A deadlock prevention device of a keyswitch key includes a keycap and a base between which a scissors-like linkage mechanism is deformably received. The scissors-like linkage mechanism has a slidable and rotatable member formed at an intermediate portion thereof for deformation in response to a depression on the keycap. Therefore, the deadlock prevention device of the keyswitch key prevents the keyswitch key from deadlocking during operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keyswitch key apparatus used in a computer keyboard, and particularly to a keyswitch which can prevent deadlock upon depression thereon.
2. The Prior Art
Keyboards are the most popular input devices. Each key of a conventional keyboard generally has a cap connected to a column which is surrounded by a spring thus the column can contact a base thereunder upon depression of the key. The key will return to its original position after the depression force is removed. Therefore, the key has a top-down reciprocal movement during continuous clicks. However, the column has to be moved downward at least a specific depth into the base for preventing a deadlock from occurring.
Due to the trend of increasingly compact size and portable features of the electronic markets, the above top-down structure for keys used with desk top computers can not meet the requirements of a note book computer. Therefore, a leveling mechanism as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,225 comprising a pair of lever arms joined at intermediate portions thereof by a pivot to form a scissors-like linkage linked to a cantilevered portion included in and fixed in a keycap is provided for replacing the conventional keycap leveling mechanism. However, a keycap block is additionally mounted in the cantilevered portion by conventional heat-staking techniques, which has two slots at two ends thereof for respectively receiving and allowing studs to extend from the two scissors-like linkage arms. However, in practice, the keycap will have a lateral displacement when it is depressed downward to substantially a half pitch of a full depression pitch. Therefore the operation of the key will cause errors due to the unwanted lateral displacement thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,371 discloses different structures for keyswitches, yet the keycaps thereof may also move laterally upon depression.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,297 discloses a computer keyboard key switch which includes a bottom support board, a membrane circuit supported on the support board, a key base having a rubber cone and supported on the membrane circuit, a bridging device supporting board supported on the key base, a key cap, and a bridging device connected between the key cap and the bridge device supporting board and consisting of two rectangular open frames pivotally connected in a cross arrangement for permitting the key cap to be depressed to compress the rubber cone causing it to trigger the membrane circuit. However, the assembly of the crossed, pivotal frames with the key cap and the bottom support board requires two alignments which is laborious and time inefficient.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,382,762 and 5,466,901 introduce spring devices connected to respective lower ends of the links which are pivotally engaged to function as a scissors-like leveling mechanism in order to provide a buffering effect to stabilize the keycap during depression. However, the structure is overly complicated requiring additional registering procedures thus complicating assembly.
Therefore, it is requisite to provide an improved and simplified structure of a keyswitch key which can prevent the keycap from deadlocking during depression.


A volume-adjustable unit including a first layer, a second layer, and multiple inner paper layers disposed between the first and second layers. Each inner paper layer has two opposing sides, and each of the two opposing sides is adhered to an adjacent layer of the each inner paper layer through an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer includes multiple adhesive strips which are substantially in parallel, are spaced apart from each other and are arranged in such a way that each section of the each inner paper layer adheres to at most one adjacent layer on one of the two opposing sides through an adhesive strip, whereby multiple hexagonal columns are formed by the inner paper layers as the unit is stretched-out. The unit can be used to prepare a volume-adjustable frame of a piece of light furniture and transported from one place to another in smaller volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a volume-adjustable unit that can be processed to provide a frame of a piece of volume-adjustable furniture such as a chair, table, desk, bed, cabinet, bookcase, shelf, etc. Specifically, the present invention provides a piece of furniture with a volume-adjustable frame, substantially made of paper and with desired supporting strength. The frame can be reconfigured into different shapes as desired without permanent deformation.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
Currently, most pieces of furniture are made of metals, woods, or a combination thereof, to satisfy supporting requirement. Furniture made of metal and/or wood is heavy and has a fixed shape. Normally, such furniture is shipped fully assemble, taking up more space and therefore, adding transportation costs. Alternatively, such furniture is taken apart into its elements before transportation, and then reassembled after being transported to its destination. Therefore, furniture that is light and has an adjustable volume is highly desired for easy and cost-saving transportation purposes.
Various approaches have been developed for providing a piece of furniture with an adjustable configuration. However, most approaches have focused either on the adjustment of height or length of the furniture or the angle of one element relative to another element.
For instance, GB 2 125 284 A discloses furniture item, such as a chair, with synchronous movement of back and seat comprising a stationary frame, a seat support pivotably connected to the frame at a first pivot, and a gas cylinder and piston rod pivotably connected to the frame at a second pivot and the seat support at a third pivot. Adjustment of the angle of the seat support relative to the frame automatically adjusts the angle of the back relative to the seat support in a predetermined ratio.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,422 provides an adjustable furniture leg extension device for use in raising the height of a piece of furniture, such as a chair, table, or bed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,288 B2 relates to a folding chair having adjustable rear legs for use on flat, even ground and in addition, on sloping terrain from about zero to twenty degrees and being continuously adjustable over this range by a user in a seated position. US2003/0218365A1 discloses a single piece of furniture that is convertible to a number of different pieces of furniture, including a chair, desk, table and bed, shelves, and many other furniture types. This piece of furniture is made of wood, plastic, or metal, and does not have a curve shape. U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,837 relates to a chair that is adapted to form a sitting surface and a sleeping surface and comprises a chair back and a seat. The chair back and seat are relatively movable to form the sitting surface and the sleeping surface. US 2004/0251726 A1 provides a folding chair having adjustable, telescoping rear legs for use on level ground and sloping terrain. The chair is continuously adjustable by a user while in a seated position, with each of the telescoping rear legs housing a biasing means to mechanically assist the user in their adjustment.
None of the aforementioned approaches are directed to a piece of furniture comprising a frame substantially made of paper, the frame would be volume-adjustable and can be reconfigured without permanent deformation.

Volume-adjustable unit and furniture comprising frame made of the same


Medical or dental hardening compositions of the present invention comprise calcium phosphate type devitrification glass-ceramics powder containing apatite and/or calcium phosphate ceramics and a liquid component. The second medical or dental hardening compositions of the present invention comprise strontium phosphate type devitrification glass-ceramics powder containing strontium-apatite crystals and/or calcium strontium phosphate ceramics, or calcium strontium phosphate type devitrification glass-ceramics powder and a liquid component.

Defects or voids are caused in bones or teeth by traffic accidents and ablation of osteoncus in the fields of surgery and orthopaedic surgery, and by periodontoclasia, alveoloclasia, odontectomy and cutting-off of dental caries in the field of dental surgery. Various materials including one's own bone, polymers, metals, ceramics etc. have been used to fill such defects and voids, as well as for the dental prosthesis. Among them, one's own bone is excellent since it has high bone forming capacity and causes little rejection. However, as one's own bone must be taken from the one's normal bone tissue, the operation causes great pain and in many cases not enough tissue can be secured. Thus, recently, hydroxyapatite has been replacing the use of one's own bone tissue. Hydroxyapatite can be obtained by synthesized or by sintered animal bones, and removing organic components, and it is known to have excellent biocompatibility. However, when hydroxyapatite in powder or granular form is used as a filling material, such problems as the tendency for it to run-off with blood or body fluids, or transuded as a foreign body even after suturing have been pointed out.
For cementing and fitting a prosthesis in the hard tissue bone-cement has been used. As the bone-cement, so called medical polymers based on PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) have been used in most cases, however, these materials show insufficient biocompatibility and have such problems as the pain in the affected part caused by the reaction heat generated during the hardening reaction, or the harmfulness of the non-reached monomer to the living body.
Meanwhile, a dental cement material has been used not only as a coalescent for prosthesis, but also as a filling material or a lining material, and various dental cement materials have been developed as restortion materials in the field of dental surgery. Among them, glass ionomer cement, as shown in British Patent Number 1,316,129 made of glass powder produced by melting alumina and silica at a high temperature using a flux such as fluoride, and a hardening liquid made of a copolymer of acrylic acid and an unsaturated carboxylic acid, exhibits great crushing resistance after hardening, relatively good adhesion to tooth, and minimum harmfulness to dental pulp. However, it has a problem of insufficient biocompatibility.
In this context, a new dental cement made of such inorganic components that constitute the hard tissue have recently been drawing attention, and cements based on calcium phosphate or apatite type crystalline powder have been under development as well. The main components of these materials are bone analogues and have excellent biocompatibility, but the reactivity of the crystalline powder with an organic hardening liquid is very bad, since the components that react with the hardening liquid are very limited. Compositions for filling bones and teeth comprising .alpha.-tricalcium phosphate and a liquid component, have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,140, however, since the crushing resistance of the cement is very low, they cannot be employed for practical use.
Those dental cement materials developed so far have different merits and demerits respectively, and need to be chosen according to the particular purpose, however, the commonly required characteristics of a dental cement material include sufficient hardening characteristics and biocompatibility, and a material satisfying both of them has been desired.
In addition, no materials having both biocompatibility and X-ray opacity have been found for the medical or dental uses. It is needless to say that biocompatibility is very important for a biomaterial, but, in the case of an artificial material to be implanted in a body in some way, it is also important to know the condition of the artificial material when it is implanted, or to follow its change with time correctly. Thus, X-ray opacity also becomes an important property. In order to render X-ray opacity, a metal oxide or a metal salt of such a metal as strontium, barium or lanthanum have been typically blended as X-ray opacity material with the base material. However, those X-ray opacity components do not have biocompatibility, and have high solubility in a living body, or have problems in causing harmful effects including allergies. In view of the above-described problems, a material whose X-ray opacity component per se has biocompatibility and which can remain stable in a living body has also been strongly desired.


