A traction control device is provided in which the valve opening pressure of the pressure relief valve is reduced to lower the hydraulic pressure generated by the pump. In this traction control device for a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the proportioning valve is positioned directly in front of the traction valve set in the main brake line that supplies pressure to the wheel cylinders of the rear wheels.

This invention relates to a traction control device (TCS) that is used to prevent rear drive wheels from slipping during braking.
In a conventional rear-wheel traction control device, a proportioning valve (P-valve) is positioned between the rear wheel cylinder and inlet valve, in order to keep the brake pressure of the rear wheels lower than that of the front wheels, thereby stabilizing the vehicle.
A conventional rear-wheel traction control device as described presents the following problems.
1. During traction control, the hydraulic pressure discharged from the pump of the auxiliary hydraulic pressure device is routed through a proportioning valve (P-valve), thus lowering the pressure applied to the wheel cylinder. To compensate for this loss in pressure, the pump must increase the pressure that it discharges. This increases the valve opening pressure of the pressure relief valve, hastens wear-and-tear of the pump, increases the noise level of the motor driving the pump, and creates other problems.
2. Since the proportioning valve is positioned between the rear wheel cylinder and the inlet valve, one P-valve is required for each wheel. This increases space requirements as well as the cost of manufacturing.

Traction control device for rear-wheel drive vehicle


A power conversion device includes at least two legs connected in parallel each of which includes at least two unit converters connected in series, wherein at least one of the legs is formed using at least two kinds of unit converters including a first type unit converter capable of outputting a unipolar voltage and a second type unit converter capable of outputting a bipolar voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power conversion device, and particularly to a power conversion device formed using an arm where a plurality of unit converters are connected in series.
2. Background Art
H. Akagi, "Classification, terminology, and applications of the modular multilevel converter (MMCC)", IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 26, no. 11, November 2011, pp. 3119 to 3130 discloses a circuit configuration of four types of power conversion devices called a modular multilevel cascade converter (MMCC) and the applicability thereof.
Among the four types of MMCC, an MMCC-DSBC (Double-Star Bridge Cell), which uses a full bridge circuit as a unit converter and is formed from an arm where a plurality of unit converters are connected in series, is an AC-DC converter circuit type which is applicable to a self-excited DC power transmission system (VSC-HVDC).
Generally, an AC-DC converter has an AC terminal for linking to an AC system and a DC terminal for linking to a DC system. In the present specification, a voltage which is output to the AC system by the AC-DC converter is referred to as an AC output voltage, and a voltage which is output to the DC system by the AC-DC converter is referred to as a DC output voltage.
In a case where a DC overhead transmission line is used in the VSC-HVDC, a DC fault such as a DC ground fault or short-circuit caused by lightning, or the like, may occur.
If a DC fault occurs, there is a probability that the AC-DC converter will be damaged since overcurrent flows through semiconductor elements forming the AC-DC converter, and thus a protection operation for preventing damage, such as suppression or blocking of overcurrent, is required.
R. S. Whitehouse, "Technical Challenges of realizing multi-terminal networking with VSC", EPE 2011 discloses that it is not necessary to trip a circuit breaker on an AC system side when a DC fault occurs in an MMCC-DSBC. Hereinafter, a principle thereof will be described.
When a DC fault is detected, the MMCC-DSBC can control the switching timing of each switching element in the unit converter such that a DC output voltage becomes zero or a negative voltage, thereby suppressing a fault current from flowing into a DC fault point.
In addition, even in a state where the DC output voltage is controlled to become zero or a negative voltage, the MMCC-DSCC can generate an AC output voltage which resists against an AC system voltage, and it is possible to suppress a fault current from flowing into the DC fault point from an AC system. Therefore, it is possible to rapidly resume power transmission after removing the DC fault without tripping the circuit breaker on the AC system side.
On the other hand, in an MMCC-DSCC which uses a bidirectionalbidirectionalchopper circuit as a unit converter and is formed from an arm where a plurality of unit converters are connected in series, it is necessary to trip the circuit breaker on the AC system side when a DC fault occurs, and thus it takes time to resume power transmission after removing the DC fault.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Power conversion device including a plurality of legs connected in parallel, each leg including a plurality of unit converters connected in series


It is provided a drive unit 1 in which the displacement amount of the frictional engagement member 7 can be reduced without lowering the driving torque, having a drive circuit 4 comprised of a bridge circuit which includes charge switching elements Q1, Q3 for connecting the electrodes 5a, 5b of the piezoelectric element 5 to the power supply 2 and discharge switching elements Q2, Q4 for connecting the electrodes 5a, 5b to ground, and a switch circuit 9 for inserting a limiting resistor R2 in at least either one of an current path between the power supply 2 and the piezoelectric element 5 and an current path between the piezoelectric element 5 and the ground.

The present invention relates to a friction-drive type drive unit using a piezoelectric element.
There is publicly known a friction-drive type drive unit in which a shaft-like vibrating member is reciprocatively displaced asymmetrically in its axial direction by a piezoelectric element so that a frictional engagement member frictionally engaged with the vibrating member is slidingly displaced relative to the vibrating member (which can be done by moving the frictional engagement member or by moving the vibrating member).
Such a friction-drive type drive unit involves a drive circuit for applying a periodically varying voltage to the piezoelectric element. Utilized therefor among others is a drive circuit which applies a rectangular-wave voltage to the piezoelectric element by applying a voltage to the electrodes of the piezoelectric element or grounding those electrodes with the use of a semiconductor switching element.
For example, JP2001-211669A discloses a full bridge circuit for connecting both electrodes of a piezoelectric element alternately to power supply while grounding the other electrode so that a polarity applied to the piezoelectric element is inverted.
In such a friction-drive type drive unit for drive with a rectangular-wave voltage as shown above, the frictional engagement member keeps a constant amount of sliding displacement per pulse of the rectangular-wave voltage, thus being incapable of obtaining any displacements lower than the constant amount.
Changing the duty ratio of the rectangular-wave voltage makes it possible to reduce the sliding displacement amount of the frictional engagement member per pulse. However, when the duty ratio of the rectangular-wave voltage is changed to reduce the sliding displacement amount of the frictional engagement member, the moving speed of the frictional engagement member that is moved in frictional engagement with the vibrating member would be increased, causing the driving torque to decrease, as a problem.
Also, in the friction-drive type drive unit, keeping the frictional engagement member continuously displaced within a narrow range would lead to changes in driving characteristics due to wear or the like, as a further problem.


