A cutting insert includes an upper surface, a lower surface, a side surface, a cutting edge, and a groove portion. The cutting edge includes a main cutting edge, an auxiliary cutting edge arranged so as to make an obtuse angle to the main cutting edge in the upper surface view, and a corner cutting edge positioned between the main cutting edge and the auxiliary cutting edge and is located in at least a part of an intersection portion between the upper surface and the side surface. The groove portion is located on the side surface so as to reach the upper surface. In this cutting insert, a side wall surface of the groove portion positioned on the side near the corner cutting edge is substantially parallel to the auxiliary cutting edge or comes close to the auxiliary cutting edge toward inside of the groove portion in the upper surface view.

Conventionally, a cutting tool such as a face mill and an end mill, particularly an economically excellent throw-away type cutting tool in which a cutting insert is installed in a holder for use is used in many cases.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a cutting insert in which a rake face makes a positive rake angle relative to a main cutting edge in a state that the cutting insert is installed in a holder and the main cutting edge is divided by a groove portion extending substantially perpendicular to the main cutting edge in a top view. Such a cutting insert discharges a great deal of chip and is used mainly for heavy cutting with large cutting resistance at the time of cutting. In this case, since the main cutting edge is formed by a plurality of separate main cutting edges divided by the groove portion, the chip finely divided in the width direction is discharged. In such a way, since the discharged chip is finely divided in the width direction, it is possible to reduce the cutting resistance at the time of cutting. As a result, it is possible to reduce chatter vibration during the work.
However, in the cutting insert described in Patent Document 1, the groove portion extends substantially perpendicular to the main cutting edge in a top view. Therefore, in a case where the cutting insert is used while being attached to the holder so that the main cutting edge is inclined relative to a holder axis as in the face mill and the like, a non-cutting portion (an uncut portion) passing through the groove portion at the time of cutting is brought in interference with the cutting insert. Therefore, friction resistance is generated, and hence there is a problem that the cutting resistance at the time of cutting is increased.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 07-299636

Cutting insert and cutting tool, and cutting method using the same


Embodiments of the invention includes a play set having multiple configurations. The play set include a plurality of track segments that are configured to be selectively connected to each other in a variety of configuration. The track segments include a plurality of main track segments, a plurality of intersection pieces and a plurality of curved track segments. Each track segment includes at least one magnetic element embedded within a thickness of the track segment. Each track segment can be directly connectable to other track segments through the magnetic elements.

Various toy play sets, for example, toy track sets, surfaces, and items are designed for use with toy vehicles such as, for example, for use with toy railroad, cars, and trucks. Typically, these toy sets are assembled by inter-connecting the various shapes and sizes of tracks in a specific manner to form the desired pattern over which to roll the toy vehicle.
Conventional toy track sections are limited in the way they are attached to other track sections. The typical attachment of tracks is a puzzle style or male to female attachment where a track section is coupled to another track section by connecting portions or connectors. Further, these toy tracks, for example, those that tend to mimic railroad track systems, are arranged to typically follow a figure-of-eight or similar track pattern, always curving on a turn. Such track sections are limited in the number of directions in which the tracks can be assembled. These attachments create problems of mismatch, gaps and/or uneven surfaces.
Conventional toy play sets and items may incorporate magnetism, or interlocking connections to attach the track pieces to each other. Play sets that use magnetism to create the playing structure, a play mat is used that contains a layer of magnetic or magnetically attractive material. A structure can be built on the play mat using a set of tracks, set of connectors, and a set of structural elements, all of which containing magnetic or magnetically attractive material. However, for the structure to be assembled, the play mat is essential.
Further, these toy track sets are limited in their arrangement of track pieces. These play sets have predetermined lengths and curvatures of track pieces that cannot be altered by the user. As such, track variations of conventional track sets have set ups that cannot be altered and lack an element of realism. Therefore, a toy track that overcomes the deficiencies of the conventional toy play sets would be well received.


A stirring blade includes a first member having a first flat surface and a second member having a second flat surface, wherein the stirring blade is rotatable about a rotational axis in a state where the first and second flat surfaces are opposed to each other and spaced by a first distance across the rotational axis. When the stirring blade is rotated about the rotational axis with the first and second flat surfaces at least partially immersed in an object to be stirred, the object to be stirred having entered between the first and second flat surfaces is discharged in a direction away from the rotational axis by a centrifugal force and, simultaneously, the object to be stirred is sucked into and between the first and second flat surfaces from a direction along the rotational axis.

For the shape of conventional stirring blades, there are various types, in general, a propeller type, a paddle type, a turbine type, a cone type and others. FIG. 9 shows one example of a stirring apparatus 1 having a conventional paddle blade 3. Further, Patent Literature 1 discloses a stirring apparatus having conventional rotational paddles as a stirring blade. However, since conventional stirring blades have relatively complicated shapes, their production costs are high and washing thereof often requires care. Thus, there is a need for a stirring blade with a simple structure that can be produced at a lower cost.
Further, conventional stirring blades are designed for rotation at comparatively high speeds (for example, about 250 to 1000 revolutions per minute). Thus, in the field of biopharmaceutical products, for example, there is a drawback that shearing or destruction is likely to occur in biomaterials such as microorganisms or cells of living organisms as the object to be stirred. Thus, there is a need for a stirring blade that is capable of stirring biomaterials such as microorganisms or cells of living organisms gently while shearing or destruction of the above materials is kept at the minimum level.
Further, since conventional stirring blades have a smaller dimension in a lengthwise direction (direction of a rotational axis), a change of liquid level causes stirring blades to readily appear above the surface of a liquid, disadvantageously resulting in insufficient stirring. Hence, there is a need for a stirring blade capable of handling liquid level changes.


It is disclosed a household multi-purpose cooking appliance that can function in a barbecue mode, in an oven mode and in a fryer/boiler mode. The appliance comprises a cooking chamber with a top aperture closed by a lid associated to a heating element and an insulating cover. The cooking chamber can contain a lower heating element for use in the oven or fryer cooking mode. A pan is inserted in the cooking chamber in the fryer mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-purpose cooking appliance, particularly to a household cooking appliance to be used as oven, barbecue or fryer.
Different cooking methods typically require dedicated appliances. Ovens are suitable to cook food according to many different recipes, but are not suitable to grill food put directly in contact with a broiler, like in an outdoor barbecue. Also, deep-frying food requires a dedicated apparatus provided with an oil tight receptacle or pan equipped with a heating element.
2. Description of the Related Art
DE 36 00 294 A1 discloses a household cooking assembly comprising components to be associated and mounted on each other to form either an oven with a heating element above a cooking chamber, or a deep-frying pot with a heating element at the bottom of the pot. The two functions are achieved by interchanging a heating element fastened to a handle, and by properly assembling certain components to form a suitable cooking space. These operations are relatively complicated and the appliance is not of the ready-to-use type.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,072 discloses a portable cooking apparatus to be used as oven or grill, depending on which side of a heated place is in contact with the food to be cooked, one side having a smooth surface for use as oven and the other side having an indented surface for use as grill. In both cases the food is in contact with the heating element.
CA 1 134 892 discloses a portable electric oven comprising a heated base and a heated cover hinged to the base. The cover has a refractory glass window to enable observation of food being cooked or baked.
WO 03/086156 A2 discloses a cooking appliance to deep-fry food articles, which comprises a receptacle with a lower electrical heater body to be immersed in the frying oil and an upper electrical heater body mounted in the lid of the receptacle, to be energized if accelerated heating of oil is desired. In a different embodiment the electrical heater body, instead of being mounted within the lid, is pivotally mounted within the receptacle and has an horizontal operative position and a vertical inoperative position. The appliance is essentially designed for frying or boiling food, not for baking or broiling.
There thus exists a need for a household cooking appliance that enables to perform different cooking methods in one single apparatus of the ready-to-use type, thus allowing to save space and time to users.


A method of producing an electric-welded pipe by continuously shaping a steel sheet into a tubular form in a hot condition is disclosed, which is characterized by employing a forming roll arrangement of the constant pass-line type in combination with the downward bending system.

