The invention relates to a PCI bus interface circuit for supplying power to a PCI plug-in card that is connected to a PCI bus. The inventive PCI bus interface circuit comprises a first input (2) for connection to a main voltage supply line of the PCI bus and a second input (3) for connection to an auxiliary voltage supply line of the PCI bus. The circuit further comprises an output (4) for delivering a supply voltage to the PCI plug-in card and a first switching means (6) for switching a main supply voltage supplied at the first input (2) to the output (4) when no auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is supplied at the second output (3). A second switching means (7) switches an auxiliary supply voltage Vaux supplied at the second input (3) to the output (4) when no main supply voltage VCC is supplied at the first input (2). The inventive circuit further comprises a third switching means (20) that switches the second switching means (7) to switch the auxiliary supply voltage to the output (4) when a main supply voltage is supplied at the first input (2) while an auxiliary supply voltage is simultaneously supplied at the second input (3).

The PCI bus system is used primarily in the PC sector. In this case, the majority of PCs have both PCI slots and, for reasons of compatibility, ISA slots.
FIG. 1 shows the basic construction of a PCI bus system. Plug-in cards K1, K2, K3 are connected to the main circuit board or motherboard of the computer via the PCI bus. For this purpose, the plug-in cards K1, K2, K3 are inserted into the PCI slots. The power supply of the plug-in cards K1, K2, K3 is likewise effected via the PCI bus.
Older PCI plug-in cards K1, K2, K3 do not carry out power supply management or power management and are only supplied with a main supply voltage VCC. Such PCI plug-in cards are increasingly being replaced by plug-in cards which carry out power supply management in order to save energy. For this purpose, the PCI plug-in cards have to be supplied with a secondary supply voltage or auxiliary supply voltage Vaux via the PCI bus. The secondary supply voltage, having a small loading capability, supplies the PCI plug-in cards K1, K2, K3 in a standby mode or is used for the start-up of the computer by the PCI plug-in cards, the PCI plug-in cards being supplied with the main supply voltage VCC after start-up has been effected.
Since not all PCI bus systems are provided with a secondary voltage supply line for supplying the PCI plug-in cards with a secondary or auxiliary supply voltage Vaux, an interface circuit is provided on the PCI plug-in cards. The interface circuit ensures that the PCI plug-in cards are supplied with the main supply voltage VCC if no auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present. Conversely, when an auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present on the PCI bus, the PCI plug-in card K receives said auxiliary supply voltage for carrying out the power supply management.
FIG. 2 shows an interface circuit according to the prior art.
The interface circuit has two signal inputs E1, E2. The main supply voltage VCC is applied to the input E1, while the input E2 is connected to the auxiliary voltage supply line of the PCI bus. Furthermore, the interface circuit shown in FIG. 2 has an output A for outputting a supply voltage to a circuit situated on the PCI plug-in card. The circuit situated on the plug-in card detects the presence of an auxiliary supply voltage Vaux, applied to the input E2, via a detection line D. If no auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present at the input E2, the detection device of the circuit situated on the PCI plug-in card is pulled to ground via a pull-down resistor R. As a result, the detection device receives a logically unambiguous signal indicating that no auxiliary supply voltage is present.
The interface circuit according to the prior art, as is shown in FIG. 2, contains two switching devices S1, S2, which are formed by two complementary transistors in the example shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the transistor S1 is an N-channel FET, while the transistor S2 is a P-channel FET. The control terminals of the two transistors S1, S2 are connected to the input E2. If the auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present at the input E2, the FET transistor S1 is turned on or activated, and, at the same time, the FET transistor S2 is turned off or deactivated. As a result, the auxiliary supply voltage for the PCI plug-in card is present at the output A. At the same time, the auxiliary supply voltage Vaux present at the input E2 is detected by a voltage detection device, present on the PCI plug-in card, via the signal output D of the interface circuit.
If the main supply voltage VCC is present at the input E1 and if, at the same time, no auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is applied to the input E2, the FET transistor S1 turns off and the complementary FET transistor S2 is turned on, with the result that the plug-in card circuit is supplied with the main supply voltage VCC via the output A of the interface circuit.
If the main supply voltage VCC is present at the input E1 and, at the same time, the auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present at the input E2, the FET transistor S1 is turned on and the FET transistor S2 is turned off, with the result that the auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present at the output A of the interface circuit in this case.
The table below shows the various operating cases for the interface circuit according to the prior art, as is shown in FIG. 2.
TABLE 1(Prior art)Operating caseE1E2S1S2ΔB100offon0B2VCC0offonVCCB30VauxonoffVauxB4VCCVauxonoffVaux
The interface circuit according to the prior art as shown in FIG. 2 has the disadvantage, however, that it does not ensure a reliable voltage supply of the PCI plug-in card circuit in every operating case. In PCI bus systems, the main supply voltage VCC and also the auxiliary supply voltage Vaux are 3.3 volts in each case. The supply voltage of the circuit situated on the plug-in card should never be below 3 volts. Therefore, it must be ensured that, at the output A of the interface circuit, given the presence of a supply voltage on the PCI bus, likewise at least an output voltage of 3 volts is output to the PCI plug-in card K.
In operating case B3 (see table), the auxiliary supply voltage Vaux is present at the input E2, while no main supply voltage VCC is present at the input E1. In this case, the FET transistor S1 is turned on and the FET transistor S2 turns off. The FET transistor S1 acts like a forward-biased diode across which a diode forward voltage of about 0.7 volt is dropped. Given an auxiliary supply voltage of 3.3 volts, only a supply voltage of about 2.6 volts thus passes to the output A of the interface circuit according to the prior art. In other words, this supply voltage is clearly below the required 3 volts which are necessary for the reliable voltage supply of the circuit on the PCI plug-in card.

PCI bus interface circuit for supplying either a main supply voltage or an auxiliary voltage to a PCI plug-in-card


An access control apparatus is disclosed that controls access to a predetermined resource. The access control apparatus includes entity relationship definition information defining a predetermined relationship of a first entity attempting to access the predetermined resource with a second entity, indirect access control information defining an access right to the predetermined resource based on the predetermined relationship, and an indirect access right determining unit that detects the second entity with which the first entity has the predetermined relationship based on the entity relationship definition information, and determines an access right of the first entity based on the predetermined relationship with the detected second entity and the indirect access control information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an access control apparatus, an access control method, an access control program, a recording medium, access control data, and relation description data, and specifically relates to an access control apparatus, an access control method, an access control program, a recording medium, access control data, and relation description data for controlling access to a predetermined resource.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advancement in computer technology, it has become common to save and manage various information items as electronic documents. Electronic documents are, however, vulnerable in terms of security. For example, the electronic documents can be easily copied compared to paper documents. In view of that, techniques to ensure security of the electronic documents have been proposed.
One example may be XACML (extensible Access Control Markup Language) 2.0, which is a format for describing access control policies proposed as an industry standard by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) (see, for example, http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=xacml). XACML can describe access control policies that define which type of access is permitted to which document and which obligation is imposed upon permitting access. However, XACML is merely a description format for access control policies, and methods for ensuring security using XACML are not specified.
DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology is designed to prevent copying of electronic documents and may be used when, for example, distributing confidential document files. This technology is embodied in various forms. Among those, there is a method that encrypts a document to be distributed and allows only authenticated users to have a decryption key, thereby preventing unauthorized disclosure of information in distributed confidential documents.
In addition to the above described technologies, various other security technologies have been proposed (e.g. Japanese Patent No. 3546787). This indicates a high concern for security of electronic documents.
However, in actual use in organizations such as companies, a system that determines whether access to documents is permitted based on access control information defined for each combination of documents and users or groups, i.e., based on definitions such as "who is permitted to read which document" might be inconvenient.
For example, a person b1 in a department B receives a confidential document from a department A and needs to show that document to his/her boss b2 or his/her colleague b3 for consultation or for giving a presentation. If read rights for the boss b2 and the colleague b3 are not attached to the confidential document received from the department A, the person b1 needs to request the department A to attach read rights for the boss b2 and the colleague b3 to the document. Then the department A sends the confidential document again with the read rights for the boss b2 and the colleague b3.
Such a process is very troublesome for both the department A and the person b1, and is unacceptable as an operating cost for ensuring security. However, allowing the person b1 to freely give read rights to unrelated people might lead to unauthorized distribution of the document.
The department A needs to prevent such unauthorized distribution of the confidential document by the person b1, but it is difficult for the department A to know in advance who the boss of the person b1 is. It is also difficult for the department A to know who the colleague usually working with the person b1 is. Therefore, the department A cannot decide to whom to give read rights in advance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Access control apparatus, access control method, access control program, recording medium, access control data, and relation description data


