A portable telephone system is disclosed in which a plurality of i-th class exchanges, which accommodate key service units of a plurality of portable telephone sets present in each service area, and at least one (i+1)th class exchange which accommodates the plurality of i-th class exchanges through junction lines, are stratified to form an exchange system so that i=1, 2, 3, . . . , and so that the (i.1)th class exchange covers all service areas. The exchange system has a function whereby information which specifies the home area of each portable telephone set and the portable telephone set in distinction from each other is registered in the i-th class exchange and the (i+1)th class exchange, which administer the home area.

The present invention relates to a system for setting up a channel in a portable telephone system using portable telephone sets, which are connected to a general public telephone network, a private branch exchange network, etc. and which can be carried to any place and are capable of originating and receiving a call.
At present a variety of mobile communications are in practical use in many countries. Of them, telephones primarily for voice transmission are a domestic maritime mobile radio telephone, a land mobile radio telephone, a cordless telephone, and a section party telephone within a station yard. These various mobile communications are respectively operated as independent systems; for instance, a cordless telephone could not start a call when it is brought in a car. This is evident from the fact that the cordless telephone and the land mobile radio telephone differ from each other in many points; for example, they use different working frequencies and different control methods for their control channels, and in addition, the input radio wave field strength necessary for the receiver of the called land mobile radio telephone would not be satisfied with the transmitting power of the cordless telephone.
Further, the cordless telephone generally comprises a portable telephone set and a key service unit which are connected thereto by way of a radio communication circuit and to an exchange by way of a wire communication circuit. In addition to this, the telephone set and the key service unit usually form a specific relationship to each other. The telephone set cannot communicate with a key service unit other than the specified one even if they happen to lie at a short distance over which radio communication could be established between them. Similarly, the key service unit is not permitted to communication with other telephone sets than the specified one.
This is a matter of course in some sense. It is undesirable if a portable telephone set and a key service unit which have no particular relationship to each other are connected without any conditions, because this will incur the possibility of mischarging or intentional shifting of a charge due on the connected telephone set to an unconnected one.
People have long been waiting eagerly for the appearance of a portable telephone system which technically overcomes the above-noted difficulties and enables a person carrying the portable telephone set to make a call from any place to any place at any time and to receive a call wherever he may go.
Even in a society like our country where the number of telephone terminals for public communication use is now as large as more than forty millions and where public telephone sets are accessible everywhere on the streets, not to speak of land mobile radio telephones on cars, train public telephones on Shinkansen trains, and domestic maritime radio telephones on ships, there still exists a strong demand for such a portable telephone system for the reason given below.
This is because everyone wishes to have a portable telephone for his exclusive use. That is to say, it would be extremely convenient if a person carrying the portable telephone could freely use it just like a telephone installed at his home, for there are cases where he feels awkward, for some reason, to ask for permission to use a telephone at other people's office or home, where no public telephone can be found on the streets, where anyone does not happen to have small money or a telephone card with him, where no public telephones installed in front of stores or the like can be used late at night, and where it is troublesome to look for a public telephone at a crowded place like a ballpark or area for special events.
The same applies to receiving a call. It would be far more convenient than in the above cases if anyone carrying the portable telephone could receive a call from any place at any time wherever he may go. This is because although anyone can make a call from a nearby public telephone at any time it is unpredictable when he will be called while he is away from his home or office. Moreover, it is impossible, with the conventional telephone system, that two persons communicate with each other if they are moving in different places.
In addition, the portable telephone will enable an emergency or urgent call to be made more simply and more quickly than the systems now employed. Besides, it would be more convenient if the portable telephone set could be used for opening a credit (a credit function) or as a substitute for an identification card.
As described above, there is eager demand for the realization of such an ultimate portable telephone even at present.
To meet this demand, various systems have been proposed which are, however, unsatisfactory in many respects.

Portable telephone system using stratified exchange system


A manually manipulated resuscitation mask, which includes a flexible barrier for providing a sealing contact with a face of a victim in a region adjacent to a victim's mouth. The flexible barrier has an opening therethrough to cooperate with the victim's mouth. The opening in the sheet is comprised of an integrally connected, flexible sleeve, extending away from the flexible sheet and the victim's face. The sleeve has an open end remote from where the sleeve is integrally connected to the flexible barrier sheet. The mask also includes a tubular member that has first and second end portions. The tubular member is positionable within the flexible sleeve and has the first end portion integrally secured to the open end of the flexible sleeve. The second end portion of the tubular member is located adjacent to the flexible barrier sheet when the tubular member is positioned within the sleeve. The sleeve and tubular member allow a mouth of a rescuer, when engaging the flexible sleeve and tubular member, to deliver air from the lungs and mouth of a rescuer to and through the tube to the mouth of the victim. A one-way-valve and a filter or combination thereof are fitted into the tubular member.. The tubular member is manually moveable such that the second end portion of the tubular member may extend through the flexible sheet to engage a mouth of a victim.

The effective use of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation devices often depends upon how easy it is for a user of the device to be trained in its use. Classes in cardiopulmonary resuscitation often include ordinary citizens with no paramedical background as well as individuals in training for positions as paramedics. Equipment available for training ranges from those rare settings in which anatomically correct mannequins are provided to practice pulmonary resuscitation, to those settings where a mannequin's head resembles a human head and face only in that there is suggestion of facial feathers. The heads are normally formed of hard, hollow plastic. These suggested features usually include raised portions representative of a nose and forehead. Indentations may appear where eyes would be located and a small circular or oval opening is provided to simulate a mouth. More often than not the mannequin's head size more nearly matches an average adult head rather than a child or infant. Among the most popular resuscitation masks in industrial and commercial settings are those that include a physical shield between a rescuer and a victim requiring mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The shield frequently takes the form of a flexible sheet having a centrally formed opening and a rigid tube secured to the sheet around the periphery of the opening. The rigid tube is intended to fit within a victim's mouth. The tube routinely includes a one-way valve to allow breath exhaled by the rescuer to pass through the tube/one-way valve and into the mouth and lungs of the victim. The one-way valve and shield act to prevent exhaled or regurgitated matter of the victim from entering the mouth of the rescuer.
Typical of such devices is that shown and described in Eisenberg et.al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,628 ('628) issued Apr. 11, 1989, which shows and describes a device that includes a flexible sheet having an opening centrally formed therein and a rigid tube secured to the sheet around the periphery of the opening for insertion into a mouth of a victim. A self-closing one-way valve is contained in the tube and extends downward from the sheet opening.
A highly enhanced version of a resuscitation mask that also includes a flexible sheet with rigid tube located and secured into the flexible sheet in a similar fashion to the '628 patent is applicant's own double shield mouth-to-mouth resuscitator mask with a barrier for contaminated fingers, namely Baldwin U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,559 ('559) issued Sep. 9, 1997. This patent distinguishes over the '628 patent in that there is provided a second flexible barrier in the form of a thin sheet of flexible material that has an opening the periphery of which is secured to a first flexible barrier and a rigid tube containing a one-way-valve to thereby provide a spatially separated region between the first and second barriers to thereby isolate the mouth and face of the operator from the area where the operator's fingers/hands make contact on the first flexible barrier.
Another resuscitation mask of this type is shown and disclosed in applicant's co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/128,112, filed Aug. 03, 1998, titled Resuscitation Device with Instantly Closing Valve. A unique aspect of this invention resides in the employment of a flexible sleeve integrally secured to a flexible barrier sheet. At an outlet end of the flexible sleeve, the sleeve has fashioned therein a rigid member such that the inner wall of the flexible sleeve is stretched by the rigid member to create a one-way valve against the rigid member. The flexible sleeve is stretched to open the one-way valve when air is delivered to an inlet opening of the sleeve and then to and through the sleeve and past a flexible seal of the one-way valve. Positive, instant closing is provided when air is no longer delivered to the inset opening. The invention just described provides a resuscitation device free of a valve housing, thereby allowing the device to be folded into a flat configuration to be readily carried in a billfold, thus encouraging its use by laymen.
In training situations both instructor and trainee are faced with the reality that the rigid tube that is normally inserted into a victim's mouth must now be inserted into the circular or oval mouth opening of the mannequin's head. Rarely is the mannequin mouth opening of a size that adequately accommodates the rigid tube. It is not uncommon for the attempted application of the mask to the mannequin's face to result in the rigid tube secured to the flexible barrier to buckle in the region where the tube joins the barrier. When this happens, the tube opening that is intended to engage the mannequin's mouth opening topples onto its side, making it nearly impossible for the instructor or rescuer in training to place his/her mouth on the opposite side of the barrier and over the other end of the tube.
It is not surprising to find that instructors favor less effective resuscitation masks for certain kinds of mannequins that do not have any part thereof that enter the mouth when in use.
The subject invention avoids all these problems by recognizing that the rigid tube must be secured to the flexible barrier by a means that allows the rigid tube to remain perpendicular to the flexible barrier and/or mouth region of a mannequin or victim where the victim's mouth can only be partially opened. The mask incorporating the subject invention not only provides a rigid tube covered by a sleeve portion of the flexible barrier that may engage a partially open mouth of a victim, while simultaneously converting to a mask with the rigid tube extending toward the victim's face by the simple application of a force pressing on the tube toward the face of the victim as the mask is about to be placed on a victim's face.

