An ophthalmic refractor is constructed to judge whether a visual acuity value of a symbol with a mask is minimum or maximum among values in a selected charts, select a chart containing a symbol indicating a visual acuity value smaller than the minimum visual acuity value when the visual acuity value is judged to be minimum, and select a chart containing a symbol indicating a visual acuity value larger than the maximum visual acuity value when the visual acuity value is judged to be maximum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an ophthalmic refractor and more particularly to an ophthalmic refractor having an enhanced operability.
2. Related Background Arts
This kind of ophthalmic refractor includes a visual acuity chart presenting device such as a chart projector etc that has a plurality of charts containing symbols indicating different visual acuity values. The visual acuity chart presenting device is constructed to select the chart by inputting a visual acuity value of the symbols through ten keys, which should be shown to a patient.
In recent years, there has hitherto got prevailed an ophthalmic refractor including chart selection keys corresponding to the respective charts, and up- and down-keys for automatically inputting a visual acuity value and automatically selecting a chart in order to enhance the operability when examining a visual acuity of the patient.
In the case of selecting a chart containing Landolt rings indicating visual acuity values of, e.g., 0.4-0.6 by use of the chart selection key, an arbitrary visual acuity value of 0.4 among the values of 0.4-0.6 is displayed on a display unit. Then, the ophthalmic refractor is constructed so that when the displayed visual acuity value is sequentially incremented (such as 0.5, 0.6) by the up- and down-keys, the chart containing the symbol of the visual acuity value 0.7 is automatically presented to the patient even if the chart shown presently contains just the symbol indicating the visual acuity values of 0.6 and less.
Further, the ophthalmic refractor incorporates a function to mask the chart in order to make the patient visually recognize only a specific symbol in the chart presented. The mask is classified into a lengthwise one-column mask, a crosswise one-row mask and a one-character mask, which are movable in predetermined directions by using a mask operation key.
Note that the visual acuity value displayed on the display unit is stored as an ophthalmic result.
In the ophthalmic refractor having the above-described up- and down-keys and the mask operation key, the chart is masked so that the patient visually recognizes the symbol of the visual acuity value 0.4, and thereafter the visual acuity value is updated by the up- and down-keys. For example, when the visual acuity value is updated from 0.4 to 0.5, the updating process of the visual acuity value must be done by the up- and down-keys, and the mask has to be moved to a symbol by the mask operation key, which mark should be visually recognized by the patient. The operations of both of the up- and down-keys and the mask operation key on the occasion of the eye examination involving the use of the mask, might conduce to problems in which an eye examining time increases, and besides the operation becomes troublesome. Further, it might happen that the operation by the up- and down-keys gets misconceived as the operation by the mask operation key, which leads to a possibility in which the updated visual acuity value is not coincident with the symbol that should be visually recognized by the patient.
Furthermore, according to the ophthalmic refractor including the up- and down-keys for the visual acuity values, the operation of the up- and down-keys is invariably interlocked with the visual acuity chart operating device, and hence only the chart can not be arbitrarily selected without updating the visual acuity value.
Further, if the visual acuity values of the symbols contained in the charts are limited to 0.1, a displayable visual acuity value is also limited to 0.1, and it is impossible to perform the eye examination for visual acuity values smaller than 0.1.


A new poinsettia plant particularly distinguished by having pinkish-red bracts, dark green foliage, a triangular plant form, and an upright growth habit, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct variety of poinsettia, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'NPCW14227'. 'NPCW14227' was derived as a selection from a controlled cross conducted in Nairobi, Kenya in November/December 2008 between the proprietary female parent 'SK 63' (unpatented) having white bracts and light green foliage and the proprietary male parent 'SK 66' having red bracts and dark green foliage.
In November 2009, a single plant was selected in Stuttgart, Germany from plants produced from the initial cross. In May 2010, 'NPCW14227' was first asexually propagated by vegetative cuttings. 'NPCW 14227' was found to reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation via vegetative cuttings in Stuttgart, Germany.


A three-dimensional semiconductor circuit assembly wherein each of several circuit chips is provided with patterned metal layers that extend from the circuit surface onto an edge side of the chip, then the chips are adhesively bonded to opposite surfaces of one or more dielectric spacers, respectively, whereby the edge sides of the resulting multiple-chip stack are readily connected to metal patterns on a substrate.

Semiconductor devices have been prepared in the past using various combinations of metallization over the circuit metal contact pads. Such combinations generally have included the use of thin films of refractory metals as well as gold and palladium, which require costly patterning steps involving hazardous material and chemical waste, and also generate stress in the semiconductor chips. They furthermore severely limit the choice of soldering materials for assembly and packaging. Although platinum, with titanium as undermetal, has been proposed in 1996 ("Self-Aligned, Fluxless Flip-Chip Bonding Technology for Photonic Devices", by J. F. Kuhmann, H. -J. Hensel, D. Pech, P. Harde, and H. -G. Bach, Proc. 1996 Electronic Components and Technology Conference, May 1996), it was restricted to specialty III-V photonic devices and eutectic solder connections. For rerouting processes on semiconductor circuits, past technology offers only methods of questionable effectiveness to position the thin metal films across the sides or edges of the chip. In addition, the patterning processes for these thin metal films are expensive and generate liquid waste byproducts which must be disposed of. For forming cubes from a plurality of stacked chips, the known technology must rely on cumbersome, expensive methods. Known methods for assembling individual chips or finished cubes onto substrates often involve poorly compatible metallization and solders, with difficulty for aligning active parts and substrate.
In summary, the goal of offering for commercial and military systems cost-effective, reliable, rerouted semiconductor products, manufactured in high volume and with flexible, low-cost production methods, has remained elusive, until now.

Semiconductor device including stacked chips having metal patterned on circuit surface and on edge side of chip


Methods for developing disease-related nanobodies and related products and kits are provided. The disease-specific proteins are extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, domains or epitopes that are associated with various aspects of disease and are not present, or are present in very low quantities, in non-diseased individuals. Highly effective nanobodies capable of specifically binding to these ECM protein epitopes useful in in vivo imaging assays, the detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases as well as monitoring therapeutic progress in a patient with a disease are provided herein.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) and ECM proteins play important physiological roles in growth, wound healing, cell migration, and differentiation, among other processes. Furthermore, in diseased states, the composition of the ECM changes and prior observations indicate that these changes in extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins can play significant roles in cancer progression and metastasis, in cardiovascular diseases and in fibrosis. The field of proteomics involves the study of proteins in complex physiological systems and their role in these systems. Large data sets have been generated using genomic and proteomic methods, but the use of that information to identify the role of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in disease has been limited. This is because the ECM is insoluble and crosslinked and its composition has been difficult to determine until recent application of proteomics targeted specifically to ECM proteins.

