The invention relates to a sample container, comprising a housing which forms a sample space for receiving a sample and has at least one circular opening which extends in a channel-shaped manner into the sample space, and further comprising a spherical closing element, wherein the diameter of the closing element only exceeds the diameter of the opening channel in at least one (closing) portion to such an extent that the closing element can be fixed in a force-locked manner by its largest circumference in the closing portion, wherein the spherical closing element is in contact with the housing, and the opening channel between the closing portion and the inner opening forms a protrusion which reduces the opening cross section of the opening channel with respect to the opening cross section in the closing portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sample container, comprising a housing which forms a sample space for receiving a sample and has at least one circular opening, and also comprising a spherical closing element.
2. Description of Related Art
Sample containers of this type are used in particular within the scope of biotechnological methods in order to process a biological sample or a biological material, such as a sample containing nucleic acids. These sample containers are used for example to duplicate nucleic acids in vitro within the scope of amplification reactions, such as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Here, the sample containers are used to receive the sample comprising the nucleic acid.
A large number of different sample containers that are routinely used as disposable products within the scope of appropriate biotechnological methods, such as PCR, are known from the prior art. Here, the sample containers are firstly filled with the sample, then closed in an airtight manner, and lastly supplied to the PCR process. Here, high demands are placed on the closure of the sample containers. On the one hand, the sample containers have to be reliably tightly sealed so as not to compromise the result of the PCR process by the undesired entry or exit of sample material. On the other hand, a large number of sample containers are routinely used within the scope of a PCR process and have to be filled and closed for this purpose. This should therefore be performed in an automated manner where possible. Furthermore, it must be possible to produce the sample containers cost-effectively, in particular because they are required in high number and are used as disposable products.
A generic sample container is known from EP 0 449 425 A2, wherein one end of a cylindrical housing, which forms a sample space, is provided with a circular opening that extends in a channel-shaped manner into the sample space. The opening channel tapers shortly before the transition into the sample space and thus forms a seal seat for a spherical closing element. Once the closing element has been fitted onto the seal seat, it is fixed by means of a closing plug.
As a three-part system, the sample container known from EP 0 449 425 A2 is not only relatively complex and therefore expensive, but can also only be closed in an automated manner with relatively high effort.


A non-sampling cascaded current mode analog-to-digital converter is formed of cascaded threshold detector bit cells driven by a transconductance amplifier for substantially instantaneously propagated current mode operation. A front end stage receives an input voltage representative of the quantity to be digitized, and outputs a pair of currents to Nxe2x88x921 cascaded, identically configured threshold comparator-based bit cells, N being the number of bits of resolution of the converter. A bit cell resolves a digital bit and couples a pair of output currents to the next bit cell. The Nxe2x88x921th bit cell in the cascaded architecture is configured to provide both the next to least significant bit and the least significant bit.

The present invention relates in general to communication systems and components, and is particularly directed to a new and improved current mode analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, containing a cascaded arrangement of threshold detector bit cells that are driven by a transconductance amplifier architecture of the type described in my above-referenced ""408 application, that is capable of very fast conversion times due to its substantially instantaneously propagated current mode operation, very limited voltage deflections and lack of feedback requirements.
Due to the extremely rapid advancement of digital signal processing technologies, many if not most signal processing systems and networks are currently (and can be expected to continue to be) designed to operate in the digital domain. As the raw signals input to these systems and networks are analog, a critical component at the front end of the overall signal flow path is the analog-to-digital converter, which quantizes the analog signal into a form suitable for digital processing.
A particularly attractive type of A/D converter that has been proposed for low voltage overhead, high speed signal processing applications, such as but not limited to telecommunication networks, is a pipelined architecture that uses differential current mode techniques. Among the advantages of this type of converter are inherent low voltage swing and the elimination of the need for linear capacitors. (For a non-limiting example of documentation that describes the general architecture and benefits of a pipelined, differential current mode-based A/D converter, attention may be directed to an article by Chung-Yu Wu et al, entitled: xe2x80x9cA CMOS Transistor-Only 8-b 4.5-Ms/s Pipelined Analog-to-Digital Converter Using Fully-Differential Current-Mode Circuit Techniques,xe2x80x9d IEEE Journal of Solid-Stage Circuits, Vol. 30, No. 5, May, 1995, pp. 522-532.)
In accordance with the present invention advantage is taken of the performance and signal processing functionality of the transconductance amplifier circuit disclosed in the above-referenced ""408 application, to realize a substantially improved A/D converter architecture implemented as a cascaded arrangement of current mode-based threshold detector bit cells. The A/D converter of the invention is capable of very fast conversion times due to its substantially instantaneously propagated current mode operation, very limited voltage deflections and lack of feedback requirements, making it attractive for high speed signal processing applications, such as, but not limited to, telecommunication modem chips.
Although it has a multi-bit cell or multistage cascaded configuration, the current mode A/D converter architecture of the present invention is not xe2x80x98pipelinedxe2x80x99 in the customary sense; in the cascaded architecture of the invention, there is no sampling delay associated with each successive bit-stage of the converter. Instead, when an input voltage Vin representative of an analog quantity to be digitized is applied to an upstream-most or front end transconductance-based stage of the converter""s cascaded sequence of bit cells, the only delay encountered is that associated with the electronic propagation delays through the electronic components in the xe2x80x98ripplingxe2x80x99 path along the downstream threshold-based bit cells. There is no sample and store operation in any cell, so that there is no associated storage delay as is customarily encountered in a conventional xe2x80x98pipelinedxe2x80x99 architecture.
The A/D converter architecture of the invention has a front end stage which receives an input voltage Vin representative of the quantity Q to be digitized, and outputs a pair of output currents to a first or most significant bit (MSB)-associated one of Nxe2x88x921 cascaded, identically configured A/D (threshold comparator-based) bit cells, where N corresponds to the digital code (number of bits) resolution of the A/D converter. In accordance with a non-limiting but preferred implementation, the front end stage contains a transconductance amplifier circuit of the type described in the foregoing ""408 application. It also includes circuitry that generates a set of accurate and stable reference voltage and currents used by the circuitry of each downstream A/D cell to resolve its respective bit.
A respective current threshold-based ith A/D cell outputs a single ith digital bit (either a xe2x80x981xe2x80x99 or a xe2x80x980xe2x80x99) of the overall N-bit digital code output of the converter and also couples a pair of output currents to the next (i+1)th A/D cell. The last or Nxe2x88x921th A/D cell of the cascaded bit cells is configured to provide both the next to least significant bit and the least significant bit (LSB) of the resolved N bit code.
For this purpose, a respective A/D xe2x80x98bitxe2x80x99 cell has first and second current input ports, respectively coupled to the first and second current output ports of the immediately preceding bit cell. The first current input port is coupled to a thresholding reference node, which is coupled to a first leg or side of a Darlington-configured differential transistor pair-based, bit-resolving circuit, and to a first leg or side of a Darlington-configured differential transistor pair-based, current-steering circuit.
The bit-resolving differential pair is operative to selectively establish the state of the cell""s output bit, based on whether the value of the first input current is at least equal to the value of the copy of a reference current supplied to each cell from the front end stage. The current-steering differential pair selectively controls the mirroring of the value of the second input current, either as is, to each of the first and second current output ports, or steers the difference between the first input current and the reference current to current mirror circuitry for production of mirrored currents proportional to this difference for application to the next downstream cell.
If the value of the input currents is equal to or greater than the reference current, the current-steering circuit diverts the second input current to a voltage supply rail, so that the second input current cannot be coupled to the current mirror. In addition, the bit-resolving circuit steers the bias current in a manner that causes a high (xe2x80x981xe2x80x99) logic level to be applied to the bit output terminal of that cell. On the other hand, if the value of the input current is less than the reference current, the current-steering circuit applies the second input current to the current mirror, while the bit-resolving circuit steers the bias current in a manner that causes a low (xe2x80x980xe2x80x99) logic level to be applied to the bit output terminal of that cell.

Reduced propagation delay current mode cascaded analog-to-digital converter and threshold bit cell therefor


An aircraft cabin (26) has a plurality of seat units (10) including first (10) and second (12) seat units in a first row (22) and a third seat unit (14) in a second row (24). The first and second seat units (10, 12) are separated by an aisle (38). The seats all face in the same direction (31), said direction (31) being inclined to the longitudinal axis (30) by a seat offset angle (Sθ), and are configurable between a bed mode and a seat mode. A console (20a) of the first seat unit (10) is directly adjacent to the aisle (38) and accommodates a foot-well (40) for use by a passenger in the seat (18c) of the third seat unit (14). At least a part of the console (20a) of the first seat unit (10), in a region no higher than a first distance from the floor, extends further into the aisle (38) than the rest of the first seat unit (10) in a region higher than the first distance from the floor.

