Tooth shapes of gears are formed such that a meshing line given by meshing of an inner gear and an outer gear provided in a state of meshing with each other for enabling transmission of a power is configured as a spiral mesh line.

In a background art, in a vehicular seat, there is known a constitution of arranging a reclining apparatus operable to adjust a backrest angle of a seat back. Here, JP-A-2005-83535 discloses a specific constitution of the above-described reclining apparatus. According to the disclosed reclining apparatus, an outer gear is disposed in a state of meshing with an inner gear, and the backrest angle of the seat back is varied by a relative revolving movement of the outer gear along an inner peripheral tooth face of the inner gear.
Further, according to the disclosure, a tooth shape of the above-described inner gear or outer gear is formed to have a shape of a cycloid curve or a trochoid curve. For this reason, a meshing line of the two gears is set to a shape of a circular arc, and therefore, in comparison with a gear train of a publicly-known tooth shape having an involute curve resulting a linear meshing line, a meshing strength can be increased by the increase in the meshing rate.

Gears and coupling apparatus using the gears


Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an adaptive power management method and apparatus. The electronic device includes: a first interface for communicating with a first external electronic device functionally connected to the electronic device; a second interface for receiving power supplied by a second external electronic device; and a processor, wherein the processor determines whether the electronic device is electrically connected to the second external electronic device through the second interface, generates state information corresponding to a result of the determination, and transmits the state information to the first external electronic device through the first interface. Furthermore, various embodiments are possible.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electronic device, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for adaptively managing power of an electronic device.
An electronic device, for example, a smartphone, a tablet Personnel Computer (PC), a notebook, etc., has been used in various fields for their convenience and portability. In recent years, interest has increased in external apparatuses functionally connectable to the electronic device such as, for example, an accessory apparatus (e.g., a smart watch, a docking station, etc.). Furthermore, the accessory apparatus can be connected to an auxiliary accessory apparatus such as, for example, a charging apparatus.

Method and apparatus for adaptively managing power


A wearable device, such as a smart watch, detects a movement by a user, and the wearable device may compare the detected user movement to known movement patterns to identify a social interaction. The wearable device may forward a notice to an associated mobile device, such as a smart phone paired to the wearable device, and the notice may identify the detected social interaction. The mobile device identifies another user involved with the social interaction, such as another user performing a movement similar to the movement detected by the wearable device. The mobile device may exchange contact information with another mobile device associated with the other user.

A mobile device, such as a smart phone, may be used with one or more additional devices that provide additional functions and/or features that are not present on the mobile device by itself. For example, a mobile device may be used with smart glasses that capture and/or present visual data to a user, headphones that capture and/or present audio data to a user, smart watches or fitness trackers that monitor activities of a user, etc. Social interactions and habits may evolve based on the availability and use of these devices.

Exchanging contact information based on identifying social interaction


In textile printing using a printing paste containing a dye and a biological polymer (or modified polymer) as thickener, removal of the thickener and excess dye is made much more efficient by washing the printed textile in the presence of a suitable enzyme. The enzymatic breakdown of thickener decreases process time as well as the amount of energy and water needed to achieve a satisfactory quality of the textile.

In printing of textiles, it is common to use a printing paste containing a dye and a thickener. Among the commonly used thickeners are biological polymers and chemically modified biological polymers, such as alginate, starch or modified starch, locust bean gum, galactomannan or modified galactomannan and carboxymethyl cellulose.
With most printing methods, the polymer and excess dye must be removed by washing with water after the fixation of the print. Generally, a large amount of water is required for complete removal due to the high viscosity and low water solubility of the printing paste. Insufficient removal leads to unsatisfactory quality of the finished textile for the following reasons: 1) dye may be transferred to other parts of the printed textile or to other garments during laundering by the consumer. 2) Residual thickener will make printed areas stiff. It is the object of this invention to decrease process time as well as the amount of energy and water needed to achieve a satisfactory quality of the textile and to increase the quality which can be obtained regarding colour fastness and "hand".

Removal of printing paste thickener and excess dye after textile printing


A method and system are provided for preparing an interspinous space to receive an implantable device. The system may comprise a cutting tool guide having a guiding surface for directing a cutting tool therethrough and a holder for positioning the cutting tool guide relative to the interspinous space. The holder may be configured to adjustably attach to at least one of a pair of spinous processes defining the interspinous space.

Conventional methods for implanting interspinous devices provide little or no control over the exact positioning of the device in an implantation site. Typically, if the surgeon desires more surface contact between the device and the bony surface of the spinous processes, the surgeon can remove bone tissue using a cutting tool such as, for example, a chisel, luer plier, or power cutting tool. However, these freestyle methods do not allow precise shaping or contouring of the spinous processes, nor do they provide exact control over the positioning of the device. Improper or incorrect placement of the device may lead to less than optimal results, including failure of the device, resulting in detrimental effects to the patient. When using interspinous devices to treat multiple vertebral levels, proper alignment is even more critical to ensure a desirable outcome.
There is thus a need for a system and method for preparing the implantation site for receiving an implantable device. More importantly, there is a need for a system and method that allow precise control over the shaping or contouring of the interspinous space and proper insertion of the implantable device into that space.

Method and system for performing interspinous space preparation for receiving an implant


A vehicular differential apparatus includes: a differential case; a first output portion in which a first coupling member and a first side gear mesh with each other via helical teeth; a second output portion in which a second coupling member and a second side gear mesh with each other via helical teeth; and a center washer 30 disposed between the first and second output portions. A clearance through which the first coupling member is movable in an axial direction between the center washer and the first sidewall portion is different in axial width from that through which the first side gear is movable in that direction therebetween. A clearance through which the second coupling member is movable in the axial direction between the center washer and the second sidewall portion is different in axial width from that through which the second side gear is movable in that direction therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicular differential apparatus that distributes a driving force of a vehicle between paired output shafts with a differential between the output shafts permitted.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, between a right drive shaft and a left drive shaft of a vehicle, a differential apparatus is provided which includes: a differential case to which a driving force generated by a driving source such as an engine is input; a plurality of pinion gears that is rotationally held in the differential case and that is revolved by rotation of the differential case; and a pair of side gears housed coaxially in the differential case so as to be rotatable relative to the differential case, and in which the input driving force is distributed between paired output shafts with differential between the output shafts permitted. Some such differential apparatuses include a differential limiting function to limit differential rotation between the output shafts by a frictional force to enhance straight-ahead traveling capability and thus traveling safety of the vehicle and to enable suppression of idle running (slip) of wheels on low μ roads such as pressed snow roads and muddy roads (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-174577 (JP 2009-174577 A).
In the differential apparatus described in JP 2009-174577 A, a pair of sun gears functioning as the side gears is configured such that each sun gear has two members, namely an inner portion coupled to the corresponding output shaft and an outer portion engaged with a pinion gear (planetary gear), and a thrust force generating mechanism that is helical teeth is provided between the inner portion and the outer portion. In the thrust force generating mechanism, respective thrust forces in opposite directions are generated in the inner portion and the outer portion to increase frictional resistance generated at end surfaces of each of the inner and outer portions in an axial direction. The frictional resistance limits the differential between the output shafts.
A center washer is disposed between the outer portions of the sun gears, and a center washer different from the center washer between the outer portions is disposed between the inner portions of the sun gears.
The differential apparatus described in JP 2009-174577 A has two center washers, which results in an increased number of components and increased assembly man-hours. Thus, a single center washer may be used instead of the two center washers and disposed between the inner portions and between the outer portions of the sun gears. However, in this case, when the inner portion and the outer portion of each sun gear are designed to be identical in axial length as described in JP 2009-174577 A, the differential limiting force may be varied by a slight difference in axial length resulting from a machining error.
In other words, when the outer portion of each sun gear is slightly longer than the inner portion of the sun gear, if the center washer is moved toward one side in the axial direction by a thrust force, the outer portion of the sun gear on this side is subjected to a stronger thrust force than the inner portion of the sun gear. When the inner portion is slightly longer than the outer portion, the inner portion is subjected to a stronger thrust force than the outer portion. Due to a difference in diameter between the inner portion and the outer portion, resultant rotational resistance, that is, the resultant differential limiting force, may vary between the inner and outer portions even when the inner and outer portions are subjected to a thrust force of the same magnitude. Thus, the differential limiting force is likely to vary (differences among individual products).


A haptic actuator is presented. The haptic actuator has an electropermanent magnet having a deactivated state and an activated state for a net magnetic field thereof. A layer of ferromagnetic material or magneto-active polymer is located opposite an end of the electropermanent magnet, and is configured to generate a haptic effect by being actuated toward the end of the electropermanent magnet in response to the net magnetic field of the electropermanent magnet being in the activated state.