Nanobody based imaging and targeting of ECM in disease and development

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research


An aqueous liquid composition comprising water; at least one acid selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acids, hydroxycarboxylic acids, and inorganic acids other than phosphoric acid wherein the at least one acid is present in an amount from about 1.0 to about 30 milliequivalents per kilogram of total composition (“mEq/kg”); and an amphoteric surfactant wherein the amphoteric surfactant is present in an amount from about 0.01 to about 20 grams per kilogram of total composition (“g/kg”), the aqueous liquid composition having a pH from about 2.0 to about 6.1 and having a reduced etch attack on metal as compared to an aqueous composition comprising from about 1.0 to about 30 milliequivalents per kilogram of total composition (“mEq/kg”) of acids selected from the group consisting of carboxylic, hydroxycarboxylic, and inorganic acids, and not containing the amphoteric surfactant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compositions and processes for cleaning engineering plastic surfaces, and, more particularly, to such compositions that are substantially or entirely free from phosphate and have a reduced mild steel equipment etch.
2. Background Art
Numerous compositions and processes for cleaning plastic surfaces are currently known in the art. Most of them include acid, surfactant(s), and phosphates. In some locations, however, phosphates are forbidden or severely limited to avoid potential pollution and eutrophication of bodies of water that receive discharges of industrial waste water. Thus, compositions that contain little or no phosphate but are still effective cleaners have been sought.
Among the known cleaning compositions containing phosphates, there is a composition that contains phosphoric acid, citric acid, and esters of phosphoric acid together with alkylaminopolyglycol ether surfactant and sufficient basic constituents to result in a pH of about 2. There is also a phosphate-containing cleaner for removing mold that comprises peroxides, phosphoric acid or phosphate salts, divalent cations, and lower carboxylic acids or salts thereof. Citric acid and citrates may constitute the latter ingredient. An aqueous emulsifier composition containing phosphates for cleaning metal surfaces is also known. The emulsifier composition contains oxyethylated alcohol; mono-, di-, or triethylamino carbonate; disodium mono-, di-, or triethylamino ethylenediaminetetraacetate or sodium tripolyphosphate; sodium citrate; and water. Finally, there is a composition containing citric acid, a phosphate salt, a wetting agent, and a corrosion inhibitor that is useful for cleaning metal or plastic surfaces from corrosive etching solutions or their reaction products.
Among the known plastic cleaning solutions is a cleaner for fiber reinforced plastic moldings which is improved by adding to the "usual" ingredients, such as surfactant(s) and organic solvent(s), a carboxylic and/or hydroxycarboxylic acid, which may be citric acid. A known spray cleaning composition for plastic articles includes water insoluble inorganic powder and conventional surfactants and may also contain builders, defoaming agents, chelating agent, and solvent. Citric acid is taught as an example of a chelating agent. A detergent composition recommended for cleaning plastic sheets used in horticulture contains polyoxyethylene alkyl ether (a nonionic surfactant) and sodium citrate as its main components. Another composition for cleaning metal, plastic, or glass includes lithium salts of an acidic partial ester of sulfuric acid, of a sulfonic acid, or of an alkanolamine with citric acid as an optional ingredient.
Compositions containing a weak organic acid and an acrylic polymer have been used to clean semipermeable membranes, such as cellulose acetate and triacetate, polyamide, and polysulfone membranes. Preferred weak acids for this membrane cleaning application include citric acid, malic acid, sulfamic acid, and mixtures thereof. Another known acid-containing composition is used for cleaning ceramic cladding materials. This composition includes citric acid and partially hydrogenated caprolactam oligomers.
Finally, liquid detergent compositions containing surfactants are known. The surfactant acts function to retard redeposition of soil. Furthermore, these detergent compositions may include a water soluble sequestrant builder that may be or include citrates.

Acidic, phosphate-free plastic cleaner composition with reduced mild steel equipment etch for cleaning plastic parts


A fixing device including a belt having an endless shape, a heater provided on an inner surface side of the belt, and a pressing portion provided so as to contact the belt and form a nip portion. A groove-forming portion is provided so as to contact the belt. The groove-forming portion has a surface and a groove formed on the surface. The groove extends in a direction crossing a rotating direction of the belt.

The present invention relates to a fixing device and an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic printer using the fixing device.
An image forming apparatus includes four image forming units arranged along a transport path of a recording sheet, and a transfer unit is provided so as to face the image forming units via the transport path. The image forming units form developer images of four colors, and the transfer unit transfers the developer images to the recording sheet. A fixing device is provided downstream of the image forming units in a transport direction of the recording sheet. The fixing unit is configured to fix the developer image to the recording sheet.
The fixing device includes a fixing roller, a metal guide, and an endless belt provided around the fixing roller and the metal guide. A heater is provided on a back surface of the belt guide. A pressure roller is pressed against the fixing roller via the endless belt. In an image forming operation, the fixing roller is driven to rotate, and the endless belt and the pressure roller rotate following the rotation of the fixing roller. The endless belt is heated by heat generated by the heater, and is transmitted from the fixing roller via the metal guide. The recording sheet (to which a developer image is transferred) is introduced into between the endless belt and the pressure roller, and the developer image is fixed to the recording sheet by being applied with heat and pressure (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-257455).
In the conventional fixing unit, there are cases where deterioration in image quality may occur.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus


A method for constructing velocity models for stacking seismic data, or, more generally, a method for determining reflection geometries with seismic gathers through the use of trace-to-trace coherency coupled with global editing capability to separate velocity events corresponding to primary reflections from multiple reflections and other noise. A velocity model can be fit to the edited velocity events and used for stacking of seismic data. Alternatively, the measured reflection geometry has other potential uses including providing data to be input to a tomographic velocity updating procedure that produces a migration velocity model.

