A system associated with detecting a cyber-attack and reconstructing events associated with a cyber-attack campaign, is disclosed. The system performs various operations that include receiving an audit data stream associated with cyber events. The system identifies trustworthiness values in a portion of data associated with the cyber events and assigns provenance tags to the portion of the data based on the identified trustworthiness values. An initial visual representation is generated based on the assigned provenance tags to the portion of the data. The initial visual representation is condensed based on a backward traversal of the initial visual representation in identifying a shortest path from a suspect node to an entry point node. A scenario visual representation is generated that specifies nodes most relevant to the cyber events associated with the cyber-attack based on the identified shortest path.

In the technical field of cyber security, safeguarding computer network infrastructures and platforms, which are considered even more expansive and complex nowadays, and protecting them against malicious activity, has proven to be quite arduous for experts and analysts in the field of cyber security.
A cyberattack is a deliberate exploitation of computer systems, technology-dependent enterprises and networks. Cyberattacks often use malicious code to alter computer code, logic or data, resulting in disruptive consequences that can compromise data and lead to cybercrimes, such as information and identity theft. A cyberattack is also known as a computer network attack (CNA).
Organizations seeking to safeguard their assets, trade secrets, other intellectual property, protect their customer identities, avoid expensive and any unwanted business disruptions, and the like, need to do more than just monitor logs and network flow data. Many organizations create millions, or even billions, of events per day, and distilling that data down to a short list of priority offenses has proven to be a formidable and unattainable end goal.
Further, there is currently present in the field of enterprise hosts, a rapid escalation in targeted cyber-attacks ("Enterprise Advanced and Persistent Threats (APTs)") conducted in many instances by skilled adversaries. By combining social engineering techniques (for example, spear-phishing) with advanced exploit techniques, these adversaries routinely by-pass widely-deployed software protections in place, such as ASLR, DEP and sandboxes. As a result, enterprises have come to rely increasingly on second-line defenses, for example, intrusion detection systems (IDS), security information and event management (SIEM) tools, identity and access management tools, and application firewalls. While these tools are generally useful, they typically generate a vast amount of information, making it difficult for a security analyst to distinguish truly significant attacks—as it comes down to the proverbial task of finding the "needle-in-a-haystack" from background noise.
In particular, these known tools provide a set of platform technologies that for example, can inspect network flow data to find and classify valid hosts and servers (assets) on the network, tracking the applications, protocols, services and ports they use. The product(s) collects, stores and analyzes this data, and performs real-time event correlation for use in threat detection and compliance reporting and auditing, protocols that enterprises may implement to combat this problem. Using these known platform(s), billions of events and flows can be reduced and prioritized into a handful of actionable offenses, according to their business impact. While SIEM-based approaches provide significant advantages, the rules are either hard coded or parameterized with a threat feed with concrete indicators of compromise (IoCs). Thus, typically these solutions are able to detect only known threats. However, for any unknown threats, e.g., detected by means of a behavior based rule, such solutions are unable to identify root cause and effectively assist the security analyst. Moreover, these systems can present implementation challenges, as they often rely on manual curation of any semi-structured and unstructured threat feeds, i.e., natural language text, by means of security professionals reading threat advisories and extracting IoCs.
Moreover, in many instances, such analysts exhibit and/or lack the tools to "connect the dots," i.e., piece together fragments of an attack campaign that span multiple applications or hosts and extend over a long time period. Instead, significant manual effort and expertise are needed to piece together numerous alarms emitted by multiple security tools. Hence, many attack campaigns are missed for weeks or even months until discovery occurs, and extensive damage is already accomplished by the intruders.
Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts who use such systems are confronted with a large number of offenses every day. The majority of their time is spent to understand and analyze these offenses, confirm their validity, find related information, and attempt to determine and identify appropriate actions to resolve them. Typically, SOC analysts attempt to find relevant cybersecurity intelligence reports and/or vulnerability reports for the target offenses from various data sources. Many of these SOC analysts, mostly use web search engines to query and manually browse threat and security intelligence Internet services. Given the widely-disparate information sources, an analyst often is faced with many, often conflicting, data sources and hypotheses to read and process to draw an informed and accurate conclusion of the history of the intruder in a particular attack underway or an imminently occurring attack.
In order to effectively contain advanced attack campaigns, there is a need for a new generation of tools that not only assist with detection, but also produce a compact summary of the causal chains that summarize an attack. Such a summary would enable an analyst to quickly ascertain whether there is a significant intrusion, understand how the attacker initially breached security, and determine the projected or actual impact of the attack.
While the problem of piecing together the causal chain of events leading to an attack was first explored in Back-tracker (Samuel T King and Peter M Chen. Backtracking intrusions, In SOSP. ACM, 200325, 26), subsequent research improved on the precision of the dependency chains constructed by Backtracker. However, these works operate in a purely forensic setting and therefore do not deal with the above-described challenges of performing the analysis in real-time.
Hence, it is desirable to implement a real-time attack scenario reconstruction system that can alert analysts in real-time about an ongoing campaign or an imminent campaign, and provide them with a compact, visual summary of the activity in minutes or even seconds of the attack. This would enable a timely response before enormous damage is inflicted on the subject enterprise, for example, recent breaches at Target, British Airways®, Captial One®, Evercore and Neiman Marcus went undetected, in some cases even for months.
Hence, it is further desirable to implement a real-time attack scenario reconstruction system that can alert analysts in real-time about an ongoing campaign or an imminent campaign, by tackling the current problem of event storage and analysis, facing Real-time attack detection and scenario reconstruction systems. Real-time attack detection and scenario reconstruction poses the additional challenges over a purely forensic analysis, such as the mentioned event storage and analysis. It is problematic in real-time attack detection and scenario reconstruction, to effectively sort and process the millions of records from event streams efficiently and simultaneously have algorithms sift through this data in a matter of seconds.
Another problem facing analysts over purely forensic analysis, is the prioritizing of entities for analysis. Hence, it is desirable to assist the analyst, who is typically overwhelmed with the volume of colossal audit data, to be able to prioritize and quickly "zoom in" on the most likely attack scenario.
Yet, another problem facing cyber analysts over purely forensic analysis, is succinctly summarizing the attack scenario, starting from the attacker's entry point that can be effectively identified, and identifying the impact of the entire campaign on the system. Hence, it is further desirable to assist the analyst by implementation of a system associated with succinct real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can effectively prioritize colossal amounts of events and quickly "zoom in" on the most likely and/or realistic attack scenario.
Yet further, another problem facing cyber analysts as compared to purely forensic analysis, is dealing with common usage scenarios. Hence, it is further desirable to assist the analyst by implementation of a system and method associated with succinct real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can cope with normal, benign activities that may resemble activities commonly observed during attacks, for example, innocuous software downloads.
Hence, it is further desirable to assist the cyber analyst, by implementation of a system and method associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can effectively prioritize and quickly "zoom in" on the most likely attack scenario and determine the point of entry and/or source of a cyber-attack expediently.
It is yet further desirable to assist the cyber analyst, by implementation of a system and method associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can effectively and efficiently reason through the data, with an alternate hypothesis as well.
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can effectively contain advanced attack campaigns, detect well prior to extensive damage and/or in advance of such damage, and produce a compact summary of the causal chains that summarize an attack. Such a novel summary enable an analyst to quickly ascertain whether there is a significant intrusion, understand how the attacker initially breached security, and determine the impact of the attack.
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can eliminate the vast numbers of false alarms produced by prior systems, and prevent analysts from failing to flag real attacks resulting from this flurry of false alarms produced by prior systems.
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that not only can detect pieces of an attack campaign, but can also "connect the dots" intelligently to aid the analyst in more accurate identifications of realistic breaches with elimination of large volume of false positives of prior systems, with a proven much lower rate of false positives.
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that eliminates reliance on manual analysis, expertise and insight, by implementation of a tag-based approach for identifying subjects, objects and events, most likely involved in attacks, including assessment of trustworthiness and sensitivity of respective data and processes, with the ability to prioritize and focus the analysis, thereby avoiding tedious, time consuming, and unreliable incident investigation(s).
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that eliminates reliance on manual analysis, expertise and insight, by implementation of novel algorithms that leverage tags for root-cause identification and impact analysis of major cyber events, providing the ability to prioritize and focus the analysis for cyber analysts, thereby avoiding tedious, time consuming, and unreliable incident investigation(s).
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction including implementation of novel algorithms including distance threshold(s), shortest path analysis and/or edge weight analysis, that leverage tags to permit analysis of millions of events and produce an attack scenarios graph with as little as a hundred of events, representing five orders of magnitude reduction in event volume and related analysis, thereby avoiding tedious, time consuming, ineffective and unreliable incident investigation(s).
It is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction including a customizable policy framework for tag initialization and propagation in order to enable fine-tuned detection and cyber analysis techniques that avoid false positives, and in particular, in cases where benign applications exhibit similar behaviors that resemble attacks.
Hence, it is yet further desirable to implement a novel cyber security system associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction including implementation of compact data structures for objects and subjects as well as events (which often outnumbers objects and subjects) by storing events inside subjects using unique data structures, thereby eliminating the need for subject-to-event pointers, or the need for event identifiers, which results in enormous memory usage that strains resources. Even further, such system and method implements graph data structures, in which respective dependencies are stored, in order to support fast detection and real-time analysis for analysts with the ability to store millions of events using a small amount of memory (for example, in a few hundred MBs) as compared to enormous usage of memory that strain system resources used by prior systems.
Embodiments of the disclosure further described herein are directed to a novel cyber security system and method associated with real-time attack scenario reconstruction that can detect attacks with low false positive rates; automatically identify the entry point of the attack and its impact; and present the entire attack in the form of a novel compact visual representation and related analysis that captures the key steps involved in the attack thereby eliminating false positives and effectively containing potential damage to an enterprise when encountered by such cyber-attacks.

