The present invention provides a system comprising an occupancy sensor for sensing occupancy of an area, able to activate upon sensing occupancy of the area, maintain activation when sensing continuing occupancy, to include settings therefor, and to enable self-adjusting of the settings. It includes an infrared sensor section, able to passively sense occupancy and activate a signal, continue to activate upon sensing continuing occupancy, and enable separate processing of the settings. It also includes an ultrasonic sensor section, able to actively sense occupancy, activate a signal upon sensing continuing occupancy, and enable separate processing of the settings. The occupancy sensor is able to activate when the infrared sensor section senses occupancy, and to maintain activation when either the infrared sensor section or the ultrasonic sensor section senses continuing occupancy of the area. The infrared sensor section signals and the ultrasonic sensor section signals are each independently formed and activated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to improvements in occupancy sensor systems and method, and, more particularly, to a system for sensing the occupancy of an area to control a system connected thereto, whereby the occupancy sensing system is activated upon sensing the occupancy of the area, and activation of the occupancy sensing system is maintained while sensing the continuing occupancy of the area.
2. General Background and State of the Art
An occupancy sensor system senses the occupancy and vacancy of an area covered thereby, and activates or deactivates a system connected thereto responsive to such sensing thereof. The sensors in an occupancy sensor may include infrared and/or ultrasonic technologies. The systems controlled by occupancy sensors may consist of lighting systems, heating and air conditioning systems, alarm systems, and/or building automation systems. The area covered by an occupancy sensor may comprise a room, a classroom, a computer room, a section of a floor, and/or a floor in a building, from small areas to very large areas. The occupancy sensor may be mounted at a location in the wall or in the ceiling of the area to be covered thereby.
An important consideration regarding an occupancy sensor system is that it be energy-saving with respect to the system controlled thereby. Further, it is significant that such an occupancy sensor system be reliable and versatile. Moreover, there may have been problems associated with prior occupancy sensor systems regarding false activations, due to heavy airflow in the covered area, unintended blackouts caused by coverage gaps, and/or coverage fluctuations due to changes in humidity, temperature, and electrical noise. Further, it is desirable to provide multiple interface options for connecting an occupancy sensor system to a system to be controlled thereby such as a building automation system.
Reliable activation of the occupancy sensor upon occupancy of the area covered is a major issue, as is safeguarding against false activation during vacancy of the area covered thereby. Another major issue is that occupancy sensors which attempt to learn the occupancy patterns for the areas covered thereby, such as by a summing algorithm that uses a composite signal to determine occupancy to attempt to eliminate installer errors, may not have been reliable. A further major issue is that occupancy sensors when installed were often not setup or adjusted to the optimum settings. This often caused installers to make return trips to further adjust sensors, and for occupants to be inconvenienced by nuisance false activations or deactivations.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an occupancy sensor system which is able to provide energy-saving solutions for controlling systems connected thereto, and reliable and versatile control of the connected system, while preventing false activation and coverage fluctuations due to environmental factors and unintended non-activation in an occupied area due to gaps in system coverage, and which generates and maintains signals which provide reliable sensing of the occupancy of an area.
Therefore, there has been identified a continuing need to provide a system for sensing covered-area occupancy which provides enhanced reliability and versatility.

Self-adjusting dual technology occupancy sensor system and method


A motor-driven hydraulic pump for use in motor vehicles and a driving coupler used therein, in which the pump includes a driving gear and a follower gear, an intake chamber and an outlet chamber formed on opposite sides of the meshed gears, a housing for enclosing the intake chamber and the outlet chamber, the housing being supported by a first support on one side and a second support on the other side, and a noise damper including a space inside for reducing noise occurring during the delivery of a working oil, the noise damper communicating with the outlet chamber and being fixed to the second support of the housing, and wherein the driving coupler includes a protruding, undulated sleeve including a mortise mating with a tenon formed on the end of either the driving shaft or the driven shaft, and a sleeve counterpart including a mortise mating with a tenon formed on the end of the other shaft, and a protruding, splined projection which includes splines shaped to fit into the undulated sleeve, with spaces between the undulated sleeve and the splines being filled with an elastic material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor-driven hydraulic pump (hereinafter referred to as "motor-driven pump") and a driving coupler used therein to transmit a driving force from an input shaft to an output shaft, wherein the pump generates hydraulic pressure for operating hydraulic assist devices such as a steer-assisting hydraulic cylinder and an automatic transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
Motor vehicles, especially road vehicles, are commonly equipped with hydraulic assist devices such as a steer-assisting hydraulic cylinder and an automatic transmission so as to maintain an optimum engine speed and a comfortable road running. These hydraulic assist devices are operated by pumps such as vane pumps and gear pumps, which are driven by the engine of the vehicle. In operating the steer-assisting hydraulic cylinder, the pump is operated at varying speeds by reference to the road speeds of the vehicle. For example, it will be operated at high speed when the vehicle runs at low speed or is brought to a stop where a large steer-assisting force is required, and it will be operated at low speed when the vehicle runs at high speed where little steer-assisting force is required. However, the engine of the vehicle is difficult to cope with such frequent changes in the operating speeds of the pump. In order to meet these demands, an extra electric motor whose outputs are readily adjusted is used for the hydraulic pump independently of the engine of the vehicle. This solution is proposed and disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (allowed) No. 3-15592. It will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 12:
The illustrated motor-driven pump is provided with an electric motor (M) and a pump housing (B) including a support portion (C) which is provided with an oil outlet path (E) through which a working oil is forced out. The electric motor (M) includes a motor shaft (input shaft) (m). The pump housing (B) includes a pump shaft (output shaft) (a) coupled to the motor shaft (m), and also houses a intake chamber (not shown) in which a driving gear (A) driven by the motor shaft (m) and a follower gear (not shown) are mutually in mesh, and deliver a working oil to an outlet chamber (not shown) communicating with the oil outlet path (E).
In recent years, electric vehicles (EV) are developed so as to avoid environmental contamination due to exhaust gases. Electric vehicles are driven by an electric motor instead of an oil engine. They are also equipped with a steer-assisting hydraulic devices operated by a motor-driven pump.
In either case where an electric motor is used to operate the pump, the problem is the limited accommodation space in the vehicle. To solve this problem, the pump and the electric motor are compactly combined or unified as shown in the Japanese Publication No. 3-15592 referred to above where a conventional mortise-tenon connection is used to couple the motor shaft and the pump shaft as shown in FIG. 13.
Referring to FIG. 13, an input shaft (motor shaft) (m) and an output shaft (pump shaft) (a) are coupled to each other by means of a driving coupler (hereinafter referred to as "coupler") (J). The coupler (J) includes a first mortise J1 and a second mortise J2 on opposite ends. The input shaft (m) includes a tenon m1, and the output shaft 4 includes a tenon al. The tenons m1 and al are inserted in the mortises J1 and J2, respectively, thereby coupling the motor shaft (m) to the pump shaft (a) such that a torque is transmitted through this mortise-tenon connection. As shown in FIG. 13, the rectangular mortises J1 and J2 are formed like a cross such that a torque is effectively transmitted from the motor shaft (m) to the pump shaft (a) through the coupler (J).
The mortise-tenon connection advantageously ensures the coaxial alignment of the input shaft (m) and output shaft (a). An alternative embodiment is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Specification No. 5-58882, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference; briefly, the tenons ml and al are provided in the coupler J, and the mortises J1 and J2 are provided in the motor shaft (m) and the pump shaft (a).
The known motor-driven pump described above has an oil reservoir defined by a space between the teeth of the driving gears (A) and the follower gears and the inside wall of the pump housing (B). The oil is intermittently delivered every time each oil reservoir is opened to the outlet chamber in the pump housing (B). The problem of this system is the pulsation occurring in the flow of oil which causes the driven shaft (pump shaft) (a) to vibrate.
The coupler (J) is normally made of metal but a metal coupler is likely to cause noise in transmitting a torque from the input shaft (m) to the output shaft (a). Sometimes the noise is so harsh that the driver misunderstands that anything is wrong with his or her car.
Researches have found out that the noise is caused by the pump shaft (a) vibrating in accordance with pulsation occurring in the oil flow within the pump housing (B), and rattling against the coupler (J). To avoid this noise problem plastics-made couplers are proposed instead of metal-made couplers. A plastics-made coupler (J) can effectively absorb vibration but is too fragile to transmit a large torque and is liable to fracture under a large load. To withstand large loads, the plastics-made coupler requires a large size of sufficient thickness. Such large and thick couplers may present other disadvantages.