This invention relates generally to the field of seismic data processing, and specifically to determining reflection geometry in seismic gather data. This information can be used to determine stacking velocity parameters.
In seismic data processing, different pieces of data (time samples from seismic traces) presumed to originate from the same location on a subsurface reflector are combined, or stacked, to enhance the amplitude of desired reflected information relative to noise. This process of stacking requires a parameter, called the stacking velocity, which describes the change in traveltime of the reflected energy as a function of the distance between the seismic source and receiver. This stacking velocity somehow must be selected (or xe2x80x9cpickedxe2x80x9d) throughout the subterranean spatial region represented in the seismic survey. Picking stacking velocities for seismic data is often the most time consuming portion of seismic data processing.
Existing methods for picking stacking velocities consist of first producing velocity semblance, velocity sweep, or velocity events displays at each velocity analysis location in the survey. A brief description of each of these types of display follows:
Velocity Semblance Display
To produce a velocity semblance display, one first measures the trace-to-trace coherence (or coherency), within a common midpoint (CMP) gather of seismic traces, as a function of both moveout velocity and time. This coherency data may be plotted, on a computer monitor for example, as an image with time (or depth) as the vertical axis, velocity as the horizontal axis, and with the pixel color spectrum used as a measure of the coherency value. Peaks in this coherency, as a function of time and velocity, are taken to be potential points on the velocity versus time (or depth) function at the x-y position of that common midpoint. The coherency peaks are assumed to represent subterranean reflectors or horizons, and the time (or depth) value for each peak represents the zero-offset travel time (or depth) of the horizon at that x-y position.
The coherency can be computed using a number of methods. Common methods include simply moveout correcting the traces and computing the trace-to-trace semblance.
Velocity Sweep Display
A velocity sweep is a stack, of several adjacent CMP gathers, for a suite of different stacking velocities. The stacks, of several adjacent CMP gathers, at one velocity in the sweep are called a velocity sweep panel. The velocity sweep displays are again interpreted, in a manner similar to that described above, to produce a velocity versus time function. However, the velocity interpreter can usually pick better velocities from a velocity sweep display than from a semblance display, because:
The interpretation is based not only on discerning trace-to-trace coherency within a CMP gather, but also on the spatial (i.e., lateral) trace-to-trace coherency between the CMP locations. This spatial trace-to-trace coherency, rather than the coherency within a CMP gather, is much more important to the geologic interpreter when performing geologic interpretation of seismic data. Thus, optimizing spatial trace-to-trace coherency should be the primary goal of stacking velocity analysis.
The human eye can often observe optimal spatial trace-to-trace coherency in areas where poor signal-to-noise ratios make discerning optimal trace-to-trace coherency within a single CMP gather impossible.
Velocity sweep displays provide some geologic information that the velocity interpreter can use to separate signal from noise. For example, multiple reflections (xe2x80x9cmultiplesxe2x80x9d) often have different dip than the primary geologic reflections one wishes to optimize.
Velocity Events Display
In order to improve the efficiency of the velocity interpretation process, velocity semblance or velocity sweep data are often pre-analyzed using an automatic picking program. See, for example J. H. Bodine, J. N. Gallagher, and J. H. Wright, xe2x80x9cGeophysical Exploration Using Velocity Spectra Regional Coherency Peaksxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,220 (1991). This automatic picking program searches the velocity semblance for peaks, and outputs a file containing only the time, velocity and coherency value of the peaks. These (time, velocity, coherency) data are called velocity xe2x80x9ceventsxe2x80x9d because each of them may represent reflected energy from a specific subsurface reflection or series of reflections. These data are plotted as a scatter plot with time as the vertical axis, velocity as the horizontal axis, and some aspect of the scatter symbol (e.g., color or size) used to indicate coherency. The automatically picked events themselves do not produce a satisfactory velocity function, because they are usually quite noisy. The events must be interpreted to produce a velocity function for the velocity analysis location.
Interpretation of Velocity Displays
After producing the velocity semblance, sweeps or events, these data are interpreted at each location in the survey individually. The only extra information, regarding adjacent velocity analysis locations, that is usually displayed are velocity functions that may previously have been picked at those adjacent locations. This conventional method for picking stacking velocities has several problems:
The simple fact that velocities must be analyzed at each location individually makes this a time consuming process.
Since the velocity interpreter cannot view the velocity analysis displays for a large region, it is difficult to pick velocities that do not have some unreasonable lateral velocity variations. Therefore, the interpreted velocity model must often be edited several times to remove these unreasonable lateral variations.
Velocity semblance and events displays show only coherency within a CMP gather, not spatial coherency. On the other hand, spatial coherency is the attribute that has primary importance to the geologic interpreter, and is more robust in the presence of low signal-to-noise ratios.
Velocity sweep displays have poor velocity precision, because they display panels of several traces for each velocity. This implies that only a few velocities (on the order of 25) can be displayed before the display becomes unwieldy.
Since conventional velocity analysis techniques use 2-D displays, with time being one dimension of the display, it is difficult to pick more than one xe2x80x9cattributexe2x80x9d (i.e., any measurement based on seismic data, such as velocity, reflector dip or a non-hyperbolic moveout parameter) of the seismic data. The attribute that is usually picked is hyperbolic moveout velocity. Conventional methods have difficulty picking attributes beyond this hyperbolic moveout velocity, such as non-hyperbolic moveout parameters that may result from anisotropy or lateral velocity variation.
Bodine et al., in their patent referenced above, attempt to overcome the problem of unreasonably large lateral velocity variations. Their patent treats the velocity data, from one seismic line, as a cube with vertical axis being time, one lateral axis being velocity, and the other lateral axis being location along the seismic line. By extracting various slices from this cube, and interpreting those slices, they can produce smoother velocity models than those produced by the conventional method discussed above. However, their method has several shortcomings:
Since their method only works with slices of the data, the velocity interpreter is never presented with a single display that shows the velocity information corresponding to a large region. Thus, it is still difficult to produce velocities that vary smoothly in all dimensions.
For 3-D data, each xe2x80x9cinlinexe2x80x9d in the 3-D volume would have to be analyzed individually by their method. Thus, it would be difficult to ensure that the velocity model is smooth in the direction perpendicular to the inline direction (i.e., the xe2x80x9ccrosslinexe2x80x9d direction).
The only attribute used by their method to pick velocity is coherency within CMP gathers. As discussed above, other attributes can be more diagnostic. In particular, spatial coherency is of primary interest to the geologic interpreter.
D. Doicin, C. Johnson and N. Hargreaves have presented an automated method for interpreting velocity events (EAEG/EAPG 57th Conference and Technical Exhibition, Glasglow, Scotland, Extended Abstracts Volume 1, 1995). In their method, velocity events are computed as in Bodine""s above-referenced patent, except that they are computed at every time and spatial (x,y) position sampled in the seismic data. These events are then grouped together in a horizon-consistent manner, and any events that are not contained in a group having a lateral extent greater than a user-specified threshold are eliminated. Events falling outside of a user-specified window are also eliminated. Doicin, et al.""s method overcomes some of the problems discussed above. Since it is automatic, it reduces interpretation time analyzing the events, and precision isn""t compromised due to display limitations. Their method also imposes some constraint on the spatial consistency of events, so that some of the unreasonably large lateral variations are eliminated. However, their method has the following limitations:
While they do use spatial coherency to eliminate events, they don""t incorporate spatial coherency into their velocity events themselves. In low signal-to-noise ratio areas this will lead to missed events that could be visible to the human eye on a velocity sweep display.
Their events do not incorporate any spatial attributes (e.g. reflector dip)which can be very useful for discerning signal from noise.
They don""t provide methods for quickly editing the results of their automated picking.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that an improved method for picking stacking velocities is needed. Such a method should be capable of presenting multiple attributes, including spatial coherency, for simultaneous interpretation, thereby generating better stacking velocity picks as well as enabling velocity picking to be performed in areas of poor signal-to-noise ratio. Such a method should make use of geologic xe2x80x9cbiasxe2x80x9d, such as expected variability in velocity, local reflector dip, and other seismic attributes over large subsurface regions, to discriminate the velocity of primary reflections from that of noise. Such a method should generate a globally consistent stacking velocity model in minimal time and at minimal expense, thus enabling more economic velocity interpretation of 3-D surveys. The present invention satisfies these needs.
The present invention is a method for determining stacking velocity parameters or other reflection geometry information from seismic data, which in one embodiment comprises the steps of: (a) computing the coherence, with respect to selected seismic attributes (e.g., moveout velocity, inline dip and crossline dip), of a set of adjacent common midpoint (CMP) gathers at selected subterranean spatial locations; (b) picking seismic events at the peaks of this coherence function; and (c) editing the picked events with the objective of eliminating all events except those representing primary seismic reflections. If a smooth velocity model is fitted to the edited events, the resulting velocities can be used for stacking the seismic data. Alternatively, the edited events can be used for other purposes such as input data for a tomographic velocity updating procedure. Preferably, step (b) is performed by automated means and step (c) is performed by a combination of automated means and human intervention.
In some embodiments, the coherence is calculated not only within each CMP gather, but also laterally between neighboring CMP gathers, thus mimicking by automated means the ability of the human eye to discern velocity events from noise in poor signal-to-noise areas and resulting in high quality event picking.
Velocity events produced by this method can have additional attributes (e.g., dip and coherence) which allow for quality control of the events not only based on coherence within a gather but also on the geologic consistency of events over larger regions.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the editing process is a combination of automated editing where events are deleted based on pre-set parameters and thresholds, and human intervention. Setting up the human editing, the automated process groups the events into sets characterized by smooth variations in their attributes over large regions. This grouping can be done by statistical means or by artificial intelligence means. The interpreter is then able to identify entire groups of events as corresponding to unwanted events such as multiple reflections, and accordingly delete them. The editing by the interpreter is greatly enhanced in the preferred embodiments of the present invention by the use of three-dimensional visualization techniques, which allow the interpreter to interpret velocities globally rather than one event at a time, thereby easily avoiding introducing unwanted rapid lateral velocity variations. The three-dimensional visualization display also presents more than one attribute at a time for the interpreter to consider.

Method for determining stacking velocity parameters or other reflection geometry information from seismic gather data using multiple attributes and 3-D visualization


A method for polishing a wafer effectively preventing a sag in an outer peripheral portion of a wafer and a polishing pad for polishing a wafer preferably used in the method for polishing a wafer are provided. The method for polishing a wafer comprises the step of: mirror-polishing a wafer with a main surface of the wafer being in contact with a polishing pad of non-woven fabric impregnated with resin, wherein a ratio of surface roughness of the polishing pad to compressibility thereof {surface roughness Ra (μm)/compressibility (%)} is 3.8 or more.

