Provided is a fishing reel in which damage of a fishing line at the time of drawing out of the fishing line against a drag force can be prevented, and moreover a load on a level wind device can be reduced. Consequently it is possible to improve engagement and sensitivity of the fishing line, and operability of the fishing reel. More specifically, the fishing reel includes a level wind device causing a fishing line guide to reciprocate in a left-right direction to guide a fishing line to the spool, and a drag device imparting a drag force on the fishing line. The fishing line guide includes a narrow guide portion and a wide opening, the fishing line is situated in the narrow guide portion when the fishing line is wound around the spool, and situated in the wide opening when the fishing line is released from the spool.

A conventional double-bearing type fishing reel includes a level wind device for uniformly winding a fishing line around a spool which is rotatably supported between left and right side panels. The level wind device may include a fishing line guide configured to reciprocate in a left-right direction in front of the spool in accordance with operation of a handle provided rotatably close to one of the side plates for winding a fishing line. The fishing line is admitted through the fishing line guide and thereby the fishing line can be wound around the spool in parallel.
When casting a fishing tackle, a fishing line contacts the above-described fishing line guide, causing a resistive force which may undesirably reduce a casting distance of the fishing tackle. To address this problem, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-70683 (the "'683 Publication") discloses a fishing line guide having an upper portion that is longer in a left-right direction and serves as an insertion portion for the fishing line at the time of releasing and a lower portion that has a groove in a narrowed center region serving as a guide for winding the fishing line. The '683 Publication also discloses a pillar that is disposed near the fishing line guide in a front-rear direction and that is movable up and down in accordance with switching operation of a clutch. The pillar may be moved up when a fishing line is released, and moved down when the fishing line is wound. Because the pillar has moved to the upper position, the fishing line is situated at the fishing line insertion portion and the resistive force on the fishing line at the time of releasing can be reduced. In addition, when the pillar is moved to the lower position, the fishing line is guided to the narrow groove and winding of the fishing line around the spool can be improved.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-243997 discloses a fishing reel in which a fishing line guide is rotated in accordance with a switching operation of a clutch. In this fishing reel, the fishing line guide is configured to rotate to move toward the front side to let the fishing line situate at the insertion portion when the fishing line is released, and the resistive force on the fishing line can be reduced. Moreover, when the fishing line is wound, the fishing line guide of the fishing reel is configured to rotate to move toward the rear side to let the fishing line situate at the groove while a rear portion of an upper end of the guide hold down the fishing line, and the fishing line goes through the groove to be wound.


Head structure for rotatably supporting shafts and the like, including fixed head bodies, each of which defines a seat for the accommodation of bearings which are connected to the shaft to be supported and which defines an axial cavity which rotatably accommodates a pin which can be removably coupled to an end of the shaft so that it rotates rigidly therewith. Each head body has a slider-like portion which can be moved to access the seats in a radial direction.

The present invention relates to a head structure for rotatably supporting shafts and the like.
As is known, in many industrial fields it is necessary to provide for the rotary support of shafts with the possibility of easily removing the shaft from its support. In particular, the paper-making industry and similar industries use supporting shafts for paper rolls, which are normally very heavy and large.
Said rolls must be rotated at very high speeds, so that it is absolutely necessary to have a perfect centering of the shaft with respect to the rotation axis, in order to avoid dangerous vibrations or imbalances.
In order to support the shaft, current solutions use supporting heads, to which the shaft is connected, which are mounted so that they can rotate with respect to the fixed structure. The motor means for turning or braking the roll, depending on whether the paper is being rolled or unrolled, are furthermore connected to the heads.
With the solutions of the known art, it is virtually impossible to perfectly center the shaft with respect to the supports, and it is necessary to resort to couplings which must be performed with great care and precision so as to center the shaft. Furthermore, in order to mutually couple the head and the end of the shaft it is necessary to perform complicated operations, so as to provide, at the end of the shaft, a partially open seat in which said shaft end can be inserted.
Currently, with the above described solutions, there are considerable problems both for the machining of the shafts, which must be extremely accurate and precise, and for the application of the shafts to the supporting heads which, by rotating with respect to a fixed supporting structure, introduce further rotating masses whose perfect centering with respect to the rotation axis is often troublesome.


The present invention relates to engineering metabolic pathways in bacterial host cells which results in enhanced carbon flow for the production of ascorbic acid (ASA) intermediates. In particular, the invention relates to increasing the production of ASA intermediates in bacterial cells by enhancing the availability of gluconate resulting from the inactivation of endogenous gluconate transporter genes.

Numerous products of commercial interest, such as intermediates of L-ascorbic acid, have been produced biocatalytically in genetically engineered host cells. L-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, ASA) is commonly used in the pharmaceutical and food industries as a vitamin and antioxidant, and due to this relatively large market volume and high value as a specialty chemical the synthesis of ASA has received considerable attention.
A chemical synthesis route from glucose to ASA, commonly known as the Reichstein-Grussner method, was first disclosed in 1934 (Reichstein T. et al., (1934) Helv. Chim. Acta., 17:311-328 and Reichstein T. et al. (1933) Helv. Chim. Acta. 16: 561, 1019). A bioconversion method for the production of an ASA intermediate, 2-KLG, has been disclosed by Lazarus et al. (1989, "Vitamin C: Bioconversion via a Recombinant DNA Approach", GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF INDUSTRIAL MICROORGANISMS, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C. Edited by C. L. Hershberger). This bioconversion of a carbon source to KLG involves a variety of intermediates, and the enzymatic process is associated with co-factor dependent 2,5-DKG reductase activity (DKGR). Additionally, recombinant DNA techniques have been used to bioconvert glucose to KLG in Erwinia herbicola in a single fermentative step (Anderson, S. et al., (1985) Science 230:144-149). Effective procedures for converting KLG to ASA are described in Crawford et al., ADVANCES IN CARBOHYDRATE CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, 37:79-155 (1980).
A number of strategies have been explored in bacteria and other microorganisms to increase the production of ASA intermediates. Some of these strategies include; gene deletions, gene additions and random mutagenesis. In particular, some gene manipulation strategies are mentioned below and include: (i) overexpressing particular genes in the ASA pathway (Anderson et al., (1985) Sci. 230:144-149; Grindley et al., (1988) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54: 1770; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,544); (ii) mutating genes encoding glycolytic enzymes (Harrod, et al. (1997) J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 18:379-383; Wedlock, et al. (1989) J. Gen. Microbiol. 135: 2013-2018; and Walsh et al. (1983) J. Bacteriol. 154:1002-1004); (iii) utilizing bacterial host strains deficient in glucokinase (Japanese patent publication JP 4267860; Russell et al. (1989) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55: 294-297; Barredo et al. (1988) Antimicrob. Agents-Chemother 32: 1061-1067; and DiMarco et al. (1985) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 49:151-157); (iv) reducing metabolism of glucose or gluconate by deletion of a gene required for phosphorylation, for example deleting the glucokinase gene (glkA) or gluconokinase gene (gntK) (WO 02/081440); and (v) reducing metabolism by manipulating enzymes involved in carbon utilization downstream of the initial glucose phosphorylation, for example manipulating phosphoglucose isomerase, phosphofructokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase or 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase.
Despite the above strategies, problems still persist concerning the diversion of ASA intermediates for catabolic metabolic purposes, and this results in reducing the efficiency and overall production of ASA intermediates. Thus, there still remains a need for improved production methods for ASA intermediates which are coupled to the metabolic pathways of host cells.
Carbon sources, such as glucose and gluconate, involved in the production of ASA intermediates may be separated by a cellular membrane from the reactions which utilize these substrates. When such a substrate and the synthetic machinery are separated, production of the product may require translocation of the substrate to the site of the synthetic reaction. Alternatively products generated inside the cell may require translocation from within the cell. Therefore, altering a substrate transport system may result in increased or decreased substrate availability for a particular metabolic pathway.
The present invention provides altered bacterial strains which include non-functional gluconate transporter molecules. The altered bacterial strains, which include the non-functional transporter molecules, have an increased amount of carbon substrate, such as glucose that may be utilized for the production of desired products, such as ASA intermediates.

Metabolically engineered bacterial strains having non-functional endogenous gluconate transporters


Methods and systems are disclosed herein for using machine learning to send notifications. A computer system may receive a message and may determine a sentiment level and/or an urgency level associated with the message. The computer system may use the sentiment level and/or urgency level to predict when the user will respond to the message. The computer system may compare the predicted response time with one or more thresholds to determine a time to send a notification for the message to the user device.

