A character data entry method using a set of key groups where the keys are located densely is disclosed, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting one or no key in each key group touching some or no keys in each key group; (b) checking the selected character that is determined with the combination of the selected keys from each key group; (c) searching the desired character changing the selected keys by sliding the touching fingers; and (d) enter the desired character by getting one of the touching fingers off the keys.

Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to data entry system, especially for cellular phones and personal digital assistants.
It has been desired to develop a data entry method applicable to portable electric devices like the cellular phones, palm top computers and so on. Such devices have narrow areas to implement the keys for data entry.
One of the proposed approaches for such a problem is to use small size keys, and special feature key tops are proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,753). Using this type of key tops, many keys can be implemented in a narrow area, but it is not easy to realize a comfortable data entry circumstance.
Another approach is to enter information like a character code or a function with a combination of the plural selected keys, so called chord method (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,515,305, 5,552,782, 5,793,312, 5,993,089). But a log time practice is required to be skilled to use a chord type keyboard, because the user needs to remember the key combination for all characters. Furthermore a cellular phone is too small to implement a chord keyboard system with comfortable size keys.
With the present invention, character data are entered with two finger operations to a set of keys consists of three key groups. A key or none is selected from each key group by touching the keys, and the character to be entered is determined as the combination of the selected keys. The determined character is entered when one or two fingers release all the depressing keys.
There is a rule to select a key from the key group when plural keys are depressed in the key group. Therefor the keys can be arranged to a narrow area densely.
With the present invention, the status of the key operation, e.g. which keys are selected and/or which character is selected, is displayed. Therefor the operator can search right key operation looking at such display and, after that, the operator can enter the desiring character by releasing one of the fingers. So the keys can be arranged highly densely, and the operator needs not remember the key combination for all the characters to use.
By displaying a set of candidates of the characters to be determine, those are the set of the characters correspond to the set of the keys in a key group, the operator can search the desiring character rapidly.
With the reasons stated above, a comfortable data entry environment can be realized with a cellular phones utilizing the present invention.

Data entry method for portable communications device

Umetsubo-cho, Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken 471-0064


The field of the invention is that of optical devices allowing the superposition of an electronic image on an image coming from an external scenery. The subject of the invention is an optical device for superposing images, designed to be positioned in front of an optical module comprising at least an objective and a photosensitive surface positioned in the focal plane of said objective. The device comprises an image source, an optical relay and an optical combiner formed of two optical parts assembled via an approximately plane common face including a weakly reflective coating. The combiner has the general form of a plate with plane parallel faces, the common face being inclined at around 45 degrees to said plane faces. It has an entrance face and a opposing face that are approximately perpendicular to the plane faces, the opposing face having approximately the form of a reflecting spherical surface. This device applies in particular to night vision goggles where, when the optical combiner is placed in front of the objective of a goggles body, it allows superposition of an electronic image on the external scenery while introducing marginal attenuation.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of optical devices allowing the superposition of an electronic image on an image coming from an external scenery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For a certain number of applications it is useful to blend an electronic image into an image of an external scenery. Head-up displays used principally in the aeronautic field and more recently in the automobile field will be cited. In this case, an electronic image providing flight control or navigation information is superposed on the external scenery by means of an optical combiner placed in the visual field of the pilot. Helmet displays perform the same function. The optoelectronic assembly comprising the generation of images and the combiner are, in this case, placed in or on the pilot's helmet, the visor of the helmet being able to serve as the optical combiner.
To carry out night missions, aircraft pilots also have night vision goggles. These devices are also known by the acronyms JVN, standing for "Jumelles de Vision Nocturne", and NVG, standing for "Night Vision Goggles". Generally NVG comprise two identical binocular bodies positioned in front of the eyes of the observer. As indicated in FIG. 1, a night vision goggles body essentially comprises 3 principal elements, which are:                a focusing objective 10;        an amplifying device 13, possessing a first, photoemissive entrance surface 11 and a second, photosensitive exit surface 12; and        an eyepiece 14.
The objective 10 forms an image of the external scenery on the photoemissive entrance surface 11. The optical image is then converted into an electrical signal that is amplified, then converted back into an intensified optical image on the second, photosensitive exit surface 12. This intensified image is observed by means of the eyepiece 14 by the eye 15 of the observer.
When the night vision goggles are used for piloting aircraft it is necessary to provide the pilot with certain flight control information. For pilot comfort and flight safety, it is desirable that this information be superposed directly within the intensified image.
One possible solution consists in using an optical device allowing the electronic image coming from the image source to be superposed at the entrance of the objective 10. This solution has the advantage of requiring only a very low-brightness image insofar as it is amplified by the goggles' intensifier. FIG. 2 illustrates this design. The optical image superposition device comprises an image source 20, a collimation optic 21 and an optical combiner 23. In the case shown in FIG. 2, the combiner 23 is a simple beam-splitting plate. The optical device may also comprise one or more folding mirrors 22. The light rays represented by the dotted lines coming from the image source after collimation by the collimation optic and reflection at the combiner are thus superposed on the light rays coming from the external scenery, represented by the thin continuous lines.
One of the difficulties of producing this type of device is producing the optical combiner. It must introduce minimum disturbance on the external scenery. In particular, the optical transmission of the scenery through the combiner must be excellent, higher than 90%. It must also be ensured that the device has a large depth of field. This is because the external scene may include objects at distances from a few meters to several hundred meters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,065 by the company Elbit discloses a first embodiment of the combiner. This is formed by two prisms assembled via a common inclined face, said common face comprising a reflecting surface that is small in size compared to that of the aperture of the NVG objective. By this means, the disturbance introduced into the field of the objective is minimized.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,455 by the company Honeywell discloses a second embodiment of the combiner. In this case the combiner is a simple mirror placed on the optical axis of the NVG objective. Here again the small size of the mirror allows the disturbance introduced into the field of the objective to be minimized.

Optical device for superposing electronic images in front of an objective


A non-mechanical optical beam steering device includes one or more polarization gratings (PG) coupled to one or more Steerable Electro-Evanescent Optical Refractors (SEEOR). It provides the coarse steering advantage of the PG and also the continuous fine steering advantage of the SEEOR. The result is far less complexity, size, weight, and cost over the alternative non-mechanical beam steering approaches as well as considerably less complexity, size, weight, cost, scanning-time, and mechanical breakdown over the more traditional gimbaled mirrors commonly used.

Commercial and Military Laser devices generally use mechanically controlled (gimbaled) mirrors to aim, steer, and scan laser beams. Such mechanically controlled systems have several disadvantages: (1) weight, (2) size, (3) power consumption, (4) mechanical breakdown, and (5) time delays in steering. Considerable resources have been spent by commercial and military research to find acceptable alternatives to this gimbaled approach which can also cover wide fields of regard with high accuracy "fine" beam pointing.
Two promising approaches to eliminate the mechanical gimbals have been developed in the last decade. One approach uses a Steerable Electro-Evanescent Optical Refractor (SEEOR) continuous steerer for fine beam control, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,311,372, Anderson et al., issued Nov. 13, 2012, and U.S. Pat. No. 8,463,080, Anderson et al., issued Jun. 11, 2013, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. The other approach, described in J. Kim, C. Oh, M. J. Escuti, L. Hosting, and S. A. Serati, "Wide-angle, nonmechanical beam steering using thin liquid crystal polarization gratings," Advanced Wavefront Control: Methods, Devices, and Applications VI (SPIE, 2008) (the "PG approach"), employs a series of polarization gratings ("PG"s) to discretely cover a wide field of regard. Each of these techniques, however, have limitations to completely (continuously) cover a wide field of regard with no dead spots. The SEEOR approach requires an enormous number of liquid crystal prisms to cover a wide field of regard although each SEEOR refractor does an excellent job of fine beam control within a narrower field of regard (as much as 60°×15°) The PG approach easily obtains a wide field of regard but requires many layers to get to high resolution fine tracking since it discretely splits the field of regard in two—hence 12 PG layers will get 4096 fine-resolution beam positions.

