A bottle-shaped can manufacturing method for forming a shoulder portion having a slope and a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion integrally by further working a bottom side of a bottomed cylindrical can which is formed thinner at its trunk wall than at its bottom wall by drawing a metallic sheet having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 mm and by executing at least one thinning working of a bending/extending working and an ironing working. This method comprises: a step of preforming a bottom corner portion of the can into a curved shoulder face having an arcuate longitudinal section; a first diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step of drawing the bottom of the can into a diametrically smaller bottomed cylindrical shape than the trunk portion, with the curved shoulder face of the bottom corner portion being unwrinkled; a second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step of drawing the bottomed cylindrical portion drawn from the can bottom into a diametrically smaller bottomed cylindrical shape, with the bottom corner portion being unwrinkled by the surface of a tool; and a shoulder portion reforming step of pushing and extending the shoulder portion, which is formed by the first diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step and the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step into a smooth slope leading to the curved shoulder face on the trunk side, after the diameter of the bottomed cylindrical portion formed by executing the drawing working of the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step once or two or more times becomes substantially equal to a diameter of the neck portion.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a bottle-shaped can, of which a can trunk, a shoulder portion and a neck portion having a threaded portion are integrally formed, of a metallic sheet having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 mm, and a tool for use in the method.
More particularly, the invention relates to a forming method for forming especially the shoulder portion into a smooth and beautiful slope not in a step shape or a shape having a step mark left, when the bottle-shaped can is to be manufactured by working the bottom side of the can formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape, to form the shoulder portion having an inclined annular face and a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion integrally, and a tool for use in the method.
As beverage cans for various soft drinks or beer, there are generally employed the DI cans (Drawn and Ironed cans), of which the can trunk (or side wall portion) and the can bottom are integrally formed by drawing and ironing a metallic sheet such as an aluminum alloy sheet or a surface-treated steel sheet.
Specifically, this DI can has its body formed by integrally forming the bottom portion having a shape of a high pressure resistance and a trunk portion thinned by the drawing and ironing workings and by necking in the open upper end of the trunk portion to reduce a diameter of the open upper end. The can body is filled with a drink such as a soft drink or beer, and the diametrically reduced open upper end is seamed with an easy open end (i.e., an end sheet having an easy opening) having a smaller diameter than that of the trunk. These cans are shipped as canned drinks.
As disclosed in WO 81/01259, on the other hand, there is also practiced the bottomed cylindrical can which is formed to have a thinner trunk wall than a bottom wall by drawing and re-drawing (or bending and extending at the re-drawing time) the surface-treated steel sheet laminated on its two sides with a thermoplastic resin film. The can thus manufactured is necked in like the DI can so that it may be used as the beverage can.
As the containers for various soft drinks, on the other hand, there have been employed in recent years the bi-oriented molded container made of a polyethylene terephthalate resin (i.e., the PET bottle). Accordingly, there have been manufactured various beverages contained in the PET bottles which can be repeatedly sealed with threaded caps.
These beverage PET bottles have an advantage over the above-described can containers for beverages in that the PET bottles can be repeatedly sealed with the caps. However, the PET bottles are in considerably lower states than those of the can containers in the recycling ratio for collecting and recycling the resources. Therefore, it has been investigated to enhance the conveniences of the can containers by adding re-sealing function to the can containers having the high resource recycling ratio.
In the prior art, there are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-509095 (WO96/15865) several types of bottle-type DI cans having shapes similar to those of the PET bottles, i.e., the DI cans which have threaded neck portions to be screwed and closed with the threaded caps.
These DI cans are classified into: the type in which an end sheet to be seamed on the open upper end of a can trunk is formed integrally with a threaded neck portion; the type in which the threaded neck portion is integrally formed by reducing the diameter of the open upper end side of the can trunk stepwise by the neck-in working; and the type in which the diametrically small neck portion and the shoulder portion having a slope are formed by drawing the bottom portion side (or the end wall portion) of a cup at multiple steps, in which the trunk portion of the cup is then ironed into a thin trunk portion and in which a threaded portion is formed in the neck portion whereas the can end is seamed on the open end of the trunk portion. In the above-specified Laid-Open, there are disclosed not only the structures of the bottle-shaped cans of the individual types but also the forming methods.
According to the disclosure of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-47520, on the other hand, at the time of drawing the can trunk, the bottom portion is drawn into a convex stepped shape, and this convex stepped shape is re-drawn at a subsequent ironing time, to form a convex stepped portion having a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion and a square shoulder portion in the bottom portion (or the end wall portion) of the DI can. This neck portion is threaded and sealed with the threaded cap. After this DI can was filled with beverage from the end opening of the trunk portion, this end opening is sealed by seaming the can end.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-62233, moreover, there is disclosed that the DI can drawn and ironed is pressed (or drawn) at its bottom to form a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion and a frusto-conical shoulder portion (having a shape of a frustum of a cone) and that a thread is then formed in or a threaded cylindrical portion is mounted on the neck portion.
Of the aforementioned bottle-shaped cans which can be sealed again with the threaded cap, the can of the type in which the threaded neck portion is formed integrally with the end sheet is formed at its body into the DI can or a bottomed can such as the DTRD can (Drawn, Thin and Re-Drawn) formed by being drawn and bent/extended (or stretched) or the can formed by being bent/extended (or stretched) and ironed. The can trunk is filled with a content such as beverage, and then the open upper end of the can trunk is seamed and sealed with the end sheet having the threaded neck portion formed integrally therewith. According to the bottle-shaped can of this type, therefore, the can body has a shape substantially identical to that of the existing general can, and enjoys an advantage that few changes are required in the filling facilities to suppress the cost for the facilities.
In the bottle-shaped can of this type, however, the end sheet seaming portion is located in the upper portion of the can to raise problems that dust is liable to accumulate in the concave portion inside of the seamed portion, and that the seamed portion itself protrudes to deteriorate the appearance.
In the bottle-shaped can of the type in which the neck portion is formed not at the end sheet but integrally at the upper end portion of the can body, on the other hand, the upper end portion is stretched thin by a similar working as the can body is drawn and ironed or bent and extended. Considering the later step of working the neck portion, therefore, the upper end portion of the can body may be worked so relatively thick as to make the extension of the material less than the lower portion. Since the neck portion has a considerably smaller diameter than that of the can body, however, the diametrical reduction ratio for forming the neck portion is so large that the neck portion is difficult to constrict all at once by enlarging one drawing rate. In addition, it is desirable to reduce the cap size so as to lower the cost for the material and accordingly to reduce the diameter of the neck portion more than the external diameter of the can body. In order to satisfy these desires, it is necessary to make the diametrical reduction ratio more for forming the neck portion by drawing the open upper end of the can body, and this necessity requires multiple steps of neck-in workings.
For example, the can to be relatively frequently used as the drink can for beer has a trunk diameter of 66 mm (of 211 diameter), and twenty to thirty necking steps are required if the neck portion of such can is to be necked in to a diameter of 25.4 mm. Thus, in the bottle-shaped can having the neck portion formed by constricting the open upper end of the can body, a number of necking machines are required to raise the cost for the facilities, and the increase in the number of working steps makes it frequent to damage or deform the can thereby to lower the quality of the can.
In the bottle-shaped can of the type in which the shoulder portion and the neck portion are formed by working the can bottom, on the contrary, the can bottom portion or the portion to be formed into a portion of the shoulder portion and the neck portion is hardly affected by the working to form the can so that the working is applied to the portion having no work hardening and having a thickness substantially equal to that of the original metallic sheet. When the can bottom is to be drawn, moreover, its diameter can be reduced while being unwrinkled. As compared with the case in which the neck portion is formed by necking in the upper portion of the aforementioned can trunk, therefore, one drawing extent can be increased to reduce the diameter more by one step thereby to reduce the number of steps drastically for forming the neck portion.
