A method of transmitting/receiving a packet using a hybrid automatic repeat request in the mobile communication system is disclosed. The packet data transmitting method includes transmitting at least one sub packet divided from plurality of encoded packets generated by repeating a bit stream that is made by encoding information desired to be transmitted with 1/5 rate turbo encoder, and transmission start point information of the sub packet through the sub packet identifier field on the accompanying control channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method of transmitting or receiving a data packet in packet data communication system using a hybrid automatic repeat request.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is used for transmission of packet data in a mobile communication system.
That is, the object of the HARQ is to improve the reliability and throughput during data transmission in the communication system by combining an automatic repeat request (ARQ) with a forward error correction (FEC).
The object of the ARQ is to improve the reliability in a manner that a receiving end requests repeat of the same information until the initially sent information is received in the receiving end without error. The object of the FEC is for the receiving end to compensate for the error occurring due to the channel environment using an error correction code.
If the channel environment is good and the error occurring frequency of the given information is low, only the use of the ARQ will suffice for the reliability.
However, if the channel environment gets worse, the error occurring frequency of the given information becomes greater, and thus the frequency of repeat request also becomes greater.
This deteriorates the throughput of the system. Thus, it has been proposed to use both the ARQ and the FEC, which is called the HARQ.
As a kind of the HARQ, there is a method that uses an incremental redundancy.
According to this method, a transmitting end first transmits information encoded with a high coding rate to a receiving end, encodes the information with the coding rate lowered whenever the repeat request is received from the receiving end, and then transmits only the additional redundancy bits to the receiving end. The receiving end combines the received redundancy bits with the previously sent information to decode the information.
These additional redundancy bits are bits added for error correction or detection of the previously transmitted data packet.
To do so, the receiving end can obtain the gain according to the combining. Also, since the combining coding rate of the packet data is gradually reduced whenever the repeat is performed, the transmitting end can adaptively give the redundancy to the data packet according to the change of the channel environment.
Currently, in a high data rate (HDR) mobile communication system, the incremental redundancy of the HARQ, particularly a synchronous incremental redundancy (SIR) is used.
According to the SIR method, as shown in FIG. 1A, information to be transmitted is encoded and repeated to construct one packet, and then the data packet is divided into sub packets of a fixed size for transmission.
Specifically, the transmitting end transmits a sub packet among sub packets that constitute a data packet. If the receiving end performs decoding of the transmitted sub packet without error and transmits an acknowledgment (ACK) to the transmitting end, the transmitting end transmits no further sub packet.
If the receiving end fails to perform the decoding of the transmitted sub packet and transmits a non-acknowledgment (NACK) to the transmitting end, the transmitting end transmits the next sub packet.
Meanwhile, in order to heighten the transmission rate in the changing channel environment, it is advantageous to change the length of the respective sub packets according to the changing channel environment.
Accordingly, in order to implement this, a method that uses a variable sub packet length has been proposed as shown in FIG. 2A.
During the process of dividing a data packet into several sub packets and transmitting the sub packets, this method enables the transmission of the respective sub packets to be performed with different sub packet lengths according to the channel environment.
At this time, there is provided a control channel for notifying information on the length of the sub packet, sub packet identifier (ID), etc.
If the transmitting end transmits the packet data to the receiving end through the above-described process, the receiving end extracts information on the sub packet through the control channel to receive the sub packet.
Then, the receiving end performs the decoding of the data packet by concatenating/combining the received sub packet with the data packet previously sent from the transmitting end using the extracted information.
In case of using the sub packets of the fixed length as shown in FIG. 1A, the length of all the sub packets is fixed, and thus the receiving end can grasp the transmission start point of the currently received sub packet if it knows the order of the sub packets even when it cannot receive any sub packet. Thus, it can perform the decoding by regenerating the packet with other sub packets (or even with only one sub packet) as shown in FIG. 1B.
Thus, if there is information on the order of the sub packet currently transmitted, the receiving end can recognize the transmission start point of the sub packet. In case of using the SIR method in the HDR system, the receiving end can always recognize information on when its own sub packet is received after the first sub packet is received, and thus does not require other control information in the event that the received sub packet is not the fifth sub packet. However, in case of using an asynchronous incremental redundancy, the transmission time of the next sub packet may randomly change even if the transmission time of the first sub packet is determined, and thus all the sub packets should be transmitted to the receiving end along with the information on the sub packet ID and the sub packet length that is the control information on the sub packet. In case that the length of the respective sub packet is fixed, the receiving end can recognize the transmission start point of the respective sub packet even if the transmitting end just transmits the sub packet IDs in order.
However, according to the method that uses the sub packets of the variable length as shown in FIG. 2A, the length of the sub packet is changed whenever the sub packet is transmitted, and thus if the control channel that includes the sub packet information is not received, the start point of the data packet cannot be recognized only through the respective sub packet ID.
That is, it cannot be recognized where the currently received sub packet starts. For this reason the variable length type method cannot decode the data packet even if only one sub packet is missing.
Specifically, if a sub packet 2 is not received and a sub packet 3 is received, there is no information on the previous sub packet 2 during the process of concatenating the sub packet 1 and the sub packet 3, and thus it cannot be recognized of which type between two types as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C the sub packet 3 is received.
In the sequential transmitting method wherein the transmission of the next sub packet starts at a position where the transmission of the previous sub packet ends, if the receiving end misses even one sub packet, it cannot recognize the transmission position of the incoming sub packet after the missing sub packet, and thus the decoding cannot be performed.
To solve the above-described problem, a method is used as follows. That is, in transmitting variable sub packets, each sub packet is transmitted from the fixed start position in the encoded packet to the receiving end, and the information on the length and the starting position of the sub packet is transmitted to the receiving end through the control channel. The receiving end extracts the information on the sub packet through the control channel, and performs the decoding by concatenating/combining the received sub packet with the previously received sub packet using the extracted information.
However, in case of using this method, a certain portion in the encoded packet may be repeatedly transmitted, while another portion may not be transmitted, resulting in that the coding gain according to the HARQ cannot be obtained sufficiently.

Method of transmitting or receiving a data packet in packet data communication system using hybrid automatic repeat request


A high-energy radiation survey system capable of imaging and determining the distances of, sources of incident radiation and of determining the energy of such radiation, incorporating a shaped radiation detector shield and detector configured therein for low-noise collimation of the radiation for directional mapping. The system is capable of being mounted on a remotely controllable vehicle and of being operated from an operator's station remote from radiation hazards. The system can be used to generate high resolution radiation dose maps superimposed on a real-time video image of a room or other areas in nuclear power plants and other facilities using radioactive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to high-energy radiation survey equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
Extensive radiation surveys for operational or maintenance purposes are frequently required in the nuclear industry and other industries using radioactive materials. Typically, these surveys are conducted by health physics personnel who place hand-held radiation detectors next to suspected radiation sources or pre-determined radiation survey points. The results of these surveys are then usually manually recorded on printed sketches of the areas surveyed.
This technique suffers from a number of drawbacks. The most significant drawback is the health risk created by the occupational radiation exposure experienced by survey personnel. Another drawback is the variable quality of surveys taken by this technique, which depends on such factors as the placement and orientation of the hand-held detector, the experience and attentiveness of the technician, the quality of the sketch used to document the survey, and the interpretation by the person reviewing the survey data. If the survey or its interpretation do not lead to an accurate understanding of the radiation hazards in the surveyed area, other workers may be exposed to unnecessarily high radiation doses in the future. Other work inefficiencies, leading to increased costs, can also result.
Mechanizing the radiation survey process would reduce the health risk to human workers. To also increase dependability, however, the mechanized survey system must be able to make accurate measurements of relevant variables and provide enough additional information about the surveyed area to facilitate an objective interpretation of survey data. Since efficiency is also a concern, the system should be easily transportable and should be able to adapt to different circumstances in any one location.
The problems to be overcome in meeting these goals can be subtle. For example, the contents of a room to be surveyed may change from day to day. Consequently, the system should not rely on pre-determined knowledge of the room's geometry or contents. In addition, an intervening object may prevent a radiation source from being visible from all points of view in a room. Consequently, a system that takes measurements from pre-determined points in a room, or that may be affected in an unknown way by a radiation source outside the system's field of view, may lack the necessary accuracy and dependability.
Since the purpose of surveys often is identification of radiation health hazards, the system should be able to provide certain types of information that permit the calculation of radiation dose equivalents, which relate to the health effects of radiation. To allow this, the system must be able to measure the energy of the incoming radiation. Additionally, the system should be able to resolve individual sources of radiation and measure the distances from such sources to the detector. To make these measurements more meaningful, the system should provide the human operator with a quick way to identify these sources.
Another problem to be overcome arises from the ability of certain types of high-energy radiation to penetrate, to a greater or lesser degree, the material surrounding a detector. In order to pinpoint a radiation source, the system should be able to detect the radiation coming in from a well-defined direction, while shielding the detector from radiation coming in from all other directions. In the case of gamma radiation, as well as other types of radiation that may be of interest, significant variations in the thickness of the shield will lead to significant variations in the attenuation of the radiation. Such variable attenuation creates difficulties in distinguishing the desired signal (namely, radiation measured along the desired direction) from background noise. Consequently, it is important to achieve substantially uniform attenuation of incident radiation in all directions other than the direction of observation. At the same time, it is necessary to prevent the shielding material from making the device so heavy or bulky that it is no longer easily mobile.
In light of the foregoing, there is a present need for a dependable and accurate radiation survey system.