When designing a business and/or premium economy seat and corresponding LOPA (Layout of Passenger Accommodations) there are the inherently conflicting requirements of providing the feeling of space and comfort for the passenger whilst providing a high density seating configuration to maximise revenues for airlines. Passengers typically expect a lie-flat bed and a personal and private space, with access to storage areas, a personal TV/VDU monitor, a table and preferably other surfaces for use as a shelf or table. A privacy shell to provide the feeling of a private space may also be desirable. It is also desirable for a seat design and LOPA to be readily configurable for use in as many of the mainstream and common modern aircraft currently being manufactured and sold, such as for example Airbus' A330, A350, and A380 and Boeing's 747, 777, and 787.
Seat units of the prior art typically achieve such requirements, whilst also providing reasonably efficient packing of the seats in a given volume, by means of herringbone-type arrangements of seats and/or by means of creating foot-well regions that interface in a geometrically efficient manner in relation to the seats in front of the seats of the passengers using such foot-wells. A herringbone configuration is one in which the seats are orientated such that they face in a direction inclined to the longitudinal axis by a seat offset angle, although it is common for adjacent seats to face in different directions (e.g. one seat being inclined relative to the longitudinal axis by a seat offset angle in a clockwise direction and the adjacent seat being inclined relative to the longitudinal axis by a seat offset angle in an anti-clockwise direction). Some configurations have adjacent seats inclined to the longitudinal axis by a seat offset angle of the same sign. The higher the seat offset angle the lower the seat pitch needs to be (the seat pitch being the distance between rows in the direction perpendicular to the rows). Having a long seat pitch can compromise on packing efficiency, if the length of cabin is not close to an integer number multiplied by the seat pitch. Increasing the seat offset angle may reduce the number of seats that can be provided across the width of the cabin. Increasing the seat offset angle may also create areas of space between seat units and cabin walls or between seat units and an aisle that could risk wasting space if not utilised wisely.
Some examples of the prior art will now be described.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,489 discloses an aircraft cabin, in which there are installed seat units, each seat unit having a lie-flat seat and a console adjacent to the seat, the seat being configurable between a bed mode and a seat mode. Some of the seats, towards the nose of the aircraft, face in a direction inclined to the longitudinal axis. The console of a seat unit accommodates a foot-well for use by a passenger in the seat behind. The seat units do not appear to be designed to face in the same direction or to be arranged in rows where two or more seats are grouped together in the row. The seat arrangement is not particularly high density and is therefore more suitable to a first class suite of seat units.
WO 2009/073244 discloses an aircraft cabin, in which there are installed a plurality of lie-flat seats arranged in rows. The seats are arranged as three pairs per row, an aisle being defined between adjacent pairs. The seats in each pair are separated by a console. Some of the seats face in the same direction, said direction being inclined to the longitudinal axis of the cabin by an angle of about 15 degrees (the angle measured in the clockwise direction). Other seats face in a different direction, but inclined to the longitudinal axis of the cabin by an angle of about 15 degrees (the angle in this case being measured in the anti-clockwise direction). The feet of a passenger in a seat behind a console between two seats in front may be accommodated in a foot-well to the rear of the console. The low angle of inclination of the seats relative to the longitudinal axis of the cabin translates into a relatively long pitch of seat. Such a long pitch can affect packing efficiency in certain aircraft cabin layouts.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,918,504 discloses an aircraft cabin in which there are installed rows of seat units each unit having a forward facing lie-flat seat and an associated console, the seats facing in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cabin. The consoles provide foot-wells for the seats behind and successive rows alternate in configuration such that the consoles in one row are directly in front of the seats in the row behind. The armrest of a seat in one row overhangs the foot-well of the seat behind, providing a space-packing efficiency. However, the seats being arranged to face parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cabin translates into a relatively long pitch of seat, which may adversely affect packing efficiency in certain aircraft cabin layouts.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,349 discloses an aircraft cabin in which there are installed angled rows of seat units each unit having a seat and an associated console. The seats face in a direction offset from the longitudinal axis of the cabin, but perpendicular to the direction in which the row extends across the aircraft cabin. The consoles in a row provide footrests for the seats in the row behind and armrests for the seats in the same row. The seats are not configured for conversion into a bed-mode.
When designing seats and LOPAs, consideration needs to be given not only to the requirements of the seated passenger and the available volume in the cabin but also to the requirements for sufficient access to and from and along the aisles of the aircraft. The aisles defined between seat units on a commercial aircraft need not be as wide at feet level as at arm level, given that the width of free space required by an average person when walking is greater above the waist than at feet level. The Federal Aviation Regulations specify that, unless special circumstances apply, for an aircraft having a passenger seating capacity of 20 or more, the passenger aisle width at any point between seats must equal or exceed 15 inches (˜381 mm) at a height of less than 25 inches (˜635 mm) and must equal or exceed 20 inches (˜508 mm) at a height of 25 inches (635 mm) or more. Aircraft manufacturers also recommend certain minimum aisle widths. Airbus recommends a minimum aisle width of 15.25 inches (˜387 mm) below a height of 25 inches (˜635 mm) and a minimum aisle width of 20.25 inches (˜514 mm) above a height of 25 inches (635 mm). Boeing recommends a minimum aisle width of 15.5 inches (˜394 mm) below a height of 25 inches (˜635 mm) and a minimum aisle width of 20.5 inches (˜521 mm) above a height of 25 inches (˜635 mm). Seat manufacturers tend to aim for minimum aisle widths higher than the figures stated above in order to provide air-crew better access along the aisle. An aisle width of at least 17 inches is preferred for example.
The present invention seeks to mitigate one or more of the above-mentioned problems. Alternatively or additionally, the present invention seeks to provide an improved high density seating system that can be utilised in a business class cabin region in an aircraft.


A wire connecting apparatus for a magnetic contactor comprises a plurality of wire connector assemblies, a frame for supporting the wire connector assemblies, and a plurality of terminals connected to an external wire. The external wire can be simply connected to the terminal by just tightening or releasing a screw, thereby simplifying an entire wiring process and enhancing a work efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire connecting apparatus for a magnetic contactor, and more particularly, to a screw-type wire connecting apparatus for a magnetic contactor capable of providing an efficient wire connecting work.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
Generally, a magnetic contactor is a component of an electric power distribution board or a system such as a driving/controlling device of a motor. The magnetic contactor is connected to a wire connected to a system circuit, and opens and closes a circuit on the system.
The magnetic contactor has a certain lifespan according to a usage circumstance such as a usage purpose and a switching frequency. Therefore, in an electric power distribution board where a plurality of electronic contactors are installed or in a system such as a driving/controlling device of a motor where a magnetic contactor or a wire connecting of a magnetic contactor has to be changed, connecting a terminal of a magnetic contactor to an external wire connected to of the system circuit is frequently required.
The magnetic contactor is provided with a wire connecting apparatus connected to the external wire of the system. The wire connecting apparatus can be sorted into a screw-type apparatus and a lug-type apparatus.
Generally, in Asia where an external wire having a ring-shaped compression terminal or a U-shaped compression terminal is applied, a screw-type wire connecting apparatus is mainly used. On the contrary, in Europe and U.S.A, a lug-type wire connecting apparatus is mainly used.
In a magnetic contactor having a low rated current less than 25 ampere, a screw-type wire connecting apparatus is applied. In the screw-type wire connecting apparatus, in case of using an ordinary wire or a wire having a U-shaped terminal at a leading end of the wire as an external wire of the system, the external wire can be connected to the wire connecting apparatus just by releasing a screw and then by tightening the screw.
However, in the screw-type wire connecting apparatus, in case of using a wire having a ring terminal at a leading end thereof so as to be connected to a terminal of a magnetic contactor, the screw has to be completely separated from the terminal of the magnetic contactor. Then, a screw hole of the magnetic contactor terminal is aligned with a hole of the ring terminal, or a screw is inserted into the ring terminal. Then, the magnetic contactor terminal has to be coupled with the ring terminal by a screw.
In order to connect the ring terminal to the screw-type wire connecting apparatus, various tools or two workers are necessary. Accordingly, the number of wiring processes is increased, and a work productivity is lowered.

Wire connecting apparatus for a magnetic contactor


In a variable valve actuation system of an internal combustion engine employing a variable valve actuator capable of variably adjusting at least intake valve closure timing depending on engine operating conditions, a processor of a control unit is programmed to phase-advance the intake valve closure timing to a predetermined timing value after a piston top dead center position and before a piston bottom dead center position on intake stroke during at least one of an engine starting period and an engine stopping period. The variable valve actuator includes a biasing device by which the intake valve closure timing is permanently biased toward the predetermined timing value.

