam between the chip and carrier are not discontinuous. This approach generally mandates that the chip image be tall enough for mechanical processing as well as provide enough material for forming the contour. This takes away wafer space, resulting in fewer chips per wafer, etc.
A second method is to fabricate the partial span chip, i.e. lap it, etc., so that its tape bearing surface is completed prior to assembly. This otherwise finished chip is then attached to a beam such that the tape bearing surfaces of both chip and beam has minimal discontinuities. Also, the closure portion of the chip is aligned with an inner surface of the beam to eliminate any discontinuities along the edge of the tape bearing surface. The object of this method is to make the chip and beam form as closely as possible a single, regular surface, even though in general there will be steps at the chip edges. This approach allows short partial span images, so wafer utilization is good. However, a problem inherent in this method is that it is difficult to assemble the chip and beam with near-perfect alignment at the tape bearing surface. It is also more difficult to attach a cable since the contacts are now recessed from the side of the beam, and conventional cable bonding tooling does not easily reach into the recess. It would be desirable to create a partial span head in order to obtain a high utilization of useful circuitry per wafer, thereby minimizing fabrication costs and decreasing the cost per unit of magnetic heads. It would also be desirable to avoid having to provide the head contour after the chip is cut from the wafer, as required by current partial span heads, as this not only forces the use of a taller image for handling purposes, it also makes stripe and throat height control more difficult.


Most electronic equipment, and in particular computers, utilize a series of chips which are connected to a motherboard in order to form the signal processing part of the equipment. Various chips may assume a single function or multiple functions which are used by the equipment. The group of chips used together is sometimes referred to as a chipset.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a chipset on a motherboard for a computer. The chip set 100 includes a first chip 102 which carries the central processing unit for the device. Memory controller hub 104 acts as a central controller to move data into and out of memory and to other related chips. Chip 106 is a graphics chip which generates various graphic arrangements for display. Chip 108 is the memory itself, either RAM or ROM memory. Chip 110 is an input/output controller hub which transfers data to various input/output devices. Chip 112 includes connections to a hard disk drive. Chip 114 is a chip which connects to other peripheral components.
Typically, each chip in a chip set is formed of two parts. The first part is the core which is the circuitry which handles the main function of the device itself. Also on the chip are input/output circuits for connecting the core to other chips. For example, the memory controller 104 would have a central core and an input/output device connected to each of the four other chips 102, 106, 108 and 110 to which it is connected.
For every pair of chips that are connected, an interface is provided to connect the input/output devices of the chips to each other. Thus, the CPU 102 and memory controller hub 104 are connected by a front side bus (FSB) 116. Likewise, memory controller hub 104 is connected to graphics chip 106 through the advanced graphics port (AGP) 118. Memory 108 is connected to the memory controller hub 104 by a system memory bus 120. Memory controller hub 104 is connected to the input/output controller hub 110 through hub link 122. The input/output controller hub 110 is connected to the hard disk drive 112 through IDE 124. The I/O controller hub 110 is connected to the peripheral components chip 114 through the peripheral components interface 126.
FIG. 1 also shows a clock circuit 113 which is another chip connected on the motherboard. This clock provides clock signals of various frequencies to the various other chips. These particular connections are not specifically shown but all chips on the motherboard are connected thereto to receive clock signals which are necessary for the synchronization of the entire device.
Some of the interfaces on the motherboard are considered to be source synchronous interfaces. In the present example, the front side bus 116, the advanced graphics port 118 and the hub link 122 are all source synchronous circuits. On the other hand, a system memory bus 120 and IDE 124 are not source synchronous interfaces. In such an interface, data signals and strobe signals are used to transfer data in a synchronous fashion. These signals occur in a certain preset timing relationship so that data being transferred can be expected at a particular time location.


Shuffling machines, or shufflers, are widely used in casinos, card rooms and many other venues at which card games are played. Conventional shufflers are typically adapted to receive one or more decks of standard playing cards to be shuffled. The intended purpose of most shufflers is to shuffle the playing cards into what is believed to be a random order. Such a random order of the playing cards is desirable when playing various types of card games such as blackjack, poker and the like. However, in reality most shufflers have tendencies to shuffle or reorder the deck or decks in a manner which skilled card counters can perceive and use to their advantage versus the casino, house or other player. Thus, there is still a need for automated shufflers that function in a manner which more truly randomizes the ordering of a deck or decks of playing cards.
Other problems associated with at least some conventional shufflers include excessive size, excessive weight, excessive mechanical complexity and/or electronic complexity. These complexities also may fail to achieve a suitable degree of shuffling, reordering or recompiling into a truly random order from one shuffling process to another. Accordingly, there is still a need for improved automated shuffling machines for playing cards that produce reordering of card decks in a manner which is closer to true randomness and which is more difficult for skilled card players to decipher to change the odds so as to be relatively favorable to the player versus unfavorable portions of a deck or decks of cards.
One casino game commonly called “blackjack” or “21” is known to be susceptible to card counting and casinos are routinely spending significant amounts of money trying to prevent card counters from taking advantage of non-random sequences in the decks held within a dealing shoe that holds the decks being dealt. Poker has also grown in popularity and is played with a single deck, which makes any knowledge of cards of potential significance to a player.
The inventions shown and described herein may be used to address one or more of such problems or other problems not set out herein and/or which are only understood or appreciated at a later time. The future may also bring to light currently unknown or unrecognized benefits that may be appreciated, or more fully appreciated, in association with the inventions shown and described herein. The desires and expected benefits explained herein are not admissions that others have recognized such prior needs, since invention and discovery are both inventive under the law and may relate to the inventions described herein.


The availability of 7 GHz of unlicensed spectrum in the 60 GHz band offers the potential for multi-Gigabit indoor wireless personal area networking (WPAN). Applications that require large bandwidth include uncompressed High Definition (HD) video streaming, fast file download from an airport kiosk (Sync & Go) and wireless display and docking, to name just a few. These applications cannot be supported over existing home networking solutions (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n and WiMedia UWB) because the required data rates far exceed the capabilities of these networks.
Thus, a strong need exists for improvements and new development in wireless personal area networks that operate in the 60 GHz band.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.