Resuscitation device and method of making the same


An electric coffee maker (2) comprises a first chamber (4), and a second chamber (6) arranged on top of the first chamber. A tube (8) extends down from the second chamber (6) into the first chamber (4) for transferring liquid between the two chambers. The base (20) of the first chamber (4) is provided with electric heater (24) and a thermally responsive control (46) is provided associated with the base (20) so as to be responsive to the temperature of the heater (24) or to a section of the base (20) for interrupting the power supply to or reducing the heating output of the heater (24).

The present invention relates to electrical beverage making appliances and in particular, but not exclusively to electric coffee makers.
A known type of coffee maker beverage type is known which comprises two chambers: a first chamber for receiving water to be heated; and a second chamber which is seated on top of the first chamber and which receives the coffee grounds. The second chamber is in fluid communication with the first chamber through a water transfer pipe which extends down from the second chamber into the first chamber. A separator arranged at the top of the water transfer tube allows water to flow into and out of the upper chamber while retaining the coffee grounds. In use, the liquid in the first chamber is heated externally, for example by a gas or spirit flame or an electric element arranged under the chamber. As water in the first chamber heats, the pressure in that chamber increases causing the water in the first chamber to rise up through the transfer pipe into the second chamber where it infuses with the coffee grounds. Eventually, the level of liquid in the first chamber falls below the bottom of the tube, and transfer of liquid stops. The heating is then discontinued and the first chamber then cools so that steam will begin to condense on the inside of the lower chamber. When it does so, a partial vacuum is created in the first chamber which causes infused beverage to be sucked back down the tube through the separator into the first chamber. When all the beverage has been sucked down into the first chamber, the second chamber can be removed and the beverage be served from the first chamber.
Such an appliance is disclosed in GB 1,332,656. In that appliance, an electric heating element or a gas flame is arranged under the first chamber and controlled by a thermally responsive actuator arranged in the second chamber. The actuator senses the temperature of the atmosphere in the second chamber and when it reaches a predetermined temperature either discontinues the electrical supply to the heating element or operates a valve in the gas supply to the gas flame.
One problem with the above arrangement is that it is difficult and expensive as the actuator is arranged remotely from the heating source which means that connections have to be made between the two. This results in unsightly and unnecessary housings or shrouds being provided in the apparatus and unnecessary expense. A further problem is that the heating of liquid in the first vessel is slow and inefficient and after the sensor has cut off the element considerable amounts of heat continue to flow from the heater into the apparatus.
The present invention seeks to overcome the above problems, and from a first aspect, therefore, provides a beverage maker comprising:
a first chamber;
a second chamber arranged on top of said first chamber;
a tube extending down from said second chamber into said first chamber for transferring liquid between the two chambers; wherein:
the base of said first chamber is provided with electric heating means and thermally responsive control means are provided associated with the said base so as to be responsive to the temperature of the heating means or a section of the base for interrupting the power supply to or reducing the heating output of the heating means.
Thus in accordance with the invention, the base of the first chamber is provided with electrical heating means and power to the heater is interrupted or the heating output thereof substantially reduced in response to the heater or a portion of the base reaching a predetermined temperature. This stops, or at least substantially reduces heating of the liquid in the lower chamber, so as to stop boiling. The first chamber then cools, water begins to condense on the wall of the first chamber and transfer of infused beverage from the second chamber will commence.
This arrangement allows the liquid in the first chamber to be heated efficiently, accurate control to be achieved and obviates the need for unsightly and cumbersome electrical connections between the first and second chambers.
The control means of the invention may be arranged to operate in one of a number of ways. In a first embodiment, the control means is configured and arranged so as to detect when a portion of the base of the first chamber boils dry, which indicates that a predetermined amount of the liquid in the first chamber has been transferred to the second chamber. This condition can easily be detected by a suitable thermal sensor in thermal contact with the base or the heater since in the absence of water which cools the base or heater, the temperature of the base or heater will rise very quickly.
In an arrangement as described above, preferably only a specified portion of the base or heater boils dry, such that water still covers the remainder of the base.
This may be achieved in a number of ways. For example the base or heater may be provided with a locally raised region which boils dry. This region could, for example be formed as a raised region of a heater plate such as is disclosed in Applicant""s GB 2,316,847 to which reference can be made for further detail. A suitable sensor may then be arranged under the raised region which will become exposed in advance of the remainder of the base.
In an alternative arrangement, the base or heater of the first chamber may be generally planar, but arranged to slope such that a peripheral region thereof will become exposed and overheat as the liquid level in the first chamber drops as liquid is transferred to the second chamber. A suitable sensor may be arranged under that part of the base or heater.
Preferably, however, the base is provided with a region which is separated from the remainder of the region by a raised wall. Most preferably, the wall surrounds the entire heated region of the base. This wall forms a reservoir of water above the heater in the base, and it will be appreciated that the higher is this wall, the longer it will take for water within the reservoir to evaporate, and thus for the control to operate. This allows a mechanism by which the beverage infusion time can be varied since that is dependent upon how long the water remains in the second chamber. This is, in turn dependent upon maintaining the pressure in the first chamber, which in turn depends on the continued boiling of liquid in the first chamber. Thus in a preferred embodiment, the wall is adjustable in height to allow for adjustment of the beverage infusion time.
A further way in which the infusion time can be varied is by varying the power of the heating element. If the element is heats at low power, then it will take longer for the liquid in the reservoir to boil away, thereby maintaining the vapour pressure in the first chamber for a longer period, thereby keeping the hot water in the second chamber infusing for a longer period of time. Conversely, if the element heats at high power, then liquid in the reservoir will boil away more quickly, thereby reducing the infusion time. In one embodiment of the invention therefore, means may be provided for varying the power of the heating element. Means for achieving such a power variation will be readily conceivable by the skilled person and are thus not described in further detail here.
A yet further way in which the infusion time could be varied would be to have an additional heater which heats a portion of the base which would still be covered by water after the main heating element has been switched off. This element need not be particularly high power, say 50 W, but even at that low power it would generate sufficient vapour to maintain the vapour pressure in the first chamber. The additional heater could be switched off after a predetermined time to bring the infusion period to an end.
In the embodiments described above, the temperature of the base or heater can be sensed in any convenient manner. Preferably, however, the temperature is sensed using a thermomechanical sensor such as a bimetallic actuator arranged in good thermal contact with the base or heater. In the preferred embodiment, a pair of actuators most preferably operable at substantially same temperature can be employed to sense the overheating condition.
A suitable control of this type is disclosed in Applicant""s WO95/34187. Such a control is equally suitable for engagement with heaters having sheathed elements or with thick film heaters.
A possible disadvantage with the above control arrangement is that with repeated boiling dry of an area of the lower chamber base, scale may be deposited on the base, which would be unsightly. In an alternative arrangement, therefore, the control means is configured and arranged to sense boiling of the liquid in the first chamber via a portion of the base of the vessel. This can be done by sensing the localized boiling dry of a section of the heater, for example by using a system as disclosed in GB 2,283,155. Preferably, however, boiling is sensed by means of a system as disclosed in Applicant""s WO96/01875 and WO98/36616, or in unpublished United Kingdom Patent Application No. 9805751.6 which for the purposes of sufficiency is attached as Appendix I hereto.
In accordance with such systems, a relatively low volume sump will be provided in the heated base of the first chamber, and a thermally sensitive actuator mounted in thermal contact with that sump. When liquid is heating in the first chamber, the temperature of the liquid in the sump lags behind that in the main body of liquid, as there is little convection within the sump. However, when the liquid in the first vessel boils, the liquid in the sump is quickly displaced and the sump temperature quickly rises. This rise in temperature can be sensed by suitable means.
Depending on the boiling time required, the actuator may be mounted in close thermal contact with, or thermally more remote from the sump. If a variable boiling time is required (to vary the infusion timexe2x80x94the longer the boil, the longer liquid will be held ion the second chamber), means can be provided to increase or decrease the length of time it takes the actuator to reach operating temperature. Such means might comprise heat sinks which could selectively be introduced into the thermal path between the sump and the actuator.
A control arrangement of the above type has the additional advantage that the first chamber can be used as a traditional kettle, since it will switch off when boiling is detected, irrespective of the presence or absence of a further chamber. All that is required is that the pouring spout of the first chamber is configured such that it may sealingly receive the second chamber with its depending tube.
This is in itself a novel arrangement, and from a further aspect the invention provides a water heating vessel comprising a water receiving chamber, the base of said chamber being provided with electric heating means, and further comprising thermally responsive control means are associated with the said base for sensing when the water in the chamber is boiling so as to interrupt the power supply to or reduce the heating output of the heating means, said chamber further being provided with a pouring spout which is adapted and arranged sealingly to receive the neck of an infusion receiving chamber.
Preferably, the spout is centred on a vertically extending axis, and preferably is tapered to receive a tapering seal such as a rubber bung. If necessary, a suitable spout cover may be supplied to at least partially close the spout when it is being used as a kettle.
The heating means used in an appliance in accordance with the invention may comprise a sheathed heating element attached to the underside of the base, for example through a heat diffusion plate. Such constructions are well known in the art and so need not be described further here.
In a preferred embodiment, however, the heating means comprises a so-called thick film heater provided on the base. Such heaters are becoming more commonly in the water heating art and comprise a electrically resistive heating track deposited on an insulated substrate. Typically the insulated substrate is provided by an insulating layer laid down on a stainless steel plate. Examples of such heaters are disclosed, for example, in WO 98/36618 and WO96/17496.
The heater may be provided over the whole of, or merely a part of the base of the first chamber. In the preferred embodiment, the heater is formed as a separate unit mounted in a suitable aperture formed in the base of the first chamber.
The heating means of the apparatus may comprise an element which keeps the infused beverage in the first chamber warm after the control of the apparatus has operated. This xe2x80x9ckeep warmxe2x80x9d element may be provided in a number of ways.
In a first arrangement, a keep warm element may be provided which is separate from the main heating element. This keep warm element may be energised the whole time the main heating element is energised or may be switched on only after the control has operated to switch off the main heating element. In an alternative arrangement, the keep warm element may be connected into series with the main heating element after boiling has been sensed. The resistance of the main element (which would typically be an order of magnitude smaller than that of the keep warm element) means that very little heat is generated in the main element part when so connected.
The keep warm element may be arranged to cycle, for example in a manner as described in WO97/04694. In such an arrangement the temperature of the base would be monitored and the keep warm element operated in response to the base temperature. This arrangement is particularly suited to use with sheathed heating elements. However, it has the disadvantage that the temperature of the base may be such as to cause localized boiling of the beverage in the first chamber during the heating bursts, which may be detrimental to the flavour of the beverage.
Preferably, therefore, the keep warm element is energized continuously after operation of the vessel control, but at such a power level that will not cause the beverage in the first chamber to boil. The power required to achieve this can be easily determined empirically by the skilled person. In this case, the element will probably be a thick film type heater whose power level and power density can very easily be tailored to meet particular requirements. Typically, however, one might have a main heating element rated at 1500 W at a Watts density of 50-150 Wcmxe2x88x922 and a keep warm element rated at 50 W at a watts density of 10 Wcmxe2x88x922. A general track arrangement and switching arrangement suitable in principal for achieving such a heating regime is disclosed in GB9805751.6.
It is believed that the above arrangement constitutes an invention in its own right, so from a further aspect the invention provides a beverage maker comprising:
a first chamber;
a second chamber arranged on top of said first chamber;
a tube extending down from said second chamber into said first chamber for transferring liquid between the two chambers; wherein:
the base of said first chamber is provided with electric heating means for keeping infused beverage in the first chamber warm, the heating means being rated such that it will not cause boiling of the infused beverage in the lower chamber.
The lower chamber is preferably configured as a cordless arrangement whereby it my be removably positioned on a power supply stand. This considerably facilitates pouring of the beverage.


