A case for an emergency escape breathing apparatus including a substantially rigid hollow shell defining a cylinder housing portion for retaining a cylinder of breathable gas and a delivery device housing portion for removably housing a delivery device for the breathable gas supplied by the cylinder. An access opening is provided which provides access to the interior of the delivery device housing portion through which a delivery device, such as a hood or mask, can be inserted and removed.

The invention relates to a case for an emergency escape breathing apparatus.
An emergency escape breathing apparatus is intended to enable a user to escape from a polluted or hazardous environment. Such environments may arise following an industrial accident, natural disaster, fire or other situation in which potentially toxic substances are released into the atmosphere, for example, in the form of gases, particulate dispersions, etc. An emergency escape breathing apparatus typically comprises a source of breathable gas, a hood or mask to be placed over the head of a user, and a flexible supply line to deliver breathable gas from the source to the hood or mask. The device is activated by placing the hood or mask over the head and then opening a valve to start the flow of breathable gas through the supply line to the hood or mask. While breathing through the hood or mask, the user then evacuates from the hazardous environment, carrying the source of breathable gas. The source of breathable gas is not generally particularly large, usually containing between 10 and 15 minutes of breathable air. This amount is sufficient to enable a user to evacuate to a place of safety, without being too big and heavy to allow easy carrying by the user.
An emergency escape breathing apparatus is thus not designed for regular or continual use. Such apparatus is provided, and may be legally required, in environments where the potential for hazardous conditions exists. The apparatus enables evacuation from such environments in the event of an emergency, its use being envisaged only in exceptional circumstances. Particular design constraints apply to equipment of this nature, which may remain in storage for an extended period of time but must always to be ready for use in the event of an emergency. Storage is a particular issue, as the apparatus must be readily visible and available in the event of an emergency, without getting in the way of day to day operations. Additionally, the apparatus must be sufficiently light weight to be carried by a user, who may be in physical distress, yet robust enough to withstand rigorous movement in the event of use, and potential accidental damage that may occur as a result of being stored in a high profile and possible busy location. Finally, the apparatus must be sufficiently simple in operation to be used by untrained personnel in the event of an emergency.
To date, it has proved difficult to adequately fulfil all of the above design requirements. An existing emergency escape breathing apparatus may be contained within a high visibility bag, which is light and easy to carry but is subject to damage. Dedicated storage units must be supplied to house the apparatus, potentially occupying valuable space in industrial environments where space may be at a premium. In seeking to address these issues, it may be that ease of use is compromised, or simply that the apparatus becomes costly to manufacture and maintain, a considerable disadvantage in safety equipment that may only rarely be called upon.

Case for emergency escape breathing apparatus


A method for automatic glue-spraying of stringers and inspection of glue-spraying quality based on measured data. Three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data of a stringer-skin assembly is collected by 3D laser scanner, and then processed by denoising and sampling. Feature points of an intersection line of a site to be glued of the stringer-skin assembly are extracted by K-means clustering method based on Gaussian mapping, and a minimum spanning tree is constructed based on a set of the extracted feature points. A connected region is established to obtain an initial feature intersection line of the string-skin assembly, which is optimized by random sample consensus algorithm to remove redundant small branch structures to obtain the actual glue-spraying trajectory. The quality of the glue sprayed on the stringer-skin assembly is inspected by line laser to determine positions of the defects, which are then subjected to secondary glue-spraying.

The development of the aviation industry in China brings higher and higher requirements for the design precision of new aircrafts. As an important load-bearing assembly in the digital design and manufacturing of aircrafts, the aircraft panel is expected to have characteristics of small weight, high efficiency and good universality. Generally, the aircraft panel is composed of the skin and the stringer, and these two components are considered vital in the manufacturing of an aircraft since they are closely associated with the bearing capacity, stability (buckling performance and pressure loss) and structural efficiency of the panel. Therefore, a stable connection between the stringer and the skin is considered as the basis for maintaining the stability of the aircraft structure. At present, the stringer and the skin are generally connected by gluing. However, in the traditional manufacturing process, it is often required manually complete the gluing between the stringer and the skin and the inspection of the adhesive quality. Therefore, the traditional gluing process is time and labor-consuming. Specifically, on the one hand, there are differences in the sizes of the skins, and when the gluing is performed between a large skin and a stringer, an offset may occur to the glue-spraying trajectory, which will cause a deviation in the gluing sites of the stringer and the skin. On the other hand, after the manual glue-spraying is completed, manual inspections are also needed to determine whether the adhesive is intact, whether the sites to be coated on the skin are all coated with an adhesive, and whether the quality and size of the adhesive meet the related standards. In view of the above, how to quickly and accurately extract the glue-spraying trajectory and perform the automatic monitoring of glue quality is the key to achieve the automatic gluing.
Recently, due to the rapid development of high-precision three-dimensional scanning equipment, the three-dimensional (3D) data processing technology based on measured point clouds also achieves a great progress. In view of this, a technique for accurately performing gluing between the skin and stringer based on measured data is designed herein, in which the high-precision 3D measured data is used to accurately and quickly extract the glue-spraying trajectory and inspect the gluing quality, enabling the automatic and accurate gluing between the skin and the stringer and the inspection of the glue-spraying quality.

Method for automatic glue-spraying of stringer and inspection of glue-spraying quality

NANJING UNIVERSITY OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS


Binding systems for recreational boards are provided. A binding system is mounted atop a rider-support surface of the board. Portions of the binding system are pivotal with the rider's foot and with respect to the board. This pivotal motion may allow the rider to have greater control over the application of weight to the heel and/or toe edges of the board. In particular embodiments, the binding system comprises: a base rigidly mounted atop rider-support surface of the board; and a foot-retainer pivotally mounted to the base via pivot couplings for pivotal motion of the foot-retainer relative to the base and the board.

Many recreational sports, such as snowboarding, for example, involve riding a board through or atop of a medium such as air, snow or water. A rider stands on one surface (the rider-support surface) of an elongated snowboard with his or her feet spaced apart from one another and oriented at various angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard. The rider rides the board down snow covered inclined slopes with one foot in front of the other in a manner similar to that of surfing. Depending on whether the rider puts their right foot forward or their left foot forward, the rider's stance defines one edge of the snowboard to be the "heel side" or "heel edge" (i.e. the edge of the board closest to the rider's heels) and one edge of the snowboard to be the "toe side" or "toe edge" (i.e. the edge of the board closest to the rider's toes).
Snowboards typically incorporate bindings which may increase the rider's control over the board. Bindings typically retain the rider's feet atop the rider-support surface of the board and assist the rider to transfer his or her weight to the edges of the board and to thereby assist the rider to turn the board. There are many types of prior art snowboard bindings. Most prior art bindings incorporate a binding base plate or the like which is located on the rider-support surface of the board and is rigidly mounted to the board. The most common type of binding, referred to as a "high back" binding, incorporates a back member which projects from the binding base plate on the rider-support surface, such that the rider may lean backward (e.g. against the back member) to apply pressure to the heel edge of the board, and one or more straps which extend over top of the foot and bind the foot to the binding base plate, such that the rider may lean forward (e.g. against the straps) to apply pressure to the toe side of the board. Another common type of binding, referred to as the "step-in" binding, typically requires that the rider wear a hard shell boot which is secured to the binding base plate, such that the rider can apply pressure to the heel and toe edges of the snowboard by applying corresponding pressure against the interior surfaces of their hard shell boots. Step-in bindings use a variety of techniques for securing the hard shell boot to the binding base plate.
There is a general desire to improve the performance of prior art binding systems and/or to provide binding systems which offer new features over those of the prior art.


In order to adhesively bind a set of sheets of book blocks, booklets and the like, the inner book (6) is inserted in a clamping device (7-11) with the back facing downward and received by a holding device that can be moved horizontally and perpendicularly in relation to the plane of the block. The adhesive is applied onto the backs of the blocks from the bottom by a press on device by means of an adhesive pad (17). The adhesive pad is impinged upon by the press on device in such a manner that the back of the book forms a set of sheets on one side and then on the other side by exerting pressure while adhesive is imultaneously applied on the back of the book forming the set of sheets (FIG. 1).