A virtual machine system sometimes consists of multiple physical machines and runs multiple hypervisors on a single machine. Each hypervisor can support multiple virtual machines, with each virtual machine running a guest to perform tasks for a user. From time to time a system administrator may want to move (“migrate”) a guest from one hypervisor to another for maintenance or performance reasons. The migration may be a “live migration,” which means that the guest can be moved without disconnecting its client or application.
When a guest migrates to a different hypervisor, its network location is considered as changed. A changed network location means that the different hypervisor (“target hypervisor”) is now responsible for forwarding packets to the guest. Switching components (also referred to as “network devices”) in the network to which the target hypervisor is coupled are notified of the guest's new association with the target hypervisor so that the guest can continue to receive packets after migration.
One current approach is to have the source hypervisor send the guest's network addresses to the target hypervisor. In response, the target hypervisor sends one or more notification packets to the network devices, notifying the network devices of the guest's network addresses. Thus, when a network device receives a packet destined for any of these addresses, the network device can forward the packet to the target hypervisor, which then relays the packet to the guest. Conventionally, each notification packet sent from the target hypervisor to the network devices contains one network address of the guest. Since a guest can have multiple different network addresses (e.g., in the tens or hundreds), such notification can take tens or hundreds of packets to complete. These notification packets can burden the network and reduce available bandwidth for normal network traffic.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicle windshield wiper systems and, more particularly, to a system wherein the radial reach of the wiper blade support arm varies during the angular stroke of the arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Efforts to simplify vehicle windshield wiper systems have led to proposals wherein a single wiper blade support arm is centrally supported below the windshield and oscillated through a wiping arc while the radial reach of the arm is varied to wipe toward the outer corners of the windshield. In one such proposal a wiper arm is slidably mounted on an angularly oscillating carrier and radially projected by a gear driven crank arm. In another proposal, a wiper arm is mounted on an angularly oscillating carrier by a parallelogram linkage and is radially projected by a gear driven crank arm and connecting link arrangement. In still another proposal, a radially shiftable wiper arm on an oscillating carrier is projected between its radial positions by a planetary gear driven crank arm and connecting link arrangement. A vehicle windshield wiper system according to this invention represents an economical alternative to these and other known single arm, variable reach systems.


Prior art methods for nucleic acid extraction from cellular source materials and, particularly, paraffin embedded tissue samples (e.g., formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples: FFPE) involves complicated, multi-step processes.
The extraction of nucleic acids from Mycobacteria in sputum, for example, is a challenge because sputum is very viscous and not easily processed for nucleic acid extraction. Sputum samples are typical solubilized using N-acetyl-L-cysteine-sodium hydroxide (NALC-NaOH) treatment (Coulter and Charache, Sputum digestion/decontamination for Mycobacteriology culture—Guidelines, SMILE, John Hopkins University, 2008) and the mycobacteria are pelleted by centrifugation. NALC-NaOH treatment does not kill the Mycobacteria and further treatment by heat and/or chemicals is done to inactivate the samples. Nucleic acids can be extracted from the cell pellet using several techniques to lyse cells. Sonication (Colin, et al., Method and apparatus for ultrasonic lysis of biological cells, U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,195, 2004), bead beating (Melendes, et al., Cell disrupting apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,773, 1995), enzymes (Salazar and Asenjo, Enzymatic lysis of microbial cells, Biotechnol Lett (2007) 29:985-994), mixing (vortexing), mechanical shearing and chaotropic solutions (Das, et al., Method for detecting pathologenic mycobacteria in clinical specimens, U.S. Pat. No. 7,638,309, 2009) are some of the methods used to break open the pelleted cells for nucleic acid extraction. These steps are in addition to the actual extraction procedures and add complexity to and time to the entire process.
The extraction of nucleic acid from yeast is also one of the more challenging techniques in nucleic acid (e.g., DNA) sample preparation. Yeast are fungi and have cell walls that are difficult to lyse (Lipke and Ovalle, Cell wall architecture in yeast: new structure and new challenges, J Bacteriol 1998, 180(15):3735). Lysis buffers using chaotropic salts and detergents or alkali lysis protocols of the prior art are not very effective in lysing yeast cells directly but are used with additional steps. These additional steps can be divided into two main groups: physical methods and enzymatic methods. The physical methods can include sonication of cells (U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,195) with or without the presence of grinding particles, high powered agitation with grinding particles (U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,773) (bead beating, ball mills) or the use of high pressure mechanical shearing (e.g., French pressure cell press, as is known in the art). Enzymatic methods rely on particular enzymes such as zymolase (Salazar and Asenjo, ibid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,644) to weaken the cell walls such that the cells can be lysed by more conventional techniques.
The extraction, enrichment and isolation of nucleic acids from FFPE material is a very complicated process that requires the deparaffinization of the tissue with organic solvents, the digestion of the tissue with protease and then the extraction of the nucleic acids from the tissue. These prior art processes use multiple solutions and multiple steps. The organic solvents used are not usually miscible with aqueous solutions.
Thus, what is needed are compositions and methods that permit the efficient extraction, enrichment, isolation and purification of nucleic acids from cellular source materials, particularly Mycobacteria, yeast and FFPE samples.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a control apparatus for a braking system. More specifically, the present invention relates a braking force control apparatus that generates a braking force by pushing and separating a brake pad toward and apart from a brake rotor through a driving device.
2. Background Information
In a control apparatus for a braking system, a driving state of a motor is controlled by detecting a depressing force exerted on a brake pedal by a driver, such that the braking force that corresponds to the depressing force is generated. One of the methods of estimating the braking force is disclosed in the SAE 1990-01-0482. This braking force estimation method utilizes the rigidity of the caliper that supports pads. The braking force is estimated based on the amount of displacement of the motor from a point where the rotor and the pads initiated a contact. More specifically, since there is a certain relationship between the amount of displacement of the motor and the braking force determined by the caliper rigidity once the pads and the rotor start contacting, the braking force can be controlled by controlling the amount of motor displacement. However, the amount of motor displacement includes a portion that eliminates the clearance between the pads and the rotor. In other words, the amount of motor displacement includes the portion in which the motor moves in the pressuring direction until the pads and the rotor contact each other, and a portion in which the motor moves after the pads and the rotor start contacting. The aforementioned relationship between the braking force and the amount of motor displacement determined by the caliper rigidity exists only in the latter portion. Therefore, in order to obtain from the total amount of motor displacement, the amount of motor displacement occurring after the pads start contacting the rotor, it is necessary to eliminate precisely the portion in which the motor starts moving in the pushing direction until the pads start contacting the rotor. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the precise point at which the pads and the rotor start contacting.
One of the control apparatuses that control the braking force by detecting the position at which the pads and the rotor start contacting is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H9-137841. In this control apparatus, an axial force sensor is attached to a piston that pushes and separates the pads toward and apart from each other. While the piston is moving in a direction that separates the pads apart from each other (i.e., the braking force is released), the initial contacting point of the pads and the rotor is determined as the point at which the axial force detected by the axial force sensor is zero.
In view of the above, there exists a need for a control apparatus which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
It has been discovered that the preciseness of the axial force sensor disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H9-137841 would tends to be compromised under actual operating conditions. In particular, the preciseness of the detection of the axial force by the axial force sensor tends to be compromised because a change in property due to temperature changes and noise or degradation from vibration.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the aforementioned problems. More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a control apparatus that can control braking force accurately by accurately detecting an initial contacting point of the pads (the brake friction body) and the rotor (the brake rotational body) without using an axial force sensor.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, a braking force control apparatus is provided that includes a driving device, an operational status detector, an initial contact position detector and a brake control unit. The driving device is operatively configured to move a brake pad towards and away from a brake rotor. The operational status detector is arranged to detect an operational status of the driving device. The initial contact position detector is arranged to detect an initial contacting point between the brake pad and the brake rotor based on the operational status of the driving device detected by the operational status detector, when the driving device moves the brake pad toward the brake rotor. The brake control unit is operatively coupled to the driving device and the operational status detector to control the driving device. The brake control unit includes a brake command value setting portion that is configured to set a brake command value to control the driving device based on a pedal operation amount. The brake control unit further includes an adjustment portion configured to subsequently adjust the brake command value based on the initial contacting point between the brake pad and the brake rotor detected by the initial contact position detector.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of the present invention.