There is provided a copying apparatus that copies a workpiece, includes a shoe that is brought into contact with the workpiece, an air cylinder that enables moving the shoe in a vertical direction, a clamping mechanism that grasps the workpiece from side surfaces placed in a direction orthogonal to a traveling direction and, and a lateral translatory slide guide that slides the clamping mechanism in the direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copying apparatus that copies a shape of a workpiece.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in a field of, e.g., examination, measurement, or processing, a copying apparatus that copies a surface is used. A general copying apparatus performs a copying operation by pressing the copying apparatus against a workpiece or a dummy as a target (see, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 6-242087).
However, in a conventional copying apparatus, just pressing the copying apparatus against a workpiece cannot cope with a situation where an interferer, e.g., a discontinuous portion is present in a workpiece as a target. That is because the copying apparatus may be possibly fitted in the discontinuous portion to become unmovable or may possibly interfere with a jig that is used to fix the workpiece.
Such a discontinuous portion can be an interferer for the copying apparatus. As a workpiece having such a discontinuous portion, there is, e.g., a longeron provided in an airframe of an aircraft. This workpiece has a longitudinal protruding shape. Further, this workpiece has a complicated shape having not only a linear portion but also a curved portion.


In a fastening device with tape, a synthetic resin first member is integrally molded on front and back surfaces of a tape having at least one attachment hole in such a manner as to hold an entire peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole of the tape and has an opening portion at a center thereof, and then a synthetic resin second member is attached, by molding or the like, to the first member along an inner peripheral surface of at least the opening portion of the first member and has an engaging portion to be engaged with an opposing fastener. By differentiating a material and a color of the first member from that of the second member, various kinds of fastening devices can be efficiently obtained such as a snap fastener, a male and female button, an eyelet, a fastening band which can be freely adjusted to be various kinds of lengths, a hanging device for curtains or the like which can be applied various kinds of functions and colors in comparison with the conventional art and which can be firmly adhered to the tape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastening device with tape and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, it relates to a fastening device with tape in which an fastening device comprising either of a male member or a female member or both of the male and female members is integrally adhered on the same tape, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known for a long time to form at least one attachment hole in a single tape, and integrally mold an eyelet or a similar article made of synthetic resin with a desired shape onto front and back faces of the tape such that the eyelet or the article holds a peripheral edge of the attachment hole. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,764, for example, an attachment hole is formed in a sheet material, and an eyelet made of synthetic resin with a desired shape is integrally molded on front and back faces of the sheet material so as to hold a peripheral edge of the attachment hole. The eyelet is molded as such by clamping the sheet material extending in an annular cavity for molding the eyelet, at a plurality positions at the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole as a center, by using a plurality of pairs of pin members projecting in the cavity so as to face each other, and by introducing molten resin into the cavity.
In general, if the pin members do not exist in the above-described molding, the peripheral edge of the attachment hole of the sheet material extending in the cavity largely corrugates in a peripheral direction due to an introducing pressure of the molten resin. At worst, a portion of the peripheral edge may be deflected so as to abut on an inner face of the cavity, so that the sheet material may be exposed at a portion of a surface of the eyelet as a molded product. The invention disclosed in the above U.S. patent has been accomplished by taking notice of that a proper degree of corrugation of the peripheral edge of the attachment hole in the sheet material increases a strength of securing of the eyelet to the sheet material. In order to obtain the proper degree of corrugating state, the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole of the sheet material is clamped by the pin members in the cavity, thereby controlling a degree of the corrugation.
In the above U.S. patent, an inlet for introducing the molten resin into the cavity is formed so as to face the peripheral edge of the attachment hole so that the molten resin introduced into the cavity by injection can smoothly flow to the front and back faces of the attachment hole of the sheet material. In other words, the molten resin introduced from a center of the annular cavity is guided toward an outer diameter in a plane including the attachment hole. The molten resin supplied from the inlet is forwarded respectively to the front and back faces of the sheet material at the peripheral edge of the attachment hole. With this structure, because the sheet material is incorporated with the eyelet at the peripheral edge of the attachment hole in a proper degree of corrugating state, the securing strength increases.
According to the above invention, however, a thin disk-shaped plate made of synthetic resin is integrally molded at a central opening portion of the molded eyelet, so that a peripheral face of the opening portion of the molded eyelet must be trimmed after removing the thin plate after molding as described in the specification.
There is a similar invention that follows the above technical idea of preventing excessive corrugation, which is as disclosed in European Patent No. 0228293. In the European patent, a fastener member of a snap fastener, not limited to a male fastener or a female fastener and including the above-described eyelet, is integrally molded on a tape by a method similar to that in the above U.S. patent.
In the European patent, because a specific molding method which is different from the above-described U.S. Patent, is not disclosed, it is unclear how the molten resin is introduced into the cavity. However, according to FIG. 4 showing its representative embodiment, it is apparent that the molten resin is not introduced into the cavity from a inner peripheral portion of the engaging opening of a female member, because upper and lower molds for forming the engaging opening contact with each other at a parting line thereof. Therefore, the European patent is considered to be different from the U.S. patent in this point. However, if an inlet for introducing molten resin communicating with the cavity is formed at a position other than an inner peripheral engaging face of the opening, e.g., a portion adjacent to the pin member on a side for forming the opening, an resin introducing pressure is locally and directly applied to one side of the peripheral edge of the attachment hole of the tape at the beginning of introduction of the molten resin, and thus, a corrugating phenomenon is very much liable to be generated.
In order to prevent this moving phenomenon, as many pin members as possible need to be provided for clamping the tape at positions very close to the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole. Because of this structure, the molds would be complicated. Further, it is necessary to make a setting of various and strict molding conditions for avoiding an influence of the flowing of the resin from one face of the tape to the other face.
Further, in accordance with the invention of the EP patent, as is different from the female fastener and the eyelet, the male fastener is of course a solid molded product due to the structure thereof, and further, it is necessary to mold the male fastener a column-like projection, which is an engaging portion of the male fastener, protruding from a main body of the male fastener. In order to form the male fastener having the structure mentioned above, as is different from the U.S. patent mentioned above, it is necessary to necessarily set a gate portion, which corresponds to a guide passage for introducing the molten resin into the cavity, on either one of an upper surface and a lower surface of the cavity. In the structure mentioned above, as already mentioned, in order to restrict a generation of the corrugation in the tape within the cavity, it is desired to securely nip the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape by the pin members.
Further, in order to form the male fastener and the female fastener on the same tape, it is necessary to form cavities having different configurations in the mold. Further, in the case of changing an order of an arrangement of the male fastener and the female fastener, it is necessary to independently manufacture a mold corresponding the arrangement. This results in a complication of the mold, thus a manufacturing cost therefor is of course increased. When it is desired to avoid this, then it would be impossible to simultaneously form the male fastener and the female fastener on the same tape.
Further, as is the same as the U.S. patent mentioned above, in the fasteners with the tape mentioned above, it is unavoidable to use a single synthetic resin material for each fastener. Therefore, taking into consideration a strength of adhesion onto the tape and a strength of engagement and disengagement with respect to an opposing fastener, in order to satisfy the both, it is impossible to change a material of the adhesion portion to the tape and the fastener engaging portion. Furthermore, though it is sufficient to change a shape of the cavity in view of a shape from a viewpoint of its configuration, it is impossible to apply various colors to the same fastener.
On the contrary, as a thermoplastic resin used for this kind of snap fasteners in accordance with the conventional art, in general, a polyacetal resin is frequently used because a change of viscosity is low due to a low hygroscopic of raw material chips, a large amount of raw material chips having various colors can be stored due to little change of the material, a suitable elasticity and a suitable rigidity are provided, and it can be obtained by relatively low cost. However, since this kind of snap fasteners in accordance with the conventional art is structured such that all of the fastening members are made of a single kind of resin material as mentioned above, each of the fastening devices is unavoidably formed by a single color, so that it is too simple in color.
Further, the polyacetal resin has a relatively low melting point, each of the engaging and disengaging devices is significantly fine. For example, in the case of the male fastener, an engaging head portion which is engaged and disengaged with the female fastener protrudes outward from the surface of the fastener, the fastening device is easily melted, for example, if an iron heated to a temperature equal to or more than a melting point is accidentally brought into contact therewith when ironing, so that the engaging head portion is largely deformed or pressed and broken. Accordingly, a function as the male fastener is lost. This tends to be generated at a time of ironing at a general home where it is unavoidable to simultaneously iron various kinds of products made of various materials and it is hard to keep an ironing temperature determined in correspondence to the material.
The present invention is made so as to solve the problems as mentioned above. In particular, the present invention has an object to provide a fastening device with tape which employs a molding principle of the U.S. patent as mentioned above, remarkably improves the invention of the U.S. patent, can securely integrate a male fastening device to the tape, can optionally arrange different male and female fasteners on the same tape, and can apply various colors to the fastening device itself. Further, the device keeps its shape so as not to lose its engaging and disengaging function without readily melting its engaging head portion of the male fastener even at a time of awkward ironing. The present invention also has an object to provide a method of manufacturing the same.
As mentioned above, in order to integrally mold a synthetic resin product on a tape, it is necessary that molten resin be cooled and solidified in a desired shape after expanding to the front and the back of the tape. Accordingly, as is disclosed in the U.S. patent mentioned above, an attachment hole is previously formed in the tape and the molten resin is introduced to the front and the back of the tape via the hole, so that the product is molded and integrated thereto. An excellent point of the U.S. patent exists in that a suitable corrugation is generated at a peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape as mentioned above so as to secure a strength of adhesion and in that the molten resin is smoothly flown onto the front and the back of the tape. Then, in order to generate a suitable corrugation in the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole, the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole is vertically nipped at their front back side within a cavity of the mold at a desired interval by pin members. In order that the molten resin is smoothly flown onto the front and the back of the tape, the molten resin at an injection time is introduced into the cavity directing to the peripheral edge of the attachment hole of the tape.