Although one drawing extent can be made larger than that of the neck-in working, however, there is a limit to the drawing ratio (i.e., the reduction ratio of one drawing extent). The limit of the drawing ratio in the drawing case with the unwrinkling function is more or less different for the materials and is about 1.5 for a beverage can of a metallic sheet such as a beer can. When a neck portion (having diameter of 25.4 mm) of a diametrically small cylindrical shape is formed by drawing the flat bottom of the bottomed cylindrical DI can (having a diameter of 66 mm), it is necessary to repeat the drawing step three or four times.
As a method for forming the diametrically small neck portion integrally with the bottom side of the DI can, there has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-47520 a method for manufacturing the DI can having a diameter of 67.83 mm and made of a tinned steel sheet. At a re-drawing step, the bottom portion of the can is re-drawn to form a convex stepped portion having a diameter of 26 mm. This convex stepped portion of the can bottom is re-drawn at the final stroke of the subsequent ironing step, to form the shoulder portion having the so-called xe2x80x9csquare shouldered portionsxe2x80x9d and the cylindrical neck portion having a height of 6 mm and a diameter of 16 mm.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-62233, there is disclosed a method for forming a frusto-conical shoulder portion and a cylindrical neck portion by pressing (or drawing) the bottom of the DI can formed into the bottomed cylindrical shape.
According to the former method, however, the height of the neck portion is too short at 6 mm to form a threaded portion capable of retaining sufficient sealing properties. According to the latter method, although the drawing step of multiple stages is not shown in the Drawings of the Specification, it is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the can trunk has a thickness of two to three times of that of the bottom end, and it is understood from the description of the Specification anticipating the threading of the neck portion that a relatively thick (e.g., about 0.6 to 1.5 mm) aluminum alloy sheet or stainless steel sheet is employed as the trunk material. When this thick material is employed, less wrinkles are formed by the drawing even at a high drawing ratio. Even if so, many drawing steps have to be repeated for forming the diametrically small cylindrical neck portion and the frusto-conical shoulder portion (or a truncated conical shoulder portion). Although the wrinkling can be suppressed, therefore, step shapes or many circumferential marks according to the number of drawing steps are left on the shoulder portion. These step shapes are identical to a plurality of convex and concave steps or ribs, as shown in FIG. 28 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-509095, or a plurality of convex and concave steps or circumferential beads 108 shown in FIG. 32.
Here, the problems of the step shapes at the multiple drawing steps by the pressing or the circular shock marks formed when those step shapes are smoothed are described, as follows, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-107638 disclosing a method for manufacturing a cup-shaped end for small-sized beer bottles.
In the prior art, after the multiple drawing steps for drawing the can end into a cup shape, a stretching (or a final forming) is performed to finish the end into a predetermined smooth cup shape and to size the cover. By the multiple pre-drawing steps in these working steps, a plurality of a concentric and annular convex portions are formed on the outer face of the cup-shaped end body. These are the portions which are formed by the outer circumference edges of the leading end of a punch having different diameters. These annular convex portions have to be turned backward of their warped direction so that they may be eliminated. In this case, the surface structure of the material, as once extended, receives an inverse compression stress so that the aforementioned shock marks are formed to lower the commercial value seriously.
These shock marks look like streaks not only to degrade the appearance but also to lower the corrosion resistance. On the other hand, the shock marks also occur on the inner face of the end body to separate the coating and cause the corrosion at the shock marks when the material is exemplified by the aluminum alloy sheet having the coating of an epoxy resin on the inner and outer faces, so that the can is unsuited as the can for confining food. When the aluminum alloy sheet is employed for the food can, therefore, the can has to be surface-treated, after pressed, by oxidizing or coating it so that an increase in cost cannot be avoided.
In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-107638, therefore, it is intended to prevent the shock marks from appearing, by leaving the annular convex and concave portions formed by the multiple drawing steps on the cup-shaped end body.
If these annular convex and concave portions are on the upper face of the container, however, it cannot be said that the appearance is excellent. In the container of this shape, on the other hand, dust is liable to accumulate in the concave portions while the container is displayed in the shop and cannot be easily wiped off, to raise a problem that the appearance is degraded.
By repeating the drawing of the flat bottom of the DI can three or four times, as described before, the diametrically small cylindrical neck portion and the shoulder portion having the slope can be formed integrally with the can body, to provide a bottle-shaped can having a shape resembling the PET bottle having a round transverse section, as employed as the ordinary beverage container. At the individual drawing steps of the forming steps, the unwrinkling has to be performed with individual tools. Therefore, the ring-shaped and the step-shaped portions corresponding to the shape of the inner circumference end edges of the drawing die are so formed at the portion or the shoulder portion of the bottle-shaped can according to the number of drawing (or re-drawing) steps, and a clear boundary line is formed between the cylindrical portion and the slope portion. In order to eliminate those step-shaped portions and the boundary line thereby to provide a smooth slope, it is conceivable to perform the pressing working by using a pair of reforming tools having a curved slope of a domed longitudinal section or a slope of a straight longitudinal section, thereby to reform the shoulder portion which is formed profiling the surface shapes of those forming tools. Even with this pressing working, however, the step-shaped portions and the clear boundary line between the cylindrical portion and the slope portion are left as the forming marks of ring shape to degrade the appearance.
This will be described in more detail. According to the method for manufacturing the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the sloped shoulder portion gradually by repeating a plurality of drawing steps, as described above, the portion, as formed before re-drawn as the circumferential boundary line between the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the slope, is left in an apparent state as the circular mark in a portion of the sloped shoulder portion leading downward to the cylindrical portion which has been re-drawn into a smaller diameter.
If the drawing working is performed four times, three circular step portions (or three step-shaped portions) or boundary line marks are clearly left on the shoulder portion. These circular step portions or marks cannot be eliminated even after the shoulder portion was reformed.
Specifically, the portion, as has been the boundary line between the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the slope, is clearly left as the mark of the circular step portion or the boundary line on the shoulder portion which is newly formed at the subsequent drawing step, and this mark cannot be eliminated in the prior art even by reforming the shoulder portion.
The circular mark thus far described will not seriously affect the function of the container but will make an important point as the commercial goods. Specifically, the image of a commodity is expressed by the appearance of the container so that the beverage maker always demands for a design to stimulate the purchasing wills of the consumers. When the can is to be manufactured, therefore, it is an important point of design to form the shoulder portion from the neck portion to the can trunk into a smooth and beautiful curved slope of a domed longitudinal section or a smooth and beautiful slope of a straight longitudinal section. Hence, the aforementioned forming mark is earnestly desired to disappear because it is a fatal defect in the design.
Here in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-509095, especially in its FIGS. 18 to 27, there is disclosed a method for forming a cup trunk portion (or a side wall portion) into a diametrically small and thin cylindrical trunk portion. According to this method, the cup, as drawn from a blank punched out from a metallic sheet, is first drawn at its bottom portion repeatedly by several times (preferably, three or more) to form a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion. Next, the neck portion of the bottom portion is bulged at the domed shoulder portion. After this, the cup trunk portion (side wall portion) is re-drawn and ironed to form the diametrically small and thin cylindrical trunk portion.
According to the disclosed method, however, when the can trunk is formed, the metallic sheet material of the neck portion, as formed at the bottom of the cup, is pulled through the shoulder portion into the trunk portion of the can trunk as the metallic sheet material moves from the side wall portion of the cup to the thin trunk portion of the can trunk. As a result, the cylindrical shape of the neck portion, as formed at the bottom portion of the cup, cannot be kept in the initial shape so that the cylindrical vertical wall of the neck portion turns into a frusto-conical tapered wall. In this state, there arises a disadvantage that a predetermined thread cannot be formed at the step of threading the neck portion. In order to keep the sealing performance between the neck portion and the threaded cap, therefore, there arises a problem that the neck portion and the shoulder portion have to be reformed so as to raise the cylindrical neck portion as the vertical wall from the shoulder portion bulged in the domed shape.
