Author: claimsbot

What is claimed is:

1. A metallic material that can be worn away by abrasion, the material principally consisting of a metal alloy based on nickel andor cobalt which is (quasi) free of oxide or of a ceramic; said metal alloy or said ceramic having:
particles of solid lubricant distributed through its volume, in an amount that is 10% by volume or more; andor
closed pores distributed through its volume, said pores endowing said material with a porosity that is less than a percolation threshold; andor
recesses distributed in its surface, the walls of which are intended to undergo wear by abrasion.
2. The material according to claim 1, wherein said metal alloy or said ceramic has particles of solid lubricant and closed pores distributed through its volume.
3. The material according to claim 1, wherein said metal alloy or said ceramic has:
particles of solid lubricant and closed pores distributed through its volume; and
recesses distributed at its surface, the walls of which are intended to undergo wear by abrasion.
4. The material according to claim 1, consisting of an NiCrAl type metal alloy or a MCrAlY type metal alloy in which MNi andor Co.
5. The material according to claim 1, consisting of a ceramic based on zirconia (ZrO2), alumina (Al2O3) or silicon carbide (SiC).
6. The material according to claim 1, wherein the equivalent diameter of said particles of solid lubricant is in the range 5 m to 100 m.
7. The material according to claim 1, wherein said particles of solid lubricant consist of particles of boron nitride (BN) or graphite, said boron nitride (BN) not being used in a metal alloy containing nickel (Ni).
8. The material according to claim 1, wherein the equivalent diameter of said closed pores is in the range 10 m to 150 m.
9. The material according to claim 1, wherein the porosity of said metal alloy or said ceramic is 10% to 50% by volume.
10. The material according to claim 1, wherein the equivalent diameter of said surface recesses is in the range 0.5 mm to 3 mm.
11. The material according to claim 1, wherein said metal alloy or said ceramic comprises particles of a brazing material in an effective quantity, such that it is self-brazable.
12. The material according to claim 11, wherein said brazing material consists of silicon (Si) andor boron (B)
13. Parts, in particular of the flat or curved plate type, formed from a material according to claim 1.
14. Casings intended to contain revolving parts at high temperatures, wherein their inner surfaces are at least partially covered with plates according to claim 13 affixed to their inner surfaces by brazing or self-brazing.
15. A process for producing a material according to claim 1, the process comprising:
forming an intimate mixture of a powder of the metal alloy or the ceramic in question and an organic binder; said intimate mixture optionally additionally including an effective quantity of particles of solid lubricant andor particles of brazing material;
molding said mixture by pressing or injection into a mold which optionally exhibits protuberances that can generate surface recesses;
extracting the molded blank from said mold;
unbinding said unmolded blank;
at least partial densification by sintering of said blank following unbinding; said densification being carried out in a nonoxidizing atmosphere for the blank based on a metal alloy;
said particles of solid lubricant andor said mold protuberances andor carrying out partial sintering endowing the material with the desired abradability; said particles of brazing material, if used, rendering it self-brazable.
16. The process according to claim 15, wherein said metal alloy powder is constituted by grains with an equivalent diameter in the range 10 m to 70 m.
17. The process according to claim 15, wherein said ceramic powder is constituted by grains with an equivalent diameter in the range 1 m to 20 m.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method of operating an agricultural vehicle to reduce the time taken for rotating components of the crop processing machinery driven by the vehicle engine to reach a standstill, which method comprises the steps of:
sensing when a signal is generated by the vehicle operator to disengage a drive from the engine to the rotating components;
reducing the engine speed in response to the sensed signal to a minimum value below a steady idling speed of the engine;
disengaging the drive to the rotating components after the engine speed has reached the said minimum value; and
increasing the engine speed to a value equal to or greater than the steady idling speed after the disengagement of the drive to the rotating components.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of emitting an audible alarm signal while components of the processing machinery are still rotating, the signal having a characteristic that varies with the speed of rotation of the components.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the pitch of the audible signal varies with the speed of rotation of the components of the crop processing machinery.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the pulse repetition frequency of the audible signal varies with the speed of rotation of the components of the crop processing machinery.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the pulse repetition frequency of the audible signal varies with the speed of rotation of the components of the crop processing machinery.