Compositions and methods of treating high temperature subterranean formations of up to about 500° F. (260° C.) are provided. The compositions and methods utilize a high molecular weight synthetic copolymer and a pH buffer than maintains a pH in a range of about 4.5 to about 5.25 for the compositions. The high molecular weight synthetic copolymer is derived from acrylamide, acrylamidomethylpropanesulfonic acid, and vinyl phosphonate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and compositions for treating high temperature subterranean formations. More particularly, it relates to methods and compositions for treating a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore into which a high temperature well treatment fluid is injected at temperatures of up to about 500° F. (260° C.).
2. Description of the Related Art
The continued exploration for hydrocarbon-containing subterranean formations is frequently requiring operators to drill significantly deeper than prior drilling operations. Besides drilling deeper, operators are always trying to enhance hydrocarbon production. One way of enhancing hydrocarbon production from many formations is by hydraulic fracturing. In the hydraulic fracturing process, a viscous fracturing fluid is injected into the wellbore at such a rate and pressure so that a crack or fracture is opened into the surrounding formation. Typically, hydraulic fracturing fluids contain guar gum or guar gum derivatives or viscoelastic surfactants as thickeners to assist in proppant transport, friction reduction, fluid loss control, and controlling fracture geometry. The hydraulic fracturing fluids generally transport proppant into the fracture to prevent the fracture from fully closing. Besides being able to place the proppant in the fracture, the fluid must be able to degrade by lowering its viscosity so that a low viscosity fluid results that can be easily cleaned out of the fracture just prior to hydrocarbon production. As the drilling depths continue to increase, the formation temperatures also increase. Unfortunately, as temperatures exceed 325° F. (162.8° C.), many guar-based fracturing fluids are ineffective because they lose their viscosity in part or in whole and therefore become less effective or completely ineffective. Many guar-based fracturing fluids degrade at rates preventing optimum proppant placement, fluid loss control, or fracture geometry.
At high temperatures, guar-based polymers readily undergo auto-degradation by a number of methods, usually within periods of time shorter than what is necessary to complete the fracturing treatment. The degradation generally gets worse as the temperatures continue to increase. Increasing temperatures exasperates this behavior. Most degradation results in the cleavage of the polymer chains, which simultaneously reduces the fluid's viscosity. This can be due to oxidation from residual amounts of air entrained in the fluid, thermal induced cleavage of the acetal linkage along the polymer backbone, hydrolysis of the polymer, or a combination thereof.
A need exists for fracturing fluids that can be used in the deeper and hotter formations that are in operation while simultaneously being able to degrade in a controlled manner when the fracturing process is complete. It is desirable for such fracturing fluids to be stable to enable the fracturing fluids to travel further distances within the fractures.

Method of fracturing with phenothiazine stabilizer


An antenna for receiving and/or transmitting circularly and/or linearly polarized RF signals includes a radiation element, a ground plane, a dielectric substrate, and a feed line. The radiation element is disposed on a pane of glass. The radiation element defines a slot having a first leg and a second leg forming the shape of a cross for generating the circular and/or linear polarization. The cross-shaped slot includes a center point. The ground plane is disposed substantially parallel to and spaced from the radiation element. The dielectric substrate is sandwiched between the radiation element and the ground plane. The feed line extends within the dielectric substrate and is electromagnetically coupled with the radiation element and the ground plane. The feed line terminates at a distal end short of the center point of the slot. That is, the feed line does not cross the center point. The antenna is compact in size and generally conformal to the pane of glass.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to an antenna, specifically a planar slot coupling patch antenna, for receiving a circularly polarized radio frequency (RF) signal from a satellite.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicles have long implemented glass to enclose a cabin of the vehicle while still allowing visibility for the driver of the vehicle. Automotive glass is typically either a tempered (or toughened) glass or a laminated glass which is produced by bonding two or more panes of glass together with a plastic interlayer. The interlayer keeps the panes of glass together even when the glass is broken.
Recently, antennas have been integrated with the glass of the vehicle. This integration helps improve the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle as well to help present the vehicle with an aesthetically-pleasing, streamlined appearance. Integration of antennas for receiving linearly polarized RF signals, such as those generated by AM/FM terrestrial broadcast stations, has been the principal focus of the industry. However, that focus is shifting to integrating antennas for receiving RF signals from Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) providers. SDARS providers use satellites to broadcast RF signals, particularly circularly polarized RF signals, back to Earth. SDARS providers use multiple satellites in a geostationary orbit or in an inclined elliptical constellation.
Various antennas for receiving circularly polarized RF signals are well known in the art. Examples of such antennas are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,645 (the '645 patent) to Day and U.S. Pat. No. 6,778,144 (the '144 patent) to Anderson.
The '645 patent discloses an antenna including a radiation element disposed on a pane of glass. The pane of glass is suitable for application as a window of a vehicle. A ground plane is disposed substantially parallel to and spaced from the radiation element. The ground plane defines a slot having a first leg and a second leg generally perpendicular to each other and forming a cross shape. The radiation element and the ground plane sandwich a dielectric layer. A feed line is disposed on a circuit board attached to the ground plane, such that the feed line is isolated from the ground plane. The feed line traverses a center point of the slot. The antenna of the '645 patent occupies a relatively large area on the pane of glass, which obstructs the view of a driver of the vehicle.
The '144 patent discloses an antenna including a radiation element. The radiation element defines a slot including a first leg and a second leg generally perpendicular to each other and forming a cross shape. The first and second legs are of unequal lengths and/or widths to give the antenna a circular polarization. A ground plane is disposed substantially parallel to and spaced from the first conductive layer. The radiation element and the ground plane sandwich at least one dielectric layer. A plurality of vias electrically connect the first conductive layer to the second conductive layer. A feed line is disposed within the at least one dielectric layer and is substantially parallel to the conductive layers. The feed line is disposed at a 45° angle in relation to the legs of the slot and traverses a center of the cross shape. The antenna of the '144 patent is not integrated with a window of a vehicle.
The characteristics of glass, particularly soda-lime-silica automotive glass, and the angled disposition of this glass when applied as a window of a vehicle, provide challenges to the effective integration of an antenna with a window of the vehicle. Automotive manufacturers demand strict requirements as to the amount of visual obstruction caused by antennas integrated with windows of the vehicle. To date, the performance of antennas integrated with automotive glass in receiving SDARS signals has been disappointing. Therefore, there remains an opportunity to introduce an antenna that aids in the reception of the circularly polarized RF signal from a satellite. Particularly, there remains an opportunity for a high-performing antenna that, when integrated with an automotive window does not create a substantial visual obstruction and still maintains optimal reception.


A system permits a customer service agent to receive and listen to an audio recording from a caller on a voice device (110), and thereby prepare to support the caller before connecting directly with him/her. The incoming call may originate on a public telephone network (120), and be received by a system (100). The system (100) may include one or more of an automatic call distributor/private branch exchange (130), a voice response unit (140), and a computer telephone integration server (160), and possibly a data device (180). The caller may be prompted to provide an audio message concerning the nature of the telephone call. Before being connected to the caller, the service agent may be provided with the audio message from the caller, possibly via the data device (180). After listening to the caller's previously recorded audio message and preparing to assist the caller, the agent and caller may then be directly connected together.

In-bound calls to a customer service agent are often subject to long delays while agents are helping other callers. Technology is needed that will speed up the communication process and allow incoming calls to reach their intended recipient as quickly, economically, and as accurately as possible.
Some existing technologies hold a communications channel open until a customer service agent is available to accept an incoming call. This is a costly approach due to potentially long hold times while other caller's are being serviced. Other techniques allow for an input of a tone or a series of tones from a caller. In this case, a caller may be asked to press a specific number on a telephone keypad in response to a question posed by the telecommunications service to help direct the incoming call to the appropriate agent. While this may allow a caller to provide his account number to an agent, it does not allow the agent to receive any specific information prior to talking to the caller. An example may clarify this problem.
Suppose that a company is trying to make the most cost effective use of its customer service agents in handling the calls of its customers concerning questions related to computer problems. The agent's goal is to satisfy the customer's request for information or technical support as quickly as possible. It would be useful for the customer service agent to be able to get detailed information related to the customer's specific question before connecting directly with the customer. This would allow the agent to obtain the appropriate reference information and be more prepared to deal with the customer's problem before talking to the customer.
Accordingly, there is a need for mechanisms that receive audio information from a caller, record that audio information, and transmit this information to an agent prior to connecting the caller and agent together.

Systems and methods for providing audio information to service agents


A system for extending a penis. The system includes a woven cylinder. The woven cylinder includes a set of fibers woven into a cylindrical shape. The woven cylinder is configured to lengthen when a force is applied to the woven cylinder and decrease in circumference when the woven cylinder lengthens. The woven cylinder is further configured to be placed on the penis of a user, applying a lateral force to the penis.

Penis enlargement, sometimes euphemistically called male enhancement, are techniques alleged to increase the girth, length, or hardness of the human penis. Procedures range from manual exercises to stretching devices and surgical procedures, with reports of successes and failures around the world. While some of these are known to be outright hoaxes, other techniques, such as surgery, can produce some measure of success.
Little legitimate scientific research has been done specifically on penile enlargement, so any claims of significant and permanent enlargement tends to be anecdotal. There are also risks inherent to some of the more invasive procedures, with negative outcomes ranging from the tearing of skin and scarring, to permanent loss of sexual function. Due to the speculative nature of any hope for "improvement" and the many known cases of permanent injury involved in this endeavor, many medical professionals are skeptical of the subject.
At present, there is no proof of any non-surgical technique that permanently increases either the thickness or length of a normal penis. However, many of the techniques are meant only to temporarily lengthen the penis, even under optimal conditions. For example, drugs that promise to lengthen a penis increase are intended to increase the blood flow to the penis. However, this does not physiologically change the penis size.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a device which can permanently extend the length of a penis. Further, there is a need in the art for the device to do so without surgery.