A main object of the invention is to provide a bottle-shaped can manufacturing method capable of easily forming the aforementioned neck portion and the smooth shoulder portion leading to the neck portion.
More particularly, an object of the invention is to eliminate the boundary line, which has existed between the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the slope formed at steps from the first step of drawing the diametrically small cylindrical portion to the last but one drawing step, to such an extent as is hardly discriminated after the shoulder portion is reformed, although the elimination has been impossible in the prior art.
Specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a bottle-shaped can of a metallic sheet. The can bottom portion is drawn by a plurality of times to form a shoulder portion having a curved slope of an arcuate longitudinal section or a slope of a straight longitudinal section, and a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion. Even if the drawing working is repeated by a plurality of times to reduce the diameter of the neck portion to a predetermined diameter, a shoulder portion having a smooth and beautiful curved slope of domed shape or a slope of a straight longitudinal section is formed without apparently leaving the circular boundary line or its mark between the cylindrical portion and the slope portion, as formed by the drawing workings of several times, on the shoulder portion.
In order to achieve the above-specified objects, according to the invention, there is provided a bottle-shaped can manufacturing method for forming a shoulder portion having a slope and a diametrically small cylindrical neck portion integrally by further working the bottom side of a bottomed cylindrical can which is formed thinner at its trunk wall than at its bottom wall by drawing a metallic sheet having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 mm and by executing at least one thinning working of a bending/extending working and an ironing working, comprising: a step of preforming the bottom corner portion of the can into a curved shoulder face having an arcuate longitudinal section (i.e., a curved face to be formed into a portion of the shoulder portion); a first diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step of drawing the bottom of the can, with the curved shoulder face of the bottom corner portion being unwrinkled, into a diametrically smaller bottomed cylindrical shape than a trunk portion by using an unwrinkling pusher having the curved face shape of the shoulder portion on an outer face shape of its leading end portion, a drawing die having the curved face shape of the shoulder portion on an inner face shape of its leading end portion, and a drawing punch; a second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step of drawing the bottomed cylindrical portion drawn from the can bottom, with the bottom corner portion being unwrinkled, into a diametrically smaller bottomed cylindrical shape, by using: an unwrinkling pusher having a tapered face having a substantially straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of a virtual curved face leading to the preformed curved shoulder face, a re-drawing die having a tapered face of a straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of a virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face at its portion to face at least the tapered face of the pusher, and a re-drawing punch; and a shoulder portion reforming step of pushing and extending the shoulder portion, which is formed by the first diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step and the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step, after the diameter of the bottomed cylindrical portion formed by executing the drawing working of the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step once or two or more times becomes substantially equal to that of the neck portion, into a smooth slope leading to the curved shoulder face on the trunk side.
According to the bottle-shaped can manufacturing method of the invention, the flat can bottom, as enclosed by the can bottom corner portion having the curved shoulder face formed in advance, of the bottomed cylindrical can is subjected to the first drawing by using the drawing die having the shape of the curved shoulder face on the inner face of its leading end and the unwrinkling pusher having the shape of the curved shoulder face on the outer face of its leading end portion, to preform the preformed curved shoulder face shape without wrinkling below the diametrically small bottomed cylindrical portion.
Even if the drawing step for forming the diametrically small neck portion is repeated a plurality of times, on the other hand, the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step or the second or later drawing step is performed by using the unwrinkling pusher having at its leading end portion the tapered face having a substantially straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of the virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face and the re-drawing die having at its leading end portion the tapered face of a substantially straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of a virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face. As a result, the shoulder portion is formed in the same surface shape or its repeated shape as the surfaces of the die and the pusher used at each drawing working. At the subsequent reforming steps, therefore, those tapered faces can be pushed and extended and can be reformed to form the shoulder portion having the smooth slope leading to the curved shoulder face of the trunk side.
On the other hand, the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step may include: the step of re-drawing the diametrically small cylindrical portion, with the bottom corner portion of the drawn diametrically small cylindrical portion being unwrinkled, by using an unwrinkling pusher having at its leading end portion a tapered face having a substantially straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of a virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face, a re-drawing die having at its leading end portion such a tapered face having the shape of a straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of the virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face as has a larger external diameter than that of the tapered face of the pusher, and a re-drawing punch; and the step of continuing the re-drawing working till the boundary line between the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the slope and the slope portion in the vicinity of the boundary line come into contact with the tapered face of the pusher and the tapered face of the die. Moreover, in the shoulder portion reforming step, one or two or more tapered faces of the straight longitudinal section may be pushed and extended into a smooth domed curved face leading to the curved shoulder face on the trunk side.
According to the bottle-shaped can manufacturing method of the invention, therefore, even if the drawing step of forming the diametrically small cylindrical portion is repeated a plurality of times on the flat can bottom which is enclosed by the bottom corner portion of the bottomed cylindrical can having the curved shoulder face formed in advance, at the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step or the second and later drawing step, the re-drawing is performed by using the pusher and the die which have at their individual leading end portions the tapered faces of the generally straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of the virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face and of which the die has a larger external diameter of the tapered face of the substantially straight longitudinal section than that of the pusher, i.e., a lower end portion of the tapered face of the die is positioned on the outside of a lower end portion of the tapered face of the pusher in the radial direction with respect to a can axis, and the drawing working is performed till the individual tapered faces of the die and the pusher come into contact with both the boundary line between the diametrically small bottomed cylindrical portion and the slope, as formed by the preceding drawing step, and the slope portion in the vicinity of the boundary line, so that neither the clear boundary line nor its mark is left on the shoulder portion.
Specifically, the boundary line (or the bent portion) between the slope and the diametrically small cylindrical portion, that is, the portion formed at the preceding step into the shape profiling the corner shape on the inner face of the leading end portion of the drawing die or the redrawing die comes, as the re-drawing proceeds, into abutment against the tapered face of the re-drawing die on the outer face of the can, so that the boundary line is made unclear (or the bent portion is shallowed) when it is pulled toward the diametrically small bottomed cylindrical portion while receiving the frictional resistance from the tapered face. When the boundary line passes through the clearance between the re-drawing die and the unwrinkling pusher being pushed toward each other, the unclear boundary line (or the shallowed bent portion) and the slope in the vicinity of the former are flattened by the pulling force, so that the portion to be formed to lead to the initial curved shoulder face does not become a step portion having the clear boundary line (or the deep bent portion) left.
Moreover, the shoulder portion is formed by the plurality of drawing steps into one or two or more tapered faces of a substantially straight longitudinal section, which are jointed by a low convex portion or ridge. At the shoulder portion reforming step, the tapered faces are pushed and extended into a continuous smooth domed curved face so that the shoulder portion jointing the diametrically larger cylindrical trunk portion and the diametrically smaller neck portion can be formed into a smooth and beautiful curved face of an arcuate longitudinal section leading to the curved shoulder face on the trunk side, with little forming mark (or the mark of the boundary line), as formed by the multiple drawing steps.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, the tool to be used at the shoulder portion re-drawing step includes a pair of forming tools having a surface shape of a virtual curved face extending from the curved shoulder face, and the shoulder portion is reformed in its entirety into a smooth curved face of a domed longitudinal section leading to the curved shoulder face, by pinching most of the shoulder portion between the paired forming tools to push and extend the same.
