The forming fabric has a top machine side and an opposing bottom paper side and comprises machine direction (MD) yarns and cross machine direction (CMD) yarns interwoven in a repeating pattern of multiple repeating units. The repeating unit of the pattern comprises: paper side CMD yarns forming the paper side of the fabric; half as many machine side CMD yarns forming the machine side of the fabric; and MD yarns interwoven with both the paper side CMD yarns and the machine side CMD yarns. Within the repeating unit, each of the MD yarns passes beneath at least two paper side CMD yarns to form first and second paper side knuckles. Each of the MD yarns also passes above two machine side CMD yarns to form first and second machine side knuckles, which are separated from one another by at least two machine side CMD yarns. The machine side CMD yarn positioned beneath the first knuckle is also passed over by another MD yarn thus forming a third knuckle, separated from the first knuckle in a first direction by between one and three MD yarns. The machine side CMD yarn positioned beneath the second knuckle is also passed over by another MD yarn thus forming a fourth knuckle, separated from the second knuckle in a second direction opposite the first direction by between one and three MD yarns. In this configuration, the fabric retains the "zig-zag" configuration on the machine side of prior art fabric, but is less prone to twinning.

In the conventional fourdrinier papermaking process, a water slurry, or suspension, of cellulosic fibers (known as the paper "stock") is fed onto the top of the upper run of an endless belt of woven wire and/or synthetic material that travels between two or more rollers. The belt, often referred to as a "forming fabric", provides a papermaking surface on the upper surface of its upper run which operates as a filter to separate the cellulosic fibers of the paper stock from the aqueous medium, thereby forming a wet paper web. The aqueous medium drains through mesh openings of the forming fabric, known as drainage holes, by gravity or vacuum located on the lower surface (i.e., the "machine side") of the fabric.
After leaving the forming section, the paper web is transferred to a press section of the paper machine, where it is passed through the nips of one or more pairs of pressure rollers covered with another fabric, typically referred to as a "press felt." Pressure from the rollers removes additional moisture from the web; the moisture removal is often enhanced by the presence of a "batt" layer of the press felt. The paper is then transferred to a drier section for further moisture removal. After drying, the paper is ready for secondary processing and packaging.
Typically, papermakers' fabrics are manufactured as endless belts by one of two basic weaving techniques. In the first of these techniques, fabrics are flat woven by a flat weaving process, with their ends being joined to form an endless belt by any one of a number of well-known joining methods, such as dismantling and reweaving the ends together (commonly known as splicing), or sewing on a pin-seamable flap on each end or a special foldback, then reweaving these into pin-seamable loops. In a flat woven papermakers' fabric, the warp yarns extend in the machine direction and the filling yarns extend in the cross machine direction. In the second technique, fabrics are woven directly in the form of a continuous belt with an endless weaving process. In the endless weaving process, the warp yarns extend in the cross machine direction and the filling yarns extend in the machine direction. As used herein, the terms "machine direction" (MD) and "cross machine direction" (CMD) refer, respectively, to a direction aligned with the direction of travel of the papermakers' fabric on the papermaking machine, and a direction parallel to the fabric surface and transverse to the direction of travel. Both weaving methods described hereinabove are well known in the art, and the term "endless belt" as used herein refers to belts made by either method.
Effective sheet and fiber support and an absence of wire marking are important considerations in papermaking, especially for the forming section of the papermaking machine, where the wet web is initially formed. Wire marking is particularly problematic in the formation of fine paper grades, as it affects a host of paper properties, such as sheet mark, porosity, see through, and pin holing. Wire marking is the result of individual cellulosic fibers being oriented within the paper web such that their ends reside within gaps between the individual threads or yarns of the forming fabric. This problem is generally addressed by providing a permeable fabric structure with a co-planar surface which allows paper fibers to bridge adjacent yarns of the fabric rather than penetrate the gaps between yarns. As used herein, "co-planar" means that the upper extremities of the yarns defining the paper forming surface are at substantially the same elevation, such that at that level there is presented a substantially "planar" surface. Accordingly, fine paper grades intended for use in carbonizing, cigarettes, electrical condensers, quality printing, and like grades of fine paper, have typically heretofore been formed on very finely woven or fine wire mesh forming fabrics.
Such finely woven forming fabrics, however, often are delicate and lack dimensional stability in either or both of the machine and cross machine directions (particularly during operation), leading to a short service life for the fabric. In addition, a fine weave may adversely effect drainage properties of the fabric, thus rendering it less suitable as a forming fabric.
To combat these problems associated with fine weaves, multi-layer forming fabrics have been developed with fine-mesh yarns on the paper forming surface to facilitate paper formation and larger yarns on the machine contact side to provide strength and longevity. As examples, U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,732 discloses a dual layer forming fabric for use in a papermaking process, U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,839 discloses a two-ply forming fabric with zig-zagging MD yarns, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,595 teaches a two ply forming fabric with a two-shaft, twill or satin weave pattern.
Although double-layer fabrics have proven to be effective forming fabrics for many applications, they can be expensive to manufacture. Also, different paper varieties are generally produced on different types of fabrics. For example, a high grade paper, such as that used in magazines and printers, is typically produced on a considerably different fabric than a tissue paper, which has significantly more lenient surface standards. Accordingly, fabric designers are constantly searching for new designs that provide an appropriate balance of performance characteristics and cost.
One example of a double-layer fabric which is suitable for forming tissue paper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,839 to Wright. This fabric employs MD yarns that are interwoven with the machine side CMD yarns in an "under 1/over 1/under 1/over 5" pattern, the result of which is the MD yarns producing a "zigzag" effect that reportedly improves drainage. The MD yarns are interwoven with the CMD yarns of the paper side of the fabric in an "over 1/under 2/over 1/ under 12" repeating pattern, with the MD yarns interlacing with the machine side CMD yarns in the "under 12" sections.
Unfortunately, this fabric has proven to be prone to "twinning" of its paper side CMD yarns in the "under 2" positions of the pattern (the positions between the locations where the MD yarns pass over the paper side CMD yarns to form paper side "knuckles"). Twinning is an effect in which adjacent paper side CMD yarns tend to reside near one another rather than being spaced apart a uniform distance. This is caused by tension in the machine direction yarns due to the "under 1/over 1/under 1" portion of the machine side pattern, which is a tension-inducing configuration. This tension forces the "under 2" paper side CMD yarns together in a "twinned" configuration. Twinning can result in uneven drainage through the paper side layer due to the disparity in drainage hole size.

Papermaker's double layer forming fabric


Reducing data transitions in a data transmission interface includes receiving first data and second data, among which the first data is data being transmitted by the data transmission interface and the second data is next data of the first data in a timing sequence. Corresponding data bits of the first data and the second data are compared to compute how many data bits undergo data transition. If the number of data bits undergoing data transition is greater than half the number of data bits the data transmission interface is capable of transmitting simultaneously, an encoding mode is activated to encode the second data, and an encoding result corresponding to the second data is outputted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and related device for reducing data transition of a transmission end in a data transmission interface, and more particularly, to a method and related device that determines whether to encode received data for reducing data transition by feeding back output data to compare with the received data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) has advantages of low radiation, light weight and low power consumption. Thus, the LCD has gradually replaced conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, and is widely used in various information technology products, such as a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, etc. In general, the LCD utilizes a timing controller to generate data signals corresponding to images being displayed, control signals, and clock signals needed to drive the LCD panel. Then, source drivers of the LCD can perform logic operations to generate driving signals of the LCD panel according to the data signals, the control signals and the clock signals. In order to suppress noise and reduce power consumption, data transmitted from the timing controller to the source drivers through data buses are usually in the form of differential signals. Common data transmission interfaces include a low voltage differential signal (LVDS) interface, a reduced swing differential signal (RSDS) interface, a mini low voltage differential signal (mini-LVDS), and so on.
Since the data transmitted in the form of differential signals alternates between 0 and 1, current signals carried on data lines of the data transmission interface also swing back and forth unceasingly. Thus, harmonics respectively belonging to different frequency bands are easily radiated in the form of electromagnetic waves, resulting in a problem of electromagnetic interference (EMI). Furthermore, with increasing demand for large-size, high-resolution, and high-speed transmission, not only is the number of data lines increased, but also data frequency of the data transmission interface is significantly enhanced, so that the EMI problem becomes more and more serious.
For example, please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art timing controller 10. The timing controller 10 is utilized for generating data signals corresponding to images being displayed on a display panel 12 and generating control signals and clock signals needed to drive the LCD panel 12. The timing controller 10 employs two LVDS bus receivers 110 and 120 as a data reception interface to receive data, and employs a mini-LVDS bus transmitter 130 as a data transmission interface to transmit the generated control signals, clock signals and image data to source drivers of the LCD panel 12. In this case, data frequency of the mini-LVDS bus transmitter 130 will be 3.6 times that of the LVDS bus receivers 110 and 120, and may be even as high as 270 megahertz when realized in high-resolution applications (such as 1680*1050). At this time, if there still exists unceasing alternation of the transmitted data, or data transition, in the data transmission interface, severe EMI problems will occur, which will affect image quality of the LCD panel 12.
Thus, if the number of data transitions occurring between transmitted data of the data transmission interface can be eliminated, the above-mentioned EMI problems can be improved effectively as well.

