Aluminum pigments are produced by wet milling in the presence of water, employing a coupling agent to allow miscibility of water in the milling slurry, in order to compensate for inefficient aeration of commercial ball mills. Hydrogen peroxide may be employed to the same purpose without a coupling agent. This process assures the production of high quality leafing aluminum pigments.

Leafing quality aluminum pigments are commerically manufactured in ball mills using particulate aluminum, mineral spirits as diluent or slurrying agent, and stearic acid as lubricant. The process is generally described by Junius D. Edwards and Robert I. Wray on pages 8-11 of their book, "Aluminum Paint and Powder" (Third Edition, 1955, Reinhold Publishing Corp., Library of Congress No. 55-6623). The production of high quality leafing aluminum pigments also requires the presence of oxygen in the mill environment. For example, W. D. Jones states on page 212 of his book, "Fundamental Principles of Powder Metallurgy" (Edward Arnold Publishers, Ltd., London, 1960), ". . . it has been established that powder produced in the absence of oxygen will not leaf." U.S. Pat. No. 3,002,891, issued May 28, 1935, to E. J. Hall, also teaches the importance for oxygen being present in the mill (page 2, Section D, first column, lines 27-38).
Current production ball mills, however, are generally large, slowly rotating cylinders and they do not provide efficient aeration of the mill slurry. As a result, commercially-produced leafing pigments are manufactured under various degrees of oxygen starvation, with a resultant decrease in product pigment quality when compared with pigments milled under conditions where the nascent, developing aluminum surfaces have free access to both stearic acid and oxygen.

Leafing aluminum pigments of improved quality


The equipment for measuring on earth the thrust of thrusters for use in space comprises a balance (1) and a measuring means (11) which is associated with the balance in order to measure the thrust exerted by the thruster (P). The balance (1) is provided with a target (13) at which the exhaust jet from the thruster (P) is directed, whereas the thruster is mechanically free from the structure of the balance and the measuring means (11) measures the force applied to the balance in order to balance the thrust exerted on the balance by the jet from the thruster. (FIG. 3)

The methods and corresponding equipment currently in use for these purposes involve suspension of the thruster on the balance. FIGS. 1 and 2 show two embodiments of conventional equipment. Both cases involve measuring equipment which uses two arms which rotate around a fulcrum F. The thruster P is disposed on one arm C, whereas the measurable balancing force acts on the other arm B.
In the known solution shown schematically in FIG. 1, in addition to the arms B and C there are shown: a cable A which serves the dual purpose of supporting the entire structure, and of acting as a torsional spring; the point of rotation F of the structure, which is prevented by the cable A from being displaced at all; the electromagnet D which counterbalances the thrust of the thruster P; and the position feed-back system E which enables the angular displacements to be reset by means of an optical system for measuring the displacements, comprising a mirror G. The measurement is thus performed on the horizontal plane and the balancing force is of an electromagnetic nature. Since the length of the arms B and C is known, the magnitude of the balancing force permits determination of the thrust T exerted by the thruster P on the structure of the balance.
In the embodiment shown schematically in FIG. 2, in addition to the arms B and C there are shown the center of rotation F of the structure, and the load cell D. The operation is similar to that described with reference to the equipment in FIG. 1.
The limits of the conventional equipment of the above-described type are derived from the fact that although the balance must measure thrusts T of approximately 1 mN to 100 mN, it must support the weight of the entire thruster, which is of the order of kilograms. In addition the friction exerted on the balance can become a force comparable to the thrusts to be measured, since the thruster P is connected to the supply system by means of electrical power cables and ducts for the propellant gas supply. These elements introduce into the system forces and damping which are difficult to quantify and reproduce. Considerable problems are caused in these test configurations by two elements, i.e. the fulcrum of the balance, and the power cables: in order for the balance to operate perfectly, the fulcrum must not give rise to friction or develop unknown forces with components in the direction of the thrust to be measured. Both requirements are difficult to obtain in equipment of the conventional type, particularly taking into account the fact that the cables constitute constraints relative to the exterior, with damping and rigidity which are difficult to reproduce exactly from one test to another.

Device and method for measuring on earth the thrust of thrusters for use in space


This is a method for forming patterned features. The method comprises: forming a single layer of resist 12 on a substrate 10, the layer 12 having a thickness; patterning the resist by selective exposure to a first energy source 16 to modify the developing properties of portions of the resist, leaving an amount of the thickness unexposed; and developing the resist. This is also a device which comprises: a substrate; a layer of resist over the substrate; and an energy absorbing dye in the resist. Other methods and structures are also disclosed.

The semiconductor industry is constantly striving to achieve higher density electronic devices. As the industry has moved into micron, submicron and even sub-half-micron sized features to achieve higher densities, the need for improved lithography methods to create such minute features has increased.
Among the problems associated with conventional lithography techniques are the lack of uniformity of exposure of resist through a thick layer of resist and scattered light within the layer of resist due to reflective metallized surfaces under the resist. These problems tend to compound the loss of resolution problem by creating ill-defined patterns at the onset.
Standard methods for image development, in the exposed etch resist, fall short of the requirements for sub-half-micron feature generation. Wet development of the etch resist often produces a positive-grade slope on the feature sidewall that degrades the contrast of image transfer into the underlying thin film during the dry etch process. This is due to the less than infinite etch rate selectivity between the resist and the film material. Thus, there is a need for a method for forming high resolution submicron and sub-half-micron sized features on a semiconductor device.

High resolution lithography method using hydrogen developing reagent


Provided is an internal combustion engine including a control device 40 configured to adjust fuel injection valves 12 and a resting mechanism 30 and thereby executing a control of switching between an all-cylinder operation Oa and a reduced-cylinder operation Or, the all-cylinder operation Oa being an operation in which a combustion cycle is always performed in all of the cylinders 11, and the reduced-cylinder operation Or being an operation in which a combustion cycle is always performed in some cylinders 11 less than a cylinder number Nc, wherein in the reduced-cylinder operation Or, all of the cylinders 11 perform a partial operation in which an operating state and a resting state thereof are repeated.

As engines (internal combustion engines), an engine which can perform a reduced-cylinder operation, in which a specific cylinder is maintained in a resting state, has been proposed as a measure for reducing fuel consumption (e.g., see Patent Document 1). In such an engine, injection of fuel and operation of intake or exhaust valves in the specific cylinder are stopped and the other operating cylinders are operated as a high-load operation, thereby enhancing a fuel consumption rate.
However, in the resting cylinder, in which injection of fuel and operation of intake or exhaust valves are stopped, a pressure in a combustion chamber thereof is decreased when a piston therein descends. That is, there is a problem that lubricant oil is gathered inside a combustion chamber of a cylinder which is maintained in the resting state during a long time.
Thus, if the cylinder is switched from a reduced-cylinder operation into an all-cylinder operation in a state where the lubricant oil is gathered inside the combustion chamber thereof, the lubricant oil is discharged together with an exhaust gas upon restarting of the all-cylinder operation. In this case, white smoke is likely to significantly occur even if a catalyst is equipped in an exhaust gas passage of the engine.
Also, in the reduced-cylinder operation in which only a specific cylinder is maintained in the resting state, there is a problem in that the reduced-cylinder operation can only be performed by a combination of cylinders having equal intervals or a good cylinder balance. For example, examples of reduced-cylinder operations of an 8-cylinder engine include a 6-cylinder operation and a 4-cylinder operation, and examples of reduced-cylinder operations of a 6-cylinder engine include a 3-cylinder operation and a 2-cylinder operation.
That is, in the reduced-cylinder operation in which only a specific cylinder is maintained in the resting state, a 7-cylinder operation or 5-cylinder operation in the 8-cylinder engine and a 5-cylinder operation in the 6-cylinder engine cannot be performed, thereby causing an output range from the engine during the reduced-cylinder operation to be discontinuous. Therefore, there is a problem that an operation range of the reduced-cylinder operation is narrow. Further, in the case of engines, in which a cylinder number is an odd number, such as a 5-cylinder engine or a 3-cylinder engine, no combination of cylinders having equal intervals or a good cylinder balance for the reduced-cylinder operation in which only a specific cylinder is maintained in the resting state exists and hence it is not possible to perform the reduced-cylinder operation thereon.

Internal combustion engine and method for controlling same


An aqueous solution is formed by dissolving a dye made of alizarin and a humectant made of glycerin, and alkalized by dissolving a base (alkaline substance), thereby preparing a detector solution (101) in which the content of the humectant is about 20 wt %. An impregnated carrier (104) impregnated with the detector solution (101) is formed by dipping for 30 sec a sheet-like carrier (103) made of cellulose filter paper in the detector solution (101) so that the carrier (103) is impregnated with the detector solution (101). The impregnated carrier (104) is pulled up from the detector solution (101), and dried in dry nitrogen by evaporating a solvent such as water contained in the impregnated carrier (104), thereby forming an ozone detecting device (105).

