Amounts of components in a specimen can be analyzed with excellent quantitativity. The analysis includes: measuring an amount of a component to be analyzed in a specimen; measuring an amount of a standard component present originally and homeostatically in the specimen other than the component to be analyzed; determining the amount of the specimen from the amount of the standard component thus measured and a known concentration of the standard component in the specimen; and determining a concentration of the component to be analyzed in the specimen from the amount of the specimen thus determined and the amount of the component to be analyzed thus measured. The quantitative analysis of the present invention allows a component to be analyzed to be measured with high quantitativity as shown in FIG. 1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a quantitative analysis for determining amounts of components present in an unknown amount of specimen.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a patient has been required to visit a medical institution and to have his blood, urine, or the like collected and tested, for medical treatments or diagnoses of various diseases. Usually, the test results are not available before the next medical examination or many hours. Hence, there has been a problem that such a test requires a considerably time-and-energy consuming process for both the patient and medical institution.
In order to avoid such a problem, recently, a specimen-collecting card formed, for example, of a filter paper has been proposed. For instance, JP 10-104226 A discloses a blood collecting card. Such a card has been used in the following remote clinical diagnosis system. In this remote clinical diagnosis system, a patient collects blood by himself and the blood collecting card is impregnated with the blood. This is then dried and is then mailed to a medical institution. In the medical institution that has received this, a portion impregnated with the blood is cut out from the blood collecting card and the blood is extracted to be tested with respect to various test items. When the patient visits the medical institution, medical treatments or diagnoses are conducted based on the test results.
When using such a blood collecting card, for example, since the patient himself collects blood as described above, the amount of blood with which the blood collecting card is impregnated is unknown. Hence, it has been difficult to correctly determine the amounts of components in the blood. From this viewpoint, for instance, the following methods have been proposed. In one example of the methods, filter paper capable of retaining a certain amount of blood in a certain area is used. A portion of the filter paper that has been impregnated with blood and has the certain area is cut out and thus the certain amount of blood is secured. In another example of the methods, filter paper having a certain area for retaining a certain amount of blood is used. A saturation amount of blood to be retained is supplied to the filter paper and thus the certain amount of blood is secured.
However, the aforementioned filter papers have the following problems. For instance, when using the former filer paper, the filter paper cut out is required to have been impregnated with blood throughout, and thus selection of the portion to be cut out or a cutting operation is difficult. On the other hand, when the latter filter paper is to be impregnated with a saturation amount of blood to be retained, actually, it is necessary to supply a larger amount of blood than the saturation amount to allow the filter paper to be impregnated sufficiently with the blood. Hence, time and energy are required and thus a great burden is imposed on the patient. Furthermore, when quantitativity is intended to be improved, the manufacture of such quantitative filter papers themselves becomes very complicated and difficult, and the manufacturing cost of such filter papers increases accordingly.
Besides the methods using porous materials such as the above-mentioned filter papers, for instance, there is a method of retaining and preserving a specimen using a capillary tube with the specimen remaining in a liquid state. In this case, however, there is possibility that the specimen thus retained may be dried, or when the blood is recovered from the capillary tube using, for example, a buffer solution, the amount of the specimen contained in the recovered liquid may become unknown and thus the quantitative accuracy may be deteriorated with respect to the amounts of the components actually contained in the specimen.
The present invention at least in its preferred embodiments is intended to provide a quantitative analysis in which even when an unknown amount of specimen is used, amounts of components in the specimen can be measured with high accuracy.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a quantitative analysis of the present invention is used for measuring a concentration of a component to be analyzed in a specimen. The quantitative analysis includes: measuring an amount of a component to be analyzed in a specimen; measuring an amount of a standard component present originally and homeostatically in the specimen other than the component to be analyzed; determining an amount of the specimen from the amount of the standard component thus measured and a known concentration of the standard component in the specimen; and determining a concentration of the component to be analyzed in the specimen from the amount of the specimen thus determined and the amount of the component to be analyzed thus measured. In the present invention, the standard component denotes a substance that is originally present in the specimen and has a concentration maintained to have homeostasis (to be substantially invariable), for example, in vivo.
As described above, in the quantitative analysis of the present invention, not only the amount of the component to be analyzed in the specimen but also the amount of the standard component are measured. Thus, the concentration of the component to be analyzed in the specimen can be determined with excellent accuracy. Accordingly, the quantitativity is improved with respect to the component to be analyzed in the specimen. The standard component is a substance contained homeostatically in the specimen as described above and thus the content thereof in the specimen is known. Hence, its theoretical value (concentration) can be predetermined. Thus, for example, even in the case of a test sample containing an unknown amount of specimen, the rate of content (for example, the dilution or concentration ratio) of a specimen in the test sample can be determined from the ratio between the known concentration of the standard component and the measured amount of the standard component. Then, the concentration of the component to be analyzed actually contained in the specimen can be determined from the rate of content thus determined and the measured value of the component to be analyzed. Furthermore, according to the quantitative analysis of the present invention, it is possible to measure the amount of the component to be analyzed in the specimen without using, for example, a special porous material like one described above in order to improve the quantitativity. Thus, it also is possible to achieve cost reduction. In addition, for example, when a xenobiotica such as a dye, etc. is added as the standard material to the specimen beforehand, a problem in solubility may be caused or there is a possibility that the xenobiotica may affect the detection of the component to be analyzed. However, according to the present invention, since the aforementioned standard component is a substance originally present in the specimen, the standard component does not affect the analysis and an operation for adding such a xenobiotica is not required. Hence, the quantitative operation is simple and convenient. Consequently, the quantitative analysis of the present invention is particularly useful for various tests in clinical medical treatments, for example.
In the quantitative analysis of the present invention, preferably the specimen is retained in a porous material and is then recovered from the porous material to be analyzed. According to the quantitative analysis of the present invention, even when one of various porous materials is impregnated with an unknown amount of specimen collected by a patient himself and this is then dried and is then mailed to a medical institution as described above, the quantitative analysis of components to be analyzed in the specimen recovered as described above can be carried out easily. Hence, it is possible to save the time and energy of both the patient and medical institution, and thus the quantitative analysis of the present invention is useful for various tests in clinical medical treatments, etc., particularly for the remote clinical diagnosis system. Furthermore, the quantitative analysis of the present invention is useful, for example, for analyzing an unknown amount of specimen as described above but is not limited thereto as long as a specimen is retained in the porous material. Besides, the quantitative analysis of the present invention also is useful in the case, for instance, where a specimen retained in a capillary tube is collected as described above.
In the quantitative analysis of the present invention, preferably, the specimen is retained in the porous material, is dried, and is then recovered.
Furthermore, it also is preferable that the porous material retaining the specimen be dipped in an extractant and the specimen be extracted from the porous material to be recovered. As described later, the amount of the extractant is not limited, but preferably, is 1 to 1000 times the porous material by volume. In addition, preferably, a ratio of the extractant to the porous material per volume is constant.
Preferably, the quantitative analysis of the present invention includes: measuring an amount of a component to be analyzed in a test sample containing an extractant and the specimen recovered from the porous material; measuring an amount of the standard component to be analyzed in the test sample; determining an amount of the specimen from the amount of the standard component thus measured and a known concentration of the standard component in the specimen; and determining a concentration of the component to be analyzed in the specimen from the amount of the specimen thus determined and the amount of the component to be analyzed in the test sample thus measured.
In the quantitative analysis of the present invention, preferably, the concentration of the component to be analyzed contained in the specimen is determined by a formula of:
A=Zxc3x97(Y/X),
where A denotes the concentration of the component to be analyzed, Z a measured concentration value of the component to be analyzed in the test sample, X a measured concentration value of the standard component, and Y a known concentration value of the standard component in the specimen.
In the quantitative analysis of the present invention, the standard component is not limited as long as it is contained homeostatically in the specimen. Examples of the standard component include sodium ion (Na+), chloride ion (Clxe2x88x92), potassium ion (K+), magnesium ion (Mg2+), calcium ion (Ca2+), total protein (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cTPxe2x80x9d), and albumin (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cAlbxe2x80x9d). Among them, Na+, Clxe2x88x92, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, and TP are preferable, Na+, Clxe2x88x92, Mg2+, Ca2+, and TP are more preferable, and Na+, CLxe2x88x92, and TP are particularly preferable.
In the quantitative analysis of the present invention, preferably, the specimen is an aqueous liquid specimen derived from an organism. Examples of the specimen include blood, urine, saliva, lymph, a cerebrospinal fluid, and an intercellular fluid. Among them, a preferable specimen is blood or the intercellular fluid, and a more preferable specimen is blood. Any one of, for example, whole blood, blood cells, blood plasma, and blood serum can be used as the blood specimen. Preferably, the blood specimen is whole blood, blood plasma, or blood serum and more preferably, is blood plasma or blood serum. When the present invention is applied to the quantitation of such a specimen derived from an organism, for example, various diagnoses in clinical medical treatments can be conducted with high accuracy.
In the quantitative analysis of the present invention, the component to be analyzed is not limited. When the specimen is blood (blood plasma, blood serum, etc.), examples of the component to be analyzed include glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), xcex3-glutamyl transpeptidase (xcex3-GTP), creatine kinase (CPK), triglyceride (TG), amylase (Amy), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP).


