An instrument panel for a motor vehicle comprises structural parts that, with the exception of the space required for the components of an air temperature conditioning system including at least one of a heater and an air conditioner, virtually completely fill the interior of the instrument panel. The structural parts are shaped to form air duct.

The present invention relates to an instrument panel for a motor vehicle. Eurpean Patent 0 185 856 B1 discloses an instrument panel for a motor vehicle, having two structural parts which each have integrally formed walls for receiving components of an air-conditioning or heating system. The disadvantage with this known instrument panel is that, in order to receive an air-conditioning or heating system, it is necessary to integrally form an appropriate air-conditioning-system housing or heating-system housing on one of the structural parts. The walls required for forming these housings are of relatively thin design and complex assembly.


The present invention involves a method of securing an exercise device having an elongated base member with a linear track on a topside of the elongated base member to conventional exercise machine in order to exercise multiple muscle groups at once. A slidable body moves within the one or more linear tracks of the exercise device. The slidable body is attached to a pole to be gripped while exercising.

The present invention relates to exercise equipment. In particular, the present invention relates to portable exercise equipment having user-defined variable resistance and substantially momentum free workout via one or more resistance poles or ropes attached tangentially to an elongated base member, the portable exercise equipment adaptable for use in conjunction with other exercise machines.
The popularity of personal exercise equipment has grown in the past decade at a feverish pace. As individuals' lives have become busier and more demanding, there is less time to spend going to the gym and completing a full, recommended exercise regiment. As such, more individuals are looking for exercise equipment that is efficient, effective, safe, and easy to store in their homes.
Numerous types of personal exercise equipment have been put forth, ranging from elaborate universal workout apparatuses to simple step boxes and dumbbells. Several of these personal exercise devices are portable, and others are stationary. The vast majority, however, are designed for a limited number of effective exercises.
Those known personal exercise devices designed for more effective body strength training, flexibility, cardiovascular health, or a combination thereof, typically involve various mechanical moving parts that may require regular maintenance and costly repairs if damaged. See, for example, Pilates' "Reformer."
Further, typical personal exercise equipment relating to strength training, flexibility, cardiovascular health, or combinations thereof, include a resistance based on weights or tension cords. Resistance based on weights obviously dramatically increases the heaviness of the overall equipment, thereby limiting movement and storage. Tension cords may stretch beyond effective use over time, thereby altering the actual exercise to be performed, and eventually require costly replacement of tension cords.
Typically, exercise machines and devices are designed and built to provide training to a specific set of muscles. However, the present exercise device may be used in conjunction with other exercise machines to increase the range of muscle groups that can be trained at the same time on other exercise machines.
Thus, what is desired is a cost effective, portable exercise apparatus used in conjunction with other exercise machines in order to efficiently and effectively provide strength, flexibility and cardiovascular training to an increased range of muscles than the exercise machine would do alone.


The present disclosure provides improved nucleic acid sequencing-by-synthesis (SBS) methods, related kits and reagents, and systems for performing such methods using such kits and reagents.

DNA sequencing is a key technology in genomics research, and is becoming more important in drug discovery and medicine. Accurate, high-throughput, low cost DNA sequencing methods are thus required. The Human Genome Project, which resulted in sequencing the first human genome in 2001, took 15 years and $3 billion to complete using electrophoresis-based sequencing technology.
Since then, a number of new automated DNA-sequencing technologies have been developed, including sequence-specific detection of single-stranded DNA using engineered nanopores and sequencing by ligation. More recently, DNA sequencing-by-synthesis (SBS) approaches have become prevalent, and are used for sequencing whole large (e.g., human, plant) and small (e.g., bacterial, viral) genomes, exomes, whole or partial transcriptomes, and targeted genes, as well as gene expression profiling, micro and small RNA analysis, DNA-protein interaction analysis, epigenetic (e.g., methylation) analysis, etc.
Today, SBS schemes based on fluorescence detection in a chip format represent the state of the art. In a typical SBS process, many millions to billions of DNA fragments are sequenced in a massively parallel fashion. For a given genome, this is accomplished by preparing a sequencing library through random fragmentation of a DNA or cDNA sample followed by 5′ and 3′ adapter ligation. PCR is then used to amplify the number of DNA molecules in the library, followed by purification. The library is then denatured and loaded into a flow cell where fragments are captured on a lawn of surface-bound oligonucleotides complementary to the library adapters. Each captured fragment is then amplified through isothermal bridge amplification into a distinct, clonal cluster containing 100's to 1000's of template DNA molecules of identical nucleotide sequence, with the flow cell containing millions to billions of such clusters. When cluster generation in the flow cell is complete, the templates in the clusters are ready for sequencing, and today, up to six trillion bases (terabases) can be sequenced in a single run. At each step of nucleotide base addition in an SBS cycle, DNA polymerase catalyzes the incorporation of fluorescently labeled, reversibly blocked deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate (dNTP) terminators into growing DNA strands. After the base incorporation step, the flow cell is imaged and the emission spectra from each cluster is recorded. The emission wavelength and intensity for each cluster are used to identify the particular base added in a given cycle. After imaging, the labels and reversible terminating moieties on the newly incorporated dNTPs are then cleaved, regenerating strands (i.e., extension products) that can then be extended in a subsequent SBS cycle. This cycle is repeated "n" times to create a read length of "n" bases for all of the clusters in the flow cell. After the desired number of SBS cycles is performed, the nucleotide sequences for the clusters (the nucleotide sequence of each cluster being a "read") are aligned to a reference sequence and assembled into a larger sequence using bioinformatics software. If desired, differences (if any) between the reference genome and the newly sequenced DNA sample can then be identified using bioinformatics software.
As the foregoing makes clear, conventional SBS approaches involve performing a number of steps in series for each SBS cycle. Today, each SBS cycle takes on the order of 5-30 minutes to perform, and run times of 4-30 hours are typical for analysis of reads containing 150 nucleotides. While this timing represents a tremendous advance, the need still exists for even shorter cycle and total run times. The present disclosure addresses this and other needs.