Method and related device for reducing data transition in data transmission interface


In one embodiment, a catalyst formulation includes a poison adsorbing material and a catalyst material. The poison adsorbing material comprises large particles having an average major diameter of greater than or equal to about 2.0 micrometers. The catalyst material comprises a precious metal support comprising small particles having an average major diameter of less than or equal to about 1.0 micrometers, and a catalyst material comprising at least one of ruthenium and iridium.

Conventional combustion conducted in the presence of a flame, which is usually employed in processes for the combustion of hydrocarbons such as methane, is a procedure that is difficult to control. It occurs in a well-defined range of air/hydrocarbon concentrations and, besides the formation of carbon dioxide and water, it results in the production of pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Catalytic combustion produces few pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOX) and carbon monoxide (CO). The introduction of a catalyst permits better control of total oxidation in a wide range of values in respect of the air/hydrocarbon ratio. With a catalyst, the air/hydrocarbon ratio can be outside the limits of inflammability of conventional combustion.
The common causes for catalyst failure include thermal degradation, catalyst poisoning, substrate failure, and plugging, with the two most important modes being thermal degradation and catalyst poisoning. Catalysts are preferably located as close to the exhaust manifold as possible, for fastest activity. However, catalysts located closest to the exhaust manifold are the least durable because they are the most thermally degraded and heavily poisoned. Thermal degradation, e.g., encapsulation and vaporization of the supports(s) and precious metal(s), can be improved with engine controls and more thermally stable materials. Substrate failure and plugging can be reduced with more costly mat material.
Catalyst poisoning, however, cannot be reduced with improved engine controls or more thermally stable materials. Poisons derive from the use of engine oil additives (e.g., zinc, phosphorus, barium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium), deposits of wear metals (e.g., iron, chromium, copper, lead, tin, and silver), and deposits from anti-freeze additives (e.g., silicon, boron, and the like). No matter how well developed the catalyst materials are, these poisons can deposit upon and restrict diffusion to the active metals. As durability requirements increase, emission failures due to poisoning becomes the most encountered failure mode. Further, deactivation is complicated by the fact that not all poisons are equally damaging. Significant amounts of deposits can exist on a catalyst with only marginal catalyst deactivation, e.g., iron and carbon deposits, while small amounts of certain other deposits can result in significant deactivation. For example, contaminants such as zinc, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus (in forms such as, for example, zinc phosphate or calcium phosphate), and the like, quickly poison or otherwise damage the catalyst.
With increasing durability requirements, there remains a need for improved catalyst protective coatings, and methods for producing the catalyst that reduces poisoning of the precious metals.
Another problem in the formation of a catalyst lies in the overall efficiency of the active phase of the catalyst. Active phases that have a high efficiency for oxidation of hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water tend to be less efficient in the downstream reduction of the NOx. Active phases that are less efficient, e.g., those that partially oxidize hydrocarbons to H2, CO, and HCO, tend to be more efficient in the downstream reduction of NOx.

Catalyst formulation, exhaust system, and gas treatment device


A waveguide assembly for a process sealed level gage includes first and second waveguide portions, a process sealing cavity and a mechanical barrier. The first waveguide portion has a first waveguide bore. The second waveguide portion is fastened to the first waveguide portion and has a second waveguide bore which is axially aligned with the first waveguide bore for communicating microwave signals at a waveguide wavelength .lambda..sub.G between the waveguide bores. The process sealing cavity is formed at an interface between the first and second waveguide portions. The mechanical barrier includes a first shaft section positioned within the first waveguide portion, a second shaft section positioned within the second waveguide portion and a raised annular shoulder positioned at the interface, within the process sealing cavity. The raised annular shoulder has a width, which is measured radially outward from an outside diameter of the shaft sections, of approximately 1/2 .lambda..sub.G and a height, which is measured axially between the first and second waveguide portions, of approximately 1/4 .lambda..sub.G.

The present invention relates to microwave level gages and, in particular, to a microwave level gage having an impedance-matched process seal.
Radar level gages make a non-contacting measurement of the level of products in tanks. The process fluid contained in these tanks range from benign products to severely corrosive or abrasive compounds. The only operating restriction is that the process fluids must have a dielectric constant that is high enough to reflect microwaves which can be received by the radar level gage. Tank environments include a wide range of process temperatures and pressures, and conditions inside the tank are characterized by steam, smoke, dust, mist, foam, condensate, deposits, splashing and turbulence.
The occurrence of these operating conditions are important design considerations for microwave level instrumentation, especially since most level gages sold on the market today are designed to use an antenna which protrudes into the tank. A typical level gage includes an electronics housing, a process connecting flange, a housing-to-flange adapter and an antenna. The housing-to-flange adapter connects the electronics housing to the process connecting flange, and the antenna is connected to the process connecting flange. A waveguide is formed in the housing-to-flange adapter and process connecting flange for providing a microwave signal path between the electronics housing and the antenna.
The process connecting flange and the waveguide inside the process connecting flange and housing-to-flange adapter have to be capable of containing the process pressures in the tanks in order to isolate the gage electronics from the process vapors and liquids. Microwave level gages typically include a process seal which is intended to keep humidity, condensation and process fluids out of the microwave signal transmission path. Moisture or process fluids located in the waveguide area can have the effect of attenuating the microwave signal transmission either by absorbing or reflecting the transmitted energy. The result is either inefficiency or complete loss of signal transmission which leads to failure of the microwave level gage to accurately measure liquid level in the tank. In extreme cases, the microwave level gage will be incapable of detecting liquid level at all.
In the TN Technologies MeasureTech.TM. RCM microwave level gage, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) cone-shaped device is used to protect the waveguide from humidity and process fluids. The cone-shape aids in impedance matching for signal transmission and encourages moisture to bead up and drain away from the waveguide-to-antenna transition. In the KROHNE Messtechnik GmbH & Co. KG BM 70 microwave level gage, the waveguide is filled with various low-dielectric materials that are designed for both signal transmission and to protect the waveguide from being filled with process fluids and condensation. The gage incorporates several O-rings and material combinations in compression to make the seal and minimize signal attenuation through the waveguide. The final wetted component of the waveguide assembly is a PTFE, cone-shaped device that performs a similar function as that described for the TN Technologies gage. The Endress & Hauser, GMBH Micropilot FMR 130 microwave level gage has an antenna seal which fills the waveguide portion of the level gage and incorporates O-ring seals to act as a process seal.
A microwave level gage is desired which has a process seal with a smaller number of components, more effective sealing properties and optimized signal transmission characteristics.

Level gage waveguide process seal having wavelength-based dimensions


An hard disk drive (a HDD) initialization technique, for performing compensation for an offset value of an IC (integrated circuit) of a PCB (printed circuit board), generated in associated circuits or apparatus, to stably initialize a head by calibrating an initial offset value to calibrate an integrated circuit offset value of a printed circuit board upon the power being applied; unlatching a head by using the circuit offset value; performing a full track seek for a given time period and calibrating a first torque constant as a self diagnosis function of an actuator; calibrating a bias value from servo information detected during the track seek; and performing the full track seek after calibration of the bias value and calibrating a second final torque constant so as to calibrate the torque constant of the actuator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hard disk drive (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as an HDD) generally and, in particular, to a circuit and technique for initializing the hard disk drive, and for compensating for an offset value generated in associated circuits or apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally, in a servo control of an hard disk drive, a series of steps for initializing the hard disk drive have fatal influence on the performance of the hard disk drive. In respect to earlier hard disk drive initialization techniques, the initialization steps performed from when a head is unlatched from a parking area and moved to a data area whenever the power is applied is explained hereinafter.
Most of all, when the power is applied to the hard disk drive, at step 1, track seek and track following operations are performed for a given time period to move the head from the parking area to a specific cylinder. Hereinabove, the specific cylinder is defined to be the cylinder where an initial head is positioned on the surface of a disk to prepare for the unlatching of the head of the hard disk drive and its movement from the parking area to the data area. A control input value is produced from a position error signal (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a PES) obtained upon the track following operation to be stored as a bias value of a first cylinder for bias calibration in a bias table. Herein, the control input value is indicative of a signal applied to a driving unit of an actuator for driving the head in a horizontal direction on the surface of the disk, that is, a voice coil motor (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a VCM).
At step 2 following step 1, the track seek and the track following operations are performed by using the bias value generated in step 1, to thereby move the head to a second cylinder and the control input value is produced from the position error signal obtained upon the track following, the produced control input value being stored as the bias value of the second cylinder for the bias calibration in the bias table. After storing the bias values calibrated through the methods of steps 1 and 2, for example, in the bias table, a full track seek operation is performed to calibrate a torque constant Kt value as a self diagnosis function of a voice coil motor used as an actuator, thereby completing the initialization of the head in the stand-by state of the hard disk drive.
There are several disadvantages however, in performing the initialization technique of the hard disk drive as noted above. Firstly, upon track seek and track following operations of step 1, inasmuch as the head is in the off-track upon completing the track seek operation in a track seek routine due to the offset value included in an IC (integrated circuit) of a printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as a PCB), for example, a digital-to analog converter (hereinafter, referred to as a D/A converter), an integrator can not be operated. Also, in this case, a slip phenomenon can be generated due to off-track upon the track following operation.
Secondly, the bias value obtained by the slip phenomenon is not exact and further, has an effect on the track seek and track following operations to the corresponding track for the continuous bias calibration, so that the normal table value can not be obtained.
Thirdly, for utilizing the initial value for torque constant Kt calibration, since the initial value has each offset value for each head disk assembly, the initial torque constant Kt has an exceedingly great influence upon the bias calibration, thereby having the possibility of generating an oscillation phenomenon. In other words, there are the foregoing problems generated due to characteristic differences for each drive in the above-noted hard disk drive initialization technique.
The following references, while bearing features in common with the present invention, nevertheless do not teach or suggest the specifically recited hard disk drive initialization technique of the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,776 to Smith, entitled Self-Calibration For Computer Disk Read/Write Offsets, U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,274 to Satoh, entitled Method For Controlling Activation Of Disk Drive Motors, U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,409 to Hampshire, entitled Correction Of Current Feedback Offset For Disc Drive Servo Systems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,160 to Funches et al., entitled Compensating For Variations In Torque Capability Of Voice Coil Motors, U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,569 to Even, entitled Spindle Controller With Startup Correction Of Disk Position, U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,930 to Thanos et al., entitled Head Position Recalibration For Disk Drive, U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,510 to Harding et al., entitled Precision Alignment System For Information Storage Devices, U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,059 to Voltz et al., entitled Offset Nulling System For Computer Disk Drives, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,109 to Seniio, entitled Magnetic Disc Drive System Having Automatic Offset And Gain Adjustment Means.

