Methods and compositions are provided for detecting antigens having a specific epitope associated with squamous lung carcinoma. The antigen may be found at lesion sites or in the blood as indicative of the squamous lung carcinoma.. Specific antibodies may be used for the detection of the antigen and in therapy.. The mouse hybridoma 43-9F producing IgM monoclonal antibody 43-9F and SLC cell RH-SLC-L11 were deposited at The PHLS Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Porton Down, Salisbury, U.K. on Jan. 31, 1985 and given Accession Nos. 85013101 and 85061403, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
Cancer cells synthesize unusual and sometimes highly specific proteins and glycolipids that in many cases have been identified as fetal or embryonic macromolecules apparently produced in the cancer cell after either aberrant activation or failure to deactivate genes normally silent in differentiated cells. Some of these gene-products may influence the abnormal proliferative properties of the cancer cells. Sensitive methods are needed for identifying the unusual cellular compounds with high tumor specificity, because they may provide signals for early cancer detection and perhaps for advancing understanding of the transformation process.
In no area is this more needed than in the case of malignant lung neoplasms. Particularly, squamous cell carcinomas, which represent about 50-60% in males of malignant lung neoplasms have proven very difficult to treat, since at the time of diagnosis, the disease is normally no longer localized. It could therefore be extremely important in the treatment of the disease to have a means for early diagnosis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Olsson et al., Cancer (1984) 54:1757-1765 report monoclonal antibodies for lung carcinoma. Antisera and monoclonal antibodies with reactivity to human lung cancer cells have been described by Kelly and Levy, Br. J. Cancer (1977) 35:828-833; Cuttita et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1981) 78:4591-4595; Braatz et al., Cancer Res. (1982) 42:849-855; Mazauric et al., Cancer Res. (1982) 42:150-154; Varki et al., 44:2052-2061. A few antibodies have been reported to be specific for one of the subtypes of lung cancer: small cell lung cancer (Bell and Seetharam, Int. J. Cancer (1976) 18:605-611; and oat cell tumor (Bernal and Speak, Cancer Res. (1984) 44:265-270. See also, DeSchryver-Keckemetri et al., Lab. Invest. (1979) 41:432-436 and Veltri et al., Br. J. Cancer (1980) 41:705-715.
Several different tumor-associated antigens expressed by non-lung cancer cells have previously been described as glycoconjugants. See, Hakomori and Kannagi, J. Nat. Cancer Inst. (1983) 71:231-251; Feizi (1984), in Genes and Antigens in Cancer Cells--The Monoclonal Antibody Approach; Contributions to Oncology, Vol. 19, Reithmuller et al., eds. (Kager, Basel) pp. 51-63; Ginsburg et al., ibid., pp. 51-63; Dippold et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1980) 77:6114-6118; Bumol and Reisfeld, ibid. (1982) 79:1245-1249; Hellstrom et al. in Genes and Antigens in Cancer Cells--The Monoclonal Anti-body Approach; Contributions to Oncology, Vol. 19, Reithmuller et al., eds. (Kager, Basel) pp. 121-131; and Atkinson et al., Cancer Res. (1982) 4820-4823.

Human squamous lung carcinoma cell specific antigens and antibodies


Navigation of a vehicle in a traffic network is optimized by a terminal, a traffic information center and a computer-assisted navigation method for a vehicle equipped with a terminal in a traffic network, using a digital map of the traffic network, in which a user requests a desired destination from the terminal and in which a route to the destination is determined, taking into account previous driving habits.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a computer-assisted navigation method for a vehicle equipped with a terminal. The invention also relates, to the terminal in the vehicle and to a traffic information center.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Navigation systems for computer-assisted navigation of a vehicle equipped with a terminal in a traffic network, which use a digital map of the traffic network, are known. A route to be recommended to the driver of the vehicle equipped with the terminal can either be determined in the terminal or determined in a traffic information center and transmitted to the terminal. However, a traffic jam, an accident, a recently closed road, a driver error, or other types of anomalies may mean that the route actually taken by the vehicle differs from the recommended route. Systems which use a digital map to lead the driver back onto the recommended route which he/she has left are known.

Computer-controlled navigation process for a vehicle equipped with a terminal, terminal and traffic information center


With the object of reducing the size, without degrading the electric characteristics, a first coil 21 and a second coil 23 that are helically wound are provided, and a connection member 22 is provided which is obtained by bending the upper end portion of the first coil 21 downward and passing it inside the first coil 21 substantially along the central axis of the first coil 21. The lower end portion of the connection member 22 is connected to the upper end of the second coil 23, and power is supplied from a feeder 24 to the lower end portion of the second coil 23.

The present invention relates to a dual-resonance antenna that can be used in two mutually separated frequency bands employed in cellular phones or handyphones (PHS: personal handyphone system).
The number of cellular phone or PHS subscribers increases from year to year, and because of such an increase in the number of subscribers, the employed frequency is insufficient. When the employed frequency is insufficient because of such an increase in the number of subscribers, two frequency bands are allocated: a frequency band that can be used almost everywhere as the frequency band of cellular phones and a frequency band that can be used in cities. For example, in Europe, cellular phones of a GSM system with a 900 MHz band can be used everywhere, and also cellular phones of DCS system with a 1.8 GHz can be used in cities in order to compensate for the utilized frequency insufficiency. For a cellular phone to be thus used in two frequency bands, it has to be made suitable for operation in two frequency bands. Thus, it has to contain wireless circuitry for each frequency band of the two frequency bands and to be provided with a dual-resonance antenna operating in two frequency bands.
A dual-resonance antenna shown in FIG. 9 has been suggested as the dual-resonance antenna of such type. This dual-resonance antenna comprises a helically wound coil 121 and a connection member 122 obtained by bending the upper end portion of the coil 121 downward and passing it inside the coil 121 almost along the central axis of coil 121. Power is fed from a feeder 124 to the end portion of the connection member 122.
An equivalent circuit of dual-resonance antenna 114 shown in FIG. 9 is shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the coil 121 and connection member 122 passing inside the coil 121 are high-frequency coupled, a floating capacitance is generated, and a parallel resonant circuit comprising an inductor L101 and a capacitor C101 is equivalently formed. An equivalent element 125 is equivalently formed above this parallel resonant circuit, and an equivalent element 126 is equivalently formed between the parallel resonant circuit and feeder 124. The equivalent element 125 is formed by the coil 121, and the equivalent element 126 is formed by the connection member 122.
In such a dual-resonance antenna 114, the coil 121 together with the connection member 122 operate as an antenna in a low-frequency band (first frequency band), the parallel resonant circuit is caused to operate as a trap in a high-frequency band (second frequency band), and the connection member 122 operates as an antenna at a high frequency. Thus, the dual-resonance antenna 114 operates at two frequency bands, namely first and second frequency bands.
In such a dual-resonance antenna, the antenna operating in a high-frequency band is formed by a linear connection member 122. Therefore, the length of connection member 122 has to correspond to the frequency of the second frequency band. The problem, however, is that if the length of connection member 122 is selected so as to correspond to the frequency of the second frequency band, the length of dual-resonance antenna 114 is increased and the size of antenna is difficult to reduce. For this reason, the size reduction of dual-resonance antenna 114 operating in two frequency bands, first frequency band and second frequency band, was attained by decreasing the length of connection member 122 to a level less than that essentially required and connecting a matching circuit with a dual-resonance characteristic. FIG. 11 shows a VSWR characteristic of dual-resonance antenna 114 with a total length reduced to about 20 mm, which has such a matching circuit connected thereto. In the VSWR characteristic shown in FIG. 11, frequency is plotted against the abscissa, a 900 MHz band (890-960 MHz) in the GSM (global system for mobile communication) is a first frequency band, and a 1.7 GHz band (1710-1880 MHz) in a DCS (Digital Cellular System) is a second frequency band. As shown in FIG. 11, the worst value of VSWR in the first frequency band is 3.1, the worst value of VSWR in the second frequency band is 2.7, and good VSWR is not obtained.
Furthermore, in the VSWR characteristic shown in FIG. 11, the matching circuit shown in FIG. 12 is connected between the dual-resonance antenna 114 and feeder 124. In order to obtain a dual-resonance characteristic, this matching circuit is composed by connecting a second inductor L112 and a third inductor L113 in series, connecting a capacitor C111 between the ground and the connection point of the second inductor L112 and the third inductor L113, and connecting the first inductor L111 between the ground and the initial end of the second inductor L112. In this case, the first inductor L111 is about 15 nH, the second inductor L112 and third inductor L113 are about 4.7 nH, and the capacitor C111 is about 2 pF. Thus, the problem was that the dual-resonance antenna 114 required a complex matching circuit using four or more elements.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dual-resonance antenna that can be miniaturized without degrading the electric characteristics and that employs a simple matching circuit.
In order to attain this object, the dual-resonance antenna in accordance with the present invention comprises a first coil, a connection member obtained by bending an end portion of the first coil and passing it along almost the central axis inside the first coil, and a second coil connected to the end portion of the connection member.
Furthermore, in the dual-resonance antenna in accordance with the present invention, a first reactance element for matching may be connected in series between the end portion of said second coil and a feeder, and a second reactance element for matching may be connected between the end portion of said second coil and the ground.
Moreover, in the dual-resonance antenna according to the present invention described in the above, a xcfx80-type matching circuit or a T-type matching circuit composed of a third reactance element may be connected between the end portion of the second coil and a feeder.
In accordance with the present invention, since the second coil is connected to the end portion of the connector member passed along almost the central axis inside the first coil, the total length of the dual-resonance antenna can be reduced and the antenna can be miniaturized. Furthermore, despite the size reduction, the second coil with an inherently required length can be used. As a result, a dual-resonance antenna with good electric characteristics can be obtained. Furthermore, since a matching circuit providing a dual-resonance characteristic is not required, a simple circuit with a small number of components can be used as the matching circuit for feeding the dual-resonance antenna.