This invention relates to a method of efficiently and economically producing high quality electric welded pipes having precise dimensions.
Generally, electric welded pipes have been manufactured by performing cold rolling of a flat steel sheet into a tube and then by electrically welding the seam of the tube in a cold condition. Since the resistance to deformation of steel strip is large, roll forming in a cold condition is usually carried out gradually using a 9 or 10 stand rolling mill which comprises rough rolling stands such as breakdown roll stands and forming roll stands, and finishing roll stands such as fin-pass roll forming stands. In the prior art, it has been the practice to restrain the edge lines of the steel sheet during rolling by means of side guide rolls and the like. The roll forming process is easily carried out with high precision. The optimum shape for the caliber of a forming complicated operations and elaborate maintenance work. Therefore, high manufacturing costs are unavoidable.
Accordingly, it has been tried to produce electric welded tube under hot conditions, i.e., in a temperature range higher than the Ar.sub.3 point, in which the resistance to deformation is very small and working can be performed using small-sized equipment. In the prior art, in the case of "butt welded tube" with a thin wall and a small diameter, roll forming into a tubular shape has been practiced under hot conditions. However, so-called electric-welded steel tube has a thicker wall and a larger diameter and requires a more complicated tube-forming process. It is said that for electric welded steel tube, roll forming under hot conditions has the following disadvantages, and that stable operation and high precision cannot be expected.
(a) Since the resistance to deformation of the starting steel sheet is low in a hot condition, but the edge lines thereof are easily damaged, it is impossible to employ side guide rolls and the like to restrain the edge lines of the sheet. Without such side guide rolls it is rather difficult to carry out roll forming in a stable manner.
(b) Deforming behavior of steel sheet under a hot condition is quite different from that in a cold condition. It is rather difficult in a hot condition to stably produce pipes having not only a precise shape and precise dimensions but also a weld of high quality.
(c) In contrast to cold rolling, the formation of scale during heating and processing is inevitable. Additional work is necessary to remove the scale. Such additional work sometimes disturbs a continuous manufacturing process. Scale remaining on a steel surface also has an adverse effect on the quality of the product.
(d) Hot roll forming is carried out at a point in time after steel sheet has been discharged from a heating furnace and before the sheet is welded. While being roll formed, the starting steel sheet is cooled nonuniformly, resulting in nonuniform temperature distribution around the periphery of the pipe. This temperature nonuniformity also prevents the manufacturing process from being performed smoothly. When the number of roll stands is increased in order to perform more stable roll forming, thermal losses and nonuniformity of the temperature distribution become quite significant, resulting in pipes of degraded quality as well as discontinuity of the process for manufacturing pipes.

Method of manufacturing electric welded pipes under hot conditions


A product-sum operation circuit includes a pulse width/digital conversion circuit (9) which converts a pulse signal having a pulse width representing an operand value into a digital signal, a sorting circuit (4) which outputs, in descending or ascending order of magnitude, a plurality of operand values Xi converted into digital signals by the pulse width/digital conversion circuit (9), and an accumulated sum circuit (1) which multiplies each operand value output from the sorting circuit (4) by a corresponding operand value Wi and calculates the accumulated sum of multiplication results. The pulse width/digital conversion circuit (9) includes a counter (10) which counts a clock and outputs a count value as a digital signal, and n trailing edge latch circuits (11-0-11-(n−1)) each of which latches a common count value output from the counter at the trailing edge of the input pulse signal.

Computers are making leap developments and are used in various scenes in the society these days. However, these computers called Neumann types are very weak in processing (e.g., real-time human face recognition) easy for a human because of their characteristics in processing schemes themselves.
To cope with such processing, research has been done on neural networks as operation processing models which mimic the information processing scheme of the brain.
As a model of neurons which form a neural network, generally, output values from a plurality of units (neurons) are weighted by a synaptic weight, and the products are input to a unit corresponding to a neuron. The sum of input values is further nonlinearly converted and output. That is, in a general neural network, desired processing is realized by product-sum operation and nonlinear conversion in each unit and between units.
As neural network architectures using the neuron model, associative memories which connect units that execute the product-sum operation to each other or pattern recognition models which hierarchically connect units that execute the product-sum operation have been proposed conventionally.
A neural network is a superparallel distributed information processing model. When this is executed by a Neumann computer based on sequential processing, the efficiency is very low. Hence, to put a neural network into practical use, it is effective to form an integrated circuit as dedicated hardware.
In forming an integrated circuit, digital processing by a digital circuit is suitable for storage of input data and controllability. However, when an analog operation circuit is used as an operation circuit which implements the above-described product-sum operation or nonlinear conversion, the number of elements can greatly be reduced as compared to a digital operation circuit.
That is, to put a neural network into practical use, it is effective to apply digital circuits and analog circuits to an operation processing unit in which their characteristic features effectively function and ultimately form an integrated circuit in which both the digital and analog circuits are mixed.
In this case, the interface unit which connects a digital circuit and an analog circuit must input/output data in a signal format suitable for a corresponding circuit.
For example, to make a digital memory to hold a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal having information in the pulse width, the PWM signal is converted into a digital value by a pulse width/digital conversion circuit. Then, the PWM signal is input to and held in the digital memory.
In addition, to output an analog voltage value accumulated in a capacitor as a PWM signal, the analog voltage value is converted into a pulse having a time width proportional to the analog voltage value by a comparator and output.
When the above-described methods are combined to temporarily convert an analog voltage into a PWM signal and then cause a pulse width/digital conversion circuit to convert the generated PWM signal into a digital value, A/D conversion can be realized.
As the D/A conversion circuit to convert a digital value into an analog voltage value, a combination of a digital/pulse width conversion circuit, switched current source, and capacitor is often used.
More specifically, a digital value is converted into a pulse whose width has a value proportional to the digital value by the digital/pulse width conversion circuit. The switched current source is turned on/off by the pulse to accumulate charges proportional to the pulse width in the capacitor. Accordingly, the digital value is finally converted into an analog value as the voltage value of the capacitor.
The digital/pulse width conversion circuit in the D/A conversion circuit indicates a circuit which has a function of converting a digital input value into a pulse having a time width proportional to the digital input value. Well-known circuits compare the count value output from a counter operated by a clock with a digital input value and make the pulse output fall when both values coincide (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2222).
FIG. 43 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional digital/pulse width conversion circuit (FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2222). The conventional digital/pulse width conversion circuit shown in FIG. 43 comprises a strobe detection circuit 101, latch circuit 102, counter 103, digital comparator 104, and JK flip-flop 105.
Upon receiving a strobe signal NOT(STB), the strobe detection circuit 101 outputs timing enable signals E1 and E2 at the leading edge of a first clock CLK. The timing enable signal E1 changes to L level at the leading edge of the next clock. On the other hand, the timing enable signal E2 is always at H level while a clear signal NOT(reset) is at H level.
The latch circuit 102 latches 16 digital data bits D0 to D16 which are output from an external device and outputs them as latch data Q0 to Q15. The 16-bit counter 103 counts the clocks CLK and outputs count values C0 to C15. When the count value reaches FFFF, the counter 103 outputs a count out signal C.O.
The digital comparator 104 compares the latch data Q0 to Q15 with the count values C0 to C15. The digital comparator 104 outputs H level to the JK flip-flop 105 until the count values C0 to C15 exceed the latch data Q0 to Q15. When the count values C0 to C15 exceed the latch data Q0 to Q15, the digital comparator 104 inverts the output value to L level.
At the start of the processing cycle, the output signal from the digital comparator 104 is input to an input terminal J of the JK flip-flop 105. An output Q of the JK flip-flop 105 holds H level. At the leading edge of the first clock CLK after the output signal from the digital comparator 104 is inverted to L level, the JK flip-flop 105 inverts the output Q to L level. Upon receiving the count out signal C.O., the JK flip-flop 105 returns the output Q to H level.
With this arrangement, pulses having time widths proportional to the values of the digital data D0 to D16 are output to the output Q of the JK flip-flop 105.
A pulse width/digital conversion circuit will be described next. Conventionally, a pulse width/digital conversion circuit is widely used in an integral A/D converter. Its technical contents are disclosed in, e.g., Yasoji Suzuki & Masahiro Yoshida, "Introduction to Pulse/Digital Circuit", Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, issued Jul. 26, 2001, pp. 225-232.
FIG. 44 is a circuit diagram of a conventional pulse width/digital conversion circuit used in an integral A/D converter.
A conventional pulse width/digital conversion circuit 111 has a simple arrangement including an AND gate circuit 112 and counter 113. An input pulse PW which has undergone digital/pulse width conversion and a clock CLK are input to the AND gate circuit 112. The AND gate circuit 112 outputs a gate signal g as the AND of the input pulse PW and clock CLK to the counter 113. The counter 113 counts the leading edges of the input gate signal g and outputs the count value as an m-bit digital output D={D0, . . . , Dm−1}.
According to this arrangement, when the input pulse PW is at H level, the AND gate 112 is enabled. When the input pulse PW is at L level, the AND gate 112 is desabled. While the AND gate 112 is enabled, the clock CLK is output as the gate signal g. The counter 113 counts the clock output as the gate signal g. With this operation, a count value proportional to the width of the input pulse PW is obtained as the digital output D={D0, . . . , Dm−1}.
In a product-sum operation circuit which executes multiplication and accumulation in parallel, using a digital/pulse width conversion circuit, a D/A conversion circuit using a digital/pulse width conversion circuit, and an A/D conversion circuit using a pulse width/digital conversion circuit is very effective because their structures are simple.
However, when the digital/pulse width conversion circuit is used in an apparatus which executes digital/pulse width conversion of a number of digital input values in parallel and outputs a modulated pulse, the circuit area and power consumption increase in proportion to the number of digital/pulse width conversion circuits operating in parallel.
To execute digital/pulse width conversion of a number of digital input values in parallel, a plurality of digital/pulse width conversion circuits shown in FIG. 43 are arranged in parallel, and the digital input values are input to the digital/pulse width conversion circuits, respectively. When pulses output from the digital/pulse width conversion circuits are extracted, digital/pulse width conversion can be executed in parallel.
In this case, however, the circuit area of each digital/pulse width conversion circuit increases in proportion to the number of circuits. In addition, the switching operation by the clock is frequently executed. For this reason, when the driving powers of all the digital/pulse width conversion circuits are totaled, a considerably large power is consumed. Hence, in an apparatus such as a portable device which requires downsizing and low power consumption, it is difficult to use digital/pulse width conversion circuits to execute digital/pulse width conversion of a number of digital input values in parallel.
Similarly, when the pulse width/digital conversion circuit shown in FIG. 44 is used in an apparatus which executes pulse width/digital conversion of a number of pulse inputs in parallel and outputs a digital value, the total power consumption of the pulse width/digital conversion circuits 111 is considerably high.
More specifically, when the pulse width/digital conversion circuit 111 shown in FIG. 44 is used for each pulse input, a number of counters 113 execute the switching operation in parallel. For this reason, even when each counter 113 comprises, e.g., a CMOS, the charge/discharge power consumption in charge/discharge of the load capacitance in switching by the counter 113 is high. The increase in charge/discharge power consumption becomes conspicuous as the number of pulse inputs increases.
In addition, when a number of counters 113 operate in parallel, the switching noise of the counters 113 increases. Hence, a measure against noise in the entire circuit is necessary.