In the last few years carrying a mobile computing device (e.g., smart phones, tablets, and others) has become a common practice among many people. These devices enable users to have quick and easy access to a variety of applications, including email, instant messaging, social media, and others. At the same token, those applications have gained the power to "notify" the user from the application at almost any time, sometimes even at times that are not convenient or not wanted. Thus, users of these mobile devices are often bombarded with many notifications. Due to a sheer volume of notifications, a user may miss notifications, for example, because the user may start ignoring notifications until an appropriate time. In addition, the user may have difficulty determining which notifications are important while reviewing the plethora of the notification that are shown on the mobile device. Furthermore, vast numbers of notifications may make using these mobile devices inefficient. For example, the user may receive too many notifications in a short period of time and may be unable to respond to the notifications in a timely manner. This creates the need for additional notifications to be sent later (e.g., reminder notifications), which may use up additional computing resources and/or the time of other users. It may be difficult to determine when to send a notification to a user.
Additionally, notifications create problems because users may receive notifications during stressful or difficult times, which may compound their stress. Notifications received at the wrong time may lead to the user responding to the notification in an undesired manner. For example, if a user receives an angry email when the user is in an angry mood, the user may respond in an angry manner, which the user may regret at a later time. It may be difficult to determine a time to send a notification to a user that enables the user to respond to a message in a desired manner.

Methods and systems for using machine learning to determine times to send message notifications


A metal panel (11) for covering a PC card has an accommodating opening (18) for exposing the ground connection section (21) of a socket connector (2). A projected edge (7B) is provided on the frame holder (4) and a liner projection (32) is formed on the socket connector (2). The projected edge (7B) is located to fill in and close gaps between the ground connection section (21) and edges of the accommodation opening (18). In other embodiments, a C-shaped projection (32) on the socket (30) is used as the sole means to close or fill in the gap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to PC cards and frame kits for the PC cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
PC cards have at the front end a socket connector for connection to a mating connector of equipment. FIG. 19 shows a conventional PC card 51 has a socket connector having a metal ground plate 53 with dimples 52 provided on the front surface. The dimples 52 are made semi-spherical so as to assure contact with a shield plate of the mating connector. A metal panel 54 is provided in attempts to shield the entire surface of the PC card 51. A cut-out 54A is provided at the front end of the metal panel 54 to expose the dimples 52 on the ground plate 53.
The PC card 51 has a frame holder 61 for holding at the front end a socket connector 55 for connection to a mating connector 71. As shown in FIG. 20, the socket connector 55 has a housing 57 with upper and low rows of apertures for receiving contact elements 56 for contact with contact elements 72 of the mating connector 71. The contact elements 56 have upper and lower contact tongues for assuring contact with the mating contact elements 72. Also, they have rear contact portions 56A for contact with signal conductors of a card substrate 58. Ground conductors are provided between the signal conductors formed on the card substrate 58 corresponding to the respective contact portions 56A.
The ground plate 53 put on top of the housing 57 has a ground terminal 53A bending downwardly in the vicinity of the dimple 52 so as to make a resilient contact with a ground contact of the card substrate 58. The ground terminal 53A extend rearwardly through a cut-out 54A of the upper panel 54.
A shield plate 73 is provided on the mating connector 71 and having a front contact piece 75 which is folded back into a PC card receiving cavity 74.
When the PC card 51 is pushed into the receiving cavity 74 such that the socket connector 55 is connected to the mating connector 71, the contact elements 56 are fitted over the contact elements 72, and the dimples 52 of the ground plate 53 contact the contact piece 75 of the shield plate 73 so that the ground circuit of the PC card is grounded via the shield plate 73 and the ground plate 53.
Since the thickness of PC cards is regulated by the standards, it is necessary to form the cut-out 54A in the metal panel 54 corresponding to the ground plate 53 of the socket connector 55. Although the ground plate 53 shields the connection between the socket connector 55 and the mating connector 71, there is a gap between the ground plate 53 and the metal panel 54 at the cut-out 54A, allowing dust and/or water to enter and providing a poor appearance. If the metal panel 54 and the ground plate 53 are put closely, they could contact each other, permitting noise to be transmitted from the metal panel and/or connector or cable to the ground plate to interfere signals.


A mold assembly for molding an elastomeric sealing element onto an annular seal case includes a spring-biased outer sleeve that exerts a clamping force on the seal case during the molding cycle. During the mold closing stroke the leading edge of the sleeve engages the seal case before an uncured elastomeric charge reaches the seal case. The sleeve therefore acts as a flow barrier to limit any outward escape of elastomer from the mold cavity during molding. By isolating the clamping and flow limiting outer sleeve from the hydrostatic molding forces, the spring force applied to the outer sleeve may be reduced and the axial height of the mold assembly may also be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mold assembly for molding an elastomeric sealing member to an annular seal case so as to form a shaft seal.
2. Description of Prior Developments
Prior mold cavities are often defined by a stationary mold member and two concentrically arranged movable mold members. The movable mold members are typically located above the stationary mold member for coordinated downward motions. The outer movable mold member is initially moved downwardly against the stationary mold member to establish the mold cavity contour and later prevent the movement of mold flash in an outward radial direction.
The inner movable mold member is subsequently moved downwardly to compress a charge of elastomeric molding material that is pre-positioned on an annular shelf provided by the stationary mold member. The molding material is thereby pumped or squeezed radially outwardly from the shelf into the mold cavity defined by the outer mold member.
These movable mold members are commonly driven toward the stationary mold member by means of heavy duty disk springs that act in a sequential fashion so that the outer movable mold member is in its final position before the inner movable mold member begins to exert a squeezing force on the charge of molding material. The heavy duty springs provide the required spring force to prevent the mold members from separating under the hydrostatic molding pressure. This high spring clamping force necessitates a significant spring stack height. Moreover, a large spring stack height is needed in order to provide the necessary axial travel and clearance between the sequentially movable mold members and the fixed mold members.
Some older presses still in use do not have the necessary axial clearance or axial closed height to be able to utilize the described mold member assemblies. That is, the axial extent of the mold members and spring stacks is greater than the closed height of these molds. Since many older presses operate with a fixed cam-driven stroke, modern mold assemblies having considerable axial length would interfere with press closure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,119 is representative of the prior art insofar as it shows a stationary lower mold member and two concentrically arranged upper mold members. The outer upper mold member forms the upper surface contour of the mold cavity and the inner upper mold member acts as a pumping device to pump the elastomeric molding material radially outwardly into the mold cavity. Each of the upper mold members has a resilient drive connection with the upper press element in the form of multiple stacks of disk springs or Belleville washers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,874 shows an arrangement that is generally similar to the arrangement depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,119, as regards the above-noted features. U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,357 shows a variation of the above-noted arrangement wherein a single upper mold member is cooperatively associated with two lower mold members. Each of the lower mold members is biased upwardly by means of a stack of spring disks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,376 shows a molding assembly wherein an inner annular clamping member is biased downwardly by a spring system so as to hold a polytetrafluoroethylene disk in a fixed position on the lower mold member. Subsequently, an outer mold member is driven downwardly to engage a metal seal case, thereby closing the mold cavity. The downward motion of the outer mold member is continued so as to deform the metal case and reform the elastomeric molding material to the dimensions of the closed mold cavity.
The present invention is concerned with an axially compact mold member assembly wherein a single movable mold member is used to both compress and mold the elastomeric molding material. The single movable mold member has a rigid, non-resilient connection with the associated press such that the mold member assembly has a relatively short height in its closed position so that it can be used with older presses.
The mold member assembly of the present invention does not utilize multiple stacks of heavy duty springs disposed in an axially tandem relationship with movable mold cavity members, such as are used in relevant prior arrangements. The spring stack of the present invention is removed from contact with the movable mold cavity forming members and arranged radially outwardly therefrom. In this manner, the spring stack is axially coextensive with the movable mold members.
Since no spring stack is provided over or under the movable mold members, the axial height of the mold may be reduced by the amount equal to that which would have been required to accommodate the spring stack. A principal advantage of the invention is that the mold member assembly can be mounted in older presses having relatively short mold member clearance spaces between the upper and lower mold shoes.


In a recording medium storing MPEG stream, flag information (encode_condition) indicating that the stream is recorded in a format enabling easily the first stream (MPEG transport stream) to be converted into the second stream (MPEG program stream) is provided. Such a flag information is included in Tip packet which is a control packet, in the medium. Thus it can easily determine whether the data is recorded in this format without analysis of data stored in the recording medium.

Where 4.7 GB was until recently the maximum storage capacity for rewritable optical discs, phase-change DVD-RAM media with a storage capacity of tens of gigabytes are now available. DVD-RAM media are already used as a storage medium in the computer industry, and are expected to soon be used as a recording and playback medium in the audio-video (AV) field as a result of the development of economical encoders and decoders implementing the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 digital AV data coding standards.
Digital broadcasting has already started in Japan, making it possible to multiplex video, audio, and data for multiple programs to an MPEG transport stream (MPEG-TS below). Digital broadcast recorders using hard disk drives or DVD drives are also available.
These next-generation digital broadcast recorders often record the broadcast content as it was broadcast without converting the MPEG-TS. So that the recorder does not need to be able to internally process both the MPEG-TS and MPEG program stream (MPEG-PS below), these recorders are expected to encode even external analog AV content from line input terminals (i.e., user content) to the MPEG-TS for recording.
The current DVD theoretical standards (such as DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD Video Recording, and DVD Stream Recording standards) use the MPEG-PS for AV stream recording. This means that to convert content recorded using the MPEG-TS, such as in the above digital broadcast recorder, to the DVD-Video format, for example, the MPEG-TS must be converted to an MPEG-PS.
Converting an MPEG-TS multiplexed content stream to an MPEG-PS, however, requires complex computations for decoder buffer management. The conversion process therefore takes longer, requires re-encoding the elementary stream, may degrade the image and sound quality, and is thus generally difficult to accomplish.