In order to provide a dielectric ceramic composition capable of sintering at a low temperature, implementing a low relative dielectric constant, providing other excellent properties (such as a relative density and an insulation resistance), performing co-firing of different materials, and suppressing dispersion of Ag in the sintered body when the internal electrode is formed, the dielectric ceramic composition includes a main ingredient containing SiO2—K2O—B2O3-based glass of 40 to 65 weight %, quartz of 35 to 50 weight %, and amorphous silica of remaining weight %; and a subsidiary ingredient containing alumina of 1.5 to 4 weight %, K2O-MO—SiO2—B2O3-based glass (where “MO” denotes at least any one selected from a group consisting of CaO and SrO) of 5 to 20 weight % relative to the main ingredient of 100 weight %.

In recent years, as electronic elements employed in a communication device such as a mobile phone are miniaturized with high performance at a high frequency range, demands for electronic elements such as an LC composite electronic element or a common mode filter capable of exhibiting a high attenuation capability at a high frequency range abruptly increase.
Currently, coils of LC composite electronic elements or the common mode filters are made of a magnetic substance such as Ni—Cu—Zn-based ferrite or a nonmagnetic Cu—Zn-based ferrite or dielectric material. However, such a substance has a relatively high dielectric constant of approximately 8 to 15 and is susceptible to a stray capacitance. For this reason, such a substance has a limitation in application to a high frequency environment, and it is demanded to provide a material having a lower relative dielectric constant (for example, 4.9 or lower).
In particular, it is difficult to implement a dielectric constant lower than 5, suitable for a recent high-frequency environment using a crystal substance such as mullite or forsterite having a dielectric constant of 6 to 7. Thus, it is demanded to develop a material using glass having a low-dielectric constant.
LC composite electronic elements or common mode filters are formed by co-firing different materials (for example, a capacitor material and a coil material). For this reason, it is necessary to match the linear expansion coefficients between different materials as close as possible.
In addition, it is desirable to use a conductive material containing silver (Ag) in order to reduce a cost of the conductive material or a direct current (DC) resistance. Furthermore, it is desirable to use a material sinterable at a low temperature equal to or lower than a melting point of Ag (for example, equal to or lower than 950° C.).
As such a ceramic material capable of a low-temperature sintering, for example, JP H09-241068A proposed a ceramic substrate in which a thermal expansion coefficient is controlled based on a ratio between quartz and fused quartz (amorphous silica) with a low relative dielectric constant of approximately 4.2.
However, the low-temperature sintering ceramic material disclosed in JP H09-241068A has a linear expansion coefficient of approximately 80×10−7/° C., which is still different from a linear expansion coefficient of ferrite, 95×10−7/° C. to 115×10−7/° C. Therefore, it was difficult to perform excellent unification co-firing of different materials for preventing a crack caused by a difference of the linear expansion coefficient.
In the unification co-firing of ferrite, typically, a glass component of B2O3 is dispersed into ferrite, and a glass component of a sintered body is reduced. For this reason, sinterability is degraded, and silver (Ag) used in the internal electrode is easily dispersed into the sintered body. Therefore, reduction/deformation of the internal electrode is promoted, and properties as an electronic element and reliability may be degraded.

Dielectric ceramic composition, electronic element, and composite electric element


An improved color filter and a color image display apparatus employs the filter, the color filter has a hologram device for spectrally diffracting an incident light into plural light beams of different wavelength regions and selectively converging the plural light beams on respective plural picture element electrodes corresponding to the different wavelength regions. The hologram device has such characteristics that S-polarized components of the incident light are diffracted at a maximum diffraction efficiency at a predetermined incident angle of the incident light, and P-polarized components of the incident light are diffracted as such that a difference between the maximum diffraction efficiency of the S-polarized components and the diffraction efficiency of the P-polarized components is not less than 30%, and the diffracted S-polarized components are formed as the plural light beams to be converged on the plural picture element electrodes corresponding to the different wavelength regions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to color filters used in image displays and image sensing systems, other image processing systems and color image display apparatuses, and in particular relates to improvements on an availability of light in reflecting type color image display apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Recently, there arise many demands on projection type display apparatuses for such as an outdoor public use and a commercial use and for displaying a high definition image on a screen as a largely magnified image.
Generally, the projection type display apparatuses are largely categorized into two types, a transmission type and a reflection type, however, the both types employ a spatial light modulation section having an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel, wherein an incident light beam is allowed to impinge on the LCD panel and an output light beam therefrom is obtained therefrom as a projected light by modulating the incident light by the spatial light modulation section corresponding to picture signals.
Here, the LCD panel is composed of an active matrix substrate.
On the active matrix substrate, there are provided switching elements such as thin film transistors, a picture element electrode layer having a plurality of picture element electrodes, a common electrode layer and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the picture element electrode layer and the common electrode layer. An alignment of moleculars of the liquid crystal layer is controlled by controlling electric potential between the common and picture element electrode layers by the switching elements corresponding to the applied picture signal.
Thus, a read light is modulated responsive to a change of the molecular alignment of the liquid crystal caused by the electric potential distribution between the picture element electrodes and the common electrode layer corresponding to the picture signal applied across the 2 layer of electrodes.
One of the differences between the transmission type and reflection type is that in the former the projection light passes through the transparent substrate of the active matrix, on the other hand, in the latter the projection light is reflected by the picture element electrodes or a dielectric mirror layer provided thereon.
Generally, in the reflection type projection apparatus, there is no need to provide black stripes. This allows to each crystal cell to have a larger aperture ratio. Further, there is few heat generation caused by an absorption of the read light. This allows a larger light output to irradiate the LCD panel for a given power. Thus, a brighter image can be obtained in the reflection type compared with that of the transmission type.
In conventional transmission type projection color image display apparatus, a color image is obtained by using three sheets of transmission type LCD panels corresponding to the three primary colors (R (red), G (green), B (blue)) and a three color composite optical system for composing a color composite light from the three color lights passing through the transmission type LCD, resulting in a large sized apparatus and a high production cost.
As a countermeasure, there is proposed an apparatus employing a single plate type color filter, wherein color filters are disposed as a single layer pattern of stripe, mosaic or a delta state opposing to the transparent picture element electrodes to be driven corresponding to color pattern of the filters. Here, filter elements of the three colors are closely grouped and disposed orderly.
The lights outputted from the filter elements of three colors are visually perceived as a single composite color picture element.
However, in the apparatus, among the read light (a white light) passing through the LCD and impinging on the color filter, only one primary color of the three primary ones is utilized and the rests are excluded, resulting in a low availability of the light. The reason is as follows:
1) When a white light beams is irradiated on the transmitting LCD panel as a read light, a light beam corresponding to a certain color among the three colors only passes through a color filter corresponding to the certain color. Thus, an amount of about 2/3 of the white light beam is not utilized. Further, a transmittance of the color filter is so small that the efficiency of light beam availability becomes much smaller. PA0 2) The transmission type LCD panel is provided with a black matrix surrounding cells as picture elements. Thus, a aperture ratio is small, resulting in a low availability of a light beam because the light beam irradiated on the black matrix is wasted.
As a countermeasure, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 6-308332/1994, there is disclosed a color filter employing a transmissive hologram for a spatial light modulation section used in a transmission type color image display apparatus.
FIG. 27 is a partial schematic side view for explaining operations of a spatial light modulation section in the prior art.
In FIG. 27, a reference character 51 denotes an LCD panel having a plurality of R, G, B-transparent picture element electrodes 51r, 51g, 51b. A reference character 52 denotes a color filter composed of a transmissive hologram including a plurality of unit holograms 52p for spectrally diffracting a read light into respective 3-color lights.
The separated 3-color lights diffracted by the color filter 52 are converged on the plurality of R, G, B-transparent picture element electrodes 51r, 51g, 51b correspondingly with the 3-colors.
According to this prior art, it is possible to utilize almost all the read light by diffracting the read light at a different angle corresponding to the 3-colors with the plurality of unit holograms 52.
As another countermeasure, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 2-500937/1990 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,978, there is disclosed a reflection type spatial light modulation section together with the transmission type color image display apparatus, wherein the transmissive hologram of the color filter is composed of three holographic lens array layers.
FIG. 28 is a partial schematic side view for explaining a function of a spatial light modulation section in the prior art.
In FIG. 28, a reference character 61 denotes a color filter having R, G, B-holographic lens array layers 61r, 61g, 61b, and 62 a glass substrate and 63 a reflective LCD panel.
The reflective LCD panel is composed of a transparent common electrode 64, a liquid crystal layer 65, a reflecting layer 66 and a picture element electrode layer 67 on which a plurality of R, G, B-picture element electrodes 67r, 67g, 67b are disposed. To each of the plurality of R, G, B-picture element electrodes 67r, 67g, 67b, an electric potential is applied from a back side of the LCD panel by a scanning electron beam or a controlling light beam.
The color filter 61 is composed of the R-holographic lens array 61r for exclusively diffracting the R-color light the G-holographic lens array 61g for exclusively diffracting the G-color light, the B-holographic lens array 61b for exclusively diffracting the B-color light in a laminated structure. As shown in FIG. 28, a pitch of the holographic lenses is three times as large as that of the picture element electrodes.
In this spatial light modulation section, a read light (or an incident light) is irradiated on the color filter 61 so that each of quasi-holographic lenses of the color filter 61 diffracts a color light and converges it on a corresponding picture element electrode disposed on an optical axis of the quasi-holographic lenses.
The quasi-holographic lenses are partially superimposed to each other in the construction, however, each of the quasi-holographic lenses exclusively diffracts the corresponding color light. Specifically, the R-holographic lens array only diffracts the R-color light and allows to pass through the rests of the G, B-color lights, the G-holographic lens array only diffracts the G-color light and allows to pass through the rests of the R, B-color lights, and the B-holographic lens array only diffracts the B-color light and allows to pass through the rests of the R, G-color lights.
As a result, the R, G, B-color lights diffracted by the R, G, B-holographic lens array layers 61r, 61g, 61b impinge on the liquid crystal layer 65, and are respectively reflected by the reflecting layer 66 corresponding to R, G, B-picture element electrodes 67r, 67g, 67b. Thus, they impinge again on the R, G, B-holographic lens array layers 61r, 61g, 61b by being modulated by the liquid crystal layer 65 on their ways between the reflecting layer 66 and the R, G, B-holographic lens array layers 61r, 61g, 61b, and the modulated color lights are diffracted again by R, G, B-holographic lens array layers 61r, 61g, 61b to be outputted therefrom to a direction of a light source of the read light.
Generally, in order to increase a diffraction efficiency (a ratio of an intensity of one order diffraction light to an intensity of the incident light) of a hologram, it is necessary to increase a bend angle defined as an angle between the one order diffraction light and the incident light.
Thus, in the Japanese Laid-open Publication 2-500937/60, upon producing the quasi-hologram lenses of the color filter 61, an angle .theta. between a reference light (an incident light) and an object light (diffracted light) are made to be large, wherein the angle .theta. is equal to an incident angle of the reference light.
However, in the prior art, the modulated R, G, B-color lights are returned to the direction of the light source of the read light as mentioned in the foregoing. For this reason, although there is not disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Publication 2-500937/60, it will be necessary to provide a polarization beam splitter to separate the projection light from the read light in an incident optical system if this color filter is applied to a color image display apparatus. In other words, the read light is allowed to impinge on the color filter 61 through the polarization beam splitter, and the modulated read light (projection light) from the spatial light modulation section impinging again on the color filter is outputted therefrom and separated by the polarization abeam splitter. The provision of the polarization beam splitter in the incident optical system causes reductions of a contrast ratio and availability of light, and a problem of a high production cost because the polarization beam splitter itself is very expensive.
On the other hand, it is well known that the smaller the bend angle of the hologram mentioned in the foregoing becomes, the lager a difference of diffraction efficiency between a P-polarized component (a light component having a plane of vibration parallel to an incident plane of an incident light) and an S-polarized component (a light component having a plane of vibration vertical to the incident plane thereof) of an incident light becomes.
Generally, the diffraction efficiency ".eta." of the transmissive hologram depends on an amount of modulation ".DELTA.n" of refractive index and a thickness thereof "t" and an incident angle ".theta.". When the incident angle ".theta." is set up as large as 60.degree. to 90.degree., a diffraction efficiency ".eta.p" of the P-polarized component and a diffraction efficiency ".eta.s" of the S-polarized component respectively are apt to behave a periodic change with respect to changes represented by a function F (.DELTA.n, t) as shown in FIG. 29.
FIG. 29 is a graph showing a diffraction efficiency ".eta.p" of the P-polarized component and a diffraction efficiency ".eta.s" of the S-polarized component with respect to changes represented by a function F (.DELTA.n, t).
And, under a condition that both the ".DELTA.n" and "t" are constant, when the incident angle ".theta." is decreased as small as 0.degree., the characteristic of the diffraction efficiency ".eta.p" of the P-polarized component and that of the diffraction efficiency ".eta.s" of the S-polarized component has a similar periodic characteristic, resulting in the same one in principle when ".theta."=0.
Accordingly, in the changes of the diffraction efficiency of the ".eta.p" and ".eta.s" shown in FIG. 29, it is possible to allow the ".eta.p" of the P-polarized component to be, for instance, about 18% under a condition that the ".eta.s" of the S-polarized component is held to be a maximum of 100% by setting up the incident angle ".theta." to be 75.degree..
In this regard, the inventors of the present invention has devised a useful color filter applicable to the color image display apparatuses capable of displaying the composite color image with a high contrast ratio and a high availability of light without providing the polarization beam splitter.

