A reverse conveying apparatus which again conveys a sheet formed an image by an image forming portion to the image forming portion includes a plurality of roller grippers which supports a sheet formed an image, and a belt which moves the roller grippers to a receiving position where a sheet is received and a carry-out position where a supported sheet is conveyed out. When a sheet is conveyed out in the carry-out position, the sheet is conveyed out such that a rear end thereof when it is received at the receiving position is a leading end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which again conveys a sheet on which an image is formed to an image forming portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, sheets of various materials are fed to an image forming portion by a sheet conveying apparatus, and an image is formed on the sheet in the image forming portion and the sheet is discharged.
In the image forming apparatuses of recent years, to enhance the productivity, speed-up tendency and capacity-increasing tendency of image forming processing are accelerating, and a conveying speed of sheets also increasing. With the speed-up tendency of the sheet conveying operation, the conveying stability of sheet is more required.
Some image forming apparatuses again convey a sheet on which an image is formed to the image forming portion by a re-conveying portion, and forms a new image on the previously formed image. Some image forming apparatuses have a mode for forming images on front and back surfaces of a sheet (both-surface image forming mode, hereinafter). This technique is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-122061).
When images are formed on both surfaces of a sheet, the sheet is reversed at the re-conveying portion provided in the image forming apparatus, and images are formed on front and back surfaces of the sheet.
Conventionally, a sheet reverse portion which is one example of the re-conveying portion employs a switch back system. FIG. 19 shows a structure of the sheet reverse portion of the switch back system. When a sheet is to be reversed, a sheet S fed from the sheet feeding portion 112 passes through a vertically conveying path 120 and is conveyed downstream. The vertically conveying path 120 is provided at its downstream side with a registration roller apparatus 130. The registration roller apparatus 130 corrects final screw feeding of a sheet, synchronizes between an image writing operation in an image forming portion 140 and a sheet conveying operation.
The image forming portion 140 is provided at its downstream side with a fixing device 150. When a sheet passes through the fixing device 150, a toner image is fixed to a first surface of the sheet as a permanent image. When an image is to be formed on a second surface which is a back surface of the sheet, the sheet is conveyed to a sheet reverse portion 170 which also serves as an entrance to the duplex conveying path 180 by switching a conveying path switching means (not shown) provided downstream from the fixing device 150.
Next, the sheet is switched back by the sheet reverse portion 170, the sheet is conveyed to the duplex path 180. The sheet S which is reversed by such a conveying operation is conveyed to the image forming portion 140 through the vertically path 120, and an image is formed on the second surface of the sheet. After the image is formed on the second surface in this manner, the sheet S is conveyed to the fixing device 150, the second surface on which the images is fixed by the fixing device 150 is discharged out from a printer body 200 through the discharge path 160, and the sheet S is received by a discharge tray 161.
In the case of such a switch back system, if a large amount of sheets are conveyed at high speed, the probability that a paper jam occurs is increased. A location where a jam is prone to occur is an entrance portion of a sheet conveying path such as the arc vertically conveying path 120, and a junction constituting a sheet conveying path, and timing at which a jam is prone to occur is when a sheet moves toward a roller nip.
When a sheet is conveyed at high speed, especially when the sheet passes through an arc path, a sliding resistance between the sheet and a conveying guide is increased. If the sliding resistance is increased, a sheet may be folded, the sheet is charged with static electricity and the sheet is attracted, the sheet may slide on a guide plate, and a surface of the sheet on which an image is formed may be damaged.
When a sheet is conveyed at higher speed, if the sheet irrupts into the roller nip portion, when the sheet is soft and thin, the sheet does not easily enter the roller nip portion, and when the sheet is not nipped by the roller, the behavior of a tip end of the sheet becomes unstable due to an air resistance and a resistance of a guide plate.
In the case of the switch back system, in a reverse portion 170, the switch back of a sheet is carried out between other two sheets. Therefore, it is necessary to normally and reversely rotate the roller at high speed, sheets which are switched back in the path slide on each other, and the probability that a jam occurs due to slip of the roller is high.
That is, in the conventional image forming apparatus, a plurality of arc path portions exist and sheets are delivered at the duplex conveying portion and the reverse portion, and a jam is prone to occur at these portions. If the number of these portions is increased, the probability that a jam occurs is increased.
The duplex conveying portion and the reverse portion are constituted such that the conveying path is surrounded by a guide plate. Therefore, a sheet and the guide plate which receives high heat in the fixing device carry the heat to both-surface portion, and this increases the temperature in the apparatus, heat is accumulated in these portions, and this increases the temperature in the apparatus. If the temperature in the apparatus rises, the temperature of the image forming portion is increased by the sheet in the both-surface image formation, and appropriate images can not be formed.
To solve the problem caused when a sheet is conveyed by such a conventional switch back system, there is a technique in which a sheet is reversed by conveying the sheet while twisting the sheet using two belts. This technique is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-020000.
In the case of this structure, since a sheet is not delivered or the arc path portion does not exist unlike the roller conveyance, it is possible to prevent a jam from being generated. Since a guide plate which surrounds the conveying path does not exist, it is possible to prevent a temperature in the apparatus from rising.
In the case of the conventional image forming apparatus in which a sheet is again conveyed while twisting the sheet, the conveyance distance of a sheet is increased in order to twist the sheet and reliably turn the sheet over. As a result, the image forming apparatus is increased in size.
Further, if a sheet is turned over while moving the sheet at high speed, since the sheet is deviated in the twisting direction in some cases, the turning over and conveying speed of a sheet is limited. That is, when a sheet is conveyed while twisting the same, there is a problem that the image forming apparatus is increased in size and it is not possible to increase the conveying speed of a sheet.


A performance recording apparatus includes: a performance information acquiring unit which is configured to acquire performance information indicating a performance performed by a performer; a musical score information acquiring unit which is configured to acquire musical score information indicating a musical score that is used in the performance; and a producing unit which is configured to produce a performance file containing the performance information and the musical score information.

As an apparatus for recording performance information indicating contents of operations on a keyboard, there is a performance recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1. In an performance information record mode, the performance recording apparatus forms a set of performance information which is time-sequentially produced based on operations performed on a keyboard, and which indicates the pitch, and time information, stores the set in a temporary storage area, and further stores a performance record file in which a plurality of sets of performance information are bundled, in an external storage device. In a performance information reproduction mode, moreover, the performance recording apparatus searches for a performance record file corresponding to the time which is designated by the user, and reproduces the searched performance record file. In the performance recording apparatus, a mark name such as "Lesson" or "Birthday" can be set in the time information. When the title of a music piece is set as the mark name, for example, it is possible to know when and what music piece was performed.


The present invention is directed to technology for using a proxy in an Identity System. When a first entity is on vacation, on a business trip or otherwise unavailable to perform certain actions on an Identity System, a second entity can act as a proxy for the first entity. The Identity System will provide the second entity, acting as a proxy, with the privileges, access and rights of the first entity. In one embodiment, Identity System is part of an integrated Identity and Access System, and the second entity is a proxy in the Identity System but not in the Access System.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to technology for using a proxy in an Identity System.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the growth of the Internet, the use of networks and other information technologies, Identity Systems have become more popular. In general, an Identity System provides for the creation, removal, editing and other managing of identity information stored in various types of data stores. The identity information pertains to users, groups, organizations and/or things. For each entry in the data store, a set of attributes are stored. For example, the attributes stored for a user may include a name, address, employee number, telephone number, email address, user ID and password. The Identity System can also manage access privileges that govern what an entity can view, create, modify or use in the Identity System. Often, this management of access privileges is based on one or more specific attributes, membership in a group and/or association with an organization.
Typically, an Identity System will have a set of Administrators to support and maintain the Identity System. For example, these Administrators can configure the Identity System, create new objects, delete objects, fix problems, update data, update keys for encryption, obtain and maintain certificates, and other on-going maintenance issues. Many Identity Systems are implemented with a large data store that is accessed by many entities on a daily basis. Thus, the Administrators play a vital and continuing role in the operation of the Identity System.
While there is a constant need for Administrators to perform maintenance and other tasks on the Identity System, the Administrators are not always available. For example, Administrators take vacations, travel for business, get sick or have other duties. Thus, there is a need to provide a means for administrative tasks to be performed on an Identity System, or other system, when an Administrator is not available.
In prior systems, other than Identity Systems, temporary or substitute Administrators can log into a system using the ID and password of the Administrator who is currently unavailable. Once logged in, the temporary or substitute Administrator can perform the tasks of the Administrator who is currently unavailable. One drawback of such a system is that the temporary or substitute Administrator must know the password for the Administrator who is currently unavailable, which comprises security of the Identity System.


