Author: claimsbot

1. A method of manufacturing a mold, comprising:
forming a first layer having a greater affinity to a second polymer than to a first polymer, on a substrate having a greater affinity to the first polymer than to the second polymer;
forming first openings and second openings in the first layer, the second opening being larger in size than the first opening;
filling a resist in the second openings and hardening the resist to obtain a hardened resist;
forming a second layer containing a block copolymer having the first and second polymers, in the first openings and on the first layer;
causing the block copolymer to self-assemble to form a dot row arranged corresponding to the first openings and containing the first polymer;
removing the hardened resist;
processing the substrate using the dot row as a mask to form a mold having a first area with a shape corresponding to the dot row and a flat second area corresponding to the second openings; and
removing the first and second layers.
2. The method according to claim 1,
wherein the size of the first opening is 15 nm or less; and
wherein the resist has a polymer having a molecular weight equal to or greater than 24000 and equal to or less than 60000.
3. The method according to claim 2,
wherein the size of the second opening is equal to or greater than four times the size of the first opening.
4. The method according to claim 1,
wherein the size of the first opening is 15 nm or less; and
wherein the resist has a viscosity equal to or greater than 1500 mPa\xb7s and equal to or less than 10000 mPa\xb7s.
5. The method according to claim 4,
wherein the size of the second opening is equal to or greater than four times the size of the first opening.
6. The method according to claim 1,
the forming first openings and second openings, comprising:
forming a layer of a second resist on the first layer;
processing the layer of the second resist to have a shape corresponding to the first and second openings; and
etching the first layer using the processed layer of the second resist as a mask to form the first and second openings,

the method further comprising removing the processed layer of the second resist after the filling and hardening a resist.
7. The method according to claim 6,
wherein the processing the layer of the second resist, comprising:
pressing a mold having first and second projections corresponding to the first and second openings against the layer of the second resist; and
hardening the layer of the second resist against which the mold is pressed.
8. The method according to claim 6,
wherein a material of the second resist is novolac, PMMA, or PVA.
9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising
removing the layer of the second resist by wet etching.
10. The method according to claim 1,
wherein the block copolymer is at least any one of PS (poly styrene)-PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), PS-PMMA (polymenthyl methacrylate), PMMA-PMAPOSS (polymethacrylate containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane), and PS-PEO (polyethylene oxide).
11. The method according to claim 1,
wherein, in the forming a dot row, the block copolymer self-assembles by annealing.
12. A method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium, comprising:
forming a resist layer on a substrate having a magnetic film thereon;
pressing a mold manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1 or a mold replicated from the mold against the resist layer;
patterning the resist layer against which the mold is pressed by hardening the resist layer; and
forming a magnetic recording medium having a magnetic area corresponding to the first area and having a dot row arranged and a non-magnetic area corresponding to the second area, using the patterned resist layer.

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 forming an earth-boring tool, comprising:
forming a catalyst-containing material on each of a top and sides of a diamond material discrete from the catalyst-containing material, the diamond material comprising diamond nanoparticles;
processing the diamond material under high temperature and high pressure conditions to form a sintered nanoparticle-enhanced polycrystalline compact; and
attaching the sintered nanoparticle-enhanced polycrystalline compact to a bit body.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise particles comprising at least one catalyst material.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise a solid structure comprising at least one catalyst material.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise one or more of cobalt, iron, and nickel.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise cemented tungsten carbide.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise at least one catalyst material and at least one non-diamond carbon material.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising depositing the diamond material on a supporting substrate prior to forming the catalyst-containing material on each of the top and the sides of the diamond material.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise at least one catalyst material different than at least one other catalyst material of the supporting substrate.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise at least one catalyst material different than at least one other catalyst material of the supporting substrate comprises:
selecting the at least one catalyst material to comprise one or more of cobalt, iron, and nickel; and
selecting the at least one other catalyst material of the supporting substrate to comprise one or more of cobalt, iron, and nickel.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein attaching the sintered nanoparticle-enhanced polycrystalline compact to a bit body comprises securing the supporting substrate within a pocket in an outer surface of the bit body.
