A liquid coating applicator with a very precise means for controlling gap thickness as well as adapting to non-planar discontinuities in the substrate.

Various types of wet film applicators, in particular, those used for testing paints, are known from the prior art. For the correct determination of some special properties of coatings such as color, transparency, luster, strength, resistance to weathering and chemical factors, etc., it is necessary to ensure that the test coatings applied in sequential runs would have the same preset thickness. In addition, it is desired that the applicator device would be adjustable so as to obtain the films of the desired thickness from various substances having varied physical properties.
One wet film applicator known from the prior art comprises a pair of wedge-shaped elements, which are parallel to each other and bear a transverse plane blade forming the coating. A gap between the bottom edge of the blade and the base plane (substrate) determines the thickness of the applied coating. The thickness of this gap is varied when the blade is moved along the wedge-shaped elements. Once the required gap thickness is set, the mutual arrangement of parts in the device is fixed. The blade is oriented perpendicularly to the direction of application and forms a film of desired thickness when the applicator is moved relative to the substrate surface. This device is quite universal and provides the level of accuracy that is sufficient for the formation of usual paint, lacquer, and other wet film coatings. In the clamping mechanism, the tightening screws directly presses against the blade which imparts a twisting motion to the blade However, neither this accuracy of this device nor (which is more important) the mode of device interaction with the applied liquid are sufficient for the formation of high-quality optically anisotropic films and coatings, especially such as are employed in modern multilayer interference devices.
Thin films with anisotropic optical properties, which are formed using liquid-crystalline solutions of organic dyes, are now widely used in science and technology. The molecules of these organic compounds have planar configuration and form orientation-ordered supramolecular complexes in solution. When a solution of these organic molecules is applied onto a substrate surface in the presence of an external orienting action (alignment), the resulting coating acquires a macroscopic orientation (optical anisotropy), which is not only retained in the course of subsequent drying but can even increase as a result of crystallization. The polarization axis is oriented along the direction of the aligning action, which coincides with the direction of application of the coating. Specific structural features of such optical films determine the need for developing special coating devices capable of forming precise thin layers with the required molecular orientation.
There are various known methods for the formation of optically anisotropic films and, accordingly, various devices which implement these methods. For example, liquid-crystalline solutions can be applied using a drawing plate or a wiper (squeegee), which can be of a blade (sheet) or cylinder type. The application of a liquid-crystalline solution onto a substrate surface can be performed simultaneously with the orientation of supramolecular complexes in a required direction. However, devices known in the prior art do not ensure the formation of highly anisotropic films with reproducible characteristics, which is explained by unavoidable disruption of the oriented molecular structure (defect production) during the film formation. In addition, the technology of film formation using the known devices requires prolonged preliminary work for determining the optimum application conditions for every batch of the initial raw materials.
Attempts at solving the aforementioned problems led to the creation of rather complicated devices, in particular, those containing liquid feed channels of special shapes, additional smoothing elements, etc.
Applicators known in the prior art also include devices of the slot-die coating system type such as the Sony setup (Alabama, USA), Cambridge Shearing System (Linkam Scientific, UK), sliding plate rheometers (FMR-MIT, USA), etc.
Patents depicting various devices of the prior art are U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,789, November 1981, Giesbrecht;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,200, September 1989, Euverard; U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,394, 16/2001, Gvon et al.; WO 02/087782, July 2002, Lazarev et al.; and WO 02/056066, July 2002, Lazarev et al.
Despite the existing solutions, problems are still encountered that are related to the need for combining the necessary properties in one device, including high accuracy, simple adjustment, control over the film parameters (in particular, thickness), and the possibility to improve the quality of applied coatings by compensating for substrate unevenness.
The uniqueness of the device according to the present invention is the ability to obtain coatings of large areas at a high rate of application, low consumption of the raw material, and high-precision control over the film thickness and optical parameters (Mueller matrix, alignment, etc.). Additional important advantage of the proposed device is a sufficiently large size of the zone of shear action.

Liquid film applicator assembly and rectilinear shearing system incorporating the same


A dishwashing machine comprising a washing station having a wash water tank, a plurality of wash water dispensing nozzles, a recirculation pump adapted to circulate the wash water from the tank to the nozzles; and a hydraulic filling container communicating with the recirculation pump via a first and a second conduit respectively connected to a delivery conduit and to a suction conduit of the pump itself.

In the dishwashers used in restaurants, the washing cycle start-up is always a critical moment because of the high water temperature (55-60° C.), which from the washing tank is circulated by the pump nearly instantaneously. Such action can cause both a high vacuum inside the tank and a sudden emission of steam outside the machine.
There are known various systems which are based on the reduction of the number of revolutions of the recirculation pump during the first moments of the washing cycle. Such systems are particularly costly and difficult to apply to high power pumps.
It would be desirable to obtain a dishwashing machine capable of simply and cost-effectively solving the drawbacks of the prior art.

Dishwashing machine with a gradual-start wash cycle


In a method for determining defective blocks of an optical disc, a defect-detection procedure for each block of the optical disc is performed. After the defect-detection procedure, a preliminary defective group of the optical disc is realized. Subsequently, the track number between two selected defective blocks of the preliminary defective group are detected. When the track number is less than a predetermined number, the blocks lying in a linear region including the two selected blocks are defined as defective blocks in addition to all defective blocks included in the preliminary defective group.

A data-rewritable optical disc such as CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) is widely used to record data so the data can be amended when necessary. Recently, CD-MRW (CD-Mount Rainier Written) has been introduced to the market. Such type of data-rewritable optical disc is especially advantageous for providing background formatting and defect management to examine and prepare the recordable area of a disc. According to CD-MRW technique, defective blocks will be marked and managed so that these defective blocks will be hidden and not available for further accessing.
An approach to detect defective blocks will be described herein with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The data processing system of FIG. 1 comprises an optical pickup head 20, a pre-amplifier 21, a sub-beam addition signal (SBAD) low pass filter 22, a digital signal processor (DSP) 23 and a micro-controller 24. The optical pickup head 20 has several light receiving parts (not shown) for respectively receiving the light reflected from one of the blocks of a disc 10, e.g. block 11, and producing sub-beam signals SB (Step S11, FIG. 2). These sub-beam signals SB are amplified through the pre-amplifier 21 to generate a sub-beam addition signal SBAD (Step S12). The sub-beam addition signal SBAD is substantially the summation partial or all of these sub-beam signals. The sub-beam addition signal SBAD is then filtered by the SBAD low pass filter 22 to generate a low pass signal SBADlow pass (Step S13). If an absolute value of |SBAD−SBADlow pass| is greater than a threshold value, the block is determined to be a defective block (Step S14), or otherwise, a non-defective block (Step S15). The information relating to the defective block is then recorded in the micro-controller 24 so as to prevent from writing data into the defective block subsequently (Step S16). The above detecting steps are repeated until all blocks on the disc 10 are tested.
The above method for detecting defective blocks, however, may have some limitation due to improper threshold setting or noise interference. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a scratch S and some defective blocks, e.g. C and D, exist in the optical disc 30. Under certain high threshold or noise condition, it is possible that only blocks A and B in the scratch S are detected as defective blocks according to the above defect-detection method. Since the blocks included in the scratch S, except the blocks A and B, are determined as non-defective ones, data will be subsequently written therein. Thus, accessing errors may still occur on the undetected but damaged blocks in the vicinity of the scratch S other than block A and B.

Method for determining defective blocks of optical disc


Disclosed is a one-chip ULSI which can carry out fixed operations for a wide range of power supply voltages (1 V to 5.5 V). This one-chip ULSI is composed of a voltage converter circuit(s) which provides a fixed internal voltage for a wide range of power supply voltages, an input/output buffer which can be adapted to several input/out interface levels, a dynamic or volatile RAM(s) which can operate at a power supply voltage of 2 V or less, etc. This one-chip ULSI can be applied to compact and portable electronic devices such as a lap-top type personal computer, an electronic pocket note book, a solid-state camera, etc.

