A high performance composite hose having enhanced durability, reliability and longevity for use in high pressure, high temperature and/or vibrational environments such as turbocharged truck, bus, automobile, marine and generating engines. The composite hose comprises one or more plies of balanced fabric having a high performance elastomer adhered to the inner and outer surfaces of each fabric ply. The balanced fabric is formed as woven sheets from filament yarns resistant to high temperatures. Balanced fabric sheets are sectioned at a predetermined angle to the filament yarns to form balanced fabric plies. The yarns of the balanced fabric plies are orientated at the predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the composite hose such that the composite hose has a predetermined longitudinal flexibility to compensate for stress effects resulting from high temperatures, high pressures and/or vibrations. Concomitantly, the balanced fabric plies restrict the radial flexibility of the composite hose to preclude collapse or ballooning of the hose during start up, irregular or steady state operation.

Hoses for use in systems operating at high temperatures or high pressures and/or in high vibrational environments must possess certain characteristics for satisfactory performance in such environments, thereby precluding premature failure of the hoses due to the severe operating conditions. For example, it has been found that the performance of turbocharged internal combustion engines may be enhanced through the use of charge air cooling systems.
Charge air cooling systems provide cooler, denser air to the engine to achieve more complete combustion. Increased combustion efficiency improves fuel economy by 2-10 percent over conventional cooling methods, lowers engine emission levels and greatly increases engine component reliability.
In charge air cooling systems, ambient air is compressed in the turbocharger and directed through ducting to a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger utilizes ram air generated by vehicle movement to cool the charge air which is then directed through ducting to the engine via a bypass blower.
The charge air from the turbocharger has a temperature in excess of 300.degree. F. and is ram cooled to a temperature in the range of 110.degree. F. The cooled charge air is extremely dense air. Thus, it is readily apparent that hose utilized in ducting such systems must be capable of maintaining mechanical strength and integrity under high temperatures and pressures.
In charge air systems as described above, the turbocharger and heat exchanger are mounted on different portions of the system, each of which is subjected to different three-dimensional vibrations. Thus, hose utilized as ducting in such systems must also possess a certain degree of flexibility to preclude the hose from being subjected to fatigable strain due to three-dimensional vibrations in disparate planes.
Such flexibility in the hose, however, should be limited to compensating for the strain effects resulting from high temperatures and pressure and three-dimensional vibrations without adversely degrading the structural strength and integrity of the hose. Generally this requires that such hose should be capable of a predetermined degree of flexibility along the longitudinal axis of the hose while being substantially impervious to radial expansion and contraction to preclude ballooning or collapse of the hose during start up, irregular or steady state operation of the system.
In addition to the severe operating environments encountered in turbocharged truck, bus, automobile, marine and stationary engines as exemplarily described hereinabove, it will be appreciated that similar severe conditions exist in other hose applications.
It is known in the art to utilize hoses fabricated from metal in systems operating at high temperatures and/or high pressures and/or subjected to severe vibrational stresses. While metallic hoses possess good mechanical strength and integrity, such hoses must be fabricated to a high degree of precision to prevent misalignments, making such hoses relatively costly. In addition, metallic hoses can be disadvantageous in high vibrational environments. While the hoses themselves may or may not experience debilitating vibrational stresses, the hoses will transmit vibrational stresses to adjacent system components.
It is also known in the art to provide shaped hoses formed from natural or synthetic rubbers for use in such severe operating environments. Shaped hoses include one or more convoluted sections to provide the requisite degree of flexibility in the hose. However, even though shaped hoses are fabricated as integral units, structural discontinuities exist at the interfaces between the convoluted sections and the tubular sections of the hose. The stresses experienced by shaped hoses are concentrated at these discontinuities which increases the probability of premature failure at these points. To provide improved reliability and longevity, shaped hoses may be fabricated with wall dimensions larger than required for the operating conditions, but at the expense of increased costs and decreased flexibility.
It is also known in the art to use reinforcing elements in hoses formed of natural or synthetic rubbers to improve the durability, reliability and longevity thereof. Reinforcing elements may include filaments of natural or synthetic fibers or metal, natural or synthetic fabrics and metallic mesh.
Filaments of natural or synthetic fibers or metal may be wound between layers of natural or synthetic rubber to provide a hose with increased mechanical strength. The filament windings restrict the radial flexibility of the hose. These windings, however, are generally ineffective in controlling the longitudinal flexibility of the hose. Furthermore, filaments of natural or synthetic fibers such as cotton, wool, nylon, polyester and dacron are adversely affected by high temperature environments.
Filaments formed from materials such as fiberglass have a tendency to fragment in high vibrational environments. Fiberglass fragments will lacerate adjoining rubber layers, leading to premature hose failure. Metallic filaments likewise have a tendency to lacerate adjoining rubber layers. Lacerating effects may be mitigated by encasing such filaments between fabric layers. However, such hoses require additional costs and time to fabricate and may result in hoses of unnecessarily large dimension and weight.
Filaments of natural or synthetic fibers may be woven as fabrics which are then utilized as laminations between layers of natural or synthetic rubber. Fabrics woven from filaments of natural or synthetic fibers such as cotton, wool, nylon, polyester and dacron are adversely affected by high temperature environments.
Moreover, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,600,615 and 4,576,205, the warps and wefts of the woven fabric are generally orientated longitudinally and radially perpendicular to the axis of the hose which presents difficulty in achieving the requisite horizontal flexibility in combination with restricted radial flexibility. A proper balance in flexibility may be achieved by utilizing different filament yarns in warp and weft, by coiling right-handed and/or left-handed fiber yarn about the warp and weft fibers and/or coiling crimped yarns about the warp and/or weft fibers. This, however, increases the complexity and cost of the woven fabric as well as resulting in a hose of increased weight.
Metallic mesh may be utilized as a reinforcing layer between layers of natural or synthetic rubber to provide hoses of high mechanical strength. Metallic mesh, however, severely restricts the flexibility of the hose both longitudinally and radially. In addition, metallic mesh likewise has a tendency to lacerate adjoining rubber layers. Lacerating effects may be mitigated by encasing such mesh between fabric layers. However, such hoses require additional costs and time to fabricate and may result in hoses of unnecessarily large dimension and weight.


Registration and classification of non-textual information, such as digital images and video is described. Image searching and comparison of the images is also described. The digital images are indexed (i.e., each image is assigned a unique numerical parameter and/or a plurality of numerical parameters). The resulting index files are stored in a database that can be quickly searched because the index files are universal numerical files that are significantly smaller in size than their source images. Image search queries are also indexed to generate an index file, which is then compared with the stored index files. A similarity score is also calculated to rank the similar images based on the index file-to-index file comparison.

1. Field
The subject invention relates to advertising systems and methods of advertising using images and image-to-image comparison.
2. Related Art
Most websites today include digital images, such as digital photographs and videos. Most search engines include a feature that allows for searching of these digital images; however, these image search features use textual search queries that are compared with metadata for the digital images. Because some of the metadata is user generated, the metadata is sometimes inaccurate. Furthermore, some images have no metadata. Thus, the search results for the image search features tend to be unsatisfactory. In addition, the images are not ranked according to their level of similarity to the original query.
Content-based image retrieval (i.e., image-to-image comparisons) has been developed but has not been implemented in an online environment. Problems with the content-based image retrieval methods include the amount of time required to process the data and the accuracy of the comparison results. Some of the existing methods analyze the media content files (e.g., images, videos, etc.) for metadata to identify certain media patterns identical to those defined in preliminary descriptions, templates or objects (symbols, keywords, graphic patterns, audio phonemes). Some of these methods also recognize objects based on forms, contours, silhouettes, background, colors and other characteristics, or use graphical templates, such as "step", "edge", "roof", "mountain range" or "lawn," to recognize appropriate parts of the image. Other methods divide the image into logical units, apportion text and non-text areas, recognize objects, preliminarily allocate at least one graphical construction among smallest units as typical element for object recognition, and build object models as an aggregate of such typical elements with their spatial ratio. These methods, however, are limited to narrow domains (i.e., only recognition of text or simple geometric shapes). These methods also do not allow for classification, search and comparison of unknown objects, because the methods only work with the preliminarily defined types of objects and are limited to the components of the preliminary defined templates (e.g., phonemes for audio files, key frames for video files, graphical primitives for image files).
Other content-based image retrieval methods use file comparison algorithms. These methods find identical media-files, but do not analyze the content of these files. For example, some of these methods use fuzzy logic instruments that require significant computer resources and time and do not allow image searching of large arrays of data in real time. These methods are also limited in scalability because the time for search is linearly dependent on the number of files in the database.
Another method for identifying similar images develops a template based on a group of original images, using mathematical descriptors of forms and areas of the images in the group that are significant for search. The mathematical descriptors are developed based on parameters of the original image, which are compared with those in the database. A result is given as a number which is then compared with source parameters to determine the similarity of images. This method, however, still does not provide the speed of search necessary to conduct such searches in real time, because the descriptors for each group of initial images need to be changed every time a search is done, and the descriptor is then compared to all images in the database (i.e., calculate similarity parameters in the database and comparison of the source descriptor with them).
The most common method for indexing images is based on Fourier analysis. Fourier analysis gives quality results only based on contours of images. Attempts exist to improve search results using the results of Fourier analysis as input data for a neural network or by improving histograms of images by quantization based on frequency of color change. These attempts, however, have only been done for research purposes and only provide good search results in particular cases. The main problem with these approaches is the narrow domain of their potential use. For example, searches based on control points are used in face recognition systems to analyze images of human faces that have sufficient resolution and are in a particular perspective.
Other recognition methods separate images by their domain; then, different algorithms for mathematical descriptor calculation (index files) for the different domains are applied to the images to analyze the images. In other embodiments, a wide range of graphical primitives (knowledge base) are developed, and correlations between objects contained in a media file with the primitives in the database are determined. These methods, however, still do not identify the similarity of one media file to another because the methods can only be used with those media objects for which there are defined and reliable search algorithms and detailed databases of primitives. For example, because there are no reliable algorithms to search for trees, a search system using the known algorithms may identify a "tree" in the image, but cannot determine the similarity of the tree in the image to another tree. In addition, these methods have a high demand for processing computer resources to calculate the indexes of images.