Operation circuit and operation control method thereof


The present invention provides novel techniques for controlling the blending of multiple fluids. In particular, the present techniques are presented in the context of biofuel production, wherein blending of a denaturant with an undenatured biofuel may be controlled and optimized. However, the present techniques may also be applied to any other suitable applications, such as the production of petroleum products, where multiple fluids may be blended.

The present invention relates generally to control systems, and more particularly to model predictive control employing novel techniques for optimizing the blending of denaturants with undenatured biofuels.
Many processing applications, such as biofuel production, include sub-processes where multiple fluids may be blended. For example fuel-grade ethanol (denatured) has industry specifications. These specifications include specific gravity, water mass percentage, ethanol percentage, sulfur content, and % hydrocarbon denaturant. Hydrocarbon denaturant is tested to an ASTM D-4806 standard and this hydrocarbon denaturant has a maximum and a minimum specification. Typical ranges for ASTM D-4806 are from 1.96-4.76 volume % of hydrocarbon. In addition, the water specification ASTM E-203 is less than 0.82 mass % of water.
The ASTM D-4806 standard is a specification in relation to anhydrous denatured fuel ethanol intended for blending with unleaded or leaded gasolines for use as a spark-ignition automotive engine fuel. The only denaturants allowed for fuel ethanol are natural gasoline, gasoline components, or unleaded gasoline at the minimum concentration prescribed. Gasoline and product ethanol prices are known to vary substantially in the market. The price spread between the two blend components is a variable which fuel grade ethanol manufacturers consider when denaturing fuel ethanol.
With water content being an allowable tolerance and the knowledge that higher water contents in fuel grade ethanol lower the cost of operation, blenders tend to run moisture at the specification limit (e.g., 0.82 mass % water). Producers may perform a blend calculation to ensure that the final blend meets ASTM D-4806 specifications and is within or at the ASTM E-203 limit to maximize blending profit. In other words the volume % blending of ethanol and gasoline parts may be done within the water mass % specification of the final fuel grade ethanol. This may be done off-line by most biofuels manufacturers by mathematical relationships of volumetric mixing rules of fluid mixtures. However with known measurements of desired water content and the cost of ethanol and gasoline, this may also be accomplished using model predictive control (MPC) techniques, integrating the blending requirements with the adjustment of operating targets of molecular sieve process units.
E-grade denatured fuel ethanol or a customer's specifications are required. One such process is the blending of denaturants with biofuels, which may be done in order to ensure that the biofuels are not fit for human consumption, thereby preventing people from drinking the biofuels. However, in many such applications, when controlling the blending of the multiple fluids, a fixed set point for the percentage of one fluid within another fluid (e.g., of a denaturant within a biofuel) may often be used. Therefore, blending of the multiple fluids may be performed in a constant manner based on this fixed set point, as opposed to dynamically optimizing the blending percentages of the fluids based upon final biofuel product specifications and the blending economics of the blending components.

Model predictive control of biofuel denaturant blending


Seamless knitwear (1) having front and back bodies (2a, 2b) joined together at both widthwise ends thereof and formed into a tubular body from its rib hem toward its shoulder by using a flat knitting machine, the front body (2a) having a right and left front bodes (5a, 15a) into which the front body (2a) is forked from a front neckline forming starting point, wherein after the front neckline (10a) is knitted in a circular-arc cut form by a flechage knitting, the front body (2a) and the back body (2b) are joined together at the shoulder and then collars (8a, 8b) are knitted in a circular form in continuity with the knitting of the front neckline (10a) formed in the front body (2a) and a back neckline (10b) formed in the back body (2b), wherein the back neckline (10b) of the back body (2b) is formed to have substantially the same number of wale as the number of wale of the confronting front neckline (10a), and wherein the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased by transferring a stitch of the back neckline and overlapping it with an adjacent stitch in the same back neckline (10b).