Video games and video game systems have become even more popular due to the marketing toward, and resulting participation from, casual gamers. Conventional video game devices or controllers use visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some interface devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration or texture) is also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as "haptic feedback" or "haptic effects". Haptic effects can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. Specifically, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment. Some gaming systems include an actuator attached to a controller housing to generate haptic effects.
Other devices, such as medical devices, automotive controls, remote controls, and other similar devices for which a user interacts with user input elements to cause an action can also benefit from haptic effects. Haptic effects may be employed in these devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to the user regarding interaction of the device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Haptic enabled user interface device incorporating electropermanent magnet


A cold weather jersey to be worn by participants in activities requiring the use of ungloved hands includes an upper body encasing portion made of warm material and suitable for wearing by a person while taking part in outside activities having attached thereto armlength sleeves for encasing the arms of a wearer, pocket structure being provided near the armpit area of the jersey either on the inside of the sleeves themselves or opposite thereto on the body portion of the jersey. The pockets may be fastened along three edges to provide a single opening thereto, or may be attached along the upper and lower parallel edges only so as to provide opening from the both the front and back of the jersey. This also permits the jersey to be made in a symmetrical manner and permits same to be quickly donned without regard to front or back. The pockets may be attached by sewing in the case of knitted, woven, and like material, or attached by heat sealing in the case of plastic material, or material including plastic.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to jerseys or sweaters for use by sportsmen, hunters, and similar outdoor people who of necessity must have their hands unencumbered by gloves or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common problem with known type winter garments of the sweater type is that they protect the upper body or torso of the wearer and the arms thereof, but normally the hands of the wearer are exposed to the elements. Normally, a person wearing such a sweater can wear gloves and thus protect the hands. However, in many types of sports such as football, and other outdoor activities such as hunting, it is a necessary requirement that the wearer's hand or hands be unencumbered for participation in the activity. That is, in football, the players handling the ball must be able to maintain a good grip theron, and obviously cannot wear gloves or other hand protective devices. However, if the player's hands are exposed for an extended period of time to the elements, it can seriously affect the playing quality of the person. Therefore, a garment with structure provided therewith for allowing intermittent warming of a player's hands is very desirable.
Another problem with known type winter garments that do provide some way for warming ones hands, is that the structure is not arranged so as to maximize the use of body heat, and/or the structure is positioned in a place which can be subject to destruction, again for example in football, an outside pocket could be easily torn off during play.
Existing prior patents which may be pertinent to this invention are as follows:
______________________________________ INVENTOR U.S. PAT. NO. DATE GRANTED ______________________________________ Steinhauser 95,615 October 5, 1869 West 2,134,425 January 25, 1938 Jay 2,153,838 April 11, 1939 Jones 4,006,495 February 8, 1977 ______________________________________
None of these prior art patents offer the new and novel features of subject invention.


A Venetian blind is constructed to include a headrail, a bottom rail, a plurality of slats, a blind supporting system suspendedly and spacedly supporting the slats horizontally between the headrail and the bottom rail, two lift cords each having a first end fastened to the bottom rail and a second end extending upwardly through the slats into the headrail and then downwardly through a gate of a lift lock mounted in the headrail and terminating in an operation segment suspended below the headrail at a distance, and a knot constructed in each lift cord and having a dimension greater than the gate of the lift lock. Therefore, the knot limits the moving distance of the respective lift cord relative to the lift lock and, prevents a sudden dropping of the bottom rail upon failure of the lift lock.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to window blind assemblies and, more particularly, to a blind having a safety lift cord stopper assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Venetian blinds are intensively used in building construction to regulate light passing through windows and to decorate windows. FIG. 1 illustrates a regular Venetian blind, which comprises a headrail 11, a bottom rail 12, a set of slats 14 arranged in parallel between the headrail 11 and the bottom rail 12, pairs of ladder tapes 13 symmetrically and bilaterally connected between the headrail 11 and the bottom rail 12 and joining the slats 14, two lift cords 15 each having a fixed end respectively fixedly fastened to the bottom rail 12 and a free end 151 respectively upwardly extended through (a respective through hole in) each slat 14 and the headrail 11 and then extended out of a bottom opening near one end of the headrail 11, and a lift lock 16 installed in the headrail 11 and adapted to lock the lift cords 15. Operating the lift cords 15 controls the elevation of the bottom rail 12. This structure of Venetian blind is not safe in use because the cord segment 152 of each lift cord 15 passing through the slats 14 may accidentally be wound round the neck of child playing the Venetian blind for fun. Further, in case the lift lock 16 failed, the slats 14 and the bottom rail 12 may fall suddenly to hit a person passing or standing below the Venetian blind.
FIG. 2 illustrates a Venetian blind constructed according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,974. According to this design of blind assembly, two cord stoppers 22 are respectively slidably connected on the lift cords 21. The cord stoppers 22 are adapted to move upwardly along the lift cords 21. When the cord stoppers 22 moved along the lift cords 21 to an upper position and stopped at the opening for lift lock 24 in the bottom side of the headrail 23, the folding condition of the slats of the Venetian blind is locked, and the segment 25 of each lift cord 21 passing through the slats of the Venetian blind is prohibited from stretching. The cord stoppers 22 each include a locking guider slidably connected on one lift cord 21 of the Venetian blind by constructing an adjustable knot at a guiding through slot of the locking guider. According to this design, it is complicated and inconvenient to construct an adjustable knot at the guiding through slot of the locking guider of each cord stopper 22.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a Venetian blind that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.


A transmitter has a valve stem, an electronic element, a casing and a coupler. The valve stem permits flow of air into the tire. The electronic element transmits a data representing the condition of the tire. The casing accommodates the electronic element. The coupler couples the valve stem to the casing such that an angle of the casing relative to the valve stem is adjustable be controlled. This can be attached to wheels having different cross-sectional shape.

The present invention relates to a wireless tire condition monitoring apparatus that permits a driver in a vehicle passenger compartment to check the conditions of tires, such as the air pressure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a transmitter in a tire condition monitoring apparatus.
Some transmitters for tire condition monitoring apparatus have a valve stem that is formed integrally with a casing and functions as a transmission antenna. The casing accommodates electronic elements for transmitting data, which data represents the condition of a tire. Such a casing includes a flange extending outward from the bottom and triangular reinforcing ribs between the flange and the outer surface of the casing. Therefore, when the tire is replaced, the tire beads are overlaid on the casing. Therefore, the tire is replaced without damaging the casing (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-081358).
However, the construction disclosed in the publication cannot be applied to all the types of vehicle wheels. That is, there are many different types of cross-sectional shapes in wheels. The cross-sectional shapes in wheels include a deep rim, a shallow rim, a wide flat rim, and wide deep rim. Therefore, the angle defined by a valve stem and a casing is determined by the cross-sectional shape of a wheel. As a result, to attach a casing to a drop center of a wheel, a valve for a transmitter in a tire condition monitoring apparatus must correspond to the cross-sectional shape of the wheel.

Transmitter in tire condition monitoring apparatus


A electrically conductive sheet stuck onto a medium is picked up by a camera so as to detect the sticking position of the electrically conductive sheet on the medium, and the sticking condition of the electrically conductive sheet is compared with a predetermined pattern so as to determine whether the sticking condition of the electrically conductive sheet is satisfactory or not. That is, the check of the sticking condition of the electrically conductive sheet is automated. Further, a position where the sticking of the electrically conductive sheet is inferior is indexed in accordance with the result of the check, and the retry operation for sticking again the electrically conductive sheet can be automatically made.

