A failsafe device for raising/lowering articles includes a frame and a fastener for attaching the frame to a ceiling or wall to elevated an article above the floor. A pulley or sheave is mounted on the frame about a substantially horizontal axis when the frame is mounted on the ceiling or wall. A cable is entrained over the pulley and has a substantially vertical lifting cable portion attachable to the article to the lifted and a substantially vertical pulling cable portion arranged to be pulled downwardly by a user to elevate the article and raised upwardly to lower the article. A cam is mounted on the frame on one side of the pulling cable portion and has a cable engaging surface. The cam is movable between a cable releasing position and a cable locking position, the cable engaging surface including a first engaging portion normally spaced a fixed distance from the pulling cable portion to form a clearance gap in the cable releasing position and a second engaging portion bridging the clearance gap a distance equal to least the fixed distance for substantially instantaneously arresting the cable and preventing movement of the pulling cable portion upwardly toward the pulley and corresponding downward movement of the article. A pusher is mounted on the frame for always applying a force on the pulling cable portion in the direction of the cam for urging it across the clearance gap into contact with the first engaging portion only when tension in the pulling cable portion is decreased relative to the tension in the lifting cable portion, continued contact between the pulling cable portion causing the second engaging portion to bridge the clearance gap as it moves from the releasing to the locking positions until a tension is applied by the user to the pulling cable portion with a force that substantially corresponds to the weight of the article.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to lifting aids and, more particularly, to a fail-safe device for raising/lowering articles.
2. Description of the Prior art
There are devices known in the art for vertically raising/lowering an article, such as a monitor, a bicycle, a kitchen cabinet, a multi-level garment holder, or the like. These items normally rest on a bracket mounted on a wall, ceiling, or beam, or they may be mounted on a self-supporting vertically arranged framework. Some of these devices provide additional floor space under the raised article when the stored item is not needed. All include some form of hoisting means. Most of these devices are relatively expensive to manufacture, and are normally not sufficiently simple or safe enough in operation to also be used by children.
In U.S. Pat. No. 152,635 a pulley-block is disclosed in which the brace block follows the contour of the pulley. A spring biases the brake block to the cord-locking position so that the dropping of the article is arrested soon after the cord is released. However, to ensure locking of the cord it needs to be moved to an inclined position. The maximum stopping force is a function of the spring and the inclination of the cord to be controlled. If the spring is strong, however, high friction is applied on the cord in both directions. Additionally, to lower the article an additional cord must be pulled to remove the block from the braking position while the user simultaneously holds on to the main cord. Otherwise, the article would go into free fall and possibly cause injury or damage to the article. If the article is to be lowered a substantial distance the user would need to hold the brake block releasing cord with one hand and try to control the main cord with the other hand. This could be very difficult and inconvenient and could best be achieved with the aid of a second person who holds the realizing cord while the user uses both hand (hand-over-hand) to lower the article.
In U.S. Pat. No. 723,231 a pulley block is disclosed which also requires that the cable be manually inclined by the user to stop the movement of the cable, the degree of friction for arresting the cable being a function of the force with which the cable is inclined by the user. Release of the cable would result in free fall of the article.
In U.S. Pat. No. 826,727 a cloths line pulley is disclosed in which the cable is wedged between a pulley and a pawl. The greater the pressure on the pawl the greater the binding action. However, the pawl must be manually flipped to provide to described operation to lock the movement of the cord in one direction or the other.
In U.S. Pat. No. 916,091 a pulley and rope or cable holder is disclosed in which dual cams must be manually moved to provide locking action in either direction. A further pulley usable for clothes lines and lock for cables is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,107,934 in which a cam locks the cable when the cable is slack. Adjustments may be made depending on how tight or loose the cable is to lock with clothing on.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,167,295 a pulley block is disclosed which requires lateral movements of the cable to inclined positions for locking the cable and, therefore, is similar to many of the aforementioned designs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,867,875 a cable clamp is disclosed in which the cable must be manually moved in relation to a stud on a pivoted lever to effect locking by wedging the cable against a jaw that is fixed during operation. Therefore, the device requires pulling of the cable laterally. While the cable may also be pulled downwardly there is danger that the cable may re-engage if the use is not careful. While the device includes a cam it is in the form of a movable jaw that is fixed even if adjustable. Therefore there is no element that tends to move toward a cable except for manual movements prior to use to accommodate the size of the cable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,865 a device is disclosed that automatically engages and disengages a pawl and a lifting mechanism using the same. However, special stops are required to be placed on the cable. If load is lifted and the pulling force is released the pawl engages the cable to prevent the load from falling. However, a stop on the cable must be moved to a position which tilts the lever to disengage the paws to allow the load to be lowered.
Clearly, the prior art devices frequently rely on special manipulations or movements by the user to arrest the downward movements of the article supported on a cable. However, such designs are not failsafe since error by the user could cause the article to drop uncontrollably. This may cause damage or injury. Additionally, with devices of the type under discussion a cable must be arrested immediately when released since the article may otherwise go into free fall and accelerate to a high velocity resulting in a high momentum. This makes it more difficult to stop the article instantaneously without creating substantial stress upon the cable and on the support surface that supports the device. This could result in damage to the support surface an, in fact, actually cause the device to separate the support surface and, again, cause possible injury to personnel or damage to property.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a failsafe device for raising/lowering articles which does no have the disadvantages inherent in prior art devices.
It is another object of the invention to provide a failsafe device of the type under discussion which is simple construction and economical to manufacture.
It is still another object of the invention provide a failsafe device as in the previous objects that is simple convenient to use.
It is yet another object of the invention provide a failsafe device of the type suggested the previous objects that ensures safe operation and substantially instantaneously arrests the movement of the article when the cord is released independently of any actions or inactions taken by user.
It is a further object of the invention provide a failsafe device as the previous object that may be used the raiseilower a number of articles having different sizes or shapes and suspended from one location or a number of location distributed or spaced from each other.
It is still further object of the invention to provide a raising/lowering device useful use with a wide variety of articles that are both light and heavy in weight, such as potted plants, bicycles, furniture, clothing, etc.
In order to achieve the above objects as well as others which will become apparent hereafter, a failsafe device for raising/lowering articles in accordance with the present invention comprises a frame. Attaching means is provided for attaching said frame to a support surface above a predetermined height to which the article is to be selectively elevated. Low friction deflection means is provided mounted on said frame about a substantially horizontal axis when the frame is mounted on the support surface. A cable is provided that is entrained over said low friction deflection means and has a substantially vertical lifting cable portion attachable to the article to be lifted and a substantially vertical pulling cable portion arranged the to be pulled downwardly by a user to elevate the article and released upwardly to lower the article. Cam means is provided on said frame on one side of said pulling cable portion and has the cable engaging surface. Said cam means is moveable between a cable releasing position and a cable locking position. Said cable engaging surface includes the first engaging portion normally spaced a distance xcex94 from said pulling cable portion to form a clearance gap in said cable releasing position and a second engaging portion bridging said clearance gap a distance equal to at least xcex94 for substantially instantaneously arresting said cable and preventing movement of said pulling cable portion upwardly towards said friction deflection means and corresponding downward movement of the article. Pushing means on said frame on an opposing side of said pulling cable portion in relation to said cam means is provided for continuously applying a force on said pulling cable portion in the direction of said cam means and for urging said pulling cable portion across said clearance gap said distance xcex94 into contact with said first engaging portion only when tension in said pulling cable portion is decreased relative to the tension in said lifting cable portion continued contact between pulling cable portion and said the cable engaging surface causing said second engaging portion to bridge said clearance distance xcex94 while said cam means moves from said releasing to said locking positions until a tension is applied by the user to said pulling cable portion that substantially corresponds to the weight of the article.

Fail-safe device for raising/lowering articles


A pulsating impeller system is provided for moving a body through a fluid medium. The pulsating impeller includes an enclosure mounted on a vessel or other body. The enclosure is provided with an inlet-outlet aperture to facilitate the flow of the fluid medium into and out of the enclosure. An expansible membrane is positioned in the enclosure. The volume of the expansible membrane is inflated and deflated on a regular cycle by a compressed air or other similar system in the vessel. When the enclosure is placed in a fluid, such as water, and the expansible membrane inside the enclosure is inflated, the volume of the membrane is increased, which results in the water being forced through the outlet hole in the enclosure to propel the vessel. This force will generate a reactive force which will thrust the enclosure and vessel in the opposite direction. The vessel may be provided with a plurality of enclosures, and each enclosure may have one or more expansible membranes. The force provided to drive the vessel depends on the number and positioning of the enclosures and the operating cycles for the expansible membranes.