11. A method of forming an earth-boring tool, comprising:
forming a catalyst-containing material on exposed surfaces of a diamond material discrete from the catalyst-containing material, the diamond material comprising diamond nanoparticles;
forming another catalyst-containing material on the catalyst-containing material;
subjecting the diamond material to a high temperature and high pressure process to form a sintered nanoparticle-enhanced polycrystalline compact; and
securing the sintered nanoparticle-enhanced polycrystalline compact to a bit body.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
selecting the catalyst-containing material to comprise a solid structure selected from the group consisting of a film, a sheet, and a mesh; and
selecting the another catalyst-containing material to comprise a plurality of particles.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising selecting the catalyst-containing material and the another catalyst-containing material to comprise different catalyst materials.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising forming the diamond material on a supporting substrate prior to forming the catalyst-containing material on the exposed surfaces of the diamond material.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming a catalyst-containing material on exposed surfaces of a diamond material comprises forming the catalyst-containing material on the exposed surfaces of the diamond material and on exposed surfaces of the supporting substrate.
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising selecting two or more of the supporting substrate, the catalyst-containing material, and the another catalyst-containing material to comprise the same catalyst material.
17. A method of forming an earth-boring tool, comprising:
depositing a diamond material on a supporting substrate, the diamond material comprising diamond nanoparticles;
depositing a catalyst-containing material on exposed surfaces of the diamond material and on a portion of exposed side surfaces of the supporting substrate;
subjecting the diamond material, the catalyst-containing material, and the supporting substrate to high temperature and high pressure conditions to form a cutting element comprising a sintered nanoparticle-enhanced polycrystalline compact; and
attaching the cutting element to a bit body.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing another catalyst-containing material on the catalyst-containing material and on remaining portions of the exposed side surfaces of the supporting substrate.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing a non-catalyst-containing material on remaining portions of the exposed side surfaces of the supporting substrate.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising selecting the non-catalyst-containing material to comprise one or more of a ceramic, a carbide, an oxide, an intermetallic, a clay, a mineral, a glass, carbon nanotubes, fullerene, adamantane, graphene, and amorphous carbon.

1. For use with a helicopter including a rotor system having a rotor with an adjustable pitch that is controlled at least in part by a pilot using a collective control and which helicopter generates a Low RPM signal that is indicative of a threshold low rotational speed of the rotor, an apparatus comprising:
an actuator arrangement that is configured for moving the collective control by exerting a force on the collective control such that the pilot is able to overcome said force but which otherwise moves the collective control from a current operational position toward a minimum pitch position; and
a control arrangement that is configured for receiving the Low RPM signal and for responding to the Low RPM signal by activating the actuator arrangement for at least a predetermined period of time to apply said force to move the collective control from the current operational position to the minimum pitch position in an absence of a collective control input from said pilot.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control arrangement is further configured for entering a lockout interval immediately following said predetermined period of time during which lockout interval the Low RPM signal is disabled from activating the actuator arrangement.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said predetermined period of time is in a range from 1 second to 10 seconds.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 configured to apply said force within 1 millisecond of receiving the Low RPM signal.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said collective control includes an arm that is pivotable to change the adjustable pitch of the rotor and said arm includes an arm length extending from a pivot end to a distal end and wherein said actuator arrangement is connected to an intermediate position along the arm length to apply said force.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 positioned below said collective control such that said force pulls on said collective control from said intermediate position.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said actuator arrangement includes a cable having one end that is attached to the intermediate position of the arm length for pulling on the collective control.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the actuator arrangement includes an electric motor for applying said force to the cable by rotating in a given direction.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said motor includes a motor shaft and said motor shaft supports a drum having one or more windings of the cable wound around the drum.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said drum is supported for co-rotation with said motor shaft and wherein said cable extends around said drum from said windings to an opposing end of the cable that is attached to a spring that is supported for maintaining a tension continuously on the cable to take up any slack in the cable.