Nucleic acid sequencing-by-synthesis (SBS) methods that combine SBS cycle steps


A system correlates intellectual property analyses, for example, patent claim charts, with respect to analyzed intellectual property and a target product or other intellectual property. Analyses are stored to enable searching and/or creating reports over multiple analyses. Units of the analysis are associated with a context, inherited, e.g., from the intellectual property document's assignment to a relative role within organizational hierarchy; and associated with a context derived from the analysis itself. The analysis and respective documents and/or targets of the analysis can be searched/retrieved/analyzed from the hierarchical analysis, the context analysis, and/or the content of the analysis. This obviates the need to store each analysis as a separate document. The target or annotations may be visually represented by an item such as a thumbnail or hyperlink, and the system automatically associates the item with the appropriate application program.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to computer-related and/or assisted systems, methods and computer readable mediums for creating and optionally automating intellectual property analyses, e.g., claim charts; and sorting, organizing, reporting and/or providing analysis documents in connection with the analyses.
Description of the Related Art
Many corporations are focusing on their intellectual property assets as being quite valuable. Hence these companies strive to develop large intellectual property portfolios, and indeed spend time and money on these assets. There is a concomitant pressure to leverage and/or better manage these portfolios of intellectual property assets. As a result, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on better ways to analyze the value of a portfolio, better processes for managing the portfolio and better strategies for creating opportunities to extract value from the portfolio.
One of the many ways corporations analyze their intellectual property assets is by analyzing the validity of the intellectual property asset, or by comparing the intellectual property to their own products or products of another company. Preparation of the comparison or analysis, such as in a claim chart, is painstaking, though portions may be rote. Each individual analysis or comparison is discrete.
Perhaps because the individual analyses are discrete and painstaking, various attempts have been made to analyze the relevance of intellectual property documents as a group, or to automate portions of the analysis process. Some aspects of conventional systems are illustrated by way of example in FIG. 33, also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,656, Carter (expressly incorporated herein by reference). Carter provides an example illustration, in a table, of a rank -ordered output of correlating information related to an asset (e.g., infringement or invalidity references related to a patent) after performing a search. The displayed information 3301 includes a list of retrieved documents, such as potentially invalidating or infringing references 3305, a relevance ranking 3302, a user ranking 3304 and other optional information fields 3303. In this particular illustrative example, the target document input from the user is labeled Patent A. An ontology builder can parse the terminology within a target patent (or other document), determine relationships between terms in the document, and determine which terms in the document are more dominant than others. There is a high correlation of the target document to itself, thus, the first entry in the displayed information table 3305 is the target document Patent A. The relevance ranking for Patent A is 1.000, the highest correlation rank. The relevance ranking is a correlation indicator between a comparison of the ontology for the target document and an ontology created for the listed document. In addition to correlation, the user may rank the documents based or other criteria, such as company owner, date, perceived importance, or other factors. In the particular example, various technical papers, patents, data books, and other information sources such as news articles, SEC filings, data books of competitors web sites, IEEE industry standard documents, and the like are listed.
Another aspect of conventional systems is illustrated in FIG. 34, also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,561, Snyder et al. (expressly incorporated herein by reference), concerning analyzing and displaying information contained in multiple documents employing both term -based analysis and conceptual-representation analysis, for, e.g., analyzing patent texts, such as patent claims, abstracts and other portions of a patent document. Snyder illustrates the steps to produce an S-curve for analyzing documents from Company A verses documents from Company B. The process depicted in the flow chart 3401 begins with the generation of all scores (either term or concept) from a claim level data set A versus data set B analysis 3450. For example, the patents from Company A compared with the patents from Company B on a claim by claim basis. These scores are in the range of 0.0 to 1.0. Next, in step 3452, all claims are sequentially numbered such that the first claim from Company A is 1 and the last claim from Company B is n and all claims from A precede all claims from B. In step 3454, for each claim index I from Company A the closest claim from Company B is found, and the pair (I, S-1.0) where S is the similarity score of A compared with B is recorded. Next, in step 3456, for each claim index I from Company B the closest claim from company A is found, and the pair (I, 1.0-S) where S is the similarity score of A compared to B is recorded. Finally, in step 3458, all pairs are sorted in increasing order of second coordinate and displayed on a plot where the x-axis represents the claim index and the y-axis represents the claim score. The result is a plot in the form of an S -curve where the bottom part of the S represents claims unique to company A; the middle part represents claims with possible overlaps between the two companies, and the top part represents claims unique to Company B.
FIG. 35 illustrates other aspects of conventional systems, also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,833, Newman (expressly incorporated herein by reference). Newman is an example of syntactic and semantic analysis of patent text and drawings. Newman discloses a method for processing patent text 3501 in a computer, including identifying boundaries of parts of patent text 3502, selecting a section of the patent text 3503, loading at least one of the parts of the patent text into a working memory 3204, analyzing at least one of the parts of the patent text 3505, and reporting results 3506 to a user. Patent text sections generally include the title, the field of the invention, background of the invention, summary of the invention, brief description of the drawings, detailed description of the drawings (or preferred embodiments), claims, and the abstract of the invention. Identification of claim elements can be accomplished with a combined syntactic and semantic analysis of the claim wording. Alphanumeric drawing data can also be compared to patent text. Newman can loop through more sections 3508, selecting the next section 3509 until done 3507. Newman's invention can be coupled to work with a word processor program. Newman can recognize and report, e.g., claim dependency specific characteristics of patent text.
While these management and analysis techniques have resulted in more efficient use of attorney resources, and more targeted intellectual property filings and funding, relatively little has been done to take advantage of current computational technologies, the integration of data resources (largely through the Internet), and better knowledge-based software systems to handle aspects of intellectual property. As a result, no process or product exists for handling the full range of intellectual property functions in an automated manner.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the market for a comprehensive system that incorporates tools that will give the intellectual property professional the ability to work in all aspects of their practice area using automated, analysis tools to assist them in their practice.
Moreover, many corporations have a wide range of intellectual property assets, but no technique to make associations between assets. For example, a particular license may implicate several patents. Conventional systems do not support the association of the intellectual property assets, and they certainly do not support a memorialized explanation of the association. Even if a user is able to determine a few related intellectual property assets, the problem of determining associated intellectual property assets grows geometrically more complex with the number of intellectual property assets.
Accordingly, I have determined that the complexities affecting the analysis, use, accessing, researching, presenting, etc., of intellectual property and related information make it extremely difficult for a customer to integrate information in various scenarios. I have determined that a customer might want to create or provide an analysis of intellectual property (e.g., a patent claim chart, a trademark comparison chart, a copyright comparison chart, etc.) for multiple products, patents, and/or other intellectual property; and a customer that has, e.g., multiple analyses such as claim charts might be able to leverage an analysis of intellectual property coverage. A customer might desire to automate some or all of the process of creating a claim chart (or other infringement or comparison analysis), in particular as it relates to other intellectual property and/or other analyses. In addition, a customer might want to determine, e.g. which patents (or other intellectual property documents, including trademarks, copyrights, etc.) and/or analyses are implicated by and/or related to, for example, a particular component, a particular product, a particular technology, a license for a particular product, a company, a corporate division, a type of service, or other, perhaps company-specific, criteria. I have further determined that a customer might want to ascertain the intellectual property documents and analyses that are related on multiple levels, optionally including details relating to the relationships. There exists a profound need for such a method and/or system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Computer-implemented method and system for automated infringement and non-infringement claim charts with context associations


Embodiments of this application provide a channel configuration method. The method includes: determining, by a base station, a quantity of system flows based on a random access channel detection result; configuring, by the base station, an uplink channel and a downlink channel based on the quantity of system flows, where the uplink channel is a radio frequency channel used for uplink transmission, and the downlink channel is a radio frequency channel used for downlink transmission; and transmitting, by the base station, data based on the configured uplink channel and the configured downlink channel. Therefore, while system transmission performance is ensured, a communication requirement can be flexibly met, and system processing resources and transmission resources can be saved.

In a communications system, a massive multiple-input multiple-output (Massive MIMO) technology can support more independent spatial data flows by increasing a quantity of antennas on the basis of existing multiple antennas. This improves spectrum efficiency of a multiuser system by a plurality of times, and plays an important supporting role in meeting requirements on a system capability and a data transmission rate of the future communications system.
However, if N channels are configured on a base station side, a radio frequency part receives or sends data that is on the N channels, and a baseband part processes the data that is on the N channels. A quantity of channels cannot be reduced in real time based on an actual need. Even if some channels are damaged or cannot be used, the radio frequency part and the baseband part still receive or send and process the data that is on the N channels before the channels are replaced. Consequently, a system on the base station side is not flexible enough, and transmission resources cannot be properly allocated while ensuring system performance.

Channel configuration method and base station


A reaction wheel assembly (RWA) is constructed by placing the electronics on a base and installing on the base a cover that contains the reaction wheel rotor and motor. As the cover in placed over the base, a connector on the cover mates with a connector on the base. The base contains a retractable input plug which is retracted on the base as the cover is installed and then extended from the retracted position through an aperture in the cover and fastened in place. The cover contains filtered vent holes in a wall that separates the base and cover, and evacuation ports are provided on the base and cover to create a vacuum in the RWA to test the electronics.

Reaction wheels provide rotating momentum to position and orient orbiting spacecraft. These stabilizing devices contain a very large and heavy wheel and an electric motor to rotate the wheel at a selected speed through motor control electronics to achieve a desired momentum C force opposing spacecraft motion in one plane. A typical spacecraft can have three reaction wheels to stabilize the craft around three axes and provide for craft maneuvers by changing the speed of the wheels.
The motor and wheel are supported on bearings in a reaction wheel housing which must have sufficient strength and rigidity to support the considerable weight of the motor and wheel and the forces that are exerted by the wheel on the craft when the craft moves. The control and drive electronics are sometimes contained within the housing with associated power and control wiring routed and bundled inside the housing, making removal of the electronics difficult. The electronics need to be tested in an environment simulating space conditions, that is, in a vacuum, and this has meant that the electronics are tested in a vacuum chamber prior to insertion into the housing. To avoid damaging the electronics following such testing, the electronics are more often installed outside the wheel housing--rather than risk damaging the tested electronics from the manipulations required to install them inside a small compartment in the housing.


The invention relates to methods and apparatus for modifying the frequency characteristics of a spatially-dispersed mid-IR spectra for spectroscopy. In a preferred embodiment, sum frequency generation between a frequency-dispersed IR beam and an ultrafast optical pulse generates a spatially-extended optical signal that is collected with a CCD detector.

Time-resolved, infrared (IR) spectroscopy is an important tool in physical chemistry and condensed matter physics. It is also of use in trace gas detection and atmospheric chemistry. In particular, mid-IR vibrational resonances provide a method for probing of molecular structure that can be combined with time-resolved techniques to extract information on molecular dynamics.
Owing to interest in characterizing spectroscopic transients at multiple vibrational frequencies in femtosecond IR experiments, there has been a need for multichannel IR array detectors. However, these arrays are presently limited by their finite size (typically 32 to 128 elements in linear arrays), and by their high cost. Unlike CCD arrays, traditional IR arrays are also very sensitive to thermal blackbody radiation, making thermal isolation a prerequisite for imaging. Most mid-infrared detectors must be liquid nitrogen cooled to obtain adequate sensitivity. The use of inexpensive silicon charged-coupled-device (CCD) arrays could be advantageous, but the 1.1 micron bandgap of silicon has made CCD technology unable to directly detect mid-IR radiation.
The lack of suitable multi-channel IR detectors has caused researchers measuring transient absorption spectra in the mid IR (from 1000 to 4000 cm-1) to rely on, for example, scanning an independently tunable, narrowband, probe pulse or, alternatively, shifting a nanosecond broadband dye laser into the IR and then frequency-shifting it back into the visible for optical multichannel analyzer (OMA) detection.
However there continues to be a need for further improvements in infrared spectroscopy to more efficiently measure structures and/or dynamics of interest.

