A process for producing polymers from olefins selectively produced from a catalytically cracked or thermally cracked naphtha stream is disclosed herein. The naphtha feedstream is contacted in the reaction zone with a catalyst under catalytic conversion concditions. Vapor products are collected overhead and the catalyst particles are passed through the stripping zone on the way to the catalyst regeneration zone. Volatiles are stripped with steam in the stripping zone and the catalyst particles are sent to the catalyst regeneration zone where coke is burned from the catalyst, which is then recycled to the reaction zone. A stream rich in C4 and/or C5 olefins is recycled to the stripping zone.

The present invention relates to a process for producing propylene from a naphtha stream.
The need for low emissions fuels has created an increased demand for light olefins used in alkylation, oligomerization, MTBE and ETBE synthesis processes. In addition, a low-cost supply of light olefins, particularly propylene, continues to be in demand to serve as feedstock for polyolefin, particularly polypropylene.
Fixed bed processes for light paraffin dehydrogenation have recently attracted renewed interest for increasing olefin production. However, these types of processes typically require relatively large capital investments and high operating costs. It is therefore advantageous to increase olefin yield using processes, which require relatively small capital investment. It would be particularly advantageous to increase olefin yield in catalytic cracking processes so that the olefins could be further processed into polymers such as polypropylene.
A problem inherent in producing olefins products using FCC units is that the process depends on a specific catalyst balance to maximize production of light olefins while also achieving high conversion of the 650xc2x0 F.+(xcx9c340xc2x0 C.) feed components. In addition, even if a specific catalyst balance can be maintained to maximize overall olefin production, olefin selectivity is generally low because of undesirable side reactions, such as extensive cracking, isomerization, aromatization and hydrogen transfer reactions. Light saturated gases produced from undesirable side reactions result in increased costs to recover the desirable light olefins. Therefore, it is desirable to maximize olefin production in a process that allows a high degree of control over the selectivity of C3 and C4 olefins.
One embodiment of the present invention is a process for producing polypropylene comprising the steps of (a) feeding a naphtha stream comprising from about 10 to 30 wt. % paraffins and between about 15 to 70 wt. % olefins and co-feeding a stream comprising C4 olefins to a process unit comprising a reaction zone, a stripping zone, a catalyst regeneration zone, and a fractionation zone; (b) contacting the naphtha stream with a fluidized bed of catalyst in the reaction zone to form a cracked product, the catalyst comprising a zeolite having an average pore diameter of less than about 0.7 nm and wherein the reaction zone is operated at a temperature from about 5000 to 650xc2x0 C., a hydrocarbon partial pressure of 10 to 40 psia (about 70-about 280 kPa), a hydrocarbon residence time of 1 to 10 seconds, and a catalyst to feed weight ratio between about 4 and about 10, thereby producing a reaction product wherein no more than about 20 wt. % of paraffins are converted to olefins and wherein propylene comprises at least about 90 mol. % of the total C3 products; (c) passing the catalyst through said stripping zone; (d) passing the stripped catalyst from the stripping zone to the catalyst regeneration zone where the catalyst is regenerated in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas; (e) recycling the regenerated catalyst to the reaction zone; (f) fractionating the cracked product to produce a C3 fraction, a C4 fraction rich in olefins, and optionally a C5 fraction rich in olefins.
In another embodiment of the present invention the catalyst is a ZSM-5 type catalyst.
In an embodiment of the present invention a C5 fraction rich in olefins is also recycled.
In another embodiment of the present invention the feedstock contains about 10 to 30 wt. % paraffins, and from about 20 to 70 wt. % olefins.
In another embodiment of the present invention the reaction zone is operated at a temperature from about 525xc2x0 C. to about 600xc2x0 C.
Feedstreams that are suitable for producing the relatively high C2, C3, and C4 olefin yields are those streams boiling in the naphtha range containing from about 5 wt. % to about 35 wt. %, preferably from about 10 wt. % to about 30 wt. %, and more preferably from about 10 to 25 wt. % paraffins, and from about 15 wt. %, preferably from about 20 wt. % to about 70 wt. % olefins. The feed may also contain naphthenes and aromatics. Naphtha boiling range streams are typically those having a boiling range from about 65xc2x0 F. to about 430xc2x0 F. (about 18xc2x0 C. to about 225xc2x0 C.), preferably from about 65xc2x0 F. to about 300xc2x0 F. (about 18xc2x0 C. to about 150xc2x0 C.).
The naphtha can be a thermally cracked or a catalytically-cracked naphtha. The naphtha streams can be derived from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) of gas oils and resids, or they can be derived from delayed or fluid coking of resids. Preferably, the naphtha streams used in the practice of the present invention derive from the fluid catalytic cracking of gas oils and resids. FCC naphthas are typically rich in olefins and/or diolefins and relatively lean in paraffins. It is within the scope of the instant invention to feed or co-feed other olefinic streams that are not catalytically- or thermally-cracked naphthas into said reaction zone with the primary feed. It is believed that this will increase the yield of propylene.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a C4 olefin stream containing n-butenes is co-fed with the naphtha feed. The C4 olefin stream may come from suitable sources such as conventional FCC units, coker units, steam crackers and other process units that produce C4 olefins streams that can be recycled to the cracking unit. In one embodiment, the C4 olefin stream may be a raffinate from a methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE) process. MTBE units typically feed a mixture of methanol and C4 olefins. Only the iso-butylene reacts with the methanol to yield MTBE, leaving a significant amount of C4 olefins, including n-butenes, in the MTBE raffinate.
The C4 olefin stream preferably comprises at least about 75 wt. % n-butenes, more preferably greater than about 90 wt. % n-butenes. Streams containing lower amounts of n-butenes are also acceptable, such as where a stream containing a significant amount of diolefins, such as butadiene, is employed. When the C4 olefin stream is injected into the reaction zone along with the naphtha feed, the C4 olefins undergo rapid disproportionation reactions with other olefins in the naphtha feed, followed by cracking reactions. These reactions increase propylene yields.
The process of the present invention is performed in a process unit comprising a reaction zone, a stripping zone, a catalyst regeneration zone, and a fractionation zone. The naphtha feed is fed into the reaction zone where it contacts a source of hot, regenerated catalyst. The hot catalyst vaporizes and cracks the feed at a temperature from about 500xc2x0 C. to about 650xc2x0 C., preferably from about 525xc2x0 C. to about 600xc2x0 C. The cracking reaction deposits coke on the catalyst, thereby deactivating the catalyst. The cracked products are separated from the coked catalyst and sent to a fractionator. The coked catalyst passes through the stripping zone where a stripping medium, such as steam, strips volatiles from the catalyst particles. The stripping can be preformed under low-severity conditions to retain a greater fraction of adsorbed hydrocarbons for heat balance. The stripped catalyst is then passed to the regeneration zone where it is regenerated by burning coke on the catalyst in the presence of an oxygen containing gas, preferably air. Decoking restores catalyst activity and simultaneously heats the catalyst to a temperature from about 650xc2x0 C. to about 750xc2x0 C. The hot regenerated catalyst is then recycled to the reaction zone to react with fresh naphtha feed. Flue gas formed by burning coke in the regenerator may be treated for removal of particulates and for conversion of carbon monoxide. The cracked products from the reaction zone are sent to a fractionation zone where various products are recovered, particularly a C3 fraction, a C4 fraction, and optionally a C5 fraction. The C4 fraction and the C5 fraction will typically be rich in olefins. One or both of these fractions can be recycled to the reactor. They can be recycled to either the main section of the reactor, or a riser section, or a stripping section. It is preferred that they be recycled to the upper part of the stripping section, or stripping zone. Recycling one or both of these fractions will convert at least a portion of these olefins to propylene.
It may also be desirable to inject a C4 olefin stream into the stripper section. Such a C4 olefin stream (not to be confused with a C4 fraction recycled from the cracked products of the cracking process) would be derived from one or more suitable sources such as conventional FCC units, coker units, steam crackers and other process units that produce C4 olefins streams that can be recycled to the cracking unit. In one embodiment, the C4 olefin stream may be a raffinate from a methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE) process as previously described. In another embodiment, the C4 olefin stream injected into the stripper section also preferably comprises at least about 75 wt. % n-butenes, more preferably greater than about 90 wt. % n-butenes. Streams containing lower amounts of n-butenes are also acceptable, such as where a stream containing a significant amount of diolefins, such as butadiene, is employed.
While attempts have been made to increase light olefins yields in the FCC process unit itself, the present invention uses its own distinct process unit, as previously described, which receives naphtha from a suitable source in the refinery. The reaction zone is operated at process conditions that will maximize C2 to C4 olefins (particularly propylene) selectivity with relatively high conversion of C5+olefins. Suitable catalysts used with the present invention contain a crystalline zeolite having an average pore diameter less than about 0.7 nanometers (nm), said crystalline zeolite comprising from about 10 wt. % to about 50 wt. % of the total fluidized catalyst composition. It is preferred that the crystalline zeolite be selected from the family of medium-pore size ( less than 0.7 nm) crystalline aluminosilicates, otherwise referred to as zeolites. Of particular interest are the medium-pore zeolites with a silica to alumina molar ratio of less than about 75:1, preferably less than about 50:1, and more preferably less than about 40:1, although some embodiments may incorporate a silica to alumina ratio greater than 40:1. The pore diameter, also referred to as effective pore diameter, is measured using standard adsorption techniques and hydrocarbonaceous compounds of known minimum kinetic diameters. See Breck, Zeolite Molecular Sieves, 1974 and Anderson et al., J. Catalysis 58, 114 (1979), both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Medium-pore size zeolites that can be used in the practice of the present invention are described in xe2x80x9cAtlas of Zeolite Structure Typesxe2x80x9d, eds. W. H. Meier and D. H. Olson, Butterworth-Heineman, Third Edition, 1992, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The medium-pore size zeolites generally have a pore size from about 5 xc3x85, to about 7 xc3x85 and include for example, MFI, MFS, MEL, MTW, EUO, MTT, HEU, FER, and TON structure type zeolites (IUPAC Commission of Zeolite Nomenclature). Non-limiting examples of such medium-pore size zeolites, include ZSM-5, ZSM-12, ZSM-22, ZSM-23, ZSM-34, ZSM-35, ZSM-38, ZSM-48, ZSM-50, silicalite, and silicalite 2. The most preferred is ZSM-5, which is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,702,886 and 3,770,614. ZSM-11 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,979; ZSM-12 in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,449; ZSM-21 and ZSM-38 in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,758; ZSM-23 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,842; and ZSM-35 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,245. All of the above patents are incorporated herein by reference. Other suitable medium-pore size zeolites include the silicoaluminophosphates (SAPO), such as SAPO-4 and SAPO-11 which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,871; chromosilicates; gallium silicates; iron silicates; aluminum phosphates (ALPO), such as ALPO-11 described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,440; titanium aluminosilicates (TASO), such as TASO-45 described in EP-A No. 229,295; boron silicates, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,297; titanium aluminophosphates (TAPO), such as TAPO-11 described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,651; and iron aluminosilicates.
The medium-pore-size zeolites can include xe2x80x9ccrystalline admixturesxe2x80x9d which are thought to be the result of faults occurring within the crystal or crystalline area during the synthesis of the zeolites. Examples of crystalline admixtures of ZSM-5 and ZSM-11 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,424, which is incorporated herein by reference. The crystalline admixtures are themselves medium-pore-size zeolites and are not to be confused with physical admixtures of zeolites in which distinct crystals of crystallites of different zeolites are physically present in the same catalyst composite or hydrothermal reaction mixtures.
The catalysts of the present invention may be held together with an inorganic oxide matrix material component. The inorganic oxide matrix component binds the catalyst components together so that the catalyst product is hard enough to survive interparticle and reactor wall collisions. The inorganic oxide matrix can be made from an inorganic oxide sol or gel which is dried to xe2x80x9cbindxe2x80x9d the catalyst components together. Preferably, the inorganic oxide matrix is not catalytically active and will be comprised of oxides of silicon and aluminum. It is also preferred that separate alumina phases be incorporated into the inorganic oxide matrix. Species of aluminum oxyhydroxides-g-alumina, boehmite, diaspore, and transitional aluminas such as a-alumina, b-alumina, g-alumina, d-alumina, e-alumina, k-alumina, and r-alumina can be employed. Preferably, the alumina species is an aluminum trihydroxide such as gibbsite, bayerite, nordstrandite, or doyelite. The matrix material may also contain phosphorous or aluminum phosphate.
Process conditions include temperatures from about 500xc2x0 C. to about 650xc2x0 C., preferably from about 500xc2x0 C. to 600xc2x0 C.; hydrocarbon partial pressures from about 10 to 40 psia (about 70-about 280 kPa) to about, preferably from about 20 to 35 psia (about 140- about 245 kPa); and a catalyst to naphtha (wt/wt) ratio from about 3 to 12, preferably from about 4 to 10, where catalyst weight is total weight of the catalyst composite. Steam may be concurrently introduced with the naphtha stream into the reaction zone, with the steam comprising up to about 50 wt. % of the naphtha feed. Preferably, the naphtha residence time in the reaction zone is less than about 10 seconds, for example from about 1 to 10 seconds. The reaction conditions will be such that at least about 60 wt. % of the C5+olefins in the naphtha stream are converted to C4xe2x88x92 products and less than about 25 wt. %, preferably less than about 20 wt. % of the paraffins are converted to C4xe2x88x92 products, and that propylene comprises at least about 90 mol. %, preferably greater than about 95 mol % of the total C3 reaction products with the weight ratio of propylene/total C2xe2x88x92 products greater than about 3.5.
Preferably, ethylene comprises at least about 90 mol. % of the C2 products, with the weight ratio of propylene:ethylene being greater than about 4, and that the xe2x80x9cfull rangexe2x80x9d C5+ naphtha product is enhanced in both motor and research octanes relative to the naphtha feed. It is within the scope of this invention to pre-coke the catalysts before introducing the feed to further improve the selectivity to propylene. It is also within the scope of this invention to feed an effective amount of single-ring aromatics to the reaction zone to also improve the selectivity of propylene versus ethylene. The aromatics may be from an external source such as a reforming process unit or they may consist of heavy naphtha recycle product from the instant process.