Conventionally, a method for manufacturing a silicon wafer used as a semiconductor substrate generally includes a crystal growing process for producing a single crystal ingot by a Czochralski (CZ) method, a Floating Zone melting (FZ) method or the like, and a wafer manufacturing process where this single crystal ingot is sliced and at least one main surface thereof is processed into a mirror-like surface. To describe the process more detailedly, wafer manufacturing process comprises: a slicing step of slicing the single crystal ingot to obtain a thin and disk-shaped wafer; a chamfering step of chamfering a peripheral edge portion of the wafer obtained through the slicing step to prevent cracking and chipping of the wafer; a lapping step of flattening this wafer; an etching step that removes machining deformation remaining behind in the so chamfered and lapped wafer; a polishing step of making a mirror surface of the wafer; and a cleaning step of cleaning the polished wafer to remove abrasive slurry or dust particles deposited thereon. The main steps of the wafer manufacturing process are only listed above, and sometimes other steps such as a heat treating step may be added, the above one step may be performed at multiple stages and the step sequence may be changeable.
The polishing step, among the above steps, includes various forms of polishing methods. For example, a mirror-polishing method for a silicon wafer comprises various methods such as a both side polishing method to polish both surfaces of a wafer simultaneously as in the lapping step, a single wafer polishing method to polish a single wafer vacuum-chucked on a plate one by one, and a wax-free polishing method to polish a wafer held by a backing pad and a template without using adhesive such as wax. At present, there is mainly used a polishing method using a wax mount batch type one side polishing apparatus to polish one surfaces of plural wafers adhered onto a plate made of such as glass or ceramics with wax. In this polishing apparatus, the plate on which the wafers are held is placed on a turn table on which a polishing pad is adhered and with a load being applied to an upper top ring the wafer is polished while rotating the turn table and the top ring.
Generally, there are employed as the polishing pads used in the polishing methods polishing pads made of such as a non-woven cloth type or a suede type. A polishing pad of a non-woven cloth type which is fabricated by impregnating a polyester felt (having a texture of a random structure) with polyurethane, has porosity and moderate elasticity and is excellent in a polishing rate and a flatness level, so that polishing with less of a sag is achieved. This kind of polishing pad has been widely employed for stock removal polishing of a silicon wafer.
A polishing pad of a suede type has a base material of polyester felt impregnated with polyurethane, and a foamed layer is formed in the polyurethane, by removing a surface portion of the foamed layer openings being formed thereon (this layer is called a nap layer). This polishing pad is specifically used in final polishing, wherein abrasive slurry held in the foamed layer acts between a work and an inner surface of the foamed layer to thereby perform polishing of the work. Though this type of a polishing pad has been well used in chemical mechanical polishing to obtain a damage-free surface, a peripheral sag is easy to occur during long time polishing. In addition to the above polishing pads, a polishing pad such as a foamed urethane sheet is available.
As a method for fabricating a polishing pad such as a polishing pad of a non-woven cloth type or the like, there is exemplified a process for fabricating a polishing pad with arbitrary characteristic, wherein a polyester felt is impregnated with resin such as polyurethane and the surface thereof is ground with a roll-shaped grindstone attached with super hard abrasive grains thereon (this process is called buffing). A resin material, a content of impregnation thereof and a buffing condition for the surface control compressibility and other properties of the polishing pad of this kind. At present, a polishing pad with compressibility of the order of several % is used and it has been known that a polishing pad with low compressibility contributes to a reduction of the sag in an outer peripheral portion of a wafer.
It is important to keep a constant quality of each of the polished wafers in a polishing step. For the purpose, while stabilization of a polishing pad is important, especially there become issues surface roughness, compressibility, a compressive elasticity modulus, and others.
For example, if the compressibility of the polishing pad is decreased, a problem arises that the influence of precision in a polishing apparatus (a shape of a turn table, surface deflection of the turn table, vibration in processing, etc.) cannot be absorbed to deteriorate flatness of a wafer. Conversely, if the compressibility is excessively large, the amount of surface depression of the polishing pad becomes large to cause a sag in an outer peripheral portion of a wafer.
Also, as for the surface roughness of the polishing pad, in a case of a smoother surface thereof and a higher content of impregnated resin therein, a contact ratio between the polishing pad and an outer peripheral portion of a wafer rises to increase a sag in the outer peripheral portion. Conversely, in a case where the surface roughness of the polishing pad is increased by buffing it roughly, the compressibility itself becomes larger to further increase a sag in the outer peripheral portion.


Mixing nozzle fitments and beverage devices containing the mixing nozzle fitments are provided. In an embodiment, the mixing nozzle fitment includes a first shaft defining an inlet passage, a second shaft defining a curved outlet passage and attached to the first shaft, and a coupling member attached to the second shaft. The coupling member defines a passage that leads into the curved outlet passage of the second shaft. A flexible tube is attached to the coupling member. The mixing nozzle fitment can be used in any suitable beverage dispensing device.

The present disclosure generally relates to beverage dispensing devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to mixing nozzle fitments for dispensing beverages.
There are a variety of beverage dispensers currently on the market. Some beverage dispensers operate by dispensing a hot or cold ready-to-drink fluid directly into a container such as a cup. Other beverage dispensers operate by dispensing a powdered or liquid concentrate along with a separate diluent through a beverage dispensing nozzle and into a container or cup to form the drink.
The present invention relates to post-mix dispensers in which a liquid concentrate is stored and is automatically combined at the time of dispensing with a diluents such as water at a predetermined ratio. The combination is usually operated in a mixing chamber in which the concentrate and the diluents emerge. The relative flows of the concentrate and diluent can be controlled to maximize the qualities of the beverage such as mixing and foam production. This mixing chamber can be a mixing tee fitment such as described in WO 01/21292 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,759. In these prior arts the mixing tee fitment comprises a horizontal diluent inlet portion joined to vertical beverage outlet portion by an elbow and a vertical concentrate inlet emerging in the horizontal diluent inlet portion.
It has been observed that the above type of fitment could lead to accumulation of concentrate in dead zones. This accumulation can lead to hygienic problems if the beverage concentrates are sensible to bacteria such as milk. This problem is emphasized if the dispenser is intermittently used. In addition the concentrate could also get into the water inlet stream and create problems from a hygienic point of view, especially since the water inlet valve is part of the machine and not easily cleanable.
The present invention aims at solving the hygiene issues relative to this kind of mixing tee fitment.

Mixing nozzle fitment and mixed liquid dispenser


A system for determining a state of compaction of a work material includes a compactor and a compaction sensor system. A controller is configured to determine an empirical state of compaction of the work material based upon signals from the compaction sensor system and the characteristics of a machine associated with the compaction sensor system.

Compacting machines or compactors are commonly used to compact work materials (such as soil, gravel, asphalt, landfill trash) to a desired density while constructing buildings, highways, parking lots, and other structures. In addition, compactors are often used to compact recently moved and/or relatively soft materials at mining sites and landfills. The process often requires a plurality of passes over the work material to reach the desired density.
Determining whether the desired level of compaction has been reached is often estimated in a variety of manners. In some instances, the compaction may be approximated by determining the ability of the work material to support a machine. For example, the penetration depth of toothed wheels of a compactor may be monitored as the teeth will penetrate less as the work material becomes more compacted. Other systems are also used to determine the ability of the work material to support a machine.
These systems typically determine the relative state of compaction of the work material. In other words, the systems determine the extent to which the work material has been compacted relative to the maximum compaction capacity or capability of the machine. As a result, the systems may determine that a work material has been compacted to some percentage of the maximum compacting capability of the machine. However, such systems do not provide an absolute or empirical measure of the state of compaction.
As a result, operators must perform secondary tests or evaluations at the work site to determine the actual state of compaction of the work material. Some of the secondary tests require the removal of material from an otherwise finished work surface. In addition, it may be necessary to perform tests at multiple locations to determine whether the desired level of compaction has been uniformly achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,581,452 discloses a system in which distance measuring devices or sensors may be mounted to a vehicle and used to determine the distance between the sensors and the soil surface upon which the vehicle is operating. The distance from the sensors to the surface may be measured at locations at which the vehicle has traveled as well as locations at which the vehicle has not traveled. The measurements may be compared to determine the depth of a track made by the tire or wheel of a vehicle as the vehicle traveled along on the soil. The depth of the track may be used to calculate strength of the soil.
The foregoing background discussion is intended solely to aid the reader. It is not intended to limit the innovations described herein, nor to limit or expand the prior art discussed. Thus, the foregoing discussion should not be taken to indicate that any particular element of a prior system is unsuitable for use with the innovations described herein, nor is it intended to indicate that any element is essential in implementing the innovations described herein. The implementations and application of the innovations described herein are defined by the appended claims.

System and method for determining a state of compaction


A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel having respective pixels which are allocated to red, green and blue and a light source which allows light to pass through the respective pixels, wherein the light source is constituted of a plurality of red light emitting elements, a plurality of green light emitting elements and a plurality of blue light emitting elements. The liquid crystal display device further includes pixels which have the largest light transmitting quantity out of the respective pixels allocated to red, green and blue, and the number of light emitting elements of color corresponding to color which is allocated to the pixels having the largest light transmitting quantity is smaller than the number of light emitting elements of other color.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device which is constituted of at least a liquid crystal display panel for color display and a backlight.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display panel is configured such that liquid crystal is provided between respective substrates which are arranged to face each other in an opposed manner and a large number of pixels are arranged in the spreading direction of the liquid crystal.
Here, each pixel includes means to independently generate an electric field at a portion thereof and the optical transmissivity of the liquid crystal in the pixel is controlled based on the electric field.
Accordingly, usually, a backlight is arranged on a back surface of the liquid crystal display panel and a viewer can observe light from the backlight through the respective pixels.
Here, with respect to the liquid crystal display panel for color display, respective red, green and blue filters are incorporated into three respective pixels which are arranged close to each other (a unit pixel for color display) and an image display of a given color can be recognized due to mixing of lights having respective colors through the respective filters.
Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2001-66569, there has been known a liquid crystal display device in which, as a backlight, a light source is constituted of respective red, green and blue light emitting diodes which are respectively provided in the same plural number and the liquid crystal display device uses a white light obtained by mixing these lights of three colors.