Obschestvo S Ogranichennoi Otvetstvennostiu “Kuznetch”


The present invention provides a toner that exhibits excellent low-temperature fixing properties, offset resistance, and has excellent storage stability in a developing machine. The toner has, in a DSC curve obtained by measuring the toner with differential scanning calorimeter, a glass transition temperature (Tg1) measured in a first scan of 50.0 to 70.0° C. and a temperature difference (Tg1−Tg2) between the glass transition temperature (Tg1) measured in the first scan and a glass transition temperature (Tg2) measured in a second scan ranging from 3.0 to 20.0° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner used for electrophotography, electrostatic recording, magnetic recording, and toner jet recording, and to a process for producing the toner.
2. Related Background Art
Conventional electrophotography comprises forming an electrostatic image on a photoreceptor by various means, then developing the electrostatic image with a toner to form a toner image on the photoreceptor, transferring the toner image onto a transfer material such as paper if required, and then fixing the toner image onto the transfer material by fixing means such as heat, pressure, heat with pressure, or solvent vapor to obtain an image (see e.g. Society of Electrophotography of Japan (ed.), "Fundamentals and Applications of Electrophotographic Technology" (Denshishashin Gijutsu no Oyo to Kiso), Colona Publishing Co., Ltd., Jun. 15, 1988, pp. 46-79).
Various conventional methods for developing with a toner or fixing a toner image have been proposed and employed for respective image-forming processes in a suitable manner. Conventionally, toners used for these purposes have been generally produced by melt mixing a thermoplastic resin with a coloring agent made of a dye and/or a pigment to produce a resin composition with a coloring agent uniformly dispersed, and providing the coloring agent-dispersed resin composition with a desired particle size by a pulverizer or classifier.
This process for producing these toners can produce a quite excellent toner, but have certain limitations. For example, it is necessary that the coloring agent-dispersed resin composition be adequately fragile and can be pulverized by an economically feasible production apparatus. However, when the coloring agent-dispersed resin composition is made fragile, particles formed by actually pulverizing the composition at a high speed tend to have particle sizes within a wide range and, in particular, may comprise relatively large particles, disadvantageously.
Moreover, such a highly fragile material tends to be further pulverized or powdered when used as a toner for development. In this process, it is difficult to uniformly disperse solid microparticles such as a coloring agent into a resin in a good manner. This process may cause increased fogging, a reduced image density, and decreased color mixing or transparence of the toner, depending on the degree of dispersion. In addition, the coloring agent may be exposed on the broken-out section of the toner to cause a change in development characteristics of the toner.
On the other hand, in order to overcome these problems of a toner produced by pulverization, a process for producing a toner by suspension polymerization has been proposed. Suspension polymerization comprises uniformly dissolving or dispersing a polymerizable monomer, a coloring agent, a polymerization initiator and, if required, a crosslinking agent, a charge control agent and other additives to prepare a polymerizable monomer composition, then dispersing the polymerizable monomer composition in an aqueous dispersion medium containing a dispersion stabilizer with a suitable stirrer, and polymerizing the polymerizable monomer to obtain toner particles with a desired particle size (see e.g. Japanese Patent Publication No. 36-10231, Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-10799, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-14895).
This process does not comprise a pulverization step, and thus can use a soft material for toner particles, the material not necessarily fragile, does not allow the coloring agent to be exposed on the surface of the toner particles, and provides the particles with uniform triboelectric charging properties. The process can also omit a classification step, and thus exhibits significant cost reduction effects such as energy savings, a reduced production time and an improved step yield.
Methods for fixing a toner image such as heat pressing by a heat roller (hereinafter referred to as heat roller fixing) and heat fixing while causing a heating body to adhere to a sheet to be fixed via a fixing film (hereinafter referred to as film fixing) have been developed.
Heat roller fixing or film fixing comprises bringing the surface of a heat roller or fixing film into contact with a toner image on a sheet to be fixed, under pressure by a pressing member in contact with the roller or film, to cause the roller or film to pass the sheet, thereby fixing the toner image. This fixation method allows the surface of a heat roller or fixing film to be brought into contact with a toner image of a sheet to be fixed, and therefore exhibits extremely high thermal efficiency in melting a toner image onto the sheet and enables rapid and good fixing.
Electrophotographic apparatuses in recent years have been demanded variously to provide high image quality, to be downsized and lightened, to be produced at a high speed with high productivity, to save energy, to be highly reliable, to be inexpensive, and to be maintenance-free. In particular, important technical objectives for a fixing step are to develop systems and materials that can achieve further high-speed production, energy savings, and high reliability. However, in order to achieve these objectives with heat roller fixing or film fixing, it is essential to improve fixing properties of a toner as a material considerably, and it is necessary to improve properties that can make a toner fixed onto a sheet to be fixed sufficiently at a lower temperature (hereinafter referred to as low-temperature fixing properties) and to improve properties that can prevent an offset as a phenomenon in which the toner contamination attached onto the surface of a heat roller or film contaminates the next sheet to be fixed (hereinafter referred to as offset resistance), in particular.
Toners used for fixing with heat and pressure, which contain a wax with high affinity for a binder resin, exhibit good offset resistance and low-temperature fixing properties under specific fixing conditions (see e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-50367 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-318484). Toners containing two or more waxes with different affinities for a binder resin can exhibit good low-temperature fixing properties and improved offset resistance under specific fixing conditions (see e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-252361, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-50367, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-324834, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-72534). However, since these toners have a lower glass transition temperature as the wax is compatible with a binder resin, the toners tend to have impaired storage stability, flowability, and charging properties, and easily cause a remarkable density reduction and image defects particularly when continuously printed. Therefore, a toner with satisfactory storage stability and development stability and enhanced low-temperature fixing properties has been desired.
An object of the present invention is to provide a toner that can solve the above-described problems.


A cooling unit includes a radiator, a rigid supply pipe connected to the radiator, and a refrigerant that is air-cooled by the radiator flows, a plurality of open nozzles provided at the supply pipe to correspond to the respective plurality of heat-generating components, a plurality of heat receiving units that are mounted to the respective plurality of heat-generating components and connected to the respective open nozzles, and allow a refrigerant supplied from the open nozzles to flow through internal channels, and a plurality of return pipes each of which is provided for each of the heat receiving units and joined to the heat receiving unit, and returns the refrigerant discharged from the heat receiving unit to the radiator, wherein the respective heat receiving units are connected to the supply pipe to be relatively displaceable, and the respective return pipes are connected to one another in series and relatively displaceably.

Conventionally, various cooling modules have been proposed, which cool heat-generating components that generate heat, such as a central processing unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit), in electronic equipment such as a server (for example, refer to Patent documents 1 to 5 and the like). As one example, a cooling module is known, which circulates a cooling liquid in a circulation passage by a pump, causes the cooling liquid to absorb generated heat of a heat-generating component by a cooling jacket that is fitted to the heat-generating component, and air-cools the cooling liquid by heat radiation from a radiator. In electronic equipment, a plurality of heat-generating components are often mounted on a circuit board, and unitization of the cooling module is sometimes performed by fitting a cooling jacket to each of a plurality of heat-generating components.    [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-335091    [Patent document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-287733    [Patent document 3] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-326141    [Patent document 4] Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2008-500738    [Patent document 5] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-241991    [Patent document 6] Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-130825    [Patent document 7] Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-1921    [Patent document 8] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-136586    [Patent document 9] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-186388


This document discusses, among other things, apparatus and methods for controlling a converter. In an example, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) can be configured to provide a first pulse train to control the converter. The frequency of the first pulse train of the VCO can be modulated using information indicative of an operating condition of the converter to maintain a desired DC voltage at an output. In an example, the VCO can include a frequency divider configured to provide a second pulse train to the output using information from the first pulse train.