A fuel injection control system for use in an internal combustion engine having a catalyst in its exhaust path. Each cylinder is provided with a fuel injection valve for injecting fuel thereinto amounting to a reference injection quantity which is set according to a loaded state of the internal combustion engine. Each cylinder is also provided with a spark plug for producing spark ignition therein at each period of reference ignition timing which is established according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine. The fuel injection control system is provided with a controller which controls the fuel injection valve such as to increase and decrease the reference fuel injection quantity by a different amount per cylinder without a change in the total of the reference fuel injection quantity, and which also varies this fuel increase and decrease according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine. The controller further controls the spark plug such as to retard the reference ignition timing by an amount different from one cylinder to another, and varies this retardation according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine. This control is effected when the internal combustion engine is in an operating state which conforms to predetermined conditions.

In many internal combustion engines disposed in a vehicle such as an automobile and the like, a catalyst for purifying exhaust gases is provided in an exhaust path of the engine in order to achieve exhaust gas purification. The catalyst is activated at given temperatures thereof to perform an exhaust-purifying function. To accomplish this, the catalyst preferably maintains preset temperatures so as to exercise a full degree of exhaust-purifying performance.
Also, in some internal combustion engines for use in vehicles, a fuel injection control system is provided for attempting to meet problems with noxious exhaust ingredients, specific fuel consumption, and the like. Variations in an operating state of the internal combustion engine, such as engine loads, an engine speed, cooling water temperatures, and an intake air quantity, are entered into the fuel injection control system as electric signals. The fuel injection control system then actuates fuel injection valves with each period of ignition according to values of the electric signals. A fuel injection quantity is thereby controlled.
Examples of the above are disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-76741 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-259279.
According to one example of the above Application No. 61-76741, when steady-state travel of a vehicle is continued, ignition timing is retarded to prevent catalyst temperatures from dropping below predetermined temperatures thereof. At the same time, a power deficiency due to retarded ignition timing is compensated by an idle speed control valve being opened.
According to the other example of above Application No. 2-259279, when a rotational frequency during idling is lower than its target value, reference ignition timing is corrected for an advance angle side so as to produce ignition of the internal combustion engine in a thus corrected setting. Engine power is thereby increased to raise the rotational frequency. When the rotational frequency is higher than its target value, the reference ignition timing is corrected for a delay angle side so as to lower the rotational frequency. This Continual feedback of the rotational frequency converges the engine speed on its target value. When the engine has a lower temperature, the reference ignition timing during idling is set to the delay angle side by a corresponding amount. Stable idling running is thereby provided even at cold temperatures of the engine. This also encourages the catalyst to accelerate engine warm-up, while enhancing both stability of engine idling speed and engine stalling-resistance to external loads at cold temperatures of the engine.
Also, in the internal combustion engine with the fuel injection control system, in order to promote activity of a catalyst by a rise in catalyst temperatures at the time of low temperature-starting of the engine, ignition timing is delayed by a given angle (for example, four degrees) under the control of an electronic-controlled ignition control device for a given length of time or until a predetermined cooling water temperature is reached after the internal combustion engine is started. The combustion state is thereby changed.
In previous fuel injection control systems for use in an internal combustion engine, ignition timing is delayed by a fixed value (four degrees) at the time of low temperature-starting of the internal combustion engine, to change the combustion state so as to raise catalyst temperatures. However, the rate of rise in catalyst temperatures is too low to sufficiently curtail noxious exhaust ingredients such as high carbon and the like. Thus, there is an inconvenience in that retarded ignition timing alone fails to sufficiently activate the catalyst. In addition, in view of noxious exhaust ingredient-related regulations, which have recently been even more tightened, simply retarded ignition timing has a disadvantage in its inability to meet these regulations. Furthermore, there is another inconvenience in that such retarded ignition timing detracts from operability at a light-loaded operation phase of the internal combustion engine.
In order to eliminate the above-mentioned inconveniences, the present invention provides a fuel injection control system for use in an internal combustion engine having a catalyst at its exhaust path, characterized in that: each cylinder is provided with a fuel injection valve for injecting fuel thereinto amounting to a reference injection quantity which is set according to a loaded state of the internal combustion engine; each cylinder is provided with a spark plug for producing spark ignition therein at each period of reference ignition timing which is established according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine; and, the fuel injection control system is provided with a controlling means, which controls the fuel injection valve such as to increase and decrease the reference fuel injection quantity by a different amount per cylinder without a change in a total of the reference fuel injection quantity, and in addition varies this fuel increase and decrease according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine; the controlling means further controls the spark plug such as to retard the reference ignition timing by an amount different from one cylinder to another, and in addition varies this retardation according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine, such control being effected when the internal combustion engine is in an operating state which conforms to predetermined conditions.
According to the above structure of the present invention, when an internal combustion engine is operated in a state which complies with predetermined conditions, a reference fuel injection quantity is regulated by a controlling means so as to increase or decrease by an amount varying with cylinders without a change in a total of the reference fuel injection quantity. At the same time, such a fuel increase or decrease is regulated by the controlling means so as to vary according to a loaded state of the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, reference ignition timing is controlled by the controlling means so as to retard by an amount different from one cylinder to another. At the same time, such a retardation is controlled by the controlling means so as to vary according to the loaded state of the internal combustion engine. As a consequence, ignition timing is, of course, retarded; what's more, a fuel injection quantity varies with the cylinders according to the loaded state of the engine, while a total of the fuel injection quantity remains unchanged, thereby feeding fuel thereinto. Moreover, the ignition timing varies with the cylinders in dependence upon the loaded state of the engine, thereby producing spark ignition therein.
The present invention also provides a fuel injection control system for use in an internal combustion engine having multi-cylinders to control injection of fuel into the internal combustion engine by means of fuel injection valves in response to an ignition signal, the fuel injection control system comprising: a controlling means which alters a proportion of a fuel injection quantity between the cylinders while maintaining constant the total amount of fuel injected into the internal combustion engine with each period of ignition when the internal combustion engine is started at low temperatures, the controlling means changing each delay angle of ignition timing per cylinder.
According to the above structure of the present invention, a fuel injection quantity and ignition timing per cylinder are varied with each period of ignition at the time of low temperature-starting of an internal combustion engine, i.e., when a cold engine is started. As a result, catalyst temperatures rise faster than in previous cases, which further accelerates activity of a catalyst. The occurrence of noxious exhaust ingredients can thereby be reduced successfully.

Fuel injection control system for use in an internal combustion engine


Provided is an artificial intelligence (AI) system simulating functions of a human brain, such as recognition and decision, by using a machine learning algorithm, such as deep-learning.

With the development of communication technology, various security systems are required. In order to safely access an electronic apparatus or a network, a method of authenticating a user by using a personal identification number (PIN) has been widely used. However, since the user may forget the PIN, the method of authenticating the user by using the PIN may cause inconvenience to the user. Accordingly, recently, various methods of authenticating a user without the user having to memorize separate information have been studied.
In particular, with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, a method of conveniently and safely performing user authentication by collecting and analyzing various contexts capable of indicating an authorized user have been studied.
An AI system is a computer system capable of realizing human level intelligence. The AI system is a system in which a machine trains itself, makes decisions, and becomes smarter, unlike an existing rule-based smart system. The more the AI system is used, a recognition rate is increased and a user's taste is more accurately understood, and thus, the existing rule-based smart system is gradually being replaced by a deep-learning-based AI system.
AI technology includes machine learning (deep learning) and element technologies using the machine learning.
The machine learning is an algorithm technology that self-classifies and learns features of input data. An element technology is a technology for simulating functions of a human brain, such as recognition and decision, by using a machine learning algorithm, such as deep-learning, and includes technical fields of linguistic understanding, visual understanding, inference/prediction, knowledge representation, or operation control.
Various fields to which the AI technology is applied are as follows. Verbal understanding is technology to recognize languages/characters of people and apply/process the languages/characters, and includes natural language processing, machine translation, a dialog system, questions and answers, or voice recognition/synthesis. Visual understanding is technology to recognize an object like in human vision, and includes object recognition, object tracing, image search, person recognition, scene understanding, space understanding, or image improvement. Inference/prediction is technology to logically infer and predict information by determining the information, and includes knowledge/probability-based inference, optimization prediction, preference-based plans, or recommendation. Knowledge representation is technology to automate experience information to knowledge data, and includes knowledge building (data generation/classification) or knowledge management (data application). Operation control is technology to control automatic driving of a vehicle or movement of a robot, and includes movement control (navigation, collision avoidance, driving) or manipulation control (behavior control).

Video display device and operating method therefor

Abstract: Image display apparatuses are more convenient for a user, by performing user authentication by using an authentication image set generated based on an object recognized from content viewed by the user.


