In accordance with one embodiment, a reading apparatus, arranged at a position between an operator and a customer who stand in a face to face manner, comprises a main body having an opening on a surface thereof facing the operator, an image capturing section for operator, housed in the main body, configured to photograph a commodity through the opening of the main body to capture an image of the commodity, and a reading section for customer, arranged on the main body, configured to communicate with an object, which is held by the customer and is capable of realizing near field communication, to read specified additional information stored in the object.

In a store such as a supermarket and the like, a customer who purchases commodities puts displayed commodities in a shopping basket or a cart and carries the shopping basket or cart to a checkout counter. A shop clerk carries out checkout work at the checkout counter. A reading apparatus such as a barcode scanner for reading commodity information is arranged on the checkout counter. The shop clerk, standing at a position opposite to the customer across the checkout counter, reads the commodities brought by the customer one by one through the reading apparatus to input information relating to the commodity to be purchased.
Conventionally, there are provided various services for promoting sales in the store. For example, points are given according to the purchase amount and stored cumulatively in a store server in association with identification information (membership number and the like) of customers. The given points are used to receive a discount or exchange a commodity corresponding to the point amount from the next transaction and thereafter. Further, an IC card (membership card) including an IC tag in which the identification information is stored is used for sending and receiving the identification information.
Incidentally, in the constitution of the conventional checkout counter, for example, in a case in which the customer shows the membership card to the operator to receive points, the work of the operator (shop clerk) is interrupted, or the customer has to show the membership card before the registration work of the shop clerk is started or after the registration work of the shop clerk is completed, in general. As a result, there is a possibility that the work efficiency of the shop clerk is dropped. Further, there is a problem that showing the card is too troublesome for customers.


The subject invention provides a sample processing technique for purifying a biological or chemical sample. The invention is particularly well-suited to prepare a sample for mass spectrometry. The process is to be performed in an article having at least one well, in which the surface of the well is at least partially hydrophobic and/or modified with bio-specific ligands. Targeted solutes, such as salts or small molecule contaminants, can be removed from a solution to allow for a purified solution of a desired type of solute, such as peptides and/or proteins.

Conventional techniques exist for conducting mass spectrometric analysis of large molecules using MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization) plates. Typically with these techniques, liquid solutions (including e.g., peptide, protein, and energy absorbing matrix) are initially introduced to pre-defined target sites on a MALDI plate. Since the diameter of the target sites are generally small and often densely packed, small (e.g., 1-5 microliter) droplets of the liquid solutions are disposed onto the plate target sites to achieve proper sample placement and to avoid sample overlap between target sites. Once disposed, the liquid samples are evaporated, with matrix crystal conglomerate containing analyte molecules (e.g., peptides and proteins) remaining on the target sites having favorable characteristics for the MALDI process and mass spectrometric analysis. Where larger conglomerate samples are desired, serial liquid sample placement and evaporation has been used to iteratively build-up a conglomerate.
Prior to placement on the MALDI plate, the liquid solution is typically purified and desalted. Such purification and desalting is achieved in the prior art with columns, pipette tips or multi-well filter plates being packed with C18 media or other chromatography media. Examples of columns packed with C18 media include Pierce PepClean™ C18 Spin Columns and 3M Empore™ Extraction Disk Cartridge. Examples of pipette tips packed with C18 media include Millipore ZipTip® Pipette Tips and Varian OMIX Pipette Tips C18. Examples of multi-well filter plates packed with C18 media include Millipore Zip Plate Micro-SPE Plate and 3M Empore™ 96-Well Extraction Disk and Plate.
For exemplary purposes, a common procedure for purifying and desalting liquid solution samples using one of the above-identified devices includes initially wetting the C18 media with a buffer containing an organic solvent, such as methanol or acetonitrile, and thereafter, equilibrating the C18 media with an equilibration buffer. The liquid solution samples are then flowed through the C18 media; it is expected that peptides and proteins of the sample be retained in the C18 media during this step. Thereafter, the C18 media is washed with a washing buffer, and, again, the peptides and proteins are expected to be retained in the media during this step. Finally, a flow elution buffer is passed through the C18 media which disassociates the peptides and proteins from the media, and it is expected that the peptides and proteins flow out with the elution buffer in this step.
A significant portion of the peptides and proteins in the sample solution may flow through the C18 media or other chromatography media in the prior art devices without binding to the C18 or other media. As a result, recovery of the peptides and proteins may be poor, particularly where the sample concentration is low.

Method and apparatus for purifying and desalting biological samples


A capability is provided for characterizing the capacity region of a set of transmitters of a communication network. A set of interference constraints is determined for a set of transmitters having a plurality of transmitters. A plurality of expressions for a respective plurality of transmission time fractions for the transmitters are determined, as functions of a plurality of stability parameters of the respective transmitters and a plurality of ratio parameters of the respective transmitters, based on the set of interference constraints. A plurality of expressions for the respective plurality of stability parameters for the transmitters are determined as functions of the transmission time fractions of the transmitters and the ratio parameters of the transmitters. The expressions for the stability parameters are indicative of the capacity region of the set of transmitters, which may be determined by evaluating the expressions for the stability parameters.

Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) is a media access control (MAC) protocol in which a node verifies the absence of other traffic before transmitting on a shared transmission medium, such as an electrical bus or a band of electromagnetic spectrum. The term "carrier sense" indicates that a transmitter uses feedback from a receiver that detects a carrier wave before trying to transmit (e.g., attempting to detect the presence of an encoded signal from another station before attempting to transmit) such that when a carrier is sensed the transmitter may wait for completion of the transmission that is currently in progress before initiating a new transmission. The term "multiple access" indicates that multiple terminals send and receive traffic via the transmission medium. CSMA collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) is used to improve the performance of CSMA by attempting to be less greedy with the transmission medium by deferring transmission for a random interval if another ongoing transmission is sensed on the medium.
In general, multi-hop wireless networks have been considered a difficult modeling problem, because transmissions from a given node may affect the medium access of one or more other nodes in an intricate way. For example, in a CSMA/CA wireless network, a non-transmitting node that detects an ongoing transmission by a transmitting node is expected to remain silent at least until the transmitting node has finished the transmission. While this silence of the non-transmitting node may prevent a collision that is caused by the non-transmitting node, the silence by the non-transmitting node may also be interpreted by neighboring nodes of the non-transmitting node as an indication that the medium is idle and, thus, may trigger new transmissions by one or more of the neighboring nodes.

Characterization of the capacity region of a set of transmitters in a communication network


A tunable balanced RC filter circuit of the type in which the resistors are formed as MOS transistors with variable gate voltages for tuning the filter. The MOS transistor takes the form of a series arrangement of individual MOS transistors (T1-1, T1-2, . . . , T1-N; T2-1, T2-2, . . . , T2-N) each having the same d.c. bias on its gate. The gate of each of the individual MOS transistors in the series arrangement also receives a fraction of the a.c. component of the input signal on the input terminals (IT1, IT2) of the two-port network by means of a resistor ladder (R1-1, R1-2, . . . , R1-N, R2-1, R2-2, . . . , R2-N), which is connected to the input terminals (IT1, IT2) via buffers (B1, B2). The a.c. component of the input signal is thus divided among the individual transistors in the series arrangement. In this way it is possible to use MOS transistors with a small gate voltage swing at comparatively large input voltages.

The invention relates to a electronic circuit comprising: a two-port network with variable conductance between a pair of input terminals for receiving an input voltage and a pair of output terminals of the two-port network, the two-port network comprising:
a first transistor having a conduction channel connected between a first input terminal of the pair of input terminals and a first output terminal of the pair of output terminals, and having a control electrode arranged to receive a control voltage to control the conduction of the conduction channel of the first transistor, PA1 a second transistor having a conduction channel connected between a second input terminal of the pair of input terminals and a second output terminal of the pair of output terminals, and having a control electrode arranged to receive a control voltage to control the conduction of the conduction channel of the second transistor, and PA1 means for supplying the control voltage to the control electrode of the first transistor and the control electrode of the second transistor. PA1 a first signal follower having an input connected to the first input terminal and having an output, PA1 a second signal follower having an input connected to the second input terminal and having an output, PA1 a resistor ladder connected between the output of the first signal follower and the output of the second signal follower, which resistor ladder has respective nodes between successive resistors connected to the respective control electrodes of the series-connected individual transistors, and PA1 a first controllable current source connected to a first node of the resistor ladder and second controllable current source connected to a second node of the resistor ladder. PA1 two further series arrangements of at least two individual transistors whose conduction channels are arranged in series, one of the two further series arrangements being connected between the first input terminal and the second output terminal and the other one of the two further series arrangements being connected between the second input terminal and the first output terminal, and the means for supplying the control voltage further include:
Such an electronic circuit is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,019, which shows active RC filter circuits comprising balanced amplifiers to which pairwise arranged filter resistors and filter capacitors are connected. To enable the filter circuit to be tuned the filter resistors are formed by MOS transistors whose channel resistance is adjusted by means of a variable voltage on the control electrodes of the MOS transistors. The MOS transistors are arranged in pairs in two-port networks, one MOS transistor being connected between one of the input terminals and one of the output terminals of the two-port network and the other MOS transistor between the other input terminal and the other output terminal. The two-port networks are combined with one or more differential amplifiers having differential inputs and outputs. Depending on their use the two-port networks function as a variable resistance between a balanced signal source and the differential inputs of a differential amplifier, or as a variable feedback resistance between the differential inputs and outputs of a differential amplifier. Thus, active tunable higher-order RC filter circuits can be realized by means of a plurality of differential amplifiers, two-port networks and capacitors arranged in pairs. The pairwise arrangement of the MOS transistors and the balanced signal input largely eliminates the distortion owing to mismatch between the MOS transistors and owing to the non-linear relationship between the channel current and the gate voltage of a MOS transistor.
The MOS transistors are operated in the non-saturation region of their voltage-current transfer characteristics, the resistance of the conduction channel of the transistor being controlled by means of a voltage on the control electrode or gate of the transistor. The progress in technology has resulted in MOS transistors with increasingly thinner gate oxide being available to the designer. A direct consequence of this is that the gate voltage swing between the threshold voltage of the MOS transistor and the voltage at which the channel conduction no longer increases significantly is much smaller than it used to be. Now a problem arises if such a MOS transistor is used as a controllable conductance in the afore-mentioned balanced active RC filter circuits. The voltage range over which the MOS transistor can be used as a controllable conductance in such RC filter circuits is linked to the gate voltage swing. As a result of the reduced gate voltage swing the distortion will increase comparatively rapidly when the signal level remains the same and, consequently, the usability of active RC filter circuits of the afore-mentioned type will decrease.