A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shock absorbing apparatus and method to be used in conjunction with a pile driving and/or pile pulling vibratory machine, and more particularly to such an apparatus and method which can be used effectively to isolate shocks under greatly varying load conditions imparted to the shock absorbing apparatus.
b) Background of the Invention
In the construction industry, it is sometimes necessary to drive piles into the earth to provide a proper foundation for a building or other structure. One method of accomplishing this is to place the pile in a vertical position above the earth's surface and strike the upper end of the pile repeatedly with a hammer (i.e., a metal mass which is raised and dropped on the pile) until the pile has penetrated into the ground surface a sufficient distance to provide adequate bearing. A later development was to drive piles into the ground by use of a vibrating machine which oscillates the pile from zero to 20,000 cycles per minute depending on the type of machine to cause what appears to be an almost continuous motion of the pile into the earth. Under some circumstances, such a vibratory machine can cause the pile to move into the earth relatively rapidly (e.g., as fast as ten feet per second).
A typical arrangement for such a vibratory machine is to provide a pair of weights which are mounted eccentrically for rotation about parallel axes, with the directions of rotation being opposite to one another so that the lateral forces are being cancelled out, and a net up and down vibrating force is developed by the machine. One part of the machine is coupled to the upper end of the pile, while a second part of the machine is connected through a shock absorbing device to a support member, such as a cable.
When the pile is being driven into the ground, the vibratory machine is able, in large part, to act substantially independently, in that only minimal exterior support is required, this being mainly to keep the vibratory machine properly positioned. Sometimes weights are added to the shock absorbing device to provide a greater downward force, and this gives need for effective shock absorption. Another mode of operation is when a previously driven pile is being extracted from the earth, and it is necessary to impart a tension force on the pile so as to pull it upwardly. In these circumstances, a tension force (e.g., a pulling force exerted by a connecting cable) is applied through the shock absorbing device to the vibratory machine, which in turn pulls upwardly on the pile to which it is connected. The tension force exerted by the cable can vary greatly, and can vary between two tons to one hundred tons.
For various reasons, it is desirable that the cable be subjected to a more constant load, with the rapid vibratory loads being isolated from the cable as much as possible. However, properly isolating these vibratory loads is complicated by the fact that the tension loads necessary to extract the pile can vary greatly, depending upon the size of the pile, the depth to which it is driven, and the localized resisting forces imparted by various portions of the earth material.


In mobile communication and mobile computing systems, the combined need for digital and non-digital functionalities in an integrated system is driving a dual trend in system level integration.
One trend in system level integration is the concept of a system on chip (SOC). In a system on chip, functions (e.g., digital functions) are integrated on-chip. In these systems, the number of digital functions that may be integrated on-chip continues to increase as the number of transistors available on-chip increases. Another trend in system level integration is the functional diversification of semiconductor-based devices. Instead of implementing devices on one chip, the devices are implemented on multiple chips and integrated into one package, referred to as a system in package (SiP).
In a system on chip as well as a system in package, the embedded capacitors for providing the digital functions are built with metal layers. Furthermore, in a typical system, the conventional capacitors are not proximate to the active devices. This leads to larger area consumption and a more parasitic relationship. Conventional capacitor process technologies are also associated with a two-dimensional (2D) process. A FinFET process technology is associated with a three-dimensional (3D) process.


A variety of toothbrush head configurations exist that have manually and/or mechanically-driven movable cleaning elements. Many of these configurations, however, include cleaning elements that extend from a rigid head. Teeth and gums by nature have a complex intricate contour. Due to the rigid nature of the attachment of the cleaning elements to the head of the toothbrush, the orientation of the cleaning elements is not flexible. Thus, a need exists for a toothbrush that achieves better flexibility of cleaning elements for an enhanced and improved cleaning action during brushing.


Automatic darkening filters are often provided on protective headgear (e.g., headwear or eyewear), where protection from high intensity light is desired.


