Radically polymerizable dental material, which contains at least one encapsulated photochromic colorant.

In the case of plastic-based dental materials, colorants, a distinction being drawn between dyes and pigments, are added to the polymer as additives to set the desired color and transparency.
Dyes are organic in nature and are usually soluble in organic solvents, while pigments are solid particles with particle sizes between approx. 0.01 and approx. 1 μm and are divided into organic and inorganic pigments (cf. Taschenbuch der Kunststoff-Additive [Plastics Additives Handbook], eds. R. Gächter, H. Müller, 3rd ed., Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich and Vienna 1989, 663-736). In the case of dental materials for dentistry and in particular in the case of highly aesthetic filling composites, mixtures of different inorganic pigments, which are characterized by low solubility in organic solvents and fats as well as by a very good color stability, are used to set the color. In addition to the permanent coloration of dental materials, it is advantageous in some situations to be able to make the dental material more visible temporarily by reversible coloring. Examples of this are a reversible coloring to detect thin layers, such as in the case of fissure sealing, of tooth surfaces treated with adhesives or of excess cement.
EP 0 744 172 A2 discloses photochromic dental materials, which contain a photochromic material such as, for example, a photochromic dye, a photochromic glass, a photochromic ceramic or a photochromic glass ceramic. The photochromic dental material can be converted into a colored state, which means it can be better distinguished from the natural hard tooth tissue, through brief irradiation with light. A disadvantage is that the subsequent decoloration sometimes takes several hours, which can impair the light-induced material curing. In addition, the dentist cannot conclusively check the final coloring of the restoration at the end of the session, with the result that another visit by the patient is necessary.
When photochromic glass fillers are used, a further difficulty is that the filler content of about 15% necessary to achieve a visible color change significantly increases the viscosity of the material, with the result that such fillers are unsuitable for applications which require a low viscosity. The relatively high filler content additionally limits the use of further fillers, e.g. the use of fluoride-releasing fillers. Another disadvantage is that photochromic glasses, the color change of which as a rule involves the use of silver halides, darken under the action of light. This darkening can be distinguished from a marginal gap or a discoloration caused by caries, e.g. when checking the retention of fissure sealants, only with difficulty, which favours misinterpretations.
On the other hand, photochromic dyes have the disadvantage that their function is impaired by the surrounding matrix. The stiffness of the matrix, the free volume, polarity and hydrophobicity, intermolecular interactions between matrix and dye and the miscibility play a role here. Interactions between matrix and dye or steric hindrance can interfere with the chemical processes of the photochromic system responsible for the color transition. This can make the desired color change very difficult or even prevent it completely. Although these disadvantages were able to be repressed by the use of flexible matrix materials with a low glass transition point Tg, this possibility is ruled out in the case of dental materials because the hardness and strength of the materials would be impaired by it. For the same reason, the use of porous matrix materials, which give the photochromic dye a certain molecular mobility, is also not possible.
EP 3 184 096 A1 discloses radically polymerizable dental materials with light-induced reversible coloring. The materials can be colored by brief irradiation with light with a first wavelength and decolored again by irradiation with light with a second wavelength. A disadvantage is that light sources which can emit light with different wavelengths are required, with the result that the curing lights available in dental practices cannot be used.
EP 1 230 906 A1 discloses dental materials which contain a thermochromic dye and which exhibit a reversible color change in the case of changes in temperature. This can lead to unintended coloring in hot or cold surroundings or when taking hot or cold food or drinks.
Materials with fluorescent dyes, which emit visible light when irradiated with UV light, are known from DE 39 39 998 A1. Since the fluorescence only occurs during the UV irradiation, the working area must be continuously irradiated with an additional light source, which makes its accessibility more difficult.

Photochromic dental material with encapsulated photochromic colorants


An image processing apparatus includes an input device, an encoder, a memory, a first allocator, a data block size determination mechanism, a second allocator, and a processor. The input device receives image data of a given data size and transmits the image data in N data blocks. The “N” represents a first given number. The encoder encodes the N data blocks transmitted from the input unit. The memory stores the N data blocks encoded by the encoder. The first allocator allocates, before encoding, N memory areas of a specified memory size within the memory. The determination mechanism determines whether each of the N data blocks is larger than the memory size. The second allocator dynamically allocates an additional memory area within the memory when the determination mechanism determines that one of the N data blocks is larger than the memory size. The processor retrieves the image data for processing thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program for image data processing, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and computer program for image data processing enabling a reduction of memory consumption through efficient storage of compressed image data.
2. Discussion of the Background
Converting analog information into digital data is a typical method used to facilitate the handling of information in computer processing, transmission through optical fibers, and recording on or reading from a storage medium such as a memory disk. Information in the form of digital data is expressed using a discrete series of binary digits.
In information processing, data and signals can be transformed from one format into another through specific schemes so that the transformed information may be converted back into the original format or into a similar signal or data format. Such a process is called encoding.
There are different types of encoding schemes, such as encryption and compression, used to convert digital data into a form suitable for efficient manipulation. For example, in data compression, original data is converted into another form smaller in size without noticeable loss of information. Using data compression is effective in reducing consumption of resources, such as bandwidth and traffic for data transmission or memory space for data storage.
Various types of data compression techniques and formats have been designed and used for specific purposes, such as JPEG and Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) for image data, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-7, and MPEG-21, compression standards for audio-visual data using inter-frame prediction and DCT techniques, or MPEG-1 Audio Layer I (MP1), MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2), and MPEG-1 Audio Layer III (MP3) for digitized audio data. In addition, as common compression utilities, ZIP and LHA are widely used on computer systems.
Using compression methods in data processing provides a reduction in data size, which is represented by a data compression ratio defined as a ratio between an original uncompressed size and a compressed size of data. The data compression ratio varies depending on the type of data file and the type of compression technique used to create a data file.
For example, pulse-code modulation (PCM) audio data can be compressed, with an acceptable level of quality, to compression ratios of approximately 11 by MP3, approximately 7 by MP2, and approximately 4 by MP1, respectively. By using ZIP and LHA methods, a text file can be compressed at a compression ratio of approximately 3 (to approximately 35% of the uncompressed size), a bitmap image file at a compression ratio of approximately 1.4 (to approximately 70% of the uncompressed size), and an executable file at a compression ratio of approximately 2 (to approximately 50% of the uncompressed size).
Among the aforementioned compression techniques, image data compression techniques have been applied to image processing methods for saving memory space. For example, GIF is a type of bit-mapped, general purpose graphics file format used on the World Wide Web (WWW). GIF encoding is suitable for processing images with a small number of colors, such as illustrations and button graphics, due to a high compression ratio in coding image data having large uniformly colored areas. In addition, JPEG is also effective in reducing memory consumption for storing and transmitting image data. In JPEG encoding, image data is split into 8×8 blocks, each of which is converted into frequency space using a two-dimensional forward discrete cosine transform (DCT). The result is quantized to reduce the amount of information, and then is compressed by an entropy coding. The entropy coding is a data compression scheme that assigns codes for symbols so as to match code lengths with the probabilities of the symbols.
In a common image processing method, image data acquired using an input device such as a scanner is encoded by a known compression technique to be stored in a memory space. In such encoding/storage process, the image data is transferred between the input device and the memory space using direct memory access (DMA), which does not involve calculation by a central processing unit (CPU), enabling the CPU to execute other tasks during data transmission. As the DMA transfer once set cannot be interrupted, an appropriate amount of memory for storing image data in an encoded form needs to be allocated prior to the DMA transfer.
In memory allocation, it is important to prevent errors caused by running out of memory. When additional memory space cannot be reserved during data transfer, allocating an insufficient amount of memory, e.g., several percents of the uncompressed size, may lead to out-of-memory conditions. As the compression ratio varies depending on the type of image data, a conventional image processing apparatus allocates a memory space that can store image data in an uncompressed form, ensuring the entire image data can be properly stored. However, this method causes a significant amount of wasted memory when stored image data is compressed at a high compression ratio.
To obviate such inefficiency, another conventional image processing apparatus has been designed, which allocates memory space of a given size while adjusting the compression ratio for encoding image data so as to store the entire image data within the allocated memory space. The apparatus compares an actual code size with a given reference at a given timing during a scanning operation. When the actual code size is larger than the given reference, the apparatus adjusts the compression ratio to make the code size equal to or smaller than the given reference. By doing so, the apparatus reduces an amount of wasted memory while eliminating the need for re-executing the scanning operation.
Such a method may provide increased efficiency in storing image data, but also has a drawback in terms of processing speed as scanning is suspended or decelerated for executing the adjustment of compression ratio. Thus, there exists a continuing need to develop an image processing apparatus achieving a reduction in memory consumption without sacrificing processing speed.