Techniques related to promoting consistent cooking event outcomes are disclosed. Natural language processing (NLP) is used to promote the consistent cooking event outcomes. Data is acquired from a sensor that is monitoring a cooking preparation area. Based on the data, an event is identified. The event is modeled using NLP, which then predicts a subsequent event that will likely occur in the cooking preparation area. NLP is also used to select a recipe. A list of instructions included in the selected recipe are displayed in a user interface.

In cooking, a recipe is the collection of instructive steps by which successful cooking sessions are recorded for future food reproduction. These recipes are difficult to create and are often lacking in important details due to reliance on low resolution, and even subjective, textual terms to describe the activity to perform (e.g., sauté, stir, brown, etc.), as well as the time and temperature involved in the activity (e.g., medium-high heat, cook until translucent, until firm in the middle, etc.). Recipes can, therefore, be quite difficult to follow or recreate in a way that accurately represents the creator's intent.
Often, a recipe lacks significant and meaningful information that is required in order to reproduce the recipe. A recipe may call for "sauté over medium heat until golden brown." But what is meant by medium heat? When does the mixture reach "golden brown?" A professional chef with significant experience may intuitively understand the answers to these questions, but a so-called "home" chef may not. As a consequence, the finished "home" version of the product may be less than anticipated.
Similar difficulties arise with the preparation of food prior to cooking begins and even with the presentation of the food after it has been cooked. Indeed, home chefs are often at a loss as to how to properly prepare the food and how to present or "plate" that food. What is needed, therefore, is an improved process by which users are guided through the food preparation, cooking, and presentation actions.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.


An IC card according to the present invention is configured to be communicable with a card reader by receiving a high-frequency signal transmitted from the card reader through an antenna unit provided on an IC card body, rectifying the high-frequency signal to generate an operating voltage, and demodulating a modulating signal superimposed on the high-frequency signal. The antenna unit is composed of paired electrostatic coupling antennas spaced from each other. The paired electrostatic coupling antennas include metallic thin films arranged on a front surface of the IC card body separately from each other; and metallic thin films arranged on a back surface of the IC card body separately from each other. The metallic thin films are opposed to each other and connected to each other to form one of the paired electrostatic coupling antennas. The metallic thin films are opposed to each other and connected to each other to form the other of the paired electrostatic coupling antennas.

In these types of the conventional IC card and the card readers accessible using a non-contact method, generally, an antenna coil is embedded in the IC card, and, in the card reader, an antenna coil is arranged so as to come close to the antenna coil within the IC card inserted into a card insertion slot.
With these conventional IC card and card reader, when the IC card is inserted in the card insertion slot of the card reader, the card reader detects insertion of the IC card, modulates a carrier signal with an access signal to generate a high-frequency signal, and then transmits the high-frequency signal to the IC card from the antenna coil.
On the other hand, the IC card receives with the embedded antenna coil the high-frequency signal transmitted from the antenna coil of the card reader, and then rectifies the received high-frequency signal to generate the access signal and direct-current voltage.
Subsequently, the IC card activates the direct voltage as operating power, and transmits answer back data for the access signal to the card reader. Mutual communications are thus performed between the card reader and the IC card.


An image forming apparatus and a controlling method thereof. The image forming apparatus includes a fixing member having a heating source to heat a developer of a recording medium, a power supply unit to the heating source, first and second temperature sensors for respective first and second positions on the fixing member, a width sensor for the recording medium, and a control unit, when a difference between the first temperature and the second temperature is greater than a predetermined reference value, determining whether the first temperature is abnormal based on the width of the recording medium and, when the first temperature is abnormal, interrupting the power supply to the heating source. An error in the temperature sensor is determined when a temperature difference between the first and second position of the fixing member is greater than a predetermined degree and the recording medium passes through both temperature sensors.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of one or more embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus capable of improving safety with respect to overheating of a fixing unit thereof that fixes a toner image transferred onto a recording medium, and a controlling method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image forming apparatus produces an image on a recording medium in accordance with input signals. A printer, a copier, a facsimile, a multifunction apparatus having combined functions of the above and other similar functions or devices are included in the image forming apparatus.
An electro-photographic image forming apparatus comprises an electrifying unit, a laser scanning unit which is an exposing unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit and a fixing unit, which are all mounted around a photoconductive drum. A surface of the photoconductive drum is electrified to a predetermined potential by the electrifying unit and then exposed to the laser scanning unit, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. The developing unit develops a toner image according to the electrostatic latent image. The toner image is transferred to a recording medium and fixed on the recording medium by the fixing unit. Next, the recording medium having the image thereon is discharged to the outside.
The fixing unit heats and presses the recording medium upon which the toner image is transferred, thereby temporarily fusing the toner image in the form of powder, and fixing the toner image onto the recording medium.
For this purpose, the fixing unit comprises a fixing roller that fixes the toner on the recording medium, and a pressing roller pressing the recording medium toward the fixing roller. The fixing roller is equipped with a heating lamp mounted in the center thereof and is heated by a radiant heat of the heating lamp.
At one side of the fixing roller, a temperature sensor is installed in contact with an outer circumference of the fixing roller and comprises a thermistor to measure a surface temperature of the fixing roller. The thermistor measures the surface temperature of the fixing roller and transmits the measurement result to a control unit that controls the overall operations of the image forming apparatus. Then, the control unit switches a switching element based on the surface temperature of the fixing roller, thereby controlling power supplied to the heating lamp so that the surface temperature of the fixing roller can be maintained within a predetermined range.
However, in a case when the thermistor malfunctions due to an error or the control unit malfunctions due to factors such as static electricity, the surface temperature of the fixing roller may be measured as lower than the actual temperature or a temperature variation may not be accurately measured. In such cases, the heating lamp would be heated continuously, thereby damaging peripheral parts by overheating the peripheral parts.

Image forming apparatus and abnormal temperature determination controlling method


A pump for driving a hydraulic fluid to adjust an angle of an airfoil has a transmission to be rotated to change the angle of incident of a plurality of airfoils. The transmission is driven through a rotating input to in turn rotate, and change the angle. The input is caused to rotate by a piston having engaging threads on the input, and the piston is mounted within a hydraulic chamber. Opposed chambers are on each of two opposed ends of the piston. A piezoelectric pump selectively delivers pressurized fluid into the opposed chambers to drive the piston, and to in turn cause the input to rotate.

This application relates to an adjustable fan blade wherein the angle of incident of the fan blade may be changed utilizing a piezoelectric actuator.
Gas turbine engines are known, and typically include a fan delivering air into a compressor section. The air is compressed and moved downstream into a combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited. Products of this combustion pass downstream over a turbine section, driving turbine rotors to rotate. The turbine rotors in turn rotate the compressor rotors and the fan.
Traditionally, a turbine rotor drove a compressor rotor and the fan rotor at one speed. However, more recently, a gear reduction has been incorporated between the turbine rotor and the fan such that the fan can rotate at a lower speed than the turbine rotor. This has resulted in a great deal of design freedom for the fan.
It has become desirable to make the fan rotor and blades much larger radially. The fan typically delivers a portion of air into a bypass duct as propulsion air along with the air that is delivered into the compressor.
For any number of reasons it becomes desirable to adjust the pitch of the fan blades such that they may be at different angles during different periods of operation. An adjustment ring has typically been rotated, and as it rotates it cams the fan blades to change their angle. Historically, electric motors, or other relatively large mechanical actuators have been utilized.

