A register 205 of each pseudorandom number generating circuit 101 takes in and holds a state data composed of a plurality of bits in synchronism with a clock pulse of a clock signal. Function generator circuits 2021 and 2022 output data each composed of a plurality of bits correspondingly to the state data held in the register 205. A selector 203 selects a specific bit of either one of the two data output from the function generator circuits on the basis of a pseudorandom number X.sub.i-1 generated by a preceding one of the pseudorandom number generating circuits and outputs it as a pseudorandom number X.sub.i. On the other hand, another selector 206 selects one of the data output from the function generator circuits, except the specific bit thereof, according to the pseudorandom number X.sub.i-1 generated by the preceding pseudorandom number generating circuit and supplies the selected data to the register 205 as the state data. Thus, it is possible to easily generate cryptographically highly safe pseudorandom numbers.

The present invention claims priorities from Japanese Patent Applications No. 9-276517 filed Sep. 24, 1997 which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pseudorandom number generating method and a pseudorandom number generator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for operating a clock signal supplied to one pseudorandom number generator circuit dependently upon a pseudorandom number generated by another pseudorandom number generator circuit has been generally used since the mechanical cryptography in the World War II. Further, it is described in a book "Fundamental Cryptography" of Masataka Kato who was a specialist in the cryptographic field of the Imperial Army of Japan, which was published in 1989 by Science Ltd., that high quality pseudorandom number can be generated by thinning an output of an M series generator. However, there has been a problem that it is difficult to theoretically analyze a pseudorandom number generator which operates a clock signal, except a pseudorandom number generator (FIG. 1) constructed with "a plurality of cascade-connected linear feedback shift registers (LFSR's), particularly, LFSR's called M series generators", which will be described later.
However, such conventional pseudorandom number generator has the lock-in problem and, in order to prevent a cryptanalysts utilizing the lock-in phenomenon, a large number of LFSR's must be cascade-connected.
The lock-in problem means that, when a clock control signal generated on the basis of pseudorandom numbers generated by an initial stage LFSR is used, there may be a case where no clock is supplied to a next stage LFSR in a period of a plurality of successive clocks and, therefore, operations of the remaining LFSR's are stopped, resulting in that the pseudorandom number output from the pseudorandom number generator during that period is fixed to the same value.
This problem and other matters related thereto are described in detail in, for example, Dieter Gollmann and William G. Chambers, "Clock-Controlled Shift Registers, A Review", IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 525-533, May 1989 and Bruce Schneier, "Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms and Source Code in C", 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a basic construction of the conventional pseudorandom number generator having, as pseudorandom number generating circuits thereof, a plurality of cascade-connected orderly linear feedback shift registers (LFSR's). As shown in FIG. 1, the pseudorandom number generator includes a plurality (n) of m-bit LFSR's, where n and m are positive integers, respectively. When a value of a control signal L supplied to the respective LFSR's 902 through an input terminal 104 is logical "0" and a clock signal CLK is supplied from an i-th logical sum (OR) circuit 901 to an i-th LFSR 902, the i-th LFSR 902 holds a train of m bits of a train of (n.times.m) bits supplied to the i-th LFSR 902 through an input terminal 105, where i is a positive integer up to n. On the other hand, when the control signal supplied to the input terminal 104 is logical "1", the i-th LFSR 902 shifts the m-bit content thereof and outputs a pseudorandom number Xi (1 bit), every clock pulse of the clock signal which is an output of the i-th OR circuit 901.
An i-th Exclusive OR circuit 802 receives the pseudorandom number X.sub.i from the i-th LFSR 902 and a pseudorandom number Y.sub.i-1 from a (i-1)th Exclusive OR circuit 802 and outputs a pseudorandom number Y.sub.i to a (i+1)th LFSR 902 as a clock control signal and to an (i+1)th Exclusive OR circuit 802. The last Exclusive OR circuit 802 outputs a pseudorandom number Y.sub.n to an output terminal 106 as an output of this pseudorandom number generator.
The i-th OR circuit 901 receives the clock signal CLK from the input terminal 103 and the clock control signal Y.sub.i-1 and outputs a logical sum thereof Therefore, when the logical value of the clock control signal Y.sub.i-1 is "0", the i-th OR circuit 901 outputs the clock signal supplied from the input terminal 103 as it is. On the contrary, when the logical value of the clock control signal Y.sub.i-1 is "1", the clock signal supplied from the input terminal 103 is blocked by this OR circuit 901.
Therefore, when the clock signal is supplied from the input terminal 103 while the logical value of the clock control signal Y.sub.i-1 is "0", the content of the i-th LFSR 902 is updated. However, when the logical value of the clock control signal Y.sub.i-1 is "1", the content of the i-th LFSR 902 is not updated even if the clock signal is supplied from the input terminal 103.
Incidentally, the clock control signal Y.sub.0 is a predetermined constant and it may be, for example, Y.sub.0 =0.
Now, a conventional pseudorandom number generator circuit used to constitute the pseudorandom number generator shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a basic construction of the conventional pseudorandom number generating circuit. In FIG. 2, a register 205 is responsive to a clock signal CLK from an input terminal 315 to hold a data of m bits output from a selector 204 as a data representing the state of its content and simultaneously supply the data thus held to a function generator circuit 202. The function generator circuit 202 converts the m-bit data supplied from the register 205 in a manner predetermined for the m-bit data to generate a data of (m+1) bits by adding 1 bit to the m-bit data. Further, the function generator circuit 202 supplies m bits of the (m+1)-bit data to the selector 204 and outputs the remaining 1 bit from an output terminal 317 as pseudorandom numbers.
The selector 204 selects and outputs the m-bit data supplied from an input terminal 313 when a logical value of the control signal L supplied from an input terminal 314 is "0" and selects and outputs the m-bit data supplied from the function generator circuit 202 when the control signal L is logical "1".
In a usual operating state of this pseudorandom number generating circuit, the function generator circuit 202 converts, in the above described manner, the data supplied from the register 205 and representing a current state of the content of the register 205 and outputs the converted data to the selector 204. The register 205 takes in and holds the converted data supplied from the selector 204 every time when the clock pulse of the clock signal CLK is input. Therefore, the internal state of the register 205 is changed every clock pulse and the function generator circuit 202 generates pseudorandom numbers dependently on the changed internal state of the register 205 and outputs the pseudorandom numbers through the terminal 317.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a basic construction of the conventional pseudorandom number generating circuit which is specifically called "non-linear feedback shift register". In FIG. 3, components which are the same as those shown in FIG. 2 are depicted by the same reference numerals, respectively, without detailed description thereof.
The pseudorandom number generating circuit shown in FIG. 3 differs from the pseudorandom number generating circuit shown in FIG. 2 in construction of the function generator circuit 202. That is, the function generator circuit 202 of the pseudorandom number generating circuit shown in FIG. 3 is constituted with a function generator circuit 401 and a shifter 402.
The function generator circuit 401 functions to output a 1-bit data for an input m-bit data and the output data of the function generator circuit 401 is supplied to the shifter 402 and is output through the output terminal 317 as pseudorandom number.
The shifter 402 derives left side (m-1) bits of the m-bit data supplied from the register 205 by shifting the m-bit data rightward by 1 bit, adds a 1-bit output data from the function generator circuit 401 to the leftmost end of the (m-1) bits and supplies a resultant m-bit data to the register 205 through the selector 204.
Therefore, the function generator circuit 202 of this pseudorandom number generating circuit shown in FIG. 3 converts a data indicative of a current internal state of the register 205 through the operations of the function generator circuit 401 and the shifter 402 and outputs the converted data to the register 205 and the register 205 takes in and holds the data output from the function generator circuit 202 through the selector 204 every time each of the clock pulses of the clock signal CLK is input in the usual operating state thereof. Therefore, the function generator circuit 202 generates pseudorandom numbers on the basis of the internal state of the register 205 which is changed every time a clock pulse is input and outputs the pseudorandom numbers through the terminal 317.
FIG. 4 is a functional block showing a basic construction of the linear feedback shift register constituting the pseudorandom number generator shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 4, components which are the same as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are depicted by the same reference numerals without detailed description thereof.
The LFSR 902 shown in FIG. 4 differs from the pseudorandom number generating circuit shown in FIG. 2 or 3 in that a function generator circuit 401 thereof is constituted with an Exclusive OR circuit 501. The Exclusive OR circuit 501 outputs an exclusive logical sum of a predetermined number of bits of the m-bit data from the register 205 to the output terminal 317 and to the shifter 402.
Therefore, the function generator circuit 202 of this pseudorandom number generating circuit also converts a data indicative of a current internal state of the register 205 by the operations of the function generator circuit 401 and the shifter 402 and outputs the converted data to the selector 204 and the register 205 takes in and holds the data output from the selector 204 every time when a clock pulse of the clock signal CLK is input in the usual operating state thereof, and, therefore, the function generator circuit 202 generates pseudorandom numbers on the basis of the internal state of the register 205 which is changed every time a clock pulse is input and outputs the pseudorandom numbers from the terminal 317.
When a period of pseudorandom numbers generated in such LFSR 902 is 2.sup.m -1, the latter LFSR is specifically called as an M series generator.
However, in the conventional pseudorandom number generator shown in FIG. 1, when the clock signal is supplied from the input terminal 103, the clock signal is blocked by the OR circuit 901 and the content of the i-th LFSR 902 is not updated if the logical value of the clock control signal Y.sub.i-1 is "1". As a result, the previously mentioned lock-in problem occurs. In order to prevent the cryptanalysts based on the lock-in phenomenon, a large number of LFSR's 902 must be cascade-connected and, therefore, the size and cost of the conventional pseudorandom number generator become considerable. When such pseudorandom number generator is designed by taking the size and cost into consideration, the performance thereof may be restricted necessarily.