Liquid crystal display device having particular number of the light emitting elements in the backlight for the color display


A merchandise display shelving arrangement incorporates a first, gondola-type shelving unit with shelves intended to be loaded from the rear. The shelves may be inclined to promote gravity feeding of merchandise toward the front of the shelves. A second shelving unit is readily movable between a position in which it backs up to the first shelving unit and obstructs access to the rear of the shelves and another position in which it is spaced from the first shelving unit to create an aisle affording access to the rear of the shelves to facilitate loading of merchandise onto the shelves.

The present invention relates to a shelving arrangement. More specifically, the present invention relates to a merchandise display shelving arrangement with gravity feed shelves which are conveniently loaded from the rear ends of the shelves.
Conventional merchandise display shelving arrangements with shelves at several levels, like the "gondola" shelving commonly used in grocery stores, are relatively heavy and are designed to support relatively heavy merchandise loads. In a grocery store, gondola shelving units are conventionally placed back-to-back. Because of their weight, these shelving units are not readily movable and do not offer access to the displayed merchandise from the rear ends of the shelves.
Because some merchandise, packaged foods, for example, degrade over time, it is advantageous to position the fresher merchandise articles at the rear of the shelves. In this way, the older articles, at the front of the shelves, are more likely to sell first, and an accumulation of out-of-date merchandise is less likely to occur.
Stocking conventional grocery shelving so that the fresher merchandise articles are at the rear of the shelves is troublesome when the shelves are not accessible from the rear. Frequently, articles at the front of the shelves must be moved aside, or removed from the shelves, in order to allow placement of the fresher articles at the rear. If the rear of the shelving were accessible, adding fresh merchandise at the rear ends of the shelves would be considerably more convenient and efficient.
In some stores, such as the "warehouse type" retail stores, the merchandise shelving employs shelves which are inclined downwardly from rear to front so that the weight of the displayed articles causes them to move toward the front ends of the shelves. Typically, the gravity-feed shelving units are located against walls at the periphery of the store. The shelves are stocked from a room or an aisle behind the walls.
In central regions of stores, access to the rear of stationary shelving units is not easily provided. Consequently, the favorable attributes of gravity-feed shelving, or other shelving which is loaded from the rear, are not realized in these regions of a store which are away from the store periphery.
In view of the shortcomings of known merchandise display shelving arrangements, a shelving arrangement which allows easy access to the rear of the shelves, and which could be placed in a central region of a store, would be most welcome.

Rear loading merchandise shelving arrangement


A security channel is provided for communication with an eight-bit, register-based, virtual machine. The virtual machine is placed into a direct mode, and then individual script instructions are sent to the virtual machine across the security channel for immediate interpreting by the virtual machine. The instructions are interpreted one by one as they are received. This feature can be used in debugging. This feature is usable in applications in which resident code is not required, but rather incoming script instructions are adequate to control device operation. A large memory is not required to store scripts, thereby reducing virtual machine system cost. Script instructions usable in the direct mode include instructions for loading a script API or machine code API onto the virtual machine from an external system, for loading a script, and for causing the virtual machine to output the contents of memory and/or internal registers to the external system.

Electronic consumer devices (for example, televisions, radios, digital video disk (DVD) players, video cassette recorders (VCRs), sound systems, home entertainment systems, video game controllers, set-top boxes, personal computers) and home appliances (for example, ceiling fans, lights, alarm systems, garage door openers, kitchen appliances, heating controls) are often controllable by one or more remote control devices. Such a remote control device is often a handheld device with a set of keys and a transmitter (for example, an infrared (IR) transmitter).
Each device to be controlled recognizes and responds to a particular set of incoming codes communicated on a carrier. Information describing one such set of codes is sometimes called a codeset. A particular television may, for example, respond to codes of one codeset, whereas a particular DVD player may respond to codes of a different codeset. One or more codesets are therefore typically stored on a remote control device so that the remote control device can control one or more types of devices.
The format in which such codeset information is stored on a remote control device is typically compressed so that it consumes as little memory space as is practical. The format of the compacted information may be proprietary and/or may be difficult to decipher to one not aware of the format. Not only can the codeset information be difficult to decipher, but the mechanism used to read the codeset information and to generate the actual code transmitted can also be difficult to decipher. The mechanism may, for example, involve machine code that exercises function-specific hardware. The mechanism on a first type of remote control device may differ from the mechanism performing the same function on a second type of remote control device. For these and other reasons, the programming of remote control devices can be quite involved and can involve accessing proprietary information. It generally requires the knowledge of the hardware platform of the remote control device. There are different types of remote control devices, and code from one remote control device cannot simply be transferred to another type of remote control device.
Some remote control devices are relatively expensive devices that have a significant amount of processing power, memory and other hardware resources. A typical cell phone is one such device that has substantial resources and that executes an operating system. A typical personal digital assistant (PDA) is another such device that has substantial resources and has an operating system.
In one example, the PDA executes the PalmOS operating system and is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The JVM provides just-in-time interpretation of Java bytecode scripts into native machine code. The PDA provides the hardware and other functionality to support a standard set of Java application programming interfaces (API). When the Java bytecode is interpreted, the resulting native machine code may call an API such that the API returns values or causes certain functions to be performed. If two JVM PDAs both support the same set of APIs, then a Java bytecode script that uses these Java APIs can be made to run on both platforms without modification.
Although the JVM and PalmOS scripting language and interpreter mechanism may be appropriate for certain classes of expensive platforms like PDAs, the JVM and PalmOS mechanism consumes too much memory and processor resources to be used on other classes of platforms. The sale price of many remote control devices is extremely cost sensitive. A remote control device may, for example, be provided with an electronic consumer device and may almost be a throw-away device. A processor that is as inexpensive as practical is used to implement remote control functionality. The amount of both program memory and data memory included is kept as low as possible and is typically a fraction of the amount of program memory and data memory available in a PDA. In the class of inexpensive remote control devices, there is typically no operating system. The programming of the processor is often handcrafted to reduce the amount of memory space consumed. Codeset information needed to generate codes to operate electronic consumer devices is generally compressed and stored in obscure memory-efficient formats. A program in such a remote control device cannot therefore be ported from one type of device to another. The program is generally not easily understandable by anyone not intimately familiar with the way the code was written and the particular hardware platform on which it operates. A novel scripting language and associated script interpreter are sought, whereby the interpreter interprets scripts into machine code of a processor in a microcontroller of limited memory and computing power.

Sending a script to a virtual machine for immediate interpreting


An ultrasonic sonar has a transceiver equipped with an ultrasonic oscillator. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the transceiver. The ultrasonic wave reflected from an obstacle is received by the ultrasonic oscillator to detect the obstacle. The transmission frequency of the ultrasonic wave is set to be different from the reverberation frequency. When the obstacle is detected, a microcomputer converts the analog signal received by the ultrasonic oscillator into a digital signal, performs a frequency transform of this signal by Fourier transform to extract only the transmission frequency component, and performs an inverse transform.

This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-28193 filed Feb. 4, 2000.
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic sonar for detecting the presence of an obstacle by transmitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving a wave reflected from the obstacle and for calculating the distance to the obstacle.
Ultrasonic sonars used for vehicles are known as back sonars and as corner sonars. Such a vehicular sonar generally comprises an ultrasonic transceiver (transmitter and receiver using an ultrasonic oscillator) mounted in a bumper of a vehicle. This transceiver transmits pulses of an ultrasonic wave and receives the echo pulses from an obstacle. The travel time of the ultrasonic wave is measured, and the distance to the obstacle is calculated from the measured time.
More specifically, the envelope of the echo wave is detected. If the detected envelope exceeds a certain threshold level, it is determined that there is an obstacle. Then, the distance to the obstacle is calculated from the duration between the instant when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted and the instant when the threshold level is exceeded. The sonar informs the driver of the presence of an obstacle according to the result of the calculation of the distance. That is, when the vehicle parks or makes a turn, the possibility of contact with an obstacle is detected. Then, the sonar warns a vehicle driver to avoid possible collision with the obstacle.
The ultrasonic sonar comprises a single ultrasonic oscillator that transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave. Even after the ultrasonic wave transmitting operation of the ultrasonic oscillator is stopped, the oscillator continues to oscillate due to its mechanical inertia, that is, reverberation. Where both transmission and reception are performed by one ultrasonic oscillator by a pulse radar system and the envelope of an echo wave is detected to detect an obstacle, the echo wave cannot be distinguished from the reverberation if the echo wave is received before the reverberation disappears. Consequently, it is difficult to detect obstacles which exists in proximity, for instance, in less than about 25 cm.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 268035/1998, it is proposed that an oscillation frequency f1 different from the resonant frequency fr of a transceiver (ultrasonic sensor) is used. Detection is made with a filter that passes the frequency of |frxe2x88x92f1|, which corresponds to a beat frequency. Where an echo wave is superimposed on reverberation, if the signal is amplified, the portion of the output from the amplifier that indicates the echo wave (reception) saturates due to excessive amplification. Specifically, the gain must be so set that even weak echo waves from distant obstacles can be detected. Therefore, saturation occurs if an echo wave from an obstacle in close proximity is received. Hence, the beat frequency |frxe2x88x92f1|does not appear and thus the received signal cannot be detected.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic sonar capable of detecting obstacles in proximity.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of transmitting an ultrasonic wave from an ultrasonic sonar.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic oscillator transmits an ultrasonic wave. The ultrasonic wave having a frequency different from the reverberation frequency is transmitted, because the reverberation frequency is determined by the ultrasonic oscillator and the circuit constant of an associated electronic circuit and does not depend on the transmission frequency. An echo wave reflected by an obstacle is received by the ultrasonic oscillator. The signal received by the ultrasonic oscillator is converted from analog to digital form. The digital signal undergoes digital signal processing to extract only the transmission frequency component to detect the obstacle. That is, the reflected wave included in the reverberation is extracted from the received wave by digital signal processing.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted with a given frequency. The reverberation frequency is calculated. A frequency different from the calculated reverberation frequency is set and stored in a memory. An ultrasonic wave having the frequency stored in the memory is transmitted from the ultrasonic oscillator. As a result, it is made possible to make it less susceptible to variations among individual commercial products available as sonars, that is, variations in reverberation among individual commercial products.