This invention refers to a method for adhesively binding a set of sheets of books, book blocks, booklets and the like by fastening the book block and applying adhesive to the sheets of the back of the book block.
When adhesively binding sheets of book blocks and the like for small series or individual books, the stack of sheets, such as a book block, is clamped and is manually painted with liquid adhesive at its back. This method is time consuming and the adhesive which is applied from the top flows into the spaces between adjacent sheets so that the edge areas of said sheets become smeared, and so that too much adhesive is wasted.
It is an object of this invention to rationalize manual labor of adhesively binding fanned sheets of book blocks, and to substitute it by machine in order to increase the production speed, to reduce the adhesive consumption, and to handle the binding not only at higher speed but also to obtain a by far more stable and durable long term bonding for the bound products. In addition, the adjustment of the width of the back of a book block or the pitch for solid covers which are to be rounded, is to be clearly determined.
The invention proposes a method according to which a book block with it""s back downwards is inserted into a clamping device and is clamped as well taken up by a supporting device which by means of an operating device is movable horizontally and rectangularly in view of the plane of the block, the adhesive is applied from below onto the back of the block by means of an adhesive pad, the adhesive pad is arranged within a container which is operated by a press-on device in such a manner that the back of the book block is fanned towards the one and subsequent thereto towards the other side and that simultaneously adhesive material is applied onto the fanned back of the book block, and the press-on device is controlled so that the trough for the adhesive pad performs a tilting/sloping movement.
The product to be bonded by adhesively binding the fanned set of sheets of a book block, which throughout the specification will be called the xe2x80x9cbook blockxe2x80x9d, is clamped in the usual manner so that the individual sheets and the back of the block maintain their poosition relative to each other, which is necessary for the bonding procedure. The clamped book block is firmly fastened and from below a pad soaked with adhesive or an adhesive applying plate is pressed against the back of the block. Subsequent thereto the adhesive pad pressed against the back of the block is moved in a direction rectangular to the plane of the sheets of the block, and at the same time is lifted or tilted on one side so that the back of the block is moved from a horizontal into an inclined, skewed position. Simultaneously, the pad is moved in longitudinal direction. In this manner the individual sheets of the stack are fanned at their back area so that a defined section of small width is released for receiving adhesive material. This type of fulling and massaging effect between the back of the book and the adhesive pad allows that adhesive is applied to a larger, exactly restricted area of the individual sheets within the back area of the block in a controlled manner, and that the surface provided with adhesive is increased as well the effectivity of the adhesive binding is clearly improved.
This method of improved binding by adhesive is performed by machine; clamping and fastening of the book block as well moving the adhesive pad and fanning the back of the block is achieved by a lever system, either by means of machine operated or by manual drive, and can be part of a production line as means for obtaining an automatically operating process of book binding or of a production plant, namely automatically feeding and clamping the book block, hanging of the book block into the block gripping device, opening and closing said gripping device, longitudinal movement, lifting, tilting the adhesive pad, adjusted to the format and the thickness of the book block, and removing the book block subsequent to the binding process as well discharging the completed book block and feeding a new book block.
According to a further embodiment of the forementioned process for binding fanned sheets of the back of a block the invention proposes to handle the book block obtained by said binding process in such a manner that a slip-fold is applied onto the back of the block and onto the lateral sections joining the back. The slip-fold is made from a strip of paper, fabric or the like material with dry adhesive, and is applied under pressure onto the adhesive binder. The edges of the slip-fold are pressed against the lateral sections of the block and are connected with each other by a heating and sealing process. The slip-folds can be applied onto a fabric tape as a carrier individually or are fed automatically so that this method step can be introduced and integrated into an automatically operating book binding system. In case of a machined system the slip-folds can be supplied continuously, cut into the required shape and positioned onto a printing table, lifted and pressed against the finished book block.
Means for performing the above-described method is a manually operated or machine-driven device, which as a unit is integrated into a larger system in order to allow an automatic operation within a production line. The prepared, clamped book block is (manually or automatically) passed into a gripping device with the both-sided clamping bars resting thereon. The gripping device is connected with the frame of the machine and is adjustable to different thicknesses of blocks. Operating said adjustment means is achirvrd fot example by levers manually or motor driven. The back of the book block extending downwardly and freely from the gripping device is arranged above an adhesive applying device, which comprises a trough and an adhesive pad arranged therein. The trough is movable in height, movable in length and tiltable in view of the adhesive pad so that by corresponding driving means (manually or by motor) a horizontal movement, a vertical movement and a tilting movement in both directions canl be obtained. The course of movement is controlled by connecting link means the route of which can be transformed by controlling drums onto the trough and the adhesive pad arranged in said trough.
Connected with the trough is an adhesive source which supplies the adhesive pad with sufficient adhesive continously. The adhesive is a wet dispersion adhesive which is received by the felt pad within the trough so that the surface of the pad facing the underside or the back of the book block, is continuously available. The felt pad is sealed by a covering foil or a covering plate as long as the device is not operating so that the device is always ready for operation, and adhesive at the upper side of the pad is available if the covering foil or the covering plate is removed.
The forementioned device for adhesive binding of fanned sheets of a book block or the like is supplemented by a further device, by means of which a slip-fold in the form of a fabric strip, for eample from linen, together with adhesive, is mechanically applied onto the book block or the like mechanically. Such slip-fold can be formed as a continuous carton folder. The book block bonded by adhesively binding is inserted into a gripping device in a clamped condition. Below the gripping device a pressure plate is arranged, which is adjustable in height, and is covered by a textile or similar fabric web, which is silicone-coated at its upper side. Onto this web an adhesive strip made of fabric-type material is applied associated to the back of the block; the upper side of the adhesive strip facing the back of the block is provided with a dry adhesive layer. The adhesive strip is folded around the two edges of the back of the block so that it covers the lower section of the two opposite lateral walls of the book block.
These two lateral sections are in contact with a heater bar which heats the adhesive of the adhesive strip, and by a sintering-type process results in a firm bonding effect with the adhesive at the back of the block as well a firm bonding with the two opposite cover sides of the book block. The slip-fold forms a strong connection between the slip-fold and the book block as soon as the heating process has been completed. It is important that the wet dispersion adhesive for the adhesive binding of the back of the book and the dry dispersion adhesive of the slip-fold are matched in view of each other in order to obtain an optimum bonding and a sintering effect between both. The above described device for applying a slip-fold onto book blocks, brochures, continuous carton folders or other stacks of sheet material requires a supplemental device in addition to the device for adhesive binding so that both devices can be units within a book binding installation or a production line, and as well the adhesive binding as the slip-fold binding can be designed in such a manner that an automatic operation mode and an automatic supply of the binding elements and the matching of the operation stepscan be achieved.
Instead of performing the driving movement for the adhesive applying device by means of a mechanical connecting link control, said driving movement can be performed with a movable container carriage mechanically, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically by means of correspondingly controlled driving cylinders fffor achieving a lifting movement.
Preferably, the adhesive container is moved on rollers and is driven up an inclined plane formed as a tilting lever or a rocker, which plane is tilted at the lifting end around a tilting axis so that the adhesive container moves downwardly along the tilting lever and back again into the starting position. Subsequent thereto, the tilting lever or rocker is automatically tilted back into the starting position by spring means and the adhesive container in the starting position is moved to the opposite side beyond the tilting lever and subsequent thereto upwards the inclined plane of the tilting lever at the opposite side so that the above described operation cycle is repeated. On said opposite side the adhesive pad can be driven into a parking position in which the trough by means of a cover is sealed automatically by a cover so that the adhesive material-during the parking time will not dry out. In this manner the adhesive within the adhesive pad cannot dry out, and the adhesive pad is ready for operation at any time.
This embodiment is designed for manually or mechanically controlled operation. For an automatic, for example pneumatic operation, basically the same carriage or container can be supported on a scissor""s grid arrangement and moves on rollers guided in tracks so that the relative movement in view of the back of the book block can be performed, whwn adhesive is applied. For applying adhesive the adhesive pad is lifted under the book block and is pressed against the book block, whereby the back of the book block is taken along, bent over, fanned and adhesive is massaged in it. At the turning point of the fanning step the container together with the adhesive pad is lowered again and is driven back to the center. The same cycle of operations is performed at the opposite side. The lifting movement can be performed pneumatically or motor-driven, the forward movement is preferably motor-driven. Cylinders are hingedly connected with the container receiving the adhesive pad which cylinders perform a tilting movement of the adhesive pad when the container is lifted so that the adhesive pad rests flat against the book block being fanned, and so that adhesive is taken up in an optimum manner.
With this mode of driving movement the adhesive pad within the trough is pressed against the back of the book, as well upwardly as laterally. With such lateral movement the stack of paper is compressed at the position the guiding rollers revert their direction of motion. Taking up adhesive at this location of compression is restrained so that adhesive is no longer applied correctly. In order to avoid this disadvantage the movement of the adhesive trough can be provided with the rollers at both sides of a pivot lever, and during this pivot movement adhesive is transformed to and massaged into the back of the book.
With the method and the device according to the subject invention an adhesive bonding for books, book blocks, brochures, but also carton folders is obtained in an extremely simple and inexpensive manner, which results in a high degree of durability and stability of the products bound in this manner which is superior to conventional adhesive binding in view of stability, durability and costs.

