In an image recording apparatus, an imaging surface of an image device is formed so as to store and read out an image by arranging two-dimensionally a plurality of photoelectric transfer elements, the imaging surface is divided along lines into a plurality of blocks, scanning lines are formed in accordance with the photoelectric transfer elements arranged in a horizontal direction of the respective divided blocks, and the plurality of scanning lines of the respective blocks are parallelly linearly scanned to output a multichannel video signals. The image recording apparatus comprises a first scanning circuit for setting a plurality of linear scanning direction start positions along the scanning line direction of the blocks and selecting a block to be read out, a second scanning circuit for selecting the linear scanning start positions and numbers of picture elements to be linearly scanned and a drive circuit for transmitting drive signals to the first and second scanning circuit, wherein the first and second scanning circuits are controlled by the drive signals to select image areas having different linear scanning start positions from each other and then to output multichannel video signals from the image areas.

The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus to be incorporated in a high speed video-system and more particularly is concerned with an image recording apparatus provided with an image device capable of selecting an imaging area and reading out the area with very fast frame feed speed.
An image device such as CCD or MOS-type image device for transducing optical image elements into electric signals is generally utilized for a high speed camera or a high speed system for photographing images and reproducing records. For example, there are provided Japanese Patent Application National Publication Nos. 56-501704 and 57-501309, showing conventional image devices in which an imaging surface is formed by a plurality of two-dimensional arrangements of photoelectric transfer elements such as photodiodes, the imaging surface is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks along the vertical row direction of the imaging surface for reading out with high speed the images formed on the imaging surface, and quick read-out of frame feed speed can be performed by scanning simultaneously parallelly a plurality of lines of the photoelectric transfer elements respectively arranged in the divided rectangular blocks.
However, the imaging surface of the image device of such prior art to be incorporated in the high speed video-system is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks along the vertical row direction to thereby realize high speed read-out of the image, but the division of the imaging surface into the rectangular blocks provides a problem of limiting objects shown as imaging areas.
Furthermore, in the prior art image device, since the imaging surface is divided along the vertical row direction, skipping operation in the vertical direction can be relatively easily performed by a simple circuit structure without adversely affecting on number of the frame. However, skipping operation in the horizontal direction requires a high speed circuit structure because a lot of the photoelectric transfer elements and application of high speed pulses, which results in a complicated control thereof, and moreover, a degree of freedom for the selection of the imaging areas is limited and, for this reason, every one of the imaging areas of the respective rectangular blocks can only be selected and it is hence difficult to select other imaging areas.

Image recording apparatus capable of selecting partial image areas for video readout


Systems and methods for a green light detection and alert system for a vehicle are provided and include a green light nudge system that determines when to alert a driver of a vehicle and a driver alert system that alerts the driver when prompted by the green light nudge system. The green light nudge system includes a traffic signal determination unit that determines when a traffic signal changes from red to green, a vehicle path determination unit that determines when a vehicle path is clear of obstacles, and a vehicle nudge unit that sends a signal to the driver alert system to notify the driver of the vehicle. The vehicle nudge unit only sends the signal to notify the driver when the traffic signal determination unit determines that the traffic signal is green and the vehicle path determination unit determines that the vehicle path is clear.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
There are many temptations to distract a driver waiting for a red light to turn green. A driver may text messages, talk on the phone, look for things in the car, or even do grooming. As a result, the driver may not notice the light change to green and either delay moving forward or miss the green light entirely. Consequently, traffic congestion worsens, drivers become frustrated, and carbon emissions increase.
The existing art deals with this problem by informing a driver of how long a traffic light signal will last, and alerts a driver of a signal change. At a traffic intersection, dedicated short range communications (DSRC) and non-DSRC based applications can be used to do this. For example, DSRC vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) applications receive Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) messages from roadside equipment and inform the driver of how many seconds remain before the signal phase changes. Other DSRC-based systems inform the driver of this information through a display or as an alert. Non-DSRC based applications include Audi's® Online Traffic Recognition System, Connected Signals′® smart phone application Enlighten, and Honda's® Driving Support System, which uses infrared beacons. Some problems, however, remain with the existing systems. For example, the existing systems use countdown technology and drivers are alerted more often than necessary. As a result, a driver may elect to block out or turn off the alert system all together.
The present teachings improve on the existing systems by advantageously providing systems and methods to alert an inattentive driver to enter an intersection during a green light.

Systems and methods for green light nudge monitoring and alert


An optical encoder includes a light source, a plurality of diffraction gratings including grating faces on which a plurality of grooves are disposed in parallel, and a light-receiving unit configured to receive the light diffracted at the plurality of diffraction gratings. The diffraction gratings include a first diffraction grating that is a first-stage diffraction grating adjacent to the light source, a third diffraction grating that is a last-stage diffraction grating adjacent to the light-receiving unit, and a second diffraction grating that is an output-stage diffraction grating of the first-stage diffraction grating and an input-stage diffraction grating of the last-stage diffraction grating. The diffraction gratings are disposed such that the ratio of the first gap to the third gap equals the ratio of the second gap to the fourth gap, and a length of the first gap differs from a length of the second gap.

An optical encoder has been known that includes a light source configured to emit parallel light, a plurality of diffraction gratings (scales) each having a grating face on which a plurality of grooves diffracting the parallel light are disposed in parallel, and a light-receiving unit (head) configured to receive the light diffracted at the diffraction gratings.
In this optical encoder, the parallel light emitted from the light source is diffracted into multiple diffracted light beams at the grooves of the diffraction gratings. The diffracted light beams generate an interference pattern having the same period as that of the diffraction gratings. The light-receiving unit detects a signal from the interference pattern. The optical encoder calculates the relative shift of the scale and the head from the result (signal) detected by the light-receiving unit.
The diffracted light beams include diffracted light traveling in the same direction as the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source, diffracted light traveling at predetermined diffraction angles on both sides of the optical axis, and diffracted light traveling at diffraction angles greater than the predetermined diffraction angles on both sides of the optical axis.
Among the diffracted light beams, the diffracted light beam traveling in the same direction as the optical axis is defined as a zeroth-order diffracted light beam. The other diffracted light beams are defined as ±first-order diffracted light beams and ±second-order diffracted light beams in the increasing order of the diffraction angle with reference to the zeroth-order diffracted light beam.
The light-receiving unit detects a signal primarily from an interference pattern generated from the ±first-order diffracted light. Consequently, the ±first-order diffracted light is defined as signal diffracted light, and the zeroth-order diffracted light and diffracted light of orders higher than the ±first-order diffracted light are defined as noise diffracted light.
When signal diffracted light and noise diffracted light are incident on the light-receiving unit, the interference pattern generated from the signal diffracted light is distorted by the noise diffracted light. As a result, the signal detected by the light-receiving unit contains noise. There is thus a problem in that relative shift calculated from the signal by the light-receiving unit has a low accuracy, and the optical encoder is less reliable.
In contrast, the interference-type position measurement device (optical encoder) described in Patent Document 1 includes an optical block and thereby removes noise diffracted light with the zeroth-order-diffracted-light shielding device and an integrated prism, to irradiate the scale with only the ±first-order diffracted light (signal diffracted light). However, such an optical encoder is provided with an integrated prism and/or a diffracted-light shielding device for blocking diffracted light excluding the ±first-order diffracted light. Hence, a space is required between the light source and the scale for reflection and refraction of the diffracted light beams. There is thus a problem in that the structure of the optical encoder becomes large.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a known optical encoder. FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an ideal interference pattern and an interference pattern containing noise diffracted light, respectively.
An averaging diffraction moire position detector (optical encoder) according to Patent Document 2 solves the problem of a size increase of the optical encoder through the following configuration.
With reference to FIG. 8, the averaging diffraction moire position detector includes a photomultiplier tube (light source) 300; a diffuser 400 having groove lines S; a first diffraction grating 401; a second diffraction grating 402 that is disposed parallel to the grading face of the first diffraction grating 401 and displaced in a direction orthogonal to the groove lines (grooves); and a unit 500 (light-receiving unit) that acquires detected results (signals) from the diffraction moire signals (interference pattern) derived from the two diffraction gratings 401 and 402 (a plurality of diffraction gratings).
The light beams from the photomultiplier tube 300 diffuse at the diffuser 400, pass through the first diffraction grating 401, and intersect each other at the second diffraction grating 402.
The two diffraction gratings 401 and 402 are disposed with a gap therebetween, the gap being created when disposing the first diffraction grating 401 and the second diffraction grating 402, such that the optical path length in the gap between the diffraction gratings 401 and 402 varies within the range of an optical path equivalent to integral multiple of the Fresnel number or two. Specifically, for example, in the case where the diffuser 400 and the two diffraction gratings 401 and 402 are disposed at equal intervals u along a freely-selected axis, the optical path length from the first diffraction grating 401 on one side of the freely-selected axis is u−Δu in a direction parallel to the grating face and orthogonal to the groove lines S. The optical path length on the other side of the freely-selected axis is u+Δu and is offset to the opposite direction. Hence, the second diffraction grating 402 tilts relative to the first diffraction grating 401.
The interference pattern generated on the light-receiving unit through the diffraction gratings is desirably a striped pattern, as illustrated in FIG. 9A. An interference pattern not including noise diffracted light and generated from only signal diffracted light is a striped pattern as illustrated in FIG. 9A. The light-receiving unit reads the interference pattern, for example, along the reading range C to detect a signal. The light-receiving unit can detect an ideal signal along any reading range even in a case where it is misaligned with the diffraction gratings because the interference pattern is a striped pattern.
In reality, however, the light passing through the diffraction gratings includes noise diffracted light, and thus, an interference pattern such as that illustrated in FIG. 9A cannot be generated.
In contrast, FIG. 9B illustrates an interference pattern from which an ideal signal can be detected even with noise. The interference pattern illustrated in FIG. 9B is generated, for example, in response to light from the photomultiplier tube 300 being diffused at the diffuser 400 and intersecting each other at the second diffraction grating 402 after passing through the first diffraction grating 401. The light-receiving unit 500 reads the interference pattern along, for example, a reading range C2 and conducts a predetermined calculation process on the read results, to acquire a signal similar to the ideal signal acquired through reading of the interference pattern illustrated in FIG. 9A. Although the reading range C2 needs to be wider than the reading range C for reading of the striped interference pattern illustrated in FIG. 9A, an ideal signal can be acquired from the interference pattern illustrated in FIG. 9B through a predetermined calculation process.
In the averaging diffraction moire position detector described in Patent Document 2, the second diffraction grating 402 tilts relative to the first diffraction grating 401. Thus, an interference pattern similar to that illustrated in FIG. 9B can be generated on the light-receiving unit. That is, an interference pattern similar to that from which an ideal signal can be acquired even with noise can be generated on the light-receiving unit.
Thus, the averaging diffraction moire position detector can generate an interference pattern similar to the interference pattern from which an ideal signal can be acquired without removal of noise with an integrated prism and/or a diffracted-light shielding device that blocks diffracted light other than the ±first-order diffracted light, by the second diffraction grating 402 tilted relative to the first diffraction grating 402. This prevents an increase in the size of the detector.