Ultrasonic sonar and method using transmission frequency different from reverberation frequency


A technique for wireless network monitoring involves scanning channels using clients instead of access points. An example of a method according to the technique may include, for example, receiving from a wireless access point a command to perform a channel scanning function, listening on a channel associated with the channel scanning function, and sending RF data found on the channel to the wireless access point. Another example of a method according to the technique may include, for example, scanning a first channel, switching from the first channel to a second channel, sending data on the second channel to an access point, switching from the second channel to the first channel, and resuming scanning on the first channel. A system according to the technique may include one or more scanning clients, proxy clients, multi-channel clients, or other clients that are capable of scanning channels in lieu of an access point.

Frame requests proved a way to sense frames transmitted on air on a channel. This can be valuable in a wireless network because it introduces a way to understand who is communicating on a channel, including learning, for example, Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) or other values associated with a client.
The 802.11k standard introduces Frame Request in 802.11k D3.0, section 18.104.22.168.7. However, the standard does not help to identify or locate a particular rogue device. For example, with the 802.11k, as it is proposed today, a device cannot query all trusted stations to go and look for a particular rogue device. In addition, the full frame report may or may not include a specific device, based upon the length of the report and what else might be happening on the channel. Moreover, the querying station has to digest a large report, when its needs may be for a single device. The standard also is relatively useless at identifying any disassociation or deauthentication storms or at identifying any CTS storm blocking a particular channel.
These are but a subset of the problems that may exist with the 802.11k standard, as it is proposed today, that are intended to characterize weaknesses in the prior art by way of example. The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

System and method for wireless network monitoring


A tea maker including a pot having a top opening and a handle and a lid pivoted to the handle, and an infusion maker suspended in the pot, wherein the infusion maker includes a cup suspended in the pot and covered with a cover, a filter assembly mounted within the cup, a ball mounted in the bottom center hole of the cup and moved to control its passage, a ball lever having a fixed end connected to the ball, a middle part supported on the short upright support, and a plunger mounted in a locating member on the filter assembly and stopped above the free end of the ball lever and moved to turn the ball lever about the short upright support, causing the ball lever to lift the ball from the bottom center hole of the cup for letting tea to flow out of the cup.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tea maker, and relates more particularly to such a tea maker which comprises a pot, and a an infusion maker suspended in the pot and having bottom hole controlled by a ball through the operation of a plunger and a ball lever for letting prepared tea to be carried away from the cup to the pot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When to prepare tea, a special equipment for example a tea maker shall be used so that a good taste of tea can be prepared from tea leaves. Regular tea makers commonly comprised of a pot, a cup suspending in the pot, and a wire gauze filter mounted in the top of the cup. These tea makers cannot keep tea leaves dipped in hot water but only allow hot water to pass throug tea leaves. Therefore, these tea makers cannot prepare a good taste of tea.


A communication terminal device and a facsimile device, and a method of controlling the communication terminal device and the facsimile device. The invention provides the communication terminal device capable of concentratedly controlling the information relating to the receipt rejection. The invention is featured in that the above devices are provided with a receipt-rejected communication control medium for collecting the communication control information in connection with the communication relating to the signal arrival from the communication partner not registered in the receipt-allowed communication partner registering table, and storing the collected communication control information in the receipt-rejected communication control information storing medium; a communication control list creating medium for creating the list image information based on the communication control information stored in the above-mentioned receipt-rejected communication control information storing medium; and a list outputting medium for visibly outputting the list image information created by the communication control list creating medium.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a communication terminal device and a facsimile device and, more specifically, a method of controlling the communication terminal device and the facsimile device.
2. Discussion of the Background
In a communication terminal device for use in a facsimile device, etc., when transmitting the message, a desired communication partner can be selected and data can be transmitted to the selected communication partner. However, when receiving a message, it is basically impossible to select the communication partner that the data is received from.
As a result, the facsimile receiver only knows if the message is received from a non-desirable communication partner after having received the message. Therefore, unnecessarily received or unwanted data may inevitably be received together with the necessary or desired data.
More specifically, in a facsimile device as an example, unwanted facsimile documents such as direct mail, for example, are often received from a business party who is not a daily communication partner. The direct mail is printed out on recording paper, thereby wasting recording paper. In addition, the unwanted document may get mixed together with one or more desired documents, thus requiring the receipt to sort through received documents. Consequently, receiving unwanted documents turns out to be troublesome.
For this reason, some background-art communication terminal devices have a function such that discrimination information (communication partner discrimination information) of the communication partner, that is, a sender sending a document desired to be received, is previously registered at the receiving terminal. Only when the communication partner discriminating information, which is communicated at the time of the message arrival, matches previously registered partner information, is the message arrival accepted. On the other hand, when the discriminating information does not correspond to that previously registered, the communication is forcibly ended and thereby wasteful message receipt is not performed.
In such communication terminal device provided with the function of rejecting the message, information relating to the receipt rejection is output as a notice report each time the message reception is rejected. For instance, refer to the published specification of Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 3-205959.

Communication terminal device, facsimile device, and a method of controlling communication terminal device and facsimile device


A control instruction input method includes forming motion state information of a screen according to a limb movement; and forming an operating instruction of a UI in the screen according to the motion state information. An association between a limb stable posture and a touch standard instruction is established by recognizing the limb stable posture of wearing the smart wearable device. Therefore, the touch gesture input by the touch standard instruction is evolved into the limb motion posture. A cooperation process of both hands is avoided to make application scenarios of wearing the smart wearable device richer. At the same time, a motion process of the existing touch gesture is amplified by the relative large-scale motion state of the limb stable posture to form a finer instruction control process.

For a smart wearable device, there is usually a screen for human-computer interaction so as to display User Interface (UI). A control instruction may be input by a touch gesture. However, in some application scenarios, such as riding, one-handed load or wearing gloves outdoors, even for physically handicapped people, touch input is very inconvenient. A new technical solution is needed to overcome the obstacle of one-handed input.

Control instruction input methods and control instruction input devices


An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a surface-modified rare earth metal-based sintered magnet having extremely excellent corrosion resistance even in an environment with fluctuating temperature and humidity and also having excellent magnetic characteristics. The method for producing a surface-modified rare earth metal-based sintered magnet of the present invention as a means for achieving the object is characterized by comprising a step of subjecting a rare earth metal-based sintered magnet to a heat treatment at 200° C. to 600° C. in an atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of 1×103 Pa to 1×105 Pa and a water vapor partial pressure of 45 Pa or less with the ratio between the oxygen partial pressure and the water vapor partial pressure (oxygen partial pressure/water vapor partial pressure) being 450 to 20000.

