A mixture of acrylic acid and nitrogen compounds is particularly adapted to achieve a sulfur-free odorization of a gas.

Because of its origin (natural gas) and a relatively high degree of purity, the gas used nowadays in the public network is in itself virtually odorless; if leakages are not noticed in good time, explosive gas/air mixtures with a high hazard potential quickly form. For safety reasons, gas is therefore odorized by adding odorants. For example, in Germany it is stipulated that all gases which do not have sufficient intrinsic odor and are distributed in the public gas supply (DVGW-Arbeitsblatt [Worksheet] G 260) are odorized in accordance with DVGW-Arbeitsblatt [Worksheet] G 280; DVGW=Deutscher Verein des Gas-und Wasserfaches e.V. [German Association on Gas and Water], Eschborn. These odorizing compositions are detectable even when highly diluted and, because of their extremely unpleasant odor, act, as is desired, as a warning signal for people. In Germany, approximately 90% of service gas is currently odorized with tetrahydrothiophene (THT) (12–25 mg/m3); in addition, odorization using mercaptans or thioethers is also customary.
THT and mercaptans are highly suitable for reliable odorization of gas. However, in the context of treating the environment with more respect, it is to be noted that during the combustion of such odorized gases, sulfur dioxide forms as combustion product—only in small amounts at each individual combustion site, but, viewed on a countrywide scale, in amounts of a few hundred tons per year. It would be desirable to overcome this disadvantage; however, a number of requirements have to be satisfied:    1. The odor must be unpleasant and unmistakable (odors from kitchens and homes are excluded). It must act as a warning signal for people who smell escaped gas.    2. Everybody with an average sense of smell and average physiological condition must be able to detect the odor.    3. The warning odor stage (=average odor intensity) must be achieved before the ignition limit or a kinetic carbon monoxide content is reached.    4. The odorizing composition must be as nontoxic as possible and must not form any toxic combustion products.    5. The odorizing composition must have high volatility and evaporate leaving as little residue as possible.    6. A suitable odorizing composition must not condense at winter temperatures, nor separate, nor adhere to metallic pipes.    7. The odorizing composition must combust without leaving a residue.    8. The odorizing composition must be storage-stable and chemically resistant to the gas and to the plants. It must not promote corrosion, nor attack customary seals.
Attempts have already been undertaken to provide new gas odorizing compositions. Thus, the following, for example, have been proposed:                alkyl acrylates, vinyl or alkyl ethers and mixtures thereof (JP 76-7481),        n-valeric acid, optionally in combination with ethyl acrylate and/or triethylamine (JP 76-34 841),        mixtures of sulfur compounds and aliphatic aldehyde (JP 78-35 562),        cycohexene (JP 83-42 235),        norbornene derivatives (JP 87-1998) and        saturated ethers, saturated esters, and mixtures thereof with mercaptans.


A method of measuring performance of a transaction over a network. The transaction includes requesting information from an information source connected to the network and interacting with the information source. The method includes connecting a data acquisition agent to the network, sending a request for information from the data acquisition agent to the information source, and loading data responsive to the request for information onto the data acquisition agent. The transaction is executed and performance measurements for the transactions are collected and sent to a storage device. A system for measuring performance of a transaction over a network is also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to evaluating quality of service provided over the Internet, and more particularly, to systems and methods for determining the amount of time it takes to perform a sequence of operations over the Internet.
With the explosive growth of the Internet, increased traffic has caused the performance experienced by users making connections over the Internet to vary widely. The longer it takes a user to download information from a web site, the more likely the user is to go to a competitor's web site. Thus, it is important for companies to be aware of the amount of time it takes users to download information from their Internet sites so that they can quickly identify problems, upgrade their equipment, modify the content of their web site, or otherwise increase the speed of delivery of information at their web site.
Many factors influence the performance of a connection including the user's modem and other equipment, the type of server, the load on the server, and the Internet service provider used. The first step in evaluating connection performance is to obtain reliable information regarding performance characteristics such as the time required to download web pages or other information across a connection.
One approach to measuring web site performance is to connect measurement agents to the Internet at various geographic locations. This approach is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/868,616, filed Jun. 3, 1997, by Barrick et al. The system disclosed therein uses a browser agent to send an HTTP GET command to a server and then record the amount of time it takes to complete transmission of the data. The agents evaluate the performance of a web site by measuring the amount of time it takes to download a web page. Due to their remote location, the agents are able to evaluate the performance of a web site from the end user's perspective, and are able to measure the effects of the intervening network itself in addition to the performance of the web server. As a result, the performance seen by an agent can provide a reasonable approximation for the service experienced by customers connecting to the Internet at approximately the same location, and at approximately the same time as the agent.
While this is a useful indicator of server performance, it would further be useful if a process could be developed that could measure web server performance during a typical session where the web server is accessed by a user to do multiple tasks in a sequential order. In addition to measuring page download, many web sites, such as e-commerce web sites, are interested in measuring multi-step transactions. For example, systems that simply measure page downloads are not able to measure the time it takes for a user to perform a series of transactions which require the agent to send information back to the web server to complete the transaction. Common on-line transactions include booking an airline reservation, executing a stock transaction, checking the balance in a bank account, and purchasing a book or CD. In order to evaluate the performance of these sites, measurements are required for the entire transaction, not just the download time for a single page. For example, a user may want to access a web site having financial information. The user may login to the web site and then type in a stock symbol and retrieve a graph of the stock corresponding to the stock symbol. Next, the user may look up one or more other stock symbols and add those to the chart for the purpose of comparing the stocks. Finally, the user exits the web site, thus, ending the session. Complex transactions such as making a stock trade or searching for information involves a series of web pages and exercises multiple back end systems. Problems with any of these systems may cause the transaction to fail or slow down.
There is, therefore, a need for a method and system for simulating such a session for the web server and sending each of the requests generated by the user during the course of the session while measuring the response time of the server at each step. Thus, the performance of the web server during a typical transaction could be measured and elements which increase the time spent in the transaction could be identified and potentially reduced.

Method and system for evaluating quality of service over the internet


A method for allocating an identification using an access network grouping scheme, and a method and apparatus for paging group are described. The ID allocating method comprises: receiving a group ID of a group of group-paged objects allocated by a core network device for a terminal device, wherein the group of group-paged objects comprises one or more subgroups; allocating a device ID or a user ID to the terminal device, wherein the device ID or the user ID comprises information of a subgroup ID of a subgroup to which the terminal device belongs; and sending the allocated device ID or user ID to the terminal device. The number of terminals in the subgroup is appropriate, and the resources are allocated more flexibly and reasonably.

With the development of the communication technologies, the M2M technology is gradually formed and rapidly developed. In brief, the M2M refers to transmitting data from one terminal to another terminal, i.e., a machine to machine interaction. But in a broad sense, the M2M may represent machine to machine, man to machine, machine to man, and mobile to machine connections and communications, and it covers all technologies and means for establishing communication connections between man, machine and system.
The application market of the M2M is quickly increasing all over the world. With the deepening of related technologies of communication device, management software, etc. and the decrease of the M2M product cost, the M2M service will gradually be mature. At present, the M2M has been applied to the fields such as safety monitoring, mechanical service, repairing service, vending machine, public transport system, fleet management, industrial process automation, motor machine and city informatization.
Generally, the M2M applications have various characteristics, wherein one type of very important characteristic is that many M2M applications have characteristics based on groups, and the communications having such group characteristics also include the following typical characteristics:                a large number of terminals;        a low mobility: the terminal does not move or just moves within a certain range;        the major service is the Mobile Terminated (MT) service;        if an MT service appears, a large number of terminals shall be simultaneously paged;the terminal shall make a subsequent response after receiving a paging message.
Since the existed cellular network is mainly designed and optimized for the Human to Human (H2H) services such as voice, short message, etc., and the M2M has a large number of terminals, problems such as network congestion will easily be caused if a lot of M2M devices access the network.
Many organizations, such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), have started to perform optimizations for the characteristics of the M2M applications, and proposed quite a few group paging solutions since most of the M2M applications have the group characteristics. The basic idea of group paging is that one group of device terminals share a group ID, and during paging, the group of device terminals are paged by carrying the group ID in the paging message. The corresponding paging is an individual paging which pages one device terminal.
For a paging of the MT service having the M2M group characteristics, the core network replaces the traditional individual paging with the group paging. First of all, the group ID is allocated. If a terminal device starts up and logins, the core network allocates a group ID to the terminal device according to the subscription data thereof; the group ID belongs to the core network hierarchy and the Non-Access Stratum (NAS), and it is also stored in the terminal device. Next, a group paging is carried out according to the allocated group ID. During group paging, the core network initiates a group paging request for devices having certain group characteristics in a certain paging area, wherein the group paging request includes the group ID of the group of devices; after receiving the group paging request, the access network directly uses the provided group ID of the core network to perform a group paging of all the devices of such type in the effective range. The paging area can be referred to as Routing Area (RA) in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and Tracking Area (TA) in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.
As can be seen from the above analysis, the grouping is only carried out in the core network rather than the access network. The group ID is "transparently transmitted" in relation to the access network, i.e., for the access network, the group paging and the individual paging have no difference, and its function is to package the paging request into a paging message and send it out, regardless of whether the message is sent for a group of devices or an individual device, and such information is only acquired by the device(s) per se and the core network.
Since the grouping strategy is only performed in the core network (CN) hierarchy, grouping is no longer carried out in the Radio Access Network (RAN). In relation to the access network, the core network cannot better acquire the distribution condition of the terminal devices, and even in the same paging area, the numbers of terminals contained in various cells of the access network may be quite different from each other. Thus, if the grouping is only carried out using the core network, the grouping may be unreasonable, e.g., too many terminals are existed in certain cells, which is adverse to the subsequent optimization of the group paging response.