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said spring is a coil spring having a first end that is attached to the opposing end of the cable and a second end that is fixedly attached to the helicopter.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said drum is supported for rotation coaxially with the motor shaft but independent of the rotation of the motor shaft and said actuator arrangement includes a coil spring that is received around said motor shaft for co-rotation with the motor shaft such that rotation of the motor shaft causes said coil spring to tighten in a way which co-rotates said drum with said motor shaft in said given direction.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said actuator arrangement includes a drum shaft which co-rotates with the drum and which extends from said drum and concentrically receives said motor shaft such that the coil spring engages an outer surface of the drum shaft responsive to rotation of the motor shaft in the given direction and such that the drum shaft is otherwise loosely received in the coil spring to provide for rotation of the drum shaft and drum independent of rotation of the motor shaft.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said motor includes a motor shaft and said motor shaft supports a pulley defining a pulley groove that receives the cable and the pulley includes a pulley diameter that is configured to retract the collective control from a full up position to the minimum pitch position in less than one rotation of the pulley.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said cable includes a distal end that is attached to said pulley.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising an arrangement for removing slack from said cable during normal flight conditions of said helicopter.
17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said pulley includes a periphery and a capture band is attached to said periphery having the cable received in said pulley groove between the pulley and the capture band and said cable includes a distal end that supports an endpiece such that rotation of the pulley in a direction for retracting the cable causes the endpiece to engage the capture band to thereafter take up the cable on the pulley and lower the collective control.
18. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said collective control includes an arm that is pivotable to change the adjustable pitch of the rotor and a counterbalance spring that is configured as part of a counterbalance linkage to apply a resilient bias to the collective arm and wherein said actuator arrangement is configured to apply said force to said counterbalance linkage in a way that compresses the counterbalance spring for moving the collective control to the minimum pitch position.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein said actuator arrangement further includes at least one lever arm having a first end that is pivotally attached to the helicopter and a second, opposing end that is moved responsive to an electric motor such that an intermediate portion of the lever arm applies said force.
20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control arrangement includes a pilot actuatable switch that is switchable by the pilot to selectively disable the application of said force to the collective.
21. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control arrangement includes an arrangement for using at least a detected altitude of the helicopter above a surface of the ground to disable the application of said force below a predetermined altitude.
22. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control arrangement is configured for disabling the application of said force based on a detected altitude of the helicopter in combination with a detected airspeed of the helicopter.
23. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control arrangement is configured for disabling the application of said force within at least one predetermined unsafe region of a height-velocity diagram for the helicopter.
24. For use with a helicopter including a rotor system having a rotor with an adjustable pitch that is controlled at least in part by a pilot using a collective control and which helicopter generates a Low RPM signal that is indicative of a threshold low rotational speed of the rotor, a method comprising:
arranging an actuator arrangement for moving the collective control by exerting a force on the collective control such that the pilot is able to overcome said force but which otherwise moves the collective control from a current operational position toward a minimum pitch position; and
configuring a control arrangement to receive the Low RPM signal and respond to the Low RPM signal by activating the actuator arrangement for a predetermined period of time to apply said force to move the collective control from the current operational position to the minimum pitch position in an absence of a collective control input from said pilot.
25. For use with a helicopter including a rotor system having a rotor with an adjustable pitch that is controlled at least in part by a pilot using a collective control and which helicopter generates a Low RPM signal that is indicative of a threshold low rotational speed of the rotor, a method comprising:
receiving the Low RPM signal and responding to the Low RPM signal by exerting a force to move the collective control from the current operational position to the minimum pitch position for at least a predetermined period of time in an absence of a collective control input from said pilot such that the pilot is able to overcome said force but which otherwise moves the collective control from a current operational position toward a minimum pitch position.
26. The method of claim 25 including entering a lockout interval immediately following said predetermined period of time during which lockout interval the Low RPM signal is disabled from causing the collective to move.