Presently, NOx, SPM (Suspended Particulate Matter), and photochemical oxidant cause air pollution, and the influence on the environment is regarded as a problem. For example, the photochemical oxidant mainly containing a strongly acidic substance such as ozone is produced by a photochemical reaction caused by a pollutant such as NOx or hydrocarbon exhausted from factories, offices, and automobiles when the pollutant is irradiated with the sun light, and causes photochemical smog.
In Japan, environmental standards are set for these substances, and general environmental air measurement stations in various places measure the substances. For example, an environmental standard is set for the concentration of the photochemical oxidant, and general air environment observation stations in various places perform gas concentration measurements by an automatic measurement method such as an ultraviolet absorption method. Note that the environmental standard of the photochemical oxidant is 0.06 ppm or less as an average value measured per hour.
The ozone gas concentration measurement performed by the automatic measurement method described above measures ozone in the air by using a method of bubbling a gas to be measured in a neutral potassium iodide solution, and detecting the concentration by using a color developing reaction of generated iodine, or a method of detecting the concentration by using absorption of ozone in the ultraviolet region. Although these measurement methods can measure a slight amount of a gas, i.e., a few ppb of a gas, they have drawbacks that apparatuses are enlarged, complicated, and incapable of simple measurements. Also, these apparatuses are expensive and require constant setup in order to maintain the accuracy. In addition, automatic measurements performed by these apparatuses always require electric power and also require periodic calibration (maintenance). Therefore, enormous costs are required to maintain these apparatuses, and power supplies, temperature-controlled installation environments, and standard gases must be secured. That is, these apparatuses impose many limitations.
To accurately investigate the gas concentration distribution in an environment, evaluate the influence on a local environment, and evaluate the influence of exposure to a human body, an individual must monitor the environment by using a readily portable measurement method. For this purpose, the large-scale measurement apparatuses as described above cannot be used, and demands have arisen for the development of a an inexpensive, compact, and readily usable measurement device such as a gas sensor and a simple measurement method.
Recently, ozone is attracting attention because it has strong sterilizing power (oxidizing power), and changes into oxygen and produces no harmful substance after decomposition. This is extending the use of ozone to various industrial fields such as water processing, food sterilization, and paper bleaching. Accordingly, reference values of 100 ppb and 8 hrs are set for the ozone concentration as labor environmental standards. In a factory using ozone, it is of course necessary to install ozone alarms, and it is also necessary to manage the state in which each worker works within the range of the labor standards. This requires a measurement device that can be carried by a worker.
Under these circumstances, ozone gas measurement techniques have been presently extensively developed. Examples are a semiconductor gas sensor, solid-state electrolyte gas sensor, electrochemical gas sensor, and quartz oscillating gas sensor. However, these sensors have been developed to evaluate short-time responses, and only few sensors have been developed for monitoring requiring measurement data accumulation. When it is necessary to accumulate measurement data, therefore, the sensors must always be operated. Also, a sensing unit of, e.g., the semiconductor sensor must be held at a few hundred ° C., so a large amount of electric power is always necessary to constantly operate the sensor.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned sensors have a sensitivity of about sub-ppm, and hence cannot measure concentrations in real environments, e.g., cannot measure 10 ppb of ozone. Although some semiconductor sensors react to 10 ppb of ozone, the sensor output is nonlinear with respect to the concentration, and the output value largely changes from one sensor to another. This makes comparison difficult when using different sensors. Also, the influence of another gas cannot be neglected in many cases.
There is also a method using a detector tube type gas measurement device. Unfortunately, this method has also been developed to locally measure a very-short-time concentration in a measurement point. This makes it difficult to use the method to accumulate measurement data.
In addition to the above-mentioned ozone gas analyzing techniques, ozone detecting paper carrying (having) starch and potassium iodide (attached) has been proposed as a simple, high-sensitivity ozone analyzing technique (reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 3257622). However, this technique disclosed in patent reference 1 requires a pump for forcedly drawing a gas to be detected, a light source for measurement, and electric power for driving a detector including the pump and light source. Also, a special sheet-like carrier (substrate) is necessary, and must be replaced whenever measurement is performed. This makes cumulative measurement difficult. In addition, the measurement using the detecting paper described above detects all photochemical oxidants instead of ozone. Furthermore, this method has problems in accuracy and reproducibility because produced iodine gradually evaporates.
As another simple, high-sensitivity ozone gas analyzing method, a technique using ozone detecting paper carrying indigo carmine has been proposed (reference 2: Anna C. Franklin, et al., "Ozone Measurement in South Carolina Using Passive Sampler", Journal of the Air & Waste Measurement Association, Vol. 54, pp. 1312-1320, 2004). However, this ozone detecting paper has no sufficient sensitivity and cannot well measure a storage amount of 100 ppb×8 hrs as the labor environmental standard. A technique by which a membrane filter is placed on the surface of an ozone detecting sheet carrying a blue indigo dye, and the sensitivity is controlled by adjusting the thickness of the membrane filter has also been proposed (reference 3: "Operating Instructions for Ozone Monitor", Part#380010-10, http://www.kandmenvironmental.com/PDFs/ozone.pdf).
Furthermore, as a simple, advanced ozone detecting device, the present inventors have proposed an ozone detecting device using porous glass containing, in pores, a dye that changes light absorption in the visible region by reacting with ozone (reference 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-144729). This technique can measure ozone gas at high accuracy without any large-scale apparatus. However, even this technique requires electric power to drive a light source and detector during measurement, and also requires an expensive carrier, i.e., porous glass.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


An extension device to extend an original equipment vehicle side rear view mirror away from the vehicle so that the mirror may be used with wide loads. One end of a U-shaped extension device is inserted in the original mirror mounting bracket on the vehicle and the original mirror support arm is inserted in a sleeve that is rigidly secured to the other end of the extension device. Threaded fasteners, which are accessible to the driver through the vehicle window, extend through the sleeve to lock the mirror in adjusted position.

This invention relates to an extension for a vehicle side rear view mirror for use when towing a wide load such as a trailer.
The prior art includes a number of examples of extension devices for vehicle side rear view mirrors needed when the vehicle such as a pickup is towing a wide load. Often such mirror extension devices include an entire assembly including mirror and mounting bracket which is attached to the vehicle only when needed. In another arrangement, the original equipment mirror is mounted on an extension device that is itself mounted in the original vehicle mirror mounting bracket. In Bronstein et al U. S. Pat. No. 4,793,582, one end of an inverted U-shaped extension member is mounted in the original vehicle mirror mount and the L-shaped support arm of the original mirror is mounted in a bracket that is removably clamped to the other end of the U-shaped extension member.
The Bronstein et al mirror extension device includes a number of features which are generally similar to the invention disclosed herein. An inverted generally U-shaped extension member is mounted in the original vehicle mirror mount. Also, the original equipment mirror is removably secured to the extension so that it may be remounted in its original placement. However, the arrangement of Bronstein et al presents problems inherent with the multiple piece design thereof, particularly in regard to adjusting the mirror to its proper position. It is difficult, for example, for one person to hold all of the pieces in proper position while the clamping elements are being tightened to secure the mirror in adjusted position. Further, as is well known, in order to determine the proper position of mirror adjustment the driver must be seated in normal driving position in the vehicle. Because of the multiple components that must be held in position until they are secured it is almost impossible for the driver of a vehicle to make an adjustment from inside the vehicle so that an assistant would likely be required for such procedure. Also, because of the clamp design, uneven clamping on the tubular members could result in the loss of the bracket or the mirror due to the normal road induced vibrations.