Motor-driven hydraulic gear pump having a noise damper


An apparatus, with a scheduler that allocates one or more resource blocks to a channel in an uplink frequency band and/or a downlink frequency band according to a first telecommunication standard and the available frequency band for the uplink or downlink, respectively, wherein the scheduler takes into account a limit of resource blocks to be allocated to the channel, and wherein the limit is at least one of an allowed resource block, a resource block to be avoided, a width of a range of allowed resource blocks, a non-usage information of the channel, an upper allowed resource block, and a lower allowed resource block, an upper limit of the number of resource blocks, a lower limit of the number of resource blocks, and any reasonable combinations of the limits mentioned.

The 3GPP standard Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) of UTRAN is a system using orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) standards with frequency-localized allocations.
In the LTE system one main difference to earlier 3GPP releases is the use of wide channels that are shared with users in frequency domain (i.e., frequency division multiplexing). Allocation for one user can vary from one resource block (RB) to maximum number of resource blocks in the channel (e.g. 50RB for 10 MHz channel). A resource block is the smallest allocable frequency range of the uplink or downlink frequency band lasting a predefined time. E.g., in LTE, a resource block is 180 kHz wide and lasts for a 0.5 ms time slot.
In such a system an effect called UE self-interference may occur, according to which emissions of the uplink (from the user equipment (UE) to the base station) extend into the downlink (from the base station to the user equipment). UE self-interference may exist both for intra-technology (e.g. LTE transmission to LTE reception) as well as for inter-technology cases. Interference may also occur where the LTE UE transmitter interferes with UE's receiver in the adjacent channel. This again may exist for intra-technology (LTE-TDD next to LTE-FDD) or inter-technology.
Conventional techniques for avoiding both UE-to-UE interference and UE self-interference are                Uncritical frequency band organization (e.g. large duplex gaps);        Large guard bands; and        High quality (duplex) filters.
The two straightforward ways to solve the UE self-interference issues if conventional techniques are excluded consist in:                Limiting the UE power; or        Just accepting the lower sensitivity.
The latter alternative means that the evolved NodeB (eNodeB) must increase the downlink power to compensate for the reduced sensitivity. The current sensitivity specification allows for some sensitivity degradation for wide allocations (3GPP TS36.101 sub-clause 7.3).

Controlling UE emissions for avoiding self-interference and for demanding coexistence situations


An improved digital phase locked loop (DPLL) has a fixed bandwidth independent of manufacturing and environmental variations. The DPLL bandwidth is optimized by monitoring the delay propagation, i.e., the "silicon speed", of the module. This information is used by a bandwidth regulator to control the characteristics of the low pass filter in the phase locked loop. The digital phase locked loop is also programmable to allow the user to control the phase shifting of the retiming clock. A phase shift control for a second, slave controlled oscillator is used to retime the received data. This phase shift control allows the user to control the phase shifting of a retiming latch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to digital communication systems employing phase locked loops (PLLs) and, more particularly, to an improved high speed digital phase locked loop (DPLL) which has a fixed bandwidth independent of variations in manufacturing process or environment and which is programmable to allow user control of phase shifting of the retiming clock.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital communication systems provide links not only between various digital devices such as computers connected in a network but also in more traditional electronic communications as well. For example, the next generation of cellular telephone systems will be digital, and proposals for an all digital high definition television standard are currently under review. In all applications, it is important to minimize the jitter rate of the received pulses and thereby substantially reduce the bit error rate (BER) of a received digital transmission.
Traditionally, phase locked loops (PLLs) have been used for precise tuning in communications systems. The principles of the PLL have been applied to digital communication systems in the form of a digital phase locked loop (DPLL) manufactured as an integrated circuit (IC) on a silicon substrate. The manufacturing process may introduce subtle variations in DPLL chips. In sequential digital logic design, timing variations do not alter the function of a module. As long as set up and hold times are met, the design is indifferent to propagation delay through the elements. However, performance characteristics of high speed digital phase locked loops (DPLLs) using tapped delay lines are greatly affected by propagation delays. When considering manufacturing and environmental variations, it is not uncommon to observe a three fold variation between best case and worst case propagation delays.
As process variations are encountered for these DPLLs, the performance characteristics change. More specifically, the bandwidth of the loop changes. This can degrade the performance of the device by creating a higher than acceptable bit error rate (BER) in data transmission systems. In the analog domain, these variations are accounted for by using adjustable components, like potentiometers and variable capacitors. With DPLLs, a new technique must be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,798 to Fried discloses a phase locked loop wherein the frequency of the ring oscillator in the PLL is adjusted by controlling the number of delay elements in the ring. Fried employs analog circuitry for this control and, therefore, his approach is not easily implemented using very large scale integration (VLSI) techniques. A similar approach was taken by Herzog in U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,673. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,677,648 to Zurfluh and 4,972,444 to Melrose et al. disclose the use of delay lines used in DPLLs. These designs rely on non-return to zero (NRZ) code and have fixed low pass filter elements. For those applications where there is no stringent jitter transfer requirement, the DPLLs of Zurfluh and Melrose et al. are adequate. However, for those applications where jitter transfer must be critically minimized, what is needed is a 100% digital design which is absolutely stable and suitable for VLSI fabrication.

Programmable high speed digital phase locked loop

International Business Machines Corporation


An object of the invention is to provide a semiconductor device and an adjusting method for a semiconductor device wherein power source noises and noises radiated as radio waves can be reduced and power source noises inside the semiconductor device can be cut. The open stub OS1 is formed in the upper wiring layer of the semiconductor device 1. The stub length L1 is set to a length of ¼ of the wavelength of the known frequency containing peak components of noises. The noise receiving part AT1 is disposed adjacent to the open stub OS1. The open stub OS1 is connected to the power source wiring 4 by an interlayer wiring 6. The noise receiving part AT1 is biased to a ground potential. The basic wave component and odd-number harmonic waves of noises that are generated from the PLL circuit 11 and propagate (the arrow Y1 of FIG. 2) in the power source wiring 4 are reflected (arrow Y2 of FIG. 2) by the open stub OS1 so as to return to the PLL circuit 11, and do not reach the filter circuit 12.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power source noise control of a semiconductor device, and more specifically, noise control using an open stub.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent semiconductor integrated circuits, higher integration and higher synchronization speeds are realized, and clock skew is reduced for realizing high-speed stable operations. Therefore, timings of through currents are synchronized, and power source noise tends to increase. Furthermore, according to the increase in speed of a multi-pin integrated circuit, switching of an output buffer or the like causes synchronous switching noise which fluctuates the power source.
A circuit disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09(1997)-260522 is shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is an example of an Equivalent circuit when it is fixed to a package consisting of an insulator with a semiconductor element mounted and a board. In this figure, an integrated circuit is indicated by a, a PGA package is indicated by b, and a board is indicated by c. For example, in the PGA package b and the board c, inductances L101 and L102 and resistances are parasitically generated, and within the integrated circuit a, an input buffer 102 and an output buffer 103 are formed, and the former buffer is electrically connected to a pad 104 formed within the integrated circuit a. Furthermore, on the board c, a VDD terminal 105, a VSS terminal 106, and a 5V power source 107 are provided, and a band filter 108 provided in the PGA package is electrically connected to the VDD terminal 105. Therefore, in the conventional invention, a frequency as a main component of noise is cut by the band filter 108 to reduce noise at the D point. As described above, by providing a 40 mm band filter 108 between the input and output power sources, only the frequency of the main component of noise is cut off and noise propagation is prevented.
As techniques relating to the description given above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 2002-76967 and No. H08 (1996)-162803 are disclosed.

Semiconductor device and adjusting method for semiconductor device


An antimicrobial agent comprising allyl isothiocyanate (AIT) packaged in a packaging material having a structure wherein part of the pores of a porous packaging substrate is filled with, or said pores are partially or entirely narrowed by a resin impervious to AIT vapor, and a method for controlling the AIT vapor release speed comprising enclosing AIT in the above-mentioned packaging material. According to the present invention, the AIT vapor release speed can be controlled, whereby enabling sustained release of AIT vapor and persistent effect of antimicrobial action. In addition, the antimicrobial agent of the present invention can be widely applied to food industries and various other fields where breeding and reproduction of deleterious microorganisms pose problems, since it is economical, compact and easy to use. The method of the present invention can control the release of the AIT vapor to the outside of the packaging material, to a desired release speed, whereby the antimicrobial action is effectively exerted while preventing the pollution of the environment and damages to the objects to be treated with the antimicrobial agent, which are caused by AIT vapor. In addition, the antimicrobial action can be sustained for a long time with a small amount of AIT.