A network router connects network nodes within a ring network for transferring frames of data within the network. The network router has a plurality of network ports which provide a physical interface to the network nodes. The network router further has a routing processor which is connected to the network ports. The routing processor is configured for receiving frames and transmitting frames at the same time. It reads a specific payload section from a received frame and places the data read from the specific payload section within another specific payload section of a frame to be transmitted.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a communication system and, more particularly, to a synchronous communication system formed as a ring network of two or more ports coupled to one another. The ports are preferably associated with a single multimedia device, and the network is formed between ports of the device to which the external multimedia device is coupled.
2. Description of Relevant Art
A communication system is generally known as a system that permits communication between nodes interconnected by a transmission line. Each node can transmit information, and/or can receive information, across the transmission line. The communication system of interconnected nodes can be organized in various topologies, such as bus, ring, star, or tree topology.
A bus topology network is generally regarded as linear, where transmissions from one node propagate the length of the transmission line and are received by all other nodes connected to that bus. A ring topology network, however, generally consists of a series of nodes connected to one another by unidirectional transmission links to form a single, closed loop. Examples of a ring network are described in IEEE 802.5 and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).
Streaming data as used to transfer audio and video data has a temporal relationship between samples produced from a source port onto the network. The relationship between those samples must be maintained across the transmission line to prevent perceptible errors, such as gaps or altered frequencies. A loss in the temporal relationship can cause a receiver at a destination to experience jitter, echo, or in the worst instance, periodic blanks in the audio and video stream. A network that forwards streaming data is preferably synchronous, with each source and destination node sampling at a rate synchronous to the network.
While streaming data is typically sent synchronously across a network, there may be instances in which the sample rate local to a node is not at the same frequency as the frame synchronization rate of the transmission line. If this is the case, then the data streaming from a source device can be sample rate converted, and then sent synchronously across the network. Alternatively, the data can be sent isochronously across the network. There are different types of isochronous data streams. First, the sampling rate may not be synchronized to the network frame rate. Here the number of bytes per frame may vary slightly from frame to frame. An example of this is a 44.1 kHz audio stream transported by a 48 kHz frame rate. A second type of isochronous data streams may be a bursty signal with varying data volumes at constant time intervals. Such signal may be MPEG transport streams. In a third type of isochronous data, there may be varying data volumes at varying time intervals.
To connect a plurality of network nodes to a ring network, a hub as disclosed in US Publication No. 2005/0271068 may be used. However, a problem with the disclosed hub is that it does not reduce the network load as it only forwards the received data. A router is required to decrease network load and increase network throughput.
A router for Ethernet is disclosed in US Publication No. 2008/0002732. The drawback of such a router is that it requires increasing amounts of buffer memory and processing power with increasing network connections and data throughput. Due to buffering, a synchronous real-time transmission of data is not possible.
For transferring streaming multimedia data, like audio and video data, over non-deterministic networks like Ethernet, QoS (Quality of Service) mechanisms are implemented. These require further processing capabilities and excessive memory for buffering of lower priority frames. This can hardly be integrated into a microcontroller.


An apparatus for cutting dry pasta strands includes a frame and a guide rail mounted to the frame. A bucket is slidably mounted to the guide rail and linearly moves along the guide rail. The bucket has a stepped pasta-receiving channel including a cutting edge. A cutting blade is fixed to the frame for selective sliding engagement against the cutting edge to cut the pasta in half.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to pasta-food processing and handling, and in particular, to a bucket for holding and cutting elongated dry pasta food products, such as spaghetti. This invention also relates to a method for cutting elongated dry pasta.
2. Description of Related Art
Spaghetti pasta is typically extruded when soft and an approximately 45" length of past is hung over a dowel until it is dry. After the spaghetti pasta is fully dried, it is cut at its U-bend end into two 20" long pieces. Each 20" piece is typically cut in half (i.e., into 10" pieces) by rotating disc-shaped blades. The blades may or may not have saw teeth on them. Thereafter, the 10" pieces of pasta are cut in half by another set of rotating discs. However, dry spaghetti is very brittle and, therefore, is difficult to cut especially into pieces that are only about five inches in length. These 5" cut pieces of pasta are also difficult to control for packaging. Further, the cutting of spaghetti from the 10" piece down to a 5" piece frequently causes shattering of the pasta. This is especially true when the blades have saw teeth in them which removes material from the spaghetti during the cutting process. Either type of blade causes shattering of the pasta into uneven cuts and sometime into three or more separate pieces of pasta of various lengths.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cutting system for dry elongated pasta, such as spaghetti, which overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method for cutting dry elongated pasta that is simple to implement and operate without causing a shattering of the pasta while leaving the cut pasta in an easy to manage condition.

Bucket assembly for holding and cutting dry spaghetti and method for cutting dry spaghetti


A brush seal assembly may seal a gap between a diaphragm and a rotor of a turbine. The brush seal assembly includes a brush, one end of which is inserted in a rotor facing surface of a diaphragm while the other end thereof protrudes toward a rotor, and a support strip spaced apart from one side of the brush so that one side end portion of the support strip is fixed and the other side end portion thereof supports one side of the brush.

Exemplary embodiments relate to a brush seal assembly, and more particularly, to a brush seal assembly for sealing a gap between a diaphragm and a rotor of a turbine.
Generally, a turbine is a power generation apparatus which converts heat energy of a fluid such as gas or steam into mechanical energy, and includes a rotor having a plurality of buckets to axially rotate by the fluid and a casing which is installed to surround the rotor and has a plurality of diaphragms.
A gas turbine includes a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. In the gas turbine, outside air is introduced and compressed by rotation of the compressor and is then transferred to the combustor, and combustion is performed by mixture of the compressed air and fuel in the combustor. High-temperature and high-pressure gas generated by the combustor drives a generator by rotating a rotor of the turbine while passing through the turbine.
In a steam turbine, a high-pressure turbine, an intermediate-pressure turbine, and a low-pressure turbine are interconnected in series or in parallel to rotate a rotor. When the steam turbine has a series structure, the high-pressure turbine, the intermediate-pressure turbine, and the low-pressure turbine share one rotor.
In the steam turbine, each turbine has a diaphragm and a bucket on the basis of the rotor in a casing. Steam rotates the rotor while passing through the diaphragm and the bucket to drive a generator.
Since each of the gas turbine and the steam turbine has a structure in which a rotary body (for instance, a rotor) is rotated relative to a stationary body (for instance, a diaphragm), a high-temperature and high-pressure fluid is leaked to a gap between the stationary body and the rotary body and such a fluid leak causes deterioration of energy efficiency due to a power loss. For this reason, an effort for reduction of the fluid leak generated through the gap between the rotary body and the stationary body may be made.
The gap between the rotary body and the stationary body may be decreased to reduce the fluid leak, but there are various limits in decreasing the gap.
When the gap is excessively small, vibration is caused by rubbing due to interference between the rotary body and the stationary body when the rotary body axially rotates, and may result in serious damage of devices.
Meanwhile, since the rotary body and the stationary body are heated by hot steam introduced from a boiler in the steam turbine, the rotary body and the stationary body are expanded or contracted from several mm to several tens of mm according to positions thereof when the steam turbine is operated or stopped. In this case, the rotary body and the stationary body are differently expanded because of being made of different materials, and are expanded in different directions according to the structure of the turbine. For this reason, the rotary body interferes with the stationary body when the steam turbine is operated, thereby causing the rubbing.

DOOSAN Heavy Industries Construction CO., LTD.