Process for selectively producing C3 olefins in a fluid catalytic cracking process


A mobile terminal including a display unit; a wireless communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with an insole in a shoe and an external device; and a controller configured to receive a foot gesture input signal from the insole for controlling the mobile terminal or the external device, control the function on the mobile according to the foot gesture input signal in response to the foot gesture input signal being mapped a function of the mobile terminal, and transmit a control signal to the external device to control the function on the external device in response the foot gesture input signal being mapped the function of the external device.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insole, a mobile terminal and a method of controlling therefor, and more particularly, to a method of controlling a mobile terminal or an external device based on a signal sensed by an insole.
Discussion of the Related Art
A mobile terminal is a device which may be configured to perform various functions. Examples of such functions include data and voice communications, capturing images and video via a camera, recording audio, playing music files and outputting music via a speaker system, and displaying images and video on a display. Some terminals include additional functionality which supports game playing, while other terminals are also configured as multimedia players. More recently, mobile terminals have been configured to receive broadcast and multicast signals which permit viewing of contents, such as videos and television programs.
Generally, terminals can be classified into mobile terminals and stationary terminals according to a presence or non-presence of mobility. In addition, the mobile terminals can be further classified into handheld terminals and vehicle mounted terminals. There are ongoing efforts to support and increase the functionality of mobile terminals. Such efforts include software and hardware improvements, as well as changes and improvements in the structural components which form the mobile terminal.
Meanwhile, a method of controlling a predetermined function using a gesture input corresponding to a movement of a hand or a whole body is limited, making it is difficult for the user to operate the mobile terminal when holding a heavy object in both hands, for example.

Insole, mobile terminal and method of controlling therefor


An impingement cooling system for cooling electronic components includes a nozzle array having a plurality of nozzles in fluid communication with a source of cooling fluid, each nozzle including a deflection structure that deforms above a threshold temperature. A plurality of thermally conductive pins respectively are in thermal contact with the deflection structures and conduct heat from at least one of the electronic components to the deflection structures. When a heated nozzle within the nozzle array reaches a temperature above the threshold temperature due to heat conducted from the respective thermally conductive pin, the deflection structure of the heated nozzle deforms from a closed position to an open position to permit cooling fluid to impinge upon the electronic component. The deflection structure may be a deflection plate formed of a bimetallic material having layers of different thermal expansion coefficients, or a thermally responsive two-way shape memory material.

Cooling of electronics components can be achieved by impinging gas or liquid onto such components via gas jets, or mixed liquid/gas flows (i.e., liquid sprays in a surrounding gas phase). FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that depicts a conventional cooling jet system for cooling electronic components, referenced collectively as the electronics system 10.
The electronics system 10 includes a plurality of electrical contacts 12 connecting a chip carrier circuit board 14 onto which electronic components may be fixed. An exemplary electronic chip 16 has its own set of electrical contacts 18 that plug into or are connected to the circuit board 14. A chip cap 20 may be provided to cover the circuit board 14 and the connected electronic chip 16, so as to isolate the chip to prevent contamination by outside dust, moisture, and other contaminants that may operate to undermine chip performance.
It will be appreciated that in operation, the electronic chip 16 generates a degree of heat, which if not dissipated can result in damage to, or even destruction of, the electronic chip and any other surrounding electronic components. Accordingly, a cooling system is provided. In the conventional configuration of FIG. 1, the cooling system includes an inlet 22 for providing a supply of cooling fluid, which may include a cooling liquid (e.g., water), a cooling gas (e.g., air), or a combined suitable liquid/gas mixture. The cooling fluid travels under pressure through a first manifold 24 to a jet plate 26 that has a plurality of jets 28. The jets 28 administer the cooling fluid to the surface of the chip to remove the heat generated by the chip. The cooling fluid is maintained within the area adjacent the chip by seals 29. The cooling fluid, now having drawn the heat from the electronic chip, is discharged under pressure from the electronic chip 16, through a second manifold 30 and out of an outlet 32.
Recent developments in such impingement cooling have focused on optimizing geometric and flow parameters to maximize cooling efficiencies obtainable with the general concept of impingement cooling. In addition, combinations of jet impingement with other cooling techniques (such as evaporative or thermo-electric cooling using the Peltier effect) have been investigated to further enhance cooling efficiencies. There have been attempts, therefore to optimize cooling efficiency by timed activation of rows and/or columns of jets within the cooling jet array for the purpose of driving a bulk motion in the jet discharge volume between a jet nozzle wall and a cooling surface. Timed activation has proven deficient, however, as being insufficiently related to actual temperature conditions. Under a timed activation, cooling fluid is discharged against the electronic components even when actual temperature conditions do not warrant cooling.
As an alternative to the timed activation control referenced above, which is imprecise in relation to actual temperature conditions, conventional impingement cooling systems have operated under active control. Such active control gathers sensory input pertaining to temperatures in the vicinity of different sections of the jet cooling array in such a way that cooling jets are only deployed or activated at positions where temporary hot spots occur on the electronics board. In particular, active controlled systems may involve logical electric circuits using temperature measurement via temperature sensors, signal transmission, controller processing and subsequent signal generation, and activation of piezo-electric orifices to open and close individual cooling jets or groups of cooling jets within the array. Active control systems, however, by employing sophisticated sensors and related control electronics, have proven deficient due to their complexity and implications for manufacturing, operation and maintenance.