Pseudorandom number generating method and pseudorandom number generator


A portable electronic scoreboard for use with a game of darts is designed to be used with a real dart board without the need of connecting electronics. The scoreboard is totally self contained and provides the appeal of a high tech electronic scoreboard without the accompanying expense and complexity. The scoreboard can also be utilized to play the game of cricket.

1. Field of the Invention
Thep present invention relates to amusement equipment and more particularly pertains to an improved electronic scoreboard for a dart game.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of portable electronic scoreboards is known in the prior art. However, none of the electronic scoreboards are particularly designed for use with the game of darts, as well as the game of cricket and accordingly there appears to be a need for such scoreboards whereby the electronic scoring of a game could be achieved without the necessity of a complex electronic circuit. In this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A nonconductive electrical plug enclosure having a retractable sheath which retracts into a body as the electrical plug safety cover is plugged into a receptacle and extends out when unplugged. The body houses an electrical plug and has openings through which the plug's prongs may protrude. A cap is secured to the body and securely holds the electrical plug in the body.

No other applications are anticipated or have been submitted by us.
1. Background--Field of Invention
The present Electrical Plug Safety Cover relates generally to electrical plugs, and more particularly, to an attachable electrical plug safety cover adapted to prevent inadvertent exposure to the plug prongs as they are inserted into an electrical outlet to thereby protect the user against possible danger of electrical shock.
2. Background--Discussion of Prior Art
Typical electrical plugs include a plurality of electrically conductive prongs extending outward from the body for connecting to or plugging into a convenience outlet or like receptacle. If the electrical plug is not fully plugged in the prongs are partially exposed and may be energized. This produces a situation where a child or other person may couple the energized prongs by means of an electrically conductive material or touch the prongs simultaneously and induce an electrical shock. An electrical shock hazard also exists if a similar coupling or touching were to occur during the insertion of the electrical plug prongs into a convenience outlet or like receptacle.
In order to solve the problems, people have developed several kinds of safety plugs, prong covers and protective shields.
Examples of various safety plugs are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 2,082,986 to Staley in 1937; U.S. Pat. No. 2,396,901 to Tiffany in 1946; U.S. Pat. No. 2,423,250 to Modrey in 1947; U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,373 to Kostich in 1965; U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,435 to Degaetano in 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,684 to Mcintyre in 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,205 to Lenkey in 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,697 to Obert in 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,267 to Nukaga in 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,739 to Wooten in 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,176 to Niikura in 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,119 to Lowe in 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,961 to Hoffman in 1991; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,082 to Hsieh et al. in 1993. All of these share several common features. A retractable prong cover(s) either retract into an outer casing or retract along the exterior of the outer casing. Retraction along the exterior of the outer casing can be interfered with by the operator's grasp of the electrical plug during insertion into a convenience outlet or like receptacle. Most embodiments show the safety plugs connected directly with an electrical cord by mechanical means. Connection of the safety plug in this manner to an existing electrical plug and cord would require cutting off the existing one-piece standard electrical plug from the electrical cord, and reconnecting the electrical cord wires to the safety plug in a manner which is not usually as strong as a standard one-piece molded electrical plug nor as resistant to becoming disconnected from the safety plug if the safety plug is unplugged by pulling on the electrical cord. Other embodiments of the safety plugs show them functioning in a manner similar to an adapter. A standard electrical plug is inserted into the back of the safety plug adapter and the combined assembly is plugged into a convenience outlet or like receptacle. The electrical plug can become partially unplugged from the safety plug adapter and present the same electrical shock hazard that would be present if the safety plug adapter was not attached at all.
Examples or various prong covers are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,055 to Rubens in 1964; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,320 to Eckert in 1971. In Rubens the cover is held onto the prongs by friction. Over a period of time as material creep and failure of material elasticity occurs, this frictional connection will fail resulting in the prong cover becoming separated from an unplugged electrical plug. In Eckert a base plate which the prong covers are secured to is shown fitting into a recess on the electrical plug's face. Modern, one-piece, molded electrical plugs have no such recess.
Examples of various protective shields are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 2,458,153 to Festge in 1949; U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,160 to Kelly in 1956; U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,732 to Martin in 1966; U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,694 to Fisher in 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,457 to Whippo in 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,634 to Lewis in 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,481 to Golden in 1983; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,199 to Kar in 1989. All of these, except for Lewis, share a couple of features. A resilient, flexible shroud is frictionally secured either to the electrical cord, as in Golden; to the electrical plug body, as in Festge, Kelly, and Martin; or to the prongs, as in Fisher, Whippo, and Kar.
Modern one-piece molded electrical plugs usually have a flange on the prong face which is several times larger than the attached electrical cord. This flange makes it virtually impossible to connect a shroud secured by friction to the electrical cord unless one disconnects the electrical cord from its appliance and slides the shroud down the electrical cord to the electrical plug. Such an assembly operation would require additional tools and a specialized knowledge of the appliance's inner electrical connection points.
Shrouds secured by friction to the electrical plug body require different sizes for the different sized two-prong and three-prong electrical plugs currently manufactured. Once again, the electrical plug flange makes slipping the shroud onto the electrical plug body difficult.
Shrouds secured by friction to the electrical plug prongs require the flexible shroud material to either bunch-up between the electrical plug face and the receptacle, flare out from the electrical plug during insertion which produces a fairly strong unplugging force to be exerted by the shroud, or requires the shroud to roll back around the electrical plug body where it interferes with the operator's grip on the electrical plug or allows it to get hung up on the flange and thus not cover the prongs when the electrical plug is unplugged.