An apparatus for removing a deposit of gum or other sticky substance from a carpet or other flat surface including in combination, a body adapted for upright use and terminated by spaced-apart top and bottom ends, an electric drive motor including a rotatable drive shaft mounted in the lower half of the body to create a low center of gravity to the upright body, a flat bottom brush interconnected the drive shaft and extending below the lower body terminal end, a fluid reservoir for holding an inventory of liquid gum remover attached to the body including a conduit extending toward the brush and device for delivering a controllable charge of liquid to the deposit, handle device extending outward from the upper half of the body to manipulate the body in upright position over the deposit, including device for energizing the motor to spin the brush, and a sleeve slidably mounted coaxial with the bottom end of the body and arranged to extend outward and beyond the brush, having a planar bottom parallel to the plane of the brush and biased to extend beyond the brush, to contact the carpet about the deposit, as the body is lowered and the rotating brush and fluid cooperate to remove the deposit, to contain the washing action within the confines thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of carpet and floor cleaning implements. More particularly, it pertains to an electric powered tool for removing deposits of chewing gum and other sticky deposits from carpets and floors such as is encountered in movie theaters, restaurants and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
In movie theaters, hotels, restaurants, night clubs and other such places where the public congregate, it is common to see places where chewing gum and other sticky substances have been dropped onto the carpet and "walked" into the nap. Despite best efforts and good manners, people spill and drop things and, before they can be picked up or wiped up, other people either purposely or by accident step on the deposit resulting in spreading it outward and driving it into the nap of the carpet or over the surface of tile or linoleum floors. While this may be a nuisance to some, to the owners and proprietors of such places such is a far more serious problem. Without removing the deposit, the carpet will rapidly deteriorate as the substance accretes other dirt and debris that will cut or break carpet backing the longer it is walked upon. Carpeting represents a sizeable capital investment and its repair or replacement can represent an unwanted cost of operation.
There currently is no powered device for removing these deposits, The present practice for removing gum deposits from carpets is to pour a small amount of liquid gum remover or other solubilizing liquid onto the deposit and scratch the gum with a hooked instrument, such as a crocheting needle, to pull the nap up through the deposit while attempting to pull small chunks of the gum off the carpet. This process is very inefficient, is timed-consuming, and if attempted where a mass of people will soon pass by, such as when a movie theater lets out, could result in personal injury if someone trips over the worker. Some effort has been made to use a stiff brush but this has generally been found unsatisfactory because maneuvering the brush in back and forth strokes often spreads the size of the deposit and is otherwise just plain hard work.
There are devices in the prior art that appear useful in removing these deposits, however, upon closer examination they prove to be inadequate to do the job. U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,570 discloses a power brush apparatus comprising an elongated body with a rotating brush set at an angle at one end and a handle set at an angle at the other end including a trigger to allow water from a hose that is connected to the handle to pass down through the body and out the brush while driving the brush in rotary motion. A continuous flow of water would be required to keep the brush turning that would soon spread the wash zone of the chewing gum deposit to an undesirable size. The rotating brush is set at an angle to the handle and this would make it awkward to apply pressure to the brush against the deposit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,753 discloses a floor cleaning apparatus including an elongated angled body with a handle on the top end and a rotating brush at the other end driven by an electric motor mounted on the body. A reservoir containing liquid gum remover is attached to the body and includes a trigger near the handle for charging a quantity of fluid from the reservoir along a conduit to the brush area. This device is designed especially to shampoo corners of wall-to-wall carpeting and the brush is pointed at the end to allow it to get into these tight corners. Attempts to use this brush on an open flat carpet surface would be difficult as the spinning brush would "walk" the device beyond the deposit thus failing to confine the sticky deposit to a smaller area.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,166,482 discloses a small, hand-held device powered by a spring motor at one end having a round end brush protruding from the other end and an internal reservoir of soap or other surface treating medium arranged to sculpt pieces of the medium and pass it down to the brush. While this device is usable to treat various surfaces, the round bottom brush will not provide uniform cleaning to the deposit and more pressure on the brush will cause injury to the carpet nap. In addition, the small size would require the user to squat beside the deposit which can pose a traffic hazard. To increase the size of the unit would make it top heavy as the heavy motor is at the top end and this would render it awkward to use.
What is needed therefore is a device that is able to confine the washing of the carpet to a small area so as to prevent the liquid and the gum from being moved out over other carpeting, a device that could easily be used to apply pressure directly to the deposit, but not too much pressure so as to drive the brush too deep into the nap and damage the nap or backing, and a device that may be applied directly to the deposit while standing up and in a manner that direct pressure could be applied to the deposit without having the unit squirm out from under the operator.

Apparatus for removing a deposit of chewing gum from an underlying surface


In control apparatus and method for an automatic transmission, a gear shift state of a stepwise variable transmission mechanism is controlled to a target gear shift state by releasing a first engagement section according to a reduction in a capacity of the first engagement section and, simultaneously, by engaging a second engagement section according to an increase in the capacity of the second engagement section, in accordance with a torque inputted to the stepwise variable transmission mechanism and, during an inertia phase, either one of the first and second engagement sections functions as a gear shift state control side engagement section and the capacity of a gear shift state non-control side engagement section which is the other engagement section is increased when determining that it is impossible to make the gear shift state follow up the target gear shift state at the gear shift state control side engagement section.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control apparatus and method for an automatic transmission which are capable of realizing a target transmission gear (shift) ratio at an intended gear shift speed when a, so-called, replacement gear shift in which a first engagement section is released and, simultaneously, a second engagement section is engaged is performed to achieve the target gear shift ratio.
(2) Description of Related Art
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. 2007-263206 published on Oct. 11, 2007 exemplifies a previously proposed control apparatus for the automatic transmission. In the previously proposed control apparatus described in the above-described Japanese Patent Application First Publication, an input torque is determined during an inertia phase of the replacement gear shift, a clutch capacity at a higher speed range (a higher gear shift ratio side) when an input torque is positive and in a power ON state is controlled while a clutch capacity (a, so-called, clutch torque) at a lower gear shift side (a low speed gear ratio) when the input torque is negative and in a power OFF state is controlled so as to make an input revolution speed of the automatic transmission coincident with a target input revolution speed.

Control apparatus and method for automatic transmission


A semiconductor wafer is processed while being supported without mechanical contact. Instead, the wafer is supported by gas streams emanating from a large number of passages in side sections positioned very close to the upper and lower surface of the wafer. The gas heated by the side sections and the heated side sections themselves quickly heat the wafer to a desired temperature. Process gas directed to the "device side" of the wafer can be kept at a temperature that will not cause deposition on that side section, but yet the desired wafer temperature can be obtained by heating non-process gas from the other side section to the desired temperature. A plurality of passages around the periphery of the wafer on the non-processed side can be employed to provide purge gas flow that prevents process gas from reaching the non-processed side of the wafer and the adjacent area of that side section.

The present invention relates to a method for contactless treatment of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, comprising enclosing the wafer in an apparatus and applying two gas streams, in opposing directions, from first and second side sections located opposite on another, to the two opposing planar sides or surfaces of the wafers.
A method of this general type is disclosed in Netherlands Laid Open Application 8402410, in which furthermore, reference is made to Netherlands laid Open Applications 8103979, 8200753 and 8203318.
From these publications it is known to position a wafer such that it is floating between the two side sections. If the gas flow is suitably chosen, it has been found that a highly accurate definition of the position of the wafer with respect to the side sections is possible and this position is relatively fixed, that is to say little variation occurs in the position of the wafer with respect to the side sections. In the patent publications concerned it is described that the wafer is subjected to a wet treatment and is then possibly dried. For the purposes of drying, the gas which holds the wafer in place is heated to about 100.degree. C. and is moved over the surface of the wafer, as a result of which the moisture present is automatically removed.
Heating to much higher temperatures in the range of 200.degree.-1200.degree. C. is frequently necessary when treating semiconductor substrates. Heating can involve annealing or raising the temperature to make deposition or other processes possible. In the prior art, wafers are to this end placed in furnaces and then heated. Although this method is adequate, it has at least two disadvantages. Firstly, a method of this type is usually not completely contactless, that is to say certain points of the wafer are supported. Secondly, it takes a relatively long time to heat a wafer. This is due not so much to the thermal capacity of the wafer itself as to the relatively slow heat transfer between the furnace and the wafers and to the fact that in order to achieve a controlled, deformation free heating of the wafers, the wafers need to be heated inside the furnace together with the furnace itself.
In order to solve this problem single wafer systems have been disclosed with which rapid heating was achieved with the aid of high power lamps (50-80 Kw). Such a method is particularly expensive and difficult to control.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,918 discloses an apparatus wherein a wafer is fed through between a number of columns located some distance apart. Sets of columns located opposite one another, between which the wafer moves, are likewise some distance apart. In the gap between the sets of columns, heating is effected by means of a lamp some distance away. This apparatus has the drawback that due to the presence of many metal parts with complicated constructions in close proximity to the wafer, only heating to limited temperatures is possible. Furthermore, in this apparatus a wafer is supported by a plurality of columns of air streams with gaps in between the columns. Due to the succession of columns, where the wafer is supported, and gaps between the columns where the wafer is exposed to the heat radiation of the lamps, both the support of the wafer and the heating are not homogeneous.
It has been found that only limited heating can take place effectively by heating the gases, as is described in the above-mentioned Netherlands applications.

Method and apparatus for supporting a semiconductor wafer during processing


The object of the present invention is to provide a cutting tool consisting of fine grain cBN free from a binder and having a grain size of at most 1 xcexcm and having a high hardness, high strength and excellent heat resistance. The feature thereof consists in a cutting tool compring, as an edge part, a cubic boron nitride sintered compact containing cubic boron nitride having an average grain diameter of at most 1 xcexcm, in which the cubic boron nitride sintered compact has, at the said edge part, an I(220)/I(111) of (220) diffraction intensity (I(220)) to (111) diffraction intensity (I(111)) ratio of at least 0.05 in X-ray diffraction of arbitrary direction and impurities are substantially not contained in the grain boundaries.

