Disclosed is an improved assay for the determination of total protein in an aqueous test fluid such as urine. The assay involves combining the test fluid with a molybdate or tungstate salt and a dye which forms a complex with molybdate or tungstate ion at a pH of 1.0 to 3.0 to shift the absorption band of the complex in the presence of protein. There is introduced into the assay a substituted phenolsulfonephthalein dye having a pKa which enables it to operate at a pH of from about 1.0 to 3.0 and whose affinity for protein is such that it will provide a detectable response only in the presence of greater than 50 mg/dL of protein to increase the scope of the assay.

Methods for the detection of urinary proteins are often more sensitive to albumin than to other urinary proteins. However, it is important to detect proteins other than albumin, especially in the case of Bence-Jones proteinuria. The detection of proteins should cover a wide range of protein concentration since the decision levels and recommended actions to be taken by clinicians will vary depending on the concentration of protein detected in a patient's urine. For example persistent proteinuria greater than 50 mg/dL represents strong evidence of renal disease whereas a protein level of greater than 300 mg/dL is consistent with a diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome. A concentration of protein in urine of greater than 800 mg/dL suggests massive protein loss and warrants a renal biopsy and/or steroid therapy. Accordingly, it is apparent that a test for protein in urine should be effective over a wide range of protein values.
Various methods for the determination of protein in aqueous fluid have been reported in the literature. These methods include the Kjeldahl methods, biuret method, Lowery method, dyestuff combination method, UV method and fluorometric method. In general, proteins react with various substances, particularly with dyes such as bromphenol blue, coomassie brilliant blue and eosine as well as metal ions such as silver (I), copper (II), zinc (II) and lead (II). Typically, the addition of protein to the reaction between a dye and a metal ion results in a spectral change in the dye-metal ion solution. Fujita et al report in Bunseki Kagaku Vol. 32, Pp. E379-E386 that the addition of protein to the reaction between pyrogallol red and molybdenum (VI) produces a different spectrum than that of the pyrogallol red-molybdenum(VI) complex solution. Japanese Kokai Patent No. SHO 62 1987!-6170 discloses a test strip for protein determination comprising a molybdate salt, a pigment which forms a complex with molybdate and whose absorption band is shifted in the presence of a protein together with a chelating agent which combines with molybdate ions. A similar assay for trace amounts of protein is disclosed in Japanese Kokai Patent 61-155757 in which there is described the use of a chelating agent which is able to bond with molybdenum or a metal ion which is able to bond with oxalic acid, citric acid, phosphoric acid or salts thereof normally present in the urine test sample. This assay is a dye binding method using the complex of pyrogallol red and molybdenum. At low pH the dye-metal complex is red. The color changes to blue when deprotenated at higher pH. The protein causes the dye to deprotenate more easily (at a lower pH) by the interaction of positively charged amino acid groups stabilizing the negatively charged deprotenated dye-molybdate complex.
It has more recently been discovered that tungstate behaves in a manner similar to molybdate in the presence of protein and a dye. Useful molybdate and tungstate salts for the total protein assay of the present invention include sodium, potassium, lithium and ammonium salts or a tungstate/molybdate with an alkyl, dialkyl, trialkyl or tetraalkylammonium ion or a phosphotungstate bearing a similar cation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,498 there is disclosed the use of certain ionizable phosphate containing compounds to reduce background reactivity in the protein assay which uses a molybdate or tungstate salt and a dye which forms a complex with molybdate or tungstate whose absorption band is shifted in the presence of protein. This reference does not, however, demonstrate that the method can operate over the total range of protein concentrations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,561 discloses that nitroso substituted polyhalogenated phenol sulfonephthaleins can be used to detect albumin but does not demonstrate that this dye class can be used in combination with a pyrogallol dye. There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,790 an analysis method whereby nitro substituted polyhalogenated phenolsulfonephthaleins can be combined with a merocyanine dye to detect albumin.
It would be desirable, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a protein assay based on the interaction of molybdate or tungstate and pyrogallol red which operates over a wide range of protein concentrations.


The present invention provides a non-pharmaceutical bactericidal composition against a Helicobacter pylori, including a first daily edible component and a second daily edible component.

Global Helicobacter pylori infection rate exceeds 50% of the global population, and 10%-15% of those infections result in the development of peptic ulcer diseases. Helicobacter pylori is associated with 95% of duodenal ulcers and 80% of gastric ulcers. 1%-3% of infected individuals develop gastric cancer. Therefore, Helicobacter pylori is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a primary carcinogen (please refer to D(1)).
In recent years, studies of the survival and pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori in gastric mucus are the foci of the medical community to observe the microbial pathogenesis (chronic infections) in mucus in general. The medical community hopes to work out a solution to eliminate other toxic pathogenic microorganisms in mucus in general via eliminating Helicobacter pylori effectively in the mucus, as intestinal dysbiosis is often the cause of some chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and inflammatory diseases (please refer to D(1)).
Helicobacter pylori is one of the most interesting microorganisms in the human digestive tract, and is associated in particular with active inflammatory changes within the gastroduodenal mucus (about 50-65% with the gastric ulcer and about 95% with the duodenal ulcer). According to research, Helicobacter pylori infected persons should eliminate Helicobacter pylori completely to avoid ulcer recurrence and ulcer complications (please refer to D(2)).
Helicobacter pylori is a smart bacterium that can coexist peacefully with the human host once it resides in the stomach of a human body. Clinically, it was found that 80% to 90% of persons infected with Helicobacter pylori have chronic gastritis, but only 20% of them show symptoms; 15% to 20% of the infected persons develop gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer, 1% to 3% of carriers of Helicobacter pylori develop gastric cancer, and one in one thousand to one in ten thousand of them have gastric lymphoma problems. Compared with someone uninfected by Helicobacter pylori, the risk of developing stomach cancer of the infected persons is increased by 6 times (please refer to D(3)).
Recent evidence suggests that prolonged colonization of the gastric mucus by Helicobacter pylori may lead to chronic atrophic gastritis and subsequently adenocarcinoma (please refer to D(2)).
Future perspectives for therapies of Helicobacter pylori can be discussed in the following aspects (1) to (3) (please refer to D(4)):
(1) The bottlenecks of today's therapy in general:                A rising antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori         Health concerns over long-term use (a course of 10-14 days, 3 to 4 times per day)        High single dosage required due to antibiotic resistance (500 to 1000 mg of a single antibiotic treatment)        A rising recurrence        Other complications induced by antibiotics include:                    a. obesity            b. fatty liver disease            c. Type 2 diabetes                        The expected primary effect of antibiotics is significantly affected and reduced by the presence of the gastric mucus, which results in enhanced side effects such as the liver, kidney and stomach damages due to the increase of dosage to compensate for the reduction of the intended primary effect.        The adverse effects of antibiotics may lead to discomfort of the patients.*The patients having cancer attributable solely to Helicobacter pylori infection (780,000 cases) account for 6.2%, a very high proportion, of all cancers yearly worldwide.
(2) Some advanced versions of traditional "triple therapy" nowadays:                Bismuth is sometimes added to become "quadruple therapy" and to increase the therapeutic effect, and the main effect of bismuth is to inhibit the urease activity.        N-acetylcysteine (NAC) replaces bismuth to be added into the triple therapy, or to be used alone.        Main side effects of the NAC:                    a. It has a high toxicity and needs to be used in a high dosage.            b. It reduces the viscosity of the gastric mucus effectively but tends to cause ulcer deterioration as well.
(3) Latest research and development directions for the therapy of Helicobacter pylori infection:                narrow-spectrum        non-antibiotic
Helicobacter pylori mainly colonizes the human antrum mucosa (please refer to FIG. 1 in D(1)). The pH values in the gastric mucus naturally form a pH-gradient. The main cause is that the apical portion of the epithelial cells secretes bicarbonate (HCO3−) into the mucus to fight against the acid attack from the gastric lumen (please refer to the abstract in D(5)). Therefore, the composition of the present invention must be able to fight against alkali (i.e. bicarbonate (HCO3−)) in the gastric mucus and sterilize bacteria in a low pH mucus-microenvironment created by this composition. Furthermore, gastric juice contains urea, and Helicobacter pylori will hydrolyze the urea there to raise the pH value of the microenvironment while the ambient pH is low. Generally, antibiotics are active between pH 5-8, so they need to be taken in combination with an antacid or a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) to neutralize the gastric acid or inhibit gastric acid secretion to avoid low pH in the stomach which causes deactivation of antibiotics (please refer to FIG. 3 in D(6)). In summary, the bicarbonate (HCO3−) in the gastric mucus is vital for the colonization of Helicobacter pylori. In addition, the urease there is also another crucial factor that helps Helicobacter pylori colonize the gastric mucus.
The "bicarbonate barrier" in the gastric antral mucus gel layer is described in detail as follows:
The colonization of the Helicobacter pylori in the gastric antral mucus gel layer is shown in FIG. 1 in D(1).
Regarding the pH-gradient in the gastric antral mucus gel layer, please refer to the abstract in D(5). According to D(5), the characteristics of the "bicarbonate barrier" of the gastric mucosa include a pH-gradient (the pH value varies from low to high from the gastric lumen to the apical portion of the epithelial cells), a resistance to acid, and a resistance to pepsin. In the in vivo experiment in rats on page C6, FIG. 2 in D(5), group A used pentagastrin to stimulate gastric parietal cells to secrete gastric juice, and group B used ranitidine to inhibit gastric acid secretion. Regarding the pH changes in the mucoepithelial interface, a rapid decrease in pH from 7 to 2-3, when the gastric acid secretion is inhibited temporarily, and a bounce back to 6-7 after about 20 minutes were observed in group B. On Page C6, right Column, Lines 4-20 in D(5), it clearly stated that the substances having molecular weight (Da) less than 400, include ions like hydrogen ion and small-sized molecules, are proved by in vivo experiments that they are free to pass through the mucus. Therefore, the main interfering factor which provides the prevention of acid attack in the mucus-microenvironment should be bicarbonate (HCO3−).
Therefore, for the effective elimination of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach, it is crucial to find a composition that is able to fight against bicarbonate (HCO3−) in the gastric mucus and sterilize bacteria at the same time in such a low pH mucus-microenvironment created by this composition (please refer to FIG. 1 and page 4/11, right Column, Lines 8-20 in D(7) regarding the organic acid kills Gram-negative bacteria including Helicobacter pylori).