Non-mechanical beam steering tracking system

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Plastic pipe is continually produced from a curable resin on a plurality of horizontal mandrels which are repeatedly simultaneously moved between plastic pipe production stations. There is at least one station for applying resin to a mandrel, at least one station for curing resin on the surface of a mandrel, and at least one pipe removal station for removing pipe from a mandrel. The pipe stations are substantially radially equidistant from a central horizontal axis and are circumferentially spaced apart by substantially equal increments around the horizontal axis. Each mandrel is progressively rotated between the stations.. The temperature of each mandrel is controlled by passing a fluid through the mandrel. Heating fluid passes through mandrels in resin cure stations and cooling fluid passes through mandrels in resin application and pipe removal stations. A control system minimizes mixing of the cooling and heating temperature control fluids when the mandrel is rotated between stations. A distributor system distributes temperature control fluids from fluid reservoirs to the mandrels.. Mandrels having a flow path for the temperature control fluid include a cylindrical shell closed at one end and open at the opposed end with a fluid inlet and outlet at the open end. The flow path through the mandrel comprises an open outlet duct within the shell for transferring fluid out of the mandrel through the fluid outlet and an inlet passage between the duct and the inner surface of the shell for transferring fluid into the mandrel from the fluid inlet.

This invention relates to the art of manufacturing plastic pipe.
Fiber reinforced tubular articles such as plastic pipe can be made by winding an inner layer of lining material impregnated with a curable liquid resin around a rotating mandrel coated with a release agent. Next, a band of reinforcing fiber rovings such as fiberglass impregnated with the liquid resin is wound on the rotating mandrel in a helical pattern with several superimposed layers. The resin is then at least partially cured by heat to form reinforced plastic pipe. The pipe is then cooled, removed from the mandrel, and then the mandrel is cleaned and release agent is applied to the surface of the mandrel. After the release agent is applied, the above steps are repeated to form additional pipe on the mandrel. After the pipe is removed from the mandrel it can be subjected to additional post-curing.
Plastic pipe can be manufactured using all or some of these steps. For example, pipe can be manufactured without the lining material, without the reinforcing rovings, or without the release agent being applied to the surface of the mandrel.
In one method of manufacturing reinforced plastic pipe a mandrel is manually carried between three or more processing stations. In a first station lining material, the reinforcing fiber rovings, and the resin are applied to the mandrel. In a second station the resin is cured and in a third station the formed pipe is removed from the mandrel. This method has many disadvantages. Among the disadvantages is the large number of operators required to transfer mandrels between the processing stations. This results in high labor costs for the production of the pipe. Another disadvantage is lack of control of pipe temperature while a mandrel is transferred between production stations. This can result in uneven cure of pipe with lack of uniformity of pipe quality.
A third disadvantage is that resin drips from the surface of the mandrel as the mandrel is transferred between production stations due to lack of rotation of the mandrel. Thus raw materials are lost and a messy working environment results.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,519,520 a machine is described for manufacturing plastic pipe where all the steps required for forming the pipe are performed with one machine having a single mandrel. Although this machine solves the problems associated with moving a mandrel between production stations, it is a costly way to manufacture pipe because each mandrel requires its own expensive pipe making apparatus. Each mandrel must have means for applying the release agent, equipment for applying a resin impregnated lining, equipment for applying resin impregnated fibers, as well as curing means, cooling means, and stripping means.
It is believed that machines made under U.S. Pat. No. 3,519,520 have three mandrels fixed in a parallel, evenly spaced array in a horizontal plane where one telescoping carriage serves all three mandrels in succession, but each mandrel has its own pipe removal system.
In FIG. 17 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,063 issued to Bradley, a machine is shown which overcomes some of the disadvantages of a single mandrel machine. In Bradley's machine a plurality of horizontal mandrels along with rotating means for each mandrel are mounted on a rotating frame. The apparatus looks like a wheel lying on the ground where the spokes of the wheel are formed by the mandrels and the rim of the wheel is formed by a track on which the mandrels are rotated about a central vertical axis. The mandrels are rotated along the track between production stations where each station has the equipment required for the function performed in that station. For example, heating means are provided at a curing station and stripping equipment is provided at a pipe removal station.
A disadvantage with Bradley's multimandrel approach is that much floor space is required to accommodate the mandrels. This increases the capital costs associated with constructing a facility for manufacturing reinforced plastic pipe. Another disadvantage is that it is difficult to remove formed pipe from one of Bradley's mandrels because both ends of the mandrel must be disconnected from a mandrel support, and then the mandrel must be removed from the support apparatus so that the pipe can be stripped from the mandrel. This is a time consuming procedure, and when the mandrel is internally heated with a fluid to cure the resin on the surface of the mandrel, leakage of the fluid onto the pipe with resultant contamination of the pipe can occur.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a method for manufacturing reinforced plastic pipe which enjoy low capital and labor costs, as well as permit easy removal of pipe from a mandrel.

Producing reinforced plastic pipe with a multi-mandrel machine


A support for boat oars to hold the oars in a fixed stationary and at rest position without the use of the rower's hands. The support is of particular use in a single sculling boat and consists of securing oar straps fastened to a bar. An overall riser rod assembly is formed by placing upper and lower riser rods on a connecting rod. The overall riser rod assembly is pivotally connected at one end to a plate attached to the bar and, at the other end, to a plate attached to a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket is fastened to the structure of the boat. The overall riser rod assembly can be adjusted in length to conform to various boats and rowers. The support is easily lowered to an out of the way location when not in use.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an attachment to a boat that allows the oars of the boat to be supported and held stationary in a fixed position.
2. Background Art
There is no simple and efficient device that allows the rower of a boat to maintain the oars in a stationary and at rest position. This position maintains the oars flat upon the water so that they will act as pontoons on the surface of the water. Such a device would be of assistance to the rower in entering or exiting a boat, and also for freeing the hands of the rower for other tasks while the rower is in the boat.
Small boats, and in particular, single sculling boats are very narrow in beam. Consequently, they can capsize very easily. Both oars must be properly held by the rower at all times to prevent the boat from capsizing. If the boat does capsize, it can be very difficult for the rower to reenter the boat.
Standard instructional methods for entering and exiting a sculling boat can be found in references such as The Complete Recreational Rower and Racer by S. Kiesling, 1990, Crown Publishers Inc., New York, N.Y. The method of boarding a sculling boat from a dock or in the water away from the dock is essentially the same. With respect to the oars, the oars must be in the oarlocks. A gate or keeper can be provided on the top of the oarlock to keep the oar in place. A button or collar, which is a ring around the sleeve of each oar, butts up against the inboard side of the oarlock. Both oar blades should be turned flat against the water or dock for maximum stability. The flat blades of the oars will act like pontoons on the surface of the water. The end of each oar is brought together so that the rower can grasp them with one hand. The other hand is used for balance as the rower steps into the boat. The function of holding the oars together can be accomplished by my invention, which eases the boarding of a boat, particularly by an inexperienced rower.
Similarly, exiting the sculling boat requires that the oars be held together with one hand. As stated above, the function of holding the oars together can be accomplished by my invention, which eases the exiting of a boat, particularly by an inexperienced rower.
For a boat that has capsized, the first task is to right it by reaching over the hull and grabbing the far rigger or gunwale. Once again, the oars must be arranged with the tips held together in one hand, while the rower swings his body back into the boat. With my invention, after the rower rights the boat, he or she can place the oars into the oar straps of my invention and have them held with the tips of the oars together and the oar blades flat against the water. This ensures that the oars are held in the proper position for reentering the boat, which allows the rower to focus on swinging his or her body back into the boat while grasping the oars.
While floating in the boat, the rower may insert the oars into the oar holding straps of my invention and perform other tasks, such as adjusting the footstretcher or reaching into the boat, without having to worry about maintaining the oars in the proper orientation.
The prior art discloses no device similar to my invention for holding the oars in a stationary and at rest position. Schaper in U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,669 discloses a device for strapping the rower's wrists to the oars in a manner that allows some control of the oars while the hands are free to perform other tasks. It is obvious from the disclosure that hand movements would be limited due to the direct connection of the hands to the oars. Also, the device does not address holding the oars fixed in a stationary and at rest position. Kaiser in U.S. Pat. No. 2,0333,637 discloses a complex device, complete with seat and footstretcher, that allows forward rowing and conversion from rowing to paddling. While the device can hold the oars in a horizontal position, as soon as the rower applies his weight to the oars, the oars drop into the water.
To address the limitations identified above, I took an approach that is considerably different from any in the prior art. In my invention, a simple and efficient device, is used to lock the oars in a stationary and at rest position. My invention provides a simple means of height adjustment so that the oars can be held in the proper stationary and at rest position for various types and designs of boats when used by rowers of varying sizes, weights and skill levels. Pivoting points at the bottom and top of the riser rod of my invention, and at the fasteners of the oar straps, allow for further adaptation to various types and design of boats when used by various rowers. It can be lowered away when not in use by pivoting the riser rod on the pivot point at the bottom of the riser rod. While I have specifically addressed the single sculling boat, my invention can be modified for applicability to other boats with oars.