This invention relates to a milling cutter suitable for high speed cutting with a long service life, such as a face mill or end mill for a work-piece of cast iron or steel, and a cutting tool suitable for precision cutting of ferrous materials, and a process for the production of the same.
In the production of an engine or a driving part of a car, or parts used in electric appliances, high speed steel tools, cemented carbide tools, coating tools, ceramic tools or cubic boron nitride sintered compact tools (which will hereinafter be referred to as xe2x80x9ccBN toolxe2x80x9d) have been used for face milling cutters or end mills for cutting cast irons or steels as the materials of the parts.
The cutting speed of a cemented carbide tool or coating tool as the face milling cutter for cutting cast irons is 150 to 250 m/min and the cutting speed practically used in ceramic tools about 400 m/min. On the other hand, in a cBN tool excellent in wear resistance as well as high speed cutting property, a cutting speed of 500 to 1500 m/min is possible by dry process, as proposed in JP-A-8-141822. When a workpiece is markedly subject to influences such as deformation or strain by heat generated during dry process cutting, or when such a part is treated that slight deformation due to heat is considered as a problem, however, cutting must have been effected while decreasing the cutting speed to such an extent that any deformation due to heat does not occur by wet process cutting using a cutting fluid and thermal cracks do not occur at the cutting edge of the cBN tool. That is to say, in the case of wet process cutting, a practically used range for the cutting speed should be 500 to 700 m/min and at a cutting speed exceeding this range, thermal cracks occur at the cutting edge of the tool to remarkably decrease the tool service life. This is due to that in dry process cutting using no cutting fluid, the temperature difference of the heat cycle is so small that the edge part of the cBN tool can resist thermal shock, while in high speed cutting by wet process, the cutting edge at a high temperature during contacting with a work-piece is rapidly cooled during air cutting, so that thermal cracks occur by the heat cycle imparted to the cutting edge.
The practically used cutting speed of a cemented carbide tool or coating tool as a face milling cutter for cutting steels is about 50 to 200 m/min. At a higher speed than this range, the cutting edge encounters rapid wearing or breakage to markedly decrease the tool life. In the case of a cBN tool, cutting is possible at a cutting speed comparable to that of the cemented carbide tool, but the cBN tool has not practically been used as the face milling cutter for cutting steels, since the cBN tool has an equal tool life to the cemented carbide and at a higher speed cutting than this range, the cutting edge encounters breakage due to lowering of the strength of the sintered compact with increase of the temperature of the cutting edge, and occurrence of thermal cracks resulting in marked lowering of the tool life.
The practically used cutting speed of a cemented carbide tool or coating tool as an end mill for cutting cast iron is about 30 to 150 m/min. In a cBN tool, on the other hand, a cutting speed of 100 to 1500 m/min is possible by dry process. By wet process, however, a cutting speed of 100 to 300 m/min is practically used, and at a cutting speed of more than this range, thermal cracks occurs on the cutting edge to markedly lower the tool life in the similar manner to the face milling cutter.
The practically used cutting speed of a cemented carbide tool or coating tool as an end mill for cutting steels is about 30 to 100 m/min. Under a condition of a relatively low cutting speed in a cBN tool, a tool life comparable to that of the cemented carbide tool is only obtained in the similar manner to the face milling cutter, and at a higher speed cutting, the cutting edge of a cBN tool encounters breakage due to lowering of the strength of the sintered compact with increase of the temperature of the cutting edge, and occurrence of thermal cracks resulting in marked lowering of the tool life, so that the cBN tool has not practically been used as the end mill for cutting steels,
The lowering of the service life of a cBN tool under the above described conditions is probably due to the following reasons. A cBN compact of the prior art is obtained by sintering cBN powder grains with a binder such as TiN, TiC, Co, etc. at an ultra-high pressure and contains 10 to 60 volume % of the binder. Since the cBN compact has a thermal conductivity of less than 200 W/mxc2x7K and a thermal expansion coefficient at 20 to 600xc2x0 C. of at least 4.0xc3x9710xe2x88x926/K, it is considered due to that a larger temperature gradient is caused in the vicinity of a cutting edge by the lower thermal conductivity for the temperature difference of a heat cycle during cutting steels or wet process cutting cast irons, a higher tensile stress is caused on the cutting edge during cooling and furthermore, larger extent expansions and shrinkages are repeated to readily cause thermal cracks by the higher thermal expansion coefficient. In addition, it is considered due to that even if the transverse rupture strength as the bending strength at room temperature is at least 80 kgf/mm2, the transverse rupture strength ia rapidly lowered at a temperature of at least 800xc2x0 C.
Therefore, to this end, a tool is required which does not contain any binder at its edge part, does have a high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient and does not meet with decrease of the strength even at a high temperature.
On the other hand, lately, requirements for high precision finishing cutting working of high hardness ferrous materials are increasing. For the precision working of the ferrous materials, single crystal diamond and single crystal cubic boron nitride have been investigated.
In the case of cutting a ferrous material by single crystal diamond, however, there arises a problem that a chemical reaction of diamond and iron takes place by cutting heat, resulting in rapid wear of the diamond tool and thus, direct working of a metallic mold of steels, etc. is impossible. Accordingly, in the precision working of a metallic mold for a lens, for example, a method comprising applying an electroless nickel plating layer and precisely finishing the plated layer has been adopted, but this method meet with such a problem that the strength of the metallic mold is not sufficient and the process is complicated. The direct working has been investigated based on a method for suppressing chemical reactions using a special atmosphere, but this is not practical.
Cubic boron nitride (cBN) is a material having a hardness next to diamond and high thermal and chemical stability, whose reactivity with ferrous metals is low. However, a cBN compact having at present been used as a cutting tool is obtained by sintering cBN powder grains with a binder such as TiN, TiC, Co, etc. at an ultra-high pressure and contains 10 to 60 volume % of the binder, as described above. Thus, during shaping the cutting edge, a fine chipping edge tends to occur and it is very difficult to sharply finish the cutting edge without chipping of the edge, so that use thereof as a precision cutting tool be difficult. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to prepare a tool from a single crystal of cBN or free from a binder. Therefore, a trial for preparing a single crystal of cBN and using as a cutting tool for ultra-precision working of steels has been made, but synthesis of a large-sized cBN single crystal with less impurities and defects is very difficult and a cBN single crystal has a number of cleavage planes, so that the strength is low and the wear resistance is not sufficient. Accordingly, the cBN single crystal has not been put to practical use up to the present time.
As apparent from the foregoing illustrations, it is considered that both of a cutting tool for subjecting cast irons or steels to high speed milling working and a cutting tool suitable for precision cutting of ferrous materials can be realized by a cBN compact tool free from binders.
As the cBN compact tool free from binders, there is a compact obtained by subjecting hexagonal boron nitride (which will hereinafter be referred to as hBN) as a raw material to reaction sintering using magnesium boronitride, etc., as a catalyst. This compact comprises cBN grains strongly bonded with each other, being free from a binder and having a thermal conductivity of 600 to 700 W/mxc2x7K, which is applied to heat sink materials or TAB bonding tools. Since there remain some catalyst in this compact, however, fine cracks tend to occur due to difference between catalyst and cBN in thermal expansion when heat is added. Thus, the heat resistance temperature is low, i.e. about 700xc2x0 C., resulting in a large problem as a cutting tool. Moreover, the grain diameter is so large as represented by approximately 10 xcexcm that the strength is not sufficient although the thermal conductivity is high and the compact cannot be applied to a cutting tool.
On the other hand, cBN can be synthesized (directly converted) at an ultra-high pressure and high temperature from BN of normal pressure type, e.g hBN without using any catalyst. It is known that a binder-free cBN sintered compact can be produced by direct conversion of hBNxe2x86x92cBN with simultaneous sintering.
For example, JP-A-47-34099 and JP-A-3-159964 disclose a method comprising converting hBN into cBN at an ultra-high pressure and high temperature and thus obtaining a cBN sintered compact. In addition, JP-B-63-394 and JP-A-8-47801 disclose a method comprising preparing cBN from pyrolytic boron nitride (which will hereinafter be referred to as pBN). However, these cBN sintered compacts have the problems that compressed hBN crystal grains at an ultra-high pressure tends to remain in the cBN sintered compact and exhibit strong orientation property (anisotropic property) of cBN crystals, resulting in laminar cracking or stripping.
Furthermore, as a method of obtaining cBN by direct conversion, for example, JP-B-49-27518 discloses using hexagonal boron nitride, as a raw material, having an average grain diameter of primary grains in a range of at most 3 xcexcm. However, the thus obtained cBN cannot be applied to a cutting tool, because hexagonal boron nitride in the form of fine powder contains several %, of boron oxide impurity and adsorbed gases, so that sintering does not sufficiently proceed, and the sintered compact contains such a large amount of the oxide as not giving high hardness, high strength and excellent heat resistance.
Since the cBN sintered compact of the prior art, containing a binder, has a low thermal conductivity and large thermal expansion coefficient and tends to encounter thermal cracks by a large load of the heat cycle and further, the strength is decreased at a high temperature, cutting of cast irons by wet process or high speed milling of steels is impossible. In addition, no sharp cutting edge can be obtained, the strength or wear resistance of the cutting edge is not sufficient and accordingly, precision cutting working of ferrous materials is impossible. As to a cBN single crystal, synthesis of a large sized cBN single crystal with less impurities and defects is very difficult and its strength is low and wear resistance is not sufficient. Thus, cBN encounters breakage of the cutting edge or wearing by microchipping through cleavage of (110) plane or (111) plane.
If a sintered compact of cBN single phase free from a binder, in which structure grains are fine and strongly bonded with each other, can be obtained by direct conversion, it is considered that the sintered compact has a high thermal conductivity and small thermal expansion coefficient and the transverse rupture strength is not lowered even at a high temperature, so that breakage due to thermal cracks can be suppressed and high speed milling of cast irons by wet process or high speed milling of steels is rendered possible. Furthermore, a sharp cutting edge can be formed by fine granulation of cBN, the edge breakage or wearing due to cleavage can be improved and the precision machining of ferrous materials can be carried out.
In the binder-free cBN sintered compact of the prior art, however, as described above, the grain diameter is large, i.e. several xcexcm and further, there are present the catalyst, compressed hBN, oxides, etc. in the grain boundaries to lower the transverse rupture strength and heat resistance temperature, so that the tool edge does not have an edge strength required for milling cutting being at a high temperature and a sharp cutting edge required for a precision cutting tool cannot be obtained. In the direct conversion method of the prior art, hBN as a raw material tends to be orientated and to become a sintered compact orientated in (111) direction. When pBN originally having a high orientation is used as a raw material, there is obtained a cBN sintered compact more orientated in (111) direction than in the case of using hBN as a raw material. Because of this orientation, there arises a problem that when using it as a cutting tool, disadvantages such as laminar cracks or strippings take place. A sintered compact of cBN single phase being isotropic and finely granular and having such a high bonding strength among grains as to be applied to cutting use has not been known up to the present time.