Method for allocating identification, method for paging group, and communication device


An image forming apparatus is low priced and has a compact size. The apparatus is further capable of easily controlling toner particles such that the toner particles pass through individual apertures without a high-priced high-voltage A.C. power supply and a high-priced compressor. A driving roller and a shaft-type steel support preferably having a diameter of about 3 mm are arranged in a toner case so as to be parallel to each other. The driving roller and the support are bound by a belt preferably made of silicone rubber so as to be under tension. The belt is preferably formed about 200 mm thick, and a piezoelectric vibrator for vibrating the support is provided on the one end of the support.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus used for a copier, a printer, a plotter and a facsimile, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having a particle modulator for controlling a flow of toner particles.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus having a particle modulator is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,935. In the image forming apparatus, the particle modulator comprises an insulative layer, a reference electrode and a plurality of control electrodes. The reference electrode is one sheet formed on one side of the insulative layer. The control electrodes are independently formed on the other side of the insulative layer. Moreover, the particle modulator has apertures formed in at least one line. The apertures penetrate the above-mentioned three layers (the reference electrode, the insulative layer and the control electrode). The image forming apparatus further comprises a driving circuit for selectively applying a voltage between each of the control electrodes and the reference electrode, a toner particle supply device for supplying the charged toner particles toward the particle modulator, and a moving device for relatively moving a supporting member with respect to the particle modulator in a flow of the toner particles. In the image forming apparatus, the driving circuit selectively applies the voltage between each of the control electrodes and the reference electrode according to an image signal, thereby controlling the toner particles. Then, the toner particles pass through each of the apertures so that an image is formed on the supporting member.
There are three kinds of toner particle supply devices for supplying the charged toner particles to the vicinity of the apertures. According to the device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-248662, the toner particles are supplied to the vicinity of the apertures by rotation of a toner carry roller after the charged toner particles are held on the toner carry roller. Moreover, according to the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,855, the charged toner particles are formed in a mist in an alternating electric field applied between a toner carrying member and a particle modulator and are supplied to the vicinity of the apertures. Further, according to the device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 58-114974, the charged toner particles are supplied to the vicinity of the apertures according to an air flow.
However, in the toner particle supply device employing the toner carry roller for supplying the toner particles to the vicinity of the apertures, an image-force and van der Waals forces by which the toner particles are held on the toner carry roller are comparatively great. Therefore, it is difficult to supply a sufficient amount of toner particles toward the vicinity of the apertures with certainty. On the other hand, there is a need to form an electric field having a strong magnetic force in order to draw the toner particles from the toner carry roller and in order to make the toner particles pass through each of the apertures. Thus, since there is a need to provide a high-voltage power supply in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus becomes expensive.
Moreover, in the toner particle supply device employing an alternating electric field, there is a need to provide a high-priced high-voltage A.C. power supply. Therefore, the image forming apparatus becomes expensive. Further, the alternating electric field disturbs a control electric field which controls the toner particles such that the toner particles pass through each of the apertures, thereby forming an unclear image.
In the toner particle supply device employing an air flow, there is a need to provide a compressor for generating the air flow. Therefore, the image forming apparatus becomes complicated and expensive.

Image forming apparatus having particle modulator


In an embodiment, a method for operating an ACF converter includes: turning on a low-side transistor that is coupled between a primary winding of a transformer and a reference terminal to cause a forward current to enter the primary winding, turning off the low-side transistor; after turning off the low-side transistor, turning on a high-side transistor that is coupled between the primary winding and a clamp capacitor to cause a reverse current to flow through the primary winding; and after turning on the high-side transistor, when an overcurrent of the reverse current is not detected, keeping the high-side transistor on for a first period of time, and turning off the high-side transistor after the first period of time, and when the overcurrent of the reverse current is detected, turning off the high-side transistor without keeping the high-side transistor on for the first period of time.

There are various topologies of switching converters, including buck, boost, buck-boost, and flyback converters. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of exemplary flyback converter 100. Flyback converter 100 includes transformer 112, resistor 104, capacitors 106 and 114, diodes 108 and 116, transistor 102, and primary controller 110.
During normal operation, primary controller no turns on and off in a known manner transistor 102 to cause primary current Ip to flow through primary winding 112a. Primary current Ip induces the flow of secondary current Is through secondary winding 112b. Diode 116 cooperates with output capacitor 114 to operate as a rectifier so that output voltage Vout is a DC voltage (e.g., with a superimposed ripple).
The topology of flyback converter 100 is also known as an RCD clamp flyback converter because converter 100 includes an RCD clamp circuit (formed by elements 104, 106, and 108). The purpose of this RCD clamp circuit is to dissipate that energy taken from the input source in each switching cycle and stored in the primary winding that is not transferred to the secondary winding because of the imperfect coupling between them. This unused energy is commonly referred to as the "leakage inductance energy" because it is assumed that it is stored in a portion of the primary inductance uncoupled to the secondary one called leakage inductance. RCD clamp flyback converters are generally simple and inexpensive circuits.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of exemplary flyback converter 200. Flyback converter 200 operates in a similar manner as flyback converter 100. Flyback converter 200, however, replaces the RCD clamp of converter 100 with an active clamp formed by transistor 208 and capacitor 106. Thus, the topology of flyback converter 200 is also known as an active clamp flyback (ACF) converter.
Advantages of ACF converters include the recycling of leakage inductance energy to achieve soft-switching (ZVS) for transistors 208 and 102, high efficiency (e.g., greater than 93%) achievable with high switching frequency (e.g., higher than 200 kHz), and smooth waveforms, which may result in low EMI.

Cycle-by-cycle reverse current limiting in ACF converters


Aplidine and aplidine analogues are used in the manufacture of a medicament for treating multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma represents a malignant proliferation of plasma cells derived from a single clone. The terms multiple myeloma and myeloma may be used interchangeably.
Plasma cells produce antibodies, proteins that move through the bloodstream to help the body get rid of harmful substances. Each type of plasma cell responds to only one specific substance by making a large amount of one kind of antibody. These antibodies find and act against that one substance. Because the body has many types of plasma cells, it can respond to many substances. When cancer involves plasma cells, the body keeps producing more and more of these cells. The unneeded plasma cells—all abnormal and all exactly alike—are called myeloma cells. Myeloma cells tend to collect in the bone marrow and in the hard outer part of bones. Sometimes they collect in only one bone and form a single mass, or tumor, called a plasmacytoma. In most cases, however, the myeloma cells collect in many bones, often forming many tumors and causing other problems. When this happens, the disease is called multiple myeloma (MM).
Because people with MM have an abnormally large number of identical plasma cells, they also have too much of one type of antibody. The tumor, its products, and the host response to it result in a number of organ dysfunctions and symptoms of bone pain or fracture, renal failure, susceptibility to infection, anemia, hypercalcemia, and occasionally clotting abnormalities, neurologic symptoms, and vascular manifestations of hyperviscosity.
MM is the 2nd most commonly diagnosed hematologic malignancy in the Western World, with an annual incidence of ˜15,000 new cases in the U.S. alone. Unfortunately, MM is presently considered an incurable disease and the overall survival of MM patients has remained essentially unchanged at a median of 3-4 years, despite intense efforts over the last ˜3 decades to improve on the activity of cytotoxic chemotherapy-based therapies for this disease. Importantly, the median age of diagnosis of MM in <65 years old and >⅓ of MM patients are <55 years old at diagnosis: for this substantial proportion of relatively young MM patients, the diagnosis of MM signifies, even in the absence of other co-morbidities, a high probability that their overall survival will be significantly shorter than the average life-expectancy of age-matched non-MM patients.
Recently, there have been a series of important advances in the therapeutic management of MM, namely the documentation of anti-MM activity of 2 new classes of anti-cancer agents, thalidomide (and its immunomodulatory derivatives) and the proteasome inhibitors. Although these classes of agents have been shown to be active in the setting of MM patients who were relapsed/refractory to conventional or high-dose cytotoxic chemotherapy-based regimens, a significant proportion of MM patients has de novo resistance to those novel agents, while initial responders (even those achieving durable complete remissions) can eventually relapse. Therefore the development of novel classes of anti-MM agents is urgently needed, in order to further improve the outcome of MM patients and, hopefully, to achieve high cure rates for this presently incurable neoplasia.


A capillary array assembly is provided that can be used to inject samples into an electrophoresis device. The capillary array assembly can include an injection end that can be arranged to interface with output wells of a fluid processing device, for example, a microfluidic card-type device.