Vehicle rear view mirror extension device


An adaptive antenna directivity control method and a system therefor is capable of reducing interference in an up-link and/or a down-link upon initiation of handoff to improve communication quality upon initiation of handoff to speed-up directivity control resulting in increasing of channel capacity. In the adaptive antenna directivity control method, a mobile station and base station to be connected with the mobile station in radio through an up-link and a down-link are governed by a supervisory station. Respective transmission signal or reception signal of a plurality of antenna elements of the base station are varied in amplitude and phase for combining in a particular orientation for establishing a directivity by a radiation pattern by combining. The method includes step of initiating soft handoff in the mobile station, step of obtaining an installation position information from a first base station which is connected before handoff and directivity information of an up-link of the first base station relative to the mobile station, step of predicting an orientation of the mobile station from own station by a second base station to be connected by handoff on the basis of the directivity information of the up-link, and step of determining an initial directivity control parameter of the up-link corresponding to obtained orientation of the mobile station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an adaptive antenna directivity control method and a system therefore in a mobile communication system applied a code division multiple access (CDMA) system or so forth. More particularly, the invention relates to an adaptive antenna directivity control method and a system therefore, in which amplitudes and a phases of transmission signals and reception signals of respective of a plurality of antenna elements are varied to form a combined radiation pattern for a particular orientation and to cancel output signals for other orientation, for forming a directivity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in radio communication, when a plurality of communication terminals perform communication simultaneously particularly at the same or close frequencies, communication jamming due to mutual interference, such as intermodulation or so forth, can be caused frequently. Therefore, multiplexed communication system permitting multiple simultaneous communication, such as known CDMA system, A frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and a time division multiple access (TDMA) have be employed. Even in such radio communication, it is still possible to cause mutual interference by a large number of communications in a limited frequency band and whereby to limit use efficiency of the frequency. On the other hand, it is also possible to cause interference due to adverse affect of a multiplexed wave propagation path (multipath) in metropolitan where many reflecting bodies, such as buildings, are present.
The CDMA system distinguishes each communication terminal from others by assigning an orthogonal code which has high auto-correlation and low cross-correlatioin. Thus, all of the terminals are performing communication using the same frequency. Particularly, in a mobile communication system, such as in a digital cellular mobile telephone system, propagation characteristics can be varied abruptly according to movement of the mobile terminal. In such wave propagating condition, orthogonality of the code can be broken to possibly cause degradation of communication quality due to mutual interference of communication. Therefore, in the CDMA system, a transmission power control for maintaining interference at respective terminals uniform, RAKE reception for effectively use a plurality of multipath waves having different delay periods, path capture and so forth according to IS-95 standard or so on, are performed.
In such mobile communication system according to the CDMA system, employment of an adaptive antenna has been attracting attention for the purpose of improvement of communication quality and improvement of use efficiency of the frequency. The adaptive antenna is constructed by regularly arraying a plurality of antenna elements for forming a special filter by appropriate weighting of amplitude and phase components for reception signals of different amplitudes and phases through respective antenna elements, in reception. In transmission, similarly to reception, by appropriate weighting of amplitude and phase components, arbitrary directivity characteristics (beam pattern and occasionally simply referred to as directivity) is established in antenna radiation.
As a result, in the mobile communication system, to which the CDMA system is applied, by use of the adaptive antenna, communication of a plurality of mobile terminals at the same frequency can be spatially separated to reduce mutual interference. Thus, use efficiency of the frequency can be improved.
In case of the cellular mobile communication system applied the CDMA system, associating with movement of the mobile terminal (occasionally referred to as mobile station), switching between cell base stations (occasionally referred to as base station) to establish radio channel connection is performed. Namely, so-called handoff is performed. In the cellular mobile communication system performing handoff, in particular the cellular mobile communication system according to the CDMA system, all base stations and mobile stations performs communication by spread spectrum using the same frequencies in respective of up-link and down-link. Thus, the mobile station can simultaneously communicate with both of the base station connected before handoff and the base station to be newly connected by handoff before the mobile station switches the base station. Namely, soft handoff can be performed.
In the mobile communication system employing the adaptive antenna which performs directivity control set forth above, in handoff of the CDMA system, directivity to the base station connected between handoff can be established stably and satisfactorily follow to the movement of the mobile station, however, sharp directivity (the beam pattern having small half value angle) to the base station to be connected cannot be established initially since orientation (direction/angle) of the mobile station cannot be determined. Accordingly, all orientation is retrieved at once to gradually predict the orientation of the mobile station to finally establish sharp directivity for the mobile station.
FIG. 15 is an illustration for explaining initial directivity control in the up-link in the base station to be connected by handoff to the mobile station when the conventional adaptive antenna is used.
In FIG. 15, the mobile station 3 is initially located in a cell area 5 (service area) where only transmission wave of the base station 1 reaches, and thus establishes radio channel connection with only base station 1. Thereafter, the mobile station 3 moves toward the base station 2 to be located near a cell area 6 (service area) of the base station 2. Then, soft handoff is initiated.
FIG. 15 shows directivities of respective up-links of the base station 1 and the base station 2 immediately after initiation of soft handoff in the mobile station 3. The up-link of the base station 1 as the base station connected before handoff appropriately follows to moving position of the mobile station and thus establishes sharp directivity (beam pattern 7).
In contrast to this, the up-link of the base station 2 establishes initial directivity (area 9) for retrieving all of orientations or only particular orientation (sector) since the position of the mobile station cannot be determined. Accordingly, the directivity (area 9) of the up-link of the base station 2 is the same area as the cell area 6 of the base station 2.
Broad (beam pattern having wide xe2x88x923 dB gain position) of the directivity (area 9) of the up-link of the base station 2 should increase possibility of mutual interference to receive a transmission wave of the up-link from another mobile station 4 located at the position of the orientation where the mobile station is not present. Furthermore, as set forth above, from the condition of omnidirectional retrieval, adaptive antenna directivity control has been initiated to take a significant period for restoring the normal state of control.
FIG. 16 is a sequence chart between a supervisory station, the base station and the mobile station in the case where the conventional adaptive antenna directivity control set forth above.
FIG. 16 shows a sequence including a supervisory station upon initiating soft handoff of the mobile station 3 from the base station 1 to the base station 2. The mobile station regularly notifies a received pilot channel strength. The notice from the mobile station is notified to the supervisory station via the base station 1. In the supervisory station, judgment is made whether the mobile station 3 can handoff with the base station other than the base station 1 on the basis of the content of notice. (xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16).
Here, if there is no base station to be an object of handoff, no event occurs. On the other hand, if there is the base station to handoff (base station 2 in FIG. 15) (xe2x80x9cIxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16), the supervisory station commands for the base station 2 to assign communication channel for the mobile station 3 (xe2x80x9cJxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16). According to the command from the supervisory station, the base station 2 assigns the communication channel, and in conjunction therewith, sends a response indicative of completion of channel assignment to the supervisory station (xe2x80x9cKxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16).
Normally, at this stage, the base station 2 starts transmission through a communication channel of the down-link, and is enabled to receive communication through the up-link from the mobile station 3. However, as set forth above, at this stage, the directivity of the up-link is established for the predetermined wide area. On the other hand, the supervisory station receiving the response from the base station 2 recognized completion of preparation of communication between the base station 2 and the mobile station 3 to command initiation of soft handoff between the mobile station 3 and the base station 2 (xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16).
The mobile station 3 receiving the command initiates reception of communication through the down-link from the base station 2. At the same time, completion of handoff is notified to the supervisory station via the base station. Here, at the stage of xe2x80x9cKxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16, since the base station 2 starts control from the state of the initial wide directivity and performs tracing of the mobile station 3, it takes a period longer than a period between xe2x80x9cExe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d in FIG. 5 which will be discussed later to restore the normal state control (xe2x80x9cMxe2x80x9d in FIG. 16). In other words, during this period, the base station receives communication from the mobile station 3 through the up-link and continues reception of the transmission wave from all orientation to cause mutual interference.
Similarly, even in the down-link, the base station connected before handoff can satisfactorily follow the mobile station with sufficiently stable directivity, whereas the base station to be connected by handoff has to perform transmission to entire sector area which is preliminarily determined upon installation of the base station.
FIG. 17 is an illustration for explaining an initial directivity control in the down-link of the base station to be connected by handoff when the conventional adaptive antenna directivity control set forth above is used.
FIG. 17 shows an example in which the pilot channel and the communication channel are to be controlled at mutually different directivities. On the other hand, movement of the mobile station 3 and the position thereof are the same as those shown in FIG. 15. An area 10 represents a directivity of a pilot channel in a certain sector (sector for the mobile station 3) in the base station 1. On the other hand, an area 11 represents a directivity of a pilot channel in a certain sector (sector for the mobile station 3). A beam pattern 12 represents a directivity of the down-link established by the base station 1 for the mobile station 3. On the other hand, a beam pattern 14 represents an initial directivity of the down-link established by the base station 2 for the mobile station 3.
The directivity of the down-link of the base station 1 which is connected before handoff, is established to satisfactorily follow the mobile station similarly to the case of the up-link, and is sharply established. In contrast to this, the directivity of the down-link of the base station 2 to be connected by handoff is to perform transmission through the down-link for omnidirection (cell area 6) since the orientation of the mobile station 3 is not known, or, in the alternative, to perform transmission to only particular sector area 1 by identifying the sector on the basis of information of the pilot channel of the base station 2, to which the mobile station establishes radio channel connection by the supervisory station and in accordance with the command of the supervisory station.
Therefore, when the base station 2 performs transmission through the down-link for the cell area 6, mutual interference can be caused in all of the mobile station other than the mobile station 3 located in the cell. On the other hand, when the base station 2 performs transmission through the down-link to the sector area 14, all of the mobile station other than the mobile station 3 located within the sector may cause mutual interference. Furthermore, similar to the case of the up-link, long period is required for restoring the normal state of control. It should be noted that the sequence of FIG. 16 is applicable for the down-link as is, discussion will be omitted. On the other hand, while discussion has been given for the case where the directivities of the pilot channel and the down-link are different, it is possible to control the directivities at the same directivity in certain system.
FIG. 18 is an illustration for explaining initial directivity control in the down-link of the base station to be connected by handoff to the mobile station in the case where the conventional adaptive antenna directivity control is used.
In FIG. 18, the directivities of the pilot channel and the communication channel are controlled to the same directivity. The beam pattern 15 represents the directivity of the pilot channel and the down-link of certain sector (sector for the mobile station 3) which is formed by the base station 1 for the mobile station 3. The beam pattern 17 represents the directivity of the pilot channel and the down-link of certain sector (sector for the mobile station 3) which is formed by the base station 2 for the mobile station 3.
It should be noted that a difference to FIG. 17 set forth above is only that the directivities of the pilot channel and the down-link of respective base stations 1 and 2 are the same, and others are basically the same. Accordingly, even in FIG. 18, the problem discussed in connection with FIG. 17 is encountered.
As set forth above, in the prior art, at every occasion of initiation of soft handoff in any mobile station, interference in the base station to be connected by handoff can be caused both in up-link and down-link. Furthermore, this problem is becoming more significant for substantial increase of occurrence of soft handoff since the recent mobile communication system, such as the cellular mobile telephone system has a tendency to narrow the cell area (service area) per the base station (formation of microcell), and in other words, channel capacity is reduced.
As prior art of handoff in this kind, there is Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 10-70502, for xe2x80x9cDirectivity Controlled Antenna Devicexe2x80x9d. In this prior art, the antenna is controlled adaptively with predicting orientation of the mobile station for permitting efficient use of the frequency and transmission power.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (PCT) No. Heisei 9-510595, for xe2x80x9cPhased Array Cellular Base Station with Improved Power Efficiency and Method Associated Theretoxe2x80x9d, facilitates use of an active phased array antenna by increasing power efficiency, reducing size of the cell area and by reducing radiation of spurious signal causing intermodulation in the base station.
In such prior art, the cell area of the base station tends to be reduced and frequency of occurrence of soft handoff is becoming higher. Therefore, interference in the base station to be connected by handoff tends to be caused frequently in both of the up-link and the down-link at every occurrence of initiation of soft handoff in any of the relevant mobile stations to lower communication quality at initiation of handoff. In such case, a problem of reduction of channel capacity can also be encountered. Therefore, even in the prior art disclosed in the above-identified publications, there has been still left a room for improvement.
The present invention has been worked out in view of the drawbacks in the prior art set forth above. It is an object of the present invention to provide an adaptive antenna directivity control method and a system therefore, which can reduce interference upon initiation of handoff in an up-link and/or a down-link to improve communication quality upon initiation of handoff, and can permit quick restoration of normal state of directivity control to result in increasing of channel capacity.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an adaptive antenna directivity control method where a mobile station and base station to be connected with the mobile station in radio through an up-link and a down-link being governed by a supervisory station, respective transmission signal or reception signal of a plurality of antenna elements of the base station being varied in amplitude and phase for combining in a particular orientation for establishing a directivity by a radiation pattern by combining, comprises:
step of initiating soft handoff in the mobile station;
step of obtaining an installation position information from a first base station which is connected before handoff and directivity information of an up-link of the first base station relative to the mobile station;
step of predicting an orientation of the mobile station from own station by a second base station to be connected by handoff on the basis of the directivity information of the up-link; and
step of determining an initial directivity control parameter of the up-link corresponding to obtained orientation of the mobile station.
The directivity of the up-link to be initially set by the second base station may be controlled by determining a directivity control parameter so that the directivity of the up-link is narrower than a normal cell or sector area.
A directivity information of a down-link of the first base station may be used in place of the directivity information of the up-link of the first base station for predicting orientation of the mobile station by the second base station for determining initial directivity control parameter for the down-link.
The second base station may determine directivity control parameter of individual pilot channel for the mobile station together with the initial directivity control parameter of the down-link.
The directivity control parameter may be determined so that the directivity of the down-link which is used when the second base station transmits signal initially is narrower than normal sector area.
The initial directivity control parameter may be determined in the first base station upon initiation of soft handoff in the mobile station, by notifying the installation position information of the first base station and the directivity control parameter to the second base station through the supervisory station.
A position information of the mobile station relative to the first station may be notified to the second base station via the supervisory station in place of the installation position information of the first base station for determining the initial directivity control parameter in the second base station.
The installation position information of the first base station may be preliminarily notified to peripheral base stations from the supervisory station in replace of notifying to the second base station.
The orientation of the mobile station may be approximately derived in the second base station.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, an adaptive antenna directivity control system where a mobile station and base station to be connected with the mobile station in radio through an up-link and a down-link being governed by a supervisory station, respective transmission signal or reception signal of a plurality of antenna elements of the base station being varied in amplitude and phase for combining in a particular orientation for establishing a directivity by a radiation pattern by combining, comprises:
the mobile station including means for initiating soft handoff;
a second base station to be connected by handoff including means for predicting an orientation of the mobile station from own station on the basis of installation position information from a first base station connected before handoff and a directivity information of the up-link of the first base station, and determining an initial directivity control parameter of the up-link and/or a down-link.
The base station may comprise a wired circuit interface portion at least processing interface with a supervisory station, a radio receiving portion, a radio transmitting portion and a base station control and storage portion, and a directivity control parameter in the down-link in the radio receiving portion and/or the down-link in the radio transmitting portion is determined by control process of the base station control and storage portion.
The base station control and storage portion may be provided in or out of the radio receiving portion and/or the radio transmitting portion.