The present application discloses a reflective display panel, a driving method thereof, a control method of a pixel unit and a reflective display device. The reflective display panel comprises: a base substrate, a reflective layer, first and second electrode layers, wherein the first electrode layer is on a side of the reflective layer distal to the base substrate, the second electrode layer is on a side of the first electrode layer distal to the base substrate and insulated from the first electrode layer, materials of the first and second electrode layers are each an electro-optic material, and orthogonal projections of the second and first electrode layers on the base substrate have overlapping areas corresponding to the pixel units.

In the field of display technology, displays can be roughly categorized, depending on the types of light sources used therein, into three types, namely, transmissive displays, reflective displays, and transflective displays. Among them, the reflective displays have a super power-saving feature because there is no need to provide a backlight module to serve as the light source.

Reflective display panel, driving method thereof, control method of pixel unit, and reflective display device


A piston compressor. First and second manifold plates are joined together with their inner surfaces in fluid-tight abutment. First and second cylinder housings are affixed to the outer surfaces of the first and second manifold plates, respectively, in fluid tight fashion and oriented at 90.degree. with respect to each other. Each cylinder housing contains first and second opposed, fixed piston rod/piston head assemblies, each extending axially from an end of its respective cylinder housing. Each cylinder housing contains an elongated sleeve having an axial bore at each end receiving one of the piston heads in sealing engagement and defining therewith a compression chamber. A crank comprising a crank element and oppositely directed crank pins having its crank element located in a central hole in the manifold plates and its crank pins each mounted in bearings in a central transverse hole in one of the sleeves. As the crank is rotated the crank element has an essentric motion so that each crank pin rotates about its own axis and simultaneously reciprocates rectalinearly causing its respective sleeve to reciprocate in its respective cylinder housing. The crank is driven by connection of one of its crank pins to an input shaft through a power transfer assembly. Ambient or low pressure fluid is introduced into each compression chamber by manifold passages and at least one one-way valve in the piston head. Pressurized fluid exists each compression chamber through a one-way valve and passages formed in the piston rod/piston head and in the manifold plates.

While the capacity of the compressor of the present invention is largely based upon the compressor sleeves and the length of their travel, for purposes of an exemplary showing, the compressor will be described and illustrated in its form as a relatively light duty compressor as might be used in an automotive air conditioning system or the like. The use to which the compressor is put is not a limitation of the invention. The compressor can be used in a closed system as would be found in an air conditioning system or refrigeration system, or it could be used to compress ambient air for a paint spraying system, a pneumatically actuated tool such as a nailer or stapler, or the like.
The compressor of the present invention is of unique construction comprising a pair of cylinder chambers mounted to either side of a manifold. Each cylinder chamber contains a pair of axially aligned, opposed, fixed piston heads and a reciprocating sleeve element having axial bores forming compression chambers with each piston. The cylinder housings are oriented at ninety degrees with respect to each other and the sleeves therein are caused to reciprocate by a crank comprising a crank element located in a central hole in the manifold and a pair of oppositely directed crank pins, each engaged in bearing means in transverse holes in one of the sleeves. Rotation of the crank is such that each crank pin rotates about its own axis and simultaneously reciprocates along a rectilinear path of travel. One end of one of the crank pins is connected through an appropriate universal means to a rotating power shaft to drive the compressor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,944 teaches an internal combustion engine having cylinder housings oriented at 90.degree. with respect to each other. This reference suggests that the internal combustion engine could be modified to act as a compressor. However, the reference does not teach such modification and the structure of the internal combustion engine differs markedly from that of the compressor taught herein.
Most light duty compressors are complex in construction, requiring many machined parts made of expensive materials. In addition, prior art compressors are relatively bulky and heavy, and have high energy requirements.
The present invention overcomes each of these problems. From the description to follow, it will be noted that the compressor of the present invention is extremely simple in construction and very compact. While the various parts and pieces of the compressor can be made of metal or the like, substantially all of the parts of the unit can be made of appropriate plastic materials except for the ball spring valves, the crank, the bearings and the like. Finally, the compressor of the present invention is characterized by low energy requirements. This makes it particularly suitable for applications such as automotive air conditioning systems, wherein it will cause less drop in engine power when compressor is operating. This would be of significance today since the trend is to provide automobiles with smaller engines.


Embodiments are directed to assigning a home memory location for a function call parameter. A method may include determining whether a caller is configured to allocate a memory location for a parameter passed to a callee. The caller is a module that includes a function call to the callee and the callee is a function. The method may include inserting instructions in the callee to allocate a home memory location for the parameter in response to determining that the caller is not configured to allocate a memory location for the parameter. In addition, the method may include inserting instructions in the callee to set the memory location as a home location for the parameter in response to determining that the caller is configured to allocate a memory location for the parameter.

The present disclosure relates to compiling source code in a computer system, and more specifically, to the manner in which a compiler provides stack space associated with passing parameters to a function when it is called and how a home memory location for a parameter passed in a register may be provided.
A function definition or prototype typically declares parameters in a parameter list between parentheses. For example, the function "func1" may be defined as: void func1 (int x, float y, long z). The parameters of func1 are x, y, and z. The parameters are of data type integral, float, and long, respectively. The term "parameter" may be used to refer to a variable named in the parenthesized parameter list and "argument" may be used to refer to a particular value that is used in a function call. However, those skilled in the art may refer to the value that is used in a function call as a parameter and may a variable as an argument, the intended meaning being clear from the context.
In the some programming languages, such as the C language, a function can have a variable number of arguments. A function that can have a variable arguments is referred to as a variadic function. A variadic function may be declared with an ellipsis as its last parameter, matching zero or more arguments on a call and indicating that the types and number of arguments may vary. An example of a variadic function is printf (int x, float y, . . . ).
An application binary interface ("ABI") is the set of rules that must be followed by any interface between two program modules at the level of machine code. Among other things, an ABI defines how functions are called and how arguments are passed to functions, i.e., calling conventions. Every parameter has a data type. An ABI generally specifies how each of the various different data types is passed when a function is called. Generally, arguments can be passed in memory, registers, or a combination of memory and registers. Generally, an ABI may specify that a particular argument is to be passed in a register or a memory location. A compiler typically compiles source code according the rules and conventions specified in an ABI.

Assigning home memory addresses to function call parameters

International Business Machines Corporation


A motor vehicle theft deterrent device comprises a timer (2) operable by an existing alarm system (1), a relay (3) actuable in response to the timer (2), and a valve (14) operable, via the relay (3), to release and direct, through one or more concealed nozzles (4), a spray of a pressurized, non-toxic and non-corrosive irritant towards a would-be thief. The circuitry (12) and a pressurized container (9) may be accommodated in a tamper-proof metal housing (7) mounted upon the firewall of the vehicle, and a secondary circuit (5) may be activated so as to cause a siren or loudspeaker (6) to emit a high-pitched sound.

Motor vehicle theft is an ever-growing problem today and one which results not only in considerable cost and dismay to a stolen vehicle's owner but, in the long term, one which results in higher costs to all holders of vehicle insurance policies and, indeed, to all policy holders in general.
Various devices and systems using discomfort-causing substances have been proposed, one such being disclosed, for example, in the specification relating to PCT Application No. PCT/FR85/00244 of Sept. 10, 1985. In this document, a device using an existing windscreen washer element or elements of a motor vehicle to generate sprays of showers of "chemical liquids such as ammonia, sulphuric acid, and hydrochloric acid, and dyes ----" is installed in a vehicle, apparently with the aim of "-- marking, hurting, asphyxiating --" a would-be thief.


A replacement front wheel assembly (2) for a rollerboard having a footboard (48) provided in the rear end portion thereof with at least one wheel and in the front end portion thereof with a steering head bearing (4) for connection of a front wheel assembly (2) and a steering rod (54) connected to the front wheel assembly (2), characterized in that the front wheel assembly (2) comprises a connecting member (6) for connection to the steering head bearing (4) as well as two front wheels (8; 10) that are each offset towards a respective side of the longitudinal axis of the roller board.