AIT, which is an ingredient of wasasbi, has a superior antimicrobial action such as biocidal, antibacterial and antifungal actions, and shows no harmful effect on human beings. Accordingly, its usefulness as a biocidal agent for foodstuffs and the like has been drawing attention.
AIT itself has a peculiar, strong and sharp smell, and is disadvantageous in that the strong sharp smell adheres to food and the like when used at a high concentration. It is therefore required to effectively exhibit the antimicrobial action in a least possible amount.
Fortunately, AIT vapor from the highly volatile AIT, too, has a strong antimicrobial effect, which allows effective exertion of the antimicrobial action to every corner with only a small amount of the vapor.
Due to the extremely high volatility of AIT, however, the use thereof as it is results in high AIT vapor concentration reached in a short time in the atmospheric gas with which the objects to be treated with the antimicrobial agent are brought into contact, which in turn leads to disadvantageous results that the smell attaches to the objects to be treated, adverse influences are caused by the infiltration of the AIT vapor into the objects to be treated, and the retention of the effects becomes inferior.
For the AIT to be effectively used as an antimicrobial agent, a method is desired which enables free control of the release speed of the AIT vapor and free control of the AIT vapor concentration in the atmospheric gas with which the objects to be treated with the antimicrobial agent are brought into contact, according to the objects to be treated and treatment method. In addition, an antimicrobial agent capable of keeping the effective concentration of AIT in the atmospheric gas for a long time is also desired.
In particular, an antimicrobial agent and a method capable of maintaining a certain release speed for a long time without being influenced by the residual AIT amount are desired. Also, an antimicrobial agent and a method are desired which permit free and easy control of the release speed of the AIT vapor according to the system to be used.
Under the circumstance, agent forms have been proposed, such as an agent form wherein AIT is carried by a carrier such as zeolite, alumina, silica gel, pulp and paper to control the release speed of the AIT vapor, an agent form wherein AIT is packaged in a polyolefin film allowing high permeation of AIT vapor, and an agent form wherein AIT is packaged in a perforated film obtained by perforating a resin film impervious to AIT vapor.
An agent form wherein AIT is carried by a carrier fails to suppress the high volatility of the AIT, resulting in failure to control the release speed. When a film having a high AIT vapor permeability is used, the agent is defective in that a quantitatively constant release speed cannot be realized, since the release speed depends on the remaining amount of AIT, and that it cannot be practically applied to actual products requiring various release speeds, since release speed is controlled by the thickness of the film.
A perforated film is defective in that the release speed is influenced by the residual amount of AIT and constant release speed is difficult to achieve when AIT vapor is to be released by small portions, and that an agent showing little dispersion in release speed is difficult to manufacture.
As described above, a method permitting free control of the AIT vapor release speed without dispersion and a method permitting portionwise release of an effective amount of AIT vapor at a constant speed have not existed.

Antimicrobial agent containing allyl isothiocyanate and method for controlling release speed of allyl isothiocyanate


Systems and methods are provided for creating and managing a data integration workspace. The workspace may comprise one or more views of data (or datasets) stored in or accessible by the system. Models may be generated and updated based on the plurality of datasets and presented via a graphical user interface. Feedback received via a graphical user interface presenting a model may be used to annotate an underlying dataset associated with the model. Responsive to a modification of the underlying dataset or the rules for using the underlying dataset to generate the model, other related datasets and/or models may be automatically updated accordingly. Templates associated with one or more types of users may be defined. Each template may comprise one or more specific models related to a specific type of user.

Under conventional approaches, mapping the connections between data stored in a system may be difficult. Similarly, identifying issues with models based on stored data may be difficult as users generating the models may be unfamiliar with the subject matter of the data or the information presented in the models based on the data. At the same time, subject matter experts using the models are often unable to identify and/or convey issues in the models that are related to the underlying data or how the underlying data is being used to generate the models. These and other drawbacks exist with conventional solutions.

Systems and methods for creating and managing a data integration workspace containing automatically updated data models


A microelectronic assembly (10) is formed by attaching a component subassembly (34) to a substrate (12). The substrate (12) includes a face (26) and defines a via (28) having a via opening (30) at the face (26). The substrate (12) further defines a component cavity (32) at the face (26). An electrical element (14) is disposed within the substrate (12) and includes a terminal (24) at the via (28). The component subassembly (34) is formed by mounting an integrated circuit component (16) onto a metallic lead (18). The integrated circuit component (16) is electrically connected to the metallic lead (18) by a wire lead (36). A leg (20) is formed by deforming a portion of the metallic lead (18). A polymeric body (56) is formed about the component (16) and wire leads (36). The component subassembly (34) is superposed onto the substrate (12), and the component (16) is received in the component cavity (32). The metallic lead (18) is affixed to the face (26). The leg (20) extends into the via (28) and contacts a conductive body (22) within the via (28). The conductive body (22) electrically connects the leg (20) and the terminal (24).

Microelectronic assemblies include integrated circuit components attached to substrates. Electrical interconnections are formed that allow communication between the integrated circuit component and the substrate for sending and receiving signals for processing. One type of a microelectronic assembly is a "smart card" assembly.
"Smart card" assemblies are credit-card-sized assemblies that include an integrated circuit component attached to a substrate. The integrated circuit component contains information, such as access privileges, account balances, and security information. Smart card assemblies typically include a plurality of electrical contacts on the surface of the smart card that permit electrical access to information stored in the integrated circuit component. The integrated circuit component is attached to the electrical contacts.
Contactless cards have been developed to allow utilization of the card without having to make physical contact with a mechanical reader head, thereby making the contactless cards faster to use and their functionality more transparent to the user. An antenna is typically disposed within the card to receive a signal transmitted from a base unit and to transmit a signal back to the base unit. In a contactless card, the integrated circuit component is typically embedded in the substrate, and is not attached to metal contacts on the surface of the card. In this manner, the position of the integrated circuit component is not based upon a need to be attached to metal contacts exposed at the surface of the card.
It is desired to form a microelectronic assembly that includes the functionality of both the contact card and the contactless card. Such dual interface "smart cards" include both contact pads on the surface of the card and contactless capabilities.
It has been difficult to achieve acceptable results with dual interface "smart cards". The process of connecting the embedded antenna to the integrated circuit component that has been attached to the external contacts has been difficult to achieve reliably. One proposed solution has been to include two integrated circuit components within each "smart card", one for the contact function and one for the contactless function. However, this approach leads to a more expensive smart card and a more complicated manufacturing process.
Therefore, a need exists for a microelectronic assembly that is able to be manufactured in an inexpensive, reliable way that incorporates the functions of both contact and contactless cards without the need for multiple integrated circuit components.

Microelectronic assembly for connection to an embedded electrical element, and method for forming same


There is provided a method for controlling a stepping motor by employing a micro-step mode at deceleration or acceleration of the stepping motor, which moves an optical pickup head in a full step mode or a half step mode, to minimize lens vibration of the optical pickup head. The method includes setting an initial step of the stepping motor, applying a micro-step mode to the stepping motor at the set initial step to move the optical pickup head, and after the initial step, applying a full step mode or a half step mode to the stepping motor to accelerate the optical pickup head by a desired speed. Also, the method includes setting a late step of the stepping motor, applying a full step mode or a half step mode to the stepping motor to decelerate the optical pickup head by a desired speed, and applying a micro-step mode to the stepping motor at the set late step to move the optical pickup head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for driving an optical disk drive, and more particularly, to a method for controlling a stepping motor by using a micro-step mode at deceleration or acceleration of the stepping motor, which moves an optical pickup head in a full step mode or a half step mode, to minimize lens vibration of the optical pickup head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional optical disk drive places an optical pickup head on a disk by driving a stepping motor in a full step mode, a half step mode or a micro-step mode. By driving the stepping motor in the full step mode or the half step mode, the optical pickup head is moved faster than that of the micro-step mode since these modes have a vector quantity larger than that of the micro-step mode.
In the conventional optical disk drive, when the movement of optical pickup head is accelerated in the full step mode or the half step mode, a lens of the head is significantly vibrated at the time of accelerating so that the vibration may cause an unstable condition to control the lens. Similarly, in the conventional optical disk drive, when the optical pickup head is decelerated in the full step mode or the half step mode, the lens also experiences a significant vibration at the time deceleration, so that it may cause an unstable condition to control the lens.
In order to solve the above problems, a latency time is given to the lens when the full step mode or the half step mode is applied, so that the lens can stably operate. However, there is a problem with this solution in that a time to move the optical pickup head of the stepping motor slows down.


A liner for a lateral pipe which leads into a main pipe having at one end a collar for installation at the location where the lateral liner meets the main, the collar extending along the interior of the main seating against the opening of the lateral. The liner mounted in a launching device which includes an adjustable sealing arrangement is installed by everting the liner through an opening in the collar by means of fluid under pressure supplied through a pressure pipe in the launching device, the launcher held in position by the inflatable bladder and against the collar for sealing the lateral/main pipe junction.

