A fitted mattress covering for a mattress includes lower edge portions, which may be inverted J-shaped portions, mirror-image inverted J-shaped portions, portions that terminate at an end, or inverted U-shaped portions. The covering side and end portion lower edges may join one another to form a continuous lower edge of the covering. For the J-shaped portion, an elastic binding may be disposed under a downwards folded portion. The elastic binding may extend at least partially along the length of the lower edge of the covering. An elastic band may be disposed at each corner of the covering and extend diagonally across the associated corner and have opposite ends secured adjacent one of the side portions and adjacent one of the adjacent end portions, respectively. The bands may be secured in place by stitching and/or by supplementary securing means to ensure that the bands do not pull away from the covering.

a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to fitted coverings for mattresses, and, more particularly to an improved fitted covering having diagonally extending elastic bands at the corners thereof for holding the covering in place relative to the corners of the mattress.
b. Description of Related Art
In the art, there presently exist a variety of known fitted sheets for mattresses and the like. Such sheets typically employ an elastic binding at the lower edge of the sheets. For certain sheet designs, additional widthwise or diagonally extending elastic bands may be provided at the corners of the sheet. The elastic binding in conjunction with the elastic bands facilitates fitting of the sheet on mattresses of different sizes, and further eliminates wrinkles in the fitted sheet.
Although the elastic binding and elastic bands provide adequate retention onto a mattress, one drawback of existing band designs is that when a sheet is grasped to lift up the underlying mattress, significant forces may be applied to the diagonal bands at the corners of such sheets. If a sheet is primarily used to lift up an underlying mattress, the elastic bands may pull away from the sheet at the point of attachment, particularly since these elastic bands are quite strong and are not usually subject to tearing at an intermediate point thereof.
Therefore, an important consideration in the construction of such fitted sheets is to provide an economical and strong manner of attaching the corner elastic bands thereof to the lower edge portions of the sheet, which will ensure that the durability of the bands in use is based on the strength of the bands themselves and not on the strength of the interconnection between the bands and the sheet.
A known fitted sheet invented by the inventor of the fitted sheet disclosed herein is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,403 ('403 patent), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 8 of the '403 patent, the fitted sheet disclosed in the '403 patent includes fitted sheet 20 mounted on a conventional rectangular mattress 10 having a bottom face 12 and an opposite upper face 14. Sheet 20 includes a top portion 22, opposite side portions 24 and opposite end portions 26. The side and end portions of sheet 20 have lower edge portions which terminate in lower edges, and as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, each side portion 24 has a lower portion 24′ which terminates in a lower edge 24″.
As shown in FIGS. 2-4 of the '403 patent, an elastic binding 40 is formed of conventional material and is disposed around the continuous lower edge of sheet 20 and extends along the entire length of the lower edge of the sheet. Binding 40 further includes an inwardly facing surface 44 and an outwardly facing surface 46. Sheet 20 further includes four similar elastic bands 50, each of these bands extending diagonally across one of the corners of the sheet. As shown in FIG. 6, each band has one end thereof secured to one of the side portions of sheet 20 and the opposite end thereof secured to an adjacent end portion of the sheet.
Referring to FIG. 2, in order to secure an end of band 50 to a side portion of the sheet, the end 50′ of band 50 is initially sandwiched between the inwardly facing surface of side portion 24 and binding 40, and is secured in place by the line of stitching 42. Each band 50 thus terminates in an end edge 50″ which is disposed adjacent to the lower edge 24″ of side portion 24. In order to ensure that the end of band 50 will not pull away from the sheet, a supplementary securing means in the form of a bar tack 54 is provided. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the end of each band 50 is secured to the sheet by folding band 50 over the upper edge of binding 40 and then positioning it against the inwardly facing surface 44 of the binding. Bar tack 54 extends through the associated lower edge portion of side portion 24, through two layers of binding lying on opposite sides of the lower edge portion of side portion 24, and through two layers of band 50 lying on opposite sides of the inner part of the binding.
Based upon the construction discussed above, if sheet 20 is primarily used to lift up the underlying mattress, elastic band 50 will separate at an intermediate point and be destroyed before the ends of the band will tear away from the sheet.
Although the fitted sheet construction described in the '403 patent has adequate strength at the connection points of the diagonal elastic bands for most operations, in certain situations and during certain abnormal use, elastic band 50 may be yanked loose from the fitted sheet and thus tear the sheet at the connection point. For certain manufacturing requirements, the fitted sheet construction described in the '403 patent may be economically prohibitive to manufacture. Additionally, for certain fit and finish requirements, the fitted sheet construction described in the '403 patent may have an insufficient wrinkle-free fit and finish.
There thus remains a need for an improved fitted sheet having diagonally extending elastic bands at the corners thereof, with the elastic bands being connected by an improved connection method so that the bands remain connected to the sheet despite being subjected to abnormal use. Moreover, compared to the elastic bands and connection techniques disclosed in the '403 patent, there also remains a need for an improved fitted sheet having diagonally extending elastic bands which are simpler to connect and utilize less raw material, and the fitted sheets are simpler and more economical to manufacture, and are ergonomically superior to those of the '403 patent.

Fitted covering having diagonal elastic bands


Apparatus for managing layers of different density includes an enclosed tank for holding the liquids so that they stratify into separate layers of different levels in the tank. A conduit for liquid in the tank is open at an inner end to the tank interior, and is open at an outer end to the tank exterior. A drive moves the inner end of the conduit to different levels within tank so liquid can be transferred into or out of different levels in the tank.