The present invention provides a resin composition comprising:

The present invention relates to resin compositions excellent in crosslinking efficiency, solvent resistance or water resistance, which are useful for paints, adhesives, ink, or the like.
Compositions comprising a vinyl copolymer having a carbonyl group and a polyhydrazide are known as resins of ordinary temperature-crosslinking type useful for paints, adhesives, or the like.
For example, Japanese Published Examined Patent Application. No. 20991/83 discloses an aqueous resin emulsion prepared by adding a compound having at least two hydrazine residues in the molecule to an emulsion comprising carbonyl groups obtained by copolymerizing monomers having a carbonyl group. The emulsion has an excellent property of being capable of crosslinking at ordinary temperatures and useful as a one-liquid paint.
However, paint films formed from aqueous resin emulsions prepared using adipic dihydrazide and succinic dihydrzide as disclosed in the examples of the above publication are defective in that they have poor solvent resistance, water resistance and weatherability.
Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. 17213/75 discloses a thermosetting coating composition comprising a copolymer obtained by reacting a polyamine with a vinyl copolymer prepared from a vinyl monomer having a carbonyl group in the molecule and other vinyl monomer, and an aminoplast resin and/or an epoxy resin.
An object of the present invention is to provide a resin composition which gives a cured resin excellent in crosslinking efficiency, solvent resistance, water resistance or mechanical properties.
The present invention provides a resin composition comprising:
(1) a vinyl copolymer obtained from a starting material containing vinyl monomer (a) which comprises at least one carbonyl group or aldehyde group and vinyl monomer (b) which is different from vinyl monomer (a) and capable of copolymerization;
(2) a hydrazide derivative represented by general formula (I):
xe2x80x83(wherein R1 represents substituted or unsubstituted phenylene, substituted or unsubstituted cyclohexylene or alkylene; and R2 and R3, which may be the same or different, each represent a single bond or alkylene) or a hydrazide derivative in which the amino group(s) of the hydrazide derivative represented by general formula (I) are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound; and
(3) a polyamine compound represented by general formula (II):
xe2x80x83(wherein R4 represents substituted or unsubstituted phenylene, substituted or unsubstituted cyclohexylene or alkylene; and R5 and R6, which may be the same or different, each represent a single bond or alkylene) or the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) of the polyamine compound represented by general formula (II) are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound.
Hereinafter, the hydrazide derivative represented by general formula (I) and the polyamine compound represented by general formula (II) may be referred to merely as the hydrazide derivative and the polyamine compound, respectively.
Also, the vinyl copolymer obtained from a starting material containing vinyl monomer (a) which comprises at least one carbonyl group or aldehyde group and vinyl monomer (b) which is different from vinyl monomer (a) and capable of copolymerization may be referred to as the vinyl copolymer of the present invention.
The present invention is described in detail below.
In the definitions of the groups in general formulae (I) and (II), the alkylene includes straight-chain or branched alkylene groups having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, such as methylene, ethylene, propylene, butylene, pentylene, hexylene, heptylene, octylene and dodecylene.
The substituted phenylene and the substituted cyclohexylene each have 1 to 4 substituents. Examples of the substituents include lower alkyl and halogen atoms. The lower alkyl includes straight-chain or branched alkyl groups having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl and octyl. The hologen atoms include fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.
The preferred hydrazide derivatives are those wherein R1 is alkylene, and R2 and R3 are single bonds. The preferred polyamine compounds are those wherein R4 is alkylene, and R5 and R6 are single bonds.
Hereinafter % means wt %, unless otherwise specified. The term (meth)acrylate means methacrylate and acrylate. Similarly, each (meth)acrylic acid derivative means a methacrylic acid derivative and an acrylic acid derivative.
For producing the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention, vinyl monomer (a) comprising at least one carbonyl group or aldehyde group [hereinafter it may be referred to as monomer (a)] is used. Monomer (a), which serves as a component enabling crosslinking when introduced into a polymer, is a monomer comprising at least one carbonyl group or aldehyde group and a double bond capable of polymerization. Preferred monomers (a) are those in which the moiety of the carbonyl group is not a carboxyl group, a carbamoyl group or an ester group.
Specific examples of monomer (a) include acrolein, diacetone (meth)acrylamide, formylstyrol, vinyl methyl ketone, vinyl isobutyl ketone, (meth)acrylamide pivalic aldehyde, diacetone (meth)acrylate, acetonyl (meth)acrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylate acetylacetate, acetoacetoxyethyl (meth)acrylate, butanediol-1-(meth)acrylate-4-acetylacetate, (meth)acrylamide methylanisaldehyde and (meth)acryloyloxypropanal derivatives represented by the following general formula (III):
(wherein R7, R8, R9 and R10, which may be the same or different, each represent a hydrogen atom or lower alkyl).
The lower alkyl has the same significance as defined above.
The preferred (meth)acryloyloxypropanal derivatives represented by general formula (III) are those in which R7, R8, R9 and R10 are alkyl having 1 to 4 carbon atoms.
Among the above-described monomers (a), acrolein, diacetone acrylamide and vinyl methyl ketone are preferred. Monomer (a) may be used singly, or two or more kinds of monomers (a) may be used in combination. Vinyl copolymers obtained by the use of two or more kinds of monomers (a) are also included in the vinyl copolymers used in the present invention.
Vinyl monomer (b) capable of copolymerization used for the production of the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention [hereinafter it may be referred to as monomer (b)] can be arbitrarily selected depending upon the purpose from those having at least one double bond capable of polymerization in the molecule.
Specific examples of monomer (b) include alkyl (meth)acrylates formed from an alcohol having 1 to 18 carbon atoms and (meth)acrylic acid, such as methyl (meth)acrylate, ethyl (meth)acrylate, n-butyl (meth)acrylate, isobutyl (meth)acrylate, tert-butyl (meth)acrylate, cyclohexyl (meth)acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl (meth)acrylate, lauryl (meth)acrylate and stearyl (meth)acrylate; aromatic vinyl compounds such as styrene, xcex1-methylstyrene and p-methylstyrene; hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylates such as 2-hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate and 2-hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylate; glycol di(meth)acrylates such as ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate and butanediol (meth)acrylate; alkylaminoalkyl (meth)acrylates such as dimethylaminoethyl (meth)acrylate; vinyl monomers comprising fluorine such as trifluoroethyl (meth)acrylate, pentafluoropropyl (meth)acrylate, perfluorocyclohexyl (meth)acrylate, 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl (meth)acrylate and xcex2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl (meth)acrylate; vinyl monomers comprising siloxane such as 1-[3-(meth)acryloxypropyl]-1,1,3,3,3-pentamethyldisiloxane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropyltris(trimethylsiloxane)silane and AK-5 (silicon macromonomer, Toa Gosei Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.); vinyl monomers comprising a hydrolyzable silyl group such as vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinylmethyldimethoxysilane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropylmethyldimethoxysilane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropyltriethoxysilane and 3-(meth) acryloxypropyldiethoxysilane; xcex1, xcex2-ethylenic unsaturated carboxylic acids such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid, maleic anhydride, itaconic acid, itaconic anhydride, crotonic acid, fumaric acid and citraconic acid; vinyl monomers comprising an epoxy group such as glycidyl (meth)acrylate and vinyl monomers obtained by reaction of a carboxylic acid having a polymerizable double bond (e.g., fumaric acid, maleic acid, maleic anhydride, linseed oil fatty acid, tall oil fatty acid and dehydrated castor oil fatty acid) with an epoxy resin or an epoxy compound; vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether, vinyl ethyl ether and vinyl isobutyl ether; polybasic unsaturated carboxylic acids (e.g., fumaric acid, maleic acid, maleic anhydride, linseed oil fatty acid, tall oil fatty acid and dehydrated castor oil fatty acid), or monovalent or polyvalent alcohol esters thereof; and known vinyl monomers such as dimethylaminoethyl (meth)acrylate methyl chloride, allyl (meth)acrylate, trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, glycidyl (meth)acrylate, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, (meth)acrylonitrile, and macromonomers AS-6, AN-6, AA-6 and AB-6 (Toa Gosei Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.)
A monomer obtained by introducing to vinyl monomer (b) an acidic group or a basic group [may be referred to as monomer (b-1)] may also be employed; the use of monomer (b-1) followed by neutralization of the introduced acidic group or basic group confers water solubility on the polymer obtained. Examples of the acidic groups include a carboxyl group, a sulfo group and a phosphono group, and examples of the basic groups include primary, secondary and tertiary amino groups. The neutralizers used for neutralization of the introduced acidic group or basic group include basic compounds such as inorganic bases (e.g., sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and sodium carbonate), ammonia, alkylamines (e.g., trimethylamine, triethylamine and tributylamine), alcoholamines (e.g., dimethylethanolamine and diethanolamine), polyvalent amines (e.g., ethylenediamine and diethylenetriamine), and nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds (e.g., morpholine and pyridine), and acidic compounds such as inorganic acids (e.g., hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid), organic acids (e.g., formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and valeric acid) and phenol.
There is no specific restriction as to the amount of monomer (b-1) to be used, which varies depending upon the kind and amount of other monomers etc., but it is usually 0.005 to 3.0 mmol/g, preferably 0.01 to 2.0 mmol/g based on the total amount of the monomers used.
Monomer (b) may be used singly, or two or more kinds of monomers (b) may be used in combination. Vinyl copolymers obtained by the use of two or more kinds of monomers (b) are also included in the vinyl copolymers used in the present invention.
The proportions of monomers (a) and (b) to total vinyl monomers in the starting material for the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention are preferably 0.1 to 30% and 99.9 to 70%, more preferably 1 to 10% and 99 to 90%, respectively. When the proportion of monomer (a) is 0.1% or above, the obtained product is excellent in crosslinking efficiency, solvent resistance or water resistance, and when it is 30 wt % or below, the paint films formed from the product are not brittle.
The vinyl copolymer used in the present invention can be produced by copolymerizing monomers (a) and (b) by known polymerization methods, for example, suspension polymerization, solution polymerization, emulsion polymerization and bulk polymerization. Preferred is emulsion polymerization because the polymerization reaction mixture containing the copolymer can be used, as such, as an aqueous dispersion.
Emulsion polymerization can be carried out according to known methods, usually by using an emulsifier and a polymerization initiator. Also useful are a known method for obtaining a dispersion of the core-shell type by changing the monomer composition in the layers of a multilayered polymerization emulsion, and powerfeed polymerization in which the monomer composition is gradually changed.
Emulsifiers include anionic ones, cationic ones, nonionic ones and high molecular ones. Specific examples of the emulsifiers include, but are not limited to, anionic surfactants such as higher alcohol sulfates, alkylbenzenesulfonates, polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfates and polyoxyethylene alkylphenol ether sulfates, and nonionic surfactants such as polyoxyethylene alkylphenol ethers, an ethylene oxide propylene oxide block polymer and sorbitan derivatives. Examples of the high moleculer emulsifiers include polyvinyl alcohol and hydroxyethyl cellulose. The amount of the emulsifier to be used can be appropriately decided depending upon the kind of monomers etc. without any specific restriction, but it is usually 0.1 to 10% based on the total amount of the vinyl monomers used.
The polymerization initiators to be used include persulfates such as potassium persulfate and ammonium persulfate, peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, cumene hydroperoxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide, and azo compounds such as azobisisobutyronitrile. Preferred are redox initiators which are combinations of the above initiator with a reducing component such as a metal ion, sodium sulfite and a mercaptan having reducing action. The polymerization initiator is usually used in an amount of 0.1 to 5.0 mol % based on the total amount of the vinyl monomers used.