System and method associated with expedient detection and reconstruction of cyber events in a compact scenario representation using provenance tags and customizable policy

Abstract: A corresponding method and computer-readable medium are also disclosed.

THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS


A moving model device for use in a racing game machine having a racing field, the moving model device includes a base member provided with a rollable body rollable over the racing field, an animal model body disposed above the base member and a rotary shaft provided between the base member and the animal model. The rotary shaft is rotatable with the rollable body. The animal model body is provided with a motion conversion mechanism which converts a rotary motion of the rotary shaft into a reciprocating motion and an oscillating mechanism which swings the foreleg and hind leg members in accordance with the converted reciprocating motion.

The present invention relates generally to a moving model device constructed to run on a racing board of a racing game machine and, more particularly, to such a moving model device that comprises an animal model resembling a racehorse, for instance, mounted on a base member which can run on a mimic racetrack formed on a horse race game machine.
Moving model devices of this kind are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-152698 and Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3009057. These conventional moving model devices are essentially horse model devices, each comprising a miniature racehorse (hereinafter referred to as a horse model) mounted by an artificial human figure representing a jockey (hereinafter referred to as a jockey model), for use in a horse race game machine. In such a horse race game machine, a plurality of horse model devices compete in a race, running on a mimic racetrack resembling an actual race course in accordance with a specified algorithm, and individual players predict results of the race in advance and compete with each other for the correctness of their predictions.
In this type of horse race game machine, it is preferable to make each race resemble an actual horse race as closely as possible to give utmost reality to the players. From this point of view, the moving model devices described in the aforementioned Publications are so constructed that individual horse models swing their forelegs and hind legs individually while running on a mimic racetrack in order to reproduce realistic behavior of racehorses running on an actual racetrack.
More particularly, the moving model device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-152698 comprises an animal model mounted on a base member which runs on a mimic racetrack, the animal model being linked to an axle provided in the base member via a crank mechanism. In this construction, the animal model and its legs are caused to swing when wheels of the base member rotate.
In Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3009057, a model of a quadruped is supported on a moving base via a supporting rod. A rotary motion of an axle in the moving base is converted into a rotary motion of a rotary shaft which passes through the supporting rod. The rotary motion of the rotary shaft is further converted into a rotary motion of a shaft which is arranged parallel to the axle. As a result, an eccentric cam rotates, causing legs of the model to swing back and forth.
The aforementioned conventional moving model devices designed for use in racing game machines have however the following problems.
In the moving model device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-152698, the crank mechanism for swinging the animal model and its legs is exposed to the players'0 view in addition to a mechanism for supporting the animal model on the base member. This is liable to impair realistic feelings of the players.
According to the construction of the moving model device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3009057, the eccentric cam for swinging the legs of the animal model rotates in a main body of the animal model. It is therefore essential that the main body of the animal model has a sufficient internal space to accommodate the eccentric cam. Moreover, the eccentric cam should be large enough to ensure a sufficient swinging angle of the legs. This inevitably requires a considerable size of the main body of the animal model, resulting in deterioration of the animal model's external appearance and reality.

Moving model device for use in a racing game


To provide a method for enhancing analysis sensitivity of bio-related molecules in mass spectrometry. To provide a method for rapidly and conveniently analyzing biological acid molecules using the method of enhanced analysis sensitivity in mass spectrometry.

Attempts have been made to overcome problems such as decreased sensitivity and the generation of degradation products of acidic molecules among bio-related molecules in mass spectrometry (MS). In particular, methods of esterification and amidation to inhibit the removal of sialic acid from sialic acid-containing oligosaccharide chains have been reported. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-148054 (Patent Reference 1) describes a method for the label amidation of bio-related molecules. However, no method exists for simply, highly efficiently, and rapidly modifying acidic groups in bio-related molecules on a solid phase surface.    Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-148054

Method of esterifying bio-related molecule for mass spectrometry and method of mass spectrometry of obtained esterified derivative

Abstract: A method of preparing a bio-related molecule to be subjected to mass spectrometry, in which at least a part of acid group(s) is esterified, comprising reacting a bio-related molecule comprising an acid group(s) with a triazene compound to esterify at least a part of said acid group(s). A method of analyzing bio-related molecules comprising reacting a bio-related molecule comprising an acid group(s) with a triazene compound to esterify said acid group(s), and then subjecting said bio-related molecule having an esterified acid group(s) to mass spectrometry.

National University Corporation Hokkaido University


A system and method for determining signal consistency (e.g., in a video signal processing system) are disclosed. Various aspects of the present invention may, for example, include receiving a first and second signal, each of which includes respective first and second sub-signals. A receiving module may, for example, effect such receiving. The first and second signals may be synchronized according to, at least in part, aspects of their respective first sub-signals. A signal synchronization module may, for example, effect such synchronization. Relative timing between the respective second sub-signals of the first and second synchronized signals may be determined. A timing differential module may, for example, effect such a determination. Various aspects of the present invention may generate a signal indicative of signal consistency based, at least in part, on the determination of relative timing between the respective second sub-signals. An output module may, for example, effect such a signal generation.

Signal processing systems generally receive one or more input signals to utilize in signal processing. Signal processing systems may, for example, process the input signals(s) directly or may utilize information contained in such input signals(s) to process other signals.
Signal characteristics of signals input to signal processing systems may very. Such variations may comprise, for example, signal strength variations, signal noise variations, data rate variations, information encoding variations, and timing variations, to name a few. Input signal characteristics may vary between different input signals and may vary within a single input signal. For example and without limitation, in a scenario where an input signal comprises multiple sub-signals, the sub-signals may have a timing relationship relative to each other. The timing relationship may be relatively stable and predictable or may be relatively unstable and unpredictable.
Signal processing systems may process or otherwise utilize input signals with varying signal characteristics. In such scenarios, the signal processing operations performed may depend on the varying signal characteristics.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