Non-pharmaceutical bactericidal composition against


A support system for a catheter urine collection bag comprising three circumferential straps with suitable padding and adjustable hook and loop closures. The circumferential straps are held in proximity to one another by a first longitudinal strap connecting the three on their front surfaces, and a second longitudinal control strap between the upper strap and the second strap on their rear surfaces. The longitudinal control strap acts fundamentally as a hinge between the upper two circumferential straps to prevent the circumferential straps from twisting out of position relative to one another. The second circumferential strap and the lower, third strap have loop closure material which matches hook closure material threaded through the support holes formed into the bag.

The present invention relates to support devices for urine collection bags used in conjunction with catheters and in particular to such devices designed to be supported on the leg of the user.
A number of support systems for urine catheter bags employ a plurality of (usually three) circumferential straps. Typically, however, the prior art devices disclose systems in which an upper circumferential strap encircles the waist of the user while two lower circumferential straps encircle the upper leg. Typical of these systems are U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,130, U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,295 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,785.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,130 issued to Buchstein on Oct. 11, 1938 for "Supra Pubic Drain Appliance" discloses a device worn from a belt about the waist of the user. A urine drainage bag is attached to the user by a pair of straps about the thigh. A similar device with a belt about the waist of the user and a pair of straps about the thigh to support a urine bag is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,295 issued to Laufbahn on Feb. 14, 1978 for "Catheter." A variation of this arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,785 issued to Barto, Jr. on Aug. 5, 1975 for "Harness for a Disposable Urinal." Barto, Jr. discloses a harness for supporting a urine collection bag by means of a sheet member draped along the user's leg. The sheet member is suspended from a belt about the user's waist and held about the user's leg with a pair of straps. None of these devices are designed to be worn solely on the leg of the user, therefore none of them show any recognition of the problems associated with supporting a urine bag from a user's leg. In particular, none of these patents disclose a longitudinal control strap.
Some patents of this type do, however, show support straps and a few of them show a pair of longitudinal support straps. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 1,416,238 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,358. These patents, too, disclose devices designed to be supported from the waist of the user and the longitudinal straps are not used to provide control to prevent the bag from rotating on the leg of the user. U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,970 mentions, without detailing the structure, French Patent No. 1,445,658 which is said to disclose "a pouch for a urine bag with mounting straps for mounting the pouch on a person's leg." col. 1, lines 20-23.
Those who are restricted in their ability to ambulate find the wearing of urine collection bags to be a necessary but troublesome procedure. While numerous devices have been proposed for supporting urine bags on ambulatory individuals as described above, a seated individual is not amenable to the same type of support system utilizing waist belts. Devices supporting urine bags from the user's legs generally provide no proper support, especially for full bag. Furthermore, bags are likely to slip or slide from the user's leg. An additional problem occurs for those who have limited use of their hands. A bag that has fallen out of position is not only uncomfortable, and difficult to retrieve, but may actually represent a danger to the user--from the strain put on the catheter, for example. Furthermore, tightening the straps is no solution since the straps will interfere with blood circulation.


A device for testing fasteners such as nuts and bolts is described which consists of a fixed base plate having a number of threaded and unthreaded holes of varying size for receiving the fasteners to be tested, a torque marking paper taped on top the fixed base plate for marking torque-angle indicia, a torque wrench for applying torque to the fasteners being tested, and an indicator for showing the torque applied to the fastener. These elements provide a low-cost, non-destructive device for verifying the strength of bolts and nuts.

There are numerous methods and devices available for testing of bolts, nuts, inserts, and other fasteners. Most of these prior art devices are relatively expensive. There exists a need for a device to permit accurate and timely testing of a large size of such fasteners to assure that they are safe to use. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a low-cost fastener testing device which is versatile enough to test a variety of diameter of fasteners. It is also desirable that such testing devices have the capability of being mobile so as to permit field testing of fasteners.

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


A group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting element comprises, in the following order: an n-type group III nitride semiconductor layer; a group III nitride semiconductor laminated body obtained by alternately laminating a barrier layer and a well layer narrower in bandgap than the barrier layer in the stated order so that the number of barrier layers and the number of well layers are both N, where N is an integer; an AlN guide layer; and a p-type group III nitride semiconductor layer. The AlN guide layer has a thickness of 0.7 nm or more and 1.7 nm or less. An Nth well layer in the group III nitride semiconductor laminated body and the AlN guide layer are in contact with each other, or a final barrier layer is further provided between the Nth well layer and the AlN guide layer.

Group III nitride semiconductors composed of a compound of N and group III elements such as Al, Ga, and In have conventionally been used as material of light-emitting elements from blue light to deep ultraviolet light. In particular, group III nitride semiconductors composed of AlGaN with a high Al composition have been used in ultraviolet light-emitting elements with an emission wavelength of 340 nm or less and deep ultraviolet light-emitting elements (DUV-LED) with an emission wavelength of 300 nm or less.
It has been commonly considered that a deep ultraviolet light-emitting element using a group III nitride semiconductor has very low light extraction efficiency and so is difficult to achieve higher output. However, to provide a small and high-output deep ultraviolet light-emitting element, various attempts to achieve high external quantum efficiency, low resistance, and the like have been made.
For example, we previously proposed the following light-emitting element in JP 2010-205767 A (PTL 1). A light-emitting element formed on an AlN-based group III nitride single crystal includes: a high-concentration n-type group III nitride layer; a multiple quantum well structure composed of an n-type or i-type group III nitride barrier layer and an n-type or i-type group III nitride well layer; an i-type group III nitride final barrier layer; a p-type group III nitride layer; and an electron block layer formed between the i-type group III nitride final barrier layer and the p-type group III nitride layer and composed of a p-type or i-type AlzGa1-zN layer (0.95<z≤1) that serves as an electron energy barrier for the i-type group III nitride final barrier layer.
With the technique described in PTL 1, internal quantum efficiency is improved by optimizing the quantum well thickness of the quantum well structure, and electron injection efficiency is optimized by introducing and optimizing the electron block layer and optimizing the final barrier layer.

Group III nitride semiconductor light-emitting element and method of manufacturing same


A crimping tool resembling tongs is disclosed, with an anvil in which, by means of the swing of a handle, a component can be supplied, via a feed device, to the anvil and in the latter is capable of being crimped with the cable end, where the swing motion of the handle is transmitted via a transmission mechanism to close the anvil, which is designed so that the anvil, at the end of the swing range of the handle, is to open for removal of the crimp connection. Feed of the component to the anvil is effected by means of a transport linkage and a transport fork, which by way of a control element are in active communication with the transmission mechanism, so that the rate of motion of the transport fork is capable of being influenced in the entire range of swing of the movable handle.

The invention concerns a crimping tool.
The solderless connection of electrical components (so-called "crimp connections") is gaining increasing importance, especially for "on site" assembly. Thus, for production reasons, for example, it is substantially more convenient to furnish cable ends provided for a clamping connection by crimp connection with an end sleeve instead of soldering the strands of the cable end together. The generic hand compression tools disclosed in, for example, DE-OS 3,109,289, are generally used for crimping.
In the prior art the components to be crimped are first assembled loose in an initial operation, then fed to the crimping tool, squeezed together by actuation of the actuating means of the crimping tool and, in a last operation, removed from the tool. Such a work sequence--measured against the entire time it takes to produce a clamped joint--requires a relatively long period of time.
In an attempt to minimize the time required to produce the crimp connection, efforts have been made to utilize machinery to produce crimp connections, as disclosed for example in DE-OS 3,508,354, in industrial use. It has been found, however, that such machinery is suitable only for stationary use since, on the one hand, it has a relatively high intrinsic weight and, on the other, is operable only in conjunction with power connections (compressed air, electric current).


A port for providing electrical continuity to a coaxial cable connector includes, in one embodiment, an outer housing having a first end and a second end. The outer housing is configured to terminate a coaxial cable connector at one or both of a first end and a second end. The biasing member is disposed within the outer housing to bias a post of the coaxial cable to extend continuity between the port and a mated connector.

It is desirable to maintain continuity through a coaxial cable connector, which typically involves the continuous contact of conductive connector components which can prevent radio frequency (RF) leakage and ensure a stable ground connection. For example, physical contact between a nut and a post of a coaxial cable connector extends a continuous, uninterrupted ground path through the connector when the connector is mated onto a port. An additional continuity member, such as a metal spring or a metal washer, disposed within the connector is typically required to extend electrical continuity through the connector. However, not all coaxial cable connectors come equipped with the additional component required to extend electrical continuity through the connector. The absence of a continuity member within the connector adversely affects signal quality and invites RF leakage with poor RF shielding when the connector is mated onto the port.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method for a port that provides continuity through a standard coaxial cable connector not having an additional continuity member.


