Methods and systems for regenerating and pretreating oxides of manganese and precipitation of oxides of manganese from manganese salt solutions. Oxides of manganese, a slurry containing oxides of manganese or manganese salt solutions are mixed with heated aqueous oxidizing solutions and processed in a continuous process reactor. Temperature, pressure, Eh value, and pH value of the mixed solution are monitored and adjusted so as to maintain solution conditions within the MnO2 stability area during processing. This results in regenerated, pretreated and precipitated oxides of manganese having high or increased pollutant loading capacities and/or oxidation states. Oxides of manganese thus produced are, amongst other uses; suitable for use as a sorbent for capturing or removing target pollutants from industrial gas streams. Filtrate process streams containing useful and recoverable value present as spectator ions may be further processed to produce useful and marketable by-products.

Oxides of manganese are utilized for a number of industrial applications, such as pollution control systems, steel manufacture, batteries and catalytic converters, to name a few. Of particular, but not exclusive, interest to Applicants is the use of oxides of manganese in pollution control systems. Applicants are co-inventors of the subject matter of issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,579,507 and 6,610,263, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. These patents disclose pollutant removal systems and processes, sometimes referred to as Pahlman™ systems and processes, which utilize dry and wet removal techniques and combinations thereof, incorporating the use of oxides of manganese as a sorbent for capture and removal of target pollutants from gas streams.
The term "target pollutant," as used herein, refers to the pollutant or pollutants that are to be captured and removed from a gas stream. Examples of target pollutants that may be removed with an oxide of manganese sorbent include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOX), oxides of sulfur (SOX), mercury (elemental, oxidized and particulate forms), mercury compounds, H2S, totally reduced sulfides (TRS), mercaptans, chlorides, such as hydrochloric acid (HCl), oxides of carbon (CO and CO2) and other heavy metals present in utility and other industrial process and waste gas streams.
Before going further, the following additional definitions will be useful with respect to this background discussion and to the understanding of the invention disclosed herein:
"Reacted" or "loaded," as used interchangeably herein, refers in conjunction with "oxides of manganese" and/or "sorbent" to oxides of manganese or sorbent that has interacted with one or more target pollutants in a gas whether by chemical reaction, adsorption or absorption. The term does not mean that all reactive or active sites of the sorbent have been utilized as all such sites may not actually be utilized.
"Unreacted" or "virgin," as used interchangeably herein, refers in conjunction with "oxides of manganese" and/or "sorbent" to oxides of manganese or sorbents that have not interacted with target pollutants in a gas or gas stream.
"Nitrates of manganese," as used herein, refers to and includes the various forms of manganese nitrate, regardless of chemical formula, that may be formed through the chemical reaction between NOX and the sorbent and includes hydrated forms as well.
"Sulfates of manganese," as used herein, refers to and includes the various forms of manganese sulfate, regardless of chemical formula that may be formed through the chemical reaction between SOX and the sorbent and includes hydrated forms as well.
Oxides of manganese in various forms, utilized as sorbents, are introduced into the reaction zones of Pahlman™ systems or other pollution removal systems and interact with the target pollutants in gas streams routed through the systems as a catalyst, a reactant, an absorbent or an adsorbent. During such interaction in the process of pollutant removal, the oxidation (or valence) state of the oxides of manganese sorbent is reduced from its original state during reaction with the target pollutants. For example, where the target pollutants are NOX or SOX, pollutant removal occurs possibly through overall reactions such as the following:SO2+MnO2→MnSO4   Reaction (1)2NO+O2+MnO2→Mn(NO3)2   Reaction (2)
In both of the reactions above, manganese (Mn) is reduced from the +4 valence state to +2 valence state during formation of the reaction products shown. It should be noted that the actual reactions may include other steps not shown, and that indicating Reactions 1 and 2 is solely for illustrative purposes.
The element manganese (Mn), and therefore oxides of manganese, may exist in six different valence (oxidation) states. Of particular interest and usefulness for gaseous pollutant removal are those oxides of manganese having valence states of +2, +3, and +4, which correspond to the oxides MnO, Mn2O3, MnO2 and Mn3O4. The oxide Mn3O4 is believed to be a solid-solution of both the +2 and +3 states.
A characteristic of most oxides of manganese species is non-stoichiometry. For example; most MnO2 species typically contain on average less than the theoretical number of 2 oxygen atoms, with numbers more typically ranging from 1.5 to 2.0. The non-stoichiometry characteristic of oxides of manganese is thought to result from solid-solution mixtures of two or more oxide species (such as may occur in the oxide Mn3O4), or distortions of molecular structure and exists in all but the beta (β), or pyrolusite, form of manganese dioxide. Oxides of manganese having the formula MnOX where X is about 1.5 to about 2.0 are particularly suitable for use as sorbent for dry removal of target pollutants from gas streams and may be also be utilized in wet removal. However, the most active types of oxides of manganese for use as a sorbent for target pollutant removal usually have the formula MnO1.7 to 1.95, which translates into average manganese valence states of +3.4 to +3.9, as opposed to the theoretical +4.0 state. It is unusual for average valence states above about 3.9 to exist in most forms of oxides of manganese.
Oxides of manganese are known to exhibit several identifiable crystal structures, which result from different assembly combinations of their basic molecular structural units. These basic structural "building block" units are MnO6 octahedra, which consist of one manganese atom at the geometric center, and one oxygen atom at each of the six apex positions of an octahedral geometrical shape. The octahedra may be joined together along their edges and/or corners, to form "chain" patterns, with void spaces ("tunnels"). Regular (and sometimes irregular) three-dimensional patterns consist of layers of such "chains" and "tunnels" of joined octahedra. These crystalline geometries are identified by characteristic x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. Most oxides of manganese are classifiable into one or more of the six fundamental crystal structures, which are called alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), delta (δ), epsilon (ε), and ramsdellite. Certain older literature also included rho (ρ) and lambda (λ) structures, which are now thought obsolete, due partly to improvements in XRD technique. Some (amorphous) forms of MnO2 exhibit no crystalline structure.
Certain characteristics of oxides of manganese probably arise from the size and shape of voids within these crystalline patterns and from certain elements, and compounds, which may occupy the voids and appear to help prevent collapse of certain structures. Applicants believe that these characteristics in addition to the oxidation state may have an affect upon the loading capacity of oxides of manganese sorbent. Further, many oxides of manganese, including those that are the subject of the present application, come in hydrated or hydrous forms, having water chemically bound or combined to or within their crystalline structures, containing one or more molecules of water; this is sometimes referred to as bound water, structural water, water of crystallization or water of hydration. In these forms, the water is combined is such a way that it may be removed with sufficient heat without substantially changing the chemical structure of the oxides of manganese. Such oxides of manganese are also useful as a sorbent. This bound water may also contribute to the chemical reactivity and possibly catalytic behavior of the species.
Some oxides of manganese have the ability to absorb oxygen from gas. Manganous oxide (MnO) and Mn(OH)2 will oxidize to MnO2 in the presence of air, for example. Additionally, the dioxides of manganese are themselves oxidizers. They readily exchange oxygen in chemical reactions and are known to have catalytic properties. This oxygen exchange ability may be related to proton mobility and lattice defects common within most MnO2 crystal structures.
The oxidizing potential of MnO2 is advantageously utilized in target pollutant removal in the Pahlman™ and other pollutant removals systems and processes. Target pollutants, such as NOX, SO2, CO, and CO2 gases, mercury (Hg) and other pollutants, require oxidation of the species prior to reaction with MnO2 sorbent to form reaction products, such as manganese sulfates, nitrates, and carbonates, mercury compounds, and other corresponding reaction products, in order for them to be captured and removed from gas streams.
Manganese compounds or salts are formed in the pollutant removal process and may be soluble in water. This is, for example, true for manganese sulfate and nitrate formed by the removal of SOX and NOX. This property allows the reaction products formed on the surface of oxides of manganese sorbent particles to be readily dissolved and removed from the sorbent particles in aqueous solutions by disassociation into reaction product anions, such as sulfate or, nitrate, and manganese cations such as Mn+2 cations.
Manganese dioxides are divided into three origin-based categories, which are: 1) natural (mineral) manganese dioxide (NMD), 2) chemical manganese dioxide (CMD), and 3) electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD). As implied, NMD occurs naturally as various minerals, which may be purified by mechanical or chemical means. The most common form of NMD is pyrolusite (β-MnO2), which is inexpensive, but has rather low chemical activity and therefore low pollutant loading capacity. CMD and EMD varieties are synthetic oxides of manganese. EMD is produced primarily for the battery industry, which requires relatively high bulk density (which often results from relatively large, compact particles), relatively high purity, and good electrochemical activity. Though useful as sorbent, characteristics such as low surface area and large compact particle size make EMD somewhat inferior to CMD for gas removal applications, despite its good electrochemical activity. Chemically synthesized oxides of manganese of all kinds fall into the CMD category and includes chemically treated or pretreated oxides of manganese. In chemical synthesis, a great deal of control is possible over physical characteristics such as particle size and shape, porosity, composition, surface area, and bulk density in addition to electrochemical or oxidation potential. It is believed that these characteristics contribute to the loading capacity of some oxides of manganese.
Oxides of manganese have the ability to capture target pollutants from gas streams, however, the low pollutant loading rates achieved with various prior art oxides of manganese have made some industrial applications of this ability uneconomical. The low target pollutant loading rates of various prior art oxides of manganese sorbents would require voluminous amounts to effectively capture large quantities of target pollutants that exist at many industrial sites, e.g., NOX and/or SO2. The large quantity of sorbent that would be required to capture NOX and/or SO2 could result in an overly costly pollutant removal system and sorbent regeneration system. It would therefore be desirable to enhance the loading capacities of the oxides of manganese sorbent in order to economically implement a pollution removal system utilizing oxides of manganese.
It is believed that reaction products, such as the manganese salts of Reaction (1) and Reaction (2) above, form on the surfaces of the sorbent particles of oxides of manganese. These reactions may extend to some depth inside the sorbent particles and into the pores, interstices or micro fissures. Applicants believe that formation of such reactions products occurs primarily on the surfaces of the oxides of manganese particles, resulting in a layer or coating, which effectively isolates the covered portion of the particle surface and thereby prevents continued rapid reaction with additional target pollutants. Further, the oxidation state and thus the loading capacity of the oxides of manganese below the surface of the reaction product coating may be reduced during the pollutant removal, thus diminishing the loading capacity of sorbent even after the reaction product have been removed or disassociated into an aqueous solution. It would therefore be desirable for economic reasons to re-use or regenerate the unreacted portions of the sorbent for subsequent cycles of pollutant gas removal.
In order to regenerate the reacted oxides of manganese effectively for subsequent re-use as a gas sorbent with high removal efficiencies and target pollutant loading rates, it is advantageous to: (1) remove soluble reaction products or reaction product salts, such as salts MnSO4, Mn(NO3)2, MnCl2 and other manganese halides, manganese salt reaction products, and the like, from the sorbent particle surfaces with an aqueous solution through disassociation into their constituent cations and anions, e.g., Mn+2, Cl−1SO4−2, and NO3−1 ions (2) restore or increase the target pollutant loading capacity and/or oxidation state of the remaining solid oxides of manganese sorbent below the surface of the reaction product coating that is not dissociated in an aqueous solution, (3) recover, through precipitation, the Mn+2 ions that were dissociated into solution from the reaction products formed through reactions with the various target pollutants; and (4) to recover other ions and form marketable or otherwise useful by-products. Note that some soluble and insoluble reaction products may be removed through thermal decomposition.
It would also be desirable to perform steps 2 and 3 as noted above in a continuous flow reactor capable of operating under specific temperatures, pressures, pH, Eh, and constituent molar concentrations.
Applicants have developed methods of producing newly precipitated oxides of manganese, of treating commercially available virgin oxides of manganese, and of regenerating loaded oxides of manganese in a continuous flow reactor that results in the production of oxides of manganese useful, amongst other applications as sorbent for pollutant removal. Oxides of manganese so produced may exhibit high or increased loading capacity and/or valence states as compared to reacted and virgin oxides of manganese of various forms, including a variety of commercially available oxides of manganese. Applicants have additionally developed a system and process for cyclically loading, with target pollutants, and regenerating oxides of manganese sorbent utilizing a continuous flow reactor that results in the production of useful byproducts.

