A process for producing light olefins and aromatics, which comprises reacting a feedstock with a catalytic cracking catalyst in at least two reaction zones, wherein the reaction temperature of at least one reaction zone downstream of the first reaction zone is higher than that of the first reaction zone and its weight hourly space velocity is lower than that of the first reaction zone. The spent catalyst is separated, from the reaction product vapor, regenerated, and then returned to the reactor. The reaction product vapor is separated to obtain the desired products, light olefins and aromatics. This process efficiently produces light olefins such as propylene, ethylene, etc from heavy feedstocks, wherein the yield of propylene exceeds 20% by weight, and produces aromatics such as toluene, xylene, etc at the same time.

Light olefins such as ethylene, propylene, etc are important chemical feedstocks, wherein propylene is a synthetic monomer of the products such as polypropylene, acrylonitrile, etc. Along with the rapid increase of the demand for the derivatives such as polypropylene, etc, the demand for propylene is also rapidly increasing year by year. The demand of the world market for propylene already increased from 15.2 million tons of 20 years ago to 51.2 million tons of 2000 with an average annual increase rate of 6.3%. It is predicted that the demand for propylene will have attained 86 million tons by 2010 with an average annual increase rate of 5.6%.
The process for producing propylene is mainly steam cracking and catalytic cracking (FCC), wherein steam cracking uses light oils such as naphtha, etc. as feedstocks to produce ethylene and propylene by thermal cracking with a propylene yield of only about 15% by weight, while FCC uses heavy oils such as vacuum gas oil (VGO) as a feedstock. Presently, 66% propylene in the world comes from the byproducts of steam cracking for producing ethylene, 32% comes from the byproducts of FCC of refineries for producing naphtha and diesel, and a small amount (about 2%) is obtained from the dehydrogenation of propane and metathesis of between ethylene and butene.
If the petrochemical industry produces ethylene and propylene through the conventional steam cracking route, several restrictive factors would be faced such as shortage of light feedstocks, deficiency of the processing capacity, and high production cost.
FCC is drawing increasing attention due to its advantages of wide adaptability, flexible operation, etc. In the United States of America, almost 50% of the demand of the market for propylene comes from FCC units. The development of the improved techniques of catalytic cracking for increasing the production of propylene is very rapid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,053 discloses a conversion process for producing light olefins from hydrocarbons, wherein the feedstocks are petroleum fractions, residuum, or crude oil with different boiling ranges and the converting reaction is carried out in a fluidized bed or moving bed reactor under the conditions of a temperature between 500° C. and 650 C, a pressure between 1.5×105 and 3×105 Pa, a WHSV between 0.2 h−1 and 2.0 h−1, and a catalyst to oil ratio between 2 and 12 by using a solid acid catalyst. The catalyst returns to the reactor for cycle use after being regenerated by burning off coke. By this process, the total yield of propylene and ethylene may attain about 40%, wherein the yield of propylene is up to 26.34%.
WO 00/31215A1 discloses a catalytic cracking process for producing olefins, which uses a catalyst with ZSM-5 and/or ZSM-11 zeolites as active components and a great amount of inert substances as substrates, and uses VGO as a feedstock. The yield of propylene does not exceed 20% by weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,830 discloses a combination process consisting of two-stage catalytic cracking and two-stage hydrotreating, the objective of which is to produce as much olefins as possible and improve the quality of oil distillates and octane number of naphtha. The feedstock is converted into the first hydrotreated product in the first hydrotreating unit, and the first hydrotreated product enters the first catalytic cracking unit, wherein naphtha, diesel, and heavy oil are obtained by using a catalyst with an intermediate pore size zeolite as a main active component. The heavy oil enters the second hydrotreating unit for hydrogenation to obtain the second hydrotreated product, and the second hydrotreated product enters the second catalytic cracking unit for cracking, wherein the active component of the catalyst is mainly an intermediate pore size zeolite. The yield of propylene in this process is rather low.
Aromatics are also important chemical feedstocks, in particular, light aromatics such as BTX (benzene, toluene, and xylene), which are used to produce synthetic materials such as chemical fibers, plastics, etc. Presently, the major process for producing aromatics is catalytic reforming, wherein the feedstock is fed to strict pretreatment because the active components of the reforming catalyst are noble metals. Disadvantageously, the process flow of the movement and regeneration of the reforming catalyst is complicated.
The above references produce propylene only as a byproduct with low yields not exceeding 30% and at the same time that naphtha and diesel are produced. Several of the references only can produce aromatics, but cannot produce light olefins and aromatics simultaneously. In order to meet the increasing demand for the chemical feedstocks, propylene, ethylene, aromatics, etc, there is a necessity to develop a chemical industry type oil refining process for simultaneously producing large amounts of propylene, ethylene, and aromatics from heavy feedstocks.

Process for producing light olefins and aromatics

Research Institute of Petroleum Processing Sinopec


Silver halide photographic materials are disclosed, comprising a support carrying at elast one hydrophilic organic colloid layer in which at least one photographically useful reagent is dispersed with at least one of ethylenic addition polymerized polymer which contains at least 50% by weight of trifluorochloroethylene units.

Conventionally, photographically useful reagents which are sparingly soluble in water, [for example oil soluble couplers, anti-color fading agents or anti-color mixing agents which are used to prevent the occurrence of color fading, color fogging or color mixing (for example alkylhydroquinones, alkylphenols, sulfonamidophenols, dye diffusion type couplers, chromans, coumarones etc.), film hardening agents, oil soluble filter dyes, oil soluble ultraviolet absorbers, brightening agents, DIR compounds (for example DIR hydroquinones, colorless DIR couplers etc.), developing agents, dye developing agents, DDR redox compounds, DDR couplers, etc.] have been dissolved in a suitable high boiling point solvent and then dispersed in the presence of a surfactant in a solution of a hydrophilic organic colloid, especially gelatin, and they have been used in this state by inclusion in hydrophilic organic colloid layers (for example in photosensitive emulsion layers, filter layers, backing layers, antihalation layers, intermediate layers, protective layers etc.). Special use has been made of phthalate ester based compounds and phosphate ester based compounds as high boiling point organic solvents.
The phthalate ester based compounds and phosphate ester based compounds which are used as high boiling point organic solvents are excellent in respect of the dispersibility of the coupler, their affinity with colloid layers such as gelatin layers, their effect on the stability of the color image, their effect on the hue of the color image, their chemical stability in photosensitive materials, and in respect of the fact that they can be acquired cheaply, and they have been widely used in the past.
However, the known high boiling point organic solvents (for example the phthalate ester based compounds and the phosphate ester based compounds) are inadequate in respect of preventing the occurrence of stain and fading of the colored image due to light, heat and moisture in the latest photosensitive materials where high performance is required. Furthermore, there are cases where these high boiling point organic solvents are not satisfactory for achieving the preferred hue in the colored image, and there is a need for novel high boiling point organic solvents.
Furthermore, attention has focused on the problem of post processing stain (stain on the background) in view of the marked progress which has been made with the simplification and speeding up of the development process, as typified by the use of two bath processing which consists of a color development process and a bleach-fix process, and reduction in the amount of washing water, etc.
It is thought that some stain (so-called process stain) occurs as a result of aerial oxidation or oxidation during the bleach or bleach-fixing process of developing agents (p-phenylenediamine derivatives) which remain in the photosensitive material after color development with the formation of oxidized forms which react with the residual couplers, and some means of countering this effect is required.
On the other hand, the high boiling point organic solvents must themselves be sufficiently stable in respect of heat, light and moisture in order to prevent color fading of the colored image and stain on the background (stain) due to heat, light and moisture, and, in general, hydrocarbons of low polarity have been suggested for realizing these objectives.
For example, aromatic hydrocarbons such as t-butylbenzene have been proposed in JP-A-49-90523 (the term "JP-A" as used herein signifies "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), paraffins have been proposed in JP-A-54-99432, and unsaturated hydrocarbons such as 1-dodecene and t-butylbenzene have been proposed in JP-A-59-133545 and JP-A-59-137952. However, the solubility of photographically useful additives, such as couplers etc., which generally have polar structures within the molecule in these high boiling point organic solvents of low polarity is poor, and sometimes the solubility is inadequate, while on other occasions problems arise with poor dispersion stability and precipitation, etc.
The chlorinated paraffins disclosed in JP-A-61-84641 provide improved solubility and dispersion stability, but even so they still have an inadequate effect in respect of preventing the occurrence of staining and fading of a color image.
Further, the carboxylic acid esters and amides which contain fluorine substituted alkyl groups disclosed in JP-A-53-146622 (for example 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7-dodecafluoroheptyl hexanoate and N,N-diethyloctafluoropentanamide) have an inadequate effect in respect of the occurrence of staining and fading of a color image and, moreover, there are problems with solubility and low dispersion stability which are thought to be due to the oil repelling properties which are a distinguishing feature of fluorocarbons.