Transistorized two-port variable-conductance network


A reconfigurable integrated circuit device includes plural processing elements each including an arithmetic circuit, and being configured in any computing state based on the configuration data; and an inter-processing element network which connects the processing elements in any state based on the configuration data. And the processing element inputs an input valid signal and an input data signal, and outputs an output valid signal and an output data signal, and includes an input data holding register, an arithmetic processing circuit, and an output data holding register which holds the computing result data, and when the configuration is updated by configuration data which makes a hold mode valid, regardless of the input valid signal, valid or invalid, the input data holding register holds the input data signal upon the update and the arithmetic processing circuit performs computing processing on the input data signal held in the input data holding register.

A reconfigurable integrated circuit device comprises a plurality of processing elements and a network for connecting these processing elements, and responding to an external or internal event, a sequencer sets configuration data, which is data for configuring a circuit, in the processing elements and the network, and the processing elements and the network configure any computing state or an arithmetic circuit according to this configuration data. A conventional general programmable microprocessor reads instructions stored in a memory in order, and processes the instructions sequentially. Since the hardware configuration of the microprocessor is standardized, the processor must execute programs combining limited instructions in order to perform various different processings, therefore decreasing the processing time has a certain limitation.
The reconfigurable integrated circuit device, on the other hand, comprises: a plurality of processing elements having a plurality of types of arithmetic circuits, including an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) having a computing function, such as an adder, a multiplier and a comparator, a delay circuit and a counter; and a network which connects the processing elements. If the plurality of processing elements and the network are configured into a desired configuration using configuration data, a desired computation is executed in this computing state. If data processing in one computing state completes, another computing state is constructed by another configuration data, and different data processing is executed in this state.
By switching configuration data like this, a different computing state is dynamically configured, and operation of a virtually large circuit is executed by time-division. Since each processing element is a dedicated hardware circuit, processing is faster than the case of a microprocessor executing a program. A reconfigurable integrated circuit device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-244238, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-274397 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-11924.

Reconfigurable integrated circuit device


A light scanning device includes: a light deflector deflecting and scanning light modulated by an image signal, and a member to which the light deflector is connected, wherein a portion of the member has an elastically deformable portion, a mass body is mounted to the elastically deformable portion, and a dynamic vibration absorber is formed by the elastically deformable portion and the mass body. Vibrations of the light scanning device can be reduced by the dynamic vibration absorber formed by the elastically deformable portion and the mass body. Image imperfections caused by the vibrations can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light scanning device used in an image recording apparatus such as a laser printer, a laser facsimile machine, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, such light scanning devices are structured such that light modulated by an image signal is deflected and scanned by a light deflector, which is formed by a rotating polygon mirror which rotates at high speed, and is illuminated onto a photosensitive body. As a result, the deflector becomes a source of vibrations, and the optical box or the optical parts which form the light scanning device are excited and vibrate. Imperfections in the image, such as deviation of the image or irregularities in density or the like, arise due to this vibration.
Here, the means described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 7-84203 for improving the above-described drawback may be implemented. As illustrated in FIG. 9, in a light scanning device 100 of JP-A-7-84203, a drive mechanism 104, a rotating polygon mirror 106, a lens system 108 and the like are disposed on a plate-shaped body 102. A dynamic vibration absorber 109 formed from a weight 105 and a viscoelastic body 107 is provided at the plate-shaped body 102. (Note that a portion of the structure is simplified in FIG. 9.)
As illustrated in FIG. 3A, a case in which an exciting force of Pcosot is applied to a mass M can be modeled by a system having two degrees of freedom in which an auxiliary vibration system m (mass) and k (spring) are attached to a main vibration system M (mass) and K (spring). K (spring) of the main vibration system corresponds to side plates 112 supporting the plate-shaped body 102.
However, it is generally known that, in a case in which the natural frequency .upsilon.=(k/m).sup.1/2 of the auxiliary vibration system is equal to the frequency .omega. of the exciting force, the constant displacement amplitudes A, a of the masses M, m in the vibration system are A=0, a=-p/k.
However, in the light scanning device 100 of JP-A-7-84203, in order to form the dynamic vibration absorber 109, the weight 105 and the viscoelastic body 107, which are separate parts from the light scanning device 100, must be provided. The number of parts in the entire apparatus increases, and accordingly, the number of operations for assembly increase.
As is clear in FIG. 3B, when the relationship .upsilon.=.omega. collapses, the vibration reducing effect of the dynamic vibration absorber weakens. More specifically, there are unavoidable manufacturing variations of the masses M, m and the springs K, k included in the main vibration system and the auxiliary vibration system. Further, because there are also variations in the frequency .omega. of the exciting force, in actuality, the relationship .upsilon.=.omega. collapses, and vibrations occur in both the main vibration system and the auxiliary vibration system.
In the light scanning device 100 of JP-A-7-84203, the dynamic vibration absorber 109 is provided at a position which is separated in the horizontal direction from the drive mechanism 104 and the rotating polygon mirror 106. Therefore, when vibrations are generated in both the main vibration system and the auxiliary vibration system, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a rotation moment is generated in the entire light scanning device 100 due to the vibration of the weight 105, and a deviation .delta.1 in the scan position of a beam L on a photosensitive body 110 arises. Therefore, the effects which were anticipated are not achieved in actuality, and a drawback arises in that imperfections in the image arise. In particular, when the distance from the light scanning device 100 to the photosensitive body 110 is long, the deviation .delta.1 in the scan position increases.


A faucet body includes an inner pipe and an outer pipe enclosed around the inner pipe. The inner pipe is formed by a plastic injection molding process and has an inside formed with a water guide channel. Preferably, the outer pipe is directly enclosed around the outside of the inner pipe after the inner pipe is formed and is formed by a plastic injection molding process so that the inner pipe and the outer pipe are combined together. Thus, the outer pipe is enclosed around the inner pipe to form the faucet body, and the outer pipe and the inner pipe are formed by a plastic injection molding process, so that the faucet body is made and worked easily and quickly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a faucet body and, more particularly, to a faucet body for a faucet to switch a water flow for use with a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional faucet body for a faucet has an inside formed with a water guide channel and has a first end formed with a water inlet connected to the water guide channel and a second end formed with a water outlet connected to the water guide channel. The water inlet of the faucet body is connected to a water source, and the water outlet of the faucet body is connected to a spout which has a threaded mounting portion for mounting a filter and/or an aerator. The faucet body is made of metal and is worked by forging, pressing or casting so that the faucet body has a determined thickness to bear the water pressure and has a heat insulating effect.
However, the faucet body made of metal has a higher melting point so that the faucet body is not worked easily and quickly, thereby increasing the working time, and decreasing the working efficiency. In addition, the faucet body has an irregular surface after the working process, so that the faucet body needs to proceed a further treatment, such as polishing, electroplating and the like, so as to have a smooth surface, thereby simplifying the manufacturing procedures, and thereby increasing the costs of fabrication. Further, the spout of the faucet body needs to proceed a further treatment, such as threading, so as to form the threaded mounting portion for mounting the filter and/or the aerator, thereby simplifying the manufacturing procedures, and thereby increasing the costs of fabrication. Further, the faucet body made of metal has a greater wall thickness so that the threaded mounting portion of the spout of the faucet body is made into an inner thread and cannot be made into an outer thread, thereby increasing the difficulty of the working procedure, and increasing the costs of fabrication.


