When correcting the acoustic wave refraction occurring on the interface between mediums having different sound speeds by Snell's law, an applicable back-projection method is limited to a time domain method. An image data generating method performed to receive and convert an acoustic wave generated by irradiating a subject with light into a first electrical signal with an acoustic wave receiver via a medium having a sound speed different from that of the subject, and to generate image data based on the first electrical signal is provided, wherein a second electrical signal obtained when the acoustic wave is received at each virtual reception point is generated based on the first electrical signal through an integral calculation performed by using an advanced Green's function, and image data is generated based on the second electrical signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an acoustic wave measuring system configured to receive an acoustic wave and generate image signals thereof; the present invention also relates to a method of generating image date based on the image signals generated by the measuring system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, photoacoustic tomography (PAT) devices have received increasing interest due to the remarkable advantages of PAT. In PAT, a subject is irradiated with pulsed light emitted from a light source such as a laser. The pulsed light is propagated through the subject, and an acoustic wave (e.g., an ultrasonic wave) is generated when the pulse light propagating through the subject is absorbed by a target for measurement located within the subject. The acoustic wave is received and measured by an acoustic wave receiver (transducer) placed around the subject. Then, the distribution of initially generated pressures and/or that of absorption coefficients observed within the subject is changed into image data (imaging) based on an electrical signal output from the acoustic wave receiver.
As a method of generating image data of a light absorber provided in the subject (performing the image reconstruction), there are known methods of generating image data by back-projecting a measured signal, including a time domain method, a Fourier domain method, etc. Taking a system for making a diagnosis of human body as an example, the sound speeds of parts (mediums) of the structure of the system may be different from each other. For example, when the acoustic wave receiver is provided on one side of a human body, and the subject is fixed and held with a compression plate, the sound speed of the subject may be different from that of the compression plate. Indeed, different tissue parts including a fat layer, a muscle layer or the like that are included in the subject have different sound speeds. In addition, acoustic wave refraction occurs on each interface between the above-described compression plate and the different tissue parts having different sound speeds. The acoustic wave refraction coupled with the different sound speeds causes image degradation. Therefore, a method of correcting the effect of the acoustic wave refraction occurring on the interface between the mediums (e.g., an interface between the compression plate and the subject) by applying Snell's law, and generating image data according to the time domain method has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,489.
However, according to the method of correcting the acoustic wave refraction by Snell's law, which is exemplarily disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,489, points that are provided after the acoustic wave refraction is corrected are not provided at regular intervals. More specifically, the points are provided before the acoustic wave passes through the compression plate, and a signal s0(x0, t0) (illustrated in FIG. 7B herein) is obtained at each of the points. Hereinafter, each of the above-described points is referred to as a "virtual reception point". Accordingly, an applicable back-projection method is limited only to the time domain method. Further, when the above-described refraction correction is applied for the time domain method, the virtual reception points are not provided at regular intervals, and an effective viewing angle is reduced because the distribution of the virtual reception points is tilted.

Acoustic wave measuring system and method of generating image data thereof


A cathode-ray tube phosphor is manufactured by coating, on the surfaces of phosphor particles, a mixture of a metal alginate containing at least one type of a metal selected from the group consisting of Zn, Al, and an alkali earth metal and at least one type of a water-soluble binder selected from the group consisting of gum arabic, gelatin, polymethacrylamide, and polyvinyl alcohol.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a phosphor for use in a cathode-ray tube, particularly a color cathode-ray tube. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a phosphor for use in a cathode-ray tube, particularly a color cathode-ray tube, which includes an improved phosphor surface treatment step.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, green-, blue-, and red-emitting phosphors are formed into dots or stripes on a phosphor screen of a color cathode-ray tube. A slurry process is commonly used as a method of forming this phosphor screen.
The slurry process will be described briefly below. Phosphor particles are suspended in an aqueous solution mainly containing PVA and ammonium bichromate to prepare a coating slurry. A faceplate is placed in a coating machine, such as a spin coater. The coating slurry is poured onto the inner surface of the faceplate placed and spread over the entire surface. Thereafter, the faceplate is spun at a predetermined rate to spin away an excess slurry. The coated slurry is dried to form a coating film. This coating film is exposed through a shadow mask having a predetermined dot-like or stripe-like pattern. The exposed coating film is developed, and an excess phosphor layer is washed away to form a phosphor screen having the predetermined pattern on the faceplate. For a phosphor screen for a color cathode-ray tube, this process is performed in sequence for green-, blue-, and red-luminescent phosphors.
A phosphor screen formed by the use of this slurry process is generally required to have the following characteristics:
i) Dense dots or stripes are formed with an uniform film thickness. PA1 ii) Dots or stripes are formed precisely. That is, after phosphors of individual colors are coated, all dots or stripes are coated at predetermined positions with predetermined shape, width, and size. PA1 iii) Dots or stripes do not peel from a faceplate, that is binding tendency is good. PA1 iv) No cross contamination occurs. That is, a phosphor constituting dots or stripes of one luminescent component does not mix with nor overlap an adjacent phosphor of another luminescent component. PA1 v) No haze exists. That is, after an unexposed phosphor layer is washed away, no phosphor layer remains on a faceplate.
The above characteristics are influenced by the surface condition of a phosphor. For this reason, various cathode-ray tube phosphors have been developed in which various surface treatment substances are adhered or coated to phosphors to improve the surface conditions of the phosphors.
One of surface treatment substances currently most often used is silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2 ; to be referred to as silica hereinafter). A phosphor containing silica as a surface treatment substance is commonly obtained by adding an aqueous solution containing a silicic acid ion, or ultrafine silica to a phosphor suspension, and by adding an electrolyte solution containing, e.g., a Zn or Al ion, so that these additives flocculate on the surface of the phosphor to produce a silicate compound on it.
For example, Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 50-15747 discloses a method of performing a surface treatment for a phosphor using zinc silicate by adding potassium water-glass and zinc sulfate to an aqueous suspension of the phosphor; and Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 61-46512 discloses a phosphor which is surface-treated by silica and a zinc compound.
The phosphors described in the above Published Examined Japanese Patent Applications, however, are still unsatisfactory to meet all the characteristics of items i) to v) above.
For example, adhering zinc silicate to a phosphor can improve dispersibility of phosphor particles in the photosensitive resin solution described above, thereby satisfying the characteristics of items i), ii), and iii) above. However, since phosphor particles scatter to adjacent dots, the characteristics of items iv) and v) cannot be met.
On the other hand, the phosphor which is surface-treated with water-glass and zinc sulfate described above cannot meet any characteristics of items i) to v) above satisfactorily.
As described above, the techniques of flocculating silica by using a compound of, e.g., Zn or Al to perform a surface treatment for a phosphor satisfy the characteristics of items i) to v) above to some extent and hence are most often used presently. However, as an HDTV, a high-resolution cathode-ray tube, and the like have been developed, a strong demand has arisen for a phosphor having more excellent coating characteristics.


An antenna system for portable electronic apparatus, particularly for the handset of a cordless telephone system, and comprising two antenna, a first (shown) mounted on a flap (2) and comprising a groundplane 5 and active monopole 4 fed by a coaxial feed 6 from electronic circuitry (not shown) in the main section of the handset 1. The flap is pivotally connected to the main section of the housing 1, and is folded down against the main section when not in use. Another similar antenna is fitted in the main section, and both antennae are connected to the transceiver circuitry via the same node. The two antennae are specially designed so as to introduce deliberate mismatch so as to provide an effective switching system between the two antenna without the need for separate circuit elements.

This invention relates to antennae and in particular to high-performance antennae for use in hand-held and similar portable equipment such as hand-held radio telephones.
The specific application of this invention is in a CT2 digital cordless telephone operating at 864-868 MHz. The style of the phone is a small handset, with a hinged flap which opens to reveal a keypad. When the handset is not in use, the flap is closed to reduce the phone size and conceal the keypad.
FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings show a typical handset, one or more of which may be potentially in communication with a base unit (not shown) incorporating a transceiver, together with interface circuitry for connection to an associated telephone network. The handset electronics, including a transceiver and associated antenna for communicating with the base unit, is contained within a housing 1 of plastic material. A hinged flap 2, shown in the open position in FIG. 2, allows access to a keypad 3.
In such a system, it is clear that radio performance will be inherently degraded by placing the handset against an obstacle. In the case of a telephone, the handset is always against the users head when the phone is in use. This causes attenuation which is especially apparent at high frequencies, such as those of cellular and CT2 systems. It is possible to add an external antenna to the handset to reduce the effect by moving the antenna a small distance away from the head. This invention specifically provides an antenna system within the body of the handset, providing improved performance without the need for an external antenna. It also efficiently provides antenna switching without the need for any additional components.