The present invention relates to substituted pyrazolopyridine compounds, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts or esters thereof. The present invention further relates to therapeutic uses of pharmaceutical compositions comprising the substituted pyrazolopyridine compounds, for example, in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

There has been much interest raised by the recent discovery that different autosomal dominant point mutations within the gene encoding for LRRK2 predispose humans to develop late-onset PD (OMIM accession number 609007), with a clinical appearance indistinguishable from idiopathic PD [1-3]. The genetic analysis undertaken to date indicates that mutations in LRRK2 are relatively frequent, not only accounting for 5-10% of familial PD, but also being found in a significant proportion of sporadic PD cases [4, 5]. Little is known about how LRRK2 is regulated in cells, what its physiological substrates are and how mutations cause or increase risk of PD.
The domain structure of LRRK2 is shown in FIG. 1, which also depicts the mutations that have thus far been reported in patients with PD. The defining feature of the LRRK2 enzyme is a Leucine Rich Repeat (LRR) motif (residues 1010-1291), a Ras-like small GTPase (residues 1336-1510), a region of high amino acid conservation that has been termed the C-terminal of Ras of complex (COR) domain (residues 1511-1878), a protein kinase catalytic domain (residues 1879-2132) and a C-terminal WD40 motif (2231-2276) [6, 7]. The protein kinase domain of LRRK2 belongs to the tyrosine-like serine/threonine protein kinases and is most similar to the kinase RIP (Receptor Interacting Protein), which play key roles in innate immunity signalling pathways [8]. To date, almost 40 single amino acid substitution mutations have been linked to autosomal-dominant PD and the location of these mutations is illustrated in FIG. 1 ([2, 3]). The most prevalent mutant form of LRRK2 accounting for approximately 6% of familial PD and 3% of sporadic PD cases in Europe, comprises an amino acid substitution of Gly2019 to a Ser residue. Gly2019 is located within the conserved DYG-Mg2+-binding motif, in subdomain-VII of the kinase domain [2]. Recent reports suggest that this mutation enhances the autophosphorylation of LRRK2, as well as its ability to phosphorylate myelin basic protein 2-3-fold [9, 10], a finding confirmed by the Applicant [11]. These observations suggest that over-activation of LRRK2 predisposes humans to develop PD, implying that drugs which inhibited LRRK2, could be utilised to halt progression or even perhaps reverse symptoms of some forms of PD.
The study of LRRK2 has been hampered by the difficulty in expressing active recombinant enzyme and by the lack of a robust quantitative assay. In work undertaken by the Applicant, an active recombinant fragment of LRRK2 containing the GTPase-COR and kinase domains encompassing residues 1326-2527 was expressed in 293 cells [11]. The more active G2019S mutant of this LRRK2 fragment was utilised in a KinasE Substrate TRacking and ELucidation (KESTREL) screen in an initial attempt to identify physiological substrates (reviewed in [14]). This led to the identification of a protein termed moesin, which was efficiently phosphorylated by LRRK2 in vitro [11]. Moesin is a member of the Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin (ERM) family of proteins which functions to anchor the actin cytoskeleton to the plasma membrane and plays an important role in regulating membrane structure and organization [15, 16]. It was found that LRRK2 phosphorylated moesin at Thr558 [11], a previously characterised physiologically relevant phosphorylation site [15, 16]. LRRK2 also phosphorylated ezrin and radixin at the equivalent Thr residue. Phosphorylation of ERM proteins at the residue equivalent to Thr558, opens up the structures of these proteins and enables them to interact with actin microfilaments at their C-terminal residues and phosphoinositides and plasma membrane proteins through an N-terminal FERM domain. These findings were utilised to develop a robust and quantitative assay for LRRK2, based upon the phosphorylation of moesin or a short peptide that encompasses the Thr558 residue of moesin which is also efficiently phosphorylated by LRRK2 [11]. These assays were further adapted to develop an improved assay based on the use of the Nictide peptide [17].
The present invention seeks to provide compounds that are capable of inhibiting one or more kinases, more particularly, LRRK, even more preferably LRRK2.

Compounds and their administration for treating a neurodegenerative disease as well as a method for identifying a compound capable of inhibiting a kinase, such as LRRK


A cutting apparatus includes a cutting device and a base section. The cutting device includes a motor, a housing, a circular saw blade, and a base plate. The circular saw blade is driven by the motor to cut a workpiece. The housing rotatably supports the circular saw blade and accommodates the motor. The base plate is connected with the housing and is formed with an opening into which the circular saw blade is inserted. The base plate includes a main base plate connected with the housing and a sub base plate detachably mounted on the main base plate. The base section supports the workpiece. The cutting device is detachably mounted on the base section and is pivotably supported by the base section to be moved toward and away from the base section to cut the workpiece.

Conventionally, it has been well known a cutting apparatus having a portable circular saw device as a cutting device that is detachably mounted on a fixed surface plate as a base section. Such a cutting apparatus has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,875. In the cutting apparatus, a base plate is movably fixed to a base section. The base plate is formed with a saw blade slot allowing a saw blade of a cutting device to pass therethrough. The cutting device having a motor and a cutting unit is fixed to the base plate. The base plate has a pair of planar surfaces, namely, a bottom surface and an upper surface. The saw blade slot is surrounded by the base plate. A protruding portion of the saw blade that protrudes from the bottom surface side of the saw blade slot can be protected by being covered with a saw blade guard. The saw blade guard is connected to a linkage mechanism. When the cutting device is pivotally moved in association with pivotal movement of the base plate so that the saw blade is positioned closer to a workpiece, the protruding portion of the saw blade that is covered with the saw blade guard is gradually reduced. The protruding portion of the saw blade is gradually exposed to the atmosphere, and thus, the workpiece can be cut by the exposed portion of the saw blade.


The invention refers to a bank note handling apparatus comprising an input device with an integrated detector or bank note reader (8), such as a scanner, and a motor for inputting and outputting bank notes, a bank note seizing and conveying device (9) for delivering or removing bank notes in compartments corresponding to the bank note denominations in a bank note box (11), and a removable cover (40) for the bank note box (11), said cover (40) being automatically locked to the bank note box by means of a lock (39) built into the latter when the cover (40) is slid to its end position on the bank note box (11). A key (36) fitting said lock (39) is built into the bank note handling apparatus and can automatically be turned by means of a computer controlled motor for locking the bank note box (11) but cannot be removed from the bank note handling apparatus. The bank note box (11) can be unlocked only with a key (71) which is stored externally to the bank note handling apparatus under secure circumstances.

The present invention concerns bank note handling apparatus for use for example by a cashier in a supermarket. More specifically the invention concerns bank note handling apparatus which includes a bank note box which is inaccessible in operation and which is covered by a cover and is locked prior to being removed from its operating position so that it becomes impossible for an unauthorized person to open the bank note box when it has been removed from its position in the bank note handling apparatus. The bank note box can be unlocked with a key which is securely retained, for example in a safe in the office of the supermarket. The bank note box can to advantage be subdivided into a number of compartments corresponding to the number of possible bank note denominations and can be used in cooperation with a cash register.
Bank note handling apparatuses according to the state of the art are complicated and despite this their contents may be easily accessible if the cashier is subjected to a threat or a hold-up. Furthermore, bank note handling apparatuses according to the state of the art are often space consuming and unwieldy to work with. In the conventional case it may also be necessary to handle the bank notes twice if a security box which is used for reducing the volume and the value of bank notes which are retained in the cash box itself is utilized.
The closest known prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,038 which shows a drop safe for receiving and temporarily storing currency from a cash register. An entry device, such as a keypad, allows designated persons, such as cashiers or store managers, to deposit currency in the safe but not the general public. Deposits in the drop safe can be accepted in a number of acceptors that replace each other when a currency-receiving cassette in each individual acceptor is filled with bank notes. The cassettes are periodically removed from the drop safe by an armored-car driver or other authorized service person and replaced with empty cassettes. Bank notes in the cassettes have mixed denominations and there are no individual compartments for one single bank note denomination in each.
As further prior art the following patent specifications may be mentioned: U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,785, FR 2618993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,510, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,036 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,759, respectively.