A method identifying components is disclosed. Measured values of a randomly produced property of the component are recorded. The measured values are biuniquely assigned to the component by means of a characteristic parameter and the measured values accessibly storing the measured values, or a unique code assigned thereto. Further, the characteristic parameter are accessibly stored.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of identifying components and more particularly, to a method of identifying components which prevents the copying of such components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to identify components, codes are impressed on the components. The impression of such a code is necessary in many cases to protect the components from being copied. The applications in which such copy protection is required are steadily increasing, e.g., credit cards, paper money, automotive parts, semiconductor devices. The methods of impressing the codes are becoming increasingly complicated to ensure copy protection.
The requirements for copy protection coding increase as the knowledge of persons who copy the copy protection increases. For example, attempts are being made to impress concealed codes. Furthermore, impression of a code is desirable in many cases to permit subsequent identification of individual components, particularly of their place of origin, the manufacturer, and the date of manufacture. Such coding is further desirable in order to permit identification by retracing the manufacturing process and the like if, for example, the component has been delivered to the customer and is used there or has been fitted into another object.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention, to provide a more reliable method of identifying components.

Method for identifying an apparatus or device utilizing a randomly produced characteristic thereof


A solar light reflecting plate used for a light condensing and heat collecting device which includes a solar light reflecting plate that reflects and condenses solar light and a heat collecting tube that receives the solar light condensed by the solar light reflecting plate and is heated by the condensed solar light, wherein the solar light reflecting plate includes at least a rolled substrate, a surface roughness of a solar light reflecting surface that is an outermost surface and that reflects solar light is 0.02 μm to 1.0 μm in terms of arithmetic mean roughness Ra, and the solar light reflecting plate is disposed so that an angle between a rolling direction of the substrate and a longitudinal direction of the heat collecting tube is 80° to 100°.

As a light condensing and heat collecting device used for solar thermal power generation, a device including a solar light reflecting plate that condenses solar light and a heat collecting tube that is disposed at the focal point of the solar light reflecting plate is known.
As the solar light reflecting plate (reflecting mirror) provided in the light condensing and heat collecting device, for example, JP 57-4003 A discloses a solar light reflecting plate including a substrate 4 formed of an appropriate material, for example, metal and alloy such as aluminium, steel plate and stainless steel, or plastic, or the like, a metallic reflective film 5 formed of aluminium, silver, or the like and deposited on the substrate 4, and a transparent inorganic protective film 6 formed of a vitreous film such as SiO and SiO2 and deposited on the surface of the metallic reflective film 5 (refer to the upper-right column of page 2).
As disclosed in JP 57-4003 A, in a case where the solar light reflecting plate (reflecting mirror) is provided with a reflective film, a diffuse reflectance is improved, but a regular reflectance that is important in solar thermal power generation is lowered.
We found that the regular reflectance is improved by reducing the surface roughness of the outermost surface (the surface of the reflective film) of the solar light reflecting plate.
However, it became clear that a high regular reflectance does not necessarily secure a high light condensing property and an improved power generation efficiency.
Thus, it could be helpful to provide a solar light reflecting plate and a light condensing and heat collecting device capable of obtaining an excellent light condensing property.

Solar light reflecting plate and light collecting/heat collecting device


The base member (300) has a light transmitting property. The light emitting element (20) is on the inner surface (302) of the base member (300). The light emitting element (20) includes a light emitting portion (142) and a light transmitting portion (144). A plurality of wirings (222) of the first sheet 202 and a plurality of wirings (222) of the second sheet (204) are on the surface of the base member (300). The plurality of wirings (222) of the first sheet (202) is electrically connected to an anode (first terminal (112)) of the light emitting element (20). The plurality of wirings (222) of the second sheet (204) is electrically connected to a cathode (second terminal (132)) of the light emitting element (20).

In recent years, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a light emitting element having a light transmitting property may be attached to a rear window of a moving object. As such a light emitting element, a semi-transmissive organic light emitting diode (OLED) is currently being developed. The semi-transmissive OLED has a light emitting element including a light emitting portion and a light transmitting portion, and allows the light emission of the light emitting portion from only one side. Such a configuration allows the semi-transmissive OLED to serve as a lamp that emits light in an outer direction of the moving object when semi-transmissive OLED is attached to the rear window of the moving object, and enables visual contact, from the inside of the moving object, with the outside of the moving object regardless of the light emitting state.
When the semi-transmissive OLED is attached to the rear window of the moving object, it is necessary to supply electric power from the outside of the light emitting element or the light emitting portion to drive the light emitting element or the light emitting portion of the semi-transmissive OLED. In Patent Document 2, electric power is supplied to a light emitting element or a light emitting portion through a heating wire (defogger) of the rear window.


The material utilization efficiency of FPC's is improved, to provide a low cost touch panel. A touch panel 100 is constituted by: a rectangular transparent panel 104; and a plurality of light emitting elements 8a and a plurality of light receiving elements 8b provided at the peripheral portions of the transparent panel 104, for specifying the coordinates of targets of detection. An elongate FPC 106 is folded at a plurality of predetermined locations to be provided as a frame along the four sides 122a, 122b, 122c, and 122d of the transparent panel 104. The plurality of light emitting elements 8a are provided on the FPC 106 along two adjacent sides of the transparent panel 104, and the plurality of light receiving elements 8b are provided on the other two sides of the transparent panel 104 so as to face the light emitting elements 8a.

Conventionally, there are known devices that employ FPC's (Flexible Printed Circuits) in transparent tablets (touch panels) for inputting X-Y coordinates with fingers (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1(1989)-206425, FIG. 1). The FPC disclosed in the above document is continuously provided so as to surround the four sides at the periphery of a rectangular transparent substrate (transparent panel), which functions as an input portion of the transparent tablet. The FPC is formed in a frame shape by punching out a rectangular portion that corresponds to a display screen from a rectangular sheet FPC having greater dimensions than the display screen. The frame shaped portion is provided at the periphery of the transparent substrate, and electronic components necessary for the touch panel are provided on the frame shaped portion.
A circuit unit is also known, in which a single FPC is folded along two adjacent sides of a rectangular display screen of a plasma display device, a liquid crystal display device or the like (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-324951, FIG. 5).
In the case of the FPC disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-206425, it is easy to provide light emitting elements and light receiving elements such that their correspondent relationships are accurately established. However, the rectangular portion of the FPC which is punched out constitutes a large portion of the sheet FPC that it is punched out from. The punched out portion is generally discarded instead of being utilized. That is, the discarded portion becomes waste, the material utilization efficiency of FPC's, becomes low, and as a result, the cost of production becomes high. Even if the portion to be discarded is to be utilized for other applications, there are problems with regard to production and parts management. In addition, not all of the portions to be discarded can be utilized for other applications.
In the case of the FPC disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-324951, the area of the FPC to be utilized can be maintained small. However, this configuration is difficult to be applied to a touch panel, in which an FPC is provided along the four sides of a rectangular transparent panel, and pluralities of light emitting elements and light receiving elements that correspond to each other are provided on the four sides.
The present invention has been developed in view of the foregoing circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a touch panel, in which the material utilization efficiency of FPC's is high, which can be manufactured at low cost, and in which the correspondent relationships among pluralities of light emitting elements and light receiving elements can be accurately established.