A method is provided for measuring the agglomerative state of asphaltenes in a process flow stream of oil by applying an acoustic signal to the oil, detecting the scattered acoustic energy and using this detected signal to determine the relative particle size distribution of the asphaltene particles in the oil and/or their state of agglomeration. A method for controlling the agglomerative state of the asphaltenes which is based on the acoustic measurement technique is also provided.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to asphaltene-containing liquid hydrocarbons and, more particularly, to measurement and/or control of the agglomeration of asphaltenes in hydrocarbon liquids.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Asphaltenes are organic heterocyclic macromolecules which occur in crude oils. Under normal reservoir conditions, asphaltenes are usually stabilized in the crude oil dispersion by maltenes and resins that are chemically compatible with asphaltenes, but that have much lower molecular weight. Polar regions of the maltenes and resins surround the asphaltene while non-polar regions are attracted to the oil phase. Thus, these molecules act as surfactants and result in stabilizing the asphaltenes in the crude. However, changes in pressure, temperature or concentration of the crude oil can alter the stability of the dispersion and increase the tendency of the asphaltenes to agglomerate into larger particles. As these asphaltene agglomerates grow, so does their tendency to precipitate.
Precipitation of asphaltenes in crude oil or in process streams of oil is economically costly because of lost production and maintenance required to clear blockages caused by the solid materials.
Various methods have been devised to minimize asphaltene precipitation. For example, pressure and temperature conditions can be maintained, chemical stabilizers may be added to mimic and to enhance the stabilizing affect of the natural resins and maltenes, or devices such as magnetic flux assemblies described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,188 may be used. While methods that minimize asphaltene precipitation can result in significant economies, they have been hampered by a lack of a method for measuring and monitoring the agglomerative state of the asphaltenes in a particular stream at a particular time. Without knowing the agglomerative state of the asphaltenes in the stream, it is unclear when or how much to treat the liquids to prevent asphaltene precipitation.
Conventional methods for determining the size and concentration of asphaltene particles in hydrocarbons, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,451, or in Standard Method IP 143/84, require sampling, transport to a laboratory and testing by precipitation and filtration, centrifugation, titration with a destabilizing solvent, or other time-consuming techniques. Thus, these methods are not suitable for real-time, on-line monitoring of agglomeration.
Although methods for testing for the size and concentration of particles in optically clear streams have been modified and applied to hydrocarbons, many have been much less successful in crude oil and other in-process oil streams due to fouling and opacity. For example, the optical system of Yamazoe, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,247, measures asphaltene content, but provides a washing means to remove the sample solution from the optical probes each time a sample measurement is carried out. Such washing requires more complex measuring devices and infers that fouling over time may hinder the accuracy of the optical measurement.
Direct centrifugation of crude measures the total amount of asphaltene present, but provides no information on degree of agglomeration of the particles or their tendency to remain in a stable dispersion.
Non-optical tests have recently shown promise in measuring particle characteristics. Anfindsen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,040, correlated the precipitation of asphaltenes in oil with changes in conductance or capacitance. However, this method requires transferring a sample of the liquid to be measured to a measuring cell and is not carried out on-line. Furthermore, the process is carried out stepwise and cannot be done substantially instantaneously since a time delay is required to allow for the precipitation of asphaltenes to occur.
Behrman and Larson, MBAA Technical Quarterly, 24, 72-76 (1987), describe on-line monitoring of particles over 0.8 microns in brewery streams by the use of an ultrasonic monitoring device. They use a piezoelectric transducer to generate an acoustic signal and to detect acoustic energy resulting from scattering from particles in the liquid streams. The device permitted on-line, real time measurement of particle concentrations, but did not permit the measurement of particle sizes or a particle size distribution.
More recently, Lin, et al., "Neutron Scattering Characterization of Asphaltene Particles", presented at ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, Calif., April 1997, reported the use of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to determine the size and concentration of asphaltene particles in dilute solution in 1-methyl-naphthalene-D10. The study concentrated on small, "basic", asphaltene particles and reported that larger particles, which might be important to macroscopic properties, could not be measured by today's small angle scattering instruments and would be very difficult, if not impossible, to measure with light scattering methods.
de Boer, et al., SPE Production & Facilities, pp.5-61, February (1995), report the investigation of asphalt precipitation in oils and describe using back-scattered energy from an acoustic probe to sense asphaltene particles. A multi-channel analyzer was used to sort the signals into two amplitude classes corresponding to small and large particle sizes. The acoustic sensing procedure was used to monitor the relative numbers of large and small particles during heptane titration of the oil to induce asphalt precipitation. Since the method required the addition of significant amounts of n-heptane to the oil, it would be impractical to apply the test to an in-process stream and on a real-time basis. However, without the addition of n-heptane to initiate precipitation, the scattered acoustic energy measurements of the method taught by deBoer, et al. would be meaningless.
Later, a group from the same laboratory reported the laboratory use of the same ultrasonic particle analyzer to study the utility of asphaltene inhibitors. (Bouts, et al., J. Petr. Tech., 782-787, September, 1995). The method included a test cell attached to a sonic probe which acted as described above to measure the energy scattered from particles in the liquid. A multichannel analyzer counted particles and sorted the detected scattered energy into thirteen amplitude classes. The two channels measuring the smallest particles and the remaining 11 channels measuring larger particles were respectively lumped together to monitor "small" and "large" particles versus time as the sample was titrated with n-heptane to destabilize the asphaltenes. The purpose of the method was to test various inhibitors by monitoring the formation of asphaltene agglomerates as a function of the heptane added and the inhibitor content. The study did not show how to interpret or use particle size distribution data for more than two particle size ranges. Furthermore, the article did not disclose how the agglomerative state of asphaltene particles in a hydrocarbon liquid could be determined on a real-time basis, without dilution, or without removing a sample of the liquid from the stream or tank in which it is contained.
Thus, despite progress with promising techniques in related areas, a suitable method has not been available to measure the agglomerative state of asphaltenes in oils, such as crude oil or any other optically opaque hydrocarbon liquid, on a real-time basis and without removing a sample from the process stream. The lack of such method has also limited the ability to control the agglomeration of asphaltenes in such oils.

Measurement and control of asphaltene agglomeration in hydrocarbon Liquids


The present invention features a light-pumped, single-mode, pulse- or continuous-wave amplifier, or a Q-switch, with each having a high-saturation output power. The amplifier or Q-switch has a light-pumped, optical fiber having active ions that are either annularly located within the cladding or adjacent the core/cladding interface. Pump-light and an input signal are coupled to the fiber via a dispersive or biconically-tapered coupler. The light-pumped fiber provides stored energy, with an induced emission in the excited-state population that is relatively low for the given amount of energy stored. The central part of the core both stores and propagates whatever light is present, due to induced emission, which takes place only in the annular region. The light that is incident on the fiber is of sufficient intensity so that, despite the low rate of induced emission per unit of light intensity, a significant power increase occurs.

Doping in amplifying devices has traditionally been centered within the fiber core, in order to achieve a good signal. It has recently been suggested that optical waveguide amplifiers and lasers be fabricated with the dopant placed in an annular distribution about the core, i.e., with the dopant distributed between the center and the core/cladding interface. An optical amplifier with this type of dopant distribution is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,046 (issued to DI GIOVANNI et al on Nov. 2, 1993), entitled "Article Comprising an Optical Waveguide Containing a Fluorescent Dopant". The object of this patented apparatus was to provide an optical amplifier that was relatively insensitive to variations in cut-off wavelength, as well as pump-power modal distribution. This insensitivity provided a means of fabricating optical fiber having reduced tolerances.
The aforementioned patent, however, discloses a problem with this annular, doping technique, in that the amplifier gain drops with a decrease in the wavelength. Thus, amplifiers which employ an annular, doping configuration have a higher threshold power, but it is at the expense of lower gain. However, amplifiers having a low gain are generally ineffective.
The above, annular, doping configuration can also be used for a different purpose, one in which the lower gain limitation becomes irrelevant. The current invention advances the idea that doping the cladding of an optical fiber can provide an optical device which can be used as a final stage, either a pulse- or continuous-wave amplifier, or a Q-switch, with each having a high-value saturation output.
In the past, amplifiers configured to provide high-output power had an inability to store energy as an inverted population, because the amplified, spontaneous emission in the doped core depleted the inversion. The present invention, however, reflects the discovery that an annular, doping technique makes possible an optical fiber having a pumped energy that will be insensitive to depletion inversion. In such a situation, a low gain is not important. What is important is that one can construct a high-output power amplifier, or a Q-switch.
This invention suggests a single-mode fiber design with active, rare-earth ions (such as neodymium Nd!, erbium Er!, thulium Tm!, praseodymium Pr! and ytterbium Yb!) located in an annular region within or next to the cladding, i.e., straddling the core/cladding interface. The core is substantially free of any gain material, and the index of refraction is essentially the same for both core and cladding. The transition probability of induced emission is proportional to the square of the transverse component of the field. Therefore, the active ions in the annular region have a diminished tendency for induced emission, resulting in the ability of the inventive fiber configuration to store more inverted ions without being depleted by amplified, spontaneous emission.
In one embodiment of this invention, the fiber has indices of refraction between the core and the active ion interface that are essentially the same. A transverse component of the electrical-field strength in the core of a single-mode, step-index fiber is defined by a Zero.sup.th order Bessel function J.sub.o. The field strength in the cladding is defined by a modified Hankel function K.sub.o. The fiber is designed with a "V" value for the modified Hankel function, which is less than 2.405, a value consistent with single-mode operation, as defined by J.sub.o. The radius of the core "a" will be less than 15 microns, and the optical fiber can operate with a wavelength of 1.5 microns.
Such a light-pumped fiber device provides an amplifier in which the induced emission per given amount of energy that is stored in the excited state population is relatively low. The central part of the core both stores and propagates whatever light is present, due to induced emission, which takes place only in the annular region. The light that is incident on the fiber is of sufficient intensity, so that, despite the low rate of induced emission per unit of light intensity, there is a significant power increase.