An architecture that leverages support for markup language operations, e.g., extensible markup language (XML) queries, via a lightweight application program interface (API). The API defines an object model that can simplify construction of XML values in languages that do not natively support XML. The novel aspects of the described innovation can enable query languages to be factored into general operations (e.g., mapping, filtering, sorting, and/or projection of functions) on collections on one hand, and a set of domain specific operations (e.g., navigation, construction and modification) on the elements of these collections on another hand. The subject API can support creation of XML data that is node centric (e.g., context-free). Accordingly, nodes do not have to be constructed within the context of a document. Additionally, aspects can enable expression-oriented interface mechanisms as opposed to the imperative statement-oriented style interfaces used in connection with traditional interface mechanisms (e.g., DOM).

Markup languages and applications associated therewith continue to evolve and become commonplace in today's computing environments. Generally, a markup language describes a set of labels that are embedded within text to distinguish groups of elements or individual elements for display or identification purposes. Typically, the labels are known as "tags." Markup languages identify elements within a continuous stream of text rather than more structured data in a database. One particular markup language, extensible markup language (XML), can convert text streams into the equivalent of database records.
Today, XML is known as an open standard for describing data. Oftentimes, XML is employed to define data elements with respect to a web page and/or business-to-business documents. XML is similar in tag structure to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). However, HTML defines how elements are to be displayed while XML defines the logical content of the elements.
As such, contrary to HTML which uses predefined tags, XML enables a developer of a page to define tags. Thus, virtually any data item can be identified using XML. As a result, XML documents of fragments can function similar to database records. To this end, database functionality can be employed upon XML fragments.
By way of example, a business can use XML to define items such as product, customer and outstanding balance due. Accordingly, by using XML to identify these items, XML documents of fragments can be structured and function much like database records. This common method for identifying data (e.g., XML) supports business-to-business transactions and has become a commonplace format for electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions.
XML tags are defined in an XML schema, which identifies content type as well as the name of elements and attributes. Unlike HTML, which is known to employ a somewhat loose coding style tolerant of coding errors, convention XML pages have to be "well formed."
Because XML organizes records in a format similar to a database format, recent developments have been directed to querying upon and navigating through XML fragments. To this end, many special purpose languages have been created to effect obtaining information. However, these special purpose languages require imperative mechanisms to operate upon the traditional rigid programmed fragments.

Lightweight application program interface (API) for extensible markup language (XML)


A process for the simultaneous removal of H2S and SO2 from tail gases is disclosed. A tail gas stream is contacted with a sorbent in a sorption zone to produce a product gas stream and a sulfur laden sorbent, wherein the sorbent comprises Zn and a promoter metal. A process for the recovery of sulfur is also disclosed. A tail gas stream is contacted with a sorbent in a sorption zone to produce solid sulfur, wherein the sorbent comprises Zn and a promoter metal, wherein the promoter metal is manganese.

Tail gas streams originate from various sources. They are found in refinery off-gases as well as Claus units that are unable to convert all gaseous sulfur species to elemental sulfur. These tail gases contain SO2 and H2S at levels exceeding permissible emission limits which are currently set at 10 ppm H2S and 250 ppm SO2 in the United States. Tail gas compositions vary widely depending on the application. Often steam, syngas, and/or CO2 are found in tail gases. Tail gases are mostly free of O2 but often contain low levels of H2.
One way to treat tail gases is by hydrotreating and amine scrubbing. Hydrotreating requires the whole gas stream to be heated to reaction temperature following a gas cool-down from 400° C. to near ambient temperatures prior to use. Inherent in this process is a significant energy penalty due to the heating and cooling steps required. The amine regeneration produces concentrated H2S which is returned to a Claus unit where it is converted to elemental sulfur.
Alternatively, the gas can be oxidized in a burner to form SO2 as the only sulfur species. This option also requires a cool-down phase and additional equipment to scrub the SO2 and to regenerate the scrubbing material. This is known as the CANSOLV® process (CANSOLV is a registered trademark of Cansolv Technologies, Inc.) and the regeneration produces concentrated SO2 which is recycled to a Claus unit.
Claus units are useful for sulfur removal. However, Claus units typically operate at low temperatures (around 280° C.) requiring large waste heat boilers to cool feed gases and achieve high conversions only through multiple reactor beds thereby requiring a larger energy footprint. Further, their maximum sulfur conversion is 92% when current environmental regulations require greater than 98.5% sulfur recovery.
Accordingly, a need exists for a process to remove contaminants from a tail gas stream that eliminates the heating-up and cooling-down steps from the alternative processes. Additionally, a need exists for a sulfur recovery process which is economical and would require a smaller energy footprint.


A cutting insert includes an insert body having a polygonal plate shape. Rake faces are formed on polygonal surfaces of the insert body, and flank faces are formed on lateral faces of the insert body arranged around the polygonal surfaces. Main cutting edges are formed on side ridges of the polygonal surfaces at intersecting ridgelines between the rake faces and the flank faces. Each main cutting edge extends between two corners adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction of the polygonal surface among corners of the polygonal surface. When seen from a direction opposing the rake face, one end portion of the main cutting edge that stretches to one corner of the two corners has a convexly curved shape, and the other end portion of the main cutting edge that stretches to the other corner of the two corners has a concavely curved shape.

As an indexable cutting tool, high-feed cutting of feeding an end mill body serving as a tool body at a high feed rate to cut a workpiece is known. As a cutting insert attached to the indexable end mill for such high-feed cutting, Patent Citations 1 and 2 suggest: a negative type cutting insert having a substantially equilateral triangular plate shape in which front and back surfaces having an equilateral triangular shape selectively serve as rake faces; corner edges having a circular arc shape are formed on corners of the front and back surfaces; and the main cutting edges are formed on side ridges of the front and back surfaces that stretch to the corner edges.
This type of cutting insert is attached to a tip of an end mill body to be rotated around an axis in a manner such that one of the front and back surfaces is directed to an end mill rotational direction as a rake face, one of the main cutting edges of the rake face is directed to a tip side of the end mill body, and a relatively small cutting edge angle, a negative axial rake angle, and a radial rake angle are given to the main cutting edge. The cutting tool is usually fed at high feed in a direction orthogonal to the axis and is used for cutting. Since the cutting edge angle of the main cutting edge is relatively small, the thickness of a chip created decreases even though the feeding is high as above, and efficient cutting can be performed.
Incidentally, in Patent Citations 1 and 2, Patent Citation 1 describes that the main cutting edge is formed in a polygonal line shape including straight lines intersecting each other at an obtuse angle, and the cutting insert described in Patent Citation 2 is formed so that the main cutting edge is convexly curved. However, if high-feed cutting is performed by such cutting inserts, the cutting edge angle becomes larger toward the outer peripheral side of the end mill body (as moving outward in the radius direction of the end mill body). Therefore, the thickness of chips created increases toward the outer peripheral side.
Since the thickness of the chip becomes maximum on a cutting boundary of an outermost periphery of the main cutting edge, there is a concern that the main cutting edge of the cutting insert may cause abnormal damage, such as chipping and breakage, on the cutting boundary. For this reason, the feed rate per one edge is suppressed to prevent the thickness of a chip from becoming excessively thick, and it is difficult to increase the feed rate to perform more efficient high-feed cutting.

Cutting insert and indexable cutting tool


For providing a high voltage detector circuit for discriminating whether a voltage supplied to an input terminal (1) is higher or not than a power supply thereof, stably independent of its power supply fluctuation or noises and without problem of gate oxide break because of high voltage; a high voltage detector circuit of the invention comprises: a MOS transistor (P1) with its gate connected to the power supply; a first resistor (R1) connected between a source of the MOS transistor and the input terminal; a second resistor (R2) connected between a drain of the MOS transistor and a ground; and an inverter for outputting inverse logic of a drain voltage of the MOS transistor to an output terminal (OUT).

