Provided is a method for reducing the amount of calculation time required for parameter determination, and for reducing the amount of calculation time required for parameter determination in satisfaction with a desired accuracy. The method includes preferentially selecting analysis objects, which are capable of providing parameter determination within a high degree of certainty, and controlling a calculation order of the selected analysis objects using a calculation order list.

This invention relates to a simulation parameter determination method, in particular, relates to a method of determining parameters for predicting the experimental value by simulation calculation.
With recent advances in computer technology, computer simulation has increasingly been utilized in many disciplines, particularly in fields of science. Simulation of molecular level chemical reactions occurring in the body is one example thereof. For instance, computer simulation of binding reactions between proteins and low molecular weight compounds is commonly performed in drug discovery research. Because water occupies about 60% of body composition, in binding reactions of molecules in the body, in addition to the molecules directly participating in binding, a water solvent present around the molecules largely contributes to binding energy. Therefore, a highly precise calculation of the binding energy in a water solvent is required for accurate computer simulation of binding reactions of molecules in the body. Where computer simulation is utilized in drug discovery research, it is desired that calculation accuracy for the binding energy of a water solvent be such that the calculated value relative to the experimental value is within 1.4 kcal/mol. This value corresponds to 10 times the error in binding energy that is typical in experimental measurement results of binding between proteins and low molecular weight compounds.
To obtain a highly precise calculation of solvation energy, which is defined as the difference in energy before and after the introduction of the effects of water, the use of a calculation model that provides high theoretical exactitude is necessary. Explanation will be given herein describing a polarizable continuum model based on the first principle quantum chemistry calculation, which is one example of a model that provides high theoretical exactitude, and the parameters introduced to the polarizable continuum model, with reference to FIG. 1. This model explicitly accounts for the atomic nucleus and electrons of the calculation object molecule 101 but addresses the water solvent 102 as dielectrics including the calculation object molecule 101. In addition, as shown by an outline zone in the drawing, the model requires a definition of a boundary surface 104 between the space 103 occupied by a molecule and another region, the space occupied by dielectrics. This boundary surface can be defined as the surface formed by overlap of a sphere 105 that is arranged on approximately all the atoms constituting the molecule. No arrangement of a sphere on a hydrogen atom, however, may be selected. Solvation energy can be calculated based on the charge present on the boundary surface as a result of interaction between the molecule and the water solvent. Therefore, the definition of the boundary surface has a direct influence on accuracy in calculation. Accordingly, a determination of the value of the radius 106 of a sphere arranged on an atom, as a parameter specifying the boundary surface between a solute and a solvent, is capable of providing for a highly accurate calculation of solvation energy. Hereafter, this radius will be referred to as "an atomic parameter".
As one example of an atomic parameter determination method, a method that uses a gradient matrix is provided. Explanation will be herein on an atomic parameter determination procedure that uses a gradient matrix with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the atomic parameter determination method that uses a gradient matrix. Initially, an energy convergence threshold τ2011, an the experimental values 2012 of three-dimensional coordinate information and the solvation energy of a molecule, and an atomic type 2013, which is a classification based on the chemical similarity of each atom constituting the molecule, are input from an input apparatus 201. Subsequently, in an atomic parameter initialization step 202, values of atomic parameters are initialized according to each atomic type. Then, in the matrix generation step 203, a matrix that stores the solvation energies of all molecules and a solvation energy gradient of all molecules relative to the change in each atomic parameter, is generated. Next, an updated value vector x is determined in a matrix-equation solving step 204 so as to minimize the objective function (expression 1), in which A represents a matrix generated; x represents the updated value vector of the atomic parameter; and b represents an the experimental value vector of solvation energy.g=Σ|Ax−b|2  (Expression 1)Next, in an atomic parameters update step 205, the atomic parameter value is updated based on the update value vector. Next, in an atomic parameter calculation termination judging step 206, a determination of whether the amount of change in a residual sum of squares of solvation energy is below τ is made. In the case where the amount of change is equal to or larger than τ, the matrix generation step 203, the matrix-equation solving step 204 and the atomic parameters update step 205 are repeated. In the case where the amount of change of the atomic parameter is below τ, the converged atomic parameter value 2071 is output by the output apparatus at step 207.
FIG. 3 illustrates the details of the processes executed in the matrix-generating step, the matrix-equation solving step, and the atomic parameters update step of the atomic parameter determination method that uses a gradient matrix described with reference to FIG. 2. The processes 302 that are executed in the matrix generation step 301 involve calculation of the solvation energies 3021 of all the molecules and calculation of the solvation energy gradient 3022 of all analysis objects relative to the change in each atomic parameter. The calculation results are stored in the matrix 3023. The actual calculation that is performed for each matrix element 3024, shown by open circle marks in the matrix, involves a one-time-evaluation of solvation energy using the polarizable continuum model. The process 304 that is executed in the matrix-equation solving step 303 is a minimization calculation of an objective function g. Objective function g can be defined by a matrix-equation involving the matrix 3041 in which the number of lines generated in the matrix generation step 301 is the number of molecules and the number of columns is the total number of atomic types plus one; the solution vector 3042 having a number of elements equal to the number of atomic types plus one; and where the solvation energy the experimental value vector 3043 ahs the same number of elements as the number of molecules. The matrix 3041 and the solvation energy the experimental value vector 3043 are known, and the solution vector 3042 is an unknown amount that is the object to be solved. The process 306 to be executed in the atomic parameters update step 305 is to update the new atomic parameter vector 3061 by summing the atomic parameter vector 3062 before update and a vector 3063 corresponds to the solution vector 3042 obtained in the matrix equation solving step 303 in which the top element has been deleted. Each of the elements of the vector 3063 represents the amount of change in the atomic parameter value in the next interation. Because updating the atomic parameter value results in a change in the solvation energy or the solvation energy gradient relative to the change in the atomic parameter, the calculations in FIG. 3 are repeated from the matrix generation step to the atomic parameters update step until g<τ is satisfied.
This atomic parameter determination method, however, has two problems.
The first problem is the significant amount of calculation required in the matrix generation step 301 for calculating the solvation energies 3021 of all molecules and for calculating the solvation energy gradients 3022 of all molecules relative to the change in each atomic parameter. This is because molecular integration is calculated in the first principle quantum chemistry calculation, which increases the amount of calculation to the order of the mth-power of atomic number (for example, m=3, 4, 5, - - - , depending on calculation methods) for expressing inter-electron interactions. When the amount of calculation time required for calculating the solvation energy of one molecule is 1, the amount of calculation time required for calculation of the solvation energy gradient of one molecule using a finite difference method is also 1; therefore, the total amount of calculation time required for matrix generation is directly proportional to the number of the matrix elements 3024 shown by open circle marks in the matrix 3023. Because the matrix generation step is repeated until convergence of solvation energy, the total amount of calculation time that is required for parameter determination is directly proportional to the number of matrix elements multiplied by the total number of iterations executed.
More generally, in the expressions provided below, N represents the number of molecules used in atomic parameter determination, A(n) represents the number of atoms included in the molecule n, and f(A(n)) represents the amount of calculation time required for solvation energy calculation of the molecule n. As described above, f(A(n)) is a power function of A(n). In addition, p(n) represents the number of atomic types included in the molecule n; and T represents the amount of calculation time.
In prior art methods that use a gradient matrix, the calculations are repeated until the amount of change in the atomic parameter value is below the energy convergence threshold. When the number of iterations executed is expressed by I, then the amount of calculation time is expressed by expression 2:
                                                                        T                conventional                            =                              I                                                                      ∑                                          n                      =                      1                                        N                                                                                (                                              1                        +                                                  p                                                                                (                            n                            )                                                                                )                                                                                f                                                                    (                                                  A                                                                                (                            n                            )                                                                          )                                                                                =                                                ∑                                      n                    =                    1                                    N                                                                                (                                          I                      +                                              I                        ·                                                  p                                                                                (                            n                            )                                                                                )                                                                          f                                                              (                                              A                                                                          (                          n                          )                                                                    )                                                                                (                  Expression                                                              2                )
In expression 2, the subsequent term after the summation symbol at the right-hand side of the first line is the amount of calculation time required for matrix generation, the "1" in the summation symbol corresponds to solvation energy calculation time, and p(n) corresponds to the gradient calculation of solvation energy relative to the change in the atomic parameter value.
Supplementary explanation will be provided on the first problem discussed above using particular examples. FIG. 4 is an example of application of the atomic parameter determination method that uses a gradient matrix for 10 molecules. In FIG. 4, an atomic type 401, a resultant atomic parameter value 402, and an atomic type 403 for each molecule contains are shown. For the atomic type 401, the following 6 types were defined: CH3(C), CH3(N), CH2(CC), CH2(CN), NH2(C), and NH2(N). The atom(s) shown in the parenthesis are bonding partner atom(s). For example, the atomic type CH2(CN) represents a carbon atom of CH2 having a bond with one carbon atom and one nitrogen atom. The atomic type(s) 403 corresponding to each molecule are shown in FIG. 4 as open circle marks. For example, for CH3—CH2—NH2 (the sixth molecule), CH3 belongs to the CH3(C) atomic type, because it bonds to CH2; CH2 belongs to the CH2(CN) atomic type, because it bonds to CH3 and NH2; and NH2 belongs to the NH2(C) atomic type, because it bonds to CH2. As a result, three open circle marks are provided for this molecule. As an exception in the present atomic parameter determination method, for the non-methyl carbon atom of (CH3)4—C (the ninth molecule), a fixed value of 1.7 is used. This is because this atom is surrounded by 4 methyl groups and, as a result, is difficult to contact with water molecules. Therefore it is believed that the contribution of the water molecules to solvation energy for this atom is small.