Touch panel with elongated flexible printed circuit


A resin composition which can be used to form a prepreg having sufficient flexibility to prevent cracking from occurring therein is provided. Further, a prepreg having sufficient flexibility to prevent cracking from occurring, a prepreg having excellent workability even in the case where the resin composition in the prepreg is in an uncured state, and a laminate provided with such a prepreg are also provided. The resin composition is used to form a sheet-shaped prepreg by impregnating a base material with the resin composition, and the composition comprises a first thermosetting resin, a second thermosetting resin having a lower weight average molecular weight than that of the first thermosetting resin, a curing agent, and a filler. The prepreg is formed by impregnating a base sheet material with the resin composition described above. The laminate is formed by laminating a metallic foil on the prepreg and then molding them by heating under pressure. A semiconductor package is manufactured by mounting an IC chip on a prepreg on which the metallic foil has been laminated.

In general, a prepreg used for a printed wiring board is formed by impregnating a base material such as glass cloth or the like with a varnish made of a thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin, cyanate resin or the like and then drying it by heating with being reacted. By using the thus formed prepreg, copper clad laminates, printed wiring boards and the like are manufactured.
When the resin constituting the prepreg is in an uncured state, there is a problem in that the surface of the prepreg becomes tacky (that is, tack is developed) so that workability is lowered. Further, there is also a problem in that excessive resin flow occurs when the prepregs are heated and pressed during laminating so that moldability is lowered.
To address such problems, practically, the thermosetting resin constituting the prepreg is cured to a semi-cured state in the above-mentioned heating and reacting process, to thereby suppress development of tack on the surface of the prepreg and control resin flow when the prepregs are heated and pressed during laminating.
However, a problem exists with such a prepreg in a semi-cured state in that it is susceptible to cracking because of its lack of flexibility. As a result, such a semi-cured state prepreg can not be directly subjected to circuit formation processing.
Another problem also exists with such a semi-cured state prepreg in that dust of the resin and the base material is generated during cutting of the prepreg because of poor adhesive strength between the semi-cured resin and the base material, which also results in a lowered workability. In addition, there is also a problem in that such dust comes off the prepreg in handling the prepreg for manufacturing a laminate, and then it is likely to be attached to a metallic foil such as copper foil as well as to a metallic plate used in lamination molding, so that so-called pits and dents are produced on molded laminates and printed wiring boards.
Consequently, a resin material which can be used to form a prepreg which can be directly subjected to circuit formation processing even in the case where the prepreg is in an uncured state or a semi-cured state has not yet been existed. Further, an idea that an uncured state prepreg or a semi-cured state prepreg is made to undergo circuit formation processing and the like as it is has not been conceived until now.

Resin composition, prepreg, laminate, and semiconductor package


The disclosure relates to a liquid, milk-based animal feed for domestic cats or dogs, containing at least 70 vol % water, 2-13 vol % milk protein, 2-13 vol % milk fat, 1-5 vol % starch as an essential thickener, at least 0.01 vol % amino acid additive, and at least 0.01 vol % plant-based sugar. The disclosure also relates to a method for producing such an animal feed.

The invention relates to a milk-based liquid animal feed for domestic cats or dogs.
A milk-based liquid animal feed is known as a supplementary feed for domestic cats. Such an animal feed is known commercially as cat milk, which is usually produced from reduced-lactose cow's milk and contains vitamin supplements.

Liquid animal feed for domestic cats or dogs and methods for producing same


An apparatus and method for inspecting a motorcycle. A braking force inspecting unit is provided for calculating a braking force from results measured by a torque measuring unit to determine whether the braking force is acceptable or not when a brake is fully applied and the support rollers are rotated by a motor. A speedometer inspecting unit is provided for determining whether a speedometer is acceptable or not from results measured by a rotational speed measuring unit when the support rollers are rendered rotatable and an engine of the motorcycle is operated. A brake system inspecting unit is provided for calculating a change in a vehicle speed of the motorcycle from the results measured by the rotational speed measuring unit and determining whether an ABS and a CBS operate acceptably or not when the engine of the motorcycle is operated.

Heretofore, one known apparatus for inspecting an antilock brake system (hereinafter referred to as "ABS") and a front/rear wheel combined brake system (hereinafter referred to as "CBS") for motorcycles is disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2001-281108.
The disclosed inspecting apparatus has a pair of front wheel support rollers (a first front wheel support roller and a second front wheel support roller) for supporting a front wheel seated thereon, and a pair of rear wheel support rollers (a first rear wheel support roller and a second rear wheel support roller) for supporting a rear wheel seated thereon, the first front wheel support roller and the first rear wheel support roller being coupled together for rotation in synchronism with each other. Each of the rollers has its surface made of a low friction material. The second front wheel support roller and the second rear wheel support roller are associated with respective rotational speed detecting means coupled thereto for detecting respective rotational speeds thereof. The first rear wheel support roller is coupled to a drive motor through a clutch.
For inspecting an ABS on a motorcycle with the inspecting apparatus thus constructed, the front and rear wheels of the test vehicle are placed respectively on the pair of front wheel support rollers and the pair of rear wheel support rollers, and the first rear wheel support roller is rotated by the drive motor. The first and second rear wheel support rollers are synchronously rotated by the rear wheel, and their rotation is transmitted through the first front wheel support roller to the front wheel and the second front wheel support roller. Therefore, all the rollers are synchronously rotated.
When the rotational speeds of the rollers as detected by the rotational speed detecting means reach a predetermined speed, the clutch between the first rear wheel support roller and the drive motor is disengaged, and the operator fully applies the brake. The rollers separated from the drive power from the drive motor by the clutch continuously rotate by inertia, and their rotational speed are gradually lowered by the brake. Since the surface of each of the rollers made of the low friction material, a slippage occurs between the wheels of the motorcycle and the rollers, causing the ABS to operate to apply a pumping brake. The rollers are thereafter stopped by the brake, and the times at which the rollers are stopped are compared with a value determined by an actual measurement to determine whether the ABS performance is acceptable or not. For inspecting the CBS of the motorcycle with the conventional inspecting apparatus, the operator applies one of the brakes (e.g., the front wheel brake) to cause the other brake (e.g., the rear wheel brake) to operate in combination therewith, and the times at which the rollers are stopped are compared with a value determined by an actual measurement to determine whether the CBS performance is acceptable or not, in the same manner as when the ABS is inspected.
According to the ABS inspection process carried out by the conventional inspecting apparatus, the time required to inspect the ABS is relatively long because no judgement results are obtained unless the support rollers are stopped after the operator has applied the brake. If the front wheel ABS and the rear wheel ABS are to be inspected successively, then the support rollers which have been stopped after the inspection of the front wheel ABS is finished need to be rotated up to a rotational speed that is high enough to inspect the rear wheel ABS, resulting in a poor inspection efficiency. The CBS inspection process also takes a relatively long inspection time because stopping times and stopping distances are used for judgement and hence no judgement results are obtained unless the support rollers are stopped after the operator has applied the brakes. Furthermore, the operator is required to be skilled as an activation of the CBS is confirmed based on a bodily feel of the operator, with the result that a high inspection accuracy cannot be achieved.
The conventional inspecting apparatus determines whether the ABS and the CBS are acceptable or not by comparing the times at which the rollers are stopped with a value determined by an actual measurement. If the ABS or the CBS is judged as a failure, then the conventional inspecting apparatus cannot identify whether the ABS or the CBS suffers a control failure or the braking forces are problematic.
Though the surface of each of the rollers made of the low friction material, if the inertial rotation of the rollers is not sufficiently fast when the operator apply the brakes, then a slippage between the wheels and the rollers that is in conformity with actual running conditions on the road cannot reliably be produced.
Generally, motorcycles have a speedometer for measuring the speed thereof while they are running. The inspecting apparatus keeps a motorcycle under test running on the rollers. Therefore, the inspecting apparatus is also desired to inspect efficiently the speedometer of the motorcycle under test.
In view of the above drawbacks, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for and a method of inspecting a motorcycle accurately and efficiently by easily locating a defective part and greatly reducing a period of time required to inspect each inspection item of the motorcycle.