The current technique for impelling a body through a fluid medium generally involves the action of a propeller to generate the thrust needed to push the body forward. The rotation and the vibration of the propeller and associate shaft, mountings, drive means, etc. generate noise, and an elaborate structural system is needed to mount and hold the propeller assembly in place.
In the known systems employing propellers, it is necessary to provide fluid resistant bearing means in the areas of the hull through which the propeller shafts extend. As wear occurs between the relatively moving bearing means, fluid such as sea water may be able to enter the bilge and if not replaced or repaired will eventually overtax the bilge pumping system resulting in rather serious consequences.


A transmission system comprising a relaying apparatus and concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses, the relaying apparatus including a first buffer memory for buffering a control request to be transmitted to one of the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses, a second buffer memory for buffering data to be downloaded to specific one of the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses, and a control unit for generating maintenance frames each including a control request, and download frames each including download data, and transmitting these frames to one of the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses, selectively. The control unit controls the transmission of download frames, depending on status of traffic of frames being relayed from the communication network toward one of the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses and on whether a control request awaiting transmission is buffered.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission system and, more particularly, to a transmission system comprising concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses, each accommodating a plurality of user terminals, and a relaying apparatus located between the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses and a communication network.
(2) Description of Related Art
In an apartment house where a number of Internet users reside, to simplify the configuration of access lines between user terminals and the Internet network, one or more concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses accommodating a plurality of user terminals are located and each of the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses is connected to a relaying apparatus located at a switching station by a high speed transmission line of an optical fiber.
In this case, each of the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses converts upward communication frames (or packets) received from the plurality of user terminals into optical signals and multiplexes the optical signals on a same optical fiber. The signal relaying apparatus forwards the communication frames received from each concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatus to the Internet network after converting the received frames from optical signals into electric signals. The signal relaying apparatus also forwards downward communication frames received from the Internet network to the concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses after converting the received frames from electric signals into optical signals. Each concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatus converts the communication frames received from the signal relaying apparatus from optical signals into electric signals and forwards the received communication frame to a subscriber line specified by the destination address of the frame.
In this specification, the relaying apparatus that accommodates a plurality of concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatuses and forwards received frames or packets after performing optical-electric conversion or electric-optical conversion of the frames, as above, is referred to as a "concentrated media converter (MC)". A high-speed concentrated subscriber line transmission apparatus to be connected to the above concentrated MC via an optical fiber line is referred to as a "concentrated VDSL (Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line) apparatus."
A control terminal is connected to the concentrated MC to monitor the status of each concentrated VDSL apparatus. An operator can transmit a control frame (or control packet) from the control terminal to each of concentrated VDSL apparatuses. In response to the control frame, each of the VDSL apparatuses generates a notification frame indicating its status and transmits the notification frame to the control terminal. In this relation, because it is disadvantageous from a cost perspective to lay additional communication lines dedicated for performing monitoring control between the concentrated MC and concentrated VDSL apparatuses, an in-channel transmission is preferably adopted to share the optical fiber as the main signal line for the purpose of communicating maintenance frames such as control frames and status notification frames between the concentrated MC and concentrated VDSL apparatuses.
In the case of adopting the in-channel transmission, transmission of maintenance frames must be controlled not to obstruct the transmission of user frames as the main signals. For this purpose, for example, according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H6(1994)-318955, transmission/reception buffers for user frames are monitored so that maintenance frames are transmitted according to the situation of network bandwidth usage.

Transmission system including media converter for concentrated VDSL apparatus

Hitachi Communication Technologies, Ltd.


A centrifugal pump includes a pump unit and a drive unit. The pump unit includes a volute and an impeller disposed in the volute. The drive unit includes a stator and a rotor having a shaft. The volute includes an inlet, an outlet and a chamber in communication with the inlet and outlet. The shaft of the rotor extends into the chamber of the volute and the impeller is attached to and driven by the shaft. The volute further includes a transition part connected between the outlet and the chamber and communicating the outlet with the chamber. The axis of the transition part is angled to the axis of the outlet. The transition part is configured to improve the effect of fluid turbulence to thereby reduce noise, especially in the air-water stage.

Centrifugal pumps are often used as drain pumps in washing machines or dishwashers. In actual application, the pump is mounted inside of the machine and activated automatically during operation by the control circuit of the machine, mainly to pump out the water from the machine. The whole operation can be divided into three stages: the starting stage, the full water stage and the air-water stage. The air-water stage is the last stage during which most of the water has already been pumped out and only residual water mixed with air, flows through the pump. In general, the air-water stage is the noisiest phase of operation, with the noise level significantly greater than the noise level of the starting or full water stages.


An installation head for attaching self-attaching fastening elements, including self-clinching, self-riveting and self-piercing fasteners. The installation head of this invention includes a self-cleaning means built into the installation head for cleaning the fastener sensing means, such as a conventional proximity switch, each time a fastener is installed by the installation head. The installation head may be a conventional installation head, including a first passage receiving the fastening elements, a second passage intersecting the first passage through which a plunger reciprocates to install the fasteners and a fastener sensor means, such as a proximity switch, in the second passage opposite the first passage to sense the presence of a self-attaching fastening element ready for installation beneath the free end of the plunger. The cleaning means in the improved installation head of this invention comprises an air passage in the plunger having an outlet adjacent the free end of the plunger, preferably angularly directed toward the fastener sensor means, which sweeps across the sensor means with each stroke of the plunger, thereby cleaning the fastener sensor means of oil, burs, chips and other debris which may collect on the fastener sensor means during normal operation. In the most preferred embodiment, the plunger includes a plurality of generally parallel ports directing a plurality of air jets toward the fastener sensor means, sequentially sweeping across the sensor means as the plunger reciprocates through the second passage to install a self-attaching fastening element.

The present invention relates to installation heads of the type installed in die presses to install self-piercing, self-clinching and self-riveting fasteners or fastening elements. More particularly, the installation head of this invention includes a means for cleaning the fastener sensor probe or switch, which is normally interconnected to the control of the die press, such that the die press is not actuated if a self-attaching element is not located ready for installation.
Self-attaching fasteners or fastening elements, such as pierce nuts, rivets, weld nuts, self-piercing studs and the like, are used today in many mass production applications, including automotive manufacturing. Pierce nuts and self-piercing studs are used by the automobile industry, for example, to interconnect various structural elements and to connect body panels to structural elements. Several such self-attaching fasteners may be attached to a structural element or a body panel at a time, generally in a die press. The die press may also be utilized to simultaneously form the structural element or body panel and install several self-attaching fasteners. A sheet of steel may be inserted in a die press, for example, which includes a plurality of installation heads. When the die press is closed to form a configured panel or structural element, the self-attaching fasteners are simultaneously installed in the panel or structural element by the installation heads.
In a typical application, one of the die shoes includes a plurality of installation heads which receive the self-attaching fasteners or fastening elements from a hopper or coiled reel and the opposite die shoe includes aligned die buttons. When the press is closed, the self-attaching fasteners are driven into the panel by a reciprocating plunger in the installation head to pierce the panel and the panel surrounding the pierced opening is simultaneously clinched to the seIf-attaching fasteners by the die buttons. Self-attaching fasteners may also be attached in pre-pierced panel openings by a similar process.
Because several operations may be performed simultaneously in the die press, as described, it is essential in such applications that means be provided to signal the presence of the self-attaching fasteners in the installation heads ready for installation. In a typical installation, a fastener sensor means, such as a proximity switch, is located in the installation head, which is interconnected electrically to the control panel of the die press. If the proximity switch senses that a self-attaching fastener or fastening element is not located in the installation head ready for installation, the die press cannot be actuated and a signal is normally provided to indicate which head requires servicing. Although such installation heads are normally rugged and relatively simple in operation, one or more of the installation heads may require service or the supply of self-attaching fastening elements may be exhausted. It is also possible for the self-attaching fastening elements to become jammed in the feed system, rendering the installation head temporarily inoperative.
If, however, the fastener sensor means becomes fouled with oil, burs, chips or other debris, the sensor means may indicate the presence of a self-attaching fastening element in the installation head ready for installation when no fastener is located beneath the plunger, ready for installation. When this happens, the installation head is cycled, but no fastening element is installed by the installation head. There is, therefore, a necessity for periodically cleaning the fastener sensor element. At present, this is accomplished by interrupting the operation of the die press and cleaning the windows of the proximity switches, as necessary based upon experience. The installation heads of the type described herein have been utilized to install pierce nuts as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,098,576, 3,718,965, 3,942,235, 3,946,478 and 3,961,408, all assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,416 discloses a simplified pierce nut installation head, which is also assigned to the assignee of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,838 discloses an improved self-piercing stud and installation head and U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,072 discloses a round shoulder self-piercing nut and installation head, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Self-clinching fasteners and installation heads are also used in mass production, wherein the fastener is installed in a pre-pierce panel opening, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,239. Further, self-riveting fastening elements may be installed by a similar installation head and installation heads are used in mass production to install weld nuts and the like. In mass production, a proximity switch or other sensor means is provided to indicate the presence of a self-attaching fastening element ready for installation prior to activating the installation head.
Various means have been tried to clean the fastening element sensor during installation. For example, a jet of air has been directed through the fastener inlet passage against the window of the proximity switch, which engages the proximity switch each time the plunger is retracted. This means of cleaning the proximity switch has not, however, proven sufficiently reliable, particularly in mass production applications where several operations are performed with each stroke of the die press, such as described above. The need therefore remains for a more reliable means of cleaning the self-attaching element sensor means, preferably during installation of the fastening elements and not requiring down time of the die press.