Method and an apparatus for stream conversion a method and an apparatus for data recording and data recording medium

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A golf trolley includes a stationary tube and a push tube which has one end connected pivotally to the stationary tube. A locking device includes an engaging bolt provided on the stationary tube and a lock casing which is provided on the push tube and which has a blind bore to receive the engaging bolt therein. A press member extends through the lock casing. When the push tube is pivoted relative to the stationary tube so as to place the push tube in a substantially parallel position with respect to the stationary tube, the engaging bolt extends into the blind bore of the lock casing, and the press member locks the engaging bolt in the blind bore of the lock casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a locking device, more particularly to a locking device which is to be installed on a golf trolley.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional golf trolley that includes a stationary tube (A) which is provided with a lower bag support (F), an upper bag support (E), a moving wheel set (G), and a push tube (C) which is connected to the stationary tube (A) by means of a bracket (B) and a locking device (D). The push tube (C) has a grip portion (H) provided at the topmost end thereof.
FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively illustrate an exploded view and an assembled view of the stationary tube (A) and the push tube (C). As illustrated in FIG. 2, the push tube (C) has a lower end (C1) which is connected pivotally adjacent to an upper end (A1) of the stationary tube (A) by means of the bracket (B). The locking device (D) includes a sleeve member (D2), which is sleeved slidably on the push member (C), and an inverted U-shaped member (D1) which is connected to the sleeve member (D2) by means of an engaging screw (D3). The inverted U-shaped member (D1) is formed with a cavity (D12) which receives the upper end (A1) of the stationary tube (A). The push tube (C) is pivoted upward relative to the stationary tube (A), and the inverted U-shaped member (D1) is slid downward so as to permit the upper end (A1) of the stationary tube (A) to extend into the cavity (D12), thereby locking the two tubes (A, C) together so as to retain the golf trolley in an operable position, as shown in FIG. 3. The above operation is conducted in a reverse sequence so as to disengage of the upper end (A1) of the stationary tube (A) from the locking device (D) in order to permit pivoting movement of the push tube (C) relative to the stationary tube (A), thereby placing the golf trolley in a folded position, as shown in FIG. 4.
A main drawback of the aforementioned golf trolley is that the locking device (D) must be held manually on the push tube (C) above the upper end (A1) of the stationary tube (A) during the pivotal action of the push tube (C) relative to the stationary tube (A). Otherwise, the locking device (D) will slide downward and abut against the stationary tube (A), which consequently prevents pivotal action of the push tube (C) relative to the stationary tube (A). Thus, locking of the push tube (C) to the stationary tube (A) is hindered and causes some inconvenience to the user.


A crimping head for use with an impact wrench to crimp fittings onto a structure carrying the fitting, that includes a universal adaptor having a head, and a socket positioned in the head sized and shaped to receive a standard anvil of an impact wrench without further connection between the impact wrench and the crimping head. A locking assembly is provided for cooperating with the universal adaptor head for locking the anvil into the socket, and a transmission is attached to the universal adaptor for being driven by the universal adaptor and for converting rotational movement of the anvil into selective rearward and forward movement. A jaw assembly is attached to the transmission and adapted to close into a crimping position and open into a release position responsive to the rearward and forward movement of the transmission.

The invention described and claimed in this application relates to a power operated crimping tool adapted to be attached to and driven by an impact wrench, which may be corded, cordless, or pneumatic. The crimping head has particular application in crimping connection fittings onto pipe, conduit, hose, and the like. Presently, there is a wide range of power and manual tools available for this purpose. Devices such as pressing tongs are used primarily for sanitary installations in order to connect two pipes or pipe sections to one another by means of connecting fittings. For this purpose, the connecting members are slipped over the ends of two pipes and are then plastically deformed in order to achieve a fixed connection between the two pipes by means of the fitting. The pressing tongs have two jaws for this purpose with machined system-specific pressing contours, respectively. In order to actuate the pressing jaws and, in particular, to exert the pressing force, the pressing tongs are connected by a connector to a motor-driven actuating device having an axially movable plunger that operates electro-mechanically or electro-hydraulically. The plunger supports pressing rolls by which, upon extension of the plunger, the pressing tongs are closed and the pressing force is exerted.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,342,001 discloses a power operated crimping/cutting tool driven by an impact wrench, with a crimping or cutting working head that includes a transmission unit and a connection. The transmission unit includes a jaw and a transmission. The jaw is detachable, and the connection is mounted by a sleeve onto the impact wrench. However, the design of this unit is such that attachment elements, such as connecting shafts, clamps, plates and bolts are needed for attaching the crimping jaws to the impact wrench, and may vary in size and shape depending on the type and brand of impact wrench being used.
Thus, there is a need for an attachment for use with an impact wrench that is "universal," in that the crimping head can be attached to the driving head of any conventional impact wrench without the need of connecting shafts, clamps, plates and bolts, as with the design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,342,001. The disclosed crimping jaws are also interchangeable left to right.


A process for producing fiber aggregate which comprises the steps of coating a conductive material which is insoluble in a dielectric fluid on the surface of fibers; dispersing the fibers into the dielectric fluid to obtain a fiber suspended fluid; introducing the fiber suspended fluid into an electric field which is generated in a space between a positive electrode and a negative electrode, whereby causing individual fibers to electrostatically and one-dimensionally orient; and aggregating the oriented fibers. The conductive material contributes to charge-transfer, and it causes the fibers in the electric filed to orient stably.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing fiber aggregate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a process for producing fiber aggregate in which most fibers are about one-dimensionally oriented has been known (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 162062/1987). According to this method, fibers are dispersed into a dielectric fluid. The obtained fiber suspended fluid is introduced into an electric field which is generated in a space between a positive electrode and a negative electrode. This causes individual fibers in the dielectric fluid to electrostatically and one-dimensionally orient. The electrostatically oriented fibers gradually settle and collect by filtering the dielectric fluid.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, each individual fiber has a different surface condition because of the difference in its kind and a manufacturing lot. As the result, the fibers cannot be oriented stably when they are introduced into the electric field. This causes the obtained fiber aggregate to be a poor quality.

Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho


A fuel modification apparatus is equipped with evaporators for evaporating a raw fuel as a fuel to be modified, a super heater for elevating the temperature of the above evaporated raw fuel to a temperature required for the modification, a modification vessel for modifying the above raw fuel having an elevated temperature to form a modified gas, and a preheater for preheating a heating fluid for evaporating the above raw fuel in the evaporator. The evaporators are arranged on a concentric circle, surrounding the superheater.

For example, as a fuel gas, a gas chiefly containing hydrogen (hereinafter also referred to as a hydrogen-containing gas) is supplied to a fuel cell. For use as the hydrogen-containing gas, in general, a reformed gas produced by obtaining a reformed raw fuel from a hydrocarbon fuel, such as methanol or a fossil fuel, e.g., LNG, and processing the reformed raw material gas by steam reforming, partial oxidation reforming, or autothermal reforming, or the like, is used.
For example, in the reforming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-192304, as shown in FIG. 14, pure water supplied to an evaporator 1 is evaporated inside the evaporator 1 by a combustion exhaust gas. Then, the resulting water vapor is supplied to a reformer 3 through a heat exchanger 2. The evaporator 1 includes an evaporation heat exchanger 4 having a heat exchange unit for evaporating water to produce water vapor, as a result of the combustion exhaust gas, which acts as a heat exchange gas. The evaporation heat exchanger 4 includes a plurality of pipes 5 disposed in parallel, together with an inlet manifold 6 and an outlet manifold 7 serving as openings at an upstream end and a downstream end of the pipes 5. Further, a fabric material 8, for preventing protrusion of the pipes 5, is disposed inside the inlet manifold 6.
In the reforming apparatus, the evaporator 1, the heat exchanger 2, and the reformer 3 are arranged in a flow direction of the water vapor, in the direction indicated by the arrow X. In practice, although not shown, the evaporator 1, the heat exchanger 2 and the reformer 3 are connected by pipes. Since plural pipes are used, the overall size of the reforming apparatus tends to be large. Further, heat tends to radiate easily from the pipes, and as a result of the heat energy loss due to heat radiation, heat efficiency is lowered.
Further, in the evaporator 1, water flows along the pipes 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow X, whereas the combustion exhaust gas is supplied in the direction indicated by the arrow Y, perpendicular to the direction of the arrow X. At this time, in order to reliably produce water vapor by evaporating pure water passing through the pipes 5, it is necessary to supply a predetermined amount of heat energy from the combustion exhaust gas to the pure water. Therefore, in order to ensure that heat exchange is performed between the pure water and the combustion exhaust gas for a sufficient period of time, the pipes 5 are required to be considerably long in the direction of the arrow X. Thus, the size of the evaporator 1 tends to be significantly large in the direction indicated by the arrow X, such that a reduction in the overall size of the reforming apparatus cannot be achieved.