Optical encoder and measurement device including the same


This is an interconnection between electronic devices and other assemblies (e.g. printed circuits). The electronic devices are mounted on high temperature insulating bases, such as ceramic substrates. The insulating base has a conductive pattern to connect the electronic device to another assembly. The conductive pattern terminates in metal bumps capable of being connected to another assembly (e.g. a printed circuit) by a conductive adhesive or metallurgically by soldering, thermocompression, thermosonic or ultrasonic bonding. The bumps are formed by applying a metal with a melting point over 350° C. to contact pads of the conductive pattern of the insulating base, and raising the temperature of the base above the melting point of the metal causing the molten metal to draw back on to the contact pads forming a convex bump. In one embodiment metal bumps are formed on the conductive pattern of the lid of an electronic package and welded through a sealing layer to the ring frame of the package, and through the ring frame connected to the conductive pattern of the base of the package.

Ball grid arrays are made by coating a pad grid on the chip package with high temperature solder, (95% Pb/5% Sn). A glass template is provided with a hole grid corresponding to the pad grid. The holes are filled with copper balls coated with high temperature solder, and the high temperature solder is reflowed to join the balls to the pad. Subsequently, the ball grid package is attached to the next level assembly by a lower temperature solder, e.g. 60% Sn/40% Pb. Ball grid arrays require careful and precise control of soldering temperatures. Replacement or repair of packages having ball grid arrays also requires temperature control for package removal. Many hermetic packages have covers that are bonded to the package by sealing glass. The covers are sealed with sealing glasses at 360-450° C. Ball grid arrays for such packages cannot be made in advance, but must be added as the last step in making the package.
Micro-connection systems have been proposed for testing to produce "known-good-die" One proposed micro-connection system has microbumps on a copper clad polyimide substrate which are to be temporarily pressed against the die for testing purposes. A silicone rubber sheet backing the micro bumped polyimide surface transmits the contact pressure to the microbumps. These proposed microbumps are not suitable for permanent connections, or for hermetically sealed packages.
The Controlled Collapse Chip Connection (C4) is a method of flip chip mounting of semiconductor chips. In the C4 process, solder bumps are formed on a semiconductor chip. The solder bumps are used to connect the chip to its package, such as a single chip module (SCM) or multichip module (MCM). In the C4 process, first a glass passivation layer is formed on the chip with vias in the layer for the input/output contacts, I/Os. After DC sputter cleaning of the via holes, a thin circular pad of chromium is evaporated through a mask. The chromium pad covers the via and forms a ring around the via over the passivation layer sealing the via. The DC sputter cleaning assures low contact resistance to the aluminum I/O pad of the chip and good adhesion to the passivation layer. Next a phased chromium and copper layer is evaporated to provide resistance to multiple reflows in the subsequent processing. This is followed by a pure copper layer to form a solderable metal. A thin layer of gold is added as an oxidation protection layer for the copper. A thick deposit (100-125 μm) of high melting solder (97-95% Pb/3-5% Sn) is evaporated through-a mask onto the chip and then heated to about 365° C. in a hydrogen atmosphere to fuse the solder into truncated spheres adhering to the pads. These solder bumps are fused to gold plated or solder coated pads on the interior surface of the chip package. The solder joints in the C4 design must be high enough to compensate for substrate non-planarity. Also because solder surface tension holds up the chip, a sufficient number of pads is required to support the weight of the chip. This is a concern with bulky, low I/O devices such as memory chips or chip carriers, where multiple dummy pads must be added to support the chip. For this reason, among others, the C4 process has been used for connecting semiconductor chips to a first level package, but has not been successful or widely used for connecting a package, which is substantially heavier than a chip to a higher level assembly.


A car theft proofing system includes a sensor attached to or mounted adjacent a cylinder door lock for detecting insertion into the door lock of a door key or other article, an alarm device for giving an alarm, an alarm drive device for driving the alarm device, and a control unit for causing the alarm device to give the alarm in response to signals received from the sensor and the alarm drive device.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to car theft proofing systems, and more particularly to a car theft proofing system acting as a safeguard against car theft in which a thief unlocks a car door by inserting a plate, bar or other articles through a space between a window pane and a door panel into a door lock mechanism, or by inserting an imitation key, wire or other articles into a cylinder door lock.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, when leaving a car, the car owner (driver) shuts the windows and locks the door with a door key to avoid theft.
The car door has a vertically movable window pane, and a space is formed between the window pane and the door panel. This space is sealed against rain by means of moquette, rubber seal or the like.
Recently the doors of parked cars are often forced open and equipment such as car stereos and air-conditioners are stolen by thieves. In such cases, a door is unlocked by pushing and flexing the window pane inwardly or deforming the rubber seal and pressing the window pane for access to the space between the window pane and the door panel. Through this space the thief inserts a thin plate, bar or other picklock instrument, and directly manipulates a door lock mechanism. Car theft cases are taking place in an increasing number wherein not only the interior equipment but cars themselves are stolen and used in secondary, atrocious crimes such as robbery and kidnaping, or to cause traffic accidents.
On the other hand, thieves often unlock the doors of parked cars by inserting a wire, imitation key or other article into the cylinder door lock, and steal the interior equipment or the cars themselves for use in atrocious crimes.


Provided is a new apparatus for measuring a flying height of a head requiring none of a specific magnetization pattern, that is, ahead flying height measurement apparatus for use within a disk drive including a reading head, including: a signal replay unit 300 for replaying a signal from the reading head; filter units 320 and 322, being connected to the signal replay unit, for filtering the replayed signal; amplitude detection units 330 and 332, being connected to each of the filter units, for detecting a maximum amplitude or a representative value close thereto from the filtered replayed signal; and a calculation unit 340 for calculating a flying height of the reading head within the disk drive by using the maximum amplitude, or the representative value close thereto, which is detected by the amplitude detection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measurement apparatus and its method for a flying height of a disk drive head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various methods, such as optical interference, have conventionally been adopted for measuring a flying height of a reading head from a recording surface (i.e., a magnetic layer) for a disk drive.
In the case of measuring a flying height of a head on a track by using a simple output amplitude such as a conventional technique called TAA (Track Averaged Amplitude; i.e., an average amplitude of one round of a track), et cetera, measurement errors may be induced by output changes due to an off-track displacement of the head and/or a secular change of an output sensitivity.
In order to solve the above described problem, proposed is a method called a Triple Harmonic Method for measuring a flying height of ahead. The triple harmonic method is one for recording a specific magnetization pattern (e.g., "1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0") so as to include many linear harmonic components and cubic harmonic components of waves in a hard disk in advance, and measure a head flying height by reading an amplitude ratio of components of the magnetization pattern.
The above described triple harmonic method, however, requires a process for writing a specific-use magnetization pattern in advance to a hard disk as the target of measuring a head flying height, and therefore faced with the problem of increased processes. Another problem is that an effective recording zone of a hard disk product reduces because the above described specific-use magnetization pattern occupies a part of the recording zone of the hard disk.
Considering the above described problem, the present invention aims at providing an apparatus, and the related method and program which are capable of providing a new measurement of a head flying height which does not require a specific-use magnetization pattern.