The invention relates to a replacement front wheel assembly for a roller board having a footboard provided at the rear end portion thereof with at least one wheel and at the front end portion thereof with a steering head bearing means for connection of a front wheel assembly and a steering rod connected to the front wheel assembly.
Roller boards most recently have become trendy sports equipment. They were introduced into the market in large numbers in a large variety of different kinds. There are basically different types of roller boards, including boards with one front wheel and boards with two front wheels. Roller boards having one front wheel are considerably less expensive to manufacture and thus correspondingly less expensive as regards the sales price thereof. Thus, they have stood up well in the market, and a very large portion of the roller boards sold so far can be reckoned among these xe2x80x9csingle-track roller boardsxe2x80x9d. In the overall construction thereof, these single-track roller boards are very similar to the long known children""s scooters. They are basically just of smaller built than the latter and in most cases provide the possibility of being brought into a handy shape for transport, by folding up components, sliding them together, etc.
Differing from these single-track roller boards are roller boards with two front wheels. These front wheels are individually joined to the footboard of the roller board by means of a steering mechanism and, by laterally pivoting the steering rod of the roller board, can be steered into a corner in synchronism, but each wheel being pivoted around its own pivot axis. During such pivoting of the steering or control rod for turning or cornering of the front wheels, there is typically caused tilting of the footboard at the same time, which automatically provides for the user to assume an inclined position as well. The advantage of such roller boards with two front wheels on the one hand resides in more stable handling ability and in particular also in more stable cornering ability. An additional advantage consists in that such roller boards can stand on their own, which of course is not possible with single-track roller boards. A significant disadvantage of such roller boards consists in that they are relatively complex in manufacture. Another handicap of such roller boards, that is due to the relative complex construction thereof as well, is that it has not been possible to produce a sufficient number of roller boards with two front wheels in the most recent boom period in which the demand for roller boards all over the world could not be fulfilled. This had the effect that they lost more and more market shares to single-track roller boards. The inventor of the present invention thus assumes that a retrofitting set allowing single-track roller boards to be relatively easily and inexpensively converted into such roller boards with two front wheels, could be very successful in the market.
It is thus the object of the present invention to make available a replacement front wheel assembly of the type indicated, by means of which single-track roller boards can be retrofitted relatively easily and inexpensively to such roller boards with two front wheels.
According to the invention, this object is met by a replacement front wheel assembly which is characterized in that the front wheel assembly comprises a connecting member for connection to the steering head bearing means as well as two front wheels that are each offset towards a respective side of the longitudinal axis of the roller board.
The steering head bearing means of a roller board typically has a construction similar to the steering head bearing of a bicycle, with two ball bearings, which are disposed at the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the tubular steering head, supporting a tubular connecting member on which corresponding bearing shells for the ball bearings are provided. The relative position of the bearing shells on the connecting member relative to each other may be changed, for example, via a screw thread. In this manner, the bearing clearance can easily be adjusted. In case of the single-track roller boards usual in the trade, the one front wheel is adapted to be rotated together with a corresponding connecting member in the steering head bearing means. The connecting member, at the top end thereof, has a steering rod or handlebar connected thereto, i.e. the latter is typically clamped thereto by means of a threaded connection. The steering motions of the steering rod are transferred to the front wheel directly, so that turning of the steering rod into the desired cornering direction has the effect that the front wheel is turned into this cornering direction as well. According to the present invention, the connecting member, instead of one single front wheel, is provided with two front wheels that are each arranged offset to a respective side of the longitudinal axis of the roller board. By relatively simple replacement of the xe2x80x9csingle-track front wheel assemblyxe2x80x9d with the xe2x80x9creplacement front wheel assemblyxe2x80x9d according to the invention, it is thus possible to convert a single-track roller board into a roller board with two front wheels. Preferably, the two front wheels are mounted on the front wheel assembly such that pivoting of the steering rod to one side of the longitudinal axis of the roller board effects cornering or turning of each individual wheel into this direction. It is particularly preferred if both wheels, though being turned individually about different steering axes, are turned in synchronism with each other so that both front wheels follow the proper curved path each.
Preferably, the two front wheels, alternatively or in addition, are mounted on the front wheel assembly such that, upon mounting of the replacement front wheel assembly on the roller board, turning of the steering rod effects turning of the two front wheels into the same direction to which the steering rod has been turned. A simple embodiment, in which turning of both wheels can be realized by turning of the steering rod only (whereas no turning of the wheels by tilting of the steering rod can be realized), comprises a transverse bar which is secured to the lower end of the connecting member and which has one front wheel each connected to the respective outer ends thereof. When the steering rod is turned, the transverse rod together with the two front wheels attached thereto is turned as well. By slight inclination of the axis of the steering rod, i.e. of the steering head bearing, it can be ensured that the roller board, despite this simple construction, upon cornering takes the required inclined position. However, particularly advantageous is the combination of the two steering mechanisms with each other, i.e. turning of each individual front wheel upon lateral pivoting of the steering rod and common rotation of the two wheels jointly about the steering axis. With this combination, extremely maneuverable roller boards can be produced. On the other hand, it is also possible to produce roller boards with very high track stability, for example, roller boards for high speeds with good straight-running properties which nevertheless have good steering properties.
Preferably, the front wheels are connected to the outer ends of a transverse bar, and it is particularly preferred to connect the transverse bar to the connecting member such that, upon mounting of the replacement front wheel assembly on the roller board, it is pivotable about the longitudinal axis of the roller board, but fixed about the vertical axis. This type of mounting can be carried out preferably by means of a U-shaped holding means on the connecting member, with the two legs of the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shape being directed downwardly. It is thus possible to provide a pin in the longitudinal direction of the roller board between the two legs of the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shape. The transverse bar may be pivotally supported on this pin. By means of this type of mounting, it is ensured at the same time that the transverse bar is connected to the connecting member in fixed manner about the vertical axis.
The transverse bar and the connecting member as well as all components of the replacement front wheel assembly in general are arranged relative to the roller board so as to be rotatable in the steering head bearing means. It is thus pointed out that, in the present application, all statements, for example, with respect to the direction or arrangement of individual components of the front wheel assembly or of the entire replacement front wheel assembly, made with reference e.g. to the longitudinal direction of the roller board, are to be understood as relating to the xe2x80x9cneutral settingxe2x80x9d of the roller board. This neutral setting of the roller board is understood to be the position of the roller board in which the same runs straight ahead.
Preferably, each of the front wheels is connected by means of an axle support to the transverse bar so as to be pivotable about the vertical axis and the front wheels are connected to each other so as to be pivotable in synchronism with each other only.
At least one of the two axle supports preferably is connected to the connecting member such that, when the replacement front wheel assembly is mounted to the roller board, pivoting of the steering rod around the longitudinal axis of the roller board effects turning of each individual one of the two front wheels. The connection of the at least one axle support on the connecting member is carried out, for example, by means of a connecting rod. The connecting rod may be connected at one end thereof to the axle support at a location that is offset from the vertical turning axis of the axle support a certain distance forwardly in running direction, and at the other end thereof may be connected to the connecting member at a location that is offset from the longitudinal turning axis of the transverse bar a certain distance upwardly towards the steering head bearing means. With this arrangement of the connecting rod, tilting of the steering rod about the longitudinal turning axis of the transverse bar results in shifting of the connecting rod and, accordingly, in turning of the axle support about the vertical turning axis of the axle support. Due to the synchronous connection of the two axle supports to each other, synchronous turning of both wheels in common manner upon pivoting of the steering rod is ensured. If the steering rod is rotated about its turning axis as well, turning of the wheels is effected in addition to the steering motion of the wheels by pivoting of the steering rod, so that an extremely narrow cornering radius is possible upon pivoting and turning the steering rod in the same direction.
As an alternative, the axle supports and preferably also the transverse bar are tilted towards the front in relation to the longitudinal axis of the roller board in such a manner that the vertical turning axis of the axle supports is also tilted towards the front in relation to the longitudinal axis of the roller board. If with this forwardly tilted vertical turning axis of the axle supports, the axles proper of the wheels are offset towards the rear with respect to the vertical turning axis, pivoting or tilting of the control rod towards the side effects turning of each one of the two front wheels. The connecting rod described in the preceding paragraph is not necessary with this construction. The synchronous connection of the two wheels to each other ensures synchronous pivoting of the two wheels.
Preferably, the replacement front wheel assembly is provided with a resetting means or mechanism tending to keep the front wheels in the neutral position. This resetting means provides for particularly stable straight-running properties, which is very desirable for reasons of driving safety. The stronger the resetting means, the more stable the straight-running properties and the less rapid the response of the steering system of the roller board to desired changes in direction. It is possible to provide two separate resetting means, on the one hand for resetting the rotation of the steering rod and on the other hand for resetting the pivoting of the steering rod. In particular in pivoting the steering rod, the resetting means can be constituted in that e.g. the vertical axis about which the axle support is pivotally supported on the transverse member, is slightly pivoted to the front or to the rear in running direction, so that the weight of the user of the roller board has the tendency of resetting the wheels to the neutral position during the ride. In addition to gravity, for example springs or other elastic members may be provided for the resetting means. For example, it is possible to provide two springs between the upper connecting web of the U-shaped holding means and the transverse bar such that one of the springs effects resetting upon pivoting of the control rod to the left and the other one of the springs effects resetting upon pivoting of the control rod to the right. Springs of flat resilient material or wound springs of spring wire may be provided for this purpose.
The latter may be supported e.g. on a bolt arranged above the transverse bar so as to extend through the two legs of the U-shaped holding means.
Preferably, there is provided a limiting means or mechanism for limiting the steering rotation of the control rod and the front wheels, respectively. This may be a fixed limiting means in the form of a stop. The U-shaped holding means may be designed such that, upon turning of the control rod, it abuts on the steering head bearing means or the footboard or any connecting member interposed there between, before one of the front wheels establishes contact with the footboard, for example. As an alternative, a kind of splashboard or covering may be provided for the wheels, which effectively prevents contacting between the front wheels and the footboard for example. It is also preferred to provide an adjustable limiting means that can be adjusted for front wheels of different sizes. It is thus possible to provide different limiting members for specific wheel sizes, which may be attached e.g. to the U-shaped holding means. In addition thereto, it is also possible to provide an adjustable limiting means which, for example, is provided with a graduation for indicating for each wheel size the proper position of the limiting means.
Preferably, there is provided a covering at least for the replacement front wheel assembly. It is particularly preferred to provide the transverse bar, the connecting member, the connecting rods and the axle supports with a covering completely or in part. The wheels also may be accommodated in part in the covering or may have a separate covering. The covering on the one hand has the advantage of reducing soiling of the components, in particular of the moving components. In addition thereto, the covering may also have a molding effect on the optical appearance of the replacement front wheel assembly and the roller board in its entirety, respectively. By way of different coverings, it is possible for example to give different designs to the replacement front wheel assemblies offered via different distribution channels. In addition thereto, the covering may be used as advertising carrier. For example, the coverings may be provided so as to be replaceable and may be mountable to the replacement front wheel assembly proper by means of simple pluggable and/or latchable connections.
In addition thereto, the invention relates to a roller board comprising a front wheel assembly according to the invention.
The invention moreover relates to a method of retrofitting a single-track roller board comprising a footboard which in the rear end portion thereof is provided with at least one wheel and in the front end portion of which there is mounted a front wheel in a steering head bearing means by means of a connecting member, so as to be rotatable by a steering rod, to a roller board comprising at least two steerable front wheels, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) demounting the steering rod from the connecting member;
(b) demounting the connecting member and one front wheel from the steering head bearing means;
(c) attaching a replacement front wheel assembly on the steering head bearing means; and
(d) mounting the steering rod on the connecting member of the replacement front wheel assembly.
It may be expedient to replace the bearings of the steering head bearing means during retrofitting of the roller board. As an alternative it is also possible, for example by omission of the bearings of the steering head bearing means and by simple threaded attachment of the connecting member to the steering head bearing means, to fixedly attach the connecting member to the remainder of the roller board. The steering head bearing thus is rendered inoperative and the replacement front wheel assembly is fixedly connected to the footboard. Steering of the roller board then is possible only by laterally pivoting of the steering rod. Retrofitting thus is rendered considerably less expensive on the one hand. On the other hand, it may also be expedient for other reasons if only one of the two steering mechanisms, namely the one operated by lateral pivoting of the steering rod, is available for steering the roller board.