Capillary electrophoresis devices are useful for separating and analyzing samples, such as DNA and proteins. There exists a need for a capillary electrophoresis device that is capable of receiving and loading samples from devices, such as microfluidic devices or microfluidic sample containers. In particular, a need exists for a capillary array assembly having an injection end that can interface with the output reservoirs of a microfluidic device.

Capillary array assembly for loading samples from a device, and method


An optical testing device includes an optical fiber having a first numerical aperture at a first end of the optical fiber. A positioning structure is attached to the optical fiber for moving the first end of the optical fiber to any portion of a substrate for testing an optical device. The optical device may be disposed at any location on the substrate and provides a light beam with an emission angle less than the first numerical aperture. A test head collects the light beam through the optical fiber to test the optical device. A method for positioning the optical fiber and testing the optical device is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical communication devices, and more particularly to a test probe which permit fast and efficient testings of optical devices, preferably when mounted upon silicon optical benches.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the optical data communications industry, optical component subassemblies for the optical link transmitter and receiver modules employ a multi-component carrier made from silicon. This carrier is called a Silicon Optical Bench (SiOB). The SiOB has etched features in the silicon for aligning optical passive components, and high speed electrical traces on the silicon for contacting optoelectronic (OE) chips on the carrier.
SiOB designs have only put the optoelectronic chip and a single passive optical component on the SiOB.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical SiOB 10 is shown, where a laser diode (LD) 12 is be placed near the edge of a large socket 14 in the SiOB 10. The socket is there to align a lens (not shown) in front of LD 12, but it also permits the optical beam to emit from the SiOB 10 without hitting the SiOB surfaces.
After the laser diode 12 is placed on this SiOB 10, a large area photodetector (not shown) is brought up near the edge 16 of the SiOB in front of the LD 12 and a DC light output measurement is made. Then, a communication single-mode fiber is brought near the LD output, and a small portion of the light is collected for an AC measurement. This testing methodology requires access to the area directly in front of the LD and multiple alignments of test fixtures.
These SiOB designs are limited as to where optical devices can be placed or attached thereon since access is needed to these devices for testing.
During the assembly of this type of SiOB, the OE chip (LD, etc.) is usually the first component to be attached, and it must have AC and DC tests made prior to assembling all the other components on the SiOB. This testing must be accurate and done rapidly to keep manufacturing throughput high and manufacturing cost low.
Therefore, a need exists for testing optical devices, such as, lasers in-situ, which permits placement of such devices anywhere on a SiOB. A further need exists for a test probe which permits accurate and rapid testing of optical devices to keep manufacturing throughput high and manufacturing cost low.
An optical testing device includes an optical fiber having a first numerical aperture at a first end of the optical fiber. A positioning structure is attached to the optical fiber for moving the first end of the optical fiber to any portion of a substrate for testing an optical device. The optical device may be disposed at any location on the substrate and provides a light beam with an emission angle less than the first numerical aperture. A test head collects the light beam through the optical fiber to test the optical device. A method for positioning the optical fiber and testing the optical device is also disclosed.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Optical test probe for silicon optical bench

International Business Machines Corporation


An improved tonneau cover clamp includes an inner clamp section for engaging a pickup truck bed sidewall, an outer clamp section configured to hold a tonneau cover rail to the sidewall, and a cam handle section for selectively attaching the inner clamp section to the outer clamp section so as to provide a clamping force on the sidewall. The cam handle section is configured to engage one or both of the other two sections in such a manner as to facilitate adjustment between the two sections to adjust to top flanges of sidewalls having different thicknesses, thereby enabling a single clamp to be used with a variety of different truck brands and models.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp for vehicle tonneau covers, and in particular, to an improved tonneau cover clamp for holding side rails to the sidewalls of a truck bed which readily adapts to sidewalls of different configurations.
2. State of the Art
The use of tonneau covers to cover pickup truck beds and other vehicle cavities has increased significantly in popularity in the last decade. The tonneau cover enable the user to conceal items carried in the pickup truck bed, and protect both the pickup truck bed and its contents from inclement weather.
As the use of tonneau covers increases, the demand for an easy to use, universal tonneau cover system increases. Originally, tonneau covers were attached to rails which were bolted or otherwise fastened to the sidewalls of the truck bed. The bolting of the rails to the sidewalls caused damage to the sidewalls and prevented the rapid installation or removal of the tonneau cover.
Recent improvements to tonneau cover attachment systems generally have abandoned the use of rails which bolt to the sidewalls of the truck bed. Rather, the new systems use clamps which have a first portion which fits under the top flange of the sidewall, and a second portion which fits over the top portion. A bolt is then used to draw the first and second portions together, thereby holding the tonneau cover rail and the top flange of the sidewall between the first and second portions.
One disadvantage of the currently available clamps is that they are generally configured to fit only one brand of truck. The clamps are generally unable to adapt to differing thicknesses and widths of the top flange which are present between different brands. Thus, when desiring to buy a tonneau cover, the user must find a dealer who has one configured for his or her brand of truck.
Another problem with the tonneau covers is that they require the use of tools to remove the railings from the sidewalls of the bed. Those having pickup trucks will appreciate, however, that it is not always possible to plan when the bed of the truck will be needed to carry items which cannot be stored below the tonneau cover. If the user of the truck does not have the correct tool present, time can be wasted seeking some one which the proper tools to disassemble the clamps.
Thus, there is a need for an improved tonneau cover clamp which will adapt to the sidewall configurations of numerous different brands of trucks and which may be assembled and disassembled without the use of tools.


Veneer panels which are to be joined in a plurality of layers one above the other and one behind the other are assembled and glued to form an endless strand of veneer laminates. In the process, the veneer panels are first fed in through a glue-application machine which applies a layer of glue on a top side of the veneer panels onto a buffer belt. The veneer panels are then transferred from the buffer belt to a horizontally reversing feed belt which forms on a roller table a first veneer assembly comprising a plurality of veneer panels. The first veneer assembly is raised about its front end by an angle .alpha. into an oblique position so that veneer panels of a subsequent veneer assembly can be threaded into the first veneer assembly using the horizontally reversing feed belt. The first and subsequent veneer assemblies are thereby combined into a veneer-panel strand, and transferred to a continuously operating prepress and press.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for assembling and gluing veneer panels which are to be joined in a plurality of layers one above the other and one behind the other to form an endless strand of veneer laminates, and to a plant for carrying out the process.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus for feeding continuously operating composite presses, which the invention takes as its starting point, has been disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift 2,318,284 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,945 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,552). This disclosure does not provide a solution to the problem of automatic laying of veneer assemblies and continuous feeding of these veneer assemblies into a continuously operating press.

Process and plant for the continuous assembly and gluing of veneer panels to form veneer laminates

Maschinenfabrik J. Dieffenbacher GmbH & Co.


An energy absorber (100) for a vehicle seat (1), in particular for a linear adjuster (60) of the vehicle seat (1), includes a deformation element (110). The deformation element (110) is deformable by forces occurring in a vehicle collision. The energy absorber (100) includes a bending element (120) that releases the deformation element (110). Upon achieving a bending load acting on the bending element (120), the bending element (120) bends and the bending element (120) thereby releases the deformation element (110) to a lesser extent. A linear adjuster (60) for a vehicle seat (1) is also provided, having the energy absorber (100). Further, a vehicle seat (1) is provided having at least such one linear adjuster (60).

An energy absorbing device for a vehicle seat is disclosed in DE 198 07 581 A1, said energy absorbing device comprising a separate and removable deformation element which comprises at least one deformation region, wherein the deformation region is capable of being deformed in the event of a collision and thereby absorbing energy.
A vehicle seat having a substantially vertically arranged seat backrest and a substantially horizontally arranged seat surface is disclosed in DE 10 2004 032 785 A1, said vehicle seat having an adjusting device for adjusting the relative position of the seat backrest to the seat surface, wherein the adjusting device comprises a set deformation means which at least partially absorbs the forces occurring in the event of an accident.
DE 10 2010 029 129 A1 discloses a height adjusting device for motor vehicle seats having a control unit which is capable of adjusting and supporting a seat structure relative to a seat floor assembly, which is able to be altered in terms of length and which is able to be connected in an articulated manner at one end to the seat structure and at the other end to the seat floor assembly, wherein the control unit is configured at one end and/or at both ends so as to be mounted relative to the seat structure and/or seat floor assembly by a rotary joint and so as to be displaceable in the event of an impact.
DE 20 2007 006 910 U1 discloses a seat height adjusting device having a seat carrier, a fastening carrier and a pivoting carrier, wherein the pivoting carrier in each case is pivotably articulated to the seat carrier and the fastening carrier, as well as a push element which is movable in a translatory direction and which is coupled to the pivoting carrier via a rotary bearing with a bearing point, wherein the rotary bearing is designed for the displacement of its bearing point in the translatory direction when the action of a critical force is exceeded.
DE 198 07 581 A1 discloses a method for absorbing energy in a motor vehicle seat in the event of a collision, wherein a releasable deformation element is attached in or on the vehicle seat, and the deformation element comprises at least one deformation region which is capable of being deformed in the event of a collision and thereby absorbing energy.
From the prior art, further energy absorbers in vehicle seats are known from use. The physical principle of the energy absorbers is that, in the event of a vehicle collision, kinetic energy is converted into deformation energy. Typically, energy absorbers are plastically deformed or tear during the vehicle collision. The properties of the components and material are almost fully utilized. In normal operation of the vehicle seat, the energy absorbers are not subjected to any plastic deformation. Only in the case of overloading are the deformation elements deformed or torn and, as a result, the load is reduced on the occupants in order to avoid serious injuries to the occupants.
WO 2010/020567 A1 discloses a subframe of a motor vehicle seat with two rail pairs, two front rockers, two rear rockers and a seat carrier which comprises two side parts, a front crossmember and a rear crossmember, wherein each rail pair is connected in an articulated manner via a front rocker and a rear rocker to a side part, and a linear adjuster configured as a control drive is provided for the height adjustment of the seat carrier, wherein a rocker is connected to a transverse piece and the transverse piece has an articulated region. The articulated region is connected in an articulated manner to one end of a spindle of the control drive.