Method, apparatus, and computer program for image data processing


A guard ring is provided around each capacitive sensor plate and charged to substantially the same voltage as a voltage on the capacitive sensor plate. The guard ring reduces parasitic capacitances of the capacitive sensor plate caused by differences in voltage potentials between the capacitive sensor plate, and adjacent circuit conductors, ground planes and power planes. Two digital outputs and associated voltage divider resistors are used to drive the guard ring voltage to substantially the same voltage as the voltage on the capacitive sensor plate.

Touching of a capacitive sensor or approaching a capacitive proximity sensor by an object, e.g., a piece of metal, a finger, a hand, a foot, a leg, etc., changes certain parameters thereof, in particular the capacitance value of a capacitor that is built into the touch sensor used, for example, in human to machine interface devices, e.g., keypad or keyboard. Microcontrollers now include peripherals that enhance the detection and evaluation of such capacitive sensors. One such application utilizes capacitive voltage division (CVD) to evaluate whether a capacitive touch element has been touched or not. However, when such sensors are operated in high noise environments, the resolution or detection in conventional systems may not suffice.
In particular parasitic capacitance may pose a problem in many capacitive sensor applications. Parasitic capacitance is generated whenever a conductor adjacent to the sensor (or its connection to the microcontroller) is at a different voltage potential then the sensor. Therefore it is preferable to reduce the parasitic capacitance associated with capacitive sensors, assuming that parasitic capacitance may decrease the sensitivity of a capacitive sensor and thereby decrease the resolution of the resulting capacitive conversion process, e.g., CVD (capacitive voltage division).

Measuring capacitance of a capacitive sensor with a microcontroller having digital outputs for driving a guard ring


A vessel of a liquid pressure generating apparatus is divided into two vessels of an upper liquid pressure generating vessel containing therein a liquid chamber whose volume can be varied, and a lower medium vessel into which is filled a medium which varies between a gaseous state and a liquid state. Both the vessels are connected by a communicating passage. The two vessels are respectively provided with heating heat exchange portions into which is inputted an external heat such as a waste heat of a driving source of a vehicle. The medium vessel is also provided with a cooling heat exchange portion. By the inputting of heat and stopping thereof, the liquid pressure can be controlled with good response.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermally driven (or thermally operated) liquid pressure generating apparatus which is suitable as a liquid pressure source for a fluid actuator which is mounted on a vehicle such as a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In case a fluid actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder for adjusting a vehicle height, a hydraulic cylinder for steering rear wheels in a four-wheel-steering vehicle, or the like, is mounted on a vehicle, there has conventionally been used, as a liquid pressure source for the fluid actuator, a pump which is driven by an electric motor or an engine. This arrangement, however, has a disadvantage in that the energy consumption increases and the specific fuel consumption becomes poor.
Therefore, as a liquid pressure source which serves as an alternative for the pump, it is desired to use a thermally driven liquid pressure source which generates the liquid pressure by utilizing a waste heat of the driving source which is mounted on the vehicle.
As this kind of liquid pressure generating apparatus, the following is considered. Namely, a medium which changes the phase between a gaseous phase and a liquid phase is filled in a vessel containing therein a liquid chamber which is capable of changing its own volume. At the bottom of the vessel, there is provided a heat exchange portion to which is inputted an external heat, i.e., the waste heat from the driving source. The liquid-phase medium which stays at the bottom of the vessel is heated to change its phase to a gaseous phase. The liquid chamber is thus compressed by the vapor pressure of the medium to thereby generate the liquid pressure.
The above-described thermally driven liquid pressure generating apparatus has the following disadvantages. Namely, since the internal volume of the vessel in other than the liquid chamber increases as a result of compression of the liquid chamber, the vapor of the medium adiabatically expands to thereby lower in temperature, with the result that the vapor pressure lowers or decreases and further that the medium condenses. It thus takes time to increase or boost the liquid pressure. Further, even if the heat input to the heat exchange portion has been stopped, the vapor pressure does not lower or decrease much until the entire vessel has cooled down, with the result that the decrease in the liquid pressure also takes time.
In view of the above-described disadvantages, the present invention has an object of providing a thermally driven liquid pressure generating apparatus in which the liquid pressure can be increased or decreased with a good response.

Thermally driven liquid pressure generating apparatus


A method performed by a physical computing system includes, with a hypervisor, determining that a multilevel guest page table includes an upper directory that maps a set of contiguous entries to privileged pages, with the hypervisor, determining that, within the multilevel page table, only the set of contiguous entries map to the privileged pages, with the hypervisor, receiving a request from the guest to execute a virtual machine function, receiving a pointer as a parameter for the virtual machine function, and in response to determining that the pointer references a memory address that is within a range associated with the set of contiguous entries, aborting the virtual machine function.

The present disclosure relates generally to virtual machine management, and more particularly to virtual machine functions.
A virtual machine is software that is executed on hardware to create a virtualization of a physical computer system. Virtual machines may function as self-contained platforms that run their own operating systems and software applications.
A host machine, such as a server computer may concurrently run one or more virtual machines using software that is referred to as a hypervisor. The hypervisor allocates a certain amount of the host's resources, such as the host's underlying physical processors and memory devices, to each of the virtual machines, allowing the virtual machines to transparently access the host's resources.
Each virtual machine may use the allocated resources to execute applications, including operating systems referred to as guest operating systems. Each virtual machine guest operating system may be accessed by one or more local or remote clients to perform computing tasks.


A tower lift includes a main frame extending in a vertical direction, a carriage module configured to be movable in the vertical direction along the main frame, a weight module disposed behind the carriage module and configured to be movable in the vertical direction along the main frame, a driving module disposed on the main frame and configured to move the carriage module and the weight module in the vertical direction using at least one timing belt, an auto tensioner disposed on a lower portion of the main frame and connected with the carriage module and the weight module by a balance belt, and an upper alignment unit for aligning a horizontal position of the at least one timing belt.

The present invention relates to a tower lift. More specifically, the present invention relates to a tower lift for vertically transporting an object using a carriage module.
Generally, in a semiconductor or display manufacturing process, a semiconductor wafer or display substrate may be transported in a vertical direction between clean rooms of multiple floors by a tower lift.
The tower lift may include a carriage module for transporting objects, a main frame extending in a vertical direction and to which guide rails for guiding the carriage module are mounted, a weight module disposed behind the carriage module, and a driving module for moving the carriage module and the weight module in the vertical direction using a timing belt. Further, the tower lift may further include a balance belt for connecting the carriage module and the weight module, and an auto tensioner for adjusting a tension of the balance belt. The driving module may include a timing pulley engaged with the timing belt, and the auto tensioner may include pulleys engaged with the balance belt.
However, when the height of the tower lift is increased or the vertical movement speed of the carriage module and the weight module is increased, the timing belt may be disengaged from the timing pulley of the driving module, and the balance belt may be disengaged from the pulleys of the auto tensioner.


Disclosed is an image sensor including a first device isolation layer in a semiconductor layer and defining a plurality of pixel regions, a first photoelectric conversion device and a second photoelectric conversion device that are in each of the pixel regions, and a second device isolation layer in the semiconductor layer vertically overlapping the first photoelectric conversion device and the second photoelectric conversion device.

The present inventive concepts relate to an image sensor, and more particularly, to an auto-focus image sensor.
To achieve an auto-focus function in digital image processing devices such as cameras, it may be necessary to detect focus adjustment states of imaging lenses. Conventional digital imaging processing apparatuses include a focus detecting device in addition to an image sensor and an additional lens for the focus detecting device to concentrate light thereon. Thus, it may be difficult to reduce costs and sizes of digital image processing devices. To overcome this difficulty, an auto-focus image sensor has been developed to accomplish an auto-focus function using a phase difference of incident light.


A heat exchanger comprises a condenser in which the lateral cheeks serving for the attachment of the condenser are replaced by the end tubes of the array, which open into the collectors beyond end partitions therein so as to be separated from the circulation of the liquid coolant. In this way, the particular parts formed by the cheeks and the positioning operation thereof are omitted.