Adaptive antenna directivity control method and system therefor


A battery identification device which sorts a specialty battery requiring replacement initially by diameter then subsequently by thickness through the interaction of an open channel and ridges which include progressively larger ridges that project into the channel to form zones of progressively diminished thickness.

This invention is directed to the identification and replacement of specialty batteries that are generally referred to as button or coin cell batteries. Such specialty batteries are commonly utilized in watches as well as numerous other small devices including but not limited to timers and thermometers. When such batteries fail, it is desirable to have a means to identify the model or battery number to enable the purchase of a replacement battery at a retail store and self-install the battery as opposed to having a replacement battery installed by a to specialist or clerk at a watch store or other retail business establishment. Such do-it-yourself approach is not always possible as the identifying engraving or other stamping on the battery is difficult to read, varies between manufacturers and also because retail store packaging often hinders comparison.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to place the failed battery in a device that automatically identifies such battery by manufacturer and/or battery number to facilitate the purchase of a replacement battery. Thus, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive, relatively simple device that sorts the failed battery and automatically displays the appropriate replacement battery number without need for further consumer input.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for sorting and identifying a dead or defective specialty battery for replacement purposes that utilizes the unique diameter and thickness characteristics of such battery.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a device for identifying a particular type of a coin-like object such as a specialty battery by progressively measuring first the diameter of such object and second the thickness of such object, such device comprising a frame in turn comprised of a front panel and a rear panel, said rear panel including a generally planar wall having a front surface in turn having upstanding transversely spaced vertically disposed sidewalls which define at least one vertically oriented channel having an open slot at the top thereof and a closed bottom at varying vertical positions, said front panel including a generally planar wall having a front surface and a rear surface in turn provided with at least one pair of laterally spaced rearwardly extending vertically oriented ridges in turn adapted to extend into said rear panel channel when said panels are oriented in nested operational relationship with each other, said ridges including a plurality of vertically spaced ledges which extend into said channel to which the ridges are associated with and having a greater extent at the bottom of the channel than at the top thereof so as to create zones of progressively diminished thickness as the object travels to down the channel from the top to the bottom thereof until such object is held from further travel by the channel bottom formed by the interaction between the channel front surface and the rear surface of said ridges associated with said channel.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.


In a spark plug, a resistor is placed between a terminal and a center electrode within a through hole of an insulator. The through hole of the insulator has a first portion which allows the center electrode to be inserted therethrough, and a second portion which is formed on a rear side of the first portion so as to be larger in diameter than the first portion and which accommodates the resistor therein, where the second portion is connected to the first portion via a connecting portion including a two- or more-stepped reduced-diameter portion. Then, an electrically conductive glass seal layer is placed at a position corresponding to the connecting portion between the resistor and the center electrode. When the glass seal layer is formed by filling electrically conductive glass powder and its heating and compression, the pressurizing cross-sectional area in the axial direction is reduced to an extent of diameter reduction by the reduced-diameter portion of the connecting portion, so that a sufficient compressing force can be ensured in the event that the pressurizing force is lost, for example, due to friction between the upper filler material (e.g., resistor material powder) and the wall surface of the through hole. By virtue of this arrangement, the sintering of the glass seal layer progresses sufficiently so that the burns of carbon in the glass seal portion and the oxidization of metal components become unlikely to occur. Thus, such trouble as increase in conduction resistance can be avoided over a long term.