Fuel modification apparatus having an evaporator arranged around a superheater


An organic light emitting display device and a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display device are disclosed. The organic light emitting display device includes a first substrate, on which a display region and a non-display region surrounding the display region are defined, a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, an organic light emitting element disposed in the display region between the first substrate and the second substrate, a third substrate disposed opposite to the second substrate, and a microphone disposed between the second substrate and the third substrate.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to an organic light emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the organic light emitting display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting display ("OLED") device displays information of images or characters using light generated as holes and electrons, which are provided from an anode and a cathode, respectively, are combined with each other at an organic light emitting layer interposed between the anode and the cathode. The OLED devices have been widely used due to the properties thereof such as a wide viewing angle, a rapid response speed, a thin thickness and low power consumption, for example.
When the OLED device is used in an electronic apparatus such as a smart phone, a microphone for inputting sound signal may be further disposed in the OLED devices. However, in a conventional OLED device, an additional space is typically provided in the OLED device to receive the microphone.

Organic light emitting display devices and methods of manufacturing organic light emitting display devices


The disclosed detection circuit for a seatbelt apparatus may include an attachment detection switch, first and second resistance elements, and an LED. The resistance value of the first resistance element may be set to a value which allows a current smaller than the maximum current value which cannot turn the LED on to flow through the LED when the attachment detection switch is in an OFF state. The resistance values of the first and second resistance elements can be set to values which allow a current larger than the minimum current value which can turn the LED on to flow through the LED when the attachment detection switch is in an ON state. A monitoring circuit may determine whether or not the tongue on the seat is attached to the buckle.

The present invention relates generally to a seatbelt apparatus mounted to a vehicle and, more specifically, to the detection of whether or not a seatbelt is worn and an improved technique for guiding the fastening of the seatbelt.
A vehicle, such as a motor vehicle, is provided with a seatbelt apparatus for protecting a passenger in case of a vehicle collision. The seatbelt apparatus may include a seatbelt and a spool for feeding and retracting the seatbelt.
In the related art, it is detected whether or not the seatbelt is worn and various controls are performed on the basis of a detected signal indicating whether or not the seatbelt is worn. For example, the seatbelt apparatus may include a motor for driving a spool. The motor is controlled to perform the retraction or feeding of the seatbelt on the basis of the signals indicating whether or not the seatbelt is worn.
A seatbelt apparatus may be provided with a buckle switch which detects a tongue on a seatbelt that is inserted into a buckle or that is pulled out from the buckle, thus detecting whether or not the seatbelt is in a worn state. When a detection signal indicating that the tongue is inserted into the buckle is outputted, a motor is driven in the direction of retracting the seatbelt for eliminating the slack in the seatbelt. When a detection signal indicating that the tongue is pulled out from the buckle is outputted from the buckle switch, the motor is driven in the direction of retracting the seatbelt in order to store the seatbelt.
According to another proposed embodiment, a seatbelt apparatus is provided with an illumination lamp, which illuminates the buckle so that the passenger can wear the seatbelt easily. In this embodiment, the illumination lamp for illuminating the buckle of the seatbelt apparatus is installed in a console box provided on the floor of the cabin at the center. When the passenger opens a vehicle door to enter the vehicle, a detection signal indicating that the vehicle door is opened is supplied to an illumination control unit. Accordingly, the illumination control unit illuminates the illumination lamp. Subsequently, when the passenger inserts the tongue into the buckle, a detection signal indicating that the tongue is inserted into the buckle is supplied to the illumination control unit. Accordingly, the illumination control unit turns the illumination lamp off.
In the seatbelt apparatus shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-237827, it is necessary to provide a signal line for outputting a detection signal indicating whether or not the tongue is inserted into the buckle to the illumination control unit and to separately provide a power cable for supplying power to the illumination lamp. In other words, it is necessary to provide a wire harness for the detection signals and a wire harness for the power between the seat (buckle) on which the seatbelt is installed and the illumination control unit.
In vehicles such as a motor vehicle or an airplane, the reduction of the number of wire harnesses is required for reducing the working load and for reducing the cost. In view of such a point, there is a need to provide a technique for effectively reducing the number of the wire harnesses required for detecting whether the seatbelt is worn or not worn and for supplying power to a light-emitting apparatus.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed descriptions are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.


A booklet making method includes: cutting a web of paper on one side and on another side into first and second continuous sheets, alternately bonding the first and second continuous sheets widthwise with a setting paste and a throwaway paste to form a double set continuous sheet of paper, and cutting the double set continuous sheet of paper into split double sheets of a selected longitudinal length. A plurality of split double sheets is integrally bound with an integrating paste to form a booklet-like product. Portions of the booklet-like product which are pasted and bonded with the throwaway paste are cut off to provide a plurality of booklets. Thus, by the booklet making method, booklets having an odd number of leaves or pages are formed without waste of paper and with reduced paper jams.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for making a booklet or booklets from a printed web of paper.
Description of the Prior Art
There has hitherto been proposed a variety of methods of making a booklet or booklets from a web of paper or a continuous sheet of paper.
For example, JP 2002-86966 A discloses a booklet making method in which a continuous sheet of paper having a paste applied thereto is cut into split sheets of a length of a booklet and the sheets are transported and piled one on another. The sheets while in a pile are bonded and bound together with the binding paste to provide a booklet of a selected number of sheets.
JP 2011-110814 A discloses a booklet making method in which a web of paper is cut centrally of its width into a continuous sheet of paper on one side and a continuous sheet of paper on the other side. The continuous sheet of paper on one side having a paste applied thereto at its binding side and the continuous sheet of paper on the other side are laid one on top of the other to form a double continuous sheet of paper. The double continuous sheet of paper is cut into split sheets of a selected length which are transported and piled to form booklets.
JP 2006-321148 A discloses a booklet making method in which a continuous sheet of paper is cut centrally of its width into a pair of rows which are shifted from each other in transport-wise position and superposed one above the other. The top and bottom sheets of paper are alternately cut successively into split sheets. Having a paste applied thereto, the split sheets are piled into booklets having an odd number or an even number of leaves (pages) or having them randomly mixed.
The booklet making method described in JP 2002-86966 A, in which split sheets cut from a continuous sheet of paper is transported on by one, such sheets while in transport lack firmness and tend to deviate in position, raising the problem that when piled to form booklets, they are apt to become uneven in position and the problem that they in transport tends to cause a paper jam.
In the booklet making method described in JP 2011-110814 A in which split sheets are transported which are formed by cutting a continuous sheet of paper on one side and a continuous sheet of paper on the other side that are laid one on the other, the double sheets gain firmness and less deviates in position. The sheets when piled to form booklets are bettered in evenness of position and their jam in transport is reduced. Since, however, booklets are fabricated on the basis of two continuous sheets of paper superposed, the booklets that can be fabricated will have to be of an even number of leaves. When a booklet of an odd number of leaves is made, a sheet which is essentially unnecessary must be included, bringing about the problem that waste of paper is caused.
While such a sheet that is essentially unnecessary may be utilized as memo or scratch paper, it is unnecessary as a leaf of booklets and becomes waste of paper.
In the booklet making method described in JP 2006-321148 A in which split sheets formed by cutting a continuous sheet of paper is transported one by one, the sheets in transport lack firmness and tend to deviate in position, giving rise to the problem that a plurality of such sheets when piled to form booklets are apt to become uneven in position and the problem that they in transport tends to cause a paper jam.
Made in view of the problems mentioned above, the present invention has for its object to provide a booklet making method and apparatus whereby sheets in forming booklets can be evenly set and their jam in transport is reduced and whereby a booklet having an odd number of leaves or pages can be formed without waste of paper.


The invention is directed to an exhaust-gas muffler (1) of a handheld work apparatus driven by an internal combustion engine. The exhaust-gas muffler (1) includes a muffler housing (2) which includes an engine-end wall (3) having an inlet window (4) as well as an outlet (5). Attachment means (6) for fixing the exhaust-gas muffler (1) on the internal combustion engine are provided on the engine-end wall (3) in the region of the inlet window (4). The engine-end wall (3) is provided with a reinforcing sheet metal piece (7) on the inner side of the exhaust-gas muffler (1) in the region of the attachment device (6). A discharge channel (8), which leads to the outlet (5), is formed at least between a part region of the reinforcing sheet metal piece (7) and the adjoining region of the muffler housing (2).