Energy absorber for a vehicle seat, linear adjuster for a vehicle seat having an energy absorber, and vehicle seat


A radiation-curable ink jet ink free of unreactive volatile organic compounds and comprising an alkyl (meth)acrylate in which the alkyl group has at least 8 carbon atoms, a poly(alkylene oxide) modified poly(dimethyl siloxane), further radiation curable material, and a pigment can be printed on nonporous substrates, particularly plastic substrates such as vinyl substrates, with good dot gain and appearance.

Ink jet inks must have a very low viscosity, typically less than about 20 centipoise at the jetting temperature. While hot melt inks have been used, liquid inks are generally more suited to high volume industrial printing. One way to achieve this low viscosity is by including a substantial amount of organic liquids. In general, ink containing a substantial amount of organic liquids would produce undesirable emissions during the printing process. Such emissions are substantially avoided, however, with energy curable inks. Energy curable inks use low viscosity reactive materials to attain the desired viscosity. The reactive materials have reactive groups that are cured after printing with radiation, such as UV radiation or electron beams.
The low viscosity reactive materials in energy curable inks may include low viscosity monomers and low viscosity oligomers. The energy curable inks may also include higher viscosity reactive and unreactive oligomers and polymers. Because monofunctional monomers are particularly low in viscosity, ink jet inks to date have included substantial amounts of monofunctional monomers. On the other hand, monofunctional monomers are in general the most volatile of the reactive materials that might be included, resulting in some evaporation and undesirable emissions during the printing process. It would, therefore, be desirable to omit or limit the most volatile monofunctional monomers.
It would also be desirable to formulate and ink jet ink that would print well onto plastic substrates.

UV cure ink jet ink for nonporous substrates


An apparatus is provided for removably mounting an electronic device to a surface and for positioning the device with respect to the surface. The apparatus includes a cradle securable to the electronic device and a pivot link, which has a first end and a second end. The first end being pivotally coupled to the cradle. The apparatus also includes a support having a mounting pedestal coupled thereto. The second end of the pivot link is pivotally coupled to the support. The apparatus has a base which has a lower face that can be coupled to the surface and an upper face. The upper face has a receiving slot for the pedestal, the slot having a shoulder extending thereabove to engage the pedestal. The slot further has an open end to allow the pedestal to be moved within the slot. The base further includes a releasable locking arm having a retaining ridge located in line with the open end of the slot to selectively hold the pedestal within the slot. The pedestal of the apparatus can be placed within the slot and held within the slot by the retaining ridge of the locking arm. Further, the electronic device can be positioned with respect to the surface by pivoting the cradle and the link, and by rotating the pedestal within the slot. In an alternate embodiment, a suction cup mount is utilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting apparatus for an electronic device. More specifically, the invention relates to a mounting apparatus for an electronic device for use in a vehicle, which allows the electronic device to be selectively rotated and placed in a number of positions, and which allows the electronic device to be placed within, and removed from, a mounted position with one hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices are being used more and more frequently in vehicles. For example, global positioning satellite devices are currently being used in vehicles and elsewhere. These devices are used for navigational purposes and are either permanently installed in a vehicle, or mounted so as to be portable. Further, these devices have a screen which visibly communicates information to the user thereof. The portable device is advantageous in that it can be taken from the vehicle and used outside of the vehicle, thus adding value to the device.
The mounting of portable devices within vehicles does, however, present a number of disadvantages. First, it is more difficult to mount a portable device in a location within the vehicle that allows its screen to be easily viewed. Devices that are permanently installed in the vehicle can be mounted within the dashboard of the vehicle, easily within sight of the vehicle driver or passenger. Portable devices must, however, be mounted somewhere within the interior of the vehicle, such as on top of the dashboard. This mounting position presents the challenge of mounting the device in an orientation and position that can be seen and accessed.
Viewing the screen of a portable electronic device can be hampered if the angle of the viewing screen is fixed relative to the surface on which the device is mounted. A fixed viewing angle may limit the vehicles on which the device can be effectively mounted due to varying dashboard configurations as well as varying driver and passenger heights. In other words, a fixed viewing angle may impair the user's ability to effectively and comfortably view the screen. Second, these electronic devices are often under-utilized if they are only viewable by the driver of the vehicle, but not passengers riding therein. Often the passenger in the vehicle is acting as the navigator. In these situations, it is advantageous for the passenger to be able to view the global positioning satellite device.
Third, depending on the configuration of the dashboard surface on which the device is mounted, it may be necessary to either elevate or lower the device with respect to the mounting surface in order to get a clearer view of the device. A rigid mounting apparatus that does not offer the ability to manipulate the orientation of the device relative to the mounting surface is therefore disadvantageous.
As may be appreciated, it would also be advantageous to be able to place the electronic device into a mounted position using only one hand. Similarly, it would be advantageous to remove the electronic device from a mounted position using only one hand.
Therefore, a mounting apparatus is needed that can be used to mount a portable electronic device within a vehicle so that the device can be easily viewed and adjusted. Further, a mounting apparatus is needed that allows an electronic device to be mounted within a vehicle so that it is viewable by either the driver or the passenger riding therein. Still further, a mounting apparatus is needed that allows an electronic device to be mounted within, and removed from, a mounted position using only one hand. Finally, a mounting apparatus is needed that can be used to either elevate or lower, and manipulate the orientation of the device relative to the surface on which the apparatus is mounted.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-position articulating mounting apparatus for an electronic device


A column apparatus containing a shallow bed of material between fluid transporting fractals of large active surface area results in highly efficient processing with small equipment size.

1. Field of the Invention
Many fluid processes operate by passing fluids through beds of material. These processes include chromatography, ion exchange, adsorption, catalytic reaction, etc. This invention is directed to these processes in general.
2. State of the Art
Fluid processes characteristically exhibit severe limits on operation due to bed pressure drop, kinetics and flow uniformity. These limits are placed on, for example, productivity, process efficiency, energy use, system size, environmental compatibility, and capital/operating costs.
As one example of how these limits occur, the flow rate through a bed may be constrained because as flow rate increases, bed pressure drop increases. Pressure drop may reach a point where the pressure rating of a column containing the bed may be exceeded, the bed may begin to unacceptably compress, bed particles may be destroyed and excessive energy may be required for operation. Clearly, this effect places limits on productivity (limits on flow rate) and cell design and cost (higher pressure requires additional structural strength).
As another example, high linear velocities can result in unacceptably poor interaction or reaction of a fluid with the bed material. That is, the kinetic requirements of the system are self limiting. An excessively high linear velocity of a fluid through a bed will result in an insufficient contact time of the fluid with the bed particles. Clearly this places limits on productivity. (Again, flow rate is limited).
Spreading out a bed to a wide (large cross section), shallow (shallow depth or short travel path) geometry instead of a high (long travel path), narrow (relatively small cross section transverse to the direction of flow) geometry will reduce both the bed pressure drop and the linear velocity of a fluid passing through the bed. While both of these effects would be very beneficial, such column construction is not prevalent because of the difficulty of distributing and collecting fluid across a wide, shallow bed (a large cross section). Any inhomogeneity or turbulence in the fluid introduced into the column cannot normally be attenuated through a wide, shallow bed so the inhomogeneities are reflected as inefficiencies and unacceptable processing. For example, in chromatography, such problems result in band broadening and poor separation of the components of a feed mixture.
A representative device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,507 to Brown. The '507 patent discloses a fluid treatment apparatus which can be used for shallow bed operation. However this device lacks significantly distributed fluid feed and collection systems and is dependent upon maintaining the bed in an over packed condition. A substantially uniform fluid flow distribution across the bed is achieved by employing resins of fine (substantially uniform) particle size which are maintained in an over packed condition. Here, the term 'over packed' is used to mean that the particles are confined within the resin bed so that they are subjected to compression at all times. This device inherently restricts process fluid flow across the bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,750 to Chinn discloses an apparatus for treating fluid. In this apparatus, first and second "particle free cavities" are provided above and below the retained particle bed. Even flow of fluid through the bed is provided simply by the pressure drop across the bed. The pressure drop across the bed is a function of the pressures in the first and second cavities. No provision is made to substantially control fluid flow characteristics (eddies, or turbulent zones) in process fluid streams near the bed surface.
It would be an advance to provide an apparatus for processing fluids which exhibits a reduced pressure drop through a bed of media, and also has a reduced fluid flow rate (velocity) at an increased volumetric flow rate through the bed. A preferred apparatus would provide control over process fluid flow to reduce mixing and turbulence near the bed to resist inhomogeneities in the processing stream.