Apparatus and method for inspecting motorcycle


In order to improve a sensor comprising an emitting element emitting a bundle of light rays in a direction of propagation, a receiving element receiving the bundle of light rays and having at least one receiving surface for the bundle of light rays, and an evaluating device generating an output signal of the sensor, such that exact determination of the deflection and the direction of deflection is possible, it is proposed that in each deflection position, a receiving surface be illuminated by only a partial bundle of rays of the bundle of light rays in the direction of deflection, that the receiving element generate for the receiving surface an integral intensity signal corresponding to the total intensity impinging upon this receiving surface and that the evaluating device detect the intensity signal and determine the deflection with a processor.

The invention relates to a sensor comprising an emitting element emitting a bundle of light rays in a direction of propagation, the bundle of light rays having transversely to its direction of propagation a distribution of intensity which varies over its cross-section, a receiving element receiving the bundle of light rays and having at least one receiving surface for the bundle of light rays, the emitting element being so arranged relative to the receiving element that when the sensor is acted upon, the emitting element is movable relative to the receiving element in a direction of deflection transversely to the direction of propagation of the bundle of light rays, and an evaluating device generating an output signal of the sensor.
Such a sensor is known from DE-OS (German published patent application) 32 30 615. In accordance with one embodiment, this sensor is provided with an emitting element in the form of a light guide which emits the bundle of light rays and is movable when the sensor is acted upon and with a receiving element which receives the bundle of light rays via a light wave guide which then conducts the received light to a detector. A further embodiment comprises a stationary emitting element in the form of either a lamp or a lamp with a light guide and a receiving element including a movable light guide which conducts the light to the detector. All of the embodiments according to DE-OS (German published patent application) 32 30 615 are designed such that one or several photosensors receive a light intensity which is dependent on the deflection of the movable light guide, but the way of evaluating the light intensity so as to obtain an output signal is not discussed.
In DE-OS (German published patent application) 32 30 615, it is not disclosed how an exact measurement is to be carried out in order to determine the deflection and the direction of deflection.
The object underlying the invention is, therefore, to so improve a sensor of the generic kind that the deflection and the direction of deflection can be determined precisely.

Redundant optical deflection sensor having separate masses


A mining elevator traction cable connecting apparatus and a measuring method therefor, for use in a mining elevator serving a deep-mine. The apparatus includes an industrial personal computer (IPC), a signal collector connected to the IPC, multiple symmetrically arranged cable rings for use in connecting to one end of a traction cable, and a traction cable tension adjusting apparatus connected to the multiple of cable rings. Arranged within the traction cable tension adjusting apparatus are a plurality of hydraulic cylinders, and a plurality of draw wire displacement sensors for use in monitoring the relative displacement between each hydraulic cylinder plunger and a corresponding hydraulic cylinder body. The draw wire displacement sensors and an oil pressure sensor connected to a hydraulic pipeline are connected to the IPC via the signal collector, forming a traction cable tension and degree of adjustment measuring system.

As buildings become increasingly higher, the lifting heights of elevators increase accordingly; especially, elevators are often used to transport workers in mines of great depth; in those environments, the phenomenon of tension unbalance among the hoisting ropes becomes apparent; consequently, fraction wheel rope-groove and hoisting ropes wear down in an unbalanced manner, and thereby cause severe sway of the elevator car in the lifting process. Existing hoisting rope tension regulating devices for mining elevators mainly employ compression springs or rubber pads for a connection cushion at the terminals of hoisting ropes. Though such an arrangement achieves a cushion and shock absorption effect, the hoisting rope tension may be unbalanced after the hoisting ropes are used for some time due to manufacturing error and material differences amongst the hoisting ropes; consequently, the traction wheel rope-grooves will wear down in an uneven manner, the elevator car cannot operate steadily, the hoisting ropes will wear down severely, and the service life will be shortened.

Mining elevator traction cable connecting apparatus and measuring method therefor

China University of Mining and Technology


An exhaust system is disclosed for use with an engine. The exhaust system may have a first exhaust manifold associated with a first plurality of engine cylinders, and a second exhaust manifold associated with a second plurality of engine cylinders. The exhaust system may also have a first exhaust gas recirculation passage extending from the first exhaust manifold to the first plurality of engine cylinders, and a second exhaust gas recirculation passage extending from the first exhaust manifold to the second plurality of engine cylinders. The exhaust system may additionally have a first cooler located in fluid communication with the first exhaust gas recirculation passage, and a second cooler located in fluid communication with the second exhaust gas recirculation passage.

Combustion engines such as diesel engines, gasoline engines, and gaseous fuel-powered engines are supplied with a mixture of air and fuel for combustion within the engine that generates a mechanical power output and a flow of exhaust gases. The exhaust gases can include a complex mixture of air pollutants produced as byproducts of the combustion process. And, due to increased attention on the environment, the amount of pollutants emitted to the atmosphere from an engine can be regulated depending on the type of engine, size of engine, and/or class of engine.
One method that has been implemented by engine manufacturers to comply with the regulation of exhaust emissions includes utilizing an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) circuit. EGR circuits operate by recirculating a portion of the exhaust produced by the engine back to the intake of the engine to mix with fresh combustion air. The resulting mixture, when ignited, produces a lower combustion temperature and a corresponding reduced amount of regulated pollutants.
An exemplary turbocharged engine implementing exhaust gas recirculation is disclosed in a technical article titled "Engine Gas Recirculation: Internal engine technology for reducing nitrogen oxide emissions" by MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH that published in August of 2011 ("the technical article"). In particular, the technical article discloses an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders arranged into two different banks. Both banks of cylinders are provided with compressed air from a three-turbocharger arrangement (i.e., a high-pressure turbocharger and parallel low-pressure turbochargers). One of the banks of cylinders discharges exhaust to the turbochargers, while the other bank is considered a donor bank and discharges exhaust for recirculation within the engine. A single EGR cooler is mounted to the top of the engine for cooling exhaust from the donor bank of cylinders before the exhaust is distributed to all cylinders for subsequent mixing with air and combustion. A first control valve is located upstream of the EGR cooler and used to control EGR flow rates, while a second control valve is located in a bypass and used to selectively direct excess exhaust from the donor bank of cylinders to the turbochargers.
Although the exhaust system of the technical article may provide for reduced emissions in some applications, it may still be less than optimal. In particular, because exhaust gas is only distributed to the different banks of cylinders from a location downstream of the EGR cooler and EGR control valve, these components may be relatively large and difficult to package. For example, the single large EGR cooler mounted to the top of the engine may be cumbersome and limit applicability. In addition, the number of control valves used by the system may increase cost and control complexity of the engine. Further, the location of the EGR control valve upstream of the cooler may create an extreme environment for the control valve that can lead to excessive wear and premature failure of the valve.
The disclosed exhaust system is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.

Exhaust system having parallel EGR coolers


The present invention relates to a method of treating or preventing kidney disease in an animal subject including administering an effective amount of C-reactive protein to the animal subject. The kidney disease may be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic immune complex disease of humans that affects multiple organ systems. The disease is characterized by rashes, arthritis, lung disease, and kidney disease. It occurs mostly in women and usually strikes during young adulthood. Perhaps the most severely affected organ is the kidney, and glomerulonephritis is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with SLE. The current standard treatment for lupus nephritis is the alkylating agent cyclophosphamide, a strong immunosuppressive drug. Although treatment is generally effective, the drug has many side effects including infections, sterility, hair loss, and malignancy.
A wide variety of agents have been used to treat SLE. These agents may act either by interfering with collaborations between B and T lymphocytes, directly eliminating effector cells, or by blocking individual cytokines. Biological agents have had various levels of success in treating animal models of SLE. However, most agents require repeated treatment with high concentrations of mAb or protein antagonists.
The most commonly studied animal model of human SLE is the NZB X NZW F1 female mouse (NZB/W). This mouse shares many features with the human disease including severe proliferative glomerulonephritis, which is the major cause of death in the mice. The mice have high levels of circulating immune complexes (IC), which interact with Fc gamma receptors (FcR) in the kidney to induce nephritis. A second mouse model of human SLE is the MRL-Faslpr mouse, which exhibits a more rapid progression of disease than the NZB/W mouse.
The innate immune system plays an important role in autoimmunity. One way in which the innate immune system molecules may affect autoimmunity is through the recognition and clearance of autoantigens released from apoptotic or necrotic cells. Other possible mechanisms for protecting against autoimmune-mediated inflammation include altering the cytokine response to inflammatory stimuli and by redirecting the adaptive immune system.
C-reactive protein (CRP) is the prototypic acute phase reactant in man and a component of the innate immune system. CRP binds to nuclear antigens that are the target of the autoantibodies of patients with SLE as well as to damaged membranes and microbial antigens. CRP activates the classical complement pathway and interacts with phagocytic cells through FcR. CRP is protective against various inflammatory states including endotoxin shock and inflammatory alveolitis. CRP protection against endotoxin shock requires FcR and is associated with FcR-dependent induction of interlukin-10 (IL-10) synthesis by macrophages.
It has been reported that CRP was protective against the accelerated disease in NZB/W mice injected with chromatin. It has also been demonstrated that NZB/W mice transgenic for human CRP had a delayed onset of proteinuria and enhanced survival. The ability of CRP to prolong survival in NZB/W mice has been attributed to increased binding and clearance of autoantigens or immune complexes. However, the ability of CRP to regulate acute inflammation suggests an alternative mechanism for its beneficial effects in SLE.
What is needed is an effective treatment for kidney disease (including that caused by SLE) that does not have the serious side effects attendant with cyclophosphamide treatment. What is also needed is an effective way to modify the response to autoantigens and thereby delay or even reverse nephritis caused by, for example, SLE.