System and method for determining signal consistency


A planographic printing plate and a manufacturing method thereof are provided in which a deterioration in quality and performance of the planographic printing plate due to coating defects caused by foreign matter adhering to a support can be prevented. The planographic printing plate has stable quality such as uniform sensitivity with respect to writing by an infrared ray laser or the like and uniform developability. The planographic printing plate includes a support, a primer layer, and a recording layer superposed in that order. In the manufacturing method, a step of forming the primer layer, in which a coating solution for a primer layer is applied onto the support, is carried out at least two times. At this time, before a coating solution for a previous primer layer has completely dried, a coating solution for a subsequent primer layer is applied. This type of application is preferable in terms of coating uniformity and prevention of an increase in coating thickness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate which exhibits excellent uniformity of the coating thicknesses of layers such as a primer layer, a recording layer, and the like, which are provided on a support.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, laser technologies have developed remarkably. In particular, high output and compact solid-state lasers and semiconductor lasers emitting infrared rays of a wavelength of 760 nm to 1200 nm (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cinfrared ray lasersxe2x80x9d upon occasion) are readily available. These infrared ray lasers are very useful as light sources for recording in the direct production of printing plates from digital computer data. Accordingly, recently, the demand has increased for image recording materials which are highly sensitive to such infrared light sources for recording, i.e., image recording materials in which a photochemical reaction or the like is caused by infrared irradiation and the solubility thereof in a developer is thereby greatly changed.
An example of such image recording materials on which images can be recorded by using an infrared ray laser is a recording material which has a recording layer containing a water-insoluble and alkaline water-soluble high molecular compound and a photothermal conversion substance such as an infrared ray absorbing agent. This image recording material is a positive-type image recording material which utilizes a dissolution suppressing effect with respect to a developer containing an alkaline aqueous solution, which effect is due to the interaction between the compounds forming the recording layer.
The energy of an infrared ray is lower than that of an ultraviolet ray, which has been conventionally used as a light source for exposure. Accordingly, there is a high possibility that non-uniformity of the recording layer may adversely affect the image formation property of a planographic printing plate.
In order to improve the adhesion between the recording layer and the support and prevent the recording layer from easily coming off from the support after exposure, this type of planographic printing plate is generally formed such that a primer layer is provided on the support and the recording layer is superposed on the primer layer. In general, a coating solution for the primer layer is applied onto the support by a bar coater or an extrusion coater so as to form the primer layer. Subsequently, a coating solution for the recording layer is applied onto the primer layer in the same way as the primer layer was applied, and is dried so as to form the recording layer. In the formation of the primer layer, if foreign matter exists on the surface of the support onto which the coating solution for the primer layer is to be applied, application of the coating solution for the primer layer onto portions of the support on which the foreign matter exists is impeded, thereby resulting in local variations (locality) in the application amount (i.e., the coating thickness) of the primer layer. These variations cause local variations in the thermal reaction and the photoreaction of the recording layer, and variations in the physical strength of the planographic printing plate and in the permeability of the developer due to the non-uniformity of the coating thickness. Therefore, drawbacks arise in that the quality and performance of the planographic printing plate deteriorate.
Foreign substances on the support are generally eliminated in the washing and drying processes. However, minute particles of foreign matter may adhere to the support during the conveying thereof, and this adhesion cannot be completely prevented.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate which suppresses deterioration in quality and performance of the planographic printing plate due to coating defects caused by foreign matter adhering to a support, and which has stable quality such as uniform sensitivity with respect to writing by an infrared ray laser or the like and uniform developability.
The present inventors focused on the uniformity of a coating layer and achieved the present invention after learning, as a result of intensive studies, that coating defects caused by foreign matter or air bubbles can be effectively prevented by providing a plurality of primer layers.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate comprising the steps of: (a) providing a support; (b) forming a plurality of primer layers on the support by applying a coating solution to the support a plurality of times; and (c) superposing a recording layer on the plurality of primer layers.
When the coating solution for the primer layer is applied plural times, a coating solution for a previous primer layer is applied, and a coating solution for a subsequent primer layer is successively applied before the coating solution for the previous primer layer has dried. This aspect is preferable in terms of the effects of the present invention.
In accordance with the manufacturing method of the present invention, in order to eliminate foreign matter adhering to the surface of the support onto which the coating solution for the primer layer is to be applied, the following processings are carried out in the application of the primer layers plural times. Namely, in a first application step or in an early stage of the steps of applying the coating solution for the primer layer, foreign matter adhering to the support is partially eliminated by application means. Thereafter, by successively applying the coating solution for the primer layer, slight local variations in the coating thickness caused by the foreign matter at the time of the first application are evened out by the time the final application step is reached, and uniform primer layers can be thereby formed. Therefore, an excellent flat surface of the primer layer can be ensured, and a uniform recording layer can be readily formed on the primer layers. As a result, problems with quality and performance of the planographic printing plate caused by a non-uniform primer layer and recording layer can be suppressed, and a planographic printing plate having stable quality can be easily manufactured.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate for use in recording by an infrared ray laser, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a support; (b) forming a plurality of primer layers on the support by applying a coating solution to the support a plurality of times, wherein a total amount of material comprising the primer layers after drying is 2 to 200 mg/m2; and (c) superposing a recording layer on a primer layer that was formed last.
Further, in accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a planographic printing plate comprising: (a) a support; (b) a recording layer; and (c) a plurality of primer layers disposed between the support and the recording layer, wherein the primer layers comprise coatings of a coating solution.
Hereinafter, the structure of a planographic printing plate and a manufacturing method thereof in accordance with the present invention will be described in detail. The method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of primer layers are provided on a support.
First, a support of the planographic printing plate will be described. The support of the planographic printing plate in accordance with the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a dimensionally stable plate-like material. Examples of the support include paper, paper laminated with plastic (such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene), metal plates (such as aluminum, zinc, and copper), plastic films (such as cellulose diacetate, cellulose triacetate, cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose acetate/butyrate, cellulose nitrate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and polyvinyl acetal), and paper or plastic films laminated or deposited with the above-mentioned metals.
A polyester film or an aluminum plate is preferable as the support used in the present invention. In particular, an aluminum plate is preferable since it has good dimensional stability and can be provided at a relatively low cost. Examples of preferable aluminum plates include pure aluminum plates and alloy plates containing aluminum as the main component and trace quantities of a different element. Furthermore, plastic films to which aluminum is laminated or deposited can also be used. Examples of different elements included in an aluminum alloy are silicon, iron, manganese, copper, magnesium, chrome, zinc, bismuth, nickel, and titanium. The total amount of the different elements in the alloy is preferably 10% by weight or less. Pure aluminum is particularly preferable in the present invention. However, since production of a completely pure aluminum is difficult in terms of refining technology, an aluminum alloy containing trace quantities of different elements can be used. The composition of the aluminum plate used in the present invention is not specifically defined, and a known aluminum plate can also be suitably used.
The thickness of the aluminum plate used in the present invention is about 0.1 to 0.6 mm, preferably 0.15 to 0.4 mm, and more preferably 0.2 to 0.3 mm.
Although an aluminum plate with the surface thereof having been roughened is used, prior to roughening, a degreasing treatment with a surfactant, an organic solvent, an aqueous alkaline solution or the like can be conducted for removing the rolling oil on the surface as needed.
The surface roughening treatment of the aluminum plate can be implemented by using various methods, such as a mechanically roughening method, an electrochemically roughening method in which the plate surface is dissolved, and a chemically roughening method in which the plate surface is selectively dissolved. As a mechanical method, known methods such as a ball abrasion method, brush abrasion method, a blast abrasion method, and a buff abrasion method can be used. As an electrochemically roughening method, a method in which an alternating current or direct current is applied to a plate in an electrolytic solution containing a hydrochloric acid or nitric acid can be used. Further, a method combining both of the mechanical method and the electrochemically roughening method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (hereinafter abbreviated as xe2x80x9cJP-Axe2x80x9d) No. 54-63902 can also be used.
An aluminum plate to which a surface roughening treatment has been applied may be subjected to an alkaline etching treatment and a neutralizing treatment, if necessary, followed by an anodizing treatment so as to improve the water retention property and the abrasion resistance property of the surface, if desired. As the electrolyte used in the anodizing treatment of the aluminum plate, various electrolytes which form a porous oxide film can be used. In general, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, chromic acid, or a mixture thereof are used. The concentration of the electrolyte is suitably determined according to the type of electrolyte which is used.
Conditions of anodizing are determined according to the type of electrolyte used, and thus cannot be universally specified. However, in general, the following conditions are appropriate: concentration of electrolyte in the solution: 1 to 80% by weight; solution temperature: 5 to 70 xc2x0 C.; current density: 5 to 60 A/dm2; voltage: 1 to 100 V; and period of time over which electrolysis is carried out: 10 seconds to 5 minutes. An amount of anodized film less than 1.0 g/m2 results in insufficient plate wear, scratches being easily produced in non-image portions of the planographic printing plate, and a tendency toward so-called xe2x80x9ctintingxe2x80x9d which occurs by ink adhering to the scratches.
After the anodizing treatment, a hydrophilic treatment is applied to the aluminum surface, if necessary. Examples of hydrophilic treatments include an alkaline metal silicate (such as an aqueous solution of sodium silicate) method as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,714,066, 3,181,461, 3,280,734 and 3,902,734. In this method, the support is immersed in, or subjected to electrolysis with, an aqueous solution of sodium silicate. Other examples include a method of treating with potassium fluorozirconate disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication (hereinafter abbreviated as xe2x80x9cJP-Bxe2x80x9d) No. 36-22063 and methods of treating with polyvinyl phosphonate disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,276,868, 4,153,461, and 4,689,272.
