Waste materials containing pathogenic microorganisms may be processed by a method that includes granulating the waste material; treating the granulated waste material by heating at a temperature of about 160.degree. to about 200.degree. C. at a pressure of about 90 to about 226 psi in an atmosphere of the steam from a non-isotonic salt solution. The treatment is conducted for a period of time sufficient to substantially reduce the amount of pathogenic microorganisms present in the waste material. After treatment, the material is separated into useful solid and liquid phases.

Various methods for treating or processing waste containing infectious material, i.e., waste containing various pathogenic microorganisms, are known in the art, and various technologies have been tested in attempts to effectively sterilize such wastes. However, the known, conventional processes have inherent disadvantages which limit their use.
The currently most widely used method of sterilizing or treating infectious wastes utilize thermal degradation as the primary treatment mechanism. The elevated temperatures used in these processes are generally achieved through dry air, steam or flame in order to sterilize infectious microorganisms by partial molecular degradation at lower temperatures or total molecular destruction at high temperatures.
An example of this type of method is the autoclave, which uses a combination of vacuum and pressurized steam to treat clinical products, such as instruments and containers, as well as to decontaminate post-patient care materials prior to disposal. The limitations of such sterilization systems include the possible escape of aerosolized and liquid borne pathogens through the drain and exhaust-ports of the system; the incomplete sterilization of materials containing pathogens resistant to the temperatures used; possible inadequate steam penetration to the center of the waste load; and the continuing requirement of storing, transporting and disposing the treated material, generally utilizing further incineration or landfills. Thus, this technology creates a secondary environmental problem relating to the disposal of the treated waste and is not designed to create any useful by-products from the treated materials.
Another conventional process utilizing thermal technology is incineration, which is presently the most commonly used infectious waste treatment method in the world. However, this technology is now coming under severe environmental criticism, and is subject to strict regulatory standards. In many instances, incineration is being banned entirely because of the likelihood that hazardous products are generated thereby. Thus, new guidelines regarding incineration involve higher standards relating to emissions, such as hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide, and new requirements relating to dioxins and furans produced from burning complex plastic materials, such as polyesters. In order to comply with these standards, conventional incineration technology must be re-designed significantly, making these treatment methods economically unfeasible. The problems resulting from potential toxic emissions from incineration processes are an additional limitation to the traditional problems of intermediate storage and transport associated with this process, as well as the disposal of the residual ash in landfills.
A third conventional method of treating infectious waste which employs thermal technology comprises heating the waste in large scale microwave systems. Microwave systems are particularly effective for sterilizing water-based tissue and materials which allow the absorption of microwave frequencies. However, microwave systems have been found to be ineffective for achieving thermal sterilization of dry matter. Moreover, microwave methods do not penetrate materials shielded by metallic enclosures, such as needles, syringes, etc. Such processes are also expensive for large volume treatment and produce disinfected waste which requires further disposal, with its accompanying costs and problems.
Waste treatment processes employing the use of chemicals are also known and used in the art. In general, there are two major chemical methodologies utilized in waste treatment systems, utilizing both gas and liquid mechanisms. An example of a gaseous system comprises contacting the waste load with an appropriate amount of a gaseous chemical agent such as ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, peracetic acid and beta-propyl acetone in an appropriate treatment vessel, such as an atmospheric chamber. Ethylene oxide gas is widely used in the sterilization of thermolabile materials, which would otherwise be damaged by exposure to heat and moisture. However, these treatment processes have fallen into disfavor since the chemicals used are considered to be probable human carcinogens and require extreme care and containment during use. These materials also remain hazardous after treatment and require special detoxification procedures so that their concentration in the treatment area meets safety standards.
Waste treatment methodology employing liquid chemicals comprises the use of chlorine which is a very strong oxidizing agent and reacts in water to form hypochlorite ions. An example of a treatment methodology employing liquid chlorine comprises granulating the waste material and then subjecting the granulated particles to a chlorine spray or bath treatment. The chlorine treatment disinfects the granulated waste material by oxidizing the pathogens. However, such systems have limitations relating to the drying and final disposal of the chlorinated disinfected wastes, the safe disposal of the residual chlorinated treatment solution and the comprehensiveness of the exposure and subsequent inactivation of all pathogens embedded in the waste mass.
More recent, emerging infectious waste treatment processes employ advanced technologies originating from the fields of electronics and physics. Such processes achieve the destruction of infectious microorganisms within the waste by bombarding the waste load with electron beams or electromagnetic radiation. Examples of such methodology presently in use employ gamma radiation, electron beam radiation and ultraviolet radiation to destroy the pathogens present in the waste load.
For example, gamma irradiation systems utilize powerful radiation originating from radioactive sources such as Cobalt-60 and Cesium-137. Such systems are primarily used for the sterilization of medical supplies and food. However, recent high power gamma irradiation systems have been designed to treat large volumes of infectious waste materials in continuous conveyorized facilities. The disadvantages of such systems include the obvious hazards to personnel which require extra safety measures, such as shielding of the radiation units, which ultimately decreases the cost efficiency of these methods. Moreover, the effectiveness of such processes are dependent on the continual adjustment of exposure durations in order to accommodate for the continuous decay of the radioactive material. A more serious problem of these systems relates to the disposal of the spent radiation sources and the treated waste due to the existence of trace radioactivity therein.
Another treatment comprises subjecting the waste material to electron beam radiation utilizing electron energies exceeding 10.sup.7 electron volts. Commercial linear accelerators are used extensively for the small scale sterilization of surgical bandages and other disposable medical products. However, the use of electron beam energy for the sterilization and treatment of infectious waste material requires a large scale installation with attendant problems relating to costs and occupational safety procedures. For example, the possibility of workers absorbing low level secondary x-ray radiation remains and the disposal of the treated waste requires full secondary storage, transport and final disposition. Moreover, while this method is generally effective in destroying existent pathogens, the penetration efficiency of the electron beam energies diminishes with distance, density and the presence of metallic shielding in the waste material caused by needles, syringes, etc., thus limiting the guarantee of total disinfection of the treated material.
A third type of radiation technology now being used to treat infectious waste material utilizes ultraviolet radiation. However, it has been found that in general, ultraviolet wavelengths are effective only for the surface treatment of the waste materials and therefore, are not appropriate for the processing of infectious waste materials requiring subsurface penetration to accomplish sterilization. This characteristic limits the use of ultraviolet radiation for treating large volume mixed infectious waste.
Processes for eliminating or reducing the concentration of pathogens within waste materials to produce fertilizer materials are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,191 discloses a process for ridding cotton gin waste of detrimental pathogens and weed seeds to produce a fertilizer. This process comprises chopping or grinding the gin waste and steaming the material by the temperature of 215.degree. F. and at constant pressure of 30 psig. U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,287 discloses a method of treating waste organic materials to produce a humic acid base fertilizer formulation which comprises granulating the material and then reacting the granulated material with water, acid and a base. A temperature of about 110.degree. to 280.degree. F. and a pressure of up to 30 psi is maintained in the reaction vessel. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,077 discloses a method of preparing natural nitrogenous particles useful as plant food by granulating waste material and then heating the material at a temperature of about 50.degree. to 100.degree. C. However, this patent discloses that heating at temperatures higher than 100.degree. C. disadvantageously causes the denaturing of proteins in the material. In contrast to the present method, none of these processes are directed to the treatment of infectious waste.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for treating infectious waste material to substantially reduce or eliminate the concentration of pathogens therein, which is safe, effective, economical and which produces useful products.


A method for managing an electrical power generation facility including an electrical power generation device, a storage device, and a control module is described. The method includes: assessing a power generation capacity of the generating device for a given period; determining a weighted generation capacity on the basis of said assessed generation capacity and at least one assessed power generation capacity of said generation device over a period preceding said given period; and determining, for a period after the given period, a discharge limit for the storage device on the basis of said weighted generation capacity. A related computer program, control module, and facility are also described.

The invention relates to a method for managing an electrical energy generation facility comprising an electrical energy storage device.
In this type of facility, the storage device is used to store electrical energy generated by a generation device comprised in the facility, for example when more energy is generated than is consumed by equipment connected to the output of the facility. Conversely, the energy stored in the storage device is output to the equipment in order to supplement the generated energy when the latter is insufficient to supply to the equipment.
To avoid certain phenomena of degradation and shortened service life of the storage device, occurring due to usage conditions beyond its optimum operating envelope, it is preferable to have precise control over the charging and discharging of this device.
In this context, it is known to regulate the charging and discharging of the storage device according to the voltage it presents and which provides information concerning the amount of electrical energy it contains. This amount is then made visible by a display device showing colors which each correspond to a range of available energy, for example green for a high level of energy, orange for a moderate level, and red for a low level.
This practice presents a major problem: the discharge currents generally used do not allow transitioning between the high level and the moderate level until the discharge percentage is between 60% and 80%, which means a lack of visibility in the 15%-50% discharge range, corresponding to one day of autonomy, keeping in mind that such autonomy is generally from two days to a week. A 15% discharge thus corresponds to one day of autonomy when the storage device has an autonomy of seven days, and 50% discharge corresponds to when the storage device has an autonomy of two days.
To improve the situation, it is known to compare these voltage measurements with measurements of the discharge current. For a given charge state, the greater the discharge current the lower the measured voltage. However, these quantities, and in particular the voltage, are affected by external factors such as temperature. To account for these effects which are difficult to model, manufacturers record a series of data charts. These charts correspond to fixed situations that may substantially differ from actual situations, particularly due to transient effects. In addition, the behavior of the storage device changes with age, which these charts do not take into account.
To remedy these problems, it is known to calculate the ampere-hours entering and leaving the storage device and to relate these ampere-hours to the capacity of the storage device. However, there is uncertainty in this method due to the unpredictable nature of the variations in current efficiency during the charge and discharge reactions. This gives rise to significant deviations from the estimated charge state when the charge state remains within the blind area of the voltage measurements. An adjustment must then be made when the charge state leaves this blind area. However, the deviations that occur may be such that readjustments to the charge state of the storage device by several tens of percentage points may be necessary, which is inconsistent with a precise evaluation and control of the charging and discharging of the storage device and an operation of said device within its optimum envelope.