The present invention relates to a large scale integrated circuit, and more particularly to a high-density integrated semiconductor device constituted by a voltage converter circuit and miniaturized devices (devices with small dimension) which can keep up with a wide range of operating power-supply voltages and power supplies. More particularly a large scale integrated circuit is provided on a monolithic chip upon which are integrated a microcomputer, a logic circuit, a dynamic RAM (random access memory), a static RAM, a ROM (read-only memory), etc.
In recent years, many portable electronic machines have come onto the market such as a lap-top type personal computer, an electronic pocket notebook, portable electronic media machines such as a solid-state voice recorder which performs voice recording without using a magnetic medium, and a solid-state camera (electronic still camera) which performs image recording without using the magnetic medium. In order for these portable electronic machines to be widely popularized, it is indispensable to realize an ultra large scale integrated circuit (ULSI) which permits a battery based operation or an information (data) retention operation using a battery (battery back-up). On the other hand, there has been increased demand for a semiconductor disk, which can provide higher speed accessing than a magnetic disk, as a large-capacity-file memory system for implementing a computer with higher performance. This semiconductor disk requires a very large-capacity memory LSI which, using a battery, can access the information.
The ULSIs used for these applications must satisfy the following requirements:
(1) Operation in a wide range of operating power supply voltages (1-5.5 V). This requirement permits a one-chip ULSI to be adapted for many kinds of power supplies, including 5 V (which is a standard power supply voltage for the present TTL compatible digital LSI), 3.3. V (which is one candidate for the standard power supply voltage for the future TTL reversible digital LSI), 3-3.6 V (which is a typical output voltage of a primary cell of lithium, etc.), and 1.2 V (which is a typical output voltage of a secondary cell of cadmium and nickel), etc.
(2) Measures for a secular change or time-dependent fluctuation (for a short period or long period) in the power supply voltage. This requirement removes the fear of operation failure due to voltage fluctuation which would result from the change in the cell voltage and the switching of the power supply between the operation under a nominal condition and a battery back-up operation.
(3) Power reduction in the standard operation or the battery back-up operation. This requirement permits a small-sized battery to operate the ULSI for a long period.
(4) Reduction in a switching current. This requirement decreases voltage fluctuation caused by switching in the battery voltage, preventing operation failure.
One example of a microprocessor product which operates in a wide range of operating voltages is disclosed in the 4-bit Microprocessor Handbook, p. 148, published by NIPPON DENKI Co., Ltd. The product name is .mu.PD7507SC. The range of the power supply voltage in this microprocessor is 2.2-6.0 V. Information in a data memory (static RAM) is retained with a minimum voltage of 2 V. In this memory, the recommended voltage is generally 5 V for the operating power supply voltage and 2 V for the data retention.
An example of dynamic memory using battery back-up in which power consumption in data retention (refresh) is decreased is disclosed in IEEE, Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 12-18, February 1988. The power supply voltage is 5 V for both nominal operation and data retention.
An example in which an external voltage is dropped to be supplied to an internal circuit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,985.
An example of the battery back-up for a memory is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,660.
A technique for changing the plate voltage of a dynamic RAM is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-61479.
The battery back-up of a static RAM is disclosed in the catalogue published by Hitachi, Ltd., pp. 44-45.
The other relevant references and patent publications will be identified in the following description.

Large scale integrated circuit for low voltage operation


There may be provided a radiation sensing device that includes a first TMOS with temperature dependent electrical parameters; wherein the first TMOS is exposed to radiation, and a second TMOS transistor that is sheltered from radiation. The radiation sensing device performs a differential measurement, and applied various measures for noise reduction, and maintaining the stability of the radiation sensing device.

A new generation of low-cost uncooled passive thermal sensors based on a suspended transistor fabricated in standard CMOS-SOI process and released by dry etching, has been developed. It is currently under development for commercial exploitation. The uncooled IR sensing is based on a floating in vacuum thermal transistor MOS (dubbed TMOS), which is thermally isolated by nanomachining, converting small temperature changes to electrical signal via the transistor I-V characteristics. The silicon-based technology is implemented in CMOS-SOI technology and Wafer Level Processing in standard CMOS Fab. Furthermore, the silicon technology at a standard CMOS FAB enables Smart Wafer Level Packaging (with vacuum, integrated optical window and filters and Wafer Level Optics) at a considerable and exceptional cost reduction.
The TMOS may be operated either as a two terminal device (diode-like connection, referred below as 2T TMOS or as a three terminal device (3T TMOS).
The three terminal device requires three interconnects: to the drain, to the source which is shortened to the bulk and to the gate. The advantage of the three terminal TMOS is the "internal" voltage gain of the transistor, due to the higher output resistivity rds.
The electrical interconnects, residing on the holding arm, are made of implanted active-Si and poly-silicon (both with a thin layer of silicide). The length of the holding arm and the choice of CMOS layers for interconnects are dictated by the need to reduce thermal conductance (Gth≤10− 7W/K). The length of the holding arm, the number of squares and the ohms per square of the active silicon and the poly-silicon, determine the value of interconnect resistances, that form parasitic resistors denoted by RS and RD, with typical values of RS+RD˜4kΩ.
Interconnects to the readout circuitry are made of the process metallization layers. Because of the good thermal conductance of metal interconnects on the frame, which are connected to the readout circuitry, the frame may be considered as heat sink.
Various detectors use a bridge-like circuit that includes an active sensor that "sees" the scene and a "blind" sensor that is masked. This configuration may be beneficial as a TMOS sensor produces detection signals that are by several orders of magnitude smaller than the DC signal, as well as the cancelation of the self heating effect.

Technion Research and Development Foundation Ltd.


A batting system wherein the ball hopper is located proximate a batting position and a pitching machine is located at a pitching position with a ball transport system for conveying baseballs from the ball hopper to the pitching machine. The system provides for the continuous operation of the pitching machine without the need of an operator to approach the pitching machine. In addition, the batting system allows multiple batting systems to use continuously the same field as well as use a field also used as part of a golf driving range.

In prior art batting systems, a pitching machine pitches a baseball toward a batter who is supposed to hit the pitched baseball with his/her bat. The batter stands within an enclosure, or cage, and the baseball is pitched toward the batter by the pitching machine. Generally when the batter strikes the baseball, he/she has little feedback on the baseball trajectory because the baseball trajectory is restrained by the enclosure. The trajectory of the baseball is interrupted so that the batter cannot see where the baseball would normally hit the ground. As a result, the batter never realizes how far the baseball may have gone, or knows the ultimate trajectory resulting from his/her swing the batter may have used on the pitch. In the event the batter misses the baseball, the baseball hits netting located behind the batter. Generally, the baseball, whether hit or missed, is automatically collected. The majority of collection systems rely on gravity to roll the baseball to a central collection point. Collection systems are generally required to avoid having the baseballs collect at the feet of the batter. In some cases, a baseball once collected may be transported back to a hopper on the pitching machine, thereby permitting the baseball to be pitched again.
In other batting systems, the pitching machine might be located in an open field into which a baseball may be hit, providing baseballs to the machine can then pose a problem. Pitching machines are of one of two types. In the first type, an operator individually places the baseballs in the pitching machine. In the second type, baseballs are placed in a hopper on the pitching machine.
Based on the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems and drawbacks associated with the prior art.


A fluid inlet device (1) suitable for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a vessel, which fluid inlet device comprises a guide member having a surface on which surface a liquid film is present during normal operation, and having a main direction of gas flow along the surface; and wherein the guide member (20) is provided with a liquid catcher channel (40) extending from an upstream position with respect to the guide member (20) to a downstream position, and wherein a virtual line along the guide member between the upstream position and the downstream position deviates from the main direction of gas flow; the use of the fluid inlet device for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a gas-liquid contacting vessel; and a method of retrofitting a fluid inlet device.

In many installations in the upstream or downstream oil and gas industry, chemical and petrochemical industry, it is required to introduce a mixture of liquid and gas into a processing vessel. The vessel can be a separation vessel designed to separate the stream, e.g. a natural gas stream comprising oil and/or water, into liquid and gas streams. The vessel can also be a gas/liquid contacting vessel in which gas and liquid are counter-currently contacted to exchange heat or matter. An example of such a gas/liquid contacting vessel is a fractionation or distillation column, and a particular example is a vacuum distillation column.
In the specification and in the claims the word 'gas' is used to refer to gas and to vapour.
In order to introduce a mixture of gas and liquid into a column or vessel, so-called inlet devices are used. There are different types of inlet devices, varying in complexity and performance. Some inlet devices comprise or essentially consist of a splash plate, which is arranged in the flowpath of the mixture that flows into the column via an inlet nozzle. The splash plate breaks the momentum of the inflowing stream, and guides and deflects fluids laterally, to achieve some distribution of the inflowing mixture in the column.
Other inlet devices are designed such that a substantial (pre-)separation of liquid and gas is achieved, in particular employing centrifugal force on curved guiding vanes.
British patent specification No. 1 119 699 discloses a particular fluid inlet device for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a distillation column.
The known fluid inlet device comprises an inlet flow channel having an inlet end for receiving the mixture of liquid and gas, and a plurality of curved guiding vanes placed one behind the other along the inlet flow channel, wherein each vane comprises an intercepting part extending towards the inlet end of the inlet flow channel, and an outwardly directed deflecting part. The intercepting and deflecting parts of each vane are arranged in such a way that the vane intercepts and deflects part of the mixed feed stream, and is capable of effecting a separation between liquid and vapour by inertia and centrifugal force.
During normal operation a mixture of gas and liquid is supplied to the inlet nozzle of a column, which is in fluid communication with the inlet end of the inlet device. The vanes are curved so as to deflect the mixture outwardly. The change in the direction of flow causes a (pre-)separation of the mixture in that liquid is forced onto the concave surface of the vane thereby forming a liquid-rich film streaming on the concave surface, and a gas-rich stream in the remainder of the outlet channel between two vanes. After the streams have left the outlet channel, the liquid-rich stream moves downwards in the column under the influence of gravity, whereas the gas-rich stream flows upwards in the column. In a specific embodiment of the known device a liquid catching channel is arranged at the trailing rim of the vane perpendicular to the main flow direction along the vane. This channel serves to discharge all of the liquid that is separated by the vane sideways, i.e. perpendicular to the main flow direction.
Another inlet device with curved guiding vanes is for example a so-called vapour horn, e.g. as shown in the brochure "Internals for packed columns" with Number 22.51.06.40-III.06-50, by Sulzer Chemtech, on page 18 as GITV Cyclon inlet. In a vapour horn, the fluid mixture is introduced tangentially into the column, and a curved inlet flow channel extends along the inner circumference of the column. Curved guiding vanes along the curved channel pre-separate and deflect parts of the mixture towards the centre of the column.
The same page 18 in the Sulzer brochure also shows a GDP Splash plate inlet device and a GIV vane inlet device.
Yet another inlet device with curved guiding vanes is known from International Patent application with publication No. WO 03/070348.
An important parameter of a flow inlet device is the total remaining liquid entrainment in the gas, i.e. the remaining liquid content of the gas flowing into the column or vessel, typically upwards. In inlet devices including a guide member such as a splash plate or in particular a curved guiding vane, a smaller or larger part of the liquid content is precipitated onto the guide member and flows on a surface of the guide member into the column. However, part of the already separated liquid is re-entrained, which re-entrainment occurs generally in the region where gas and liquid streams leave the inlet device.
Re-entrainment is a general concern, including in distillation and separation applications, since it presents a larger liquid load to downstream equipment. Re-entrainment lowers the overall separation efficiency of the inlet device, since liquid that was already separated on the concave side of the vane, and that should ideally find its way towards the bottom of the vessel, is still carried upwardly with the gas. Generally, re-entrainment is expected to increase at high velocities, which are e.g. the consequence of minimization of vessel size in view of cost and area occupied, e.g. on an offshore installation.
It is desired to be able to operate with lower entrainment than possible with present inlet devices.