In the present invention, at least two primer layers are provided between a support and a recording layer in a superposed manner. Various organic compounds can be used as a primer layer component. Examples include carboxymethyl cellulose; dextrin; gum arabic; phosphonic acids having an amino group such as 2-amino ethyl phosphonic acid; organic phosphonic acids which may have a substituent, such as phenyl phosphonic acid, naphthyl phosphonic acid, alkyl phosphonic acid, glycero phosphonic acid, methylene diphosphonic acid, and ethylene diphosphonic acid; organic phosphoric acids which may have a substituent, such as phenyl phosphoric acid, naphthyl phosphoric acid, alkyl phosphoric acid, and glycero phosphoric acid; organic phosphinic acids which may have a substituent, such as phenyl phosphinic acid, naphthyl phosphinic acid, alkyl phosphinic acid, and glycero phosphinic acid; amino acids such as glycine and xcex2-alanine; and hydrochlorides of amine having a hydroxy group, such as hydrochloride of triethanol amine. The primer layer component is selected from the organic compounds above, and a combination of two or more primer layer components can be used.
The primer layer can be formed by a method of applying, onto the aluminum plate, a coating solution for the primer layer in which the aforementioned organic compound is dissolved in water or in an organic solvent such as methanol, ethanol, methyl ethyl ketone, or a mixed solvent thereof, and the applied coating solution is dried.
As the coating solution for the primer layer which is used in this method, a solution having a concentration of the above-mentioned organic compound of 0.005 to 10% by weight can be used. The concentration of the solution may be suitably adjusted in accordance with the purpose for which the solution is to be used. The pH value of the coating solution for the primer layer can be adjusted in the range of 1 to 12 by using basic substances such as ammonia, triethylamine or potassium hydroxide, or acidic substances such as hydrochloric acid or phosphoric acid. Further, a yellow dye may be added to the coating solution to improve the color tone reproduction property of the planographic printing plate.
As a method of application, various methods can be used, such as bar coater application, rotation application, spray application, curtain application, air knife application, blade application, roll application, and dip application.
When a plurality of primer layers are provided, the applied amount of each of the primer layers after drying is suitably 0.5 to 200 mg/m2, and preferably 1 to 100 mg/m2. Further, the total applied amount of the plurality of primer layers is suitably 2 to 200 mg/m2, and preferably 5 to 100 mg/m2. If the total applied amount is less than 2 mg/m2 or more than 200 mg/m2, sufficient wear resistance of the plate cannot be obtained.
When the plurality of primer layers are provided, it is preferable that, before the coating solution for the primer layer which has been previously applied dries, the coating solution for the primer layer is successively applied onto the previously applied primer layer. Namely, if the coating solution is successively applied onto the previously applied coating solution before the surface of the previously applied coating solution has completely dried and hardened, since the surface of the previously formed primer layer is soft and can be deformed against stress, filling the coating solution into gaps formed by foreign matter, and alleviating the irregularity of the surface are more easily carried out as compared with a case in which filling and alleviating are carried out after the surface of the previously formed primer layer has hardened. Furthermore, if a primer layer is formed on a first primer layer after the first primer layer has completely dried, the total coating thickness of the primer layers tend to be thick. This is not preferable in terms of handling.
The timing at which an adjacent primer layer is successively formed after the application of the coating solution for the previous primer layer can be suitably determined depending on the composition of the effective components of the coating solution, the characteristics of the solvent used, atmosphere, temperature, humidity, and the like. However, as long as the composition is within the above-described range, the interval between the application of the previous primer layer and the successive application is preferably 0.1 to 15 seconds, and more preferably 0.20 to 12 seconds.
Whether the coating layer has dried or not can be determined by means such as visual observation, touching a model coating layer, measurement of changes in the weight of the model coating layer, and measurement of the density of gas of the solvent, which gas is generated by drying the coating layer. Therefore, the time required until the coating layer completely dries can be measured in advance for each composition of the coating solutions for the primer layers.
The compositions of the coating solutions used to form the plurality of primer layers do not necessarily have to be identical. The coating solutions can be suitably used in combination in accordance with the desired functions of the primer layers.
In the manufacturing method of the present invention, application of the coating solution for the primer layer is carried out plural times. As for the number of times, the application of the coating solution is preferably carried out two to four times. Even if the application is carried out five times or more, further improvement in the effect of the uniformity of the coating layers is not recognized. On the contrary, the coating thicknesses of the primer layers become large, and other problems may arise.
After the uniform primer layers have been formed in the above-described manner, a recording layer is superposed on the uppermost primer layer, and a planographic printing plate is thereby obtained.
As for the material forming the recording layer of the planographic printing plate according to the present invention, a water-insoluble and alkaline water-soluble polymer, i.e., a homopolymer having an acidic group at a main chain and/or a side chain, a copolymer of these polymers, or a mixture thereof is used as a binder polymer. Accordingly, the planographic printing plate in accordance with the present invention can be developed with an alkali developer.
Among water-insoluble and alkaline water-soluble polymers, the polymers having the following acidic groups (1) through (6) at the main chains and/or the side chains of the polymers are preferable in terms of the solubility in an alkali developer and development of the dissolution suppressing ability:
(1) a phenol group (xe2x80x94Arxe2x80x94OH);
(2) a sulfonamide group (xe2x80x94SO2 NHxe2x80x94R);
(3) a substituted sulfonamide group (hereinafter referred to as an xe2x80x9cactive imido groupxe2x80x9d) [xe2x80x94SO2 NHCOR, xe2x80x94SO2 NHSO2 R, or xe2x80x94CONHSO2 R];
(4) a carboxylic acid group (xe2x80x94CO2 H);
(5) a sulfonic acid group (xe2x80x94SO3 H); and
(6) a phosphoric acid group (xe2x80x94OPO3 H2).
In the acidic groups (1) through (6), Ar represents a bivalent aryl linking group which may have a substituent, and R represents a hydrocarbon radical which may have a substituent.
Among the alkaline water-soluble polymers having an acidic group selected from the acidic groups (1) through (6), the alkaline water-soluble polymer having (1) a phenol group, (2) a sulfonamide group, or (3) an active imido group is preferable. In particular, the alkaline water-soluble polymer having (1) a phenol group or (2) a sulfonamide group is most preferable in terms of sufficiently ensuring the solubility in an alkali developer, development latitude, and coating strength.
Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having an acidic group selected from the above acidic groups (1) through (6) include the following polymers (1) to (6).
(1) Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having a phenol group include novolak resins such as a condensation polymer of phenol and formaldehyde, a condensation polymer of m-cresol and formaldehyde, a condensation polymer of m-/p-mixed cresol and formaldehyde, and a condensation polymer of phenol, cresol (any of m-, p-, and m-/p-mixed cresol) and formaldehyde; and a condensation polymer of pyrogallol and acetone. Further, a copolymer of compounds each having a phenol group at a side chain thereof can also be used.
(2) Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having a sulfonamide group include polymers whose main component is the minimum structural unit derived from a compound having a sulfonamide group. An example of the above-mentioned compound is a compound having, in a molecule, one or more sulfonamide groups in which at least one hydrogen atom is bonded to a nitrogen atom, and one or more unsaturated groups which can be polymerized. Preferred is a low molecular compound having, in a molecule, an acryloyl group, an allyl group or a vinyloxy group, and a substituted or mono-substituted aminosulfonyl group or a substituted sulfonylimino group.
(3) Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having an active imido group include polymers whose main component is the minimum unit derived from a compound having an active imido group. An example of the above-mentioned compound is a compound having, in a molecule, one or more active imido groups represented by the following formula and one or more unsaturated groups which can be polymerized.
Specifically, N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)methacrylamide, N-(p-toluenesulfonyl)acrylamide, or the like can be preferably used.
(4) Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having a carboxylic acid group are polymers whose main component is the minimum structural unit derived from a compound having, in a molecule, one or more carboxylic acid groups and one or more unsaturated groups which can be polymerized.
(5) Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having a sulfonic acid group include polymers whose main component is the minimum structural unit derived from a compound having, in a molecule, one or more sulfonic acid groups and one or more unsaturated groups which can be polymerized.
(6) Examples of the alkaline water-soluble polymer having a phosphoric acid group include polymers whose main component is the minimum structural unit derived from a compound having, in a molecule, one or more phoshoric acid groups and one or more unsaturated groups which can be polymerized.
Among the above-described alkaline water-soluble polymers, the alkaline water-soluble polymer (1) having a phenol hydroxyl group is particularly preferable since strong interactions can be obtained between the polyfunctional amine compounds.
The minimum structural unit which has an acidic group selected from the acidic groups (1) to (6) and forms the alkaline water-soluble polymer used for the recording layer of the planographic printing plate according to the present invention does not have to be only one type. Two or more types of the minimum structural units having the same acidic group, or a copolymer of two or more types of the minimum structural units having different acidic groups can also be used.
Conventionally known copolymerization methods such as graft copolymerization, block copolymerization and random copolymerization can be used as the copolymerization method.
The copolymer contains preferably 10 mol % or more, and more preferably 20 mol % or more of the compound to be copolymerized which has an acidic group selected from the acidic groups (1) through (6). If the content of the compound is less than 10 mol %, there is a tendency that development latitude cannot be sufficiently improved.
Only one type of the alkaline water-soluble polymer may be used, or two or more types of the alkaline water-soluble polymers may be used in combination. The alkaline water-soluble polymer is used in a range of preferably 30 to 99% by weight, more preferably 40 to 95% by weight, and particularly 50 to, 90% by weight, based on the total solids of the material forming the recording layer in the planographic printing plate.
When the used amount of the alkaline water-soluble polymer is less than 30% by weight, durability of the recording layer tends to deteriorate. On the other hand, when the used amount of the polymer exceeds 99% by weight, sensitivity and durability tend to deteriorate. Therefore, these amounts are not preferable.
An example of other material forming the recording layer of the planographic printing plate in accordance with the present invention is an infrared ray absorbing agent. Since the positive action (namely, development is suppressed in unexposed portions, and development is suppressed little or not at all in exposed portions) must occur between the structural units of the polymer, an infrared absorbing agent having an onium salt type structure is preferable. Specifically, dyes such as cyanine pigments and pyrylium salts can be preferably used.
Moreover, the anionic infrared ray absorbing agent disclosed in Japanese Application No. 10-79912 can be preferably used as well. An anionic infrared ray absorbing agent refers to an agent which has no cationic structure but has an anionic structure in the nuclei of the pigment, which substantially absorbs infrared rays. For example, an anionic metal complex (c1), anionic carbon black (c2), anionic phthalocyanine (c3), and a compound (c4) represented by the following general formula (6) are examples of anionic infrared ray absorbing agents. Counter cations of these anionic infrared ray absorbing agents are monovalent cations containing a proton or polyvalent cations.