An automatic squelch is provided within an intercom to control the gating of a microphone signal path. The automatic squelch includes an analog-to-digital converter coupled to receive an analog microphone input signal which is configured to convert the analog microphone input signal into a digital input signal. A peak detector is further provided to maintain a peak value indicative of peaks in the digital input signal. The peak value maintained by the peak detector reacts relatively quickly to changes in the digital input signal. In one implementation, when the digital input signal is larger than the peak value, the peak value is set at the level of the digital input signal. When the digital input signal is less than the peak value, the peak value is xe2x80x9cdecayedxe2x80x9d or reduced at a relatively fast decay rate. A background noise detector is further provided for maintaining a background value indicative of background noise in the digital input signal. In one implementation, the background value is adjusted by comparing the peak value to the background value. When the peak value is greater than the background value, the background value is increased at a relatively slow attack rate. When the peak value is less than the background value, the background value is decreased at a relatively slow decay rate. The background noise detector thus varies the background value relatively slowly in response to changes in the peak value. A comparator is further provided to determine whether the peak value exceeds a predetermined threshold value. In one implementation, the predetermined threshold value is obtained through a table lookup function wherein the background value is used as an index to index into a lookup table including a plurality of corresponding threshold values. If the peak value exceeds the threshold value, a one-shot timer is triggered to activate a microphone signal path. In one implementation, hysteresis is further provided to lessen the threshold required to retrigger the one shot timer while it is active. The functionality of the peak detector, background noise detector, and one shot timer may be implemented by software code executed within a microcontroller.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to intercom systems and, more particularly, to intercom systems employing automatic squelch circuits for use in small aircraft or other high noise environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical small aircraft intercom system, several different audio channels are controlled and combined to form output audio to be heard by users. For example, audio channels are typically provided to allow the pilot, co-pilot and passengers to communicate with one another through microphone inputs. External communications through a communications radio are further accommodated to allow communications between, for example, an air traffic controller and the pilot and/or co-pilot. Similarly, an interface for connection to a telephone may be provided. Audio associated with additional aspects of the control of the aircraft, such as altimeter warnings and marker beacon signals, may also be integrated within the intercom system. Finally, the aircraft intercom system may accommodate music inputs to allow the pilot, co-pilot and/or passengers to listen to music.
During flight, the cabin of a small aircraft is typically quite noisy, due to both engine noise and wind noise. Accordingly, the occupants of the aircraft cabin typically wear headset units having headphones and microphones. Rather than leaving microphones on continuously, squelch circuits are typically provided to activate selected microphones upon the presence of a user""s voice. This advantageously prevents unwanted aircraft cabin noise picked up by the microphones from being introduced into the intercom system when voice audio is not detected.
The squelch circuits of many aircraft intercom systems have manual controls which must be set by the user. The manual squelch control is used to set the threshold level at which an input signal must rise before the microphone signal path is activated. As the noise in the aircraft cabin increases or decreases, corresponding adjustments to the squelch control may be necessary to maintain proper operation of the intercom system. Unfortunately, the noise in the aircraft cabin may vary considerably during a given flight, thus requiring multiple adjustments to the manual squelch control.
Due to the varying types of audio handled by a typical aircraft intercom system, various user operated controls in addition to the manual squelch control are also provided to select various modes of operation. In general, it is desirable that apparatus for use by pilots and co-pilots in an aircraft be as simple as possible to use while allowing flexibility. Particularly for safety, it is further desirable to reduce the number of controls which must be manually operated.
Thus, some aircraft intercom systems utilize automatic squelch circuits. In such systems, as changes in the noise level in the aircraft cabin occur, the threshold for activating a corresponding microphone path is automatically re-adjusted. This thus allows simplified operation.
However, various aircraft intercom systems having automatic squelch circuits are believed to suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, it is believed that some intercom systems having automatic squelch controls do not operate optimally in that they may be prone to relatively long delays when voice is initially presented, thus clipping the initial speech of a user. Similarly, these systems may further turn off prematurely, thus clipping the middle or end portions of normal speech.
Additionally, some systems are not associated with good repeatability, in terms of consistent operation with varying operating conditions. That is, as operating conditions including temperature, power supply voltage, and background noise vary, the operation of some systems may be adversely affected.
Finally, some systems require a relatively large number of components for implementation. This may result in increased cost and/or power consumption. Furthermore, the requirement of a relatively large number of components may further inhibit compact design, which is another important feature for a small aircraft intercom system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an automatic squelch for an intercom system used in small aircraft or other high noise environments which minimizes unwanted clipping of speech. It would further be desirable to provide an intercom system which operates consistently, which may be implemented using a relatively small overall number of components, and which consumes relatively low power.
Various problems described above are in large part solved by an intercom system for use in a small aircraft or other high noise environment including an automatic squelch in accordance with the present invention. In one embodiment, an automatic squelch is provided within an intercom to control the gating of a microphone signal path. The intercom system may include various audio inputs including inputs for receiving microphone signals from the pilot, co-pilot and passengers, an input for receiving aircraft radio audio, and a music input. The intercom system may selectively combine and amplify the audio inputs to form audio output signals that drive the headphones of users. The automatic squelch includes an analog-to-digital converter coupled to receive an analog microphone input signal which is configured to convert the analog microphone input signal into a digital input signal. A peak detector is further provided to maintain a peak value indicative of peaks in the digital input signal. The peak value maintained by the peak detector reacts relatively quickly to changes in the digital input signal. In one implementation, when the digital input signal is larger than the peak value, the peak value is set at the level of the digital input signal. When the digital input signal is less than the peak value, the peak value is xe2x80x9cdecayedxe2x80x9d or reduced at a relatively fast decay rate. A background noise detector is further provided for maintaining a background value indicative of background noise in the digital input signal. In one implementation, the background value is adjusted by comparing the peak value to the background value. When the peak value is greater than the background value, the background value is increased at a relatively slow attack rate. When the peak value is less than the background value, the background value is decreased at a relatively slow decay rate. The background noise detector thus varies the background value relatively slowly in response to changes in the peak value. A comparator is further provided to determine whether the peak value exceeds a predetermined threshold value. In one implementation, the predetermined threshold value is obtained through a table lookup function wherein the background value is used as an index to index into a lookup table including a plurality of corresponding threshold values. If the peak value exceeds the threshold value, a one-shot timer is triggered to activate a microphone signal path. In one implementation, hysteresis is further provided to lessen the threshold required to retrigger the one shot timer while it is active. The functionality of the peak detector, background noise detector, and one shot timer may be implemented by software code executed within a microcontroller.
An intercom system employing the improved automatic squelch may advantageously minimize unwanted clipping of speech. Additionally, the improved automatic squelch may result in consistent operation regardless of varying operating conditions, may be implemented using a relatively small number of components, and may consume relatively low power.

Intercom system including improved automatic squelch control for use in small aircraft and other high noise environments


An IC card has a contact portion which is exposed on one surface of a printed circuit board and has multiple terminals provided to electrically contact an external device. Wirings are arranged on the other surface of the printed circuit board at a position facing the contact portion with the printed circuit board in between, and are printed at least at positions opposite to gaps between the terminals. The arrangement of the wirings thus prevents that portion of the IC card at the gaps from becoming thinner than the other portion of the IC card.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of an IC card device which prevents its IC chip from breaking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical conventional IC cards have an IC and a contact portion integrated into an IC module to provide a unit structure. With the use of such a unit structure, no wirings are laid under the contact portion.
In the case where multiple IC cards and/or parts such as a keyboard and a display need to be arranged, however, it is not possible to integrate all of them into an IC module to provide a unit structure. Therefore, the ICs and the other components are arranged separate from the contact portion as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,580. This arrangement requires wiring between the ICs and the other components as well as wiring between each IC and the individual contacts. There is not much space left for the wiring due to the mounting space required for the ICs and components. When the ICs and the other components arranged with the contacts in between, the wirings to connect the ICs to the components cannot be laid straight, but should undesirably run around the contacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,073 teaches contact wirings laid on the top and bottom surfaces of the printed circuit board and connected to multiple segments lying on the topmost surface of the board. The contact wirings are connected to the main chip in a hole. In this case, since contact wiring patterns lie directly below the respect contacts and no contact wiring pattern lies directly below the space between contacts provided side by side on the surface of the board, the former portion of the IC card is made relatively thick while the latter portion of the IC card is made entirely thinner than the other portion. In addition, the printed circuit board on the topmost layer of the IC card has an opening formed in order to expose the contacts from the surface. When external force is applied to the IC card, therefore, stress is likely to concentrate on the thin portion, which may damage the main chip. The conventional IC card having an IC and components arranged separate from the contacts therefore has a problem on the mechanical strength in addition to the aforementioned shortcoming on the laying of the wirings.


A power actuator arrangement including a power drive assembly having a first powered position and a second powered position and an output device, the output device being unmoveable by the power drive assembly between a first detent position corresponding to the first powered position and a second detent position corresponding to the second powered position following powered operation, the output device being retained in the first or second detent positions by a detent bias force provided by a detent arrangement, the output device being independently movable by an independent force between the first and second detent positions, the independent force acting to overcome the detent bias force such that during independent movement the independent force substantially does not move the power drive assembly between its first powered and second powdered positions.

The present invention relates to power actuator arrangements and in particular power actuator arrangements for providing a child safety on/off feature, a lock/unlock feature or a superlock/unsuperlock feature on a car door latch.
When known power actuator arrangements are used for locking and unlocking of a vehicle door latch, a provision is made for manual override. Thus a vehicle door latch which has been power unlocked by a central door locking system can subsequently be manually locked by the driver depressing a cill button or the like. Under such circumstances the cill button preferably has to be provided with a detent position to ensure that the cill button stays in either a filly raised or fully lowered position and not in a midway position. Under such circumstances the motor of the power actuator arrangement has to be powerful enough to not only drive the latch mechanism between lock and unlock but also has to overcome the detent forces.
In particular the detent forces have to be sufficiently high to provide a good tactile feel and also to ensure that inertia forces resulting from a road traffic accident do not overcome the detent forces and change the state of the lock.
Thus according to the present invention there is provided a power actuator arrangement including a power drive assembly having a first powered position and a second powered position and an output means, the output means being moveable by the power drive assembly between a first detent position corresponding to the first powered position and a second detent position corresponding to the second powered position following powered operation, the output means being retained in the first or second detent positions by a detent bias force provided by a detent arrangement, the output means being independently moveable by a independent force between the first and second detent positions, the independent force acting to overcome the detent bias force such that during independent movement the independent force substantially does not act to move the power drive assembly between its first powered and second powered positions.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a power actuator arrangement including a power drive assembly and an output means, the output means being movable by the power drive assembly between first and second positions and being independently movable by an independent force between the first and second positions such that the first and second positions are detent position and during independent movement between the first and second positions the independent force has to overcome a detent force in which the power drive assembly has to overcome a reduced detent force when moving the output means between the first and second positions.
These and other features of the present invention will be best understood from the following specification and drawings.

