Whole muscle slicing is accomplished in order to provide a plurality of meat slices, each of which is a single piece of meat, despite the fact that the muscle from which the slices originate had been reshaped prior to slicing in order to enhance slicing yield from each such muscle. The invention is particularly useful in forming roast beef slices which are used in preparing weight-controlled food products such as sandwiches.

This invention generally relates to slicing of meat products, more particularly to meat product slicing which eliminates slices formed from more than one meat muscle cut or piece. Prior to slicing, the whole meat muscle cut or piece is somewhat reshaped, particularly its longitudinal end portions, by engaging same with a spacer when the meat and spacer are within a casing which is then longitudinally tensioned.
Casings are of course well known for their usefulness in producing meat products of various types. It is also generally appreciated that casings are useful in shaping meats. Included in this regard are shaping smaller meat pieces, including ground meat, within casings in order to form products which are traditionally recognized as sausages, luncheon meats, restructured meat products, and the like. Patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,449 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,666 incorporate the use of discs at the longitudinal ends of casings otherwise filled with ground meat, multiple meat pieces and meat batters. Discs of this type are said to provide flattened sausage ends. In some channels of trade, such flattened ends can be considered to be aesthetically more pleasing than a dome-shaped end.
Also generally known is the use of casings in preparing so-called chunk sectioned and formed meat products. Illustrative in this regard is U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,084. In some instances, casings are used in procedures for joining together two or more larger muscle pieces or chunks. In such approaches, the casing surrounding the meat is stretched and clipped to close same around the meat, thereby compressing the meat and adhering the meat pieces together at the interfaces between them.
In approaches such as these, it is also known to cook the meat when thus stuffed into the casings, and allow the meat to cool and set. The result is the formation of a relatively solid assembled meat product which remains assembled and which generally retains the shape imparted to it as a result of the casing stretching and cooking. Such approaches also include traditional treatments which are known to those skilled in the art, such as chilling and the like. It is also heretofore known that the thus-assembled shaped meat product can be sliced as desired. Often, this slicing is carried out after the casing is removed and typically discarded. These types of approaches are often geared toward providing stacks of sliced meat products. These meat product slices may be of uniform slice thickness, with each slice having a target weight. Alternatively, slicing technology is available for forming slices of uniform weight.
In certain applications, sliced meat products which have a restructured constitution are perceived as being of lower quality and thus less desirable, when compared with slices made from whole muscle cuts or large pieces of meat. Meats which have been restructured or assembled can be perceived as less desirable when, by casual observation, it is evident that the meat piece or slice had been made from more than a single muscle piece. These types of observations are especially easily made when the meat is a beef product. Meat cuts such as those traditionally identified as roast beef vary considerably from piece to piece in terms of color, texture, grain orientation and overall appearance. Accordingly, when a slice of roast beef is cut from an assembled meat product, that slice can vary in appearance from slices made from other roast beef products. In general, this is expected and usually therefore easily accepted (if not welcomed) by the consumer. However, this divergence in appearance is often viewed negatively by the consumer when this variety in appearance occurs in the same slice. For example, such a slice could have a significant portion which is of a reddish color and another significant portion which is of a grayish color, thereby strongly indicating a line of demarcation which evidences a product which is restructured and had been assembled from more than one muscle piece.
An important reason for reshaping products such as large cuts of meat muscle is to enhance the efficiency of slicing and of slice distribution. Most naturally occurring or traditionally butchered meat cuts are not of a uniform shape. Although some such cuts can be considered to be generally longitudinal in shape, and thus often more conveniently sliced, even these types of cuts of muscle have longitudinal end portions which are not uniformly shaped or sized. Virtually every naturally occurring or traditionally butchered meat muscle piece does not have a uniform size and shape throughout its longitudinal extent. Without reshaping, certain slices (often those at the longitudinal ends) will be difficult to slice, thereby leaving low-value butt ends. Alternatively, if slicing of these portions of meat pieces is carried out, the resulting slices are often less than satisfactory, such as being significantly underweight or of too small a perimeter in order to satisfy demanding expectations and tastes of consumers. Accordingly, there is often a desire to proceed with some reshaping so as to substantially increase slicing yield for a given cut or piece of meat muscle, such as one traditionally used in preparing whole roast beef slices.
It would accordingly be desirable to achieve the slicing yield benefits and handling efficiency benefits which can be realized by proceeding with some type of reshaping procedure. At the same time, it would be desirable to achieve this important commercial result without encountering the perceived disadvantageous result of providing slices which have a structure originating from more than a single meat muscle cut or piece. It would also be advantageous if these important results could be obtained without requiring specially designed and manufactured equipment.


A guide device for a turbine with a guide-blade carrier installed in a turbine housing, preferably the housing of a steam turbine, and equipped with guide blades, includes positioning elements for positioning and fastening the guide blades to the guide-blade carrier and for ensuring a specific installation position of the guide blades. In order to simplify the production of the guide device, two halves of a guide-blade ring divided in the region of a parting plane of the turbine housing serve as the positioning elements. Radially extending profile holes for inserting a guide-blade root of each guide blade are formed in the guide-blade ring. At least one first holding element is preferably releasable and in each case fixes the guide-blade root to the guide-blade ring. At least one second holding element retains each of the two halves of the guide-blade ring on the guide-blade carrier.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a guide device for a turbine with a guide-blade carrier installed in a turbine housing, preferably the housing of a steam turbine, and equipped with guide blades, including positioning elements for positioning and fastening the guide blades to the guide-blade carrier and for ensuring a specific installation position of the guide blades. The invention also relates to a method for producing such a guide device with positioning elements which are provided for positioning and fastening guide blades to a guide-blade carrier and which ensure a specific installation position of the guide blades.
In order to guide the drive medium of a turbine, for example the steam in the case of a steam turbine, at the correct angle onto the moving blades, a guide device is used, having guide blades which are fixed in the so-called guide-blade carrier and are mounted, together with the guide-blade carrier, in the turbine housing. It is absolutely necessary, in that case, to ensure that the guide blades are installed in an exactly aligned position. So-called intermediate pieces have heretofore been used as positioning elements which allow such an exact positioning of the individual guide blades relative to one another. However, such intermediate pieces are extremely complicated to produce, since in the first place, two solid steel rings have to be brought to the appropriate dimensions by turning on a lathe and then have to be cut up in such a way as to produce a multiplicity of individual intermediate-piece blanks. Due to cutting losses, two steel rings are required for the intermediate pieces of a guide cascade. The intermediate-piece blanks then have to undergo careful machining of their bulging or convex side and rear side, in order to give them a shape by which two successive intermediate pieces form a free space that is suitable for receiving the guide-blade root belonging to the guide blade, and moreover also makes it possible to fix the root to the guide-blade carrier through the use of a special holding groove.
The complicated shape of the intermediate pieces not only makes them complicated to produce, but may also result in quality defects if the accuracy of fit demanded is not achieved. Losses of efficiency due to an outer contour which is not optimal are also possible and the reliability of the guide-blade fastening may suffer as a result of wash-outs in the region of gaps. However, production is made complicated not only in the case of the intermediate pieces, but also in the case of guide blades, for those too have to be provided with a holding groove, the dimensions of which must be coordinated exactly with the intermediate pieces.

Guide device for a turbine with a guide-blade carrier and method for producing the guide device


Provided is a display device, including: a device main body including a display, the display including a display surface, the display surface being configured to display an image; and a stand configured to support the device main body. The stand includes a supported portion, the supported portion being slidably supported on a surface opposite to the display surface of the device main body, and a connection portion, the connection portion being rotatable with respect to the supported portion around a hinge shaft.

The present disclosure relates to a technical field of a display device. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a technical field of providing a supported portion and a connection portion on a stand, and simplifying and downsizing the structure. The supported portion is slidably supported on a device main body. The connection portion is rotatable with respect to the supported portion around a hinge shaft.
There are various display devices. Examples of display devices include display devices of a television receiver and the like, monitors for a personal computer, a display system, and the like, and mobile terminal devices such as a tablet terminal, a mobile phone, and an electronic book.
Some display devices include stands. A stand is used when a device main body including a display is mounted on a mount surface of a desk or the like.
Stands of some display devices are folded in the wall-hanged status. Some stands rotate around a hinge shaft or a plurality of hinge shafts, and are folded.
The structure including the hinge shaft(s) includes the following two main structures.
First, according to a single hinge structure, a stand folding structure includes one hinge shaft. According to the single hinge structure, one hinge structure supports the weight of a device main body. For example, as shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, according to the single hinge structure, a stand b of a display device a includes a support portion d and a support board portion f. The support portion d is fixed on a device main body c. The support board portion f is supported such that the support board portion f is rotatable with respect to the support portion d around a hinge shaft e. In the standing status, the support board portion f of the display device a is mounted on a mount surface x. The stand b supports the device main body c (see FIG. 17). Meanwhile, in the wall-hanged status, the support board portion f of the display device a rotates around the hinge shaft e, and is behind the back surface side of the device main body c. The display 5 is thus mounted on a wall surface y (see FIG. 18).
Second, according to a double hinge structure, a stand folding structure includes two hinge shafts (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-154842). According to the double hinge structure, two hinge structures support the weight of a device main body. For example, as shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, according to the double hinge structure, a stand b of a display device g includes a support portion d and a support board portion f. The support portion d is supported such that the support portion d is rotatable with respect to a device main body c around a first hinge shaft e. The support board portion f is supported such that the support board portion f is rotatable with respect to the support portion d around a second hinge shaft e. In the standing status, the support board portion f of the display device g is mounted on a mount surface x. The stand b supports the device main body c (see FIG. 19). Meanwhile, in the wall-hanged status, the support portion d of the display device g rotates around the first hinge shaft e. In addition, the support board portion f rotates around the second hinge shaft e, and is behind the back surface side of the device main body c. The support board portion f is mounted on a wall surface y (see FIG. 20).