Technique for initializing hard disk drive


An MKB and a device key 121 of a drive are input to a process MKB 122. The process MKB 122 performs a revoking process for the drive. A process MKB 132 performs a revoking process for a host 103. The host 103 compares MAC values calculated by MAC calculating blocks 123 and 133. When the host 103 has determined that the two values are the same, the host 103 has successfully authenticated the drive 102. The drive 102 compares MAC values calculated by MAC calculating blocks 134 and 124 of the host 103. When the drive 102 has determined that the two values are the same, the drive 102 has successfully authenticated the host 103. When the mutual authentication has been successfully performed, the MAC calculating blocks 125 and 135 generate a common session key.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mutually authenticating method, a program, a recording medium, a signal processing system, a reproducing apparatus, and an information processing apparatus that cause a drive connected to for example a personal computer to record an encrypted content to a disc medium and to reproduce an encrypted content from a disc medium.
2. Background Art
On one recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), which has been recently developed, a large capacity of data for one movie can be recorded as digital information. When video information and so forth can be recorded as digital information, it will become important to protect copyright of digital information against illegal copies.
In DVD-Video, as a copy protection technology, CSS (Content Scrambling System) has been employed. The use of the CSS is permitted for only DVD-ROM media, not recordable DVDs such as a DVD−R, a DVD−RW, a DVD+R, a DVD+RW, and so forth due to CSS contract. Thus, the CSS contract does not permit the user to copy the contents of a DVD-Video disc that has been copyright-protected in accordance with the CSS system to a recordable DVD (so-called bit-by-bit copy).
However, there was a serious situation of which the CSS encrypting system was broken. Illegal software called "DeCSS" that is capable of easily decrypting contents that has been encrypted in accordance with the CSS encryption system and copying the decrypted contents to a hard disk was published on the Internet. As a background of the advent of "DeCSS", reproduction software was designed with a CSS decryption key that was not anti-tampered although it was supposed to be anti-tampered. The reproduction software was reverse-engineered and the encryption key was decrypted. As a result, all the CSS algorithm was decrypted.
As a successor of the CSS, CPPM (Content Protection for Pre-Recorded Media) as a copyright protection technology for DVD-ROMs such as a DVD-Audio disc and CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media) as a copyright protection technology for recordable DVDs and memory cards have been proposed. In these systems, even if there is a problem about encryption for contents, storage of management information, and so forth, the systems can be updated. Even if data of a whole disc is copied, the reproduction can be restricted. A method for protecting copyright for DVDs is described in the following non-patent related art reference 1. The CPRM is described in the following document distributed by its licenser, 4C Entity, LLC, USA.
"Spreading-out Copyright Protection Space Starting from DVD", Yamada, Nikkei Electronics, pp. 143-153, 2001.8.13.
"Content Protection for Recordable Media Specification DVD Book", Internet <URL: http://www.4Centrity.com/>
In a personal computer (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviated as PC) environment, since a PC and a drive are connected with a standard interface, secret data may be leaked out or tampered at the standard interface. As a result, there is a risk of which application software may be reverse-engineered and secret information may be stolen or tampered. Such a risk hardly occurs in an electronic apparatus that has a recording and reproducing apparatus that is integrated thereinto.
When a copyright protection technology is implemented to an application program that is executed on a PC, to prevent the copyright protection technology from being analyzed, the application program is generally anti-tampered. However, there is no index that represents the strength of tamper-resistance. As a result, countermeasures against reverse-engineering depend on the decision and capability of each implementer. Thus, the CSS was broken. The copyright protecting technologies CPPM and CPRM for recordable DVDs, which were proposed as a successor of the CSS are based on the known CSS and have new additional functions. In addition, most of algorithms of copyright protection technologies depend on implementation to a PC. Thus, it cannot be said that they have strong content protection functions. In other words, an encrypting system would be broken by analyzing secret information of a copyright protection technology for example reverse-engineering using application software. Encrypted content read as data from a disc by a PC would be decrypted by decrypting software such as "DeCSS". The decrypted data would be repeatedly copied as a clear content in non-copy-protection state. Thus, there was a risk of which the copyright protection would not work.

Mutual authentication method, program, recording medium, signal processing system, reproduction device, and information processing device


The present invention provides a needle coke for graphite electrodes, wherein a needle coke, used as a raw material coke, comprises a coke of 100 parts by weight, to which adheres a substance of 0.03 to 16 parts by weight having a softening point, or a melting point, or a temperature at which it thermally decomposes without leaving a residue (after subjecting it to a heat treatment at 200.degree. C. or higher), which does not exceed 1800.degree. C., which substance comprises preferably 0.05 to 5 parts by weight of at least one boron, phosphorus or silicon compound, or pyrex glass. Also provided is a process for producing the needle coke. The use of the above needle coke in producing graphite electrodes can effectively inhibit puffing in a graphitizing step and improve the yield of the electrodes as well as enhancing product characteristics.

Artificial graphite electrodes are produced by pulverizing a coal coke or a petroleum coke and classifying it to a fixed particle size distribution and then subjecting it to kneading with a binder pitch, extrusion-molding, baking, impregnation, secondary baking, and graphitization. In a graphitization step, calcined electrodes are graphitized at about 3000.degree. C., wherein an Acheson furnace has so far mainly been used. In recent years, however, an LWG furnace (direct current flow type) has come to be mainly used. Since graphitization in this LWG furnace accelerates a temperature elevating rate, a generating rate of gas is increased, and therefore an abnormal expansion phenomenon called puffing is liable to take place. Puffing not only lowers a density of an electrode but also sometimes damages the electrode when the phenomenon is severe. Accordingly, processes for producing a needle coke having reduced puffing and puffing inhibitors added in producing electrodes have so far been investigated.
It is estimated that a puffing phenomenon takes place due to sulfur volatilized at temperatures of 1700.degree. to 200.degree. C. at which a graphite structure starts to be formed. Accordingly, iron oxide which reacts with sulfur to form sulfide to change the timing for the volatilization of sulfur is usually used as a puffing inhibitor (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 55-110190). Further, various compounds as well as nickel compounds (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-190491), titanium oxide (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-51409) and the like have recently been proposed.
Further, as a process for a producing needle coke having puffing reduced without depending on a puffing inhibitor, a process is proposed in which pitch from which quinoline insoluble matters are removed is subjected to hydrorefining in the presence of a hydrogenating catalyst and then turned into a coke to thereby remove a nitrogen content or a sulfur content contained in the raw material pitch, which is an original substance causing puffing (Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 59-122585).
On the other hand, a process is proposed as well in which a crude coke is subjected to a first stage baking at lower temperatures than ordinary calcining temperatures, for example, about 800.degree. C., and after this is once cooled down, it is subjected again to a second stage calcination at temperatures falling in a range of 1200.degree. to 1500.degree. C. (Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 53-35801).
Among these techniques, all of those depending on puffing inhibitors use the puffing inhibitors added in a step for kneading a coke with a binder pitch, and the effect thereof is varied depending on the kind of a coke used as a raw material For example, iron oxide has a defect that while it shows an excellent effect to a petroleum coke, it shows only a small effect to a coal coke. On the other hand, the processes which do not depend on puffing inhibitors have a problem that they have a difficulty in profitability and therefore have not yet been put to actual use or do not necessarily provide a satisfactory effect of reducing puffing.
Intensive researches made by the present inventors in order to solve the problems described above have resulted in finding that puffing caused in producing electrodes is reduced by adhering to a coke a substance having a softening point or a melting point which does not exceed 1800.degree. C. after heating to 200.degree. C. or higher, in producing a needle coke for a raw material of a graphite electrode, particularly boron compounds, and thus completing the present invention.