Mixed liquids having differing specific gravities will naturally stratify while standing in a container. This occurs with many liquids in many different disciplines. For example, liquids from gas wells that are separated from the gas and stored in a tank, such as a 400-barrel or 500-barrel tank, stratify. These liquids include hydrocarbons, water and various contaminants. The lightest (lowest specific gravity) liquid is clean oil and condensate and forms as the top layer (oil floats on water). The next layers from top down are dirty oil (a layer of dirty oil, contaminates and water) waste oil, water, and a bottom layer of sediment and water.
The valuable clean oil is presently accessed for removal and sale by first removing the lower levels of liquid through a fixed position outlet near the bottom of the tank. This is a time consuming and expensive process and involves unnecessary vehicular traffic.
The invention will be described in connection with stratified liquids from gas and oil wells. However, the apparatus and methods of liquid management, both manually and by automation, are not limited to these stratified liquids. The apparatus is designed for and is most useful in managing stratified liquids in a closed container where the liquids include potentially explosive gases, corrosive material, and/or poisonous material. The various methods of managing liquids are useful in accessing and removing any selected layer of stratified liquids. Additionally, the apparatus and other methods of managing liquids are useful in adding a material in some form to one or more of the stratified liquids. The material added may be an emulsifier or flocculent or some other material that may aid separation and stratification without mixing or contaminating neighboring layers of liquid, or may serve some other purpose.
In discussing this invention in the context of gas wells, the following definitions are applicable:
"Oil" means all liquid hydrocarbons and particularly that produced from or for the benefit of jurisdictional leases, including condensate and oil from tar sands that is measured as a liquid. See the Onshore Oil and Gas Order No. 4; Measurement of Oil brochure issued by the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") under 43 CFR 3160, published in the Federal Register/Volume 54, No. 36, Feb. 24, 1989 and effective Aug. 23, 1989.
"Clean Oil" means crude oil or condensate that is clear and can be sold "as is" to refineries or third parties. Some refineries require that there be less than 1% impurities, while others will accept up to 1½% impurities.
"Dirty Oil" also called "Slop Oil" means oil that has economic value but needs more processing; such as application of heat, emulsion breakers, and time to settle out suspended sediments or undesirable liquids. Dirty oil has more impurities than acceptable to the refinery receiving the oil.
"Waste Oil" is lease crude oil that has been determined by the authorized officer to be of such quality that it cannot be treated economically and put in a marketable condition with existing or modified lease facilities or portable equipment and cannot be sold to reclaimers and also has been determined by the authorized officer to have no economic value and for which royalty is not due. See the BLM brochure Onshore Oil and Gas Order No. 4, supra. The liquids and contaminates in this zone have a specific gravity less than water but greater than oil. The liquids in this zone have little value (depending on recoverable hydrocarbons), and are expensive to dispose of properly. In the oil and gas industry this zone of waste oil is often referred to as the interface layer. For purposes of clarity and a more general description the term "interface will mean, in this application, the surface at which two differing fluids, particularly liquids, meet.
"Produced Water" means the water that has been extracted from a well along with hydrocarbons and contaminates. It is mostly water but contains dissolved solids such as chlorides, sulfides, sodium, calcium, carbonates, some gases and oils, along with bacteria. Produced water is governed by regulating agencies and must meet specific criteria to be reused or disposed.
"Pumper" is the operator who visits various oil and gas well locations. He is responsible for managing the well in a profitable and appropriate manner. His job includes scheduling water trucks, oil transports, and maintenance of all equipment.
"Water truck" is a truck which has a tank mounted to it that fills by creating a vacuum for loading, and is unloaded by generating pressure to push water out. Typical water trucks are bobtail trucks and transport trucks. Most bobtail water trucks haul 80-90 barrels (bbls). The larger transport type water trucks haul 120-150 bbls.
"Clean Oil Transport" is a truck with a semi-type tank trailer attached to it. This truck is also called an "Oil Truck" and is specially equipped to haul oil products in a safe manner. This type of truck is required to move oil from well sites, compressor stations and water plants to a refinery or to another site. Generally these trucks haul about 200 bbls of clean oil. Some of these trucks are equipped with a centrifuge to test an oil sample before loading. Alternatively, a pumper or someone responsible for tracking the transfer of oil, will monitor a LACT unit or some other means of measuring the amount of oil and the purity of the oil transferred. If the sample test has a greater percentage of impurities than acceptable, the load is rejected and is not loaded. If the contaminated oil is loaded, it will generally be rejected at the refinery or by the intended party.
"Hot Oil Truck" is a specially designed truck-mounted heating unit which circulates liquids from a tank through a heat exchanger and back into the tank. This process cleans up the oil by aiding separation of oil from the water and causing the suspended sediments to drop to the tank bottom and the clean oil to rise to the top.
"Sludge" means bottom or base sediments and water or BS&W. It has no value but still must be disposed of, which is expensive.
"Heater/Treater Separator" is a vessel which uses heat to separate oil from water. Water is discharged from the bottom of the unit and oil from the upper portion.
"Settling Tank" is a container where water processed through the Heater/Treater Separator is held prior to further processing or disposal, as regulated. Some BS&W settles to the bottom of this tank and is disposed of. Valued hydrocarbons rise to the upper liquid range and should be recovered. Hydrocarbon recovery prevents contaminating disposal wells, evaporation ponds, or reverse osmosis units which receive the water from the tanks.
A plurality of gas wells are typically drilled from one pad. The wells are drilled in different directions and are often terminated under land owned by different people. Consequently, the quantity of oil, which is one of the liquid byproducts of a gas well, must be tracked for each well for proper payment of royalties. The liquid byproducts of each separately owned well are stored in individual storage tanks. There are often many storage tanks on a well pad where there are a plurality of wells and owners. It is not uncommon in some gas fields for there to be six or more 500-barrel storage tanks on a single pad.
The liquids in these storage tanks stratify because of the different specific gravities. The heavier water goes to the bottom of the tank and the lighter oil goes to the top of the liquids in the tank. Over time, BS&W (heavier material such as dirt and sand mixed with water) settles in the bottom of the tank. Most storage tanks used with gas wells have a liquid-removal outlet orifice near the bottom of the tank. The outlet orifice is typically about 16 inches above the tank bottom. As the quantity of oil builds up on top of the liquids in the tank, the quantity reaches the point where it should be removed and sold. Since the outlet orifice is at the bottom of the tank, the liquids below the oil have to be removed first.
When oil has accumulated to the point that it should be recovered, or if the water in the tank is too high, a water truck is called to the site. The water truck travels to the well pad, or wherever the storage tank is located, and removes the lower liquids (primarily water and the dirty oil and waste oil) to access the clean oil. After the water truck completes the removal of the lower liquids, the light valuable oil is at the orifice outlet and may be removed, if an oil truck is on site and available for removal of the oil.
To perform these operations on each storage tank when there is one or more storage tanks at a well site, compressor station or water plant, requires coordination of arrival of water trucks and oil trucks and, more importantly, involves considerable vehicular traffic. Many gas wells are located in remote areas that support wildlife and outdoors people. The vehicular traffic can be very disruptive and can significantly impact serenity and beauty of a pristine area.
Stratified liquids containing valuable light oil also are present at the compressor stations associated with gas wells. The gas from the well is piped to a compressor station for further processing before transportation to a distribution point for distribution to the end users. The separators used at the well sites remove most of the liquids from the gas. Nevertheless, some liquid remains, which contains light oil, water and contaminates, and is carried with the gas to the compressor station. At the compressor station, most of the remaining liquids are removed and placed in storage tanks. These liquids also stratify, with the light oil floating on the other liquids. Proper management of these liquids would also reduce vehicular traffic at the compressor station.
The water removed from storage tanks at gas wells and at compressor stations is presently transported by water truck to a water plant. This produced water is initially placed in produced water tanks for ease of off-loading the trucks, for storing the water and to control the flow through a down-stream heater/separator where some of the remaining oil is separated from the other liquids (primarily water).
Stratification takes place in the produced water tanks, and some of the clean oil is recovered after the lower level liquids are removed and sent to the heater/separator. The recovered clean oil is stored in an oil sale storage tank.
The clean oil at the output of the separator is also directed to an oil sale storage tank. The balance of the produced water at the output of the heater/separator is placed in settling tanks before transfer to an evaporation pond or to some water purification unit, such as a reverse osmosis unit. This water also contains some hydrocarbons that float on top of the water in the settling tanks and which is unwanted in the ponds and/or water purification units. Some of the clean oil is recovered and stored in an oil sale tank after the lower level liquids have been removed from a settling tank.
The amount of oil, dirty oil, and water in a produced water tank or a settling tank is not generally accurately calculated. A common method for determining the quantity requires an operator to ascend stairs to the top of a tank, open a hatch, and use one of the manual methods of roughly calculating the top surface level and bottom surface level of clean oil in a tank. A safer and more accurate and efficient way of measuring quantities is desired and a more efficient and accurate way of accessing and removing selected levels of liquids is desired.

Adjustable height inlet/outlet liquid level management tools and systems


A voltage/current (v/c) conversion circuit is designed for use in integrated circuit devices. Conventional designs of v/c conversion circuits require a relatively high value of load resistor, i.e. a steep v/c conversion slope, to generate high levels of output current. In place of the high load resistor which is expensive to fabricate with IC fabrication techniques, the source-drain resistance in an n-type MOSFET is utilized, and the output current level is adjusted by adjusting the potential of a bias input circuit supplied from the gate potential in an n-type MOSFET. The proposed configuration is ideally suited to IC fabrication processes, and the circuit is useful in a many applications requiring a wide range of high current levels from a conversion circuit having a low v/c conversion factor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage/current conversion circuit suitable for applications in integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the conventional voltage/current (v/c) conversion circuits used generally for converting input voltage to output current is shown in FIG. 5. In this v/c conversion circuit shown in FIG. 5, if the gain of the operational amplifier (OP amp) is ideally high, a negative feed back is generated between the OP amp 2 and an n-type metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) 5 serving as the active load so that the voltage input terminal 1a and the node point 1b are at the same potential. Denoting the potential at the voltage input terminal 1a as Vin volts, the resistance of the resistor element 46 as R ohms, and the potential at the node 1b as Vin volts, the current Ir flowing in the resistor element 46 is given by Vin/R in amperes.
In FIG. 5, a p-type MOSFET 3 and another p-type MOSFET 4 constitute a current mirror so that the magnitude of the current flowing in p-type MOSFET 4 is the same as that flowing in p-type MOSFET 3. Therefore, the magnitude of the current flowing out of the output terminal 8, Iout, becomes the same as that flowing in the resistor element 46 given by Vin/R amperes.
The v/c conversion circuit shown in FIG. 5 is characterized by a good linearity of the input/output relation, because the voltage/current conversion ratio between the input potential Vin and the output current Iout is determined by the value of the resistor R. However, when it is desired to provide a v/c conversion circuit that produces a small variation in the output current for a given variation in the input potential, i.e., to make a voltage/current conversion circuit with a low value of voltage/current conversion ratio, it is necessary to have a high resistor R. In IC production processes, high resistor elements are not desirable, because they require an increase in the substrate area or an increase in the number of fabrication steps.
Also, the circuit shown in FIG. 5 does not permit a selection of the level of the output current, independently of the voltage/current conversion ratio. If the resistor value R is lowered to increase the output current level, the voltage/current conversion ratio inevitably becomes high (refer to FIG. 6, line b), and conversely, if the resistor value R is increased to decrease the voltage/current conversion ratio, the output current level becomes low (refer to FIG. 6, line c). Therefore, this type of circuitry is unable to produce a high level of output current, such as the one indicated by line a in FIG. 6, while providing a small variation in the output range and a low voltage/current conversion ratio, as expressed by the slope of the characteristic line.
Other examples of such v/c conversion circuits include a circuit disclosed in a Japanese Patent Application, First Publication, H1-170206, FIG. 1, which behaves in the same manner as the circuit shown in FIG. 5, and a high resistor value is needed to realize a v/c conversion circuit having a small conversion factor. Also, once the conversion factor (i.e. resistor value) is decided in a device, its output current is determined uniquely, and it is not possible to generate variable levels of output current. A circuit disclosed in FIG. 4 of the above-mentioned reference, is reported to provide a low v/c conversion factor without using a high value resistor, by relying on a biasing current I.sub.E and a resistor R.sub.E so as to make the v/c conversion factor low; however, this circuit can produce only very low levels of current.


An electrolyzer includes a stack composed of a plurality of upright electrolytic cell units, each unit including an electrolytic cell unit frame bounding a pair of electrode sheets. Each pair of electrode sheets are anode-side and cathode-side partitions having opposed recesses and projections that are engaged in nesting relationship with each other. A gas-liquid separation chamber is provided which is integral with an upper edge of the electrolytic cell unit frame.