In general formula (6), Ga represents an anionic substituent, and Gb represents a neutral substituent. Xm+represents a cation having a valence of 1 to m and containing a proton, and m represents an integer of 1 to 6.
These infrared ray absorbing agents can be added to the material forming the recording layer in the planographic printing plate in an amount of 0.01 to 50% by weight, preferably 0.1 to 10% by weight, and particularly preferably 0.5 to 10% by weight, with respect to the total solids of the planographic printing plate. When the amount of the dyes is less than 0.01% by weight, sensitivity is decreased. When the amount to be added exceeds 50% by weight, stains are formed in non-image portions at the time of printing.
The material forming the recording layer of the planographic printing plate may also comprise other dyes, pigments or the like for the purpose of further improving sensitivity and development latitude. For example, onium salts, aromatic sulfone compounds, and esters of aromatic sulfonic acids which are other than those described above act as thermal decomposition substances. Therefore, addition of such substances is preferable in terms of improving the ability to prevent the dissolution of image portions in a developer.
Further, a dye having high absorption in the visible light region can be used as the coloring agent of an image. Preferable dyes include oil soluble dyes and basic dyes.
Specifically, it is preferable to add dyes such as OIL YELLOW #101, OIL YELLOW #103 and OIL PINK #312 so that the image portions and non-image portions can be clearly distinguished after an image is formed. The amount to be added is preferably 0.01 to 10% by weight based on the total solids of the material forming the recording layer in the planographic printing plate.
Moreover, cyclic acid anhydrides, phenols, and organic acids can also be added to further improve sensitivity. In order to carry out even more stable processings under various development conditions, nonionic surfactants disclosed in JP-A Nos. 62-251740 and 3-208514, and ampholytic surfactants disclosed in JP-A Nos. 59-121044 and 4-13149 can be added to the planographic printing plate of the present invention.
Further, a plasticizer for imparting flexibility to a coating may be added to the material forming the recording layer as occasion demands. For example, polyethyleneglycol, tributyl citrate, diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, tricresyl phosphate, tributyl phosphate, trioctyl phosphate, tetrahydrofurfuryl oleate, and an oligomer or polymer of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid can be preferably used as a plasticizer.
A surfactant for improving application properties, such as a fluorine-based surfactant disclosed in JP-A No. 62-170950, can be added to the material forming the recording layer in the planographic printing plate of the present invention. The amount to be added is preferably 0.01 to 1% by weight, and more preferably 0.05 to 0.5% by weight of the overall planographic printing material.
The recording layer is formed by dissolving in a solvent the material which is comprised of the above-mentioned components and forms the recording layer and applying the resultant coating solution for the recording layer onto the primer layers which have been uniformly formed in the above-described manner. Solvents used herein include, but are not limited to, ethylene dichloride, cyclohexanone, methyl ethyl ketone, methanol, ethanol, propanol, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, 1-methoxy-2-propanol, 2-methoxyethyl acetate, 1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate, dimethoxyethane, methyl lactate, ethyl lactate, N,N-dimethyl acetamide, N,N-dimethyl formamide, tetramethyl urea, N-methyl pyrrolidone, dimethyl sulfoxide, sulfolane, xcex3-butyrolactone, toluene, and water. These solvents are used alone or as a mixture. The concentration of the above-mentioned components (total solids including additives) is preferably 1 to 50% by weight in the solvent. The amount (solids) applied onto the support obtained after application and drying is determined according to the purpose for which the printing plate is to be used. However, when the printing plate is used as a photosensitive printing plate, in general, the applied amount (solids) of the above-mentioned components is preferably 0.5 to 5.0 g/m2.
As the application method, various methods can be used such as bar coater application, rotation application, spray application, curtain application, dip application, air knife application, blade application, and roll application. As the application amount decreases, the apparent sensitivity increases, but the film characteristics of the recording layer become poor. This applied layer serves as the recording layer in the planographic printing plate.
The planographic printing plate produced as described above is usually subjected to image-exposure and developing processing such that an image is formed. Examples of the light source for an active light beam used in the image-exposure include a mercury-arc lamp, a metal halide lamp, a xenon lamp, a chemical lamp, and a carbon arc lamp. Example of radioactive rays include electron beams, X rays, ion beams, and far infrared rays. Further, g-rays, i-rays, deep UV rays, and high-density energy beams (laser beams) are also used. Examples of the laser beam include a helium-neon laser, an argon laser, a krypton laser, a helium-cadmium laser, a KrF excimer laser, a solid state laser, and a semiconductor laser. In the present invention, a light source emitting light of wavelengths in the near infrared region to the infrared region is preferable. Particularly preferable are a solid state laser and a semiconductor laser.
Conventionally known aqueous alkaline solutions can be used as the developer and replenishing solution. Examples include inorganic alkali salts such as sodium silicate, potassium silicate, sodium tertiary phosphate, potassium tertiary phosphate, ammonium tertiary phosphate, sodium secondary phosphate, potassium secondary phosphate, ammonium secondary phosphate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, sodium hydrogencarbonate, potassium hydrogencarbonate, ammonium hydrogencarbonate, sodium borate, potassium borate, ammonium borate, sodium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, and lithium hydroxide. Further, organic alkaline agents such as the following can also be used: monomethylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, monoethylamine, diethylamine, triethylamine, monoisopropylamine, diisopropylamine, triisopropylamine, n-butylamine, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, monoisopropanolamine, diisopropanolamine, ethyleneimine, ethylenediamine, pyridine, and the like.
These alkaline agents may be used alone, or a combination of two or more may be used.
Particularly preferable developers among these alkaline agents are an aqueous solution of silicate, such as sodium silicate or potassium silicate. This is because the developability can be adjusted by the ratio and concentration of silicon dioxide SiO2 which is a component of silicate and an alkali metal oxide M2O (M represents an alkali metal). For example, alkali metal silicates such as those disclosed in JP-A No. 54-62004 and JP-B No. 57-7427 can be effectively used.
Furthermore, it is known that, in a case in which an automatic developing machine is used for developing, by adding to the developer an aqueous solution (replenishing solution) whose alkalinity is higher than that of the developer, a large amount of planographic printing plates can be developed without changing the developer in the developing tank for a long time. This replenishing method is also preferably used in the present invention. Various types of surfactants and organic solvents can be added to the developer or the replenishing solution as needed for promoting or suppressing the developability, and improving the dispersion of scum and the affinity of the planographic printing plate image portions to ink. Examples of preferable surfactants include anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, and ampholytic surfactants. Further, a reducing agent such as hydroquinone, resorcin, a sodium or potassium salt of an inorganic acid such as sulfurous acid or sulfurous hydrogen acid; an organic carboxylic acid; an antifoamer; and a hard-water softener may also be added to the developer and the replenishing solution as needed.
Planographic printing plates developed by using the above-mentioned developers and replenishing solutions are subjected to a post-treatment with a rinsing solution containing water, a surfactant, or the like, and a desensitizing solution containing gum arabic or a starch derivative. In a case in which the planographic printing plate of the present invention is used, these treatments can be used in combination as a post-treatment.
Recently, an automatic developing machine for planographic printing plates has been widely used in plate making and printing industries in order to streamline and standardize the plate making operation. The planographic printing plate in accordance with the present invention can also be processed by the automatic developing machine. In general, this automatic developing machine comprises a developing section and a post-treatment section, and each section comprises a device for conveying a printing plate, processsing solution tanks, and spraying devices. The developing processing is carried out by spraying a processing solution, which is pumped up by a pump, from a spray nozzle onto the printing plate after exposure while the printing plate is horizontally conveyed. In addition, a processing method has also been known recently in which an exposed printing plate is subjected to processing by being immersed in a processing tank filled with a processing solution while the printing plate is conveyed in the solution by guide rollers. In such automatic processing, a replenishing solution can be replenished for each treatment in accordance with the amount of printing plates to be developed, the work time, and the like. Further, a so-called disposable processing method, in which a substantially unused processing solution is utilized for treatment, can be applied as well.
In a case in which a planographic printing plate obtained by image exposure, development, washing with water, and/or rinsing and/or gum coating has unnecessary image portions (for example, traces of film edges of the original film or the like), such unnecessary image portions can be removed. It is preferred that removal is carried out by applying a removing solution such as that described in JP-B No. 2-13293 onto the unnecessary image portions, allowing the printing plate to stand for a given period of time, and then washing the printing plate with water. Also, the method described in JP-A No. 59-174842 may be used in which unnecessary image portions are irradiated with an active light beam guided through an optical fiber and are developed thereafter.
If desired, a desensitizing gum may be applied to a planographic printing plate which has been subjected to the above-described treatments, and thereafter, the printing plate may be used in a printing process. The plate may be subjected to a burning treatment for the purpose of improving plate run length. In a case in which a burning treatment is applied to a planographic printing plate, prior to the burning treatment, it is preferable to treat the plate with a burning conditioner such as those disclosed in JP-B Nos. 61-2518 and 55-28062, and JP-A Nos. 62-31859 and 61-159655. Examples of methods of treating the planographic printing plate with a surface-adjusting solution include a method of applying the surface-adjusting solution onto the planographic printing plate with a sponge or an absorbent cotton soaked with the surface-adjusting solution, a method of immersing the planographic printing plate in a tray filled with the solution to coat the plate with the solution, and a method of applying the surface-adjusting solution onto the printing plate by an automatic coater. It is more preferable if the applied amount of the surface-adjusting solution is made uniform over the entire surface with a squeegee or a squeegee roller after application. In general, an appropriate amount of the surface-adjusting solution to be applied is 0.03 to 0.8 g/m2 (dry weight).
After the planographic printing plate treated with the surface-adjusting solution is dried, the planographic printing plate may be heated to a high temperature by using a burning processor (such as burning processor BP-1300 commercially available from Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.), if necessary. The heating temperature and the heating time depend on the type of components forming the image. However, a heating temperature of 180 to 300xc2x0 C. and heating time of 1 to 20 minutes are preferable.
If necessary, the planographic printing plate subjected to the burning treatment can further be appropriately subjected to conventional treatments such as washing with water and gum coating. However, in a case in which a surface-adjusting solution containing a water-soluble polymer compound is used, a desensitizing treatment such as gum coating can be omitted.
The planographic printing plate obtained by such treatment is loaded in an offset printing machine and is used for printing of sheets or the like.