Oxides of manganese processed in continuous flow reactors


A cooling device has a radiator plate and a corrugated fin for cooling an electrical component. In a manufacturing process of the cooling device, a symmetrically constructed tool section presses the radiator plate and the fin against an anvil. The radiator plate has an attaching portion where an electrical component is attached. Knurled surface for preventing a slide is formed on the tool section only at a surrounding area to prevent a deformation of the attaching portion. The tool section and the radiator plate vibrate ultrasonically in a longitudinal direction of corrugations of the fin to prevent a crack on the fin.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Applications No. Hei 11-137270 filed on May 18, 1999, No. Hei 11-209591 filed on Jul. 23, 1999 and No. 2000-69094 filed on Mar. 13, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for ultrasonically joining two members and a cooling device having ultrasonically joined members. For instance, the members to be joined are a radiator for radiating heat from an attached electrical component and a corrugated fin thinner than a radiator plate.
2. Description of Related Art
JP-A-8-83873 discloses a cooling device having a small blower located on a radiator plate on which a heat generator such as a CPU is attached. In this cooling device, a corrugated fin for improving heat radiation is thermally coupled with the radiator plate.
JA-A-9-253774 discloses a process for joining a thin corrugated fin and a plate ultrasonically.
According to the above-mentioned prior art, an ultrasonically joining apparatus has notched surfaces. The notched surfaces hold the fin and the plate securely and prevent a slide thereon. However,the notched surface makes a deformation on the plate. Such a deformation may increase resistance of heat conduction at a surface of the plate. As a result, it is likely that radiating efficiency decreases, and cooling capacity lowers.
JP-A-62-217646 discloses an ultrasonically joining method for joining thinner fins on a plate by vibrating the fins relative to the plate. However, according to experimental tests, cracks had been formed on the fins, specifically cracks had been formed near the louver mainly.
The present invention addresses these drawbacks by providing an improved apparatus and method for ultrasonically joining two members.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus and method, which don""t form deformation on a predetermined area of the member.
It is another object of this invention to improve a cooling efficiency of a cooling device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for ultrasonically joining a radiator plate and a fin of a cooling device.
It is a still further object of this invention to prevent deformation on an attaching surface of a radiator plate of a cooling device.
It is a still further object of this invention to prevent cracks on a fin of a cooling device.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved cooling device.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for ultrasonically joining two members has a horn. The horn has a high friction surface for preventing a slide of the horn relative to the member. The high friction surface is not formed on a portion of the horn in correspondence with a first portion of the member. This apparatus prevents a deformation on the first portion of the member. Therefore, a flatness of the first portion is maintained even after the horn is pressed on the member and the horn vibrates ultrasonically.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for ultrasonically joining two members includes a cutting step. In the cutting step, the high friction surface formed on the horn is cut into the second portion of the member to hold the member securely. Therefore, the first portion of the member is not deformed by the high friction surface.
The first portion of the member can provide close contact with a component to be cooled. The apparatus and method of the present invention can be applied to a manufacturing apparatus and method for a cooling device to improve a cooling efficiency.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method for ultrasonically joining two members includes pressing and vibrating step. In the step, a horn presses a first member against a second member thinner than the first member, and vibrates the first member relative to the second member.
The first member may be a radiator plate as a heat sink. The second member may be a fin of a cooling device.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated, as well as methods of operation and the function of the related parts, from a study of the following detailed description, the appended claims, and the drawings, all of which form a part of this application.

Ultrasonically joining apparatus and ultrasonically joining method


A pair of pants with attached skirt has first and second leg portions. Each of the leg portions has an inner side and an outer side. An abdominal portion has an upper end and a lower end and connects to the leg portions at the lower end. The abdominal portion has a waistband at the upper end. A skirt attaches to the waistband. When the pair of pants with attached skirt is worn, the skirt will cover a wearer's buttocks and thus provide modesty for the wearer. The skirt may surround the entire abdominal portion or may surround only the front or rear section of the abdominal portion. The skirt may be permanently or removably attached to the pants. The skirt may be formed at the rear as a pair of flaps meeting at a center point on the waistband.

Various designs for pants and shorts with incorporated or detachable skirts have been developed by inventors. Some designs attempt to incorporate the fashion statement of a skirt with the utility of pants or shorts. Other designs attempt to provide a garment suitable for a variety of occasions. The present invention provides a short attached half skirt disposed over the buttocks to provide modesty during exercise workouts or similar activities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,560, issued to DeCaro, discloses a swimsuit that is provided with a plurality of loop members and hook and loop fasteners for interchangeable attachment of straps, linked chains, and other accessories in a manner which alters the style and appearance of the swimsuit. The straps, linked chains, or the like are selectively attachable to the loops on a woman's swimsuit top to achieve various angles of lift so that the breasts are either moved closer together or separated, as desired by the wearer. The straps or linked chains are also attachable to loops on the swimsuit top and bottom to adjustably fit and secure the swimsuit top and bottom on the wearer. One or more closeable band wraps can be wrapped about the swimsuit top and/or bottom to achieve different swimsuit styles including a conventional style, a Brazilian cut or a thong. The hook and loop fasteners provide removable and interchangeable attachment of accessories including a mid-section between the top and bottom of a woman's swimsuit, a skirt, a full length gown, a sash, fabric panels including race numbers, or other accessories desired by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. D230,538, issued to Hansen is directed to the ornamental design of a pair of trunks. The trunks have an attached skirt that covers the front and the rear, but not the sides.
U.S. Pat. No. D378,317, issued to Wilke illustrates the ornamental design for a combination skirt and trousers. Fasteners at the top edge of the pants secure the skirt to the trousers. The skirt is split on each side, resulting in a front and a rear panel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,806,100 and D388,938, issued to De Scandiffio disclose a combined skirt and shorts that are permanently sewn together at the upper part of the trunk, but are separated below the crotch so that the skirt amounts to a front and rear flap.
U.S. Pat. No. D503,513, issued to McCarthy is directed to the ornamental design for a combination skirt and pants. The skirt is coupled to the pants by means of side belts.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,076,264, issued to Bolton discloses a woman's outing suit that is of a one-piece construction comprising crotch pieces that cover the inner legs and side pieces that cover the outer legs and form a skirt. The edges of the panels have fasteners that can be detached in the front and/or the rear for greater freedom of movement of the legs.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a pair of pants with an attached skirt. It is a further objective to provide such a pair of pants that is fashionable and provides a degree of modesty. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a pair of pants with attached skirt that is suitable for both more formal and less formal occasions. Finally, it is an objective of the present invention to provide such a pair of pants that is both durable and easily and inexpensively manufactured.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.