In the emulsion polymerization, chain-transfer agents such as n-dodecylmercaptan, tert-dodecylmercaptan or xcex1-methylstyrene dimer may be used, if necessary. There is no specific restriction as to the temperature for polymerization, but it is usually 40 to 100xc2x0 C., preferably 60 to 90xc2x0 C.
It is preferable to adjust the dispersion of the vinyl copolymer obtained by emulsion polymerization to pH 6.5 to 9.5 with a base after the polymerization in order to impart stability thereto. Examples of the bases include ammonia, triethylamine, propylamine, dibutylamine, amylamine, 1-aminooctane, 2-dimethylaminoethanol, ethylaminoethanol, 2-diethylaminoethanol, 1-amino-2-propanol, 2-amino-1-propanol, 3-amino-1-propanol, 1-dimethylamino-2-propanol, 3-dimethylamino-l-propanol, 2-propylaminoethanol, ethoxypropylamine, aminobenzyl alcohol, morpholine, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide.
For the production of the vinyl copolymer by solution polymerization, any solvent that dissolves the monomers and polymers used in the present invention can be employed. Specific examples of the solvents include alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol and butanol, glycols such as ethyl Cellosolve, Cellosolve acetate, butyl Cellosolve, butyl Carbitol and propylene glycol methyl ether, acetates such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate, and ketones such as methyl ethyl ketone and methyl isobutyl ketone.
The reaction temperature for solution polymerization is usually 40xc2x0 C. to the boiling point of the solvent.
In the solution polymerization, polymerization initiators similar to those described above or chain-transfer agents similar to those described above may be employed.
It is preferable that the resin composition of the present invention contains water, and in that case the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention is preferably dispersed in water (an aqueous dispersion) or dissolved in water or a mixture of water and a solvent (a water-soluble resin).
When the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention is dispersed in water in the resin composition of the present invention, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the vinyl copolymer is preferably xe2x88x9210 to 50xc2x0 C., more preferably 0 to 35xc2x0 C. When Tg is xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. or above, paint films formed from the obtained composition are excellent in hardness or blocking resistance. When Tg is 50xc2x0 C. or below, the obtained composition is excellent in adhesion to a material to which it is applied. Tg of the vinyl copolymer can be adjusted by changing the kind and ratio of vinyl monomers.
The weight-average molecular weight of the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention is preferably 10,000 to 2,000,000, more preferably 80,000 to 1,500,000. When the molecular weight is 10,000 or more, paint films formed from the obtained composition are excellent in strength, impact resistance, etc. When the molecular weight is 2,000,000 or less, the obtained composition is excellent in film formation. The weight-average molecular weight of the vinyl copolymer is usually measured by gel permeation chromatography, or the like.
The aqueous dispersion or water-soluble resin comprising the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention can be obtained by adding, after the polymerization reaction for copolymerization of monomers (a) and (b), water, a solvent, an emulsifier, etc. to the polymerization reaction mixture, if necessary. Any solvent can be used so long as the polymer is stable in the water-soluble resin or aqueous dispersion. Examples of the solvents include those used in the above-described solution polymerization. The amount of the solvent is not specifically restricted, but it is preferably 30 wt % or less based on water.
As the emulsifier, the above-described anionic ones, cationic ones, nonionic ones or high-molecular ones can be used. The emulsifier is used in an amount of 0.1 to 10% based on the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention. When the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention is dispersed in water, the dispersion preferably contains a 30 to 70% solid content (polymer). When the solid content is 30% or more, paint films having a sufficient thickness can be easily formed from the obtained composition, and when the solid content is 70% or less, the obtained composition has a low viscosity and is easy to handle.
In cases where the vinyl copolymer is produced using, as monomer (b), an xcex1, xcex2-ethylenic unsaturated carboxylic acid such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid, maleic anhydride, itaconic acid, itaconic anhydride, crotonic acid, fumaric acid or citraconic acid, a hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate such as 2-hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate or 2-hydroxypropyl (meth)acrylate, a glycol di(meth)acrylate such as ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate or butanediol (meth)acrylate, an alkylaminoalkyl (meth)acrylate such as dimethylaminoethyl (meth)acrylate, a vinyl monomer comprising an epoxy group such as glycidyl (meth)acrylate, or a vinyl monomer comprising a hydrolyzable silyl group such as vinyltrimethoxysilane, vinylmethyldimethoxysilane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropylmethyldimethoxyilane, 3-(meth)acryloxypropyltriethoxysilane or 3-(meth)acryloxypropyldiethoxysilane, the obtained vinyl copolymer can be bound to other polymer, as may be required. The vinyl copolymers bound to other polymer are also included in the vinyl copolymers used in the present invention. There is no specific restriction as to the other polymer to which the vinyl copolymer is bound, so long as it has a functional group capable of binding to the vinyl copolymer. Examples of the other polymers include alkyd resins, polyester resins, acryl resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, nylon resins, polydimethylsiloxane, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylamine, polybutadiene resins, melamine resins, phenol resins and water-soluble cellulose ethers. The preferred polymers are those having the weight-average molecular weight of 500 to 200,000. It is possible to adjust the water solubility of the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention by using a polymer having water solubility as the other polymer to be bound.
The hydrazide derivative can be purchased as a commercially available product, or can be obtained by synthesis according to a known method.
For example, the hydrazide derivative can be obtained by reacting a dialkyl ester of a dicarboxylic acid with a hydrazine derivative by a known method [Org. Synth., IV, 819 (1963)]. The dialkyl ester of a dicarboxylic acid as a starting material can be purchased as a commercially available product.
The polyamine compound can be usually purchased as a commercially available product.
When the resin composition of the present invention is intended for use as a one-liquid paint or adhesive, the hydrazide derivative and the polyamine compound may be used in the form of a derivative in which the amino group(s) are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound in order to improve the storage stability of the composition. The preferred low molecular carbonyl compounds are those having 3 to 10 carbon atoms. The term xe2x80x9camino groupxe2x80x9d as used herein refers not only to amino groups in the polyamine compound but also to amino groups positioned at the end of hydrazido groups in the hydrazide derivative.
When the hydrazide derivative or the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound is used, such hydrazide derivative or polyamine compound may be previously prepared by reacting the above hydrazide derivative or polyamine compound with a low molecular compound such as a monoaldehyde or a monoketone according to a known method, for example, the method described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 38468/85. Alternatively, the monoaldehyde or monoketone, and the hydrazide derivative or polyamine compound may be added to a solution containing the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention. Preferred monoaldehydes and monoketones are those having the boiling point of 30 to 200xc2x0 C., for example, monoaldehydes such as acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butylaldehyde and benzaldehyde, and monoketones such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, diethyl ketone, isopropyl methyl ketone, cyclohexanone and acetophenon. The low molecular carbonyl compound is usually used in an amount of 5 equivalents or more based on the amino groups in the hydrazide derivative or polyamine compound.
The resin composition of the present invention can be obtained by adding to the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention the hydrazide derivative or the hydrazide derivative in which the amino group(s) of the former hydrazide derivative are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound, and the polyamine compound or the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) of the former polyamine compound are protected with a low molecular weight carbonyl compound, followed by mixing or the like. There is no specific restriction as to the order or method of addition, or the like.
In the present invention, the hydrazide derivative or the hydrazide derivative in which the amino group(s) of the former hydrazide derivative are protected with a low molecular weight carbonyl compound, and the polyamine compound or the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) of the former polyamine compound are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound are used in such an amount that the total amount of the amino groups and imino groups becomes preferably 0.1 to 10 equivalents, more preferably 0.2 to 2 equivalents, further preferably 0.2 to 1.5 equivalents, most preferably 0.5 to 1.2 equivalents based on the total amount of carbonyl groups and aldehyde groups in the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention. When the ratio of the amino groups and imino groups to the total amount of carbonyl groups and aldehyde groups is 0.1 equivalent or more, the resin composition is improved in solvent resistance or water resistance, and the ratio is 10 equivalents or less, the composition is economically advantageous. The term xe2x80x9cimino groupxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to amino groups in the hydrazide derivative or polyamine compound protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound.
The preferable ratio (equivalent ratio) of the hydrazide derivative or the hydrazide derivative in which the amino group(s) of the former hydrazide derivative are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound to the polyamine compound or the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) of the former polyamine compound are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound is usually 1/99 to 99/1, preferably 5/95 to 70/30, more preferably 10/90 to 60/40.
The resin composition of the present invention may comprise small quantities of known aqueous dispersions for coating, such as a urethane emulsion [e.g., Neolets, ICI Resins; Suncure, BF Goodrich], an acryl silicon emulsion or a fluorine emulsion, or water-soluble resins such as a water alkyd resin, a water acryl resin or polyvinyl alcohol. Crosslinking agents for these resins such as a melamine resin or a water-soluble isocyanate may also be contained in the composition.
When the hydrazide derivative and the polyamine compound are used, the resin composition of the present invention can be cured usually by drying at room temperature to around 100xc2x0 C. When the hydrazide derivative in which the amino group(s) are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound and the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) are protected with a low molecular compound are used, the curing temperature is preferably 20 to 200xc2x0 C., more preferably 50 to 80xc2x0 C.
When the resin composition of the present invention is used as a paint, various coloring agents such as an organic pigment or an inorganic pigment, an ultraviolet absorbent, a pigment dispersant, a leveling agent, a thickener, etc. can be added, if necessary. A pigment may be dispersed by means of a paint shaker, a ball mill, or the like using a dispersant, or a commercially available processed pigment which has undergone dispersion can also be used.
The paint of the present invention prepared by using the hydrazide derivative and the polyamine compound is preferably used as a two-liquid paint comprising a component containing the vinyl copolymer used in the present invention and a component comprising the hydrazide derivative and the polyamine compound, and the paint of the present invention prepared by using the hydrazide derivative in which the amino group(s) of the above hydrazide derivative are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound and the polyamine compound in which the amino group(s) of the above polyamine compound are protected with a low molecular carbonyl compound is preferably used as a one-liquid paint.
The paint comprising the resin composition of the present invention has a low viscosity and can be applied to general brushing and spray coating. The paint can be cured under a wide range of conditions, for example, by drying at ordinary temperatures or drying by heating. The preferred materials to be painted include metals, woods, plastics, inorganic materials, concrete and asphalt.
The cured resin obtained by curing the resin composition of the present invention is excellent in crosslinking efficiency, solvent resistance, water resistance or mechanical properties.


