Described as a self-indicating instant radiation dosimeter (1001) for monitoring high energy radiations, such as X-ray. The dosimeter contains a radiation sensitive, color changing, indicating composition (10), e.g., a diacetylene (R—C≡C—C≡C—R′, where R and R′ are substituents groups) or a radiochromic dye, a polymeric binder (20) and optionally a shelf life extender (50) or an activator (40). The radiation sensitive composition (10) changes color instantly when exposed to high energy radiation. The dose is estimated by comparing the color with a color reference chart or more accurately with a spectrophotometer or an optical densitometer. The radiation sensitive composition (10) is protected from low energy radiation such as UV light, by a layer of low energy absorbing materials, such as UV absorbers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to radiation sensitive devices, such as a film, sticker or badge for monitoring a dose of high-energy radiations, such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation, electrons, X-rays, protons, alpha particles and neutrons utilizing radiation sensitive materials, such as diacetylenes.
2. Brief Description of Prior Art
High energy radiations, including those having energy higher than 4 eV, such as UV light, X-rays, gamma rays, electrons, protons, alpha particles, neutrons, and laser radiation are used for a variety of applications, such as sterilization of medical supplies and perishables, curing of coatings and cross-linking of polymers, recording of images and information, radiography, nondestructive testing and diagnostic and radiation therapy. Their exposure needs to be monitored. Electronic equipment for monitoring radiation is expensive. There is a need for a simple dosimeter which can be used for monitoring a very low dose to a very high dose, such as 0.1 rad to 10 megarads (Mrads) of radiation having energy of 4 eV to 100 MeV.
In the case of a terrorist attack with a radiological dispersion device often referred to as "dirty bomb", an accident at a nuclear power plant or nuclear powered ship/submarine, or a nuclear explosion, the first responders and people affected by them want to know, "Did I receive a lethal exposure to ionizing radiation or will I be OK?" Medical personnel treating the victims need to quickly assess the radiation dose each individual has received to ensure that treatment is provided first to those who need it the most. We have developed a credit card-sized radiation dosimeter that answers those questions quickly and cheaply. The badge can be worn for months to years. When exposed to radiation from a "dirty bomb", or nuclear detonation, the sensing material changes color providing the wearer or medical personnel instantaneous information on cumulative radiation exposure of the victim. It can take days to get that information by other methods.
The following is the list of some exposure limits and symptoms for various dosages of high energy radiation (mRem=millirem and mSv=milli Sievert):
Public dose limits due to100mRem/yearlicensed activitiesLumbar/spinal x-rays130mRem/exposurePelvis/Hip x-ray170mRem/exposureUpper GI series245mRem/exposureCumulative Natural Background300mRem/yearLower GI series405mRem/exposureOccupational Exposure Limits for Minors500mRem/yearOccupational Exposure Limits for Fetus500mRemOccupational Limits- DDE5,000mRem/yearOccupational Limits - SDE (skin)50,000mRem/yearOccupational Limits- SDE (extremities)50,000mRem/yearOccupational Limits - LDE (lens of eye)15,000mRem/yearDiagnostic thyroid exam90,000mRad/exposureTherapeutic thyroid exam1,000,000mRad/exposureDose to cause acute radiation sickness~1000mSvDose leading to a 50% chance of death>4500mSvfrom acute symptoms
It is well established that high dose ionizing radiation can cause cancer. The effect and symptoms of a high dose are well known.
0 to 25radsNo easily detectable clinical effect inhumans. However, at about 15 rads therecould be temporary sterility (Testis).25 to 100radsSlight short-term reduction in blood cells.Disabling sickness not common.100 to 200radsNausea and fatigue. Vomiting if dose isgreater than 125 rads. Longer-termreduction in number of some types ofblood cells.200 to 300radsNausea and vomiting on the first day ofexposure. Up to a two-week latent periodfollowed by appetite loss, general malaise,sore throat, pallor, diarrhea, and moderateemaciation. Recovery in about threemonths unless complicated by infection orinjury.300 to 600radsNausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in first fewhours. Up to a one-week latent periodfollowed by loss of appetite, fever, andgeneral malaise in the second week.Followed by bleeding, inflammation ofmouth and throat, diarrhea, andemaciation. Some deaths in two to sixweeks. Eventual death for 50% if exposureis above 450 rems. Others recover in aboutsix months.Over 600remNausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in the firstfew hours. Followed by rapid emaciationand death in 2nd week. Eventual death ofnearly 100%. High dose could lead todeath.
There is no doubt that radiation can cause cancer. The question is what level of radiation it takes to cause cancer. The risk for radiation exposure has been very widely studied. The general consensus of opinion for the induction of cancer by ionizing radiation is 10% increase in cancer rate/Sv when the dose is given over a short time with a decrease to 5% when the dose is protracted over an extended time period. One Sv is equal to 1000 mSv and one mSv is equal to 100 mRem. Therefore a 10% increase in cancer is related to a dose of 100,000 mRem with 5% if the dose is protracted over a longer period of time. If one receives a harmful level of dose of ionizing radiation (e.g., 1-1,000 rads), one needs to know immediately so that proper medical care can be given. Dosimeters for dose higher than a few thousand rads have been reported (Standards on Dosimetry for Radiation Processing, ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohochen, Pa., 2002). However, they are not in form of a badge. There is a need for a radiation dosimeter in the form of a badge, bandage, tape, sticker, label, etc, which changes color instantly and wherein dose can be estimated from the intensity of the color using a color reference chart.
For monitoring high energy radiation, mainly two types of dosimeter badges are primarily used. One type contains a piece of silver halide film commonly known as a film dosimeter. The other contains a thermoluminescence material commonly known as a TLD dosimeter.
The main advantage of silver halide film is that very high final quantum yield and exposure can be stored permanently. However, silver halide film has many disadvantages and drawbacks: (a) making an emulsion of silver halide is a multi-step and expensive process, (b) the film requires protection from ambient light until fixed, (b) the developing and fixing processes are "wet" chemical based, and the concentrations of individual solutions and chemicals, time and temperature of developing and fixing must be strictly controlled. The badge needs to be sent to a processing lab for estimation of radiation dose exposure.
When a strong energy source (such as ionizing radiation) hits a thermoluminescence (TL) material, electrons are freed from some atoms and moved to other parts of the material, leaving behind "holes" of positive charge. Subsequently, when the TL material is heated, the electrons and the "holes" re-combine, and release the extra energy in the form of light. The light intensity can be measured, and related to the amount of energy initially absorbed through exposure to the energy source.
Neither the TLD nor the film dosimeters are instant. They need either developing or heating and expensive equipment to read the dose. The TLD type dosimeter can be read only one time. Once a TLD dosimeter is read, the dose information is lost for ever.
Hence, it is desirable to have a highly sensitive, self-developing, dry fixing film and dosimeter, which is not affected by ambient conditions, and which leaves a record of the result to confirm the dose. We have developed, such as film and dosimeter using radiochromic materials.
Any material, such as a diacetylene, a radiochromic dye, a mixture of leuco and/or pH sensitive dyes with an acid producing compound and the like, or mixture thereof, which undergoes at least one noticeable or monitorable change, such as change in color, fluorescence, opacity and magnetic resonance, is referred herein to as "radiation sensitive compound", "radiation sensitive material" "radiochromic material" or "radiation sensitive formulation".
One class of materials that can be used in the system comprises conjugated alkynes and are referred to as diacetylenes, R—C≡C—C≡C—R, where R is a substituent group. Diacetylenes polymerize in the solid state either upon thermal annealing or exposure to high-energy radiation [Adv. Polym. Sci., vol. 63, 1 (1984)]. The term diacetylene(s) is used herein to designate a class of compounds having at least one —C≡C—C≡C— functionality group. The solid monomers are colorless or white. The partially polymerized diacetylenes are blue or red. Polydiacetylenes appear metallic typically having a copper or gold color. Polydiacetylenes are highly colored because the "π" electrons of the conjugated backbone are delocalized. The color intensity of the partially polymerized diacetylenes is proportional to the percent polymer conversion. Diacetylenes which develop blue color are referred to as blue diacetylenes and those develop red color are referred to as red diacetylenes herein.
Diacetylenes are known to crystallize into more than one crystallographic modification or phase. A phase which polymerizes rapidly is referred to as an active phase or active form. A phase which does not polymerize is referred to as an inactive phase or inactive form. Some phases show little or no polymerization upon thermal annealing. Such phases are referred to as thermally inactive phases. A phase which polymerizes rapidly upon irradiation is referred to as a radiation active phase. By selecting a proper solvent system, some diacetylenes, such as diacetylene-344 [R—C≡C—C≡C—R where R═OCONH(CH2)3CH3] can be crystallized into a phase which would have extremely low thermal reactivity to provide long shelf-life and high radiation reactivity to monitor low dose, such as a few rads, by developing a noticeable color.
A number of patents have been issued on the synthesis and use of conjugated polyacetylenic compositions as radiation dosimeters, temperature monitors, and time temperature indicators.
The use of diacetylenes in photographic and other related arts is disclosed in several U.S. Patents, such as, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,501,297 and 3,679,738 (issued to Cremeans), U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,302 (issued to Foltz), U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,303 (issued to Foltz et al), U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,308 (issued to Adelman) and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,505; 3,844,791 & 4,066,676 (all three issued to Bloom). These patents disclose dispersions in resin, gelatin, or gum matrices of certain diacetylene crystals for directly imaging photo-reactive compositions. Light exposed areas are evidenced by a color change.
Diacetylenes are not sensitive to visible, long wavelength, radiation. Luckey and Boer in U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,027 disclose a diacetylenic photosensitive element containing inorganic salts such as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, cadmium iodide, and cadmium sulfide as sensitizers to make the element sensitive to visible radiation. Another similar patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,028), issued to Fico and Manthey, discloses a photosensitive element sensitized to visible radiation by the addition of pyrylium salts including thiapyrylium and selenapyrylium salts. Amplification of poorly imaged crystalline diacetylenic compositions are obtained in U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,491, issued to Borsenberger et al. Faint images are enhanced through post-exposure irradiation. These patents describe formulations and processes for making diacetylenes sensitive to longer wavelength, lower energy, radiation, such as visible radiation so that the film can be used as a photographic film for visible light. U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,000 reports on the sensitization of diacetylenes to shorter wavelength, higher energy, radiation, such as UV, X-rays, electrons and alpha particles. Such sensitization to higher energy radiation is desirable for making, for example, diagnostic X-ray film.
Lewis, Moskowitz, and Purdy in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,355 disclose a processless recording film made from crystalline polyacetylenic compounds. They also disclosed a process of dispersing crystalline polyacetylenic compounds in a non-solvating medium to a concentration of about 2% to 50% polyacetylene crystalline solids and aging the dispersion before drying on a substrate. The sensitivity of the obtained film is low and hence exposure of at least ten Gy of radiation is required to produce the image.
Guevara and Borsenberger describe, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,011, printout elements and methods using photoconductors and crystalline polyacetylenic compounds in contact with a photoconductive layer. Visible images are obtained when these layers are contacted with the application of an electric potential. In the absence of an applied potential, the elements described are stable under normal room-light handling conditions. Guevera et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,011, provides a diacetylenic composition, which undergoes direct image-wise photo-polymerization to a highly colored polymeric product when elaborated into a layer of micro-crystals contiguous to a photoconductive layer. Such polymerization takes place upon exposure during the application of an electric potential across the layers. In some cases, an organic photoconductor may be included in the layer of crystalline polyacetylenes.
Patel in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,108; 4,189,399; 4,238,352; 4,384,980 has disclosed a process of increasing the rate of polymerization by cocrystallization of diacetylenes. Patel and others in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,228,126 and 4,276,190 have described an inactive form of diacetylene for storing, and a method of rendering them active prior to use by solvent, vapor and/or melt recrystallization.
Mong-Jon Jun at el., U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,368 describe 2,4-hexadiyn-1,6-bis(n-hexyl urethane), referred to here in as "166", which turns red upon short wavelength UV irradiation. They prepared a coating formulation by adding water to a solution of 166 in polyvinylpyrrolidone in methanol. U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,000 described a highly sensitive coating of 166. Although 166 is sensitive to UV radiation, the reactivity is not sufficient to use it for applications, such as diagnostic X-ray film.
In order to monitor a low dose one needs a relatively thick, e.g., more than about 25 microns, coating. The later mentioned patents don't describe a method or formulation for obtaining a thick coating, film, plaque and/or block and the processes of making them, which can be used for radiation monitoring and imaging, e.g., (1) personal dosimeter, (2) radiographic film and (3) imaging of radiation sources.
Silver halide film is not very sensitive to diagnostic X-ray radiation. X-ray images are amplified by placing the film between two fluorescence screens known as intensifying screens. Intensifying screens are luminescent materials and usually consist of a crystalline host material to which is added a trace of an impurity. Luminescence in inorganic solids usually originates at defects in the crystal lattice (Thomas F. Soules and Mary V. Hoffman, Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Vol. 14, 1987, pp 527-545). The phosphor of the fluorescence screen absorbs X-rays and emits white light. Intensifying screens made with calcium tungstate phosphors have been in use since the time of Roentgen. Around 1972, a new phosphor, gadolinium oxysulfide was developed which emits in the green region and film sensitized to absorb green light was also developed. About the same time other phosphors, such as barium fluorochloride and lanthanum oxybromide, which emit in the blue region, were developed. A large number of phosphors have been reported in the literature including terbium activated rare earth oxysulfide (X2O2S where X is gadolinium, lanthanum, or yttrium) phosphors (T. F. Soules and M. V. Hoffman, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 14, pp 527-545, 1981 and references quoted therein). Gadolinium and tungsten have very high atomic numbers and also have a high-energy absorption coefficient. The following combinations have been used for this purpose: GdOS:Tb(III), LaOS:Tb(III), LaOBr:Tb(III), LaOBr:Tm(III), and Ba(FCl)2:Eu(II). A number of patents e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,069,982; 5,173,611; 4,387,141; and 4,205,234 are representative and have been issued. Among the hundreds of phosphors reported, the literature search reveals that most of them are blue-, green-, or long wave-UV emitting phosphors upon excitation by X-ray. Some of them emit long wavelength blue light, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,033. No one has so far reported an X-ray screen with a short-wave UV emitting (e.g., wavelength shorter than 275 nm) phosphor.
Converters, or phosphors, are usually used as a screen in the form of a fine powder dispersed in a polymeric binder. The screens are placed in contact with the emulsion of silver halide film during X-ray irradiation. The prior art does not describe a converter/phosphor, which is in the form of a transparent coating being a solid solution or complex of a converter with a polymeric binder. The use of these converters in the under coat, radiation sensitive coat and topcoat of the device is also not described. The phosphors emitting short wavelength UV light can be used as a screen to amplify the radiation image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,118, to Sidney et al, describes a color changing film made of a halogen containing polymer in which is dispersed an acid sensitive leuco dyes. When exposed to high energy radiation, it develops color. U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,792 discloses a device with color reference chart and radiation sensitive coating containing a leuco dye and halogen compound.
A card type dosimeter with a piece of radiochromic film is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,610. A radiation indicator for monitoring radiation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,200. TLD type dosimeters for monitoring radiation are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,177,363, 5,508,523, 6,127,685, 4,506,157, 4,975,589, 5,179,281, 4,346,511 and 5,083,031.

