An insulated concrete wall structure having integral T-beam supports is fabricated onsite by pouring uncured concrete into spaced apart forms that define a wall cavity. Within the wall cavity are a plurality of insulation panels so positioned and arranged in defining an outer wall cavity for forming a concrete outer wall, a support wall cavity for forming a support wall that is integral with the outer wall and together define a T-beam support, and a box beam cavity for forming an elongated box beam that interconnects the upper ends of the T-beam supports together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to building wall structures and, more particularly, is directed to an insulated poured concrete wall with integral T-beam supports and the method of making same on site.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Concrete walls can be formed in various ways. Some are constructed from concrete blocks on footings, some can be formed by pouring or pumping in uncured concrete between rigid forms, and others can be made from prefabricated members which are becoming very popular. The traditional concrete block method for wall construction involves laying many courses of block, one on top of another, to build a vertical wall wherein each block must be individually placed and surrounded by mortar. This method is both time consuming and labor intensive.
Poured concrete walls have many benefits over other types of concrete walls. They can be quickly constructed, are relatively easy to construct, are versatile, and durable. The poured wall forms are generally planar structures and typically made of wood, aluminum, steel, or a combination of these materials. For poured walls, two series of coplanar wall forms are held in a spaced apart, generally parallel relationship to create the cavity which will form the concrete wall. The wall forms are typically held in the correct spaced apart relationship by a series of retaining (cross) ties extending between the form assemblies. The retaining ties commonly include holes formed in each end whereby pins are used to join adjacent coplanar forms together. Once the wall forms are in place, concrete is poured into the cavity between the forms and, after the concrete has cured, the forms are disassembled for reuse. The protruding ends of the retaining or cross ties are then broken off. One drawback of all concrete walls however, is that they are poor insulators. A typical concrete wall has an insulating "R" value of approximately 1.0.
To improve the insulating qualities of concrete walls, several methods have been developed for incorporating insulation boards, such as polystyrene sheets, within the concrete wall, or, on one or both exterior surfaces of the concrete wall. A concrete wall with 2.5 inches of polystyrene insulation on one side has an insulating "R" value of approximately 13.0; whereas, a concrete wall with 2.5 inches of polystyrene insulation on both exterior surfaces of the wall has an insulating "R" value of approximately 26.0.
One method to provide such an insulated poured concrete wall is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,211 wherein an insulation board is sandwiched between two concrete walls. The insulation board is held midway between the pair of spaced apart wall forms by a special retaining clip 36 attached to the mid-portion of the cross-ties that retains the forms together and then concrete is poured into the two vertical void regions defined between the opposite sides of the insulation board and the opposite wall forms. Retainers 54 are used to mechanically connect the insulation board to the concrete wall layers on the opposite sides of the insulation board. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,076, insulation panels are provided on either one or both sides of the wall during the concrete pouring process. Elongated F-shape retaining strips that are attached to the form cross-ties are used to position the insulation panel(s) between the spaced apart opposite form walls. A similar method is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,830 but uses a different insulation retaining clip attached to the form cross ties. U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,114 teaches another method for insulating both sides of the concrete wall wherein spaced apart insulation boards are used for the form walls. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,438,917, the insulation board is provided with a groove along its vertical elongated edge that mates with retaining clips attached to the cross ties so as to position the insulation board(s) within the opposite sides of the forms and against the inner wall surface of one of the forms and/or also against the inner wall surface of the other form to thereby form a wall structure having insulation on both sides of the concrete wall. U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,148 teaches a similar method of making an insulated wall structure during the pouring operation wherein an elongated, notched T-shaped retaining strip which engages the cross-ties is utilized to position the insulation board adjacent one wall of the forms and to hold same in said position as concrete is poured into the cavity between the insulation board and the opposite wall of the form. U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,577 shows yet another method similar to the above prior art teaching wherein an elongated T-shape retainer strip is utilized to retain the insulation board in position against one wall of the form while concrete is poured into the open space between the insulation board and the opposite wall of the forms. The T-shape retainer is attached to the cross ties that connect together the spaced apart forms. US patent No. 2009/0173870 A1 describes a concrete forming apparatus with an outer form and an inner form held upright and in a spaced apart relationship via interconnecting tie rods 18. Between the inner and outer forms is a sheet of insulation 22 that's suspended along the tie rods (either centrally or offset). To stop the insulation from ripping when concrete is poured into the forms, the tie rods are passed through the insulation via a strengthening sleeve 28. Additionally, spacing rods 24 are used to keep the insulation away from the inner and outer forms and the spacing rods pass through strengthening spools 26 located perpendicularly within the insulation. U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,577 B1 patent describes an insulated concrete wall system employing inner and outer forms 12. The inner form abuts insulation panels 14, held into place and anchored to the poured concrete wall via "T" stud 16 which has a front face 26 that is visible in the finished wall and serves as a place for drywall to be anchored. The "T" studs also have an anchoring portion 30 which extends into the concrete wall beyond the insulation panels. The insulation panels, concrete forms and "T" studs are held in position via cross-ties 24 which pass between the insulation panels and through slots in the "T" stud 32. And U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,193 patent shows an apparatus and method for applying insulation to one or both sides of a poured concrete wall at the time the wall is poured. Insulation panels 12 are suspended inside the forms 22 using "F" strips 14 that affix to novel cross-ties 16 which hold the forms upright and spaced. Once the concrete is poured and cured, the cross-ties remain embedded in the body of the concrete, as do the "F" strips which hold the insulation securely against the wall. Each of the above methods includes in one way or another, specialized retainer clips that cooperate with the cross-ties. In addition thereto, each of the above methods produces a wall structure having a given-thickness concrete portion and then the insulation board(s) just adds to this given-thickness.
It is well known in the art, a concrete wall, such as a basement wall must be of a certain thickness, depending upon its vertical height, to support a predetermined load. Generally, the greater the height of the wall, the greater its thickness needed to support a predetermined load. And generally speaking, the thicker the wall, the more concrete is needed and, more concrete usually equates to more and increased costs. The above-described insulated, concrete poured walls inventions were basically directed to increasing the insulation "R" value of the poured wall, but none of them addressed the problem of the amount of concrete utilized in a given wall structure in an attempt to reduce the amount of concrete and thus the cost savings resulting therefrom.
The Zimmerman U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,398 patent, assigned to Superior Walls, introduced a new method for constructing basement walls. The key to the Zimmerman wall was the use of "precast concrete studs" for vertical height and strength. The precast studs were specifically designed to match their anticipated use. For a common residential basement wall, typically, the studs are two inches wide by six inches in depth and eight feet in height. These precast concrete studs are essentially rectangular in cross section but could contain a central narrower web to reduce weight and material cost. Steel reinforcing oriented along the length are cast into the studs to increase their strength, and several holes are formed in the central region to permit subsequent laying of electrical wires or water pipes through the studs within the walls that they form. Additionally, when the studs are cast, a pressure treated wood strip is cast onto one long, narrow edge, the edge that forms the interior basement wall, for easy attachment thereto of drywall or the like. These concrete precast studs are normally manufactured in a building, warehouse or shop and then transported to the basement site for installation. At the site, the studs are set on a base beam and spaced on two foot centers and extend vertically upward eight feet where a top wooden plate connects the concrete vertical studs together. After the stud construction is completed, the exterior walls of the basement are constructed. This begins with the attachment to the exterior of the concrete studs, one or more layers of rigid sheath insulation by pushing the sheath insulation against fasteners protruding from the concrete studs. A layer of wire mesh is then attached over the entire surface outside of the insulation, and then, concrete is sprayed onto the outer surface of the wire mesh at high velocity. The thickness of the sprayed concrete is between one to two inches thick. With the use of the precast concrete studs, the inventor was able to reduce the thickness of the concrete (maximum thickness of 2 inches) of the wall structure and at the same time increase the insulation R value of the wall structure by providing the insulation sheaths. The exterior of the wall structure would appear to be a monolithic smooth surface, whereas, the interior surface of the wall structure is stepped and offset with the plurality of spaced, six inch depth concrete studs projecting inwardly into the basement area from the insulation sheaths.
In a further improvement, rather than constructing the wall structure, with the precast concrete studs, on site, as described in the above '398 patent, Zimmerman utilized the precast concrete stud construction concept to manufacture prefabricated structural wall panels as shown and described in his U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,605,529 and 4,751,803 patents. The prefabricated wall panel is accomplished within an assembly jig which permits the wall panel to be manufactured in a horizontal position, so that conventional concrete delivery trucks can be used as a material source. Basically, in the assembly jig, spaced precast concrete studs with fasteners protruding from one edge are used to build the panel while oriented in a horizontal plane. Rigid sheet insulation is attached to the outside of the concrete studs and wire mesh is laid upon the sheet insulation. Concrete is then poured onto the insulation, the wire mesh and the protruding fasteners to form a continuous water-proof outer surface. Horizontal top and bottom beams are bonded to the concrete studs and are formed at the same time as the outer concrete surface. After setting of the concrete, the wall panel is one integral modular concrete structure which is transported on large trucks to a construction site for erection of several modules together to form the wall structure. Normally, this requires the use of a very large crane since the precast wall panels are extremely heavy. And in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,934,121 and 5,055,252, Zimmerman describes and defines the method and means for connecting the prefabricated wall panels together at the job site. Basically, the panels are bolted together to form a rigid structure in thus forming an integral wall structure, such as the basement walls of a house. Here again, with the utilization of the precast concrete stud, the thickness of the concrete of the prefabricated panels that make up the final wall structure is considerable less than an equivalent block wall or standard poured wall. Also, we again have the same interior wall profile as in the above described '398 patented structure having a staggered offset profile with the precast concrete studs projecting inwardly further than the insulation panels. And yet another improvement to the Superior Wall prefabricated panels can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,004 B1 (ZIMMERMAN) which shows a jig made of insulation panels that form the mold for a prefabricated concrete wall. The mold is assembled via a series of interconnecting foam panels, onto and into which concrete is poured forming the wall with integrated studs and insulation. Each stud is created using a metal channel 12 that holds three pieces of insulation in a "U" configuration, panel 16 at the base of the metal channel with panels 14 extending up along the sides. Suspended on panels 14 are panels 16 which comprise the inside surface of the concrete wall. Panels 14 and 16 are grooved to accept one another and stabilize the form during pouring. The resulting prefabricated wall has a continuous outer concrete surface with integrated studs and insulation comprising the inside of the wall; a stepped configuration.
The "Superior Wall" prefabricated panels have gained considerable market success in recent years and has many advantages and is ideally suited for certain construction projects and now there are several other companies that manufacture, sell, and erect similar such prefabricated panels, such as Titan Walls, Inc., Ideal Precast, and Specialty Precast Company. Some examples of other prior art prefabricated panels can be seen in the following: U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,753 discloses a prefabricated concrete wall 10 which consists of a continuous concrete planar face 12 integrated with studs 14 and adjacent insulation panels 16. The inner face of the studs has channels 20 housing polystyrene strips 50 for receiving drywall screws and the inner profile of the wall is planar. The wall 10 is attached to the footer via "L" brackets 32. U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,406 B1 patent teaches a preformed concrete wall that can be a cavity wall, best seen in FIG. 1, or a planar wall, best seen in FIG. 2. The concrete wall 1 has vertical studs 10 extending between a top beam 32 and a bottom beam 34, with integral studs poured into stud forms 12. The stud forms have rebar 20 that extends into the top beam and bottom beam for integration, and insulation 14 under the stud form abutting the interior face of the stud. The interior of the wall has either recessed insulation, creating a cavity wall panel as seen in FIG. 1 or thicker insulation, creating a planar wall panel as seen in FIG. 2. U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,231 B1 describes a precast concrete wall panel with a flat side 26 and a recessed side 28. The recessed side has a header 22 and footer 24, between which are horizontal ribs 32 that are vertically spaced. The recessed side is filled with insulation batts 34, which create a flat surface planar with the header and footer. The footer has a side recess 44 to accommodate rods or bars used to secure the wall panel to the foundation. The precast panels are lined up side by side to form the wall. And U.S. Pat. No. 7,530,203 B1 patent discloses a precast concrete wall system with an upper ledge that supports trusses for a below-grade floor system. The wall panel 10 is formed with a horizontal footer beam 12, an upper beam 15, and vertical concrete studs 13 extending between the two. Between the studs, the wall is insulated with a sheet of polystyrene 16. Each stud is covered with a foam "U" channel 35, which abuts the polystyrene sheets 16, creating a continuous layer of insulation on the interior of the wall. The wall described is mounted onto a bed of crushed stone.
One major disadvantage of using prefabricated panels is that for erection at the site, a large crane is required to lift and move the prefabricated panels into place and generally, these panels are set on a thin layer of compacted, crushed fine gravel which is in direct contrast to the long standing practice used for block and poured wall construction where a "concrete footing" (footer) is required for supporting the wall and the load supported by the wall. Although the prefabricated panel wall construction meets the code requirements in many areas, it is questionable over the long run whether such compacted crush stone base is equivalent to the traditional footer construction, especially in the northern areas of the country where freezing and thawing must be taken into consideration in the construction of such walls. Thus, there is a desire in the marketplace to have an insulated concrete wall structure that is constructed using the poured wall method and which wall structure is supported on a typical well-known footer and which wall structure provides a planar interior wall surface.