Self-attaching fastener installation head


The lawn mower attachment provides a combination of lawn roller accessories and a spreader, the combination being attached to the rear of a self-propelled lawn mower. A frame that includes a pivotally connected roller suspension member is attached to the rear of a self-propelled lawn mower via a series of attachment brackets. The roller suspension member can be retracted when not in use. A super-retracted position is available for removal and replacement of the roller. Various style rollers are provided to enable a user to perform aeration, de-thatching, leveling, plugging, and the like. A roller extension member can provide an extra wide path of roller operation. Handle and control extensions are provided for compatibility of the lawn mower attachment with the existing lawn mower. Weights can be added over the rear wheels of the lawn mower to facilitate effective soil penetration of the roller attachment during operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lawn care machinery, and particularly to a lawn mower attachment that provides a combination of soil conditioning rollers and a spreader that can be attached to the rear of a self-propelled lawn mower.
2. Description of the Related Art
Self-propelled lawn mowers are popular and have very good maneuverability in tight areas. Aerators are devices having soil-penetrating tines that, in some cases, are mounted on the front of mechanized lawn equipment. This configuration has proved useful for riding lawn mowers. However, a substantial number of lawn mowers existing in the field are self-propelled, walk-behind lawn mowers. Until the present invention there has not been a combination soil conditioner and spreader that can attach at the rear of a self-propelled walk-behind lawnmower.
Thus, a lawn mower attachment solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


An information processing apparatus includes a display section, a touch count determining section, a rotation angle detector, a rotation angle determining section, and an image processing section. The display section displays an object. The touch count determining section determines a touch count on the display section. The touch count is a number of touch points on the display section. The rotation angle detector detects a rotation angle of a touch action including multiple touch points on the display section as a rotation specification angle. The rotation angle determining section determines a rotation performance angle by which the object is rotated based on the rotation specification angle and the touch count. The image processing section rotates the object by the rotation performance angle.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus which includes a touch panel.
In recent years, an information processing apparatus has been proposed which simultaneously detects touch actions at multiple points on a touch panel and performs a corresponding operation on an object. The information processing apparatus implements an operation on a displayed image such as enlargement, reduction, or rotation of the displayed image according to a gesture operation on the touch panel such as an increase in an interval between two fingers, a decrease in an interval between two fingers, or rotation of a finger on the touch panel.

Information processing apparatus for recognizing multi-touch operation by which object is rotated


In a switching power supply device with reduced size and increased power conversion efficiency, a first resonant circuit including a series resonant inductor and a series resonant capacitor, and a second resonant circuit including a series resonant inductor and a series resonant capacitor, are caused to resonate with each other to cause sympathetic vibration of each resonant circuit, such that transmission is performed by utilizing both magnetic field coupling and electric field coupling between a primary winding and a secondary winding. Operation at a switching frequency higher than a specific resonant frequency of an overall multi-resonant circuit allows a ZVS operation to be performed, enabling a significant reduction in switching loss and high-efficiency operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching power supply device that includes a switching element on a primary side and a rectifier circuit on a secondary side and that performs power transmission by using the electromagnetic field resonance phenomenon.
2. Description of the Related Art
With recent progress toward compact and lightweight electronic devices, market demand for high-efficiency, compact, and lightweight switching power supplies has increasingly grown. For example, current resonant half-bridge converters that cause a transformer to operate in response to a sinusoidal resonant current flowing therethrough by using an LC resonance phenomenon have been increasingly put into practical use in markets of goods such as flat-screen televisions with comparatively moderated output current ripple characteristics, while taking advantage of the feature of high efficiency.
For example, an LC series resonant DC-DC converter is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-308243. FIG. 1 is a basic circuit diagram of a switching power supply device in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-308243. The disclosed switching power supply device is a current resonant type half-bridge DC/DC converter, and an LC resonant circuit composed of an inductor Lr and a capacitor Cr and two switching elements Q1 and Q2 are connected to a primary winding np of a transformer T. A rectifying and smoothing circuit composed of diodes Ds1 and Ds2 and a capacitor Co is constructed at secondary windings ns1 and ns2 of the transformer T.
With the configuration described above, the switching elements Q1 and Q2 are alternately turned on and off with a dead time, and the current waveform flowing through the transformer T is a sinusoidal resonant waveform. Further, power is transmitted from the primary side to the secondary side during both on periods and off periods of the two switching elements Q1 and Q2.
However, in the switching power supply device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-308243, the transformer is used as an insulating transformer that utilizes electromagnetic induction, and is merely utilized as a transformer that utilizes magnetic coupling. In a transformer that utilizes electromagnetic induction, the magnetic flux generated by a current flowing through the primary winding is linked to the secondary winding to cause a current to flow through the secondary winding, and efficient conversion from electricity to magnetism and further to electricity is important. In general, the proportion of the magnetic fluxes linked to the secondary winding in the magnetic fluxes generated by the current flowing through the primary winding is called the degree of (magnetic) coupling. In a transformer that utilizes electromagnetic induction, it is important to increase the degree of magnetic coupling in order to increase power conversion efficiency. However, the degree of magnetic coupling of the transformer may be difficult to increase because magnetic saturation is prevented or because of physical constraints, resulting in power conversion efficiency being reduced.
In the switching power supply device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-308243, furthermore, since frequency control and PFM (Pulse Frequency Modulation) control are used for control of its output, it is necessary to design a smoothing circuit in accordance with the minimum operating frequency, which hinders compactness. In addition, in view of operation on the order of MHz for miniaturization of magnetic components, changes in operating frequency result in a significant problem in terms of the controllability of output, EMC (electromagnetic compatibility), and so forth.


The present application provides a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof. Quantum dot ink is prepared by dispersing a quantum dot light scattering particle composite in a dispersion medium. The quantum dot light scattering particle composite includes light scattering particles and oil phase quantum dots attached to surfaces of the light scattering particles. Oil solubility of the oil phase quantum dots is used to increase dispersion stability of the light scattering particles in the dispersion medium to satisfy process requirements of inkjet printing.

The present application is related to the field of display technology, and specifically, to a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
A quantum dot light-emitting diode (QD-LED) display is composed of two parts: a quantum dot color filter (QDCF) and diodes as blue light backlight source, which not only have characteristics of light-emitting diode devices such as self-luminosity, as well as being thin and flexible, but also have an advantage of having wide color gamut of quantum dots. The QD-LED display uses photoluminescence characteristics of quantum dots (QDs) in the quantum dot color filter to convert the blue light of the backlight source into red and green light, thereby achieving a purpose of full-color display.
Common red light and green light quantum dot inks are usually added with some scattering particles (e.g., TiO2) to increase an optical path length of excited light in film layers to increase brightness conversion efficiency of the quantum dots in the ink. TiO2 has a good scattering effect, but it cannot be well dispersed in traditional acrylic inks and will slowly agglomerate and block nozzles of inkjet printers, thereby adversely affecting subsequent printing process.