Fan blade adjustment piezoelectric actuator


A satellite broadcast receiving antenna apparatus having an automatic tracking function for mobile bodies subject to radio wave interference due to obstacles is disclosed, in which phase correction circuits are arranged in the stage before a phase difference detection circuit, and the amount of phase shift of the phase correction circuits is adjusted by a CPU in such a manner that the peaks of the received signals are coincident in phase with each other at the time of detection thereof. The amount of phase shift associated with the coincidence is stored in a phase shift amount memory, and phase correction is effected on the amount of phase shift read from the memory is subsequent automatic tracking.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile antenna apparatus mounted on a mobile body such as an automobile or a ship for receiving radio waves transmitted from an artificial satellite including a broadcast satellite.
A conventional antenna apparatus for a mobile body, as disclosed in JP-A-2-159802, has a flat antenna unit divided into a plurality of antennas. Drive signals of the flat antenna in the elevation and azimuth directions are generated from a phase angle representing a delay phase of a signal received by a second antenna with respect to that received by a first antenna, and motors are driven through motor drivers on the basis of the drive signals to control the antenna attitude, thereby performing automatic tracking to keep the antenna directed toward the satellite.
The conventional receiving antenna apparatuses for receiving satellite broadcast, which detect the direction to the satellite on the basis of phase difference between the received signal of a first antenna and that of a second antenna, have the disadvantage that once a signal delay occurs due to conduit length or wiring length or characteristics of intermediate circuit from the antenna to phase difference detection circuit, the phase difference detection circuit undesirably produces a phase difference output including the above-mentioned signal delay, which lead to erronous direction of the satellite. To obviate this problem, the wiring length is finely adjusted to eliminate the phase difference at the time of assemblage.
This adjustment of wire length is made on trial-and-error basis and consumes a long time.

Automatic tracking receiving antenna apparatus for broadcast by satellite


A coplanar mounting member for a MEM sensor includes a first surface coplanar with a connection pad on the surface of a MEM sensor board containing the MEM sensor control circuit; a second surface inclined to the surface of the board for mounting a MEM sensor and an electrical conductor array for interconnecting the MEM sensor with the connection pad on the board.

Mircro-electro-mechanical (MEM) sensors such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, vibration sensors, and microphones must be mounted in close proximity to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) control chip to realize optimum instrument performance. The path length of sensitive electrical nodes is typically held to 0.25 inches or less to minimize parasitic capacitance and noise susceptibility. This requirement, combined with the need to measure rotation or acceleration along three orthogonal axes in micromechanical inertial sensor assemblies (MMISA) has constrained system architectures to those typified by the competent munition advanced technology demonstration (CMATD) system shown in FIG. 1.
The MMISA in FIG. 1 occupies approximately 8 in3 of the 16 in3 available volume of the device. In order to reduce this volume it has been proposed to place each instrument at an angle. For example, in CMATD systems, the three gyro and three accel instruments are mounted on separate circuit boards which are in turn mounted orthogonal to each other. A circuit backplane and flexible cabeling are used to interconnect these six instruments. In order to reduce this volume it has been proposed to place the three gyro instruments onto a single circuit board and the three accel instruments onto single circuit board, which allows for a substantial reduction in redundant component. The challenge is in mounting the three gyro and three accel sensor devices orthogonal to each other on a coplanar surface while maintaining the close proximity to their associated ASICs.

Coplanar mounting member for a MEM sensor

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.


A passive slide screw load pull tuner structure can be used on-wafer, in millimeter-wave frequencies from 20 to 110 GHz. It uses a short external (not extended) slabline, mounted sloped and allowing direct contact with the wafer probe, thus permitting the tuning probe to come as close to the wafer probe as physically possible; this minimizes the insertion loss between tuner and DUT and, thus, generates the maximum possible tuning range of a passive electro-mechanical impedance tuner.

This invention relates to millimeter-wave load and source pull testing of medium and high power transistors and amplifiers using remotely controlled electro-mechanical impedance tuners.
Modern design of high power millimeter-wave (mm-wave) amplifiers and mixers, used in various communication systems, requires accurate knowledge of the active device's (mm-wave transistor's) characteristics. In such circuits, it is insufficient for the transistors, which operate in their highly non-linear regime, close to power saturation, to be described using non-linear numeric models only.
A popular method for testing and characterizing such microwave and millimeter-wave transistors in the non-linear region of operation is "load pull" (FIG. 1). Load pull is a measurement technique employing impedance tuners (2, 4) and other test equipment, such as signal sources (1), test fixtures (3) holding the DUT and power meters (5), the whole controlled by a computer (6); said computer controlling and communicating with said tuners (2, 4) and the other equipment (1, 5) using digital cables (7, 8, 9). The tuners are used in order to manipulate the microwave impedance conditions under which the Device Under Test (DUT, or transistor) is tested (see ref. 1); tuners allow determining the optimum impedance conditions for designing amplifiers and other microwave components for specific performance targets, such as gain, efficiency, inter-modulation etc.; this document refers hence to "tuners" as being "impedance tuners", in order to separate from "tuned receivers (radios)", popularly called elsewhere also "tuners" because of the included tuning circuits (see ref. 2). Insertion loss between the DUT and the tuners (10, 11) reduce the tuning range of the tuners (FIG. 3). It is a general aim in the technology to minimize this insertion loss (10, 11). This can be done by approaching physically the tuning core of the tuner (i.e. the tuning probe (slug), item (22) in FIG. 2)) to the DUT, which is connected at the test port (25).
Impedance tuners, FIG. 2, comprise in general a transmission line (24) with a center conductor (23) and, one or more (see ref. 4) adjustable probes (22); the probe (slug) (22) is attached to a precision vertical axis (21) which is mounted in a mobile carriage (28); the axis (21) can move the probe (22) vertically (216) in Y direction, starting at the top towards the center conductor (23) and the carriage (28) can move the probe (22) horizontally (in X direction) either towards or away (217) from the test port (25) and the DUT parallel to the center conductor (23). The vertical movement (216) changes the amplitude of the reflection factor, seen at the tuner test port (25), whereas the horizontal movement (217) changes its phase. This way the whole Smith chart is covered allowing quasi-infinite impedances from Zmin to Zmax to be synthesized at any given frequency within the "tuning range" of the tuner. Typical values of impedances created by state of the art tuners are |Zmin|=2 Ohm and |Zmax|=1250 Ohm; this corresponds to a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 25:1. The relation between reflection factor and impedance is given by GAMMA=|GAMMA|*exp(jΦ)=(Z−Zo)/(Z+Zo) {eq.1}, wherein Z is the complex impedance Z=R+jX and Zo is the characteristic impedance. |GAMMA| varies between 0 and 1; a typical value used for Zo is 50 Ohms (see ref. 3). The higher |GAMMA| the higher the "tuning range" (32) or (33), see FIG. 3. The equivalent quantity offering higher resolution both for low and high |GAMMA| is the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio: VSWR=(1+|GAMMA|)/(1−|GAMMA|){eq.2}, which varies between 1 and infinite.
Metallic probes (22, 41) or "slugs" are made in a cubical form (41) with a concave bottom, which allows to capture, when approaching the center conductor (43), the electric field between center conductor and ground, which is concentrated mostly in the area between the center conductor (43) and the grounded sidewalls of the slabline (44) (FIG. 4). This "field capturing" allows creating high and controllable reflection factors. The critical part is the required proximity (small gap [5]) and accuracy of both the vertical (46) and horizontal (45) probe movement, whereby changes in the vertical probe position (46) of a few micrometers affects the VSWR by a large amount. This invention discloses a passive single and multi-probe slabline based tuner structure maximizing the tuning range up to 110 GHz.

Millimeterwave tuners with external airline


A semiconductor light-emitting device and a method for manufacturing the same can include a wavelength converting layer located over a semiconductor epitaxial layer in order to emit various colored-lights including white light. The light-emitting device can include a semiconductor chip substrate configured not to transmit light emitted from the epitaxial layer and mounted on a mounting board, and a transparent resin layer located between the wavelength converting layer and the epitaxial layer mounted on the semiconductor chip substrate so as to extend from a side surface of the wavelength converting layer towards a substantially edge portion of the semiconductor chip substrate. The semiconductor light-emitting device can be configured to improve a color variability of a mixture light emitted from the device by using the transparent resin layer and the wavelength converting layer, and therefore can emit the mixture light having a substantially uniform color tone from a small light-emitting surface.