Insulated poured concrete wall structure with integal T-beam supports and method of making same


A novel method is provided for preparing carboxy functional silicones, comprising the steps of:. (1) addition reacting a mixture of ingredients containing PA1 (2) hydrolyzing the addition reaction product prepared in step (1).. (A) an olefin-terminated organoacyloxysilane; PA2 (B) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane, and PA2 (C) a precious metal or a precious metal-containing catalyst, and

This invention relates to a method for preparing carboxy functional silicones. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for preparing carboxy functional silicones from silane derivatives of alpha-olefin terminated-organic acids.
Carboxy functional silicones are useful in many applications where water- and alcohol-soluble organopolysiloxanes are desirable. For example, they are useful as emulsifying agents for the formation of aqueous emulsions of conventional organopolysiloxane fluids and in applications such as alcohol base cosmetics. Carboxy functional silicones can also function as reactants in the preparation of polysiloxane-polyether copolymer surfactants which are useful as additiives in polyurethane foam.
Carboxy-functional silicones and methods for preparing them are known in the art. Reference is made, for example, to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,182,076 and 3,629,165, both to Holdstock. In the Holdstock method, carboxy-functional silicones are prepared by the hydrolysis and condensation of a mixture containing organotrichlorosilane, a diorganodichlorosilane, and a cyanoalkyldiorganochlorosilane. During the hydrolysis and condensation of these reactants, the various silicon-bonded chlorine atoms are replaced by silicon-bonded hydroxyl groups which intercondense to form siloxane linkages. The nitrile radical hydrolyzes to a carboxyl radical. Hydrochloric acid is also formed in the hydrolysis reaction.
One drawback to the prior art method described above is that cyano silanes are quite expensive and require the use of acrylonitrile, which is undesirable. In addition, the highly acidic media, i.e., concentrated hydrochloric acid required to perform the hydrolysis in the Holdstock method, is extremely corrosive and causes equipment problems.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a method for preparing carboxy functional silicones which does not require the use of either cyano silanes or acidic catalysts.

Method for preparing carboxy functional silicones


The invention describes a laser printing system (100) for illuminating an object moving relative to a laser module of the laser printing system (100) in a working plane (180), the laser module comprising at least two laser arrays of semiconductor lasers and at least one optical element, wherein the optical element is adapted to image laser light emitted by the laser arrays, such that laser light of semiconductor lasers of one laser array is imaged to one pixel in the working plane of the laser printing system, and wherein the laser printing system is a 3D printing system for additive manufacturing and wherein two, three, four or a multitude of laser modules (201, 202) are provided, which are arranged in columns (c1, c2) perpendicular to a direction of movement (250) of the object in the working plane (180), and wherein the columns are staggered with respect to each other such that a first laser module (201) of a first column of laser modules (c1) is adapted to illuminate a first area (y1) of the object and a second laser module (202) of a second column (c2) of laser modules is adapted to illuminate a second area (y2) of the object, wherein the first area (y1) is adjacent to the second area (y2) such that continuous illumination of the object is enabled.

Selective-laser melting machines consist of a single high-power laser and a scanner to scan the laser over the area to be illuminated. In such machines the laser and the scanner are arranged outside of a process chamber and the laserlight can pass through an entrance window into the process chamber that contains a building area. To increase the processing speed, it is desirable to have a printing head with several independent channels i.e. an addressable array of lasers covering a significant part of the area. Preferably, the printing head covers the full width of the area to be printed with one addressable laser source per pixel, so that the print head needs to be moved only in one direction. Reliability and service costs of such addressable arrays may be an issue.
US 2005/0151828 A1 discloses a device for xerographic laser printing. The xerographic printing system has a laser printbar imager assembly including a plurality of micro-optic light emitting arrays. The micro-optic light emitting array includes a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, where each vertical cavity surface emitting laser is focused with a micro-optic element.


A programmable logic, a memory and a microcontroller. The memory is coupled to the programmable logic circuit via the microcontroller. The programmable logic circuit, the memory and the microcontroller are fabricated as a single integrated circuit.