The inventors of the present invention paid attention to these excellent points obtained by the invention of the U.S. patent as mentioned above and repeatedly performed various studies and trials. As a result, they could succeed in not only a simple improvement of the invention of the U.S. patent as mentioned above, but also in an invention of a fastening device with tape having a novel and excellent function which could not be even imaged at all including the EP patent as mentioned above, and of a method of manufacturing the same.
The present invention relates to such a fastening device with tape as mentioned above.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, which is a basic structure, there is provided a fastening device with tape comprising: a synthetic resin first member integrally molded on front and back surfaces of a tape having at least one attachment hole in such a manner as to hold an entire peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole of the tape and has an opening portion at a center thereof; and a synthetic resin second member attached to the first member along an inner peripheral surface of at least the opening portion of the first member and having an engaging portion to be engaged with an opposing fastener. In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, which is a basic method of manufacturing the fastening device with tape, there is provided a method of manufacturing a fastening device with tape for fixing an fastener to an attachment hole of the tape having at least one attachment hole, comprising steps of: holding an entire the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole and integrally molding a synthetic resin first member having an opening portion at a center thereof on front and back surfaces of the tape; and integrally attaching a synthetic resin second member to an opening portion of the first member, the second member having an engaging portion to be engaged with and disengaged from an opposing fastening device. In this case, an attachment of the second member is not limited to an integral molding as mentioned later.
In the present invention, in order to mold and integrate the first member with a portion of forming the attachment hole in the tape, if the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape does not become corrugated as mentioned above, the molding can be sufficiently performed only by closing a mold and injecting the molten resin in accordance with a normal method after positioning the attachment hole at a predetermined position of a first-member-molding cavity. However, as mentioned above, if the corrugation of the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole is too large due to the pressure of the introduced resin within the cavity, for example, an intermediate member having an opening portion at a center thereof may be further interposed between the first member and the second member, and the second member may be integrally mounted along an inner peripheral surface of the opening portion of the opening portion of the intermediate member. In manufacturing the device with a structure as mentioned above, the intermediate member having an opening portion at a center portion thereof is preferably integrally molded along the opening portion of the first member, prior to molding the second member. In this case, the intermediate member may be constituted of two or more layers.
In the case of interposing the intermediate member, since a rigidity of the peripheral edge of the opening portion of the first member is increased after molded, even when the tape is exposed on a surface of the first member, the peripheral edge of the attachment hole does not become corrugated when the intermediate member is molded. Further, since the exposed portion of the tape is coated by the intermediate member, the tape is not exposed on a surface of the fastening device as a final product, so that no trouble occurs in an outer appearance and a function as the fastening device. Accordingly, in the case of interposing the intermediate member between the first member and the second member, it is preferable that the first member is molded thin at a predetermined area extending in a diametrical direction along the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole of the tape to form a thin portion, and is molded thick at a thick portion continuous to an outer periphery of the thin portion. Thus, the tape is allowed to be exposed on the thin portion.
Accordingly, in general, in order to mold and integrate the first member with the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape, it is preferable that the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape is suitably corrugated as described in the specification of the U.S. patent mentioned above, in order to improve a strength of adhesion between the tape and the first member.
Then, in accordance with the present invention, in the same manner as that of the U.S. patent as mentioned above, it is preferable that the attachment hole of the tape is positioned within a first-member-molding cavity having a plurality of nipping members which nip the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole of the tape from front and back side thereof, and the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole is nipped by the nipping members, and molten resin is introduced within the cavity.
Further preferably, the molten resin may be introduced to a center portion of the attachment hole, and then introduced to a guide passage extending in a radial manner or a straight manner and introduced the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole of the tape, substantially parallel to the tape. The guide passage comprises a so-called gate, and directs the introduced the molten resin in substantially parallel to the tape nipped by the nipping members within the cavity and to the peripheral edge of the attachment hole. Accordingly, the molten resin introduced into the cavity can flow onto the front and back surfaces of the tape while generating a proper corrugation in the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape.
Further, in accordance with the present invention, in order to properly control the corrugation of the peripheral edge of the attachment hole in the tape, the shape and the arrangement of the nipping members may be decided. Specifically, each of the nipping members may have a front end nipping portion and a corrugation control portion, and the front end nipping portion is positioned at an intermediate position between a peripheral edge of the attachment hole of the tape and an outer peripheral edge of the first member after molded or at a position toward the outer peripheral edge from the intermediate position, nipping the tape, the corrugation control portions are opposed to each other and are tapered in such a manner as to gradually increase a gap with respect to the tape toward a center of the attachment hole from the front end nipping portion. The corrugation control portion is preferably a taper surface. A magnitude of the gap is suitably changed in accordance with the material of the tape.
In the case of disposing the nipping members in the first-member-molding cavity with the structure and the arrangement as mentioned above, the corrugated deformation amount can be controlled at a portion near the peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole in the tape, by changing a taper angle of the corrugation control portion in accordance with the material of the tape as well as restricting movement and deformation of the tape between the respective front end nipping portions by the front end nipping portions arranged at the intermediate position between the peripheral edge of the attachment hole in the tape and the outer periphery of the first member after molded or toward the outer periphery from the intermediate position.
The most remarkable point of the present invention exists in a that the first member and the second member are separately structured. The first member is, as mentioned above, directly formed in the tape in an integral manner, while the second member is integrally attached to the opening portion of the first member or the opening portion of the intermediate member molded on the tape in accordance with the properly required shape. The first member can be freely molded without being restricted by the shape and the material of the second member as far as it has the opening portion. The basic shape of the first member can commonly correspond to the second member having various shapes. Accordingly, it is possible to previously manufacture a lot of tapes having a multiplicity of first members with the same shapes integrally molded therewith and integrally molde the second members in necessary shapes and numbers to the first members serving as bases, simultaneously or independently.
In this case, the tape in accordance with the present invention employs all the tapes formed by all kinds of textile, knit or non woven fabric or various kinds of synthetic resin film or sheet and natural or synthetic leather. The materials may be either natural or synthetic. Further, for the synthetic resin material to be used for the first member, the intermediate member and the second member, constituting the engaging and disengaging device mentioned above, any thermoplastic synthetic resin used for a general molded product may be employed. For example, it may be polyethylene, polyester, polyamide, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyvinyl, polyacetal or the like. However, it is desirable that the first member, the second member and the intermediate member have an affinity with respect to each other.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the second members can be attached to he first member in various manners.
The attachment of the second member to the first member in accordance with the present invention is not limited to fixing. The first member and the second member may be attached to each other in a relatively rotatable manner. In this case, for example, the first member and the second member can be achieved by molding synthetic resin materials having no affinity with each other.
The attachment method may include preliminarily molding the second member independently; inserting a preliminarily molded product into the opening portion of the first member; and pressing and heating the preliminarily molded product by a heating body so as to deform a part of the second member and to be rotatably engaged with the opening portion. For example, if the second member is a fastening member of the male fastener, after the second member is inserted into a central opening portion of the ring-like first member, the inserted end portion of the second member is pressed so as to be plastically deformed due to heating, and then the second member is engaged with the opening portion of the first member so that a slide rotation can be performed. The fastening device thus manufactured can be easily adjusted after finishing all the engagements, even in a case that a direction of one engaged fastener is different from that of the other opposing engaged fastener when the two fasteners are engaged with each other.
Further, the second member may be integrally attached to the first member by molding. This molding can be achieved by a normal insert molding for molding the second member by injection molding after the first member with the tape is set in the mold for the second member. In the molding of the second member, it is desirable to mold and integrate the second member along the peripheral edge of the opening portion of the first member, after the molded passage, which is molded a time of molding the first member by the guide passage guiding the molten resin into the cavity in a radial or straight manner, is broken and removed, or with the molded passage being remained. As mentioned above, in the case of breaking and removing the molded passage, a breakage burr is left on an inner peripheral surface of the opening portion of the first member. Accordingly, since the breakage burr exists on a boundary surface with respect to the second member which covers the burr, or since the molded passage is buried in the inner portion of the second member, a strength of adhesion between the first member and the second member is significantly increased.
Alternatively, the second member may be integrally attached to the first member by welding. The manufacturing method for the device with such structure may include steps of preliminarily molding the second member, inserting the preliminarily molded product into the opening portion of the first member, and integrally welding the preliminarily formed product and the opening portion of the first member. In this case, the preliminarily molded product means a molded product preliminarily molded in a shape of the second member with a deforming portion added thereto.
Alternatively, the manufacturing method may include steps of: preliminarily molding the second member independently; inserting the preliminarily molded product into the opening portion of the first member; pressing a high-temperature member to the preliminarily molded product; and welding and deforming a part of the preliminarily molded product by the pressing so as to integrally weld to the opening portion. Or, the method may include steps of: preliminarily molding the second member independently; inserting the preliminarily molded product into the opening portion of the first member; and pressing, melting and deforming a part of the preliminarily molded product by ultrasonic or high-frequency heating means so as to integrally weld to the opening portion.