Needle coke for graphite electrodes and process for producing same


A coring reamer for use in removing a bone core for use in a graft. A cylindrical tunnel is aimed at a bone. The coring reamer is inserted through the cylindrical tunnel and operated to form a bone tunnel. The bone core is removed from the coring reamer and a ligament replacement is attached to form the graft. The coring reamer includes a cylindrical hollow tube with a series of cutting teeth projecting from its distal end. At least one opening is provided in the wall of the coring reamer tube so that the bone core may be more easily removed from the reamer.

The present invention relates to the field of arthroscopic surgery, particularly anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
One common approach to cruciate ligament reconstruction is the use of the patellar tendon to form a bone-tendon-bone graft. This involves cutting out a bone block from the top of the patella. Deviations from proper technique for removal of the patellar bone block have resulted in reports of patellar tendinitis, patellar fractures and even, in some instances, ruptures of the patellar ligament after the grafting procedure. Whether or not these complaints are properly related to the use of the patellar bone block in cruciate ligament reconstruction, these concerns are reason enough to identify an alternate method for performing the surgery.
Cruciate ligament reconstruction involves the drilling of a tunnel through the tibia and into the femur. The tunnels are used for insertion of a graft to replace the damaged cruciate ligament. The accuracy in drilling these tunnels is critical to providing a satisfactory repair. A commonly used method of directing a drill to form these tunnels is by using a guide wire drilled through the bone first. The location of the guide wire can be tested before drilling out the tunnel. A cannulated drill is then inserted over the guide wire to drill the full size tunnel. When it has been desirable to retain the core of the bone tunnel being drilled, a coring reamer is used. However, when a coring reamer is used over a guide wire, the guide wire produces a stress riser in the bone core. Moreover, the use of a guide wire is generally inadequate to accurately guide a coring reamer throughout the drilling of an entire bone tunnel.


Disclosed is an immersion nozzle, which comprises a vertically-extending pipe-shaped straight nozzle body 10 adapted to allow molten steel to pass downwardly from an inlet port 9 provided at an upper end thereof, and a pair of discharge portions each including a respective one of a pair of outlet ports 12 provided in a lower portion of the straight nozzle body 10 in a bilaterally symmetrical arrangement and adapted to discharge molten steel laterally from a lateral side of the straight nozzle body. Each of the discharge portions has an inner surface defining the outlet port 12 and extending parallel to an axis of the outlet port 12 to define a length of the discharge portion at 45 mm or more. A ratio of S1/S2 is in the range of 0.8 to 1.8, wherein S1 is a total transverse vertical cross-sectional area of the outlet ports, and S2 is a cross-sectional area of an inner hole of the straight nozzle body taken along a plane including a line connecting respective inwardmost and uppermost positions of the outlet ports and extends perpendicularly to an axis of the straight nozzle body. The axis of the outlet port extends laterally outwardly and downwardly at the following angle θt with respect to a horizontal direction: 0°≦θt≦20°. The immersion nozzle of the present invention can suppress deceleration of a molten steel flow discharged from the outlet port to obtain a flow speed in an intended direction over a maximized distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an immersion nozzle, and more particularly to an immersion nozzle for pouring molten steel into a mold during a continuous casting process, wherein the mold has a mold cavity formed with a substantially rectangular-shaped horizontal cross-section having a long side of 2000 mm or more and a short side of 150 mm or less.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, in a mold for receiving therein molten steel to produce a steel plate, so-called "slab", during a continuous casting process, a mold cavity has been generally designed to have a width dimension of less than about 2000 mm. Recently, there has emerged a high-speed casting operation using a mold having a wide mold cavity, i.e., a mold cavity with a larger width dimension, more specifically, a mold cavity formed with a substantially rectangular-shaped horizontal cross-section having a long side (i.e., width) of about 2000 mm or more and a short side (i.e., thickness) of about 150 mm or less.
In an operation of pouring molten steel into such a wide mold cavity, a molten steel flow discharged from an outlet port of an immersion nozzle (i.e., submerged nozzle) will be spread and decelerated in a vicinity of a lateral end of the mold cavity, and further deflected downwardly below the outlet port due to extraction of a slab from the mold. Thus, a stagnant region having poor fluidity is liable to occur in an upper region of the lateral end of the mold cavity. Moreover, a molten steel flow in the mold cavity is apt to become unstable due to episodic occurrence of turbulences therein, such as reversed flows in various regions of the mold cavity and locally deflected flows which frequently change with time, and resulting fluctuation ("wave", "heave", "change in flow direction") in a molten steel surface, to cause difficulty in allowing inclusions around a lateral end of a slab to sufficiently float up and in allowing a mold powder to be uniformly transferred onto a surface of the slab, which leads to uneven incorporation of the mold powder and the inclusions into the slab. The unstable molten steel flow causes another problem about difficulty in obtaining a temperature distribution of molten steel in the mold cavity requited for or optimal to formation of a shell (i.e., primary solidification shell) of a slab during a course of solidification the molten steel. This exerts a negative impact on quality of a slab and increases the risk of break (e.g., cracks) of a slab.
In order to solve the above problems, it is necessary to stably form and maintain a molten steel flow, such as an upward flow in the lateral end of the mold cavity, and a flow directed toward a center of the mold cavity along a vicinity of a molten steel surface in the entire mold cavity, i.e., a reversed flow, while minimizing deceleration of the molten steel flow, even in the lateral end of the mold cavity. From a practical standpoint, even if only dimensions of an immersion nozzle, such as an axial direction and a cross-sectional area of an outlet port thereof, are simply adjusted while maintaining its conventional structure, it is unable to suppress the large spreading and deceleration of the molten steel flow and obtain the above required molten steel flow.
Specifically, as measures for solving the above problems, it has been tried to allow a molten steel flow discharged from an outlet port of an immersion nozzle to have fluidity required in the vicinity of the molten steel surface, even in the vicinity of the lateral end of the mold cavity, for example, by setting an axial direction of the outlet port of the immersion nozzle in an upward direction relative to a horizontal direction. In this immersion nozzle, the outlet port is formed in a part of a wall of a straight nozzle body thereof. Thus, even if the axial direction of the outlet port is variously adjusted under a constraint of a predetermined wall thickness of the straight nozzle body, it is unable to ensure sufficient fluidity in the lateral end of the wide mold cavity.
There has been known an immersion nozzle comprising a straight nozzle body, an outlet port portion protruding in a lateral direction slightly beyond a wall thickness of the straight nozzle body to serve as a means for controlling a molten steel flow, and a grid- or bar-shaped CaO-containing member primarily made of CaO and attached inside the outlet port portion, as disclosed, for example, in JU 63-085353A (Patent Publication 1). Although this immersion nozzle is designed to elongate the outlet port portion in the lateral direction so that a molten steel flow discharged from an outlet port in the outlet port portion can be directed in a desired direction, the molten steel flow is slowed due to the configuration of the outlet port bent at certain angle and the grid- or bar-shaped CaO-containing member disposed in the outlet port (it is rather intended to positively decelerate the molten steel flow). Thus, the immersion nozzle disclosed in Patent Publication 1 is incapable of allowing a molten steel flow required in the vicinity of the molten steel surface to be stably formed in a desirable range including the lateral end of the wide mold cavity.
JP 2004-344900A (Patent Publication 2) discloses an immersion nozzle comprising a canopy (or hood)-like member disposed above and/or below an outlet port thereof. Although this immersion nozzle provided with the canopy-like member can suppress formation of a downward flow, a molten steel flow is inevitably slowed and spread/decelerated particularly in a region having no canopy-like member. Thus, the immersion nozzle disclosed in Patent Publication 2 is incapable of allowing a molten steel flow required in the vicinity of the molten steel surface to be stably formed in a desirable range including the lateral end of the wide mold cavity.
All the above conventional approaches for controlling a molten steel flow based on the configuration of an outlet port of an immersion nozzle are not intended for the wide mold cavity, and a basic concept thereof is to positively slow or decelerate a molten steel flow in the mold cavity. That is, means for allowing a molten steel flow required in the vicinity of the molten steel surface to be stably formed in a desirable range including the lateral end of the wide mold cavity has not been yet disclosed.