Passively controlled smart microjet cooling array


A system and method that process data in a circuitry utilizing two clocks. The two clocks may be an offset version of one another. Utilizing two clocks to processes the data may consume fewer clock cycles than using only one clock. The circuitry may comprise registers and a memory, wherein one register may receive a location of information in the memory, which may then be read from the received location. The one register may utilize a first of the two clocks, and the reading from the memory may utilize the second of the two clocks. The circuitry may comprise a portion of a CABAC decoder.

A typical Context Adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) decoder reads and updates state information for each decoded bit. The state information is often stored in a memory unit. In a data sequence, for each decoded bit, state information is read from the memory, an arithmetic operation is performed, and updated state information is written back to the memory. In a synchronous system, these operations are typically allocated to multiple clock cycles, forming a pipeline, if the entire sequence cannot be completed in one clock cycle.
Each of the needed operations takes a different amount of time to complete. Therefore, the clock rate is limited by the slowest stage of the pipeline. In other stages there will typically be slack time to the extent that the full cycle time is not needed to complete the operation(s) in that stage. As a result, the total time to decode one bit, which is determined by the number of pipeline stages times the clock cycles time, may be significantly longer than the sum of the times needed to complete each individual operation.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

System and method for efficient CABAC clock


Wearable electronic devices, such as watches, can be provided with an ability to detect whether a tactile input provided to an input component, such as a button, is intentional or unintentional. For example, a wearable device can analyze the context in which a tactile input is received, such as attributes of the tactile input and/or operational parameters of the wearable device at the time the tactile input is received. By further example, a wearable device can infer whether a tactile input is a result of an activity, such as exercising, random movement, or collision with an object. The wearable devices can accept or reject the tactile input and determine whether an action associated with the tactile input should be performed.

Portable electronic devices have become increasingly popular, and the features and functionality provided by portable electronic devices continue to expand to meet the needs and expectations of many consumers. User interface features are often provided on electronic devices to allow a user to provide commands for execution by the devices. Many devices include input components, such as buttons, that receive and detect tactile input from a user during operation. Such input components may be prominently featured on the device for ready access by a user.
However, some traditional portable electronic devices, particularly wearable electronic devices, may be acted upon unintentionally. In such cases, the devices may proceed to perform an action that is associated with activation of a button, even when the activation occurs unintentionally.


An information processing apparatus for controlling an electronic device connected on a network which includes a device attribute information obtaining part for obtaining device attribute information about the electronic device from the electronic device through the network, an operation range assigning part for assigning the operation range of each user for the electronic device corresponding to the device attribute information obtained by the device attribute information obtaining part and storing the assigned operation range, and a controlling part for controlling the electronic device through the network in the operation range that has been assigned by the operation range assigning part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method thereof, a network system, a record medium, and a program, for example, to those suitable for a home network system of which a number of digital AV (Audio Visual) devices are mutually connected through, for example, an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 bus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, as middleware for integrally managing and controlling a number of digital AV devices connected through an IEEE 1394 bus in a home network system, mutual connecting specifications referred to as HAVi (Home Audio/Video Interoperability Architecture) (trademark) have been proposed.
In such a home network system, when a digital AV device that operates on a controlling side (this device is referred to as controlling device) of a number of digital AV devices connected through an IEEE 1394 bus uploads control software that is stored in a digital AV device that operates on a controlled side (this device is referred to as controlled device), even if a number of devices whose manufacturers are different are connected, they can be normally and mutually operated.
However, in such a home network system, since each device can be freely used by anyone, there are problems about maintenance, management, and security for data of each user.
Thus, in consideration of an upcoming home network system using the HAVi, it is preferred to designate a user to each device on the network and allow only a designated user to use a designated device or a designated function thereof.
Conventionally, in personal computers and workstations, access rights are controlled for individual files or individual systems. However, thus far, it has not been considered about access rights for individual devices in the home network system.

Information processing apparatus, method thereof, network system, record medium, and program


The motor comprises a cam and a cylinder block mounted to rotate one relative to the other. The cam comprises a plurality of cam lobes and the cylinder block has a plurality of cylinders slidably receiving pistons that are suitable for co-operating with the cam. The motor further comprises a fluid distributor that includes distribution ducts suitable for being connected to a feed or to a discharge and disposed in register with the rising ramp and with the falling ramp of the cam lobes. The motor is a substantially constant-velocity motor. In any relative position of the cylinder block and of the cam, there is at least one cam lobe that is unused and with which no piston co-operates, and the angular spacings between consecutive cylinders are mutually different and differ from a multiple of the smallest angular spacing between consecutive cylinders, the angular spacings being determined so that the resultant of the forces exerted by the pistons on the cam is small or substantially zero.

A hydraulic motor of that type is known from the prior art. An example is a hydraulic motor having radial pistons and of the type described in French Patent No. 2 834 012.
The motor is a substantially constant-velocity motor, which means that, when the fluid feed flow rate is constant, the speed of rotation of the rotary portion of the motor (cylinder block or cam) is substantially constant. In other words, the rotation takes place smoothly, i.e. without any jolts. In a constant-velocity motor, the fluid budget should be substantially zero, i.e. at any time, the quantity of fluid entering the cylinders must be substantially equal to the quantity of fluid leaving them.
In motors of that type, it is generally desired to distribute the cylinders uniformly in the cylinder block. In other words, the angular spacing between the cylinders of each pair of consecutive cylinders is constant. Such uniform distribution is, in particular, related to the concern to ensure that the center of symmetry of the cylinder block is situated substantially on its geometrical axis, which is also its axis of rotation. In addition, in general, when designing a motor, it is desired for the motor to be compact which, for the cylinder block, leads in particular to minimizing the spacing between two consecutive cylinders while accommodating cylinders of a size suitable for obtaining the desired cubic capacity.
Starting from a basic motor design, it is possible to seek to form a motor that is slightly different, in particular a motor that has a reduced cubic capacity. In this approach, for reasons of cost-saving and of rationalization, the designer seeks, as far as possible, for the slightly different motor to use parts that have already been defined for the basic motor.
The cubic capacity of a motor depends on the size of its cylinders and on the maximum possible stroke of the pistons disposed in the cylinders. The stroke itself depends on the amplitude of the undulations of the cam, i.e. on the depth of the cam lobes. Thus, starting from an existing motor, it is possible to define a motor of reduced cubic capacity by replacing the cam of the pre-existing motor with cam lobes of depth that is reduced relative to the depth of the cam lobes of the pre-existing cam. However, that technique has its limitations. It results in decreasing the gradient of the ramps of the cam lobes, which is possible only up to a certain point, while also preserving the essential qualities of the motor. In general, it is thus considered that it is inappropriate to reduce the stroke of the pistons by more than 50%.
It should be added that it is not always desirable, when designing a hydraulic motor that has a cubic capacity smaller than the cubic capacity of a pre-existing motor, to design a motor whose elements are smaller in size than the corresponding elements of the pre-existing motor. In particular, the specifications for braking torque, for dimensioning of the bearings that are to support the object rotated by the motor, or for the speed of said motor, can all require the presence of components that are sufficiently large. In addition, it can be advantageous for the motor of reduced cubic capacity to have overall size identical to the overall size of the pre-existing motor, in particular to make it interchangeable.


A dispenser has a barrel, a piston upwardly movable within the barrel from a first position to a second position, and a body of personal care composition at least partially within the barrel between the piston and the barrel top end. An actuator is coupled to the piston to shift the piston upward (toward the top end). The actuator comprises a screw member having a threaded portion engaged to the piston for relative rotation about a first axis. A cap has a first condition mounted at the barrel top end. The cap is removable from the first condition. An upper portion of the barrel has a rim portion, a dome, a breakaway connection between the dome and the rim portion recessed below the rim, and a handle coupled to the dome to allow pulling of the handle to sever the breakaway connection to remove the dome from the rim portion.