The vacuum tumbler has an evacuatable drum (3) which is mounted for rotation around its longitudinal axis (11) and is provided on one end side with a loading opening and on the other end side with a removal opening (12). In order to obtain continuous operation, a vacuum sluice (19, 19') is arranged both at the loading opening (12) and at the removal opening (12') and that in each case a vacuum packing (17), which is effective when the drum (3) is rotating, is present between the two openings (12, 12') and the corresponding vacuum sluice (19, 19').

The present invention relates to a method and a vacuum tumbler in accordance with the preambles to claims 1 and 10.
Vacuum tumblers for the treatment of pieces of meat such as, for instance, tenderizing, macerating, marinating, etc. are known. It is known in the case of industrial tumblers to load the pieces of meat through an opening arranged at the front of the drum and to remove them through an opening at the rear thereof. By means of baffles arranged within the drum, uniform tumbling of the loaded pieces of meat is obtained. These tumblers, however, have the disadvantage that, after the end of the period of treatment, the loading and emptying openings must be opened, and the tumbler emptied, newly loaded, and again evacuated. Due to this intermittent operation which requires a large amount of work as a result of the loading and unloading, the downtimes of the machine are relatively long and its output low.

Method and continuous-flow vacuum tumbler for the treatment of foods


A glucose monitoring method and a glucose sensor, both of which use glucose dehydrogenase having a Michaelis constant (Km) for xylose of 600 mM or more and 3000 mM or less, and a Km for glucose of 0.1 mM or more and 100 mM or less, which provide for evaluating FADGDH in an aqueous system while reducing the practical influence of FADGDH on D-xylose.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is important for diabetic patients themselves to measure, manage, and control their blood sugar levels on a daily basis for use in treatment. In recent years, simple self-monitoring blood glucose meters using an electrochemical biosensor have been widely used for SMBG. A typical biosensor of this type is, for example, a device in which electrodes and an enzyme reactive layer are formed on an insulating substrate.
Known glucose-monitoring enzymes used in biosensors include glucose dehydrogenase (hereinafter also referred to as "GDH") and glucose oxidase (hereinafter also referred to as "GO") (EC 18.104.22.168). Depending on the difference in the required coenzyme, GDH is further classified into pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (hereinafter also referred to as "PQQGDH") (EC 126.96.36.199 (formerly EC 126.96.36.199)) and flavin-binding glucose dehydrogenase (e.g., flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (hereinafter also referred to as "FADGDH") (EC 126.96.36.199)).
It has been pointed out that a glucose monitoring method using GO is easily affected by dissolved oxygen in the measurement sample, and that dissolved oxygen affects the measurement results. In contrast, it has been pointed out that a method using PQQGDH is not affected by dissolved oxygen, but acts on sugars other than glucose, such as maltose and lactose. Further, it is known that a method using FADGDH is not affected by dissolved oxygen, and barely acts on maltose or lactose.
In addition to maltose and lactose, D-xylose is also referred to as a sugar that causes problems for diabetes patients to measure their blood sugar levels. At a medical site, D-xylose is used for xylose absorption for evaluating the ability of carbohydrate absorption from the small intestine. Therefore, when a diabetic patient undergoes the test, if blood sugar levels are measured using glucose dehydrogenase having D-xylose activity, the accuracy of the measured values may be impaired.
In particular, regarding methods for evaluating the influence of contaminants in SMBG sensors, NPL 1 has been published by the US FDA. As for the influence of D-xylose, NPL 1 recommends that a response value is measured in a solution in which a glucose solution is spiked with D-xylose at a concentration of 200 mg/dL, and that the response value is shown with 95% confidence intervals with respect to a response value obtained under conditions without spiking.
Accordingly, D-xylose activity on SMBG sensors is often evaluated using the spike test. Moreover, in order to reliably ensure that there is no influence of D-xylose, performance evaluation may be conducted while setting the D-xylose concentration used in the spike test to higher than the concentration described in NPL 1.
Practical D-xylose activity in SMBG sensors is often evaluated using the spike test, as in NPL 1, whereas the D-xylose activity of FADGDH used in SMBG sensors is currently often discussed mainly in terms of activity on D-xylose in aqueous systems. For example, PTL 1 indicates that the amount of D-glucose can be accurately measured by using FADGDH having a D-xylose activity of 2% or less when activity on D-glucose is 100%.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Glucose monitoring method and glucose sensor


The present invention relates to a pilot tone generating method and apparatus of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access system and method, and a channel estimation method and apparatus using the same. The channel estimation apparatus includes a pilot tone extracting unit for extracting a pilot tone, which is inserted within a frame with data tone, masked with an orthogonal code; a pilot tone unmasking unit for unmasking of the pilot tone extracted from the pilot tone extracting unit by using an orthogonal code information; and a channel estimation operating unit for estimating a channel by calculating an average of the pilot tones which is unmasked in the unmasking unit.

OFDM or OFDMA which is based it is a multicarrier modulation scheme which parallely transmits data by using a multiple orthogonal subcarriers instead of a single carrier having a broad band. It is based on the fact that each subchannel of a narrowband has the flat fading characteristic in the frequency selective fading channel having the very large ISI (Inter-Symbol Interference).
In OFDM, as the symbol is determined on the frequency domain, it is necessary to have an equalizer for frequency domain in order to compensate for the channel distortion of the received symbol. For this, in addition to sending data symbol, the transmitter of the OFDM transmission system transmits the pilot symbol used for the channel estimation for the equalization of data symbol by estimating the characteristics of the channel transmitting a signal.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram that shows the configuration of OFDM receiver of the related art, showing schematically only the unit that restores data from the baseband signal obtained from the received signal.
A burst symbol extracting unit 100 extracts the OFDM symbol from the baseband signal obtained from the received signal by the RF (Radio Frequency) processing unit (not shown). As to the OFDM symbol which is extracted by the burst symbol extracting unit 100, it is applied to an equalizer 108, after the CP (Cyclic Prefix) which is inserted by a CP deleting unit 102 from the transmitter is eliminated and FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) is performed by an FFT unit 104. The equalizer 108 compensates for the channel distortion according to the channel characteristic value which is estimated by a channel estimating unit 106 for the FFT data signal.
After being demodulated in a demodulator 110, the signal compensated the channel distortion performs Viterbi decoding by a decoder 112 and data are restored by the determination of a deciding unit 114. The channel estimating unit 106 performs the channel estimation by using the pilot tone. Pilot tones are arranged between OFDM data tones. In the meantime, when the channel is estimated, the pilot tone is interfered by the pilot tones from the cell of the adjacent base station or other user of the sector. Therefore, the pilot tone interference cancellation technology capable of the exact channel estimation in spite of the interference signal is required.

Method and apparatus for generating pilot tone in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access system, and method and apparatus for estimating channel using it


Aspects of the invention are directed to a device and method for detecting characteristics of a gas. The gas includes an exhausted plume from a vehicle or factory plant, leaked gas from an oil well or gas resource, or unidentified gas from an unknown source. The method includes sweepingly directing a beam of light through the gas to a target surface on which the beam of light is scattered, acquiring the scattered light scattered from the target surface, and processing the acquired scattered light to determine the characteristics of the gas, where the characteristics of the gas comprise at least one of a temperature of the gas and an amount of at least one ingredient of the gas.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the present invention. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
It is known that vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution. In order to identify vehicles that are releasing excessive polluting emissions, many countries mandate annual vehicle emission inspections. To this purpose various vehicle emission inspection systems have been developed. Generally, these systems can be very expensive, and their operation can require a vast amount of labor and skill. Additionally, emission inspection systems have traditionally been operated in testing stations where the emissions are measured when the test vehicle is idling or running under artificially loaded conditions. Although such measurements provide general baseline information regarding a vehicle's emissions and state of repair, it is not necessarily representative of "real world" driving conditions.
Recently, remote emission sensing systems have been developed for detecting emissions of vehicles as they are driving on the road. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,319,199 and 5,498,872 to Stedman et al. discloses a remote sensing system in which the light source 1110 and detector 1130 are oppositely located on both sides of the road 1101, respectively, as shown in FIG. 9(a). For such an arrangement, a beam of light 1115 generated from the source 1110 passes through an exhaust plume 1140 emitted from a vehicle 1105 driven on the road 1101, thereby carrying an absorption signal associated with components and concentrations of the exhaust plume 1140. The beam 1115 is collected by the detector 1130 for analyzing the components and concentrations of exhaust plume 1140. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9(b), the light source 1110 and detector 1130 are located on the same side of the road 1101. And two reflectors 1150 located on the opposite side of the road 1101 are used to reflect the beam 1115 generated from the source 1110 to the detector 1130 with two passes through the vehicle exhaust plume 1140, which increases the absorption signal. This system measures only part of the plume and has to ratio the CO2 measurements to all other pollutants to get relative values. It does not measure the amount left behind or absolute values. Furthermore, for such remote emission sensing systems, the source, detector and reflectors are set up on both sides of the road, and much care needs to be taken during their installation and maintenance. Additionally, such a system is difficult to operate with more than one lane of traffic particularly when more than one vehicle passes through the detector simultaneously.
Current vehicle remote-sensing systems only sense part of the exhaust plume. If the infrared beams are large enough or use multi-pass beams with respect to the size of the plume they will encompass the entire plume. Since the entire plume is being sensed, then one can calculate absolute amounts and get grams-per-mile directly.
Conventionally, a non-dispersive infrared system usually uses an infrared beam 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The beam is directed across the road and reflected back through a series of mirrors. The system therefore only senses a percentage of the gases in the entire cross-section of the plume. The system then uses ratios to carbon dioxide to calculate the combustion equation. The combustion equation then gives you tailpipe percentages. Therefore, in order to get grams per mile one must calculate the vehicle specific power (VSP) and know model and make of the vehicle.
Further, when a vehicle starts up, the emissions mitigation system on the vehicle usually takes a warm-up time to warm up to a minimum temperature. The warm-up time is generally a minute or so, but can be much longer. Until the emission mitigation system reaches the minimum temperature, the exhaust plume may have carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), hydrocarbons and other pollutant above expectable levels such that the vehicle is not able to pass a typical emission test. Thus, if a vehicle is tested with a remote sensing device when it is cold (i.e. before the vehicle warms up), the remote sensing device will give a false negative reading. Current remote sensing devices are unable to identify such false negative readings from the real negative readings without the help of infrared cameras. Infrared cameras are used to see the reflection of a hot engine off the road surface and are costly separate units. Accordingly, current remote sensing devices are required to measure one vehicle with negative readings for at least 3 times at different locations to justify marking the vehicle as a dirty vehicle, as the chance of the same vehicle being cold in different locations and occasions are remote.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Method and device for remote sensing of amount of ingredients and temperature of gases

