All The Claims

1. A magneto-resistive device, comprising:
a magneto-resistive layer formed on one surface side of a base; and
a non-magnetic metal layer having one or more layers formed on said magneto-resistive layer on a side opposite to said base, said non-magnetic metal layer having a thickness of 10 nm or more, wherein:
said magneto-resistive layer includes a tunnel barrier layer; a free layer formed on one surface side of said tunnel barrier layer; a pinned layer formed on other surface side of said tunnel barrier layer; and a pinning layer formed on one surface side of said pinned layer, the one surface being opposite to other surface of said pinned layer facing to said tunnel barrier layer.
2. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 1, wherein said non-magnetic metal layer is formed such that said non-magnetic metal layer substantially exactly overlaps with at least the layer in said magneto-resistive layer furthest away from said base.
3. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of electrodes for supplying said magneto-resistive layer with a current, wherein at least one of said pair of electrodes is electrically connected to said magneto-resistive layer through said non-magnetic metal layer.
4. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 1, wherein said non-magnetic metal layer includes one or more of materials selected from a group consisting of tantalum, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, tungsten, palladium, platinum, gold, and alloys including one or more of the materials.
5. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of said non-magnetic metal layer is 12 nm or more.
6. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of said non-magnetic metal layer is 20 nm or more.
7. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 1, wherein said non-magnetic metal layer has been dry etched by ion beam irradiation.
8. A magneto-resistive device according to claim 7, wherein the dry etching by ion beam irradiation is ion beam etching or sputter etching.
9. A magnetic head comprising:
a base; and
a magneto-resistive device supported by said base, said magneto-resistive device including:
a magneto-resistive layer formed on one surface side of said base; and
a non-magnetic metal layer having one or more layers formed on said magneto-resistive layer on a side opposite to said base, said non-magnetic metal layer having a thickness of 10 nm or more, wherein:
said magneto-resistive layer includes a tunnel barrier layer; a free layer formed on one surface side of said tunnel barrier layer; a pinned layer formed on other surface side of said tunnel barrier layer; and a pinning layer formed on one surface side of said pinned layer, the one surface being opposite to other surface of said pinned layer facing to said tunnel barrier layer.
10. A magnetic head according to claim 9, wherein the thickness of said non-magnetic metal layer is 12 nm or more.
11. A magnetic head according to claim 9, wherein the thickness of said non-magnetic metal layer is 20 nm or more.
12. A magnetic head according to claim 9, wherein said non-magnetic metal layer has been dry etched by ion beam irradiation.
13. A magnetic head according to claim 12, wherein the dry etching by ion beam irradiation is ion beam etching or sputter etching.
14. A head suspension assembly having a magnetic head, and a suspension for supporting said magnetic head mounted near a leading end thereof, said magnetic head including a base, and a magneto-resistive device supported by said base, said magneto-resistive device comprising:
a magneto-resistive layer formed on one surface side of said base; and
a non-magnetic metal layer having one or more layers formed on said magneto-resistive layer on a side opposite to said base, said non-magnetic metal layer having a thickness of 10 nm or more, wherein:
said magneto-resistive layer includes a tunnel barrier layer; a free layer formed on one surface side of said tunnel barrier layer; a pinned layer formed on other surface side of said tunnel barrier layer; and a pinning layer formed on one surface side of said pinned layer, the one surface being opposite to other surface of said pinned layer facing to said tunnel barrier layer.
15. A head suspension assembly according to claim 14, wherein the thickness of said non-magnetic metal layer is 12 nm or more.
16. A head suspension assembly according to claim 14, wherein the thickness of said non-magnetic metal layer is 20 nm or more.
17. A head suspension assembly according to claim 14, wherein said non-magnetic metal layer has been dry etched by ion beam irradiation.
18. A head suspension assembly according to claim 17, wherein the dry etching by ion beam irradiation is ion beam etching or sputter etching.

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 for transmitting an aggregated interrupt packet comprising:
sending metadata from a client device to a host device, the client device comprising a sensor controller or a sensor;
detecting at least two sets of data from the client device;
detecting an identifier for the client device;
generating an aggregated interrupt packet in the client device that comprises the identifier and the at least two sets of data for the client device; and
sending the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device to the host device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device is a USB device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata indicates the number of bytes the client device transmits in each set of data and the field of each byte of data.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device to the host device, comprises encapsulating the aggregated interrupt packet in an internet protocol packet and sending the aggregated interrupt packet using an internet protocol.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device to the host device comprises sending the aggregated interrupt packet to the host device using a USB standard propagated by a wireless protocol.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier identifies a source of the at least two sets of data.