A muffler arrangement structure wherein the position of the muffler is lowered and the angle of bank for the case of being inclined is ensured. The muffler arrangement structure includes an engine suspended at a longitudinal midsection of the vehicle body. A front wheel is suspended at the front side of the vehicle body with a rear swing arm unit provided on the rear side of the vehicle body so as to be capable of a pivotal motion about the axis extending along the lateral direction thereof. A rear wheel is suspended on the rear swing arm unit and is rotated by a drive force of the engine, wherein the muffler for reducing the exhaust sound generated by the engine extends from the engine rearwardly of the vehicle body and is disposed directly below the rear swing arm unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a muffler arrangement structure for reducing exhaust sound generated by motorcycles engines or the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
A motorcycles muffler is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-10-86869. In the motorcycles of this type, a muffler for reducing exhaust sound generated by an engine is generally disposed on the left or right of a rear swing arm unit for suspending a rear wheel on the rear portion of the vehicle body.
In recent years, so-called American type motorcycles are available, include those having lower vehicle heights which are called xe2x80x9clowdown.xe2x80x9d In such motorcycles, the muffler is arranged on the left or right of the rear swing arm unit, as described above, for securing a bank angle when the motorcycle is inclined.
However, arranging the muffler on the left or right of the rear swing arm unit while reducing the vehicle height, as described above, may cause a problem in that the position where the muffler is disposed is unbalanced, and thus the appearance is not preferable. Therefore, simply lowering the position to arrange the muffler while reducing the vehicle height was considered. However, a problem may arise in that the angle of bank for the case of being inclined may not be secured.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a muffler arrangement structure in which a superior design is realized by lowering the position to arrange the muffler and ensured the angle of bank for the case of being inclined.
In order to solve the problem, a muffler arrangement structure according to the present invention is applied for a vehicle including an engine to be suspended at the longitudinal midsection of the vehicle body (for example, an engine 9 described in the embodiment). A front wheel is provided to be suspended on the front side of the vehicle body (for example a front wheel 7 in the embodiment) with a rear swing arm unit provided on the rear portion of the vehicle body so as to be pivotable about the lateral axis thereof (for example, a rear swing arm unit 11 in the embodiment). A rear wheel is suspended at the rear swing arm unit and driven by a driving force of the engine (for example, a rear wheel 12 in the embodiment). The muffler is provided for reducing the exhaust sound generated by the engine (for example, the muffler 501 in the embodiment). The muffler extends from the engine rearwardly of the vehicle body and is disposed directly below the rear swing arm unit.
In this manner, since the muffler for reducing exhaust sound generated by the engine extends from the engine rearwardly of the vehicle body and is disposed directly below the rear swing arm unit, the position to arrange the muffler is lowered, and in addition to it, the muffler is disposed on the left or right to the vehicle body side, thereby ensuring the angle of bank for the case of being inclined.
The present invention provides a muffler that includes two mufflers disposed one over the other (for example mufflers 501, 506 in the embodiment) and the lower muffler out of these mufflers (for example the muffler 501 in the embodiment) is disposed directly below the rear swing arm unit.
Since the lower muffler out of the two mufflers is disposed directly below the rear swing arm unit, the lower muffler of the two mufflers that is disposed on the left or right to the vehicle body, and thus effectively ensuring the angle of bank for the case of being inclined.
The present invention provides an upper muffler of the two mufflers (for example the muffler 506 in the embodiment) that is disposed on the left or right on the outside of the vehicle body with respect to the lower muffler.
In this manner, since the upper muffler is disposed on the left or right on the outside of the vehicle body with respect to the lower muffler, a further superior design of the vehicle body when viewed from the back is realized.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.


An automatic processing system for photographic light-sensitive material, which includes an automatic processor having a processing tank containing a processing solution with which the material is processed, a replenisher of a concentrated processing replenisher chemical solution to the processing tank, an evaporator/distillator processor by which a waste liquid in photographic processing discharged from the automatic processor is evaporated and concentrated by heating, and vapor generated through the heating process is condensed by cooling process so that a condensate is produced. An electric dialysis device separates the condensate into an electric dialysis concentrated liquid and a desalted liquid. Cation exchange membranes and anion exchange membranes are arranged alternately in chambers to form concentrating chambers and desalting chambers alternately by both the ion membranes and chamber frames. The desalted liquid storage tank is provided for storing the desalted liquid which is supplied to the processing tank.

The present invention relates to an automatic processing system for photographic use wherein a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is processed.
In photographic processing of a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, a combination of steps of employing processing solutions having one or not less than two of functions of developing, fixing and washing for black and white light-sensitive materials, or of functions of color developing, bleach-fixing (or bleaching, fixing), washing and stabilizing for color light-sensitive materials is used. In the photographic processing wherein a large volume of light-sensitive materials are processed, there is provided a means for keeping the capability of processing solutions constant by maintaining components of processing solutions constant in the method to replenish components consumed during processing and to remove components which disolve out to processing solutions or condensed through evaporation during processing (for example, bromide ion in developer, silver complex salt in fixing solution). For the above-mentioned replenishment, replenisher is replenished in a processing solution and a part of processing solutions is wasted for removing condensed components in photographic processing.
In an automatic processor, photographic light-sensitive materials are processed by processing solutions in processing tanks, and processing solutions exhausted during processing are restored by processing agents for replenishment added thereto for continuous photographic processing. In this case, a capacity of a replenisher tank affects the capability of the automatic processor, and for improving processing capability, a capacity of the replenisher tank needs to be increased and replenisher tanks need to be replaced frequently, which is one of the causes for impairing easy maintenance.
Waste liquids of photographic processing solutions have been guided from processing tanks through waste liquid pipes, and have been dumped into sewerages or the like after being diluted by waste liquid of washing water and by cooling water for the automatic processor. Due to recent strict regulations for environmental pollution, however, dumping of waste liquids of photographic processing solutions other than those mentioned above, such as those of, for example, developer, fixer, color developer, bleach and fix (or bleaching solution, fixer) and stabilizer is substantially prohibited. Further, the invention relates to an evaporation and concentration processor for water solution such as, for example, waste liquid in photographic processing for silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials and a treating method for treating waste liquid in photographic processing wherein the evaporator/distillator processor is used.
With regard to an amount of a replenisher including washing water that is a replenisher for water washing, a system wherein an amount of a replenisher has been reduced remarkably for the reasons of environmental pollution and economy is becoming popular recently. Photo-finishing laboratories are now having their waste liquids collected by a special waste liquid disposal company, paying it a collection fee, or are installing waste-treatment facilities. In order to entrust such special waste liquid disposal company, waste liquids must be stored in a considerable broad space of a truster and it is extremely expensive in an aspect of cost.
Recently, photographic processing employing an automatic processor (so-called washless automatic processor) wherein stabilizing processing substituting for water washing is employed and no piping for supplying and draining washing water is needed around the automatic processor is becoming popular. For this processing, a processor wherein cooling water for controlling the temperature of processing solutions is eliminated is desired.
In such photographic processing wherein neither washing water nor cooling water is needed substantially, it has been possible to eliminate piping for supplying and draining liquids outside the processor, and thereby the drawbacks of a conventional automatic processor such as a large expense of construction work for piping, difficulty of movement of the processor after installation thereof, narrow space close to feet around the processor and an expense of energy for pressure for supplying warm water have been solved, providing an extremely great advantage that the processor can be made small and compact and further be simplified to the extent that it can be used as an office machine However, the waste liquids therefrom are extremely high in terms of a load for environmental pollution, and they are not allowed to be dumped into rivers and even into sewerages by regulations of environmental pollution because they are not diluted by water. Further, an amount of waste liquids discharged from such photographic processing (processing which does not require water washing done by a large amount of running water), though it may small, has reached an amount as high as 10 liters per day even in a relatively small photofinishing laboratory.
The waste liquids discharged from the photofinishing laboratory for color processing are usually collected by a waste liquid disposal company and are subjected to the secondary and tertiary treatment to be harmless. Due to a rise in collection expense, however, charge for collection of waste liquids rises year after year, and waste liquids can not be collected so frequently because of poor collection efficiency, resulting in a problem that the laboratory is filled with waste liquids.
Therefore, for easy disposal of waste liquids discharged from photographic processing at a small-sized photo-finishing laboratory, following two points are now being considered 1 to heat waste liquids so that the moisture may be evaporated and the waste liquids may be solidified (for example, Japanese Utility Model Published Application No.70841/1985 and 2 to use a heat-radiating unit and a heat-absorbing unit both of a heat pump circuit as a heating means for an evaporating vessel for evaporating and concentrating waste liquids and as a cooling means for a cooling vessel which cools, condenses and liquefies the vapor and to decompress the evaporating vessel and the cooling vessel with a decompressing means so that the liquids may boil under its normal boiling point, and to take out condensed liquids. Among the foregoing, 2 is more excellent than 1 on the point that it is possible to separate from condensate without generating hydrogen sulfide because of evaporation under reduced pressure.
However, even condensed liquids obtained by the above item 2 contains harmful substances such as, for example, ammonia, acetic acid and alcohol or the like, depending on the composition of processing solutions, and it has not been allowed to dump into rivers and others due to the problem of environmental pollution.