1. Field
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to semiconductor light-emitting devices in which light emitted from a semiconductor light-emitting chip is wavelength-converted by a wavelength-converting layer, and to manufacturing methods for the same. More particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates to semiconductor light-emitting devices for a vehicle light and the like, which can emit a mixture light having a high uniformity from a small light-emitting surface, and to methods of manufacturing such devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor light-emitting devices, in which a part of light emitted from a semiconductor light-emitting chip is converted into light having a different light-emitting wavelength by a wavelength converting resin including a phosphor and in which a mixture light comprises the light having the different light-emitting wavelength mixed with the light emitted directly from the semiconductor light-emitting chip is emitted, have been widely known as a light source for various lighting units. As conventional semiconductor light-emitting devices including a wavelength converting material, a first conventional semiconductor light-emitting device is disclosed in Patent Document No. 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2004-343149).
FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the first conventional semiconductor light-emitting device, which is disclosed in Patent Document No. 1. The first conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 80 includes: a base board 85 having a bonding pad 86 formed in a rectangular tabular shape; a semiconductor light-emitting chip 81 having a top electrode mounted on the base board 85, and the top electrode being electrically connected to the bonding pad 86 via a bonding wire 87; a transparent encapsulating resin 82 having a top surface disposed on the base board 85 so as to cover the semiconductor light-emitting chip 81 along with the bonding wire 87; and a wavelength converting material 83 including a phosphor, which wavelength-converts a part of light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting chip 81 into light having a different light-emitting wavelength from a light-emitting wavelength of the light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting chip 81.
The conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 80 may emit a relatively uniform mixture light, which comprises the light having the different light-emitting wavelength mixed with the light emitted directly from the semiconductor light-emitting chip 81, from a top surface of the wavelength converting material 83. However, the semiconductor light-emitting device 80 may emit light including a comparative large amount of the light wavelength-converted by the phosphor from a side surface of the wavelength converting material 83 because the wavelength-converted light has a long path length in wavelength converting material 83
In addition, the semiconductor light-emitting device 80 may emit light including a large amount of the direct light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting chip 81 from a side surface of the transparent encapsulating resin 82, because the direct light may not necessarily pass through the wavelength converting material 83. Accordingly, the first conventional light-emitting device 80 may be easy to vary a color tone of the mixture light depending on a light-emitting direction thereof.
FIG. 7a is an enlarged top view showing a second conventional semiconductor light-emitting device, which is disclosed in Patent Document No. 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2009-94199), and FIG. 7b is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the second conventional semiconductor light-emitting device taken along line B-B′ shown in FIG. 7a. The second conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 70 includes: a base board 71 formed in a rectangular tabular shape; a semiconductor light-emitting chip 73 mounted on the base board 71 and emitting blue light during operation; and a wavelength converting material 74 having a side surface 76, an inclined surface 77 and a top surface 78, and including a yellow phosphor 72, which wavelength-converts a part of the blue light into yellow light, and the wavelength converting material 74 disposed on the base board 71 so as to cover the semiconductor light-emitting chip 73 therewith.
The wavelength converting material 74 may be formed in a substantially square frustum such that a square frustum having a bottom surface is exactly located on a square column having a top surface, which is the same square shape as the bottom surface of the square frustum. Therefore, because each of light path lengths emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting chips 73 toward the top surface 78, the inclined surface 77 and the side surface 76 may be approximately same, a color variability of a mixture light emitted from a light-emitting surface of the second conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 70, which is composed of the top surface 78, the inclined surface 77 and the side surface 76, may reduce.
However, each of structures such as the above-described first and second conventional light-emitting devices 80 and 70 are configured to cover the semiconductor light-emitting chips 81 and the semiconductor light-emitting chip 73 with the transparent encapsulating resin 82 and the wavelength converting material 74 along with the base boards 85 and 71, respectively. Consequently, each of parts of lights, which get to the side surface of the transparent encapsulating resin 82 and the side surface 76 and the inclined surface 77 of the wavelength converting material 74, may returns toward the base boards 85 and 71 by reflecting on the side surfaces and the like described above, and may be reflected by the base boards 85 and 71, respectively. Therefore, the above-described structures may be difficult to maintain a high contrast between a light-emitting surface and a non-light-emitting surface in top views of the semiconductor light-emitting devices, although each direction of the top views may be a light-emitting direction of the devices.
When the semiconductor light-emitting devices having such structures are used as a light source for a lighting unit such as a vehicle headlight, which controls light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting devices using a reflector and/or a projector lens, a light-emitting device having a small light-emitting surface in addition to the high contrast may be desired to efficiently control light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting device with a small optical structure. Therefore, the semiconductor light-emitting devices disclosed in Patent Documents No. 1 and No. 2 may not be a match for the above-described usage.
A conventional semiconductor light-emitting device having a small light-emitting surface and a high contrast can be used as a light source for a vehicle headlight using a projector lens and is disclosed in Patent Document No. 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2009-135136). FIG. 8a is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device disclosed in Patent Document No. 3, and FIG. 8b is a graph showing an exemplary high contrast measured from an upward direction of the third conventional device shown in FIG. 8a.
The third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 90 includes: a semiconductor chip substrate 91 configured not to transmit light; a semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 formed on the chip substrate 91; a wavelength converting layer 94 including a transparent resin 96 and a phosphor 95, disposed on the semiconductor chip substrate 91 so as to cover the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 therewith, and being formed in a substantially dome shape; and a mounting board 97 mounting the chip substrate 91, which mounts the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 thereon along with the wavelength converting layer 94.
According to such a structure, the third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 90 may not emit light from a side surface of the semiconductor chip substrate 91, and also may not reflect light by the mounting board 97 because the semiconductor chip substrate 91 may not transmit light. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8b, the third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 90 can perform a high contrast between a light-emitting surface and a non-light-emitting surface such that a light-emitting intensity thereof sharply rises from the non-light-emitting surface to the light-emitting surface.
In addition, because the above-described structure is forming the wavelength converting layer 94 in the substantially dome shape on the minute semiconductor chip substrate 91 while the wavelength converting layer 94 encapsulates the finer semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 on the minute semiconductor chip substrate 91, the third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 90 may be used as a point light source as compared with the structure such as the first and the second conventional devices 80 and 70, in which each of the whole semiconductor light-emitting chips 81 and 73 is encapsulated with the transparent resin 82 and the wavelength converting material 74, respectively.
Moreover, because the wavelength converting layer 94 may be formed in the substantially dome shape, thicknesses of the wavelength converting layer 94 in light-emitting directions from the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 toward a light-emitting surface may be comparatively uniform. Therefore, the third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 90 may reduce a chromatic variability in the light-emitting directions from the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 toward the light-emitting surface.
However, technically a path length of light emitted from a middle portion of the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 in a directly up direction of the semiconductor light-emitting device 90 may be longer than that of light emitted from a peripheral portion of the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 because the wavelength converting layer 94 is formed in the substantially dome shape. Accordingly, the light emitted from the middle portion of the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92 in the directly up direction of the light-emitting device 90 may include a larger amount of light wavelength-converted by the wavelength converting layer 94 as compared with the light emitted form the peripheral portion of the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92.
When the structure such as the third conventional semiconductor light-emitting device 90 is used as light source for general lighting units such as a general lighting, an indicator and the like, such a slight color variability may not cause any interferences to the general lighting units. However, when the structure is used as a light source for a lighting unit such as a vehicle headlight, which enlarges light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting device using a reflector and/or a projector lens and projects the light in the distance, the slight color variability may not necessarily neglected in order to provide various expensive-looking lighting units using the reflector and/or the projector lens.
Such the structure may reduce the sight color variability by controlling a thickness and a density of the wavelength converting material 94 near the peripheral portion of the semiconductor epitaxial layer 92. However, because a size of the semiconductor chip substrate 91 may generally be approximately several hundred micro square meters to one square millimeter, it may be difficult for a molding method, which is usually used for a low coast, to control the thickness and the like of the wavelength converting material 94.
The above-referenced Patent Documents are listed below, and are hereby incorporated with their English abstracts in their entireties.    1. Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2004-343149    2. Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2009-94199    3. Patent Document No. 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2009-135136
The disclosed subject matter has been devised to consider the above and other problems, features, and characteristics. Thus, embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can include semiconductor light-emitting devices that can emit a mixture light having a high uniform color tone from a small light-emitting surface, in which the mixture light can be emitted with a small color variability along an optical axis thereof, and also can be emitted with a small color variability even in a different light-emitting direction from the optical axis. The embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can also include associated manufacturing methods that do not cause and/or are designed to prevent some of the above-described problems, concerns, and characteristics related to a wavelength converting layer.

Semiconductor light-emitting device and manufacturing method


Provided are a battery management system and method for optimizing an internal resistance of a battery. The battery management system includes: a current measurement unit configured to measure a discharging current of the battery; a memory configured to store a plurality of voltage-current characteristic profiles; and a control unit operatively connected to the current measurement unit and the memory and configured to determine a reference profile from the plurality of voltage-current characteristic profiles based on a state of charge and a temperature of the battery. The reference profile includes a start point, an end point, and a plurality of intermediate points positioned between the start point and the end point. The control unit is further configured to: determine an internal resistance of the battery based on the start point and the end point; set one of the plurality of intermediate points as a reference point; determine a reference resistance smaller than the internal resistance based on the reference point and the end point; and determine an optimum resistance larger than the internal resistance based on the discharging current, the internal resistance, the reference resistance, and a predetermined discharge upper limit current.