For initial values of atomic parameters, 1.7 was used for 4 kinds of CH3(C), CH3(N), CH2(CC) and CH2(CN), and 1.4 for 2 kinds of NH2(C) and NH2(N). In an example implementation used to calculate the atomic parameters, a solution vector was approximately determined every iteration time using a steepest gradient method to be described below to update atomic parameters. In addition, to accelerate atomic parameter convergence, atomic parameters were updated using the solutions from previous iterations once every four iterations. Details of this example implementation will now be provided below.
1) Update Method Executed for Every Iteration
1-1) For each atom "a" that is not equivalent in view of symmetry composing molecule n, a Taylor expansion of solvation energy En is terminated at the first order term, and based on the resultant equation and the energy residue Zn, the atomic parameter, rn,a,t, and a weight thereof, Wn,a,t, are calculated according to Expression 3 and Expression 4 as provided below.
                              r                      n            ,            a            ,            t                          =                              r                          n              ,              a              ,                              t                                                  (                  old                  )                                                              -                                    z              n                                                                        ∂                                      E                    n                                                                    ∂                                      r                                          n                      ,                      a                      ,                                                                                ·                              w                                  n                  ,                  a                  ,                  t                                                                                (                  Expression                                                              3                )                                          w                      n            ,            a            ,            t                          =                                            (                                                ∂                                      E                    n                                                                    ∂                                      r                                          n                      ,                      a                      ,                      t                                                                                )                        2                                              ∑              t                                                                  (                                                      ∂                                          E                      n                                                                            ∂                                          r                                              n                        ,                        a                        ,                        t                                                                                )                            2                                                          (                  Expression                                                              4                )            1-2) The updated value rt of the atomic parameter is calculated as the weighted average of rn,a,t obtained for each molecule n.
                              r          t                =                                            ∑                              n                ,                a                                                                                r                                  n                  ,                  a                  ,                  t                                            ·                              w                                  n                  ,                  a                  ,                  t                                                                                ∑                              n                ,                a                                                                w                              n                ,                a                ,                t                                                                        (                  Expression                                                              5                )            2) The Update Method Executed Once Every Four Iterations2-1) For each atom "a" that is not equivalent in view of symmetry composing molecule n, a straight line zn=A rn,a,t+B, which approximates hysteresis of the atomic parameters rn,a,t(I), and a residue zn,(I) at I=4i−3, 4i−2, 4i−1, and 4i, are determined for calculating the atomic parameter value in which the residue becomes 0 as rn,a,t=−B/A, assuming that I is the number of iterations executed and I is an integer.2-2) As for each atomic type t, an updated value rt of the atomic parameter is calculated, as provided below in Expression 6, as the average of the resultant rn,a,t. The sum of the delta function of the denominator is the number of atoms belonging to atomic type t of the atoms that are not equivalent in view of symmetry composing molecule n.
                              r          t                =                                            ∑                              n                ,                a                                                                r                              n                ,                a                ,                t                                                                        ∑                              n                ,                a                                                                δ                                                t                                      n                    ,                    a                                                  ,                t                                                                        (                  Expression                                                              6                )
FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the amount of calculation time and calculation error obtained by the application of the atomic parameter determination method using the above-explained gradient matrix. In this drawing, the abscissa axis is the amount of calculation time, defined as the calculation time 501 required for atomic parameter determination using one computer, and the longitudinal axis is the calculation error 502, defined as the average value of the absolute calculation errors of each of the molecules. The lozenge 503 of the plotted marks shows the relationship between the amount of calculation time and calculation error. Because this method repeats execution of a matrix-equation, the calculation error becomes smaller as the number of iterations increases. According to the data of the example in FIG. 5, to attain a calculation error of 0.1 kcal/mol, a calculation time of about 500 minutes is required. As shown in this example, the amount of calculation time required is vast, even in atomic parameter determination for a relatively small number of molecules.
The second problem encountered with the atomic parameter method described above is that calculation accuracy is unpredictable when the resultant atomic parameter is applied to predict solvation energy. In general, calculation accuracy is considered to depend on definition of an atomic type. Therefore, in the case where the calculation accuracy is below a desired accuracy, re-definition of the atomic type, and re-execution of the atomic parameter determination procedure are required. In this case, iteration of entire atomic parameter determination procedure itself is required, which further expands the amount of calculation time.
This atomic parameter determination method described above can be generalized using the following substitutions: substituting "analysis objects" for molecules; substituting "elements composing analysis objects" for atoms composing molecules; substituting "elemental parameters" for atomic parameters; substituting "the experimental values" for the experimental values of solvation energy; and substituting "calculated values" for calculated values of solvation energy.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the parameter determination method using a gradient matrix. Initially, the convergence threshold τ6011, the necessary information and the experimental values 6012 for calculation of the analysis objects, and the elemental type 6013 for each element composing each analysis object are input by the input apparatus 601. Subsequently, in the elemental parameter initialization step 602, the elemental parameters are set according to elemental type. Then, in the matrix generation step 603, a matrix, which stores the calculated value of all analysis objects and the gradient of the calculated value of all analysis objects relative to change in each elemental parameter, is generated. Then in the matrix-equation solving step 604, such an updated value vector x, the objective function g=Σ|Ax−b|2 is solved for an updated value vector x that minimizes the objective function, where that A represents a matrix generated; x represents the updated elemental parameter value vector; and b represents the experimental value vector. Next, in the elemental parameters update step 605, the values of the elemental parameters are updated based on the update value vector x. Next, in the elemental parameter calculation termination judging step 606, a determination of whether the amount of change in the residual sum of squares is below τ is made. In the case where the amount of change is equal to or larger than τ, the matrix generation step 603, the matrix-equation solving step 604 and the elemental parameters update step 605 are repeated. In the case where the amount of change of the elemental parameter is below τ, the converged elemental parameter 6071 is output by the output apparatus 607.
FIG. 7 shows particular details of the processes executed the matrix generation step, the matrix-equation solving step and the elemental parameters update step in the parameter determination method using a gradient matrix. The process 702 to be executed in the matrix generation step 701 is the calculation of the calculated value 7021 of all analysis objects and the gradients 7022 of the calculated values of all analysis objects relative to change in each elemental parameter. The calculation results are stored in the matrix 7023. The amount of calculation time required for each of the matrix elements 7024, shown by open circle marks in the matrix, corresponds to a one-time evaluation of the calculated values. The process 704 to be executed in the matrix-equation solving step 703 is the calculation time for minimizing the objective function g, which can be defined by a matrix-equation composed of the matrix 7041, which has the number of analysis objects as the number of rows and the number of elemental types plus 1 as the number of columns, generated in the matrix generation step 701 and the solution vector 7042, which has the number of elemental types plus 1 as the number of elements, and the experimental value vector 7043, which has the number of analysis objects as the number of elements. The matrix 7041 and the experimental value vector 7043 are known, and the solution vector 7042 is an unknown object having values to be solved. While a plurality of methods are present for solving the matrix-equation, because these methods are premised on the step of determining the calculation rate being the matrix generation step and not the matrix-equation solving step, therefore, the use of a particular method for solving may be arbitrary here. The process 706 to be executed in the elemental parameters update step 705 is to obtained the updated elemental parameter vector 7061 according to the sum of the elemental parameter vector 7062 prior to the and the vector 7063, which corresponds to the solution vector 7042 obtained in the matrix-equation solving step 703 with the top element having been deleted. Each element of the vector 7063 represents the amount of change in the next iteration of elemental parameter value calculation. When the elemental parameter vector is updated, the calculation values or the gradient of the calculation values relative to elemental parameters will change, and, therefore, the calculations executed in the matrix generation step are again repeated.
In the generalized parameter determination method, where the matrix element calculations occupy a large portion of the total calculation time, a problem arises that the amount of calculation time required for repeatedly solving the matrix-equation becomes vast. The amount of calculation time is given by expression 2. However, the function form of f(A(n)) differs depending on the analysis objects. In addition, in the case where the parameter determination result does not satisfy a desired accuracy provision, re-definition of the parameters and iteration of the entire parameter determination procedure itself are required, which further expands the amount of calculation time required.
To solve the above first problem, it is an object of this invention to reduce the amount of calculation time required for parameter determination.
In addition, it is a second object of this invention to reduce the amount of calculation time required for obtaining a parameter determination result that satisfies a desired accuracy provision.