Method of manufacturing a planographic printing plate


The improved structure for the external cap of a spout used in waterbeds has a cap body with a slot opening, and two flanges with punched holes extending from the edge of said external cap. The two supporting legs of a hand grip can feed through the punched holes of the flanges and move freely. The user can pull up the hand grip to rotate the external cap body in order to open or close said external cap. The horizontal portion of said hand grip has a T-shaped sectional surface which can be partially adapted into the slot; the bottom end portions of the supporting legs have inverted hooks on both sides to avoid the hand grip from disengaging with the external cap.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of the external cap of a spout assembly used in waterbed. More specifically, the present invention relates to an external cap with a hand grip which can be lifted up from a slot and rotated for opening or closing.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Summer is hot and humid most of the time. People go to the beach, turn on the air conditioning or the fan and spray water on the floor to relieve from the summer heat. In recent years, waterbeds are getting popular. The waterbed can cool down the body temperature and provide relaxation during sleeping. The pressure at the spout of the waterbed is high. Therefore, the structure of the spout assembly is very important. Water will be everywhere in the room if the spout breaks or leaks. The Inventor, after many years of experience working in the waterbed industry, has found that the spouts are recessed below the surface of the waterbed. The high water pressure tends to press recessed open area towards the center of the spout. Although the external cap is not affected, the pressure expands the area from which the fingers can no longer get in to turn the external cap. The external cap was then modified to have two lugs on the edge, from which two semi-arc sections are attached. The semi-arc sections can be lifted up and pressed together for turning. But this kind of joining the semi-arc sections with the lugs is not sturdy, and the Inventor also found two disadvantages on the application:
1. Due to the frequent usages, the semi-arc sections tend to protruded upward above the waterbed surface. This causes some inconvenience since the design of the spout assembly shall be recessed below the surface of the waterbed. PA1 2. If the semi-arc sections are not being used too often, then they tend to lean downward. This will make it difficult to lift them up for turning.

Structure for the external cap of a spout


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for a device aware social graph. In one aspect, a method includes identifying a first member of a social graph, the first member associated with a first device. The method includes identifying a second member of a social graph, the second user associated with a second device and having a relationship in the social graph with the first member. The method includes identifying a service accessed by the second member using the second device. The method includes determining that the first device is compatible with the service. The method also includes offering the service to the first member.

This specification relates to social affinity groups.
Many users throughout the world access the Internet and communicate with each other either directly or indirectly by use of the Internet.
Any particular user using the Internet may have many different relationships with many other users, and these relationships may be explicit or implicit. For example, social network sites are web sites that enable users to establish and track explicit relationships between the user and other users of the social network site or users within a same geographic region.


An emergency door opening tool set includes a screwdriver for removing a latch assembly cover plate, a second and a third tool for opening a locked door. The second tool includes an elongated bar with a mass of metal at one end thereof and an opening or recess in the shape of an outwardly projecting portion of the lock. A transverse force is applied to the elongated bar to break off the outwardly projection of the lock. The third tool includes an elongated bar, a T-shaped handle at one end thereof and a latch turning element at the opposite end. After removal of the broken off portion of the lock the third tool is inserted into the lock assembly and turned to retract a latch bolt from the striker plate. The set also includes a pouch or bag to carry the tool set.