Display panel having quantum dot light scattering particle composite and manufacturing method thereof

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


This application relates to solid forms of an S1P-receptor modulator, which are useful in the treatment of diseases or disorders associated with activity of S1P, including CNS disorders.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid that mediates a wide variety of cellular responses, such as proliferation, cytoskeletal organization and migration, adherence and tight junction assembly, and morphogenesis. S1P can bind with members of the endothelial cell differentiation gene family (EDG receptors) of plasma membrane-localized G protein-coupled receptors. To date, five members of this family have been identified as S1P receptors in different cell types, S1P1 (EDG-1), S1P2 (EDG-5), S1P3 (EDG-3), S1P4 (EDG-6) and S1P5 (EDG-8). SP can produce cytoskeletal re-arrangements in many cell types to regulate immune cell trafficking, vascular homeostasis and cell communication in the central nervous system (CNS) and in peripheral organ systems.
It is known that S1P is secreted by vascular endothelium and is present in blood at concentrations of 200-900 nanomolar and is bound by albumin and other plasma proteins. This provides both a stable reservoir in extracellular fluids and efficient delivery to high-affinity cell-surface receptors. SP binds with low nanomolar affinity to the five receptors S1P1-5. In addition, platelets also contain S1P and may be locally released to cause e.g. vasoconstriction. The receptor subtypes S1P1, S1P2 and S1P3 are widely expressed and represent dominant receptors in the cardiovascular system. Further, S1P1 is also a receptor on lymphocytes. S1P4 receptors are almost exclusively in the haematopoietic and lymphoid system. S1P5 is primarily (though not exclusively) expressed in central nervous system. The expression of S1P5 appears to be restricted to oligodendrocytes in mice, the myelinating cells of the brain, while in rat and man expression at the level of astrocytes and endothelial cells was found but not on oligodendrocytes.
S1P receptor modulators are compounds which signal as (ant)agonists at one or more S1P receptors. The present invention relates to modulators of the S1P5 receptor, in particular agonists, and preferably to agonists with selectivity over S1P1 and/or S1P3 receptors, in view of unwanted cardiovascular and/or immunomodulatory effects. It has now been found that S1P5 agonists can be used in the treatment of cognitive disorders, in particular age-related cognitive decline.
Research is ongoing to develop therapeutics that can be used to treat age related cognitive decline and dementia. For example, the compound (1s,3s)-3-(2-(4-((4-chlorobenzyl)oxy)phenyl)-6,7-dihydrooxazolo[4,5-c]pyridin-5(4H)-yl)cyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid and other small molecule modulators of the S1P receptors are reported in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,796,262. Accordingly, there is a need for new solid forms of SP receptor modulators for preparing pharmaceutically useful formulations and dosage forms with suitable properties related to, for example, facilitating the manufacture of safe, effective, and high quality drug products.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Solid forms of an S1P-receptor modulator


With prior art static electricity distribution measuring devices, there has been the problem that it has not been possible to measure the amount of electrostatic charge over a wide range at high spatial resolution and quickly.

In Japan, a large number of businesses are engaged in manufacturing industries of various types that support the foundations of industry, such as semiconductor manufacturing, electronic and electrical goods manufacturing, precision machinery manufacturing, transport equipment manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, fiber manufacturing, ceramics manufacturing, medical product manufacturing, foodstuff manufacturing and so on. In workplaces that are in charge of actual manufacture in this type of manufacturing industry, the manufactured products are assembled by automatic processing or by manual processing while many components flow along a production line.
Now, if there is a fault or a defect in one of the components that go into the manufactured product, or if there is a malfunction or a defect in the manufacturing process, then naturally a faulty or defective manufactured product will be the result, and there is the problem that the manufacturing yield decreases. Or, even if there is no problem with any component, sometimes faults or defects occur in the product after manufacture for various reasons. In relation both to the former and the latter cases, there are the problems that, in an automated manufacturing process, if an operational fault occurs in some step of the process, then the manufacturing speed (i.e. the manufacturing efficiency) drops, and/or the manufacturing yield of the final manufactured product is deteriorated.
In the prior art, centering upon large companies, there have been many cases in which a series of flows from research through development, design, manufacture, and quality control to sales have been performed in a vertically integrated manner. Businesses of this vertically integrated type are environments in which it is easy for responses in development and design in relation to quality shortcomings and reductions of yield rate of manufactured goods (both finished products and part-finished products) that occur in a manufacturing site to be fed back and/or fed forward within the same company.
On the other hand, in recent years, manufacturers (i.e. manufacturing plants) are being converted into subsidiary companies due to problems of manufacturing costs when they are together in the same business, and also manufacturing companies that only perform contract manufacturing are appearing. In a similar manner, "fabless" businesses and so on that only perform research and development but do not perform manufacture also are flourishing in the fields of electronics, information and communication, and so on.
In this manner, in current manufacturing industry, there is an increasing physical, temporal, technical, and human dissociation between the area of development and design and the area of actual manufacturing. When there is such a dissociation, feed back and feed forward between a manufacturing site and a development site become difficult in relation to poor product quality and deterioration of yield rate occurring in the manufacturing site. Because of this difficulty, there is a concern that manufacturing capacity in Japanese manufacturing industry (including contract manufacturers that only perform manufacture to contract, manufacturing subsidiaries, fabless businesses and so on) is declining.
There can be various causes of deterioration in product quality and yield rate at a manufacturing site. Some causes are inevitable, such as poor ease of design and manufacture, level of experience of the manufacturing site, manufacturing process flow, manufacturing equipment, human skills, and so on, but a cause that is often overlooked is static electricity. In other words, there are causes of various kinds that can lead to faults or defects in components, manufactured products or manufacturing processes of this type, but static electricity is also considered as being one possible cause.
In a manufacturing facility, in consideration of adverse effects of this type upon components, manufactured products, manufacturing processes and so on due to static electricity, means have been devised for prevention of static upon factory buildings, floors, walls and so on and for preventing buildup of static electricity upon the clothing of workers, and means have been implemented in order for static electricity not to exert any influence upon components, manufactured products, manufacturing processes and so on. In concrete terms, static electricity has been eliminated from floor surfaces, walls, conveyor lines and so on before working starts, grounds have been provided for discharging static electricity, and contrivances have been implemented in order for static electricity not to build up upon parts used in the manufacturing process or upon the manufactured products.
Furthermore, in manufacturing plants, means have also been devised for eliminating static electricity in advance from components to be used in the manufacturing process. And, in a similar manner, operators are also performing measures for only starting work after elimination of static electricity.
In this manner, in manufacturing plants, contrivances of various types have been implemented for suppressing the negative influence of static electricity. Despite this ingenuity, the problem of buildup of static electricity upon parts used in manufacturing processes and upon the manufactured products is not yet perfectly solved. For example, there is steady progress in reduction of power consumption in electronic equipment and precision equipment and so on made in manufacturing plants. Along with the reduction of power consumption, the capability of components that are used in the manufacture of such electronic equipment and precision equipment for resisting static electricity is undesirably decreasing. Due to this, the components used in the manufacture of such electronic equipment and precision equipment often become charged with static electricity and can easily become faulty.
There are various kinds of components that are used in the manufacture of such electronic equipment and precision equipment. For example, parts made from resin or vinyl (such as connectors, covers for screens, casings and so on) are also used in many ways. These components have a certain size, and, if they become charged with static electricity, this may sometimes engender unpredictable behavior.
For example, a plurality of components may flow in a conveyor line and may enter a process in which they are arranged in fixed positions, or may enter into a process of visual testing by image processing. In a process of this type, it is desirable for the plurality of parts that have been put onto the conveyor line to flow in the conveyor line while appropriate feeding intervals between them are maintained.
However, if such parts are electrostatically charged, then behavior on the conveyor line such as parts getting closer to one another due to static electricity or repelling one another and moving further apart or the like may occur. In some circumstances, adjacent parts may actually stick together. When this type of behavior takes place, appropriate processing for implementing the arrangement process or the external visual testing process described above may undesirably become impossible, and sometimes it may happen that a product is automatically determined as being defective, even though actually it is good.
If such unpredictable behavior of components undesirably takes place in the arrangement process or the external visual inspection process, then it is necessary to stop the conveyor line temporarily. It can be predicted that this type of behavior may be caused by electrostatic charge, but, as a countermeasure, there is no choice but to eliminate static electricity from the conveyor line, from all the processing equipment, and from all parts fed onto the conveyor line. If the conveyor line is stopped due to this type of static electricity elimination task, a large loss will eventuate to the manufacturing plant. Manufacturing operation stops during the task of static electricity elimination (which, depending upon the circumstances, may occupy half a day or a full day).
It is known that static electricity is the cause for components to exhibit behavior of the type described above, but the actual mechanism that leads to such behavior has not really been elucidated. In particular, sometimes components may exhibit different behaviors such as approaching toward one another or moving apart or the like, and sometimes they may exhibit no unusual behavior at all. Due to this fact, it is difficult to clarify the mechanisms that lead to such behavior, because it is not known how the static electricity (surmised to be) charged upon the components is distributed upon the components. If it is difficult to elucidate the mechanism, then it is also of course impossible to investigate countermeasures for preventing behavior of the sort described above.
Additionally, covers made from resin or vinyl or the like that are attached to the screens of portable telephones and smart phones and so on are liable to become charged with static electricity due to their material and their area. If such a component is employed in the process of assembly of an electronic device or a precision device, then, if the component is still charged with static electricity, then sometimes it may happen that, due to its electrostatic charge, the position in which it is installed may deviate in an arbitrary manner, which is undesirable. A device during the assembly of which this type of deviation has happened naturally turns out to be defective.
In this case as well, it can be surmised that accumulation of electrostatic charge upon the component is the cause, but the relationship between the behavior and the electrostatic charge is unknown. It is impossible to anticipate resolution of the problem if this relationship is not known. In other words, clear understanding of how a component or the like becomes charged with static electricity is a prerequisite for solution of such problems that arise in a manufacturing process. To put this in another manner, for it to be possible to check the nature of the distribution in which static electricity is charged upon a component or the like is a precondition for clarifying the behavior of the component.
Furthermore, in devices such as printers that take advantage of static electricity, it is necessary to verify the static electricity distribution of parts that utilize electrostatic charging.
In this manner, as a precondition for solution of problems of various types in manufacturing processes and so on that are considered to be caused by static electricity, and as a precondition for checking the performance and characteristics of components that utilize static electricity, it is desirable to be able to measure the electrostatic charge amount distribution upon a component or the like accurately and also quickly.
As devices for measuring amounts of electrostatic charge of this type, there have been proposed a surface electrometer or an electrostatic force microscope, or a electrostatic charge amount measuring device etc. that calculates an amount of electrostatic charge by measuring, as a change in potential, a virtual electromagnetic wave generated by vibration imparted to the measurement subject (for example, refer to Patent Documents #1 and #2).