The present invention relates to a method of knitting a collar portion of knitwear by using a flat knitting machine, and to the knitwear knitted in that knitting method.
The applicant proposed a variety of knitting techniques using a flat knitting machine for knitting knitwear, such as a vest an a sweater, in a lot of applications including Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publications No. Hei 2(1990)-91254, No. Hei 2(1990)-229248, No. Hei 4(1992)-209855 and No. Hei 4(1992)-153346. In those proposed knitting techniques, a body and both sleeves of the knitwear are each knitted in the form of a tubular body up to the underarms and then are joined together at the underarms and knitted in the form of a single tubular body from the underarms to the shoulder, while the both sleeves are shifted toward the body to overlap the loops of the both sleeves with the loops of the body, whereby the single tubular body is gradually reduced in diameter. This knitting technique (hereinafter it is referred to as xe2x80x9cseamless knitxe2x80x9d) can simplify or eliminate the sewing process after the knitting.
FIG. 9 shows a pattern paper (stitch alignment) of the body and sleeves of the sweater for the conventional seamless knit. Illustrated above is the pattern of a back body 102b and back sleeve portions 104b, 114b which will appear at the back side when wearing the sweater. Illustrated below is the pattern of a front body 102a and front sleeve portions 104a, 114a which will appear at the front side when wearing the sweater. It is to be noted that the terms xe2x80x9crightxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cleftxe2x80x9d appearing in the members, such as the right front body 115a and the right sleeve 114, is intended to mean the right-hand part and the left-hand part when viewing from a wearer who wears the sweater.
In the sweater, the front body 102a and the front sleeves 104a, 114a are joined together at their respective underarms A, a and P, p, and the back body 102b and the back sleeves 104b, 114b are joined together at their respective underarms H, h and S, s. The line A-F-B of the front body 102a and the line P-Q of the sleeve 104a are joined together, and the line a-f-b of the front body 102a and the line p-q of the sleeve 114a are joined together. Likewise, the line H-I of the back body 102b and the line S-T of the sleeve 104b are joined together, and the line h-i of the back body 102b and the line s-t of the sleeve 114b are joined together. The line C-D-E-e-d-c represents a front neckline 110a having a circular-arc cut form, and the line J-j of the back body 102b represents a back neckline 10b confronting the front neckline and having the same number of wale (knitting width) between J-j. From E, e where the knitting of the neckline is started, the front neckline 110a is forked into a right front body 115a and a left front body 105a and knitted up to the shoulder. In this knitting, the so-called flechage knitting that the stitches around the neckline are sequentially put into operative states is repeatedly performed, whereby a circular-arc cut is formed at the front neckline 110a.
This circular-arc cut formed at the front neckline 110a is called a front drop. The like circular-arc cut which is called a back drop is sometimes formed in the back body 102b. The more the number of times the flechage knitting is repeated, the deeper the front drop formed becomes. The line B-C of the front body 102a and the line I-J of the back body 102b are joined together at the shoulder in the bind-off process. The line b-c of the front body 102a and the line i-j of the back body 102b are joined together in the same manner. After the forming of the neckline, front and back collars 108a, 108b are knitted around the neckline. After this manner, the knitting of the sweater 100 is ended.
In the knitwear knitted in the manner mentioned above, the front neckline 110a having a circular-arc cut form is identical in number of wale with the back neckline 110b, irrespective of a depth of the front drop. Due to this, the knitting width of the front collar 108a becomes shorter than a peripheral length of the front neckline 110a, thus causing the collar 108 to be stretched transversely and forcing the front drop to rise up. As a result of this, the front drop as expected cannot be obtained. In addition, since the collar cannot be given a sufficient knitting width, the neckline 110 cannot be given a sufficient dimension for one""s head to smoothly pass through the neckline 110 when wearing. If the neckline 110 is modified in design so that the number of wale between C-c and between J-j of the front and back necklines 110a, 110b can be increased, respectively, the neckline 110 will be given a size for one""s head to smoothly pass through, but on the other hand, it will be largely expanded laterally toward the shoulder to the extent corresponding to the increased number of wale, thus disadvantageously producing non-stylish knitwear.
The applicant previously proposed in Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4-21448 the knitting method wherein the neckline of the front body is increased in number of wale and also the front drop having a sufficient depth is formed in that neckline by using a flat knitting machine. This knitting method is a knitting method for the front body to be knitted as a single part of the knitwear. In this knitting method, the front body is knitted so that it can be forked from a starting point for the neckline into the right front body and the left front body, in the process of which widening stitches are formed around the neckline and also the stitches of the right front body and the stitches of the left front body are shifted to the outside, respectively. While this knitting is repeated, the front body is knitted up to the shoulder. As a result of the neckline being formed in this manner, the number of wale of the neckline is increased and, as a result of this, the collar knitted in continuity with the knitting of the neckline is widened and also since the collar is not stretched transversely, the front drop having a sufficient depth is formed in the neckline. When the front body thus knitted and other pieces or parts are sewn together to produce a sweater, the knitwear comes to be fancy and stylish and so comfortable to wear that when wearing, one""s head can smoothly pass through the neckline.
However, the application of the knitting method of Japanese Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. Hei 4(1992)-21448 previously cited to the knitwear to be knitted seamlessly is not easy when the knitwear having a large neckline width and the front drop formed in the neckline is formed. For example, when the knitwear is knitted in the form of a vest, consideration must be taken of not only the front body but also the relation with the back body which is integrally knitted in parallel with the front body to confront it. Further, in knitting a sweater, a cardigan and the like, since the sleeves are laid at each side of the bodies, further consideration must be taken, including the horizontal and vertical positions of those parts and the way of forming the neckline in the front body and of being integrally knitted with the other parts while shifting the neckline to the outside, thus requiring further complicated consideration and calculation. In addition, in the knitting method disclosed in the publication cited above, the neckline is formed by the loops being transferred and shifted to the outside, while the right front body and the left front body are subjected to the flechage knitting. As a result of this, the knitted fabric is not pulled down sufficiently, so that there is a limit to the number of times of the flechage knitting and there may be cases where the front drop having a sufficient depth cannot be obtained: It is the object of the present invention to provide a knitting method for knitting knitwear having a front drop having a sufficient depth, which is formed in a neckline of knitwear, such as a sweater, knitted seamlessly by using a flat knitting machine, and having a stylish collar in a relatively simple manner and to provide knitwear having such a stylish collar.
The present invention provides a method of knitting a collar of knitwear comprising a front body and a back body by using a flat knitting machine comprising at least a pair of first and second needle beds, at least either of which can be racked laterally to transfer stitches between the needles beds, wherein the knitwear is knitted in the condition that the front body is associated with the first needle bed and the back body is associated with the second needle bed, so that the front body and the back body are joined together at both knitting-widthwise ends to be knitted into a tubular body, and wherein the knitwear is knitted from its rib hem toward its shoulder, in the course of which from a front neckline forming starting point, the front body is forked into a right front body and a left front body and also the front body and the back body are knitted up to the shoulder while a flechage knitting that stitches around the neckline are sequentially removed from the knitting so as to be put into inoperative states is repeated a predetermined number of times to form the neckline in a circular-arc cut form, first, and, then, are joined together at the shoulder, followed by forming of a collar around the neckline,
the method comprising the following steps:
a) that when the neckline of the front body is formed, a sufficient number of wale for forming a front drop having a sufficient depth is introduced in the front body, to form the neckline of the front body;
b) that after the neckline of the front body is formed, the front body and the back body are joined together at the shoulder in such a relation that a back neckline of the back body confronts the front neckline of the front body and has substantially the same number of wale as the number of wale of the confronting front neckline;
c) that the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased by transferring a stitch of the back neckline and overlapping it with an adjacent stitch in the same back neckline;
d) that during the knitting of the step c), at least one stitch at each side end of the front neckline is fed to the needle bed retraining the back neckline having the decreased number of wale, to minimize difference in the number of wale of the necklines retained between the front and back needle beds; and
e) that the collar is knitted in continuity with the knitting of the necklines formed in the steps a) to d).
It is preferable that the knitting for decreasing the number of wale of the back neckline is performed in the order that one of right and left sides of the neckline is subjected to the same knitting, first, and, then, the other of the right and left sides of the neckline is subjected to the same knitting, and wherein the knitting method includes the step that when the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased at the one side of the neckline, the stitch at the side end of the front neckline is temporally fed to the needle bed retaining the back neckline on the other side of the neckline and then the same needle bed is racked, whereby the stitch at the side end of the front neckline and the stitch at the end on the other side of the back neckline are prevented from being spaced apart from each other to a large extent, so as to minimize a load put on those stitches.
Also, the present invention provides seamless knitwer having front and back bodies joined together at both widthwise ends thereof and formed into a tubular body from its rib hem toward its shoulder by using a flat knitting machine, the front body having a right front body and a left front body into which the front body is forked from a front neckline forming starting point, wherein after the front neckline is knitted in a circular-arc cut form by a flechage knitting, the front body and the back body are joined together at the shoulder and then collars are knitted in a circular form in continuity with the front neckline formed in the front body and the back neckline formed in the back body, wherein a back neckline of the back body is formed to have substantially the same number of wale as the number of wale of the confronting front neckline, and wherein the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased by transferring a stitch of the back neckline and overlapping it with an adjacent stitch in the same back neckline.
According to the knitting method of the present invention, when the neckline of the front body is formed, a sufficient number of wale for forming a front drop having a sufficient depth is introduced in the front body, to form the neckline of the front neckline and also a back neckline of the back body is formed to have substantially the same number of wale as the number of wale of the confronting front neckline. The number of wale of the back neckline is in excess of an actually required number of wale. After that, the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased by overlapping adjacent stitches of the back neckline with each other to reduce the diameter of the opening of the neckline. In parallel with this, stitches at each side end of the front neckline are sequentially fed to the needle bed retraining the back neckline, to minimize difference in the number of wale of the necklines retained between the front and back needle beds. As a result of the number of wale of the back neckline being decreased, followed by the knitting of the collar, the front collar knitted in continuity with the front neckline is prevented from being stretched transversely to an extent corresponding to the decreased width of the back neckline. This can produce the neckline with the front drop having a sufficient depth and thus can produce a seamless knit which is stylish and so comfortable to wear that when wearing, one""s head can smoothly pass through the neckline.
In the knitting for decreasing the number of wale of the back neckline, one of right and left sides of the neckline is subjected to the same knitting, first, and, then, the other of the right and left sides of the neckline is subjected to the same knitting. When the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased at the one side of the back neckline, the stitch at the side end of the front neckline is temporally fed to the other side of the back neckline retained on the needle bed. By virtue of this, even when a large number of wale of the back neckline is wanted to be decreased, the racking of the needle bed can allow the stitch at the side end of the front neckline and the stitch at the end on the other side of the back neckline to be prevented from being spaced apart from each other to a large extent, so as to prevent occurrence of yarn breakage. In addition, this knitting for decreasing the number of wale of the neckline is provided as a separate process after the knitting for joining together the front and back bodies. This can make it possible to ignore the issue that consideration must be taken of the horizontal and vertical positions of the parts of the fabric, such as the bodies and the sleeves, on the needle beds, as well as of the way how those parts are integrally knitted, while forming the neckline in the front body. In addition, this can provide the advantage of producing the knitting program for a variety of knitwear in a relatively easy and simple way, regardless of types of knitwear, a vest or a sweater, or types of sleeves, a raglan sleeve type or set-in type. Also, even when the flat knitting machine used owns a number of previously produced knitting programs, since the knitting program mentioned above can be simply added to those existing programs, modifications can be made easily.
Also, in the knitwear of the present invention, the back neckline is formed to have substantially the same number of wale as the number of wale of the confronting front neckline, and the number of wale of the back neckline is decreased by overlapping the adjacent stitches with each other. Then, the collars are knitted in continuity with this knitting of the necklines. As a result of this, the front collar knitted in continuity with the front neckline is prevented from being stretched transversely to an extent corresponding to the decreased width of the back neckline. This can produce the neckline with the front drop having a sufficient depth and thus can produce a seamless knit having a stylish collar.
FIG. 1 shows a round-necked sweater knitted as knitwear;
FIG. 2 shows parts of the sweater that are to be knitted on a flat knitting machine;
FIG. 3 shows an outline of the knitting of the sweater in the respective steps;
FIG. 4 shows the knitting steps S-3 for reducing the number of wale of the back neckline;
FIG. 5 shows the knitting steps 4-7 for reducing the number of wale of the back neckline;
FIG. 6 shows the knitting steps 8-11 for reducing the number of wale of the back neckline;
FIG. 7 shows the knitting steps 12-15 for reducing the number of wale of the back neckline;
FIG. 8 shows the knitting steps 16-17 for reducing the number of wale of the back neckline; and
FIG. 9 shows parts of the sweater that are to be knitted on the flat knitting machine in the prior art.

Method of knitting neck portion of knit wear by flat knitting machine and the knit wear


An integrated circuit for detecting harmonic lock of a phase-locked loop includes a frequency synthesizer for receiving a reference clock signal and for generating an oscillator clock signal. A phase generator receives the oscillator clock signal and generates a phase of the oscillator clock signal. A shift register receives as an input the reference clock signal and is clocked by the phase of the oscillator clock signal to produce an output that is a repetitive sequence of logic states. In an alternate embodiment, a harmonic decode circuit decodes the shift register output to determine which harmonic the phase-locked loop has locked onto.