The present invention relates to a sticking apparatus for sticking an electrically conductive sheet onto a display panel, and a method thereof.
These years, electronic parts manufactured by a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) process have been prosperously used for driver ICs for a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel, and further, it has been known to use a tape-like anisotropic electrically conductive sheet for sticking a driver IC onto a display panel.
The above-mentioned electrically conductive sheet is made of epoxy group synthetic resin or the like in which electrically conductive metal particles are mingled. Further, this sheet is adhesive so that it can be stuck onto a display panel, and accordingly, it is available in such a condition that a non-adhesive protecting sheet is applied onto the upper surface of the adhesive tape in order to protect the adhesive tape. Further, the electrically conductive sheet is stuck onto the display panel in this condition, and thereafter, the protecting sheet is peeled off.
In this arrangement, in a conventional method of sticking the electrically conductive sheet, a worker has been visually checked whether the sticking of the electrically conductive sheet is satisfactory after it is applied onto the display panel. The visual check of the sticking condition has offered a serious problem of excessive working time and labor.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Incorporating 500 to 5,000, preferably 2,000 to 4,000 parts per million of Fischer-Tropsch wax of high congealing point into beads of expandable polystyrene made by suspension polymerization yields greater advantages, and conditions (time, temperatures, and recipe) of the polymerization become less critical. The drying or conditioning step before the pre-expansion under particular conditions to generate a suitable cell structure need not be followed, and a step of coating with zinc stearate or the like before the pre-expansion may be omitted. Unexpanded beads are obtained which yield consistent cell structure, independent of conditions of their storage. Beads of higher pentane content can be used, and final articles of lower density may be obtained. The throughput of the pre-expander may be increased, and the beads, after pre-expansion, have good free-flowing (reduced clumping) and mold-filling characteristics. Other things being equal, they can be molded with a shorter cycle time, yet exhibit excellent fusion and other desirable characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of articles of expandable polystyrene and the like, and in particular, it relates to a change in the polymerization recipe by which there are formed beads of expandable vinyl aromatic monomer, e.g., polystyrene, which contains on the order of 5 to 9% of pentane or other blowing agent, and still more particularly, the invention relates to a process for making such beads in which the beads have incorporated in them about 500 to 5000 parts of a Fischer-Tropsch wax of a congealing point between 86.degree. and 110.degree. C.
In other aspects, the invention relates to expandable or expanded thermoplastic-composition products having considerable advantages in respect to various matters, as hereinbelow more fully explained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Those skilled in the art are familiar with two main practices by which styrene may be polymerized, in a suspension-polymerization process, thereby obtaining beads of polystyrene having a molecular weight on the order of 150,000 to 300,000 and containing on the order of 4 to 8% of pentane as a blowing agent. In one of the known methods, styrene, water, a small proportion of protective colloid, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, and small but effective proportion of one or more free-radical initiators, such as various peroxides and perbenzoates or the like, singly or in mixtures thereof, are stirred and heated to cause polymerization to take place for beads of desired size. According to another suspension-polymerization procedure, water and styrene are charged to a polymerization kettle, along with an agent such as calcium phosphate, and heated with agitation, an emulsifier being added at a particular stage of the heating to influence the bead size. In either case, pentane or the like is added before, during, or after the polymerization.
The use of additives of various kinds has been proposed, such as the addition of hexabromocyclododecane to inhibit the flammability of the product and to influence its cell structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,723, it is taught that styrene should be polymerized in the presence of a wax having a melting point of 70.degree. to 123.degree. C., an acid number of 0 to 45, and a saponification number of from 3 to 150. This is said to reduce the tendency of the beads to stick or clump in the pre-expansion stage in hot water. The process is said to be applicable to suspension polymerization of the kind conducted in the presence of salt, and the patent goes on to teach a further decreasing of the stickiness of the beads by treating the beads with zinc, calcium, or aluminium salt of a fatty acid, such as zinc stearate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,188, the addition of an ester wax of high melting point, of at least about 10.degree. C. higher than that of the solidification point of the polymer, in an extrusion process of polystyrene or the like, to provide a nucleation effect, is taught.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,979,476 teaches mixing polystyrene with about 1% of microcrystalline or Fischer-Tropsch waxes, to form bulk-polymerized materials which are useful for the manufacture of phonograph records.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,138 is limited to making foamable polystyrene particles with the use of isopentane as a blowing agent and the addition of 0.5 to 3% of a paraffinic hydrocarbon having 16 to 46 carbon atoms. According to this patent, the use of isopentane is essential, if a desirably fine-celled product is to be obtained.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,984 teaches the addition of 100 to 5,000 parts per million of a polyolefin wax "or similar organic resinous polymeric substance". It teaches that the addition of such material gives a desirably small cell size, such as 80 microns, or about 12 cells per millimeter, implying that this result, which is desirable because it shortens the length of time that it is necessary to keep the articles of expanded polystyrene in the mold and thus in the final molding operation, is brought about by the use of such organic resinous polymeric substance. The preferred material used is a polyolefin, is unlike the Fischer-Tropsch wax used with the present invention, and comprises a mixture of homologous but different molecular species with various C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 side chains. The patent contains no teaching to the effect that a stable cell structure in expandable polystyrene can be obtained, independent from the internal water content of the beads, the polymerization conditions or recipe, or drying and storage conditions of the expandable polystyrene.
It is well known in the industry that the cell structure of beads, when expanded shortly after the polymerization is completed, may vary sharply from the one obtained after flash drying or after storage at different temperatures and/or humidities. Such variations are further enhanced by using different modifiers, like bromine compounds which influence the flammability properties and may lead to a very heterogeneous, non-reproducible cell structure, even after applying the usual techniques of conditioning the product, i.e., subjecting the beads to the action of dry air. A reproducible, uniform cell structure, however, is a prime prerequisite for obtaining products with consistent properties in processing and application.
The subject of the invention is the production of expandable polystyrene with uniform, reproducible cell structure independent from the polymerization recipe, temperature and processing conditions prior to its use in expansion and molding plus the combination with improved expandability, reduction of clumping, improved wet and dry bead flow, improved fusion, reduced water adsorption, increased hydrophobicity, good mold release and excellent smooth surface, in particular of hot-wire-cut boards made from blocks of expandable polystyrene. The combination of such properties has hitherto not been achieved nor taught in the above cited patents.
Thus, in general, it is fair to state that the prior art of which the applicant is aware does not teach or suggest overcoming the various problems indicated above, by the addition of the indicated quantities of Fischer-Tropsch wax.

Expandable polystyrene with stabilized cell structure


An object detection apparatus includes a camera and an ECU. The camera is mounted to a vehicle and captures an image. The ECU is configured to obtain a depth distance for each pixel area of the image based on the image; extract at least one potential object based on the depth distance; calculate an amount of change over time in the depth distance of the at least one potential object; and detect an object around the vehicle from among the at least one potential object using the amount of change over time. When a first potential object and a second potential object that are adjacent in the image are extracted, and a second amount of change over time is twice a first amount of change over time, the second potential object is determined to be the same object as the first potential object.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an object detection apparatus and an object detection method.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology related to object detection, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-176091 (JP 2009-176091 A), for example, describes technology that detects an object in the vicinity using an image captured by a camera. JP 2009-176091 A describes an apparatus and method that obtains distance information on the image, and detects an object based on that distance information. This detection apparatus and detection method attempts to inhibit erroneous detection due to a reflection of a host vehicle by excluding an area between tail lamps of a leading vehicle from the target distance information to be obtained, when applied to the detection of a leading vehicle traveling ahead of the host vehicle.

Object detection apparatus and object detection method


An optical beam delivery system, includes: an optical beam source; a fiber assembly situated to receive and modify one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam; and a nonlinear frequency-conversion stage in optical communication with the fiber assembly and situated to receive and frequency-convert an optical beam from a first wavelength to one or more second wavelengths. The fiber assembly includes: a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable modification of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam by a perturbation device, and a second length of fiber having a second RIP coupled to the first length of fiber, the second RIP formed to confine at least a portion of modified beam characteristics of the optical beam within one or more confinement regions. The first RIP and the second RIP are different.

The use of high-power fiber-coupled lasers continues to gain popularity for a variety of applications, such as materials processing, cutting, welding, and/or additive manufacturing. These lasers include, for example, fiber lasers, disk lasers, diode lasers, diode-pumped solid state lasers, and lamp-pumped solid state lasers. In these systems, optical power is delivered from the laser to a work piece via an optical fiber.
Various fiber-coupled laser materials processing tasks require different beam characteristics (e.g., spatial profiles and/or divergence profiles). For example, cutting thick metal and welding generally require a larger spot size than cutting thin metal. Ideally, the laser beam properties would be adjustable to enable optimized processing for these different tasks. Conventionally, users have two choices: (1) Employ a laser system with fixed beam characteristics that can be used for different tasks but is not optimal for most of them (i.e., a compromise between performance and flexibility); or (2) Purchase a laser system or accessories that offer variable beam characteristics but that add significant cost, size, weight, complexity, and perhaps performance degradation (e.g., optical loss) or reliability degradation (e.g., reduced robustness or up-time). Currently available laser systems capable of varying beam characteristics require the use of free-space optics or other complex and expensive add-on mechanisms (e.g., zoom lenses, mirrors, translatable or motorized lenses, combiners, etc.) in order to vary beam characteristics. No solution exists that provides the desired adjustability in beam characteristics that minimizes or eliminates reliance on the use of free-space optics or other extra components that add significant penalties in terms of cost, complexity, performance, and/or reliability.
Meanwhile, nonlinear frequency conversion is used for changing beam wavelength. As such, laser systems can incorporate nonlinear frequency conversion in order to generate various optical harmonics of source radiation. In an example of a conventional nonlinear converting system that provides nonlinear frequency conversion, a source beam having, for example, infrared wavelengths, is converted to visible wavelengths (e.g., green) and/or ultraviolet wavelengths.
What is needed is an in-fiber apparatus for providing varying beam characteristics that does not require or minimizes the use of free-space optics and that can avoid significant cost, complexity, performance tradeoffs, and/or reliability degradation. Therefore, methods for controlling properties of lasers, while overcoming the limitations of conventional processes and systems, to provide improved articles would be a welcome addition to the art.