Conventional approaches to the fabrication of microcontrollers and programmable devices generally require the fabrication of a microcontroller and a programmable device as discrete independent packages or components. In applications where a limited number of gates are required, the overhead (e.g., the additional processing steps) associated with fabricating a programmable device such as a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a programmable logic device (PLD) or a programmable logic array (PLA), in addition the overhead associated with fabricating a discrete microcontroller, makes the overall design impractical. While previous approaches may implement a microcontroller interface external to the programmable device, conventional approaches have not implemented a programmable device on the same chip as the a microcontroller.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Two or several overlaying sheet formed members are joined together using an essentially coaxial arrangement of a punch, a die with a die cavity, and an anvil. A method for joining the sheet formed members comprises the steps of placing two or several overlaying sheet formed members between the punch and the die, causing a core portion of the punch to move in a direction toward the die cavity so as to co-act with the die cavity to form a cup-shaped or protruding portion having a side wall portion and a bottom wall portion, whereby a lateral extension provided around the rear end of the core portion deforms and axially displaces material from the area around the opening of the cup-shaped or protruding portion, mainly in the upper sheet formed member, moving the anvil in a second direction and locking it in a predetermined position relative to the die, a second relative movement of the punch in the direction towards the die compresses the bottom wall portion whereby a laterally enlarged shape is formed, mechanically interlocking the sheet formed members.

Methods and apparatuses for joining sheet formed members together, thereby producing leakproof or non-leakproof joints, are previously known. Of particular interest in some applications is a type of leakproof joint which is made by means of drawing said sheet formed members into a cup-shaped or protruding portion having a cylindrical or slightly conical side wall and a bottom wall and subsequently compressing said bottom wall creating a lateral extrusion of the same thereby forming a laterally enlarged shape which mechanically interlocks the sheet formed members. The present invention, however, is also concerning other types of joints.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,735 discloses an apparatus, a method and a joint of this type. The method is of the single stroke type which means that the whole procedure takes place during one single relative movement between a punch and a coacting die. For the compression of the bottom wall of the cup-shaped portion an anvil is arranged fixed at the bottom of the die cavity which cavity is laterally expandable.
Double-stroke methods are also known from e.g. WO 89/07020 according to which the compression takes place during a second stroke outside the die cavity. This cavity is generally laterally non-expandable.
One problem with the leakproof joints of the above type is the relatively low resistance against so called shear and peeling forces.
It turns out that the drawing depth into the die cavity and the gap between the punch and the die cavity are critical parameters.
If the drawing depth is too big and/or the gap between the punch and the die cavity is too small the side wall of the cup-formed or protruding portion, especially on the sheet formed member touching the punch, will be too thin and there is a risk that this side wall will break when exposed to forces tending to separate the members. The problem is emphasized when the joint is made between more than two sheets.
On the other hand, if the drawing depth is too small and/or the gap between the punch and the die cavity is too big, the lateral extrusion of the bottom wall during the compression will not be sufficient to create the interlocking between the sheet formed members and there is a risk that the members separate for that reason, when exposed to forces.

Method for joining together two or several overlaying sheet formed members, and apparatus for carrying out said method and a joint resulting from said method


A sensor includes a metallic housing having a hollow portion, a metallic terminal pin, a part of which is inserted into the hollow portion of the housing, a sensing element connected to the terminal pin, and a resin casing. The terminal pin and the resin casing provide a connector for connecting an outer circuit outside the sensor. A part of the resin casing is disposed in the hollow portion. The terminal pin and the housing are molded with the resin casing by insert molding so that the resin casing, the terminal pin, and the housing are integrated together.

A sensor having a metallic housing and a resin connector according to a related art includes a metallic terminal pin. The terminal pin is inserted into the casing. Then, a periphery end of the housing is crimped with the casing, so that the housing and the casing are integrated together.
However, in this sensor, the metallic housing is mounted to the resin casing by crimp joint. Therefore, it is required to increase a crimp force for increasing a joint strength between the housing and the casing. At that time, thickness of a crimp joint portion of the metallic housing and/or the resin casing is necessitated to become thicker for increasing the crimp force. Moreover, resin material composing the resin casing may be changed to another material, which has a large mechanical strength for increasing the crimp force. Thus, the sensor becomes large in size, and degree of freedom in design and specification of the sensor becomes lower.
Further, to increase the crimp force, it is required that a crimp machine for crimping the metallic housing becomes larger, and a manufacturing cost of the sensor also becomes larger. Furthermore, when the crimp force is large, it is difficult to control the crimp force finely, so that the crimp force may not fall in a range of a predetermined crimp force. Moreover, the resin material composing the casing may be damaged by a creep failure and/or a stress relaxation effect.
The above problem arises in all types of sensors, in which a housing and a connector with a terminal pin are crimped together. Especially, when a crimp force between the housing and the connector in these sensors is increased, the above problem arises remarkably.

Sensor having metallic housing and resin connector, and method of manufacturing the same


An enhanced escapement mechanism provides improved isolation of energy and torque for an oscillation system, e.g. a pendulum. In an exemplary embodiment, during a first phase, a pendulum releases an impulse arm that is decoupled from a main wheel, which falls and impulses the pendulum, such as at or near the middle of the pendulum swing. In a second phase, the impulse arm continues to fall, becoming totally detached from the pendulum, wherein the falling impulse arm releases the main wheel, which restores the impulse arm to its initial position. The main wheel continues to rotate until it is no longer in contact with the impulse arm, and is captured, such that the process may be repeated. While the enhanced escapement mechanism typically provides an impulse to an oscillation system during each period, alternate embodiments provide an impulse for each of a plurality of periods, e.g. once every ten periods.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to escapement mechanisms and related systems and processes. More particularly, the invention relates to escapement mechanisms and related systems and processes for oscillating systems, such as for but not limited to pendulums.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Historically, the gravity pendulum has been the most successful device for accurately regulating the timing of a mechanical clock. The frequency of such a simple pendulum is approximately proportional to the square root of the ratio of earth's gravity to length of the pendulum (f=2π√{square root over (l/g)}). Because the force of gravity is reasonably constant, keeping the period constant is largely a matter of keeping the length constant, which can be accomplished by careful selection of the materials and geometry, while paying special attention to expansion due to changes in temperature.
While an idealized pendulum has all of its mass concentrated at a point, real pendulums are actually compound pendulums, with a distributed mass. In general, a compound pendulum has a longer period than a corresponding idealized pendulum, because of the extra moment of inertia contributed by the distribution of the mass.
Mechanical clocks commonly include an escapement mechanism to input a controlled amount of stored energy to a pendulum, wherein the stored energy typically comprises potential energy provided by a weight and/or a spring.
One problem with clock escapements is that there is normally some variability in the drive torque of the escape wheel, which can lead to variability in the energy applied to the pendulum. This can in turn lead to inaccuracies in the clock's ability to keep steady time.
One method of reducing this variability is delivering the impulse to the pendulum indirectly, through an intermediate energy storage device that delivers a more constant impulse. For example, in a typical gravity escapement, the torque from the escape wheel is used to lift a weight to a fixed height, and the dropping of that weight delivers the impulse. This isolates the strength of the impulse from the torque applied to the escapement, but it does not solve the problem entirely, because the energy that must be removed from the pendulum to release the escape wheel may still depend on the torque applied to the escapement.
While some prior systems have provided detachment systems that attempt to decouple energy that is input into a pendulum, some of these systems provide energy input at the end of a swing, which is subject to variability.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide an escapement mechanism that provides improved detachment of energy and torque to an oscillatory system.
The development of such an escapement mechanism would constitute a significant technological advance.

Two-phase detached escapement mechanism for oscillators and related systems


An electronic network is disclosed. One embodiment includes a plurality of network devices, a bus for transferring data between the network devices and a bus master for controlling the transfer of data between the network devices. Each network device is identified using one unique identification code. At least one number generator is provided, which is adapted to generate a number upon a request from the bus master. The received number is used as identification code of the respective network device.

An electrical network in the sense of the present application having any interconnection of electrical components such as computer components inside a computer or computers themselves. The devices connected to the network are being generally called network devices. The data transfer between the network devices may be accomplished using both wired and wireless interconnections. In particular, a bus may be used for transferring data between the network devices. Unlike a point to point connection, a bus can logically connect several network devices over the same wires. Each bus defines the sockets for physically connecting network devices such as computer hardware.
A bus network is a simple way to connect multiple network devices. However, problems may occur if more than one network device wants to transfer data cross the network at the same time. In order to rule out conflicts between network devices connected to the same bus network, a bus master is implemented. The bus master controls the transfer of data between the network devices. Whenever a particular network device intends to transfer data across the bus to another network device, it must request permission from the bus master. The bus master returns the admission and the time slots for transferring the respective data.
An identification code must be assigned to each network device connected to the network. This code is needed to indicate the destination and origin of a particular data packet transferred across the network. The identification code must be a unique numerical character. During the system start up phase of the electronic network, the network devices communicate the unique identification code to the bus master. This unique identification code is conventionally stored in an internal or external flash memory of the network device. The identification code is associated with the respective network device during its production. This has several disadvantages. First of all, an additional read only memory must be attached to each network device. Additional chips must be implemented for copying the identification code from the flash memory to the input/output of the network device. Since the network devices are produced and used by many different enterprises, the number of possible network devices and consequently the associated identification codes must have a great size. Many different enterprises must cooperate in order to avoid that the same network identification code is signed to different network devices. The management of these identification codes is expensive and cumbersome.
For these or other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Electronic network with identification code generation and assignment


There are provided a system, a method and a computer program product for generating an optimal preventive maintenance/replacement schedule for a set of assets. The method includes receiving data regarding an asset, said data including a failure rate function of said asset, a cost of preventative maintenance (PM) of said asset, a cost of an asset failure, and a cost of replacing an asset. An optimal number K of preventative maintenance time intervals tk and an indication of a possible replacement is computed and stored for each asset by minimizing a mean cost-rate value function with respect to an electrical age of the asset. A first PM schedule is formed without consideration of labor and budget resource constraints. The method further generates a second maintenance schedule for a system of assets by minimizing a deviation from the optimal PM time intervals subject to the labor and budget resource constraints.