Automatic processor for processing silver halide photographic light-sensitive material


Systems and methods for packaging a Control Assembly (“CA”) on an Electronic Device (“ED”). The methods involve: mounting a first component (112, 812, 908) of CA on a Top Surface (“TS”) (104, 804, 904) of ED (100, 800, 900) such that a Central AXis (“CAX”) (136, 836, 934) thereof is at an acute angle (170, 870, 962) relative to a plane (152, 852, 952) perpendicular to a horizontal center axis (150, 850, 950) of ED; mounting a second component (106, 806, 906) of CA on TS such that CAX (132, 832, 932) thereof is at a first Obtuse Angle (“OA”) (164, 860, 960) relative to the plane; and mounting a third component (108, 808, 912) of CA on TS such that CAX (134, 834, 936) thereof is at a second OA (166, 862, 970) relative to the plane. The second or third component may have a trapezoidal shape.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The invention concerns electronic devices. More particularly, the invention concerns electronic devices comprising angled control orientation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices having external controls for facilitating user operation thereof are well known in the art. Such electronic devices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones and handheld radios. The external controls may include keypads, trackballs, buttons, scroll wheels, Optical Finger Navigation ("OFN") devices, rotary knobs and switches. One or more of the external controls is often located at or adjacent to the top of the electronic device. Accordingly, a user of the external device can access at least some of the external controls when the electronic device is attached to a belt, or situated on a support in an upright position.