Static electricity distribution measuring device

Abstract: In the present invention, there are provided: a detection unit 20 in which a plurality of sensors, provided upon a surface, move relatively along the surface of an electrostatically charged subject 100 to be measured, and detect potential changes generated by the distance to the surface of the measurement subject being changed; a reference distance measuring unit that measures the distance between the surface of the measurement subject and the surface of the detection unit; a distance adjustment unit that adjusts that distance so that it becomes a reference distance that is determined in advance; and a vibrating unit that causes the distance between the surface of the measurement subject and the surface of the detection unit to change upon a predetermined cycle.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A system and method for managing an enterprise is provided. The system and method may be based on a layered architecture including a data center that may store all documents and data abstractions for an enterprise. One or more services may interact with an enterprise resource planning system and/or a customer relationship manager to facilitate interaction with the documents and data abstractions. A client access point of the system may include a graphical user interface that includes one or more enterprise management functions for managing the enterprise documents and/or data abstractions. The enterprise management functions may include a user proposal manager, an enterprise proposal manager, a proposal library, a content health manager, an archive library, a bid center, a contracts manager, a resume manager, a debriefing center, and/or a projects manager. The enterprise management functions may re-engineer business processes and enable users to manage all aspects of an enterprise using a single unified interface.

Enterprises and other organizations often have a diverse range of business needs, where one of the most important aspects of enterprise management is the sales and business development process. This often complex practice includes many tangible and intangible variables, ranging from competitive initiation of transactions to effective delivery of promises. Managing these variables is often disjointed, particularly for consultants, contractors, and/or employees that need to access specific data stored in multiple and disparate departments in order to respond to solicitations for products or services, generally referred to as a Request for Proposal. When entities solicit work through a Proposal, Request for Proposal, Request for Information, or Request for Quotes, a great deal of information may be requested. This information may include past performance, account and contract information, price quotes, corporate profiles, biographies, qualifications, financial data, third party recommendations, estimated completion dates, technical specifications, and proposed solution design, among many other things.
Managing a proposal lifecycle requires significant and diverse resources. An enterprise's "reach" may include operational aspects of developing a proposal solution, researching competitors, past account or relevant experience information, estimating costs, managing resources, and assembling documents into a packaged proposal, performing post-process review, among other things. Even after proposals are won or lost, enterprises may continue to be faced with significant information management needs and reporting, such as generating and executing contracts, deploying resources and personnel to fulfill the contract, interacting with vendors or sub-contractors, internal and external personnel review, contract management and fulfillment, process reviews, and/or developing timelines or milestones to ensure timely delivery, among other things.
Existing proposal management systems fail to provide solutions that manage all materials and information necessary for managing the full proposal lifecycle, let alone presenting the information to users in a useful, intuitive, and informative way. That is, existing systems take a divide-and-conquer approach, with distinct systems for managing proposals, contracts, personnel, scheduling, resumes, and day-to-day tasks. One drawback of these approaches is that each system usually includes a separate data store, resulting in unnecessary redundancy and data saturation, as well as scattering critical data throughout an organization. Even when disparate repositories can be integrated, such as using a data warehouse, existing systems are nonetheless unable to integrate all of an organization's repositories, particularly those residing on individual machines. This often results in competitive obstacles, such as competitor information being stored in private repositories, or bids or proposals being lost because data cannot be analyzed effectively. For example, without a unified data management solution, there is an inability to search all actual documents, descriptive information about materials may be unavailable. Instead, the organization must rely on manual processes, such as creating reports, developing scripts, or other processes that take a significant amount of time and resources. Moreover, the organization will not have the means to consistently update documents, control informational lifespan, or control the use of proposal information. This may lead to an organization being evaluated negatively because documents, resumes, personnel data, or other information is inaccurate or out-of-date, and proposal requirements are often difficult to correlate against products and services offered by an enterprise due to the lack of communication between systems.
Existing systems also suffer from drawbacks due to lack of prioritization and communication, as the existing systems have no mechanism for prioritizing or sharing information about the prioritized opportunities. This may result in imbalanced resource allocation, where low impact proposals are given significant attention while high impact opportunities languish. For example, an organization may win a large number of low impact proposals, yet these proposals may be less profitable or have less strategic impact for the organization. Moreover, the lack of visibility across groups and organizations, such as capture management, business development, proposal management, portfolio management, and/or operations prevents organizations from exploiting the benefits of collaboration. Without a simple and integrated display of the key performance indicators and metrics, teams cannot rally and work together successfully. Another problem of existing systems is maintenance and troubleshooting overhead, particularly when distinct suppliers or vendors supply the systems, introducing the need to contact third parties to utilize or maintain information. Yet another problem with existing systems is a lack of seamless communication and interaction, introducing problems in maintaining consistency or analyzing data to develop intelligent business strategies, among other problems.
These and other drawbacks are wide spread among existing systems.


The invention relates to a sole system for use especially with an athletic shoe or prosthesis. The sole includes a coupled spring configuration that forms a collapsible, longitudinal arch to permit maximum storage and release of energy during the running cycle.