A method for the satellite-supported determination of a position of a vehicle includes identifying a plurality of satellites which may be usable for determining a position of a vehicle and receiving data which characterize movable reception obstacles in a vicinity of the vehicle. The method includes determining a reduced selection of satellites from the plurality of satellites, based on the received data, and determining the position of the vehicle using signals which have been transmitted from the reduced selection of satellites.

The position determination of motor vehicles with the aid of satellites in so-called GNSS systems is a widespread technology which is already used today in navigation systems for motor vehicles. In the future, this technology will also be increasingly relevant in particular to the newly emerging technology sector of autonomous driving.
Position determination via satellite-supported navigation systems is generally based on the principle of the propagation time measurement of signals which are transmitted by the satellites of the navigation system.
An important aspect of position determination is the accuracy, which is essentially a function of the accuracy of the underlying propagation time measurement.
By means of the method described here, the accuracy of the position determination can be increased.

Method for the satellite-supported determination of a position of a vehicle


An application processing system including a database server and a storage device which is connected with a standby application processing system including a secondary database server and a secondary storage device to continue to carry out application processing in the case of a fault, disaster, etc. or for maintenance. The storage device of the application processing system issues a log disk update request to the secondary database server of the standby system to update a log disk of the standby system and thereby create a duplicate of the log disk for the DBMS of the application processing system. This allows the DBMS of the standby system to roll forward the log data in the duplicated log to update duplicated data on the secondary storage device.

One way to duplicate data between a plurality of application systems each made up of a database server and a storage device is to have the DBMSs running on the database servers duplicate the data. A method for duplicating data by use of DBMSs is described in ORACLE9I DATABASE SUMMARY (an Oracle white paper, May 2002)
(http://www.oracle.co.jp/products/catalog/pdf/9iDBr2J07266-01.pdf) In this technique, the database servers of a plurality of systems are connected to one another, and update information on the DBMS running on one system is transferred to another system to duplicate data.
Another way to duplicate data in a similar system is to use a function to copy data between storage devices. For example, page 5 of a catalog for a Hitachi's integrated storage solution called "Storeplaza"
(http://www.hitachi.co.jp/Prod/comp/storeplaza/data/stpzclg.pdf) describes the function to copy data between storage devices. Specifically, in this technique, the storage devices of a plurality of systems are connected to one another by way of a fiber channel, and if data on a disk drive of one storage device has been updated, the update is reflected in a disk drive of another storage device.
Implementing a conventional data duplicating method incurs cost higher than that for implementing an ordinary database application. Furthermore, duplicating data between a plurality of systems in a synchronous manner causes a delay in the application processing.
To duplicate data by use of DBMSs, it is necessary to employ high-performance database servers since the database servers running the DBMSs must take up both the application processing load and the data duplication processing load, resulting in increased cost. Furthermore, to ensure that duplicated data coincides with the original data, synchronous communications must be carried out between the database servers whenever their DBMSs perform update processing. The DBMSs cannot perform subsequent update processing during the synchronous communications, causing a delay in the application processing.
To duplicate data by use of storage devices, on the other hand, it is necessary to connect between the storage devices by way of a broad band line since the entire updated data handled by each DBMS must be duplicated. Use of a broad band line increases the cost. Furthermore, to ensure that duplicated data coincides with the original data, synchronous communications must be carried out between the storage devices whenever data on the disk drives is updated. Subsequent update processing cannot be performed on the disk drives during the synchronous communications, causing a delay in the application processing.
To avoid the delay due to the synchronous communications, there is a method for asynchronously carrying out communications between DBMSs or storage devices. However, when switching to the system on the data duplicating side after a fault or a disaster has occurred (on the data originating side), the data duplicating side must recreate the data that has failed to be transferred, causing a delay in the switching of the systems.

Data control method for duplicating data between computer systems


A door closer having a return spring for accumulating a recovering force in a door closing direction at the time of opening a door for performing a braking force by a damper at the time of closing the door which comprises a closer body internally containing a mechanism for performing an operation as the damper in a body case, an adjusting arm coupled perpendicularly to a driving shaft for the damper of the closer body to be projected laterally rotatably, a coupling bracket for pivotally securing an upper frame mounting plate directly or indirectly to the end of the adjusting arm via step screws to be horizontally rotatable, and a door mounting arm projected laterally from the closer body for pivotally securing a door mounting bracket to the end of the arm via a step screw to be horizontally rotatable. Thus, the door closer can obviate a concept of mounting the closer body at the door to eliminate necessity of mounting a large closer body at the door by disposing a closer body as a damper at the pivotally securing position of the arm and the adjusting arm, thereby deleting impossibility of mounting the door closer even at a glass engaging door.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a door closer in which a recovering force is accumulated in a door closing direction at the time of opening a door and a braking force of a damper is performed at the time of closing the door and, more particularly, to a device for automatically closing a door by mounting a closer body having a function of a damper at the door and an upper frame through arms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional door closer consists, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 showing the using state of a door closer, of a closer body a, an arm c fixed at one end thereof to a piston driving shaft b of the door closer body a, and an adjusting arm g pivotally secured at one end thereof to the end of the arm c via a screw d, etc., and pivotally secured at the other end thereof to a mounting plate e via a screw f, etc.,
The door closer body a has a hydraulic cylinder (not shown) in a body case a', and a piston (not shown) telescopically inserted into the hydraulic cylinder through a return spring.
In order to use the door closer of the arrangement described above, the closer body a is clamped at the upper portion of a door j openably pivotally secured via a hinge i at the hanging side to a vertical frame h through one or more clamping screws k, and the mounting plate e is clamped at an upper frame l via one or more clamping screws (not shown). In this manner, the piston is telescopically driven against the return spring by the piston driving shaft b rotated by both the arms by the door opening operation, the recovering force is accumulated at the return spring, and the door j is so mounted as to be automatically closed by the accumulated recovering force accumulated at the return spring.
In the door closer described above, the closer body a and the mounting plate e are respectively mounted at the door j and the upper frame l in a door closing state. In this case, the door closer is so mounted that a recovering force of certain degree is accumulated at the return spring even at the time of closing the door by considering a latching in the door closing state.
However, according to the conventional door closer, a considerably large closer body a must be mounted in the vicinity of the upper frame l of the door j. Therefore, in case of a narrow mounting space like a glass engaging door, the door closer might be sometimes impossible to be mounted at the door.
Further, in order to fully open the door in a direction of an arrow m from the door closing state in FIG. 9, the piston driving shaft b must be rotated at a considerably large rotating angle by the arm c. Accordingly, the internal structure of the door closer body a must be so composed as to be allowed to be rotatable at the large angle. This considerably restricts the degree of freedom of the door closer body a in design.
In contrast, in view of the arm crossing angle .alpha. formed between the arm c and the adjusting arm g in FIG. 9, as the door is opened, the crossing angle .alpha. is gradually increased. When the door is fully opened, the crossing angle .alpha. is arrived at the maximum value. As a result, when a hand is released from the door j in the door fully opening state, the door j is closed by the recovering force accumulated at the return spring. If the door is intended to be held in a door opening state, another suitable stopper mechanism must be arranged.
The conventional door closer further has the following disadvantage. A closer body a and a mounting plate e are fixed directly to a door j and an upper frame l in a state that all components are assembled completely. At this time, since arms c and g are rotatably energized in a direction of an arrow m in FIG. 9 by the recovering force accumulated at a return spring, the mounting positioning and the mounting works of the closer body a and the mounting plate e are not so easy, but long time and labor are wasted.
In case of a repair when the closer body a is defective, an inspection and a maintenance of the closer body a, not only the closer body a but the mounting plate a must be removed. Therefore, when they are again mounted, there arise problems such as an alteration of mounting positions by considering insufficient strength of clamping of clamping screws due to looseness of holes to be again clamped with the screws, exposure of old screw holes to deteriorate a design feeling in external appearances of the door and the upper frame, etc.


A piston ring for internal combustion engines provided with a ferrous alloy base includes an annular outer surface on which a coating including at least one outer layer is applied deposited on an adhesive layer, the outer layer being provided with a variable thickness, in such a way that the thickness of the outer layer gradually increases from 90° and 270° towards 0° and 360° respectively, with the thickness attaining its maximum value in the region of 10° and 350° and slightly decreasing towards 0° and 360° so as to ensure an optimal working condition, minimizing the contact pressure and consequently the accelerated wear in the vicinities of the ends of the ring, in addition to preventing and/or impeding the detachment of the outer layer of the coating.