Method and system using weighted generation capacity to improve management of electrical power generation facility


An example of apparatus to adjust an offset is provided. The apparatus also includes a printing device to generate a plurality of print jobs. The apparatus also includes an output bin to catch the plurality of print jobs. The apparatus includes a motor to move the output bin, wherein the output bin alternates between a first position and a second position between each print job of the plurality of print jobs. The apparatus also includes a controller to control the motor, wherein the controller is to update the position data based on the sensor data to provide uninterrupted operation of the printing device after the sensor detects the obstacle.

Imaging devices, such as printers, generate output which may be collected in a bin. For example, ink may be deposited on various types of media to generate documents, which are collected in a bin for subsequent retrieval by a user. In some devices, multiple sets of output are generated by a user or by multiple users. To separate the sets of output for the user, the bin may offset between each set of output to provide discrete stacks for retrieval.

Output bins with adjustable offset positions

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Background scan cells are selected from scan cells in a circuit based on specified bit distribution information for a plurality of test cubes generated for testing the circuit. A main portion and a background portion are then determined for each test cube in the plurality of test cubes. The background portion corresponds to the background scan cells. Test cubes in the plurality of test cubes that have compatible main portions are merged into test cube groups. Each test cube group in the test cube groups comprises a main test cube and background test cubes. A main test cube, supplied by a tester or a decompressor, may be shifted into the scan chains. A background test cube may be shifted into background chains and be inserted into the main test cube in the scan chains based on control signals.

As integrated circuit feature size continues to shrink, more functional blocks are integrated in a single chip. As such, circuit testing becomes more challenging. To minimize the number of defects undetected during manufacture testing, various test pattern sets for a wide range of fault models must be applied, thereby increasing test pattern counts significantly. The resultant high test data volume leads to high test costs. Reducing test data volume, therefore, has been an important area for circuit testing technology development.
On-chip test compression has become a standard design-for-test approach in industry today. The original idea of test data compression exploits the fact that the number of specified bits in test cubes is typically no more than 1% of total number of scan cells in the design. To achieve test compression, these specified bits are encoded as a LFSR (linear feedback shift register) seed. During a test, the encoded seed is decompressed by an on-chip LFSR and shifted into scan chains.
The encoding capacity can be improved by combining a linear finite-state machine (e.g., a ring generator) with a combinational linear decompressor (e.g., an XOR network). Compressed test stimuli, injected at both current and previous cycles, are utilized to encode the test stimulus needed at the current shift cycle. During a test, the compressed test stimuli are injected continuously while the decompressed test stimuli are shifted into scan chains. This dynamic reseeding approach enables a greater encoding capability than a static reseeding approach.
The encoding efficiency can be further improved through vector clustering. In this scheme, incompatible test cubes are merged to form a parent test cube and incremental test patterns along with a control pattern. During test data loading, the parent test pattern is combined with the incremental test patterns according to the control pattern to reconstruct the incompatible test cubes.
Still further test data volume reduction can be achieved and will be discussed below based on additional properties of test cubes.

Test data volume reduction based on test cube properties


A mechanism molded into the base of a high voltage distributor for mating with a fixed post, wherein the mechanism mounts and retains the distributor in a fixed position on an engine housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of high voltage commutators and, more specifically, is directed to a unique mechanism for mounting an ignition distributor onto the housing of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional distributors, such as those used in association with internal combustion engines, have a collar on a lower base portion which is held in proper timing position by use of a hold down bolt and clamp arrangement. In such an arrangement, the tightened bolt forces the clamp against the collar of the distributor base to hold it in place. This conventional type of mounting mechanism is shown in the 1974 Vega Service and Overhaul Manual page 6Y-29 and the Ford 1978 Car Shop Manual, Volume 2, page 23-01-3.
In conventional ignition systems employing a primary coil timing mechanism as part of the distributor, such as that shown in FIG. 1 on page 23-01-2 of the same Ford publication, timing may be retarded or advanced by respective rotation of the distributor housing clockwise or counterclockwise. This rotation is performed by loosening the hold down belt; rotating the distributor housing; and retightening the bolt to clamp the distributor in the new timing position.
In most automotive environments, this is a particularly difficult adjustment since the hold down bolt is underneath the main body of the distributor and cannot easily be seen or reached by the mechanic performing the adjustment.
Electronic engine controls, such as that shown in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,614, employ distributors that function solely as electrical commutators. Such distributors are separately located with respect to primary ignition timing assemblies and are not rotated to effect retardation or advancement of the spark to the spark plugs. Examples of commutation type distributors are shown in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,030, pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 853,698, now Pat. No. 4,182,940 filed Nov. 21, 1977 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,940.


An apparatus for holding a workpiece to a known position without regard to the angularity of the surface of the workpiece at the point of contact with the apparatus includes a disk shaped, substantially flat contact pad for engaging the workpiece. The surface of the contact pad opposite the workpiece is substantially spherical and fits in a conical seat so that the center point of the upper surface of the contact pad is always at an known position when the contact pad is seated, without regard to the angularity of the contact pad. A proximity detector determines when the contact pad is seated providing an indication to an operator that the workpiece is properly engaged by the apparatus. The contact pad is contained within the interior of a suction cup that engages the workpiece whereupon externally supplied vacuum pulls the suction cup and the workpiece together. A second embodiment employs the contact pad with an aperture therethrough so as to provide fluid communication to an air supply passing through the contact seat. The air supply provides an air bearing to enable a workpiece to be slid on a cushion of air.

This invention relates to manufacturing of workpieces and more particularly to apparatus and methods for positioning and holding workpieces during manufacturing operations.
In the manufacture of formed sheets of composite materials, for example, the material sheet or workpiece is typically formed to a particular shape and then trimmed to precisely fit the particular application. In the case of composite materials as used in the manufacture of aircraft, although the material is preformed to an appropriate shape, the material will bow or flex when removed from the tool used in forming. Therefore, when trimming the material, it is desirable to hold the material in its designed shape to allow precise trimming. In the past, the material would be held through the use of dies or tools which were of the same shape as the tool employed during forming. The material would be placed against the tool and held via clamping while further manufacturing operations were performed. Such operations may have included, for example, trimming the material to a proper size and shape. In accordance with this prior method, because each material sheet would likely have a contour that depended on the particular application, a separate tool was required for each part. The associated costs in storing and the setup time required to employ these tools was high. For example, in manufacturing a stabilizer from composite materials for a jet airliner, the tool necessary to hold the composite material in shape during trimming operations would be massive and of great weight, just in order to be able to support itself. The tool would then need to be stored when not in use and methods of moving the tool around to bring it to the appropriate point in the manufacturing area would need to be devised.
In order to avoid the tooling problem noted hereinabove, variable tooling fixtures have been devised wherein the shape or contour of the tooling fixture may be changed to accommodate a particular application. However, in order to have precise shapes required for aerodynamic surfaces, for example, it is desirable to have a workpiece precisely held to a tooling fixture. In the past, clamps have been used to hold material sheets to these fixtures, but such methods do not sufficiently hold the workpiece to the tool in some applications. Further, it often necessary to remove the clamps to enable trimming around a clamped area, slowing down operations and requiring manual intervention to reposition the clamps, thereby making the manufacturing process less automated. To avoid the clamping problems, systems employing vacuum suction to hold the workpiece to its particular shape have been devised. In such systems, it becomes desirable to determine whether the vacuum contact has been made as desired and to quickly locate any points on the workpiece where the workpiece is not pulled to the tool as tightly as needed for precise operations.
When devising a variable shape tooling fixture, it is desirable to be able to accurately determine the points in space where the tooling fixture contacts a particular workpiece, in order to be able to precisely hold the workpiece to a known position in space. A factor that complicates making such a determination is that the material of which the workpiece is comprised may be susceptible to damage if a tooling fixture employs a point contact with the workpiece. A surface area of contact must be used in order to avoid damaging the workpiece. However, if the tooling fixture employs a surface to contact the workpiece, determining the precise point in space of the workpiece when juxtaposed with the tooling fixture becomes difficult, since in a general case, the workpiece will be curved rather than flat. The tooling fixture must therefore provide a non-point contact with the workpiece but still be able to adapt to a general curved surface, while allowing precise determination of the position in space where the tooling fixture and workpiece make contact. Systems employing a vacuum have in the past used articulated vacuum cups that would tilt in two planes. However, providing vacuum through the area of articulation results in a complicated system which is difficult to manufacture in order to supply the needed vacuum while still allowing articulation.
Another problem arises when cutting workpieces of composite materials, for example, when the composite material includes graphite. Trimming operations in such case are likely to generate graphite particles which are conductive and therefore harmful to electrical systems unless precautions are taken to prevent graphite dust from reaching electrical systems. Therefore, any tooling fixture must be protected against damage from such particles.