High performance antenna for hand-held and portable equipment


A temperature differential engine device includes a low-boiling-point medium steam turbine (1), a heat absorber (2), a thermal-insulating type low-temperature countercurrent heat exchanger (3), a circulating pump (4), and a refrigerating system (5) which are interconnected to constitute a closed circulating system filled with low-boiling-point medium fluid. The low-boiling-point medium steam turbine (1) and the heat absorber (2) constitute a low-density-medium heat-absorbing working system, and the circulating pump (4) and the refrigerating system (5) constitute a high-density-medium refrigerating-circulating system. The temperature differential engine device can transfer thermal energy into mechanical energy.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a temperature differential engine device which belongs to a type of device that transfers thermal energy into mechanical energy.
2. Background Information
A most widely used manner of utilizing energy by human beings is to transfer thermal energy into mechanical energy. A traditional manner for transferring energy is to transfer thermal energy into pressure potential energy first and then to do work externally. This leads to energy losses; besides energy losses, additional fossil energy resources will be consumed.

ZIBO NATERGY CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.


A process for the production of noodles by machines, which comprises the steps of:. (i) preparing a noodle dough with 38 to 55% of water added to a raw material, PA1 (ii) forming the noodle dough into a noodle sheet, PA1 (iii) maturing the noodle sheet at a temperature of 30 to 35.degree. C. and a relative humidity of 70 to 90% for 10 to 60 minutes, PA1 (iv) rolling a matured noodle sheet followed by cutting into strands of noodles, and PA1 (v) stretching the strands at a stretching ratio of 1.5 to 2 times into desired strands of a noodle product. The process comprises further the step of adding an edible oil and lipase to the noodle dough. Those processes can produce simply the noodles of high quality having good eating quality in a short time period with good productivity.

In general, hand-made noodles such as "Tenobe So-men" (very thin hand-made noodles), "Tenobe Hiyamugi" (thin hand-made noodles) and "Tenobe Udon" (standard hand-made noodles) have been prepared by a method wherein water, salt and others are added to wheat flour and mixed, a soft dough is formed into a rope-like dough and the dough is twisted and stretched out repeatedly into the final products. Such hand-made noodles are especially in favor with consumers, because of their good eating quality or texture in respect of viscoelasticity and smoothness. However, the manufacture of hand-made noodles is complicated, requires a long time and much labor, thus increasing a manufacturing cost. Therefore, it is difficult to provide consumers with the hand-made product at an economical cost.
On the other hand, machine-made noodles have been produced by sheeting a hard dough containing lower amount of added water than that of the hand-made noodles by passing long sheet into strands of the desired width by a pair of cutting rolls. In this case, a series of complex operations including mixing of wheat flour, water, salt and others, sheeting a noodle dough and cutting a sheet into noodle strands can be performed by machines in a short time period, thus leading to mass production of noodles. This gives an advantage of providing consumers with the noodle products at an economical cost. However, machine-made noodles are inferior to hand-made noodles in viscoelasticity, smoothness, taste and others, due to lower amount of added water and easy damage of the dough by sheeting through rolls.
Now, there have been proposed a variety of processes for the production of noodles by machine with a view to produce machine-made noodles having good eating quality or texture and taste comparable to hand-made noodles, in a short time with good productivity.
Japanese Patent Kokoku 6-95904 and Japanese Patent Kokai 7-123902 disclose that the noodles containing higher amount of added water which are superior in taste to those containing lower amount of added water can be produced by maturing a noodle sheet as sheeted by continuous sheeting rolls, stretching the matured sheet followed by cutting into strands, and again maturing the strands, and repeating such stretching and maturing operations several times as desired to deaerate the strands in the mechanical stretching and maturing processes. However, those processes require a multiple repetition of stretching and maturing of noodle strands, for which more reduction in production time has been desired.

Processes for the production of noodles by machines


A method for forming activated carbon comprises forming a feedstock mixture from a carbon feedstock and a chemical activating agent, and heating the feedstock mixture with microwaves in a plurality of successive heating steps to react the carbon feedstock with the chemical activating agent and form activated carbon. Step-wise heating can be used to efficiently control the microwave activation process.

The present disclosure relates generally to methods for forming activated carbon, and more particularly to microwave energy-assisted, chemical activation of carbon using plural, discrete heating steps.
Energy storage devices such as ultracapacitors may be used in a variety of applications such as where a discrete power pulse is required. Example applications range from cell phones to hybrid vehicles. Ultracapacitors typically comprise a porous separator and an organic electrolyte sandwiched between a pair of carbon-based electrodes. The energy storage is achieved by separating and storing electrical charge in the electrochemical double layers that are created at the interfaces between the electrodes and the electrolyte. Important characteristics of these devices are the energy density and power density that they can provide, which are both largely determined by the properties of the carbon that is incorporated into the electrodes.
Carbon-based electrodes suitable for incorporation into energy storage devices are known. Activated carbon, which forms the basis of the electrodes, can be made from natural or synthetic precursor materials. Natural precursor materials include coals, nut shells, and biomass. Synthetic precursor materials typically include phenolic resins. With both natural and synthetic precursors, the activated carbon can be formed by carbonizing the precursor and then activating the intermediate product. The activation can comprise physical (e.g., steam or CO2) or chemical activation at elevated temperatures to increase the porosity and hence the surface area of the carbon.
Both physical and chemical activation processes typically involve large thermal budgets to heat and react the carbonized material with the activating agent. In the case of chemical activation, corrosive by-products can be formed when a carbonized material is heated and reacted with a chemical activating agent such as KOH. This can add complexity and cost to the overall process, particularly for reactions that are carried out at elevated temperatures for extended periods of time.
Accordingly, it would be an advantage to provide activated carbon materials and processes for forming activated carbon materials using a more economical chemical activation route. The resulting activated carbon materials can possess a high surface area to volume ratio and can be used to form carbon-based electrodes that enable efficient, long-life and high energy density devices.

Microwave energy-assisted, chemical activation of carbon


A thermal insulating shade for interior use comprises at least one envelope with substantially parallel side panels which hold insulating air therebetween, at least one of the side panels having a highly reflective surface for reflecting away the sun's heat in summer, and, by reversing the shade, retaining interior heat in winter. The shade may be mounted in spaced relationship to any inadequately insulated interior surface such as a window, roof or door of a building or automobile. The shade envelope may have its air space filled with static air with or without porous insulating foam, or controlled air movement through the shade may be provided. Alternatively, the insulating shade may be formed of two envelopes, one inside the other, or of twin envelopes having a common center wall therebetween; in these embodiments, air may be pumped alternately into and removed from each envelope in turn to provide enhanced insulating effectiveness.

The heat of the boiling summer sun can make an automobile parked in it unbearable to enter, and can penetrate into buildings as well through windows, doors and roofs which are inadequately insulated, causing extreme discomfort, excessive expense for cooling, or both. In like manner, extremely cold weather can cause desirable interior heat to escape from car or building through the same inadequately insulated surfaces, thus causing discomfort and increased heating costs.
While shades with heat-reflective surfaces have been known which moderate the interior conditions of automobiles and buildings by reflecting heat outwardly in the summer and returning it inwardly in cold water, none of the prior art shades are truly efficient insulators, and much room for improvement has remained. It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide thermally insulating reversible shades of greatly superior efficiency by using a spacing of insulating air separating shade panels which have heat-reflecting surfaces. It is also an object of this invention to provide thermally insulating shades of enhanced effectivenss having circulating air passing between the shade's panels. A further object of this invention is to provide a maximally effective thermal insulating shade by circulating pre-conditioned air therethrough.


One embodiment of a hand integrated mouse platform remotely operates one or more computer applications while worn on the user's hand and the hand is also free to do other things such as keyboarding, driving, and flying.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a controller platform similar in utility to a desktop computer mouse platform, but is unique in that it is configured to be operated while worn on the hand, configured to accommodate multiple controllers, and interfaces with one or more programs and its own power source.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The most popular controller platform is the computer mouse, either wired or wireless. The mouse platform functions primarily as a pointing device. They are available in a large variety of sizes and colors and may be operated on a flat surface or hand-held. A large diversity in mouse platforms is available and may be equipped with an assortment of control buttons or wheels. They house at least one motion sensing mechanism. The purpose of the control buttons, joy sticks, wheels, and motion sensing mechanisms is to interface with the computer's software programs.
Currently, the most popular desktop computer mouse platforms are shaped like half an ostrich egg cut lengthwise, with the flat side facing down. The user usually rests their hand on or over the wider end of the top side area, with the smaller end facing away from the user. Two control buttons—a right and left are at the top of the small side with a scroll wheel between the right and left control buttons. The flat side bottom houses one of several types of motion sensing mechanisms.
Current computer mouse platform designs require the operator to reach out to and withdraw from the mouse platform between operations. A few designs provide that the mouse platform can be held in the operator's hand. However, they must also be picked up and put down in order to free the hand for some other task.
Operating a traditionally designed desktop computer mouse typically requires a dedicated flat surface area—limiting the use of desk space. For the operation of many programs, the use of both keyboard and mouse are essential.
None of the current designs allow the operator to use their hand and fingers for other functions while holding or operating the mouse. The constant reaching and withdrawing from the mouse to the keyboard and frequent necessity to pick it up and put it down is inefficient and can cause repetitive strain injury to the shoulder, elbow, and carpal tunnel.