In recent years, there have been proposed and developed various variable valve actuation systems capable of variably adjusting an engine valve timing depending on operating conditions of an internal combustion engine. One such variable valve actuation system has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 10-227236 (hereinafter is referred to as "JP10-227236"). The variable valve actuation system disclosed in JP10-227236 is comprised of a so-called rotary vane type valve timing control (VTC) system. In such a rotary vane type VTC system, working fluid pressure is supplied selectively into either one of phase-advance and phase-retard chambers defined in a rotary-vane housing and working fluid pressure is exhausted from the other, in such a manner as to rotate a vane, fixedly connected to a camshaft, in either one of normal-rotational and reverse-rotational directions, thus variably controlling intake valve timing (intake valve open timing and intake valve closure timing) depending on engine operating conditions.
When starting a cold engine, whose coolant temperature is low, an engine crankshaft is rotated by a predetermined crank angle in a reverse-rotational direction for starting the engine with a vane shifted to its maximum phase-advance position. This is because an effective compression ratio becomes high when starting the engine with the vane kept at the maximum phase-advance position, and thus the engine startability can be improved during a cranking period of cold starting operation.
Under a condition where the engine has been warmed up and the coolant temperature becomes adequately high, the vane is shifted to its maximum phase-retard position according to normal cranking operation that the crankshaft is cranked in the normal-rotational direction. This is because an effective compression ratio becomes low when starting the engine with the vane kept at the maximum phase-retard position. That is, by way of such decompression, it is possible to attenuate or reduce noise and vibrations when starting with a warm engine.

Variable valve actuation system of internal combustion engine


Methods and systems are provided for maintaining a temperature of exhaust gases of an engine within a temperature range at which catalytic conversion is most efficient. In one example, a method for controlling a temperature of exhaust gases entering a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system for an engine comprises delivering pressurized air into the exhaust gases upstream of the SCR system, the pressurized air cooled by an air cooler; and adjusting a degree of pressurization by adjusting operation of a turbocharger pressurizing the pressurized air. In one embodiment, the air cooler may be a charge air cooler of a primary turbocharger of the engine, which may flow pressurized air both to the engine and to the SCR system. In other embodiments, the air may be pressurized by an air pump or a secondary dilution turbocharger, and cooled by a secondary charge air cooler.

Modern emissions standards for diesel engines may limit full-load tailpipe oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions levels. A diesel engine may be equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system disposed in an exhaust passage of the engine, which may capture or convert the NOx to nitrogen and water. An SCR system may exhibit high conversion efficiency within a relatively narrow temperature window. When an operating temperature of exhaust gases flowing through an SCR system is outside of the temperature window, conversion efficiency may be lower than desired. For example, SCR systems may rapidly lose conversion efficiency above a maximum threshold temperature (e.g., 450° C.). Additionally, other techniques used to reduce NOx emissions, such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), may increase exhaust temperatures, resulting in a further decrease in conversion efficiency.
Prior solutions to maintaining a temperature of the exhaust gas within a desirable temperature range for an SCR system (e.g., below the maximum threshold temperature) include derating a torque and power of the diesel engine when the temperature exceeds the maximum threshold temperature. Alternatively, a size of a turbocharger of the engine may be increased to increase a flow of air through the engine, thereby diluting the exhaust gases. However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with these methods. In particular, derating the diesel engine may impose a significant limitation on a full-load performance output of an engine, which is an important attribute for a vehicle including the engine. Similarly, increasing the size of the turbocharger may lead to excessive peak cylinder pressure, which may negatively affect performance for structural durability reasons.
In one example, the issue described above may be addressed by method for controlling a temperature of exhaust gases entering an SCR system for an engine, comprising delivering pressurized air into the exhaust gases upstream of the SCR system, the pressurized air cooled by an air cooler; and adjusting a degree of pressurization by adjusting operation of a turbocharger pressurizing the pressurized air. In a first embodiment, the pressurized air may be cooled by a charge air cooler of a primary turbocharger of the engine, which may flow pressurized air both to the engine and to the SCR system. In a second embodiment, the air may alternatively be pressurized by an air pump mechanically coupled to the engine or powered by a battery, and cooled by a secondary charge air cooler. In a third embodiment, the air may be pressurized by a dilution compressor of a secondary dilution turbocharger, where the dilution compressor is driven by a flow of the exhaust gases through a dilution turbine of the secondary dilution turbocharger prior to entering the SCR system. By routing the exhaust gases through the dilution turbine, enthalpy may be extracted from the exhaust gas to reduce the temperature of the exhaust gas. By controlling an amount of the exhaust gases routed through the dilution turbine, an amount of pressurized air injected into the exhaust gases may be controlled to maintain the exhaust gases within a temperature range where an efficiency of an SCR system may be maximized, thereby reducing an emissions of the vehicle. A further advantage of the embodiments described herein is that the primary turbocharger, the secondary dilution turbocharger, and/or the air pump may be powered by the engine and/or excess energy already present in the exhaust gas, whereby a secondary energy source may not be relied on.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

System for thermal management of engine exhaust


In an aspect of this invention, a fixing device includes a heating member including a first area and a second area formed of conductive members (e.g., aluminum and iron) having different magnetic permeability ratios, and an induction heating unit which generates a magnetic field from a coil to induction-heat this heating member, and the fixing device changes a frequency of a high-frequency current to be supplied to the coil to thereby control a heating area of the heating member.

In a copying machine or a printer using an electronic process, it is known that a toner image formed on a photosensitive drum is transferred to a transfer member, and thereafter the melted toner image by a fixing device including a heating roller and a pressurizing roller is fixed to the transfer member.
Furthermore, an induction heating system is known in which, in the above case, the surface of the heating roller is heated using a plurality of coils. In a case where the plurality of coils are utilized, cost might increase as compared with a case where one coil is utilized. In this case, circuits to drive the plurality of coils must be prepared in accordance with the number of the coils, which leads to the cost increase, and in addition, there rises a problem that the whole device is enlarged.
Moreover, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-151470, in a case where a temperature of a conductive member for use in the heating roller exceeds the Curie point, a skin effect deepens, and therefore the conductive member does not generate any heat. This is utilized, and heating of the heating roller is stopped at a time when it is detected that a temperature of the heating roller rises to an abnormal temperature. In this known technology, in a case where the temperature of the whole heating roller exceeds the Curie point, there is not any problem even when power supply is stopped with respect to a coil which supplies a magnetic field to the conductive member of the heating roller. However, in a case where a small-sized sheet continues to be passed, the temperature reaches the Curie point on the only surface of the heating roller in a portion through which any sheet does not pass, and the conductive member of this portion has an increased depth of penetration. Therefore, any heat is not generated from the only heating roller of the portion through which any sheet does not pass. In this case, since the driving circuit for supplying the power to the coil is not matched with the heating roller, it becomes difficult to heat an only area that passes the sheet.

Heating apparatus and induction heating control method


A fruit or vegetable juicer comprises a housing enclosing a motor group having an output shaft which projects into a basin secured to the housing. The output shaft drives a working tool disposed in a bowl in rotation. The bowl is movably mounted within the basin and is covered by a cover having a chute for the introduction of foodstuff, and a locking/unlocking device ensures maintenance of the bowl and the basin when the cover is in a locked condition. The bowl and the cover also comprise mutual hooking elements which permit the extraction from the basin of an assembly comprised of the bowl, the working tool and the cover, when the cover is in an unlocked condition.

A juicer of this type has been described for example in French patent application No. 96/01514, filed Feb. 9, 1995, and in which the cover is maintained on the bowl by means of a locking/unlocking device. Thus, after the operation of unlocking the cover, the user proceeds first to remove this cover, then to withdraw the working tool which must be handled with care, and finally to remove the bowl. These various manipulations not only are delicate but also carry the risk of damaging the working tool which is generally a fragile filter made of ultrafine metal.


A method and apparatus for forming a mattress having a core formed from a plurality of elongated rows of interconnected coil spring containing fabric pockets, each row having a plurality of spaced apart pockets with a spring encased in each pocket and having an elastic strip of material between adjacent rows. A first row of spring encased pockets is placed in a tray in a horizontal position and held in the tray by fingers which engage the fabric of the pockets at the ends of each spring, there being a finger at each end of each pocket. The elastic strip of material may thereafter be bonded to the row and adhesive may be placed on the upper surface of the elastic material. The tray is mounted on a pivotable plate which is then rotated to a vertical position and moved linearly toward a table containing prior rows of the core to bond the elastic strip carried in the tray to the last row on the table. The fingers are thereafter removed from the row in the tray and the tray is pushed linearly a further distance to move the core on the table together with the newly bonded row further onto the table. The tray is thereafter moved linearly and rotated back to its initial position.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a pocket-spring coil mattress having a plurality of rolls of closed interconnected fabric pockets, the pockets in each row individually encasing a respective spring, the rows being connected to other such rows separated by elastomeric material bonded between the rows, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for positioning, holding and bonding the pocket-spring rows to the elastomeric material and to other rows.
In Breckle U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,309, a mattress is disclosed having rows of closed fabric pockets with a coil spring positioned in each pocket, there being a plurality of pockets in each row and the rows being connected transversely relative to the direction of the rows by an elastic connecting wall adhesively bonded between each pair of rows. However, the method for forming the mattress is merely disclosed as applying adhesive to an endless strip of connecting wall and pressing an endless row of pockets onto the strip until the connection is made and hardening has occurred. The combination row is then divided transversely into rows of finite length and each such row is thereafter bonded to other rows. In Suenens et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,004, which does not utilize a connecting wall between the rows of springs, each row of springs is compressed by a pressure plate to hold and position them so that an adhesively coated row may be pushed against another such row. The use of such a pressure plate causes the pocket material to sag and results in a bulging in the center portion of the springs, which was pointed out earlier by Breckle as being a problem. A similar pocket coil mattress is disclosed in Long et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,635 but the springs in the pockets in each row are formed from a continuous length of wire so that adjacent springs are interconnected, albeit each pocket contains one to three springs. None of this known prior art, however, is directed toward a method and apparatus for manufacturing a pocket-coil mattress in an efficient and practical manner.