The present invention relates to a high voltage detector circuit, and particularly to that for discriminating whether voltage impressed to its input terminal is higher or not than power supply voltage thereof.
An LSI (Large Scale Integrated circuit) having a rewritable non-volatile memory is provided with a variable voltage supply Vpp which supplies a high voltage (about 12 to 15V) when writing or erasing the non-volatile memory and a low voltage having the same voltage level (about 3 to 5V) as an ordinary power supply Vcc when reading out the non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory is set either in write mode or in read-out mode according the output of a high voltage detector circuit provided in the LSI for discriminating whether the variable voltage supply Vpp supplied to its input terminal is higher or not than the voltage level of the power supply Vcc.
As a prior art of the high voltage detector circuit, there is a circuit configuration disclosed in a Japanese patent application laid open as a Provisional Publication No. 190775/'83.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating the high voltage detector circuit of the prior art, comprising a serial connection of a pMOS transistor P1 and an nMOS transistor N1 connected between a ground and an input terminal 1 where a variable voltage supply Vpp is impressed, both gates of the pMOS transistor P1 and the nMOS transistor N1 coupled to a power supply Vcc and an output OUT is obtained from connection point of the pMOS transistor P1 and the nMOS transistor N1.
When the variable voltage supply Vpp not higher than the power supply Vcc is impressed to the input terminal 1, the pMOS transistor P1 becomes OFF and the nMOS transistor N1 becomes ON, the output OUT becoming at LOW level.
When the variable voltage supply Vpp supplies the high voltage, that is, Vpp>Vcc+.vertline.Vthp.vertline., Vthp being threshold voltage of the pMOS transistor P1, both the pMOS transistor P1 and the nMOS transistor N1 become ON. So, by provided on-resistance of the pMOS transistor P1 and the nMOS transistor N1 appropriately, the output OUT is turned to HIGH level.
Thus, the variable voltage supply Vpp is discriminated whether it is higher or not than the power supply Vcc.
However, voltage level of the output OUT at HIGH level is determined by on-resistance ratio of the nMOS transistor N1 to the pMOS transistor P1 in the prior art of FIG. 3, and on-resistance of the nMOS transistor N1, the on-resistance ratio in consequence, is directly affected by voltage fluctuation of the power supply Vcc supplied to its gate. Therefore, there may be cases where the voltage level of the output OUT at HIGH level does not attain to a sufficient level because of low on-resistance of the nMOS transistor N1 when the power supply Vcc is comparatively high, resulting in malfunction of the LSI.
On the contrary, when the on-resistance of the nMOS transistor N1 is sufficiently high for preventing the above problem by making small the channel width/length ratio of the nMOS transistor N1, there arises another problem that the output OUT may become at HIGH level because of noise mingled in the variable voltage supply Vpp or leak current from the pMOS transistor P1 even when the variable voltage supply Vpp is supplying the low voltage, in case the power supply Vcc is comparatively low, resulting in malfunction too of the LSI.
There is also a problem of break of gate oxide of the pMOS transistor P1 caused by the high voltage impressed to the input terminal 1.


A method for cutting at least one elongated workpiece (13b) with a saw head assembly (10b) having a cutting blade (11b). The saw assembly (10b) further includes a guide mechanism for providing relative guided movement between the cutting blade (11b) and the workpiece (13b) along a cutting line (14b). The method comprises the steps of placing the workpiece (13b) across the cutting line (14b). Further, moving at least one of the cutting blade (11b) and the workpiece (13b) along the cutting line (14b) from a starting position (28b) on one side (27b') of said workpiece (13b) to a parked position (37b) on an opposite side (27b) of the workpiece (13b). In the parked position, the entire cutting stretch is positioned beyond the workpiece (13b). Next, the cut part or portion (32b) is displaced away from the cutting line (14b) using the workpiece (13b), while the cutting blade (11b) is in the parked position (37b). Thereafter, the workpiece (13b) is returned to the opposite side of the cutting line (14b), and the cutting blade (11b) is returned from the parked position (37b) to the starting position (28b). Accordingly, the cut parts (32b) and the workpiece (13b) are repositioned away from the cutting kerf (15b), which prevents their contact with the cutting blade (11b) during return of the cutting blade (11b) to the starting position (28b).

Precision cutting of multiple parts from larger workpieces or stock members typically is accomplished by gripping the larger workpiece in a vise assembly and cutting the same with a cutting device, such as a band saw, at a position very close to the vise. The workpiece then advanced beyond the vise and another cut is made. When production runs are undertaken, in which many parts are to be cut from elongated bar or tube stock, the workpieces are automatically advanced for each new cut by a shuttle vise assembly positioned next to the vise at the cutting tool.
Virtually all bar stock, and particularly high-strength, tubular, metal stock, will have internal stress in the stock itself, which stress will be relieved partially when the stock is cut. Moreover, the end of the workpiece being cut off often is supported on the other side of the cut by a workpiece rest or stop and, in some cases, by a vise. As the bar is being cut, therefore, the workpiece will be supported on both ends, much as a beam is supported. When the cut is complete, however, the cut end and the workpiece each become cantilever supported, one from the saw fixed vise and the cut part from the rest or vise on the other side of the cut.
Upon the completion of a cut, therefore, internal stress in the stock and cut part are relieved and both have their support changed from a beam to a cantilever with the end at the cut line free to move. Such movement predictably does occur.
This problem is made worse when tubular stock is cut because the residual internal stress in the tube from the tube forming process is greater. Moreover, when bar stock is bundled and multiple side-by-side pieces cut, the potential for movement is still greater.
FIG. 1 illustrates the above-described precision cutting problem in connection with production cutting of a bundle of workpieces with a band saw. Band saw apparatus 10a, whether designed primarily for vertical or horizontal cutting, includes a saw head assembly (not shown), which movably supports a flexible continuous loop saw blade 11a. A cutting table 12a upon which workpieces 13a are placed may be provided as part of saw assembly 10a, or as a separate workpiece feed table. Band saw blade 11a is movably mounted around a pair of wheels (not shown), one of which is driven. Two or more blade guide assemblies (not shown) are mounted to the head assembly between the wheels and slidably engage saw blade 11a to orient it in a cutting orientation. A "cutting stretch" is defined intermediate the saw blade guide assemblies where advancing saw blade 11a cuts workpieces 13a. During motion or advancement of the blade, one of band saw blade 11a and workpieces 13a are displaced relative to the other along a guided path known as the "cutting line" 14a, the center line of the desired line of cut. The actual groove, gap or channel of material removed by saw blade 11a during cutting is the "kerf" 15a (FIG. 3).
Typically, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of elongated workpieces 13a are positioned in a side-by-side relation and are collectively gripped to form bundle 16a by a fixed vise mechanisms 17a on one side of blade 11a and a second vise 20a, or by a workpiece rest or support (FIGS. 4A-4D) mounted to table 12a on the opposite side of cutting line 14a. Further, a shuttle vise assembly 21a also grips the bundle of workpieces 13a at an area away from the cutting line and periodically advances bundle 16a forward toward cutting line 14a. Shuttle vise assembly 21a is movably mounted on a track or guide way or rail assembly 23a on a feed table, and the shuttle vise 21a reciprocates toward and away from cutting line 14a. Each vise mechanism 17a, 20a and 21a includes a pair of spaced-apart gripping jaws 24a, 24a'; 25a, 25a'; and 26a, 26 a', respectively, positioned on opposite sides of bundle side portions 27a and 27a'. The corresponding jaws of each vise mechanism 17a, 20a and 22a engage side portions 27a and 27a' of the workpieces, and at least one of the jaws is movable toward the other to allow gripping of bundle 16a.
Band saw apparatus 10a typically includes a movable head assembly so arranged as to be moved toward and away from the workpieces by suitable means, such as a hydraulic motor or pneumatic apparatus. Thus, in cutting operations, the saw head assembly is displaced, which moves the cutting stretch and hence saw blade 11a, along cutting line 14a relative to table 12a and fixed vises 17a and 20a. This enables the driven band saw blade 11a to cut across bundle 16a, which is securely held between the respective jaws of fixed vises Further, shuttle vise assembly 21a periodically advances bundle 16a forward after the completion of each cutting cycle so that the workpieces can be cut again. A typical band saw apparatus employing a fixed vise and a shuttle vise assembly is disclosed in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,961 to Harris, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Typically the band saw head assembly moves saw blade 11a across bundle 16a from a staring position 28a (blade 11a shown in solid lines in FIG. 1) to a finishing position 30a (blade 11a shown in broken lines in FIG. 1) where the cutting edge 31a of blade 11a has cut completely through bundle 16a to sever cut portions or parts 32a from workpieces 13a. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the blade in finishing position 30a is positioned so that cutting edge 31a is just past side portion 27a of bundle 16a. Since cut portions 32a have been completely severed, it is generally regarded as time consuming and wasteful in production band saw cutting to advance blade 11a any further along cutting line 14a. Thus, the controller (not shown) controlling movement of the band saw head assembly will stop advancing the cutting head once cutting edge 31a passes through the last workpiece. Often this is set by a movable stop or limit switch (not shown) which terminates advancement of the cutting head.
Once saw blade 11a has moved to finishing position 30a and before cut portions 32a have been removed from vise mechanism 20a, the saw assembly is returned back along kerf 15a and cutting line 14a starting position 28a. This immediate return of the cutting blade minimizes cycle time, which directly affects the cost of cutting of each part.
As above indicated, one common problem encountered when cutting workpieces, and particularly multiple elongated workpieces 13a, is that after saw blade 11a has severed cut portions 32a from bundle 16a, kerf 15a intermediate bundle 16a and cut parts 32a tends to move or close as the internal and clamping stresses are relieved by the cut. This is particularly true for rectangular parallelpiped tubular members, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, and for shorter cut parts 32a, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. With regard to the rectangular, tubular workpieces of FIGS. 1-3, the internal stress of tube formation is relieved during cutting which causes opposite side walls 35a and 35a' proximate individual workpiece ends 34a to flare outwardly (shown exaggerated in broken lines in FIG. 2). In turn, this flaring causes adjacently disposed end portions 33a and 34a of cut portions 31a and workpieces 13a, respectively, to fan outwardly creating the arc-shaped cut ends 33a and 34a, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3.
Upon closer inspection, FIG. 3 illustrates that bunching of the flared cut portion ends 33a causes portions thereof to protrude into kerf 15a, which closes the kerf between workpiece ends 34a and cut portion ends 33a.
Hence, upon return of saw blade 11a along cutting line 14a, blade cutting edge 31a often contacts the moved respective ends of cut portions 32a and/or workpieces 13a. Over the course of use, such contact accelerates wear of the saw blade cutting edge 31a (most typically the side facing cut portions 32a). Moreover, in some cases the movement on relief of the internal and clamping stresses is enough that kerf 15a closes sufficiently to wedge against or hook the blade and pull it off of the drive and idler wheels, with disastrous results. Often the blade will be broken, and at a minimum the production process must be shut down and the blade remounted to the cutting head assembly.
Even if the blade is only pulled across the parts, one side of cutting edge 31a will become dull. This results in imprecisely cut workpiece ends 34a and cut portion ends 33a. These deviations not only adversely affect precision and accuracy, but in extreme situations, may necessitate scrapping of cut portions 32a altogether.
When relatively short parts 32a are cut, movement also is quite likely. The shorter length often precludes proper gripping between jaws 25a and 25a' of fixed vise mechanism 20a, and shorter cut portions 32a may not even be gripped during severing. As saw blade 11a cuts through bundle 16a, cut portions 32a are sometimes randomly misaligned, which causes end 33a of cut portions 32a to protrude into kerf 15a. Similarly, during retraction of saw blade 11a back to starting position 28a, cut portion ends 33a interfere or impede movement of blade 11a through kerf space 15a. This causes one side of the cutting edge 31a of the saw blade to dull prematurely or the blade to be in danger of being pulled off the blade support wheels.