Exhaust-gas mufflers of this kind are, for example, of motor-driven chain saws, suction/blower apparatus, brushcutters or the like and are flange connected directly to the cylinder of. the engine. A muffler housing of the exhaust-gas muffler has attachment means, especially, in the form of flange screws which are provided on the engine-end wall of the muffler housing. The attachment means are in the immediate proximity of an inlet window through which the hot exhaust gases of the engine flow into the interior of the exhaust-gas muffler. The hot and pulsating exhaust-gas flow generates considerable thermal and mechanically vibrating loads in the attachment means and especially in the engine-end wall of the muffler housing.
Overall, a low weight is sought for a good manipulability of the work apparatus. With a view to a low overall weight, the walls of the muffler housing are designed to be thin. A low muffler weight leads especially to a mechanical loading of the attachment means and the engine-end wall under vibration load. A thin-walled design of the engine-end wall is disadvantageous because of the low bending stiffness thereof which permits an elastic deformation transverse to the wall plane. For corresponding thermal and/or mechanical loading, the stress of the engine-end wall because of bending load, curving load and/or torsion load can be disadvantageous.
Exhaust-gas mufflers are known wherein the engine-end wall is provided with a support disc on the inner side of the muffler housing in the region of the attachment means. The support disc is intended to lead to a local reinforcement of the engine-end muffler wall and to a planar introduction of the screw forces. To achieve an adequate reinforcement effect, a corresponding thickness of the support disc is required which operates disadvantageously on the total weight of the exhaust-gas muffler. Stress peaks in the region of the edges of the support discs are avoidable only to a limited extent.


Provided is a method and apparatus for common packet channel access to transmit data packet from a mobile terminal to a satellite access network in a mobile satellite communication system. The method and apparatus of this invention reduces transmission delay time, enhances the probability of successful access, and controls the currently used common packet channel by using a common control channel broadcast by the satellite access network. The method includes the steps of: receiving an access preamble including an access signature code and a collision-detection preamble including a collision-detection signature code, which are transmitted together from a plurality of mobile terminals, and transmitting an acknowledgement to the access preamble and collision-detection preamble to mobile terminals through a preamble acknowledgement channel.

Common packet channel (CPCH) is a channel used for transmitting packet data which is too big to be transmitted through an uplink random access channel (RACH) and too small to be transmitted through an uplink dedicated channel, such as one for voice service. The CPCH is usually used for transmitting packet data of middle-length less than 50 frames.
The CPCH structure and CPCH access/control procedures are disclosed in the specification documents of 25.211 and 25.214, drawn by the Technical Specification Group (TS) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The CPCH is related to a downlink dedicated channel that provides power control and transmission control commands with respect to each CPCH. The CPCH is characterized by initial collision risk and inner loop power control.
In case where data is one to two-frame long, it is transmitted through uplink random access channel (RACH).
If a length of the data is 50 frames or more, such as voice data, it is transmitted through the uplink dedicated channel.
In a satellite mobile communication system for IMT-2000 service, a mobile terminal transmits an access preamble to the satellite access network through an access channel before transmitting a data packet, in order to obtain data transmit grant.
If the satellite access network acknowledges the acquisition of the access preamble, the mobile terminal transmits a collision-detection preamble additionally to avoid any collision.
If the satellite access network acknowledges the successful reception of the collision-detection preamble and sends an acknowledgement for channel assignment, the mobile terminal transmits the user data packet, which is the main packet, through an allowed uplink common packet channel.
The satellite access network performs transmission control, such as commanding transmission start, transmission stop, and power control with respect to each uplink packet channel, using a downlink dedicated channel corresponding to each uplink common packet channel.
Since the access preamble contains a signature which indicates a common packet channel (in case that a channel is not assigned, hereinafter, which is referred as "a channel unassignment mode") that the mobile terminal selects for packet transmission (in case of a channel unassignment mode), or (in case that a channel is assigned, hereinafter, which is referred as "a channel assignment mode") indicates a transmission rate, the satellite access network recognizes the request of the mobile terminal by detecting the signature in the access preamble.
The collision-detection preamble is used for avoiding the collision of the packets transmitted by two or more than mobile terminals at the same time.
Since the number of signatures used for the access preamble is restricted, two or more than mobile terminals may transmit their access preambles using the identical signature at the same time. Therefore, the collision-detection preamble is used for preventing different mobile terminals from using the same common packet channel, when the mobile terminals transmit access preambles using the same signature at the same time.
Although the mobile terminals transmit access preambles using the same signature, if a collision-detection preamble is transmitted using a signature selected by each mobile terminal independently again (the selected signature may or may not be the same as the signature of the access preamble), the satellite access network can discriminate collision-detection preambles and select any one of the collision-detection preambles. The satellite access network, then, transmits an acknowledgement corresponding to the selected collision-detection preamble in order to allow data transmission to a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal that receives the acknowledgement can obtain the grant for using the common packet channel and transmit data packets. Therefore, the collision between data packets transmitted by the different mobile terminals can be avoided.
However, there are some problems in applying the common packet channel access method used in the terrestrial system to the satellite system.
First, although the propagation delay is no more than one millisecond (ms) in a cell of the terrestrial system, the delay is more than tens of milliseconds in the satellite system, even in case of a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system. Therefore, the access delay spent in the two processes of transmitting preambles for access and channel requests is relatively very long, compared with that of the terrestrial system.
Second, in the satellite system the probability of successful reception of the preamble is relatively low because of poor link characteristics, such as long distance and fading. Moreover, in case of using a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system, Doppler shift occurs up to tens of Khz.
Third, in the terrestrial system, a downlink dedicated channel for controlling packet transmission and transmit power is assigned to each uplink packet channel, and in case where a plurality of packet channels are used, the terrestrial system should use the downlink dedicated control channels as many as the assigned packet channels. The transmit power of packet channels and control channels is controlled by each other using closed loop power control.
However, the ratio of transmission power loss between mobile terminals in the satellite system is relatively smaller than that in the terrestrial system. That is, in case of the satellite system, the transmit power difference required to the mobile terminals within a satellite beam is smaller than the one in the terrestrial system. Therefore, in the satellite communication, even though the closed loop power control is performed by a downlink control channel corresponding to each packet channel, power efficiency is not enhanced. Accordingly, if downlink dedicated control channels are assigned to the terrestrial system, it leads to unnecessary channel assignment and power loss and causes the problem of spreading code limitation.
Fourth, in the terrestrial system, the propagation delay between a base station and a mobile terminal is short and thus fast power control can be used for each mobile terminal. The power control is performed every slot in the downlink dedicated control channel. Meanwhile, in the satellite system, such fast power control is impossible due to the longer propagation delay in the satellite link.

Method and apparatus for common packet channel access in mobile satellite communication system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Provided is a method and device for implementing session continuity. The method includes: transmitting indication information to a user equipment (UE), where the indication information is used for informing the UE to release a current first protocol data unit (PDU) session and establish a second PDU session to the same data network; and receiving a request message, initiated by the UE after the indication information is received by the UE, for establishing the second PDU session, where the request message carries a session identifier of the first PDU session for uniquely identifying the first PDU session. The above-mentioned technical solution solves the problem in the related art that it is impossible to determine from which PDU session the newly established PDU session is switched over when the UE is redirected to a new TUPF. Thus the network side is able to determine from which PDU session the newly established PDU session is redirected.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 4G network architecture in the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, network elements described below are included in the architecture. A user equipment (UE) is accessed to a 4G network and obtains services mainly via a radio air interface. The UE interacts with a base station via the air interface, and interacts with a mobility management entity (MME) of a core network via non-access-stratum (NAS) signaling. A radio access network (RAN) base station is responsible for scheduling air interface resource through which the UE is accessed to the network and connection management of the air interface, and is further responsible for detecting uplink and downlink rates of a user to ensure that the maximum uplink and downlink rates allowed for the user are not exceeded.
A mobility management entity (MME) is served as a control plane unit of a core network and mainly responsible for: user authentication, authorization and subscription checking, to ensure that a user is a valid user; user mobility management, including location registration and temporary identifier allocation; maintenance and migration of an IDLE state and a CONNECT state; a handover in the CONNECT state; connection and bearer maintenance of the packet data network (PDN), including session management functions like creating, modifying and deleting a session; and paging triggering in the IDLE state of a user, and other functions.
A serving gateway (GW) is served as a user plane functional unit of the core network and mainly responsible for interacting with a packet data network (PDN) GW in the case of roaming; caching downlink data packets received and notifying the MME to page the user when the user is in the IDLE state; and acting as an anchor for the user plane during inter-RAN handovers and as the anchor for mobility across 2G/3G/4G systems.
The PDN GW is served as a user plane functional unit of the core network and is an access point for the UE to access the PDN. The PDN GW is responsible for user Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation, the establishment, modification and deletion of the network-triggered bearer, Quality of Service (QoS) control, charging and other functions, and is the anchor of the user within the third generation partnership project (3GPP) system and between 3GPP and non-3GPP systems, and thus the IP address is ensured to be unchanged and service continuity is ensured. The PDN GW is further responsible for detecting the uplink and downlink rates of a session to ensure that the maximum uplink and downlink rates allowed to the user session are not exceeded.
The industry is currently researching the next generation wireless communication system and a schematic diagram of the architecture shown in FIG. 2 is proposed. In FIG. 2, The user plane functional entities includes a terminating user-plane function (TUPF) entity served as an entry point for the UE to access a data network (DN). The control plane functional entities include an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity responsible for access control and mobility management of the UE, and a session management function (SMF) entity responsible for session management. In the process of researching the next generation wireless communication system, new requirements and solutions for service continuity are proposed. Three modes of session and service continuity (SSC) are defined.
Mode 1: The TUPF remains unchanged no matter how an access network (AN) used by the UE changes.
Mode 2: The TUPF remains unchanged when the UE only moves in a subset of the attachment point of the access network. When the UE leaves a service area of the TUPF, a different TUPF suitable for an attachment point of a current access network for the UE will be used to serve the UE.
Mode 3: As shown in FIG. 3, the UE is allowed to establish a new protocol data unit (PDU) session to the same DN before the previous PDU session is finally terminated. When the UE requests to establish the new PDU session, the network selects a TUPF suitable for the UE's new network attachment point. When two PDUs are simultaneously activated, the UE migrates the application from the previous PDU session to the new PDU session, or the UE waits for the application bound to the previous PDU session to end.
In order to ensure service continuity, in mode 3, if the application supports service continuity, the UE may migrate the application bound to the previous PDU session to the new PDU session. However, problems described below exist. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the UE establishes two PDU sessions (one of which is PDU session 1, and the other is PDU session 2) in the same DN through an AN1, and the network selects the same TUPF (i.e., TUPF) for the two PDU sessions. The two PDU sessions have the same user id and the same DN name. In order to implement policy control on the PDU sessions, two policy control sessions (i.e., policy control session 1 and policy control session 2) are respectively established between the control plane (CP) and the policy function. The UE accesses the application through the PDU session 1, so that the AF establishes an AF session 1 to provide service information, and the CP correlates the AF session 1 with the PDU session 1. The UE accesses an application through the PDU session 1. The AF corresponding to the application establishes the AF session 1 to provide service information to the policy function, and the policy function correlates the AF session 1 with the policy control session 1.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, the network indicates the UE that the PDU session 1 and PDN session 2 need to be redirected to a new TUPF when the UE moves to the AN2. According to the network indication, the UE establishes a new PDU session 3. During the process of establishing the PDU session 3, the UE carries the user id and the DN name, while the policy function fails to determine a PDU session from which the PDU session 3 is switched. Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether to correlate the AF session 1 with the PDU session 3 (i.e., policy control session 3).
Similarly, if other network functional entities (such as the SMF) on the network fail to determine the PDU session from which the PDU session 3 is switched over, the SMF is unable to select the same policy function. Further, if the AMF fails to determine the PDU session from which the PDU session 3 is switched over, the AMF is unable to select the same SMF and then cannot select the same policy function. In addition, if the same SMF cannot be selected, some of original contexts on the SMF cannot be reused, which reduces processing efficiency and increases signaling overhead.
In the related art, when the UE is redirected to a new TUPF, it is impossible to determine from which PDU session the newly established PDU session is switched over. An effective solution has not been proposed.