Developers of athletic shoes are confronted with the problem of storing energy in the sole of the shoe and releasing the energy in a manner which improves the efficiency of the locomotor system to propel the body forward.
Many examples of running shoes exist; however, very few, if any, have been embraced by runners and foot specialists. Studies of the dynamics of the human foot reveal that the longitudinal arch of a human foot, with its numerous joints and ligaments, is capable of returning 70% of the energy put into it and that it is far more efficient than the soles of the best existing running shoes. See Discovery, October 1989 (pp. 77-83). If runners could run with bare feet, many would prefer to do so. However, impact forces are too great and the foot needs protection, especially on hard surfaces.
Athletic shoes have been proposed which have not been entirely satisfactory in that either the stored energy of heel-strike is not transmitted to the runner in the most effective manner to maximize running efficiency or the energy which enhances running efficiency is stored during the push-off period of the running cycle, thereby, impact energy losses are not used. These problems are overcome by the present invention. The inventors hereof have discovered that for heel-toe running, energy should be stored in the sole of the shoe at heel-strike and then, in turn, this stored energy should be released at a critical time and in a particular manner to enhance toe-off propulsion.
While purporting to provide for maximum performance, the latest technology in running shoes fails to achieve the ultimate design which permits maximum storage and return of energy for a variety of running modes ranging from heel-toe running (long-distance) to flat-footed running or toe running (sprinting).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,273 (Gross) discloses an athletic shoe having a sole arrangement which contains an elastic band extending through a longitudinal passageway in the mid-sole. The purpose of this device is to create an artificial tendon by facilitating the storage and release of strain energy created during the running cycle. However, because of the position of the elastic band relative to the sole plate, the energy stored at heel strike is not transmitted to the toe to enhance toe-off propulsion.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,046 (Kosova) describes a sole of a running shoe having a wire spring. The wire spring serves to bias the anterior portion of the sole from the heel (back of the shoe) forward to the arch region, separating the anterior of the sole into upper and lower portions. The objective of this device is to enhance the runner's performance by reducing impact at heel-strike and launching the runner forward into a comfortable stride. Unfortunately, this device in practice provides energy return immediately at heel-lift, precluding storage of energy which could otherwise be used to propel the runner forward as claimed in the disclosed invention.
The latest commercial running shoes fail to completely address the desired attributes of a properly designed running shoe. For example, several attempts at returning energy only provide a heel-lift assist, permitting little forward propulsion. Others, although claiming to facilitate propulsion at toe-off, are incapable of storing the kinetic (muscle-generated) and potential energies of the runner at heel-strike, allowing a fraction of these energies to be lost to heat and to internal joint resistance (internal damping).
Similar challenges have confronted developers of lower-extremity prosthetic limbs. While it has effected substantial improvements, prosthetic research has so far focused almost exclusively on simulation or duplication of a natural foot in an attempt to provide the amputee with a normal gait and a greater degree of comfort. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,266 (Truesdell). A recent improvement emerging from prosthetic research is the College Park Foot design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,554 (Robinson). This design describes a prosthetic foot having an ankle member, a heel member and an elongated metatarsal-toe member coupled to each other for relative pivotal movements. The toe member is partially bifurcated at its forward end to provide independently flexible toe sections at the inner and outer sides of the foot. This design thus represents a three-point balance system achieving a stable support matching that of a natural foot.
One notable exception is the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,363 (Phillips). This patent describes a composite prosthetic foot having a leg portion, a foot portion and a heel portion all rigidly joined and all three provided with substantial elasticity to allow return of energy absorbed and permit the amputee to engage in sports such as running and playing tennis. Understandably, this design has met with general approval from amputees who are sport enthusiasts, and at the same time enjoyed commercial success.
Like its running shoe counterpart, the above disclosed invention does not contain a mechanism whereby energy absorbed at heel-strike can be stored and later released at the critical moment to create forward propulsion. In addition, the device does not have significant means for storing energy upon impact for the flat-footed runner, i.e., no real longitudinal arch.
The present invention represents a significant improvement over the prior art. Included in the design of the present invention is a collapsible, longitudinal arch formed by coupled springs which operates to delay the release of absorbed energy until toe-lift, thereby propelling the runner forward into a comfortable stride. The purpose of the present invention is to minimize energy losses during the impact phase and to use these energies to improve the runner's overall efficiency. The design can be incorporated into either a shoe for use with a natural foot or a foot prosthesis specially fabricated for amputees wishing to participate in athletic activities. Moreover, the present invention maximizes the runner's performance in all running modes including heel-toe running, sprinting and running flat-footed.

Shoe and foot prosthesis with a coupled spring system


A testing device includes a pressure vessel, a mounting stand disposed in an internal space of the pressure vessel, on which a device to be tested is mounted, test electrodes, disposed in the internal space of the pressure vessel, that supply a test voltage to the device to be tested mounted on the mounting stand, and a pressurization unit that raises the pressure of the internal space of the pressure vessel. The test voltage is supplied from the test electrodes to the device to be tested mounted on the mounting stand, and testing of the device to be tested is carried out, in a condition that the pressure of the internal space of the pressure vessel is raised by the pressurization unit.

The present invention relates to a testing device and testing method for carrying out a high voltage testing of a device to be tested.
A testing method exists whereby a high voltage test is supplied to a device to be tested, and a high voltage testing of the device is carried out. With this kind of testing method, a dielectric breakdown and a discharge occurs between electrodes of the device to be tested, or between electrodes of the device to be tested and a testing device, and the like. There is a possibility of the device to be tested or testing device being damaged, and a possibility of the testing of the device to be tested not being carried out correctly.
For this reason, a technology exists whereby the device to be tested is disposed in an environment of a gas with a high insulation property, for example, sulfur hexafluoride gas (SF6), and high voltage testing is performed after ensuring the dielectric strength of the testing environment.
However, a gas with a high insulation property, typified by sulfur hexafluoride gas, has a high global warming potential (GWP), and the burden on the global environment is large. For example, the global warming potential of sulfur hexafluoride gas is "23,900".
For this reason, consideration is given to suppressing discharge with a method other than the method using a gas with a high insulation performance. For example, there is a technology whereby an insulation shield is disposed in a discharge path. For example, a high voltage testing device exists that has an insulation shield that comes into contact with the surface of a seal between first and second leads of a subject of measurement (for example, refer to JP-A-11-271387). Also, a semiconductor wafer measuring device exists wherein an insulation member is interposed between the leading ends of a pair of probes that comes into contact with a wafer, in such away as to come into contact with the wafer (for example, refer to JP-A-2010-10306).
Also, as another method, there is a technology whereby testing is carried out in a condition in which a device to be tested is immersed in an insulating solution. For example, a technology exists whereby withstand voltage measurement is performed with a semiconductor device immersed in a fluorocarbon solution with an insulation property (for example, refer to JP-A-6-120315). Also, a technology exists whereby the withstand voltage of a semiconductor substrate is inspected by covering at least the surface of the semiconductor substrate with an insulating solution, and applying a voltage between at least two places on the semiconductor substrate (for example, refer to JP-A-2003-100819).
However, with the method whereby an insulation shield is disposed in the discharge path, a structure wherein the insulation shield is disposed in a predetermined position is necessary, meaning that there is a possibility of the testing device becoming complicated.
Also, with the method whereby testing is carried out in a condition in which the device to be tested is immersed in an insulating solution, since the insulating solution is used, there is a possibility that the equipment for the testing becomes complicated. For example, when a solution with a low boiling point, such as fluorocarbon, is used as the insulating solution, an equipment for preventing the insulating solution from evaporating during the testing, or equipment for the evacuation or collection of gas when drying, is necessary. Also, even when a solution that does not have a low boiling point is used as the insulating solution, equipment for cleaning is necessary.


The present invention is a painting and filtration system wherein the system is capable of non-continuous operation, and wherein the system is capable of automatically removing impurities from the filtration system during operation. The system is particularly characterized by utilizing a solvent holding tank associated with a filtration unit, and sensors located in the solvent holding tank which generate signals to a controller which functions to activate and deactive the filtration system and functions to control the flow of liquid throughout the system so that the filtration unit can be cleaned when necessary during operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrodeposition painting system, and more particularly, to a closed system including a painting station and one or more rinsing stations, wherein the system includes a filtration. unit which provides paint rich components to the painting station and a solvent tank which is connected to the filtration unit and which provides solvent rich fractions to the rinsing stations. The invention is particularly characterized by the utilization of sensors in the solvent tank to generate signals which are used to control the operation of the system.
2. Description of Prior Art
Electrodeposition painting systems, particularly those used for applying a coat of paint onto the external and internal surfaces of an automobile body are known in the art. Examples of such systems are disclosed in Japanese Publication Nos. 57-194016, 57-207200 and 58-123,900. These systems are characterized by submerging an automobile body in an electrolytic bath and then rinsing the body through a series of rinsing stations. These systems are also characterized by the use of a filtration system which is capable of separating the paint contained in the electrolytic bath into paint rich components, typically, pigment, binder and a small amount of solvent, typically water, and solvent rich components, typically water. In use, the paint rich components which are separated in the filtration system are recycled back to the electrolytic tank and are used for painting an automobile body, and the solvent rich components are provided to the rinse stations and are used to rinse the painted automobile body to remove excess paint and solids from the paint which are stuck on the electrodeposited film.
The above painting systems have gained wide acceptance in the automobile industry. However, these systems suffer from a number of drawbacks. In use, the system operates continuously, with paint being continuously supplied to the filtration unit for separation into paint rich and solvent rich components. The continuous operation of the painting and filtration system results in increased operating costs, particularly at times when automobile body parts are not being painted. For example, the electrodeposited painting process may only be desired for one plane shift, amounting to approximately eight hours. Due to the continuous nature of the system, the filtration unit operates on a 24 hour cycle. Accordingly, unnecessary electrical and other operating costs are incurred as a result of the operation of the filtration system for 16 hours wherein automobile bodies are not being painted.
A further consequence of the filtration system operating on a continuous cycle is that if any of the elements of the system malfunction, the entire system is susceptible to accidental spillage of either water or paint. If such an accident should occur, cleanup costs and costs due to the inability to utilize the painting system will be incurred. Accordingly, the continuous operation of the filtration system poses a potential safety risk as a result of the system being unable to automatically shutdown in advance of accident.
In addition, the filters which are used to separate the paint into paint rich components and solvent rich components are susceptible to fouling by solids contained in the paint, feed. Such solids tend to accumulate throughout the system, and particularly in the filtration unit. If the accumulation of solids reaches a point wherein the filters. are completely clogged, the system has to be manually shut down and the filters have to be washed to remove the solid residue. Again, this results in an increase in cost as a result of cleaning, and production downtime.
Attempts have been made in the art to solve some of these problems, but a solution has not been proposed which can remedy all of the problems.
For example, Japanese Publication No. 61-227195 discloses a filtration device for use in connection with an elctrodeposition bath which is capable of intermittent operation according to the level of water maintained in a solvent holding tank attached to the filtration unit. Although the sensors maintained in the solvent holding tank function to start and stop the filtration unit, the publication does not disclose a solution to the clogging problem caused by the accumulation of paint residue throughout the filtration unit.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an electrodeposition painting system including a filtration unit for separating paint into paint rich and solvent rich components wherein the system is capable of noncontinuous operation, and wherein the filters contained in the filtration unit may be cleaned during operation without incurring additional costs for system downtime.