The present invention relates generally to a filter press type electrolyzer and, more particularly, to an electrolytic cell unit which is characterized by a partition for dispensing an electrolyte into adjacent electrolytic chambers.
Filter press type electrolyzers are widely used for inorganic material production by electrolysis, including chlorine and caustic soda production by brine electrolysis as well as for electrolysis of seawater, etc.
Among the filter press type electrolyzer used typically for brine electrolysis, there are two types, one a bipolar type built up of a stack of bipolar type electrolytic cell units partitioned by a cation exchange membrane, each unit including adjacent anode and cathode chambers electrically and mechanically joined to each other through a partition, and end electrode chambers attached and fixed as by hydraulic pressing on both ends thereof, each of said chambers having an anode or cathode on one side, and the other a monopolar type built up of a stack of anode and cathode chamber units having the same electrodes attached to the both sides of a picture frame form of electrode chamber frame partitioned by a cation exchange membrane and electrode chamber units attached to both ends thereof, each of said electrode chamber units having an anode or cathode on one side. Each electrode chamber unit of the monopolar type electrolyzer is provided with downcomers, ribs, etc. which reinforce the picture frame form of electrode chamber frame and serves to promote the circulation of an electrolyte. The electrodes are attached to these ribs, but there is usually no partition for separating the electrolyte.
On the other hand, each unit of the bipolar type electrolyzer is provided with partitions serving to separate the anode from the cathode chamber and to conduct an electrolytic current. The partitions for separating the anode from the cathode chamber are provided with an anode and a cathode. Depending on what electrolytic reactions are to take place, one of the anode and cathode chambers is exposed to an oxidizing environment and the other to a reducing environment. Especially in the case of brine electrolysis that is a typical electrolysis process making use of ion exchange membranes, chlorine is generated at the anode, while high concentrations of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen are formed at the cathode. Thus, a thin-film forming metal highly resistant to corrosion as by chlorine such as titanium, tantalum or zirconium or its alloy is used for the anode chamber. However, titanium absorbs hydrogen and embrittles in an atmosphere prevailing in the cathode chamber; in other words, titanium cannot be used for the cathode chambers, albeit highly resistant to corrosion.
For that reason, a ferrous metal such as iron, nickel or stainless steel or its alloy is used for the cathode chamber. Although electrical connection may be made by connecting electrode chambers to each other, each formed by a partition of metal material, no joint of practical strength can be obtained, even though titanium forming the anode chamber is directly joined to iron, nickel or stainless steel forming the cathode chamber as by welding, because titanium forms an intermetallic compound with the ferrous metal.
Thus, many proposals have been made for the bipolar type electrolyzer. For instance, Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-5880 discloses that the members forming the anode and cathode chambers are connected to each other by bolts passing through a partition formed of synthetic resin material.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-32866 discloses that a ferrous metal is explosively fused to titanium to form a sheet member serving as a partition, and both its sides are provided with ribs by welding and anodes and cathodes are welded to the ribs. Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-36231 teaches that a composite member is provided by joining together titanium and iron with copper between them, the titanium of the composite member is welded to the titanium of the anode-side partition of a bipolar type electrolytic cell unit, and the iron of the composite member is likewise welded to the cathode-side partition of a ferrous metal.
As mentioned above, various partitions are proposed for the bipolar type electrolyzer. However, since they all include partitions provided with ribs and electrodes welded or otherwise attached to the ribs, there are unavoidably voltage drops. In addition, special procedures must be used to join the cathode-side metal to the anode-side metal.
In order to solve such problems, Applicant has already proposed a bipolar type electrolyzer which includes electrolytic cell units, each formed by a pressed sheet of partitions having recesses (or grooves) and projections (or ribs) that are engaged with each other and electrodes joined to the projections, and which is simply assembled as well (see Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 3-249189 or Japanese Patent Application No. 2-45855).
In the case of an electrolytic reaction generating large amounts of gases, such as brine electrolysis by the ion exchange membrane process, zones in which the generated gases or liquids containing much bubbles remain stagnant are located upper part of electrode chambers. As well known in the art, the gas or air bubble-containing zones have an adverse influence on the ion exchange membranes during extended operation. In order to reduce the gas or bubble-containing zones, some improvement is made on where nozzles for releasing an electrolyte or the generated gases are to be located, or a gas-liquid separation chamber is located above the electrolytic cell unit, whereby the ion exchange membranes are prevented from coming into contact with the bubbles. If an electrolyzer having a large electrode area is operated while the current distribution in each electrode chamber remains uneven, then the performance of the electrolyzer is adversely affected; that is, local consumption of the electrodes occurs or local degradation of the ion exchange membranes takes place. Thus, where the electrodes and collector members are to be located is such designed as to make anode-partition-cathode-anode passages virtually equal to each other, thereby making the current distribution in each electrode chamber uniform.
Furthermore, it is attempted to reduce the concentration or temperature distribution of the electrolyte in each electrode chamber. Reducing the concentration or temperature distribution of the electrolyte is achieved by increasing the amount or rate of circulation of the electrolyte which is externally fed to the electrode chamber and discharged therefrom. However, increasing the amount of circulation needs a circulator of large size, and is not always effective as well in terms of making the concentration or temperature distribution of the electrolyte uniform.
In the case of an electrolytic cell unit including a pressed flat sheet, however, whatever measure is taken for where the electrolyte or the nozzle for releasing the gas generated is to be located, a region in which the gases remain stagnant occurs unavoidably upper portion of the electrolytic chamber.
Making the concentration or temperature of the electrolyte uniform may effectively be achieved by the uniform feeding of the electrolyte to the electrode chamber. However, never until now is an electrolyte-dispensing means used for electrolytic cell units making use of pressed sheets.
The section of the lower portion of a conventional electrolytic cell unit using a pressed sheet is shown in FIG. 12(A). As illustrated, there is an electrolytic cell frame 32 lower portion of the electrolytic cell unit generally shown at 31, and a partition 34 is attached to the frame 32 to form an electrode chamber 33. And an electrode 35 is mounted on the partition 34. Thus, the lower portion of the electrode chamber is constructed from the frame 32 formed of rigid material; in other words, some structural difficulty is encountered in providing means for dispensing the electrolyte uniformly.
The section of the upper portion of the electrolytic cell unit using a pressed sheet is shown in FIG. 12(B). As illustrated, the upper portion of the electrode chamber 33 of the electrolytic cell unit 31 is built up of an electrode chamber frame 32 formed of rigid material; that is, it is again structurally difficult to locate a gas-liquid separation chamber thereabove. Within the electrode chamber 33, there is left a space in which the electrode 35 is not located. This space is then sectioned by a parting member 36 formed of a metal sheet similar to the partition 34, thereby forming a gas-liquid separation chamber 38 provided with a passage 37 through which a gas-liquid mixture is introduced between said chamber 38 and the electrode chamber. However, problems with this arrangement are that the portion to be welded is so long and linear that this metal sheet forming the partition is distorted by welding, failing to provide an electrolytic cell unit to meet the mechanical accuracy demanded.


Disclosed is a carbonylation process wherein a mixture of a dialkyl carbonate and halide compound is contacted with carbon monoxide in the presence of a metal selected from Group VIII of the Periodic Table to co-produce carbon dioxide and a carbonyl compound selected from a carboxylic acid, an alkyl carboxylate ester, a carboxylic acid anhydride or a mixture of any two or more thereof. The carbon dioxide co-product of the process may be recovered, and sold or further reacted with a suitable substrate to produce useful chemicals such as urea or cyclic carbonates.

It is known that carboxylic acids and carboxylic acid derivatives may be produced by the carbonylation of a mixture of (1) a carbonylation feedstock compound such as alcohols, esters, ethers or mixtures thereof and (2) a halide compound such as hydrogen iodide and/or an alkyl iodide. The products of these known processes are carboxylic acids, esters and/or anhydrides, depending on the specific feedstock and processes conditions employed. Carboxylic esters and anhydrides are the primary products when water is absent, whereas carboxylic acids and esters are the main products when water is present. The most efficient catalysts for these reactions are metals from Group VIII of the Periodic Table. Thus carbonylation of mixtures of methanol and a halide compound produces acetic acid, and methyl acetate and water also may be produced at low methanol conversion. Carbonylation of mixtures of methyl acetate and a halide compound produces acetic anhydride in the absence of water.
The use of dimethyl ether (DME—also referred to as methyl ether) as the feedstock compound in carbonylation processes produces methyl acetate and acetic anhydride at sufficiently high rates of conversion in the absence of water. DME is an attractive feedstock material for acetic anhydride synthesis because the recycle of acetic acid equivalents through the carbonylation reactor is greatly reduced. Although DME is an attractive feedstock material for the synthesis of acetic acid and derivatives in some ways, it has limitations due to its physical properties. For example, the boiling point of DME is −24° C. at atmospheric pressure. Therefore, DME either must be stored in special pressure vessels or in refrigerated vessels. Either of these options is expensive. An accidental release of dimethyl ether into the environment may result in a fire or an explosion. An alternative carbonylation feedstock compound is needed which avoids high recycle of acetyl equivalents and the troublesome physical properties of DME.