Frequency synthesizers are used to expand a clock signal or to generate a high frequency clock signal from a low frequency reference clock signal. Upon being initially powered, frequency synthesizers are permitted to oscillate and settle into a frequency of operation. Frequency synthesizers use a phase-locked loop that includes a phase detector to determine whether the oscillator is operating at the desired clock signal frequency, to adjust the oscillator frequency until the desired clock signal frequency is generated, and to maintain operation of the oscillator at the desired clock signal frequency.
Since the phase detector compares the oscillator generated clock signal to the reference clock signal only at predetermined intervals to ascertain whether the compared signals are aligned, the phase-locked loop of a frequency synthesizer can lock onto a harmonic of the desired clock signal because harmonics of the oscillator generated clock signal exhibit the same characteristics during the predetermined intervals. Alignment of the oscillator generated clock signal with the reference clock signal is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition, to be certain that the frequency synthesizer is generating the desired clock signal frequency. A phase-locked loop can appear to be locked on the desired clock signal frequency when being harmonically locked.
Analog circuits to detect harmonic lock are known, but have been unreliable or complex to implement. It is desirable to digitally detect harmonic locking in a manner that is easy to implement and reliable.


A compact insulation stripping tool includes a U-shaped tool body to which are pivotally connected a pair of clamping jaws that pivot about parallel spaced pivot axes, thereby to clamp an insulated conductor within clamping recesses contained in the extremities of the leg portions of the tool body. A knife is supported between the leg portions by a knife support member arranged in an opening contained in the transverse base portion of the tool body. The knife has a linear cutting edge, and the knife support member is rotatable between first and second positions in which the knife edge extends alternatively transversely and longitudinally of the insulated cable. A depth control member controls the depth of cut of the knife edge into the insulation layer. The clamping jaws are interconnected for simultaneous movement relative to the tool body, and have relatively short operating levers.

1. Field of the Invention
A compact insulation stripping tool includes a U-shaped tool body to which are pivotally connected a pair of clamping jaws that pivot about parallel spaced pivot axes, thereby to clamp an insulated conductor within clamping recesses contained in the extremities of the leg portions of the tool body. A knife is supported between the leg portions by a knife support member arranged in an opening contained in the transverse base portion of the tool body. The knife has a linear cutting edge, and the knife support member is rotatable between first and second positions in which the knife edge extends alternatively transversely and longitudinally of the insulated cable. A depth control member controls the depth of cut of the knife edge into the insulation layer.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the prior art to provide insulation stripping tools for removing the insulation outer casing of an electrical cable, for which purpose two parallel circumferential cuts of the insulation casing are made, as well as one axial cut between the two cuts, so that the insulation casing can be removed without any problem.
One example of such a tool is presented by the German patent No. DE 35 12 065 C1. In this reference, the stripping tool includes two clamping legs, one of which is fixed and carries two cutting blades for the formation of the circumferential cuts, while the other one has a cutting blade for making the axial cut, which clamping legs are connected for pivotal movement about a common pivot axis. A relatively great length of clamping legs is required to operate this tool, in order to be able to apply an adequate clamping force by means of an inserted compression spring; however, but that great length severely restricts the usefulness of the tool. This is, above all, so because the insulation removal work must be done on previously installed cables where very tight space conditions prevail in many instances, and they do not at all permit any unhindered rotation of the tool around the cable, thereby makings the job very difficult.
The present invention was developed to provide a stripping tool that it will have an extremely simple compact structure in terms of design, whereby its handling ability will be improved greatly.


A first series of sheet material articles, conveyed by a first gripper conveyor, is interleaved with a second series of sheet material articles, conveyed by a second conveyor, to enable the first and second series of articles to be delivered to a single receiving location in an interleaved relationship. To form the first series of sheet material articles, a plurality of collating spaces are sequentially moved past a first group of hoppers. To form the second series of sheet material articles, the plurality of collating spaces are sequentially moved past a second group of hoppers. Grippers of the first gripper conveyor sequentially grip the articles of the first series of articles at a first delivery location while grippers of a second conveyor are sequentially gripping articles of the second series of articles at a second delivery location. The paths of the two gripper conveyors converge and the first series of articles is interleaved with the second series of articles. The two series of interleaved articles are then conveyed, to a single receiving location where the articles are sequentially released in an interleaved relationship.

The present invention relates to a new and improved sheet material handling apparatus and method wherein sheet material articles are conveyed by a pair of conveyors. The invention may advantageously be used in association with a collating conveyor assembly which forms sheet material assemblages. As used herein, the term sheet material article refers to one or more sheets of material while the term sheet material assemblage refers to a plurality of sheets of material.
It has previously been suggested that a single gripper conveyor assembly could be used to convey sheet material assemblages from a collating conveyor to a receiving location. The collating conveyor has a single delivery station at which sheet material assemblages are sequentially engaged by grippers of the gripper conveyor assembly. The gripper conveyor assembly moves the sheet material assemblages from the delivery location to a receiving location where the grippers are opened to deposit the assemblages on a receiving conveyor. One example of such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,296 issued Jan. 26, 1988 and entitled "Sheet Material Handling Apparatus".
The collating conveyor disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent has a single delivery station. However, collating conveyors having a plurality of delivery stations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,716 issued May 6, 1975 and entitled "Combined Newspaper Press and Stuffer, and Method of Forming Newspapers Therewith"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,974 issued July 12, 1977 and entitled "Collating System"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,067 issued Oct. 16, 1984 and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Assembling Sheet Material Assemblages". Sheet material assemblages from the two delivery locations in these collating conveyors are transported to two receiving locations. Thus, a first series of assemblages from a first delivery location is transported to a first receiving location by a first conveyor and a second series of assemblages is transported to a second receiving location by a second conveyor. The provision of two separate receiving locations results in a duplication of apparatus and personnel at the two receiving locations.

Sheet material handling apparatus and method


An apparatus for generating an encrypted data stream representing an audio and/or video signal comprises an encoder for encoding an input signal to generate a data stream with a predefined data stream syntax as output signal. The apparatus further comprises an encryption means coupled with the decoder in order to influence encoder internal data and/or the output signal of the encoder in a uniquely reversible manner based on a key such that the generated encrypted data stream comprises payload information differing from payload information of a data stream that would be generated by the apparatus without the presence of an encryption means and that the generated encrypted data stream comprises the predefined data stream syntax. Thereby, a flexible data stream encryption is achieved, wherein the degree of encryption can be freely selected such that the owner of a decoder who does not possess the key, still obtains a rough idea of the audio and/or video signal which might cause him to buy the key in order to hear or view the audio and/or video signal in its full quality. The encoder-specific encryption and decryption concept can be implemented into already existing encoders/decoders with little effort.

With the widespread availability of the Internet in connection with hearing-adapted audio encoding methods, a simple worldwide distribution of high-quality audio signals has become possible. In particular, this has lead to a worldwide wave of music piracy, wherein people for example encode purchased CD music according to the standard MPEG layer-3 (MP3) and place it illegally on the World Wide Web (WWW). According to estimates, about 10 million downloads of music is exchanged in a day, without the holders of the corresponding copies and license rights having authorised same or having received the respective payments therefore. This has lead to great concern in the music industry.
Nowadays, there are, in particular, many constrains concerning the situation of music distribution. Firstly, a wide spread know-how concerning the audio compression technology exists, manifested, for example, in the standard MPEG layer-3 (MP3). Additionally, software encoders, software decoders and MP3-players (for example, mp3enc, 13enc, WinPlay3) and other formats run on a number of operating systems, including the Windows operating system. Furthermore, many Internet locations exist offering MP3-music that has often been placed there without authorisation.
Apart from the software encoders and decoders, hardware players exist as well, for example, MPLayer3, MP-Man, Rio, etc., that are able to play MP3 pieces that have either been encoded from a CD or are files that have been downloaded from the Internet. These players have, so far, no implemented protection techniques for enforcing copy or license rights. Additionally, devices for writing to CD-ROMs exist that are able to write to audio CDs and MP3 CD-ROMs. Meanwhile, these devices are offered to prices that have lead to a wide spread availability. Furthermore, the prices for high-volume hard discs have fallen, which is why most Internet participants have almost unlimited memory capacities. Finally, we want to point out the tendency that transmission costs for files keep falling.
While in the above hardware players no protection techniques have been implemented, there are still several techniques for protecting audio and/or video data (i.e. multimedia data, naming, for example, the multimedia protection protocol MMP. This technology represents a so-called "Secure Envelope" technique.
DE 196 25 625 C1 describes such a technique for encrypting and decrypting of multimedia data. Data encoded according to an audio or video standard are encrypted at least partly via, for example, a DES encryption method (DES=Data Encryption Standard) and written into a payload data block.
The payload data block is provided with a determination data block comprising, apart from a plurality of further information, also information concerning the encryption algorithm used with the encryption as well as the key needed therefore. The key comprises user information such that only a specific user who is authorised for playing a piece of multimedia, for example, by purchase or licensing can decrypt the piece. A player that does not have the correct key will stop operating as soon as it encounters the encrypted multimedia data. Thereby, the objective that only the authorised user can play a piece of multimedia is achieved. This Secure Envelope technique therefore represents a two level method wherein a piece of multimedia is encoded first in order to obtain a significant data compression and wherein then a cryptographical algorithm is used in order to defend the encoded piece of multimedia against unauthorised attackers.
For applications that do not require such maximum protection, the described concept is disadvantageously in that it can become relatively expensive and can require significant modifications to players in order to be able to process the determination data block. The players that are mass products in the consumer area after all, and therefore have to be offered inexpensively should, however, if possible, not having to be changed at all in order to be able to play protected pieces of multimedia. Thus, it has to be noted that the known encryption concept makes a maximum protection and a high encryption flexibility possible by respectively designing the start block, but that, however, distinctive changes with the players are necessary in order to decrypt encrypted files or to read them at all.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,838 discloses a method and an apparatus for carrying out an inversion of a frequency spectrum. The inversion of the frequency spectrum is achieved by converting a non-encrypted audio signal from analog to digital. The audio signal is then subjected to a positive complex frequency translation such that the negative frequency components of the audio signal will be positioned at around 0 Hz. The audio signal converted regarding to its frequency will then be low-pass filtered, so that only the base band components are left. The filtered complex base band signal will then be subjected to an arbitrary complex frequency displacement in order to position the signal frequency in a desired frequency band. The resulting signal has an inverted spectrum relative to the original audio signal. Extracting the real part of the complex samples will generate the final audio signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,037 discloses a method and an apparatus for a scrambled pulse code modulation transmission or recording. In order to emphasise special spectral components of a sequence of digital signals that have been transmitted or recorded in pulse code words, "repacked" words are established comprising one or several bits of a word of the original sequence and a complementary number of bits of the following word. The bits of a word out of which a "repacked" word consists of will be inverted prior to repacking such that, for example, the fourfold sampling frequency, the double sampling frequency or the sampling frequency itself can be emphasised in the spectrum. It is possible to transform the frequency spectrum downward regarding to the frequency without inversion of words.