This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Digital data (e.g., photos, videos) are increasingly produced and managed on mobiles devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops). This data is also often shared, backed up, or processed via Internet. Indeed, a wide range of “cloud” services handle users' content, be they photo processing services, social networks or online storage. Most of these cloud services rely entirely on web technologies. As a consequence, users need to upload large amounts of content over HTTP to web applications. However, the speed of uploads is limited by the available bandwidth. Indeed, the connectivity speed to the
Internet remains limited due to the use of legacy infrastructures (xDSL), or of shared medium (Cellular).
The long upload times prevent users from standing by or powering off their stand-alone devices and require these users to keep their devices connected to handle the transfer over the Internet. In order to alleviate these issues, a mechanism to offload uploads over HTTP to a third party device which is permanently connected to the network, such as residential gateway, is proposed. A method for locating the third party device offering the offloading web service is therefore proposed.
However, offloading a task to a third party requires to trust this third party, in other words the third party device hosting the offload service has to be authenticated by the user stand/alone device. Known solution for authenticating a device or a web service are based on certification by a trust authority. Certificates are either delivered by a trust authority to a trusted operator owning the web service or to user's physical device. However, these solutions are not compatible with the legacy software, such as web browser, and standard web protocols wherein the processing environment is limited. In others words, the browser is limited in term of inputs and outputs, for instance the browser cannot access to the storage media (such as hard disk drive) of the device on which it is executed, cannot access directly to the network.
A solution for securely accessing a web service by a browser running a web application on a user device through a network, wherein the web service is hosted by a local device is therefore required. The method should deliberately be simple to ease implementation and use, and compatible with legacy software, adapted to be implemented in JavaScript and to run in the browser.
The present invention provides such a solution.


The existing combined fireworks are ground firework products formed by combining a plurality of single cylinders and producing the effects such as sound, light, color and floating materials. The single-cylinder product generally is formed by outer cylinder, propellant powder, inner cylinder or effective powder, ignition fuse, spreading fuse, clay plug, base, etc. In manufacturing, the outer cylinders of a plurality of single-cylinder products are firstly combined and molded through the necessary processes such as cylinder rolling, mudding, bonding and ranking, fuse connecting, drying, combining, which last for one week and result in low efficiency, slow speed, and the cylinders are easily distorted and bent with nonstandard size, thus, the scale production and standardization of the firework industry is severely restricted. Moreover, the side face of the cylinder body should be manually drilled for forming the fuse hole in the procedure of fuse connecting, so that it is not easy to control the size of the hole and the distance between holes, which affects the launching time and launching effect of the product; in addition, the fuse of the formed product is at the sidewall of the cylinder body, which will easily lead to the fire hazard when firing due to the exposure of the fuse sparks.


The invention relates to a longitudinal seat adjustment device.
Longitudinal seat adjustments generally have a lower rail fixed to a chassis, inside which lower rail and upper rail, to which the seat is attached, can be propelled by motor. A spindle fixed by its respective ends to the lower rail sits inside the upper rail, on which spindle a transmission fixedly coupled to the upper rail is arranged in axially movable fashion. The seat, which is located on the two upper rails arranged parallel to one another, can be propelled via a motor device that sits between the rails.
Examples of devices for the purpose of longitudinal seat adjustments have been disclosed in DE 36 40 197 A1, DE 42 08 948 C2, DE 196 42 655 C2, DE 198 15 283 A1, DE 198 44 817 A1, DE 199 44 690 A1, and WO 95/16 585. There is a need for a compact longitudinal seat adjusting device in which only a few components are needed and that can without difficulty accommodate the forces that occur especially in the case of a crash, and in particular for a transmission that transforms the rotational motion of the drive motor into a translational motion.
A further goal of the present invention is for the space occupied by the longitudinal seat adjusting device to be relatively small, preferably only 15 mm in width. Moreover, the permissible protrusion of the upper rail is likewise not to be too great, at most some 15 mm. Finally, the device according to the invention is to satisfy a strength requirement in both directions, which is for example 25000 N.
Finally, the device according to the invention is to be relatively rapidly adjustable, that is, for example at between 15 and 25 mm/s over a relatively long adjustment range of for example 300 mm.