Method and device for adhesive binding a set of sheets of books, book blocks, booklets and the like


A vehicle including a prime mover, a generator mechanically coupled to the prime mover, a first multi-input drive unit having at least first and second rotational inputs and at least one rotational output wherein the first rotational input is coupled to the prime mover, a first electric motor mechanically coupled to the second rotational input and electrically coupled to the generator and a first pair of vehicle drive wheels coupled to the rotational output.

Typical vehicles whether automobiles, fire trucks, garbage trucks, cement mixers, multiwheel drive trucks, military transport trucks, etc. include a combustion engine mechanically coupled to the driven wheels. This coupling typically takes the form of a clutch or torque converter coupled to a multispeed transmission which is coupled to the driven wheels. More specifically, the driven wheels are usually driven in pairs through a differential coupled to the transmission by an appropriate drive train e.g. drive shaft, angle drive, etc.
While this type of drive train is highly reliable, efficient based upon mature technology, it is relatively expensive in comparison to the other components of the vehicle. Additionally, cost effective transmissions typically require engine oversizing to provide suitable vehicle speed surges. Thus, to save transmission cost, there is an increase in engine cost and vise versa. The ultimate selection is ultimately determined by performance and cost requirements.
In attempts to reduce the complexity and cost of drive trains electric and hydrostatic drives have been considered. However, these types of drives have proven to be too inefficient to be practical. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a hybrid drive which combines the cost savings and flexibility of an electric motor drive with the efficiency of a combustion engine based drive.