This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Applications No. H9-231282 filed on Aug. 27, 1997, No. H9-364921 filed on Dec. 18, 1997 and No. H9-364922 filed on Dec. 18, 1997, which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to spark plugs to be used for internal combustion engines and, more particularly, to a spark plug into which a resistor for prevention of occurrence of radio frequency noise is incorporated.
As this type of spark plug, there has conventionally been known one having a structure that a terminal is inserted and fixed into a through hole formed along the axial direction of an insulator from one end side of the through hole while a center electrode is similarly inserted and fixed thereinto from the other end side of the through hole, where a resistor is placed between the terminal and the center electrode within the through hole. Between the resistor and the terminal or between the resistor and the center electrode, generally, an electrically conductive glass seal portion for joining together the two members is placed. This spark plug is manufactured, for example, by the following process.
That is, into the through hole of the insulator, after the center electrode is inserted, conductive glass powder is filled, then material powder of the resistor composition is filled, and further conductive glass powder is filled again. As a result, in the through hole, a conductive glass powder layer, a resistor composition powder layer and another conductive glass powder layer are formed in this order from the center electrode side. Then, in this state, the insulator is heated above the glass softening point, and further a terminal is press fitted into the hole from the side opposite to the center electrode, in which arrangement the stacked layers are pressed axially so as to be compressed and sintered, thus forming a conductive glass seal portion, a resistor and another conductive glass seal portion, respectively.
In the above spark plug manufacturing method, it has been practiced that after the conductive glass powder layer, the resistor composition powder layer and another conductive glass powder layer are formed one after another and heated with the center electrode downside, the individual layers are compressed in one axial direction from the side opposite to the center electrode, by which the glass seal portions and the resistor are formed. In this case, there are some cases where enough pressing force does not act on the conductive glass powder layer located at the lowest side because of friction between the upper filler material and the through hole wall surface, so that the compression or fluidization after the glass melting and moreover the sintering of the conductive glass powder layer do not proceed enough. If the spark plug is used for a long time in such a state, it may occur that carbon in the conductive glass seal portion burns out or the metal component oxidizes so that the conducting state between the resistor and the center electrode becomes incomplete, causing the conduction resistance to increase, which may obstruct the normal ignition.
Also, when the outside dimensions of the insulator are specified by specifications of the spark plug or the like, increase in the length of the resistor is limited. In this case, one available method would be that the place of the protruding-portion receiving surface is moved toward the front end of the center electrode, so that the axial length of the second portion of the through hole is extended, by which the length of the resistor is increased by the portion. However, this method has a disadvantage that the insulator is thinned in wall thickness at the position of the protruding-portion receiving surface so that the strength of this portion is likely to lack. In this case, the crossing portion between the protruding-portion receiving surface and the second portion may serve as a kind of notch, which often causes problems in terms of strength.
Next, there is a further problem other than the above. That is, in the conventional spark plug, as shown in FIG. 16, the taper angle of a center electrode receiving portion 104 formed in a through hole 103 of an insulator 102 (where the taper angle is an angle as viewed from a reference surface that crosses the center axis line of the through hole 103) is set to 20.degree.-40.degree.. Then, the present inventors have found out that the conventional spark plug (in which the taper angle of the center electrode receiving portion 104 is 20.degree.-40.degree.) has the following disadvantage. That is, because a clearance (seal portion) 109 between an electrode-fixing protruding portion 105 and a through hole inner wall 107 of a proximity 106 of a center electrode receiving portion is narrow and deep, a conductive glass powder layer 108 in the glass seal is not fluidized enough, so that the conductive glass seal portion 109 is liable to become nonuniform in compactness. In particular, the conductive glass powder layer 108 of the proximity 106 of the center-electrode receiving portion is liable to lower in vitrifiability, which may cause a problem of deterioration in thermal conductivity. Further, poor vitrifiability of the conductive glass seal portion 109 would lead to deterioration in heat performance (anti-preignition performance) of the spark plug, while occurrence of nonuniformity in compactness of the conductive glass seal portion 109 would lead to variations in the heat performance from product to product, as further disadvantages.


Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for synchronizing audio and video signals for a listening system. One aspect of the present subject matter includes a method including receiving an audio signal and a video signal from an external device. The audio signal is processed and transmitted to a hearing assistance device having a wearer. In various embodiments, the video signal is transmitted to a video display using a delay such that the audio signal and the video signal are synchronized for the wearer.

Modern hearing assistance devices, such as hearing aids, typically include digital electronics to enhance the wearer's listening experience. Hearing aids are electronic instruments worn in or around the ear that compensate for hearing losses by specially amplifying sound. Hearing aids use transducer and electro-mechanical components which are connected via wires to the hearing aid circuitry.
Hearing assistance devices, or listening devices, include the capability to receive audio from a variety of sources. For example, a hearing assistance device may receive audio or data from a transmitter or an assistive listening device (ALD). Audio information can be digitized, packetized and transferred as digital packets to and from the hearing instruments for the purpose of streaming entertainment or other content. Some listening systems use a device to wirelessly transmit an audio signal from a television to the hearing aid. For this wireless transmission, the device encodes the audio signal and transmits the signal. Then the hearing aid receives the signal, decode the signal, and convert the signal into an audio signal for the listener. This processing introduces delay in the audio stream causing the audio signal to be delayed relative to the video signal.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for processing audio and video signals for a listening system.

System and method for synchronizing audio and video signals for a listening system


Method for preparing melamine from urea via a high-pressure process in which solid melamine is obtained by transferring the melamine melt to an expansion vessel where the melamine melt is cooled by incorporated ammonia. Excess ammonia gas is added to the melamine melt to produce a gas/liquid mixture having a mass ratio of at least 0.01. This two-phase mixture is then sprayed via a spraying means into an expansion vessel, the expansion vessel having an ammonia environment with a reduced ammonia pressure. The melamine melt is cooled and solidified by the expansion and evaporation of the incorporated ammonia to form melamine powder. The melamine melt is thereby directly converted into a melamine powder after which the melamine powder is cooled further and the ammonia pressure is released.