The invention relates to personal care. More particularly, the invention relates to applicators for underarm antiperspirant and/or deodorant.
A well-developed art exists regarding dispenser/applicators for personal care products. One particular area involves applicators for solid or gel antiperspirant and/or deodorant compositions. Applicators for solid and gel compositions are typically generally similar to each other, with a piston (platform) upwardly movable within a cylinder (barrel) to progressively drive the composition out the barrel upper end.
Due to the relative lack of stiffness of many gels and soft solids, dispensers for such compositions commonly include apertured applicator elements across the upper end of the barrel. Many solid products, instead have a removable molded seal inserted within the upper end. In manufacture, the seal may serve to mold the composition during a bottom fill operation. At the first use of the product, the end user extracts and discards the seal exposing the upper end of the composition. As molded by the seal, the upper end may have an ergonomically or ornamentally advantageous shape.
Dispenser/applicators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,096,724 (the '724 patent) entitled "Package for Merchandising Consumer Care Products", U.S. Pat. No. 7,488,129 (the '129 patent) entitled "Seal for Applicator for Personal Care Compositions", U.S. Pat. No. 7,354,215 (the '215 patent) entitled "Dispensing Package for a Cosmetic/Antiperspirant/Deodorant or Other Stick Product", U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,412 (the '412 patent) entitled "Positively Sealed Cosmetic Dispenser", U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,483 (the '483 patent) entitled "Rotary Dispenser", U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,161 (the '161 patent) entitled "Container Having Content Level Indicator", and U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,803 (the '803 patent), entitled "Stick Dispenser", and US Patent Application Publication Nos. 2007/0172304 (the '304 publication) entitled "Package for Merchandising Consumer Care Products" and 2007/0114142 (the '142 publication) entitled "Container with Perfuming Means".


An electrical connector comprises an insulative housing (1) defining a receiving cavity (14); a plurality of contacts (2, 3) disposed in the housing, each contact comprising a contact beam (21, 31) with a contact portion (210, 310) exposed to the receiving cavity and a pivot beam (22, 32) extending opposite to the corresponding contact beam; and an actuator comprising a plurality of grooves (421) at its rear end for receiving head portions of the pivot beams of the contacts and a plurality of shaft portions (422, 423) in the grooves. Some contact defines cutouts (320) which extend through corresponding front surfaces of the head portions for receiving the shaft portions therein, and other contacts define recesses (220) at the head portions for receiving the other shaft portions to prevent the actuator breaking off the contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for a sheet-like connection member such as a flexible printed circuit or a flexible flat cable.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,346 discloses a conventional connector adapted for connecting a flexible printed circuit (FPC). The FPC connector includes a housing having a receiving cavity, a plurality of electrical contacts arranged and secured in the housing, each contact having a contact beam exposed to the receiving cavity for contacting the FPC and a pivot beam corresponding to and opposed to the contact beam, and an actuator rotatable between an open position where said FPC can be inserted into said receiving cavity and a closed position where said FPC is pressed to electrically engage with said contacts. Each pivot beam of said contact is formed with a hook-like end providing a recess, and the actuator defines a plurality of grooves for receiving said hook-like ends. Each groove has a shaft portion for engaging with the recess of contact.
As the actuator is made by inserting molded, it is possible for the shaft portions to be located to align with each other in a longitudinal direction of the actuator. However, as the contacts are assembled into the housing by operators or machines, it is hardly make all of the recesses of the contacts for receiving the shaft portions to align with each other in the longitudinal direction. As a result, if one or more contacts bias away their required position, the contacts may prohibit the actuator to be completely mounted on the electrical connector. Even if the actuator were mounted with a strong hand, the contacts would affect the movement of the actuator between the opened position and the closed position. Therefore, a new connector is desired to overcome the disadvantage of the prior art connector or at least prevent the above-mentioned problem taking place frequently.

Connector with improved electrical contacts


A personal mirror constructed of a planar member having a reflective surface on a front face of a rectangular main body, a first flange extending rearward from a top edge of the main body at an acute included angle, and a suction-type attachment mechanism provided on the first flange and facing rearward to enable mounting of the mirror to a nonporous surface. A second flange may extend forward from a bottom edge of the main body and include at least one hole for receiving the handle of an accessory such as a razor, the hole being formed smaller than a head of the razor to allow the razor to hang from the flange. The planar member may be thermoplastic with the main body and first and second flanges integrally formed with first and second bends, respectively, therebetween. The bend between the second flange and the planar member is an obtuse angle and matched to the acute angle of the first bend so that the second flange extends generally horizontally when the mirror is wall-mounted. The first flange preferably includes slots or openings for securing at least two removable suction cups. The planar member, suction cups and a razor may be packaged together as a kit in a clear box or bag, and the entire kit is desirably disposable and marketed or distributed as a gratuity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to personal hygiene aids and, more particularly, to a wallmounted portable and disposable mirror.
2. Background Discussion
Small hand held or personal mirrors are well known and have been adapted for travel. Some mirrors are configured as vehicular accessories with clips to attach to sun visors and the like. Personal mirrors are especially useful in bathrooms and showers for close-up facial examinations and grooming. Some personal mirrors are adapted to hang from the shower head to assist in shaving, and the more sophisticated of these include water circulation for defogging the lens. Unfortunately, most people do not own showerhead mounted mirrors, and even if they do they do not often include them in their luggage while traveling because of the bulk. Most personal mirrors are not well-suited for the bathroom environment because they do not have special mounting hardware and thus cannot be oriented conveniently. Moreover, hand held mirrors by their nature are not fixed in place and can fall and break, creating a serious hazard from the broken shards of glass. There is thus a need for a safer personal mirror for bathroom and shower usage which is at the same time both inexpensive and lightweight.

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Transdermal or topical plasters containing active ingredient are provided that include a non-occlusive back layer, a matrix formed from of one or more polymer layers having at least one pharmaceutical active ingredient in one or more of the layers, in which the structure-forming base polymers of the layer(s) are non-occlusive or only slightly occlusive and a second polymer that has a low water-vapor permeability and that is immiscible or only very slightly miscible with the base polymer is dispersed in at least one of the polymer layers.

For the transdermal or topical administration of active ingredients, the stratum corneum is a lipophilic barrier which limits the uptake of active ingredient. One of the most effective, and a physical method employed virtually for every systemically acting transdermal system, for lowering the barrier function of the stratum corneum is occlusion. The occlusion is achieved through the use of virtually water vapor-impermeable materials for the backing layers of transdermal systems, and/or through the use of water vapor-impermeable formulations of adjacent layers and/or the active ingredient layer or layers. A schematic representation of a patch of this kind is shown by FIG. 1. For the backing layers, polyester films are used in the great majority of cases. In principle, however, there is nothing against other films of low water vapor permeability, such as films of polyethylene or polypropylene, for example. As polymers or pressure-sensitive adhesives with low water vapor permeability, for example, polyisobutylene or block polymers of styrene and butadiene or of styrene and isoprene are used.
Topical systems with, for example, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, especially, have a size which corresponds to the area of the treatment zone, and hence a size which necessitates a certain stretchability on the part of the patch system in order to increase wear comfort. Since, in the thickness appropriate for this purpose, the aforementioned occlusive materials for the backing layer do not possess sufficient stretchability or elasticity, textile materials are often employed for such patches. A disadvantage of these textile backing layers, however, is that their open porosity gives them very high water vapor permeability, meaning that they do not create occlusive conditions. As a consequence of this, occlusion in the case of patches with textile backing layers must be achieved through other water vapor-impermeable layers, or at least other layers which are less permeable to water vapor. For this purpose, of course, it is not possible to use nonstretchable and inelastic materials. The simplest way of achieving occlusion is through the use of pressure-sensitive adhesives of low water vapor permeability, such as pressure-sensitive adhesives based on polyisobutylene or on block polymers of styrene and butadiene or isoprene. A disadvantage in that case, however, is that these pressure-sensitive adhesives attach only very poorly to the skin, which becomes moist under occlusion, and are easily wholly or partly detached, especially in the joint region.
WO 01/91718 A2 describes a two-phase matrix, where a polyacrylate phase containing active ingredient is dispersed in an outer, self-adhesive formulation based on polyisobutylene or styrene-butadiene-styrene block polymers. A disadvantage here is that the occlusion effect is always at its maximum at practical layer thicknesses, and the outer phase, as already stated above, adheres very poorly to moist skin. The only advantage of such a matrix is that the active ingredient is located in a polymer with a relatively high saturation solubility.
Polyacrylate adhesives or silicone adhesives perform substantially better under such conditions, but their high water vapor permeability means that they are unable themselves to create occlusive conditions. In accordance with the prior art, therefore, the use of polyacrylate or silicone adhesives has been considered to necessitate multilayer matrices with layers differing in their composition, thereby complicating the production process and pushing up the production cost, which is an important factor for this product group.


An apparatus and method for transferring a clip formed of a predetermined number of interfolded paper products away from a stacking interfolder and refolding a plurality of loose end panels having a stack building table and first count finger assembly initially holding the clip and transferring control of the clip to a transfer clamp which refolds a first loose end panel and further having a clip destination station having a post end panels receiving the clip and finally refolding the final loose end panel.