Simulation parameter determination method


In a solid-state imaging element that performs AD conversion for each pixel, image quality degradation when resolution is lowered is suppressed without wastefully consuming power.

In an imaging device or the like, a solid-state imaging element has conventionally been used that converts an analog signal into a digital signal for each pixel for the purpose of increasing the speed of Analog to Digital (AD) conversion. For example, a solid-state imaging element has been devised in which a pixel circuit that generates an analog pixel signal, a comparison unit that compares the pixel signal and a reference signal, and a data storage unit that holds a digital time code when a differential input circuit is inverted are arranged for each pixel (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The analog pixel signal is converted into the digital time code for each pixel by these comparison unit and data storage unit.

Solid-state imaging element and imaging device

Abstract: The solid-state imaging element includes a plurality of pixels. Each of the plurality of pixels is provided with a comparison unit, an addition circuit, and a data storage unit. The comparison unit generates a difference signal obtained by amplifying a difference between an analog pixel signal to which a predetermined coordinate is assigned and a predetermined reference signal. The addition circuit generates an addition signal by performing analog addition of the difference signal and a difference signal regarding another coordinate adjacent to the predetermined coordinate. The data storage unit holds a digital signal indicating a time when an output signal of the comparison unit corresponding to the addition signal is inverted.

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


In one embodiment, an oil pressure control apparatus includes a belt-driven continuously variable transmission, a lockup clutch provided in a torque converter, a primary regulator valve that regulates a line oil pressure that becomes a source pressure of oil pressure of various parts, and a clamping oil pressure control valve that supplies a clamping oil pressure to a driven-side pulley of the belt-driven continuously variable transmission. Control of the primary regulator valve is performed with a control oil pressure of a linear solenoid valve that controls the clamping oil pressure control valve, and a control oil pressure of a linear solenoid valve that controls engagement/release of the lockup clutch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil pressure control apparatus of a vehicle power transmission apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a power transmission apparatus provided in a vehicle, a power transmission apparatus is known that has a belt-driven continuously variable transmission in which a belt is clamped with oil pressure to transmit motive power, and the gear ratio is changed by changing the belt contact radius, a hydraulic friction engaging element for travel (for example, a forward movement clutch) that is engaged in order to establish a motive power transmission path when the vehicle travels, and a hydraulic lockup clutch that is provided in a hydrodynamic motive power transmission apparatus provided in the motive power transmission path and directly couples a motive power source side and the belt-driven continuously variable transmission side.
In an oil pressure control apparatus of this sort of vehicle power transmission apparatus, many control valves of various types, electromagnetic valves that control those control valves, and the like are provided. For example, valves provided include a line oil pressure control valve that regulates a line oil pressure that becomes the source pressure for the oil pressure of various parts; a gearshift oil pressure control valve that regulates the line oil pressure that becomes the source pressure, and supplies a gearshift oil pressure that controls a gear ratio of the belt-driven continuously variable transmission to a driving-side pulley (primary pulley) of the belt-driven continuously variable transmission; a clamping oil pressure control valve that likewise regulates the line oil pressure that becomes the source pressure, and supplies a clamping oil pressure that controls belt clamping of the belt-driven continuously variable transmission to a driven-side pulley (secondary pulley) of the belt-driven continuously variable transmission; a garage control valve that can switch an engaging oil pressure, which is supplied when engaging the friction engaging element for travel, between an engaging transition oil pressure and an engagement holding oil pressure; and a lockup control valve that is switched when performing control to engage/release the lockup clutch. Also provided are linear electromagnetic valves, ON-OFF electromagnetic valves, or the like for controlling each of these control valves.
Conventionally, control of the line oil pressure control valve is performed with either one of two control oil pressures: the control oil pressure of a first linear electromagnetic valve that controls the clamping oil pressure control valve, and the control oil pressure of a second linear electromagnetic valve that controls engagement/release of the lockup clutch. Specifically, by switching an oil path according to engagement/release of the lockup clutch, the control oil pressure of either one of the linear electromagnetic valves is supplied to the line oil pressure control valve. In this case, the line oil pressure is controlled with the first linear electromagnetic valve when engaging the lockup clutch, and controlled with the second electromagnetic valve when releasing the lockup clutch. On the other hand, JP 2000-130574A discloses technology in which only control of the line oil pressure control valve is performed with a single linear electromagnetic valve.
Incidentally, when the control oil pressure of the linear electromagnetic valve drops due to a failure of the linear electromagnetic valve or the like, there is a possibility that a condition will occur in which the line oil pressure that becomes the source pressure is inadequate. As a result, on a low gear side where the gear ratio of the belt-driven continuously variable transmission is large, it is difficult to secure the clamping oil pressure necessary for belt clamping, so there is a possibility that belt slippage will occur.
When controlling the line oil pressure control valve by switching the oil path according to engagement/release of the lockup clutch as described above, in the case of engaging the lockup clutch and in the case of releasing the lockup clutch, the line oil pressure control valve is controlled with only respective independent linear electromagnetic valves, so there is a high possibility that the line oil pressure will be inadequate and thus belt slippage will occur.
On the other hand, when a dedicated linear electromagnetic valve that controls only the line oil pressure control valve is provided, the number of electromagnetic valves increases, resulting in increased size and cost of the apparatus.


The present invention relates to a dual-purpose circulating purifier, including a housing, an oil fume purification device, a fresh air supply device, and a double-wing baffle device, where the oil fume purification device includes a fume suction opening, a first air outlet, a grease separator, a fume suction cavity, a first fan, a fume purification chamber, and a fume purification filter layer; the fresh air supply device includes an air suction opening, a second air outlet, a dust blocker, an air suction cavity, a second fan, a gas purification chamber, and a gas purification filter layer; and the double-wing baffle device includes a first baffle and a second baffle. The dual-purpose circulating purifier can purify indoor oil fumes, and also provide purified fresh air to the indoors, greatly improving air quality.

Since the reform and opening-up, China's national economy has been developed rapidly, but the atmospheric environment on which people live is deteriorating seriously. The government has paid high costs for haze control, such as closing enterprises that emit large amount of pollutants, and adopting some other measures for air control, which has made some improvements. However, as one of sources of air pollution, kitchen/catering pollution emissions have not been fundamentally improved, which still troubles the society.
Due to the limitations of the prior art, the domestic commercial catering industry still uses an adapter-tube emptying technology adopted several decades ago for oil fume emission with low purification standards; and many enterprises in the catering industry did not do any purification work. Household cooking emissions are worse. There is no complete purification standard for existing extractor hoods, and a multi-storey shared fume channel is commonly used for centralized discharge of oil fume and exhaust air. There is evidence that in some large and medium-sized cities, air pollution caused by the oil fume emission has exceeded industrial pollution. Therefore, to resolve emissions of oil fume pollution for people living in cities is urgent for air control.
On another hand, existing pipe type oil fume emission has greatly increased construction costs of society and energy consumption of unit fume discharge product. Moreover, blocked fume discharge, fume backflow, fume channeling between adjacent storeys, and other common phenomena occurring on shared household fume channels directly affect an indoor living environment of people. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a dual-purpose circulating purifier to prevent oil fume emission from causing air pollution and effectively improve people's living environment.