The invention relates to a method for preparing melamine from urea via a high-pressure process in which solid melamine is obtained by transferring a melamine melt to a vessel where it is cooled with a cooling medium such as ammonia to produce solid high purity melamine.
Various methods for the production of melamine have been described in previous publications including, inter alia, EP-A-747366 which describes a high-pressure process for preparing melamine from urea. In particular, EP-A-747366 describes how urea is pyrolyzed in a reactor, operating at a pressure of from 10.34 to 24.13 MPa and a temperature of from 354 to 454xc2x0 C., to produce a reactor product. This reactor product, containing liquid melamine, CO2 and NH3, is transferred under pressure as a mixed stream to a separator.
In this separator, the reactor product is separated into a gaseous stream and a liquid stream. The gaseous stream contains primarily CO2 and NH3 waste gases and melamine vapor. The liquid stream mainly comprises a melamine melt. The gaseous stream is transferred to a scrubber unit, while the liquid stream is transferred to a product-cooling unit.
In the scrubber unit, the gaseous stream is scrubbed with molten urea. The heat transfer achieved in the scrubber unit both preheats the molten urea and cools the gaseous stream to a temperature from 177 to 232xc2x0 C. The molten urea also scrubs the gaseous stream to remove the melamine vapor from the waste gases. The preheated molten urea, along with the melamine that was scrubbed from the CO2 and NH3 waste gases, is then fed into the reactor.
In the product-cooling unit, the melamine melt is cooled and solidified with a liquid cooling medium to produce a solid high purity melamine product without the need for additional purification. The preferred liquid cooling medium is one that forms a gas at the temperature of the melamine melt and at the pressure in the product-cooling unit. EP-A-747366 identifies liquid ammonia as the preferred liquid cooling medium with the pressure in the product-cooling unit being above 4.14 MPa.
Although according to EP-A-747366 the purity of the solid melamine product obtained using the disclosed process was greater than 99 wt %, this degree of purity has proven difficult to maintain continuously on a commercial scale. The inability to maintain a purity greater than 99 wt % is a drawback that renders the melamine produced less suitable for more demanding applications, particularly melamine-formaldehyde resins used in laminates and/or coatings.
Other methods have been suggested to overcome these drawbacks, including among them the applicant""s earlier application, WO 98/55466, which used an external spray of liquid ammonia or cool ammonia gas spray to cool the melamine melt, which may be mixed with a minor amount of ammonia gas, as it was sprayed into the cooling vessel. Although this method represented a significant improvement over the prior art methods, the method described in WO 98/55466 still required an external spray of a cooling medium to solidify the melamine. The most efficient cooling of the melamine melt with an external spray, however, depends upon thorough atomization of the melamine melt (to maximize surface area) and thorough mixing of the atomized melamine melt and the cooling medium spray. A lack of uniformity in the melamine droplet size or spray pattern, and/or non-homogeneous mixing of the droplets and the cooling medium will produce less than optimum results.
Yet another method is taught in WO 97/20826 which provides for the solidifaction of the melamine through expansion and evaporation of dissolved ammonia. WO 97/20826 teaches the use of relatively high pressures, up to 40 MPa, at temperatures up to 60xc2x0 C. above the melting point of melamine, followed by expansion of the melamine melt at a pressure between 20 MPa and amospheric pressure. In order to get a quantity of ammonia into solution sufficient to provide the desired cooling, the initial pressures are preferably high and the pressure drop during the relaxation step is large. In general, however, using higher pressures in a commercial plant necessitates increased capital investment in process vessels, piping, and pumps, and results in higher operating costs. It is preferable, therefore, to operate at the lowest possible pressure at which satisfactory results may be obtained.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for preparing melamine from urea, in which melamine is obtained directly from liquid melamine melt as a dry powder having a high degree of purity. More particularly, the object of the present invention is to obtain an improved high-pressure process for preparing melamine from urea, in which melamine is obtained directly from the liquid melamine melt as a dry powder having a high degree of purity by cooling and solidifying via an incorporated cooling medium.
The applicant has found that high purity melamine can be produced from the melamine melt, which has a temperature between the melting point of melamine and 450xc2x0 C., preferably less than 45xc2x0 C., and more preferably less than 30xc2x0 C. above the melting point, by incorporating sufficient excess ammonia into the melamine melt in an ammonia injection vessel to form a gas/liquid mixture having a gas/liquid mass ratio between 0.01 and 1.0, and preferably between 0.03 and 0.9. This gas/liquid mixture is then sprayed via a spraying means into an expansion vessel to cool and solidify the melamine by expanding and evaporating the incorporated ammonia in the reduced pressure expansion vessel. The expansion vessel includes an ammonia atmosphere that, although preferably held at a pressure between 0.5% and 60% of the pressure of the ammonia injection vessel, more preferably between 0.5% and 30% of the pressure of the ammonia injection vessel, is still above atmospheric pressure. The melamine powder thereby obtained may then be cooled further in the expansion vessel, or in a separate cooling vessel, and the pressure reduced to atmospheric pressure to obtain the final melamine powder product.
In the ammonia injection vessel, ammonia is injected into the melamine melt, the quantity of ammonia injected being more than necessary to saturate the melamine melt at equilibrium. The excess ammonia is maintained in the melamine melt as ammonia bubbles, the melamine melt and ammonia bubbles forming a two-phase gas/liquid mixture.
In the expansion vessel, the gas/liquid mixture is rapidly decompressed to cool and solidify the molten melamine. The expansion and vaporization of the excess ammonia in the gas/liquid mixture is sufficient to solidify the melamine without the need for any external cooling medium such as gas or liquid ammonia sprays, aqueous ammonia solutions, or other cooling means. Further cooling of the solid melamine may, however, be desirable and may be achieved by applying various techniques as disclosed in the prior art, particularly through the introduction of liquid ammonia or cool ammonia gas into the solid melamine.
The advantage of the method according to the present invention is the continuous production, on a commercial scale, of dry melamine powder with a purity above 98.5 wt %, and generally above 99 wt %, that has very good color characteristics. The high purity melamine produced according to the present invention is suitable for virtually any melamine application, including melamine-formaldehyde resins used in laminates and/or coatings. At similar operating conditions, the melamine powder produced according to the present invention provides other advantages over the melamine produced by the prior art processes including reduced particle size, increased surface area, and increased porosity.
The preparation of melamine preferably uses urea as the raw material, the urea being fed into the reactor as a melt and reacted at elevated temperature and pressure. Urea reacts to form melamine, and the by-products NH3 and CO2, according to the following reaction equation:
6 CO(NH2)2(copyright) C3N6H6+6 NH3+3 CO2
The production of melamine from urea can be carried out at high pressure, preferably between 5 and 25 MPa, without the presence of a catalyst, at reaction temperatures between 325 and 450xc2x0 C., and preferably between 350 and 425xc2x0 C. The by-products NH3 and CO2 are usually recycled to an adjoining urea factory.
The above-mentioned objective of the invention is achieved by employing an apparatus suitable for the preparation of melamine from urea. An apparatus suitable for the present invention may comprise a scrubber unit, a reactor having either an integrated gas/liquid separator or a separate gas/liquid separator, an ammonia injection vessel, an expansion vessel, and possibly additional cooling vessels. It will be appreciated that the configuration of the ammonia injection vessel is not restricted and may, depending on the plant configuration, comprise a portion of the piping between the reactor, or the gas/liquid separator, and the expansion vessel.
In one embodiment of the invention, melamine is prepared from urea in an apparatus comprising a scrubber unit, a melamine reactor having either an integrated gas/liquid separator or a separate gas/liquid separator, an ammonia injection vessel, an expansion vessel, and an optional cooling vessel. In this embodiment, the urea melt is fed into a scrubber unit operating at a pressure of from 5 to 25 MPa, preferably from 8 to 20 MPa, and at a temperature above the melting point of urea. This scrubber unit may be provided with a cooling jacket or internal cooling bodies to provide additional temperature control.
As it passes through the scrubber unit, the urea melt contacts the reaction waste gases coming from the melamine reactor or the separate gas/liquid separator. The reaction gases mainly consist of CO2 and NH3 and may include melamine vapor. The urea melt scrubs the melamine vapor from the CO2 and NH3 waste gases and carries this melamine along back to the reactor. In the scrubbing process, the waste gases are cooled from the temperature of the reactor, i.e., from 350 to 425xc2x0 C., to from 170 to 240xc2x0 C., the urea being heated to from 170 to 240xc2x0 C. The CO2 and NH3 waste gases are removed from the top of the scrubber unit and may, for example, be recycled to an adjoining urea factory, where they can be used as raw materials for the urea production.
The preheated urea melt is drawn off from the scrubber unit, together with the melamine scrubbed from the waste gases, and transferred to the high pressure reactor operating at pressures between 5 and 25 MPa, and preferably between 8 and 20 MPa. This transfer may be achieved using a high-pressure pump or, where the scrubber is positioned above the reactor, by gravity, or a combination of gravity and pumps.
In the reactor, the urea melt is heated to a temperature between 325 and 450xc2x0 C., preferably between about 350 and 425xc2x0 C., under a pressure between 5 and 25 MPa, preferably between 8 and 20 MPa, to convert the urea into melamine, CO2 and NH3. In addition to the urea melt, a certain amount of ammonia can be metered into the reactor as, for example, a liquid or hot vapor. The additional ammonia, although optional, may serve, for example, to prevent the formation of condensation products of melamine such as melam, melem and melon, or to promote mixing in the reactor. The amount of additional ammonia supplied to the reactor may be up to 10 moles ammonia per mole of urea, preferably up to 5 moles ammonia per mole of urea, and, most preferably, up to 2 moles of ammonia per mole of urea.
The CO2 and NH3 produced in the reaction, as well as any additional ammonia supplied, collect in the separation section, for example in the top of the reactor or in a separate gas/liquid separator positioned downstream of the reactor, and are separated from the liquid melamine. If a separate, downstream gas/liquid separator is used, it may be advantageous for additional ammonia to be metered into this separator. The amount of ammonia in this case is 0.01-10 moles of ammonia per mole of melamine, and preferably 0.1-5 moles of ammonia per mole of melamine. Adding additional ammonia to the separator promotes the rapid separation of carbon dioxide from the reactor product, thus preventing the formation of oxygen-containing by-products. As described above, the gas mixture removed from the gas/liquid separator may be passed to the scrubber unit in order to remove melamine vapor and preheat the urea melt.
The melamine melt, having a temperature between the melting point of melamine and 450xc2x0 C., is drawn off from the reactor, or from the downstream gas/liquid separator, and optionally cooled, is then fed into an ammonia injection vessel. In the ammonia injection vessel, excess ammonia is added to the melamine melt to produce a gas/liquid mixture in which ammonia is present both in solution and as a separate gas phase. Sufficient ammonia is added to produce a two-phase stream in which the gas/liquid mass ratio is between 0.01 and 1.0, and preferably between 0.03 and 0.9. This gas/liquid mixture is then sprayed into an expansion vessel to obtain the solid melamine product.
Prior to spraying in the expansion vessel, however, the melamine melt may be cooled from the reactor temperature or gas/liquid separator temperature to a temperature closer to, but still above, the melting point of melamine. The melamine melt, which is drawn off from the reactor at a temperature typically above 380xc2x0 C., may be cooled to a temperature preferably not more than 45xc2x0 C., and more preferably not more than 30xc2x0 C., above the melamine melting point before being sprayed into the expansion vessel. The lower the temperature of the melt before expansion, the lesser ammonia is needed for cooling and solidifying the melamine melt in the expansion vessel. The melamine melt may be cooled in the gas/liquid separator, the ammonia injection vessel, or in an additional apparatus positioned downstream from the reactor and before the expansion vessel. It is contemplated that cooling can take place by injection of a cooling medium, for example ammonia gas having a temperature below the temperature of the melamine melt, or by passing the melamine melt through a heat exchanger.
The melamine and ammonia mixture, is transferred to a spraying means as a two-phase mixture and there it is sprayed through a spraying means into an expansion vessel to solidify the melamine and form a dry melamine powder. The spraying means is an apparatus by which the gas/liquid mixture is converted into droplets, by causing the melt to flow at high speed into the expansion vessel. The spraying means may be a nozzle or valve. The outflow velocity of the gas/liquid mixture from the spraying means is, as a rule, greater than 20 m/s, and is preferably greater than 50 m/s. The outflow velocity is defined as the nominal volumetric flow of the mixture (in m3/s) devided by the smallest cross sectional flow area in the nozzle or valve (in m2).
The expansion vessel contains an ammonia environment and operates at an increased ammonia pressure. The melamine droplets from the spraying means are cooled by energy transfer from the molten melamine to the expanding and evaporating ammonia to produce melamine powder. The melamine powder thus formed can have a temperature between 100xc2x0 C. and the solidification point of melamine, and preferably below 300xc2x0 C.
In another embodiment of the present invention the melamine powder formed by spraying the gas/liquid mixture into the expansion vessel is held in the expansion vessel for a predetermined contact time under an increased ammonia pressure and at a temperature above 200xc2x0 C. The duration of this contact time is preferably between 5 minutes and 2 hours. During this contact time, the temperature of the melamine product can remain virtually constant or it may be cooled to a temperature above 200xc2x0 C. Additional cooling of the solidified melamine may be effected through the addition of cool ammonia gas or liquid ammonia, separately or in combination with mechanical agitation and indirect cooling through contact with cooled surfaces. Examples of means for mechanically agitating the melamine powder include a screw and rotating drum, a rotating bowl, rotating discs, rotating segmented discs, rotating pipes and the like.
Once the melamine powder has been cooled to a temperature below 200xc2x0 C., the ammonia pressure may be released. Preferably, the ammonia gas is completely removed (to an amount below 1000 ppm, preferably below 300 ppm, and, most preferably, below 100 ppm) by blowing air through the melamine powder. The ammonia pressure may be released before, or in conjunction with, cooling the melamine powder from a temperature below 200xc2x0 C. to ambient temperature.
The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the following examples and comparative examples.


The invention provides methods of isolating CD127lo/− immunosuppressive regulatory T cells which can be greatly enriched for FoxP3, methods of expanding the isolated cells, pharmaceutical compositions of such cells, and methods of their use in the treatment of autoimmune and other immune system mediated disorders.