HAGER ENVIRONMENTAL AND ATMOSPHERIC TECHNOLOGIES, LLC


A time-synchronous communication system comprises: fixed stations having distance measuring/time reference synchronization and maintaining unit, receiving/processing unit, transmitting/processing unit, and communication data processing management unit; mobile stations having distance measuring/time reference synchronization and maintaining unit, transmitting/processing unit, receiving/processing unit, and communication data processing management unit; and relay stations having distance measuring radio wave transmitting/processing unit, time reference synchronization and maintaining unit, and radio wave relay unit for relaying transmission radio waves from the fixed stations and the mobile station. Each mobile station selects a specific fixed station communication radio wave from communication radio waves transmitted from the fixed stations by determining a mobile station reception timing to perform receiving/processing operation, and selects specific relay and fixed stations from the relay stations and the fixed stations by controlling a mobile station transmission timing to be synchronized with a reception timing determined by the specific fixed station to perform communication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a time-synchronous communication system which is designed to be able to easily and efficiently perform circuit connection and a receiving/processing operation which are performed when bidirectional communication between mobile radio stations such as ships or automobiles scattered in a large area and a terrestrial fixed radio station is performed by using a plurality of satellites as radio wave relay means.
The present invention makes it possible to construct an efficient communication system for bidirectional message communication among automobiles, ships, airplanes, and the like which are scattered in a large area. More specifically, the efficient communication control required when satellites are used as relay stations is realized. The realization of a communication circuit control scheme on the assumption that time synchronization is established as the base of the present invention becomes high with development of a recent precise clock technology and a precise distance measuring technology.
With development of the satellite radio communication technology, satellite navigation or satellite communication are included in a public and general engineering field. For example, when a distance measuring radio wave from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite is received and processed, high-precision position measurement of a mobile station or the like and high-precision synchronization of a time reference can be performed. Therefore, in the fields of traffic control, operation management, search and rescue, and the like of mobile vehicles, a satellite position-measuring system such as the GPS is used as a matter of course, a position-measuring means and a time-synchronization means can be easily obtained.
On the other hand, as a radio communication means for a mobile vehicles, a bidirectional communication means such as a portable telephone or a personal radio is known. However, a proper mobile radio communication means which can be used at low cost in a large area including the ocean has not developed. The present invention makes it possible to extremely easily and theoretically perform mobile radio communication which can be used in a large area including the ocean. This mobile radio communication can be early realized on the field of international electric communication industries.
2. Description of the Related Art
A related art concerning the present invention will be described below. Of various communication systems, a communication system in which the transmission side spreads the spectrum of a transmission radio wave by the code of a pseudo-random noise (to be referred to as PRN hereinafter) sequence to transmit the radio wave and the reception side inversely spreads the spectrum of the reception radio wave by the same code to decode the radio wave has been widely used as a system having high resistance to radio interference or concealment, and the above communication system is widely used as a code-division multiple access system (to be referred to as CDMA hereinafter) in a circuit connection method. In addition, a communication system in which a radio wave is transmitted within an assigned time slot, and radio waves having the same frequency are simultaneously used as carrier waves by a plurality of users is a mature technology as a time-division multiple access system (to be referred to as TDMA hereinafter).
Radio communication uses a principle that a radio wave having a certain frequency is used as a carrier wave, and the carrier wave is modulated by serial data to be transmitted. Therefore, on the reception side, the head of the serial data must be specified. However, in the CDMA, since the carrier wave is modulated by the PRN sequence code having a frequency higher than that of the serial data, the signal before spreading must be reproduced by inverse spectrum spreading. When this inverse spreading is to be performed, the inverse spreading must be synchronized with the timing on the spectrum spreading of transmission side. For this reason, in a GPS developed in the U.S.A, the spectra of radio waves synchronously transmitted from a plurality of satellites are inversely spread, and, by using a delay time extracted in the inverse spreading, the difference between arrival times of a plurality of radio waves transmitted from the plurality of satellites is calculated to estimate the position of a reception point.
In this manner, the CDMA technique is used in not only the field of communication which requires resistance to interference and concealment but also the field of measurement technique which requires precise time-synchronous conditions between the transmission side and the reception side. However, it is generally said that the CDMA uses a frequency at low efficiency, and the CDMA is slightly suitable for mobile communication for a large number of communication users.
On the other hand, the TDMA is a multiple access system which is effective when the transmission rate of one communication circuit is considerably higher than a transmission rate required on the transmission side, and is a communication system in which one communication circuit is divided into a plurality of time slots to be assigned to a plurality of communication users, so that the same communication circuit is simultaneously shared by the plurality of users. For example, assume that a plurality of mobile stations are set as a transmission side, and that one fixed station is set as a reception side. In this case, when the fixed station provides timing information for specifying a time slot to be used to each mobile station, radio waves can be continuously received in time series without congesting the radio waves from the plurality of mobile stations. Therefore a bidirectional mobile communication system can be constructed when data is transmitted from the fixed station to the plurality of mobile stations in a time divisional manner.
Consequently, the TDMA is effective as a method of efficiently using a communication circuit having a high transmission rate by a plurality of users. However, when one radio circuit is used by a large number of mobile stations, there are a large number of problems to be considered in circuit control such as setting of guard time, assignment of circuits, and synchronization of communication timing.
Although the communication technique such as the CDMA or the TDMA has the above problems, these techniques can also be easily used in space communication. Especially, the CDMA is expected to be frequently used in a telephone circuit using a satellite in the near feature because of its excellent concealment or resistance to interference. However, although an amount of data transmitted at a time from each mobile station is small, when a message communication system which can be used at low cost is constituted on the assumption that a very large number of mobile stations are simultaneously used, the codes of a large number of PRN sequence whose low correlation properties in the CDMA are prepared, and these codes must be assigned to the respective users. Therefore, the communication techniques have a large number of problems on the cost of apparatuses and the facilities of operation.
In case of message communication, since a period of circuit connection time of one mobile station is relatively short, the efficiency of use of circuit is degraded in a conventional demand assignment scheme for assigning a radio circuit in correspondence with a request from a mobile station. In particular, this problem conspicuously appears in case of the TDMA system. More specifically, in order to avoid congestion of circuits, circuit connection is generally required by a mobile station first, and a fixed station (terrestrial station) performs circuit assignment. However, in message communication having a small amount of information transmission, a period of communication time for circuit connection occupies a large part of a total period of communication time.
In mobile communication using a satellite as a relay station, mobile stations are scattered in a large area, an arrival time of a mobile transmission radio wave reaching a fixed station through a satellite is dispersed depending on different radio wave propagation distances. Therefore, in order to prevent interference of communication circuits, a guard time between time slots must be set to be large. In this manner, the conventional connection scheme of communication circuits is not completely efficient for message communication using a satellite.
Bidirectional communication using a satellite employs a multiple access system in which inquiry (polling) signals are sequentially transmitted from a fixed station to all mobile users, and the users respond to the polling signals. However, this system cannot be called a communication system in which a large number of users who want to arbitrarily make communication as needed can be accommodated.
Another problem of mobile satellite communication using a satellite as a relay station is posed when a plurality of satellites are arranged in the sky. Since the antenna of a mobile station is generally omni-directional, a radio wave transmitted from the mobile station is received and relayed by all the satellites arranged in the sky and then transmitted to the terrestrial fixed station. Therefore, all radio waves reaching the fixed station through a plurality of satellites are received, the receiving/processing apparatus of the fixed station increases in scale, and processing of the received radio waves becomes severe. This is because transmission radio waves of all the mobile stations are extracted from asynchronous radio waves reaching the fixed station at various timings in a hybrid manner. When mobile stations or fixed stations increase in number, degradation of operation efficiency of the communication system caused by the above problem is expected to be more serious.
As described above, the code-division multiple access system (CDMA) using spectrum spreading modulation is used as a military communication having strong to radio wave interference or a space communication system capable of demodulating faint radio waves, and the time-division multiple access system (TDMA) is used together with a frequency-division multiple access system (FDMA) as a technique which has been mature in terrestrial communication and satellite communication. However, even if these known communication systems are combined to each other as a multiple access system for bidirectional message communication using a plurality of satellites and a large number of fixed stations as radio base stations, an efficient satellite communication system cannot be obtained.