A trolley having an inner assembly and trolley sides is assembled by placing the components of the inner assembly in a welding fixture, welding the inner assembly components together, and welding the inner assembly to the trolley sides. The use of the fixture and the order in which the welds are carried out minimize distortion in the assembled trolley.

An overhead traveling crane typically includes generally parallel trucks that run on rails, and a trolley that travels on tracks running between and generally perpendicular to the trucks.
The trolley also usually includes generally parallel trolley sides having wheel shoes to which wheels are connected. The wheels should be aligned with the tracks on which they ride to reduce wear on the wheels. The wheels should also be co-planar to ensure all wheels simultaneously contact the rails.
The trolley also includes mounted objects, such as a motor, a gear case, and a drum or cylinder, which are mounted on generally horizontal support surfaces of support plates. The support surfaces should be substantially level to allow proper mounting of the mounted objects.
A trolley is typically assembled by welding various trolley components together. Welding often causes distortion in the trolley components. Distortion can cause the wheels to be misaligned with the tracks on which they ride, and can also warp the support plates, causing uneven support surfaces.
In a typical overhead traveling crane, the support surfaces and wheel shoes must be machined after trolley assembly to ensure the wheels will be properly level and aligned with the tracks on which they ride when the wheels are connected to the wheel shoes, and to provide a substantially level support surface for the mounted objects. Machining support surfaces and wheel shoes is a time consuming, expensive, and arduous task.

Method for assembling a trolley for an overhead traveling crane


A multi-step press system includes a press that consists of a press frame, a table provided on the press frame and a ram provided above the table for making movement in a Z-axis direction. The table has a standby station into which workpieces are loaded one by one and a plurality of press-forming stations in which the workpieces are sequentially press-formed. The system further includes a press die set consisting of a lower die attached to the table and an upper die attached to the ram. The lower die and the upper die are adapted to simultaneously press-form the workpieces placed in the press-forming stations. On one side of the press, there is provided a destacker for periodically loading the workpieces into the standby station. A transfer feeder is provided between the table and the ram for simultaneously picking up and transferring the workpieces.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a multi-step press system and, more particularly, to a multi-step press system for simultaneously press-forming workpieces placed on a plurality of press-forming stations through a single pressing stroke.
2. Discussion of the Related Technology
A press refers to a machine for manufacturing products by shearing, forming and squeezing a material such as a metal plate, a plastic, a fiber and the like. The press is suitable for use in mass production of articles and finds extensive applications in a variety of industrial fields. Press die sets of varying structures are employed in the press for the purpose of cutting, punching, blanking, piercing, bending, drawing and embossing workpieces. Each of the press die sets includes an upper die attached to a ram of the press and a lower die secured to a table thereof. The press die sets are often called a punch, a cutter or other names depending on the functions performed by them.
Arrangements that achieve automatic workpiece loading and unloading operations for improvement of productivity in a press are disclosed in Korean Patent Registration Publication No. 10-346866 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,414. The arrangements taught in these prior art references are of the type capable of loading and unloading workpieces by the actuation of a transfer feeder.
However, these arrangements involve many difficulties in adapting themselves to a multi-step press system that sequentially loads workpieces into a plurality of press-forming stations and then press-forms them into final products. Specifically, there is a problem in that the transfer feeder for sequentially loading the workpieces into each of the press-forming stations is structurally complex. Another problem is that a lot of dead time is spent in loading and unloading the workpieces, which in turn leads to reduced manufacturing speed, low productivity and increased production costs.
In the meantime, there is known a multi-step press system whose press die is comprised of a plurality of transfer dies corresponding to press-forming stations, each of the transfer dies having a set of upper and lower die members. Such a press die arrangement is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-70458 wherein an upper die member and a lower die member are removably attached to a die holder by means of a clamp. However, this poses a problem in that press die fabrication costs are increased due to the use of the die holder for clamping the upper die member and the lower die member. Another problem is that the task of attaching and removing the upper die member and the lower die member in individual press-forming stations are time-consuming, labor-intensive and costly.
The discussion in this section is to provide general background information, and does not constitute an admission of prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A squeegee unit is driven to rotate about a rotation axis perpendicular to a glass substrate surface with a motor while a plurality of blades of the squeegee unit contact on the substrate surface. The rotating squeegee unit is moved in a predetermined path on the substrate surface by relatively moving an X-Y stage so that its blades remove foreign materials adhered to the glass substrate surface.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a method of cleaning a glass substrate and an apparatus for the same in which various foreign materials, e.g., glass cullets adhered to the surface of the glass substrate are effectively removed.
2. Related Art
Many thin layers of electrodes, insulators and the like are formed on a glass substrate, e.g., the one used for a liquid crystal display panel. The surface of such a glass substrate should, thus, have no foreign materials and be sufficiently clean.
Further, such a liquid crystal display panel includes a pair of sheet-like glass substrates between which a liquid crystal layer is held and in its production process a mother glass substrate is cut out to make the sheet-like glass substrates a desired size. Since this results in leaving foreign materials including mainly glass cullets on the outer surfaces of the sheet-like glass substrates, it causes inconvenience when optical films, e.g., polarizers are put thereon.
Generally, a cleaning apparatus cleans up mother glass substrate surfaces and/or liquid crystal display panel surfaces so that foreign materials adhered thereto are removed in advance. The cleaning apparatus has relatively slender strip-like squeegees. The squeegees are driven along a predetermined direction on the glass surface with the blades thereof contacting on the glass surface so that various foreign materials thereon, such as glass cullets, are physically eliminated. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Tokkaihei) 4-93816 or the like, the squeegees are driven once or repeatedly from a same direction along the scanning path on the glass surface in a conventional cleaning process.
According to such a conventional cleaning method, the blades always contact on foreign materials from the same direction so that the foreign materials on the glass surface receive removing force from one direction only. Further, the blades contact on the foreign materials only once in the cleaning cycle. As a result, the foreign materials cannot always be eliminated from the glass surface in the case of some types of a foreign materials or adhesive conditions thereof so that sufficient cleanness of the glass surface is not necessarily achieved in the conventional method or apparatus. Driving the squeegees in the prior art cleaning method may be more often repeated. The processing time in such cases, however, becomes much longer and the cleaning efficiency is not always satisfactory.


The present invention provides an optical refractive index-modifying polymer composition which can efficiently modulate (change) refractive index upon light irradiation, and exhibits such high storage stability that the once modulated refractive index does not substantially change anymore upon time elapse, and the optical refractive index-modifying polymer composition comprises as a main component a polymer (A) which is a polymer of monomers including an acrylic vinyl monomer represented by the following formula (1):CH2═C(R1)—C(═O)O—R2═CH2   (1)wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, R2 represents a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and the molecule may contain a hetero atom or a halogen atom,as an essential component and contains a remaining radical-polymerizable side-chain vinyl group in the molecule, wherein the composition comprises a thermally curable polymer (B) in an amount of 5 to 60 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the polymer (A).