Method, device, and system for implementing session continuity


A monaural communication device is composed of a housing for receiving a receiver and a support component which is resiliently connected to the housing and is to be worn binaurally. The support component is constructed symmetrically and the housing and/or the support component is provided with grip elements which, when actuated, make it possible to fold or tilt the support component away from the housing by using the fingers of only one hand, and wherein, when the support component carries out a return movement by means of a spring, the support component clamps the pinna against the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monaural communication device composed of a housing for receiving a receiver and a support component which is resiliently connected to the housing and is to be worn binaurally.
2. Description of the Related Art
Monaural communication devices of the above-described type may be talk-listen sets or pure listening devices, as long as they are only used on one ear.
Monaural communication devices are used in many cases in which the continuous use of listening devices or talk-listen devices is necessary or desired, for example, by telephone operators, persons providing directory assistance, air traffic controllers, persons handling telephone orders or persons carrying out assemblies in the field of manufacturing; in short, monaural communication devices are used where the hands must be free during listening and speaking. As compared to binaural head sets and head set units, the thermal stress on the user is smaller. In addition, by being able to listen to surrounding noises, the feeling of isolation is eliminated.
A way of fastening these communication devices is by clamping them in the pinna. Talk-listen units can also be supported in this manner. For example, DE-0S 36 41 612 describes this type of talking unit.
Another way of fastening the communication devices is by placing a stirrup connected to the housing around the pinna. This stirrup may be closed, for example, ring-shaped, or the stirrup may be open toward the bottom. When the stirrup is suitably constructed, the communication devices can be worn optionally on the right ear or the left ear.
Because pinnae have different shapes, a mere placement or suspension of the communication devices on the ear enable only a loose fit on the ear. This frequently leads the wearer of the device to have the feeling that something is being lost; during quick head movements, it may actually occur that a portion of the communication is lost. If the communication device is moved relative to the ear duct as a result of a head movement, a change in the acoustics, particularly the loudness is perceived. This may lead to communication difficulties or to diversions, for example, when readjustments have to be carried out.
The exact positioning of the communication device is of particular importance when a talk-listen unit must be used. In that case, it is not only necessary to position the receiver correctly in front of the ear, but the microphone must also be correctly positioned relative to the mouth.
In order to ensure a uniform position under all circumstances, several possibilities have been proposed for securing the communication devices on the ear. For example, DE-OS 43 29 635 describes how a communication of this type can be clamped underneath the pinna my means of a lever. Also, a telescoping extension which surrounds the pinna for securing a talk-listen device has been proposed in DE-OS 38 31 207.
Resiliently mounted clamping devices have also become known. For example, it is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,052 to position a moveable component from the top behind the pinna in order to secure the receiver relative to the ear duct. As disclosed in EP 423 202 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,792, another possibility is to construct a support stirrup resiliently fastened relative to the housing in such a way that the communication devices are securely positioned on the ear.
However, in all of these embodiments, it is not taken into consideration that the devices must be simple to operate. Especially in the case of resilient components, it is frequently not easy to place the communication device in the correct position relative to the ear. In these cases, it is necessary to use both hands to simultaneously hold the resilient clamping means open and to find the correct position relative to the ear. This problem becomes even more difficult when the user of the device has long hair, so that especially female users frequently find it difficult to place the communication device correctly.

AKG Akustische U. Kino-Gerate Gesellschaft m.b.H.


A sealing device for laminated heat exchangers is disclosed. The sealing device has a heat exchanging plate including both a wave-shaped portion and a longitudinal groove. The wave-shaped portion having a plurality of alternately arranged depressions and prominences with a hole being formed on the inside wall of each of the depressions while a fitting edge remains at its top side. In addition, the device also has a gasket having a longitudinal body and a plurality of fitting taps. The fitting taps are perpendicularly formed alongside the longitudinal body at regular intervals, individually having a fitting slit at its inside end. A free end part, formed at the inside lower portion of each of the fitting taps, is inserted into the hole of each of the depressions with the fitting slit being fitted over the fitting edge of the heat exchanging plate when the gasket is set on the heat exchanging plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, in general, a sealing device for laminated heat exchangers and, more particularly, to a sealing device provided with a gasket capable of preventing heat exchanging mediums from being leaked from the junction between neighbored heat exchanging plates, thereby improving the heat efficiency of a heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, a laminated heat exchanger consists of a plurality of heat exchanging plates. The assembling method of such a laminated heat exchanger will be described below. First, a gasket is set on the heat exchanging plate. Thereafter, supporting bars are inserted into holes formed on the heat exchanging plates. Such a plurality of heat exchanging plates, with the supporting bars, are clamped together and so a complete heat exchanger is obtained.
In a conventional method for attaching the gasket to the heat exchanging plate, adhesives are preferentially applied to a longitudinal groove, formed on the edge of the heat exchanging plate, prior to seating the gasket into the groove.
However, such a conventional method is problematic in that the application of the adhesives requires a lot of time and labor. Also, it is difficult to maintain the cleanliness of the adhesive surface of the heat exchanging plate. In addition, the firstly applied adhesives are more quickly hardened than that of the lastly applied adhesives because the adhesives are wholly applied along the lengthy longitudinal grove. Thus, the part of the gasket, located at a position of the primarily hardened adhesives, may be easily separated from the heat exchanging plate. Furthermore, when an existing gasket has to be exchanged with a new one, the adhesives, existing on the heat exchanging plate, have to be removed.
In order to overcome the above problems, a sealing device for such heat exchangers, without using any adhesives, is proposed.
For example, a sealing device for such heat exchangers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,227 (Apr. 5, 1966). In the above U.S. Patent, the sealing device comprises a heat exchanging plate, having an extended part at its edge, and a gasket, including a fitting tap. Also, a groove is formed around the edge of the heat exchanging plate and so the fitting tap is fitted into the groove. In addition, a plurality of holes are formed on the extended part, while a plurality of pins are formed at the lower portion of the fitting tap. Thus, the pins are effectively inserted into the holes.
However, the above sealing device according to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,227 has the following problems. That is, the hole of the heat exchanging plate has the same diameter as the pin of the gasket because the pins of the fitting tap have to be tightly inserted into the holes of the plates. Thus, it is difficult to insert the pins into the holes, thereby reducing work efficiency while assembling the gasket with the heat exchanging plate. On the other hand, when the diameter of the holes is large than that of the pins, the gasket may be easily separated from the heat exchanging plate.
In addition, a sealing device for such heat exchangers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,758 (Mar. 6, 1990). In the above U.S. Patent, the sealing device comprises a heat exchanging plate, having a groove at its edge, and a gasket, including a fitting tap. Also, step parts are formed at the outer portion of the groove, while a plurality of holes are formed at the side portions of the step parts. Thus, the fitting tap is effectively inserted into the holes.
However, the above sealing device according to the U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,758 has the following problem. That is, the gasket may slip toward the holes because the holes are formed at the side portion of the groove, thereby reducing a sealing effect.
In order to overcome the above problems, a sealing device for heat exchangers is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 91-3072. The sealing device according to the above Korean Patent is schematically shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sealing device comprises a heat exchanging plate 5 and a gasket 1. The heat exchanging plate 5 includes both a wave-shaped portion at its edge 6 and a longitudinal groove 7 at a position inside the wave-shaped portion. The wave-shaped portion of the plate 5 has a plurality of alternately arranged ridges 9 and furrows 8.
The gasket 1, to be set on the heat exchanging plate 5, has a configuration, which is integrally formed with a connecting part 2, supporting part 2A and two free end parts 3 and 4. One end of the connecting part 2 is perpendicularly formed on the body of the gasket 1, the other end of the connecting part 2 is also perpendicularly connected to the central portion of the supporting part 2A. That is, the supporting part 2A is parallel with the body of the gasket 1.
In addition, the two free end parts 3 and 4 are formed at both ends of the supporting part 2A in such a manner that the two free end parts 3 and 4 vertically extend toward the body of the gasket 1, respectively.
Thus, the gasket 1 is set on the heat exchanging plate 5 in such a manner that the connecting part 2 of the gasket 1 comes into contact with the upper surface of a furrow 8, and the two free end parts 3 and 4 closely come into contact with the lower surfaces of two ridges 9, respectively.
However, the above sealing device for heat exchangers is problematic in that the construction of the gasket 1 is complicated due to the connecting, mounting parts 12 and 12A, and the two free end parts 3 and 4. Also, it is difficult to fit the two free end parts 3 and 4 of the gasket 1 into the lower surfaces of the ridges 9. In addition, when the heat exchanging plate 5 is installed in the heat exchanger, the conventional sealing device requires a space for the supporting part 2A because the supporting part 2A is protruded toward the outside of the heat exchanging plate 5.