The most widely practiced method using such resin impregnated linings is disclosed in British Patent No. 1449455 from which it will be seen that the impregnated lining is applied to the pipeline or passageway surface by eversion of same into the pipeline or passageway, using fluid pressure.
The present invention is concerned with lining pipelines which are called "laterals" insofar as they enter sidewise a main pipeline or passageway, such as a main sewer. Of any particular main line, there may be a plurality of laterals entering the main line, and it frequently arises that the laterals have to be lined by means of a resin impregnated tube. Using existing methods for lining laterals, it is not possible to perform any lining operation of a second or subsequent lateral whilst the lining in one lateral is being cured. As the cure time may take up to 5 or 6 hours, if a section of main line having say 5 laterals to be lined is involved, the minimum total time to line all laterals will be in the order of 25 to 30 hours. As these lining operations are required to be carried out during the night for purposes of convenience, it is often the case that the completion of the work has to take place over several evenings and therefore the work crew must depart the site and return at a later date to complete the work.
The present invention is concerned with providing an arrangement wherein the completion of a plurality of lateral lining operations may be effected in a much shorter period.
In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of laterals meeting a common main line are lined by inserting resin impregnated linings into said laterals and to hold same in position by fluid pressure whilst curing of the resin takes place, and after insertion of each lining, a seal arrangement at the location where the lateral meets the main line enables the second and subsequent laterals to be lined whilst the first or previously inserted lining is held in position and is being cured.