Frequency-converted optical beams having adjustable beam characteristics


A line identifier at a telecommunication switchboard comprises a matrix of magnetic-induction elements serving as current sensors for detecting a request for establishing a connection between a selected incoming line and a selected outgoing line. The sensors are connected to a multiplexer for providing samples in a time-division mode to a logic circuit controlled by a pair of microprocessors and addressing a read/write memory for storing information on the states of the sensors. A microprocessor, upon receiving from a sensor an identification request for a selected outgoing line, such request implicitly coding a selected input line, activates a relay which closes a circuit enabling the energization of a sensor whose output signal to the logic network identifies the outgoing line selected via the switchboard for connection to the prior-identified incoming lines. Upon successful identification of a selected incoming line and at least one selected outgoing line, the microprocessors emit energization signals to a pair of relays which thereupon break the circuits energizing the sensors and establish a link between the selected incoming line and the selected outgoing line. The logic network is connected via its control microprocessors to a computer for communicating thereto the identities of interconnected lines. The logic network with its associated multiplexer and microprocessors may be duplicated for cross-checking operations.

In traffic supervision and accounting of operator-assisted calls, it is necessary to collect and correlate data from switching nodes at different locations, for example, at a switchboard and at other points of an exchange. In particular, it is advantageous for accounting purposes to know the identity of a plug connection used for establishing a call, the identity of the switchboard and the identity of the trunk engaged in the implemented call connection (datum from the exchange).
Devices for detecting and correlating information coming from different points of a call connection, particularly information relating to the identity of a calling subscriber and to the identity of a called subscribed, are known in the telephone switching art. Any stage marker of an indirect-control exchange may serve as an illustration.
However, such devices discover only the end station of an imminent connection which is then set up upon the finding of a free path; they are useless in the case of a manually implemented connection such as that effectuated at a switchboard. Furthermore, conventional line identifiers employed at automatic exchanger cannot operate if the same line is used by many connections simultaneously, i.e. in the event of a conference among a plurality of operators or of a connection transfer from one operator to another.

CSELT-Centro Studi e Laboratori Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.


A method and an apparatus for continuously mixing two flows, a first, larger flow and a second, smaller flow. The second flow is introduced counter-directed into the first flow. The apparatus comprises a T pipe where a first connection constitutes an inlet for the first flow. A second connection, at 180° in relation to the first connection, constitutes an inlet for the second flow. The second flow is led into the first flow through a conduit within the T pipe. The first connection is provided with a conical portion in which are provided a number of holes, so that the first flow is throttled and divided up into a plurality of subflows immediately before the mixing operation. A third connection is oriented at 90° in relation to the other connections and constitutes an outlet for the intermixed flows, which implies that the intermixed flows are caused to change direction immediately after the mixing.

In the production of drinks, such as fruit juices, nectar and still drinks (non carbonated soft drinks) and the like, the intention is often to mix two or more flows with one another. The different flows often are of different character and, for example, may consist of juice concentrate which is mixed with water or sugar solution which is mixed with fruit juice, etc. In order to ensure that the desired mixture is obtained, the sugar content is measured after the mixing operation. The sugar content is measured in °Brix with the aid of a refractometer. In order that the Brix value of the product be as reliable as possible, the mixture must be as homogeneous as possible before the product reaches the refractometer.
In most countries, juices and nectars have a statutory minimum Brix content in order to be sold under each respective name. If there is an insufficient mixture and, as a result, an unreliable Brix value in the subsequent measurement, it must be ensured that there is a margin to the lowest permitted Brix value, which involves increased raw materials costs.
The mixing operation may be put into effect in different ways. A previously common method is to batchwise mix in a tank with an agitator. This method is both costly and takes up considerable space. Another method is to carry out the mixing operation in a so-called static mixer where the two flows are caused to pass through an apparatus with a number of inclined plates or panels. These give rise to turbulence in the flows, which results in a mixture of the different flows. However, this method has proved not to be entirely reliable when there are major differences in viscosity in the flows.
Two further similar methods are described in Patent Specifications SE 508 137 and SE 0103591-4. These methods are completely continuous and entail that a smaller flow is led into a larger flow in such a manner that both of the flows are counter-directed. These methods give a good mixture, but for certain practical applications higher demands are placed, such as, for example, the mixing of juice concentrate with fibres, where there is a risk that the fibres fasten in narrow parts of the apparatuses. A number of practical applications also place extremely high demands on hygiene which must be met, at the same time as the intention is to realise as thorough a mixing as possible.

Method and an apparatus for the continous mixing of two flows


A coiling apparatus, wherein a band tension regulator is operatively coupled with a hydraulic cylinder for controlling a friction drive of a coiling drum whose rotation speed is governed in a control circuit. The control circuit couples a device for maintaining a constant slip in the friction drive of a coiling drum and a hydraulic drive of a coiler mounted for a reciprocating movement along the axis of the coiling drum, whereby a constant coiling pitch is maintained regardless of variations in the rotation speed of the coiling drum shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to apparatus for handling metal strip coils and more particularly to apparatus for helically coiling bands after slitting a wide strip. The apparatus of the invention may also be employed for helically coiling bands made from flexible materials other than metallic ones, such as from plastics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Metal bands are generally produced by lengthwise slitting a continuously moving wider strip, and each band is then coiled on an individual reel. When the bands are narrow, it is desirable to coil them on reels in a helical manner, i.e. to guide a band back and forth along the reel axis in the course of coiling. However, helical coiling poses a problem as to an even laying of the band convolutions and maintaining of a constant band tension as the coil diameter increases. For an adequately shaped coil to be formed, such variables as the reel rotation speed, band tension, and coiling pitch must be maintained at predetermined values, which in many cases is hard to attain.
Attempts have been undertaken to solve this problem by the provision of coiling apparatus wherein the rotation speed of the reels is dependent upon the band tension, of individually-driven coiling drums, of self-contained apparatus and processing lines.
Among numerous constructions directed at solving the problem of helically coiling bands there is known an apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,993. The apparatus comprises a strip uncoiler, a strip-joining device, a slitter for lengthwise slitting of strips into bands, a band separator, and a coiler. The band separator comprises a plurality of rollers arranged in a row and having vertically extending axes. When passing between the band separator rollers, the bands moving in a horizontal plane are twisted through 90.degree. and then enter the coiler zone. The coiler comprises two rows of reels each arranged on a vertical axis and provided with an individual drive.
The reels are installed on a common frame in a horizontal plane. Mounted on the common frame for a vertical movement are two horizontal rails carrying vertical-axis rollers. Each roller is disposed in front of its reel and has an annular groove defined by a flange and a collar movable along the roller axis and adapted to receive a metal band. The collar can be adjusted along the roller axis to vary the width of the groove in accordance with the band width. In the course of helically coiling bands on the reels, the rails with the rollers are raised and lowered by a hydraulic cylinder actuated from a hydraulic pump which provides for a controlled feed of a hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic pump is driven by a chain and sprocket drive from the shaft of the front-end reel, which impairs the accuracy of maintaining the tension of the band coiled on this reel and may cause a break of the band. The direction of movement of the rails is reversed by means of a limit switch which, when the rails reach their extreme positions, operates a 4-way valve, causing the piston of the hydraulic cylinder coupled to the rails to move in the reverse direction.
The above-described apparatus features large dimensions and, accordingly, a heavy weight. The use of individual drives of the coiling units makes the coiling station more difficult to attend and increases the cost of the apparatus. Finished coils must be removed by hoisting means in turn from each reel, which lengthens the processing cycle.
The use of rollers with annular grooves for guiding bands restricts the range of strips in terms of thickness thereof, since the edges of thin bands get damaged as the bands shift along the axis of the roller; furthermore, such a construction of the rollers calls for an additional time to change the groove width.
Thus, upgrading the quality of coils, extending the range of bands and raising the productive capacity of the apparatus are hindered by the arrangement of the drive of the reels and by the band guiding means which comprises rollers with an annular groove.
The present invention has as its object to provide an apparatus for helically coiling bands, which ensures a better quality of produced coils, is suitable for coiling of a wider range of bands, and offers a higher productive capacity owing to interdependence between constancy of the tension of the bands, the rotation speed of coiling drums, and the coiling pitch.