A safety system for connection to at least one fixed, elongated, structural component, e.g., an I-beam, of a static structure, e.g., a building being erected, to protect a worker located on the structure from falling thereoff. The system comprising first and second releasably securable mounting assemblies frictionally secured at respective spaced locations on the structural component, a rope or cable connected between the mounting assemblies, and a sliding anchor mounted on the rope. The sliding anchor comprising a tubular member mounted on the rope means for sliding therealong to a desired position whereupon it can be actuated to releasably secured it against further sliding. The worker wears a supporting belt, harness or other device, which is connected, via a lanyard and an associated shock absorber, to the sliding anchor, to thereby prevent he/she from falling more than a predetermined distance away from said sliding anchor.

This invention relates generally to safety apparatus and more particularly to a system for securement to structural components of a building to protect workers from falling and to expedite the construction or renovation of the building.
Due to the enactment of various safety laws, persons working at elevated positions, e.g., on steel construction beams of a building as it is erected, etc., are required to be protected against falls. One common approach to achieve that end is the use of a safety belt which is worn on the worker's waist. The belt includes a D-ring or some other metal loop fixedly mounted on the belt in the center of the portion located at the worker's back. The D-ring is arranged to be "tied off" (connected), via a lanyard, to a fixed supporting member or anchor point. The anchor point may be any fixed portion, e.g. an I-beam, of the building which is strong enough to support the worker's weight. The securement of the lanyard to the anchor point is typically accomplished by wrapping the lanyard at least once about the anchor point, e.g., I-beam. Thus, once the worker is tied off should he/she fall off of the structure he/she will be prevented from falling to the ground.
While this technique of preventing falls is generally suitable for its intended purposes it never the less suffers from some drawbacks. For example, it limits or restricts the movement of the worker to a small working area contiguous with the anchor point, and does not provide adequate protection to the worker when he/she is in the process of moving to a different location, e.g., adjacent another anchor point.

Safety system for use in erecting static structures


It is determined whether a data source can handle an event that an application that operates on an OS (Operating System) receives via a predetermined API. If it is determined that the data source cannot handle the event, the event necessary for the operation of the data source is acquired from the OS.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technique using an application that operates on an OS (Operating System) and a data source that is a driver configured to control a peripheral device.
Description of the Related Art
There is conventionally known TWAIN that is an interface standard (API) used to control a data source such as a scanner driver from an application (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-275223). In this case, the application needs to do event handling via the TWAIN.
Recently, however, in the execution environment of a programming language or framework that does not make a user aware of event handling and is becoming quite common, it is difficult to implement a program corresponding to the existing TWAIN, and the programming knowledge of the conventional C/C++ language or conventional execution environment is necessary. In particular, it is difficult to do implementation according to a restriction that event handling needs to be performed in the same thread. This problem may also arise in an API other than TWAIN.
The present invention provides an information processing technique capable of easily normally operating a data source from an application in accordance with a predetermined API.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method and computer-readable storage medium


The invention relates to a computer program interpreter and a method for the same, using statistics to group (SR89, SR17 . . . SR6; SR4, SR34 . . . SR16) frequently used service routines (SR) in the same program function and to control encoding of instructions. Frequently used service routines are assigned shorter codes thus enhancing the performance of a simulator or emulator.

With the growing complexity of computer software and the growing reliance on software systems in everyday life and business, there is an increasing need for a high performance in the execution of the software. Performance of software, such as program simulators and emulators, is often crucial since these programs are meant to simulate a system or, like an emulator, to mimic the behavior of a specific system embedded in a larger program complex. The execution of software programs depends on the operation of compilers and interpreters that translates or interprets instruction sets to machine executable code. To achieve high performance of an interactive simulator in cases when instruction sets are not easily decoded, the best practice is to translate the instruction into an internal format, which in this text is called an intermediate format. The intermediate format code is faster to decode and execute for a software-implemented interpreter and can be used directly if the instruction is decoded and executed again.
To achieve high performance, prior art software interpreters usually limit parameter space to an instruction, for example by mapping an instruction to different service routines depending on the parameters given to the instruction. For example, the sparc instruction 'add' may be mapped to two different service routines, one that adds two registers and one that adds a register with a constant. Therefore, the number of service routines will typically be higher than the number of instructions in the simulated instruction set. When the number of service routines grow to a large number, certain compiler optimizations with a high time complexity will make compilation times unacceptable or will fail completely.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Interpreter for executing computer programs and method for collecting statistics


A light valve image projection system (10) wherein the optical registration of individual primary color images on a projection screen (14) is substantially immune to modification of the projection throw distance is disclosed herein. The inventive light valve projection system (10) is operative to project a composite optical image onto the screen (14), and includes an optical light valve apparatus (18, 19, 20) for generating first and second optical images. A converging optical system (22), in optical alignment with one or more light valves (20), is disposed to overlap the first and second images into a composite image along an optical axis. The projection system (10) of the present invention further includes a projection lens (24) for illuminating the screen (14) with the composite image.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to light valve image projection systems, and more specifically, to multi-color light valve image projection systems.
2. Discussion
In conventional color projection systems employing optical light valves, three primary color images (red, green and blue) are displayed in optical registration on a viewing screen. The three primary color images are typically generated by three separate light valves and projected on the screen by three separate projection lenses. The projection lenses are arranged about an optical axis which typically passes through the composite image displayed on the screen. In such an arrangement, it is necessary that the three primary color images converge in the plane occupied by the screen. In other words, the convergence of the three primary color images is dependent upon the distance between the screen and the projection lenses. This method of projection suffers from the disadvantage that the projection lens arrangement must be reconfigured when the distance between the projection lenses and the screen is altered.
In certain applications the space which may be occupied by the projection system is limited. This often requires that the screen be positioned in relatively close proximity to the projection lens. Such a short "projection throw distance" generally necessitates usage of wide-angle projection lenses. However, the relatively large size of wide-angle lenses complicates the deployment thereof.
In other conventional color projection systems, a single projection lens having three sections is utilized in lieu of the set of three projection lenses. Again, however, the displacement of each lens section from a common optical axis precludes registration of the primary color images until convergence on the screen. As a consequence, systems incorporating sectioned projection lenses must also be altered in response to changes in the separation between the projection lens and screen.
Hence, a need exists for a compact, full-color optical light valve projection system in which convergence of the primary color images is relatively independent of the projection throw distance.

Converging optics for a single light valve full-color projector


A coupling transmits torque between two shafts approximately aligned on a shaft axis. The coupling has a center axis approximately aligned with the shaft axis. The coupling comprises arcuate coupling segments with ends extending generally parallel to the coupling center axis and arcuate portions extending between the ends. The arcuate coupling segments are arranged in a ring with adjacent segments being arranged end to end to form the coupling. Each coupling portion comprises a first clamp ring adapted to be operatively attached to a shaft and a second clamp ring adapted to be operatively connected to another shaft. Elastomer material extends between both clamp rings. The elastomer material extends axially and circumferentially on each clamp ring in areas adjacent to each end of the arcuate coupling segment.

This disclosure relates generally to elastomeric couplings for transmitting torque between two shafts approximately aligned on a shaft axis, i.e., elastomeric couplings joining a pair of axially spaced shafts. The coupling has clamp rings with flange portions that are encapsulated in or embedded in and fixed in the material comprising the elastomeric element. The elastomeric element has winged portions that minimized separation forces between the elastomeric element and the clamp rings.

Winged elastomeric coupling with minimized separation forces between elastomer and clamp ring


When a stationary metallic mold and a movable metallic mold are closed, a housing is molded having a retainer insertion hole by the existence of a sliding mold. A retainer is also molded. First, when only the metallic mold is opened, the core pin is withdrawn, and the sliding mold is withdrawn in the longitudinal direction by the cam action of the angular pin, so that the molding portion is withdrawn from the retainer insertion hole. Successively, the sliding mold is relatively drawn out to the front of the advancing and withdrawing passage together with the stationary metallic mold, and the advancing and withdrawing passage becomes open. Next, an auxiliary sliding mold is advanced, and the retainer held by the auxiliary sliding mold is inserted into the retainer insertion hole and temporarily assembled to the housing. It is possible to insert the retainer straight into the retainer insertion hole. The finished product is protruded to the front of the movable metallic mold by the protruding pin.