Meritor Light Vehicle Systems (UK) Limited


An ABS modulator solenoid valve (10), having one electric solenoid (12), in which the valve control piston (14) has a passage (16) therethrough for balancing the pneumatic pressure on both ends (34, 36) of the control piston (14). One end (34) of the piston (14) is disposed in a closed piston chamber (32) while the other end (36) is positioned to contact and position a valve spool (40). The passage (16) extends between the ends (34, 36) of the piston (14). Piston (14) is biased by a spring (50) to a position within the piston chamber (32). When the solenoid (12) is de-energized the piston (14) remains in this position and variable air pressure, from an operator controlled brake valve (126), can be supplied through the valve (10) to a brake chamber (128) for operating the vehicle service brakes. During an ABS application the solenoid (12) is energized to overcome the inlet spring (50) bias and the piston (14) moves into engagement with the valve spool (40). The spool (40) is biased by an exhaust spring (52) to a position wherein the exhaust port (24) is isolated from the supply port (20) and the delivery port (22). When the solenoid (12) is fully energized the piston (14) engages the spool (40) and moves it to the exhaust position. When the solenoid is energized with a selected hold current the piston (14) engage but not move the spool (40) and the valve (10) is then in a hold position. Since the pressure on the ends (34, 36) of the piston (14) is balanced the force required to move the piston (14) to the hold position is relatively constant and not greatly effected by the pneumatic pressure at the supply port (20) or the delivery port (22).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pneumatic ABS system and more particularly to a unique ABS modulator solenoid valve, with a pressure balancing piston, which includes the build, hold and exhaust functions.
2. Description of Prior Art
In heavy vehicle air brake systems a brake valve controlled by the vehicle operator supplies compressed air at a pressure of 10 psi to 120 psi for operating the vehicle service brakes. During braking the air is supplied through the brake valve to brake chambers for operating the service brakes. The pressure of the air supplied to the service brakes is a function of the position of the brake valve which is controlled by the vehicle operator.
Standard practice in the pneumatic ABS industry is to use a modulator between the brake valve and the brake chambers for controlling the air supplied to the brake chambers. Normally the modulator has two separate control circuits using solenoids, one for building pressure in the brake chambers and one for exhausting pressurized air from the brake chambers. The hold function is also accomplished with these two circuits. During the hold function the modulator holds or regulates the air pressure in the brake chambers to a pressure between 0 psi and the pressure supplied by the brake valve. The pressure supplied by the brake valve can vary from 10 psi to 120 psi.
The AlliedSignal M-21 and M-22 antilock system modulators are exemplary of prior art ABS modulators. These modulators are essentially high capacity, on/off air valves that incorporate a pair of electrical solenoids for control. The solenoids provide the electro-pneumatic interface or link between the antilock controller electronics and the air brake system. The modulator includes a normally open exhaust solenoid and a normally closed supply solenoid, an inlet diaphragm valve and an exhaust diaphragm valve. During normal non-antilock operation both solenoids are de-energized. Brake application air enters the supply port and flows through the open exhaust solenoid to the exhaust diaphragm, which with a spring keeps the exhaust port closed. Simultaneously, application air flows to the supply diaphragm, forcing it away from its seat and permitting air flow out the delivery port to the service brake chambers. When the supply solenoid is energized the air flows therethrough closing the inlet diaphragm to prevent communication between the inlet or supply port and the outlet or delivery port. When the exhaust solenoid is energized air flow opens the exhaust diaphragm permitting free communication between the exhaust port and the delivery port for rapid exhaust of the compressed air in the brake chamber.
If a service brake application is made and the antilock system detects an impending wheel lockup, the antilock controller will immediately begin modification of the brake application using the modulator. In order to modify the brake application, the coils of the two solenoid valves contained in the modulator are energized or de-energized in a pre-programmed sequence by the antilock controller. The solenoids in the modulator are controlled independently by the antilock controller. When a solenoid is energized it either opens or closes thereby causing the exhaust or re-application of air pressure to the brake actuator.
In EBS systems it is know to use a proportional modulator valve with a single solenoid for supplying compressed air at various pressures to the vehicle brake chambers. Compressed air at a set pressure, usually 120 psi, is supplied to the valve inlet port and the pressure at the valve outlet port is controlled to vary directly with the current applied to the coil of the solenoid which controls the proportional modulator valve. U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,203 and German Offenlegungsschrift DE 3,111,716 A1 describe such proportional modulator valves.

ABS modulator solenoid with a pressure balancing piston


A closure is provided for a container and includes a base and a lid. The base includes a body for mounting to the container, and the body defines a dispensing orifice. A tamper-evident seal extends across the dispensing orifice. The lid includes a peripheral frame, a flexible panel, and a penetrator member extending from the panel for penetrating the seal.

Various product packaging designs employ barriers or seals across an opening to the package. Such seals can serve as a primary or secondary barrier against contaminant ingress. Such seals may also maintain product freshness. In addition, such seals may provide a tamper-indicating function wherein breaking or removing the seal provides evidence that the package has been opened.
An example of a closure with an internal tamper-indicating seal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,003. The closure includes a base for mounting the closure to the container. The base includes a pour spout. The interior of the pour spout is initially occluded by a sealing disk which is molded as unitary part of the pour spout. The periphery of the sealing disk defines a reduced cross-sectional thickness of material which functions as a frangible web connecting the sealing disk to the pour spout. The upper (outwardly facing) surface of the sealing disk includes a pull tab which is grasped by a user's fingers for ripping the sealing disk out of the pour spout. The closure also includes a hinged lid with an internal collar to telescopically receive the pour spout in sealing engagement when the lid is closed so as to provide a liquid-tight and air-tight system after the sealing disk has been removed.
While closures of the above-discussed type function generally satisfactorily in applications for which they are intended, it would desirable to provide an improved closure which could be employed in a variety of other applications in which the above-discussed closure is not suitable. For example, in some applications it might be desirable to provide a relatively small diameter pour spout. Access to a sealing disk disposed in such a small-diameter pour spout would be difficult. It may be difficult or impossible to provide a pull tab arrangement within such a small-diameter spout that could be easily grasped by the user.
Further, it may be desirable to provide a closure base molded from a particular material having certain desirable characteristics (e.g., strength, greater hardness, etc.). However, such characteristics may not be compatible with the desired operation of a unitary molded sealing member. That is, some materials that would be useful for an exterior closure body may not have characteristics that accommodate relatively easy tearing for seal removal. Further, while some materials may have strength or hardness characteristics desirable for a closure body, such materials may not be as compatible with the container product as would be desired. Also, a strong closure body material might have undesirably high gas permeability characteristics that would reduce the effectiveness of the material as a seal.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved closure for accommodating the use of a small dispensing orifice or spout as well as a large dispensing orifice or spout wherein an internal seal could be readily opened by the user.
Such an improved closure should advantageously provide a tamper-indicating means for visually indicating that the seal has been opened.
It would also be beneficial if such an improved closure could accommodate the use of a variety of seal materials in conjunction with a variety of different closure body materials.
It would also be desirable to provide such an improved closure with a design that could accommodate storage of the container and closure in an inverted (upside down) position wherein the closure supports the container. This would be especially useful for maintaining the fluid product in contact with the dispensing orifice so that, upon opening the closure, the product could be readily discharged without having to wait for the fluid product to flow down toward the dispensing orifice.
Also, it would be desirable if such an improved closure could be provided with a design that would accommodate efficient, high quality, large volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate.
Further, such an improved closure should advantageously accommodate its use with a variety of conventional containers having a variety of conventional container finishes, such as conventional threaded or snap-fit attachment configurations.
The present invention provides an improved closure which can accommodate designs having the abovediscussed benefits and features.