It is conventional, in providing aspirators in an analyzer, to sense the position of the aspirator to prevent vertical overtravel. For example, analyzers provided by Eastman Kodak Company under the trademark "Ektachem 700" have a sensor to determine when the aspirator has lowered a sufficient distance to pick up, by force-fit, a disposable tip. Such sensors are vertically adjusted so that, as part of the set-up calibration, the operator can adjust the trigger location of the sensor depending on that particular analyzer's margins of error. Other instruments have similarly adjusted sensors. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,667 (Column 6, lines 37-44). Once adjusted, the sensor then cooperates with a single flag for each movable part, since that flag is sufficient to trigger that the limiting condition is achieved.
One difficulty of such a construction is that when replacement parts are incorporated into the analyzer proboscis, the set-up calibration (including the positioning of the sensor) has to be recalibrated, which has to be done manually. This is time-consuming and expensive.
Therefore, prior to this invention, there has been a need to provide a proboscis with a sensor for set-up calibration that allows recalibration without readjusting the sensor. This has not been possible with the conventional configuration described above.
Yet another drawback of the previous construction has been that, with only a single flag acting with the sensor, the proboscis can detect only that it has been interrupted. It is unable to determine the nature of the interfering objects since, although the proboscis may be stalled, the flag is not in position to interact with the sensor.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an image sensing device for converting light image information into electrical signals, and, in particular, to such an image sensing device which may be advantageously used as an image sensor of a facsimile machine and the like for reading the document information to be transmitted to a remote place. The present invention also relates to photoelectric elements which are particularly suited for use in an image sensing device and the method of manufacturing such photoelectric elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known in the art, an image sensing device usually includes a plurality of light-sensitive or photoelectric elements arranged in the form of a single array, and the plurality of photoelectric elements are activated in timed sequence from one end of the array to the other in repetition thereby scanning a document to be read along scanning line sectors in a stepwise manner. In such an image sensing device, it is common practice to divide the plurality of photoelectric elements into a predetermined number of blocks and to provide a common electrode for each block thereby having one end of each of the photoelectric elements belonging to the same block connected to the corresponding common electrode mainly for simplification of wiring. With such a structure, it is true that wiring mav be simplified, but each of the photoelectric elements looses an operative independency so that the image sensing device would suffer from stray signals unless an adequate measure is taken
Such being the case, when it is so structured to group a plurality of light-sensitive elements into blocks, each of which includes a predetermined number of light-sensitive elements, then it is necessary to apply means for preventing the occurrence of stray signals. FIG. 1 illustrates one prior art approach for preventing the occurrence of strav signals in an image sensing device, which uses a plurality of blocking diodes one for each photoelectric element As illustrated, a plurality of photoelectric elements P.sub.ij (i=1-n and j=1-m) are disposed in the form of a single array, and these elements are grouped into n blocks B.sub.1, B.sub.2, . . . , B.sub.n, each comprising m photoelectric elements. In each of the blocks, the top ends of the photoelectric elements are commonly connected to the corresponding common block terminal. For example, in the leftmost block, the top ends of the photoelectric elements P.sub.11, P.sub.12, . . . , P.sub.1m are commonly connected to the corresponding block terminal B.sub.1.
On the other hand, the bottom end of each of the photoelectric elements defines an individual electrode which is connected to the anode of the corresponding blocking diode D.sub.ij. Each of the blocking diodes in one block, for example the diode D.sub.11 has its cathode interconnected to the cathodes of the corresponding blocking diodes, D.sub.21, . . . , D.sub.n1 for D.sub.11, in the other blocks through respective interconnection lines. These interconnection lines are connected to ground through respective load resistors R.sub.L and also to an output terminal V.sub.0 through analog switch S.sub.1, S.sub.2, . . . , S.sub.m, respectively. Provision of blocking diodes in this manner allows to establish operative independency for each of the photoelectric elements; however, it still suffers from various disadvantages since it is necessary to provide a relatively large number (m.times.n) of diodes corresponding in number to the photoelectric elements and the manufacture of such large number of diodes at a time tends to be expensive even if use is made of the thin film forming technology and moreover it tends to lower the yield.
FIG. 2 shows another prior art approach in which operational amplifiers are provided and their virtual ground is utilized to establish operative independency between the photoelectric elements. Similarly with the structure of FIG. 1, the top ends of the elements in each block in the arrangement of FIG. 2 are commonly connected, and the individual electrodes defined by the bottom ends of the photoelectric elements in one block are interconnected to the corresponding individual electrodes in the other blocks through the respective interconnections which are also connected to the inverting input of the respective operational amplifiers A.sub.1, A.sub.2, . . . , A.sub.m. These op amps have their outputs connected to the output terminal V.sub.0 through respective analog switches S.sub.1, S.sub.2, . . . , S.sub.m and their non-inverting inputs connected to ground. A resistor R.sub.f is connected between the output and the inverting input in each of the op amps thereby defining a feed-back loop. In such a structure, the inverting inputs of the op amps are, in effect, at virtual ground, so that the elements P.sub.ij may be operated independently one from another. However, the structure shown in FIG. 2 requires the provision of so many op amps corresponding to the number of the individual electrodes (m in the illustrated example), which also tends to push up the manufacturing cost partly because of difficulty in mounting of so many op amps.
A further prior art approach is illustrated in FIG. 3, in which case, use is made of a mxn bit shift register for directly driving an array of photoelectric elements. In this case, however, using a mxn bit shift register requires mxn number of connections to be made, which also pushes up the cost. Such a disadvantage can not be obviated even if the shift register is constructed in the form of an IC.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) for use in high-frequency applications, such as those in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency regions.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits have gained widespread use in many electronic applications. In early hybrid integrated circuits, active elements (such as diodes and transistors) and passive elements (such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors) were typically discrete components mounted (e.g., soldered or bonded) to a dielectric slab or substrate. In contrast, in a monolithic integrated circuit (or “monolithic circuit”), circuit components including active and passive elements are integrated monolithically, i.e., formed directly on a common semiconductor substrate.
Typically, depending on the operating frequency, monolithic integrated circuits may be formed on different types of substrates. As an example, the monolithic integrated circuits operating up to 1-2 GHz may be fabricated on silicon (Si) substrate. At higher operating frequencies, such as microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies (approximately between 1-300 GHz), the substrate is usually gallium arsenide (GaAs) and these circuits are commonly referred to as monolithic microwave integrated circuits, or MMICs. Some of the advantages of MMICs include their small sizes, the inclusion of multiple functions (e.g., radio frequency (RF) and logic) on a single semiconductor chip, and a wider frequency-bandwidth performance that is often difficult to achieve with discrete devices due to bandwidth-limiting parasitics associated with discrete-device packaging.
Typically, RF signals at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies can easily penetrate harsh environments such as dust, smoke, and snow, and are very attractive due to their high spatial resolution, resulting in a compact chip size and small antenna dimension. As such, MMICs find use in various commercial, military, and space applications. For example, in addition to the traditional use in radars, microwave and millimeter wave techniques are finding applications in such diverse areas as forward-looking automotive radar, Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) for aircraft landing, Concealed Weapon Detection (CWD) systems, industrial sensors and accelerometers.
Typically these systems employ a stable transmitter and highly sensitive receiver incorporating a mixer and a local oscillator. However, increasing use of microwave and millimeter-wave frequency bands for communication, radar and measurements have created the need for more sophisticated methods for controlling the frequency, power and phase of these sources of radiation. For example, coherent radar systems have for years relied on phase-locked or injection-locked transmitters as well as phase-locked local oscillator for receivers. In addition to down-converters, IF amplifiers, and phase detectors, typically these techniques use a directional coupler and a power divider to meet the required specifications.
In general, the coupler and power divider are either coaxial/waveguide or fabricated using hybrid microstrip technology. The latter does generally reduce the overall component size, but it still does not lead to a compact, low cost design. Moreover, many newer applications require RF power monitoring capability for accurate control of output power.
Thus, there is a general need for a MMIC, which incorporates the functions of power distribution and power monitoring over a large bandwidth in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency range.