The present invention realizes a fixing device and an image forming apparatus in each of which (i) the amount of power consumption is small and (ii) a wait time from when a command for starting printing is inputted until when printing is started is short. The fixing device of the present invention includes (i) a fixing roller (250) and a pressure roller (251) which are provided so as to contact each other, (ii) a thermal heater (252) for heating the fixing roller (250), (iii) a thermistor (254) for detecting the temperature of the fixing roller (250), and (iv) a heating control section (255) for controlling a drive start or drive stop of the thermal heater (252). The heating control section (255) carries out control of the thermal heater (252) for a predetermined time, and restarts the control of the thermal heater (252) based on a difference between (i) the temperature of the fixing roller (250) when the control of the thermal heater (252) is stopped and (ii) the temperature of the fixing roller (250) after a certain time has elapsed since the control of the thermal heater (252) is stopped.

Conventionally, an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, and a facsimile, has a fixing device which fixes a toner of an unfixed toner image formed on a transfer material. A conventional fixing device includes, for example, (i) a fixing roller whose surface is heated, (ii) a pressure roller which contacts the fixing roller, and (iii) surface temperature detecting means for detecting a surface temperature of the fixing roller.
In an image forming apparatus including this fixing device, when a main switch is turned ON, a warm-up for warming the fixing device is carried out. However, the temperature of the fixing device is low in the case in which the main switch has been in an OFF state for a long time, such as in the case in which the main switch is turned ON first thing in the morning. On this account, even if the main switch is turned ON for copying, etc. after the main switch has been in the OFF state for a long time, the conventional warm-up may not warm the fixing device sufficiently.
When a printing is carried out even though the fixing device is not warmed sufficiently, heat of the fixing roller of the fixing device is extracted by the transfer material. In this case, the surface temperature of the fixing roller decreases drastically, so that a sufficient fixation performance cannot be obtained. Therefore, the conventional image forming apparatus requires a wait time for warming the fixing device sufficiently. On this account, proposed is a fixing device which does not require a longer warm-up time and can prevent the surface temperature of the fixing roller from decreasing (for example, see Documents 1 and 2).
Document 1 discloses a temperature control device of a heating roller fixing apparatus which includes a fixing roller and a pressure roller each of which has a heater therein, and the temperature control device switches a set temperature of the heater of the pressure roller between at the time of the warm-up and after the warm-up.
In Document 1, the temperature of the pressure roller is set to a high set temperature from the start of the warm-up till the end of it, and the temperature of the pressure roller is switched to a low set temperature after the warm-up. Thus, it is possible to narrow a temperature control range.
Moreover, Document 2 discloses a fixing device in which (i) after the warm-up, a surface temperature of a fixing roller is controlled so as to be temporarily a high set temperature that is higher than a set temperature of the surface temperature of the fixing roller, and (ii) at least one of the temperature level and time length of the high set temperature is variable.
As described above, in Document 2, even after the warm-up, the surface temperature of the fixing roller is controlled so as to be temporarily the high set temperature. On this account, even if copying is consecutively carried out after the warm-up, the surface temperature of the fixing roller just decreases to the set temperature. Moreover, in addition to this, at least one of the temperature level and time length of the high set temperature is changed depending on the surface temperature of the fixing roller at the start of the warm-up. On this account, since the temperature level or the time length of the high set temperature is controlled depending on how much heat the fixing roller is accumulating, it is possible to prevent power from being consumed wastefully.
Document 1
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 28177/1984 (Tokukaisho 59-28177 (published on Feb. 14, 1984))
Document 2
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 127565/1993 (Tokukaihei 5-127565 (published on May 25, 1993))
In Document 1, since the temperature of the pressure roller is the high set temperature from the start of the warm-up till the end of it, the increase in the warm-up time is prevented. However, since the temperature of the pressure roller is switched to the low set temperature after the warm-up, the surface of the fixing roller is not heated sufficiently.
That is, Document 1 is just to narrow the temperature control range from the surface temperature of the fixing roller after the warm-up and the surface temperature of the fixing roller after the fixing roller is sufficiently rotated and waits ready. On this account, the warm-up terminates when the surface temperature of the fixing roller has reached the set temperature. If the printing is started in this state, the surface temperature of the fixing roller decreases, so that the sufficient fixation performance cannot be obtained.
Further, in Document 1, the fixing roller is kept heated so that the surface temperature of the fixing roller is maintained to the set temperature even after the warm-up. Therefore, a problem in Document 1 is that the amount of power consumption is large.
In Document 2, even after carrying out copying consecutively, the surface temperature of the fixing roller just decreases to the set temperature. This is realized by heating the fixing roller after the warm-up so that the surface temperature of the fixing roller is temporarily the high set temperature. In this case, it is necessary to keep heating the fixing roller at high temperature not only at the time of the warm-up but also after the warm-up. Therefore, as with Document 1, a problem in Document 2 is that the amount of power consumption is large.
In Document 2, in order to prevent power from being consumed wastefully, at least one of the temperature level and time length of the high set temperature is changed depending on how much heat the fixing roller is accumulating. However, since the fixing roller is kept heated at high temperature after the warm-up also in this case, the amount of power consumption is large.
Here, in order to reduce the amount of power consumption, it may be possible to think of a driving method (hereinafter referred to as "energy saving mode") for not heating the fixing roller except at the time of the warm-up and at the time of the printing. However, in the energy saving mode, even if the printing is requested immediately after the main switch of the image forming apparatus is turned ON, the surface temperature of the fixing roller is not high enough. Therefore, a problem here is that the wait time from when a command for starting printing is inputted until when the printing is started becomes long.
That is, when the main switch of the image forming apparatus is turned ON, cleaning of a photoreceptor is carried out in addition to the heating of the fixing roller, as the warm-up. In the case of the energy saving mode, the warm-up is carried out while the cleaning of the photoreceptor is being carried out, and the warm-up terminates when the cleaning of the photoreceptor terminates.
In this case, if the fixing roller is heated only while the cleaning of the photoreceptor is being carried out, the surface temperature of the fixing roller does not become high enough. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the heating of the fixing roller terminates at a time point t13 at which the warm-up terminates. In this case, the heating of the fixing roller terminates before the surface temperature of the fixing roller reaches a printable temperature. Moreover, since the heating of the fixing roller terminates, the surface temperature of the fixing roller further decreases as time advances. Therefore, in order to carry out fixing securely, it is necessary to start the heating of the fixing roller at a time point t14 at which the command for starting the printing is inputted. In addition, this heating of the fixing roller needs to be carried out until the temperature of the fixing roller reaches the printable temperature. As a result, the wait time from when a command for starting printing is inputted until when the printing is started becomes long.
The present invention was made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize a fixing device and an image forming apparatus each of which is such that, even if the printing is started when the surface temperature of the fixing device is completely low, the amount of power consumption is small and the wait time from when a command for starting printing is inputted until when the printing is started is short.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus including the same


Bulb receptacle assembly and method and apparatus for assembling the bulb receptacle. The bulb receptacle assembly comprises a housing having one open end to receive a bulb base, and a second open end to receive a pair of spaced bulb clamps disposed in the housing. Each bulb clamp engages a terminal of the light bulb. Each clamp is fabricated separately from heat-treated spring steel for excellent mechanical strength to permit frequent insertion and removal of the bulb. To provide the necessary good electrical contact, the clamp is secured to a bared wire conductor by a ductile strap, preferably of brass, that is crimped around a tang of the clamp and the bared wire conductor. The assembly apparatus includes a vibration device that dispenses each clamp individually in proper orientation to engage the strap in a crimp station. A ribbon-reel feeds a continuous ribbon of joined straps to the crimp station. Bared wire conductor ends are fed to the crimp station where wire, strap and clamp are crimped together.