In a transmission system with a transmitter coupled to a receiver a main signal encoded according to a coding property is transmitted together with an auxiliary signal (AUX). In order to transmit the auxiliary signal without needing additional space in the transmission frame, the auxiliary signal is transmitted by changing the coding property according to a predetermined sequence. This is done by means of the sequencer. In the receiver, the decoding of the predetermined sequence is performed by a decoder.

The present invention relates to a transmission system comprising a transmitter coupled via a transmission channel to a receiver, said transmitter being arranged for transmitting a main signal and an auxiliary signal to a receiver, which is arranged for receiving the main signal and the auxiliary signal.
The present invention also relates to a transmitter and a receiver for use in such a transmission system. The invention further relates to a transmission method, and a signal.
In transmission systems it is often desired to transmit in addition to a main signal an auxiliary signal. The main signal can e.g. be a speech signal to be transmitted via a radio link of a mobile telephone system. The auxiliary signal can be e.g. a control signal for requesting a reconfiguration of a the receiver to adapt it to a change of the signal it should receive.
It is possible to include a special field in the transmission frame for such auxiliary signal, but this inclusion of a special field in the transmission frame is very inefficient if the auxiliary signal is rarely used. It is also possible to use a frame structure which is changed when the auxiliary signal has to be transmitted. The use a variable frame structure results in a substantial increase of the complexity of the transmission systems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a transmission system according to the preamble in which the above mentioned inefficiency and added complexity are avoided.
To achieve said objective, the transmission system according to the invention is characterized in that the transmitter comprises an encoder for encoding the main signal in a way described by a coding property, in that the receiver comprises a decoder for decoding the main signal in a way described by the coding property, in that the transmitter comprises coding property sequencing means for changing the coding property according to a predetermined sequence dependent on the auxiliary signal, and in that the receiver comprises a sequence detector for detecting said predetermined sequence in the coding property.
In the transmission system according to the invention use is made of the fact that the main signal is often encoded. In general the main signal will be encoded according to a source coding scheme in order to reduce its bitrate, and/or to a channel encoding scheme to enable reliable transmission of the main signal over the transmission channel. The source coding scheme can involve the use of CELP coding for a speech signal, and the source coding can involve the use of error correcting codes such as a convolutional coder or a Reed-Solomon block code. The coding property can be the output bitrate of a speech encoder, or the rate of a convolutional encoder. In some transmission systems, the coding property can be changed on the fly to respond to a change of the capacity of the transmission channel. This capacity of the transmission channel can change due to a increased or decreased signal strength and/or interference received from a radio link, or due to more or less congestion of a transmission network such as the Internet.
By changing the coding property by purpose according to a predetermined sequence, it is possible to transmit the auxiliary signal to the receiver without reserving extra space in the frame structure or having to use a varying frame structure.
An embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the transmission system comprises transmission quality determining means for determining a transmission quality of the transmission channel, and adaptation means for adapting the coding property in dependence on the transmission quality, and in that the coding property sequencing means are arranged for changing the coding property only to values corresponding to a lower transmission quality than the transmission quality determined by the transmission quality determining means.
According to this measure, it is prevented that due to the actions of the coding property sequencing means the coding property is chosen in such a way that reliable transmission is not possible anymore. This could happen when the coding property sequencing means switch to a coding property suitable only for a transmission quality better than the present transmission quality.

Transmission system for transmitting a main signal and an auxiliary signal


The apparatus comprises at least one flowing furnace with which at least one handling unit cooperates, the handling unit being selectively connectable to a respective die. The at least one handling unit is associated with a guide for horizontal translatory motion between a casting position, which lies above the at least one furnace, and a discharge position. The at least one furnace can move vertically in order to couple and uncouple with respect to the corresponding die connected to the at least one handling unit.

The present invention relates to a low-pressure die-casting apparatus.
Conventional low-pressure die-casting apparatuses are usually constituted by a flowing furnace into which a tube is immersed in order to dispense, by feeding pressure into the furnace, the liquid metal into a die which is connected in an upward region to the metal draw tube.
In order to form hollow bodies, such as for example faucets and the like, a molding-sand core is arranged inside the die; the core must be destroyed, for example by simple shaking, once casting is completed.
At the furnace there is usually a handling unit which allows to perform the various handlings of the die and to load the cores, unload the cast part and perform all the operations for the graphitization and cooling of the dies.
The die is loaded so that the molten metal must enter it from below, because if the molten metal were to enter from above it would prevent the escape of the air and bubbles would therefore form which would reduce the quality of the finished product.
As mentioned above, the furnace has a tube which enters its crucible to draw in the vicinity of the bottom and in any case with a head which is sufficient to perform a certain number of die filling operations before having to open the furnace and introduce further material to be melted.
In conventional methods, the die is carried by a handling unit exactly above the furnace, as occurs for example in the Italian patent application no. MI96A001138 in the name of the same applicant, is made to descend vertically above it until its lower part, in which there is a hole through which the molten material must enter, makes contact with the tube that draws from the furnace.
Casting occurs by pressurizing the furnace by means of compressed air or another inert gas, so that the liquid metal rises along the tube, filling the entire die.
This method, however, required a very complicated handling unit.
Said handling unit, when it moves from the position above the furnace toward the discharge region, must in fact open in order to allow the exit of the finished product but must also rotate the die halves that constitute the die in order to place them in front of the operator.
In addition to this, the handling unit must be able to overturn the two die halves to allow graphitization and washing and cleaning of all the slag.
Accordingly, the handling unit must have the ability to perform a translatory motion and also to move downwards.
In the system described by the above-mentioned patent application no. MI96A001138 there are two furnaces and the handling unit must operate by moving to one region and then to the other and is accordingly very complicated.


Air containing foreign particles is admitted into a cylindrical portable housing at the input end and cleaned air is discharged from the outlet end. A liquid supply has an open bath at the bottom of the housing. A source of liquid is controlled to supply liquid to the bath upon the level of the liquid falling below a predetermined magnitude. A spray sprays liquid from the bath into the housing, whereby foreign particles in the air entering the housing are coated with the liquid. Air entering the housing throws the liquid-coated particles onto a helical vane affixed in the housing. The particles are dispersed by the vane and helical ribbons mounted on the vane. A rotary vane has a plurality of blades mounted for rotation within the helical ribbons, and the blades collect and coalesce liquid mists on their surfaces. Air entering the housing rotates the blades, and the foreign particles are dispersed from such blades and helical ribbons mounted in the housing and extending from the blades of the helical vane onto all surfaces in the housing and into the liquid bath, while clean air is discharged at the outlet end.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing foreign particles from air. More particularly, the invention relates; to an apparatus for cleaning air in an auto body repair shop and in industrial areas where foreign particles such as; dust, dirt, paint, and the like, are in air.
The repair and refinishing of automobile bodies, for example, produce a variety of particles which become airborne during these processes. Included in these particles are dust, dirt, grindings, paints and primers. Air also includes vapors and fumes from the repairing materials. The particles, vapors and fumes are air contaminants which endanger the lives of people breathing air in or near the shop.
Presently utilized apparatus used to clean dusty air in auto body shops include media filters, or electrostatic particle traps which are usually suspended from the ceiling. This results in the disadvantage of lighter airborne contaminants slowly travelling up to the filter through the breathing space of the people working at ground level, thereby permitting heavier contaminants to remain at ground level, where people are breathing. Another disadvantage is that such a prior art apparatus recirculates shop air, permitting unfilterable vapors and fumes to remain in air being inhaled. Still another disadvantage of such an apparatus is that as the filters and traps accumulate dust, and the like, their air flow rate lowers and diminishes their intake capabilities.
Presently utilized air cleaning apparatus is not designed to accept paint and primer particles, due to the sticky adhesive nature of such particles. This creates a need for additional specialized equipment, such as, for example, sprayed paint exhausting enclosures, or booths, which include either common replaceable dry media filters, or wet wash to capture airborne paint particles. Wet washing is commonly used in high production applications and utilizes large, expensive, stationary booths. Furthermore, neither dry nor wet sprayed paint exhaust systems are suited to continually accept dust and dirt, and are likely to clog if they do.
Known air cleaning apparatus is primarily designed to remove specific particulate from air, whereas specific designs limit the various particles the apparatus may remove from air. More importantly, known air cleaning apparatus functions at specific air flow rates, and if an air cleaning apparatus were to operate at a much higher air flow rate, the ability to keep people in the contaminated area from breathing harmful contaminants would be greatly increased.
Air cleaning apparatus of the prior art is normally stationary, having specific particulate intake capabilities, leaving a manufactured product to revolve in manufacture to a different specific work area for completion. In small business applications this concept makes inefficient use of skilled labor and floor space. Therefore, a combination particulate, portable air cleaning device will enhance limited size businesses with labor savings by increased production from healthier employees and a variable use work area, as well as capital savings due to elimination of multiple equipment and floor space expenditures. The failure of air cleaning apparatus of the prior art to provide all of the aforementioned important services in an affordable, portable combination particulate, operationally cost effective, situation adaptable, high volume unit may be its greatest drawback. This leaves the small business operation, or hobbyist in need of an air cleaning system that is able to provide effective air cleaning in today's variable and non-variable particulate producing work places.
The principal object of the invention is to provide a portable apparatus for removing foreign particles from air.
An object of the invention is to provide apparatus for removing foreign particles from air with efficiency, effectiveness and reliability.
Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive apparatus for removing foreign particles from air.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing foreign particles from air and thereby cleaning large volumes of air at high speed.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing foreign particles from air, which apparatus does not permit contaminants to remain in the cleaned area.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing foreign particles from air, which apparatus does not recirculate shop air and thereby prevents vapors and fumes from remaining in air.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing foreign particles, including paint and paint primer particles, from air.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing foreign particles from air, which apparatus will not clog.
Another object of the invention is to provide a wet cleaning apparatus for removing foreign particles from air.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing foreign particles from air, which apparatus is capable of extended continuous operation.