Flying height measurement apparatus and method therefor


A spray-suppressant splash guard is adapted to depend from a vehicle body rearwardly of a wheel of the body and is provided with vertically extending channel means open at least the lower end thereof and baffle means which extend from the rib in a disposition whereby spray thrown rearwardly by the vehicle wheel will enter the channel means and rebound from a splash surface of the splash guard to be intercepted, in part, by the baffle means. The portion so intercepted will be confined to the channel means for discharge at the lower open end thereof.

Though splash guards have been effectively used for many years to prevent or restrict spray from being thrown rearwardly by the wheels of a vehicle into the path of other vehicles following in the same direction, laterally projected spray has continued to be a problem. Such spray not only obstructs the vision of drivers of following vehicles but also of those overtaking or proceeding alongside the offending vehicle. In the case of roads or thoroughfares not provided with a median strip or solid barrier to separate vehicles moving in opposite directions, laterally thrown spray in large volume may also be a hazard to vehicles passing in the opposite direction.
Numerous expedients have been devised to meet this problem, among them, for example, the splash guard disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,243, issued Apr. 29, 1986 to J. R. Lockwood and L. A. Loeffler. Here, an arrangement of conical projections and vertically oriented ribs extend toward the vehicle wheel from a splash surface to form channels intended to direct spray in a downward direction. The ribs have nonplanar side wall surfaces whereby, in cooperation with the conical projections, they form channels which increase in width in the direction toward the vehicle wheel so that their widest portions are those closest to the wheel. Thus, much of the spray rebounding from the splash surface is free to issue laterally from the channels and in other directions as well.
Another approach to the problem is exemplified by the splash guard disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,192, issued Aug. 12, 1975 to W. W. Reddaway, which comprises a dense multitude of narrow, flexible blade elements extending generally toward the vehicle wheel in a construction like that of artificial turf, the blade elements forming a tangled mass which completely covers the splash surface, whereby the splash guard is said to capture spray and allow it to drain downwardly toward the surface of the road. However, in the presence of freezing conditions, moisture and solid particles entrapped in the mass of blades tend to accrete and form an impenetrable barrier which destroys or drastically reduces effectiveness and is extremely difficult to remove.

Spray-suppressant splash guard for vehicles


An apparatus and method of controlling the frequency of laser outputs are provided. The apparatus includes an optical resonator having an optical length that supports a plurality of resonant modes dependent thereon. The optical resonator includes a modulation device for modulating the optical length in response to a modulation signal. A first and second laser having a respective first and second optical output at a respective first and second laser frequencies are independently locked to different resonant modes of the optical resonator using known locking mechanisms to produce first and second laser outputs having narrow linewidths. A beatnote generator generates a beatnote signal representative of the difference between the first and second frequencies of the first and second laser outputs. A negative feedback system having a reference signal and the beatnote signal as inputs generates the modulation signal representative of a difference between the reference and beatnote signals. The modulation signal so produced acts to correct for changes in the optical length of the optical resonator by actuating the modulation device so as to maintain a fixed optical length and thereby stabilize and control the first and second optical outputs.

Lasers which produce outputs having stable frequencies are widely accepted as reference signal sources used for many scientific, commercial, industrial and military applications. For example, such lasers may be used in a broad array of precision measurements as well as communication systems and other systems which require precise timing. It is desirable for lasers used in such applications to produce optical outputs having a very narrow linewidth and, ideally, center frequencies which exhibit long-term stability. For environmentally demanding applications, such as space-based applications, low power, compact systems are also desirable.
A number of laser control techniques have demonstrated either good center frequency stability or a narrow linewidth. Linewidth, as such term is used herein and in the art, refers to the overall spectral content of the laser output (i.e., frequency spectrum) rather than any resolution of the laser output (i.e., lines/millimeter).
The generally known Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) locking scheme, for example, provides a very narrow linewidth laser output by matching the output to a very sharp resonant mode of a high finesse optical cavity. The PDH laser system facilities locking of the laser output to an independently selected resonant cavity frequency through feedback control. The PDH feedback control corrects for mechanical variations in both the optical cavity length and laser cavity length due to, for example, temperature based or acousto-mechanical displacements of the mirrors located at the laser and cavity ends. To achieve a stable lock, it is further desirable for the optical resonator of the PDH system to possesses a high finesse, which exists when the reflectivities of the mirrors comprising the optical resonator are very high (i.e. low optical loss from the resonator). Mathematically the finesse is simply the free spectral range (FSR) of the resonator (i.e. the frequency difference between adjacent axial modes) divided by its full-width at half-maximum frequency response (spectral linewidth). Lasers with sub-Hertz relative linewidths have been reported by PDH locking a laser to a high finesse optical resonator.
Prior art solutions for achieving the long-term frequency stability of laser systems have included the use of atomic or molecular resonators as frequency references. Prior art systems and methods most often accomplish this by locking the laser frequency to an atomic transition using absorption information obtained by passing the laser light through a gas cell. The advantage of locking a laser to atomic transitions is that atomic transitions are highly stable frequency references. However, the need for a gas cell and the corresponding limit on achievable linewidth using practical gas pressures and temperatures are disadvantages of these laser systems for environmentally demanding and high reliability applications, such as spaceflight. In addition, this approach is limited to lasers with frequencies near those of molecules that can be practically utilized and are therefore not tunable. This limits the laser to be controlled to a frequency corresponding to a strong atomic transition in the gas. Furthermore gas cells are not rugged and typically require a large apparatus to accomplish laser control.
Other prior art techniques for stabilizing the long-term frequency of a laser rely on the locking of an optical cavity to a radio frequency (RF) oscillator by locking a single phase modulated laser and one side band to the n-th and n-th+1 order of the cavity. This limits the free spectral range of the cavity to be such that a phase modulator can be built at that frequency. This method of laser locking suffers at least three drawbacks. First, the method works well for long cavities with relatively small FSRs but poorly for compact systems with a FSR>100 MHz in which noise from the external reference limits the stability of the cavity length. Second, noise associated with laser phase modulators, especially at higher frequencies (>100 MHz), limits the performance of this technique. Third, this laser locking system suffers from the same disadvantage as all others in that it controls some aspect of the laser itself, such as the cavity length or other intercavity element, to set its frequency. Consequently, the two frequencies used to lock the cavity, the laser output frequency and that same laser's RF sideband are themselves phase-locked and, therefore, must be insensitive to certain changes in the optical cavity length. Finally, RF laser locking techniques require a phase modulator with a high bandwidth, thereby implying high power and an inefficient implementation.
Therefore, the need exists for apparatus and methods of achieving a compact laser frequency control system, which consumes minimal power, has an optical laser output with a narrow linewidth and is capable of being designed with almost any output wavelength. Furthermore, methods and apparatus for a compact laser frequency stabilization system in which the long term laser output frequency stability is controlled independently of the linewidth stabilization apparatus is desirable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a laser control system which provides a narrow output laser linewidth and a temporally stable laser center frequency.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a stable reference oscillator having a narrow frequency spectrum and a temporally stable center frequency.

Apparatus and method for laser frequency control


A method of obtaining a fatty acid-esterified alkoxylated polyol useful as a reduced calorie fat substitute is provided. The method utilizes a C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl ester of a C.sub.8 -C.sub.24 fatty acid such as methyl stearate or methyl oleate and a short chain acid-esterified alkoxylated polyol such as the acetate of propoxylated glycerin as reactants.