There is provided a substrate for electronic devices, in which treatment for forming a reconstructed surface or a hydrogen-terminated surface on a substrate is not necessary, and a buffer layer formed on the substrate can be epitaxially grown in the (100) orientation, and a manufacturing method therefor. The substrate 100 for electronic devices comprises; a substrate 11 consisting of silicon, and a first buffer layer 12 and a second buffer layer 13 having a fluorite structure, a first oxide electrode layer 14 having a layered perovskite structure, and a second oxide electrode layer 15 having a simple perovskite structure, which are epitaxially grown and laminated in this order on a film-forming surface of the substrate 11. The first buffer layer 12 is grown epitaxially at a higher rate than the growth rate of SiO2, by irradiating a metallic plasma onto a natural oxide film in an SiO sublimation area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for electronic devices, a manufacturing method therefor, and an electronic device. More specifically, the substrate for electronic devices according to the present invention is preferably used for mounting thereon a ferroelectric element functioning as a capacitor, a piezoelectric element functioning as a cantilever, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the development of ferroelectric memories, being non-volatile memories using a ferroelectric, is proceeding rapidly. Ferroelectric memories are divided into; a capacitor type using a ferroelectric as a capacitor, formed in a 1T (transistor)/1C (capacitor) structure, and an MFSFET (Metal Ferroelectric Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) type using a ferroelectric as a gate insulating film for a field-effect transistor instead of SiO2. The MFSFET type is more advantageous than the capacitor type in view of high integration and non-destructive reading, but it has not yet been realized due to difficulty in manufacturing related to the structure. Hence, development and commercialization of the capacitor type is ahead at present.
Representative ferroelectric materials adopted in the capacitor type ferroelectric memory include PbZr1−xTixO3 (abbreviated as PZT) and SrBi2Ta2O9 (abbreviated as SBT). Of these, the PZT having a composition near a rhombohedral and tetragonal phase boundary (Morphotropic Phase Boundary; abbreviated as MPB) has excellent remanence and anti-field characteristic, and is put to practical use.
The capacitor type ferroelectric memory has a structure in which the ferroelectric material PZT, is placed between a lower electrode and an upper electrode. Pt has heretofore been used as a material forming the lower electrode. Having a face-centered cubic lattice structure, which is the closest packing structure, Pt has strong self-orientation, and is oriented in a cubic (111) direction even on a thin film having an amorphous structure, such as SiO2 and is hence used preferably. However, since Pt has strong orientation, when columnar crystals grow, there are problems in that Pb or the like is likely to diffuse in the foundation along the grain boundary, and the bond between Pt and SiO2 becomes poor. As one example of measures against the problems, Ti is used for improving the bond between Pt and SiO2, and TiN is used for preventing Pb from diffusing, in many cases. However, when Ti or TiN is used, the lower electrode has a complicated electrode structure, causing oxidation of Ti and diffusion of Ti into Pt, accompanied with deterioration in crystallinity of PZT. As a result, deterioration in polarization-electric field (P-E) characteristic, leak current characteristic and fatigue characteristic (tolerance to repeated write) may be caused.
In order to avoid various problems when Pt is used as the lower electrode, research for using conductive oxides, as represented by RuOx and IrO2, for the lower electrode material has been conducted. Among these materials, SrRuO3 having a perovskite structure has the same crystalline structure as that of PZT, and hence has excellent bondability on the interface and excellent characteristic as a diffusion barrier layer for Pb, and can easily realize the epitaxial growth of PZT. Therefore research into ferroelectric capacitors using SrRuO3 for the lower electrode is being actively conducted.
However, in the case of the ferroelectric capacitor having a construction where an oxide having a perovskite structure, such as SrRuO3, is used for the lower electrode, and PZT is provided thereon as a ferroelectric, there are problems as described below.
It is important for PZT to have a composition with more Ti than MPB which has a composition of Zr:Ti=0.52:0.48, for example, a composition of Zr:Ti=0.3:0.7, from a standpoint of an increase in remanence Pr and a decrease in the anti-electric field Ec. However, PZT in this composition range exhibits a tetragonal, and the polarization direction thereof is parallel with the C-axis. As a result, in a ferroelectric capacitor having a structure in which a lower electrode, a ferroelectric and an upper electrode are laminated in this order on a substrate, it is necessary to orient the SrRuO3 electrode itself, being the lower electrode, pseudo-cubically (100), in order to allow the PZT forming the ferroelectric layer to be a (001) oriented film.
However, when an electrode consisting of SrRuO3, being a perovskite type oxide, is directly deposited on an Si substrate, an SiO2 layer is formed on the interface therebetween. Hence, it is difficult to grow SrRuO3 epitaxially. Therefore, there has been studied a method in which some kind of buffer layer is grown epitaxially on the Si substrate beforehand, and an SrRuO3 electrode is grown epitaxially on the buffer layer (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Here the buffer layer epitaxially grown on the Si substrate includes oxides having a fluorite structure, such as yttria stabilized zirconia (abbreviation: YSZ, Zr1−xYxO2−0.5x) and CeO2. These materials have been reported, for example, in non-patent document 1 for YSZ, and in non-patent document 2 for CeO2/YSZ.
(Patent Document 1)
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-122698
(Non-Patent Document 1)
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 57 (1990) 1137
(Non-Patent Document 2)
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 64 (1994) 1573
The present inventors have conducted research and development for a case where a YSZ buffer layer is used, and the SrRuO3 electrode is grown epitaxially thereon, and as a result, it has been found that this structure has two problems described below.
The first problem is that in order to grow a buffer layer such as YSZ and CeO2 on the Si substrate epitaxially, predetermined surface treatment is necessary with respect to a film-forming surface of the Si substrate, before deposition of the buffer layer thereon. Conventionally, as this surface treatment method, two methods are well known, that is, a method of forming a reconstructed surface, and a method of forming a hydrogen-terminated surface. For example, a technique in which a surface of the Si substrate is changed to a hydrogen-terminated surface, by subjecting the surface of the Si substrate to a treatment by hydrofluoric acid is disclosed in non-patent document 3. Here, the reconstructed surface represents a surface in which the periodic structure of the surface has been changed to bulk, by performing heat treatment in a high temperature and high vacuum atmosphere, so as to allow excessive covalent bonds (dangling bonds) in Si atoms forming the surface layer of the Si substrate to bond with each other. On the other hand, the hydrogen-terminated surface stands for a surface having a structure in which after an SiO natural oxide film forming the surface layer of the Si substrate is etched by washing with hydrofluoric acid, the dangling bonds on the surface are terminated with hydrogen in ammonium fluoride solution.
(Non-Patent Document 3)
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 57 (1990) 1137
The second problem is that the orientation direction of SrRuO3 formed on the buffer layer changes to the (110) orientation (pseudo-cubic). It is well-known that when SrRuO3 having a simple perovskite structure (in orthorhombic, a=0.5567 nm, b=0.5530 nm, c=0.7845 nm, and in pseudo-cubic, a=0.3923 nm, 21/2a=0.5548 nm) is provided on the (100) surface of YSZ (a=0.514 nm) or CeO2 (a=0.541 nm) having a fluorite structure, epitaxial growth does not occur in the (100) orientation, but is (110) oriented (pseudo-cubically) (for example, see non-patent document 4)
(Non-Patent Document 4)
Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 67 (1995) 1387
In other words, in order to epitaxially grow the buffer layer such as YSZ or CeO2 on the Si substrate, predetermined surface treatment has heretofore been required with respect to the film-forming surface of the Si substrate, before deposition of the buffer layer thereon, thereby causing complication of the manufacturing process and an increase in the manufacturing cost. Even if such predetermined surface treatment is conducted, the epitaxial growth of the buffer layer formed thereon cannot be realized in the desired (100) orientation, but only the epitaxial growth in the (110) orientation can be realized.

Substrate for electronic devices, manufacturing method therefor, and electronic device


A power steering system includes: a first drain passage for draining an oil pressure from a first oil passage, a second drain passage for draining the oil pressure from a second oil passage, and a pair of a first and second switch valves. When one of the first oil passage and the second oil passage is so pressurized by an operation of a reversible oil pump as to have an increased internal pressure, the pair of the first switch valve and the second switch valve allow the following: i) closing one of the first drain passage and the second drain passage which one is connected to the oil passage having the thus increased internal pressure, while ii) opening the other of the first drain passage and the second drain passage which other is connected to the oil passage that is so depressurized as to have a decreased internal pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power steering system that can apply a steering force and a steering assistance force by operating an oil pressure cylinder in accordance with an input torque outputted from a steering input mechanism such as a steering wheel of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventionally known power steering system of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Showa 59 (1984)-118569 (=JP59-118569).
The above power steering system (referred to as "power steering gear" in its English abstract) includes:
1) a steering shaft mounted to a steering wheel,
2) an output shaft connected to a lower end of the steering shaft,
3) a pinion mounted to a lower end of the output shaft, and a rack meshed with the pinion,
4) an oil pressure cylinder which is an operation oil actuator connected to the rack,
5) a reversible oil pump supplying an operation oil pressure by way of a first oil passage and a second oil passage respectively to a first oil pressure chamber (right) and a second oil pressure chamber (left) which are pairwise and partitioned by a piston of the oil pressure cylinder,
6) an electromagnetic switch valve fitted to a bypass passage connected between the first oil passage and the second oil passage, the electromagnetic switch valve opening and closing the bypass passage.
In the traveling of a vehicle, ordinarily turning the steering wheel clockwise and counterclockwise may allow the following operations:
1) A torque sensor (after detecting a steering torque) may output a passage-closing signal to the electromagnetic switch valve by way of an electric controller.
2) The reversible oil pump may turn forward or reverse, thus supplying the operation oil pressure in the following manner:                i) Operation oil pressure in one of the first oil pressure chamber (right) and the second oil pressure chamber (left) is supplied to the other of the first oil pressure chamber (right) and the second oil pressure chamber (left).        ii) Operation oil pressure in one of the first oil passage and the second oil passage is supplied to the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage.
The operation oil sufficiently supplied to substantially an entire closed circuit including the other of the first oil pressure chamber (right) and the second oil pressure chamber (left) and the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage may be pressurized by means of the reversible oil pump, thus expanding the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage or smashing bubble in the operation oil, resulting in an apparent increase in capacity of the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage. For compensating for the increase in capacity, a reservoir is used for sucking the operation oil by way of a check valve into the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage for pressurization by means of the reversible oil pump, thus giving the steering assistance force.
Under the Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Showa 59 (1984)-118569 (=JP59-118569) in which the apparent increase in capacity of the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage is compensated for by the operation oil from the reservoir.
The above compensation may, however, cause variation in operation oil quantity between the first oil passage and the second oil passage. Thereby, changing the turning of the reversible oil pump from forward to reverse such that the operation oil pressure can be supplied to the one of the first oil passage and the second oil passage may cause a remaining pressure due to a speed reduction of the oil pressure of the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage. Hereinabove, the speed reduction is attributable to the increased operation oil quantity (namely, an increase equivalent to the compensation) of the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage, which other was so far subjected to the pressurization.
With this, pressurizing the operation oil of the one of the first oil passage and the second oil passage for increased oil pressure thereof cannot make the steering assistance, unless the above pressurization is over the remaining pressure of the other of the first oil passage and the second oil passage. A delay in the steering assistance may thus be caused, rapidly fluctuating torque of the steering wheel, resulting in deteriorated steering feel.