Sealed dispensing closure with a sealed penetrator


A surface of a silicon carbide substrate on which a graphite layer is formed is covered with a metal layer which can form carbide. Then, the silicon carbide substrate is annealed to cause reaction between a metal in the metal layer which can form carbide and carbon in the graphite layer so as to change the graphite layer between the metal layer which can form carbide and the silicon carbide substrate to a metal carbide layer. Thus, the graphite layer is removed. The adhesion between the metal layer which can form carbide and the silicon carbide substrate can be improved so that separation of the metal layer which can form carbide can be suppressed. Graphite deposits can be suppressed due to the removal of the graphite layer so that separation of a wiring metal film formed on a surface of the metal layer which can form carbide can be suppressed.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a material that is very stable chemically. The band gap of silicon carbide is 3 eV, which is wide enough to be extremely stably used as a semiconductor even at high temperature. In addition, because the breakdown strength of silicon carbide is also larger than that of silicon (Si) by one digit or more, attention has been paid to silicon carbide as a material alternative to silicon, whose performance limit is close to that of silicon carbide, in view of a power semiconductor device (for example, see K. Shenai and other two persons, Optimum Semiconductors for High-Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, September 1989, Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 1811-1823).
In the last stage of processing, a wiring metal film for connecting an external device is formed in a semiconductor device. Requisite items for the wiring metal film include lots of items such as small contact resistance, non-separation at the time of dicing, and prevention of separation due to durability against long term use after bonding or die-bonding. Among these items, particularly the prevention of separation is requisite so that intensive adhesion is requisite. This is not exceptional for the case where an electrode structure of a silicon carbide semiconductor device is formed.
In a silicon carbide semiconductor device which is made of silicon carbide, silicon carbide contains carbon (C) and high temperature treatment is often used in the process of producing (manufacturing) the silicon carbide semiconductor device. For this reason, a graphite layer is apt to be formed on a surface of a silicon carbide substrate constituting the silicon carbide semiconductor device. When a metal film used for wiring etc. is deposited on the surface of the silicon carbide substrate on which the graphite layer has been generated, the metal film is apt to be separated from the silicon carbide substrate.
Particularly, when attention is paid to the step of forming an ohmic electrode serving as low resistive connection in a silicon carbide semiconductor device, it is reported that the step may be performed in such a manner that an nickel (Ni) film is deposited on a silicon carbide substrate and then subjected to heat treatment to make nickel in the Ni film and silicon in the silicon carbide substrate react with each other to thereby form, for example, an Ni silicide film on the silicon carbide substrate. However, in the case where the Ni silicide film is formed, Ni hardly reacts with carbon. Therefore, silicon in the silicon carbide substrate reacts with Ni so that carbon (hereinafter referred to as remaining carbon) whose bonding to silicon is cut off forms a graphite layer on the Ni silicide film. When a wiring metal film for making connection with an external device is formed on the graphite layer, adhesive force between the silicon carbide substrate and the wiring metal film is lowered, thereby resulting in separation of the wiring metal film.
Therefore, as a method for suppressing separation of the wiring metal film, there have been proposed a method for removing the graphite layer in a plasma process in an inert gas (argon (Ar) etc.) atmosphere, a method for forming an Ni silicide film on the Ni film before heat treatment on the Ni film to thereby prevent graphite from being deposited in the topmost surface (for example, see JP-A-2006-332358), and a method for removing deposited graphite in such a manner that a metal layer which can react with carbon is deposited on the graphite layer and then subjected to heat treatment (for example, see JP-A-2006-344688).

Method for manufacturing silicon carbide semiconductor device


Method for producing high molecular weight chitosan comprising milling or grinding chitin and a reagent to produce a chitin/reagent mixture; and aging said chitin/reagent mixture to produce a high molecular weight chitosan. Method for producing low molecular weight chitosan comprising amorphizing chitin; milling or grinding said amorphized chitin and a reagent to produce chitin/reagent mixture; and aging said chitin/reagent mixture producing low molecular weight chitosan.

Biopolymers are triggering intense research interest for they are envisaged as renewable sources for materials and molecules. Chitin is the most abundant naturally produced polymer with yearly production levels in the billions of tonnes. It is a natural polysaccharide composed of β-(1-4)-linked 2-deoxy-2-acetamido-D-glucose units. Its amide functionality constitutes an interesting manifold for functionalization and applications. Chitin may be deacetylated to afford chitosan, an added-value polymer with greater manipulability and solubility in water than chitin due to its free amine group. Chitosan has been developed into many functional materials from biocompatible compounds to every day commodities. Chitosan membranes feature tunable permeability to sodium chloride, glucose, tyrosine and bovine serum protein. Chitosan has also been investigated for protein delivery, with both bovine and human serum albumin. Successful chondrocyte growth onto chitosan scaffolds as well as fibroblast cell attachment and proliferation show promise for tissue growth.
Water treatment with low concentrations of chitosan of 0.8 wt % or less, completely eliminated bacterial contaminations. The use of chitosan hydrogels in drug delivery, chitosan encapsulated quantum dots for anti-cancer drug delivery and controlled drug release has also been investigated. Carboxymethyl chitosan has been used in cosmetics as a thickening agent due to its high viscosity and large hydrodynamic volume. Packaging made from chitosan shows great promise due to its biodegradability and improved tensile strength when prepared by evaporation method. Chitosan's ability to chelate many metals, due to its amine functional group, allows it to be used as a heterogeneous catalyst support for organic transformations. Across its many applications, the degree of deacetylation (DDA) (or the percentage of amide functions converted to amine ones), and the molecular weight of chitosan play a major role in tuning its properties. Thus the ability to precisely control these two parameters is essential.
Commercial chitin is most commonly extracted from crustaceans by undergoing a heterogeneous deproteinization process, where the crustacean exoskeleton is treated with NaOH from mild to harsh conditions to remove proteins in the cuticle. The second step to chitin extraction is a demineralization process where the exoskeleton is exposed to dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) at room temperature. Finally chitin is deacetylated to afford chitosan. All these steps are complicated by the absence of solubility of chitin in most common solvents. Chitin is only slightly soluble in highly polar solvent systems such as N,N-dimethylacetamide/lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl).
The most common and commercially-used chitin deacetylation method consists of a treatment in a highly concentrated NaOH solution (≥50%) heated for several hours at temperatures above 100° C. and often repeated for multiple cycles to further deacetylate. This affords chitosan with good DDAs and medium sized molecular weights between 80 to 800 kDa.
Other methods have been explored in an effort to develop a greener and safer process: maceration, steam explosion, freeze-thaw cycles, high temperature and pressure, sonication, microwaving, and planetary milling. These methods typically afford DDA in the 70 to high 90% values. The molecular weights of the chitosan thus produced are reported as being typically under 500 kDa. An exception is the high temperature and pressure method where chitin is mixed with a 50% NaOH solution and heated to 120° C. from 3-24 hours in an autoclave at 15 psi. The DDA is reported to reach up 90.4% with 50% NaOH solutions while maintaining a molecular weight of 1560 kDa.
Mechanochemistry, the use of mechanical energy to activate chemical transformations, is currently the topic of intense research effort, in particular for biomass conversion. Chitin is no exception and it has been recently revealed that mechanochemistry was particularly effective to this end via the use of planetary milling with a large number of balls resulting in chitosan oligomers with DDA of 76.4% and a molecular weight of 6.3 kDa. Conversion of chitin into N-acetyl-D-glucosamine monomer and dimers with 5.1 and 3.9 wt % respectively has been achieved via milling showing that harsh milling conditions can depolymerize chitin. Accelerated aging has also emerged as a method to access inorganic and organic materials with very low energy input. For chitin deacetylation, low temperature solution aging has been reported and yields highly deacetylated chitosan with ˜90% DDA, at the expense of aging times close to a month. Also, although the molecular weight was not formally measured, depolymerization levels above 70% were phenomenologically established by the excellent water solubility of the resulting samples.
In these methods, the depolymerisation of chitin/chitosan by nucleophilic attack of the chitin glycosidic bonds by hydroxide ions occurs simultaneously to deacetylation. While depolymerization is a desired reaction outcome to afford low-molecular weight chitosan, and glucosamine monomers, less work was done towards high molecular weight chitosans (>1,000 kDa). Researchers have explored decreasing temperature and NaOH concentration, but it comes at the cost of a significant increase in time, and overall lower DDA. High temperature and pressure methods can yield highly deacetylated chitosan with high molecular weights although the process is energy intensive and potentially dangerous for scale-up.
As biopolymers such as chitin are sought after as ideal precursors for high-end functional materials, there is merit in exploring avenues to preserve the polymer chain as much as possible. Indeed, high molecular weight polymers feature improved mechanical properties and improved glass transition temperature. Despite its high added value applications, chitin remains a largely underutilized biomass waste.
There is thus a need to develop improved or alternative methods for producing chitosan from chitin.

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING/McGILL UNIVERSITY


An anti-theft system is described adaptable to any motor vehicle have a removable accessory electronic unit such as a high-fidelity stereo component unit installed within a mounting bracket and slidably detachable therefrom. Upon leaving the car, the vehicle owner takes along the entire accessory unit, or alternatively takes only a detachable front control panel from the unit, for secure safekeeping or to be retained in the personal possession of the owner. At the same time, continuity of the electrical circuit supplying current from the storage battery to the motor vehicle fuel pump (or ignition switch, or other control component of the vehicle) is interrupted, thus preventing normal operation of the vehicle and protecting against unauthorized use.