This invention relates to the field of automatic interfolding machines which interfold a stack of laminar products such as paper towels, paper tissues, and the like. In such machines, it is known to interfold adjacent products with more than one panel of adjacent products or sheets interfolded. In addition, it is also known to separate a clip or log of a predetermined number of such products from the continuously building interfolding stack. An example of an automatic separator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,402. The separator shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,402 separates products where only one panel is interfolded between adjacent products. However, it has been found that this apparatus is also capable of separating products with more than one panel interfolded. Products such as this are known in the industry as "W" folds. When interfolded products are produced by such equipment there are sheets remaining free after separation of the clip from the stack, and it is desirable to refold the loose sheets or panels to provide the highest quality product. Refolding the loose sheets on the bottom of the continuously building stack may be accomplished by the invention shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,158. However, interfolded products with more than one panel interfolded will have multiple loose panels on the separated clip as well and it is desirable to refold those loose panels as well as the loose panels associated with the continuously building stack.
The present invention relates to refolding the loose panels on the separated clip or log.

Multi-panel refolding transfer system with rotating transfer clamp

C. G. Bretting Manufacturing Company, Inc.


A method for controlling printing control apparatus for printing an image on any of a plurality of recording media each set in a plurality of storage units includes inputting a plurality of print jobs, and determining an execution order of the plurality of print jobs in a range in which printing is consecutively executed on the recording medium fed from the same storage unit based on a type of the recording medium corresponding to each of the input plurality of print jobs, and in which each of the input print jobs is not postponed more than a predetermined condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing control apparatus, and a control method and a program thereof for printing am image on a recording medium based on input data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a printer for printing an image on a continuous sheet of paper such as roll paper is known. In such a printer, a plurality of rolls of roll paper may be simultaneously set, and printing may be performed on any of the rolls of the roll paper by switching paper feeding level (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-20585).
Such a printer can print images in various sizes by setting rolls of roll paper having different widths. Alternatively, such a printer can print images on different kinds of roll paper without replacing the roll paper. Further, also known is a configuration in which a printing order can be rearranged so that printing is consecutively performed on same-sized cut paper when printing on cut paper set in a cassette (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-29647).
However, when the printing order is rearranged so that printing is consecutively performed on the same recording medium, if the printing is to be performed many times on a specific recording medium, printing on other recording media may be endlessly postponed.

Printing control apparatus, printing control method, and printing control program


A digital license includes an identification of a removal service that can authorize removing such license. A client selects the license to be removed and the service, constructs a challenge including therein a challenge license identification block (LIB) identifying the license to be removed, and sends the challenge to the service. The service receives the challenge, stores at least a portion of the challenge in a database, constructs a response corresponding to the challenge and including therein a response LIB identifying the license to be removed and an identification of the service, and sends the response to the client. The client receives the response, employs the response LIB from the response to identify the license to be removed, and removes the identified license upon confirming that the identification of the service in the identified license matches the identification of the service in the response.

As is known, and referring now to FIG. 1, a content protection and enforcement system is highly desirable in connection with digital content 12 such as digital audio, digital video, digital text, digital data, digital multimedia, etc., where such digital content 12 is to be distributed to users. Upon being received by the user, such user renders or 'plays' the digital content with the aid of an appropriate rendering device such as a media player on a personal computer 14, a portable playback device or the like.
Typically, a content owner distributing such digital content 12 wishes to restrict what the user can do with such distributed digital content 12. For example, the content owner may wish to restrict the user from copying and re-distributing such content 12 to a second user, or may wish to allow distributed digital content 12 to be played only a limited number of times, only for a certain total time, only on a certain type of machine, only on a certain type of media player, only by a certain type of user, etc.
However, after distribution has occurred, such content owner has very little if any control over the digital content 12. A copy protection system 10, then, allows the controlled rendering or playing of arbitrary forms of digital content 12, where such control is flexible and definable by the content owner of such digital content. Typically, content 12 is distributed to the user in the form of a package 13 by way of any appropriate distribution channel. The digital content package 13 as distributed may include the digital content 12 encrypted with a symmetric encryption/decryption key (KD), (i.e., (KD(CONTENT))), as well as other information identifying the content, how to acquire a license for such content, etc.
The trust-based copy protection system 10 allows an owner of digital content 12 to specify rules that must be satisfied before such digital content 12 is allowed to be rendered. Such rules can include the aforementioned requirements and/or others, and may be embodied within a digital license 16 that the user/user's computing device 14 (hereinafter, such terms are interchangeable unless circumstances require otherwise) must obtain from the content owner or an agent thereof, or such rules may already be attached to the content 12. Such license 16 and/or rules may for example include the decryption key (KD) for decrypting the digital content 12, perhaps encrypted according to another key decryptable by the user's computing device or other playback device.
The content owner for a piece of digital content 12 would prefer not to distribute the content 12 to the user unless such owner can trust that the user will abide by the rules specified by such content owner in the license 16 or elsewhere. Preferably, then, the user's computing device 14 or other playback device is provided with a trusted component or mechanism 18 that will not render the digital content 12 except according to such rules.
The trusted component 18 typically has an evaluator 20 that reviews the rules, and determines based on the reviewed rules whether the requesting user has the right to render the requested digital content 12 in the manner sought, among other things. As should be understood, the evaluator 20 is trusted in the copy protection system 10 to carry out the wishes of the owner of the digital content 12 according to the rules, and the user should not be able to easily alter such trusted component 18 and/or the evaluator 20 for any purpose, nefarious or otherwise.
As should be understood, the rules for rendering the content 12 can specify whether the user has rights to so render based on any of several factors, including who the user is, where the user is located, what type of computing device 14 or other playback device the user is using, what rendering application is calling the copy protection system 10, the date, the time, etc. In addition, the rules may limit rendering to a pre-determined number of plays, or pre-determined play time, for example.
The rules may be specified according to any appropriate language and syntax. For example, the language may simply specify attributes and values that must be satisfied (DATE must be later than X, e.g.), or may require the performance of functions according to a specified script (IF DATE greater than X, THEN DO . . . , e.g.).
Upon the evaluator 20 determining that rules are satisfied, the digital content 12 can then be rendered. In particular, to render the content 12, the decryption key (KD) is obtained from a pre-defined source such as the aforementioned license 16 and is applied to (KD(CONTENT)) from the content package 13 to result in the actual content 12, and the actual content 12 is then in fact rendered.
The trusted component 18 may at times be required to maintain state information relevant to the rendering of a particular piece of content 12 and/or the use of a particular license 16. For example, it may be the case that a particular license 16 has a play count requirement, and accordingly the trusted component 18 must remember how many times the license 16 has been employed to render corresponding content 12 or how many more times the license 16 may be employed to render the corresponding content 12. Accordingly, the trusted component 18 may also include at least one persistent secure store 22 within which such state information is persistently maintained in a secure manner. Thus, the trusted component 18 stores such state information in such secure store 22 in a persistent manner so that such state information is maintained even across sessions of use on the computing device 14. Such secure store 22 is likely located on the computing device 14 of the trusted component 18, although such secure store 22 may alternately be located elsewhere.
In a copy protection system 10, content 12 is packaged for use by a user by encrypting such content 12 and associating a set of rules with the content 12, whereby the content 12 can be rendered only in accordance with the rules. Because the content 12 can only be rendered in accordance with the rules, then, the content 12 may be freely distributed. Typically, the content 12 is encrypted according to a symmetric key such as the aforementioned key (KD) to result in (KD(content)), and (KD(content)) therefore is also decrypted according to (KD) to result in the content 12. Such (KD) is in turn included within the license 16 corresponding to the content 12. Oftentimes, such (KD) is encrypted according to a public key such as the public key of the computing device 14 (PU-C) upon which the content 12 is to be rendered, resulting in (PU-C(KD)). Note, though, that other public keys may be employed, such as for example a public key of a user, a public key of a group of which the user is a member, etc.
It is to be appreciated that from time to time the user, the computing device 14, the trusted component 18, or another entity (hereinafter, the client) may wish to remove a license 16 from use in connection therewith. For example, it may be the case that the client no longer wishes to render the corresponding content 12, or that the client wishes to transfer the license 16 to another client. Although the client could merely remove the license 16 on its own, it may be the case that the license 16 is stored in a store such as the secure store 22 and is therefore not accessible except under controlled circumstances, or it may be the case that an external entity wishes to ensure that the license 16 is in fact removed. In one envisioned scenario, where a client that purchased the license 16 from a service for value and wishes to 'return' the license 16 for a refund, it is to be expected that the service would require some assurance that the returned license 16 is in fact removed from the client. In another envisioned scenario, where a client that purchased the license 16 from a service for a first computing device 14 and wishes to transfer the license 16 to a second computing device 14, it is likewise to be expected that the service would require some assurance that the transferred license 16 is in fact removed from the first computing device 14.
Accordingly, a need exists for an architecture and method that effectuates trusted removal of a license 16 from use by a client. In particular, a need exists for an architecture and method that notifies a removal service or the like in a trusted manner that the license 16 is to be removed from use by a client or the like and that in fact removes the license 16 in a trusted manner from use by the client.