A wet end additive composition which is used as a sizing agent in a papermaking process, the composition comprising a two phase suspension of swollen starch having a dry substance from about 0.5 to about 30% by weight, a cooked swollen volume from about 1.6 ml./gram to about 100 ml./gram and cooked solubles from about 0.5% to about 50% by weight. The composition is prepared starting with a starch slurry having a relatively low concentration (dry substance) of starch. The slurry is subjected to carefully controlled swelling conditions (temperature and pH) which can vary depending upon the type of starch employed. The dry substance of the slurry also may vary depending upon whether a continuous or batch process is employed. The composition is used in a papermaking process by adding it to the furnish after the refining stage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention has to do with additives used in the wet end of the papermaking processes. More particularly, the invention relates to swollen starches which are added as dry strength additives in the papermaking process.
2. Description of Related Art
Paper is manufactured for the most part from wood pulp. There are many different kinds of wood pulp: mechanical pulp (ground wood), semi-chemical pulp, sulfite pulp, sulfate or kraft pulp, soda pulp, and the like. Some are prepared by purely mechanical means, others by a combination of mechanical and chemical means, and some by chemical means. The mechanical pulp contains substantially all the wood except the bark and that lost during storage and transportation. Semi-chemical pulps are partially free of lignin. Chemical pulp, however, are essentially cellulose, the unwanted lignin and other non-cellulosic components of the wood having been dissolved away by the cooking and bleaching treatment. Because of this, chemical pulps are much superior to mechanical and semi-chemical pulps for fine papermaking. However, because of the special processing required, they are too expensive to serve as a main source of fiber for the cheaper grades of paper such as newsprint.
If the pulp fibers were the only constituents of a paper sheet, the usefulness of the paper would be very restricted because the sheet would be soft, have a yellowish color, and could not be successfully written or printed upon with ink. If the sheet was thin, it would be transparent to matter printed upon the opposite side. It is necessary, then, to add other ingredients, such as sizing or coloring agents and fillers to the cellulosic fibers to produce papers suited to their many uses.
Many papers, except the absorbent types, filter papers and most packaging papers, must have a finely ground filler added to them, the purpose of which is to provide opacity and whiteness to the paper. Sizing is added to the paper, other than absorbent papers and filter paper, to impart resistance to penetration by liquids. The common sizing agents are added to the stock (i.e., wet pulp, more specifically, the prepared papermaking furnish) before it is formed into a sheet. These may be acid, neutral and alkaline sizing materials. Acid sizes are typically rosin based and precipitated by alum. Neutral sizes may also be rosin-based, but are used at near neutral pHs. Alkaline sizes are synthetic materials such as alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) and alkyl ketene dimer (AKD). Such sizings as described in this paragraph are known in the trade as internal sizing.
The term sizing is also used in a second context in the paper industry. This second use is known as surface sizing. It differs from the internal sizing previously described in that it is applied to the surface of the paper where it cements the fibers to the body of the paper and deposits a more or less continuous film on the paper surface. Surface sizing is used to produce a smooth hard surface which will not catch a pen when the paper is written upon, will not pick off if the paper is printed using tacky inks and will not show feathering of the ink. An additional advantage of a surface size is that oil resistance of the paper is improved since the size tends to seal the pores of the paper. Surface sizing may be of greater importance than internal sizing for certain types of papers such as writing papers, printing papers and some wrapping papers. It is important to surface size paper that is used in an offset printing process since this prevents loosening of surface fibers when the paper is moistened with water on the press.
A common way to add a surface size is to apply the sizing agent to both sides of the paper at the size press. Inherent in this process are various mechanical problems which make it expensive to apply and maintain a uniform layer of the size on the surface of the paper. This mechanical equipment is costly, and there is the added expense of evaporating the water added to the paper with a dilute suspension of the size. Commonly the size is a starch or a starch derivative such as an oxidized or enzyme converted starch.
Starch has long been used as an additive to strengthen the paper sheet in the manufacture of paper. See for example Whistler and Paschall, Starch: Chemistry and Technology, Academic Press Inc., New York, N.Y. Vol. 2, 1967, Chapter VI. For this purpose, starch is added to the stock. This procedure produces much soluble material which is not effectively retained in the paper sheet. An improvement in starch cooking was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,966, issued Sep. 10, 1957, wherein the starch slurry was heated in a steam injection cooker. This was said to permit control of the heating so that the majority of the starch granules were swollen but not ruptured. However, the temperature range over which granules of starch swell and gelatinize is large. Even in this process only a portion of the granules could be obtained in the desired swollen state. Some starch granules were still unswollen and hence useless as an adhesive while others might have been solubilized and not retained in the paper.
One method to obtain a starch whose swollen granules do not disintegrate during agitation was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,113,034, issued Apr. 5, 1938. This was accomplished by reaction of starch with formaldehyde. The product is resistant to dispersion in hot water, and requires treatment with alkali and vigorous agitation to render the starch suitable as a paper stock additive. As a result of these treatment requirements and because the starch is only partially retained in the paper sheet, the product has never found acceptance in the paper manufacturing industry.
A second method to obtain a starch whose swollen granules would not disintegrate during agitation was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,328,537, issued Sep. 7, 1943. This was accomplished by reacting the starch with certain antimony or phosphorous chlorides or oxychlorides. The patent suggested that the products might be useful in the manufacture of paper. Again, these products have never found acceptance in the paper manufacturing industry, because the products described show limited swelling in hot water and are only partially retained in the paper sheet.
It would therefore be an advance in the art if an additive were discovered which could be incorporated into the paper stock prior to and/or during the sheet formation that would impart improved internal properties to the paper. If such properties could be imparted without causing detrimental side effects, the additive in question would find ready acceptance in the art. Moreover, if the properties of the finally formed paper article, such as burst strength and tensile strength were improved by means of the additive, this would be an added economic benefit to be gained through use of an additive of this type.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improved method for imparting such characteristics to manufactured paper by the addition of a specific additive to the stock during the papermaking process.
A further object is to provide an agent of this type to improve properties without interfering with the other additives and substances used in the makeup and manufacture of paper and without showing adverse effects on the chemical and physical characteristics of the finished sheet.
Another object of the invention is to provide an additive for improving internal properties which is retained in the paper during the sheet forming process.
An important object of the invention is to provide an additive for improving properties of manufactured paper which will operate on a wide variety of paper stocks, is safe to handle and will impart to the finished sheet desirable characteristics.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of improving surface properties of manufactured paper by employing a new additive at the wet end which imparts improved dry strength to the finished paper article.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a starch additive for paper that is readily prepared and whose swollen granules do not disintegrate when subjected to vigorous agitation.
The term "wet end" as it is used herein refers to that part of the papermaking process including the stock preparation, the approach flow system and that part of the paper machine prior to the dryer section.
All percentages set forth herein are by weight unless otherwise specified.

Swollen starches as papermaking additives


Orthodontic appliances and related methods are provided, including a fast-dissolving and humidity-resistant coating, containing a colorant and a binder selected from a polyamide, cellulose derivative, or homopolymer/copolymer of poly(ethylene oxide). The coating can facilitate appliance identification and serve as a reference marking to assist the practitioner in appliance placement. Advantageously, the composition of these coatings allows the color marking to be rinsed off quickly, and yet the color of the coating does not bleed during storage even in high humidity environments. The fast-dissolving nature of these coatings also allows the coating to be deposited in concave and recessed areas of the appliance, such as the archwire slot and vertical slot, since these coatings can be removed prior to archwire installation.

Orthodontics is a specialized area of dentistry in which therapeutic forces are applied to move maloccluded teeth to proper positions. The practice of orthodontics is supervised by a trained practitioner (e.g. orthodontist), who uses one or more orthodontic appliances to impart corrective forces directly to the teeth or stimulate or re-direct functional forces in the mouth to move teeth. Orthodontic treatment can provide a number of beneficial outcomes, including improved bite function, better hygiene and ease-of-cleaning, and enhanced facial aesthetics.
Fixed appliance therapy is one common type of treatment that involves attaching tiny slotted appliances called brackets to the teeth and coupling (or ligating) a resilient arch-shaped wire to the bracket slots. Upon installation, the wire shape is initially deflected to assume the crooked shape of the patient's dentition. Over time, however, the wire applies gentle corrective forces to the teeth as it returns to its original shape, thereby stimulating tooth movement toward desired finish positions. This process is generally repeated with progressively larger wires, with occasional adjustments to the wire made as needed, until the teeth positions are satisfactory to the practitioner.
One of the primary challenges with fixed appliance therapy is its reliance on accurate appliance placement on the tooth surface to move the teeth to desired finish positions. For example, if a particular bracket is located one millimeter too high on a certain tooth, then the wire would translate that tooth downward such that its final position is one millimeter too low. In this sense, these orthodontic appliances serve as precision handles to move teeth, and must be bonded to their respective teeth with great attention to appliance position on each tooth.

Orthodontic appliances with dissolvable coatings


A method for performing a map matching in a user terminal includes determining a space where the user terminal is located using positioning data that is measured at predetermined time intervals, searching one or more links that are located within a range of a preset distance from the space as a candidate link, selecting one of the candidate links which best meets at least one suitability criterion of at least two suitability criteria including distance suitability and space suitability, and carrying out the map matching with respect to the selected one candidate link.

Navigation systems are generally mounted on vehicles and are used as terminal devices for vehicles that help drivers travel and reach his/her destination with ease by displaying a road map for the drivers or searching a route to the destination.
An automotive navigation system being currently widely used is an apparatus that identifies a current position of a car or a user in real time by calculating signals received from satellites using a Global Positioning System (referred to as 'GPS', hereinafter), converts relevant data in a database, which contains map information and traffic information built previously, corresponding to the current position into image/voice information in association with the database, and displays the converted image/voice.
The automotive navigation system includes a GPS receiver to calculate a current position of a car. The automotive navigation system obtains information on current speed, time and position of the car through the use of the GPS receiver and provides a user with navigation information based on such information.
However, when the current position using GPS signals is calculated, there normally occurs an error of tens of meters because of characteristics of the GPS signals. Therefore, when such an error is used to calculate the current position on a map, the current position may be erroneously displayed on a point out of a road, on a rooftop of a building or the like.
In order to resolve such a drawback, a typical automotive navigation system employs a map matching method when calculating a position of a car. According to the map matching method, a current position is compared to road data under an assumption that the car is driving on a road. When the difference between the current position and the road data falls within a predetermined range, the automotive navigation system determines that the car is driving along the relevant road and forcibly corrects the current position to a point on a road nearest to the current position.
Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2010-0067578 suggests an apparatus and method for map matching of a moving object. It discloses a map matching method to correct a position coordinate of a moving object such as a vehicle moving on a road, wherein a position of the moving object is corrected into a point on the road when coordinate data of the road does not exist on a map data and thus it is not easy to make a conventional map matching.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-318121 discloses a navigation system, which is capable of determining a current position of a moving object when the moving object moves into an indoor facility. First, the navigation system determines a current position of the moving object by performing a map matching on an output data from a stand-alone sensor and an output data from a GPS apparatus using a map data while the moving object is moving. Thereafter, when it is detected that the current position of the moving object is located within an indoor facility, the navigation system performs a map matching on the output data from the stand-alone sensor using a map data to determine the current position of the moving object.
Generally, when a user terminal such as the automotive navigation system receives a positioning data or measures its current position, a position of a user is displayed by performing a map matching on the positioning data to network data (for example, such as a node or link) nearest to the position of the user. When performing the map matching, however, even in the case that the user is located indoors, especially, at a specific indoor space, the user terminal renders a positioning result to map-match to nearest network data. Accordingly, it is not possible to precisely reflect a real position of the user who is actually located indoors on the map.