The invention relates to a heat exchanger, and more particularly to a condenser for an air conditioning device for the passenger space of a vehicle, comprising two collectors extending in the same direction and an array of tubes which are parallel to one another and mutually aligned in the direction, the ends of the tubes penetrating respectively into the collectors through openings provided in the wall thereof so as to establish a communication for a liquid coolant between the two collectors by means of the tubes.
The condensers thus formed are usually supplemented by two elongated components forming side shields, disposed respectively opposite the two ends of the row of tubes and mechanically attached to the ends of the two collectors, for example by soldering, so as to form therewith a rigid structure. These side shields serve to bear attachment lugs for the mechanical attachment of the condenser to other components, in particular to the structure of the vehicle or to another heat exchanger, such as the cooling radiator of the engine, itself fixed to the structure of the vehicle. The side shields may also serve for the mechanical protection of the bank of tubes, and more particularly of the inserts which are interposed, firstly between the tubes of the row, and secondly between each end tube and the corresponding side shields, to reinforce the exchange of heat between the tubes through which the liquid coolant flows in heat exchange relationship a flow of air passing through the array.
The object of the invention is to simplify the structure and the assembly of the condenser.

Condenser having a simplified assembly for use in an air conditioning circuit for a vehicle


The present invention provides a pill tray that allows a user to efficiently and reliably verify the contents of an automatically filled prescription. Design features that avoid the presence of sharp edges and allow visualization of the entire surface of the pill tray help reduce and/or eliminate the risk of commingling of pills between separate prescriptions.

The filling of prescriptions by automated systems has been implemented in many pharmacy practice settings to improve drug distribution, control inventory, reduce labor and decrease medication errors (See, e.g., "Implementation and evaluation of an automated dispensing system," Am. J. Health-Syst Pharm. 1995, 52:823-8; "Medication cart-filling time, accuracy, and cost with an automated dispensing system," Am. J. Hosp. Pharm. 1994; 51:1193-6). Despite these benefits, and contrary to expectations, studies have demonstrated that the number of prescription filling errors tends to increase with the implementation of automated systems.
In 2012 all automatically filled prescriptions were required to undergo a process known as Full Visual Verification (FVV). This process requires a pharmacist to pour the contents of each automatically filled prescription vial onto a counting tray to ensure product consistency. Upon verification that a prescription contains the correct type and number of pills, the pharmacist transfers the contents of the counting tray back into the prescription vial. The high volume of prescriptions filled in a typical pharmacy each day often requires the pharmacists to perform FVV for multiple automatically filled prescriptions in sequence. The highly repetitive process of transferring large numbers of pills to and from their respective containers naturally lends itself to errors. One such error, with potentially life threatening consequences, is commingling of medications due to the inadvertent transfer of stray pill(s) from one prescription vial to another. Structural features of the pill tray itself, such as crevices in which pills become temporarily lodged and/or blind spots that limit the pharmacist's ability to identify stray pills, are a significant factor in these comingling events. In view of the unlimited variety of pill sizes, colors and shapes (e.g., round, oblong, oval, elliptical, square, cylindrical, rectangular, diamond-shaped, cone-shaped triangular, crescent-shaped, trapezoidal, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, octagonal etc.) even minor surface disruptions within a pill tray represent potential areas in which a pill may become lodged. What is needed is an improved pill tray that allows the pharmacists to verify the accuracy and consistency of prescription contents in a safe and efficient manner.


A method of facilitating a fleet exchange includes retrieving a fleet and retrieving a set of workers, analyzing the fleet and the set of workers using smart scheduling to generate allocations, and displaying the allocations to the workers. In another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium includes program instructions that when executed, cause a computer system to receive vehicle allocation request, retrieve worker information and a worker calendar, generate an allocation, and display the allocation in a display device. A computing system for facilitating fleet exchange includes one or more processors and a memory including computer executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to retrieve a fleet and a set of workers, analyze the fleet and the set of workers to generate allocations, and display the allocations in a respective computing device of the workers.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
A company may have a fleet including two or more owned or leased company vehicles (equivalently, "automobiles," or "autos"), wherein the vehicles include any number of passenger vehicles, trucks, vans and/or other vehicles (e.g., motorcycles, buses, etc.). The vehicles may include autonomous and/or semi-autonomous features. Increasingly, telematics data related to the operation of motor vehicles of all types is captured by telematics systems that are built into vehicles, or which are carried into vehicles by drivers and passengers (e.g., mobile computing devices). Such telematics systems measure and capture data directly from vehicle computer systems as well as indirectly from the vehicle environment. In general, the company may loan, sell and/or lease the company vehicles to the company's workers (e.g., employees, contractors, etc.) for use in the performance of the company's business. For example, a sales company may provide vehicles for salespeople to use for sales calls during business hours and for personal use during non-business hours. In another example, a utility company may provide work trucks that are signed out by utility workers during the work day and returned to a vehicle depot at the conclusion of the day's business.
However, the company faces several problems with respect to the fleet of company vehicles. First, conventional techniques of providing company vehicles to workers are inefficient because providing each worker with a vehicle to use may require the company to purchase or lease as many vehicles as the company has employees. Second, whenever a company vehicle is not being driven by a worker, the vehicle is an idle resource that is not being used to the fullest extent. Third, providing a worker with a vehicle that the worker will only use when the worker is working is expensive.

Vehicle fleet exchange method and system

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


A recording disk apparatus comprises a clearance between a shaft and a thrust bearing portion tapered in a circumferential direction, a lubricant communication groove of a bearing covered by the shaft so that a lubricant on a radial bearing portion communicates with the lubricant on the thrust bearing portion through the lubricant communication groove, a lubricant circulating path which extends axially from the thrust bearing portion to the radial bearing portion to prevent the lubricant flowing out of the thrust bearing portion from returning directly to the thrust bearing portion without passing the radial bearing portion, and/or a clearance between a slide bearing and a magnetic fluid seal device substantially filled with a magnetic fluid lubricant.

The present invention relates to a recording disk apparatus in which signals are recorded onto and/or read out from a recording disk through a magnetic or optical (electro-optical, magneto-optical or the like) head while the recording disk is rotated by a motor and the head is moved by a servomotor, and to a recording disk rotating apparatus for supporting and driving the recording disk to be rotated in the recording disk apparatus.
In the prior-art rotational supporting structures for recording devices and the prior-art magnetic fluid seals therefor, a magnet for providing a magnetic fluid seal is arranged at a rotary side and a thrust bearing portion has spiral or herring-bone lubricant grooves as disclosed in JPA Hei 3-272318, a magnet for magnetic fluid bearing lubricant is arranged at a stationary side and the thrust bearing portion has a magnet bearing as disclosed in JPA Hei 4-6667, the magnetic fluid seal is used for a ball-bearing spindle as disclosed in JPA Hei 3-89079, and the magnetic fluid seal has projections extending from the magnet toward a shaft as disclosed in JPA Sho 59-110961 and JPA Hei 1-234662.

Recording disk apparatus and rotational supporting structure therefor, having a magnetic lubricant seal which is inclined