Currently, periodically scheduled maintenance is the most commonly used maintenance policy. There are shortcomings to this: Scheduled maintenance does not take into the future health condition of the asset, thus is often conservative. Condition-based maintenance is performed when an indicator of the health condition of the asset reaches a pre-determined level.
Continuously monitoring the condition indicator and assessing the current system's health condition is difficult, and often results in a high cost of operation.

Optimized asset maintenance and replacement schedule

International Business Machines Corporation


An offset line socket is presented which provides a tool for removing and installing line-nuts in close mechanical tolerance situations. The offset line socket is made up of a drive gear which is driven by a standard ratchet wrench. The drive gear is connected to two transfer gears which in turn drive the application gear. The application gear has an opening in it which is sufficient to allow the offset line socket to be placed over the pipe to be loosened or tightend. The hexagonal inner configuration of the application gear then attaches to the hexagonal line-nut. Once in place, a ratchet wrench drives the drive gear which in turn drives the application gear and removes or installs the hexagonal nut. The offset line socket is used in places where a standard wrench shaft would not turn because of mechanical obstructions. An alternate pivoting arm is also available for the socket which entirely closes the pipe access opening in the application gear for greater mechanical stability.

This invention relates to the field of machine tools and more particularly to a wrench capable of removing and installing nuts in very tight mechanical situations.
In many applications currently in use in industry, for example water lines, gas lines, air conditioning lines, brake and hydraulic lines or other pneumatic lines, the various piping is connected by means of a wide hexagonal nut known as a line-nut. The ends of the pipe are threaded as are the internal portions of the line-nut. These pipes are frequently placed at or very near a wall or other obstruction, as the mechanics of the installation dictates. In order to service these various types of tubing or piping, it frequently becomes necessary to remove the line-nut in place as it was previously installed.
One prior method of removing this nut was simply to apply a normal adjustable wrench, open-end box wrench, or other similar device to the line-nut and to manually turn the nut until the pipes are loosened. However, one major drawback to this situation is that the nut, as installed, frequently allows little room in which to maneuver the elongated shaft of the wrench. This, in turn, causes the removal of the line-nut to be a slow, laborious and often costly process.
Another major drawback in the existing art of removing a line-nut involves the use of very specific torques which must be applied to the reinstallation of the line-nut once the servicing of the pipes or tubing has been accomplished. Frequently these line-nuts must be adjusted to a specific torque, hence a particular type of torque wrench must be used in reinstalling the line-nut in the line. Since these line-nuts are frequently installed in very tight mechanical situations, the use of the torque wrench to apply force directly to the line-nut is frequently cumbersome and, at times, nearly impossible. Another possibility, the use of a crow's foot socket and torque wrench has similar drawbacks.
Another difficult type of installation or servicing of the line-nut could occur when the line-nut is installed in a corner or near a number of upwardly projecting bolts or other obstructions. In this particular application it is often possible to place an open-end wrench or other type of wrench onto the line-nut or other type of nut, but the upwardly projecting protrusions frequently allow little room in which to move the shaft of the wrench in the direction necessary to remove the nut. It is an object of this invention to provide a tool which allows removal of a nut in a tight tolerance area.
It is another object of this invention to provide a tool which allows quick, offset removal of a line-nut which is installed very close to a wall or other obstruction. It is a still further object of this invention to provide a tool for removing nuts in tight tolerance areas which also allows the application of a standard torque wrench to adjust the tightening torque of the nut to the proper specification. Further and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following Specification.


A refill eraser comprises at least one refill member. Each refill member includes a holding barrel having a partition portion and a plurality of rotation-preventive ridges formed on an inner peripheral surface of its front portion, and an eraser body having a generally frustro-conical front end portion, a cylindrical intermediate portion, and a cylindrical rear end portion. The eraser body is press-fitted into and held at its rear end portion and intermediate portion within the front portion of the holding barrel with its rear end portion and intermediate portion engaged with the ridges and with its rear end supported by the partition portion. The front end portion of the eraser body protrudes from the front end of the holding barrel. A plurality of the refill members are refillably held within an elongated tubular shaft. A front end of the eraser body located on the foremost end protrudes from a front end of the tubular shaft.

This invention relates to a refill eraser used for erasing letters, figures, etc., from a sheet of paper on which they are written.
Heretofore, erasers having various configurations are known. Among them, those commonly used have a flat parallelepiped configuration. A typical eraser used for technical drawing has a wooden shaft similar to that of a pencil, and a sand-contained eraser core which is bigger than a core of a pencil inserted or filled into the shaft over its entire length.
As discussed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 51-32492, there is also known a refill pencil which comprises refill members each including a holding barrel and a pencil core whose rear end is fitted into a front end of the holding barrel having a smaller diameter, the refill members being longitudinally filled into and held within an elongated tubular shaft in engagement relation to each other.
In the commonly used flat parallelepiped erasers mentioned above, the letters, etc. written on a sheet of paper are erased therefrom, at an early stage of use, by rubbing the written surface with its four corner portions and four side portions (thus, with eight spots in total). However, since that portion of the eraser which contacts the paper surface is small in area, erasing efficiency is not good when the letters, etc., which are written in a large area, are to be erased. After an extended period of use, the corner portions are worn and therefore the contacting area relative to the paper surface becomes overly large. The result is that when letters, etc., which are written in a small area, are to be erased, there is a possibility that letters adjacent to the letters which are to be erased (that is, those letters which are not desired to be erased), are inadvertently erased.
With respect to the refill eraser having a wooden shaft and an eraser core filled therein, it has such a shortcoming that it is difficult to be used for other purposes than a special purpose for erasing a part of a device having a small size or the like. Moreover, since it is necessary to sharpen the wooden shaft, a troublesome work is required.


A system for, and method of, recovering salt from fluid stream in a recycle loop of a flash separator has a desanding hydrocyclone located in the hot recycle loop of the flash separator; a first solids fluidization device located at the bottom end of the flash separator's brine column; a second desanding hydrocyclone arranged to receive a salt slurry stream created by the first solids fluidization device; and an accumulator located downstream of the second desanding hydrocyclone and having a second solids fluidization device located at its bottom end. Each solids fluidization device causes a motive fluid to exit the device in a swirling motion to fluidize the salt components contained in the resident fluid. The overflow from the second desanding hydrocyclone is the motive fluid for the brine column and a produced water, condensate water, or seawater stream is the motive fluid for the accumulator.

This disclosure relates to processes designed to treat mono ethylene glycol (MEG) used in the oil and gas industry, especially in offshore locations, to control hydrates formation. More particularly, the disclosure relates to MEG reclamation processes which are designed to remove salts and other contaminants from a wet MEG feed stream.
In the oil and gas industry, dry (lean) MEG is used to control the formation of hydrates within the produced stream. The now wet (rich) MEG is, in turn, dried by way of a MEG reclamation process so the MEG can be used again in hydrate control.
The unit used to recover MEG usually includes three sections: pre-treatment, flash separation, and MEG regeneration. Those sections can be followed by salt management and calcium removal sections.
In the pre-treatment stage, the rich MEG containing some dissolved gas and hydrocarbon liquids must pass through a three-phase separator vessel. The gas is flashed and recovered hydrocarbon liquids are sent to the production separator. The rich MEG is sent to a flash separator. The rich MEG stream comprised of produced water and MEG is fed to the flash separator where it is brought into contact with a hot recycle stream of MEG. The flash separator operates under vacuum. The MEG and water components of the rich MEG stream are flashed and exit through the top of the flash separator where they are sent to the MEG distillation column for regeneration. The salt components of the rich MEG stream precipitate in the flash separator.
The MEG regeneration section is a refluxed distillation column. The distillation column also operates under vacuum and distills the water from the MEG-water vapors coming off the top of the flash separator. Salt-free, lean MEG produced at the bottom of the distillation column is pumped to storage for reuse. The vaporized water passes overhead from the distillation column. The water is condensed and collected in the reflux drum. A small amount is returned to the distillation column as reflux, and the remaining is routed to treatment.
The salt crystals that precipitate in the flash separator are separated by gravity to the bottom of the brine column, where they are transferred to the salt tank. There, the salts are concentrated before removal through a centrifuge.
The salts in produced water cover a variety of species, but generally are categorized into monovalent salts (typically sodium and potassium), and divalent salts (typically calcium and magnesium). The divalent salts cannot be effectively precipitated in the same manner as the monovalent salts, so a separate calcium removal process may be installed. Effective calcium control is accomplished as the divalent salts are collected, reacted and removed through a centrifuge with the centrate overflow returning to the process.
Current methods of removing the salt crystals from the bottom of the brine column involve a lot of equipment, including but not limited to complicated and expensive centrifugal, centrifuge pump filtration systems, a salt tank, a centrate tank, and a density measurement device. Reducing the footprint of the system for removing the salt crystals and other contaminants is important for making more efficient use of space, reducing off-shore construction costs, and increasing ease of system operation and maintenance.