Apparatus for installation of lining with sealing collar


A gear-shifting apparatus is provided which easily returns a derailed chain to engagement with a tension and/or guide pulley when the chain comes off the respective pulley due to a gear-shifting operation, and enables a gear-shifting operation to be performed when a gear-shifting is halted or is rotating backward. A derailer includes an arm which supports a tension pulley and a pulley support member which supports a guide pulley. The arm is provided with engagement recovery-guiding parts for causing respectively derailed parts of a chain, which are derailed from the orbital plane of the tension pulley, to engage with the tension pulley. The pulley support member is provided with a first extending part and a second extending part for the purpose of causing derailed parts of a chain, which has been derailed from the orbital plane of the guide pulley, to engage with the guide pulley.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gear-shifting apparatus for a bicycle, and to a bicycle incorporating the apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a gear-shifting apparatus of a type using a chain, which shifts the chain from one sprocket to another.
2. Background
One example of a known gear-shifting apparatus for a bicycle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2004-155280, and this known system includes: a drive sprocket connected to a crankshaft through a one-directional clutch, while the drive sprocket is being driven. The known gear-shifting apparatus of this reference also includes a sprocket cluster constituted of a plurality of gear-shifting sprockets, which is connected to an output axle for driving a rear wheel, a chain hooked to the drive sprocket and one of the gear-shifting sprockets, and a gear-shifting mechanism. The gear-shifting mechanism includes a derailer arm for rotatably supporting a guide pulley for guiding the chain to a selected gear-shifting sprocket and an arm for rotatably supporting a tension pulley for applying a tension force to the chain. When the guide pulley and the tension pulley move in the center axis direction of a derailer axle, the chain is shifted from a current gear-shifting sprocket to the selected gear-shifting sprocket. In this way, a gear-shifting operation is done.
It would be advantageous if gear-shifting operations could be done no matter what condition the bicycle travels in. For example, it is desirable to perform a gear-shifting operation quickly through a forward rotation of the crankshaft even while a bicycle moves backward in a condition where the rider is off the bicycle, or even while the bicycle is stopped. This feature would contribute to improving the performance in operating the bicycle. Particularly during bicycle racing, where racers compete in time trials, providing a racer with more opportunities for operating the gear shift will lead to better race results.
However, when the gear-shifting sprockets are not rotating forward, including a case where the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards while the bicycle is moving backwards and a case where the gear-shifting sprockets are halted while the bicycle is in a stop, if a gear-shifting operation were performed so that the guide pulley moves towards the center axis direction (hereinafter referred to as the "axis direction"), a part of the chain which is hooked to the guide pulley moves in the axis direction along with the guide pulley. By contrast, a part of the chain which is hooked to one of the gear-shifting sprockets does not move in the axis direction. For this reason, the part of the chain which is hooked to the guide pulley may come off, or become derailed from, the guide pulley in some cases. If the crankshaft were caused to rotate forward while the chain is in such a condition so that the drive sprocket and the gear-shifting sprockets rotate forward, the derailed part of the chain may get stuck between the guide pulley and the derailer arm in some cases. In other cases, the derailed part of the chain may be positioned beside the guide pulley and inwards in the radial direction from the outermost peripheral end of the guide pulley. This makes it difficult for the derailed part of the chain to re-engage with the guide pulley.
In addition, while the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards, if a speed at which the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating is high, or if an equivalent occurs, a part of the chain may stagnate between the guide pulley and one of the gear sifting sprockets. If a part of the chain stagnates in this manner, the chain comes off the guide pulley more easily.
Furthermore, when the derailed part is in the process of engaging with the guide pulley again, if an obstacle hinders the derailed part from moving in a pathway where the derailed part is going to move, for example if there was a step made of a protrusion jutting out from the pathway where the derailed part is going to move, the promptness with which the derailed part of the chain returns to an engaged state with the guide pulley is decreased. In addition, the reliability with which the derailed part is caused to engage with the guide pulley again is reduced.
Still furthermore, if a gear-shifting operation is performed during a halt of the gear-shifting sprockets while the bicycle is in a stop or in an equivalent condition, the chain may come off the tension pulley at a part of the tension pulley which leads in the chain because of the following mechanism. When the gear-shifting operation moves the guide pulley and the tension pulley in the center axis direction (hereinafter referred to as an "axis direction"), a part of the chain which is currently on the top of the tension pulley moves along with the tension pulley in the axis direction on a part of the tension pulley which leads in the chain. By contrast, a part of the chain which is currently on the top of the drive sprocket hardly moves in the axis direction. Moreover, the chain is halted. In this manner, the chain comes off from the tension pulley. If a crankshaft were caused to make a forward rotation, and if accordingly the drive sprocket and the gear-shifting sprockets made a forward rotation while they are in such a condition, this derailed part of the chain which has come off from the tension pulley gets stuck between the tension pulley and the arm in some cases. In other cases, the derailed part gets stuck between the side of the tension pulley and a part inwards in the axis direction from the outermost side end of the tension pulley. In these cases, it is difficult for the derailed part to re-engage with the tension pulley.
With the aforementioned matters taken into consideration, the present invention has been made.
An object of the present invention is to provide a gear-shifting apparatus which makes it easier for the derailed part of the chain to return to an engaged state with the guide pulley even when the chain comes off from the orbital plane of the guide pulley due to a gear-shifting operation, and which enables a gear-shifting operation to be performed even when the gear-shifting sprockets are not rotating forward, including a case where the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards.
A further object of the present invention is to inhibit the number of parts in the gear-shifting apparatus from increasing due to providing engagement recovery means to the gear-shifting apparatus, and is to reduce costs for the gear-shifting apparatus.
A further object of the present invention is to miniaturizing the gear-shifting apparatus in the axis direction.
A further object of the present invention is to miniaturize the engagement recovery means in the axis direction, accordingly to miniaturize the gear-shifting apparatus, and to increase rigidity of the arm, which supports the tension pulley, by use of the engagement recovery means.
A further object of the present invention is to improve promptness and reliability in which the derailed part of the chain returns to an engaged state with the guide pulley.
A further object of the present invention is to intend to miniaturize the gear-shifting apparatus in the axis direction, and concurrently to enable a smooth gear-shifting to be performed.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a gear-shifting apparatus which makes it easy to cause a derailed chain to return to a condition of engaging with the tension pulley when a gear-shifting operation has got the chain off the tension pulley, and which accordingly enables a new gear-shifting to be operated while the gear-shifting sprockets are in a halt and while the gear-shifting sprockets do not make a forward rotation.
A further object of the present invention is to increase the rigidity of the arm, and concurrently to cause the derailed part of the chain to return to a condition of engaging with the tension pulley more securely.
A further object of the present invention is to cause the derailed part to return to a condition of engaging with the tension pulley more securely, and concurrently to make the derailer arm lighter in weight.
A still further object of the present invention is to enable a gear-shifting to be operated easily.
A first aspect of the present invention relates to a gear-shifting apparatus including a plurality of gear-shifting sprockets arranged in the axis direction, and a changing mechanism for changing the chain from one sprocket to another among the plurality of gear-shifting sprockets in response to a gear-shifting operation. The changing mechanism includes a pulley support member, which rotatably supports the guide pulley to which the chain is hooked, and which moves in the axis direction by means of a gear-shifting operation. With regard to the gear-shifting apparatus, the guide pulley guides the chain hooked to one sprocket which has been selected out of the plurality of gear-shifting sprockets. In the gear-shifting apparatus, the pulley support member is provided with the engagement recovery means for causing the derailed part of the chain, which has been derailed from the orbital plane of the guide pulley, to engage with the guide pulley. The engagement recovery means includes a first extending part and a second extending part. The first extending part and the second extending part are arranged leftwards and rightwards in the axis direction from the orbital plane, and extend in the axis direction and in a direction away from the orbital plane. Each of the extending parts guides the derailed part, which has gone onto the extending part, in a way that the derailed part slides on the extending part and moves towards the orbital plane due to a tension force on the chain, and thereafter engages with the guide pulley.
In the case of the gear-shifting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the first extending part and the second extending part, which constitute the engagement recovery means, guide the derailed parts of the chain respectively in a way that the derailed parts of the chain slide respectively on the first extending part and the second extending part as well as engage with the guide pulley. This occurs no matter which side in the axis direction the guide pulley moves to, even when the chain comes off from the orbital plane due to movement of the guide pulley in the axis direction through a gear-shifting operation while the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards or are in a halt. For this reason, while the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating forwards, the derailed parts are prevented from getting stuck between the guide pulley and the pulley support member, or from doing an equivalent thing. This enables the chain to run. Accordingly, the chain will not get stuck between one of the gear-shifting sprockets and the guide pulley (in other words, the chain will not stagnate), even if a gear-shifting operation is performed, for example, while the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards. Accordingly, the chain securely returns to an engaged state with the guide pulley when the gear-shifting sprockets rotate forward.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention. The pulley support member includes a holder for rotatably supporting the guide pulley, and an arm for rotatably supporting a tension pulley which is supported by the holder, and which applies a tension force to the chain. The first extending part is molded integrally with the arm. The second extending part includes a spring containing part which contains a tension spring to generate a spring force with which to push the tension pulley against the chain.
In the case of the gear-shifting apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the first extending part and the second extending part are provided by use of the spring containing part which contains the arm and the tension spring which are a member to support the tension pulley. This does not require preparation of a specialized member for constituting the first extending part and the second extending part.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the first or second aspects of the present invention. The plurality of gear-shifting sprockets are arranged sequentially in a way that a gear-shifting sprocket with a larger outer diameter comes next to a gear-shifting sprocket with a smaller outer diameter to a side in the axis direction. The first extending part and the second extending part are arranged respectively in the side from the orbital plane and in the opposite side in the axis direction. A guide surface onto which the derailed part can go in the first extending part is located in a position whose distance from the centerline of rotation of the guide pulley is smaller in comparison with a guide surface onto which the derailed part can go in the second extending part.
In the case of the gear-shifting apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, while the guide pulley moves towards the side, interference between the first extending part and each of the gear-shifting sprockets is eliminated. In addition, a guide pulley and each of the gear-shifting sprockets are arranged so as to be closer to each other.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the second or third aspects of the present invention. The first extending part is provided so as to extend into a position which makes the first extending part seem to overlap with the tension pulley when viewed from the side. A width in the axis direction of the first extending part is almost equal to a width in the axis direction of the chain.
In the case of the gear-shifting apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first extending part functions as a reinforcement rib of the arm. For this reason, rigidity of the arm which supports the tension pulley is increased. In addition, a guiding function of causing the derailed part to return to an engaged state with the guide pulley is secured. Furthermore, the width in the axis direction of the first extending part is made smaller.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention. The arm includes a first arm part and a second arm part. The first arm part is arranged in the axis direction by the sides respectively of the orbital planes of the guide pulley and the tension pulley. The second arm part is arranged in the axis direction by the other sides respectively of the orbital planes of the guide pulley and the tension pulley. The first arm part is provided with the first extending part. The second arm part is provided with the spring containing part so that the spring containing part is next to the second arm part in the axis direction. The second arm part is arranged in the axis direction between the guide pulley and the spring containing part. The outermost edge of the second arm part in the radial direction is located in a position whose distance from a centerline of rotation of the guide pulley is equal or smaller in comparison with the guide surface in the spring containing part onto which the derailed part can go.
In the case of the gear-shifting apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the derailed part is guided by the second extending part so that, without being interfered by the second arm part, the derailed part moves on the guide surface smoothly and is able to return to an engaged state with the guide pulley.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention. The width in the axis direction of the first extending part is almost equal to the width occupied by two of the gear-shifting sprockets which are next to each other in the axis direction. The width in the axis direction of the second extending part is larger than the width in the axis direction of the first extending part.
In the case of the gear-shifting apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the guiding function of causing the derailed part to return to an engaged state with the guide pulley is secured by use of the first extending part and the second extending part. In addition, the width in the axis direction of the first extending part is made smaller. Furthermore, even if a width in which the derailed part moves in the axis direction is larger, the second extending part causes the derailed part to securely go onto the second extending part, and accordingly causes the derailed part to return to an engaged state with the guide pulley.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention relates to a gear-shifting apparatus configured as follows. The gear-shifting apparatus includes a plurality of gear-shifting sprockets arranged in the axis direction, and a changing mechanism for changing the chain from one sprocket to another in the plurality of gear-shifting sprockets. The changing mechanism includes an arm for rotatably supporting a tension pulley for applying a tension force to the chain. In the gear-shifting apparatus, a gear-shifting operation moves the arm in the axis direction. With regard to the arm, its part near a part of the tension pulley, which leads in the chain, is provided with an engagement recovery-guiding part for causing a derailed part of the chain, which has got off an orbital plane of the tension pulley, to engage with the tension pulley. The engagement recovery-guiding part positions the entire derailed part outwards the rotation track of the outermost side end of the tension pulley in the radius direction, and concurrently guides the derailed part in order to cause the derailed part to engage with the tension pulley after the derailed part moves towards the orbital plane by means of the tension force on the chain.
This gear-shifting apparatus causes the engagement recovery-guiding part to guide the derailed part of the chain so that the derailed part of the chain returns to a condition of engaging with the tension pulley, even if a gear-shifting operation moves the tension pulley in the axis direction and thereby the chain comes off from the orbital plane of the chain when the gear-shifting sprocket is halted or in an equivalent case. This prevents the derailed part from getting stuck between the tension pulley and the arm. This enables the chain to run.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention further includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the seventh aspect of the present invention. The changing mechanism includes a guide pulley for guiding the chain to be hooked to a working sprocket which has been selected out of the plurality of gear-shifting sprockets, and a holder which rotatably supports the guide pulley, and which can move in the axis direction along with the arm. The arm includes a pair of arm parts, one of which is arranged in one side of the tension pulley and the guide pulley in their axis directions, and the other of which is arranged in the other side of the tension pulley and the guide pulley in their axis directions. A tension-pulley-side guiding part for preventing a part of the chain which is hooked to the tension pulley from getting off the pulley and a supported part which is supported by the holder are formed in each of the arm parts. An interval in the axis direction between the two supported parts is wider than an interval in the axis direction between the tension-pulley-side guiding parts.
This gear-shifting apparatus can increase the bending rigidity of each of the supported parts, which is a part onto which a force moving the arm in the axis direction functions from the changing mechanism. In addition, since the interval in the axis direction between the tension-pulley-side guiding parts in the arm is formed so as to be narrower, the tension-pulley-side guiding parts can be arranged closer to the tension pulley. This can cause the derailed part, which is guided by the engagement recovery-guiding part, to return to a condition of securely engaging with the tension pulley.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention further includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the eighth aspect of the present invention. While a center plane is defined as including a line representing the center of rotation of the tension pulley and a line representing the center of the rotation of the guide pulley, a range where the engagement recovery-guiding part is formed in the circumferential direction is a range which makes an angle to the center plane in a direction of a forward rotation of the tension pulley from the centerline of rotation of the tension pulley equal to an angle to the center plane in a direction of a reverse rotation of the tension pulley from the centerline of rotation of the tension pulley, when viewed from the side.
This gear-shifting apparatus makes it possible to sufficiently secure the range, where the engagement recovery-guiding part is formed in the circumferential direction, along the center plane. This enables the derailed part to easily return to a condition of engaging with the tension pulley. In addition, a point in the engagement recovery-guiding part at which the derailed part applies a force when the derailed part comes into contact with the engagement recovery-guiding part can be designed to come close to the center plane. Accordingly, this force can reduce a torque which is applied to each of the arm parts. This does not require each of the arm parts to be made larger, or accordingly to be heavier in weight, for the purpose of increasing torsional rigidity of each of the arm parts.
A gear-shifting apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention further includes the following configuration in addition to including the same configuration as the gear-shifting apparatus according to the seventh aspect of the present invention. The arm includes a pair of arm parts which are arranged respectively on the two sides of the tension pulley, and in which the engagement recovery-guiding parts are respectively formed. Each of the engagement recovery-guiding parts has a guide plane with which the derailed part comes into contact, and which extends in the axis direction and in a direction orthogonal to the orbital plane. A position of an end portion of the guide plane which is closest to the tension pulley in the axis direction virtually agrees with, or is aligned with, a position of the inner circumferential edge of the chain engaging with the tension pulley.
This gear-shifting apparatus causes the derailed part to run onto the guide plane easily. This causes the derailment to begin at a position of the engagement recovery-guiding part, the position being in a direction a forward rotation of the tension pulley. This relieves torsion of the chain caused due to a movement in the axis direction of the tension pulley. The relief reduces a resistance force from the chain while a gear-shifting operation is being performed.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, even when part of the chain comes off the orbital plane of the guide pulley due to a gear-shifting operation which is performed while the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards, in a stop or in an equivalent condition, the first extending part and the second extending part guide the derailed part so that the derailed part engages with the guide pulley again, thus enabling the chain to run. This makes it easier to cause the derailed part to return to an engaged state with the guide pulley. Accordingly, a gear-shifting operation can be performed even when the gear-shifting sprockets are not rotating forward, including a case where the gear-shifting sprockets are rotating backwards. A gear-shifting can be carried out on the base of the gear-shifting operation thus made possible.
According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of the first aspect of the present invention, a specialized member for providing the first extending part and the second extending part is not required. Accordingly, the number of the parts of the gear-shifting apparatus provided with the engagement recovery means is reduced, and the costs for the gear-shifting apparatus is also reduced.
According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of any of the first or second aspects of the present invention, interference between the extending part and each of the gear-shifting sprockets in conjunction with movement of the guide pulley is eliminated. Accordingly, reliability in which a gear-shifting operation is performed is secured. In addition, the guide pulley and each of the gear-shifting sprockets are arranged so as to be closer to each other. This enables the gear-shifting apparatus to be miniaturized. Furthermore, reliability in which a gear-shifting operation is performed is improved. Additionally, this enables a gear-shifting to be carried out smoothly.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of any of the second or third aspects of the present invention, rigidity of the arm can be increased by use of the first extending part. In addition, the first extending part is miniaturized in the axis direction. Moreover, a gear-shifting sprocket cluster and the guide pulley are arranged so as to be closer to each other in the axis direction. For this reason, the gear-shifting apparatus is miniaturized in the axis direction.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of the second aspect of the present invention, the derailed part is guided smoothly by the second extending part so that the derailed part returns to an engaged state with the guide pulley. Accordingly, promptness and reliability with which the derailed part returns to an engaged state with the guide pulley is improved. In addition, reliability with which a gear-shifting is carried out is improved.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the extending part is miniaturized in the axis direction. The sprocket cluster and the guide pulley are arranged so as to be closer to each other in the axis direction. Accordingly, the gear-shifting apparatus is miniaturized in the axis direction. Furthermore, the gear-shifting apparatus is miniaturized in the axis direction. In addition, reliability with which the derailed part returns to a state of the engagement is improved by the second extending part. Additionally, reliability with which a gear-shifting is carried out is improved.
According to the seventh aspect of the invention, even when part of the chain comes off the orbital plane of the tension pulley due to a gear-shifting operation which is performed while the gear-shifting sprockets are in a stop or in an equivalent condition, the engagement recovery-guiding part guides the derailed part so that the derailed part engages with the tension pulley again, thus enabling the chain to run. This makes it easy to cause the derailed part to return to a condition of engaging with the tension pulley. Accordingly, a gear-shifting operation can be performed while the gear-shifting sprockets are halted and while the gear-shifting sprockets do not make a forward rotation. A gear-shifting can be carried out on the base of the gear-shifting operation thus made possible.
According to the eighth aspect of the invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of the seventh aspect of the present invention, rigidity of the supported part on which a force functions from the changing mechanism for moving the arm in the axis direction is increased. This enables the supported part to be made lighter in weight. In addition, the derailed part is caused to return to a condition of securely engaging with the tension pulley, thus improving a degree of certainty with which the derailed part returns to the condition of engaging with the tension pulley.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of the eighth aspect of the present invention, the range where the engagement recovery-guiding part is formed in the circumferential direction can be secured sufficiently. This improves a degree of certainty with which the derailed part returns to the condition of engaging with the tension pulley. A force which the derailed part causes to function on the engagement recovery-guiding part can reduce a torque which is applied to each of the arm parts. This enables each of the arm parts to be made lighter in weight.
According to the tenth aspect of the invention, in addition to the above-recited effect of the ninth aspect of the present invention, torsion of the chain caused due to a movement in the axis direction of the tension pulley is relieved. This enables a gear-shifting operation to be performed more easily.
Modes for carrying out the present invention are explained below by reference to an embodiment of the present invention shown in the attached drawings. The above-mentioned object, other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become apparent form the detailed description of the embodiment of the invention presented below in conjunction with the attached drawings.