Trusted license removal in a content protection system or the like


A charged particle beam apparatus capable of automatically measuring an image magnification error of an apparatus and capable of automatically calibrating the image magnification in high precision is provided. To this end, while an image processing operation of either an auto-correlation function or an FFT transformation is employed with respect to a scanning image of a reference material having a periodic structure, the averaged pitch dimension of which is known, averaged periodic information owned by the scanning image is detected so as to measure an image magnification error of the apparatus. Also, the information as to the acquired image magnification error is fed back to an image magnification control means of the apparatus so as to automatically execute a calibration as to the image magnification in high precision.

The present application claims priority form Japanese application JP 2004-015049 filed on Jan. 23, 2004, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
The present invention generally relates to a charged particle beam apparatus. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a charged particle beam apparatus capable of measuring actual image magnification of a material image and an image magnification shift of the apparatus in high precision, and also, capable of automatically calibrating image magnification of the apparatus.
In charged particle beam apparatus which are typically known as scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), charged particle beams which have been focused in narrow beams are scanned over materials so as to acquire desirable information (for instance, material images) from the materials. Since such charged particle beam apparatus are employed in order to measure pattern widths and film thicknesses of semiconductor devices, it is very important to maintain image magnification of these apparatus in high precision.
In order to measure an image magnification error, as indicated in FIG. 2A, while employing a reference material for image magnification which has a periodic structure whose pitch dimension (period) is already known as a nominal value, an enlarged image of this reference material is acquired. Then, a pitch dimension of a material is measured based upon the acquired enlarged image. Thereafter, a shift between this measurement value and the nominal pitch value is used as an image magnification error. In order to calibrate image magnification of an apparatus, an image magnification control parameter of this apparatus is adjusted in such a manner that this image magnification error becomes minimum. In a scanning beam microscope, this image magnification control parameter corresponds to a coefficient for determining a relationship between image magnification and a beam scanning width on a material.
In general, a nominal pitch value of a reference material for image magnification represents an averaged pitch value of a repetition pattern of this reference material for image magnification. As a result, in order to perform an image magnification calibration in high precision, pitches are measured at at least 10 different positions on the reference material, and then, a pitch measurement value of an image must be determined from an average value of these measured pitch values.
FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B indicate an example as to conventional pitch measuring methods. As indicated in FIG. 3A, in order to measure a pitch (Lm) of a reference material from a material image, a cursor is manually set to a position corresponding to the pitch on the material image which has been acquired as a digital image, and then, a total number of pixels (N) between the cursors is counted. Based upon this counted value (Nm) and a pixel size (Lp) of the material image, the pitch (Lm) is calculated by the following equation (1)Lm=Nm*Lp  (1)
As other pitch measuring methods, as indicated in FIG. 3B, the following measuring method has been practically used. That is, while a pitch measuring area of a material image is designated, a pattern edge portion is detected from a line profile between these pitch measuring areas, and then, a pitch dimension is automatically measured. This line profile corresponds to a distribution of pixel values (brightness) along either a horizontal line or a vertical line. On the other hand, a relationship between the pixel size (Lp) and image magnification (M) is defined as follows:Lp=Kp/(Np*M)  (2)
In this equation (2), symbol "Kp" indicates a display size of an image in order to correctly display image magnification, and symbol "Np" indicates a total number of pixels. For example, assuming now that a total pixel number of an acquired image is equal to 640×480 pixels and a display size of the image is equal to 128 mm×96 mm, the pixel size "Lp" in the image magnification of 10,000 power becomes 128 mm/(640×10,000)=20 nm. As a consequence, when the image magnification "M" contains an error, this error appears as an error of the pixel size "Lp" of the equation (2), so that an error may be produced in the pitch dimension (Lp) calculated in the equation (1).
Based upon the pitch measurement value (Lm) and the nominal pitch value (Ls) of the reference material which have been measured by the above-described measuring method, a shift "ΔM" of image magnification of the apparatus may be calculated by the following equation (3):ΔM=(Lm/Ls)−1  (3)In a scanning beam microscope (SEM), the below-mentioned relationship (4) between image magnification (M) and a beam scanning width (Lb) on a material is established as follows:M=Km/Lb  (4).An image magnification coefficient "Km" is employed so as to control image magnification (namely, to control beam scanning width) within a control program of an SEM apparatus. In such a case that the image magnification shift "ΔM" of the above-described equation (3) is present with respect to such an image magnification coefficient "Km" before being calibrated, if the below-mentioned equation (5) is established, then the image magnification of the SEM apparatus may be calibrated:M=Km*(Lm/Ls)/Lb  (5)In other words, such a process operation for converting the value of the image magnification coefficient used to control the SEM apparatus to "Km*(Lm/Ls)" corresponds to an image magnification calibration.
In a general-purpose scanning electron microscope (SEM) in which operating ranges as to accelerating voltages and WD are wide, it is technically difficult to control the image magnification in high precision over the entire operating area. As a consequence, the image magnification precision of this general-purpose SEM apparatus is set to ±10%. As a result, in order to perform observations and dimension measuring operations in higher precision while using such a general-purpose SEM apparatus, image magnification calibrations must be carried out with respect to each of apparatus use conditions such as accelerating voltages and WD.
Also, for example, JP-A-2000-323081 discloses such a technical idea of a transmission type electron microscope (TEM). That is, two sheets of different images are compared with each other so as to measure an image magnification error of the TEM apparatus.

Charged particle system and a method for measuring image magnification


The present invention relates to an integrated cooling system for a vehicle. The system includes an engine cooling loop having a first fluid configured for circulation through an engine of the vehicle and a power electronics cooling loop having a second fluid configured for circulation through at least one power electronics component of the vehicle. The engine cooling loop is fluidly isolated from, and in thermal communication with, the power electronics cooling loop.

Most modern rail locomotives are of the diesel-electric variety, in which an internal combustion engine, most often a diesel engine, drives an electrical generator whose output provides power to traction motors to turn the wheels of the locomotive to generate motion. The diesel engine, which is typically a turbocharged diesel engine, requires a cooling system to limit the temperatures of various engine components. Accordingly, internal combustion engines are known to be designed with internal cooling passages for the circulation of coolant to remove heat energy from the engine components and from lubricating oil which is also circulated throughout the engine to reduce friction.
Similarly, other off-highway vehicles ("OHVs"), such as those used in the mining industry, may employ electrically motorized wheels for propelling or retarding the vehicle. For example, mining dump trucks typically include a large horsepower diesel engine (or other engine) in conjunction with an alternator, a main traction inverter, and a pair of wheel drive assemblies housed within the rear tires of the vehicle. The diesel engine is directly associated with the alternator such that the diesel engine drives the alternator. The alternator powers the main traction inverter, in which semiconductor power switches commutate the alternator output current to provide electrical power to electric drive motors of the two wheel drive assemblies.
Accordingly, rail vehicles and other OHVs may contain power electronics which are utilized to control and manage the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy and to control the supply of electrical power to the traction motors of the locomotive, other rail vehicle, or other OHV. These power electronics also require cooling systems to maximize lifespan and to ensure proper operation thereof.
Existing locomotives and other OHVs are, therefore, typically outfitted with an engine cooling system having an engine-dedicated liquid-to-air heat exchanger, e.g., a main radiator having an associated cooling fan, and a pump for circulating a cooling fluid through the engine and the main radiator. In addition, a separate cooling system is utilized for the power electronics. This separate cooling system includes a power electronics-dedicated liquid-to-air heat exchanger, e.g., a radiator having an associated cooling fan, and a pump for circulating a cooling fluid through the power electronics and the radiator.
As will be readily appreciated, however, having two separate cooling loops, each with a dedicated radiator and cooling fan, adds significant weight, volume and cost to the cooling system, as a whole.

Integrated cooling system and method for engine-powered unit


Provided are a terminal and a system and method of measuring a network state using the terminal. The system of measuring the network state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a transmission terminal that transmits exploration packets, and a reception terminal that receives the exploration packets to measure an One-way Trip Time (OTT) of each of the exploration packets and calculates queuing delay using an average value of the measured OTTs and a minimum value of the measured OTTs.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to technologies of measuring a network state, and more particularly, to a terminal for accurately measuring a network state and a system and method of measuring a network state using the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A method which is most widely used among methods of measuring a network state may estimate queuing delay and a backlog queue. Here, the queuing delay refers to a time for which a data packet stands by in a queue of a router, and the backlog queue refers to the number of packets standing by in the queue of the router.
In an existing method of estimating the queuing delay and the backlog queue, a TCP-Vegas scheme has been mainly used. This is a method in which, by assuming that a minimum value (RTTmin) among Round Trip Times (RTTs) which are measured from the starting point of packet transmission is an RTT when queuing delay is zero, a value obtained by subtracting the minimum value (RTTmin) from a current RTT (RTTcur) is estimated as current queuing delay. Such a method may be suitable for being applied to a TCP protocol which is operated in an OS kernel, but when RTT is used as it is in an application hierarchical program in which a processing time such as processing switching or the like, other than a wireless network in which a deviation of the RTT is generated in accordance with a network state and queuing delay, or a time for which a packet stands by in a socket buffer is additionally reflected in the RTT, there is a problem that it is difficult to accurately measure the queuing delay. In addition, the backlog queue is calculated by the product of the queuing delay and a current reception rate of a reception terminal, and therefore there is a problem that an error of the queuing delay is transferred as it is to the backlog queue.
Therefore, there is a demand for a method that can accurately measure a network state by minimizing an error occurring when estimating the queuing delay and the backlog queue.