System for removing salt from a rich mono ethylene glycol stream


An electric contact member has a texture wherein fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate is diffused in a matrix of a highly conductive metal. The flat surface is oriented in one direction and the surface in parallel with the flat surface of the fire proof metal powder is used as a contact point face.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new electric contact member used in a vacuum circuit breaker, vacuum switch or the like, a manufacturing method thereof, and a vacuum valve and vacuum circuit breaker made thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The electrode in a vacuum valve installed in a vacuum circuit breaker or the like comprises a pair of electrodes on the fixed and movable sides. The electrodes on the fixed and movable sides consist of an electric contact and electrode rod connected thereto, and the back of the electric contact is often reinforced by a stainless steel plate.
Crxe2x80x94Cu composite metal is often used to manufacture the electric contact member for large current and high voltage breaking.
The electric contact is manufactured by machining an electric contact material into a specified form, wherein the electric contact material is produced in the so-called method of powder metallurgy consisting of a first step of forming metal powder of various components or a mixture thereof into a simple structure (disk form, for example) at a specified composition and a second step of sintering it. The electric contact is provided with three or more slots for giving driving force to the produced arc so that arc will move to the circumference of the electrode without allowing arc to stay at one particular point, and these slots are formed in a vane-like separate shape. The center of the electric contact is provided with a concave to ensure that arc does not occur to remain at the center of the electric contact.
The above-mentioned electric contact is exposed directly to arc since it is used to turn on or off high voltage and current. The electric contact is required to provide a high breaking capacity, high dielectric strength and high welding resistance. It is difficult to meet all these requirements. In the products offered on the market, emphasis is generally placed on especially important characteristics according to a particular application at the sacrifice of other characteristics to some extent.
A large electric conductivity is essential to ensure large breaking capacity in the Crxe2x80x94Cu composite metal, for example. This requirement can be met by the composition with an increased amount of Cu. However, this involves an decrease in the amount of Cr which increases dielectric strength, with the result that both dielectric strength and welding resistance are decreased.
Amid ever increasing amounts of voltage in power distribution business, a vacuum circuit breaker or vacuum switch is required to ensure compatibility of a large current breaking capacity with dielectric strength and welding resistance. For example, when the Crxe2x80x94Cu composite metal is used to manufacture an electric contact, dielectric strength and welding resistance can be improved by increasing the amount of Cr. Increase in the amount of Cr, however, reduces conductivity and breaking capacity, making it difficult to ensure compatibility of a large current breaking capacity with dielectric strength and welding resistance in the prior art.
Japanese patent laid-Open publication NO. 235825/2000 discloses an electrode member with fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate. This is produced by spray-coating of the composite metal between highly conductive metal and fire proof metal onto the contact point face. Spray coating method, however, involves spray coating gas and atmosphere, so the obtained spray coated film contains a large amount of gas. Gas is discharged by arc heating at the time of current breaking, and arc is kept there through this gas, possibly causing current breaking to be disabled. Further, the size and form of fire proof metal powder on the spayed film is difficult to control, and tend to be irregular, with the result that breaking performances are unstable. In addition, formation of sprayed film requires much time, raising problems with productivity and costs.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electric contact member characterized by excellent current breaking capacity as well as a high degree of dielectric strength and welding resistance, and the method for manufacturing this electric contact member at a low production cost with high productivity.
In an effort to attain the above object, the inventors of the present application have invented a material texture which allows a large area to be occupied by the dielectric strength component on the contact point face where current breaking is performed. Namely, in the case of Crxe2x80x94Cu electric contact, Cr particles are formed in a flat plate and the flat surfaces of Cr particles are oriented to be parallel to the contact point face in the Cu matrix. This structure allows many Cr particles to be exposed on the contact point face while reducing the amount of Cr and maintaining high conductivity, whereby high dielectric strength can be ensured. Further, the strength of the Cr particles perpendicular to the flat surface is reduced because of weak chemical bond between Cr particles and Cu matrix, and welding resistance is improved.
The following describes the summary of the present invention:
The electric contact member according to the present invention has a texture wherein fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate is diffused in the matrix comprising a highly conductive metal, and the electric contact member further characterized in that the flat surface of the fire proof metal powder is oriented in one direction and the surface in parallel with the flat surface of the fire proof metal powder is used as a contact point face.
The fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate according to the present invention is characterized in that the maximum length of the flat surface divided by the minimum dimension of the surface perpendicular thereto is within the range from 3 to 30.
The electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that 90 wt % or more of the fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate has the flat surface oriented with respect to the contact point face within the range from +40 to xe2x88x9240 degrees, and 75 wt % or more has the flat surface oriented with respect to the contact point face within the range from +20 to xe2x88x9220 degrees.
The above-mentioned fire proof metal powder according to the present invention comprises one of Cr, W, Mo, Ta, Nb, Be, Hf, Ir, Pt, Zr, Ti, Te, Si, Rh and Ru, a mixture comprising two or more of them or a compound thereof, and highly conductive metal comprises Cu, Ag, Au or an alloy mainly consisting of them.
The above-mentioned fire proof metal powder contains 50 to 2000 ppm of oxygen, 50 to 3000 ppm of aluminum and 100 to 2500 ppm of silicon.
The electric contact member according to the present invention comprises 15 to 40 wt % of the above-mentioned fire proof metal powder and 60 to 85 wt % of the conductive metal.
The electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that the percentage of the area occupied by the above-mentioned fire proof metal powder is 30 to 50% on the contact point face, and the percentage of the area occupied by the fire proof metal powder is 14 to 25% on the surface perpendicular to the contact point face.
The electric contact member according to the present invention contains 2500 ppm or less of oxygen, wherein the tensile strength in the direction perpendicular to the contact point face is 150 MPa or less, and the specific resistance is 5.5 xcexcxcexa9.cm or less.
The method for manufacturing an electric contact member according to the present invention characterized in that
a powder mixture consisting of the above-mentioned fire proof metal powder and highly conductive metal powder is pressure-molded at a pressure of 120 to 500 MPa to create a molded product;
this molded product is sintered under vacuum or in inert atmosphere at the melting point equal to or less than that of said highly conductive metal powder; and
a contact point face is created in parallel to the pressurized surface in the molding process.
The method for manufacturing an electric contact member according to the present invention characterized in that the obtained electric contact member is made compact by a pressure of 400 MPa or more applied in the same direction as that of the molding process.
The method for manufacturing an electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that
a continuous plate- or rod-formed molded product is created by extrusion and compression molding of a powder mixture consisting of fire proof metal powder and highly conductive metal powder;
the molded product is sintered continuously under vacuum or in inert atmosphere at the melting point equal to or less than that of the highly conductive metal powder; and
the surface parallel to the direction of extrusion is used as a contact point face.
The method for manufacturing an electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that
the obtained electric contact member is further rolled, and the contact point face is created in parallel with the rolled surface;
wherein above-mentioned rolling is performed at the normal temperature or at the melting point equal to or less than that of the highly conductive metal.
The method for manufacturing an electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that a desired form is obtained by punching perpendicularly to the direction of extrusion.
The method for manufacturing an electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that the particle size of highly conductive metal powder does not exceed 80 xcexcm.
The electric contact member according to the present invention is used as a member constituting a pair of electrodes on the fixed and movable sides
in the vacuum valve, and this vacuum valve is used in the vacuum circuit breaker, vacuum switch and the like.
The vacuum valve according to the present invention is characterized in that the value y obtained by multiplying the rated voltage (kV) by breaking current effective value (kA) is within the range from the value obtained by the following equation (1) or less to the value obtained by the following equation (2) or more, based on the outer diameter x (mm) of the vacuum container:
y=11.25xxe2x88x92525xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
y=5.35xxe2x88x92242xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