By pushing and extending the shoulder portion by employing the paired forming tools having the surface shape of the virtual curved face extending from the curved shoulder face, therefore, the shoulder portion can be formed in its entirety into the smooth curved face of the arcuate longitudinal section leading to the curved shoulder face on the trunk side.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step may include: the step of re-drawing the diametrically small cylindrical portion, with the bottom corner portion of the previously drawn diametrically small cylindrical portion being unwrinkled, by using an unwrinkling pusher having at its leading end portion a slope having a substantially straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of a virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face, a re-drawing die having, at its portion to face the slope of the pusher, a slope having the shape of a straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to an arcuate longitudinal section of the virtual curved face leading to the curved shoulder face, at its portion on the leading end side from the slope, a convex curved face of an arcuate longitudinal section having a larger external diameter than that of the slope of the pusher, and a re-drawing punch; and the step of continuing the drawing working till the boundary line (or the bent portion) between the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the slope and the slope portion in the vicinity of the boundary line come into contact with the surfaces of the pusher and the die.
In the bottle-shaped can manufacturing method of the invention, at the second and later diametrically small cylindrical portion re-drawing step, therefore, both the boundary line (or the bent portion) between the diametrically small cylindrical portion and the slope, as formed at the preceding step into the shape profiling the corner shapes of the inner faces of the leading end portions of the drawing die and the re-drawing die, and the portion of the slope in the vicinity of the boundary line are brought, as the drawing proceeds, into abutment against the convex curved faces of the die so that the boundary line is made unclear (or the bent portion is shallowed) while it is pulled toward the diametrically small bottomed cylindrical portion while receiving the frictional resistance from the convex curved face. Moreover, the boundary line (or the bent portion) and its adjacent slope portion are flattened by the pulling force, when they pass through the clearance between the pusher and the die pushed toward each other, and the slope near the diametrically small cylindrical portion, as newly formed, is changed into a shallow concave curved face by receiving the convex curved face shape of the die transferred thereto.
This shallow concave curved face is easily formed into the smooth slope at the shoulder portion reforming step.
In the method of the invention, moreover, the slopes and convex curved faces of the unwrinkling pusher and the re-drawing die, as used when the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step is repeated two or more times, may be individually identical to those of the unwrinkling pusher and the re-drawing die, as used at the first step of the second diametrically small cylindrical portion forming step.
At the plurality of re-drawing steps, therefore, a plurality of shallow concave curved faces are formed in the slope portion for the shoulder portion so that the smooth slope is easily formed at the shoulder portion reforming step.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, the tool to be used at the shoulder portion re-drawing step may include: a pair of forming tools having a surface shape of the tapered face of the straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to a virtual curved face leading from the curved shoulder face; and a punch to be inserted into the diametrically small cylindrical portion. Most of the shoulder portion can be formed into a smooth slope continuing in the straight longitudinal section shape leading to the curved shoulder face, by pinching the shoulder portion in its entirety between the paired forming tools and by applying a pushing force to the bottom portion of the diametrically small cylindrical portion thereby to push and extend the shoulder portion.
Therefore, most of the shoulder portion is pinched by the paired forming tools having the surface shapes of the tapered faces of a straight longitudinal section profiling a tangent line to a virtual curved face leading from the curved shoulder face, and the pushing force is applied to the bottom portion of the diametrically small cylindrical portion by the punch. As a result, the pulling force toward the diametrically small cylindrical portion is applied to the shoulder portion so that the shoulder portion having a plurality of shallow concave curved faces is pushed and extended, and so that the portion pinched by the paired forming tools takes the shape of the tapered face of the same straight longitudinal section as the surface shape of the forming tools.
As a result, at the shoulder portion reforming step, there is formed the shoulder portion which continuously leads to the curved shoulder face on the trunk side and which mostly has a smooth slope of continuous straight longitudinal sections.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, a curved shoulder face is formed on the bottom corner portion of the can by preforming the bottom corner portion by using a punch having a curved face on the outer circumference of its leading end portion after the bottomed cylindrical can was formed by the drawing working and the thinning working and before the bottom side of the can is drawn.
Since the preparatory forming step is made independent, therefore, not only a curved face having a large radius of curvature but also a curved face having a small radius of curvature can be easily formed on the can bottom corner portion. By preforming the curved shoulder face on the bottom corner portion, on the other hand, it is possible to reform the curved shoulder face without wrinkling the lower end portion of the diametrically small cylindrical portion when forming the diametrically small cylindrical portion at the next drawing working step, and finally to make smooth and continuous either the cylindrical trunk portion and the curved face of a domed section or the cylindrical trunk portion and the shoulder portion having a slope of the straight longitudinal section.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, the curved shoulder face is performed on the bottom corner portion of the can at the final forming step of the bottomed cylindrical can by using a punch having a curved face at the outer circumference of its leading end portion, as the punch to be used at the final working step of forming the bottomed cylindrical can which is made thinner at its trunk wall than at its bottom wall by the drawing working and by the thinning working.
At the final step of forming the cylindrical can having a thinner trunk wall than the bottom wall, therefore, the can bottom corner portion is curved to combine the trunk wall thinning step and the shoulder portion curved face preforming step into one step so that the number of working steps can be reduced.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, the metallic sheet can be prepared by laminating a thermoplastic resin film on an aluminum alloy sheet in advance.
Since the aluminum alloy sheet is laminated on its two sides with the thermoplastic resin film, therefore, this thermoplastic resin film plays the role of a lubricant when the bottomed cylindrical can is to be formed by the drawing working or the thinning working, when the can is drawn on its bottom side or when the neck portion is threaded. When the aluminum alloy sheet is extended or bent, the laminating the thermoplastic resin film layer is accordingly extended or bent to reduce the consumption of the lubricant and to make the aluminum alloy sheet hard to be damaged with the working tools.
Since the laminating state with the thermoplastic resin can be kept even after the bottle-shaped can was formed, moreover, no new protecting coating is required later.
In the method of the invention, on the other hand, the metallic sheet is prepared by laminating a thermoplastic resin film on a surface-treated steel sheet in advance.
Since the surface-treated steel sheet is laminated on its two sides with the thermoplastic resin film, therefore, this thermoplastic resin film plays the role of a lubricant when the bottomed cylindrical can is to be formed by the drawing working or the thinning working, when the can is drawn on its bottom side or when the neck portion is threaded. When the surface-treated steel sheet is extended or bent, the laminating thermoplastic resin film layer is accordingly extended or bent to reduce the consumption of the lubricant and to make the surface-treated steel sheet hard to be damaged with the working tools.
Since the laminating state with the thermoplastic resin can be kept even after the bottle-shaped can was formed, moreover, no new protecting coating is required later.
In the method of the invention, moreover, the bottomed cylindrical can is so thinned that the thickness of the side wall in the vicinity of its bottom is less than the thickness of the metallic sheet before formed, but is 60% or more of the thickness of said metallic sheet.
As a result, the thickness of the side wall in the vicinity of the bottom of the bottomed cylindrical can or the portion to be drawn at the multiple stages is less than the thickness of the metallic sheet before the can is formed, but is 60% or more of the thickness of said metallic sheet. As a result, the corner portion is hard to be wrinkled, when it is preformed into the curved shoulder face, so that the joint portion from the trunk portion to the shoulder portion can be smoothly curved.