Piston internal combustion engines, like almost all current conventional automotive engines (petrol, alcohol, Flex, VNG or diesel), include at least one piston ring. Piston rings act in sealing the combustion chamber, distributing and controlling oil and in dissipating the heat absorbed by the pistons during combustion, conducting it to the engine block.
Currently, there is a tendency for engines to operate at high temperatures, pressures and rotational speeds, so that the piston rings are subject to increasingly greater loads, which creates a demand for ideas to reduce wear and friction, improve sealing and increase breaking strength.
Piston rings are, generally, formed of a metal base that includes an outer surface on which at least one coating layer is applied, suitable for entering into contact with the cylinder wall. The function of the coating is most important, since it seeks to confer on the ring properties of low sliding friction, high wear resistance, high fracture toughness, hardness and thermal stability and resistance to thermal fatigue and contact.
Usually, the application of coating layers is performed by ion coating processes, especially by physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or by a galvanic coating process.
By means of studies, tests and simulations, the applicant is able to note that piston rings, specifically compression rings, undergo premature wear in the regions adjacent to the ends or in the ends of the ring themselves.
Thus, some documents are found in the prior art that seek to find solutions for offering greater durability in these most critical regions of the ring.
A representative prior art is the document US 2004/056425 which relates to a piston ring and a method for manufacturing a piston ring that comprises a coating layer of variable thickness, the coating layer being 1.5 to 4 times thicker in the regions of the ends of the ring than the coating layer applied along the region away from the vicinities of the ends of the ring.
The method disclosed by the document US 2004/056425 comprises a PVD process and has a variable rotational speed, so that the speed is minimal, when the region of the ends of the ring is facing the source of coating material, causing the thickness in the region of the vicinity of the ends of the ring to be greater than the thickness of the coating in the region opposite the ends of the ring. However, this process requires a very precise and controlled synchronization during this variation in speeds, since, otherwise, the effect of varying the thickness of the coating is not achieved.
The document WO 2014/194874 relates to a piston ring and to a method for producing a piston ring, the ring including a body of cast iron or cast steel on which is deposited, by a PVD process, a coating layer of variable thickness, so that the coating layer is thicker in the regions of the ends of the ring and the body of the ring is worked so that, in a cold operating state with the engine off, the radial pressure distribution in the body of the ring is such that the ends thereof exhibit substantially no radial pressure through a defined circumferential angle, and the variable thickness of the coating layer is determined so that it exhibits a substantially uniform radial pressure distribution present along the whole circumference of the piston ring when at temperatures above 150° C.
But the increase in the coating layer in the region of the vicinity of the ends of the ring is not sufficient for ensuring greater durability of the component. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the thicker the coating layer is in the regions in the vicinities of the ends of the ring, the greater the contact pressure is between the ends of the ring and the engine block cylinder. Combustion generates high temperatures and an increase in gas pressure, leading to premature wear that is further aggravated by the condition of low lubrication and contact pressure between the sliding surfaces of the compression ring and this same region.
The solutions found in the prior art seek to ensure greater durability for the piston ring by increasing the coating layer in the regions of the vicinities of the ends of the ring.
However, it is important to note the difficulty encountered in building thick coating layers. Growing coating layers is complex for two main reasons:                Very long process time. For obtaining layers of at least 30 micrometers thick, it takes about 24 hours of machine operation, just for covering.        Very high stress state. The greater the thickness of the coating layer, the greater the stress state which leads to detachment and spalling when in contact.
This makes it necessary to find a piston ring provided with a coating that includes an outer layer of variable thickness deposited on an adhesion layer, so that the outer layer offers high durability due to excellent wear resistance and to low sliding friction, and the adhesion layer offers the necessary adhesion of the outer layer to the outer surface of the piston ring, together with a high thickness of the outer layer in the most critical regions of the ring.

Piston ring for internal combustion engines


Method of making a gas matrix composite ultrasound transducer comprises aligning piezoelectric rods or fibers substantially parallel to each other on an adhesive side of a plurality of curable adhesive-faced sheets, stacking the sheets so as to maintain the gaps between the rods or fibers, curing the adhesive, cutting the cured structure perpendicular to the rods or fibers into narrow slices, and applying a conductive layer to each cut face to form electrical contacts with both ends of the rods or fibers.

In my patent application Ser. No. 10/337,531, filed Jan. 7, 2003 and entitled "Piezoelectric Transducer with Gas Matrix", I disclose a novel transducer which comprises a plurality of piezoelectric cylinders. The axial length and composition of the piezoelectric cylinders determine the frequency of the transducers when excited. The axial ends of the piezoelectric cylinders are aligned with the faces. The piezoelectric cylinders are separated from each other in a manner to substantially reduce or substantially eliminate crosstalk. The piezoelectric cylinders or fibers may be separated from each other by a space that is empty or a space that is partially empty of matrix material resulting in a gap between the cylinders and the material so that the cylinders and material are substantially entirely unconnected. The piezoelectric cylinders are separated from each other by a distance that is preferably less than the acoustic wavelength at the frequency of the piezoelectric cylinders (rods) or fibers in the space between the cylinders. Electrodes are provided at the faces of the transducer for simultaneously exciting the piezoelectric cylinders.
The piezoelectric cylinders may have one or more of the following cross sections: circular, rectangular, hexagonal, or any other polygon, with a width preferably less than one wavelength of the frequency in the piezoelectric material. The matrix material may comprise a solidified foam, fiber batting, or honeycomb, for example, which material is not electrically conductive. The gap in the space between the piezoelectric cylinders may be filled with a gas at atmospheric pressure, gas below atmospheric pressure, or a vacuum.
It is an object, according to the present invention, to provide a novel method for the manufacture of gas matrix piezoelectric transducers and actuators.

Method of making ultrasound transducer or actuator


A three dimensional flame nozzle on which at least four conduits stand upright. Each conduit has at least upper and lower nozzle tips. The angles of each nozzle tip can be adjusted so that a flame blown from each nozzle tip intersects with the flame blown from a corresponding nozzle tip to form a three dimensional flame having a number-sign shape that is steady and focused near the central portion of reinforcement steel. A nozzle supporting fixture has a first hold fitting to firmly hold and release the reinforcing steel at one end of a nearly L-shaped nozzle supporting fixture and a second hold fitting to firmly hold and release a three-dimensional nozzle at the other end of the L-shaped nozzle supporting fixture.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to flame nozzles of a device for gas pressure welding which heats reinforcing steel with oxy-acetylene flames, welds by applying pressure, and accessories that support and hold the nozzles.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, when a piece of reinforcing steel is welded to another piece of reinforcing steel, the connection has been accomplished using a device for gas pressure welding to insure sufficient strength of the connection joint. The gas pressure welding is carried out by abutting the end faces of each piece of reinforcing steel to be processed for welding together, and the abutting point is welded by heating while pressure is applied to the joint face. The nozzle used for the heating is configured to blow a combustion gas, such as acetylene gas. The tip of the nozzle is usually formed on a bifurcate conduit and the combustion flames from the tip hits along the radial direction of the reinforcing steel so that the flames heat a whole circumference of the reinforcing steel.
In the conventional nozzle, a conduit is formed in a curve, such as a ring-shape or a U-shape, so that the conduit surrounds the circumference of the reinforcing steel to be welded. The tips of the nozzle are arranged on the wall of the conduit so that flames blow out toward the central portion which is surrounded by the conduit. When the reinforcing steel to be welded is placed in the central portion of the conduit, plural nozzle tips are arranged in an equal angle along the periphery of the reinforcing steel so that the flames from the nozzle tips uniformly overlays the whole circumference of the weld point on the reinforcing steel. The number of the nozzle tips formed on the conduit is usually 4, 6, 8, . . . or 12 and the nozzle tips are arranged to uniformly heat the whole circumference of the reinforcing steel.
However, in the conventional gas pressure welding device, since the conduit on which the nozzles are provided and the nozzle tips are arranged is on a common plane, the plane formed by the flame blown out from the nozzles coincides with a cross section of the reinforcing steel. Accordingly, although the conventional nozzles can specifically heat the circumference of a cross section of the reinforcing steel along a line, the conventional nozzles can not heat a range of area broader than a certain width. Therefore, in the conventional gas pressure welding device, it is necessary to constantly swing the nozzles between a certain area along the axial direction of the reinforcing steel. Accordingly, a gas weld worker has to swing the conduit with nozzles along the axial direction of the reinforcing steel with his hand while he manages to position the reinforcing steel at the central portion. Thus his work always requires tension, and has a disadvantage that if the welder misses his target area, oxygen comes in to make oxidation in a flash, which will disqualify the weld during inspection.
When gas pressure welding reinforcing steel, workers must pay attention to various aspects of the heating work in which they are engaged. For example, workers must carefully prepare before starting the heating work, such as inspecting the end portions of the reinforcing steel for cracks and bends which yield damaging defects on the pressure welded spot, as well as inspecting the gas pressure welding device and its accessories, treating and processing of the end face of the reinforcing steel to be pressure welded, and installation of a pressurizing machine. Another aspect to pay attention to is the temperature and weather of the job site at the time when the work is carried out, because such factors as high temperature, cold temperature, strong wind, and rain or snow can also affect the job from the safety standpoint since the workers are handling high pressure oxygen and acetylene gases. Therefore it is an industry regulation that a gas pressure welding operation be carried out under the control of a qualified person. Therefore, the development of a flame nozzle which ensures secure welding work has been necessitated because the slight amount of carelessness can affect the quality the finished job on a large scale.


The invention proposes noise suppression circuits that are assembled together with capacitors on a CPU package. Charge is conveyed from the capacitors dedicated to the active noise suppression function through electrical circuit pathways such as controlled electronic switches integrated into a semiconductor substrate. These circuit pathways connect to the capacitor terminals through the package of the active noise suppression semiconductor chip. The circuits within the active device may be any combination of semiconductor switches and/or voltage regulators, and may also contain voltage and current sensing circuitry. The charge transfer switches are designed with control circuitry that dynamically modulate the turn-on threshold voltage of the switches and maintain the switches at an operating point very close to actual turn-on. These enhancements ensure very fast turn-on action for the switches improving voltage droop suppression capability.