A rake pivot assembly for a steering column assembly includes a pair of flanges spaced from each other and oriented parallel to each other, each of the flanges defining an elongated opening. The assembly also includes a pair of lower brackets, each of the lower brackets having a portion thereof fitting over one of the pair of flanges. The assembly further includes a pair of alignment bushings, each of the pair of alignment bushings at least partially disposed within one of the elongated openings and positioned between one of the lower brackets and one of the flanges. The assembly yet further includes a pair of lower bracket pins, each of the lower bracket pins extending along a pivot axis of the steering column assembly and through one of the lower brackets and through one of the flanges to couple one of the lower brackets to one of the flanges.

The following description relates to steering column assemblies and, more particularly, to a steering column rake pivot assembly.
Automotive rake columns provide vertical adjustment of the driving position by use of a revolute joint for the steering column. The revolute joint is located proximate the forward end of a lower jacket of the steering column. Some rake columns provide an electrical actuator to change the rake position. It is economical to design power adjustable rake columns that move the column using a rake arm that does not share a common revolute axis with the steering column. The result of this design is that the length from the rake pivot axis to the rake arm connection changes during articulation. To add the required degree of freedom and solve this kinematic issue, a sliding joint may be applied.
There are two potential locations for the sliding joint. The first location is the rake revolute joint for the column. This can be enhanced from a simple revolute joint to a sliding revolute joint accommodating the length variation. The second location places the sliding joint at the rotational joint connecting the rake arm to lower jacket. This addition of a sliding motion works well with a one-piece bracket. A one-piece bracket controls the relationship of the sliding joint to the pivot joint. In the effort to make structures lighter and more cost effective, the one-piece bracket that controlled the relationship of the actuator pivot and the rake pivot has evolved to two separate brackets, an upper bracket and a lower bracket. The relationship between the pivot and the sliding joint is now a function of vehicle assembly. The locations that the individual brackets are assembled assume the location function of the former one-piece.
An additional challenge is presented in a variation of the two-bracket mounting system. Some packages have further changed the lower bracket from a single lower bracket into a two-piece lower bracket. The independent lower brackets can move relative to each other changing the available joint travel. A change in length along an arc-shaped path taken by the rake arm during actuation occurs. The horizontal motion is an unwanted motion, as the functional motion is vertical.
Although a multi-bracket arrangement works if the two mounts are synchronized and not biased, it is now possible to misassemble the steering column in the vehicle with insufficient travel in the sliding joint. This error occurs in one or two-piece lower brackets when the lower bracket is axially positioned incorrectly from its intended position. This issue can occur with one or two-piece lower brackets.
Another issue occurs with two-piece lower brackets. Relative bias between the left and right bracket reduces travel of the sliding joint. Relative bias is not possible on a one-piece lower bracket. This results in shortened travel. Two-piece lower brackets complicate the assembly in that both lower brackets must be aligned axially and pivoted to the correct assembly position as well.

Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation


An operating arrangement for movable parts on motor vehicles, especially for trunk lids, folding tops and the like, consists of at least one hydraulic cylinder with a piston rod as the driving means which acts on the movable part either directly or indirectly, e.g., via a hinge, and at least one pump arrangement (7 through 11) mounted on the hydraulic cylinder with a tank, motor, and the like. To create a compact operating arrangement which can be adapted easily and quickly to the given requirements in each case and can also be serviced easily and repaired by replacing individual components, the operating arrangement according to this invention is characterized in that the hydraulic cylinder and the pump arrangement (7 through 11) are two separate parts combined into one unit by a detachable connection, with at least one direct, tubeless flange connection being provided between the pump arrangement and the hydraulic cylinder connecting the pump to at least one duct in the pump arrangement (7 through 11) and at least one duct in an end piece of the hydraulic cylinder which leads to one of its working chambers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an operating arrangement for movable parts on motor vehicles, especially for trunk lids, folding tops and the like, which has at least one hydraulic cylinder with a piston rod as the driving means to act on the movable part either directly or indirectly, for example by a hinge, and at least one pump arrangement, including tank, motor, and similar items connected to the hydraulic cylinder.
2. The Prior Art
With hydraulic working cylinders it is customary to arrange control valves, non-return valves and safety valves or the like on the cylinder itself as needed, while the pump arrangement, including the tank which supplies pressurized hydraulic fluid to the cylinder, is placed a distance away from the cylinder and is connected to it by pressure pipes. Thus, for example, with operating arrangements for movable parts on motor vehicles, such as trunk lids, engine hoods and the like, the hydraulic cylinders as the driving means are mounted in the immediate vicinity of these parts to be directly linked to them in part, while the pump together with the motor, valve arrangements, tank, etc., can also be mounted at a distance, depending on the available space, e.g., on a mounting plate with a vibration absorber.
The disadvantages of such configurations include, among other things, the long connecting lines required because of the pressure drop occurring in them, the danger of damage, the space required for installation, and also the cost of construction and manufacturing.
The design according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,973 is much more compact. This invention concerns a hydraulic drive unit wherein the hydraulic cylinder and the motor-pump unit are mounted on a common base. Because of the fixed size of the common base, however, the possibilities of adapting the unit to different areas of use are very limited, and this makes maintenance and replacement of individual parts very difficult.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a compact operating arrangement which can be adapted quickly and easily to the given requirements and can also be serviced easily or repaired by replacing individual parts.