Resonant converters can be used to convert power from voltage source to direct current (DC) voltage and current. Half-bridge or full bridge resonant converters can convert AC or DC input power into a regulated DC power. However, changes in input line conditions or output load conditions can cause the DC output of the converter to fluctuate. Because of complex poles and high Q of the transfer functions associated with resonant converters, output voltage and various currents of resonant converters can overshoot when the converter responds to changing operating conditions, such as changing input line conditions or output load conditions.

Sampled charge control for resonant converter


Techniques for classifying videos as standalone or non-standalone are provided. Feature (or attribute) values associated with a particular video are identified. Feature values are extracted from metadata associated with the particular video and/or from within a transcript of the particular video. The extracted feature values of the particular video are input to a rule-based or a machine-learned model and the model scores the particular video. Once a determination pertaining to whether the particular video is standalone is made, information about the particular video being a standalone video is presented to one or more users within the network.

Some web sites host many videos that are associated with each other. For example, a third-party content database uploads a learning course of ten videos about a particular subject. In cases where a viewer prefers, or only has time to indulge in, a standalone video to partake in learning content in small specific bursts, the viewer must manually filter out videos that are a part of a series or online course. Videos (referred to herein as "standalone videos") that can be viewed by themselves without requiring much, if any, information contained in other (e.g., related) videos will only be viewed if a website visitor is searching specifically for them, such as through a search feature provided by the website. However, for web sites that include many videos, it is impractical to manually classify whether each video is a standalone video or a non-standalone.
Thus, one problem faced by administrators of such websites is deciding whether each video has co-dependency with one or more other videos and organizing the videos accordingly. However, an approach for considering whether a video is standalone is to view each video individually manually classify each video. Such an approach is not feasible for large quantities of videos.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.


The present invention discloses a model-free online recursive optimization method for a batch process based on variable period decomposition. Variable operation data closely related to product quality is acquired, optimization action on each subset is integrated on the basis of time domain variable division on the process by utilizing a data driving method and a global optimization strategy is formed, based on which an online recursive error correction optimization strategy is implemented. According to the method, the online optimization strategy is formed completely based on the operation data of the batch process without needing prior knowledge or a model of a process mechanism. Meanwhile, the optimized operation locus line has better adaptability by using the online recursive correction strategy, and thus the anti-interference requirement of the actual industrial production is better met.

A batch process refers to that in industrial practical production, operators usually start from a variety of control indicators to find out an operation curve for a specific batch process based on long-time accumulated experience. Such a method of seeking an operation curve by means of experience is laborious, time-consuming and difficult to standardize and popularize. Thus, it is necessary to carry out a simple and effective batch process optimization method to obtain more satisfying economic indicators. The optimization of the batch process is usually aimed at improving the quality or yield of a product to obtain an optimal operation locus line. Therefore, the study on the method of obtaining the optimal operation curve of the batch process is the key to solve the problem.
The most common method of obtaining the optimal operation curve is a model-based offline optimization method, which is to offline solve the optimization problem based on a process model. However, the offline optimization is only applicable to an ideal model, and when uncertainties and disturbances in the process model affect the real-time operation of a system, the obtained locus line will no longer be optimal. At the same time, operation strategies and operation conditions of the process are required to be updated in real time by the change of a feedstock during operation, switching of products and raw materials and start/stop of the production process. Therefore, it is an important topic in the process industry to study the online real-time optimization method and technology for the batch process.
There have been many successful industrial application cases on real-time optimization based on a continuous process, whereas for the online real-time optimization technology for a batch process, there is still a lack of relatively general effective method suitable for industrial application. Therefore, it is extremely urgent to put forward a batch process online real-time optimization strategy and an implementation framework, which are relatively general and can solve real industrial problems to promote the industrialized process of online real-time optimization of the batch process, so as to provide a new method for solving the control problem in the field of practical production.

Model-free online recursive optimization method for batch process based on variable period decomposition


Respiratory apparatus comprising a member forming first, second and third connected gas flow passages. A patient device is connected to the third passage for conducting gas flow to and from a patient. First and second gas flow tubes are connected to the first and second passages for conducting gas to and from the third passage and the patient. A nebulizer is attached to the center of the member for feeding aerosolized medicine into the passages of the member and the tubes, for inspiration by the patient. Further, filters are mounted in both of the flow tubes for filtering makeup air and expired gas, the filters futher serving to control the gas flow through the tubes. The filters may have the same weight (and therefore the same air flow resistance), or the filter of one of the tubes may have less weight than the filter of the other tube.

This invention relates to apparatus for delivering medicine to the respiratory system of a patient, and more particularly to an improved hand-held nebulizer system.
Respiratory care devices are known and in widespread use for delivering medicine directly to the respiratory system, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of the medicine. In a typical device of this nature, a stream of gas (which may be ordinary air) is passed through a nebulizer containing the medicine. The medicine is aerosolized and mixed with the gas stream in the nebulizer, and the gas medicine mixture is then inhaled by the patient, causing the mist or fine particles of the medicine to be distributed in the respiratory system of the patient. This is, for example, a common method of administering aerosolized medication to a patient in respiratory distress.
Prior art devices include the "Respirgard II.TM. Nebulizer System" marketed by Marquest Medical Company. In this device a mouthpiece is fastened to the center leg of a wye; one of the other two legs is connected to a nebulizer and the third leg is connected to an exhaust filter. Valves are also provided to cause inspiration through the nebulizer leg and expiration through the filter leg.
The Hudson RCI company markets a device referred to as the "ISO-NEB.TM. system" which is similar in principle to the Respirgard II Nebulizer System except that the ISO-NEB system includes a T coupling instead of a wye.
It is believed that all prior art devices of this general nature include one-way check valves for controlling the direction of gas flow to cause inspiration through the nebulizer and expiration through the filter. The provision of valves is, however, disadvantageous because it adds expense and weight to the unit. Further, valves have a resistance to air flow which could result in excessive inspiratory effort on the part of sick patients.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus which avoids the above disadvantages and has other important advantages.


A clutch has two friction wheels, a common hub, and a predamper, one of the friction wheels having an elongated hub with external teeth which mesh without clearance with teeth formed in the hub of the other friction wheel. The elongated hub is coupled in rotation to the common hub of the clutch through teeth which mesh after a circumferential clearance between them has been taken up. The predamper and the common hub together form a subassembly, and a retaining ring is located axially on the common hub so that the retaining ring and the predamper together retain the elongated hub on the common hub. The predamper is coupled in rotation to the elongated hub by an axially releasable mating coupling.

Such a damping means is described in United Kingdom Patent Specification GB1251468A and the corresponding German Patent Specification DE1952620A, in which (as shown in FIG. 17 of that specification) the phasing means comprise pins or dowels acting between the hubs of the two friction wheels, with each of these pins engaging circumferentially, with a clearance, with the common hub.
The predamper has a cap which is force fitted onto an axial projection of the hub of one of the friction wheels. It is thus not possible to carry out any separate testing on the predamper, which is however necessary in some cases. In addition, one of the friction wheels is located axially on the common hub by means of a ring which is engaged in a groove machined in the teeth of the common hub. The machining of this groove can produce undesirable burrs.
All this complicates manufacture and increases the number of components.
It might be thought that an intermediate indexing ring could be used, meshing with a clearance, by means of teeth, with the common hub, and meshing without clearance with the hubs of the friction wheels. However, this requires a large number of broaching or milling, and machining operations, and imposes limitations on the size of the common hub.

Damping device for a multiplate friction clutch


Embodiments of the invention can incorporate a method and interface to accomplish one or more of the following three processes: input, analysis, and output. With respect to input, the user(s) identifier(s), item(s) identifier(s), and user(s)-item(s) rating data 22 can be accepted through an interface 23 from an application 21. With respect to analysis, the method and interface can then take the actual user-item ratings 31 and process 32 the data to generate and store item predictor information 33. The predicted user-item ratings 41 and the actual user-item ratings 42 can then be outputted by, for example, passing these outputs to the application via an interface 44.