Provided are an apparatus and method for receiving a signal in a communication system, in which a signal is received and decoded by setting an offset indicating a start position of a node operation for each block column of a parity check matrix of a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code and scheduling an order of performing the node operation on a Partial Parallel Scheduling (PPS) group basis. Here, the parity check matrix includes p×L rows and q×L columns, the p×L rows are grouped into p block rows, the q×L columns are grouped into q block columns, and each PPS group includes one column from each of the q block columns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for receiving a signal in a communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, communication systems are being developed to provide high-speed, large-data transmission services to Mobile Stations (MSs). In this context, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes are seriously considered for the communication systems, because the LDPC codes are channel codes suitable for high-speed, large-data transmission.
With reference to FIG. 1, the configuration of a signal transmission apparatus in a conventional communication system using LDPC codes will be described below.
Referring to FIG. 1, the signal transmission apparatus includes an encoder 111, a modulator 113, and a transmitter 115. Upon generating transmission data, i.e. an information vector, the encoder 111 encodes the information vector to a codeword vector in a predetermined coding scheme. Herein, the coding scheme is an LDPC coding scheme, and thus the codeword vector is an LDPC codeword. The modulator 113 modulates the LDPC codeword in a predetermined modulation scheme. The transmitter 115 processes the modulated vector received from the modulator 113 and transmits the processed signal to a signal reception apparatus through an ANTenna (ANT).
With reference to FIG. 2, a configuration of a signal reception apparatus in a conventional communication system using LDPC codes will be described below.
Referring to FIG. 2, the signal reception apparatus includes a receiver 211, a demodulator 213, and a decoder 215. The receiver 211 processes a signal received from the signal transmission apparatus through an ANTenna (ANT). The demodulator 213 demodulates the received vector received from the receiver 211 in a demodulation scheme corresponding to the modulation scheme of the modulator 113. The decoder 215 decodes the demodulated vector received from the demodulator 213 in a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme of the encoder 111 and outputs the decoded signal as a final recovered information vector. It is assumed herein that the decoding scheme, i.e. the LDPC decoding scheme, is performed by a sum-product iterative decoding algorithm.
An LDPC code is defined by a parity check matrix that mostly contains zeroes, and a very small number of non-zeroes, for example, ones. The LDPC code can be represented as a bipartite graph. The bipartite graph includes variable nodes (i.e. bit nodes), check nodes, and edges connecting the variable nodes and the check nodes.
A sum-product iterative decoding algorithm on the bipartite graph can decode the LDPC code. The sum-product algorithm is a type of message passing algorithm that exchanges messages along edges, calculates outgoing messages from incoming messages to the bit nodes or check nodes, and updates the nodes on the bipartite graph.
In implementing the message-passing algorithm on the bipartite graph, a bit node operation and a check node operation are sequentially performed, i.e., the bit node operation is sequentially performed on all bit nodes, and the check node operation is sequentially performed on all check nodes. As stated before, due to the nature of iterations of the LDPC decoding, the resulting increase in the time for detecting a final decoding result leads to an increase in an LDPC decoding time delay. Accordingly, there exists a need for reducing the time taken for LDPC decoding without affecting LDPC decoding performance.

Apparatus and method for receiving signal in a communication system


Cathode ray tube display apparatus comprises a cathode ray tube display screen for displaying successive frames of a non-interlaced video image in response to excitation by at least one raster-scanned electron beam. A line timebase circuit sequentially addresses each electron beam to successive pixels on the screen in a line of a raster in response to a line timebase sync signal. A frame timebase circuit sequentially addresses each electron beam to successive lines of the raster in response to a frame timebase sync signal. The frame timebase circuit comprises means for offsetting successive frames of the video image in a direction transverse of the lines of the raster by a distance less than the spacing of adjacent lines of the raster. Gaps between adjacent pixels on successive lines of the raster are made invisible to the viewer because the persistence of viewer's eye effectively integrates the image content of successive frames. Also, because the successive frames have the same image content, there is no low-frequency component in the image spectrum below the frame timebase frequency. Therefore, the displayed image is free from objectionable flicker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cathode ray tube (CRT) display apparatus for displaying successive frames of a non-interlaced video image with improved character legibility.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CRT display, such as a computer visual display unit or a television receiver for example, conventionally comprises a line timebase circuit for sequentially addressing one or more electron beams to successive pixels in a line from one side of a CRT to the other in response to a line timebase synchronization signal, and a frame timebase circuit for sequentially addressing each electron beam to successive lines from the top of the CRT to the bottom in response to a frame timebase synchronization signal. In operation, each electron beam follows a zigzag pattern over the area of the CRT screen. The zigzag pattern is usually, and will hereinafter be, referred to as a raster.
In the interests of maximizing the legibility of the video image, it is desirable to minimize the spacing between adjacent lines of the raster. This requires a high raster line density and a small electron beam spot size. However, in a color CRT, if the spot size is sufficiently small, the temporal frequency at which the electron beams are scanned across the lines of the raster can interact with the spatial frequency of the perforations in the shadow mask to generate an objectionable Moire fringe pattern on the CRT screen. Moire fringe patterns are especially common in displays capable of operating at any one of a range of line scan frequencies because it is difficult to optimize the spatial frequency of the perforations in the shadow mask to prevent them at all frequencies in the range. This problem can be overcome using a larger spot size. However, this militates against obtaining a high contrast ratio between elements of characters such as "m" and "e".

International Business Machines Corporation


A handle for a screwdriver including a body having a first open end and a second open end and also provides an intermediate member which connects the one end to the other end. A space is defined in the body and located between the first and second open ends such that space communicates with the first and second open ends. Multiple first connection portions are formed in inside of the first open end and connected with a stop formed in inside of the space.

The conventional handle "B" of a screwdriver is disclosed in FIG. 6 and generally comprises a space "C" for storage of bits, and a cap "D" with threads is used to seal the space "C" so as to prevent the bits from dropping from the space "C". However, the conventional cap "D" is a cap with round connection portions on which thread is located and cannot be used with other handles with the corresponding connection portions having non-round shapes. Besides, the conventional cap is easily loosened such that the bits in the space "C" can easily drop from the handle "B".
The present invention intends to provide a handle of a screwdriver and improvise the shortcomings of the conventional screwdriver handle.


A magnesium alloy sheet is made of a magnesium alloy containing Al. Particles of an intermetallic compound containing at least one of Al and Mg are present in the sheet in a dispersed state. The sheet includes an oxide film which extends substantially over the surface of the sheet and which has a uniform thickness. The average size of the particles of the intermetallic compound is 0.5 μm or less. The percentage of the total area of the particles is 11% or less. Therefore, the magnesium alloy sheet is excellent corrosion resistance. A magnesium alloy structural member is provided.

Magnesium alloys containing magnesium and various additive elements have been used for constituent materials for various structural members such as housings for portable electric/electronic devices including cellular phones and laptop computers and parts of automobiles.
For structural members made of magnesium alloys, a cast material (an AZ91 alloy specified in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards) produced by a die casting process or a thixomolding process is in the mainstream. In recent years, structural members obtained by press-forming sheets made of wrought magnesium alloys represented by an AZ31 alloy specified in the ASTM standards have been being used. Patent Literature 1 proposes a magnesium alloy sheet which is made of an alloy corresponding to the AZ91 alloy specified in the ASTM standards and which is excellent in press formability.
Since magnesium is an active metal, surfaces of the structural members and magnesium alloy sheets used to manufacture the structural members are usually subjected to anticorrosion treatment including anodic oxidation treatment and chemical conversion treatment.