Method and apparatus for forming pocket spring coil mattresses


A multi-layer fabrication method for making three-dimensional structures is provided. In one embodiment, the formation of a multi-layer three-dimensional structure comprises: 1) fabricating a plurality of layers with each layer comprising at least two materials; 2) aligning the layers; 3) attaching the layers together to form a multi-layer structure; and 4) removing at least a portion of at least one of the materials from the multi-layer structure. Fabrication methods for making the required layers are also disclosed. In another embodiment, the formation of a multi-layer three-dimensional structure comprises: 1) attaching a layer of a material to a substrate or a previously formed layer; 2) machining the attached layer to form a layer that comprises at least two materials; and 3) repeating the operations of 1) and 2) a plurality of times to form a multi-layer structure; and 4) removing at least a portion of at least one of the materials from the multi-layer structure to form a desired three-dimensional structure.

Multi-layer fabrication techniques are so far the most promising and versatile methods for fabricating truly three-dimensional microstructures with high-aspect-ratios for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,637, issued on Mar. 2, 1993 to Henry Guckel, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,630, issued on Feb. 22, 2000 to Adam L. Cohen, teach two fabrication methods for forming three-dimensional metal microstructures by using multi-layer electrochemical deposition. The only difference between the two methods is the way to perform the selective electrochemical deposition of metals. The essential elements of these two methods are described as follows.
(1) Three-dimensional microstructures are fabricated by using a successive layer-by-layer approach, meaning that a given layer can only be built after the pervious layer is completed.
(2) Each layer contains at least two different materials. In the case of a two-material system, one is a sacrificial material and the other is a structural material.
(3) Both structural material and sacrificial material are fabricated by using electrochemical deposition methods such as electrodeposition.
(4) After the deposition of both materials for building a given layer, a planarization process is used to machine the deposited materials to a predetermined thickness and to a flat and smooth surface as a base for building a next layer on it.
(5) After all layers have been built, the sacrificial material is etched to form a three-dimensional microstructure.
Although the above two multilayer electrochemical fabrication methods are practical for building truly three-dimensional microstructures, there are at least five (5) major drawbacks inherently associated with them, which are:
(1) Low throughput. Production throughput becomes an issue as the number of layers in the microdevices increases. This is because the multilayer approach is a successive process. A given layer can only be built after the pervious layer is completed. The two main risks associated with a successive process are: 1) When one layer meets fabrication problems, the fabrication process flow for this build has to be suspended until the problems are solved; and 2) If a build has to be discarded due to various reasons during fabrication, all previously fabricated layers have to be wasted.
(2) Low yield. In reality, each layer inevitably contains some defects. These defects may distribute at different locations on each layer. Therefore, the final yield of acceptable structures is an issue.
(3) Limited material selection. Electrochemical deposition can only be used to fabricate metals and alloys. It can not or can not easily make many important engineering and semiconductor materials such as stainless steel, aluminum and its alloys, titanium and its alloys, silicon, and non-metal materials. Further, although electrodeposition can be used to make many metals and alloys, only a small portion of them can be made practically and economically for mass production. Even among the metals and alloys that can be readily electrodeposited, there are those whose material properties are not as desired as those of the corresponding bulk materials. Therefore the electrochemical fabrication methods taught in the two patents have limited applications.
(4) Layer thickness limitation. The maximum metal layer thickness is restricted by the mask thickness (e.g., photoresist). The ability to select the layer thickness freely is crucial to the multilayer approach. For example, in some cases, several successive thin layers may have to be deposited to reach a required thickness if a single thick layer cannot be formed. Obviously, this would increase production time, decrease production throughput and lower product yield.
(5) Geometry limitation. The multi-layer electrochemical fabrication methods can manufacture complex three-dimensional metal microstructures. However, there exist some types of shapes which can not be fabricated. This geometry limitation is related to the etching of sacrificial material. If sacrificial material can not be removed (e.g., in a sealed cavity with no etching access paths) or can not be removed easily (e.g., in a long, narrow channel), microstructures with these shapes can not be made with the two methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,568 to Todd R. Christenson issued on Dec. 25, 2001 teaches a method to make three-dimensional microstructures via diffusion bonding of subassemblies to form a united structure. This method allows the parallel manufacture of a series of subassemblies which compose a microstructure or micromachine. Each subassembly is built on a separate substrate. Then according to a predetermined configuration of the microstructure, the second subassembly is diffusion bonded onto the first subassembly. The substrate of the second subassembly is separated from the bonded two subassemblies after diffusion bonding. Therefore the substrate of a subassembly can be viewed as a sacrificial material as the substrate needs to be removed after one bonding operation is done. The above two steps (diffusion bonding and separation) are repeated until the all subassemblies are bonded to form a united structure. Compared with the multi-layer electrochemical fabrication approaches, the advantage of Christenson's approach is that all the required subassemblies for a microstructure can be built separately. However, the bonding of the subassemblies is still a successive process, meaning that the previous subassembly must be bonded before a given subassembly can be bonded. Diffusion bonding involves heat and pressure. Assume that a microstructure comprises ten subassemblies. Only the last (10th) subassembly undergoes heat and pressure treatment one time. All other nine subassemblies undergo heat and pressure treatment at least two times. The first two (1st and 2nd) subassemblies even undergo heat and pressure treatment nine times. The heat and pressure treatment may change the material properties of a microstructure or may distort the components of a microstructure. Therefore, practically this bonding method can only work for the very limited number of subassemblies although in theory there is no limit on the number of subassemblies that can be joined.
In addition, as each of two subassemblies to be bonded contains a substrate which increases the difficulty for the alignment of micro-components on the two substrates before bonding. The reason that Christenson's approach has to use a substrate as part of a subassembly is that the substrate works as a mechanical support for micro-components on it. Without this substrate, all components on the substrate will fall apart. It is very difficult to align two subassembly with their substrates as micro-components are located between two substrates during alignment. The micro-components on the two substrates could be damaged due to this difficult alignment as the components are not protected and can not be protected. After two subassemblies are bonded together, an extra process step has to be operated to separate one of the substrates, which not only increases process time and cost, but also may damage the bonded micro-components.

Methods for fabrication of three-dimensional structures


A disposable diaper is provided, including an absorber, a top sheet, a back sheet, and a skin contact sheet (SCS) disposed above the top sheet. The skin contact sheet is formed with a stool passing opening and a urine passing opening at a portion corresponding to a crotch part, and includes an SCS central region formed by extending a strip-shaped inter-opening region, which is sandwiched by the two openings and extends in the width direction, by half the length between the openings in the anterior direction and in the posterior direction; an SCS ventral region located at the ventral side from the SCS central region; and an SCS dorsal region located at the dorsal side from the SCS central region. A least the SCS central region has the stretching force in the width direction, and an inter-opening central region sandwiched by the two openings includes a non-stretchable region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disposable diaper which includes a top sheet, a back sheet, and an absorber and in which a skin contact sheet is disposed above the top sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as a diaper for an infant or an elder or disabled person, there has been widely used a disposable diaper which includes an absorber, a top sheet disposed to cover the upper surface of the absorber and at least partially formed of a liquid permeable material, and a back sheet disposed to cover the lower surface of the absorber and formed of a liquid impermeable material. This disposable diaper is used in such a manner that a surface of the top sheet is applied to contact the skin of a wearer of the disposable diaper. Thereby, the urine discharged by the wearer penetrates through the top sheet and is absorbed and retained by the absorber. Further, the back sheet having good leakage preventing performance prevents the leakage of the excrement to the outside of the diaper.
In the disposable diaper of the above-described structure, however, the urine penetrates through the top sheet but most of the stool does not penetrate through the top sheet and thus remains thereon. The stool remaining on the top sheet adheres to the crotch or the buttocks of the wearer. This requires a troublesome wiping work, which increases the burden of child rearing or nursing care and causes skin trouble to the wearer. Such phenomenon becomes more prominent when the stool discharged by the wearer is an unformed stool.
In view of this, another type of disposable diapers has been proposed in which another sheet member (hereinafter referred to as a "skin contact sheet" in the present specification) is disposed above the top sheet (see Paragraph 0010 and FIG. 2 of Japanese Registered Utility Model No. 2559050, and Paragraph 0020 and FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-11044, for example). These disposable diapers are structured such that the skin contact sheet is formed with an opening capable of passing a stool therethrough (i.e., a stool passing opening) for causing the stool discharged by the wearer to drop on the top sheet through the opening.
According to the above-described disposable diaper, the skin contact sheet first contacts the skin of the wearer. Thus, the top sheet disposed under the skin contact sheet does not easily come into direct contact with the skin of the wearer. That is, the skin of the wearer is separated from the top sheet. This also means that a shielding layer, i.e., the skin contact sheet intervenes between the top sheet and the skin of the wearer. Therefore, even if the stool remains on the top sheet, the effect of substantially decreasing the chance of direct contact of the stool with the skin of the wearer can be expected.
Usually, for such purposes as improvement of the close contact of the skin contact sheet with the skin of the wearer, the skin contact sheet is provided with a stretchable elastic member to form a stretchable region. Thus, the stretchable region is usually formed with a wavy gather by the stretchable elastic member. When pressed against the skin of the wearer, the thus formed gather causes uncomfortable feeling or pain to the wearer in some cases. In particular, in the case of a disposable diaper having the skin contact sheet formed with two openings (i.e., a stool passing opening and a urine passing opening), a region of the skin contact sheet corresponding to a crotch part and sandwiched between the two openings is strongly pressed by or frequently rubbed against the wearer. With the formation of the gather, therefore, the above-described pain or the like and the skin trouble tend to occur in this region. In this regard, the conventional disposable diaper is not satisfactory enough and still open to improvement.