Device and method for producing an encoded audio and/or video data stream

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.


An electronic device includes a display for displaying data stored on the electronic device; input means; sensing means for sensing the three-dimensional position of the input means relative to the device; and control means for controlling the data displayed on the display in dependence on the three-dimensional position of the input means relative to the device. The input means includes a source of electromagnetic radiation for directing an infrared conical beam onto the display. The sensing means can sense the elliptical eccentricity of the electromagnetic radiation incident on the display to determine the angle at which it strikes the display, and can sense the area of the electromagnetic radiation incident on the display to determine the distance of the input means from the display.

It is known to provide small, hand-held computer devices such as pocket organizers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's), cellular phones or the like. The current trend is to manufacture such devices to be as small in size as possible. Smaller devices are more easily carried and generally require a reduced power supply.
However, a significant disadvantage of such devices is that the reduced size forces a reduction in the size of the user interface, and particularly in the size of the screen or display used to display information or data stored on or processed by the device.
Many such devices have the processing power of conventional desktop or laptop computers or of similar devices many times their size and a number of products, such as the WACOM® and SONY® VAIO® pocket computers, are fully operable portable computers which use operating systems such as MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® or the like.
Those familiar with such pocket devices will appreciate the problem of displaying all of the necessary information on a relatively small display, particularly where the user is able to select specific functions from a large number of options. Conventionally, the selection of one option, for example, results in a new "window" opening which displays further options and sub options. Whilst devices having large displays are able to organize the data so that it is displayed in a more easily understood manner, devices having smaller screens tend to use data "layers" or "levels" whereby the selection of one option having a number of sub options causes the full screen to display the sub options fully eclipsing the original menu. The accidental selection of the wrong option requires a number of steps to return the display to the original list of options.
It would be advantageous to provide a pocket computer or hand held device which incorporates means for enabling easier access to data on the device and improves the user interface of the device.

Input system for controlling electronic device


A mechanism for preventing setting of a dose, which exceeds the amount of a medicament in a reservoir in an injection device. The device comprises a threaded piston rod, a limiter and a driver. The three elements are arranged such that during dose setting, the limiter is moved towards an end-of-contend position, wherein dose setting is limited. The invention comprises an accumulative and a non-accumulative embodiment. The invention further relates to a mechanism for prevention ejection of a dose exceeding the set dose.

When drugs are to be injected into the human body, it is essential that the dose set by the user is the actual dose injected. If this is not the case, the medicating of the patient is not correct, which in some cases can have serious or even fatal consequences. In order to ensure that the dose selected by a dose setting member does not exceed the remaining amount of medication in a reservoir in a syringe device, an end-of-content mechanism may be provided.
End-of-content mechanisms are known in the art. One such example may be seen in WO 01/19434 A1 which discloses a limiting mechanism for an injection device. A dose is injected by rotating a dose setting member which during this rotation carries a driver with it to rotate this driver which moves a piston forward. The driver is provided with a track having a length which is engaged by a track follower coupled to the dose setting mechanism.
Another example may be seen in WO 2004/007003 A1.
It is an object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide an alternative to the above solution. Especially, it is an object of the present invention to provide a solution which allows an outer surface of a driver to be directly coupled to the inner surface of a drum scale, and thus it is an object of the present invention to provide an end-of-content mechanism which may be positioned in the space defined by the inner walls of a driver.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dose mechanism for an injection device for limiting a dose setting corresponding to the amount of medicament left


An air cleaning system comprising an air cleaner provided on a vehicle and a device which can keep the air cleaner in operation while a vehicle is parked, whereby the quality of air inside a passenger compartment of the vehicle can be improved while the vehicle is parked. Consequently, the quality of the air can be improved in advance before an occupant enters the vehicle, and the quality of the air can further be improved without fully depending upon the function of a catalytic filter of the air cleaning system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive air cleaner system, and more particularly to an automotive air cleaner system which can improve the quality of air through a combination of a catalytic filter and a discharge type cleaner unit such as a negative ion generator or a plasma cluster generator and which can improve in advance the quality of air inside the passenger compartment of an automobile before an occupant enters the automobile by a sub-battery and a switch for driving the discharge type cleaner unit and a blower fan provided separately from a main battery and an ignition key.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been automotive air cleaning systems in which an air cleaner is provided in the interior of an air conditioner in order to clean air inside the passenger compartment of an automobile. In this case, in order to clean air inside the passenger compartment, an occupant actuates the air cleaner at the same time of or after starting up an engine after he or she has entered the automobile.
In the conventional automotive air cleaning systems, as the air cleaner is interlocked with the ignition key, the air cleaner can be actuated only at the same time, as or after starting up, the engine after the occupant has entered the vehicle. Consequently, there has existed a problem that the occupant is forced to remain in an undesirable environment for some time until the air inside the passenger compartment is cleaned after he or she has entered the vehicle.
The present invention was made in view of the problem inherent in the related art, and an object thereof is to realize an automotive air cleaning system which can clean in advance air inside the passenger compartment before the occupant enters the vehicle. In addition, another object of the present invention is to realize an automotive air cleaning system which can further improve the quality of the air through another function of the air cleaner unit which is independent of a catalytic filter thereof.
With a view to attaining the objects, according to the invention, there is provided an automotive air cleaning system comprising an air cleaner provided on a vehicle and a device which can keep the air cleaner in operation even while the vehicle is parked so as to improve the quality of air inside a passenger compartment of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked. In addition, according to the invention, there is provided an automobile air cleaning system, wherein a sub-battery is provided separately from a main battery of the vehicle, whereby the air cleaner is operated by the sub-battery. Furthermore, according to the invention, there is provided an automotive air cleaning system, wherein the quality of part of the air is improved while the vehicle is parked and the quality of the remaining part of the air is improved after an occupant enters the vehicle. Moreover, according to the invention, there is provided an automotive air cleaning system, wherein the improvement of the quality of the part of the air means removing dust from the air and deodorizing the passenger compartment, and the improvement of the quality of the remaining part of the air means further improvement in quality of the air. In addition, according to the invention, there is provided an automotive air cleaning system, wherein the improvement of the part of the air continues to be carried out until the voltage of the sub-battery lowers to below a predetermined voltage.
By adopting the aforesaid constructions it is possible to realize the automotive air cleaning system which can improve in advance the quality of part of air within the passenger compartment before the occupant enters the vehicle and which can improve the quality of the remaining part of the air after the occupant has entered the vehicle.
The present invention may be more fully understood from the description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings.


The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device comprising: a laminated protection panel composed of a xcex/4-plate, a polarizing plate and a transparent protection plate; a liquid crystal display; and a phase retarder;