A wide variety of automobile anti-theft devices are known in the art. As the public demand for approaches to improved security has increased, especially within recent years, the number of these devices has grown proportionately. However, despite the momentum of accelerating technological innovation, such anti-theft systems have not been widely accepted by the public. Being perhaps somewhat complicated in operation or else unmanageable or unwieldy as a practical matter, oftentimes devices for improving automobile security have not been effectively used on an everyday basis by vehicle owners. To be sure, no anti-theft system can be considered indefatigable. All the same, a secure protective system that could be made widely available and one that could be properly and effectively implemented without undue effort, difficulty or inconvenience for the vehicle owner, might serve to provide a positive contribution towards decreasing the prevalence of car theft generally.
An area of particular focus and significance in the field of automotive anti-theft devices concerns the security and protection of car stereo system component units, which oftentimes have a radio receiver and amplifier along with a tape cassette or compact disc player combined in a single unit. The amount of interest directed to this field is readily understandable since, among these who are concerned with high-fidelity audio and who desire having a quality sound system installed inside their cars, ensuring their audio system components against tampering and theft is also an important consideration.
The security problem for car stereos becomes all the more acute, of course, with modern-day high-fidelity systems which, being both expensive and rather easily portable, all too readily may become targets for attracting unwanted attention. Unfortunately, even the best high-fidelity car stereos remain susceptible to the extent that destruction and disassembly of their installations, however strongly bolted or riveted they may have been initially, might be quickly accomplished using relatively simple tools which are commonly available and not subject to interdiction.
As one of the preferred solutions for preventing the theft of car stereos, vehicle owners often request to have these units installed within a protective sleeve or a mounting bracket contained inside the front dashboard. The entire unit can then be simply removed from the bracket, and thus guarded for safe keeping in the personal possession of the owner, or secured for storage away from the visible notice of any casual passerby whenever the car is to be parked along a public thoroughfare or left unattended for some extended period of time. More recently, some of these units have been manufactured with a separately detachable control panel that can be removed from the front surface of the component unit. By detaching the control panel, the owner renders the accessory component unit virtually unusable and inoperable even while the rest of the unit remains in place unremoved within the dashboard.
Numerous other approaches exist intending to protect against the misappropriation of car stereos, including such various devices as a warning alarm which sounds upon attempted tampering, or a remainder alarm prompting the vehicle owner to remove the unit before leaving the car. The latter type of apparatus is exemplified in Ghazarian (U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,969) disclosing an anti-theft warning system in which a flashing LED light or an audible beeper alarm becomes activated whenever a removable accessory unit is installed in place within the car during the time until the ignition switch is also closed. The warning system in fact requires the motor vehicle owner to remove the accessory unit before leaving the vehicle, in order to deactivate the warning alarm. There are also my prior art systems of the former type, for example the anti-theft device for a removable car stereo unit disclosed by Holzhauer et. al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,416). The Holzhauer system is intended to inactivate the car stereo by means of a small change-over switch that responds to either a control signal from a separate, "pre-armed" burglar alarm system contained somewhere within the motor vehicle, or alternatively to slight deformation of the outer edge of the microswitch due to small amounts of physical pressure such as would occur if the car stereo were improperly removed. There are a large number of other car stereo anti-theft systems having mechanically activated switching means, as for example shown in the disclosure of Knakowski et al. (U.S. Pat. No 4,679,026). These several devices are all intended as precautions taken to prevent the attempted larceny of perhaps the most vulnerable automotive accessory. Yet, they are nonetheless all inherently limited, having no amount of effectiveness as regards protective security for the enirety of the motor vehicle.
The prior art also includes a number of anti-theft devices specifically for the prevention or deterrence of theft for the motor vehicle only. Some of these involve a mechanically or electrically coded key required in addition to the automobile ignition key for the normal starting or operation of the vehicle. Again, there are a wide variety of these, with a wide array of mechanical and electrical combinations, for example the variably configurable device disclosed by Greenspan (U.S. Pat. No. 3,004,170). However, among all these numerous anti-theft systems, none as yet has the advantages that might be obtained, in terms of overall usefulness and convenience of implementation, by combining integrally within a removable electronic accessory component unit such as a car stereo, a protective system having anti-theft deterrence for the entire motor vehicle.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a more comprehensive and at the same time more conveniently practicable mode of anti-theft protection for the automobile owner who may already have a theft-preventing removable car stereo, but who lacks a similarly effective anti-theft security system to ensure protection of the entire vehicle. By adapting a particular set of anti-theft elements from the electrical system of the vehicle, and incorporating these within the integral components of an anti-theft removable electronic accessory unit, the present invention permits a measure of protection for an entire car similar to that which previously could be obtained only for the accessory unit itself. Furthermore, the present invention provide the motor vehicle owner a means for achieving anti-theft protection which might be less cumbersome or tedious to use on an everyday basis. The very simplicity and accessibility of its implementation adds to the likelihood of a protective anti-theft system having a positive effect.
Another object of the present invention is to frustrate or deter tampering by those attempting to "jump-wire" the car, trying to defeat or to bypass the negative control of the vehicle that ordinarily obtains upon removal of the accessory unit. The connector used for attaching the removable component has a plurality of electrical contact points, of which only one particular pairing might be used to establish the requisite electrical continuity necessary to operate the motor vehicle. Connector contacts the are not actively required in the electronic system of the vehicle are connected to electrical ground. An intruder who tries to "jump-wire" the car may inadvertently cause a short-circuit to occur in the electrical wire leading from the motor vehicle storage battery; this opens a protective circuit-breaking fuse, interposed between the connector unit and the motor vehicle storage battery, thus interrupting the supply of electrical power for the automobile fuse pump, thereby disabling normal operation of the motor vehicle.
The precise configuration of the invention might be altered according to the varying circumstances, and the particular preferences of individual motor vehicle owners, and is therefore adaptable across a wide variety of specific embodiments. However, the general outlines of the invention as demonstrated and disclosed herein may be shown definitively by reference to the accompanying drawings and to the detailed description following.

Motor vehicle anti-theft security system


A tire steer condition detection and notification apparatus calculates a tire steer angle based on a steering wheel operation when a parked condition of a vehicle is detected, and provides a notification (i.e., warning) regarding a tire steer condition when the tire steer angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle. Further, when the vehicle is determined to be in the parked condition and has a predicted travel course diverted away from a road shape based on the tire steer angle at the time, the tire steer condition detection apparatus provides a notification (i.e., warning) regarding the tire steer condition.

A situation described in the following may help ordinary people understand a background of the present invention. That is, for example, let us consider that a user intends to park his or her vehicle at an intended location in a parking area. The user carefully steers a steering wheel so as not to contact the vehicle with the other vehicles around it or obstacles such as road facilities including a wall and a pillar. The user may need to repeatedly K-turn or pull over to a curb. The user repeatedly drives the vehicle forward and backward and may be at a loss to understand how much the steering wheel is rotated or whether the tires are directed to the right or left. In such a case, the vehicle may move to an unintended direction and collide with an obstacle.
In consideration for such situation, for example, Japanese Patent Document JP-A-1996-80865 (referred to as Patent Document 1 hereinafter) discloses a front tire steering angle indication apparatus that uses a needle to indicate a front tire steering angle corresponding to a steering wheel operation. The apparatus is built in a dashboard at a driver's seat and always indicates the front tire steering angle.
Using that apparatus, the user can relatively easily determine the amount of steering wheel operation to park the vehicle at an intended place.
Even when the user uses the apparatus to successfully park or stop the vehicle, an unexpected accident may occur when the vehicle starts the next time depending on a condition of tires steered to park the vehicle.
As an example, a vehicle 11 may be parked at the end of a road 10 whose cross sectional view is convex as shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1B is a top view of the vehicle 11 parked at the end of a lane 12 of the road 10. FIG. 1B assumes that the user parks the vehicle by leaving the steering wheel turned to the left against a traveling direction. When restarting the vehicle, the user may forget correcting the condition of the steering wheel (or a tire 13). The tire 13 may move as steered and sidetrack because it is not positioned straight along the traveling direction. In the worst case, the vehicle may fall from the road.
On the contrary, the user may park the vehicle by leaving the steering wheel turned to the right. When the user inadvertently restarts the vehicle without correcting the condition of the steering wheel, the vehicle may collide with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction on an opposite lane 14 or with another vehicle catching up from behind on the lane 12.
As another example, the user may wait for the traffic light to change and forget turning the steering wheel to the right or left. After the traffic light changes, the user may restart the vehicle without correcting the steering wheel, causing the same accident as mentioned above. The above description obviously applies to driving on not only the left-hand side but also the right-hand side depending on traffic regulations of the subject country.
The apparatus according to Patent Document 1 simply always displays the steering condition of tires despite the above-mentioned situations. The apparatus does not notify whether or not the user needs to pay attention to a steering condition of tires of the stopped vehicle next time the vehicle restarts. Even though the apparatus of Patent Document 1 allows the user to recognize the tire steering condition, the user needs to determine the condition at the time of restarting the vehicle based on his or her experience or intuition. Even when a vehicle uses the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the user may forget confirming the tire steering condition. The user cannot be aware of the condition at the time of restarting the vehicle.
The user may forget a steering condition of tires of the stopped vehicle and restart the vehicle to cause an unsafe condition. The apparatus in Patent Document 1 cannot notify the user that the tires are not steered in a proper direction. In other words, that apparatus cannot provide the necessary notification at a timing needed for the user when the vehicle stops or restarts.


An aluminum object is manufactured by a process including chromate conversion coating of the aluminum object; sequentially applying a primer coat to the outer surface and thereafter applying a dielectric substrate basecoat; vacuum metallizing a corrosion prone metal, namely indium, on the dielectric substrate basecoat to form "islands" of the indium that are top coated with a clear resinous layer to encapsulate and insulate the islands, one from another. The indium islands are less than one thousand angstroms thick and have an average diameter of less than three thousand angstroms. The island structure is etched following the growth of the metal as it is deposited between the nucleation stage and the stage of channelization of formation of an electrically conductive film. The etchant is selected to clear channels between island structures to improve adhesion of a dielectric resinous top coat to the dielectric substrate by order of magnitude to adhesion to the islands.