A bath tub shower adjustable seat including a seat and a support frame. The support frame includes at least one member with a length that is adjustable. A side portion is coupled to a first end of the member for resting upon a side edge of a bath tub. A coupling mechanism is connected to a second end of the member and is adapted to maintain the second end of the member at an elevation equal to that of the first end thereof. In use, the lower portion of the seat is coupled to a central extent of the member and the support frame resides entirely in a spaced and elevated orientation with respect to a bottom of the bath tub.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bath tub shower adjustable seat and more particularly pertains to allowing a tub shower seat to be utilized on any one of a variety of shower tubs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of tub shower seats is known in the prior art. More specifically, tub shower seats heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of allowing one to sit during a shower are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,844 to Mace; U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,628 to Franzl; U.S. Pat. Des. No. 360,024 to Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,378 to Janisch; U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,542 to Roesler; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,297 to Saleeby.
In this respect, the bath tub shower adjustable seat according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing a tub shower seat to be utilized on any one of a variety of shower tubs.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved bath tub shower adjustable seat which can be used for allowing a tub shower seat to be utilized on any one of a variety of shower tubs. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An image forming apparatus is provided with an image bearing member for transferring an image to a transfer material using a developer, a transfer roller arranged in contact with the circumferential surface of the image bearing member for forming a transfer nip portion, and a displacing drive part for displacing a surface contact position corresponding to a position of the circumferential surface of the image bearing member where the transfer nip portion is formed by the contact of the transfer roller at least to either one of a first position and a second position different from the first position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, particularly to an image forming apparatus provided with at least one of a copy function, a print function and a facsimile function.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known an image forming apparatus provided with an image bearing member having an image (toner image) to be transferred to a transfer material (e.g. transfer sheet) formed on a surface thereof by using toner as developer and a transfer roller for forming a transfer nip portion by the contact with the image bearing member to transfer an image formed on the image bearing member to the transfer material in a developing device.
If this image forming apparatus forms a monochromatic image, the transfer nip portion is formed by the contact of the transfer roller with a photoconductive drum. On the other hand, if this image forming apparatus forms a color image, the transfer nip portion is formed by the contact of the transfer roller with an intermediate transfer belt. In such a state, the transfer material is conveyed to the transfer nip portion.
When the transfer material is convened to the transfer nip portion, a transfer bias is applied to the transfer roller to generate a transfer electric field between the photoconductive drum or the intermediate transfer belt (hereinafter, image bearing member) and the transfer roller. At this time, an image formed on the surface of the photoconductive drum or the intermediate transfer belt is transferred to the transfer material.
If no proper air gap is provided between the image bearing member and the transfer material, discharge occurs between the image bearing member and the transfer material, whereby a phenomenon of diffusing the toner on the surface of the image bearing member to the periphery of an original transfer position of the transfer material without being transferred to this original transfer position is likely to occur.
If the air gap is wide, the following phenomenon tends to occur. Specifically, if the air gap is wide, spot discharge is likely to occur between the transfer roller and the transfer material immediately before the transfer material reaches the transfer nip portion. Upon the occurrence of such spot discharge, the polarity of the toner to form the image on the surface of the image bearing member is locally reversed. Thus, a phenomenon (so-called white spot phenomenon) in which toner untransferred parts appear in dots occurs on the transfer material having the image transferred thereto.
Further, if the air gap is wide, discharge is likely to occur in a wide area between the transfer roller and the transfer material immediately before the transfer material reaches the transfer nip portion. such discharge has an influence over the wide area of the toner to form the image on the surface of the image bearing member. Then, the polarity of the toner is reversed in a specific area of the surface of the image bearing member. Thus, a phenomenon in which a toner untransferred part appears over a specific area occurs on the transfer material having the image transferred thereto. Other phenomena of transfer failures also tend to occur.
Thus, the following measures have been adopted to make the air gap sufficiently small. For example, a method for guiding a transfer material entering direction toward the image bearing member by a pre-transfer guide or the like is adopted. Further, a method for changing the position of the transfer nip portion to a position on the circumferential surface of the image bearing member at an upstream side in a conveying direction of the transfer material is adopted to make the transfer material having passed the transfer nip portion easily separable from the image bearing member and the transfer roller. By these measures, the air gap is made sufficiently small.
However, in such cases, if a highly rigid transfer material such as a pasteboard is used, the transfer material is likely to be bent in a thickness direction of the transfer material in a conveyance path since being conveyed while the leading end thereof is colliding with the image bearing member. If such a phenomenon occurs, a conveyance path from registration rollers disposed upstream of the transfer nip portion for feeding the transfer material to the conveyance path to the transfer nip portion is bent by being pushed by the transfer material.
If the conveyance path from the registration rollers to the transfer nip portion is bent, resistance hindering the conveyance of the transfer material increases in the conveyance path. Thus, in a conveyance process, a conveying speed of a part of the transfer material having entered the conveyance path after passing the registration rollers is slower than that of a part of the transfer material passing the registration rollers.
In such a case, there is, for example, a large tendency to occur image faults such as horizontal stripes in an image transferred to the transfer material. There is also a large tendency of not properly transferring the image due to an upward movement of the rear of the transfer material. Further, there is a large tendency of reducing an equal magnification in a conveying direction (a sub scanning direction) of an image. There are also large tendencies of other problems.

Image forming apparatus with improved transfer roller


A programmable delay line. The programmable delay line includes a series of delay cells which are programmably connected in series. The programmable delay line includes a main delay chain and auxiliary delay chains. The main delay chain includes unit delay cells. The auxiliary delay chains include a unit delay cell, and a delay cell which has a delay that is between one and two time greater than the delay through a unit delay cell. The delay resolution of the programmable delay line is less than the delay of a unit delay cell. The programmable delay line further includes a reference oscillator and calibration circuitry. The reference oscillator includes a series of unit delay cells, and generates a reference signal having a period which is an integer multiple of the delay of a unit delay cell. Variations in the delay of a unit delay cell influence the period of the reference signal. The reference signal is used to programmably correct the variations in the delay of the programmable delay line due to variations in the delay of a unit delay cell.

Programmable delay lines are required for the generation of accurately shaped waveforms, and for delaying electronic signals. These waveforms are used in automated test systems (ATEs), to measure time intervals and to sample data at circuit interfaces. Specific applications require varying degrees of accuracy and resolution in the delay of the electronic signal.
ATEs can require delay lines with a delay resolution of 10 to 20 picoseconds. Data sampling of circuit interfaces may, for example, only require delay lines with delay resolutions of 100 to 200 picoseconds for systems operating at 100 MHZ. Strobe signals in high speed interfaces require delay lines in which the delay remains constant even though the delay line may be fabricated using varying processes and the delay line is subjected to varying temperatures and supply voltages.
Programmable delay lines have been designed using random access memory (RAM), coupled oscillators, shift registers, charge coupled devices (CCDs), ramp comparators, multiplexed delay lines and tapped delay lines. Each of these types of delay line designs suffer limitations. These limitation include the resolution of the delay of the delay line being too coarse, or the delay of the delay line being inconsistent. Delay inconsistencies can be due to variations in the process used to fabrication the delay line, or variations in the delay of the delay line due to variations in the temperature or voltage supply of the delay line.
Delay line inconsistencies can also occur due to the design of the delay line being in-tolerant to modeling errors that occur when designing the delay line. That is, when a delay line is being designed, the delay line is modeled. All delay line models include inaccuracies of one type or another. The inaccuracies in the models can cause the delay of the designed delay line to be inconsistent or unpredictable.
It is desirable to have a programmable delay line which offers high resolution. Furthermore, the delay of the programmable delay line should not vary depending on the process used to fabricate the delay line, or because the temperature or supply voltage of the delay line is variable. The programmable delay line should offer consistent performance even if the models used to design the delay line are inaccurate.

Self-calibrating electronic programmable delay line utilizing an interpolation algorithm


A composite sheet having a first, foamed polycarbonate resin layer and a second, non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer provided on at least one surface of the first layer and having a melt tension of at least 2.45 cN at 250xc2x0 C.