A door fixture to be fastened to a frame of an isolator includes a door and a double bayonet closure with two bayonet locks for reciprocally transferring the isolator from a first state, in which the door, which opens from inside the isolator, is open and detached from the isolator frame and a container flange surrounding a container is sealingly locked to the isolator frame, and a second state, in which the door is shut and sealingly locked to the isolator frame and the container flange is detached from the isolator frame, there being provided a first safety device, which allows the door to be opened only when a container flange of a container is sealingly locked to the isolator frame, and a second safety device, which allows for the removal of the container flange from the isolator frame only when the door is sealingly locked to the isolator frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a door fixture to be fastened to a frame of an isolator, comprising a door and a double bayonet closure comprising two bayonet locks of different chiralities for the purpose of reciprocally transferring the isolator from a first state, in which the door, which opens from inside the isolator, is open and detached from the isolator frame and a container flange surrounding a container is sealingly locked to the isolator frame, and a second state, in which the door is shut and sealingly locked to the isolator frame and the flange is detached from the isolator frame, there being provided a first safety device, which allows the door to be opened only when a container flange of a container is sealingly locked to the isolator frame, and a second safety device, which allows the removal of the container flange from the isolator frame only when the door is sealingly locked to the isolator frame.
2. The Prior Art
Door fixtures of the kind described above are known in the prior art in a variety of embodiments, all of which function in the same or similar manner. The known isolator doors generally comprise a door fixed to a frame by a hinge, in which case the door contains a bayonet lock which allows an alternating disk that closes the opening of a flange to be securely attached to the door during an opening operation while being detached from the flange by means of a second bayonet lock, which alternating disk is reversibly detachable from the door when it is in the open condition. When the door is closed by manual operation with the aid of protective gloves that reach into the isolator interior, the door is first securely attached to the isolator frame by means of a latch, whereupon a corresponding backward turn of the handles that are fixed to the flange, with the aid of the double bayonet closure, causes, on the one hand, the alternating disk to be simultaneously detached from the door and attached to the flange, and, on the other hand, the flange to be detached from the frame of the door, whereupon the alternating disk is securely re-attached to the flange such that the flange opening is re-closed.
By virtue of the fact that, in the double bayonet of the known door fixtures, the two bayonet locks have different chiralities i.e. one lock is provided with a right-handed thread and the other lock is provided with a left-handed thread, turning the handles attached to the flange will cause the double bayonet to fulfill the double function of attaching the flange to the frame while detaching the alternating disk from the frame and attaching the alternating disk to the door, and accordingly, when the functions are reversed, detaching the flange from the frame while the alternating disk shifts from being attached to the door to being attached to the flange.
However, when the known double bayonet is used on an isolator, two function-dependent crucial weaknesses emerge in connection with the above described functionality, and these must be avoided at all costs. The first relates to a situation of the isolator in which the door must be opened in the absence of a container, and the second relates to a situation of the isolator in which the container must be removed from the frame with the door open.

Door device comprising a double bayonet socket for an insulator


A method, system, and computer program for real-time measurement and modification of the performance of communications on a large area network, such as the Internet, based upon actual user experience. One embodiment performs a statistical analysis of access logs that record actual server usage by users. Based on such analysis, routing of communications over the network can be modified to improve overall communications performance.

FIG. 1 shows a typical configuration of a large area network, such as the Internet. Multiple geographically dispersed user client systems 100 are connected through user Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 102 to the network "cloud" 104 comprising the Internet backbone communication transport systems. Requests for information or services by a client application program executing on a user client system 100 may be routed through multiple server ISPs 106 through a router 108 to a web server 110. The web server 110 retrieves or generates the requested information or provides the requested service, and communicates a response to the requesting client application.
Various attempts have been made to actively assess the performance (e.g., response time, transmission problems, etc.) of Internet connections. Some current methods use active measurement of various network or server components that are dedicated to performance measurement. For example, conventional Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) "ping" and "traceroute" commands can be used to measure the performance of the network connections between a client terminal and a server. However, these commands are frequently transmitted with a different (often lower) priority than the protocols used by applications run by users for "web surfing". Accordingly, inaccurate (i.e., false positive) measurements are common.
Attempts have been made to actively measure Internet connections using the same protocols used by end-user applications, such as the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) "GET" command. These approaches typically use computer programs (sometimes known as "hosts", "agents", or "beacons") residing on measurement instrumentation capable of communicating with Internet protocols. However, such computer programs are limited to assessing network paths only from the specific network nodes on which they are executing. Further these techniques inject traffic into sometimes overburdened Internet, WAN, or LAN infrastructures, causing the measurement process to change the characteristics being measured. Additionally, these techniques are relatively expensive to implement.
A further problem of all of these active or injected measurement approaches is that they generate non-value added communication traffic for both local and large area network infrastructures.

Real-time performance assessment of large area network user experience


A system may include a component cage to house a heat-generating component, a cold plate assembly, and a mounting mechanism. The cold plate assembly may include a cold plate having a mating surface and a non-mating surface, the mating surface to contact a thermal transfer device of a heat-generating component installed in the component cage. The mounting mechanism movably mounts the cold plate to the component cage with the non-mating surface facing a surface of the component cage located in a first plane. The mounting mechanism allows the cold plate to move from a first orientation to a second orientation as the heat-generating component is being installed in the component cage. In the first orientation, the mating surface is inclined relative to the first plane. In the second orientation, the mating surface is parallel to the first plane when the heat-generating component is installed in the component cage.

Pluggable modules, such as memory and storage components, are inserted into slots within component cages generate heat during their operation. Accordingly, for performance and to prevent damage to the pluggable modules, cooling systems have been implemented to maintain the pluggable modules at acceptable operational temperatures. As the speeds and power consumption expectations of these pluggable modules continue to increase, and as more component cages are placed within a given equipment chassis, an expected challenge is removal of the heat generated by the pluggable modules operating within these chassis.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


A seat post for a frame, the seat post comprising, a tubular section having a circumference; the tubular section including one or more slots; and the one or more slots extending through a portion of the circumference of the tubular section.

The seat post of a bicycle supports the seat of the bicycle connecting it to the bicycle frame. Known seat posts comprise a round, square or aerodynamic cross section with a continuous tube wall and a bracket at the top end to which the bicycle saddle or seat can be attached. The seat post normally is inserted in the seat tube of the bicycle and held in place by a clamp at the top of the seat tube.
Different materials have been used to save costs, increase strength and reliability and increase stiffness. Different shapes have been used and the aerodynamic shape has become quite common. The aerodynamic shape helps to reduce the overall drag of a bicycle frame particularly as it is normally used in conjunction with an aerodynamic seat tube. These seat tubes are however typically quite rigid, and as a result transmit shock and vibration directly to the seat and rider.
Many different configurations have been introduced to reduce vibration and shock through the seat tube, including springs, shock absorbing cylinders, mechanical levers and elastomer sleeves between the seat post and seat tube. These configurations typically add weight to the bicycle and can involve complicated mechanisms which are expensive to make.
In view of the foregoing, there remains a need for improvements in the art of seat posts for use with bicycles and like wheeled vehicles.


The present invention is in the technical field of bioinformatics, and the implementation of bioinformatics. Advances in technology have led to a large increase in the rate at which data, in particular in the medical domain, can be generated (from patient sources, clinical trials, and research campaigns). The researcher is thus confronted with a large amount of information, and it is difficult to discover connections in the data, and thus to improve medical knowledge, even in spite of the amount of data available. The present application proposes to process and to structure medical data using a computer-implemented semantic network, enabling undiscovered connections between experiments and data sources to be made, and to continually add new data to the semantic network. In summary, it is proposed to provide a computer-implemented method and associated system which are able to automatically provide neurological knowledge model data by annotating neural connectivity data with further data sources.