Fluid inlet device, use, and method or retrofitting


In a pneumatic tire, bead cores have a wire arrangement. In a cross-sectional view in a tire meridian direction, a tangential line and a contact point are defined. The tangential line contacts an innermost layer in a radial direction and the wire cross sections innermost and outermost in a lateral direction in the wire arrangement from a rim fitting surface side. The contact point of the tangent line is on the wire cross section on the outermost side. A gauge Wh in the lateral direction from the contact point to the rim fitting surface and an outer diameter φ of the bead wire have a relationship 2.0≤Wh/φ≤15.0. A radial height H2 of a contact portion between a body portion and a turned back portion of a carcass layer has a relationship 0.80≤H2/H1≤3.00 to a radial height H1 of the bead cores.

In recent years, for weight reduction of a tire, weight reduction of bead portions has been advanced. As a conventional pneumatic tire, a technology described in Japan Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-149778 has been known. In Japan Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-149778, bead fillers are omitted to reduce a weight of the tire.
However, in the conventional pneumatic tire described above, deterioration of durability of the tire due to the omission of the bead fillers is a concern.


A dual insulated container (10) comprising an elongate housing (12) having a tapered open neck portion (14) and (16) at each end. An intermediate transverse partition (18) divides the interior of the housing (12) into two separate opposed insulated compartments (20) and (22). Two thermos receptacles (24) and (26) are provided. Each thermos receptacle (24) and (26) has an open neck (28) and (30) for holding hot and cold fluids (32) therein. Assemblies (34) and (36) are for retaining each of the thermos receptacles (24) and (26) within each insulated compartment (20) and (22) of the housing (12). Structures (38) and (40) are for sealing both the open neck portions (14) and (16) of the housing (12) in a removable manner, so as to provide access through each of the open necks (28) and (30) of each thermos receptacle (24) and (26), to remove and replace the hot and cold fluids (32).

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to receptacle structures and more specifically it relates to a dual insulated container. The dual insulated container contains two opposed separate thermoses in one unit, which are thermally insulated from each other, so that the thermoses can store hot and cold fluids therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous receptacle structures have been provided in prior art. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,634,569 to Bray; 2,611,499 to Mayer; 3,144,152 to Kopp; 4,078,686 to Karesh; 5,086,926 to Paige et al. and 5,499,738 to Burleigh all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


In a shank portion of an end mill which is chucked by a tool holder, flat surfaces are formed at a plurality of circumferential positions in the outer periphery of the shank portion so that the flat surfaces abut on side lock bolts attached to a body of the tool holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shank portions of end mills among cutters such as end mills and reamers, and tool holders that chuck the shank portion of the end mill.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, shank portions of cutters such as end mills and reamers, and tool holders that chuck the shank portion of the cutter are proposed in, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2002-346864 and 2001-87969 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. H06-80509. Such conventional tool holders include two side lock bolts. The shank portion of the cutter basically has a circular cross section, and two flat surfaces are formed in the outer periphery of the shank portion. By fastening the two side lock bolts, the tip ends of the side lock bolts abut on the flat surfaces, respectively, whereby the shank portion of the cutter is chucked.

End mill and shank structure of end mill


The present invention relates to a novel induction heating apparatus for controlling the welding parameter of temperature for a pre-weld heating operation, interpass operation, or a hydrogen bake-out operation. Specifically, the present invention relates to using a novel induction heating apparatus for controlling this welding parameter. The heating device is comprised of a pair of opposed heating collars placed on either side of a pipe comprising a weld joint. The heating device transfers heat from the collar to the weld joint surface by induction providing a method of controlling this welding parameter.

The present invention relates to a heating apparatus for controlling the welding parameter of temperature for a pre-weld heating operation, interpass operation, or a hydrogen bake-out operation. The invention contemplates a novel induction technology for performing the following operations.
As will be apparent to one skilled in the art, the term "pre-weld heating" refers to the operation of preheating a section of pipe to the desired temperature before performing a welding operation upon a section of pipe. For example, in a pre-weld heating operation using P91 crome-moly steel pipe, the pipe is heated to a temperature range between 400 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The term "P91" is used to describe a common type of pipe used in a high-pressure application for transporting oil, gas, or steam. P91 is comprised of a chromium-molybdenum alloy having the chemical composition of 9Cr-1Mo—V (P91).
The term "hydrogen bake-out" refers to a finishing operation on a weld whereby a welded section of pipe in-situ is held at a constant temperature in order to remove any hydrogen impurities from the weld in preparation for a cutting of welding operation. A hydrogen bake-out helps prevent the weld-joint from pre-mature fracturing of the weld-joint or pipe in-situ.
The term "interpass temperature" refers to the temperature of the pipe between welding passes. A "welding pass" is the path taken by a single welding operation. For example, a welding pass for a section of pipe is the circumferential path taken around a weld joint for the pipe.
Prior Art: Several types of flexible electric powered heaters are disclosed in the prior art. For example, unexpired Russian Patent Number 2,115,265 (hereinafter, the '265 patent) issued on Jul. 10, 1998 discloses an electric heater used for the thermal treatment of structures, pipes, steam, gas and petroleum lines in situ for stress relieving only. The '265 patent discloses the use of a detachable ceramic insulator for the electric heater. The ceramic insulators are connected by means of elements in the form of bushes and fixed by catches. Insulator elements are connected according to the dovetail principle.
Accordingly, the prior art also discloses the use of a combined heating and insulating means for heat treating an object. For example, in expired U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,297 (hereinafter, the '297 patent), a heating and insulating means is disclosed for heat treating an object. The '297 patent discloses a flexible resistance wire which is covered by a heat insulating pad for heat transfer to the object to be heat treated. Insulator elements are connected according to the hook-and-latch principle.
Specifically, expired U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,649 issued to Fisher on Mar. 10, 1981 discloses a flexible heating element for use with plastic polyurethane piping. The heating element is comprised of a plurality of ceramic components strung together on a heating wire to form a flexible structure. Accordingly, the applicant modifies the expired Fisher patent and provides a new use for the heating element. Namely, the applicant has modified Fisher to be made amendable to pre-heating metal piping to address the deficiencies in the prior art for existing heating solutions directed towards oilfield piping.
In accordance with the present invention, a heating apparatus is disclosed which is directed towards the pre-welding operation of performing a hydrogen bake-out. The process of performing a bake-out operation is distinguishable from the expired '265 patent which is directed towards a stress relieving operation. In a typical "bake-out" operation the metal piping is heated to a temperature of 600 degrees Celsius, whereas in a typical "stress-relieving" operation, the metal piping is heated to a temperature range between 1200-1400 degrees Celsius.
Accordingly, the apparatus of the present invention is not amendable to be used for performing a stress relieving operation since the heating element would typically degrade or melt under a voltage load required to produce a temperature of 1200-1400 degrees Celsius. Applicant respectively submits that the '265 patent although potentially amendable to produce the temperature of 600 degrees Celsius required for a typically bake-out operation, it inherently does not address many of the prior art disadvantages which will be described herein.
Deficiencies of the Prior Art: Unfortunately, many of the prior art inventions are difficult and cumbersome to apply, remove or relocate from the weld area, which typically may be held within a tightly confined area. Additionally, many of the prior art inventions require a power source requiring the use of heavy machinery to provide a suitable source of power. For example, a generator truck is typically required for voltage requirements exceeding 110 volts. Each truck uses heavy cabling to supply power from the generator mounted on the truck to the heating apparatus which is typically located in a remote location from the weld site. The heavy cabling may present a hazard at the work site since the use of heavy voltage cabling present a safety hazard.
What is required in the Art is a portable heating apparatus for heat treating a section of oilfield pipe which may be easily retrofitted to the site to be heat treated. The heat treating apparatus should be amenable to be easily added, removed, or re-located to a new weld site. Additionally, the heating apparatus should not require the use of a heavy cabling, and/or the requirement of a high-voltage truck for supplying power to the heating apparatus.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, it is desirable in the art to have a method and apparatus for controlling a welding parameter such as temperature in order to improve the quality of a weld by controlling the interpass temperature, pre-weld heating operation or hydrogen bake-out operation.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, it is desirable in the art to have a method and apparatus for controlling a welding parameter such as temperature wherein the heating device does not require the use of a high voltage truck, and heavy cabling associated with supplying power to the heating device.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, it is desirable in the art to have a method and apparatus for controlling a welding parameter such as temperature wherein the heating device is easily amendable to be added, removed or re-located during the aforementioned operations.