This invention relates to a composite sheet having a foamed polycarbonate resin layer and a non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer.
A polycarbonate resin foam has excellent heat resistance, cold resistance and impact resistance and is expected to be utilized for various applications such as receptacles, packing materials and interior construction materials. To be suitable for such applications, polycarbonate resin foam sheets are required to exhibit satisfactory workability and moldability; namely they should permit bending, punching, cutting, thermoforming and other processing.
In particular, since polycarbonate resin has a higher softening point as compared with ordinary resins such as polyolefin resins and polystyrene resins, much problems arise in molding polycarbonate resin foam sheets. For example, in order to smoothly conduct thermoforming, the temperature of the surface regions of the sheets must be raised. This causes breakage of cells in the surface regions, which in turn results in deterioration of appearance and mechanical properties.
JP-A-H08-174780 (Japanese Laid-Open publication) discloses a composite sheet having an improved moldability. The composite sheet has an extruded polycarbonate resin foam sheet and a polycarbonate skin film provided on at least one side of the foam sheet. The Japanese publication discloses preferability of the use of a polycarbonate skin film having a viscosity-average molecular weight of less than 20,000, since when the viscosity-average molecular weight is 20,000 or more, fluidity of the resin is so poor that extrusion of the resin results in non-uniformity in thickness of the composite sheet. The Japanese publication also discloses a composite sheet obtained by laminating a polycarbonate skin film having a viscosity average molecular weight of 30,000 onto a polycarbonate resin foamed sheet by heat bonding.
It has been found that the composite sheet of the above Japanese publication is not fully satisfactory because the mechanical strengths thereof, such as bending strength, are not high. Further, the known composite sheet has a problem because, when a roll of the sheet is unwound and flattened with heating, roughness are formed so that the appearance and surface smoothness of the flattened sheet become no good. It has also been found that a mere selection of a specific viscosity average molecular weight for a polycarbonate skin film to be laminated on a polycarbonate resin foamed sheet by heat bonding is insufficient to obtain a composite sheet having satisfactory workability and moldability.
The present invention provides a composite sheet comprising a first, foamed polycarbonate resin layer and a second, non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer provided on at least one surface of said first layer and having a melt tension of at least 2.45 cN at 250xc2x0 C.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite sheet which has a foamed polycarbonate resin layer and a non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer and which has good moldability and processability.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a composite sheet of the above-mentioned type which can give a molded body having good surface appearance and good mechanical properties.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a composite sheet of the above-mentioned type which can be bent without forming cracks or breakage.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a composite sheet of the above-mentioned type which can be processed into flat boards without causing problems, such as formation of roughness, when a rolled sheet is unwound and flattened with heating.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention to follow.
A composite sheet according to the present invention comprises a first, foamed polycarbonate resin layer containing generally at least 50% by weight, preferably at least 80% by weight, more preferably at least 90% by weight, of a polycarbonate resin and a second, non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer provided on at least one surface of the first layer and containing generally at least 50% by weight, preferably at least 70% by weight, more preferably at least 90% by weight, of a polycarbonate resin.
The foamed polycarbonate resin layer may be generally prepared by an extrusion molding method which includes the following steps:
Step (a): A polycarbonate resin and, if desired, additives such as a cell nucleating agent, are heated, melted and kneaded in an extruder;
Step (b): The kneaded resin in the extruder is mixed with a blowing agent;
Step (c): The kneaded mixture is extruded through a circular die or a flat die provided at the tip of the extruder into an environment having a lower pressure than that in the extruder, so that the extrudate starts foaming.
Step (d1): The extrudate from the circular die is received around a cylindrical cooling device and is then cut along the longitudinal direction (extrusion direction) to obtain a foamed sheet;
Step (d2): The extrudate from the flat die is cooled by, for example, passing between cooling rolls to obtain a foamed sheet; and
Step (e): If desired, the foamed sheet obtained in step (d1) or (d2) is passed through a heating zone and the soften sheet is drawn in the longitudinal (extrusion) direction or in both longitudinal and lateral directions.
The polycarbonate resin is a polyester of carbonic acid with a glycol or a bisphenol. An aromatic polycarbonate having diphenyl alkanes in its molecular chain is suitably used for the purpose of the present invention because of its good heat resistance, cool resistance, weatherability and acid resistance. Illustrative of suitable polycarbonate resins are aromatic polycarbonate resins obtained from a bisphenol, such as 2,2-bis(4-oxyphenyl)propane (bisphenol A), 2,2-bis(4-oxyphenyl)butane, 1,1-bis(4-oxyphenyl)cyclohexane, 1,1-bis(4-oxyphenyl)butane, 1,1-bis(4-oxyphenyl)isobutane and 1,1-bis(4-oxyphenyl)ethane. A mixture of two or more different polycarbonate resins may be used, if desired. The polycarbonate resin has a viscosity average molecular weight of preferably at least 25000, more preferably at least 28,000, most preferably at least 30,000, for reasons of satisfactory mechanical strengths. The upper limit of the viscosity average molecular weight is generally about 70,000.
The polycarbonate resin may be mixed with one or more other resins, rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers in an amount of less than 50% by weight of the polycarbonate foamed layer for the purpose of imparting various desired physical properties, such as resistance to alkali, still more resistance to heat, still more resistance to cool and resistance to hot water, to the foamed resin layer. Such other resins and elastomers may be, for example, polystyrene resins, polyethylene resins, polypropylene resins, polycaprolactone, methacrylic resins, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, acrylontrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers, methacrylic acid-butadiene-styrene copolymers, styrene-maleic acid copolymers, styrene-acrylic acid copolymers, styrene-acrylic acid ester-styrene block copolymers, styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymers and styrene-ethylene-propylene-styrene block copolymers. A compatibility improving agent may be used, if necessary, when a resin used is not compatible with the polycarbonate resin.
As the blowing agent, there may be used an inorganic blowing agent, a volatile blowing agent or a decomposition-type blowing agent. For reasons of attaining a higher expansion ratio by extrusion foaming, it is preferable to use a volatile organic blowing agent such as a lower aliphatic hydrocarbon, a lower alicyclic hydrocarbon, an aliphatic alcohol or a halogenated hydrocarbon. Illustrative of inorganic blowing agents are carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas and air. Illustrative of aliphatic hydrocarbons are propane, n-butane, i-butane, n-pentane, i-pentane and hexane. Illustrative of alicyclic hydrocarbons are cyclobutane, cyclopentane and cyclohexane. Illustrative of aliphatic alcohols are methanol, ethanol and propanol. Illustrative of halogenated hydrocarbons are 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane, pentafluoroethane, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane and 1,1-difluoroethane. The above blowing agents may be used singly or in combination of two or more thereof. It is also possible to use different types of blowing agents, such as together. A decomposition-type blowing agent may be also used in conjunction with an inorganic blowing agent and/or a volatile blowing agent, for the purpose of adjusting the cell size of the foamed layer.
The amount of the blowing agent varies with the kind thereof and intended expansion ratio. In the latter case, since the density of the foamed body depends upon the expansion ratio, the amount of the blowing agent is determined by the desired density of the foamed body. For reasons of suitable mechanical strengths, heat insulating properties and weight, the foamed polycarbonate layer generally has a density of 0.03-0.6 g/cm3, preferably 0.06-0.24 g/cm3. Thus, the blowing agent may be used in an amount providing such a density. For example, a volatile blowing agent such as butane is used in an amount of 0.5-10 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the resin so that the foamed body has a preferred density of 0.06-0.24 g/cm3. An inorganic blowing agent such as carbon dioxide is used in an amount of 0.2-3 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the resin so that the foamed body has a preferred density of 0.06-0.24 g/cm3.
A cell nucleating agent in the form of fine powder, such as an inorganic substance (e.g. silica or talc), an acidic salt of a polyhydric carboxylic acid or a mixture of a polyhydric carboxylic acid with sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate, may be suitably incorporated in the melt containing the resin and blowing agent. The fine particles of the nucleating agent serve as nuclei of cells to facilitate the formation of fine cells. The nucleating agent is generally used in an amount of 0.01-5 parts by weight, preferably 0.05-0.5 part by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the resin.
The foamed polycarbonate resin layer generally has a thickness of 0.5-15 mm. In the case of a flexible composite sheet like a thermofoaming sheet, the foamed layer preferably has a thickness of 0.7-5 mm. In the case of a non-flexible composite sheet like a board, the foamed layer preferably has a thickness of 2-10 mm.
The non-foamed polycarbonate layer laminated on at least one side of the foamed polycarbonate layer is made of a polycarbonate resin and, if desired, one or more other resins or elastomers. The polycarbonate resin and optionally used other resins or elastomers may be those described above with reference to the foamed polycarbonate layer. It is important that the non-foamed polycarbonate layer should have a melt tension at 250xc2x0 C. of at least 2.45 cN, preferably at least 6.37 cN, more preferably at least 7.84 cN. The upper limit of the melt tension is generally 30 cN.
When the melt tension of the non-foamed polycarbonate layer is less than 2.45, appearance and moldability in thermoforming of the resulting composite sheet is unsatisfactory. A melt tension of the non-foamed layer of at least 6.37 cN is particularly preferred because the resulting composite sheet exhibits excellent bendability, excellent appearance and permits thermoforming at a high temperature without causing breakage of cells even when the sheet is thick.