1. Field
This application relates to an interface between a processor memory controller and a non-volatile memory controller and more particular relates to a direct interface between a memory controller and a non-volatile memory controller using a command protocol.
2. Description of the Related Art
In typical computing devices, main memory includes volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and static random access memory (“SRAM”). A processor typically communicates with the main memory over a wire interface using a low-level wire protocol such as the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (“JEDEC”) protocol, the industry standard for processor—DRAM interfaces. The JEDEC standard assumes that physically addressable media is synchronous, heavily parallel, reliable and implements a design structure that is known to a processor memory controller. Consequently, JEDEC uses a series of distinct commands that cause the DRAM devices to execute known operations in hardware.
Recent significant development of flash-based devices enable use of non-volatile memory as a main memory replacement. However, typical non-volatile main memory solutions continue to provide communication between the processor and the non-volatile main memory using a low-level wire protocol such as JEDEC.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for absorbing energy that is generated during a collision. More particularly, the present invention involves bumper systems for vehicles wherein the structure that is used to mount the bumper to the vehicle is also designed to absorb impact energy during a crash.
2. Description of Related Art
Bumper systems are commonly used on a wide variety of structures to protect the structure and/or its occupants during a collision. Bumper systems have been an integral and important part of automobile design for many years. As a result, many different types of systems have been developed. A popular type of bumper system is one that includes a bumper or impact member that is mounted to the vehicle using some type of mounting system that is able to absorb some of the impact energy during a collision. Mounting systems using pneumatic shock absorbers provide good absorption of impact energy and are able to withstand multiple minor impacts. However, such systems are relatively expensive and may require periodic maintenance.
Bumper supports that utilize metallic tubes which undergo lengthwise crushing during impact have also been popular. The metallic tubes provide a strong connection between the bumper and the vehicle. However, the specific energy absorption (kj/kg) of metallic tubes during crushing is not particularly high. In addition, the initial force required to initiate longitudinal crushing of a metallic tube may be too high for many situations.
Tubes made from composite materials are known to have a higher specific energy absorption than their metallic counterparts. This higher level of energy absorption is due in part to the energy absorbed when the composite tube undergoes inter-laminar splitting during longitudinal crushing. The basic problem with using composite tubes as the energy absorbing element is that the destruction of the tube that results during crushing renders the tube unable to support the bumper after a crash. In contrast, metallic tubes retain sufficient strength after crushing to provide adequate post crash support of the bumper.
As is apparent from the above, there is a present need to provide a simple energy absorbing system that has both the energy absorbing capabilities of a composite tube and the post-crash support strength of a metallic mounting system.
In accordance with the present invention, an energy absorbing composite tube is provided that is an efficient impact energy absorber and which retains good post-impact strength for maintaining a secure bumper-vehicle connection. The energy absorbing composite tube is particularly well-suited for connecting bumpers to automobiles. However, the energy absorbing composite tube may be used in any situation where two or more impact members are connected together. Typically, the invention is useful where a structure (first impact member) is protected by a bumper (second impact member) that is connected to the structure via an energy absorbing mounting system.
Energy absorbing composite tubes in accordance with the present invention are designed to provide an energy absorbing mount between a first impact member and a second impact member. The energy absorbing composite tubes include a mounting portion that is integral with a main tubular body portion. The mounting portion has a first impact member mounting end that is insertable into a sleeve or receptacle located in the first impact member. The mounting portion is made up of fibers embedded in a resin matrix and has an outer perimeter that is sized and shaped to matingly fit with the receptacle. The energy absorbing composite tube further includes a main tubular body portion that is integral with the mounting portion. The main tubular body portion is also made from one or more layers of fibers which are embedded in a resin matrix. The fiber layers and resin matrix may be the same or different from the mounting portion. The main tubular body portion has a perimeter that is larger than the mounting portion to provide a shoulder that extends around the perimeter of the mounting end where it meets the main tubular body.
As a feature of the present invention, a delamination wedge is provided that is located adjacent to the shoulder on the energy absorbing composite tube. The delamination wedge is forced against the shoulder during an impact. The resulting delamination of the main tubular body absorbs energy from the impact. The use of a delamination wedge reduces or eliminates the initial peak load that is usually necessary to initiate the delamination process. In addition, the delamination wedge eliminates the debris wedge that may form during longitudinal crushing of a tube made from composite materials.
As a further feature of the present invention, the mounting portion of the composite tube is not crushed and remains intact during the delamination process. The sleeve or receptacle in the impact member merely slides over the mounting portion as the delamination wedge is forced into the shoulder. The mounting portion and main tubular body retain sufficient structural integrity and strength to provide adequate post-crash support between the first and second impact members.
The present invention is directed not only to the energy absorbing composite tube, but also to the bumper systems and vehicles to which the energy absorbing composite tube is attached. In addition, the invention covers methods for making the energy absorbers and absorbing energy during an impact wherein the energy absorbing composite tube is utilized.
The present invention provides an especially useful energy absorbing mounting system that can be fine-tuned to provide a wide variety of energy absorption profiles. The number and/or types of laminates in the mounting end and main tubular body may be varied to provide a wide variety of shoulder sizes and shapes that have a direct relation to the amount of energy absorbed during delamination. In addition, the laminate layers in the main tubular body can be staggered to provide a stepped shoulder where the delamination wedge contacts each layer sequentially during a crash. Such stepped shoulder arrangements allow one to fine-tune the energy absorption profile. In addition a second mounting portion can be included at the end of the main tubular body that is mounted to the second impact member. This produces a second shoulder adjacent to the second impact member that can be used in combination with a second delamination wedge to provide even further energy absorption capabilities.
The energy absorbing composite tube of the present invention is a suitable replacement for metallic tube-type bumper mounting systems since it provides post-crash mounting strength equivalent to metallic tubes while at the same time providing for particularly effective energy absorption when the bumper is impacted.
The above described and many other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese patent application No. 3-266240 (filed on Oct. 15, 1991), which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bendable portion which is provided at the distal end of an insert part of an endoscope and bent by remote control.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To sterilize or disinfect an endoscope by using ethylene oxide gas or by autoclaving, it is necessary to raise and reduce the pressure in the tank containing the endoscope. Accordingly, the endoscope must be designed to withstand such a pressure change.
The most serious problem that is associated with autoclaving is that a bendable portion covering tube, that is the most flexible of the sheathing members of the endoscope, is inflated and likely to rupture when the pressure in the tank is reduced.
It has been conventional practice to provide a bellows which inflates when the ambient pressure is reduced, or to provide a valve or other similar device in the control part or the light guide connector of the endoscope so as to keep the inside of the endoscope at the same pressure as the ambient pressure, thereby preventing the bendable portion covering tube from rupturing when the pressure in the tank is reduced.
However, the addition of a bellows or a valve device increases the cost of the apparatus. In addition, since the bendable portion covering structure itself is not changed, if the function of the bellows or the valve cannot satisfactorily comply with the reduced pressure conditions, the bendable portion covering tube may rupture.