Capacitors are commonly employed in electronic systems to store charge and minimize voltage excursions caused by fast load current variations. In order to maximize capacitor effectiveness, these devices are often physically placed at very close proximity to load devices. An example of such placement is the attachment of capacitors to the package substrate of microprocessors (CPU's) wherein the capacitors are mounted on the opposite side of the substrate, facing the processor chip, in order to minimize the physical and electrical distance from the processor power grid and the stored charge within the capacitors. This facilitates faster charge transfer from the capacitors to the CPU power grid and significantly minimizes voltage noise on the power grid.
Greater levels of integration of transistors devices within a microprocessor, a consequence of device scaling, leads to greater power consumption despite the reduction in operating voltages. This leads to increasing operating currents, and consequently an increased need for stored charge in close proximity to the microprocessor. While capacitor technology continues to scale, providing increased capacitance values within the same or smaller form factors, the noise created by state-transitions of CPU's, referred to as voltage droops and overshoots, requires alternate, active techniques that improve the effectivity of capacitance charge storage.
Active devices have been designed in the art to attempt to minimize power grid noise on CPU, and have been assembled in close proximity to the CPU alike capacitors as indicated in FIG. 1. This solution suffers from two primary disadvantages:                The active devices occupy real-estate on the package substrate, displacing capacitors        The electrical path from the capacitors feeding the active devices and then into the CPU from the active devices is slow because of the physical distance between the circuits and the capacitors feeding them with electrical charge.
These disadvantages greatly diminish the effectivity of the active circuits employed for noise reduction, and a need exists for improvement upon this power system architecture.


A combination of a semi-soluble methacrylic polymer and a sulfonated naphthalene condensation product, optionally with a semi-soluble or insoluble ethyl methacrylate polymer of high molecular weight, provides improved resistance to staining by acid colorants of fibrous polyamide substrate.