The second member may be integrally attached to the first member by an adhesive. The manufacturing method for the device with such structure includes a step of: molding the second member independently; inserting the second member into the opening portion of the first member; and integrally bonding the second member and the opening portion by an adhesive.
For securing a strength of adhesion between the first member and the second member as mentioned above, it is preferable that the first member has a certain shape of the opening portion. Specifically, the inner peripheral surface of the opening of the first member may preferably have a recessed notch portion, an uneven portion or a protruding portion. When the recessed notch portion, the uneven portion or the protruding portion is integrated with the second member, an excellent anchor function can be obtained so that a desired strength of adhesion can be secured.
That is, the first member and the second member may be made of equivalent materials or different materials. Further preferably, the first member and the second member may be in different colors, and have different hardness, in which case it is preferable that the second member is softer than the first member.
The structures of the device as mentioned above have been achieved by the present invention for the first time. That is, in the same manner as that in the inventions of the U.S. patents and of the EP patents as mentioned above, various shapes could be selected of the fastening devices with tapes at the stage of designing the cavity. However, for a single fastening device for example, it is general to mix a pigment or the like in the resin material to be a single color, so, in order to apply a plurality of colors thereto, it is necessary to apply a printing or a coloring so that it is nearly impossible to execute such multicolored device in view of productivity and economical performance.
On the contrary, in accordance with the present invention, the fastening device is not limited to two kinds of members comprising the first and second members. The manufacturing method may include a step of integrally molding an intermediate member having an opening portion at a center portion thereof along the opening portion of the first member, prior to molding the second member, and further may include a step of integrally molding an intermediate member constituted of two or more layers and having an opening portion at a center portion thereof, between the first member and the second member. Thus, a plurality of materials and colors can be selected in a single fastening device.
For example, it is possible to set the material of at least the second member softer than the material of any other member, and further, it is possible to apply various colors to the first member, the second member and at least one intermediate layer. In this case, an optional color can be generally obtained by mixing a pigment to a raw material resin in order to apply such colors, but it is also possible to apply dyeing after molding.
The coloring can be performed by using dyes. For example, it is possible to dye each of the tape, the first member, the second member and the intermediate member in an optional color with dyes, by making at least one of the tape, the first member, the second member and the intermediate member of materials having different dyeing property. As mentioned above, when the first member is dyed by dyes after molded, it is possible to previously manufacture a large amount of tapes with first members by using colorless raw material resin in which no pigment or the like is mixed, and then to dye a predetermined number of the tapes with first members among them by the dyes as required, so that productivity is improved and its production control can be easily performed.
The second member may be a male fastening member protruding from a surface of the tape and having an engaging head portion to be engaged with and disengaged from a female engaging and disengaging portion of a female fastening member of a snap fastener. Or, the second member may be a female fastening member of the snap fastener having a female engaging portion to be engaged with and disengaged from a male fastening member of the snap fastener. Of course, the male fastener and the female fastener of the snap fastener are not to be used independently, however, the male fastener or the female fastener of the snap fastener are not always used in combination with the opposing female fastener or and the male fastener. It is of course possible that the male fastener and the female fastener in accordance with the present invention can be used in combination with the other general opposing fastener.
It is further preferable that the base member and the male fastening member as first and second members as mentioned above may be made of independent resin materials and the material constituting the male fastening member may have a melting point higher than the material constituting the base member. In accordance with the structure as mentioned above, for example, even when the iron having a high temperature is accidentally brought into contact with the male fastener, the male fastener is prevented from melting, and being deformed or pressed to breakage since its engaging head portion outwardly protruding from the base member of the male fastener has a melting point higher than that of the base member.
In the normal ironing, since the high temperature range is about 185xc2x0 C., as the material for constituting the fastening member, it is preferable that the melting point is more than 185xc2x0 C. As a most typical example, polyamide resin can be used as a material constituting the male fastening member, and a generally used polyacetal resin is used for a material constituting the base member. However, the melting point of the male fastening member should of course be changed in accordance with the material of the tape and the other members to which the male fastener is attached. Further, when the resin material having a low melting point is used for the base material and an affinity with respect to the male fastening member is required, it is necessary to select the material of the male fastener in relation to the base member. Accordingly, in such a case, it is possible to set the melting point of the male fastening member to be equal to or less than 185xc2x0 C. In such a special product, no problem arise when a proper iron temperature is selected without performing a careless iron operation.
In a basic method for manufacturing the fastening device with tape as mentioned above includes steps of holding an entire peripheral edge portion of the attachment hole and integrally molding a synthetic resin base member having an opening portion at a center thereof on front and back surfaces of the tape, integrally molding a synthetic resin male fastening member having an engaging portion which is engaged with and disengaged from an opposing fastener to an opening portion of the base member, and making the male fastening member of a material having a melting point higher than the base member.
The intermediate member having the opening portion at the center thereof may be further interposed between the first member and the second member, and the second member is integrally attached along the inner peripheral surface of the opening portion. The method of attaching the second member to the intermediate member is the same as the method of attaching the second member to the first member, as mentioned above.
In accordance with the present invention, at least one fastening device is attached to a single tape in the manner mentioned above. Since it is possible to optionally arrange the fasteners of the fastening device on the tape and it is possible to optionally mix the male and female fasteners, it is possible to use the device in a wide range of field. The typical arrangement is that a plurality of second members are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the tape at an equal interval. At this time, the second members may be either a male fastening member or a female fastening member. In a case of the fastening device with tape in which the same kinds of fasteners are attached at the same pitch, it can be applied to articles of clothing and bags as a normal snap fastener, and further can be applied to a header tape attached along an upper end edge of a curtain by sewing or the like.
Further, it can be applied to a hanging device for curtains, to which an attaching member to be attached to and detached from a curtain runner is attached in a longitudinal direction thereof at a predetermined interval along a side edge of the fastening device with tape as mentioned above. In the case of using the header tape with the fastening device mentioned above in combination with the handing device for the curtains with the fastening device, since it is necessary that the header tape and the fastening device attached to the hanging device be mutually engaged and disengaged, one should become a male fastener, while the other is a female fastener.
In accordance with the present invention, in the case that the fasteners are arranged at the same pitch, it is possible to mix a plurality of second members having male or female engaging portions. As a typical use example for such mixed arrangement, there is a clothing for a baby in which a plurality of second members each having a male engaging portion are arranged at a half portion of the same tape in a longitudinal direction thereof and the same number of second members each having the same number of a female engaging portion are arranged at the other half portion.
On the other hand, it is possible that at least the second members arranged at the endmost portion of the tape have male engaging portions among a plurality of second members arranged on the same tape. That is, most of the second members arranged at the other portions than the portion of the second members having the male engaging portions have female engaging portions, so that the fastening device with tape having such as structure can function as an independent product by itself. As a typical example, it can be a pull of a slider or a longitudinally-adjustable band or a slide fastener. It can be realized only by the present invention to mount the male fasteners and the female fasteners on the same tape.
In accordance with the present invention, each first members integrally molded on the tape is not always molded in correspondence to a single attachment hole formed in the tape. For example, it is possible to mold a single first member in two or more adjacent attachment holes on the tape. Further, the adjacent two or more attachment holes may be arranged in a widthwise direction of the tape. In accordance with such a structure as mentioned above, since it is possible to obtain various shapes such as large-patterned designs and shapes having various kinds of designs such as animals, automotive vehicles or the like, so that a fastening device rich in a design as well as a strength of adhesion can be obtained.
Further, in accordance with the present invention, a plurality of second members may be arranged in a longitudinal direction of the tape at a selected desired interval, in which a second member having a male engaging portion is arranged in at least one end of the tape, and a plurality of second members comprising male or female fastening members are arranged in a mixed manner, and in which at least one engaging portion other than that of the second member having the male engaging portion at the end of the tape is protruded on the tape surface in an opposite direction to the protruding of the engaging portion of the male second member at the end of the tape. As a particular use thereof, the fastening device with the tape can be adhered to the clothes by inserting the male fastening member attached the tape end of the fastening device with tape to an opening joining portion of the clothes or the like, and the tape is folded back to engaging the male fastening member with the opposing female fastening member. At this time, the other male fastening members protrude on the opposite surface of the tape. These male fastening members are engaged with and disengaged from the female fastening members attached to the other opening joining portion of the clothes, so that the fastening device with tape can be used as a fastener button.
It is possible to manufacture an fastening device with tape having a second member comprising a base portion to be integrally adhered to the opening portion of the first member, and a ring-like string-passing portion standing from a surface of the base portion. In this case, the fastening device is attached to a back surface a curtain in a vertical direction, and a string having a stopper member at its one end is inserted into a plurality of ring-like string-passing holes. The curtain can be opened and closed by pulling or releasing the other end of the string member. Further, in the case of attaching the fastening device with tape along the opening portion of a saccate-like bag, together with a string, it can be used as an opening and closing device for the opening portion of the bag.
Further, it is possible to manufacture a fastening device with tape in which the second member comprises a base portion integrally adhered to the opening portion of the first member, and a hook portion standing on a surface of the base portion. In this case, if a female fastener is prepared in which the second member separately manufactured is adhered to the opening portion of the first member in fitted state, and a ring portion stands on a surface of the base portion, by combining the both male and female fasteners, it can be used as a hooking device for, for example, a brassiere, baby clothes or the like.