A wide variety of substances have been proposed for use as fat substitutes in food compositions. The chemical structures of such substances are selected such that they are more resistant to breakdown by the metabolic process of the human digestive system which normally occur upon ingestion of conventional triglyceride lipids. Because of their increased resistance to digestion and absorption, the number of calories per gram available from the fat substitutes is considerably reduced as compared to common vegetable oils, animal fats, and other lipids. The use of such substances thus enables the preparation of reduced calorie food compositions useful in the control of body weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,613 (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) describes one class of particularly useful fat substitutes wherein a polyol such as glycerin is alkoxylated with an epoxide such as propylene oxide and then esterified with any of a number of fatty acids or fatty acid derivatives to form an esterified alkoxylated polyol. These substances have the physical and organoleptic properties of conventional triglyceride lipids, yet are significantly lower in available calories than edible oils owing to their pronounced resistance towards absorption and pancreatic lipase enzymatic hydrolysis. The thermal and oxidative stability of the esterified alkoxylated polyols renders them especially suitable for use in the preparation of reduced calorie food compositions requiring exposure to high temperatures such as fried or baked foods.
Various methods of preparing fatty acid-esterified alkoxylated polyols suitable for use as fat substitutes have been proposed, including, for example, the procedures described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,329 (direct esterification of propoxylated glycerin using free fatty acids) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,323 (transesterification of propoxylated glycerin using alkyl esters of fatty acids). Although such procedures work well, there still exists a need for improved processes wherein manufacturing costs may be substantially reduced or the formation of undesirable impurities or by-products may be minimized. In particular, since polyoxyalkylenes and fatty substances such as triglycerides, fatty acid esters or free fatty acids will undergo thermal and/or oxidative degradation under extreme conditions, it would be highly desirable to develop fatty acidesterified alkoxylated polyol processes which avoid the use of high reaction temperatures for prolonged periods of time.

Process for producing an esterified alkoxylated polyol


Wavelength spectrums of peaks detected on a chromatogram based on observation data to be processed are extracted to create a spectrum set {Sn′} in which the intensity values of the spectrums are normalized (S10, S11). One wavelength spectrum is selected from the set, and a vector of the wavelength spectrum at each point in time of measurement based on the observation data is projected so as to be perpendicular to the vector of the selected spectrum (S12 to S14). The vectors of the wavelength spectrums in the set {Sn′ } are also similarly projected (S15). Consequently, the selected spectrum is erased from the set {Sn′}. The processes from S12 to S16 are repeated until the set {Sn′ } does not include a spectrum, and the obtained signals are added (S17). The signal resulting from the addition is a signal indicating the waveform shape of an unknown baseline. A baseline spectrum is obtained by fitting the signal to a chromatogram at each wavelength obtained from the observation data, and a baseline signal at each wavelength is calculated from the baseline spectrum and the baseline chromatogram. As a result, a baseline can be automatically estimated without setting of a parameter and the like by a user.

With the LC using the multi-channel detector such as the PDA detector, it is possible to obtain three-dimensional chromatogram data having three dimensions, namely, time, wavelength, and absorbance (signal intensity), by repeatedly obtaining an absorption spectrum over a predetermined wavelength range, from a sample liquid that flows out from a column outlet, while setting a point in time of injection of a sample to a mobile phase as a base point. With a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS) or a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS), it is possible to obtain three-dimensional chromatogram data having three dimensions, namely, time, mass-to-charge ratio, and signal intensity (ion intensity), by repeating a scan measurement over a predetermined mass-to-charge ratio range using the mass spectrometer.
Portion (a) of FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of three-dimensional chromatogram data obtained by the LC described above. Through extraction of absorbance data in a time direction at a specific wavelength (for example, a wavelength λ0) from such three-dimensional chromatogram data, a chromatogram at the wavelength λ0 (hereinafter, referred to as a "wavelength chromatogram") as illustrated in Portion (b) of FIG. 2 can be created. Further, through extraction of absorbance data in a wavelength direction at a specific measurement time (for example, time tp) from the three-dimensional chromatogram an absorption spectrum at the specific measurement time tp can be created.
To carry our quantitative determination of a known compound included in a sample on the basis of such chromatogram data, a wavelength chromatogram at an absorption wavelength at which the target compound best absorbs light is typically created. The quantitative value is calculated by finding a peak derived from the target compound on the wavelength chromatogram, calculating an area value of the peak, and comparing the area value to a calibration curve obtained in advance. For this reason, to achieve accurate quantitative determination, it is important to accurately calculate the area value of the peak corresponding to the target compound on the chromatogram.
However, in general, a baseline derived from a mobile phase and the like is present on the wavelength chromatogram. Moreover, the peak derived from the target compound is sometimes overlapped with a peak derived from another compound. Therefore, in order to correctly calculate the peak area value corresponding to the target compound, it is necessary to find a true peak region excluding the influence of a baseline derived from the mobile phase and the like through correct estimation of the baseline.
A data processing device generally used in the LC system is provided with a peak waveform processing function that automatically estimates a baseline on the basis of a chromatogram waveform obtained by measurement. However, depending on the shape of the chromatogram waveform, it is not possible to estimate a suitable baseline by the automatic waveform processing in many cases. To address this problem, as disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, the data processing device of the known art is configured such that a user can estimate a more suitable baseline by manually changing or setting, as appropriate, the parameter of the waveform processing and the algorithm for the waveform processing to be applied.
FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary baselines and regions in which an area value of a peak P is to be calculated (region indicated by hatched lines in FIG. 8), wherein the baselines and the peak P are estimated from a chromatogram waveform, based on the waveform processing disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1. In FIG. 8, portion (a) is an example in which the peak is vertically divided by setting a signal zero level as the baseline, after removing negative peaks. Portion (b) is an example in which the bottoms of the peaks are connected by a straight line to form the baseline. Portion (c) is an example in which the bottoms of the peaks are connected by a curved line to form the baseline. From these examples, it is evident that the peak area values differ greatly depending on how the baseline is drawn.
In this respect, for example, when a user determines that the baseline drawn by the waveform processing based on a certain algorithm is not suitable, the user can calculate a more suitable baseline and improve the accuracy of the peak area value by selecting another waveform processing which uses a different algorithm. However, in this case, the user him/herself (for example, an operator who is responsible for the analysis) needs to determine whether to connect the bottoms of the adjacent peaks with a straight line or a curved line, or which portion is to be regarded as the base of the peak derived from the target compound when the base of the peak seems to be elongated. To make such a determination accurately, the operator needs to have a certain degree of experience or skills on the peak waveform processing. Moreover, the determination may differ depending on the operator in charge. As a result, the shape of the peak chromatogram waveform from which the baseline is removed, and the peak area value may vary even though the original chromatogram is the same.
The baseline present in the wavelength chromatogram at each wavelength influences the waveform shape of the absorption spectrum. Consequently, to identify the compound on the basis of the position of the peak appearing in the absorption spectrum (in other words, an absorption wavelength), the baseline needs to be suitably estimated for each of wavelength chromatograms at wavelengths different from one another. However, since an enormous number of wavelength chromatograms are obtained by a single measurement, it is practically impossible for a user to carry out the baseline estimation process for each of the wavelength chromatograms while manually setting a parameter and the like for each wavelength chromatogram.

Chromatogram data processing method and device


A one piece tire valve adaptor for connection to an aerosol container including a base with a means for attachment to a mounting cup, a hollow tube connected to said base and including a spout for connection to a tire valve, and a flow passage extending from said first end to said second end. The spout includes three sealing surfaces for engaging three surfaces of the tire valves, to prevent air leakage during inflation. The flow passage includes a post centrally located within said flow passage and extending into said spout, for engaging the pin of a tire valve. The base further includes a flexible diaphragm connected to the first end of said tube. Sufficient pressure on said spout of the adaptor flexes the diaphragm, causing the tube of the adaptor to engage and push the actuator into the aerosol container, opening the valve of the container. The release of pressure on the spout allows the diaphragm to return to its original position, causing the tube to allow the valve to close.

Portable containers of pressurized gas have become common for emergency tire inflation. The traditional spare tire mounted on a wheel and stored inflated is being replaced by a much less bulky mounted emergency tire which can be inflated with a container of compressed gas. Tires low on air can also be filled with such containers. Other inflatable devices utilizing a tire valve, such as floats, can be similarly inflated.
A tire valve includes a short pipe with external threading, surrounding a valve mechanism. The valve mechanism includes a pin or stem which is depressed to open the valve. Conventional aerosol pressurized containers filled with liquified gas, such as butane, have been fitted with adaptors for connection to the tire valve.
The adaptor should be capable of swift attachment and detachment to the tire valve to avoid loss of gas. It should also be free of leakage and adequately secure once connected to resist inadvertent disconnection during inflation. Since the user may be inexperienced and working under stress or in the dark, the adaptor should also be simple to use.