i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic control system for lighting projectors which serve to light up a theater, studio, hall or the like for purposes of stage effects.
ii) Description of the Background Art
In stage lighting for a theater, it is generally necessary to topically light up a specific place on a stage by a lighting projector, for example, a spotlight or the like for the purpose of realizing desired stage effects. If an object to be lit up on the stage is a moving one such as a person or the like, or a specific place is lit up on the basis of such a moving object, it is necessary to control the lighting projector according to the movement of the object so as to shift its lighting direction.
Usually, the lighting direction of such a lighting projector has heretofore been controlled by an operator of the lighting projector while visually observing the movement of the object.
In the control of the lighting direction of the lighting projector by the operator, however, the operator is required to be skilled in operating technique, and it is very difficult to reliably conduct the intended control of the lighting direction for a long period of time because of difference between individual operators in technical skill, operator's fatigue and the like. In addition, a plurality of lighting projectors are often used in lighting of this sort, and if so, the same number of operators as the lighting projectors are required.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 33802/1989, there has hitherto been proposed an automatic tracking apparatus for a spotlight, which serves to track an moving object for lighting.
This apparatus includes a supersonic wave transmitter held by a moving object to be lit up and adapted to reliably generate a supersonic wave at regular intervals by a clock oscillator, a plurality of supersonic wave sensors for detecting this supersonic wave, another clock oscillator in a control unit, which transmits a wave having a frequency closely similar to that of the clock oscillator held by the object, a time difference detector for detecting a time difference between the clock signal from the clock oscillator in the control unit and the clock signal from the supersonic wave sensor, a computing element for operating a distance between the supersonic wave sensor and the object on the basis of the time difference signal to locate the position of the object, and a control unit for controlling the lighting direction of the spotlight according to an output of the computing element.
According to this apparatus, positional data of the moving object can be obtained theoretically. Therefore, the lighting projector can be controlled to automatically shift the lighting direction thereof, thereby tracking the moving object to light up it.
In practice, this apparatus however involves the following problems:
(1) The frequencies in the supersonic wave transmitter held by the moving object and the clock oscillator in the control unit must be caused to approximate to each other with high precision. In practice, however, it is considerably difficult to achieve this approximation. This difficulty becomes greater as the number of moving objects increases. The solution of this problem requires additional signal processing means such as synchronization of a plurality of clock oscillators by radio wave signals. PA1 (2) When the apparatus is applied to a plurality of moving objects, it is necessary to use supersonic waves having frequencies separately preset on the moving objects and correspondingly, employ supersonic wave sensors corresponding to the preset frequencies. In this case, additional signal processing means are required for the individual frequencies. Therefore, the above-described difficulty becomes more and more marked. PA1 (3) The necessity of the above-described additional signal processing requires complicated signal processing for obtaining a positional data for each moving object and hence prolongs the time required for the control. As a result, the time density of the resulting positional data inevitably becomes low, leading to loose control of the lighting projector in the end. PA1 a central control unit; PA1 a radio wave transmitter for transmitting a radio wave signal according to a transmission command signal from the central control unit; PA1 a supersonic wave transmitter held by a moving object and adapted to transmit a supersonic wave by detecting the radio wave signal; PA1 a plurality of supersonic wave detecting devices each having a time counter which is initialized by a start command signal from the central control unit to start instrumentation, adapted to stop the instrumentation of the time counter by detecting the supersonic wave transmitted from the supersonic wave transmitter, and disposed in different stationary positions; and PA1 a lighting projector provided in a stationary position and having a drive mechanism for shifting its lighting direction, PA1 said central control unit including: PA1 a central control unit; PA1 a radio wave transmitter for transmitting radio wave signals according to transmission command signals from the central control unit; PA1 supersonic wave transmitters separately held by two or more moving objects and adapted to transmit respective supersonic waves by detecting the radio wave signals identified correspondingly to the supersonic wave transmitters; PA1 a plurality of supersonic wave detecting devices each having a time counter which is initialized by a start command signal from the central control unit to start instrumentation, adapted to stop the instrumentation of their corresponding time counters by detecting the supersonic wave transmitted from the supersonic wave transmitter, and disposed in different stationary positions; and PA1 at least one lighting projector provided at stationary position and having a drive mechanism for shifting its lighting direction, PA1 said central control unit including:
As described above, the conventional control systems for lighting projectors require complicated constitution and signal processing and consequently involve a problem that control of the lighting projectors according to the movement of moving objects cannot be achieved with high precision.


When developing new chip designs, it is common for chip designers to combine pre-designed components to form the new chip. This modular chip fabrication process is beneficial as it takes advantage of preexisting proven technology. For example, a chip designer might combine components from several different previously developed chips.
The computer chip industry is constantly developing and employing process technologies to produce chips having smaller feature sizes. For example, the achievable feature size of about three micrometers (μm) (or 3,000 nanometers (nm)) in 1976 was reduced to about 90 nm in 2003. Smaller feature sizes allow for a greater number of functionalities to be associated with a given chip, and thus generations of chip scaling have followed scaling laws first set forth by R. Dennard et al., “Design of ion-implanted MOSFETs with very small physical dimensions,” IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, vol. SC-9, no. 5, pp. 256-268 (October 1974). Further, chips with smaller feature sizes require less power to operate. With an estimated $2.7 billion spent in 2005 to run servers and other associated computer equipment in the United States alone, power consumption is a growing concern.
These rapid advances in chip scale technology, however, can have notable drawbacks with regard to modular chip fabrication. Namely, as chip technology changes, incompatibilities can often arise between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ technologies. By way of example only, a change in chip feature size typically coincides with a change in power requirements. Different power requirements can render one component incompatible with another component. Thus, the versatility of current chip design technology can be limited unless all of the components are redesigned into the latest node for a new chip and fabricated using the scaled down features associated with the latest node of semiconductor wafers.
Therefore, modular chip fabrication techniques which improve the compatibility of different chip technologies would be desirable.


1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a switch device suitable for starting a vehicle engine.
2. Related Art
Recently a type of vehicle, in which a user does not conventionally insert a key in a key cylinder to turn the key, but the user having a proper electronic key starts up an engine only by pressing a push button of an engine starting switch device provided on a driver seat on a condition that the vehicle is equipped with an authentication system such as a so-called immobilizer, has become widespread in vehicles such as a four-wheeled vehicle. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-205183 discloses an automotive key cylinder in which a drain property is considered. In the automotive key cylinder disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-205183, a drain hole is made in a lower portion on a front-end side of a case, and a liquid (such as rain water) invading in a cylinder head from a key plate hole is drained away from the drainage hole to the outside of the case.