Method for performing map matching in user terminal


The invention provides a maraging steel production method in which an oxide is added during an Mg oxide formation step, the production method including: the Mg oxide formation step in which Mg is added to molten steel and MgO is formed in the molten steel, during primary melting; a consumable electrode production step in which, after the Mg oxide formation step, the molten steel is solidified and a consumable electrode having residual MgO is obtained; and a vacuum arc re-melting step in which the consumable electrode is used and vacuum arc re-melting is performed.

A maraging steel has a very high tensile strength of around 2000 MPa and is therefore used for various applications such as an component requiring a high strength, for example, a rocket part, a centrifuge part, an aircraft part, a part for a continuously variable transmission of an automobile engine, or a die or the like.
The maraging steel usually includes an appropriate amount of molybdenum and titanium as a strengthening element, and can obtain a high strength by precipitating an intermetallic compound such as Ni3Mo, Ni3Ti or Fe2Mo through an aging treatment. A representative composition of the maraging steel including molybdenum and titanium is, by mass %, Fe-18%Ni-8%Co-5%Mo-0.45%Ti-0.1%Al.
Although the maraging steel can obtain a very high tensile strength, it includes a nonmetallic inclusion (hereinafter, referred to as merely "inclusion") in the steel, such as a nitride or a carbonitride such as TiN or TiCN, or an oxide such as Al2O3 or Al2O3—MgO. Thus, fatigue failure may occur starting from a coarse inclusion in the steel.
Therefore, it has been proposed to improve a fatigue strength by making TiN or TiCN fine. The Applicant has proposed, for example in JP 2004-256909 A (Patent Literature 1) and WO 2005/035798 (Patent Literature 2), a method for making a nitride based inclusion such as TiN or TiCN fine by remelting a consumable electrode including magnesium by a vacuum arc remelting (hereinafter, referred to as "VAR") process .

Production method for maraging steel and production method for maraging steel consumable electrode


Disclosed are a flow control apparatus and method. An apparatus for performing flow control in a software defined network (SDN) environment according to an exemplary embodiment includes a message receiving unit configured to receive a first packet processing inquiry message including a packet from a first switch and a control unit configured to determine whether there is a second proxy connected with a second switch and matching a first proxy connected with the first switch in response to the first packet processing inquiry message, instruct the first switch to transmit the packet such that the packet passes through the first proxy when it is determined that there is a second proxy, and instruct the first switch to transmit the packet such that the packet bypasses the first proxy when it is determined that there is no second proxy.

1. Field
Disclosed embodiments relates to an apparatus and method for flow control, and more particularly, to a technique for controlling a flow in a software-defined network (SDN) environment.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Software-defined network (SDN) allows a flow (that is, a set of packets that have passed through a specific position on a network during a specific time) caused by data forwarding, which is processed with hardware, to be controlled with software. As the concept of SDN becomes commercially available, an SDN switch, which is implemented using a communication protocol (e.g., OpenFlow) that provides an interface with a network device for such data forwarding, has been developed.
An SDN switch may be utilized to control a flow according to a centralized policy. For example, network devices may be defined according to a policy for each flow. Accordingly, proxy devices that perform various functions on a network may be connected systematically, and also the network may be operated flexibly. In particular, network-function virtualization (NFV) technology is widespread, so that network devices are virtualized and virtual machines (VMs) are increasingly widely used. Thus, systematical connection among network devices is becoming more important.
As an example, an SDN switch may control a flow of compressed packets, which are not actually affected by deduplication, to pass through a proxy for transport acceleration and/or a proxy for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) acceleration without passing through a proxy for deduplication.
Typically, proxy devices for performing the same function are provided to a client-side and a server-side in a path for packets between a client and a server to make a pair. For example, when a client-side proxy (CSP) uses a transport acceleration protocol to transport a flow, the flow should be processed using the same protocol by a server-side proxy (SSP) in order to achieve expected transport acceleration. Accordingly, there is a need to check whether a paired CCP and SSP are present in order to provide a service for the flow. This process is called proxy discovery. When there is an SSP matching a CSP, flow transport from the CSP to the SSP may be accelerated. When there is no SSP matching a CSP, the flow is delivered to a server without transport acceleration.
However, a conventional proxy discovery algorithm is not perfectly suitable for networks with various structures. Accordingly, there is still a need for proxy discovery for integratedly managing several network proxy devices connected to an SDN switch and a further need for an enhanced flow control technique.


An electrophoretic display device includes M×N numbers (M, and N are integers more than two) of pixels. The M×N numbers of pixels include M numbers of pixel groups having N numbers of pixels. Further, an image on the electrophoretic display device is displayed by making some of the M×N numbers of pixels switched at least from a bright display to a dark display, and vice versa. A period for displaying one piece of an image on the electrophoretic display is defined as period for forming an image and a period for introducing an image signal to each of the M×N numbers of pixels with sequentially selecting each of the pixels is defined as a frame period. Then, the time for forming an image includes a plurality of frame periods (a numbers of L: L is integers more than two.)

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of driving an electrophoretic display provided with dispersion system including electrophoretic particles.
2. Relate Art
Dispersing micro particles having positive or negative electric charges into a liquid and applying electrical field to them from outside makes these micro particles migrate by a coulomb power. This phenomena is called as electrophoretic migration and a display using the electrophoretic migration is well known as an electrophoretic display (EPD.) Such electrophoretic display is be better suited for an electronic paper. In particular, an active marix type display in which pixel electrodes are arranged in a matrix is under development. JA2002-116733 is an example of a related art regarding such development.
An active matrix type electrophoretic display (AMEPD) is provided with a plurality of scanning lines and signal lines, which are orthogonally arranged each other. An electrophoretic element is provided at the cross section between a scanning line and a signal line, forming a pixel. Each of pixels includes a switching transistor and a pixel electrode. One of pixels arranged in a matrix is sequentially selected by a switching transistor and a predetermined image is introduced into each of pixel, forming a piece of an image. An example of a driving method for image displaying is explained referring to FIG. 7. An AMEPD comprises an active substrate, an opposing substrate and a dispersion system between these substrates. The active substrate includes scanning lines, signal lines and pixels (pixel electrodes and switching transistors) formed thereon. The opposite substrate has a common electrode. The dispersion system includes an electrophoretic element (an electrophoretic material.) An voltage Vcom which is common for all pixel electrodes is applied to the common electrode and a predetermined image signal is applied to each of pixel electrodes. A period for forming a piece of an image in a AMEPD is defined as a period for forming an image in the invention. In the conventional, the period for forming an image includes a reset period and a period for introducing an image signal. The reset period is a period for erasing a previous image. On the other hand, the period for introducing an image signal corresponds to a period for forming a new image in a AMEPD. In a AMEPD comprising M numbers of scanning lines and N numbers of image signal lines which are arranged in a matrix, one of the scanning lines is sequentially selected and, then an image signal is applied to the N numbers of pixels connected to the selected scanning line during this selected period. A period when one scanning line is selected, is called as a horizontal scanning period and a period when all scanning lines are selected (M times of horizontal scanning periods), is generally called as a frame period. In the conventional technology, the period for introducing an image signal included the frame period and M times of the horizontal scanning period (a vertical scanning period) and the reset period, forming a piece of an image in a MEPD.
In an electrophoretic display, micro particles physically migrate in a dispersion medium, changing spatial distribution of micro particles between a pair of substrates, thus changing displaying. A period when micro particles migrate in a dispersion medium at the time of applying voltage corresponds the response time of an electrophoretic display. This time is several milliseconds at the shortest, generally several hundred milliseconds. Namely, time for changing an image is about several hundred milliseconds. Hence, a horizontal scanning period was from several tens milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds in the past. The conventional AMEPD having small numbers of pixels and low resolution used this simple driving method.
However, if a new AMEPD having increased numbers of pixels and high resolution is manufactured, the numbers of scanning lines (M) are increased several hundred numbers and a period for forming an image (1 frame period) becomes several seconds or several tens seconds. Then it becomes a problem that the state of changing an image corresponding to selecting a scanning line is recognized by a viewer and it is uneasy to see changing display.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of driving an electrophoretic display


A device for forming images of ionizing particles through single-dimensional electrophoresis provided with a multi-wire proportional chamber. The chamber filled with a gas is of asymmetric structure and is formed successively by an entry window for the particles, taken to a negative potential, a multi-wire anode electrode, taken to a potential positive with respect to a reference potential, and a cathode electrode which is placed in the vicinity of the anode electrode. The cathode electrode, which is taken to the reference potential, is formed by a network of parallel electrically conducting strips. Detection of the position of impact of the ionizing particle along the pitch of the network is performed by induction of a delayed electric pulse caused by an avalanche of the ionization electrons issuing from the ionizing particle in the region of the strip situated in line with the impact by the particle in the chamber, the reference time being that of the ionization electrons close to the wires.