Induction heating apparatus for controlling the welding parameter of temperature for heat treating a section of piping


The present invention is an automated system and method of initiating payments from a payor's checking account pursuant to the payor's authorization during a conversation via telephone, computer terminal or other telecommunication devices with a customer service representative. The automated system initiates a debit from the payor's checking account so that funds are automatically transferred to the payee without generating a paper bank draft check payable to the payee. Regardless as to where the payor banks, as long as the bank complies with American Banking Association Magnetic Ink Character Recognition Line regulations, the system automatically decodes the payor's checking account number and the bank's routing number.

The present invention discloses a system by which a payor can submit checking account information to initiate a direct debit from his or her checking account during a telephone conversation with a customer service representative or via a computer terminal or other telecommunication devices. In order to perform the transaction, the system needs to gather two key pieces of information concerning the payor's checking account, the bank's routing/transit number (hereinafter "routing number") and the checking account number.
While most people know his or her checking account number, very few know his or her bank's routing number. However, this information is printed on every check within a checkbook. This information, along with the individual's check number, comprises the check's MICR Line.
The MICR line was developed to allow high speed, computer controlled processing of checks by banks. Banks utilize the magnetic ink characters printed on checks to decode and read the information printed on the checks in order to automatically process checks by standard sorting machines. The characters in the check's MICR line identify the payor's bank and Federal Reserve Bank District in which it is located, the payor's checking account number and the check's serial number. The actual position of the routing number, account number, and check number can vary from check to check, depending on the particular bank. According to the American Bankers Association (ABA) regulations for the content and placement of MICR Lines on checks, there are six possible combinations of these three numbers. The mechanical check reading devices that banks use to read checks rely on special symbols (the "routing" and "onus" symbols) to identify the three pieces of information in the MICR line. The routing symbols identifies the particular banking institution. The onus field contains the payor's account number and the number of the particular check. Since the information in these fields is printed in magnetic ink, when a check is manually inserted into a check reading device, the magnetic ink causes electronic current pulses in a circuit to be detected when "read" by a proper electronic read head.
While it is easy for a payor to read the actual numbers that are present in the MICR line, it is considerably more difficult to describe a routing or onus symbol through a telephone conversation. Unfortunately, MICR line information is not easily decipherable by those not educated in the intricacies of ABA regulations.
Before the creation of this invention, it was necessary to train representatives to "talk the payor through" the manual identification of the individual components of the MICR line. This older process required additional training for representatives and resulted in a high error rate in the proper identification of routing and checking account numbers. The present invention allows validation of the payor's account information to be performed on-line, while the representative is communicating with the payor. If the system detects an error during the on-line process, new information may be entered before the debit transaction is initiated. For those payors who do know his or her routing and account numbers, the process allows the direct entry of such information.


A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus for selectively having a normal cassette containing a recording and reproducing tape or a cleaning cassette containing a cleaning tape loaded therein is provided to detect, for example, on the basis of information stored in a semiconductor memory or an ID board of each cassette, whether the loaded cassette is a normal cassette or a cleaning cassette and, if a cleaning cassette is detected, to limit performance of a cleaning operation to only a predetermined time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates of a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus and to a cleaning cassette for cleaning a head or heads and tape guides of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus
2. Description of the Related Art
In a rotary head type VTR, troubles may arise in the recording or reproducing of an image or sound due to clogging of a head by magnetic powders or the like or by the depositing of nicotine from cigarettes or other tobacco products on tape guide pins or the like. Therefore, cleaning cassettes are commercially available for cleaning the heads or guide pins of VTRs or other magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus Such cleaning cassettes may include a dry type cleaning tape or a wet type cleaning tape. In the case of a cleaning cassette with a dry type cleaning tape, the head is rubbed by a material, such as, so-called emery cloth, for removing magnetic particles or dust therefrom. In the case of the wet type cleaning tape, the head is polished by a material, such as, toweling, soaked with a cleaning liquid for once again removing particles or dust adhering to the head.
The methods of using the dry type cleaning tape and the wet type cleaning tape are similar. In each case, the cleaning cassette has a housing with a shape similar to that of a normal tape cassette. The cleaning cassette is loaded into a VTR in place of the normal video tape cassette and the cleaning tape is fed or advanced by the VTR in its reproducing or recording mode for a predetermined time of about 10 to 20 seconds. When the cleaning cassette is loaded into the VTR and its cleaning tape is fed as mentioned above, the head and/or guide pin or pins of the VTR are rubbed by the driven cleaning tape so that dust on the heads and/or guide pins are removed or eliminated.
As already mentioned, the dry type cleaning tape is of a material like emery cloth, and the wet type cleaning tape is of a coarse material like toweling soaked with a cleaning liquid. In either case, the cleaning tape is relatively coarse. Therefore, when the cleaning cassette is used, it is necessary to pay careful attention to the cleaning time, that is, the length of time during which the cleaning tape is rubbed against the head or heads. If the cleaning cassette is used for a time longer than a specified cleaning time, the head is abraded and, in extreme cases, this may result in serious damage to the head or heads. Moreover, the material or coarseness of the cleaning tape differs with the company which manufactures the cleaning cassette. Therefore, the cleaning times of several cleaning cassettes may differ from one company to the next at which such cleaning cassettes respectively originate.
In the known cleaning cassettes, the cleaning time is printed or otherwise noted on the cassette casing or on a label affixed thereto. It is intended that the user will make note of the recommended cleaning time and pay attention thereto when using the cleaning cassette in a VTR or other recording and reproducing apparatus. When the recommended cleaning time elapses, the cleaning cassette is replaced by a normal tape cassette, and the VTR is then operated in its playback or reproducing mode to permit monitoring of a reproduced image. If defects are observed in the reproduced image, the normal tape cassette is again replaced by the cleaning cassette and the cleaning operation is repeated. The noted cleaning and reproducing operations are alternately repeated until the quality of the reproduced image indicates that head and guide pin cleaning have been adequately achieved.
Since the head is abraded each time the cleaning cassette is used, the number of repeated uses of the cleaning cassette for achieving adequate cleaning of the head is limited. Further, when the cleaning cassette is used repeatedly, dusts are deposited on, and adhere to the cleaning tape, or the originally relatively coarse surface of the cleaning tape is worn or rendered smooth so that the cleaning effect of the cleaning tape is reduced or extinguished. Therefore, there is also a limitation in respect to the total number of times that the cleaning cassette can be used. Such limitations in the number of times that the cleaning cassette should be used in any one cleaning operation and in the total number of times the cleaning cassette may be used without losing its effectiveness also differ from one manufacturer of cleaning cassettes to the next.
The cleaning tape materials also differ in dependence upon the type of recording or reproducing apparatus for which the cleaning cassette is intended. For example, a magnetic material is more coarsely coated onto a tape of the cleaning cassette for an industrial-use VTR as compared with the tape of a cleaning cassette intended for a business-use VTR. Therefore, the industrial-use cleaning cassette can be repetitively used by rewinding the tape in the casing of the cleaning cassette so long as the number of uses lies within the permissible total number thereof. In the case of a cleaning cassette for a business-use VTR, however, the effectiveness of the cleaning cassette is ordinarily substantially diminished if not substantially exhausted after the full length of the cleaning tape has been used a single time. Furthermore, the tape material of a cleaning cassette for a computer or data streamer differs from the tape material of a cleaning cassette for a VTR.
As mentioned above, prior to using the conventional cleaning cassette, the user must carefully read the instructing notes printed or otherwise applied to the cassette casing and pay attention to the permissible cleaning time for each use, the number of times the cleaning cassette may be used for each cleaning operation, and the total number of times the cleaning cassette may be used. However, there is the possibility that the user may ignore such instructions or may not correctly understand the same, in which case damage to the head or heads of the VTR or other recording and reproducing apparatus may result.
For example, if the user replaces a previously used cleaning cassette with a cleaning cassette of a different kind or originating with a different company, the user may not be aware that the specified cleaning time for the new cleaning cassette is different. In such case, if the new cleaning cassette is used for a period of time longer than the recommended cleaning time therefor, the head or heads may be damaged.
Further, if a user erroneously employs a conventional cleaning cassette as a normal video cassette, serious damage to the head or heads frequently occurs. Since the conventional cleaning cassette has exactly the same shape as the normal video cassette, the user is liable to mistake the cleaning cassette for a normal video cassette and to load it into the VTR and then select the reproducing or play mode. In this case, so long as the user does not become aware of the mistake, the cleaning tape is continuously rubbed against the head or heads. Although no image or sound is produced when the cleaning tape is scanned by the head or heads, the user may not properly infer therefrom that a cleaning tape has been loaded. Rather, the user may firmly believe that a normal video cassette has been loaded and may conclude that the reason why no image or sound is generated is because the VTR has failed or a wire is disconnected. Thus, the user may repeatedly try to reproduce or play back the cleaning tape with the VTR in its reproducing or play back mode with the result that the head or heads suffer undesirable abrading by the cleaning tape.
When a user erroneously assumes a cleaning cassette is a normal video cassette and loads it into a VTR which is then preset to automatically initiate a recording operation at a future time, a tragic result may occur. In such case, the recording operation will likely be initiated at a time when the VTR is unattended so that no one will be aware that a cleaning operation, and not a normal recording operation is being effected. Since the tape length of the normal cleaning cassette corresponds to a running time of about 15 minutes, even in the long-time recording mode, the cleaning tape is fed for a long time, for example, at least as much as 30 minutes or more, under the described circumstances so that serious damage to the head or heads cannot be avoided.

Magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus and cleaning cassette therefor


An object of the present invention is to realize an image display device for color display with high luminance and high contrast. In the present invention, a unit cell 111 is filled with electrophoresis ink including two kinds of particles different in chargeability and color being dispersed in transmissive solvent 107. Voltage is applied to an opposite electrode 103, a stacked lower electrode 104 and an upper electrode 105 and thereby electrically charged particles 108a and charged particles 108b are moved to a first opening 106a and a second opening 106b where an insulating layer 110 is provided on the lower electrode 104 and the upper electrode 105. Thus assemblage and diffusion state of two kinds of particles are controlled. Thereby, a unit cell 111 obtains four display colors. Since the lower electrode 104 can be made to be a reflecting layer covering the entire unit cell, it is possible to make the aperture ratio large and the reflection percentage large.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particle mobile type image display device such as an electrophoresis display device and the like which switches the display state with pigmented particles moving in a solvent.
(2) Description of Related Art
WO 99/53373 discloses a color reflection display device including two kinds of pigmented phoretic particles being different in charging property and pigmentation filled inside a unit cell so as to move the two kinds of pigmented phoretic particles independently by applying voltage to three drive electrodes to display three colors of two kinds of pigmented phoretic particles and electrophoresis liquid color or three colors of two kinds of pigmented phoretic particles and color filter color arranged on the rear side of the unit cell. That display device is described to take white particles and pigmented color particles as two kinds of pigmented phoretic particles and adopts a color filter establishing relation of complimentary color with the pigmented color particles and thereby display four colors of white, black and the color of the pigmented color particles and the color of the color filter. Moreover, it is described that color display is implemented in use of three sub pixels different in display color with a unit cell being a sub pixel.
JP-A-2004-20818 discloses an electrophoresis display device having a pixel configuration by arranging, in a stacked arrangement or in a parallel arrangement, unit cells including two display electrodes arranged in approximately overlapped positions in a view from an observer, two collect electrodes and two kinds of transmissive pigmented phoretic particle presenting mutually different charging polarity and color presentation. That display device displays four colors of white, black and two kinds of colors of transmissive pigmented phoretic particle in a unit cell by combining red, green and blue for transmissive pigmented phoretic particles or combing cyan, yellow and magenta establishing relation of complimentary color with red, green and blue to arrange white scattering layer in a display electrode portion. In addition, likewise WO 99/53373, it is described that color display is performed using three sub pixels different in display color with a unit cell being a sub pixel.
However, in the display device of WO 99/53373, two of the three drive electrodes are electrodes for collecting particles arranged on the same substrate. It is necessary to arrange those electrodes to provide a large spacing in between in order to display the color of a color filter with high luminance. On the other hand, in order to display the colors of particles sufficiently, it is necessary to arrange the particles to spread between those electrodes. However, it is difficult to arrange the drive force to act so as to spread the particles between the two drive electrodes with three drive electrodes. It is considered to give rise to a problem that the particles do not spread well between the electrodes or response time gets long.
The display device in JP-A-2004-20818 adopts four electrodes, there have been problems that independent drive thereof and, in particular, the drive method, the drive circuit and the electrode wiring of two electrodes provided on the substrate on the light incident side become complicated.
In addition, in any display device, color display is implemented with three units of sub pixels. Therefore, the portion of the bulkheads and the capsule wall for separating the sub pixel will become abundant to increase the portion not contributing to the display operation and to make aperture ratio small, giving rise to a problem that reflection percentage drops or contrast drops. Moreover, there were such a problem as well that fine division into sub pixels makes process accuracy severe and the number of wiring gets abundant or the number of drive device gets abundant in active drive provided with a drive device in each sub pixel.
In addition, also in any display device, at least two electrodes are arranged in parallel in the same layer of the same substrate and, therefore, are required to be arranged to provide spacing between the electrodes. That spacing portion does not contribute to the display operation, giving rise as well to a problem of dropping reflection percentage or dropping contrast.
The problem to be solved by the present invention is to realize an electrophoresis display device in a simple configuration with high reflection index or transmission rate and contrast.


An exemplary embodiment of the present inventive concept provides a liquid crystal display including: a substrate on which a thin film transistor is disposed; a pixel electrode disposed on the thin film transistor to be connected to the thin film transistor; a liquid crystal layer disposed on the pixel electrode and disposed within a microcavity having an injection hole; a roof layer disposed on the microcavity; and a capping layer disposed on the roof layer and around the injection hole, the capping layer including particles.

(a) Technical Field
The present inventive concept relates to a display device and a manufacturing method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of the most commonly used display devices. The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal display panel in which a liquid crystal layer is formed between a lower panel and an upper panel. A voltage is applied to a pixel electrode and a common electrode of the liquid crystal panel to generate an electric field such that an arrangement of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is realigned and the polarization of incident light is controlled, thereby displaying images.
The two panels of the liquid crystal display may be configured by the lower panel where thin film transistors are arranged and the upper panel facing the lower panel. In the lower panel, a gate line transmitting a gate signal, a data line transmitting a data signal, a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the data line, and a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor are formed. In the upper substrate, a light blocking member, a color filter, and a common electrode may be formed, and at least one of them may be formed in the lower panel.
In general, in the liquid crystal display, two substrates are used for the lower panel and the upper panel, and processes for forming the above-described constituent elements in each substrate and combining the two panels are required. As a result, the liquid crystal panel is heavy and thick, cost of manufacturing the liquid crystal panel is high, and process time for manufacturing the liquid crystal panel is long. Recently, a technique in which a plurality of microcavities of a tunnel shape structure are formed on one substrate and the liquid crystal is injected inside the structure to manufacture the display device has been developed. When manufacturing the liquid crystal display, it is necessary to seal an injection hole of a microcavity for the liquid crystal not to be discharged from the microcavity after injecting the liquid crystal. In this case, the material sealing the injection hole inevitably contacts the liquid crystal near the injection hole such that the liquid crystal is contaminated, thereby generating a display quality deterioration such as a texture or a light leakage.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the inventive concept and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art.

Display device and manufacturing method thereof


A floatable dry dock includes a lifting cradle having two spaced arms pivotally mounted on a buoyant base and, one or more flotation tanks interconnecting the arms. A platform is mounted on the arms and a platform support is operable to ensure that the platform remains horizontal when the arms pivot about their pivotal attachment to the base.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to dry dock systems for use in lifting vessels out of the water for maintenance or repair purposes. Typically these types of docks can lift anything from one to several hundred tonnes.
2. Related Art
There are basically two types of dry dock. There are those comprising a lock that has at least one closable door into which the vessel is floated, and the water is drained from the lock to leave the vessel high and dry.
A second type of dry dock system comprises a floating dock that consist of a raft that is floated to a region ahead or astern of the vessel and submerged so as to be positioned beneath the vessel. The raft has floatation chambers built into the walls of the raft so that they can be purged of water by displacing the water with compressed air. A major problem with this type of dock is that the amount of required "water plane" makes these types of docks highly unstable. "Water plane" is defined as the area of water at the water air interface which is displaced by a part of the dock. In general the greater the "water plane" the greater will be the stability of the dock. As these docks lift a boat out of the water, there is considerable "water plane" provided by the engagement of the boat hull with the water, but it becomes particularly dangerous as the "water plane" decreases when the hull is lifted out of the water and eventually loses contact with the water. As the boat leaves the water this adds considerable weight to the dock with a considerable and rapid decrease in the "water plane" making the whole system extremely unstable, in the final stages of the lifting operation.
To remain within the bounds of stability, it is traditional to design the dock system so that it lifts vessels of about one half of the weight of the dock itself.
There is a need to provide dry dock facilities for small boats at local harbours, moorings, club harbours or lagoons and the like. There is also a need for providing a much cheaper design of floating dock than has been possible before and one that is easily moveable from one location to another. There is also a need to be able to produce a dry dock system that can be used to lift vessels out of the water rapidly thus saving valuable time and cost. Conventional dry dock systems do not permit the rapid lifting of vessels because of the problems due to the unstable designs associated with the "water plane" problem mentioned above.


A test pattern is encoded using a run length limited line encoding to produce an encoded block of data. The encoded block of data is sent via a channel. A plurality of bits in the received block of data that are subsequent to a maximum length run in the sent data is compared to an expected plurality of bits. A type of bit error is classified based on a mismatch between the expected plurality of bits and the plurality of bits in the received block of data.