Shanghai Duohuan Oil-Smoke Purification Equipment Co., Ltd.


A bookmark (12) uses an integrated electronic timer circuit (18) to track reading time. A flat substrate (14) marks the page of the book. A header (16) is integral with the substrate. The header has a cavity for housing the electronic timer, a display (20) for displaying the timer count value, and a plurality of control buttons (22-28) for controlling the electronic timer. A sensor (54) can sense an external condition such as light or touch to control the electronic timer. A light source (56) is provided in the header. The substrate may contain a magnifying viewing port. The electronic timer has a memory (42) for storing the timer count values for individual and cumulative reading sessions.

Reading is a useful activity for education, self-improvement, relaxation, and pleasure. People read fiction and non-fiction books on topics such as science, mathematics, language arts, health, history, technology, current events, finance, marketing, management, philosophy, music, arts, adventure, comedy, drama, romance, and personal hobbies. Students read a variety of books as an integral part of their studies and homework assignments. Some books impart directed useful knowledge and skills; other books are read just to improve reading skills. Business people read to improve personal skills, learn new ideas, and expand their knowledge base. Most if not all people read for enjoyment and leisure.
Reading is typically done in short to medium length sessions with duration of fifteen minutes to one hour or so. Most people cannot dedicate long, continuous blocks of time to read an entire book or finish an assignment. A person typically reads for a while, puts the book down to do something else, and then picks it up again to continue reading. The delay between reading sessions may be few minutes to several days. In order to be able to quickly and reliably turn to the correct page, most people mark the ending point of each reading session. Bookmarks are well-known and commonly used to mark one's place in a book. The bookmark can be as simple as a paper card, or more fanciful ribbon or decorative thin plastic or metal plate.
Simple bookmarks provide little or no information as to the time spent or coverage of any previous reading session. In some schools, students are required to track daily and cumulative reading times. Some business people try to dedicate a certain amount of time each day from their busy schedules to make some progress on their reading backlog. Other people find it necessary to time and track their reading sessions in order to avoid spending too much time reading and fail to meet some other meaningful or important task or obligation.
If the reader needs to track reading time, he or she typically uses a stand-alone stopwatch, clock, or general-purpose timer to record the time for each reading session. The reading times may be cumulated in a hand-written logbook or computer file. The time-tracking process becomes difficult to follow, especially if the stopwatch or timer is unavailable when the person decides to read. In situations where the parent is attempting to keep track of the student's reading times, the actual reading time and recorded time can become uncorrelated if the parent fails to notice when the student stops or takes a break. Parents are busy with their own activities and cannot watch the student every minute. If the student stops reading or shifts activity and the timer is still going, then the recorded time is not representative of the actual time spent reading. If the reading session is not immediately recorded, then certain reading times may be lost or recorded inaccurately.
A need exists to track individual and cumulative reading times in a convenient, accurate, and efficient manner.

Bookmark with integrated electronic timer and method therefor


A method of producing seat belt webbing is proposed in which the webbing is first woven using at least two synthetic yarns of different colours of which at least one yarn is spun-dyed, and using weaves that are known per se, and that is distinguished in that the webbing is then subjected to treatment in a water-bath containing at least one disperse dye. Seat belt webbing produced in this way and seat belts containing such webbing are also claimed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method for production of seat belt webbing wherein the webbing is first woven using at least two synthetic yarns of different colors, of which at least one yarn is spun-dyed, and using weaves that are known per se. Furthermore, the invention is intended for seat belts containing such seat belt webbing.
2. Description of Related Art
A method of this type for production of seat belt webbing is known. DE-A-2902905, for example, describes a method for production of seat belt webbing patterned in bright colors for motor vehicles, aircraft, etc. in which the webbing is woven using at least two spun-dyed synthetic yarns of different colors, at least one yarn having a bright color, and using weaves that are known per se. The spun-dyed seat belt webbing of DE-A-2902905 is claimed to be distinguished by optimal color uniformity within the colors and patterns, optimal abrasion resistance, and resistance to heat and light. Furthermore, it is claimed to overcome the disadvantage of using yarn-dyed varieties or piece-dyed webbing, namely, the allegedly poor color-fastness of the dyes known at the time.
Seat belt webbing must satisfy stringent requirements in regard to usability, field of application and durability. In addition to having to meet strict specifications for abrasion resistance, resistance to light and heat, etc., seat belt webbing must be capable of being put in place and removed easily, and must always rest securely and comfortably on the wearer during use. Good retraction behavior of the seat belt webbing is particularly important for these last characteristics. In addition to a well adjusted retraction mechanism specially tailored to the specific application, the material properties of the webbing are particularly important here. Of these material properties, the surface of the webbing is of particular significance because its structure and properties decisively influence the retraction behavior.
Many attempts have been made to influence the surface properties of seat belt webbing in regard to retraction behavior. Particularly noteworthy in this respect is the thermofixing step, in which, following the weaving process, the yarns are for example subjected to hot-air treatment, resulting in a smoother surface of the webbing thus treated and therefore to improved retraction behavior.
Unfortunately, even these treatment steps have not proved to be effective in all cases. For example, the retraction behavior of seat belt webbing is not satisfactory precisely during use under extreme conditions such as very high, and particularly very low, temperatures. These problems are naturally most evident particularly when such seat belt webbing is being used after a lapse of time, for example when the seat belt is fastened in a vehicle that has been subjected to very high or low temperatures over a period of time. This is typically the case while starting in the morning following a cold night, or when the vehicle has been standing in strong sunlight for some time in the summer. The retraction behavior does normally improve subsequently under the influence of the heating or air-conditioning in the vehicle. However, this may not always be the case if, for example, the vehicle is driven for only a short time, or if suitable and effective air-conditioning equipment is not easily available.

Method for production of seat belt webbing


A system for replenishing a lubricant pan with the lubricant comprises a lubricant tank provided separately from the lubricant pan. A lubricant replenishing pump is provided in the lubricant tank for replenishing the lubricant pan with the lubricant. A lubricant level sensor is adapted to detect the lubricant level in the lubricant tank upon a main switch of an engine being turned on. The lubricant replenishing pump is operated according to the detected lubricant level to replenish the lubricant pan with a specified replenishing amount of the lubricant from the lubricant tank.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an outboard motor, and in particular, to a lubrication system for an outboard motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a conventional outboard motor is shown in Japanese Publication No. 2003-065174. The outboard motor disclosed in this publication comprises an internal combustion engine, which serves as a drive source and constitutes the upper part of the motor. A propeller constitutes the lower end of the motor and is driven by the engine. A lubricant pan is provided for reserving lubricant (e.g. oil) for the engine. A lubricant feeding pump pressurizes the lubricant in the lubricant pan and feeds the lubricant to various parts of the engine. In this manner, the parts of the engine are lubricated. As is typical with outboard motors, the outboard motor of the publication pivots about a pivot point at its upper part on a boat body so that its lower end can be swung up in a rearward direction and down in forward direction.
Upon starting the engine, the lubricant replenishing pump is actuated to feed lubricant to the various parts of the engine. As mentioned above, in this manner, the various parts of the engine are lubricated to enable continuous operation of the internal combustion engine. With the driving force from the internal combustion engine, the propeller is rotated to propel the boat. During propulsion, the outboard motor is swung back and forth with respect to the pivot point to produce an intended angle relative to the plumb line while the boat is being propelled. In this manner, the propeller remains under the water surface and the altitude of the boat can be changed to attain an intended propulsion state. When the outboard motor is not in use (e.g., as when mooring), the main part of the outboard motor is typically swung up so that the propeller is positioned above the water. When the outboard motor is to be used again, the main part of the outboard motor is swung back down so that the propeller is replaced under the water surface.
It is generally advantageous that an outboard motor be small in size and light in weight. In a similar manner, it is generally advantageous that the lubricant pan of an outboard motor is also made as small as practicable. On the other hand, while the outboard motor is generally required to be of small size and light weight, it is typically operated at high speeds and therefore high output is generally required. Therefore, in many outboard motors, a large amount of lubricant is consumed per unit time. As a result, the lubricant pan must be frequently replenished. The frequent replenishing of the lubricant pan can be cumbersome. If the capacity margin of the lubricant pan is reduced to reduce the size of the outboard motor, the replenishing frequency of replenishing increases.
One solution to the above-mentioned shortcomings is shown in Japanese Patent Applications JP-A-Sho 59-215911 and JP-U-Hei 7-22006. According to these publications, the main part of the outboard motor includes a lubricant tank disposed separately from the lubricant pan for reserving lubricant. A lubricant replenishing pump is provided for transferring lubricant from the lubricant tank to the lubricant pan. The lubricant is automatically fed to the lubricant pan in response to a detection signal if the lubricant level falls below a lower limit while the internal combustion engine is in operation.
However, there are disadvantages with the above described outboard motors. For example, when the internal combustion engine starts operation, the lubricant in the lubricant pan is fed to various parts of the engine, which causes the level of the lubricant in the lubricant pan to be lowered while the engine is in operation. Moreover, during operation, the main part of the outboard motor and the boat that is being propelled are moved in response to the resistance of waves. In addition, the main part of the outboard motor changes its tilt angle at it is swung about its pivot axis. Therefore, the level of the lubricant in the lubricant pan fluctuates and cannot be maintained at a constant level.
In such a situation, the lubricant level in the lubricant pan is largely different from the level that would correspond to the lubricant amount in the whole engine. Therefore, if the lubricant pan is replenished according to the detected lubricant level, the replenishment amount might be too much or not enough.
Therefore, it would be desirable to address the above-noted shortcomings in the prior art and to provide a lubrication system in which a lubricant pan is replenished with the neither too much nor too little lubricant from a lubricant tank disposed separately from the lubricant pan. Another object of the present invention is to provide more effective lubrication for parts of the internal combustion engine to be lubricated.