Vacuum metallizing of plastic and similar dielectric substrates is disclosed in various forms including:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,125, Fustier PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,806, Fisher PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,118,781, Downing PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,472, Nakanishi PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,698, Dunning PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,530, Blum PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,822, Kaufman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,170, Oliva
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,711 issued Feb. 14, 1984, relates to metal film island structure and spacing to the appearance and performance of a commercial product, to the conductivity of the metal layer, to the corrosion resistance of the metal layer and/or to the adhesion of the top coat. It further relates to nucleation and film growth to a desired island structure and spacing that achieves these ends.
With regard to the last statement, two excellent reference books are:
Thin Film Phenomena, Kasturi L. Chopra, Robert E. Kreiger Publishing Company, Huntington, N.Y., 1979. See especially pp. 163 et seq.
Handbook of Thin Film Technology, Leon I. Maissel and Reinhard Glang, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, N.Y., 1970. See especially pp. 8-32 et seq.
These texts discuss and illustrate the stages of metal film growth by vacuum deposition from metal nucleation and nuclei growth, to liquid coalescence, to electrically discrete islands, channelization with incipient film conductivity, and finally, full continuous film formation. Film formation of vacuum deposited metals on plastic substrates for commercial products, especially on elastomeric plastic substrates, is not discussed. Nor is the interdependence of the natures of the metal film and the top coating correlated with product performance.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,711 shows the significant difference in performance to be obtained with a vacuum metallized flexible plastic product, top coated, where the metal particles are coalesced only to the island state instead of being allowed to coalesce to beyond the channelization stage where film conductivity is established.
In the '711 patent, the separate islands are coalesced from separate nucleation points and are globular or rounded and fused appearing and are part of the nucleation and growth process.
In general, the coalesced islands forming the indium films of the '711 patent are smaller and there is a much greater spacing between them that can be filled with the resin of the top coating, in effect encapsulating the islands and binding them to the substrate surface. The rounded islands are better protected by the resin and the film over all is far more corrosion resistant, surprisingly so. The metal film is much more securely adhered to the substrate--a very significant advantage. The appearance of the globular island product is better--it is more specular, more reflective.
The construction of the indium island structure in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,711 includes islands that are separated by channels which receive the top coat to bond the resinous film of the top coat to the substrate for the indium island structures. While the island structures are suitable for their intended purpose, it has been observed that the channels formed between the individual islands also contain many clusters and smaller islands of residual material. It is believed that this material reduces the total effective area of substrate material to which the top coat can be bonded. Consequently, the resultant bright trim article may be subject to undesirable delamination between the top coat and the substrate material.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,143 discloses a corrosion resistant vacuum metallized article of bright metallic material in which a dielectric substrate surface has a vacuum deposited layer of metal selected from a group consisting of indium and alloys thereof which alloys are predominantly of indium and wherein the vacuum deposition is continued only until there is a formation of discrete islands which visually appear as a continuous film, but that have channels formed between the discrete islands of a dimension so as to maintain the islands electrically non-conductive over the surface area of the substrate, wherein the process includes etching the vacuum deposited discrete islands with a solvent which slowly dissolves or removes residual amounts of indium from the channels between the distinct islands so as to clear the channels to expose additional bonding surfaces on the substrate for increasing the surface area of adhesion between the substrate and a protective dielectric top coat.
The deposited islands are formed by indium which is amphoteric and thus has some solubility in both acids and bases. As deposited, the indium metal layer is composed of tiny islands ranging from tiny clusters of 25 angstroms or less in diameter. The tiny clusters are barely resolvable in the transmission electronic microscope. The islands can increase in diameter to sizes as large as 4,000 angstroms in diameter. Each of the islands is separated by channels which can be several hundred angstroms wide. However, in the deposition process to form the aforedescribed indium island structure, it is observed that many clusters and small islands of residual indium material may exist in the channels which produce the desired electrically nonconductive characteristics across the surface of the substrate. The process of my '143 patent includes etching the previously deposited indium material with a solution that slowly dissolves or removes the small clusters and islands to clean the channels and thereby define an additional surface area against which the top coat can adhere to the base coat so as to improve its adhesion to the base coat. The typical adhesion strength of a top coat material to a base coat material is in the order of 2 orders of magnitude stronger than the adhesion strength of the top coat to the metal making up the individual island structures separated by the channels. The treatment steps for vacuum deposited islands just before top coating consists of rinsing the part in a 10% NaOH solution for 60 to 90 seconds in a temperature range of 150.degree.-160.degree. F. followed by two water rinses and a second rinse with deionized water. This etch treatment step greatly improves the adhesion of top coat material of the type set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,711. While the flexible substrate described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,711 has sufficient adhesion to pass most automotive specification tests, it is desirable to improve the adhesion in such article so that it will consistently pass an X-scribed type taped adhesion test after either Florida exposures or accelerated weathering tests including (QUV, weatherometer, xenon, dual carbon arc weatherometer). With increasing emphasis on quality in American made cars, such tests are now beginning to show up in automotive specifications (see, for example, Fisher Body FBMS 1-51 specification). While etching the island containing metal layers of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,711, an improved adhesion between top coat and base coat materials results so that such X-scribed standards can be met.


An electric signal is allowed to reach loop antennas disposed adjacently to one another from an RFID antenna as a starting point by electromagnetic induction, which permits one IC chip processing device to exert a function equivalent to that exerted by a plurality of IC chip processing devices. Further, the loop antennas are superimposed on a display screen of a display system of an information providing apparatus, and the display screen is transparently visible, and therefore it makes possible to utilize a display surface of display contents on the display screen as an IC chip reading surface and dispose a plurality of reading surfaces showing different services provided.

In recent years, remarkably widely used are cards and cell phones (osaifu keitai (trademark) (wallet phone)) that have a passive type communication function via an antenna and are mounted with contactless type integrated circuits capable of storing information (for example, FeliCa (trademark)), and various services that utilize contactless type integrated circuits have appeared. As the services provided with the use of contactless type integrated circuits, main services are a payment and clearing service and the like, and lately, services that provide information via contactless type integrated circuits have also been provided. For example, information providing apparatuses such as kiosk terminals and electronic posters that have a display screen and provide information via contactless type integrated circuits have appeared.
Here, to utilize the services that use contactless type integrated circuits, it is necessary for a contactless type integrated circuit to be held over a dedicated reader/writer device. The reader/writer device is a device for exchanging information through communication with the contactless type integrated circuit. The reader/writer device has an antenna to carry out communication with the contactless type integrated circuit.
To effectively mount the reader/writer device in an information providing apparatus, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-346094, proposed is an information processing system that has a reader/writer device in its housing and is disposed with an antenna of the reader/writer device in a fixed portion of the surface or the back surface of the display screen of the system. When services that utilize a contactless type integrated circuit are provided, this information providing apparatus can facilitate the utilization of the services that use the contactless type integrated circuit by clearly specifying a disposing position of the antenna to a user.
However, in a conventional technology represented by the technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-346094, in order to absorb differences in each implementation specification of a contactless type integrated circuit by an information providing apparatus, or in order to shorten the processing time consumed in providing services when a plurality of the services utilizing a contactless type integrated circuit are provided, a plurality of reader/writer devices are necessary to be mounted in the information providing apparatus, and at this time, the following problem arises.
In other words, the manufacturing cost of the information providing apparatus is increased because a plurality of reader/writer devices are mounted therein. Further, since a plurality of reader/writer devices are mounted in the housing of the information providing apparatus, it is necessary to ensure a space for the mounting, giving rise to a difficulty in making the housing more compact. Furthermore, the information providing apparatus needs processing time to make arrangements (polling processing) of a plurality of the reader/writer devices.
Still further, antennas of a plurality of the reader/writer devices interfere with one another, and this leads to a fear that the interference causes a trouble in communication with the contactless type integrated circuit. In addition, it sometimes occurs that a menu display for guiding presentation of services on the display screen of the information providing apparatus and the antennas of the reader/writer devices are apart from each other, and therefore conveying a precise position over which the contactless type integrated circuit is held to receive a desired service is difficult.

Integrated circuit processing device and integrated circuit processing method


Provided are a core-shell type anode active material for lithium secondary batteries including a carbonaceous material core; and a shell formed outside the carbonaceous material core, the shell including a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) medium. The core-shell type anode active material for lithium secondary batteries has the shell including the PTC medium, and thus has the improved conductivity and high output density, exhibiting excellent electrical characteristics. And, a lithium secondary battery manufactured using the anode active material has excellent safety, in particular safety against overcharge and external short circuit.