A laminated structure of a flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell is made up of an alloy metal separator having a flat plate and a slit plate, wherein the flat plate is brought into contact with the slit plate after the slit plate is brought into contact with an air pole or the air pole is brought into contact with the slit plate after the slit plate is brought into contact with the flat plate, whereby a problem with the working of the alloy metal separator can be eliminated, and also the excellent performance of the flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell can be maintained by using the separator.

There are various types of fuel cells that are differentiated from each other by an ionic conductor, that is, a substance used as an electrolyte, and a solid oxide type fuel cell, SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell); herein referred to also as "a solid oxide fuel cell", is a fuel cell using an oxide for a solid electrolytic material having ionic conductivity. This fuel cell generally has an operation temperature as high as on the order of 1000° C., however, there has lately been developed one having an operation temperature not higher than about 750° C. The solid oxide type fuel cell has the following features described under items (1) through (5) below:
(1) Because the electrochemical reaction at the electrodes proceeds smoothly due to a high operation temperature, the energy loss is low and power generation efficiency is high.
(2) Since the temperature of the waste heat is high, the power generation efficiency can be enhanced still higher by the multi-stage utilization of the waste heat.
(3) Since the operation temperature is high enough to cause hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas to be reformed, it is possible to cause a reformation reaction to occur inside the fuel cell. In this respect, it is possible to implement substantial simplification of a fuel processing system (a reformer plus a shift converter) required in a low-temperature operation type fuel cell such as a phosphoric acid fuel cell, and polymer fuel cell.(4) As it is possible to cause carbon monoxide (CO) as well to contribute to the power generation reaction, the fuel can be diversified.(5) Since all constituent members are made up of solids, respectively, there is no risk of problems such as corrosion and evaporation of an electrolyte, occurring to a phosphoric acid fuel cell and molten carbonate fuel cell.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic representations illustrating a form of a solid oxide type fuel cell by way of example. As shown in the figures, a fuel pole or anode and an air pole or cathode (an oxide pole in the case of oxygen being used as an oxidizing agent) are disposed with an electrolytic material sandwiched therebetween, and a single cell is made up of a triple-layer unit of fuel pole/electrolyte/air pole. For the electrolytic material, use is made of, for example, a sintered body in a sheet form, made of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), and so forth. For the fuel pole, use is made of, for example, a porous material made from a mixture of nickel and yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni−YSZ cermet), and so forth. For the air pole, use is made of, for example, a porous material made from Sr-doped LaMnO3, and so forth. The single cell is made up normally by causing the fuel pole and the air pole to be backed into both-side faces of the electrolytic material.
When operating the solid oxide type fuel cell described above, fuel is fed to the fuel pole side of the single cell while air as an oxidizing agent is fed to the air pole side of the single cell, and by connecting both the poles to an external load, electric power can be obtained. However, with only one single cell, a voltage at only on the order of 0.7 V at most is obtained. Accordingly, it is necessary for obtaining electric power for practical use to connect a plurality of the single cells with each other in series.
For the purpose of electrically connecting adjacent single cells with each other; and properly distributing, and supplying fuel and air to the fuel pole and the air pole, respectively, at the same time, before discharging them, a separator (inter-connector) and the single cell are alternately laminated to each other. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a case where there are provided two single cells, with one separator interposed therebetween, and a frame body (serving as a kind of separator) is disposed on the upper surface of an upper single cell, and on the underside of a lower single cell, respectively.
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation illustrating a process of constructing a solid oxide type fuel cell using the separator described. As shown in FIG. 3, a current collector plate is disposed on the surface of the separator disposed on the underside of the fuel pole (Ni+YSZ), and on the upper surface of the separator disposed on top of the air pole, respectively, and by imposing a load from the current collector plate disposed on the upper surface of the separator disposed on top of the air pole, respective members are closely laminated with each other. In FIG. 3, there is shown a case where one single cell made up of the triple-layer unit is used, however, the same applies to a case where a plurality of single cells are disposed so as to be laminated to each other.
With reference to the separators to be used as described above, numerous properties as described under items (1) through (8) are required:
(1) dense enough not to allow gas to pass, and to leak therethrough;
(2) electron conductivity is high;
(3) ionic conductivity is low enough to be negligible;
(4) the constituent material itself is chemically stable in both an oxidizing atmosphere and a reducing atmosphere at a high temperature;
(5) there occurs no reaction thereof with other constituent members such as the two poles, and no excessive mutual diffusion therewith;
(6) the thermal expansion coefficient thereof matches those of other constituent materials of the cell;
(7) changes in size, due to a variation in atmosphere, are small; and
(8) sufficient strength.
Because of such severe requirements, there is a limitation to the constituent material that can be used as the separator under an operating condition close to 1000° C. As a constituent material meeting those requirements as much as possible, use is most generally made of an oxide solid solution of a LaCrO3 group (lanthanum chromite). With the constituent material described, a portion of the La is replaced with an alkaline earth metal such as Ca, Sr, etc., and further, a portion of the Cr is replaced with a 3d transition metal element such as Mg, Co, Mn, Ni, etc., thereby optimizing the properties thereof so as to meet those described requirements.
Now, with the solid oxide type fuel cell operating at a temperature not higher than about 750° C., there has been proposed the use of an alloy such as a heat-resistant alloy containing chromium as the constituent material for the separator. Even in the case of such a material for use in the separator as described, the separator is naturally provided with grooves to allow the passage of air and fuel.
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation illustrating the construction of the conventional separator described as above by way of example. As shown in FIG. 4, there is the need for providing a plate body with a plurality of grooves, and machining is essential for forming such grooves in an alloy such as the heat-resistant alloy containing chromium. Machining of the alloy described, however, is very difficult because the alloy has a high hardness and partial cutting is required, eventually resulting in a high cost. This point poses a problem in putting it to commercial use. Further, since the metal (alloy) has a high thermal expansion coefficient in comparison with a cell made of a ceramic, use of a separator made of a metal causes stress to occur to a cell due to the rise and fall in temperature, posing a problem of breakage occurring to the cell.
In view of the fact and problems as described above in connection with the flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell, the invention has been developed in order to resolve those problems. It is therefore an object of the invention not only to eliminate the above-described problem with the processing and the problem of thermal stress cracking by introducing a novel idea to the separator made of the alloy, such as the heat-resistant alloy containing chromium, for use in the flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell but also to provide a laminated structure of a flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell, having excellent performance, in terms of performance as the flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell using the separator, and the separator to enable the object to be attained.

Laminated structure of flat plate type solid oxide fuel cell


A sheet metal component such as a car door is disclosed. The component includes an outer metal sheet having a groove formed therein, and an inner metal sheet having an edge forming a flange received into the groove. A filling material layer is inserted into the groove between the outer metal sheet and the flange. The outer metal sheet and the flange are welded to one another in holes of the filling material layer.

Sheet metal components are frequently connected to one another by means of bending and subsequently painted. Due to the gap formation in the flange area, the paint penetration is impaired by this design. Consequently, the paint provides insufficient protection against corrosion (e.g. crevice corrosion) in the flange area. These are the reasons why such constructions are provided with a flange adhesive prior to the paint application. This flange adhesive serves for filling out the flange and thereby protecting these areas against corrosion. Due to manufacturing-related tolerances, exact dosing of the adhesive is usually not possible. In series production, this results in overfilling or under filling in the flange area. Overfilled flange areas lead to problems during the painting process and therefore need to be elaborately removed at great expense prior to the painting process. Under filled flange areas are only protected to a limited degree and undesirable corrosion damage may occur during the operation depending on the amount of under filling.
On a car door, one joint at risk of corrosion is located, in particular, on its underside, where the outer and the inner metal sheets are connected by means of bending, because rain water tends to flow to this location from other parts of the door and only evaporates slowly due to the protected position on the inner side of the door.
EP 2 383 053 A1 discloses a car door, on which a groove is formed on the outer metal sheet and a filling material layer is inserted between the outer metal sheet and an edge of an inner metal sheet that engages into the groove. In order to ensure that this filling material layer adjoins the inner and outer metal sheets so seamlessly that no water can be admitted in between, the filling material layer must consist of an adhesive that adheres to the metal sheets with sufficient strength for preventing the metal sheets from being spread apart in any way. The time required for such an adhesive to cure is incompatible with the short process cycles in sheet metal processing.
Accordingly, there is a need for a sheet metal component that on the one hand makes it possible to achieve effective corrosion protection by means of painting and on the other hand is suitable for a manufacture with short cycle times.