Fastening device with tape, method of manufacturing the same and product to which the fastening device is attached


A semiconductor structure includes a substrate having thereon at least one conductive region; a plurality of cylinder-shaped electrodes disposed on the substrate, wherein each of the cylinder-shaped electrodes has a horizontal portion that is in direct contact with the at least one conductive region and a vertical sidewall portion connecting the horizontal portion; an upper support structure comprising a first lattice structure that is situated in a first horizontal level that is lower than a tip portion of each of the cylinder-shaped electrodes; and a lower support structure comprising a second lattice structure that interlocks middle portions of the cylinder-shaped electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor structure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a capacitor or a cylinder-shaped storage node structure of a capacitor, which can be applicable to high-density dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the level of integration continues to increase in integrated circuitry, electronic components are formed to increasing the smaller dimensions. One type of component utilized in integrated circuitry is a capacitor. It is well known that capacitors may serve as charge storage elements of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices.
Capacitors are becoming increasingly tall and thin in an effort to reduce the footprint of individual capacitors, and thereby conserve semiconductor real estate. Current capacitor dimensions are approaching the limits attainable by conventional processing, and it is desired to develop new processing so that capacitors may be scaled to increasingly thinner dimensions.
A common capacitor construction is a so-called container-shaped storage node device. The container-shaped storage nodes are first formed within densely-packed, high-aspect-ratio holes etched into a template or support structure. After removing the template layer, a dielectric material and a capacitor cell plate are formed on the container. Unfortunately, high aspect-ratio container-shaped storage nodes are structurally weak, and subject to toppling, twisting and/or breaking from an underlying base.
To avoid toppling of high aspect-ratio container-shaped storage node, a lattice methodology has been developed. Typically, a single lattice layer is provided to retain the uppermost position of the container-shaped electrodes.