There are numerous Internet web sites and other systems that involve interactions between "users" and "items". A user is a person, system, or a component that interacts with a computer software application. An item is a tangible or non-tangible thing. For example, an e-commerce web site allows "users" to browse through, and possibly purchase, various "items". Many of these web sites and similar systems allow users to evaluate the various items, and these evaluations are generally described as user-item ratings.
Many of these web sites, such as Netflix and Dell, and similar systems, display an average evaluation, or an "average rating" of each item. However, such "average ratings" do not reflect the tastes and judgments of any single user. Therefore, any given user might find their actual rating of an item to be very different than the average user-item rating.
Some web site systems have attempted to measure the tastes and judgments of users, and then calculate and display item ratings specifically for each user. This has typically been accomplished through combinations of two general methods.
The first of these two general methods involves measuring each user's similarity or dissimilarity to other users through the user-item ratings each user has previously submitted on other items, and then recommending items that statistically similar users rated highly, and not recommending items that statistically similar users rated poorly. User communities are formed consisting of groups of users that share the similar ratings on a same set of items. The target user will then be placed into a user community where their ratings on the same set of items are similar to the community. The rating that is then reported to all users in the community is based only upon the members of the community, and not the average of all participants in all communities. The average rating of all communities, which is the statistical average of all data, can also be displayed. This method will be referred to as a user grouping technique where a user may see "Users like you" or "My rating" while accessing web sites. An item's attributes, other than its rating, are irrelevant the calculation in this grouping technique.
The second of these two general methods involves determining a user's like or dislike for various items' attributes (e.g., "color", "size", or "price"); and then recommending items that possess attributes that the user already rated highly, and not recommending items that possess attributes that the user already rated poorly. Items that receive high ratings are grouped into one group, and items that receive poor ratings are grouped into another group from only a specific user. Within each group, each item's attributes are found. Alternatively, all attributes of all items are found. Common attributes amongst the items within a group are then selected. Suggestions for other items with similar attributes as the common attributes can then be made to the user. Systems utilizing this method include Dell, CoffeeGeek, and Zagats.
However, the two methods described above have drawbacks. A drawback of the first general method is that systems often have numerous relatively new users that have not submitted many user-item ratings. It is therefore difficult to accurately measure these new users' similarity or dissimilarity to other users. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately recommend items to these new users. It is also difficult to place these new users in a community with other users who have rated items in a similar way.
A drawback of the second general method is that one must know, measure, store, sort, and select information about the varying attributes of the items. Although attributes can be objective and factual, they may also be based on subjective contexts. Another drawback of this general method is the tendency to stereotype user likes and dislikes by the very process of categorizing items by perceived attributes. The weighting, or strength, of a particular items' attributes to the overall rating is also typically unknown.

Method, system, and apparatus for determining a predicted rating


A splicing member for securing horizontally adjacent siding panels to one another in an abutting relationship includes a first substantially planar member having an upper edge and a lower edge. Each of a pair of flanges extends outwardly from opposed sides of the first substantially planar member proximate the upper edge. A shoulder extends inwardly from the lower edge of the first substantially planar member. A second substantially planar member extends downwardly from an inner edge of the shoulder. A pair of projections extends downwardly from the shoulder and outwardly from the second substantially planar member. A pair of siding panels include a substantially planar member with apertures formed therein and a flange extending rearwardly therefrom. Flanges extend outwardly form sides of the planar member. A shoulder extends inwardly from a lower edge of the planar member and a second substantially planar member extends downwardly from the shoulder.

Siding, or wall siding, is commonly used to cover the exterior surfaces, e.g. walls, of structures. Such siding is often formed of metal, such as aluminum, or thermoplastic materials, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Siding panels of such thin material are typically overlapped with horizontally adjacent panels to allow for thermal contraction and expansion. Other siding may be formed of thicker materials, for example, reinforced cement, or blends of polymer and wood fibers. Such siding panels cannot be overlapped due to their increased thickness. The vertical lateral edges between horizontally adjacent are butted together, but may tend to separate, forming unsightly gaps between horizontally adjacent panels.
Such siding is typically installed in multiple rows of panels, with each row overlapping the panels to which it is vertically adjacent. Adjoining panels are overlapped in this manner to provide protection for the structure from the elements.
Siding panels installed on vertical surfaces may be formed with one or more sections or courses. The courses are often combined with horizontal shoulders to form a siding profile. The courses may be declinations, that is, downwardly extending flat portions, which combine with the horizontal shoulders to form a clapboard profile. The courses may have a dutch lap construction, which includes an upper portion that angles downwardly and outwardly to an upper edge of a downwardly extending lower portion.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a splicer for a siding panel assembly that reduces or overcomes some or all of the difficulties inherent in prior known devices. Particular objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, those who are knowledgeable or experienced in this field of technology, in view of the following disclosure of the invention and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments.


A downhole tool or plug includes a mandrel with an element, a slip ring, and a cone pressable between an upper push sleeve assembly and a lower anvil. The upper push sleeve assembly including a lock ring having one or more interior teeth on an interior of the lock ring. A mandrel sleeve is at least partially received within a recess in the mandrel and affixed with respect to the mandrel, and has one or more exterior teeth on an exterior of the mandrel sleeve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bridge and fracture plugs used in oil and gas wells.
2. Related Art
Just prior to beginning "production," oil and gas wells are completed using a complex process involving explosive charges and high pressure fluids. Once drilling is complete, a well is lined with steel pipe backed with cement that bridges the gap between the pipe outer diameter and rock face. The steel/cement barrier is then perforated with explosive shaped charges. High pressure fluids and proppants (spherical sand or synthetic ceramic beads) are then pumped down the well, through the perforations and into the rock formation to prepare the rock for the flow of gas and oil into the casing and up the well. This fracturing process is repeated several times in a given well depending on numerous factors including the depth of the well, casing diameter, reservoir pressure, the number of oil or gas bearing layers, etc.
The number of layers to be perforated and fractured can be as few as one or more than thirty. As they prepare to "frac" (i.e. hydraulic fracturing) at each level, well technicians set a "temporary plug" in the bore of the steel casing pipe (just below where they will perforate) that will then allow them to pump "frac fluids" and sand down through the perforations and into the oil and gas bearing layers of rock. Use of the temporary plug prevents contaminating the already-fractured levels below. This process is repeated several times, as the frac operation moves up the well, until all desired zones have been perforated, fractured and the needed amount of proppant has been pumped into the rock. At each level, the temporary plugs are usually left in place, so that they can all be drilled out at the end of the process, in a single operation.
These "temporary plugs" have traditionally been made from cast iron. These cast iron plugs have a threaded center mandrel and a threaded locking ring set inside of a threaded push sleeve. When the plug is set, a setting sleeve pushes against the top of the push sleeve and compresses the stack of slips, cones and rubber elements. The rubber elements expand outward and inward and create a seal between the elements and mandrel and the elements and the inner diameter of the well casing. The lock ring engages the threads in the mandrel and the threads in the push sleeve to prevent backward (i.e. upward) movement once the force from the setting tool is released. This locking action keeps pressure on the elements which preserves the seal and keeps the slips locked to the inner diameter of the casing. This blocks fluid from getting to the lower layers of rock and creates the seal needed to perform hydraulic fracturing in the layers above the plug.
It has been proposed to make plugs from other materials, such as aluminum alloy, which can use a push sleeve, locking ring and threaded mandrel similar to that described above. It has also been proposed to make plugs from composite materials. Some composite plugs can use a push sleeve to retain a locking ring that bites into the composite mandrel directly to keep the elements compressed and the slips locked in place after the setting force is removed. Other composite plugs have a fixed top stop so that the upper structural stop does not translate axially like a push sleeve, but rather stays fixed in place. Once the slips are locked to the casing inner diameter and the elements are compressed, the mandrel appears to be free to slide up and down in the elements (or stroke) until the top stop or anvil contacts the upper or lower slips. The upward movement can be caused when pressure from the oil or gas below exceeds the pressure applied from above. The downward movement acts in the opposite manner. Some elements or packers have directional properties. For example, some elements or packers have a greater upper seal pressure than lower seal pressure. Allowing the mandrel to stroke can change the relative motion and change the directional properties of the seals.
Examples of such plugs include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,306,366; 3,517,742; 4,708,202; 5,131,468; 5,224,540; 5,701,595; 6,167,963; 6,220,349; 6,354,372; 6,581,681; and US 2004-0036225 and 2005-0189103.