Terminal, system and method for measuring network state using the same


Apparatuses for forming chamfers on superabrasive tables of cutting elements for earth-boring tools include a chuck for temporarily holding and positioning a cutting element, and at least one emitter for emitting a beam of energy toward an edge of a superabrasive table of a cutting element held and positioned by the chuck. Methods of forming cutting elements for earth-boring tools and methods for forming earth-boring tools are also disclosed.

Various earth-boring tools such as rotary drill bits (including roller cone bits and fixed-cutter or drag bits), core bits, eccentric bits, bicenter bits, reamers, and mills are commonly used in forming bore holes or wells in earth formations. Such tools often may include one or more cutting elements on a formation-engaging surface thereof for removing formation material as the earth-boring tool is rotated or otherwise moved within the bore hole.
For example, fixed-cutter bits (often referred to as "drag" bits) have a plurality of cutting elements affixed or otherwise secured to a face (i.e., a formation-engaging surface) of a bit body. Such cutting elements generally have either a disk shape, or in some instances, a more elongated, substantially cylindrical shape. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional cutting element 100. The cutting element 100 includes a layer of superabrasive material 105 (which is often referred to as a "table"), such as mutually bound particles of polycrystalline diamond, formed on and bonded to a supporting substrate 110 of a hard material such as cemented tungsten carbide. The table of superabrasive material 105 includes a front cutting face 115, a rear face (not shown) abutting the supporting substrate 110, and a peripheral surface 120. During a drilling operation, a portion of a cutting edge, which is at least partially defined by the peripheral portion of the cutting face 115, is pressed into the formation. As the earth-boring tool moves relative to the formation, the cutting element 100 is drug across the surface of the formation and the cutting edge of the cutting face 115 shears away formation material. Such cutting elements 100 are often referred to as "polycrystalline diamond compact" (PDC) cutting elements, or cutters.
During drilling, cutting elements 100 are subjected to high temperatures, high loads, and high impact forces. These conditions can result in damage to the layer of superabrasive material 105 (e.g., chipping, spalling). Such damage often occurs at or near the cutting edge of the cutting face 115 and is caused, at least in part, by the high impact forces that occur during drilling. Damage to the cutting element 100 results in decreased cutting efficiency of the cutting element 100. In severe cases, the entire layer of superabrasive material 105 may separate (i.e., delaminate) from the supporting substrate 110. Furthermore, damage to the cutting element 100 can eventually result in separation of the cutting element 100 from the surface of the earth-boring tool to which it is secured.
As shown in FIG. 1, it has been found that the incidence of damage to the cutting element 100 may be reduced by beveling the cutting edge of the cutting face 115 to provide an angled, arcuate surface or "chamfer" 125 along at least a portion of the periphery of the layer of superabrasive material 105. In other words, a chamfered edge 125 may be formed for durability and long-term cutting efficiency. Conventionally, the chamfered edge 125 is formed by mechanical processes, such as lapping and grinding processes. Such conventional mechanical processes are historically prone to generating residual and subsurface microscopic damage. The damage is a result of the mechanical means by which a surface is abrasively manufactured and can only be minimized, not eliminated, through successively finer polishing steps. Such residual microfractures can remain at, and even beneath, the polished surface. These residual defects can propagate under the severe cutting stresses and loads into longer or larger defects, leading ultimately to the aforementioned spalling and delamination of the superabrasive material layer 105.
Additionally, in order to provide an improved finish (i.e., a more polished surface), an increasing number of polishing steps are required, which proportionally increases the amount of time required, and the attainable increments of finish improvement using conventional techniques are limited. Further, the high number of required steps for achieving a fine, polished finish cannot be reduced by applying a fine polish directly to a very rough surface. Indeed, attempting to achieve a fine polished surface directly from a very rough surface of a hard material will actually take longer than first achieving an intermediate finish prior to a fine finish.

Methods and apparatuses for forming cutting elements having a chamfered edge for earth-boring tools


A bullet-proof panel comprising an outer panel of polycarbonate resin, a middle panel of ceramic tile and a second sheet of polycarbonate resin attached thereto, all of said layers being bonded together by a polyurethane adhesive. In the second embodiment of the present invention useful for preventing the penetration of high-velocity bullets, a third layer of polycarbonate resin is attached to the second layer of polycarbonate resin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to armor materials, and particularly non-transparent armor materials. The present invention most particularly relates to armor materials comprising polycarbonate materials in combination with ceramic.
2. Art Background
Armor materials for non-transparent applications, such as bullet proofing vehicles and buildings and the like are well-known in the art. One common arrangement of such materials is made of ceramic materials disposed within a synthetic cloth-like material sold by DuPont Corporation under the brand name Kevlar.RTM.. While such material is substantially protective and light weight, it is also very expensive.
One such arrangement was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,756, which discloses a bullet-proof armor shield comprising a composite construction utilizing a ceramic armor plate disposed within layers of Kevlar material.
Another type of ceramic-containing bullet-proof armor plating is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,673, which discloses a multi-layer composite protective panel having layers of aluminum, polyurethane resin, a composite made up of aramid fibers embedded in a polyurethane resin, another layer of adhesive, and a plurality of ceramic tiles adhered to the outer surface by the adhesive.
Polycarbonate sheets are commonly used as bullet proof material for bullet proof glass and safety glass. These materials are typically used where transparency is a requirement of the material. Many different types of polycarbonate sheeting are usable as a bullet proof material. One form of polycarbonate sheet containing bullet proof material is described in Hall, U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,083, which discloses an impact-resistant laminate comprising polycarbonate up to 3 mm thick adhered to glass.
Molari, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,406, discloses a polycarbonate sheet coated with a polyurethane sheet.
Vincent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,129 is directed to a polyurethane adhesive material for making laminates, and specifically, one embodiment in which a laminate comprising a 1.5 mm thickness of polyurethane resin adhesive to bond two layers of 10 mm polycarbonate and another embodiment in which a 4 mm sheet is disclosed.
However, no prior art device has heretofore combined the light weight low cost of polycarbonate and polyurethane with protective, non-transparent ceramic material to form a relatively inexpensive, but light weight and effective bullet proof material.


In an induction cooking device according to the present invention, a boiling-over detection portion is adapted to perform a heating-output suppression operation, on detecting boiling over, when the capacitances of electrodes have been changed by an amount equal to or more than a predetermined value. Further, the boiling-over detection portion is prevented from performing the heating-output suppression operation, if the boiling-over detection portion detects that the capacitances of the electrodes have been changed by an amount equal to or more than the predetermined value, due to the fact that the heating output of another heating coil in a heating area which is not subjected to boiling-over detection has been changed by an amount equal to or more than a predetermined change width.

Conventionally, induction cooking devices of this type have been adapted to determine the capacitances of electrodes placed on the lower surface of a top plate and determine the occurrence of boiling over on detecting increases of these capacitances and then stop heating operations or decrease the high-frequency electric current flowing through a heating coil (refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-159494 (Patent Literature 1), for example). In this structure, the phenomenon that, if liquid is boiled over to spread on the top plate upper surface around the electrodes, the capacitances of the electrodes increase to be larger than those of when no boiling over has occurred is used.
FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the structure for detecting boiling over, in the conventional induction cooking device described in Patent Literature 1.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the conventional induction cooking device includes a driving circuit 102 to supply high-frequency electric power to a heating coil 104 when low-frequency electric power is inputted thereto from an AC power supply 101, in order to inductively heat a container to be heated (not illustrated). Further, a plurality of circular electrodes 103 are dispersively placed near the outer periphery of the heating coil 104. The respective circular electrodes 103 placed dispersively are connected to a capacitance determination circuit 106. The capacitance determination circuit 106 detects the capacitance between each circular electrode 103 and the capacitance determination circuit 106. A control circuit 105 is adapted such that signals from the capacitance determination circuit 106 are inputted thereto and is adapted to determine the temperature of the container being heated control heating operations of the driving circuit 102 based on boiling-over detection operations and the results of the detection. The capacitance determination circuit 106 detects boiling over on detecting abrupt increases in the capacitances of the circular electrodes 103 and stops detecting boiling over until the container being heated reaches a predetermined temperature which induces boiling over.    PLT 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-159494

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


An overcharge preventing device and an overdischarge preventing device for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery having voltage detectors and are provided to respectively detect terminal voltages of batteries connected in series. A switch is provided in series to the batteries between a common terminal and a charge terminal. When the terminal voltage of at least one of the batteries exceeds a battery design voltage in charging the batteries, the switch is turned off in response to an output from the corresponding voltage detectors, thereby cutting off a charging current. Further, a voltage detector is provided to detect a terminal voltage of the series connected batteries. A switch is provided in series to the batteries between the common terminal and a discharge terminal. When the terminal voltage of the batteries becomes equal to or less than a set voltage in discharging the batteries, the switch is turned off in response to an output from the voltage detector, thereby cutting off a discharging current.