Apparatus for helically coiling bands after slitting wide strip

ulitsa Oktyabrskoi revoljutsii, 27, kv. 9


A method for isomerizing a 1-olefin-containing organic feedstock having an average carbon number of about 4 to 5, e.g., 1-butene, to convert 1-olefin to 2-olefin at temperatures less than 200.degree. C., with a double bond isomerization catalyst comprising a zeolite sorbing 30 to 55 mg n-hexane at 90.degree. C., 83 torr, and 15 to 40 mg 3-methylpentane at 90.degree. C., 90 torr, per g dry zeolite in the hydrogen form, e.g., ZSM-22, ZSM-23, or ZSM-35. Catalyst aging is minimal despite operation at low temperatures and high pressures.

The demand for 2-olefin rich feeds has recently increased. For example, 2-butene-rich feeds have been found to be useful in the production of alkylate prepared by alkylation of isoparaffins with light olefins. The desirability of using butene-2 as compared to butene-1 as feedstock to an alkylation zone to produce high octane gasoline blending stocks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,804,490. U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,003 presents a process in which a feed stream comprising butene isomers is passed into an isomerization zone to increase the quantity of butene-2 available for passage into a downstream alkylation zone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,255 discloses an alkylation process using a heterogeneous isoparaffin/olefin alkylation catalyst, e.g. BF.sub.3 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, wherein the olefin feed is isomerized to reduce alpha olefin content using as isomerization catalyst alumina, silica, zirconia, chromium oxide, boron oxide, thoria, magnesia, aluminum sulfate or combinations thereof, as well as boron halide-modified metal oxide.
Double bond isomerization of olefins such as butene in the presence of catalysts of the pentasil type such as ZSM-5 and ZSM-11 at temperatures of 100 to 500.degree. c is disclosed in European Patent Application 0 129 899 to Hoelderich.
European Patent Application 0 247 802, to Barri et al. discloses restructuring olefins using tectometallosilicates of the Theta-1 type (ZSM-22) as well as ZSM-23 at relatively high reaction temperatures of 200 to 550.degree. C. Table 4 thereof shows 1-butene to 2-butene selectivity (mol/mol) of Theta-1 catalyst in the conversion of 1-butene of 92.1% at 234.degree. C. at 100 MPa pressure using an 11.5.+-.2.8% vol/vol 1-butene in nitrogen feed. By-products, especially isobutylene, are formed with a selectivity of 7.9%. The composition of the linear butenes in the product is 16% 1-butene and 84% 2-butene.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,819 to Hamilton, Jr. exemplifies double bond isomerization of an alpha olefin feed (preferably C.sub.12 to C.sub.18) to produce a product having interior double bond isomerization using a ferrierite catalyst. The reference further teaches at column 5, lines 15 to 19, that "[o]ther aluminosilicates may be exemplified by ZSM-12, ZSM-22, ZSM-23 and ZSM-48." It is not unexpected that a wide variety of catalysts can be used to isomerize 1-butene at high initial activity inasmuch as the double bond shift is one of the most facile among the hydrocarbon reactions. The thermodynamics of the reaction indicate that enhanced selectivity for 2-butenes occurs at lower temperatures and that relatively great selectivities are possible with a wide variety of catalysts at such temperatures. However, catalyst stability is known to decrease as temperatures are lowered. At lower temperatures, zeolite isomerization catalysts are known to "age" or lose their high level of activity with time. This has been attributed to the formation of undesirable carbonaceous deposits or "coke" on the catalyst's active sites during hydrocarbon conversion reactions. Once the carbon deposits have reached the point where the reaction level becomes economically undesirable, the only known way to correct the problem has been to shut down the reactor and burn the carbon off of the catalyst in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. This, needless to say, is an expensive operation which should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method for isomerizing 1-olefin feeds to 2-olefin rich products over a catalyst which exhibits not only high 1-olefin conversion and 2-olefin selectivity, but high stability at low temperatures as well. It would also be desirable to provide an isomerization method which not only has high selectivity for 1-olefin to 2-olefin, but a low rate of catalyst deactivation as well, resulting in long cycle times between catalyst regeneration.

Double bond isomerization of 1-olefin containing feeds using ZSM-22, ZSM-23 or ZSM-35


A solution for performance optimization of a publish operation, for use with a system comprising a publisher to publish a message and to match a subscriber with the published message, embodiments of the solution comprising: in response to the publisher publishing a message, determining whether the matching subscriber is actively waiting for the published message; and in response to determining that the subscriber is not actively waiting, deferring delivery of the published message.

The disclosure relates to the field of publish and subscribe technologies, and more particularly to performance optimization of a publish operation.
Publish and Subscribe (pub/sub) is an effective way of disseminating information to multiple users. Pub/Sub applications can help to simplify the task of getting business messages and transactions to a wide, dynamically changing and potentially large audience in a timely manner.
In a pub/sub system, publishers are not concerned with where their messages are going, and subscribers are not interested in where the messages they receive have come from. Instead, a broker typically assures the integrity of the message source and manages the distribution of a message according to subscriptions registered in the broker.

Performance optimization of a publish operation

International Business Machines Corporation


The symptoms of the climacterium are ameliorated by the administration to an afflicted individual one or both of a nitric oxide substrate and/or nitric acid donor, alone or optionally in combination with a progestin or, in the case of a non-pregnant female, either a progestin or an estrogen or both.

This invention relates to a method for the treatment and prevention during menopause of climacteric disorders such as hot flushes, abnormal clotting patterns, urogenital discomfort, increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases, etc., associated with the reduction in ovarian function in middle-aged women, with a nitric oxide synthase substrate (L-arginine), a nitric oxide donor or both, alone or (in the case of females) in combination with estrogen and/or progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or, in the case of males, in combination with a progestin.
It is now well known that HRT, such as estrogen treatment, improves or reverses the adverse effects of the versation of sex steroid secretion by the ovaries during menopause. Estrogens have also been shown to improve mood and psychological well-being in postmenopausal women and they also prevent atrophic changes in the genital tract. Estrogens have been shown to effect arterial tone and this may help to explain the reduction in hot flushes observed in postmenopausal women with estrogen therapy. On the other hand, unopposed estrogen therapy has been associated with endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer.
Many studies have shown that the addition of progesterone to estrogen HRT decreases the risk of endometrial cancer and even reverses endometrial hyperplasia. However, progestins are not without their own untoward side effects.
Progestins may oppose the beneficial effects of estrogens on the cardiovascular system by inducing an atherogenic profile in plasma lipids. Moreover, persistent irregular or withdrawal bleedings are common with continuous or sequentially combined estrogen-progestin therapy. In any event, modern HRT now employs combinations of an estrogen and a progestin as in the general case for most contraceptives.
One of the most exciting recent advances in biology and medicine is the discovery that nitric oxide is produced by endothelial cells and that it is involved in the regulation of vascular tone, platelet aggregation, neurotransmission and immune activation (Furchgott and Zawadzki, 1980; Moncada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991; Ignarro, 1991). Nitric oxide is an important mediator of relaxation of the muscular smooth muscle (Montada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991) and was formerly known as EDRF (endothelin-derived relaxing factor) (Furchgott und Zawadzki, 1980; Moncada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991). Nitric oxide is synthesized by the oxidative deamination of a guanidino nitrogen of L-arginine by at least different isoforms of a flavin-containing enzyme, nitric oxide synthase (Montada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991). Synthesis of nitric oxide has been shown to be competitively inhibited by analogues of L-arginine; NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), NG-monoethyl-L-arginine (LMMA), N-iminoethyl-L-arnithine (L-NIO), L-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NNMA) and L-NG-methylarginine (LNMA) and Nw-nitro-L-arginine (L-NA).
Nitric oxide elevates levels of cGMP (1,3,5-cyclic guanosine monophosphate) within the vascular smooth muscle to produce relaxation and to reduce blood vessel tone (Moncada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991). Nitric oxide binds to heme and thus activates soluble guanylate cyclase (Ignarro, 1991) to increase the cellular content of cGMP. It has long been recognized that nitrovasodilators, such as nitroprusside and nitroglycerin, inhibit vascular smooth muscle contractility to produce relaxation or to reduce vascular tone. These agents have been used since the late 1800's as vasodilators. However, only recently has the mechanism of action of these compounds been realized. Nitrovasodilators are now classified as nitric oxide donors because they are metabolized to release nitric oxide (Moncada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991). The long-used nitrovasodilators may be regarded as substitution therapy for a failing physiological mechanism. Nitric oxide is also produced by macrophages and other immune cells.
There is a substantial body of evidence from animal experiments that a deficiency in nitric oxide contributes to the pathogenesis of a number of diseases, including hypertension, atherosclerosis and diabetes (Montada, Palmer and Higgs, 1991). There are many recent studies showing that the inhibition of nitric oxide synthase dramatically increases blood pressure. The inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis with L-NNMA, L-NA or L-NAME causes long-lasting elevation in blood pressure and suggests that its reduction may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension (Moncada and Palmer, 1992). Furthermore, L-NAME-treatment potentiates pressor responses to angiotensin II, vasopressin and norepinephrine. Also, in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension, release of nitric oxide by umbilical vessels is blunted (Pinto et al, 1991) and the physiological decrease in blood pressure in pregnant spontaneous hypertensive rats was shown to depend on endothelial nitric oxide (Ahokas, Merces and Sibai, 1991). Additionally, infusion of L-NA increases blood-pressure in pregnant rats and potentiates responses to vasopressors (Molnar and Hertelendy, 1992). These studies suggest that impaired nitric oxide synthesis may be an important mechanism in the etiology of cardiovascular problems.
Nitric oxide synthesis and nitric oxide effector system (cGMP-dependent relaxation mechanism) are thought to be regulated by steroid hormones. There is an increase in cardiovascular diseases in women following menopause and which may be related to the decrease in sex steroids and an alteration in nitric oxide. Female steroid hormones have been shown to modulate endothelium-dependent relaxation of vascular smooth muscle by nitric oxide. Estradiol treatment of rats causes increased nitric oxide production by vascular tissues, whereas progesterone counteracts this phenomenon (Miller and Van Houtte, 1991). It is well known that pregnancy is associated with an increase in cardiac output and a decrease in the resistance of virtually all the vascular beds in the body. Although the mechanism of this phenomenon is not known, it could be associated with changes in nitric oxide production or effects as a result of elevated steroid hormone levels. One important observation with regard to the above mechanism is that antiprogestins (RU 486) elevate blood pressure in animals (Kalimi, 1989) and they produce hot flushes in humans, both males (Grunberg et al., 1993) and females (Kettel et al., 1991). The hot flushes may be mediated by the steroid action on the release of nitric oxide. Hot flushes are a primary symptom in menopausal, postmenopausal women and they are relieved by both estrogen and progesterone (Avis et al., 1993).
The studies described below show that nitric oxide and the subsequent relaxation of the uterus is controlled by progesterone. The relaxation effects of the nitric oxide substrate, L-arginine, are greater in late pregnancy when progesterone levels are elevated in pregnant rats. Also there is greater uterine relaxation with L-arginine when uterine strips are taken from nonpregnant, ovariectomized rats treated with progesterone. In addition, treatment with pregnant rats with the nitric oxide inhibitor produces signs and symptoms of preeclampsia (e.g., hypertension, fetal retardation and proteinurea--the classical triad of preeclampsia). These symptoms are related to the decrease in vascular resistance and placental perfusion. Preeclampsia is a well known model of atherosclerosis as the decrease in placental perfusion is accompanied by increased fibrin deposition in placental vessels and increased thrombus formation (Roberts et al., 1989). Thus, nitric oxide substrates and/or donors alone or in combination with estrogen and progesterone will be particularly efficacious for hormone replacement therapy to prevent climacteric symptoms (climacterium) such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, hot flushes, etc.
EP 0441 119 A2 discloses the use of L-arginine in the treatment of hypertension and other vascular disorders. It suggests that the mechanism by which L-arginine is effective for this purpose is because it may be the physiological precursor of "the most powerful endothelial-derived releasing factor, nitric oxide." The use of L-arginine in combination with other pharmaceutically active agents is not discussed in this publication.