Recently, as the demand for portable electronic products such as notebook computers, video cameras, and mobile phones is rapidly increasing and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, and the like is being regularized, studies on high performance batteries capable of repeated charge and discharge have been actively conducted.
Currently available batteries include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium batteries. Of these, lithium batteries have almost no memory effect as compared with nickel-based batteries, and are thus free for charge and discharge and have a very low self-discharge rate and a high energy density. Due to these advantages, lithium batteries have attracted attention.
Since the life of the battery is reduced when the battery is over-discharged, it is necessary to adaptively adjust the output power of the battery according to the state of the battery while discharging the battery. In order to adjust the output power of the battery, the process of determining the internal resistance of the battery must be preceded. To this end, a conventional technique as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 records voltage data and current data indicating voltage-current characteristics of a battery with respect to a specific state of charge and a specific temperature through a preliminary experiment and calculates an internal resistance corresponding to the specific state of charge and the specific temperature by linearizing the voltage-current characteristics by using a data fitting algorithm such as a least square method.
However, even when the state of charge and the temperature of the battery are constant, the internal resistance of the battery may change depending on a magnitude of a discharging current. Therefore, it is difficult to effectively prevent over-discharge of the battery by the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 or the like.
(Patent Literature 1) Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2006-0052273 (published on May 19, 2006).

Battery management system and method for optimizing internal resistance of battery


A food steamer includes a base, a cooking container receivable by said base, a lid receivable atop said cooking container, a boiler housed within the base, a steam flow pathway extending from said boiler to said lid for directing steam generated by said boiler into said container through said lid, a control unit configured to control operation of said food steamer in response to a user input. The control unit is configured to automatically deactivate the boiler when the lid is removed from the cooking container.

Steamer appliances which cook foods using steam generated therein by electric heaters are well known. Typically, such appliances have a heater within a base of the appliance that is configured to convert water into steam. The produced steam is directed to an inlet in the bottom of a container receivable on the base, such that the steam is permitted to enter the container from below in order to steam cook food items placed therein.
While existing steamer appliances are generally suitable for what is regarded as ordinary performance, there is still room for improvement. In particular, existing steamer appliances typically provide steam to the cooking container from below. This may lead to uneven cooking, especially for foods adjacent to the top of the container where the flow of steam may not consistently reach. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a food steamer that more efficiently cooks foods, as well as provides an added level of safety and automated cooking capabilities.


A method for analyzing biomechanical conformation of the lower leg and hoof of animals, for example a horse, from images (photographs, radiographs, etc) is described. In particular, there is provided a method to analyze images that may include certain scale markers. A user may be guided to pick certain key points in the images, from which a special set of biomechanical parameters may be computed. Using these parameters, the conformation of the hoof and leg can be analyzed in various ways, including comparison to a database of other animals, tracking changes over time, or by means of quantitative scoring rules.

The present invention relates generally to image data processing, interpretation and quantification of animal digit conformation for medical diagnostic purposes and more particularly to a technique for deriving special biomechanical parameters that describe the animal digit (hoof and lower leg) from images for the purpose of comparison or scoring the conformation of the bone and hoof and their spatial relationship.
An animal hoof and especially an equine hoof is composed of a relatively hard outer surface, a sole and other structures on the ground surface of the foot. The outer surface continues to grow during the animals lifetime (similar to the human fingernail). . In the wild, the growth rate of the hoof wall is approximately balanced by the wear processes as the animal moves. However, in a domestic horse, for example, such is not the case. Due to the use we humans make of the horse and the surfaces and conditions they are kept in, some 'artificial' treatment of the hoof is generally required. Most generally, a farrier will trim the hoof and apply a metal shoe to protect the foot. In some situations, shoes are not required, but nevertheless it may be important to trim the outer shape of the hoof from time to time.
When the farrier trims the outer shape of the hoof, a large number of choices can be made concerning what the optimal shape of the hoof might be. Over the years, a great many theories, methodologies, and opinions concerning the best shape of the hoof have been and continue to be espoused. It is generally agreed that various angles, distances, thicknesses, and other measures of the hoof shape dramatically affect the motion, comfort, and, ultimately, health of the animal such as a horse. In perhaps a somewhat typical current practice, a farrier attends to a horse about every 6 weeks. The old shoes are removed, the hoofs are trimmed, and new shoes are placed on the feet.
A typical situation for domestic horse is that the 'toe' portion of the hoof grows out more quickly than the 'heel' portion of the hoof, and hence, without periodic trimming, the angle the foot makes with the ground (as seen from a side view) would gradually change. However, a great variety of other situations concerning the shape and growth of the hoof occur, and it is the job of the farrier, sometimes with a veterinarian's advice, to determine the best course of action to maintain the health and usefulness of the horse. The use of radiographs is typical in the diagnosis of lameness problems in animals, for example, horses. Many veterinarians employ portable X-ray machines in their practice. Generally, the veterinarian takes several radiographs of a horse as part of a "pre-purchase" check-up when horses are purchased. While radiographs of all parts of the horse may be taken, there is a strong concentration in the area of the feet and lower legs. A typical radiographic study of a single foot may comprise five or more separate 'views' of the foot. By 'view', it is meant a certain positioning of the X-ray emitting machine and X-ray sensitive film. A radiograph of the equine foot from any of these views will show bone structures interior to the foot, and will often (depending on details of exposure lengths and X-ray intensity) also show the shape of the hoof wall.
Often radiographs are employed to look for problems such as bone fractures, loss of bone, addition of bone (calcifications), lesions, and other pathologies. Another use of radiographs is in looking for various physical measurements such as the thickness of the sole of the foot, the thickness of the hoof wall, the angle that a certain bone makes relative to the hoof wall, and so on. However, these radiographs are generally 'unscaled' so that physical measurements of length are uncalibrated and only approximate.
Due to the typical apparatus used in taking radiographs, interpreting the true lengths of features in the image is non-trivial. Because the X-ray generator is essentially a point-source of X-rays, and because the X-ray sensitive film is placed on the opposite side of the subject from the X-ray source, a 'magnification' effect is apparent in radiographs. That is, the image of an object in a radiograph is larger than the actual object. The exact value of this magnification effect depends upon placement of the X-ray source relative to the subject and to the X-ray sensitive film. Radiographs also display a certain form of distortion due to the fact that the X-rays are in the form of diverging rays from a point-source and due to the fact that the subject is not 'thin' but generally has significant depth in the direction aligned with the X-rays. This distortion is minimal near the center of the radiograph (towards which the X-ray beam was pointed) and is maximal near the outer edges of the radiograph. For this reason, veterinarians use the practice of centering the most important item in the radiograph's field of view.
A radiograph can be extremely helpful to a farrier, as the extent to which a hoof can and should be trimmed has a relationship with thickness of the hoof wall and sole, and the location of the bones of the equine digit. Because a good radiograph shows these elements, it can be invaluable as a guide to trimming the hoof. The expense of radiographs generally prohibits their use with every routine trimming, but in horses with particular problems, or those of particular value, radiographs are sometimes taken in association with a visit by the farrier to trim the hoof. As an alternative or in addition to radiographs, photographs may also be employed to record the state of the exterior shape of the hoof. Side view, front view, and solar view photographs will show many important angles and lengths which, when taken together, describe the conformation of the hoof. Again, such images are generally unscaled, so that deriving length measurements from them is difficult.
Similarly, in addition to radiographs and photographs, other imaging techniques can and are used to record and study the conformation of horses and other animals. Such techniques include MRI scans, CAT scans, ultrasound imaging, thermography, and others. Both X-ray machines and cameras (for photography) are undergoing rapid technological change from analog devices to inherently digital devices. In either case, it is now possible to obtain a digital image. The digital image may be produced directly by the camera, or obtained in a second step by 'scanning' the image with some kind of optical device, which can then output a digital image.
Thus, there is a need for the direct comparison in a numerical, quantitative sense between two animals such as two horses, or between one animal and a set of other like animals. There is also a need for the direct quantitative tracking of change for a given animal such as a horse over time. Finally, there is a need for the ability to summarize the overall conformation of the animal hoof and leg in the form of a single quantitative score in a well-defined way.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have images that are "scaled", whereby these quantified and calibrated images may be compared to a predetermined database of certain information and checked against a rules based database to determine the initial physicality of a given subject. It would be further desirable to reference this data in order to compare and determine the progression of that particular subject's condition.