A perpendicular magnetic recording medium is disclosed in which a soft magnetic layer used as a low Ku layer can be stably produced with high performance. Thermal stabilization of magnetization, ease of writing by a magnetic head, and SNR also are improved. A method of manufacturing the medium is disclosed. The perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes at least a nonmagnetic underlayer, a magnetic recording layer, and a protective layer formed in this order on a nonmagnetic substrate. The magnetic recording layer includes a low Ku layer having a relatively small perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant (Ku value), and a high Ku layer in which the Ku value is relatively large, and the low Ku layer includes a soft magnetic thin film including an iron group element-based microcrystal structure, in which a nitrogen element is added to a ferromagnetic material mainly containing one of metals of Co, Ni and Fe or an alloy of the metal. The thin film has a crystal structure of a face-centered cubic lattice or hexagonal close packed, and a preferred crystal orientation plane parallel to a plane of the film is a (111) plane in the face-centered cubic lattice structure, and a (002) plane in the hexagonal close packed structure.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a perpendicular magnetic recording medium and a method of manufacturing the medium, and particularly relates to a perpendicular magnetic recording medium used for various magnetic recording devices including an external storage device for a computer, and a method of manufacturing the medium.
B. Description of the Related Art
As a technique for achieving an increase in recording density in magnetic recording, a perpendicular magnetic recording method is attracting attention as an alternative to the usual longitudinal magnetic recording method. This is because, compared with the usual longitudinal magnetic recording method, the perpendicular magnetic recording method has advantages of high density, high thermal stability, and sufficient writing capability even for a recording medium having high coercive force, making it possible to exceed a limit of recording density of the longitudinal magnetic recording method.
In a perpendicular magnetic recording medium, since information is recorded with a direction of magnetization being perpendicular to a film plane of a magnetic recording layer, magnetization needs to be kept stably in the direction perpendicular to the film plane. Therefore, a magnetic recording layer used for the perpendicular magnetic recording medium is required to have a high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy coefficient (Ku value). The Ku value of a magnetic recording layer of a perpendicular magnetic recording medium being currently studied is approximately 1×106 erg/cm3 or more.
In magnetic grains having uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, magnitude of a magnetic field necessary for reversal of magnetization is called anisotropy field Hk, and Hk is generally expressed as Hk=2Ku/Ms in terms of saturation magnetization Ms, and the Ku value. Therefore, to induce reversal of magnetization, a magnetic field of Hk or more is required, and a value of the magnetic field is proportional to the Ku value. In a magnetic recording medium, when Hk is excessively high, reversal of magnetization becomes insufficient during writing by a magnetic head, and thus normal operation is disabled, therefore a moderate Hk value is needed.
In a magnetic recording medium being an aggregate of magnetic grains, an average magnetization reversal field, of which the value is called coercive force Hc, is determined by distribution of the Hk values and axes of easy magnetization of individual magnetic grains, and strength of magnetic interactions between the magnetic grains and the like. When the magnetic interactions between the magnetic grains are small, the Hc value approaches the Hk value.
Moreover, an energy barrier E necessary for magnetization reversal is expressed as E=kuV(1−H/Hk)2, where H is a magnetic field applied in a direction of the axis of easy magnetization, and V is volume of a grain. When the energy barrier E is not sufficiently high compared with thermal energy kBT (kB is Boltzmann constant, and T is the absolute temperature), magnetization is reversed due to an effect of the thermal energy. This is called thermal fluctuation (or thermal disturbance) of magnetization, and implies loss of information in the magnetic recording medium, therefore the kuV value, which determines the energy barrier E, needs to be kept relatively high. Even if thermal fluctuation of magnetization does not lead to loss of information, it surfaces as a medium noise called reverse magnetic domain noise due to partial reversal of a recorded bit.
Typically, KuV/kBT is used as an index of the thermal fluctuation. However, this is used in cases where an external magnetic field is not being applied. When a magnetic field H is being applied, the index is expressed as kuV(1−H/Hk)2/kBT using the energy barrier E.
Furthermore, to reduce medium noises and thus improve quality of a recorded information signal by improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), it is necessary to reduce a value of activation grain size D=V/δ (here, δ is thickness of a magnetic recording layer), i.e., to reduce a unit of reversal of magnetization. When the unit of magnetization reversal is small, a minute recording bit can be properly written, and consequently SNR is improved. Therefore, many studies have been made to reduce the D value in the perpendicular magnetic recording medium. To reduce the D value, it is effective to reduce crystal grain size of the magnetic recording layer, and reduce the magnetic interactions between crystal grains.
From the above, when the D value is reduced to improve SNR, the V value is reduced, therefore a high ku value is needed to keep a value of the energy barrier E necessary for stably keeping magnetization. On the other hand, when the ku value is kept high, the Hk value is increased, i.e., a magnetic field necessary for magnetization reversal is increased. This leads to difficulty in writing of information by a magnetic head. Thus, in the magnetic recording medium, it is extremely difficult to satisfy all three factors of (1) improvement in SNR, (2) thermal stabilization of magnetization (decrease in reverse magnetic domain noise), and (3) ease of writing by the magnetic head, which are in a tradeoff relationship with respect to one another.
As a perpendicular magnetic recording medium aiming to compatibly achieve improvement in SNR and thermal stabilization of magnetization among the three factors, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium has been proposed. The medium has a magnetic recording layer of a so-called functionally separated type in which a plurality of magnetic recording layers having different Ku values are stacked (see, for example, JP-A-11-296833 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,893 as U.S. counterpart patent), and JP-A-2000-76636 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,157 as U.S. counterpart patent).
In JP-A-11-296833 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,893 as U.S. counterpart patent), it is disclosed that a medium which is high with respect to thermal stability of magnetization and excellent in SNR can be produced by stacking a layer of a region having a high Ku value so that thermal stability of magnetization is high (upper layer), and a layer of a region having a somewhat low Ku value so that magnetic interactions between crystal grains are small and therefore SNR is high (lower layer). In one aspect, it is disclosed that the Ku value of the upper layer is adjusted to be 2.5×106 erg/cm3 to 5×106 erg/cm3, and the Ku value of the lower layer is adjusted to be 1×106 erg/cm3 to 2.5×106 erg/cm3. In JP-A-2000-76636 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,157 as U.S. counterpart patent), a similar technical idea is disclosed. Thus, it is disclosed that similar effects are obtained by stacking magnetic recording layers having different Ku values and crystal orientations. However, while JP-A-11-296833 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,893 as U.S. counterpart patent) and JP-A-2000-76636 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,157 as U.S. counterpart patent) disclose compatibly achieving improvement in SNR and thermal stabilization of magnetization, they make no consideration on ease of writing by the magnetic head.
With increase in recording density, the demand for reducing the D value and keeping the Ku value high in a medium has increased more and more, in order to stably keep a small recording bit. In such a medium, it is extremely important to secure ease of writing by the magnetic head.
In view of the above, the inventors applied an invention described in JP-A-2005-222675 (US2005/0181237A1 as US counterpart laid-open patent) aiming to provide a perpendicular magnetic recording medium in which thermal stabilization of magnetization and ease of writing by the magnetic head were compatibly achieved, and SNR also was improved. A summary of the invention described in JP-A-2005-222675 (US2005/0181237A1 as US counterpart laid-open patent) is as follows. That is, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes at least a nonmagnetic underlayer, a magnetic recording layer, and a protective layer formed in this order on a nonmagnetic substance, wherein the magnetic recording layer includes a low Ku layer having a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant (Ku value) of 1×105 erg/cm3 or less, and a high Ku layer having the Ku value of 1×106 erg/cm3 or more, i.e., the high and low Ku values differ at least ten fold. According to such a configuration, thermal stabilization of magnetization and ease of writing by the magnetic head can be compatibly achieved. Such operation is described as follows. In the magnetic recording layer in a two-layer structure including the low Ku layer and the high Ku layer, it is assumed that magnetic coupling of magnetization occurs in a thickness direction, and simultaneous magnetization reversal is thus induced. When a Ku value of the low Ku layer is ignored as an approximation, the total Ku value of the stacked films is decreased in accordance with increase in thickness, however, since the Ms value is kept even in the low Ku region, the total Ms value of the films is not significantly changed. Consequently, as is clear from the above relationship Hk=2Ku/Ms that the Hk value is effectively decreased, and reversal of magnetization is easily induced.
On the other hand, when the energy barrier E=kuV(1−H/Hk)2 is taken into consideration, since the V value can be regarded as the total volume of the films, the total KuV value of the stacked films is larger than a KuV value in the case of only the high Ku region. Here, since the Hk value is decreased as above, the decrease in energy barrier can be controlled at a small level, provided the externally applied magnetic field H is relatively low. That is, a medium is easily produced in which thermal stabilization of magnetization and ease of writing by the magnetic head are compatibly achieved.
According to the invention described in JP-A-2005-222675 (US2005/0181237A1 as US counterpart laid-open patent), a perpendicular magnetic recording medium can be provided in which thermal stabilization of magnetization and ease of writing by the magnetic head, particularly an overwrite characteristic described later, are improved, and furthermore SNR is improved. Overwrite is writing a new signal over an originally recorded signal without erasing the originally recorded signal. In a magnetic recording device, when data are overwritten, if the original data are not fully replaced by new data, an error may occur. The overwrite characteristic generally means a ratio of decay of an original signal when the original signal is overwritten with a subsequent signal, which represents overwrite performance.
Among patent documents, JP-A-2003-132532 and JP-A-2003-178416 are described while being compared with an embodiment of the invention in the section of Summary of the Invention.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.

Perpendicular magnetic recording medium and method of manufacturing the medium


A composite profiled construction element has a pair of metallic, elongated, and transversely spaced profiles having inner faces spaced from and directed toward each other and a pair of elongated and transversely spaced connector webs bridging the profiles, having outer edges fixed in the profiles and inner faces spaced from and directed toward each other. The inner faces of the profiles and of the webs define a longitudinally extending passage. An elongated insulating body in the passage has a first outer face fixed to one of the inner faces and is formed with a longitudinal ridge operatively bearing on another of the inner faces. The body also has a second outer face spaced from and forming an empty longitudinally extending space with another of the inner faces.