i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fibrous polyamide substrate having durable resistance to staining by acid colorants and to a method of rendering a fibrous polyamide substrate durably resistant to staining by acid colorants.
ii) Description of Prior Art
Fibrous polyamide substrates, such as nylon carpeting are susceptible to staining by both naturally occurring and commercial acid colorants found in many common foods and beverages. The demand for reduced staining from such acid colorants has by and large been met by treatment with compositions comprising sulfonated naphthol or sulfonated phenolformaldehyde condensation products as disclosed for example in the following patents:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,501,591, 4,592,940, and 4,680,212, all of Blyth and Ucci; U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,099, Creshler, Malone and Zinnato; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,885, Herlant and Al; or by treatment with compositions comprising sulfonated novolak resins together with polymethacrylic acid as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,373 Olson, Chang and Muggli.
The use of polymers or copolymers of methacrylic acid of low weight average molecular weight and low number average molecular weight is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,123 Chang, Olson and Muggli.
The initial stain resistance properties imparted to polyamide substrates, such as carpeting, that have been treated using the above mentioned compositions degenerates, significantly with each wet cleaning the substrate receives. Improved stain resistance after wet cleaning can be achieved by increasing the amount of the sulfonated hydroxy aromatic formaldehyde condensation products, in the stain resist product or by increasing the amount of stain-resist product initially applied to the substrate, however, this generally leads to discoloration caused by yellowing of the substrate initially and further discoloration upon exposure to light and/or oxides of nitrogen.
Stain resist products currently available in the market place are generally based on dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone and phenol sulfonic acid condensed with aldehyde in acid or alkaline media; or dihydroxy diphenyl sulfone and naphthalene sulfonic acid condensed with aldehyde in acid or alkaline media.
It is generally known that increasing the ratio of dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone to the phenol sulfonic acid or naphthalene sulfonic acid increases the stain resistance properties of the resin but causes a higher degree of yellowing or discoloration initially and further discoloration upon exposure to light and/or oxides of nitrogen.
It is also evident that when the ratio of phenol sulfonic acid or naphthalene sulfonic acid to dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone increases the result is lower stain-resist properties and less discoloration.
The addition of acrylic polymers and/or copolymers to the previously mentioned condensation products (novolak resin) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,473 (Olson, Chang and Muggli) allows the use of a novolak resin in small quantities and larger quantities of the acrylic resin. With this combination of novolak resin and acrylic resin, major improvement in the light fastness or less discoloration is achieved due to the dramatically reduced amount of novolak resin in the product, which is adjusted to obtain a desired low level of discoloration while maintaining an acceptable level of durability to wash. The high level of initial stain resistance is supplied primarily by the acrylic polymer and/or copolymer and after wet cleaning stain resistance is supposedly maintained by the novolak resin, the acrylic polymer or copolymer having largely been removed during the wet cleaning process.
It is an object of this invention to provide fibrous polyamide substrates having durable resistance to staining by acid colorants.
It is further object of this invention to provide a method of rendering a fibrous polyamide substrate durably resistant to staining by acid colorants.
It is a particular object of this invention to provide such a substrate or method in which a treating solution is employed which contains a combination of a bleached, sulfonated naphthalene, aldehyde condensate, and semi soluble or insoluble acrylic resins of high weight average and high number average molecular weight, to produce high stain resistance and durability to wet cleaning process and also to provide an optimum light fastness and minimum discoloration of the polyamide substrate due to nitrogen oxides or light.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a fibrous polyamide substrate having resistance to staining by acid colorants, comprising: a fibrous polyamide substrate having applied thereof: a) a semi-soluble methacrylic acid polymer, and b) a bleached, aldehyde condensate of a sulfonated naphthalene.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an aqueous formulation for providing resistance to staining by acid colorants in fibrous amide substrates comprising in an aqueous vehicle, a combination of: a) semi-soluble methacrylic acid polymer, and b) a bleached, aldehyde condensate of a sulfonated naphthalene.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of imparting stain resistance to acid colorants, to a fibrous polyamide substrate comprising: contacting said fibrous polyamide substrate with: a) a semi-soluble methacrylic acid polymer, and b) a bleached, aldehyde condensate of a sulfonated naphthalene, in an aqueous vehicle.
In accordance with the invention, it has been found that completely soluble acrylic and methacrylic homopolymers and copolymers do not have durability to wet cleaning, so that their stain resist effect diminishes with wet cleaning; whereas completely insoluble acrylic resins have very little stain resist effect on polyamide fibers.
The present invention employs one or more lower solubility acrylic resins, which resins are resistant to wet cleaning processes thereby providing durable stain resistance, together with a bleached, aldehyde condensate of a sulfonated naphthalene. This combination also provides initial stain resistance, prior to wet cleaning of the polyamide fibers as well as a soil release effect, and provides a substantial improvement in the light fastness.
In addition to the semi-soluble methacrylic acid polymer and the bleached, aldehyde condensate of a sulfonated naphthalene, there is preferably employed a semi-soluble or insoluble ethylmethacrylate polymer.
Suitably the semi-soluble or insoluble ethyl methacrylate polymer is a homopolymer of ethylmethacrylate or a copolymer of ethylmethacrylate and at least one comonomer, for example, ethylacrylate, methylacrylate, methylmethacrylate, methacrylic acid, butylmethacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate or 2-ethyl hexyl methacrylate.
The ethyl methylacrylate polymer suitably has a high weight average molecular weight of at least 100,000, typically 100,000 to 500,000, and preferably 100,000 to 250,000, and a high number average molecular weight of at least 25,000 to 100,000, preferably 30,000 to 70,000, more preferably 35,000 to 60,000.
The semi-soluble methacrylic acid polymer, is suitably a homopolymer of methacrylic acid or a copolymer of methacrylic acid and at least one comonomer, for example, ethylacrylate 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, methylmethacrylate, butyl methacrylate or isobutyl methacrylate.
The methacrylic acid polymer suitably has a high weight average molecular weight of at least 100,000, typically 100,000 to 500,000, and preferably 150,000 to 250,000 preferably over 200,000; and a high number average molecular weight of at least 50,000, typically 50,000, to 100,000, and preferably 50,000 to 80,000, and more preferably 60,000 to 75,000.
The resin combination of the invention may optionally include a partially sulfonated resol resin.
The ethyl methacrylate polymer and the methacrylic acid polymer together with the bleached, aldehyde condensate of a sulfonated naphthalene and the optional partially sulfonated resol resin, preferably are applied to the polyamide fiber substrate in an aqueous vehicle in which the polymers and resin are mixed in water, such that the combination is applied to the substrate in a single bath typically at a pH of 1.5 to 10.
It is also within the scope of the invention to apply the components of the combination to the substrate from separate baths.
An aqueous formulation of the polymers, the naphthalene condensate and resol resin, if present, for treating a polyamide fiber substrate, typically contains an amount of the methacrylic acid polymer to deposit an amount on polyamide fiber substrate of Nylon 66 of at least 0.02%, preferably at least 0.1%, by weight and at least 0. 04%, preferably at least 0.2%, by weight, on Nylon 6. The ethylmethacrylate polymer is suitably present in the aqueous formulation in an amount to deposit 0% to 3%, by weight, based on the weight of substrate, on Nylon 66; and 0% to 4%, by weight, on Nylon 6. Suitable partially sulfonated resol resins are known and are described in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,457,259; 5,549,963; 5,736,468 and 5,756,407, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. Suitable sulfonated naphthalene condensates are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,467,486 and 3,790,344, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. The bleached, sulfonated naphthalene condensate is suitably present in the aqueous formulation in an amount to deposit at least 0.03%, by weight, preferably 0.03% to 2%, by weight, on Nylon 66, based on the weight of substrate; and at least 0.1%, preferably 0.1 to 4%, by weight on Nylon 6.
The optional resole resin is suitably employed in amounts to deposit the same range as the bleached, sulfonated naphthalene condensate of 0.1% to 4% by weight, of the substrate, on Nylon 6 and 0.03% to 2%, by weight, on Nylon 66.
In particular the bleached, sulfonated naphthalene condensate, is a condensate of a naphthalene sulfonic acid, for example, a mono-, di- or tri-sulfonic acid, such as naphthalene-2-mono-sulfonic acids; an aldehyde, especially formaldehyde and a dihydroxy-diphenyl sulfone, for example, 4,4xe2x80x2-dihydroxy-diphenylsulfone. The condensation may be in acid or alkaline media.
The condensate is bleached to reduce or remove colour which causes the yellowing of the nylon fibres, by techniques known in the art. By way of example the condensate may be bleached by addition of 0.1 to 4%, by weight, sodium or zinc formaldehyde sulfoxylate for a period of 20 to 90 minutes at a temperature below 100xc2x0 C. This typically reduces colour by 20 to 80% and prevents further coloration. The bleaching or partial stripping of color is preferably carried out at a pH higher than 7 when sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate is employed, and at a pH lower than 7 when zinc formaldehyde sulfoxylate is employed, and at a temperature of 50xc2x0 C. or higher. The reference to bleaching, stripping or partially removing color herein refers to removal of the part of the color in the condensate which causes the yellowing of the fibers, bleaching, stripping or partial removal of color results in the condensate becoming lighter in color.
The degree of bleaching or stripping depends upon the naphthalene condensate and whether it is condensed at acid or alkaline media; and also depends on the stripping agent whether it is sodium or zinc, formaldehyde sulfoxylate, the bleaching or stripping conditions, for example, pH.
The time and the temperature are important factors and the percentage of stripping of the color varies, according to the stripping condition, between 20 to 80%.
After the bleaching or stripping, even if the color is still dark, it is observed that yellowing of the fibers does not occur.
The amounts of the naphthalene condensate and the optional resol resin deposited from the aqueous formulation on the polyamide fiber substrate is dependent on the process employed for the deposition, as it well understood by persons in the art, and thus persons in the art will well understand the concentrations required in the aqueous formulation, based on the application technique and method parameters employed.
The aqueous formulation is applied to the fibrous substrate by conventional procedures, for example, the substrate may be immersed in a bath of the aqueous formulation, or the formulation may be exhausted onto the substrate by foam system or spray or applied in one step with fluorochemical. Suitably, the treated substrate is rinsed with water and dried. The treated substrate retains the deposited polymer or polymers, the naphthalene condensate and the resol resin, if present.
In a preferred embodiment an anionic or non-ionic fluorochemical is also applied to the substrate. The fluorochemical can be applied from a single bath additionally containing the semi-soluble methacrylic acid polymer and the bleached condensate, as well as the optional ethylmethacrylate polymer and resole resin.
If separate baths are employed for the deposition of the different agents, the fluorochemical is conveniently included in the bath containing the bleached condensate.
Acrylic Copolymer A)
In a clean reactor vessel the following were added:
Mix #1
92.36 Parts by weight of water and 0.14 parts by weight of ammonium persulfate.
3 Parts of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (sodium salt at 30% solid). The solution was heated to 90xc2x0 C. and maintained at this temperature at all time with continued agitation.
Mix #2
In a separate tank the following were added in parts by weight.
57.2 parts water, 29.6 parts methacrylic acid, 3 parts 2-ethyl hexyl methacrylate, and addition of ammonium persulfate to obtain the mole weight required.
Mix #2 was added slowly to Mix #1 while maintaining a temperature of 90xc2x0 C. at all times; after the last addition the temperature was raised to 95xc2x0 C., and the reaction was allowed to continue for 90 minutes, then the reaction mixture was cooled down to 30xc2x0 C.
The above reaction resulted in an anionic hazy to milky solution with high viscosity and a solid content of 18 to 19%, by weight.
The resultant methacrylic acid copolymer had a weight average molecular weight of 210,000, and a number average molecular weight of 70,000, and is referred to in the Examples as acrylic copolymer A.
Acrylic Copolymer B)
To a clean reaction vessel equipped with a mechanical stirrer to produce efficient agitation the following was charged in parts by weight as Mix #1:
85.8 parts water and 2.2 parts ammonium persulfate;
3.25 parts dodecyl/benzenesulfonic acid, 30% neutralized sodium salt.
The resulting solution was heated to 80xc2x0 C. and maintained at this temperature. In a separate tank the following were charged in parts by weight as Mix #2:
0.7 parts ethyl acrylate, 3.52 parts methyl methacrylate,
6.6 parts methacrylic acid, 45 parts water,
26.4 parts ethyl methacrylate,
then finally another addition of ammonium persulfate was added to obtain the mole weight required.
Mix #2 was added slowly to Mix #1 while maintaining the temperature at 80xc2x0 C. After the last addition the reaction was allowed to continue for 90 120 minutes at 80-90xc2x0 C., and the reaction mixture was allowed to cool to 30xc2x0 C. The reaction produced an anionic milky emulsion with approximately 25 to 26%, by weight, solid content. The resultant ethylmethacrylate copolymer had a weight average molecular weight of 110,000, and a number average molecular weight of 36000, and is referred to in the Examples as acrylic copolymer B.
The resol resin:
In my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,457,259, 5,549,963 and 5,756,407, there is described the use of resol resin or resol resin and sulfonated naphthalene resin together in a combination with high molecular weight methacrylic acid copolymer.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,468, there is described the use of resol resin alone with a high molecular weight methacrylic acid copolymer.
The present invention provides a new art, taking the advantage of the use of bleached, sulfonated naphthalene resin and higher molecular weight semi soluble methacrylic acid polymer, preferably with a semi soluble to insoluble ethylmethacrylate polymer.
The naphthalene resin:
The manufacturing of naphthalene resin used in this invention is similar to that described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,467,486 and 3,790,344.
The naphthalene resin used in this invention has a preferred ratio of the dihydroxy diphenol sulfone to the naphthalene sulfonic acid between 25:75 and 40:60.
The dihydroxy diphenol sulfone and the naphthalene sulfonic acid are condensed with formaldehyde for several hours at 100 to 120xc2x0 C. in acid media.
After the reaction, the color of the resin is semi bleached or partially removed by the method mentioned in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,259 by treating the naphthalene resin with 0.1% to 4%, by weight, of sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate for 20 to 90 minutes at a temperature below 100xc2x0 C.,
Zinc formaldehyde sulfoxylate can be employed in place of sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate.
Test Methods
In the test procedures and examples described below all percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated, the molecular weight (M.W.) is the weight average molecular weight, and the molecular weight (M.N.) is the number average molecular weight.
Initial Stain Resistance (xe2x80x9cISxe2x80x9d)
A 5xe2x80x3xc3x975xe2x80x3 sample of the substrate to be tested is placed on a flat, non-absorbent surface. A two inch ring is placed on the sample and 20 ml of staining solution is poured into the ring and worked into the substrate. The ring is removed and the sample is left undisturbed for 16 hours at ambient temperature. The staining solution is prepared by dissolving 0.6 grams of Acid Red Dye No.40 the sample is rinsed with cool tap water and dried.
The stain resistance of the sample is visually rated by assessing the amount of color remaining in the stained area by comparison with the unstained portion. The sample is rated on a scale from 1 to 8 wherein 8 is excellent stain resistance and 1 is poor stain resistance categorized as follows:
8=EXCELLENT STAIN RESISTANCE
7=GOOD STAIN RESISTANCE
6=POOR STAIN RESISTANCE
5=UNACCEPTABLE STAINING
4=UNACCEPTABLE STAINING
3=UNACCEPTABLE STAINING
2=UNACCEPTABLE STAINING
1=UNACCEPTABLE STAINING
After Wet Cleaning Stain Resistance (xe2x80x9cW.S.xe2x80x9d)
The sample to be tested is first immersed in a detergent solution containing 15 grams of DUPONOL WAQE (Trade Mark of E.I. DuPont de Nemours for a surface active agent based on lauryl sulfate per liter of water at a pH of 10 and at 20xc2x0 C. for 15 minutes. The sample is removed from the detergent solution and rinsed thoroughly with cool tap water and dried. The staining solution is then applied and evaluated as set out in the initial stain resistance procedure. The same evaluation scale is employed as for Initial Stain Resistance.
Initial Yellowing (Discoloration) Evaluation (xe2x80x9cIDxe2x80x9d)
In the examples a graduated scale from 1 to 5 was used to evaluate yellowing where 5 represents no yellowing. 4 represents acceptable yellowing and 3 or less represents unacceptable yellowing.
Discoloration Upon Exposure to Light (xe2x80x9cLDxe2x80x9d)
In the examples a graduated scale from 1 to 5 was used to evaluate discoloration exposure to light where 5 represents no discoloration. 4 represents acceptable discoloration and 3 or less represents unacceptable discoloration. Exposure to light was carried out according to ATCC test method 16E with an exposure time of 40 standard hours.
The acrylic copolymer A of this invention alone or in combination with acrylic copolymer B, and the naphthalene resin of this invention with the color removed, with or without the resol resin were tested against:
1. Polyacrylic polymer with molecular weight of 5,000
2. Polyacrylic polymer with molecular weight of 100,000
3. Methacrylic acid polymer of 10,000-15,000 MW
4. The above products were tested alone or in combination with the naphthalene resin to show the performance with or without the naphthalene resin and also tested with resol resin as a reference or comparison against the naphthalene resin as well as a novolak resin.

Polyamide substrate having stain resistance, composition and method


A combined photo album and picture frame includes a front cover configured as a frame and adapted to carry a picture; a back cover having a pocket; a plurality of pages, each of which is adapted to hold at least one photograph; and an easel for supporting the combined photo album and picture frame where the pocket of the back cover is adapted to hold the easel.