Method for cutting workpieces using a shuttle vise


An antimicrobial agent utilizes a resin having acrylonitrile and styrene and/or a conjugated diene as units. The antimicrobial agent includes a metal-salt-containing copolymer, and the metal-salt-containing copolymer is obtained by treating a copolymer containing acrylonitrile and at least one of styrene and a conjugated diene as units with an acid to thereby introduce acid radicals into the copolymer, and converting at least part of the acid radicals into a salt of at least one metal selected from among Ag, Cu, and Zn.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel antimicrobial agent which is prepared by using a copolymer derived from, for example, a spent resin, and to a production process of the antimicrobial agent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Antimicrobial agents for suppressing the growth of bacteria and/or fungi include inorganic antimicrobial agents, organic antimicrobial agents extracted from natural products, organic antimicrobial agents composed of aliphatic compounds, and organic antimicrobial agents composed of aromatic compounds.
Such inorganic antimicrobial agents include, for example, sodium hypochlorite, and other chlorine compounds; hydrogen peroxide, and other peroxides; boric acid, sodium borate, and other borate compounds; copper sulfate, and other copper compounds; zinc sulfate, zinc chloride, and other zinc compounds; sulfur, calcium polysulfate, sulfur hydrate, and other sulfur substances; calcium oxide, and other calcium compounds; silver thiosulfite complex, silver nitrate, and other silver compounds; as well as iodine and sodium silicofluoride.
The organic antimicrobial agents extracted from natural products include, but are not limited to, hinokitiol, Phyllostachys pubescens extract, and creosote oil.
The organic antimicrobial agents composed of aliphatic compounds include, but are not limited to, tributyltin oxide, and other organotin compounds; copper naphthenate, and other cyclopentane derivatives; methyl bromide, and other halides; ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, and other monohydric alcohols; 2-bromo-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol, and other dihydric alcohols; formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and other saturated aldehydes; sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, and other carboxylate compounds; ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, and other ether compounds; beta-oxypropiolactone, and other lactone compounds; 3-trimethoxysilylpropyldimethyloctadecylammo-nium chloride, and other quaternary ammonium salt compounds; di(octylaminoethyl)glycine hydrochloride, and other amino acid derivatives; sodium lauryl sulfate, and other sulfonic acid compounds; bisdequalinium acetate, and other hydroxamic acid compounds; isocyanuric chloride, and other cyanuric acid compounds; methyl isocyanate, and other cyanic acid compounds; bis(trichloromethyl)sulfone, and other sulfone compounds; polyhexamethylenebiguanidine hydrochloride, and other guanidine compounds; 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin, and other hydantoin compounds; 5-oxy-3,4-dichloro-1,2-dithiol, and other dithiol compounds; iron methylarsinate, and other arsine compounds; tris(ethylphosphate)aluminium, and other phosphate compounds; and thiocarbamide compounds.
The organic antimicrobial agents composed of aromatic compounds include, but are not limited to, bis(4-nitrophenyl) carbonate, and other carbonate compounds; benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, and other quaternary ammonium salt compounds; 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline, and other monoamine compounds; potassium nitroethylbenzylethylenediamine, and other diamine compounds; aluminium N-nitroso-N-cyclohexylhydroxylamin-e, and other hydroxylamine compounds; dihydromethyloxathiinecarboxanilide dioxide, and other anilide compounds; 2-(4-thiazolyl)benzimidazole, and other imidazole compounds; 5-methyl-1,2,4-triazol-3,4-benzothiazole, and other benzothiazole compounds; 2,4-dichloro-6-chloroanilino-1,3,5-triazin-e, and other triazine compounds; chlorhexidine hydrochloride, chlorhexidine gluconate, and other guanidine compounds; cetylpyridinium chloride, and other pyridine compounds; dimethylpyrazolylhydroxyphenylpyr-imidine, and other pyrimidine compounds; 2,2′-methylenebis-3,4,6-trichloro-phenol, and other halogenobenzene compounds; copper hydroxynonylbenzenesulfonate, and other benzenesulfonate compounds; benzoic acid, and other benzenecarboxylic acid compounds; thimerosal, and other mercaptocarboxylic acid compounds; ethyl hydroxybenzoate, and other hydroxycarboxylic acid compounds; phenol, cresol, and other monohydric phenol compounds; resorcinol, and other dihydric phenol compounds; phenoxyethanol, and other phenoxy ether compounds; pentachlorophenyl laurate, and other phenol ester compounds; triphenyltin oxide, and other phenyl compounds; diphenyl, and other biphenyl compounds; beta-naphthol, and other monohydric naphthols; monochloronaphthalene, and other naphthalene compounds; dodecylisoquinolinium bromide, and other isoquinoline compounds; as well as nitrile compounds, isothiazole compounds, thiadiazole compounds, halogenophenol compounds, pyrrole compounds, quinone compounds, quinoline compounds, and organic phosphoric ester compounds.
However, there has been no antimicrobial agent using an ABS resin, or another resin, whereas the above types of antimicrobial agents are typically used. Resins each containing acrylonitrile and styrene and/or a conjugated diene are classified as polystyrenic resins such as ABS resins, SAN resins, and AAS resins, and as synthetic rubbers such as NBR rubbers. These resins are relatively low in cost. Particularly, the former polystyrenic resins are excellent in rigidity, dimensional stability, workability, and other properties and are widely used as materials for covers and casings for various applications, housings, and other parts of electric equipment and automobiles, and as other resinous materials. The latter synthetic rubbers are widely used as tubes, hoses, and various cushioning materials.
Under these circumstances, these materials are expected to be used in further broader applications and demands are made to improve these materials to those having higher added values. In other words, these materials are now used in the aforementioned applications alone and are not used as antimicrobial agents.
Additionally, products obtained by using the above resins yield a large quantity of spent resins as discarded materials with an increasing production. The amount of discarded materials composed of these materials tends to increase in recent years, and there are increasing demands to make effective use of such discarded materials from the viewpoint of global environmental conservation.

Antimicrobial agent and production process thereof


A process for purification of hydrogen from a stream of synthesis gas or other reformate gases is described. The process, generally conducted at temperatures of approximately 800-1000° C., involves the use of a cell in which a mixture of reformate gas and steam are flowed on one side of a dense solid state ceramic membrane, while steam is passed on the other side. High purity hydrogen is generated on the steam side. The membrane is similar to one that has in the past been used for oxygen purification and can be single or two phase, for example La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3+Pd.

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are fast approaching commercialization for application in the transportation and stationary sectors. One of the needs for the operation of a PEM fuel cell is that of high purity hydrogen with less than ˜10 ppm of impurities such as CO. It is therefore expected that if PEM fuel cells are to have wide applications, an infrastructure to produce tonnage quantities of high purity hydrogen has to be available.
Presently tonnage hydrogen is produced by reformation of hydrocarbon fuel followed by the water gas shift reaction and pressure swing adsorption (PSA) of the CO2. The major disadvantage of the current process especially in reference to PEM fuel cell application is that the purity levels that can be attained are low (80-90%). Impurities such as CO and CH4 remain in the hydrogen which can poison the anodes of the PEM fuel cell.

Hydrogen separation using oxygen ion-electron mixed conduction membranes


A steam iron (10) for clothing has direct measurement of sole plate temperature by a suitable sensor (19). A control device (20) such as a programmable logic controller, holds a characteristic relating sole plate temperature to steam production, and controls opening of an electrically actuated release valve (16) for water from a tank (15) to the sole plate (13). The sensor (19) may also control electrical energy for heating the sole plate (13).