Numerous applications exist at the present time for which it is desirable to obtain a representation of the spatial distribution of charged particles emerging from a surface, such as, for example, the electrons emitted by a radioactive layer formed by a section of a biological analysis preparation.
Various devices have been described up to now, allowing such representations to be obtained. Among these may be mentioned the European Patent Applications EP 0,395,510 and EP 0,376,762, the inventor of which is Mr. Georges CHARPAK, which describe systems based on the phenomenon of luminous avalanche.
Such devices give satisfaction. However, these devices, entailing optical detection of the abovementioned luminous avalanche phenomenon, are more particularly intended for bidimensional imagery for which resolution per surface points of the order of 0.01 mm.sup.2 is necessary.

Device for forming images of ionizing particles by means of a multi-wire proportional chamber


Example implementations relate to substrate permeability assessment. Some examples may determine whether voids are shown in an image of a substrate and whether there is a repeating pattern in the image. Some examples may also determine whether printing fluid would pass through the substrate during printing based on the determinations of whether voids are shown in the image and whether there is a repeating pattern in the image.

A printing device, such as a printer, multifunction printer, or the like, may be used to print content onto a physical medium, such as a substrate. A substrate can be made of a number of different materials. For example, a substrate can be made of a non-permeable material such as some self-adhesive vinyls, polyvinyl chloride ("PVC") banners, papers, polyethylene ("PE") films, and/or polyproplene ("PP") films. As another example, a substrate can be made of a permeable material such as some textiles, meshes, and/or other types of woven materials. While in some instances a printing device may be capable of printing on both permeable and non-permeable materials, these two categories of materials and even particular materials within each category have different physical properties which may result in the use of different printing parameters.

Substrate permeability assessment based on an image

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An interpolation calculation requires a plurality of difference signals representing the distances to a set of neighboring colors in space. However, at least some of the plurality of difference signals required for interpolation of a color within the boundary defined by the known color and the set of neighboring colors are also required for interpolation of another color within the boundaries defined by a neighboring known color and its set of neighboring known colors. Accordingly, rather than redundantly storing the difference values, a storage and retrieval scheme is used which only stores non-redundant difference signals, and retrieves from addresses associated with neighboring colors the appropriate difference signals for a given interpolation calculations.

The generation of color documents can be thought of as a two step process: first, the generation of the image by means of scanning an original document with a color image input terminal or scanner or, alternatively, creating a color image on a work station operated in accordance with a color image creation program; and secondly, printing of that image with a color printer in accordance with the colors defined by the scanner or computer generated image. Scanners commonly operate with colors defined in a color space of tristimulus values, i.e., RGB (red-green-blue). Commonly, these values are a linear transformation of the standard XYZ coordinates of CIE color space, or a correct transform of those values. In the case of computer generated images, colors defined by the user at the user interface of his workstation are immediately converted into color space values and directed out of the system as defined in the document colors.
Printers have an output which can be defined as existing in a color space called CMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-key or black) which is uniquely defined for the printer by its capabilities and colorants. Printers operate by the addition of multiple layers of ink or colorant in layers to a page. The response of the printer tends to be relatively non-linear. Thus, while a printer system receives information in a first color space, it must convert that information to print in a second color space.
The desirability of operating in a tristimulus color space with subsequent conversion to a printer colorant color space is well known, such as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,919 to Schreiber and U.S. Pat. No. 2,790,844 to Neugebauer, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,413 to Sakamoto. There are many methods of conversion between color spaces, all of which begin with the measurement of printer response to certain input values. Commonly, a printer is driven with a set of color input values, the values are printed in normal operation of the printer, and measurements are made of those colors to determine what the actual color printed was in response to the color specification. As previously noted, most printers have non-linear response characteristics.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,919 to Schreiber, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,413 to Sakamoto, the information derived was placed into look-up tables, stored in a memory, perhaps ROM memory or RAM memory where the look-up table relates input color space to output color space. The look-up table is commonly a three dimensional table since color space is three dimensional. In RGB space, at a scanner or computer, space can be defined as three dimensional with black at the origin of a three dimensional coordinate system 0, 0, 0 and white at the maximum of a three dimensional coordinate system which an 8-bit system, would be located at 255, 255, 255. Each of the three axes radiating from the origin point therefore respectively define red, green, and blue and points therebetween in the volume of the cube defining colors resulting from the combinations of the additive primary colors. A similar construct can be made for the printer, with axes representing cyan, magenta, and yellow. Black is usually a separate toner which is added separately. In the 8-bit system suggested, there will be, however, over 16 million possible colors (256.sup.3). There are clearly too many values for a 1:1 mapping of RGB to CMYK. Accordingly, as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,413 to Sakamoto, only a relatively small number of samples are made at the printer, perhaps on the order of 1000-4000. Therefore, the look-up tables (LUT's) consist of a set of values which could be said to be the intersections for corners of a set of rectangular parallelepipeds mounted on top of one another. Colors falling within each rectangular volume can be interpolated from the measured values, through many methods including tri-linear interpolation, tetrahedral interpolation, polynomial interpolation, linear interpolation, and any other interpolation method depending on the accuracy of the desired result.
The interpolation methods described all require information about the grids, and particularly, require information about the distance between adjacent points in space on the grid. The input color space grid has nodes spaced at regular intervals, and accordingly the distance values are derived by simple monotonic functions. The output color space grid is empirically measured and accordingly the nodes are at irregular intervals, which are often not describable by simple functions. In the example of FIG. 1, the regular array of data values in the input color space LUT are indicated by X's, and the point marked with an O is to be derived by interpolation therefrom (as will become apparent, this is a simplified two dimensional example). The LUT holds the value of the function H(x,y) for the points (x[i], y[j]) where x[i]and y[j]are some set of discrete values referred to as the grid points, node points, or lattice points and i runs from 0 to M-1 and j runs from 0 to N-1 (thus giving an M.times.N LUT size). In an example illustrated in FIG. 2, three dimensional tetrahedral interpolation is reduced to two dimensions or triangular interpolation and the value for the desired point is given by: EQU H(x,y)=H[i][j]+.DELTA.x.(H[i+1][j]-H[i][j])+.DELTA.y.(H[i+1][j+1]-H [i+1][j])
where EQU .DELTA.x=(x-x[i])/(x[i +1]-x[i]),
and EQU .DELTA.y=(y-y[j])/(y[j+1]-y[i]).
The equations are modified appropriately if the point lies in the upper triangle.
Notice that the differences between the known table values (i.e. (H[i+1][j]-H[i][j]), etc . . . ) must be calculated for the interpolation of each color which falls within the triangle defined by (i,j)-(i+1,j)-(i+1,j+1) and therefore using this difference. When performing interpolations for a large number of pixels (i.e. an scanned image) it may be advantageous to compute all the possible differences once, store them, and then use them when needed. The tradeoff in doing this is the time for computing the differences during each interpolation operation versus the cost of having to store and access the differences.
The easiest way to store and access these differences is to go to each rectangle in the plane (or rectangular solid in the three dimensional space) and compute all the differences associated with that rectangle. With reference to FIG. 2, in the two dimensional example this means that four differences for each node point in the table must be stored: EQU .DELTA.H.sub.x1 [i][j]=H[i+1][j]-H[i][j] EQU .DELTA.H.sub.x2 [i][j]=H[i+1][j+1]-H[i][j+1] EQU .DELTA.H.sub.y2 [i][j]=H[i][j+1]-H[i][j] EQU .DELTA.H.sub.y1 [i][j]=H[i+1][j+1]-H[i+1][i]
These differences correspond to the differences in the x-direction along the top and bottom of a rectangle with the H[i][j] at the lower left hand node, and the differences in the y-direction along the left and right hand sides of the triangle formed by the diagonal of this rectangle. In the three dimensional case, 12 difference values are stored. This is a significant memory overhead, and methods of reducing the overhead are desired.
The references cited herein are incorporated by reference for the teachings.

Reduced storage of pre-computed difference tables used in color space conversion


A measurement value judgment method for comparing measurement values from sensors provided at various locations of a system with pre-set reference values, and judging, based on the results of the comparison so made, whether the system is normal or abnormal, comprises the steps of judging a quantity of state relative to the load on the system and changing the reference values in response to the results of the judgement, the thereby judging accurately whether or not the system and sensors are in an abnormal status by accurately identifying the operating state of the system.