A variable-speed rotating electric machine includes at least two armatures having respective armature coils for multiple phases, and a rotor having permanent magnets. The armatures are arranged concentrically with each other in such a manner that electrical angular positions of the individual armatures can be relatively varied in a circumferential direction. The armature coils of each phase are series-connected and the rotor is arranged concentrically with the armatures on the inside thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable-speed permanent magnet rotating electric machine.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional variable-speed permanent magnet motor is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-9486, for example. This motor is of a double-armature type provided with a generally ring-shaped rotor and a pair of armatures, in which one of the armatures is located inside the rotor and the other outside the rotor so that electrical angular positions of the inner and outer armatures can be relatively varied.
Specifically, in this motor of the Publication, the angular positions of the inner and outer armatures disposed concentrically inside and outside the rotor, respectively, are made relatively variable. The motor is controlled by a so-called field-weakening control method in which magnetic fields linked on each armature do not add up to a maximum level of magnetic flux but cancel out each other in part to decrease a total magnetic flux level. Field-weakening control serves to decrease combined voltages induced in armature coils of the two armatures in a high-speed range so that the voltages induced in the armature coils would not exceed a maximum voltage applicable to the armature coils. This arrangement makes it possible to easily perform variable-speed control operation of the motor and manufacture the motor with reduced electrical limitations and an increased degree of freedom of design.
As stated above, a conventional double-armature rotating electric machine has two stator-side armatures one of which is located inside a rotor and the other outside the rotor. Therefore, this type of rotating electric machine typically employs a structure in which the rotor is supported in a cantilever fashion. For this reason, it is difficult to hold the rotor in a stable position when the rotor is rotating. More specifically, although the rotor can be easily sustained by a cantilever support structure if the rotor is of a type having a small axial length, it is difficult to hold the rotor in a stable fashion if the rotor has a large axial length. A previously known arrangement for supporting the rotating rotor in a stable fashion is to support the rotor by a pair of bearings or the like located at both ends of a rotor shaft. This prior art approach has a problem that a considerably complicated rotor support structure is required.


A detection apparatus, a detection method and an electron beam irradiation apparatus for detecting deflection electrons in order to precisely focus even if a vacuum seal valve is provided. An electron beam irradiation apparatus including a vacuum seal valve mechanism which is provided in a static pressure floating pad, and opens/closes an electron beam passage with a piston so as to switch between an electron beam irradiation state and a vacuum seal state, and a deflection electron detector which is provided between the vacuum seal valve mechanism and a master disk and detects a deflection electron signal generated from the master disk with electron beam irradiation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detection apparatus, a detection method, and an electron beam irradiation apparatus for detecting a signal for focusing an electron beam with which a master of an optical disk, for example, is prepared.
2. Related Art
In recent years, there has been a demand for an optical disk of increasingly higher recording density. In order to realize such a high recording density, it is necessary to form a smaller recording pit. As for preparation of a master of optical disk, earlier applications have been filed (Japanese patent application number H04-276068 and Japanese patent application number 2000-57374), in which electron beam irradiation apparatuses are proposed for recording information by irradiating a master disk with an electron beam capable of forming a finer pit than a conventional laser light.
In apparatuses for recording information by irradiating the master disk with an electron beam, grooves/lands, pits and the like having a width of a few to tens of nm may be formed. However, in order to record information with higher accuracy, it is necessary to accurately adjust an electron beam irradiation distance for suitable electron beam irradiation according to the distance between an electron beam irradiation head and the master disk.
For example, in a partial vacuum electron beam irradiation apparatus employing a differential static pressure floating pad such as the above-mentioned electron beam irradiation apparatus, positive pressure is applied to a static pressure bearing unit of the differential static pressure floating pad and negative pressure is applied so as to attract an exhaust unit, whereby the master disk and the differential static pressure floating pad are sticked in a contactless manner, keeping a gap of the order of μm so that a vacuum degree becomes higher in a position which is closer to the center of the differential static pressure floating pad. In this case, a vacuum degree that does not influence the irradiation with electron beams (approximately 1×10−4 [Pa]) may be achieved at the center of the differential static pressure floating pad.
A conventional scanning electron microscope, as shown in FIG. 10, will be described as a general electron beam irradiation system and a general electron beam detection system.
The scanning electron microscope 100 includes a so-called electron beam column 101 and an electron beam irradiation head 106 maintaining a position facing a specimen 103 with a microscopic gap so as to permit electron beam irradiation. The specimen 103 is subject to irradiation with an electron beam 102 emitted from the electron beam irradiation head 106.
The electron beam column 101 includes an electron gun 111, a condenser electron lens 112 for condensing the electron beam 102 emitted from the electron gun 111, an electron beam modulator 113, a limiting plate 115 having an aperture 114 in its center, an electron beam deflector 116, a focus adjusting electron lens 117, and an objective electron lens 118.
The electron beam modulator 113 is formed of opposing deflection electrode plates, for example, across which a predetermined voltage is applied to deflect the electron beam 102, thereby causing the electron beam 102 to pass through the aperture 114 of the limiting plate 115 and to be intercepted by the limiting plate 115 so as to achieve ON/OFF modulation.
Further, the electron beam deflector 116 is formed of opposing deflection electrode plates, for example, such that a position of irradiation of the electron beam 102 may be finely moved in a radial direction on the specimen 103 or in a transversal direction in relation to tracks.
The focus adjusting electron lens 117 and the objective electron lens 118 each include an electromagnetic coil, which renders the electron beam 102 to go through the electron beam irradiation head 106 so as to focus on the specimen 103.
The focus adjusting electron lens 117 may be manually adjusted and held in a focus state. The focus adjusting electron lens 117 may be supplied with a focus error signal from a focus control unit, for example, so as to control the focus.
In addition, the electron beam 102 employed in the irradiation of the specimen 103 is deflected by an amount that depends on the shape of the surface of the specimen 103 and constitutive material thereof, so that a corresponding portion becomes deflection electrons 107. For example, the amount of the deflection electrons 107 may be determined by a semiconductor detector 108 mounted on the electron beam irradiation head 106. It should be noted that the semiconductor detector 108 includes, for example, a plurality of ring-shaped P-N junction semiconductor devices.
Further, as the electron beam irradiation requires a vacuum environment, the scanning electron microscope 100 employs a total vacuum system in which all components, such as the electron beam column 101, the electron beam irradiation head 106, the semiconductor detector 108 and a specimen chamber in which the specimen 103 is located are accommodated under vacuum condition.
An exhaust means of a vacuum pump (not shown) is connected to the electron beam column 101 and the exhaust means sucks air of the internal portion of the electron beam column 101, so that the inside portion of the electron beam column 101 is maintained at a vacuum degree (1×10−4 [Pa]) that does not influence the irradiation of electron beams.
The thus-constructed scanning electron microscope 100 operates as follows.
The electron beam 102 is emitted from the electron gun 111 of an electron beam energizer located at an upper portion of the electron beam column 101, which is mounted above the electron beam irradiation head 106.
The electron beam 102 emitted through the electron beam irradiation head 106 and reaching the specimen 103 shows three patterns of behavior, namely incidence of electrons into the specimen 103, transmission of part of the electrons, and deflection of the remaining. In this case, the semiconductor detector 108 determines an amount of absorption current caused by the incidence of electrons and the transmission of electrons and an amount of secondary electrons or deflection electrons bounced by the specimen 103 so as to obtain an observing image signal 121, of the specimen 103, processed by a signal processing circuit 119. Accordingly, the amount of signals corresponds to an image quality of the specimen 103, so that it is necessary to increase the amount of signals in order to improve image quality.
For example, the deflection electrons originating from the specimen 103 due to the electron beam irradiation start out upwardly at a deflection angle of 45° at one side, with respect to an axis of the electron beam. Since there is no blocking component above the specimen 103, the semiconductor detector 108 may be mounted at an end of the electron beam irradiation head 106 of the electron beam column 101 so as to capture a sufficient amount of deflection electrons to be determined. By using the focus adjusting electron lens 117, a sharp observing image needed to focus the electron beam may be obtained.
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the specimen and a deflection electron detector.
In FIG. 11, the deflection electrons 107 of the incident electron beam 102 to the specimen 103 are detected by divided semiconductor detectors 108A and 108B. Detected signals A and B detected by the semiconductor detectors 108A and 108B are amplified by amplifiers 122A and 122B, added (A+B) and subtracted from (A−B) by a processing unit 123 so as to obtain a composite image 124 and a rugged image 125. The amplifiers 122A and 122B and the processing unit 123 shown in FIG. 11 correspond to the signal processing circuit 119 shown in FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is a cross-cross-sectional view showing an arrangement of a deflection electron detector in a conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus. In the conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus shown in FIG. 12, an electron beam irradiation opening 133 of a static pressure floating pad 131 is formed in a taper expanding towards an electron beam column 132 and at an angle of 45° at one side, so that a deflection electron detector 134 mounted at an end of the electron beam column 132 may sufficiently capture deflection electrons from a master disk 135.
On the other hand, besides the conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus, as described above, the applicant of the present invention filed, for example, another Japanese patent application No. 2002-50146 "ELECTRON BEAM IRRADIATION APPARATUS AND ELECTRON BEAM IRRADIATION METHOD". FIG. 13 is a cross-cross-sectional view showing an arrangement of a deflection electron detector in a conventional electron beam irradiation apparatus. As mentioned in the application, when replacing a master disk, it is necessary to retreat a static pressure floating pad from the master disk, which may cause several drawbacks, such as scattering of electron beams because of a decreased vacuum degree from the static pressure floating pad to an inside portion of the electron beam column. As shown in FIG. 13, a vacuum seal valve is illustrated. At an end portion of the static pressure floating pad 141, air is supplied via an air joint 147 against a resilience of a compression spring 146 so as to move a piston 145, close an electron beam irradiation opening 143, and thereby obtain a vacuum seal condition.