Electronic device with angled control orientation


A carrier 3 that is moveably supported on the side of a conveyor 2 is provided with a rotational shaft 4 projecting laterally therefrom. A workpiece 1 is mounted on the rotational shaft 4 in an upright condition, wherein the workpiece 1 is arranged to vertically rotate 360xc2x0 in the same plane by rotating the rotational shaft 4 360xc2x0 around its axis. With this construction, the workpiece position can be continuously changed to a floor conveyor position, an overhead conveyor position and to the floor conveyor position without transfer of the workpiece 1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveyance apparatus which allows a workpiece supported by a conveyor to pass through a plurality of treating processes while changing its position, and more particularly to a conveyance apparatus which is suitable for a surface treatment line such as a car body painting line in vehicle manufacture. Further, the present invention relates to a conveyance path connecting a pretreatment process and a drying process, used, for example, for painting parts of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a painting line for a vehicle, there are many treating processes such as pretreatment, electrodeposition, washing, painting, and drying and a workpiece is transferred among these treating processes by a conveyor. When painting of a comparatively large body of, for example, a four-wheel car is required by dipping, as shown in FIG. 17A, a workpiece W which has been transferred on a floor conveyor FC located on a floor is transferred to an overhead conveyor HC for hanging support. The overhead conveyor HC is enabled to move up and down in a vertical manner relative to the pretreatment and electrodeposition line. In such a condition, the workpiece W is moved vertically for dipping treatment while passing above pretreatment and electrodeposition baths and the like and then transferred again to the floor conveyor FC.
Also, in the case of electrodeposition, to obtain fine painting quality, it is known that the workpiece is rotated in an electrodeposition paint bath to change its position to a successive variety of positions (e.g. see Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-104920 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 2-111481).
On the other hand, when painting of a comparatively small body of a two-wheel vehicle is required, as shown in FIG. 17B, it is possible to perform all painting processes using the overhead conveyor HC. Accordingly, it is not necessary to transfer the body in the middle of the painting line as with the four-wheeled vehicle. However, as far as the dipping treatment is concerned, the vertical operation is conducted in the same manner as shown above.
In the following description, a workpiece position of a type in which the workpiece is mounted and supported on a floor conveyor is called a floor conveyor position, a workpiece position of a type in which the workpiece is hung and supported is called an overhead conveyor position, and a workpiece position of a type in which the workpiece is substantially supported in a level plane at the side of the conveyor is called a side conveyor position. Further, rotation in a plane parallel to and perpendicular to the direction of travel is called vertical rotation, while rotation in a plane at right angles to the direction of travel is called horizontal rotation.
Also, for example, in the manufacture of a fuel tank, body frame or the like as parts for a motorcycle, when the tank or the frame which undergoes electrodeposition painting and the tank or frame which does not undergo electrodeposition painting are transferred on a common line, as shown in FIG. 23, a diverging point is provided in a line at the upstream side of an electrodeposition bath and a line A is used for the workpiece being painted, whereas a by-pass line B is used for the workpiece not being painted and these lines join in the junction at the downstream side of the electrodeposition bath.
Further, in the case of, for example, painting parts or the like of a vehicle, as shown in FIG. 27, for example, after a workpiece W conveyed by means of a carrier G along a workpiece conveyance path H has been immersed in an electrodeposition bath (not shown) at a pretreatment process A, the workpiece W after being removed from the electrodeposition bath is transferred to a drying process C to dry a paint film. At this time, in order to prevent hot air from the drying process C from entering the pretreatment process A, a hot air isolating zone B is generally provided between the pretreatment process A and the drying process C. The hot air isolating zone B is shortened to save a space by having an equipment formed in such a construction that, a workpeice conveying path H of the hot air isolating zone B slants, and a workpiece conveying path H of the drying process C is located at a higher position, thereby making it difficult for the hot air from the drying process C to enter the pretreatment process A.
In a process wherein the workpiece position must be changed to the floor conveyor position and the overhead conveyor position, if the workpiece has to be transferred from one conveyor to another whenever the workpiece position is changed, loss of time is caused. It is therefore desired not to transfer the workpiece while being conveyed at least in one continuous process even though the workpiece position is changed.
Further, in a method such as a dipping treatment wherein a conveyance line is continuously changed vertically, the proportion of time not suitable for dipping but required only for moving the workpiece in and out of a bath becomes large relative to the substantial dipping time of the workpiece. Accordingly, it is also desired to improve this loss of time. Also, in the case of the overhead conveyor, there is some possibility that the painting quality deteriorates when dust or the like falling from the overhead conveyor adheres to the workpiece. It is therefore desired to realize a conveyance method which keeps such falling substances from adhering to the workpiece. It is therefore a first object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages.
Also, if the above-mentioned by-pass line B is installed, there are disadvantages that the equipment construction including the conveyance apparatus is large in size, and the equipment cost is high, and conveying control becomes complicated.
It is therefore a second object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages.
Furthermore, the hot air isolating zone B having the slanting conveying path as mentioned above is still too long, therefore, it is preferable to further shorten the zone B.
It is therefore a third object of the present invention to minimize the distance between a pretreatment process and a drying process and to reduce the equipment space further, in a conveyance apparatus in which difference in height is provided for a workpiece conveyance path for the pretreatment process and a workpiece conveyance path for the drying process.
To solve the above-noted disadvantages, according to the first invention, a conveyance apparatus has a conveyor for supporting a workpiece and is adapted to allow the workpiece to pass through a plurality of treating processes while changing a workpiece position, wherein a position control mechanism for changing the workpiece position is provided so that the workpiece position required for each treating process can be continuously changed without transfer of the workpiece.
According to the present invention, the workpiece is conveyed to a plurality of treating processes which require different workpiece positions while being supported by the same conveyor and the position control mechanism is provided to allow the workpiece to be changed to the most suitable workpiece position for each process. Thus, it is no longer necessary to transfer the workpiece to another type of conveyor for each process and continuous conveyance is possible. It is therefore possible to reduce the number of transfer processes that have been required for the conventional conveyance apparatus and improve the efficiency for conveyance of the workpiece among the plurality of processes.
This position control mechanism can be arranged to either control the workpiece position to provide a floor conveyor position in which the workpiece is supported above the conveyor and an overhead conveyor position in which the workpiece is hung and supported below the conveyor; or to allow the workpiece to be supported substantially in a level plane on the side of the conveyor to realize a side conveyor position; or to continuously control the workpiece position to provide the floor conveyor position, the overhead conveyor position and the side conveyor position. The position control mechanism can also be arranged to realize all of the above positions.
Also, since the floor conveyor position and the overhead conveyor position are controllable, continuous treatment can be carried out without transfer of the workpiece even in such a treating process as the dipping treatment where the floor conveyor position and the overhead position are alternately required. If the system is controlled to provide the side conveyor position, the workpiece can be supported substantially in a level plane laterally from the conveyor. It is therefore effective in such a process, in particular a painting process, to prevent substances falling from the conveyor from adhering to the workpiece. Furthermore, if the floor conveyor position, the overhead conveyor position, and the side conveyor position are controlled in combination, it is possible to easily realize such complicated position control where the workpiece is required to rotate to allow each surface to face a specified direction in sequence.
The position control mechanism also makes it possible for the workpiece position to be changed either to provide vertical rotation within a plane parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor or to provide horizontal rotation that rocks within a plane perpendicular to the direction of travel, or makes both vertical and horizontal rotation possible simultaneously.
This kind of control between the floor conveyor position and the overhead conveyor position can be realized by rotating the workpiece vertically. It is suitable for a continuous conveyance method that controls the workpiece position while continuously conveying the workpiece. In this case, if the rotational shaft projecting laterally from the conveyor is arranged to support the workpiece and rotated around its axis, the workpiece can be vertically rotated.
Also, control between the floor conveyor position and the overhead conveyor position and if necessary, control among the workpiece positions including the side conveyor position can be realized by rotating the workpiece horizontally. In this case, control can be easily realized by rocking the arm member within a plane where the horizontal rotation is made or by rotating a moveable portion provided on a part of the conveyor together with the workpiece. It is especially suitable for a tact conveyance method that intermittently conveys the workpiece.
Moreover, the conveyance apparatus is characterized in that a part of the conveyor is arranged to serve as a moveable portion and a rotational means is provided to rotate the moveable portion in a plane at right angles to the direction of travel of the conveyor, wherein the rotational means rotates the moveable portion together with the carrier.
According to the present invention, a part of the conveyor is provided with a moveable portion and when the moveable portion is rotated by a rotational means, not only the moveable portion, but also a carrier that is supported by the moveable portion rotates integrally. It is therefore possible to rotate a workpiece horizontally so as to change its position freely to a floor conveyor position, an overhead conveyor position and the like. Thus, it is no longer necessary to transfer the workpiece even when the workpiece position must be changed for every continuous process, therefore loss of time can be reduced. Accordingly, it is particularly suitable for a tact treatment where conveyance is intermittently stopped at every process for a necessary treatment.
In this case, the carrier can move like a monorail on the periphery of the conveyor that passes through the center portion of the carrier. Also, a carrier feeding means for moving the carrier on the conveyor in the direction of travel is provided parallel to the conveyor and the carrier can be provided with a flange portion which always engages the carrier feeding means.
If the carrier is supported like a monorail on the conveyor, the supporting construction of the carrier is simplified and strengthened. Thus, conveyance of the workpiece can be stabilized and it is especially favorable when a heavy workpiece must be supported. In addition, if the carrier is provided with a flange which engages a carrier feeding means provided parallel to the conveyor, the carrier is always maintained in the engaging condition with the carrier feeding means even if the carrier rotates and movement of the carrier is enabled. On the other hand, in a method where the carrier is supported on one side of the conveyor, since the workpiece can be supported laterally away from the conveyor, thereby keeping substances falling from the conveyor from adhering to the workpiece.
Further, it is possible to convey the carrier in the direction of travel while supporting it on one side of the conveyor. The rotational means may be a step motor that can be situated within the conveyor.
Also, since a part of the conveyor is arranged to serve as the moveable portion, it is possible to strengthen the moveable portion and simplify the construction comparatively. The rotational means can be easily formed with a step motor and the like. When the step motor is used, it can be easily housed inside a hollow portion of the conveyor, and the rotational direction and angle are controllable.
In the second invention, a conveyance apparatus is provided for mixed workpieces in which a workpiece conveying path is provided above a treatment bath, and a workpiece to be immersed in the treatment bath and a workpiece not to be immersed in the treatment bath are adapted to be mixedly conveyed by means of a carrier which is capable of running along a travelling rail of said workpiece conveying path, characterized in that a carrier inversion mechanism is provided in at least one portion of said workpiece conveying path above said treatment bath, and said workpiece to be immersed in said treatment bath is inverted in a plane at right angles to said conveying path by said carrier inversion mechanism to allow the workpiece to pass said treatment bath.
When the workpiece is transferred toward the treatment bath, the workpiece which is not be immersed in the treatment bath is allowed to travel in a condition in which the travelling course of the workpiece passes above the treatment bath, whereas the workpiece which is to be immersed in the treatment bath is converted to a position in which the travelling course of the workpiece passes inside the treatment bath.
The carrier inversion mechanism is so designed that the transporting course of the workpiece is changed vertically by inverting the workpiece together with the carrier by 180xc2x0. For example, a center of an inversion axis is set to be spaced to a certain extent from the workpiece.
Also, the treatment bath can be applied, for example, to a dipping bath for electrodeposition painting, a dipping bath for paint pretreatment, and other dipping baths.
Further, the carrier inversion mechanism is enabled to be inverted together with the travelling rail of the workpiece conveying path.
Since the carrier inversion mechanism is enabled to be inverted together with the travelling rail of the workpiece conveying path, it is possible to simplify the inversion mechanism for the workpiece which is supported by the carrier.
Furthermore, the carrier inversion mechanism is paired to position an intermediate travelling portion between the upstream side and the downstream side of the workpiece conveying path above the treatment bath.
In this manner, since a pair of carrier inversion mechanism is provided on both the upstream and downstream sides and the intermediate travelling portion is also provided therebetween, it is possible to secure sufficient immersion time for the workpiece and satisfactory immersion treatment can be performed.
Also, the travelling rail is formed as a double, upper and lower rail, structure.
Therefore, because the travelling rail has this double, upper and lower rail, structure, for example, in both cases where the workpiece not immersed in the treatment bath is moved while being supported above the carrier, and where the workpiece immersed in the treatment bath is moved while being supported below the carrier, it is possible to prevent interference between a conveying stand installed on the floor surface and the carrier.
When the intermediate travelling portion is provided and both the immersed workpiece and the non-immersed workpiece are caused to pass this intermediate travelling portion, for example, the conveying stand is positioned between the upper and lower rails. If the workpiece is supported above the carrier, the carrier is caused to move along the upper rail. If the workpiece is supported below the carrier, the carrier is caused to move along the lower rail. Thus, there is no interference between the conveying stand and the carrier.
According to the third invention, a conveyance apparatus is provided in which different heights are provided for a workpiece conveyance path for a pretreatment process and a workpiece conveying path for a drying process, a connecting workpiece conveyance path being provided at an intermediate portion of the two processes, characterized in that on said connecting workpiece conveyance path, a conveyance path lifter mechanism is provided to transfer a workpiece conveyance from the workpiece conveyance path for the pretreatment process toward the workpiece conveyance path for the drying process.
Herein, a conveyance path lifter mechanism is a mechanism capable of switching and connecting a lower workpiece conveyance path and an upper workpiece conveyance path, by at least one portion of a connecting workpiece conveyance path which is permitted to move up and down vertically.
In addition, when the workpiece is transferred by means of a carrier or the like from the workpiece conveyance path for the pretreatment process to the connecting workpiece conveyance path, the workpiece is displaced upward at at least one portion of the connecting workpiece conveyance path together with the carrier by means of the conveyance path lifter mechanism, whereby the carrier or the like is connected to the workpiece conveyance path for the upper drying process, and the workpiece is connected to the drying process.
In this manner, if the workpiece is displaced and transferred vertically by the conveyance path lifter mechanism of the connecting workpiece conveying path for connection, the distance between the pretreatment process and the drying process can be shortened, thus saving space.
Also, in a conveyance apparatus in which different heights are provided between a workpiece conveyance path for a pretreatment process and a workpiece conveyance path for a drying process, a connecting workpiece conveyance path is provided at an intermediate portion of the two processes. On the connecting workpiece conveyance path, a conveyance path reversing mechanism is provided to transfer a workpiece conveyed from said workpiece conveyance path for said pretreatment process toward said workpiece conveyance path for said drying process.
Herein, a conveyance path reversing mechanism is a mechanism which is capable of switching the lower workpiece conveyance path and the upper workpiece conveyance path and connecting them, by reversing at least a part of the connecting workpiece conveying path 180xc2x0.
In addition, when the workpiece is transferred by means of a carrier from the workpiece conveyance path for the pretreatment process to the connecting workpiece conveyance path, the workpiece is reversed by 180xc2x0 at at least one portion of the connecting workpiece conveyance path together with the carrier by means of the conveyance path reversing mechanism, whereby the carrier is connected to the workpiece conveyance path for the upper drying process, and the workpiece is conveyed to the drying process.
In this manner, even though the connecting workpiece conveyance path is reversed 180xc2x0 by means of the conveying path reversing mechanism of the connecting workpiece conveyance path and the workpiece is transferred, the distance between the pretreatment process and the drying process can be shortened, thus saving space.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and of the scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.