Capacitor, storage node of the capacitor, and method of forming the same

Hwa-Ya Technology Park Kueishan, Taoyuan


Distillation chamber for extracting solvent from sludge, in particular for dry-cleaning machines, having a bottom shaped like a half-cylinder with a horizontal axis. The bottom is provided, in a downward position, at one end, with an outlet for extracting dried sludge. A shaft is axially and rotatably mounted in the chamber and spatula-like sectors, suitable for stirring the sludge and for pushing it toward the outlet upon the rotation of the shaft, are fixed to the shaft itself.

The present invention relates to a distillation chamber for extracting solvent from sludge, in particular for dry-cleaning machines.
It is known that significant amounts of perchloroethylene are absorbed by the filtration powders during the working cycle of dry-cleaning machines.
The sludge to be treated also contains other residues of the washing operation, and the solvent content is such as to subject their storage and disposal to stringent statutory provisions and make them sometimes not only expensive but impossible.
In order to recover the perchloroethylene from the powders, it is known to subject said powders to distillation, but the efficiency of conventional systems leaves solvent residues in the powders in amounts in the range of even more than 10%.
it is also known that since at a temperature lower than 120.degree. C. the solvent does not evaporate and at temperatures above 150.degree. C. the solvent degrades, the sludge must be dried at a temperature comprised between said two values.
Furthermore, by heating the sludge to extract the perchloroethylene, sometimes the extraction temperature is reached in some regions and not in others, and a certain thickness of solid mud also stratifies on the bottom; it has been shown that it is necessary to stir the mud before and during distillation in order to operate optimally.
Furthermore, when it is necessary to remove the powders and the remaining mud at the end of extraction, the operator intervenes directly, opening the distillation chamber onto the environment and subjecting himself and said environment to pollution.
The interest in acting so as to reduce the perchloroethylene content to a level which allows the user of the washing apparatus to contract firms specialized in distillation waste treatment and which avoids contamination of the operators and of the environment, is evident.

Distillation chamber for extracting dry-cleaning solvent from sludge


A plasmonic pixel structure, comprising: a substrate; a plurality of nano-scale structures each comprising conducting and dielectric components, whereby the nano-scale structures are configured to act as nano-antennas. The nano-scale structures 5 have resonant frequencies that depend on the conducting component and sizes of the nano-scale structures. The conducting component and the sizes of the nano-scale structures are selected according to a wavelength component or components of incident light desired to be reflected or transmitted by the nano-scale structures, and the conducting component and the sizes of the nano-scale structures are selected 10 such that the nano-scale structures have respective resonant frequencies corresponding to a colour scheme.

Nano-fabrication have been used to create images using nano-optics. Developments in the area of plasmonic colour engineering at the nanoscale, using subwavelength nanostructures, and their potential in high-resolution and high-fidelity colour rendering, spectral filtering applications, holography, and three-dimensional stereoscopic imaging are summarized by Gu et al. in Color generation via subwavelength plasmonic nanostructures, Nanoscale, 7(15) (2015) 6409-6419, doi:10.1039/C5NR00578G.
However, existing techniques are often limited to subtractive colour and do not provide a wide usable colour pallet. The features that can produce a full range of colour are either optically very weak, or are incompatible with large scale printing processes, and hence not useful as, for example, a security feature.

Method and apparatus for representing an image with plasmonic pixels


A full duplex speakerphone employing adaptive filters and having application in radiotelephone systems is disclosed. To cancel acoustic feedback echo of the receive signal, a representation of the receive signal is subtracted from the transmit signal generated by the speakerphone microphone. The adaptive filter receive signal representation coefficents are modified when the receive signal is detected. Likewise, to cancel electronic echo of the transmit signal, a representation of the transmit signal is subtracted from the receive signal. The adaptive filter transmit signal representation coefficients are modified when the transmit signal is detected.

The present invention relates generally to speakerphones, and more particularly to an improved duplex speakerphone that can advantageously be utilized in both radio and landline telephone systems.
In both radio and landline telephone systems, a user typically communicates by means of a handset that includes a speaker at one end which is placed close to the user's ear and a microphone at the other end which is held close to the user's mouth. In operation one hand of the user must be used to hold the telephone handset in its proper orientation thereby leaving the user's only free hand to accomplish tasks, such as driving a vehicle. In order to provide a greater degree of freedom for the user, speakerphones have been developed for use in landline telephone systems.
A conventional speakerphone is typically coupled to the telephone line and, when enabled, allows the user to move about freely while communicating with another telephone user. Such speakerphones generally either receive or transmit at a given instant, i.e. simplex, and a comparison of the volume of the two parties is made. This comparison selects the party speaking the loudest and determines the mode-receive or transmit. If this selection did not occur, a feedback, or echo, may disrupt the communications and, if severe enough, cause an oscillation in the telephone circuit known as "singing".
One type of echo commonly found in telephony is that of an electrical signal reflection due to imperfect impedence match at four-wire to two-wire conversion points commonly called hybrids. Thus, part of a near end party's speech signals are coupled from his speakerphone microphone circuit to his speaker circuit. A long delay introduced into this coupled portion of speech may cause confusion to the speaker and disruption of communications. The second form of echo unique to speakerphones is that of acoustic coupling between the speaker and the microphone. Acoustic energy produced by the speaker may reflect from nearby objects or be coupled directly to the microphone. This feedback produces a phase delay in the coupled audio signal making a hollow sounding echo and, with sufficient audio signal amplification gain, singing in the telephone circuit.
The conventional solution to echo and singing problems for speakerphones is the attenuation of the audio signal in the path having the weakest audio signal in favor of the path having the strongest audio signal. Many techniques have been developed to switch or variably attenuate one path or the other. These techniques, however, suffer from a number of problems including inability to accomodate high ambient noise environments, clipping of speech syllables of the party attempting to start a conversation on the attenuated path, and path attenuation uncertainty due to feedback from the speaker to the microphone when the speaker amplification has been turned up. These problems have been reduced by inventions (U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,603 by Eastmond and U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,584 by Vilmur) having unique speech detector circuits and special control processes.
For true duplex systems, self-adapting echo cancellers have recently been employed to mitigate echos by generating an estimate of the echo and subtracting the estimate from the signal corrupted by the echo. In this way, the acoustic coupling of a far end telephone talker can be removed from the signal generated by the near end speakerphone microphone without decreasing or switching the gain available to the near end speakerphone user. In a similar manner, electronic reflections from the hybrid may be cancelled at the near end speakerphone.
The determination of the echo estimate, however, may not always be calculated properly. Under conditions of high ambient noise, non-linear distortion, or both parties talking simultaneously, the echo sample may not be fully represenative of the echo signal. Therefore, there is a need for full duplex speakerphone which can provide optimum performance under less than ideal situations of noise, echo signal distortion, and simultaneous user speech.

Full duplex speakerphone for radio and landline telephones


A packaging method and a package for an image sensing chip are provided. The packaging method includes: providing a wafer including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, where the wafer has multiple image sensing chips arranged in a grid, each of the image sensing chips has an image sensing region and contact pads arranged on a side of the first surface; forming an opening corresponding to each of the contact pads and cutting trenches on a side of the second surface of the wafer, where the contact pad is exposed through the opening; filling the cutting trenches with a first photosensitive ink; and applying a second photosensitive ink on the second surface of the wafer to cover the opening with the second photosensitive ink and form a hollow cavity in the opening.

Currently, the wafer level chip size packaging (WLCSP) technology is the mainstream semiconductor chip packaging technology, in which a full wafer is packaged and tested, and then is cut to acquire individual finished chips. By using this packaging technology, the individual packaged chip product almost has the same size as an individual crystalline grain, which meets the market requirement for lighter, smaller, shorter, thinner and cheaper microelectronic products. The wafer level chip size packaging technology is a hotspot in the current packaging field, and represents a development trend in the future.

Packaging method and package structure for image sensing chip


A positioning system of an optical disc apparatus includes focus error detecting part for detecting a focus error signal as a focal shift of a light spot related to an information recording surface of an optical disc, light spot moving part in the direction intersecting substantially perpendicularly to the optical disc surface, first digital arithmetic part for receiving the focus error signal and outputting a first control signal, second digital arithmetic part for receiving the focus error signal and a specified third control signal, performing arithmetic operations of a disturbance observer and outputting a second control signal, adding circuit for adding the first control signal and the second control signal and outputting the third control signal, drive circuit for driving the light spot moving part in a direction intersecting perpendicularly to the disc surface by the third control signal, wherein the first and the second digital arithmetic circuit perform arithmetic operations at different sampling periods.