Apparatus for removing foreign particles for air


A refurbished headlight or the like, with restored translucency, transparency, and luster and high durability, is provided as the aged headlight or the like of polycarbonate resin. Furthermore, a new headlight or the like, with a polycarbonate resin lens which is not degraded by aging over a long period of time, is provided. A headlamp, on which a membrane of clear urethane binder resin is provided after a surface layer of reinforced plastic or the like remaining on a lens surface and degraded parts of a lens body are removed by grinding, is provided. When a yellow tinge remains on the lens body, the headlamp, on which the membrane of urethane binder resin is provided by applying a purple-black mixed urethane coating mixed with a purple-black mixing pigment, is provided. Moreover, a new headlamp that has a membrane of clear urethane binder resin on a lens surface is provided.

Various kinds of headlights and the like are used for automobiles, and a polycarbonate resin, which is lightweight, unbreakable, and has excellent translucency, is used as a material for a lens body that is a surface for transmitting light emitted by an illuminant. Since the polycarbonate resin is degraded or turned yellow by ultraviolet rays, in the case of new vehicles, a surface layer of reinforced plastic or a surface layer of a resin containing an ultraviolet ray absorbent (hereinafter simply referred to as "a surface layer of reinforced plastic or the like") is provided to prevent the lens body from degrading or yellowing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, after multiple years of use, automobiles have a problem of age deterioration wherein the surface layer of reinforced plastic or the like is partially exfoliated and the surface of the lens body ages and turns yellow because the surface of the bare lens body is exposed to ultraviolet rays or acid rain or hit by flying gravel flipped up by wheels. In addition, since the surface of the lens body of the headlights or the like which was degraded and turned yellow, lacks translucency, transparency, and luster, decreasing brightness of the headlight or the like and impairing of an aesthetic appearance have been problems.

Headlight or the like having urethane binder resin on lens


A photo-optic attachment for a conveyor roller comprises an end cap mountable on the conveyor roller and a photo-optic disc mountable on the end cap. The end cap includes an outwardly facing surface having a raised boss. The photo-optic disc includes an opening sized and shaped to register with the boss on the end cap. The photo-optic disc is retained on the end cap by a spring clip which is insertable over the end of the boss. The shape of the boss and the opening in the photo-optic disc is such to prevent relative rotation between the end cap and the photo-optic disc thereby providing a more accurate measure of the conveyor roller speed.

On many belt conveyors, and particularly on treadmills, it is necessary to maintain accurate control over the speed of the conveyor. Numerous electronic devices are available for controlling the speed of the electric motor which powers the conveyor belt. Such device typically employ a feedback signal to the motor controller that is proportional to the conveyor belt speed. When the speed of the conveyor belt deviates from its predetermined settings, the motor controller is operative to adjust the speed of the conveyor to bring it back to its predetermined setting.
Photo-optic methods are frequently used to measure the speed of the conveyor. One such method uses a photo-optic disc mounted on the output shaft of the motor. A light emitter is disposed on one side of the disc, and a light detector is disposed on the opposite of the disc. As the motor runs, the photo-optic disc periodically interrupts the transmission of light from the emitter to the detector. The frequency of the resulting on/off signals is fed back to the electronic controller to provide an indication of the conveyor belt speed. In this manner, reasonably accurate speed control can be obtained.
There are several drawbacks with the prior art method of mounting an optical disc on the motor output shaft. Typically, the motor is not directly connected to the conveyor belt pulley, but uses a belt drive arrangement. As the belt drives wear, slippage can occur between the belt and the pulleys. As a result, the indicated speed does not always match the actual speed of the conveyor belt. Additionally, mounting a photo-optic disc on the motor requires additional parts, such as shaft adapters. These additional parts increase the cost of the equipment.

Photo-optic attachment for conveyor rollers


A positive resist composition comprising an alkali-soluble resin and a light-sensitive quinonediazide material containing a quinonediazidesulfonic acid ester of at least one phenol compound represented by the following general formulas: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 represents hydrogen, halogen, or the like; R.sub.3 represents alkyl or phenyl; x represents 1-3; Q.sub.1 to Q.sub.12 represent hydrogen, alkyl or phenyl; and Z.sub.1 to Z.sub.5 represent the groups of the following formulas: ##STR2## wherein R.sub.2 is hydrogen, halogen or the like; R.sub.3 is as defined above; y is 1-3; and p is 0 or 1. This positive resist composition is excellent in the balance between properties such as resolution, profile, depth of focus, etc.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a positive resist composition which responds to radiations such as ultraviolet ray, far ultraviolet rays including excimer laser and the like, electron beam, ion beam, X ray and the like.
2. Related Art
Recently, with a rise in the integration level of integrated circuits, formation of patterns of sub-micron order is required, and it is desired to provide a positive resist composition which is excellent in various properties such as a profile, a depth of focus and resolution. In particular, for the production of 16-64M DRAMs, it is required to resolve a pattern having a line width of 0.5 .mu.m or less with a good profile and a broad depth of focus.
In SPIE Vol. 1086, Advances in Resist Technology and Processing VI (1989)/Pages 363-373, there are mentioned positive resist compositions comprising cresol/formaldehyde novolak resin and a triester obtained through a condensation reaction of naphthoquinone-2-diazide-5-sulfonic acid with each of 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzophenone, 2,6-bis[(2-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl)methyl]-4-methylphenol and 2,6-bis[( 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl)-methyl]-4methylphenol.
In Japanese Patent Application KOKAI No. 2-285351, there is mentioned a positive photoresist composition comprising an alkali-soluble novolac resin and a photosensitive material obtainable by reacting a polyhydroxy compound having in one molecule at least one group represented by the following formula: ##STR3## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each represent hydrogen atom or a straight chain or branched chain alkyl or alkoxy group having 1-4 carbon atoms provided that R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 cannot simultaneously be hydrogen atom, and 1,2-naphthoquinone-5-(and/or -4-) sulfonyl chloride. In Japanese Patent Application KOKAI No. 2-296249, there is mentioned a positive resist composition comprising an alkali-soluble phenolic resin and a photosensitive material containing a quinonediazidesulfonate of a compound represented by the following formula: ##STR4## wherein R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 each represent hydrogen atom, halogen atom, alkyl, alkenyl or alkoxy group having 1-4 carbon atoms or hydroxyl group provided that at least one of R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 is a group of the following formula: ##STR5## wherein R.sup.6 and R.sup.7 each represent halogen atom, alkyl group or alkenyl group and n represents 0, 1 or 2. Further, in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI No. 62-10646, there is mentioned a positive photoresist composition comprising an alkali-soluble phenolic resin and a photosensitive material containing a condensation product of a phenol compound represented by the following formula: ##STR6## wherein R.sup.2 to R.sup.3 each represent hydrogen atom or lower alkyl group, with o-quinonediazidesulfonyl chloride. Further, in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI No. 2-296248, there is mentioned a positive resist composition comprising an alkali-soluble phenolic resin and, as a photosensitive material, a quinonediazidesulfonate represented by the following formula: ##STR7## wherein R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 each represent hydrogen atom, halogen atom, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, alkenyl or alkoxy, or hydroxyl group, provided that at least one of R.sup.1 to R.sup.5 is a group of the following formula: ##STR8## and A represents --S--, --O--, --C(O)--, --C(O)--O--, --S(O)--, --(O)S(O)-- or --C(R.sup.7)(R.sup.8)-- wherein R.sup.6 represents halogen atom, alkyl group or alkenyl group, R.sup.7 and R.sup.8 each represent hydrogen atom, alkyl group, alkenyl group or phenyl group, and n represents 0, 1 or 2.
None of these composition, however, have been able to resolve a pattern having a line width of 0.5 .mu.m or less with a broad depth of focus and with a good profile.