Mass storage systems continue to provide increased storage capacities to satisfy user demands. Photo and movie storage, and photo and movie sharing are examples of applications that fuel the growth in demand for larger and larger storage systems. A solution to these increasing demands is the use of arrays of multiple inexpensive disks. These arrays may be configured in ways that provide redundancy and error recovery without any loss of data. These arrays often are interconnected, and/or connected to a host using Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) communication links.
SAS is a communication protocol used to move data to and from computer storage devices such as hard drives and tape drives. SAS is a point-to-point serial protocol that displaces parallel SCSI bus technology in many computer systems and storage environments. SAS uses the standard SCSI command set. At the physical layer, the SAS standard defines connectors and voltage levels. The physical characteristics of the SAS wiring and signaling are compatible with and have loosely tracked that of serial ATA (SATA). SAS defines more rigorous physical signaling specifications as well as a wider allowable differential voltage swing intended to allow longer cabling. To characterize and/or debug SAS links, industry standard bit patterns (e.g., CJTPAT) may be used to generate data transmitted via SAS links.

Classifying bit errors in transmitted run length limited data

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A flexible dasher board assembly and system that utilizes four different aspects for providing shock absorbing features in order to absorb any of four different types of forces imparted thereon by players. In a first aspect, the entire dasher board assembly is provided with rotational flexibility such that the entire dasher board assembly will pivot about a point substantially near the bottom of the dasher board and close to the ice. In a second aspect, the entire dasher board system is provided with translational flexibility, such that the entire dasher board assembly can be pushed substantially parallel with and away from the ice. In a third aspect, only the shielding panel is provided with rotational flexibility such that the shielding panel (and its support struts in a supported assembly) will pivot about a point within the dasher board. In a fourth aspect, only the shielding panel is provided with translational flexibility such that only the shielding panel (and its support struts) can be pushed substantially parallel with and away from the ice.

This invention relates to dasher boards such as those used in hockey arenas and the like, and in particular to a dasher board system that is flexible and can absorb shock imparted by collisions with hockey players so as to provide a safer environment for the players.
Dasher boards, which are used to form the boundary around arenas such as hockey rinks, are by necessity designed to be secure and stable in order to withstand great impact by hockey players skating or being pushed into the boards during the course of a game. Concerns have been raised, however, about the potentially harmful effects of the stiffness or lack of flexibility of the boards (the terms "stiff or flexible" as used herein describe how much the boards move when hit by a hockey player). That is, when a player hits the boards, there exists is potential for injury. If the boards are very stiff the risk of injury increases. It is noted that the faster speed and the more aggressive playing style of hockey players are making the stiffness of the boards an important issue due to the potential for injuries.
There exists a wide range in the stiffness of various dasher board systems. In some systems available today, the top of the boards may move only about 1/16" (relatively stiff) or as much as 2" to 3" (relatively flexible) when hit by a player. Some systems utilize boards that are mounted to a concrete block wall, which tend to be stiff. Conversely, a light, demountable, aluminum dasher board frame, with loose anchors and bolts, will resultingly be flexible.
There are six main components to a typical dasher board system, each of which can affect how stiff the boards feel to the players. These components are the dasher board, the ice retainer, the anchoring system, the connecting system, the shielding, and the shield mounting system.
Dasher boards are made in two general methods; a fixed, continuous frame or in demountable sections which are typically eight feet long. Both types typically have vertical posts with horizontal stringers. The frame material is normally wood, fiberglass, steel or aluminum. The frame is covered with polyethylene or a fiberglass sheet. A greater amount of material in the frame typically provides a more rigid and stiffer frame. This also increases the weight, which makes the boards feel harder because the greater mass resists movement. Fiberglass and aluminum are more flexible than steel and may create a more flexible board.
An ice retainer (or ice dam) is sometimes used for demountable boards. If the dasher boards are removed, the ice retainer keeps the ice from creeping away from the playing surface. If there is no ice retainer, the boards are often frozen to the concrete, which will make the boards stiffer. With the ice retainer, the boards are less likely to be frozen down. The addition of the ice retainer can create an extra joint or place for the boards to pivot on, giving it more flexibility. The thickness of the ice retainer may determine how it affects the stiffness of the boards. The ice is normally one to 11/2" thick. If the ice retainer is 1" thick, the ice may be in contact with the base of the boards. This may cause the boards to be frozen to the ice retainer. If the ice retainer is 2" high, the dasher boards will be above the ice and not frozen down.
The anchors that hold the dasher boards to the concrete can affect how stiff the boards are. For the continuous frames, the posts are welded to anchor plates set in the concrete. This style is normally the stiffest. For the demountable style, an anchor bolt holds the frame to the concrete. More anchors, spaced closer together will make the system stiffer. If too few anchors are used, the ice may push the boards out of alignment. If the anchors are loose, too much movement at the base of the boards may break out chunks of ice along of the boards. It is generally accepted that the base of the boards should be held rigid if they are in contact with the ice.
If there is an ice retainer, there can be two sets of anchors. One set holds the ice retainer to the concrete and the other set holds the dasher boards to the ice retainer or to the concrete behind the ice retainer. The set holding the boards could allow movement between the boards and the ice retainer.
Connecting bolts are used to connect the demountable panels together. Normally there are two or three bolts in the vertical end plate that join one panel to the next in a rigid fashion.
Shielding is normally made of tempered glass or acrylic. Tempered glass is 1/2" thick (6.54 lb/sq.ft.) on the sides of the arena & 5/8" thick (8.17 lb/sq.ft.) on the ends and radius sections. Acrylic is 1/2" thick (3.1 lb/sq.ft.) in all locations. The acrylic is more flexible than the glass and at half the weight, it moves easier when hit. Again we note that less mass offers less resistance to movement. The disadvantage of acrylic is that it is more easily marked up and therefore becomes harder to see through. It also requires better securing than glass when mounted or it will bend when hit and be pushed out of its supports. Glass, which is thicker, is required at the ends to prevent breakage by the puck. Unfortunately, this thicker (and heavier) glass is located where the players tend to hit the boards the most.
The advantage of acrylic is its lighter weight which makes for easier handling. The standard thickness of 1/2" is too flexible to be used in the "seamless" or "supportless" systems without some additional support.
In systems with shield supports, the shields are traditionally mounted between vertical supports (on 4' centers). The supports offer some movement to the shielding. The supports themselves are flexible and they move in the mounting hole and the support bracket. Also, the shielding is held in a gasket that offers some movement. The shielding offers some movement relative to the boards. The shield support could be mounted in a flexible bracket that allows the shield support & shielding to move relative to the boards.
In the new "supportless" or "seamless" style dasher boards, the glass shields are held in a slot or U-channel in the top of the boards. The supportless style holds the glass rigid at the top of the boards. At this point the glass and boards move as one.
FIGS. 1-5 illustrate side views of a traditional prior art dasher board and the various forces the boards are subjected to. FIG. 1 illustrates the dasher board at rest, with no external lateral forces present. FIG. 2 illustrates a lateral force that provides a rotational force about an axis near the interface between the dasher board and the floor. If the boards are hit at the top, the frame pivots about the base slightly and the top of the board moves away from the ice. The upper part of the board moves farther than the lower part. Normally the base of the boards does not lift off the concrete very much. Some designs in the prior art have added springs behind the boards that allow the boards to lift off the concrete, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,267. In these designs, the ice can deleteriously creep under the boards and prevent it from returning to its rest position.
FIG. 3 illustrates the translational forces that may be imparted on a dasher board assembly. In the prior art, ice may creep into the area near the bottom of the boards, causing misalignment and other problems.
The shielding may also have rotational and/or translational forces subjected thereupon with respect to the boards as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As explained below, an improved shock absorbing characteristic of the shielding relative to the boards can be achieved by mounting the shield supports (in the supported design) or the U-channel (in the supportless design) in a fixture that can move within the boards. This would allow the shielding to move away from the playing surface even if the boards did not move.


A self-scanning checkout device includes a registration section having a stationary scanner for permitting a customer to input article information for a purchased article, a counter arranged on the downstream side from the registration section in the article moving direction, for receiving a purchased article which has been registered thereon, and a monitoring section for monitoring a movement of the purchased article. The monitoring section sets an article registration flag when information of the purchased article is read by the stationary scanner, checks the article registration flag when the passage of an article is detected by article sensors disposed near and on the downstream side from the reading position of the stationary scanner, resets the article registration flag when the article registration flag is detected to be set, and issues an alarm indicating the passage of an unregistered article when the article registration flag is detected to be reset.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a self-scanning checkout device with which a customer himself scans and registers purchased articles.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional self-scanning checkout device has a registering section, a carrying-in/weighing section, a carrying-out section, and a settlement section. The registering section includes a stationary scanner, the carrying-in/weighing section includes a carrying-in conveyor and a weighing unit, and the carrying-out section includes a carrying-out conveyor. The registering section, a carrying-in/weighing section, and a carrying-out section are arranged in this order along the flow of articles. The settlement section is constructed by an electronic cash register and disposed near the carrying-in/weighing section and carrying-out section. This checkout device is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 61-46591, for example.
In the above device, a customer himself passes purchased articles one at a time on the reading surface of the stationary scanner to read the article code (bar code) thereof and sets the articles on the carrying-in conveyer of the carrying-in/weighing section. Then, the article code read by the scanner is transmitted to the settlement section and real weight data of the article weighed by the weighing unit is transmitted to the settlement section. As a result, in the settlement section, article weight data previously set for the article code is compared with the real weight data to determine whether two weight data items substantially coincide with each other or not. When it is determined that the two weight data items substantially coincide with each other, sales data of the article is registered in the settlement section and the article is carried out from the carrying-out section via the carrying-in conveyer and carrying-out conveyer.
When the scanning registration for all of the purchased articles by the customer is completed, the total amount of the purchased articles is output from the settlement section. Therefore, the cashier is only required to effect the settlement service in the settlement section. Then, the customer puts the carried-out articles from the carrying-out section into a bag.
In the case of self-scanning system, since the customer himself operates the stationary scanner to scan and register the purchased articles, it becomes important to prevent an erroneous operation caused by misunderstanding that the article is registered even when the article code cannot be correctly read by the scanner or a dishonest act for intentionally effecting incorrect registration.
Conventionally, the above-described erroneous operation and dishonest act are prevented by comparing the real weight of the registered article and the preset weight thereof with each other. However, in this case, a weighing unit for measuring the article weight is necessary, thereby increasing the installation cost and increasing the size of the device, and it is also necessary to previously store and manage preset weight information of each article, thereby making information management complicated.