The liquid droplet spraying apparatus includes a chamber containing a fluid; a nozzle body having a nozzle for spraying the fluid in the chamber to one side of a material to be printed; an electrostatic spray module which is arranged in the vicinity of the chamber or the nozzle, and which forms an electrostatic field for the fluid contained in the chamber to provide a first spray force for spraying the fluid via the nozzle to form a liquid droplet; a physical spray module which is arranged in the chamber and opposite the nozzle, and which provides a second spray force for assisting the first spray force when the first spray force is generated; and a control unit for controlling the electrostatic spray module and the physical spray module such that the first spray force and the second spray force can be provided in a specific pattern.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid droplet spraying apparatus and method, and more particularly to a liquid droplet spraying apparatus and method which can minutely and efficiently spray fluid in the form of a liquid droplet by applying an electrostatic field to a surface of the fluid sprayed through a nozzle and accessorily applying a physical spraying force.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid droplet spraying apparatus for spraying fluid in the form of the liquid droplet has been variously applied to an inkjet printer, and has recently been applied and developed to be used in a state-of-the art high value-added field such as a display process apparatus, a printed-circuit-board process apparatus, and a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) chip manufacturing process.
In the inkjet printer, an ink spraying apparatus for spraying ink in the form of a liquid droplet is divided into a thermal driving type and an electrostatic type.
First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the thermal driving type ink spraying apparatus includes a manifold 22 provided in a substrate 10, an ink channel 24 and an ink chamber 26 defined and constrained by a partition wall 14 formed on the substrate 10, a heater 12 provided in the ink chamber 26, and a nozzle 16 provided in a nozzle plate 18 and spraying an ink droplet 29′. Such a thermal driving type ink spraying apparatus sprays the ink droplet 29′ through the following operations.
The heater 12 generates heat when receiving voltage, and thus ink 29 contained in the ink chamber 26 is heated while generating bubbles 28.
Then, the generated bubbles 28 are continuously expanded, and pressure is applied to the ink 29 contained in the ink chamber 26, so that the ink droplet 29′ can be sprayed by the nozzle 16 to the outside of the nozzle 16.
Then, the ink 29 is absorbed from the manifold 22 to the ink chamber 26 via the ink channel 24, so that the ink chamber 26 can be recontaining the ink 29.
However, as described above, a conventional thermal driving type ink spraying apparatus may cause the ink 29 to be chemically changed by the heat of the heater for forming the bubbles, and therefore have shortcomings that a problem such as deterioration in quality of the ink 29 may arise.
Also, the droplet 29′ of the ink sprayed through the nozzle 16 may be rapidly changed in volume due to heat of the heater 12 while moving toward an object such as paper, and also have a problem of deterioration in print quality such as resolution.
Further, the thermal driving type ink spraying apparatus has a problem that there is a limit to minute control for the ink droplet 29′ sprayed through the nozzle 16, e.g., control for the size and shape of ink droplet.
The above problems bring another problem of difficulty in embodying a high-integration liquid droplet spraying apparatus.
Meanwhile, FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate another type of a liquid droplet spraying apparatus, i.e., an electrostatic type liquid droplet spraying apparatus using an electric field.
More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the electrostatic type liquid droplet spraying apparatus includes a base electrode 32 and an opposite electrode 33 placed opposite the base electrode 32. Ink 31 is contained between the two electrodes 32 and 33, and a direct current (DC) power source 34 is connected to the two electrodes 32 and 33.
When voltage is applied from the DC power source 34 to the electrodes 32 and 33, an electrostatic field is formed between the two electrodes 32 and 33.
Thus, Coulomb's force is applied to the ink 31 in a direction toward the opposite electrode 33.
On the other hand, the ink 31 has a repulsive force to the Coulomb's force the ink 31 because of its own surface tension, viscosity, etc., and is thus not easy to be sprayed in the direction toward the opposite electrode 33.
Accordingly, in order to separate a liquid droplet from the surface of the ink 31 and spray it, a very high voltage of 1 kV or higher has to be applied between the electrodes 32 and 33.
However, if high voltage is applied between the electrodes 32 and 33, the liquid droplet is very irregularly sprayed and therefore a predetermined portion of the ink 31 is locally heated.
That is, temperature T1 of ink 31′ located in a region S1 increases higher than temperature T0 of ink 31 located in other regions. Therefore, the ink 31′ of the region S1 is expanded, and the electrostatic field is concentrated on this region so that a lot of electrons can be collected in this region.
Since the repulsive force between the electrons and the Coulomb's force based on the electrostatic field are exerted upon the ink 31′ of the region S1, a liquid droplet is separated from the ink 31′ of the region S1 and moves toward the opposite electrode 33 as shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 shows an electrostatic type ink spraying method. There is a nozzle 4 provided with an electrode 6, and an opposite electrode 7 is placed under a substrate 8, so that a liquid droplet can be discharged and sprayed to a substrate 8 on the foregoing principle. Voltage is applied by supplying DC power in the form of pulse between the electrode 6 of the nozzle 4 and the opposite electrode 7.
In such a manner, there have been continuously reported research results and relevant antecedent patents that show successful jetting and patterning.
However, the above electrostatic type liquid droplet spraying apparatus has the following problems or shortcomings to be overcome. There are problem that the very high voltage of 1 kV or higher has to be applied to the electrode 6, the nozzle 4 has to be internally provided with the electrode, and the opposite electrode 7 has to be externally provided in a nozzle direction or under the substrate 8. To place the electrode 6 inside the nozzle 4, a very complicated process is needed. Also, while discharging the liquid droplet in a direction toward the opposite electrode 7, there may be instability that a single liquid droplet may be shredded and sprayed. In the case that the nozzle 4 approaches the substrate 8 in order to improve directionality of a liquid droplet, there is a limit to an approaching distance because of an electrical breakdown. Since the discharged liquid droplet basically possesses an electrical charge, there is force acting between a liquid surface existing on the nozzle 4 and the substrate 8, and thus a moving direction of the liquid droplet is distorted in the vicinity of the substrate. Last, an electric current flowing in the ink may cause an electro-chemical reaction.

Liquid droplet spraying apparatus and method


The present invention provides a modular ethanol production plant constructed of a number of identically sized modules each having a supporting structure main framework to which the components contained in the modules are attached. The plurality of modules includes a fermentation module, a distillation module, a ground grain module, or a sugar source feedstock module, and an optional heating module. Each of the modules are sized to occupy the same approximate space as a standard sized ocean going shipping container. Also, each of the modules has a central walkway including piping and electrical control boxes that are aligned for each connection to the next adjacent module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of chemical processing equipment, and more particularly to a modular production plant.
2. Description of Related Art
The high cost of energy coupled with improvements in genetic engineering has greatly improved the economics of making ethanol from grains and other sugar source feedstocks. The current problem is that virtually all ethanol plants are currently built from scratch on site with large amounts of labor required for fabrication, plumbing, wiring and construction which greatly drives up the cost of construction and slows down the rate at which this ethanol producing technology can be put to widespread use.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved modular ethanol production plant, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Self-contained deployable automatic factory built ethanol production plant


An apparatus for conveying a curved glass sheet includes a disk roll conveyor and a roll conveyor set positioned downstream of the disk roll conveyor. The roll conveyor set has a plurality of roll conveyor units. In this apparatus, first and second adjusting devices are operable to provide the curved glass sheet with (a) a first conveyance route in which the disk roll conveyor and the roll conveyor set are in a horizontal position to provide a smooth horizontal conveyance surface or (b) a second conveyance route in which the disk roll conveyor is in a downward position and in which at least one roll conveyor unit at a downstream side of the roll conveyor set is in an upward position to provide a continuous concave conveyance surface.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for conveying in a relatively short distance curved glass sheets having two-dimensional simple curvature or three-dimensional compound curvature.
There are several methods for bending glass sheets such as automotive window glass. In one method, a glass sheet is heated to become soft and bent by making the heated glass sheet sag by gravitation in a mold. In another method, a glass sheet is heated and then pressed by press molds. In still another method, a glass sheet is heated and bent while floatingly conveyed over hearth beds in a furnace. More specifically, while the glass sheet is conveyed over a series of hearth beds in a conveyance direction, hot gas is ejected toward the glass sheet so that the glass sheet is floated over the hearth beds. The hearth beds have upper surfaces curved along a plane perpendicular to the conveyance direction. The glass sheet is thus heated with the hot gas, gradually sags by gravitation and is bent according to the curvature of the upper surfaces of the hearth beds. In a subsequent stage, the bent glass sheet is quenched in a quenching unit. Alternatively, the glass sheet may be conveyed by a series of rolls in the furnace and bent according to the curvature of the rolls. This method may be referred to as "hearth roll bending method". A decision as to which method should be used is made depending on the size and curvature of bent glass sheets to be fabricated.
In the method using the hearth beds in the furnace (hereinafter referred to as a hearth bed bending method), it is necessary to fabricate in the same furnace glass sheets of a simple curvature, which are bent in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, and glass sheets of a compound curvature, which also have a curvature in the conveyance direction. In order to maintain high productivity of the hearth bed bending method, it is desirable to have a production procedure that is capable of achieving a fast production procedure change upon switching the type of the glass sheets.
There are known several apparatuses for conveying glass sheets of a compound curvature (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,422 corresponding to Japanese Patent Examined Publication 49-10331; U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,426 corresponding to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication 60-86042; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,873 corresponding to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication 5-9037). It is described in these publications that glass sheets are bent into a compound curvature while they are continuously conveyed and that after cooling the glass sheets of a compound curvature are conveyed by an apparatus to a subsequent step.
It is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,422 that the level, at which glass sheets of a compound curvature are transferred to a conveyor roll, becomes inevitably low, since glass sheets are downwardly conveyed while they pass over the hearth beds and through the quenching unit. Thus, a lift-up apparatus should be used for making the level of the glass sheets higher as long as a conventional production line of a hearth bed bending method is used. This publication, however, does not have a specific description of a conveying mechanism for transferring glass sheets of a compound curvature from a low level position to a high level position after the quenching unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,426 discloses an apparatus for upwardly conveying glass sheets. During conveyance, the glass sheets are held between support rolls and holding rolls. This apparatus is necessarily provided with a disposition of two opposing rows of conveyor rolls and with a mechanism for adjusting and maintaining the distance between each two opposing rolls.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,873 discloses an apparatus for conveying glass sheets of a compound curvature. In this apparatus, a disc roll conveyor is connected at a position downstream of a quenching device in a manner to incline downwardly and tilt toward one side. As glass sheets of a compound curvature are conveyed on the disk roll conveyor, their position is changed from the tilted position to a horizontal position. Then, the glass sheets are transferred to an upwardly inclined belt conveyor and then to a post-treating horizontal belt conveyor. It is, however, difficult to smoothly convey curved glass sheets by this apparatus, when the level of the outlet of the quenching device is considerably different from that of the upstream end of the post-treating horizontal belt conveyor. To prevent this difficulty, the upward slope of hearth beds is made steeper in this publication.
There are two proposals relating to hearth beds in a furnace for shortening the time required to change the conveyance of glass sheets having a simple curvature to that of glass sheets having a compound curvature and vice versa (see U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0148254 A1 corresponding to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication 2002-316828; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0110801 A1 corresponding to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication 2003-226532).