Over the past decade, there have been tremendous advances in our understanding of the basic process that control immune tolerance. The identification of regulatory T cells (Treg), particularly CD4+CD25+ Tregs, as an important component of self-tolerance has opened a major area of investigation in immunology, and numerous studies have demonstrated the potent influence of Tregs in suppressing pathologic immune responses in autoimmune diseases, transplantation, and graft-vs-host disease (reviewed in (1-6)). Tregs have a unique and robust therapeutic profile. The cells require specific T cell receptor (TCR)-mediated activation to develop regulatory activity but their effector function appears to be non-specific, regulating local inflammatory responses through a combination of cell-cell contact and suppressive cytokine production (7-9). Moreover, there are a number of therapeutic interventions that appear to promote Treg development and function (10, 11). This, so called "adaptive" regulatory T cell population, share many of the attributes of thymic-dependent, natural Tregs but can differ in critical cell surface biomarkers and functional attributes (12). For instance, Tr1 and Th3 cells have been described that produce IL-10 and TGFβ, respectively (13, 14). These results have led to novel approaches to immunotherapy as the ability to isolate and expand this cell subset in mice has led to novel therapeutic interventions in immunological diseases (6, 15). However, a major obstacle to the study and application of Tregs in the human setting has been the lack of specific cell surface biomarkers to define and separate Tregs from other regulatory or effector T cell subsets.
Although many studies indicate that CD25 is a crucial cell-surface marker for the regulatory subset (16, 17), unlike the mouse, several studies have suggested that only the CD4+ T cell subset expressing the highest levels of CD25 (termed CD25hi) have in vitro suppressive activity (16). Moreover, the addition of other markers such as HLA-DR suggest even a lower percentage (often less than 1%) of CD4+ T cells comprise the suppressive T cell subset. Finally, some markers such as CTLA-4 and GITR, which have been reported to be expressed on Tregs (18-21), are also expressed on potent effector T cells and as such make immunophenotyping and determination of their functional role problematic (22, 23). This has led to a number of disparate reports of Treg quantification in disease settings. For instance, some studies suggest that the number of CD4+CD25hi Tregs are deficient in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) (24) while others suggest that the number and function of these cells is normal in T1D (25). Moreover, the ability to isolate only limited numbers of these cells from peripheral blood has made expanding this regulatory cell population problematic.
One significant advance in the study of mouse and human Tregs has been the discovery of the transcription factor, FoxP3, as a major marker and functional regulator of Treg development and function (26-29). In a series of elegant mouse and human genetic studies, investigators demonstrated that mutations in the FoxP3 gene were linked to the autoimmune manifestations observed in the Scurfy mouse and humans with immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X linked syndrome (IPEX) disease (28). Subsequent studies in the mouse showed that FoxP3 deficient animals lack Tregs while over-expression of the FoxP3 protein leads to profound immune suppression (30). Although recent studies have questioned whether all Tregs are FoxP3+ or whether all FoxP3+ T cells are regulatory, FoxP3 protein remains the best and most specific marker of Tregs to date (30).
In this regard, flow cytometric and immunohistochemical analyses that FoxP3 is expressed in significantly more T cells than previously identified using the other available cell surface markers, including CD25. FoxP3 protein is found in CD25 low and negative CD4+ T cells and, under certain conditions, some CD8+ T cells (30, 31). Thus, it is likely that many of the natural and adaptive regulatory T cells are missed in current biomarker studies, calling into question the conclusions related to deficiencies or defects in certain autoimmune settings. Importantly, as FoxP3 is an intracellular protein, it cannot be used to separate human Tregs for functional studies or for in vivo expansion for cellular therapy, limiting its use in the human setting.
As noted above, the emergence of Tregs as an essential pathway in maintaining immune tolerance has opened the opportunity for a better understanding of immune homeostasis and the potential for therapeutic intervention. However, the human phenotyping of Tregs has been complex. Typically, investigators have noted that the most suppressive Tregs coincide with the CD4+ T cells with the brightest CD25 staining. Recently, Cozzo et al (see, J Immunol. 2003 Dec. 1; 171(11):5678-82) have reported that CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells express low levels of CD127 in a transgenic mouse. Harnaha et al. have reported in the context of Type 1 diabetes data indicating that CD4+ CD25+ T cells express higher levels of CD127 (IL-7R alpha) than CD4+ CD25− cells. However, these results were again derived from mice, specifically NOD-SCID mice reconstituted with ex vivo engineered dendritic cells and NOD splenocytes (see, Harnaha, J et al. Diabetes 2006 January; 55(1): 158-70). Unfortunately, the ability to accurately gate for CD25 is rather arbitrary as no other cell surface marker can be used to definitively identify the subset. Recently, Baecher-Allen has suggested that other markers such as HLA-DR allows for subdividing the CD4+CD25hi subset to enrich Treg activity even further. However, this additional marker suggests that the number of Tregs is even less than previously suggested (41).
The identification of FoxP3 as a specific transcription factor that marks these suppressive T cells suggests that there may be a larger population of Tregs in human peripheral blood than previously appreciated, although this has been controversial due to unanticipated expression of FoxP3 in a number of activated CD25− T cell populations (30, 38). In fact, there may be regulatory cells that are Foxp3 negative as well. However, these studies have been compromised by the absence of cell surface markers that can be used to isolate these and other T cell subsets to examine regulatory T cell activity since FoxP3 cannot be used as a means to purify the cells for function.
This invention provides for these and other needs by using the reduced expression of the CD127 T-cell surface marker as a useful surrogate for identifying regulatory T-cells which are highly likely to be immunosuppressive FoxP3+ regulatory T-cells. Use of the CD127 biomarker alone or in conjunction with other biomarkers can account for up to 7-8% of CD4+ T cells, providing yields significantly greater than identified by previous approaches. Moreover, CD127lo/− cells suppress the proliferative response of alloreactive T cells in an MLR and are themselves anergic to the same stimuli. This is true in spite of the fact that in most individuals only 20-40% of the CD4+CD127lo/− cells are Foxp3+"

CD127 expression inversely correlates with FoxP3 and suppressive function of CD4

The Regents of the University of California


A method whereby chip type circuit elements are mounted at predetermined locations on a printed circuit board by a suction means and apparatus for performing the method are disclosed. The suction means picks up each circuit element from a respective stack supported in a vertical magazine and transfers and positions them above the predetermined locations on the printed circuit board which can have a predetermined pattern of laminar conductors on the upper surface thereof. The circuit elements are then released by termination of the applied suction and adhered to the board by a thermoplastic adhesive setting operation.

This invention relates to a method for mounting clip type circuit elements on a printed circuit board and an apparatus for performing the same.
More particularly, this invention relates to an improvement in the method and apparatus for mounting chip type elements on a printed circuit board, as disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,432, in which the chip type circuit elements are mounted on a printed circuit board at predetermined positions by pushing up each circuit element stack inserted in a magazine which is vertically held and is inserted through a corresponding step-hole defined by a lattice-shaped and horizontally placed magazine guide.
The method disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,432 is advantageous over the conventional method of using an NC (numerical control) apparatus in that chip type circuit elements can be mounted on a printed circuit board at a higher speed by using inexpensive and simple apparatus. An electronic circuit assembled according to this method, however, is susceptible to such serious defects as imprecise positioning of the chip type circuit elements on the printed circuit board during attachment, occurrence of open or high resistance points in the circuit due to improper mounting and resulting substantial decreases in the yield of the product.
These defects involved in the technique disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,432 are due to the following structural features:
(1) Chip type circuit elements stacked in hollow tubular magazines are directly pressed against an adhesively treated printed circuit board by several dozens of respective thrust pins to mount the elements on the printed circuit board.
(2) In order to mount the chip type circuit elements, which are stacked in hollow tubular magazines, on the printed circuit board, the printed circuit board, inorder to confront said magazines, is arranged so that the surface against which the connectors for the circuit elements abut is directed downwardly.
In connection with the defect-causing structural feature (1), it is very difficult to press chip type circuit elements stacked in different heights in the respective magazines onto the adhesive layer formed on the printed circuit board under a uniform pressure by several dozens of the thrust pins. Although a compression spring is provided to adjust the pressing force of the thrust pins, the fatigue of the compression sprin is extreme at a high speed operation and the printed board is likely to lose its flatness and become warped. If such printed circuit boards are employed, it is very difficult to maintain a predetermined space between the top ends of the magazines, that is, the top ends of the thrust pins, and the mounting surface of each printed circuit board. Moreover, the adhesive applied to the printed circuit board is likely to adhere to the top ends of the thrust pins, resulting in occurrence of serious problems.
When the structural feature (2) is adopted, the adhesive layer is naturally formed on the bottom major surface of the printed circuit board until they are introduced into a subsequent soldering step. As a result, change of position or separation of the elements frequently occurs. More specifically, the printed circuit board having the circuit elements temporarily supported on the bottom surface thereof by means of the adhesive is delivered by belt means and the adhesive, which is thermosetting, is cured to fix the circuit elements to the printed circuit board. For effecting curing of the adhesive, the printed circuit board is inverted. During the delivering and inversion steps, the circuit elements temporarily held to the bottom surface of the printed circuit board are likely to deviate from their predetermined positions or separate from the printed circuit board.