Self indicating radiation alert dosimeter


The method of treating diabetes-related vascular complications includes the treatment of diabetic patients with α-lipoic acid (LA) in order to mitigate the negative impact of diabetes-related vascular dysfunctions upon vascular homeostasis. The treatment method includes the step of administering to the patient an initial dosage of α-lipoic acid believed to be therapeutically effective. The patient's response is then monitored by measuring α-lipoic acid-responsive biomarkers and by performing assays from blood and tissue taken from the patient.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the treatment of diabetes-related vascular complications. The treatment method includes the step of administering to the patient a therapeutically effective dosage of alpha-lipoic acid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Epidemiological and experimental evidence both indicate that diabetes is a major risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis and hypertension, and these clinical scenarios lead to aortic aneurysm, heart failure, myocardial infarction and stroke. It has been shown that the diabetic vascular system is associated with endothelial dysfunction and this phenomenon is considered to be a causal factor in the development of atherothrombotic disease, and as one of the earliest abnormalities that can be detected clinically in an individual predisposed to atherosclerosis and hypertension. However, the exact molecular mechanisms responsible for these changes in vascular phenotype in diabetes remain unknown. Further, treatment intended to reverse or delay diabetes-induced decline of vascular function has yet to be implemented.
Dysfunction of the endothelium in a number of vascular diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis, is associated with reduced bioavailability of the signaling molecule nitric oxide, which has potent vasodilatory, anti-inflammatory and antiatherosclerotic properties. A large quantity of available evidence indicates that impaired endothelium-derived NO bioavailability is due, in part, to excess oxidative stress. Diseased blood vessels produce increased levels of reactive superoxide anion (O2−) and hydrogen peroxide. Superoxide anion reacts with NO, yielding peroxynitrate, which has the potential of inducing protein modification, DNA damage, apoptosis and inflammation.
Oxidative stress in a physiological setting reflects an excessive bioavailability of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), which is the net result of an imbalance between production and destruction of ROS, with the latter being influenced by antioxidant defenses, including antioxidant enzyme (e.g., superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase) and chemical antioxidants (e.g., α-lipoic acid (LA) and vitamins). Excessive stress has been shown to promote apoptosis and elicits several inflammatory responses in endothelial cells, including the production of proinflammatory responses in endothelial cells, including the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines TNF-α, IL-1β, along with monocyte chemoattractive protein (MCAP-1 or MCP-1), and an increased surface expression of the cellular adhesion molecules, E-selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and intracellular adhesion molecule (CAM or ICAM-1). A large portion of the above parameters are altered as a function of diabetes.
Alpha-lipoic acid (LA) is an endogenous short-chain fatty acid that occurs naturally in the human diet and is rapidly absorbed and converted intracellularly to dihydrolipoic acid via NAD(P)H-dependent enzymes. In addition to playing an important role as a cofactor for mitochondrial bioenergetic enzymes, LA and dihydrolipoic acid can scavenge ROS, regenerate other natural antioxidants, such as glutathione, vitamin C and vitamin E, chelate metals ions, and stimulate insulin signaling. LA further improves neurovascular and metabolic abnormalities and may further play a role in cardiovascular protection and as an anti-inflammatory agent. Additionally, it has been shown that LA ameliorates diabetes-related deficits in skeletal muscle glucose metabolism, protein oxidation, as well as the activation by insulin of the various steps of the insulin signaling pathway, including the enzymes AKT/PKB and phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase.
Thus, a method of treating diabetes-related vascular complications solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Method of treating diabetes-related vascular complications


A turbine shroud for a turbine of a gas turbine engine is disclosed. The turbine shroud is configured to direct products of a combustion reaction in a combustor of the gas turbine engine toward a plurality of rotatable turbine blades of the turbine to cause the plurality of turbine blades to rotate.

Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The compressor compresses air drawn into the engine and delivers high pressure air to the combustor. In the combustor, fuel is mixed with the high pressure air and the air/fuel mixture is ignited. Products of the combustion reaction in the combustor are directed into the turbine where work is extracted to drive various components of the gas turbine engine.
Turbines typically include alternating stages of static vane assemblies and rotatable wheel assemblies. The rotatable wheel assemblies include disks carrying blades that are coupled to the disks. When the rotatable wheel assemblies turn in response to receiving the combustion reaction products, tips of the blades move along ceramic blade tracks included in static turbine shrouds surrounding the rotating wheel assemblies; thereby, work is extracted in the form of mechanical energy.
To maximize the mechanical energy extracted by the turbine, seals are arranged at circumferential interfaces between adjacent segments of the blade track to block leakage of combustion products through the blade track. The seals are sometimes located by slots formed in the blade track segments. Exposure of ceramic blade track segments to the combustion reaction products can result in the degradation of the blade track over time. Coatings are sometimes used to protect ceramic gas turbine engine components. However, applying coatings to the ceramic blade track segments inside seal-locating slots can present design and manufacturing challenges.

Composite turbine components adapted for use with strip seals


The discrete time analog circuit (100) is provided with: a rotate capacitor circuit (150); an amplifier (141) that is connected to the input line or the output line of the rotate capacitor (150), and amplifies the input potential or input charge; a coefficient circuit (140) that is positioned in series with the amplifier (141), and has two history capacitors (143-1, 143-2) positioned parallel to each other; a first active capacitor among the two history capacitors (143-1, 143-2) that is connected to and charges the amplifier (141); and a clock generation circuit (110) that is connected to the input line or the output line without the involvement of the amplifier (141), and that sequentially changes the pairing of the rotate capacitor circuit (150) a second active capacitor, which shares a charge with the rotate capacitor circuit (150).

Reception processing for radio receivers, in which a high-frequency signal is directly sampled in a discrete-time manner, is known. Such processing is used for reducing the size and power consumption of the radio receiver and also for achieving integration of an analog signal processing section and a digital signal processing section (see Patent Literature 1 and Non-Patent Literature 1, for example).
FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of the direct sampling circuit disclosed in Patent Literature 1. FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing control signals inputted to the circuit shown in FIG. 1. The direct sampling circuit shown in FIG. 1 converts a received analog radio frequency (RF) signal into a discrete-time analog signal by frequency conversion. This frequency conversion is performed by a multi-tap direct sampling mixer. More specifically, a filter characteristic which is a product of filter characteristics of a finite impulse response (FIR) filter and an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter is achieved by charge transfer among a plurality of capacitors provided in the circuit shown in FIG. 1. The characteristic in the vicinity of a passband is determined by a second-order IIR filter characteristic. FIG. 3(a) shows an example of a broadband frequency characteristic, and FIG. 3(b) shows an example of a narrowband frequency characteristic in the vicinity of a passband.
There is another known configuration of the direct sampling circuit that is based on the configuration described above but uses a transfer function having complex poles (see Non-Patent Literature 2), FIG. 4 shows an overall configuration of the direct sampling circuit disclosed in Non-Patent Literature 2. FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing control signals inputted to the circuit shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 shows an example of a frequency characteristic provided by the circuit shown in FIG. 4 (i.e., local (LO) frequency fLO=2.4 GHz). It is known that a direct sampling circuit that uses a transfer function having complex poles produces a ripple in a passband.

Discrete time analog circuit and receiver using same


A method for performing velocity analysis while eliminating the effects on weak signals caused by strong signals includes migrating each event of the pre-stack trace to a single location instead of all possible locations. This correct location is determined by ray-tracing through a velocity model. The input trace is divided into many windows, and each window is migrated to a place determined by ray-tracing the center of the window through the model. If the velocity model is accurate, each event will be migrated to the proper location yielding an accurate depth section with no migration artifacts. As a by-product, if the model is not accurate, the post-migrated parts (PMP's) provide a clean velocity analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to interval velocity analysis and more particularly to interval velocity analysis and depth migration which uses common reflection point (or common depth point) gathers.
2. Related Prior Art
Migration techniques operate by broadcasting all recording events on a pre-stack input trace to all possible subsurface locations from which the reflection event could have originated. FIG. 1 shows the result of migrating single trace.
When more traces are broadcasted, images begin to appear at places where broadcasted events are reinforcing each other. At places where no images are expected, the corresponding broadcasted events should cancel each other. FIG. 2 shows the result of migrating twelve shots, each consists of eighty traces. The images are forming on the left edge of the figure, and cancellation is apparent shallow in the section.
FIG. 3 shows the result of migrating a complete line of 33, 000 traces. Over most of the migrated section we have clean images, which means the broadcasting methods works well. But between 16000 to 19000 feet there are artifacts, or migration arcs, which indicates incomplete cancellation of unwanted events. This occurs primarily in regions where the desired image is weak. A strong event recorded on either side or below a weak event can arc into this region and interfere with the weak image.
Prior art has disclosed many methods for processing seismic data which are used with common reflection point (CRP) gathers. Normal moveout correction is primarily used to compensate for noise or undesirable effects. As indicated previously, a significant problem with processing and migrating seismic data in the application of CRP analysis occurs when strong events occur near weak events. Examples of processing methods which include migration and normal moveout correction are as follows.
United States Registration number H482 "Seismic Migration Method" (John R. Berryhill et al.) relates to a seismic data processing method in which seismic traces are subjected to Fourier transformations. The coefficients of the Fourier-Transformed traces are subjected to a recursive FK migration operation. The migrated traces are thereafter inverse-Fourier-transformed. Each trace contains a signal resulting from reflection of a seismic signal at a location within the earth, and each trace is associated with at least one point in a two-dimensional spatial grid (x,y). When displayed, the processed seismic data represents the position within the earth of whatever caused the reflection. The method may be employed to process stacked seismic traces, each associated with a single point (x,y) in the grid, or may be employed to process unstacked seismic traces, each associated with both a seismic source location (X.sub.s,Y.sub.s) and a different seismic receiver location (X.sub.r,Y.sub.r) in the grid. In performing the method, the earth is modeled as a stack of M horizontal layers, each characterized by a seismic wave velocity. The recursive FK migration step is iterated M-1 times for each trace, where part of the output of each iteration is stored and part discarded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,147 titled "Method for Segregating and Stacking Vertical Seismic Profile Data in Common Reflection Point Bins" (George P. Moeckel) relates to a method for segregating and stacking vertical seismic profile data. The offset difference between the well location and the position of the source is divided into equal segments. Vertical seismic profile moveout corrected data is placed in common reflection point bins and stacked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,027 titled "Method and Apparatus for Enhancing Seismic Data" (Hans Tieman) relates to a method and apparatus for stacking a plurality of seismic midpoint gathers to provide a pictorial representation of seismic events. The approximate propagation velocity, corresponding to a selected event in a common midpoint gather, is determined by summing the common midpoint gather using first and second weights to provide respective first and second weighted sums over an offset based on an estimated velocity corresponding to the event. A velocity error value indicative of the approximate error between the estimated velocity and the actual velocity is developed from the sums. The common midpoint gather is then restacked in accordance with the determined propagation velocity to provide an enhanced pictorial representation of the seismic event. The first and second weighted sums are taken over a time window centered upon an estimated zero offset travel time for the event. The first and second weights can be selected to provide rapid, slow or intermediate convergence upon the true velocity. The velocity error value is determined as a function of the deviation of the peak of the first weighted sum from the center of the time window, relative to the deviation of the peak of the second weighted sum from the center of the time window. Alternatively, the velocity error value is determined as a function of the deviation of the peak of the cross-correlation of the first and second weighted sums from the center of the time window.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,429 titled "Velocity Determination and Stacking Process from Seismic Exploration of Three Dimensional Reflection Geometry" (Marvin G. Bloomcuist et al.) relates to a method for determining the dip and strike of subsurface interfaces and average propagation velocity of seismic waves. In seismic exploration, linear, multiple fold, common depth point sets of seismograms with three dimensional reflection geometry are used to determine the dip and strike of the subsurface reflecting interfaces and the average velocity of the path of the seismic energy to the reflecting interface. The reflections in each set appear with time differences on a hyperbola with trace spacings determined by the source receiver coordinate distance along the lines of exploration. The offset of the apex of this hyperbola is determined from a normal moveout velocity search of the type performed on two dimensional common depth point (CDP) sets. This search identifies the correct stacking velocity and hyperbola offset which are used to determine dip, strike and average velocity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,574 titled "Method for Depth Imaging Multicomponent Seismic Data" (Norman D. Whitmore, Jr., et al ) relates generally to a method of geophysical exploration. This method may be used for imaging multicomponent seismic data to obtain depth images of the earth's subsurface geological structure as well as estimates of compressional and shear wave interval velocities. In particular, measures are obtained of imparted seismic wavefields incident on reflecting interfaces the earth's subsurface and of resulting seismic wavefields scattered therefrom. The incident and scattered seismic wavefields are employed to produce time-dependent reflectivity functions which are representative of the reflecting interfaces. By migrating the time-dependent reflectivity functions, better depth images of the reflecting interfaces can be obtained. For a dyadic set of multicomponent seismic data, the dyadic set is partitioned in order to separate the variously coupled incident and reflected wavefields in the recorded multicomponent seismic data. The incident and reflected wavefields are cross-correlated to form reflectivity functions that are time-dependent. These time-dependent reflectivity functions are then iteratively migrated according to a model of wavefield velocities of propagation to obtain estimates of the compressional and shear wave interval velocity. The migrated reflectivity functions can then be stacked to produce depth images of the earth's subsurface geological structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,146 titled "Method for Moveout Correction and Stacking Velocity Estimation of Offset VSP Data" (George P. Moeckel) relates to a moveout correction process and stacking velocity estimation process to permit stacking of vertical seismic profile (VSP) data. The primary reflection time is determined by using the two-way travel time, the root mean square velocity of acoustic pulses in the formation and the first arrival time of direct path acoustic pulses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,347 titled "Multiple Stacking and Spatial Mapping of Seismic Data" (Bernard Goldberg et al.) relates to a method for determining the dip of subsurface formations and the apparent acoustic velocity. Seismic traces are stacked in a plurality of orthogonal measures to form multiple stacked traces at a positive offset. The stacking process determines the apparent velocities as functions of the travel time at the positive offset. The interval acoustic velocity of the first layer is then determined from knowledge of surface topography, source-receiver offset, two-way travel times and the first reflector apparent velocities. The first layer velocity information enables the incident and emergent angles of the raypaths at the surface to be calculated, as well as enabling the dip angles and spatial coordinates of the reflection points on the first reflecting boundary to be determined. Seismic data corresponding to the second reflecting boundary are then mapped spatially to the first reflecting boundary by ray tracing and by calculating the apparent velocities at the first boundary. The process is repeated for each succeedingly deeper boundary. The derived acoustic velocity model of the earth is displayed as a stacked seismic section in spatial coordinates. This process may be applied to obtain earth models and seismic sections in both two and three dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,585 titled "Method of Migrating Seismic Data" (Kenneth L. Larner) relates to a method for migrating seismic data in steps where each step is a portion of the total migration. Seismic data is passed through a preselected number of migration stages. During each stage, data is migrated a plurality of times, where the migration-velocity function is a minor fraction of the velocity required to fully migrate the data in a single stage. The cascaded migration is used to migrate data having steeply-dipping events.
Although prior art has shown ways to correct for specific migration problems, the problem of strong events cancelling or overriding weak events still remains.