The present invention relates to a metallic mold for manufacturing a connector and also relates to a method for manufacturing the connector. More particularly, the present invention relates to a metallic mold for manufacturing a connector having a retainer to be attached to a connector housing from the side and also relates to a method for manufacturing the connector.
A conventional connector is well known in which a terminal fitting is engaged double when a retainer is attached to a connector housing from the side (shown in FIGS. 1 to 6). In the connector housing 1 of this connector, there is formed a cavity 3 into which a terminal fitting 2 can be inserted from the back. On a bottom face of the cavity 3, there is provided a flexible lance 4 engaged with the terminal fitting 2.
On the other hand, a retainer 5 for preventing the terminal fitting 2 from being disconnected is attached onto an upper face of the connector housing 1. Accordingly, there is formed a retainer insertion hole 6 on the upper face of the connector housing 1 in such a manner that the retainer insertion hole 6 crosses the cavity 3. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the retainer 5 is provided with a protruding piece 5a to be inserted between the cavities 3 and also provided with an engaging portion 9 which protrudes in the cavity 3 and engages with a jaw portion 8 of the terminal fitting 2. Although the detail of the retainer 5 is not shown in the drawings, it can be held at two positions, one is a provisional engaging position at which the retainer 5 is inserted into the housing 1 by a small distance, and the other is a complete engaging position at which the retainer 5 is inserted into the housing 1 by a distance longer than the distance of the provisional engaging position.
Under the condition shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 in which the retainer 5 is held at the provisional engaging position, each engaging portion 9 of the retainer 5 is withdrawn upward so that the terminal fitting 2 can be attached. When the terminal fitting 2 is inserted to a normal position under the above condition, the terminal fitting 2 is primarily engaged with the lance 4. Next, when the retainer 5 is pushed to the complete engaging position as shown in FIG. 2 and 5, each engaging portion 9 of the retainer 5 is engaged with the jaw portion 8 of the terminal fitting 2, so that the retainer 5 is secondarily engaged. In this way, the terminal fitting 2 can be double engaged with the connector. This connector is temporarily assembled while the retainer 5 is held at the provisional engaging position and then transported to a site in which the terminal is inserted into the connector.
Conventionally, until the housing 1 and the retainer 5 are temporarily assembled to each other, the housing 1 and the retainer 5 are formed separately from each other, that is, they are respectively formed by different forming machines and transported to a temporarily assembling site. After that, the housing 1 and the retainer 5 are finally assembled. In this case, assembly is conducted by an automatic machine provided with a parts feeder or alternatively assembly is manually conducted by a worker.
As described above, according to the prior art, the housing 1 and retainer 5 are molded and assembled separately, and the manufacture of a temporarily assembled connector is completed through the processes of molding, transportation and assembly. When assembly is conducted by the manual operation of a worker, it is necessary to provide a different inspection process. Due to the foregoing, a large number of processes are required to complete the manufacture of the connector, so that the manufacturing cost is increased. Further, it is necessary to manage the metallic molds for each housing 1 and retainer 5, which also increases the management cost.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a metallic mold and a method for manufacturing a connector at low cost.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is provided a method for manufacturing a connector, the connector comprising a connector housing in which a cavity open in the longitudinal direction is formed for the insertion of a terminal fitting, a retainer insertion hole extending from the outside into the cavity is also formed, and a retainer is inserted from the side into the retainer insertion hole so as to engage with the terminal fitting, the method for manufacturing the connector comprising the steps of: molding the connector housing and the retainer in a metallic mold in a positional condition that the retainer is opposed to the retainer insertion hole from the side; withdrawing the metallic mold between the connector housing and the retainer in the longitudinal direction in the movement process of the mold; and relatively moving the connector housing and the retainer in the transverse direction while they are being held, so as to assemble the retainer to the connector housing.
In this invention, first, the connector housing and retainer are simultaneously molded in the molding process. Next, in the mold movement process, the metallic mold for molding the connector housing is moved in the longitudinal direction in accordance with the direction of the cavity opening. When the metallic mold between the connector housing and the retainer is withdrawn, a space is formed between the connector housing and the retainer, so that the retainer is put in a condition in which the retainer is opposed to the retainer insertion hole. When the connector housing and retainer are held and moved relatively in this condition, the retainer is inserted into the retainer insertion hole. In this way, the connector can be obtained.
Further, according to the invention, the retainer insertion hole is formed when a metallic mold for molding the cavity and a metallic mold for molding a connector housing outside, which are contacted with each other, are moved in the opposite directions along the side of the connector housing, and the metallic mold is opened.
In this invention, resin is not filled in a portion where the cavity molding metallic mold comes into contact with the connector housing outside forming mold. When both metallic molds are moved in the longitudinal direction in the mold moving process, the contact portion of both metallic molds are open on the side of the connector housing, and this opening becomes the retainer insertion hole.
Furthermore, according to the first aspect of the invention, it is to provide a metallic mold for manufacturing a connector, the connector comprising a connector housing in which a cavity open in the longitudinal direction is formed for the insertion of a terminal fitting, a retainer insertion hole extending from the outside into the cavity is also formed, and a retainer is inserted from the side into the retainer insertion hole so as to engage with the terminal fitting, the metallic mold for manufacturing the connector comprising: a molding structure capable of molding the connector housing and the retainer in a positional relation in which the retainer is opposed from the side to the retainer insertion hole; a mold moving structure for withdrawing the metallic mold between the connector housing and the retainer in the longitudinal direction; and an operating structure for assembling the retainer to the connector housing when the connector housing and the retainer are relatively moved in the transverse direction while they are being held.
In the invention, the connector housing and the retainer are simultaneously molded in one metallic mold in the molding process. In the mold opening process, the metallic mold for molding the connector housing is moved in the longitudinal direction in accordance with the cavity opening direction. When this metallic mold is withdrawn, a space is formed between the connector housing and the retainer, so that the retainer is opposed to the retainer insertion hole. When the connector housing and the retainer are relatively moved in the transverse direction while they are being held, the retainer is inserted into the retainer insertion hole, and the connector in which the connector housing and the retainer are integrated into one body can be obtained.
Moreover, according to the invention, the retainer insertion hole is formed when a cavity molding metallic mold and a connector housing outside molding metallic mold, which are opened when they are moved along the side of the connector housing in the opposite directions, are contacted with each other.
In the invention, resin is not filled in a portion where the cavity molding metallic mold comes into contact with the connector housing outside molding metallic mold. When both metallic molds are moved in the longitudinal direction in the mold opening process, the contact portion of both metallic molds is open onto the side of the connector housing, and this opening becomes the retainer insertion hole.
According to the invention described above, it is possible to conduct the molding and the assembling process of the connector housing and the retainer by one machine. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a conveyance process in which the parts are conveyed from the molding position to the assembling position. Further, it is not necessary to conduct the assembling process separately from the molding process after conveyance.
Accordingly, as compared with a case in which assembly is conducted by an automaton, the assembling time can be shortened because the supply of parts conducted by a parts feeder is unnecessary. Further, it is unnecessary to provide two automatons respectively used for molding and assembling. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the installation space. Compared with a case in which assembly is manually conducted by a worker, it is possible to greatly reduce the assembling time when an automaton is adopted, and further it is not necessary to provide an inspection process. When the aforementioned advantages are put together, the manufacturing cost of the connector can be reduced.
Further, the metallic mold withdrawing from a space between the connector housing and the retainer is moved in the longitudinal direction in the same manner as that of the metallic mold used for molding the connector housing. Accordingly, when both metallic molds are integrally moved, the manufacturing efficiency can be enhanced.
Moreover, according to the invention, when the metallic mold for molding the retainer insertion hole is moved in the longitudinal direction, the metallic mold can be opened. Accordingly, as compared with a method in which the metallic mold for molding the retainer insertion hole is withdrawn when the metallic mold is moved toward the retainer in the transverse direction, the manufacturing process can be simplified and the manufacturing efficiency can be enhanced.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is provided a method for manufacturing a connector, the connector comprising a connector housing in which a cavity is formed for the insertion of a terminal fitting, and a retainer attached to the connector housing from the side, the retainer engaging with the terminal fitting so as to lock it when the retainer is attached to the connector housing, the method for manufacturing the connector comprising the steps of: closing a pair of metallic molds capable of being respectively contacted with and separated from each other in one direction while a sliding mold is interposed between the pair of metallic molds, the sliding mold being assembled to one of the pair of metallic molds so that the sliding mold can be moved in a direction intersecting to the contacting and separating direction of the pair of metallic molds; molding a housing having an insertion hole for inserting a retainer via the sliding mold and also molding a retainer located at the rear of the sliding mold in the advancing and withdrawing direction; drawing the sliding mold from the retainer insertion hole by withdrawing the sliding mold; retreating the sliding mold onto the side of an advancing and withdrawing passage in accordance with the opening operation of the mold or by the action of a drive mechanism; and inserting the retainer into the retainer insertion hole from the open passage so as to assemble the retainer in a predetermined condition.
Further, according to the invention, when the retainer is inserted from the open passage into the retainer insertion hole, the entire width of the retainer is supported.
Furthermore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is provided a metallic mold for manufacturing a connector, the connector comprising a connector housing in which a cavity is formed for the insertion of a terminal fitting, and a retainer attached to the connector housing from the side, the retainer engaging with a terminal fitting so as to lock it when the retainer is attached to the connector housing,
the metallic mold being composed of a pair of metallic molds capable of being relatively contacted with and separated from each other in one direction, a sliding mold capable of moving along an advancing and withdrawing passage provided in a direction intersecting to the contacting and separating direction of the metallic molds being assembled to one of the pair of metallic molds, the pair of metallic molds forming a molding space when the metallic molds are closed to each other under the condition that the sliding mold is advanced, the molding space being capable of molding a housing having a retainer insertion hole into which the retainer is inserted, via the sliding mold and also capable of molding a retainer located in at the rear of the sliding mold, the pair of metallic molds comprising: a retreating means for retreating the sliding mold to the side of the advancing and withdrawing passage after the sliding mold has been withdrawn; and an insertion means for inserting the retainer molded in a retainer molding space into the retainer insertion hole of the housing by advancing the retainer along the advancing and withdrawing passage. PA1 the method of manufacturing the connector comprising the steps of: closing a pair of metallic molds capable of being respectively contacted with and separated from each other in one direction while a sliding mold is interposed between the pair of metallic molds, the sliding mold being assembled to one of the pair of metallic molds so that the sliding mold can be moved in a direction intersecting to the contacting and separating direction of the pair of metallic molds; molding a housing having a through-hole for inserting a retainer via the sliding mold and also molding the retainer located in the front of the sliding mold; withdrawing the sliding mold to the back of the retainer insertion hole after the molds are opened; and assembling the connector into a predetermined condition by inserting the retainer from the front. PA1 the metallic mold being composed of a pair of metallic molds capable of being relatively contacted with and separated from each other in one direction, a sliding mold capable of moving in a direction intersecting to the contacting and separating direction of the metallic molds being assembled to one of the pair of metallic molds, the pair of metallic molds forming a molding space when the metallic molds are closed to each other under the condition that the sliding mold is advanced, the molding space being capable of molding a housing having a through-hole into which the retainer is inserted via the sliding mold and also capable of molding a retainer located in the front of the sliding mold, the pair of metallic molds comprising an insertion drive section capable of inserting the retainer into the retainer insertion hole of the connector housing from the front.
Moreover, the insertion means supports the entire width of the retainer to be inserted into the retainer insertion hole.
According to the above-mentioned invention, under the condition that a pair of metallic molds are closed while the sliding mold is interposed between the metallic molds, the housing is molded into a shape in which the retainer insertion hole is formed on one side, and the retainer is simultaneously molded at the rear of the sliding mold. After the sliding mold has been withdrawn along the advancing and withdrawing passage and drawn out from the retainer insertion hole, it is retreated to the side of the advancing and withdrawing passage by the retreat means. Then, the retainer passes through the open advancing and withdrawing passage and is inserted into the retainer insertion hole, so that the retainer and housing are integrally assembled into one body in a predetermined condition.
In this connection, when the entire width of the retainer is not supported, the retainer is bent by a frictional force caused in the process of insertion of the retainer into the insertion hole. Specifically, since the engaging portion 9, which protrudes to the side, comes into contact with an edge portion of the cavity 3, the protruding piece 5a, which is not supported by the insertion means, is further pushed and damaged. However, according to the present invention, since the entire width of the retainer is supported by the insertion means, even when the protruding piece collides with the edge portion of the cavity, it is not bent to the side but pressed in a perpendicular direction, so that the protruding piece can be inserted into the hole.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a connector is manufactured, it is possible to mold a housing and a retainer in a metallic mold, and it is also possible to assemble them to each other. Accordingly, the manufacturing work period of the connector and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Even a wide retainer which tends to be bent easily is used, it is possible to insert the retainer straight so that it can not be damaged.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is provided a method of manufacturing a connector, the connector comprising a connector housing in which a cavity is formed for the insertion of a terminal fitting, and a retainer attached to the connector housing from the side, the retainer engaging with the terminal fitting so as to lock it when the retainer is attached to the connector housing,
Under the condition that the pair of metallic molds are closed, the housing is molded into a shape in which the through-hole-shaped retainer insertion hole is formed by the existence of the sliding mold, and the retainer is also formed in the front of the housing. After the pair of molds have been opened, the sliding mold is withdrawn from the retainer insertion hole, and the retainer is inserted into the retainer insertion hole, so that the retainer and the housing are integrally assembled under a predetermined condition.
Further, according to the invention, it is to provide a metallic mold for manufacturing a connector, the connector comprising a connector housing in which a cavity is formed for the insertion of a terminal fitting, and a retainer attached to the connector housing from the side, the retainer engaging with the terminal fitting so as to lock it when the retainer is attached to the connector housing,
Under the condition that the pair of metallic molds are closed, the housing is molded into a shape, in which a throughhole-shaped retainer insertion hole is provided, by the existence of the sliding mold, and the retainer is also molded in the front of the housing. After the pair of metallic molds have been opened, the sliding mold is withdrawn from the retainer insertion hole, and at the same time the retainer is inserted into the retainer insertion hole from the front by the action of the insertion drive means, so that the retainer and the housing are integrally assembled to each other under a predetermined condition.
Moreover, the according to the present invention, it is provided a connector comprising: a connector housing having a cavity into which a terminal fitting is inserted; and a retainer attached to the connector housing from the side, the retainer being displaced between a provisional engaging position and a complete engagement position, the retainer engaging with the terminal fitting so as to lock it at the complete engagement position, wherein a retainer insertion hole for inserting the retainer is formed in the connector housing while it penetrates two sides of the connector housing opposed to each other.
Since the retainer insertion hole is formed while it penetrates the connector housing, for example, in the process of manufacturing the connector, while an intermediate core is provided in the metallic mold, the housing is molded in which a retainer insertion hole is formed while it penetrates the connector housing. At the same time, the retainer is formed in the front of the intermediate core. While the intermediate core is being withdrawn in the metallic mold, the retainer is inserted into the retainer insertion hole so that it can be integrally assembled at the provisional engaging position. It is possible to realize the above manufacturing means.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when a connector is manufactured, it is possible to mold and assemble a housing and a retainer in a metallic mold. Accordingly, the manufacturing work period of the connector is shortened, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.