Hologram is one wherein an interference pattern of a coherent light of laser is recorded on a photosensitive material or the like. Since hologram has multiple functions, it is diversely utilized for optical elements, three-dimensional image displays, interference measurement, image/information processing, and the like. Moreover, since hologram can be regarded as an equivalent to information recording at a sub-micron unit, it is widely utilized as marks for preventing counterfeit of securities, credit cards, and the like.
In particular, in a volume phase-type hologram, a phase can be modulated by not optical absorption but formation of spatial interference fringes having different diffractive indices in a hologram recording medium without absorbing a light beam passing through the image, so that it is expected to apply it to hologram optical elements and hologram recording materials in addition to display uses in recent years.
As such hologram recording materials, there have been proposed an photo-curable resin composition wherein constituting components of a photopolymerization initiator, a 3-ketocoumarin and a diaryliodonium salt are used in combination (see, Patent Document 1) and a hologram recording material wherein a photopolymerization initiator and polymethyl methacrylate as a supporting polymer are combined (see, Patent Document 2).
Moreover, as a photopolymerizable sensitive material capable of preparing hologram by one treating step without involving any wet treatment, there have been proposed two types of photosensitive materials, i.e., the following first and second examples (see, Patent Document 3).
The first example is a photosensitive resin composition comprising a combination of two unsaturated ethylenic monomers different in reactivity and refractive index and a photopolymerization initiator, e.g., cyclohexyl methacrylate, N-vinylcarbazole, and benzoin methyl ether and capable of hologram recording by holding them between two glass plates and exposing it by means of a two-beam optical system.
The second example is a photosensitive resin composition comprising four components, i.e., a polymerizable unsaturated ethylenic monomer and an unsaturated ethylenic monomer acting as a crosslinking agent at the polymerization thereof which have similar refractive indices, a non-reactive compound having an refractive index different from those of the above two monomers, and a photopolymerization initiator, e.g., butyl methacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1-phenylnaphthalene, and benzoin methyl ether and capable of manufacturing hologram as in the case of the first example.
Furthermore, there is a proposal wherein a basic composition is composed of a thermoplastic resin, a polymerizable unsaturated ethylenic monomer, and a photopolymerization initiator and, in order to enhance modulation of refractive index, a difference in refractive index is achieved by the use of a compound having an aromatic ring as either of the thermoplastic resin or the polymerizable unsaturated ethylenic monomer (see, Patent Document 4).
In addition, it is proposed to blend a cation-polymerizable monomer and a cationic polymerization initiator instead of the plasticizer in the above proposal (see, Patent Document 5). Also, there has been proposed a photosensitive resin composition for hologram recording comprising an epoxy resin, a radical-polymerizable unsaturated ethylenic monomer, and a photo radical polymerization initiator (see, Patent Document 6).    Patent Document 1: JP-A-60-88005    Patent Document 2: JP-A-4-31590    Patent Document 3: U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,485    Patent Document 4: U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,803    Patent Document 5: JP-A-5-107999    Patent Document 6: JP-A-5-94014

Optical refractive index-modifying polymer composition, hologram recording material and method of controlling refractive index


Provided is a paper sheet processing device in which a plurality of paper sheets stacked after processing can be easily taken out in a state where ends thereof are aligned, without binding the paper sheets. The paper sheet processing device includes a stacking unit 6 that stacks therein the paper sheets after being processed by a processing unit 4. The stacking unit 6 includes a stacking unit main body 7, and a storage box 9 that can be taken in and out of a box storage space 7a of the stacking unit main body 7.

Conventionally, various types of paper sheet processing devices that perform processing such as discrimination of authenticity and denomination with respect to paper sheets such as banknotes and checks have been proposed. Such a paper sheet processing device includes, as described in Patent Literature 1, an inserting portion into which a bundle of banknotes consisting of a large number of banknotes in a mixed state are collectively inserted to process a large number of banknotes in a short time, a processing unit that discriminates authenticity and denomination of banknotes while transporting banknotes of the bundle of banknotes one by one, and at least one stacker unit in which banknotes processed by the processing unit are stacked by denomination or the like. The bundle of banknotes stacked in a storage of the respective stacker units are taken out sequentially by hand by an operator.
Further, as described in Patent Literature 2, there has also been proposed a paper sheet processing device including a binding mechanism that can band banknotes of a specific denomination stacked in each stacker unit in a unit of a specified number of banknotes.


A light fixture includes a symmetric trough-shaped lens with a first longitudinal side which is substantially clear and a second longitudinal side with prismatic elements. The lens is reversibly mounted with brackets including parallel tines with pairs of opposing protuberances which fit into slots in the fixture. Side reflectors are optionally inserted into the lens inwardly adjacent from the end walls in order to adjust the light distribution pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a light fixture with a reversible lens and adjustable brackets for attaching the light fixture to the mounting box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art of outdoor light fixtures, it is well known to use a clear or prismatic lens in front of a lamp, in cooperation with a reflector to project the light into desired areas.
Each lens type can be designed to yield specific light distributions. A light fixture with a prismatic lens refracts light into desired areas with a minimum of glare control factor. A fixture with a clear lens is allowed to reflect light into desired areas, displaying a maximum glare control factor. In some regions, current legislation demands a maximum glare control factor in sensitive environments.
In view of these two applications, it is desirable to provide a lens which can be configured to either application rather than requiring that the lens be changed in order to change the configuration.
Similarly, it is known in the prior art to use reflectors in a light fixture to achieve particular light distribution patterns. However, the changing of reflectors to change the light distribution pattern has been difficult and required substantial alteration of the light fixture.
Moreover, in the prior art, lenses of light fixtures have been susceptible to breakage during installation because the lens could easily be dropped prior to complete installation.
Additionally, in the prior art, lenses of light fixtures have been particularly adapted to a specific light fixture, with very little ability to use a single lens for variations of light fixtures.

Light fixture with a reversible lens with adjustable brackets


A vascular compression system includes a compression garment and a controller for compressing a body part of a person. In some embodiments, the compression garment is a foot cuff or a leg sleeve. The controller inflates compression garment apparatus includes a compression garment and a pressurizer. The pressurizer has instructions for executing cyclic compression cycles for applying intermittent compression therapy to the body part. Each compression cycle includes an inflation phase and a vent phase. At least one of the inflation phases includes a pre-fill step and a therapeutic step. In the pre-fill step, gas pressure in the inflatable chamber may be increased at a reduced rate, and in the therapeutic step, the gas pressure in the inflatable chamber may be increased at a rapid rate.

Among concerns for generally immobile persons are medical conditions that form blood clots, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and peripheral edema. Such persons include those undergoing surgery, anesthesia, and extended periods of bed rest. These blood clotting conditions generally occur in the deep veins of the lower extremities and/or pelvis. Veins such as the iliac, femoral, popliteal, and tibial veins return deoxygenated blood to the heart. When blood circulation in these veins is retarded due to illness, injury, or inactivity, there is a tendency for blood to accumulate or pool. A static pool of blood may lead to a blood clot, which can interfere with cardiovascular circulation. More seriously, the blood clot can break loose and migrate. A pulmonary embolus, which may be life threatening, can form if the blood clot blocks a pulmonary artery.
Vascular compression systems are used to promote flow of bodily fluid. For example, conventional vascular compression systems include a compression garment fluidly connected to a controller that cyclically inflates the compression garment. The cyclical inflation of the compression garment enhances blood circulation and decreases the likelihood of DVT. Some compression garments are adapted for application to a foot of a person for compressing the foot. Other compression garments are adapted for application to a leg of a person for compressing the leg. In some instances, compression garments include a foot portion and a leg portion. In general, conduits are provided for fluidly connecting the compression garment to the controller. Some vascular compression systems include portable controllers that are much smaller and mountable on the compression garment, so the patient is not tethered to a device by tubing that restricts motion and may become tangled. Portable compression systems are believed to enhance patient compliance due to convenience of use.
Conventional controllers tend to create a fair amount of noise when inflating the compression garment. In general, efficacious compression therapy requires inflation of the compression garment at rapid flow rates. Conventional controllers generally include pressurizers (e.g., pumps) for generating pressurized air for inflating compression garments, and such pressurizers tend to create noise when generating the pressurized air. Moreover, the pressurized air tends to create noise as it enters inflatable chambers on the compression garment.


The present disclosure relates generally to a temperature dependent device. Embodiments of the invention provide information regarding the useful life of perishable goods.

Improving the useful life of perishable goods has been a focus of research for many years. Advancements in the ability to store perishable goods have prolonged the useful life of perishable goods. However, storage of a perishable good does not exclusively determine the duration of the perishable good's useful life. Exposure to temperatures can increase or decrease a perishable good's useful life. A perishable good, such as human breast milk, will expire quicker in higher temperatures than in low temperatures. Even though modern storage containers provide the ability to store a perishable good for an extended period of time, there is a need to determine whether the stored perishable good's useful life remains.
Information relevant to attempts to address this problem can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,580,662 and 7,061,832.
There remains a need to manage the useful life of perishable goods by: accounting for multiple temperature differences over the duration of the useful life of a perishable good, preventing uncertainty in differentiating and distinguishing perishable goods stored at different times, minimizing wasteful discarding of perishable goods, alerting of temperatures contributing to a rapid expiration, and providing a versatile device capable of accompany a container and tracking the useful life of the perishable goods of the container.


Disclosed herein is a technique whereby a user device joins a call conducted over a network, generates audio which can be processed to identify that user device and, during the call, outputs the audio such that it can be received by another user device in the vicinity of the user device which is already participating in the call, thereby enabling the other user device to identify that user device.

Conference calls between more than two users can be conducted "online"—that is, over a suitable network, such as the Internet, possibly via a conference server—for instance in a virtual meeting or group calling scenario. A suitable user device (e.g. Personal Computer, Tablet Device, Smartphone, VoIP telephone etc.) participates in such a call using one or more loudspeakers and one or more microphones housed in, our coupled to, the user device. Typically, a user device joining a call may, at some stage, play-out an audible "ringtone" as part of this process.
In an online conference call scenario, a situation may arise in which two or more participants are in the same room or otherwise collocated (that is, in the vicinity of one another) during the conference call. For instance, a first user at a first user device may be participating in the call when a second user at a second user device in the same room joins the call. Any ringtone played-out by the second user device may be captured by the first user device and recognized in the microphone signal path of the first user device; if so, the first user may be notified of the possibility that another user in their vicinity has joined the call. The first user can then turn to the second user and if so ask him to mute his user device.