Interval velocity analysis and depth migration using common reflection point gathers


A system and method for detecting defects in composite laminate material are described which comprise a first trtansducer for directing an ultrasonic beam of preselected frequency and tone burst excitation along a transmission axis through a sonic coupling bath onto a surface of the material at a preselected angle to generate Lamb waves in the material and leaky Lamb waves reflected therefrom, a frequency modulator for selectively modulating the frequency of the incident beam, and a second transducer for receiving the reflected sonic field including leaky Lamb waves reflected from the material and for providing a recovered and envelope-detected output signal corresponding to the amplitude of the reflected waves.

The present invention relates generally to nondestructive testing systems and methods using ultrasonics, and more particularly to improved system and method for nondestructive testing of composite laminates.
Composite materials, particularly fibrous composite laminates are of substantial interest to the aerospace industry for aircraft structural components by reason of high strength-to-weight ratios which characterize these materials. In the manufacture and use of composite materials, any of numerous performance limiting defects may arise within a composite structure, including delaminations, porosity, voids, ply gaps and overlaps, resin-rich and resin-lean regions, fiber misalignment, and cracks. Certain defects not detected in the laminate structure as manufactured may arise in the material during use. Nondestructive testing (NDT) methods in use heretofore for detection of the defects include x-ray radiography and ultrasonics in various modes such as pulse-echo and through-transmission. However, the inhomogeneous anisotropic structure which characterizes fibrous composites severely limits the suitability of conventional NDT methods for these materials.
According to the teachings of the cross reference, leaky Lamb waves may be used to detect and characterize defects in fibrous composite laminates, which defects may not be detectable using conventional NDT techniques. Leaky Lamb waves are excited in water-coupled composite laminate plates by ultrasonic isonification at appropriate angles and frequencies using a two transducer, pitch-catch geometry. The resulting leaky Lamb wave modes have minima which are characteristic of defects extant in the laminate including plate thickness, fiber volume fraction and resin content, variations of which within a few percent may not be significant or objectionable. The teachings and background material disclosed in the cross reference are incorporated here by reference.
The invention substantially solves certain shortcomings of existing NDT techniques and is a significant improvement over the teachings of the cross reference with respect to defect discrimination particularly in detection of delaminations and porosity in laminates with small local thickness variations. According to the invention, periodicity of leaky Lamb wave spectra, instead of single mode minima, provides a basis for the nondestructive evaluation of the laminate. The invention permits suppression of signals caused by changes in leaky Lamb wave mode structure resulting from small variations in laminate thickness, fiber volume fraction or resin content, but retains sensitivity to defects of interest, such as delaminations and porosity. In the practice of the invention, the frequency of a radio frequency (RF) tone burst is modulated over a range of from about 50 to 150% of the transducer center frequency at a rate of about 2 to 20 Hz. A frequency modulated tone burst is a gated radio-frequency signal where the radio-frequency is essentially constant within each individual burst, but where the radio-frequency changes slowly from burst to burst in a stepwise and periodic fashion. The modulation, after sonic interaction with the laminate, results in a time-domain signal, which varies nearly periodically at the output of a gated integrating amplifier. This output signal may in turn be filtered or processed in other manner to extract specific defect-related information, to detect sound material, and/or to suppress effects on the signal of small variations in test article thickness or fiber, volume fraction. Defects such as delaminations or porosity will change or disrupt the periodicity of mode excitation across the modulation band in a way that the effective repetition rate of the envelope-detected video signal, after interaction with the laminate, changes significantly in the presence of these flaws. Further signal processing, described below, allows the method to distinguish among flaws of various type and location in the laminate layup, but to ignore signal response from plate thickness changes at any preselected level of suppression.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an improved nondestructive evaluation system and method.
It is a further object of the invention to provide system and method for nondestructively testing composite materials.
It is another object of the invention to provide nondestructive testing system and method utilizing leaky Lamb waves.
It is another object of the invention to provide nondestructive system and method utilizing leaky Lamb waves and signal coding and decoding for distinguishing defects from small thickness variations in laminate material.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent as the detailed description of representative embodiments proceeds.

Signal analysis in leaky Lamb wave NDE technique

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A metering device has a magnet with ten poles which is driven to rotate by a gear connected to a source of rotation that is proportional to fluid flow, the passage of time, or other phenomenon. A reed switch is mounted so that rotation of the poles of the magnet, into and out of a position adjacent to the reed switch causes the reed switch to open and close as the magnet rotates. The opening and closing of the reed switch causes a step change in voltage applied to an electronic device which increments a counter. A second reed switch spaced from the rotating magnet sufficiently so that it remains normally open can act as a sensitive device for detecting the presence of extraneous magnetic fields that might interfere with the operation of the first reed switch.

A large variety of meters are designed to measure a flow of fluid, such as water or gas, or measure a flow of electricity over time. Typically the flow is used to generate mechanical rotation which operates through a gear train to produce a dial indication of total quantity. Examples are odometers, water meters, gas meters, electrical meters, hour meters, etc. These devices were largely developed before the advent of modern digital circuitry. Today many meters are read remotely, or by a digital computer or microprocessor. Thus an hour meter on a piece of equipment may need to send a digital signal to a microprocessor which controls and monitors that equipment. Water meters for example can be read remotely, for example outside a building or home, to facilitate manual reading. A remote reading may also be accomplished over the phone or by radio or satellite linked to a central computer.
The ubiquitous nature of metering devices means cost, together with high reliability, is a prime consideration. A highly reliable mechanical switch generally means a reed switch, with its hermetically sealed contacts and life of up to one billion cycles without failure. Meter mechanisms have been modified to produce an electrical output by mounting a magnet on the mechanical output dial and detecting rotation of the magnet with a reed switch. Unfortunately, tampering with the meter is always a concern where the meter output is used to calculate a charge to a consumer.
What is needed is a way to convert a rotating dial output to a digital electrical signal which is of greater resolution and which can detect tampering.

Flow meter for converting mechanical rotation into an electronic signal


A system provides medical device data to a system user. The medical device data is provided as an icon indicating compliance or non-compliance by the medical device user in connection with a predetermined set of usage criteria. Compliance is calculated based on usage data that is provided by the medical device. The system user may select one of the icons so as to have the system generate a compliance report. The compliance report may then be transmitted to a reimbursing entity.