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 concentration correcting method comprising:
forming N test patterns at different positions in a moving direction by repeatedly performing a dot line forming process of forming a dot line in a line region on a test medium in which a plurality of unit areas is arranged in the moving direction by ejecting liquid from nozzles while allowing the nozzles to move in the moving direction and a transport process of transporting the test medium in a transport direction;
performing on the N test patterns a process of calculating a concentration correction value, which is used to correct concentrations of the unit areas in a print image to be printed on a printing medium by repeatedly performing the dot line forming process and the transport process, every line region on the basis of the corresponding test pattern and acquiring N concentration correction values corresponding to each line region; and
correcting the concentrations of the unit areas in the print image by the use of interpolated correction values obtained using a linear interpolation method on the basis of positions of two test patterns of the N test patterns in the moving direction, two concentration correcting values acquired from the two test patterns, and positions of the unit areas in the moving direction.
2. A concentration correcting method comprising:
forming N test patterns at different positions in a moving direction by repeatedly performing a dot line forming process of forming a dot line in a line region on a test medium in which a plurality of unit areas is arranged in the moving direction by ejecting liquid from nozzles while allowing the nozzles to move in the moving direction and a transport process of transporting the test medium in a transport direction;
performing on the N test patterns a process of calculating a concentration correction value, which is used to correct concentrations of the unit areas in a print image to be printed on a printing medium by repeatedly performing the dot line forming process and the transport process, every line region on the basis of the corresponding test pattern and acquiring N concentration correction values corresponding to each line region; and
correcting the concentrations of the unit areas in the print image by the use of the concentration correction value obtained from the test pattern having the smallest distance to the positions of the unit areas in the moving direction among the N concentration correction values.
3. The concentration correcting method according to claim 1, wherein the N test patterns include three test patterns of a first test pattern formed at one end in the moving direction, a second test pattern formed at a center position in the moving direction, and a third test pattern formed at the other end in the moving direction, and
wherein the correcting of the concentrations includes performing a process of correcting the concentrations of the unit areas in the print image on all the unit areas of the print image.
4. The concentration correcting method according to claim 1, wherein the correcting of the concentrations includes:
performing a process of correcting the concentrations of the unit areas in the print image using the interpolated correction values on some unit areas of the print image; and
correcting the concentrations of the other unit areas of the print image by the use of one of the N concentration correction values.
5. The concentration correcting method according to claim 2, wherein the N test patterns include two test patterns of a first test pattern formed at one end in the moving direction and a second test pattern formed at a center position in the moving direction, and
wherein the correcting of the concentrations includes:
performing a process of correcting the concentrations of the unit areas in the print image by the use of the concentration correction values, which are obtained from the test pattern having the smallest distance to the positions of the unit areas in the moving direction, on the unit areas located closer to one end in the moving direction than the center position of the print image; and
correcting the concentrations of the unit areas located closer to the other end in the moving direction than the center position of the print image by the use of the concentration correction values obtained from the second test pattern.
6. A printing apparatus storing a concentration correction value which is obtained by:
forming N test patterns at different positions in a moving direction by repeatedly performing a dot line forming process of forming a dot line in a line region on a test medium in which a plurality of unit areas is arranged in the moving direction by ejecting liquid from nozzles while allowing the nozzles to move in the moving direction and a transport process of transporting the test medium in a transport direction; and
performing on the N test patterns a process of calculating a concentration correction value, which is used to correct concentrations of the unit areas in a print image to be printed on a printing medium by repeatedly performing the dot line forming process and the transport process, every line region on the basis of the corresponding test pattern and acquiring N concentration correction values corresponding to each line region,
wherein the printing apparatus corrects the concentrations of the unit areas in the print image by the use of interpolated correction values obtained using a linear interpolation method on the basis of positions of two test patterns of the N test patterns in the moving direction, two concentration correcting values acquired from the two test patterns, and positions of the unit areas in the moving direction and prints the corrected print image on the printing medium.