Method and apparatus for frequency-converting infrared light


A piston seal of a disc brake can stabilize the amount of rollback of a piston by reducing thermal expansion and a decrease in modulus of elasticity of the piston seal caused by an increase in temperature, thereby preventing a driver from feeling that the brake operation is unnatural. The piston seal is formed of a rubber composition in which at least 100 parts by weight or more of carbon black is added to 100 parts by weight of ethylene propylene rubber.

The present invention relates to a piston seal formed of a rubber composition, and a disc brake using the piston seal.
A piston seal is generally formed of a rubber composition containing rubber as an essential component. For example, a vehicular disc brake is equipped with a caliper body including a piston and a cylinder. A piston seal is provided in a ring-shaped groove formed in the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder. In the disc brake, brake pads are pressed against a disc rotor secured to each wheel by applying hydraulic pressure, and rotation of the wheel is stopped by friction force of the brake pads which are made of a friction material. The piston seal has a role of sealing brake fluid and a role of returning (rolling back) the piston which has been moved forward by applying hydraulic pressure. Applying hydraulic pressure moves forward the piston that has been inserted into a cylinder bore. This causes the brake pads to be pressed against the disc.
Specifically, the piston seal enables the cylinder and the piston inserted into the cylinder bore to fluid-tightly and movably come in contact with each other. The piston which has been moved forward by applying hydraulic pressure is rolled back by the piston seal (see Japanese Patent Publication No. H03-59291). Therefore, the piston seal is required to have toughness for securely sealing the brake fluid and elasticity for returning (rolling back) the piston which has been moved forward by applying hydraulic pressure.
The temperature of the caliper body of the disc brake increases during the operation due to frictional heat occurring between the disc rotor and the brake pads. Therefore, the piston seal is also subjected to high temperature. The piston seal formed of a rubber composition thermally expands at high temperature, and the modulus of elasticity of the piston seal decreases. In this case, the amount of rollback of the piston changes due to thermal expansion and a decrease in modulus of elasticity of the piston seal, whereby the allowance of the brake effects change. In a disc brake for a motorcycle, the amount of stroke of the brake lever changes, whereby the driver feels that the brake operation is unnatural.

Piston seal and disc brake using the piston seal


The disclosed computer-implemented method for preventing system level browser attacks through mobile applications may include (i) intercepting a message transmitted by a mobile application, wherein the message is based on data received by the mobile application, (ii) obtaining a universal resource locator (URL) from the message, (iii) obtaining reputation data using the URL, (iv) determining that the URL is for a malicious website based on the reputation data, and (v) in response to determining that the URL is for the malicious website, performing a security action to protect the computing device from system level browser attacks. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Users may interact with different applications on a computing device, such as a mobile device, for various reasons, such as checking e-mails, text messages, phone calls, browsing the Internet, and the like. In addition to their main functionality, some mobile applications may provide the ability to launch browser links from or through the mobile application. However, malware or ransomware may attempt to launch malicious links through external browsing applications from the mobile applications. Upon clicking such links in the mobile applications, the mobile applications may show browser or domain specific applications, depending on the link domain target. Some of these mobile applications may change their user interfaces to use custom views, inflated views, or web view-like alert windows to enable launching the provided links. Such measures by the malicious mobile applications may render accessibility-based detection useless. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for preventing system level browser attacks through mobile applications.

Systems and methods for preventing system level browser attacks through mobile applications


Provided is a substrate processing apparatus including a partitioned susceptor and configured to heat a substrate uniformly for improving process quality and yield. The substrate stage comprises a plurality of susceptor segments embedded with heating units, a substrate stage unit comprising the plurality of susceptor segments arranged in a flat configuration to define a substrate placement surface, and a uniform heating part mounted at the substrate placement surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a treatment such as an oxide layer forming, thin layer forming, impurity diffusing, or etching on a substrate such as a silicon wafer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of substrate processing apparatuses include a batch type substrate processing apparatus configured to process a predetermined number of substrates at a time and a single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus configured to process substrates one by one.
In a single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus, a process chamber is provided to accommodate a substrate, a susceptor is installed in the process chamber as a substrate stage for placing the substrate thereon, the substrate is heated by a heater embedded in the susceptor, and process gas is introduced into the process chamber to treat the substrate.
Recent improvement in process yield has motivated the use of larger-diameter substrates, and accordingly, it has been required to increase the diameter of a susceptor and a heater buried in the susceptor.
However, due to restrictions such as manufacturing or maintenance restrictions, it is difficult to manufacture a large-diameter susceptor and a large-diameter heater, and it is also difficult to process a large-diameter substrate such as a 450-mm diameter substrate using a susceptor and a heater that are integrated into one piece.

Substrate stage of substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing apparatus


A water treatment and recycling system for filtering grey waste water to clear water for stone fabrication equipment includes a waste water storage tank connected to receive grey water from stone fabrication equipment and a clear water supply loop. The clear water supply loop includes a high capacity filter assembly receiving waste water from the waste water storage tank and filtering the waste water into clear water that is provided to the fabrication equipment through a clear water storage tank. The high capacity filter assembly includes at least one high pressure filter unit wherein each high pressure filter unit includes a duplex air diaphragm pump assembly, forfiltering the waste water into the clear water.