Composite downhole tool with ratchet locking mechanism


An electrostatic discharge protection component of an array type includes ceramic insulating substrate 12; varistor region 10 which is pasted on ceramic insulating substrate 12 and then is sintered integrally with ceramic insulating substrate 12; and at least one ground outer electrode 15A and a plurality of input/output outer electrodes 15B. Varistor region 10 includes at least one ground inner electrode 14A, varistor layer 10C and the plurality of input/output outer electrodes 15B so as to form the plurality of varistors. Ground inner electrode 14A is connected with ground outer electrode 15A. This structure enables the protection component to be extremely thin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic discharge protection component (hereinafter referred to simply as protection component) which protects an electronic device from electrostatic discharge.
2. Background Art
In recent years, electronic devices such as mobile phones are rapidly reducing in size and increasing in function. Along with this trend, their circuits are becoming denser, and on the other hand, are having lower and lower withstand voltages. As a result, when a person happens to come into contact with a circuit terminal of an electronic device, an electrostatic discharge pulse that is caused by the contact more and more tends to damage an electric circuit in the device, thereby causing an increasing number of defects.
A conventional countermeasure against such electrostatic discharge pulses is to provide a multilayer chip varistor between the incoming line of electrostatic discharge and the ground so as to bypass the electrostatic discharge, thereby reducing the voltage applied to the circuit of the electronic device.
An example of conventional multilayer chip varistors to suppress electrostatic discharge is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No.H08-31616.
However, as they are becoming smaller and more functional, electronic devices have an increasing number of parts to be protected against electrostatic discharge pulses. On the other hand, there is a growing demand for protection components of an array type having a plurality of components, as well as of a single component type. Also, in order to achieve smaller and thinner electronic devices, protection components are expected to be thinner.
It is difficult, however, to thin the conventional multilayer chip varistors because they must have a specific thickness in order to keep the physical strength of their material. For example, a commercially available multilayer chip varistor with a width of 1.25 mm and a length of 2.0 mm or so must have a thickness of not less than 0.5 mm. If it is desired to further reduce the thickness, the varistor is required to be further decreased in size. This makes it very difficult to integrate a number of components into an array. Thus, in the case of a multilayer chip varistor, its thickness and the number of components in the array have a trade-off relation with each other.
The cause of the trade-off relation is the low flexural strength of a zinc oxide-based material contained in the multilayer chip varistor. More specifically, using this material for a chip component makes the flexural strength as low as 100 MPa or lower. This low flexural strength makes it difficult to avoid the trade-off relation in the conventional multilayer chip varistors.
The present invention has an object of providing a protection component of an array type which has a low-profile, a large mechanical strength and excellent practicality.

Electrostatic discharge protection component

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Communicating voice over a packet-switching network is implemented on a telecommunications network that includes the packet-switching network, two coding units coupled to the packet-switching network and to an originating node and a terminating node, respectively, and at least one signaling apparatus. The first of the two coding units is configured to extract signaling data associated with the voice call and transmit the signaling data and its network address to the signaling apparatus. Signaling data for establishing the voice call is received by the signaling apparatus, and a network address of the coding unit in the packet-switching network is obtained. The second coding unit is controlled to establish a bearer channel with the first coding unit for carrying the voice data through the packet-switching network, based on the network address.

The present invention relates to telecommunications and more particularly to packet switched networking systems capable of carrying voice traffic.
Recent legislative changes in the United States have promoted competition in the telecommunication industry and spurred demand for new services at lower prices. These trends are pressuring major telecommunications carriers to increase capacity while reducing the cost of providing service. Consequently, major carriers around the world are looking to packet technologies, such as Internet Protocol (IP), frame relay, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), to replace circuit-switched technologies in the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for providing voice capability. In addition, IP, frame relay, ATM, and other packet-based technologies offer narrow-band and broad-band services to selected customers on the same network, providing the same platform for integrated voice, data, and video services from low bandwidth to very high bandwidths.
Over the decades, however, major voice carriers have invested heavily in developing a Signaling System 7 (SS7) signaling and switching infrastructure to offer reliable telephone service. This infrastructure includes countless systems for billing, provisioning, maintenance, and databases that are compatible only with SS7. These systems are commonly referred to xe2x80x9clegacy systems,xe2x80x9d a term that also includes other proprietary protocols such as ISDN_PRI, DPNSS, ISUP, TUP, NUP, H.323, and SIP. Due to the substantial investment in the legacy systems, it is desirable to keep the legacy systems in operation, yet still take advantage of the newer packet technologies.
These legacy systems, however, do not handle the protocols for the newer packet-switching networks, and, due to the age of many of the legacy systems, it is difficult and expensive to upgrade or replace the legacy systems to support the newer packet-switching protocols.
Accordingly, there exists a need for establishing and carrying voice calls that are originated or terminated by legacy systems over a packet-switching network. There is also a need for a way to seamlessly integrate legacy SS7-type systems and newer packet-switching networks.
Moreover, certain demographic trends are motivating telephone call carriers to integrate their systems with packet-switched networks. Certain countries are known to generate an above-average amount of long-distance telephone traffic. For example, residents of Israel are known to consume long-distance telephone services at a rate far greater than the average of residents in other industrialized nations. Long-distance telephone services carried over the PSTN are expensive. Voice calls carried over the globally accessible packet-switched network known as the Internet, however, are generally free. Accordingly, local telephone companies and other call access providers in certain countries are acutely interested in finding ways to integrate the PSTN with the Internet.


A rearview mirror system), in particular for a motor vehicle, including a rearview mirror provided with a reflection part with variable reflectance and a control system associated with the reflection part and including a number of illuminance sensors, configured for a particularly reliable determination of a nominal value for the reflectance which is adapted to the situation and to the requirements. The spectral response of an illuminance sensor provided as a glaring-illuminance sensor is configured to provide a response characteristic shifted towards shorter wavelengths as compared to a scotopic eye response characteristic. Advantageously, the spectral response of a further illuminance sensor provided as a glaring-illuminance sensor, in the manner of a double sensor design, may be configured to provide a response characteristic shifted towards longer wavelengths as compared to the scotopic eye response characteristic.

Typical known coatings for automobile mirrors usually consist of relatively highly reflecting metals, such as, for example, silver or aluminum. The reflection values achievable with them for automobile mirrors amount to more than 85% in the visible light spectrum. Although, however, relatively high reflection values are desirable in the daylight, they might glare the driver at night through the headlights of the following vehicles. Therefore, mirror coatings were developed which are destined to reduce the glaring effect when driving at night. For this purpose, one can use, on the one hand, mirror systems which have a relatively low glaring effect at night, due to suitably designed reflecting elements, using in particular spectrally selective reflection coatings. On the other hand, one can also use rearview mirrors in which the risk of glaring through the headlights of the following vehicles is reduced by the fact that the mirror structure contains parts of variable transmission, switched, for example, electrically.
In rearview mirrors designed in such a way, a reflection part with variable reflectance is used, using, for example, electrochromic elements or LCD elements. These can be integrated in the layer structure of the mirror system, for example in the manner of an intermediate layer, it being possible to vary the transmission of the respective optically active layer by supplying it with a suitably chosen control signal and to modify in this way the reflectance of the reflection part of the rearview mirror.
In such systems, usually a plurality of design targets have to be taken into account. On the one hand, it is desirable to keep the glaring of the driver through the headlights of the following vehicles as low as possible. For this purpose, the rearview mirror should be switched to relatively dark, i.e. to a relatively low reflectance, when driving at night. On the other hand, however, also and especially at night, it should be guaranteed that the environment, i.e., for example, the surroundings of the vehicle, is perceived as reliably as possible, for which purpose a relatively high reflectance of the mirror is required. In order to provide the optimum compromise between these design targets, control or check units can be used in rearview mirror systems with a rearview mirror provided with a reflection part with variable reflectance, which supply the reflection part with a control value suitably chosen under certain conditions.
In order to suitably take into account the ambient light and glaring conditions, such rearview mirrors are usually provided with at least two light sensors, the first one measuring the illuminance impinging on the rearview mirror from the forward direction, which is representative for the background or ambient light, and the second one measuring the illuminance impinging from the backward direction, which is characteristic of the glaring through the following vehicles. The measured values supplied by these sensors can be used for specifying a suitable nominal value for the reflectance of the rearview mirror, the effects of usually quickly changing lighting conditions on the one hand and the inertia of the human eye due to physiological reasons on the other hand being taken into account or compensated through suitable averaging of the obtained measured values and in particular through suitably chosen low pass circuits and the like.
In such a rearview mirror system, as known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,477, it is generally tried to evaluate the ambient light and glaring illuminance in a way particularly close to reality, in particular in order to be able to provide in a particularly reliable way a nominal value for the reflectance of the rearview mirror which is particularly well adapted to the current glaring situation. Usually, these rearview mirror systems are based on the assumption that the glaring light should ideally be evaluated in accordance with the so-called eye response characteristic. On the one hand, a glaring of the driver shall be effectively avoided through timely and sufficient dimming of the rearview mirror, but, on the other hand, an excessive dimming of the rearview mirror should also be avoided in view of the perception of the environment.