1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to a slit valve door for sealing substrate passages in vacuum processing systems.
2. Background of the Related Art
Thin film transistors (TFT) are commonly used for active matrix displays such as computer and television monitors, cell phone displays, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and an increasing number of other devices. Generally, flat panels comprise two glass plates having a layer of liquid crystal materials sandwiched therebetween. At least one of the glass plates includes one conductive film disposed thereon that is coupled to a power source. Power, supplied to the conductive film from the power source, changes the orientation of the crystal material, creating a pattern display.
With the marketplace's acceptance of flat panel technology, the demand for larger displays, increased production and lower manufacturing costs have driven equipment manufacturers to develop new systems that accommodate larger size glass substrates for flat panel display fabricators. Current glass substrate processing equipment is generally configured to accommodate substrates up to about five square meters. Processing equipment configured to accommodate substrate sizes exceeding five square meters is envisioned in the immediate future.
Glass substrate processing is typically performed in a cluster tool by subjecting a substrate to a plurality of sequential processes to create devices, conductors, and insulators on the substrate. Each of these processes is generally performed in a process chamber configured to perform a single step of the production process. In order to efficiently complete the entire sequence of processing steps, the cluster tool includes a number of process chambers coupled to a central transfer chamber. A robot is housed in the transfer chamber to facilitate transfer of the substrate between the process chambers and a load lock chamber. The load lock chamber allows substrates to be transferred between the vacuum environment of the cluster tool and an ambient environment of a factory interface. Such cluster tools for glass substrate processing are available from AKT, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Applied Materials, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif.
As the substrate size for manufacturing flat panel display grows, the manufacturing equipment for these substrates becomes larger in size as well. Accordingly, the door or gate that isolates one vacuum chamber (or load lock chamber) from another becomes larger, or, specifically longer, since the slot opening between the two chambers has to become wider to accommodate the large width of the substrate passing through the slot opening. The increasing length of the door poses technical challenges for obtaining a good isolation seal between the two chambers, which is maintained by an elastomer seal disposed around the slot opening between the door and a chamber wall.
FIG. 1A depicts a partial sectional view of a substrate passage 108 formed through a chamber body 106 and selectively sealed by a conventional slit valve door 110. Conventional slit valve doors are typically comprised of a flat member of aluminum having a long lateral span. A closing force is applied toward the center of the door 110 by brackets 102 attached, as shown in FIGS. 1A-B, to a stiff rotating shaft 104. The door 110 is rotated between a position sealing the passage 108 (as shown in FIG. 1A) and a position clear of the passage 108 by an actuator 118 coupled to the shaft 104. A seal 116 is disposed between the door 110 and chamber body 106.
The force required to load the seal 116 in order to obtain good chamber isolation is high. The high load applied near the center of the door 110 results in a high loading force approximate the center of the door 110 and a substantially lower sealing force near the ends of the door, as depicted by force arrows 112. The shaft 104 may deflect while under load as shown by the phantom shaft 120, as the door 110 has a long span between its bearing supports 114 disposed in the walls of the chamber body 106 and the brackets 102 coupled to the center of the door 110. Deflection of the shaft 104 while the door 110 is in a closed position further aggravates the low loading condition of the seal at the ends of the door. The low sealing force at the edge of the door may lead to undesirable leakage through the passage 108.
In order to provide a stiffer door for more uniform seal loading, the door and/or the shaft may be fabricated from thicker materials or materials having higher modulus. However, this approach increases the cost of the load lock chamber, as high strength materials are typically expensive, and a larger load lock chamber may be required to accommodate the larger, high strength door with adequate clearance during operation. A larger load lock chamber is undesirable due to the increased material and manufacturing costs of the chamber itself, along with increased pump capacity required to pump down the larger load lock volume. Moreover, increased load lock volume typically requires increased pump time which has an adverse affect on system throughput.
The use of the curved slit valve has been proposed to address these concerns and is described in commonly assigned and previously incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/867,100, entitled “CURVED SLIT VALVE DOOR”, filed Jun. 14, 2004. The implementation of a curved slit valve door has presented new engineering challenges. For example, as the door sealing surface becomes flat when pressed against the planar chamber wall to seal the slit valve passage, the change in the projected length of the curved slit valve door should be accommodated to prevent excess wear of the door actuation mechanism.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved slit valve door.


Current and prior designs of undercarriage structures for track-type vehicles use design and manufacturing practices which require that the individual left and right track assemblies be parallel with each other. Tight manufacturing and assembly tolerances ensure that the left and right track assemblies are held parallel. This is done in the belief that excessive wear of the track guiding components will occur if the track assemblies are not maintained in parallel relationship. However, with the left and right track assemblies held parallel, the track links bear against the mating track roller treads in a very precise location. As the mating surfaces of the links and rollers wear, the contacting surfaces assume wear profiles which exactly match each other. Therefore, continued operation of the moving undercarriage structure produces wear along the entire contacting surfaces of the links and rollers.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.


The manufacture of silicone products generates residue that can present serious problems in its safe and environmentally acceptable disposal. A variety of methods are known for treating chlorosilane direct process residue. However, there is a persistent high level of chloride in the treated chlorosilane residue.
Methods for reducing the level of chloride in chlorosilane residue are also known. However, the chloride level of treated residue is still too high limiting or preventing the use of residue in cement kilns. Additionally, smelter operations impose financial penalties for chlorosilane residues with chloride levels above 0.1%.


The present invention relates to lubrication systems for hermetic compressors and in particular vertically oriented hermetic compressors having a pick-up tube or shaft end which extends into the oil contained in a sump.
Hermetic compressors having hollow shafts or pick-up tubes which extend into the oil contained in a sump are used for drawing lubricant from the sump and providing it to moving parts of the compressor assembly. Often these tubes or shafts are provided with a paddle for pumping the oil through the shaft or tube. A problem experienced with pick-up tubes or shafts is that on their rotation they tend to create vortices around the end of the shaft or tube which extends into the oil. These vortices hinder the performance of oil delivery into the tube or shaft. A way of preventing the formation of these vortices is desirable.