1. A method for forming a microstructure, comprising:
(a) forming a photocurable layer on a substrate, the photocurable layer including at least one photocurable compound that has a plurality of photocurable functional groups and a photocurable functional group equivalent weight ranging from 70 to 700 gmol;
(b) covering partially the photocurable layer using a patterned mask;
(c) exposing the photocurable layer through the patterned mask using a first light source so that the photocurable layer is cured at first regions which are exposed;
(d) removing the patterned mask; and
(e) illuminating the photocurable layer using a second light source to cure second regions of the photocurable layer which have not been cured;
wherein the first and second regions have different surface heights and provide a surface roughness for the microstructure.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first light source is UV light, visible light, electron beam, or X-ray.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second light source is UV light, visible light, electron beam, or X-ray.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first light source is UV light and has an exposure dosage of not less than 70 mJcm2.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the photocurable functional group equivalent weight of the photocurable compound ranges from 80 to 600 gmol.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the photocurable functional group equivalent weight of the photocurable compound ranges from 85 to 400 gmol.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein, in step (a), the photocurable layer further includes a photoinitiator.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the photocurable layer is formed by coating the substrate with a paste including the photocurable compound.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the paste further includes a solvent.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the photocurable functional groups are selected from the group consisting of an alkenyl group and an epoxy group.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the photoinitiator is selected from the group consisting of vinyl phenone derivatives, benzophenone derivatives, Michler’s ketone, benzyne, benzyl derivatives, benzoin derivatives, benzoin methyl ether derivatives, \u03b1-acyloxy ester, thioxanthone derivatives, and anthraquinone derivatives.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of acetone, acetonitrile, chloroform, chlorophenol, cyclohexane, cyclohexanone, cyclopentanone, dichloromethane, diethyl acetate, dimethyl carbonate, ethanol, ethyl acetate, N, N-dimethyl acetamide, 1,2-propanediol, 2-hexanone, methanol, methyl acetate, butyl acetate, toluene, and tetrahydrofuran.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface roughness is not less than 0.05 \u03bcm.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface roughness ranges from 0.15 \u03bcm to 8 \u03bcm.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface roughness ranges from 0.2 \u03bcm to 7 \u03bcm.
16. A microstructure made according to the method of claim 1.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An apparatus for processing a digital input signal having a sampling frequency, the apparatus comprising:
an adaptive gain selection module configured to select a target gain setting based on a detected level of the digital input signal, a higher target gain setting being selected for a lower detected level;
a digital multiplier configured to multiply an upsampled version of the digital input signal with an instantaneous digital gain approaching the target gain setting to generate a digital output signal, the instantaneous digital gain updated upon detection of a zero cross in the upsampled version of the digital input signal; and
an amplifier configured to amplify an analog version of the digital output signal with an instantaneous analog gain inversely proportional to the instantaneous digital gain.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, the instantaneous digital gain configured to approach the target gain setting in fixed decibel increments.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a level detection module further configured to filter the absolute value of the digital input signal with a configurable time constant to generate the detected level of the digital input signal.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, the level detection module further configured to downsample the filtered value by a configurable factor to generate a signal indicating the detected level of the digital input signal.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, the adaptive gain selection module further configured to assign a target gain setting based on the detected level of the digital input signal falling within one of a plurality of predefined zones, each zone being defined by at least one configurable threshold.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, the adaptive gain selection module further configured to assign the detected level of the digital input signal to one of the predefined zones based on whether such detected level lies outside such predefined zone by a configurable hysteresis amount.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a zero cross detection module configured to detect the zero cross of the upsampled signal based on whether the absolute value of the upsampled signal is greater or less than a configurable zero detect window parameter.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a peak detection module configured to detect a peak level of the digital input signal; the apparatus configured to reduce the instantaneous digital gain applied by the digital multiplier in response to the detected peak level being greater than a peak threshold level.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, the peak threshold level being inversely proportional to the instantaneous digital gain.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a peak gain correction module configured to adjust the instantaneous digital gain to be a value that will result in no clipping by the multiplier in response to the detected peak level being greater than a threshold determined by the instantaneous digital gain.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, the apparatus further configured to hold the reduced instantaneous digital gain for a configurable timeout period in response to the detected peak level being greater than the threshold determined by the instantaneous digital gain.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, the apparatus further configured to, in response to detecting a second peak level greater than the threshold determined by the instantaneous gain during a running timeout period:
reduce the instantaneous digital gain applied by the digital multiplier in response to the second detected peak level; and
hold the reduced instantaneous digital gain for the configurable timeout period commencing with the detection of said second detected peak level.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, the digital input signal comprising a digital audio signal, the apparatus further comprising an upsampling module including an interpolator.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an upsampling module for generating the upsampled version of the digital input signal, the upsampling module including a zero-order hold module.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an upsampling module for generating the upsampled version of the digital input signal, the upsampling module including a CIC filter.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, the amplifier comprising a power amplifier having adjustable analog gain.