Apparatus for mounting chip type circuit elements on a printed circuit board

Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A power conversion circuit improves lamp operating life and lamp efficiency by driving a fluorescent lamp with a square wave signal. The square wave signal is an alternating current signal with relatively fast transition times. The square wave signal advantageously reduces lamp current crest factor for more efficient operation of the fluorescent lamp.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power conversion circuit for driving fluorescent lamps, such as, for example, cold cathode fluorescent lamps or hot cathode fluorescent lamps, and more particularly relates to a lamp inverter using square wave signals for more efficient operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fluorescent lamps are used in a number of applications where light is required but the power required to generate the light is limited. For example, fluorescent lamps are used for back lighting or edge lighting of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which are typically used in display systems for flat panel computer monitors, notebook computers, hand held computers, LCD television, web browsers, automotive and industrial instrumentation, and entertainment systems. The fluorescent lamps in the display systems need to have long life and high operating efficiency.
A power conversion circuit is generally used for driving a fluorescent lamp. The power conversion circuit accepts a direct current (DC) input voltage and provides an alternating current (AC) output voltage to the fluorescent lamp. The power conversion circuit typically uses resonant drive methods, and the AC output voltage is a sinusoidal waveform.
One problem with a sinusoidal waveform is that lamp efficiency may be poor. Lamp efficiency in terms of light output versus power provided to the fluorescent lamp degrades with increasing lamp current crest factor. The lamp current crest factor is defined as a ratio of the peak lamp current level to the root mean square (RMS) lamp current level. The light output of the fluorescent lamp is proportional to the RMS lamp current level and is inversely proportional to the lamp current crest factor.
A pure sine wave has a crest factor of approximately 1.414. Many power conversion circuits with resonant topologies achieve lamp current crest factors in the range of 1.5 to 1.6. A pure DC waveform provides a lowest possible crest factor of 1.0. However, a DC lamp current is not viable because the operating life of the fluorescent lamp is shortened due to mercury migration.


In one embodiment, a method includes metering agricultural product to a first header of an agricultural implement via a first meter module of a metering subassembly, receiving, at a processor, a first signal indicative of a first amount of agricultural material at the first header, and determining, via the processor, a first time relative to activation of the first meter module when the first amount reaches a target amount of agricultural product based at least in part on the first signal.

The present application relates generally to agricultural implements, and more specifically, to systems and methods for metering agricultural products.
Generally, agricultural implements (e.g., seeders) are towed behind a tractor or other work vehicle and deliver agricultural products (e.g., seed, fertilizer, and/or other particulate material) to a field. In some cases, agricultural implements may also be coupled to a product storage tank configured to store agricultural products and having a meter configured to regulate a flow of the agricultural products from the product storage tank to the implement. For example, the meter may meter the agricultural products into multiple distribution lines that distribute the agricultural product to corresponding ground engaging tools disposed across a frame of the agricultural implement for deposition of the agricultural product into the soil.
Typical agricultural implements include a single meter or may have multiple meters that are controlled together (e.g., rotate at the same rate or meter the agricultural product from the product storage tank into the multiple distribution lines at the same rate). This may lead to under seeded areas and/or product overlap, which may in turn result in wasted product or reduced overall yield.

Sectional control calibration system and method


A head carriage mechanism of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus including a single guide rod fixed on a frame of the apparatus, a head carriage having a first side in which the guide rod is passed through, a rack of teeth provided on the head carriage at a second side opposing the first side side, a mounting member fixed on the frame, a stepping motor provided with a pinion gear and mounted on the mounting member such that the pinion gear is meshed with the rack teeth, a leaf spring configured to have a U-shaped cross section and mounted on the mounting member such that the leaf spring makes a slide engagement with a part of the head carriage so that the rack teeth and the pinion gear are pressed to each other, and a wear resistant slide member provided at the part of the head carriage in which the leaf spring makes the slide engagement with the head carriage. The leaf spring is mounted on the mounting member with such an orientation that the leaf spring extends perpendicularly to the predetermined direction along which the head carriage is slid.

The present invention generally relates to head carriage mechanisms of a magnetic disk recording/reproducing apparatus recording and/or reproducing information on and from a flexible magnetic disk, and more particularly to a reliable head carriage mechanism for such an apparatus having a simple structure.
Generally, a magnetic disk recording/reproducing apparatus records and/or reproduces an information signal on and from a flexible magnetic disk using a head carriage mechanism on which a magnetic head is mounted.
Conventionally, such a head carriage mechanism has a construction in which a head carriage carrying a magnetic head is supported slidably on a pair of parallel guide rods and the moving plane or plane of transportation of the head carriage is made parallel to the recording plane of the magnetic disk When the magnetic head is transported along a recording track on the disk, the head carriage is moved along the guide rods by a drive system such as a stepping motor.
However, such a structure has a problem in that accurate positioning of the head carriage, which has to be established in order to maintain the moving plane of the head carriage at a designed predetermined position, is difficult. Because of this reason, the adjustment inevitably becomes complicated and delicate, and requires a large number of parts.
In order to avoid such a problem as well as to reduce the cost, U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,012 or Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 61-5481 discloses a structure using a single guide rod on which the head carriage is held slidably. In order to maintain the head carriage at a predetermined plane during the transportation of the head carriage, a pressing mechanism including a resilient member is provided so as to act between the head carriage and a base mount such as a frame or chassis of the apparatus on which the head carriage is mounted. In such a mechanism, however, it is difficult to maintain the pressing force exerted by the resilient member of the pressing mechanism uniform throughout the entire range of movement of the magnetic head As a result, frictional wear takes place at the part where the head carriage or the base mount makes a sliding engagement with the pressing mechanism. Such wear changes the position of the moving plane of the magnetic head. It will be easily understood that such a deviation in the moving plane of the magnetic head increases with increasing time.
Further, the pressing mechanism aforementioned uses a number of parts such as the resilient member, lever member, roller and various bearings to support the lever member of the roller, and therefore has a problem in that the structure is complex and the assembling work is difficult.
Furthermore, such a pressing mechanism is usually mounted on the head carriage as is disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 61-5481. In such a structure, the pressing mechanism is moved together with the movement of the head carriage. Thus, there arises another problem in that the state of engagement of the engaging part where the pressing mechanism and the base mount make a contact tends to be changed.
The structure in which the pressing mechanism is mounted on the base mount as is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,012 is more advantageous in terms of the stabilization of the state of the engaging part than the structure in which the pressing mechanism is mounted on the head carriage. However, there is a problem in that the urging action depends rather sensitively on the temperature change in various parts of the apparatus. Such a temperature change may occur as a result of the heat of the stepping motor, for example. Because of this reason, it becomes necessary to provide an additional device to compensate for the temperature change in the structure. However, such a device complicates the structure of the head carriage mechanism.

Head carriage mechanism of a magentic disc drive including a wear resistance, low friction slide member


An automatic tape laying system (10) for depositing tape (66) in a lay-up (36) on a work surface (14) is provided. The system (10) includes a tape deposit apparatus (26) including a tape supply reel (64) and a cutting device (94). A tape transport module (60) transports tape from the tape supply reel (64) to the cutting device (94). A tape deposit module (62) is provided within tape deposit apparatus (26) and is rotatable between first and second positions for receiving tape (66) from the tape transport module (60). Tape 66 is received in a port (134) of tape deposit module (62) for deposit along a first direction on the work surface (14), and tape (66) is received in a port (148) for deposit along a second direction on the work surface (14). Scrap tape (176) is received in a port (122) for removal.

In the fabrication of piece parts having irregular shapes and varying thicknesses it has been known to utilize strips of tape of a single width laid out and cut to form the desired shape and thickness of the piece part. The thickness dimension of the piece part can be controlled by laying up multiple plies of the tape. In this fashion, irregularly shaped parts can be fabricated quickly and easily using a variety of material. For example, material used in the aircraft industry for the fabrication of component parts is reinforced graphite epoxy tape.
Previously developed systems for dispensing tape in a lay-up have been extremely large in size and complex in operation. Such prior systems dispense tape in only one direction along a work surface of a table on which a part is being fabricated. This limitation requires the tape dispensing apparatus to move in one direction along the work surface while dispensing tape and then to be transported back to an initial position along the work surface while not dispensing tape or dry hauling to an initial tape dispensing position. Alternatively, the tape dispensing apparatus must be rotated before tape can be dispensed in the opposite direction of travel along the work surface. Systems which utilize the turn approach or retrace approach are extremely slow and complicated in operation. These systems are also limited in the quantity of tape that can be stored on a supply reel since the entire mechanism is required to be turned during the tape dispensing operation.
Previously developed tape dispensing systems have been limited to cutting tape at right angles to the edges of the tape to avoid generating scrap material. Scrap is generated if the ends of the tape were cut at an angle other than 90.degree. or if cut in an arcuate shape between cut sections of tape to be laid.
A need has thus arisen for an automatic tape lay-up system having the capability of dispensing and laying tape in multiple directions without a retrace or turning operation such that tape can be laid continuously in alternate directions along a work surface. A need has further arisen for an automatic tape lay-up system having scrap tape removal to facilitate end cuts of angular and arcuate configurations. Additionally, such a system must be small in size such that large tape supply reels can be utilized, and be simple in operation and construction for cost considerations and a maintenance free operation.