Treatment of climacteric disorders with nitric oxide synthase substrates and/or donors


An integrated circuit that provides multiple communication functions is accomplished by providing an integrated circuit (24) that includes memory (70) which stores an audio code algorithm, echo cancellation information, a modem processing algorithm, and audio data. The memory (70) is coupled via a data bus (50) to a signal converter (56), a central processing unit (58), and a first co-processor (72). The signal converter (56) provides an analog-to-digital input port (78) and a digital-to-analog output port (80) for the integrated circuit (24), wherein the audio data is received via the analog-to-digital input port (78). The central processing unit (58) executes at least a first portion of the audio coding algorithm upon the audio data and executes a first portion of the modem processing algorithm, while the first co-processor (72) executes an echo cancellation algorithm.

Wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, mobile radio/telephones and portable radio/telephones, operate by sending a request for a wireless communication service to a communication resource controller. The request typically contains the requesting unit's individual identification code (ID), the type of service requested, and identity of a target unit, where the target unit may be a wireless communication unit or a wireline communication unit. The types of wireless services that may be requested include one-to-one communications (i.e., private calls), one-to-many communications (i.e., group or conference calls), data transmissions, and/or telephone interconnect calls (i.e., calling a wireline telephone user). For example, if the requesting unit desires to place a private call to another communication unit, the request would include the requesting unit's ID, the target unit's ID, and a private call request.
Upon receiving the request, a communication resource controller determines whether the requesting communication unit is authorized to access a wireless communication system and the requested service. If authorized, the communication resource controller interprets the service requested and identity of the target unit. Depending on the service requested and identity of the target unit, the communication resource controller attempts to provide the requested service by establishing a communication path between the requesting unit and the target unit. For example, if the requested service indicates a private call between two wireless communication units that are within the coverage area of the communication resource controller, the controller can establish the private call by allocating a wireless communication resource to the wireless communication units.
If, however, the requested service indicates a private call between a requesting unit in the wireless communication system and a target unit that is a wireline communication unit, the communication resource controller needs to establish a wireless path and a wireline path for the requested communication to occur. The communication resource controller establishes the wireless path as it would for a communication between two wireless communication units, but, to establish the wireline path, the communication resource controller must be coupled to some sort of public switching network, such as the public switch telephone network (PSTN). Once the wireless and wireline paths are established, the requested service may be executed.
To ensure that a wireless communication unit manufactured by XYZ corporation can communicate with a wireless communication unit manufactured by ABC corporation, standards have been, and are being, established. In essence, the standards dictate how wireless and/or wireline communications are to be established. For example, the European standard for cellular telephone communications is the global system for mobile communications (GSM) standard. Thus, manufacturers that want to sell wireless communication units throughout Europe must design their equipment to be compliant with the GSM standard.
In addition to complying with these standards, the manufacturer must also conform their product to governmental regulations and/or laws. For example, in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proscribed certain frequency bands to be used for certain types of communications. For example, land mobile communications are given one frequency band, while cellular telephone communications, commercial radio transmissions, and television transmissions are each given a different band. In addition to national regulatory requirements, state or Federal laws may limit the practicality of such wireless communication units. For example, many European countries have made it illegal to use a hand operated cellular telephone while driving an automobile, thus requiring drivers to stop their vehicles to place a telephone call or have hands-free operation.
While complying with the standards and governmental regulations, manufacturers cannot lose sight of consumer needs and requirements. Consumers are demanding that their wireless communication units be lighter weight, have extended battery life, more features, and be smaller in size. For example, consumers are requiting their cellular telephones be able to transmit and receive facsimiles, to allow their personal computers to interface with a network, and to interface audio equipment such as a headset, compact disc players, etc.
To meet the regulatory requirements, cellular telephone manufacturers may utilize a three chip set such as AT&T's GSM hardware platform. This chip set allows cellular telephone manufacturers to perform the radio frequency (RF) function of a cellular telephone, the base band modem functions, and audio codec functions. While this chip set meets the regulatory requirements, it does not provide for efficient full duplex hands free operation. To provide hands free operation, manufacturers are required to include an additional digital signal processor (DSP), such as Motorola's DSP56001 or DSP56156, programmed to perform an echo cancellation algorithm.
As is generally understood, when additional integrated circuits (IC), or chips, are needed to perform functions, additional power is consumed, additional circuit board real estate is needed, and operating speeds are slowed as information is transported between the ICs. Thus, the manufacturer of cellular telephones must provide for four chips in the layout of the cellular telephone and limit the consumers' goal of lighter weight, smaller packages, and longer talk time.
An alternative to using the AT&T chip set is to use DSPs programmed to perform the various functions. While this will provide the needed functions, it has similar limitations as the AT&T chip set, in that many chips are needed to perform the desired functions, thus limiting the consumers' goals.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that provides a single integrated circuit that performs the above-mentioned cellular telephone features while more readily accommodating the consumer requirements of lighter weight, smaller packages, and longer talk time.

Integrated circuit that performs multiple communication tasks


Provided are high-purity lanthanum, wherein the purity excluding rare-earth elements and gas components is 4N or higher, and amounts of aluminum, iron and copper in the lanthanum are respectively 100 wtppm or less; as well as high-purity lanthanum, wherein the purity excluding rare-earth elements and gas components is 4N or higher, amounts of aluminum, iron and copper in the lanthanum are respectively 100 wtppm or less, oxygen content is 1500 wtppm or less, elements of alkali metals and alkali earth metals are respectively 1 wtppm or less, elements of transition metals and high-melting-point metals other than those above are respectively 10 wtppm or less, and radioactive elements are respectively 10 wtppb or less. The invention aims to provide technology capable of efficiently and stably providing high-purity lanthanum, a sputtering target comprising high-purity lanthanum, and a thin film for metal gate mainly comprising high-purity lanthanum.