An improved brake system for wheeled baby carriers, including baby strollers and baby carriages, whereby when the carrier is at rest and not being pushed by an attendant person, the wheels of the carrier are automatically locked so that accidental rolling movement thereof is inhibited. In accordance with the invention the push handle of the carrier has associated therewith a brake release handle or bar which is interconnected by a brake release cable to a brake shift bar mechanically connected to the brake levers associated with the rear wheels of the carrier. The brake shift bar is resiliently biased by one or more biasing elastic bands or springs to a position which causes the brake levers to normally lock the rear wheels against rotation. When the carrier attendant desires to push the carrier the brake release handle or bar is moved to a wheel unlock position proximate the push handle by hand gripping force of the attendant with the result that the release cable moves the brake shift bar, and connected brake levers, in opposition to the biasing bands or springs, to their wheel unlocked position. Upon freeing the brake release handle or bar from the hand gripping force of the carrier attendant such handle or bar is returned to its wheel lock position by the biasing force of the biasing bands or springs and the brake levers are moved by the brake shift bar to their wheel locked position to prevent accidental movement of the carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to baby strollers and baby carriages. More particularly, the invention relates to brake systems for baby strollers and baby carriages whereby when the strollers or carriages are at rest, and not being pushed by an attendant person, the wheels of the stroller or carriage are automatically locked so that accidental rolling movement thereof is inhibited.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baby strollers and baby carriages of both foldable and non-foldable types are well known and are provided with manual push handles affixed to the body frame thereof. The rear wheels or wheel sets of most modern-day strollers and carriages are equipped with wheel brakes of friction or interlocking types which must be purposefully engaged or disengaged by the attendant person. Thus, the attendant person wishing to park the modern-day stroller or carriage, and inhibit its rolling movement, is usually required to depress by foot actuation a brake lever associated with each rear wheel or wheel set on each side of the stroller or carriage. Before again pushing the stroller or carriage the attendant person must release the brake mechanisms by lifting each brake lever-- usually by engaging the underside of the lever with the toe portion of one's foot. In some instances the stroller or carriage attendant forgets to set the wheel brakes or loses control of the stroller or carriage thereby jeopardizing the safety of the baby or small child carried therein.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide baby strollers and baby carriages with a wheel brake system which automatically inhibits rolling movement of the stroller or carriage when the attendant person's hands are purposefully or accidentally out of holding or gripping contact with the push handle of the stroller or carriage.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a wheel brake system for baby strollers and baby carriages which automatically actuates the wheel brake mechanisms of the stroller or carriage when the hands of the attendant person are not in gripping contact with the push handle of the stroller or carriage,
It is another object of the invention to provide a wheel brake system for baby strollers and baby carriages which may be retro-fitted to strollers and carriages which have foot actuated brake levers associated with the rear wheels whereby such levers are actuated to engage the wheels to inhibit rolling movement when the hands of the attendant person are not in gripping contact with the push handle of the stroller or carriage.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following summary and description of the invention taken together with the accompanying drawing figures.

Baby stroller or baby carriage brake systems


A non-contact tonometer of a type having a cylinder, a piston received by the cylinder for axially directed movement relative to the cylinder, and a driven member for causing the piston to move relative to the cylinder in a compression stroke to generate a fluid pulse for transfiguring a cornea is improved by decoupling the piston from the driven member to eliminate the need for critical alignment between the driven member and piston and allow the piston to be self-aligning with respect to the cylinder.

The present invention relates generally to ophthalmic instruments, and more particularly to non-contact tonometers that measure intraocular pressure (IOP) by directing a fluid pulse at an eye to transfigure the cornea.
Non-contact tonometers are well-known in the field of ophthalmology for measuring intraocular pressure (IOP) by directing a fluid pulse at the cornea to cause observable deformation of the cornea. Most commonly, the observable deformation is a flattening of a predetermined area of the cornea, a condition known as applanation. In prior art non-contact tonometers, the fluid pulse is generated by a fluid pump system defining a plenum chamber for pressurized fluid. In order to direct the fluid pulse at the patient""s cornea, a narrow cylindrical fluid discharge tube is arranged in flow communication with the plenum chamber.
A common fluid pump system found in non-contact tonometers includes a rotary solenoid having a driven armature, a piston rod pivotally coupled to the solenoid armature, a piston fixed to the end of the piston rod for travel therewith, and a cylinder receiving the piston in close slidable fit to allow axial movement of the piston relative to the cylinder during a compression stroke. An example of this type of fluid pump system can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,849 issued Jun. 22, 1971. In fluid pump systems of the type described, the driven armature, piston rod, and piston are connected in series, and thus the radial position of the piston in the cylinder is influenced by the driven armature and piston rod. Consequently, the solenoid, piston rod, piston and cylinder must be manufactured and located according to close tolerances to ensure that the piston moves in axial alignment with the cylinder during a compression stroke.
In more recent non-contact tonometers, linear motors are used to drive the piston. The piston is either directly coupled to an axially driven armature of the linear motor, or is indirectly coupled to the axially driven armature by a piston rod to which the piston is fixed. Here again, the components of the fluid pump system must be manufactured and mounted in the instrument according to close tolerances to ensure axial alignment of the piston with the cylinder for providing reliable and repeatable performance.
The necessity to design, manufacture, and assemble component parts of the fluid pump system of a non-contact tonometer pursuant to critical tolerance specifications adds to the production time and cost of the instrument. Despite time consuming and expensive efforts to provide a smooth and repeatable piston compression stroke, fluid pump systems of the prior art are accompanied by performance limitations caused by the interconnection of the various system components.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a non-contact tonometer with an improved fluid pump system that is easier, less costly, and faster to design and manufacture.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact tonometer with a fluid pump system that exhibits improved performance over tonometer fluid pump systems of the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact tonometer with an improved fluid pump system that involves relaxed tolerances in manufacture and assembly alignment, and which avoids the need for complex universal joint couplings.
The invention is embodied in a non-contact tonometer of a general type comprising a fluid pump system, a fluid discharge tube in communication with the fluid pump system for directing a fluid pulse at a patient""s eye to cause applanation of the cornea, applanation detection means for monitoring the cornea to detect applanation caused by the fluid pulse, means for determining a fluid pressure within a plenum chamber of the fluid pump system at a moment when the cornea reaches applanation, and processing means for correlating the plenum pressure with an intraocular pressure of the patient""s eye. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the fluid pump system comprises a linear solenoid having a driven member in the form of a plunger that moves axially when the solenoid is energized, and a piston situated adjacent an abutment end of the plunger for engagement thereby. The piston is not coupled to the plunger, but is merely pushed during a compression stroke to move axially relative to a surrounding cylinder with which the piston cooperates to define a compression chamber. A spring bearing against a front wall of the cylinder and a leading surface of the piston provides return motion to the piston. As will be appreciated, decoupling the piston from the solenoid plunger makes the axial alignment of the piston relative to the cylinder independent of the axial alignment of the plunger relative to the cylinder. In other words, the piston will remain aligned for slidable axial movement within the cylinder even if the plunger is xe2x80x9coff centerxe2x80x9d with respect to the cylinder and/or piston. Thus, the present invention allows for relaxation of tolerances and ensures that the piston remains in axial alignment with the cylinder over time for generating a more consistent air pulse to improve measurement performance.