An image forming apparatus capable of inspecting printed matter as a recording sheet on which an image including a copy forgery-inhibited pattern has been printed. An image is printed on a sheet based on print image data. Scanned image data is acquired by reading the printed sheet. Reference data is created by excluding image data representative of image portions which cannot be read from the print image data. It is determined whether or not the printed sheet is free from defective printing by comparing the scanned image data and the reference data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs inspection of printed matter, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, inspection work of printed matter has been performed by visual inspection by an inspector based on his/her experiences. In this case, visual inspection of an enormous amount of printed matter for confirmation puts a large burden on the inspector, and further, there is a high possibility of an inspection error.
Further, to visually inspect printed matter which is output from an image forming apparatus at a high speed is not excellent in working efficiency.
Therefore, there has been a demand for automatically inspecting printed matter printed by an image forming apparatus capable of high-speed small-amount various-type production, in synchronism with printing of the printed matter.
To meet this demand, in recent years, there has been developed an inspection system that makes it possible to detect a defect in print processing, such as dirt, a void, and skew in printing, by reading printed matter printed by the image forming apparatus by a sensor, performing image processing on the read data, and then comparing the read data with print data which is original data.
Further, there has been disclosed a technique in which a finisher having a plurality of output ports is controlled based on a result of inspection on printed matter, and the output port for outputting printed matter is changed between one for printed matter on which printing has been normally performed and the other for printed matter on which a printing defect is detected, thereby making it possible to sort out the printed matter having the printing defect (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-144797).
Further, some of receipts, securities, and certificates have a background on which is printed a special pattern including characters or images which will appear when copied, so as to prevent them from being easily copied.
Such a special pattern is called a copy forgery-inhibited pattern, and provides a contrivance that prevents an original from being easily duplicated by copying, to thereby realize an effect of preventing copying of the original.
The copy forgery-inhibited pattern is formed by two areas equal in density: an area in which dots remain when copied and an area in which dots disappear when copied. These two areas are substantially equal in density, and hidden characters or images, such as "COPY", are not recognized at a glance. These hidden characters and images are referred to as the "latent image".
For example, large dots are dispersed in a latent image part which is an area in which dots remain after copying, and small dots are concentrated in a background part which is an area in which dots disappear when copied. This makes it possible to create these two areas which are substantially equal in density, but are different in characteristics.
In general, in copying an image, there exists a limit in image reproduction capability dependent on an input resolution for reading fine dots in the image and an output resolution for reproducing the fine dots. Therefore, if isolated fine dots exceeding the limit of the image reproduction capability exist in an image, the fine dots cannot be properly reproduced in a copy of the image, and as a result, the copy misses the part of the isolated fine dots. This causes only large dots to appear to make the copy forgery-inhibited pattern noticeable, whereby it is possible to prevent the image from being duplicated.
This copy forgery-inhibited pattern does not function to prevent forgery unless the dots in the latent image part and the background part are correctly printed, respectively. For example, in a case where dots in the latent image part are too small, the dots cannot be read when scanning the image, and the latent image is not left on a sheet to which the original is copied, and hence the copy forgery-inhibited pattern cannot provide a security function.
Further, in a case where dots in the background part are too large, the background dots are also read when scanning the image, so that even the image in the background part is left after copying.
Conventionally, to check whether or not the copy forgery-inhibited pattern is correctly printed, it is necessary to scan a sheet on which a copy forgery-inhibited pattern has been printed and visually check whether or not the latent image has appeared. However, this method is not efficient enough to check a huge amount of originals, and is lower in productivity.
To overcome the inconvenience, when inspecting a print sheet on which a copy forgery-inhibited pattern has been printed using the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-144797, the conventional inspection system uses print data as reference data to be compared with data read by an inspection section.
However, in a case where the copy forgery-inhibited pattern is printed, the print data and the copy forgery-inhibited pattern are printed, and hence if the print data is used as the reference data, the inspection determines that the printed matter is defective. This means that it is impossible to properly perform the inspection.