17. A method for processing a digital input signal having a sampling frequency, the method comprising:
selecting a target gain setting based on a detected level of the digital input signal, a higher target gain setting being selected for a lower detected level;
multiplying an upsampled version of the digital input signal with an instantaneous digital gain approaching the target gain setting to generate a digital output signal, the instantaneous digital gain updated upon detecting a zero cross in the upsampled version of the digital input signal; and
amplifying an analog version of the digital output signal with an instantaneous analog gain inversely proportional to the instantaneous digital gain.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising configuring the instantaneous digital gain to approach the target gain setting in fixed decibel increments.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting the level of the digital input signal by filtering the absolute value of the digital input signal with a configurable time constant.
20. The method of claim 19, the detecting the level of the digital input signal comprising downsampling the filtered value by a configurable factor to generate a signal indicating the detected level of the digital input signal.
21. The method of claim 17, the selecting the target gain setting comprising assigning a target gain setting based on the detected level of the digital input signal falling within one of a plurality of predefined zones, each zone being defined by at least one configurable threshold.
22. The method of claim 21, the selecting the target gain setting further comprising assigning the detected level of the digital input signal to one of the predefined zones based on whether such detected level lies outside such predefined zone by a configurable hysteresis amount.
23. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting the zero cross by detecting whether the absolute value of the upsampled signal is greater or less than a configurable zero detect window parameter.
24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:
detecting a peak level of the digital input signal; and
reducing the instantaneous digital gain in response to the detected peak level being greater than a peak threshold level.
25. The method of claim 24, the peak threshold level being inversely proportional to the instantaneous digital gain.
26. The method of claim 24, further comprising adjusting the instantaneous digital gain to be a value that will result in no clipping when generating the analog version of the digital output signal.
27. The method of claim 24, further comprising holding the reduced instantaneous digital gain for a configurable timeout period in response to the detected peak level being greater than the threshold determined by the instantaneous digital gain.
28. The method of claim 27, further comprising, in response to detecting a second peak level greater than the threshold determined by the instantaneous gain during a running timeout period:
reducing the instantaneous digital gain applied by the digital multiplier in response to the second detected peak level; and
holding the reduced instantaneous digital gain for the configurable timeout period commencing with detecting said second detected peak level.
29. The method of claim 17, the digital input signal comprising a digital audio signal, the method further comprising upsampling the digital input signal by interpolating and applying a zero-order hold.
30. The method of claim 17, the method further comprising upsampling the digital input signal by applying a CIC filter.
31. The method of claim 17, the amplifying the DAC output signal further comprising amplifying with an adjustable gain to generate an analog output, and further amplifying the analog version of the digital output signal by a power amplifier.
32. An apparatus for processing a digital input signal having a sampling frequency, the apparatus comprising:
means for selecting a target gain setting based on the detected level of the digital input signal;
means for multiplying an upsampled version of the digital input signal with an instantaneous digital gain approaching the target gain setting to generate a digital output signal; and
means for amplifying an analog version of the digital output signal with an instantaneous analog gain inversely proportional to the instantaneous digital gain.