Hybrid vehicle with combustion engine/electric motor drive


A print control system according to the present invention comprises: a paper rear edge holding/driving control part for driving and controlling a paper feed motor so that the rear edge of a paper, which is fed by the paper feed motor, is held in a predetermined holding region; a usual paper feed control part for controlling the paper feed motor so as to carry out a usual paper feed operation; and a control selecting part for selecting one of the paper rear edge holding/driving control part and the usual paper feed control part on the basis of the kind and feed amount of the paper and the presence of detection of the rear edge of the paper.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a print control system, a print control method, and a recording medium in which a print control program has been recorded. The invention is particularly used for the control of a paper feed operation.
2. Related Background Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 7, a conventional print control system will be described below. This print control system is used for an ink jet printer. The schematic construction of this ink jet printer is shown in FIG. 1.
This ink jet printer comprises: a paper feed motor (which will be also hereinafter referred to as a PF motor) 1 for feeding a paper; a paper feed motor driver 2 for driving the paper feed motor 1; a carriage 3; a carriage motor (which will be also hereinafter referred to as a CR motor) 4 for driving the carriage 3; a CR motor driver 5 for driving the carrier motor 4; a DC unit 6; a pump motor 7 for controlling the suction of ink for preventing clogging; a pump motor driver 8 for driving the pump motor 7; a head 9 which is fixed to the carriage 3 for discharging ink to a printing paper 50; a head driver 10 for driving and controlling the head 9; a linear type encoder 11 which is fixed to the carriage 3; a code plate 12 which has slits at regular intervals; a rotary type encoder 13 for the PF motor 1; a paper detecting sensor 15 for detecting the position of the rear edge of a paper which is being printed; a CPU 16 for controlling the whole printer; a timer IC 17 for periodically generating an interruption signal to output the signal to the CPU 16; an interface part (which will be also hereinafter referred to as an IF) 19 for sending and receiving data to and from a host computer 18; an ASIC 20 for controlling printing resolution, the driving waveform of the head 9 and so forth, on the basis of printing information which is fed from the host computer 18 via the IF 19; a PROM 21, a RAM 22 and an EEPROM 23 which are used as work and program storage areas for the ASIC 20 and the CPU 16; a platen 25 for supporting thereon a paper 50 during printing; a carrier roller 27 which is driven by the PF motor 1 for carrying the printing paper 50; a pulley 30 which is mounted on the rotating shaft of the CR motor 4; and a timing belt 31 which is driven by the pulley 30.
Furthermore, the DC unit 6 is designed to drive and control the paper feed motor driver 2 and the CR motor driver 5 on the basis of a control command, which is fed from the CPU 16, and the outputs of the encoder 11 and 13. In addition, each of the paper feed motor 1 and the CR motor 4 comprises a DC motor.
The peripheral construction of the carriage 3 of this ink jet printer is shown in FIG. 2.
The carriage 3 is connected to the carriage motor 4 via the pulley 30 by means of the timing belt 31. The carriage 3 is driven to be guided by a guide member 22 so as to move in parallel to the platen 25. The surface of the carriage 3 facing the printing paper is provided with the recording head 9 which comprises a nozzle row for discharging a black ink and a nozzle row for discharging color inks. Each of the nozzle rows is supplied with ink from an ink cartridge 34, and discharges ink droplets to the printing paper to print characters and/or images thereon.
In the non-print region of the carriage 3, there are provided a capping unit 35 for sealing a nozzle opening of the recording head 9 during non-printing, and a pump unit 36 having the pump motor 7 shown in FIG. 1. When the carriage 3 moves from a print region to the non-print region, the carriage 3 contacts a lever (not shown) to move the capping unit 35 upwards to seal the head 9.
When the nozzle opening row of the head 9 is clogged up or when the cartridge 34 is exchanged or the like to force the head 9 to discharge inks, the pump unit 36 is operated while the head 9 is sealed, so that inks are sucked out of the nozzle opening row by a negative pressure from the pump unit 36. Thus, dust and paper powder adhering to a portion near the nozzle opening row are cleaned. Moreover, bubbles in the recording head 9, together with inks, are discharged to a cap 37.
Then, the construction of the linear type encoder 11 mounted on the carriage 3 is shown in FIG. 3. This encoder 11 comprises a light emitting diode 11a, a collimator lens 11b, and a detection processing part 11c. The detection processing part 11c has a plurality of (four) photodiodes 11d, a signal processing circuit 11e, and two comparators 11fA and 11fB.
If a voltage Vcc is applied between both ends of the light emitting diode 11a via a resistor, light rays are emitted from the light emitting diode 11a. The light rays are collimated by the collimator lens 11b to pass through the code plate 12. The code plate 12 is provided with slits at regular intervals (e.g., every 1/180 inches (=1/180xc3x972.54 cm)).
The parallel rays passing through the code plate 12 are incident on each of the photodiodes lid via a fixed slit (not shown), and converted into electric signals. The electric signals outputted from the four photodiodes lid are processed by the signal processing circuit 11e. The signals outputted from the signal processing circuit 11e are compared by the comparators 11fA and 11fB, and the compared results are outputted as pulses. The pulses ENC-A and ENC-B outputted from the comparators 11fA and 11fB are outputs of the encoder 11.
The phase of the pulse ENC-A is different from the phase of the pulse ENC-B by 90 degrees. The encoder 4 is designed so that the phase of the pulse ENC-A is advanced from the pulse ENC-B by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 4A when the CR motor 4 is normally rotating, i.e., when the carriage 3 is moving a main scanning direction, and so that the phase of the pulse ENC-A lags behind the pulse ENC-B by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 4B when the CR motor 4 is reversely rotating. One period T of the pulses corresponds to the distance between adjacent slits of the code plate 12 (e.g., 1/180 inches (=1/180xc3x972.54 cm)). This is equal to a period of time, in which the carriage 3 moves between the adjacent slits.
On the other hand, the rotary type encoder 13 for the PF motor 1 has the same construction as that of the linear type encoder 11, except that the code plate is a rotating disk which rotates in accordance with the rotation of the PF motor 1. The rotary type encoder 13 is designed to output the two output pulses ENC-A and ENC-B. Furthermore, in the ink jet printer, the distance between adjacent slits of the plurality of slits provided in the code plate of the encoder 13 for the PF motor is 1/180 inches (=1/180xc3x972.54 cm). When the PF motor 1 rotates by the distance between adjacent slits, the paper is fed by 1/1440 inches (=1/1440xc3x972.54 cm).
Referring to FIG. 5, the position of the paper detecting sensor 15 shown in FIG. 1 will be described below.
In FIG. 5, the paper 50 inserted into a paper feeding port 61 of a printer 60 is fed into the printer 60 by means of a paper feeding roller 64 which is driven by a paper feeding motor 63. The front edge of the paper 50, which has been fed into the printer 60, is detected by, e.g., an optical paper detecting sensor 15. The paper 50, the front edge of which has been detected by the paper detecting sensor 15, is fed by means of a paper feed roller 65 and a driven roller 66 which are driven by the PF motor 1.
Subsequently, ink drops from the recording head (not shown), which is fixed to the carriage 3 moving along the carriage guide member 32, to carry out a print. Then, when the paper is fed to a predetermined position, the rear edge of the paper 50, which is currently being printed, is detected by the paper detecting sensor 15. Then, a gear 67c is driven, via a gear 67b, by means of a gear 67a which is driven by the PF motor 1. Thus, a paper discharging roller 68 and a driven roller 69 are rotated to discharge the printed paper 50 from a paper discharging port 62 to the outside.
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the control of the PF motor 1 of this conventional ink jet printer will be described below.
The control of the PF motor 1 is carried out by the DC unit 6. The DC unit 6 comprises a position counter 6a, a subtracting part 6b, a target speed calculating part 6c, a speed calculating part 6d, a subtracter 6e, a proportional element 6f, an integrating element 6g, a differentiating element 6h, an adder 6i, a D/A converter 6j, a timer 6k, and an acceleration control part 6m.
The position counter 6a is designed to detect the leading and trailing edges of each of the output pulses ENC-A and ENC-B of the encoder 13 to count the number of the detected edges, and to calculate the paper feed amount of the paper, which is fed by the PF motor 1, on the basis of the counted value. In this counting, when the PF motor 1 is normally rotating, if one edge is detected, xe2x80x9c+1xe2x80x9d is added, and when the PF motor 1 is reversely rotating, if one edge is detected, xe2x80x9cxe2x88x921xe2x80x9d is added. Each of the periods of the pulses ENC-A and ENC-B is equal to the distance between adjacent slits of the code plate, and the phase of the pulse ENC-A is different from the phase of the pulse ENC-B by 90 degrees. Therefore, the counted value xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d in the above described counting corresponds to 1/4 of the distance between adjacent slits of the code plate of the encoder 13. In addition, if the PF motor 1 rotates by the distance between adjacent slits, the paper is fed by 1/1440 inches (=1/1440xc3x972.54 cm). Therefore, when the counted value of the position counter 6a is multiplied by 1/4xc3x971/1440 inches (=1/4xc3x971/1440xc3x972.54 cm), it is possible to obtain the paper feed amount from a position corresponding to a counted value xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, i.e., a start-up starting position. At this time, the resolution of the encoder 13 is 1/5760 inches (=1/5760xc3x972.54 cm).
The subtracter 6b is designed to calculate a position deviation of the counted value of the position counter 6a from a target position.
The target speed calculating part 6c is designed to calculate a target speed of the PF motor 1 on the basis of the position deviation which is the output of the subtracter 6b. This calculation is carried out by multiplying the position deviation by a gain Kp. This gain Kp is determined in accordance with the position deviation. Furthermore, the value of the gain Kp may be stored in a table (not shown).
The speed calculating part 6d is designed to calculate a speed of the PF motor 1 on the basis of the output pulses ENC-A and ENC-B of the encoder 13. This speed is obtained as follows. First, the leading and trailing edges of each of the output pulses ENC-A and ENC-B of the encoder 13 are detected, and the time interval between the edges is counted by, e.g., a timer counter. Assuming that this counted value is T, the speed is in proportion to 1/T.
The subtracter 6e is designed to calculate a speed deviation of the actual speed of the PF motor 1, which is calculated by the speed calculating part 6d, from a target speed.
The proportional element 6f is designed to multiply the speed deviation by a constant Gp to output the multiplied result. The integrating element 6g is designed to integrate a value which is obtained by multiplying the speed deviation by a constant Gi. The differentiating element 6h is designed to multiply a difference between the present speed deviation and the last speed variation by a constant Gd to output the multiplied result. Furthermore, the calculations in the proportional element 6f, integrating element 6g and differentiating element 6h are carried out every one period of the output pulse ENC-A of the encoder 13, e.g., in synchronism with the leading edge of the output pulse ENC-A.
The outputs of the proportional element 6f, integrating element 6g and differentiating element 6h are added by the adder 6i. Then, the added result, i.e., the driving current of the PF motor 1, is fed to the D/A converter 6j to be converted into an analog current. On the basis of the analog current, the PF motor 1 is driven by the driver 2.
In addition, the timer 6k and the acceleration control part 6m are used for controlling acceleration, and the PID control using the proportional element 6f, integrating element 6g and differentiating element 6h is used for controlling the constant speed during deceleration and controlling deceleration.
The timer 6k is designed to generate a timer interruption signal every a predetermined time on the basis of a clock signal which is fed from the CPU 16.
The acceleration control part 6m is designed to integrate a predetermined current value (e.g., 20 mA) into a target current value every time it receives the timer interruption signal, and to feed the integrated result, i.e., the target current value of the PF motor 1 during acceleration, to the D/A converter 6j. Similar to the PID control, the target current value is converted into an analog current by the D/A converter 6j. On the basis of this analog current, the PF motor 1 is driven by the driver 2.
The driver 2 has, e.g., four transistors. By turning each of the transistors ON and OFF on the basis of the output of the D/A converter 6j, the driver 2 can be selectively in (a) an operation mode in which the PF motor 1 is normally or reversely rotated, (b) a regenerative brake operation mode (a short brake operation mode, i.e., a mode in which the stopping of the PF motor 1 is maintained), or (c) a mode in which the PF motor 1 is intended to be stopped.
Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, the operation of the DC unit 6 will be described below.
If a start-up command signal for starting the PF motor 1 is fed from the CPU 16 to the DC unit 6 when the PF motor 1 is stopped, a start-up initial current value Io is fed from the acceleration control part 6m to the D/A converter 6j. Furthermore, this start-up initial current value Io, together with the start-up command signal, is fed from the CPU 16 to the acceleration control part 6m. Then, this current value Io is converted into an analog current by the D/A converter 6j to be fed to the driver 2, and the PF motor 1 is started up by the driver 2 (see FIGS. 7A and 7B).
After the start-up command signal is received, the timer 6k generates a timer interruption signal every a predetermined time. Every time the acceleration control part 6m receives the timer interruption signal, the acceleration control part 6m integrates a predetermined current value (e.g., 20 mA) into the start-up initial current value Io, to feed the integrated current value to the D/A converter 6j. Then, the integrated current value is converted into an analog current by the D/A converter 6j to be fed to the driver 2. Then, the PF motor 1 is driven by the driver 2 so that the value of the current supplied to the PF motor 1 is the integrated current value, and the speed of the PF motor 1 increases (see FIG. 7B). Therefore, the current value supplied to the PF motor 1 is step-wise as shown in FIG. 7A.
Furthermore, at this time, although the PID control system also operates, the D/A converter 6j selects and incorporates the output of the acceleration control part 6m.
The integration of the current value in the acceleration control part 6m is carried out until the integrated current value becomes a constant current value Is. When the integrated current value becomes the predetermined value Is at time t1, the acceleration control part 6m stops the integration, and supplies the constant current value Is to the D/A converter 6j. Thus, the PF motor 1 is driven by the driver 2 so that the value of the current supplied to the PF motor 1 becomes the current value Is (see FIG. 7A).
Then, in order to prevent the speed of the PF motor 1 from overshooting, the acceleration control part 6m controls the PF motor 1 so as to reduce the current, which is supplied to the PF motor 1, when the speed of the PF motor 1 becomes a predetermined speed V1 (time t2). At this time, the speed of the PF motor 1 further increases. However, when the speed of the PF motor 1 reaches a predetermined speed Vc (see time t3 in FIG. 7B), the D/A converter 6j selects the output of the PID control system, i.e., the output of the adder 6i, to carry out the PID control.
That is, the target speed is calculated on the basis of the position deviation of the counted value of the counter 6a from the target position. In addition, the proportional element 6f, integrating element 6g and differentiating element 6h are operated on the basis of the speed deviation of the actual speed, which is obtained from the output of the encoder 13, from the target speed to carry out the proportional, integrating and differentiating operations. Moreover, the PF motor 1 is controlled on the basis of the sum of these calculated results. Furthermore, the above described proportional, integrating and differentiating operations are carried out in synchronism with, e.g., the leading edge of the output pulse ENC-A of the encoder 13. Thus, the speed of the PF motor 1 is controlled so as to be a desired speed Ve. Furthermore, the predetermined speed Vc is preferably a value of 70% to 80% of the desired speed Ve.
The speed of the PF motor 1 is the desired speed Ve after time t4. Thereafter, the PF motor 1 approaches the target position (see time t5 in FIG. 7B), the PF motor 1 is decelerated, and the PF motor 1 is stopped at time t6.