Irons for clothing have a heated sole plate with which a user may smooth out unwanted clothing creases, and reinforce or create desired creases. Heating energy is usually provided by a thermostatically controlled electric element, and the temperature of the sole plate is typically selected by the user to suit the nature of the clothing to be ironed. The user may lightly damp the clothing, in order to better eliminate unwanted creases.
In a refinement an iron may be provided with a water tank, and a valve assembly whereby water can be admitted from the tank to outlets of the heated sole plate where it vaporises, and issues as steam. This arrangement avoids the need for damping of clothing and can give a superior and faster ironing action.
In one known arrangement a progressive slide valve is provided whereby water is continually passed through the sole plate to give a substantially constant steaming effect. The slide valve typically has a variable opening so as to permit the volume of stream to be selected. In another arrangement a manual pump is provided whereby the use may force some water through the sole plate to give a single burst of steam. Both of these arrangements are often provided in clothing irons.
One known problem of steam irons is the phenomenon of dripping, in which unvaporised water escapes from the sole plate onto the clothing. Such dripping is usually caused by an inappropriate relationship between the temperature of the sole plate and the volume of water admitted via the slide valve, so that there is insufficient heat capacity to vaporise all of the water passing through the soleplate. Dripping may also be caused by inevitable hysteresis exhibited by the sole plate thermostat, so that as the temperature of the sole plate falls to a minimum, some water droplets escape. At higher sole plate temperature, such droplets are vaporised.
In order to solve the dripping problem it has been proposed to incorporate a closure valve actuated by a bi-metallic control element in the water supply passage to the sole plate. As is well known, the degree of curvature of such a control element can change appreciably on heating, and can be used to move the closure valve so as to block and unblock water flow. Thus water flow may be inhibited below a predetermined minimum sole plate temperature, so that dripping is largely prevented.
However, the prior art solutions do not entirely solve the problem of dripping. Furthermore such bi-metallic control elements may exhibit an undesirable clicking sound during operation.
What is required is an improved means of relating water flow and hence potential steam generation, to sole plate temperature. The elimination of bi-metallic control elements would be advantageous in order to avoid unwanted hysteresis, and variability due to manufacturing and assembly inconsistences.


Distributed control systems and methods. An embodiment of distributed control system may comprise at least first and second nodes operatively associated with one another, the first node issuing a signal to at least the second node in response to an event. A load controlled by the second node, and a distributed controller provided at the second node. The distributed controller executing at least one script corresponding to the signal to control the load.

The ability to control one or more devices in a building (e.g., lighting, heating, air conditioning, security systems) based on one or more parameters (e.g., time, temperature, user preference) is known as building automation. Building automation may be implemented in any of a number of different types of buildings, including homes, offices, restaurants, stores, theaters, and hotels, to name only a few.
Building automation systems may be implemented using extensive computer networks. Computer networks are known in which a server computer issues a series of command strings over an Ethernet network to an output device. The command strings are complex data structures requiring the server computer to establish an elaborate communications protocol between the server computer and the output device, followed by the server transmitting multiple data packets containing the command strings.
Transmitting these command strings consumes significant bandwidth on the network, especially when more than one command string is issued to the same or multiple output devices at the same time or within a close timeframe. Network performance decreases, resulting in slow transmission speeds and sometimes even recognizable delays in response time. Transmitting command strings also increases the potential for data corruption resulting in failed operations. In addition, when the server computer fails, all of the devices on the network are "down."


A power sequence controller contains wakeup logic for responding to each wakeup event signal intercepted by the power sequence controller. The wakeup logic compares the intercepted wakeup event signal with a wakeup filter mask to determine if the wakeup event signal should be processed or ignored. If the wakeup event signal requires processing, the wakeup logic transitions the system's processor to a working state. The wakeup logic also determines if the intercepted wakeup event signal requires software processing. If so, a non-zero value associated with the wakeup event signal is stored in an interrupt source register, which causes the processor to execute an interrupt handler procedure and process the wakeup event signal when it transitions to a working state. The wakeup logic also evaluates the processor sleep state to determine if transitioning the processor from the sleep state to a working state requires execution of a processor wakeup procedure to return the processor to normal operation. In addition, the wakeup logic evaluates the processor sleep state to determine whether transitioning the processor from the sleep state to a working state requires sending a processor reset signal to processor, where the reset signal causes the processor to perform a warm or cold boot procedure, depending on the processor's sleep state.

In certain low power systems, such as battery operated computers and other battery powered devices that are controlled by a digital processor, there are times during which the system is not being actively used or is not actively performing any useful work. During such times, transitioning the system to a sleep state or low power consumption state will preserve battery power while having minimal impact on system performance. Furthermore, when such systems detect that battery power is below a specified level, switching to a lower power mode of operation will delay the time at which battery power to the system is lost.
Some computers and computer controlled devices include power management software that determines when the device or system meets a predefined inactivity level, and then powers the device down partially or fully. For instance, the predefined inactivity level might be defined as no execution of application programs and receipt of no external event signals (e.g., keystrokes or mouse movement signals from a user interface, or change in the status of another device that is being monitored by the system in question) for a specified period of time (e.g., five minutes, or a user specified amount of time). The manner of powering the device down when the power management software detects the predefined inactivity level can vary greatly from system to system and component to component.
For instance, in some devices power down might be accomplished by saving the current system context in stable storage (e.g., battery backed RAM), and then totally powering down all components of the system other than RAM and the devices used to detect external event signals. Whenever an external event signal is received, the system performs a "warm boot" in which it reloads its context from stable storage and then resumes normal software execution so as to be able to process the external event signal that caused the system to be powered back on.
In other systems, power reduction is accomplished by powering off selected power hungry components, such as mechanical devices, and inhibiting the delivery of clock signals to other devices.
In yet other systems, especially systems where fast response to external signals is deemed to be especially important, power usage is reduced without fully powering the devices most likely to be needed for responding to the external signals. Rather, the rate of the clock signals to some devices (e.g., CMOS devices) is reduced, for example by a specified factor such as two (or four or any other appropriate clock rate reduction factor). Reducing the rate of the clock signal delivered to a data processor (i.e., central processing unit) greatly reduces the power consumed by the processor, while still allowing the processor to continue perform background tasks that use only a small fraction of the system's data processor bandwidth. When a qualifying external event (i.e., one that requires restoring the system to full power) is detected, the power management software changes the rate of the clock signal delivered to the data processor back to its full, normal rate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hardware based controller for supporting software based transitioning of a system's power state, including performing wakeup transitioning from low to high power consumption states and power down transitions from a high to low power consumption states.
It is a related object of the present invention that the hardware based controller filter externally generated wakeup event signals so that the system transitions to an operational or full power state only in response to specified qualifying wakeup event signals.
It is another object of the present invention that the hardware based controller determine, based on the sleep state of the system and wakeup event signal received, whether or not transitioning the system from a sleep state to a working state requires software assistance. A further object of the present invention is that the hardware based controller invoke execution of an interrupt handler upon transitioning the system to the working state only when the system's current sleep state and/or the received wakeup event signal require a software assisted wakeup transition.

Power sequence controller with wakeup logic for enabling a wakeup interrupt handler procedure


A flashlight includes a barrel, a lamp socket assembly disposed inside the barrel, and a conductive coupling unit disposed inside the barrel around a lamp holder of the lamp socket assembly to connect electrically the barrel and the lamp holder. The coupling unit includes first and second coupling pieces. The first coupling piece is annular in shape and is interposed between and is in tight contact with the lamp holder and the barrel. The first coupling piece has a resilient end portion which is formed from a plurality of frontwardly extending and angularly spaced first peripheral flanges. The second coupling piece has an annular base with a diameter which expands gradually from a rear end to a front end of the annular base. The rear end of the annular base is formed with a plurality of angularly spaced and frontwardly extending second peripheral flanges that contact tightly the lamp holder. The front end of the annular base is formed with a plurality of angularly spaced and frontwardly extending peripheral claws. Each of the peripheral claws inclines slightly in a radial outward direction and extends between two adjacent ones of the first peripheral flanges to contact tightly the barrel.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a flashlight, more particularly to an improved flashlight construction which is easier to assemble than the prior art.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof switching device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,860 by the applicant. FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the waterproof switching device when incorporated in a flashlight. The conventional switching device is shown to comprise a switch assembly (10), a lamp socket assembly (15) and a coupling unit (17). The switch assembly (10) includes a generally cylindrical shaped body (11), an electrical switching element (12) and a switchplate (13). The body (11) has a first part (111) in the shape of a segmented cylinder and a second part (112) in the shape of a complementary segmented cylinder. The first and second parts (111, 112) have abutting surfaces which comprise sloping planes that incline longitudinally relative to an axis of the body (11) and that have a conforming sloping relationship so that the first and second parts (111, 112) sealingly engage each other. One end of the body (11) is provided with a blind bore which has an internally threaded surface (113). The lamp socket assembly (15) includes a conductive compression spring (151) which extends into an insulating envelope (152), and a conductive tubular lamp holder (153). The insulating envelope (152) extends into the rear end of the lamp holder (153). The rear end of the lamp holder (153) is formed with an external screw thread (1531) which engages the internally threaded surface (113) of the body (11). The front end of the lamp holder (153) is formed with an internal screw thread (1532) which engages the base of a lamp (154) so as to retain the lamp (154) thereat. The coupling unit (17) is a ring which has an outer peripheral surface that is formed with a screw thread (171). The screw thread (171) engages a corresponding screw thread formed on an inner wall surface of a barrel (18) of a flashlight. The coupling unit (17) is disposed inside the barrel (18) around the lamp holder (153) to connect electrically the barrel (18) and the lamp holder (153). The flashlight is further provided with a head assembly (19) which is mounted rotatably on a front end of the barrel (18). The lamp (154) extends into the head assembly (19). The head assembly (19) is controllably translatable along the barrel (18) when rotated with respect to the barrel (18) in order to achieve a variable focusing effect.
It should be noted that in the conventional flashlight, the switch assembly (10), the lamp socket assembly (15), the coupling unit (17) and the barrel (18) are connected by means of internal and external screw threads. The screw threads should be perfectly matched in order to ensure proper positioning of the lamp (154) and the lamp socket assembly (15) and to further ensure ease of adjustment of the head assembly (19) when varying the focusing of the flashlight. Improperly matched screw threads can seriously affect the quality of the flashlight. Furthermore, since the various components of the flashlight are assembled manually, improper engagement among the screw threads of these components usually occurs, thus necessitating the disassembly of the improperly assembled components and the repetition of the assembly procedure. This results in a waste of time and manpower.