Detection apparatus, detection method and electron beam irradiation apparatus


A pulverized solid fuel nozzle assembly 34 includes a fuel feed pipe 38 and a nozzle tip 36 pivotally secured relative to the fuel feed pipe 38. The fuel feed pipe 38 includes a generally cylindrical shell 99 having a round outlet end 102 and a bulbous protrusion 106 disposed around a perimeter of the round outlet end 102. The nozzle tip 36 includes an inner shell 40 having a round inlet end 108 arranged in concentric relationship with the round outlet end 102 of the generally cylindrical shell 99. The round inlet end 108 is disposed around the bulbous protrusion 106 for forming a seal between the inner shell 40 and the fuel feed pipe 38. The nozzle tip 36 also includes an outer shell 39 arranged in coaxial relationship with the inner shell 40, and an annular air channel 42 disposed between the inner and outer shells 40, 39. The nozzle tip 36 is pivotable about at least one axis 52, 250 for directing a stream of pulverized solid fuel from the inner shell 40.

The present invention relates to pulverized solid fuel delivery systems and, more particularly, to a nozzle assembly for use in a pulverized solid fuel delivery system.
Systems for delivering pulverized solid fuel (e.g. coal) to steam generators typically include a plurality of nozzle assemblies through which pulverized coal is delivered into a combustion chamber of the steam generator. The nozzle assemblies are typically disposed within windboxes, which may be located proximate the corners of the steam generator. Each nozzle assembly includes a nozzle tip, which protrudes into the combustion chamber. Typically, the nozzle tips are arranged to tilt up and down to adjust the location of the flame within the combustion chamber.
FIG. 1 is a partially-exploded, perspective view of a typical solid fuel nozzle assembly 200 disposed in a fuel compartment 208 of a windbox 202. As depicted in FIG. 1, the solid fuel nozzle assembly 200 comprises a nozzle tip 204 and a fuel feed pipe (conduit) 216. The nozzle tip 204 has a double shell configuration, comprising an outer shell 210 and an inner shell 212. The inner shell 212 is coaxially disposed within the outer shell 210 to provide an annular space 214 between the inner and outer shells 212, 210. The inner shell 212 connects to the fuel feed pipe 216 for feeding a stream of pulverized solid fuel entrained in air through the inner shell 212 into the combustion chamber of the steam generator. The annular space 214 is connected to a secondary air conduit 218 for feeding secondary air through the annular space 214 into the combustion chamber. The secondary air is used in combustion and helps to cool the nozzle tip 204.
The cross sectional shape of the outer shell 210 is typically rectangular and mainly corresponds to the internal cross section of an outlet end 220 of the secondary air conduit 218, which also has a rectangular cross-section. Similarly, the cross sectional shape of the inner shell 212 is typically rectangular and mainly corresponds to the external cross section of an outlet end 222 of the fuel feed pipe 216. However, the fuel feed pipe 216 typically has a round inlet end 224, which requires the use of a round-to-square or round-to-rectangular transition section between the inlet and outlet ends 224 and 222 of the fuel feed pipe 216. While this arrangement is suitable for many applications the distribution of the pulverized solid fuel as it flows through this transition section is neither uniform nor concentric. It is believed that this non-uniform solid fuel distribution can affect the performance of the nozzle 200, and may be disadvantageous in certain applications.


A delivery vehicle for a silver ion source such as silver nitrate and the like, suitable for use in the treatment of menorrhagia, comprises a plurality of physiologically inert beads bearing a tissue cauterizing amount of a silver ion source. Preferably the beads are made of a physiologically inert polymer, ceramic or stainless steel. The silver ion source preferably is silver nitrate and can be substantially pure silver nitrate, or can comprise silver nitrate in combination with a physiologically tolerable binder or a diluent. Suitable binders include physiologically tolerable synthetic polymeric binders, polysaccharide binders, and the like. Diluents can include other salt materials such as potassium nitrate. The beads are useful in treating menorrhagia of a mammalian uterus. The beads can be delivered to the uterus via a catheter, and are distributed throughout the uterine cavity by uterine massage or like expedient. Silver ions are delivered to the endometrium and cause necrosis of the endometrial tissue. The silver ions remaining within the uterine cavity can then be neutralized with a sodium chloride solution delivered to the uterus e.g., by catheter, and the beads recovered from the uterus.

Apparatus and methods for necrosing of the endometrium of a mammalian uterus, useful in treating excessive bleeding (menorrhagia) sterilization procedures, and cancer treatments, are known in the art. Thermal and cryogenic treatments have been utilized in such necrosing techniques and typically involve either the direct or indirect application of heat or cold to the tissue to be treated.
In addition to thermal and cryogenic treatments, methods involving application of caustic chemicals within the human body to treat menorrhagia, achieve sterilization and treat cancers also are known. The use of caustic chemicals as locally destructive agents has been attempted but has been limited by concerns about safety and control of the delivery of various agents as well as other shortcomings due to the methods of application, e.g., blind placement of a particular solid chemical. For example, as described by Babcock, W., Chemical Hysterectomy, Jnl. Obstet. & Gyn., Vol. 7, p. 693 (1924), application of gauze strips soaked in a saturated solution of zinc chloride to the uterine walls has reportedly been used to induce amenorrhea, to cause sterility, and to treat tumors. However this procedure has several disadvantages. The application of the gauze strips is a blind procedure, however. The zinc chloride soaked gauze is packed in the uterus until the practitioner feels the cavity is full. The strips are left in place for a predetermined length of time and then removed. Delivery to and removal from the uterine cavity of the caustic gauze strips necessarily entails substantial risk of infection and of contacting the vaginal walls wherein the caustic could damage the vaginal and other tissue that are not the target of the treatment. Accordingly, successful use of this methodology requires substantial skill and experience, limiting the availability of the procedure to women with access to highly trained medical personnel.
Use of caustic agents such as silver nitrate, zinc chloride and copper sulfate has been studied for use in chemical sterilization by chemically cauterizing the fallopian tubes. However, as discussed by Richart, R., Female Transcervical Sterilization, Chapter 3, Harper & Row (1983), even when massive tubal necrosis was achieved with the application of silver nitrate, a significant proportion of fallopian tubes remained open. When compositions for the sustained release of the caustic agents were employed it was found that control over the release of the caustic agents was insufficient to avoid unacceptable side effects. Additionally, use of strong caustic agents such as acids and alkalies would require the concomitant use of equally strong neutralizing agents whose use is also laden with risk. Use of such agents also puts the practitioner in the difficult position of titrating the neutralization of the caustic agent in the patient's uterus and Fallopian tubes.
Neuwirth describes a particularly effective method for treating menorrhagia, which involves administering a silver nitrate-containing paste to the uterine cavity and distributing the paste therein. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,197,351; 6,187,346; 6,165,492; and 5,891,457; the relevant disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The silver nitrate causes necrosis of the endometrium, which in turn stops excess uterine bleeding associated with menorrhagia. After treatment, the caustic silver nitrate is effectively neutralized by administering a solution of sodium chloride, usually physiologic saline, to the uterine cavity. Sodium chloride reacts with the silver nitrate to form insoluble (non-caustic) silver chloride. The silver chloride is then flushed out of the uterus along with any loose necrosed tissued present in the uterus.
Delivery of silver nitrate as a paste, as described by Neuwirth, requires some degree of care to ensure that the paste does not come into prolonged contact with tissues that are not in need of cauterization such as the Fallopian tubes. There exists, therefore, a need for improved vehicles for a more precise delivery of silver nitrate to the uterine cavity to implement chemical cauterization of the endometrium. The present invention provides such improved delivery vehicles.


A computer system for relieving an operator's fatigue includes an input device, an image processing circuit, a fatigue determination circuit, and an information generator circuit. The computer system also includes an output device, a response information storage device, and a fatigue degree criteria storage device. The operator's face is captured to create a model image of the face, which is analyzed to determine the fatigue degree of the operator. The response information corresponding to the fatigue degree is output to notify the operator.

Nowadays, with the widespread Internet use and office automation, computer operators are required to work for a longer time and therefore suffer from more fatigue. It is important, therefore, to relieve their fatigue.
Preferably, the operators should have a periodic break (for example, once an hour) to take exercise for recovering from their fatigue of eyes, neck, hands and back. If the operator is absorbed in operating a computer apparatus, he or she may forget to have a break or take exercise. To solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. Hei 1-163874 and Hei 4-120668 disclose break notification systems that display a break sign on the screen of the display every predetermined time. The break sign allows the operator to recognize that it is time to have a break or take exercise.
The break notification systems, however, display a break sign based on the operating time of a computer apparatus rather than the fatigue degree of the operator. Since the operating time of a computer apparatus is counted even when the operator is away from the computer apparatus, the break sign may be displayed even though the operator is not tired. The break sign displayed in such a situation is annoying to the operator. In addition, the break notification systems do not have the ability to relieve the operator's fatigue.