It is preferred that the polycarbonate resin contained in the non-foamed polycarbonate layer have a viscosity average molecular weight of 20,000-70,000, more preferably 23,000-50,000, most preferably 28,000-40,000.
It is also preferred that the polycarbonate resin contained in the non-foamed polycarbonate layer have a melt tension at 250xc2x0 C. of at least 2.45 cN, preferably at least 6.37 cN, more preferably at least 7.84 cN, with the upper limit of the melt tension being generally 30 cN. A polycarbonate resin having such a melt tension range can be obtained by increasing the molecular weight thereof and/or by introducing branched chains in the molecular chain thereof. Control of the structure, length, number of the branched chains is also effective in obtaining a polycarbonate resin having a desired melt tension. Examples of polycarbonate resins particularly suitable for forming the non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer include xe2x80x9cIUPILON E1000xe2x80x9d (manufactured by Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics; Viscosity average molecular weight: 32,000; Melt tension: 6.27 cN at 2500xc2x0 C.), xe2x80x9cIUPILON E2000xe2x80x9d manufactured by Mitsubishi Engineering Plastics; Viscosity average molecular weight: 29,000; Melt tension: 2.55 cN at 250xc2x0 C.) and xe2x80x9cIB2500xe2x80x9d (manufactured by Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd.; Viscosity average molecular weight: 29,000; Melt tension: 14.21 cN at 250xc2x0 C.).
In the present specification, the melt tension is measured using a Melt Tension Tester II Model manufactured by Toyo Seiki Seisakusho, Ltd. having a construction as specified in ASTM D 1238. The tester has a cylinder provided with a heater for maintaining a resin sample in a molten state at a predetermined temperature of 250xc2x0 C. The cylinder is also provided with a vertically downwardly oriented orifice having an inside diameter of 2.095 mm and a length of 8 mm at the bottom thereof. The cylinder has a piston operable at a speed of 10 mm/min to extrude the melt downward through the orifice to an atmosphere maintained at 23xc2x0 C. The extrudate in the form of a string or filament solidifies as it moves downward. The extrudate is passed through a tension-detecting pulley (diameter: 45 mm, distance between the orifice and center of the pulley: 250 mm), guided by guide rollers to make a 180 degree wrap angle around the pulley and then wound up around a take-up roller at a constant speed of 10 m/min. The tension at this time is detected by means of a load cell connected to the pulley and recorded by means of a recorder to determine an amplitude of variation of melt tension. The melt tension is a median value of the amplitude at a stable amplitude portion. Extraordinary variations sometimes occurring in the recorded amplitude are ignored.
The viscosity average molecular weight is determined from a limiting viscosity according to the Schnell""s formula:
[xcex7]=1.23xc3x9710xe2x88x924xc3x97M0.83
wherein [xcex7] represents the limiting viscosity and M represents the viscosity average molecular weight. The limiting viscosity [xcex7] is determined as follows. A sample is dissolved in methylene chloride at 20xc2x0 C. to obtain solutions having varying concentrations C (g/100 cm3) Specific viscosity xcex7sp of each solution is measured using Ostwald viscometer. When the sample contains an insoluble matter as in a case of a mixture of a polycarbonate resin with a polyethylene resin, the insoluble matter is removed by filtration and the filtrate is measured for the specific viscosity. xcex7sp/C is then plotted against C. From the graph the limiting viscosity [xcex7] is determined as follows.
[xcex7]=limxcex7sp/C
Cxe2x86x920
The non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer may be in the form of a non-stretched film or a monoaxially or biaxially stretched film. For reasons of moldability, the use of a monoaxially or biaxially stretched film is preferred. The lamination of the non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer on the foamed polycarbonate resin layer may be carried out by coextrusion of a melt of a foamable polycarbonate resin and a melt of a non-foamable polycarbonate resin, by extrusion of a melt of a non-foamable polycarbonate resin over a previously prepared foamed polycarbonate resin sheet, by heat bonding of a non-foamed polycarbonate resin film with a foamed polycarbonate resin sheet, or by bonding of a non-foamed polycarbonate resin film and a foamed polycarbonate resin sheet with an adhesive.
The non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer generally has a thickness of 10-1500 xcexcm. In the case of a flexible composite sheet, the non-foamed layer preferably has a thickness of 20-200 xcexcm. In the case of a non-flexible composite sheet, the non-foamed layer preferably has a thickness of 50-500 xcexcm.
It is preferred that the composite sheet be prepared by coextrusion of non-foamable and foamable layers or by extrusion of a non-foamable layer on a foamed sheet. In these cases, the thickness of the non-foamed resin layer is preferably 20-500 xcexcm, more preferably 50-200 xcexcm for reasons of freedom of pin holes, satisfactory flexibility and uniformity of thickness. A total thickness of the composite sheet obtained using extrusion technique is preferably 0.5-15 mm for reasons of satisfactory mechanical strengths and moldability.
The composite sheet according to the present invention generally shows thermal shrinkage of at least 6% in both longitudinal direction (process direction or extrusion direction) and lateral direction, preferably at least 8% in both directions, most preferably at least 8% in one of the longitudinal and lateral directions and at least 10% in the other direction, for reasons of satisfactory surface smoothness, processability and appearance.
In the foamed layer or layers and/or non-foamed layer of the composite sheet, one or more additives, such as a filler, a flame retardant, a heat stabilizer, a weatherability improving agent and a coloring agent, may be incorporated, if desired. Illustrative of suitable inorganic fillers are hydroxides such as aluminum hydroxide, calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide; carbonates such as calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and barium carbonate; sulfites such as calcium sulfite and magnesium sulfite; sulfates such as calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate and aluminum sulfate; oxides such as calxium oxide, aluminum oxide and silicon oxide; and clay or minerals such as talc, clay, montmorillonite, kaolin and zeolite. Such an inorganic filler may be used in an amount of 5-30% by weight of the resin layer. The non-foamed polycarbonate layer may be in the form of a nanocomposite of the polycarbonate resin and the above inorganic filler.
The composite sheet according to the present invention has good appearance, mechanical strengths, moldability and processability such as in thermoforming, bending, cutting, punching and folding works.
In particular, the composite sheet has advantageous properties such as light-weight, rigidity, heat resistance, cool resistance, toughness and shock resistance and is suited as raw materials for the production of heat-resisting receptacles, low temperature shock absorbers, cone loudspeakers, panels as substitute for plywood.
The following examples will further illustrate the present invention.
In the present specification, melt viscosity is determined as follows:
As a melt viscosity measuring device, RHEOVIS2100 manufactured by CEAST Corporation is used. A melt of a sample resin is extruded through an orifice (orifice inside diameter: 1.0 mm; orifice length: 10 mm) mounted on a tip of the device at a resin temperature of 250xc2x0 C. and at a rate of shear of 100 secxe2x88x921 to measure the melt viscosity.
In the following examples, shrinkage, surface appearance and bendability are determined by the following methods.
Shrinkage:
From a longitudinally extruded composite sheet, 10 square samples, each having a length along the longitudinal direction of 100 mm and a length along the lateral direction of 100 mm, are cut out as follows. Five samples are obtained along a longitudinal centerline of the composite sheet, such that the centerline of each sample coincides with the centerline of the composite sheet. Another five samples are obtained along an arbitrarily selected lateral line perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline. Thus, a part of the composite sheet including the lateral line is longitudinally divided into five sections having the same width. From each section, one sample is obtained along a centerline of the divided sheet, such that the centerline of the sample coincides with the centerline of the divided composite sheet.
The thus obtained 10 samples are subjected to shrinkage test. Each sample is heated for 60 seconds in an oven maintained at 180xc2x0 C. and then allowed to stand at 25xc2x0 C. for 60 minutes. The shrinkage of each sample is calculated according to the formula shown below and an average of the measured values for the 10 samples represents the shrinkage of the composite sheet.
RL=[(BLxe2x88x92AL)/BL]xc3x97100 (%)
RL: Shrinkage of the sample sheet in the longitudinal direction
AL: Length of the longitudinal centerline of the sample after the heat treatment
BL: Length of the centerline before the heat treatment (i.e. 100 mm)
RW=[(BWxe2x88x92AW)/BW]xc3x97100 (%)
RW: Shrinkage of the sample sheet in the lateral direction
AW: Length of the lateral centerline of the sample after the heat treatment
BW: Length of the centerline before the heat treatment (i.e. 100 mm)
Appearance:
Appearance of composite sheets is observed with naked eyes and evaluated according to the following ratings:
A: surface is smooth
B: surface is rugged and/or wrinkled
Moldability:
A composite sheet is vacuum molded with heating in a mold into a cone loudspeaker having diameters of 200 mm and 50 mm at both ends and a length (depth) of 45 mm. The thermoforming is carried out with a molding machine (Type EF-36 manufactured by Sanwa Kogyo Co., Ltd.) having an upper heater section of 200 Vxc3x9712 KW (40 heaters of 300 W) with an output 40% and a lower heater section of 200 Vxc3x974.8 KW (6 heaters of 800 W) with an output 60%. The above heating system has a low heater output for the purpose of homogeneously heating the composite sheet throughout its thickness. The heating time is a minimum time sufficient for completing the molding. Surface appearance of the thus obtained molding is observed with naked eyes and evaluated according to the following ratings:
A: no changes
B: slight surface roughness
C: significant roughness and breakage of cells
Bendability:
From a longitudinally extruded composite sheet, 10 square samples, each having a length along the longitudinal direction of 100 mm and a length along the lateral direction of 100 mm, are cut out in the same manner as that in the above shrinkage test. The 10 samples are grouped into halves. Each sample of one group is longitudinally folded along the longitudinal centerline, while each sample of the other group is laterally folded along the lateral centerline. The ridge of the folded sample is observed with naked eyes for the evaluation of bendability according to the following ratings:
A: No cracks are formed in any of the 10 samples when the folding operation is repeated thrice
B: Slight cracks are formed in 1-3 samples when the folding operation is repeated twice or thrice
C: Cracks are formed in 5 or more samples when the folding operation is performed once.