An alignment piece (1, 9) for a connector for optical conductors (16) comprises a support plate (2, 10), a guiding plate (3, 11) made with very high accuracy and one or more alignment channels (4) for the conductors. The guiding plate (3, 11) has an end edge (5) in which the ends of the alignment channels are made as V-shaped slots (6) and the support plate (2, 10) is provided with an inclining guiding surface (8) in which the alignment channels (4) extend. The inclining guiding surface (8) of the support plate (2, 10) ends at a distance from the end edge (5) of the guiding plate (3, 11) wherein a support member (14, 20) is provided between this end edge and the guiding surface (8), which support member (14, 20) projects above the guiding surface (8). This support member (14, 20) supports the conductors (16) during introduction under such an angle of inclination that the conductors project above the end edge of the guiding plate (3, 11).

The invention relates to an alignment piece for a connector for optical conductors, comprising a support plate, a guiding plate manufactured with very high accuracy and one or more alignment channels for the conductors, said guiding plate having an end edge in which the ends of the alignment channels are made as V-shaped slots and wherein the support plate is provided with an inclining guiding surface in which the alignment channels extend.
Such an alignment piece is described in the earlier international patent application PCT/EP95/02403 of the same applicant. In an embodiment of this alignment piece wherein the guiding plate is mounted as a separate part on the support plate, a problem may occur during introducing the conductors, in that the ends of the conductors are stopped by an edge of the guiding plate.
The invention aims to provide an alignment piece of the above-mentioned type wherein this problem is overcome in an effective manner.

Alignment piece for a connector for optical conductors


Disclosed is a display panel. The display panel includes a plurality of first electrodes, a plurality of second electrodes, a plurality of first electrode lines, and a plurality of second electrode lines. The first electrodes are provided in a display part and are used as a common electrode and a touch electrode. The second electrodes are used a common electrode and each second electrode is disposed adjacent to at least one of the first electrodes. The first electrode lines extend to a non-display part disposed outside the display part and are each connected to a corresponding one of the first electrodes. The second electrode lines extend to the non-display part and are connected to at least two of the second electrodes and supply a common voltage to the second electrodes connected to the second electrode lines.

Field of Technology
The present disclosure relates to a display panel and a display device including the same, which include a built-in touch panel.
Discussion of the Related Art
A touch panel is a type of input device, which is included in display devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, organic light emitting display devices, etc., and enables a user to input information by directly touching a screen with a finger, a pen, or the like while looking at the screen of a display device.
Recently, the demand for in-cell type display devices each including a plurality of elements which configure a touch panel and are built into a display panel for slimming portable terminals such as smartphones, tablet personal computers (PCs), etc. is increasing.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a configuration of a related art in-cell type display device, and particularly, is an exemplary diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-cell type display device where driver integrated circuits (ICs) are disposed in an upper end and a lower end of a display panel. The display panel configuring the in-cell type display device is referred to as an in-cell type display panel.
The in-cell type display panel may be categorized into a self-capacitance type and a mutual-capacitance type. In FIG. 1, an in-cell type display panel 10 using the self-capacitance type is illustrated. A plurality of touch electrodes 20 are provided in the in-cell type display panel 10 using the self-capacitance type. The touch electrodes 20 are each used as a common electrode.
Generally, an in-cell type display panel using a self-capacitance type is applied to small terminals such as mobile terminals, notebook computers, monitors, etc. In the small terminals, since the number of touch electrodes is small, the display panel may be driven by a driver IC disposed on one side of the display panel.
However, if a size of the in-cell type display panel using the self-capacitance type is enlarged, the number of touch electrodes increases exponentially. The number of driver ICs increases by an increase in number of the touch electrodes. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more driver ICs 40 are disposed in each of an upper end and a lower end of the in-cell type display panel 10 applied to a large in-cell type display device. The one or more driver ICs 40 are attached on a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 30, and the FPCB 30 is connected to a main board (not shown).
The touch electrodes 20 disposed in an upper end of a center portion L of the in-cell type display panel 10 are connected to the driver IC 40, disposed in the upper end of the in-cell type display panel 10, through touch lines 21. The touch electrodes 20 disposed in a lower end of the center portion L of the in-cell type display panel 10 are connected to the driver IC 40, disposed in the lower end of the in-cell type display panel 10, through other touch lines 21.
In a related art display device, as described above and illustrated in FIG. 1, each of the touch electrodes 20 is connected to a corresponding touch line 21, and the touch lines 21 are connected to the driver IC 40.
As a size of a display device is enlarged, the number of the touch electrodes 20 and the number of the touch lines 21 increase exponentially.
As the number of the touch lines 21 increases, a transmittance of the display panel 10 is reduced.
As the number of the touch lines 21 increases, the number of the driver ICs 40 which supply touch signals to the touch electrodes 20 and receive sensing signals from the touch electrodes 20 increases.
In order not to increase the number of the driver ICs 40, the number of pins of the driver ICs 40 should increase, and to this end, a structure of each of the driver ICs 40 should be modified.

In-cell display panel having touch electrodes and common electrodes and display device including the same


A new and distinct cultivar of winter hardy hibiscus plant named xe2x80x98Aquarianxe2x80x99 is the result of a unique hybridization. This new and distinct cultivar is characterized primarily as to novelty by, its extreme cold hardiness to Zone 4, large, thick-textured, lavender-pink flowers and its xe2x80x9cSpoon-shapedxe2x80x9d leaves with a purple cast, compactness of about 3 feet, its vigorous and uniform growth habit, and its floriferous nature from mid-summer until frost.

Hibiscus moscheutosxc3x97H. coccineus.
The new plant of this invention is the result of a unique hybridization, with the breeding achievement being evidenced in the outstanding combination of characteristics exhibited by this new and distinct Hibiscus plant, which include:
(a) Refined, xe2x80x9cspoon-shapedxe2x80x9d leaves which are xe2x80x9cMaple-likexe2x80x9d with a rounded, rather than an acute middle lobe green with a purple cast, and relatively smooth margins which combined compliments the landscape;
(b) Large flowers that are outstanding for their lavender pink overlapping petals with reddish purple centers and overlapping nature;
(c) The plant being very floriferous with flowers that stay open at least one full day;
(d) The plant being small but vigorous with stouter stems, compact and uniform breaking action which gives it unique landscape utility; and
(e) The plant being so hardy that it can consistently withstand winter temperatures of at least xe2x88x9230 degrees Fahrenheit.
xe2x80x98Aquarianxe2x80x99 was the result of a 40-year breeding program. Its ancestry includes Hibiscus moscheutos and Hibiscus coccineus. More specifically, the plant resulted from multiple crossings with xe2x80x98Pink Perfectionxe2x80x99, a Fleming Hibiscus moscheutos (nonpatented) and an unnamed Fleming Hibiscus coccineus (nonpatented). The seedling which most nearly met all of the above named standards was selected.
This new plant first bloomed in the summer of 1990 and was selected by David Fleming and Gretchen Zwetzig on David Fleming""s property in Lincoln, Nebr. Asexual propagation of the plant by cuttings and root division has shown that the unique and distinguishing features of the plant are faithfully transmitted from generation to generation and appear to be fixed.
Since its origin, the plant has bloomed from midsummer until frost, while exhibiting the aforementioned distinctive characteristics. This Hardy Hibiscus plant greatly contributes to the market with its , sheer beauty and utter refinement, its compact growth habit, its enhanced resistance to disease and insects, its stability through extremes in rain and drought, and its extreme hardiness.

Hibiscus plant named xe2x80x98Aquarianxe2x80x99


A high-performance drilling stabilizer is provided that is high in both wear resistance and strength. Blades are bonded to a stabilizer body. The blade is split into at least two segments. The blade segments are bonded to the stabilizer body to form the blade. A laminate made of cemented carbide and having a laminate structure made up of at least two layers is bonded to the top of each of the blade segments. The laminate has a thickness of between 1 mm and 5 mm. The cobalt contents of the respective layers decrease stepwise from the innermost layer toward the outermost layer.