Analyzing communication network data set access of a data set group constituted by multiple data sets. The method includes the following steps: (i) determining, for a first interval, a first low access count value corresponding to an amount of data sets in the data set group that have been accessed, in the first interval, an amount of times that is no greater than a low access threshold value; (ii) determining, for a second interval, a second low access count value corresponding to an amount of data sets in the data set group that have been accessed, in the second interval, an amount of times that is no greater than the low access threshold value; and (iii) determining a delta value based, at least in part, on a difference between the first low access count value and the second low access count value.

Data communication networks and "network pages" (see DEFINITIONS section) are known. One example of such a network is the internet, which facilitates service of network pages in the form of web pages. On the internet, web pages are "served" by server computers over the internet, to various client computers, responsive to requests made by users (see DEFINITIONS section). Entities that control and manage web page(s) are often interested in how often that entity's web pages are accessed and in who accesses the web page(s).
Web traffic is the amount of data sent/received by visitors to a given web site. Web traffic is generally determined by the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are popular and to identify trends. There are many ways to monitor this traffic and the gathered data is used to: (i) help structure sites; (ii) highlight security problems; and/or (iii) indicate a potential lack of bandwidth. For most web sites, not all data collected on web traffic can be considered to be meaningful for purposes of web analytics. Web analytics is the measurement of the behavior of website visitors. In commercial contexts, web analytics primarily refers to the measurement of which aspects of the website work towards business objectives. Web traffic is conventionally analyzed by using the traffic statistics found in the web server log file, an automatically generated list of all the pages served. A hit is usually generated when any file is served. The page itself is considered a file, but images are also files, thus a page with 6 images could generate 7 hits, specifically the 6 images and the web page itself. A page view is usually generated when a visitor requests a page within the web site. A visitor will usually generate at least one page view (the main page), but could generate many more. Tracking applications external to the web site can record traffic, usually by inserting a small piece of HTML code in every page of the web site.
Other examples of how not all automated web traffic measures obtain meaningful results as described as follows. Web traffic based on web pages served to bots may be filtered out of web traffic statistics so that analysts can focus on human users (see DEFINITIONS section) who access the web page. In addition, search engine operation (normal operations, new operations, abnormal operations, etc.) may cause false or misleading web traffic statistics.

Analysis of variance in network page access

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a method for the transmission of call control parameters for switching over between a voice transfer mode and a data transfer mode between two media gateway controllers (6, 7), which are used by way of an IP network between two telecommunication terminal devices separated from any medium or bearer connection, whereby the call control parameters are transferred with conversion into the SIP or SIP_T protocol or from this into a standard signaling protocol.

The invention relates to a method for the transmission of call control parameters for switching over between a speech transmission mode and a data transmission mode between two media gateway controllers, which are used by way of an IP network between two telecommunication terminal devices separated from any medium or bearer connection.
Service providers, in other words companies which, based for example on the transport services of the partial networks (backbones) of the internet, provide their customers or users with switched data communication facilities, are faced in the communications sector primarily with the challenges associated with introducing new fast and efficient services. In this situation, the network infrastructure for connection network operators (carriers) is a significant cost factor whereby cost savings can be achieved by means of successful optimization.
Before dealing with the question as to how a service provider can take advantage of the data signaling for service management solutions, it is however necessary to consider what the customer is expecting of a service provider who is supplying value added facilities and services. At present, the expectation comprises a whole spectrum of integrated services, a simple and uniform accounting process in real time, and also comprehensive access to measurable and recorded standards of service.
In order to nevertheless achieve an optimization of the operating costs in the case of a service provider despite their provision of comprehensive services, steps are now being taken to set up communication connections which perform the connection setup (call) and the medium or bearer setups separately from one another. As a result, it is possible to revert to a relatively low-cost bearer technology for through-connection of the speech/data channel, whilst for example the signaling is handled separately.
If a disconnection (decomposition) of the connection setup and the medium or bearer setup is carried out, a communication is then needed between at least two media gateway controllers which are used during connection setup for data signaling purposes.
The Diagram in FIG. 1 demonstrates how, in the case of such a disconnection of connection setup and bearer setup, the information required for the setup of a communication connection between two telecommunication terminal devices 1, 2 is exchanged between the individual network components. In this situation, an A subscriber requests a call setup to a telecommunication terminal 2 of a B user, by means of a telecommunication terminal 1 which is connected to a first public telephone network (PSTN) 3 with an associated local switching centre (Local Exchange; LE) 5.
This call request results in a connection setup which takes place by means of two media gateway controllers (MGC) 6, 7. In this situation, information is transmitted by means of a corresponding signaling protocol (Common Channel Signaling CCS:ISUP) to a first media gateway controller 6. The latter communicates for its part with a second media gateway controller 7 by way of a BICC CS2/ISUP+ interface via Q.765.5 BAT (Bearer Application Transport). The second media gateway controller 7 thus receives all the service or performance features which are required in order to setup the connection, and transmits this information to a public telephone network 4 in which the terminal device 2 of the B subscriber is located. The transmission takes place in turn by way of a corresponding signaling protocol.
On the basis of the prior art, it is known that by introducing suitable communication between a media gateway controller and the associated media gateway the cost-effective bearer technologies such as IP can be applied to through-connection of the speech/data channel. At the present time, there exists the ITU-T Standard Q.1902.X BICC CS2 (Bearer Independent Call Control Capability Set 2) with a special Service Indicator in the case of the MTP (Message Transfer Part), and Q.765.5 BAT (Bearer Application Transport) which when employing IP-RTP as the bearer technology describes how its usual services are to be provided to the end user in the telecommunication network when there is a disconnection between connection setups and through-connection of the speech/voice channel. In the meantime, IETF has produced RFC 3204 (ISUP MIME Type) which enables the tunnel transport of ISUP messages in SIP messages. Such SIP messages for the purpose of media gateway controller intercommunication are also referred to as SIP-T messages.
A disadvantage that has become apparent in respect of the known solution is the fact that with regard to intercommunication between media gateway controllers themselves information can only be transmitted between the media gateway controllers by way of the BICC CS2/ISUP+ interface via Q.765.5 BAT (Bearer Application Transport). This holds true particularly when a modification of the bearer is required for the data transmission. Thus, in the case of a fax switchover for example, it is not possible at the present time to transfer the information required for this purpose between the media gateway controllers by means of a SIP protocol because the interworking of SIP to BICC is not yet defined in the ITU-T Standards for BICC CS2. The SIP protocol—in contrast to BICC—is suitable not only as a subscriber protocol for voice connections but also for multimedia (voice and data) and will for this reason acquire an increasing significance from the global viewpoint.

Support for fax and modem in SIP/SIP-T networks and the interworking of these networks with ISUP+/BICC


An anemometer comprises an acoustic resonant cavity 1 between two plates 2 and 3 and open in the direction of flow of a fluid, the cavity having at least one pair of electro acoustic transducers 5 which are energised at an Eigenfrequency to produce a standing wave perpendicular to the direction of flow of the fluid and a travelling wave perpendicular to the standing wave. By using the time delays or phase shifts between the signal energising a transducer and the signal generated by the response of the other transducer the velocity of flow of the fluid can be calculated. Compensation is provided for changes in the Eigenfrequency caused by changes in the environment.

This invention relates to an anemometer of the type used in the measurement of the speed and direction of movement of air, water and other fluids.
Anemometers of various types are frequently used in meteorology, but suffer from one or more of many disadvantages including the presence of moving parts in mechanical types, a slow and inaccurate response, susceptability to temperature and pressure variation, a maintenance requirement, a complex construction, the dissipation of relatively large amounts of energy, the production of unduly high disturbances in the fluid flow, low sensitivity at low velocities, and a severely restricted maximum velocity range.
An object of this invention is to provide an anemometer which obviates or mitigates at least some of these disadvantages.
Embodiments of the present invention work at very high and very low air velocities, are both fast and accurate, are practically unaffected by changes in air temperature and pressure, are simple in construction and possess no moving parts, require little or no periodic maintenance, dissipate minimal amount of power, cause a negligible disturbance to the fluid being measured, operate under extremely climatic conditions and can be used with other fluids besides air.

Anemometer employing standing wave normal to fluid flow and travelling wave normal to standing wave


A fitting composition capable of fitting a body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, such as spectacles, a hearing aid, and an artificial limb, suitably to the body shape of individual wearer and thereby realizing the function of the body-worn tool in a steady state, as well as providing an excellent wear-feeling, a body-worn tool produced using the same, and a method of producing the same. The fitting composition for body-worn tools to be used in contact with skin including (a) a thermoplastic block copolymer having at least one polymer block (A) mainly composed of an aromatic vinyl compound and at least one elastic polymer block (B); (b) a (meth)acrylic monomer; and (c) a polymerization initiator.