The present invention relates to an overcharge preventing device and an overdischarge preventing device for preventing overcharge and overdischarge of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery such as lithium ion secondary battery.
Construction of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, e.g., a lithium ion secondary battery is shown in FIG. 7. Referring to FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 generally denotes a lithium ion secondary battery employing LiCoO.sub.2 as an active material 4 of a positive electrode 2 and carbon having a graphite structure as an active material 6 of a negative electrode 3. The active material 4 of the positive electrode 2 is held by a current collector 5 made of Al, and the active material 6 of the negative electrode 3 is held by a current collector 7 made of Cu. The active materials 4 and 6 are opposed to each other with a separator 8 interposed therebetween. An organic electrolyte 9 is filled between the active materials 4 and 6. A voltage reaction of the lithium ion secondary battery 1 is expressed by the following formula 1. ##STR1##
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the charging and discharging characteristics of the battery 1 has a remarkable correlation between a battery capacity, that is, a charging and discharging energy and a terminal voltage of the battery (what is called a battery voltage). A solid line I in FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating the relation between the battery voltage and the charging energy. It is apparent from FIG. 8 that the battery voltage increases with an increase in the charging energy.
A solid line II in FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating the relation between the battery voltage and the discharging energy. It is apparent from FIG. 9 that the battery voltage decreases with an increase in the discharging energy.
The battery 1 has a design voltage a (see FIG. 8) to be defined by a battery component material and a battery design. To charge the battery 1 beyond the design voltage a is called overcharge. The overcharge causes the problems of (1) deposition of Li metal on the negative electrode 3, (2) decomposition of the active material 4 of the positive electrode 2 and deposition of Co metal or Co compounds on the negative electrode 3 due to cobalt ion generated by the decomposition of the active material 4, and (3) decomposition of the organic electrolyte 9. The decomposition of the Li metal, the Co metal and the Co compounds causes short-circuit of the positive and negative electrodes, and the decomposition of the active material 4 of the positive electrode 2 and the organic electrolyte 9 causes a remarkable deterioration of the battery 1. Accordingly, if the overcharge is not substantially avoided, the reliability of the battery cannot be ensured.
In discharging the charged battery 1 by connecting the same to an external load, the battery voltage decreases as shown in FIG. 9. When the discharging is continued, the battery voltage reaches a dissolution voltage b of the current collector (Cu) 7 of the negative electrode 3. To discharge the battery 1 after the dissolution voltage b is reached is called overdischarge. The overdischarge naturally causes ionization of the copper (Cu) of the current collector 7, and the copper ion is eluted into the electrolyte 9. The elution of the metal of the current collector 7 causes deterioration of a current collecting function and falling of the active material 6 of the negative electrode 3, reducing a capacity of the battery 1. Furthermore, the copper ion thus eluted is abnormally deposited on the negative electrode 3 in carrying out the charging in the next time, causing short-circuit of the positive and negative electrodes. Accordingly, the overdischarge must also be avoided.
Conventionally, the following techniques have been proposed to cope with the overcharge and the overdischarge. As the measures to the overcharge, there have been proposed (1) control of a charging voltage by a charger and (2) a current cutting device utilizing an internal pressure of the battery.
The above measure (1) to the overcharge by the charger is to control a charging terminal voltage of the battery in charging. This measure is sufficiently effective in case of a unit battery or parallel connected unit batteries. However, batteries are used often in series connection. In this case, a terminal voltage of the series connected batteries can be controlled, but the battery voltage of each unit battery cannot be controlled. Accordingly, when at least one of the unit batteries connected in series is short-circuited, the other unit batteries become overcharged in charging. Thus, this method is not a perfect measure to the overcharge.
As the current cutting device mentioned as the above measure (2), it is known to utilize an increase in internal pressure of the battery in overcharging, thereby mechanically cutting a current lead wire to cut off a charging current. This method is intended not to prevent the overcharge itself but to prevent breakdown of the battery due to an abnormal increase in temperature and internal pressure of the battery after the progress of the overcharge. Moreover, once the charging current is cut off, the battery cannot be used any more.
As the measure to the overdischarge, it is known to select the metal of the current collector of the negative electrode so that the dissolution voltage may be close to zero as the battery voltage. For example, when Cu is replaced by Ni, the effect is observed, but it is not perfect. In case of series connected batteries, the overdischarge of one of the batteries necessarily proceeds because of a difference among the individual unit batteries, causing a remarkable reduction in charging and discharging cycle life.

Overcharge preventing device and overdischarge preventing device for a secondary battery


The present invention provides a method capable of producing a natural or recombinant protein at low cost. The present invention relates to a method of producing a polypeptide, comprising culturing a cell which strongly expresses a taurine transporter and has a transferred DNA encoding a desired polypeptide and thereby allowing the cell to produce the polypeptide. Hamster taurine transporter, a DNA encoding the same, a recombinant vector and a transformed cell are also provided.

When proteins useful as pharmaceuticals are produced with the recombinant DNA technique, use of animal cells enables complicated post-translational modification and folding which prokaryotic cells can not perform. Therefore, animal cells are frequently used as host cells for producing recombinant proteins.
Recently, a large number of biopharmaceuticals, such as antibodies and physiologically active proteins, have been developed. Techniques that permit efficient production of recombinant proteins by animal cells lead to cost reduction of biopharmaceuticals and promise their stable supply to patients.
Under these circumstances, a method of protein production with higher production efficiency is desired.
Taurine is a type of amino acid present in high concentrations in fish, shell fish and mollusks and is an important nutrient for the growth of mammals. Although taurine is not used in protein synthesis, it has many functions such as normalization of hypercholesterolemia, lowering of blood pressure, detoxication effect, maintenance of immune function, stabilization of biological membranes, regulation of neural excitability, antioxidation, etc. It is known that taurine contributes to osmoregulation and stabilization of cell membrane in cultured cells (Non-Patent Document 1). However, addition of taurine to the medium of astrocyte primary culture where taurine transporter was functioning did not increase taurine uptake into cells (Non-Patent Document 2). Thus, addition of taurine to the medium alone was insufficient.
On the other hand, it is totally unknown whether or not uptake of taurine and other amino acids into cultured cells via taurine transporter contributes to improvement of the production of a desired recombinant protein in the cultured cells.
Several taurine transporters (human: Non-Patent Document 3; mouse: Non-Patent Document 4; and rat: Non-Patent Document 5) and their involvement in the uptake of taurine and other amino acids (e.g., β-alanine) into cells are known (Non-Patent Document 6). However, with respect to hamster taurine transporter, even its existence has not been known yet.
[Non-Patent Document 1]
    Ian Henry Lambert, Neurochemical Research (2004) 29(1), 27-63[Non-Patent Document 2]    Journal of Neurochemistry (2000), 75(3), 919-924[Non-Patent Document 3]    Uchida, S. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (1992) 89 (17), 8230-8234[Non-Patent Document 4]    Liu, Q. R. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (1992) 89 (24), 12145-12149[Non-Patent Document 5]    Smith, K. E. et al., Mol. Pharmacol. (1992) 42 (4), 563-569[Non-Patent Document 6]    Ryo Shioda et al., Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science (2002) 43 (9), 2916

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for recombinant production of a desired polypeptide using a mammalian cell co-expressing a taurine transporter polypeptide


An optical fiber breakage point may be located by coupling to the optical fiber an out-of-band optical test signal modulated at a periodic modulation pattern. A distance to the breakage point may be determined from a difference between modulation patterns of transmitted and received test signals.

In a fiberoptic network, optical signals are encoded with digital streams of information and transmitted through a series of spans of optical fiber. At a receiver end, the optical signals are detected and decoded by a receiver. In Fiber to the Home (FTTH) applications, modulated optical carrier signals are used to relay broadband coaxial cable signals to and from end users. Similarly, in Fiber to the Antenna (FTTA) applications, modulated optical carrier signals are used to relay broadband radio frequency (RF) signals to and from antennas. In FIT A applications, a single optical fiber is used for bidirectional transmission, with a 1550 nm wavelength band being typically used for downstream transmission from a central station to an RF antenna, and a 1310 nm wavelength band used for an upstream transmission, that is, from the RF antenna back to the central station.
As passive fiberoptic links find an increasing use, so increase occurrences of fiber breakage, faulty fiber connections, open fibers, etc. A fiber breakage, or a mere deterioration of a fiber transmission, may occur during normal operation of a passive fiberoptic link. Thus, a need exists for monitoring fiber network integrity and performance level.
One drawback of prior art monitoring systems is that a precise location of the fiber breakage point in a fiberoptic network is unknown. Since fiberoptic network may span for leas and even hundreds of kilometers in some cases, it is desirable that a monitoring system have a fiber break locating functionality.
One known method of determining a distance to a fiber breakage is Optical Time-Domain Reflectometry (OTDR). In OTDR, a powerful laser pulse is launched at a proximal end of a fiberoptic link, and a time dependence of the reflected light power is monitored. Since speed of light in the fiberoptic link being tested is known, the distance to a fiber breakage point may be determined by measuring a time delay between the launched pulse and a pulse reflected from the fiber breakage point. OTDR, however, may disturb normal operation of a fiberoptic link, because the powerful laser pulse may interfere with optical data transmission. Furthermore. OTDR output data are rather complex, and require trained personnel to interpret.

In-service monitoring of a fiberoptic network