A culture of the Agaricus bisporus strain B12998 is provided, the culture of the strain B12998 having been deposited under the NRRL Accession Number 50902. Other embodiments include a hybrid strain of Agaricus bisporus having BP-1 as one parent and an OW, SW, HW or experimental BW strain as a second parent. Still other embodiments include a hybrid strain of Agaricus bisporus having strain B12998 as at least one parent. Methods are provided for obtaining offspring including homokaryotic lines from select hybrid strain cultures of Agaricus bisporus, as well as methods and processes for producing hybrid mushroom cultures. A method of mushroom strain development is further provided.

The edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach var. bisporus, a microorganism belonging to the basidiomycete fungi, is widely cultivated around the world. Accordingly, development of novel hybrid mushroom strains or lines of this mushroom fungus is seen as highly desirable to the cultivated mushroom industry, particularly if those novel strains or lines can be developed to provide various desirable traits within a single strain, culture, hybrid or line.
Thus, various entities within the mushroom industry, including Sylvan America, Inc., have set up mushroom strain development programs. The goal of a mushroom strain development program is to combine, in a single strain, culture, hybrid, or line, various desirable traits. Strains currently available to the mushroom industry allow growers to produce crops of mushrooms successfully and profitably. Several factors exist that influence the degree of success and profitability achieved. Characteristics of strains that are factors that can improve producer profitability include increased productivity (higher yield or shorter cycle time), accelerated revenue capture (earlier harvest), reduced costs (for example, greater ease and speed of harvesting), reduced shrinkage (pre-sale weight loss), reduced overweighting of product in packages (extra weight of product packaged, due to particular sizes of individual mushrooms), improved consistency of crop performance responses to variations in raw materials, growing conditions and practices, superior crop performance in particular facilities, regions, etc., reduced losses to diseases including viral, bacterial and fungal disease agents, and/or reduced losses to insect and nematode pests of the crop. There also exist improvable properties of the mushroom product that increase demand in the distribution chain, and thus sales volume and/or sales price, such as improved visual appeal (more desirable coloration, shape, size, or surface texture), improved or distinct flavor characteristics, improved keeping qualities (longer persistence of desirable visual attributes), etc. Still other improvements may enhance the suitability of the mushroom crop for mechanical harvesting, canning, and/or food processing. Thus there are many characteristics by which a novel strain might be judged as superior in a particular production facility or sales market, or in the industry regionally or globally. All of these characteristics can be assessed using techniques that are well known in the art.
Novel strains are most preferably and successfully developed from unique hybridizations between homokaryotic lines, including novel lines. Thus, the need continues to exist for new lines that can be used to produce new hybrid strains of Agaricus bisporus mushroom cultures and microorganisms that provide improved characteristics for producer profitability and for improved mushroom products over other previous strains of Agaricus bisporus.
There is also a need for commercially acceptable A. bisporus strains with different genotypes, relative to those of other currently available commercial brown strains and derived lineage groups, particularly those of the Old Fashioned Brown (OFB) group and the Heirloom strain, for two reasons. First, the use of strains incompatible with strains of the common commercial strains and their derived lineage groups is known to retard the spread of viral diseases between crops of different strains. The incompatibility phenotype can be assessed using techniques that are well known in the art. Second, it is well understood that when an agricultural crop industry relies extensively on a single genetic lineage (i.e., creates a commercial monoculture as now exists for the white-capped U1 lineage of A. bisporus, and which may exist for the brown-capped Heirloom strain), there is an increased risk of unpredictable, catastrophic crop failure on a facility-wide or even industry-wide scale. Therefore from a risk management and food security perspective, it is highly desirable to simultaneously provide both genetic diversification and commercially acceptable performance and crop characteristics. The use of novel lines that incorporate DNA from non-cultivar stocks provides important genetic diversification of the strain pool used to produce crops of cultivated A. bisporus mushrooms.
Circa 1980, the first two white hybrid strains of A. bisporus, developed by a laboratory at Horst, the Netherlands, were introduced into commercial cultivation. These two "Horst" strains, called U1 and U3, are closely related hybrid strains produced by matings between two pre-existing white cultivated strains, as per M. Imbernon et al., Mycologia, 88(5), 749-761 (1996), herein incorporated by reference. The two parents of U1 are the commercial strains Somycel 53 and Somycel 9.2, respectively belonging to two longstanding categorical types of strains known as the 'smooth-white' (SW) strains and the 'off-white' (OW) strains. The original homokaryons (or 'lines') obtained from the SW and OW strains, and used in the hybridization that produced the U1 strain, were designated H39 and H97 respectively; these cultures may no longer exist (A. Sonnenberg, pers. comm.).
However, a number of laboratories have deheterokaryotized the U1 strain and obtained neohaplont cultures incorporating one or the other nuclear type corresponding to those contributed by H39 or H97, as well as the mitochondrial type of U1. We refer to these two types of neohaplonts of U1 categorically as the SWNC and OWNC lines or homokaryons, respectively. An OWNC line designated 'H97' was deposited in the public culture collection of the Fungal Genetics Stock Center of Kansas, USA, by A. Sonnenberg, under the number 10389, and in the public collection of the American Type Culture Collection of Maryland, USA, under the number MYA-4626. The genome of H97 was sequenced and placed in the public domain by the Joint Genome Institute of California, USA. (See Morin et al. 2012, herein incorporated by reference). The OWNC line was also deposited by Sylvan America, Inc., on Jan. 15, 2014, with the Agricultural Research Services Culture Collection (NRRL) 1815 North University Street, Peoria, Ill. 61604 USA under the NRRL Accession No. is 50894.
One traditional type of brown-capped strain of A. bisporus mushroom, most often called the 'Old-Fashioned Brown' strain (or 'OFB'; examples of the OFB strain type include Sylvan's SB-65, SB-295, and RWK-2042 strains), originated as a wild strain in Europe and was the leading brown cultivar strain for many decades, even becoming the only brown cultivar in wide use in the last years of the twentieth century. A few different brown-capped hybrid strains have been developed since the 1980s, and some have enjoyed some commercial success. All publically disclosed examples of commercially relevant brown-capped hybrid strains have had both brown-capped and white-capped parents or grandparents. Hybrids having one white-capped parent line and one brown-capped parent line are categorically referred to as BW, or BW-type, hybrids. This BW-type of hybrid is heteroallelic at the PPC-1 color-determining locus on Scaffold 8 of the nuclear genome. Sylvan America, Inc. developed and patented the first BW hybrid, the X618 strain (later called SC-600 and marketed as S600), a light brown strain deposited with the Agricultural Research Services Culture Collection (NRRL) 1815 North University Street, Peoria, Ill. 61604 USA, on Feb. 18, 2014, as NRRL Accession No. 50906, and later a class of strains including the BW hybrid J10263 strain, which is sporeless (see WIPO Publication No. PCT/US2010/042289, filed Jul. 16, 2010, incorporated herein by reference). Sylvan has developed numerous breeding lines and hybrid strains from these two, and from many other, BW-type hybrid strains, beginning in the 1980s. Others have developed and patented the BW hybrid Broncoh strain, which is light to medium brown. Yet others have developed and patented the hybrid strain BR06 (ATCC Accession No. PTA-6876, later believed to have been marketed as Heirloom), a dark brown strain that used the BW hybrid 4x29 or 4-29 strain (ATCC Accession No. PTA-6877) as a parent.
Robles et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,760) teach that the brown strain BP-1, obtained by R. W. Kerrigan circa 1990, has a "difficult genetic background" and that diverse matings of BP-1 to diverse other strains almost invariably produced hybrids lacking "acceptable agronomic characteristics". They further teach that among matings of BP-1 to other strains, only in matings to a special "bridging cross strain" derived from mating one commercial white strain parent and one commercial brown strain parent, was an acceptably useful hybrid strain obtained. Thus a problem in the art has been the difficulty encountered in using genetic material of strain BP-1 in any strain development program, except in the restricted application taught by Robles et al. Thus, the need exists for distinct, useful and valuable methods whereby, and for products wherein, the genetic material of BP-1 may be combined with other genetic material of A. bisporus in matings that do not require the mating of BP-1 to a special "bridging cross strain" as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,760.
Cultures are the means by which the mushroom strain developers prepare, maintain, and propagate their microorganisms. Cultures of Agaricus, like those of other microorganisms, are prepared, maintained, propagated and stored on sterile media using various microbiological laboratory methods and techniques. Sterile tools and aseptic techniques are used within clean rooms or sterile transfer hoods to manipulate cells of pure cultures for various purposes including clonal propagation and for the development of new strains using diverse techniques. Commercial culture inocula including mushroom 'spawn' and 'casing inoculum' are also prepared using large-scale microbiological production methods, and are provided to the end user as pure cultures contained within sterile packaging.
One use of such cultures is to produce mushrooms. Mushrooms are cultivated commercially within purpose-built structures on dedicated farms. While there are many variations on methods, the following description is typical. Compost prepared from lignocellulosic material such as straw, augmented with nitrogenous material, is finished and pasteurized within a suitable facility. Mushroom spawn, which comprises a sterilized friable 'carrier substrate' onto which a pure culture of one mushroom strain has been aseptically incorporated via inoculum and then propagated, is mixed with the pasteurized compost and is incubated for approximately 13 to about 19 days at a controlled temperature, during which time the mycelium of the mushroom culture colonizes the entire mass of compost and begins to digest it. A non-nutritive 'casing layer' of material such as peat is then placed over the compost to a depth of from about 1.5 to about 2 inches. Additional 'casing inoculum' incorporating the same mushroom culture may be incorporated into the casing layer to accelerate the formation and harvesting of mushrooms, and improve uniformity of the distribution of mycelium and mushrooms in and on the casing surface. Environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity, in the cropping facility are then carefully managed to promote and control the transition of the culture from vegetative to reproductive growth at the casing/air interface. In a further about 13 to about 18 days after casing, mushrooms will have developed to the correct stage for harvest and sale. A flush of mushrooms comprising the original culture will be picked over a 3 to 4 day period. Additional flushes of mushrooms appear at about weekly intervals. Commercially, two or three flushes of mushrooms are produced and harvested before the compost is removed and replaced in the cropping facility.
Agaricus bisporus has a reproductive syndrome known as amphithallism, in which two distinct life cycles operate concurrently. As in other fungi, the reproductive propagule is a spore. Agaricus produces spores meiotically, on a meiosporangium known as a basidium. In a first life cycle, A. bisporus spores each receive a single haploid postmeiotic nucleus; these spores are competent to mate but not competent to produce mushrooms. These haploid spores germinate to produce homokaryotic offspring or lines which can mate with other compatible homokaryons to produce novel hybrid heterokaryons that are competent to produce mushrooms. Heterokaryons generally exhibit much less ability to mate than do homokaryons. This lifecycle is called heteromixis, or more commonly, outbreeding. This life cycle operates but typically does not predominate in strains of Agaricus bisporus var. bisporus.
A second, inbreeding life cycle called intramixis predominates in most strains of Agaricus bisporus var. bisporus. Most spores receive two post-meiotic nuclei, and most such pairs of nuclei consist of Non-Sister Nuclear Pairs (NSNPs) which have a heteroallelic genotype at most or all centromeric-linked loci including the MAT locus. That MAT genotype determines the heterokaryotic phenotype of these offspring, which are reproductively competent and can produce a crop of mushrooms. Unusually among eukaryotes, relatively little chromosomal crossing-over is observed to have occurred in postmeiotic offspring of Agaricus bisporus; empirically, very little heteroallelism (analogous to heterozygosity) is lost among heterokaryotic offspring of a heterokaryotic strain. Consequently, parental and offspring heterokaryotic genotypes and phenotypes tend to closely resemble each other, as noted above. For this reason, essential derivation, e.g., the production of Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs), is a familiar strain development technique among commercial mushroom spawn producers.
Another use of cultures of mushroom strains is to produce spores from mushrooms. Spores in turn can be used to produce offspring which are or may be useful in programs to develop new and improved strains of mushroom. Spores from mushrooms may be aseptically collected on sterile material, suspended in sterile water at various dilutions, and plated onto sterile agar growth media in order to produce germinated spores and the cultures incorporated within the spores. A preferred technique is to have within the enclosed petri plate a living Agaricus culture which may stimulate spore germination via the diffusion of a volatile pheromone. Germinated spores may be isolated under a microscope using sterile microtools such as steel needles, onto fresh nutrient agar plates. Using this method, heterokaryotic and homokaryotic offspring of strains including strain B12998 comprising the spores and the cultures incorporated within the spores of strains including strain B12998 may be obtained. Homokaryotic lines may in turn be used in matings to other lines to produce novel hybrid strains of mushrooms.
Therefore, the need exists for the development of new Agaricus bisporus lines that meet the needs and desires of mushroom producers, marketers and consumers. More particularly, the need exists for successful methods for the use of strain BP-1 that do not require the use of a special "bridging cross strain" in a mating to BP-1.