The present invention relates to a fitting composition for a body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, a body-worn tool produced by using the fitting composition, and a method of producing the body-worn tool. More particularly, the invention relates to a fitting composition capable of fitting a body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, such as spectacles, a hearing aid, and an artificial limb, suitably to the body shape of individual wearer and thereby realizing the function of the body-worn tool in a steady state, as well as providing an excellent wear-feeling. The present invention also provides a body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, which is produced by using the fitting composition and a method of producing the body-worn tool. The fitting composition of the invention has generally a paste form and is excellent in the handling, and thus it is possible to produce a part directly by subjecting the composition to a wearer to whom the tool is attached and hardening the composition through polymerization. Alternatively, the molded article (hardened product) can also be formed extremely easily to a desired shape which fits the body shape of a wearer by hardening the composition through polymerization using a mold prepared beforehand with modeling the body shape.
Since body-worn tools such as a hearing aid, spectacles, and an artificial limb are directly attached to the bodies of individual wearers, stability at the wear, sufficient realization of the function of the tools, and good wear-feeling without sense of discomfort are required. For example, a hearing aid is an apparatus for helping hearing ability which is decreased owing to conductive disorder caused by tympanitis or tympanic damage, perceptive disorder caused by the disorder of perceptive organs such as inner ear, or mixed deafness complicated by these symptoms. The types of the hearing aid include an ear-hole type, an ear-hanging type, a pocket type, and a spectacle type.
Among them, the ear-hole type hearing aid has widely used in recent years since it has an excellent characteristics that it can be included in the ear hole of a wearer and thus is compact and inconspicuous, as well as it provides natural hearings. As the methods for producing the ear-hole type hearing aid, the following methods (1) and (2) are hitherto known, for example.
(1) A method for completing the production of a hearing aid comprising the steps of making a cast of the ear hole of a wearer by inserting a silicone putty material or the like into the ear hole; preparing a female mold having an ear hole-shape cavity by applying agar, gypsum, or other molding material to the outer surface of the cast and solidifying the material; forming a wall by applying a thermally fusible material to the inner surface of the female mold at a predetermined thickness and solidifying the material; forming an intermediate by filling the inside of the solidified wall of the thermally fusible material with a resin and solidifying or hardening the resin, removing the wall made of the thermally fusible material applied between the female mold and the intermediate; preparing a shell for the hearing aid by introducing a soft resin such as plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin into the cavity for forming the shell formed by the removal of the wall between the female mold and the intermediate and solidifying the resin; installing a hardware circuit board for the hearing aid inside the shell; and adjusting the shape (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 296900/1986).
(2) A method for completing the production of a hearing aid comprising the steps of making a cast of the ear hole of a wearer by inserting a silicone putty material or the like into the ear hole; preparing a female mold having an ear hole-shape cavity by applying a light-transparent resin material to the outer surface of the cast and solidifying the material; preparing a shell for the hearing aid having a predetermined thickness by introducing a acrylic photosetting resin material into the inner surface of the female mold and hardening the photosetting resin material through irradiation with a light from the outside of the female mold; installing a hardware circuit board for the hearing aid inside the shell; and adjusting the shape (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 130697/1993).
The hearing aid having a shell made of plasticized vinyl chloride resin prepared by the above method (1) is soft to the ear hole owing to the softness of the material, but its fitness to the ear hole is not accurate and its deformation is easy. Therefore, it has problems that it easily loosens and comes off the ear hole during its use and howling (acoustic feedback) tends to occur owing to acoustic leakage. Thus, the hearing aid is disadvantageous that, at every time when such problems occur, the shape of the shell should be adjusted or the implanted position of the hardware circuit board of the hearing aid should be controlled after opening of the shell. Further, in the case that such adjustment does not solve the howling problem, it is necessary to lower the output of the hearing aid hardware in order to prevent the acoustic leakage. However, when the output of the hearing aid hardware is lowered, performance of the hearing aid decreases, and sometimes, it becomes impossible to enhance the hearing ability as the wearer desires. Also, the hearing aid prepared by the above method (2) is hard and is difficult to fit well to t he ear hole of the wearer, and has inferior wear-feeling because the shell is made of a photo-cured acrylic resin Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that it easily comes off the ear hole during its use and howling tends to occur owing to acoustic leakage. Therefore, it is also necessary for this hearing aid to adjust the shape of the shell or to control the implanted position of the hardware circuit board of the hearing aid in the shell. In the case that such adjustment does not solve the howling problem, it becomes necessary to lower the output of the hearing aid hardware, whereby the hearing aid ma y not fulfill its function.
Moreover, for the purpose of preventing slippage of spectacles and maintaining the lenses a t the optimum position for correcting eyesight, fitting members are generally attached to the nose-fitting part of spectacles or ear-hanging part of the bows. However, conventional fitting members attached to spectacles have defects that the spectacles tend to slip or come off since the members are generally hard and difficult to fit to the body(face) of a wearer. When the spectacles slip out of the proper position, it becomes difficult to maintain the lenses at the optimum position, so that eyesight is not sufficiently corrected and, in some case, eye fatigue, headache, further decrease of eyesight, and the like may occur. Furthermore, in other body-worn tools such as an artificial limb, inadequate fitting of the limb to the body parts to which the tools are attached may realize insufficient function of the limb, and may give physical pain in some cases.
Object of the invention is to provide a fitting composition capable of fitting a body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, such as spectacles, a hearing aid, and an artificial limb, suitably to the body shape of individual wearer without slippage at the body part or coming off the body part to which the tool is attached and thereby realizing sufficiently the original function of the body-worn tool in a steady state, as well as providing an excellent wear-feeling by absorbing many kinds of impact pressure generated. More specifically, in the case of use for a hearing aid, for example, object thereof is to provide a fitting composition capable of producing a hearing aid having a high fitting accuracy to ear hole or the like without coming off through loosening during the use or without occurrence of excessive deformation and with no occurrence of howling owing to acoustic leakage, and providing an excellent wear-feeling. In the case of use for spectacles, for example, it is to provide a fitting composition capable of preventing slippage or coming off of the spectacles and maintaining the lenses at a proper position for correction eyesight without occurrence of eye fatigue, headache, decrease of eyesight, and the like. In the case of using for an artificial limb, for example, it is to provide a fitting composition capable of adequately fitting the limb to the body parts to which the limb is attached, realizing sufficient function of the limb, and providing an excellent wear-feeling without giving physical pain through absorbing many kinds of impact pressure generated.
Furthermore, other objects of the invention are to provide a body-worn tool excellent in compatibility and wear-feeling, which is prepared by using a fitting composition excellent in handling ability at preparing the body-worn tool and capable of forming easily a polymerized hardened product that fits well the body shape of wearer without carrying out complex processes, and to provide a method of producing the same.
The present inventors have extensively studied for achieving the above objects. As a result, they have found that, at the production of body-worn tools such as a hearing aid, spectacles, an artificial limb, and the like, the use of a composition containing a thermoplastic block copolymer comprising a specific polymer block mainly composed of an aromatic vinyl compound and an elastic polymer block; a (meth)acrylate monomer; and a polymerization initiator allows good fitting of each body-worn tool to the body shape of individual wearer without occurrence of slippage and coming off, and thereby, the original function of the body-worn tools can be realized in a steady state and further good wear-feeling is provided.
More specifically, when a hearing aid is produced using the above composition, they have found that the hearing aid has a high fitting accuracy to ear hole or the like without coming off through loosening during the use or without occurrence of excessive deformation as well as with no occurrence of howling owing to acoustic leakage, and an excellent wear-feeling is provided. Also, when nose-fitting parts of spectacles are prepared or slippage-preventing members at their bows are formed using the above composition, they have found that the slippage or coming off of the spectacles can be prevented to maintain the lenses at a proper position for correction eyesight and it is also possible to prevent eye fatigue, headache, decrease of eyesight, and the like owing to slippage of the lenses. In the case of using the above composition for an artificial limb, they have found that the use allows good fitting of the limb to the body parts to which the limb is attached, and realization of full function of the limb, with an excellent wear-feeling without giving physical pain owing to good absorbability of impact pressure.
Moreover, the above fitting composition generally has a paste form and therefore is excellent in handling ability at producing body-worn tools. Thus, it has been found that a polymerized hardened product that fits well the body shape of a wearer can be easily formed by directly applying the fitting composition to the body part to which the body-worn tool is applied. The invention has been accomplished based on these findings.
Namely, the invention relates to:
(1) A fitting composition for body-worn tools to be used in contact with skin comprising:
(a) a thermoplastic block copolymer having at least one polymer block (A) mainly composed of an aromatic vinyl compound and at least one elastic polymer block (B);