Use of C-reactive protein to treat immune complex-mediated renal disease


An automated physical database backup, refresh and cloning system and method automatically generates scripts or commands for implementing one or more tasks related to physical database backup and/or database and application refresh or cloning operations between a source environment and a target environment. The scripts or commands make use of parameters describing the source and target environments, at least some of which are gathered prior to initiating backup and cloning. The tasks are performed during one or more backup, refresh and cloning phases. In some embodiments, scripts are automatically regenerated and executed after a failure associated with the source or target environment.

Today's business enterprises typically store data in databases. There is an increasing awareness among such enterprises that responsible data protection includes database backup, refresh and cloning. Other frequently used procedures include database and application refresh and cloning. Database backup includes periodically replicating data stored on a primary storage system and moving the copy to a secondary storage system at a safe location. Database and application refresh includes periodically replacing data stored in a database and a small portion of data in the application on a secondary storage system with data from a database and application on a primary storage system. Database and application cloning includes periodically replacing data stored in a database and a medium portion of data in the application on a secondary storage system with data from a database and application on a primary storage system. Refreshed and cloned databases are typically used for development, testing, training or reporting purposes.
If a disaster occurs resulting in the destruction of data on the primary storage system, then the copy is recovered from the secondary storage system and used to reconstruct or clone the primary storage system. Unfortunately, given the large amounts of data used by today's businesses, performing database backup and/or database and application refresh or cloning has become a time consuming and labor intensive task due at least in part to a lack of industry standardization.
Some database management systems allow logical backup of databases using export and import utilities (e.g., ORACLE 9i). A logical backup involves reading a set of database records and writing them to a file. These records are read independently of their physical location. For example, the ORACLE Export utility reads a database, including a data dictionary, and writes the output to a binary file called export dump file. The ORACLE Import utility reads the binary export dump file created by the Export utility and executes embedded commands to recover the data. Because logical backup utilities typically do not recover transactions, take a long time to perform and sometimes lack referential integrity (e.g., export is done one table at a time), many businesses prefer physical backup over logical backup. Moreover, since logical backup data records are read independently of their physical locations, a database administrator (DBA) may have to set up tablespaces, datafiles and users before the import, to properly specify the physical destinations of database objects.
Several vendors have developed hardware and software solutions for performing physical backup. Hardware solutions typically require coupling data protection appliances to a network owned and/or operated by the business. While a hardware solution may provide some advantages, for many businesses those advantages will be outweighed by the cost of the hardware and its maintenance. The software solutions for physical backup typically include a user interface for initiating data cloning operations in an ORACLE application environment. Such solutions, however, may require installation of client software throughout the network, which can also cause an organization to incur significant installation and maintenance costs. Some businesses subscribe to an application service provider (ASP) or application management outsourcer for information technology (IT) support and may want the ASP or outsourcer to provide the service remotely without engaging internal personnel, or may not have in-house IT personnel to provide installation and maintenance services. For such businesses, these traditional hardware and software solutions may not be appropriate because they can incur additional overhead costs, which could adversely impact profits, or could be forced to engage internal personnel that could be focused on other matters (e.g., engaging or hiring in-house IT personnel).
Accordingly, what is needed is a cost effective and efficient system and method of providing automated physical database backup and/or database and application refresh or cloning across networked, heterogeneous environments without a need for hardware appliances or client software installations.

Database backup, refresh and cloning system and method


A battery unit with improved safety measures, a lithium polymer battery using the battery unit, and a method for manufacturing the lithium polymer battery are provided. The lithium polymer battery has a battery unit and a case accommodating the battery unit, wherein the battery unit includes: a cathode plate having a cathode collector and a cathode active material layer coated on at least one surface of the cathode collector; a cathode lead electrically connected to the cathode collector; an anode plate having an anode collector and an anode active material layer coated on at least one surface of the anode collector; an anode lead electrically connected to the anode collector; a separator interposed between the cathode plate and the anode plate, which insulates the cathode plate and the anode plate from each other; and an insulating member formed on at least one of the cathode lead and the anode lead, which prevents a short circuit between the cathode lead and the anode plate or between the anode lead and the cathode plate. In the battery unit, the cathode plate, the separator, and the anode plate are sequentially and repeatedly stacked upon one another. Therefore, the insulating member incorporated in the lithium polymer battery can enhance the safety of the battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithium polymer battery, and more particularly, to a battery unit configured to prevent a short circuit due to contact between the electrode leads and the electrode plates, a lithium polymer battery using the battery unit, and a method for manufacturing the lithium polymer battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lithium secondary batteries have a high energy density per unit weight and an operating voltage of 3.6V or greater, which is three times higher than nickel-cadmium (Ni—Cd) batteries, nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries, and nickel-hydrogen batteries. For these reasons, their use has become widespread. Lithium secondary batteries can be classified into lithium-ion batteries that use a liquid organic electrolyte and lithium polymer batteries that use a solid polymeric electrolyte.
Specifically, lithium polymer batteries are rather safe and can accommodate a variety of shapes, especially, in thin film form to comply with the need for small, lightweight, portable electronic products. These properties could not typically be achieved in lithium-ion batteries. Due to these advantages, the lithium polymer battery has recently attracted attention.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a conventional lithium polymer battery 10 is shown. The conventional lithium polymer battery 10 includes a battery unit 11, an electrode lead 12 drawn out from the battery unit 11, an electrode terminal 13 welded to the plurality of electrode leads 12, and a case 14 for accommodating the battery unit 11.
The battery unit 11 has a structure in which a cathode plate, an insulating separator, and an anode plate are sequentially and repeatedly stacked upon one another. The electrode lead 12 is drawn out from each of the cathode and anode plates of the battery unit 11. A plurality of electrode leads 12 drawn out from the electrode plates of the battery unit 11 are electrically connected to electrode terminals 13, wherein a portion of the electrode terminal 13 is exposed to the outside of the case 14. The case 14, shown in FIG. 1A as a pouch shape provides space for accommodating the battery unit 11.
The case 14 has a sealing portion 14a to be coupled to another element to seal the battery unit 11 placed in the case 14. A sealing tape 15 is wound around a portion of the electrode terminals 13 which contacts the sealing portion 14a. Accordingly, as the sealing portion 14a is thermally fused to seal the case 14, the sealing tape 15 is also fused and bound to internal layers of the case 14, thereby enhancing the hermetic containment of the battery.
However, the conventional lithium polymer battery 10 has the following problems. A group of electrode leads 12 extending from electrode plates, which have the same polarity as the electrode leads 12, is bent in a U-shape and then welded to one electrode terminal 13. When the insulating separator shrinks due to overheating during the manufacturing process or during operation of the lithium polymer battery 10, the electrode leads 12 may contact the electrode plates of the battery unit 11 having the opposite polarity to the electrode leads 12, thereby causing one or more short circuits.
In the case where the battery unit 11 has a stacked structure where the cathode and anode plates are stacked upon one another, sharp burrs may result at the edges of the electrode leads 12 in cutting a stack of the electrode plates to form the battery unit 11. The electrode leads 12 with such burrs may penetrate one of the insulating separators and directly contact electrode plates having the opposite polarity to the electrode leads 12, resulting in the occurrence of one or more short circuits in the battery.
Heat generated when a short circuit occurs in the battery unit 11 is transferred to a thin polymeric layer coated on the inner surface of the case 14. Accordingly, the thin polymeric film melts, and the electrode leads 12 electrically contact metal foil which is included as an intermediate structural layer of the case 14. As a result, the case 14 gradually corrodes depending on a difference in ionization with respect to the electrode plates of the battery unit 11.