Non-contact tonometer having improved air pump


An impeller for a fluid transmitting device includes a hub and a bowl-shaped shell connected to an outer peripheral portion of the hub via an annular weld seam. An inner peripheral surface of the shell is fitted to an outer peripheral surface of the hub, and the weld seam is formed therebetween by laser welding over an entire length of fitting depth. Thus, it is possible to form the annular weld seam between the hub and the shell with a relatively small amount of heat input, and to precisely perform a visual inspection as to whether the weld seam is good or not without any skill.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an impeller for a fluid transmitting device, such as a pump impeller and a turbine impeller, comprising: a hub; a bowl-shaped shell connected to an outer peripheral portion of the hub via an annular weld seam; and a plurality of blades rising from an inner peripheral surface of the shell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such an impeller for a fluid transmitting device is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-108059.
In such a conventional impeller for a fluid transmitting device, MIG welding and TIG welding are widely performed to weld a hub to a shell. However, MIG welding requires a process for removing spatter produced from a work in the welding; and both MIG and TIG welding requires a large amount of heat input for welding the entire periphery of the hub and the shell, so that thermal distortion is often generated in the work, and in this case, a distortion removing process is required. Further, a skill is required for visual inspection as to whether the weld seam is good or not.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-214523 discloses a method of manufacturing an impeller for a fluid transmitting device in which plural blades are annularly arranged on an inner surface of a bowl-shaped shell; an annular retainer plate for retaining radially inner ends of the blades is temporarily fixed by welding on the inner surface of the shell; after the temporary fixation, the blades and retainer plate are brazed to the inner surface of the shell; and after the brazing, a hub is welded to the central portion of the shell.
However, in the conventional method of manufacturing an impeller for a fluid transmitting device, spot welding or projection welding is typically performed to temporally fix the retainer plate on the inner surface of the shell. In either welding, the shell and the retainer plate are required to be strongly pressed to each other, and the resultant pressure may cause distortion in the shell and the retainer plate. Particularly in the projection welding, deformation of a protrusion which is formed on one of opposed surfaces of the shell and the retainer plate, is likely to spread to the surrounding to cause distortion there.

Impeller for fluid transmitting device and method of manufacturing the same


The present disclosure is directed to a multi-segment device, such as an intravascular guide wire. The multi-segment device includes an elongate first portion comprising a first metallic material, an elongate second portion comprising a different metallic material, the first and second elongate portions being directly joined together end to end by a solid-state weld, and a heat affected zone surrounding an interface of the weld where the first and second portions are joined together, wherein the heat affected zone has an average thickness of less than about 0.20 mm.

The human body includes various lumens, such as blood vessels or other passageways. A lumen may sometimes become at least partially blocked or weakened. For example, a lumen may be at least partially blocked by a tumor, by plaque, or both. An at least partially blocked lumen may be reopened or reinforced with an implantable stent.
A stent is typically a tubular body that is placed in a lumen of the body. A stent may be delivered inside the body by a catheter that supports the stent in a reduced-size configuration as the stent is delivered to a desired deployment site within the body. At the deployment site, the stent may be expanded so that, for example, the stent contacts the walls of the lumen to expand the lumen.
A guide wire may be employed when delivering a delivery catheter and stent to a desired location. For example, a guide wire may be advanced through a guiding catheter until the distal tip of the guide wire extends just beyond the location where the stent is to be implanted. A catheter and a stent to be positioned may be mounted onto the proximal portion of the guide wire, and the catheter and stent may be advanced over the guide wire until the catheter and stent are disposed within the blood vessel or other passageway where the stent is to be implanted. Once the stent is implanted, the catheter may be withdrawn over the guide wire. The guide wire may also be withdrawn.
Guide wires may often include an elongate core member with one or more segments near the distal end which taper distally to smaller cross-sections. A helical coil or other flexible body member may be disposed about the distal end of the guide wire. A shaping member, which may be at the distal extremity of the core member, may extend through the flexible body and be secured to the distal end of the flexible body by soldering, brazing, welding, an adhesive, etc. The leading tip of the structure may be highly flexible in order not to damage or perforate the blood vessel or other passageway. The portion proximal to the distal tip may be increasingly stiff, to provide the ability to support a balloon catheter or similar device.
One major requirement for guide wires is that they provide sufficient column strength to be pushed through the patient's vasculature or other body lumen without buckling. On the other hand, they must be sufficiently flexible to avoid damaging the body lumen as they are advanced. Efforts have been made to improve both strength and flexibility of guide wires to make them more suitable for these purposes, although these two desired characteristics are generally diametrically opposed to one another, such that an improvement in one typically results in less satisfactory performance relative to the other.
Despite a number of different approaches for addressing these issues, there still remains a need for improved guide wires and associated methods of manufacture.

Methods for counteracting rebounding effects during solid state resistance welding of dissimilar materials


A state of movement of a body of a person is detected in a wearable device 10, and movement information representing the state of the movement of the body which is detected is sent by wireless together with URL of a server device 30 and a terminal ID. When the sent information is received in a portable terminal 20, the portable terminal 20 gives access to the server device 30 based on the URL and transmits the movement information and the terminal ID to the server device 30. The server device 30 reports occurrence of an emergency and transmits the movement information which is processed so as to perform transfer to contact details related to the terminal ID in response to the access given from the portable terminal 20.

Conventionally, there is provided an emergency reporting system for reporting occurrence of an emergency to predetermined contact details when the emergency occurs. For example, there is known a system for reporting occurrence of a traffic accident of an automobile to specific contact details when the accident occurs. In particular, there are many systems for transmitting information representing a situation of an accident in addition to the report of occurrence of the accident (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3).
Referring to the emergency reporting device described in the Patent Document 1, a specific reporting destination number registered previously is called automatically when occurrence of an emergency is detected, and image information generated by a navigation system is transmitted by wireless when a communication line with the reporting destination is established.
Referring to the emergency reporting device described in the Patent Document 2, when occurrence of an emergency is detected, the occurrence of the emergency and position information about a current position are reported to a predetermined emergency reporting destination through a wireless communicating unit, and furthermore, telephone numbers of the device and a predetermined terminal device are reported to a predetermined emergency reporting destination through a wireless communicating unit.
Referring to the emergency countermeasure system described in the Patent Document 3, in the case in which occurrence of an accident is detected, a degree of the accident is decided based on an acceleration detected by a G sensor and a current position, personal information, vehicle information or the like is transmitted to a reception center in addition to a result of the decision of the degree of the accident.
According to the systems described in the Patent Documents 1 to 3, the fact of the occurrence of the accident can be reported to contact details registered previously, and furthermore, contents of the accident (position information representing an accident scene, image information representing a situation of the accident scene, information representing a degree of the accident and the like) can be transmitted. However, all of these systems suppose an automobile accident and need to include many equipments, for example, various sensors for detecting the occurrence or degree of an accident, a GPS receiver for detecting a current position, and a communicating device connected to a telephone line, internet or the like for performing wireless communication.
For this reason, there is a problem in that the systems described in the Patent Documents 1 to 3 cannot be applied to an emergency occurring in a situation in which the equipments described above are provided with difficulty. For example, the systems cannot be applied to the case in which an old person walking on a road falls down. In some cases, the old person wears an emergency reporting pendant for confirming his (her) safety. In these cases, the person himself (herself) falling down or a third person finding the fall-down operates the emergency reporting pendant so that an emergency report can be given to contact details registered previously. However, information representing a situation in the fall-down cannot be transmitted.
Moreover, the systems cannot be applied to the case in which players collide with each other and concuss the brain when they are playing a sports game such as soccer or rugby football. In this case, game watchers are present in the surrounding. Therefore, the game watchers can take necessary measures. However, there is a problem in that it is impossible to get in touch with people concerned with the player concussing the brain when they are not present in that place.
In the case of a two-wheeled vehicle such as a bicycle or a motorcycle, moreover, it is hard to provide the many equipments described above. For this reason, similarly, the systems cannot be applied to the case in which the two-wheeled vehicle causes a traffic accident. In particular, in the case of the traffic accident caused by the two-wheeled vehicle, there is a problem in that a finder often cannot ask a person causing the traffic accident questions to confirm contact details and cannot make an emergency contact with the concerned people even if the finder can call an ambulance.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-293775
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-13388
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-56479