Sealing device for laminated heat exchangers


A banjo having an improved pick-up system includes at least one pick-up mounted on or near the banjo head. In one embodiment, a plurality of holes are formed in the banjo head so that metallic heads of a pick-up system can extend therethrough while causing minimal distortion to the innate sound produced by the banjo. Yet, at the same time, the pick-up allows the user to manipulate, through electromagnetic amplification, the sound retrieved by the pick-up. Additionally, a preamplifier may be used in connection with the pick-up.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pick-up system for a Banjo. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pick-up system which can be used with a Banjo without unnecessarily distorting the innate sound.
2. State of the Art
There are numerous instruments which are used in creating types of music. One instrument which has characteristics of certain types of music is a Banjo. While Banjos traditionally have five strings, four string and six string Banjos are also currently available.
While Banjos provide a unique sound, they have one major drawback which limits their usefulness. In many types of music such as rock, jazz, or blues it is difficult for a Banjo to be heard sufficiently so that it is not drowned out by other instruments in the band. This is especially true if the band utilizes a Banjo in conjunction with an electric guitar or other fairly loud instruments, such as drums and/or an electric bass.
Several attempts have been made to provide a system to amplify the sounds of a Banjo. In one attempt, a small microphone is placed adjacent to the body of a Banjo to pick up sounds thereon. This technique can, at times, create feedback and pick up unwanted sounds from other instruments.
In another presently available system, a metal shim is disposed below the Banjo's bridge. A magnetic transducer is then disposed inside of the Banjo's head. Rather than magnifying the sounds of the strings, however, the magnetic transducer merely responds to movement of the metallic shim which moves in connection with the bridge of the instrument.
Still another attempt has been to place a piezoelectric transducer on the Banjo head to generate electric signals in response to vibration. Such a configuration is disadvantageous, however, because it tends to muffle the sound of the Banjo, as well as encourage unwanted feedback.
Thus, there is a need for an improved method for amplifying the sounds of a Banjo while minimizing distortion thereof.


In a boat hoist having a platform for raising and lowering a boat by a normally manually rotated circular lift wheel, winch, and cable arrangement, an electrically powered drive motor assembly mounted adjacent the lift wheel and including a drive wheel biased between a position of non-engagement with the lift wheel, and a position of engagement therewith for rotation of the lift wheel, power for the drive motor provided by the DC power source within the boat being moved or by a shore supplied AC power source.

Contemporary boat hoists of the type described in the Technical Field utilize either manual means for rotating the lift wheel, or electric drives are provided powered by either AC or DC sources of supply, but again with the electric drives manually engaged with the lift wheel. Although such electric drive units can be counterbalanced, it can well be appreciated that additional mechanism need be provided and with the end result still being the application and firm holding of the drive against the lift wheel, a manual effort difficult for some. Those concerned with these problems recognize the need for an improvement in this area of providing a safe, electric drive to the conventional lift wheel as an alternative to the manual rotation.

Electric drive mechanism for boat hoist winch


An electronic device for making a payment is provided. The electronic device includes a display configured to receive a user command, a transceiver configured to communicate with an external device, and a processor configured to request a token associated with a financial service from a payment server when a user requests the financial service and to generate data for providing the financial service by using the token and service information when the token and the service information associated with the financial service is received from the payment server.

Electronic devices are implemented in various forms and include, for example, a smartphone that a user carries, a wearable device that is attached to a part of the body of a user, and the like. With the development of information technologies (IT), the electronic devices have significantly superior functions and provide a user with various functions.
Nowadays, financial technology (hereinafter referred to as "Fin-tech") that is a combination of the finance technology and the IT gets attention. The Fin-tech that is evaluated as the financial paradigm shift extends its boundary to an off-line financial service and a finance platform building service as well as an on-line financial service according to the related art.
For example, manufacturers of electronic devices make various efforts to develop the electronic devices for realizing the fin-tech and build payment systems through the cooperation of a credit card company or a bank.
The payment system using a portable electronic device makes a payment by sending payment information to a payment device by using a local area communication technology such as near field communication (NFC), magnetic secure transmission (MST), or the like. With regard to an MST manner, the payment system makes a payment by sending track data including the payment information recorded on an existing magnetic card to a payment device.
With regard to a payment method using the MST, an electronic device receives and stores track data included in the payment information. When a payment is required, the electronic device makes a payment by using the stored track data. However, the electronic device fails to change information included in the track data issued according to the request of a user by using the track data stored in the electronic device.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Payment system, electronic device and payment method thereof


A system for increasing isolation between analog and digital antennas suited for FM IBOC operations is provided, wherein an interleaved combination of dissimilar antennas are arrayed with an offset there between to obtain a desired performance the use of dissimilar antennas and an offset, several additional degrees of freedom are afforded to the broadcaster in obtaining the desired isolation between signals, and also for upgrading an existing analog system to IBOC capability.

FM radio is in wide use in the field of radio broadcast. The term FM includes, for example, any of the Frequency Modulation methodologies used or developed for signal broadcasting in a frequency band assigned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), nominally in the transmission range 88 MHz to 108 MHz, which is near the middle of the Very-High-Frequency (VHF) television broadcast band. These Frequency Modulation technologies include both analog FM and digital FM.
The FCC has adopted a standard for analog-digital FM transmission called the iBiquity IBOC (In-Band-On-Channel) for hybrid analog-digital transmission systems. According to the IBOC standard, FM stations in the United States must be able to simultaneously broadcast analog and digital signals within their current allocated frequency range. One approach for achieving the above simulcast is to use two separate transmission systems (for example, analog-digital) to feed two separate antennas (for example, analog-digital). Since the elevation of the antenna on the tower directly affects the antenna's coverage, it would be desirable to co-locate the radiated analog and digital signals at the same height above the ground to maintain the same coverage.
Also, since the azimuthal pattern of an FM antenna is very dependent on the cross section of the tower structure, it would be desirable to mount both the analog and digital antennas in the same orientation with respect to the tower. When adding digital coverage, concerns are that many towers are already full having no additional aperture space available. Therefore, many FM broadcasters have responded by vertically interleaving the second digital antenna within the aperture of their existing analog antenna.
A technical challenge in the broadcast community is the fact that the analog and digital signals occupy the same band width, but require isolation between the two systems. Current requirements for isolation between the IBOC digital and analog signals is on the order of 35 dB. If the IBOC and analog antennas are in the same aperture, in order to reduce the filtering requirements the highest level of antenna isolation is preferable. Herethereto, conventional approaches to this dilemma have resulted in antenna systems using sophisticated signal conditioning schemes, pattern manipulation orthogonization, and isolation equipment. All of these approaches rely on the use of similar radiators, in conformity to legacy systems and FCC regulations.
However, the FCC has issued a Public Notice DA04-712, dated Mar. 17, 2004, authorizing the use of separate antennas for digital FM transmissions that are within three geographical seconds of the current analog site. The FCC's public notice on the approval of separate antennas to initiate digital FM digital transmissions explicitly enables the broadcaster to use a separate digital antenna on a separate tower—thereby ameliorating the current dilemma of adding a digital antenna to an existing overcrowded analog tower.
However, the use of a separate tower dedicated to digital systems unavoidably incurs significant tower, cabling, and material costs, as well as the resources necessary to maintain twice as many towers as in the analog operation.
Thus, in view of the FCC's public notice, alternate schemes and techniques for providing FM transmission are desirable. Specifically, schemes or techniques that reduce the isolation concerns without requiring a separate tower.