Hybrid bw-type mushroom strains and lines and methods and uses therefor


Process for purifying an inert fluid in the liquid state, containing at least one of the impurities hydrogen (H.sub.2) and carbon monoxide (CO), with respect to at least one of the impurities, characterized in that:. a) the fluid in the liquid state which is to be purified is passed through at least one bed of particles of at least one adsorbent in order to adsorb at least one of the impurities H.sub.2 and CO; PA1 b) a fluid in the liquid state which is substantially purified with respect to at least one of the impurities H.sub.2 and CO is recovered.

The inert gases, such as nitrogen, and the rare gases, namely helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and mixtures thereof, are commonly employed in a number of industries, in particular the electronics industry. The latter, quite particularly, requires the inert gases to be as pure as possible, and to have their impurities removed, in particular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
These inert gases are usually produced by cryogenic distillation after liquefaction.
However, the liquefied inert gases obtained in this way generally contain impurities such as hydrogen (H.sub.2) and carbon monoxide (CO), in proportions which are generally greater than a few hundred ppb (parts per billion by volume), or even a few ppm (parts per million by volume), which it is necessary to remove.
A number of processes for purifying inert fluids are known from the prior art, but they generally have several drawbacks or disadvantages, namely:
either they are ill-suited to purifying inert fluids in the liquid state, PA1 or they do not permit purification with respect to the impurities H.sub.2 and/or CO contained in the inert fluid which is to be purified, PA1 or they need the inert fluid to be vaporized prior to its purification. However, it is clear that, when it is desired to obtain an inert fluid in the liquid state which is substantially purified with respect to its impurities H.sub.2 and/or CO, the need to successively vaporize the inert fluid which is to be purified, purify the inert gas, then reliquefy the purified inert gas obtained, represents a major economic drawback, especially as regards energy expenditure and the equipment to be used. PA1 which is easy to use industrially and is of reasonable cost, PA1 which makes it possible to obtain a very high-purity inert fluid in the liquid state, that is to say containing at most about 1 ppb.+-.1 of hydrogen and/or of carbon monoxide, PA1 which can be used at temperatures which are cryogenic for the inert fluids in the liquid state, namely temperatures which are generally lower than -180.degree. C., PA1 which uses inexpensive and/or readily accesible adsorbents, PA1 and which do not require vaporization prior to the purification of the liquid fluid to be purified, then subsequent reliquefaction of the purified fluid. PA1 a) the fluid in the liquid state which is to be purified is passed through at least one bed of particles of at least one adsorbent in order to adsorb at least one of the impurities H.sub.2 and CO contained in the inert fluid in the liquid state; PA1 b) the inert fluid in the liquid state which is substantially purified with respect to at least one of the impurities H.sub.2 and CO is recovered.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,082 describes a process for purifying argon gas with respect to its impurity oxygen, by passing this argon through a synthetic type A zeolite.
For its part, U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,030 describes a process for purifying argon gas with respect to its impurity oxygen, in which the oxygen is converted into water by catalytic reaction with an excess of hydrogen; the water which is formed being subsequently removed using a dehydrating means.
For its part, Patent Application EP-A-0,350,656 describes a process for purifying an inert gas with respect to its impurities oxygen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the carbon monoxide (CO) and the hydrogen (H.sub.2) that are present in the inert gas are removed by catalytic oxidation at a temperature of between 150.degree. and 250.degree. C. in the presence of a first catalyst based on reduced copper, then of a second catalyst based on oxidized copper, to give carbon dioxide CO.sub.2 and water H.sub.2 O which are subsequently removed by adsorption at ambient temperature on an adsorbent of the molecular sieve type.
Thus, none of the processes which currently exist is suitable for the purification of inert fluids in the liquid state with respect to their impurities hydrogen (H.sub.2) and/or carbon monoxide (CO), that is to say inert fluids liquefied at cryogenic temperature (below their bubble point).
It is therefore necessary to develop novel processes for purifying inert fluids in the liquid state with respect to their impurities H.sub.2 and/or CO.

Purification of an inert fluid in the liquid state with respect to H.sub.2 and/or CO

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


Disclosed devices include a channel having a wall with a plurality of spaced apart projections extending therefrom. The projections substantially prevent intrusion of a liquid into the projections.

Ink jet printers typically include an ink path from an ink supply to a nozzle path. The nozzle path terminates in a nozzle opening from which ink drops are ejected. Ink drop ejection is controlled by pressurizing ink in the ink path with an actuator, which may be, for example, a piezoelectric deflector, a thermal bubble jet generator, or an electro-statically deflected element. A typical printhead has an array of ink paths with corresponding nozzle openings and associated actuators, such that drop ejection from each nozzle opening can be independently controlled. In a drop-on-demand printhead, each actuator is fired to selectively eject a drop at a specific pixel location of an image as the printhead and a printing substrate are moved relative to one another. In high performance printheads, the nozzle openings typically have a diameter of 50 microns or less, e.g. around 35 microns, are separated at a pitch of 100-300 nozzle/inch, have a resolution of 100 to 3000 dpi or more, and provide drop sizes of about 1 to 70 picoliters or less. Drop ejection frequency is typically 10 kHz or more.
Printing accuracy of printheads, especially high performance printheads, is influenced by a number of factors, including the size and velocity uniformity of drops ejected by the nozzles in the printhead.
Hoisington et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,315, describes a print assembly that has a semiconductor body and a piezoelectric actuator. The body is made of silicon, which is etched to define ink chambers. Nozzle openings are defined by a separate nozzle plate, which is attached to the silicon body. The piezoelectric actuator has a layer of piezoelectric material, which changes geometry, or bends, in response to an applied voltage. The bending of the piezoelectric layer pressurizes ink in a pumping chamber located along the ink path. Piezoelectric ink jet print assemblies are also described in Fishbeck et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,227, Hine U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,598, Moynihan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,346, Hoisington U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,391 and Bibl et al., published U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0004649.