No. 10, Alley 1, Lane 551, Sec. 1, Wan-Shou Rd.


A symmetric key management process in a communication network comprising a source device furnished with a source of data to be broadcast over the network and at least one receiver device intended to receive the broadcast data. The process comprises: determining and securely transmitting a first symmetric key to a receiver device; the receiver device encrypting the first symmetric key using a second symmetric key and transmitting it to the source device; and the source device recovering and storing it. Before transmitting the data to at least one reception device, the source device encrypts these data with the aid of the first symmetric key, then it transmits these encrypted data, accompanied by the first encrypted symmetric key, to at least one receiver device. The receiver device decrypts the first symmetric key with the aid of the second key which it possesses, then it decrypts the encrypted data with the aid of the first symmetric key thus recovered.

Such a network consists of a collection of devices linked together by a digital bus, for example a bus according to the IEEE 1394 standard. It comprises in particular two types of device:                Source devices capable of transmitting data over the network: these devices can recover the data through a "channel" external to the network.        Receiver devices, suitable for receiving the data flowing over the network, so as to process them or present them to the user.
Thus, taking the example of a digital home network intended for conveying audio and/or video data into various rooms of a house, the source devices are, for example, digital decoders receiving video programmes from outside the network, via a satellite antenna or via a cable connection, or else optical disc readers broadcasting over the network, in digital form, data (audio and/or video) read from a disc (in this case the disc contains data originating from outside the network). The receiver devices are, for example, television receivers making it possible to view video programmes received from the network or, more generally, any type of appliance having the capacity to decrypt encrypted data.
From the standpoint of content providers who provide the data originating from outside the local network, in particular service providers broadcasting pay-per-view televised programmes or else optical disc publishers for example, it is necessary to prevent these transmitted data from being copied and from flowing easily (for example by being copied onto an optical disc or any other recording medium) from one local network to another.
To do this, it is known practice to transmit the data in secret form by encrypting them with the aid of cryptography algorithms using keys which are known beforehand to the appliances authorized to receive these data or else which are exchanged according to particular secure protocols between the content provider and these appliances.
PCT patent application WO 00/62505 in the name of THOMSON Multimedia, filed on 31 Mar. 2000 and claiming the priority of a French patent application in the name of the same applicant, filed on 13 Apr. 1999 and published under the reference FR 2792482, relates to a domestic network in which a public key specific to the network is used to encrypt the data flowing between appliances of the network, typically from the previously mentioned source devices to receiver devices. Only the appliances of this network possess the private key corresponding to the public key. The (public key, private key) pair being specific to the network, data encrypted within the framework of this network cannot be decrypted by appliances of another network.
The use of a pair of asymmetric keys has certain advantages, but also some drawbacks. One of the main advantages is that no secret is stored in the source appliances: these appliances are aware of the public key, but not the private key. However, the implementation of asymmetric keys is relatively slow, as compared with that of symmetric keys. Moreover, the lifetime of asymmetric keys is short, requiring periodic revocation and the creation of new keys. In this case, data encrypted with a key and then recorded might suddenly no longer be decryptable on the network. Moreover, a sizeable number of pairs of asymmetric keys is necessary.
One would then be tempted to implement a symmetric key to encrypt the data. However, this would require the source devices to be aware of this key, and this would impose increased security constraints on them and consequently render them more expensive.

Process for managing a symmetric key in a communication network and devices for the implementation of this process


A vehicle seat allowing an occupant to either face in a first direction or a second opposed direction is provided. The seat comprises a base that allows for the back rest of the seat to be moved, alternatively, forward or back on a cushion such that the user may select whether he will ride facing towards the direction of the automobile""s movement or facing away from the direction of movement. The seat further comprises a pop-up seat cushion which allows the occupant to open up the seat cushion to sit more securely within the seat cushion while having side cushions for added support and impact resistance. The present apparatus provides better security for small children and pregnant, elderly or otherwise more fragile adults. The seat allows children to be placed such that they do not face the direction of oncoming traffic and instead ride in the more generally agreed to be secure direction of travel.

The present invention generally relates to vehicle occupant seats, and in particular to new and improved occupant seat assemblies wherein the seat assemblies may be modified to enable an occupant to face opposite the vehicle""s normal forward traveling direction.
Vehicle occupant safety, particularly the safety of small children and infants is a major concern to both vehicle owners as well as vehicle manufacturers. In most vehicles, the occupant seats are oriented in a forward-facing position. Conventional vehicle seats, for example, include backrests engaged by the occupant""s back while disposed on the set facing in the forward direction of normal vehicle travel. In the event of a sudden stop, such as generally occurs in a vehicle front or rear end collision, the occupant will generally be subjected to a sudden force of inertia acting in the direction of vehicle travel. The potential for injury resulting from such collisions has been reduced somewhat by the mandatory use of seat belts. Although seat belts have proven to be relatively safe for adults, the same cannot be said for small children and infants. Moreover, forward-facing vehicle seats, and particularly front seats, subject children to numerous front seat hazards, such as high-pressure air bags, and generally provide inadequate child restraint systems even with contemporary children""s car seat. It is highly important that a vehicle provide the utmost safety for all occupants large and small. It is also important that added vehicle safety remain affordable for car owners as well as manufacturers.
Most forward-facing vehicle seats are fixed in a forward directed position and are incapable of modification to improve safety by reducing the inertia forces imparted to forwardly facing passengers in the event of a collision or the like. Attempts have been made to provide adjustable vehicle passenger seats that may be positioned for forwardly facing or rearwardly facing passenger use. However, known vehicle passenger seats adaptable for both forward-facing and rearward-facing positions are generally relatively complex and expensive, and require at least a 180 degree seat base rotation.
The known reverse-adjustable vehicle seat designs require a complete redesign of the entire base of the seat in order to incorporate both a forward and rearward-facing feature. Thus, a need exists for a vehicle assembly that overcomes the disadvantages of known vehicle seats and provides safety for infants and small children, as well as adults.
In accordance with the present invention a vehicle seat, comprising a seat frame having a seat back, a first seating area, comprising a seat cushion, and a second seating area generally below said seat cushion is provided. The seat cushion is comprised of at least two cushion elements, the cushion elements each have a first end, which are in contact with each other, such that they are generally abutting one another on one end, in a first position. Each cushion element is pivotally attached to the seat base at a second end (the end opposite from the end which abuts the other cushion element), such that the cushion elements may be pivoted apart, from one another, to an open position, to reveal a second seating area. The cushion elements can subsequently be pivoted back to re-form the first seating area. When the cushion elements are pivoted apart, and the second seating area is exposed, the pivoted up cushion elements become arm rests and side protection elements.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pop-up cushion elements are provided with an internal frame that provides support for the cushion elements when they are pivoted out and form a protective structure about an individual seated in the lower seating area of the car seat. For this reason, the seat structure of the present invention provided ideal safety support for a child seat or for persons in fragile states such as pregnant women, young children and the elderly.
In the illustrative embodiment, the seat of the present invention is also provided with a back rest that may be adjusted such that the rider may face in the direction of forward vehicle travel or alternatively, may face away from the direction of forward vehicle travel. It has been found that traveling in a rearward position provides greater safety and survivability for passengers. The present invention provides several different means of moving a back seat rest from a first, forward facing position, to a second rearward facing position. With the seat in a position such that the passenger is in a rearward facing position, a child restraint seat, having a seat-back attachment collar, may be used to providing an exceptionally safe mode of child transportation. Further, the parent applications of the present applications, which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, include a number of other means for providing seats with alternative seating positions.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like elements throughout several views.

Vehicle seat for reversible occupant travel


A vacuum cleaner includes a first housing defining a cyclonic airflow chamber and a second housing defining a main suction opening that is in communication with an inlet of the cyclonic chamber. A suction source has a suction airstream inlet in communication with an outlet of the cyclonic chamber, and establishes a suction airstream that enters said main suction opening, passes through said cyclonic chamber, and passes to an outlet of said suction source. A substantial portion of particulates entrained in the suction airstream are separated therefrom when said suction airstream moves in a cyclonic fashion through the cyclonic chamber. A main filter assembly, preferably including filter medium comprising polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is located in the cyclonic chamber so that a suction airstream moving from the main suction opening to the inlet of said suction source by way of the cyclonic airflow chamber passes through the filter medium thereof after said airstream moves in a cyclonic fashion within the cyclonic airflow chamber to remove residual particulates from the suction airstream before it leaves the cyclonic chamber. A HEPA filter can be provided to filter the suction airstream exhausted through the outlet of the suction source prior to the airstream being discharged from the vacuum.