The electric contact according to the present invention is characterized in that the diameter y (mm) is within the range from the value obtained by the following equation (3) or less to the value obtained by the following equation (4) or more, based on the value x (kVAxc3x97103) obtained by multiplying the rated voltage (kV) by breaking current effective value (kA):
y=0.15x+22xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
y=0.077x+20xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
The vacuum valve according to the present invention is characterized in that the diameter y (mm) of the vacuum container is within the range from the value obtained by the following equation (5) or less to the value obtained by the following equation (6) or more, based on the diameter x (mm) of the electric contact:
y=1.26x+30xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(5)
y=1.26x+10xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(6)
The texture of the electric contact member according to the present invention is characterized in that fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate is diffused in the matrix comprising a highly conductive metal, and the flat surface of said fire proof metal powder is oriented in one direction. When this electric contact member is used as an electrode, it is preferred that the surface in parallel with the flat surface of the fire proof metal powder be used as a contact point face. This structure allows many fire proof metal particles to be exposed on the contact point face while maintaining high conductivity without increasing the amount of contained fire proof metal whereby high dielectric strength can be ensured. Further, the strength in the direction perpendicular to the contact point face is small because of weak chemical bond between fire proof metal particles and highly conductive metal matrix. This makes it easy to separate and open the contact when the electrode is welded by arc heating, with the result that welding resistance is improved.
The above-mentioned fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate is preferred to be characterized in that the maximum length of the flat surface divided by the minimum dimension of the surface perpendicular thereto is within the range from 3 to 30. It ensures compatibility of large current breaking capacity with dielectric strength and welding resistance if 90 wt % or more of the fire proof metal powder contained in the electric contact member has the flat surface oriented with respect to the contact point face within the range from +40 to xe2x88x9240 degrees, and 75 wt % or more has the flat surface oriented with respect to the contact point face within the range from +20 to xe2x88x9220 degrees.
The fire proof metal powder constituting the electric contact material is preferred to comprise one of Cr, W, Mo, Ta, Nb, Be, Hf, Ir, Pt, Zr, Ti, Te, Si, Rh and Ru, a mixture comprising two or more of them or a compound thereof, and highly conductive metal is preferred to comprise Cu, Ag, Au or an alloy mainly consisting of them. An electric contact member featuring excellent current breaking capacity, a high degree of dielectric strength and sound material texture can be provided if the blending ratio between fire proof metal powder and highly conductive metal is such that 15 to 40 wt % of fire proof metal powder and 60 to 85 wt % of highly conductive metal are contained.
The fire proof metal powder is preferred to contain 50 to 2000 ppm of oxygen, 50 to 3000 ppm of aluminum and 100 to 2500 ppm of silicon. This provides an excellent arc extinguishing effect at the time of breaking, thereby improving the breaking performance. Aluminum and silicon can each occur as oxides, and excellent welding resistance and dielectric strength are ensured by uniform distribution of hard and fine aluminum and silicon oxides having a high melting point.
If the amounts of aluminum and silicon are smaller than the above, the amounts of generated aluminum and silicon will be smaller, giving a little effect in improving the performance. If the amounts are greater, much gas will be produced when oxides are decomposed by arc heating at the time of breaking, thereby reducing the high dielectric strength and breaking performance.
In the electric contact member according to the present invention, the percentage of the area occupied by the above-mentioned fire proof metal powder is preferred to be 30 to 50% on the contact point face, and 14 to 25% on the surface perpendicular to the contact point face. This provides high dielectric strength and welding resistance while maintaining high conductivity.
When oxygen contained in the electric contact member is kept at 2500 ppm or less, gas discharge is reduced at the time of current breaking, and possible failure of current breaking due to arc production sustained by gas can be prevented.
When the tensile strength in the direction perpendicular to the contact point face is 150 MPa or less, and the tensile strength in the direction parallel to the contact point face is 150 MPa or more, it is easier to separate and open the contact when the electrode is welded by arc heating at the time of current breaking, with the result that welding resistance is improved.
The specific resistance of the electric contact member is preferred to be 5.5 xcexcxcexa9.cm or less. There is no anisotropy since electric characteristics depend on the amount of the highly conductive metal contained. This specific resistance ensures excellent breaking performances.
In the production of an electric contact member, it is preferred that a powder mixture consisting of fire proof metal powder and highly conductive metal powder be pressure-molded at a pressure of 120 to 500 MPa to create a molded product; and this molded product be sintered under vacuum or in inert atmosphere at the melting point equal to or less than that of the highly conductive metal powder. If the molding pressure is smaller than 120 MPa, molding density will be smaller and the molded product will be susceptible to damage. If it is greater than 500 MPa, the service life of the die and productivity are reduced. When the molded product is sintered under vacuum or in inert atmosphere, sound sintered structure and adequate amount of contained gas are ensured. The fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate tends to be oriented parallel to the pressurized surface in the molding process, it is preferred that the surface parallel to the pressurized surface be used as the flat surface. This ensures the characteristics intended in the present invention.
Further, the produced electric contact member is made compact by a pressure of 400 MPa or more applied in the same direction as that of the molding process. This will lead to the stability of the electrode performance, and will also reinforce the orientation of fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate, with the result that the characteristics intended in the present invention are improved.
In the production of an electric contact member according to the present invention, a continuous plate- or rod-formed molded product can be created by extrusion and compression molding of a powder mixture consisting of fire proof metal powder and highly conductive metal powder; and the molded product can be sintered continuously under vacuum or in inert atmosphere at the melting point equal to or less than that of the highly conductive metal powder. This method allows an electric contact member to be produced at a low production cost with high productivity. Since the fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate tends to oriented in parallel to the direction of extrusion, it is preferred that the surface parallel to the direction of extrusion be used as a contact point face. This ensures the characteristics intended in the present invention.
The electric contact member produced can be made more compact by further continuous rolling with the result that electrode performances are made more stable. This rolling operation can be performed at the normal temperature. Cracks and other material defects can be prevented by warm rolling operation performed at the melting point equal to or less than that of the highly conductive metal. Orientation of fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate can be reinforced by rolling, with the result that the characteristics intended in the present invention are improved.
An electrode of a desired form can be obtained effectively in a short time by punching the produced electric contact member perpendicularly to the direction of extrusion. The particle size of the highly conductive metal powder as a material of the above-mentioned electric contact member is preferred to be 80 xcexcm or less. If the particle size of the highly conductive metal powder is greater, it will be difficult to oriented the fire proof metal powder in the process of formation of the powder mixture, and to get the characteristics intended in the present invention.
In the vacuum valve according to the present invention, the value y obtained by multiplying the rated voltage (kV) by breaking current effective value (kA) is preferred to be not more than the value obtained by the following equation (1) and not less than the value obtained by the following equation (2), based on the outer diameter x (mm) of the vacuum container:
y=11.25xxe2x88x92525xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
y=5.35xxe2x88x92242xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
In the electric contact according to the present invention, the diameter y (mm) is preferred to be not more than the value obtained by the following equation (3) and not less than the value obtained by the following equation (4), based on the value x (kVAxc3x97103) obtained by multiplying the rated voltage (kV) by breaking current effective value (kA):
y=0.15x+22xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
y=0.077x+20xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
In the vacuum valve according to the present invention, the diameter y (mm) of the vacuum container is preferred to be within the range from the value obtained by the following equation (5) or less to the value obtained by the following equation (6) or more, based on the diameter x (mm) of the electric contact:
y=1.26x+30xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(5)
y=1.26x+10xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(6)
The electric contact member according to the present invention has the texture wherein fire proof metal powder having the form of a flat plate is oriented parallel to the contact point face in the matrix comprising a highly conductive metal. This increases the area occupied by the fire proof metal powder and improves dielectric strength and welding resistance without reducing the breaking performance.
The production method according to the present invention allows effective mass production of the electric contact member having the above-mentioned material texture, thereby reducing the production costs.