A standard profiled construction element comprises inner and outer metallic, normally aluminum, profiles that extend parallel to each other and that are bridged by a pair of webs, often formed of plastic. The outer metal profile is exposed to the elements on the outside of the building and the inside profile is turned to the interior, with the two plastic webs forming a thermal bridge between them. Inner faces of the profiles and of the webs define a longitudinally extending and transversely closed passage.
In order to increase the insulating capacity of such a structure, to make it mechanically more rigid, and to prevent convection currents inside it, it is known from German patent documents 94 22 032 and 100 39 980 and from EP 0,978,619 and EP 1,318,262 to substantially completely fill this space with an insulating body, normally a closed-cell rigid plastic foam. It is also known from German 94 13 790 and EP 0,636,760 to provide such a foam body having oppositely directed broad outer faces bonded in surface contact to inner faces of opposing inner walls of the element.
Such structures have the disadvantage that when they are exposed to substantial heat, the plastic body can expand and deform the plastic webs. This can particularly occur at the high temperatures of certain lacquering operations. Furthermore manufacture of them is fairly difficult as the plastic insulating body must normally be formed in situ in the finished four-part structure.
Another system described in German 196 22 278 has a pair of bars of insulating material fixed to inner faces of the two bridging webs. These bars do not contact anything other than the web they are fixed to. They serve mainly to interfere with convective flow in the structure. Overall they offer poor insulating performance and do not prevent deformation of the structure.

Technoform Caprano und Brunnhofer GmbH & Co. KG


A system comprising a portable computer chassis having an internal speaker; openings in the chassis from which sound from the speaker can emanate, wherein the openings allow heat generated by the system to escape is provided. In one embodiment, the internal speaker is located at least a minimum distance away from the openings. By utilizing speaker grills as ventilation openings in this manner, ventilation openings on the bottom side of notebook computers can be eliminated and user comfort can be increased when the system is placed on the lap. Additionally, system reliability is improved as ventilation is also increased.

Notebook computers need to have adequate ventilation in order to work properly. Because real estate is at a premium around the outside edges of notebook computers, many manufacturers are concentrating their ventilation openings onto the bottom of the unit. In this location, however, the vents are prone to blockage, particularly when users hold the unit on their lap, a cushion, stacks of papers, and the like. As a result, notebook computers can easily become overheated. Additionally, notebook computers are operating at increasingly high temperatures. For the user who places the unit on their lap, this can mean exposure to excessive heat through vents located on the bottom, which can be quite uncomfortable.
Thus, there is a need for providing improved mobile computer systems.

Speaker grill-air vent combinations for a portable computer


An extendable shower head apparatus that includes a hollow support rod, the hollow support rod provides support to the extendable shower head apparatus, a connection piece that is movably connected to the hollow support rod and a shower head that includes a hollow stem. The apparatus also includes a plurality of wheel bearings that roll along the hollow support rod, a first hose extended through the wheel bearings and provides the water to the shower head, a tension pulley that supports movement of the first hose, a two hose connector attached to the second end of the first hose and a pipe that provides the water to the two hose connector used by a user, the pipe is connected to the two hose connector and the two hose connector connects the pipe to the second end of the first hose.

Currently there are limited options for an adaptable shower appliance that permits freedom of movement while being utilized. Most popular current water mount accessories tend to have restricted piping that requires a user to stay in a fixed location while utilizing the adaptable shower appliance.
The present invention generally relates to a shower head apparatus. More specifically, the invention is an extendable shower head apparatus.
It is an object of the invention to provide an extendable shower head apparatus that permits a relatively greater freedom of movement than a traditional shower head.
It is an object of the invention to provide an extendable shower head apparatus that is made of relatively inexpensive materials to produce the extendable shower head apparatus at a relatively low price.
It is an object of the invention to provide an extendable shower head apparatus that is height adjustable to accommodate an adult as well as a child.
What is needed is an extendable shower head apparatus that permits a relatively greater freedom of movement than a traditional shower head that is made of relatively inexpensive materials to produce the extendable shower head apparatus at a relatively low price that is height adjustable to accommodate an adult as well as a child.


A threaded joint for steel pipes comprises a pin having male threads and a box having female threads which engage with the male threads. An incomplete thread is formed at the start of the male threads and the incomplete thread has a portion in which the angle θ formed between its crest face and its flank on the side facing a complete thread is an obtuse angle and in which the thread height h from the base of the flank is at least 0.2 mm.

OCTG used in the exploration for natural gas wells and oil wells (collectively referred to below as oil wells) and production of natural gas and crude oil are steel pipes having a length of around 10 meters. In use, they are connected to each other by threaded joints until they have a length which can reach an underground oil field. In recent years, due to increases in the depth of oil wells (such as to 8,000 meters or more) and increases in the numbers of extended reachwells and horizontal wells, the number of OCTG which are connected together is continuing to increase.
Threaded joints for connecting steel pipes typically have a pin-box structure constituted by a pin having male (external) threads and a box having female (internal) threads. Types of threaded joints include integral types in which a pin is formed on one end of a steel pipe and a box is formed on the other end of the pipe and two pipes are directly connected to each other, and coupling types in which two pipes each having a pin formed on both ends thereof are connected through a coupling having a box formed on both of its ends.
A special threaded joint capable of metal-to-metal sealing is widely used as a threaded joint for OCTG which is required to exhibit good sealing performance (gas tightness) even under a high pressure and a high load. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a cross section of the pin of a special threaded joint of the coupling type, i.e., the cross section of the pin formed on one end of an oil country tubular good (a steel pipe). This pin has tapered male threads 1 formed on the outer peripheral surface of its end portion and a lip 2 which is located closer to the end surface of the pin than the tapered male threads 1. The lip 2 has a tapered metal seal portion 2a formed on its outer peripheral surface to perform metal-to-metal sealing and a torque shoulder 2b formed on its end surface.
The tapered male threads of the pin are formed by rotating a steel pipe which is used as an oil country tubular good while holding the vicinity of the end of the steel pipe with a chuck, and allowing a thread cutting tool to contact the peripheral surface of the end portion of the rotated steel pipe. Tapered male threads 1 which are formed in this manner on the pin have an incomplete thread portion (a threaded portion where the thread shape is incomplete, i.e., a threaded portion where the shape of the thread is different from that of a complete thread) at the start of cutting 1a and at the end of cutting 1b. The burrs easily develops on the crest of such an is incomplete thread.
FIG. 3 schematically shows the shape of various types of burrs which can develop at the start of cutting of threads. In FIG. 3, 3 indicates a burr, 4 indicates a thread, the 2-dash chain line indicates the shape of an imaginary thread assuming that the incomplete thread formed at the start of cutting where a burr 3 developed is actually a complete thread, and the dashed line shows the direction of machining of threads. As shown in FIG. 3, burrs 3 which can develop on an incomplete thread portion at the start of thread cutting include a burr which does not lean towards the root of thread 4 and which does not project beyond the thread height of an imaginary complete thread (FIG. 3(a)), a burr which leans towards the root of thread 4 (FIG. 3(b)), and a burr which projects towards the imaginary thread and exceeds the height of the imaginary thread (FIG. 3(c)). Of these burrs, according to VAM, a specification for a special threaded joint, a burr like that shown in FIG. 3(b) which leans towards the root of thread 4 or a burr like that shown in FIG. 3(c) which projects towards an imaginary thread beyond the height of the imaginary thread is considered unacceptable.
In thread cutting of a special threaded joint, in order to suppress burrs 3 which develop in the incomplete thread portion formed at the start of thread cutting and which easily cause galling, when performing finish cutting of male threads with a thread cutting tool referred to as a chaser, as shown in FIG. 4, a portion of the threads to be cut in the beginning is cut so as to have a bevel shape (having a triangular cross section with a sloping surface). The portion of the threads which is finished to have a bevel shape (1c in FIG. 4) is referred to as a beveled portion. Also in this description, this portion will be referred to below as a beveled portion.
Even in the case where such a beveled portion is formed, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, burrs 3 end up developing on the beveled portion 1c and are found at the completion of machine cutting of the tapered male threads 1. This is because thread cutting of a threaded joint for OCTG is carried out using a chaser having a cutting blade capable of cutting two or three threads simultaneously. Therefore, a large cutting load is applied, and as shown in FIG. 5(a), the height of the burrs 3 is large also in the beveled portion.
Burrs 3 on the beveled portion 1c which protrude towards the height of s thread 4 as shown in FIG. 5(a) are manually removed using a deburring tool called a buff grinder. However, since such burrs have a large height, it is difficult to completely remove them using a buff grinder, and as shown in FIG. 5(b), burrs often remain partially. In addition, manual deburring is poor in working efficiency and it may involve the risk of imparting grinding scratches to the metal seal portion or the complete thread, which must not be ground.
JP 09-207027A proposes that burrs formed on a beveled portion can be eliminated using a chaser having a prescribed radius of curvature R of its edge portion. However, it is not possible to completely remove only the burrs which developed on a beveled portion during thread cutting even if the chaser proposed in that patent document is used.