Apparatus and method for conveying curved glass sheets


A method for associating information with an article, an isotopic labeling composition to label an article with information using at least two different isotopes of an element, and an article labeled with the labeling composition. In the labeling composition, the isotopes of the labeling composition have an abundance ratio that is detectably different from the natural abundance ratio thereof. By detecting the abundance ratio(s) of the isotopes in the labeling composition, via laser ablation/magnetic spectroscopy, an NQR spectrometer, an NMR spectrometer, an IR spectrometer, or a microwave spectrometer, information about the article can be determined. The method and labeling composition may be used to identify, authenticate or determine the source or origin of an article or to provide detailed information about an article.

A. Field of Invention
The invention relates to the use of isotopes to provide information to an article.
B. Description of the Prior Art
As a result of technology advances in reproduction techniques, many articles have become vulnerable to counterfeiting. This problem is particularly acute for items such as credit cards, compact discs, certificates, passports, identification cards, designer fashion accessories and clothing. In addition, an even more serious problem is the counterfeiting of currency, bank notes and other financial paper. A related problem is the unauthorized use of a financial item, such as a credit card, a registered security or an identity document.
Many techniques have been developed for labeling articles to prevent counterfeiting or fraudulent use. Techniques such as holograms on credit cards and magnetic coding on various articles have been in use for some time. These prior art techniques have been less than fully effective either because the counterfeiters have found ways to duplicate the label, or the apparatus for detecting the label and verifying its authenticity has been too expensive or cumbersome to be accepted for widespread use.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,742,340 and 4,862,143 teach the use of a y-ray radiation technique to detect counterfeit articles by labeling the articles with an enriched isotope such as iron-57, tin-119 or europium-151. However, this method requires a xcex3-ray source and xcex3-ray detector, which are perceived to be too hazardous for general use.
It is an object of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a labeling composition for associating information with an article, which cannot be easily duplicated.
It is also an object of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a method to obtain information about an article, which is fast, inexpensive and simple, yet provides a high level of security against fraud, counterfeiting or duplication.
It is also an object of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide an article including a label which can be easily read to provide information about the article, yet provides a high level of security against counterfeiting, fraud or duplication.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the summary and detailed description, which follow.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a composition for labeling an article that includes at least two isotopes of the same element at a predetermined abundance ratio.
In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method for labeling an article with at least two isotopes of the same element and detecting the abundances and/or abundance ratio of the at least two isotopes of the same element to obtain information about the article.
In a third aspect, the present invention relates to an article labeled with at least two isotopes of the same element to thereby associate information about the article with the article by virtue of the isotope-containing label.

Use of isotopes to provide information to an article

deceasedby Margaret Obendorf (executrix)


Disclosed is a dividing wall column for preparing high-purity 2-ethylhexyl-acrylate, and a method for distilling 2-ethylhexyl-acrylate. The dividing wall column provides an effect having two distillation columns through one distillation column, thereby having an effect of reducing energy compared to the conventional processing device in preparing high-purity 2-ethylhexyl-acrylate and an effect of reducing equipment costs of the device.

Since various raw materials such as crude oil are typically mixtures of many compounds in many cases, such various raw materials are often used after being separated into compounds, instead of directly industrially used. A representative process from among chemical processes for separating a mixture is a distillation process. In general, since a distillation process separates a raw material into a high boiling component and a low boiling component, when the number of components of a mixture to be separated is n, the number of distillation columns is n−1 which is obtained by subtracting 1 from the number (n). That is, a process for separating a high-purity product from a crude raw material in the conventional distillation industry mostly uses a structure in which 2 distillation columns are continuously arranged.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional distillation process uses a 2-column method of separating a low boiling component D in a first column 11, and separating a medium boiling component S and a high boiling component B in a second column 21.
A composition profile in a first column in a conventional 2 column distillation method which is a typical process of distilling alcohols is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the medium boiling component B is generally re-mixed in a lower part of the first column. In particular, when 2-ethylhexyl-acrylate (EHA) is separated as a medium boiling component, a composition profile in the first column is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, even when 2-ethylhexyl-acrylate is used, it can be seen that a re-mixing phenomenon occurs in a lower part of the first column.
Although the conventional distillation process may easily control a composition of a product, the conventional distillation process has problems in that a medium boiling component is re-mixed and diluted in a first distillation column. This remixing effect leads to additionally unnecessary energy consumptions because of a thermal inefficiency.
In order to solve these problems, many studies have been done on a new distillation structure. A representative attempt to improve separation efficiency through a thermally coupled structure is a Petlyuk distillation column structure as shown in FIG. 4. A Petlyuk distillation column includes a pre-fractionator 12 and a main column 22 which are thermally coupled to each other such that a low boiling component and a high boiling component are first separated in the pre-fractionator 12, and then a top portion and a bottom portion of the pre-fractionator 12 are respectively loaded into inflow plates of the main column 22, and a low boiling component D, a medium boiling component S, and a high boiling component B are separated from one another in the main column 22. In the Petlyuk distillation column structure, since a distillation curve in the Petlyuk distillation column is similar to an equilibrium distillation curve, energy efficiency is high. However, it is not easy to design a process and operate the Petlyuk distillation column, and it is particularly difficult to balance a pressure in the Petlyuk distillation column.

Dividing wall column for preparing high-purity 2 ethylhexyl-acrylate and preparation method using same


A force sensor has a hollow flexible body with a fixed end and a free end. The force to be measured is applied perpendicular to the axis of the flexible body by a link coupled to the free end. A rigid gauge rod is connected to the free end of the flexible body and extends through the interior of the flexible body. The rod carries on its free end a permanent magnet which is near a Hall-effect sensor which is fixed to the fixed end of the body. The flexible body has a relatively low bending stiffness at its free end (in the area of force application) and an increasing bending stiffness towards its fixed end. The flexible body has a relatively low bending stiffness in the direction of force application and a higher bending stiffness in a perpendicular direction. The permanent magnet is arranged so that its poles are aligned parallel to the direction of force application.