Optical-fiber amplifier having high-saturation output

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey


Monolithic framed pellicle membrane integrating a structural framing member with a membrane spanning the framing member. The monolithic frame pellicle membrane is suitable as an overlay of a reticle employed in lithography operations of integrated circuit manufacture. A semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) wafer may be machined from the backside, for example with a bonnet polisher, to form a pellicle framing member by removing a portion of a base semiconductor substrate of the SOI wafer selectively to top semiconductor layer of the SOI wafer, which is retained as a pellicle membrane. In some exemplary embodiments suitable for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography applications, at least the top semiconductor layer of the SOI wafer is a substantially monocrystalline silicon layer.

Demand for higher performance integrated circuits (ICs) in electronic device applications has motivated increasingly dense transistor architectures. With the continued scaling of the physical dimensions of device features, such as transistor gates, gate contacts, and metal interconnects, nanolithography is a key enabling technology. Achieving feature dimensions in the 20-30 nm range may require extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV or EUVL) technology using the 13.5 nm EUV center wavelength (13.3-13.7 nm band).
In the manufacture of ICs, substrate patterning employs lithographic masks, referred to as reticles. Reticle patterns should have minimal defects for highest device yields. Even in state-of-the-art cleanrooms, it is challenging to prevent minute particles present in the environment from depositing on masks during storage and usage in lithography equipment. Pellicles are typically attached to a reticle to avoid particles from becoming a printable adder to the reticle pattern. FIG. 1 depicts exploded and collapsed isometric views of a pellicle and frame assembly 100 further assembled with a reticle 115, in accordance with convention. Assembly 100 includes a pellicle membrane preform 105 attached to a pellicle frame preform 110. Assembly 100 is further attached to reticle 115 in a pelliclized reticle assembly 101, which is suitable for use in lithography operations of high volume IC manufacture. Reticle 115 includes a printable pattern 130. In this example printable pattern 130 is a reversed image of what is to be printed, which is typical of an EUV reticle that relies on reflective, rather than transmissive, optics.
Pellicle frame preform 110 is often made of a rigid bulk material such as anodized aluminum or ceramic, and has a z-thickness T1 of 2-6 mm, typically set to be the same thickness as a reticle blank. During use, particles that happen to deposit on the pelliclized reticle assembly 101 fall onto pellicle 105 (or the back side of the reticle), and are therefore several millimeters away from the plane of printable pattern 130 that is imaged. With the small depth-of-field of the optical system, such particles are out of the focal plane and do not alter a pattern imaged upon an IC workpiece.
Pellicle membrane preform 105 has evolved with successive lithography generations as the emission wavelengths employed in the imaging process have become shorter. Whereas generations ago, pellicle membrane preform 105 was around 1 μm in thickness, thicknesses of 20-50 nanometer (nm) are typical for EUV systems. Such thicknesses pose an even greater challenge in view of the large area pellicle membrane preform 105 is to span, which may be 100-150 mm×100-150 mm. For EUV systems, pellicle membrane preform 105 typically has a polysilicon core or a carbon core. Polysilicon-core examples may have a variety of capping layer combinations. Carbon-core examples include graphene membranes or graphite sheets, which may also be capped with a variety of materials.
To form assembly 100, pellicle membrane preform 105 is first fabricated and then transferred to pellicle frame preform 110. Yield losses associated with fabrication steps such as separating and transferring the thin, large area membrane are significant and thus currently result in high unit cost per piece part, and low availability/supply. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 1, pellicle frame preform 110 is typically itself an assembly of multiple individual parts (e.g., flexures 120, which couple to reticle studs 125). Each of these parts present fabrication challenges, and all have yield losses associated with both their discrete manufacture and their integration into assembly 100. In aggregate, these issues translate into the cost of a single pellicle assembly 101 being in the tens of thousands of dollars. Considering the number of assemblies needed for each IC device product, and their finite lifetimes owing to the inherent fragility of each assembly, pellicle assembly costs can be a significant factor in the unit cost of a IC device.
Pellicles and pelliclized reticle assemblies and their methods of fabrication that can address one or more of the above issues would therefore be commercially advantageous.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Monolithically framed pellicle membrane suitable for lithography in the fabrication of integrated circuits


A password input table creating method for creating a password input table referred to when inputting a password in a computer includes a step of displaying on a display a creation table having multiple entry fields each of which is to be an input area for one character, a step of entering, in the entry field of the creation table, each of characters composing a password to be inputted into the computer through an interactive process, a step of creating a password input table by randomly entering possible characters to be used for a password in entry fields of the creation table which have no character inputted therein, and a step of outputting the created password input table.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a password input table creating method and apparatus and a program thereof, and more particularly to a password input table creating method and apparatus for creating a password input table which is referred to when inputting a password into a computer, and a password input table creating program used to implement the password input table creating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a user utilizes a system operating on a computer, whether or not the user is the person authenticated to use the system is determined by having the user input the same password that has been registered with the computer in advance. Accordingly, in order to assure security, the user needs to use a robust password with little risk of being easily read by the others. Such a password can be realized by including therein special symbols that are not often used.
However, those passwords that can be realized by including therein special symbols that are not often used are robust but difficult to remember. Thus, using a robust password may cause a problem that a user cannot remember it when inputting it. With such a background, a robust password is not necessarily used in actual condition.
When a user must ensure a high security, he creates a robust password using a password generating tool which generates a random character string, writes down the password on paper, and inputs it into a computer referring to the note. However, writing down a password on paper is nothing but a worst deed, which will cause the essential advantage of a password for security to be lost completely.

Password input table creating method and apparatus and program thereof


An ignition timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine having an in-cylinder injector for injecting a fuel into a cylinder and an intake port injector for injecting a fuel into an intake port is configured to correct a basic ignition timing, having been determined corresponding to an operation state, in accordance with a fluctuation of at least one factor affecting the combustion rate selected from a coolant temperature, an intake air temperature and an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) amount, to set a final ignition timing. The correction amount of the ignition timing is set greater for the port injection than for the in-cylinder injection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ignition timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to an ignition timing control apparatus for a so-called dual injection type internal combustion engine that is provided with an in-cylinder injector for injecting a fuel into a cylinder and an intake port injector for injecting a fuel into an intake port.
2. Description of the Background Art
An internal combustion engine of so-called dual injection type is known from Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-020837. This internal combustion engine includes an in-cylinder injector for injecting a fuel into a cylinder and an intake port injector for injecting a fuel into an intake manifold or intake port. According to an operation state, switching is made between these injectors for use to achieve for example stratified charge combustion in a low-load operation region and homogeneous combustion in a high-load operation region, or these injectors are simultaneously used while the fuel injection ratio between the injectors is changed to achieve homogeneous lean combustion and homogeneous stoichiometric combustion, thereby improving fuel efficiency characteristics and output characteristics.
Generally, for an internal combustion engine of the fuel injection type, in order to allow proper combustion to occur according to an operation state, a final ignition timing is determined by adding various corrective advance (or retard) values according to an engine state to a basic ignition timing value that is set in advance in association with the operation state and stored for example in a map. Ignition is caused to occur based on the determined final ignition timing for operation.
Regarding the aforementioned dual-injection-type internal combustion engine, because of the difference in injection manner, namely depending on whether the injection manner is the one in which the fuel is injected from the in-cylinder injector or the one in which the fuel is injected from the intake port injector, the temperature of an air-fuel mixture and the state of mixture of the fuel in a combustion chamber could vary. A resultant problem is that, if ignition is simply caused for operation based on an ignition timing value that is set according to an operation state, the ignition timing is improper. That is, since the combustion rate of the air-fuel mixture varies depending on whether the fuel injection manner is the fuel injection by the in-cylinder injector or the fuel injection by the intake port cylinder, the ignition timing has to be set appropriately. Otherwise, such abnormal combustion as knocking occurs or the output power is insufficient.
Further in a transitional operation state where the injection manner is switched from the injection by the in-cylinder injector or from the injection by the intake port injector or the injection ratio between these injectors is changed, the change in injection manner or injection ratio could result in a different port wall temperature and a different inner-cylinder-wall temperature as well as a different amount of fuel sticking to the port wall, the inner cylinder wall and the top wall of the piston as compared with those in a normal state. Accordingly, the temperature of the air-fuel mixture and the state of mixture of the fuel in the combustion chamber could vary. In such a state, if the ignition timing is set to the one corrected monotonously, it will differ from a proper value, which may cause knocking due to excessive advance or insufficient output power due to excessive retard, leading to degradation in fuel efficiency or the like.