In emergency situations, rapid access to a structure through a locked door maybe critical. For example, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), fireman and policeman may need access to a locked building. In many such cases, the EMTs, fireman and police may enter the building by means of a battering ram, pry bar, lock cutter and cutting and removal tools and the like. Some of these approaches result in the destruction of a door. Other approaches focus on the lock mechanism.
For example, a U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,123 of Cobe, Jr. discloses a combination firefighter's tool. As disclosed therein, the tool includes an elongate handle, one end of which tapers into a wedge shape that is used for prying. The other end includes an arcuate portion with inwardly angled projections creating a spanner wrench for use with hose couplings. One side of the arcuate portion includes a cylindrical member with a flat face suited for a hammering operation. The other end of the arcuate portion includes claw members diverging from a narrow portion proximal the arcuate member and cooperates with the arcuate member in a prying operation. A pin member extends in a plane perpendicular to the plane formed by the elongate handle and the arcuate member and is located for use in removing hinge pins from doors.
A more recent Patent Application Publication No. 2004/01776662 of Bosse discloses a Lock Removal Tool. As disclosed therein, a lock removal tool is a forcible entry tool designed to facilitate forcible entry through a locked door or other barricaded entry ways during an emergency situation. The lock removal door comprises an elongated bar having a lock cutting tool on one end and a tool piece such as a screw driver or allen wrench extending from the other end. A slide hammer mechanism having first and second impact collars fixed near the ends of the bar and a weight slideably disposed on the bar between the impact collars allows a significant force to be imparted to the lock cutting tool. The lock cutting tool itself is a flat metal plate with a bifurcated leading edge, the bifurcation forming a lock cutting slot. The leading edge is tapered to allow the lock cutting tool to be inserted underneath a door knob or locked base palte.
Notwithstanding the above, it is presently believed that there is a need and maybe a commercial market for an emergency door opening tool set in accordance with the present invention. There should be a need because such sets are primarily designed for use with a particular type of lock as widely used in Kuwait. Further, such tool sets can be used to gain access to a room or structure through a locked door with little or no damage to the door and minimal damage to a lock assemble. Further, such sets are durable, relatively compact, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and relatively easy to carry and store in an inexpensive carrier such as a fabric bag.

Emergency door opening tool set and method for opening a door in an emergency


The present invention provides rubber compositions having an excellent transparency and rubber properties comprising a rubbery polymer and an inorganic filler, and relates to specific methods of producing said rubber. Thus, they are rubber compositions comprising 100 parts by weight of at least one rubbery polymer and 5–150 parts by weight of an inorganic filler per 100 parts by weight of said rubbery polymer, wherein the haze is 50% or less, and the inorganic bulking agents are dispersed so that the number of circular regions with a diameter of 0.5 μm or greater having no inorganic fillers is one or less and the number of circular regions with a diameter of 0.3 μm or greater having no inorganic fillers is three or less in an image of a 5 μm square of said rubber composition determined by a scanning probe microscope (SPM) and wherein the haze of said rubber composition having a thickness of 5 mm is 50% or less, and specific methods of producing them.

In various applications that require transparency and coloring, thermoplastic elastic rubber compositions in which an inorganic filler has been blended in a thermoplastic elastic body have conventionally been reported. For example, there are rubber compositions comprising a thermoplastic elastic body and silica, rubber compositions comprising a thermoplastic elastic body and titanium oxide, and the like.
Also, usually in the blending of vulcanized rubbers, when a closed-type mixer for example a Banbury mixer or an internal mixer is used to add and knead an inorganic filler and the like, temperature rises as soon as rubber mastication is started, and during the process of rising temperature an inorganic filler etc. are added, and it reaches a temperature higher than 60° C. before the passage of 30 seconds at the latest after the start of kneading.
When an open roll etc. is used, kneading has been performed at a high rubber temperature exceeding 60° C. in order to enhance rubber plasticity and facilitate kneading.
JP-A-62-137002 relates to shoe soles having an excellent coloring and abrasion resistance obtained by specifying silica and a silane coupling agent and mixing rubber with a thermoplastic resin, and describes that coloring may be effected without using carbon black.
JP-A-2000-236905 discloses a light-weight abrasion resistant soling material comprising a high cis-polybutadiene, a styrene resin and silica.
JP-A-2001-161404 describes shoe soles in which rubber and silica have been and the gravity thereof has been specified.
Rubber compositions using a thermoplastic elastic body indeed have transparency and coloring to a certain degree, but they have problems of poor c-set and poor abrasion resistance, and poor oil resistance. In rubber compositions for which such transparency and coloring are required, attaining balances between transparency and physical properties such as c-set and abrasion resistance while maintaining sufficient transparency have not been sufficient. On the other hand, in rubber compositions in which oil resistance has been improved by vulcanization of styrene butadiene rubber, there are problems that when the amount of inorganic fillers is reduced in order to enhance transparency and coloring properties, the physical properties of the vulcanized rubber compositions such as c-set and abrasion resistance become decreased, and conversely when the amount of inorganic fillers is increased, these physical properties may be enhanced to a certain degree but transparency and coloring properties become decreased.
It is an object of the present invention to provide transparent rubber compositions having an excellent transparency and coloring properties, and rubber properties such as c-set and abrasion resistance, methods of producing them, and footwear having excellent designing and functional properties using said transparent rubber compositions.

Rubber composition and process for production thereof


A differential steer is provided for use in a machine and includes a variable displacement motor operatively connected to a differential disposed between first and second output members. The variable displacement motor is an over-center type and the displacement thereof is varied from zero to maximum in both directions of movement. Pressurized fluid to drive the steer motor is received from the main system pump. A microprocessor senses the direction and rate of rotation of the steer motor output, the speed of the outputs from the differential, the magnitude of a steer input, and controls the output speed of the steer motor to the differential in response to the magnitude of the steer input. Consequently, the quantity of fluid taken from the main system pump is limited to only that necessary to rotate the steer motor at a rate necessary to satisfy the desired steer input. Since the steer motor is using only the flow necessary to rotate the steer motor output at a desired speed and the steer motor torque is generally proportional to the steer motor displacement, the overall operating efficiency is increased as compared to known differential steer systems.

Differential steer system are well known in the art for use on skid steer machines and track type machines. The differential steer principle is based on providing an input to a differential of a machine that effectively increases the rotation speed of one output shaft and decreases the rotational speed of the other output shaft. The difference in rotational speeds between the respective output shafts causes the machine to turn in the direction of the slowest output speed. The degree of turn is determined by the degree of difference in rotational speed between the respective output shafts. The input to the differential can be increased to a level that results in one of the outputs reaching a zero speed which causes the machine to pivot about the wheel or track that is not turning. Likewise, the input to the differential can be increased to a level that causes one of the outputs to turn in the opposite direction and to a rate equal to the rotational rate of the other output. When one output is rotating in one direction and the other output is rotating in the other direction at the same rate, the machine is negotiating a spot turn.
In the vast majority of the known types of differential steer systems, the input to the differential is provided through a fluid motor. Many of these systems use a dedicated variable displacement pump that is directly connected to the fluid motor in a closed loop manner, commonly referred to as a hydrostatic drive loop. In these systems, the power needed to turn the variable displacement pump, even at zero displacement, takes horsepower from the engine. In machines that do not require frequent steer inputs, the horsepower required to turn the pump is wasted. Consequently, the overall efficiency of the machine is reduced.
In other differential steer systems, the fluid motor is connected to a dedicated pump through a directional control valve. In these systems, the pump is operating at a predetermined pressure level and producing a constant flow rate. When the steer input motor is not being used, the pressurized flow from the pump is being returned to the reservoir across a relief valve or some other type of control valve. Again, the horsepower needed to operate the pump at the predetermined pressure level is wasted. Additionally, in these systems, the flow being returned to the reservoir creates heat which requires extra cooling capacity to keep the oil temperature at an acceptable level. The wasted horsepower and the need for increased cooling capacity decreases the overall operating efficiency of the machine.
In other systems, the pressurized fluid needed to operate the steer input motor is taken from the main system pump, such as the implement pump in order to eliminate the dedicated pump. However, in these types of systems, it is normally necessary to provide a larger pump in order to meet the combined flow demands of both the implement system and the steer input motor. Larger pumps require more horsepower to drive them. As noted above, larger pumps normally require larger cooling systems to maintain the temperature of the oil at an acceptable level. Consequently, the overall operating efficiency of the machine is decreased.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.