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device having a transparent protection plate, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device having a protection plate and exhibiting improvement in brightness, visibility and viewing angle characteristic.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pen entry technology, which allows easy manipulations as if one is writing on a paper with a pencil, has become important owing to a trend toward diversification of information equipment and reduction in size and weight of portable terminals, and therefore, display devices having a touch panel which realizes both inputting and displaying are in a popular use. While various types of touch panels such as an optical type, an ultrasound type, a resistive membrane type, an electrostatic capacitance type, an electromagnetic induction type and the like are presently put to practical use, a transparent protection plate is usually used at a top surface of a touch panel in any type for the purpose of detecting an input signal or protecting a viewing screen. That is, a transparent protection plate is disposed to a top surface of a touch panel, or a transparent protection plate itself forms the touch panel. In addition, a liquid crystal display, which is thin in thickness and light in weight and consumes little electricity, is in a frequent use for the purpose of displaying. Especially a ferroelectric liquid crystal display has an orientation defect when subjected to external shock, a transparent protection plate which is disposed in front of the ferroelectric liquid crystal display serves as protection of a liquid crystal layer against the external shock.
In such a liquid crystal display device having a transparent protection plate, since there is reflection from the transparent protection plate in addition to surface reflection from the liquid crystal display, a displayed view shows extremely poor in a bright room or in the open air. As a solution of this visibility problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-127822 proposes to use a circular polarizing plate comprising a xcex/4-plate and a polarizing plate. Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-48625 proposes a method for improving a display quality, in which another xcex/4-plate is disposed between a liquid crystal display device and a touch panel having a circular polarizing plate. The later publication describes that the xcex/4-plate which forms the circular polarizing plate and the another xcex/4-plate are arranged so that the directions of orientation axes (optical axes) of the two xcex/4-plates are in the same direction, or perpendicular to each other, and the perpendicular-direction arrangement is preferable because of better visibility.
However, such a structure that the xcex/4-plate which forms the circular polarizing plate and the another xcex/4-plate are arranged so as to have the direction of their orientation axes arranged perpendicular to each other in order to cancel a phase retardation has been found to have a problem that a displayed view looks yellow when viewed from an oblique direction. In the meantime, when the two xcex/4-plates are arranged so that the direction of their orientation axes are parallel to each other and the two xcex/4-plates function as a xcex/2-plate, the visibility deteriorates as described in the publication above.
An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device having a protection plate and exhibiting improvement in brightness, visibility and viewing angle characteristic.
As a result of dedicated efforts to solve these problems, the present inventor discovered that it is possible to improve coloring of a displayed view in an oblique direction while maintaining a display quality in a front direction by means of such combination of a xcex/4-plate and a phase retarder that the sum (xcex1A+xcex1B) of the wavelength dispersion (xcex1A) of the xcex/4-plate, which forms a circular polarizing plate, and the wavelength dispersion (xcex1B) of a phase retarder, which is disposed between a transparent protection film and a liquid crystal display, is in the range of 1.11 to 1.95, thereby arriving at the present invention.
That is, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display device comprising:
a laminated protection panel composed of a xcex/4-plate, a polarizing plate and a transparent protection plate;
a liquid crystal display; and
a phase retarder;
wherein the laminated protection panel is disposed to a top surface of a liquid crystal display with a distance, the phase retarder is arranged between the laminated protection panel and the liquid crystal display, and the sum (xcex1A+xcex1B) of a wavelength dispersion (xcex1A) of the xcex/4-plate and a wavelength dispersion (xcex1B) of the phase retarder is in the range of 1.11 to 1.95.

Abstract: wherein the laminated protection panel is disposed to a top surface of a liquid crystal display with a distance, the phase retarder is disposed between the laminated protection panel and the liquid crystal display, and the sum (xcex1A+xcex1B) of a wavelength dispersion (xcex1A) of the xcex/4-plate and a wavelength dispersion (xcex1B) of the phase retarder is in the range of 1.11 to 1.95. In this liquid crystal display device having a transparent protection plate such as a touch panel, coloring of a displayed view looked at in an oblique direction is improved while maintaining a display quality in a front direction.


Provided herein is a document processing system with improved paper path alignment and superior media hold-down capability, which minimizes undesirable electrostatic fields in the print zone. The document processing system includes a first belt module including a first roller and a second roller with a tack belt in surrounding engagement with the first roller and the second roller. The processing system further includes a second belt module, which includes a third roller and a fourth roller with a media transport belt in surrounding engagement with the third roller and the fourth roller. A mounting support for the first belt module is also included herein, the mounting support is designed to allow the first module to self-align relative to the second transport.

1. Technical Field
The presently disclosed technologies are directed to a system and method for improving paper path alignment by preventing contention between two belt transports in a direct marking hold-down transport system. The system and method described herein use a mounting bracket which allows for self-alignment of one transport relative to the other.
2. Brief Discussion of Related Art
In order to ensure good print quality in direct to paper ("DTP") ink jet printing systems, the media substrate must be held extremely flat in the print zone. Conventional approaches use electrostatic tacking of media to a moving transport belt that is held flat against a platen in an imaging zone or printing zone. Conventional electrostatic tacking methods create a tacking field by primarily applying charges to a media substrate side that is not in contact with the tacking surface (transport belt). The charges can be applied by well-known methods in the art including the use of various non-contact corona charging devices or the use of various pressured devices, such as a biased roller. Generally, pressured devices such as bias rollers are preferred because the presence of mechanical pressure helps to tack stressful media such as curled or cockled media substrates. An undesirable side effect of electrostatic tacking of media substrates is the creation of a high electric field between the surface of the media substrate and the imaging heads (also referred to herein as print heads). As the media substrate travels in the printing zone, the high electrostatic field can affect the ink jetting, which results in print quality defects.
An additional drawback to the use of electrostatic tacking forces is that when multiple belt modules and tacking belts are used in a printing system, the electrostatic forces applied to each belt and/or module are quite large and if the multiple belt systems are not perfectly aligned this can result in large lateral forces at the intersection of the belts. This results in misalignment of the belts and can cause problems in printing or copying systems.
In order to solve this problem, a dual belt system designed to maximize hold-down while minimizing undesirable fields in the print zone is described in patent application Ser. No. 13/669,578, which applies electrostatic charges to the side of media that faces the belt transport while still maintaining high tack force. One concern with this approach is that large lateral belt forces can be seen if the two belt systems are not perfectly aligned.
Despite these efforts, misalignment may still be a problem. The media substrate, when tacked by electrostatic tacking methods, almost always produces an electric field. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the undesired effects of the electrostatic forces, and further preventing and/or correcting any misalignment of the media substrate processing path which may result as a result of the electrostatic forces.

Tracking in belt on belt architecture through self-alignment


A demodulating system (100) for demodulating a phase-modulated input signal (Si) comprises:                a complex demodulator (110), having a first input (111) for receiving the phase-modulated input signal (Si) and being designed to perform complex multiplication of this signal with an approximation of the inverse of the phase modulation;        a spectrum analyzing device (130) receiving the demodulated product signal produced by the complex demodulator (110) and capable of analyzing the frequency spectrum of the demodulated product signal.

Stated more generally, a signal may contain multiple signal components, and the present invention aims to provide a signal processor capable of recognizing the exact frequency of a certain signal component in the received signal. Normally, a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) is used in a situation where the frequency of the frequency component is already known in approximation. For allowing the PLL to lock in on this frequency, it is known to start with the PLL having a relatively large bandwidth and then reducing the bandwidth while keeping the signal component within the band. However, there are cases where the received signal actually comprises multiple frequency components, of which the frequency distance may be relatively small, and of which the exact frequency is not approximately known in advance; the situation described in the introduction is an example of such case. If the conventional method of a PLL with an initially large bandwidth is used, chances are that the PLL will lock in on an incorrect frequency.
It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a device capable of reliably demodulating the received signal of such situation.


Sequences and partial sequences for three types of mammalian (human and rat sequences identified) T-type calcium channel subunits which we have labeled as the α1G, α1H and α1I subunits are provided. Knowledge of the sequence of these calcium channel permits the localization and recovery of the complete sequence from human cells, and the development of cell lines which express the novel calcium channels of the invention. These cells may be used for identifying compounds capable of acting as agonists or antagonists to the calcium channels.