This invention relates to soft, end rounded toothbrush bristles having significant surface area containing a plurality of microfilaments surrounded by a sheath, wherein the microfilaments project beyond the sheath.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plastic bristle for toothbrushes and to a toothbrush provided with such bristles.
2. The Prior Art
Toothbrushing is generally known for its cleaning function, the remove food debris and plaque; but, it also massages the gingival tissue increasing keratinization which enhances gingival health, and in conjunction with an abrasive dentifrice removes the stained pellicle on the tooth surface to enhance tooth whiteness. The ability of a toothbrush to perform these functions is related to the size of the head, the distribution of the bristle tufts, the properties of the individual bristles as determined by their material of construction plus their size and shape, the bristles per tuft, and the configuration of the tufts themselves. In general the more surface area of bristle applied by the user to the tooth and gingival surface, the more plaque and debris that will be removed, the greater the massaging effect and the greater the removal of stained pellicle.
Today, virtually all commercial toothbrush bristles manufactured in the U.S. are made of polyamide (i.e. nylon). The stiffness of a nylon bristle is primarily related to the modulus i.e. resistance to bending of the particular nylon, and the filament diameter (i.e. thickness) and trim length. The stiffness of the nylon bristle, the number of bristles comprising a tuft, and the number of tufts in a brush are major variables involved in the classification of a toothbrush as "soft", "medium" or "firm"/"hard". Scientific studies have shown that the "softer" the brush the less it will abrade the soft gingival tissue surrounding the tooth, which abrasion can lead to not only gingival recession, but also abrasion of the cervical area of the tooth itself. M. Pader, Oral Hygiene Products and Practice, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York (1988), pages 169-170.
In addition to the "softness" of a brush, it is commonly accepted that one of the most important sources of oral abrasion caused by toothbrushing is related to the finish of the tip of the bristles. The end of a bristle may have sharp edges after trimming, as well as small ridges and burrs. By end rounding, the ends of the bristles are smoothed to minimize the possibility of incremental abrasion from such edges, ridges and burrs.
British Patent 490,124 and Swiss Patent CH 049277 disclose a solution to providing more bristle surface area by bundling or packing individual fibers together to form the tufts of toothbrushes. In the British Patent the tufts are held together by a synthetic resin, and within a tubular rod as in the Swiss Patent. German Patent DE 4417548 further discloses that bristles formed of very fine fibers clad in an elastic material to form the tufts further enhance cleaning while being softer to avoid injury to the gums.
There is a continuing need in the toothbrush art for bristles having more surface area to enhance the removal of plaque and food debris, while at the same time having a smaller diameter and end rounding, to be softer and reduce toothbrush abrasion.

Toothbrush bristles containing microfilaments


The present invention provides a method of acylating organic amines using N,N'-diacylimidazolone derivatives represented by the general formula I as follows: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are the same or different, which are selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, straight or substituted aliphatic chain of C.sub.3 -C.sub.19, phenyl, heterocyclic groups, alkoxy and other organic acid substituting groups; and R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are the same or different, which are selected from the group consisting hydrogen, methyl or ethyl, phenyl, substituted phenyl and alkoxycarbonyl, or wherein R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 form a R-substituted benzene ring having the following structure together with a carbon atom where R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are bonded to: ##STR2## (wherein R is hydrogen, carboxyl or sulfonic groups).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a new acylating method of transforming primary or secondary organic amines into corresponding acyl compounds conveniently by using 1,3-dihydro-1,3-diacyl-1H-benzimidazole-2-one derivatives. Especially, this method showed good regioselectivity in case of diamino compounds where primary and secondary amino group coexist in the same molecule. Two amino groups of diamino compounds which experience different steric or chemical environment showed different reactivities toward this present acylating agent. So it is possible to transfer acyl groups selectively in these diamino system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Until now, N,N'-diacylimidazolone derivatives were presented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,333, 1973, as a bleaching activator, but no one has reported the derivatives as an useful acylating agent until the present invention.
The traditional methods for transforming organic amines into acyl compounds were by using acid halide or acid anhydride as acylating agents. However, there are shortcomings, an additional step is required to remove the hydrogen halide or carboxylic acid which is liberated after the reaction. In some cases, the reagent itself which was used to remove the hydrogen halide or carboxylic acid affected the acylated compound or caused difficulties in the purification of the final product.
Where two amines with different steric hindrance and reactivity coexist within one molecule, it is nearly impossible to achieve a selective acylation by using such an acylating agent. For instance, it is rarely possible to acylate a specific amine selectively by using hydrogen halide or acid anhydrides where aminobenzilamine or diamino compounds which have primary and secondary amino groups, or where amines that have structurally different reactivity or steric hindrane. hindrance.
Accordingly, many acylating agents has been reported as candidates of selective acylating agents in a large number of publications and patents. Representative examples are N-acylimidazole (Fieser & Fieser, Organic Reagents), 3-acyl-2-oxazolone (Tetrahedron Lett., 22, 1981, 1257-1258), 3-acythiazol-2-thione (Tetrahedron Lett., 21,1980, 841-844) and N,N-diacetylaniline (Tetrahedron Lett. 38, 1997, 3751-3754). However, the selectivity of the acylation reactions is limited to these acylating agents, and it is difficult to purify the products, and it is restricted to transfer only one amine.

Method of acylating amines using N,N'-diacylimidazolone derivatives

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


A microlouver includes a periodic structure in which a transparent layer and a light absorption layer are alternately disposed with a constant, repetitive period. The range of the exit direction of a light beam passing through the transparent layer is restricted by the light absorption layer. The periodic structure includes a periodic structure portion divided in the direction that intersects the direction in which the transparent layer and the light absorption layer are repeatedly disposed. In the periodic structure portion, between the periodic structures adjacent to each other, there is a difference of 180 degree in the phase of spatial frequency of each periodic structure.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical element called "microlouver" by which the range of the exit direction of a transmitted light beam is restricted. Further, the present invention relates to an illuminating optical device and a display device as represented by a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a plasma display using such an optical element.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays are used as display devices for various electronic devices such as mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistance (PDA), ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) or personal computers, and recently there are practical uses for liquid crystal display that have a wide, viewable area.
A liquid crystal display, whose display area is visible from a wide range of angles, has been found to be useful when a plurality of people together look at a display screen. However, in the case certain devices, such mobile phones, in which it is assumed that personal privacy is desired, the wide, viewable screen may sometimes allow unwanted third parties to view displayed information, which will be displeasing to the user. Further, in the case of an information processing terminal used by an unspecified number of the general public, it is necessary to prevent other people from peeping at displayed information, when highly confidential information such as personal information is displayed. Therefore, there has been developed a liquid crystal display that can be switched between a display area that has a narrower field of view and a display area that has a wider field of view (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-197844, the thirty-fifth paragraph).
FIG. 1 shows one example of a liquid crystal display capable of switching between a display form having a narrow field of view and a display form having a wide field of view. Referring to FIG. 1, the liquid crystal display has display panel 100 composed of a plurality of pixels arrayed in a matrix, and microlouver 101 to be attached onto this display panel 100. Microlouver 101, as shown in FIG. 2, is configured in a manner such a periodic structure body, in which light absorption layer 102 and transparent layer 103 are alternately disposed, is sandwiched between two protective films 104, and the period of positioning light absorption layer 102 and transparent layer 103 is constant. In a light beam incident on transparent layer 103, only a light beam whose incident angle is equal to or smaller than θ/2 (where θ is a visible angle) can pass through transparent layer 103. A light beam whose incident angle is larger than θ/2 is absorbed in light absorption layer 102. The visible angle θ is determined by a thickness D and a pitch P of the period of the periodic structure body. The smaller the visible angle θ, the higher is the directivity of a light beam which passes through microlouver 101.
In the display that has a narrow field of view, display panel 100 is used with microlouver 101 being attached to it. The region of a light beam visible from display panel 100 is restricted by microlouver 101. On the other hand, in the display that has a wide field of view, display panel 100 is used with microlouver 101 being removed. In this case, the visible region is determined by the visible angle of display panel 100. By using polymer dispersed liquid crystal for display panel 100, the visible region can be enlarged.
Further, there is a liquid crystal display having a built-in microlouver. FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the main portion of the liquid crystal display.
Referring to FIG. 3, the liquid crystal display includes backlight unit 200 and LCD panel 203 illuminated with a light beam from backlight unit 200, and between backlight unit 200 and LCD panel 203, microlouver 201 and diffuser 202 are disposed.
LCD panel 203 includes a plurality of liquid crystal cells arrayed in a matrix having a constant pitch, and R (red), G (green) and B (blue) color filters are positioned in a predetermined order so as to correspond to positions of the liquid crystal cells. FIG. 4 shows an example of positioning the color filters. In this example of positioning, color filters 203a are positioned in a matrix in a region divided by black matrix 203b for absorbing light, and a pitch thereof is constant.
Microlouver 201, as shown in FIG. 5, has a periodic structure in which light absorption layer 201a and transparent layer 201b are disposed alternately. Diffuser 202 is formed of polymer dispersed liquid crystals and adapted to be able to switch between a transparent state in which an incident light beam exits, as it is, and a scattered state in which the incident light beam exits as a diffused light beam due to scattering. For diffuser 202, there is, for example, PNLC (Polymer Network LC) or PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal).
FIG. 6 shows a light beam at a narrow field of view. At the narrow field of view, diffuser 202 is made transparent. Microlouver 201 restricts the range of the exit direction of the diffused light beam from backlight unit 200. A light beam which passes through microlouver 201, as is, passes through diffuser 202 and illuminates LCD panel 203.
FIG. 7 shows a light beam at a wide field of view. At the wide field of view, diffuser 202 is made to scatter. Microlouver 201 restricts the range of the exit direction of the diffused light beam from backlight unit 200. The light beam which passes through microlouver 201 is formed into a diffused light beam by diffuser 202. LCD panel 203 is illuminated with this diffused light beam from diffuser 202.
However, display devices using the microlouver described above have the following problems.
In the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 1, because both display panel 100 and microlouver 101 have a periodic structure, the light beam which passes through microlouver 101 is formed into a form in which two, regular intensity distributions based on their periodic structure are superimposed one on the other, thereby producing Moire fringes that correspond to a difference between their spatial frequencies.
In the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 3, because both LCD panel 203 and microlouver 201 have a periodic structure, Moire fringes that correspond to a difference between spatial frequencies of their periodic structure are produced.
FIG. 8 shows a production principle of Moire fringes, FIG. 8A shows the spatial arrangement of a microlouver having a periodic structure. FIG. 8B shows a spatial frequency of the microlouver in the two-dimensional coordinate system. FIG. 8C shows a spatial arrangement of a display element having a periodic structure. FIG. 8D shows a spatial frequency of the display element in the two-dimensional coordinate system. FIG. 8E shows that the spatial frequencies shown in FIGS. 8B and 8D are superimposed one on the other in the two-dimensional coordinate system.
The spatial frequency as shown in FIG. 8A obtained by a two-dimensional Fourier transform of the spatial arrangement having a repetitive period (PI) in the one-dimensional direction, as shown in FIG. 8B, has a one-dimensional, regular peak arrangement (shown by a triangular mark).
Coordinates of the peak in the two-dimensional coordinate system are provided by integral multiplication of a vector PI (I*PI). The value of the vector PI is equal to the inverse of the period of the microlouver.
On the other hand, the display element as shown in FIG. 8C, in which pixels are formed in a matrix, has a spatial arrangement with a period in the x-direction (Px) and a period in the y-direction (Py). The spatial frequency obtained by a two-dimensional Fourier transform, as shown in FIG. 8D, has a two-dimensional, regular peak (shown by a circular mark). Coordinates of the peak in the two-dimensional coordinate system are provided by integral multiplication of a vector Px and a vector Py (n*Px+m*Py).
Superimposing the spatial frequencies shown in FIGS. 8B and 8D one on the other, the peak arrangement is represented by the relationship shown in FIG. 8E. Coordinates of each peak in the two-dimensional coordinate system are provided by integral multiplication of a vector PI, Px and Py (I*PI+n*Px+m*Py).
In FIG. 8D, ({vector Px}−{vector Py}) forms the bases of Moire fringes. Further, when a screen that includes a picture element having three pixels of R, G and B is used, Moire fringes are produced even under the condition of ({vector 3Px}−{vector PI}).
The problem concerning Moire fringes arises not only between a display element and a microlouver, but when components having periodicity are stacked one on top of the other. For example, Moire fringes are produced even between a lens sheet having a plurality of lenses disposed on its surface and a microlouver.