Replacement front wheel assembly for a roller board


A UV curing system includes a light source, which produces UV light and non-useful light (heat energy), a shade member having a lamp-side surface that reflects light and provides thermal insulation to the target substance, and a housing having an internal reflecting surface. The shade member is situated between the light source and the target substance so that all, or most, light from the light source does not directly strike the target substance. The housing is situated on the opposite side of the light source from the barrier and partially encloses the light source. The shape of the internal reflecting surface of the housing, the shape of the shade member, and the location of the internal reflecting surface of the housing, the shade member and the light source with respect to each other are selected so that at least some of the UV light emitted by the light source is reflected onto the target substance after striking the shade member and/or the internal reflecting surface of the housing and non-useful light emitted by the light source is attenuated (by path length increase, physical blockage, insulating properties of the shade member and/or dichroic filter action) thereby keeping the target substance cooler during a curing process than it would otherwise have been without the presence of the shade member.

The present invention relates to systems and processes for ultraviolet (UV) curing of materials. In particular, the present invention relates to a device and process that allows for UV curing of materials at a lower substrate temperature than that allowed by conventional systems and processes.
In UV curing of materials, such as, for example, photopolymerizable organic materials, a problem that arises is that the UV source used in the process may generate a large amount of heat, which arises from the UV light itself as well as from non-useful light of other frequencies, including infrared (IR) radiation, which can adversely affect the substance being cured. Excess temperatures may then damage or destroy heat-sensitive materials, such as the substance being cured or a support material (such as paper, plastic, foil, etc.) on which the substance is being cured.
Efforts to reduce the amount of non-useful heat-producing light that impinges on a target substrate while maintaining an acceptable level of UV have included the use of indirect illumination, hot mirrors and dichroic coatings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,899 to Glaus discloses a curing device wherein rays from a light source impinge on a mirror that is partially transmitting and set at an angle with respect to the axis of the light beam, so that IR light rays pass directly through the mirror to a cooling system and UV light rays are deflected towards the substrate to be cured. U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,490 to Troue discloses an apparatus having an arrangement of dichroic filter surfaces. Light from a UV light source is deflected off one of the dichroic filter surfaces and is directed toward the substrate to be cured. A cusp-like member is mounted in the path of the light beam to ensure that all of the light rays from the light source are deflected off a dichroic surface only once. U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,589 to Scheffer discloses an ultraviolet curing lamp device that includes a blocker tube located between the ultraviolet light source and an ultraviolet light permeable quartz plate window through which the ultraviolet light exits. The blocker tube reflects ultraviolet, visible and infrared light.
Many of the suggested solutions to lowering the temperature of an ultraviolet curing process add considerable complexity and expense to the ultraviolet curing apparatus. For example, quartz plates and large surface area dichroic coatings can be very expensive.
The present invention is a UV curing system and process for curing a target substance which overcomes the aforementioned problems of the prior art. In particular, the UV curing system includes a light source, which produces useful UV light, as well as other unwanted wavelengths of light (each of which can produce unwanted heat), a shade member having a lamp-side surface which performs dichroicallyxe2x80x94absorbing heat producing light that is not within the range of useful UV light wavelengths, and reflecting useful UV light wavelengths, and a housing having another dichroic (UV reflect, IR pass) coated surface. As used herein, xe2x80x9cusefulxe2x80x9d UV light refers to UV light of a wavelength that cures the target substance. The shade member is situated between the light source and the target substance so that some, or all of the light from the light source does not directly strike the target substance. The housing is situated on the opposite side of the light source from the target and partially encloses the light source. The shape of the reflecting surface of the housing, the shape of the shade member, and the location of the internal reflecting surface of the housing, the shade member and the light source with respect to each other are selected so that (1) at least some of the UV light that leaves the light source and travels in a direction in which it does not strike the shade member strikes the dichroic reflecting surface of the housing and is reflected onto the target substance and (2) at least some of the UV light that leaves the light source and travels in a direction in which it strikes the shade member is reflected from the lamp-side of the shade member onto the dichroic, reflecting surface of the housing, from which it is reflected onto the target substance. And since the materials used to fabricate the shade member prevent the target-side surface of the shade member from getting hot and re-radiating heat energy to the target substance, and the physical presence of the shade blocks all, or most, direct illumination (light/heat) from the lamp, the target surface is thereby kept cooler during a curing process than it would otherwise have been without the presence of the shade member.
In a preferred embodiment, the shade member possesses thermal insulating properties created by certain materials such as ceramic or quartz, which may or may not be coated with one of a variety of coatings applied to increase the shade""s lamp-side to target-side temperature ratio. An example of a ceramic material which may be used is alumina.
In another preferred embodiment, the shade member may have at least one internal conduit that may be filled with a heat conducting material that conducts heat to heat sinks which are not located near the target substance. A metallic conductor may also serve to provide mechanical support for the material from which the shade is fabricated.
The invention further relates to methods of curing UV-curable substances by providing a UV curing system as described above and activating the UV light source so that the UV-curable substance is exposed to UV light from the UV curing system.