In the conventional print control system with such a construction, the paper feed operation is carried out by the paper feed roller 65 and driven roller 66 which are driven by the PF motor 1, as described referring to FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 8, the driven roller 66 is designed to press the paper 50 against the paper feed roller 65 by means of a spring 70 during the paper feed operation.
On the other hand, it is being required to print near the rear edge of the paper 50. To that end, it is required that the rear edge of the paper 50 is limited to a predetermined range shown in FIG. 9 by the paper feed roller 65 and the driven roller 66 (e.g., a range of 0.25 mm before and after a line drawn between the center of the paper feed roller 65 and the driven roller 66).
However, in the conventional printer, if a paper feed operation is carried out so that the rear edge of the paper 50 is positioned in a predetermined range, force F acts the paper 50 so as to send the paper 50 out by means of a spring 80 as shown in FIG. 9, since the driven roller 66 is pressed against the paper feed roller 65 by means of the spring 70. For that reason, the paper 50 is sent out between the paper feed roller 65 and the driven roller 66, or moves the driven roller 66 due to frictional force, so that there is a problem in that it is not possible to ensure the paper feed precision in the vicinity of the rear edge of the paper 50.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate the aforementioned problems and to provide a print control system, a print control method, and a recording medium in which a print program has been recorded, which are capable of ensuring the paper feed precision even in the vicinity of the rear edge of a paper.
According to the present invention, there is provided with a print control system comprising:
a position detecting part for detecting the position and traveling direction of an object to be controlled, which is controlled by a servomotor;
a speed detecting part for detecting a physical quantity corresponding to the speed of said object to be controlled;
a first control part for determining a current value or a voltage value, which is to be added to said servomotor, on the basis of the output of said position detecting part so that said object to be controlled is positioned within a target range, and for controlling said servomotor on the basis of the determined current value or the determined voltage value;
a second control part for determining a current value or a voltage value, which is added to said servomotor, on the basis of the output of each of said position detecting part and said speed detecting part so that said object to be controlled is positioned within said target range, and for controlling said servomotor on the basis of the determined current value or the determined voltage value;
a third control part for determining a current value or a voltage value of said servomotor on the basis of the output of said position detecting part so that said object to be controlled is stopped within a predetermined range, and for controlling said servomotor on the basis of the determined current value or the determined voltage value; and
a control selecting part, which operates in a predetermined timing, for determining whether said object to be controlled is positioned within said target range on the basis of the output of said position detecting part, said control selecting part selecting said third control part when said object to be controlled is positioned within said target range, and selecting said first or second control part on the basis of the output of said speed detecting part when said object to be controlled is positioned out of said target range, said control selecting part causing the selected control part to control said servomotor.
According to the invention, there is also provided with a print control system comprising:
a paper rear edge holding/driving control part for driving and controlling a paper feed motor so as to hold the rear edge of a paper, which is fed by said paper feed motor, in a predetermined holding region;
a usual paper feed control part for controlling said paper feed motor so as to carry out a usual paper feed operation; and
a control selecting part for selecting one of said paper rear edge holding/driving control part and said usual paper feed control part on the basis of the kind and feed amount of said paper and the presence of detection of the rear edge of said paper.
Furthermore, said paper rear edge holding/driving control part may comprise:
a position detecting part for detecting the position and traveling direction of said paper;
a speed detecting part for detecting a physical quantity corresponding to the feed speed of said paper;
a first control part for determining a current value or a voltage value, which is to be added to said paper feed motor, on the basis of the output of said position detecting part so that the rear edge of said paper is positioned within a target range, and for controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of the determined current value or the determined voltage value;
a second control part for determining a current value or a voltage value, which is to be added to said paper feed motor, on the basis of the output of each of said position detecting part and said speed detecting part so that the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range, and for controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of the determined current value or the determined voltage value;
a third control part for determining a current value or a voltage value of said paper feed motor on the basis of the output of said position detecting part so that the rear edge of said paper is stopped within a predetermined range, and for controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of the determined current value or the determined voltage value; and
a second control selecting part, which operates in a predetermined timing, for determining whether the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range on the basis of the output of said position detecting part, said second control selecting part selecting said third control part when the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range, and selecting said first or second control part on the basis of the output of said speed detecting part when the rear edge of said paper is positioned out of said target range, said second control selecting part causing the selected control part to control said paper feed motor.
Furthermore, said paper rear edge holding/driving control part may further comprise a differential control part, which is called to operate when each of said first through third control parts operates, for deriving a speed deviation of a feed speed of said paper during each operation from a reference speed and for calculating a current value or a voltage value which is in proportion to the difference between a speed deviation during the present operation and a speed deviation during the last operation.
Furthermore, said paper rear edge holding/driving control part may further comprise a differential control part, which is called to operate when each of said first through third control parts operates, for deriving a speed deviation of a feed speed of said paper during each operation from a reference speed and for calculating a current value or a voltage value which is obtained by multiplying the difference between a speed deviation during the present operation and a speed deviation during the last operation by a constant corresponding to said speed deviation.
Furthermore, said position detecting part may detect leading and trailing edges of an output pulse of an encoder which generates an output pulse in accordance with the rotation of said paper feed motor, said position detecting part having a counter which counts up the detected edges when said paper feed motor is normally rotating, and counts down the detected edges when said paper feed motor is reversely rotating, said position detecting part outputting a pulse in synchronism with said leading and trailing edges.
Furthermore, said second control selecting part may have a timer counter in which a counted value is reset when the counted value reaches a set value or when a pulse is received from said position detecting part, said second control selecting part selecting said first control part when no pulse is received from said position detecting part even if the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value in a case where the rear edge of said paper is positioned out of said target range, and said second control selecting part selecting said second control part when a pulse is received from said position detecting part before the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value in a case where the rear edge of said paper is positioned out of said target range.
Furthermore, when said first control part is selected by said second control selecting part,
if the position of the rear edge of said paper has not exceeded said target position or if the position of the rear edge of said paper has exceeded said target position and also has exceeded said target range, said first control part may add or subtract a predetermined change current value or a predetermined change voltage value to or from a current value or a voltage value which is currently applied to said paper feed motor, and control said paper feed motor on the basis of the calculated result, and
if the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range, said first control part may control said paper feed motor on the basis of a current value or a voltage value which is applied to said paper feed motor.
Furthermore, when said second control part is selected by said second control selecting part,
if the position of the rear edge of said paper has not exceeded said target position or if the position of the rear edge of said paper has exceeded said target position and also has exceeded said target range, said second control part may compare the output of said speed detecting part with a threshold to select a predetermined change current value or a predetermined change voltage value on the basis of the compared result to calculate a current value or a voltage value, which is to be applied to said paper feed motor, on the basis of the selected change current value or the selected change voltage value and a current value or a voltage value, which is currently applied to said paper feed motor, so that the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range, and control said paper feed motor on the basis of the calculated current value or the calculated voltage value, and
if the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range, said second control part may subtract a predetermined current value or a predetermined voltage value from a current value or a voltage value, which is applied to said paper feed motor, in the opposite direction to a current value or a voltage value in the traveling direction of said paper, and control said paper feed motor on the basis of the subtracted result.
Furthermore, said speed detecting part may have time measuring part for detecting leading and trailing edges of an output pulse of said encoder, and for measuring a time between adjacent edges, said speed detecting part outputting the measured result.
Furthermore, when said third control part is selected by said second control selecting part, said third control part may determine whether the rear edge of said paper is positioned within a predetermined allowable range including said target range, said third control part operating said first or second control part via said second control selecting part when the edge of said paper is positioned out of said predetermined allowable range.
According to the present invention, there is provided with a print control method for use in a print system comprising:
a position counter having a counter for detecting leading and trailing edges of an output pulse of an encoder which operates integrally with a paper fed by a paper feed motor, and for counting so as to count up the detected edges when said paper feed motor is normally rotating and so as to count down the detected edges when said paper feed motor is reversely rotating, said position counter outputting a pulse in synchronism with said leading and trailing edges;
a period counter for detecting leading and trailing edges of an output pulse of said encoder and for measuring a time between adjacent edges; and
a timer counter having a set value, the counted value of said timer counter being reset when the counted value reaches said set value or when said timer counter receives a pulse from said position counter,
said print control method comprising the steps of:
comparing the counted value of said position counter with a target position of the rear edge of said paper when a pulse is received from said position counter or when the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value;
carrying out a hold control so that the rear edge of said paper is stopped within an allowable range including a target range including said target position, on the basis of the output of said position counter and a control parameter when the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range;
carrying out a timer interruption control so that the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range, on the basis of the output of said position counter when no pulse is received from said position counter even if the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value in a case where the position of the rear edge of said paper is out of said target range; and
carrying out an encoder interruption control so that the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range, on the basis of the output of said position counter and the output of said period counter when a pulse is received from said position counter before the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value in a case where the rear edge of said paper is not within said target range.
Furthermore, said step of carrying out the timer interruption control may comprise the steps of:
adding or subtracting said change current value or said change voltage value to or from a current value or a voltage value, which is currently applied to said paper feed motor, when the position of the rear edge of said paper has not exceed said target position or when the position of the rear edge of said paper has exceeded said target position and also has exceeded said target range, and controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of the calculated result; and
controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of a current value or a voltage value, which is applied to said paper feed motor, when the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range.
Furthermore, said step of carrying out the encoder interruption control may comprise the steps of:
comparing the output of said period counter with a threshold to select a predetermined change current value or a predetermined change voltage value on the basis of the compared result to calculate a current value or a voltage value, which is to be applied to said paper feed motor, on the basis of the selected change current value or the selected change voltage value and a current value or a voltage value, which is currently applied to said paper feed motor, so that the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range, and controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of the calculated current value or the calculated voltage value, if the position of the rear edge of said paper has not exceeded said target position or if the position of the rear edge of said paper has exceeded said target position and also has exceeded said target range; and
subtracting a predetermined current value or a predetermined voltage value from a current value or a voltage value, which is applied to said paper feed motor, in the opposite direction to a current value or a voltage value in the traveling direction of said paper, and controlling said paper feed motor on the basis of the subtracted result, if the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range.
Furthermore, said step of carrying out the hold control may include a step of determining whether the position of the rear edge of said paper is within a predetermined allowable range including said target range, and operating said timer interruption control or said encoder interruption control when the position of the rear edge of said paper is not within said allowable range.
According to the present invention, there is provided with a recording medium in which a print control program for controlling a print by means of a computer has been recorded, said print control program comprising:
the procedure for comparing the counted value of a position counter for detecting the present position and the traveling direction of a paper with the position of the rear edge of said paper when a pulse is received from said position counter or when the counted value of a timer counter reaches a set value;
the procedure for carrying out a hold control so that the rear edge of said paper is stopped within an allowable range including a target range including said target position, on the basis of the output of said position counter when the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range;
the procedure for carrying out a timer interruption control so that the rear edge of said paper is positioned within said target range, on the basis of the output of said position counter when no pulse is received from said position counter even if the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value in a case where the position of the rear edge of said paper is not within said target range; and
the procedure for carrying out an encoder interruption control so that the position of the rear edge of said paper is within said target range, on the basis of the output of said position counter and the output of a period counter for detecting leading and trailing edges of an output pulse of an encoder and for measuring a time between adjacent edges, when a pulse is received from said position counter before the counted value of said timer counter reaches said set value in a case where the rear edge of said paper is not within said target range.