Water is employed in a wide range of industrial processes and for a wide range of purposes, each of which imposes its own requirements or characteristics on the properties of the water entering and discharged by the process. Such requirements on the properties or characteristics of water used in or discharges from various processes in turn often result in water treatment processes necessary to make the water suitable or acceptable for use in or discharge from the process, and the various water treatment processes in themselves may be a major technical or economic component of an industrial process.
Various industrial processes can impose a number of chemical and physical requirements on incoming water, such as acidity, salinity, temperature and so on, and corresponding requirements on discharge water, typically to meet environmental or health requirements. In many commonly found industrial processes, however, the principle requirements for input and discharge water concern the particulate or suspended contents of the water rather than, for example, the dissolved contents of the water.
Examples of processes in which the particulate or suspended contents of the intake and discharge water are the primary concern are found in the stone fabrication industry, such as those involved in cutting, shaping and polishing natural, engineered and man-made stone for such products as countertops, flooring, architectural paneling, and so on. As is well known by those of ordinary skill in these arts, water is commonly used to wash away the particulate waste material from the cutting and polishing processes, as a coolant to carry off heat produced by the processes, and often as a lubricant. As a consequence, stone cutting and polishing processes, whether of natural stone, engineered stone or man-made stone-like materials, generate heat and significant volumes of particulate waste material, both of which are carried away in and by the process discharge water. The discharge water is consequently referred to as "grey" water, because of the particulate waste material in the water. The particulate waste material is primarily comprised of the material being cut or polished, but will often include other particulate material, such as particles from the cutting and polishing tools themselves, polishing or cutting compounds used with the tools and processes, and various other materials that find their way onto the floor and into the waste water system.
The type and degree of treatment performed on the grey discharge water from the processes depends, in turn, on what is done with the discharge water. For example, the grey water that is eventually discharged from the processes and the treatment of the grey water before final discharge may be dictated by environmental or health factors. In some instances, the grey water may be treated in no more than a "settling tank" to allow at least some of the particulate waste to "settle out" as sediment before the water is returned, for example, to a river or discharged to enter the groundwater. In addition, water discharged into rivers, streams, groundwater and so on is required to meet state and federal requirements, which typically require ongoing random testing of the discharged water in compliance with the Clean Water Act. In most instances, environmental or health concerns may require removal of the particulate waste to the level of "crystal clear" water, as discussed below, as well as other MCL (maximum containment level) measurements before it is returned to the environment or original source.
In still other instances, at least some of the grey water may be recycled to the processes as intake water, thereby reducing the total water volume requirements of the processes. The treatment of recycled grey water will depend, however, upon the uses to which the grey water is to be put. For example, certain processes, and in particular stone cutting, drilling and cooling processes, may use grey water containing a moderate amount of particulate waste as the particulate waste from a previous cycle through a stone cutting or polishing and Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) process may not adversely affect a cutting, drilling, cooling or coarse grinding process. In such instances, the recycled grey water may require no more than a settling tank to allow sedimentation of enough of the particulate waste material that the remaining waste material in the grey water does not "clog" the ensuing process in which it is used, or may require no treatment at all.
In other instances, however, the process or processes receiving recycled water require "crystal clear" water, that is, water in which the volume and size of particulate matter is strictly limited. Stone polishing, CNC processes and water jets, for example, must use intake water that is "clear", that is, water that generally contains no particulate matter, except particles that are generally less than 1 or 2 microns in diameter, as larger particulate matter will interfere with the polishing or CNC process by making and leaving scratches that will prevent the desired degree of polish or finish, that may leave visible scratches and that may clog the polishing tools, CNC spindle and water jets.
The recycling of grey water into "clear" water, however, is a technically and economically more complex and expensive process than a sedimentation tank as used to recycle grey discharged water to grey intake water for such processes as cutting, drilling, cooling and coarse grinding, and the choice is subject to many factors. For example, it may be less expensive to provide fresh intake water for those processes requiring "clear" water, and to treat all discharge water as grey water for both discharge and recycling purposes. In the alternative, however, and very often, the required quantities of fresh intake water, or intake water of sufficient quality, may not be available or may be more costly than cleaning and recycling grey water into crystal clear water, or the volume of grey water that may be discharged may be limited for any of a number of reasons.
The problem, therefore, is to provide an environmentally sound water recycling system for industrial processes such as stone cutting, grinding, cooling, polishing and for CNC equipment and water jets that virtually eliminate the required volume of fresh intake water and absolutely eliminates all grey discharge water from a facility, by economic and efficient recycling of grey water into crystal clear water and grey water in the required quantities.
It will be seen from the following descriptions of the present invention that the general methods for removing particulate matter from grey water to provide clear water or a combination of clear water and filtered grey water for various purposes is not a straightforward process but contains many inherent problems that must be addressed in addressing the basic problem.
For example, the general methods for the removal of particulate matter such as stone residue from a fluid such as water typically include settlement, which may also be referred to as sedimentation, and filtering. Sedimentation essentially employs the differences in density between the fluid and the particulate matter to separate one from the other and, which is usually relatively inexpensive, is relatively slow and is less effective as the particle size decreases. Also, while the sedimentation rate and particle separation capacities of a sedimentation system may be enhanced by, for example, chemical methods, these enhanced methods are much more expensive and typically provide questionable recycled water quality and volumes.
Filtering methods pass the water and particulate matter through some form of trap, clarifier centrifuge or other media that will capture the particles but will pass the water and typically are faster but much more expensive than simple sedimentation methods. For example, the "high pressure filter", or filter press, was originally designed to "dewater" solids that had settled in a collection tank or basin, that is, the particulate matter collected in a sedimentation tank in an industrial wastewater treatment environment. In this process, waste water bearing the waste particulate matter from an industrial process was allowed to stand in a sedimentation collecting tank to allow at least a part of the particulate matter to settle out of the water, often with the use of a chemical precipitant. The particulate sediment settled out in the sedimentation tank, which contained a significant proportion of water, and was pumped to the filter press, which essentially removed the water from the sediment by trapping the sediment in the filter press and allowing the recovered water, also referred to as effluent or filtrate, to return to the treatment system. The particulate waste collected in the filters of the filter press was then mechanically removed from the filters of the filter press and was typically discarded.
A filter press of the prior art is therefore effective for removing water from sedimented particulate matter. When employed to remove particulate matter from water, however, which is an object of the present invention and discussed in the following descriptions of the present invention, filter presses have certain disadvantageous limitations. These limitations become particularly obvious when relatively higher volumes of filtered water per unit are required, such as filtered water flow rates up to 150 gallons per minute (gpm) utilizing a single 20 cubic foot filter press.
Stated briefly, the fluid dynamics within a filter press, when combined with the progressive accumulation of solids during the filtering process, prevents a typical 20 cubic foot filter press with an industry standard air actuated, double diaphragm air pump, from producing filtered water at a consistent, reliable, predictable flow rate when the flow rate demanded of the filter press reaches up to 150 gpm.
It has been found, for example, that for a number of reasons standard, industry available filter press components and air diaphragm pumps will not permit the desired yield to be maintained at flow rates of 75 gpm and greater for filter presses having internal filter element volumes higher than a 20 cubic foot filter capacity with filter plates that measure approximately 800-1,000 mm in diameter. For example, in water filtration and recycling systems for stone fabrication shops the type and quantity of particulate solids that are generated during stone processing can result in "slumping" of the accumulated particulate solids in the filter plate voids if the accumulated weight or vertical loading of the particulate solids in the filter elements exceeds a given limit. Once slumping occurs, the filter cloths begin to foul, that is, become clogged with particulate matter as the "precoat" has been mostly removed and the cloth media exposed. The flow rate of the filter press will thereby decrease unacceptably and much sooner than the capacity of the filter press would indicate. The total solids capacity of the filter press will therefore not be achieved. The point at which slumping becomes a significant problem depends on the volume capacity of the filter press and the diameter of the filter plates, and it has been found that the practical upper limit on filter press filter capacity is approximately 20 cubic feet and the practical upper limit on filter plate size is in the range of 800-1,000 mm.
It must also be noted that this problem cannot be alleviated or delayed by reducing the size, that is, the diameter, of the filter plates, because the length of the filter press, that is, the number of plates in the filter plate stack, must therefore be increased to maintain the desired flow rate through the filter press. The increase in the number of filter plates in turn increases the length of the flow path through the filter press and the weight, that is, the size and density, of the particles is typically such that the particles may not be carried through to the last several filter plates at normal flow rates. The particles will therefore tend to accumulate in the first several filter plates, which will then become full faster than would occur with larger plates, and the last several filter plates will tend to accumulate little waste. The clogging of the first several filter plates may cause the flow rate of the filter press to decrease much sooner than would be indicated by the filter volume of the press, and the total solids capacity of the filter press will not be achieved.
It will be recognized, therefore, that these limitations on the capacity and flow rate of filter presses are a significant problem in larger stone processing shops wherein the required clean water flow volumes may reach, for example, up to 150 gpm and beyond.
It must also be recognized that while a filter press will typically be periodically cleaned at scheduled intervals, that is, the filter plates emptied of solids, it is necessary for the system to maintain at least a desired minimum filtered water flow rate over the entire period between filter press cleanings. The minimum desired flow rate, however, will typically be the flow rate normally required by the stone processing equipment in normal operation and may again reach up to 150 gpm per 20 cubic foot press. The flow rate capacity of the filter press will decrease over time, however, because of the accumulation of solids in the filter plates. As a consequence, the actual flow rate that must be achievable at all times may be significantly greater than the desired minimum flow rate.
The present invention addresses and provides a solution for these and other related problems of the prior art.

Water filtration and recycling for fabrication equipment


A method of manufacturing a magnetic circuit for an electrical machine, the method comprising:                using a cutting station to cut out at least one strip of sectors that are interconnected by deformable connections; and        using a winding station to wind the strip of sectors around a mandrel;        wherein, between the cutting station and the winding station, there is a zone configured to enable the strip to deform so as to compensate for a difference in speed between a speed of the strip at an outlet from the cutting station and its speed at an inlet to the winding station.

It is known to make the magnetic circuits of electrical machines by stacking magnetic laminations. For relatively powerful electrical machines, a large press is required in order to cut the laminations out from sheet metal, given the size of each lamination.
There therefore exists a need to reduce the cost of manufacturing a magnetic circuit for an electrical machine, in particular by making it possible to use a smaller press and by reducing the time required for manufacture.
European patent application EP-A2-1 120 882 discloses a method of manufacturing a magnetic circuit for an electrical machine which consists in making a strip of lamination sectors and then winding the strip on a mandrel.

Method of manufacturing a circuit for an electrical machine


The invention relates to a process of making an anti-reflective coating composition comprising the steps of 1) preparing an oil-in-water emulsion by mixing an apolar organic compound A; a cationic addition copolymer C as emulsion stabilizer; and aqueous medium of pH 2-6; at a mass ratio C/A of 0.1 to 2, to result in 1-50 mass % (based on emulsion) of emulsified droplets of average particle size 30-300 nm; and 2) providing an inorganic oxide shell layer to the emulsified droplets by adding to the emulsion obtained in step 1) at least one inorganic oxide precursor, to result in organic-inorganic core-shell nano-particles with mass ratio core/shell of from 0.2 to 25. An advantage of this process is that the dispersion of nano-particles obtained is stable under different conditions, and allows altering its concentration and solvent system, and addition of different binders and auxiliary components.