UV curing system for heat sensitive substances and process


A force sense imparting type input apparatus includes an operation portion, an actuator for imparting a force sense to the operation portion, a position sensor for detecting an operating direction and an operating quantity of the operation portion, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the actuator, and a controller for acquiring a position signal and a temperature signal and outputting driving signal of the actuator. A correction control portion provided to the controller determines a calorific value of the actuator from the temperature signal, then a correction value of driving power supplied to the actuator from the calorific value so calculated, adds a correction value of driving power of the actuator at the time of a normal operation and decides driving power of the actuator at the time of over-heat.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a force sense imparting type input apparatus for imparting a force sense to an operation portion in accordance with an operating condition of the operation portion, and more particularly to over-heat prevention means of an actuator for imparting a force sense to the operation portion.
2. Description of Related Art
A force sense imparting type input apparatus including an operation portion operated by an operator, a position sensor for detecting an operating condition of the operation portion, an actuator for imparting a force sense to the operation portion, and a controller for controlling driving of the actuator in accordance with a position signal outputted from the position sensor and imparting a force sense corresponding to the operating condition of the operation portion to the operation portion has been proposed as an input apparatus to be applied to a bi-wire system car-mounted electric equipment concentrated control apparatus, a steering apparatus, a gear shift apparatus or a brake apparatus (refer to patent document 1, for example).
This force sense imparting type input apparatus can impart various kinds of force senses to the operation portion in accordance with an operating direction and an operating quantity of the operation portion. Therefore, a predetermined operation feeling can be imparted to the operation of the operation portion in various kinds of the bi-wire systems.
[Patent Document]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 149324/2002 (FIG. 3)
In the force sense imparting type input apparatus applied to the steering apparatus, or the like, described above, driving power is always supplied to the actuator during driving of a vehicle and the actuator is likely to be over-heated. Therefore, various problems occur due to over-heating such as damage of the actuator, fuming, exothermy, and so forth.
From the aspect of prevention of over-heat of the actuator, it is preferred to cut off the supply of driving power to the actuator when the temperature of the actuator reaches a predetermined value. When this method is used, however, the force sense applied to the operation portion abruptly disappears during driving of the vehicle. Therefore, the operation of the steering apparatus, etc is likely to become unstable and an unnecessary strain is undesirably applied to the driver.
This problem also holds true of the case where the supply of driving power is again made to the actuator in a stage where the temperature of the actuator drops below a predetermined value after the supply of driving power to the actuator is once cut off. Because the force sense is abruptly imparted to the operation portion during driving of the vehicle, the operation of the steering apparatus, etc, is likely to become unstable and the unnecessary strain is forcibly applied to the driver.
To eliminate such problems of the related art technology, the invention aims at providing a force sense imparting type input apparatus that can prevent over-heat of an actuator without deteriorating operation stability of an operation portion.

Force sense imparting type input apparatus


An adjustable gas flow regulator device primarily for use in medical care, said device comprising a two-part body (8/25) having a high pressure gas inlet connector (1) and a gas outlet connector (16) mounted thereon. Mounted within the body is a conventional regulator comprising a piston (9) axially movable in a stepped bore (46/47). Mounted between the output of the regulator and the outer connector (16) is a flow selector device comprising a flow selecting member (13) rotatable by means of a knob (31). The flow selecting member (13) is formed with a plurality of radially extending bores (54) in the outer part of each of which is fitted a setting plug which may be externally adjustable by a tool (not shown). The inner part of each bore forms part of the route by which gas passes to the outer connector and the flow of gas through each such inner part can thus be adjusted by means of the setting plug so that, at each respective angular position of knob (31), a different flow setting can be obtained, as necessary.

This invention relates to an adjustable gas flow regulator device.
There is a requirement in medical care for an adjustable flow regulator which is able to administer ranges of preset flows of typically 0.1 to 15 L/M of oxygen to patients either in care or in the home. The regulator device of the present invention is intended to meet this need as well as being useful in a broad range of applications where an adjustable gas flow is required.


A passenger seat has a backrest and a seat which has first and second sections each having a first surface for a seat area and a second opposite surface. The second section pivots relative to the first section between a first position, in which the first surfaces of the first and second sections form a usable total seat area, and a second operational position, in which the second section is folded relative to the first section in the direction towards the backrest. Attached to the second seat section is a holder movable relative to the second surface of the second seat section between a first position, in which the holder extends substantially parallel to the second surface of the second seat section, and a second position, in which the holder extends at from 60° to 120° relative to the second surface of the second seat section.

In modern means of transport, in particular in aircraft, it is very important from an economic point of view to make optimum use of the available space in a passenger cabin. Passenger cabins are therefore fitted with as many rows of passenger seats as possible, which in Economy Class in particular are positioned with as little space between them as possible. In order to increase the comfort of passengers seated in rows of passenger seats that are close behind one another, DE 10 2010 046 853, which is not prior-published, proposes dividing a seat area of a passenger seat into a first and a second sub-section. The first and second sub-sections of the seat area are movable relative to one another in order to adjust the seat between a first and a second operational position. In the first operational position of the seat, the first sub-section and the second sub-section are positioned behind one another so that the surfaces of the first and second sub-sections form a usable total seat area. In the second operational position of the seat, on the other hand, the first and second sub-sections are positioned above one another in such a manner that a surface of the first sub-section or a surface of the second sub-section forms a usable seat sub-area.

Passenger seat with a luggage receiving device


In a binding for a snowboard according to the invention, one band having one end mounted on the one-side rising portion of a base plate is connected to the other end of the other band having one end mounted on the other-side rising using a connecting member. A means for mounting the bands onto the rising portion is composed of a hole formed in the bands, a plurality of holes each having a hook groove respectively formed in the rising portion, a pin including a projection to be inserted into the hook groove, a lever disposed on the pin for rotating the pin, and an arc-shaped groove formed in a desired depth portion of each of the plurality of holes with a hook groove coaxially with the same hole and in communication with the hook groove.

The present invention relates to a binding for a snowboard.
Now, FIG. 30 is an explanatory view of a conventional binding for a snowboard. In FIG. 30, reference numeral 1 designates a base plate to be fixed to a snowboard main body (not shown); 2: a boot; 3: a back support fixed to the rear end of the base plate 1 in such a manner that it can be contacted with the rear surface of the boot 2; 4: a cushion mounted on the inner surface of the back support 3; 5: an ankle strap disposed on the base plate 1 for fastening the instep of the boot 2; 6: ankle strap pad mounted on the inner surface of the ankle strap 5; 7: a toe strap disposed on the base plate 1 for fastening the tiptoe portion of the boot 2; and 8: a toe strap pad mounted on the inner surface of the toe strap 7, respectively.
Now, FIG. 31 is an explanatory detailed view of the toe strap 7. In FIG. 31, reference numeral 9a designates one band having one end thereof fixed to the one-side rising portion 10 of the base plate 1; 9b: the other band having one end thereof fixed to the other-side rising portion 10 of the base plate 1; 11: a buckle connected to the free end of the other band 9b; 12: a ratchet belt connected to the buckle 11; and 13: a lock part including a ratchet pawl for connecting the ratchet belt 12 to one band 9a.
By the way, the ankle strap 5 has the same structure as the toe strap 7.
In the thus structured binding for a snowboard, when mounting the boot 2 onto the base plate 1, the engagements between the ratchet belts 12 and lock parts 13 of the ankle strap 5 and toe strap 7 are removed, and one band 9a and the other band 9b are separated from each other by both hands. After then, the boot 2 is placed onto the base plate 1 from above thereof, the ratchet belt 12 is inserted into the lock part 13 including a ratchet bawl in such a manner as shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, and the buckle 11 is then fastened to thereby fix the instep portion and tiptoe portion of the boot 2 to the base plate 1.
In the binding of this type, in the rising portion 10 of the base plate 1, there are formed a plurality of holes which are used to fix one of the bands 9a, 9b such that the position thereof can be adjusted. That is, when adjusting the boot fixed state again, without removing the base plate from the snowboard, one of the bands is removed from its previously engaged one of the plurality of holes and is inserted into a new one of the plurality of holes to fix the boot to the base plate.
However, since the bands 9a, 9b and the rising portions 10 of the base plate 1 are fixed by bolts and nuts, a tool must be used to mount and remove them, which is troublesome.
Also, because the toe strap 7 is simply fastened from the upper portion of the tiptoe portion thereof, there is play in the tiptoe direction, so that the boot cannot be fastened sufficiently.


The present invention provides a method for controlling fungal disease in plants with a fungicidal fertilizer composition which contains ingredients which are biocompatible for purposes of agricultural applications, and which are harmless to animals and humans. Illustrative of an invention composition is an aqueous solution which has a content of two alkali metal bicarbonate salts, an alkali metal fatty acid salt, and a water-soluble thickener such as xanthan gum. The combination of fatty acid salt and thickener functions as an effective spreader-sticker medium.