The present invention relates to a drilling stabilizer for guiding and stabilizing a drill bit and a drill string for boring an oil or natural gas well.
An oil or natural gas well is drilled by rotating a drill bit connected to the surface through a drill string. A drilling stabilizer is used to guide the drill bit at the tip and the drill string and stabilize their movement. High strength and high wear resistance are required for such a stabilizer because it collides hard against rocky wall of the drilled hole.
FIG. 6 shows a conventional blade-welded type stabilizer having its steel blades 2a welded to the outer periphery of its body 1a. To improve wear resistance of the blades 2a, a plurality of buttons 3 made of cemented carbide are pressed into the surface of each steel blade 2a, and the blades 2a are welded to the outer periphery of the stabilizer body 1a.
As shown in FIG. 7, for a stabilizer having blades 2b integral with the stabilizer body 1b, cemented carbide inserts 4 are arranged at a high density on each blade 2b, and the blades 2b are brazed to the surface of a steel blade body 1b by use of a hardened brazing filler.
The present inventors disclosed composite materials comprising a steel substrate and cemented carbides bonded by current pressure sintering with gradient composition in unexamined Japanese patent publication 9-194909, and in a Japanese technical magazine "Powder and Powder Metallurgy" vol. 43 (1996), p472 and vol. 44 (1997), p269. These are formed by laminating cemented carbide layers having different compositions. The cemented carbide layer adjacent the steel substrate has a high cobalt content while the cemented carbide layer on the surface side has a low cobalt content to suppress thermal stresses during sintering resulting from a difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the cemented carbide and steel, and to provide a high-hardness outer cemented carbide layer and a high-toughness inner cemented carbide layer. Thus, the inner layer and the surface layer perform separate functions, thereby providing an unprecedented cemented carbide structure that is high in both wear resistance and resistance to chipping.
It is also disclosed that by adjusting the laminate structure, a suitable compressive residual stress is introduced into a surface portion, so that it is possible to improve the resistance to chipping of the cemented carbide portion.
The present inventors also disclosed in Collection of Articles published by Petroleum Technology Society, 1996, P103 that high performance can be expected by using the cemented carbide/steel material of a gradient composition in the blade-welded type stabilizer shown in FIG. 8 and by bonding the above-mentioned laminate 5 over the entire top surface of each blade 2c provided on the stabilizer body 1c.
In the conventional arrangement in which cemented carbide buttons are buried in a steel blade, since steel and cemented carbide widely differ in wear resistance, the steel portion, which is inferior in wear resistance, tends to wear more quickly in use than the cemented carbide portions, so that the cemented carbide buttons tend to protrude from the steel. This increases the possibility of chipping of the cemented carbide buttons, resulting in the shortening of life. Further, in the conventional type, the corner of the blade has to be necessarily formed from steel, so that the blade ridges tend to be damaged which collide against the wall of the drilled hole.
Also, in the conventional button-buried type, in order to improve wear resistance, it is necessary to increase the number of cemented carbide buttons pressed into steel. But since the buttons have to be supported by the steel substrate, the number of buttons that can be buried in the substrate is limited. About 30% is the upper limit in the ratio of area of buttons to the entire surface area of the steel substrate. Thus, to improve wear resistance, that of the cemented carbide buttons is important. For this purpose, cemented carbide containing 7-9% Co is used. But cemented carbide having this composition tends to chip during use. That is, such a cemented carbide is low in resistance to chipping.
Further, the blades 1a-1c of the conventional stabilizers have a rectangular shape with one side longer than the other side. In order to form blades having such a rectangular shape in a current pressure sintering apparatus, a large facility is needed, so that the manufacturing cost tends to be high.
Further, if a cemented carbide member is bonded to the entire surface of the blades of the stabilizer except its sides, i.e. the entire top surface, the outer ridges of the blades will be of cemented carbide instead of conventional steel, so that the ridges, which collide first against the wall of the drilled hole, tend to chip.
Also, different loads act on different portions of the blades of the stabilizer, and during use of the stabilizer, lower portions tend to be damaged more severely than upper portions, so that the lower slope tends to be damaged most severely while the upper slope tends to be the least damaged. Since different portions are damaged to different degrees, it was desired to improve durability of blades by remedying such uneven damage. In the cemented carbide button-buried arrangement, according to the degree of damage, the number of cemented carbide buttons is changed to increase the surface area ratio of cemented carbide at portions that tend to be damaged. But the adjustable range is limited.
The blades had a top surface comprising a central curved surface and slopes at both ends. Since the slopes are flat and the ridges forming the boundaries between the central curved surface and the flat slopes at both ends are angular, stresses tend to concentrate on the ridges. In the case of steel, this is no problem. But if a cemented carbide member is bonded to the steel substrate over its entire surface, it tends to be damaged due to stress concentration on the ridges.
Further, in future, stabilizers will have to be used in increasingly hostile environments because they are expected to be used not only to dig deeper holes but many oblique and even horizontal holes from a single rig besides vertical holes to dig oil and natural gas. Thus, it is desired to further improve wear resistance and strength of the blades of stabilizers because these factors greatly influence the life of the stabilizers.
An object of this invention is to provide a high-performance drilling stabilizer that is high in both wear resistance and strength.

Japan Research and Development Center for Metals


A hardly gas permeable and airtightly sealed package encloses a container containing infusion. The package also encloses an amount of deoxidizing agent. The package comprises a hardly deformable tray and a flexible lid bonded to the flange of said tray. The container comprises a discharge port, a container main body and a neck connecting said port and said main body. A jagged or irregular portion having a profile corresponding to that of the port and neck is integrally formed with the tray. The irregular portion controls the movement of the container relative to the package.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a packaged article and, more particularly, it relates to a packaged article to be suitable used for storing infusion that contains oxygen degradable substances such as amino acids with the passage of time under stable conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transfusion, or drip transfusion, is a therapeutic technique to be used for administering a large quantity of liquid medicine to the patient through a vein. Infusions used for transfusion typically include nutrient solutions designed to cause nutrients to be taken into the patient in a non-intestinal way, electrolyte solutions designed to cure the dehydration and improve the humor of the patient and plasma booster solutions designed to maintain the blood pressure of the patient during a surgical operation.
Of these infusions, sugar solutions, amino acid solutions, fat emulsions are among the most popular ones.
Any of these infusions are used for improving the physical strength of the patient during and after the surgical operation and often show a remarkable effect particularly when the patient is not capable of ingesting foods per-intestine.
Amino acid solutions used for transfusion normally contain essential amino acids and quasi-essential amino acids as well as non-essential amino acids prescribed to show a composition that facilitates intake by the human body and can be categorized into several groups including one based on the amino acids found in human milk. Nutrient solutions prepared by adding one or more than one sugar alcohols such as xylitol or electrolytes to amino acid solutions are also popularly used.
A fat emulsion is in fact an O/W type emulsion prepared by adding a physically permissible emulsifier to one or more than one kinds of vegetable oil such as soybean oil. Therefore, it normally contains as nutritious ingredients palmitic acid, stearic acid and other saturated fatty acids as well as oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid and other unsaturated fatty acids. Fat emulsions additionally containing unsaturated fatty acids that are important but not found in vegetable oils such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid are also gaining popularity.
Infusions as described above are conventionally contained in medical containers such as vials, synthetic resin bottles and synthetic resin film bags for ease of distribution and use.
While each of these containers has its own advantages and disadvantages, a synthetic resin film bag or a synthetic resin bottle may be recommendable as it is less expensive and practically free from damages during transportation.
Synthetic resin materials to be used for infusion containers need to meet the following requirements;
(1) not permeable to liquid,
(2) capable of completely blocking invasion of micro-organisms from outside,
(3) having sufficient mechanical strength if used for infusion containers,
(4) sufficiently heat-resistive if heated for sterilization and
(5) free from problems due to exudation.
Polyvinyl chloride and crosslinked ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin (crosslinked EVA resin) are among popularly used synthetic resin materials that meet the above requirements.
Solutions containing amino acids, electrolytes and/or sugar alcohols and fat emulsions as described above are accompanied by a problem of being colored brown (hereinafter referred to as browning) during storage to lose totally or partly their commercial values.
Browning occurs when any of the ingredients of a solution are chemically affected by oxygen existing in the solution. Therefore, browning is not only a problem of appearance but a problem of reducing the concentration of amino acids and fats in the solution and producing chemicals that may adversely affect the human body. Browning can also be observed in fat emulsions, where unsaturated fatty acids contained in them are decomposed with time to produce peroxides and thereafter aldehydes, ketones or carboxylic acids, giving rise to problems such as reduction in the pH level.
The problem of browning becomes particularly remarkable when synthetic resin bottles or bags are used for containers. This is because synthetic resins used as materials for bottles and bags such as vinylchloride resins and cross linked EVA resins possess a certain degree of gas permeability and therefore oxygen molecules in air can get into the infusions contained in the bottles and bags to increase the concentration of dissolved oxygen. This is a phenomenon that vials are exempted from.
In an attempt to avoid the problem of gas permeability, there has been proposed a hardly gas permeable sack prepared by laying a pair of polyester resin sheets together, vapor depositing aluminum on the opposite surfaces and heat-sealing the periphery of the sheets by means of a hot-melt type adhesive so that it may hermetically enclose a synthetic resin bottle or bag.
However, a sack as described above is accompanied by certain problems. Firstly, it is inconvenient for storing because it is deformable. Secondly, it can be flattened when placed under a heavy load during storage or transportation and adversely affect the item contained in it. Thirdly, the item contained in it can become shaky and displaced during haulage and eventually damage the sealed area of the sheets to produce pin holes or separation of sheets, which by turn ruin the airtightness of the sack.


A system and method (130, 135 and 140) for a user of a multichannel broadcasting service listening to a particular channel provides alerts about the content currently available on other channels which are of interest to the user. Auxiliary data streams of interest can be presented for display in conjunction with the audio transmission of a related or unrelated channel. The system and method include storing criteria associated with programming or auxiliary content of interest to a user and searching for unique identifiers within the broadcast signal signifying the availability of content which meets the criteria. Content of interest can be, for example, traffic information (105, 110, 120, 111 and 125), sports games available on other channels, sports scores, stock or other trading instruments prices, news headlines or travel information.