The invention relates to a process for making an anti-reflective (AR) coating composition comprising the steps of preparing an aqueous dispersion of organic-inorganic core-shell nano-particles, and optionally adding an inorganic or organic polymeric or polymerisable compound as binder.
The invention also relates to a coating composition as obtained with said process, and to a process of applying a porous anti-reflective coating (ARC) on a substrate using such composition, and to the resulting coated substrate.
A typical example of an ARC is a thin layer of porous inorganic oxide —for example a layer of less than 0.2 μm thickness—which substantially consists of an inorganic oxide like silica and has certain porosity. Such coatings may be applied to a transparent substrate to reduce the amount of light being reflected from its surface, i.e. from the air-substrate interface, and thus increase the amount of light being transmitted through the substrate. Such coatings can be used as single layer or as part of a multi-layer coating (or coating stack). Typical single layer ARCs based on thin porous silica layers have been described in e.g. EP0597490, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,830,879, 5,858,462, EP1181256, WO2007/093339, WO2008/028640, EP1674891, WO2009/030703, WO2009/140482, US2009/0220774, and WO2008/143429.
A single layer ARC on a transparent substrate typically should have a refractive index between the refractive indices of the substrate and air, in order to effectively reduce the amount of light reflected. For example, in case of a glass with refractive index 1.5 the AR layer typically should have a refractive index of about 1.2-1.3, and ideally of about 1.22. A porous silica (or other inorganic oxide) layer having sufficiently high porosity can provide such a low refractive index and function as AR coating, if its layer thickness is about ¼ of the wavelength of the light; meaning that in the relevant wavelength range of 300-800 nm the thickness preferably is in the range 70-200 nm.
Optimum porosity and pore size in an ARC is not only depending on the coating layer thickness, but also on other desired performance characteristics. For example, pore size should not be too large, to minimise light scattering and optimise transparency. On the other hand, if the layer contains very small pores, this may result—under ambient use conditions—in non-reversible moisture up-take via capillary condensation; affecting refractive index and making the coating layer more prone to fouling. Such capillary condensation effects have been reported for so-called meso-porous silica, especially having pores in the range 1-20 nm. Porosity is needed to reduce refractive index, but too high porosity level may deteriorate mechanical strength of the coating, e.g. reduce (pencil) hardness and abrasion resistance.
By inorganic oxide precursor is herein meant a compound that contains metal and can be converted into a metal oxide for example by hydrolysis and condensation reaction.
Porous AR coatings can be made from a solvent borne coating composition comprising an inorganic or organic binder material and a pore forming agent. In case of an inorganic binder, for example based on an inorganic oxide precursor, typically a sol-gel process is used for making a (porous) inorganic oxide layer, wherein a precursor compound in solution or colloid (or sol) form is formed into an integrated network (or gel) of either discrete particles or network polymers. In such process, the sol gradually evolves to a gel-like diphasic system containing both a liquid and solid phase. Removing remaining liquid (drying) is generally accompanied by shrinkage and densification, and affects final microstructure and porosity. Afterwards, a thermal treatment at elevated temperature is often applied to enhance further condensation reactions (curing) and secure mechanical and structural stability. Typical inorganic oxide precursors used are metal alkoxides and metal salts, which can undergo various forms of hydrolysis and condensation reactions. Metal is understood to include silicon within the context of this description.
Such AR coating composition contains solvent and organic ligands from organo-metallic inorganic oxide precursors, which compounds as such will induce some porosity to the inorganic oxide layer; but typically with pores smaller than 10 nm. The further presence of a pore forming agent in the coating composition will help in generating suitable porosity level and pore sizes in the final AR layer to provide the desired refractive index. Suitable pore forming agents, also called porogens, known from prior art publications include organic compounds, like higher boiling solvents, surfactants, organic polymers, and inorganic particles having sub-micron particle size, including porous particles and organic-inorganic core-shell nano-particles.
Use of porous or hollow nano-particles in a binder or matrix material represents an elegant way to control porosity level and pore sizes in a porous ARC layer. Various different synthetic strategies for making hollow inorganic particles can be distinguished, as for example described in Adv. Mater. 2008, 20, 3987-4019. A typical approach applies a micro- or nano-sized organic structure in a solvent system as a template or scaffold for forming an inorganic oxide outer layer (also referred to as coating with inorganic oxide), resulting in hybrid organic-inorganic core-shell (or coated) nano-particles as intermediate product. Shell layers comprising silica are generally made with a sol-gel process based on the so-called Stober method, wherein an alkoxy silane is hydrolysed and condensed in water/alcohol mixtures containing ammonia.
A coating composition comprising pre-fabricated hollow inorganic nano-particles and a matrix-forming binder based on silica precursors is for example described in EP1447433. A disadvantage of this approach is that porous or hollow nano-particles, which can be re-dispersed in a liquid composition, are difficult to make.
Many documents address using organic-inorganic core-shell nano-particles with an organic polymer core as an alternative to making an AR coating composition. After applying and drying such coating composition on a substrate, the organic core can be removed from the coating by various methods; for example by exposing the coating to a solvent for the polymer and extracting it from the coating. Alternatively organic polymer can be removed during thermally curing the coating, for example at temperatures above the decomposition temperature of the polymer (i.e. by pyrolysis or calcination). Suitable temperatures are from about 250 to 900° C. A combined treatment of dissolving and degrading/evaporating the polymer may also be applied.
WO2008/028640 represents an example of a publication that describes applying such hybrid core-shell nano-particles with a sacrificial organic polymer core. In this document cationic polymer micelles or cationically stabilised polymer latex particles are used as organic template for making hybrid core-shell nano-particles and AR coating compositions comprising said core-shell particles and inorganic oxide precursor as binder. Thermally curing an applied layer results in a porous coating with in situ formed hollow particles embedded in the binder, wherein pore size is dependent on the size of the polymer template used for making the core-shell particles. A disadvantage of using nano-particles with a polymeric core is that for effective removal exposure to high temperatures may be needed, which limits its use with thermally sensitive substrate like thermoplastics.
JP 2011111558 discloses a coating composition where particles are based on a polymer emulsion particle based on polymerized vinyl monomer with a specific functional group, hydrolysable silicone compound, emulsifier and water.
JP2008274261 discloses a coating composition for forming a hollow silicone particle film. Examples show that the hollow silicone particles are prepared by first making a core of polymer particles using anionic or non-ionic emulsifiers and thereafter silicone precursors are added to form the shell, whereafter the core is removed by extraction or heating. A potential solution to above indicated thermal restrictions would include core-shell particles that have a more volatile core, for example comprising an organic compound with a boiling point below 300° C. Numerous research groups have published on synthesis and properties of hybrid core-shell particles and inorganic hollow nano-particles; see for example reviews such as Adv. Mater. 2008, 20, 3987-4019. Preparation of stable dispersions of suitable core-shell nano-particles based on low molar mass organic templates and having particle size well below about 500 nm appears however rather difficult.
Therefore, there remains a need in industry for an anti-reflective coating composition based on hybrid organic-inorganic core-shell nano-particles, which composition can be made into an ARC at relatively low temperatures, for example on thermally sensitive substrates.
It is thus an objective of the present invention to provide such an improved AR coating composition and a process of making it.
The solution to above problem is achieved by providing the process as described herein below and as characterized in the claims.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a process of making an anti-reflective coating composition comprising the steps of    1) Preparing an oil-in-water emulsion by mixing            an apolar organic compound A;        a cationic addition copolymer C as emulsion stabilizer; and        aqueous medium of pH 2-6;            at a mass ratio C/A of 0.1 to 2, to result in 1-50 mass % (based on emulsion) of emulsified droplets of particle size 30-300 nm; and    2) Providing an inorganic oxide shell layer to the emulsified droplets by adding to the emulsion obtained in step 1) at least one inorganic oxide precursor, to result in organic/inorganic core-shell nano-particles with mass ratio core/shell of from 0.2 to 25.
With the process of the invention it is found possible to make a coating composition comprising core-shell particles based on emulsified droplets that contain a liquid apolar organic compound and having an particle size in the range of 30 to 300 nm. This particle size can be controlled by the type of organic compound and the monomer composition of the cationic copolymer, and/or by selecting conditions like temperature, pH, aqueous medium composition, and to a lesser degree stirring rate. A further advantage of the present process is that the dispersion of core-shell nano-particles obtained is stable under different conditions; increasing its shelf life or storage time, and allowing for example altering its concentration and solvent system, and addition of different binders and auxiliary components. The coating composition obtained with the process according to the invention can be advantageously used for making porous ARCs at a wide range of temperatures on different substrates, including thermoplastic substrates that have low temperature resistance; because the organic compound can be easily removed from the core-shell particles by solvent extraction or evaporation at relatively low temperature, and low temperature curable binder can be used.

Process for making an anti-reflective coating composition and a porous coating made therefrom

Abstract: The invention also relates to a coating composition as obtained with said process, and to a process of applying a porous anti-reflective coating on a substrate using such composition, and to the resulting coated substrate.


A peak shift/cut control program is a program for carrying out a system environment setting changeover control, and properly changes a profile in accordance with each time zone of profile B collectively managing system environment setting items. A user interface section sets time zone corresponding to each profile. A time acquire section periodically acquires system time from an internal clock section of an operating system, and transfers the system time to a profile changeover section. The profile changeover section carries out profile changeover control in accordance with time zone set by the user interface section while receiving the system time from the time acquire section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of power saving control applied to electronic apparatuses such as personal computers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various electronic apparatuses powered by both battery and an external source (AC commercial utility source) have been developed and come into widespread use. For example, portable (mobile) information terminals called PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), notebook-sized personal computers or digital cameras are given as typical electronic apparatuses.
Recently, protection of the environment has attracted great interest; for example, the following study has been made to prevent global warming. Power consumption concentrating on the daytime is reduced (peak cut) and shifted (peak shift), and thereby, the environmental load of power generation facilities is made small.
In view of such circumstances, a mechanism to realize peak cut or peak shift is proposed in this kind of electronic apparatus (e.g., JPN. PAT. APPLN. KOKAI. Publication No. 2000-29576).
In general, this kind of electronic apparatus has the following large number of items for setting the system environment. For example, one is an item for turning off a monitor when a predetermined time elapses after the operation stops. Another is an item for turning off a hard disk when a predetermined time elapses after data access stops. A file called a profile collectively manages the items described above. Therefore, the profile is automatically changed in accordance with the time zone, and thereby, the above-mentioned peak cut and peak shift can be realized without increasing the cost.
However, correct automatic change of the profile in accordance with the time zone is not carried out in the conventional case. For this reason, a special mechanism for peak cut and peak shift is in fact independently and additionally provided.