Sources of data having relevance to medical applications, and in particular having relevance to brain science and neurology, come in many different forms. In the domain of neurology and brain science more generally, a brain scan of a patient has traditionally been made using a Computed Tomography (CT) scan, or a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. Such scans have been able to reveal the bulk properties of the brain tissue of a patient at a region of interest of use for brain cancer diagnosis, or for post-stroke assessment, for example. Such scans have, however, on their own not been useful for more detailed investigations of brain function.
FIG. 1a) illustrates an example of a low-resolution 2D structural connectivity heat map (matrix) of a patient brain acquired from a Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) scan. In this image, a location on the x-axis of the graph represents a first location in a vertebrate brain, and a location on the y-axis represents another location in the same vertebrate brain. The intensity of a data point in the heat map intersected by lines from the x and y axes represents the strength (thickness) of a structural connection (i.e. a neural fibre tract connecting the two locations) between those two points acquired by DTI. Of course, as the 3D coordinate points for each of the x and y axis data entries are usually known, it is possible to plot 3D "connectome" visualizations of a vertebrate brain from such data.
FIG. 1b) illustrates an example of a low-resolution 2D functional connectivity heat map (matrix) of a patient brain from a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scan. Whilst DTI focusses on the structural connectivity of the brain, an fMRI scan obtains information about the correlation in time and space between neural activity levels in different brain areas. Thus, an intensity of a data point in the heat map of FIG. 1b) intersected by lines from the x and y axes represents the strength of the functional correlation between various brain areas.
The data matrices of FIGS. 1a) and 1b) only show a fraction of the typical data matrices usually obtained.
Connectomics is a relatively new area of research focussing on an investigation of the strength of structural and or functional neural links between different regions of brain tissue. Connectomics has been made possible by these developments in brain imaging technology.
In brief, diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is an MRI-based approach which exploits the fact that, when imaging a brain, water diffuses more rapidly in a direction associated with a direction aligned with an internal structure of a bundle of nerve fibres. Thus, computation of the diffusion tensor over a region of brain tissue can enable insights into the connectivity of that brain tissue to be found.
In brief, functional MRI (fMRI) is an imaging approach that has exploited the knowledge that the properties of oxygen-rich blood can be detected using an MRI scanner. In addition, it is known that brain haemodynamics is linked to neural activity. Active neurons demand more oxygenated blood, and displace deoxygenated blood. The haemoglobin in blood cells which carry oxygen is diamagnetic when oxygenated, but more paramagnetic when deoxygenated. This difference between deoxygenated and oxygenated blood causes a varying Magnetic Resonance signal, which can be mapped to discover which neurons are active at a time.
Thus, because fMRI and/or DTI information can provide information about neural connectivity and/or activity, this information can be applied, for example, to enhance neurology research, or for clinical medical applications.
The connectome is generally considered as a three-dimensional data construct comprising all available information about how all of the neural areas in a brain are connected to each other. Connectome information can be derived from measurements in a living human like DTI (structural connectome information) or fMRI, MEG, EEG (functional connectome information). Structural connectome information can also be obtained from post-mortem traces studies or high resolution polarized light imaging. The three-dimensional data of an individual brain can be mapped onto a normalized standard brain (for example, the MNI 152 template: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/ServicesAtlases/ICBM152NLin2009)
A specific example is discussed in US 201610284082A1. This document is in the field of surgical planning, and discusses a method of determining a "vulnerability field" of a patient's brain prior to surgery. A nerve-indicating dataset, sourced, for example, from a DTI image, determines areas of a brain with neuron-rich areas of grey-matter. A weight indicating a measure of the connectivity of a voxel to other voxels can be assigned to each voxel, thus forming a "vulnerability field". In brief, the document proposes to overlay various surgical incision trajectories over the vulnerability field, and to determine which surgical incision trajectory results in a path which would cause minimal disturbance in the vulnerability field. It is surmised that the surgical incision path causing the least disturbance to the grey-matter would also result in better neuro-clinical outcomes for the patient concerned.
Although the approach in US 201610284082A1 can improve surgical planning, it is noted that in the field of neurology, data processing is highly customized to the data model present in a specific application. If new information is suddenly presented, it might not be possible to integrate that information in a useful way into the approach discussed above.
The integration of new information into a data model is frustrated by many aspects. Firstly, the size of the data files handled in the field of neurology can be huge—a single brain scan can reach hundreds of gigabytes. Secondly, although a data file for a single patient may yield useful information, the integration of different scans for the same patient taken at different times, or a comparison of a scan for the patient to a database of scans made on many different patients could be much more useful for comparative analysis. Still further, brain scans can be compared to related information such as gene atlases, functional ontologies, brain atlases, receptor atlases, and the like. However, the use of existing approaches would require the custom generation and programming of new software tools for each specific new combination of information desired.
In short, there has been a "data explosion" in the field of neurology caused by an improvement in neurological data acquisition technology, and in databases comprising neurological information. However, the ability to order and to search this information in a simple and intuitive way lags far behind. This stifles curiosity-driven research (because coding an entirely new software application to analyze a combination of data which it is proposed may be useful, might never be done for cost reasons). It increases the costs for pharmacological research.
Therefore, an improved approach to the automatic acquisition, processing, structuring, and analysis of neurological data is required.


A method of threading in a false twisting machine, capable of surely attracting the free end of a yarn by suction and of preventing the yarn from slacking during a threading operation. A traveling doffer travels along a false twisting machine which oils yarn with oiling rollers and takes up the oiled yarns in yarn packages. During the doffing operation, the free end of the yarn extending on the delivery side of the oiling roller is sucked, while the yarn is separated from the oiling roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of threading in a false twisting machine in which a yarn is oiled after processing a yarn false twists and taken up on a package.
2. Prior Art
First, the general construction of a false twisting machine will be described with reference to FIG. 6. Each of yarns Y pulled out from yarn packages 51 supported on a creel 50 is stretched between a first feed roller 53 and a second feed roller 54 at a yarn tension for drawing. A false twisting device 55, such as a belt-type false twisting device, is disposed between the feed rollers 53 and 54 near the second feed roller 54. The false twisting device 55 inserts twists in a portion of the yarn Y extending on the feed side of the false twisting device 55 and untwists a portion of the yarn Y extending on the delivery side of the false twisting device 55. A primary heater 56 for heat-setting the yarn Y is disposed between the feed rollers 53 and 54 near the first feed roller 53 to heat the twisted portion of the yarn Y to a drawing temperature. A third feed roller 57 is disposed after the second feed roller 54, and a secondary heater 58 is disposed between the feed rollers 54 and 57 to reheat the yarn Y when necessary. The reheated yarns Y are wound in textured yarn packages 60 by a take-up winder 59.
Each of oiling rollers 1 is disposed between the third feed roller 57 and the take-up winder 59. The yarn is oiled with the oiling roller 1 before taking up to ensure that the yarn can be smoothly unwound from the package. When a textured yarn package becomes a full package, a traveling doffer 66 transfers the full package 60 from the take-up winder 59 to a rotary creel 63 and puts an empty bobbin on the take-up winder 59. The traveling doffer 66 travels along a rail 68 extended on a passage between a false twisting machine body 61 and the primary heater 56. The traveling doffer 66 travels along the false twisting-machine body 61 to doff full packages and to put empty bobbins on the take-up winder 59.
The traveling doffer 66 will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 5, in which FIG. 5a is a front view and FIG. 5b is a side view of the traveling doffer 66. The traveling doffer 66 has three doffing units each consisting of a chucking hand 75, a package support 76, a bobbin chuck 77 and a cradle opener 78. The cradle opener 78 opens the cradle of the false twisting machine body 61 supporting a full package 60, the chucking hand 75 holds the full package 60, the package support 76 supports the full package 60, the bobbin chuck 77 takes an empty bobbin from the rotary peg 63 and puts the empty bobbin on the cradle, and then, the package support 76 puts the full package 60 on the rotary peg 63 shown in FIG. 6. A threading device 70 is mounted for vertical movement on the travelling doffer 66. A nozzle included in a positioning device 72 blows air and a suction nozzle 71 sucks the free end of the yarn and attaches the free end of the yarn to the empty bobbin. Since the false twisting machine body 61 operates continuously while the yarn is cut to doff the full yarn package and the threading device 70 attaches the free end of the yarn to the empty bobbin, the suction nozzle 71 continues to suck the free end of the yarn to prevent the yarn from slacking.
As shown in FIG. 4, the positioning device 72 has a screw jack 41 connected to a driving device 40 to move two wheels 42 and 43 laterally, as viewed in FIG. 4. The Screw jack 41 fits the two wheels 42 and 43 in grooves 44 and 45 formed in the false twisting machine body 61 for positioning. The positioning device 72 is provided with a nozzle 73. The nozzle 73 is advanced together with the two wheels 42 and 43 as far as the nozzle 73 is joined to a coupling 74. Then, compressed air is supplied in the direction of the arrows 1 and 2 through a pipe to the suction nozzle 71 of the threading device 70 to use the compressed air for sucking the free end of the yarn (FIG. 6).
The operation of the threading device 70 will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3, in which FIG. 3a shows the threading device 70 in a free end sucking operation and FIG. 3b shows the threading device 70 in a threading operation. When the textured yarn is wound in a full package 60, a cutter, not shown, cuts the yarn at a position on the delivery side of the oiling roller 1 and, at the same time, the suction nozzle 71 starts sucking the free end of the yarn. During this operation, the threading device 70 is positioned at a lower position a with respect to the traveling doffer 66 as shown in FIG. 3a. After the full package 60 has been transferred to the rotary peg 63 and an empty bobbin 67 has been transferred from the rotary peg 63 to the cradle of the false twisting machine body 61, the threading device 70 is raised to positions b, c and d sequentially to attach the free end of the false twisted yarn to the empty bobbin 67.
Since this method of threading in a false twisting machine cuts a portion of the yarn extending on the delivery side of the oiling roller and sucks the free end of the yarn, the free end of the yarn must be pulled by a suction force exceeding the viscous resistance of the oil. Recently, the operating speed of the false twisting machine has been progressively increased to increase the yarn speed from about 800 m/min to 1000 m/min or above. Since the viscous resistance of the oil is proportional to the square of the yarn speed, the oiling roller resists greatly against the running of the yarn particulary in a cold season, such as winter, in which the viscous resistance of the oil increases, so that the suction nozzle is liable to fail in sucking the free end of the yarn due to the slacking of the yarn.