Sheet metal component and manufacturing method therefor


A method and system for analyzing a sample potentially comprising a target, comprising: (i) activating one or more components of the sample analysis system in preparation for a sample, wherein the sample analysis system comprises a heating element, a centrifuge, a thermocycler, an imager, a user interface, and a processor; (ii) obtaining a sample potentially comprising a target; (iii) adding the obtained sample to a sample preparation receptacle, the sample preparation receptacle comprising one or more reagents configured to maximize success of the sample analysis; (iv) heating the sample preparation receptacle, with the added sample, in the heating element of the sample analysis system at a first temperature for a first heating period of time; (v) centrifuging the sample preparation receptacle, after heating, for a first period of time using the centrifuge of the sample analysis system; (vi) transferring at least a portion of the sample, after centrifugation, from the sample preparation receptacle to a sample analysis receptacle, the sample analysis receptacle comprising one or more reagents configured for a qPCR reaction specific to a selected target; (vii) obtaining, via the thermocycler and imager of the sample analysis system, a fluorescence curve during a qPCR reaction; (viii) analyzing, by the process of the sample analysis system, the obtained fluorescence curve to determine a presence or absence of the selected target in the sample; and (ix) reporting, to a user by the user interface of the sample analysis system, the presence or absence of the selected target in the sample; wherein one or more steps of the method are guided by interactive instructions provided by the sample analysis system.

The automation of sample preparation and testing is beneficial for many different reasons. First and perhaps foremost, automated or semi-automated sample preparation methods and systems can reduce or prevent human error. Human error can be a significant factor in poor sample preparation, inaccurate test results, misidentification and/or misdiagnosis, and other negative outcomes of sample preparation and testing. Second, automation or semi-automation may reduce costs by streamlining the sample preparation and testing process, by reducing errors that can significantly increase costs due to the long-term or enduring effects of misidentification and/or misdiagnosis, and by preventing duplicate sample analysis, among other possible cost-saving means. These and many other possible negative outcomes can be mitigated or prevented by automated or semi-automated sample preparation and testing.
Just one non-limiting example of sample preparation and testing is the analysis of milk. Dairy operations frequently test milk for a wide variety of reasons and applications. Milk testing requires accurate sample preparation and testing to prevent inconclusive results, misidentification and/or misdiagnosis issues, and other problems, all of which are expensive and time-consuming. Automating milk sample preparation and testing can prevent or mitigate against these expensive and time-consuming issues. Additionally, traditional milk sample analysis for pathogens can take 24 hours or longer to receive a diagnosis or other test results, a delay which is both time-consuming and expensive.

Methods for sample preparation and testing


In a card serving as an external storage device to be inserted into a digital color multi-function printer, features of a reference image and processing rule information indicating processing content to be applied to input image data judged to be similar to the reference image are prestored. Then, in cases where the input image data is judged to be similar to the reference image, the content of a process to be performed on the input image data is controlled in accordance with the processing rule information corresponding to the reference image. This makes it possible to save users the trouble of setting the content of a process to be performed on input image data, and to prevent a shortage of memory capacity of a memory of the image processing apparatus even in cases where there is an increase in the number of reference images.

Conventionally, there has been used a technique for comparing (i) input image data obtained by reading a document image with a scanner with (ii) a prestored image, for determining similarity between the input image data and the prestored image, and for, when having determined that the input image data is similar to the prestored image, prohibiting a process (such as copying) from being performed on the input image data.
Examples of a method for determining similarity include: a method for extracting a keyword from an image with use of an OCR (Optical Character Reader) or the like so as to carry out matching with the keyword; a method in which a target image is limited to an image with ruled lines and matching is carried out based on features of the ruled lines; and a method for determining similarity in accordance with distribution of color components of input image data and a reference image.
Furthermore, patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 282088/1995 (Tokukaihei 7-282088; published on Oct. 27, 1995) discloses a technique in which a descriptor that is invariable to distortion caused by digitalization of an input document or to a difference between the input document and a matching document in a document database is generated based on features of the input document, and matching between the input document and a document in the document database is performed using the descriptor and a descriptor database which stores descriptors and which indicates a list of documents including features from which descriptors are extracted. In the technique, when the descriptor database is scanned, votes for individual documents in the document database are accumulated, and a document with the largest number of votes obtained or a document whose number of votes obtained is over a certain threshold value is considered as a matching document.
Furthermore, an example of a technique for controlling a process for input image data in accordance with the result of similarity determination is as follows: in order to prevent forgery of paper currency or stock certificate by a color image forming apparatus, it is determined whether input image data is identical with image data such as paper currency or stock certificate (reference image) or not based on a pattern extracted from the input image data, and when the input image data is identical with the image data of the reference image, a specific pattern is given to an output image so as to specify the image forming apparatus that carries out copying, a copied image is daubed, or copying is prohibited.
However, although the foregoing technique can limit (e.g., give a specific pattern, daub a copied image, or prohibit copying) the content of a process for input image data in cases where the input image data is similar to the reference image, the foregoing technique sets the content of a process for input image data in such a constant manner (as to give a specific pattern, daubs a copied image, or prohibit copying) in accordance with whether or not the input image data is similar to the reference image. This causes such problems as a low degree of freedom and unavailability.
For example, in recent years, a large number of corporations and the like often have their office provided with multi-function printers each including a copy function, a facsimile function, a filing function, an electronic delivery function, and the like. Further, these multi-function printers are often shared by a plurality of users or a plurality of groups. Moreover, in such a case, it is usual to wish to perform a process (e.g., copying, facsimile transmission, filing, or electronic distribution) on a document (input image data) in accordance with a predetermined processing rule set for each user or each group. Further, it is usual to wish to perform a predetermined process on a document in accordance with the type of the document or the like.
However, the foregoing technique only considers limiting a process for a document in cases where the document is similar to reference image, and cannot set the content of the process in accordance with a result of matching with a user, a group to which the user belongs to, the type of the document, or the like. This makes it necessary for the user to take the trouble to set the content of a process in detail every time he/she performs a process such as copying, facsimile transmission, filing, or electronic distribution on a document.
Further, the foregoing technique makes it necessary to store a reference image or features of the reference image in a memory provided in an image processing apparatus. However, because the memory capacity of the memory of the image forming apparatus is limited, the number of images that can be stored is also limited. For this reason, in particular, in cases where a plurality of users or a plurality of groups shares a single image processing apparatus, the number of images that can be stored by each user or each group is reduced.
Further, when an increase in the number of reference images causes a shortage of memory capacity, a change in memory capacity may be made by replacing a memory. However, it is in fact difficult to replace (i) a memory in which reference images have already been stored with (ii) another memory during use of a system.

Image processing apparatus, image processing system, image processing method, and image forming apparatus


The present disclosure is directed toward an electrodeposition-based dynamic glass element comprising an electrolyte that includes an aqueous solvent and an additive, wherein the electrolyte is stable over a temperature range that is greater than the stable temperature range of the aqueous solvent alone. In some embodiments, the freezing point of the electrolyte is lowered by its inclusion of the additive. Additives suitable for use in accordance with the present disclosure include alcohols, metal salts, sugars, cryoprotectants, and the like. In some cases, the freezing point of the aqueous-solvent-based electrolyte is lowered from 0° C. to −40° C. by virtue of the inclusion of the additive. In some cases, the maximum stable temperature of the electrolyte is increased from 100° C. to 110° C. by virtue of the inclusion of the additive.