The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners. More particularly, the present invention relates to upright vacuum cleaners used for suctioning dirt and debris from carpets and floors.
Upright vacuum cleaners are ubiquitous. They are known to include an upper portion having a handle, by which an operator of the vacuum cleaner may grasp and maneuver the cleaner, and a lower cleaning nozzle portion which travels across a floor, carpet, or other surface being cleaned. The upper portion is often formed as a rigid plastic housing which encloses a dirt and dust collecting filter bag, although the upper portion may simply be an elongated handle with the filter bag, and an external cloth bag, being hung therefrom. The cleaning nozzle is hingedly connected to the upper handle portion such that the upper portion is pivotable between a generally vertical upright storage position and an inclined operative position. The underside of the nozzle includes a suction opening formed therein which is in fluid communication with the filter bag.
A vacuum or suction source such as a motor and fan assembly is enclosed either within the nozzle portion or the upper portion of the cleaner. The vacuum source generates the suction required to pull dirt from the carpet or floor being vacuumed through the suction opening and into the filter bag. A rotating brush assembly is typically provided in proximity with the suction opening to loosen dirt and debris from the surface being vacuumed.
To avoid the need for vacuum filter bags, and the associated expense and inconvenience of replacing the bag, another type of upright vacuum cleaner utilizes cyclonic airflow, rather than a filter bag, to separate a majority of the dirt and other particulates from the suction airstream. The air is then filtered to remove residual particulates, returned to the motor, and exhausted.
Such prior cyclonic airflow upright vacuum cleaners have not been found to be entirely effective and convenient to use. For example, with these prior cyclonic airflow vacuum cleaners, the process of emptying dust and dirt from the cyclonic chamber dirt collection container has been found to be inconvenient, and often resulted in the spillage of the cup contents. Likewise, with these prior units, replacement of the filter element has not been convenient. Other cyclonic airflow vacuum cleaners have been found to exhaust air which is not free of residual contaminants. For example, one prior unit filters the airstream after it passes through the cyclonic chamber, but thereafter passes the airstream through the motor assembly where it is potentially recontaminated by the motor assembly, itself, prior to its being exhausted into the atmosphere.
Because the cyclonic action of such vacuum cleaners does not completely remove all dust, dirt, and other contaminants from the suction airstream, it is necessary to include a filter downstream from the cyclonic chamber. As such, prior cyclonic airflow vacuum cleaners have heretofore included conventional, non-washable filter elements including a conventional filtering medium to filter the airstream after it passes through the cyclonic chamber. These prior filter elements have caused considerable difficulties. A conventional filter that is sufficiently fine to filter the airstream effectively unduly restricts airflow and decreases the effectiveness of the cyclonic action. On the other hand, a coarse filter does not effectively filter the airstream of residual contaminants. Further, conventional filter media, such as paper or fibrous media, has been found to clog readily, thereby unduly decreasing airflow rates over time. Thus, a need has been found for a cyclonic airflow vacuum cleaner with an effective filter positioned in the cyclonic chamber for effectively filtering the airstream without clogging. Further, a need has been found for such a vacuum cleaner including a washable, re-usable filter element from which dirt is easily extracted.
Accordingly, it has been deemed desirable to develop a new and improved upright vacuum cleaner that would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.

Upright vacuum cleaner with cyclonic airflow


A method is described of operating an ink jet printhead having one or more manifolds each connected to more than one chamber, each chamber being associated with a nozzle and capable of ejecting drops therefrom: a number of different liquids larger than the number of manifolds is introduced into the printhead via the nozzles; and the volume of the liquid subsequently printed from each nozzle is less than the volume of the chamber associated with that nozzle, and also less than the volume of liquid introduced into that chamber. By this means the printhead prints more different liquids than is conventionally possible without mixing them.

1. The Field of the Invention
This filed to the use of ink jet printers to make biological microarrays.
2. The Relevant Technology
Advances in biological and chemical science are demanding the testing of large numbers of samples in parallel. For example, the sequencing of human and animal genomes has created a need to determine the function of genes through expression studies. In this field, in pharmacogenomics and toxicology screening, and in many other applications, there is a need to test a large number of interactions between probe and target.
A technology which has emerged to address this need is the microarray, also known as the DNA microarray or biochip, and by other terminology. This consists of a substrate on which a compact array of biological or chemical samples, known as probes, is immobilised. The microarray is exposed to a sample, known as the target, which is to be tested against the probes. The interactions are recorded by suitable instrumentation and the data is manipulated.
Microarrays are made at present by two methods: the probes can be synthesised on the array, by applying constituents of the probes to build them up in situ; or pre-synthesised probes can be spotted onto the array. This invention relates to the latter method.
The task of spotting a microarray consists of transferring extremely small amounts of many different liquids from separate reservoirs to closely spaced positions on a number of microarrays. There may be anything from tens of different liquids to hundreds of thousands of them, supplied typically in multiple 96, 384 or 1536-well microtitre plates. Some tens or hundreds of substrates need to be spotted with each of the liquids; typical spot volumes are of the order of a nanolitre, and spots may be separated by a few hundred microns.
Spotting is achieved at present in two main ways: in the first method, pins are dipped into the wells to pick up samples of the liquids, and then moved on a three-axis transport to touch the substrates and deposit drops. Several pins may be used in parallel to speed up the spotting.
There are disadvantages to this technology: the pins have to be washed and dried before picking up samples of another set of liquids. The pins have to touch the substrate, which requires high precision, carries a risk of damage, and is slow. The volume of liquid spotted is rather large, is not well controlled and cannot be varied easily. The configuration of spots on the microarray corresponds to the arrangement of liquids in the wells, as the pins are all brought into contact with the substrate simultaneously. A considerable proportion of each liquid is wasted.
The second method of spotting is to project the liquid through the air onto the substrate, without contact. In principle, ink jet printing technology is eminently suitable: it produces small droplets, very reproducibly, and positions them accurately on the substrate. In some cases, the droplets are sufficiently small that multiple droplets can be applied to a given spot to vary its volume. Ink jet printing is very rapid, and is entirely flexible as to what liquid is deposited where on the substrate.
The main difficulty with ink jet technology is that, although some printheads have large numbers of nozzles, they are designed to print typically one or four colours of ink. Their inlets lead to manifolds which connect many chambers, each associated with a nozzle. If such a printhead is applied conventionally to the manufacture of microarrays, the speed of the process is limited by the fact that only one or four liquids is handled at a time, and the fact that there are many nozzles is of little help. The printing itself is very quick, and it is the process of emptying and refilling the printhead which determines the overall manufacturing time.
Other difficulties with ink jet printheads are: some use local boiling of the liquid to eject drops, which could damage some biological samples; others are constructed from materials incompatible with the chemicals to be printed onto microarrays; some are designed for office printers, and are unsuitable for third party integration into industrial systems; and others are designed for industrial use, but require large volumes of liquid to operate.
For the reason given above, standard ink jet printheads are not used in the manufacture of microarrays; rather adapted printheads or devices akin to printheads, are used instead. These do not take advantage of the manufacturing capabilities of ink jet companies, and do not handle large numbers of liquids.

Highly parallel fabrication of microarrays by ink jet printheads


A fastener strip for diapers has a center part that is elastic in the longitudinal direction of the strip when the fastener strip is pulled, a non-elastic end part to which a hook element is attached, and a non-elastic connector part for attachment to a diaper. The end part and the connector part are attached to the center part. The center part has a layer of an elastic spun-bonded non-woven fabric, which possesses preferred stretching properties in the longitudinal direction of the strip. The spun-bonded non-woven fabric is made of filaments that have a filament core of a thermoplastic elastomer and a filament mantle of a non-elastic thermoplastic polymer, stretched by means of stretching the spun-bonded non-woven fabric.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastener strip for diapers. More specifically, the fastener strip has a first center part that is elastic in the longitudinal direction of the strip when the fastener strip is pulled, a non-elastic end part having a hook element, and a non-elastic connector part for attachment to a diaper. The end part and the connector part are attached to the center part. The longitudinal direction of the strip extends from the connector part to the end part. The fastener strip is part of a mechanical hook-and-loop fastener on a diaper. One part of the hook-and-loop fastener is provided with female fastener elements and glued on in the front waistline region of the diaper. The related hook element is affixed to the fastener strip described, which is attached to the back waistline region of the diaper.
2. The Prior Art
A fastener strip for diapers, having the described characteristics, is known from EP 0 809 992 B1. The center part of the fastener strip consists of a plastically deformable film, onto which straight strips or strips disposed in spiral shape, made of an elastomer material, are applied. Before first-time use, the fastener strip does not demonstrate any elasticity. The fastener strip becomes elastic when it is stretched in the longitudinal direction of the strip during first-time use. In this connection, there is the risk that when the diaper fastener is closed, or as the diaper is worn, the elastic fastener strips are over-stretched. The over-stretching is connected with a permanent elongation of the material and has a negative effect on the fit of the diaper.