The present invention relates to a combined photo album and picture frame and an easel therefor.
Several types of multi-purpose albums are known. However, these known albums either lay flat (i.e., have no support), or have a support attached to the exterior of the album or a separate, bulky support. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,799 to Spertus discloses a picture-frame album which may be supported in a vertically inclined position by an easel. However, the easel is affixed to the rear of the picture-frame album by gluing or any other suitable manner. Thus, although this known picture-frame album includes an easel, the easel is merely attached to the exterior of the picture-frame album and accordingly, is exposed to wear and tear.
Another known multi-purpose album which uses a non-attached or non-integral support element to display a framed picture on a flat, horizontal surface is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,195 to Lu. In this multi-purpose album, a complicated procedure of removing screws and the front and back cover is required in order to form a picture frame. Moreover, since the supporting frame is not a part of the multi-purpose album, the supporting frame is usually separate from the album and thus is easily lost. This is especially true in that the photo album must be dismantled to form the picture frame which uses the separate supporting frame.
An album used as a picture frame and a mirror is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,354 to Kwon. However, the support employed in Kwon's album is physically attached to the exterior of the frame walls. Thus, this support or cover which pivots about a hinge formed in the album frame is also subject to outside forces and may be broken off rendering the picture frame unusable.
Thus, known combination picture frame and photo albums do not provide a safe, secure place for holding an easel while it is not in use.

Combined photo album and picture frame and an easel therefor


A device information analysis circuit 108 analyzes type and capability of reception terminal, and in accordance with the result of analysis, a scene/object conversion circuit 1002 refers to object description data 103 and scene description data 104, and determines whether or not display positions and placement (layout of the respective objects in a display screen of the reception terminal) of respective objects must be changed. If it is determined that the display position and placement must be changed, the display positions and the placement of the respective objects described in the scene description data 104 and the object description data 103 are converted in accordance with the result of analysis by the device information analysis circuit 108.

Nowadays schemes for multiplexing and synchronization of coded bit stream of multimedia data including plural objects such as a moving image, a sound, a text and a CG are standardized in the ISO/IEC 14496 part 1 (MPEG-4 Systems). In the MPEG-4 Systems, operations of ideal terminal model called a system decoder model are defined.
The above MPEG-4 data stream, which is different from conventional general multimedia stream, has a function of independently transmitting/receiving plural video scenes and video objects on a single stream. Further, as for audio data, plural objects can be reproduced from a single stream. The MPEG-4 data stream includes BIFS (Binary Format for Scenes) expanded from VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) for handling natural moving images and sounds as information defining spatial and time placement of respective objects as well as conventional video and audio data. The BIFS is information describing an MPEG-4 scene by binary representation.
As respective objects necessary for scene synthesis are independently subjected to an optimum coding before they are transmitted, they are independently decoded on the decoding side. In accordance with the description of the above BIFS, time axes of the respective data are synchronized to that inside a reproduction device, thereby the scene is synthesized and reproduced.
When a bit stream of such multimedia data is transmitted, it is necessary to generate and transmit data having an optimum amount of information in correspondence with capability and type of reception side terminal and the status of communication line. That is, if the reception side terminal is a mobile information terminal with a low processing capability such as a cellular phone or a PDA (Personal Data Assistant) or if the communication line is crowded, it is necessary for the transmission side to previously compress the transmission data by a high compression rate coding format, otherwise to reduce the image size, the transmission rate or frame rate then encode the data.
Plural schemes have been proposed for optimizing the information amount then encoding and transmitting data by controlling moving image/audio rate, selecting time/spatial scalability, converting image size, and/or controlling error durability in correspondence with capability of reception side terminal and the status of communication line.
However, regarding transmission of bit stream having plural objects such as a still image, a moving image, a CG, a text and the like, no scheme has been proposed for optimizing display positions and placement of the respective objects then encoding and transmitting the data.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has its object to provide data processing apparatus and method for, upon coding and delivery of multimedia data having plural objects such as a moving image, a still image, a text and a CG, changing the multimedia data such that the respective objects and the layout thereof are changed in correspondence with the type and capability of the reception side terminal.


A machine particularly adapted for dispensing light items packaged in symmetrical, frustum-shaped container. The items are propelled through a tubular cartridge and individually ejected by a flow of air generated by a blower under control of a toggling dual-gate mechanism at the dispensing end of the cartridge. The dual-gate mechanism of a removable magazine grouping a number of cartridges can be selectively addressed and activated by means of a solenoid-driven cross-bar assembly.

In the coffee service industry, individual doses of coffee, tea or chocolate are often offered in small containers that are configured to be readily inserted in a brewing machine. Boxes holding large quantities of the products are usually placed next to the brewing machines for the convenience of employees and customers. In most cases, this type of beverage service is provided and paid by the employer.
The system is subject to abuses. Unscrupulous employees may grab handfuls of containers for use at home. Unsupervised persons, such as maintenance and janitorial crews who frequent the premises during off hours may also be tempted to help themselves to undue quantities of goods.
There is a need to find a convenient solution to the uncontrolled presentation and dispensing of small packaged articles.


A method for determining capacity utilization and predicting the future capacity utilization of a goods delivery system from a supplier to a buyer utilizing a system having at least one delivery agent, at least one store, at least one manufacturer, and a plurality of buyers, wherein the at least one delivery agent, at least one store, and the at least one manufacturer are coupled to a communications network. The method comprises the steps of searching for the available capacity in each one of a plurality of markets wherein each market has at least one delivery zone, calculating the capacity utilization by day for each zone, setting a flag which is indicative of over capacity or undercapacity, determining the probability that the next day will be over capacity based on historical data, and determining the trend-line of capacity utilization based on historical data.

This invention relates to a capacity tracking system and more particularly to a Internet based goods delivery capacity tracking system.
At least one other company has employed an Internet based goods delivery system wherein the goods can be ordered from one particular store and delivered to a designated buyer's address. For example Home Depot Company has employed an Internet based appliance delivery system for more than a year. This system enables a buyer to place an Internet based order for a branded good, and the respective good be delivered to the buyers designated address. Once the order is placed the order is sent to a respective delivery agent via the Internet. The respective delivery agent then delivers the respective good. As such, this good delivery system is an order fulfillment system. This system has a number of disadvantages, including, for example: the system could not automatically generate order reschedules resulting from "refusals", "cancellations", "damaged" goods, "suspends", and "shorts"; nor is there ability to modify delivery capacity based on capacity utilization feedback.
Delivery management systems are known that provide Internet based delivery of standard sized packages, one particular example is the FEDERAL EXPRESS® goods delivery system. In this specification non-standard sized packages are packages that are not delivered by air carriers and mail delivery services, and typically are packages that weigh over about 100 lbs. (45 kg). The delivery of non-standard size packages generally requires a delivery agent who is equipped to ship and install the delivered goods. For example, there currently exists a plurality of appliance delivery services that receives the appliance from the appliance manufacturer, delivers and installs the appliance after the purchaser has ordered the appliance from a local appliance store. This entire operation is manually executed based on a delivery manifest. The delivery manifest is typically a document identifying the delivery agent's goods shipment schedule.
It is desirable to provide a system wherein delivery and installation capacity can be calculated by geographic area to provide information for feedback to optimize the delivery of goods. It is also desirable to predict future capacity of the goods delivery system. Finally, it is desirable to provide a goods delivery system that can be modified to maximize the delivery efficiency by providing trend line information about whether the capacity utilization is getting better or worse.

Capacity monitoring process for a goods delivery system


An information processing apparatus includes: a holding unit which holds pieces of device information of printing apparatuses already connected to the information processing apparatus, and pieces of information of hot folders corresponding to the already-connected printing apparatuses; a determination unit which determines a printing apparatus similar to a printing apparatus newly connected to the information processing apparatus among the already-connected printing apparatuses by comparing device information of the newly-connected printing apparatus with the pieces of device information of the already-connected printing apparatuses; and a generation unit which generates a hot folder corresponding to the newly-connected printing apparatus by copying information of a hot folder corresponding to the printing apparatus determined by the determination unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium. Particularly, the present invention relates to a method of generating a hot folder corresponding to a printing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional hot folder system, an information processing apparatus having a hot folder function is connected to many printing apparatuses on a network. When print data is input to a predetermined hot folder held in the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus transmits the print data to a printing apparatus to generate a printed material.
The hot folder system is used in, for example, a booklet printing company. In the hot folder system, various printing apparatuses are connected, a printing apparatus is selected in accordance with the form and purpose of a printed material, and the selected printing apparatus outputs the printed material. Print settings and information complying with a purpose such as a printing apparatus to print are held in advance for each hot folder, facilitating printing.
When generating a hot folder for a newly-connected printing apparatus, the operator needs to execute the following work in the conventional hot folder system. For example, as the first method, the operator generates a hot folder for a newly-connected printing apparatus at an arbitrary timing. At this time, the operator designates various settings one by one in accordance with the purpose of printing via a hot folder generation screen 201 as shown in FIG. 2, and generates a hot folder. Alternatively, as the second method, first, the operator starts generating a hot folder for a newly-connected printing apparatus at an arbitrary timing. Then, the operator selects a hot folder (hot folder template) prepared in advance in the hot folder system, and copies the template to generate a hot folder (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-287111).
The conventional technique undesirably puts a heavy burden on the user when newly generating a hot folder. More specifically, the user needs to individually set setting information by using a hot folder setting screen. Alternatively, hot folder templates for a plurality of hot folders need to be prepared in advance.