An all-terrain vehicle including centrally pivoted bogies on opposite sides of the vehicle body, a primary yoke mounted on the vehicle body and extending crosswise to the vehicle body for coupling the bogies to each other, a secondary yoke mounted on the vehicle body and connected to the vehicle body by hydraulic cylinders at opposite ends thereof, and a selectively actuatable clutch for coupling the secondary yoke to the primary yoke so as to cause the hydraulic cylinders to drive both yokes a desired amount to positively move the bogies to a desired position, and hydraulic circuitry coupled to the hydraulic cylinders for applying a pulsating action to the bogies which is transmitted to the vehicle wheels mounted on opposite ends of the bogies for increasing traction of the wheels on surfaces such as snow, ice, mud and sand. The pulsating action can be applied either when the bogies have been moved to and maintained in a predetermined position or when the bogies are freely pivoting as the vehicle is passing over terrain. A conventional vehicle which includes structure for vertically pulsating individual wheels and changing their elevation relative to the vehicle body.

The present invention relates to an all-terrain vehicle and to a conventional vehicle which includes structure for selectively raising or lowering the vehicle wheels to a selectable height to pass over an obstruction and/or for producing a pulsating motion of selectively variable frequency and amplitude to improve traction on various surfaces including but not limited to mud, sand, snow and ice.
By way of background, in prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,480, an all-terrain vehicle is disclosed wherein pivotal bogies on opposite sides of the vehicle each have a pair of wheels mounted on opposite ends thereof. The bogies are interconnected by a cross link or yoke so that the pivoting of each link is transmitted to the other link to thereby simultaneously raise or lower diagonally opposite wheels. However, the pivoting of the bogies is effected only by the wheels traveling over the ground. There is no structure for positively pivoting the bogies to cause any one of the wheels mounted on opposite ends thereof to be raised or lowered to a selectable height to pass over obstruction. Furthermore, there is no teaching of imparting a pulsating motion of selectable frequency and amplitude to the wheels to improve traction on all surfaces such as snow, ice, mud and sand.

Vehicle with vertically movable and vertically pulsating wheels


A technique for fabricating an integrated circuit device 100 using an inverse-T tungsten gate structure 121 overlying a silicided layer 119 is provided. This technique uses steps of forming a high quality gate oxide layer 115 overlying a semiconductor substrate 111. The silicided layer 119 is defined overlying the gate oxide layer 115. The silicided layer 119 does not substantially react to this layer. The technique defines the inverse-T tungsten gate electrode layer 121 overlying the silicided layer 119. A top surface of this gate electrode may also be silicided 127 to further reduce the resistance of this device element.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits. More particularly, the invention provides a technique including a method and device for fabrication of a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor using an improved inverse-T gate structure. But it will be recognized that the invention has a wider range of applicability; it can also be applied to the manufacture of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices, bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) devices, and others.
In the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits, device geometries are becoming increasingly smaller. These smaller device geometries (e.g., submicron sized) tend to cause a variety of problems during switching of the circuits. One of these problems is known as the hot electron injection phenomena. During switching, hot electrons inject into a portion of the gate electrode, which increases the amount of charge to build underlying this gate electrode portion. This increased charge often causes switching degradation. A variety of techniques have been proposed in an attempt to eliminate this problem.
One attempt is the lightly doped drain (LDD) structure 13 in a MOS transistor 10, as illustrated by FIG. 1. This LDD structure 13 reduces the electric field underlying the gate electrode region, thereby causing fewer electrons to inject into the gate electrode 14. As shown, the gate electrode is defined overlying a gate dielectric layer 16. The LDD region 13 reduces the electric field by providing a lightly doped drain region (e.g., N- impurities) 15 between the transistor channel region 17 and an adjacent source/drain region 19. The LDD region 15 is defined in a well region (e.g., P-type well) 21 formed in a semiconductor substrate 23. A two step ion implantation technique using sidewall spacers 27 defines the LDD and source/drain regions.
As device geometries become smaller, however, hot electrons become trapped in the sidewall spacers, thereby increasing the amount of charge underlying the gate electrode. As shown by the reference arrows in FIG. 1, hot electrons inject into portions of the sidewall spacers. This tends to accumulate the amount of charge (i.e., positively charged species) underlying the spacers due to the negatively charged electrons trapped in the spacers. The increased charge underlying the spacers detrimentally effects device switching.
Another technique that has been proposed to reduce the hot electron injection problem is an inverse-T transistor gate structure. In this structure, a portion of the gate electrode extends beneath the sidewall spacers, which also surrounds and insulates the gate electrode structure. This extended portion of the gate electrode beneath the sidewall spacers often improves transistor performance by providing improved gate controllability.
In this inverse-T gate structure, polysilicon has been widely used as the material for the inverse-T gates. The gates are made from a polysilicon film, which is defined overlying a gate oxide layer. Unfortunately, this polysilicon film has inherent limitations. In particular, polysilicon gates have a relatively high resistance, typically at about 60 ohms/square. The high resistance of these gates become even greater as the size of these devices are scaled down, e.g., submicron sized gates. In addition, it also is difficult to suppress short channel effects when using these structures for a buried channel MOSFET.
Thus, tungsten gates using CMOS technology were proposed. Tungsten gates generally possess a lower sheet resistance. Devices having a tungsten gate often have a 30% transconductance increase and have a low subthreshold slope value, which is responsible for a large on/off ratio. Tungsten is effective as a material for CMOS transistor gates because its work function is near silicon mid-bandgaps. This provides symmetrical operation for N-type and P-type channel devices with equal threshold values.
Although tungsten seems to be a workable material for CMOS gate electrodes, it is not without limitations. In particular, tungsten forms volatile oxides with the gate oxide layer at relatively low temperatures during device operation. Also, during the transistor fabrication process, inherent damage often occurs to the gate silicon oxide, which necessitates regrowth. This typically occurs by oxidizing the silicon at temperatures of 900.degree.-1000 .degree. C. in oxygen ambient for a period of time. Accordingly, tungsten gates also have limitations with these devices having submicron sized line-widths.
From the above, it is seen that a technique for forming an improved MOS gate structure, which reduces the hot electron injection problem, is often desirable.

Method of making an inverse-T tungsten gate


A method and trolley for restringing downed utility wires between utility poles in which a self-powered trolley is hooked onto a remaining intact line and caused to traverse along the line by motor driven pulley wheels engaging the intact line, while towing a P-line towards the next pole. A bumper contact operates a switch to turn off the motor when the trolley reaches the vicinity of the next pole. The motor is powered by a battery in a lower housing, the lower housing mounted below an upper housing carrying the wheels and motor, with a space therebetween allowing the trolley to be hooked onto the intact line. The P-line is used to pull the replacement line to the next pole.

This invention concerns restringing of downed utility wires such as power lines, telephone lines, etc. During storms, it is common for falling trees, limbs, and windblown debris to sever sections of utility lines.
A linesman must then manually restring sections of the lines in the field without the use of heavy line stringing equipment.
The standard practice for many years has been for a flexible cord (called a P-line) to be manually thrown from one pole over the crosspieces of the next. The P-line is then used to pull a heavier pulley line across to the next pole, that line then used to pull the heavy wire or cable itself across to the next pole.
This is a tedious and time-consuming task, particularly where tree limbs are growing close to the lines, and is a reason that repairs proceed slowly.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a process and device for restringing lines between utility poles enabling much speedier and easier restringing of the line sections.

Self-powered trolley for stringing lines between utility poles


A method of making a thin film transistor exhibiting a high channel conductance includes the steps of forming, on an insulating transparent substrate, a gate electrode, an insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, a photoresist, in this order and performing a back substrate exposure at the insulating transparent substrate using the gate electrode as a photo mask, to form a photoresist pattern. The photoresist pattern is then baked to make it flow outward to a desired bottom width. The semiconductor layer is etched using the photoresist pattern as an etch mask to form a semiconductor layer pattern. On the resultant entire exposed surface are formed an ohm contact layer and a metal layer. The metal layer is then subjected to photoing and etching processes, to remove its portion disposed above the semiconductor pattern and its opposite side edge portions, thereby forming a metal layer pattern for source and drain electrodes. Using the metal layer pattern as an etch mask, the semiconductor layer is etched to form a through hole on the semiconductor layer pattern. On the resultant entire exposed surface, an insulation layer for a passivation is formed.