Production method for bottle type can and form-working tool


A computer device may identify an interaction device that is capable of outputting a simulation representative of an identified aspect of an entity. The computer device may trigger the identified interaction device to output a simulation of the identified aspect.

A first entity, such as a child, may experience separation anxiety when placed in an undesirable setting, such as a daycare, and when separated from a second entity, such as a parent. Different levels of separation anxiety may be alleviated by interacting or engaging with different types of reassurance. In some examples, interactive communication systems may be implemented by interaction devices, such as smart devices and electronic toys, to output content to entertain the first entity.

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for supporting, in motion, a mobile terminal having a display surface, including a supporting element forming a hand grip for the device; and a plate mounted such that it can move in relation to the supporting element, the plate forming a housing receives mobile terminal in the use position, in which the display surface can be observed by a user. The device also has a plurality of reference light sources linked to the supporting element, which can emit light towards the user's eye and which are disposed in the environment of the housing in a two-dimensional array, the array being coplanar with the display surface of the mobile terminal that is intended to be received in the housing.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of the technologies associated with the measurement and the tracking of the direction of gaze (known as "eyetracking") and relates, more particularly, according to a first of its aspects, to a method for tracking the gaze of a user on a display surface observed by the user, consisting notably of the screen of a mobile terminal such as a mobile telephone or a touch-screen tablet, allowing it to be determined, while mobile, at which locations on the observed display surface the gaze of the user is aimed.
2. Related Art
By way of non-exclusive example of an application of the invention may notably be mentioned the analysis of the interactions of the gaze with a user interface, undertaken in the framework of behavioral studies aimed for example at evaluating areas of interest within this interface or at adapting the ergonomic properties of this interface.
In the prior art, two large families of eyetracking systems are distinguished:                non-intrusive and non-portable systems;        intrusive and portable systems.
All these systems use a basic technical principle consisting in evaluating the direction of gaze starting from the relative position of the corneal reflection of a light source and of the pupil.
The principle consists in disposing an LED (light-emitting diode) as a light source emitting radiation in the infrared wavelengths right next to the objective lens of a video camera intended to acquire images of the eye. This infrared LED emits light toward the eye in the same direction as the axis of the objective lens of the video camera. This light is reflected on the cornea of the eye: a light spot, called "Purkinje spot", then appears on the image of the cornea of the eye captured by the video camera.
The non-intrusive tracking system is a system which allows the movements of the eye to be recorded and hence the gaze to be tracked when the subject is for example looking at a computer screen.
This type of system is generally composed of a very high definition camera disposed at around sixty centimeters from the head of the user in the axis of the gaze of the subject.
Since this camera is high definition, it is then possible to distinguish the face of the user toward whom it is pointing. Then, by image processing and shape recognition, it is possible to identify the location of the eyes and to enlarge the image in order to accurately determine the position of the pupil with respect to the Purkinje spot. This system does not interact with the user, and the latter does not have to wear special glasses or a helmet.
However, the main drawback of this system is that it relies on the use of a high-definition camera whose cost exceeds by more than 100 times the price of a camera with standard resolution. In addition, during the analysis of the gaze, the user cannot move his/her head beyond a three-dimensional limit defined by the angle of view of the camera which is filming the eye.
Furthermore, the screen that the user is watching must necessarily be fixed, which constitutes an important limitation, preventing this type of system from being adapted to display screens of mobile terminals such as mobile telephones or touch-screen tablets for example, which, by their nature, are used while moving.
Intrusive eyetracking systems allow this eyetracking to be recorded when the user is looking at a global scene such as the cockpit of an aircraft for example or else the dashboard of a car.
This type of system is generally composed of a first video camera disposed at around ten centimeters from the head of the user in the axis of gaze of the user. This video camera is close to the head, and it must therefore be fixed to a special pair of glasses or to a helmet.
Since this video camera is directly filming the area of the eye, by image processing, it is possible to accurately recognize the position of the pupil with respect to the Purkinje point.
Thus, this system endows the user with a great freedom of movement. The user can thus move around while at the same time affording the camera the possibility of analyzing the direction of his/her gaze. In addition, such a system allows the use of all types of cameras having a reduced cost compared for example with high-definition cameras.
This type of system also comprises a second video camera, referred to as a 'scene camera', for filming the scene observed by the user. The two video streams respectively generated by the first video camera and by the second video camera are processed in order to produce a single video stream representing the scene and including a cursor allowing the locations in the scene where the user directs his/her gaze to be tracked at each moment in time. Such a system is well known to those skilled in the art, notably by the example given in the document US 2010/0053555.
However, one drawback of this system resides in the fact that the first video camera used to determine the position of the eye and the second video camera allowing the scene observed by the user to be filmed are in the same reference frame, which is linked to the reference frame of the head of the user. Moreover, this system is not well adapted to tracking the gaze over the surface of a mobile object, and, more particularly, over the display screen of a mobile terminal, such as a mobile telephone, in a context of mobility. Indeed, when the scene camera records a scene where the user is in the process of looking, while moving around, at the screen of a mobile telephone for example, the object in question being watched and filmed becomes mobile in the stream of video images resulting from the recording of the scene by the scene camera. It is then particularly difficult to be able to automatically determine what the user, while moving around, is looking at.
For example, if the user is continuously looking at an area of interest on the screen of the mobile telephone in a context of mobility, the point of gaze of the user does not move according to said area of interest but, on the stream of video images resulting from the recording of the scene by the scene camera, it moves around according to the position in the image of the area of interest being watched, itself mobile within the resulting video stream.
Accordingly, within this context of mobility, it is not possible to readily, and especially automatically, determine that the user is continuously looking at the area of interest in question, except, which is not desirable, by endowing the system with powerful image processing and shape recognition means, capable of accurately recognizing the area of interest in question within the stream of video images, in order to deduce from this that the point of gaze on the image really has followed this area of interest, mobile within the image.
In this context, the aim of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art and, in particular, to solve the problems encountered by the known eyetracking systems of the intrusive and portable type in order to be able to readily and automatically determine, within a context of mobility, the direction of gaze with respect to an object being watched, notably a mobile telephone.

Method for determining gaze direction and device for same


A vehicle air conditioner includes an air conditioning case having an air introducing port from which air is introduced in an air introducing direction from a side of a cooling heat exchanger to a space under the cooling heat exchanger. Further, the air conditioning case includes a flow turning portion by which air introduced from the air introducing port is turned and flows through the cooling heat exchanger upwardly, and the cooling heat exchanger is slanted to have an upper end portion and a lower end portion approximately parallel to the air introducing direction. Furthermore, a plate member is arranged in the air conditioning case at a position under the lower end portion of the cooling heat exchanger, and the plate member has a plate surface which crosses with the air introducing direction to reduce a flow speed of air.

A vehicle air conditioner generally includes an air conditioning case having air outlet ports and doors, and a cooling heat exchanger arranged in the air conditioning case. Moisture contained in air flowing in the air conditioning case is condensed on the surface of the cooling heat exchanger (i.e., evaporator), and condensed water is generated. The condensed water is discharged to an exterior of the air conditioning case from a drain port that is provided at a bottom wall portion of the air conditioning case.
Recently, a blower having a large air-blowing capacity is used for sufficiently performing air-conditioning operation in a large space of a passenger compartment of a vehicle. However, when the blower capable of generating a large air-blowing capacity is simply used for a vehicle air conditioner having a slanted evaporator (e.g., JP-A-2003-63230), the condensed water collected to a lower end portion of the cooling heat exchanger is spattered by a large flow rate of air blown from the blower.
In the vehicle air conditioner of JP-A-2003-63230, because the air from the blower is sent to the evaporator from a side, the air from the blower crosses with the slanted direction of the evaporator by a high flow rate. In this case, condensed water may be mixed into the air to be blown into the passenger compartment.


A new Diascia plant particularly distinguished by its light pink flowers, which produces no seeds, and has a growing habit that is first upright and later spreading and hanging.

The present invention comprises a new distinct cultivar of Diascia, botanically known as Diascia barberae.
The new cultivar is a product resulting from the cross of 'Diastara' and 'Diastis.' 'Diastara' is a light pink flowering Diascia. 'Diastara' is commercially available and is known by the synonym 'Flying Colors Appleblossom.' 'Diastis' is a coral flowering Diascia. 'Diastis' is commercially available and is known by the synonym 'Flying Colors Coral.' 'Diastara' is patented as U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,782. 'Diastis' is patented as U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,950.
As a result of this cross the present cultivar was created in 2002 in Enkhuizen, Netherlands and has been repeatedly asexually reproduced by cuttings in Enkhuizen, Netherlands and Sarrians, France over a three-year period. It has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations. The new variety is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
This new Diascia plant is an annual in most climatical zones in the US, only in zones 7, 8, 9 and 10 it is a perennial plant.


A housing having a fixing mechanism for fixing at least one electronic device includes a housing body and a pivotable fixing mechanism. The fixing mechanism includes a first positioning device and a second positioning device. The second positioning device has a first fixing member for accommodating a electronic device, and a second fixing member detachably engaged with the first positioning device to fix the second positioning device in a first position on the first positioning device. When the second fixing member is disengaged, the second positioning device is fixed in a second position on the first positioning device, and when the first positioning device is rotated outwards relative to the housing body, the second positioning device can be removed or installed on the first positioning device through the second fixing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a housing, more particularly to a computer housing that uses a pivotable fixing mechanism instead of screws to mount an electronic device to a housing body, and is rotated outward of the housing body to facilitate assembly or disassembly of the electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Existing computer housings have vertical, horizontal, thin and industrial specification designs. In order to increase the functions of a computer, many peripheral electronic devices (for example, an optical disk drive, a hard disk, or the like) are installed in the housing thereof. In the prior art, for the convenience of fixing an electronic device into a housing body, an auxiliary fixing component has been used to fix the electronic device into a housing body of a mainframe in an engagement manner, in place of a screw. For example, in the issued patent U.S. Pat. No. 8,690,267 titled "Assembly unit and casing having the same" of the applicant, an operator can conveniently remove or install an electronic device without a screw or a tool.
However, the development tendency of personal computers is miniaturization and with the decrease in volume of a mainframe of a computer, the internal space of a housing becomes limited. In addition to installment of various electronic devices, examination and maintenance of other components (for example, a memory card, a cooling fan, and the like) in a housing body is needed. In such a case, a signal cable and a power cable connected to a mainframe must be removed before the electronic device or other components are removed. In other words, the existing installment or removal operation by screwing or unscrewing is difficult to perform or even cannot be performed in the limited space of the housing.


A support and guide device capable of smoothly shifting a moving block configured to move along a guide track from one of a plurality of track rails forming the guide track to another of the plurality of track rails even when clearances are secured at joints between the plurality of track rails. Each of the track rails has auxiliary sliding surfaces formed on both end portions of the each of the plurality of track rails in the longitudinal direction, the auxiliary sliding surfaces formed side by side with a guide surface and being inclined with respect to the guide surface. The moving block includes leading sliding portions each configured to face one of the auxiliary sliding surfaces of the track rail when the moving block reaches one of both end portions of the track rail in the longitudinal direction.