The control of phytopathogenic fungi is of great economic importance since fungal growth on plants or on parts of plants inhibits production of foliage, fruit or seed, and the overall quality of a cultivated crop.
Because of the vast economic ramifications of fungal propagation in agricultural and horticultural cultivations, a broad spectrum of fungicidal and fungistatic products have been developed for general and specific applications.
Of particular interest with respect to the present invention embodiments are fungicide compositions which contain an inorganic bicarbonate or carbonate compound. It is known that bicarbonate and carbonate compounds exhibit fungicidal properties for agricultural purposes.
Phytopathology, 48, 169 (1931) by R. H. Marloth describes studies involving the physiology of fungi. The reference reports studies which demonstrate that sodium and potassium bicarbonate and carbonate salts are toxic to fungi such as Penicillum italicum and Penicillum digitalum.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,560,558 discloses the use of salts such as lithium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate as fungicide ingredients.
Japanese patent 53090319 describes the application of potassium bicarbonate as an active biocide for the control of fungal diseases common to tomato and cucumber plants.
Japanese patent 53118523 describes the combination of sodium bicarbonate and lecithin as an active agent for the control of agricultural and fruit storage fungus diseases.
Japanese patent 56043207 describes a biocidal composition containing sodium bicarbonate and a polyglycerol fatty acid ester. The biocide controls Penicillum digitatum on oranges, Sphaerotheca fuligenea on cucumbers, Piricularia oryzae on rice, and mosaic virus on tomatoes.
Japanese patent 60097909 describes a soil fungicide prepared by admixing slaked lime with sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, boric acid and phenolphthalein.
German patent DE 2927994 describes a fungicide which consists of sodium bicarbonate incorporated into a food-compatible surfactant such as saccharose laurate.
Japanese patent 57062208 describes horticultural fungicides in which the addition of sodium bicarbonate to polyoxin or thiophanatemethyl increases the fungicidal activity of the organic biocide against botrytis cinerea on cucumbers.
Japanese patent 58023609 describes an agricultural fungicide composed of a mixture of sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate with cupric hydroxide, basic copper carbonate or basic copper sulfate. The combination of ingredients exhibits a synergistic fungicidal effect against cucumber early blight, tomato wilt, rice sheath blight, rice blast and citrus canker.
There remains a continuing need for the development of new and more effective fungicides which possess preventive, curative and systemic activity for the protection of cultivated plants, with a minimum of phytotoxic side effects.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a dry blend biocide composition which contains a bicarbonate ingredient exhibiting fungicidal properties.
It is another object of this invention to provide a fungicide composition which is an aqueous formulation of ingredients which include a bicarbonate salt, and a combination of a fatty acid salt and pseudoplastic thickener which functions as a spreader-sticker medium when the aqueous medium is applied to plant foliage.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples.

Bicarbonate fungicide compositions containing spreader-sticker ingredients


A steel cord for the reinforcement of rubber articles is formed by twisting plural filament wires of a high carbon steel. In this case, the filament wire is drawn from a wire rod so as to satisfy a relationship of T.gtoreq.230-148 logD (wherein D is a diameter of the filament wire and T is a tensile strength of the filament wire) and a difference in tensile strength between a surface layer portion and an internal portion in the filament wire of not more than 80 kgf/mm.sup.2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to steel cords usable as a reinforcing material for rubber articles such as pneumatic tires, conveyer belts and the like, and more particularly to a steel cord having a high tensile strength and excellent ductility for attaining reduction of weight and improvement of durability in a composite rubber body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to reduce the weight of the rubber article, it is advantageous to increase the tensile strength of the steel cord to reinforce the rubber article with less or thinner steel cords. On the other hand, in order to improve the durability of the rubber article, it is advantageous to improve the fatigue resistance of the steel cord. For this end, it is strongly demanded to improve the tensile strength and fatigue resistance of the steel cord. Further, in order to economically produce such steel cords, it is important to ensure the ductility of each steel filament wire constituting the steel cord to prevent the occurrence of wire breakage during twisting.
As a technique for improving the tensile strength of the steel cord, there are proposed a technique wherein a carbon content of a wire rod as a starting material for the steel cord is made higher than that of an ordinary wire rod, a technique wherein a wire drawing ratio of the wire rod is increased, and the like. However, the increase of the carbon content or the wire drawing ratio in the wire rod produces a new problem of degrading the fatigue resistance of the steel cord. For this end, in order to improve the fatigue resistance of the steel cord, it is attempted to render the composition of the wire rod as a starting material for the steel cord into a high alloy to form a fine pearlite structure, or to decrease the amount of non-metal inclusion in the wire rod, or the like.
However, expensive elements are used in alloying, so that the cost of the starting material for the steel cord undesirably rises. On the other hand, when the non-metal inclusion is decreased in the wire rod as far as possible, the production steps become complicated to increase the production cost. In any case, these techniques are disadvantageous in view of economical reasons. Even when such a wire rod is used to produce steel cords, the high tensile strength and good fatigue resistance are not necessarily satisfied at the same time. Especially, the degradation of the fatigue resistance is a serious problem in rubber articles such as tires and the like subjected to repetitive bending under loading because some of the steel filament wires constituting the steel cord are broken by the repetitive bending to bring about the occurrence of cord breakage and hence result in fatigue breakage of the composite rubber body or the tire.

Steel cords for the reinforcement of rubber articles

Bridgestone Bekaert Steel Cord Co., Ltd.


The method for manufacturing a file system update package includes: file information of each source file in a file system to be updated is acquired; an operation type of a target file corresponding to each source file is determined according to the file information of each source file, the operation type including one of a dynamic type, a static type and a recently-added type; when the operation type of the target file is the dynamic type or the recently-added type, the target file is compressed to form a compressed file package, and when the operation type of a certain target file is the static type, a differential operation is executed according to a difference between the target file and the corresponding source file to form a differential file package; and all the compressed file packages and all the differential file packages are packaged to form a file system update package.

As a new terminal published by a terminal manufacturer appears on the market faster and faster, a software version of the terminal appearing on the market has some bugs or parts urgently needing to improve the user experience inevitably, or even has some critical faults urgently needing to be repaired. Generally, software of a terminal device can be updated by using a Firmware Update Over the Air (FOTA) method, updating solutions are enriched day by day, and updating requirements containing an updating requirement for a file system are complex increasingly.
Methods for updating a file system on the basis of an FOTA technology in the current industry adopt a differential updating mode. Namely, when an update package is provided, it is necessary to generate a differential update package by means of a certain differential algorithm between an original file system to be updated and a target file system formed after updating, and in an actual updating process of the terminal device, the original file system of the terminal device is updated to the target file system by utilizing the differential update package. Thus, due to the fact that the update package only involves different parts between the file systems in two versions and identical parts are not contained in an updating range, the manufactured update package is relatively small, and quick downloading and updating can be realized.
However, there is a limitation to these updating methods. Namely, updating is only allowed to be performed between the original file system and the target file system due to the adoption of the differential algorithm. That is, when it is necessary to update some dynamic files (for example, configuration items such as a default network type, a default screen locking duration and a default browser access point, which can be changed by a user via a menu finally) in the terminal device, a software provider for manufacturing an update package or a server cannot determine specific situations of source files due to the fact that a source file system has been changed by the user. Consequently, the differential update package cannot be manufactured by using the differential algorithm for the difference between a source file and a target file, and the range within which the file system can be updated in an FOTA mode is restricted to a great extent.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing file system update package, method and apparatus for updating file system update package, and terminal


A pellicle is proposed in which the agglutinant layer which enables the pellicle to adhere to a photomask is doped with a de-foaming agent which depends on a reactive fluorine-modified silicone oil for its anti-foaming performance, and typically such reactive fluorine-modified silicone oil has a vinyl group at both ends of its molecular chain.