An image diagnostic system controls a probe to perform radial scanning within a body cavity, to acquire reflected signals through the probe and to produce data based on the signals. The system includes plural storage units for storing the data in line units, respectively, a writing control unit for controlling writing processing in accordance with a transmission/reception timing of the signals, and a reading control unit for controlling reading processing in accordance with rotation angles of the probe. The writing control unit writes data in the storage unit, other than the storage unit being subjected to reading processing, storing the oldest data. The reading control unit reads the data from the storage unit, other than the storage unit being subjected to writing processing, storing the latest data. The tomographic image is constructed based on the data read by the reading control unit.

Image diagnostic systems have been used for diagnosing arteriosclerosis, for preoperative diagnosis upon coronary intervention by a high-performance catheter such as a dilatation catheter (i.e., balloon catheter) or stent, and for assessing postoperative results.
Examples of these image diagnostic systems include intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging systems. In general, the intravascular ultrasound imaging system is constructed to control an ultrasonic transducer to perform radial scanning within a blood vessel, to receive a reflected wave(s) (ultrasound echoes) reflected by biotissue (e.g. the blood vessel wall) by the same ultrasonic transducer, to subject the reflected waves to processing such as amplification and detection, and then to construct and display a tomographic image of the blood vessel on the basis of the intensities of the received ultrasound echoes. An example of such a system is described in JP-A-H06-343637.
In addition to these intravascular ultrasound imaging systems, optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging systems have been developed in recent years for use as image diagnostic systems. In an OCT imaging system, a catheter with an optical fiber incorporated therein is inserted into a blood vessel. The distal end of the optical fiber is provided with an optical lens and an optical mirror. Light is emitted in the blood vessel while radially scanning the optical mirror arranged on the side of the distal end of the optical fiber, and based on light reflected from biotissue forming the blood vessel, a tomographic image of the blood vessel is then constructed and displayed. An example of this system is described in JP-A-2001-79007.
Improved OCT imaging systems have been proposed in recent years which make use of a wavelength swept light source.
As mentioned above, there are a variety of different image diagnostic systems which use different detection principles. Nonetheless, they are all generally characterized in that a tomographic image (i.e. cross-sectional image) is constructed and displayed by performing radial scanning with a probe. For the construction and display of a high-accuracy tomographic image, it is desirable that a transmission/reception cycle of signals from the probe and a rotation cycle for the radical scanning are in complete synchronization. In general, the rotational speed of a radial scan motor is controlled in synchronization with the transmission/reception repeated at a constant clock in the probe.
The rotational speed of a radial scan motor, however, fluctuates due to variations in torque which occur as a result of changes in the degree of bending of a catheter. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve complete synchronization between the rotational speed of the radial scan motor and the cycle of transmission/reception of signals at the probe.
When a tomographic image is constructed with 1,024 lines by controlling the rotational speed of a radial scan motor, for example at 1,800 rpm (30 Hz), the transmissions/receptions can be performed in accordance with a clock speed of 30.72 kHz. If the rotational speed of the radial scan motor fluctuates by 0.05%, however the number of transmissions/receptions increases or decreases by one transmission/reception in every rotation for radial scanning.
When the number of transmissions/receptions increases or decreases by one transmission/reception in every rotation for radial scanning, the resulting displayed tomographic image is blurred in a circumferential direction or is displayed while slowly turning.

Image diagnostic system and processing method therefor


A compact transmission circuit for outputting a highly linear transmission signal regardless of the output power level and operating at a high efficiency is provided. A signal generation section 11 generates an amplitude signal and quadrature data based on input data. A calculation section 21 calculates using the amplitude signal and the quadrature data to output a discrete value having a level discrete at every predetermine time period, and first and second phase signals. An amplitude amplification section 17 outputs a voltage controlled in accordance with the discrete value. Angular modulation sections 13 and 14 angular-modulate the phase signals and output first and second angle-modulated signals. Amplitude modulation sections 15 and 16 amplitude-modulate the angle-modulated signals with the voltage from the amplitude amplification section 17 and output first and second modulated signals. A combining section 18 combines the first and second modulated signals and outputs a transmission signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission circuit used for a communication apparatus such as a mobile phone, a wireless LAN device or the like, and more specifically to a compact transmission circuit for outputting a highly linear transmission signal regardless of the level of the output power and operating at a high efficiency, and a communication apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
A communication apparatus such as a mobile phone, a wireless LAN device or the like is required to guarantee the linearity of the transmission signal while operating at a low power consumption whether the communication apparatus may operate at a high output power or a low output power. For such a communication apparatus, a compact transmission circuit for outputting a highly linear transmission signal and operating at a high efficiency regardless of the level of the output power is used. Conventional transmission circuits will be described below.
An exemplary conventional transmission circuit generates a transmission signal using a modulation system such as, for example, quadrature modulation (hereinafter, referred to as a "quadrature modulation circuit"). The quadrature modulation circuit is widely known and will not be described here. Another conventional transmission circuit for outputting a highly linear transmission signal at a higher efficiency than the quadrature modulation circuit is, for example, a transmission circuit 500 shown in FIG. 21. FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a structure of the conventional transmission circuit 500. As shown in FIG. 21, the conventional transmission circuit 500 includes a signal generation section 501, an angular modulation section 502, an amplitude amplification section 503, an amplitude modulation section 504, and an output terminal 505.
In the conventional transmission circuit 500, the signal generation section 501 generates an amplitude signal and a phase signal. The amplitude signal is input to the amplitude amplification section 503. The amplitude amplification section 503 supplies a voltage controlled in accordance with the level of the input amplitude signal to the amplitude modulation section 504. The phase signal is input to the angular modulation section 502. The angular modulation section 502 performs angular modulation on the input phase signal, and outputs the resultant signal as an angle-modulated signal. The angle-modulated signal is input to the amplitude modulation section 504. The amplitude modulation section 504 performs amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the voltage supplied from the amplitude amplification section 503, and outputs the resultant signal as an angle-modulated and amplitude-modulated signal. This modulation signal is output from the output terminal 505 as a transmission signal. Such a transmission circuit 500 is referred to as a polar modulation circuit.
Still another conventional transmission circuit for outputting a highly linear transmission signal at a higher efficiency than the quadrature modulation circuit is, for example, a transmission circuit 600 which is referred to as a LINC (Linear Amplification using Nonlinear Components) circuit and shown in FIG. 22. FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a structure of the conventional transmission circuit 600. As shown in FIG. 22, the conventional transmission circuit 600 includes a constant amplitude wave generation circuit 601, an amplification section 602, an amplification section 603, and a combining circuit 604.
The constant amplitude wave generation circuit 601 outputs two modulated signals having different phases and a constant amplitude (hereinafter, referred to as "constant amplitude signals") based on an input signal. The two constant amplitude signals which are output from the constant amplitude wave generation circuit 601 are amplified by the amplification sections 602 and 603 and input to the combining circuit 604. The combining circuit 604 combines an output signal s1 from the amplification section 602 and an output signal s2 from the amplification section 603, and outputs the combined signal as a transmission signal s0.
The transmission signal s0, the output signal s1 from the amplification section 602, and the output signal s2 from the amplification section 603 are represented by expressions (1) through (4). In expressions (1) through (4), M(t) represents an amplitude component of the transmission signal s0, and θ(t) represents the phase component of the transmission signal s0. Mx represents the level of the output signal s1 from the amplification section 602 and the level of the output signal s2 from the amplification section 603. ψ(t) represents the phase shift of the output signal s1 and the output signal s2 with respect to the transmission signal s0.
                              s                                                              0                                (            t            )                          =                                            M                                            (                t                )                                                                exp                                            [                                  jθ                                                        (                    t                    )                                                  ]                                              =                                    s                                                                                1                                            (                t                )                                      +                          s                                                                                2                                            (                t                )                                                                        expression                                                            (          1          )                                                  s                                                              1                                (            t            )                          =                  Mx                                                                          exp                                      [                              j                                                  {                                                            θ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                              +                                          ϕ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                                              }                                            ]                                                          expression                                                            (          2          )                                                  s                                                              2                                (            t            )                          =                  Mx                                                                          exp                                      [                              j                                                  {                                                            θ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                              -                                          ϕ                                                                    (                        t                        )                                                                              }                                            ]                                                          expression                                                            (          3          )                                                  ϕ                                (            t            )                          =                              cos                          -              1                                                      [                                          M                                                  (                  t                  )                                                            2                                Mx                                      ]                                              expression                                                            (          4          )
FIG. 23 specifically illustrates an operation of the conventional transmission circuit 600. The conventional transmission circuit 600 reduces the phase shift of the output signal s1 and the output signal s2 with respect to the transmission signal s0, and thus outputs a high transmission signal s0 (see FIG. 23, (a)). The conventional transmission circuit 600 enlarges the phase shift of the output signal s1 and the output signal s2 with respect to the transmission signal s0, and thus outputs a low transmission signal s0 (see FIG. 23, (b)). Namely, the transmission circuit 600 can control the phase shift of the two constant amplitude wave signals which are output from the constant amplitude generation circuit 601 to control the level of the transmission signal s0.
However, the conventional transmission circuit 600 generates a transmission signal s0 by combining the output signals s1 and s2. Therefore, when the output signal s1 or s2 includes a phase error or an amplitude error, it is difficult to output a desired transmission signal s0.
A conventional LINC transmission circuit for correcting the phase error or the amplitude error included in the output signal s1 or s2 is disclosed (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-37263; hereinafter, referred to as "patent document 1"). FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a structure of a conventional transmission circuit 700 disclosed in patent document 1. As shown in FIG. 24, the conventional transmission circuit 700 includes a constant amplitude wave generation circuit 601, an amplification section 602, an amplification circuit 603, a combining circuit 604, a phase detector 701, a variable phase device 702, an amplitude difference detector 703, and a variable attenuator 704.
In the conventional transmission circuit 700, the phase detector 701 detects a phase error included in the output signal s1 from the amplification section 602. The variable phase device 702 corrects the phase of the constant amplitude signal generated by the constant amplitude wave generation circuit 601 based on the detected phase error. The amplitude difference detector 703 detects an amplitude error included in the output signal s2 from the amplification section 603. The variable attenuator 704 corrects the amplitude of the constant amplitude signal generated by the constant amplitude wave generation circuit 601 based on the detected amplitude difference. Thus, the conventional transmission circuit 700 can output a desired transmission signal s0.
The conventional transmission circuit 500 (FIG. 21) has a problem of not being able to output a transmission signal having a level lower than that of a predetermined output power (i.e., there is a lower limit on the output power of the transmission signal). FIG. 25 shows an example of the output characteristics of the conventional transmission circuit 500. In FIG. 25, the horizontal axis represents the amplitude of the signal which is output from the signal generation section 501. The vertical axis represents the output power of the transmission signal. As shown in FIG. 25, in the conventional transmission circuit 500, the amplitude modulation section 504 cannot easily operate linearly in an area where the output power is low (i.e., where the level of the amplitude signal is low). Therefore, a highly linear transmission signal cannot be output in such an area.
The conventional transmission circuit 600 (FIG. 22) has the problem that because a transmission signal s0 is generated by combining two output signals s1 and s2 having different phases, it is difficult to output a desired transmission signal s0 due to a phase error or an amplitude error included in the output signal s1 or s2 as described above. The conventional transmission circuit 600 also has a problem that because a transmission signal s0 is generated by combining two output signals s1 and s1 having different phases, the operation efficiency is not guaranteed to be high when the level of the output power is of a certain value.
The conventional transmission circuit 700 (FIG. 24) requires many elements (for example, the phase detector 701, the variable phase device 702, the amplitude difference detector 703, and the variable attenuator 704) in order to correct the phase error or the amplitude error included in the output signal s1 or s2. Therefore, the conventional transmission circuit 700 has a problem of being large in circuit scale. The conventional transmission circuit 700 also has a problem that because the outputs from the amplification sections 602 and 603 are each branched, a loss is generated and the power consumption of the conventional transmission circuit 700 is increased.