The rapid entry of calcium into cells is mediated by a class of proteins called voltage-gated calcium channels. Calcium channels are a heterogeneous class of molecules that respond to depolarization by opening a calcium-selective pore through the plasma membrane. The entry of calcium into cells mediates a wide variety of cellular and physiological responses including excitation-contraction coupling, hormone secretion and gene expression. In neurons, calcium entry directly affects membrane potential and contributes to electrical properties such as excitability, repetitive firing patterns and pacemaker activity. Miller, R. J., "Multiple calcium channels and neuronal function." Science (1987) 235:46-52. Calcium entry further affects neuronal functions by directly regulating calcium-dependent ion channels and modulating the activity of calcium-dependent enzymes such as protein kinase C and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. An increase in calcium concentration at the presynaptic nerve terminal triggers the release of neurotransmitter. Calcium entry also plays a role in neurite outgrowth and growth cone migration in developing neurons and has been implicated in long-term changes in neuronal activity.
In addition to the variety of normal physiological functions mediated by calcium channels, they are also implicated in a number of human disorders. Recently, mutations identified in human and mouse calcium channel genes have been found to account for several disorders including, familial hemiplegic migraine, episodic ataxia type 2, cerebellar ataxia, absence epilepsy and seizures. Fletcher, et al. (1996) "Absence epilepsy in tottering mutant mice is associated with calcium channel defects." Cell 87:607-617; Burgess, et al., "Mutation of the Ca2+ channel β subunit gene Cchb4 is associated with ataxia and seizures in the lethargic (1h) mouse." Cell (1997) 88:385-392; Ophoff, et al., "Familial hemiplegic migraine and episodic ataxia type-2 are caused by mutations in the Ca2+ channel gene CACNL1A4." Cell (1996) 87:543-552; Zhuchenko, O., et al., "Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia (SCA6) associated with the small polyglutamine expansions in the α1A-voltage-dependent calcium channel." Nature Genetics (1997) 15:62-69.
The clinical treatment of some disorders has been aided by the development of therapeutic calcium channel antagonists. Janis, et al. (1991) in Calcium Channels: Their Properties, Functions, Regulation and Clinical Relevance. CRC Press, London.
Native calcium channels have been classified by their electrophysiological and pharmacological properties as T, L, N, P and Q types (for reviews see McCleskey, et al., "Functional properties of voltage-dependent calcium channels." Curr. Topics Membr. (1991) 39:295-326, and Dunlap, et al., "Exocytotic Ca2+ channels in mammalian central neurons." Trends Neurosci. (1995) 18:89-98.). T-type (or low voltage-activated) channels describe a broad class of molecules that activate at negative potentials and are highly sensitive to changes in resting potential. The L, N, P and Q-type channels activate at more positive potentials and display diverse kinetics and voltage-dependent properties. There is some overlap in biophysical properties of the high voltage-activated channels, consequently pharmacological profiles are useful to further distinguish them. L-type channels are sensitive to dihydropyridine (DHP) agonists and antagonists, N-type channels are blocked by the Conus geographus peptide toxin, ω-conotoxin GVIA, and P-type channels are blocked by the peptide ω-agatoxin IVA from the venom of the funnel web spider, Agelenopsis aperta. A fourth type of high voltage-activated Ca channel (Q-type) has been described, although whether the Q- and P-type channels are distinct molecular entities is controversial (Sather, et al., "Distinctive biophysical and pharmacological properties of class A (B1) calcium channel α1 subunits." Neuron (1993) 11:291-303; Stea, et al., "Localization and functional properties of a rat brain α1A calcium channel reflect similarities to neuronal Q- and P-type channels." Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) (1994) 91:10576-10580; Bourinet, E., et al., Nature Neuroscience (1999) 2:407-415). Several types of calcium conductances do not fall neatly into any of the above categories and there is variability of properties even within a category suggesting that additional calcium channels subtypes remain to be classified.
Biochemical analyses show that neuronal high-threshold calcium channels are heterooligomeric complexes consisting of three distinct subunits (α1, α2δ and β) (reviewed by De Waard, et al., in Ion Channels, (1997) Volume 4, edited by Narahashi, T. Plenum Press, New York). The α1 subunit is the major pore-forming subunit and contains the voltage sensor and binding sites for calcium channel antagonists. The mainly extracellular Alternatively, the α2 subunit is disulphide-linked to the transmembrane δ subunit and both are derived from the same gene and are proteolytically cleaved in vivo. The β subunit is a non-glycosylated, hydrophilic protein with a high affinity of binding to a cytoplasmic region of the α1 subunit. A fourth subunit, γ, is unique to L-type Ca channels expressed in skeletal muscle T-tubules. The isolation and characterization of γ-subunit-encoding cDNAs is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,025 which is incorporated herein by reference.
Molecular cloning has revealed the cDNA and corresponding amino acid sequences of six different types of α1 subunits (α1A, α1B, α1C, α1D, α1E and α1S) and four types of β subunits (β1, β2, β3 and β4) (reviewed in Stea, A., Soong, T. W. and Snutch, T. P. (1994) "Voltage-gated calcium channels." in Handbook of Receptors and Channels. Edited by R. A. North, CRC Press). A comparison of the amino acid sequences of these α1 subunits is included in this publication, which is incorporated herein by reference. PCT Patent Publication WO 95/04144, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses the sequence and expression of α1E calcium channel subunits.
As described in Stea, A., et al. (1994) (supra), the α1 subunits are generally of the order of 2000 amino acids in length, ranging from 1873 amino acids in α1S derived from rabbit to 2424 amino acids in α1A derived from rabbit. Generally, these subunits contain 4 internal homologous repeats (I-IV) each having six putative alpha helical membrane spanning segments (S1-S6) with one segment (S4) having positively charged residues every 3rd or 4th amino acid. There are a minority of a splice variant exceptions. Between domains II and III there is a cytoplasmic domain which is believed to mediate excitation-contraction coupling in α1S and which ranges from 100-400 amino acid residues among the subtypes. The domains I-IV make up roughly ⅔ of the molecule and the carboxy terminus adjacent to the S6 region of domain IV is believed to be on the intracellular side of the calcium channel. There is a consensus motif (QQ-E-L-GY-WI-E) (SEQ ID NO:44) in all of the subunits cloned and described in Stea, A., et al. (supra) downstream from the domain I S6 transmembrane segment that is a binding site for the β subunit.
PCT publication WO 98/38301, which describes the work of the inventors herein, and which is incorporated herein by reference, reports the first description of the molecular composition of T-type calcium channel α1 subunits. The present application describes full-length genes for 3 mammalian subtypes, α1G, α1H, and α1I associated with T-type calcium channels.
In some expression systems the high threshold α1 subunits alone can form functional calcium channels although their electrophysiological and pharmacological properties can be differentially modulated by coexpression with any of the four β subunits. Until recently, the reported modulatory affects of β subunit coexpression were to mainly alter kinetic and voltage-dependent properties. More recently it has been shown that β subunits also play crucial roles in modulating channel activity by protein kinase A, protein kinase C and direct G-protein interaction. (Bourinet, et al., "Voltage-dependent facilitation of a neuronal α1C L-type calcium channel." EMBO J. (1994) 13:5032-5039; Stea, et al., "Determinants of PKC-dependent modulation of a family of neuronal calcium channels," Neuron (1995) 15:929-940; Bourinet, et al., "Determinants of the G-protein-dependent opioid modulation of neuronal calcium channels." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) (1996) 93:1486-1491.)
Because of the importance of calcium channels in cellular metabolism and human disease, it would be desirable to identify the remaining classes of α1 subunits, and to develop expression systems for these subunits which would permit the study and characterization of these calcium channels, including the study of pharmacological modulators of calcium channel function.

Nucleic acids encoding mammalian T-type calcium channels


A method of operation for a multi-player online computer game that is played by users involves portable wireless game-playing devices. Each of the portable wireless game-playing devices is located at a respective corresponding physical geographic position. Information that indicates the respective corresponding physical geographic position of each of the portable wireless game playing devices is obtained. This information is used to bring a user of one of the portable wireless game playing devices into physical proximity with other users of portable wireless game playing devices so that a plurality of users of portable wireless game playing devices are participating in the multi-player online game in physical proximity to each other.

The present invention relates to a feature for multi-player online games and in particular to multi-player online games that users play using portable game playing devices.
Online computer games have advanced in popularity and sophistication. One of the reasons for the popularity of online computer games is that a user can participate in games with many other users. Some online computer games can be played from portable devices, such as personal digital assistants ("PDAs") or mobile phones. These kinds of devices allow users to play online games from any location.
For some types of online games, the playing experience may be enhanced by specific proximities to other players.
Accordingly, there exists room for improvements for online games that users play using portable game playing devices.

Multi-player online game player proximity feature


Provided are a low-cost electrochemical device and the like that have both durability and high performance as well as excellent reliability. The electrochemical device includes at least one metal material, and the metal material is made of a Fe—Cr alloy that contains Ti in an amount of more than 0.10 mass % and 1.0 mass % or less.

In conventional metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) in which metal is used as materials for forming an interconnector, a separator, and the like, a Fe—Cr based alloy such as Crofer 22 APU whose thermal expansion coefficient is close to those of an electrode material, an electrolyte material, and the like for the SOFC is used as the materials.

Electrochemical device, energy system and solid oxide fuel cell


A steam turbine of an embodiment includes: a nozzle box having a circular ring-shaped steam passage into which steam is led from a steam inlet pipe and having, on a downstream portion of the steam passage, a plurality of first-stage nozzles in a circumferential direction; and a second-stage nozzle side structure combined with the nozzle box and having a plurality of at least second-stage nozzles in a circumferential direction. Further, in the respective nozzle box and second-stage nozzle side structure, there are provided at least a pair of abutment surfaces for sealing which are not parallel to a turbine rotor axis and abutting each other. Furthermore, a seal member is provided in a part of a gap between the nozzle box and the second-stage nozzle side structure, the gap being formed by combining the nozzle box and the second-stage nozzle side structure.

In a steam turbine, high-temperature and high-pressure steam supplied from a boiler passes through a steam inlet pipe to be led to a nozzle box having a circular ring-shaped steam passage, and is led to first-stage nozzles (first-stage stator blades). Generally, in order to reduce a force that acts on a casing of steam turbine, an outlet of a nozzle box into which steam is led is provided with first-stage nozzles. Further, there is also a nozzle box including first-stage nozzles and second-stage nozzles, in order to further reduce a force that acts on a casing of steam turbine.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a part of a meridian cross section in a horizontal direction of a conventional nozzle box 100 including first-stage nozzles 110 and second-stage nozzles 111. In the conventional nozzle box including the first-stage nozzles 110 and the second-stage nozzles 111, a wall portion on an outer peripheral side is extended in an axial direction of a turbine rotor to support a nozzle diaphragm 114 for supporting the second-stage nozzles 111, as shown in FIG. 4.
In the conventional nozzle box including the first-stage nozzles 110 and the second-stage nozzles 111 as described above, a welding rod is led from an upstream side to a downstream side of the first-stage nozzles 110 to weld the first-stage nozzles 110. For this reason, a depth of a weld groove portion 112 on the outer peripheral side (length of the weld groove portion 112 in the axial direction of the turbine rotor) becomes deeper than a depth of a weld groove portion 113 on an inner peripheral side, which results in an enormous amount of welding. Further, since the depth of the weld groove portion 112 on the outer peripheral side is deep, the manufacture becomes difficult. Further, a structure in which the nozzle box is formed to have a two-piece divided structure to reduce the depth of the weld groove portion 112 on the outer peripheral side can also be considered, but, leakage of steam from the divided portion becomes a problem.