Image forming apparatus that performs inspection of printed matter, method of controlling the same, and storage medium


A projector including a main body and a height adjuster in a bottom of the main body. The height adjuster includes a guide housing connected to the bottom of the main body; a front leg slidably accommodated in the guide housing; a spring between the guide housing and the front leg and providing elasticity to support a weight of the main body; and a stopper to prevent the front leg from separating from the guide housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projector projecting an image onto a screen, and more particularly, to a projector including a height adjuster to adjust a projecting angle of the projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a projector includes an optical system including a display element, and a light source to emit light toward the optical system, and projects an image created by the display element onto a screen. The projector is classified into a transmission-type projector or a reflection-type projector according to the method of creating the image. The transmission-type projector projects an image onto the screen with the light transmitted through the display element, and the reflection-type projector projects an image onto the screen with the light reflected from the display element.
Further, the projector is generally seated on a flat surface such as a table and projects an image onto the screen through a projection lens provided in a front of the projector. Therefore, to adjust a projecting angle of the projection lens relative to the screen, there is needed a height adjuster to adjust the height of the front of a projector main body.
In a conventional projector, the height adjuster includes a front leg provided in a front bottom of the projector main body and to support the projector main body, and a screw thread formed in the front leg. Hence, the height of the projector is adjusted through a pitch of the screw thread formed in the front leg.
However, in the conventional projector, a user must raise the projector and then turn the front leg to adjust the height of the front of the projector main body, which is inconvenient for the user.


A viterbi decoder includes a maximum likelihood state value detecting device separated from a feedback loop consisting of an ACS arithmetic unit, a normalization arithmetic unit, and a state value storing device. In operation, a maximum likelihood state value is detected by utilizing the output of the state value storing device, to thereby enhance operating speed. Further, ajudgment is made as to whether a state having the minimum state value at an immediately preceding time is back-traceable from a state having the minimum state value at a current time by using survivor path information. Non-back-traceable non-correspondences are then detected, and the number of occurrences of non-correspondences are counted. If the occurrences of non-correspondences exceed a reference value, it is judged a non-synchronization. In another method, synchronization/non-synchronization is judged by detecting whether a traceback is possible, without utilizing survivor path information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Viterbi decoder, and particularly to a Viterbi decoder which belongs to a forward error correction method which is used for error controls for digital data transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The Viterbi decoding algorithm was developed in 1967, and is an optimum decoding method for carrying out the maximum likelihood decoding. However, it is difficult to construct its hardware.
The Viterbi decoder is described in: (1) "The Viterbi Algorithm" by G. D. Forney, Proc. IEEE, vol. 61, No. 3, pp 268-278, Mar. 1970; (2) "High Speed Parallel Viterbi Decoding: algorithm and VLSI-architecture" by G. Fettweis and H. Meuer, IEEE Comm., pp 46-55, May 1991; (3) Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Sho-59-19454; and (4) U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,142.
By taking an example of a convolution encoder, a simple Viterbi decoding algorithm will be described below, where the code rate is R=1/2, the constraint length is K=3, and the generating polynomial is as follows: EQU G1=1+X+X.sup.2 EQU G2=1+X.sup.2
As shown in FIG. 1, the convolution encoder includes: a 2-bit shift register 1; and two adders 2 for carrying out modulo-2 additions. Outputs G1 and G2 of the encoder are decided by the state of the content of the shift register and by an input 3. Its outputs over time points are illustrated in the form of a trellis diagram in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 2, the respective states are each joined by two paths, and the Viterbi algorithm selects only one of the two paths, which has a possibility, while the path having-no possibility is discarded. In this manner, the maximum likelihood decoding is carried out. The path thus selected is called a survivor path, and the respective states maintain the information of the survivor paths as much as the decision depth (or truncation depth).
The decoding is carried out by selecting the greatest possibility path from among the survivor paths, and by tracing it back.
When constructing the viterbi decoder, the hardware (e.g., register) which constitutes the state value storing device cannot be enlarged to an infinite size, and an ACS (add-compare-select) arithmetic unit which computes the state values of the respective states repeatedly operates at each hour. Therefore, a data overflow can occur by exceeding the storing capacity of the state value storing device, and therefore, errors can be generated in the decoded output.
In order to prevent such errors, a normalization arithmetic unit for resealing the state values becomes necessary. The Viterbi decoder which has such a function is illustrated in FIG. 3.
Input codes which are inputted into an input terminal 31 are inputted into a branch metric arithmetic unit 32 in which the branch metrics are based on the respective branches 00, 01, 10, and 11.
An ACS (add-compare-select) arithmetic unit 33 receives the output of the branch metric arithmetic unit 32 and the state values of the total time points of the state value storing device 34, so as to compute the survivor paths and the state values. The arithmetic operation of the ACS arithmetic unit 33 is carried out based on the trellis diagram of FIG. 2.
Of the output of the ACS arithmetic unit 33, the information on the survivor paths is stored in a path storing device 37, while the state values are outputted to a normalization arithmetic unit 35 and to a maximum branch metric value detecting device 36.
From the state values received from the ACS arithmetic unit 33, the maximum branch metric value detecting device 36 detects the maximum branch metric value so as to supply the maximum branch metric value to the normalization arithmetic unit 35, while the address of the maximum branch metric value is outputted to a traceback control device 38 so as to control the path storing device 37.
The normalization arithmetic unit 35 subtracts the maximum branch metric values of the maximum branch metric value detecting device 36 from the survivor state values of the respective state of the ACS arithmetic unit 33. The computed result is stored into the state value storing device 34.
Therefore, the state values which are stored in the state value storing device 34 are as follows. That is, the maximum branch metric values (e.g., the smallest state value) are always subtracted from the current time output of the ACS arithmetic unit 33, before storing it. Therefore, a data overflow cannot occur, and one of the state values which are stored in the state value storing device is necessarily zero.
However, in the above described Viterbi decoder, during the time when computing the branch metric for the inputted codes until the time when the new state values are stored in the state value storing device 34, the arithmetic process passes through: the ACS arithmetic unit 33, the maximum branch metric value detecting device 36, and the normalization arithmetic unit 35. Therefore, this poses as an impediment in embodying a high speed Viterbi decoder.
As an example of the conventional techniques for improving the operating speed, a Viterbi decoder was proposed in which, in the normalization process, the maximum branch metric value of the preceding time points is used instead of the maximum branch metric value of the current time, thereby shortening the arithmetic path.
However, in this Viterbi decoder, a relatively complicated hardware is required for detecting the address of the state having the maximum branch metric value. Further, the arithmetic path which is connected from the ACS arithmetic unit to the maximum branch metric value detecting device imposes an impediment all the same.
Another Viterbi decoder was proposed, and in this decoder, the disadvantage of the above described Viterbi decoder was alleviated by normalizing through the use of the maximum branch metric value of the current time. Thus one of the normalized state values which are stored in the state value storing device becomes necessarily zero, thereby improving the operating speed.
However, in this Viterbi decoder, the complicated arithmetic paths become an impediment in the way of improving the operating speed.
If the normalization operation is carried out without using the maximum branch metric value, the maximum branch metric value detecting device can be separated from the arithmetic path consisting of the speed deciding devices such as the ACS arithmetic unit 33, the maximum branch metric value detecting device 36 and the normalization arithmetic unit 35. Generally, the maximum branch metric value detecting device consists of a multi-step comparator, and therefore, the operating speed of the Viterbi decoder can be improved by separating the maximum branch metric value detecting device.
If the received convolution-coded codes are to be decoded by using the Viterbi algorithm, then a synchronization has to be established between the transmitting part and the receiving part. Particularly in an application field in which separate frame synchronizing signals are not used, the Viterbi decoder has to detect the synchronization/non-synchronization for itself based on the received signals, thereby executing the decoding.
The state values increase in time, and the increasing patterns of the state values become different depending on the environment of the transmission path. In the case where a code synchronization is established between the transmitting part and the receiving part, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio Eb/No (where Eb is signal, and No is noise), the smaller the increasing rate of the state values in time becomes. Further, there exists a dominant state in which the state value is far smaller than other state values. On the other hand, the lower the signal-to-noise ratio, the larger the increasing rate of the state values in time. Further, the respective state values are similar to each other. In the case where no synchronization is formed between the transmitting part and the receiving part, the state value increasing patterns are similar to the case where the signal-to-noise ratio is very low.
In the Viterbi decoder which forms a Viterbi algorithm, the state values are stored in a register having a size of 6 or 7 bits, and therefore, in order to prevent a data overflow, a normalization (or resealing) is required.
Generally, in carrying out the normalization, the minimum value of the state values exceeds a threshold value, the threshold value is subtracted from the state values.
FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional Viterbi decoder (U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,174).
In this Viterbi decoder, the frequency of carrying out the normalization is measured for a certain period of time, and if the frequency is higher than a threshold frequency, then it is judged that there is no code synchronization between the transmitting part and the receiving part.
In this Viterbi decoder, of the branch metrics which are computed by a branch metric arithmetic unit 41, the minimum value is extracted, and then, a branch metric normalization is carried out by subtracting the minimum value from the respective branch metrics, thereby improving the accuracy of the detection of the synchronization/non-synchronization. However, this Viterbi decoder needs a separate branch metric normalization arithmetic unit 42, and therefore, the cost for the hardware is increased.
As another example, in the Wei method (U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,327), the number of occurrences d(t) equals non-zero! which is equivalent to the difference between the minimum state value PMmin(t) and the minimum branch metric BMmin(t) is measured for a certain period of time, and the obtained value is compared with a reference value, thereby detecting the synchronization/non-synchronization. However, in this method, a reference value cannot be determined which is capable of precisely detecting the synchronization/non-synchronization without the information on the signal-to-noise ratio.
A Viterbi decoder which improves the Wei method (U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,327) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,191. In this Viterbi decoder, the synchronization/non-synchronization is detected by means of a measured value of f{d(t)} which is a non-linear function of d(t) which is the difference between the minimum state value PMmin(t) and the minimum branch metric BMmin(t). If d(t)=0, f{d(t)} is accumulated, while if d(t) is non-zero, f{d(t)}=-1 is accumulated. Then the accumulated values are compared with a reference value, thereby detecting the synchronization/non-synchronization. In this method however, there are required an adder for accumulating the values of f{d(t)}, and a comparator for comparing the two reference values. Therefore, this method has the disadvantage that the hardware cost is increased.
The synchronization/non-synchronization detecting method which is proposed in the present invention can be applied to a puncturing convolution encoding technique. The mentioned synchronization/non-synchronization detecting method is as follows. That is, an observation is made for a certain period of time as to whether a traceback is possible from a state having the minimum state value at the immediately preceding time and having the minimum state value at the current time by utilizing the information on the survivor paths, thereby detecting the synchronization/non-synchronization.
The puncturing convolution encoding technique makes it possible to form a Viterbi decoder for high code rate codes, and makes it possible to form a simple encoder/decoder which is capable of selecting the code rate.
If the puncturing codes are to be accurately decoded, a puncturing pattern synchronization has to be established between the transmitting part and the receiving part. However, the information on the puncture pattern synchronization is not transmitted, and therefore, the Viterbi decoder itself has to detect the puncture pattern synchronization based on the received codes so as to execute the decoding.
LSI Logic company adopted a method for detecting the puncture pattern synchronization in the following manner. That is, the bit error rate in the output of the Viterbi decoder in the puncture pattern non-synchronization status is higher than the puncture pattern synchronization status, and by utilizing this fact, the puncture pattern synchronization/non-synchronization is detected. The method the LSI Logic company had the disadvantage that the cost for hardware is increased due to the use of a convolution encoder and a buffer.