Glass having electronically controllable transmissivity (sometimes referred to as "dynamic" or "smart" glass) is attractive for use in many applications, such as energy-efficient windows, dynamic vehicle mirrors, variable-reflectivity sunglasses, vehicle sunroofs, and the like. The use of dynamic-glass in building windows, for example, enables decreased energy consumption by controlling the amount of sunlight that passes through them, reducing the energy load for heating and cooling systems.
Unfortunately, conventional dynamic glass has been difficult to commercialize in large scale due to problems associated with durability, color, switching speed, and cost. Typical prior-art dynamic glass is based on electrochromic material, which changes its transmission properties in response to an applied voltage. In fact, the vast majority of research on dynamic glass over the past four decades has been focused on transition metal oxides or polymeric materials as electrochromic materials. The most dominant conventional technologies to date include suspended-particle devices, polymer-dispersed liquid crystal devices, and electrochromic devices.
Suspended-particle devices are attractive for use in automotive applications because they can have switching times on the order of a few seconds. Unfortunately, they are extremely expensive, are hazy and require power when in their clear state, and are not color neutral (i.e., they are characterized by a blue color).
Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal devices also have fast switching times; however, they have poor contrast and are also hazy and require power when in their clear state.
Electrochromic devices have been employed in building windows for decades, have low haze, and good contrast ratio. Unfortunately, they change states very slowly (of order several minutes), have mediocre infrared performance, and often require toxic materials.
In contrast, dynamic windows based on reversible electrodeposition of metals on transparent electrodes are seen as having the potential to overcome some of the disadvantages of other prior-art smart glasses. Examples of dynamic glass-based devices are described by D.M Tench, et al., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,903,382, 5,923,456, and 7,317,566, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. In such devices, a non-aqueous gel electrolyte containing metal ions, such as propylene carbonate, y-butyrolactone, etc., is disposed between a pair of electrodes on which atoms of the same metal reside. In response to a voltage applied to the electrodes, metal dissolves from one electrode and deposits on the other. By reversing the polarity of the voltage, the direction in which the metal migration occurs is also reversed. Electrodeposition-based dynamic windows also have a significant advantage over other dynamic glasses in that they dissipate no power except while they are changing transmissivity state.
Several challenges for prior-art, electrodeposition-based dynamic glasses remain, however. First, very high voltages are required to provide large over-potentials to enable electrodeposition. This need for high voltage arises from: (1) the fact that electrolyte solvents exhibit significant ion pairing that can reduce the kinetics and reversibility of the electrodeposition process; and (2) undesirable side reactions in the solvent-electrolyte system associated with reversible electrodeposition.
Second, the robustness of their electrodes is typically poor, leading to short lifetimes and the need to steadily increase the applied voltage to obtain the same level of transmissivities through multiple cycles.
Third, the deposition uniformity over large areas is quite poor for prior-art, electrodeposition-based dynamic devices, thereby limiting their size in practice.
Fourth, it has proven difficult to obtain glasses having high-contrast and neutral color response.
Finally, these glasses typically exhibit significant irising, which gives rise to non-uniformity of response across their lateral extent.
More recently, electrodeposition-based dynamic glasses comprising aqueous-gel electrolytes have been developed, which provide significantly improved durability and contrast ratios. Examples of such dynamic windows were described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/534918, filed Jul. 20, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference. These dynamic windows demonstrated excellent durability, contrast ratios greater than 80%, switching times on the order of a few minutes, and promise improved manufacturability using low cost, solution-based manufacturing techniques.
Unfortunately, while aqueous-based electrolytes promote facile electrodeposition, they have a temperature-stable range of only about 0° C. to 100° C., which is unacceptably narrow for many applications. For example, sky-roofs or rear-view mirrors for vehicles are subjected to the temperature of the interior temperature of the vehicle, which can range from well below zero ° F. to more than 120 ° F. When exposed to temperatures below 0° C., however, expansion of an aqueous electrolyte cause result in fracture of its window glass. In addition, even for applications in which temperature is normally controlled within a moderate range (e.g., the interior of an office building, etc.), the risk of catastrophic device failure from freezing would normally be considered too high. As a result, the adoption of aqueous-electrolyte-based dynamic glass has been slow.
The need for a volume-manufacturable dynamic glass that can be subjected to large temperature excursions while also exhibiting high contrast, good uniformity, fast response time, low cost, and long lifetime remains, as yet, unmet by the prior-art.

Dynamic windows comprising aqueous electrolytes having enhanced temperature stability

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education, on behalf of the University of Nevada, Reno


To provide hexaester of bispentaerythritol monoformal, which is a mixed ester of bispentaerythritol monoformal represented by the following formula (I), and carboxylic acids:

Recently, hydrofluorocarbon(s) (HFC) having the ozone depletion potential of 0, and lower global-warming potential (GWP) has been used as a refrigerant for a refrigerator and the like. HFC is a stable refrigerant compared to chlorofluorocarbon(s) (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbon(s) (HCFC), and does not largely affect to lubricant oil, an organic material, and a metal. On the other hand, HFC does not have sufficient lubricity, and thus refrigerant oil for HFC is required to have sufficient lubricity. Moreover, the heat generated at a sliding portion accelerates thermal and/or oxidative degradation of refrigerant oil. Therefore, refrigerant oil having high thermal and chemical stability is desired (NPL 1).
And a refrigerant oil is typically circulated together with a refrigerant through part of the refrigeration cycle, and thus the refrigerant oil is exposed to a high temperature range and a low temperature range. In the low temperature range, particularly, part of the refrigerant oil discharged from a compressor may be retained. If the refrigerant oil is exposed in the low temperature range for a long period, the refrigerant oil is crystallized to thereby reduce a circulating amount of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, leading to a cooling failure. Accordingly, it is extremely important to develop refrigerant oil, which is highly stable without precipitating over a long period even in the low temperature range, in view of reliability of a refrigeration device (PTL 1).
Hexaester which is made by reacting dipentaerythritol, with 3,5,5-trimethylhexanoic acid and 2-ethylhexanoic acid is disclosed in PTL 2 as an additive polyol ester of refrigerant oil, and in PTL 3 as a lubricant base oil for compressor refrigeration system. However, the aforementioned hexaester does not satisfy oxidation stability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hexaester of mono-formal bis pentaerythritol

Abstract: wherein the carboxylic acids comprise C9 branched aliphatic monocarboxylic acid, and any one of carboxylic acids selected from C4 to C8 aliphatic monocarboxylic acids. The hexaester is used as one component of a refrigerant oil composition, and gives excellent characteristics, such as oxidation stability, lubricity, and low temperature properties, to a refrigerant oil composition.


A highly deacetylated chitosan obtained from microbial biomass, a method of obtaining chitosan from microbial biomass, and biomass for making chitosan are disclosed. The method includes providing chitin-containing biomass; reacting the chitin-containing biomass in a caustic solution of greater than 25 percent alkali at a reaction temperature greater than 95° C. for a reaction period of at least 10 hours to convert the chitin in the biomass to chitosan; and separating the chitosan from the caustic solution.

Chitin is a natural polysaccharide present in various marine and terrestrial organisms, including crustacea, insects, mollusks, and microorganisms, such as fungi. The structure of chitin is that of an unbranched polymer of 2-acetoamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine), and can be represented by the general repeating structure:

Chitin is typically an amorphous solid that is largely insoluble in water, dilute acids, and alkali. Although chitin has various commercial applications, greater commercial utility is found by converting chitin to the deacetylated product chitosan. Chitosan can be created by N-deacetylation of the chitin polymer, and its structure may be represented by the following general formula, wherein at least some of the acetylamine groups have been converted to amine groups:
Chitosan is also an amorphous solid that is largely insoluble in water, but is soluble in aqueous organic acids, such as formic and acetic acids. However, the deacetylation reaction is typically not complete, and some of the acetyl groups remain in most chitosan compositions. In the representation above, all of the formerly acetylated amine groups have been converted to amine groups.
Chitosan has many industrial, medical, pharmaceutical, and nutritional uses, including those requiring a biodegradable, non-toxic polymer. For example, chitosan is used as a polyelectrolytic coagulant and a sludge dewatering aid in wastewater treatment. Medical, pharmaceutical, and nutritional uses often require a higher quality chitosan for functional and aesthetic reasons. These uses include applications as anticoagulants, antiviral agents, drug carriers, cosmetic additives, dialysis membranes, orthopedic materials, wound dressings, food stabilizers and thickeners, flavor and nutrient carriers, and dietary fiber.
The quality of chitosan varies with the degree of substitution of the N-acetyl groups, degree of polymerization, manufacturing process, color, clarity, consistency, uniformity, and source. Most chitosan is formed by dissolving calcium carbonate from the shells of aquatic crustacea to liberate chitin, deacetylating the chitin to form chitosan, followed by recovery and drying of the chitosan. One problem with recovery from crustacea is that it is very difficult to obtain uniform, high quality chitosan. The uniformity problems occur in part because the crustacea typically are varying sizes, ages, and species; grow under varied environmental conditions; and are gathered from different locations. The quality issues arise in part due to the fact that sufficiently uniform chitosan cannot be obtained, but also include the fact that chitosan obtained from crustacea often has high ash content and can contain heavy metals that is concentrated in the crustacea from their aquatic environment. A further problem with chitosan derived from harvested crustacea is that it has the potential to include undesired proteins and allergens.
Other methods of producing chitosan involve recovery from microbial biomass, such as the method taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,474. Unfortunately, existing methods of recovering chitosan from microbial biomass need improvement to produce higher quality chitosan that is more suited for pharmaceutical, nutritional and cosmetic applications. For example, a need exists for chitosan having improved consistency and solubility, as well as higher levels of deacetylation than is currently practiced. Present processes do not allow for sufficiently high levels of deacetylation while also providing high quality chitosan from a consistent and controlled raw material source. For example, deacetylation levels of less than 75 percent can be obtained by methods taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,474 to Herschberger, but even higher deacetylation levels are desired. When these higher deacetylation levels are obtained, it is also desirable that other properties of the chitosan be retained or improved. Another method, taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,351, teaches only how to create a chitosan-beta-glucan complex.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved chitosan material that is obtained utilizing an improved method.