With the rise of terrestrial satellite technology, there are now available a number of digital satellite radio services which beam hundreds of channels of programming to subscribers in automobiles, boats, and other land-based locations. Consumers enjoy the signal clarity of such multichannel broadcast systems, as well as the convenience of not having to listen to commercials, as these services are generally based on a commercial-free and subscriber fee business model. Although there are a large variety of programming channels available, subscribers tend to listen to at most a few channels, and generally, one channel most of the time. Nonetheless, since there is some content crossover between channels, as well as the fact that many users have multiple interests across a wide-ranging variety of musical and other channel content genres, it is quite likely that while a particular consumer is listening to one channel, the content of other channels may be of interest to him or her.
Additionally, in the world of television, media consumers have become accustomed to viewing one program in a main viewing window and simultaneously having available a text based datastream continuously running across the bottom of the screen. This is seen, for example, in major media news and sports broadcasts such as the Fox News Channel, the Bloomberg channel or ESPN. The analogous feature for satellite radio is the ability to listen to one channel while having auxiliary information, such as sports scores, last stock prices, weather alerts, etc. simultaneously available on a receiver display.
Conventionally, one way to most efficiently find programming of interest to a particular listener would be to either obtain detailed programming schedules in advance and change channels to always listen to particular channels, or to simply continually scan through the various channels as is done with television remote control devices, and keep switching until a song, artist, news or sports channel of interest is located.
Given the fact that multichannel broadcast systems, such as, for example, digital satellite radio services, can process, distribute and format the bit streams they broadcast in numerous ways, they have opportunities to provide, along with particular audio bit streams, textual and other non-audio data which may be of interest to a user.
One example for which this capability has been utilized is textual description of the audio clips being played. In such implementations, textual data can be embedded within the audio bit stream of each one of the broadcast audio channels. Such textual data is often referred to as Program Descriptive Text, or "PDT." PDT can be utilized to display information to a user which is descriptive of the audio content he or she is currently listening to. Such data can include, for example, the song name, the recording artist, the composer and other associated information. Alternatively, PDT data can be sent in a separate bitstream from the audio data in an associated service channel.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/900,935, under common assignment herewith, contains a detailed description of how a receiver can search through transmitted PDT for all of the channels in a multichannel broadcasting system, whether by analyzing service channel PDT or PDT embedded within each audio channel, and determine whether any of the PDT data matches any audio selections on a user defined playlist. If such a match is found, a receiver can, based on relative user defined rankings of the audio clip currently being listened to and the newly matched audio clip, automatically tune to the channel where the matched audio selection is being played. The disclosure of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/900,935 is hereby fully incorporated herein by this reference.
In addition to the utility of such a feature, there are other possible choices besides using PDT to locate matches to a playlist and then either change stations or not change stations based on user defined rules. The ability of multichannel digital broadcast systems to simultaneously transmit audio as well as textual and other data can also be utilized to provide users with a variety of other desirable services. For example, listeners may wish to continue to listen to a particular channel without being switched to a given sports game of interest to them. Nonetheless, they may desire to be alerted whenever the score changes, or at least when a significant score change occurs. Or, for example, a user may wish to keep an eye on the stock market indices, or a certain number of stocks in particular, while enjoying other audio programming. Or, for example, while driving to a destination where various possible routes exist they may desire to be alerted when a traffic report is available and then, once having heard the report, be able to conveniently return to the prior channel.
Thus it would be desirable to have in the art a system and method which can efficiently provide users of multichannel broadcast systems with alternative ways to select audio content of interest on a particular channel not currently being played, as well as to provide auxiliary data streams for display in conjunction with related and unrelated audio programming.

Program and data alerts and auxiliary datastreams in a multichannel broadcast system


A method, system, and computer readable medium which automatically determine the side, field and a level of image quality of fundus images of the retina of a human eye is disclosed. The disclosure combines image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition techniques in a unique way to provide a robust process to identify and grade the quality of fundus images with application to improve efficiency and reduce errors in clinical or diagnostic retinal imaging workflows.

Diabetic eye disease and namely retinopathy (DR), a complication of diabetes mellitus, is the leading cause of blindness in the US working age population (age 20-74 years) and thus has significant socio-economic consequences. There is abundant evidence that blindness and visual loss in these patients can be prevented through annual screening and early diagnosis. The number of patients with diabetes is increasing rapidly and is estimated to be nearly 26 million in the US and about 8 million of these individuals have DR. More than 50% of these are underserved who do not receive regular eye examination by eye care providers. The burden on the medical system to serve this segment of population can be significant. Fundus images of the human retina are an important diagnostic tool to detect and monitor the progression of many retinal and optic nerve diseases including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. Photographic systems for fundus imaging are common in ophthalmological practices, and are increasingly becoming available in primary care clinics, including those serving poor, rural or remote populations. In this latter case, the images are often acquired by nonspecialists and then later transmitted over secure digital networks to physicians for further screening and diagnosis. This store and forward system is referred to as teleophthalmology. Teleophthalmology based diabetic eye disease screening programs based in primary care clinics have helped to increase the rates of annual eye screenings for vulnerable populations by over 50%. Due to the practical delays between image acquisition and specialist grading, a problem arises when the remote ophthalmologist or eye care provider determines the collected images are of insufficient quality for screening, but the patient has already left the clinic due to the store and forward nature of image analysis. Examples of insufficient quality include improper positioning of the image field, out-of-focus images, or insufficient illumination, which would result in a lack of image data for a given area of the retina. In remote rural areas or other underserved regions, this delay in quality assessment could introduce significant additional burden for the patient requiring a return trip to the clinic. This additional visit may be too high a barrier especially for the underserved. Without a proper screening, patients may continue with undiagnosed disease and miss out on early treatment. Thus it would be desirable if an assessment of fundus image quality could occur at the time of image capture, allowing the system operator to collect new images with sufficient quality for diagnosis. While training the operators is one approach to this assessment, there may be limitations in the ability of the personnel to be trained, or subtleties in the images that suggest an automated system may be most desirable. The overarching goal is to make the early detection and treatment of DR more accessible by improving efficiency in the acquisition of quality retinal images. Achieving consistent quality for retinal images is highly sought after by regulators evaluating the safety and efficacy of such novel methods of improving access to quality health care, such as the FDA.

Automated fundus image field detection and quality assessment


A communication apparatus that causes an external apparatus to operate through a remote control, the communication apparatus comprising a communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with the external apparatus, and an instruction accepting unit configured to accept an instruction of an operation for the external apparatus to execute, wherein the communication unit establishes a wireless connection with the external apparatus upon the instruction accepting unit accepting the instruction, and transmits an operation command corresponding to the instruction to the external apparatus and disconnects the wireless connection with the external apparatus upon the external apparatus executing part of a series of operations corresponding to the operation command, without waiting for the remaining operations to be executed.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a communication apparatus, a control method for a communication apparatus, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Some communication apparatuses that remotely control the operation of a terminal, also known as "remote controllers", use infrared light. Infrared communication apparatuses have advantages, such as being cheap, but also have disadvantages, such as being limited to one-way communication, having high directionality that limits the direction of communication, and having short communication ranges.
As such, recent years have seen the spread of wireless communication apparatuses that use radio waves, such as Wi-Fi (trade name), Zigbee (trade name), and Bluetooth (trade name). Such wireless communication apparatuses have advantages that infrared systems cannot provide, such as two-way communication and omni-directionality. However, such wireless communication apparatuses also consume more power than infrared systems, and thus have a problem of poor battery life.
In response to this, a variety of methods for suppressing the amount of power consumed, notifying a user of the state of a battery in an easy-to-understand manner, and so on have been proposed for wireless communication devices. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-281128 proposes a method for a mobile terminal that prevents a video call from being cut off by continually adding an indicator of the remaining battery level of the mobile terminal itself to the transmitted image while transmitting the image to the video call partner.
However, although the above-described proposed method does make it easier to understand the partner's situation and improves the operability, the method also continually transmits images, which uses a large amount of bandwidth. This method is therefore not suited to communication apparatuses that have low-capacity batteries.

Communication apparatus, control method for communication apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium


The present invention describes a sound channel circuit for frequency-modulated signals which operates according to fully digital principles. The circuit contains a VMOS output D-stage and no analog FM demodulator is necessary.

In the periodical "Funktechnik", 1978, pp. F+E 181 to F+E 183, fundamental considerations concerning the digital transmission of picture and sound signals are set forth. As an example, FIG. 7 shows a digital sound signal processing arrangement for use in studios. It is mentioned that television signals, too, can be converted to digital form at the transmitting end and transmitted in this form.
Current television and radio broadcasting systems, however, do not yet use this digital technology but, as is well known, are purely analog, at both the transmitting and receiving ends.