Print control system, print control method, and recording medium having recorded print control program


An image pickup device includes an image processing unit which processes an image input through the plurality of image pickup units, a plurality of microphones which are spaced apart from each other, an audio processing unit which senses a voice of a photographer using the plurality of microphones, and a control unit which, when the voice of a photographer is sensed through the audio processing unit, controls the image processing unit to combine an image of an image pickup unit corresponding to a location of the photographer with an image of an image pickup unit currently performing photographing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image pickup device and a method of picking up an image using the same, and more particularly, to an image pickup device which performs photographing using a plurality of image pickup units once a voice of a photographer is sensed and a method of picking up an image using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image pickup device, or an image capture device, refers to a device which transforms a light into electricity, and examples of such an image pickup device include digital cameras, including digital cameras of handheld electronic media devices and phones, camcorders, and personal computing devices, such as laptops and tablet computers.
Recently, image pickup devices have been developed to include two lenses to support photographing of both a photographer and a person to be photographed in one screen while photographing a video.
However, even if a dual lens is used to photograph both a photographer and a person to be photographed in one screen, a conventional image pickup device uses only one stereo microphone to receive an audio signal and thus, records the same audio signal as an image pickup device with only one lens.

Image pickup device and method of picking up image using the same


A method of concurrently introducing multiple genes to plants and trees is provided. The method includes an Agrobacterium-mediated gene delivery system by which multiple genes together with a single selectable marker gene are simultaneously transferred and inserted into the genome of plants, including trees.

The invention provides a method of introducing two or more genes of interest present on independent vectors into plant cells. The method of the invention employs an Agrobacterium-mediated gene delivery system by which multiple genes together with a single selectable marker gene are simultaneously transferred and inserted into the genome of plants with high frequencies. The ability to introduce foreign genes into plants is a prerequisite for engineering agronomic traits in plants. Many systems have been developed for introducing a foreign gene into plant cells, which involve mainly either Agrobacterium- or microprojectile bombardment-mediated transformation (Christou, 1996). The principle of all these systems involves the insertion of a target gene into the host plant genome together with a selectable marker gene encoding either antibiotic or herbicide resistance to aid in the selection of rare transgenic cells from non-transgenic cells. These systems are effective for introducing a single target gene into the host plant.
To alter agronomic traits, which generally are polygenic in nature, various genes involved in complex biosynthetic pathways must be introduced and expressed in plant cells. In this context, the traditional single-gene transfer systems are essentially useless for the following two reasons: 1) It is impractical to introduce multiple genes by repetitive insertion of single genes into transgenic plants due to the time and effort required for recovery of the transgenic tissues. In particular, a repetitive single-gene approach is highly impractical for plant species such as trees which, depending upon the species, require two to three years for transgenic tissue selection and regeneration into a tree; and 2) The presence of a selectable marker gene in a transgenic line precludes the use of the same marker gene in subsequent transformations of plant material from that line. Moreover, the number of available marker genes is limited, and many plant species are recalcitrant to regeneration unless appropriate antibiotic or herbicide selection is used.
Chen et al. (1998) recently reported the genetic transformation of rice with multiple genes by cobombardment of several gene constructs into embryogenic suspension tissues. However, particle bombardment-mediated gene transfer into embryogenic tissues is highly species-dependent, and regeneration of whole plants from embryogenic cells cannot be achieved for a variety of plant species (Horsch et al., 1985).
In contrast, Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer and whole plant regeneration through organogenesis is a simple process and a less species-dependent system than bombardment-mediated transformation and regeneration via embryogenesis. However, the introduction of more than one gene in a single plasmid vector via Agrobacterium may be technically troublesome and limited by the number or the size of the target genes (Chen et al. 1998). For example, Tricoli et al. (1995) reported the transfer of three target genes to squash via Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer. A binary plasmid vector containing the three target genes was incorporated into an Agrobacterium strain which was subsequently used to infect the leaf tissue of squash. As only one line was recovered from numerous infected squash tissues that contained all of the target genes, the use of a single binary vector with a number of genes appears to be a highly inefficient method to produce transgenic plants with multiple genes. Therefore, it is commonly accepted that transfer of multiple genes via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is impractical (Ebinuma et al., 1997).
Thus, what is needed is an improved method to introduce multiple genes into plant cells.

Method of introducing a plurality of genes into plants

Board of Control of Michigan Technological University


A multi-piston motor/pump is disclosed particularly useful for air motor applications incorporating a cylinder block having a plurality of radially extending pistons and cylinders. Each cylinder is provided with a bronze insert at the top of the cylinder having an intake and exhaust port therein. Rotary valves are mounted on an output shaft and include axial flanges having openings therein that align with the input or exhaust openings in each cylinder. As the rotary valves rotate, the openings therein sequentially align with the input/exhaust ports provided in the bronze inserts such that air or fluid entering each cylinder enters axially of the cylinder. A center mounting plate is secured to the cylinder block and separates the input ports from the exhaust ports to enable fluid flow into the input ports and exhaust from the exhaust ports while isolating each port from the adjacent port in each cylinder.