Electric contact member and production method thereof


A jewelry piece has a setting including a pivoted spring element having first and second elongated resiliently bendable segments extending over an article receiving opening in the jewelry piece, a seat urged against the undersurface of the article by resilient bending deflection of the spring element when the second segment is positioned beneath a catch, to urge the article against a stop to position the article in the opening.

This invention concerns jewelry and more particularly jewelry pieces having settings which allow ready changing of gems or other decorative articles such as pearls so as to change to an article of a different type, color, cut, etc.
Various changeable gem setting designs have heretofore been developed, but these have not been readily adaptable to gemstones of various shapes, or to also accommodate such other decorative articles as pearls.
Another drawback is that the setting does not accommodate different sizes of the same shape gemstones.
Some designs are complicated to use and/or are expensive to manufacture due to their complexity.
Another problem is the reflection of the color of the material used in the setting to the exposed gem faces, adversely affecting the observed color of the gem, particularly gems cut so as to not have a culet.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a gem setting capable of allowing a quick and convenient change of the gemstone or other decorative article and which accommodates a variety of shapes and variations in size of the article.
Another object is to provide such a setting which is simple to use and is uncomplicated and inexpensive, yet provides a very secure retention of the mounted article to be suitable for precious gems, and allows various types of decorative articles to be installed on a jewelry piece such as a pendant or ring.
These objects and others which will be understood upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a setting comprised of spring element pivotally connected to a portion of a jewelry piece having a seat adapted to receive a decorative article. The spring element is resiliently deflected by an article in the seat when one end of the spring element is positioned beneath a catch, urging the article against a stop. The spring element may be comprised of a first and second elongated resiliently bendable segments extending from a pivot connection in the same general direction but angled apart. A shorter segment has a generally annular article seat at its free end adapted to engage the lower end or surface of the decorative article to be held in the jewelry piece.
The other longer segment extends above the shorter segment and is adapted to be deflected to engage a catch on the jewelry piece after a gemstone or other article is pushed against a bezel or other stop surface by being engaged by the seat, urged against the same by the spring force generated by resilient deflection of the short segment.
The resilient deflection of the segments is maintained after the longer segment is moved beneath a catch. This deflection accommodates variations in size and shape of the mounted decorative article such as gemstones of various different cuts.
The spring element may also be constructed of an elongated wireform hinged at one end and having a decorative article seat intermediate its length, with the free end movable under a catch. This causes resilient bending of the muddle of the spring element to generate a spring force urging an article in the seat against a stop.

Jewelry piece with a changeable decorative article setting


Provided is a lubricating oil composition for a refrigerator which uses a base oil including as the main component at least one kind of oxygen-containing compounds selected from polyoxyalkylene glycols, polyvinyl ethers, copolymers of poly(oxy)alkylene glycols or monoethers thereof and polyvinyl ethers, polyol esters, and polycarbonates. The lubricating oil composition for a refrigerator is used for a refrigerator that uses, as a refrigerant, a fluorine-containing organic compound, which is a refrigerant applicable to current car air conditioner systems or the like and has a specific polar structure, and has favorable sealing property, a low coefficient of friction factor in a sliding part, and excellent stability as well as excellent compatibility with the refrigerant.

In general, a compression refrigerator includes at least a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism (such as an expansion valve), and an evaporator, or further includes a drier, and is structured so that a mixed liquid of a refrigerant and lubricating oil (refrigerator oil) circulates in the closed system. In such compression refrigerator, the temperature in the compressor is generally high, and the temperature in the condenser is generally low, though such general theory is not applicable to a certain kind of such compression refrigerator. Accordingly, the refrigerant and the lubricating oil must circulate in the system without undergoing phase separation in a wide temperature range from low temperature to high temperature. In general, the refrigerant and the lubricating oil have regions where they undergo phase separation at low temperature and high temperature. Moreover, the highest temperature of the region where the refrigerant and the lubricating oil undergo phase separation at low temperature is preferably −10° C. or lower, or particularly preferably −20° C. or lower. On the other hand, the lowest temperature of the region where the refrigerant and the lubricating oil undergo phase separation at high temperature is preferably 30° C. or higher, or particularly preferably 40° C. or higher. The occurrence of the phase separation during the operation of the refrigerator adversely affects the lifetime or efficiency of the refrigerator to a remarkable extent. For example, when the phase separation of the refrigerant and the lubricating oil occurs in the compressor portion, a movable part is insufficiently lubricated, with the result that baking or the like occurs to shorten the lifetime of the refrigerator remarkably. On the other hand, when the phase separation occurs in the evaporator, the lubricating oil having a high viscosity is present, with the result that the efficiency of heat exchange reduces.
A chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), a hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), or the like has been heretofore mainly used as a refrigerant for a refrigerator. However, such compounds each contain chlorine that is responsible for environmental issues, so investigation has been conducted on a chlorine-free alternative refrigerant such as a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC). A hydrofluorocarbon typified by, for example, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, difluoromethane, pentafluoroethane, or 1,1,1-trifluoroethane (hereinafter referred to as "R134a", "R32", "R125", or "R143a", respectively) has been attracting attention, and, for example, R134a has been used in a car air conditioner system.
However, because the influence of the HFC is also concerned from the viewpoint of the global warming, so-called natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide have attracted attention as alternative refrigerants suitable for environmental protection. The carbon dioxide requires high pressure, and hence cannot be used in the current car air conditioner system.
A refrigerant having a specific polar structure in the molecules such as an unsaturated fluorinated hydrocarbon compound (see, for example, Patent Document 1), a fluorinated ether compound (see, for example, Patent Document 2), a fluorinated alcohol compound, or a fluorinated ketone compound has been found to be a refrigerant which has a low global warming potential and can be used in a current car air conditioner system.
The lubricating oil for a refrigerator that uses the refrigerant is demanded to have favorable sealing property, a low coefficient of friction in a sliding part, and excellent stability as well as excellent compatibility with the refrigerant.    Patent Document 1: 2006-503961 A    Patent Document 2: JP 7-507342 A