Ignition timing control apparatus for internal combustion engine


A heating apparatus for a liquefied gas fuel supply system includes a heating unit, a detecting unit and a setting unit. The liquefied gas fuel supply system vaporizes liquefied gas fuel to supply the vaporized gas fuel to an internal-combustion engine. The heating unit heats the liquefied gas fuel before the liquefied gas fuel is vaporized. The detecting unit detects vapor pressure characteristic of the liquefied gas fuel. The setting unit sets an amount of heat to be applied to the liquefied gas fuel on a basis of a detection result by the detecting unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heating apparatus for a liquefied gas fuel supply system, for heating liquefied gas fuel when the fuel is vaporized to be supplied to an internal-combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known, an internal-combustion engine, which is provided in, for example, an automobile using a liquefied gas fuel such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is designed to vaporize in a vaporizer the fuel stored under a high pressure and to use the vaporized fuel for combustion. The vaporizer is cooled by latent heat of vaporization of the fuel. When the vaporizer is excessively cooled, the fuel undergoes insufficient vaporization, which has adverse influence on fuel injection control, etc.
Conventionally, in order to prevent such an excessive cooling, JP 2003-328859 A discloses a system for heating fuel in which a heating apparatus introduces engine cooling water into a vaporizer, and is provided with an electric heater in the vaporizer to heat the fuel by means of both heat of the engine cooling water heated in the engine and heat generated from the electric heater.

Heating apparatus for liquefied gas fuel supply system


A modular cover (1) provides for large deformation of a flap to allow rapid deployment of an air bag in all directions. The modular cover (1) includes tear lines (2, 3, 4), and engaging portions at its lateral sides to join spokes (12) of a steering wheel. Ends of the tear lines (3, 4) extend along the engaging portions.

As shown in FIG. 4, an air bag assembly is disposed centrally on a vehicle steering wheel 10, which upon collision of a vehicle deploys and inflates an air bag. This air bag assembly includes a mounting plate, commonly referred to as a retainer. An inflator and an air bag are mounted to the mounting plate and covered by a modular cover 11. As shown in FIG. 5, the modular cover 11 has engaging portions 11a, 11b at its lateral sides to join spokes 12 of the steering wheel.
The modular cover 11 has tear lines 13 along which the modular cover can be ruptured when the air bag is deployed. The tear lines are in the form of a continuous groove or a semicontinuous groove. The tear lines may alternatively include spaced grooves of greater depth. When the cover has two different layers, i.e. a rigid layer and a soft layer, a slit may be formed in the rigid layer so that the cover may be ruptured along a predetermined line.
In the prior art modular cover 11, the tear lines 13 include tear lines 13a, 13b extending vertically along lateral sides of the cover 11, and a central tear line 13c extending centrally and laterally of the cover 11 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A vertical direction is a direction from an occupant M toward a windshield G. A lateral direction is the width direction of a vehicle. In this case, the steering wheel is so oriented as to permit the vehicle to run on a straight line.
The tear lines 13a, 13b of the prior art modular cover 11 have ends P positioned substantially at the center of the engaging portions 11a, 11b of the modular cover 11 to join spokes 12. The modular cover 11 has portions S which extend from the ends P to the lower ends of the engaging portions 11a, 11b and remain unbroken when the cover 11 is ruptured. As a consequence, a flap (lower flap) of the modular cover 11 adjacent to the occupant is bent along a line P--P. A portion of the modular cover around the line P--P has a relatively high bending rigidity. This may prevent large bending of the lower flap.


Provided is a battery capable of improving charge-discharge cycle characteristics. The battery comprises a spirally wound electrode body in which a cathode and an anode are spirally wound with a separator in between. The capacity of the anode includes a capacity component by insertion and extraction of Li and a capacity component by precipitation and dissolution of Li metal, and is represented by the sum of them. Moreover, the anode includes a carbon material capable of obtaining a first peak within a range from 1580 cm−1 to 1620 cm−1 and a second peak within a range of 1350 cm−1 to 1370 cm−1 in a Raman spectrum analysis using argon laser light with a wavelength of 5145 nm, and having an intensity ratio IB/IA between the first peak and the second peak of 0.25 to 0.6, where the intensity of the first peak is IA and the intensity of the second peak is IB. Thereby, precipitation-dissolution efficiency of lithium metal and charge-discharge cycle characteristics can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery comprising a cathode, an anode and an electrolyte wherein the capacity of the anode includes a capacity component by insertion and extraction of light metal and a capacity component by precipitation and dissolution of the light metal, and is represented by the sum of them.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development of batteries with a higher energy density has been required according to the downsizing of electronic devices. An example of a secondary battery which can obtain a high energy density is a lithium-ion secondary battery using a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium (Li) such as a carbon material for an anode. The lithium-ion secondary battery is designed so that lithium inserted into an anode material is always in an ion state, so the energy density is highly dependent on the number of lithium ions capable of being inserted into the anode material. Therefore, in the lithium-ion secondary battery, it is expected that when the amount of insertion of lithium is increased, the energy density can be further improved. However, the amount of insertion of graphite, which is considered at present to be a material capable of the most effectively inserting and extracting lithium ions is theoretically limited to 372 mAh per gram on an electricity amount basis, and recently the amount of insertion of graphite has been approaching the limit.
Another example of the secondary battery capable of obtaining a high energy density is a lithium metal secondary battery using lithium metal for an anode, and using only precipitation and dissolution reactions of lithium metal for an anode reaction. The lithium metal has a theoretical electrochemical equivalent of 2054 mAh/cm3, which is 2.5 times larger than that of graphite used in the lithium-ion secondary battery, so the lithium metal secondary battery has the potential to be able to obtain a much higher energy density than the lithium-ion secondary battery. A large number of researchers have been conducting research and development aimed at putting the lithium metal secondary battery to practical use (for example, Lithium Batteries edited by Jean-Paul Gabano, Academic Press, 1983, London, New-York). However, the lithium metal secondary battery has a problem that when a charge-discharge cycle is repeated, a large decline in its discharge capacity occurs, so it is difficult to put the lithium metal secondary battery to practical use. The decline in the capacity occurs because the lithium metal secondary battery uses precipitation-dissolution reactions of the lithium metal in the anode. It is considered that the decline occurs because the precipitated lithium metal is separated from an electrode, or reacts with an electrolyte solution, thereby the lithium metal secondary battery is deactivated.
Therefore, the applicant of the invention have developed a novel secondary battery in which the capacity of the anode includes a capacity component by insertion and extraction of lithium and a capacity component by precipitation and dissolution of lithium metal, and is represented by the sum of them (refer to International Publication No. WO 01/22519). In the secondary battery, a carbon material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions is used for the anode, and lithium metal is precipitated on a surface of the carbon material during charge. The secondary battery holds promise of improving charge-discharge cycle characteristics while achieving a higher energy density.
However, like the lithium metal secondary battery, the secondary battery uses precipitation-dissolution reactions of lithium, so it is extremely difficult to perfectly prevent separation of the lithium metal from the electrode or a reaction of the lithium metal with the electrolyte solution. Therefore, the secondary battery has a problem that when a charge-discharge cycle is repeated, a larger decline in the discharge capacity occurs, compared to the lithium-ion secondary battery.


A motor vehicle rear door anti-egress CHILD-LOCK device safety release responsive to an accident involving the motor vehicle whereby a preset CHILD-LOCK device may be immediately unset upon collision between the motor vehicle and another object. The anti-egress CHILD LOCK release enables immediate post-accident unlatchability of the motor vehicle's rear door by an occupant of the motor vehicle and allow unencumbered egress from the motor vehicle. The result is reduced risk particularly for automobile rest-seat passengers including children and adults who might otherwise remain dangerously entrapped within a wrecked vehicle and suffering risk for further post-accident physical or psychological trauma or even death due to bodily entrapment, fire or explosion which may follow an accident.