Patients are increasingly using Home Medical Equipment (HME) to treat various medical conditions. For example, patients suffering from sleep apnea may be prescribed a flow generator, such as a continuous positive airway pressure ("CPAP") device, for home ventilation therapy. Adherence to the prescribed therapy often requires that the patient use the flow generator at some minimum rate of usage. For example, a patient may be required to use the flow generator at least four hours a night for at least 21 of 30 consecutive days.
Insurance companies, or other reimbursing entities, often require evidence that the patient has been compliant in using the flow generator before paying for the therapy. In order to determine a patient's compliance, a flow generator provider will have to track the patient's usage of the flow generator and calculate the usage over a predetermined time period. Once the flow generator provider has determined that the patient has met the usage criteria, the flow generator provider may then notify the reimbursing entity that the patient is compliant. This process can be costly and time consuming, what is needed is a system that allows for fast and easy determination of a patient's compliance in using the prescribed flow generator (which will also be referred to in this specification as a medical device).

System and method for tracking medical device usage


An airflow window includes an outer frame, an inner frame located in the outer frame, a plurality of shutters, and a magnet. The plurality of shutters is pivotably mounted on the inner frame. Each shutter includes metal. The magnet includes at least one magnet strip. The at least one magnet strip attracts the plurality of shutters at an open state. In the open state, the plurality of shutters is slanted relative to the outer frame.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to airflow windows, especially to an airflow window of a computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer systems may include fans for dissipating heat from a plurality of electronic elements. An airflow window may be needed to prevent output airflow from flowing back to the computer system affecting the dissipation of the electronic elements.
Airflow window may include many shutters. The shutters may make noise when the shutters are repeatedly opened and closed. Thus, there is room for improvement within the art.


A propulsion system is disclosed for moving a hull of a watercraft through a body of water. The propulsion system includes a power transfer unit that comprises a housing with an interior, an input gear positioned in the interior for being rotated by the engine, and an output gear positioned in the interior and being rotatable by the input gear. The input gear is rotatable about a first axis and the output gear is rotatable about a second axis, and the second axis is oriented at a non-zero angle to the first axis. A primary output shaft is mounted on the output gear and extends from the interior of the housing to an exterior of the housing. An adjustable propeller assembly may be included that includes a propeller, with the propeller assembly being configured to enable adjustment of a direction of thrust provided by the propeller along an axis of rotation of the propeller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to watercraft propulsion systems and more particularly pertains to a new marine propulsion system that produces a highly compact arrangement in a watercraft and which can permit adjustability of the direction of thrust produced by the propulsion system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of marine propulsion designs have been proposed and implemented for moving watercraft through bodies of water, and some have even utilized power train configurations that have a generally V-shaped driveline configuration. However, it is believed that these known marine power train configurations typically occupy greater spaces in the watercraft than is necessary, and as a result space in the watercraft that could otherwise be occupied by the users of the watercraft is wasted by a power train that occupies a large portion of the interior of the watercraft. In some applications, the size of the watercraft could actually be made smaller if the space occupied by the power train were able to be smaller, especially if it is desired to make the watercraft more maneuverable or more fuel efficient.
It is therefore believed that there is a need for a marine propulsion system, and particularly a power train, that is highly compact and space-efficient for increasing the usability of space within a watercraft as well as other benefits that flow from a more space efficient design.


A paddle holder is provided for a watersport article. The paddle holder includes a clothing element, an anchor, and a lanyard. The clothing element is configured to be integrated into a watersport article along a lateral location of a user elevationally between a supra-patellar region and an abdominal region. The anchor is affixed to the clothing element. The lanyard has a retention device and an adapter. The adapter is configured to affix to the anchor on the clothing element. The retention device is configured to mate and demate with a handle of a paddle to retain the paddle to the clothing element. A method is also provided for retaining a paddle with a watersport article.

Lanyards are known for securing key chains within pockets of pants and jackets. Additionally, lanyards are known for affixing wax combs within pockets of surfboard shorts. Improvements are needed for removably securing watersport accessories to a watersport enthusiast that is placed in a situation where they are required to swim with the accessory, while minimizing any restriction of the ability of the user to swim, particularly while swimming towards an untethered or detached board or while swimming to shore.

Paddle holder for a watersport article and method


The different illustrative embodiments provide a method, a computer program product, and an apparatus for managing information. A request to store text in a table in a database is received. A determination is made as to whether a first collection of textual information having a first concept that is related to a second concept for the text is present in the database responsive to receiving the request containing the text. The text is associated with the first collection of textual information in the database responsive to a determination that the first collection of textual information in the database having the first concept that is related to the second concept for the text is present in the database. A second collection for the data with a third concept that is related to the second concept for the text within the degree of relatedness is created.

1. Field
The disclosure relates generally an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus of managing information. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus of managing databases.
2. Description of the Related Art
Databases are commonly used to store information for retrieval or processing. Databases are managed by a database management system. The database management system receives and stores data in the database. The database management system also performs queries on databases managed by the database management system to modify or retrieve particular information.
Databases are often organized in tables. Each table is composed of rows and columns. Each column in the table represents a particular type of information. For example, a database table for products sold at a store may have columns for the name of the product, the price, and the quantity available. Each row in the table is an entry in the table for a particular entity. The row contains values for the columns in the table. For example, a row in the table for products sold at a store may contain the text "potato chips" in the name column, $1.00 in the price column, and 20 in the quantity available. The database may then be queried or searched for a number of different conditions. For example, a query for items in the table that have a quantity available of 10 or above would return the potato chips row.
A database grows in size as more data is stored in the database. As database size grows, the speed with which the database may be queried decreases. The speed decreases because there is more data in the database that must be processed by the database management system to determine whether the row meets the criteria in the query. A query may be performed more quickly by reducing the number of records processed in performing the query. Splitting a table into two or more tables reduces the number of records processed in performing a query when fewer than all of the two or more tables split from the larger table are processed in performing the query.
Additionally, data may be added to the database. When data is added to the database, the data may not be closely related to the data in any particular table in the database. When the data is not related to the data in any particular table in the database, an administrator may create a new table to store the added data.

International Business Machines Corporation


There is described a display device for displaying cross-sectional representations of an object, the display device comprising: a frame; and a plurality of display units mounted on the frame, each one of the plurality of display units adapted to display a cross-sectional image of the object, the cross-sectional image comprising at least one internal feature of the object and being dependent on a spatial position in a three-dimensional environment of a corresponding one of the plurality of display units on which the cross-sectional image is to be displayed, the plurality of display units being connectable to a processor adapted to generate the cross-sectional image for each one of the plurality of display units as function of the spatial position.

One way to create a 3D image of an object is to display a perspective view of the object on a display device such as a monitor. The user can manipulate the object and display cross-sections of the object. However, a perspective view of an object is not a real 3D representation of the object.
Methods such as stereoscopy, autostereoscopy, and holography are used to create a real 3D image of an object. However these techniques do not allow a user to easily manipulate the displayed object or display across-section of the object. They can also be very complex to generate.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for displaying cross-sectional representations of an object.

Display device for displaying cross-sectional representations of an object


An electrical connector according to the present invention comprises a dielectric housing, a plurality of terminals, a front shell and a rear shell. The dielectric housing has an upper portion, a pair of lateral faces, a central portion, and a projecting portion extending forward from a front end of the central portion. Each terminal comprises a contacting portion for being received in the projecting portion of the dielectric housing and a soldering tail for being connected to a printed circuit board. The front shell has a front wall with a front section projecting forwardly therefrom for receiving a mating plug therein. A pair of lateral walls and a pair of retention arms rearwardly extend from, respectively, side edges of the front wall and from a top edge of the front wall. The lateral walls and retention walls have latches, apertures and cutouts for engaging with the dielectric housing and the rear shell. The rear shell comprises a top wall, two side wall and a rear wall, a latching hole being defined in each side wall for interconnection with the front shell, three latching legs depending from the sides of the rear shell for securely mounting the electrical connector to a printed circuit board.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector having EMI shielding, more particularly to an electrical connector which can reliably resist impacts.
As electrical connectors are more extensively used, a variety of problems such as electromagnetic interference have assumed increased importance. It is now desired that an electrical connector have a reliable EMI shield. Such an electrical connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,605. A conventional electrical connector comprises a housing enclosed by a shield case, an upper lid of the shield and a shield base plate. The shield case includes a pair of side plate portions fitting along opposite sides of the housing and a located engaging portion fitting at a front of the housing. A screw fastening piece depends from a bottom edge of each side plate portion of the shield case, from a bottom edge of each side of the upper lid, and from each side of the shield base plate, respectively. Therefore, the electrical connector can be fixed to a printed circuit board by a pair of screws.
The design of the electrical connector requires an inconvenient assembly. Furthermore, the shield case of some prior art electrical connectors is not fixed to the housing at its sides so can not resist side impacts. Additionally, in some prior art connectors a rear side is not fastened to the circuit board and a rear part of the electrical connector will likely disconnect from a printed circuit board (not shown) when the connector is impacted downward at a front portion thereof.

Electrical connector having enhanced sideward impact resisting structure


Fibers and nonwoven materials comprising polymeric blends and polymeric mixtures that incorporate a blend of a first metallocene polypropylene and a second polypropylene are described. The first and second polypropylenes have a predetermined relationship for the melt temperature and the melt flow rate of the individual polypropylenes. Also described are fibers (including bicomponent fibers) and nonwoven materials made from the fibers where the fibers are extruded using the polymeric blends, and/or the polymeric mixtures.