Many industries utilize pressurized air as a source of primary energy to drive equipment in factories and mines and the like. The efficient utilization of this pressurized air to convert the stored energy of the pressurized air to the kinetic energy of a rotating drive shaft permits the implementation of energy utilization complying with the requirements of many work locations. Mines, for example, frequently operate on pressurized air to drive equipment. The present invention provides an efficient utilization of the pressurized air to convert the potential energy of the pressurized air into the kinetic energy of a rotating shaft for driving equipment. Air pumps have innumerable utilization in most industries for the generation of compressed air for its many uses throughout industry.
The present invention is directed to the efficient conversion of energy in the form of compressed air to rotary kinetic energy through a rotating shaft and is directed to the inverse wherein energy is supplied to the rotating shaft (such as by an electric motor) to compress air for utilization elsewhere. The present air motor/pump provides a unique system for conveying air through the motor/pump with a minimum of loss thus resulting in increased efficiency. The motor/pump of the present invention may also be used with fluids other than air.


The present invention relates to a new pestivirus useful in the fields of veterinary virology and vaccines. Specifically, it relates to an isolated polynucleotide originating from pestivirus and a pestivirus, to vaccines and medical uses thereof, to chimeric virus comprising the polynucleotide and to expression vectors for heterologous expression of polypeptides.

Pestiviruses are single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses. The pestiviral genome has a length of about 11.5 to 12.5 kb and contains one large open reading frame, which is flanked by non-translated regions (NTR) at the 5′ and 3′ genome ends. The resulting large polyprotein is co- and post-translationally processed into 12 mature viral proteins: an autoprotease (Npro), capsid protein (C), three envelope proteins (Erns, E1, E2) and the non-structural proteins (p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, NS5B) which are conserved among pestiviruses regarding genome localization and catalytic residues.
The genus pestivirus is classified within the family Flaviviridae and consists of four species approved by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The classification of pestiviruses is based on nucleotide sequence, host range and serological differences. The 5′ NTR is the region most frequently used for the phylogenetic analysis of pestiviruses but more variable genes (Npro or E2) have also been employed. Nevertheless, a comparison of full genome sequences enables the most precise phylogenetic typing. Besides Bovine viral diarrhea virus-1 (BVDV-1) and BVDV-2, Border disease virus (BDV) and Classical swine fever virus (CSFV), several unassigned strains and/or tentative species are represented by the so called atypical pestivirus strains. Atypical pestiviruses have been isolated from exotic species within the order Artiodactyla, especially bovine, ovine and porcine hosts. Recent studies detected pestiviral sequences in rats and bats suggesting a broader host range of pestiviruses. However, until now all isolated pestiviruses originate from ungulates.
One of the most dangerous viral epidemics in swine, CSFV, has been eradicated from the domesticated swine population in most developed countries since decades. Infections of swine with other pestivirus species have been detected, for example the introduction of certain BDV and BVDV strains pointing at the capacity of adaptation. An "atypical" porcine pestivirus was identified in 2003 in a commercial pig breeding farm in Australia, later termed Bungowannah virus. This well studied virus caused reproductive disorders, stillbirth and sudden death in piglets due to myocarditis. The marked sequence diversity of this virus resulted in the failure of its detection by the established pan-pestivirus diagnostic methods (ELISA, cross-neutralization tests, RT-PCRs). The documented pathogenicity of Bungowannah virus alarmed the pork-producing industry because of the potential economic impact. The loss of about 50,000 animals was only reported from two affected farms in Australia. Bungowannah virus is still present in one farm but this virus or relatives were never found at other locations.
A novel group of closely related porcine pestiviruses has been discovered recently forming the tentative species of "atypical porcine pestiviruses (APPV)". These viruses were first identified in North America and subsequently also found in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria (Schwarz et al., 2017. Congenital infection with atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV) is associated with disease and viral persistence. Veterinary Research 48:1). There is strong evidence that APPVs are representing the infectious agents behind the type A-II congenital tremor (CT) syndrome of piglets. A-II CT is prevalent worldwide and a common syndrome in newborn piglets. APPV is very difficult to propagate in vitro and hence Koch's postulates have only partly been fulfilled. Nevertheless, transmission of the agent from affected piglets to pregnant sows reproduced the clinical signs. The clinical features are characterized by a generalized mild to severe shaking of the whole body that pathohistologically is associated with variable hypomyelination of brain and spinal cord. Hypomyelination is a characteristic lesion apparent in the brain of sheep, cattle and pigs after late gestation state in utero infection with BDV, BVDV and CSFV yielding newborn "hairy shaker" lambs. shaking calves and A-I CT affected piglets. Infections with most if not all pestiviruses during gestation may have a detrimental effect on the embryo or fetus, causing stillbirth, malformations or neurological defects.
In view of the importance of an effective and safe as well as detectable prophylaxis and treatment of pestiviral infections, there is still a strong and unmet need for an immunogenic pestivirus, with good viral replication and high potential for induction of immunity.

Isolation of a novel pestivirus causing congenital tremor A


There is provided a test apparatus for testing a device under test, including a test signal generator that generates a test signal to test the device under test, an electric-photo converter that converts the test signal into an optical test signal, an optical interface that (i) transmits the optical test signal generated by the electric-photo converter to an optical receiver of the device under test and (ii) receives and outputs an optical response signal output from the device under test, a photo-electric converter that converts the optical response signal output from the optical interface into an electrical response signal and transmits the electrical response signal, and a signal receiver that receives the response signal transmitted from the photo-electric converter and a test method.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a test apparatus and a test method.
2. Related Art
A test apparatus has been conventionally designed to test a device under test such as a CPU and a memory. A loopback test has been proposed that is used to test a device under test at an actual operation speed, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1. It has been also proposed to provide a device under test with an optical interface, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-220660
Patent Document 2: International Publication No. 2007-013128
Non-Patent Document 1: Ian A. Young, et al., "Optical I/O Technology for Tera-Scale Computing", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, January 2010, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 235-248
Non-Patent Document 2: Hiren D. Thacker, James D. Meindl, "Prospects for Wafer-Level Testing of Gigascale Chips with Electrical and Optical I/O Interconnects", IEEE International Test Conference, 2006, 25-1
To test such a device under test with an optical interface, a test apparatus is required to use an optical signal as a test signal and detect an optical response signal. Accordingly, the test apparatus needs to have a photometer for use in optical communication. This, however, lowers the throughput and thus increases the testing cost.

Test apparatus having optical interface and test method


A pretreatment method of a specimen used for detecting or determining abnormal prion protein (PrPres) associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), wherein                (1) a specimen which had been treated with proteinase K is heated in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to dissolve proteins and inactivate infectious activity in the specimen at the same time; (2) the specimen processed in the above (1) is cooled under a neutral condition to make abnormal prion protein (PrPres) associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) aggregated; (3) the aggregate formed in the above (2) is separated from a solution; and (4) the separated PrPres aggregate is detected by the ultrasensitive chemiluminescence method.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) is generally called prion disease, includes human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goat and the like, and is a disease diagnosed in a wide range of mammals. The common features of these diseases are that mortality after symptom onset is 100%, that antemortem diagnoses of these diseases are extremely difficult, and that these diseases are generally confirmed by pathological diagnosis at necropsy. However, it became clear that variant CJD (vCJD) is infected by transfusion, and a plurality of infection cases have been reported recently. Therefore, life-prolonging procedure and treatment for patients with TSE by antemortem diagnosis, and development of diagnosis of a specimen before symptom onset and antemortem diagnosis of TSE so as to prevent infection spread by horizontal disease transmission via blood and the like have been urgently-required.
The biggest reason that the development of this blood test is difficult is that the most appropriate marker cannot be detected in blood. In general, diagnosis of TSE is performed by detecting prion protein having an abnormal structure (PrPsc or PrPres) as a surrogate marker. This PrPres is a protein molecule distinctively detected after symptom onset. The normal PrP (PrPc) has three α-helix regions in a molecule, while PrPres is a conformational isotype having a β-sheet structure in place of the α-helix structure in this PrP molecule. For the reason, PrPres is characterized by having a resistance to digestion action by proteases as well as a remarkable stability of the molecular structure thereof.
The resistance of this protein to proteases is distinctive because this protein is resistant to proteinase K (PK) which is a strong protease and can digest almost all proteins. Only a small portion of the molecule of the abnormal PrP is digested, while almost all other proteins are digested by PK. Therefore, abnormal PrP is represented by "PrPres". The name was made by adding "res" to the end of "PrP".
However, this PrPres is generally confirmed only in the infected sites of animals after symptom onset (the central nerve system, or may be confirmed in the reticuloendothelial system tissue in the case of vCJD). The level of PrPres in blood is extremely small, and thus PrPres cannot be detected by conventional methods. For the above reasons, a detection method by which several to several tens of ng/mL PrPres that had not been able to be detected by conventional methods can be detected, and a method by which PrPres of an individual with the disease can be clearly discriminated from PrPres of a healthy individual, and can be detected using blood. Development of a novel substance specifically binding to PrPres or a novel method for amplifying PrPres has been studied in the world so as to satisfy the requirement.
Conventional methods which had been developed to satisfy the requirement are not sufficient in terms of detection sensitivity or specificity to constitute the blood test, and thus are not practically used. Only a method for amplifying PrPres in vitro to a detectable amount so as to detect PrPres (Peptide Misfolding Cyclic Amplification; PMCA) has been introduced as a method which may be effective to constitute the blood test (Saa, P., Castilla, J., Soto, C. 2006, Science 313:92-94). However, this PMCA method has two distinctive features that (1) it takes considerable time to amplify PrPres (the detection rate of a detection case using infected hamster blood in which PrePres had been amplified for 21 days was 60%); and that (2) the brain homogenate of a healthy animal must be optionally added as a precursor of PrPres that is necessary in amplification. Regarding the feature (2), there is a possibility that neuroblast homogenate or platelet homogenate may be used in place of the brain homogenate. However, a large amount of the neuroblast homogenate or the platelet homogenate must be cultured, or the platelet of a healthy individual must be always prepared, and thus it appears to be extremely difficult for the neuroblast or platelet homogenate to be practically used. In addition, it was reported that reaction does not occur if a plasma protein is present in a reaction mixture solution in this method (Prion 2008 symposium; Madrid). Therefore, it cannot be said that there is a possibility that the blood test can be practically carried out by this method.