A majority of contemporary motor vehicles including automobile sedans and "light utility vehicles" (hereinafter, "LUV", such as Jeep Cherokee, Ford Bronco, GMC Suburban, etc) are ordinarily equipped with a safety provision which enables a driver to establish a condition whereby the rear doors of these "4-door" vehicle types can be set so as to not be releasable from within the passenger compartment by rear seat occupants. The underlying "good sense" logical intent for this provision is to allow a parent to preset the latch on the rear doors to a state where a child riding in the rear seat can not accidentally--or willfully--release the door latch, open the door and risk falling out of the automobile, particularly while the automobile is moving. Commonly known as a "child safety lock", "child protection lock", "child security lock" or simply "child-lock", this safety provision has been provided on automobiles and other 4-door vehicles as standard equipment for the past decade or so and its purpose and operation is generally well understood, particularly by parents of young children.
Driving accidents inevitably occur and automobiles are commonly involved in collisions which can lead to unsafe conditions for any passengers remaining in an automobile subsequent to the collision. As a result of this foreknowledge regarding a likelihood for accidents, use of child-locks which have been preset by a driver places rear-seat passengers, irrespective of whether they are children or adults, at extreme risk subsequent to the accident. This occurs because the entrapped rear-seat passenger can not open the rear door and quickly get out of the vehicle before emergency conditions worsen, particularly if fire or explosion threatens the vehicle. The emergency condition is further exacerbated due to the confused state of the entrapped passenger which generally follows an accident's occurrence. Furthermore, the entrapped passenger may suffer shock or injury which thwarts seemingly simple alternative efforts to climb into the front seat and gain egress through the front passenger doors.
1. Field of my Invention
My invention relates to motor vehicles and in particular sedan-style 4-door motor vehicles having a rear seat passenger compartment including rear passenger doors fitted with presettable anti-egress child-lock devices which serve to absolutely deny operability of the rear door's interior door latch release device by the rear seat passenger.
2. Anti-ingress Locking Systems
Motor vehicles have long been equipped with a variety of locks. For example, the ignition of a typical motor vehicle is provided with a uniquely keyed lockset which operates an electric switch that typically turns circuits associated with the ignition portion of the motor on and off, as well as controlling power flow to a variety of accessories included in the vehicle, such as a radio, horn, windshield wipers, heater, etc.
The trunk portion of an automobile such as a Dodge Intripid is ordinarily provided with a keylock which secures the trunk lid to prevent unauthorized entry into the trunk. Similarly, and in many cars a glove compartment is commonly provided with a keylock to thwart pilfering.
Hatchback automobiles (coupes or "3-door" body styles) are usually provided with a keylock on the hatch cover to block access without a key. On commonplace LUVs such as the Jeep Cherokee, Ford Expedition, Mercury Mountaineer, and minivans such as the Chevrolet Venture and Chrysler Caravan a lockset ordinarily secures the rear lift-back door and sliding side-doors, in the case of certain minivans.
Nearly all vehicles, including not only passenger cars such as sedans and coupes, minivans and LUVs, but also trucks, buses and virtually every other vehicle category include passenger door keylocks, at least on the "front" or driver-access doors.
It has been the central purpose for all of the anti-ingress locking devices so far mentioned to embody a mechanical device for securing a door against intruders and thereby serve as a limit to "who" has physical access into a vehicle. Persons without a key are simply locked out, or else entry is forced and illegal. As a convenience to a driver, the locksets in many of the mentioned categories of vehicle having multiple passenger-door anti-ingress lock devices and usually including those with hatchbacks, liftbacks and sliding doors, manufacturers have provided a handy central locking system. The central locking system ordinarily utilizes a motor or solenoid on each (so-equipped) anti-ingress lockset which serves to "Lock" and "unlock" the lockset under control of an electric signal ordinarily controllable at least from the driver's position. Sometimes these central locking systems are elaborated upon by providing "keyless" entry systems, which operate by radio or infrared signals to remotely release or lock the doors, usually by a small handheld actuator device which sends out an encoded wireless signal.
3. Anti-egress Locking Systems
A distinctly separate category of safety oriented locking device for motor vehicles and in particular, "4-door" sedans and similar vehicles having a "back seat" and rear side doors is the now ubiquitous "child security lock" (viz "CHILD LOCK") which is a separate class of anti-egress blocking arrangement that thwarts operation of a door latch handle from the inside of a vehicle by a rear-seat passenger, such as a child. This sort of blocking device is not a key operated lock in a usual sense like that of all of the other heretofore mentioned vehicle locks. It does not lock the vehicle from the outside. It does not prevent unauthorized entry into or use of the vehicle, which is the central intent of all of the keylocks and door locks which I have cited. Instead, the anti-egress CHILD LOCK is singularly intended as an anti-egress safety device solely intended to block unauthorized exit from the rear-seat position of the vehicle.
Rather than being in the class of a key operated locking device, the anti-egress CHILD LOCK is ordinarily operated by a lever or button which is accessible to a driver (e.g., an authorized adult) when the CHILD LOCK equipped (rear) door is ajar. Ordinarily the CHILD LOCK control is located on the outer edge of the rear-passenger door, accessible only when the door is open and fully blocked (by the door jamb) from access by a rear seat passenger when the door is closed. In other words, once the CHILD LOCK is set, the equipped door may only be opened from outside the vehicle using the usual exterior door latch handle. This means that any other class of ingression control locking device, such as the earlier mentioned key-controlled or central locking schemes, must be `unlocked` in order to make the outside door handle operable.
The obscured operation of the child-lock which denies its release (e.g., performing a SET or RESET state change) when the door is closed is exactly the feature which makes the child-lock particularly hazardous in event of an accident. In effect the rear-seat occupants are absolutely entrapped, particularly if the front seat occupants are seriously injured or dead. As a result of this entrapment, the rear seat passengers are at high risk for secondary injury, including death, which may additionally result from fire, explosion or further collision (e.g., a chain-reaction collision) with other vehicles when the accident occurs in a busy traffic setting.
Realize that the child-lock is a narrowly specialized anti-egression safety control device which, while frequently called a lock, this is a misnomer in that it alone provides no protection whatsoever to the safeguarding of the vehicle from unauthorized ingression. Instead the CHILD LOCK is a distinctly separate category of device which acts to disable the interior operability of the rear-door latch handle to restrict vehicle egress to occur only when the rear door is released from the outside ordinarily by a person other than the rear seat passenger by using the exterior door handle. CHILD LOCK devices are intrinsicly manual in operation, having the mentioned lever or button sited in the portion of the rear door fitting into the outer rear door jamb.
4. Safety Considerations
With the advent of my accident responsive CHILD LOCK release adjunct, risk intensive entrapment of rear-seat passengers in an automobile subsequent to an accident is expugnable. It is commonplace that a rear-door CHILD LOCK may be in use thereby denying operation of the door's latch-handle by a rear seat passenger prior to an accident. Once the accident occurs, the CHILD LOCK equipped with my instant invention is promptly and automatically released thereby returning full control of the interior door latch to the rear seat occupant. The CHILD LOCK release enables immediate door unlatching and opening subsequent to the accident, thereby exposing an unencumbered exit portal for the rear seat passenger.
With the urging of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that "all children ride in the back seats of cars with passenger-side air bags" ("A New Look at Child-Killing Air Bags", U.S. News & World Report magazine, Nov. 4, 1996, Page 10), more children will undoubtedly be riding in the rear seating area of the typical automobile and most likely, the prudent parent will preset the CHILD LOCK door devices to prevent the child's likelihood for fumbling with the door latch handle and possibly opening the door. They then become potential victims of entrapment if an accident occurs.
As the USN&WR article notes, "last-year . . . they passenger side air bags! have killed at least 28 children". Moving the children from the front seat, having a door which will typically open after an accident, to a rear seat in which the only egress possibility is through CHILD LOCK protected doors which will not open after an accident is only moving the potential for death and injury from that of the front seat with the air bag being the cause to the back seat and being helplessly entrapped behind unopenable doors.
Immediately following an accident, considerable risk arises due to a chance for fire or explosion due to spilled fuel and electrical short circuits. As a result of these considerations, immediate evacuation of the wrecked vehicle is imperative. Safety dictates that passengers must not be bound into the vehicle by unnecessarily locked doors which may slow-down, if not block, their safe and quick exit from the vehicle.
5. Emergency Child-lock Release
Rear seat passengers are the most apt to become unnecessarily trapped, due to preset CHILD LOCK devices which inhibit door latch release by the rear seat passengers and block possible egress. Heretofore, it is obvious that even minor injury can quickly escalate into major trauma or even death due to an inability to achieve safe and unencumbered passenger egress through a rear door which is unnecessarily blocked by preset CHILD LOCKS. In other words, the child or other passenger is blocked from using the door latch and simply getting out and away from the vehicle before it bursts into flames, explodes or is struck by another vehicle.
Once the accident occurs, the child lock mechanism equipped with my instant invention is promptly and automatically released thereby returning full control of the interior door latch to the rear seat occupant. The CHILD LOCK release enables immediate door unlatching and opening subsequent to the accident, thereby exposing an unencumbered exit portal for the rear seat passenger.
6. Rear Door Lock Conflicts
Rear doors of sedan style automobiles and other CHILD LOCK equipped motor vehicles offer a serious conflict between the two previously mentioned categories of locking systems.
The ANTI-INGRESS door lock system which is intended to keep persons on the outside of the car from getting into the car (for whatever purpose) retains an ability for persons entrapped inside the car to still get out after an accident. In a usual vehicle, the inside door handle ordinarily remains operative and is available to release the door's latch. As a result the rear seat passenger can always get out.
The ANTI-EGRESS door lock system characterized by the CHILD LOCK type of latch disablement device is, on the other hand, solely intended to block the back-seat passenger from getting out of the vehicle. The inside door latch handle is simply made inoperative and ineffectual. On the other hand, in absence of the separately acting ANTI-INGRESS locking system being set or `locked`, any person on the outside of the vehicle may readily open the rear door and gain entry. This external opening of the door is accomplished concurrent with the CHILD LOCK device being set or `locked` to deny exit possibility for the rear seat occupant. In other words, an intruder can get in while the rear seat passenger can not get out.
A worst case scenario occurs when both the CHILD LOCK is set and the DOOR LOCK is set albeit such `settings` are separately performed functions. Under this condition, no one on the inside of or on the outside of the automobile can operate the rear door's latch and open the door. In a post-accident setting this sort of `double-lockup` by the two separate locking system functions can make quick and efficient entry by emergency personnel virtually impossible even when the entrapped rear seat occupant is conscious and would ordinarily be able to release the door latch or open the door for help, if only the CHILD LOCK was not set and at least the interior latch handle regained its door release function.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,315 on Nov. 12, 1996, I have taught a sensing of an accident involving a vehicle which immediately upon collision, serves to roll-down or open the vehicle windows and electrically unlock each DOOR LOCK on the vehicle. What is clearly construed by this definition, as shown in the patent's specification and drawings, is that the unlocking of the door portions principally involves the key operated anti-access door lock controls. Remember that, even the rear seat doors of a typical vehicle are indirectly, albeit securely, controlled by a keylock at least on the driver-position door. In other words, using a central electric locking system or else pushing down the "button" on a mechanically locked rear door serves primarily to restrict vehicle entry to a person having a key and thereby blocks unauthorized ingress into the vehicle. In the '315 patent's claims I mention an anti-egression control apparatus which is "presettable to inhibit manual release of a usually rear position interior door latch" only as an adjunct to the central theme of the patent, that being to maximize overall vehicle egression possibilities subsequent to an accident.
Realize that the CHILD LOCK device portion of my '315 patent as described in this teaching is unequivocally partitionable as a separate inventive subject since the CHILD LOCK serves a totally different functional purpose from that of the DOOR LOCK. The CHILD LOCK serves as a safety oriented exit control device and is not intended as a security oriented lockup device which blocks entry into the vehicle by an outsider. More distinctly it is an interior latch control device which promotes rear seat passenger safety (viz child safety) by denying unauthorized or (more to the point) unsafe operability of the inside door latch handle by the passenger.