An apparatus and method are provided for replacing the existing lower internal components in a nuclear reactor vessel with new components. The alignment of the new lower internals to the pressure vessel and the existing upper internals is achieved by customizing the new lower internals on-site based on alignment measurements obtained by gages installed on the new core barrel and the existing upper core plate. The gages allow the custom machining of radial support keys on the lower portion of the new core barrel and the custom drilling of upper core plate alignment pin holes in the new core barrel.

The current invention concerns nuclear reactors. More specifically, the current invention concerns an apparatus and method for replacing the internal components, such as the lower internals, of a nuclear reactor.
In a nuclear reactor, the internal components typically consist of upper and lower internals. The upper internals include a control rod guide tube assembly, support columns, conduits for instrumentation which enters the reactor vessel through the closure head, and a fuel assembly alignment structure, referred to as an upper core plate. The lower internals include a core support structure, referred to as a core barrel, and conduits for instrumentation which enters the reactor vessel at its bottom. After many years of service, it is often desirable to replace a portion of the reactor internals, especially the lower internals, which are in close proximity to the core. Such replacement not only has the potential to add years to the reactor life by substituting new components for those which have been exposed to the vibration, radiation and thermal stress associated with operation of the reactor, it also allows the introduction of upgraded equipment developed after the initial assembly of the reactor in the factory. For instance, better shielding designs can be incorporated in the core baffle region so that more fast neutrons are reflected back into the core resulting in both fuel efficiencies and an extended reactor vessel life. Despite the advantages of replacing the lower internals, in the past, such replacement during an outage for re-fueling was thought impractical. This was so because the new lower internals must be precisely aligned with respect to the existing upper internals and pressure vessel in order to ensure proper operation of the reactor. According to the prior art approach, such precise alignment would have required extensive on-site work to customize the new lower internals to the existing upper internals and the pressure vessel. This on-site work resulted in (i) an unacceptable increase in reactor down-time over that associated with a re-fueling operation and (ii) excessive exposure of maintenance personnel to radiation.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus and method which enabled replacement of the lower internal components in a nuclear reactor in a relatively short period of time and with only minimum exposure of personnel to radiation and yet which resulted in accurate alignment of the new components to the existing ones.

Apparatus and method for replacing internal components in a nuclear reactor


A continuous casting mold for casting relatively thin slab comprises a pair of broad walls and a pair of narrow walls. The narrow walls are movable inwardly and outwardly with respect to the mold cavity to adjust the width of the slab being cast. The broad walls in an upper portion of the mold are spaced farther apart to permit introduction of molten metal into the mold. The broad walls in the lower portion of the mold are substantially parallel to each other. The narrow mold walls are adapted to sealingly engage the broad mold walls and are wider in the upper portion of the mold than in the lower portion. In one embodiment, a tilt angle of the lower portion of the narrow walls is independently adjustable from that of the upper portion of the narrow walls while in a second embodiment, each of the walls comprises independently angled top and bottom portions and provides a flat and smooth surface to the contained molten metal. Solidification in the upper portion of the mold is substantially prevented.

The present invention relates to continuous caster molds having an opposed pair of broad walls and an opposed pair of adjustably spaced narrow walls, and particularly to such a continuous caster mold and method of utilizing the mold for the production of relatively thin cast slabs.
In the continuous casting of steel, it is known to utilize molds having a pair of opposed broad walls and a pair of opposed narrow walls in which at least one of the narrow walls is adjustable for changing the width of the strand during the actual casting operation. Normally, the thickness of the strand being cast on currently existing casters is within the range of six to twelve inches (15 to 30 cm). For slabs of this thickness, the mold walls are essentially rectangular so that the broad walls are essentially equally spaced from each other at all elevations of the mold. Recently, work has been done to reduce the thickness of the slab being cast in order to bypass the roughing stands in a hot-strip mill. By casting a thinner slab, less reheating and, perhaps, no reheating may be required prior to charging into the strip mill. Thus, a thinner slab can eliminate the need for reheat furnaces and roughing stands as well as intermediate conditioning operations, thereby lowering the capital and production costs of making steel strip while increasing the yield.
The preferred thickness of a thin slab is 2 inches (5 cm) or less. Conventional continuous casters are generally adapted to cast slabs on the order of six to twelve inches (15 to 30 cm) in thickness, i.e., three to four times the thickness of a preferred thin slab. In downsizing a conventionally designed continuous casting mold to cast a thin slab, a difficulty is encountered in that molten metal introduced between the closely spaced, water cooled walls tends to solidify very quickly near the introduction point rather than uniformly. No practical means have been developed for introducing molten metal uniformly into a thin slab caster.
West German Patent No. 887,990, issued Aug. 27, 1953 to Rossi, describes a thin caster mold having a funnel-like upper portion adapted to receive liquid metal. The mold of 887,990 is not adjustable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,702, issued Jan. 13, 1987 in the name of Kolakowski, et al., discloses a thin caster mold having straight-sided narrow walls adjustable to different slab widths. The broad walls of this mold have a funnel shape in their upper central portion adapted to receive liquid metal. A disadvantage of this mold is that the spacing to which the narrow walls may be adjusted is limited to only the length of part of the straight side portions of the outer ends of the broad walls and not into the funnel-shaped central portion thereof. A further disadvantage of this mold relates to the narrow sidewall adjustment mechanism. The narrow walls of this mold are extremely narrow, being on the order of 2 (5 cm) inches wide. These walls are movable in and out to vary the width of the slab being cast. The tilt angle of the narrow walls must also be adjustable since the optimum tilt angle is a function primarily of the slab width. Other factors, such as the casting speed and tundish temperature, affect the preferred tilt angle at any given slab width. Due to the extremely narrow width of the side walls of Kolakowski et al., the width of the side wall adjustment mechanism is also limited. For use in adjusting the mold width and the narrow wall tilt angle, Kolakowski et al. employs a pair of thin threaded spindles attached to each narrow mold wall. Such spindles suffer from the lack of strength and vibration resistance. A further disadvantage of this design is that for each side of the mold, the narrow wall is tiltable only in its entirety, i.e., the top half and the bottom half are not independently adjustable.
It is known in heavier thickness caster molds to have the narrow walls tiltable about the central or mid-elevation axis of the narrow walls, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,926,244, Meier, et al; 4,505,321, Zeller; and 3,375,865, Boichenko, et al. Also, curved inner and outer surfaces on caster mold narrow walls are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,612, Jackson.
Moreover, these above-described prior molds are usually adapted to allow slabs of differing widths to be produced by movement of the narrow end walls. Such width changes are however, normally made only after casting is stopped or interrupted, thereby slowing the casting process and creating "transition castings", comprising a first portion of the newly or most recently cast slab and a second portion of the output slab which was cast just before casting was interrupted. This transition casting is usually disposed of as waste since it does not have uniform strength and other desirable properties. This casting interruption methodology is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,692, issued on Jan. 20, 1981 in the name of Hargassner et al; and Japanese Patent Number 59-189047 which issued on Oct. 26, 1984.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a continuous caster mold and method for casting relatively thin strands, the mold having narrow walls and the mold and method overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art.