Battery unit, lithium polymer battery using the same, and method for manufacturing lithium polymer battery


A clamp having a first member, a second member connectable to the first member and a second surface having a first groove and a second groove, each groove for receiving a toothed belt tooth, a peak is disposed between each groove, the second member cooperatively engages the first member to engage the toothed belt there between, and the first member having at least one arcuate concave surface extending across a clamp width, the arcuate concave surface corresponding with the second member peak when the second member is fastened to the first member.

Timing belts are used in various metering, positioning, conveying, and oscillating drives for instruments, mechanisms, tools, etc. Timing belts are formed of durable plastics, such as neoprene and polyurethane, which may be reinforced by tensile metal cords. Timing belts vary in width, the number of teeth, the type of the plastic suitable for the operating conditions imposed upon the timing belt, and other parameters.
Timing belts are available in commonly used, or standard lengths. Where belt lengths are required that are longer than the standard lengths stocked by suppliers and distributors of precision mechanical components, a new, longer belt can be formed from a length of timing belt stock. A clamp is used to join the opposing ends of the length of belt stock into an endless belt. The resulting endless belt is greater in length than standard belts, and is capable of addressing the specific requirements of the user. Belt lengths may also be connected at each end to XY machines for use in pick and pack operations.
Due to manufacturing processes stress risers can be realized between the teeth in the toothed belt. The stress risers can diminish to operating life of the belt by causing premature failure of the tensile cords.
Consequently, the need for a belt clamp which disperses the stress risers thereby extending operating life remains undiminished.
Representative of the art is US patent application 2008/0060171A1 which discloses a belt clamp for securing the free ends of a length of timing belt stock together to form an endless timing belt. The clamp consists of an inverted, U-shaped cover, a U-shaped base, and a fastener that passes through aligned, centrally located apertures in the cover and the base to draw the cover and base together, in an overlapping relationship. A plurality of recesses are formed on the upper surface of the base, and a bed is centrally located and interrupts the recesses. The free ends of the length of timing belt stock are placed on the bed, and are retained in fixed position by the pressure applied by the fastener as the cover and base are drawn together. Protrusions, such as ribs, teeth, or buttons, formed on one, or both sides, of the timing belt stock are pressed into the complementary recesses in the base. A bracket, or other mounting support, may be attached to the upwardly extending pins, or projections, on the upper surface of the belt clamp and a position indicating sensor may be positioned by the projections and/or secured to the bracket, for movement with the belt clamp.
What is needed is a clamp comprising at least one arcuate concave surface extending across a clamp width, the arcuate concave surface corresponding with a second member peak when the second member is fastened to a first member. The present invention meets this need.


A drum type drying/washing machine performs drying without the flow of cooling water during a predetermined period of time or a period of time determined in accordance with an amount of clothes. After the passage of the period of time, the machine starts the flow of the cooling water so as to perform drying with cooling-dehumidication. The drum type drying/washing machine, at the initial stage of the drying operation, also performs not only the heating of clothing, but also the rotating of a drum at a high speed to dehydrate the clothing. A drum type drying/washing machine rotates a drum at an almost a maximum rotational rate at which, in a low speed rotation, materials to be processed can roll over in the drum; or at a rotational rate above which, in the low speed rotation, the materials to be processed as a whole stick to the inner peripheral wall of the drum. Further, the drum is accelerated to a high speed rotation only when an output from an unbalance detecting device is a predetermined level or less.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drum type drying/washing machine which is able to singly perform washing through drying laundry, and which holds the laundry in a drum which is driven to rotate about a horizontal shaft and which dries it by cooling-dehumidication using cooling water while performing dehydration by a high speed rotation of the drum.
Further, the present invention relates to a drum type drying/washing machine that performs washing and dehydrating (and optionally drying) fabrics such as clothes etc., as well as a machine that only performs a drying operation.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In conventional drum type driers, for example, drum type full automatic drying/washing machines, a method called `cooling-dehumidication` has been known in which drying is performed by using air ventilation, heating and water cooling as soon as the drying operation is started. There has not been any known method in which drying is performed by stopping the flow of cooling water for a predetermined period of time immediately after the drying is started, in which dehydration by high speed drum rotation will be performed during drying, or in which clothes are relocated during drying by performing a high speed drum rotation.
There is a method which can reduce the power consumption of the heater near the end of the drying process, but no method has been found which stops and starts the flowing of cooling water at intervals whilst reducing the power consumption of the heater.
Accordingly, in the conventional drum type driers of this kind, much water and time were needed for drying and still there was a problem that drying unevenness would occur depending on the locations of clothes.
In the drum type drying/washing machine, detergent and water are supplied after laundry has been loaded to the loading port for laundry. Then, after washing, the washing liquid is drained and dehydrated. Subsequently, the laundry is supplied with water, rinsed and dehydrated. At the final stage, the laundry undergoes the heat drying treatment using a heater.
High-temperature, low-humidity air which is obtained by the heat treatment using the heater is supplied into the drum through an orifice located above the loading port of the drum type drying/washing machine so that, whilst the laundry is heated, damp contained in the laundry is removed to be exhausted from the drum. The exhausted air which now has become of high temperature and high humidity is transported through a duct around which cooling water is supplied from above the duct, so that the moisture in this air is condensed by the cooling water, and thus the air becomes of low temperature and low humidity. This air is further sucked out by a fan to the drying heater. The thus delivered air is heated to be of high temperature and low humidity, and then is blown into the drum through a blower port.
The above conventional drum type drying/washing machine, however, needed a long running time. Specifically, for drying/washing a 2 kg laundry, it took 162 min. in total, 72 min. for washing and 90 min. for drying. For a 3 kg laundry, it took 222 min. in total, 80 min. for washing and 142 min. for drying.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Sho 61 No.234897 has proposed an idea in which the dehydration rate is increased by taking in hot air which is discharged from a clothing drier into the dehydrating container of a two-tub washing machine. However, this proposal is not practical.
Further, in accordance with conventional drum type washing machines, the drum is made to turn at such a low speed that materials to be processed are able to move during washing, whereas dehydration is performed by rotating the drum at such a high speed that the materials to be processed are stuck to the interior peripheral wall surface of the drum. However, such control suffers from a problem that if the materials to be processed are distributed unevenly inside the drum, anomaly vibrations might occur. Various methods have been proposed to solve this problem.
For example, Japanese Patent Publication Sho 49 No.9506 has proposed a drum type washing machine including a detector which detects the horizontal vibrating amplitude of the drum, over a certain period of time longer than one-cycle (one revolution) of the drum when the drum is rotated at a low rate, and based on the detected result, only if the average of the detected values is not more than a predetermined value, the driving state of drum will be transferred to a high speed rotation mode.
Japanese Patent Publication Sho 50 No.16099 has proposed a drum type washing machine including a detector which detects the horizontal vibrating amplitude of the drum, so that this detector will detect the vibrating amplitude of the water tank containing the drum during the rotation at a low rate, and only if the magnitude of the vibrating amplitude is not more than a predetermined value and the state is continued over a certain period of time longer than one-cycle (one revolution) of the drum, the driving state of the drum is transferred to a high speed rotation mode.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Hei 3 No.86197 has proposed a drum type washing machine wherein the drum is rotated for pre-dehydration at a rate in between that of the low speed turn for washing and the high speed rotation for dehydrating, and only if the variation of the detected value outputted from a rotational speed detector which detects the rotational speed of the drum is not more than a previously selected value, the driving state of the drum is transferred to a high speed rotation mode.
It is true that all the above conventional configurations have some effect at drastically reducing the occurrence of anomaly vibrations, but they are still not able to ensure the prevention of anomaly vibrations at every case. Specifically, in the former two configurations, the materials to be processed would roll over in the drum during the low speed turn. Therefore, the drum could not become stabilized but would constantly change in its vibrating amplitude even within one revolution. Accordingly, if the driving state of the drum is transferred to the high speed rotation mode while the mean value of the vibrating amplitude is not more than a predetermined value, there is no assurance that the drum will be set into the high speed rotation mode whilst maintaining an even distribution. Although these configurations lent themselves to suppress significantly abnormal vibrations to a certain level, the effect was not sufficient to further eliminate lower level vibrations.
On the other hand, in the latter configuration, the materials to be processed would roll over during the pre-dehydrating rotating whilst sticking to and peeling off the inner peripheral wall of the drum. That is, the materials to be processed, most of the time, would not be stuck permanently to the inner peripheral wall of the drum. Since the variation of unbalance is detected approximately each revolution at this rotational rate, it will be delayed about one revolution behind when the driving state of the drum is transferred to the high speed rotation mode. During this time, if the materials to be processed roll over, the driving state of the drum may not always transfer to a high speed rotation mode keeping the operation of the drum normal.
Thus, in the conventional configuration, since the vibration of the drum was detected at a rotational speed when the materials to be processed in the drum were constantly rolling over, when the vibration of the drum was detected to be low, it was not certain whether the driving state of the drum could be transferred into the high speed rotation mode whilst the drum was kept at that state. That is, there was a time lag or delay between the time when it was judged whether the drum could be transferred to the high speed rotation mode and the time when the drum was actually transferred to the high speed rotation mode. During this span of time, the state of the materials to be processed might have changed, so that it was impossible to transfer the driving state of the drum to the high speed rotation mode whilst the vibration was being maintained lower than a designated level.
The above problems are not limited to the scope of the drum type washing machines, but drum type driers dedicated only to drying as well as other drum type rotary processing apparatuses have suffered from similar problems.