In the case of carrying out cutting of cast irons by wet process using the cBN tool of the prior art, therefore increasing the cutting speed so as to be similar to cutting by dry process results in decrease of the tool life in any of the face milling or end mill, consequently, raising the production cost.
For milling steels, inrease of the cutting speed using a cBN tool results in only lowering of the tool life and even at the generally employed working speed of a cemented carbide tool, the use of an expensive cBN tool having a similar service life to a cemented carbide tool raises the cost of cutting process. This is not preferable.
However, in recent years, mechanical working machines capable of high speed rotation have been developed one after another and high speed cutting is indispensable in order to improve the working efficency and reduce the cost. In such a mechanical working machine, it is eagerly desired to provide a cutting tool capable of corresponding to high speed cutting of steels and wet process cutting so as to suppress influences upon a workpiece due to rising of the cutting temperature during cutting a part of cast iron.
The inventors have made efforts to solve various problems of the prior art, as described above, in milling cutters and precision cutting tools such as cBN tools, in particular, face milling cutters or end mills and consequently, have reached the present invention.
The principal object is to provide a milling cutter using cBN, being free from binders and having a grain size of at most 1 xcexcm, and having a high thermal conductivity and small thermal expansion coefficient and being excellent in strength as well as wear resistance, because of containing no impurity in the grain boundaries and having an isotropic structure, whereby to exhibit high speed cutting of a cutting speed of at least 800 m/min, preferably at least 1000 m/min in the case of a face mill cutter for cutting cast iron by wet process; high speed cutting of a cutting speed of at least 300 m/min, preferably at least 500 m/min by wet process in the case of an end mill; a cutting speed of at least 200 m/min in the case of a face mill cutter for cutting steels by dry process and wet process; and a cutting speed of at least 150 m/min in the case of an end mill for cutting steels by dry process and by wet process, and whereby to achieve a sufficient tool life.
The second object is to provide a precision cutting tool consisting of fine grain cBN free from binders and having a grain size of at most 0.5 xcexcm, and having a very sharp cutting edge, because of containing no impurity in the grain boundary and having an isotropic structure.
The present invention is constructed of the following summarized inventions and embodiments.
(1) A cutting tool compring, as an edge part, a cubic boron nitride sintered compact containing cubic boron nitride having an average grain diameter of at most 1 xcexcm, in particular, at most 0.5 xcexcm, in which the cubic boron nitride sintered compact has, at the said edge part, an I(22O)/I(111) of (220) diffraction intensity (I(220)) to (111) diffraction intensity (I(111)) ratio of at least 0.05, in particular, at least 0.1 in X-ray diffraction of arbitrary direction and impurities are substantially not contained in the grain boundaries.
(2) The cutting tool as described in the above (1), wherein the thermal conductivity of the cubic boron nitride sintered compact, at the said edge part, is 250 to 1000 W/mxc2x7K.
(3) The cutting tool as described in the above (1) or (2), wherein the transverse rupture strength of the said cubic boron nitride sintered compact is at least 80 kgf/mm2 by a three point bending measurement at a temperature between 20xc2x0 C. and 1000xc2x0 C.
(4) The cutting tool as described in any one of the above (1) to (3), wherein the hardness of the cubic boron nitride sintered compact, at the said edge part, is at least 4000 kgf/mm2 at room temperature.
(5) The milling cutter as described in any one of the above (1) to (4), wherein the thermal conductivity of the cubic boron nitride sintered compact, at the said edge part, is 300 to 1000 W/mxc2x7K.
(6) The milling cutter as described in any one of the above (1) to (5), wherein the thermal expansion coefficient of the cubic boron nitride sintered compact, at the said edge part, is 3.0 to 4.0xc3x9710xe2x88x926/K at a temperature ranging from 20xc2x0 C. to 600xc2x0 C.
(7) The milling cutter as described in any one of the above (1) to (6), which is applied to a face milling cutter or end mill for high speed cutting cast irons or steels.
(8) The precision cutting tool as described in any one of the above (1) to (4), wherein the cubic boron nitride sintered compact, at the said edge part, contains cBN with an average grain diameter of at most 0.5 xcexcm.
(9) A process for the production of a sintered compact for a cutting tool containing cubic boron nitride with an average grain diameter of at most 1 xcexcm, in particular, at most 0.5 xcexcm, which comprises reducing and nitriding a compound containing boron and oxygen in the presence of carbon and nitrogen to synthesize a low pressure phase boron nitride and subjecting the resulting low pressure phase boron nitride, as a starting material, to direct conversion into cubic boron nitride at a high temperature and high pressure, while simultaneously sintering.
(10) The process for the production of a sintered compact for a cutting tool, as described in the above (9), wherein the said direct conversion and sintering are carried out at a pressure of at least 6 GPa and a temperature of 1550 to 2100xc2x0 C.
As described above, a cBN sintered compact for composing the cutting tool of the present invention contains no binder, comprises cBN of at most 1 xcexcm, contains no impurities at grain boundaries and has an isotropic structure, which can favorably be used as a milling cutter for high speed machining, having a high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient and being excellent in strength as well as wear resistance. If cBN is of fine grains with a grain size of at most 0.5 xcexcm, there can be obtained a tool having a sharp cutting edge and higher strength and wear resistance, which can preferably be applied to a precision cutting use.
The cBN sintered compact of the cutting tool according to the present invention is obtained by subjecting low crystallinity BN or fine grain, normal pressure type BN free from adsorbed gases or boron oxide, as a starting material, to direct conversion into cBN, followed by sintering, at a high pressure and high temperature. It is required that the low crystallinity BN or fine grain, normal pressure type BN used herein is prepared by reducing boron oxide or boric acid with carbon, followed by nitriding. As a method of synthesizing BN of normal pressure type, it is generally and industrially carried out to react boron oxide or boric acid with ammonia. However, when the thus obtained BN is heat treated at a high temperature, it is crystallized into hBN. Thus, even if fine grain, low crystallinity BN of normal pressure type is synthesized by this method, it is crystallized into hBN and subject to grain growth by a high temperature puirification treatment to remove boron oxide as an impurity (at least 2050xc2x0 C. in nitrigen gas, at least 1650xc2x0 C. in vacuum). In contrast, the normal pressure type BN prepared by reducing boron oxide or boric acid with carbon, followed by nitriding, has such a feature that it is not crystallized even if heat-treated at a high temperature. Accordingly, the boron oxide- or adsorbed gases-free normal pressure type BN suitable for direct conversion and sintering can be obtained by synthesizing the fine grain and low crystallinity normal pressure type BN by this method and subjecting it to a high purity purification treatment in a nitrogen atmosphere at 2050xc2x0 C. or higher or in vacuum at 1650xc2x0 C. or higher. The above described reducing and nitriding can be carried out using nitrogen and carbon as a heating source.
Since according to the present invention, the starting material is the fine grain and atmospheric pressure type BN and does not contain boron oxide hindering the cBN conversion, compressed hBN often appearing in the prior art direct conversion method does not remain and there is less grain growth or less monoaxial orientation in the cBN after the direct conversion. Consequently, an isotropic sintered compact consisting of fine grains is obtained, whose bonding strength among the grains is higher because of absence of boron oxide hindering sintering of cBN grains with each other.
A preferable condition for the above described direct conversion is a pressure of at least 6 GPa and a temperature of 1550 to 2100xc2x0 C. In particular, the sintering temperature is more important, since if lower than the the range, the conversion into cBN is not sufficient, while if higher than it, grain growth of cBN proceeds to decrease the bonding strength of cBN grains with each other. The sintering temperature, at which grain growth of cBN does not occur, varies with the crystallinity and grain diameter of the starting material. The cBN sintered compact, sintered in the above described suitable sintering temperature range, has such a feature that the compact has a dense structure comprising cBN with an average grain diameter of at most 1.0 xcexcm, preferably 0.5 xcexcm, contains no impurity in the grain boundaries, and has an isotropic structure.
Control of the grain diameter of cBN is generally carried out at a temperature during the direct conversion. That is, in order to control the fine grain state of at most 1.0 xcexcm, it is necessary to use the fine grain and low crystallinity normal pressure type BN and subject it to direct conversion at a low temperature range. When using ordinary hBN or pBN, the conversion into cBN does not occur unless the temperature is raised to 2100xc2x0 C. or higher and accordingly, it is impossible to control to a grain size of at most 1.0 xcexcm.
When the cBN sintered compact obtained in this way is applied to a material for a milling cutter or precision cutting tool, there is obtained a very sharp and high strength cutting edge having a high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient and being rendered possible high speed milling and precision cutting, which have been considered difficult in the prior art.
The cutting tool according to the present invention has a cutting edge consisting of a sintered compact comprising a cubic boron nitride (cBN) having an average grain diameter of at most 1.0 xcexcm, obtained by subjecting a low pressure phase boron nitride to direct conversion at a high pressure and high temperature and simultaneously, to sintering, the cBN sintered compact having an I(220)/I(111) of (220) diffraction intensity (I(220)) to (111) diffraction intensity (I(111)) ratio of at least 0.05, in particular, at least 0.1 in X-ray diffraction of arbitrary direction and impurities subtantially not contained in the grain boundaries. When the average grain diameter of cBN exceeds 1 xcexcm, an edge strength required for milling cannot be obtained. When the average grain diameter of cBN exceeds 0.5 xcexcm, a cutting edge has not a sharpness sufficient for precision cutting and the strength is not sufficient. If the X-ray diffraction intensity ratio, I(220)/I(111) is less than 0.05, the cBN sintered compact exhibits a strong orientation in  less than 111 greater than  direction, i.e. being anisotropic, so that laminar cracks or strippings tend to occur.
Preferably, the edge part of the cBN sintered compact has a transverse rupture strength of at least 80 kgf/mm2, whose strength is not lowered even at a high temperature. If less than 80 kgf/mm2 or the strength is lowered at a high temperature, a cuttinn edge having a sufficient strength cannot be obtained and breakage tends to occur. The hardness of the cBN sintered compact, at an edge part, is preferably at least 4000 kgf/mm2. If less than 4000 kgf/mm2, wearing during cutting is large, the service life is shortened and a precision cutting cannot be carried out.
The edge part of the cBN sintered compact preferably has a thermal conductivity of at least 250 W/mxc2x7K and a thermal expansion coefficient of at most 4.0xc3x9710xe2x88x926/K. If the thermal conductivity is less than 250 W/mxc2x7K, a large temperature gradient is formed during cutting in the vicinity of the cutting edge to cause a high tensile stress at the cutting edge during cooling, whileif the thermal expansion coefficient is more than 4.0xc3x9710xe2x88x926/K, the cutting edge repeatedly expands and shrinks by the heat cycle during cutting, thus forming thermal cracks at the edbe part and markedly shortening the service life of the tool.
As illustrated above, the cBN sintered compact for the cutting tool of the present invention contains no binder, contains no impurities at grain boundaries and has an isotropic structure, so there can be obtained a cutting edge having a high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient and being excellent in heat resistance cracking property and strength, whereby high speed milling is rendered possible. Thus, a longer serveice life than that of the prior art tools can be given when using as a cutting tool for wet process cutting of cast irons or high speed milling of steels. Furthermore, a sharp cutting edge capable of effecting precision working and being excellent in strength as well as wear resistance can be obtained by composing the cutting edge of fine grain cBN. When using the cutting tool of the present invention for precision working of ferrous materials, therefore, excellent properties can be realized which cannot be found in the prior art sintered compact.