1. Field:
This invention relates to electrical contact assemblies for small light bulbs, such as miniature and sub-miniature bulbs used for computer console boards, automotive applications, displays etc., and more particularly to systems including a bulb to wire contactor that is amenable to assembly by high-speed automated or semi-automated production techniques.
2. Prior Art:
With the proliferation of devices requiring electrical connection such as wires in wire-to-wire assemblies, switches, light bulbs, integrated circuit chips, spark plugs etc., there continues to develop a demand for connectors and contactors that are especially adapted to meet requirements of economy, convenience and reliability. In the context of the art discussed here, "connector" means devices wherein electrical conductivity is a primary requirement such as wire-to-wire unions, chips to boards, switches etc., whereas "contactors" means devices wherein mechanical strength is a primary consideration and conductivity is secondary, needing only to be adequate for service requirements, such as bulb sockets.
The common requirement for all contactors is to maintain good electrical conductivity and mechanical strength that is not diminished by time or frequent separation and connection. Different purposes or uses demand different construction of the various contactors. For example a light bulb, comprising a fine filament supported within a glass envelope, must be mounted in a contactor that firmly supports the glass envelope and maintains sufficient electrical continuity between filament leads and two electrical source wire leads. The mechanical strength of the electrical contact must be sufficient to prevent intermittent contact under a variety of operating conditions (vibration, heat, cold, etc.) which could lead to flickering of the light or overheating that might cause a breakdown of insulation between the leads. Accordingly, the concept of the threaded plug and socket evolved whereby a sturdy male plug is screwed into an equally sturdy female receptacle so that the integrity of the glass seal and electrical continuity between filament and wire are maintained.
But with the development of display systems consisting of many light bulbs, the need is not only for an inexpensive contactor but also for a contactor that is amenable to assembly by automatic (production) techniques, and fast manual connect and disconnect which screw-in bulbs are not. The use of "receptacles on cords" for large numbers of lights, such as for Christmas trees, signs, displays and other light arrays, has stimulated a demand for a method of manufacturing electric cords having a large number of receptacles. Thus, a bulb contactor is required to provide continuous firm support to the bulb.
In contrast, the primary requirement for a wire-to-wire connector is to provide positive contacts and low resistance across the junction. There is also a need to reduce the size of wire to wire connectors since they are sometimes closely bunched or bundled in a manner not customary with light bulbs.
Wire-to-wire connectors are sometimes designed to withstand frequent connect and disconnect. Therefore, wire to wire connectors have been developed comprising a male and female part wherein each part has a ductile copper sleeve on one end adapted to enclosing the bare end of a wire and securing to the feed or live wire by a crimp. The engaging (mating) end is made of metal that is a compromise between the requirements for good resistance to breakage due to fatigue and good electrical conductivity. Copper beryllium is an alloy that is often selected for wire to wire connectors as being a good compromise of resiliency and conductivity, with just sufficient strength for the application.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,594 is an example of a wire-to-wire connector comprising a male and female spade-type termination part made of resilient metal, each of which is attached to a ductile metal crimpable barrel into which the bared feed wire is inserted and crimped. Assembly of the termination part to the crimpable barrel, and of the wire to the crimpable barrel is performed in two operations. In the first operation, a tab on the termination part is slipped into a retaining groove in the crimpable barrel part. In the second step, the wire is positioned onto the partially formed crimp barrel. The assembly is then punched in a crimping station so as to complete the closure of the crimp barrel and to secure termination, crimp barrel and wire together. Both terminators and crimp barrel are brought to the crimping station as attachments ("cut-outs") along a continuous ribbon.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,215 discloses a bi-metallic connector having one end crimped onto a wire and a ring for receiving a bolt at the other end.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,137 discloses a bi-metallic connector in which one end is designed for crimping to a wire of relatively small diameter while the second end is designed for crimping onto a wire having a larger diameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,574 discloses a bi-metallic device for connecting a wire to an electrical receptacle of the type having a receiving hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,221 discloses a two-piece socket terminal having a threaded socket for spark plugs on one end and a crimpable sleeve on the other end.
The above patents are carefully designed to meet critical requirements of very specific devices, e.g., spark plugs, wire-to-wire junctions, and the like.

Light bulb receptacle and method of assembly


A method for reporting a power outage to a communications controller includes detecting the power outage, and selecting a transmission slot from a plurality of transmission slots in order to report the power outage to the communications controller, the transmission slot selected according to a non-uniform probability distribution function, the non-uniform probability distribution function is monotonic with time after the power outage. The method also includes transmitting a first power outage indicator to the communications controller in the transmission slot selected.

WiMAX compliant communications systems are based on the series of IEEE 802.16 technical standards and are used to provide wireless broadband access service. Similarly, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-Advanced) series of technical standards also provide for wireless broadband access service. Specifically, the IEEE 802.16m and 3GPP TLE-Advanced technical standards are all International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) candidate standards and their basic physical technologies are similar, for example, both support Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) operation. However, some detailed technologies are different, especially in channel structure and signaling.
Machine to Machine (M2M) communications is a service based on a wireless communications system. Currently, both IEEE 802.16 and 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced define their own M2M requirements and features lists. In IEEE 802.16, M2M communications is being specified in projects P802.16p and P802.16.1b with system requirements including: low power consumption, support for large numbers of communications devices, small burst transmission, and security support.
Many M2M devices are powered by a centralized power delivery system, such as a power grid that is used to provide power to consumers, and typically do not include a self-contained power system. As such, if the centralized power delivery system fails, e.g., there is a power outage, a large number of M2M devices may lose power and cannot maintain M2M communications. Normally, unless the power outage interrupts an on-going communications, a server serving the M2M devices, and consequently, a utility company that is providing the power to the M2M devices, may not know that power has been lost and potentially many M2M devices are without power.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for handling a power outage.

System and method for handling a power outage


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided in one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include detecting, at a first node, an event; generating, at the first node, a message in response to the detected event; and sending, at the first node, the message to at least a second node to enable the second node to determine at least one of a reliability or an importance of the message. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

Vehicles may include radio systems in order to provide or obtain information, such as traffic information, weather information, and the like. This information may be provided to, or obtained from, other vehicles and/or sensors. For example, a vehicle may automatically obtain traffic information from roadside sensors, and this information may indicate a possible roadside hazard, such as road ice. The use of this information may facilitate autonomous, driverless vehicles as well as enhance the driver-based vehicle experience.

Flexible security rating and decision mechanism for machine type communications


A lamp ignition system and a lamp ignition method are disclosed, where the lamp ignition system includes a converter, a transformer and a driving circuit. The converter converts an input voltage into an operating voltage for a gas discharge lamp. The transformer has a primary winding and a secondary winding, and the secondary winding is connected to the gas discharge lamp in series. The driving circuit is electrically connected to the primary winding for driving the transformer, so that the secondary winding of the transformer can output a high-frequency voltage to ignite the gas discharge lamp.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electronic technology, and more particularly, to a lamp ignition system and a lamp ignition method.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a conventional gas-discharge lamp system 100. As shown in FIG. 1, a converter 110 converts an input voltage Vin into an operating voltage for a DC HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamp, and a high voltage generator 120 generates a high DC voltage for igniting this lamp, in which the driving circuit 121 drives the transformer T1 for outputting high-voltage pulses to a diode D9 and a capacitor C9, so as to supply a DC voltage (1.5 kV) across the lamp 130. The high-voltage diode D2 can prevent the DC voltage from damaging other components of the converter 110. Generally, a forward voltage drop of the high-voltage diode D2 is relatively high. Before the lamp 130 is ignited, no current flows through the high-voltage diode D2, and therefore no loss occurs. After the lamp 130 is ignited, a lamp current flows through the high-voltage diode D2 to produce large steady-state loss, and therefore the efficiency of the ballast is reduced, where waveforms of a lamp voltage and the lamp current are shown in FIG. 2.
In view of the foregoing, there still exist some inconveniences and defects in conventional designs for lamp ignition that await further improvement. However, those skilled in the art sought vainly for a solution. In order to solve or circumvent above problems and disadvantages, there is an urgent need in the related field to improve system efficiency.

Lamp ignition system and lamp ignition method


Provided is a coating apparatus in which a liquid substance is less likely to splash around and a chemical solution can be coated on a specific region of the inside surface of a tubular container. The coating apparatus 10 includes a spraying direction changing member 12, fixed to a tip portion of a spray nozzle 4 with an inner tube 6 and an outer tube 7, for changing the direction of spray of a sol oriented outward to a direction intersecting a direction of discharge of the liquid substance from the inner tube 6.

For example, Patent Literature 1 below discloses a method for spraying a chemical solution through a spray nozzle in order to coat the chemical solution on substantially the entire region of the inside surface of a tubular blood testing container. The spray nozzle includes an outer tube and an inner tube inserted in the outer tube. The chemical solution is fed to the inner tube and a gas is fed to a space between the outer and inner tubes.
In use, the tip of the spray nozzle is inserted into the blood testing container, and in this state the chemical solution and gas are simultaneously supplied into the container. The chemical solution discharged from the distal end of the inner tube is turned into an aerosol by the gas, so that the chemical aerosol is sprayed from the tip of the spray nozzle. The chemical aerosol is splashed around by streams of the gas. After the start of spraying, the spray nozzle is moved up in the tubular blood testing container to coat the chemical solution on substantially the entire region of the inside surface of the blood testing container.