Method and system for analyzing animal digit conformation


The electrode system controls an electrostatic field in an electron gun for a color cathode ray tube having cathodes for emitting three electron beams, a two division first and second focusing electrodes and an anode for focusing and accelerating the three electron beams onto a screen. The system includes electrostatic field controlling electrodes in the anode and the second focusing electrode disposed opposite to the anode. Each of the electrostatic field controlling electrodes includes a center frame having a center electron beam pass-through hole, and outer frames extending from both sides of the center frame to form outer electron beam pass-through holes, wherein each one of the electrostatic field controlling electrodes is disposed in contact with the inside of the second focusing electrode and the anode, and a disposed depth from a rim portion of the second focusing electrode and the anode and thicknesses of the center frame and the outer frames in a travel direction of the electron beams are adjusted to minimize deflection aberrations of the three electron beams.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron gun for a color cathode ray tube, and more particularly, to an electrode system for controlling an electrostatic field in an electron gun for a color cathode ray tube, which can improve astigmatisms and OCV(Outer Beam Convergence Variance), particularly on periphery of the screen, that occur when electron beams are deflected, to improve the resolution of the color cathode ray tube.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The electron gun in a color cathode ray tube is an electron beam emitting device which forms a pixel by focusing three electron beams emitted from respective cathodes onto red, green and blue fluorescent surfaces at a front part of the cathode ray tube such that each of the surfaces reacts with a respective electron beams, thereby forming an image on the screen through combination of the pixels.
FIG. 1 illustrates an outline of the color cathode ray tube provided with a conventional in-line type electron gun.
Referring to FIG. 1, the color cathode ray tube has a panel 1 of glass forming a front surface thereof and a funnel 2 of which the front portion is fusion welded to a rear portion of the panel 1. The funnel, converges to form a neck portion 2a at the rear end of the tube in which an electron gun 3 is sealed. There is a fluorescent surface 5 on the inside of the panel 1 having red, green, blue fluorescent materials coated thereon for illumination by electron beams 4 emitted from the electron gun. There is also a shadow mask 6 that is perforated with electron beam pass-through holes 61 for selective pass through of the three electron beams 4 and is spaced a certain distance apart from the panel 1. There are deflection yokes 7 on an outer circumference of the neck portion 2a for deflecting the electron beams 4 to the panel 1, i.e., to regions of the screen.
FIG. 2 illustrates the conventional in-line type electron beam shown in FIG. 1 with a partial cut-away view.
Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional electron gun includes three cathode ray electrodes 8 each having a heater (not shown), a controlling electrode 9 which is a first grid electrode for controlling the electron beams, an accelerating electrode 10 which is a second grid electrode for accelerating the electron beams, pre-focus electrodes 11 and 12 which are third and fourth grid electrodes for pre-focusing the electron beams, a focusing electrode and anode 13 and 14 which are fifth and sixth grid electrodes for finally focusing and accelerating the electron beams, and a shield cup 16 disposed at one end of the anode 14 in the direction of the screen for shielding leakage magnetic fields from the deflection, and the foregoing electrodes are fixed by one pair of bead glass with predetermined distances spaces between them. The focusing electrode 13 has a first focusing electrode 131 to which a static voltage is applied and a second focusing electrode to which a dynamic voltage is applied.
In the operation of the electron gun, when a predetermined voltage is applied to each of the electrodes and currents are applied to the cathode electrodes 8, heaters in the cathode electrodes 8 are heated to emit thermal electron beams 4, which are accelerated toward the screen by a voltage difference between the accelerating electrode 10 and the controlling electrode 9. Then, the electron beams 4 are pre-focused by the pre-focusing electrodes 11 and 12 and finally focused and accelerated by a main electrostatic focusing lens formed by a voltage difference between the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14. Thereafter, the electron beams 4 are deflected by the deflection yokes 7, pass through the electron beam pass-through holes 61 in the shadow mask 6, and collide onto the fluorescent surface to form a pixel. The larger the size of the main electrostatic focusing lens, the more exact the focusing of the electron beams, resulting in a sharper image on the screen. However, the small diameter of about 5.5.about.5.9 mm of the main focusing electrostatic lens causes a spherical aberration, which causes hazing of the electron beams that degrades the resolution of the color cathode ray tube. The spherical aberration is proportional to an inverted third power of the diameter of the main electrostatic focusing lens, and the diameter of the main electrostatic focusing lens is substantially proportional to diameters of the electron beam pass-through holes in the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14. Therefore, in general, to lower the spherical aberration, it has been suggested that the diameters of the electron beam pass-through holes in the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14 should made greater, resulting in a larger main electrostatic focusing lens.
FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an example of a conventional second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14 in a partial cut away view FIG. 4 illustrates a frontal section of the system shown in FIG. 3, together with the neck portion for reference.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the diameter of each of the three electron beam pass-through holes 132c and 132s, in the second focusing electrode 132 and 14c and 14s in the anode 14 respectively formed on a plane perpendicular to a center axis of the neck portion 2a is limited to less than 1/3 of the inside diameter of the neck portion 2a, because the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14 should be disposed in the neck portion 2a. Accordingly, in the aforementioned electron gun for a color cathode ray tube, in order increase the diameter, D, of the electron beam pass-through holes 132c, 132s, 14c and 14s that form the main electrostatic focusing lens, the inside diameter L of the neck portion 2a should be made greater, the gap g between the outside circumferences of the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14 and the neck portion 2a, and the widths I, and I.sub.2 of the bridges of the electron beam pass-through holes 132c and 132s, 14c and 14s should be minimized. The distances between the electron beam pass-through holes 132c, 132s, 14c and 14s, i.e., the beam separation S should be made greater. However, there are limitations placed on the reduction of the gap, because an electrical insulation should be maintained between the second focusing electrode 132, the anode 14 and the neck portion 2a. There are limitations on the reduction of the widths 1.sub.1 and 1.sub.2 of the bridges because of strength of the bridges. Also, cases in which the inside diameter L of the neck portion 2a is made greater and the beam separations S are made greater, causes higher deflection power consumption for the deflection yokes and degraded resolution due to weakened convergence of the electron beams, due to the greater beam separation S. Therefore, a design that can provide the largest electron beam pass-through holes D, while the inside diameter L of the neck portion 2a is maintained, is required.
FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of another example of a conventional second focusing electrode 132 and anode 14 having electrostatic field controlling electrodes provided therein, with a partial cut away view, and FIG. 6 illustrates a section of the conventional second focusing electrode 132 and anode 14 shown in FIG. 5, wherein the same reference numbers are used for identical parts explained before.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, electrode barrels 132d and 14d and electrostatic field controlling electrodes 17 and 18 are disposed in respective electrode barrels and adapted to receive the same voltage as the respective electrode barrel. Outer ends of the electrode barrels 132d and 14d are opened such that the three electron beams may pass in common, and inner ends thereof, disposed oppositely, are also opened in the same manner. The inner ends each have a rim portion 132e and 14e formed thereon along an inside circumference, with an inside wall of a predetermined length extended inwardly into the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14. Each of the electrostatic field controlling electrodes 17 and 18, disposed at a position away from the rim portion 132d and 14d by a predetermined distance c and a and arranged vertically with respect to the direction of travel of the electron beams, includes a flat portion 17b and 18b having a center electron beam pass-through hole 17a and 18a, and blades 17c and 18c bent at a right angle to the flat portion 17b and 18b at both ends of the flat portion 17b and 18b.
Accordingly, the center electron beam entering into the second focusing electrode passes through the center electron beam pass-through hole 17a, and the outer electron beams pass through the spaces between the inside of the electrode barrel 132d and the blade 17c. The electron beams then pass through the anode in the same manner as the second focusing electrode. In this case, as the openings defined by the rim portions 132f and 14f of the second focusing electrode 132 and anode 14 are large in diameter, the diameter of the main focusing electrostatic lens can be made large, but with the horizontal diameter being much larger than the vertical diameter. Because of this, the horizontal focusing power is significantly weakened compared to the vertical focusing power, which changes the focus distance and causes an astigmatism. However, the electrostatic field controlling electrodes 17 and 18 project an electrostatic field into the openings, which prevents the occurrence of the astigmatism to some extent. The additional fields formed by the blades 17c and 18c, which have certain widths at both sides of the center electron beam pass-through holes 17a and 18a affect, the horizontal focusing power of the main focusing electrostatic lens. As the positions of the electrostatic field controlling electrodes 17 and 18 are deeper in the second focusing electrode 132 and the anode 14, i.e., the farther from the rim portions 132e and 14e, the electric field between the two electrostatic field controlling electrodes 17 and 18 becomes weaker with formation a greater slope of equipotential lines, and the diameter of the main focusing electrostatic lens can be increased.
However, the deeper positioning of the electrostatic field controlling electrodes for obtaining a larger diameter main focusing electrostatic lens causes the following problems.
First, the deeper positioning of the electrostatic field controlling electrode in the second focusing electrode results in a negative tendency of the astigmatism, i.e., underfocusing of the electron beams in the horizontal direction and overfocusing in the vertical direction. Causing a vertical dispersion of the image and reducing the OCV, which represents a convergence of outer beams.
Second, the deeper positioning of the electrostatic field controlling electrode in the anode results in a positive tendency of the astigmatism, i.e., overfocusing of the electron beams in the horizontal direction and underfocusing in the vertical direction. Causing a horizontal dispersion of the image and increasing the OCV, which represents a convergence of outer beams.
Even though the aforementioned problems can be solved to some extent by positioning the electrostatic field controlling electrodes appropriately, there is a limitation on the extent of the improvements in astigmatism and OCV that can be realized solely by adjustment of the positions of the electrostatic field controlling electrodes.