This invention relates to a sensor for sensing tensile and compressive forces such as are applied to the hitch linkages of a tractor hitch.
A known draft force sensor is described in German Patent publication No. DE 3,515,126 published on Oct. 30, 1986. This sensor includes a hollow bendable tube with a fixed end and a free end. Mounted inside the tube is a rigid gauge rod which has a fixed end fixed to the free end of the tube. The gauge rod extends to a free end near the fixed end of the tube. A magnetic deflection sensor senses deflection of the rod free end. The hollow bendable tube has a substantially uniform outer diameter. With the application of a force the flexible body or tube deflects by an amount which depends upon the force applied. The force is applied to the free end of the tube near where the gauge rod is connected to the flexible tube so that the free end of the gauge rod will deflect to a new position.
With a bendable tube which has a substantially constant outer diameter along its length, the deflection will increase steadily over the entire length and the axis of the flexible body in the region of force application is deflected through a certain angle from its position of rest. This angle is transmitted to the gauge rod which is not subject to any bending forces. In addition, the gauge rod is given a translational movement in the force direction perpendicular to the axis of the flexible body by reason of the deflection of the flexible body. The change in position resulting from the angle of deflection and the translational movement are transmitted to the free end of the gauge rod, which assumes a new position as a result. It has been shown, however, that these two effects upon the position at the free end of the gauge rod have opposite results, so that a movement of the free end by reason of the inclination is partly offset by the translational movement, which reduces the sensitivity of the force sensor. This compensating effect is particularly strong in short flexible bodies.
The flexible tube must be so designed that it can absorb the maximum applied load elastically without deforming permanently under load. In addition, the high bending moment at the fixed end connection and the bearing pressure under the applied force must be considered in the design.
In a number of applications, static loads as well as dynamic loads must be considered. For example, in an agricultural tractor hitch control system, the drawbar pull between the tractor and soil working implement must be measured by force sensors, and the control system moves the hitch as a function of the measured force. The load on a force sensor may be subject to sharp variations due to uneven ground, rocks, etc., which may lead to shock and vibration.
In order to be able to transmit large forces, it is an advantage to design the flexible body as short as possible. In addition, a lengthening of the gauge rod, which could lead to a greater measurement signal, is possible only to a limited extent, since its bending due to its own weight coupled with a reduced frequency will impair the reproducibility of the measurements. Such a lengthened rod could be excited to resonant vibration by the least shock, thereby inducing deflections that could far exceed the deflections for the expected measurement.
The requirement for short flexible bodies and gauge rods leads to the result that the deflections at the free end of the gauge rod from its position of rest, and hence the measurement signal, are relatively insensitive to the applied force.


A remote control framework enables a plurality of target devices to be controlled by a plurality of remote control devices irrespective of bearer types. In a preferred embodiment any target device may also act as a control device and any control device may also act as a target device. The framework also enables any application running on any target device to be controlled by any controller device.

The present invention relates to a method for enabling the remote control of devices.
For the avoidance of doubt, in the following description of the present invention the term device is used to refer to an entity that is capable of being remotely controlled by any type of external device over any type of wired or wireless connection.
The first demonstration of wireless remote control was by Nikola Tesla, who exhibited a radio controlled boat on a specially built pond at an electrical exhibition in Madison Square Gardens in 1898. U.S. Pat. No. 613,809 was issued on this invention.
Despite this venerable pedigree, the commercial exploitation of remote control technology for domestic electrical and electronic appliances did not occur in earnest for about another 50 years, when it was eventually pioneered by Zenith in connection with televisions. Their first television remote control, the 'Lazy Bones', appeared in 1950, and this was connected to the television by means of a long wire. Whilst wired remote controls for televisions were not a long-lived technology (principally because users kept tripping over the cord), they have always continued to be manufactured for many other types of electronic appliances, from traditional wired remotes such as those for slide projectors and dictaphones, to more modern appliances such as digital camcorders: the Sony RMVD1 is a recent example of this latter art.
It is wireless remote controls that now comprise the majority of such devices. In 1955, Zenith's 'Flashmatic' was the first wireless television remote control to appear; it operated by means of visible light signals made to photoelectric cells on the television. The following year, Robert Adler's 'Space Commander' became Zenith's first truly practical wireless remote control; it was a mechanically operated ultrasonic device. Ultrasonics remained the basis of remote control technology until the development of infrared transmission devices in the 1980s. Infrared remains the technology of choice for remote control devices today, though RF (Radio Frequency) is commonly used in cases where the line-of-sight communication required by infrared is impractical.
Although wireless remotes are still the more common variety, it is noticeable that wired remotes are making something of a comeback, especially on appliances for which wires are needed in any case; the clearest example of this is appliances with audio functionality. This includes mobile phones, which can be controlled via buttons in a module inserted into the audio lead on hands-free headsets, and in a rather more sophisticated form on top-end digital music players (all the market leaders such as the Apple iPod™, the Creative Zen™, and the iRiver™ have optional or integral wired remote controls).
In summary, the remote control of modern electrical and electronic appliances is today extremely widespread in any situation where close physical proximity between the person seeking to operate the appliance and the appliance itself is either                impossible; as in the case of model vehicles such as aeroplanes or ships        awkward; as in the case of appliances such as air conditioners that are usually mounted in a high position on a wall or a ceiling        inconvenient, because it requires a physical alteration or effort which is deemed inappropriate for the circumstances of use; as in the case of modern audiovisual and audio appliances such as televisions, DVDs and music players.
Until recently, the technology for remote control of appliances was limited in a number of related ways:                Remote control devices were manufactured and sold with the appliances which they were intended to control, and closely coupled to them; proprietary signals and protocols were used for communications. This is true even of infrared devices. Although there is a standard for infrared communication developed by the Infra-red Data Association (IrDA, see http://www.irda.org/), it is not utilised by remote controls. There are in fact "many different coding systems in use and generally different manufacturers use different codes and different data rates for transmission." (from http://www.epanorama.net/links/irremote.html).
It should be noted in this context that the existence of programmable remote controls, which can be used with appliances from many different manufacturers, is not evidence that they all conform to a common standard. Such programmable devices are able to emulate the operating modes, transmission protocols, data rates and control codes of each of the various manufacturers rather than being able to run in a single mode that functions in all situations.                The remote controls appliances were supplied with were all dedicated and non-expandable devices; they had a fixed set of capabilities and were not able to perform any functions except those embedded at manufacture time.        Similarly, all appliances that were to be controlled remotely had to be specifically designed for this; their capabilities were fixed and they were not able to perform any functions except those embedded at appliance manufacture.
However, electronic appliances are increasingly becoming multifunctional and programmable; the trend is for them to be built around the same type of central processing units and memory that are employed in general-purpose computers. There is substantial evidence that where this is the case, it is increasingly possible to circumvent the limitations described above.
In the domain of remote control technology, appliances that are built around the same processor and memory components that are used in programmable computers are generally now able to utilise standardised communication technologies. Among these standards are:                Bluetooth (see the Bluetooth Special Interest Group web site at http://www.bluetooth.com/). This is a low-power short-range wireless networking protocol which is implemented in various profiles designed to be used in specific situations. One of the most common uses of Bluetooth is in wireless headsets for mobile telephones, utilising either the handsfree or headset profiles, either of which enable the headset to remotely control the mobile phone.        Firewire/IEEE 1394 (see the 1394 Trade Association web site at http://www.1394ta.org/or the The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers High Performance Serial Bus Bridges Working Group P1394.1 at http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1394/1/index.html). This is a fast serial protocol running over a wire, which is increasingly being used for remote control of multimedia appliances; the standard includes a Digital Remote Control Command Set.        ANSI/CEA-2027; this is a relatively new standard, being finished as recently as July 2004, and comes from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). It defines an interface that can be used for control of audio/video equipment interconnected via a home network using IP (Internet Protocols).
Although there is an increasing use of standards such as these, it is notable that many companies do not utilise them as much as they ought. For example, despite the fact that Apple invented Firewire, they do not use the technology in their own remote controls; people have had to go to some lengths to reverse engineer the proprietary protocols used in the iPod remote control, some of which are described at http://www.maushammer.com/systems/ipod-remote/ipod-remote.html).
As well as the above standards-based technologies, it has also become apparent that where appliances incorporate a programmable digital computer, linking two together enables one to control the other, provided that both are running compatible software. A larger static appliance (such as a personal computer) can therefore be controlled by a smaller mobile appliance (such as a cellular phone), giving in many cases a superset of the functionality of conventional remote controls. Many examples of this technology exist which enable mobile telephones to be used to control media players and other applications on personal computers via Bluetooth, such as Bemuse (http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/˜ashley/bemused/) and Bluetooth Remote Control (http://www.labtech.epitech.net/remotecontrol/), which both control Windows PCs. Sailing Clicker enables a mobile telephone to control an Apple Macintosh (http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/Clicker/) while implementations for Linux also exist (such as http://www.iptel-now.de/HOWTO/BT_REMOTE/bt_remote.html).
The prior art as described above shows a gradual progression from dedicated, inflexible and proprietary remote control solutions to versatile, flexible and standard-based ones.
However, all the standards-based solutions described above are limited by the fact that they are specific to bearer technologies, and very often also specific to transport protocols used with that bearer. Those that are skilled in this art will be aware that many possible bearers for remote control signalling exist, including but not limited to:                Bluetooth (using any one of a number of possible profiles);        Wireless Ethernet (802.11), using any IP based signalling method;        Infrared (both proprietary and IrDA);        Proprietary RF solution;        IEEE 1394 (Firewire) utilising either the IEEE 1394 command set or ANSI/CEA-2027;        USB (Universal Serial Bus) including USB-OTG (On-The-Go);        Other wired solutions, including RS-232 serial protocols.
An appliance that is designed to work with a remote control using any one of these bearers is not currently able to work with any of the other types of bearer, irrespective of whether or not the remote control uses standard protocols. An MP3 or other music player designed to be used with its bespoke wired remote control cannot be made to work with a generic Firewire, USB, Bluetooth or Infrared remote control device even though it may have such an industry standard interface available.
Even with remote control devices making use of the same bearer, appliances may fail to work where an incompatible protocol is implemented. For example, it is well known that the Bluetooth headset and handsfree profile are sufficiently different that a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone that only supports the headset profile will not work with a Bluetooth peripheral that only supports the handsfree profile; this type of incompatibility has caused distress to numerous consumers, as there is no easy way of fixing it.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control interface which at least alleviates the above mentioned problems caused by the close coupling between remote control solutions and specific bearer technologies through the provision of a generic remote control interface that can be used by application software running on an appliance to receive commands to and from any type of remote control device, irrespective of the protocol or bearer that it might be used to transport those commands.
The same generic software interface can also be used by a remote control device to send commands to an appliance, once again irrespective of any protocol or bearer.
Furthermore, any appliance incorporating a programmable computing device which implements this generic software interface can not only use it to receive commands from a remote control device, but can also use it (in conjunction with a suitable application) to act itself as a remote control device.