In judgement of the operating state of a plant, etc., a technology wherein output values of various sensors installed in the plant produced during normal operation are stored beforehand as reference values, sensor output values read during an actual operation are compared with these reference values in order to judge whether the sensor outputs are normal or abnormal, and results are used to judge whether the operation of the plant is normal or abnormal is widely known as a limit check method. However, since a transient state and a steady state exist in operations, it is not possible to judge abnormalities accurately if the same reference values are used for both these states. Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2-114399 therefore disclosed a technology which is designed to diagnose abnormalities accurately regardless of the operating state, by automatically changing reference values in accordance with the states of plant process values.
The case where a plant is a generator and the abovementioned conventional technology is applied in abnormality diagnosis will now be considered. In FIG. 3, 1 is a generator, 2 is a voltage sensor for the generator, 3 is a rotational speed sensor for the generator, 4 indicates power supply wiring and 5 indicates various loads which receive supply of power.
With this configuration, since there is a limit (capacity) associated with the ability of the generator to supply power, if there are many loads, the voltage tends to drop and becomes insufficient for the rated voltages of the loads. In such a case, depending on the amount of power that has to be supplied to the loads 5, it can happen that the output value of, e.g., the voltage sensor is less than the normal reference value even though the generator is normal, regardless of whether the operating state is a transient state or a steady state.
In the above-described configuration, since the output values of the voltage sensor 2 and the rotational speed sensor 3 ought to be in a relation of correspondence, sensor abnormalities can be detected by comparing correspondence states of the output values of the two sensors. In the system of FIG. 3, it is assumed that a relation as indicated by formula (1) below and a sensor abnormality judgement rule (a) below apply to the output values of the two sensors. EQU V=.alpha..times.R+.beta. (1) EQU if r1.ltoreq.R.ltoreq.r2 then v1.ltoreq.V.ltoreq.v2 (a)
V: voltage PA1 R: rotational speed PA1 .alpha., .beta.: constants
In this case, regardless of whether the operation is in a transient state or in a steady state, if the total amount of power that has to be supplied to the loads 5 exceeds the supply upper limit of the generator 1, then it is judged by the rule (a) that a sensor abnormality has occurred on the grounds that "although the rotational speed is between r1 and r2, the voltage value is less than v1.", even though the sensors are normal.
Thus, with the above-described conventional technology, there is the problem that, since the states of system load are not taken into consideration, it is not possible to judge system or sensor abnormalities accurately.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a measurement value judging method which makes it possible to gain an accurate apperception of system operating states and to make accurate system and sensor abnormality judgement.


Call setup time is reduced by automatically (1) identifying the type of signaling used by a caller to communicate with a central office, and (2) providing an indication of the signaling type to telephone switches or databases that will participate in routing and processing the telephone call. Dual Tone Multifrequency (DTMF) detectors located at a central office of a local exchange carrier detect whether a caller is using DTMF signaling. The local central office includes this information in a signaling message provided, for example, to interexchange carriers and other service providers which will use DTMF signaling during and after call setup. In this manner, the need to query the caller for this information is eliminated.

Many businesses use automated call processing services to process telephone calls received from customers. Automated call processing services are useful, for example, to connect a caller to a desired destination or obtain information quickly and easily. The caller typically is provided with an announcement and is requested to enter an appropriate sequence of keystrokes from the telephone keypad to respond to the announcement. For example, a caller who calls a large department store may be given the option of selecting a department from a menu recited over the phone. Dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) signaling enables the caller to use the telephone keypad as an input device to communicate menu selections through the telephone lines. In response to the caller's menu selections, the call is extended to the appropriate department of the department store.
DTMF signaling is required to obtain the full benefit of automated call processing services. However, not all telephone lines are configured to use DTMF signaling to communicate with the local central office. Many telephones use rotary or "dial pulse" signaling to communicate with the local central office. Thus, provisions must be made to accommodate both DTMF and dial pulse calls. Typically, a caller is requested to manually identify the type of signaling that the caller is using, for example, by striking a key on the telephone keypad if the caller has a "Touch-Tone.RTM." telephone (i.e., a telephone using DTMF signaling) to take advantage of automated call processing features. Callers using dial pulse signaling must wait a predetermined time-out period before being connected to an operator. This identification process produces call setup delays which increase telephone connect charges and may annoy telephone customers.

Automatic signaling-type indicator for use in subsequent interactive dialing


A specific combination of two different polyolefin clarifying and nucleating agents, namely bis(3,4-dimethyldibenzylidene) sorbitol (3,4-DMDBS) and bis(3,4-dichlorodibenzylidene) sorbitol (3,4-DCDBS). Such a combination surprisingly provides improved clarification comparable to polypropylene articles and formulations, better than DCDBS alone and equivalent or better than DMDBS alone. Such a combination of compounds thus permits the utilization of a new additive for the purpose of modifying polyolefin properties, such as polypropylene clarification and nucleation. The inventive combination may be introduced within any polyolefin composition, again preferably polypropylene, which may then be molded into any shape or form. A method of producing a polyolefin plastic utilizing the inventive combination of compounds is also provided.