A linear motion guide apparatus as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has been known as a related-art apparatus that is available as a support and guide device of this type. This linear motion guide apparatus includes track rails along which rolling surfaces for a large number of rolling elements are formed, and moving blocks mounted to those track rails through intermediation of the rolling elements. The rolling elements are configured to roll on the rolling surfaces of the track rails while bearing loads so that the moving blocks are freely movable along the track rails. Depending on a size or a weight of the movable body such as tables and units to be guided, in general, the track rails are arranged parallel to each other in two rows, and the plurality of moving blocks to be moved along those track rails are fixed to the movable body. With this, the movable body can be moved with high accuracy along the track rails.
This linear motion guide apparatus is utilized mainly for linear guide along an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis in working machines so that objects-to-be-conveyed such as workpieces and tools are guided and positioned with high accuracy. Requests for guiding the objects-to-be-conveyed with high accuracy cannot necessarily be satisfied due to a limitation on a length of the track rails to be manufactured. Thus, when a moving distance necessary for the objects-to-be-conveyed is larger than a length of a single track rail, the plurality of track rails are coupled in series to each other without clearances so as to form guide tracks having a length corresponding to the moving distance of the objects-to-be-conveyed. With this configuration, the moving blocks are movable over an entire length of the guide tracks across joints between the track rails. Further, the rolling surfaces are formed through a collective grinding process so as to suppress height differences among the joints between the plurality of track rails to be arranged in series. In this way, dimensions are strictly managed. With this, the objects-to-be-conveyed can be guided with high accuracy along the guide tracks formed by coupling the plurality of track rails to each other.


Provided are a serializer that synchronizes data with a clock by using an inversion clock and a high speed serializing apparatus using both a serializer and a serializer including shift registers. Such a serializer may include a first synchronization unit suitable for synchronizing input data with a first synchronization clock, a multiplexer suitable for serializing output data of the first synchronization unit based on the first synchronization clock, and a second synchronization unit suitable for synchronizing output data of the multiplexer with a second synchronization clock which is different from the first synchronization clock in frequency.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a serializer for converting parallel data into serial data, a high speed serializing apparatus using the same and, more particularly, a serializer that synchronizes data with a clock and a high speed serializing apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electronic interfaces, a high speed data serializing apparatus is generally used to convert low speed parallel data into high speed serial data based on a high speed clock, and transmits the high speed serial data.
However, this sometimes results in invalid data being output, due to glitches and clock skew, for example.
In serializing data using shift registers, there are often problems associated with clock loading effects. When multiple 2:1 serializers are used, since there are multiple clocks, skew may occur between the clocks.

Serializer and serializing apparatus using the same


The hydraulic antivibration support has two rigid strength members interconnected by an elastomer body that has a thick bell-shaped wall, said wall defining a liquid-filled working chamber communicating with a compensation chamber via a narrow channel. The thick wall is of rectangular section and the elastomer body further includes a projection extending in the center of said wall and presenting four side faces each facing one of the sides of said thick wall. Two opposite side faces of the projection are concave in shape so that the projection has a narrow central portion between two thicker end portions.

Amongst antivibration supports of this type, the invention relates more particularly to those which comprise:
first and second rigid strength members suitable for securing to respective ones of the two rigid elements to be united, the second strength member extending perpendicularly to the main vibration axis: PA1 an elastomer body interconnecting the two strength members, said elastomer body having a thick bell-shaped wall which extends and flares from a top secured to the first strength member to a base secured to the second strength member, said wall, seen in section on a plane perpendicular to the main vibration axis, having an outline which has four sides substantially in the form of a rectangle, the elastomer body further including an elastomer projection extending in the center of the thick bell-shaped wall projecting from the top of said wall towards the second strength member, said projection having four side faces each facing a respective one of the sides of the thick bell-shaped wall; PA1 a working chamber defined both by the bell-shaped thick side wall and by a rigid wall secured to the second strength member and forming a counter-abutment for the above-mentioned projection; and PA1 a compensation chamber defined at least in part by a wall that is flexible, and in permanent communication with the working chamber via a narrow channel, the working chamber, the compensation chamber, and the narrow channel all being filled with a liquid. PA1 the narrow central portion of the projection has a first thickness, while each of the end portions of the projection has a second thickness greater than the first thickness, with the difference between the first and second thicknesses being greater than 5 mm; PA1 the area of the projection on a right section perpendicular to the main vibration axis is greater than 150 mm.sup.2; PA1 the two sides of the thick bell-shaped wall situated facing the concave side faces of the elastomer projection are longer than the other two sides of said thick bell-shaped wall; PA1 the second strength member is constituted by a plate which extends in a plane generally perpendicular to the main vibration axis and which has a "support" face, the elastomer body being integral with the flexible wall defining the compensation chamber, and said elastomer body being fixed in leakproof manner to the support face of the second strength member, co-operating therewith to define the working chamber, the compensation chamber, and the narrow channel; PA1 the second strength member includes a projection which projects into the working chamber towards the projection of the elastomer body; PA1 the projection of the elastomer body has a length lying substantially in the range 2.3 cm to 2.7 cm; PA1 each side of the thick bell-shaped wall facing a concave side face of the projection of the elastomer body, is separated from end portions of said projection by a distance which, measured perpendicularly to the main vibration axis, lies substantially in the range 0.8 cm to 1 cm; and PA1 the projection of the elastomer body is of a height measured parallel to the main vibration axis which lies substantially in the range 0.8 cm to 1.2 cm.
Document EP-A-0 646 735 describes an example of such an antivibration support.
Supports of that type give entire satisfaction, however in certain configurations they can present relatively high dynamic stiffness for vibration at high frequency, e.g. at about 640 Hz, thus diminishing the vibration filtering effect at said frequency.


Provided is a distance measuring device which allows the measurement accuracy to be improved while the memory size is reduced. A distance measuring device includes a light emitting element which emits range-finding light as pulse light, a light receiving element which receives reflected range-finding light obtained as the range-finding light is reflected on a measurement object, an AD converter which converts the light reception signal output from the light receiving element from an analogue signal to a digital signal, multiple memories which have different memory sizes from each other and store sampled data output from the AD converter, and a rough distance calculator which calculates a distance on the basis of the sampled data stored in the multiple memories.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-161411 discloses an electronic distance meter which has range-finding light emitted from a light emitting element as pulse light using a pulsed signal produced by pulsing a signal with a prescribed frequency, receives, by a light receiving element, reflected range-finding light as the reflection of the range-finding light which is emitted on the measurement object, and measures a distance to the measurement object on the basis of a light reception signal output from the light receiving element. The electronic distance meter disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-161411 measures a long distance on the basis of the round trip time of the pulse light (a time delay) (TOF: Time of Flight).
The distance measuring device based on the TOF (Time of Flight) principle such as the electronic distance meter disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-161411, for example, typically samples the waveform of pulse light reflected back by the measurement object by an AD converter and stores the sampled data output from the AD converter in a memory. The AD converter starts sampling simultaneously with the light emission by the light emitting element and ends sampling after a period of time equivalent or more than the maximum measurement distance set as a specification of the distance measuring device. Therefore, in order to store all the sampled data output from the AD converter in the memory, the memory size must be larger than the value obtained by dividing the maximum measurement distance by the sampling interval (in terms of distance). The sampling interval is a value obtained by converting the sampling rate (Hz) into a distance using the velocity (3×108 m/s) of the range-finding light (the pulse light).
There has been a demand for improvement in the measurement accuracy (distance calculation accuracy) in the distance measuring device which measures the distance to a measurement object using a pulse signal. For example, the sampling interval may be reduced or the width of the pulse light (pulse width) may be reduced in order to improve the distance calculation accuracy. When the sampling interval is small, the shape of the waveform of returned pulse light reflected on a measurement object can be stored in more detail. As a result, the distance calculation accuracy may be improved. However, when the sampling interval is reduced, a larger memory size is required.
When the pulse width is reduced, the range of pulse fluctuations is reduced. Therefore, the distance calculation accuracy is improved. In recent years, it has become possible to generate pulse light with a pulse width for example of one nanosecond or less. However, as the pulse width is reduced, a greater memory size is necessary.