Polyolefin resins, such as polypropylene, for use in nonwovens are difficult to produce and pose additional challenges compared to polyolefin resins suitable for films. This is because the material and processing requirements for production of fibers are much more stringent than for producing films. For the production of fibers, the residence time available for structure formation is typically much shorter and flow characteristics are more demanding on the material's physical and rheological properties. Also, the local strain rate and shear/extensional rate are much greater in fiber production than other processes and, for spinning very fine fibers, small defects, slight inconsistencies, or phase incompatibilities in the melt are not acceptable for a commercially viable process.
Generally, smaller fiber diameters will enable softer nonwovens. Softer nonwovens are desirable as they are gentler to the skin, feel right to the touch and help provide a more garment-like aesthetic for diapers, wipes and other like products.
Another desirable attribute sought in the fibers comprising nonwovens, besides softness, is abrasion resistance. Abrasion resistance is also important since it ensures that both the fibers and the nonwovens possess sufficient mechanical integrity during use so as to not fall apart and produce undesirable fuzz or lose aesthetics.
Nonwovens that are capable of high extensibility at relatively low force are also desired. These can be used to provide sustained fit in products, such as diapers and the like, and facilitate the use of various mechanical post-treatments. Typically, it has been found that having both a smaller fiber diameter and an easy to extend fiber are difficult to achieve. This is because, when the fiber diameter is reduced, it is commonly done by increasing the spinning speed or draw ratio during spinning which decreases extensibility of the fiber in post mechanical treatment due to increased polymer orientation.
More recently, there has also been a growing need in the industry for nonwovens that can also exhibit significant extensibility or cold-drawability when used in disposable products. Indeed, for absorbent articles such as diapers and catamenials, solid-state activation processes have become an integral part of the fabrication of many chassis components. Such processes can provide important functional benefits: improved softness or hand that increase a nonwoven's comfort and feel; added loft, texture or aperturing that enhance visual appearance, alter transport properties or desirably modify mechanical properties. In such processes, however, the nonwoven needs to remain intact after being stretched at a high strain rate.
One way the art has used to address these issues is to blend various polymeric resins. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,476,135 describes blends of as-polymerized, high melt flow rate (MFR) propylene homopolymer (250 to 550 g/10 min) and a random copolymer of propylene and ethylene and/or a C4-C10 α-olefin which are suitable for production of extensible fibers. Nonwoven fabrics that are formed with fibers prepared using propylene impact copolymer compositions are disclosed in published PCT applications WO 01/64979 A1 and WO 01/64979 A1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,286 describes a fiber, nonwoven and multilayered fabric comprising various polymers such as isotactic polypropylene, polyethylene and a block or grafted polyolefin copolymer or terpolymer which is at least partially miscible with the polypropylene and the polyethylene. Multilayered structures are also claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,698 and WO 00/28122 U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,412 discloses fine denier filaments having a high elongation at break that comprise a blend of polypropylene and polystyrene where the blends are made by forming an intimate blend using a twin screw extruder and then spinning the blend. Published PCT application WO 01/73174 A1 describes a method of making a fabric comprising a plurality of fibers, the fibers comprising a least one polypropylene polymer and at least one ethylene polymer.
Another way the art addressed these issues is through bicomponent fibers. For example, published PCT application WO 01/30563 describes an elastic laminate employing a nonwoven layer that includes bicomponent fibers having a sheath-core structure. The sheath contains an ethylene-propylene random copolymer that contains about 7 mol % to about 15 mol % of ethylene comonomer randomly distributed in the polymer backbone. U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,122 discloses multicomponent fibers comprising at least two polymer components arranged in structured domains, where each component comprises a multi-polymer blend of at least two different polyolefins with the higher melting phase being either the dominant continuous phase or the non-continuous phase.
The use of random copolymers or stereoisomers of polypropylene in fibers has also been described. For example a spunbonded fabric that consists of fibers with a diameter of from about 5 to about 40 microns, that are made of polypropylene copolymer blends with high ethylene content (>10 wt %) for at least one of the components is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,664. U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,818 discloses a fiber, thread or yarn that includes a polymer blend of a predominantly atactic flexible polyolefin with an isotactic polypropylene, a method for preparing such a fiber, thread or yarn and nonwovens products prepared therefrom.
As noted above, there exists an unmet need for highly extensible nonwovens with fibers that can be made from commercially available thermoplastic resins without the need for high cost specialty polymers or complex manufacturing processes. It is well known that, as spinning speeds increase, molecular orientation increases, stress to further deform the fiber increases and fiber elongation decreases. This is ideal for producing low denier fibers with high strength and low deformability. However, producing fine fibers with high extensibility at an affordable cost remains a very significant challenge.
There is also a need for a polypropylene material suitable for use in a fibrous nonwoven which is readily extensible (especially at high strain rates) and has improved abrasion resistance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fibers and nonwovens comprising polypropylene blends and mixtures


An electric storage device according to the present invention includes: an electrode assembly including positive and negative electrode plates that are insulated from each other, at least one of the electrode plates having an active material layer formed part and an active material layer non-formed part; positive and negative current collectors; and a metal material abutted against the active material layer non-formed part, wherein the metal material includes a curled part in which an edge of the metal material is curved in a direction away from the active material layer non-formed part, and the active material layer non-formed part, each of the current collectors, and the metal material are integrally coupled.

As an electric storage device of this type, one disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is known. Patent Literature 1 discloses an electrode assembly that is formed by winding a positive electrode plate in the form of a strip foil and a negative electrode plate in the form of a strip foil in an insulated state, with a pair of separators interposed therebetween, into a spiral shape, and flattening them, so as to have an elongated circular cross section (see FIG. 8 of Patent Literature 1, for example). An end part of each electrode of the electrode assembly is a non-coated part that is not coated with an active material, and projects from the end of the other electrode. The non-coated part is distributed at a plurality of (five) portions, and layers in the respective portions are gathered to form layer bundles. A current collector is a metal member having a plurality of grooves to receive the respective layer bundles. The layer bundles and the current collector are welded together by laser welding (see FIG. 9 of Patent Literature 1, for example).
In Patent Literature 1, the electrode assembly is depicted so that the spiral axis extends in the up-down direction. However, Patent Literature 1 fails to describe how the electrode assembly and the current collector are coupled with each other. Further, as shown in Patent Literature 2, a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery cell in which an electrode assembly is arranged so that its spiral axis extends in the left-right direction has been developed.
It can be understood from Patent Literature 2 that a pair of bifurcated current collectors having branched distal ends are arranged respectively at the left and right ends of the electrode assembly. However, Patent Literature 2 merely discloses an electrode assembly to an extent such that the arrangement thereof is suggested by an imaginary line. Patent Literature 2 fails to disclose how a large number of positive and negative electrode plates projecting laterally are coupled with the current collectors.


A lamp bulb including a lampshade with an open end, a light-emitting circuit board arranged in the lampshade, a light emitting diode provided on the circuit board, a silicone washer, and a lamp holder fixing the silicon washer and the circuit board to the open end of the lampshade in a waterproof arrangement. A self-locking element is fixed to a power port of the light-emitting circuit board, and is configured to receive a rod-shaped first conductive element passing through a hole in the silicone washer. A second conductive element is fixed to a second power port of the light-emitting circuit board, and to the lamp holder.

As a common device for daily lighting and background heightening, lamps are widely used in various scenes. Waterproof performance is one of the most important factors that restrict the service life of lamps. Inevitably, lamps get wet or moist air travels in the lamps in rainy or humid weather when the lamps are used outdoors, which seriously affects the service life of lamps, and may even cause the lamp bulb to burst.
In the prior art, one main solution to avoid water ingress of the lamps is to configure a lampshade to prevent raindrops from falling straight on the lamp bulb. However, the application scenarios will be somehow limited by using such solution. Therefore, how to improve the self-waterproof performance of the lamps is a subject of positive and practical significance.

LED lamp bulb with conductive element inserted in self-locking element


A product including a stack of a: plurality of interfolded sheets assembled from a folded sheet material. The stack having a first side, a second side, a plurality of first side folded sheets and a plurality of second side folded sheets. A majority of the first side folded sheets folded into a first fold configuration and a majority of the second side folded sheets folded into a second fold configuration. Within the stack, the first fold configuration is different than the second fold configuration. In one embodiment, the first side folded sheets were V-folded and the second side folded sheets were Z-folded. In another embodiment, the first side folded sheets were V-folded and the second side folded sheets were C-folded.