The present invention relates to high-purity lanthanum, a sputtering target comprising high-purity lanthanum, and a metal gate film mainly comprising high-purity lanthanum.
Lanthanum (La) is one of the rare-earth elements, and is a mineral resource that is contained in the earth's crust as a mixed composite oxide. Rare-earth elements are so called because they are separated from relatively rare minerals, but they are not that rare in light of the overall earth's crust. Lanthanum is a white metal having an atomic number of 57 and an atomic weight of 138.9, and comprises a double hexagonal close-packed structure at normal temperature. Lanthanum has a melting point of 921° C., boiling point of 3500° C., and density of 6.15 g/cm3, its surface is oxidized in the atmosphere, and it gradually melts in water. Lanthanum is soluble in hot water and acid. Although it is not ductile, it is slightly malleable. Lanthanum's resistivity is 5.70×10−6 Ωcm, and it becomes oxide (La2O3) when burned at 445° C. or higher (refer to Dictionary of Physics and Chemistry).
With rare-earth elements, it is generally said that compounds with the oxidation number 3 are stable, and lanthanum is also trivalent. In recent years, lanthanum is a metal that is attracting attention as an electronic material such as a metal gate material or a high-permittivity (High-k) material, and research and development is being promoted.
Lanthanum metal is a material in which high purification is difficult to achieve since it is easily oxidized during the refining process, and a high-purity product thereof did not exist to date. In addition, if lanthanum metal is left in the atmosphere, there is a problem in that the handling thereof is difficult since it will become oxidized in a short time and tarnished to a black color.
In recent years, thinning of a gate insulator film in the next-generation MOSFET is being demanded, but with the SiO2 that has been conventionally used as the gate insulator film, the leak current increases due to the tunnel effect, and normal operation is becoming difficult.
Thus, as a substitute for the SiO2 described above, HfO2, ZrO2, Al2O3 and La2O3 with high permittivity, high thermal stability, and high energy barrier against the holes and electrons in the silicon have been proposed. In particular, among the foregoing materials, La2O3 is valued highly, and a research on its electrical properties and for its use as a gate insulator film in the next-generation MOSFET has been reported (refer to Non Patent Document 1). Nevertheless, with Non Patent Document 1, the subject of research is a La2O3 film, and it does not make any reference to the properties and behavior of La element.
It could be said that lanthanum (lanthanum oxide) is still in the research phase. When studying the properties of such lanthanum (lanthanum oxide), if lanthanum metal itself exists as a sputtering target material, it is possible to form a lanthanum thin film on a substrate and it will be easy to study the behavior at the interface with the silicon substrate and the properties of a high-permittivity gate insulator film or the like by forming a lanthanum compound. There is also a significant advantage in that the freedom of the target as a product will increase.
Nevertheless, even if a lanthanum sputtering target is prepared, as described above, it becomes oxidized in a short time (approximately 10 minutes) in the atmosphere. When an oxide film is formed on the target, the electrical conductivity will deteriorate and thereby cause defective sputtering. In addition, if the lanthanum sputtering target is left in the atmosphere for a long time, it reacts with the moisture in the air and becomes covered with white hydroxide powder, and it may even cause a problem of not allowing normal sputtering to be performed. Thus, after the target is prepared, it is necessary to take antioxidant measures such as by immediately performing vacuum packing or coating the target with fats or oils, but these are extremely complicated processes. In light of the foregoing problems, the actual condition is that a target material based on a lanthanum element has not yet been put into practical application.    [Non Patent Document 1] Written by Eisuke Tokunaga and two others, "Research on Oxide Material for High-k Gate Insulator Film", The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan, Research Paper of Electronic Materials, Vol. 6-13, Pages 37 to 41, Published on Sep. 21, 2001

High-purity lanthanum, sputtering target comprising high-purity lanthanum, and metal gate film mainly comprising high-purity lanthanum


A positioning method for a mobile station in the radio coverage area of a satellite entails determining the instantaneous distance between the satellite and the mobile station. The instantaneous elevation angle .phi. of the satellite is then calculated from the instantaneous distance, the altitude of the satellite and the radius of the Earth. The Doppler shift .delta. is then determined, after which the angle .theta. between the projections onto the surface of the Earth of the track of the satellite and a straight line segment passing through the satellite and the mobile station is calculated from the Doppler shift .delta. and the instantaneous elevation angle .phi.. The location of the mobile station is then determined from the instantaneous distance, the instantaneous elevation angle .phi. and the angle .theta..

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of positioning (i.e. determining the geographical location of) mobile stations using radiolocation techniques. These techniques enable a mobile station to determine its geographical location at any time using radio links between the mobile station and one or more reference points.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many positioning systems exist already. They are essentially intended for maritime and aeronautical applications and use a specific transmission infrastructure such as a network of terrestrial transmitters (as in the OMEGA or LORAN C systems, for example) or a constellation of satellites (as in the TRANSIT system, for example).
The existing Global Positioning System (GPS) can be used in any type of mobile station. It uses a constellation of 24 satellites deployed in such a manner that a mobile station can receive signals from three separate satellites at any time. In the GPS system three satellites are required for positioning to be possible.
A major drawback of these prior art dedicated systems is that they require a very high investment in terms of transmission network installation and maintenance.
These infrastructure costs also impact on the positioning devices. Furthermore, these devices must include powerful and accurate computation means since they have to achieve an accuracy in the order of a few tens of meters.
This degree of accuracy is of benefit in some applications. There is, nevertheless, an entirely separate requirement for coarser positioning (for example, at the level of one cell in a cellular mobile radio network) at much lower cost. At present there is no system meeting this need.
One object of the invention is to meet this need and to alleviate the various drawbacks of the prior art.
To be more precise, one object of the invention is to provide a positioning method using a simplified satellite infrastructure. In other words, one object of the invention is to provide a positioning method requiring reception of signals from only one satellite (rather than from three satellites, as in the prior art systems).
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of this kind such that the design and manufacture of the positioning devices combine simplicity with low cost. In particular, one object of the invention is to provide a positioning method which can be implemented easily in mobile telephones.
A further object of the invention is to provide a positioning method which does not require a specific infrastructure but which can use an existing infrastructure such as the Globalstar network, for example.

Method and device for mobile station positioning by means of a satellite, and associated transmission method


A camera provided with an illuminated display positioned behind the frame to be exposed, the display being contained within a space defined by the back of the film. One of the guide rollers that positions the film is divided to leave a gap at its center permitting a data image from the display to be recorded on a portion of the film near the edge of a frame that would otherwise be obscured. Interchangeable components may be used to permit the data to be superimposed on the primary image or recorded in a space between frames.

It is often desired to record data on photographic film, the data being arranged so that it is adjacent to or superimposed on individual frames on the film to which the data relates. For example, one may wish to record the time at which the exposure was made, the aperture and shutter setting, and the film speed. Alternatively, one may wish to identify the subject photographed on a particular frame by coded indicia. In aerial photography, one may wish to record the precise latitude and longitude at which a phototgraph is taken along with the time of day.
Conventionally, data is recorded by providing an electronically controlled solid state illuminated display arranged to project an image onto the emulsion side of the film or onto the back of the film. The display itself may be positioned within the body of the camera and driven by an external signal source. The incorporation of a digital display within a previously designed camera is often difficult task because there is typically very little room available within a camera body. This is particularly true in the case of the well designed high quality cameras that it is most often desired to equip with such a display.
It is a principle objective of the present invention to provide an arrangement for incorporating an illuminated information display for recording data in a camera in which very little space is available for the installation of this equipment. Another objective of the invention is to provide such an arrangement that is capable of recording data either on the frames or in spaces between the frames, as desired by the user.

Photographic camera with provision for recording supplemental data


A non-contact magnetic sensor assembly includes a thin-walled magnetic ring that facilitates a reduction in the size of the device without compromising performance. The component assembly may be configured as a Hall effect current sensor and may be included in a string monitor for a photovoltaic power system.