Electronic apparatus and method of setting system environment of the electronic apparatus


A method and a device are considered for implementing minimum activity during discontinuous transmission in a telecommunication connection used to carry a service. The service is allowed to involve transmitting upper-level scheduled silence-breaking transmissions at predetermined regular intervals during otherwise silent periods. There is determined (407, 408, 409) a maximum length of a silent period that is longer than the predetermined regular intervals between upper-level scheduled silence-breaking transmissions. A Layer 2 entity of a protocol stack observes (411) the occurrence of silent periods and transmits (412) a dummy block over the telecommunication connection if the length of an observed silent period reaches said maximum length without an upper-level scheduled silence-breaking transmission having been transmitted.

Discontinuous transmission, generally referred to as DTX, is a general designation of all concepts where a temporary break in payload data to be transmitted causes a corresponding break in an otherwise continuous or regular stream of scheduled transmissions. The most typical example is the application of DTX to a telephone connection. As a first approximation, the participant of a point-to-point telephone call is only speaking for one half of the time, because during the remaining time he is silent and listening to the speaker at the other end. If a battery-driven mobile telephone is adapted to only produce full-scale transmissions when its user is actually speaking, transmission capacity in the telephone network can be saved and battery life extended considerably.
However, it is not advantageous to mute all radio transmissions even during periods when payload data is not available for transmission. For purposes like link quality estimation, channel estimate updating, transmission power control and synchronisation it is advantageous to maintain a thinned-out schedule of brief transmissions in the absence of payload data. Also a speech codec that is not receiving actual speech data should nevertheless regularly receive so-called silence descriptors that it uses for updating the spectrum of artificially generated background noise, also known as comfort noise.
Concerning conventional speech-based DTX arrangements we may make a simplified statement according to which it was on the responsibility of the speech codecs to generate the necessary silence time transmissions: during an observed break in speech a transmitting speech codec modelled the continuous background noise and used it to generate the silence descriptors. The so-called Layer One (L1) mechanisms, which are responsible for low-level radio interface functionalities like channel estimation and receiver synchronisation, could rely on the silence descriptor transmissions coming often enough to be used also for the other purposes. For example an AMR (Adaptive MultiRate) speech codec standardised for the GSM (Global System for Mobile telecommunications) cellular radio system transmits a silence descriptor once in every 160 milliseconds.
However, the advent of 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) has changed the picture. The roles of the RAN (Radio Access Network) and the CN (Core Network) are now more clearly separated, so that the RAN is only supposed to offer the transport channel for whatever service there may exist between a mobile station and a core network. Different kinds of core networks may utilise the same RAN for communicating with mobile stations, and from a certain core network there may be connections to mobile stations through different kinds of RANs. The radio interface between the RAN and a mobile station may be completely identical regardless of whether the Iu interface on the other side of the RAN operates with a packet-switched or a circuit-switched core network.
According to the 3GPP approach, the RAN does not necessarily even know, what kind of services go through the "transport channel tubes" maintained in the RAN. The lack of such knowledge in the RAN has necessitated defining certain functions that the RAN is supposed to apply independently, in order to support L1 functionalities such as synchronisation management and link quality estimation.
The standard 3GPP TS 45.008, where TS comes from Technical Specification, requires dummy blocks belonging to L2 (layer two) to be sent over the radio interface to satisfy the needs of L1 functionalities during silent periods, if PDTCH or FLO is in use. Of these, PDTCH means a Packet Data Traffic Channel and FLO means Flexible Layer One, which is a way of redefining certain L1 functionalities in a parameterised way so that their optimisation for specific purposes can be made case by case through choices made by higher levels in the OSI (Open System Interconnection) model. However, regardless of any of PDTCH or FLO being used to carry a speech service, considerations related to the operation of the speech codecs require the transmission of silence descriptors independently of said dummy blocks. The result may be a situation where, during a break in the transmission of payload data, both dummy blocks and silence descriptors are transmitted. Their transmission moments might coincide in time in an ideal case, but since their generation processes are independent of each other, such temporal coincidence would be unlikely. A major part of the advantages of DTX could be lost, because these two partly redundant processes might easily produce an excessive number of silent-time transmissions.

Method and arrangement for implementing minimum activity during discontinuous transmission


A reversible recording medium of an embodiment of the disclosure includes a support base, and a recording layer provided on the support base and reversibly changing between a recorded state and a deleted state. The recording layer includes a photothermal conversion material including one or more of a compound having a phthalocyanine skeleton, a compound having a squarylium skeleton, a compound having a cyanine skeleton including, in a molecule, one or both of a counter ion of SbF6, PF6, BF4, ClO4, CF3SO3 and (CF3SO3)2N and a methine chain containing a five-membered ring or a six-membered ring, and an inorganic compound; a coloring compound having an electron-donating property; and a color developing/quenching agent having an electron-accepting property and including at least one salicylic acid compound represented by the general formula (1) and including a linear hydrocarbon group having 25 to 34 carbon atoms via a linking group containing an amide moiety.

The present disclosure relates to a reversible recording medium that allows for image recording and image deletion, a reversible recording medium coating, and an exterior member provided therewith.
Recently, necessity of a rewritable recording technique has been recognized from the viewpoint of global environment. For example, development has been in progress in a recording medium that enables information to be recorded and deleted reversibly by heat, i.e., a so-called reversible recording medium, as an example of a display medium that replaces a printed matter.
The reversible recording medium is typically configured by a coloring compound having an electron-donating property, a color developing/quenching agent having an electron-accepting property, and a matrix polymer. Meanwhile, for example, PTL 1 discloses a reversible multicolor recording medium having color-developing sensitivity that is enhanced with use of a salicylic-based compound as the color developing/quenching agent. The reversible multicolor recording medium includes a plurality of stacked recording layers. The recording layers each include a cyanine-based photothermal conversion material in addition to the above-described materials. This makes it possible to selectively change a color hue of a desired recording layer by irradiation with light of a specific wavelength.

Reversible recording medium, reversible recording medium coating, and exterior member


Regarding an uplink demodulation reference signal to which a cyclic shift and an orthogonal cover code is applied, IFDM is applied to the uplink demodulation reference signal while retaining the number of bits of control information that specifies a cyclic shift and an orthogonal cover code transmitted from a base station apparatus to a mobile station apparatus. A subcarrier offset and a subcarrier interval based on IFDM are uniquely determined in accordance with the cyclic shift and the orthogonal cover code of the uplink demodulation reference signal, reported from the base station apparatus to the mobile station apparatus.

At present, 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) has been examining LTE Advanced (hereinafter referred to as "LTE-A") for a further increase in communication speed. SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) system with excellent PAPR (Peak to Average Power Ratio) characteristics is adopted in uplink in LTE. In LTE uplink, spatial multiplexing using MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) can be used. In particular, MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) that performs spatial multiplexing in which multiple mobile station apparatuses use the same frequency and time resource can be used.
To reduce degradation of characteristics in MIMO communication caused by noise, interference, or the like, it is desirable to highly accurately calculate the channel (may also be referred to as "propagation path") of each antenna port (defined for every physical antenna or combination of two or more physical antennas) in transmission and reception. In LTE, orthogonality in frequency domain is realized by code multiplexing implemented by allocating, to each antenna port, a sequence generated by applying a cyclic shift in time domain to an uplink demodulation reference signal (UL DMRS: Uplink Demodulation Reference Signal) generated on the basis of a Zadoff-Chu sequence. Further, since there are two sequences of UL DMRS (that is, two SC-FDMA symbols) in one subframe, LTE-A applies a Walsh sequence in units of SC-FDMA symbols, thereby realizing orthogonality in time domain (Non Patent Literature 1). This spread sequence applied in time domain is referred to as an orthogonal cover code or an OCC (Orthogonal Cover Code).
A condition in which orthogonality is established by a cyclic shift in UL DMRS is limited to the case in which the allocated frequency regions are completely the same. Therefore, when MU-MIMO is applied to mobile station apparatuses to which different frequency regions are allocated, orthogonality between the mobile station apparatuses can be realized by allocating orthogonal OCCs, such as [+1 +1] and [−1 −1], to the mobile station apparatuses, respectively. Further, as in Non Patent Literature 2, it has been proposed to use IFDM (Interleaved Frequency Domain Multiplexing) that arranges DMRS in a comb-shape on the frequency axis. Orthogonality of multiplexed UL DMRS can be realized by changing the offset of a subcarrier to be allocated.