(b) a (meth)acrylic monomer; and
(c) a polymerization initiator.
Further, the invention also relates to:
(2) The fitting composition according to the above (1), wherein the number average molecular weight of the polymer block (A) in the block copolymer (a) is from 2,500 to 40,000 and the number average molecular weight of the elastic polymer block (B) is from 10,000 to 300,000.
(3) The fitting composition according to the above (1) or (2), wherein the elastic polymer block (B) in the block copolymer (a) is a polymer block comprising at least one elastic polymer selected from an elastic polymer derived from at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of isoprene, butadiene, isobutylene and butyl acrylate, a hydrogen adduct of the elastic polymer, and an adduct of the elastic polymer with an unsaturated carboxylic acid or an unsaturated carboxylic acid derivative;
(4) The fitting composition according to any one of the above (1) to (3), wherein the elastic polymer block (B) in the block copolymer (a) is a polymer block comprising at least one elastic polymer selected from polyisoprene, polybutadiene and isoprene-butadiene copolymer having a vinyl bond content of 40 mol % or more;
(5) The fitting composition according to any one of the above (1) to (4), wherein the ratio of the polymer block (A)/the elastic polymer block (B) contained in the block copolymer (a) is from 5/95 to 70/30, by weight;
(6) The fitting composition according to any one of the above (1) to (5), which contains 30 to 79.99 wt % of the block copolymer (a), 20 to 69.99 wt% of the (meth)acrylic monomer (b), and 0.01 to 15 wt% of the polymerization initiator (c), based on the total weight of the block copolymer (a), the (meth)acrylic monomer (b), and the polymerization initiator (c);
(7) The fitting composition according to any one of the above (1) to (6), which is a composition for fitting an eyesight-correcting tool or a hearing ability-correcting tool to a body;
(8) A body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, which is made using the fitting composition according to any one of the above (1) to (7);
(9) The body-worn tool according to the above (8), which is a hearing aid, spectacles, or an artificial limb; and
(10) A method for producing a body-worn tool to be used in contact with skin, comprising the steps of:
bringing the fitting composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7 into contact closely with closely to the position to which the body-worn tool is attached,
preparing parts for the skin-contacting position by hardening the composition as it is, and
combining the parts with other parts.
The block copolymer (a) for use in the fitting composition of the invention is a block copolymer having a polymer block (A) mainly composed of an aromatic vinyl compound and an elastic polymer block (B), and the copolymer is thermoplastic and melts and/or softens in heat, as well as has elasticity. The block copolymer (a) is a block copolymer wherein one or more polymer blocks (A) and one or more elastic polymer blocks (B) are combined The block copolymer (a) may be, for example, a diblock copolymer wherein one polymer block (A) and one elastic polymer block (B) are combined, a triblock copolymer wherein one polymer block (A) and two elastic polymer blocks (B) are combined, a triblock copolymer wherein two polymer blocks (A) and one elastic polymer block (B) are combined, a tetrablock copolymer wherein two polymer blocks (A) and two elastic polymer blocks (B) are combined, or a polyblock copolymer wherein five or more of polymer blocks (A) and elastic polymer blocks (B) in total are combined. In the block copolymer (a), the polymer block (A) and the elastic polymer block (B) may be combined linearly or may form a star-shaped or branched block structure. Furthermore, the block copolymer (a) may have a tapered combination mode wherein the composition at boundary of each polymer block is gradually changed by random copolymerization.
The polymer block (A) of the block copolymer (a) is mainly composed of an aromatic vinyl compound. The ratio of a structural unit derived from the aromatic vinyl compound is preferably 70 mol % or more, more preferably 80 mol % or more. Examples of the aromatic vinyl compound constituting the polymer block (A) in the block copolymer (a) include styrene, 1-vinylstyrene, 2-vinylnaphthalene, 3-methylstyrene, 4-propylstyrene, 4-cyclohexylstyrene, 4-dodecylstyrene, 2-ethyl-4-benzylstyrene, 4-(phenylbutyl)styrene, and the like. The polymer block (A) may be composed of each homopolymer of these aromatic vinyl compounds, or may be a copolymer of two or more of the aromatic vinyl compounds. Of these, the polymer block (A) is preferably composed of styrene homopolymer or a styrene copolymer having 70 mol % or more, especially 80 mol % or more of a structural unit derived from styrene and 30 mol % or less, especially 20 mol % or less of structural unit(s) derived from the above aromatic vinyl compounds other than styrene and/or other copolymerizable monomers, e.g., olefinic monomers such as ethylene and propylene, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, acrylonitrile, (meth)acrylate monomers, and diene monomers. More preferred is a polymer block composed of styrene homopolymer.
In the block copolymer (a), the number average molecular weight of the polymer block (A) is preferably in the range of 2,500 to 40,000. When the number average molecular weight of the polymer block (A) is less than 2,500, it is difficult to obtain a fitting composition excellent in impression. On the other hand, when the number average molecular weight of the polymer block (A) exceeds 40,000, the block copolymer (a) becomes more viscous and difficult to mix homogeneously with the (meth)acylic monomer (b) and the polymerization initiator (c).
By the way, each number average molecular weight of the polymer block and block copolymer is the value measured by GPC in terms of standard polystyrene.
The elastic polymer block (B) in the block copolymer (a) is not particularly limited and may be any polymer block comprising an elastic polymer capable of forming an elastmeric, i.e., elasticity-having block copolymer (a) through combination with the polymer block (A). Thus, it may be a homopolymer of an unsaturated monomer or a copolymer of unsaturated monomers. Of these, the elastic polymer block (B) is preferably composed of an elastic polymer selected from elastic polymers derived from at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of isoprene, butadiene, isobutylene and butyl acrylate, hydrogen adducts of the elastic polymers, and adducts of the elastic polymers with an unsaturated carboxylic acid or an unsaturated carboxylic acid derivative. The elastic polymer block (B) in the block copolymer (a) may be formed from one or more of these elastic polymers.
Examples of the above unsaturated carboxylic acid and its derivative to be used for the modification of the elastic polymer include maleic anhydride, maleic acid, fumaric acid, acrylic acid, itaconic acid, crotonic acid and the like, and the elastic polymer can be modified with one or more of them.
In the elastic polymer block (B) having structural unit(s) derived from isoprene and/or butadiene, vinyl bonds derived from 1,2-bonding or 3,4-bonding occur depending on the polymerization mode of isoprene and butadiene, and these vinyl bonds form ethylenic double bonds in the side chains of the elastic polymer. The ethylenic double bonds in the side chains are highly reactive as compared with the double bonds formed through 1,4-bonding of isoprene or butadiene and present in the main chain of the elastic polymer, and thus copolymerizable with the (meth)acrylate monomer. Therefore, the elastic polymer block (B) having the ethylenic double bonds in the side chains affords a fitting composition excellent in polymerization-hardening ability. In addition, the polymerized hardened product has a small permanent set owing to the formation of chemical cross-linkage, and thus is suitable as a fitting material.
Accordingly, in the block copolymer (a) to be used in the invention, the elastic polymer block (B) preferably comprises at least one elastic polymer selected from polyisoprene, polybutadiene and isoprene-butadiene copolymer and having a vinyl bond (i.e., 1,2-bonding and 3,4-bonding) content of 40 mol % or more.
Incidentally, the vinyl bond (1,2-bonding and 3,4-bonding) content herein means the ratio(mol %) of total of 1,2-bonding and 3,4-bonding relative to total (100%) of 1,2-bonding, 3,4-bonding, and 1,4-bonding in polyisoprene, polybutadiene and/or isoprene-butadiene copolymer which constitute the elastic polymer block (B).
In the block copolymer (a), the number average molecular weight of the elastic polymer block (B) is preferably from 10,000 to 300,000. When the number average molecular weight of the elastic polymer block (B) is less than 10,000, the polymerized hardened product obtained from the fitting composition tends to have a poor fitting ability to body. On the other hand, when the number average molecular weight of the elastic polymer block (B) exceeds 300,000, the block copolymer (a) becomes difficult to mix homogeneously with the (meth)acrylate monomer (b) and the polymerization initiator (c).
The number average molecular weight of total block copolymer (a) is preferably from 25,000 to 500,000. When the number average molecular weight of the block copolymer (a) is less than 25,000, the polymerized hardened product obtained from the fitting composition tends to have a poor fitting ability to the body. On the other hand, when the number average molecular weight of the block copolymer (a) exceeds 500,000, the block copolymer (a) becomes too viscous and difficult to mix homogeneously with the (meth)acrylate monomer (b) and the polymerization initiator (c).
In the block copolymer (a) for use in the invention, the ratio of the polymer block (A)/the elastic polymer block (B) contained in the block copolymer (a) is preferably from 5/95 to 70/30, more preferably from 5/95 to 30/70, by weight. When the content of the polymer block (A) in the block copolymer (a) is less than 5 wt %, i.e., when the content of the elastic polymer block (B) exceeds 95 wt%, the polymerized hardened product obtained from the fitting composition tends to have a poor fitting ability to body. On the other hand, when the content of the polymer block (A) exceeds 70 wt %, i.e., when the content of the elastic polymer block (B) is less than 30 wt %, the block copolymer (a) becomes less compatible to the (meth)acrylate monomer (b) and difficult to mix homogeneously with the monomer.
Examples of the block copolymer (a) preferably used in the invention include an elastomer having polystyrene block and polyisoprene block, an elastomer having polystyrene block and polybutadiene block, an elastomer having polystyrene block and isoprene-butadiene copolymer block, an elastomer having polystyrene block and polyisbbutylene block, an elastomer having polystyrene block and polybutyl acrylate block, and the like.
Among them, particularly preferred is a thermoplastic block copolymer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 102212/1990, i.e., a thermoplastic block copolymer having total number average molecular weight of 40,000 to 300,000 which has two or more polymer blocks derived from an aromatic vinyl compound and having the number average molecular weight of 3,000 to 40,000, and has one or two polymer block composed of polyisoprene and/or isoprene-butadiene copolymer and having a vinyl bond content of 40 mol % or more. Since the thermoplastic block copolymer is excellent in damping performance in addition to the above abilities, the polymerized hardened product obtained from a fitting composition containing the thermoplastic block copolymer provides a little uncomfortable feeling and is excellent in compatibility to body.