This invention relates to a specific combination of two different polyolefin clarifying and nucleating agents, namely bis(3,4-dimethyldibenzylidene) sorbitol (3,4-DMDBS) and bis(3,4-dichlorodibenzylidene) sorbitol (3,4-DCDBS). Such a combination surprisingly provides improved clarification comparable to polypropylene articles and formulations, better than DCDBS alone and equivalent or better than DMDBS alone. Such a combination of compounds thus permits the utilization of a new additive for the purpose of modifying polyolefin properties, such as polypropylene clarification and nucleation. The inventive combination may be introduced within any polyolefin composition, again preferably polypropylene, which may then be molded into any shape or form. A method of producing a polyolefin plastic utilizing the inventive combination of compounds is also provided.
Dibenzylidene sorbitol acetals (xe2x80x9cDBSxe2x80x9d), substituted DBS, such as can be made with alkyl substituted aromatic aldehydes, and related acetals have found utility as nucleating agents, clarifying agents, gelling agents, processing aids, and strength modifiers in polyolefin resins, polyester resins, deodorant, and antiperspirant compositions; hydrocarbon fuels; waste liquids, especially those containing organic impurities; and paint.
Such compounds are utilized to provide nucleation sites for polyolefin crystal growth during cooling of a molten formulation. Without being limited to one specific scientific theory, it is believed that DBS compounds form fibrous networks within the molten polyolefin (such as polypropylene) at a temperature well above that required for polyolefin crystal formation. The fibrous networks appear to act as sites for more ordered and faster polyolefin crystallization during cooling. During the process of crystallization, polymer crystals organize into larger superstructures that are referred to as spherulites. The more uniform, and preferably smaller, the spherulite size, the reduced possibility for light to be scattered. In such a manner, optical opacity of the polyolefin article itself can be controlled. Thus, DBS compounds are very important to the polyolefin industry in order to provide such desired nucleation and clarification properties.
DBS derivative compounds are typically prepared by the condensation reaction of two moles of an aromatic aldehyde with one mole of a polyhydric alcohol, such as xylitol or sorbitol. Examples of suitable processes may be found in Murai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,682; Murai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,140; Machell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,265; Kobayashi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,807; and Scrivens et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,474. All of these references are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Specific clarifying and nucleating agents for polyolefins include bis(3,4-dichlorodibenzylidene) sorbitol (3,4-DCDBS) and bis(3,4-dimethyldibenzylidene) sorbitol (3,4-DMDBS). These specific compounds and polyolefins containing such compounds have been taught previously in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,371,645 to Mahaffey and 5,049,605 to Rekers, respectively. Such compounds are thus individually known as polyolefin additives and exhibit relatively low haze measurements within polyolefins (as low as about 8% for 3,4-DMDBS and about 9% for DCDBS in random copolymer polypropylene injection molded 50 mil thick plaques having 2000 ppm of clarifier added).
Surprisingly, 3,4-DCDBS does not present a significant organoleptic problem within target plastics. It is well known that p-chlorodibenzylidene sorbitol exhibits troublesome odor and taste problems due to degradation of the compound into its separate benzaldehyde and sorbitol components and migration of the resultant benzaldehyde within and from the target plastic. The p-chloro benzaldehyde itself exhibits highly undesirable organoleptics (foul taste and odor) such that the target polyolefin is limited in its end-use function to non-food contact applications. Such a problem is not exhibited by the dichloro benzaldehyde, particularly when present within the inventive mixture with 3,4-DMDBS. The 3,4-DCDBS appears to suffer from the same type of degradation possibilities as the p-chloro compound; however, again, the resultant benzaldehyde, surprisingly, does not create the same organoleptic problems.
Unfortunately, though, 3,4-DMDBS is relatively expensive to manufacture. As a result, there remains a great desire to develop a more cost-effective, yet acceptable clarifying agent or composition for polyolefins which exhibits similar haze results as 3,4-DMDBS, but mixed with another compound (or compounds) to reduce the amount of expensive 3,4-DMDBS present therein. To date, there has been no teaching or fair suggestion for any such improvements to lower the amount of 3,4-DMDBS in order to reduce the costs of such a composition solely comprising such a polyolefin clarifying agent without sacrificing clarification ability. There does exist a combination of 3,4-DMDBS with bis(p-chlorobenzylidene) sorbitol in Japanese Application Hei 8[1996]-199003 to Kobayashi; however, such a composition provides deleterious results from an organoleptic perspective. Japanese Application Hei 8[1996]-32415, also to Kobayashi, teaches a combination of bis-p-methyldibenzylidene sorbitol with bis-p-chlorodibenzylidene sorbitol as a polyolefin additive as well. Again, organoleptics are problematic with such a composition. Neither teaching shows or fairly suggests the combination of 3,4-DMDBS and 3,4-DCDBS. The only other teachings concerning such polyolefin clarifying compounds have been as individually utilized compounds within polyolefin compositions and articles, as noted above. Thus, there remains a desire to provide a more cost-effective but similarly performing clarifying agent comprising the excellent clarifier 3,4-DMDBS.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a lower cost alternative to a polyolefin clarifier containing 3,4-DMDBS alone exhibiting excellent clarifying capabilities for the same polyolefin articles and compositions. Another object of the invention is to provide a polyolefin composition or article comprising a combination of 3,4-DMDBS and 3,4-DCDBS exhibiting a haze measurement below that for the same amount of 3,4-DCDBS present as the sole clarifying agent.
Accordingly, this invention encompasses a polyolefin additive composition comprising a combination of both bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol and bis(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene) sorbitol. More specifically, this invention encompasses such a combination consisting of from 5 to 95% by weight of the total combination of bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol and from 5 to 95% by weight of the total combination of bis(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene) sorbitol. Finished solid articles of polyolefins, such as, preferably, though not necessarily, polypropylene, comprising such an additive composition are also contemplated within this invention. Further contemplated is a polyolefin clarifier composition comprising at least 100 ppm of a combination of nucleator compounds, wherein said compounds are bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol and bis(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene) sorbitol, wherein said polyolefin clarifier composition provides a haze measurement within a target polyolefin article formulation below the haze measurement provided for a comparative polyolefin article comprising the same polyolefin formulation but comprising bis(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene) sorbitol as its sole polyolefin clarifier component, wherein such haze measurements are made in accordance with ASTM Standard Test Method D1003-61, and wherein the concentration of said sole polyolefin nucleator component within said comparative polyolefin article is equivalent to the total concentration of the polyolefin nucleator mixture within said target polyolefin article. The importance of and definition of such haze measurements are discussed in greater detail below. Lastly, the invention encompasses a method of nucleating a polyolefin comprising the steps of (a) providing a nucleator composition comprising at least 100 ppm of a combination of bis(3,4-dimethylbenzylidene) sorbitol and bis(3,4-dichlorobenzylidene) sorbitol; (b) providing a polyolefin formulation; (c) mixing said composition of step xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d with the polyolefin of step xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d; (d) melting said resultant mixture of step xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d; and allowing said molten mixture of step xe2x80x9cdxe2x80x9d to cool. Nowhere within the pertinent prior art is such a combination, polyolefin additive composition, polyolefin articles comprising such combinations and additives compositions, or methods of producing polyolefin articles taught or fairly suggested.
The invention thus comprises basically both 3,4-DMDBS and 3,4-DCDBS in specific proportions. The combination of both compounds has been avoided in the past, most likely due to the differences in structure (as well as potential and/or feared organoleptic problems) of the two compounds. Since dimethyl and dichloro types of the DBS exhibit a number of different structural elements, including, without limitation, size of pendant groups (with methyls relatively small as compared with chlorine atoms), and ionic attraction (with chlorine being electron withdrawing, as compared with methyl groups, which are electron donating), to name a few. Because of the need to provide the aforementioned fibrous networks within the target molten plastic for regulated crystal growth, again, the structural differences between these two compound would most likely result in difficulties with optimum network production. It has now been determined, surprisingly, that the structures of these two compounds appear to complement each other in the generation of the necessary fibrous network for polymer crystal growth thereon, such that haze is lowered for such target plastics (such as polypropylene, for example), and that organoleptics are not a significant problem. Thus, such an inventive physical mixture of 3,4-DMDBS and 3,4-DCDBS is a viable polymer nucleation and clarification additive.
Such a result is against commonly accepted practice. For example, as noted above, and without intending to be bound to any specific scientific theory, it appears that the DBS compound within a polyolefin appears to provide a fibrous network of nucleation sites for polyolefin crystal growth during cooling of the molten polymer. The network formed by 3,4-DMDBS alone accords what appears to be standard small spherulite sizes for low haze measurements. The network formed by 3,4-DCDBS produces larger average spherulite sizes, thereby producing high haze measurements. It is noted that all haze measurements noted herein include a standard deviation of +/xe2x88x920.2 haze units.
Thus, it has been found that a composition of from 5-95% by weight of 3,4-DCDBS and from 5-95% by weight of 3,4-DMDBS, with a total of 100% for both components, provides the highly unexpected benefits as noted above, particularly when incorporated within a target polyolefin, preferably polypropylene. Preferably, such a mixture is from about 10-90% by weight 3,4-DCDBS and from about 10-90% by weight of 3,4-DMDBS; more preferably, about 20-80% by weight of 3,4-DCDBS and from about 20-80% by weight of 3,4-DMDBS; still more preferably, 25-75% 3,4-DCDBS, and 25-75% 3,4-DMDBS, and most preferably about 50% 3,4-DCDBS and about 50% 3,4-DMDBS. Such a combination may be incorporated within an additives package composition including other components, including, base polyolefin, and other compounds and formulations noted below in greater detail. Such an inventive combination, and compositions comprising such an inventive combination, may be present in any type of standard polyolefin additive form, including, without limitation, powder, prill, agglomerate, liquid suspension, and the like. Basically, any form may be exhibited by such a combination or composition including such combination made from blending, agglomeration, compaction, and/or extrusion. The total concentration of the inventive combination of nucleator compounds within the target polyolefin may be anywhere from about 1000 ppm to about 4000 ppm; preferably such a concentration is from about 1000 ppm to about 3500 ppm; more preferably is from about 1200 ppm to about 3000 ppm; still more preferably is from about 1500 ppm to about 3000 ppm; and most preferably from about 1500 ppm to about 2200 ppm.
It may also be desirable to include up to 50% or more of the active combination in a masterbatch, although this is not a restriction. Optional additives within the inventive combination, or within the final thermoplastic article made therewith, may include plasticizers, stabilizers, ultraviolet absorbers, and other similar standard thermoplastic additives. Other additives may also be present within this composition, most notably antioxidants, antimicrobial agents (such as silver-based compounds, preferably ion-exchange compounds such as ALPHASAN(copyright) antimicrobials from Milliken and Company), antistatic compounds, perfumes, chlorine scavengers, and the like. These coadditives, along with the nucleating agents, may be present as an admixture in powder, liquid, or in compressed/pelletized form for easy feeding. The use of dispersing aids may be desirable, such as polyolefin (e.g., polyethylene) waxes, stearate esters of glycerin, montan waxes, and mineral oil. Basically, the inventive combination may be present (up to 20% by weight or more) in any type of standard thermoplastic (e.g., polyolefin, most preferably) additive form, including, without limitation, powder, prill, agglomerate, liquid suspension, and the like, particularly comprising the dispersing aids described above. Compositions made from blending, agglomeration, compaction, and/or extrusion may also be desirable.
Other additives may also be present within this composition, most notably antioxidants, perfumes, acid neutralizers, and the like. In particular, it is contemplated that certain organoleptic improvement additives be added for the purpose of permitting increased amounts of 3,4-DCDBS to be incorporated within the inventive combination, compositions thereof, and end-product polyolefin comprising such. The term xe2x80x9corganoleptic improvement additivexe2x80x9d is intended to encompass such compounds and formulations as antioxidants (to prevent degradation of both the polyolefin and possibly the target 3,4-DCDBS and/or 3,4-DMDBS), acid neutralizers (to prevent the ability of appreciable amounts of residual acids from attacking the DBS compounds), and benzaldehyde scavengers (such as hydrazides, hydrazines, and the like, to prevent the migration of foul tasting and smelling benzaldehydes to the target polyolefin surface). Such compounds and formulations can be added in any amounts in order to provide such organoleptic improvements as needed. However, the amounts should not appreciably affect the haze results for the target polyolefin itself. Thus, lower amounts on the order of from about 20 ppm to about 2,000 ppm of the total polyolefin component are desired.
The term polyolefin or polyolefin resin is intended to encompass any materials comprised of at least one polyolefin compound. Preferred examples include polypropylene, polyethylene, polybutylene, and any blends or copolymers thereof, whether high or low density in composition. The term thermoplastic is well known in the art to mean a polymeric material that will melt upon exposure to sufficient heat but will retain its solidified state, but not prior shape (without use of a mold), upon sufficient cooling. The nucleated polyolefin is intended to be utilized as, for instance and not by limitation, medical devices, such as syringes, intravenous supply containers, and blood collection apparati; pipes and tubes; standard storage containers; food packages; liquid containers, such as for drinks, medicines, shampoos, and the like; apparel cases; microwaveable articles; shelves; cabinet doors; mechanical parts; automobile parts; and any article where the effects of nucleation may be advantageous.
The inventive nucleator and/or clarifier compositions are also defined in terms of their ability to provide improved haze measurements within polyolefin article formulations above such quantifiable properties available through the sole utilization of 3,4-DCDBS as a nucleator and/or clarifier within the same polyolefin article formulation and at the same total concentration as the inventive nucleator combination, as noted above. The term xe2x80x9csame polyolefin article formulationxe2x80x9d in this context intended to define the same base polyolefin content as used to produce the comparable polyolefin articles with the inventive compositions incorporated therein, including the same manufacturing process parameters (e.g., melting temperatures, molder barrel temperatures, cooling rates and temperatures, and the like). It would be well appreciated by the ordinarily skilled artisan that such a term does not connote the same exact polyolefin article itself. Thus, in comparison with standard polyolefin article formulations of the same base poyolefin content but with 3,4-DCDBS as the sole nucleating/clarifying additive, the inventive compositions provide increased crystallization onset temperatures and peak crystallization temperatures and decreased haze measurements where the concentration of the sole polyolefin nucleator component a comparative polyolefin article is equivalent to the total concentration of the polyolefin nucleator mixture within the inventive target polyolefin article.

Polyolefin additive composition comprising 3,4-dimethyldibenzylidene sorbitol and 3,4-dichlorodibenzylidene sorbitol