The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus used, for example, as external memory means of a computer, and more particularly to a positioning system of an optical disc apparatus for adequately positioning a light spot relative to an information recording surface of an optical disc.
An example of this type of a positioning control system of a conventional optical disc apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-6-203390. In this prior art, the focus servo system and the tracking servo system are configured so that arithmetic operations for control are divided and executed by two separate circuits, that is, an analog circuit is used to execute those operations requiring high speed processing are performed by and a digital circuit is used to execute those operations which are complicated but may be processed at low speed.
Generally, there is a shift of the center of a focus error signal and a tracking error signal from the electrical center of a drive signal owing to a shift of the optical axis of an objective lens and an electrical offset of an amplifier, for example. To eliminate this shift, it is required to make a correction to bring the center of the focus error signal and the tracking error signal into coincidence with the electrical center of the drive signal.
With regard to the above-mentioned elimination of the shift, heretofore a method has been used in which a value corresponding to an amount of shift from the electrical center of the drive signal is obtained empirically, and the obtained value is added to the drive signal.
In the positioning system of the conventional optical disc apparatus mentioned above, to respond to the strong demand for a functional improvement of the servo system, introducing digital control is effective indeed. In parallel with this demand, there has been a growing demand for speeding up of data transmission and it has become necessary to increase the rotation speed of the optical disc. Under this situation, a problem has arisen as described below.
As the optical disc is rotated at higher speed, the frequencies of disturbances such as vertical deflection and eccentricity of disc surface in synchronism with the rotation of the optical disc will increase. In other words, it is necessary to provide notably improved disturbance suppression characteristics.
As a conventional technique to increase the disturbance suppression characteristics, there is a method in which arithmetic means requiring stability is formed as an analog circuit, and arithmetic means to obtain greater gain at low frequencies is formed as a digital circuit, and the coefficient of the digital arithmetic means is set at an optimum value according to the control condition.
However, in a conventional servo system in which the arithmetic means required to have stability is formed by an analog circuit as mentioned above, when the gain of an actuator or the like differs from a standard value due to an individual difference of the apparatus, it is necessary to make adjustment to secure stability.
Further, in order to set a coefficient of the digital arithmetic means according to the control condition, a large memory is required to store a plurality of coefficients. In addition, the coexistence of an analog circuit and a digital circuit makes the circuit configuration large and complicated.
On the other hand, in the prior art mentioned above, in the method of correcting the shift of the center of the focus error signal and the tracking error signal from the electrical center of the drive signal, a value corresponding to the amount of shift from the electrical center of the drive signal is obtained empirically, and the obtained value is added to the drive signal. In this method, however, if a shift occurs due to an individual difference of the apparatus, adjustment is required.

Positioning device for optical disc apparatus


A thread-reinforced joint device for a coupling device of a vehicle drive, particularly of a low-platform vehicle, includes a plurality of coupling elements, at least one thread packet coupling two adjacent coupling elements so that a force is transmittable, a support device arranged on at least one of the coupling elements for axially guiding the at least one thread packet and at least one elastic body, into which, the at least one thread packet and the coupling elements are at least partially embedded. The coupling elements are designed and/or can be positioned so that the thread-reinforced joint device is adaptable to different mounting interfaces of a respective coupling device.

The present invention relates to a thread-reinforced joint device and a coupling device for a vehicle drive, in particular for the drive of a low-platform vehicle.
Low-platform vehicles should generally be understood to be vehicles with low-lying floors in the interior. Such floors should primarily serve to enable barrier-free utilization of the interior of the low-platform vehicle, i.e. barrier-free boarding and alighting of passengers. With low-platform vehicles, the interior platforms, i.e. the interior floors, lie below the top edge of the wheels. In the case of rail vehicles, the height of the floor in the interior can be even lower and, for example, be only slightly higher than half the diameter of the wheel. In the case of street cars, the floor height can even be significantly lower than half the diameter of the wheel.
Known from the prior art are coupling devices as claimed in document DE 196 39 304 A1. This document discloses an elastic joint coupling with an intermediate ring arranged between two coupling flanges made up of single metal elements distributed around the circumference and vulcanized into rubber blocks. The metal elements are screwed alternately to the coupling flanges. In the circumferential direction, the metal elements of the intermediate ring are evenly distributed wedges extending in the radial direction across the entire ring width. The rubber blocks are vulcanized between the wedges and held under compressive prestress in the circumferential direction when installed.
This joint coupling known from the prior art is relatively complicated to assemble since the rubber blocks have to be radially prestressed in order to be able to establish compressive prestress of the rubber blocks in the circumferential direction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thread-reinforced joint device and a coupling device that is low-maintenance and simple to assemble and acoustic decoupling of the units to be connected.

Thread-reinforced joint device and coupling device for a vehicle drive


A metal detecting device for the detection of a metal object concealed in shoe or on a leg of a subject, including:                a housing with a platform having an upper surface with indication areas thereon for the correct positioning of each of a subject's feet,        left-foot and right-foot electromagnetic coils under the indication areas connected to a power supply via an oscillator and a switch,        an electromagnetic shield divider between the left-foot and right-foot electromagnetic coils,        a detection system for the detection of the placement of the subjects feet on the indication area,        a processing unit for processing signals from the electromagnetic coils and detection system, and        a display connected to the processing unit for displaying a warning signal if metal is detected.

Due to a recent spate of terrorist activity, security has been stepped up at airports, bus and train stations, shopping centers and malls, and at museums, landmarks and other potential targets.
Baggage is often subjected to X-Ray examination; however because of the health risks involved with exposure to radiation, such techniques are not favoured for examination of persons.
Where necessary, frisking or strip searching of persons may be performed, but such procedures are very time-consuming, and the subjects of such examinations may consider these procedures embarrassing and degrading.
For detection of chemical substances such as drugs and plastic explosives, dogs have been found effective. For detecting weapons such as knives and guns, metal detectors are widely used.
Two common metal detectors in widespread use are the wand-type metal detector and the frame-type metal detector. The principle of operation of both these devices is similar, in that they both detect the presence of metal objects using eddy-currents and the electromagnetic effect. The wand-type metal detector is quickly swiped over and around the abdomen and perhaps the thighs of the subject Although minimally intrusive and not particularly pleasant, it has the advantage over conventional frisking in that it keeps the hands of the operator distanced from the body of the subject. Indeed, if used skillfully, the wand-type detector need not actually touch the subject at all. If a metal object, such as a door key or loose change, is found, the subject is invited to remove and display the object himself and the examiner need neither touch the possessions nor the body of the subject.
The frame-type metal detector, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,983 to Jaquet, resembles a door frame through which the subject is required to pass. Indication of a metal object by a beep or a light, typically results in the subject being required to remove metal objects from about his person, and put them in a tray that is passed around the frame.
Neither of the above metal detector types is recommended for use with subjects fitted with pacemakers, where interference with the pacemaker may be injurious to health. Another problem with their use is that neither is effective for disclosing metal objects concealed within the shoes of the subject, or strapped around the ankle or lower leg. The wand-type detector is not conveniently swiped over these lower extremities, and indeed cannot be done without compromising the security of the personnel operating the device. The frame-type detector has low sensitivity near the ground, by virtue of the ground tending to provide an alternative, preferred pathway for electromagnetic field lines.
The poor performance of metal detector systems of the prior art with regard to detection of objects concealed on the lower leg or foot, makes these locations a likely concealment area for knives or hand guns for hijackers, terrorists and smugglers.
One simple idea for overcoming this problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,981 to Rodriguez, which discloses a riser platform, that is, a step, for introducing into the detector frame. The subject is caused to pass through the electromagnetic field at a height above ground level, and may be requested to stand on the step. Being largely free from ground and other forms of interference, an enhanced sensitivity is achieved.
Metal detecting security equipment is typically positioned near entrances to buildings, and there are various sources of electromagnetic interference, such as the proximity of automatic doors, electronic machinery, people using mobile phones and the like, which generate stray electromagnetic fields that can act as sources of noise, triggering false alarms. Static electricity charges picked up from artificial carpets, and conveyer belts and escalators may cause similar problems. Shoe heels are frequently attached to the shoe with nails, and some shoes contain eyelets for laces, buckles, steel toe caps, strike plates and/or steel heel inserts. Thus, in addition to being excellent places of concealment for weapons, they may also trip a metal detector and generate false alarms. However subjects may find being asked to remove their shoes humiliating. Shoe removal is also time-consuming, difficult for the arthritic, and unpleasant for all concerned where the subject suffers from foot-odour, for example.
There is thus a need for a metal detecting system that has enhanced sensitivity for weapons concealed in the shoe or on the lower leg, yet having a reduced susceptibility to false alarms from metal objects legitimately found in shoes, and the present invention is directed to providing that need.

Device and method of detecting metal objects