Wireless communication system, mobile station apparatus, and base station apparatus using demodulation reference signal


An electron emission elements integrated substrate comprising a substrate having a plurality of minute holes formed therein. Each hole extends in a direction of thickness of the substrate. An electron emission element is arranged in the each hole. The element comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and an insulating member disposed between the first and second electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron emission elements integrated substrate, more particularly, it relates to an electron emission elements integrated substrate which is effectively applicable to a display device having a flat display surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cold cathode type electron emission element has been used as an appropriate element for constituting a display device having a flat display surface which is called flat CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube).
Such an electron emission element is disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 1-311534. The electron emission element disclosed in the patent document constitutes a surface conductive type electron emission element comprising a pair of electrodes and an electron emission portion of high resistance formed between the electrodes wherein in order to avoid unnecessary spread of electron emission area of the portion, the portion having predetermined minute particles is formed only in a local part between the electrodes.
The flat CRT utilizing the electron emission element mentioned above has not yet widely commercialized. In order to practically commercialize the products of the flat CRT, it is required that the display quality be heightened and that the cost thereof be reduced as well or more than that. For this purpose, it becomes necessary to even the electron emission current of the individual elements included in each pixel by raising the density of the cathodes constituting one pixel of the flat CRT so that an even luminous intensity distribution can be realized over the entire display surface of the CRT. Further, it also becomes necessary to reduce the cost of the electron emission element substrate by raising the through-put of the element production.
However, in accordance with the electron emission element of the related art mentioned above, the electron emission portion is formed by a very complicated process wherein the portion is formed in such a way that first a resist layer is coated on the area other than the electron emission portion so as to form a mask and after that an organic solvent including a palladium compound is coated over an entire surface of the substrate by a spin-coating method and after that the substrate is burned under a predetermined condition to form a discontinuous film having an island structure comprising minute particles of palladium constituting the islands and after that the resist layer is removed. Such a complicated process causes to raise the cost of the element.
Also, at the time of forming the electron emission portion at a local part between the electrodes, the portion is formed two-dimensionally on the surface of the substrate, which limits the high density integration of the electron emission portion which is caused from wiring aspect as well.
Therefore, it was difficult to realize a display device utilizing the electron emission element of high display quality with a low cost.

Electron emission elements integrated substrate


An arrangement for coupling a pallet in a conveying device includes a pallet having wheels and forming a part of a transport track of the conveying device, and a drive element. A coupling piece is adapted to be connected to the pallet and a fastening parties connects the drive element to the coupling piece.

The present invention relates to an arrangement for coupling pallets of a travelator or equivalent.
Like escalators, travelators are conveying devices used to move people and goods. They differ from escalators e.g. in that they often work in a substantially horizontal position or in a position slightly inclined relative to their direction of motion, so that successive steps, i.e. pallets, form a substantially even and rectilinear transport track instead of stair-like steps as in escalators. Travelators are also referred to as moving sidewalks and autowalks.
In known travelators, autoramps and escalators, the pallets or steps are typically connected to an endless chain, belt or equivalent serving as a drive element by means of a separate coupling element. In known solutions, the coupling arrangements are complicated and often also require the use of special tools for the coupling to be successfully performed in the desired manner. Long travelators contain a large number of pallets, each one of which has to be coupled to the drive element either by one end or by both ends. These known coupling solutions and the associated adjustments are slow and complicated to implement, which is why the installation times are very long, especially when long travelators are to be installed. This is expensive and otherwise undesirable. In addition, maintenance and repair operations take a longer time because the release and re-mounting of known coupling elements is a slow process. Coupling elements of a larger size, which take up space around their path of motion and add to the weight of the structures present further problems. An additional problem in known coupling elements is the chain serving as a drive element, which has to be of a special construction due to the coupling. Such a chain, which is specific only to a given application, is generally expensive and may be difficult to obtain in urgent cases of repair.

Arrangement for coupling pallets of a travelator


An organic EL display device includes a light modulating unit layer, a TFT layer, and a plurality of organic EL elements layered in the stated order. A top-emitting single-sided display emitting light emitted from a light emitting layer from an upper electrode side and a double-sided display emitting light emitted from the light emitting layer from each of the upper electrode side and a lower electrode side are electrically switched.

In recent years, see-through displays and transparent displays, which are so-called transparent display devices, have been attracting attention in terms of improved interior design and interactivity.
TA transparent display device allows an object behind the transparent display device to be observed through screen. By disposing the transparent display device in front of various displays such as an instrumental panel of automobiles, for example, the transparent display device enables display including switching between display by the transparent display device and display on the back of the transparent display device. Thus, application to various uses is expected.
As the transparent display device, for example, an organic EL display device that includes organic EL elements using electro luminescence (hereinafter referred to as "EL") of an organic luminescent material is well known (for example, see PTL 1 or the like).
A display unit of the organic EL display device includes organic EL elements in which a light emitting layer including an organic matter as an emitter is layered so as to be sandwiched between a negative electrode and a positive electrode, and includes the organic EL elements arranged two-dimensionally as pixels. For example, a transparent organic EL display device is achieved by using a transparent electrode as a negative electrode and a positive electrode.

Display device configured to switch between single-sided and double-sided display


A pneumatic brake booster (10) comprises a control valve (22) for controlling a pneumatic pressure difference, a force input element (24) for actuating the control valve (22), a force output element (38) for transmitting the braking force, a reaction disk (34) made of elastomeric material disposed between the force output element (38) and the force input element (24), and a device, which is disposed between the reaction disk (34) and the force input element (24) and acts upon the reaction disk (34), for varying the force transmission ratio between force input element (24) and force output element (38) in dependence upon the force exerted on the force input element (24). For a less expensive design and greater ease of assembly, the device for varying the force transmission ratio is designed as a preassembly unit in the form of a cartridge (30), which after preassembly is insertable into the control valve (22). The cartridge (30) comprises a plunger (42), of which the end facing the reaction disk (34) is connected to a piston (50), a hollow-cylindrical operating piston (52), which surrounds the piston (50) and is displaceable relative to the latter, a stop (60), which is provided on the plunger (42) and defines an initial position, in which the areas of operating piston (52) and piston (50) facing the reaction disk (34) form a common, flush area, and a spring (48), which is supported against the plunger (42) and which biases the operating piston (52) towards the stop (60).

The invention relates to a pneumatic brake booster. Such a brake booster designed as a vacuum brake booster for a motor vehicle is known from WO 95/01272, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Pneumatic brake boosters normally have a fixed force transmission ratio, i.e. an actuating force introduced by means of an input element into the brake booster is transmitted from a smaller area associated with the input element to a larger area associated with the power output element, mostly via a so-called reaction disk which is made of elastomeric material and behaves like a fluid. Under certain circumstances, e.g. in an emergency braking situation, it is however desirable to provide a user with as high a braking force boost as possible so that, starting from a specific input force, as high a brake pressure as possible may be generated.
In the said WO 95/01272 it is therefore proposed that the smaller area, which acts upon the reaction disk and is associated with the input element, be further reduced in size after a specific input force is exceeded. Said reduced area, compared to the non-reduced area, given the same input or actuating force penetrates further into the elastic reaction disk, with the result that the control valve of the brake booster opens correspondingly wider, resulting in a correspondingly higher differential pressure in the brake booster and hence in an increased force boost. The solutions proposed in WO 95/01272 are however of a relatively complex construction and moreover make assembly of the brake booster considerably more complicated.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a pneumatic brake booster with a device for varying the force transmission ratio in dependence upon the force exerted upon the force input element, which device is to be of as simple a construction as possible and, above all, easy to assemble.
Proceeding from a brake booster of the type described, said object is achieved according to the invention in that the device for varying the force transmission ratio is designed as a preassembly unit in the form of a cartridge, which after preassembly is insertable into the control valve. The cartridge comprises a plunger, of which the end facing the reaction disk is connected to a piston, a hollow-cylindrical operating piston, which surrounds the previously mentioned piston and is displaceable relative to the piston, a stop, which is provided on the plunger and defines for the operating piston an initial position, in which the areas of operating piston and piston facing the reaction disk form a common, flush area, and a spring, which is supported against the plunger and which biases the operating piston towards the stop. In said manner a compact, easy-to-preassemble unit is provided, which after preassembly need merely be inserted into a corresponding recess of the control valve. There is no need for more extreme modifications of the structural design of the brake booster or control valve, rather the cartridge used according to the invention may be integrated without a high outlay into many existing brake booster constructions. The possibility therefore exists of being able to offer one and the same brake booster construction with or without variable force transmission.
The operating piston is preferably guided in a slidingly displaceable manner on a stem of the plunger. Such a construction removes the need for a separate guide for the operating piston and results in a compact style of construction.
In order further to simplify the structural design and reduce the size of the device for varying the transmission ratio, in preferred forms of construction of the brake booster according to the invention the plunger stem at its end facing the force input element is connected to a plate, against which the spring, which biases the operating piston towards the stop, is supported. In said case, the outside diameter of the operating piston is advantageously greater than the outside diameter of the plate so that the operating piston, in the event of greater input forces, may be supported against a step, which is situated in the recess provided in the control valve housing for receiving the cartridge. The plate may be formed integrally with the plunger stem.
The stop defining the initial position of the operating piston is preferably formed by a retaining ring (snap ring), which is held in a groove of the plunger stem. Such a construction is inexpensive and easy to assemble.
The spring biasing the operating piston into its initial position may have a linear spring characteristic curve. Equally, however, said spring may have a progressively rising spring characteristic curve, with the result that the braking force boost of the brake booster according to the invention increases progressively, beginning with the movement of the operating piston out of its initial position up to the attainment of an end position of the operating piston. The end position of the operating piston may be defined e.g. by the already mentioned shoulder in the recess of the control valve housing used to receive the cartridge.
The piston, which is connected to the end of the plunger facing the reaction disk, preferably has an at least approximately spherical-segment-shaped protuberance on its area facing the reaction disk. By means of such a protuberance a specific, so-called xe2x80x9centry behaviourxe2x80x9d of the brake booster is realized. To put it more precisely, at the start of an actuation of the brake booster the spherical-segment-shaped protuberance, given a defined force, penetrates more deeply into the reaction disk, with the result that the control valve in the initial phase of a braking operation may open slightly wider and the brake booster therefore relatively quickly provides a specific braking force boost.