Coating apparatus and liquid substance coating method


The invention relates to an exhaust gas cooling adapter that is arranged between an exhaust port that is open to a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine and an exhaust manifold, and that includes an exhaust gas flow path through which exhaust gas flows from the exhaust port to the exhaust manifold; and a coolant flow path that is formed inside of an adapter wall surrounding this exhaust gas flow path, and that cools the exhaust gas that flows through the exhaust gas flow path. There is a curved portion in the exhaust gas flow path. Also, a peel inhibiting portion is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the exhaust gas flow path in a region farther toward an inside of the curve than an exhaust gas flow path center line of this curved portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an exhaust gas cooling adapter that forms an exhaust gas flow path that is arranged between an exhaust port that is open to a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine and an exhaust manifold, and through which exhaust gas flows from the exhaust port to the exhaust manifold, and a coolant flow path that is formed inside an adapter wall surrounding this exhaust gas flow path, and that cools the exhaust gas that flows through the exhaust gas flow path.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-291437 (JP-A-2000-291437), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-227695 (JP-A-2003-227695), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-190064 (JP-A-2010-190064), and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-317995 (JP-A-10-317995) each describe technology for cooling exhaust gas in order to prevent heat damage to an internal combustion engine exhaust system. JP-A-2000-291437 describes technology in which a recessed portion is formed at a portion where fuel components tend to accumulate, in order to prevent fuel components from accumulating on a wall surface of a passage through which fuel component-containing gas flows. Here, the portion where fuel components tend to accumulate is, for example, a portion where the sectional area of the passage is large and the flow of gas is relatively small, or a wall surface on the inside of a curved passage where the flow of gas is relatively weak, or the like.
JP-A-2003-227695 describes technology in which concavo-convex dimples are formed on an inside wall of a bonnet of an exhaust gas cooling apparatus for a diesel engine. As a result, exhaust gas that flows near the inside wall surface of the bonnet will not peel away from the inside wall of the bonnet, so the flow of exhaust gas will not become stagnant at a portion off to the outside of the center portion, and as a result, PM will not adhere and accumulate.
JP-A-2010-190064 describes technology in which inner fins and dimples are formed on the surface of a tube of an exhaust gas heat exchange portion. These inner fins and dimples make it possible to obtain a turbulence effect on EGR gas, thereby improving the heat transfer coefficient on the EGR gas side, and thus making it possible to improve heat exchange performance.
JP-A-10-317995 describes technology in which an inner wall surface of at least a portion of an exhaust port is formed along the flow direction of exhaust gas. As a result, the amount of generated heat that is recovered by coolant is increased without excessively increasing the load on the internal combustion engine, by further forming fins in the flow direction of the exhaust gas.
Just as with an internal combustion engine to be mounted in a vehicle, in order to save space, it is necessary to curve an exhaust passage in an exhaust gas cooling adapter that is connected to an exhaust port of an internal combustion engine in order to ensure cooling performance of the exhaust gas cooling adapter.
However, when the exhaust passage is curved in this way, the exhaust gas flow may peel away from the inside surface of the exhaust gas passage on the inside of the curve particularly at regions with a high gas flowrate, and as a result, cooling efficiency may end up decreasing. The technology described in JP-A-2000-291437 prevents the accumulation of soot by creating turbulence in the gas flow by forming a recessed portion on the wall surface. In JP-A-2000-291437, peeling of the flow is not described and there is also no mention of heat exchange.
JP-A-2003-227695 describes concavo-convex-shaped dimples provided on a tapered bonnet that increases in diameter in order to deliver exhaust gas to a heat exchange portion. However, the heat exchange portion is not provided at a portion that is curved, and if the heat exchange portion were curved, just how it would be curved is not addressed.
The technology described in JP-A-2010-190064 has inner fins and dimples on the inside of a straight tube, but they not intended to inhibit peeling of the flow at a curved portion of a tube, and a curve in the tube is not addressed.
With the technology described in JP-A-10-317995, fins are formed along the flow, but peeling of the flow at the curved portion of the exhaust port is not able to be dealt with.


A carrying handle for supporting a shopping bag and its contents comprising a central portion having a first end and a second end, a first end member integrally attached at the first end, a second end member integrally attached at the second end, the central portion being an arc with a large radius of curvature, each of the first and second end members being J-shaped comprising an arc with a small radius of curvature, joined to a straight arm portion. The first and second end members are directed inwardly toward each other. The central portion and the end members are all in the same plane. The central portion curves toward the J-shaped members, and each of the J-shaped members curve toward the central portion, By inserting an intermediate section between the central portion and the end member, and by having the end member U-shaped, a second embodiment is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrying handle for a shopping bag, in which the handle is a continuously curvilinear combination of arcs having different radii of curvative yet integrally joined together.
2. The Prior Art
Retail businesses sometimes provide plastic shopping bags for their customers, in which bags are placed some, or all, of the various products purchased by the customer. In a supermarket, the customer may purchase several products in cans which when placed in one plastic shopping bag result in a total weight that is relatively quite heavy, possibly up to 10 or 15 pounds. The plastic bag is constructed with two built-in handles that are grasped by the purchaser when he or she leaves the check-out counter to exit the store. Many times each of the handles on the bags becomes crimped together, and each handle becomes quite narrowed in width. The net result is that the weight per unit area supported by each handle is increased by a large factor, such as by 5 to 10 times the original value.
This greatly increased carrying load has been known to cause injury to the fingers and hand of the purchaser, especially if the customer has physical infirmities, such as arthritis, or any other type of joint disease.
In the prior art patents, attempts have been made in the past to overcome these difficulties. The Schulte U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,797 discloses a package or shopping bag handle that consists of a body portion, generally of arcuate shape, onto which are formed at each end hooks, shaped in the form of hammer claws. These ends, or hammer claws, are directed opposite to each other enlarging the size of the handle and serve to hold the cords of a shopping bag. These hammer claws are not directed inwardly to each other. The Schneider U.S. Pat. No. 1,300,030 shows a bow shaped handle onto which is connected a wire hook at each end in order to clasp a package. The Pusey U.S. Pat. No. 609,946 shows a bow shaped handle having cut outs formed at its ends for clasping the string of a package. The Bridwell U.S. Pat. No. 399,180 shows a bow shaped handle having transfer slots at each end to grip the string of a package. The Ottignon U.S. Pat. No. 606,936 shows a bow shaped handle that has an S-curved slot formed in each end. The Castro U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,203 shows a bag carrier consisting of a tubular handle onto which cup hooks are attached to each end. In this patent flexible straps are also provided overlapping the cup hooks in order to restrain the handles of the plastic bag from slipping loose. The Balderree U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,990, shows a bag closure seal. Norway Pat. No. 84,143 shows, a curved metal wire having a wavy midportion with sharply pointed hooks at each end. The Linn U.S. Pat. No. 787,520 shows a curved metal wire having pointed hooks at each end for carrying packages. The Gummelt U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,876, shows a battery carrying handle which is curved with wide end portions and with ribbing in the middle portion which would be gripped by the hand of the carrier. Swiss Pat. No. 224,527, shows a carrying handle which is flat in the middle and has a hook at each end for attaching to a net. Swedish Pat. No. 153,190, shows a carrying handle which has open end portions for carrying a package. The Lane U.S. Pat. No. 891,710, shows a package carrying handle which has a middle portion and an end portion with an outwardly curving hook at each end. The Maccaferri U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,833, shows a handle for being attached to sewn valve bags in which the handle comprises several teeth that dig into the upper portion of the bag. The Williamson U.S. Pat. No. 2,540,068, shows a wire handle for bottle carriers in which there is a central carrying portion connected to two vertically extending prongs. The Schulte U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,797, shows a bow shaped handle having cut outs and prongs formed at its ends for clasping the string of a package. The Parry U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,059, discloses a rectangular shaped carrying handle having a locking loop to close the hooks at the ends of the handle.
Each of these prior art carrying handles has the disadvantage that the string or cord strap carrying means of a shopping bag could readily slip off from the carrying handle, such as whenever the shopping bag is placed on a surface, such as the ground, and the customer releases his grasp of the gripping surface of the carrying handle. Another disadvantage of the prior art is that the construction of the carrying handle, of the prior art, is either very thin or includes sharp pointed corners, so as to greatly increase the likelihood of accident or injury to the hand, or to the clothing of the user that comes in contact with the sharp corners, or the very thin construction of the handle which increases the amount of weight to be carried per unit area.


Distributed computing methods and systems are disclosed, wherein intensive fatigue-risk calculations are partitioned according to available computing resources, parameters of the fatigue-risk calculation, time-sensitive user demands, and the like. Methods are disclosed wherein execution-cost functions are used to allocate accessible computing resources. Additional methods include partitioning calculation tasks by user-prioritized needs and by general mathematical features of the calculations themselves. Included herein are methods to calculate only prediction-maximum likelihoods instead of full probability distributions, to calculate prediction likelihoods using Bayesian prediction techniques (instead of full re-tabulation of all data), to collate interim results of fatigue-risk calculations where serial results can be appropriately collated (e.g., serial time-slice independence of the cumulative task involved), to use simplified (e.g., linear, first-order) approximations of richer models of fatigue prediction, to assign user-identified priorities to each computational task within a plurality of such requests, and the like.

Human fatigue models tend to be probabilistic in nature and require several parameters in order to create realistic results. Uncertainties often must be associated with each of these parameters and with the model system as a whole. Prediction tasks therefore tend to be rather demanding computationally. Unfortunately, not all fatigue-calculation scenarios lend themselves to the presence of a computing device capable of intensive computation. Certain work and testing environments require mobility, have a shortage of physical space for computing equipment, or otherwise make access to powerful computing equipment unfeasible. There is a general desire to provide tools for assessing and/or otherwise predicting the alertness of individuals.

Systems and methods for distributed calculation of fatigue-risk prediction and optimization


Compound of formula (I) wherein W, X, Y, Z is —C(R1)═ or N; R1 is hydrogen or alkyl, V is N or C (i.e. carbon), A is a bond or an alkylene linker with 1 to 3 carbon atoms, with the proviso that when A is a bond, V must be CH, R is ethyl, propyl, a branched C3-6 alkyl or a cyclic C3-8 alkyl, m and n is 1-3, D is heteroaryl optionally substituted with halogen, hydroxy, cyano, alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkoxy, —(CH2)0—(C═O)p—NR2R3, or D is aryl optionally substituted with one or more of the groups independently selected from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, cyano, alkyl, cycloalkyl, haloalkyl, alkoxy, haloalkoxy, alkylsulfonyl, alkylsulfinyl, heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl, heterocyclyl-alkoxy, heterocyclylcarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarboxy, cyanoalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, alkylcarbonylamino, alkylcarbonylaminoalkyl, arylcarbonylamino, aryl-carbonylaminoalkyl, heteroarylcarbonylamino or heteroarylcarbonylaminoalkyl, —(CH2)0—(C═O)p—NR2R3, wherein o is 0-3, p is 0 or 1, and R2 and R3 independently are hydrogen, alkyl or cycloalkyl; or R2 and R3, can together with the attached nitrogen form a heterocyclyl group, and salts and solvates thereof have binding affinity for the histamine H3 receptor.