Sound channel circuit for frequency-modulated signals


A force sensor monitors mutually orthogonal forces during a cutting process. A stationary cutting blade is configured to measure the shearing and perpendicular tearing forces directly during the cutting of web or sheet materials such as film. The blade is designed such that the two forces are decoupled by virtue of the internal relief geometry, and placement of electrical resistance strain gauges which are employed as the sensing elements.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to sensors that monitor forces during cutting and punching operations of web or sheet materials using electrical resistance strain gauges mounted on the cutting blade or punch.
2. Background Art
Monitoring of cutting forces in machine tool operations has been a common practice to determine tool wear. This is generally accomplished by applying strain gauges directly on the cutting tool or instrumenting the tool mounts. Interaction of forces does not allow the determination of the magnitude of the mutually perpendicular forces (radial and tangential for rotary motions) needed to characterize tool wear. Decoupling of these two forces by tool mount design is accomplished in U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,461 to Sawicki et al for the purpose of monitoring lathe tool wear. Film cutting processes require an extremely stiff support to maintain blade alignment, therefore force measurements via a compliant mount design is not possible. Since blade alignment and wear are indicated by the shape of the cutting force pulse as well as the magnitude, direct force measurement is desired to reduce effects of mount dynamics.


A steam generating apparatus includes: a liquid tank portion 1 for storing a liquid; an evaporator portion 2 which is directly connected to the liquid tank portion, heats the liquid supplied from the liquid tank portion, and generates steam; a steam storage portion 3 which is directly connected to the evaporator portion, and stores the steam generated by the evaporator portion; a passageway 4 which is directly connected to the steam storage portion and outwardly passes the generated steam; a liquid pathway 10b which is connected to the liquid tank portion, and supplies the liquid; and a heater unit 20 which is provided on one side of the evaporator portion, and heats at least the evaporator portion. The liquid tank portion 1, the evaporator portion 2, the steam storage portion 3, the passageway 4, and the liquid pathway 10b are formed within an integral member of a translucent material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steam generator, more particularly to a steam generator capable of generating steam in a short period of time. Further, the present invention relates to a mixer using the above-mentioned steam generator, more particularly to a mixer which generates a mixed gas by mixing steam with another material.
2. Description of the Related Art
A steam generating apparatus is used for a steam type inhaler which sucks up and sprays a liquid by means of using discharge of steam, an exhaust gas purifying apparatus as will be described later, etc., for example.
Firstly, the steam generating apparatus used for the steam type inhaler will be described. In this type of steam type inhaler, a nozzle which discharges the steam is provided and an upper end of a sucking tube whose other end is put in a liquid within a liquid tank is disposed in the vicinity of the above-mentioned nozzle. Water is heated to generate steam. When the steam is discharged through the nozzle, a liquid will be sucked up through the sucking tube and atomized along a steam flow as the steam is discharged.
In this case, in order to shorten a time period between start of heating and start of atomizing after the steam is generated, the water in a feed water tank is not directly heated, but a heat chamber of small capacity is provided separately, and part of water in the feed water tank is led to the heat chamber in which steam is generated.
For more detailed description, an example will be described. For example, a steam suction apparatus proposed in Japanese Laid Open Patent No. 2000-126296 will be described with reference to FIG. 34.
Reference numeral 101 in the figure depicts a feed water tank portion. Reference numeral 103 denotes a heat chamber provided with a heater 102 on its wall surface. A bottom part of a feed liquid tank portion 101 and a bottom part of a heat chamber 103 are communicated with each other through a conductive tube passage 104. An upper space of the heat chamber 103 and an upper space of the feed liquid tank portion 101 are communicated with each other through a steam passage hole (not shown). The steam which is generated in the heat chamber 103 and flowed into the upper space of the feed liquid tank portion 101 is adapted to be directed to a nozzle 105.
In addition, reference numeral 106 in the figure denotes a sucking tube, one end of which is disposed in the liquid tank; reference numeral 107 depicts a relief valve which opens when a steam pressure in the feed liquid tank portion 101 increases, so as to release the pressure; reference numeral 108 indicates a lid which closes an upper end opening of the feed liquid tank portion 101.
In this steam suction apparatus, water is supplied from the feed liquid tank portion 101 to the heating unit 103; the steam generated in this heating unit 103 flows into the upper space of the feed liquid tank portion 101. Then, the above-mentioned steam is supplied from the upper space of the feed liquid tank portion 101 to the nozzle 105, and is discharged through the nozzle 105. In this way the upper end of the sucking tube 106 is caused to have a negative pressure, so that the liquid is sucked up through the sucking tube 106 and is atomized along the steam flow.
A disadvantage of such an apparatus is that the steam generating apparatus used for the steam suction apparatus is generally made of metal, such as iron and aluminum and heat from the heater 102 escapes to a body (casing) of the apparatus, so that the water in the heating unit 103 cannot be heated effectively, the thermal efficiency is low, and it is not possible to perform rapid heating. The document does not disclose how to solve a problem that the time between the start of heating and the start of atomizing after the steam is generated.
Moreover, the heater 102 is arranged on a wall surface of the heat chamber 103 in the above-mentioned steam generating apparatus so that the water may be heated directly. Therefore, in order to prevent leakage, it is necessary to provide a member, such as an 0 ring 109, between the heater 102 and the wall surface, and to maintain the member according to used hours.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned steam generating apparatus, the feed liquid tank portion 101 and the heat chamber 103 are connected by pipes, the upper space of the heat chamber 103 and the upper space of the feed water tank are communicated with each other through the steam passage hole, and the feed liquid tank portion 101 and the nozzle are connected by a pipe. Thus, there is a problem that the whole apparatus is complicated and its manufacturing costs increase.
The steam generating apparatus is used also in an exhaust gas purifying apparatus. Now, we describe an example of this exhaust gas purifying apparatus. For example, in Japanese Laid Open Patent No. H05-272331, as shown in FIG. 35, an exhaust gas purifying apparatus is disclosed which comprises an NOx reduction catalyst 151 disposed in the middle of an exhaust pipe of a diesel engine 150, a reducing agent feed nozzle 154 disposed on an upstream side of the NOx reduction catalyst 151 of an exhaust pipe 153, a reduction gas generator 155 connected to the reducing agent feed nozzle 154, a urea supply device 157 which supplies solid urea 156 to the reduction gas generator 155, and an air supply device 158 which supplies air to the reduction gas generator 155.
This exhaust gas purifying apparatus thermally decomposes the solid urea 156 whilst being supplied with air, so as to generate a reduction gas which is supplied to an exhaust gas channel upstream of the NOx reduction catalyst 151.
In other words, the above-mentioned reduction gas generator 155 is equivalent to the above-mentioned steam generator, and is a mixer in terms of mixing the reduction gas with air.
Now, describing it more particularly, the above-mentioned reduction gas generator 155 comprises an outer casing 159, an air inlet 160 and a reduction gas outlet 161, a flue 162 concentrically arranged within the outer casing 159, and an electric heater 163 arranged around this flue 162.
In addition, the urea supply device 157 comprises a tank 164 and a screw feeder 165. This tank 164 is manufactured to be of a "hopper" type, at an upper end of which an inlet 166 is provided, and at a lower end of which an outlet 167 is provided. The tank 164 is filled with the solid urea 156 which is ground in advance. Moreover, the above-mentioned screw feeder 165 comprises a screw case 168, a screw 169 disposed in the above-mentioned screw case 168, and a motor 170. Furthermore, the above-mentioned air supply apparatus 158 comprises an air tank 172 connected to the air inlet 160 of the flue 162 by means of piping 171, and an air compressor (not shown) connected to the air tank 172.
In the thus constituted reduction gas (thermal decomposition gas) generating apparatus, a screw 169 is rotated and the powdery solid urea 156 is supplied from a tank 164 into the flue 162. On the other hand, while the inside of the above-mentioned flue 162 is heated by the electric heater 163, air is supplied from the air tank 172.
As a result, the solid urea 156 is thermally decomposed so as to be a reduction gas, which is conveyed to the reducing agent feed nozzle 154 by means of the supplied air.
A reduction gas generator (mixer) used for the above-mentioned purifying apparatus is constructed such that the solid urea is supplied to the inside of the flue so a to be heated inside the flue. Therefore, there is a technical problem that the solid urea should be rapidly heated inside the flue, so that a large-sized heater should be used.
Moreover, the air supply device is used for generating and conveying the above-mentioned thermal decomposition gas (reduction gas), however, there is another technical problem that a temperature in the flue is decreased by the air supply, so that the thermal efficiency is reduced.
Furthermore, the reduction gas generator (mixer) used for the above-mentioned purifying apparatus, the urea supply device, and the air supply device are each formed separately; the urea is adapted to be supplied by the screw feeder; and the air is adapted to be supplied from an air tank. Therefore, there is a technical problem that the whole apparatus becomes larger.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned purifying apparatus, compressed air is used as a means to pump the reduction gas to an exhaust-gas passage, so that an apparatus, such as an air tank for storing the compressed, a compressor, etc. is needed. Thus, there is another technical problem that the apparatus becomes larger and more complicated so that it is difficult to load it on a vehicle.
In addition, the flue etc. might corrode by ammonia generated when the solid urea is thermally decomposed. In order to solve this, it may be possible lo apply a Teflon (registered trademark) coating inside the flue. However, there is another technical problem that the application of the coating may be labor intensive and expensive.

Steam generator and mixer using the same