Color filter and color image display apparatus employing the filter


A semiconductor storage device includes memory cells having a floating body region and storing data by accumulating or releasing electric charges in or from the floating body region; a memory cell array including a matrix arrangement of the memory cells; a plurality of word lines each connected to the memory cells of each row in the memory cell array; and a counter cell array including counter cells each provided in correspondence to each word line to store occurrences of activation of the word line to read out data from the memory cells.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor storage device.
2. Background Art
There is an FBC (Floating Body Cell) memory device as a semiconductor storage device expected to be a substitute of DRAMs. An FBC memory device has transistors formed on a SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate and having floating bodies (herein below, referred to as body regions as well), and stores data "1" or data "0" depending upon whether holes are stored in the body regions.
FBC memory cells comprising FETs (Field Effect Transistors) involve the problem of charge pumping phenomenon explained below (see "Principle of Transients Charge Pumping on Partially Depleted SOI MOSFETs" by S. Okhonin et al., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 23, No. 5, May 2002). In case the memory cells are N-type FETs, when a memory cell is ON, part of electrons in the inverted layer is trapped by the interfacial level along the interface between a gate oxide film and the body region. Holes stored heretofore in the body region recombine with these electrons and disappear. Therefore, while the memory cells are turned ON and OFF repetitively, holes stored in the body regions gradually decrease, and the state of data "1" undesirably changes to data "0".
Therefore, a semiconductor storage device, which is capable of preventing the charge pumping phenomenon by counting the number of activating times of word lines, is desired.

Semiconductor storage device having a counter cell array to store occurrence of activation of word lines


My invention is different in that it uses high temperature water to dissolve either evaporated granular salt, evaporated salt blocks, evaporated salt buttons, solar salt blocks, bulk or bagged solar salt crystals, or halite rock salt crystals to create a highly saturated, highly concentrated salt brine with or without adjuncts such as waste beet juice, molasses, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride to deice streets, roads, bridges, highways, sidewalks, curb cuts, building entrance steps, and airport runways and airplane taxi ways leading to airport runways. The use of the heated salt brine and adjuncts such as waste beet juice or molasses will prevent the solution from being diluted by holding it place with the sucrose or fructose based molasses used to bind the brine to the surface requiring deicing. The use of calcium chloride and magnesium chloride as adjuncts will increase the heated salt brine's effectiveness at lower temperatures.