Method for detecting or determining abnormal prion protein associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in blood-derived specimen or body fluid-derived specimen


A method for reducing stand-off effects of a downhole tool includes disposing the downhole tool in a borehole, wherein the downhole tool comprises at least one moveable section disposed between an energy source and a receiver on the downhole tool; and activating the at least one moveable section to reduce a thickness of at least one selected from a mud layer and a mudcake between the downhole tool and a wall of the borehole. A downhole tool includes an energy source and a receiver disposed on the downhole tool; at least one moveable section disposed between the energy source and the receiver; and an activation mechanism for reducing a thickness of at least one selected from a mud layer and a mudcake between the downhole tool and a wall of a borehole.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to tools for well logging. More particularly, the invention relates to devices and methods for reducing stand-off effects in downhole tools.
2. Background Art
Oil and gas industry uses various tools to probe the formation to locate hydrocarbon reservoirs and to determine the types and quantities of hydrocarbons. A typical logging tool transmits energy (a signal) from a source (e.g., a transmitter of a propagation tool or a gamma-ray source of a density logging tool) into the borehole and the formation. The transmitted signal interacts with matters in the formation when it traverses the formation. As a result of these interactions, the properties of the transmitted signal is altered, and some of the altered signals may return to the borehole and the tool. One or more sensors (e.g., receivers) may be disposed on the tool to detect the returned signals. The detected signals can then be analyzed to provide insights into the formation properties.
Ideally, the receivers detect only the signals returned from the formation. However, if the transmitters and the receivers do not directly contact the formation (i.e., tool stand-off), the borehole and the borehole fluid often provide an alternate transmission pathway for the signals to travel from the transmitters to the receivers. Signal transmitted in the borehole may be generally referred to as "trapped signals," which complicate the measurements and may render the analysis of the desired signals difficult or impossible.
Various approaches are known in the art for reducing or eliminating tool stand-off effects (or borehole effects). The following description uses electromagnetic propagation tools as examples to illustrate the problems associated with tool stand-off effects and to illustrate methods for overcoming these effects. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that embodiments of the invention may be used with various tools and are not limited to these specific examples.
Electromagnetic (EM) propagation tools are commonly used to measure the subsurface properties of resistivity and/or dielectric constant. For discussion of EM propagation measurements see: "Theory of Microwave Dielectric Logging Using the Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Method," Freeman et al., Geophysics, 1979; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,689,572 and 4,704,581 issued to Clark. EM propagation can also be used to provide borehole imaging while drilling. The boreholes may be drilled with an oil-based mud (OBM) or an water-based mud (WBM). In a typical EM propagation tool, the antennas are mounted on one or more articulated pads. FIGS. 1A-1C show a schematic of a typical EM tool having antennas or magnetic dipole arrays mounted on a pad. FIG. 1A shows a top view of the pad, which typically has dimensions of 20 cm by 8 cm and a thickness of 3 cm. As shown in FIG. 1A, two transmitters T1 and T2 are each disposed on one side of the two receivers R1 and R2 at equal spacings. The two transmitters T1 and T2 can be sequentially fired to provide compensated measurements, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,721 issued to Calvert. FIG. 1B shows a side view of the pad, while FIG. 1C shows a cross sectional view of the pad, illustrating the curved pad face that is designed to fit the borehole wall. The curvatures of the pads may be designed to fit a particular borehole diameter (e.g., 6, 8½, or 12½ inches). FIG. 1C also shows that the pad face may be coated with a hardfacing material to make the pad more wear resistant.
The antennas (as shown in FIG. 1A) may be endfire and/or broadside magnetic dipole arrays, which may be operated at a proper frequency (e.g., approximately 1 GHZ for propagation measurements). Other electromagnetic sensors have been proposed for high frequency measurements, for example, using button electrodes that function as normal electric dipoles (being normal to the pad face), crossed magnetic dipoles, and normal magnetic dipoles.
Because stand-off between the sensors and the formation can lead to erroneous measurements, especially in oil based mud, the pads that house the sensors should be articulated to maintain contact with the formation at all times. Ideally, the distance between the pad face and the borehole wall should be 0.1 inches or less.
With the antennas mounted in the articulated pad, cables would need to be routed to the pad (see FIG. 1C). In some tools, it may be necessary to place some front-end electronics in the pad to reduce the number of cables and/or to improve the measurement accuracy. Because the pads are subject to higher shock levels than the drill collars, pad-mounted electronics will have to be designed to survive in harsher environments.
An extremely harsh environment may be encountered by the antennas and electronics mounted in the pad and the cables connecting the pad to the drill collar. For example, if the drill collar is rotating at 120 RPM in an 8.5 inch borehole, then the articulated pad will travel 16,000 ft/hr just from the tool's rotation. In a 100 hour Logging While Drilling (LWD) job, the pad will travel 1,600,000 ft. To put this in perspective, a typical wireline tool travels only a few thousand feet in a logging job. Therefore, the mechanical abuse on an LWD pad in one LWD job is roughly three orders of magnitude greater than on a wireline pad in a wireline job. Hence, abrasion of the antennas could be a significant problem leading to antenna failure and high maintenance and service costs. The minimum reliability for an LWD tool should be 2000 hr, which implies that the pad-mounted antennas need to survive 32,000,000 ft before failures occur.
Mechanical shock for components mounted in an articulated pad is another serious concern. Assuming 120 RPM and one shock per revolution, the pad will experience 7,200 shocks/hr. In a 100 hr job, the pad would experience 720,000 shocks. To achieve an MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of 2000 hr, the components would then have to survive 144,000,000 shocks. These numbers arc well above the number of shocks currently experienced by Measurement While Drilling (MWT) or LWD components which are not mounted in an articulated pad. Furthermore, since the is small, lightweight, and articulated, the shock level will be considerably higher in the pad than in die drill collar. Developing antennas and electronics to survive these shock levels is challenging.
Frictional contact between the pad and the formation may also result in the pad being subjected to much higher temperatures than the ambient downhole temperature. Another concern is the repeated stress applied to the cables between the pad and the drill collar. Again assuming 120 RPM, the cables will be twisted 14,400 times per hr (opening and closing the pad every revolution) and 1,440,000 times in a 100 hr LWD job.
The above description shows that while mounting the sensors on articulate pads can overcome most of the adverse effects associated with tool stand-offs, this approach subjects the sensors and the electronics to harsher environments. An alternative is to mount the sensors in non-moving parts of a drill string assembly. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,793 B1 issued to Thompson et al. discloses tools having sensors mounted in non-rotating pads. While this approach overcomes some problems associated with rotating pads, it is sometimes desirable to have sensors rotate with the drill strings, for example to provide full-bore images. Therefore, there still exists a need for methods that can provide similar benefits of articulating pads without subjecting the sensors to the extremely harsh environment experienced by a typical articulating pad.

Apparatus and methods for reducing stand-off effects of a downhole tool