The existence of the histamine H3 receptor has been known for several years and the receptor is of current interest for the development of new medicaments. Recently, the human histamine H3 receptor has been cloned. The histamine H3 receptor is a presynaptic autoreceptor located both in the central and the peripheral nervous system, the skin and in organs such as the lung, the intestine, probably the spleen and the gastrointestinal tract. Recent evidence suggests that the H3 receptor shows intrinsic, constitutive activity, in vitro as well as in vivo (i.e., it is active in the absence of an agonist). Compounds acting as inverse agonists can inhibit this activity. The histamine H3 receptor has been demonstrated to regulate the release of histamine and also of other neurotransmitters such as serotonin and acetylcholine. A histamine H3 receptor antagonist or inverse agonist would therefore be expected to increase the release of these neurotransmitters in the brain. A histamine H3 receptor agonist, on the contrary, leads to an inhibition of the biosynthesis of histamine and an inhibition of the release of histamine and also of other neurotransmitters such as serotonin and acetylcholine. These findings suggest that histamine H3 receptor agonists, inverse agonists and antagonists could be important mediators of neuronal activity. Accordingly, the histamine H3 receptor is an important target for new therapeutics.
In view of the art's interest in histamine H3 receptor agonists, inverse agonists and antagonists, novel compounds which interact with the histamine H3 receptor would be a highly desirable contribution to the art. Several publications disclose the preparation and use of histamine H3 agonists and antagonists. While earlier H3 ligands were more or less close analogues of histamine, newer imidazole-free ligands of the histamine H3 receptor have been described (see, e.g., Linney et al. in J. Med. Chem. 2000, 43, 2362-2370; U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,475, WO 01/66534, WO 01/74810, see also review by Celanire et al. in Drug Discov. Today 10:1613-1627).
WO 00/66578 claims certain 3- or 4-(imidazol-2-yl)pyridines being substituted in the 4 position of the imidazole ring. It is mentioned that mammals having a disease or condition mediated by NPY can be treated with such a compound.
Our earlier application, WO 2003/066604 (our internal ref.: 6447), claims certain piperazines being substituted in the 1 and 4 positions.
Our earlier application, WO 2005/009976 A1 (our internal ref.: 6739), claims certain 3-(4-isopropylpiperazin-1-yl)-6-phenylpyridazines being substituted in the para position of the phenyl ring. In the specification, no pharmacological data are given for the compounds prepared.
WO 2005/028438 claims certain piperidines being substituted in the 1 and 4 position.


An example device includes a control unit that provides an execution environment for a network management application and a network interface. The network management application generates a request message based at least in part on a predicted amount of time required for the device to receive a response to a request message, wherein the predicted amount of time is based at least in part on object identifier processing time information, and wherein the predicted amount of time satisfies a timeout threshold. The network interface sends the request message and receives the response message. The network management application determines an amount of time that elapsed between when the device sent the request message and received the response message, and, responsive to determining that the amount of time that elapsed does not satisfy the timeout threshold, updates at least one of the object identifier processing time information and the timeout.

A computer network is a collection of interconnected computing devices that can exchange data and share resources. In a packet-based network, such as an Ethernet network, the computing devices communicate data by dividing the data into small blocks called packets, which are individually routed across the network from a source device to a destination device. A variety of intermediate devices operate to route the packets between the computing devices. For example, a computer network may include routers, switches, gateways, firewalls, and a variety of other devices to provide and facilitate network communication.
These network devices typically include mechanisms, such as management interfaces, for locally or remotely configuring the devices. By interacting with the management interface, various clients, such as human users, automated scripts or network management systems, can perform configuration tasks as well as collect and view operational data of the managed devices. For example, the clients may configure interface cards of the device, adjust parameters for supported network protocols, specify physical components within the device, modify routing information maintained by a router, access software modules and other resources residing on the device, and perform other configuration tasks. In addition, the clients may receive information either by polling the managed device or by receiving asynchronous events from the devices. In this way, the management interfaces of the managed device may be used to access current operating parameters, system logs, information related to network connectivity, network activity or other status information for the devices, allowing clients to view and react to event information received from the devices.
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standard defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for managing network devices. SNMP uses a design that incorporates one or more management information bases (MIBs) within a managed device to describe and expose internal data elements of the managed device. Management devices, such as computer consoles and network management systems, store data to and read data from the SNMP MIBs of the devices to configure, monitor and generally control operation of the devices. For example, an SNMP agent executing on the managed device accesses the device's internal SNMP MIBS and exchanges network management information with an SNMP manager running on the network management system or other host. The SNMP agent responds to requests for information and directives from the SNMP manager.
The SNMP standard defines several commands that an SNMP management application running on an SNMP management system must support for managing remote network devices. The SNMP management application issues the commands to an SNMP agent executing on the managed device. In version two of the SNMP standard, generally referred to as SNMPv2, these commands include Get, GetNext, Set, and GetBulk. When issued by the SNMP management application, the Get and GetNext commands, for example, each retrieve a single scalar or tabular object from a MIB of the targeted network device.
The SNMP management system is configured to wait to receive a response to a command for up to a maximum amount of time. If the maximum amount of time elapses without the SNMP management system receiving a response, the SNMP management system typically resends the command to the SNMP agent. The SNMP management system may not receive the response quickly enough because the SNMP agent may be too slow or the response packet may have been dropped. In examples where the SNMP agent is too slow, the SNMP management system may subsequently receive a response to the initial command as well as a response to the resent command, which results in increased SNMP agent resource usage on the managed device as well as increased bandwidth usage. When the SNMP management system does not receive a response quickly enough, the SNMP management system is configured to increase the maximum amount of time to wait for the response. However, even if the SNMP agent is quick enough to provide a response within the increased amount of time, the increased amount of time causes additional delays when the packet is dropped.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Variable timeouts for network device management queries


The invention provides improvements on thermal performance of multilayer insulation for hot and cold feedlines. Insulation on feedlines has always been problematic, and can perform ten times worse than tank insulation contributing as much as 80% of total system heat leak. The poor performance of traditional MLI wrapped on feed lines is due to compression of the layers, causing increased interlayer contact and heat conduction. The MLI performance is not only much worse than expected, but also difficult to predict. Spacer structures are presented which provide a well-defined, accurately characterized support between the thermal radiant barriers in a multilayer insulation. The invention provides a robust, structural insulation that is much less sensitive to wrap compression and installation workmanship allowing for more predictable, higher performance insulation structure.