Lithium secondary batteries have a wide range of application. Small-sized lithium secondary batteries are used as power sources for driving portable electronic communication equipments such as camcorders, mobile phones or notebook computer, in particular high-performance portable equipments, and now become dominant power supplies. Recently, medium and large-sized lithium secondary batteries of high output characteristics are developed for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) or electric vehicles (EV) applications. The research and development of the medium and large-sized lithium secondary batteries moves toward environmentally friendly power sources for uninterruptible power supplies, motor tools, vessels, artificial satellites or military wireless telegraph sets and weapon systems in various application fields of industry inside and outside of the country including Japan, Europe and U.S.A.
Currently, high crystalline carbon such as natural graphite and artificial graphite, or low crystalline carbon such as non-graphitizable carbon and graphitizable carbon is used as an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery.
Natural graphite has advantages of low cost, a flat discharge curve in the negative voltage and excellent initial discharge capacity. However, the natural graphite has disadvantages of rapid reduction in charge/discharge efficiency and charge/discharge capacity when charge and discharge cycles are repeated.
Mesophase-based graphite has a shape of spherical granule, and has a high fill density to improve the energy density per volume of battery. And, the mesophase-based graphite is advantageous in molding a polarity plate. However, the mesophase-based graphite has a drawback of low reversible capacity.
Non-graphitizable carbon has advantages of excellent safety and large capacity. However, when compared with graphitic carbon, the non-graphitizable carbon has smaller particle size and micropores, leading to lower density. And, when the non-graphitizable carbon is pulverized, its particle shape and size becomes uniform. Thus, the non-graphitizable carbon has a low fill density, resulting in poor commercialization.
Recently, to meet the demand for safety and high capacity, lithium titanium oxide becomes the center of interest. The lithium titanium oxide is evaluated to be one of materials capable of improving safety and useful as an anode active material having a stable structure of spinel shape. The use of lithium titanium oxide as an anode active material results in has excellent durability as well as flatness of a voltage-discharge curve, excellent charge/discharge cycles, and improved power and high rate discharge characteristics. However, if lithium titanium oxide is used singularly, it has a reduction in battery characteristics due to its low average voltage.
Therefore, various methods have been suggested to solve the problems of the conventional anode active material. However, any anode active material was not yet discovered that is evaluated to be excellent in both of electrical characteristics and safety of a lithium secondary battery.
For example, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2004-0096279 discloses a method for preparing an anode active material with improved life and high rate discharge characteristics by doping graphite with a metal (or a nonmetal).
Korean Patent No. 10-0669335 discloses an anode for a lithium secondary battery, in which a thermosetting resin layer is formed on an anode current collector. Metal ions existing at the anode current collector diffuse into the thermosetting resin layer to create a concentration gradient. The surface roughness of an interface between the anode current collector and the thermosetting resin layer is increased to increase an adhesive strength therebetween, thereby improving life characteristics and safety of a battery.
Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2008-0010944 discloses an anode for a lithium secondary battery, comprising an anode active material, and titanium oxide and styrene-butadiene(SBR) rubber on the surface of the anode active material. The used titanium oxide increases the surface resistance of carbon to prevent reduction of power in a battery. The styrene-butadiene rubber used together with titanium oxide promotes storage at high temperature due to excellent thermal safety and adhesive strength in itself.
Korean Patent No. 10-0861793 discloses an anode active material, in which graphite is surface-treated with TiO2 of high electroconductivity to improve high rate discharge characteristics of a lithium secondary battery.
However, techniques suggested in the above-mentioned prior arts are regarded as insufficient to improve safety while maintaining electrical characteristics of a lithium secondary battery.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-241665 discloses an electrode manufactured by adding an active material, a conductive material, a binder and a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) thermistor to an electrode slurry so as to improve safety of a lithium secondary battery.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-279996 discloses a non-aqueous secondary battery manufactured by thinly coating titanic acid and barium zirconate on any one of a cathode mix layer, an anode mix layer and a separator, or by adding titanic acid and barium zirconate in a non-aqueous electrolyte so as to improve high rate discharge characteristics of a lithium secondary battery.
However, the above-mentioned two prior arts disclose techniques for manufacturing an electrode by simply mixing or adding electrode materials, and thus it is improper to express that the prior arts relate to an anode active material. And, the techniques can improve safety of a battery to some extent, but may reduce electrical characteristics of a battery, and thus the prior arts are not evaluated to have sufficient effects.
Therefore, there are urgent demands for an anode active material for a lithium secondary battery that exhibits excellent safety while maintaining excellent battery characteristics, and a method for preparing the anode active material with excellent reproducibility and productivity.

Core-shell type anode active material for lithium secondary batteries, method for preparing the same and lithium secondary batteries comprising the same


Optical fibers having low fictive temperature and methods of making such fibers are described. Management of the cooling rate of an optical fiber during fiber draw permits control over the fictive temperature of the fiber. Non-monotonic cooling rates are shown to promote reductions in fiber fictive temperature. The non-monotonic cooling includes slower cooling rates in upstream portions of the process pathway and faster cooling rates in downstream portions of the process pathway. Reduction in fiber fictive temperature is achieved by controlling the ambient temperature of the fiber to slow the cooling rate of the fiber in upstream portions of the process pathway that correspond to the fiber temperature regime in which the fiber viscosity is sufficiently low to permit efficient structural relaxation. Increases in cooling rate in downstream portions of the process pathway permit adjustment of fiber temperature as needed to meet entrance temperature requirements of downstream processing units. Lower fiber fictive temperature and lower fiber attenuation are achieved at faster draw speeds through non-monotonic cooling of fiber temperature.

In the manufacturing of the optical fibers, the optical preforms are heated to temperatures well above the glass softening point and then drawn at large draw down ratios to form optical fibers 125 μm in diameter. Due to the high draw temperatures, large draw down ratios and fast draw speeds, the glass is far from an equilibrium state, resulting in optical fibers with high fictive temperature. High fictive temperature is undesirable because high fictive temperature is known to correlate with increased attenuation of optical signals in optical fibers. To reduce attenuation in optical fibers, it is desirable to modify processing conditions to produce optical fibers with lower fictive temperature.
Efforts to reduce fictive temperature have emphasized slow cooling to stabilize the optical fiber in a state closer to an equilibrium state. Prolonged cooling an optical fiber at temperatures in the glass transition range of the fiber is one strategy for reducing fictive temperature. The extent to which fictive temperature can be reduced in existing fiber processing systems at the draw speeds used in optical fiber manufacturing, however, is limited because the residence time of the optical fiber at temperatures within the glass transition range are too short (typically <0.2 sec) to permit significant relaxation of the structure of the glass. Because of the short residence time, the structure of the glass remains far from the equilibrium state and the attenuation of the optical fiber remains too high for many applications. It would be desirable to develop methods of processing that enable the production of optical fibers having low fictive temperature so that optical fibers with reduced attenuation can be achieved.

Optical fiber with low fictive temperature


A separation device, such as a centrifugal dryer, for separating a mixture of a solid material and a fluid is described. The device has a housing having at least one housing inlet for supplying the mixture and at least one housing outlet for discharging the solid material or the fluid separated from the mixture. The device also has a rotor that is arranged within the housing and is mounted rotatably around a longitudinal axis. The rotor causes movement of the solid material in the direction of the longitudinal axis by rotating. The rotor has multiple rotor segments, which can be separated from each other.

In the prior art, such separation devices were used to separate a mixture of, for example, a solid and a fluid, in particular a granulate from water. In this case, the mixture of solid and liquid is supplied to the separation device as a conveying stream. Such separation devices are also known as centrifugal dryers and are used, for example, in the plastics processing industry. Such devices are used to separate a previously produced plastic granulate, which is discharged from a granulating device by means of a fluid stream, from the fluid stream again. The separated granulate can then be supplied to further processing or packaging, for example.
The known separation devices for separating granulate, for example, from a water stream have a housing into which, through a housing inlet, the conveying stream consisting of the water stream and the granulate is introduced into the interior of the housing. The housing comprises at least one housing outlet for discharging the solid and/or the fluid. Within the housing, a rotor is rotatably mounted; during operation, this rotor rotates around a longitudinal axis that is arranged to be essentially vertical. In particular, the rotor is configured to by its rotary motion transport the solid essentially along the longitudinal axis of the rotor. The rotor is at least partially surrounded by a sieve. The sieve extends, at least in certain areas, around the rotor in a circumferential direction and also in an axial direction, thus in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the rotor. The sieve is designed in such a manner that it retains the granulate as a solid or a solid material within the effective range of the rotor and allows the liquid phase to pass in a radial direction through the sieve to the outside. This causes the conveying stream to be separated into its solid and liquid components.
Due to contact with the granulate to be conveyed in particular in the longitudinal direction of the rotor, the rotor is subject to constant wear so that the rotor has to be maintained at certain intervals and replaced if necessary.
In certain applications of such separation devices, the rotor may have dimensions of more than 2-3 m in its longitudinal direction. The rotor, which is typically vertically aligned, is changed with the assistance of lifting gear, wherein the rotor is usually lifted out of the separation device at its upper end. However, this is only possible if there is a sufficient ceiling height at the installation site of the separation device. In the most unfavorable case, the separation device must be removed from a granulate production line and the entire separation device must be moved from its vertical alignment to its horizontal alignment in order to be able to replace the rotor. Accordingly, such a change is associated with a high expense.