(1) Field of the Invention
This application is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/785,934 filed Mar. 24, 2006. This invention deals specifically with improving deicing and snow removal on highways, bridges, roads and streets.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR. 1.97 and 1.98
The extensive use of rock salt for highway deicing did not begin until the United States had a system of paved roads due to the introduction of the automobile as a method of transportation from place to place. Sand was used as a traction aid on city streets, hills and highways when ice was encountered. The sand was left to sit on the roadway and provide a surface for the automobile tires to grip upon for proper traction of the automobile, delivery truck, ambulance, police car or fire truck etc. The sand remained on the roadway until the snow and ice melted in the spring, and in the cities it filled the storm sewer catch basins and the catch basins would overflow due to the build up of trash, sand and leaves in the catch basins. Municipalities using the combined sewers used by many municipalities required frequent cleaning due to the build up of sand in the sewer pipes if they did not use catch basins. This job required many man hours of labor to shovel out the storm sewer catch basins, and cleaning the sewer pipes with cleaning buckets attached to winch cables at the street level. With the introduction of vacuum sewer cleaning trucks and high pressure water jet cleaners the job of cleaning both the combined sewers and separate sanitary sewer systems became easier and require less manual labor. The introduction and use of solar and rock salt to deice the streets hills and highways eliminated the need for sand as a traction aid for motor vehicles as the salt melted the snow and ice and was inexpensive to use for deicing and snow removal. The use of rock salt and solar salt eliminated the need for sanding the streets and the required cleaning of the storm sewer catch basins of sand deposited there by water run off from the street. Many municipalities simply used either solar salt or rock salt to remove ice and snow, and only plowed when it was required due to the weather conditions as the use of salt for deicing was much less expensive to use as it left no residue to be cleaned up every spring. As a result of heavy salt use the diluted salt water gradually makes its way into the surface water of rivers and streams and it also penetrates to some sources of ground water rendering it unusable unless it is pumped through a reverse osmosis filtration system. The surface water pollution from deicing salts and chemicals is a subject of increasing concern and increased regulation in regard to allowable discharges of salt water from storage piles and salt sheds.
The Salt Institute data for the tonnage sold of rock salt referred to as Halite in the year 2008 was 22,185,000 tons, this amount does not include the amount of solar salt sold for highway deicing.
The use of deep mined rock salt referred to as Halite and solar evaporated salt requires intensive use of different types mining machinery using high voltage electricity and diesel fuel to provide power to the machinery and human labor to operate the mining machinery.
In the case of deep mined rock salt the salt is mined by rubber tired mobile diesel and electric mining machinery used in room and pillar mining in several areas of Canada, The United States, South America, and European Union to provide halite for deicing roads and highways. The deep mining of Halite requires the use of explosives being typically ANFO being ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with diesel fuel to act as a combustion accelerant due to its ease of use low cost, and explosive energy output.
In Chile, South America, Halite is mined in strip mining fashion using high explosive ANFO and surface mining drills and as it is exposed on the surface of the earth in several very thick dry exposed salt lake bed deposits in the Andes Mountains. Halite is also deep mined in Columbia as well using room and pillar mining methods.
Solar evaporated salt is harvested using tracked or wheeled harvesting machines with mining heads mounted under the frames which break the solar salt from the floor of the final salt concentrating pond where it is harvested. The salt is loaded into trucks for delivery to the screening and crushing plant where it is washed with salt water. It is dried in a rotary kiln, screened, and crushed to useable sizes for the various markets including those of human consumption for table salt, pressed in to salt blocks for livestock use and fish packing houses served by the solar salt company and deicing salt as well. Solar salt is also highly recommended for water softening due to its purity and high salt concentration.
Many millions of tons of deep rock salt are used for highway deicing. This requires massive amounts of diesel fuel to mine and store it at mine based stock piles. To transport it by rail and barge to distant stock piles, and much more diesel fuel, labor and equipment cost to stockpile it at the end users location, and it also requires extensive use of pollution control methods to control salt water run off. The use of rock salt requires additional diesel fuel and labor to transport it, spread it, and repeat the process to keep the highways clear of ice and snow. Most if not all states or nations in the snow belts have a bare roads policy to allow safe and swift travel from place to place in the northern latitudes of the United States, Canada and the European Union.
Salt used for deicing is transported from a storage stock pile to the end user and dumped at the local highway department salt storage shed. The salt is pushed or conveyed to the stock pile and then removed by a front end loader, and dumped into salt spreaders for ice and snow control on roadways and streets.
Some municipalities have overhead storage silos that allow for vertical storage of the rock salt thereby reducing the space needed to store it and the potential pollution run off. The rock salt is blown into these silos using a pneumatic bulk truck trailer system of delivery which uses a very low pressure, high volume air stream delivery method to blow the halite salt crystals to the top of the silo for storage. Gravity is used to fill the salt spreaders rather than a front end loader in this case saving time, labor, and reducing salt waste from spillage due to over filling a salt spreader.
Pollution from rock salt storage is a major issue requiring the construction of approved salt storage sheds to contain the salt and reduce salt water run off by diverting rainwater away from the storage shed. Salt stock piles are required to have gutters to collect rainwater falling on covered salt piles and under surface conveyors to collect any rainwater run off into collection ponds which will contain and manage the salt water volumes. The waste salt water is required to be filtered using reverse osmosis to cleanse it of salt and allow the clean water to be discharged safely to comply with existing water pollution regulations.
Most large municipalities are required to store rock salt in huge storage barns, which can store a large amount of salt in a barn or igloo structure.
The rock salt is typically conveyed into a storage igloo by a conveyor belt at the top or if the igloo is a large structure it is pushed up into a pile making a road in the salt pile with a wheel loader.
Large users of deicing salt do not store an entire season's worth of deicing salt as they are unsure how much salt they may need in a typical year. They purchase only the salt they need on an "as needed" basis to fill the salt barns as they use it maintaining a few weeks supply of deicing salt.
The states and municipalities have guarantees written into the salt sales contracts with the deicing salt. As deicing salt providers that they must be able to provide 25 percent more deicing salt than of the agreed upon amount in the salt allocation in the bidding process to guarantee a continuous supply at that same price in the event of a severe winter season. This is a typical contract condition for awarding a salt bid contract to the low bidder during the bidding period award to the successful salt provider.
Many but not all municipalities participate as buyers of halite with the state purchasing agency acting as the principal in the purchase of halite this allows the smaller municipalities to pay the same price for halite as the state pays and save tax dollars and nearly eliminate possible shortages.
Some of the smaller municipalities do not buy a lot of deicing salt and are forced to buy it at the market price during the salt season. The seasonally spot prices paid for deicing salt per ton can increase substantially in cost per ton during a year when there is little local salt to be purchased, unless a purchaser is a guaranteed recipient of deicing salt due to the mandatory salt allocation process. If more salt is required an end user may pay much more to have additional salt brought in from another location if needed. This happens to small plowing contractors every year in a bad winter season with above average snow and ice conditions.
This has pressured some users of straight deicing salt to use sand again for their highways as they are unable to obtain normal amounts deicing salt to maintain their roads and streets due to price increases for halite. This past year many municipalities in New York State have returned to using more sand on their roads and streets. This is due to the high cost of deicing salt which is the result of higher production costs due to increased diesel fuel costs and higher natural gas costs which is used to make the ammonium nitrate fertilizer used as an explosive agent to mine the rock salt. This has also forced the price of sand to increase as well due to the increased demand for salting sand which is the sand that is used when formulating concrete mixes. The resulting reduction in salt water pollution of fresh water streams and bodies of water helps the local environment to recover quickly as the salt is much less concentrated and dilutes to smaller concentrations.
The typical sand and gravel plant is shut down in the wintertime due to the reduced demand for their products. As these plants use water to wash the sand from the gravel it will freeze unless the screening plant is using a non toxic antifreeze or is in a heated building.
The price hikes involving sand are due to a municipality not owning a sand and gravel screening plant of its own to make its own crushed stone gravels, and in the process of screening and crushing bank run gravels to obtain washed sand for traction grit on its roads. As a result they must purchase sand from a local sand and gravel pit that may be locally owned or owned by an outside corporation.
Salting sand and sand mixed with calcium is typically mixed by a front end loader mixing the two components together to make a useable percentage of salting sand to stretch out both the salt and sand supply during the winter season.
Some municipal users have trucks that simply spread salt during the winter months or dual use trucks which have both snow plow and salt spreader mounted to a truck body.
The City of New York, N.Y. has snow plows mounted on many of its individual garbage trucks plowing snow as they collect refuse on its streets in the five boroughs. The trucks owned by smaller municipalities and used for deicing and snow removal have other duties such as ditch digging and cleaning ditches. These trucks may have up to 4 drive axles, and may also be equipped with all wheel drive depending upon the location and severity of a typical winter in that area.
The various states and municipalities that use salt for deicing have preset minimum salt use levels referred to as pounds per lane mile to deice highways per the various states department of transportation and its recommendation for salt coverage on its roads. In my home state of New York Halite is spread at a minimum of two hundred pounds per lane mile depending upon road conditions. This means that four hundred pounds of salt will be spread per mile of two lane roadway. This is accomplished using metering wheels in contact with the road surface or a milage counter in the truck cab used in conjunction with a Global Positioning System and a vehicle speed determination wheel in contact with one of the rear truck tires.
Due to Halite and other deicing products increasing expense due to increasing labor costs and costs of production and transportation inventors created several types of salt metering methods and salt pretreatment systems to improve its effectiveness and to reduce its overall cost to the end user being a municipality. These methods include lane mile counters and metering devices to properly dispense deicing salts and the various chemicals used for deicing highways, roads, streets and bridges.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,681,828 06-1954 classification 134/5 to Pollard, discloses a method of highway deicing using a vehicle mounted steam energy delivery system in a very large and complex plumbing arrangement used heat brines prior to pumping them to the deicing spray nozzles, and then upon the road surface using a trailer vehicle in combination with a towing vehicle.
(a) The use of steam energy in a road vehicle is dangerous simply due to the risk of a steam explosion and its potential for property damage and injury and death to persons in vehicles passing the deicing unit and any nearby pedestrians in a municipal location.
(b) The use of a steam generating boiler also requires the annual testing and inspection of the steam vessel for its continued safe use as a steam vessel as required by local fire and plumbing safety codes.
(c) The cost of making massive amounts of steam to heat brine as it is dispensed is prohibitive as the steam is not recovered for reuse and will be subject to price hikes of oil fuels during the winter season.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,879 09-2002 classification 239/7 to Kime, James A. discloses a method and apparatus depositing snow-ice treatment material on pavement using a dump truck body, twin augers mounted in the dump truck body for metering salt to a mixing box and then to a cross auger which delivers salt to both sides of the vehicle to gravity drop tubes where the salt impacts a spinning mechanism to spread the deicing salt, and deposits it in narrow bands between the left and right rear wheel sets of the delivery truck while they are pre wetted in the movement of the vehicle and pushing the wet salt crystals under the tires with the weight of the vehicle upon the road surface. The deicing method utilizes a low voltage control system to operate the dump bed, the salt crystal delivery augers in the dump bed, the cross flow auger that delivers salt to the drop tubes under the truck body, the hydraulic power system, and the plowing blade and brine water delivery system.
Thus if the Kime deicer is implemented for use, the vehicle must be used for the sole purpose of deicing streets and roads and limits its availability to the owner of the vehicle until and unless the deicing machineries are completely removed from the transport vehicle and another dumping body must be installed to facilitate its use as a dump truck.
(d) The complete removal of a deicing mechanism of this type and replacing it with a dumping body requires many hours of manual labor and the use of an overhead bridge crane in a highway maintenance truck repair shop.
(e) Many highway departments do not own bridge cranes and often use a front end loader or large forklift to remove and install the various truck bodies they must use outside the repair shop in an open area to allow movement of the machine used for lifting the detached body from the truck frame with considerable risk of injury to an employee supervising the removal of the truck attachment from a possible broken lift chain, wire rope or fabric sling used to lift the deicing mechanism. The deicing mechanism must also be drained, physically cleaned and washed to remove built up salt deposits every day as well which will reduce its effectiveness as delivery mechanism.
(f) The deicing system wiring and controls will have to be removed at the end of every snow season and the wiring will be subject to salt corrosion and ice damage due to ice clinging to the wiring and breakage of the wiring due to ice buildup. Ice and snow will build up upon the truck body as well simply due to the natural excess moisture in a Snow Belt area, and due the heat generated by the vehicle itself attracting excess moisture. Many municipalities are required to use their truck fleet the year round due to a small vehicle fleet. This requires changing many truck bodies twice each year, once for the snow season and the second time for the spring summer and fall seasons which takes many hours of valuable labor which could be used elsewhere. The fact that many snow removal vehicles are left out of doors due to the physical size of the front plows and wing plows attached to the vehicle which reduces available overhead door side clearances in many municipal truck shops.
(g) The truck mounted snowplows and salt spreaders are left out of doors in the off season as they are not stored indoors due to available space limitations. The plows and salt spreaders are exposed to the elements and are allowed to rust during the off season months, and when the time comes to remount the plows and spreaders considerable time is spent cleaning the mounting pins for the snow plows, replacing the plow cutting edges and removing rust from the plow mounting frames on the plow trucks to mount the front plows and wing plows. Any bad wiring encountered must be replaced with individual repairs or new wiring harnesses if so equipped by the manufacturer of the salt spreader.
(g) The overnight exposure to the elements of highway plows and deicing machinery is a major problem for many small municipalities as it reduces the useable life span of a vehicle for the municipality. Many municipalities store the salt spreading bodies out of doors during the warm months of the year as they do not have the room or feel it is necessary to store them indoors and as a result the remaining salt if any is a magnet for moisture.
(h) The truck with the salt and sand spreader is backed under a steel or wood frame structure with no roof, and the spreader is physically hoisted off the truck body with chain hoists at each corner when it is determined that the snow season has ended, and they are left hanging until it is time to install them in the beginning of the winter season on a dump truck. The dump truck bodies are usually removed and set upon a number of empty oil barrels in a storage yard and left outdoors on the ground until they are needed again in the early spring. This also subjects them to the elements and corrosion.
(i) Several manufacturers of salt/sand spreaders are manufacturing spreaders that are simply placed in the dump body of a dump truck minus the tailgate of the dump truck and chained into place eliminating the need to remove the dump body of the dump truck.
The hydraulic and low voltage controls are routed through the frame of the truck to the salt spreader and reconnected to it for its use during the winter season. Many manufacturers of salt and sand spreaders are using stainless steel in the construction of the their spreaders due to salt corrosion and the spreaders being left out of doors. The use of stainless steel is a benefit as far as corrosion resistance but the stainless salt spreaders are more expensive to purchase initially but will have a longer life span.
(j) Salt and sand spreaders are either equipped with a conveyor belt or drag chain to deliver the deicing chemical and drops down to the spinner mechanism that ejects the salt or sand on the road behind the truck and onto the road way, these spinners are typically powered by a hydraulic motor controlled in the truck cab by the driver or the computer used to control the salt spreader operation.
(k) If the truck driver is driving too fast quite often the salt bounces off the road way and into the ditch. This happens quite often in good driving conditions with dry pavement at faster driving speeds, and on the thin layers of ice left after plowing as the salt crystals cannot stick to the ice, and bounce off the road surface into the road ditch or street gutter unused for deicing the roadway or street. This past winter of 2008-09 has seen huge price increases for deicing salt due to the higher than average use of salt for deicing and the increases in the cost for mining the salt for sale to the municipalities and other smaller users of salt for deicing. The massive deicing salt price hikes are common in years with bad weather for the entire season. The end users have consumed all the available salt and have to wait for more to be delivered due to the weather extremes requiring the use of more deicing salt in stockpiles which are a normally part of the annual salt inventory for an average year. The deicing salt is used and melts away in to the surface water runoff never to be used again.