Lubricating oil composition for refrigerators


A printer interprets the input print data and determines whether or not a rendering command targeted for reusable data included in print data depends on a placement location for placement of the rendering result in a physical coordinate space based on the interpretation result of the PDL data. When the rendering command depends on a placement location for placement of the rendering result in a physical coordinate space, the printer generates cache data without graphic processing for the rendering command targeted for reusable data and stores the generated cache data in a storage unit. When the rendering command does not depend on a placement location for placement of the rendering result in a physical coordinate space, the printer performs graphic processing for the rendering command targeted for the reusable data, generates cache data based on the result of the graphic processing, and stores the generated cache data in a storage unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a method for controlling the same, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A description will be given of a conventional image formation process. An image forming apparatus that interprets print data such as page description language (hereinafter referred to as "PDL") data to thereby generate bitmap data for image formation has been proposed. Firstly, the image forming apparatus performs interpretation processing for interpreting PDL data. Next, the image forming apparatus performs graphic processing for a rendering command in PDL data based on the result of the interpretation processing for PDL data.
Graphic processing is processing for converting a high-level rendering command in PDL data into a simple fill rendering command or the like. Next, the image forming apparatus generates intermediate data called a display list (DL) based on the post-graphic processing rendering command. Then, the image forming apparatus executes processing for generating bitmap data for image formation, which is called rendering, based on intermediate data. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-268553 discloses a printing apparatus that interprets an intermediate language and outputs a raster image and an attribute bit as image data to thereby realize high image-quality print output using the output attribute bit.
Next, a description will be given of a conventional VDP technology. A VDP technology such as PPML for defining reusable data in a specification of PDL data format has been proposed. PPML data can enclose other PDL data as content data in PDL data. Examples of PDL data that can be enclosed in PPML data includes PDL data required for high-level graphic processing such as PostScript® or PDF.
PostScript® and PDF have a high-level rendering command such as a pattern rendering command (e.g., pattern dictionary) which enables repetition rendering. Also, PostScript® and PDF have physical pixel space aware stroke rendering processing. For example, as physical pixel space aware stroke rendering processing, PostScript® and PDF have a command for realizing high image-quality rendering represented by Automatic Stroke Adjustment. Furthermore, PPML data can also enclose raster image data such as TIFF.
The image forming apparatus (printer) can perform PDL data interpretation processing taking advantage of the explicit fact that whether or not the enclosed PDL data is reusable data to thereby cache reusable data subjected to graphic processing.
A printer reuses and arranges the cached reusable data (cache data) on the planes of different paper sheets. With this arrangement, a printer can perform interpretation processing for PDL data enclosing reusable data for pattern rendering. Furthermore, a printer can reduce the time elapsed until intermediate data is generated by performing graphic processing for a rendering command in PDL data or the time elapsed until bitmap data for image formation is generated (rendering processing). For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-173236 discloses an image forming apparatus that reuses object data such as variable data.
Next, a description will be given of PostScript®. There is no definition of a method for installing PostScript®. However, summary of the algorithm of interpretation processing, graphic processing, and rendering processing for PDL data is defined as a predetermined specification. Here, a placement location for placement of a rendering command on a logical space depends on the rendering result on a physical pixel space. The reasons will be described below.
PostScript language has a function that controls a device for outputting a raster bitmap such as a printer or the like. The device which is capable of outputting a raster bitmap on a visible medium determines the color of a cell in a discrete device space, which is a set of pixels, in accordance with PostScript data. The device determines the color of a raster bitmap to thereby realize the formation of a visible image rendered by a character rendering command, stroke, a fill rendering command, a raster bitmap rendering command, or the like described in PostScript data.
In order to form a raster bitmap in accordance with the specification of PostScript, a printer that interprets PostScript so as to form an image needs to convert abstract information not into color information on a raster bitmap but into information having a low degree of abstraction. Abstract information includes a character rendering command, stroke, a fill rendering command, a raster bitmap rendering command, or the like. These rendering commands have information about a logical coordinate system independent of a device space.
Since a rendering command is a logical coordinate system, the rendering command can have three types of information: (1) continuous (indiscrete) coordinate information, (2) a rendering command involving an arithmetic operation for determining a rendering position, (3) a rendering command needing the stored procedure to determine rendering content. In order to convert these information into a device space, a printer uses a scanning converter. The scanning converter converts each rendering command into a frame buffer or discrete information on a display list (DL) in accordance with the result of interpretation of the rendering command. For example, when the scanning converter receives graphics such as a circle, the scanning converter determines whether or not each pixel lies outside or inside the specified range of the rendering command. The scanning converter determines color information about each pixel based on the determination result.
Next, a description will be given of graphic processing in PostScript. Examples of rendering commands in PostScript mainly includes as follows:
FillTo fill the specified regionStrokeTo render a lineImageTo render a raster bitmapShowTo render a glyph (visible shape ofcharacter information)
Furthermore, one of rendering commands for designating color information includes as follows:
Make patternTo generate pattern
The printer performs graphic processing for the rendering commands and then performs rendering processing to thereby obtain the rendering result. A path construction algorithm is processing corresponding to graphic processing. The rendering commands such as fill, stroke, or show render a current path using parameters in the rendering commands. The path is configured by segments and curves describing graphics and its position. Segments and curves are obtained by continuously executing a path construction command. For example, the path construction command is realized by commands such as newpath, moveto, lineto, curveto, arc, closepath, and the like.
The printer renders the rendering commands by repeating the following processing (a) to (c) while using the current path obtained in accordance with the path construction command:
(a) Data interpretation is executed in accordance with the language specification in PostScript.
(b) Current path is constructed by executing the path construction command.
(c) Drawing command is executed.
Next, a description will be given of rendering processing as mapping processing for mapping data to a device coordinate. In order to obtain the rendering result, a printer needs to convert a logical space having a high degree of abstraction in a rendering command to a device space during interpretation of the rendering command described above. This process is classified into rendering processing.
A device space to be subjected to rendering processing is based on a set of color information associated with discrete information called a plurality of pixels. On the other hand, information on a logical space described in a rendering command maintains a description independent of individual equipment such as a printer by being independent of a device space. In other words, a rendering command on a logical space is information which is not constrained by its unit or a position on any grid. Thus, PostScript data can freely specify a rendering position by using an arithmetic operation on a logical space independent of a device space.
For example, examples of commands for performing an arithmetic operation for designating a position include commands such as translate, rotate, scale, and the like. The printer converts information on such an abstract logical space into information on a device space in accordance with a current conversion matrix. The printer performs linear conversion for each rendering command using a current conversion matrix, and thus, continuous positional information on a device space can be obtained. Also, a printer further converts positional information on a device space into discrete information to thereby obtain a set of color information associated with discrete information called a plurality of pixels. Rules for converting positional information on a device space into discrete information are the scan conversion rules.
The scan conversion rules in PostScript have the following definition. Coordinates and pixels are expressed by a device space. Graphics refers to a path to be rendered by a current color or image. A path coordinate values is mapped to a device space. During mapping processing, the path coordinate value is not rounded at the boundary of a device pixel. The aforementioned processing is computed based on continuous spatial information.
However, a rendering command is finally converted into discrete information on a device space and is arranged on a pixel. A pixel is a minimum square region constituting a device space. Thus, according to the definition of PostScript, discrete information has coordinate information as follows. For example, when continuous coordinate information about a device coordinate system is (x, y), discrete coordinate information (i, j) is defined as follows:(i, j)=(floor(x), floor(y))
Here, when regions that belong to the pixel are defined as a set of pixels (x′, y′), the following relationships are satisfied: i≦x′<i+1 and j≦y′<j+1. In addition to such definition, PostScript has the following scan conversion rules. In other words, in accordance with the definition of PostScript, the following processing is executed for the pixel on the coordinate regardless of the position on the pixel if continuous coordinate information falls within the range of pixel coordinates in accordance with the definition. In other words, in accordance with the definition of PostScript, a printer maps color information in accordance with a rendering command to the pixel. Such rules are generally referred to as "pixel placement rule".
Next, a description will be given of Automatic Stroke Adjustment processing. In PostScript, a rendering definition for a stroke rendering command is further present. When a path is very thin line on a raster bitmap obtained as a result of rendering processing, it may be seen that a line width is not uniform. In accordance with the aforementioned scan conversion rules, a line width varies depending on the position on a device space. In other words, the number of discrete pixels intersecting a line varies depending on the position on a device space.
In order to obtain a more preferable rendering result, PostScript has the following definition. In other words, processing for making a line width uniform by correcting the rendering result obtained by rendering processing is defined. During the aforementioned processing, the following Automatic Stroke Adjustment processing needs to be performed by taking into account continuous coordinate values of a stroke rendering command and the position in a discrete device space.
In other words, Automatic Stroke Adjustment processing is processing for adjusting a line width and its end point such that the maximum error is lower than ½ pixel. Furthermore, when a line width after being converted on a device space is lower than ½ pixel, the line width is corrected so as to be one pixel width by Automatic Stroke Adjustment processing.
As described above, for the rendering command of PostScript, positional information is converted using a current conversion matrix in a discrete device space. Furthermore, it has a nature that which pixel to be filled cannot be determined until pixel placement rules depending on pixels in a discrete space are applied.
It should be noted that Automatic Stroke Adjustment processing can be switched between enabled and disabled states by a set stroke adjustment command. An argument of the set stroke adjustment command is a logical type.
The rendering position of PDL data which can enclose PostScript such as PPML or the like is determined after PostScript interpretation processing performed by a printer. However, as in the aforementioned stroke rendering processing, PostScript rendering processing is a rendering depending on the mapping between a user space and a device space during interpretation of PostScript. In other words, in accordance with the specification of PostScript, a printer needs to perform rendering in a space independent of a PPML rendering space.
Next, a description will be given of a pattern rendering command. The pattern rendering command in PostScript is a repetition rendering command for repeatedly rendering small graphics called pattern cells. Thus, in order to perform rendering based on the pattern rendering command, a printer needs to execute processes such as construction of the rendering of pattern cells, specification of a region, rendering by spreading pattern cells, or the like.
The rendering state of cells can be defined by a PaintProc command. The pattern rendering command can be defined by registering the PaintProc command in a Tilling Pattern dictionary. When a make pattern command is executed for the Tilling Pattern dictionary, a printer performs pattern rendering processing in a pattern coordinate system.
The pattern coordinate system depends on a current conversion matrix and matrix parameters upon execution of the make pattern command. Thus, the pattern coordinate system is fixed to a user coordinate system upon execution of the make pattern command. In other words, the size and the shape of a pattern cell are rendered in a coordinate system independent of a current conversion matrix or the like. Thus, a cell spreading method depends on rendering at a position on a virtual paper plane called a user space.
The rendering position of PDL data which can enclose PostScript such as PPML or the like is determined after PostScript interpretation processing. However, pattern rendering is rendering depending on a user space during interpretation of PostScript. In other words, in accordance with the specification of PostScript, a printer needs to perform rendering in a space independent of a PPML rendering space.
However, in the conventional VDP technology, there is no cache method depending on the feature of the enclosed PDL data. Thus, print processing satisfying both high quality and high speed printing cannot be realized. For example, the pattern rendering command (pattern dictionary) for PostScript® and PDF depends on the rendering position on a paper plane.
In other words, the pattern rendering command determines whether or not rendering is repeated from which position depending on the rendering position on a paper plane. In such a prior art, cache data is stored as raster bitmap data or post-PDL data interpretation processing intermediate data. In any cache data storing method, the rendering result depending on PDL data interpretation during caching is cached. Thus, when a printer performs rendering at different positions upon reuse of cache data, the printer cannot determine whether or not rendering is repeated by starting from which position in consideration of a correct rendering position on a paper plane. In other words, rendering deficiencies may occur.
For the Automatic Stroke Adjustment function in PostScript® and PDF, determining which pixel to be subjected to rendering depends on the position of a physical coordinate space to be subjected to rendering. In other words, the Automatic Stroke Adjustment function determines rendering pixels to be rendered by line rendering depending on the fact that line rendering is performed at which position on a discrete space in which the rendering result is rendered.
However, in the cache data storing method stated above, the rendering result depending on PDL data interpretation during caching is cached. Thus, when a printer performs rendering at different positions upon reuse of cache data, the printer cannot determine whether or not rendering is repeated by starting from which position depending on a rendering position on a paper plane. Consequently, it is difficult to execute rendering in a proper manner.
In other words, in the prior art, when high speed image formation processing is attempted to be realized using cache data which is readily converted into intermediate data, rendering deficiencies may occur. Also, when information independent of the position in a physical coordinate space is cached so as not to occur rendering deficiencies, graphic processing is required upon reuse of cache data. Consequently, it is difficult to reuse cache data at high speed.

Image forming apparatus, method for controlling same, and storage medium