Cryogenic storage and transfer is widely used in commercial, medical and aerospace applications. Cryogenic systems require storage reservoirs or tanks, and also require some type of delivery system in the form of feedlines, pipelines or piping system to deliver the cryogen to the functional use. Cryogenic fluids are extremely cold and have low boiling point temperatures; therefore it is difficult to store them without significant fluid loss due to boiloff. One way to reduce the cryogen boiloff is to provide better performing thermal insulation. With ever increasing uses and costs for cryogenic fluids, is the necessity for higher performing thermal insulation systems. Thermal heat leaks are attributed to three modes; conductive, radiative and convective. One method of reducing thermal losses is to operate in an evacuated space, thus eliminating all convective losses, which offers significant reduction in system thermal losses. Reducing additional system losses requires reduction in both radiative and conductive losses.
NASA and commercial launch vehicles typically use cryogenic propellants such as liquid Hydrogen (LH2) at 20K (−423 F), and liquid Oxygen (LOX) at 90K (−298 F), which require thermal insulation for storage and preservation. Heat leak into cryogenic systems limits launch vehicle payloads, and limits spacecraft capabilities and mission durations. Improvements in cryogen storage and transfer are critical to future NASA and commercial space vehicles and extended duration missions. Insulation on cryogenic feed lines is especially problematic, with traditional insulation on piping offering poor thermal performance. MLI wrapped on cryogenic feedlines performs substantially worse than MLI on larger tanks. As much as 80% of total system heat into a spacecraft cryogenic RCS propulsion system is due to transfer line heat leak. Ground support equipment at the launch pad that transfers cryogenic propellants is also problematic, and large amounts of liquid Hydrogen are lost during ground hold and prelaunch activities. As much as 50% of liquid Hydrogen used for each shuttle launch or about 150,000 gallons was lost during transfer chill down and ground hold. Future cryogenic launch vehicles and GSE equipment can benefit from higher performing piping insulation.
A number of aerospace applications also use cryo-coolers for active system cooling as an aid to further reduce propellant boiloff, ideally achieving zero boiloff for extended missions. These cryo-coolers generally circulate liquid Helium (LHe) at 4K (−452 F), or liquid Neon (LNe) at 27K (−411 F) to intercept environmental heat and circulate it away from the tank. These systems require very good insulation on the plumbing to maintain an acceptable efficiency.
Many industrial and medical applications use hot or cold transfer lines. Food and beverage processing facilities use liquid nitrogen (LN2) at 77K (−321 F) or liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) at 217K (−69 F) for package pressurizing, inerting and flash freezing for increased product shelf life. Medical facilities and pharmaceutical plants use LN2 or LHe in systems and procedures such as MRI, cryobiology, cryosurgery and blood banking, and for manufacture processing requiring long runs from storage reservoir to multiple use points. Liquid natural gas (LNG) is generally used as a means for transporting natural gas to markets where it is regasified and distributed to consumers as pipeline natural gas. The gas is condensed down to liquid form at low pressure by cooling to approximately 111K (−260 F). This liquid form takes up 1/600th of the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state which makes it attractive from a transport and delivery aspect. Long pipe runs sometimes of many miles are required to deliver the LNG to storage and transport equipment and poor insulation can have a dramatic effect on process efficiency. In many cases, LN2 is used for flow control and purge of LNG systems and therefore improved insulation would be very beneficial. Industrial uses of cryogens are many including Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR), forward looking Infrared (FLIR) imaging, and superconducting power distribution. High temperature industrial process pipelines also require thermal insulation for efficient operation. Steam and geothermal power plants are industrial applications in which the operating fluid is at high temperatures. Long pipe runs up to many miles are used and thermal management is a critical aspect to process efficiency.
Aerospace, medical and industrial applications can benefit from higher performing insulations especially where there is a large temperature differential from the system to the ambient environment.
Generally in all thermal transfer applications, system thermal performance is an important factor as it equates to cost, mass, thickness, reliability, predictability, durability, efficiency and capabilities. The general types of insulations used in these systems are foams, fiberous blankets, bulk fill, silicas, or multilayer insulation.
Foam and fiberous materials offer reasonable insulation characteristics, though are of relatively high thermal conductivity on the order of 7-20 mW/m-K in high vacuum. When the differential temperature is large, they must be undesirably thick to keep losses to a minimum. At a density of approximately 38 kg/m3 (e.g., foam) the mass becomes high. A bulk fill material such as Perlite (siliceous rock) offers another solution and has a thermal conductivity on the order of 40-100 mW/m-K, though they are very dense at 50-240 kg/m3. Silica materials are also used as insulation materials though have limited application mainly for higher temperature capabilities. Silica has a thermal conductivity of approximately 1.4 W/m-K, and the density is high at 240 kg/m3. Silicas are capable of withstanding temperatures of 1700K (2600 F). Silica aerogels have low thermal conductivities, on the order of 1 to 19 mW/m-K, but are also quite dense at 50 kg/m3.
Multi-layer insulation (MLI) is generally the preferred insulation for in-space or in vacuum application due to the increased performance in vacuum over alternative insulation materials. In a high vacuum environment such as space (<10-2 Pa), or vacuum jacketed pipe, MLI generally offers performance 10 times better than competitive insulation such as foam or silica type blankets or bulk fill. Traditional MLI is a series of alternating layers of low emissivity radiant barriers of metallic or metalized polymer film and thin polyester or silk netting. The netting is used to separate the radiant barriers and prevent interlayer contact. Netting based MLI has a thermal conductivity of approximately 0.25 mW/m-K and a density of 23 kg/m3. This is approximately 28 times better performance than foam insulation. However, traditional MLI insulation for cryogenic propellant feed lines is problematic, and performs typically about ten times worse per area than MLI insulation on a tank. This is representative of capabilities of current state of the art insulation technology for cryogenic piping.
The poor performance of MLI wrapped on feed lines is due to compression of the MLI layers when wrapped on a curved surface, with increased interlayer contact and heat conduction. The compression is dependent on wrap tension and compression due to loading from additional layers. Conventional MLI on large cryotanks has a typical "degradation factor" (from the heat leak predicted by the semi-empirical "Lockheed equation" developed for multilayer insulation) of 1.6; the measured degradation factors for MLI spiral wrapped on pipes can be as high as 20. The MLI performance is not only much worse than expected, but also is difficult to predict due to the uncertainty of increased interface conductance driven by wrap tension and installation workmanship.
Embodiments of the present invention solve a number of the shortcomings of the prior state of the art methods for insulating hot and cold feed lines used in aerospace and commercial applications. Significant reductions in heat leak and fluid boiloff can be realized. Embodiments of the present invention also allow for much greater confidence in predictability and repeatability, and are less dependent on effects of compression due to gravity or installation workmanship. Measured thermal characteristics of the present invention demonstrated a thermal conductivity as low as 0.06 mW/m-K with a density of 32 kg/m3. This is over four times better performance than current state of the art MLI, 16 times better than bulk fill, and 116 times better than foam insulations.

Low thermally conductive spacer for hot and cold feedline insulation


An AC-coupled receiver is provided which allows data with long periods of no signal sent on a fiber optic bus to be received without the normally required preamble. The receiver provides a voltage signal which is AC-coupled to one side of a differential amplifier with a delayed voltage signal AC-coupled to the other input of the differential amplifier. If the time constant of the AC coupling network is much longer than the signal baud time, low-frequency variations at the two inputs of the differential amplifier will be nearly identical and the low frequency signals will effectively cancel each other.

The present invention relates to AC-coupled fiber optic receivers and more particularly to an AC-coupled fiber optic receivers that do not require message preambles for proper operation.
Optical receivers translate pulses of optical energy into equivalent electrical signals. The optical pulses produce small currents in a photosensitive semiconductor, which are amplified and processed by electronic circuits to produce an electrical signal that duplicates the optical pulses.
The signals can be of two general types: DC-coupled and AC-coupled. DC-coupled circuits respond to the magnitude of the optical signals no matter how much time elapses between signal transitions. These circuits are always prepared to translate the magnitude of the optical input to a high or low logic value. This feature is desirable when processing data that comes in unpredictable bursts. The major disadvantage of DC-coupled circuits is that their signals drift with temperature and age. They are especially difficult to use when high amplification is necessary.
Most optical receivers use AC-coupled circuits which cannot respond to signals that change too slowly. AC-coupled circuits do not suffer the disadvantages of signal drift with temperature and age that the DC-coupled circuits are subject to, but the AC-coupled circuits are not always prepared to process data. AC circuits need time to settle and stabilize after the input signal begins before they can properly interpret the data. To compensate for this characteristic of AC-coupled receivers, data is prefixed with a "preamble" string of pulses that prepares the receiver to receive data.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an AC-coupled fiber optic receiver that does not require a preamble before the data to be processed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an AC-coupled fiber optic receiver that is easy to use with any two-level data format independent of the time between optical signal transitions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an AC-coupled fiber optic receiver with an increased signal to noise ratio.

AC coupled fiber optic receiver with DC coupled characteristics


Magnetic cylinder escapement, comprising a regulating wheel set cooperating with an escape wheel comprising actuators (6) at the periphery of a first disc, each comprising a first impulse part and a second stop part, generating or guiding magnetic fields parallel to the pivot axes, and arranged to work in attraction, via the first disc, with a second non-magnetically charged, soft ferromagnetic disc integral with the regulating wheel set, the mechanism comprising a conductive ferromagnetic plate, underneath but not in contact with the first disc, comprising a cutout surrounding, in a contactless manner, the periphery of the second disc, with a variable air-gap, and closing a magnetic circuit comprising an actuator, the first disc, the second disc, and a structure in which the escape wheel pivots and which carries the plate.

The invention concerns a cylinder escapement mechanism.
WO Patent Application 2015/096973 A2 in the name of Nivarox-FAR S.A., describes a magnetic cylinder escapement, wherein a circular magnet is integral with the regulating member. It is, however, difficult to produce a perfectly circular magnet concentric with the sprung balance. Moreover, this magnetic element on the sprung balance is sensitive to external fields, which may therefore interfere with the operation of the watch.


The present invention provides devices and methods for facilitating the single stream recycling of toxic substance-containing products. A toxin impermeable container designed to enclose the product containing toxic substances incorporates graphic markings or radiofrequency tags to facilitate automated or manual sorting from single stream recycling processes, identification of the toxic component, identification of the person or entity recycling the toxic to allow verification and documentation of compliance with government regulations or reimbursement of a recycling deposit that may be associated with the particular product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to the recycling of hazardous materials.
2. Background Information
As the human population continues to expand, the need for recycling of toxic substances becomes increasingly important as a means of preventing disease and preventing contamination of air, water and soil and in general preserving the quality of the environment for all living species. To encourage increasing compliance and cooperation with recycling efforts, many waste management organizations have resorted to "single stream" recycling processes. In single stream reprocessing, a variety of recyclable items are combined in a single recycling container. For example, these materials may include aluminum cans; glass bottles of clear, green, or brown color; plastic containers; newspaper; junk mail; discarded office documents; and the like. Often, toxic materials such as mercury containing light bulbs, nickel cadmium batteries, and lithium batteries are discarded along with the other recyclables even though it is generally regarded as inappropriate to do so.
When mixed single stream recyclable materials are brought to a processing center, the various types of materials are sorted and separated out so that they may be individually recovered for further processing. The mixed recyclable materials are typically placed on a conveyor belt, and sorting usually occurs by a combination of automated, semiautomated, and manual steps. For example, an early step may involve manual separation or "picking" of cardboard from the remainder of the stream. Light materials such as paper may be removed by means of an airstream that blows them off the conveyer into a designated bin. Items containing certain metals are removed through the use of magnets on an overhead conveyor belt that lifts them off the primary conveyor belt. Various types of plastic containers mixed into the recycling stream are typically identified visually and manually sorted into appropriate bins. Heavy materials such as glass bottles and broken glass typically proceed to a subsequent separation station. At present, there is no convenient way to easily identify, sort and separate certain relatively small and toxic disposables such as mercury containing compact fluorescent lamps, nickel cadmium batteries, lithium batteries, and the like either by manual visual inspection or electronic imaging equipment or imaging equipment.