Heated saltwater highway deicing machine


A binder including a binder body including a front cover and a rear cover directly or indirectly pivotally coupled together, and a panel located on an outer surface of the binder body to thereby form a pocket between the panel and the binder body. The panel has a free edge located adjacent to a mouth of the pocket. The mouth faces an outer edge of the binder body, and the free edge of the panel is located a variable distance from the outer edge of the binder body along the length of the free edge such that the pocket has a variable width.

Binders, folders, portfolios, notebooks and the like are often used by businesses, students, etc. in order to store loose items and provide a convenient carrying device. However, many existing binders, folders, notebooks or portfolios have limited storage space and may in particular lack storage space on an outer surface of the binder.


An electrostatic flocking operation of a workpiece (5) is advantageously performed in a condition in which the moisture content of an adhesive layer formed on a surface of the workpiece (5) is kept at a favorable value by a humidifier (1). The humidifier (1) is provided between an electrostatic flocking chamber and an adhesive applicator which is disposed in the upstream side of the electrostatic flocking chamber. In the humidifier (1), a current of a moisture bearing air (2) is driven upon the adhesive layer of the workpiece (5).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic flocking apparatus for electrostatically applying flock to a piece of work having an adhesive layer formed thereon (hereinafter referred to as the workpiece) when the workpiece is passed through an electrostatic flocking chamber at high speed in a condition in which the workpiece is electrically grounded, so that a so-called "electrostatic flocking process" is conducted, wherein the flocking process is followed by a drying process serving as an after treatment as is in ordinary process conducted to produce a flocked product.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrostatic flocking apparatus has an essential construction in which: a flocking electrode for creating a high voltage electrostatic field is supported inside a housing through an insulation member, wherein the housing forms an electrostatic flocking chamber; a workpiece is oppositely disposed from, i.e., space a certain distance apart from the flocking electrode, and electrically grounded in a condition in which the workpiece is coated with an adhesive layer and disposed either above or below the flocking electrode, or disposed in the same plane or level as that of the flocking electrode; the electrostatic field is created between the flocking electrode and the workpiece, so that short fibers or fibrils are electrostatically floated and driven to fly parallel to the electric lines of force in the electric field toward the workpiece, whereby the short fibers are implanted in the adhesive layer of the workpiece. Then, the workpiece is subjected to an after treatment through which the workpiece is dried to become a flocked product. In fabrication, it is not unusual for the workpiece to be electrically grounded when the workpiece is supported on a shelf or suspended from an appropriate suspension member, provided both the shelf and the suspension member are electrically grounded. Further, it is also not unusual for the workpiece to be moved from an inlet opening of the housing to its outlet opening in a condition in which any supporting member for supporting the workpiece is used.
Provided in a ceiling portion of the housing is a ventilating apparatus provided with a filter, which filter prevents the floating short fibers from escaping outside from the housing in the electrostatic flocking operation.
Disposed on the side of the inlet opening of the housing is an adhesive applicator apparatus for applying an adhesive to a surface of the workpiece to form an adhesive layer thereon, through the adhesive applicator apparatus the workpiece is introduced into the housing.
Disposed on the side of the outlet opening of the housing is a drying apparatus for drying the flocked workpiece to perform an after treatment thereof when the flocked workpiece passes through the drying apparatus.
The drying apparatus is provided with: a heating unit for drying the adhesive layer having been formed on the surface of the workpiece; and, an exhaust port for discharging vapors or moisture contained in the adhesive layer of the flocked workpiece.
The drying apparatus is followed by a product receiving apparatus which receives the flocked products.
Now, the electrostatic flocking operation of the workpiece performed in a conventional electrostatic flocking apparatus will be described using a system called "up-system" as an example, in which up-system a short fiber reservoir portion is disposed below the housing.
The so-called "workpiece" is prepared by the use of the adhesive applicator apparatus disposed in front of the inlet opening of the housing, in which applicator apparatus an adhesive is applied to the surface of a piece of work being electrostatically flocked, so that an adhesive layer is formed on the work, whereby the work having been coated with the adhesive layer, i.e., the so-called "workpiece" is prepared.
The thus prepared workpiece having the adhesive layer formed thereon is supported by a member having been electrically grounded, introduced into the housing through the inlet opening thereof, and disposed inside the housing. In other words, the workpiece is disposed inside the housing in a condition in which the workpiece is electrically grounded.
At this time, a high-voltage is applied to the flocking electrode so that a high voltage electrostatic field is created. Consequently, due to the presence of this electrostatic field, electric lines of force extend from the flocking electrode to the electrically grounded workpiece.
A moisture bearing air is blown from the outside into the reservoir portion so that the short fibers having been stored in the reservoir portion are floated in the electrostatic field. Due to this, the short fibers thus floated in the housing are electrically charged and therefore strongly driven to rush for the workpiece. As a result, the short fibers have their front end portions stuck into the adhesive layer having been applied to the surface of the workpiece, so that the entire surface of the adhesive layer is uniformly covered with the short fibers.
Floating short fibers, which are left over to form excess fibers, reach the ceiling portion of the housing, and are trapped in a filter disposed in the ceiling portion of the housing, while the moisture bearing air is discharged to the outside through an exhaust unit.
The workpiece having subjected to the above operations emerges from the housing through its outlet opening, and then passed through the drying apparatus provided with the heating unit so that the moisture contained in the adhesive of the adhesive layer is evaporated, whereby the short fibers thus stuck in the adhesive layer are firmly implanted in the workpiece in this state.
After completion of the above process, the workpieces (i.e., completed products) are collected.
Consequently, in order to apply flock to the workpiece in the housing, it is necessary for the adhesive layer formed on the surface of the workpiece to have an appropriate viscosity which enables the front end portions of the short fibers (flock) to easily stick into the adhesive layer, wherein the short fibers always fly from the electrode to the workpiece in the housing. In other words, it is necessary for the adhesive layer to be always wet so as to keep its appropriate viscosity described above.
However, the interior of the housing is often heated to increase in temperature when the flocking operation is performed in the housing. Due to this, the moisture in the adhesive layer formed on the workpiece tends to evaporate. Such evaporation of the moisture results in formation of a stressed skin on the adhesive layer, which makes it difficult for the front end portions of the short fibers to stick into the adhesive layer. Consequently, under such circumstances, it is impossible to obtain good quality flocked product even when the workpiece is subjected to the electrostatic flocking operation.
Further, the short fibers floating in the housing tend to escape out of the housing through its inlet and its outlet opening under the influence of the air blown during the electrostatic flocking operation. This is one of disadvantages of the conventional housing. In order to prevent the short fibers from escaping out of the housing through its inlet and its outlet opening, an air curtain unit is provided in each of the inlet and the outlet opening of the housing.
However, heretofore, there is no idea that a suitable device for surmounting the above disadvantage should be provided in the housing. More specifically, there is no idea that such device should be realized by modifying the air curtain unit in a manner such that the air curtain unit also serves as the above device.