The system and method described herein may use various natural language models to deliver targeted advertisements and/or provide natural language processing based on advertisements. In one implementation, an advertisement associated with a product or service may be provided for presentation to a user. A natural language utterance of the user may be received. The natural language utterance may be interpreted based on the advertisement and, responsive to the existence of a pronoun in the natural language utterance, a determination of whether the pronoun refers to one or more of the product or service or a provider of the product or service may be effectuated.

As technology advances, consumer electronics devices tend to play larger roles due to increased functionality and mobility. For example, mobile phones, navigation devices, embedded devices, and other such devices provide a wealth of functionality beyond core applications. However, increased functionality adds difficulty to the learning curve associated with using electronic devices, and increased mobility intensifies the demand for simple mechanisms to interact with devices on the go. For example, existing systems tend to have complex human to machine interfaces, which may inhibit mass-market adoption for various technologies. For example, when a user wishes to perform a relatively simple task on a mobile phone, such as purchasing a ring tone, the user often is forced to navigate through a series of menus and press a series of buttons. In some instances, this may result in the transaction not necessarily occurring, as the user may prefer to avoid the hassles altogether. As such, there is ever-growing demand for ways to exploit technology in intuitive ways.
Voice recognition software may enable a user to exploit applications and features of a device that may otherwise be unfamiliar, unknown, or difficult to use. However, many existing voice user interfaces (when they actually work) still require significant learning on the part of the user. For example, users often cannot directly issue a request for a system to retrieve information or perform an action without having to memorize specific syntaxes, words, phrases, concepts, semantic indicators, or other keywords/qualifiers. Similarly, when users are uncertain of particular needs, many existing systems do not engage the user in a productive, cooperative dialogue to resolve requests and advance a conversation. Instead, many existing speech interfaces force users to use a fixed set commands or keywords to communicate requests in ways that systems can understand. Using existing voice user interfaces, there is virtually no option for dialogue between the user and the system to satisfy mutual goals.
The lack of adequate voice user interfaces results in missed opportunities for providing valuable and relevant information to users. Not only does this potentially leave user requests unresolved, in certain instances, providers of goods and services may lose out on potential business. In an increasingly global marketplace, where marketers are continually looking for new and effective ways to reach consumers, the problems with existing voice user interfaces leaves a large segment of consumer demand unfulfilled. Furthermore, existing techniques for marketing, advertising, or otherwise calling consumers to action fail to effectively utilize voice-based information, which is one of the most natural, intuitive methods of human interaction.
Existing systems suffer from these and other problems.

System and method for delivering targeted advertisements and/or providing natural language processing based on advertisements


Methods and apparatus are disclosed to translate memory write requests to be transmitted from a first processor to a second processor in a computing system, such as between a CPU and a Southbridge, as an example. A method includes generating a memory write request in a second protocol responsive to a memory write request of a first protocol, the first protocol supporting a first memory write command type and a second memory write command type, the second protocol supporting only the first memory write command type. The method also includes inserting a predefined code in the memory write request in the generated memory write request in the second protocol to produce a translated memory write request. The method may also include receiving the memory write request from the first processor where the memory write request is operable according to the first protocol having at least first and second memory write command types. The predefined code in the received memory write request is then used to determine the type of memory write request (posted or non-posted).

In certain types of computing systems that include a central processing unit (CPU) and a host bridge or what is known as a "Northbridge," such devices are connected by an interface using a particular protocol in order for the CPU and Northbridge to communicate. One such protocol known in the art is HyperTransport™, which provides a high speed, point-to-point link for interconnecting integrated circuits within a computing system. Typically, however, Northbridge circuits communicate with other devices in the system, such as input-output bridges (e.g., a "Southbridge") according to different protocols, including PCI Express. Different protocols may use different packet formats and different commands in the packets. Accordingly, when a CPU is trying to communicate with a Southbridge via the Northbridge and the CPU communicates with the Northbridge via HyperTransport™ protocol and the Northbridge, in turn, communicates with the Southbridge via PCI Express protocol, not all message types or packet formats are easily passed through the Northbridge to communicate the commands in requests (e.g. packets) from the CPU to the South bridge.
Particularly, certain protocols, such as HyperTransport™, utilize two types of memory write commands in memory write requests. In the example of HyperTransport™, in particular, it is known to utilize both "posted" and "non-posted" memory write commands. Posted commands are simply sent from a CPU to a Southbridge via a Northbridge, for example, without the need for a return acknowledgment. On the other hand, non-posted commands require that the receiving device issue an acknowledgement that the memory write request with the non-posted command has been made. PCI Express, on the other hand, only utilizes the concept of the equivalent of posted memory write requests of HyperTransport™ protocol. This difference becomes particularly problematic with Southbridges incorporating an internal bridge to a low pin count (LPC) interface, which is an interface that may connect to devices having both slave and/or master interfaces and also converts to LPC protocols.
The LPC protocol, however, does not account for or allow memory write requests to be retried with the master interfaces. In particular, once a bus master is granted control of the LPC interface, it will not release the interface before a transaction or write request is successfully completed. When the Southbridge grants an external LPC interface master control of the interface, the Southbridge is unable to service transactions, namely memory write requests, from the CPU that are targeting a particular device connected to the LPC interface. Thus, when the LPC interface master is performing direct memory access reads from a main system memory, it is possible that the CPU may also be performing "posted" memory write requests to another device connected to the LPC interface. However, because the LPC interface master "owns" the LPC interface at the time, the posted memory write requests cannot be completed. This situation is further complicated in that known ordering rules for such interfaces prevent read response data from passing the posted memory write requests, which may result in deadlock of the Southbridge as well as the entire computing system.
It is noted that the following documents are known in the art concerning HyperTransport™ technology and PCI and their functioning. The following documents are incorporated herein by reference:    1) "HyperTransport™ I/O Link Specification, Revision 1.05c"; Document #HTC2002104-0005-0005; Aug. 5, 2003; HyperTransport Technology Consortium.    2) "HyperTransport™ I/O Link Errata, Revision 1.05b"; Document #HTC200335-0024-0003; Apr. 2, 2003, HyperTransport Technology Consortium.    3) "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification, Revision 2.0b;" Oct. 11, 2002; Compaq Computer Corporation, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Phoenix Technologies Ltd., and Toshiba Corporation.    4) "AMD-8151™ HyperTransport™ AGP3.0 Graphics Tunnel Data Sheet;" 24888 Rev 3.03-Jul. 12, 2004; Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.    5) "Clock Generator Specification for AMD64 Processors;" Publication #24707 Revision: 3.08; September 2003; Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.    6) "HyperTransport™ Technology I/O Link—A High-Bandwidth I/O Architecture;" Jul. 20, 2001; Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Methods and apparatus for translating write request messages in a computing system


The present invention is directed to the preparation of photoresist polymers via living free radical polymerization techniques. Sterically bulky ester monomers are utilized as the polymerization components. Use of chain transfer agents is included in polymerization processing conditions. Cleavage of polymer terminal end groups that include a heteroatom are described.