A package has a package body formed by stacked insulating layers and having a front surface including a mounting area, a back surface and a side surface; a plurality of hollow portions arranged so as to be adjacent to each other on the front surface of the package body; a plurality of electrode pads individually placed on respective bottom surfaces of the hollow portions; and a partition wall formed by at least one insulating layer that forms the package body and having protruding banks at its both edge sides. Surfaces of the electrode pads are located at a lower position with respect to the front surface of the package body. The hollow portions are arranged at opposite sides of the partition wall. The electrode pads are electrically connected to respective conductor layers that are formed on the back surface and/or the side surface of the package body.

The present invention relates to a package that has a mounting area of an electronic component on a front surface of a package body formed by a plurality of stacked insulating layers, and more particularly to a package that can reduce a tendency for a short circuit to occur between a plurality of electrode pads adjacently provided on the front surface of the package body when electrically connecting external connecting terminals of the electronic component to the plurality of electrode pads.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-41431 (hereinafter is referred to as "JPH10-41431") discloses an airtight seal package in which a pair of internal electrodes provided on a bottom surface at an inner side (in a cavity) of a box-shaped package base body that is formed by a plurality of stacked ceramic layers and a plurality of external electrodes provided on a back surface of the package base body are connected respectively through a plurality of conductive lines that penetrate a lower ceramic layer. Further, JPH10-41431 proposes that the internal electrode should be made of soft metal (such as gold and silver) and a height of the internal electrode should be 30 μm or higher, preferably 50 μm or higher.
According to the airtight seal package of JPH10-41431, propagation of an external stress can be absorbed by the internal electrode, and thus distortion of a crystal element that is mounted on the internal electrodes can be reduced, which eliminate the need for a conventional holding support. As a consequence, man-hour of manufacture and cost can be reduced, and also a requirement as a thin airtight seal package can be met.


A method for recognizing a valid change of state in a communication signal including capacitively coupled signals received by an input contact includes maintaining the input contact in a first state and an impedance of the first contact input in a first impedance level, validating that the communication signal sent from to the input contact is a valid change of state, and changing the input contact to a second state and the impedance of the first input contact input to a second impedance level when the voltage signal is validated. An input contact circuit is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to electronic circuitries and, more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for recognizing a valid change-of-state of capacitively coupled signals using adaptively active impedance.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common practice in industry to establish communication from a plurality of input contacts 2 of an electronic circuitry in one device to a plurality of output contacts 4 of another by connecting the corresponding contacts from each via a cable bundle 6, as illustrated in FIG. 1. One example of such is the connection of breaker contact outputs with a protection relay contact inputs in a substation of a power grid. When a breaker contact closes, a voltage is applied to the contact input. If that voltage is maintained above a preset threshold value for a predetermined amount of time (typically known as the debounce timer), the contact input recognizes that the applied voltage corresponds to a valid state change and thus the state of that input contact is changed from an OFF state to an ON state. The process is similar for an input transition from the ON state to the OFF state when the applied voltage drops below a second preset threshold for the duration of the debounce timer.
However, the long bundle of cables typically used to connect these devices is known to introduce large parasitic capacitive coupling between individual conductors carrying the monitored signals. This is illustrated in FIG. 2, where a simplified circuit is illustrated to represent the assembly of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the contact inputs 2 have respective impedance Ra and Rb and switches SWa and SWb represent the contact outputs 4. In operation, if switch SWa closes, a valid signal will appear continuously on the corresponding contact input Ra. However, a capacitively coupled signal will also discharge via a parasitic capacitance (Cline, as shown in FIG. 2) through the contact input Rb (shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2), even though the switch SWb is open.
Two conventional solutions exist for the above-noted problem. The first includes increasing the debounce timer, and the second includes lowering of the input impedance. In order to reject the capacitively coupled pulse, a validation timer (also known as a debounce timer) can be used to ignore all pulses under a preset duration. The user must configure the debounce timer to ignore pulses with durations less than the worst-case capacitively coupled pulse. However, one of the drawbacks in increasing the duration of the debounce timer is that it delays the recognition of valid contact input transitions, which in turn can affect the efficiency of the protection scheme. Another approach used to mitigate the effects of capacitively coupled transients is to reduce the impedance of the contact input. By reducing this impedance the capacitively coupled signal has a shorter pulse duration that can then allow for a smaller debounce timer setting. However, another drawback of this solution is that the amount of power dissipated by the contact input circuitry increases as the impedance decreases, leading to a limitation in the number of contact inputs that may be available in the product. Therefore in order to prevent false input state changes due to capacitively coupled transients either the number of contact inputs must be reduced or the recognition time for an input state change must be increased.
Conventional solutions to the above-summarized challenge have involved finding a balance between response time (i.e., the time before the contact input can successfully determine if the signal was a transient pulse or a valid input state change) and power dissipation (i.e., how many contact inputs can be used in a device without destroying the circuitry through heat dissipation). However, this balance between power dissipation and contact input response time leads to the current practical limitations within the industry for the number of inputs that can be designed into a product as well as the practical limitations to the response time of a contact input to a valid signal transition
Therefore, a need exist to control the impedance of a contact input such that the current consumed thereby is increased only during the period of time when the input is either in the OFF state or in a transition state and reduced during the period of time when the contact input is in the ON state, in which power consumption is at its peak. Such an approach will not only allow the contact input to consume substantially less power during steady state operation than conventional contact inputs, but will also allow for a significant improvement in recognition time. Since the contact input is only drawing an increased amount of current for a short duration, the amount of current drawn can be maximized for recognition time performance.

Method and apparatus for recognizing a change-of-state in communication signals of electronic circuits


A portable golf practice device is disclosed that is easily transported by the golfer and simulates the response of natural turf when impacted by the club head during a golf swing. The device includes a simulated turf surface fitted in a carriage tray. The carriage tray is supported on a retraction assembly on which it can slide forward and back, and which has springs that will retract it after it has moved forward. The retraction assembly is supported on a base member. In use, when the turf surface is hit by a golf club it moves forward simulating the feel of actual turf, and then returns to its ready to use position.