Electrostatic flocking chamber for forming electrostatic flocking apparatus


Embodiments of the present invention provide a water treatment device that can treat water at its point of use. For example, the water treatment device may be positioned at or near a faucet outlet, so that water can be treated immediately before it leaves the faucet. The water treatment device may be a water treatment reactor with a plurality of UV LEDs positioned between a shield and a heat sink component.

Disinfection of water on-board passenger transportation vehicles is necessary to guarantee water quality. This may include disinfection of potable water that is delivered to beverage makers, water that is delivered to sinks for hand-washing, water that is delivered to toilets for flushing, or water that is otherwise routed on-board the vehicle for various forms of use or consumption. For example, water systems on aircraft are complicated systems that usually include a tank with plumbing conduits and a pressurization system to deliver water to the points of use.
The issue of water quality, and in particular, of potable water quality, on passenger transportation vehicles and equipment, such as aircraft, trains, boats and ships, and the like is a point of interest for regulatory authorities. Regulatory standards have been enacted that require carried water on-board passenger vehicles to be disinfected according to certain standards. Passenger airlines and other transportation companies must thus implement appropriate aircraft water disinfection protocols.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,452 to Kohler, et al., entitled "On-Board Water Supply," discloses equipment for purifying waste water from galleys, sinks, and toilets of aircraft. Waste water from these areas discharges to a tank, after which it passes through a mechanical filter, a bed of active carbon, ozone and osmotic stages, and a disinfection stage involving addition of chlorine and irradiation with ultraviolet ("UV") light. Thereafter, the water is made available to aircraft passengers for certain uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,185 to Tracy, et al. entitled "Treatment System for Aircraft Toilet Waster Water" discloses alternate systems for decontaminating waste water from aircraft toilets, sinks, and galleys. They too include a mechanical particulate filter, activated carbon, and a source of UV light. Alternatively, according to the Tracy patent, the waste water may be exposed to microwaves or treated with chlorine or iodine. A sensor may be used to measure "the level of clarity of the treated water as an indication of its purity" and restrict opening of a control valve until acceptable clarity levels are obtained.
However, these systems and methods are primarily directed at purifying wastewater removed from the aircraft. Airlines and other passenger transport vehicle companies must also ensure that the potable water (i.e., drinkable water) aboard the aircraft is fit for human consumption by employing appropriate disinfection protocols. Disinfection upon upload and periodic disinfection sampling does not always adequately address the issue of contamination introduced in uploaded water, which is of particular concern for aircraft flying to and from, and being serviced in, non-industrialized areas. In addition, air must be introduced into the water storage and dispensing system on the aircraft in order to maintain pressurization, as well as to drain the system during routine servicing. This air can introduce pathogens that can multiply and cause unsanitary conditions and unacceptable water quality in the intervals between samplings or disinfection procedures. In effect, because the water storage and dispensing system is routinely exposed to the outside environment, potable water quality cannot always be ensured without some form of additional treatment. There is thus a need to further disinfect the water once it has been circulating in the aircraft water pipe system for a period of time, as the water may also need to be treated on an on-going basis, particularly as it is being delivered to the point of use.
Continuous treatment of potable water supplies presents its own set of potential problems to be solved, including continuous or semi-continuous dosing of the water with the requisite dosing equipment (metering and monitoring equipment, dosing agent storage equipment, and/or equipment for in-situ generation of the dosing agent). Accordingly, attempts have been made to purify water while on-board an aircraft or other passenger vehicles directly at the point of use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,568,585 to Nolan entitled "Water Distribution System With Dual Use Water Treatment Unit" discloses systems for treating water by irradiation with UV lamp, along with an activated carbon or sediment filter.
Ultraviolet treatment eliminates bacteria, viruses, spores, and mold in the water and works similar to the way that strong sunlight can permanently purify water by making biological impurities inactive. Ultraviolet lamps are generally designed to destroy the links in these micro-organisms' DNA so that they are de-activated and cannot reproduce. The crucial hydrogen bonds that link the DNA chain together rupture when exposed to light between the wavelengths of about 220 nm to about 310 nm.
There are a number of water treatment solutions being employed and/or studied for use on-board aircraft. For example, one way that water can be treated is via UV mercury lamps. These lamps deliver an ultraviolet light to the water in the system and have been found beneficial because the treatment does not change the taste or odor of the water, it kills bacteria, viruses and protozoan, it is compact and easy to use, and it can prevent biofilm if the system is kept clean. However, one of the disadvantages of mercury UV lamps for water treatment is that they require a medium to high electrical demand, which means that when used on-board a vehicle such as an aircraft, they pull electrical power from the aircraft engines and/or an auxiliary power unit (APU). Increased usage of aircraft power from the engines results in higher fuel consumption and costs. Other disadvantages are that UV mercury lamps require cleaning and new lamps annually, and if a mercury lamp is broken, there exists a chance for mercury contamination of the water to be treated. Additionally, UV lamps take a while to power on if not in constant use. For UV lamps, the highest peak is generally mono-chromatic, in that the lamps generally only emit one effective wavelength, which is usually 254 nm for water treatment.
A further method of water treatment that has been explored is the use of ultraviolet light emitting diode (UV LED) light for water treatment. In addition to the mercury lamp benefits, the use of UV LED light also has the advantage of being able to use a wider UV band with multiple LED wavelengths, and it can offer a high power output with less power consumption than UV lamps. UV LEDs have greater longevity, power up quickly without requiring a delay time built into the system for the UV light source to reach its optimum UV energy output, and do not contain mercury. Some companies have been manufacturing UV lamps and LED systems for water sanitation and disinfection, but none of the available systems are designed for use on-board a transportation vehicle or an aircraft.
Therefore, a current need exists for a UV LED system for use in a vehicle or aircraft environment that is space efficient, energy efficient, accessible, and that is located in close proximity to a power supply and a water-system plumbing. It is also desirable to provide a system that can be added to existing systems, as opposed to having to replace the entire plumbing system on the vehicle.


A button lubricator applicator system is provided. It consists of a closed structure defining a closed end cylindrical housing having a removable open or lid end, with amine and organo-silicone positioned in the cylindrical housing, together with an air water valve of selected and predetermined shape positioned in the removable open end. The air water valve is depressed in the applicator in contact with the silicone material in order to lubricate it.

This invention relates to lubricating devices, and more particularly to button type lubricators for endoscopes that have air/water and/or suction valves (buttons) for use in colonoscopes, gastroscopes, sigmoidoscopes and DuoDenom.
It is an object of this invention to provide a novel applicator device forendoscopes that have air-water valves buttons which are to be efficiently lubricated.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an air-water or button type valve which can be inserted into an access aperture or hole provided in the top of an applicator.


A zoom lens adjustment method capable of being applied to zoom lenses for use in video cameras, electronic still cameras, or the like employing solid-state image sensors. An amount of integral movement .delta.1 by which a first lens group (G1) and a second lens group (G2) must axially move from an extreme-wide-angle-state (W) reference positions to cause the actual and reference image planes (IPA and IPR) to coincide is determined. Then, an amount of additional movement .delta.2 by which only the first lens group must be moved to cause the actual and reference image planes to coincide after causing the first and second lens groups to move in integral fashion by the amount .delta.1 when in the extreme-telephoto-state reference positions is determined. Then, from the values of .delta.1 and .delta.2, amounts of positional correction P1 and P2 of first and second lens groups, respectively, from respective reference positions in one of the focal length states between the extreme wide-angle and extreme telephoto states are established. These positional corrections are then applied to the lens groups to reduce or eliminate the positional misalignment between the actual and reference object planes.