7. A system for transmitting an aggregated interrupt packet comprising:
a client device that transmits the aggregated interrupt packet, the client device comprising a sensor controller or a sensor; and
a processor to:
detect metadata from the client device;
send metadata from the client device to a host device;
detect at least two sets of data from the client device;
detect an identifier for the client device;
generate an aggregated interrupt packet in the client device that comprises the identifier and the at least two sets of data for the client device; and
send the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device to the host device.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the client device is a USB device.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the metadata indicates the number of bytes the client device transmits in each set of data and the field of each byte of data.
10. A system for transmitting an aggregated interrupt packet comprising:
a client device that transmits the aggregated interrupt packet; and
a processor to:
detect metadata from the client device;
send metadata from the client device to a host device;
detect at least two sets of data from the client device;
detect an identifier for the client device;
generate an aggregated interrupt packet in the client device that comprises the identifier and the at least two sets of data for the client device, the aggregated interrupt packet to be encapsulated in an internet protocol packet; and
send the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device to the host device using an internet protocol.
11. The system of claim 7, wherein the identifier identifies a source of each of the at least two sets of data.
12. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is to send the aggregated interrupt packet to the host device using a USB standard with a wireless protocol.
13. A system for transmitting an aggregated interrupt packet comprising:
a host device that receives the aggregated interrupt packet; and
a processor to:
receive metadata from a client device, the client device comprising a sensor controller or a sensor;
receive the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device;
split the aggregated interrupt packet into at least two sets of data; and
send the at least two sets of data to an application.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the client device is a USB device.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the aggregated interrupt packet comprises an identifier that identifies the source of each of the two sets of data.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the metadata comprises the number of bytes the client device transmits in each aggregated interrupt packet and the field of each byte of data.
17. A system for transmitting an aggregated interrupt packet comprising:
a host device that receives the aggregated interrupt packet; and
a processor to:
receive metadata from a client device;
receive the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device through an internet protocol;
split the aggregated interrupt packet into at least two sets of data; and
send the at least two sets of data to an application.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the client device is a sensor controller.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein the client device is a sensor.
20. At least one non-transitory machine readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions that, in response to being executed on a computing device, cause the computing device to:
send metadata from a client device to a host device, the client device comprising a sensor controller or a sensor;
detect at least two sets of data from the client device;
detect an identifier for the client device;
generate an aggregated interrupt packet in the client device that comprises the identifier and the at least two sets of data for the client device; and
send the aggregated interrupt packet from the client device to the host device.
21. The at least one non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, wherein the client device is a USB device.
22. The at least one non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, wherein the metadata indicates the number of bytes the client device transmits in each aggregated interrupt packet and the field of each byte of data.
23. The at least one non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, wherein the plurality of instructions cause the computing device to encapsulate the aggregated interrupt packet in an internet protocol packet and send the aggregated interrupt packet using an internet protocol.
24. The at least one non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, wherein the identifier identifies a source of each of the at least two sets of data.

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a light source that outputs a plurality of laser beams;
a splitting unit that splits each of the laser beams into a first laser beam that is used for light intensity control and a second laser beam that is used to scan a photosensitive element;
a light-intensity-signal output unit that outputs for each of the first laser beams a corresponding light intensity signal that is indicative of the light intensity thereof; and
a control unit that adjusts the light intensity of each of the laser beams to a target light intensity by referring to the light intensity signal, wherein
the control unit includes
a common-control-value calculating unit that calculates a common control value that is used for light intensity control of every laser beam;
a correction-value calculating unit that calculates a correction value for each of the laser beams, wherein the correction value is used to correct the common control value; and
a threshold calculating unit that calculates a threshold of each of the laser beams, wherein the threshold corresponds to a value of current at which oscillation of the laser beam starts,

the correction-value calculating unit calculates the correction value so that, when the laser beam is driven by a first control value, the light intensity of the laser beam is equal to the target light intensity, wherein the first control value is a value calculated by correcting the common control value using the correction value to obtain a corrected control value and adding the threshold to the corrected control value, and
the threshold calculating unit calculates the threshold so that, when the laser beam is driven by a second control value, the light intensity of the laser beam is equal to the target light intensity multiplied by a predetermined factor, wherein the second control value is a value calculated by correcting the common control value using the correction value to obtain the corrected control value, multiplying the corrected control value by the predetermined factor to obtain a multiplied control value, and adding the threshold to the multiplied control value.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the common-control-value calculating unit, the correction-value calculating unit, and the threshold calculating unit calculate the common control value, the correction value, and the threshold, respectively using a feedback system.