Optical element, and illuminating optical device, display device and electronic device using the same


A method and apparatus for treating wastes by two-stage gasification recovers metals or ash content in the wastes in such a state that they can be recycled, and gases containing carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen gas (H.sub.2) for use as synthesis gas for ammonia (NH.sub.3) or production of hydrogen gas. The wastes are gasified in a fluidized-bed reactor at a low temperature. Then, gaseous material and char produced in the fluidized-bed reactor are introduced into a high-temperature combustor, and gasified at a high temperature and ash content is converted into molten slag. After water scrubbing and a CO conversion reaction, the gas is separated into H.sub.2 and residual gas. The residual gas is then supplied to the fluidized-bed reactor as a fluidizing gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating wastes by gasification, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for treating wastes by two-stage gasification to recover metals or ash content in the wastes in such a state that they can be recycled and gases mainly composed of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen gas (H.sub.2) for use as synthesis gas for hydrogen gas or ammonia (NH.sub.3).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ammonia is a mass-produced basic material for producing nitric acid, fertilizers including ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and urea, acrylonitrile, caprolactam or the like. Ammonia is catalytically synthesized from nitrogen gas (N.sub.2) and hydrogen gas (H.sub.2) under a high pressure. Hydrogen gas has been produced by either steam reforming of natural gas or naphtha, or partial combustion, i.e., gasification of hydrocarbon such as crude oil, heavy oil, bottom oil, coal, pitch or petroleum coke.
Since most of materials for producing hydrogen gas are dependent on importation from abroad, ammonia-derived chemical products have lost their competitiveness on the world market after recent oil crises. Therefore, there has been a strong desire for obtaining materials which are inexpensive and available domestically.
It has heretofore been customary to treat organic wastes such as municipal wastes, plastic wastes including fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), biomass wastes, and automobile wastes by incineration to reduce their volume for reclaiming, or to discard them in an untreated state to landfill sites.
Therefore, only a small quantity of resources has been recovered from the organic wastes for the purpose of recycling, irrespective of direct or indirect utilization.
On the other hand, the incineration of organic wastes has been disadvantageous for the following reasons:
A stoker furnace or a fluidized-bed furnace has heretofore been used for the incineration of organic wastes. However, this incineration has been problematic with respect to environmental conservation, or recycling of resources or energy. To be more specific, large quantities of exhaust gas are discharged because of a high air ratio, and toxic dioxins are contained in the exhaust gas. Further, metals which are discharged from the furnace are not suitable for recycling because they are severely oxidized, and landfill sites become more scarce year by year. Recently, the number of waste treatment facilities which incorporate ash-melting equipment is increasing, however, a problem is encountered in the increase of construction costs and/or operating costs of the waste treatment facilities. Further, recently, there has been developing a tendency to utilize energy of the wastes more efficiently.
Dumping the wastes in an untreated state on reclaimed land has become more difficult because of scarcity of landfill sites, and has not been allowable from the viewpoint of environmental conservation. Therefore, the problem of disposing of harmful wastes such as shredder dust from scrapped cars by landfill is getting worse and worse.
Further, in the case where a large quantity of steam is used with oxygen gas (O.sub.2) as a gasifying agent in the fluidized-bed reactor, operating cost increases. Even if air which is easily available is used as the gasifying agent, there is a limit to the amount of air because of a limitation on the amount of nitrogen that can be used for synthesis of ammonia.

Method for treating wastes by gasification


A charging device for charging a lithium-ion secondary battery based on at least a constant voltage method is provided. In the charging device, before starting charging with a constant voltage or while performing charging with a constant voltage, a first current pulse having a peak current value i1 larger than a charge current value i0 is applied at least once.

The present disclosure generally relates to a charging device and a charging method. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a charging device and a charging method for charging a lithium-ion secondary battery.
With the recent expansion of smartphones, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like, demand for quick charging technology for lithium-ion secondary batteries is increasing. There are several quick charging methods.
One of the relatively simple methods is a method of making a large current flow in the initial stage of charging. This method is based on the idea that a charge capacity is secured as much as possible in the initial stage of charging, in which charging can be relatively safely performed, using a property that it is difficult to exceed a predetermined upper limit voltage set in consideration of safety even if the lithium-ion secondary battery is charged with a large current since the voltage of the lithium-ion secondary battery is low in the initial stage of charging.
However, such method of making a large current flow in the initial stage of charging have a disadvantage of reducing the charge/discharge capacity of the lithium-ion secondary battery and shortening the life. In the initial stage of charging, the stage structure of a carbon material (specifically, for example, graphite) used as a negative electrode active material changes quickly in multiple stages from stage 4 to stage 3 and stage 2. Along with such a change, the volume of the active material changes, an internal stress occurs, or an overvoltage changes. It is considered that when the charge current is large, these changes are also abrupt, so that a load is applied to materials forming the electrode, resulting in a decrease in charge/discharge capacity.


A plurality of battery cells (100) are connected in series to each other. A temperature measurement unit (300) measures temperatures of two or more battery cells (100). A battery control unit (400) controls charge and discharge of the battery cells (100) on the basis of the temperatures measured by the temperature measurement unit (300). In addition, when the charge of the battery cells (100) is performed or the discharge of the battery cells (100) is performed, the battery control unit (400) specifies a lowest temperature cell having the lowest temperature and a highest temperature cell having the highest temperature, on the basis of the temperatures measured by the temperature measurement unit (300). In addition, the battery control unit (400) continues the charge or discharge, as it is, when a first condition in which a temperature difference ΔT between the highest temperature cell and the lowest temperature cell is equal to or greater than a reference value T1 is not satisfied. On the other hand, when the temperature difference ΔT satisfies the first condition, the battery control unit (400) outputs a first signal.

Various methods for stably obtaining power from a battery pack are proposed.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-217679) discloses the following discharge method. Whenever a battery voltage drops to a discharge termination voltage during discharge of a secondary battery, the secondary battery is intermittently discharged while repeating a temporary stop. In this case, when the discharge is restarted after a temporary stop, the discharge is performed while a current is reduced in a stepwise manner. Thereby, compared to a case where high-rate discharge is performed continuously, it is possible to extract a great deal of power from a secondary battery.

Battery control system, battery pack, electronic device and charger