Rearview mirror system—especially for a motor vehicle


A valve timing controller includes: a driving side rotation member synchronously rotating with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine; a driven side rotation member disposed coaxially with a rotary shaft center of the driving side rotation member and rotating integrally with a valve opening/closing cam shaft; advancing and retarding chambers formed between the driving side and driven side rotation members; a valve unit disposed coaxially with the rotary shaft center and controlling feeding and discharging of a fluid to and from the advancing and retarding chambers; and a tubular valve case having an internal space extending in a direction along the rotary shaft center, accommodating the valve unit in the internal space, having an opening at one end in the direction along the rotary shaft center, and having a bottom portion at the other end.

JP 2009-530526T (Reference 1) discloses a vehicle hydraulic circuit with a motor including a hydraulic piston including at least two cylinder chambers (advancing chamber and retarding chamber) that act in mutually opposite directions, configured such that an external force acts alternately or in one direction in the cylinder chamber, the hydraulic piston is moved by a differential pressure between the cylinder chambers, and the differential pressure is generated from a hydraulic source, such as a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic circuit is used for a cam shaft timing adjuster (valve timing controller) and uses a hydraulic load by a force that acts on a negative side caused by opening at least one check valve among the alternating external forces in addition to the hydraulic load by a changeover device for the movement of the hydraulic piston.
In the valve timing controller described in Reference 1, the check valves are provided in return passages of hydraulic oil from cylinder chambers that act in mutually opposite directions, and a downstream side of the check valve is connected to a pressure supply pipe for supplying the hydraulic oil to the cylinder chamber. The valve timing controller realizes the circulation of the hydraulic oil from one cylinder chamber to the other cylinder chamber by providing the check valve, and it is possible to quickly move the hydraulic oil to the cylinder chamber.
JP 2017-048793A (Reference 2) describes a variable camshaft timing device (valve timing controller) can operate with the pressure generated by camshaft torque energy for transmitting a fluid from one working chamber to the other working chamber, can operate through a pressure source of an external fluid so as to discharge the contents in opposing working chambers at the same time when filling one working chamber, and can operate using both modes simultaneously.
In the valve timing controller described in Reference 2, the control valve is a spool valve having a spool, the spool has a cylindrical land that is slidably accommodated in a sleeve inside a bore of a center bolt, and the sleeve has a recess portion that connects the plurality of ports to each other. The spool of the valve timing controller is configured to have a central passage, and to be divided into a working central passage and an inlet central passage by a recirculating check valve and an inlet check valve provided in the central passage. The valve timing controller can reduce the package size of the valve timing controller by providing the recirculating check valve in the central passage.
In the valve timing controller described in Reference 1, since corresponding check valves are respectively required for each cylinder chamber (advancing chamber and retarding chamber) that act in mutually opposite directions, there is a problem because the structure becomes complicated. In the valve timing controller described in Reference 2, since the check valve (recirculating check valve and inlet check valve) is disposed inside the spool, the structure becomes complicated. In addition, since the check valve is disposed in a narrow space inside the spool, due to the restriction of the space, it is inconvenient that the size or the shape of the check valve is restricted.
Thus, a need exists for a valve timing controller which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.


A Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) centric Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) framework can include a host controller and one or more tester units. The host controller can be configured to receive one or more inputs to initiate testing of a plurality of Devices Under Test (DUTs). The one or more tester unit can include a plurality of Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitters (UARTs) communication links. The UART communication links can be configured to send one or more commands for initiating and controlling a Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) in the plurality of DUTs. The UART communication links can also be configured to receive test output data of the BIST from the plurality of DUTs. The host controller can also be configured to output the test output data of the BIST.

Computing systems have made significant contributions toward the advancement of modern society and are utilized in a number of applications to achieve advantageous results. Numerous devices, such as desktop personal computers (PCs), laptop PCs, tablet PCs, netbooks, smart phones, servers, and the like have facilitated increased productivity and reduced costs in communicating and analyzing data in most areas of entertainment, education, business, and science. One common aspect of computing devices is the automated volume testing of the computing devices and/or components thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1 an Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) framework according to the conventional art is shown. The ATE framework is configured to provide for the functional testing of a plurality of Device Under Test (DUTs). The ATE framework can include a host controller 105, a communication backplane 1110, one or more tester units 115-115m, and one or more device interface boards 120a-120m. The communication backplane 110 can be configured to communicatively coupled the one or more tester units 115-115m to the host controller 105. The one or more device interface boards 120a-120m can be configured to couple a plurality of DUTs 125a-125n to the respective one or more tester units 115a-115m via connectors 130a-130n of the DUTs 125a-125n. The connectors 130a-130n can include one or more standard serial communication links, such as Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) or Serial AT Attachment (SATA) communication.
The one or more tester units 115a-115m are configured to generate test patterns and perform complex testing processes on the DUTs and gather test result from the DUTs, and process the results. However, some customers do not require such a level of complex and exhaustive testing. Accordingly, there is a continuing need from an Automated Test Equipment (ATE) framework that provides for simpler less expensive testing of DUTs.

Low cost built-in-self-test centric testing


A composite material includes a clad material including a base material that includes an iron-chromium alloy and vibration-damping layers that are provided on both surfaces of the base material and include a metal to suppress a vibration. A total thickness of the vibration-damping layers provided on the both surfaces of the base material is in a range of not less than 10% and not more than 40% relative to a total thickness of the clad material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a composite material used in industrial machinery, consumer appliances and other various fields, and particular, to a composite material having vibration-damping properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term "vibration-damping property" used herein is to be understood to include a vibration-damping function.
A composite material having vibration-damping properties is considered to be used in industrial machinery, consumer appliances and other various fields. Use thereof in a vehicle will be described as an example. A vehicle has a lot of vibration sources including a drive-train such as engine. Therefore, it is desirable that a composite material having vibration-damping properties be used for a vibration source or peripheral equipments to reduce generation of vibration itself or influence thereof as much as possible.
A laminated damping steel sheet is proposed as a damping material having such a vibration-damping function. The laminated damping steel sheet has a structure in which a sheet made of a resin is arranged between two steel sheets such that the resin sandwiched between the two steel sheets acts to absorb vibration. Such a technique is disclosed in JP-A-S64-014027.
Another example is a clad spring material having a three-layer structure in which copper layers are provided on both surfaces of stainless steel. The three-layer clad spring material has a non-joined portion formed at an interface between the stainless steel and the copper layer so that vibration is absorbed at the non-joined portion. Such a technique is disclosed in JP-A-H02-217184.


The phase difference plate for a circularly polarizing plate including a first optically anisotropic layer, and a second optically anisotropic layer, in which the first optically anisotropic layer contains a liquid crystal compound helically aligned around a helical axis in its thickness direction, a helix angle of the liquid crystal compound in the first optically anisotropic layer is in a predetermined range, and an in-plane slow axis in a surface of the first optically anisotropic layer at the second optically anisotropic layer side is in parallel with an in-plane slow axis of the second optically anisotropic layer. The phase difference plate can sufficiently suppress the mixing of black with another color observed in the front direction when being stuck as a circularly polarizing plate on a display apparatus.

The present invention relates to a phase difference plate for a circularly polarizing plate, particularly to a phase difference plate for a circularly polarizing plate that has an optically anisotropic layer containing a helically aligned liquid crystal compound.
The present invention also relates to a circularly polarizing plate or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display apparatus that has the phase difference plate for a circularly polarizing plate.
Phase difference plates are extremely versatile and are used for reflective LCDs, transflective LCDs, brightness enhancement films, organic EL display apparatuses, touch panels, and the like. For example, since organic EL devices have a structure in which layers having different refractive indices are laminated on each other or a structure which uses metallic electrodes, external light is reflected from the interfaces between the respective layers, and this leads to problems such as a decrease in contrast or reflection in some cases. Therefore, conventionally, in order to suppress negative effects caused by the reflection of external light, a circularly polarizing plate constituted with a phase difference plate and a polarizing film is used for organic EL display apparatuses, LCD display apparatuses, and the like.
Regarding a phase difference plate used for a circularly polarizing plate, for example, as described in JP 3174367 B, the use of a phase difference plate constituted with a λ/2 plate and a λ/4 plate is known.