Method of continuous casting with changing of slab width


Embodiments of systems, non-transitory computer-readable medium having one or more computer programs stored therein, and computer-implemented methods are provided to enhance redeployment of web applications after initial deployment. Access to initial deployment of a plurality of web applications can be blocked. Lists of web applications that are candidates for redeployment can be displayed. For example, a user having a developer role can have abilities to redeploy a web application that is currently in development to a test environment. A user having a librarian role can have abilities to redeploy a web application associated with the librarian's division that is currently deployed in a test environment to a production environment. Consequently, a developer is permitted only to redeploy a web application to a test environment and cannot deploy a web application to a production environment. Application lifecycle rules thereby are enforced. Additionally, human error evasion and smart recovery features are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to web-based applications and, more specifically, to systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer program stored therein to publish or deploy web-based applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
An entity may utilize web-based enterprise applications (sometimes called web applications) in the entity's operations for a variety of purposes, and one or more developers may create these web applications. A developer may build or modify a web application using software such as J2EE. The developer may not be permitted to publish or deploy the web application, however, without the help of a system administrator. These restrictions on developer permissions may exist even if the developer's web application has already been deployed previously. For example, a developer may issue a request to redeploy a web application that is then assigned to a system administrator. The system administrator may then work on the request, copy the web application to be redeployed, and redeploy the web application. That is, a system administrator may manually redeploy a web application after stopping and deleting the old version of the web application, if there is one.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, redeployment of web applications may involve developer actions 1500, help desk actions 1600, and system administrator actions 1700. A developer 150, for instance, may issue a request 1501 to redeploy one of the developer's web applications. A help desk 160 then may assign the request 1601 to a system administrator 170, e.g., a WebLogic support (WLS) system administrator. Then, the assigned system administrator 170 may work on the request 1701. For example, the system administrator 170 may copy the web application 1702 and deploy the web application 1703. The system administrator 170 next may determine whether the deployment was successful 1704. If the deployment was successful 1704, the system administrator 170 may log options related to the redeployment and the web application's status in a file 1705. If the deployment was unsuccessful 1704, however, the system administrator may analyze the logs 1706, for example, then again copy the application 1702.

Systems, methods, and computer medium to enhance redeployment of web applications after initial deployment


A unit cell of a metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MESFET) is provided. The MESFET has a source, a drain and a gate. The gate is between the source and the drain and on an n-type conductivity channel layer. A p-type conductivity region is provided beneath the gate between the source and the drain. The p-type conductivity region is spaced apart from the n-type conductivity channel layer and electrically coupled to the gate. Related methods are also provided herein.

Electrical circuits requiring high power handling capability (>20 watts) while operating at high frequencies such as radio frequencies (500 MHz), S-band (3 GHz) and X-band (10 GHz) have become commonplace. Because of the increase in high power, high frequency circuits there has been a corresponding increase in demand for transistors that are capable of reliably operating at radio frequencies and above while still being capable of handling higher power loads. Metal-semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs) have been developed for high frequency applications. The MESFET construction may be preferable for high frequency applications because only majority carriers carry current. The MESFET design may be preferred over other designs because the reduced gate capacitance may permit faster switching times of the gate input. Therefore, although generally all field-effect transistors utilize only majority carriers to carry current, the Schottky gate structure of the MESFET may make the MESFET more desirable for high frequency applications.
Silicon carbide (SiC) has been known for many years to have excellent physical and electronic properties which should theoretically allow production of electronic devices that can operate at higher temperatures, higher power and higher frequency than devices produced from silicon (Si) or GaAs. The high electric breakdown field of about 4×106 V/cm, high saturated electron drift velocity of about 2.0×107 cm/sec and high thermal conductivity of about 4.9 W/cm-° K indicate that SiC would be suitable for high frequency, high power applications.
SiC MESFETs fabricated on high resistivity substrates have found widespread use for high power RF amplifiers. Devices having highly doped p-type layers under the source region of the FET have been provided and have been successful in providing high breakdown voltages for power amplifiers, while reducing drifts in device characteristics arising from trapping in semi-insulating substrates. These devices are discussed, for example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,956,239 to Sriram.

Transistors having buried p-type layers coupled to the gate


A refrigeration apparatus comprises a chilling compartment within a housing enclosing the chilling compartment and a refrigeration system for directing cold air into the chilling compartment. Cold air enters the chilling compartment through a plurality of inlet nozzles located in the walls of the compartment housing. A chilled air manifold connects the inlet nozzles to the refrigeration system. A control circuit includes an air temperature controller for selectively setting the air temperature. A timer and on/off controls are incorporated in the control circuit. A moisture sensor monitors the moisture of the chilled air flowing into the chilling compartment and terminates air flow into the compartment when the moisture in the air exceeds a predetermined level. The moisture on the drier bed is removed during a regeneration cycle, which directs hot air flow through a drier for reducing the water content to an acceptable level on the drier bed contents.

The present invention relates generally to cooling apparatus, particularly to an air convection apparatus for quickly freezing, chilling or cooling foods, beverages and other items by low temperature refrigeration.
The typical household or commercial refrigeration process is exemplified by the common household refrigerator which cools a large food storage area. Some apparatus cool small compartments as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,639 to Lidbeck. In this reference, a refrigeration method and apparatus is discussed which comprises a housing having a plurality of refrigeratable compartments. Each of the compartments are isolated from the others and cold air is supplied to each of the compartments. The temperature of the cold air supply to the compartments may be individually adjusted. Thus, opening one compartment to a room temperature environment does not affect the temperature maintenance in any other compartment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,168 to Reynolds, a freezer system is described which first partially freezes food products through conductive heat transfer with rotating contact freezers and then completes freezing the food products in an enclosed convection freezer. The food products are carried through the convection freezer on a conveyor.
The known refrigeration apparatus do not provide a household appliance for chilling or freezing food, beverage or other food products which may subsequently be consumed or placed in a refrigerator or freezer for storage.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a household counter top apparatus for quickly chilling or freezing food, beverage or other food products.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a convection chilling or freezing apparatus including a control circuit for controlling the temperature and duration of air flow for chilling or freezing selected food, beverage or other food products.