Transmission circuit, and communication apparatus using the same


A method for providing enhanced network performance and/or capability information related to at least one mobile communication network and a user equipment includes: in a first step, location information is determined and/or provided; and in a second step, subsequent to the first step, network performance and/or capability information is displayed on a display device or a projection device.

Wireless communication networks or mobile communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources.
Users, customers or subscribers of such mobile communication networks typically access such networks using mobile devices, handsets or user equipments, such as mobile phones, mobile computing devices such as smart phones, tablet computer devices and the like.
Network coverage information regarding such mobile communication networks are typically available to a user of such mobile devices or handsets via a simple (or native, i.e. typically implemented in the operation system of the user equipment) signal strength indication of the radio signal received (by the user equipment or handset) from a specific mobile communication network, typically such radio signal being emitted by a base station entity or wireless access point associated or related to the mobile communication network. Furthermore, it is known to display network coverage information regarding one or a plurality of mobile communication networks via using a specific application or app (or a specific program of software module within the user equipment).
Furthermore, network coverage information is also available on a more general level, and independent from a specific user equipment located at a specific location: Such general network coverage information might provide network coverage information overlaid on a map information (or other geographical information) in order to provide guidance or an indication at which locations network coverage should be higher or better and where it should be less so. However, such network coverage information provided on a general level are typically based on (comparatively large scale geographical) averages and, hence, provide only poor granularity. This means that generally, such general network coverage information does not provide useful information to a specific user located at a specific location.

Enhanced network performance and/or capability information related to both a mobile communication network and a user equipment within the mobile communication network


A dissipation device having a proximal end, which is located outside the body, and a distal end, which is suited in particular for elongate medical instruments, in particular electrophysiological catheters or temporary electrode leads, placed temporarily in the body. The dissipation device including a dissipation sleeve which extends from the proximal end to the distal end of the dissipation device, and a lumen which extends from the proximal end to the distal end, and in which the instrument can be displaceably guided, wherein the lumen is enclosed by the dissipation sleeve. The dissipation device is characterized in that the dissipation sleeve is composed, at least partially, of electrically conductive material, and/or the dissipation sleeve includes dissipation means composed of electrically conductive material and, therefore, the dissipation sleeve is designed to dissipate or divert electrical energy induced by electromagnetic radiation.

In recent years, magnetic resonance ("MR") diagnostic devices, which are also referred to below as MR devices (e.g., magnetic resonance tomograph=MRT), have become particularly significant due to their examination methodology, which is gentle on the patient, non-invasive, and entirely pain-free and without side effects. Typical medical implants comprised of conductive materials, which also include electrophysiological catheters and/or known intracardial electrodes implanted temporarily or permanently for intervention purposes, have the problem that they heat up considerably in magnetic resonance diagnostic devices under the influence of the electromagnetic radiation generated thereby, and also due to the emission of the induced energy in the region of their contact surface(s) with tissue, i.e., electrode poles which are designed as ring electrodes and tip electrodes. The reason therefore, in particular, is the solid metallic supply leads to the contact surfaces, which function as antennas; due to the insulation thereof, the antenna currents induced by high-frequency ("HF") fields are diverted into the body electrolytes only at the contact surfaces that form the electrical boundary surface with the tissue. The aforementioned HF fields function in a working frequency range, for instance, of 21 MHz in the case of a 0.5 tesla MR tomograph. According to the current state of the art, the working frequency range can reach up to 300 MHz for a 7 tesla MR tomograph, and is typically 64 MHz for a 1.5 tesla MR tomograph. Since the tissue in the vicinity of the electrode pole(s) can become heated to an extreme extent, minimally invasive catheter ablations cannot be performed using magnetic resonance imaging.
To prevent or minimize the dangerous heating of the body cells, the maximum antenna current must be limited or reduced. Known solutions primarily in the field of intracardial electrode leads provide discrete components which function as band-stop filters or low-pass filters and, thereby, limit the lead resistance of the antenna for the frequencies of interest. Other known solutions provide capacitors which are connected in parallel to the insulation and, thereby, dissipate the antenna current.
Example documents in this regard are U.S. Pat. No. 6,944,489, U.S. Publication No. 2003/0144720, U.S. Publication No. 2003/0144721, and U.S. Publication No. 2005/0288751 (and the parallel documents U.S. Publication No. 2005/0288752, U.S. Publication No. 2005/0288754, and U.S. Publication No. 2005/0288756, which comprise substantially identical wording and were published in parallel).
Basically, it is possible to influence the inductance and capacitive coupling of the antenna using design measures, and to thereby reduce the flow of antenna current, dissipate the same, or shift the resonant frequency. The design requirements on a medical instrument of the initially described type, which are important in terms of therapy, typically permit very little leeway in this regard, however.
Furthermore, in contrast to the highly simplified consideration examined herein, antennas also have further resonant frequencies, and so shifting the resonant behavior of the electrode may fulfill the resonant condition of an MR device having other HF frequencies. This approach is therefore not advantageous.
Document EP 0 884 024, which is also referenced as technological background, discloses the case of which a capacitor is connected between the supply leads for the ablation pole of a catheter and a measurement pole which is also disposed thereon and is used to receive EKG signals. Due to the capacitor, high-frequency energy can be delivered via the ablation electrode to perform ablation, and an EKG signal can be received at the same time.
The disclosed dissipation device and system are directed at overcoming one or more of the above-identified problems.

Dissipation device and MRI-safe catheter system