Electrode system for controlling electrostatic field in electron gun for color cathode ray tube


Systems and methods for determining concentrations of components of a multiphase fluid. A first flowmeter receives a fluid flow and generates measurements of the fluid flow. After at least partially separating the fluid flow into mixtures of its components, second and third flowmeters generate measurements of the mixtures. A data processing apparatus operatively coupled to the flowmeters receives the measurements and determines concentrations of the components of the fluid flow. In an embodiment, the measurements are mass flow and density readings.

Many industrial processes involve a mixture of a number of different fluids having different properties, for example, density or concentration. In some cases, knowing the concentration of the components of the mixture is useful for controlling the process. For example, the synthesis of isooctane (i.e., octane) for blending in a dynamic gasoline pool is a step in petroleum refining. One process for producing octane is HF Alkylation. In this process, Hydrogen Fluoride (HF, hydrofluoric acid) serves as a catalyst for the reaction of isobutane and C4 olefins to form octane or "alkylate." A catalyst is a substance that increases a rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process. The alkylation process turns low-molecular weight hydrocarbons, which formerly were waste, into a component of gasoline.
HF catalyst includes three components—HF (approximately 90%), water (approximately 1%), and acid-soluble organics (ASO) as the remainder. The concentration of each of the components affects the alkylation process. For example, a small concentration of water improves reaction efficiency, whereas a large concentration increases corrosiveness of the catalyst. Further, the concentration of HF can affect its role as a catalyst. For example, in acid runaway, HF's role as a catalyst is compromised when the HF concentration falls below a threshold concentration and begins to participate as a reactant in side reactions that consume HF, but do not produce octane.
Acid runaway can be avoided by knowing HF and ASO concentrations. In particular, to avoid acid runaway, an HF concentration margin can be maintained over the critical concentration. Uncertainty around the HF and ASO concentrations can necessitate a greater margin over the critical concentration and cause a decrease in efficiency. In general, to optimize the alkylation process, the concentrations of the components of the HF catalyst are controlled. Minimizing a net consumption of HF by fine-tuning the operation of the alkylation unit can increase safety and profitability of the unit. For example, large output of octane barrels can be obtained at minimum cost by operating the unit at the lowest possible HF concentration without risking acid runaway. Grab-sampling extraction for laboratory analysis and online analysis are two methods for monitoring the concentrations of the components of HF catalyst (henceforth referred to as "HF mix").

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Determining concentrations of components of a mixture


The present invention relates to a biotin-conjugated hexapeptide-2 derivative or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and use thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a biotin-conjugated hexapeptide-2 derivative or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, a preparation method thereof, a composition including the same as an active ingredient, and a method for improving wrinkles and inhibiting skin aging using the same.

Skin is an organ carrying out functions such as protection, barrier, temperature controlling, excretion and respiration, and is composed of epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous fat. Epidermis is the thinnest layer and is an organized construction of keratinocytes and melanocytes. Dermis is a layer that makes up approximately 95% of the skin and functions to moisturize and protect the skin. In the dermis, collagen and elastin that play an important role in skin elasticity (wrinkle) are distributed to form a net-like structure, blood vessels and nerves are found, and mast cells involved in allergic reaction and natural moisturizing factors such as Na-PCA or hyaluronic acid are also included. Subcutaneous fat functions to provide nutrients for the epidermis and dermis, determine the body shape, maintain body temperature, absorb external impacts, and protect cells under the subcutaneous fat.
The skin aging occurs with time because of rapid reduction of skin functions due to endogenous or exogenous factors. With skin aging, the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous fat that are components of the skin become thin, and collagen and elastin also become thin and loose and begin to lose their elasticity, causing wrinkles. Also, aging or UV exposure of skin inhibits adipogenesis in subcutaneous adipocytes, leading to loss of skin's protective function and rapid skin aging. Therefore, the tissues of face, breast and hip become droopy and wrinkle development occurs, eventually fail to have the beauty of appearance.
Many studies have been made to improve the reduced skin function, and the most important method is to find a method of promoting collagen biosynthesis of skin cells. To achieve this, vitamin C and derivatives thereof, KTTKS peptide (SEQ ID NO. 1), copper peptide and various natural extracts have been selected and used. However, vitamin C and derivatives thereof have disadvantages of a low stability and a low long-term activity, and KTTKS peptide (SEQ ID NO. 1) and copper peptide have a disadvantage of having a low collagen biosynthesis-promoting effect. The natural extracts have disadvantages of low activity and difference in their activity at the time of sample preparation. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to develop a new concept material for promoting collagen biosynthesis in order to solve all the disadvantages.

Biotin-conjugated hexapeptide-2 derivative and use thereof


A process for the preparation of toner compositions which comprises dissolving a polymer, and optionally a pigment in an organic solvent; dispersing the resulting solution in an aqueous media containing a surfactant, or mixture of surfactants; stirring the mixture with optional heating to remove the organic solvent thereby obtaining suspended particles of about 0.05 micron to about 2 microns in volume diameter; subsequently homogenizing the resulting suspension with an optional pigment in water and surfactant; followed by aggregating the mixture by heating thereby providing toner particles with an average particle volume diameter of from between about 3 to about 21 microns when said pigment is present.