The block copolymer (a) for use in the invention is preferably a copolymer capable of forming a polymerized hardened product having a rubber hardness of 30 to 90, especially 35 to 85 when the fitting composition of the invention containing the copolymer is hardened through polymerization. The rubber hardness herein means a value measured on a durometer A-type in accordance with JIS K 6253.
As the (meth)acrylate monomer (b) for use in the fitting composition of the invention, both of a monofunctional (meth)acrylate ester or a polyfunctional (meth)acryalte ester can be used. Examples of the monofunctional (meth)acryalte ester include alkyl (meth)acrylates wherein the alkyl group has 1 to 20 carbons, such as methyl (meth)acrylate, ethyl (meth)acrylate, butyl (meth)acrylate, hexyl (meth)acrylate, decyl (meth)acrylate, lauryl (meth)acrylate, miristyl (meth)acrylate, and stearyl (meth)acrylate; methoxyethyl (meth)acrylate, 2-phenoxyethyl (meth)acrylate, methoxypolyethylene glycol (meth)acrylate having 2 to 10 of polymerization degree of polyethylene glycol, tetrahydrofurfryl (meth)acrylate, isobornyl (meth)acrylate, undecenyl (meth)acrylate, benzyl (meth)acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate (HEMA), diemethylaminoethyl (meth)acrylate, and the like.
Further, examples of the polyfunctional (meth)acrylate ester include alkylene glycol di(meth)acrylates wherein the alkylene group has 1 to 20 carbons, such as ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, propylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, 1,4-butanediol di(meth)acrylate, neopentyl glycol di(meth)acrylate, 1,6-hexanediol di(meth)acrylate, and 1,10-decanediol di(meth)acrylate; polyalkylene glycol di(meth)acrylate wherein the alkylene group has 2 to 4 carbons and the polymerization degree of the polyalkylene glycol part is from 2 to 200, such as diethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, triethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, dipropylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, and polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate; glycerin di(meth)acrylate, 2,2xe2x80x2-bis[p-(xcex3-methacryloxy-xcex2-hydroxypropoxy)phenyl]propane (Bis-GMA), bisphenol A dimethacrylate, 2,2xe2x80x2-bis(4-methacryloxypolyethoxyphenyl)propane having 2 to 10 ethoxy groups in one molecule, 1,2-bis(3-methacryloxy-2-hydroxypropyl)butane, trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, pentaerythritol tetra(meth)acrylate, urethane (meth)acrylate, and the like.
In the invention, one or more of the above (meth)acrylate monomers can be used as the (meth)acrylate monomer (b). Among them, alkyl (meth)acrylates and/or alkylene glycol di(meth)acrylates are suitable owing to their particularly high compatibility to the block copolymer (a). Therefore, the (meth)acrylate monomer (b) for use in the invention preferably contains 40 wt % or more of the alkyl (meth)acrylate and/or alkylene glycol di(meth)acrylate based on the total weight of the (meth)acrylate monomers.
A soft polymerized hardened product is obtained from a fitting composition mainly containing a monofunctional (meth)acrylate having an alkyl or alkenyl group having many carbons, especially 6 carbons or more, e.g., n-hexyl (meth)acrylate, n-lauryl (meth)acrylate, or n-stearyl (meth)acrylate, as the (meth)acrylate monomer (b). On the other hand, a relatively hard polymerized hardened product is obtained from a fitting composition mainly containing a monofunctional (meth)acrylate having an alkyl or alkenyl group having few carbons, e.g., methyl (meth)acrylate or n-butyl (meth)acrylate, as the (meth)acrylate monomer (b). Therefore, depending on the applications or employing modes of the fitting composition, the kind of the (meth)acrylate monomer (b) for use in the fitting composition can be selected so as to have suitable hardness of the polymerized hardened product for each application.
The polymerization initiator (c) for use in the fitting composition of the invention is not particularly limited and may be any compound which can initiate the polymerization of the (meth)acrylate monomer (b). Thus, one or more of polymerization initiators selected from photo-polymerization initiators, thermal polymerization initiators, and chemical polymerization initiators can be used.
As the photo-polymerization initiators, one or more of xcex1-diketones, ketals, thioxanthones, benzoin alkyl ethers, acylphosphine oxidse, and the like, or a combination of one or more of these compounds and reducing agents can be employed.
Specific examples of the xcex1-diketones include camphorquinone, benzil, 2,3-pentanedione, and the like. Specific examples of the ketals include benzyl dimethyl ketal, benzyl diethyl ketal, and the like. Specific examples of the thioxanthones include 2-chlorothioxanthone, 2,4-diethylthioxanthone, and the like. Specific examples 2 of the benzoin alkyl ethers include benzoin methyl ether, benzoin ethyl ether, and the like. Further, specific examples of the acylphosphine oxides include 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide, 2,6-dichlorobenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide, 2,3,5,6-tetramethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide, benzoyldi-(2,6-dimethytphenyl)phosphonate, 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylethoxyphenylphosphine oxide, and the like.
Specific examples of the above reducing agent for use in photo-polymerization initiator include tertiary amines such as 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate, N,N-bis[(meth)acryloyloxyethyl]-N-methylamine, ethyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate, butyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate, 4-dimethylaminobenzophenone, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-p-toluidine, and dimethylaminophenanthol; aldehydes such as dimethylaminobenzaldehyde and terephthalaldehyde; compounds having thiol group such as 2-mercaptobenzoxazole, decanethiol, 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane, and thiobenzoic acid; sulfinic acids or salts thereof such as benzenesulfinic acid, sodium benzenesulfinate, potassium benzenesulfinate, toluenesulfinic acid, sodium toluenesulfinate, 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfinic acid, and sodium 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfinate; or the like. One or more of these reducing agents can be used as photo-polymerization initiator in combination with one or more of the compounds such as xcex1-diketones, ketals, thioxanthones, benzoin alkyl ethers, acylphosphine oxidse, and the like.
In the case of carrying out the photo-polymerization under irradiation with ultraviolet ray, among the above photo-polymerization initiators, a benzoin alkyl ether, benzyl dimethyl ketal, or a combination of these compounds with the above reducing agent is suitably employed.
As the thermal polymerization initiators, organic peroxides such as diacyl peroxides, peroxy esters, dialkyl peroxides, peroxy ketals, ketone peroxides, and hydroperoxides is preferably employed. Specific examples of the diacyl peroxides include benzoyl peroxide, 2,4-dichlorobenzoyl peroxide, m-toluyl peroxide, and the like. Specific examples of the peroxy esters include t-butyl peroxybenzoate, bis-t-butyl peroxyisophthalate, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis(benzoylperoxy)hexane, t-butyl peroxy-2-ethylhexanoate, t-butyl peroxyisopropyl carbonate, and the like. Specific examples of the dialkyl peroxides include dicumyl peroxide, di-t-butyl peroxide, and the like. Specific examples of the peroxy ketals include 1,1-bis(t-butylperoxy)-3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane, and the like. Specific examples of the ketone peroxides include methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, and the like. Specific examples of the hydroperoxides include t-butyl hydroperoxide, and the like.
In the invention, one or more of the above thermal polymerization initiators can be used as the polymerization initiator.
In the case that the fitting composition of the invention contains a thermal polymerization initiator as the polymerization initiator (c), a method wherein the fitting composition is first fixed to a predetermined form and then heated to be hardened through polymerization is preferably adopted.
As the chemical polymerization initiator, preferably usable is a redox-type polymerization initiator such as a combination of an organic peroxide with an amine-type reducing agent or a sulfinic acid or salt-type reducing agent.
As the organic peroxide in the redox-type polymerization initiator, various organic peroxides as described in the above with regard to the thermal polymerization initiator can be used.
Usually, a tertiary amine is suitably used as the above amine-type reducing agent in the redox-type polymerization initiator to be used as the chemical polymerization inintiator. Specific examples thereof include N,N-diethylaniline, N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine, N,N-demethyl-m-toluidine, N,N-diethyl-p-toluidine, N,N-dimethyl-3,5-dimethylaniline, N,N-dimethyl-3,4-direthylaniline, N,N-dimethyl-4-ethylaniline, N,N-dimethyl-4-i-propylaniline, N,N-dimethyl-4-t-butylaniline, N,N-dimethyl-3,5-di-t-butylaniline, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-p-toluidine, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-3,5-dimethylaniline, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-3,4-dimethylaniline, N,N-di(2 hydroxyethyl)-4-ethylaniline, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-4-i-propylaniline, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-4-t-butylaniline, N,N-di(2-hydroxyethyl)-3,5-di-i-propylaniline, N,N-di(2 hydroxyethyl)-3,5-di-t-butylaniline, ethyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate, n-butoxyethyl 4-dimethylaminozenzoate, (2-methacryloyloxy)ethyl 4-dimethylaminozenzoate, trimethylamine, triethylamine, N-methyldiethanolamine, N-ethyldiethanolamine, N-n-butyldiethanolamine, N-lauryldiethanolamine, triethanolamine, (2-dimethylamino)ethyl methacryalte, N-methyldiethanolamine dimethacrylate, N-ethyldiethanolamine dimethacrylate, triethanolamine monomethacrylate, triethanolamine dimethacrylate, triethanolamine trimethacrylate, and the like. One or more of them can be used.
Further, specific examples of the above sulfinic acid or salt reducing agent in the redox-type polymerization initiator to be used as the chemical polymerization inintiator include benzenesulfinic acids or salts thereof such as benzenesulfinic acid, sodium benzenesulfinate, potassium benzenesulfinate, toluenesulfinic acid, sodium toluenesulfinate, 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfinic acid, and sodium 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfinate. One or more of them can be used.
In the case of using a chemical polymerization initiator as the polymerization initiator (c), the oxidizing agent such as an organic peroxide and the reducing agent such as a tertiary amine or a sulfinic acid or salt constituting the chemical polymerization initiator should be stored separately before the use of the fitting composition, and both the agents or the components for the composition containing each agent separately are to be mixed at the use of the composition.