Gear-shifting apparatus for a bicycle, and bicycle incorporating same


A pictorial image comprising pixels represented by a combination of density values in respect to first color components (R, G, B) is transformed to a pictorial image comprising pixels represented by combination of density values in respect to second color components (C, M, Y). In accordance with the first color modification method, an operation expressed as Q=.alpha.P+.beta. is implemented to an original density value P using two correction coefficients .alpha. and .beta. determined in advance to determine a density value Q after transformation. In addition, in accordance with the second color modification method, density values after transformation are determined by the calculation of the k-th degree masking equation using the k-th degree masking coefficients. At this time, a color cube is defined with respect to the first color components. The color cube thus defined is devided into an n number of blocks. The k-th degree masking coefficients are defined every respective blocks. Then, calculation of the k-th degree masking equation is performed using the k-th degree masking coefficients defined with respect to blocks involving points indicative of original density values within the color cube.

In the case of dealing with a color pictorial image as data, respective pixels forming that pictorial image are ordinarily represented by the combination of density values of three primary colors. In practice, for three primary colors used, various ones are used depending upon media for dealing with color pictorial image. For example, generally, for displaying a pictorial image on a CRT, etc., three primary colors of the R (Red), G (Green) and B (Blue) system are used, and in the case of printing three primary colors of the C (Cyan), M (Magenta) and Y (Yellow) system are used. In addition, even in the case of three primary colors of the same CMY system, they would become different colors, respectively, in dependence upon the hue peculiar to an ink used in a printing machine or a printer.
As just described above, for permitting the same pictorial image to be dealt with different media, it is required to make a color modification so as to become in conformity with the representation by the three primary colors peculiar to a media used. For such a color modification method, two approaches have been mainly put into practice up to now. The first approach is a method to define a color cube having coordinate axes of the three dimensional rectangular coordinate system on which density values of the three primary colors are taken, respectively, to store modified or corrected data into a storage unit corresponding to the color cube. Data which has not yet modified is used as an address value to provide an access to one point within the color cube defined in the storage unit to read out modified data memorized with respect to this point to thereby make a color modification. This method is disclosed, e g., in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 16403/77. However, when modified data are stored in respect of all the points within the color cube as stated above, an extensive memory capacity is required. For this reason, a high cost and large capacity memory unit must be prepared. To overcome this drawback, a method for reducing a necessary memory capacity to realize a reduced cost is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 25416/80. In accordance with this method, modified data are stored only in respect of representative points within the color cube. Further, when intermediate values between adjacent representative points are needed, an interpolation operation is carried out. Moreover, in a method disclosed in the Japanese Patent publication No. 30222/80, for permitting the memory capacity to be further reduced, only data corresponding to differences between modified data and predetermined reference values are memorized instead of memorizing modified data themselves in regard to respective representative points.
The second approach for the color modification method is a method to use a masking equation. For example, for transforming a pictorial image of the RGB system to a pictorial image of the CMY system, a linear masking equation expressed by EQU C=a.sub.11 R+a.sub.12 G+a.sub.13 B EQU M=a.sub.21 R+a.sub.22 G+a.sub.23 B EQU Y=a.sub.31 R+a.sub.32 G+a.sub.33 B
is used where R, G, B, C, M and Y are variables indicative of density values of primary colors, respectively, and a.sub.11 to a.sub.33 are called "linear or first degree masking coefficients", which are parameters to govern transformation, respectively. In this example, these nine parameters are set so that the pictorial image represented by the RGB system and the pictorial image represented by the CMY system are equivalent to each other. Ordinarily, nine parameters are determined by the ratio of the maximum densities of the three primary colors.
Color modification using the linear masking equation has been described as an example. In addition, a method using a quadratic equation to further reduce modification error is also known. In this method, quadratic or second degree terms of R.sup.2, G.sup.2 and B.sup.2 and RG, GB and BR are introduced in the equation in addition to the linear terms of R, G and B. Ordinarily, by selecting several pixels as respective sampling pixels to perform an operation using the method of least squares so that an error between the representation of the RGB system and the representation of the CMY system is minimized, these nine parameters are set. It is to be noted that such a conventional color modification method is described in detail, e.g., in "Theory of Color Reproduction" by J. A. C. Yule (edited by the publication division of the Printing Society, 1971), and therefore, this material should be referred to in connection with this detail.
However, there are drawbacks encountered with these conventional color modification methods, respectively. In the case of the method by the first approach, i.e., the method of storing modified data into a storage unit corresponding to the color cube, when modified data are stored in respect to all the points within the color cube, an extensive memory capacity is required. For example, in the case of representing one color with a tone of 256 stages, it is required for color modification of the three primary colors to store data as large as those of 256.sup.3 sets into the storage unit. In addition, because core memory or semiconductor memory must be used for making a high speed access, cost of the memory unit becomes extremely high. To avoid this, when modified data are stored only in respect to representative points within the color cube, the interpolation operation is required, resulting in another problem that the high speed processing becomes difficult.
Also with the method by the second approach, i.e., the method using the masking equation, there is a problem as described below. First, since the color modification method using the linear masking equation is on the premises of the proportional rule indicating that the density ratio of the three primary colors of an ink should be maintained at the same value if the absolute value thereof is equally multiplied, and the additive rule indicating that the three primary color densities when superposition print is conducted should be equal to sum of densities of individual inks, sufficient color modification cannot be made. Especially, since the proportional rule and the additive rule are not both fully satisfied in actual media of the CMY system based on the substrative color mixture, even if color modification based on the linear masking equation is conducted, sufficient color reproducibility cannot be provided between the pictorial image in the medium before transformation and the pictorial image in the medium after transformation.
On the other hand, the conventional color modification method using the quadratic masking equation has a more improved color reproducibility as compared to the method using the linear masking equation, but has the problem that the equation becomes complicated, resulting in an elongated computational time.