Cutting tool of a cubic boron nitride sintered compact


A radio communication system according to the present invention comprises a transmitter having a plurality of transmission antennas, and a receiver having a mechanism to perform a diversity reception. A plurality of multi-modulators of the transmitter allocates the same transmission data to a plurality of subcarriers, combines all transmission signals obtained by weighting each of the subcarriers, and outputs combined transmission signals. At least one of weight values for the same data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing for each of the carriers.

A mobile communication system generally includes a base station and a mobile terminal. Each of the base station and the mobile terminal has a transmitting function and a receiving function. In general, a radio link from a transmitter of the base station to a receiver of the mobile terminal is called a "downlink", and a radio link from a transmitter of the mobile terminal to a receiver of the base station is called an "uplink".
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a conventional mobile communication system. The conventional mobile communication system includes a base station 13, an antenna for the base station 14, a mobile terminal 15, and an antenna for the mobile terminal 16. The base station 13 transmits a signal to the mobile terminal 15 for a downlink, and receives a signal from the mobile terminal 15 for an uplink, via the base station antenna 14. The mobile terminal 15 transmits a signal to the base station 13 for an uplink, and receives a signal from the base station for a downlink, via the mobile terminal antenna 16.
FIG. 11 is a timing chart of an uplink of a TDMA (time division multiple access) system. FIG. 12 illustrates frequency bands of an uplink and a downlink in the system shown in FIG. 11. The TDMA system is also called a TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)/TDMA system including the uplink and the downlink. The system operations are explained in detail in "TDMA Communications", written by Heiichi Yamamoto, et al. (Edition of IEICE (The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers), Chapter 2, 1989).
FIG. 11 illustrates a state in which six users (i.e., channels) use the same frequency at the same time by dividing a time frame. For example, in frame #A, a communication is conducted based on a time division from #A0 to #A5. In a case of a downlink based on the TDM system, a single base station transmits signals based on the time division. Therefore, there is no influence of a relative timing error attributable to a distance. However, in a case of an uplink based on the TDMA system, since a plurality of different mobile terminals communicates with the base station simultaneously, and distances between the base station and each of mobile terminals are different, a reception timing in a reception channel (i.e., burst) at the base station becomes different. Therefore, since it is necessary to secure an assumed difference between a maximum delay time and a minimum delay time as a guard time in providing services, a time width that each mobile terminal can utilize becomes narrower than ⅙ of a frame length.
Although the problem can be relieved to a certain extent if transmission timing is controlled in each mobile terminal based on a time alignment processing, the processing is quite complicated. Furthermore, the frequency arrangement of an uplink and a downlink based on the TDM/TDMA system is a single signal spectrum as shown in FIG. 12.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a communication from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising a transmission signal input terminal 1, a transmitter 2, a transmitter antenna 4, a receiver 5, a receiver antenna 6, and a modulator 100. FIG. 14 illustrates a relation between a transmission signal and a reception signal in a frequency domain in the communication shown in FIG. 13.
The modulator 100 of the transmitter 2 modulates a signal that is input through the transmission signal input terminal 1. The transmitter 2 transmits the modulated signal via the transmitter antenna 4. The signal receives a phase change or an amplitude change due to a fading or the like. The receiver antenna 6 receives the signal, and the receiver 5 demodulates the received signal. When a delay time due to a reflection is ignorable as compared to a symbol period, the reception signal shows the same spectrum as that of the transmission signal, as shown in FIG. 14, although there is a slight variation in the electric field. In other words, when the same data are transmitted in the #A0 burst and the #A1 burst, and even when the receiver combines the two burst signals, it is not possible to effectively suppress a level fluctuation due to the fading.
FIG. 15 is another block diagram of communication from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising a transmitter 2A, a first transmitter antenna 4A, a second transmitter antenna 4B, a first modulator 100A, and a second modulator 100B. FIG. 16 illustrates a relation between a transmission signal and a reception signal in the frequency domain in the communication shown in FIG. 15.
The modulator 100A and the modulator 100B of the transmitter 2A modulate a signal that is input through the transmission signal input terminal 1, respectively. The transmitter 2A transmits the modulated signals through the transmitter antennas 4A and 4B, respectively. The two signals receive a phase change or an amplitude change in different forms due to the fading or the like. The receiver antenna 6 receives the signals, and the receiver 5 demodulates the received signals. In this case, the signals transmitted from the transmitter antennas 4A and 4B receive different fading influences, respectively. The receiver antenna 6 receives the signals in a combined state. As a result, an average electric field of the received signal increases. The signals after being combined have characteristics of a flat fading, in a similar manner to a case that a single antenna transmits the signal. Therefore, it is not possible to make use of a diversity effect.
Therefore, when a delay time due to a reflection is ignorable as compared to a symbol period, the reception signal shows the same spectrum as that of the transmission signal as shown in FIG. 16, in a similar manner to that shown in FIG. 14, although there is a slight variation in the electric field. In other words, when the same data are transmitted in the #A0 burst and the #A1 burst, and even when the receiver combines the two burst signals, it is not possible to effectively suppress the level fluctuation due to the fading.
According to the conventional mobile communication system, unless a complex processing like the time alignment is employed, the frame utilization efficiency is deteriorated due to the guard time. Even when an arrangement is employed that limits the number of users who can utilize the mobile communication system and transmits the same data through a plurality of channels in parallel, it is not possible to make use of the diversity effect. In other words, with the conventional mobile communication system, it is difficult to realize high capacity and high quality communications due to the above reasons.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a radio communication system and a transmitter, which can realize high capacity and high quality communications without employing a complex time alignment processing.

Radio communication system and transmitter


An exemplary method or device determines which print drivers are being used within a printing environment. The method or device identifies a plurality of print queues. Each of the print queues is associated with one of the print drivers. The method or device submits a plurality of test documents to each of the print queues to produce a plurality of page description language (PDL) files. The method or device identifies print drivers that produce different types of PDL files as being non-compatible. If corresponding PDL files produced by different ones of the print drivers in response to the test documents contain all identical header commands (in any order) the method or device identifies the different ones of the print drivers as being compatible. If corresponding PDL files produced by different ones of the print drivers in response to the test documents do not contain all identical header commands, the method or device identifies the different ones of the print drivers as being non-compatible. The method or device produces a compatibility matrix listing which of the print drivers are non-compatible and which of the print drivers are compatible.

Embodiments herein generally relate to printing systems and more particularly to systems and methods that automatically calculate the compatibility of different printers and print drivers and produce a compatibility matrix of such devices and drivers.
In large-scale enterprise printing environments, one challenge is to keep printing costs to a minimum, while not impacting the day-to-day productivity of the employees. Part of that challenge involves ensuring that users can print successfully. Once a user submits a print job, and it does not successfully print, there could be many reasons why the print job was unsuccessful. There may be physical problems with the printer, or network issues that prevent the print job from successfully printing. Or, in environments where a print control system is employed, the print job may be blocked from printing for violating some policy.
Normally, when a print job is unsuccessful, the user needs to resolve the issue, either by calling the help desk and requesting help, or resubmitting the print job to a different device. The job will be spooled again before being sent to the new choice of printer. For large jobs, the repeated process of spooling could take significant time, and impact critical print server resources.
Current solutions require manual setup of redirection rules, and do not ensure that the alternate printer is compatible with the original. Instead, determination of compatibility is left to the user who configured the system. This requires ongoing maintenance to ensure new printers are compatible, and existing redirection rules are accurate. Other solutions force the use of a generic universal print driver, which restricts the functionality of the devices, in order to enable redirection between printers. This is also expensive to implement.