Information processing apparatus having hot folders, information processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium


A tension control apparatus for a tape player comprising a motor for driving a reel table on which a tape reel is installed, a tension detector which is pressed by a biasing force of a spring to contact with a tape extending from the tape reel, a sensor for detecting a shifting amount of the tension detector, and a servo circuit which controls a load of the motor in response to an output of the sensor. The tension control apparatus further comprises a switching device which controls the load of the motor by a voltage supplied from an electric power source other than an output voltage supplied from the servo circuit until the output voltage from the servo circuit is stabilized when shifted to a tape travelling mode. And further the tension control apparatus comprises a limiter which suppresses the output voltage from the servo circuit to be equal to or less than a predetermined value. Thus, the present invention prevents an excessive reverse torque from occurring in a motor even if the tension detector abruptly hits the tape when the operation mode shifts from a stop mode to a play mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tension control apparatus which controls a tension of a tape extending from a tape reel in a rotary head type tape player or another tape player which is applied to a VTR or a DAT, and especially to, a tension control apparatus for a tape player which is capable of preventing excessive tape tension from acting due to the sudden vibration in a tension detecting member shortly after an operational condition is shifted to a tape travelling mode.
2. Related Art
FIG. 7 is a plane view showing a tape travelling portion of the rotary head type tape player. On a chassis 1, there are provided a feeding-side reel table 2 and a winding-side reel table 3. On each of the reel tables 2 and 3 there is installed a tape reel in which a tape T is wound. The tape player shown in the drawing is a direct drive type, in which the feeding-side reel table spindle 2 and the winding-side reel table 3 are driven directly by a motor M1 and M2, respectively. A magnetic tape T is pulled and guided by loading posts 4 and 5 to be wound partly on a rotary head device 6. In a play mode, the tape T is sandwiched by a capstan 7 and a pinch roller 8 and, in turn, sent out by the rotational force of the capstan 7. And, a rotary drum of the rotary head apparatus 6 rotates together with a magnetic head so as to perform a recording operation or a playback operation.
A reference numeral 10 denotes a tension arm provided as a tension detecting member. At a front end of the tension arm 10 there is fixedly provided a tension post 11. The tension arm 10 is provided to be rotatable about a shaft 13, and the tension post 11 is pressed against the tape T to contact therewith between the posts 4 and 9. On the tension arm 10 there are provided a pair of magnets 14a and 14b, and on the chassis 1 there is provided a hole element 15 as a sensor which detects a shifting amount of the magnets 14a and 14b.
With the above arrangement, for example in a play mode, the tension post 11 shifts in response to the strength of tension of the tape driven to travel by the capstan 7. The shifting amount is output from the hole element 15 by detecting the magnetic poles of the magnets 14a and 14b. The output from the hole element 15 is input to the servo circuit. Then, by a motor control voltage supplied from the servo circuit, a reverse torque of the feeding-side motor M1 is controlled so that an appropriate tension is applied on the tape T. By controlling the tension of the tape, a magnetic head contact pressure between the tape T and the rotary head device 6 is maintained in an appropriate condition.
In accordance with the above tension control apparatus for the rotary head type tape player, in the condition that the loading of the tape is completed as shown in FIG. 7, at a stop mode the pinch roller 8 departs or is released from both the tape T and the capstan 7 so that the tape feeding force by the capstan 7 is not transmitted to the tape T, and the tension arm 10 rotates in a clockwise direction so that the tension post 11 departs from the tape T. And when the operational condition is shifted to a play mode; i.e. a recording/playback mode, the pinch roller 8 pushes the tape T to the capstan 7 and, at the same time, the tension arm 10 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction by a biasing force of the spring 12 s that the tension post 11 contacts with the tape T, thereby realizing the condition where the tension detection becomes possible through the tension arm 10.
In a switching operation from the stop mode to the play mode, the tension arm 10 is abruptly rotated in the counter-clockwise direction due to the elastic force of the spring 12 and, therefore, the tension post 11 hits the tape T abruptly. Accordingly, a tension detecting output which is detected by the hole element 15 comes to indicate an abrupt change in response to the vibration caused by the sudden movement of the tension arm 10. For example, in FIG. 8, a wave (A) shows a motor control voltage being output from the servo circuit on the basis of the detection of the hole element 15 in the case that the tension post 11 suddenly shifts toward the tape T by the biasing force of the spring 12 shortly after the operational condition is shifted from the stop mode to the play mode.
The steep wave indicated by (A) has the same directional tendency as an output that is produced when the tape tension is too weak, therefore this motor control voltage causes the sudden reverse torque in the feeding-side motor M1 shown in FIG. 7. Thus, upon this reverse torque acting on the motor M1, the motor M1 strongly pulls the tape T. This means that the tape tension is suddenly enhanced in spite of the fact that the tape tension is not weakened. Thus, it results in that the tape T is damaged.

Apparatus for controlling tape tension in a magnetic tape device by controlling a reverse torque motor


A heat radiating assembly employable by a plasma display apparatus for radiating heat generated by a signal transmission unit, which transmits electric signals from a circuit unit that drives a plasma display panel and includes an electronic device covered by a protecting member, is provided. The heat radiating assembly may include a heat absorbing member, a heat radiating member, and a heat transferring member. The heat absorbing member may absorb the heat generated by the electronic device and transmitted to the protecting member. The heat radiating member may radiate heat out from the plasma display apparatus. The heat transferring member may transfer the heat from the heat absorbing member to the heat radiating member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat radiating assembly for a plasma display apparatus and a plasma display apparatus including the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a heat radiating assembly capable of efficiently radiating heat generated by electronic elements disposed on a signal transmission unit and a plasma display apparatus including the heat radiating assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma display apparatuses are flat panel display apparatuses that display images using a gas discharge phenomenon. Plasma display apparatuses have superior characteristics such as high image quality, small thickness, low weight, and wide viewing angle with large screens. Plasma display apparatuses of various sizes, including large sizes, are generally easy to fabricate.
In general, plasma display apparatuses include a plasma display panel, a frame disposed parallel to the plasma display panel, a circuit unit mounted on a rear portion of the frame to drive the plasma display panel, and a case that houses the plasma display panel, the frame, and the circuit unit.
In the plasma display panel, the circuit unit and the plasma display panel are electrically connected to each other by a signal transmission unit such as a tape carrier package (TCP) or a chip on film (COF). TCPs are formed by mounting a device such as a driving integrated circuit (IC) on a tape and packaging. COFs are formed by mounting a device on a film forming a flexible printed circuit (FPC). TCPs and COFs are flexible, and a plurality of devices can be mounted on each. By mounting a plurality of devices on each, a size of a circuit unit can be reduced.
Electronic devices mounted on the TCP or COF generate high temperature heat during driving of the plasma display panel. If the heat cannot be radiated sufficiently, the electronic devices may operate improperly, and cause problems when images are to be displayed on the plasma display panel. When the plasma display panel is driven in a high definition (HD) single scan method, the electronic devices mounted on the TCP or COF connecting the address driver of the circuit unit and the address electrodes generate even more heat than usual. The generated heat should be radiated to help maintain proper function of the plasma display panel.

Heat radiating assembly for plasma display apparatus and plasma display apparatus including the same


A printing apparatus includes a carrying platform on which a substrate is placed, a cartridge configured to store and supply ink, and a print head configured to atomize the ink into ink droplets and deposit the ink droplets on a printing region of the substrate.

In recent years, with the increasing demand from the market, flexible OLED display is becoming an important development direction for the display industry. The quality of the packaging technique for OLED determines lift span of products. The three-stacked-layer structure (CVD (chemical vapor deposition)-Flatness-CVD) becomes a currently predominant way to package due to its excellent performance. The flatness layer of the three-stacked-layer structure is mainly accomplished by inkjet printing and curing. Currently, the inkjet printing mainly uses ceramic piezoelectric print heads which draw ink under the drawing state and eject ink under the releasing state by the control of pulse voltages. The ejected ink is dropped on the substrate and the ink droplets each spread and are connected with each other. The ink as a whole flows level and is cured. The ink droplets ejected by the existing print heads have relatively large volume. Take an example of an ink droplet of 10 PL, from the calculation formula for sphere volume V=(4/3)πR3 it can be obtained that the ink droplet has a diameter of 27 μm. Large size may increase reliance on leveling property, usually cause generation of void and the like, and have limitation to usage. Accordingly, such print heads are expensive.
It should be noted that, information disclosed in the above background portion is provided only for better understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus it may contain information that does not form the prior art known by those ordinary skilled in the art.


Examples provide a self-supervised language model for document-to-document similarity scoring and ranking long documents of arbitrary length in an absence of similarity labels. In a first stage of a two-staged hierarchical scoring, a sentence similarity matrix is created for each paragraph in the candidate document. A sentence similarity score is calculated based on the sentence similarity matrix. In the second stage, a paragraph similarity matrix is constructed based on aggregated sentence similarity scores associated with the first candidate document. A total similarity score for the document is calculated based on the normalize the paragraph similarity matrix for each candidate document in a collection of documents. The model is trained using a masked language model and intra-and-inter document sampling. The documents are ranked based on the similarity scores for the documents.

Text similarity comparison for ranking and/or scoring is an important task in multiple domains, such as information retrieval, recommendations, question answering, and more. Most methods for ranking documents are limited to relatively short documents or rely on the existence of "ground-truth" similarity labels associated with the documents. Yet, in most common real-world cases, similarity labels for every document in a corpus of documents are unavailable. Recent approaches based on Transformer language models, such as bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) models, benefit from effective text representations, but are limited in their maximum input text length. In other words, the language models are only effective for comparisons of relatively short documents. Therefore, currently available models are limited to short documents having labels, such as annotations. Hence, developing techniques for long-text or document level matching is an emerging research field. Thus, document comparison and ranking of documents in a collection by a language model is unavailable, inaccurate, or unreliable for documents of arbitrary length documents and/or documents lacking manually created similarity labels.

Self-supervised document-to-document similarity system