Composite sheet having foamed polycarbonate resin layer and non-foamed polycarbonate resin layer


Provided are an apparatus and method of compressing spatial data and an apparatus and method of restoring compressed spatial data, the method of compressing spatial data including: determining the size of actual data of the spatial data stored in a unit storage space having a predetermined size; selecting the size of a compression storage space in which the spatial data is to be compressed and to be stored, in consideration of the determined size of the actual data of the spatial data; generating flag information considering the size of the actual data of the spatial data; and storing the generated flag information in a predetermined region of the compression storage space having the selected size and storing the actual data of the spatial data in the other regions of the compression storage space.

Spatial data is data that represents coordinates of a particular position of a map. The spatial data is generally established as a database and is used for various services.
However, the spatial data includes complicated coordinates indicated on the map and thus has a very large capacity compared to general relation type data.
A system that analyzes and processed spatial data and uses the spatial data in a topography-related field, such as traffic or communication is referred to as a geographic information system (GIS). Various services provided by the GIS are referred to as GIS services. Due to the above-described characteristics of the spatial data, there are many limitations in providing the GIS services in an environment in which resources are limited.
For example, when the GIS operates in the environment in which resources are limited, the whole spatial data cannot be used an should be partially used.
In this way, as a problem occurs in processing large-capacity spatial data, contents of the GIS services should be simplified. This causes lowering of the quality of the GIS services to be provided to customers.
In particular, since the consumption rate of resources is too large to process the large-capacity spatial data in a mobile terminal in which a computing resource environment is inadequate, various GIS services cannot be properly handled, and there are many limitations in configuring the GIS services.

Apparatus and method of compressing spatial data and apparatus and method of restoring compressed spatial data


To provide a highly accurate sentence segmentation process in natural language processing by estimating parts of speech of words in text to be processed. Dictionary data is used to perform a sentence segmentation process on a text to be processed. If it cannot be determined through a user of the dictionary data whether the text should be broken into sentences, the parts of speech of words constituting the text are estimated and a further sentence segmentation process is performed based on the result of the estimation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to natural language analysis performed in areas such as machine translation, and, in particular, to a process for breaking text into sentences.
2. Description of the Related Art
The first process to be performed in natural language processing in a field such as machine translation is to break text into sentences. Sentence segmentation is a process for breaking text in a natural language to be processed into sentences. The individual sentence resulting from this sentence segmentation process is used as a unit to perform a desired process such as translation. If text is broken at an improper point, the desired process such as translation cannot properly be accomplished. In machine translation, a long source sentence may explosively increase the amount of data to be processed. If text that should be broken into two sentences is not broken, much time can be required for analyzing the sentence, which may result in a failure of the analysis.
In order to break text at a proper point, it is desirable that erroneous sentence segmentation be corrected based on understanding of the meaning of the text while the desired process such as translation is being performed. However, such correction cannot be made in today's level of natural language processing technology. Therefore, it is required that accurate sentence segmentation be performed in the initial stage.
If the processed language is English, sentences have periods at their ends and, as a general rule, text can be broken into sentences based on whether there is a period or not. However, a period may also be used as an abbreviation marker, in addition to the marker of the end of a sentence, and therefore, text may contain a word with a period (hereinafter called "period word(s)"), such as "U.S.". Consequently, it is not always a simple work to determine whether text can be broken into sentences.
Such a sentence segmentation procedure for English text according to prior art will be described below. Simple English text that contains no period words can be broken into sentences simply based on whether a word following a single period is capitalized. For example, consider the following text: "I have a pen. You have a book." Because "pen." cannot be a period word, the period following "pen" can be considered a single period indicating a sentence end. In addition, the word, "you", following it is capitalized. Therefore, the text is broken by this period.
Some period words, such as "Mr.", cannot appear at sentence ends. Other period words, such as "U.S.", can appear at sentence ends or at any midpoints of a sentence. These period words cannot be used as markers for determining sentence boundaries. Period words such as "Mr." that cannot appear at sentence ends are stored in a dictionary as data. The dictionary is referenced in a sentence segmentation process such that text is not broken immediately after such a word. On the other hand, a word such as "U.S." that cannot be used as a marker for determining a sentence boundary is not stored by itself, unlike words such as "Mr.". Instead, a word string, "U.S. President", for example, containing that word is stored in the dictionary. If a word string containing "U.S." used in text is not stored in the dictionary, the text is broken immediately after "U.S.". On the other hand, if the word string containing "U.S." is stored in the dictionary, the text is not broken immediately after "U.S.".
As described above, natural language analysis requires a highly accurate sentence segmentation in its preliminary stage. It is important that text that should be broken into two sentences be separated without fail and the possibility of breaking text that should be considered a single sentence into two sentences should be minimized.
If text to be processed is English text, how periods are treated is important in sentence segmentation. According to prior art, period words that cannot appear at sentence ends are stored in a dictionary and if a period in text is a part of a period word stored in the dictionary, the text is not broken by that period.
However, because the prior art provides no other criteria for making the determination, text containing a period word that can appear at both of any midpoints and the end of a sentence is mechanically broken by the period. Thus, there is a limit to improvement in the accuracy of the sentence segmentation in the prior art.
In addition, according to the prior art, word strings containing a word, such as "U.S." that does not indicate whether text should be broken immediately after it are stored in the dictionary and whether text should be broken is determined based on whether a word string containing the word in the text is stored in the dictionary. However, some passages of text should be broken immediately after a word string and others should not be broken immediately after that same word. Therefore, mechanical break determination may result in erroneous sentence segmentation. For example, the above-mentioned word string "U.S. President", which is seldom broken immediately after "U.S.", should be broken immediately after "U.S." in the following text in order to properly analyze the text: "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi went to U.S. President Bush welcomed him." In this case, there is the possibility that the text cannot be properly broken as to the case whether or not the word string "U.S. President" is stored in the dictionary.

Sentence segmentation method and sentence segmentation apparatus, machine translation system, and program product using sentence segmentation method

International Business Machines Corporation


An air operated double diaphragm pump is provided with an air valve assembly which allows the valve cup to move in a rectangular pattern.

Air operated double diaphragm pumps have been a popular product for many years and are widely used for the transfer of fluids and other uses. Such pumps are manufactured by a variety of producers using a number of different designs. While a variety of such designs have proven successful in the marketplace, it is always desirable to be able to reduce the manufacturing cost of such products and in general that often means reducing the parts count involved in such a product.

Double diaphragm pump with air valve block moving in a rectangular pattern


An electricity charging system includes: a charger portion that charges a storage battery; a detection portion that detects an amount of charge stored in the storage battery; and a control portion that controls electric power that is supplied to charge the storage battery by the charger portion so that the electric power changes by a predetermined rule, according to the amount of stored electricity detected by the detection portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electricity charging system and, more particularly, to an electricity charging system that clearly shows information regarding the amount of stored electricity of a storage battery that is being charged.
2. Description of Related Art
When a storage battery is being charged, information that is important to a user of the storage battery is information regarding how long it is before the charging ends, information regarding how much electricity has been stored at the present time point, etc.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-242574 (JP-A-03-242574) discloses a technology that displays an amount of electricity remaining in the storage battery by using as an index the amount of electricity stored into the storage battery per unit time from an empty state to a fully charged state.
Besides, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-319563 (JP-A-2003-319563) discloses an electronic appliance that changes the charging mode during the charging of a battery pack or stops the charging by transmitting, by communication, information regarding charging electricity between the battery pack and an electronic appliance that has an electrical charging function.
However, in the foregoing technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-242574 (JP-A-03-242574), since the amount of electricity stored per unit time is used as an index, there is a problem of the index being unable to show whether the storage battery is relatively close to the empty state or relatively close to the fully charged state.
In the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-319563 (JP-A-2003-319563), a facility for communicating information is needed in addition to the facility for sending electric power from the charging side to the storage battery. For the communication, compatible communication protocols need to be adopted at the charging side and the storage battery side, so that the compatibility with other types of charging appliances is lost. Besides, in the case where the charging side is provided as a facility that is installed in a building and the storage battery is mounted in a vehicle, there is a possibility of the facility for the communication being wasted by the vehicle user's replacement purchase.
In any case, the foregoing technologies have a problem of requiring the two sides to have communication facilities for exchanging information regarding the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery.