A bucket lifting apparatus includes a bucket that has a bottom wall and a peripheral wall. A coupler includes a post. A lower handle is attached to the post. A plurality of arms each has a first end and second end. Each of the first ends is attached to the post. Each of the first and second lateral sides has at least one arm attached thereto. Each of the arms is arcuate. At least one loop is attached to one of the second ends. At least one strap is attached to one of the second ends. The at least one strap has a free end is removably extendable through the at least one loop. The peripheral wall of the bucket is abutted against the arms and the straps are extended around the bucket. The straps are extended through the loops and the bucket is lifted with the coupler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lifting devices and more particularly pertains to a new lifting device for aiding a person in lifting a large bucket and for increasing the ease of pouring out the contents of the bucket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of lifting devices is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,665 describes a device which may be attached to a generally cylindrical body for aiding a person in pouring out the contexts of the cylindrical body. Another type of lifting device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,043 securing member adapted for engaging the neck of a bottle while cupping a bottom wall of the bottle. The securing member has a handle attached to thereto lifting the bottle. Yet another such device is found in U.S. Patent Appl. No. 2003/0184103.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that aids a person in lifting a conventional 5-gallon bucket. Such bucket typically includes either a handle extending over the top of the bucket or no handle. For this reason, these buckets are difficult to lift and pour when they are filled with food or other materials. The device should be configured to be releasably secured to such a bucket and include means for increasing the ability of a person in pouring out the contents of the bucket.


Methods, non-transitory computer readable media, audit management apparatuses, and audit management systems that execute an automated test script comprising a plurality of script instructions corresponding to one or more step changes or one or more action changes performed with respect to a web site. A snapshot of at least a portion of a web page of the web site is generated for each of the step changes and each of the action changes. One or more semantic attributes are obtained and associated with each of the snapshots. One or more rules are applied to the semantic attributes to generate one or more issues associated with each of the snapshots. A selection of one of the step changes or one of the action changes is received. A subset of the issues and one of the snapshots corresponding to the selected step change or action change are output to a display device.

Web site administrators and developers often utilize auditing processes to evaluate web sites with respect to correctness, performance, usability, accessibility, and security, for example. In addition to manual web site auditing methods, automated tools, such as web site crawling and web browser plug-in methods, can be utilized to generate evaluation results that are manually reviewed and interpreted.
In the web site crawling method, an auditing program crawls a web site by retrieving each reachable web page of the web site and evaluating the retrieved web pages with respect to security, for example, by applying rules to identify possible issues. Web site auditing methods that utilize web browser plug-ins generally evaluate live web pages of a web site with respect to accessibility, for example, while the web pages are browsed.
Current web site auditing techniques are inaccurate, inefficient, and/or inadequate to audit complex, dynamic web sites that focus on task execution and interaction with dynamic elements, instead of merely presenting static content. In particular, current techniques are unable to effectively identify, evaluate, and report on dynamic web page changes, such as those resulting from a user interaction that may only change a portion or fragment of a web page.
More specifically, web crawler techniques are only able to identify web pages associated with a web site, and are ineffective to identify and evaluate dynamic changes to portions of particular web pages. Web browser plug-in techniques are inaccurate and often miss dynamic changes that can occur in unobserved task flows. Moreover, current auditing methods do not present result data effectively and require a significant amount of time to evaluate such data in a manual process that is susceptible to human error.

Methods for improved auditing of web sites and devices thereof


A leak-testing method for a test container comprises measuring background noise within a chamber at atmospheric pressure with a trace sensor of volatile organic compounds that exhibit a measurement sensitivity less than or on the order of 1 ppb. Pollution is removed from an internal atmosphere of the chamber when the measurement of the background noise is greater than a predetermined threshold. The internal atmosphere of the chamber is mixed to homogenize a composition of the internal atmosphere receiving a container that defines a bounded internal space within which a volatile organic compound is present.

The present invention concerns testing a container for leaks during an industrial fabrication process, and the device for implementing it.
Testing containers for leaks may be carried out using different detection methods.
A first known testing method is the method known as a "pressure variation test" which begins by establishing a determined excess pressure within the test container.
Next, the test container is plugged up, and the change in its internal pressure over time is measured. If there is a leak, the internal pressure decreases, and the measurement of this pressure decrease can be used to deduce the value of the leaks.
According to one variant of the method, a gas flow is injected into the test container so as to maintain the high internal pressure within the container. The gas flow value necessary to maintain this balance makes it possible to deduce the corresponding leak flows.
Another variant of the method begins by establishing a determined low pressure within the test container, then plugging up the container. In the event of a leak, the pressure increases and the measurement of this pressure increase is used to deduce the value of a leak.
These methods are simple to implement and inexpensive. However, the sensitivity of the measurement is limited, and depends on the particular conditions of the method's implementation.
Thus, the sensitivity depends on the volume of the test container, which is particularly harmful for test containers which have flexible walls and whose internal volume may vary over the course of the testing method.
Additionally, the time needed to conduct the measurement is too long for it to be integrated into a fast-paced industrial process, such as in the field of automobile manufacturing. Furthermore, the result of the measurement is sensitive to variations in the container's temperature.
The method for testing the leakproofness of test containers by detecting leaks using helium is also known.
To do so, an excess pressure of helium is established within the container. Next, it is detected whether helium is present within the ambient atmosphere surrounding the container using a sniffer connected to a leak sensor. The presence of helium is representative of a leak, and therefore of a leakproofness defect on the container.
The drawback of this method is that its usage is restricted to locating large leaks and that the sensitivity of the method is limited by the relatively high background noise of helium within the ambient atmosphere of the test room (the natural residual concentration of helium is generally above 5 ppm). Furthermore, the method is difficult to implement within an industrial process. Additionally, the use of helium is costly.
According to one variant embodiment of the helium detection method, the test container is placed within a sealed chamber connected both to a pumping room establishing an appropriate vacuum and to a helium leak sensor.
The internal space of the container is connected to a helium pressurization device, and leaks are sought out by detecting whether any helium is present within the internal atmosphere of the chamber, via the leak sensor.
This helium leak detection method is a reliable, reproducible, high-sensitivity test for carrying out a precise quantitative measurement, which may be incorporated into an industrial process. However, its implementation is restrictive.
First, the chamber itself must be made airtight so as to be able to support a vacuum. Next, the pumping devices must be suitable for the volume of the chamber to which they are connected. Thus, for high-volume test containers, large pumping units must be provided, which represents major investments and high maintenance fees.
Another drawback is that the sensitivity of the method is limited by the fact that helium has a tendency to very easily adsorb onto the surfaces of test containers, as well as onto the surfaces of the chamber receiving the container.
Consequently, removing pollution from the chambers after detecting containers that have a leak may be relatively slow and impede the industrial process.

Method and device for testing a container for leaks

Abstract: A concentration of volatile organic compounds is measured within the atmospheric pressure chamber with the trace sensor of the volatile organic compounds. The measurement of the background noise is compared to the measurement of the concentration of the volatile organic compounds to detect the leak in the test container.


A tonneau cover that includes a first panel, a second panel, a hinge between the first panel and the second panel, and a torsion element between the first panel and the second panel. The torsion element applies an urging force onto one or both of the first panel and the second panel during movement of the first panel and/or the second panel about the hinge.

Some vehicles, like pick-up trucks, have an open-topped bed or cargo area that may be used for storing or transporting cargo. A cover, such as a tonneau cover or topper, may be placed over the cargo area. The cover may be opened to access the cargo and/or the inside of the cargo area and closed to conceal the cargo from view and/or to prevent fluid and/or debris from entering the cargo area.
Some covers include one or more panels that can be moved or repositioned to access the cargo and/or the inside of the cargo area. Some of these panels may be heavy and large, which can make them unwieldy and difficult to move. Likewise, moving or repositioning the one or more panels to close or cover the cargo area may be difficult.
Some covers include two or more panels that must be moved and stacked on top of each other to access the cargo and/or the inside of the cargo area. The more panels that a cover has, the heavier the stacked weight of the panels becomes, which may be difficult for an operator to completely open the cover to access the cargo area. Likewise, unstacking the panels to cover the cargo area may be difficult
Accordingly, it may be desirable to have a cover that overcomes at least some of the aforementioned challenges with opening and closing the one or more panels of a cover.