Closed noncontinuous electrodeposition painting system


A peripheral device is detachably connected to a host device and includes: an electronic component that generates heat; an electrical connector for electrically connecting the electronic component to the host device; a heat transfer device having a first end thermally connected to the electronic component; and a heat transfer connector thermally connecting a second of the heat transfer device to the host device. The heat generated by the electronic component is discharged, or transferred, to the host device side through the heat transfer device and the heat transfer connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a miniaturized peripheral device detachably connected to the host device and adapted to allow its electronic components to be efficiently cooled. The present invention also relates to an electronic device including a host device and such a peripheral device.
2. Background Art
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a typical conventional optical transceiver. This conventional optical transceiver has only two interfaces: an electrical connector 31 for exchanging electrical signals with the host device side; and an optical fiber 32 for exchanging optical signals with the line side.
The optical transceiver also includes intense-heat generating components, such as a laser emitting device and a photoreceptor device, and semiconductor devices for data communications, such as a PHY-LSI and a CDR. The amount of heat generated by these semiconductor devices has also increased as their power consumption has increased as a result of enhancing their switching speed to accommodate an increase in the communication speed in recent years. Therefore, the temperature of the optical transceiver must be reduced by external air cooling to ensure stable operation of the device.
To efficiently perform air cooling, it is necessary to tightly join the cooling body and the electronic components to be cooled together and, furthermore, increase the surface area of the cooling body. Therefore, a conventional optical transceiver is constructed such that: air-cooling fins 34 (a cooling body) are provided on the outside surface of an enclosure 33; and the enclosure 33 has protrusions on its inside that are in contact with the electronic components. With this arrangement, a blower mechanism is provided in the host device to efficiently air-cool the enclosure 33 of the optical transceiver.
On the other hand, electronic devices have been proposed which employ a heat pipe to cool its heat generating electronic components (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-302584).
However, conventional electronic devices using air-cooling fins and a blower mechanism are high in manufacturing cost and are difficult to miniaturize. Further, in the case of conventional electronic devices using a heat pipe, the optical transceiver is integrated with the host device; that is, the optical transceiver is not detachable from the host device.


In a method of manufacturing a field emitter, a patterned conductive layer is formed on a substrate, an upper surface of the conductive layer is coated with a mixture of a field emission material and metal powder, the mixture is thermally treated to improve adhesion of the mixture to the conductive layer, and a field emission material and a metal deposited on a portion of the substrate other than the conductive layer are removed. Accordingly, the lifespan and field emission characteristic of the field emitter are greatly improved, and a large area field emitter having excellent characteristics that cannot be realized in the conventional art is fabricated.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a field emitter, by which method a large field emitter having an excellent adhesion is simply formed on a metal electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional field emitter has been used in various fields according to a field emission characteristic and a field emission effect thereof. Particularly, since carbon nanotubes were developed in the early 1990's, much research into the manufacture of field emission displays using a carbon nanotube thin films has been conducted. In a field emitter using carbon nanotubes, carbon-family materials including carbon nanotubes have poor adhesion to a substrate formed of silicon, glass, or the like. Hence, forming a film of carbon-family materials on a substrate is difficult. Even when the film is formed and used as a field emission emitter for a long period of time, the carbon nanotubes may be detached from the substrate due to low adhesion of the film. Hence, manufacturing of a wide field emitter is difficult.
Conventional methods of manufacturing a field emitter of a field emission display using carbon nanotubes can be roughly divided into two methods. A first method involves growing carbon nanotubes from a substrate, and a second method involves mechanically forming carbon nanotubes on a substrate by pasting the substrate with grown carbon nanotubes. These conventional methods have the following problems. When the first method is used, formation of a wide field emitter is substantially difficult because adhesion to a silicon substrate, a glass substrate, an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate, etc. is poor. Hence, much research into the manufacturing of a wide field emitter is required.
When the second method is used, many impurities, such as, a binder, a resin, a filter, or the like, are included in the carbon nanotubes. The impurities adversely affect field emission by the carbon nanotubes, and have a bad influence upon the durability and stability of the field emitter. While mechanical polishing, such as milling, is performed, many defects are detected. As a result, the life span of the field emitter is short.
When materials other than carbon nanotubes are used as field emission materials, they also may have low adhesion to a lower substrate or an electrode. The low adhesion of the field emission materials directly affects the performance and durability of the field emission display.


A method for reshaping a nasal airway in a patient involves advancing an inflatable balloon of a reshaping device in an uninflated configuration into a nostril of the patient and between a nasal septum and a lateral wall of the nasal airway. The method then involves inflating the inflatable balloon to an inflated configuration to cause the inflatable balloon to contact nasal mucosa covering the nasal septum and the lateral wall, delivering energy from an energy delivery member attached to or inside of the inflatable balloon, and removing the reshaping device from the nasal airway.

During respiration, the anatomy, shape, tissue composition and properties of the human airway produce airflow resistance. The nose is responsible for almost two thirds of this resistance. Most of the resistance occurs in the anterior part of the nose, known as the internal nasal valve, which acts as a flow-limiter. Although this flow-limiting effect of the internal nasal valve works well in most people, a large number of people have a poorly functioning nasal valve, which results in too much resistance to breathing and thus respiration abnormalities, which can significantly affect a patient's quality of life.
The internal nasal valve area is formed by the nasal septum, the caudal border of the upper lateral cartilage (ULC), the head of the inferior turbinate, and the pyriform aperture and tissues that surround it. The angle formed between the caudal border of the ULC and the nasal septum is normally about 10-15 degrees, as illustrated in FIG. 2A. The internal nasal valve is usually the narrowest part of the nasal airway and is responsible for more than two thirds of the airflow resistance produced by the nose. Inadequate nasal valve structural strength, stiffness or conformation can be a consequence of previous surgery, trauma, aging, and/or primary weakness of the upper lateral cartilage.
Poor nasal airflow can also occur in people with a structurally normal nasal/nasal valve anatomy, as well as a normal nasal passage cross-sectional area. The strength, structure and resistance to collapse of the nasal passage can also be normal in people with poor nasal airflow. People can have poor nasal airflow from other causes, including deviated septum, allergic rhinitis (runny nose), non-allergic rhinitis, turbinate hyperplasia, nasal tip ptosis, and nasal polyposis (nasal polyps). Regardless of the cause, poor nasal breathing and/or nasal congestion has profound effects on a person's health and quality of life.
Existing methods for correcting nasal valve inadequacy include surgically repositioning the upper lateral cartilage or adding structural grafts to support the lateral wall of the nose. Surgical structural enhancement of the valve can include the use of grafts made from cartilage or any of a number of other materials. The most frequent methods involve surgical implantation of spreader grafts between the upper lateral cartilage and the nasal septum. Alternately, stents, spreaders or other devices may be implanted to reposition the ULC. Although they work in some cases, invasive surgical and implant solutions may also involve substantial risk and post-surgical discomfort.
Another attempted solution to nasal valve insufficiency involves the use of external (non-implanted) nasal dilators, placed temporarily and removed by the patient. Such external devices, such as the "Breathe Right" strip, are placed on the outside surface of the nose. Example of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,499 and 7,114,495. Other devices may be temporarily placed in the nasal cavity but not surgically implanted, for example the devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,055,523 and 6,978,781. These temporary devices, whether external or internal, can be uncomfortable, unsightly, cause skin irritation, and require frequent removal and replacement by the patient.
The assignee of the present application has developed devices, systems and methods for treating the upper airway to ameliorate nasal valve insufficiency, runny nose and/or other conditions. Further description of these devices, systems and methods may be found, for example, in the patents and applications incorporated by reference above. Despite the many advances described in those and other references, improvements and enhancements are still desirable.

Methods and devices to treat nasal airways


A two or more person RUV (recreational utility vehicle) is provided with a multi-place multi-planar saddle seat assembly, multi-place multi-planar foot board assemblies, and grip handles.