Color modification utilizing two coefficients


The SAW element 11 comprises a serial arm 17 formed between an input terminal 15 and an output terminal 16, two serial arm side SAW resonators 20 located in the serial arm 17, at least three parallel arms 19 connected between the serial arm 17 and a reference potential terminal 18, and parallel arm side SAW resonator 21 located in the parallel arms 19, respectively. Each of these parallel arm side SAW resonators 21 has an anti-resonant frequency corresponding with the predetermined resonant frequency of each serial arm side SAW resonator 20. Further, at least one parallel arm side SAW resonator 21 has a resonant frequency different from those of the other parallel arm side SAW resonators 21. Thereby, not only insertion loss can be prevented from being deteriorated but also an attenuation characteristic of the SAW element 11 can be readily varied.

The present invention relates to an SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) element which is composed of a plurality of SAW resonators, and an SAW device in which the SAW element is mounted, in particular to a technique effectively applicable to the SAW element of which a ladder-type circuit is constituted by these SAW resonators. Further, the present invention is also applied to a dual-type filter and a branching filter each of which is using a plurality of SAW elements. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a technique effectively applicable in particular to reduction of coupling between a plurality of SAW elements.
In recent years, a mobile communication terminal equipment, such as a portable telephone, and the like has been rapidly progressed. From the viewpoint of convenience of portability or handiness, it is strongly desired that the mobile communication terminal equipment is not only small in size but also light in weight. In order to fabricate such a small and a light terminal equipment, it is essentially required that an electronic part or device used therein is also small in size and light in weight. Under the circumstances, many SAW elements, each of which has advantage for being fabricated small and light and each of in which a plurality of SAW resonators are formed in a piezo-electric substrate, have been used in a high-frequency section and an intermediate-frequency section of the terminal equipment.
An insertion loss and attenuation outside the pass band can be pointed out as important characteristics required for the SAW element, when the SAW element is used as a filter. Herein, the insertion loss influences power consumption of the mobile communication terminal equipment including the SAW element. The insertion loss becomes lower, the life of a battery included in the mobile communication terminal equipment becomes longer. Therefore, a capacity of the battery can be reduced, dependent on the insertion loss. Accordingly, the mobile communication terminal equipment can be fabricated small in size and light in weight, when the insertion loss can be low. Further, when wide range attenuation outside the pass band can be obtained in a filter, the mobile communication terminal equipment can also be fabricated small in size and light in weight.
In a known example of the SAW element, a serial arm is formed between input and output terminals while a plurality of parallel arms are formed between the serial arm and a reference potential terminal, and then SAW resonators are adequately located in these serial and parallel arms.
In such an SAW element, a resonant frequency of the SAW resonator located in the serial arm is adjusted to be corresponding with an anti-resonant frequency of the SAW resonator located in the parallel arm. Thereby, an input and output impedance is matched with a characteristic impedance around the frequencies corresponding with each other. The pass band is thereby constituted.
As regards an SAW element used as a band filter, it is strongly desired that the insertion loss is low and that amount of attenuation is enlarged in a frequency range outside the pass band.
Further, in a mounting of the SAW elements used in such an SAW device, it is carried out that an SAW element at the transmission side (a transmission filter) and an SAW element at the reception side (a reception filter) are mounted on a mounting substrate separately from each other. On the other hand, it is sometimes carried out that the transmission filter and the reception filter are mounted in a body on the mounting substrate. In these mountings, each of the transmission filter and the reception filter is mounted in the respective direction. As a result, due to the directions in which the transmission filter and the reception filter are mounted, coupling is sometimes caused to occur between the transmission filter and the reception filter. Consequently, a frequency characteristic of the SAW device is sometimes influenced by the coupling. Such an influence on the frequency characteristic due to the coupling is a serious problem regarding characteristics of the SAW device itself. It is therefore necessary to remove the influence as completely as possible.
As important characteristics required for the SAW device, it should be pointed out that an insertion loss is low and that amount of attenuation outside the pass band frequency is large. The insertion loss influences power consumption of the mobile communication terminal equipment. The insertion loss becomes lower, the life of a battery included in the mobile communication terminal equipment becomes longer. Therefore, a capacity of the battery can be reduced, dependent on the insertion loss. Accordingly, the mobile communication terminal equipment can be fabricated small in size and light in weight, when the insertion loss can be low. Further, when wide range attenuation outside the pass band can be obtained in an SAW device, the mobile communication terminal equipment can also be fabricated small in size and light in weight.
Herein, the SAW element used in the SAW device has a pair of exciting electrode portions each of which has a shape of the teeth of a comb and which are formed on a piezo-electric substrate with being involved in each other. With the structure, in the SAW element, an electric field generated by applying voltage between the exciting electrode portions produces a surface acoustic wave (SAW) on the piezo-electric substrate. On the other hand, a produced surface acoustic wave (SAW) is converted into an electric signal by the exciting electrode portions also in the SAW element. Herein, a film thickness of each exciting electrode portion is an important parameter for determining the pass band frequency as a filter. For example, in order that the pass band frequency may be enhanced from 1 GHz into 2 GHz, the film thickness 0.4 μm at the frequency 1 GHz must be reduced to a half of that, namely, the film thickness 0.2 μm at the frequency 2 GHz. Such reduction of the film thickness inevitably makes an area of section of a conductor pattern be small. As a result, an electric resistance value of the conductor pattern is increased. Accordingly, the above-mentioned insertion loss becomes high. Further, the amount of attenuation outside the pass band frequency cannot be obtained sufficiently. Thus, characteristics of the SAW element are deteriorated.


A high gain photodetector requiring a substantially silicon area than prior art photodetectors having the same gain. The photodetector includes a light converter for converting a light signal to a current; and a first vertical transistor. The first vertical transistor includes a first well in a semiconductor substrate, the first well including a diffusion region, the semiconductor substrate and the diffusion having a first type of doping and the first well having a second type of doping. The first type of doping is either P-type or N-type, and the second type of doping is the other of the P-type or N-type doping. The light converter is connected to the first well so as to forward bias the vertical transistor thereby causing a current to flow between the diffusion region in the first well and the substrate. Additional amplification of the photocurrent from the light converter can be provided by including a second vertical transistor. The second vertical transistor includes a second well in the semiconductor substrate, the second well including a second diffusion region. The semiconductor substrate and the second diffusion having the first type of doping and the second well having the second type of doping. The first vertical transistor and the second vertical transistor are connected as a Darlington pair. The amplified current from the vertical transistor(s) is converted to a voltage by a current to voltage converter.

There are a number of situations in which a moveable carriage must be aligned over a stationary object by detecting a fiducial mark on the stationary object. One method for detecting the fiducial mark "on the fly" is to incorporate an array of photodetectors on the moveable carriage. If the array is sufficiently large, the fiducial mark will alter the light at one or more of the detectors. By determining the identity of the photodetectors that "fired", the location and size of the fiducial mark can be deduced.
If the light signal is weak, a high gain photodetector must be utilized. Such a detector requires a two stage operational amplifier followed by a current to voltage translator. The area on the chip required for the operational amplifiers limits the density of photodetectors in the array. Hence, it would be advantageous to provide a high gain photodetector that requires less area to construct.
Broadly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved photodetector.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a photodetector that requires less area than prior art photodetectors having the same gain.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.