Printer compatability matrix listing compatible and non-compatible print drivers and print drivers compatible with adaptation


Methods of facilitating gate height uniformity by controlling recessing of dielectric material and semiconductor devices formed from the methods are provided. The methods include, for instance, forming a transistor of the semiconductor device with an n-type transistor and a p-type transistor, the n-type transistor and the p-type transistor including plurality of sacrificial gate structures and protective masks at upper surfaces of the plurality of sacrificial gate structures; providing a dielectric material over and between the plurality of sacrificial gate structures; partially densifying the dielectric material to form a partially densified dielectric material; further densifying the partially densified dielectric material to create a modified dielectric material; and creating substantially planar surface on the modified dielectric material, to control dielectric material recess and gate height.

As is known, semiconductor device fabrication typically includes transistor fabrication processing, which may involve conductive material deposition into appropriately configured openings in an intermediate circuit structure to create, for instance, gate structures of the transistors. This fabrication processing technique is often referred to as gate metallization processing. As the integration density of transistor continues to increase, the footprint area occupied by individual transistors necessarily continues to decrease. This ever-decreasing transistor size can result in challenges to the performance characteristics of the transistors, due to issues related to traditional fabrication processing techniques, including issues related to lack of planarity or uniformity of the gate structures, due to oxide loss and material recess.

Gate height uniformity in semiconductor devices


A method may include subscribing each of a plurality of users to receive native-format geospatial information from a data source. The method may also include receiving native-format geospatial information from the data source. The method may further include analyzing native-format geospatial information and previously-rendered geospatial data file fragments to determine whether to update one or more previously-rendered geospatial data file fragments. The method may additionally include translating native-format geospatial information into geospatial data file fragments in response to a determination to update one or more previously-rendered geospatial data file fragments, and storing such geospatial data file fragments.

Geospatial information has recently seen increased use in commercial, industrial, scientific, military, and other applications. Generally speaking, geospatial information may mean data that describes geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on, above, or below the earth's surface. Geospatial information is commonly described in Keyhole Markup Language (KML). A KML file may include data specifying a set of features (place marks, images, polygons, three-dimensional models, textual descriptions, etc.), and configured to be read and displayed by a geobrowser. A geobrowser may include a software program configured to execute on a mobile or desktop computer or any other suitable electronic device that may read geospatial information (e.g., a KML file) and translate the geospatial information for two-dimensional or three-dimensional display on a monitor or other visual display device. An example of a commonly-used geobrowser is GOOGLE EARTH, developed by GOOGLE, INC.
A geobrowser may support dynamic display of geospatial information, wherein changes to geospatial information associated with a user's perception (e.g., present view in the geobrowser) may be dynamically loaded and displayed to a user. However, using conventional approaches, dynamic content generation may be undesirable due to high processing requirements, particularly for complex data sets and/or for a large number of users. Because KML does not support standard session parameters, KML-based geobrowsers track individual user sessions, thus adding to the computation requirements.

System, method, and logic for optimized geospatial data delivery


A method is provided enabling communication infrastructure equipment to initially provision and update shared secret data of a mobile station where the mobile station only uses IP Multimedia Subsystem protocol signaling to accomplish the provisioning and updating.

This invention is directed to over the air (OTA) provisioning of wireless mobile stations and more specifically to OTA provisioning of dual mode wireless mobile stations where an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) mode is utilized to accomplish the initial provisioning for operation of the mobile station for that mode.
Commonly used wireless communication devices such as cellular handsets are now prevalent in many parts of the world. Before a new wireless mobile station (MS), also referred to as a handset, can support user communications, it must be provisioned, i.e. it must have its Mobile Identity Number (MIN) and the necessary data to access the service providers network stored in it. A known way of provisioning a MS, e.g. a cellular handset, is for the user to take the MS to a service center of the system operator where the MS is plugged into specialized equipment to accomplish an interchange of information with the MS. For example, the specialized equipment reads and stores an electronic serial number of the MS, and in cooperation with the MS stores the MIN, Mobile Directory Number, Preferred Roaming List (PRL) in the MS. The specialized equipment also stores the Authentication Key (A-Key) and Shared Secret Data (SSD) in the MS. The A-Key and SSD are later utilized by the network to authenticate the MS as a valid MS.
Some wireless communications systems support Over the Air Service Provisioning (OTASP) wherein a new, unprovisioned, MS can become provisioned by utilizing wireless signaling. A predetermined provisioning protocol and defined messages associated with the protocol are utilized on an over the air channel between the MS and a radio access node (RAN) of the service provider to provision the MS. Provisioning messages are exchanged between the MS and a provisioning center of the system operator. Such OTA provisioning is desirable by customers since it eliminates the otherwise required trip by the customer to a service center of the system operator and allows service provider to sell their service through mass marketing channels like Electronic Stores and Super Markets. A customer can buy a new phone from a store, come home and call the service provider to have their service started and the phone updated with the necessary data all in the privacy and convenience of their home. For example, IS683D protocol can be used by systems that implement it to provision CDMA 3G-1X terminals over the air.
As wireless communications systems continue to evolve, different types of communication systems are in use. Many of these communication systems are incompatible with the other systems, i.e. a single mode MS designed for one system cannot engage in communications in another system utilizing different communication technology, for example a single mode CDMA phone can not work in a GSM network. As an attempt to provide greater flexibility to users, dual mode MS's are coming into use. These dual mode MS comprise a handset that is capable of communications with first and second communication systems that employ different communication technology, e.g. a terminal may work in both Analog and CDMA mode or in both CDMA and GSM mode. Basically the dual mode MS is analogous to the user simultaneously carrying both a first and second single mode MS. That is, the dual mode MS can typically operate at any one time in one of two different communication technology modes. Although this provides the user with increased communication flexibility, the user typically has to go through a process of updating the data in the MS corresponding to the two different communication technology modes utilized by the MS so that each mode of the MS will be operational in the respective system. To meet this goal there are protocols like IS683D and products based on the same to provision a dual mode Analog/CDMA terminal for both technologies when the MS first accesses the network. Further it is desirable to be able to initially provision a MS regardless of which mode of operation the user selects for a first access.

Over the air provisioning of a wireless mobile station using IP multimedia subsystem mode


A heating arrangement for protecting a building eave from build-up of ice and snow: The heating arrangement includes an elongated, heat conductive strip adapted for installation along a building eave and an elongated heating element extending within the strip. The strip is formed to be attached to the building eave, and includes an elongated attachment flange which is secured by a plurality of fasteners. Depending on heating requirements, two or more of the elongated heating elements, spaced from one another, can be employed, and a further heating element can be installed within any rain gutter extending along the building eave.

This invention relates to heating devices for protecting building eaves, and in particular to a heating arrangement including an elongated protective, strip formed to eliminate accumulation of ice and snow.
Gutter protectors have become popular for largely eliminating accumulation of leaves, twigs and other material in rain gutters. One such gutter protector is disclosed in applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,916, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In climates where there is a winter accumulation of ice and snow, even with a gutter protector, there can be accumulation of ice at a building eave such that ice damming occurs due to periodic freezing and thawing of the ice and snow. If the ice dam is not eliminated, the ice can work under the protective roof material, leading to roof damage and unwanted water penetration into the interior of a building.
Heat tapes and the like are often used for preventing ice damming. Heat tapes are typically strips of wire-containing material that is electrified, and heat sufficiently to dissipate any accumulating ice and snow in the vicinity of the heat tapes.
While heat tapes work well when functional, heat tapes are extremely vulnerable to damage. Since heat tapes are applied to the surface of a roof, ice and snow sliding off the roof often remove the heat tape, as well, or damage the heat tape so that it is not functional. Since the heat tape is exposed to the elements, it also has a very short life span, and must be replaced periodically, leading to aggravation and expense.
A more substantial ice melting system has been developed by Bylin Engineered Systems, of El Dorado Hills, Calif. This system, known as the RIM System, includes specially designed panels that are installed along a building eave, having a series of heating cables that provide sufficient heat to eliminate ice damming. While the RIM System is effective, it also is particularly expensive. effectively limiting its availability.
The invention comprises a heating arrangement for a building eave. It includes an elongated, heat conductive strip adapted for installation along the building eave. Means is provided for securing the strip proximate the building eave, and an elongated heating element extends within the strip.
In accordance with the preferred form of the invention, the strip includes a channel accommodating the heating element. In climates where a single heating element is insufficient, at least two of the elongating heating elements can be employed, parallel to and spaced from one another, with the strip including a separate channel accommodating each of the heating elements. A further elongated heating element can also be provided, extending within any rain gutter installed proximate the heating arrangement. Thus any water entering the rain gutter after having been melted by the elongated heating elements in the strip will exit the gutter without freezing therewithin.
Preferably, the elongated, heat conductive strip is made of metal. It can be made of other materials, as well, so long as the heating capacity of the elongated heating elements employed is conducted efficiently to melt any accumulating ice and snow.