Accident responsive safety release for a motor vehicle's rear door child-lock device


A method of producing a building panel (1), including: providing a core (2), applying a balancing layer (6) having a first moisture content on a first surface (3) of the core (2), the balancing layer (6) comprising a sheet impregnated with a thermosetting binder, applying a surface layer (12) having a second moisture content on a second surface (4) of the core (2), the surface layer (12) comprising a thermosetting binder, adjusting the first moisture content of the balancing layer (6) such that the first moisture content of the balancing layer (6) is higher than the second moisture content of the surface layer (12) prior to curing, and curing the surface layer (12) and the balancing layer (6) by applying heat and pressure. Also, a semi-finished product adapted to be cured for forming a building panel (1).

Traditional laminated panels, intended to be used for e.g. flooring or furniture components, are generally produced by the following steps:                applying a melamine formaldehyde resin impregnated paper as balancing layer on one face of a core of wood fibre based material, for example, HDF;        applying a melamine formaldehyde resin impregnated printed décor paper on the other face of the core;        applying a melamine formaldehyde resin impregnated transparent overlay paper with wear resistant particles, for example, aluminium oxide, on the décor paper; and        curing the resin by applying heat and pressure in a continuous or discontinuous press to obtain a laminated product.
Typical press parameters are 40-60 bar pressure and a temperature of 160-200° C. with a pressing time of 8-45 seconds. The surface layer has generally a thickness of 0.1-0.2 mm, the thickness of the core varies between 6-12 mm and the balancing layer is about 0.1-0.2 mm thick.
This production method and product produced by such methods are generally referred to as the DPL process and DPL products (Direct Pressure Laminate).
Recently, building panels with a wood fibre based surface have been developed. Powder comprising wood fibres, a binder, preferably melamine formaldehyde resin, aluminium oxide particles and colour pigments are scattered on a core of a wood fibre based material such as HDF and pressed under heat and pressure in a continuous or discontinuous press to obtain a product with a paper free and solid surface layer. The press parameters are similar to DPL. A higher pressure of 40-80 bar and a pressing time of 15-45 seconds may be used when the surface is formed with deep embossing and a thickness of, for example, 0.4-0.6 mm. The pressing temperature is generally 150-200° C. Such wood fibre based floors, generally referred to as Wood Fibre Floors (WFF), have considerably better properties than traditional laminate floors since a thicker and more impact-resistant and wear-resistant surface with deep embossing may be produced in a cost efficient way.
Both DPL products and panels having a wood fibre based surface have a balancing layer arranged on the rear face of the core. The balancing layer may be a balancing paper or powder-based balancing layer comprising wood fibres and a binder. The core with the upper and lower layers is moved into a press and pressed under heat and pressure such that the layers are cured and attached to the core.
The layers on the front face and the rear face of the core are exposed to a first shrinking when the thermosetting resin in the upper and lower layer cures during pressing. The balancing layer at the rear face balances the tension that is created by the surface layer of the front face and the panel is substantially flat with a small convex backward bending when it leaves the press. Such first shrinking and balancing of the panel is below referred to as "pressing balancing". The second temperature shrinking, when the panels is cooled from about 150-200° C. to room temperature, is also balanced by the balancing layer and the panel is essentially flat. The second balancing is below referred to as "cooling balancing". A small convex backward bending is preferred since this counteracts upward bending of the edges in dry conditions when the relative humidity may go down to 20% or lower during wintertime.
A problem is that this essentially flat panel comprises tension forces caused by the shrinking of the surface and balancing layers during pressing and during cooling to room temperature.
The surface layer and the core will swell in summertime when the indoor humidity is high and shrink in wintertime when the indoor humidity is low. The panels will shrink and expand and a cupping of the edges may take place. The balancing layer is used to counteract such cupping. In the installed floor, the balancing layer is used to work as a diffusion barrier for moisture from the underlying floor, and to minimize the impact of the surrounding climate. Consequently, the balancing layer is adapted balance shrinking and expansion caused by both pressing, cooling and climate changes.
It is known that a balancing layer comprising a powder mix of wood fibres and a thermosetting binder can be used to balance the surface layer. A method for producing such a balancing layer is described in WO 2012/141647.
US 2010/0239820 describes a method of producing a laminated decorative plate wherein an unimpregnated decorative layer is applied onto a layer of glue arranged on the core. A counteracting layer is arranged on the other side of the core, and it is described that neutral paper with solid or liquid resin as a glue is suitable for the counteracting layer. The counteracting layer is adapted to prevent the finished plate from warping or bending as a result of influences of temperature and humidity. WO 2010/084466 discloses a balancing layer substantially consisting of a synthetic material layer, which is free from material sheets. The synthetic material is provided in liquid form.

Method of producing a building panel and a building panel


The quasi-absolute encoder module determines absolute position within one mechanical rotation. The encoder module includes a three channel position encoder and detection circuitry that includes a read-only memory (ROM). There are three channels: A, B, and I. Channels A and B have four periods and channel B is offset from channel A by 90.degree. in phase. Channel I has a unique sequence. The address generated by sampling this unique sequence corresponds to an address in ROM. The address indicates the position of the rotating shaft on which the code wheel is attached.

Transmissive optical encoders are widely used to detect rotational movement. They consist of a "code wheel" attached to the rotating member whose movement needs to be monitored. The code wheel passes in between a light emitter and detector. On the code wheel are different "tracks"; patterns to block light or let light pass through. The interruptions of the light beam from the emitter are detected by the detector and signals are generated to determine rotational movement. Some manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard, offer a "module" that contains an emitter and a detector in a package.
An absolute encoder indicates the absolute position of a rotating shaft upon power-up without any movement. An incremental 3-channel encoder with two quadrature signals and high resolution index signal may be used to detect absolute position within some movement if a unique pattern of index pulses is used. Since some movement is needed before absolute position can be determined after power-up, the encoder is called a "quasi-absolute" encoder. After finding absolute position, the encoder can keep track of incremental movement with high precision.
A 3-channel optical encoder, e.g. Hewlett-Packard HEDS 9140 that includes a 3-channel emitter and detector module, and a 3-channel code wheel generates channel A (CH A), channel B (CH B), and channel I (CH I). Signals CH A and CH B are in quadrature and are offset from each other by 90.degree. in phase. These two signals are used to detect incremental change in position and direction of movement. Channel CH I is typically used as a signal that occurs once for every rotation of the code wheel and it indicates an "absolute zero" (or reference) position. A high resolution index track allows index pulses to occur on every cycle of signal CH A or CH B. A unique sequence of index pulses is used to determine the absolute position of a rotating member.
Many applications, e.g. brushless motor commutation and short local homing sequences for robotics, require absolute position sensing. A quasi-absolute solution is desirable because an incremental 3-channel encoder is less expensive than an absolute encoder and the incremental signals can be used for high precision position tracking once the absolute position is found.

Absolute position detection within 1 revolution using 3-channel incremental encoders with high resolution track


A sinker weight is secured to the shank of an associated fishhook by a bail integrally formed on the sinker weight and having an aperture receiving a portion of the hook shank therethrough. The sinker weight is further secured to the shank by an elastomeric O-ring which surrounds an associated portion of the hook shank and a reduced neck portion on the sinker weight.

This invention relates in, general to fishing equipment and deals more particularly with improvements in weighted fishhooks.
In the sport of fishing, whether casting, troiling or plumbing the depths, the angler often finds it desirable to employ a rig wherein weight is concentrated at the hook. Weighted fishhooks are well-known in the fishing art. One type of hook carries a weight which is permanently attached to the hook shank. Fishhooks of this general type are illustrated and described in the patents to Porter U.S. Pat. No. 1,295,370; Iffland, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,121,291; Woolfe U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,572; and Kepler U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,817. An example of a type of hook which carries a detachable weight is illustrated by the patents to Cook U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,265 and Grigsby, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,443.
It is the general aim of the present invention to provide an improved detachable and reusable hook mounted sinker weight which may be readily rigged in the field and an improved method for mounting or rigging such a weight on an associated fishhook.