Method of threading in a false twisting machine and an apparatus for carrying out the same


An anti-surge floating body, a seawater temperature measuring device and an integrated measuring system are provided. The floating material of the anti-surge floating body is in form of a closed loop, the floating material includes a first side close to a central axis of the floating material and a second side away from the central axis, and the wave-proof plate is connected with the second side of the floating material. The hollow space formed by the end-to-end connection of the floating material facilitates normal reception of solar radiation by the seawater, and avoids the influence on the temperature or other seawater parameters of the seawater below the floating material resulting from the floating material blocking solar radiation; moreover, the wave-proof plate can reduce the undulation and heaving of the waves of the seawater, and prevent turbulences of the seawater from affecting the seawater temperature or other seawater parameters.

Sea surface temperature is the most important factor that influences the sea-atmosphere interaction, because the temperature variation of the sea surface, which is the bottom boundary of the atmosphere, has direct influence on weather and climate. The diurnal variation process of sea surface temperature is a periodic variation process caused by short-wave solar radiation. Although the diurnal variation process of sea surface temperature is a high-frequency and small-scale variation process, through the sea-atmosphere interaction process, the diurnal variation process of sea surface temperature has very important influence on the variation of oceans and the atmosphere on all scales of average state, within a season and even between years. Therefore, a microstructure measurement of the sea surface temperature has an important effect on improving the capability of coupled-mode forecasting.
In low sea conditions, due to effect of solar radiation, near-surface seawater temperature has a significant vertical hierarchy, which further leads to a hierarchy of seawater density, thereby suppressing the generation of turbulences, further resulting in the attenuation of the vertical exchange between the surface seawater and the lower seawater of the sea, and affecting the heat and gas exchange between the sea and the atmosphere; while during the night, a decrease of the sea surface temperature produces vertical convections, which will in turn intensify the turbulences, thereby enhancing the heat and gas exchange between the sea and the atmosphere. Within just one day, the variations of near-surface seawater temperature of an ocean have completely opposite effects on the heat and gas exchange between the sea and the atmosphere. This process, however, lacks support from long-term, refined observation data. In addition, the above-mentioned process does not take into account of the effect of the background flow field. How the near-surface sea temperature evolves, and affects the heat and gas exchange between the sea and the atmosphere in a shallow sea area with relatively strong tides, are urgently required to be observed, and the observation data thereof are also required to be obtained.
It can be seen that within the depth ranging from 0 to 10 m near the surface of an ocean, a high accuracy and highly vertically hierarchized observation of seawater temperature is of great importance as well as great scientific significance. In the existing measurements of sea surface temperature, satellite observation, cruising observation and fixed-point buoy observation are commonly used observation methods. Collecting data by field observation leads to relatively high cost and has discontinuity in both space and time, and requirements of timeliness of data collection can hardly be met. The satellite observation has a wide observation range and low costs, but as well as a low accuracy of data measurement. Therefore, a device with high accuracy and allowing real-time measurement is urgently required for obtaining the sea surface temperature.
A device for field observation generally needs to be disposed on a floating body. However, while the existing floating bodies have a relatively low degree of suppression to the turbulences and heaving of seawater, and the floating bodies themselves may block the sunlight, which affects the absorption of the solar radiation by the seawater, and ultimately affect the accuracy of the temperature measurement.

Anti-surge floating body, seawater temperature measuring device and integrated measuring system


The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a curved thin-walled intermetallic compound component by winding a mandrel with metal foil strips, which comprises the following steps: designing a prefabricated blank; preparing a support mandrel; determining thicknesses and layer numbers of foil strips; determining widths of the foil strips; establishing a laying process; pretreating surfaces of the foil strips; laying A foil and B foil; carrying out bulge forming on the prefabricated blank; carrying out diffusion reaction and densification treatment on a bulged component; and carrying out subsequent treatment of a thin-walled component. The present invention can solve the problems that impurities generated in the separation process of a support mould and a laminated foil prefabricated blank influence the final performance of a part, and a single homogeneous intermetallic compound component in thickness direction has poor plasticity and toughness at room temperature.

With the progress of aerospace science and technology, in order to meet the development requirements of high Mach number, high performance and high reliability of a new generation of aircraft and engines thereof, the demand of lightweight and high temperature resistant curved surface thin-walled components, especially important components such as skins and turbine guide vanes of aero-engines, is increasing. In face of higher service temperature and more severe operating conditions, common titanium alloys cannot meet the operational requirements, whereas nickel-based high temperature alloys are easy to cause the problem of structure overweight because of high density. Therefore, new types of lightweight and high temperature resistant structural materials such as NiAl/TiAl alloy have gradually become hot research topics. The service temperature of TiAl is 600° C.-850° C., and the service temperature of NiAl is as high as 900° C.-1000° C.; in addition, the melting point of NiAl alloy is about 300° C. higher than that of a nickel-based high temperature alloy, but the density is only ⅔ of that of the nickel-based high temperature alloy; therefore, NiAl/TiAl alloy is an ideal high temperature resistant structural material having properties between those of a high temperature alloy and those of a ceramic material. Besides the high temperature resistance and low density, NiAl/TiAl intermetallic compound also has the characteristics of excellent oxidation resistance, good corrosion resistance, high structural stability, etc.
For a curved surface thin-walled NiAl/TiAl alloy component, common manufacturing methods at present are to prepare a NiAl/TiAl alloy sheet first, and then carry out superplastic forming at a temperature higher than 1000° C. to obtain a curved surface thin-walled component. The preparation of the NiAl/TiAl alloy sheet and the subsequent forming & manufacturing of the curved surface thin-walled component are two relatively independent processes which have some problems: on one hand, due to the large intrinsic brittleness at room temperature, NiAl/TiAl alloy is a material that is difficult to have thermoplastic deformation, and due to the fact that many constraints related to plate rolling are imposed and the thermal strain state of the material is very complex in a rolling process, the NiAl/TiAl alloy sheet is easy to crack in the rolling process, and it is very difficult to obtain a large-size and high-quality sheet; on the other hand, as a superplastic forming process has high requirements on forming equipment and microstructure, and the deformation of the material in the forming process is large, micro cavities are easy to appear after forming, which leads to poor structural properties, and large deformation can also cause severe thinning of wall thickness, what's more, as the strain rate is relatively low during forming, the production efficiency is reduced, and the application thereof is limited to a certain extent; in addition, as sheet preparation and forming are carried out separately, the production procedures are increased, the production efficiency is reduced, and the production cost is increased. In order to solve the problems, a patent for invention (CN111168407A) proposes an integrated method for synthesis, preparation and forming of a curved NiAl alloy sheet component, which is to stack large-size Ni foil and Al foil alternately to make a blank by hot pressing first, then obtain a component shape by hot gas bulging forming, and subsequently obtain a final curved NiAl alloy part through steps such as high-temperature vacuum heat treatment. As the method is to prepare a simple sheet of laminated Ni/Al foils first, the sheet will have a large and complex deformation when the component shape is obtained by hot bulging, and as the deformation will occur in the normal direction of the sheet, complex interfacial interactions between layers may occur, which may finally lead to the problems such as local thinning, cracking and wrinkling. Therefore, it is still difficult to manufacture a thin-walled component with a complex shape and uniform wall thickness by using the above method. In order to reduce the above defects, a patent for invention (CN111168407A) proposes an integrated method for manufacturing a high temperature resistant thin-walled component by laying metal foil strips to make a blank, which is to use foamed plastics to make a support mould, lay metal foil strips on the support mould with a shape close to that of a final part to prepare a laminated foil prefabricated blank, then separate the laminated foil prefabricated blank from the support mould, and subsequently carry out bulging and diffusion reaction on the laminated foil prefabricated blank to obtain a final component, wherein the material of the final component is NiAl alloy. A certain amount of impurities will remain in the process of separating the support mould from the laminated foil prefabricated blank at high temperature, which will bring great defects to the subsequent bulge forming, diffusion reaction and densification treatment of the laminated foil prefabricated blank, and ultimately influence the mechanical properties of the material. In addition, due to the brittleness of NiAl alloy at room temperature, the plasticity and toughness of a single homogeneous intermetallic compound component are poor, which will influence the service performance and service life of the final component.
In order to solve the problems that the impurities generated in the process of separating the support mould made of foamed plastics from the laminated foil prefabricated blank influence the final properties of a part, and an intermetallic compound component which is single homogeneous along the thickness direction has poor plasticity and toughness at room temperature, it is necessary to develop a new method for manufacturing a composite structure curved thin-walled component.