The present invention is generally directed to toner processes, and more specifically to microsuspension processes for the preparation of toner compositions. In embodiments the present invention is directed to the economical preparation of toners without the utilization of the known pulverization and/or classification methods, and wherein toners with an average volume diameter of from about 3 to about 21 microns can be obtained. The resulting toners can be selected for known electrophotographic imaging and printing processes, including color processes, and lithography. In embodiments, the present invention is directed to a process comprised of homogenizing microsuspended particles of from about 0.05 micron to about 2 microns in volume diameter, containing a resin and pigment in an aqueous solution containing surfactant, followed by aggregating the aforementioned pigmented particles by heating to generate toners with an average particle volume diameter of from about 3 to about 21 microns. In another embodiment thereof, the present invention is directed to an in situ process comprised of dissolving a polymer resin such as a polyester, polyacrylate, styrene butadiene, or polymethacrylate of from about 5 to about 80 weight percent, and a pigment such as HELIOGEN BLUE.TM. or HOSTAPERM PINK.TM. of from about 1 to about 10 weight percent in an organic solvent such as methylene chloride or ethyl acetate; dispersing the resulting mixture in an aqueous solution containing surfactants such as sodium dodecylsulfate and polyoxyethylene nonyl phenyl ether, thereby obtaining suspended particles of from about 0.05 micron to about 2 microns in volume diameter; removing the organic solvent by stirring and optionally by heating from about 25.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C.; homogenizing the mixture at about 500 to about 4,000 revolution per minute; and followed by aggregating the aforementioned pigmented particles by heating to generate toners with an average particle diameter of from about 3 to about 7 microns. In an embodiment, the present invention is directed to a process comprised of homogenizing microsuspended particles of from about 0.05 micron to about 2 microns in volume diameter, containing a resin and pigment, in an aqueous solution containing surfactant, followed by aggregating the aforementioned pigmented particles by heating to generate toners with an average particle volume diameter of from about 3 to about 7 microns. In another embodiment thereof, the present invention is directed at a process comprised of dissolving a polymer resin, such as a polyester, polyacrylate or polymethacrylate of from about 5 to about 80 weight percent in an organic solvent such as methylene chloride or ethyl acetate; dispersing the resulting mixture in an aqueous solution containing surfactants such as sodium dodecylsulfate and polyoxyethylene nonyl phenyl ether, thereby obtaining suspended particles of from about 0.05 micron to about 2 microns in volume diameter; removing the organic solvent by stirring and optionally by heating from about 25.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C.; adding a pigment, such as HELIOGEN BLUE.TM. or HOSTAPERM PINK.TM., of from about 1 to about 10 weight percent and homogenizing the mixture at about 500 to about 4,000 revolutions per minute; followed by aggregating the aforementioned pigment and suspended particles by heating to generate toners with an average particle diameter of from about 3 to about 7 microns. The aforementioned toners are especially useful for the development of colored images with excellent line and solid resolution, and wherein substantially no background deposits are present.
In color reprography, especially process color reprography wherein pictorial images are generated, high gloss of from about 50 gloss units to about 80 gloss units as measured by the Gardner Gloss meter is highly desirable. Additionally, toners which fix onto paper at low fusing temperatures, such as from about 125.degree. C. to about 150.degree. C., are desirable to prolong the lifetime of the fuser and reduce its energy consumption. Accordingly, in order to satisfy the aforementioned high gloss and low fusing temperature requirements, it is advantageous to utilize conventional toners comprised of polyesters as the resin binder. However, the process for obtaining conventional toners and toners in generally usually require the utilization of pulverization and cumbersome classification methods which are expensive, especially wherein small size toners of from about 3 microns to about 7 microns are desired. The process of this invention is directed to the economical preparation of toners containing, for example, polyester resins without the utilization of the known pulverization and attrition methods and wherein toners with an average volume diameter of from about 3 to about 7 microns can be obtained. Additionally, with the toners of this invention, high gloss of from about 50 to about 80 gloss units as measured by the Gardner gloss meter, and low fixing temperature of from about 125.degree. C. to about 150.degree. C. are attained in embodiments.
There is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,127 a toner of associated particles of secondary particles comprising primary particles of a polymer having acidic or basic polar groups and a coloring agent. The polymers selected for the toners of this '127 patent can be prepared by an emulsion polymerization method, see for example columns 4 and 5 of this patent. In column 7 of this '127 patent, it is indicated that the toner can be prepared by mixing the required amount of coloring agent and optional charge additive with an emulsion of the polymer having an acidic or basic polar group obtained by emulsion polymerization. Additionally, this process involves the preparation of emulsion addition type resins, such as that obtained from styrene, ethyl acrylate and the like, and wherein it is believed that polyesters cannot be effectively obtained. Additionally, note column of '127 patent wherein the pigment is added with the emulsion particle. Also, note column 9, lines 50 to 55, wherein a polar monomer such as acrylic acid in the emulsion resin is necessary, and toner preparation is not obtained without the use, for example, of acrylic acid polar group, see Comparative Example I. The process of the present invention does not utilize polar acid groups, and toners can be prepared with polyester resins without containing polar acid groups. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,488, a process for the preparation of toners by the polymerization of a polymerizable monomer dispersed by emulsification in the presence of a colorant and/or a magnetic powder to prepare a principal resin component and then effecting coagulation of the resulting polymerization liquid in such a manner that the particles in the liquid after coagulation have diameters suitable for a toner. It is indicated in column 9 of this patent that coagulated particles of 1 to 100, and particularly 3 to 70, are obtained. This process is thus directed to emulsion type resins and monomers therefrom, and coagulants must be utilized. With the process of the present invention, addition type resins and polyester resins utilized for pictorial or process color applications with low fusing temperatures and high gloss can be obtained. Similarly, the aforementioned disadvantages are noted in other prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,339, wherein there is disclosed a process for the preparation of toners by resin emulsion polymerization and spray drying; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,108, wherein there is disclosed a process for the preparation of a copolymer of styrene and butadiene by specific suspension polymerization. More specifically, this patent discloses a microsuspension polymer process wherein a resin, preferably a polyester and solvent, is microsuspended to from about 0.05 to about 1 micron in volume diameter followed by aggregating to toner size particles of from about 3 microns to about 7 microns in volume diameter as measured by the Coulter Counter, and exhibit low fixing temperature of from about 125.degree. to about 150.degree. C., and high gloss of from about 50 to about 80 gloss units as measured by the Gardner Gloss device.

Microsuspension processes for toner compositions


An article of footwear includes a sole and an upper that includes a heel end, a toe end, a medial side, and a lateral side. The upper defines a throat opening between the medial and lateral sides, and the sole and the upper jointly defining a foot cavity. The article of footwear further includes a support member extending from a first side of the article of footwear to a second side of the article of footwear, and an actuator fixedly attached to the support member at the first side of the article of footwear. A securing strap extends across the throat opening and has a first end operably connected to the actuator and a second end fixedly connected to the second side of the article of footwear.

Articles of footwear are designed to be worn on users' feet to protect the feet, provide stability and comfort, and, in some instances, to improve performance. It is typically advantageous for the article of footwear to be secured tightly to the foot to prevent movement relative to the foot and the article of footwear, which can cause reduced athletic performance, reduced stability, and discomfort for the wearer. Conventional shoes include a lace that is threaded through several openings, and which the user tightens and ties to secure the upper of the article of footwear around the middle region of the user's foot. In the conventional shoe, however, the laces do not fully restrain the foot from longitudinal movement within the shoe. An improved article of footwear that secures the article of footwear to the user's foot would therefore be desirable.

Article of footwear having a heel fixing system


An engine room heat exhausting structure configured to discharge heat from an engine room, is provided, which includes an engine room accommodating an engine with cylinders lined up in a front-and-rear direction of a vehicle, a wheelhouse provided outside the engine room in a vehicle width direction, an exhaust emission control device disposed between the engine and the wheelhouse, a wheelhouse liner configured to protect an inner wall of the wheelhouse, a discharging part provided rearward of the exhaust emission control device and configured to discharge into the wheelhouse a part of air cooled the exhaust emission control device, and a guiding part provided to the wheelhouse liner and configured to guide the air discharged into the wheel house to underneath the vehicle in a rear part of the wheelhouse.

Conventionally, an engine room where an engine which generates heat is accommodated is provided in a front part of a vehicle. The engine room is defined by a dash panel, front inside panels, and an engine hood. The dash panel defines a rear part of the engine room, the front inside panels define both sides in the vehicle width direction, and the engine hood defines an upper part. The heat generated inside the engine room is exhausted forward of a front window screen, into wheelhouses, and downward of the engine room, while utilizing air for cooling which is introduced into the engine room by a traveling wind (i.e., wind caused by the vehicle traveling).
Meanwhile, the engine may be covered by an engine cover in order to mainly improve sound insulation. Moreover, in order to protect the engine, etc. from a collision with a pebble while the vehicle travels and rectify air which passes through a space underneath the vehicle, an undercover may be attached for covering the engine room from below.
In such cases, since it becomes difficult to exhaust the heat from the engine room because of the engine cover and the undercover, structures for stimulating the heat discharge from the engine room have been examined. For example, like JP6091782B2, there is a known technology which defines the engine room by an engine encapsulation structure which covers the engine. The cooling air is introduced into the engine encapsulation structure from the front and flows rearward. Thus, the structure stimulates the heat discharge and improves the sound insulation, the thermal insulation, and the pedestrian protection when the vehicle collides with a pedestrian.
However, when a driving force transmission mechanism, such as the transmission, is disposed rearward of a lower part of the engine, since the cooling air which cooled the engine and became hot reaches the periphery of the driving force transmission mechanism, the driving force transmission mechanism may be overheated. Therefore, it is considered that the hot cooling air is discharged into the wheelhouses.
While the vehicle is traveling, air flows into the wheelhouses from the front, and then flows rearward to exit from the wheelhouses. Since turbulence occurs at this time to increase air resistance, it is known that air flowing into the wheelhouses from underneath of the vehicle is reduced by a deflector and air is drawn into the wheelhouses from the side of the vehicle to suppress the increase in the air resistance, for example, like JP2020-001425A.
However, when the cooling air is discharged into the wheelhouses, since the cooling air collides with the air flowing inside the wheelhouses to disturb the flow, air resistance increases. In addition, the cooling air may become difficult to be discharged into the wheelhouses, and therefore, the heat discharge from the engine room cannot be fully achieved.