Phase difference plate for circularly polarizing plate, circularly polarizing plate, and organic electroluminescence display apparatus


A method of fabricating a graphene material, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) illuminating device, and a display device are provided. The method of fabricating the graphene material has steps of synthesizing and reducing a target object. The fabricated graphene material has advantages of good quality and no impurities. The OLED illuminating device has a substrate, an anode layer, a cathode layer, an organic coating layer, and a graphene material and/or a graphene material layer. The graphene material is doped in at least one of the anode layer, the cathode layer, and the organic coating layer, and/or disposed between an anode and the substrate and/or between the organic coating layer and the cathode layer to form the graphene material layer, which has excellent thermal conductivity, and heat within the OLED illuminating device can be effectively and quickly conducted. The display device has the OLED illuminating device, which increase service life.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), also known as organic electroluminescent displays (OELDs), are an optoelectronic technology that uses organic semiconductor materials to generate reversible color changes under current driving to achieve colorful displaying. Unlike a traditional display technology, the OLED display technology does not need a backlight and uses very thin organic material coating layers and glass substrates. These organic materials illuminate when a current passes through. Moreover, an OLED display screen can be made to be relatively light and thin, has a relatively great viewing angle, and can significantly save electrical power.
A basic structure of the OLEDs is a sandwich structure, which is packaged by a thin and transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) with semiconductor characteristics connected to a positive electrode of power, and another metal cathode is further added. An entire structural layer includes a hole transport layer (HTL), an electroluminescent layer (EL), and an electron transport layer (ETL). When the power is supplied to an appropriate voltage, positive electrode holes and cathode electrons are combined in a light-emitting layer to illuminate, and three primary colors of red, green, and blue (RGB) are generated according to different formulas to form a basic color. Characteristics of OLED display devices are that they emit light by themselves, unlike liquid crystal displays (LCDs) requiring a backlight, so both visibility and brightness are high. Secondly, they have low voltage demand and high power saving efficiency, plus advantages of fast response times, being light in weight, thin thickness, a simple structure, wide viewing angles, flexibility, a wide operating temperature range, and low cost. Therefore, they have always been favored by the industry, and are considered to be the most promising new generation display technologies.
Studies have shown that compositions of water vapor and oxygen in the air have a great influence on a lifespan of OLED illuminating devices. The main reasons are as follows: when the OLED illuminating devices operate, electrons are injected from a cathode, which requires that a cathode function is as low as possible, by using metal materials such as aluminum, magnesium, calcium, etc. These metal materials are generally relatively active and easily react with influent water vapor. In addition, water vapor also chemically reacts with the hole transport layer and the electron transport layer, and these reactions all cause failure of the OLED illuminating device.
OLED illuminating devices need to inject electrons from the cathode when working, which requires that a cathode work function to be the lower the better, such as metal materials such as aluminum, magnesium, and calcium, which are generally more active and easily react with the influent water vapor. In addition, water vapor also chemically reacts with the hole transport layer and the electron transport layer, and these reactions all cause failure of the OLED illuminating device. Therefore, the lifespan of the device can be greatly extended by an effective packaging of the OLED illuminating device, so that functional layers of the device are separated from the components of water vapor, oxygen, and the like in the atmosphere.
In order to protect the OLED illuminating device from water and oxygen, it is usually implemented by thin film encapsulation (TFE), but short-wavelength ultraviolet light is generated during the preparation of the TFE, so an organic layer and an inorganic layer are encapsulated on the OLED metal cathode to avoid damage of the OLED illuminating device by the ultraviolet light and to block the penetration of water, oxygen, and other components, simultaneously. However, conventional package structures and metal cathodes have relatively low heat transfer rates. Heat generated inside the OLED illuminating device cannot be transmitted to the outside in time, and the heat will accumulate inside the OLED illuminating device, and the OLED illuminating device is damaged when the heat is accumulated to a certain extent.

Method of fabricating graphene material, OLED illuminating device, and display device

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


A modular ice delivery system includes a beverage dispenser unit for dispensing beverages therefrom and an ice delivery unit linked with the beverage dispenser unit for supplying ice to the beverage dispenser unit. A docking pathway formed between the ice delivery unit and the beverage dispenser unit is provided for operatively linking the ice delivery unit with the beverage dispenser unit. The modular ice delivery system may further include an ice capacity booster unit linked with the ice delivery unit, ultimately, for supplying ice to the beverage dispenser unit. A docking pathway formed between the ice delivery unit and the ice capacity booster unit is also provided for linking the ice capacity booster unit and the ice delivery unit. In effect, each docking pathway enables the modular ice delivery system to be broken down into modular units commensurate with varying demand for ice. Additionally, the modular ice delivery system includes a sanitizing system for ensuring the production and dispensing of sanitary ice from the modular ice delivery system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to dispensing equipment and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a modular ice delivery system for providing ice to a beverage dispenser unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Beverage dispensers are often equipped with a drink tower to dispense a variety of popular beverages therefrom. Typically, beverage dispensers feature ice dispensers to complement those beverages dispensed from the drink tower such that consumers expect ice to accompany many of these popular carbonated and non-carbonated drinks.
However, providing a continuous supply of ice has long been problematic, especially if a beverage dispenser is accessed by large volumes of consumers. Current beverage dispensers either require manual ice replenishment by a beverage dispenser attendant or feature automatic icemakers of limited capacity.
In particular, beverage dispensers feature an ice holding chamber for providing a supply of ice to the ice dispenser. Often, ice within the ice holding chamber is replenished by an attendant placing ice directly into the ice holding chamber. In addition to being tedious and labor intensive, manual ice replenishment is hazardous in that consumers and beverage dispenser attendants alike trip and fall on ice that lands on the floor during the replenishment process. Furthermore, manual ice replenishment is less than sanitary due to ice contact with the atmosphere, the replenishment container, and even the attendant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,338, which issued to A. G. Weil et al. on Oct. 12, 1965 and is entitled "Ice Handling Apparatus", features a beverage dispenser with an automatic ice maker. The Weil icemaker is confined within the inner workings of a beverage dispenser unit and, thus, cannot accommodate the unit's ice dispenser with large volumes of ice at any given time. The Weil icemaker imposes a further complication in that it does not include an integrated sanitizing system, which necessitates manual cleaning. Consequently, the Weil icemaker is not suited for placement in a confined space, such as under a counter.
Accordingly, there is a long felt need for a modular ice delivery system that is self-sanitizing and that provides large quantities of ice pursuant to consumer demand.

Modular ice delivery system for a beverage dispenser


An igniter includes a central electrode terminating in a firing portion including a plurality of prong tiers distributed axially on the firing portion. Each prong tier including at least one firing prong extending radially outward from the firing portion. The igniter body includes a port end to be received into an engine igniter port, and a shank. The firing portion of the central electrode extends from the shank opposing the port end. A dielectric casing can fully encapsulate the firing portion of the central electrode to define a dielectric barrier adjacent the firing prong. The igniter may include a generally cylindrical ground electrode defining a discharge cavity surrounding the central electrode. The ground electrode includes a plurality of ground prongs defined by the ground electrode and extending radially toward the firing portion. A plurality of apertures defined by the ground electrode are in fluid communication with the discharge cavity.

An ignition system in a combustion chamber of an engine includes an igniter for igniting a combustible air-fuel mixture in the chamber. The igniter may use a non-thermal corona discharge generated by the application of high voltage to an electrode such that current flows from sharp corners or projecting points of the electrode to ionize the air in the chamber to create a region of plasma around the electrode providing a plasma discharge streamer to ignite the air-fuel mixture. The plasma discharge streamer is restricted to a small area. Plasma (corona) discharge exhibits a propensity for arcing, such that voltage and/or duration of the ignition event must be closely controlled to minimize or prevent arcing.
Barrier discharge igniters do not exhibit arcing due to a non-conducting coating which prevents transition of the plasma discharge into an arc. The ignition provided by a barrier discharge igniter is provided by the electrical discharge between two electrodes separated by a dielectric barrier such that the ignition is confined to a small volume defined by the gap between the electrodes. Such a system is described by t. Shiraishi et al. in SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0660 entitled Fundamental Analysis of Combustion Initiation Characteristics of Low Temperature Plasma Ignition for Internal Combustion Gasoline Engine, published Apr. 12, 2011, doi: 10.4271/2011-01-0660.


A main body portion provided with a document stand on which a document is placed and a reading unit; a cover which opens and closes the document stand; and a near field communication unit on the inside of the cover, are provided.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a reading apparatus which reads a document and a recording apparatus which performs recording on a recording medium.
2. Related Art
In a reading apparatus which reads a document, there are a type which reads the document by loading the document on a glass surface, and a type which reads the document by loading the document on a medium loading surface and transporting the document. In addition, in a recording apparatus which performs recording on the recording medium, there is a type (a type called a multifunction machine or the like) including a reading mechanism portion (scanner) which reads the document, above a recording mechanism portion that performs the recording on the recording medium.
In addition, in the recording apparatus, similar to JP-A-2014-096717 and JP-A-2013-228540, a configuration in which a near field communication (NFC) is performed, is employed. Furthermore, the near field communication is a near field type wireless communication, and a communication area is approximately several centimeters to 1 meter. A user uses the near field communication, and for example, sets the recording apparatus, or transfers image data to the recording apparatus from a portable terminal, and additionally, print-out or the like is performed.
It is preferable that a substrate (near field communication substrate) including an antenna which is used in the near field communication be provided in the reading apparatus and on an upper surface of the reading apparatus from the viewpoint of operability of the user in the recording apparatus.