Zoom lenses, such as those used single-lens reflex cameras, employ mechanical cam systems to position variable-magnification lens groups, i.e., lens groups that move along the optical axis during changes in magnification ("zooming").
A prior art mechanical cam zoom mechanism ("cam") 5 for positioning lens groups in a zoom lens is shown in FIG. 1. Cam 5 includes a pin p1, which protrudes from a first lens group retaining member (not shown) and passes through a zoom cam track 8 and a linear cam track 12. The latter is formed so as to extend in a direction parallel to the optical axis A of the zoom lens. A pin p2 protrudes from a second lens group retaining member (not shown) and passes through a zoom cam track 14 and linear cam track 12. Zoom cam tracks 8 and 14 are formed to correspond to the zoom trajectories of first and second lens groups G1 and G2, respectively. Cam 5 is designed to allow linear cam track 12 to move parallel to itself, as indicated by double-arrow 18, between positions 22 and 24 when the zoom lens is in the extreme wide-angle state and the extreme telephoto state, respectively.
In the intermediate focal length state (i.e., when cam track 12 is between positions 22 and 24, as is shown in FIG. 1), the positions of pin p1 and p2 correspond to the position of the first lens group G1 and second lens group G2, respectively.
With reference now to FIG. 2, zoom lens 50 shows zoom trajectories 52 and 54 associated with first and second lens groups G1 and G2, respectively, for cam 5 of FIG. 1. The case shown in FIG. 2 is when there is no positional misalignment between the actual image plane IPW.sub.1 in the extreme wide-angle state (W) and the actual image plane IPT.sub.1 in extreme telephoto state (T) relative to reference image plane IPR. Reference image plane IPR is the image plane contemplated during design, and is where photosensitive film, a CDD array, or other image sensor resides. Image planes IPW.sub.1, IPR and IPT.sub.1 coincide when the focal lengths of lens groups G1 and G2, the distances between respective lens groups, and the profiles of the respective cam tracks all possess their design values.
In a zoom lens as actually manufactured, however, errors arise. For example, the focal lengths of the lens groups and the distances between respective lens groups differ from their design values due to errors in radii of curvature of lens surfaces, distances between lens surfaces, lens thicknesses, refractive indices of lens materials, and so forth. In addition, there are also machining errors in the profiles of the respective cam tracks. With reference now to FIG. 3, zoom lens 60 of FIG. 3 is the essentially the same as zoom lens 10 of FIG. 2, except that zoom lens 60 has the above-described manufacturing errors, and also suffers from being assembled without any adjustment. In this case, zoom trajectories 52' and 54' for zoom lens 60 will differ from their ideal trajectories 52 and 54 of zoom lens 50. Thus, for zoom lens 60, the actual image plane IPW.sub.2 in the extreme wide-angle state (W), the actual image plane IPT.sub.2 in the extreme telephoto state (T) and the reference image plane IR do not coincide.
In a conventional zoom lens, such as zoom lens 50 of FIG. 2, focusing is carried out by causing the first lens group G1 (i.e., the most objectwise lens group) to move along axis A (i.e., move axially). When employing this focusing method, a helicoid mechanism (not shown) is provided for the first lens group G1, which accommodates the respective states for filming objects at different distances i.e., from an infinite-distance focus state to a short-distance focus state. Such focusing is achieved by appropriately changing the angular displacement of the helicoid mechanism and controlling the amount of focusing movement of first lens group G1. The location of reference image plane IPR is defined based on the location of a mounting reference plane (not shown) for mounting film, CCDs, etc., provided on the lens barrel (not shown). The mechanism is designed such that the position of the mounting reference plane with respect to the principal structures (cams, etc.) of the zoom lens can be adjusted by means of washers (i.e., shims).
With reference now to FIG. 4, measuring apparatus 70 measures the position of image plane IP of a "target" zoom lens 74 to which adjustment is to be carried out using conventional zoom lens adjustment methods. Measuring apparatus 70 comprises, in order along an optical axis A1, a light source 80 for generating a diverging light beam 82, a slit 84, a half-mirror (i.e., beam splitter) 86, a collimating lens 88, and a mirror 90 with a reflective surface 92. Also included in apparatus 70 along an axis A2 which intersects axis A1 at half-mirror 86, is an ocular 94 and a reticle 96. The above-mentioned elements, except for mirror 90, constitute a collimator 100.
In measuring apparatus 70, light beam 82 from light source 80 passes through slit 84, is incident half mirror 86 and passes therethrough to collimating lens 88. The latter converts diverging light beam 82 into a collimated beam 104, which is equivalent to light from an object at an infinite distance. Collimated light beam 104 is then incident target lens 74, which transforms the collimated light beam into a converging light beam 106. The latter is incident reflective surface 92 of mirror 90 arranged in the vicinity of image plane IP of target lens 74.
Mirror 90 is made to move back and forth along optical axis A1 to measure the position of image plane IP. When reflecting surface 92 of mirror 90 coincides with the position of image plane IP, then converging light beam 106 is reflected from surface 92, thereby forming a diverging light beam 106' which travels back along the path of converging light beam 106. Diverging light beam 106' passes back through target lens 74, which forms a collimated light beam 104' which travels back along the path of collimated light beam 104. Collimated light beam 104' is then incident collimator lens 88, which forms a converging light beam 82', which travels back along the path of diverging light beam 82. Converging light beam 82' proceeds to half mirror 86, which reflects converging light beam 82' to form an image on reticle 96.
When the position of reflecting surface 92 of mirror 90 is shifted along optical axis A1 such that it no longer coincides with the position of image plane IP, then diverging light beam 106' is not reflected back precisely along the path of converging light beam 106. Consequently, light beam 104' traveling back toward light source 80 will not be collimated, i.e., will be a divergent light beam or a convergent light beam. Accordingly, the image formed on reticle 96 will be observed by an observer 110 to be out of focus.
With reference also to FIG. 3, using measuring apparatus 70 of FIG. 4 and the conventional image plane position measuring technique described above, the position of actual image plane IPW.sub.2 when in the extreme wide-angle state and the position of the actual image plane IPT.sub.2 when in the extreme telephoto state can be measured by the appropriate adjustment of the lens groups. As a result, it is possible to determine the amount of positional misalignment d between actual image planes IPW.sub.2 and IPT.sub.2.
With reference now to FIG. 5, a lens L lying along optical axis A includes an object point O, an image point I, a front focus F, a back focus F', a focal length f, and a transverse magnification .beta.. Also, x is the axial distance from front focus F to object point O, and x' is the distance from back focus F' to image point I. Imaging by lens L is governed by Formula (1) (Newton's equation): EQU xx'=-f.sup.2. (1)
Transverse magnification .beta. of lens L is defined by Formula (2): EQU .beta.=(x'+f)/(x-f). (2)
Using the relationships in Formulas (1) and (2), above, the transverse magnification .beta. can be expressed as Formula (3): EQU .beta.=f/x. (3)
If object point O in FIG. 5 moves axially by an amount .DELTA.x, then image point I will move axially by a corresponding amount .DELTA.x'. In this case, from Newton's equation, the relationship in Formula (4) obtains: EQU (x+.DELTA.x)(x'+.DELTA.x')=-f.sup.2. (4)
The amount of movement .DELTA.x' of image point I is given by Formula (5): EQU .DELTA.x'=(f.sup.2 .multidot..DELTA.x)/{x(x+.DELTA.x)}. (5)
Accordingly, the longitudinal magnification .alpha.=.DELTA.x'/.DELTA.x of the lens can be approximated, for small movements .DELTA.x of object point O, by Formula (6): EQU .alpha.=f.sup.2 /{x(x+.DELTA.x)}.apprxeq.(f/x).sup.2 =.beta..sup.2. (6)
With reference now to FIG. 6 and zoom lens 120, the front focus of first lens group G1 corresponds to an object point O2 of second lens group G2. If first lens group G1 moves along axis A by an amount .DELTA.x, then the object point O2 likewise moves by the same amount .DELTA.x. Accordingly, when first lens group G1 is made to move axially by an amount .DELTA.x, the amount of movement .DELTA.x' of image plane IP of the zoom lens is given by Formula (7): EQU .DELTA.x'=.DELTA.x.multidot..beta..sup.2 (7)
Furthermore, the focal length f of the entire zoom lens is given by Formula (8): EQU f=f1.multidot..beta.. (8)
Here, f1 is the focal length of first lens group G1, and .beta. is the combined transverse magnification produced by second lens group G2 and any lens groups downstream (i.e., imagewise) thereof. In a two-group zoom lens, such as zoom lens 120, transverse magnification .beta. is that of second lens group G2.
In a zoom lens such as zoom lens 120, the value of transverse magnification .beta. due to the second lens group G2 and any lens groups downstream thereof, will vary as a function of the focal length state (i.e., as a function of the "zoom position"). For this reason, a constant amount of movement .DELTA.x of first lens group G1 will not produce a constant amount of movement .DELTA.x' of image plane IP. Rather, the amount of movement .DELTA.x of image plane IP will vary as a function of the focal length state. It is thus useful to define the ratio K1W=.DELTA.x'/.DELTA.x, which is the ratio of the amount of axial movement .DELTA.x' of image plane IP with respect to the amount of movement .DELTA.x of first lens group G1 when in the extreme wide-angle state. The ratio K1W represent an "image plane movement index" for first lens group G1 when in the extreme wide-angle state.
Likewise, it is useful to define the ratio K1T=.DELTA.x'/.DELTA.x, which is the ratio of the amount of axial movement .DELTA.x' of image plane IP with respect to the amount of axial movement .DELTA.x of first lens group G1 when in the extreme telephoto state. The ratio K1T represents an image plane movement index for first lens group G1 when in the extreme telephoto state.
With reference now to FIG. 7, conventional adjustment method for zoom lens 120 is carried by "zooming adjustment," which is an asymmetrical adjustment. This method involves exploiting the difference between the image plane movement indices K1W and K1T and the elimination of the positional misalignment d between the actual image planes IPW.sub.2 and IPT.sub.2. In zooming adjustment, first lens group G1 is made to move by an amount .DELTA.x such that the relationship indicated in Formula (9) holds: EQU .DELTA.x(K1t-K1w)=d (9)
Zooming adjustment by moving first lens group G1 by an amount .DELTA.x makes it possible to cause the actual image planes IPW.sub.2 and IPT.sub.2 to coincide at image plane IP. However, there will still be a positional misalignment D between image plane IP and the reference image plane IPR following zooming adjustment. In the conventional adjustment method, the positional misalignment D between the image plane IP and reference image plane IPR is adjusted by what is called "back adjustment." This involves changing the thicknesses of washers (not shown) that define the location of the mounting reference plane (not shown). This back adjustment is equivalent to making the entire zoom lens 120 move forward or backward along optical axis A.
In video cameras and electronic still cameras employing solid-state image sensors such as CCDs, it is desirable to be able to reduce the size of the zoom lens to keep up with the increasing miniaturization of the image sensor. However, with conventional zoom lenses, the lens barrel needs to be large enough to allow for a mechanical cam mechanism, such as described above. Accordingly, it has been difficult to achieve a suitably small zoom lens with a mechanical cam suitable for a video camera, electronic still camera, or the like employing ever-smaller solid-state image sensors.
With solid-state image sensors such as CCDs, individual differences arise in the distance between the mounting reference plane of the solid-state image sensor package and the reference image plane of the solid-state image sensor itself (i.e., this distance will vary from sensor array to sensor array). This makes it necessary to perform zoom lens adjustment after the image sensor package has been securely arranged on the zoom lens. In this case, with the conventional zoom lens adjustment method using measuring apparatus 70 employing collimator 100 and mirror 90 (See FIG. 4), the image sensor is securely arranged at the location at which mirror 90 would need to be installed. Thus, to date, it has not been possible to determine the locations of the actual image planes when in the extreme wide-angle and extreme telephoto states, making conventional adjustment of the zoom lens impossible.