Sheet materials such as sheets of tissue, towel, wet wipes, non-woven, air laid, meltblown, or spun-laced materials are frequently folded and superposed to form a stack which may be stored in a container or dispenser. Typically, all the sheets are equal in size when unfolded. It is desirable to interfold or interleave the sheets of the stack such that removing the first sheet from the container causes the next sheet to "pop-up" or move into position for removal. It is also desirable that the sheet folding configuration is stackable with a uniform height across its top surface. Therefore, it is desirable that any vertical cross section through the stack has substantially the same number of layers of sheet material.
A stack of sheet material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,482, entitled Dispensing Package for Interfolded Sheet Material that issued Sep. 16, 1950, to Nelson. The stack is folded about a transverse fold axis and disposed into a container such that the stack or clip is dispensed from the side through the dispenser's opening as seen in FIG. 5. This arrangement of the sheet material in the stack allows for the use of a dispensing package having a relatively small base area, which reduces the foot print of the dispenser.
As discussed in the '482 patent: "From an inspection of FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 and the foregoing explanation, it will be seen that alternate withdrawals from the interfolded stack will start with a projecting sheet portion or leader as represented in FIG. 6 and that the intermediate withdrawals will be of a relatively loosely or freely supported sheet as represented by the sheet A in FIG. 8.
The described arrangement for withdrawing sheets is particularly adapted to the dispensing of fairly rough surfaced sheets which have a considerable amount of face-to-face frictional engagement with one another. Smoother sheets, such as typified by the better grades of soft, smooth facial tissues will be less effectively dispensed by the described arrangement owing to the relatively small amount of friction existing between the sheets, especially when the amount of material left in a package becomes small so that compression of the sheets within the package is greatly reduced." Consequently, in the '482 patent, every other sheet withdrawal requires a higher level of pulling force and distance as compared to the intermediate sheet withdrawals of the loose or freely supported sheets. Additionally, the amount of the sheet material extending out of the dispensing package also varies between the sheets as they are dispensed.
An ongoing desire in the packaging of sheet materials is to offer alternative packaging formats and to offer these formats on smoother sheet materials such as facial tissue. Therefore, what is needed is an improved stack of interfolded sheet materials specifically configured for side dispensing that improves sheet dispensing by eliminating intermediate withdrawals of a relatively loose or a freely supported sheet, and/or that reduces the pulling force variation, and/or that provides for a consistent amount of sheet material extending out of the dispenser. Also, what is needed is an interfolded stack that effectively dispenses any type of sheet material, wet or dry, including lower coefficient of friction or smoother sheet materials.


An adhesive composite including a compatibilized composition comprised of at least one polyamide, and at least one propylene polymer which is at least partially modified by a polar monomer and which has a melt flow index (MFI) measured according to ASTM standard D 1238-86 (230/2.16 conditions) higher than 20 g/10 min., preferably, higher than 50 g/10 min., most preferably, such that 70 g/10 min..ltoreq.MFI of the propylene polymer.ltoreq.80 g/10 min.; and at least one other material selected from the group consisting of an organic synthetic polymer, a cellulosic product, and a metal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compatibilized compositions comprising a polyamide and polypropylene. It relates more particularly to compositions exhibiting an improved combination of mechanical and adhesive properties and comprising a semiaromatic polyamide and polypropylene of which at least a part is modified by grafting with a polar monomer, and optionally a fibrous reinforcing agent.
The invention also relates to adhesive composites of these compositions with other materials, generally chosen from organic synthetic polymers, cellulosic products and metals, and to shaped objects made from these composites.

Adhesive composites and articles containing compatibilized composition comprising a polyamide and a polypropylene


A quick hitch for a three point hitch for a work machine which is quickly and easily configurable without lifting, in at least two width configurations for connection to a three point hitch of a work machine on one side, and to a work element, such as an implement or the like, on an opposite side, including optionally wherein the three point hitch is in a first width configuration and connectors of the work element are in a second width configuration greater than the first, all without requiring changing the vertical spacing between the connections and a upper center connection.

Adjustable quick hitches for three point hitches for work machines, such as tractors and the like, for connection of work elements thereto, such as implements and the like, are well known. Reference Todd U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,651, issued Jul. 20, 1965, to Massie Ferguson, Inc.; and Marine, Sr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,042, issued Mar. 18, 2003, both of which disclose adjustable width quick hitches.
However, the quick hitch of the Todd patent suffers from shortcomings including that changing the width of spacing between hooks for connection to a work element or implement also alters the vertical positions thereof in relation to a center hook of the quick hitch. Also, apparatus for operating latches of the hooks of the quick hitch are located externally, and thus are exposed to environmental conditions including rain, ice, snow, dirt, and dust, and are also subject to possible damage from contact with tractors, implements and the like. Additionally, when the width of the quick hitch is being adjusted, extension members including the hooks for connection to a work element or implement, which can be quite heavy, must be manually raised or lowered. The Todd patent also does not disclose connection between a three point hitch in one width configuration, and a work element or implement in another width configuration, which can be useful and desirable.
Shortcomings of the device of the Marine, Sr. et al. patent include the requirement for a relatively complex and costly mechanism for changing the width configuration of the device, and no apparent capability for accommodating a three point hitch and a work element in different width configurations.
Therefore, what is sought is an adjustable quick hitch for a three point hitch, which overcomes one or more of the shortcomings set forth above, can accommodate connection between a three point hitch and a work element in the same or different width configurations, does not require lifting, and which is economical, and quick and easy to reconfigure.


An ironhead comprising a relatively heavy, inner core member, preferably of metal, and a relatively lightweight, injection-molded outer member, preferably of thermoplastic elastomer, is disclosed. Preferred thermoplastic elastomer materials are glass filled urethanes and glass-filled polycarbonates. Alternative inner core designs are disclosed, both with and without a lateral support member for the striking face of the clubhead.

The present invention relates to golf clubs. Golf clubs include "woods" or drivers, and "irons", including fairway irons, wedges and putters. The present invention relates in particular to irons and to the heads of irons ("ironheads"), and is embodied in an ironhead fabricated by injection molding, and in the materials used in such an ironhead, including thermoplastic elastomers, which are injection molded about a metal core.


A new hop plant named ‘HBC 291’ is disclosed. The cones of ‘HBC 291’ mature in mid September, and yield a crop of 2000 to 2400 pounds per acre. ‘HBC 291’ is used for its unique aromatic and flavor qualities, high alpha acid content and exceptional yield.

'HBC 291' is a product of a controlled breeding program carried out by the inventors in the Yakima Valley of Washington state. 'HBC 291' was one of several seedlings resulting from a cross made in 2002 of female parent 'Glacier' (not patented) and male parent 'HBC 9902(2)' (not patented). A single plant of 'HBC 291' was selected in 2003, and in 2004 was expanded by softwood cutting propagation in Yakima, Wash. to 70 plants, which were then planted in the area of Toppenish, Wash. The plants were observed and evaluated for several years, and in 2009 were expanded by softwood cuttings for further observation and evaluation in the Toppenish, Wash. area. A one acre test plot of 'HBC 291' was established in 2009. Throughout several generations of asexual propagation by softwood cuttings, 'HBC 291' has been observed to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type. 'HBC 291' is distinguished from other known hop cultivars by its low cohumulone and its large number of small, tight cones. 'HBC 291' has a distinctive citrus/floral aromatic property.
'HBC 291' is distinguishable from its parent plants ('Glacier' and 'HBC 9902(2)'). 'HBC 291' is distinguishable from its male parent 'HBC 9902(2)' with flowers that develop into mature hop cones without producing pollen, while flowers of 'HBC 9902(2)' produce pollen without developing into mature hop cones.
TABLE 1. sets forth some of the distinguishing characteristics of 'HBC 291' as compared to its female parent 'Glacier' and 'HBC 394' (U.S. Plant Patent 21,289):'HBC 291''Glacier''HBC 394'Alpha Acids %10.0% to 12.0%3.3% to 9.7%11% to 13%Beta Acids %4.5% to 5.5%5.4% to 9.7%3.5% to 4.5%Cohumulone %21.0% to 23.0%11% to 13%22% to 24%Total oils1.5 to 2.5 mL/0.7 to 1.6 mL/2.2 to 2.8 mL/100 g cones100 g cones100 g cones


Disclosed is a decoder having efficient inner and outer decoders for decoding serially concatenated convolutional codes. The decoder comprises a data converter that processes soft demodulator data derived from a demodulator to generate log of probabilities data. An inner decoder is coupled to the data converter and comprises a forward recursion metric in parallel with a backward recursion metric that are coupled to a soft log-likelihood calculation processor and that generate inner decoded soft data. A de-interleaver is coupled to the inner decoder that de-interleaves the inner decoded soft data. An outer decoder is coupled to the de-interleaver that comprises a forward recursion metric in parallel with a backward recursion metric that are coupled to a soft log-likelihood calculation processor that generate outer decoded soft data. An interleaver feeds back the outer decoded soft data to the inner decoder. A decision processor processes the outer-coded soft data to generate decoded data. The inner and outer decoders may each normalize the largest state recursion metric to 0, and subtract off the original largest value from the rest of the recursion metrics. The soft log-likelihood calculation processor in the inner and outer decoders preferably comprises add and compare operators.