Provided is a method of measuring the presence and/or the amount of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in a sample, which method is characterized by comprising the step of treating the sample in advance with an acidic solution, and a kit of measuring the presence and/or an amount of GLP-1 in a sample, the kit containing (a) the acidic solution, (b) an antibody specific to GLP-1, and (c) an instruction manual.

In development of pharmacological agents aiming at inhibiting the activity of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (hereinafter, may be referred to as "DPP-IV") or pharmaceutical products (mainly drugs for diabetes) with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) as a pharmacological agent, the measurement of the concentration of GLP-1 that is active in the blood (GLP-1 (active)) or the concentration of total GLP-1 (GLP-1 (total)) is often carried out for the purpose of measuring parameters for drug efficacy evaluation and the concentration of drugs.
Mechanisms of action of DPP-IV inhibitors involve increasing the concentration active form GLP-1, which has a property of being decomposed by DPP-IV, by inhibiting the activity of DPP-IV and promoting insulin secretion by GLP-1 to promote utilization of sugars. Thus, by measuring the concentration of GLP-1, effects of the action of the DPP-IV inhibitor can be evaluated.
As the active form GLP-1, there are known to be GLP-1 (7-36 Amide) and GLP-1 (7-37). Measurement of these is widely carried out by an immunoassay method using a specific antibody (ELISA method: a kit manufactured by Merck Millipore or the like). However, non-specific reactions often take place and it has thus been known that, in order to measure an accurate concentration in the blood plasma, a certain pretreatment is required to be carried out to get rid of the non-specific reaction (Non-patent Document 1). In general, what is considered as the non-specific reaction in the ELISA method is one ascribed to a sample such as the blood, one ascribed to an antibody and/or reagent, one ascribed to a microtiter plate, or the like. In conventional methods, the non-specific reactions are considered to be ascribed to the sample. These are removed from the sample by a pretreatment method using a column and then the ELISA method is carried out. This pretreatment method separates substances causing the non-specific reaction from GLP-1 by a solid phase column or ethanol extraction operation. Yet, an amount of blood plasma necessary for one examination is as high as 300 μL; and the method requires complicated operations and time, which operations include reagent preparation, separation operation, drying to solidify using a nitrogen gas, and re-dissolution; and also requires the skill of those who are involved in the operations. From the above, it cannot be said that the conventional method is a simple and low-cost measurement method. Further, because a loss of 20 to 30% of GLP-1 in a sample is unavoidable by this pretreatment operation, the measurement value of GLP-1 is considered to be about 70 to 80% based on a true value, which has been problematic in terms of accuracy as well.

Method for determining glucagon-like peptide-1, and kit for use in said method


A probe (10,30,40) for forming images of surfaces (11) facilitates simultaneous formation of both thermal and atomic force microsocopy images. The probe (10,30,40) includes a heat sensing assembly (15) that has a heat sensing element (19,38,42). An electrically isolating and thermally conductive tip (22,48) projects from the heat sensing assembly. The probe (10) also has a reflective element (24) that is positioned between a first end of the heat sensing assembly (15) and the electrically isolating and thermally conductive tip (22).

The present invention relates, in general, to probes that are used for forming images of surfaces, and more particularly, to a novel probe for producing thermal and atomic force microscopy images of a surface.
In the past, the semiconductor industry has used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to provide images of semiconductor device surfaces. One problem with prior AFM measurement apparatus and measuring techniques is the inability to provide thermal images of a surface. Often, semiconductor devices have minute defects. When power is applied to the device, a defect can result in overheating and eventual destruction of the semiconductor device. Prior AFM probes typically cannot identify such overheated areas. Additionally, prior AFM probes generally are not capable of correlating overheated areas to topographical surface features.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have an AFM probe that can simultaneously provide a thermal image and topographical image of a surface.


An apparatus for testing a high-voltage equipment transformer or inductor has a filter transformer having a primary side connectable to line and a secondary side and a grounded electrostatic shield between the primary and secondary sides. A static frequency converter has a plurality of inputs connected to the filter-transformer outputs and a plurality of outputs. Respective capacitors each have one side connected to a respective one of the converter outputs and an opposite side connected star-fashion to a common ground. A matching transformer has a plurality of inputs connected to the capacitors and a plurality of outputs connectable to the transformer or inductor to be tested.

In this context, it has proved to be advantageous to use static frequency converters instead of rotary converters because static frequency converters have clear advantages over rotary converters with respect to dynamic, wear, weight and availability. Frequency converters have to generate a sinusoidal symmetrical alternating current voltage that, in addition, has a distortion factor of less than 5%. For testing the insulation systems of power transformers, induced voltage testing is used in which partial discharge measurements are carried out. If highly inhomogeneous field distributions occur in high-voltage insulations or along air gaps, this can result in local exceeding the material-dependent breakdown field strength. In this state of an incomplete electrical breakdown, the insulation between the electrodes is only partially bridged by discharges. Such partial discharges occur primarily when the insulation is subjected to alternating current voltage. However, for a successful partial discharge measurement, the external acting interference must not exceed a partial discharge interference level of 100 μC. In order to ensure this, the respective outputs of the frequency converter are fed to a sine-wave filter that acts as low-pass filter.
However, a static frequency converter inherently generates a pulse-width-modulated rectangular output voltage with a high distortion factor that in this form is not suitable for testing power transformers. A sine-wave filter arranged at the output of the static frequency converter filters the fundamental wave between the outer conductors of the converter output and thus suppresses the symmetrical interference generated by the converter. Despite the additionally provided sine-wave filters, frequency-pulsed jumps of the conductor-ground voltage at the is converter output cannot be suppressed. These undesirable asymmetrical interference are conducted via different electrical coupling mechanisms far into the transformer being tested and cause considerable interference therein for the intended partial discharge measurement.
From the post-published application DE 10 2007 059 289 [US 2010/0259280] of the applicant, a generic test apparatus became known that suppresses the problem of asymmetrical interference by providing a static frequency converter that has a plurality of outputs connected to a filter whose outputs in turn are connected to a matching transformer that itself is connected to the test object, in particular a transformer, provided for the actual test. In this application it is proposed that the filter be a transformer that has an electrostatic shield between its primary and secondary sides and whose secondary-side outputs are connected to filter capacitors are connected together in a star connection with a grounded center. This arrangement for partial discharge measurement is possible in DE 10 2007 059 289 because the provided filter capacitor effects a potential separation on the load side between the frequency converter and the installed filter capacitors. In case of conventional sine-wave filters only composed of inductors connected in series and capacitors, the filter capacitors cannot be arranged in this manner because otherwise a capacitive converter phase-to-ground fault would occur.
However, as apparent from company publication 8.71/3, efforts have been made for some time to offer the customers mobile transformer testing systems so as to allow "on-site testing" of is high-power transformers with the systems. These mobile testing systems are installed in a container as prefabricated units and are driven with a transport carriage to the testing site or the location of the test object. On site, the completion of the finally required test circuit is possible in only a few steps. The benefit for the customer is the mobile availability of a single testing system for testing a plurality of permanently installed high-power transformers in different locations. The savings with respect to installation time and operating costs of such a mobile testing system are high compared to conventional stationary testing units. Thus, there is a correspondingly high demand for mobile testing systems that can be dimensioned in a more variable and stable manner with respect to the range of their testing capacities. However, the dimensioning with respect to the testing capacity is directly related to the total weight of the testing system. Since the latter, as already mentioned, is installed in a container, the total weight is governed by the road traffic regulations applicable in Germany and thus by legal restrictions with respect to the permissible total weight as well as the axle load distribution. In the international environment, there are similar restrictions with almost identical limit values. The mobile testing system known from company publication 8.71/3 exhausts the limits of the legally permissible total weights and axle load distributions to the greatest possible extent. The filter transformer installed in this model for suppressing asymmetrical interference has a capacity of 500 kVA. A significant increase of the testing capacity cannot be achieved with such a testing system.

Device for testing high-voltage equipment