Reading apparatus and recording apparatus


A fixture according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a shaft portion, a first fixing portion, a spacer, and a second fixing portion. A connection portion passing through the inside of the spacer and being connected to both the shaft portion and the second fixing portion is provided inside the spacer. The shaft portion includes a first hard resin portion, a second hard resin portion, and a soft resin portion. A soft resin portion is interposed between the first hard resin portion and the second hard resin portion so that vibration transmitted from either the first hard resin portion or the second hard resin portion to the other can be dampened.

There is known a vibration-absorbing fixture used to fix an article to another member (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the case of the vibration-absorbing fixture described in Patent Document 1, a first attachment unit is fixed to one end of a shaft portion. An elastic member is provided on the other end of the shaft portion. The other end of the shaft portion and a second attachment unit are connected via the elastic member.
Patent Document 1 also discloses an example in which the shaft portion, the first attachment unit, and the second attachment unit are made of a hard resin (for example PP (polypropylene)), an example in which the elastic member is made of a soft resin (for example, TPS (styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer)), and the like.


A safety brake for the load receiving portion of an elevator includes a fixing device that is displaceable relative to the load receiving portion in the direction of the guide rail between two abutments fastened to the load receiving portion. The unlocking of the safety brake after a braking process is achieved by moving the load receiving portion with the assistance of the elevator drive unit oppositely to the direction of movement before the braking process, so that one of the abutments fastened to the load receiving portion strikes the fixing device to unlock it from the guide rail.

The present invention relates to a safety brake for a load receiving means of an elevator, with a fixing means which can be brought into a locked and an unlocked state and which in the locked state fixes the load receiving means to a rail, as well as a method for unlocking such a safety brake after a braking process.
Safety brakes are used with a number of different operating principles. A large portion thereof have a clamping mechanism which, after activation by a speed limiter system, produces a clamping action between components of the safety brake and at least one stationary rail, which is mounted parallel to the travel path of the load receiving means, with use of the kinetic energy of the moving load receiving means. Due to self-locking in the clamping mechanism, some of these safety brakes can be unlocked again after the braking process only with considerable expenditure of force.
A safety brake of the kind stated in the foregoing is known from patent document EP 0 899 231 A1 and is explained in more detail in the description below with reference to FIG. 2.
In order to unlock safety brakes, which have a self-locking clamping mechanism, after a braking process, these have to be moved against the movement direction present before the braking process, which usually happens by moving the load receiving means. Such a movement is usually produced by lifting the load receiving means by the drive unit of the elevator or by lowering the load receiving means by the drive unit with utilization of the weight force of the load receiving means and possibly an additional load. For overcoming the mentioned self-locking of the clamping mechanism there is needed a displacement force which is substantially increased by comparison with normal operation. This increased displacement force in many cases exceeds the available force of the drive unit or the weight force of the load receiving means. Unlocking by manipulation at the safety brake is usually not possible, since in the case of braking this is not accessible.
The present invention has the object of creating equipment by which unlocking of such safety brakes is made possible with substantially reduced release force, i.e. by exclusive use of the unassisted drive unit of the elevator or the weight force of the load receiving means.
The advantages achieved by the invention are essentially that simple and economic safety brakes, which need to overcome substantial frictional forces for unlocking thereof, are usable without the drive units having to apply more than the lifting force required for normal operation and without the load receiving means having to be loaded with additional loads for unlocking after a braking process from an upward movement.
In order, for unlocking the safety brake with the assistance of the abutments movable relative to the fixing means, to be able to exert a blow or impact on these fixing means, these abutments are expediently fixedly connected with the load receiving means so that the blow can be produced by simple vertical movement of the load receiving means.
The fixing means is preferably so connected with the load receiving means that it is displaceable relative to the load receiving means parallel to the stationary rail within a limited displacement path, wherein the abutments form the limitation of this displacement path. For unlocking the safety brake after a braking process the load receiving means can thereby be moved and accelerated over a limited displacement path, without hindrance by the fixing means fixedly seated on the rail, before one of the abutments fixedly connected with the load receiving means collides with this fixing means and unlocks this by a blow utilizing the kinetic energy of the moved load receiving means.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention at least one of the abutments forming the limitations of the displacement path is adjustable, for example in the manner that the limitation consists of an abutment screw with a fixing nut. The displacement path can thus be optimized in correspondence with the prevailing conditions.
The fixing means is, with advantage, held in normal operation by at least one spring element in contact with the abutment forming the upper limitation of the displacement path and connected with the load receiving means, wherein this spring element has to compensate for at least the weight force of the fixing means. By this measure it is avoided that in the case of a braking process from a downward movement of the load receiving means, in which the greatest braking forces arise, the fixing means firmly clamped to the stationary rail collides against the said upper abutment like a hammer. On unlocking of the safety brake through lifting the load receiving means by the drive unit of the elevator, the load receiving means moves upwards relative to the fixing means, which is fixedly seated on the stationary rail, and against the spring force until an abutment forming the lower limitation of the displacement path collides with the fixing means and thereby helps to unlock the clamping mechanism thereof.
It is advantageous to achieve the limited displaceability of the fixing means relative to the load receiving means in such a manner that the two components are connected together by way of linear guides or pivot guides. Collar screws in guide slots, dovetail or prismatic sliding guides, parallelogram linking lever guides or parallelogram leaf spring guides are suitable forms of embodiment for that purpose.
Displacement paths having a length limited to 5 to 30 mm have proved advantageous for the different conditions of use and variants of safety brakes.
For elevators that have a counterweight and in which a safety brake has to secure the load receiving means even before excess speed in an upward direction it is advantageous to use a fixing means which is effective as a unit in both directions of movement of the load receiving means, wherein different braking forces can be generated for the downward direction and the upward direction. For elevators without a counterweight, fixing means which function only in the downward direction of the load receiving means are sufficient.
The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an elevator with a safety brake according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment for a fixing means effective in both directions of travel of the load receiving means;
FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment for a fixing means effective only in the downward direction of travel of the load receiving means;
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the safety brake according to the present invention after a braking process from a downward movement of the load receiving means;
FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 and shows the safety brake at the instant of the unlocking process, and
FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are each a side elevation and top plan view of alternate embodiments of the safety brake with different solutions for realization of the displaceability of the fixing means.

Safety brake and method for unlocking a safety brake


An information processing apparatus includes an execution section that executes a game program in response to operation information of a first user, an acceptance section that accepts a viewing request from other user, and a delivery processing section that sends game image data. An information processing apparatus includes a display processing section for displaying information about a game being played by the first user and a request transmission section for sending a viewing request to the information processing apparatus. The display processing section displays an operation area for sending a viewing request to the information processing apparatus when the information processing apparatus is not sending game image data.

Recent years have seen widespread availability of services for sharing a game video while a user is playing the game. Also, it is now possible for users to directly communicate with each other by connecting their terminals in a "peer-to-peer" (P2P) fashion. A user can share various data with other users via the Internet. PTL 1 proposes a game delivery system in which a delivering gaming apparatus delivers information about a game playing status to a receiving gaming apparatus so that a receiving side user can participate in a game being executed by the delivering gaming apparatus.

Information processing apparatus and viewing request transmission method


A parking assistance apparatus obtains a target travelling route from a present position of a vehicle to a target parking position and controls the vehicle such that the vehicle moves along the target travelling route. The target travelling route is obtained such that the vehicle moves backward to reach the target parking position and the vehicle is moves in a region on the target parking position side of a travelling boundary line. The travelling boundary line is a straight line which is in front of the vehicle located at the target parking position and which is away from a reference position by a boundary distance. The reference position is a position at a front end and at a center in a lateral direction of the vehicle located at the target parking position. The boundary distance is a configurable value changed by a driver of the vehicle.

A conventionally known parking assistance apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as the "conventional apparatus") obtains (determines) a "target travelling route (path)" from an initial position to a "target parking position" such that a vehicle moves (travels) backward and turns along that target travelling route so as to reach the target parking position.
If it is impossible to directly reach the target parking position from the initial position only by moving backward, the conventional apparatus obtains the target travelling route which includes a section along which the vehicle moves backward to reach a position close to the target parking position, a section along which the vehicle moves forward provisionally (temporarily), and a section along which the vehicle moves backward to reach the target parking position.
Namely, in this case, the target travelling route includes "shift switching positions" at which a shift mode of the vehicle is switched between a forward mode and a backward mode (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2003-237511).