A dental instrument and method for imaging the three-dimensional topography of one or more teeth in the oral cavity of an individual is provided. The instrument includes a probe insertable into the oral cavity to receive the image of these surfaces which can then be processed. Combined with the probe is an auxiliary which projects an air stream toward the surface to be imaged by the probe and acts to evaporate and remove from these surfaces a liquid film coating formed by saliva and other fluids present in the oral cavity, to render these surfaces dry and enhance their reflectivity and in doing so, provide clearer images.

It is a standard procedure in dental practice, when necessary to replace defective teeth in the oral cavity of a patient, to first make a cast impression of these teeth. A technician can from these impressions determine the three-dimensional parameters of a denture to replace the teeth.
It is known in order to avoid the need to make cast impressions to directly measure the teeth optically to obtain data for the computer-assisted design (CAD) or computer-assisted manufacture (CAM) of the replacement. In a typical instrument for this purpose, there is provided an optical probe projecting a light beam towards the surfaces of the teeth to be imaged.
The concern of the present invention is with those imaging instruments for direct optical measurement of a set of teeth which includes a probe to be inserted in the oral cavity to project a light beam toward the surfaces of the teeth and to receive light reflected therefrom which is then processed to obtain the digital data for determining the three-dimensional topology of the teeth.
One such instrument for obtaining the three-dimensional parameters of teeth in order to replace the teeth being imaged is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,805. In the patent, the probe takes the form of a scan head which projects a scanning light beam toward the teeth surfaces.
Also disclosing an imaging instrument for the three-dimensional survey of teeth to obtain digital constructional data for the computer-controlled manufacture of a tooth replacement is U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,236. Another such instrument is an intra oral scanner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,680.
Of particular prior art interest is the imaging instrument disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,164 filed as Application Ser. No. 09/775,298 on Feb. 1, 2001 (referred to hereinafter as "U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,164") entitled "Imaging A Three-Dimensional Structure by Confocal Focusing an Array of Light Beams". This instrument is provided with a probe in the form of an endoscope which projects light beams toward the surfaces of the teeth to be imaged and receives light reflected therefrom which is processed to obtain the required digital data.
The problem of viewability encountered when using a dental imaging instrument whose probe projects a light beam to illuminate the surfaces of the teeth to be imaged is comparable to that experienced by eyes viewing these surfaces. If the eyes are heavily coated with a tear film, the resultant image will be blurred.
In the case of surfaces of teeth in an oral cavity containing mucous, saliva, and, in some instances, blood resulting from a dental procedure, the surfaces of the teeth are usually then coated with a liquid film composed of these constituents. This liquid film which impairs the ability of an imaging instrument to clearly view the teeth surfaces, cannot easily be dislodged, for tile film is ionically attracted to the teeth surfaces and has a surface tension to protect the integrity of the film and resists its evaporation.
Under ideal circumstances, the surfaces of the teeth to be imaged should be free of liquid and perfectly clean and dry to obtain an optimal degree of reflectivity and image clarity. But this can only happen when the surface reflectivity exhibits a Lambert unit of luminescence. A Lambert unit is defined as the brightness of a perfect diffusing surface that radiates or reflects one lumen per square centimeter
A saliva-mucous liquid film coating the teeth surfaces to be illuminated does not act as a perfect diffusing surface and therefore does not exhibit optimal reflectivity. And because this film adheres ionically to the tooth surfaces, it cannot just be washed away.
In common use by dentists is an air suction pipe (negative pressure) to suck out from the oral cavity saliva and mucous which interfere with the dental procedure then in progress. Also in common use is a pressured air pipe (positive pressure) which serves to blow away debris from the region in the oral cavity is working. These pipes must be manipulated by the dentist or his assistant so that the air stream (negative or positive) can be directed to the region of interest.

Dental imaging instrument having air stream auxiliary


A method for determining when in the course of a shift event an on-coming clutch gains torque capacity is provided. The method includes closed-loop controlling an off-going clutch to maintain a predetermined slip threshold by generating an off-going clutch pressure command, causing the on-coming clutch to engage during the closed loop control of the off-going clutch, generating a first derivative with respect to time of the off-going clutch pressure command, and using the first derivative to determine when the on-coming clutch gained torque capacity. A neural network method is preferably employed in analyzing the first derivative to locate a transition in the rate of commanded pressure indicative of off-going clutch release. A corresponding apparatus is also provided.

In general, a motor vehicle automatic transmission includes a number of gear elements and selectively engageable friction elements (referred to herein as clutches) that are controlled to establish one of several forward speed ratios between the transmission input and output shafts. The input shaft is typically coupled to the vehicle engine through a fluid coupling such as a torque converter, and the output shaft is coupled to the vehicle drive wheels through a differential gear set.
Shifting from a currently established speed ratio to a new speed ratio involves, in most cases, disengaging a clutch (off-going clutch) associated with the current speed ratio and engaging a clutch (on-coming clutch) associated with the new speed ratio. Each such shift includes a fill or preparation phase during which an apply chamber of the on-coming clutch is filled in preparation for torque transmission. Once filled, the on-coming clutch transmits torque in relation to the clutch pressure, and the shift can be completed using various control strategies.
In a clutch-to-clutch transmission, disengagement of the off-going clutch and engagement of the on-coming clutch is accomplished by a transmission controller transmitting pressure commands to alter the pressure and fluid volume in the respective apply chambers. The transmission controller must take into account such variables as the volume of fluid necessary to fill each clutch's respective apply chamber, fluid flow rates, fluid temperature, etc., in generating the pressure commands to ensure proper timing of the clutches. If an on-coming clutch gains torque capacity prior to disengagement of the off-going clutch, then transmission tie-up may occur. If an on-coming clutch gains torque capacity too long after the off-going clutch disengages, then engine flare will occur.
The prior art includes clutch-to-clutch transmissions that employ closed loop control of the off-going clutch during a shift event such that the off-going clutch maintains a predetermined slip threshold. As the on-coming clutch gains torque capacity, the speed of the input shaft drops. The transmission controller, as a result of the closed loop control of the off-going clutch, will compensate by reducing the pressure command for the off-going clutch as the on-coming clutch gains capacity until the off-going clutch torque capacity is zero.

Automatic transmission clutch timing optimization apparatus and method


A line switching device includes multiple input ports to which signals are input and that include first input ports and second input ports different from the first input ports; multiple output ports that include given output ports; a branch unit that branches first signals input from the first input ports; and a switch that selectively outputs, among second signals input from the second input ports and branched signals branched from the first signals by the branch unit, signals that are to be switched to an output port among the given ports.

Due to the recent increase of transmission data, a high-speed and high-capacity transmission signal has been developed in the synchronous optical network (SONET) and the synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH). For example, time divisional processing and a virtual switch are under consideration as architecture for high-capacity data transmission (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-306482). The architecture is applied to, for example, the multi service provisioning platform (MSPP).
In the conventional technology described above, however, lines cannot be arbitrarily switched if multiple switch fabric units for line switching are used since inputs to/outputs from the switch fabric units are independent from each other.


Disclosed are an amine-oxide-group-containing conjugated polymer photoelectric material and application thereof. The amine-oxide-group-containing conjugated polymer photoelectric material consists of conjugated main chains and a side chain containing an amine oxide unit, and is applied in an organic photoelectric device. The material has desirable alcohol/water solubility and photoelectric properties, is suitable for making a multi-layer solution for machining a device, and meanwhile can prevent an adverse effect incurred by freely moving counter ions in a common polyelectrolyte to the device. The material may be used as a cathode interface modification layer applied in organic photoelectric devices such as light-emitting and photovoltaic devices, so as to improve performance of the devices.

Since the first polymer electroluminescent diode was invented in 1990, the polymer photoelectric materials have brought a widespread interest in academia and industry.
In order to achieve a high efficient polymer electroluminescent device, it is critical to inject electrons and holes high-efficiently from the cathode and the anode respectively. Therefore, many high-efficient polymer electroluminescent devices employ a multi-layer device structure, ie., in addition to the luminescent layer, comprising one or more of the hole transport/injection layer or the electron transport/injection layer. Therefore, in addition to developing an excellent luminescent material, the development of an excellent electron transport/injection material and hole transport/injection material are also critical to achieve a high-efficient polymer electroluminescent device.
The previous studies have found that the conjugated polyelectrolyte as well as its neutral precursor is a very excellent electron injection/transport material, which has a good solubility in a polar solvent and at the same time has an excellent electron transport property, so as to make it possible to manufacture a high-efficient multi-layer polymer electroluminescent device. Moreover, such material can also effectively increase the electron injection from the high work function metals (such as Al, Ag, Au) to the polymer semiconductor, further facilitating to achieve a macromolecular multi-layer device in a printing manner (Adv. Mater. 2007, 19, 810.). The subsequent studies have demonstrated that such conjugated polyelectrolyte material not only can be used in the luminescent device but also can be used as an interface modification layer so as to significantly increase the performances of the organic solar cell and the field-effect transistor.
However, most of the conjugated polyelectrolytes have free-movable counter ions, which can possibly diffuse into the luminescent layer, thus effecting the long-term stability of the device. Moreover, both the response speed of the device and the charge mobility of the conjugated polyelectrolytes are greatly influenced by the counter ions.

Amine-oxide-group-containing conjugated polymer photoelectric material and use thereof