The present disclosure provides a perfume retaining structure, a method of manufacturing the perfume retaining structure, and a scent providing device that can reduce ventilation resistance of air that passes through a space in which a perfume retainer is arranged.

Technologies relating to scent providing devices that provide scents have conventionally been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technology for providing a scent by supplying air to a housing device that houses a perfume retainer and releasing vaporized perfume by a flow of air. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a scent providing device that includes a containment portion that contains a perfume retainer, and a releasing portion that releases the scent from the perfume retainer contained in the containment portion. The scent providing device supplies air to the containment portion via a communication hole and vaporize liquid perfume retained by the perfume retainer while releasing the perfume with the air from the releasing portion.

Scent retaining structure, method of manufacturing the scent retaining structure, and scent providing device

Abstract: The perfume retaining structure includes the perfume retainer, a retaining space in which the perfume retainer is arranged, and a first opening and a second opening that allow the retaining space to be opened to the outside. The retaining space has a ventilation area that faces the first opening and the second opening, and a retaining area that is arranged adjacent to the ventilation area and communicates with the ventilation area, and the perfume retainer is arranged in the retaining area.


A recoiling energy absorbing system has an outer shell that is exposed to percussive impact. An energy absorbing layer is positioned inside the outer shell. The energy absorbing layer includes one or more thermoformed energy absorbing modules, at least some of the modules being provided with one or more energy absorbing units that extend from an upper basal layer. At least some of the energy absorbing units are provided with a flexible wall that extends from the upper basal layer. The energy absorbing units at least partially absorb energy generated by an impacting object due to the flexible wall bending inwardly or outwardly and recoiling nondestructively after single or multiple impacts to its undeflected configuration.

Flooring and wall structures, for example, have evolved over the years to include technology that absorbs energy transmitted during impact. For instance, synthetic and artificial turfs have been introduced into such impact-receiving surfaces as football and baseball fields in which rubber pebbles help to absorb an impact force applied thereon, reducing the risk of injury for the participants.
In recent years, excessive bodily injuries and concussions have gained more attention as the diagnostic tools and methods have also evolved. Athletes and workers involved in an impact with floors or walls are susceptible to serious injury as a result of such impact. There is a desire for floors and walls in these settings to be equipped to absorb the impacting force and thereby provide better impact protection to the individuals or objects that may impact the floor and wall surfaces.


Each of three-phase arm of an inverter has first and second switching elements connected in series together at a connection point to the corresponding phase coil of the three-phase motor. Control device turns on the first switching element of the i-th (i is a natural number smaller than four) for a predetermined time period, and determines that the second switching element of the i-th arm has a short fault, when an overcurrent exceeding a predetermined threshold is detected within the predetermined time period. The predetermined time period is shorter than a time period from a time point of turning on the first switching element of the i-th arm to a time point of attaining the predetermined threshold by a current flowing through a path extending from a power supply line through the second switching element of the remaining arm other than the i-th arm to a ground line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an abnormality detecting device of an electric power converting device and an abnormality detecting method, and particularly to an abnormality detecting device for detecting a short circuit fault in a switching element forming an electric power converting device as well as an abnormality detecting method.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles have received attention as vehicles developed in view of environments. The hybrid vehicle uses, as a drive power source, a DC power supply, an inverter and an electric motor driven by the inverter in addition to a conventional engine. More specifically, the engine is driven to provide the drive power source, and further the inverter converts a DC voltage provided from the DC power supply into an AC voltage for driving the motor by the converted AC voltage to provide the drive power source.
The electric vehicle uses, as a drive power source, a DC power supply and an inverter as well as an electric motor driven by the inverter.
In the motor drive device mounted on the hybrid vehicle or the electric vehicle, when an abnormality such as a short fault in a switching element forming the inverter is detected, the inverter usually stops its operation to prevent overheating of the switching element due to passage of an excessive current through the short-circuited switching element.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 08-308244 has disclosed an abnormality determining method relating to an electric power converting device having a power converting unit in which three sets of switching arms each formed of two switching elements connected in series together are arranged in parallel between DC power supplies, and the switching operations of the switching elements convert the DC power into a three-phase AC power. In this electric power converting device, the above method successively turns on the six switching elements of the electric power converting unit according to a plurality of predetermined combination patterns, and determines the shorted faulty switching element based on changes appearing in an output or input current of the electric power converting unit.
In the above method, when the six switching elements are successively turned on, an output current detector detects a current only when two pairs of arms other than the arm including the faulty or defective switching element are in such a state that the switching elements of these arms located in the vertically opposite positions, respectively, are turned on. Based on this fact, a pattern required for determining any short fault in the switching elements as well as a logical table used for the determination are set or determined.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 07-071805 has disclosed a control device of an air conditioner that includes arbitrary element turn-on means for turning on an arbitrary one of switching elements of an inverter unit, overcurrent detecting means for detecting an overcurrent flowing into the inverter unit, and self-diagnosis means for checking a short circuit of the switching elements by detecting the overcurrent flowing into the inverter unit.
According to this device, when an arbitrary element is turned on and a switching element connected in series to this arbitrary element is short-circuited, a short circuit current flows through a path extending from this arbitrary element to the switching element in question. An overcurrent detection circuit receives a detection value of a current detector connected between the switching element and a smoothing capacitor, and provides an overcurrent detection signal to a microcomputer. The microcomputer receives the overcurrent detection signal, and determines that the switching element in question has a short fault.
Further, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-210830 has disclosed an abnormality detecting method for an inverter that includes a plurality of interconnections supplying a drive voltage of multiple phases to a motor, a plurality of positive arm elements supplying a positive drive voltage to the plurality of interconnections, respectively, and a plurality of negative arm elements supplying a negative drive voltage to the plurality of interconnections, respectively. This method includes the steps of successively switching the plurality of negative arm elements, successively switching the plurality of positive arm elements after the above step, determining a conduction state of the plurality of interconnections or a bus line by an arithmetic processing device based on a current signal or a bus current signal in response to every switching of one of the plurality of the negative and positive arm elements, and providing a first error signal by determining a "short fault" of one of the plurality of elements by the arithmetic processing device when a current flows through any one of the plurality of interconnections or the bus line.
Each of the abnormality detecting methods disclosed in the foregoing Japanese Patent Laying-Open Nos. 08-308244, 07-071805 and 2005-210830 determines the shorted faulty switching element based on changes that appear in current flowing through the inverter when the arbitrary switching element is turned on.
In this configuration, however, the overcurrent is detected when the arbitrary switching element (e.g., an upper arm of a U-phase arm) is turned on in either of the case in which the switching element (a lower arm of the U-phase arm) connected in series to the above switching element is shorted and the case in which short circuit occurs in a switching element (e.g., a lower arm of V- or W-phase) that belongs to the arm other than the U-phase arm and is vertically opposite to the above turned-on switching element. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately determine the shorted faulty switching element from a result of the detection of the overcurrent.

Abnormality detecting device of electric power converting device and abnormality detecting method