Method for manufacturing curved thin-walled intermetallic compound component by winding mandrel with metal foil strips


There is provided a colorant compound improved in the dispersibility of an azo pigment into a water-insoluble solvent. The colorant compound is represented by the following general formula (1). R1 denotes an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, or a phenyl group; R2 to R6 each denote a hydrogen atom, or a substituent represented by the following general formula (2); R7 to R11 each denote a hydrogen atom, a COOR12 group, or a CONR13R14 group; and R12 to R14 each denote a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms; and P1 denotes a polymeric component; L1 denotes an alkylene group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms or an arylene group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms; and * denotes a binding site.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel azo compound, and a pigment dispersant, a pigment composition and a pigment dispersion including the azo compound. The present invention also relates to a toner including an azo pigment and a novel azo compound.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fine pigment is likely to have a strong cohesive force between pigment particles in a medium such as an organic solvent or a melted resin. Therefore, color unevenness and a remarkable decrease in coloring power are brought about in drawdowns in some cases. A further problem that occurs is a decrease in gloss of colored surfaces and coated surfaces of drawdowns.
As a method of improving the pigment dispersibility, polymer dispersants having sites having high affinity for pigments and polymer sites to impart the dispersibility in media have conventionally been used.
As a polymeric pigment dispersant for a toner, an example is disclosed which uses a dispersant in which an azo or disazo chromophore containing a substitution product of acetoacetanilides is bonded to a polymer (see Japanese Patent No. 03984840). An example is disclosed which uses Solsperse® (made by Lubrizol Corp.) as a comb polymeric dispersant having an acid or basic site (see WO 99-42532).
On the other hand, an example is disclosed which uses a polymer dispersant as a dispersant of a pigment for inkjet recording in which polymer dispersant a chromophore having a lower molecular weight than 95% of the molecular weight of an azo pigment is bonded to a water-soluble polymer main chain (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,582,152).

AZO compound, and pigment dispersant, pigment composition, pigment dispersion and toner including the azo compound


Provided is a motor position detecting unit that includes a first computing element configured to output three-phase back-electromotive foreces (back-EMFs) based on a linear computation; a second computing element configured to output three-phase back-EMF based on a non-linear computation; and a computing controller configured to receive a control signal, three-phase voltage and current, and selecting any one of the first and second computing elements based on the received control signal, the received three-phase voltages and currents, wherein the control signal includes information on operation modes of an external motor.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to a motor, and more particularly, to a motor position detecting unit and a brushless DC (BLDC) motor system to which the motor position detecting unit is applied.
A motor is a device for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy by using a force which is applied to a current in a magnetic field. The motor is classified into an AC motor and a DC motor according to the type of an input power source. The AC motor supplies a current to a coil of a stator to change a magnetic field and rotate a rotor. The DC motor supplies a certain current to the rotor to rotate it. In this case, the DC motor uses a brush to enable a current to flow in a certain direction regardless of a position of the rotor.
Recently, as a power electronic control technology develops, a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor that uses an electronic switching technology and does not use a commutator is being provided. Since the BLDC motor does not use the commutator, there are no limitations on a heat emission and an abrasion of the commutator due to mechanical friction. However, in order to control the BLDC motor, a separate device for detecting a position of the rotor is required.

Motor position detecting unit and brushless DC motor system

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A compression system includes a compressor with adjustable inlet guide vanes (IGVs) and variable stator vanes (VSVs) that are adjustable independently of each other. IGV and VSV control units produce respective IGV and VSV reference commands responsive to respective first and second inputs that may be responsive to measured properties of the compression system. The second input may be provided by a model of the compressor or of the compression system responsive to measured properties. The second input may particularly be an estimate of a property not directly observable, such as stall margin or efficiency.

The disclosure relates generally to the control of a compression system with independently actuated inlet guide and/or stator vanes, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for control of a gas turbine with such vanes.
Modern gas turbine compression systems must operate over a wide set of conditions, including varying flows, speeds, pressure ratios, and ambient conditions, while addressing multiple, often conflicting requirements such as efficiency and operability. The control of gas turbine compression systems is typically limited to one degree of freedom, which limits the extent to which the control system can tradeoff competing objectives such as efficiency and operability. A system with more degrees of freedom, such as a two degree of freedom compression system, would provide the opportunity for improved control of competing requirements such as efficiency and operability as compared with the traditional one degree of freedom compression system. For example, a two degree of freedom gas turbine system could have enhanced turndown capability with superior operating efficiency as compared with typical systems, an improvement in the efficacy of on-line compressor water-wash systems, and/or improved compressor stability over a wide range of power plant operations, including startup and shutdown transients and hot-day lapse rate.

Control of compression system with independently actuated inlet guide and/or stator vanes


An object is to sequentially calculate planned COPs. Provided is a performance evaluation device for a variable-speed centrifugal chiller that includes a data acquisition unit that acquires operating data of the variable-speed centrifugal chiller as input data; a storage unit that stores a first arithmetic equation derived on the basis of mechanical characteristics of the chiller and used for calculating a relative load factor that relatively expresses a relationship between a current load factor at a current coolant inlet temperature and a predetermined load factor at a predetermined coolant inlet temperature set as a reference operating point, a second arithmetic equation that expresses a relationship between the relative load factor and a correction coefficient, and a third arithmetic equation used for calculating a planned COP by using the correction coefficient to correct a COP calculation equation derived from a reverse Carnot cycle; and an arithmetic unit that calculates the planned COP under current operating conditions by using the operating data acquired by the data acquisition unit in the first, second, and third arithmetic equations stored in the storage unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to performance evaluation devices for variable-speed centrifugal chillers.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-265296, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Variable-speed centrifugal chillers are known turbo chillers that achieve significantly enhanced performance by using variable speed control. Since variable-speed centrifugal chillers have a wide operating range for handling various coolant temperatures and have characteristics that exhibit high energy efficiency in a partial-load range, variable-speed centrifugal chillers are being looked at as an effective solution for saving energy in heat source systems.
In general, the performance of a chiller is evaluated mainly by using a parameter called COP (coefficient of performance). The COP is obtained from the following equation, and a higher COP means that energy efficiency is evaluated as being high.COP=cooling capacity[kW]/power consumption[kW]
In the related art, there is a known method for evaluating a turbo chiller using such COP, for example, the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 11-23113. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 11-23113 discloses a system that detects the chilled liquid inlet temperature, the chilled liquid outlet temperature, and the coolant inlet temperature within a chiller by using temperature sensors and calculates an actual measured value of COP by using the detection data. If the actual measured value of the COP is lower than or equal to a preset threshold value, the system determines that the performance is deteriorated and notifies the user etc. of the deteriorated performance.
In the aforementioned technology of the related art, although COP is used for determining whether or not the performance of the chiller is deteriorated, there is another conceivable method that shows the current operating conditions to the user by sequentially displaying on a display device the aforementioned actual measured value of the COP (referred to as "actual COP" hereinafter), which is sequentially calculated.
However, even if the current actual COP is to be shown to the user, it is not possible for the user to compare the shown current actual COP with a COP (e.g., COP=6.3) corresponding to rated specifications (predetermined temperature and predetermined load) notified by the manufacturer, making it impossible to determine whether the operation efficiency at the current operating point is high or low.
Specifically, a maximum COP (referred to as "planned COP" hereinafter) that can be exhibited by a variable-speed centrifugal chiller in terms of performance varies depending on the operating point of the variable-speed centrifugal chiller. This is because the performance characteristics of the variable-speed centrifugal chiller change depending on the chilled liquid temperature, the coolant temperature, the load factor, and the like, and when operating with a different partial load and a different coolant temperature, the required power changes since the amount of circulating refrigerant and the compression ratio are also different. Therefore, in order to provide a more accurate notification of the current operating conditions of the chiller to the user, it is important to show the user both the planned COP and the actual COP that correspond to the current operating conditions and to allow the user to understand the position of the actual COP relative to the planned COP.
However, sequentially calculating planned COPs in accordance with the operating conditions (chilled liquid temperature, coolant temperature, and load factor) at any given time, for example, is extremely difficult due to the following reasons, and has not been achieved at this point in time.
First, at present, a planned COP of a variable-speed centrifugal chiller is calculated by determining the performance of a heat exchanger included in the variable-speed centrifugal chiller, the performance of a compressor, the thermal properties of a refrigerant, and the like on the basis of an enormous amount of operating data of the chiller respectively, and by introducing performance values of the heat exchanger, the compressor, and the refrigerant to a dedicated program so as to perform many convergent calculations. Therefore, in order to obtain a planned COP for each operating condition, an enormous amount of data is required and the calculation process is extremely complicated, thus requiring a considerable amount of time and effort.
Accordingly, sequential planned-COP calculation performed by sequentially executing a current calculation program that is complicated and time-consuming is not realistic, and it is substantially impossible for a control board of the chiller to perform such sequential planned-COP calculation.

Performance evaluation device for variable-speed centrifugal chiller