Chitosan and method of preparing chitosan


A method for repairing an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display device includes: determining the position of foreign particle (13) in a lamination structure (12); removing the foreign particle (13) and layers over the foreign particle (13) and in a recess region to be formed, so as to form a recess (21) in the lamination structure (12), in which an opening of the recess (21) is towards the external environment; and forming a repair structure (31) in the recess (21), in which the refractive index of the repair structure (31) is less than that of the lamination structure (12). The method overcomes the black spot defect caused by the foreign particle, improves the product yield and avoids the waste of cost.

OLED display devices belong to the currently mainstream display devices and have the advantages of self-luminous property, wide viewing angle, rapid response speed, stable image, high brightness, rich color, high resolution, low driving voltage, low energy consumption, etc.
An OLED display device mainly comprises a thin-film transistor (TFT) array substrate and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) disposed on the TFT array substrate. An OLED generally includes a lamination structure by a hole injection layer (HIL), a hole transport layer (HTL), an emission layer (EML), an electron transport layer (ETL) and a cathode in sequence. An electron injection layer (EIL) may also be disposed between the ETL and the cathode.
In the manufacturing process of the OLED, the above layers are evaporated on a base substrate in sequence, and the inclusion of foreign particle may be caused. The foreign particle will affect the injection and recombination of holes and electrons, and hence a region containing the foreign particle will not emit light. Thus, the problem of black spots in pixels may be caused, and the product yield can be reduced. Because an OLED is a self-luminous device, once the layers are mixed with impurities, it is difficult to repair the OLED. The OLED display has to be dropped if the display quality is severely affected, and hence the rise of cost can be caused.

Method for repairing organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display device

Ordos Yuansheng Optoelectronics Co., Ltd.


A wave-attenuating system. The wave-attenuating system includes a flexible, resilient barrier member that is disposed in a body of water and oriented to interrupt and dissipate the wave action of oncoming waves. The barrier member desirably is constructed from a substantially neutrally or slightly negatively buoyant material so that the overall depth, length, and/or thickness can be increased as needed for a particular application while adding little deadweight to the system in water. The barrier member can be supported by a flotation device in a floating breakwater, or alternatively, the barrier member can be secured to a stationary structure in a fixed breakwater.

Wave-attenuation structures (also referred to as breakwaters) are generally classified into three different types of structures: (1) mounds of rubble or rock placed on the seabed, (2) fixed walls anchored to the seabed, and (3) floating structures anchored to the seabed with a guide pile or ground tackle.
Rubble-mound breakwaters often require a large base to be constructed on the seabed to support the weigh of the rubble. Such bases cover large areas of seabed and typically are many times wider than the above-water portion of the breakwater. Generally, in depths greater than 15 to 20 feet and in tidal ranges greater than 10 feet, construction of a rubble-mound breakwater can be both cost prohibitive and environmentally unsound.
A fixed-wall breakwater typically includes a stationary wall structure that is anchored to the seabed, such as with piles, and oriented perpendicular to the flow of waves. A drawback of typical conventional fixed-wall breakwaters is that they depend on the structural competency of the underlying soil to resist wave loads. Further, a fixed-wall breakwater presents an unsightly visual barrier and sometimes displays foul-smelling sea growth at low tide or low water level.
Floating breakwaters generally are favored over rubble-mound breakwaters and fixed-wall breakwaters because floating breakwaters generally are less cost sensitive to water depth than rubble-mound breakwaters and are less likely to obstruct the view of surrounding waters than fixed-wall breakwaters. A floating breakwater typically includes a large float structure (e.g., a concrete or plastic float) that supports one or more downwardly extending walls or keels.
To decrease wave transmission through a floating breakwater, it is known to increase the overall width of the float structure (usually to about one-quarter of the design wave length) and to increase the overall depth of the float structure and its downwardly extending walls. Unfortunately, increasing the width of a float structure increases manufacturing and transportation costs and has the undesirable effect of shading the seabed, which inhibits the growth of plant life. Additionally, since increasing the depth increases the overall load on the breakwater from oncoming waves, the overall depth of a breakwater is usually limited by the ability of the float structure to absorb and transfer wave forces into the seabed. Further, in the case of concrete breakwaters, increasing the depth of the walls adds significant weight to the breakwater. Thus, the overall depth of the walls in such breakwaters is limited by the ability of the float structure to support the added weight with sufficient freeboard.
Typical conventional floating breakwaters suffer from additional disadvantages. For example, existing floating breakwaters rely on the structural integrity of the float structure to resist wave forces, which are transferred to an anchor system and into the seabed. In addition, such breakwaters typically employ a flat surface oriented perpendicular to the flow of oncoming waves at the leading edge of the float structure. This produces standing and reflected waves at the leading edge of the float structure, which nearly doubles the magnitude of the load of an incident wave. Unfortunately, the connection points of the float structure (e.g., the connections that secure wales to the sides of a float structure) often become points of progressive failure.
Accordingly, there exists a continuing need for new and improved wave-attenuating systems.


A system for, and method of, orienting seismic energy sources and seismic energy receivers to yield discriminated horizontal and vertical shear modes. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) an initial matrix representing wave energy produced by a selected seismic energy source and received by a selected seismic energy receiver, (2) a first transforming matrix that cooperates with the initial matrix to orient the selected seismic energy source with respect to the selected seismic energy receiver and (3) a second transforming matrix that cooperates with the initial matrix to orient the selected seismic energy receiver with respect to the selected seismic energy source, the initial matrix thereby transformed into a successive matrix containing the discriminated horizontal and vertical shear modes.

The present invention is directed, in general, to geophysical exploration and, more specifically, to a system and method for orienting seismic energy sources and receivers to yield discriminated horizontal and vertical shear waves.
Currently, most geophysical techniques dealing with multi-dimensional seismic data do not discriminate or locate seismic energies of different orientations, such as the horizontal shear energy and the vertical shear energy portions of directed seismic energy. In a typical multi-dimensional seismic survey, a multi-mode seismic energy generator may be used to generate a preponderance of one orientation of seismic energy relative to a particular orientation, then a preponderance of energies orthogonal to the first, relative to the same orientation. However, the orientation of the received seismic energies changes at each receiver due to the fact that the orientation between the seismic energy source and each receiver in a multi-dimensional seismic array is different.
Differently oriented seismic energies travel differently through the subsurface strata based upon the characteristics of the subsurface strata. Thus, if a fault plane in the strata were in more of a vertical orientation relative to the plane defined by the seismic energy source-receiver line, the different seismic energies would have a different travel characteristic. The mapping of the subsurface features could be greatly enhanced through processing of these oriented seismic energies, especially in an orientation specific to the azimuths defined by each receiver with the seismic energy source. Additionally, important rock property information can be ascertained by comparing differences and similarities of the attributes of the oriented seismic energies.
However, the processing of such data is complicated, because the oriented energies are not easily discriminated into the differently oriented energies for each receiver-source azimuth. Also, the processing of these components is complicated since the orientation of the operational modes of the seismic energy source do not always correspond to the orientation of each and every receiver in the geophysical array. Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will be become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a system for, and method of, orienting seismic energy sources and seismic energy receivers to yield discriminated horizontal and vertical shear modes. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) an initial matrix representing wave energy produced by a selected seismic energy source and received by a selected seismic energy receiver, (2) a first transforming matrix that cooperates with the initial matrix to orient the selected seismic energy source with respect to the selected seismic energy receiver and (3) a second transforming matrix that cooperates with the initial matrix to orient the selected seismic energy receiver with respect to the selected seismic energy source, the initial matrix thereby transformed into a successive matrix containing the discriminated horizontal and vertical shear modes.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the wave energy is expressed in the initial matrix as inline and crossline components. In a related embodiment of the present invention, the first and second transforming matrices are a function of locations of the seismic energy sources and seismic energy receivers. In another embodiment of the present invention, the wave energy is recorded. And in yet another embodiment of the present invention, a volumetric image of subsurface formations is determined as a function of the discriminated horizontal and vertical shear modes.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

System and method for orienting seismic energy sources and receivers to yield discriminated horizontal and vertical shear waves


A method of sputtering a component includes positioning a conductive substrate into a vacuum chamber, wherein the conductive substrate is tubular and has a surface. A source electrode including a source material may be inserted into the conductive substrate. A first bias voltage ΔVac1 may be applied between the conductive substrate and the vacuum chamber and a second bias voltage ΔVas1 may be applied between the source electrode and the vacuum chamber, sputtering the source material onto the conductive substrate.

There are a number of applications where it may be desirable to provide corrosion, erosion or wear protection in tubular structures that may transmit fluids, gasses or other materials. While a number of techniques may be used to coat interior surfaces, including painting, electroplating, plasma spray or cladding, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition by plasma immersion ion deposition, or cylindrical magnetron sputter deposition, it may be difficult to coat the inner diameter of a tube, particularly when the tube is curved. In addition, the coatings may not be sufficient to meet technical requirements. In particular, while plasma enhanced chemical deposition may be used to provide coatings for curved tubes, the resulting diamond like carbon films produced typically include pin holes and the deposition of pure metallic film may be difficult. Furthermore, cylindrical magnetron sputter deposition has not been found to accommodate small diameter tubing and is not applicable to curved tubes.

Processing tubular surfaces using double glow discharge