Separation device for separating a solid material from a conveying stream and method for maintaining such a separation device


An optical data storage medium transmissive to a laser beam and formed of a light transmissive substrate that provides mechanical support, and a light transmissive data substrate formed on the substrate. The data substrate is patterned to form block regions that block the laser beam from passing through, and pass regions that allow the laser beam to pass through, such that the blockage or passage of light through the optical storage medium reflects the type of data bits to be stored on the optical medium. In another embodiment a magneto-optical data storage medium which is also transmissive (or partly transmissive) to a laser beam includes a data magneto-optical data substrate formed on a substrate. The data substrate is recordable by patterning a magnetic domain with magnetic fields of opposite directions, such that each magnetic direction reflects the type of data bits to be stored on the optical medium. In yet another embodiment the data substrate includes a combination of block and pass regions as well as one or more writeable and/or recordable films.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to optical and magneto-optical data storage systems, and in particular to transmissive optical and magneto-optical data storage media and methods of making the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical and magneto-optic data storage systems store great quantities of data on a disk. The data is accessed by focusing a laser beam onto the disk and detecting the reflected light beam. Three kinds of systems are well known. The first kind is a ROM (Read Only Memory) system in which data is permanently embedded as marks in the disk. The data is detected as a change in reflectivity as the laser beam impinges on the data marks.
The second kind is a WORM (Write-Once-Read-Many) system that allows the user to write data by making marks, such as pits, on a blank optical disk surface. Once the data is recorded onto the disk it cannot be erased. The data in a WORM system is also detected as a change in reflectivity.
The third kind is a WREM (Write-Read-Erase-Many) system in which a laser beam is used to heat a magneto-optic data layer to a critical temperature, generally just below the Curie temperature, in order to write and erase the data. As the critical temperature is reached, the magnetic domain field strength is reduced to close to zero. An external magnetic field, using an electromagnet or a permanent magnet, is then used to reverse the domain to record a one or a zero. In general data is recorded by orienting the magnetic domain of a spot in either an up or a down position. The WREM system reads the recorded data by directing a low power (reading) laser beam to the data layer. The difference in magnetic domain directions causes the plane of polarization of the light beam to be rotated one way or the other, clockwise or counterclockwise. This change in orientation of polarization is then detected and recognized as either a digit "1" or "0".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,262 to Best et al., titled "Multiple Data Surface Optical Data Storage System With Transmissive Data Surfaces", issued on Oct. 19, 1993, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an optical data storage system that includes a multiple data surface medium and an optical head. The medium includes several substrates that are separated by a light transmissive medium. With the exception of the last data layer, data surfaces are substantially light transmissive and are located on the substrate surfaces which lie adjacent to a light transmissive medium. The optical head includes an aberration compensator to allow the head to focus onto the different data surfaces, and a filter to screen out unwanted reflected light.
This patented system is relatively complicated and its manufacture is labor intensive. Also, the system uses a focusing mechanism, which adds complexity and cost, and reduces the system signal to noise ratio.
Therefore, there is still a greatly unsatisfied need for an optical and a magneto-optical data storage systems that reduce the number of components, thus simplifying the overall structure, reducing its cost, and improving its performance.

Transmissive optical and magneto-optical data storage media and method of making the same


Provided are cardo copolybenzimidazoles, a gas separation membrane using the same and a method for preparing the same. More particularly, provided are cardo copolybenzimidazoles obtained by introducing cardo groups and aromatic ether groups to a polybenzimidazole backbone, a gas separation membrane having significantly improved oxygen permeability by using the same, and a method for preparing the same. The cardo copolybenzimidazoles have improved solubility as compared to the polybenzimidazole polymers according to the related art, show excellent mechanical properties while maintaining thermal stability so as to be formed into a film shape, and provide a gas separation membrane having significantly improved gas permeability, particularly, oxygen permeability.

In general, polybenzimidazole-based polymers have higher density as compared to other aromatic polymers, and exhibit a thermal decomposition temperature of 500° C. or higher and a glass transition temperature of 400° or higher. Thus, such polybenzimidazole-based polymers having the highest thermal, chemical and physical stability among the polymers known to date have been used in various industrial fields.
However, while such polybenzimidazoles are highly crystalline and have excellent mechanical strength, they show poor solubility to organic solvents and low permeability to substantially all types of gases, and thus are limited in application to gas separation membranes. It is known that this is because the hydrogen molecules present on the polymeric chain cause hydrogen bonding between one chain and another, so that the polymer structure becomes rigid and the polymeric chains are packed closely. Therefore, some researchers have conducted many studies to inhibit such packing of polymeric chains and to reduce the rotational movement of polymeric chains. Additional studies have conducted about modification of the polymeric backbone to increase the free volume between one polymeric chain and another, and thus to improve gas permeability.
One of the above studies has made an attempt to increase solubility of polybenzimidazole in order to overcome the problem of poor processability and limited application of polybenzimidazole caused by low solubility characteristics unique to polybenzimidazole. Particularly, P. R. Srinivasan et al. have reported that polybenzimidazole obtained by introducing fluorene as a cardo group to the backbone of polybenzimidazole realizes improved solubility, while maintaining thermal stability thereof (Non-patent Document 1). However, there is no disclosure about forming the polybenzimidazole into a film shape and using the same as a gas separation membrane. It is thought that even though polybenzimidazole may be formed into a film shape, the resultant film is too brittle to apply it to industrial applications due to the structural characteristics of polybenzimidazole.
In addition, it is reported that a composite membrane obtained by coating polybenzimidazole onto the outer surface of a steel support layer (intermediate layer: zirconia) is used to determine the gas permeability (Non-Patent Document 2). However, this is merely about permeability-selectivity of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from hot syngas, and there is no suggestion about oxygen permeability using a polybenzimidazole-based monolayer membrane.
Meanwhile, Guey-Sheng Liou et al. have reported that wholly aromatic polyamide (aramid), polyester (polyarylate) and poly(1,3,4-oxadiazole) having a polymeric backbone to which fluorene is introduced as a cardo group is prepared to improve the solubility of polymer, and the resultant polymer formed into a film shape provides excellent light-emitting properties and may be used as a blue light-emitting material of a polymeric light-emitting device (Non-Patent Document 3). However, there is no suggestion or disclosure about the use of polymer as a gas separation membrane.
Further, a polyimide-based single membrane including cardo groups introduced to a polyimide backbone having thermal properties and mechanical properties similar to those of polybenzimidazole has been determined for its gas permeability. However, this is merely about permeability-selectivity of nitrogen and carbon dioxide (Patent Document 1).
Therefore, the present disclosure provides a gas separation membrane obtained by forming a membrane from polybenzimidazole having significantly improved oxygen permeability by virtue of an increased distance between one polybenzimidazole chain and another, while maintaining high anticorrosive property and thermal/chemical stability. Particularly, it is required that polymers for use in On Board Inert Gas Generation System (OBIGGS) have heat resistance at 90° C. or higher, which is the air temperature of an aircraft engine, and provide excellent oxygen permeability and selectivity over nitrogen, which is inert gas in the fuel tank of an aircraft. Thus, the polybenzimidazole gas separation membrane disclosed herein may be used as a material suitable for OBIGGS.

Cardo copolybenzimidazoles, gas separation membranes and preparation method thereof

KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


In a process for controlling the speed of an internal combustion engine after starting, the ignition angle (ZW) is adjusted in the retarded direction when an engine speed threshold (nS) is reached, in order to reduce the power and to reach the idling speed (nLL) without overshooting. The engine speed threshold (nS) is dependent on the temperature-dependent idling speed (nLL). The degree of ignition angle adjustment (Z) is dependent on the rate of variation of the engine speed.

The invention relates to a process for controlling the speed of an internal combustion engine after starting, and until reaching an idling speed.
The starting process is terminated when the engine which has been disconnected from the starter continues to run under its own power and has reached a specific minimum speed. After this, the so-called after-start phase begins, during which the engine runs up to its predetermined idling speed. This idling speed is usually controlled in modern engine controls by means of an idling speed regulator.
During this after-start phase, there is still no stable operating state present. The speed usually increases very rapidly within approximately 0.3 to 1 second, from approximately 200 revolutions per minute after the start, to the temperature-dependent idling speed of approximately 600 revolutions per minute at approximately 20.degree. C. A slightly enriched mixture adjustment and early ignition angle values are usually provided here in order to ensure reliable running up.
However, the rapid increase in speed also causes the speed firstly to rise beyond the predetermined idling speed and only then to be subsequently controlled back to the idling speed by the idling speed regulator. As a result of this overshooting of the speed over the idling speed, increased exhaust gas emissions arise which are in any case already increased by the rich mixture setting and therefore by the not yet possible lambda control during the after-start phase.

Process for controlling the speed of an internal combustion engine after starting