Low temperature air convection cooling/freezing apparatus


Disclosed is an injection molding method for producing a shaped, hollow resin article by introducing a pressurized fluid into a molten resin mass injected into a mold cavity, wherein, during the introduction of the pressurized fluid, the temperature of at least one preselected portion of a back surface of the molten resin mass is maintained at a level which is at least 5.degree. C. higher than the temperature of a front surface of the molten resin mass, causing the fluid to flow into the molten resin mass along a line substantially corresponding to a line along which the preselected portion of the back surface extends, so that a shaped, hollow resin article produced has a hollow in a position corresponding to the preselected portion of the back surface. By the method of the present invention, the flow of the pressurized fluid introduced can be surely led to an intended portion in the molten resin mass, so that the location of a hollow in the molten resin mass can be surely controlled. According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shaped, hollow resin article produced has a thickness of at least 1.0 mm as measured at a portion having a hollow therein. According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shaped, hollow resin article produced has a thickness of 3.5 mm or less as measured at a portion having a hollow therein. In each of the preferred embodiments, a shaped, hollow resin article having a front surface thereof which is in a uniform, smooth surface condition can be obtained. Also disclosed is a mold for use in the method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved method for producing a shaped, hollow resin article. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with an injection molding method for producing a shaped, hollow resin article by injecting a resin in a molten form into a mold cavity to form a molten resin mass, and introducing a pressurized fluid into the molten resin mass, wherein, during the introduction of the pressurized fluid into the molten resin mass, the temperature of at least one preselected portion of a back surface of the molten resin mass is maintained at a level which is higher by a specific temperature difference than the temperature of a front surface of the molten resin mass, causing the fluid to flow into the molten resin mass along a line substantially corresponding to a line along which the preselected portion of the back surface extends, so that the shaped, hollow resin article produced has a hollow in a position corresponding to the preselected portion of the back surface. By the method of the present invention, the flow of the pressurized fluid introduced can be surely led to an intended portion in a molten resin mass, so that the location of a hollow in the molten resin mass can be surely controlled and, therefore, a shaped, hollow resin article having a hollow of an orderly morphology can be produced. The present invention is also concerned with a mold for use in the method.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Conventionally, for the purpose of not only preventing the occurrence of sink marks of a resin on a local thick-walled section but also producing a light weight shaped resin article, there have been employed various injection molding methods (so-called gas injection molding methods) for producing a shaped, hollow resin article by injecting a resin in a molten form into a mold cavity to form a molten resin mass, and introducing a pressurized fluid into the molten resin mass (the so-called "gas injection molding methods" include not only a method in which a gas is used as the pressurized fluid but also a method in which a liquid is used as the pressurized fluid). In the field of gas injection molding, for leading the flow of the pressurized fluid to an intended portion in a molten resin mass so as to control the location of a hollow to be formed in the molten resin mass, the following methods and molds suitable therefor have conventionally been proposed.
(1) A method in which a molten resin mass having continuous thick-walled sections of rib structures connected to a gate for introducing a pressurized gas is formed, and a pressurized gas is introduced into the thick-walled sections, and a mold suitable therefor (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 63-268611, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,666).
(2) A method in which use is made of a mold provided, at a portion thereof corresponding to a thick-walled section of a shaped resin article to be produced, with a heat insulating member or heater which is capable of lowering the cooling rate of the molten resin at the thick-walled section as compared to the cooling rate of the molten resin at portions other than the thick-walled section (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 4-62125).
(3) A method in which use is made of a mold, the overall inner wall surface (defining a mold cavity) of which is coated with a heat resisting, heat insulating resin film in a thickness of 0.001 to 2 mm (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 5-245881). The specification describes that this method renders it possible to solve problems, such as poor reproduction of the profile of the mold inner surface on a resultant molded product and occurrence of a hesitation mark, which are likely to be caused in forming a hollow in a thick-walled section of the resultant molded product.
(4) A method in which a molten resin mass having a continuous thick-walled section of rib structure connected to a gate for introducing a pressurized gas is formed, and a pressurized gas is introduced into the thick-walled section, and in which use is made of a mold having a heat insulating member at a portion of the mold which corresponds to the above-mentioned thick-walled section, wherein the overall inner wall surface of the mold is coated with a heat insulating film (see Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Specification No. 6-34927).
(5) A method in which use is made of a nozzle (for injecting the molten resin mass) having a heater embedded in an inner wall of the nozzle longitudinally thereof so as to cause a temperature difference in the inner wall of the nozzle, and a molten resin is injected into a mold cavity through the nozzle to thereby cause a temperature difference in the injected molten resin mass, and a pressurized gas is introduced into the molten resin mass at a high temperature region thereof. This method utilizes the fact that the viscosity of the high temperature region of the molten resin mass is less than the viscosity of the low temperature region of the molten resin mass, so that the resistance to the flow of the pressurized gas in the high temperature region of the molten resin mass is lower than in the low temperature region. Also disclosed are a method and a mold suitable therefor in which a mold inner surface defining a mold cavity is radially divided into a plurality of sections taking a sprue as a center of the radiation, and heating sections and cooling sections are alternately disposed to cause a temperature difference between adjacent sections (corresponding to the adjacent sections of the mold inner surface) of an injected molten resin mass, so that a pressurized gas can be led to high temperature sections of the molten resin mass in which the viscosity of the molten resin mass is low and therefore the flow resistance to the pressurized gas is low. (see Examined Japanese Patent Application Publication Specification No. 61-53208).
The basic concept of each of the above-mentioned conventional methods resides in that the temperature of a preselected local portion of the molten resin mass in which portion a hollow is to be formed is maintained at a level which is higher than the temperature of a portion surrounding the local portion, to thereby render the preselected local portion relatively low in flow resistance, so that a pressurized fluid can be led into the preselected local portion having a relatively low flow resistance. In order to achieve such a temperature difference in a molten resin mass, a thick-walled section is formed in the molten resin mass in methods (1), (2), (3) and (4) above and, in method (5), differing from those methods, a temperature difference in the molten resin mass is generated by specifically designing the inner wall of the nozzle for injecting a molten resin or the mold inner surface defining the mold cavity.
However, the above conventional methods have the following disadvantages.
In the methods (1), (2), (3) and (4) above, it is necessary to form a thick-walled section in the molten resin mass for leading a pressurized gas thereinto, which necessarily restricts the design of a shaped resin article. Further, in the methods (1) and (2), due to the difference in thickness of the resin by forming a portion (i.e., thick-walled section) at which a volume contraction is large, the surface appearance of the resultant shaped resin article at a portion corresponding to the thick-walled section becomes poor, so that finishing of the article, such as coating, becomes necessary. Furthermore, in the methods (3) and (4), in order to improve the surface appearance of the resultant shaped resin article, the overall inner wall surface of the mold has a thin coating of a heat insulating material. However, such a mold is expensive and the durability of the thin coating is unsatisfactory for the mass production of shaped resin articles.
In method (5) above, depending on the shape of an intended shaped article, in some cases, it is likely that a pressurized gas cannot be surely led to an intended portion in a molten resin mass and, even if the gas is surely led to an intended portion, the surface of a local outer portion of the resultant shaped article which corresponds to the hollow portion in the shaped article is different in gloss and luster from the surface of a portion surrounding the local outer portion, so that the surface appearance of the shaped resin article produced becomes poor.
As described in detail below, the present inventors have conducted extensive and intensive studies to elucidate the reason why a non-uniformity (which is causative of a deterioration of the surface condition) occurs in the gloss and luster of a shaped, hollow resin article. As a result, the present inventors have found that the occurrence of the non-uniformity in gloss and luster is largely influenced by the thickness of the shaped, hollow resin article at its portion having a hollow therein and by a temperature difference between a front surface and a back surface of a molten resin mass at its portion in which a hollow is to be formed. Specifically, the present inventors have found that the mechanism by which a non-uniformity in the gloss and luster of a shaped, hollow resin article occurs is varied depending on the thickness of the shaped, hollow resin article at its portion having a hollow therein. As a result of further studies, the present inventors have also found that occurrence of a non-uniformity in the gloss and luster of a front surface of a shaped, hollow resin article can be prevented by regulating the temperature difference between the front and back surfaces of a molten resin mass at its portion in which a hollow is to be formed, i.e., by regulating the cooling conditions of the front and back surfaces of the molten resin mass, in accordance with the thickness of the shaped, hollow resin article at its portion having a hollow therein.
However, as described above, the above-mentioned prior art techniques only attempt to maintain a portion of the molten resin mass at which a hollow is to be formed at a temperature higher than that of other portions of the molten resin mass, and the prior art techniques have no teaching concerning the above-mentioned regulation of the temperatures of the front and back surfaces of a molten resin mass according to the thickness of the molten resin mass at its portion in which a hollow is to be formed. Further, there is no description in any of the above-mentioned Japanese patent documents (1) through (5) about producing a temperature difference between the front and back surfaces of a molten resin mass at its portion in which a hollow is to be formed.