Disclosed is a travel-transmitting element for an injection valve, comprising a pressure-loaded storage chamber which is filled with a hydraulic fluid and a storage element that is provided with an elastomeric bellows-type member. In order to ensure sufficient steadiness of the rotational speed over the service life, the inventive elastomeric bellows-type member is provided with a stiffening element which ensures constant radial stiffness over the service life at least in some sections thereof.

Such an element is known from DE 199 62 177 A1, in which the travel-transmitting element has a pressure-loaded storage chamber area, the boundaries of which are elastically formed. Despite the different coefficients of thermal expansion that exist among the individual components within injection valves (e.g., ceramic, steel and hydraulic fluid), this thermal compensating element can make a positive tie between the individual components of an injection valve in the overall operating range; it is important to take into account among other things the steadiness of the rotational speed in respect of the travel-transmitting element. According to DE 199 62 177 A1 the storage chamber area is bounded by a sprung bellows arrangement made of metal. The first disadvantage of this is that metal bellows arrangements are costly to manufacture and therefore, relatively expensive. Since metal bellows are very stiff in the radial direction, volume compensation takes place in the axial direction. Metal bellows exhibit a linear spring characteristic during small displacements only. During larger displacements, such as can occur, for example, during an operating temperature variation, the bellows show marked hysteresis effects. Due to the settlement and hysteresis properties of the individual bellows, an additional spring element is necessary in order to ensure perpetuation of the storage chamber pressure and thereby, the ability to operate even at high engine speeds. Another disadvantage in the case of this metal bellows arrangement is that the dynamic characteristics can change during operation.
Alternatively, according to DE 199 62 177 A1 the storage chamber area with the elastically formed boundaries can also be made from elastomeric material. Volume compensation can then be achieved by radial movement of the bellows. In the axial direction, these elements are relatively soft, which is necessary in order for the actuator to generate sufficient travel. However, known elastomeric materials exhibit creep properties, and in the course of inevitable ageing, this leads to a loss of radial stiffness and in turn to an unwelcome loss of pressure in the storage chamber. Therefore, steadiness of the rotational speed would not be provided even in the case of an elastomeric bellows-type member.

Travel-transmitting element for an injection valve


The invention relates to a floating vessel for taking liquid samples, comprising a shell (2) that has a hull (3) to be submerged in a liquid medium below the water line and a superstructure (4) arranged above the water line; the vessel also comprises air propulsion means, means for taking and storing samples, and means for remotely controlling the air propulsion means and the sampling means; and the vessel further comprises a secondary detachable shell (32) provided with means for fixing to the shell (2) of the vessel, covering at least the hull of the vessel.

In the field of biological or chemical research, it is useful to perform collections in aquatic environments in order to later on, perform, DNA analyses for example.
During a collection, it is quite critical to not disturb and contaminate the environment in which the collection is performed. It is understood that contaminated collected samples have no scientific value.
It is known for example, from document U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,272, a vessel having means for collecting liquid samples.
However, the current collection means, such as for example the vessel shown in document U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,272, do not ensure that the collection vessel itself does not contaminate the environment in which the collection is performed.
In this technical context, there is hence a need for an aquatic vessel which allows performing collections without contaminating the environment.

Floating vessel for collecting liquid samples


An authentication system comprises a register image storage unit, which stores a pre-registered register image of a mobile terminal user; a communication control unit, which receives a moving image of the user transmitted from the mobile terminal; and an authentication processing unit, which authenticates the user by checking the moving image received by the communication control unit against the register image stored in the register image storage unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an authentication system, a mobile terminal, and an authentication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is an authentication system that authenticates a mobile terminal user by checking a password configured with numerals or characters that are pre-registered in the authentication system against a password transmitted from the mobile terminal to the authentication system.
In addition, there is an authentication system that authenticates using an image photographed by a camera that is provided for photographing an authentication subject at each location where authentication is performed.
However, with the conventional authentication system using a password, there is a concern that a mobile terminal or password may be abused if a third party steals the mobile terminal or password. Accordingly, the conventional authentication system is considered to have a low level of security.
In addition, with the conventional authentication system where a camera is provided at each location where authentication is performed, authentication may be performed only at the specific location where a camera is provided.
Therefore, an authentication system that has a high level of security, and can authenticate using an image irrespective of the location of the authentication subject, is desired.

Authentication system, mobile terminal, and authentication method


Various embodiments are generally directed to automatically observing reactions of viewers of 2D and 3D versions of the same visual content, and comparing aspects of those observations for indications of fatigue in the viewing of the 3D version. An apparatus includes a processor element; and logic to compare a first ROI (region of interest) data associated with a first viewer of a first visual presentation of a 2D (two-dimensional) version of visual content to a second ROI data associated with a second viewer of a second visual presentation of a 3D (three-dimensional) version of the visual content; and identify an instance of a statistically significant difference in a region of interest between the first ROI data and the second ROI data for at least one frame of the visual content indicative of an instance of viewing fatigue of the second viewer. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

With the recent proliferation of televisions and other viewing devices capable of effectively presenting three-dimensional (3D) visual content, there has been a recent accompanying growth in the amount of 3D visual content. However, much is still poorly understood about the effects that viewing 3D visual content has on viewers. Stated differently, although there is anecdotal evidence of adverse effects, including dizziness and fatigue, on viewers of 3D content, little has been done to quantify various possible factors that may or may not contribute to these effects.
With such a lack of information, those who create 3D visual content tend to rely on their own personal experiences in various experiments in using three dimensions in creating visual content. However, this results in reliance of mostly personal observations taken from a relatively small number of individuals. As those skilled in the art of statistical analysis applied to human subjects will readily recognize, such an approach invites to much subjective influence and is highly likely to lead to skewed results.
Further, there is a strong desire among those who create 3D visual content to use various aspects of the depth dimension available in 3D visual content as a tool to control the mood in various scenes in much the same way they typically use lighting, music, camera angles and field of view as tools to do so. Unfortunately, with a lack of information concerning the effects of how they do so, there is little guidance available as to when or how to limit such use of the depth dimension. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the embodiments described herein are needed.

Techniques for automated evaluation of 3D visual content