Apparatus and method to increase isolation between separate in-channel antennas sharing a common aperture space


A document reader comprises line sensors that are staggeredly arranged and read a white reference plate to obtain a white reference read value A, and a white reference average value AA is determined from value A for each line sensor. The line sensors read another white reference plate placed on a document support plate to obtain a white reference read value B, and a white reference read average value BB is determined from value B for each line sensor. A sensitivity effect coefficient C for each line sensor is determined by dividing BB by AA. Using the line sensors, there are obtained a document read value E for each line sensor by reading an illuminated document on the document support plate, a white reference read value Aa by reading with the white reference plate before reading the document, and a black reference read value D by reading the white reference plate under a condition that an illumination is turned off before reading of the document. Shading for the line sensors is corrected using the coefficient C, the values Aa, D and E, and a number of gradation levels for image regions corresponding to read areas of the document.

Conventionally, there is known a document reader in which a plurality of line sensors are arranged in a zigzag manner in a copier or the like, whereby a first row and a second row of the line sensors extending in a main scanning direction are formed, a document is read with the first row of line sensors in advance, and subsequent to the first row, the document is read with the second row of line sensors shifted in a sub-scanning direction with respect to the first row (e.g., see JP 2004-214834 A and JP 2004-215011 A).
Further, there is disclosed a technique of correcting shading so as to enhance a dynamic range of output data of each photoelectric conversion element by suppressing the influence of a variation in characteristics of a number of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in the main scanning direction of the line sensors (e.g., see JP 5-122527 A).
The shading correction for each photoelectric conversion element is performed using the following expression.Number of gradation levels×(Document read value−Black reference read value)/(White reference read value−Black reference read value)In this expression, the white reference read value represents read data obtained by reading a white reference plate placed apart on an opposite side of the line sensors with respect to a transparent document support plate with each photoelectric conversion element of the line sensors under illumination. The black reference read value represents read data obtained by reading the white reference plate respectively with each photoelectric conversion element of the line sensors under the condition that illumination is off. The document read value represents read data obtained by reading a document on a document support respectively with each photoelectric conversion element of the line sensors under illumination. The number of gradation levels is represented by a gray gradation in which each read data (output voltage value) is generally associated with digital data in 255 stages.
In the document reader for reading a document using line sensors arranged in the zigzag manner, it is very difficult to arrange a plurality of line sensors with the distances to the document support plate being exactly the same. The variation in distances is caused by the variation in a size tolerance of μ order for each line sensor, the size tolerance of the thickness of a base and a document support plate on which a plurality of line sensors are set, and the distortion thereof.
If there is a variation in distances of each line sensor with respect to the document support plate, for example, as represented by a case where a document whose image all over the surface thereof is previously known to be a gray gradation is read with each line sensor, it is found that a document read value of a photoelectric conversion element read from each line sensor that divides and scans this document in a main scanning direction varies. Therefore, for example, in an image forming device such as a copier in which an image is formed based on a document read value read by a photoelectric conversion element of each line sensor, gradation occurs for each image region corresponding to a read area of the line sensors arranged in the zigzag manner, which is not preferable in terms of the quality of an image.
However, in any of JP 2004-214834 A and JP 2004-215011 A, there is no description regarding the problem caused by the variation in distance of each line sensor with respect to the document support plate and the countermeasure against the problem. Further, even if the shading correction described in Patent Document 3 is performed, the variation in a document read value read from the photoelectric conversion element of each line sensor cannot be reduced.
An object of the present invention is to obtain a document reader capable of suppressing the variation in document read values read from the photoelectric conversion element of each line sensor irrespective of the variation in distance of each line sensor with respect to a document support plate.

Document reading method, document reader, image forming device, and image scanner


A self-cleaning garbage disposal system is provided including a container having a neck portion leading to a container opening and a flow switch valve for connecting the container to a dishwasher drain hose. The flow switch valve is switchable to an open position to allow dishwasher water to be fed to the container from the dishwasher drain hose and to a closed position to not allow dishwasher water to be fed to the container from the dishwasher drain hose based on a rotational position. The garbage disposal system can include a garbage disposal cap to be rotationally inserted into the container opening, and the flow switch valve operation can respond to the rotational position of the garbage disposal cap. Sensors can be provided on the garbage disposal cap and the neck portion of the container to detect the rotational position of the garbage disposal cap.

Garbage disposals, also called disposers, have been popular for many decades in the United States. These devices are typically cone-shaped units containing a cutting device on the inside, that are attached to the drain under a kitchen sink, so that larger pieces of food waste entering the disposal opening are reduced to smaller particles to help propel them through the drain and into the city sewer system for ultimate removal. They provide an effective way of reducing household waste as food scraps generally account for 10-20% of household waste. They also help to keep the kitchen as well as the house as a whole cleaner as smaller amounts of food waste will be disposed to and maintained in the kitchen trash can. Food waste, when kept in the trash can for a prolonged period of time, can become decomposed, which not only produces an unpleasant smell and attracts insects, but also can cause health problems. In addition, food waste when disposed together with other municipal waste can create environmental problems. For example, the high water content of food scraps means that it consumes more energy to heat and burn them. Food scraps, when buried in landfills, will decompose and generate methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas that can contribute to the greenhouse effect causing global warming.
As the food garbage is processed down the drain, the theory is to have the larger pieces cut into smaller pieces for disposal. However, sometimes larger cuttings of waste remain and may not be pushed out of the drain, instead becoming trapped in the cutting apparatus of the garbage disposal. Some of the food residues may also become attached to the inner wall of the garbage disposal and/or the drain pipe. If this goes unnoticed, the food particles or residues will start to emit an unpleasant odor and also decrease the effectiveness of the garbage disposal by clogging it. Sometimes, the operator shuts off the garbage disposal prior to its tasks being fully complete. This can also cause a residue buildup, leading to clogging and odors.
In addition to making sure that the garbage disposal and water are run for a proper long time, a remedy for the odor is to manually use a spray deodorant to mask the smell from the sink, after the operation ceases. A method for dislodging the food particles from the grinding chamber can be to fix a separate spray attachment inside the garbage disposal so as to add more water directly into the grinding chamber during operation, reducing the buildup of the wastes. Another way to clean a garbage disposal or solve the odor problem is to buy disposal cleaning products, and then pour them down the garbage disposal and run the garbage disposal. These chemical cleaning agents would then remove the residues that attached to the blades and the inner wall.
Problems with manually treating the odors or cleaning the garbage disposal involve trying to remember to do these tasks but forgetting to do them on a regular basis. This will result in a gradual buildup which is harder to clean. It also may involve the application of hazardous chemicals, which can remain inside the drain for an extended period of time, creating potential health issues. The larger drawback is that the current ways of masking the odor or cleaning the garbage disposal with cleaning products treat only the symptom of the problem, not the cause. It is more important to remove the food buildup from the grinding chamber, or to not allow it to be built up in the first place. As to preventing a buildup in the first place, it can be difficult to add a separate line to cleanse the grinding chamber.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a solution to at least one of the aforementioned problems, and most particularly to facilitate cleaning of the garbage disposal on a regular basis in a manner that is convenient to the user.

Self-cleaning garbage disposal system, and method of operation


A locking safety utility knife includes a body and an operating lever that is squeezed to deploy a retractable cutting blade from within the body. The blade can be locked in its retracted position by means of a ratchet-like mechanism including a pawl which is released by manipulating a cam operator. The pawl engages teeth formed on the outside of a door which closes the rear of a compartment formed in the operating handle to house spare blades, or a blade cartridge.

This invention relates to the art of cutting and more particularly to a locking safety utility knife.
In a standard utility knife, the blade is fixed within a body made in two halves held together by a screw. The blade may be replaced when dull by separating the halves and replacing or reversing the blade. Some knife bodies house extra blades as well.
Other knives have been proposed in which the blade can be moved fore and aft with respect to the body of the tool by various means, such as by turning a screw, or by squeezing an operating lever which advances the blade against the action of a retracting spring. In a prior patent, we provided a utility knife of the type having an operating lever with an adjusting screw which determined how far out of the handle the blade could extend when the lever was squeezed.
The present invention provides an improved mechanism for locking the blade in its variable retracted position, to prevent blade deployment until the locking mechanism is manually deactivated.