A pigment dispersion composition which can be suitably applied in such fields as color filters, black matrices and ink jet recording where it is necessary to finely disperse pigments still with retention of good dispersion stability and temporal stability even when the total amount a pigment derivative, pigment intermediate, colorant derivative and colorant intermediate, and/or a pigment dispersant is small. Another object is a pigment dispersion-based resist composition which can give color filters high in permeability, excellent in contrast and causing no bleeding or black matrices high in light-shielding and insulating properties, and causing no bleeding. And a pigment dispersion composition which is prepared by dispersing a pigment using a pigment derivative, pigment intermediate, colorant derivative and/or colorant intermediate each having a functional group reactive with a carbodiimide group and having adsorption ability on the pigment surface, and a carbodiimide compound containing at least one carbodiimide group.

It is a current tendency to utilize pigments as colorants not only in various printing inks and paints but also in those fields in which clearer colorations are required, for example in pigment dispersion-based resist compositions for color filters and inks for ink jet printing.
In recent years, marked advances have been made in the technology of dispersing such pigments. The method which is used for further rationalization of production processes comprises carrying out dispersion so as to increase the pigment concentration as far as possible. However, there is a fundamental problem that as the pigment concentration increases, the fluidity and dispersion stability decrease.
In addition, in the fields of color filters and ink jet recordings, where high levels of fastness are required, it is necessary to use high-grade pigments and reduce the particle diameter to a finer level so that clearer colorations may be accomplished. However, high-grade pigments are by nature poor in dispersion stability as compared with other pigments and, further, as the particle diameter becomes finer, the tendency toward aggregation increases and it becomes difficult to obtain stable dispersions.
On the other hand, carbon black is widely used as a pigment showing a high level of blackness. However, it has problems, namely difficulty in attaining high concentrations thereof and insufficiency in dispersion stability due to its characteristics that its primary particle diameter is very small and it is porous and has a large specific surface area. Recently, attempts have been made to use carbon black also as a light-shielding material for black matrices. It is a problem, however, that it is difficult to obtain highly insulating black matrices from carbon black which is highly conductive.
Therefore, for solving such problems, investigations have been made concerning, for example, the treatment (surface treatment/modification) of pigments themselves or the development of pigment dispersants, pigment derivatives or surfactants, each having marked ability to wet (adsorption ability) pigments and/or be wetted to increase the pigment dispersion stability and/or pigment concentration, and a number of research works are now still going on.
For example, as a method utilizing acid-based affinity, Japanese Kokai Publication Sho-54-037082 discloses a method of attaining good pigment dispersibility and pigment dispersion stability by utilizing a basic group-containing pigment dispersant for dispersing acidic pigments and thus allowing the pigment dispersant to be adsorbed on the pigment surface through acid-based affinity.
Moreover, a method utilizing affinity attributable to similarity of the molecular structure using pigment derivatives, etc. has also been investigated. For example, in Japanese Kokai Publication 2001-356210, there is disclosed a method of obtaining good dispersion stability by using a phthalocyanine pigment derivative introduced with a sulfonic acid group to make a pigment derivative be adsorbed on the pigment surface having similarity in the molecular structure.
Furthermore, the applicant proposes, as a method utilizing the covalent bonding between a functional group occurring on the pigment surface and a dispersion-treating compound, a method of obtaining good pigment dispersibility by using a carbodiimide group-containing compound for dispersing a pigment having a functional group reactive with a carbodiimide group such as an acid group, amine group and hydroxyl group to make the covalent bonding between said functional groups have higher bonding power in Japanese Kokai Publications 2002-201381 and 2002-186838.
However, in such method utilizing acid-based affinity, an acid group is required to occur, or in such method utilizing the covalent bonding, a functional group reactive with a carbodiimide group is required to occur, on the pigment surface, respectively. Thus, there has been a problem that these methods could not be applied to pigments which do not contain those functional groups.
Furthermore, when the functional group reactive with a carbodiimide group is an amino group or hydroxyl group, the reaction temperature is high, thus there has also been a problem that heating is required at the time of dispersion treatment for pigments having these functional groups.
On the contrary, in the method utilizing affinity attributable to similarity of the molecular structure, although the pigment surface does not require to have a special functional group, there has also been a problem that a large amount of materials must be used for dispersing a pigment.
For example, in the method described in Japanese Kokai Publication 2001-356210, the pigment is dispersed by combinedly using a pigment derivative and pigment dispersant, but when the total amount of the pigment derivative and the pigment dispersant to be used is reduced, preferable pigment dispersibility or dispersion stability cannot be obtained. Thus, there is a major problem that it becomes difficult to correspond to high concentration of the pigment.
In addition, if the pigment derivative containing an acid group occurs in a composition, when the composition is used as a pigment dispersion-based resist composition for color filters and black matrices, there is a problem that the liquid crystal display screen is defaced as a result of bleeding of a pigment derivative during the alkaline development.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pigment dispersion composition, use thereof and compound for pigment treatment


An instrument for the unipolar ablation of heart tissue comprises: an electrically conductive shaft tube (20) that is electrically insulated on the outer lateral surface; an electrical connection, which is placed at the proximal end of the shaft tube (20) and which is connected to the shaft tube (20) in a conductive manner; a flushing connection, which is situated at the proximal end of the shaft tube (20) and which communicates with the bore of the shaft tube (20), and; an electrode (14), which is inserted into the distal end of the shaft tube (20), is connected to the shaft tube (20) in an electrically conductive manner, and which has at least one discharge opening (34) that communicates with the bore of the shaft tube (20). The electrode (14) is detachably connected to the distal end of the shaft tube (20).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an instrument for the unipolar ablation of heart tissue.
2. Related Art of the Invention
In surgical heart therapy electrical ablation is utilized, e.g. for the treatment of arrhythmia. Electrical energy, preferably in form of high frequency current is conducted into the region of the heart tissue causing the arrhythmia, particularly the atrium, to selectively damage the tissue in order to eliminate the cause of the arrhythmia. For this, instruments with bipolar and with unipolar supply of HF-energy are known. Further, it is known that a rinsing liquid may flow through the instrument and be discharged at the distal end in the region of the electrode. The rinsing liquid, e.g. a Ringer solution or other electrolytic liquid, serves for cooling and, as the case may be, for improvement of the electrical conductivity between the electrode and the tissue.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,760 an instrument of the previously mentioned kind is disclosed. This instrument is introduced into the heart of the patient through a blood vessel. Here the tube, which conducts the electrical energy and the rinsing liquid to the distal end, is constituted as a flexible catheter. In instruments which are introduced by means of an invasive surgical intervention through the thorax into the heart, the tube is constituted as a rigid shaft.

Instrument for the unipolar ablation of heart tissue


Electronic paper display comprises analyzer for a plurality of picture image data and controller for automatically changing the term, during which picture is visualized. Analyzer counts number of pictures in one month or one season to have controller automatically change the term per one picture to be visualized. Number of pictures for visualization is reduced when the term per one picture is less than one day. Analyzer checks the attribute data of picture to change the term for visualization. Controller substitutes a temporal anniversary picture for the regular calendar picture for a term and gets back regular picture upon expiration of the term. Electronic paper calendar prepares calendar layouts for horizontally long picture and vertically long picture, respectively, with picture sizes different from each other. Electronic paper calendar prepares calendar layout with even month arranged on the left side and odd month on the right side beneath common picture.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image visualizing device capable of visualizing digital image data into a picture on the basis of the digital image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In this field of the art, various attempts have been done with respect to image output devices such as digital cameras capable of capturing the digital image data to output for visualization thereof and visualizing devices such as display device or printer capable of displaying or printing the pictures on the basis of the digital image data received from the image output devices.
For example, Japanese Publication No. 1998-108005 proposes to directly connect a printer to a digital camera for the purpose of utilizing the view finder of the digital camera to display the operation screen of the printer for printing process, to display picture image for selecting the format and the picture to be printed in the format, and to carry out the printing in accordance with the selection.
On the other hand, Japanese Publication No. 2006-129371 proposes to display a calendar image including the beginning year and month with selected images put according to the preset initial template. According to the template, the calendar of January, 2005 as the beginning year and month and the calendar of February, 2005 are displayed in a screen.
Further, Japanese Publication No. 2008-225562 proposes to automatically display a picture having shooting month corresponding to this month. In more detail, display screen of display unit displays year and month information of the calendar, calendar principal part and calendar decoration part. At the decoration part of the calendar, a picture related to the year and month information, especially to the month, is displayed by means of retrieving the picture from memory. The picture may be related to the current date of the month. For example, if an image related to wedding anniversary or birthday is selected when the day comes regardless of the year.
However, there still exist in this field of art many demands for improvements of image visualizing devices.