A signal transmitting member is electrically connected to a rotation sensing device and transmits a rotation sensing signal from the rotation sensing device to an external device. An internal structure holds the rotation sensing device and a portion of the signal transmitting member. At least one rib is molded on an outer peripheral surface of the internal structure. The internal structure is integrally molded with a resin material and includes an installing portion, which is configured to install the rotation sensing apparatus to an external subject body through the installing portion, and a holding portion, which is configured to enable holding of the rotation sensing apparatus through the holding portion. A plurality of recesses is formed between the installing portion and the holding portion.

For example, JP2009-058524A (corresponding to US2004/0150390A1) teaches a rotation sensing apparatus, which reliably connects a sensor device to a signal cable. In this rotation sensing apparatus, a transmission cable (serving as a signal transmitting member), which is provided in a first resin member, has a curved portion and is held by the first resin member. Furthermore, a second resin member is molded with a resin material such that the second resin member covers a portion of a housing and the curved portion.
However, with the technique of JP2009-058524A (corresponding to US2004/0150390A1), a process of forming the curved portion of the transmission cable is additionally required. In such a case, the manufacturing time is disadvantageously increased, and the costs are also disadvantageously increased.
In a case where the transmission cable is resin molded in a state where the transmission cable is held to extend linearly without forming the curved portion, the transmission cable may be easily bent or curved by a molding pressure, which is a pressure exerted at the time of molding through filling of a molten resin material into a cavity of a molding die. This possibility of bending is increased when the length of the molding along the transmission cable is increased. In such a case, the transmission cable may be exposed (or projected) from the surface of the first resin member depending on a degree of the bending of the transmission cable.

Rotation sensing apparatus and manufacturing method thereof


Viscometer (80) with a rotor (51) rotatable by a coupling magnet (34) and a driving magnet (38) to shear a tested fluid thus imparting torque to a bob (30) mounted on a bob shaft (24) supported via a pair of bob shaft bearings. A spiral spring (70) restricts the rotation of bob shaft (24). Magnetometer (10) measures the angular position of a top magnet (72) connected to the top of bob shaft (24). This angular position information is further converted to the viscosity of the tested fluid.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a low maintenance high pressure viscometer.
2. Description of Prior Art
In connection with the drilling of oil and gas wells, drilling fluid is commonly used to drive drill bit and bring sand and stone cuttings back to ground surface. Viscosity property of drilling fluid is critical in the drilling process. A drilling fluid with excessive viscosity would make it difficult to pump it down to bore hole, while a drilling fluid with insufficient viscosity would make it difficult to carry sand and stone cuttings back to ground surface. The viscosity property of a drilling fluid varies significantly with the change of temperature and pressure. Thus a viscometer capable of closely simulating down-hole conditions with low maintenance is of great interest. Down-hole conditions are typically from room temperature and pressure up to 40,000 psi and 600° F.
A few types of arrangements have been applied to measure the viscosity of liquids under high temperature and high pressure conditions. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,666, a helical spring is attached to the inside bob through a bob shaft while driving the outer cylinder. The shear force applied on the bob is proportional to the torque applied by the liquid, which is also measured by a strain gauge torque transducer. One of the drawbacks of this design is that packing 41 is required to dynamically seal the rotating tube 32. Due to the nature of the dynamical seal, it has difficulty to seal above 2,000 psi. Thus any test conditions above 2,000 psi in pressure will be difficult to achieve. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,708, a sealed container within a high pressure vessel is used for testing Theologically evolutive materials. One of the drawbacks of this design is that seal 12 is used to separate the test sample from outside pressurizing fluid. Measurement error due to the friction between seal 12 and shaft 14 is inevitably added. For very thick test samples such as cement this error is possibly tolerable. However, a typical drilling fluid under high temperature and pressure conditions has a typical viscosity of 10 cP to 30 cP when shear rate is around 500 l/s. This friction-induced error is too high to provide meaningful results. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,276, an open top slurry cup within a high pressure vessel is used to measure cement consistency. One of the drawbacks of this design is that due to the wide-open top of the slurry cup, the sample can mix with pressurization fluid easily, which leads to inaccurate results. In model 75 viscometer manufactured by Fann Instrument Company, a pair of v-shape jewel bearings is used to support a complicated bob assembly whose rotational movement is restricted by a helical spring. One of the drawbacks of this design is that the jewel bearings are fragile, easy to break, prone to wear and expensive to replace. Another drawback of this design is that helical spring assembly is generally much more complicated and spacious comparing to spiral spring assembly.
It is an object of this invention to provide a high pressure viscometer wherein viscosity is determined under conditions closely simulating down-hole conditions.
It is another object of this invention to provide a high pressure viscometer that eliminates measurement errors due to seal frictions.
It is another object of this invention to provide a viscometer that requires substantially less maintenance work yet meets industry standards of accuracy, reliability, durability, dependability, and ease of cleaning.

High pressure viscometer with chamber preventing sample contamination


A stairway system. The stairway system includes a plurality of spaced apart treads, a handrail and a baluster assembly. The baluster assembly includes at least one baluster per tread. The baluster includes at least one rake anchor adapted to abut the angled support surface of the handrail adjacent to one end of the baluster, a rake shoe adapted for concealing the interface between the rake anchor and the angled support surface of the handrail and an anchor assembly including an anchor adapted for receiving the other end of the baluster. The stairway system further includes a handrail support for supporting the handrail.

(1) Field
The present inventions relate generally to stairway systems and, more particularly, to an improved baluster assembly for stairway systems.
(2) Related Art
Stairway systems typically provide a series of balusters, treads and a handrail. The balusters may include aesthetic aspects, such as features that align with both the tread and the handrail. Thus, replacing and retrofitting balusters on existing stairways is often a difficult and expensive endeavor.
One common disadvantage with conventional replacement stairway systems and baluster assemblies is that they are often complicated to arrange and install. For example, traditional designs typically require substantial decision-making and a heightened mechanical aptitude. Accordingly, an installer may have to determine which components to install, where and how to plug existing holes in the treads and handrails, and in some cases, to require physical modification of components.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved stairway system and baluster assembly that is adapted to be installed easily in a large variety of existing and new structures without the need for skilled workers while, at the same time, conceals details of its construction to provide an aesthetically pleasing final result.

Stairway system having an improved baluster assembly


The present invention provides a digital certificate (2, 32) comprising a plurality of credential attribute properties (6, 36), and a trust function (8, 42) embedded within the certificate as an executable file, which trust function can determine as a function of data (12, 44) available to it a trust value (14, 46) attributable to at least a part of the certificate at least partly by execution of the executable file. A corresponding method of communication is also disclosed.

A credential is a data structure provided to a bearer for a purpose, with some acknowledged way to verify the bearer's right to use the credential. A credential relates to an attribute, normally, but not necessarily, of the bearer. A credential is verified by a trusted source (sometimes referred to as the verifier). Often, there will be a chain of credentials and respective trusted sources until a verification is proffered by an organization in which trust is implicit. Credentials are incorporated in a digital certificate for verification.
A digital certificate generally comprises a file containing information, which file is transmitted to a recipient together with a digitally signed version thereof. The digitally signed version is a hash of the file encrypted using a secret key (in a public key infrastructure). A hash is a one-way function that generates a substantially unique output from a file and is for all practical purposes irreversible. These concepts are familiar to those skilled in the art.
Digital certificates are used in communication using distributed electronic networks, such as the internet, to transmit a credential, typically of the bearer. A known digital certificate is the X.509 standard.
A certificate may contain one or more credential attributes.
A credential attribute in a certificate can be almost anything. Typical examples relevant to the present invention may be a credit rating, an access authorization (for physical or electronic access), a verification of identity etc.
Each attribute has at least one attribute property, such as a value (e.g. a numeric or alphanumeric) or something more complex such as an indication of trust.
Generally, known digital certificates are valid for a fixed period of time (e.g. 1 year), during which time they will be used as a means of authentication and for gaining authorized access to services etc. This is referred to as the valid period. Such digital certificates can, however, be revoked at any time by the verifier (terminating the valid period), thus placing a burden on the certificate recipient to check revocation lists or to use online certificate status protocol services. These certificates are generally valid or not valid; there is no middle ground even though the degree of trust the trusted source has in the credential attribute may, in fact, vary over time (or some other variable) or if there is a wish to vary the credential attribute value.
A certificate may still be in a valid period even if a credential attribute within it is not.
By way of example, a certificate may specify an individual's credit limit as a credential attribute. In this example, the credential attribute property value is the value of the credit limit. While this may be correct at the time of generation of the certificate, within the typical one year limit of the certificate, the verifier may not wish to attest to the same credit limit for the full period.
Even if the certification can be varied, the recipient may still need to assess the trustworthiness of the certificate or parts thereof. In particular, the recipient would wish to know what degree of trustworthiness the certificate issuer would give to the certificate or a part thereof. While it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,877 to associate a level of trust, in numerical form, to a credential or certificate, this does not address the problem of trust varying subsequent to issuance of the certificate or for other factors.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.