Pneumatic brake booster with variable force transmission ratio


Digital watermarking technology is used to convey location data for images or objects depicted in video. A digital watermark may associate geovector information with the video or object and areas depicted in the video. A geovector may include location coordinates such as longitude, latitude, altitude, etc. In one implementation, geovector information is embedded within a video frame so as to correspond with an area depicted in the video frame's center or off-center location. In a second implementation, a geovector includes an identifier or indexing protocol for use in a video management system.

Acquisition of aerial imagery traces its history back to the Wright brothers, and is now commonly performed from satellite and space shuttle platforms, in addition to aircraft.
While the earliest aerial imagery relied on conventional film technology, a variety of electronic sensors are now more commonly used. Some collect image data corresponding to specific visible, UV or IR frequency spectra (e.g., the MultiSpectral Scanner and Thematic Mapper used by the Landsat satellites). Others use wide band sensors. Still others use radar or laser systems (sometimes stereo) to sense topological features in 3 dimensions. Some satellites can even collect ribbon imagery (e.g., a raster-like, 1-demensional terrestrial representation, which is pieced together with other such adjacent ribbons).
The quality of the imagery has also constantly improved. Some satellite systems are now capable of acquiring image and topological data having a resolution of less than a meter. Aircraft imagery, collected from lower altitudes, provides still greater resolution.
Such imagery can be used to develop maps or models, such as Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and others. DEM, essentially, is an "elevation map" of the earth (or part thereof). One popular DEM is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey and details terrain elevations at regularly spaced intervals over most of the U.S. More sophisticated DEM databases are maintained for more demanding applications, and can consider details such as the earth's pseudo pear shape, in addition to more localized features. Resolution of sophisticated DEMs can get well below one meter cross-wise, and down to centimeters or less in actual elevation. DEMs—with their elevation data—are sometimes supplemented by albedo maps (sometimes termed texture maps, or reflectance maps) that detail, e.g., a grey scale value for each pixel in the image, conveying a photographic-like representation of an area.
(There is a large body of patent literature that illustrates DEM systems and technology. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,405 details a method of generating a Digital Elevation Model from the interference pattern resulting from two co-registered synthetic aperture radar images. U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,581 discloses a technique for generating a Digital Elevation Model from two images of ground terrain, by reference to common features in the two images, and registration-mapping functions that relate the images to a ground plane reference system. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,974,423, 6,023,278 and 6,177,943 disclose techniques by which a Digital Elevation Model can be transformed into polygonal models, thereby reducing storage requirements, and facilitating display in certain graphics display systems. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,995,681 and 5,550,937 detail methods for real-time updating of a Digital Elevation Model (or a reference image based thereon), and are particularly suited for applications in which the terrain being mapped is not static but is subject, e.g., to movement or destruction of mapped features. The disclosed arrangement iteratively cross-correlates new image data with the reference image, automatically adjusting the geometry model associated with the image sensor, thereby accurately co-registering the new image relative to the reference image. Areas of discrepancy can be quickly identified, and the DEM/reference image can be updated accordingly. U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,972 details how interferometric synthetic aperture radar data can be used to generate a Digital Elevation Model. Each of these patents is herein incorporated by reference).
From systems such as the foregoing, and others, a huge quantity of aerial imagery is constantly being collected. Management and coordination of the resulting large data sets is a growing problem. Integrating the imagery with related, often adjacent, imagery, and efficiently updating "stale" imagery is also a problem.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, digital watermarking technology is employed to help track such imagery, and can also provide audit trail, serialization, anti-copying, and other benefits.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, video imagery is embedded to include location information. The location information may include or point to a so-called "geovector."
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the following figures.


1. A fluororesin tube in which the machine direction shrinkage rate is 1 to 8% and the transverse direction shrinkage rate is 2 to 8%, upon heating to 150° C. 2. A fluororesin tube in which the machine direction expansion rate is 0.5 to 4% and the transverse direction shrinkage rate is 1 to 6%, upon heating to 150° C. 3. A fluororesin tube in which the machine direction shrinkage rate is 1 to 8% and the transverse direction expansion rate is 1 to 4%, upon heating to 150° C.

With conventional fixing rotary members used in an image formation apparatus, a release layer composed of a fluororesin tube or a fluorine-based dispersion is provided on the surface of an elastic layer composed of a fluororubber, a silicone rubber, or a sponge layer. Of the various rolls used in these fixing rotary members, those used in color copiers and printers must have low hardness in order to improve fixability and better bring out the toner color, which is in keeping with the higher image quality achieved in recent years, and at the same time the elastic layer must be thinner in order to reduce power consumption. Rolls whose elastic layer is softer, thinner, and more flexible have often been used in an effort to meet both of these requirements.
Unfortunately, as the hardness of the elastic layer is lowered, there is more deformation of the elastic layer by the nip between the fixing roll and the pressing roll, until the fluororesin used as a release layer on the roll surface is no longer able to conform to the roll deformation, at which point wrinkles and cracks may develop in the shape of rings or in the axial direction.
Furthermore, the more the hardness of the elastic layer is decreased, the greater is the expansion of the elastic layer due to heat during roll molding, which is a problem in that wrinkles in the axial direction can develop immediately after molding or extremely soon after the start of use in an actual device. Also, a thinner elastic layer is a problem in the case of a tube that shrinks both axially and radially because not enough nip width can be ensured, and offset occurs.

Fluororesin tube for fixing member for copier and printer


The invention concerns the dispensing packagings for viscous, creamy or paste products, as well as a manufacturing method for these dispensing packagings. The body (6) of the packaging according to the invention, in substance tubular, comprises an interior envelope (8), apt for containing the product to be dispensed, and an exterior envelope (7) capable of yielding to the pressure and then to regain, in substance, its initial form. These two envelopes (7, 8) are coupled and united according to a line parallel, in substance to the axis of the body (6). The tubular body (6) thus formed is then welded, by one of its extremities, to a dispenser head (1), the other extremity being closed by a weld or placed on a base. The packaging according to the invention applies notably to cosmetic products, to health care products and to technical products.

1) Scope of the invention
The cosmetics and health industry has for a long time been searching for relatively not onerous packagings capable of delivering their content, without requiring the use of excessive force by the user, and which maintain a pleasing exterior aspect until the end of their existence.
A well known problem of packaging of paste material, notably in cosmetics, but equally in other technical fields, is to limit in as far as possible the contact of the content with the ambient air, which accelerates the degradation of certain constituents. Containers in malaxable materials (metallic tubes) rapidly present a less attractive appearance. Rigid containers easily resume their form by sucking in air which replaces the paste which has just been extracted therefrom, which constitutes an inconvenience from the point of view of the degradation of the content and of its asepsis. New forms of packaging have been developed to avoid the inconveniences.
2) Description of the anterior art
The patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,165 describes an elastic walled bottle in which a pouch destined to enclose the product to be dispensed is suspended. This pouch is held in position half way up on the elastic wall. A non-return valve prohibits the product from re-descending into the pouch after compression. A second non-return device placed in the base of the bottle permits air to reenter between the bottle and the pouch when the compression has ceased.
The patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,416 describes a dispensing recipient of viscous products endowed with an exterior recipient capable of being pressed or deformed locally (structure in accordion) and a deformable interior pouch connected to a nozzle. This nozzle comprises a unidirectional valve prohibiting the reflux of the content towards the pouch. A second valve permits the introduction of air between the pouch and the exterior recipient.
A characteristic common to the recipients described in these two documents is vested in their relative complexity. These devices utilize relatively complex valves and interior and exterior envelopes which are manufactured distinctly and assembled for use. The cost of such recipients is therefore relatively high and is only justified for relatively onerous products or for particular uses.
A market exists for dispensing packagings for paste products which, while fully benefitting from the intrinsic qualities of this type of packaging, could be produced at a relatively low price.