The present invention relates generally to decoding architectures, and more particularly to fast, efficient architectures for inner and outer decoders that decode serially concatenated convolutional codes.
Digital communication systems employ coding for reliable data transmission over a noisy channel. This coding, while increasing reliability, forces the transmission data rate down. Claude Shannon, the founder of information theory, came up with bounds for the maximum rate that can be achieved when coding data while still maintaining reliable communication. Since then, much research has been done to achieve the bounds set out by Shannon's theory. One class of codes that comes very close to achieving Shannon's bound is turbo codes.
Turbo codes, conceived in 1993, have over time been split into two classes of codes: parallel concatenated convolutional codes (PCCC's) and serial concatenated convolutional codes (SCCC's). While both of these codes give excellent performance in terms of reliability, decoding such codes at the receiver proves to be a constant bottleneck in communication systems today, since these are very complex codes. Often, decoding of these codes also employs iterative techniques to lower the bit error rate (BER). Thus, speed is imperative when designing the decoder.
Algorithms using lookup tables and lower performance metrics have been conventionally used for SCCC decoder blocks. Examples of such algorithms are the well-known MAP algorithm and a less sophisticated Log-Max-MAP algorithm. Normalization is also a big problem in the state metric computation step, which can require significant computational complexity.
A paper "A Soft-Input Soft-Output Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) Module to Decode Parallel and Serial Concatenated Codes" by Benedetto et al. TDA Progress Report 24-27, Nov. 15, 1996 discloses a generalized SCCC decoder. The present invention improves upon this decoder design.
It would be desirable to have fast, efficient architectures for inner and outer decoders for use with serially concatenated convolutional codes. It would be desirable to have an improved architecture for inner and outer decoder blocks of an SCCC decoder that employs a Log-Max-MAP algorithm in a very efficient manner. It would be desirable to have an improved architecture for inner and outer decoder blocks that uses only add and compare operations, thus eliminating the need for lookup tables.

Fast, efficient architectures for inner and outer decoders for serial concatenated convolutional codes


In a cast-iron disc brake rotor (1), each of an outer sliding surface (2a) and an inner sliding surface (3a) is covered with a phosphate coating (8) by electrolysis of a phosphate coating solution containing therein phosphate ions, zinc ions and nitrate ions. This makes it possible to attain dramatically improved rust preventive performance for the sliding surfaces (2a) and (3a). The phosphate coating (8) has a thickness of 1 to 10 xcexcm, a mass of 4 to 35 g/m2 and a grain size of less than 50 xcexcm. Preferably, the thickness of the phosphate coating (8) is adjusted to 2 to 8 xcexcm.

The present invention relates to a rotary braking member that performs as a braking element of a vehicle brake system, and a rust proofing process therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates a brake drum for use in a drum brake or a brake disc rotor for use in a disc brake that has a sliding surface covered with a rust preventive phosphate coating, and a rust proofing process therefor.
Motor vehicles and other vehicles are generally exported abroad by sea transportation. In the meantime, the vehicles are kept in a storage site near an export port, shipped out, kept in a storage site near an import port, and then, finally delivered to users in an importing country. There may be a case where rust forms on e.g. a brake disc rotor of a disc brake in the vehicle.
The degree of rust formation varies depending on e.g. whether a portion of the brake disc rotor is covered with a brake pad or not. If the brake is operated in such a rusting condition, there arises a variance of braking torque. This phenomenon is so-called xe2x80x9cjudderxe2x80x9d, which undesirably causes a vehicle occupant to have an unpleasant feel of braking.
Some rust proofing processes have been tried to prevent the formation of rust that can become a cause of xe2x80x9cjudderxe2x80x9d. In one process, a sliding surface of the brake disc rotor is subjected to dacrodized treatment. In another process, rust preventive oil is applied to a sliding surface of the brake disc rotor. Instill another process, a phosphate conversion coating is formed on a sliding surface of the brake disc rotor as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-58372.
It is necessary, in either of these rust proofing processes, not only to protect against rust but also satisfy basic requirements for the braking element as follows.
(a) To attain adequate rust preventive performance for the sliding surface until the vehicle is delivered to a user, without any adverse effect on braking function after the delivery.
(b) To minimize a deterioration in the friction coefficient of sliding surface under initial braking.
(c) To minimize the number of braking operations effected to recover a braking force in what is called xe2x80x9crunning-inxe2x80x9d before the vehicle is delivered to a user.
(d) To prevent wheel nuts from working loose owing to a deterioration in the friction coefficient of road wheel mounting plane.
However, the dacrodized treatment for the sliding surface of the brake disc rotor includes many treatment steps and requires high energy cost for rust proofing, thereby resulting in cost increase. In addition, the dacrodized treatment uses chromium so that much consideration must be given to the environment. Further, the application of rust preventive oil to the sliding surface of the brake disc rotor cannot achieve rust preventive performance over an extended period of time, although its oil application process is easy to perform.
In the formation of phosphate conversion coating e.g. zinc phosphate conversion coating on the sliding surface of the brake disc rotor by phosphate conversion treatment as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-58372, the coating needs to be 4 xcexcm or more in thickness so as to attain necessary and sufficient rust preventive performance, and both of treatment time and treatment temperature are increased for such a thick coating. As a result, the upsizing of equipment and the deterioration of energy efficiency are unavoidable.
Moreover, the built-up of sludge in chemical treatment bath inevitably occurs in the conversion treatment. It is therefore necessary to perform the additional maintenance step of removing the sludge and to dispose of the sludge as industrial waste by professional at a special plant, so that overall cost is unavoidably increased.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has been made to provide a rotary braking member for use in a vehicle brake system, such as a brake drum or a brake disc rotor, which can insure sufficient rust preventive performance by means of a thin phosphate coating while satisfying the above-mentioned requirements for braking element, and a rust proofing process therefor.
According to the subject matter of Claim 1, there is provided a rotary braking member for use in a vehicle brake system, the braking member being formed into a disc or drum shape and made of an iron material and having at least a portion to be used as a sliding surface against an opposing frictional member, such as a brake pad or a brake shoe, covered with a phosphate coating, the phosphate coating being formed by electrolysis of a phosphate coating solution that contains phosphate ions, zinc ions and nitrate ions and having a thickness of 1 to 10 xcexcm, a mass of 4 to 33 g/m2 and a grain size of 50 xcexcm or less.
According to the subject matter of Claim 2 that methodologically corresponds to the subject matter of Claim 1, there is provided a rust proofing process for a rotary braking member, the braking member being formed into a disc or drum shape and made of an iron material, the process comprising the step of forming a phosphate coating on at least a portion of the braking member to be used as a sliding surface against an opposing frictional member by electrolysis of a phosphate coating solution containing phosphate ions, zinc ions and nitrate ions in such a manner that the phosphate coating has a thickness of 1 to 10 xcexcm, a mass of 4 to 33 g/m2 and a grain size of 50 xcexcm or less.
Herein, the rotary braking member refers to e.g. a cast-iron brake drum of a drum brake, or a cast-iron brake disc rotor of a disc brake.
Further, the phosphate coating solution is prepared by the use of e.g. xe2x80x9cPB-EL950Mxe2x80x9d available from Nihon Parkerizing Co., Ltd. with a phosphate ion content of 20 to 70 g/l, a zinc ion content of 20 to 50 g/l and a nitrate ion content of 30 to 80 g/l.
The electrolysis of the above-mentioned phosphate coating solution leads to the formation of dense phosphate coating i.e. zinc phosphate coating. This makes it possible to improve rust preventive performance dramatically as compared with that of the earlier technology and thereby retard the formation of rust remarkably even under extreme conditions. The dense phosphate coating attains necessary and sufficient rust preventive performance when the coating is at least 1 xcexcm in thickness. The thickness of the phosphate coating may be increased, but the improvement in rust preventive performance becomes saturated when the thickness of the phosphate coating reaches about 10 xcexcm. Thus, the thickness of the phosphate coating is adjusted to a maximum of about 8 xcexcm, preferably about 2 to 8 xcexcm, in view of rust preventive performance in the present invention.
According to the subject matter of Claim 3 that is based on the subject matter of Claim 2, the electrolysis is characteristically performed by setting the rotary braking member to a cathode in the phosphate coating solution and using as an anode an electrode opposed to the portion of the braking member to be used as a sliding surface with a predetermined distance kept between the electrode and the portion of the braking member to be used as a sliding surface.
According to the subject matter of Claim 4, it is clarified that the rotary braking member of Claim 2 or 3 is a brake disc rotor of a disc brake system.
The magnitude of electrolytic effect is dependent on various parameters, such as the shapes of electrodes, the distance between the anode and the cathode, the current density, the treatment time, the concentration of coating solution, the treatment temperature and the like. Thus, each parameter is determined according to the thickness required of the phosphate coating. In the case of limiting the formation of phosphate coating to a specific area, masking is given to the rotary braking member and/or the electrodes as needed. Depending on the shape of the rotary braking member, it is not necessary to complete the phosphate coating of the above predetermined thickness in one operation. The electrolysis may be performed in several operations.
In short, the brake disc rotor or brake drum made of an iron material has at least a portion to be used as a sliding surface against an opposing frictional member coated with a phosphate coating by the electrolysis of phosphate coating solution containing phosphate ions, zinc ions and nitrate ions in such a manner that the phosphate coating has a thickness of 1 to 10 xcexcm, a mass of 4 to 35 g/m2 and a grain size of 50 xcexcm or less, according to the subject matters of Claims 1 to 4. It is therefore possible to attain dramatically improved rust preventive performance and corrosion resistance even when the coating thickness is smaller than that of the earlier technology.
According to the subject matters of Claims 2 to 4, the thickness of phosphate coating can be made smaller. This makes it possible to improve energy efficiency by shortening the treatment time and possible to achieve good cost performance and environmental friendliness without the built-up of sludge.

Rotating brake member of braking device for vehicle and method for antirust treatment thereof