Parent Application
The parent invention of the noted '508 application relates to an all-terrain type of vehicle and particularly an improved type of all-terrain vehicle, which is thoughtfully designed to carry the operator and at least one passenger in tandem.
All-terrain vehicles (ATV) are growing in usage and popularity and are described by the American National Standards Institute Specification Number ANSI/SVIA 1-1990 as the following: "Any motorized off-highway vehicle 50 inches (1270 mm) or less in overall width, with an unladen dry weight of 600 lb. (275 kg) or less, designed to travel on four low-pressure tires, having a seat designed to be straddled by the operator and handlebars for steering control, and intended for use by a single operator and no passenger." Hence ATV's by definition are expressly designed for a single operator and no passenger.
Current ATV design art centers on sizing the machine's suspension, seating and general ergonomics around the performance envelope necessary for a single occupant. However, due to the mobility of these vehicles for off-road terrain, coupled with very high levels of utility, often there is a desire to carry more than just the operator to the destination. Transporting a passenger is expressly disallowed by the present ATV manufacturers. The high placement of the rider on a single place saddle seat challenged with the unpredictable surface conditions found in off-round terrain demand performance levels exceeding design limits.
In view of the foregoing, the object of the parent invention is to upgrade the live passenger load capability enabling a new class of vehicle to be created which is capable of safely transporting more than just the operator in off-highway conditions. This new class of vehicle will be called a recreation utility vehicle (RUV).
This upgrade required substantial invention due to the relatively high placement of the riders on the saddle type seat, the ratio of combined operator and passenger weight as compared to the vehicle weight, and the rough and varying type of terrain encountered in off-highway use. The combined weight of operator and passenger can exceed half the weight of the unladen vehicle. This, in combination with the required high ground clearance of this type of off-highway vehicle, and resulting high placement of the live load straddling the seat, required enlargements in wheelbase and track as well as suspension upgrades specific for side rollover resistance, and dynamic roll suppression (DRS), to be described, in order to make the RUV suitable for off highway usage.
The RUV will be defined as: "Any motorized off-highway vehicle 36 inches or greater in track, 45 inches or greater in wheelbase, designed to travel on at least four low-pressure tires, having a seat designed to be straddled by the operator and at least one passenger, and having handlebar-type steering control."

Two person RUV with ergonomic seating and feet placement


An image forming apparatus obtains area information indicating target areas to be subjected to image processing from a plurality of image processing servers and judges whether or not their target areas are overlapping each other. The image forming apparatus examines the priority levels set in advance for the image processing servers if their target areas are overlapping each other, then repeats to instruct an image processing server with a lower priority level than another image processing server to adjust the position of its target area until it is judged that the target areas are not overlapping each other. And the image forming apparatus transmits information of the target areas confirmed to be not overlapping each other to the image processing servers, so that the image processing servers can successfully perform image processing on their own target areas according to the information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing systems each including an image processing apparatus such as a multifunctional digital machine which is referred to as MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) and one single image processing server or a plurality of image processing servers which are connected to each other via a network; image forming apparatuses to be preferably employed in this image processing system; image processing methods for this image processing system; and recording mediums with image processing programs stored thereon to make a computer of the image forming apparatus execute processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
As is conventionally suggested (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 2004-289500 and No. 2009-129340), not only an image forming apparatus such as a MFP, just like the one mentioned above, by itself performs all image processing operations on image data inputted thereto, but also such an image forming apparatus makes multiple external image processing servers cooperatively perform their responsible and different image processing operations on image data inputted to the image forming apparatus.
For example, such an image processing system is capable of making: an image processing server with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) function perform an OCR operation on image data obtained by scanning a document with a scanner of an image forming apparatus; an image processing server with translation function translate the recognized characters; and an image processing server with code merging function merge a QR code to the image data obtained by the translation. If making image processing servers with specific functions cooperatively perform specific image processing operations in this way above, an image forming apparatus, whose resources are too limited to perform all image processing operations by itself, does not have to do it; an image forming apparatus only has to employ a simple configuration, which is very advantageous.
And recently, there has been another suggested image processing system which provides image processing services of various service suppliers via the Web so that users can select their preferred ones among them and obtain their target image via the Web, just like SaaS (Software as a Service).
However, the conventional image processing systems to make an external image processing server(s) perform image processing, including the technologies described in the above-introduced Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 2004-289500 and No. 2009-129340, have the following disadvantage.
When multiple image processing servers cooperatively perform image processing operations on image data, the user has to be afraid if the image data could be processed to be an unintended form depending on the order of the image processing operations.
For example, an image pattern 101 such as a security code or QR code is merged to target image data 100 as illustrated in FIG. 25A, which is a conventional method to protect handout documents. However, there is a problem with the conventional method that if a second-order image processing operation is performed on the target image data 100 after the code merging operation, the security code or QR code might hardly be detected because of being unfavorably converted to a different image pattern 102 by the second-order image processing operation, as illustrated in FIG. 25B. There is another problem with the conventional method that if a translation operation is performed on the target image data 100 after the code merging operation, the security code or QR code might go totally against the intended meaning of the user because of being unfavorably converted to a different image pattern 103 by the translation operation, as illustrated in FIG. 25C.
Specifically from the aspect of document protection, security codes or QR codes have been used and needed in more cases for recent years; and accordingly there will be increasing such problems as mentioned above.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

System and method for determining images areas within scanned document

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A battery apparatus and an electronic equipment are provided which permit the use of a plurality of types of battery apparatuses that differ in capacity, and are advantageous in improving ease of use. A case of a battery apparatus has a main body portion and a bottom portion disposed at one side in a thickness direction at the midpoint in a width direction of the main body portion. Portions on both sides in the width direction of the case are formed as flat side surfaces that are parallel to each other and extend in a length direction. A plane on one side in the thickness direction of the case is formed as a flat bottom surface. At portions of the case on both sides in the width direction, guide grooves are formed which extend in the length direction and engage projections disposed at a battery housing chamber thereby to position the position of the case in the thickness direction within the battery housing chamber.

As a battery apparatus mountable on an electronic equipment, there is provided one which is provided with a case having a predetermined width, thickness and length, a battery cell housed in the inside of the case, and a battery-side terminal disposed at the surface of the case and electrically connected to the battery cell, and which is inserted into a battery housing chamber of the electronic equipment in the direction of the length so that the battery-side terminal makes connection with a housing chamber-side terminal of the battery housing chamber (see for example Japanese Patent No. 2508447).
However, in the above-mentioned battery apparatus and the electronic equipment, if a battery apparatus having a smaller contour dimension than the shape of a battery housing chamber is inserted into the battery housing chamber, the battery apparatus is unstable in the battery housing chamber, thus failing to use suitably. That is, there is the disadvantage that it is impossible to selectively use a plurality of types of battery apparatuses having different contour dimensions, namely, different capacities.

Battery having a case with an identification recess and guide grooves for coupling to an electronic device


An application execution unit executes a game program. A play item acquisition processing unit generates item acquisition information by using an item ID associated with a met play requirement of a game, and a hard disk drive stores the generated item acquisition information. The play item acquisition processing unit refers to execution information stored in an execution information storing unit and generates an item acquisition table that maps an item ID to attribute information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an application that allows a user to obtain an item and to a technology related thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a wide variety of game software has been introduced. As one of measures for providing motivation for the user to continue to play, a possible option is to commend the degree of achievement when the user achieves various missions in a game. In this case, if it is possible to present the total degree of achievement for various games to the user and/or to allow the user to compete for the degree of achievement with another user instead of commending the achievement only in a closed world of a single game, the attractiveness of a game system will increase, and the user will be given meaning to play until the end. As such, achievement management systems are proposed that allows a user to acquire items when the user achieves missions and derive the level of the user based on points obtained according to acquisition of the items (Patent document No. 1).
[Patent document No. 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-5255
While various types of game software have been developed, game makers have been making efforts to introduce new games to users by distributing free trial-version software in addition to product advertisement by TV commercials and the like. In recent years, game devices have been introduced that allow game software to be stored in a large-capacity memory device such as a hard disk so as to enjoy installed games without a game disk. In such game devices, users can also download game software from a virtual game shop via the Internet. Thus, efforts have been also made toward acquisition of new users by distributing trial-version software from the virtual game shop.
In a system proposed in Patent document No. 1, a user may complete a mission and acquire an item when playing trial-version software. In this case, since the software is only trial-version software, it is not fair to users who have purchased product-version software to incorporate the acquired item in points that represent the level of a user. This is thus not preferred. However, since the acquired item is a result of game play even though the software is a trial version, it is preferred to be able to notify the user of the acquisition of the item. It is also preferred to present to the user at the same time that the acquisition did not occur in the product-version software. It is necessary to properly manage item acquisition information in order to achieve such a process.

Information processing apparatus and information processing system