A flexible membrane disk diffuser having an improved arrangement for sealing the membrane to the diffuser body. An enlarged sealing bead on the circumference of the membrane fits in an annular channel on the diffuser body. A retainer ring threads onto the diffuser body to compress the sealing bead against a base surface of the channel. A discontinuity on the base surface provides an effective seal with the bead without requiring undue tightening force of the retainer ring. The discontinuity may take the form of a ridge or a rut on the base surface of the channel.

Disk diffusers are commonly used in a variety of gas diffusion applications, including the aeration and/or mixing of water and wastewater. Disk diffusers often use membranes having perforations which open when pressurized gas is applied to the system. Although membrane disk diffusers have been successful in large part, they have not been wholly without problems.
In particular, achieving an effective seal between the periphery of the membrane and the diffuser body has been difficult. One technique is to extend the membrane over the edge of the diffuser body and apply a clamping band around the diffuser body to secure the membrane and maintain a seal. This technique requires a stainless steel clamping band which is expensive and is also difficult to install and remove. At times, the membranes are blown off of the diffuser in this type of device.
Sealing small units is relatively easy because there is less surface to seal and less force required to create a reliable seal. For smaller units, the industry has moved in recent years toward the use of a threaded retainer ring to clamp the membrane in place. The membrane is provided with an integral circumferential sealing bead which acts as an O-ring type seal as well as an anchor that holds the membrane on the diffuser body when the retainer ring is tightened.
The effectiveness of the seal depends upon tightening the retainer ring enough that the integral sealing bead is fully compressed against the diffuser body. With larger diffusers, the force required to tighten the retainer ring sufficiently to prevent air leakage is substantial. Compounding this problem is the fact that the durometer and other characteristics of the membrane are selected for maximum oxygen transfer and aeration performance. Because the sealing bead is formed as part of the membrane, it necessarily has the same durometer and other physical characteristics as the membrane. This can compromise the ability of the sealing bead to effect a good seal. For example, the membrane durometer is typically relatively high for good oxygen transfer, but the hardness has the undesirable effect of requiring an excessively large force to compress the sealing bead.
There are other problems that can make the tightening force unduly high. The diffuser body may be warped or otherwise misshapened such that adequate contact between the membrane sealing bead and the diffuser body at all points is difficult to achieve. The diameter and shape of the sealing bead may be out of tolerance in some cases, or the membrane may be uneven or have flash from the manufacturing process that inhibits its ability to provide a uniform seal. Additionally, threads on the retainer ring may be imperfect or out of tolerance, thus preventing proper tightening of the retainer ring against the sealing bead.
Large disk diffusers are generally desirable for reasons of efficiency and economy. However, their size can result in extremely large force requirements for adequately compressing the membrane bead to create a gas tight seal. The added structural capacity that is necessary for the diffuser to withstand the large forces that need to be applied can lead to excessive costs. Mechanical leverage tools are often necessary, and they add to the costs that are involved and can result in over-tightening that creates a variety of adverse effects.
During operation in a wastewater treatment application or in many other applications, organic material, sand, grit and other substances can become lodged in the threads. Combined with the extreme tightening force that must be applied during installation, these materials can make it difficult to disassemble the diffusers for maintenance, repair, or replacement of the membranes. Not uncommonly, retainer rings or diffuser bodies are bent, broken, or otherwise damaged during disassembly efforts.


A two phase catalyst is disclosed with one or more transition metals such as Cu, Co, Fe, Ag and Mo supported on a molecular sieve having a pore size not greater than 8 Å along with a stabilizing oxide of one or more of the oxides of Zr, Mo, V, Nb or the rare earths coating the molecular sieve. A method of preparing the two phase catalyst and using same to remediate NOx in combustion gases is also described.

The combustion of fossil fuels unavoidably leads to the formation of nitrogen oxides (NOx) which, if released to the atmosphere, can lead to acid rain and detrimental interactions with ozone. Increasing government regulations around the world have called for continued NOx emission reductions from both stationary and mobile sources, requiring new and improved technologies that can remove NOx from exhaust streams. While three-way catalysts have been optimized to reduce NOx emissions in rich-burn exhaust as from consumer automobiles, these catalysts are ineffective under lean-burn conditions, as usually observed with stationary sources or diesel engines. Reduction of NOx with ammonia has been used industrially for stationary sources. However, it is less desirable (especially in transportation systems) due to the toxic nature of the ammonia which must be stored locally. Alternative catalytic processes have been investigated for operation under lean burn conditions, with the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with hydrocarbons being one of the most promising. These hydrocarbons are more readily available and pose less of a emission problem.
A large number of materials have been found to be catalyticly active for SCR. By far, the most widely reported in the open literature are metal-exchanged zeolites, such as Cu-ZSM-5, Co-ZSM-5, and Fe-ZSM-5. These have been found to be very active for SCR using C3 hydrocarbons, with Cu-ZSM-5 being the most active. However, the zeolite-based materials lose much of their activity when water (common in exhaust streams) is added to the exhaust stream. The exact effects of water are not well known; it is speculated that either dealumination of the zeolite framework occurs which reduces the number of active sites, or that the metal sites agglomerate or are over-oxidized and lose their activity. While other catalysts that possess greater water stability have been found, such as metal-supported oxides, these tend to lack the desired activity seen by the metal zeolites, and produce large amounts of N2O (also a major pollutant).
Patents which have varying relationships to the inventions at issue are, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,586 issued to Baacke et al., May 26, 1992. This patent relates to a zeolite catalyst and a method for reduction of nitrogen oxides by mixing the waste gas with ammonia. As previously discussed in the background of this invention, the use of ammonia in the reduction of nitrogen oxide requires entirely different conditions than the present invention which is an NOx reduction catalyst utilizing hydrocarbons. The Baacke et al. patent does not show or suggest a two phase catalyst or the method of making the inventive two phase catalyst, nor obviously, the present catalysts themselves in which the stabilizing oxide coats the molecular sieve or zeolite material. Moreover, the use of ammonia itself presents a hazard.
The Green et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,075 issued Oct. 9, 1990 discloses a single phase catalyst obtained by intimately mixing the powders of the oxide binder and the metal salts so that although a physical mixture is formed, the inventive two phase catalyst is not made. This patent teaches mixing particles of a metal exchanged zeolite with an oxide. In this case, both particles are usually quite large (500 nm to 50,000 nm) and although the particles physically contact each other, no two phase catalyst with intimate contact between the phases such as produced by the methods of Examples 1-3 hereafter.
The Green et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,249 issued Jan. 4, 1994 relates to a catalyst composition for the destruction of halogenated organics. The Green et al. '249 patent like the Green et al. '075 patent does not show or suggest the inventive method of making the two phase catalyst of the present invention, and therefore, does not show or suggest the present inventive catalyst. Although the '075 patent does disclose the use of cerium oxide, the Green et al. '249 patent does not, neither patent teaches the present invention which uses metal oxide sols for creating the second phase.
Also cited in the parent case is the Sachtler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,681 issued Nov. 7, 2000. The Sachtler et al. patent uses an entirely different means of introducing the metal into the zeolite, such as by metal vapor deposition, which leaves the metal in a different state and the addition of cerium into the matrix is by ion exchange not by a sol as taught in the present invention. Moreover, the '681 patent does not show or suggest the addition of a rare earth oxide by the use of a sol as opposed to a salt. Therefore, the '681 patent as the other patents cited in the prior case do not show the method of the present invention and therefore do not show the two phase catalyst of the present invention.


An electromechanical flywheel machine includes a multi-wall containment system used in connection with a motor-generator for exchanging energy with a flywheel mass.

Known flywheels store kinetic energy, that is, the energy of motion. When called upon to release this energy, the flywheel slows as kinetic energy is depleted. Flywheels driving and driven by electric machines are also know. For decades, such electromechanical machines have been built and have achieved varying degrees of operational success. Widespread application has, however, eluded flywheel manufacturers as even the most advanced commercial machines suffer from significant operational limitations while exceeding the cost of better performing alternatives. Despite persistent efforts by a small flywheel manufacturing industry, modern electromechanical flywheels have found only narrow applications in a few niche markets and presently make no significant contribution to the developed world's energy supply.

Electromechanical flywheel containment system