In manufacturing semiconductor devices such as LSI and super-LSI or in manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel or the like, a circuit pattern is made by irradiating a light to a semiconductor wafer or a negative plate for liquid crystal, but problems occur if a dust particle is sticking to a photographic mask or a reticle (hereinafter these are simply referred to as "photomask") used in this stage; for then the pattern's edges become blurred and what is more the under base gets smeared in black, whereby the dimension, quality, appearance, and other aspects of the resulting product are degraded.
Thus, these works are usually performed in a clean room, but, even in a clean room, it is yet difficult to keep the photomask clean all the time. Hence, the exposure light irradiation is conducted only after a pattern-bearing part of the surface of the photomask is sheltered by a pellicle as a dust fender. Under such circumstances, foreign particles do not directly adhere to the surface of the photomask, but only onto the pellicle membrane, and thus by setting a photo focus at a pattern on the photomask at the time of lithographing, the foreign particles on the pellicle membrane do not affect the transferred image.
In general, a pellicle is made in a manner such that a transparent pellicle membrane made of cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, a fluorine-containing polymer or the like, which transmit light well, is adhered to an upper annular face of a pellicle frame, which is made of an aluminum, a stainless steel, polyethylene or the like, after applying to the upper annular face a solvent which dissolves the pellicle membrane well, and then by drying the solvent by blown air (ref. IP Publication 1), or after applying to the upper annular face an adhesive made of a material such as an acrylic resin or an epoxy resin (ref. IP Publications 2, 3). Further, on a lower annular face of the pellicle frame is laid an agglutinant layer made of a polybutene resin, a polyvinyl acetate resin, an acrylic resin, a silicone resin or the like for attaching the pellicle frame to the photomask, and over this agglutinant layer is laid a releasable liner (separator) for protecting the agglutinant layer.
The application of the agglutinant onto the pellicle frame is conducted by brush painting, spraying, dipping, extrusion form a tube or a cartridge, automatic dispensing, or the like (ref. IP Publication 4); however, in any of these procedures, it has been inevitable that a bubble or foam occurs in the agglutinant layer which is thought to originate from the agglutinant itself or from the air trapped between the agglutinant and the pellicle frame as the former is applied to the latter.
Such foam would naturally go out as the agglutinant layer was let to sit for a period; but when the agglutinant is of such a type that it is to be diluted in a solvent, the foam would not go out easily, because as the solvent quickly evaporates, the viscosity of the agglutinant layer increases, making it harder for the foam to penetrate and go out; so that it was necessary to remove the foam as early as possible. For if the foam stays in the agglutinant layer, during a pellicle inspection, it glitters reflecting a focused light beam and is mistaken as foreign particles whereby not only the appearance but also the quality of the agglutinant layer is underestimated and thus the pellicle frame is eliminated off the production line and causes a reduction in the yield of the pellicles manufactured.
A conventional method for removing foam from a liquid has been to use an antifoaming agent. Examples of effective antifoaming agent for non-aqueous foamed liquid include silicone oil-based agents such as KF-96, KS-66, KS-602A, FA-600, FA-630, FL-100, FL-50 (which are commercial products of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.); among these agents fluorine-modified silicone oils such as FA-600, FA-630, FL-100 and FL-50 (which are commercial products of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) are particularly effective.

Agglutinant for pellicle and a pellicle using it


The processing elements if a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) massively parallel processor (MPP) are provided with two register blocks. One register block includes logic for performing limited left shifting, while the other register block includes logic for performing limited right shifting. A method is disclosed for using the registers blocks with their associated logic to perform floating point significand alignment and normalization. The limited shifting logic occupies less die space than a full feature barrel shifter, thereby permitting a greater number of processing elements.

The following application is related to application Ser. No. 09/874,307 filed on Jun. 6, 2001 (now allowed) entitled "Method and Circuit for Alignment of Floating Point Significants in a SIMD Array MPP," the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
The fundamental architecture used by all personal computers (PCs) and workstations is generally known as the von Neumann architecture, illustrated in block diagram form in FIG. 1. In the von Neumann architecture, a main central processing unit (CPU) 10 is coupled via a system bus 11 to a memory 12. The memory 12, referred to herein as "main memory", also contains the data on which the CPU 10 operates. In modern computer systems, a hierarchy of cache memories is usually built into the system to reduce the amount of traffic between the CPU 10 and the main memory 12.
The von Neumann approach is adequate for low to medium performance applications, particularly when some system functions can be accelerated by special purpose hardware (e.g., 3D graphics accelerator, digital signal processor (DSP), video encoder or decoder, audio or music processor, etc.). However, the approach of adding accelerator hardware is limited by the bandwidth of the link from the CPU/memory part of the system to the accelerator. The approach may be further limited if the bandwidth is shared by more than one accelerator. Thus, the processing demands of large data sets are not served well by the von Neumann architecture. Similarly, as the processing becomes more complex and the data larger, the processing demands may not be met even with the conventional accelerator approach.
Referring now to FIG. 2, an alternative to the von Neumann architecture is the single instruction multiple data (SIMD) massively parallel processor (MPP) system. A MPP system differs from a von Neumann system by using a large number of processors, called processing elements (PE) 200, coupled to a communications network 15. The communications network 15 permit each PE 200 to exchange data with other PEs 200. Additionally, the PEs 200 may read or write to main memory 12 via an array-to-memory bus 13, or receive commands or instructions from CPU 10 via bus 11. Although the CPU 10 may perform some processing, in a SIMD MPP system, the array of PEs 14, comprising the PEs 200 and its communications network 15, perform most of the computations. The CPU 10 functions in a supporting role.
In a SIMD MPP, each PE operates on the same instruction, at the same time, but on different pieces of data. Since the PEs in a SIMD array operate in lockstep, data dependent conditional operations cannot be performed by branching, as would be done in a conventional processor. Instead, each PE can decide whether to store the result of an operation either in an internal register or in a memory dependent upon a condition generated within the PE from data local to the PE. This technique is known as "activity control " and is a very powerful method for performing data dependent decisions in a parallel computer which operates on a single stream of instructions.
Most SIMD MPPs utilize relatively simple processors for PEs 200. For example, short integer PEs 200, such as 8-bit integer processors may be used. SIMD MPPs utilize these simple processors in order to increase the number of PEs 200 which can be integrated upon a single silicon die. High performance is achieved by the use of a large number of simple PEs 200, each operating at a high clock speed.
The use of short integer PEs 200 mean that floating point operations may require several clock cycles to complete. In many computer systems, floating point numbers are often stored in a manner consistent with the IEEE-754 standard. In particular, the IEEE-754 standard stores single precision floating point number as three binary fields taking the format of:(−1)s×2(e−127)×(1.f)  (1)wherein:                s is a single bit representing the sign of the floating point number.        e is an 8-bit unsigned integer representing a biased exponent. e is said to represent a biased exponent because the actual exponent being represented is equal to e−127. Although an 8-bit unsigned integer may range from 0–255, and thereby permitting exponents in the range from −127 (i.e., −127=0−127) to +128 (i.e., 128=255−127), the IEEE-754 standard limits the range of usable exponents to exclude −127 and +128.        1.f is a 24-bit significant field in a "normalized" format, i.e., a bit field in which the most significant bit (MSB) is the first digit left of the binary point and in which the most significant bit is set to one. Since the most significant bit of a normalized number is understood to be 1, there is no need to store the most significant bit.
Data which have biased exponents of 0 and 255 are used to represent special conditions and the number zero. The IEEE-754 standard represents the number zero using a biased exponent of 0 (i.e., for the single precision format, the exponent equals −127) and a significand field of 0000000000000000000000002. (In the special cases of zero and non-normalized numbers, indicated by the exponent being 0, the most significant bit of the significand is not taken to be a 1.)
Under the IEEE-754 standard, single extended, double, and double extended precision numbers are stored in similar format, albeit using different sized exponents and significands. For example, double precision numbers use a 10-bit biased exponent field with representable exponents ranging from −1022 to 1023 and a significand having 53 bits.
In order to perform arithmetic operations on floating point number stored in the IEEE-754 format, the floating point numbers first need to be separated, or "demerged", to extract the sign bit, the exponent, and the significand. Once these fields have been extracted, they can be operated upon in order to perform the arithmetic operation. For example, multiplying two floating point number includes multiplying the significands and adding the exponents. Once the arithmetic operation has been performed, significand field of the result may not be in a normalized format. For example, multiplication of two operands with normalized significands results in an answer ranging from 02 to 1002. The process of returning a significand field back to a normalized format is known as normalization.
In conventional computer systems, normalization is normally performed using standard shifting logic, such as barrel shifters. Shifting logic is used in conventional computer systems because they have adequate speed and they do not consume a significant amount of silicon real estate in comparison to the other circuitry in a complex CPU 10. However, in a SIMD MPP using simple PEs 200, standard shifting logic such as barrel shifters would significantly increase the size of the PEs 200 and also be too slow. Accordingly, there is a desire and need for a way to efficiently perform normalization of floating point significands in a SIMD MPP environment.

Method and circuit for normalization of floating point significants in a SIMD array MPP