Processes for patterning semiconductor wafers typically rely on lithographic transfer of a desired image from a thin-film of radiation-sensitive resist material. The process entails the formation of a sacrificial layer, the "resist", which is photo-lithographically patterned. Generally these resists are referred to as "photoresists".
The patterning of the resist involves several steps, including exposing the resist to a selected light source through a suitable mask to record a latent image of the mask and then developing and removing selected regions of the resist. For a "positive" resist, the exposed regions are transformed to make such regions selectively removable; while for a "negative" resist, the unexposed regions are more readily removable.
The pattern can be transferred into surface texture in the wafer by etching with a reactive gas using the remaining, patterned resist as a protective masking layer. Alternatively, when a wafer is "masked" by the resist pattern, it can be processed to form active electronic devices and circuits by deposition of conductive or semiconductive materials or by implantation of dopants.
Materials used in single layer photoresists for optical lithography should meet several objectives. Low optical density at the exposure wavelength and resistance to image transfer processes, such as plasma etching, are two important objectives to be met by such a photoresist material. Shorter wavelengths of radiation permit greater resolution. The most common wavelengths currently used in semiconductor lithography are 365 nm, 248 nm and more recently 193 nm. The desire for narrower linewidths and greater resolution has fueled an interest in photoresist materials that can be patterned by even shorter wavelengths of light.
In the field of microfabrication, the processing size has become more and more minute in order to achieve higher integration. In recent years, development of lithographic processes enabling stable microfabrication with a line width of 0.5 microns, more preferably 0.2 microns or less, has been of keen interest.
However, it is difficult to form fine patterns with high accuracy using conventional methods which utilize visible rays (wavelength: 700-400 nm) or near ultraviolet rays (wavelength: 400-300 nm). To address this problem, lithographic processes using radiation with a shorter wavelength (wavelength: 300 nm or less) have been developed. Such shorter wavelength radiation can achieve a wider range of depth of focus and is effective for ensuring design rules with minimum dimensions.
Examples of short wavelength radiation, deep ultraviolet rays, such as those generated from a KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm), or an ArF excimer laser (wavelength: 193 nm) can be utilized as well as X-rays such as synchrotron radiation, charged particle rays such as electron beams and the like. However, the polymeric materials used with such processes are limiting in terms of composition, chemical resistance, transparency to DUV and physical characteristics.
There is a need in the art for novel polymeric materials that are transparent for use in DUV, to allow penetration of activating light, and that are robust enough to withstand further processing conditions.


A battery pack for an electronic device includes a housing separate from the electronic device wherein the housing can be mechanically connected to the electronic device. Electrical contacts on the housing provide electrical contact with the electronic device when connected thereto. A first battery interface in the housing receives a first battery, and a second battery interface in the housing receives a second battery. A switch in the housing connects either the first battery interface or the second battery interface to the electrical contacts in response to a selection by a user of the electronic device. Related systems and methods are also discussed.

Rechargeable batteries are now widely used for many portable electronic devices including laptop computers, "Walkman".RTM. type tape and compact disk players, and cellular radiotelephones. The use of rechargeable batteries allows an electronic device to be used without the need for a plug-in power source. In addition, the rechargeable battery can be recharged and used again when the charge of the rechargeable battery is depleted thereby reducing the expense of purchasing new batteries every time the batteries are depleted. The use of rechargeable batteries is discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,756, U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,433, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,142.
In particular, rechargeable batteries for use with portable radiotelephones can provide low internal impedance and high storage capacity. These batteries, however, may suffer from self-discharge wherein the rechargeable battery may discharge itself completely within a few weeks even if the radiotelephone has not been used. This self-discharge may be particularly troublesome for casual-use radiotelephone subscribers.
Because of self-discharge, a casual-use subscriber may often find that the battery is dead even though the radiotelephone has not been used since the batteries were last recharged. Carrying a second rechargeable battery may not remedy this problem because the second battery may self-discharge in roughly the same time as the first rechargeable battery. Accordingly, the self-discharge of rechargeable batteries may reduce the usefulness of portable radiotelephones for casual-use subscribers. This problem may increase as the number of casual-use subscribers continues to grow.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for battery packs, electronic devices, and methods which reduce problems resulting from the self-discharge of a rechargeable battery.

Battery packs including rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries and related systems and methods


A tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece 2 includes a base portion 25 in which a piezoelectric vibration substrate has a connection area with an external element, and a pair of leg portions 21, 22 projecting from a first end face of the base portion. The pair of leg portions has vibrating portions 212, 222 equipped with drive electrodes, wide weight portions 211, 221 formed at tip ends of the vibrating portions, and connecting portions 213, 223 between the vibrating portions and the weight portions. The connecting portions have widening sections whose width increases exponentially from the vibrating portions to the weight portions. The length of the widening sections is greater than their width. The weight portions have constant-width parts whose width is fixed from their connecting positions with the connecting portions. The weight portions are free of drive electrodes.

Piezoelectric vibration devices, as typically represented by piezoelectric vibrators, are widely employed in mobile telephones and other mobile communication devices. One of the piezoelectric vibration pieces employed in the piezoelectric vibrators is a tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece. A tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece has a shape of a tuning fork composed of a base portion and a pair of vibrating leg portions (hereinafter called "leg portions") extending in one direction from the base portion. A tuning fork type piezoelectric vibrator using the tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece is widely used as a clock source in a watch.
Recent trends toward miniaturization and improved performance for communication devices necessitate miniaturization and improved characteristics for a tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece. In particular, when a tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece is made smaller, its leg portions also become narrower and thinner. Unlike a conventional vibration piece which can suppress the influence of higher harmonics, such a small vibration piece allows higher harmonics to oscillate at a low drive level and is more likely to be adversely affected by higher harmonics. For example, in order to suppress a CI increase associated with miniaturization of a vibration piece, a tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece which has grooves in principal surfaces of the leg portions needs to set a greater ratio of the groove width to the leg portion width and a greater groove depth than a conventional vibration piece. In this case, banks formed between the ends of the leg portions and the grooves have a narrower width, and the thickness between the grooves in the two principal surfaces is decreased, in comparison with the conventional vibration piece. Eventually, this structure deteriorates the rigidity of the leg portions and tends to allow higher harmonic oscillation. Currently, use of a small-sized tuning fork type piezoelectric vibrator tends to cause oscillations at higher harmonic frequencies or other troubles, depending on the oscillation circuit constant or the oscillation circuit design.
For example, the tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece as described in Patent Literature 1 is configured to improve its electrical characteristics in order to reduce the influence of unwanted higher harmonics. According to Patent Literature 1, a tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece which has a base portion and a pair of leg portions projecting side by side from the base portion includes an arrangement as described below.
In the tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece disclosed in Patent Literature 1, each of the leg portions is composed of a vibrating portion having a drive electrode, and a weight portion formed at a tip end of the vibrating portion and having a greater width than the vibrating portion. Each leg portion is also provided with a groove which extends into the weight portion beyond the connecting position between the vibrating portion and the weight portion. Owing to the wide weight portion at the tip end of the vibrating portion, the tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece disclosed in Patent Literature 1 can suppress generation of higher harmonics and can stabilize the vibrational frequency, even though the vibrating portion is made shorter.
Nevertheless, in the tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece having such a weight portion, the rigidity of the piezoelectric vibration piece changes sharply at the connecting portion between the vibrating portion and the weight portion. Undesirably, this sharp change in rigidity destabilizes vibrations of the weight portion. To solve this problem, the tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece disclosed in Patent Literature 1 provides the groove at the connecting portion between the vibrating portion and the weight portion, thereby alleviating a sharp change in rigidity at the connecting portion between the vibrating portion and the weight portion and ensuring stable vibrations.

Tuning fork type piezoelectric vibration piece and tuning fork type piezoelectric vibrator