A semiconductor memory apparatus includes a bank; a temperature sensor configured to generate a temperature voltage of which voltage level is changed according to a temperature variation of the bank; and a timing control block configured to control a timing of a signal to be inputted to the bank, according to the voltage level of the temperature voltage.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory apparatus.
2. Related Art
A semiconductor memory apparatus is configured to store inputted data and output stored data. In a semiconductor memory apparatus, regions where data are stored are referred to as banks. A semiconductor memory apparatus is configured to include a plurality of banks.
A semiconductor memory apparatus is constituted by a large number of transistors, and a bank is constituted by transistors as well. The transistors react sensitively to a temperature variation. For example, the threshold voltage of a transistor rises as a temperature rises, and the threshold voltage of a transistor falls as a temperature falls.
A voltage level required to turn on a transistor rises as the threshold voltage of the transistor rises, and a voltage level required to turn on a transistor falls as the threshold voltage of the transistor falls.
Therefore, since a voltage level to turn on a transistor rises as a temperature rises, a turn-on timing of the transistor becomes late, and, since a voltage level to turn on a transistor falls as a temperature falls, a turn-on timing of the transistor becomes early.
If turn-on timings of transistors change according a temperature, the response characteristics of a semiconductor memory apparatus constituted by transistors change as well.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional semiconductor memory apparatus includes first to fourth banks 10 to 40, and a signal transfer block 50.
The first bank 10 operates in response to a first command signal CMD_1.
The second bank 20 operates in response to a second command signal CMD_2.
The third bank 30 operates in response to a third command signal CMD_3.
The fourth bank 40 operates in response to a fourth command signal CMD_4.
The signal transfer block 50 outputs an internal command signal CMD_internal as one signal of the first to fourth command signals CMD_1 to CMD_4 in response to first and second bank select signals BANK_sel<0:1>. For example, the signal transfer block 50 outputs the internal command signal CMD_internal as the first command signal CMD_1 in the case where both the first and second bank select signals BANK_sel<0:1> are low levels. The signal transfer block 50 outputs the internal command signal CMD_internal as the second command signal CMD_2 in the case where the first bank select signal BANK_sel<0> is a high level and the second bank select signal BANK_sel<1> is the low level. The signal transfer block 50 outputs the internal command signal CMD_internal as the third command signal CMD_3 in the case where the first bank select signal BANK_sel<0> is the low level and the second bank select signal BANK_sel<1> is a high low level. The signal transfer block 50 outputs the internal command signal CMD_internal as the fourth command signal CMD_4 in the case where both the first and second bank select signals BANK_sel<0:1> are the high levels.
If the internal command signal CMD_internal is an active signal, one bank of the first to fourth banks 10 to 40 is activated. Also, if the internal command signal CMD_internal is a read signal or a write signal, one bank of the first to fourth banks 10 to 40 performs a read operation or a write operation.
Each of the first to fourth banks 10 to 40 may perform an operation according to the internal command signal CMD_internal. The temperature of a bank which operates more may be higher than the temperature of a bank which operates less.
If the temperatures of the respective banks vary, since the responding speeds of the respective banks change, the operation timings of the respective banks change, and thus, signals cannot help but be inputted to and outputted from the respective banks at different timings.
Therefore, if the output timings of the signals outputted from the respective banks change, a signal mismatch may occur in internal circuits, and this phenomenon may cause a mis-operation of a semiconductor memory apparatus.


A compound represented by the following general formula (1).R3—(X)x-(A)a-(Y)y—(B)b—(Z)z—R12  (1)(A, B, X, Y, and Z represent the following general formulae, and CH on a phenylene ring of each of X, Y, and Z may be replaced with an N atom. a, b, x, y, and z each independently represent an integer of 0 to 5, and a≧1, y≧1, and a+b≧2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting device using an organic compound, and more particularly to a novel compound having a specific molecular structure and an organic electroluminescence (EL) device using the same.
2. Related Background Art
In an old example of an organic light emitting device, a voltage is applied to an anthracene evaporated film to emit light (Thin Solid Films, 94 (1982), 171). However, in recent years, applied research including material development has been vigorously made for making a light emitting device which can easily have an increased area as compared to an inorganic light emitting device, which can provide desired color development owing to development of various new materials, which has, for example, an advantage in that it can be driven at a low voltage, and which has high speed responsiveness and high efficiency.
For example, as detailed in Macromol. Symp. 125, 1 to 48 (1997), an organic EL device is generally structured to have two (upper and lower) electrodes formed on a transparent substrate and an organic substance layer including a light emission layer formed between the electrodes.
In addition, investigation has been recently made into a device using not only light emission utilizing fluorescence upon transition from a singlet exciton to a ground state but also phosphorescence emission via a triplet exciton typified by Improved energy transfer in electrophosphorescent device (D. F. O'Brien et al, Applied Physics Letters Vol 74, No 3, p 442 (1999)) and Very high-efficiency green organic light emitting devices based on electrophosphorescence (M. A. Baldo et al, Applied Physics Letters Vol 75, No 1, p 4 (1999)). In each of those documents, an organic layer having a four-layer structure is mainly used. The structure is composed of a hole transport layer, a light emission layer, an exciton diffusion prevention layer, and an electron transport layer from an anode side. The materials used are carrier transport materials and a phosphorescence emission compound Ir(ppy)3 shown below.

In addition, light emission from ultraviolet to infrared can be performed by changing the kind of a fluorescent organic compound. In these days, research has been actively made on various compounds.
In addition to organic light emitting devices using such low-molecular materials as those described above, a group of the University of Cambridge has reported organic light emitting devices using conjugate polymers (Nature, 347, 539 (1990)). This report has confirmed that light emission can be obtained by a single layer by forming polyphenylene vinylene (PPV) into a film according to a coating system.
As described above, recent progress of an organic light emitting device is remarkable, and is characterized in that a high responsive, thin, and lightweight light emitting device that can be driven at a low applied voltage and provides high luminance and a variety of luminous wavelengths can be made. Therefore, the progress proposes the potential of the organic light emitting device to find use in a wide variety of applications.
However, at present, an optical output having higher luminance, or higher conversion efficiency has been required. In addition, there still remain a large number of problems in terms of durability such as a change with time due to long-term use and deterioration due to an atmospheric gas containing oxygen or to moisture. Furthermore, light emission of blue, green, or red having a good color purity is necessary when application to a full-color display or the like is attempted. However, those problems have not been sufficiently solved yet.
In addition, a large number of aromatic compounds and condensed polycyclic aromatic compounds have been studied as fluorescent organic compounds used for an electron transport layer, a light emission layer, and the like. However, it is hard to say that a compound sufficiently satisfying light emission luminance and durability has been already obtained.
Examples of a patent document describing application of a fluorene compound relating to the present invention to an organic EL include Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-43349, International Publication No. WO 99/54385, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-229273. However, none of the patent documents discloses an organic compound of the present invention characterized by including a partial structure containing a fluorene ring and a phenylene ring on a straight line in a molecular structural formula. In addition, a fluorene compound has been reported as application to laser coloring matter (Journal of Fluorescence, Vol. 5, No. 3, 295 (1995)).
An organic EL device must have an optical output of high efficiency and high luminance and sufficiently secure high durability when the device is to be applied to a display device such as a display. However, such an optical output and high durability have not been sufficiently achieved.

Compound and organic electroluminescense device using the same

Abstract: (R1 to R14 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, or a linear or branched alkyl group.)). The compound can be suitably used as a compound for an organic EL device.