Device and method for single stream recycling of hazardous materials


Solderable connections are formed in a grid array pattern on the surface of a plastic package by modifying conventional lead frame assemblies so that the outer ends of the leads terminate at the bottom surface of the package and forming solder pads or balls on the ends of the leads. Conventional lead frames are used and, after modification, are encapsulated using conventional plastic packaging techniques to form plastic packages with solderable terminal ends arranged in an interconnection array on one surface of the package.

Electronic devices generate heat in operation and, in most cases, the devices are temperature sensitive. The temperature at which the device chip operates and the ability to remove heat from the chip may, in fact, determine or limit various operating characteristics of the circuit. Thus, means is often provided for conducting heat from the package to an external sink. In simple plastic-encapsulated devices, the heat may be adequately removed by the leads. The encapsulating plastic, however, is not a particularly effective heat transfer medium. Accordingly, as the density of device functions increases, the need for effective heat dissipation increases. Where the device chip is encapsulated in the plastic, removal of thermal energy is difficult.
Advances in microelectronics technology tend to develop device chips which occupy less physical space while performing more functions. Conventionally, the chips are packaged for use in housings which protect the chip from its environment and provide means for input/output communications between the chip and external circuitry. The continuing drive toward miniaturization thus results in generation of more heat in less physical space with less structure for removing heat from the package. Similarly, the development of electronic circuit device chips using compound semiconductors further expands the requirements for packaging which can contain devices operating at higher temperatures and control device temperatures by heat dissipation.
Miniaturization of chips has also led to encapsulation of more than one chip body within a single package housing. The chips may be supported on one or both sides of a substrate or rerouting board and may even be assembled in stacked arrangements. For purposes of this disclosure, the terms "chip", "die" and "circuit device" and the like are used interchangeably and are intended to cover all electronic circuit device configurations enclosed within a single housing or package, regardless of whether such device configuration is in the form of one or more pieces of semiconductor material and/or supporting interconnection structure.
Conventionally, high pin-count packages are generally either ceramic packages or plastic packages. Ceramic packages are better heat conductors than plastics, provide hermetic sealing and are thus generally considered more reliable. However, ceramic packaging is relatively expensive. Transfer and injection molded plastic packaging is much less expensive and is therefore widely used when the advantages of hermetic sealing are not essential.
Ceramic and glass packages can provide a gas-filled or evacuated (both herein referred to as gas-filled) cavity surrounding the circuit chip because hermetic sealing of the cavity can be achieved. In most plastic packages, the chip and electrical interconnections between the chip and the lead frame are all encapsulated in the plastic material. The plastic material, however, has a higher dielectric coefficient than air, resulting in reduced frequency transmission signals through the interconnections encapsulated in plastic.
Miniaturization of the device package has also led to significant problems in mounting the package on support media such as circuit boards or the like. As package sizes decrease and the number of input/output leads increases, the size of the individual leads and the spacing between leads must be reduced, leading to difficulties in precisely and accurately positioning and securing the leads on mounting pads on the surface of the circuit board. Such miniaturized leads are also extremely fragile, thus requiring means for protecting the package leads during fabrication, testing, transport and assembly on the board.
In an attempt to increase the number of input/output leads without reducing physical spacing therebetween, packages have been developed in which the leads project from one face of the package in an interconnection array. Typically, packages using this arrangement have a number of pins extending in an interconnection array pattern from the lower surface and are referred to as pin grid array (PGA) packages. Such packages have the distinct advantage of using the surface area of the circuit board immediately below the package for interconnections, thus permitting higher package density on the board, but are usually made using ceramic packaging techniques. Although quite effective as a mounting technique, PGA packages are usually quite expensive and must be mounted on a socket or other means to adapt the PGA to the circuit board such as by forming a grid pattern of mounting holes in the circuit board.
More direct mounting to the surface of a circuit board can be accomplished by replacing the pins of a PGA with solderable mounting pads or lands arranged on the lower surface of the package. Such land grid array or solderable grid array (SGA) packages can be more easily attached directly to appropriately arranged mounting pads on the surface of a circuit board or the like. Direct surface mounting using SGA packaging techniques not only eliminates use of fragile and flexible interconnection leads, it dramatically reduces total lead length from chip to interconnection; reduces overall package size; eliminates need for in-transit lead protection such as the commonly-used lead bumpers on quad flatpack packages; permits interconnection grid array patterns with more space between interconnection points; and generally provides easier and more reliable surface mount interconnections. Unfortunately, such SGA packages are typically ceramic packages and thus quite expensive.
More recently, plastic packaging techniques have been employed to produce an encapsulation package in which the chip is mounted on one side of a miniature circuit board with interconnection leads routed through the miniature board and terminating in an interconnection array of lands or the like on the bottom of the miniature board. Solder balls are formed on the lands or ends of the leads and the device is encapsulated in plastic on the opposite side of the miniature circuit board. This package is usually referred to as a solder ball grid array (SBGA) package and provides many of the size and interconnection advantages of SGA packages at lower costs. The typical SBGA package, however, is a composite of encapsulation materials and circuit board technology and thus is difficult to form; does not provide adequate sealing and chip protection; and is somewhat limited in applicability.
Attempts to provide bottom surface input/output terminals in molded plastic packages (such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,480 to McShane, et al.) have generally been limited to providing duplicate terminal arrangements for testing and mounting and therefore require uniquely designed and fabricated lead frame assemblies and molding techniques. Such arrangements are of little utility in commercial devices and, because of their unique requirements, provide none of the desired advantages.
In accordance with the present invention, conventional lead frame assemblies and conventional plastic packaging techniques are utilized to form plastic packages with input/output terminals terminating in a solder grid array or solder ball grid array on the bottom surface of the package. Since conventional lead frame assemblies are used, the assembly process steps for mounting a die on the die pad, etc., may be identical to conventional processing. The lead frame is modified by trimming prior to encapsulation to shorten the input/output leads and arrange their outer ends in an interconnection array pattern parallel and substantially coplanar with or extending slightly lower than the bottom surface of the package to be formed. The modified lead frame assembly is then encapsulated using conventional techniques to form a plastic package with input/output terminals arranged in an interconnection array on its lower surface. By modifying conventional lead frame assemblies and using conventional assembly and plastic packaging techniques, the package of the invention can be formed effectively as inexpensively as standard plastic packages yet provide all the advantages of SGA or SBGA packages. The invention may also be used to form packages with air-filled cavities for high frequency electronic circuit devices and heat sinks for devices which generate excessive amounts of heat. Other features and advantages of the invention will become more readily understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the appended claims and attached drawing in which:


A new cultivar of Sedum plant, ‘Nonist’ characterized by its evergreen foliage that is blue-gray in youth and changes to blue-green in maturity and stays this color until late fall and winter when it then becomes variably suffused with red-purple. Its flowers in early to mid summer are bright lemon yellow upon erect flat-topped inflorescences, atop stout, leafy, upright floral stems that emerge from a low-growing procumbent plant habit.

Throughout history, and even today, botanists and horticulturists have debated whether the species Sedum reflexum and Sedum rupestre are truly distinct. An examination of today's most useful literature (Handbook of Cultivated Sedums by Ronald L. Evans, and Sedum Cultivated Stonecrops by Ray Stephenson) is no different. Evans treats them as distinct species and Stephenson refers to them as synonymous and correctly identified as Sedum rupestre. The Applicant, a biologist, sides with Evans, and believes that there are sufficient morphological differences between the two plants as to be easily distinguished and to warrant recognition as two distinct species. Therefore, because the subject plant of this application is the result of cross breeding two cultivars which conform to Evans' description of Sedum reflexum (most notably foliage that covers the entire length of the stem, vs. just the top on half), the species throughout this application are referred to as Sedum reflexum.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Sedum plant, botanically known as Sedum reflexum 'Nonist' and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, 'Nonist'. The new cultivar of Sedum is a hardy herbaceous perennial grown for use as a landscape and container plant and is particularly suitable as a ground cover. 'Nonist' was bred and selected by the Inventor at the Inventor's nursery in Nunica, Mich. 'Nonist' was selected as a single unique plant in March of 2009 from amongst 10,000 seedlings that arose from a deliberate cross between Sedum reflexum 'Angelina' (not patented) as the female parent and an unnamed plant of Sedum reflexum as the male parent.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in August of 2009 in Nunica, Mich. Propagation by cuttings and crown division has determined the characteristics to be stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.