Referring to FIGS. 1a to 1e, there are illustrated several kinds of thin film transistors as multiple carrier elements using thin films. FIGS. 1a and 1b show thin film transistors of the coplanar type wherein source and drain electrodes, an insulation layer and a gate electrode are formed over a semiconductor layer used as an active layer in an overlapped manner and in the same direction. FIGS. 1c and 1d show thin film transistors of the staggered type wherein source and drain electrodes and a gate electrode are formed at both surfaces of a semiconductor layer in opposite directions. On the other hand, FIG. 1e shows a thin film transistor of the inverted staggered type wherein an insulation layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over a gate electrode.
The material of the semiconductor layer may include CdS, CdSe, CdSSe and the like. Generally, the semiconductor layer is formed by using a method of sintering the above-mentioned materials in an inert gas atmosphere containing a proper inert gas or a small amount of oxygen at a temperature of 570.degree. C. to 600.degree. C., using a solvent of CCl.sub.2. Alternatively, the material of the semiconductor layer may include TeInSb, SnO.sub.2 and In.sub.2 O.sub.3.
The material of the insulation layer may include organic materials such as nitrocellulose, glyceryl monostearate and Q-rac (made by Transene Co., Inc.) and inorganic materials such as BaTiO.sub.3, SiO.sub.2 and silicate cement.
On the other hand, materials of electrodes may include an Au paste, Sn, a Sn-Ga alloy (5% to 10% Sn), and an In amalgam.
The present invention concerns the inverted staggered type from the above-mentioned thin film transistors. Now, a conventional inverted staggered type thin film transistor will be described, in conjunction with FIGS. 2a and 2f.
As shown in FIG. 2a, an insulating transparent substrate 1 is first prepared. Over the transparent substrate 1, a metal layer for a gate electrode is deposited which is in turn subjected to a patterning, to form a gate electrode 2.
On the exposed surfaces of transparent substrate 1 and gate electrode 2, an insulating layer 3 is formed to insulate the gate electrode 2, as shown in FIG. 2b. A semiconductor layer 4 as a channel layer is then formed on the insulating layer 3. On the semiconductor layer 4 is formed another semiconductor layer 5 of a predetermined conductivity type (n type or p type) doped with the same conductivity type impurity ions for reducing contact resistance between the source and drain electrode and the semiconductor layer 4. Thereafter, the semiconductor layers 4 and 5 are patterned so that unnecessary portions of their opposite side edges are removed, as shown in FIG. 2d. After patterning, side surfaces of the patterned semiconductor layers 4 and 5 are exposed.
Subsequently, a metal layer 6 for source and drain electrodes is formed on the resultant exposed surface, as shown in FIG. 2e. Together with the semiconductor layer 5, the metal layer 6 is then subjected to a patterning so that their portions disposed above the gate electrode 2 are removed, as shown in FIG. 2f. By the patterning, unnecessary portions of opposite side edges of the metal layer 6 are also removed. At this time, opposite side edges of the semiconductor layers 4 and 5 are still covered with the metal layer 6. Thus, a through hole region 7, source and drain electrodes 6a and 6b are formed above the semiconductor layer 4.
Finally, an insulation layer 8 for a passivation is formed on the resultant exposed surfaces of the source and drain electrode 6a and 6b and the portion of semiconductor layer 4 corresponding to the through hole region 7.
The operation of the obtained conventional inverted staggered type thin film transistor shown in FIG. 2f will now be described.
As a voltage of about +10 V is applied to the gate electrode 2, electrons are generated at a boundary surfaces between the insulation layer 3 and the semiconductor layer 4 disposed on the insulation layer 3, so that a channel is formed at the semiconductor layer 4. At this time, an application of voltage of about +10 V between the source and drain electrodes 6a and 6b causes a current to flow through the channel. The current flows from the source electrode 6a, via the semiconductor layer 5, the boundary surfaces between the semiconductor layer 4 and the insulating layer 3 and then the semiconductor layer 5, to the drain electrode 6b.
However, the thin film transistor obtained by the conventional method has the following problems.
The source and drain electrodes are in contact with the semiconductor layer as the channel at their large portions, as shown in FIG. 3a. As a result, a vertical series resistance Rs of the semiconductor layer 4 is very large at sides of source and drain electrodes, as compared with contact resistances generated between semiconductor layers 4 and 5 and between the semiconductor layer 5 and the source and drain electrodes 6a and 6b. Otherwise, the value of channel conductance is decreased, so that a voltage drop is generated in the channel. Consequently, a voltage lower than the actually applied voltage is present between source and drain electrodes, resulting in a degradation in operational characteristic of the thin film transistor.


An AC plug provided with a plug casing and prongs formed sticking out from the inside of the plug casing to the outside and supplying AC power supplied from a power outlet to the prongs by an AC cord connected to the prongs inside the plug when the prongs are inserted into the power outlet, further provided with, inside the plug casing in series between the prongs, a discharge resistor for discharging a residual charge across the prongs when the prongs are pulled out from the power outlet and a switch turning off when the prongs are inserted into the power outlet, turning on when they are pulled out from the power outlet to pass the residual charge of one prong of the prongs to the other prong through the discharge resistor.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an AC plug for the supply of AC power supplied from a power outlet to prongs by an AC cord when inserting the prongs into the power outlet and to an electrical apparatus provided with that AC plug and AC cord.
2. Description of the Related Art
An input part of an electrical apparatus powered by a commercial AC power supply has been provided with a noise filter for suppressing noise flowing in from the commercial power line and noise conversely flowing out from the apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a view of an electrical apparatus provided with an AC plug. This electrical apparatus 100 is comprised of an apparatus body 101 provided with an internal circuit 102 and a noise filter 103 at a power input side of the circuit. The noise filter 103 is connected to an AC cord 110 supplying power to the apparatus body and has an AC plug 120 attached to its front. As an AC plug 120, normally a general one comprised of a plastic plug body provided with a pair of metal pieces (prongs) for connecting the two lines of the AC cord 110 is used.
When the AC plug 120 is inserted into a not shown power outlet supplying commercial AC power, power is supplied to the internal circuit 102 of the apparatus body 101 through the AC cord 110.
The noise filter 103 for removing noise at this time includes a noise-suppression capacitor C electrically connected between the lines of the AC cord 110 for preventing leakage of noise generated at the internal circuit 102 of the apparatus body 101 to the outside and further for preventing noise from the outside from being input to the internal circuit 102.
The noise-suppression capacitor C has a large capacitance of for example 1 μF from the need for suppressing noise due to electromagnetic interference (EMI). In this case, a considerably large amount of charge can build up.
Therefore, when pulling out the AC plug 120 from the power outlet, the charge built up at the noise-suppression capacitor C may be applied across the two prongs exposed at the front end of the AC plug 120. To reduce the discharge, a resistance (hereinafter "discharge resistor") is electrically connected between the two lines of the AC cord 110 inside the noise filter at the apparatus body 101 side.
The resistance value of the discharge resistor R must match with the capacitance between the lines of the AC cord 110 including that of the capacitor C for noise suppression. That is, electrical apparatuses using capacitors between power lines are regulated in many countries. For example, Japan's Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law requires that the voltage across terminals of an AC plug (voltage across prongs) be no more than 45V one second after the power plug of the electrical apparatus is pulled out from the power outlet. There are similar regulations in other countries as well. In particular, in Europe and other regions where the voltage level of the commercial power supply is high, tougher regulations restrict electrical apparatuses so as to enable more reliable discharge of the prongs. Further, leakage of noise is also strictly governed in many countries.
However, the discharge resistor leads to an increase of the power consumption since it continues to be supplied with current while the AC plug 120 is plugged into the power outlet. In particular, in the standby state, the power consumption of the apparatus itself falls, but the amount of power consumed by the discharge resistor R is constant, so the ratio becomes sufficiently large.
To overcome this disadvantage, it is known to provide a switch inside the noise filter of the apparatus body to prevent wasted current flowing to the discharge resistor (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 11-177369). Further, a circuit configuration has been proposed for detecting on a circuit basis whether commercial power is being supplied from the AC plug and cutting off the discharge resistor when the commercial power is being supplied (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-095261).
However, in the technology described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 11-177369, if operation of the switch is forgotten, the charge will not be released. Further, the power consumption is liable to increase.
In the technology described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-095261, if the switch is not operated due to a malfunction of the circuit, the prongs will not be discharged. Further, if the switch is left on, the power consumption will increase, so a malfunction-free detection circuit is required. There would then be the disadvantage of that much higher a cost.
Further, if the discharge resistor is in the apparatus body far in distance from the location of electric shock, that is, the AC plug, even if discharge is started, a residual charge will remain for a while across the prongs at the front end of the AC plug. Therefore, the above-mentioned electrical apparatuses have been insufficiently designed from the viewpoint of reliable discharge.

AC plug and electrical apparatus provided with same