The fitting composition of the invention preferably contains 30 to 79.99 wt % of the block copolymer (a), 20 to 69.99 wt % of the (meth)acrylic monomer (b), and 0.01 to 15 wt % of the polymerization initiator (c), based on the total weight of the block copolymer (a), the (meth)acrylic monomer (b), and the polymerization initiator (c) in view of handling ability and filling ability into mold of the fitting composition, and flexibility of the polymerized hardened product. The composition contains, more preferably, 40 to 69.9 wt % of the block copolymer (a), 30 to 59.9 wt % of the (meth)acrylic monomer (b), and 0.1 to 10 i; wt % of the polymerization initiator (c), and further preferably, 50 to 59.9 wt % of the block copolymer (a), 40 to 49.9 wt % of the (meth)acrylic monomer (b), and 0.1 to 10 wt % of the polymerization initiator (c).
The fitting composition of the invention may contain 30 wt % or less of a polymer other than the block copolymer (a) based on the total weight of the fitting composition, if necessary, for adjusting the viscosity of the composition or physical properties of the polymerized hardened product, or for other purposes. As such a polymer, any polymer which does not harm the physical properties of the fitting composition can be used without limitation. Examples thereof include elastomers such as isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene random copoymer rubber, hyrogenated styrene-butadiene random copoymer rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, acrylic rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, polysulfide rubber, silicone rubber, polyurethane-type thermoplastic elastomer, polyester-type thermoplastic elastomer, polyamide-type thermoplastic elastomer, 1,2-polybutadiene-type thermoplastic elastomer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer-type thermoplastic elastomer, and polyvinyl chloride-type thermoplastic elastomer; polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride resin, polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate, polyvinyl acetate, polycarbonates, polyurethanes, polychloroprene resin, polyvinyl fluoride, polyethylene oxide, polyoxymethylene, polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinylidene fluoride, cellulose, polyesters, polyamides, cellulose acetate, and the like. The fitting composition of the invention can contain one or more of these polymers. The fitting composition may contain one or more of these polymers.
The fitting composition of the invention may contain a small amount of a polymerization inhibitor such as hydroquinone, hydroquinone monomethyl ether, or butylhydroxyltoluene, if necessary, for the purpose of preventing the polymerization during storage. Also, the fitting composition of the invention may contain a small .amount of an antioxidant and a photostabilizer for enhancing the stability of the block copolymer (a). Furthermore, the fitting composition of the invention may contain a lubricant, a surfactant, an inorganic filler, a plasticizer, or the like, if necessary, for adjusting the fitting composition and its hardened product more suitably depending on each application and employing mode. Moreover, the fitting composition of the invention may contain a pigment, a dye, a fiber for reinforcement, or the like.
The fitting composition of the invention is usually provided in a paste form. The method for preparing the fitting composition is not particularly limited and it can be prepared by adopting a known mixing process or mixing and kneading process, for example, melt-kneading process or a kneading process using a solvent. Specifically, the method includes, for example, a process of mixing and kneading the block copolymer (a), the (meth)acrylate monomer (b), the polymerization initiator (c), and optional other component(s) using laboratory plastomill (manufactured by Toyo Seiki K. K.) or other kneading apparatus, a process of dissolving the block copolymer (a), the (meth)acrylate monomer (b), the polymerization initiator (c), and optional other component(s) into an organic solvent such as toluene or methylene chloride, mixing the mixture homogeneously, and successively removing the organic solvent, and other processes. In general, the kneading process using no organic solvent is preferable in view of safety and sanitary aspect as well as no necessity of removal of the organic solvent after the mixing owing to the use of no organic solvent. The paste-form composition obtained by mixing each component is preferably subjected to defoaming treatment through evacuation or suction.
At producing body-worn tools to be used in contact with skin, such as a hearing ability-correcting tool including a hearing aid, an eyesight-correcting tool including spectacles, or an artificial limb, the paste-form fitting composition of the invention can be banked surrounding the hardware circuit board of a hearing aid, and, after the adjustment of the shape by directly inserting it into an ear hole, hardened through polymerization by irradiation with a light to complete the production of the hearing aid. Thus, one of the most important characteristics of the body-worn tool using the fitting composition of the invention is that it can be directly produced without using a mold.
At producing a body-worn tool using the fitting composition of the invention, the above direct production is an important characteristic, but any conventional method for producing a body-worn tool using a plastic material may also be applied for the production.
Although no limitation is intended, the method for producing an ear hole-type hearing aid may be exemplified by the following. The preparation of the hearing aid can be completed by, first, making a cast of the ear hole of a wearer by inserting a silicone putty material or the like into the ear hole, preparing a female mold having an ear hole-shape cavity by applying agar, gypsum, or other molding material to the outer surface of the cast and solidifying the material, preparing a shell part of the m hearing aid by applying the paste-form fitting composition of the invention to the inner surface of the female mold at a predetermined thickness and hardening the composition through polymerization, then installing a hardware circuit board for the hearing aid inside the shell, and adjusting the shape.
A method similar to the method for producing the hearing aid can be adopted for the production of other body-worn tools such as spectacles and artificial limbs.
Since the fitting composition of the invention usually has a paste-form, it is extremely excellent in handling ability at the production of the shell part of a hearing aid. Namely, in the case of using the fitting composition of the invention, complex steps are not required, the steps comprising xe2x80x9cforming a wall by applying a thermally fusible material to the inner surface of the female mold, which is prepared so as to have an ear hole-shape cavity, at a predetermined thickness and solidifying the material, forming an intermediate by filling the inside of the solidified wall of the thermally fusible material with a resin and solidifying or hardening the resin, removing the wall made of the thermally fusible material applied between the female mold and the intermediate, and preparing a shell for the hearing aid by introducing a soft resin such as plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin into the cavity for forming the shell formed by the removal of the wall between the female mold and the intermediate and solidifying the resinxe2x80x9d, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 296900/1986, but the shell part of the hearing aid can be produced by simply applying the paste-form fitting composition of the invention into a female mold having an ear hole-shape cavity and hardening the composition through polymerization by irradiation with a light, by heating and/or by a chemical reaction. In addition, it is not always necessary to prepare the female mold having an ear hole-shape cavity with a light-transparent material as in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 130697/1993.
The fitting composition of the invention affords a polymerized hardened product having an appropriate rubber elasticity owing to the incorporation of the above specific block copolymer (a), and the elasticity is maintained for a long period of time. Therefore, the fitting composition of the invention is suitably used as a fitting material for obtaining optimal adjustment of a hearing ability-correcting tool including a hearing aid, a eyesight-correcting tool including spectacles, an artificial limb, or other body-worn tool to the body shape of a wearer. By the way, although the above description mainly explained an ear hole-type hearing aid, the fitting composition of the invention can be suitably used not only in the production of the shell of the ear hole-type hearing aid but also in the production of the parts of ear-hanging type or spectacle type hearing aids, the parts being necessary to fit to body.
For the body-worn tools obtained by applying the fitting composition of the invention to a body-fitting part and hardening the composition through polymerization, the hardness of the polymerized hardened product is preferably from 30 to 90, especially from 35 to 85 on the durometer A-type in accordance with JIS K 6253 described above.
The following will explain the invention in detail with reference to Examples, but the invention is not limited to following Examples. In following Examples, the rubber hardness and sliding resistance of the polymerized hardened product obtained by hardening the fitting composition through polymerization in each Example were measured as follows.
A fitting composition was filled into a mold having a cylindrical cavity of 10 cm of diameter and 10 mm of thickness and then irradiated with a light by means of a light irradiator, xe2x80x9cxcex1-lightxe2x80x9d manufactured by K. K. Morita Tokyo Factory (output: a 150 W halogen lampxc3x976), from the position about 5 cm apart from the central upper surface of the mold for 10 minutes to harden the composition through polymerization. Test pieces in accordance to JIS K 6253 were cut from the resulting hardened product, immersed in water at 37xc2x0 C. for 1 day, and taken out, and then the rubber hardness was measured on a durometer A-type testing machine manufactured by Koubunshi Keiki in accordance with JIS K 6253.
(i) A fitting composition was applied all over the surface of an acrylic plate having a width of 30 mm, a length of 100 mm and a thickness of 3 mm, so as to make the thickness of the composition about 1 mm. The composition on the plate was hardened through polymerization by irradiating with a light by means of a light irradiator, xe2x80x9cxcex1-lightxe2x80x9d manufactured by K. K. Morita Tokyo Factory (output: a 150 W halogen lampxc3x975), from the position about 5 cm apart from the central upper surface of the acrylic plate for 10 minutes.
(ii) A stainless steel mirror-finished disk having a diameter of 20 mm and a weight of 5 g was placed at the central part of the polymerized hardened product layer on the laminated plate composed of the acrylic plate and the hardened layer of the fitting composition obtained in the above (i). Then, one end of the laminated plate was picked up and inclined at a rate of 10xc2x0/minute, while another end was kept at the ground position. The sliding resistance of the polymerized hardened product was evaluated by measuring the angle at which the stainless steel disk began to slide. The larger the angle is, the higher the sliding resistance is.

Fitting composition, body-worn tool produced using the same, and method for producing the same