Rare earth metal-based sintered magnets such as R—Fe—B based sintered magnets represented by Nd—Fe—B based sintered magnets are produced from materials which are abundantly available and inexpensive as resources and also have high magnetic characteristics, and thus are used in various fields today. However, because a highly reactive rare earth metal: R is contained, they have the characteristic of being prone to oxidation corrosion in the air. Therefore, a rare earth metal-based sintered magnet is usually put to practical use with a corrosion resistant film formed thereon, such as a metal film or a resin film. However, in the case where the magnet is embedded in a component and used, such as use in an IPM (Interior Permanent Magnet) motor used as the drive motor of a hybrid car or an electric car, or incorporated into the compressor of an air conditioner, etc., the formation of such a corrosion resistant film on the surface of the magnet is not necessarily required. However, naturally, the corrosion resistance of the magnet needs to be ensured during the period from the production of the magnet until embedding in a component.
As mentioned above, a typical example of a method for imparting corrosion resistance to a rare earth metal-based sintered magnet is a method in which a corrosion resistant film such as a metal film or a resin film is formed on the surface of the magnet. However, in recent years, as a simple technique for improving corrosion resistance, attention has been focused on a method in which a rare earth metal-based sintered magnet is heat-treated in an oxidizing atmosphere (oxidative heat treatment) to modify the surface of the magnet. For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 describe methods in which an oxidizing atmosphere is created using oxygen, and a heat treatment is performed therein, and Patent Document 3 to Patent Document 7 describe methods in which an oxidizing atmosphere is created using water vapor alone or a combination of water vapor and oxygen, and a heat treatment is performed therein. However, studies by the present inventors have revealed that even when a rare earth metal-based sintered magnet is surface-modified by such a method, sufficient corrosion resistance is not necessarily obtained in an environment where fine dew drops are repeatedly formed on the surface of the magnet due to the fluctuation of temperature and humidity, such as a transportation environment or storage environment where temperature and humidity are not controlled. The studies have also revealed that although the preferred water vapor partial pressure according to Patent Document 3 to Patent Document 7 is 10 hPa (1000 Pa) or more, when a heat treatment is performed in an atmosphere having such a high water vapor partial pressure, a large amount of hydrogen is produced as a by-product of the oxidation reaction that occurs on the surface of the magnet, and the magnet absorbs the produced hydrogen and thus embrittles, causing the deterioration of magnetic characteristics. Therefore, as an improved method for surface-modifying a rare earth metal-based sintered magnet, the present inventors have proposed, in Patent Document 8, a method in which a heat treatment is performed in an oxidizing atmosphere where the oxygen partial pressure and also the water vapor partial pressure of less than 10 hPa, which is regarded as unsuitable in Patent Document 3 to Patent Document 7, are appropriately controlled. Specifically, they have proposed a method in which a heat treatment is performed at 200° C. to 600° C. in an atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of 1×102 Pa to 1×105 Pa and a water vapor partial pressure of 0.1 Pa to 1000 Pa (excluding 1000 Pa).

Method for producing surface-modified rare earth metal-based sintered magnet


The present invention is related to a minimally invasive device for surgical procedures which generally comprises at least a pair of assembly elements formed by a primary main body and a secondary main body joined together at their proximal and distal ends; a fastening element which is inserted in the distal end of both primary and secondary main bodies respectively, which is employed to keep them joined together; a threading element which is inserted in its inner section from the intermediate section of said device, continues to its proximal end and returns to its intermediate section on the opposite end; and a multifunction element located on the inside of the threading element.

Nowadays, when a person requires a surgical procedure in the course of which the cutting of a bone structure or removal of tissue adjacent to said bone structure is necessary, the surgeon usually carries out a broad approach both to provide a good view of the operating field as well as to protect the adjacent structures. To achieve this, he must carry out considerably large incisions in the skin, muscles, and other tissue of the patient, placing separators and protection material such as gauze and dressings, to protect noble structures such as nerves, which could otherwise be damaged in the course of the cutting procedures. In addition to the risk of damaging organs or surrounding tissue in the area where the incisions are carried out, there is also the risk of cutting a blood vessel which could render the surgical procedure more difficult and dangerous.
In the prior art there are several devices to carry out cuts in bone structures and/or the removal of tissue, which use protecting elements to avoid damage to contiguous structures or organs. Such is the case of the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,062,300 B2, which is formed by an elongated main body which comprises a proximal handle, a distal handle, a guiding conduit and a guiding wire; these latter two elements connecting the proximal and distal handles. The proximal handle is connected to a guiding conduit, which is formed by a rigid proximal section and a flexible distal section, at the end of which a coupling element is located, which enables connection between said guiding conduit and a guiding wire. On one of the surfaces of the flexible distal section, tissue modifying elements are located, which carry out the material removal function of said device.
To keep the tissue modifying elements from damaging structures or tissues before they have reached the working area, they are covered by a protective cover, made preferably from polymer material. The guiding wire is coupled on its other end to the distal handle, which includes a tensioning element which is used to modify the tension level of the guiding wire.
However, the above device described above has a drawback in that its design is not ergonomic, which makes its use by the medical team more difficult. Another disadvantage is that the cut carried out by the device is performed by material removal instead of a clean cut, as well as the further drawback that being a very flexible device, only very small structures may be cut. In addition to the above, said device does not include a mechanism which enables regulation and measurement of the cut in the spatial planes.
Another example of devices found in the prior art is the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,048,080 B2, which comprises a main body formed by an elongated body, a handle, an actuator, tissue modifying elements and a protecting surface. The elongated body has a proximal and a distal section, which includes a window to enable the tissue modifying elements to make contact with the tissue to be modified. Before introducing the elongated body in the area with tissues to be modified, a guide piece must be inserted, which will act as guide and support element for said main body; as the elongated body is introduced in the body of the patient, the guide piece is inserted in the central part of said elongated body, once the elongated body is placed in its working position, the free end of the guide piece which projects outwards from the body of the patient is held firmly; the handle is held firmly as well, and by operating the actuator, the tissue modifying elements begin to carry out their abrasion or cutting function. Once the procedure is completed, the main body and the guide piece are removed from the body of the patient.
The above described device, because of its configuration and design, requires at least two people to perform adequately, since it is required that the opposite end of the guide piece is firmly held, either by means of an anchoring device or by the hand of an operator. As in the case of the device of U.S. Pat. No. 8,062,300 B2, said device cuts by abrasion and not by means of a clean cut, and does not include a mechanism which allows regulation and measurement of the cut on any spatial plane.
A further example of devices in the prior art can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,080 B1 which describes a device employed to hold or secure structures and/or organs, which comprises a pair of positioning pieces, which are formed by a handle, a guiding conduit, a bracket, a cutting element and an actuator. The handle has a hollow tubular body which has an actuator in its upper section and a bracket in its lower section which holds the guiding conduit in position. Said handle has an irregular outer surface to improve the grip.
The guiding conduit has a straight proximal section, a curved intermediate section and a straight distal section. In an additional embodiment of said device, the straight distal section is oriented at a 90° angle with respect to the position of the straight proximal section. In addition, the guiding conduit is hollow to house the cutting element which in turn is hollow to allow passage of the guiding piece. The cutting element is employed to create a small aperture in the tissue and allow passage of the positioning element.
One of the main disadvantages of said device is that it is conceived solely to locate a cord or sling on a tissue or structure that so requires, not for cutting bone structures. In addition to the above, to position the cord or sling requires removal of both positioning elements and of the guiding piece, which makes operating the device considerably difficult.

Minimally invasive device for surgical operations


This invention related to the field of drains and rain gutters typically attached to a house or commercial building. This invention describes gutter inserts that block, or deflect vegetation and other debris from entering rain gutters.