To be skilled at the techniques of golf requires a golfer to practice regularly beyond the time spent on playing the game on golf courses. Many indoor/outdoor golf practice facilities have been created to accommodate golfers' need to practice, and the use of golf practice mats at these facilities is a common and long-established practice. The conventional golf practice mats are available in a variety of materials and have a surface layer simulating natural grass. These mats generally perform adequately for practicing wood shots off a tee. However, they are deficient for practicing iron shots and may actually impede the development of a correct swing.
A correct iron shot requires the golf club head to impact the golf ball on the downswing momentarily before it reaches the lowest point of the swing arc, i.e., the path of the golf club head during a swing. The descending club head will naturally remove a small patch of turf, known as a divot, below or immediately in front of the ball. Conventional golf practice mats are generally of stiff, unyielding construction and do not allow the action of taking a divot. A correct golf swing practiced on such a mat will actually produce the wrong "feel" as the club head, after hitting the ball, is impeded by and bounces off the mat. Further, to lessen the shock to the wrists and elbows and risk of injury, the golfer may alter his swing to "scoop" or sweep the ball off the mat cleanly instead of hitting "down and through" and thus develop an incorrect way of hitting iron shots. Also, when the golfer makes an incorrect swing and strikes the mat behind the ball, i.e., making a "fat" shot, the shock from hitting a hard and unyielding surface can lead to injuries to elbows and other joints. Lastly, some golf practice mats have a surface layer consisting of long fibers or inverted brushes to help reduce club head bounce and risk of injury. However, these mats may have too much "give" and more closely simulate fringe grass than fairway turf.
Many golf practice devices have been conceived over the years in an attempt to simulate the feel of hitting natural turf, some are designed to be portable so golfers can carry and use them at golf practice facilities. Examples are shown in the following U.S. patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,396 issued to Florian discloses a device consists of a base pad formed of a resilient elastomeric material and an artificial grass carpet positioned on the base pad. When a golf ball on the carpet surface is struck, the carpet slides a limited distance and is then returned by an elastic biasing mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,147 issued to Luedtke discloses a device comprises an anchor piece and a divot piece connected by elastic rubber bands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,967 issued to Guyer discloses a device consists of a support frame, a mat and a tray with a set of casters that roll on descending ramps attached to the frame. When a golf ball is hit from the mat, the mat and tray deflect downwardly, the mat slides partially off the tray and the tray rolls down the ramps. The mat and tray return to the original position via a tension spring means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,663 issued to Makar discloses a device comprises an artificial turf mat suspended under tension within a rigid frame. The mat is displaced downward upon impact with a golf club. Multiple surface layers can be employed to simulate golf shots from the fairway, rough and sand trap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,685 issued to Ballinger, et al. discloses an apparatus that includes a platform for the golfer to stand on, a main frame connected to the platform adjacent thereto, and an inner frame covered with artificial turf surface and mounted within the main frame. The inner frame pivots forward and then downward in a generally arcuate path when the surface is impacted by the golf club head. The platform can be folded to form a carrying case in which the components can be stored.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,283 issued to Lindquist discloses a device with artificial turf secured to a cushioned support that is movable in the direction of the ball flight and compressible when the surface is struck. The movable and compressible portion returns via a spring means.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,628 issued to Boss, Jr. discloses a device comprises a rigid housing containing rollers which support an endless belt with simulated grass outer surface. A platform beneath the upper portion of the belt pivots about one end and is held against the inner surface of the belt by an elastic means.
While these devices may accomplish their stated objectives to some extent, they either (1) are too complex or too expensive to manufacture to be economically viable; or (2) are too heavy or bulky to be practically transportable; or (3) have a height dimension that requires the golfer to stand on an elevated platform; or (4) require extraneous means for the device to be anchored to the ground, which is impractical when the ground is hard surface such as concrete.
There exists a need for a golf practice device that is portable so the golfer can easily transport it to a golf practice facility and, when struck by a golf club head during a golf swing, yields and moves in such a manner as to simulate the response of natural turf.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A computer system adapted to receive and interpret signals from a remote control. The signals received from the remote control are interpreted and transformed into signals equivalent to those produced by a computer keyboard.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless remote control for an electronic device being adapted to provide signals understood by a computer/CPU. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer system having a receiver for receiving wireless remote commands such that the wireless remote commands are converted into standard keyboard signals having both "make" and "break" portions of the signal indicating at least that a button was both pressed and released.
2. Description of the Related Art
A personal computer/television (PC/TV) convergence device is a fully functional computer integrated with the functionality of a television. The PC/TV provides a TV mode for viewing television related information (e.g., via broadcast, cable, satellite, VCR, digital disk, or other broadcast media). The PC/TV also provides a computer mode for computing functionality. Thus, the convergence of computer and TV functionalities enables a user at least the combined access of television program information, computer related functionality, and Internet access.
A PC/TV convergence device may comprise a fully functional computer which may include a memory, microprocessor, hard drive, floppy disc drive, fax modem, CD-ROM player, keyboard, monitor, power supply, mouse, game pad/joy stick, microphone, etc. The computer is interfaced with a television or monitor such that the television's or monitor's normal National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) signal is converted to a scan "video graphics adapter" (VGA) signal or the computer's scan VGA signal is converted to an NTSC interface signal.
The PC/TV convergence device is controlled by the computer's operating system (OS). The monitor can display both TV programs and computer applications either at the same time (in separate windows) or in separate modes. Furthermore, the convergence of a PC and a TV into a single system permits the utilization of the communication bandwidth, mass storage, and graphic applications to store and display applications within a television viewing environment. Basically, the computer is merged with consumer electronic functionality thereby enabling an average consumer to take advantage of many computing functions in an easy to use consumer oriented product.
The PC/TV changes a typical television from a passive device to a user interactive device. For example, while a user is watching TV, the user can request the PC/TV to download information from another source, (besides a TV station) such as the Internet, information about, among other things, the TV program. Such information can originate from a web site or via telephone lines or from other data providers.
At present, televisions and personal computers are separate devices. A TV may incorporate a remote control. A standard TV remote control may control a variety of functions of or related to the TV. The remote control transmits infrared (IR) signals to the TV in order to indicate which button on the remote control was depressed.
Also at present, there exists IR computer keyboards. An IR keyboard allows the user to operate a computer without a wire being connected between the IR keyboard and the computer. This provides the user freedom of movement.
When a key is pressed on the IR keyboard, an IR "make" signal is repetitiously sent from the keyboard's IR transmitter and received by an IR receiver associated with the computer. When the same key is released, an IR "break" signal associated with the key is transmitted from the IR keyboard to the computer. The combination of make and break signals informs the computer or CPU that the key on the IR keyboard was pressed and held for a certain period of time and then released.
Since a CPU requires a computer keyboard make and break code for each key press of an IR keyboard, it follows that a CPU would not be able to correctly interpret the IR codes sent from a standard TV remote control. Thus, if a remotely controlled television system and a computer where merged into a PC/TV the converged system would not be able to understand remote control button presses for control of the television. Also, if an IR computer keyboard were used to communicate with the TV system and if some of the remote TV controls were mapped into the IR computer keyboard, the IR receiver associated with the TV would not understand the make and break codes provided by the IR keyboard.
Another problem of operating a PC converged with a television or any other remotely controllable electronic device, would be that if the computer/CPU received an IR signal from the TV remote control, the computer would never receive a break code indicating that the button on the remote control was released. That is, the CPU would only receive a signal from the remote control indicating that a button was pressed, but there would be no signal indicating that the remote control button was depressed.

Methods and apparatus for converting remote control signals into computer keyboard signals


A lighting device having a bulb-holder made of synthetic, electrically-nonconducting material; possibly a transparent cover; a light source; and electronic controlling elements for controlling the light source; the light source includes a high-efficiency, violet-tinged white-light, light-emitting diode (LED), and possibly a reflector formed integral with the bulb-holder; and the bulb-holder defines a lighting fixture fittable to an inner wall of a refrigeration compartment, and having elements, typically a thermostat, for detecting and controlling operating parameters of the refrigeration compartment.

As is known, refrigeration compartments of any type require an internal lighting device, which is deactivated when the refrigeration compartment is closed; and control and detecting means for controlling and detecting operating parameters of the refrigeration compartment—typically temperature and, possibly, humidity—and comprising at least one electromechanical or electronic thermostat.
Such devices are currently mounted together on a common member defined by a lighting fixture fitted to an interior wall of the refrigeration compartment and comprising a bulb-holder made of synthetic, electrically-nonconducting material and fitted with a light source defined by an incandescent bulb; electronic control means for controlling the light source; and at least one, preferably electronic, thermostat. The bulb-holder also has a transparent cover to protect the bulb.
Known lighting fixtures of the type described above have numerous drawbacks, mostly due to the light source being defined by an incandescent bulb and so constituting an electric element operating at fairly high voltage (typically 220 V mains voltage) and generating a fairly large amount of heat and relatively high operating temperatures.
This therefore calls for precise control of electrical power supply to the incandescent bulb by means of an electronic circuit comprising fairly high-cost components, such as a TRIAC, and a positive-temperature coefficient element (PTC pill) for ensuring the light source is turned off after a given length of time (e.g. in the event the refrigeration compartment door is not closed properly, thus failing to activate the off switch, or in the event of malfunction of the off switch).
Moreover, featuring a mains-voltage-powered element, the lighting fixture must be made according to rigid regulations governing the minimum distance between the high-voltage and low-voltage, typically electronic, components, thus complicating manufacture and increasing bulk.
Moreover, because most refrigeration compartments are cooled by expansion of a refrigeration fluid, which, in most cases, is potentially explosive, known lighting devices must be specially designed to prevent any situation, including accidental breakage of the light source, from generating sparks or at any rate discharging voltage.
Finally, incandescent bulbs have fairly poor lighting characteristics, e.g. they emit a white light with a strong yellowish component, and have a fairly short working life, thus requiring frequent replacement and so posing serious manufacturing problems.
On the other hand, replacing incandescent bulbs with other light sources, such as light-emitting diodes, has always been ruled out by technicians, mainly on the grounds of the high cost (and insufficient lighting power) of such diodes. That is, forming part of electric household appliances such as refrigerators and/or freezers, which have a very small profit margin, the lighting fixtures of refrigeration compartments must necessarily be fairly cheap to produce.

Interior lighting device for a refrigeration compartment, in particular of a refrigerator or freezer