Injection molding method for producing shaped, hollow resin articles, and mold for use therein


A preform heating device has a plurality of infrared heaters disposed horizontally and spaced apart in the axial direction of a preform carried along a carrying path which carries a preform in a state that the axial direction thereof is vertical. The preform is at least rotated when facing the infrared heaters. First and second insulating plates, and an insulating air layer formed therebetween are disposed facing the carrying path with the infrared heaters between. The infrared heaters are supported by a plurality of support members. Each of this plurality of support members is able to be moved upward and downward by a height adjustment means, and is fixed to the second insulating plate at a given vertical position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a preform heating device used in a blow molding device in which a preform formed by injection molding or extrusion molding is heated and subsequently blow molded, and in particular to a preform heating device having a plurality of infrared heaters spaced apart in the axial direction of the preform.
2. Prior Art
A preform heating device having a plurality of infrared heaters spaced apart in the axial direction of the preform is described for example in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,177 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,468.
In U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,177, an adjustment means is provided whereby during the forming process, an operator can adjust the heater positioning from the exterior of the device to move the heaters closer to or further away from the preforms.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,468, as in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,177, the problem is discussed that if the operator is able to adjust the heater positioning in an arbitrary way, accurate repetition under the same conditions is not possible, and it is proposed that the heating box be removed, and the heaters adjusted to accurate positioning using a separately provided adjustment jig.
Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,468, it is proposed that in addition to the horizontal heater positioning adjustment, the heater positioning be adjustable in the vertical direction.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-132517, a previous proposal by the applicant of the present application, a blow molding device for small-scale manufacture is disclosed. In this blow molding device, a heating box is adjustable on a base in the vertical direction and also towards and away from the preforms, and further, within the heating box a pair of heaters is adjustable in the vertical direction and also towards and away from the preforms with respect to a rod extending vertically within the heating box.
However, the adjustment of the heater positioning within the heating box of a blow molding device is carried out infrequently, and generally in a fabrication plant a single blow molding device is often used for several years to make the same bottle or other product, and even when there are limited design changes in a bottle the adjustment can be achieved by adjustment of the heater voltage.
For this reason, the task of adjusting the heater positioning is only required when the device is originally set up for blow molding, and when there is a change to a completely new preform, bottle, or other molded product from previously.
Therefore, a construction as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,177, in which the operator frequently adjusts the positioning of the heaters during the forming process is undesirable.
Further, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,468, the onerous task of removing the heating box in order to adjust the heater positioning, and the requirement to provide a special jig for the sole purpose of adjustment is a burden on the operator.
Furthermore, for a blow molding device for small-scale manufacture as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-132517, compared with conventional devices for large-scale manufacture, replacement of a mold for different molded products has become more common.
Thus, when adjusting the molding conditions, the heater adjustment is more frequently required for positioning adjustment in the vertical direction than in the positioning closer to or further away from the preforms, and therefore an improvement in the ease of carrying out heater positioning adjustment is desirable.


Materials bonded together are separated using electrical current, thermal stresses, mechanical force, any combination of the above methods, or any other application or removal of energy until the bonds disappear and the materials are separated. In one embodiment the original bonding was composed of two layers of material. In another embodiment, the sandwich was composed of three layers. In a further embodiment, the parts of the sandwich are firmly maintained in their respective positions during the application of current so as to be able to subsequently align the materials relative to one another.

The present invention relates to fabrication of matching pairs of electrodes.
WO99/13562 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,060 disclose applications for which it is beneficial to have two separated surfaces which substantially mirror each other, and methods for making pairs of electrodes whose surfaces replicate each other are disclosed therein. The methods involve fabricating a composite by providing a first electrode with a substantially flat surface and placing a sacrificial layer over it. A second material, which will form the second electrode, is placed over the sacrificial layer. The composite is then 'split' into two matching electrodes by removing the sacrificial layer by etching, by cooling the sandwich with liquid nitrogen, or by heating to evaporate the sacrificial layer.
A possible drawback of using a sacrificial is that it can dull some features of a surface to be matched and thereby degrade the quality of the surface matching. Additionally, incomplete removal of the sacrificial layer, or damage to one of both of the surfaces by the techniques used for removing the layer would be deleterious to the quality of the surface matching.
The present invention offers an improved means for providing paired electrodes that dispenses with the need for a sacrificial layer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A social networking system receives contact information from a social networking system user. The received contact information is stored and associated with a user profile in the social networking system including information matching at least a portion of the stored content information. This increases the information associated with the user profile. Subsequently received content information is compared to user profiles and stored contact information associated with one or more user profiles. User profiles including information matching at least a portion of the subsequently received content information or associated with stored contact information matching at least a portion of the subsequently received content information are identified as potential connections for the user providing the subsequently received contact information.

This invention relates generally to social networking systems, and more specifically to managing contact information associated with social networking system users.
Social network systems, or social utilities that track and enable online connections between users (including people, businesses, and other entities), have become increasingly prevalent. In particular, social networking systems allow their users to associate themselves with other users to create a web of connections among the social networking system users. For example, social networking system users may establish connections with each other based on one or more common attributes in user profiles, such as geographic location, employer, job type, age, musical preferences, interests, online games, or other attributes. Social networking system users connected to each other may exchange content with each other.
Some social networking systems also include tools identifying other users with which a user may establish a connection or identifying additional persons for a user to invite to establish an account with the social networking system. Many of these tools allow a social networking system user to import contact information describing the social networking system user's contacts outside of the social networking system. For example, a social networking system user imports an address book or other e-mail contact list. The social networking system compares characteristics of the imported contact list to user profile information maintained for other social networking system users. Social networking system users with user profile information matching a portion of the contact information and not connected to the user are identified to the user for establishing a connection.
However, many social networking system users have incomplete user profile information or out of date user profile information. Additionally, some social networking system users store multiple pieces of information corresponding to different portions of their user profiles, making it difficult to identify profile information matching imported content information. For example, a user profile may include multiple e-mail addresses for a social networking system user, making it difficult to identify a current e-mail address for matching to imported contact information. Hence, conventional social networking systems may fail to identify additional users for connecting to a user based on contact information imported by the user.

Associating received contact information with user profiles stored by a social networking system


A disk drive or comparable device is described which has two microprocessors connected by a communication link. One of the microprocessor accesses nonvolatile storage means containing object code in a compressed format for the other microprocessor. When the device is reset the microprocessor having access to the ROM decompresses the object code and transmits it to the second microprocessor. The compression scheme stores indexes into a table for the N most frequent words in the object code and leaves any excess words uncompressed. The uncompressed words are distinguished from the indexes by a set of flags which may be stored in-line with the compressed code or stored separately to avoid having to perform bit shifting to restore elements to byte boundaries.

A typical architecture for a storage device includes a microprocessor directly connected to a ROM containing the executable code for the microprocessor. The use of more than one microprocessor in a single data storage device is also known in the art. As the complexity of the devices increases, the size of the needed code increases. Larger ROMs for storing larger amounts of code are, of course, more expensive. One scheme that is employed to reduce ROM size is to store only enough code (i.e., bootstrap code) in the ROM to make the storage device capable of reading the final code load from the storage device itself; but, since this code by definition has to make the device operational, it can be quite large as well.
Compressing part of the code in a personal computer's ROM has been proposed. (See "Compressed IPL ROM," Research Disclosure, No. 333, January 1992, Disclosed anonymously.) This is accomplished by compressing the contents of the ROM and decompressing the ROM into RAM before using its contents. To reduce the amount of ROM required to support the various devices which are attached to the computer, data compression is applied to the text contained in the ROM. A small decompression program also resides in the ROM. The decompression program expands the compressed ROM text into RAM. The majority of the power-on diagnostics and all of the initial program load function are then executed out of RAM.
G. S. Cheema, et al. teach that executable code can be loaded into memory in a compression format and dynamically decompressed to reduce the storage requirements of executable code. (See "Compression And Dynamic Decompression Of Executable Code", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, No. 2, July 1990, pp. 297-298.) The process compresses an overlay library file such that each separate overlay can still be extracted from the file, when needed, without having to decompress the entire overlay library file.
Numerous compression schemes have been developed which can be applied to compress code with varying levels of efficiency and complexity. Huffman codes, which are variable length, have been widely used. B. L. Marks describes dividing characters into two groups based on frequency. The most frequent characters (A group) are encoded using Huffman coding. An additional Huffman code is allocated as a marker, or escape code, which tells the system that an uncompressed character follows. Thus, set B characters are prefixed with the Huffman "copy" character but are not encoded. (See "Trimming Of Huffman Coding Tables", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, October 1979, p. 2106.)
It is well known in the disk drive art to use two microprocessors, with one handling front-end tasks such as interfacing with the host system and the other handling back-end tasks such as servo control. It is also known that code and data for one microprocessor in a disk drive can be stored in ROM which is accessible only by the other microprocessor which transmits the code and data to the first microprocessor for execution. It is also known that one or more registers (e.g., data, address and command registers) may be used to communicate the code from one microprocessor to the other.

Disk drive having program to be executed by a second processor stored in a first processor's ROM in a compressed form

International Business Machines Corporation