The field of the invention relates generally to magnetic components configured as transducers, and more specifically to non-contact sensors such as Hall effect current sensor devices for electrical sensing applications.
Hall effect sensors are known and in widespread use as transducers in a variety of sensing applications. Hall effect sensors typically include a housing, a magnetic core element including a gap, and a Hall element in the gap. The housing and the magnetic core are formed with an opening through which an electrical conductor, such as a wire or cable may be passed. When electrical current flows through the conductor, a magnetic field is generated that varies with the amount of current flow. The magnetic field is concentrated in the gap of the core element and measured by the Hall element. When subjected to a magnetic field associated with the current flow in the conductor, the Hall element responds with an output voltage proportional to the magnetic field strength. The output voltage is typically small and requires additional electronics to achieve useful voltage levels. When the Hall element is combined with the associated electronics, it forms a Hall effect sensor.
By monitoring the output voltage of the Hall effect sensor, the magnitude of the electrical current flowing through the conductor can be determined. The electrical current is measured without electrical contact with the primary circuit, providing galvanic isolation. Hall effect sensors can be used in both open loop and closed loop feedback configurations to monitor and control aspects of electric power systems. In various other applications, Hall effect sensors can be adapted for use as temperature, sensors, pressure sensors, position sensors, etc. A Hall effect sensor can reliably detect any quantity or parameter that can be sensed which incorporates or can incorporate a magnetic field.
In certain applications, known Hall effect sensors are disadvantaged and improvements are desired.

Magnetic sensor with thin-walled magnetic core and methods of manufacture


Multi-directional (reversible and parallel) loop heat pipe thermal systems for use on a spacecraft. The multi-directional loop heat pipe thermal systems may comprise reversible or parallel loop heat pipes that provide efficient thermal pathways that are directionally independent between any combination of equipment mounting panels and radiator panels. Loop heat pipes of the reversible loop heat pipe thermal system are coupled between opposite ends of respective evaporator/condenser flanges. The evaporator/condenser flanges each comprise a condenser and an evaporator. The parallel loop heat pipe thermal system comprises pairs or sets of parallel heat pipes that are respectively coupled between a condenser flange and an evaporator flange. The reversible or parallel loop heat pipes may be routed to a multiple number of radiator panels in order to optimize the use of a radiator panel by always transporting heat to the coolest radiator panel.

The present invention relates generally to spacecraft, and more particularly, to multi-directional loop heat pipe thermal systems for use on a spacecraft.
The assignee of the present invention manufactures and deploys spacecraft containing communication equipment that orbit the earth. Heretofore, fixed conductance heat pipes have been used to transport heat from internal equipment panels to external radiator panels. Such fixed conductance heat pipes are disclosed in French Patent 2,463,058, for example. Aft deployable thermal radiators using loop heat pipes are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/54396, filed Sep. 16, 1998, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. However, multi-directional loop heat pipes have not heretofore been used to provide cooling between internal equipment panels and external radiator panels.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have improved multi-directional loop heat pipe thermal systems for use on a spacecraft.
The present invention provides for multi-directional loop heat pipe thermal systems for use on a spacecraft. The multi-directional loop heat pipe thermal systems may take the form of a reversible or parallel loop heat pipe cooling system that provide efficient thermal pathways that are directionally independent between any combination of spacecraft equipment mounting panels and radiator panels. The reversible or parallel loop heat pipes may be routed to a multiple number of radiator panels in order to optimize the use of a radiator panel by always transporting heat to the coolest radiator panel.
Advantages of the present invention over known prior art include the following. The multi-directional reversible or parallel loop heat pipes have a much higher heat transport capability than fixed conductance heat pipes. The multi-directional reversible or parallel loop heat pipes are not directionally dependent and can transport heat in either direction. The multi-directional reversible or parallel loop heat pipes are flexible and easily routed. The multi-directional reversible or parallel loop heat pipes may be routed to multiple radiator panels in order to optimize heat sharing between radiator panels.

Spacecraft multi-directional loop heat pipe thermal systems


A method for automatic pouring of molten metal from a ladle into a tundish through the use of a rotary nozzle, wherein the pouring operation between a ladle and a tundish in continuous casting of metal is effected by a rotary nozzle, and a plurality of pouring nozzles having different diameters are mounted on the rotary nozzle, whereby the pouring nozzles are used alternately by 100% fully opening and closing the same. The plurality of pouring nozzles with different diameters include at least a pouring nozzle whose pouring rate for wide open pouring is greater than that required to maintain the level of the molten metal in the tundish at a predetermined reference level and another pouring nozzle whose pouring rate for wide open pouring is less than that required to maintain the predetermined reference level.

With a known method of pouring molten metal from a ladle into a tundish in continuous casting of metal, a single-opening nozzle is used and the liquid level of the tundish is controlled by a so-called throttling pouring which changes the opening area of the nozzle. A disadvantage of this prior art method is that the molten metal poured by the throttling pouring results in an unbrellalike stream as will be described later thus inevitably causing oxidation of the poured molten metal stream by air, and moreover the most serious drawback of the throttling pouring will be a reduced life of the refractory brick, i.e., the fixed plate brick, sliding plate brick, etc., due to the damages to their portions around the nozzle opening.
The inventor, etc, have discovered by experiments that the prior art throttling pouring with a single-opening nozzle causes formation of a large amount of large-sized inclusions in cast slabs and that the wide open pouring without any throttling operation has the effect of very greatly reducing the trapping of air in the poured molten metal stream and thereby preventing oxidation of the pouring stream by the trapped air and reducing the formation of large-sized inclusions in cast slabs. This is believed to result from the following reasons. In other words, with the prior art pouring method, a throttling pouring is employed in which the nozzle openings of a fixed plate and sliding plate are selected practically the same or different from each other and the centers of the nozzle bores are offset to vary the effective opening area. As a result, when the poured molten metal stream passes through the offset portions, the molten metal stream is caused to eddy in the vicinity of the offset portions so that melting loss of the refractory bricks will be promoted and the flow line of the poured molten metal stream will be disturbed, thus affecting the molten metal stream just below the nozzle and thereby disturbing the molten metal stream. On the contrary, the wide open pouring is believed to cause no trapping of air in the molten metal stream, since the wide open pouring does not cause any eddy of the molten metal and disturbance of the flow line and the molten metal stream flows as an undisturbed stream. These conditions will be explained with reference to FIG. 11 which is a traced copy of a photograph taken by a high speed camera and showing the flowing conditions of the poured molten metal stream just below the ladle nozzle, with FIG. 11(A) showing the conditions obtained with a wide open nozzle having a nozzle diameter of 50 mm.phi. and FIG. 11(B) showing the conditions obtained with a throttled (70%--open), nozzle having a nozzle diameter of 70 mm.phi.. As will be seen from these Figures, there was no disturbance of the molten metal stream in the case of the wide open pouring, and the throttled pouring caused a considerable disturbance of the molten metal steram.
In summary, it is essential for the production of good quality cast slabs to use a rotary nozzle assembly having a plurality of nozzles of different diameters which meet the requirements for ensuring the required pour throughout the pouring period when pouring molten metal from a ladle into a tundish and to effect the pouring by selectively opening fully these nozzles and causing the molten metal to flow as a normal flow, and the previously mentioned essence of this invention attributes to this point.


A downstream-side passage of an expansion valve includes a small-diameter part to which a valve hole and an insertion hole are open, and a large-diameter part to which a pipe leading to an evaporator is connected. A plate has a shield part partially covering a downstream end of the small-diameter part. The shield part has a height of 2 mm or larger in a radial direction of the small-diameter part from a projected position of an opening of the insertion hole at the downstream end of the small-diameter part, and a width equal to or larger than a radius of the shaft within a range of the height. The plate is provided so that the shield part does not cover at least a range of projection of an opening of the valve hole at the downstream end of the small-diameter part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an expansion valve, and more particularly to an expansion valve suitable for use in a refrigeration cycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A refrigeration cycle in an automotive air conditioner generally includes a compressor for compressing a circulating refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the compressed refrigerant, an expansion valve for throttling and expanding the condensed refrigerant and delivering the resulting spray of refrigerant, and an evaporator for cooling the air in a vehicle interior using evaporative latent heat of the refrigerant. The expansion valve controls the flow rate of the refrigerant delivered toward the evaporator so that the refrigerant having passed through the evaporator has a predetermined degree of superheat.
In such a refrigeration cycle, sufficient condensing may not be achieved during low-load operation, for example. This may result in a gas-liquid two-phase state of the high-pressure refrigerant flowing into the expansion valve, and cause a phenomenon of liquid refrigerant and gas refrigerant intermittently passing through a valve section. In this case, the liquid refrigerant (liquid phase), which has a relatively high density, flows less smoothly depending on the layout of piping connecting the evaporator and the expansion valve. As a result, liquid stagnation may occur at a particular position in the piping and a subsequent flow of refrigerant hitting the liquid stagnation may cause noise.
To address such circumstances, a structure in which a throttle passage downstream of a valve section of an expansion valve is proposed, for example (refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-245549, for example). Specifically, a plate having a small hole at the center is disposed in a downstream-side passage in the valve section. This structure is proposed to make bubbles of the refrigerant finer through two stages of pressure reduction by the valve section of the expansion valve and by the throttle passage, so as to reduce noise (breakage sound) caused by the bubbles breaking while the refrigerant passes through the liquid stagnation.