Leaves, twigs, other vegetation including natural plant parts and other non-liquid debris frequently falls or drifts into rain gutter drains, or rain gutters, or gutters, clogging them and hindering or preventing their intended function of draining water away from a house or building. Foam inserts are known to be used to fill a gutter with durable foam material and by filling the space of the gutter exclude leaves from filling the gutter. Most devices made to keep falling vegetative debris from rain gutters start on the roof shingles and extend over the gutter, they are not inserted into the gutter. Most consider it unwise to block the gutter, and in particular the base of the gutter. Even foam inserts are designed to avoid the base of the gutter. Installing covers over the gutter meanwhile can be difficult because the edge of the roof often dips low, sometimes very close to or into the trough of the gutter. Another problem with creating effective simple gutter covers is that gutters are interrupted at irregular intervals of about 18 to 30 inches by nails or support brackets that attach and hold the gutters to the building. The supports and other obstacles mean that foam inserts and other cover devices usually are inconvenient, difficult to install and look bad because they have to be either cut up leaving gaps in coverage or they sit on top of and or ride up out of the gutter. They are also relatively expensive. Some devices retain water which can promote the growth of bacteria, mold and other organisms. The way gutters are constructed and fastened to buildings have made it difficult to design a safe inexpensive solution to the problem of gutter being clogged by falling debris. Typically home owners just climb a ladder once or twice a year and manually unclog their gutters. Most gutter covers and screens available rest on top of the roof, or on top of the shingles on the roof, they extend over the full width of the gutter and run along its length in sections which are about 3 to 5 feet long. Often these devices require screws, bolts and or clips to fasten them onto the roof, gutter and or the building. Often the shingles and the roof itself are penetrated by nails or screws thus causing or inviting damage to the roof or shingles. Some gutter covers require lifting or prying up the shingles in order to install the covers which invites damage to the shingles, especially in cold weather. Many simple gutter covers are designed to snap or clip into place but in fact are difficult to install, and they don't always stay in their proper position. Better methods and devices needed to keep falling debris from entering rain gutters are described herein.


A casing of a regenerative pump forms a generally annular fluid passage, which conducts a fluid. An impeller is rotatably received in the casing and has a plurality of blades, which are arranged one after another in a circumferential direction to provide kinetic energy to the fluid in the fluid passage upon rotation of the impeller. The regenerative pump satisfies a relationship of 0.60≦b/a≦0.76, where “a” is an axial width of each blade, and “b” is a total axial distance, which is a sum of a first axial distance between a first axial side outer edge of the blade and an opposed first axial side inner wall of the fluid passage and a second axial distance between a second axial side outer edge of the blade and an opposed second axial side inner wall of the fluid passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a regenerative pump.
2. Description of Related Art
The regenerative pump is a pump, in which a plurality of blades is driven in an annular fluid passage to provide kinetic energy to a fluid supplied into the fluid passage. The regenerative pump is used to, for example, supply air to exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine to reduce emissions contained in the exhaust gas.
One type of regenerative pump is recited in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-119686 or FIG. 8. This type of regenerative pump will be described with reference to FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, a blade passing zone cross sectional area of a fluid passage of the regenerative pump 100 has a semi-round shape, and a blade non-passing zone cross sectional area of the fluid passage also has a semi-round shape. Here, the blade passing zone cross sectional area is defined as a portion of a cross section of the fluid passage, through which the blades 101 pass through. Here, the cross section of the fluid passage is perpendicular to a flow direction of a mainstream of the fluid in the fluid passage. Furthermore, the blade non-passing zone cross sectional area is defined as a portion of the cross section of the fluid passage, through which the blades 101 do not pass. Another type of regenerative pump is recited in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-119686 or FIG. 9. This type of regenerative pump will be described with reference to FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, the blade passing zone cross sectional area of the regenerative pump 100 has a generally quarter-round shape, and the blade non-passing zone cross sectional area of the regenerative pump 100 has a shape that includes a semi-round portion and a linear portion. The linear portion extends from one end of the semi-round portion.
With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, which show partial enlarged views of FIGS. 8 and 9, respectively, the fluid supplied into the regenerative pump 100 receives kinetic energy from the blades 101. Thus, the fluid sequentially moves from one to the next recess, each of which is defined between corresponding adjacent blades 101, while the fluid swirls between a blade passing zone and a blade non-passing zone. Here, the blade passing zone is defined as a portion of the fluid passage, through which the blades 101 pass. Also, the blade non-passing zone is defined as a portion of the fluid passage, through which the blades 101 do not pass.
The flow of the refrigerant, which swirls between the blade passing zone and the blade non-passing zone, will be hereinafter referred to as a swirl flow. The flow rate of the swirl flow is relatively high in the blade passing zone and also in an outer peripheral part of the blade non-passing zone. However, the flow rate of the swirl flow is slowed down toward the center of the blade non-passing zone and becomes substantially zero at or around the center of the blade non-passing zone. Thus, as in the case of the swirl flow of the regenerative pump 100 shown in FIG. 10 or 11, when the center of the swirl flow is displaced away from an axial side outer edge of the blade 101 (a left side edge of the blade 101 in FIG. 10 or 11) into the blade non-passing zone, the blade non-passing zone has a non-returning region, from which the fluid does not return to the blade passing zone. Here, the axial side outer edge of the blade 101 is defined as an outer edge of the blade 101, which is located in one end of the blade 101 (a left end of the blade 101 in FIG. 10 or 11) in a direction parallel to a rotational axis of the blades 101. The fluid placed in the non-returning region cannot receive the kinetic energy from the blades 101, so that the flow rate of the mainstream of the fluid decreases. As a result, a discharge rate of the regenerative pump 100 decreases, and thereby a pump efficiency of the regenerative pump 100 decreases.
Even when the center of the swirl flow is shifted toward the axial side outer edge of the blade 101 to reduce a size of the non-returning region, the pump efficiency of the regenerative pump 100 may be reduced due to an inappropriate ratio between the blade non-passing zone cross sectional area and the blade passing zone cross sectional area.
For example, when the blade non-passing zone cross sectional area is too small relative to the blade passing zone cross sectional area, an area, through which the fluid can move in the flow direction of the mainstream of the fluid, becomes small. Thus, the flow rate of the fluid in the flow direction of the mainstream becomes too large. As a result, friction loss caused by a wall of the fluid passage becomes large, and thereby the pump efficiency of the regenerative pump 100 is reduced. This is typical in a case where the fluid is discharged from the regenerative pump 100 at the low pressure.
In contrast, when the blade non-passing zone cross sectional area is too large relative to the blade passing zone cross sectional area, a non-swirl area, in which the substantial swirl flow does not exist, will be generated at a radial inner wall of the fluid passage, as shown in FIG. 7. The fluid in the non-swirl area cannot receive the kinetic energy from the blades 101. Thus, the flow rate in the flow direction of the mainstream is reduced. In this way, the discharge rate of the regenerative pump 100 is reduced, and thereby the pump efficiency of the regenerative pump 100 is reduced. This is typical in a case where the fluid is discharged from the regenerative pump 100 at the high pressure.

Regenerative pump having blades received in fluid passage


The invention relates to a lighting device comprising at least two light-emitting elements and a method of producing a lighting device. The light-emitting elements are connected with each other into a module via a connection element. The connection element has at least one region spaced apart from the at least two light-emitting elements. At least two modules are connected with each other in parallel. The at least one region of the connection element has a specific electrical resistance that compensate differences between electrical characteristics of at least two light-emitting elements.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are nowadays produced for a wide range of applications and have increasingly replaced traditional light-bulbs, thanks to low power consumption, a wide palette of possible light colors, as well as a high flexibility concerning the design and in particular the geometry of lighting devices. Individual LEDs can be seen as punctual light sources, and several LEDs may be combined in order to achieve a light-source with larger dimensions and higher intensity. However, even though LEDs can be mass produced at an industrial scale with precisely controlled production conditions, fine differences between individual LEDs, even when produced in the same way, can still persist.
In LED production, typically the electronic properties of individual LEDs are measured for later integration into finished lighting devices. The generic term "binning" is generally employed for categorizing LEDs into groups, wherein the LEDs have similar parameter values, or at least parameters comprised within a predetermined tolerance range. The parameters used for defining a group may for example be forward voltage, threshold values for electrical characteristics, color of emitted light, or others. By combining LEDs of the same group, a higher homogeneity level in light emission can be achieved. However, fine differences between the individual LEDs may still be visible.
Usually individual LEDs are arranged on respective printed circuit boards or interposers, which are configured to dissipate heat generated by LEDs. It is known to integrate an electrical resistor as a surface mount device, for instance on such an interposer in order to compensate voltage differences between individual LEDs, such as different forward voltages, or different LED temperatures. However, electrical resistors generate heat by way of Joule heating and, as the electrical resistors are mounted on the same carrier as the LEDs, the temperature in the vicinity of individual LEDs increases.
During light emission by the LEDs, an uncontrolled temperature increase may disturb the light emission, e.g. in that color shifts and variations in intensity occur, such that the resistors may cause inhomogeneity between individual LEDs. Also, additional heat generated by the resistors may disturb the heat spreading function of the interposer. In addition, the resistors are arranged in the vicinity of the LEDs and therefore absorb part of the light-emitted by the LEDs, impairing the optical properties of the lighting device as a whole.

Lighting device and method for production thereof