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the common-control-value calculating unit calculates the common control value only during a period after an image is formed on an arbitrary recording sheet and before another image is formed on a recording sheet that follows the arbitrary recording sheet.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the threshold calculating unit calculates the threshold only during a period after an image is formed on an arbitrary recording sheet and before another image is formed on a recording sheet that follows the arbitrary recording sheet.
5. A light intensity control method performed by an image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus includes
a light source that outputs a plurality of laser beams;
a splitting unit that splits each of the laser beams into a first laser beam that is used for light intensity control and a second laser beam that is used to scan a photosensitive element; and
a light-intensity-signal output unit that outputs for each of the first laser beams a corresponding light intensity signal that is indicative of the light intensity thereof, the light intensity control method comprising:
calculating, by a common-control-value calculating unit, a common control value that is used for light intensity control of every laser beam;
calculating, by a correction-value calculating unit, a correction value for each of the laser beams, wherein the correction value is used to correct the common control value; and
calculating, by a threshold calculating unit, a threshold of each of the laser beams, wherein the threshold corresponds to a value of current at which oscillation of the laser beam starts, wherein
the correction-value calculating unit calculates, in the calculating, the correction value so that the light intensity of the laser beam is equal to a target light intensity when the laser beam is driven by a first control value, wherein the first control value is calculated by correcting the common control value using the correction value to obtain a corrected control value and adding the threshold to the corrected control value, and
the threshold calculating unit calculates, in the calculating, the threshold so that, when the laser beam is driven by a second control value, the light intensity of the laser beam is equal to the target light intensity multiplied by a predetermined factor, wherein the second control value is a value calculated by correcting the common control value using the correction value to obtain the corrected control value, multiplying the corrected control value by the predetermined factor to obtain a multiplied control value, and adding the threshold to the multiplied control value.
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 sampling a material, the method comprising:
providing a sample collecting element comprising a first sampling compartment and a second sampling compartment;
placing the first sampling compartment in a passage comprising an inlet and an outlet, the first sampling compartment being placed between the inlet and the outlet of the passage;
flowing the material through an entire length of the first sampling compartment, and through the passage from the inlet to the outlet;
sampling substantially the entire cross-sectional flow of the material through the passage by closing a valve in the passage below the first sampling compartment thereby building up a column of material through the first sampling compartment thereby collecting a sample of the material in the first sampling compartment;
shifting the sample collecting element thereby removing the first sampling compartment from the passage;
placing the second sampling compartment in the passage; and
weighing the sample of the material.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample collecting element comprises a disc, and removing the first sampling compartment from the passage comprises shifting the disc through the passage.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein shifting the disc comprises rotating the disc 180\xb0 through the passage.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the first sampling compartment from the passage comprises shifting the first sampling compartment out of the passage.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the inlet of the passage comprises a source and wherein the outlet of the passage comprises a bulk collection container along a flowpath, wherein the first sampling compartment is disposed in the flowpath between the source and the bulk collection container.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising reopening the flow of material from the source to the bulk collection container through the second sampling compartment.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein shifting the sample collecting element positions the first sampling compartment and the sample of the material in a removal position wherein the sampled material flows from the first sampling compartment into a sample container.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein shifting the sample collecting element reopens the flow of material in the passage through the second sampling compartment.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
sampling substantially the entire cross-sectional flow of the material through the passage by collecting material in the second sampling compartment;
shifting a sample collecting element thereby removing sampled material from the passage.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein shifting the sample collecting element removes the first sampling compartment out of the passage and places the second sampling compartment in the passage.